The Oz Tour '08

Hello to all who have stuck out this travel blog thus far. You are to be rewarded as usual by average photos of some unphotogenic people! Since the last update, we are continuing our journey up the East Coast. Stopping for 5 nights in Surfers Paradise (yes, that is actually what the town is called!), and not doing a great deal actually. The hostel (Trekkers) comes highly recommended though. One of the few hostels that doesn't try to cram in as many people of possible. We met a few people there, 2 of which we are still hanging around with in Brisbane (Rachel and David).

We spent a day at Warner Brothers Movie World which was a laugh. It was really quite quiet, so minimal queues (always good). The Superman ride throws 4.6 G at you in the bends, Lethal Weapon threw us upside down I don't know how many times, and the Batman Ride throws you up (and consequentially down) at a ridiculous speed. The adrenaline certainly began to flow, but not quite as intensely as the skydive! There was also a Police Academy Stunt Show which was good.

We're now in Brisbane (in the smelliest hostel yet!) and we've started properly cooking instead of eating out all the time! Probably largely due to Rachel getting us in the backpacker mindset. We've not been up to much. The weather has taken a turn for the worse again, so it's raining a lot. I think we're going to get a car and pop over to Australia Zoo tomorrow while Jonny meets up with some family who live near here (then again, Jonnys family is so huge, there is probably a Titmarsh in every city in the world!)

I'll endevour to keep you updated on our travels. Enjoy the pics and seemingly pointless video (as you can't actually see Jonny at all!). There are a few random ones in there, like the giant lizard we saw, and Chris hugging an inflatable penguin! Also, please free to try out Jonnys Beach Yogo class at your local seafront!

Happy Birthday Sis and to Jonnys Nan Sheila! Love to all. Bye bye for now.

Whilst you all were asleep last night, I was risking it all to give myself my adrenline fix for the day, and most importantly give all of you something to laugh at watching my chubby cheeks at 200km/h! This video cost me $99 so please enjoy.

Me and Chris (Jonny did not "man-up", to coin his own phrase) took part in a 14,000ft Skydive over Byron Bay this morning. Highly recommended, however the video is well worth the extra dollar bills because believe it or not, you actually forget the experience pretty quickly afterwards! Byron Bay is the most Easterly point of Oz and 14,000ft is the highest allowed by law. I'll hopefully will get Chris' vid on here tomorrow.

Lots has happened since we last checked in. We left Sydney for Melbourne to watch the F1 Grand Prix. Melbourne was in the middle of a heat-wave at the time (when the Aussies are hot, you know you're gonna have a problem!). It was 39C during the race. Bought a ridiculous overpriced Lewis Hamilton McLaren shirt and also got in the Herald Sun Newspaper. Met up with Sian and Sara from the flat who were also there, which was cool. Hamilton won, so happy days. We made a day of it by getting there at 9am (race started at 3.30pm!). Good job as it took nearly 3hrs to walk around the track!

The only hostel with any rooms available was the only hostel without air-con. It had plenty of fans to turbo-charge hot air into your face though, which was nice. In the basement was a bar (and yes it was as grimey as it sounds) which had a Neighbours trivia (quiz) night. I'm not really a Neighbours fan, but we went for Jonny. To keep him under control when meeting his idols! Toadfish, Elle Robinson, and Oliver Barnes were there. It was embarrassingly empty being St Paddys night, but we had a giggle. Also came second in the quiz (with some help via txt from Casey!), but didn't win anything. Another memorable night in Melbourne, was spending a weeks food budget on one Chinese. Although it was from the Asian Food Festival 2007 winner.

The main reason for going to Melbourne was to drive the Great Ocean Road. We hired a Ford Falcon from Europcar for a couple of days. 2.0 litre automatic, so perfect for the job. Sara fancied joining us, so we headed out of Melbourne towards Geelong and Torquay. We stopped off at loads of places on the way to our hostel in Warrnambool. The lighthouse used in 'Round the Twist', A surfing museum, McDonalds (of course!), a surf pro competition (which had been called off due to no surf!), a waterfall which had dried up, cheeseworld, a wildlife park, and the 12-apostles. Gorgeous views and really windy (bends not breeze!) roads through Cape Ottway National Park. There are plenty of photos below. And a particularly special one when we drove through Peterborough!

We booked a hop-on hop-off bus ticket from Melbourne to Cairns - 3500km roughly. We've go 45-days to do it. Plenty of time. First stop was Canberra, the capital. It's the Milton Keynes of Oz as it was a purpose built city, but had far less roundabouts! We had a day at Capital Hill, had a tour of Parliament House and the War Memorial. I could have spent all day in the War Memorial, it really was an impressive place. The tomb of the Unknown Soldier (with the speech made by the Prime Minister - link) was especially breath-taking. An emotional afternoon actually.

The next stop up the coast is where we are now, Coffs Harbour. We've spent longer here than we planned, as there is no accommodation in Byron Bay until Friday. It's no bad thing, as the beach is a stones-throw away from where we are staying and it's lovely and warm. Jonnys been surfing again. I've been burning in the sun. This area is famous for banana picking, so obviously we had to visit The Big Banana! We went ice skating, which was good until Jonny got a bit too adventurous and knocked himself out. What a legend.

I seem to be breaking every piece of electrical equipment I brought to Australia. Camera - broken. Mobile Phone - broken. Laptop - broken. So, as per the last post, these photos are stolen of other peoples cameras. At least I'm in a few of them I suppose!

We are moving out of the flat on Thursday to fly down to Melbourne. Chris managed to get us 3 tickets to the opening race of the Grand Prix season, so on Sunday I expect my hearing to be completely shot! After that we're going to drive the Great Ocean Road (Jonny suggested in a convertable - not very backpackery, but I'm on board!). Then we're off up the coast. There is a hop-on, hop-off bus ticket for 350 bucks which will take us all the way up to Cairns, which is good.

As we say goodbye to Sydney: Me, Chris and Pamela (flatmate) walked along the Blue Mountains in Katoomba which was loads better than I expected it to be. Bloody knackering though. But we did it the lazy way, walked down all the steps, then got a train back to the top!

We popped out to see the Mardi Gras parade Kings Cross last week (You did warn me Bob!). And we went to the Sydney Aquarium as well. All good stuff. Anyway... to the photos (and a few vids)

Blue Mountains

Mardi Gras

Flat-42 Night out

Sydney Aquarium

Sydney and Wine Tasting

Couple of photos of Chris at the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Friday. I didn't do it. I might when we get back to Sydney if I've got any money left!

As my camera has run out of battery, and the charger hasn't arrived yet, I've stolen some photos off Chris and Jonnys. Hi to everyone, and thanks for the emails.

Work isn't happening at all like I expected. The woman at the work agency said I'll be lucky to get any casual work in the next month! Nice. We've got another 2 weeks left in the flat before we move on. As the weather is still a bit naff, we're spending our days watching Prison Break! Exciting, I know!

Not much going on to report. I hope everyone survived the quake! Thanks Jeff, for the warning email. I didn't quite get shaken out of bed over here though i'm afraid!

Sydney Skylounge
Some views from the Sydney Skylounge (the highest point in Sydney). Pretty spectacular.

Coogie Beach
Me and Jonny went to Coogie Beach on a rare day of sunshine last week. Much nicer than Bondi in my opinion. Going back there this weekend for the "Iron Man" Competition! As opposed to going to the Mardi Gras. (Thinking about it, I don't know which is the more gay!)

The Flat
Not much to say about the flat really. What a view from the balcony though!

Milling around Sydney
That last one is to prove to you non-believers that the weather is pretty miserable at the moment!

Ice Bar
Does exactly what it says on the tin. -5C inside. Everything is made of ice. Even the cocktail glasses. $40 to go in a glorified freezer really!

I thought it's about time I said hello. We lost a member of our group on Monday; Isaac went back home to start his new career earning big bucks, putting all us backpacker types to shame! It was pretty touch seeing him go coz he's made this trip a lot easier for me by continusely putting a smile on my face. He did alright on the flight home by getting 3 seats to himself. I bet I won't be that lucky.

In other news, we've now moved into a flat, which has made things loads better. I've been able to unpack and everything! Our flatmates are class as well. We did the "big shop" the day after we moved in, so Jonny has been at the stove cooking pasta most nights. There are 8 of us in total, between two bedrooms and two bathrooms, with a shared kitchen, living room and balcony. Comparing it to some of the other apartments we've seen, we've done rather well. There are 12 in the flat next door sharing one bathroom. Nice.

Next thing on the agenda is getting a job ASAP! Money is drying up quickly, and me and Chris are about to have a word with the people in the office to get some work. I think I'm going to do a months work whilst we're in Sydney, saving as much as I can, then we'll be off up/down the east coast to Melbourne and then up to Cairns.

We had a farewell meal for Isaac at the top of the Sydney Tower (slightly better than Blackpool Tower!), and got some great photos, but my camera ran out of battery (and I didn't bring the charger!). Casey has kindly offered to airmail it out to me, so hopefully some photos will be on here next time.

I've had a stinking cold for the past few days, so I need the sun to come out to cheer me up! Apart from the first week we got here, the weather has been naff. Knowing me, as soon as I start working, the sun will come out.

I hope everyone at home is fine and dandy. Send me an email (jjrbg@talk21.com) or call me on Skype (skype:jjglaves) and say Hi. I've been at bit home sick recently and have been missing Casey loads (Valentines Day didn't help much!). So send me an email telling me how rubbish England is to remedy the homesickness!

Right, I'm off. These Internet Cafes cost a fortune!

It's official. I've now learnt to surf in Sydney, Australia. Not bad hey? 10hrs of surfing in two days at Surf Camp, which is at 7-mile beach, two hours south of Sydney. Would have been even better than it was if the weather was nicer. It has not stopped raining for 3 days. But when you're in the sea, it doesn't really matter if it's raining or not! Although the wetsuit wasn't the most attractive item of clothing in the world, I breathed in my beer-belly, and started catching some waves. It's a brilliant laugh, and really easy to pick up. I've made a slideshow type thing, hope it works (please have a look at them as the pics cost me $50 - robbing b@5stards!)

Other than the surfing, we've moved hostels (although it's only next door to the old hostel!) and are going to start looking for a flat for a month or so. I will start work next week with any luck, as my money is quickly running out! Factory/warehouse work will suit me well. I'm struggling to get in the backpacking mindset, as opposed to treating it as a normal holiday. I'm getting there slowly though. There's not many photos of me (as I'm usually the one taking the picture!), but I'll try to get some of me off the others cameras and put them on here.

My mobile number over here is +61 451 332074 by the way, but due to the rain it's seems to be broken. Texting is probably the best way forward. Next things on the list of things to do are: Skydiving, Flying lesson, drive a 4x4 on Fraizer Island, see the Great Barrier Reef, and drive down to Melbourne in a camper-van. I'm aching from every muscle in my body, so I'm going for a lie down.

G'day all. Had a few hectic days, now just starting to find my feet. Thought I'd stick a few pics on here from our first week. By the way the 1995 computer i'm using in this internet cafe, is far from acceptable. The r key is very sticky, so that may explain some unusual spellings!

The view that faced us towards the end of the flight getting into Australia. Pretty amazing. Very happy to get off that plane as you can imagine.

We couldn't get in the hostel til the pm, so we had a wander round Hyde Park. You'd think Jonny looks miserable because of the flight, but he always looks that way!

Second night, we had a cruise aound Sydney harbour (with free drink of course!). So the first time I saw the Bridge and Opera house was from the water! Pretty good way to see them. The bridge climb will be getting booked very soon.

Headed over to Bondi on Australia Day. Bloomin amazing compared to, lets say, Blackpool/Hunstanton! I only took an hour till we saw a English lad being chased by the ol' bill! They all carry firearms out here, so fair play for running!

Australia Day night was spent at the harbour. Fireworks were properly good. Tried to get some pics, but they came out naff.

The most amazing thing for me was introducing the immigrants from all over the globe, who have become Australian citizens. As the boat came round, my English brain awaited the boos and onslaught of beer bottles towards their boat, but they cheered and applauded. That was amazing to me. They are so proud of their country, they want people enjoy it as much as them. They also have a 'welcome wall' at the harbour, which I thought was a war memorial at first. But infact it is a celebration of foreigners who have settled here.

The other great thing was Australia Day itself. What a fantastic idea to have a day dedicated to your own country. Why don't we have this back home. Just spend all day eating fish and chips, drinking tea and getting drunk at night. Oh wait, that already happens more than once-a-year!

I'm Now off to book a couple of days of surfing lessons. Also could do with getting a job! Nar, that can wait! Love and kisses.

Here we are. The beginning. The flight was actually much better than I expected it to be. I forced myself to stay awake as long as possible to aid the jet lag recovery, which seemed to work. We got out of the airport at 7am this morning, but couldn't get into the hostel (YHA Sydney) until 1pm. So, we went to have a look at the company who will sort out work etc whilst we're here. Put my mind at rest quite a lot. They seem to be a fairly professional outfit! They gave me my Australia Vodafone SIM Card, so my UK Mobile is now off. I don't think it's been activated yet, so I don't know the number. Once I do, it'll be on here.

Tried out Skype this morning. Rang me Ma, and Casey, and it worked really well. Feel free to add me. Search for 'jjglaves'. However, at this moment in time, you will be faced with 'red face' on the webcam! Fell asleep for about 45mins on the roof terrace earlier. That's all it takes in this heat. So now I look like a proper tourist!

Had a good ol' wander around Sydney today. Very very nice. Can't really compare it to anywhere. Maybe like a very warm London, where everyone is on valium. There doesn't seem to be any rushing around at all. It's very laid back.

Got to be up at 8:30am tomorrow for our orrientation. We learn all about Oz tax law and medical stuff. Thrilling. So I'll love you and leave you.