Blue Mountains

The Blue Mountains, lets just say they were amazing. It was a tour I signed up for at the hostel, they picked us up and dropped us off 10 hours later. We saw quite a bit in that time, and did a hell of a lot of walking. It took about an hour and a half to get to Leura, a small town in the blue mountains. From there we traveled to the south side and did an hour hike around the rainforest there, it was gorgeous, mostly eucalyptus trees, but there were a few others, and some beautiful water falls. But I swear we must of hiked up a good 200 stone and wood steps along the way.

Our tour guide, who seemed like he smoked a lot of pot, at least when we first met him, was actually quite good. He didn’t give information about everything, but he was funny and seemed to know what he was doing and where he was going, he was also the driver. All in all I liked him and he knew of some amazing spots to see the most spectacular views.

Once we were done on the south side we had lunch on this amazing rock lookout called, Anvil Rock, you could see everything from there. Afterwards we trekked over to the north side and did another hour long walk through the brush along side a small waterfall. There were also more stairs, lets just say the whole day was quite the workout. We then headed over to see the three sisters, which are quite famous it would seem, tons of tourists flock there to see them. They were great to see, but not my favourite part of the day. And of course half way through this tour my camera battery decided to die and I didn’t get any pictures of the second half of the tour.

All in all a great tour, very glad I did it, definitely worth the money.

P.S. I got my luggage back finally!

The sights

Well I have to say the trip has gotten a lot better from the catastrophe that was my luggage event in Toronto. Don't get me wrong, I still don't have it, but they said they would try to locate it and send it my way, so fingers crossed. In the mean time I've been seeing the sights and eating the food, my favourite part. Lauren, my Australian friend who I happened to meet in England when I was there for a year doing roughly the same thing as I am now, has been showing me the sights. Its funny, we met doing the exact same thing, we were both taking a large chunk of time off and travling, and it just so happened we were living and working in the same pub. She was in the room right next to mine on the third floor of the pub we worked at. So now I'm here in Australia visiting her and enjoying every minute of it.

We went to quite a few places in one day, the harbour, the opera house, the royal botanical gardens and the state library which I have to say is spectacular, beautiful stainglass windows, but I am partial to libraries. To walk around a new city is such an enormous thrill for me, I know it may sound silly but I get such a high from walking for hours and seeing new things everywhere I turn.

Yesterday my three roomates and I took a ferry trip, which was free, to cockatoo island. The ferry ride was great, and you can take some amazing photos from the ferry, but the island itself left me unimpressed. Its an industrial island, and it was used by the navy quite a few years ago, but now it is basically an island of contempory art pieces. It was an experience, but I do not think I will go again, I am extremely glad it was free.

Tomorrow is the Blue Mountains, I have high hopes for those, I've had a few people tell me, Australians, that I should go there. I will definately post about that once I come back.
Until then!

The long haul

I have finally arrived in Sydney, well actually I arrived yesterday morning and it was quite the journey. I started off in Ottawa and went to Toronto, and then the easy part was over. I ran all over terminal 1 trying to find my checked bag which I was suppose to get and then check again before I caught my flight to LA. But it seemed no one could tell me the proper place to recieve it. So I finally was told I had to go to terminal 3 and grab it from there and go through security there. So I went, and wouldn't you know it, no bag! I had the guy at the baggage desk radioing and looking for it, but to no avail, and to top it off my flight was about to leave in 40 minutes and I still hadn't gone through security or customs. So I decided to leave it and go, so I could at least make it to Sydney, bag or no.

After arriving in LA I boarded my Qantas flight to Australia, after waiting the hour delay, which isn't too bad actually. Twelve and a half hours later I am flying into Sydney airport and actually feeling not too upset about my bag, surprisingly. A shuttle bus, which was free thanks to the Hostel I booked with, The Jolly Swagman, and may I take a moment to say they have been great. The front desk woman is pleasent and extremely helpfull, I definately recomend this hostel. I should say I have only been here for one night, so we'll see by the end if I'm still raving about it, but I don't see why I wouldn't be. Anyway the shuttle bus dropped me and a few others off at our respective hostels and here I am.

After a days worth of trying to call the Toronto airport and not getting anywhere, between the 1-800 number not working for some odd reason and the other extensions busy or no one answering, I think I might just give up on my bag. Besides they'll probably send it to the address I have on the handle, I'm sure I'll see it again, probably....

I must say though, for all that has happened, I'm actually enjoying myself, and am almost completely content.

The multiple country hop plan

I have decided to go to a couple other countries once I am done experiencing Australia. And by a couple I mean about 10 or so, I just couldn't choose. Right afterwards I'm hoping to hop down to New Zealand for a bit. But after that I'll be headed to Asia for 3 months, or until the funds deplete! So far on my list: Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Loas, China (a few places, there is so much to see), Seoul - Korea and lastly Japan. Now I know this is a big undertaking, but I think I can do it.

Now of course you need shots when your headed to Asia, especially certain parts, and to get them I had to go to a travel clinic. Lets just say when I sat down with the nurse and she looked at all the places I was planning to go, she was not too happy. Apparently I'm the kind of person they hate because they have to go over every place with you and print out the information and map for each country (mine was 38 pages long). Also as a side note make sure your shots are up to date or else you have to get those as well, and they are not cheap!

In total I ended up getting 4 shots, only because she was able to double up 2 vaccinations into one needle, twice (it would have ended up being 6 shots if not). Now they are not really painful, but your arms tend to be rendered useless for at least a day, depending on the person.

You would think after all those I would be done, but no, alas I still need 2 more shots once I'm in Australia, at 200 dollars each as well. Lets just say I died a little bit on the inside when I heard about that, and so did my bank account. Who's bright idea was it to go to Asia again? Oh right, mine!

Oh and don't forget to get the shots at least a month or more before you go, sometimes you have to go back for another round!

But hey, at least I'm completely covered for whatever comes my way, at least pertaining to deadly diseases!

Thanks for reading my rant on vaccinations! :)

The Lead up

Finally my Australia trip is up and running, in a mere 12 days I will be on my way. Once I actually get to Australia there will be a lot more posts, way more frequently. I hope to tell all of you who want to travel there and are going to be headed there what to expect and give some, hopefully, helpful advice.

I am planning on staying a year there to work and travel, we shall see how that goes. I will be documenting it as much as possible.
I'm hoping for interesting experiences and interesting stories to keep myself and everyone else entertained.

If anyone is planning a working trip to Australia I will say the process for getting my working/holiday maker visa was not that difficult, I was expecting so much worse. Also they seem to have quite a few hostels to choose from that from the reviews seem quite good, but I shall see about that once I get there and report back!

I'll make sure to slip in plenty of photos too!

I will say this before I go, if you want to leave on a massive trip make sure you give yourself lots of time to prepare, especially if you're a procrastinator like me.

Please comment if you like, or if you have any questions about where I am once I'm over there, or questions before hand! :D