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Fiji: A taste of tropical paradise, 2001

Posted by chrissyjbrown on March 31, 2008
Posted in: Around the world trip. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 12 Comments

Life is easy

Imagine it now…

Lying in a hammock with the late afternoon sun casting coconut palm shadows over where white sandy beaches meet pristine water with a spectrum of reds and oranges alighting the clear blue skies with awesome sunsets…

Well folks that’s where I’ve been.

After flying from the cooler climes of Auckland to Fiji,  I spent a day on the mainland in the grotty town of Nandi before experiencing my first ever flight aboard a seaplane in search of a paradise island.  I sat next to the pilot, riding shotgun, in the 6 seater low flying vessel. The views were spectacular, abundant corral reef arranged in an array of colours of the sea, crystal clear turquoise waters through to deep blues.  Out of the water emerge volcanic islands with idylic white sanded beaches.  The movies ‘Castaway’, ‘Blue Lagoon’ and ‘Robinson Crusoe’ all filmed on various islands here.

View from seaplane

Loving the seaplane!

I land down onto the island of Nacula, part of the Yasawa group. Luckily this island has not yet appeared in the Lonely Planet thus tourism is pretty low key here and it’s negative effects on the land and locals have not yet reared their ugly heads.  Staying in Bures (grass huts), no mod cons and limited electricity – just the good old simple life.

The bure, just a hop and skip away from the sea!

Lots of relaxing, snorkelling around the Blue Lagoon, walking and spending time in the local village.  I made friends with a couple of the local families and get invited to Sunday lunch at both houses.  Not wanting to be rude I accept both offers – a bit of a struggle but I managed.

The locals

I also had the experience of trying kava, the local drink.  Kava looks disgusting and guess what?  It tastes disgusting too!  But I think the reason it is drank is more for its narcotic effects rather than the taste.  Anyway, it’s not really my cup of kava but the locals seem to love it.

This is Kava – never again!

It has to be said that the Fijian people are one of the friendliest races I have come across.  Yep, even friendlier than Kiwi’s, if that’s possible.

Now back on the mainland staying by the beach brushing up on the tan after losing it in NZ.  One more day here then off to try my hand at hula dancin’ in the land of Honolulu.  I will be transported back in time as my flight arrives the day before I depart.  All too complicated for me.

Oh, and for all those altruistic types that like to do their bit for charity, I have set up my own charity. It’s the CBIGF – “The Chrissy Brown International Globetrotting Fund”, donations graciously appreciated! 😉 No, I haven’t quite got to that stage yet but Canada and the US are on the way and money is running low.  Good job I only have 8 weeks left really!

‘til next time…

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Hawaii onto Canada: June/July 2001

Posted by chrissyjbrown on October 7, 2006
Posted in: Around the world trip, Travel. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

 From the peace and tranquillity of Fijian island life, I leave for the high rise tourist Mecca of Waikiki, Honolulu.  Home to world renowned surf beaches.  Beach life here a complete contrast but the change was good.  In my time here I ran around exploring and attempted to tick off the main To Do list:  a hula show; a hike to the summit of Diamond head (big volcano) to get a great view of the surrounding area; a day spent at the picturesque Hanuama Bay where the best snorkeling on the island can be found (the fish here, obviously well used to the masses invading their space, allow you to get very close); the obligatory shopping trip (went a bit mad!) and being topical with the latest Hollywood blockbuster out – a trip to Pearl Harbor.  This went all a bit pear shape as I fell asleep on the bus a couple of stops before arriving there and didn’t awake until I was virtually back to the point where I got on the bus.  I decided to abandon this mission and gave it up as a bad job.  The thought of a rest on the beach and a touch of body boarding sounded a much better prospect, so I settled on buying the postcard and seeing the movie!  I am not quite so ardent with my sightseeing as at the beginning of my trip.  All in all I had a good time in Hawaii, however I was very disappointed not to have bumped into Tom Selleck although his cardboard cutout was everywhere.

I hung the Hawaiian shirt up and board the next plane which is to take me another step closer to home.  At this point I was beginning to get a bit jaded with the traveling lark, the novelty of living out of a backpack and sleeping in bed bug infested beds surrounded by a load of others had begun to wear thin and I had even started to look forward to returning to the UK and home comforts such as having a bedroom.  However, landing down and spending the last week in Canada has been a breath of fresh air and has rejuvenated the batteries.  So far I love Canada, more particularly the Rockies.

Despite not really being a city tourist person, I did find myself warming to Vancouver.  Amazingly enough the public transport here has been on strike since April 1st!!!  The taxi businesses here must be booming.  I find an alternative form of transport to explore the city and hire a mountain bike.  The city itself is quite small so it doesn’t take long to get around, I spent most the time in Stanley Park which covers quite a large area on a peninsular and is more like a forest.

After a couple of days I am itching to get out to the mountains and board a backpacker bus trip with 21 others and head for Whistler, a top N. American ski resort. Whistler resembles a town in the Alps.  Despite the blazing sun and clear blue skies there is still a lot of snow for ski-ing in the mountains.  The hostel where we stayed was set out of town in the middle of the forest on a lake, majestic snow capped mountains behind, a fantastic setting that is to become the standard scenery as I carry on around.  In fact the scenery gets even better, if that’s possible.  A couple of the crazy kids in our group braved a dip in the freezing cold water of the lake but I managed to hold back, instead getting my exercise from hiking to and around another lake.

From Whistler we head east stopping off at more beautiful lakes, this time I am either brave or stupid and go for a swim myself.  I last a total of about 30 seconds which is about as long as it is possible to stay in icy cold water before getting hypothermia.  We also stop along the way to do a fair few hikes and spend a night in an old courthouse, a night camping in Valemount and a night in log cabins in Jasper National Park. In the evenings sitting around campfires ‘til the early hours with a Canadian (it’s the brand of beer) has been the thing to do here.  The days are so long here with the sun setting as late as 10.30pm.  I’ve also did a  bit of mountain biking on the tracks in the mountains which was great apart from being attacked by a million mosquito’s.

On July 1st – we celebrate!  Not only is it Canada day where carnivals, parties and fireworks line the streets but more importantly it was my birthday – 21 again!  I am with a really good group and they decorated the bus with balloons and birthday banners and they were even kind enough to make me a special birthday frock to wear for the day.

moose

My Birthday Dress!!!

A very revolting bad taste dress that they had enhanced by writing all over it, complete with a polka dot shower cap.  I was made to wear it all day thus got quite a bit of attention from the public.

kinney lake

Kinney Lake

We saw some more spectacular scenery, hiked to Kinney lake for lunch and also visited Maligne Canyon which was superb.  I also got to see my first wild bear which made my day and also got a photo of a mountie in traditional uniform.

 The day after we arrive in Banff which is a place I instantly fell in love with. I have been to quite a few places now but I must say Banff would be one of my favourites.   Set in the national forest with 360 degree mountains around you.  What’s more the surrounding area is home to some of the best lakes I’ve ever seen.  Lake Peyto being my favourite which is just the most amazing milky turquoise blue colour with Lake Louise and Lake Moraine being close competitors.  On the way to Banff we also stopped off at the Athabasca falls and for a hike up a glacier.

Banff
Walking up the mountain in Banff
Lake Louise
Athabasca falls
Athabasca falls
Lake Morrain

 It was in Banff where we celebrated my birthday night (a day late) and had a big night out on the town checking out the local bars and clubs.  All good stuff.  I depart the tour bus in Banff to spend some time here.  The weather has heated up and it gets as high as 40 degrees which happened to be the day a few of us decided to hike to the top of Sulphur Mountain, had I realised how steep it was I don’t think I would have attempted it.  It was a killer but once at the top we were rewarded by  a brilliant view and also a free ride down in the gondola.

 I have since moved on from Banff and am relaxing at my friend Lin’s house in Windermere set on a lake (not the lake District but BC in Canada).  Lin is a great tour guide and is doing a good job of showing me around, last night she took me on her friends house boat on the lake and she has more things lined up before we take off for the infamous Calgary Stampede – possibly the biggest rodeo in the world.  Apparently 10 days of partying, festivals and hard-core rodeo with good old country and western – Yeehaa cowboy bring it on!  Laren – I’ll say hi to your home town for you.

 Just under 6 weeks to go now before I hit Blighty again!

Thailand: September 2000

Posted by chrissyjbrown on October 7, 2006
Posted in: Around the world trip, Travel. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

I think I was just departing Nepal when I last emailed.  From there we flew into Bangkok, knowing that red wine is expensive in Thailand I made sure I made the most of the free wine on the plane.  It was so tasty I had a whole bottle – nothing’s changed there then!

We stayed in Bangkok for nearly a week sorting out visa’s, visiting temples, going to see floating markets that were just a big tourist trap, and also paying a visit to the Bridge over River Kwai.  I think we would have enjoyed the trip a lot more had we not spent most of the previous night in a bar working through the list of cocktails!   Needless to say we spent most of the time asleep on the bus.

From Bangkok, we boarded the night bus to Champon and then straight onto a boat to Ko Tao which is just one of those run of the mill Thai exotic islands.  We headed across the island to a very quiet secluded beach (well, obviously not quiet once we landed) and checked into a straw hut on the beach then bumped straight into Anish and Simon, a couple of fellow backpackers who we met in India and then again in Bangkok.  I think they had gone there to escape us as it is not a very well known place on the island.  They made up some excuse that they had just checked out of their hut and were just on their way to meet us at the harbour – the hut they checked out of was the one we were allocated!  Luckily they had another one for rent in not as good a location so the boys had to settle for that!

Anyway, I’ve been doing loads of snorkelling – there’s just loads and loads of really good fishes here, it’s fantastic.  I’ve been in the water so much I think I’m going to sprout fins. The bay where we were staying was really nice too, very beautiful and the only mod cons were electric from 6pm -midnight.  No shops or anything -bliss!

I’m not looking very hot at the moment after deciding to sleep the last 2 nights on the beach, I now look like I have a very bad case of measles.  And yes comments about being able to play dot to dot on my face have not gone unnoticed.  But it has been worth it, waking up to beautiful sunrises on the bay.

We have now moved over to the busier part of the island so I can go diving tomorrow.  I’m very excited and have even managed to wangle some free accommodation through the dive centre.

Next we move onto Ko Pha Ngan, the next island, just in time for the full moon party which will be more funny than anything else.  Can’t see that I will be doing much moon worshiping but it will be amusing to watch others.

Diving in Koh Tao was good.  I didn’t get to see sharks or turtles as requested, however, I did swim (obliviously) right into a trigger fish despite being warned by the dive master to stay clear!  I luckily avoided the attack but then cut my foot open when jumping off the boat back at shore.  We’ve been a right pair of invalids as Lesley managed to secure a nice dog bite the previous night and has since fallen down trekking.

From Koh Tao we took a boat to the next island, Ko Pha Ngan (known as the party island) just in time to worship the moon at the full moon party.  This was all a bit disappointing as it was too cloudy to see the moon.  However, this didn’t stop people partying all night til 11am the next day.  I, getting on a bit, only managed to stay up until 1am and believe it or
not stayed relatively sober.

The next day we got a ferry and bus back to Bangkok and I managed to get my wallet stolen again – just after replacing my credit cards!  From Bangkok we took the easy travel option and flew to Chaing Mai, North Thailand.  From here we went on a 3 day trek in the wilderness staying in hill tribe villages along the way.  The 2nd day was a killer, hiking up and down mountains for 7hours – this has left me aching all over and I plan on indulging in a Thai massage.  The elephant ride on the trek was quite amusing as the elephant man resembled a character out of the TV show Monkey Magic and he was off his tree from all the opium he was smoking.  It was quite funny to watch him attempt to stay on the elephant and had a few near misses.

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

On the last day of the trek we went rafting down the river on bamboo rafts which I managed to break.  The rafting was not quite as exhilarating as the rivers in Nepal but I had quite a good time having water fights with my fellow rafters.

bamboo raft

Since being back in Chaing Mai we’ve been to see some Thai boxing which isn’t really my cup of tea.  I was quite shocked to find the contestants getting younger and younger until a pair of eight year olds were up on stage beating the living daylights out of each other.

thai boxing

Today I did my good deed for the year and rented a motorbike to go to Chaing Mai prison to visit foreigners (as in not Thai nationals).  I chatted to a few prisoners.  One of which has been there for 3 years now and still hasn’t been sentenced! Disgraceful.  The Irish guy who is the suspect for that girl who recently got murdered in Chaing Mai that has had loads of news coverage was also there.  They all really appreciated me going to see them and I was
glad to be able to take some food and toiletries in for them as they get no money whatsoever and are not allowed to work there.  However, they were saying that the Thai prisoners only get 100 baht (about 1.50 pounds) for 6 months work!

Soon we will be boarded a bus for Chaing Rai, from there we may pop into Myanmar, formally known as Burma then into Laos.

South Island, New Zealand: April/May 2001

Posted by chrissyjbrown on October 7, 2006
Posted in: Around the world trip, Travel. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
Everybody raves about the south island of NZ…and now I know why!
My last few days in Australia were spent where it had all started five months ago – Sydney. My third time there and I still love the place. After catching up and saying farewells to good friends (oh and having the first bath I’ve had in months while staying at the lovely Vic and Rick’s new abode), I leave on a jet plane to NZ’s capital city – Wellington.  It is known as the windy city, however, nothing quite prepared me for the icy cold gale force winds that very nearly sent me flying on exiting the airport. I was informed that a southerly had blown in, a southerly being a wind direct from the Antarctic. I didn’t really care where it was coming from, my first instinct was to jump on the first plane outta there. I must admit after ten months in hot climes, I have turned into a bit of a wimp! But no, I persevered and glad I did.
Wellington turned out to be a nice city and made even more welcoming thanks to Dawn & Craig’s hospitality. After another shopping spree to buy yet more fleeces, I board a catamaran to cross over the Cook Strait through the majestic Marlborough Sounds to the south island.

Crossing the Cook Straight

My first stop here is Nelson, the platform for the beautiful Abel Tasman National Park that hugs the north west coast. Apparently, Nelson also records the highest sunshine hours in NZ. If this is true then I’m in trouble ‘cos all it did when I was there was piss down with rain (excuse my French). With the sea kayaking trip cancelled due to rain. I brave the elements and go off tramping for the day. Great stuff!

 

 

 

What Abel Tasman looked like!

Seal Colony, Cape Fowlwind

From there I travel down the wild west coast stopping along the way at an abundance of scenic spots. Also paying a visit to the Cape Foulwind (yes it really is called that and those who have been there will know why!) where a seal colony can be found.

 

 

Land Surfing

While here I tried out a new activity. Not a clue what it is called but involves a wind sail attached to a go-cart on the beach and is a lot of fun. The wind allows you to get quite a speed up, oh and did I mention there were no brakes!!!
Also stopped briefly at Punakaiki’s famous pancake rocks.

Punakaiki Pancake Rocks

A night spent in Greymouth and the next day passing through Hokitika (known for it’s jade) and stopping briefly at the historic gold mining town of Ross to try one’s hand at gold panning, leaving there non the richer I head to Franz Josef. Absolutely freezing and guess what? Yep, raining again, meaning heli-hike’s cancelled. But I arrive just in time for half a day hiking on the infamous glacier. Such an incredible experience walking up sheer faces of ice, through ice crevices and caves, obviously with the help of ice talons on my boots. Superb and I’d definitely recommend it.

 

Franz Joseph glacier ice cave

From here the scenery just gets better and better – if that is at all possible. Lots of fantastic lakes and from now on down snow capped mountains as a backdrop, the snow has been advancing daily down the mountains getting ready for the ski-season – Bring it on! Crowded House’s song “Four seasons in one day” comes to mind when attempting to describe the weather here. Literally one minute blue skies and sun, next hailing and snowing, then gale force winds then nice again! Set on the beautiful shores of Lake Wakatipu, I arrive in the adventure capital of the world – Queenstown. Any adrenalin junkies dream destination. Every extreme activity you can think of can be done here and many more that I had never heard of. Unfortunately, my finances are not the healthiest so I had to be selective in what I did. I opt for a package consisting of a jet boat ride on the Shotover River through a canyon complete with 360-degree turns – Exhilarating and definitely a must!

Jet Boating on Shotover River

From here I get picked up by helicopter that is just the best ever form of transportation ever invented. Fantastic. A scenic flight over Queenstown before landing down on top of a mountain. It is here I experience ludging (sort of like a go-cart) down a steep track – Very good!

Ludging

 
After playing around in the snow for a bit I took the gondola back down to Queenstown to sample the local beers and check out the local lively nightlife. Today I’m having a day off in Queenstown and guess what? Yep, it’s raining! But that’s OK as it is nice and dry in the bars!
Well that’s enough travel talk for one day.

Australia: Spring 2001

Posted by chrissyjbrown on October 7, 2006
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What is the one reason Brits come to Oz? Yep, you’ve guessed it – to visit Ramsey Street, home to Neighbours (for all you non-Brits, Neighbours is an Australian soap opera that Australians love to hate!). Well, to all the neighbours fans out there (all three of you!) – I have walked up Harrold ‘Jelly Belly’ Bishops driveway and to all the other houses on Ramsey Street. You think this is exciting, well, I have also been mingling with some of the stars!

neighbours tour

Every Monday night, hundreds of crazed British backpackers cram into a pub somewhere in Melbourne where a select few of the Neighbours stars come and allow people to grab, poke and maule them for thousands of photo shoots. Such a good night and the stars were all good sports. I can now say I have rubbed sholders with the likes of Joel, Dr Karl Kennedy, Paul and Amy. I had such a good night that I’m going back next week when Harrold, Toadfish and others will be there. Oh, we also managed to come last in the quiz which I am quite proud about.

But getting back to what I’ve been up. Since I wrote last I was departing on The Ron of Argyll to sail around the Whitsunday islands. The weather was quite changeable which made for great sailing but not good for the snorkelling. Oh well can’t have everything great trip all the same and managed to have a laugh with the assortment of people on the boat. Also, while in Airlie I took a trip out to the infamous Great Barrier Reef to fit a dive in and to do some snorkelling. Not bad but not the best place I’ve dived, I’m getting a bit fussy now after diving at some of the top spots around the world, can’t see myself going diving off the East Anglian coast on my return.

Heading on up to Cairns various beach and scenic stops were made including a tour around a croc farm. The party town of Cairns provided the venue to catch up with and say farewell to people I’ve met throughout my East coast trip before heading further up north to the beautiful area of Cape Tribulation. It is here where rainforest meets reef and a great place for walks, croc spotting and to recharge batteries (or in my case recover from a huge hangover).

The Red Centre being the next destination. Saw some very interesting big red/orange coloured rocks, known to some as Uluru (Ayer’s rock), Kings Canyon and The Olgas. Absolutely spectacular. 18km’s walked in 2 days then a 5-day trip down to Adelaide which has been my most favourite Oz experience. Driving for hours through the red desert, nothing but nothing. You soon get an idea of just how big Australia is. Every now and again Skippy hops by or a wedge tailed eagle swoops down to scoop Skippy off the road.

 

The first night of the trip was spent in the strange underground town of Coober Pedy which is situated literally in the middle of nowhere and the small population hosts an amazing 47 different nationalities – very bizarre. The nature of the town gives some indication as to why such a diverse range of people are drawn there, the nature being an opal mining town. For $2000 aus dollars you can buy a bit of dirt and dig until you strike lucky. Mounds of sand and rubble surround the town. Houses, our hostel, churches etc are built under the ground as it is too hot above.

Heading further south the landscape gradually changes, vegetation increasing and the Flinders mountain range crops up. Lots of long exhausting walks were a shock to the system after being sat on a bus for what seems a very long time. However, things soon became easier as we entered the Barossa Valley – home to some of Australian’s fine wines. Went on a couple of wine tasting sessions – very nice too! The evening was spent in an old school, now converted to a hostel where everyone had to dress up in girl’s school uniform. The boys loved it. We also organised a good old fashioned 80’s school disco complete with school chairs lining the walls. A very funny night was had by all.

Arrived Adelaide the following morning and was in shock. After 10 months of heat, I freeze! It was so cold (only about 12 degrees) I couldn’t move. It felt like I was back in the UK. Mad to think that a few hundred km’s north there’s lovely desert heat. Oh well I’d better get used to it as I’m heading for NZ next where it will be winter with snow and all. Didn’t get up to an awful lot in Adelaide apart to stay in bed to keep warm and go shopping to buy fleece, socks and warm things.

adelaide

From Adelaide I embarked on a 4-day trip to Melbourne. More walks this time in the Grampians, a bit of rock climbing, heaps of wild koala’s here and there and other wildlife. The highlight being the Great Ocean Road and watching sunset behind the 12 apostles – beautiful!

Now in Melbourne which I like a lot, well hard not to knowing it is home to Ramsey Street – very exciting! Sort of exploring the city by aimlessly rambling around. Also catching up with my lovely Aussie friends.

From Melbourne I will do a 4 day trip back to Sydney stopping at Phillip Island (home to lots of Percy penguins, seals and other stuff), snowy mountains and Australia’s capital Canberra.

North Island, New Zealand: February 2001

Posted by chrissyjbrown on October 7, 2006
Posted in: Around the world trip, Travel. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

images

At first I thought I’d boarded the wrong plane and had accidently arrived back in the UK – Masses of rolling green fields and terrain resembling the lake district only on a larger scale. However, it wasn’t long before I realised I was on the north island of New Zealand with hundreds of volcano’s (active and dormant), fantastic wild surf beaches and yes, the sun out in full force (in between the rain!).

Hiring a car, camping with the locals and staying with friends was definitely the way forward. Nice to get away from the whole backpacking crowd for a bit.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

After Kerry did an excellent job of showing me around Auckland in a couple of days and dragging me to the summit of the Rangitoto volcano, we head up to Northland to have a fantastic time catching up with the Sherriff twins, the house isolated halfway up a large hill with spectacular views of the bay. It felt like Heidi should come yodeling down the hill at any time.

From Northland to the airport to pick up my partner in crime we head to Tauranga where my adrenalin junkie friend Mike took us body boarding to refresh us at Mt. Maunganui – It certainly did the trick!

mt-maunganui-ariel

Lots of national parks, beaches, massive kauri trees, a fantastic wedding at Cape Kidnappers (not mine!), beautiful lakes, hot springs, boiling mud pools and sand dunes later, we land back at the little house on the prarie in time for a boat trip to the Poor Knights Islands to snorkel to our hearts content among a carpet of jelly fish that luckily were of the non-stinging variety!

Also in Northland we visited the Bay of Islands which provided a good base for a dive trip to the Rainbow Warrior, 30m underwater. Fantastic coral and fish with a long swim through the wreck, stopping off at an air pocket to get a lung full of the stale rusty smelling air – Nice!

rainbow_warrior

The day after was spent swimming with the dolphins only by the time I got in the water the dolphins had swam off! They had obviously been pre-warned about me!

dolphin safari

After driving nearly 2000km’s in 7 days doing all the scenic stuff, I was ready to get back on a bus in search of the adrenalin rush that NZ is famous for providing. First stop was at Waitomo where we black water rafted through a glow worm cave, very nice but not quite the thrill we were in search of. However, in Rotorua the next day we woke ourselves up by white water rafting down a grade 5 river with a 7m waterfall in the middle as the highlight!!! After this as a warm up we go straight to the airfield to put our lives in the hands of a complete stranger for a scenic flight of the surrounding area encompassing some 17 lakes. However, only paying one way we are pushed out of the plane at 12000ft, free falling for 50 seconds before the parachute hurtles you back up in the air like a reverse bungy. Loved it!!!!!! Can’t wait to do it again. What could beat that??? Ludging, that’s what! Ludging involves going down a very steep gravel hill in a 3 wheel contraption that has a breaking system that really doesn’t work very well. A very scary experience which I did not want to repeat but did! In between all this stuff we did manage a mandatory Maori cultural evening which was actually quite good. Still lots to do and see before returning to Sydney on 2nd March for Mardi gras.

East Coast Australia: March/April 2001

Posted by chrissyjbrown on October 7, 2006
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Hit Sydney for Mardi Gras – one big street party, bright colourful outrageous costumes worn by flamboyant people lining the streets, a definite party atmosphere saturating the air.

A week was spent in Syders catching up with friends before finally commencing my trip north up the east coast via Hunter Valley (a region renowned for the production of fine wines, tried and tested by moi!).

hunters valley

The first stop being a true Aussie 20,000 acre sheep station. As if I hadn’t seen enough sheep in NZ! After a tour around I try my hand at sheep sheering but soon decided this was not my forte in life and couldn’t continue as I felt too sorry for the poor thing. Instead I consoled myself with a lovely big juicy lamb dinner. Evening activities included a huge bucking bronco in the middle of a spit and sawdust bar. Not a good idea after a few alcoholic beverages – me think not!

sheep sheering

Moving onto Bingara, famous for nowt and not much to do except horse ride or drink, I set off on a hack through the bush to do a bit of kangaroo spotting before stopping off at the winding river for a refreshing swim to cool off. This is where a new dimension to horse riding came into play – Horse water ski-ing! Achieved by dismounting the horse, grabbing it’s tail and the horse takes off with you being dragged through the water by it’s tail! Great fun and highly recommended but please remember to add water.

Byron Bay next stop, and for those who would like a bit of useless trivia home to Paul Hogan. Very relaxed seaside town, great for learning to surf and also for a walk or in my case a cycle ride up to the lighthouse that is nestled on the most Easterly point of Australia. Not content with the view, I impulsively feel the need for a bird’s eye view so tried my hand at hand gliding. Nice but nowhere as exciting as skydiving – my new bestest hobby!

Byron to Surfers Paradise for a quick stop. Spent a day at ‘Dream World’ theme park looking for that adrenalin rush from the white-knuckle rides.

The real Oz Experience is next to come when I go and stay with my friend Tania – a true Shelia – and her family. No backpackers in sight – heaven. We sit around a big camp fire in the 5 acres of their property (where incidentally koalas and wallabys are not uncommon) drinking stubbies of XXXX and having a yarn while our dinner is slowly being cooked in the ground. For afters, the obligatory toasted marshmallows are savoured.

Moving slightly north, Brisbane is hit where a great day out at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary with my friend Les who I travelled Asia with and her partner. Cuddling koalas and feeding kangas with their horrible rodent teeth made for thirsty work so off we head to the local pub for St. Paddy’s day, a day late. Lots of amber nectar flowed our way. While in Brissie I also caught up with other friends from home – Pippa and Rich. Venue: a very loud bar making it very difficult to have any sort of conversation – apologies pip, not good planning on my part but great to see you. Also good seeing Kate again, working out here as a doctor.

Still heading north, Mooloolaba, yet another seaside town is hit before Noosa which is so far my fave seaside resort in Oz. Not only does it host great beaches but there is beautiful national forest carpeting the peninsular where I spotted my first wild koala!!!!!! Very exciting for me as I am slightly obsessed by the cuddly balls of fur that smell. Also saw some wild rodent toothed kangaroo’s which are quite funny to watch hopping around. Noosa also has fantastic everglades giving it a slightly different slant to all the other seaside towns. Needless to say a very relaxed time was spent here bush walking, sunbathing and horse riding on the beach.

noosa everglades

Next stop, a 5 star resort in Hervey Bay – aka my friend Nicky’s luxury digs. She lives in a plush apartment in a complex at the marina complete with tennis courts, pools and other facilities. Not a bad place to spend a few days before back to slumming it on a 4 x 4 jeep camping safari on Fraser Island. Apparently the world’s largest sand dune island, no roads, just sand tracks and beaches to drive upon which is so much fun. Fraser is home to some of the most beautiful lakes I’ve ever seen and believe me I have seen quite a few! Driving up the 75 mile long beach was a great experience too. Back to simple living in the wilderness – tents and campfires to cook the grub, all of which miraculously ends up with sand in! The good life.

Time, yet again, to move on. This time inland driving through sugar cane, sugar cane and even more sugar cane before arriving at the destination of Dingo where I stay at a 30,000 acre working cattle station with no sugar cane in sight! It is here where I learn to crack a whip – badly, throw a boomerang – badly and play a didge making a sound not quite like it is supposed to sound and also learn a bit about Aboriginals. It is also here unbeknown to myself that I become an aunty for not only the 3rd time but also the 4th. For those of you who know my sister Sue, she very bravely gave birth to twin boys – Samuel Jack and Joseph Oliver in what sounds like a record-breaking time! Way to go girl and I am very sad I can’t be there.

sugarcane

I am now in Airlie beach the platform for yachting trips out to the Whitsunday Islands – from all accounts boasted as being the highlight of Australia and is to be my next adventure. Will let you know how the next 3 days sailing and snorkelling around beautiful islands goes!

airlie beach

Well, I hear spring is in the air at home, here we are in autumn now soon to be entering into winter but still as hot as ever just means occasional outbreaks of welcomed rain!

 

From Sydney to Auckland: February 2001

Posted by chrissyjbrown on October 7, 2006
Posted in: Around the world trip, Travel. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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Back on the road again after a very long time in the addictive city of Sydney. Far too much fun was had and hideous amounts of flow slipped through my fingers. On the few occasions I was able to drag myself away from the beach and bars, I did manage to do most the usual touristy things. The highlights were: seeing and prodding koala’s (and all the other cool Aussie animals like Kangaroo’s, wombats, platypus etc); the weekend I spent with my Aussie friends Bushwacker Rob and the lovely Emma who spoilt me rotten and gave me a fab tour of the north coast which included a visit to Summer Bay (Palm Beach), the Home and Away location; and also the weekend spent in the Blue Mountains de-toxing, walking and relaxing. Well it was relaxing until I went on the steepest railway (literally vertical!) in the world.

Oh, and there was so many other great things I did and saw I just don’t know where to begin and I don’t want to bore you! But the Australian Day fireworks in Darling harbour were a bit special too.

darling harbour

I’m now in the City of Sails, the host of America’s cup, Yep Auckland. Known as the windy city and yesterday we found out why! You may have noticed I am no longer in Australia but plans changed and I decided to pop over to do the north island of New Zealand while it is still summer as it is all about the big outdoors. It also means that when I return to Sydney at the beginning of March I will hit what has got to be known as one of the biggest street parties – Sydney Mardi Gras! Should be an experience. But then I really do need to drag myself away from the place and actually see a bit of Australia.

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After I tackle Australia I will head back over to NZ but this time to do the south island during ski season! I have also graduated from backpackerdom and hostelling to staying with friends and getting about by car – bliss. Little things like no bed bugs are a luxury to me!

The last couple of days have been spent running around doing Auckland and surrounds, I can feel that I am going to like NZ a lot, loads of outdoorsy stuff. The other night Kiwi Kerry my friend, took, me to a water park consisting of thermal pools. We started off in the adult pools where there’s a big screen for movies while you soak but this was far too civilised and the water slides called out to us. It was here that we met some new friends – two twelve year old Maori girls who were more bossy than me if you can believe that. They bullied us into going on all the really scary slides telling us that they were gentler than the last. We screamed for NZ!

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The girls were really funny girls who were far too grown up for their own good, telling us that on weekends they were strippers and drag queens!!! We don’t think they fully understand what they were saying as it turned out they just like playing dressing up. However, we really warmed to them when they thought we were 16 years old, but then again maybe they were making reference to the age I acted! Hmmmm…

Now heading up north today to see the Sheriff twins (friends from home) and very excited.

Sydney, Australia: Christmas, New Years 2000/01

Posted by chrissyjbrown on October 7, 2006
Posted in: Around the world trip, Travel. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Happy New Year everyone!  Arriving in Sydney was a bit of a culture shock after so long in Asia but it didn’t take me long (about 10mins I think) to fall back into the swing of modern day living.

Since being here, time is passing by at an alarming rate and I struggle to remember what I have done two days ago let alone when I last emailed. All I know is that since being here my travelling suddenly ground to a halt and my life reverted back to the one I had in London – lots of nights out and parties catching up with friends old and new. These nights out will have to stop if I am to conserve money for the rest of the trip!

Feeling the need to be grounded for a while, after living like a turtle with my home on my back for the last however many months, I moved into a flat in Coogee, a seaside town 20mins south of Central Sydney and just down the road from Bondi. I am paying around 20 quid a week, sharing a flat with six others and numerous cockroaches but who cares when I am less than 100M to a great beach. I am gradually doing the sights of Sydney but the recent festivities of Christmas and New Years have rather taken precedence.

Christmas was spent in the true British backpacker style on Bondi and Coogee beaches with Beers and Barbies – lots of people and lots of fun. As for the eve of 2001 the venue changed to the harbour side to see the fantastic firework display over the opera house and harbour bridge. I even managed to crawl out of bed on New Years day to see the carnival.

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The month of Jan in Sydney is festival time with lots of things to see and do, I am also planning a couple of short jollies out to the Blue Mountains and Wonderland, a big theme park for kids! Just down my street then!

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featherdaleOh and nearly forgot to tell you about my trip to the wildlife park. It was great, I was running around very excited like a demented 6 year old petting koalas, kangaroos, wombats, tasmanian devils and loads of other great Aussie animals – Love it!

I’m still having the time of my life and am looking forward to doing still so much stuff. Hope everyone is well and here’s to a very prosperous 2001. Make it a good one!!!

Bali, Lombok and Gili T: December 2000

Posted by chrissyjbrown on October 7, 2006
Posted in: Around the world trip, Travel. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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Time is flying by, weeks seem like days! Apologies for being extremely lapse at emailing recently. After my 2nd stint in Singapore my next stop was Kuta, Bali where I lasted a whole 13 hours. Kuta, the main beach resort was far too hectic for me, far too built up and more like a club 18-30’s med resort than the paradise island advertised. Must be getting old. However it has some great surf shops!

6am the following morning I made my way via minibus-ferry-bus-small boat to Gili Trawangan, bit of a journey but well worth it to arrive at a tiny paradise island off the Lombok coast – much more my scene. White shimmering sand, clear turquoise water with excellent reefs and coral for snorkelling and diving, no motorised vehicles or hawkers and not many people – need I go on?

My plan like nearly everyone else on the island is to stay a few days but like others you end up staying for as long as you possibly can. For me it was 9 days which after moving on every couple of days for the past few months is quite a long time.

While there I went diving seeing shark, turtles and an eagle ray – all very exciting believe me. Also hired a bike and did a bit of off roading around the island.

Bene, an indonesian guy who worked where I stayed invited me over to Lombok to meet his girlfriend and family or I think it was more a case of me inviting myself. I ended up staying 3 days in their primitive home being waited on hand and foot and was taken around by motorbike to all the sights.

We stopped off on the coast where there was a crowd of people to see what all the commotion was all about. We discovered that they were filming a popular Indonesian show. The stars from Jakarta were all in traditional costume. Being the only westerner around those parts the stars found me more a novelty than I did them and I was invited into the stars enclosure where they were all crowding around me asking questions. Quite amusing as I can’t imagine that happening back home and I did feel quite bad not knowing who on earth they were.

I was also a bit of a celeb back at Bene’s home as it was situated in the army camp full of Indonesian soldiers who acted like I was the first white girl they had seen – you can imagine I was just a bit popular. The family I stayed with said they had never had so many visitors before!

Back to Bali to get my flight to Oz, I decided to be extravagant and splash out 15 quid on a flight from Lombok – a 20 seater plane with the cockpit being part of our cabin! On arrival I had it all sorted to connect with my flight to Darwin only to find out that I have obviously been far too relaxed on the island to think about when my flight was and it turns out I am a day late – Whoops! In fact it would be the one flight where there is only one every week which now happens to be full til after Xmas! Being the lucky person that I am I managed to get on a direct flight to Sydney a couple of days later. This means Australia’s outback will have to wait for me til a later date. I think it all worked out for the best as Kakadu national park near Darwin is pretty flooded at the moment and apparently too hot plus I got to spend more time in Bali which I enjoyed much better than the first time – maybe due to the jungle juice cocktails!

I have now been in Sydney since the 16th and am still very excited about being here, if not slightly worried about the 24hour bars around. After a couple of days in the city checking out the famous Harbor Bridge and Opera House I headed off to a cosy hostel in Coogee Beach, a more relaxed seaside town where I will stay for Christmas. I cannot believe it is only 4 more days til Christmas, I’ve had no lead up being in Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim countries and being in a hot climate living next to the beach doesn’t help!

Well better go and top up the tan in preparation for Bondi Beach on Christmas day. Merry Christmas everyone and enjoy your turkey while I throw another shrimp on the barbie.