Destination Byron Bay: 2 Days of Travel: Day 2

      Australias: Rain-forest to desert

After an over-night rest stop in a comfy bed, I woke up in Sydney refreshed and ready for Part 2! I met Scott in the lobby of the hostel and we raced down to Central Station, grabbing some Solo's on the way down (my new favorite drink in Australia).
 Oh, Central Station. It feels like I have been there a million times! Its probably more like 10, but as the Thai would say, "same same". During the next 12 hours we rode up the eastern coast experiencing all sorts of landscapes. There was a lot of what we have already seen so much of: dried up flat fields stretching for what seems like an eternity. And ofcourse theres the fields of green wheat and gold canola. 

Luck would have it that we happened to have been assigned seats in front of the most dysfunctional family in New South Wales, apparently. This single mother was a psycho and her and her 3 spawn children terrorized the entire train for 11hours and 59 minutes of a 12 hour train ride. By the end of the line, all of the passengers had changed seats to sit as far away from this family as possible. I spent most of the ride trying to block them out using my earplugs. Originally, I brought the plugs to block out snoring people at hostels, but they have turned out to be useful for all sorts of situations!

 I did manage to sneak in a few naps despite the chaos. The children, probably between ages 2 and 6, whined, screamed and kicked the back of my seat pretty much the entire ride. The mother screamed, swore and threatened to hit them or take away their I-pods. It was so annoying. I felt like turning to her and saying "FAIL." Im pretty sure she knew she was getting a lot of stink eye from the other passengers. Anyways, enough about that!
 
On the positive side there was falafels on the train, and tea bags containing coffee. Also a nice stretch of rainforest when we passed through the Blue Mountains! Some of these beautiful mountains met the Pacific Ocean. We met a really friendly Outback Jack who told us what gave the Blue Mountains their name. Apparently it is because of the blue haze that hangs above the eucalyptus trees during mid-day!

My favorite part of the trip was when we were getting really close to Byron Bay and there were valleys of banana trees everywhere! Banana trees as far as the eye can see. From a distance you could see bags hanging from all of the trees and it was like little cloud puffs suspended in rows in the air. Farmers hang the bags over the bundles of bananas and wait for them to ripen. Once they are ready, all harvesters have to do is chop the bags down because theyre already packaged. I never knew that! 

 Arriving in Casino we transferred to another bus which took us on a one hour bus ride into Byron. We finally showed up around 9:30 pm and found a hippie-van taxi to drive us to The Arts Factory, a really famous backpacker hostel built by hippies in the 70's. We would be spending the night in a teepee....New story and pics coming soon!

Destination Byron Bay: 2 Days of Travel, Day 1

After talking to one of my bestfriends from home, Jess, she convinced me to get to Byron Bay as soon as possible. It didnt take much for her to twist my arm, and actually I think her exact words were “I would have been there yesterday”. Jeanie, my friend Scott and I decided to go out for Chinese food and drinks to celebrate. We spent the night discussing religion, sex and politics over a few too many glasses of “celebratory” bubbly.

@ a Truck-stop in the middle of nowhere

I woke up to “Somebody that I used to know” pulsing from the alarm clock at 3:00 a.m. That was my cue to grab My Roaming Backpack and catch the 3:40 a.m. bus from Mildura, Victoria to Cootamundra, New South Wales, aka, the middle of nowhere. To top it all off I had one of the worst migraines Ive had in forever, and a ghastly 9 hour bus ride in my immediate future! Everything hurt; smells, light, sound. Really regretting those last few glasses of wine, I wished I could block the world out and go back to bed, but the train ticket was already paid for. "Buy the ticket, take the ride!"

Fields of Cano

 Instead I blocked out as much as I could using earplugs and sunglasses. Then I popped a super-strong form of Aspirin, and asked Scott to work on my pressure points using a technique he learned in Thailand. All I could do was carry on and hope for the best. It was 5 hours until I was relieved on my agony, but I guess it could have been worse. I could have got stranded in Cootamundra! (Jokes, well, not really)

After reaching Cootamundra and waiting 2 hours for the next train into Sydney, I spent the next 6 hours on a train. It was all so boring its really not worth mentioning. It goes a little something like this: Nothingness, nothingness, canola fields, nothingness, more canola fields, old saloon town, dried up river bed, and so on. After a long day we reached Sydney once again, where we grabbed some greasy pizza and falafel wraps and took advantage of the dry sauna and pool at our hostel. I went to bed early and prepared myself for the next morning. In the cards?: a 12 hour train ride to Byron Bay at the crack of dawn.

Adventures Are Full of Mis-Adventures Part 1

Today I am breathing fresh air! It's Saturday morning here in Australia and the tides for me are turning. I am feeling relieved and invigorated to be catching a train leaving Mildura, Victoria after 2 painfully slow weeks in a town of teenie boppers and elderly.

After our disastrous encounter with orange picking in Iraak, Victoria (1/2 an hour from Midura) me and my friend Scott escaped the job and took refuge with his sweet, wonderful, and hilariously animated Aunt Jeanie. Luckily, Scott seems to have long-lost relatives from Ireland everywhere! Jeanie didn't know us from a hole in the wall, but rang us one day and saved us from that wretched farm. She showed up in her car almost immediately and brought us back into "civilization", where we have been residing since.

Dance party in the kitchen, listening to
 DJ Tiesto off my cell phone!

That was the end of camping on the semi-desert floor on nights dropping to -2 degrees Celcius, the red earth beneath us rock-hard, and pushing condensation through our sleeping bags. It was the end of bathing outside in the cold, under a broken shower-head behind the tractor shed, getting eaten by flies and all the other fun stuff that comes with camping in the Australian desert. Most of all, she saved us from having to break our backs, only to accept shit pay, that consequently we ended up spending on the cost of food and “farm rent” of 50$/week.(Food can be extremely expensive in Australia, so after paying for groceries we were maybe breaking even) I think we lost more money than we made if you include the cost of transportation. It was a complete mis-adventure, but that's what travel is all about!

Making our own fun on the farm with the 
boys living out of their camper-van

The first week I arrived in Australia, I stayed in Sydney (not the best idea for a budget traveler * Note taken*). Within 7 days, 1500$ Canadian felt like it was “missing” from my account. Considering I had only paid for budget accommodation-and the over-priced scraps of what food I was willing to spend my hard-earned money on, I was not impressed. I had hardly eaten! Where was all my money going? This Working Holiday Visa was starting to look rather expensive..

Sydney, Australia: Circular Quay

Circular Quay, pronounced "Key" is one of Sydney's most well-known attractions. Home to the Opera House, Sydney Harbor & Harbor Bridge, this is the area most people envision when they think about Sydney- at least I know I did. I pictured the iconic Opera House, as I had seen it in so many magazines. I didn't understand the structure then, and I still don't- maybe that's part of the intrigue.


Before leaving Sydney I wined and dined in the area, treating myself to a few Pure Blondes & some fancy-schmancy scallops at a local restaurant. If you're a budget traveler, prepare yourself for a night out at Circular Quay because even appetizers start at 40$ +. Nevertheless its a great experience to do just once, and you're almost guaranteed to enjoy yourself. The view is fabulous, and you'll be in good company as the Quay draws a mature "dinner and drinks" crowd.  Beside the massive Opera House is the Opera Bar among other high-class restaurants and bars lining the beautiful harbor-side, a great place for a celebration or a date-night.


During my visit to the Quay, it was August (Australia's winter) but it was a warm night so everyone was out enjoying the weather. Along the length of the harbor-side is a long, stone bench that stretches continuously from the Wharf's to the Opera House. I imagine when there are fireworks in the harbor this bench manages to fit a lot of people! I sat on the bench, facing the harbor, staring at the Harbor Bridge lit up like a tree at Christmas. The sea looked black in the distance as the lights danced on the water.  

I took a moment to take it all in, realizing where I was and all the hard work it took to get me there. To my right- the magnificent and strange structure, to my left, a sea of high-rise buildings on the edge of a continent.
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"Imagination Is Everything"

"Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions."-Albert Einstein
I made a friend on the train one day, leaving Sydney heading towards the Blue Mountains. I was carrying my fully-loaded backpack adorned with patches from Japan, Thailand and Canada, in addition to my guitar, a few books and snacks. After a long afternoon of catching several trains and lugging around all my goods, I was nearly exhausted. I found a seat and plopped myself down with my backpack.

The train momentarily paused and some little school boys, around 9 or 10 years old got on board. They were wearing school uniforms; light blue dress shirts with matching dark blue vests and shorts. One intriguing and especially sweet little boy with blonde hair, blue eyes, and freckles ran ahead of his classmates and chose the seat across from mine. He plopped himself down with his backpack. 

He kept glancing my way, his eyes nervously fleeting from mine. After a few moments, my gaze caught his. Finally he spoke out in his adorable Aussie accent. 
"Youre quite the tourist, now arent you?" 
"Yes, something like that.", I replied smiling and laughing. His class mate, "secretly" and shyly watching from around the corner near the door of the train, protectively called out, "What are you doing!?". Im sure they were aware they shouldnt talk to strangers. He defiantly answered, "IM TALKING." His classmate eventually buggered off. 

He asked a few more questions about where we were going and where we were from, afterwards apologizing for initially assuming my Canadian accent was American. Then he noticed the patches on my bag, he paused, studying them in a curious wonder. Then, out of nowhere, the way children do, he went on to amaze me with his beautiful innocence, saying one day he would travel like me. 

"Thats why I love the wind so much.." he said,"..because it can take you anywhere you please, ..with a little imagination of course."

The train stopped and our conversation was forced to a halt, nevertheless the little man wished me a great trip and waved me off at my station- What a gentlemen!

Although I only spent a few brief moments with him, he has crossed my mind many times since then. Ive played his words over in my mind, thinking about the relationship between the children we were and the people we are today. As a child, we use wind and our imagination to take us places. As adults, travelling takes a little more than the wind but it still requires that child-like imagination to create a new way of life. 

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Sydney, Australia, Hostel Review: 790 on George

Overall Experience: NEGATIVE         Stayed: August 16th-17th, 2012

I can say from personal experience that my stay here was very short since I was catching a train out of town the very next day. However, if I was not leaving town I would have left immediately the next day anyways, because of the hygienic conditions, (or lack there of) at this hostel. I would not recommend staying here if you plan on staying for an extended period or if you will be spending a lot of time indoors. There are several other clean and safe backpacker hostels in the area, such as Bounce Sydney.

Cleanliness        -Room was visibly clean, but restrooms were filthy
1/5                       -Hall ways reeked of stale cigarette smoke      

Staff                    -Staff were friendly, accommodating and helpful  

4.5/5

Location             -Centrally located, close to all amenities, short train/bus ride to several

4/5                        attractions, although relatively expensive area to dine and shop (Surrey Hills)

Security              -Large lockers equipped with an additional security box inside

2/5                       -Rooms requires a swipecard to enter, however anyone can freely enter foyer & hallways

Facilities            -Kitchen: did not see
2/5                       -Restrooms: Spacious, but dirty, 2 toilet stalls, 2 showers
                            -Laundry: did not use 
                             *Rating based on what I DID experience*

Environment     -Plenty of young adults and backpackers
2/5                      -Rooms are cramped and outdated

                           -Beds are comfortable, however sheets were stained
                               

Price                   -One private room split between 3 people cost 28$ each
4/5                       - Wifi is reasonably priced at 1$/hour 
                                               

                          A=790 On George Hostel, 790 George Street, Surry Hills, Sydney, NSW
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Sydney, Australia (MANLY): Not Quite Urban, Not Quite Rural

My time in Manly was limited to 4 days, but it was a fresh, clean, beautiful place, and Im glad I had the opportunity to see what all the fuss is about. Although I found it very touristy and expensive, there are good qualities about this suburban area of Sydney that make it a worth-while stop.

If youre big into surfing, sailing, shopping, wining and dining- this is the place for you. The Walking Street, which leads directly to the beach strip, is studded with a range of restaurants, funky bistros, souvenir shoppes and a few night clubs- although I was told by the locals that the night life is not too crazy (if youre looking to bar hop its best to take the ferry over to mainland Sydney). 

The famous Manly Beach was indeed gorgeous (clean, nice sand!) and has a great surf, and lots of trails surrounding for hiking day-trips. However beautiful the scenery though, it is evident you are still in a suburb. If youre not a city person and prefer to be in the quiet and private outdoors, it probably wont be your cup of tea after a few days.


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Manly Beach, Australia

 Down by the bay, Down by the bay..
Where the watermelons grow, Back to my home, I dare not go..

Manly Beach

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Waking in Manly, Australia

My second week in Australia I had the rare opportunity to stay in the village of Manly, the northern section of Sydney, (New South Wale's capital)- for free! It turned out that my friend had a distant cousin living there who invited our group to stay with her for 4 days. We jumped on the opportunity and took the ferry across the water from Sydney to the Manly wharf.

We arrived at night, long after the sun had gone down, our surroundings unknown. Waking up in Manly we were struck with this amazing panoramic view, Cockatoos and a Cookaburras! Then we watched in awe as a whale spouted water in the harbour- Hello Australia! Below is the green and yellow Sydney ferry arriving at the Manly Wharf. Particularly attractive to young travellers and surfers, Manly is home to one of the most popular Surf Schools and famous for it's penguins and fresh seafood. In the distance you can see the famous 3-towered Cardinal Cerretti Memorial Chapel where Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban were married. Pics of Manly Harbour, Manly Beach and Manly Walking Strip to come!

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My First Aussie- Brew

My FIRST Australian Beer- ever. A Pure Blonde! 
Cheers Mate! Delicious..

Sydney, Australia Hostel Review: Bounce Sydney

Overall Experience: POSITIVE  Stayed: August 6-11, 2012

Cleanliness         -Rooms and restroom/showers were cleaned daily

4.5/5                    -Fresh sheets and pillow cases are provided at check-in

Staff                    -Staff were friendly, accomodating and helpful  

4.5/5

Location             -Centrally located, close to all amenities, short train/bus ride to several

4/5                        attractions, although relatively expensive area to dine and shop

Security              -Large lockers (with double shelves and outlets- extremely convenient if

5/5                        you want to charge your laptop/phone while you are out and about!)

                            -Also each floor level and room requires a swipecard to enter. 24 hour

                             desk service secures the main level

Facilities             -Kitchen: large, modern, and fully stocked, multiple large fridges
3.5/5                     -Restrooms: Small but clean, 3 toilet stalls, 2 showers
                             -Laundry: Several energy efficient washers and dryers, 4$ each for wash&dry 
                             -Other: Computers available, but 2/5 computers on my level were  out of service
                              Rooftop terrace, barbeque and temporary luggage storage are all a bonus!

Environment      -Plenty of young adults and backpackers, some families
4/5                        -Suitable environment for all ages, although there are many young guests, it is

                              a quiet and peaceful hostel.    
                             -Rooms are brightly painted with modern decor, very comfortable
                             -Beds are very comfortable, but if youre tall be sure to take the top bunk!

Entertainment    -Computers located on each floor, one tv in lounge room on Level 4
3/5                        -Daily activities @ Hostel such as Mexican night & Trivia night
                               

Price                     -$35/night for single bed in 8 bed dorm. Pricey since no wifi/breakfast included
3/5 
                                               

Wifi                       -High signal wifi, but very expensive. 3$/ 1 hour, 7$/3 hours, 10$/5 hours

1/5                          *Note* To clairify, despite ad claims, WIFI @ Bounce Sydney is not free!

A=Bounce Sydney Boutique Hotel, 28 Chalmers Street, Surry Hills, Sydney, New South Wales

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Sydney, Australia: Experience Surry Hills

Surry Hills is the perfect first stop for backpackers and travellers reaching Sydney, Australia. It is a centrally located, and culturally diverse area, only one train ride away from the Sydney airport. Surry Hills is surrounded by several banks, government buildings, a wide variety of backpacker hostels, restaurants, shoppes and to top it all off, its only steps from the Central Train Station. Some of my favourite things about this area include Paddys Markets and China Town! Here you can get some great deals on produce and some tasty eats of all sorts!


Above: China Town, Central Station & Market City Plaza

My least favourite things were that free wifi was virtually impossible to find in the area, most places, including Starbucks charge 3$/hour! I luckily did find a place eventually, called Peter Pans, which is a Travel Adventure Company that also has job boards and free unlimited wifi, (phew!), ideal for someone job hunting in Sydney! Also, if you are a budget traveller like myself, beware of pricey restaurants in the area. If you are staying in a hostel it is a wise choice to pick up some fresh food at the markets and make some home-made feasts, instead of spending an Ozzie fortune at the thousands of bistros that spread across Surry Hills. Overall I really enjoyed my time exploring Surry Hills and I definitely think it is worth checking out before continuing on out of Sydney. 



Touching Down in Sydney Town!