Round The World Down Under and Back Up tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-08-05:/blog/?domain=dufflecoat 2006-12-15T06:02:58Z Dufflecoat img/travel-blog-feed.png The story so far!! tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-12-14:/blog/?domain=dufflecoat&thisblog_entryid=58&entryid=34818 2006-12-15T06:02:58Z 2006-12-15T06:02:58Z At the moment, when we go out, we usually only go as far as the Coogee Bay Hotel (CBH) as we don’t want to spend too much money. I have ventured into a couple of other places in town but only once or twice so I will leave all the pub crawling for the Christmas period when Ken is over. Coogee is absolutely gorgeous too. We are now living on Coogee Bay Road which is the road leading straight ... At the moment, when we go out, we usually only go as far as the Coogee Bay Hotel (CBH) as we don’t want to spend too much money. I have ventured into a couple of other places in town but only once or twice so I will leave all the pub crawling for the Christmas period when Ken is over.

Coogee is absolutely gorgeous too. We are now living on Coogee Bay Road which is the road leading straight onto the beach, its only 5 mins away. The sun has been shining mostly here but there has been quite few days of rain and thunder storms thrown into the middle. All in all, it’s a really good spot, like a really nice holiday destination, which is all I really want it to be.

That’s my blog up to date now folks, hope you haven’t fallen asleep!!

Check out my photos on Bebo if you wanna see what I've been talking about..

http://dufflecoatsunrise.bebo.com

The story so far!! remains copyright of the author Dufflecoat, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Coogee Job Hunt tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-12-14:/blog/?domain=dufflecoat&thisblog_entryid=56&entryid=34815 2006-12-15T05:58:16Z 2006-12-15T05:58:16Z The job scene was a whole other story. Every day since arriving in Sydney, we had been on the internet sending off CV’s to any job we could find. We must have sent hundreds between the three of us, all looking for different types of jobs, and only had about two call backs between us. It was very frustrating. Then Jason got a number from someone he knew over here and he sent his CV in to that ... The job scene was a whole other story. Every day since arriving in Sydney, we had been on the internet sending off CV’s to any job we could find. We must have sent hundreds between the three of us, all looking for different types of jobs, and only had about two call backs between us.

It was very frustrating. Then Jason got a number from someone he knew over here and he sent his CV in to that person. She worked really hard to find him a job. He got a half days work first but then she found him something in Insurance full time. I gave my CV to Jay to give to them and they passed it onto their Finance section and now a girl in there is looking for work for me. She seems to be making an effort and said things are looking positive.

Jimmy, who has no money left at all, is having just as much trouble looking for work. He has had a couple of days of furniture removals but nothing concrete yet and we are due to pay two weeks rent on Monday to cover the Christmas period.

Coogee Job Hunt remains copyright of the author Dufflecoat, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Coogee - Round 2 tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-12-14:/blog/?domain=dufflecoat&thisblog_entryid=55&entryid=34814 2006-12-15T05:57:26Z 2006-12-15T05:57:26Z We had booked a night for us in Base Backpackers again, we had our own room as there was originally supposed to be the four of us. We contacted the lads in Coogee the next day, again to see if we could crash with them for a few nights until we got some accommodation and they let us no problem. The three of us managed to crash there, and then went looking for accommodation. It was not ... We had booked a night for us in Base Backpackers again, we had our own room as there was originally supposed to be the four of us. We contacted the lads in Coogee the next day, again to see if we could crash with them for a few nights until we got some accommodation and they let us no problem. The three of us managed to crash there, and then went looking for accommodation. It was not going to be easy to find as a lot of people who were going to be in Sydney for Christmas, were already there and settled in their accommodation.

By a stroke of luck after 3 days of looking, we got a number from someone and he had a twin and single room available so we went to meet him straight away. When we got there, he told us it was a mistake and the rooms were not available but that he had a twin room available somewhere else if we wanted to have a look at it. We did, and when we got there, it was lovely. The room itself was pretty small but the apartment was really nice, on the top floor with a nice balcony. The living area was huge, much better than what we had in St. Kilda so we took it. Unfortunately that meant Jimmy was still homeless but we knew at this point that we wouldn’t be able to get somewhere for us all to live.

Within a few more days, Jimmy had found a room in a house with 4 Irish girls and another Irish lad. He was going to have his own room so we were all sorted.

Coogee - Round 2 remains copyright of the author Dufflecoat, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> The road ahead... tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-12-14:/blog/?domain=dufflecoat&thisblog_entryid=54&entryid=34813 2006-12-15T05:56:34Z 2006-12-15T05:56:34Z Once the races were over, and myself, Jason and Paul were unemployed, we all decided that we were going to leave Melbourne and go to Sydney for Christmas. Jimmy was the only one working but he decided he would come with us too. We had a look at the various ways of getting there and decided the train would suit us best. The day we were going to book the tickets, Paul had a change of heart. He ... Once the races were over, and myself, Jason and Paul were unemployed, we all decided that we were going to leave Melbourne and go to Sydney for Christmas. Jimmy was the only one working but he decided he would come with us too.

We had a look at the various ways of getting there and decided the train would suit us best. The day we were going to book the tickets, Paul had a change of heart. He decided he wasn’t coming to Sydney, he was going to go home instead. I understood how he felt, he was only 20 and he had run out of money and missed home so I went into town with him and he changed his flights and booked one home for that Friday, the day we were going to Sydney.

We all went on the piss quite a bit then in our last week in Melbourne and we were all looking forward to something new in Sydney.

We gave the landlord notice that we were leaving and so on the day we were packing up, we were waiting on him to arrive so that he could give us back our bond. When he arrived, he started complaining that the house was dirty and that Paul owed him money. Paul did owe him a small amount of money, but the dirt in the house was from the two girls who were still going to be living there so we didn’t want to clean that up. He told us we would not get our bond back and then that after all deductions were taken out of it, we were only getting $50 each back anyway.

He left the house for a while so instead of cleaning it up, we grabbed our bags and headed off.

We got the train on the Friday evening, we met Jimmy there as he had been working that day. The train was an 11 hour journey so we would be traveling overnight. When we got seated on the train, we took out the deck of cards and had a few games. One of the guys working on the train noticed that we couldn’t play comfortably across the middle aisle of the train so he got us a different seat where we were facing each other and we had a proper table too. It was great. We then took out the poker chips and turned it into our own little poker den.

As we played away, a couple of Aussie guys noticed and wanted to join in. We had a couple of games against them while Jay went to bed. Before we knew it, it was 6am and we were almost at our destination.

Here it was, Sydney. Now all we needed was accommodation….and of course….some jobs.

The road ahead... remains copyright of the author Dufflecoat, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Joel...The disappearance... tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-12-14:/blog/?domain=dufflecoat&thisblog_entryid=53&entryid=34811 2006-12-15T05:55:39Z 2006-12-15T05:55:39Z After Joel was kicked out of the house, we did see him quite a bit in St. Kilda. As the weeks went by, we found out more and more about him and the scams he had been trying to pull off. We found out that he was not Irish, he was a kiwi. We found out that he had stolen money from two Dutch girls as they were traveling the east coast and he was staying in ... After Joel was kicked out of the house, we did see him quite a bit in St. Kilda. As the weeks went by, we found out more and more about him and the scams he had been trying to pull off. We found out that he was not Irish, he was a kiwi. We found out that he had stolen money from two Dutch girls as they were traveling the east coast and he was staying in their room. We found out that he had been telling stories about us to other people and that he had basically tried to bum money or free stuff from everybody he came across in his travels. With all of this info coming out, quite a few people wanted his head. Not surprising then that he disappeared all of a sudden.

He had gotten money from Paul & Jimmy so they wanted to kill him too, but once he left Melbourne, he hadn’t been spotted again.

Joel...The disappearance... remains copyright of the author Dufflecoat, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Melbourne Transport tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-12-14:/blog/?domain=dufflecoat&thisblog_entryid=51&entryid=34808 2006-12-15T05:55:01Z 2006-12-15T05:55:01Z Melbourne city centre was very well organized. It was all set out in blocks so it was never that difficult to find your way around. The transport system was pretty good too. There were trams that went everywhere close to the city centre, and where trams didn’t go, there was trains providing the service. There were a good few pubs and clubs in Melbourne, most of which we didn’t get to see as they wouldn’t let us in, ... Melbourne city centre was very well organized. It was all set out in blocks so it was never that difficult to find your way around. The transport system was pretty good too. There were trams that went everywhere close to the city centre, and where trams didn’t go, there was trains providing the service.

There were a good few pubs and clubs in Melbourne, most of which we didn’t get to see as they wouldn’t let us in, but they were all fairly well spread out too so there was a bit of walking involved from one place to the next.

It did remind me of Dublin quite a bit, but admittedly it was cleaner and better organized with a much better transport system.

Melbourne Transport remains copyright of the author Dufflecoat, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Crown Casino tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-12-14:/blog/?domain=dufflecoat&thisblog_entryid=50&entryid=34807 2006-12-15T05:54:14Z 2006-12-15T05:54:14Z Crown Casino, is the biggest casino in the Southern Hemisphere, so of course, I did manage to visit there a few times. They had a whole floor dedicated to Texas Holdem so I was in my element when I walked in. They had a few 1/2 cash tables which is all I ever sat down at. The minimum and maximum buy in was $60 so that was all you could lose in one sitting. I had ... Crown Casino, is the biggest casino in the Southern Hemisphere, so of course, I did manage to visit there a few times. They had a whole floor dedicated to Texas Holdem so I was in my element when I walked in. They had a few 1/2 cash tables which is all I ever sat down at. The minimum and maximum buy in was $60 so that was all you could lose in one sitting. I had a go 4 times here and kept a record of my winnings and losings and by the end of my visits, I was about $350 up.

They also had another game called Casino War, which was quite simply High Card. The dealer dealt you a card and then he had to beat it with a higher card himself. Really simple game but it got a little interesting when you both had the same card because then you had to double your money to try to win on the next go.

The top floor of the casino was a nightclub. Below that was the cinema. The floor below that had a couple of pubs and shops, with some gambling tables, and of course all the fast food restaurants too. The ground floor had most of the gaming tables and a massive bookies located inside with huge screens. The poker floor was below that again.

As you can imagine, the whole place was huge and would have to be seen to be believed.

Crown Casino remains copyright of the author Dufflecoat, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Melbourne Festival tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-12-14:/blog/?domain=dufflecoat&thisblog_entryid=48&entryid=34805 2006-12-15T05:53:19Z 2006-12-15T05:53:19Z So Jason’s dad arrived and took the bed that Stephen had been using. We were all set now, we had no problem housemates, at least not for another few weeks. We had tickets for the four race days so it was gonna cost quite a bit of money. Paul had since been let go from his job as there was no work for them, so he was living full time in the house with us now. ... So Jason’s dad arrived and took the bed that Stephen had been using. We were all set now, we had no problem housemates, at least not for another few weeks. We had tickets for the four race days so it was gonna cost quite a bit of money. Paul had since been let go from his job as there was no work for them, so he was living full time in the house with us now. Of course, he still wanted to be drinking all the time so the weekdays were getting just as expensive as the weekends. Jason’s dad had brought over our suits for us to wear to he races so we were all set.

The first day at the races was great. It was a Saturday, and the sun was shining. There was 130,000 people there, but we managed to find a decent enough spot for watching the races and getting our bets on. We had tickets for the Banks enclosure too for that day so we could get away from the big crowds and go in there for a while when we wanted to.

We had a few winners that day, the one in the first race and in the middle and then the last race too so we all finished in profit for the day. Of course there were thousands of women walking around us, all done up in their finest so sometimes it was hard to keep your eye on the horses.

After the races we went into P.J. O’Brien’s for a few more drinks but then headed home early enough to St. Kilda. The next race day wasn’t until the Tuesday so there was a few days off in between.

The Tuesday was Melbourne Cup day so that was the big one. Unfortunately though the weather had not been as kind that day and there was a good bit of wind which meant it got pretty cold at times. We weren’t having much luck on the horses that day either, with Irish horses losing in big races that we had all of our money riding on. We went straight back to St. Kilda that day and had a few drinks out there.

Paul decided he would come with us on the Thursday, so after using my trousers and shirts, all he needed was a suit jacket to make up a suit. He managed to get one just in time and so the four of us went racing on the Thursday which was Ladies Day.

This was probably the best day. The weather had picked up again and the ladies were out in their droves. There was a really good atmosphere at the track that day and we started on the beers a little earlier than before. Roisin met us at the races that day so there was five of us having a laugh but only four of us losing our money. Roisin happened to have a few winners so she was laughing in profit. Again, that night we hit P.J. O’Brien’s and while we were there we bumped into all the girls that had been on our Whit Sundays trip. The place was really buzzing that night and we had a fantastic time in there, arriving home in the early hours of the morning.

The final day’s racing was that Saturday which was known as Family Day. There were a lot of sideshows on that day to keep the kids entertained. There was a lot less people at the races that day too so it was much easier to get the bets on and get the beers in. Paul came with us again that day. The weather was really good again, but the horses were not coming good for us in most races. In the second last race myself and Paul had a big winner and so we were cheering and roaring him home down the home straight. We had watched that one from trackside so it was great when our horse came in first.

That night, for a change, we went into P.J. O’Brien’s again. There was not nearly as many people in there that night from the races so we spent most of the night playing cards at the table. We did manage to get a little gambling going but the bouncer was continuously checking to see that there was no money on the table.

Myself and Paul went into the city centre that night thinking we would get in anywhere as we were dressed up in suits and not looking like riff raff but no that was not the case. In Melbourne on a Saturday night, you need to be on a guest list which is done by booking a week in advance. Completely stupid if you ask me but ah well, we went back out to St. Kilda and had a great time in the Elephant & Wheelbarrow instead.

Melbourne Festival remains copyright of the author Dufflecoat, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> The search for work...and new flatmates... tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-12-14:/blog/?domain=dufflecoat&thisblog_entryid=47&entryid=34804 2006-12-15T05:52:31Z 2006-12-15T05:52:31Z Now that he was gone, Paul took the bed that Joel had been using but as he wasn’t there during the week, we all chipped in a bit of money so Frank wouldn’t give the bed to someone else. A Swedish girl called Sofia then moved into the small bedroom at the back. Yes, she was really good looking but she was seeing an aussie guy the whole time we were there so no, she wasn’t with anybody ... Now that he was gone, Paul took the bed that Joel had been using but as he wasn’t there during the week, we all chipped in a bit of money so Frank wouldn’t give the bed to someone else. A Swedish girl called Sofia then moved into the small bedroom at the back. Yes, she was really good looking but she was seeing an aussie guy the whole time we were there so no, she wasn’t with anybody from the house.

Things were going well again, but there was still the problem of no job. Jimmy had run outta money completely so I was subsidizing him for a few weeks. The job then phoned us again and told us that there was another delay for another week. This was pretty bad but didn’t really give us enough time to find something else. We got one days work doing furniture removals. It was really hard. We were clearing a 2nd floor apartment in 35 degree heat. Then moving it to a first floor apartment on the other side. We nearly gave up half way through cos we were sweating so much. We got paid 120 for that days work so it was pretty good and tied us over for a few days.

Then Stephen arrived. This was another Irish guy who had decided to take the other bed in our room. He was 32 and he was a butcher. At first we just thought he was a bit quiet, but it turned out that he was just a bit strange. He used to sit in the living room with his portable DVD player with big head phones and watching Manga on it. He would laugh out loud from time to time while watching what to us looked like children’s films.

He had been living with us only a few days when Jay decided his snoring was too much. Jay had been in bed early as he was working and I hadn’t so I didn’t have to put up with it yet. It was unbelievably bad. I suffered it a few nights but there was absolutely no way you could sleep through it. Another night while we were all in the living room, Stephen had polished off a full bottle of Vodka while watching the cartoons on his DVD player. He was really pissed and then he changed the cartoons for Porno. While sitting at the dining table, he was pitching a tent in his pants. We were all feeling pretty uncomfortable about this so we decided we would move over to the table to play poker as this should make him stop. But it didn’t. He kept going and he was now gyrating in his chair, and saying things like “Yeah, stick it in there, give it to her good”. We were all laughing our heads off but still it was seriously weird.

So again, we decided it was eviction time in the house and it was Stephen’s turn to go. We sat him down the next day and told him that what he was doing that night was seriously wrong but that it was his snoring that we couldn’t stand and that he needed to find somewhere to live. He didn’t take it very well but after Paul had a drunken go at him, he decided he was going to leave. He found himself a one bed apartment about a week later and he moved out.

It was just in time too as Jason’s dad was arriving that week and we needed the bed for him. I had been working in BEAT for 2 weeks at that stage, well one weeks training. It was a call centre and I was only given four hour shifts which I wasn’t happy about so I was thinking of leaving the whole time I was there as I had been promised 40 hour weeks. The Melbourne festival was starting the following week and I wasn’t happy in the job so I packed it in and decided I wasn’t going to look for more work until after the races.

The search for work...and new flatmates... remains copyright of the author Dufflecoat, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Joel - The Con Man tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-12-14:/blog/?domain=dufflecoat&thisblog_entryid=45&entryid=34801 2006-12-15T05:51:06Z 2006-12-15T05:51:06Z So things ticked along fine for the next week or so. We noticed that Joel hadn’t got any money though and was quite happy to take anyone else’s stuff. He drank our beer and ate our food and in the beginning we thought nothing of it cos we knew we were gonna be starting work soon and he would have money and he could pay us back. However, that was when we got the bad news. ... So things ticked along fine for the next week or so. We noticed that Joel hadn’t got any money though and was quite happy to take anyone else’s stuff. He drank our beer and ate our food and in the beginning we thought nothing of it cos we knew we were gonna be starting work soon and he would have money and he could pay us back. However, that was when we got the bad news. The job that we were starting was delayed by two weeks. Jason had started work so he was ok and as I still had some money I decided I would wait for the job to start but I kept looking in the meantime as did Jimmy. Joel was quite happy to let us do the looking and then jump on whatever jobs we came across.

Joel was quite the character, he always had a story to tell. There was a bunch of girls living next door to us, some Irish and some English. They came into our house a lot of the time, and Joel would tell us stories of how he had been with them and what he had done to them etc.. There was a few days passed before we started to notice all of his stories were crap and none of the stuff he ever said had really happened. Then there was the night we’ll not forget.

We all went out to The Elephant & Wheelbarrow in St. Kilda. The girls from next door came with us too. We were all having a great time and we were all getting pretty drunk. Then later on, Joel was asked to leave by the bouncers. Paul got all annoyed because of this and he left with him. But for some reason Joel kept saying that it was Paul’s fault that they got thrown out. We stayed in the pub and those two headed home, Jay was already at home. Apparently, this argument went on all the way home and Paul was getting really annoyed with Joel.

When they got home, it got even worse. They were screaming at each other and then Joel picked up the iron and told Paul he was gonna smash his face in with it. Of course Paul didn’t take this too well so he head butted Joel. He didn’t hit him too badly but then Joel went into the kitchen and it all went quiet for a while. This was when Jay decided to go to bed thinking it was all over.

Myself and Jimmy then made our way home from the pub. Nobody really knows what happened in between Jay going to bed and us arriving home but when we got there, Joel was holding a knife and they were screaming at each other again. Without thinking, Jimmy grabbed the knife from Joel’s hand and I grabbed Joel by the neck and threw him onto the bed. I held him down while Jimmy forced Paul out to the back garden to calm him down.

Then we had to decide what the hell we were going to do. We decided pretty quickly that we didn’t want Joel living in the house if he was going to be pulling knives on people. We couldn’t leave the two boys together now so we stayed out the back with Paul and told Joel to stay in the bedroom. We agreed we were going to ask Joel to move out in the morning so I went for a few hours kip and then Jimmy stayed up with Paul.

Jimmy woke me in the morning telling me that we were kicking him out now. We all went into the living room and told him that we wanted him to go. Of course, he then said he wasn’t leaving and we couldn’t make him go. So we called the landlord and asked him to come over that there was a major problem to be sorted. When he got there, Joel was insisting that he was going nowhere. It took a while to explain to the landlord what had happened and he was saying that Irish people do stupid things when they get drunk and that it would all blow over. We weren’t happy with this so we told him we were all going to leave if he didn’t kick Joel out. He took ages but eventually he realized we were serious and that he was going to lose money, and he told Joel he would put him in a different house.

Finally he was gone and we could all be a little bit more relaxed. While he was packing his stuff, he hurled abuse at all of us calling us scumbags and all sorts. He was crying as he left which was strange because he was being a prat and slagging us off, and then saying he couldn’t believe he was losing his friends. Frank then took him off in the car and brought him to a house in a different suburb.

Joel - The Con Man remains copyright of the author Dufflecoat, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> St. Kilda tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-12-14:/blog/?domain=dufflecoat&thisblog_entryid=43&entryid=34799 2006-12-15T05:49:39Z 2006-12-15T05:49:39Z The next day, we decided we would head out to St. Kilda which is where we had decided we were going to try to get accommodation, and stash the car in the meantime. After spending a few hours in the Internet Café looking for accommodation, we looked at some notice boards and made a few phone calls. We got an Austrian guy named Frank who had a few different places in St. Kilda and had a couple of ... The next day, we decided we would head out to St. Kilda which is where we had decided we were going to try to get accommodation, and stash the car in the meantime. After spending a few hours in the Internet Café looking for accommodation, we looked at some notice boards and made a few phone calls. We got an Austrian guy named Frank who had a few different places in St. Kilda and had a couple of rooms he could show us.

He picked us up and brought us to two different places. One was an apartment, sharing the room with 3 other people. We didn’t much like the thought of that as it would be like living in a hostel still. The next place he showed us was a house with two bedrooms. There was already two Irish guys living in there called Jimmy and Joel. They had only moved in that day though. The other room held 3 people but it was only going to be us two in it in the meantime. There was an English girl that Frank had picked up and brought around to see the places with us so in fear that she might want to take it, we paid a deposit straight away and said we would move in the next day.

Jason had gotten himself an interview for the next day so I took the bags and went out to St. Kilda in the car by myself. When I got to the house there was nobody there so I just went in and very happily unpacked our rucksacks and hung up all of our clothes. It was great to be able to do that having been living out of a bag for so long. Later that day while talking to Jimmy & Joel, I had an interview arranged for a call centre job where they had interviews the next day. We both got hired through our first interview. Things were looking pretty good, we had jobs and accommodation in the space of a couple of days in Melbourne so we were chuffed.

The house was pretty cool. It was just four Irish guys living there and we were all getting on grand so everything was fine. There was another guy, Paul who was friends with Jimmy & Joel and he worked all week in a place called Sheperton so he was only home at the weekends. When he was home, he stayed in a small makeshift bedroom in the back of the house. He was only 20 and when we first met him, I guess I would have to describe him as mad. He was working hard on a building site all week and when he came home, all he wanted to do was drink. So he would go straight out and get a case of beer and come home and start on it. He always tried to force everyone to join in of course, which most of the time, wasn’t that hard.

St. Kilda remains copyright of the author Dufflecoat, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Melbourne City Centre tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-12-14:/blog/?domain=dufflecoat&thisblog_entryid=42&entryid=34798 2006-12-15T05:49:03Z 2006-12-15T05:49:03Z After about another 6 hours driving, we arrived in Melbourne. It was pretty difficult getting around the city, with toll roads and lots of one way parts. Parking was a nightmare too. But we managed to navigate it in the end. We were staying in a place called Greenhouse Backpackers. We decided to stay there as it will was built on top of a Police station so I figured security would be pretty good. The room ... After about another 6 hours driving, we arrived in Melbourne. It was pretty difficult getting around the city, with toll roads and lots of one way parts. Parking was a nightmare too. But we managed to navigate it in the end. We were staying in a place called Greenhouse Backpackers. We decided to stay there as it will was built on top of a Police station so I figured security would be pretty good.

The room was pretty good and we had full size lockers inside for our bags. There was a bar downstairs in the hostel and there was decent enough drinks offers. We met a bunch of Scottish lads in there that night and afterwards we went to PJ O’Brien’s (Yes, there is one in every city in Australia) and stayed there till the early hours.

Melbourne City Centre remains copyright of the author Dufflecoat, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Canberra tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-12-14:/blog/?domain=dufflecoat&thisblog_entryid=40&entryid=34794 2006-12-15T05:47:30Z 2006-12-15T05:47:30Z So the drive to Melbourne was going to be about 12 hours or so and we had decided we would stop off in Canberra for a night to break up the trip. I got away with only doing about two thirds of the driving as Roisin did a bit of a stint on it. She wasn’t fond of driving in the cities though so I had to look after that part. But I managed to get a ... So the drive to Melbourne was going to be about 12 hours or so and we had decided we would stop off in Canberra for a night to break up the trip. I got away with only doing about two thirds of the driving as Roisin did a bit of a stint on it. She wasn’t fond of driving in the cities though so I had to look after that part. But I managed to get a bit of sleep in between that so it was much better.

We arrived in Canberra and didn’t have any accommodation, thinking it would be easy enough to pick something up for a night. Alas, Canberra was all booked out for that night. After a lot of driving around and a good few phone calls, we managed to get a night in a hostel. After a little bit of effort to get somewhere to park the car, we ventured around Canberra to see what it had to offer. As you will probably have heard from other people, there wasn’t a lot. We did manage to find a nice Irish Bar so we went in there for a few pints and a few games of cards. We didn’t do much else that night and we were up early again the next morning and back on the road.

Canberra remains copyright of the author Dufflecoat, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Coogee - Round 1 tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-12-14:/blog/?domain=dufflecoat&thisblog_entryid=38&entryid=34790 2006-12-15T05:46:51Z 2006-12-15T05:46:51Z The next day, myself and Jay headed out to Coogee cos that’s where Graham and the other lads were living. When we got there, parking was just as difficult as parking in the city as everywhere was metered and only 2 hour parking. We found the lads place easy enough but of course, there was no answer at the door and the security gate was locked. We heard some lads upstairs making noise so we shouted up ... The next day, myself and Jay headed out to Coogee cos that’s where Graham and the other lads were living. When we got there, parking was just as difficult as parking in the city as everywhere was metered and only 2 hour parking. We found the lads place easy enough but of course, there was no answer at the door and the security gate was locked. We heard some lads upstairs making noise so we shouted up to them. Of course they were Irish so they buzzed us in the gate and told us which flat the lads were living in.

So we went inside the building and hammered on their door. Graham was the only one home and he stumbled out of bed hung-over and let us in. He was surprised to see us of course but said we could crash there for the next two nights no problem. They had a sofa bed in their sitting room so it was handy enough.

We managed to watch the golf that day in a place called the Palace which was a really nice sports bar. We headed back to the lads place later that night and we went upstairs to another apartment where Irish girls were living that the lads hung around with. We had a great laugh in there and even made some prank phone calls to Ireland funnily enough.. Then we all went down to the Coogee Bay Hotel (CBH). There were three sections to this place, a sports bar, music bar, and a beer garden. It was pretty cool and we got to see the live premiership matches in there.

We were all pretty hung over on the Sunday so we just stayed in and watched Finding Nemo on tv. The only thing about Aussie TV though is there are far too many ad breaks during movies. Jay went out to try to catch the end of the golf but it wasn’t being shown that day. Europe ran away with it of course so we knew they were gonna win anyway.

Monday came and we went back into town to pick up Roisin. We had a nice long drive to Melbourne coming up.

Coogee - Round 1 remains copyright of the author Dufflecoat, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Sydney - Round 1 tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-12-14:/blog/?domain=dufflecoat&thisblog_entryid=37&entryid=34786 2006-12-15T05:46:12Z 2006-12-15T05:46:12Z So after leaving Byron, we continued on our journey to Sydney. We were rushing to get there as the Ryder cup was on and we needed a 24 hour venue so that we could see the games. We must have picked up about 20 speeding tickets on the way down between myself and Roisin driving. We arrived in Sydney without accommodation. We didn’t really think it would be difficult to get some but we had to ... So after leaving Byron, we continued on our journey to Sydney. We were rushing to get there as the Ryder cup was on and we needed a 24 hour venue so that we could see the games. We must have picked up about 20 speeding tickets on the way down between myself and Roisin driving. We arrived in Sydney without accommodation. We didn’t really think it would be difficult to get some but we had to try a few places before we got somewhere to stay. We stayed in Base backpackers. It was a pretty decent hostel, and the most appreciated thing again was the fact that they had lockers for our bags so we didn’t have to worry about leaving our stuff in the room.

We headed out that night and went to Scruffy Murphy’s. It was a 24 hour Irish Bar but they had a live band on there so it wasn’t the best place to watch the golf. We went across the road to Cheers which was also open till 6am and we watched the golf in there. I was pretty wrecked so I didn’t stay till the end. Jay and Roisin watched the whole lot until 6am.

Sydney - Round 1 remains copyright of the author Dufflecoat, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Byron Bay tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-12-12:/blog/?domain=dufflecoat&thisblog_entryid=36&entryid=34509 2006-12-13T06:58:23Z 2006-12-13T06:58:23Z Well Byron Bay wasn't too far for us to go and so I dont have any long winded stories or nothing adventurous to report about that trip. We got there and checked into one of the hostels from Lonely Planet's advice. We were in a room with 6 other people so it was a fairly crowded dorm. We were only going to be there for two nights so it wasn't too bad. We had a look around and ... Well Byron Bay wasn't too far for us to go and so I dont have any long winded stories or nothing adventurous to report about that trip. We got there and checked into one of the hostels from Lonely Planet's advice. We were in a room with 6 other people so it was a fairly crowded dorm. We were only going to be there for two nights so it wasn't too bad.

We had a look around and the place was seriously laid back. Fast food restaurants were not allowed so the only easy place to eat was Subway who must have met the criteria as their food was always fresh.

There was a lot of strange hippy looking people all around us, and in one of the fields there, there was a huge group of them standing in a circle holding hands singing some strange hippy songs. It was a little too weird for us I have to say. After they were finished doing that, they all went and had a meal together in the church grounds.

The beach there was nice but we weren't really in a beach mood so we didnt spend much time on it there. There was only one bar we could find and it was called Tin Billy's. It was aimed at Backpackers and had all sorts of cheap drinks specials. We had a fairly quiet night in there the first night but of course ran into a few people we had met previously on our travels.

Roisin (from our room in Cairns) managed to get a hold of us there and as we were heading to Sydney to watch the Ryder Cup and she was a huge golf fan, she managed to hitch a ride from us.

Our last night in Byron was pretty good, Roisin and her friend came out with us and we all got fairly drunk but we still had an early enough night as we were heading off in the morning.

Byron Bay remains copyright of the author Dufflecoat, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> WB Movie World tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-10-23:/blog/?domain=dufflecoat&thisblog_entryid=35&entryid=28646 2006-10-23T13:50:26Z 2006-10-23T13:50:26Z I had never been to a Theme Park other than Alton Towers which was about 15 years ago so I was pretty excited about going..I had a sore back still though so I was a bit concerned about that but not enough to miss out on the chance. We got in and there was pretty big queues in there but J tells me they were nothing compared to the likes of Disney World and big parks like that. There were ... I had never been to a Theme Park other than Alton Towers which was about 15 years ago so I was pretty excited about going..I had a sore back still though so I was a bit concerned about that but not enough to miss out on the chance.

We got in and there was pretty big queues in there but J tells me they were nothing compared to the likes of Disney World and big parks like that. There were 3 main rides here that we wanted to go on. Superman, Lethal Weapon, and Scooby Doo.

We had a look around first and went on a Batman ride which was ok, it was a nice intro to what was coming. We went on other small rides like Looney Tunes, and saw various shows on the street there.

The Police Academy show was pretty impressive, went on for about a half hour and it was full of mad stunts and stunt driving. The weather that day was amazing and so we were getting baked while we watched the show.

It was time to do one of the big ones so we queued up for Lethal Weapon. We were in the queue for about 40 mins and then it was time. We managed to get lucky and get the front two seats on the ride which were gonna be the scariest because it meant we could see everything that was coming. The ride took off really fast and the first part was a huge drop followed by an upside down roll. It was crazy being at the front and it felt like we were going to hit the bars at the sides. It was a really fast ride and there was about 3 upside down rolls which were brilliant but it was all over too soon and we got off, a little shaky I have to say.

Then we went into the Shrek 4d show which was great. It was a big Theatre and we were all given the glasses to wear and when the movie was on, we were sprayed with water, and the chairs bounced about, the whole time the picture stood out from the screen like you could touch it right in front of your face. It was absolutley brilliant.

When we first queued up for the Superman ride, the ride broke down and we had to leave and go off somewhere else so we got on the Scooby Doo Ghost Ride next. It looked like a normal run of the mill ghost train ride and for the first while, thats exactly what it was. But then the cart entered an elevator and brought us up a couple of levels. We were sent out of the lift backwards and from then on, it was brilliant. it was really dark and we were now on a roller coaster being sent flying round tight bends backwards unable to see what was coming next. It was completely unexpected and thats what made it so much fun.

Finally after another hour queuing, we got to go on the Superman ride. It was set up as if it was a really fast commuter train and there was safety videos playing repeatedly while we queued. Slightly annoying to say the least but eventually we were in the queue. We were one row from the front this time and so it was pretty good position again. We Got sent up to a point where the cart stopped. Then there was an explosion and we got sent flying out at about 4g's up a slope and back down the other side just as fast. It was unbelievable, there was a couple of loops in the ride too where we were completely flipped, and we were going faster than I had ever gone on any ride. It came to a stop and when I got off, my legs were like jelly. This lasted quite a while but that was the last thing we were doing in the park so we headed for the car and onto Byron Bay.

Have to say, the park was brilliant and I would recommend it to anyone. If you manage to be passing by that is... ;o)

WB Movie World remains copyright of the author Dufflecoat, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Surfers Paradise tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-10-23:/blog/?domain=dufflecoat&thisblog_entryid=34&entryid=28644 2006-10-23T12:21:10Z 2006-10-23T12:21:10Z We arrived in Surfers Paradise on a Monday. Not the best day to arrive there as it really only kicks off on the weekends. Surfers was a strange kind of place as it was more like a holiday resort in Spain, with some high rise blocks thrown in around the beach and a lot of neon lights in the town etc. We bumped into Laura again here (Scottish girl who we met at every stop) but we didnt really ... We arrived in Surfers Paradise on a Monday. Not the best day to arrive there as it really only kicks off on the weekends. Surfers was a strange kind of place as it was more like a holiday resort in Spain, with some high rise blocks thrown in around the beach and a lot of neon lights in the town etc.

We bumped into Laura again here (Scottish girl who we met at every stop) but we didnt really havea night out. We went for a couple of beers for the two nights we were there and even hit a club on the second night but we were taking it pretty easy at that stage.

The hostel we stayed in was a little strange, it was like a motel but the beds werent to bad and there was tv's in the room too so it was nice enough.

We were only there for two nights and then it was time to move on. We were going to Byron Bay next but there was a Theme Park to visit first, WB Movie World was only down the road from us.

Surfers Paradise remains copyright of the author Dufflecoat, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Brisbane tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-10-23:/blog/?domain=dufflecoat&thisblog_entryid=33&entryid=28637 2006-10-23T12:09:19Z 2006-10-23T12:09:19Z So, bad back and all, we headed for Brisbane next. It was a seriously uncomfortable drive for me. I had to sit certin ways and couldn't move my arms properly so steering was a bit of a problem. I nearly fell asleep on this trip too so I had to pull over for a bit. Jason was already asleep so I pulled in at a truck stop and just went asleep for an hour. When ... So, bad back and all, we headed for Brisbane next. It was a seriously uncomfortable drive for me. I had to sit certin ways and couldn't move my arms properly so steering was a bit of a problem. I nearly fell asleep on this trip too so I had to pull over for a bit. Jason was already asleep so I pulled in at a truck stop and just went asleep for an hour.

When I woke up, my back was all stiff so I had to pull myself back up to the steering wheel, take some pills and start again. It was dark by the time we reached Brisbane so we used the Lonely planet to find a hostel close to the city centre. This was the first real city we had been to and so it was great to see the tall buildings and bright lights again.

The city was all one way so we had to do a couple of loops to get ourselves into the hostel but it was fun at the same time. There was a big bridge right beside the hostel which had an amazing view of Brisbane while we were crossing it at night.

The hostel was XBase and we booked in for 7 nights. Brisbane was a big change from everywhere we had been so far. It was a proper city and for the first time we were surrounded by shops and pubs and clubs, along with the high rise buildings.

We spent the first couple of nights in the hostel as I couldn't move much with the pain I had in my back. It was the morning time that was the worst but after about 3 days, it was a lot better and so I was able to go out and have some fun.

As nice as it was to be in Brisbane, it wasn't the most eventful part of our trip. We met up with some girls there that we had met in various stops along the trip so we went out with them for the first couple of nights. Then a few of the people from Fraser got to Brisbane and we went out with them a good few nights again. We were mostly chilling out in Brisbane, and enjoying being back in civilisation. We stayed a total of ten nights in Brisbane. There was a great Backpackers Bar called Down Under which we spent a lot of our nights in. Again, it had pool tables and cheap jugs of beer so we were very comfortable there. There was also an Irish bar that we went to and we had a nice spot there for the English football matches.

We went out to see the All-Ireland final while we were in Brisbane and Setanta were charging $25 per person to watch the match. We weren't too bothered though because there was United Vs Arsenal and Chelsea Vs Liverpool on the same night. None of the results went the way we wanted that night though.

The hostel was very nice too but was pretty expensive in comparison to some of the others. We had no bunks in the room, just four single beds spread out very nicely with our own bathroom with seperate toilet too.

It was finally time to move on and our next stop was Surfers Paradise, so we set off early on the 11th morning.

Brisbane remains copyright of the author Dufflecoat, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> More bad luck!! tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-10-23:/blog/?domain=dufflecoat&thisblog_entryid=32&entryid=28621 2006-10-23T11:19:35Z 2006-10-23T11:19:35Z So, as part of our drunken last night in Hervey Bay, we had been doing some crazy drinking songs along with the embarrassing dance moves to go with them and it seems, I had overworked my back. I woke up the next morning feeling ok but it was when we were loading the car that it struck. I was leaning over putting stuff in the boot and my back popped, and I realised I couldn't get up again. I ... So, as part of our drunken last night in Hervey Bay, we had been doing some crazy drinking songs along with the embarrassing dance moves to go with them and it seems, I had overworked my back. I woke up the next morning feeling ok but it was when we were loading the car that it struck. I was leaning over putting stuff in the boot and my back popped, and I realised I couldn't get up again.

I had to rest on the edge of the boot for about 15 mins before stumbling back into bed, while screaming in agony. My back was really bad and I couldn't move my arms or legs without clenching in pain. So I lay in bed for a while and hoped it would get better. i realised it wasn't going to be that simple and it was gonna last at least a few days so I decided I wasn't going to spnd any more time in Hervey Bay because it had been hell for me cusing numerous amounts of bad luck so I took some Neurofen and climbed painfully into the drivers seat. We said goodbye to the guys we were on Fraser with and we headed off in the car.

More bad luck!! remains copyright of the author Dufflecoat, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Fraser Island (Day 3) tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-10-16:/blog/?domain=dufflecoat&thisblog_entryid=31&entryid=27795 2006-10-17T04:06:49Z 2006-10-17T04:06:49Z The next morning on Fraser was so much better for me. I woke up feeling well, not sick, and not hungover. We all had breakfast and then loaded the truck. I offered to drive and everybody agreed. It was so much fun driving the jeep around on the sand. It was a Toyota Landcruiser which my dad has but it was driving that off road which was so much more fun. Our first stop that day ... The next morning on Fraser was so much better for me. I woke up feeling well, not sick, and not hungover. We all had breakfast and then loaded the truck. I offered to drive and everybody agreed. It was so much fun driving the jeep around on the sand. It was a Toyota Landcruiser which my dad has but it was driving that off road which was so much more fun.

Our first stop that day was Lake Wabbee (Probably spelled wrong) and it was a good hours drive away.

When we got there, we realised that we had to walk for another 30 mins at least to get there. The walk was across sand dunes with no vegetation and it was literally like walking through the desert. Once we got to the top of each sand dune, I had great fun throwing myself off the top and down the other side of it.

It was serioulsy hot that day and we hadn't any water with us for the walk but eventually we got there and wow.....

It was another lake completely surrounded by sand, completely fresh water and after a long walk in the sun, it was very appealing.

Everyone got in for a swim this time, and the water, though it was cold was nothing like it was in Lake McKenzie the time before. We hung around there for only a little while because we all agreed we wanted to go back and see Lake McKenzie while the weather was nice.

I drove this time aswell and this time was along the beach which was really fun aswell. Sometimes you would have to squeez through a gap in the beach before a wave came in and completely covered it up on you.

When we got there, it was a different picture from the last time. The sun was shining down and the beach was a lot more crowded than before too. The water was not as cold as the previous day but it did still take a little adjusting to. Most people got in here again for a little swimming, and it was really, really nice.

We knew we were pushed for time though as we had to catch the 4pm ferry back. Myself and J went up to prepare lunch while everyone else finished off their swimming. While we were up there, there was a dingo sitting looking at us. We had been told never to feed them so we didnt but to me they are just like your average pet dog.

We all had lunch and then it was time to hit the road but this time at speed. Emer wanted to drive but because we were so pushed for time she gave me back the keys and told me to cos she didnt wanna crash.

This trip was the best by far as we were in a huge rush to get to the ferry. J put on some music in the jeep. He chose the song Highway to Hell and when it came on we just looked at each other and I put the foot right down on the pedal. We were really flying and the jeep was sliding from side to side. The people in the back were banging their heads every couple of seconds but everyone was laughing and we all knew it was necessary at the same time.

We were not too sure of the route to the ferry and a couple of times we missed our turn and had to reverse back up the road, as they were neer big enough to actually turn around on. But we got to the ferry in the end right on time and everyone was happy.

I only had to drive onto the ferry forwards this time but I knew I would have to reverse it off when we arrived at the other side. I managed to do both without any problems and when we reached the other side, we were greeted by the man from our hostel.

I followed him back to the hostel but I have to say it was nowhere as nice driving the jeep on the normal roads as it was in the sand.

That night, we all agreed we would use the food that we had left over and all have a meal together. We needed to cook the food between 3 different rooms as the cookers were not big enough but we all sat down together, had dinner and a great laugh. We got the drinking games going after that and they were absolutely hilarious. I was even voted the best driver of the trip with Emer getting the best chef award.

We went down to the nightclub after that and fell home in the early hours of the morning. Fraser was definitely the best part of my trip down the coast, and the people we met there were really great, and the main reason the whole thing was so good.

Fraser Island (Day 3) remains copyright of the author Dufflecoat, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Fraser Island (Day 2) tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-10-16:/blog/?domain=dufflecoat&thisblog_entryid=30&entryid=27792 2006-10-17T03:49:56Z 2006-10-17T03:49:56Z The next morning when I woke up, I heard that Matt and his girlfriend had to go sleep in the truck because I had been snoring so bad...oops. Then I realised why.......more bad luck had struck me. My throat was all swollen and I was having trouble breathing. I remembered having this before and that I had to go to the doctor for antibiotics. I began to panic then. I was on this island, pretty much the middle of nowhere, ... The next morning when I woke up, I heard that Matt and his girlfriend had to go sleep in the truck because I had been snoring so bad...oops.

Then I realised why.......more bad luck had struck me.

My throat was all swollen and I was having trouble breathing. I remembered having this before and that I had to go to the doctor for antibiotics. I began to panic then. I was on this island, pretty much the middle of nowhere, and I needed a doctor.

The guys were loading the truck about to head off on the second days driving so I went to ask the Aboriginals would they drive me down to the dock to get the boat back to the island and they hesitantly agreed.

I told the other guys to go ahead and that I was going to be heading back to the mainland and I would see them when they got back. However, after they had left, the aboriginal guy cae to me and told me that I would have to pay $300 for him to bring me to the boat as the truck he had belonged to his wife and she would not let it go there for less than that due to the price of petrol and the wear and tear on the truck from driving across the island.

I could not believe it. Not only were they not going to bring me to the boat but now the other guys were gone and I was stuck at the aboriginal camp with nowhere to go.

There was another family staying further up the camp so I went to see if they could help me. They seemed a little bit strange but I hadn't exactly got a lot of options so I went up and asked the father if he could give me a lift to the dock. He asked me would the aboriginals not bring me and I told him they had agreed to bring me originally but had since changed their minds. He said he would have to talk to his wife about it and walked away.

I realised he was not walking in the same direction as his wife, but rather up to the hut where the Aboriginal (Joe) was living. When he came back he said that Joe would look after me. Joe came out to me a few minutes later and again told me that he could not bring me to the dock and that all he could do was drive me down to the beach and ask one of the passing tour buses if they were headed that direction and if they would take me with them.

I was getting seriously annoyed and upset by this point so I made my own way down to the beach. There were lots of trucks on the beach with guys fishing there but none of them wanted to take me for less than $300 either. I stopped 3 tour buses as they passed but two of them were full and the other just wouldn't take me aboard.

I was getting desperate, I could not eat with my throat all blocked and every now and then it even stopped me breathing. Panicking wasn't helping my case either im sure. I had been told before hand that planes landed on the beach too so I went looking for one of them. I eventually saw one landing and I ran over to see if the pilot would take me with him on his way back. He said that he would, but then asked for $300. I couldn't believe the money they were looking for from me, I wasn't looking for a thrill ride, I just wanted to get back to the mainland to get my throat looked after.

Completely disheartened, I went back to the camp. Joe came to me and said there was nothing else he could do but he would make me up some drink to help my throat and that I should just go and lie down. I went back to the bedroom and a few minutes later, Joe came in with the drink for me. It tasted like a lemon drink but really strong. I drank it down and fell asleep. I woke up a few hours later to the sound of a plane landing nearby and so I jumped up to go see if I could get a lift.

I never found the plane but while looking for it, I realised that my throat had gotten almost completely better. I was so much happier and I put it down to the drink Joe had given me of course. With that, I stayed down on the beach just chilling out, listening to the noise of the waves crashing and looking at the people fishing.

By this time it was after 2pm and I knew the guys would be coming back to camp fairly soon. I stayed on the beach to wait for them as I knew I would be able to see the cars turning off the beach and up towards the camp. About 30 mins later I saw them go by and so I went back up to the camp to see them.

They couldnt beleive it when i walked in on them because they all though I was long since gone. Again, they were all really nice to me and so I was then more than happy to stick out the duration of the trip. We were scheduled to go back on the 4pm boat the next day so I was determined not to waste any more of the trip.

Again, we cracked open the beers and sat around chatting. I hadn't missed much on that days driving, or so they told me but that was comforting none the less.

Another two groups of people arrived in the camp around the same time as that and they attempted to camp in the hut where we had stayed the night before. There was mattresses and everything in there. We told them that we were in there and they would have to sleep in their tents. They didnt believe us at first but then Joe made it clear that they could have the hut the following night when we were gone.

A lot of the other group were Canadians, there were some English who I had already met in Hervey Bay, but no Irish in that group. All that they had brought with them was hot dog sausages and bread. They did not buy anything else for food. That night while we were preparing our dinner, they sat around the fire cooking their hot dogs and having them on bread. We were preparing a pasta dish with chicken. We made absolutley loads of food again and had a smashing big meal. There was some left over again and we offered that to them as we knew they would still be hungry and they jumped at the offer.

After dinner, Joe and his mates came around to do their Aboriginal show. They were all dressed up and painted and everything so it was really cool. They showed us some of their native dances and the songs to go with them and then they asked us all to join in. They were singing the song that they had taught us the night before so we had an advantage over the other groups. It was hilariously funny and I still find myself singing the songs to this day.

After they left, we were all sitting around the campfire drinking. The Canadians spent the whole time telling us how much they loved drinking and were really good at it and how they were not like Americans at all. The fact that he did so much talking and shouting and was so very cocky, led me to believe they were exactly like Americans, well this group were anyway.

After all of their bragging about drinking, it was them who fell first, leaving us at around 12 midnight to reach for their beds. Carly and Mel had not joined us that night and Kevin and Michelle went to bed about 2 as well as Matt's Girlfriend, so it was just J, myself, Matt, Emer and Fez left holding the candle. We started some drinking games and had sing songs. Before we knew it, it was almost 5 in the morning and we had to leave camp by 9 the next day. I hadnt drank that much because I wasn't 100% and didnt wanna risk any more problems. Emer almost fell into the campfire that night during one of our drunken songs but thankfully she managed to fall beside it rather than into it.

Matt wanted to stay up until the others got up because he thought it would be really funny but his girlfriend came out and asked him to walk her to the toilet (which was down a long dark path) and so when he was gone, the rest of us snuck off to bed.

Fraser Island (Day 2) remains copyright of the author Dufflecoat, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Fraser Island (Day 1) tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-10-16:/blog/?domain=dufflecoat&thisblog_entryid=29&entryid=27789 2006-10-17T03:10:41Z 2006-10-17T03:10:41Z So, with Fraser looming, it was at this point that the group we were travelling with became good friends of mine. I hadn't got much to bring with me and so I was kind of thinking of pulling out. The Japanese guy had already gotten his money back and cancelled his trip out of frustration of bein robbed. The group rallied round me and offered me all of their own stuff to replace mine and to help ... So, with Fraser looming, it was at this point that the group we were travelling with became good friends of mine. I hadn't got much to bring with me and so I was kind of thinking of pulling out. The Japanese guy had already gotten his money back and cancelled his trip out of frustration of bein robbed.

The group rallied round me and offered me all of their own stuff to replace mine and to help make sure I still went to Fraser. I borrowed some shorts off J and then brought two t-shirts that I had remaining (the ones i was originally leaving behind because I didnt want them to get ruined). The guys on the trip were really nice to me and encouraged me to go and im glad they did.

We still had all of the food and beers for the trip of course so all was not lost. So we all climbed aboard our 4X4 and headed for the docks.

There were only 4 people on the trip that had opted to be drivers. I was unable to drive that morning, and so the other guy, Matt, offered to do it and of course everybody accepted because nobody wants to be the first to make a mess of it. When we got to the boat he realised that he would have to reverse the jeep down a big hill and onto the boat. It certainly didnt look easy but he managed it fairly well.

While we were on the ferry, I was really feeling bad, both hungover, and now realising the extent of what had been stolen on me. Nearly everything I had was gone, and there was no way of getting it back.

The ferry arrived at Fraser, and it was back into the jeep and onward to the big adventure. Fraser Island was formed completely by sand, covered by trees, and great fun to drive on. Once we came off the ferry, the road was literally sand. There were some tracks there from cars that had gone before but that didnt stop the jeep from sliding around on it, and it was still seriously bumpy.

There were a few other cars that had gotten off the ferry ahead of us so we were mainly following them down the track until we got out on the open beach. At this point Mel was driving and had her friend Carly as the co-pilot. She done really well driving on the beach. There were areas that were completely covered with water and took a bit of skill to navigate through. Then there was the deep sand where we saw quite a few jeeps dig in and get stuck.

We did manage to get stuck at one point along the beach but we all jumped out and began to push and we were out of there in no time.

The seats in the back of the jeep were lengthways, meaning we were all sat facing each other, and the drive was so bumpy that we were literally thrown into each other and the roof, many many times.

Our first stop on the trip was Lake McKenzie. This was amazing. There was sand leading up to the water like a beach but then the water was fresh water so it was strange to see. The water was so pure here that it was drinkable and it was very easy to see to the bottom. This was a nice change from what I was used to.

Of course, I was seriously hungover so I thought the best way to handle that would be to run straight in and jump in the water, so thats exactly what I did. To my surprise, the water was unbelievably cold, so it wasn't long before I was seen running straight back out of there. I was also the first to test the tour guide's theory that the water was drinkable. It really was. Not quite a bottle of Ballygowan but better than most kitchen taps.

The weather was not so great that day so Lake McKenzie and the surrounding area did not look as impressive as we had hoped. We swam again for a little while, and noticed the cliff edge that loomed under the water there. i got a lend of some goggles and had a look. It was amazing. About 25 feet out from the start of the water, the sand formed a cliff face, leaving nothing but a drop down to about 25ft under.

It was time for lunch...There was picnic areas around Lake McKenzie so we headed up there and unloaded the truck for lunch. We had bought food for sandwhiches for our lunches so we prepared some salad, ham and turkey, and we made some sandwiches using the cheap rolls we had gotten in the shop the day before.

2 Minutes after I ate, I was sick. The beer had gotten the better of me and I couldnt hold on anymore. But the good news is that I felt great afterwards and was ready to take on the next part of the trip.

The next stop was a shipwreck called the Maheno. This was built before the Titanic in Belfast to be the fastest ship in the world but it ran aground on Fraser Island. It was pretty cool to see but most of it was lying underneath the sand and not visible to us. One of the guys on the trip, Fez, had a brilliant camera with him with a professional lens and he got some great snaps here. We then hit the road one last time to head for our overnight camp.

This was an aboriginal camp. There was lots of facilities there for us too. We had a cabin for sleeping in which was protected by mosquito nets and we had a kitchen where we could prepare our food and eat. There was even showers and toilets there for us too.

When we got there, I took the opportunity to get my head down and catch up on some overdue sleep. I was down for about an hour and when i woke up, everyone was just chatting in the kitchen so I jumped up and joined them. We sprung open some of the beers, and then made a start on dinner.

We were all gettign to know a bit about each other at this point and this is what the group consisted of:

Myslef and Jason....who you know by now
Carly and Mel, two English girls who eventually trusted us all enough to tell us that they were a couple :o)
Fez, this was a friend of Carly and Mel.
Kevin and Michelle, another couple, from Ireland.
Emer, a friend of Kevin and Michelle's.
Matt and his girlfriend (sorry, name forgotten) who were also from England but his girlfriend was living in Australia and he was just on holiday visiting her.

Everybody chipped in making dinner. We were having potatoes roasted in the open campfire, a large salad, corn on the cob (BBQ'd) and of course.....Steaks.

It was quite a feast we prepared for ourselves and there was even food left over but it was time for drinking by then..

Dessert was marshmallows toasted over the fire, and whatever alcahol you brought with you. We all gathered around the campfire with our beers, telling stories of what we had all done on our travels so far. The Aboriginals came down to talk to us for a little while and they taught us one of their songs and told us that they would be performing for us the next night when there would be another two groups of people there and that we would have to sing the song for them.

We were all pretty tired that night so by midnight everyone had filtered off to bed.

Fraser Island (Day 1) remains copyright of the author Dufflecoat, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> The trip to Hervey Bay tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-10-08:/blog/?domain=dufflecoat&thisblog_entryid=27&entryid=26708 2006-10-09T02:31:55Z 2006-10-09T02:31:55Z Ok, this had to be the trangest/funniest journey we had on the whole trip. It was also the start of a long run of bad luck for me. I as till kinda sick from the sailing trip, had a temperature and stuff so i was planning a nice earlly night after the drive. A fe hours into the journey. The car bgan overheating, and we had to stop. Then after about another hour, I was too ... Ok, this had to be the trangest/funniest journey we had on the whole trip. It was also the start of a long run of bad luck for me. I as till kinda sick from the sailing trip, had a temperature and stuff so i was planning a nice earlly night after the drive. A fe hours into the journey. The car bgan overheating, and we had to stop. Then after about another hour, I was too tired so I passed the wheel to Jay again for a bit and I got some sleep.

He woke me up about 120k later as we needed petrol and we pulled into the next station on the route. While we were fillin the car, an aussie man came over and started talking to Jay. He asked him where we heading to Rockhampton or Rocky as he called it. This was where we had plnned to make the stop over on our trip so we told him that we were heading there. He then told us that his car had run out of gas and he needed to get there, and asked us would we towe him. We weren't about to leave him stranded in the garage, so we agreed straight away. We knew Rocky was about 120k away from where we were and it was almost getting dark out so I knew it wouldn't be easy.

When we went to tie the cars together and we realised that he didn't have a proper towe rope. All that he had was just a couple of fairly worn ropes that he had tied together. The distance between the two cars was very little when he had attached the rope. This meant that I would not be able to brake without causing him to come into the back of us. We set off from the garage and within 5 seconds, the rope snapped. He tied the two broken ends together and with that, the rope and the distance between the cars, was now smaller again. I was not totally comfortable then and it had gotten very dark very quickly, and it had even began to rain.

We managed to get going the second time and got up to 100k an hour. It was very dark on the road though and I could no longer see him in my mirror to see if he wa even gesturing at me at all. He was literally right behind us because the rope was so long so we both had to brake very gently and at the same time to try to avoid breaking the rope or colliding. As his car ran on gas,which wasn't available at every petrol station, I didnt try to stop at the next garage we drove by because I could see that they did not sell gas. He did turn however causing the rope to break violently, and scaring the cr*p out of me at the same time.

I pulled into the forecourt to see what he was doing and he went in to see if they had gas. Of course they didn't and he had now completely ruined the rope that we were using. This was when he began to tell us the long story. He had no money to his name but the 80 dollars in his wallet. He had only put 20 dollars of gas in his tank thinking it might be cheaper somewhere else on the route. Little did he know, it was unavailable at most stations along the way. We told him he would need to buy a towe rope in the garage but he didn't even want to spend the money on that which was $8. He began trying to tie up the old rope again and trying to re-use it. It was ridiculously short at this stage so it couldnt be used again and he eventually gave in and bought the rope.

This rope was a lot more stable and longer. As he was tying it up, he told us how he was on his way to Rocky for a blind date. He had posted an add in the paper, saying that he was seeking a woman and that he was 6'3", blonde hair, and blue eyes. He had received lots of responses, not surprisingly with that description, he hadn't mentioned the fact that he was in his late 40's and hadn't aged particularly well.. He was going to see two women in Rocky but had a preferred one because she had lots of money, and the other had a kid. We were getting pretty concerned about the whole thing at this stage.

It was only about another 40k to Rocky though so we told him we would towe him the rest of the way and jumped back in the car. We got there without anymore problems, although there were some scary hills and things that had me worried for little periods. We got to Rocky safe and sound though and sent him on his way. What a relief it was. We then found a motel and booked ourselves in for the night. I was so tired I fell asleep straight away, and was out for the count for the whole night.

The trip to Hervey Bay remains copyright of the author Dufflecoat, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Hervey Bay - The Robbery!! tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-10-08:/blog/?domain=dufflecoat&thisblog_entryid=28&entryid=26818 2006-10-17T02:34:45Z 2006-10-09T02:31:13Z We left Rockhampton the next morning but still had a 6 hour drive ahead of us. As part of our Whit Sundays trip, we had booked a self-drive trip to Fraser Island. This consisted of two nights and three days on the island, driving a 4X4 with 8 other people, camping out at night and driving round the island during the day. The trip included 2 nights accommodation with Fraser ESCAPE backpackers, so that was where we headed. ... We left Rockhampton the next morning but still had a 6 hour drive ahead of us. As part of our Whit Sundays trip, we had booked a self-drive trip to Fraser Island. This consisted of two nights and three days on the island, driving a 4X4 with 8 other people, camping out at night and driving round the island during the day.

The trip included 2 nights accommodation with Fraser ESCAPE backpackers, so that was where we headed. Hervey Bay was absolutely over crowded with shops, shopping centres, and so I was expecting it to be a pretty lively town when we arrived. However, that wasn't really the case and there was onlya couple of pubs, which closed early and one night club which reminded me of a bad version of Good Time Charlies, and that really says something.

The hostel was probably one of the strangest we had seen. It was a converted caravan park, so a lot of the rooms were actual caravans, and the others were like mobile homes you would see down in Wexford and that. There was only 4 beds in the room, and we had our own bathroom and kitchen unit so that seemed ok. There was an aussie guy living in the room when we got there, and he was the skinniest guy I have ever met. He had been travelling around for a long time living off the dole, and basically eating nothing.

The first night that we were there, we headed down the beach front to find a bar for a couple of drinks. There was two bars but they closed at 10:30 and the only other place was a nightclub that opened at that time and went until 3. When we got to the nightclub, it smelled really bad so we weren'too keen on staying there. We bumped into a Scottish girl that we knew from travelling around so we stayed for a couple and then headed home for a fairly early night.

I have to add this bit here so that the story makes sense a little furhter on. In our room, there was a ocked door. We just put this down to being a closet or something, but the next day we found out that it was actually a double room, within our room but there was nobody staying in there.

The next day we had our meeting for Fraser Island. This was where we met everyone who was going to be on our trip. There was 3 couples (one lesbian, which of course we only found out while on the island)myself and Jason, and one other girl and guy. They all seemed really nice on first impressions so we were looking forward to a good trip. We all put money into a kitty so that we could bulk buy the food for the trip. We were setting off at 8 the next morning so everyone, except myself an J of course, headed to bed for an early night.

After packing our bags for the next day, we went into the bar of the hostel and had a few drinks. The bar girl in there was getting drunk herself and seemed to be a little bit crazy. She was letting everyone smoke inside the bar (which is not normal for Queensland) and she was drinking shots while she worked. She even came out to play pool against us at one point. While we were talking to some of the people in the bar, about our sky dives, they asked could they see the dvd's. We asked the bar girl if that would be ok and she agreed so I went and got the discs, and went in behind the bar to put them on. There was a mass of equipment in there and I spent ages trying to figure out how to get it working but I failed miserably. However, I was already in behind the bar at that point, so I stayed.

I had the bar girl show me how to pour proper drinks, and make cocktails. J went to bed at this point but another Irish guy stayed in the bar with me. I was making lots of different cocktails, and any one I didn't like, I just threw straight down the sink and started again. The bar girl didnt seem to care how much alcahol was getting wasted so myself and the other Irish guy were having Baby Guiness shots in between each pint.
I fell back to bed at some point in the night, not even managing to get my jeans off.

I was woken up by Jason asking me what I had done with our bags that we packed for the trip. I was so hungover, I just told him to stop messing and I rolled over and tried to go back asleep. There was a Japanese guy in our room that night too and he was part of our Fraser Trip. His bag was gone and he was really concerned. Jason suggested that maybe the people had put the bags on the truck for us, and we were all happy with that idea for a minute until the whole thing hit home.

Nobody was going to come and load the bags for us, the bags were no longer in the room, my head was absolutely pounding and thats why this all took so long to process but........

WE HAD BEEN ROBBED!!!

I got a sick feeling in my stomach then as I remembered everything I had packed for the trip. iPod, digital camera, all of my toiletries, most of my underwear, my favourite t-shirts, my brand new sandals, my medication, pretty much everything I had.

Jason ran outside, when he came back, he had his bag in his hand. I was so relieved, I then thought that they had been playing a trick on me, and that nothing had really been stolen. That just wasn't the case. Jason's bag wasn't locked so they were able to open it and see what was inside. Realising that it was just clothes, they scattered them around the caravan park and threw the bag aside. My bag, and the poor japanese guys bag, were not so lucky. The zips on our bags had been locked, and so the dirty scumbag thieves, had to take the bags away somewhere else to find out what goodies were inside.

I ran out to the reception wearing just my jeans to tell them that we had been robbed. What I was expecting was a shocked face and an Oh My God, I can't believe it moment, but what I got was......You should have locked your door, thats what we say here....Lock it or Lose it. So I demanded that they call the police. It seems they already had so I went back to the room to wait for them.

While we were waiting on the police, we started to piece together what had happened. The door to the room was locked that night so we didnt understand how we had been robbed. The secret double room that was there had to be the answer. It turned out that while we were at our meeting the day before, two guys had checked in there. Bit strange for two guys to take the double room we thought. They then checked out at 5am while the rest of us were sleeping, and on their way out, they picked up our bags and took them with them. The hostel was really crap for security and they only ever took peoples first names at the desk when they checked in and never even asked for passports.

When the police arrived, they spoke to each one of us and took down the details of what was stolen. I knew they couldnt really do anything but at the same time it still gutted me when they said, enjoy the rest of your trip, im afraid there's nothing we can do. They took our mobile phone numbers and said they would contact us if anything came up, but alas, we've not heard anything yet.

With all of this going on, there was still a major problem for me, I had no clothes.....and I had to leave for Fraser in 30 mins.

Hervey Bay - The Robbery!! remains copyright of the author Dufflecoat, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]>