Or at least trying to!! Wow, what a great day. Beautiful sunshine all day- a game of spot the cloud would have ended 0-0. We (myself and Andre-a guy staying at the same hostel) drove about 20km south of Byron to go surfing. It was very hard work to paddle out but was worth it. The longest i was on a wave for was probably only abut 2.5 seconds- it was a bit too big for me, but there were dolphins swimming around us which was pretty cool. The waves were awesome, 8-10ft high, perfect right-breaking barrels. Some of the locals that were out there were amazing surfers, riding waves for hundreds of metres. Have had a more relaxed day today. We (myself and 3 other guys in the dorm) walked up to Byron lighthouse and the most easterly point in mainland oz. We also was humpback whales on their migration so i now have several photos of the sea where i have mis-timed photographing the whales launching out the water. It's really nice here in Byron but I may move soon cos Andre has said he'll give me a lift up to the gold coast. Next stop Surfers paradise.
Hope you get some summer over there.
The Prime minister is dead, long live the Prime minister!
xx Matt xx
Wednesday, 27 June 2007
Tuesday, 26 June 2007
One bitch of a hitch!!
Just a quick post, not got much time. I finally managed to leave Sydney after putting it off several times. Had a great time there. I then set off for byron bay hitching on the pacific highway. The problem is that this country is so damn huge!!! It took me 3 days to get to byron, with the nights spent sleeping in my tent at the road side. And i still ended up getting a bus for the last 100km or so cos it was dark so hitching was useless. But I am here at last and tomorrow I'm going surfing!! One benefit of staying in Sydney is that i was there for the karaoke again and won a day trip from Byron to Nimbin which is pretty sweet.
Thats about all i guess not much to say has just been hitch, sleep, hitch sleep really. Now for an early night to be ready for the waves (and the sharks!!).
xx Matt xx
Thats about all i guess not much to say has just been hitch, sleep, hitch sleep really. Now for an early night to be ready for the waves (and the sharks!!).
xx Matt xx
Saturday, 16 June 2007
Well that was an adventure...
So I went to the blue mountains, i've heard that they're beautiful. Unfortunately for me I couldn't see for the cloud and torrential rain. I arrived there on thursday afternoon and headed for the tourist information centre. The weather board there said: Today- Showers, Tomorrow- Storms, Saturday- Storms. DOH!!!. However I thought while in Rome and all that... so I decided to go walking anyway. It was dry when I set off so I thought it wasn't going to be all that bad... WRONG!. I walked for about 3 hours on the first day, it was getting fairly dark and was raining steadily so I thought I'd find a place to camp. After pithing the tent in the rain as quickly as I could I stashed most of my stuff inside and went to explore the area a bit. The rain just got heavier and the winds really picked up. I got back to the tent and was just hoping it would stand up to the weather. It chucked it down all night and was still raining when i got up. I decided it would be silly to decamp in that weather so just did a circular walk from my tent. I had a really good walk even tho it rained all day and I couldn't really see anything. That night the weather got silly, the rain came down harder than ever and the winds got even stronger. In the morning I got up to find trees had been blown down across the path right near my tent and there was water everywhere. I decided I'd have to make a break to try to get back into town to the train station, so i stuffed my tent into its bag any way it would go and marched back to town. Consideing the path had been turned into a stream/waterfalls I made very quick time, covering the 13km back in just over 2 hours. I'm back in Sydney now and sadly have once again bought the weather with me. Also I have just heard on the news that 14 people had to be rescued in the blue mountains over the weekend! Not sure when I'll head north, the whole coast is still being battered by storms with many places having flooding problems. Looks like i'll have to make a break for byron bay in a few days. Hope everyone is well.
xx Matt xx
p.s Happy fathers day Dad!
xx Matt xx
p.s Happy fathers day Dad!
Tuesday, 12 June 2007
The Big Blog
Things required for reading this post:
1) A nice hot cup of tea.
2) Plenty of time.
3) A high boredom threshold.
4) Maybe a couple of biscuits.
Right then. You ready?
OK here goes.
I last left you in Auckland and in typical blog style that is where I shall pick up the story once more. After a couple of days in Auckland the Fox was off to Oz whilst Em and I had a few days left in NZ. We got a ferry over to Waikeke island just off the coast near Auckland. It was a nice quiet little island where we had a campsite and beach to ourselves for free!. We only stayed a couple of nights but it was nice and relaxing and we had a little swim in the sea. That left us with a couple of days in Auckland to sort out photos and be dragged around the shops.
On the 4th we flew to Melbourne. It is a nice enough city but nothing to write home about- unless that is you count blogs as writing home, because then i guess it is, cos i'm writing about it. What? Oh dear I'm rambling already and there is still some way to go.
After a couple of days in the city we hired a car to drive the Great Ocean Road. We drove out to the end of it in the evening, found a spot to do a spot of cheeky free camping and spent the next day driving back to Melbourne on the GOR. (oh BTW Em and foxy, the Gibson steps really were just those steps we walked down. They supposedly give you a different view of the 12 apostles). Anywhoo, it was scenic and all that but perhaps a better name for it would be the Relatively Nice Compared To Other Ocean Roads Road- Catchy don't you think. The driving of it was fun and I was pleased to discover that I hadn't entirely forgotten how to drive a manual car.
After the RNCTOORR we had one last night together in Melbourne and were surprised to find it so quiet in the city. Then the following morning Em and the Fox set off to Adelaide meaning that it was the end of our Fellowship-(sorry, i'm in Oz now- I'll stop the LOTR references).
I stayed one more night in Melbourne and discovered why Thursday night had been so quiet- everybody was saving themselves for Friday night. The bars were full, there were allyways full of bars which were packed with live music in the streets. I just wandered around soaking up the atmosphere- drinks were too expensive!.
The next day I booked a last minute cheap train ticket for that night, then had the day to see more of Melbourne- The botanical gardens, the MCG and the afternoon to chill in the park in the sun reading LOTR and having a couple of beers. Oh that reminds me. I've bought a shiny new camera!, I was just sharing Emma's but as she is going up the West coast and i am going up the East, that probably won't work anymore.
I'm in Sydney now and your tea is getting cold, but as I was saying, I'm in Sydney and I absolutely love it! Most people prefer Melbourne. Not Me.
When I got to Sydney it was cold and raining and cold- oops I already said cold. Suffice to say it was Shitty. It seems the East coast has been getting battered by storms lately. However everywhere I go, I do as is advised by Crowded House, I take the weather with me and it is now bloody lovely. For my second day it was sunny and warm (and sunny). I went for a walk down to sydney harbour bridge, the opera house and the botanical gardens. It was 'the long weekend' for the Queen's birthday so there were street entertainers and music in the streets.
I've found a really cool place to stay and it's pretty cheap. Last night we dressed up as women so that we got free champagne at the karaoke. I will try to get the videos of me singing Britney Oops I and Hit me baby on u tube, but i fear that may be too technical for me. I had a great night and didn't spend a penny. Had free champagne plus i got free drinks for my awesome singing. Luckily I had shaved my beard off a couple of days ago (NOT THE BEARD!!! - Ok thats the last one) so i was a passable woman.
Yesterday I walked the Bondi-Coogee coastal path where i took a copious amount of photos of water crashing on to rocks. It was also a really nice walk, plus that means i've pretty much seen what I want to in Sydney. Tomorrow I'm heading out to the Blue Mountains to have a bit of an explore and do a bit more cheeky free camping. I'll then head back into sydney afterwards so that i can leave some of my stuff here. But thats the future- theres no need for me to tell you that now. I will also get some photos on the website and hopefully make links to them as well as Emma's and Foxy's blogs. The links should appear somewhere over there -------->
So there you have it. Your bang up to date now, so that will be all for now I think. I am leaving now. Goodbye
xx Matt xx
1) A nice hot cup of tea.
2) Plenty of time.
3) A high boredom threshold.
4) Maybe a couple of biscuits.
Right then. You ready?
OK here goes.
I last left you in Auckland and in typical blog style that is where I shall pick up the story once more. After a couple of days in Auckland the Fox was off to Oz whilst Em and I had a few days left in NZ. We got a ferry over to Waikeke island just off the coast near Auckland. It was a nice quiet little island where we had a campsite and beach to ourselves for free!. We only stayed a couple of nights but it was nice and relaxing and we had a little swim in the sea. That left us with a couple of days in Auckland to sort out photos and be dragged around the shops.
On the 4th we flew to Melbourne. It is a nice enough city but nothing to write home about- unless that is you count blogs as writing home, because then i guess it is, cos i'm writing about it. What? Oh dear I'm rambling already and there is still some way to go.
After a couple of days in the city we hired a car to drive the Great Ocean Road. We drove out to the end of it in the evening, found a spot to do a spot of cheeky free camping and spent the next day driving back to Melbourne on the GOR. (oh BTW Em and foxy, the Gibson steps really were just those steps we walked down. They supposedly give you a different view of the 12 apostles). Anywhoo, it was scenic and all that but perhaps a better name for it would be the Relatively Nice Compared To Other Ocean Roads Road- Catchy don't you think. The driving of it was fun and I was pleased to discover that I hadn't entirely forgotten how to drive a manual car.
After the RNCTOORR we had one last night together in Melbourne and were surprised to find it so quiet in the city. Then the following morning Em and the Fox set off to Adelaide meaning that it was the end of our Fellowship-(sorry, i'm in Oz now- I'll stop the LOTR references).
I stayed one more night in Melbourne and discovered why Thursday night had been so quiet- everybody was saving themselves for Friday night. The bars were full, there were allyways full of bars which were packed with live music in the streets. I just wandered around soaking up the atmosphere- drinks were too expensive!.
The next day I booked a last minute cheap train ticket for that night, then had the day to see more of Melbourne- The botanical gardens, the MCG and the afternoon to chill in the park in the sun reading LOTR and having a couple of beers. Oh that reminds me. I've bought a shiny new camera!, I was just sharing Emma's but as she is going up the West coast and i am going up the East, that probably won't work anymore.
I'm in Sydney now and your tea is getting cold, but as I was saying, I'm in Sydney and I absolutely love it! Most people prefer Melbourne. Not Me.
When I got to Sydney it was cold and raining and cold- oops I already said cold. Suffice to say it was Shitty. It seems the East coast has been getting battered by storms lately. However everywhere I go, I do as is advised by Crowded House, I take the weather with me and it is now bloody lovely. For my second day it was sunny and warm (and sunny). I went for a walk down to sydney harbour bridge, the opera house and the botanical gardens. It was 'the long weekend' for the Queen's birthday so there were street entertainers and music in the streets.
I've found a really cool place to stay and it's pretty cheap. Last night we dressed up as women so that we got free champagne at the karaoke. I will try to get the videos of me singing Britney Oops I and Hit me baby on u tube, but i fear that may be too technical for me. I had a great night and didn't spend a penny. Had free champagne plus i got free drinks for my awesome singing. Luckily I had shaved my beard off a couple of days ago (NOT THE BEARD!!! - Ok thats the last one) so i was a passable woman.
Yesterday I walked the Bondi-Coogee coastal path where i took a copious amount of photos of water crashing on to rocks. It was also a really nice walk, plus that means i've pretty much seen what I want to in Sydney. Tomorrow I'm heading out to the Blue Mountains to have a bit of an explore and do a bit more cheeky free camping. I'll then head back into sydney afterwards so that i can leave some of my stuff here. But thats the future- theres no need for me to tell you that now. I will also get some photos on the website and hopefully make links to them as well as Emma's and Foxy's blogs. The links should appear somewhere over there -------->
So there you have it. Your bang up to date now, so that will be all for now I think. I am leaving now. Goodbye
xx Matt xx
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