Nov 2006

Hello all!

I arrived in one piece, safe and sound. I was very sad to leave Australia and made sure I got a window seat to see it all left behind. I am very tempted to come back here with the remainder of my visa....

As the coast line of New Zealand approached I was gobsmacked .... it's quiet a difficult task to render me speechless, but the awe-inspiring range of mountains covered with piles of snow, indeed managed to do just that. It is something you have to experience yourself to believe just how beautiful it is.

Christchurch is soooo English it is unreal!! And, the Maori men are huge!! The airport shuttle driver was Maori and he could have lifted my 7 kilo backpack with his little finger!! That's right, only 7 kilos..... the remaning 10 kilos were crammed into my pull along trolley-bag to give my poor back a break! At least I have managed to get it down from 28 kilos when I left Sydney - I am impressed with myself. I'm not telling just how heavy the elephant pack I took on the plane with me was though - hahaha.

Well, I suppose I shoudl wrap it up now - oh yeah - the photos. Well I spent AGES in the internet cafe attempting to upload the pictures, but the computer died a death. I will try again tomorrow me thinks after my visit to the Antartic Centre and possible a walking tour of the mountains which surround Christchurch.

Goodbye my faithful readers!

Hello all!

I am back from Tasmania, and have an incredible hangover so please bare with me!

Tassie was so incredibly beautiful, the tour from Hobart to Launceston was really good and I met some of the nicest people ever. A couple from Sedgefield adopted me on day 1 and became my substitute parents for the 3 days - it was soooo sad to say goodbye when I had to leave.

Our tour included visiting Port Arthur - the convict prison, then the Tasman Peninsular, a variety of beaches and rocks and much more! Wineglass bay was beautiful, but involved a nasty hike to get to the lookout!

I flew back to Melbourne yesterday to watch the races at home. We all went out for my last night yesterday afternoon/evening and had a brilliant time! I am going to miss my new friends so much!!

I am in the middle of uploading new photos at the moment, so have a browse when you get chance.

The is me signing out from Australia, land of the young and free. Man, I'm gonna miss this place.

Hello campers,

Firstly i would like to apologise for any grammatical errors in this entry. The shift key on this keyboard does not work!!!!!

I am now in Hobart, Tasmania, but would like to share with you my hellish view of the one horse town that calls itself Adelaide.

I arrived on saturday afternoon and met up with my crazy Irish friends which was just wonderful. I had an early night as i had to be up early for my kangaroo Island tour. A girl in my room who was incredibly hostile went to sleep fully dressed including shoes, woke up at 4.45 turned on the light and proceeded to get ready for work - she was soooo horrible. This already, made me hate her!!

I then went to join the tour group to Kangaroo Island to be greeted by a sea of wrinkles and this funny grey colour.... there were no people younger than 50 on my tour - oh no, this is not going to be good.

I boarded the bus half wishing i had not paid up front for my tour as i could have done a runner!! We got to Cape Jervis where we all boarded the bus, the ferry crossing was cool, very scenic. We landed at Kanga Island, where we boarded the actual tour bus. Low and behold a girl my age boards the bus!! I pray to the atheist gods that she will sit by me ..... and she does!! Yipeeeee. We laugh together about how many wrinklies there are on our tour and know that it's not going to be a strenuous day!!

We visited Seal Rocks, where we saw loads of sleepy seals and their pups. Then we did a scenic drive and saw an abundance of wildlife - many of them sleeping at the side of the road....

We saw koalas in the wild when doing a bush walk - we were told there are 27,000 koalas in Kanga Island - I saw 3 of them. Yipee do dah day!! We saw the Remarkable Rocks, crazy rock formations eroded away by the sea. We saw New Zealand fur seals and mini penguins. Jen and I spent the day being silly, childish and having great fun!! The photos will go up on the web when I return to Melbourne if I have chance.

Onto Hobart - I will just briefly say that this city (more like a town) is very quiet, but beautiful. They have forcasted snow up in the Mountains tonight - I hope so!! The scenery reminds me so much of home, and the tempartures are similar - it was 11 degrees when we landed this morning.

I am spending one more day in Hobart then going on a tour from hobart to Launceston for 3 days, then flying back to Melbourne on the 7th just in time for the Melbourne cup - the event which stops the nation. It's a shame I don't have enough money or a pretty dress to go to the races!!

That's all for now as i am annoyed with this shift key!!