TravelPosted by GEORGE HULLEY Thu, May 13, 2010 08:20AMThe Rock tour as its named, is based around the Red center of Australia which contains three main highlights. Ayers Rock/Uluru, Kata Tjuta and Kings Canyon are the places to see in this tour. With every tour you go on all over the world, the main reason for having a good experience and a bad experience really can rely down to the tour guide and the group of people on the bus. Our guide was more alble to make our experience a very rememberable one.
Skip was his name, he was very knowledgable on all the aboriginal history and their way of life. He gave us their point of view on their recent history and how they have been treated by the 'invaders'.
The beginning of the trip took us to Kings Canyon, an early morning pick up from Toddy's backpackers in Alice Springs. The first challenge for our first hike was the massive stair way up to the top of the Canyon. Skip called it boot camp and we soon discovered why. During the 8km hike around the Canyon we got to know each other initally whilst eating the odd fly here and there. I think I had 3 flies by the end of the tour. Cough, spit, ewww.
As a group our speed through the canyon was quick so we were able to stop for 15mins for a nice relaxing lagoon stop. The lagoon was surrounded with an over hanging rock above, which reflexed the lagoon's light rays to create a shimmering effect on rock. The lagoon had lots of dragon flies flying around and then we headed back off to finish the hike.
That night we experience our guide/cook dinner and learnt to play the didgeridoo. That night we lay under the stars in our swags. Which is a leather version of a sleeping bag with an lining of padding for the uncormfortable floor. I was very warm and snuggly, shame I had to get up in the middle of the night for pee.
Next day we entered the Uluru/Kata Tjuta National Park where we passed the Rock and headed straight for the Kata Tjuta national park. That day I realised my camera battery hadnt been charged since my trip to the Melbourne Grand Prix.
This is something to shout home about, the aboriginals say that the place is sacred to them because the round hills are the heads of their ancestors. I would have hated to see what they looked like alive. Everything seems to be sacred and is aways about ancestors the aboriginals. Not a very creative culture.
Later that day Skip took us to the best view of Ayers Rock for the sunset viewing. It was funny to see a lot of other bus and coaches pull up with thousands of old people getting off there transports with their own small fold out chair and they would all recieve a nice glass of champagne as the sun was setting. Our tour group stayed alot longer than everyone else and we had dinner and some beers.
That night we played some games, talked and played the didgeridoo. This time I was a lot better and I had learnt how to blow down the pipe properly. The other trick is to cycle your own breathing to continue the sound. Which is impossible.
As perusual we had to get up early, at 5:30am we headed down to the brand new platform to see the sunrise over Ayers Rock. Now this was dissapointing for a photographers point of view as this raised platform did not take you above the highest tree in the landscape. Thus everyone had this oddly place tree ruining the landscape of Ayers rock.
I have mixed feelings towards the aboriginals, yes they were oppressed, murdered and have been only recently been classed as human beings. 1967 they were still classed as an animal. Also in 1985 they finally got the vote, these 300,000 people have not had it very good in the last 200 years in Australia. Geneology wise they can not cope with alcohol and also some suspect they might be desendants of Homoerectus.
But all this aside they have not really helped themselves. Since being in New Zealand the difference of intergration between Moari and Aboriginals is so vast. New Zealand has embraced their natives where Australia have given aboriginals money to shut them up and keep them away from the cities. Who is to blame, no one. Human nature is the cause and the fact the aboriginals don't have a backbone to keep their way of life going is sad.
The natural beauty of Ayers/Uluru/The Rock, (whatever you want to call it) is a stunning sight to behold and it one of the few places I would recommend seeing in Australia.
TravelPosted by GEORGE HULLEY Sat, April 17, 2010 12:08PMMy impression of spending some interesting months in this very sporty city, is that I have some good times and some bad times. All this is life experience and I am grateful for coming to another country exploring and adventuring around. I wouldn't have thought about doing it, if it hadn't been for a special person.
As a non-driver from Laaanndan, I found the public transport a lot to get used to. I had to slow my whole life style down when it came to transport and getting from A to B. The frequency and efficiency of all types of transport were shocking piss poor. I would bore you with my theories of how to make it much better but I cant be bothered. Taxi is the way to go if you can afford it.
Melbourne contains many unique little paces in the outer suburbs from the CBD, bars and cool little restaurants in each different WOG specific areas of Melbourne. You will have to know the locals to find these places.
If you are the sports lover like myself this is a perfect place to be in the summer time in australia. Everything from cricket, football, AFL, tennis and F1 in the months of Jan - Mar makes this a city very special and you can see it reflexed back into the attitude of most Melbourians, being is fit a must and having not done some exercise each day you can be made to feel guilty and rightly so. Perhaps I will be back next summer to see England retain the Ashes.
The MCG is a furnominal sized stadium with the amount of people watching cricket and AFL it can have quite an amazing atmosphere. Around the stadium is also the tennis arenas and the new 'soccer' stadium next to them, this is the hub of sport in Melbourne. Once this new stadium is built they should just knock down the Telstar/Eithad stadium and covert the area into a nice little lagoon that you get in Airlie Beach or Brisbane.
The main tourist attraction for a British person in Melbourne should always include a trip to the Neighbours tour and trivia night and you will not regret it. Everyone is slightly ashamed being there but its a lot of laughs and you meet some great new people to travel around with. At the Elephant and Wheel barrel in St Kilda where the trivia night is held our team won the competition and I also won the dance off on stage and won a trip around New Zealand on the magic bus, I cannot wait! Oh and I met this dude.
The nearby natural attraction is the Great Ocean Road and this is something you cannot miss being in Victoria. Me and the friends I made at the Neighbours night hired a car and drove around area, you can't do it in a day. We had the whole long weekend to explore the surf towns along the way. Lorne and Apollo Bay are pleasant places and would be great to live for the surf during the summer. The twelve apostles were very impressive and we got there with some poor weather, but they were still wonderful to behold.
This is just some of my impressions of Melbourne, the big city and Victoria. I will return one day I promise.
TravelPosted by GEORGE HULLEY Mon, January 18, 2010 07:38AMDue to bad planning and limited amount of money, I had 2 days and 2 nights in Sydney. It was a race against time to see the sights before I had a flight booked back to Melbourne.
Upon entering Sydney over the Harbour bridge via the reasonable quality of greyhound coaches, I knew I was going to be entering a very different world that I had been getting used to in Melbourne (Melbourne blog coming soon).
Seeing the famous Sydney Opera House for the first time, got me excited about my travels and the fact that I was on the other side of the world next to this incredible designed building.
After I had checked myself into my hotel (Travel Lodge, I wouldn't bother next time) by using the helpful Lonely Planet Sydney App for my ipod touch. I was able to navigate the offline maps on the App to find my way around in Sydney with ease.
My first adventure in Sydney was to get to Bondi and experience the famous beach on a very hot day. It was very easy to get their by train and then bus. Would have been easier if they moved Bondi Junction closer to the beach. Entering down into the area, it reminded me of coastal towns in England. Until we came round the final corner to reveal Bondi beach, this massive large beach was revealed and it was about to get better. As soon as I could, I got down to the beach, and I got straight into the sea. The bay's waves were much better and much more fun than I have ever experienced in Swanage (My old family summer holiday). I stayed there for a few hours, but I had to move on, as I still had a lot to do. Wish I could've stayed longer, but time was not on my side.
Before arriving in Sydney I had read that going on the Manly ferry would give me great opportunities to take some amazing photos. My plan was to go down there at sunset and take some wicked photos. Got on the ferry and the views were photoriffic. I was planning to see another STA explorer that night in Manly, but she had to work and I decided that I would just get the ferry back to the city. The return journey provided me with better shots from the front of the boat and the sun was setting and giving the sky an amazing orange glow.
The next day I slept in, because it was hard to sleep on an overnight greyhound. I had needed to get up early for what I had planned. But no, I kept hitting snooze. Eventually I got up and took the cheapest and my best experience in the Sydney area to the Blue Mountains. The Explorerlink ticket cost 52 bucks and its a return ticket to the Blue Mountains where you can get on a hop on hop off Bus all over the sight.
The train takes 2 hours, so that was the reason to get up early, but since being on a greyhound bus, 2 hours was nothing to me. I arrived at Katoomba in the afternoon and started to plan my quick experience. In my head I planned two journeys, which then was recommended by the entertaining bus driver Jimmy (main highlight of the day). Feeling pleased with my analysis of the journey I was going to do, I set trail from the Honeymoon spot to Echo Point, where I would do a 1km hick to see the Three Sisters. I won't tell you too much about it, as its worth a look for yourself. Best to work yourself up to see it after a quick walk.
Next Journey planned was to see some waterfalls, Jimmy gave me an hour to see two waterfalls, which was roughly 2km to do in a short time. I got my hiking legs on and trekked it. This added to my enjoyment and it was a great exercise.
By the time I got back to the bus stop for the trip home, it began to rain. When the rain hit the road, stream rised from the road. It was quite an amazing sight before I got the train back to Sydney.
That night I finally got to see Alice_walkabout in Manly, and we had a long catch up on all things australian, and the fact she hadn't seen much of her current home city and surroundings. That being the same with me, as I have yet to see the Great Ocean Road.
Next day I took a boring trip around the sydney opera house, (why the hell can't I take pictures of the good bits?) You can see as much of the opera house from the outside than you get to see from the tour. But this did educate me about how Sydney betrayed the architect of the Sydney Opera House. Jose Utzon, never got to see his own finished building before he died in 2008.
This concludes my time in Sydney for the time being, but if you were in the similar situation and you didn't have much time in Sydney. Blue Mountains Explorerlink is a must. Enjoy.
TravelPosted by GEORGE HULLEY Fri, December 18, 2009 01:29AM When flying over Hong Kong the views from
the plane window was something out of Sim City. Their were so many tower
blocks, too many to count through a tiny airplane window. I hadn’t ever been
this far away from home and neither my friend Sam who I was traveling with;
this was going to be a great experience. When we landed it was very hot, but
little did we know that it was not going to last. Once we landed we were on a
mission to get to our accommodation as soon as possible so we could unload our
heavy luggage that we were carrying on our backs, only girls can have wheeled
luggage, only girls.
Eventually we arrived via a bus and an
octopus card (Hong Kong version of oyster card) outside this massive Chungking
Mansions, which contains shops and curry houses, and roughly 4,000 people
living there in the center on Hong Kong, Kowloon. Outside the building on
Nathans Road we were instantly approached by salesman offering us suits and
fake watches, I felt like they were trying to make me look like someone from
the 80’s.
When traveling with friends there is
usually an understanding that one person is going to be more responsible and
have more knowledge of traveling than the other and this what it was like with
my friend Sam. He had lived with many well-traveled foreigners in London and
had also been to a lot of places around Europe, where I hadn’t, so
irresponsibly I was just following his lead. The next day after Sam
unsuccessfully tried to stay up the whole day but fell asleep at 5pm to try and
get into the right time zone, he got up early and traveled across to Hong Kong
Island for breakfast. That left me alone and unsure of my surroundings when I
arose, but getting to grips with traveling in Hong Kong couldn’t have been
easier. The metro system was amazing, it was clean, well sign posted and very
cheap. It helped to have a guidebook or I would have been completely lost, and
I found him quite easily in the cities CBD where we planned our first touristy
day, I don’t know what I was afraid of.
We went up to the Victoria Peak on the
safest tram in Asia, no recorded accidents in its 100-year history. The incline
was about 45 degrees; it was very steep in the carriage. It was going to cost
some money to see the view of Hong Kong from the sky terrace so we went looking
for a supposed good free spot if we went higher. We went up Austin road but
came up to the top to see the other side, and we saw the South China Sea, it
was a long road and a lot of effort, but to see that view was worth it. Next
time we will go up when it's sunset and find that unique spot.
That Wednesday night we went to Happy
Valley Races via the tram system, which was about 16p for a journey anywhere on
it's route. I was betting big and was down about $300hkd until some confident betting
and working out a system (always bet on Brett Prebble) got me more back than
what I was down. Finished the night 200 up! That's 20 quid to you and me. Amazing
time at night for racing, and the cheapest booze we would ever find in the
city.
The next day we discovered all the
different markets around Mog Kok, Sam bought a Frank Muller copy watch and a
copy pair of Ray Ban’s. That night we randomly met people we saw at the races
in a German bar full of annoying drunken Americans. Jill and Steve were good to
chat too. We traded stories about us becoming £10 Poms and what to do in Hong
Kong and our next trip Macau.
Our day trip to
Macau we got the turbojet boat from Hong Kong harbour, the trip was only an
hour. When we left the ferry terminal we quickly discovered the differences
between Hong Kong and Macau, and it was their very curious and dangerous road
system, we had to cross a road to get to the road crossing. The streets were
full of scooters, felt very continental which where Macau takes a lot of its
history from as its was owned by the Portuguese. We went off the beaten track
to the grotto, which where we could see the Chinese border, just over the river
in the distance.
The next
adventure was to involve leaving Hong Kong city behind us and to see the
suburban delights of Tin Shui Wai and Yuen Jong. When arriving off the metro
the coloured organized skyscraping residential buildings were something a
Londoner like me found hard to take in. So many buildings roughly 60 stories
high! Everything was well laid out well, large roads and regular trams. We went
to the wetlands after walking through the concrete jungle that was Tin Shui Wai
and sights were not that interesting to be honest, I was more amazed by what we
didn’t pay for. Our next stop was Yuen Jong for some food and a local football
match which was a poor as it ended a draw.
One of my favourite days in Hong Kong had a
mixture of tourist experiences, in the morning both our guide books let us down
on the location of the Tsuen Wan Temple which ended up being a very crowded
tourist trap. Which was a style of many temples that were smaller in Hong Kong
but were quieter and more peaceful to observe, like the Man Ho Temple in the
city. So after quickly seeing this place we came across the hidden treasure
that is the Chi Lin Nunnery and the Nai Lin Gardens. We did the whole tour the
wrong way round. Our tour guides had no knowledge of the wonderful gardens that
lead up to the nunnery, being that we saw the nunnery first then the gardens.
It would be been more sensational to have done it in the right order. We walked
around the gardens to the tune of the old Hovis bread advert music (Dvorak’s New World Symphony - 2nd Movement). Might have been the music, but
I found that this place was what traveling was all about, discovering hidden
gems away from tourists. After the troubles with our tourist guides, on my next
trip to another city I would buy multiple guides to cross reference good places
to go, see, eat and drink.
Another day was spent on the southern side
of Hong Kong Island, this would have been perfect on a hot and summery day, but
our day was cold and windy and we felt we weren’t able to appreciate the
landscape. We went to Stanley Markets via a crazy light bus ride, which I am
sure he clocked about 80kmph going up and down the hills. The markets were full
of tourist and nothing special to see. Expensive restaurants like you would
find at any seaside town in the UK, it even had a pizza express! Our next stop
was Aberdeen and to see the floating restaurants, which were impossible to get
to! We were looking for about and hour and gave up to only have a shitty long
distance photo of the restaurant. Tourist information was a not helpful, more
road signs please.
For our second time of trying we went to
see the Big Buddha, the first time we went on our second day in Hong Kong and
it had got too cold for us to be going around with our shorts and t-shirts and
the visibility was too poor for the sky cable cars. So with our last few days
in Hong Kong and the weather not improving that much we tried again and the
weather cleared up by lunchtime where we could see far and wide on the cable
car. We shared it with some other tourists who were snapping away with their
cameras all the way up to the Big Buddha. It was quite a spectacle from a
distance on the hill, complimenting the landscape around it. Unfortunately I
was unaware that the structure was only completed quite recently, I thought I
was going to see an ancient artifact. Guess I presumed too much, most of Hong
Kong’s original historical buildings have been demolished in many wars and re
development that now they seem to be recreating it for tourism purposes which
left me leaving the Big Buddha feeling quite cheap and used. But great views
from the cable car, which made up for some of the disappointment.
To get away from that tourist trap we got a
bus directly to an old fishing village of Tai O. The buildings that were near
the river and sea were all on stilts and when were going around the village it
was hard not to think that we were going around touristing their poverty. “Oh
they are poor, how interesting”. The village was also fill with a lot of old
people, looked like the retirement home for a lot of Hong Kong’s senior
citizens.
Our final night we went up the peak to see the
sunset across Hong Kong. We had to get a little green bus up to the peak that
night because the tram was rammed and we wouldn’t have gotten up in time. We
found that supposedly good view this time, it was right next to the sky
terrace, doh. But yet again it was overcast and we couldn’t see the sun. But the
sights of the lights across the city turn on gradually made for great
photography.
Leaving Hong Kong for Australia was hard to
leave it behind, as there were still many more things to do, see and find.
Perhaps I could live there one day…. in the fantastic Chi Lin Nunnery!
TravelPosted by GEORGE HULLEY Sun, November 15, 2009 02:36PMOkay. Five hours left to go on my first long haul flight to Hong Kong and I want to sleep to get into the right time zone and it is not going to happen! Sam (who is another 10 pound pom) is getting perfect sleep and the annoying blonde (probably australian) behind me keeps kicking my chair because it might be inclined too much, but I want sleep!
In the week before leaving I should have done some kind of final english blog. About saying good bye to friends and family. And the reason I didn't is that I was too busy having a great time saying goodbye and for some reason I was really busy with freelance work as well, so I had no time to do the goodbye blog in the UK. I was able to see all my friends and family before leaving, and I had had a great time, in a fairly intoxicated state.
So perhaps now when I can't sleep when I want to, I write this stupid blog thing not many people outside of the family circle will appreciate.
Alice in Downunderland is also not fairings too well either, and just when we were sleep: one of the crew ask everyone if there was anyone on board with medical experience. But I think it's ok now, that person has probably already died and so there is no need to divert to another airport, or maybe there was someone on board and whoever was ill is now better.
Right let's try again for some sleeping action.
I doubt it tho.
Yep didn't happen. Another film I think, 'Up' seems like a good bet...
TravelPosted by GEORGE HULLEY Mon, October 19, 2009 08:08PMWell here I am 3 weeks till departure and I
am nearly ready for the trip of a lifetime! My fitness plan has been improved
by me spending a bit of cash on a personal trainer at the gym.
A massive
ex-American reserve footballer is quite inspiring to help me push myself to
loose weight and gain muscles. Its been 5 weeks and I feel like can move about
much easier and hopefully have lost a bit of weight. I guess these things take
time, but I feel I am on the way for Australian beach acceptance, but just not yet.
I should stop eating this bacon double cheeseburger.
The other day my brother
Bartholomew Hulley (he also has a blog) came by with a van, unknown to him when he previously lived
in Denman Street the one-way road directions were changed and he had come up
the road the wrong direction. But as it was early morning this didn't seem to
matter, as no one was about. We loaded up the van with most of my stuff. So now
I am left with just my clothes and massive 37” LCD high def television.
Whilst I
am waiting for my time to come to leaving, I’ve been doing some little research
into my travel locations. First stop Hong Kong, I know that there is a massive Buddha
and Disney land, and around somewhere in Victoria the 12ish apostles things on
the great ocean road. In Melbourne there is fricking huge MCG stadium, for
cricket and AFL: that’s must be seen. I got some more research to do, I
think my girlfriend will agree…
.
TravelPosted by GEORGE HULLEY Thu, August 20, 2009 10:35PMMy darling girlfriend has left today to go back to her home country. Its been a year and a bit of living my the British rules. Her accent has in her time become a more softer sound that of her original accent when she first arrived in this country, and it will be the first thing she will try to gain back as soon as possible to avoid ridicule. She won't however avoid that she has a 'POM' for a boyfriend.
Saying goodbye at the airport I've been to many a time, but never flown from was a hard reality. But knowing that in a few months I will be able to see her in her own country, was something to look forward too.
The next stage of this journey is the preparation, too adapt myself to the australian life style might be important. Talking loudly in bars and saying the word crikey alot might help, but perhaps I should get in the physical style of the average known australian. Not chubby. If neighbours is anything to go by, that Susan Kennedy....
Therefore the next few months, I need to be active and to get fit.
Dear (insert here your chosen prophet for guidance) please help.
TravelPosted by GEORGE HULLEY Sat, August 08, 2009 07:18PMAs me and my friend Sam joined the 10 pound pom queue at the London Victoria STA Travel, we quickly discovered the
friendliness of everyone around us. The line became a small community
over the nights, and we trusted our fellow Hobos with our stuff without
hesitation. We were all there for the same reason and we all shared our plans for adventures to
australia. During our stay one of the STA Travel employees told us
that there is another oppitunity to have a stepover in a choice of 4
countries for an extra 10 pounds which I couldn't not pass up a chance to see a bit of Hong Kong before I got to Oz.
Arriving early to the queue gave us a very good chance on knowing that
we would get a ticket. The people behind us were not so sure as
we were uncertain of how many people would get a ticket. Our initial
prediction was roughly 18ish tickets per store cross the country. But
after coming out after booking my tickets, a lot had already gone in; 30
odd.
Although it was exciting, it was also very boring to sit on the streets. Time did not fly by so easily.
The problem when queuing for more than the usual 10 mins at the post office wasn't something I particularly looked forward to. A deck chair from Argos was the perfect device for this 40+ hour wait, and for a fiver. Amazing!
When day became night, booze was in order to make the mammoth task a lot easier. I can now understand why alcohol is used by the homeless to help lessen the pain of sleeping on the streets of london.
The second and last night I decided not to get plasted on alcohol as I thought it would be sensible to book a ticket with clear head. But this made sleeping a bit harder as oposed to passing out. Trying to get comfortable on the concrete was okay, but our tent got very warm. So I poked my head out of the tent to cool down, whilst trying to ignore the roaring traffic going by at night.
The morning came with STA bringing the front group of the queue bacon sandwiches pre-ketchuped and a red bull to help get us started. Nothing better to wake up at 6am and get free bacon.
More photographers arrived with questions and proceeded to take embarassing photos of us in our sorry state. We were in with in the first rush, as every two people were paired up with STA employees, doubling our predicted amount of tickets and getting more people into the store.
Whilst leaving the store, I could hear the sound of cameras clicking and photographers asking us to pose with our tickets; luckily we were able to slip by without a photo.
When returning home I went straight to the shower and my bed had never felt so good! While a £10 ticket to Australia could not be passed up, we certainly paid in a different way for this priviledge! And I am left with a deeper appreciation of the plight of the homeless, even if it was just two nights.
This blog generally isn't going in any direction, just trying to explain what happened with my illequipt knowledge of the english touge.
bluuuh.
(Spell Checked by Lilli Perkin)
