True story - I was in Coogee yesterday meeting up with Markus and his sister Wendy. So we went for a long walk along the beachfront checking out all the awesome houses there (some of the best views in the world). After about 45 mins of walking in the sun chatting about how good things are here in Aus, I was just thinking, everything is gonna be too good here and all that is missing is a nice dolly. Next thing, I look up and see this cute blonde running towards us. Tight red top, short shorts - u get the idea. So I'm thinking my prayers have been answered - a nice dolly! Next thing she gives us all a free ice lolly! Some promotion thing going on. So I figure I need to work on my accent a bit or something cos the powers above obviously misheard me. The lolly wasn't the best in the world to be honest so found myself secretly wishing for a milk shake rather. Would you believe it - my prayers were answered almost immediately as we watched that milk shake as she jogged off into the distance (baywatch style)! Ahhhh, the good life!
Anyways, I know I said I'd start the propaganda soon to tempt some more of you over here. So here are some of the pros and cons so far:
Pros
1. Everyone is super friendly here.
2. I don't think I've seen any litter yet (at all). Everything is really tidy.
3. Some of the most amazing beaches in the world.
4. The waves have been super good almost every time I've been to the beach (5 foot Dee Why on Wednesday was insane to watch). Can't wait for my shoulder to heal!
5. There is 270km of coastline in the Sydney harbour alone! Then there's still 2 other huge harbour/water systems in the Sydney area.
6. The diving and fishing is unreal.
7. The roads are so safe I actually heard them announce on the radio yesterday that a pet dog was the latest fatality on the christmas season road toll!
8. They have drive through bottle stores!
9. Everyone is super well off here. The mimimum wage is $15 an hour so there are virtually no beggars, thieves etc.
Cons
1. There's a chance you might run into Shane Warne or George Greegan
2. There's no longer a chance you'll run into Steve Irwin
3. The ozone layer is a thing of the past. I swear - even Shaka Zulu hinself would turn into a tomato here without his suncream.
4. It can be an expensive place at times. Some things (like drinks out and parking) are London prices.
Hope you all have a jol for new years and have a wonderful and prosperous 2007! Would love to hear what you all got up to over the silly season so drop me a mail with your news.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Sydney so far
So, you might have heard I had a bit of a stressful start to the trip. I basically got to customs at Sydney Airport and they told me I had no working holiday visa assigned to my passport (they are electronic visas) and I needed to remain in the holding area as I might have to rush for the last flight out that night (being deported). What the @&$#???
So I decided I better phone Angela (my sister in law who was picking me up) and let her know I was having a few issues.... Next thing, Chopper Read himself (dressed in a customs uniform) comes running over to me swearing and shouting "You think you bloody special maaaaaate?". Confusion, jet lag etc sets in so I ask him what the/his problem is and he points to a tiny sign saying u can't use mobile phones in the customs area and will be liable for a 1000 dollar fine. And he seemed pretty intent on slapping the fine on me (and 1 of his great big paws). So there I am, thinking I'm about to start my asia travels a lot sooner than expected with a lot less money in the travel fund and also minus my jacket (the air hostess thought it was ok to pick it up off a seat I had left it on by mistake and make a quick announcement for a lost jacket on the pa system and having no response decided to take it off the plane - and probably into his locker). So I was a bit rattled to say the least.
Anyways, lucky for me I managed to finally find my visa issue number, got hold of the UK embassy and sorted it all out. Chopper decided he'd rattled me enough to teach me my lesson - in Aus you do no break the rules (very true here). And Thai airways managed to find my jacket in London and post it back to me. So all's well that ends well!
Haven't been up to too much since arriving. Been spending the nights doing my currency trading and the days just chilling out really. Catching up on a lot of sleep too (last few weeks in London were a bit manic) and just enjoying the weather and all that. Hopefully catching up with Pommie Steve, Shaggy and Matt Gohl this weekend and the week after that Marcus and Brett should be here so it's all good.
Sydney life is awesome though and pretty sure I'm gonna fit right in. Everything is super easy to organise (bank accounts, credit cards, medicare etc). Hell - they even got drive through bottle stores here!! But that's all another story so will save for it later.
Not sure when I will make another post - so merry christmas to you all and have a safe and happy holiday!
So I decided I better phone Angela (my sister in law who was picking me up) and let her know I was having a few issues.... Next thing, Chopper Read himself (dressed in a customs uniform) comes running over to me swearing and shouting "You think you bloody special maaaaaate?". Confusion, jet lag etc sets in so I ask him what the/his problem is and he points to a tiny sign saying u can't use mobile phones in the customs area and will be liable for a 1000 dollar fine. And he seemed pretty intent on slapping the fine on me (and 1 of his great big paws). So there I am, thinking I'm about to start my asia travels a lot sooner than expected with a lot less money in the travel fund and also minus my jacket (the air hostess thought it was ok to pick it up off a seat I had left it on by mistake and make a quick announcement for a lost jacket on the pa system and having no response decided to take it off the plane - and probably into his locker). So I was a bit rattled to say the least.
Anyways, lucky for me I managed to finally find my visa issue number, got hold of the UK embassy and sorted it all out. Chopper decided he'd rattled me enough to teach me my lesson - in Aus you do no break the rules (very true here). And Thai airways managed to find my jacket in London and post it back to me. So all's well that ends well!
Haven't been up to too much since arriving. Been spending the nights doing my currency trading and the days just chilling out really. Catching up on a lot of sleep too (last few weeks in London were a bit manic) and just enjoying the weather and all that. Hopefully catching up with Pommie Steve, Shaggy and Matt Gohl this weekend and the week after that Marcus and Brett should be here so it's all good.
Sydney life is awesome though and pretty sure I'm gonna fit right in. Everything is super easy to organise (bank accounts, credit cards, medicare etc). Hell - they even got drive through bottle stores here!! But that's all another story so will save for it later.
Not sure when I will make another post - so merry christmas to you all and have a safe and happy holiday!
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
My new blog
Ok - so I decided to set up my own blog cos all the cool kids are doing it these days. So instead of spamming u all with group emails while I'm on my travels and then settling down in Aus, I figured I'd just post it on a website and it gives me a place to store my photos etc.
So a little bit about what is going on....
After 6 years of living in London, it was time for a change. I set out for that little island off the French coast in Feb 2001 with dreams of travelling the world, saving up as much as possible and having a jol doing it. I'm happy to report - Mission accomplished! The savings are looking good (once I manage to close my company down), the travels have been beyond incredible (considering my arrival in London was the first time I'd ever left Southern Africa) and I've enjoyed the ride the whole way.
But that island was far from tropical and having travelled the world I know there are better places to live. It's easy to get sucked into London life and there are lots of things I already miss but it's definitely not the long term lifestyle for me. Once my shoulder recovers fully from the last op, I wanna go surfing before and after work, have a boat to go fishing or wakeboarding in on the weekends, and have more than 6 hours daylight in winter. It's not too much to ask so stuff it - I'm gonna doooooo it!
So it wasn't too tough a choice to leave London. 5-6 years was always the time frame I had in mind. The hard part was choosing to go to Aus rather than SA. I love Durban to bits and feel like a traitor in a way now. But I figure that SA is still going thru some crazy changes in the grand scheme of things. Quite exciting rather than scary but planning ahead for 20 years time, Aus seems like a really safe and good option (having grown up in Zimbabwe makes you look at things slightly differently). Who knows tho - if it doesn't work out then I will be back in Durban in a flash. But I'd rather check out Aus first and then head back to SA rather than be in Durban wondering what Aus was like....
So the plan is to be in Sydney til 9th Jan. From here, I will head to Bangkok where I'll meet up with Bren O'Connor and his new fiance Laura (not that he had an old one) as well as Steven Ash - aka Badger. We're basically gonna head all over Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vieeetnaaaaam. 2 months of chilling out and trying our hardest to spend more than 10 quid a day. Gotta love it.
From there I'll be making a quick stop in London for a night or two (cos that's the cheapest flight route) before heading down to Lima in Peru. Gonna join an intrepid tour there (about 15 strangers) for the great trek across South America for 2 months. Too amped for that one!! Gonna do the inca trail, the Amazon rainforest, the pantanal, Iguassu falls, Rio etc etc etc.
From Rio, it's back to London again for a night or two and then on to Durban for a month from the middle of May to middle of June. My mom is getting remarried to George (super cool dude) so really looking forward to the wedding and the celebrations. My brother and his wife (who I am staying with now) will also be back so a good old family reunion is on the cards. Will hopefully be heading up to Chobe in Botswana again with my dad and boet for a bit of fishing, pinting and piddling. After that it's back to Aus to find my own place and possibly a job. Either that or continue with the currency trading I've been doing since I've been here. Nice and profitable so far but the trading hours are no good (8pm to 3am) and it won't do my career any favours so something to consider.
Will be taking lots of photos so be sure to check back for them.
So a little bit about what is going on....
After 6 years of living in London, it was time for a change. I set out for that little island off the French coast in Feb 2001 with dreams of travelling the world, saving up as much as possible and having a jol doing it. I'm happy to report - Mission accomplished! The savings are looking good (once I manage to close my company down), the travels have been beyond incredible (considering my arrival in London was the first time I'd ever left Southern Africa) and I've enjoyed the ride the whole way.
But that island was far from tropical and having travelled the world I know there are better places to live. It's easy to get sucked into London life and there are lots of things I already miss but it's definitely not the long term lifestyle for me. Once my shoulder recovers fully from the last op, I wanna go surfing before and after work, have a boat to go fishing or wakeboarding in on the weekends, and have more than 6 hours daylight in winter. It's not too much to ask so stuff it - I'm gonna doooooo it!
So it wasn't too tough a choice to leave London. 5-6 years was always the time frame I had in mind. The hard part was choosing to go to Aus rather than SA. I love Durban to bits and feel like a traitor in a way now. But I figure that SA is still going thru some crazy changes in the grand scheme of things. Quite exciting rather than scary but planning ahead for 20 years time, Aus seems like a really safe and good option (having grown up in Zimbabwe makes you look at things slightly differently). Who knows tho - if it doesn't work out then I will be back in Durban in a flash. But I'd rather check out Aus first and then head back to SA rather than be in Durban wondering what Aus was like....
So the plan is to be in Sydney til 9th Jan. From here, I will head to Bangkok where I'll meet up with Bren O'Connor and his new fiance Laura (not that he had an old one) as well as Steven Ash - aka Badger. We're basically gonna head all over Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vieeetnaaaaam. 2 months of chilling out and trying our hardest to spend more than 10 quid a day. Gotta love it.
From there I'll be making a quick stop in London for a night or two (cos that's the cheapest flight route) before heading down to Lima in Peru. Gonna join an intrepid tour there (about 15 strangers) for the great trek across South America for 2 months. Too amped for that one!! Gonna do the inca trail, the Amazon rainforest, the pantanal, Iguassu falls, Rio etc etc etc.
From Rio, it's back to London again for a night or two and then on to Durban for a month from the middle of May to middle of June. My mom is getting remarried to George (super cool dude) so really looking forward to the wedding and the celebrations. My brother and his wife (who I am staying with now) will also be back so a good old family reunion is on the cards. Will hopefully be heading up to Chobe in Botswana again with my dad and boet for a bit of fishing, pinting and piddling. After that it's back to Aus to find my own place and possibly a job. Either that or continue with the currency trading I've been doing since I've been here. Nice and profitable so far but the trading hours are no good (8pm to 3am) and it won't do my career any favours so something to consider.
Will be taking lots of photos so be sure to check back for them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
