March 29th, 2006:
I had been trying to decide over the last number of days on what to next. The original plan was to popup the coast to Cairns and go scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef, but it is still a disaster area up there and the tour operators in Brisbane were saying that the locals up there would need more time to get things back in action after Hurricane Larry.
After getting local/travelers opinions about Ayers Rock, the majority feel that it HAS to be done and that its best to do it as part of an overnight bush walk. However, due to Cairns being in the North and Ayers Rock being in the center, it makes most sense to do it on the way to / from Cairns, so Ayers rock is also on hold.
Next up on possible destinations was Melbourne but the recent Commonwealth Games and the F1 this weekend, along with a big AFL football game have all conspired to to make it expensive, hard to find accommodation and busy. I wouldn't mind seeing an F1 race, but there's no hurry: I'll catch one some other time. I'd only be in the city for four or five days and I wouldn't want to get a bad impression of the place when in reality it was only especially busy/expensive for this weekend.
Therefore I'm now sitting on a plane to Sydney. Naturally, during check-in, I was "randomly" picked for the chemical explosives analysis test, but that was to be expected by now. It was a little bit disconcerting sitting on the plane initially: I was sitting two rows behind an emergency exit and after we all had sat down, a maintenance guy come onboard to fix the emergency door. The top quarter of the inside of the door was coming loose(!) so he proceeded to try to screw it back together, but failed and so we took off minutes later with the emergency door being held together by masking tape! I presume the more important outside of the door is ok as we are, at the moment, over 30,000 feet and the plane hasn't gone pop yet...
========================
Well, its been a month (is that all?!) since I left so now would be an opportune time to reflect on how things are going.
Time has lost nearly all meaning
---
I started noticing this after the first week of travelling. There are now, at most, two days of the week: Sunday and non-Sunday. Even at that, the only reason I might notice a Sunday is if I intend to go shopping and, as that rarely happens, there is usually just one day of the week: "today".
At home each day of the week evoked different feelings depending on "The Routine" I had, for example, work Monday - Fridays and different evenings during the week had different regular events scheduled. Now, every day is roughly the equivalent of Saturday, so having different names for the days is nearly meaningless.
Also, time during the day has lost most of its significance. In "The Routine", I always woke at a certain time every day, went to work at the same time, had lunch at the same time, etc. Now, I think I have a watch but I don't know exactly where it is: I haven't used it since Bangkok (my first destination). The only "time" I notice the time is if I have to get up at a certain hour to meet an organized tour and then I just set the alarm on the PDA. Otherwise, I have a meal when I'm hungry and goto sleep when I'm tired.
It is great, for now, but when I was in Perth seeing business people going about their day to the beat of their routines, I did find that a small part of me missed the structure of a routine. So, its great for now but I don't see myself staying in this boundary-less lifestyle for ever and I'm also acutely aware of the one way my bank account is going...
Its also hard to believe that its only been a month/four-weeks since starting this journey. So much has happened that it feels more like three months has passed which adds to the feeling that time has nearly lost all meaning.
The gadgets and tools have been mostly useful
---
I had brought a number of different tools on the trip and they have performed with varying degrees of usefulness:
PDA (Dell Axim X30): Indispensable. If I lost it, or it was stolen, I would straight away buy another one. As a music and video player, Internet browser and email (when wireless internet is available), electronic book reader (there's 80+ books on it), currency converter and for viewing pictures taken by the camera the pocket computer has performed flawlessly.
All of the blog entries were written using the PDA. I was unsure how the typing would go (imagine holding a mini keyboard in one hand and using a stick with the other hand to tap on each letter), but its working out well enough.
I would be happier if it was more rugged (so that I wouldn't need to be careful about not dropping it) and was cheaper to replace, but otherwise its great.
Camera (Canon Powershot A620): I'm very happy the quality of the pictures produced by this camera. You can see the results in my photo gallery and keep in mind that those pictures have had their megapixel size slashed to less than a third. The camera has easy to use controls, has a flip out and tilt screen so that you can put the camera into odd positions and still see what the lens sees. The easy to find AA batteries are also a bonus and they last a long time. I would prefer if it was smaller/flatter as it just about fits in my jeans pocket but I certainly wouldn't forget it was it was in the pocket (unlike the PDA which I would forget about).
Phone (Sony Ericsson T700i): useful in case of emergencies but otherwise I've used it fewer than five times in the last month.
Card Reader (unknown brand). Again, indispensable. I use this at Internet cafes. I take the memory card out of the camera and using the card reader attached to the computer I can read the images from the card and upload them to the photo gallery.
GPS Satellite Navigation (Dell Bluetooth GPS). This, so far IS dispensable. Due to me not driving anywhere, it only gets used sparingly. Typically, when I arrive at a new location I take a satellite fix of where the accommodation is so that if I get lost I can get it to direct me back. I haven't gotten lost yet, but its a comfort to have it anyway.
Multitool (Leatherman Juice CS4): unlike the GPS so far, I would be lost without my multitool. A multitool is a glorified penknife, containing more tools than the usual Swiss Army knife. My multitool gets regular usage, although the smaller Leatherman Micra which is small enough to have on a key chain might be more practical.
Plug adapter (Mitsubishi... something): all of my electronic gadgets would be dead without it. You'll spot this little beauty at airports and it looks completely different to every other power adapter: its a small green cylinder and is sadly more expensive than its competitors. However, it claims to be useful in 150+ different countries and so far it hasn't let me down.
One thing I should have brought, but it never occurred to me, is a small pile of business-type cards with my email address. You could easily spot the old pros among the traveling posse handing out their cards at the end of a tour/hostel-stay, whereas the rest of us had to rely on pens and paper which was messy.
Accommodation
---
I've stayed in a variety of accommodation over the month, ranging from four Euro a night rooms where you could see through the walls and floors to expensive beachfront bungalows. Here is what I have found:
Hotels (70-100 a night on average): Convenient the first night or two that you arrive into a strange city as you can be assured of a certain level of quality (depending on the star rating). However, they are comparatively expensive and you have to organize your day to a degree around the hotels schedule. So, for example, if the base price for a room includes breakfast you might as well avail of it as you have already paid for it, but breakfast is often only available during certain hours so you'll have to get up relatively early to avail of it. Also the hotel would prefer that you didn't spend all day in your room as housekeeping will want to get in there to make sure you’re not trashing the place. I have also found hotels to be business/family-holiday orientated and its harder to meet fellow travelers. Lastly, the vast majority of hotel rooms do not provide cooking facilities in the room so you'll be eating out a lot which is in itself a big financial drain. Hotels are, however, useful as a base, giving you time to take a look at cheaper hostels in the area.
Serviced apartments (70-100 AUD a night on average): Similar to hotels, serviced apartments are relatively expensive as a form on accommodation, costing about the same as a hotel room (depending on what you go for). However, an apartment does include cooking facilities which can save a lot money and gives you the freedom to cook what you want rather than being tied to a hotel's or restaurant's menu. They also tend not to have intrusive housekeeping staff and so I would prefer an apartment to a hotel room.
Hostels (15-45 AUD a night on average): Before starting travelling I had the impression that hostels were dirty, insecure and noisy. Some are but using the above hotel-as-a-base-approach, I've been able to vet a place before moving in and so have had no major problems. I did find the hostel dorms to have good and bad features: sometimes the people sharing the dorms would be great company but I found the lack of privacy to be intrusive so these days I pay a bit extra for a private room (current private room is 35 AUD) so that takes care of the lack of privacy issue. Hostels, also, are unbeatable for meeting fellow travelers and the last (for example) provided laundry services, kitchens so you could fend you yourself, internet access, big screen TV room, internet access, swimming pool, sauna, jacuzzi, pool table, basketball court, table tennis, subsidized bar, restaurant, and helpful staff for organizing tours, things to do etc. I do have a face mask, ear blockers for reducing light & noise just in case but rarely do I need them.
Overall its been a great success so far. My arrival into Sydney will mark the end of the main jumping-from-place-to-place phase as I intend to try base myself in Sydney. Fingers are crossed that it will work out aok!
Friday, March 31, 2006
Lamington National Park
March 28th, 2006:
It was about time that I tried a bush walk so today's activity was an 8-10KM hike through a sub-tropical rain forest. Based on the recommendation of the tour assistant in the hostel, I went with "Rob's Rainforest Tours" (www.robsrainforest.com) for the bush guide and the rain forest we trekked through was the World Heritage "Lammington National Park".
On this particular day it was a small group: myself, "Michael" (an English bloke with family ties to Cork, Ireland) and Rob himself. The park is located about 120km from Brisbane and it was an easy/quick drive for the tour operator to get there.
It is possible to walk the rainforest trails yourself but I found having the guide there was very useful: every couple of minutes we'd stop and he'd point out details about the plants, birds or insects in that area that I would have missed had he not been there.
Some of the birds in the area, especially near the main camp (O'Reilly's) were relatively tame and Rob had birds eating nuts from his hand. Similarly Wallabies (smaller, stockier than Kangaroo) came close to the camp, but they were still wild and so we did not get too close.
The walk itself revealed Giant Box Brush trees which really were giant: all three of us managed to fit inside one which had been partially hollowed out in a fire.
We also saw Stinger Trees, which have hairs on their leaves which can inject a toxin into your skin and cause intense pain. They have even managed to kill someone: a woman who was not dressed appropriately for a bush walk (think near swimsuit), slipped down a small slope on top of many of these leaves which were on the ground: she suffered a heart attack from receiving too much toxin. We stayed well clear of those trees(!)
Another odd tree was the Strangler Fig, which starts off life as a seed which is dropped by birds high in the canopy of a tree and which grows its roots down the trunk of the tree until it finally reaches ground, possibly hundreds of feet below. The roots continue to grow until they eventually "strangle" and kill the host tree which dies and rots away leaving just the Strangler Fig with a hollow core.
These interesting trees and other strange birds were set in a varied landscape with picturesque waterfalls and steep mountany slopes.
I found the walk to be rewarding and well worth doing. Be sure to bring proper footwear (such as hiking boots) as, for example, we were jumping from rock to slippy rock at some points on the trail. Also, I did not bother with insect repellent as there were few/no insects to be seen but they may be more prevalent at different times in the year.
So, if you're thinking of doing a bush walk I can highly recommend the Lamington National Park and I will use Rob as my guide if I go hiking in a rainforest around Brisbane again.
It was about time that I tried a bush walk so today's activity was an 8-10KM hike through a sub-tropical rain forest. Based on the recommendation of the tour assistant in the hostel, I went with "Rob's Rainforest Tours" (www.robsrainforest.com) for the bush guide and the rain forest we trekked through was the World Heritage "Lammington National Park".
On this particular day it was a small group: myself, "Michael" (an English bloke with family ties to Cork, Ireland) and Rob himself. The park is located about 120km from Brisbane and it was an easy/quick drive for the tour operator to get there.
It is possible to walk the rainforest trails yourself but I found having the guide there was very useful: every couple of minutes we'd stop and he'd point out details about the plants, birds or insects in that area that I would have missed had he not been there.
Some of the birds in the area, especially near the main camp (O'Reilly's) were relatively tame and Rob had birds eating nuts from his hand. Similarly Wallabies (smaller, stockier than Kangaroo) came close to the camp, but they were still wild and so we did not get too close.
The walk itself revealed Giant Box Brush trees which really were giant: all three of us managed to fit inside one which had been partially hollowed out in a fire.
We also saw Stinger Trees, which have hairs on their leaves which can inject a toxin into your skin and cause intense pain. They have even managed to kill someone: a woman who was not dressed appropriately for a bush walk (think near swimsuit), slipped down a small slope on top of many of these leaves which were on the ground: she suffered a heart attack from receiving too much toxin. We stayed well clear of those trees(!)
Another odd tree was the Strangler Fig, which starts off life as a seed which is dropped by birds high in the canopy of a tree and which grows its roots down the trunk of the tree until it finally reaches ground, possibly hundreds of feet below. The roots continue to grow until they eventually "strangle" and kill the host tree which dies and rots away leaving just the Strangler Fig with a hollow core.
These interesting trees and other strange birds were set in a varied landscape with picturesque waterfalls and steep mountany slopes.
I found the walk to be rewarding and well worth doing. Be sure to bring proper footwear (such as hiking boots) as, for example, we were jumping from rock to slippy rock at some points on the trail. Also, I did not bother with insect repellent as there were few/no insects to be seen but they may be more prevalent at different times in the year.
So, if you're thinking of doing a bush walk I can highly recommend the Lamington National Park and I will use Rob as my guide if I go hiking in a rainforest around Brisbane again.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Fraser Island
March 23rd, 2006:
Today's offshore island was the World Heritage "Fraser Island". This 125KM long island is the largest sand island in the world and is off the east coast of the Australia.
The island started off as a sand bar millions of years ago, next to the Australia coast, and over the years more and more sand was deposited to create a relatively big land mass. Due to the proximity to the coast, plant seeds were able to land on the island and initially it was plants which were able to grow in sand which took hold. Over thousands of years the plant matter from these plants created a thin top soil and other varieties of plants started to grow and today the sand island is covered with a number of different types of forests.
The island isn't flat and consists of hills and hollows. In some of the hollows a compacted impermeable layer of dead plant matter called humus built up. Rain water, trapped by the compacted humus, created crystal clear freshwater lakes and the sand island has managed to sustain quite a few of these lakes.
The island is also inhabited by different creatures, most notably the Fraser Island Dingo. Australian mainland dingoes have interbred with domestic dogs creating a mixed breed. However, there were no domestic dogs on Fraser and so the Fraser Island Dingo is now considered to be the purest breed of the species and is actually a descendant of the Chinese wolf (as you can see I managed to pay attention to the tour guide for much of his speech(!)
The island itself is notable in other areas also. It has, for example, no tarmacadam/bitumen roads. There is gravel-over-sand in some places but these are rare: every other road is a sand track. So, for example, the main road on the island is a beach(!) which runs most of the length of the island ("75-mile beach" as it is known). Needless to say, when the road is a beach, conditions can change dramatically in the space of an hour. Also, as if the bumpy surface, deep potholes, streams, waves and tides were not enough of a distraction, the beach also serves as the landing strip for light aircraft(!) Due to the challenging driving surface, ordinary cars, trucks and buses are not allowed: only four wheel drive vehicles are allowed on the island.
Lastly, you can swim in the sea surrounding the island, but due to the lack of lifeguards and the strong rip currents, it is generally advised that you avoid the man-eating shark infested sea around Fraser.
The tour I went with was with Australian Day Tours which operates in Brisbane. The tour takes you to the island, brings you around and drops you back to your accommodation at the end of the day. There were twenty-eight of us on the tour and I was expecting a fleet of Land Rovers to bring us all around (as ordinary buses cannot handle the lack of roads) but to my surprise they unveiled a four-wheel-drive bus(!), which I had never come across before.
Our guide on the island was nicknamed "Crocodile Dundee" by the guys working for the tour operator and I initially thought that it was just a name to impress the tourists... and then I met him: he had the same weather beaten appearance as the character in the movie and throughout the day he was full of talk of living off the Bush and experience he'd gained from his aboriginal buddies. He was quite the character.
I had buddied up today with three other solo travelers, two Scottish girls and an English girl and we all had a very enjoyable day.
I did have one major surprise though: it actually rained today(!) and it was the first rain I'd seen since leaving Ireland nearly a month ago. It wasn't any drizzle either: it was from the hurricane up the coast and so it was a real belter with the sea around the island getting whipped up to a frenzy, the main highway looking like it was near closure and most of the tourists in the group getting saturated. Being from Ireland though, where we know a thing or two about rain, I had always carried an umbrella in my mini-backpack and that pessimism/realism finally came in useful. The girls I'd teamed up with were very grateful that I was their knight in shining armor ;) The rain did also give that authentic feel one of the rain-forests that we had a (quick!) walk through.
Other stops on the tour were to Lake McKenzie, which is a freshwater lake and to the "silent stream" which apparently flows silently instead of trickling/gurgling. For us, the stream was silent but that was due to the steady roar from the rain shower/cloud-burst.
I did feel, at the end of it, that the trip was very rushed. We didn't have much time at any of the stops and even with the tight schedule we barely ventured a third of the way into the island. Tour operators also offer two or three day trips with accommodation on the island and these may be the better option if you have the time.
Overall, the stormy weather and rushed schedule detracted from the experience but what we did see of the island and the fun with my fellow travelers made it an enjoyable day.
Last tip: don't visit the island with a hangover: seatbelts were provided on the bus and due to the constant bouncing around the sandy tracks they were most definitely required!
Today's offshore island was the World Heritage "Fraser Island". This 125KM long island is the largest sand island in the world and is off the east coast of the Australia.
The island started off as a sand bar millions of years ago, next to the Australia coast, and over the years more and more sand was deposited to create a relatively big land mass. Due to the proximity to the coast, plant seeds were able to land on the island and initially it was plants which were able to grow in sand which took hold. Over thousands of years the plant matter from these plants created a thin top soil and other varieties of plants started to grow and today the sand island is covered with a number of different types of forests.
The island isn't flat and consists of hills and hollows. In some of the hollows a compacted impermeable layer of dead plant matter called humus built up. Rain water, trapped by the compacted humus, created crystal clear freshwater lakes and the sand island has managed to sustain quite a few of these lakes.
The island is also inhabited by different creatures, most notably the Fraser Island Dingo. Australian mainland dingoes have interbred with domestic dogs creating a mixed breed. However, there were no domestic dogs on Fraser and so the Fraser Island Dingo is now considered to be the purest breed of the species and is actually a descendant of the Chinese wolf (as you can see I managed to pay attention to the tour guide for much of his speech(!)
The island itself is notable in other areas also. It has, for example, no tarmacadam/bitumen roads. There is gravel-over-sand in some places but these are rare: every other road is a sand track. So, for example, the main road on the island is a beach(!) which runs most of the length of the island ("75-mile beach" as it is known). Needless to say, when the road is a beach, conditions can change dramatically in the space of an hour. Also, as if the bumpy surface, deep potholes, streams, waves and tides were not enough of a distraction, the beach also serves as the landing strip for light aircraft(!) Due to the challenging driving surface, ordinary cars, trucks and buses are not allowed: only four wheel drive vehicles are allowed on the island.
Lastly, you can swim in the sea surrounding the island, but due to the lack of lifeguards and the strong rip currents, it is generally advised that you avoid the man-eating shark infested sea around Fraser.
The tour I went with was with Australian Day Tours which operates in Brisbane. The tour takes you to the island, brings you around and drops you back to your accommodation at the end of the day. There were twenty-eight of us on the tour and I was expecting a fleet of Land Rovers to bring us all around (as ordinary buses cannot handle the lack of roads) but to my surprise they unveiled a four-wheel-drive bus(!), which I had never come across before.
Our guide on the island was nicknamed "Crocodile Dundee" by the guys working for the tour operator and I initially thought that it was just a name to impress the tourists... and then I met him: he had the same weather beaten appearance as the character in the movie and throughout the day he was full of talk of living off the Bush and experience he'd gained from his aboriginal buddies. He was quite the character.
I had buddied up today with three other solo travelers, two Scottish girls and an English girl and we all had a very enjoyable day.
I did have one major surprise though: it actually rained today(!) and it was the first rain I'd seen since leaving Ireland nearly a month ago. It wasn't any drizzle either: it was from the hurricane up the coast and so it was a real belter with the sea around the island getting whipped up to a frenzy, the main highway looking like it was near closure and most of the tourists in the group getting saturated. Being from Ireland though, where we know a thing or two about rain, I had always carried an umbrella in my mini-backpack and that pessimism/realism finally came in useful. The girls I'd teamed up with were very grateful that I was their knight in shining armor ;) The rain did also give that authentic feel one of the rain-forests that we had a (quick!) walk through.
Other stops on the tour were to Lake McKenzie, which is a freshwater lake and to the "silent stream" which apparently flows silently instead of trickling/gurgling. For us, the stream was silent but that was due to the steady roar from the rain shower/cloud-burst.
I did feel, at the end of it, that the trip was very rushed. We didn't have much time at any of the stops and even with the tight schedule we barely ventured a third of the way into the island. Tour operators also offer two or three day trips with accommodation on the island and these may be the better option if you have the time.
Overall, the stormy weather and rushed schedule detracted from the experience but what we did see of the island and the fun with my fellow travelers made it an enjoyable day.
Last tip: don't visit the island with a hangover: seatbelts were provided on the bus and due to the constant bouncing around the sandy tracks they were most definitely required!
Crikey!
March 24th, 2006:
Crikey! What would a visit to Australia be without visiting Australia's most famous son Steve Irwine of the TV show "The Crocodile Hunter" and his famous Zoo "The Australia Zoo"? The man and his Zoo are quickly becoming as famous as kangaroos and koalas, both of which are available at the zoo.
I went with Australian Day Tours again for this trip and this included a return trip to/from the zoo and an entry ticket.
The zoo itself is set on spacious, lush grounds. We arrived at 10:45AM which was perfect timing for the start of the daily shows in a big auditorium at 11:00AM. First off was a snake show where they demonstrated various snakes and what to do if bitten by one. Next up was a tiger show which explained how endangered these cats are. The third show had exotic birds flying around the auditorium and lastly was the Croc show. Sadly, the man himself was off filming elsewhere (though I did nearly bash into his wife later in the day...), so it was a normal person who did the show and he demonstrated what a croc does when feeding (or, more specifically when being fed). It was worth watching but the demonstrator, being normal, lacked the zaniness of Steve Irwine.
The zoo also featured many enclosed areas where you could walk amongst the birds and animals. So, there was a kangaroo park area where you could mingle with and feed kangaroos. Similarly there was a koala area where you could get up close to koalas and lastly there was an enclosed avian area where tropical birds flew overhead or hid in the trees. There were many other creatures at the zoo and all areas appeared to have been elaborately designed to make its inhabitants as comfortable as possible.
I found it all to be a nice, relaxing way to spend the day and it was great to finally meet kangaroos and koalas.
Crikey! What would a visit to Australia be without visiting Australia's most famous son Steve Irwine of the TV show "The Crocodile Hunter" and his famous Zoo "The Australia Zoo"? The man and his Zoo are quickly becoming as famous as kangaroos and koalas, both of which are available at the zoo.
I went with Australian Day Tours again for this trip and this included a return trip to/from the zoo and an entry ticket.
The zoo itself is set on spacious, lush grounds. We arrived at 10:45AM which was perfect timing for the start of the daily shows in a big auditorium at 11:00AM. First off was a snake show where they demonstrated various snakes and what to do if bitten by one. Next up was a tiger show which explained how endangered these cats are. The third show had exotic birds flying around the auditorium and lastly was the Croc show. Sadly, the man himself was off filming elsewhere (though I did nearly bash into his wife later in the day...), so it was a normal person who did the show and he demonstrated what a croc does when feeding (or, more specifically when being fed). It was worth watching but the demonstrator, being normal, lacked the zaniness of Steve Irwine.
The zoo also featured many enclosed areas where you could walk amongst the birds and animals. So, there was a kangaroo park area where you could mingle with and feed kangaroos. Similarly there was a koala area where you could get up close to koalas and lastly there was an enclosed avian area where tropical birds flew overhead or hid in the trees. There were many other creatures at the zoo and all areas appeared to have been elaborately designed to make its inhabitants as comfortable as possible.
I found it all to be a nice, relaxing way to spend the day and it was great to finally meet kangaroos and koalas.
Brisbane
March 21st, 2006:
...and so onto Brisbane. Brisbane is located on the east coast of Oz and was settled well before Western Australia (where Perth is located) was fully explored by colonial explorers. It was originally started in 1825 as a prison settlement but was opened up for general settlement in 1840 and is today home to 1.6 million people.
It starts to hit home just how vast this country is when you consider that it takes about five hours to fly from Ireland to New York and it similarly takes four and a half to five hours to fly from Perth to Brisbane.
Brisbane is noticeably different to Perth. Perth was all modern architecture and is more business/corporate orientated. Brisbane has history: there's a lot of older style buildings amongst the modern skyscrapers. It also has pieces of modern art in parks/streets and is more geared up for backpackers and tourists. There also appears to be more of a buzz about the place in the evenings.
The weather is also different: it is actually cloudy here and gone are the days of 37C (as in Perth). To be fair, the clouds visible at the moment are related to an outer spire of a hurricane, but the locals here also say that it is cloudier and wetter here in general. That wetter weather hasn't prevented water restrictions from being introduced though: many skyscrapers have water features (e.g. pools and fountains), but many of those pools are now empty due to the restrictions. Apparently they are not far off moving to the next level of restrictions which will include fining people who wash their cars or water their gardens.
Walking around the CBD reveals lots of shops, colleges, museums, apartments and white-collar businesses. Also next to the CBD is the famous Story Bridge. This steel bridge was completed in 1940 and while not as famous as the Sydney Harbor Bridge, it is still popular with tourists. For the thrill seekers there is also the possibility of walking up and over the metal girders and supports: it should be noted, though, that the bridge is quite tall, that it can get windy there and the safety rails for the walk only went upto my waist so its not for the faint hearted. I gave the walk a skip as I intend to do the Sydney bridge and I wouldn't want to detract from that.
So, in the coming days I'll be doing the main sights around Brissy. I had intended on going further north after Brisbane but the last hurricane (not the current one causing the increased cloud cover) was a Category 5 with wind speeds of 300Kph and it clobbered the cities up there so its all up in the air (so to speak). In the mean time I'm off to my next off-shore island (!)
...and so onto Brisbane. Brisbane is located on the east coast of Oz and was settled well before Western Australia (where Perth is located) was fully explored by colonial explorers. It was originally started in 1825 as a prison settlement but was opened up for general settlement in 1840 and is today home to 1.6 million people.
It starts to hit home just how vast this country is when you consider that it takes about five hours to fly from Ireland to New York and it similarly takes four and a half to five hours to fly from Perth to Brisbane.
Brisbane is noticeably different to Perth. Perth was all modern architecture and is more business/corporate orientated. Brisbane has history: there's a lot of older style buildings amongst the modern skyscrapers. It also has pieces of modern art in parks/streets and is more geared up for backpackers and tourists. There also appears to be more of a buzz about the place in the evenings.
The weather is also different: it is actually cloudy here and gone are the days of 37C (as in Perth). To be fair, the clouds visible at the moment are related to an outer spire of a hurricane, but the locals here also say that it is cloudier and wetter here in general. That wetter weather hasn't prevented water restrictions from being introduced though: many skyscrapers have water features (e.g. pools and fountains), but many of those pools are now empty due to the restrictions. Apparently they are not far off moving to the next level of restrictions which will include fining people who wash their cars or water their gardens.
Walking around the CBD reveals lots of shops, colleges, museums, apartments and white-collar businesses. Also next to the CBD is the famous Story Bridge. This steel bridge was completed in 1940 and while not as famous as the Sydney Harbor Bridge, it is still popular with tourists. For the thrill seekers there is also the possibility of walking up and over the metal girders and supports: it should be noted, though, that the bridge is quite tall, that it can get windy there and the safety rails for the walk only went upto my waist so its not for the faint hearted. I gave the walk a skip as I intend to do the Sydney bridge and I wouldn't want to detract from that.
So, in the coming days I'll be doing the main sights around Brissy. I had intended on going further north after Brisbane but the last hurricane (not the current one causing the increased cloud cover) was a Category 5 with wind speeds of 300Kph and it clobbered the cities up there so its all up in the air (so to speak). In the mean time I'm off to my next off-shore island (!)
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Bye-bye Perth
March 20th, 2006:
Sadly the Perth leg of the trip has come to an end and I'm currently in the departures lounge of the airport awaiting the flight to Brisbane.
I had to check out this morning from my accommodation at 10:00AM and I suspect I had temporary insanity when I was booking the flight as the flight doesn't leave until nearly midnight, nearly fourteen hours later: groan...
I spent the day at "Kings Park" in Perth which is a picture perfect park perched in the hills over Perth. Despite the pleasant surroundings, its surprisingly tiring doing nothing all day and having looked at all of the trees by 4PM I was bored out of MY tree(!). Walking around Perth was out of the question as I had my main backpack with me and it was a bit warm today (37C) to bring it around. Still, it gave me plenty of time to be a handy photographer for fellow tourists, who asked me to take pictures of them using their cameras...
On the way to the airport I found myself experiencing something unexpected: for every previous flight there had always been anticipation, but this time around I realized that I might actually miss living here. In an attempt at performing a living-in-Oz-test-run, I had rented a self-contained one bed apartment at Scarborough. I found the grocery shopping to be cost-effective and was soon whizzing around the city on the public transport: all-in-all it just worked and its good to know that if I do end up living and working here that it should work out ok. However, now that I'm leaving I'll have to skill-up for a new city again (Brisbane) over the coming days.
Incidentally, my 100% record of being randomly selected for additional tests/questions when departing from a major airport is holding up nicely. It all started in London when out of a queue of over 100 passengers, the interrogator made a bee-line straight for me and proceeded to ask me questions about the airport experience (I must have had my approachable-face on that day). In Singapore I was selected from amongst my fellow passengers for an additional bag check (must have been my shifty/suspicious expression). Today, in Perth, I was randomly selected and taken aside for an "Explosive Substance Analyzer" test. This consisted of my clothes and bag being swabbed and the swab was then analyzed for trace chemical elements which may indicate that I had been around explosives. I say "may" because many common household cleaning products (such as bleach, if I recall correctly), contain trace elements of chemicals which can be used in explosives, so you may be unlucky enough to be flagged as a potential problem if you cleaned anytime before flying wearing the same clothes as you are flying with. According to the security dude, a positive match results in your main bag being taken off the plane, each item inside being examined, then your carry on bag gets the same treatment and finally you get interrogated to see what you know. The obvious solution: never clean!
Well, onto Brisbane. I'm just thankful I'm not going to Cairns which was just hit by a category five hurricane. Hopefully the weather in Brissy won't be as extreme(!)
Sadly the Perth leg of the trip has come to an end and I'm currently in the departures lounge of the airport awaiting the flight to Brisbane.
I had to check out this morning from my accommodation at 10:00AM and I suspect I had temporary insanity when I was booking the flight as the flight doesn't leave until nearly midnight, nearly fourteen hours later: groan...
I spent the day at "Kings Park" in Perth which is a picture perfect park perched in the hills over Perth. Despite the pleasant surroundings, its surprisingly tiring doing nothing all day and having looked at all of the trees by 4PM I was bored out of MY tree(!). Walking around Perth was out of the question as I had my main backpack with me and it was a bit warm today (37C) to bring it around. Still, it gave me plenty of time to be a handy photographer for fellow tourists, who asked me to take pictures of them using their cameras...
On the way to the airport I found myself experiencing something unexpected: for every previous flight there had always been anticipation, but this time around I realized that I might actually miss living here. In an attempt at performing a living-in-Oz-test-run, I had rented a self-contained one bed apartment at Scarborough. I found the grocery shopping to be cost-effective and was soon whizzing around the city on the public transport: all-in-all it just worked and its good to know that if I do end up living and working here that it should work out ok. However, now that I'm leaving I'll have to skill-up for a new city again (Brisbane) over the coming days.
Incidentally, my 100% record of being randomly selected for additional tests/questions when departing from a major airport is holding up nicely. It all started in London when out of a queue of over 100 passengers, the interrogator made a bee-line straight for me and proceeded to ask me questions about the airport experience (I must have had my approachable-face on that day). In Singapore I was selected from amongst my fellow passengers for an additional bag check (must have been my shifty/suspicious expression). Today, in Perth, I was randomly selected and taken aside for an "Explosive Substance Analyzer" test. This consisted of my clothes and bag being swabbed and the swab was then analyzed for trace chemical elements which may indicate that I had been around explosives. I say "may" because many common household cleaning products (such as bleach, if I recall correctly), contain trace elements of chemicals which can be used in explosives, so you may be unlucky enough to be flagged as a potential problem if you cleaned anytime before flying wearing the same clothes as you are flying with. According to the security dude, a positive match results in your main bag being taken off the plane, each item inside being examined, then your carry on bag gets the same treatment and finally you get interrogated to see what you know. The obvious solution: never clean!
Well, onto Brisbane. I'm just thankful I'm not going to Cairns which was just hit by a category five hurricane. Hopefully the weather in Brissy won't be as extreme(!)
Rottnest Island
March 19th, 2006:
Being the seasoned island hopper that I am (!)(Koh Samui -> Koh Tao -> Koh Samui, Sentosa), I realized in (mock) horror that it had been a whole seven days since the last time I was on an offshore island, so todays excursion was to the picturesque "Rottnest Island" which is located 28KM off the Western Australia coast.
A number of tour operators provide one day tours to/around this island and I went with "Hillary's Fast Ferries" which conveniently collected me from my accommodation at Scarborough beach, took me to and from the island and dropped me back to my accommodation at the end of the day.
There are a number of ways you can view this historic (think late 19th - mid 20th century) island and considering it was scheduled to be 37C in the Perth area that day, most people took the air-conditioned buses. I, however, like to do things differently and so rented a mountain bike from one of the many bike shops so that I might cycle around the island, view things at my own pace and to be able to take more pictures.
I was initially dubious about my bike handling ability as I hadn't been in the saddle for ten-fifteen years, but I found that old saying about riding a bike to actually be true and had no problems. My partner in crime for the day was an American girl from Arkansas and together we set off to do our worst.
Our first stop was at one of the main settlements on the island. Here we viewed one of the main industries back in the day, salt mining, and there was also references to how the aboriginal people were integrated into the community: sadly it was the aboriginal jail and the aboriginal graveyard which were two of the more prominent facilities which remain. We hadn't bothered with a guided tour of the settlement but hopefully a guide would have shown that there was a more coherent and productive integration between the two communities.
So, after the settlement it was time to check the map to find the next place to visit. After checking, it had to be rechecked as neither of us wanted to have to use the soul-destroying words "we, uh, may have to turn around..." especially with the exertion of cycling in "the oven".
Once we were both satisfied, we were off. We gamely tried to ignore the smug looking tourists in the cool, moving fridges, aka buses-with-air-conditioning, and pressed on. Still, at the very next stop we had our revenge: we had found a site which the tourist buses didn't visit. The WW2 anti-naval guns at Oliver Hill.
It seems that in the 1930s, the British feared a possible problem coming up with Germany and Japan. They built anti-naval gun batteries through the commonwealth to bolster defenses. Throughout the years since the war, the guns were decommissioned, many being sold for ten shillings(!) and today only four remain, two of which are on Rottnest (the others are in Gibraltar and South Africa).
In the late 80's early 90's, lottery money was used to bring the Rottnest guns back to their former glory and today the three storey complex is in near-original condition (except for the live ammunition, naturally).
The magazine room with shells (sans-explosives) which weight 150KG+ is on the tour, as is the cordite (explosive used for propellant) room with its spark resistant floors and blast resistant ceilings, followed by the engine room (without the diesel generators), all of which are connected by underground corridors and finally the 9.2", 360 degree rotational, two storey gun itself. Sadly, test firing the gun was not on the tour but it was well worth the visit and we were expertly guided around by our volunteer tour guide.
The guns are located at the top of a big hill and it was near murder cycling up it, but the near break-neck speeds we managed on the way back down made up for it.
We pushed on, but right about the time we started seeing shimmering mirages on the road surface we stopped for the next activity: snorkeling. We had both rented the equipment and Deborah (the American) had done it before also so we were soon swimming and competing to see who could find the weirdest looking tropical fish (I had to tell myself afterwards that its not important who won: its the taking part that counts...(!).
In the bus back to the accommodation, after the ferry had dropped us back, most people were falling asleep which indicates how action packed the day was (and most of my fellow passengers had taken the easy bus option instead of the bike option). One piece of advice I would dispense is that the restaurants on the island were relatively expensive (captive audience & limited competition = increased expense) so if you can bring a packed lunch that may be best.
So, if you're looking for something to do around Perth, Rottnest may prove to be a fun and energetic way to spend the day.
Being the seasoned island hopper that I am (!)(Koh Samui -> Koh Tao -> Koh Samui, Sentosa), I realized in (mock) horror that it had been a whole seven days since the last time I was on an offshore island, so todays excursion was to the picturesque "Rottnest Island" which is located 28KM off the Western Australia coast.
A number of tour operators provide one day tours to/around this island and I went with "Hillary's Fast Ferries" which conveniently collected me from my accommodation at Scarborough beach, took me to and from the island and dropped me back to my accommodation at the end of the day.
There are a number of ways you can view this historic (think late 19th - mid 20th century) island and considering it was scheduled to be 37C in the Perth area that day, most people took the air-conditioned buses. I, however, like to do things differently and so rented a mountain bike from one of the many bike shops so that I might cycle around the island, view things at my own pace and to be able to take more pictures.
I was initially dubious about my bike handling ability as I hadn't been in the saddle for ten-fifteen years, but I found that old saying about riding a bike to actually be true and had no problems. My partner in crime for the day was an American girl from Arkansas and together we set off to do our worst.
Our first stop was at one of the main settlements on the island. Here we viewed one of the main industries back in the day, salt mining, and there was also references to how the aboriginal people were integrated into the community: sadly it was the aboriginal jail and the aboriginal graveyard which were two of the more prominent facilities which remain. We hadn't bothered with a guided tour of the settlement but hopefully a guide would have shown that there was a more coherent and productive integration between the two communities.
So, after the settlement it was time to check the map to find the next place to visit. After checking, it had to be rechecked as neither of us wanted to have to use the soul-destroying words "we, uh, may have to turn around..." especially with the exertion of cycling in "the oven".
Once we were both satisfied, we were off. We gamely tried to ignore the smug looking tourists in the cool, moving fridges, aka buses-with-air-conditioning, and pressed on. Still, at the very next stop we had our revenge: we had found a site which the tourist buses didn't visit. The WW2 anti-naval guns at Oliver Hill.
It seems that in the 1930s, the British feared a possible problem coming up with Germany and Japan. They built anti-naval gun batteries through the commonwealth to bolster defenses. Throughout the years since the war, the guns were decommissioned, many being sold for ten shillings(!) and today only four remain, two of which are on Rottnest (the others are in Gibraltar and South Africa).
In the late 80's early 90's, lottery money was used to bring the Rottnest guns back to their former glory and today the three storey complex is in near-original condition (except for the live ammunition, naturally).
The magazine room with shells (sans-explosives) which weight 150KG+ is on the tour, as is the cordite (explosive used for propellant) room with its spark resistant floors and blast resistant ceilings, followed by the engine room (without the diesel generators), all of which are connected by underground corridors and finally the 9.2", 360 degree rotational, two storey gun itself. Sadly, test firing the gun was not on the tour but it was well worth the visit and we were expertly guided around by our volunteer tour guide.
The guns are located at the top of a big hill and it was near murder cycling up it, but the near break-neck speeds we managed on the way back down made up for it.
We pushed on, but right about the time we started seeing shimmering mirages on the road surface we stopped for the next activity: snorkeling. We had both rented the equipment and Deborah (the American) had done it before also so we were soon swimming and competing to see who could find the weirdest looking tropical fish (I had to tell myself afterwards that its not important who won: its the taking part that counts...(!).
In the bus back to the accommodation, after the ferry had dropped us back, most people were falling asleep which indicates how action packed the day was (and most of my fellow passengers had taken the easy bus option instead of the bike option). One piece of advice I would dispense is that the restaurants on the island were relatively expensive (captive audience & limited competition = increased expense) so if you can bring a packed lunch that may be best.
So, if you're looking for something to do around Perth, Rottnest may prove to be a fun and energetic way to spend the day.
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Perth
March 17th, 2006:
The science of meteorology has a term called "the urban heat effect". This term is used when describing the process whereby cities can get hotter than the surrounding countryside, due to concrete/tar/glass heating up and reflecting heat (more so than grass/soil) and various mechanical processes in the cities (cars/air-conditioning units/etc.) releasing additional heat into the mix.
Well, having been in Perth on a hot day, I can now state that the scientists got it wrong: they should have named it "the urban OVEN effect"(!) Walking through the high rise buildings in the CBD (central business district) I found myself wondering why the buildings weren't melting.
It was certainly easy to spot the visitors to the city due to the little puddles of sweat which formed around them whenever they stopped, as opposed to the unruffled, dry natives. Still, it was heartening to overhear two of these oven-dwellers proclaim that it was "a little bit warm today". Surely that must have been the understatement of the millenium... :)
Perth itself appears to be a well laid out city with many well-maintained parks dotted around and is serviced by a strong public transport system. Traffic moved freely through the streets and the pavements were clean, wide and easy to navigate through.
The city center had lots of shops but when compared with, for example, New York it was lacking in one area: many of New Yorks skyscrapers provide public observation decks at their summits enabling you to get a great view over the city (and you usually have to pay the building for the privilege), but I tried the top three skyscrapers in Perth and none of them provided such a facility :(
I was in the city on the 17th March and so the bars and restaurants were jammed with St. Patrick's day revelers and music groups "straight from the land of the shamrock" added a lively atmosphere to the city. I made sure to re-enforce the stereotype all foreigners seem to have about us Irish and tried out many beers in many pubs (using the ol' "need beer to cool down" excuse :)
In terms of things to do (before losing some of my senses), I didn't spot many tourist related activities. I didn't dig up any museums (although I wasn't looking very hard, and I'm sure they exist) nor did I spot many tourist related things to do. I did, however, visit the world's tallest musical instrument which is housed in a dramatic looking building near the city port and was provided by staff with the opportunity to ring a couple of the twelve 15th century bells.
As a city, it is well geared up for business, is lively and appears to be going places (and I nominate the inventor of air-conditioning for a Nobel prize :)
The science of meteorology has a term called "the urban heat effect". This term is used when describing the process whereby cities can get hotter than the surrounding countryside, due to concrete/tar/glass heating up and reflecting heat (more so than grass/soil) and various mechanical processes in the cities (cars/air-conditioning units/etc.) releasing additional heat into the mix.
Well, having been in Perth on a hot day, I can now state that the scientists got it wrong: they should have named it "the urban OVEN effect"(!) Walking through the high rise buildings in the CBD (central business district) I found myself wondering why the buildings weren't melting.
It was certainly easy to spot the visitors to the city due to the little puddles of sweat which formed around them whenever they stopped, as opposed to the unruffled, dry natives. Still, it was heartening to overhear two of these oven-dwellers proclaim that it was "a little bit warm today". Surely that must have been the understatement of the millenium... :)
Perth itself appears to be a well laid out city with many well-maintained parks dotted around and is serviced by a strong public transport system. Traffic moved freely through the streets and the pavements were clean, wide and easy to navigate through.
The city center had lots of shops but when compared with, for example, New York it was lacking in one area: many of New Yorks skyscrapers provide public observation decks at their summits enabling you to get a great view over the city (and you usually have to pay the building for the privilege), but I tried the top three skyscrapers in Perth and none of them provided such a facility :(
I was in the city on the 17th March and so the bars and restaurants were jammed with St. Patrick's day revelers and music groups "straight from the land of the shamrock" added a lively atmosphere to the city. I made sure to re-enforce the stereotype all foreigners seem to have about us Irish and tried out many beers in many pubs (using the ol' "need beer to cool down" excuse :)
In terms of things to do (before losing some of my senses), I didn't spot many tourist related activities. I didn't dig up any museums (although I wasn't looking very hard, and I'm sure they exist) nor did I spot many tourist related things to do. I did, however, visit the world's tallest musical instrument which is housed in a dramatic looking building near the city port and was provided by staff with the opportunity to ring a couple of the twelve 15th century bells.
As a city, it is well geared up for business, is lively and appears to be going places (and I nominate the inventor of air-conditioning for a Nobel prize :)
Arrival into Oz
March 14th, 2006:
Well, hello from down under! On arrival, it looked like just another airport, but then I heard somebody actually say "Fair Dinkum" and there was no mistaking what country I was in(!)
My first impressions of the place, as the plane was about 10 minutes away from landing at Perth airport, were: red, dusty, red, flat, red :), and where's the grass?! The "Bush" north of Perth was composed nearly entirely of red sandy soil with sparse outcrops of green bushes. Roads were visible intermittently but most were dusty tracks. Sadly (or gladly for the local farmers, apparently), there were no roaming groups of bounding kangaroo, nor did I see any koala bears clinging to the bushes, nor were there any road-trains of Fosters... :( Still, I'm keeping my eyes peeled.
The first night in Perth, I stayed at Governer Robinson's Hostel. I had buddy'd up with a English guy and gal who, as it transpired, were following my route exactly(same destinations) though they had spent longer in Thailand (which was a good idea) but plan to stay for a shorter duration in the States. As we had all come straight from Asia we were looking for a traditional Aussi neighborhood to stay in, but naturally Governer Robinsons turned out to be smack bang in the middle of... Chinatown(!). Apart from the dodgy research on our behalf, the hostel was great: clean, friendly, cheap, within walking distance of the CBD and not noisy.
Having spent the days before arriving in Perth in a different big city (Singapore), I was not looking to stay in another city center so I left the following morning for Western Australia's most popular beach, Scarborough Beach, which is north-west of Perth city center. This beach has the whitest, softest sand and the bluest sea of any beach I think I've ever been to. It also has waves (as opposed to the wave-less flat sea at Koh Tao, which was great for swimming in btw), and those Scarborough waves have made it a surfer's mecca. The beach is also bordered by a grassy garden where people can lay-out if they find the "sand grains going everywhere" problem annoying.
The bus back to Perth takes 1/2 - 3/4 hour and costs a mere 1.93 euro (3.10 Australian dollars).
How does Oz compare with home so far? Apart from the obvious weather differences:
-> Prices are cheaper: houses are actually affordable, petrol is about 0.73 cent euro per litre (compared with 1.07 cent euro approx. in Ireland), cars are cheaper and when you go grocery shopping you end up with what feels like far too much change.
-> The locals are laid back (like home) and the accent is easy to understand.
-> Traffic is virtually non-existent in Perth so, for example, on the way from the airport to the hostel we flew down the main street in Perth during "rush-hour": it may have been a fluke, but the minibus driver insisted that it was the norm.
-> Currency is a mixture of modern and historical: the notes are modern plastic, but the coins appear like huge, old-fashioned heavyweight blocks of metal when compared to the waif-like euro coins.
-> TV is hard to judge: the Commonwealth Games are taking place in Melbourne at the moment so TV scheduling is dominated by sporting events.
-> Public transport in the city is well developed: public officials took the inspired decision to make most inner-city buses free(!) and buses to outlying suburbs are cheap and plentiful. This, no doubt, is a main factor in the lack of significant traffic.
-> Wireless Internet access is less developed (or more developed, depending on what way you see its business development heading). So, for example, Cork airport in Ireland has free wireless internet access for all to use and is provided as a value added service by the airport; international arrivals at Perth airport wanted you to have an account with an Australian telecoms company and to pay for the use of the service: I seriously doubt that a significant number of internationally arriving travelers would have such an account set up and so only a small number of local business people might use it while everyone else is locked out. Pity, as it is quite useful when arriving in a new country to be able to email home, research the locality, etc and its the same story in Perth city center: wireless access points are locked out to one service provider or another so it appears that you need to have multiple accounts, one for each provider. In both Singapore and Thailand wireless internet access was not a problem with free wireless access points being accessible in the main areas, but here, so far, wireless is no go. I suspect its due to broadband services being less developed: ads on TV offer broadband services but there is an incredible two year lockin with the contracts (how does anybody know definitively what they are doing in one year, not to mention two?). Still, hopefully all cities will follow the example of San Francisco in the US which is rolling out free internet wireless across the entire city in an effort to boost business.
-> The mobile phone service was a great surprise: my phone worked completely as soon as I arrived. It connected to a local Vodafone operator and everything worked straight away: even dialing 171 for voicemail worked with no effort on my part.
-> Cars tend to be bigger physically and generally have far bigger engines. Its interesting to see saloon cars (think Opel Vectra type cars in Ireland) shoot away from traffic lights: sometimes the (invariably younger, male) driver will spin wheels in first gear until smoke is visible, then change to second gear where the spinning starts again with more smoke coming from the tires: I'm guessing tires are cheap here, or something. Still, no sign in Oz yet of the odd green glowing light underneath some truck cabs as seen in Singapore.
In the coming days I'll be getting a flavor of the city and surrounding area. In five days I'm off to the east coast of the country. I have been asking fellow travelers if they thought I should stop off in the middle to see Ayres Rock, but the majority felt that there was no need. Therefore I may skip it at this stage, but may come back to it later in the year. In the mean time, its off to see WA's (Western Australia's) capital city, Perth.
Well, hello from down under! On arrival, it looked like just another airport, but then I heard somebody actually say "Fair Dinkum" and there was no mistaking what country I was in(!)
My first impressions of the place, as the plane was about 10 minutes away from landing at Perth airport, were: red, dusty, red, flat, red :), and where's the grass?! The "Bush" north of Perth was composed nearly entirely of red sandy soil with sparse outcrops of green bushes. Roads were visible intermittently but most were dusty tracks. Sadly (or gladly for the local farmers, apparently), there were no roaming groups of bounding kangaroo, nor did I see any koala bears clinging to the bushes, nor were there any road-trains of Fosters... :( Still, I'm keeping my eyes peeled.
The first night in Perth, I stayed at Governer Robinson's Hostel. I had buddy'd up with a English guy and gal who, as it transpired, were following my route exactly(same destinations) though they had spent longer in Thailand (which was a good idea) but plan to stay for a shorter duration in the States. As we had all come straight from Asia we were looking for a traditional Aussi neighborhood to stay in, but naturally Governer Robinsons turned out to be smack bang in the middle of... Chinatown(!). Apart from the dodgy research on our behalf, the hostel was great: clean, friendly, cheap, within walking distance of the CBD and not noisy.
Having spent the days before arriving in Perth in a different big city (Singapore), I was not looking to stay in another city center so I left the following morning for Western Australia's most popular beach, Scarborough Beach, which is north-west of Perth city center. This beach has the whitest, softest sand and the bluest sea of any beach I think I've ever been to. It also has waves (as opposed to the wave-less flat sea at Koh Tao, which was great for swimming in btw), and those Scarborough waves have made it a surfer's mecca. The beach is also bordered by a grassy garden where people can lay-out if they find the "sand grains going everywhere" problem annoying.
The bus back to Perth takes 1/2 - 3/4 hour and costs a mere 1.93 euro (3.10 Australian dollars).
How does Oz compare with home so far? Apart from the obvious weather differences:
-> Prices are cheaper: houses are actually affordable, petrol is about 0.73 cent euro per litre (compared with 1.07 cent euro approx. in Ireland), cars are cheaper and when you go grocery shopping you end up with what feels like far too much change.
-> The locals are laid back (like home) and the accent is easy to understand.
-> Traffic is virtually non-existent in Perth so, for example, on the way from the airport to the hostel we flew down the main street in Perth during "rush-hour": it may have been a fluke, but the minibus driver insisted that it was the norm.
-> Currency is a mixture of modern and historical: the notes are modern plastic, but the coins appear like huge, old-fashioned heavyweight blocks of metal when compared to the waif-like euro coins.
-> TV is hard to judge: the Commonwealth Games are taking place in Melbourne at the moment so TV scheduling is dominated by sporting events.
-> Public transport in the city is well developed: public officials took the inspired decision to make most inner-city buses free(!) and buses to outlying suburbs are cheap and plentiful. This, no doubt, is a main factor in the lack of significant traffic.
-> Wireless Internet access is less developed (or more developed, depending on what way you see its business development heading). So, for example, Cork airport in Ireland has free wireless internet access for all to use and is provided as a value added service by the airport; international arrivals at Perth airport wanted you to have an account with an Australian telecoms company and to pay for the use of the service: I seriously doubt that a significant number of internationally arriving travelers would have such an account set up and so only a small number of local business people might use it while everyone else is locked out. Pity, as it is quite useful when arriving in a new country to be able to email home, research the locality, etc and its the same story in Perth city center: wireless access points are locked out to one service provider or another so it appears that you need to have multiple accounts, one for each provider. In both Singapore and Thailand wireless internet access was not a problem with free wireless access points being accessible in the main areas, but here, so far, wireless is no go. I suspect its due to broadband services being less developed: ads on TV offer broadband services but there is an incredible two year lockin with the contracts (how does anybody know definitively what they are doing in one year, not to mention two?). Still, hopefully all cities will follow the example of San Francisco in the US which is rolling out free internet wireless across the entire city in an effort to boost business.
-> The mobile phone service was a great surprise: my phone worked completely as soon as I arrived. It connected to a local Vodafone operator and everything worked straight away: even dialing 171 for voicemail worked with no effort on my part.
-> Cars tend to be bigger physically and generally have far bigger engines. Its interesting to see saloon cars (think Opel Vectra type cars in Ireland) shoot away from traffic lights: sometimes the (invariably younger, male) driver will spin wheels in first gear until smoke is visible, then change to second gear where the spinning starts again with more smoke coming from the tires: I'm guessing tires are cheap here, or something. Still, no sign in Oz yet of the odd green glowing light underneath some truck cabs as seen in Singapore.
In the coming days I'll be getting a flavor of the city and surrounding area. In five days I'm off to the east coast of the country. I have been asking fellow travelers if they thought I should stop off in the middle to see Ayres Rock, but the majority felt that there was no need. Therefore I may skip it at this stage, but may come back to it later in the year. In the mean time, its off to see WA's (Western Australia's) capital city, Perth.
Friday, March 17, 2006
Last notes from Singapore
March 14th, 2006:
If you are an English speaker, you'll be glad to hear that English is the primary language used in Singapore. This country was formerly part of Malaysia so Malay is spoken sporadically, as is Mandarin (Chinese) due to immigrant workers, so it is a good idea to know at least the basics in all three. For example, saying "Ni hao" (its Mandarin, it means "hi" in English) to a bar girl was enough to earn me a free beer!
Due to the multiple languages, TV was a varied affair with Malaysian cooking programs on one channel and wacky Japanese gameshows on the neighboring channel. While some of these shows had questionable taste, it was an American show which took the biscuit, so to speak, on questionable content: the show consisted of eight obese people competing to lose weight(!) The slow-mo's of the contestants running on treadmills should have been enough to convince the producers that the show was A Bad Idea, but apparently not. Still, after wading past the Sumo wrestling and the brain numbing Chinese soaps, I did find the Australian program Home And Away which proved a useful study tool for learning the many Aussie colloquialisms : I now feel confident that I can "throw a shrimp on the barbi"; its also good to know, having studied the program, that if I ever go back to high school, I can spend the day in the coffee shop and also that it never, ever, rains ;)
A curious thing you'll find, if you travel to Singapore, is the emphasis on the military. The first radio show I heard (in the taxi from the airport) was sponsored by the Navy, TV ads promote various different branches of the military and billboards giving the benefits of military service are displayed alongside ads for computer war games. Conscription is used here, so every able bodied youth must spend at least 2 1/2 years serving their country. I had thought that Ireland's lack of conscription was the norm, but having visited countries in other parts of Europe and now also Asia I can see that its the exception.
Saturdays and Sundays are the wedding days in Singapore: there were four separate weddings in my hotel and peering out of my room window over the nearby hotels confirmed that all were jammed with wedding parties. I had never seen an Asian wedding before and was expecting to see the guests in traditional looking formal wear. Sadly, though, there were no flowing Samurai outfits(!) and even the bride wore a traditional western white gown. I tried gate crashing one of them but being the only Westerner made me stand out a little and "Ni hao" only gets you so far... If you want to be more adventurous with your Mandarin, you could try the far more advanced "Ni hao ma?" which means "How are you?". Just hope that they don't reciprocate the question as answering a question in Mandarin is beyond the scope of this tutorial(!)
Last tip: if you are looking for a place to take some good pictures of the Singapore skyline, there is a handy viewing area across the river from Raffles Hotel. I only spotted this in the taxi on the way to the airport, but hopefully you'll get a chance to use it if you are in the area.
So, that ends the thoroughly enjoyable Asian part of the trip. As I write this I'm relaxing in a plane flying to Perth drinking Champagne/sparkling-wine, watching a cloudless Indonesia pass by below and looking at the Oscar nominated "Constant Gardener". Qantas so far has been flawless, although there were a few dodgy moments at the airport when my Aussie working-holiday visa was being checked as it hadn't been correctly associated with my passport by Australian Immigration: one quick phone call sorted out the problem and they confirmed that the visa was aok. The native Perth-ians (?!) I was chatting with at the airport have given a nice long list of things to do in Perth so hopefully I won't be too bored there...! Well, I will be arriving in a couple of hours (its a five hour flight... urgh...), so its Sayonara Asia, G'Day Australia!
If you are an English speaker, you'll be glad to hear that English is the primary language used in Singapore. This country was formerly part of Malaysia so Malay is spoken sporadically, as is Mandarin (Chinese) due to immigrant workers, so it is a good idea to know at least the basics in all three. For example, saying "Ni hao" (its Mandarin, it means "hi" in English) to a bar girl was enough to earn me a free beer!
Due to the multiple languages, TV was a varied affair with Malaysian cooking programs on one channel and wacky Japanese gameshows on the neighboring channel. While some of these shows had questionable taste, it was an American show which took the biscuit, so to speak, on questionable content: the show consisted of eight obese people competing to lose weight(!) The slow-mo's of the contestants running on treadmills should have been enough to convince the producers that the show was A Bad Idea, but apparently not. Still, after wading past the Sumo wrestling and the brain numbing Chinese soaps, I did find the Australian program Home And Away which proved a useful study tool for learning the many Aussie colloquialisms : I now feel confident that I can "throw a shrimp on the barbi"; its also good to know, having studied the program, that if I ever go back to high school, I can spend the day in the coffee shop and also that it never, ever, rains ;)
A curious thing you'll find, if you travel to Singapore, is the emphasis on the military. The first radio show I heard (in the taxi from the airport) was sponsored by the Navy, TV ads promote various different branches of the military and billboards giving the benefits of military service are displayed alongside ads for computer war games. Conscription is used here, so every able bodied youth must spend at least 2 1/2 years serving their country. I had thought that Ireland's lack of conscription was the norm, but having visited countries in other parts of Europe and now also Asia I can see that its the exception.
Saturdays and Sundays are the wedding days in Singapore: there were four separate weddings in my hotel and peering out of my room window over the nearby hotels confirmed that all were jammed with wedding parties. I had never seen an Asian wedding before and was expecting to see the guests in traditional looking formal wear. Sadly, though, there were no flowing Samurai outfits(!) and even the bride wore a traditional western white gown. I tried gate crashing one of them but being the only Westerner made me stand out a little and "Ni hao" only gets you so far... If you want to be more adventurous with your Mandarin, you could try the far more advanced "Ni hao ma?" which means "How are you?". Just hope that they don't reciprocate the question as answering a question in Mandarin is beyond the scope of this tutorial(!)
Last tip: if you are looking for a place to take some good pictures of the Singapore skyline, there is a handy viewing area across the river from Raffles Hotel. I only spotted this in the taxi on the way to the airport, but hopefully you'll get a chance to use it if you are in the area.
So, that ends the thoroughly enjoyable Asian part of the trip. As I write this I'm relaxing in a plane flying to Perth drinking Champagne/sparkling-wine, watching a cloudless Indonesia pass by below and looking at the Oscar nominated "Constant Gardener". Qantas so far has been flawless, although there were a few dodgy moments at the airport when my Aussie working-holiday visa was being checked as it hadn't been correctly associated with my passport by Australian Immigration: one quick phone call sorted out the problem and they confirmed that the visa was aok. The native Perth-ians (?!) I was chatting with at the airport have given a nice long list of things to do in Perth so hopefully I won't be too bored there...! Well, I will be arriving in a couple of hours (its a five hour flight... urgh...), so its Sayonara Asia, G'Day Australia!
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