Travel Log

This log details Dave's journey (and Nic's homecoming) to Australia, and their travels around it.

Normal type is Dave writing, italics is Nic.

To see some jargon Dave picked up from the Aussies, click here.

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22/5/2002 10:05pm - On the plane

It's 10:05pm GMT, we're on the 2nd leg of our journey, Dave is snoozing and I'm bloody starving! I'm also bored which is why I've started the log. Of course Dave'll probably take out this junk I'm writing, but it gives me something to do so I don't care. I'm SO excited about going home! I can't wait. It seems so weird, cos it's nearly 7 months to the day that I flew over to London, and yet it seems like barely 3 months have gone by... heh, I must be getting old.

They're showing "A beautiful mind" and "Oceans 11" after dinner, but I've seen the 2nd one, and Russel Crowe is a fuck nut so I won't watch the 1st one. I'll try to get to sleep, which should work because aside from being bloody starving, I'm pretty damn tired. Oooh, the smelly guy next to me just got up.. he took his shoes off before and they smell, I wish the stench would hurry up and drift around a bit.

Anyway already sick of writing so I'm gonna go... dinner should be here in 5 anyway. Ciao!

23/5/2002 2am

Not gonna take out Nic's entry - she captured the spirit of this beautiful plane journey perfectly!

The dude next to me has arms as thick as tree trunks, so at least Nic has SPACE! And the stinky feet are probably mine anyway...

Watched the last of England disappear in a thick, inpenetrable bank of rainclouds - typical. Still, the countryside looked beautiful from the air - I know England will always have a place in my heart.

It's daylight outside. We're probably over Afghanistan or thereabouts - just wish I had a window seat...

23/5/2002 2:40am

Well my legs hurt and my eyes are scratchy, and I'm SO SO tired, but I'm going home! So I've just decided to stop my bitching before it gets outta hand.

23/5/2002 10:55am - Singapore

We're at Singapore Airport now, tired as hell, ugh. It's cool though cos Dave just farted in front of some nuns, hehe :D

...make route map...

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26/5/2002 9pm Oz time - Macksville

We've arrived! Well, on Friday we did. Got into Sydney and found out our luggage is back in London. They said they'd fly them out all the way to Coff's Harbour nearby and deliver them to the house - so far, Nic's has turned up, but the dumb fucks somehow didn't put mine on the 2nd plane so it was still in Frankfurt last I checked.

On Friday we crashed at 9pm, utterly exhausted, after I met everyone and we had some food.

Saturday I got up and outside it was glorious. This is going into WINTER? Aussie winter is nicer than British summer - almost June when we left and it was rainy/overcast most of the time. Here it was warm and sunny, so I grabbed a book and sat outside with the dog (Max) while Nic had a lie in. As a friend of mine also in Oz says, us poms are weather refugees here...

Later that day we drove up to Nambucca (just north of Macksville) and I swam in the Pacific. Saw the V-wall where people from around the world have painted all the rocks with really colourful "we were here" pictures and messages - very nice. Had a schooner of Toohey's New in the tavern overlooking the sea.

This place is beautiful - impossible to describe it in words. Still can't believe the weather.

Sunday was the BBQ, met more of Nic's relos and her mates, stuffed our faces. Then I felt like crap and went to bed early. Throat hurts, head hurts, nose blocked etc - out of nowhere - ouch. Feel a bit better now, gonna read a bit then crash. Oz rocks...

...find map of area - bigpond.com.au??...

27/5/2002 evening

Opened joint bank account. Day started fine, read my book in the sun. Now feel like shit. Pissed off at feeling like this, want to be able to breathe clearly and eat without pain, not have to gargle salt water and gag, sick of wheezing, sneezing, headaches, ulcer, feeling dizzy...

28/5/2002

In bed all day

29/5/2002

Went to Macksville and had lunch by the river.

30/5/2002 - Coff's Harbour

Drove up to Coff's Harbour (further north than Nambucca - closest city to Macksville) today. Did some shopping, got some new clothes and got birthday presents for Nic. Had McDonalds for lunch - their burgers taste nicer than English ones I swear... no mad cows here guv.

31/5/2002 - Nic's birthday night out

Went out tonight with Nic's mates for her birthday. Stuffed our faces with chinese then drove to Nambucca and went to the RSL club there. It was very different from english nightclubs... but then it's not supposed to be a "nightclub", more of a hang out place for ex-servicemen. There's a room full of "pokies", a bookies, a bar and a dance floor (dominated by two older ladies on the pull most of the night). We had a laugh and took it easy on ourselves, me and Nic are still recovering from our illness... so we didn't get "rorted" (pronounced raw-ded). :)

1/6/2002 - Happy birthday Nic!

Nic's 19th - again took it pretty easy, got some videos out and watched "American Beauty". Good film - completely not what I was expecting (something like "Bring It On"). Couldn't get "Evil Dead II: Armies of Darkness" out cos it was already on loan, hrmph. Next time..

2/6/2002

Today has been pretty slow. I'm starting to get a bit restless, so today if I was feeling well enough I was going to do this 26km walk to Taylor's Arm and the famous Pub With No Beer that the locals all do once a year on this day. Unfortunately, I felt like crap when I woke up this morning, and decided I'd have to do it another time. Bit of a long trek if you're feeling under the weather.

So instead I had a nice long lie in, then me and Nic took the dog for a walk down the road back towards town. It's a pretty nice road, very quiet, through the countryside - lots of bush, farms and the occasional tantalising view of the mountains in the distance. Those mountains look pretty interesting - covered with bush. The dog seemed to like the walk too. After we got back I had a go at doing some weights for a bit - I'm so unfit it's scary. Wonder if I would've keeled over and died after 10 k's if I'd tried that walk... (yeah I have to start thinking in metric properly, not the half-arsed way us brits do it......)

Thought I should write something on here since I haven't for a week :P It was my birthday yesterday, I'm 19 now! Only one year left of being a teenager... *sniffle* Got some nice things off people, Davey gave me some really pretty earrings :) Umm.... been trying to clean my room up cos it's so messy and it's got boxes full of stuff that I need to go through and get rid of or find new places for... soooo much fun! :P Nah, cleaning up isn't that bad. And better get back to it. :)

6/6/2002

Have started to work on getting back into shape. Doing weights now every other day and going for walks with Nic whenever we can.

Also been looking into learning how to drive a car over here - it's turned out to be a bit complicated. First off I need to get a NSW licence, which I do by converting my old UK one. To do this I need to do a motorcycle knowledge test and fork out $30 (even if I fail the test..) Then once I have my NSW licence, I can then apply for a Learner Licence and do another knowledge test, this time for cars (another $30). It's all for a good cause though... ;)

8/6/2002 - Night out in Nambucca

Today I met another of Nic's mates who was home from uni for the long weekend, and we went out in Nambucca. We started drinking in the RSL, then ended up in the V-wall Tavern which had a live band who were pretty good, a barman who congratulated me on drinking double JD and coke ("Now that's a real drink!") and.. a pool table! My first game since I played Nic months ago in Southport... me and Ben played doubles against some guys who were as bad as us (pretty terrible) but we still lost, then I beat Ben when we got a go.

Later we retreated back to Ben's house to sleep, and according to everyone else I talked non-stop for the rest of the night...

9/6/2002 - Dorrigo

...find map...

Today we drove up to Dorrigo, in the Great Dividing Range. (More hungry than hung over, thank god)

We had a picnic by the Dangar Falls, then drove to the Dorrigo rainforest.

We went to a lookout that let us see right across the forest across to the mountains, and all the way to the Pacific Ocean in the distance. Then I took my first stroll through a rainforest :) The walk was really nice - I expected it to be more humid being a rainforest, but then it is winter -- something I keep forgetting, though the nights have cooled down quite a bit now. As we were leaving I saw my first pademelons (small marsupials, like a really small football-shaped kangaroo) and tried to feed them some grass. The bush turkeys were much more interested than the pademelons, who bounded off into the forest in disdain...

10/6/2002 - BBQ at Valla Beach

Continuing in the spirit of long weekends across the world, our first stop today was at a bottle shop where I bought a 24 pack of Toohey's New stubbies and Nic got some Vodka Cruisers... and then we got food...

The BBQ was one of the best I've had - me, Nic, Emma and Ben gorging ourselves on meat, salad and beers for a good couple of hours in the beautiful weather, then going for a walk along the beach where we dug a hole for amusement. A big one. (Hope nobody falls into it)

One of the best things about the scenery in Australia has to be the sunsets. Walking back to the carpark I was treated with a perfectly clear fiery orange sky over the Pacific, fading gently into pinks, purples and greens... it was like one of those photos you get on postcards at beach resorts that you never seem to see when you're there and wonder if they ever really happen.

14/6/2002 - Licenced to thrill...

I got my NSW riders licence today!! It looks kick-ass, and the photo of me isn't actually that bad (honest). I failed 2 questions on the test, and they were in the first section where I could've failed 3 anyway... the admin stuff you don't really need to know to actually drive. Booked myself in for the car knowledge test on Monday, so I've got a bit more reading to do over the weekend...

17/6/2002 - ...'L' for loser? I think not!

Passed my car knowledge test - no questions wrong this time. It helped that most of the questions were the same as the bike ones!

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20/7/2002 - Sydney

Well a lot of time has passed since I last updated this... just like all my diaries ever really. :) We've been staying at Nic's aunty's flat in Sydney for the past few weeks, while she's been on holiday in Perth. The flat is nice, about the same size as my flat in London last year, and it reminds us both of it in some ways... being together, just the two of us, is great.

We've bought a hell of a lot of books while we've been here. Let's see...

Nicole's Books Royal Assassin Robin Hobb Assassin's Quest Robin Hobb Fool's Errand Robin Hobb Longtusk Stephen Baxter Icebones Stephen Baxter The Colour of Magic Terry Pratchet Savage Earth Alwyn Scarth Selected Poems Robert Frost The Cosmic Logos Traci Harding Dinosaur Planet Anne McCaffrey

Dave's Books A Fortress of Grey Ice J.V. Jones Fallen Dragon Peter F. Hamilton Shiva in Steel Fred Saberhagen Worlds Without End John S. Lewis Lionheart Jesse Martin Sum VII T.W. Hard Neuromancer William Gibson The Elegant Universe Brian Greene

We've also been doing a bit of sightseeing. Walked across part of Sydney Harbour Bridge and climbed all those steps (loads of them! ;) to the top of one of the towers on the bridge, which gave a nice view. Went and saw the Opera House close up, noticed it's covered in tiles that look like the heat-resistant ones the space shuttles have on them. Got some (hopefully) nice photos of it from a few different angles.

Also walked along Bondi Beach and had a bit of a wade (waves are incredible and had no trouble catching us out and soaking our pants up to the knees...), went up the AMP (Centrepoint) Tower and took a few pics... also at the base of the tower they did this cool little virtual 'tour of australia', ending in one of those simlations where you sit in seats and they go up and down and stuff while you watch a screen. It was better than I made it sound, really... no, seriously!

Walked through 'The Rocks', the old english part of town. One of the amazing things about Sydney city centre is how different areas very suddenly change - i.e. you walk a block from these old english buildings and their cast iron balconies and suddenly you're in the busy metropolitan CBD, surrounded by towering skyscrapers. The suburbs are also very nice - a mixture of english and aussie architecture, and so much of it is built on a great big hill sloping down to the sea, so you can see the sea from quite a distance.

Also met up with Soph and Rob who are dwelling in Sydney atm. Had quite a riotous night out our first night here with them (it was a wedding reception I guess is the excuse), we both got very drunk (Nic more than me for a change, woo!) and had a good time. We also went to see GBR get their arses handed to them by the aussies at rugby, which was kinda humiliating but luckily I don't really care that much... still, 64-10, ouch. :( The post-match drinks made up for it though - ended up in some youth hostel near Bondi, with some very interesting characters in it... including an american woman who after talking to us for a couple of hours, asked Rob (the kiwi) what part of Russia he was from!!! Nic and me pissed ourselves laughing, but Rob carried on, trying to maintain his oh-so-deliberate masquerade...(!!).... but we couldn't contain ourselves.

Done plenty of shopping while we've been here - Sydney certainly gives you ample opportunity to spend money! Been to Paddy's Markets near Chinatown, where we found an awesome sketch/portrait artist, but so far we've been unlucky and haven't caught him while he's remotely free... hopefully next week we'll be able to get Nic's pic drawn. There's some great art around there, as well as the usual crap like kangaroo-skin rugs (complete with tail), boomerangs and various aussie-wildlife road signs..... so far I've resisted, but I don't know how long I can last! Must... buy... stupid.. souvenirs!! ;)

Been to see a couple of movies while we've been here - Spiderman and Men in Black II tonight. Spiderman was pretty good, MiBII was ok, but the pre-movie food was better. MMMM, Thai!! Yum. We were very satisfied by that one ;) Was hoping to catch the Lord of the Rings: Two Towers trailer before MiBII, but alas, it was not to be... maybe we should download it?

Going to the Blue Mountains in a couple of days - watch this space. Hopefully your lazy travel log author will remember to actually write something. :)

July - Dinosaurs, the Blue Mountains & the Rest

We went to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains on the train. On arrival we decided that since we didn't have heaps of time, we'd do one of the tours and try and get in as much as possible. It turned out really well -- we got a good look at all the main touristy spots. One of the best bits was the skycable, which took us out over a big valley with a spectacular view over miles and miles of green-blue forest and mountains, with a view of the Three Sisters, peaks that Aboriginal Legend says were once three maidens, turned to stone by the malevolent magic of their father.

We also walked along some of the trails around Katoomba, which was nice but also pretty tiring. Still, there were more spectacular views -- one example that sticks in my mind is rounding a corner on a cliff-side trail that followed a river that suddenly turned into a waterfall and tipped over the side, plummetting hundreds of feet below. The trail suddenly turned, leaving a little look-out point where we could stand and take in the mountains below and all around us. There was also a bit where we could easily get over the fence and stand right on the edge -- of course, someone always has to do that, scaring the shit out of the person they're with, don't they Nic! :P

At the end of the day, the bus took us back into town and dropped us off at the huge screen cinema, where we were treated to a film about some pot-holers who, upon emerging from many soggy caverns deep under the mountains, found themselves in a grove of 65 million-year-old trees dating back to the time of the dinosaurs. These trees are not found anywhere on Earth and had thought to be extinct until the last few years, and their exact location in the Blue Mountains is a closely guarded secret. Already more of them exist in tree nurseries and laboratories than in the small handful in the mountains.

After the film we found a nice restaurant in town and gorged ourselves on pasta! Finally we headed back to Nic's auntie's house in St. Mary's and slept very, very well...

In our few days in Sydney, we decided to try and be a bit more active than we had been. We visited the Chinese Dinosaurs Exhibition in Sydney Museum, and had a wander around Darling Harbour. That day two whales had been sighted in the harbour, so we were eager to try and get a look ourselves! So spontaneously we leapt onto the water taxi that took us out, under the Harbour Bridge and into Sydney Harbour. Unfortunately, there was no sign. Next we tried climbing up to the Harbour Bridge to try and get a better view of the waters, but we still couldn't see them. :( We did see a group of boats a K or two away, which might have been following the whales, but we couldn't really tell.

One of the last things we did was take the ferry across to Manly. With a craving for Indian food, we wandered around Manly a bit in the evening and finally found a place that was a bit steep with below-average service -- luckily the food was fantastic! The Manly ferry was fun too, plenty of waves and a nice view of the Sydney cityscape at night.

Our last escapade in Sydney was at Nic's cousin's 21st birthday party. This involved a painful trek via taxi & train from Waverly to West Pennant Hills carrying all our luggage, plus all the extra books we'd bought while in Sydney... it almost killed us, but we made it! The party was fun, I had a great time entertaining everyone.......... then the next day we had to get to St. Mary's -- this time hungover! Still, once more, the hardy travellers managed to drag themselves home, and were rewarded with being driven back to Macksville instead of having to sit on a train for another 8 hours :)

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August to September - Return to Macksville

Coming back from a great city like Sydney to Macksville was a bit difficult. We've spent the last couple of months doing very little and on occasions we've both got a bit depressed about it, but we had to wait for my Tax File Number (same as the UK's NI #) to arrive before I could work at all. Around the start of September, reality struck: the nut factory rang up wanting Nic to come in.

Luckily, after a couple of weeks, I finally got my TFN and with excellent timing, one of the workers at the nuts quit, so I was able to start almost straight away. This brings us just about up to date -- I've worked a few days and we're currently off work waiting for a new silo/some machinery to be fixed, and will be back again towards the end of the month...

Going back to work after a year of travelling and lazing about to my heart's content wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I've always been a bit bitter that until last year, my life followed this efficient, soulless pipeline: school->college->university->work, without much of a break to speak of. However, I think I've learned a few things. The main one is that if you have fuck all to do, not working/going to school isn't all it's cracked up to be. I'm pretty sure there are plenty of people out there who will disagree with me there. The thing is, I've always loved having time off in-between things, and previously I've felt that the ever-present "back to work" deadline somewhat spoils your ability to completely relax and enjoy it. I no longer see things this way...

The last year I've decided that I'm not quite as much a lazy person as I thought I was. Ok, I'm still pretty lazy, but having nothing to do eventually caught up with me. I have to say that in the future, I think I'll enjoy time off in between working or whatever more, simply because it is the periods of work that define your time off and give you something to compare it against! If you are a bum all your life, you will never know what a pain in the arse it is to have hardly any free time cos you spend most of your waking life slaving away in an office/factory. However, I still firmly believe in holidays, naturally -- too much slaving away in an office/factory is something I don't think I'll ever see as being a good thing... working at UBSW for a year taught me how soul-destroying it can be to be stuck in a job you don't like with very little time off to pause, reflect on your life, take some time out.....

So, the philosophy of it aside, I don't really mind working at the nuts. It's hell on my neck (the reason they put mostly women on the belts is partly cos they have nimble fingers, but also cos they're short -- tall people have it a bit worse cos they have to bend over further to see what they're doing) but other than that it's not too bad. It's also great money, which is very much a good thing for the next chapter of our life in Australia -- Queensland!!!

We booked tickets soon after I started. On the 14th October, we'll be on a train headed out of Macksville -- out of NSW -- up north to Brisbane, QLD. We don't have many firm plans, other than get a flat, get some work and enjoy the sun and metropolitan/beach life!!

Book update:

Nicole's Books Voyage of the Narwhal Andrea Barrett Song of the Axe John R. Dann The Hungry Ocean Linda Greenlaw Wild South America Michael Bright

Dave's Books Gridlinked Neal Asher Legend David Gemmel Wolf in Shadow David Gemmel The Real Story Stephen Donaldson Forbidden Knowledge Stephen Donaldson Earth John Farndon