WWOOF around the world - Part 3

I was given a lift into Nimbin the following day where a tourist shuttle ran regularly between the town and Byron Bay. I had time to visit the Nimbin Marijuana museum before getting on the small coach and heading 'back to civilisation.' Byron Bay was never a strong attraction to me regardless of the massive surfer appeal. But once on that bus, I had a familiar safe feeling come over me. It was all that time on a bus coming over to Oz, I thought. Fun times.

Anyway, I checked myself into a Flash-packer hostel as soon as I arrived and had about a 40min shower trying to scrub myself free of tics. I spent a week in the town trying to partly be a tourist and partly figure out what the hell I was gonna do with myself now. I rang other WWOOF hosts but it seemed wrong timing for most of them as I wanted something quite immediate. I rang my Sydneyside friends who suggested I come back to what I knew. I didn't want to go back just for the sake of it but I had to do something. So I returned to the city I said goodbye to just a week previous. I managed to organise a week WWOOFing at a Yoga retreat just before my birthday.

There were many people at this residence, and lots to do in an amazingly organised organic garden. But the Yoga was a religion and those that stayed long term really threw themselves into practicing it which I wasn't about to do so again, I returned to Sydney to spend birthday with family. Had a great birthday until I got a winter cold and spent about 2 weeks with family, half convalescing, half again, figuring out a plan.

WWOOF around the world - Part 2

I said goodbye to the 3 remaining OzBusketeers in Syders, Positive Sam, Political Elli and Delightful Dee and boarded the overnight train from Central train station. The rail network in Australia at some point underwent the same dressing down for economical reasons as in Britain. Consequently there are many towns all along the east coast that used to be serviced by rail. Now to get to these one time connected towns, one disembarks somewhere close and catches a bus that continues the rail route. Silly really, I'm sure the argument for cutting services was that the numbers didn't add up - ain't that always the line? But the reality is people still wanna get to the towns but the trains just don't wanna take ya.

It was early summer when I left Sydney, the weather was comfortably warm. When I was booted off the line at Casino, I was overwhelmed with the humidity. I was now more north than Sydney, heading for the Australian Rainforest belt. I took the bus to Lismore train station where I was to be picked up by my WWOOF host, a middle aged lady who lived in the small community. She arrived in a battered, dusty station wagon which I recognised as a sign of a working farm type place. A storm was coming in as we drove out to the land, we were losing light fast. One of the last thing I remember seeing was the legendary town of Nimbin, where smoking pot is more than a pastime, it's practically a religion.

When we arrived at the property it was pitch black with the occasional flash of light from lightning. My host asked me if I had a flashlight – I did but not to hand. When the car headlights were switched off a wave of sudden realisation came over me just as the encroaching jungle seemed to above my head. I was incredibly isolated here in the depth of another kind of Australian outback. It was mildly frightening. I just hoped the personality of the community would help take the severity of the isolation away.

It did not. The 'community' existed of 5 self-reliant units, mostly made of couples. The first night I spent in a shared home with 2 couples occupying where I was told I was welcome but not when they wanted their space (what is that supposed to mean?). My official accommodation was a choice between a tumble down shed full of junk I had to clear before I could inhabit, another tumble down shed but with less doors or a big open barn but without any doors. I chose a big space thinking that I was less likely to have anything 'trapped' inside. The only problem with the barn was that it was a10 min walk away from where I was walking and every trip I made there I gained a leach to the leg.

It did not look good as a long term residential prospect. The work I was doing was weeding and harvesting bananas, something I wasn't riveted about doing long term either. The people I met were nice enough but kept to themselves and by the time the 2nd evening rolled in and I said I wanted to leave the next day, I was closer to the tic population on my body than anyone else in the community.

WWOOF around the world - Part 1

I became disillusioned with Sydney. I had lost sight of why I was there and what I was doing. I was not learning a foreign language, my goal on OzBus had been to reach Sydney, to meet my Aussie family – all these things had been achieved. Long term goals were non existent – I had a year to kill before leaving on a boat for the States and I wasn't much interested in going backpacking up touristy coasts, all that costed money I didn't have. So I returned to familiar ground of WWOOFing.

Willing Workers On Organic Farms or World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms was how I first landed in Spain back in April 2008. It is essentially a skills exchange organisation that allows organic projects (from personal smallholdings to commercial farms) much needed labour in exchange for shelter and food. No money pases hands (though I've found some host farms asking for food contributions and stipends available for long term WWOOFers, I tend to stay away from hosts involving money).

WWOOFing experiences vary – a lot. Where most of us live in a world constantly requiring a money-back guarantee, a set standard of quality, a regularity of income and that post-financial crisis golden grail; security, WWOOFing requires one to completely step out of that mentality. First WWOOFing experience will by no means set the standard for future ones. I was introduced to the agricultural methods of Permaculture on my first WWOOFing experience which was something that I carried with me to other experiences. However, no two experiences have ever been alike. I have cooked in outdoor kitchens, camped inside abandoned houses, washed in natural rivers, rued the day the shower had cold water again, built out of cob, weeded for the hundredth time, harvested heirloom tomatoes to make a fresh salad for lunch, eaten professionally prepared vegan food, fed chickens, dealt with a huge quantity of manure and all of these experiences have been worthwhile.

If this sounds to you like someone getting the benefit of you giving free labour then you're still thinking in the old way where everything has to come down to money. Learning and sharing skills more than makes up for any lack of pennies in your pocket. If you think that this is a sure way to get free accommodation and food and holiday then make sure you're prepared to put your hours in – it is a working holiday. The harmonious balance between host and WWOOFer relies on just the right amount of give and take. WWOOF hosts share their home and often, lives with relative strangers and are trusting that this won't be abused. If it is, they have every right to throw the WWOOFers out. WWOOFer in turn are putting their daily lives in the hands of strangers and are trusting that the work they do is a reasonable amount and more or less enjoyable. If it isn't, then WWOOFers have every right to leave whenever they want.

In my experience good WWOOFing experiences have come down to trust, good communication, good food and varied task. The best WWOOFing experience I ever had was in the south of Spain amongst a beautiful reclaimed Moorish valeyside village. What I loved there was the amazing variety of people I came across, the beautiful Spanish weather and countryside and ecological aim of the project I was contributing to. My worst WWOOFing experience where I had said I wanted to stay for a longish period of time but lasted 2 days was up near Lismore, NSW, Australia.

Each country has there own WWOOF organisation, none of them are officially affiliated with each other. To become a WWOOFer there is a one off fee for a year's membership. The membership gives you access to either an online directory or a printed one or both. WWOOFing in Australia requires you to sign up and pay for the WWOOF book. A printed publication detailing host farms in Australian State sections. I WWOOFed up near Lismore after my rent ran out on Valentine's day in Sydney. I was looking for a more long term, skill beneficial position near the Australian Permaculture Institute that was near by. I had been entertaining thoughts of doing a Permaculture Design Certificate course (PDC) there.

SydneySide - Part 2

Sydney is great IF you have a great job or a pretty hectic full on one where you can save money. A fellow OzBusketeer just worked and worked in a cafe until she didn't know what spare time was so she could save enough money for her flight back to England. Otherwise you find yourself in a city that you're just looking at. And that's what Sydney wants you to do, it's very Photogenic. Getting around is easy enough but it isn't cheap. The public transport system was adequate and fairly reliable(do not live in the Western Suburbs you'll be stuck in your car for days. The trains were double deckers which amused me everytime I went on them, but weren't as good or as clean as those I experienced in Madrid. Other necessities which are surprisingly expensive is Beer. It was so so expensive. Makes one not want to go out for a pint and get 'pissed up' on cheap plonk that comes in boxes instead. Which is what we did.

So my time in Sydney wasn't actually that fantastic. Other people seemed to enjoy it more than me. But I did come away with a few favourite places. One was The Rocks. Oldest part of the city, few nice little cafes, weekend markets, old houses to look at. Another was Queen Victoria Building where I'd window shop and have coffee in a lovely little Japanese Restaurant in a corner on the top floor and watch the clock changing time. Glebe Point Rd was a haunt of mine not least because I lived there in a hostel for a while but because it is one of the 'alternative' parts of the city. As well as Newtown where many students head, a lot of individual shops and creative minds there. Balmain is where I headed one day where I saw a famous AFL footballer pushing his kid along in a stroller and 'Leah' from Home and Away which MADE MY DAY! I'm a huge fan.

If you're a huge fan of H.a.A. then hop on a long bus to Palm Beach north of city where they film it. I walked outside the surf club with Alf Stewart's name above. It was like a dream had come true. I don't care if that makes me sad – I've been watching that Surf Club since I was tiny and I never ever thought I'd actually get to walk along the same beach as Sally Fletcher. But I did. And it was great. Reality 0 Childhood dreams 1.

Bondi Beach actually wasn't much to write home about. My fave beach area was down by Coogee where a couple of OzBusketeers were living. Manly had a pretty good beach but way too crowded for me in summer.

What I enjoyed most about Sydney was getting to know my relatives and spending time with them. That's why I truly came to Australia. And I did that. But the city itself is rather like any other only you've seen it before, on a postcard.

SydneySide - Part 1

What can I say about Sydney? On a bright sunny day it is beautiful. So when a fellow OzBusketeer and I were wandering around on errands (post OzBus) and it bucketed it down with rain I was more than a little surprised. I did not come to the other side of the world only the have a summer of rain. Had I wanted that I would have stayed in Britain. Clearly something was wrong when I returned Sydney Base Hostel miffed with slippy, slidy wet flip flops.

Sydney was not the sun baked city I'd envisioned but a varied urban settlement like many others. It rains, it sometimes has very strong winds, it can be cold (though not as cold as Melbourne which is as cold as England in winter), it can be very hot. The city has a multitude of attractions on offer. It has a beautiful view of the Opera House and Harbor Bridge as you get off the train on city circle line at Circular Quay. It has joly ferries to Manly, Double Bay and Balmain. It has a restored historic district of The Rocks, the Center Point tower to climb and walk around at great height, Botanical Gardens, parks to eat lunch in summer on, shopping rows, Queen Victoria Building for a special shopping experience and a very high cost of living.

And there in lay the first stumbling block for my year long plan of residing in Sydney. It was way more than I was expecting and my budget had already been stretched since arriving in Darwin but I was determined to live a life in this city. Having waved off OzBusketeers from Base Hostel, a flash-packer place, I moved into a cheaper hostel in Kings Cross, on a street that transvestite hookers favoured. They didn't bother me much, and really the hostel didn't suffer because of the haunt. It was small and sociable and many travelers seemed to 'live' there. This was not what I wanted, I was tired after being on the road for so long and especially over Christmas and New year so I eventually found a temporary flat to move into for that period of time. Next on the to-do list was Job.

Unfortunately Australia was not ready for me. And job it did not want to give. I was specific in what job title I was going to have that year and had I been as talented in many job roles as my other OzBusketeer friends then perhaps jobs would have been more forthcoming. The others went to find jobs in the service industry but that task was not without its surprises. First they had to complete a Responsible Service of Alcohol Certificate for which of course there was a fee. It screamed 'taking advantage' of cashed backpackers when I first saw the course advertised but actually it's just a nice little earner for the Government. If there are slot machines or 'pokies' as the Australians affectionately call them in the place of work my friends also had to complete a Responsible Service of Gambling Certificate which cost them another fair few bucks. I guess this is the Governments way of tackling the huge gambling addiction problem the nation is facing. Unfortunately the Government still insists on shoving the things into every drinking space in the country so I don't see how this can really help. I feel sorry for the addicts who are totally being played by the system. (And they think they're playing a game.) All these Certificates have to be completed before gaining employment and if my friends happened to move states as is 90% likely with backpackers they would have to do the certificates all over again as no states except another one's certification.

Fortunately for me I wasn't going to do this RSA thing as I was a bone fide experienced EFL teacher and I was going to gain employment in a lovely little English school where lots of students come from all over the world to learn English and explore Sydney and Australia. And I went to a good lot of interviews and they each told me the same thing – Australia didn't recognise my qualification nor my experience outside of the country or England. Great. So by the New Year of 2010 I was technically unemployable in a country I was staying in until September and I had run out of money. S**t. By Valentines day the only work I had gained was an hour a week with a 3 yr old and it wasn't paying the rent. I decided to move on.

OzBus11 - The End of the Road

90 days, 26 passengers, 17 countries, 13 busses, 12 currencies, 10 time zones, 3 ferries, 3 (politically necarssary) flights, 1 horse ride, 1 scooter and 1 lost earing later; 8 nationalities including one Kiwi leader had made it to being 3 days away from Sydney. We left Coober Pedy heading for Adelaide where we began the begginning of the end for OzBus11.

Our loveable crazy French Canadian was leaving us here to conitnue his adventures alone in Australia. Also our resident 'bogan' Aussie was returning to his hometown of Melbourne which was geographically nearer to Adelaide than Sydney so it made sense for him to say bye to us here also. The crew arrived at our second to last hostel. We settled in and then made our way to a special leaving dinner. It was a flat time for me as I hate anything having to end. The phrase 'all good things must come to an end' has no meaning for me but it could be a fitting description for that night.

Adelaide was a pleasant city to trundle through. Open, green with various parks, pretty, old buildings still in situ thanks to the 80's financial boom not hitting the city. But all too soon we were on the road again with only 24 passengers on board heading for the tiny NSW town of Narrandera. This is where we'd lay our heads, one last night on the road, before our final, 92nd, day.

Is this a good time to reflect? People ask me, as I know they ask my fellow OzBusketeers – “how did you cope for 3 months with the same group of people and a different place each night?” I find it a difficult question to answer. For us, OzBus was a way of life. It had been since we boarded the bus on the 6th of September at Embankment, London. We all did so with different aims but we had one thing in common. We held within us an accute need for adventure. We wanted something different, not the norm, one in a million.

For some of us it was a spur of the moment decision made with a friend because life was so inain at the time. For others it was a 'crazy' idea that suited their 'crazy' personality. For others being on board a bus through strange countries for 3 months was a test of survival that had to be done to prove something either to oneself or other people. For me? - It was a minute part of a bigger plan of action that I still hadn't figured out at the time. Maybe I still don't. I knew I needed that bus, I needed those people around me, I needed to get to Australia. And by the time I had arived in the vast extreme country, I wasn't necarssarily a completely different person. But I had definitely been added to. OzBus is extension of my life and the experiences I have had because of it benefit me as a person. It's another bus story I can tell future friends and ones that are waiting for me to return home.

Day 92. OzBusketeers wake up in Nerrandera. We arrive in Australia's capital of Canberra for lunch. A tour of Parliament house was impressive. The capital city isn't supposed to be much of a looker. It being purpose built and to stop the rival cities of Melbourne and Sydney from squabling over who's the best. But it didn't look that bad to me. I'd live there for a while to get a better feel for the place before completely writing it off. It was post-war pretty and clean.

After lunch it was a final haul to Sydney. I remember going through beautiful rolling hills of countryside. This was in stark contrast to the deathly orange of the outback. And then......... and then......... “Harry Truman, Dorris Day....” our song came on the radio. We were pulling in to Mrs Macquaries Point in the Royal Botanical Gardens which was the official disembarkation point of OzBus11. Those that couldn't contain their excitement/emotion were dancing in the bus aisle, others were frantically waving out of the window to friends and relatives.

The bus parked up, we all rushed off. Some were greeted by those they had not seen for 3 months, 3 years or more. Others rushed off to the viewing point to see the famous Opera House across the harbour. It was the first view of the iconic landmark and it was the symbol that WE HAD MADE IT! I was surprisingly teary just by sharing the moment of arriving with my fellow passengers who were now my firm friends. We all posed, most of us wearing official OzBus11 T-shirts we had made up for ourselves, as a group with the Opera House behind us. It was someone's poor relative who was roped in to taking 20 odd digital camera pictures of us. After a lot of smiles and teary hugs it was time for a fair few of our crew to be taken away to experiences new by their family and friends. There was just one last short trip tour 'Adventure Tours' OzBus had to make. The few of us that were left, mostly the youngens, were dropped off at a decent 'flashpacker' hostel to sleep our first night as non-OzBusketeers. Goodbye to bus was said, a meloncholy drag of bags into reception, payment made and up into our mixed dorms.

A few of us stayed up pretty late as Rob 'Geography Boy' had an early flight to N.Z. to make. I crashed out in my bunk in the evening though. All of a sudden I felt empty and disillusioned. I knew where I was but at the same time I had no idea. Tomorrow was completely uncertain. Everything felt too immidiate, pressing and though this was technically freedom, it was distressing.

When I awoke the next morning Rob was gone already and strange people were sleeping in a few of the beds amongst my friends' bunks. Day 1 of the rest of my life had begun and I decided to go and find somewhere in Sydney to eat breakfast.

OzBus11 - Daly Waters to Coober Pedy

We only spent a night in Daly Waters because that was all a simple backpacker needed. But what a night of fun we had, talking over beers in a flip/flop decorated beer garden, signing the obligatory T-Shirt proving we'd been there and hanging it next to a few other OzBus members. When our dinners had gone down, and we'd spent the last of our change on drinks, we headed for beds which for the most hardy of us tonight were in the form of Swags. These foam mattresses surrounded by tough canvas which you slot your sleeping bag in were a fab way of sleeping in the bush, Aussie style. I wondered how I'd cope with the amount of criers the Aussie bush has but as I lay my head down looking up at an amazingly large clear night sky, I drifted into a deep, natural sleep. But as usual though it was an early morning start and on the road at dawn heading for Alice (Alice? Alice? Who the f**k is Alice?) Springs.

We were on the road so early that we had to make a special stop for Breakfast. I'm not a fan of rush breakies and was not digging it. The road seemed a blur of large termite mounds and endless roadhouse stops for lunch until we passed a typical outback oddity. A roadhouse dedicated to the sighting of Aliens with a larger than life model outside tempting road weary drinkers in. By 5.30pm though we reached something that perked me up. We were about to cross the Tropic of Capricorn and we stopped for a photo op. Again the marvels of Australia hit me as I thought how amazing it was for an entire country to have it's own tropic! How can you even compare Britain to something like that?

An hour later we had reached Alice Springs. Out of the dusty orange of the outback bush appeared a pop up city of concrete, cars and visible Indigenous peoples. That night we were treated to a rare night in a hostel and made our way to Bo's Saloon for dinner where you could find good steak, a caged snake and the rest of the backpackers in town. Presumably we had all come for the same reason – to see if anyone would look up where we were on the internet as they stream their CCTV (in colour) on their website for anyone, anywhere in the world to check out. Only slightly creepy....

I went to bed earlier than others as I had to get up super early the next morning to phone the parents. I only mention this as it was in my diary as something I did which I presume meant it was an important event as I might have not have spoken to them for a while – too much fun on the road. We had a fairly luxurious morning as it happened, checking out at 10am, ambling through the town only to leave at 1pm. 4 hours later we had already arrived at our next campsite, King's Canyon. It was a lovely easy day compared to the amazing drives we had been doing through Australia so far and previously in Indonesia.

We were at this campsite to see the amazing rock formation of King's Canyon and walk it which meant the next morning we had eaten breakie and left camp by 6am. Our guide Mark was doing a super job at giving us the speal but I'm not great walking a little bit then stopping and listening then walking a bit more so I went off and did the walk myself. Afterwards I learnt that people thought that that was not a particularly good idea seeing as how easy it for peeps to get into difficulty on their own out in the Aussie terrain and unforgiving climate. I argue that I notified the proper authority of my intention to go on alone and thought should have been aired at that point, had water with me, it was a guided walk and there were a fair few others doing the same. I just can't stand being hearded around sometimes, I need to get out and do it in my own time, on my own terms.

I had a good hour back at the walk's base waiting for the troops to arrive and by 11am we had left, watching the other backpacker bus tour companies roll on in. I was beginning to gauge just how big the specific 'backpacker' industry in Australia was. No rest for the intrepid OzBusketeers though as we rolled our way onwards to the highlight of our outback tour – Uluru, the geological formation formerly known as Ayers Rock. Arriving at the campsite at 4.30pm it was dumping our stuff and then jumping back on board to the official sunset viewing area. Official because it was like a Backpacker bus Tour Operator coffee meeting in a car park with Uluru framed by the stretched sky in the distance. Yes it was beautiful and sunsets are my 'thing' just as sunrises are. For me sunsets are a spiritual reflection on the past...... yes, spiritual, deal with it. And I always make a point of seeing the sunrise on the longest day to mark another point in time, the joy of daylight. But at Uluru, surrounded by photo opportunities for Facebook, computer hard drives, maybe some of them would be lucky enough to be viewed in generations to come, I felt inside like the moment was just another moment for a scrapbook. And I was saddened a little that it didn't meet the enormity that the rock itself possesses over the landscape.

The next morning saw us up before dawn to see the rock in much the same way as the evening before but from the opposite side. It did look different that morning, and the sunrise painted Uluru in many different colours in a way an onlooker can note. Better. Once light, we parked up and had a little talk by Mark of the cultural significance of it including a kind request not to walk up it if it was allowed that day. Now, I don't get this part of how Uluru park operates. It is done so by mostly indigenous people to the area who have it in their culture disrespectful to climb onto the rock yet the sheer face climb on non windy days is still in operation and people chose to do this. I have visited Muslim mosques covered up to the nines, disrespected as a woman in Iran and Pakistan because their culture requires me to be so and I come to a Western country deliberately choosing to disrespect a culture? It was illegal for me to walk into a Mosque without a headscarf in Iran so why not ban the climb in Australia. Maybe it's free speech, western living, I don't know but for me their was no choice. If it was disrespectful in Aboriginal culture and Uluru was an Aboriginal sacred sight then I was a guest on that land and had no choice but to adhere to their customs.

I guess some of us were intrigued as to who would and wouldn't climb. A few of us had our own thoughts which being the multicultural, free thinking group we were, aired the night before at dinner but in the end we weren't to know as the walk was closed due to winds. In a way I'm glad that happened, perhaps a view of mine on someone would have changed for the worse and tension would have been felt between some of us more vocal in our beliefs amongst OzBus11. After a very pleasant walk around the rock which is encourage by park rangers we visited the Cultural center which was a glorified gift shop. Not to say that it was a bad thing, I've been to a fair number of gift shops in my time and experience has given me rating expertise. Uluru information center was a freshly developed site presumably with sustainability in mind. Or at least the space gave off that air of thought. A coffee and a walk through later (no gifts tempted me, another skill I've picked up from over exposure to gift shops, I've seen it all before).

At 12pm we had lunch and we had a rare 'free' afternoon. A few of us caught the campsite shuttle into Uluru resort. Yes it's like an Australian version of Disneyland. A pop-up town in the middle of the desert with all the amenities at hyped up prices to suit. It was excruciatingly hot that day. I remember because I was positively relieved to be in the complex with temperature control. At 4pm we were all called back to get on the bus to visit Kata Tjuta The Olgas. We were back a fraction before sunset and most of us raced up to a high point by camp to view it.

The following morning we left Uluru and stopped in Marla for lunch. By a reasonable time in the afternoon we had arrived in the mining town of Coober Pedy. This is another favourite on the backpacker trail and we were introduced to our lodgings that night as a massive dorm in a cave. It sounds rustic but it was actually more geometric in layout. The 'cave' was section off into mini dorms of 2 bunk beds separated from the main aisle which was wide enough for motor traffic by curtains. It was an odd setting but it worked. Because it had been dug out of the ground the room temperature was constant during day and night. In fact most residents in Coober Pedy lived in such a way, in houses dug out from the ground. After dumping our stuff we had a tour of one which had been recreated as part of an Opal mine tour. It was interesting, never even knew Opals were found in Oz. I had recently lost one of my pearl earings and as I only ever travel with one pair I decided to purchase a pair of Opal earings as my new set and momento of the occasion.

Suddenly I wanted all the momentos I could lay my hands on. We sat down to dinner in the only place in town we could which was a pizza joint. We were all sitting together opposite an excitable group of scouts/school kids. Everyone was having a 'swell' time but I felt unusually somber. I looked around carefully at the 26 faces I had been traveling with for the past 3 months, trying to remember everything we had been through together, trying to capture that moment in the pizza place in my mind. Tomorrow we would be leaving for Adelaide and would already being saying goodbyes to some OzBusketeers.

Ozbus11 - Darwin to Daly Waters

At 4am local time the 26 passengers part of the mammoth 92 day OzBus11 London to Sydney journey, left Darwin Airport in the Northern Territory state of Australia. This was it. This was the country of my destination. This was the last leg of a long and interesting experience. This was my goal.

Everyone of the OzBus11 passengers had got on board Martin's bus at Cleopatra's needle on that first day back on the 6th September for different reasons. For some it was the novelty mode of transport, for some it was the fact we were traveling through the rarely seen country of Iran and Pakistan, for others it was India that was the main draw. For me OzBus was a safe and fun filled carrier transporting me to Australia, one of a few countries I decided I was going to spend time in as part of my 'round-the-world-without-a-plane' adventure. It was my half way point, half way around the world and as far removed from anything I'd ever known before.

Australia had always been a mysterious other land where everything was opposite. My very small family in Britain had always had close connections with our reletives in Sydney. Every Christmas it was traditional for us to make the once a year long distance phone call to talk to a few of our clan. In the blistering winds of a Yorkshire Christmas, or the cold dull rain of an East Anglian one, I would always hear of how un-naturally hot it was that year, how the barbie was just getting going outside and no one had managed to get to the beach yet. This complete opposite fascinated me. And even though a few of the family members made it to UK every now and then and many things were sent over from Australia to keep me interested in the country it wasn't until my Aunt, Uncle and Cousin came back from meeting the family in Oz that I suddenly had an urge to go. Before that I could experience what I considered the best of it through Neighbours, Home and Away and Round The Twist, knowing that all those creepy crawlies the country boasts were something I didn't have to encounter.

But making up my mind to some how get to the other side of the world without using air transportation and finally meet the other side of my family was the reason I climbed aboard OzBus11 that first day. And now, I was so close.

It was only a short transfer to our hostel in Darwin where after a short introduction to how everything worked, the tired OzBusketeers made their way to their alloted dorms. I was sharing with ASBO dis-liking Elli, Positive Sam and Dr Tara of all things intelligent. In our small, hot, hot hot room we were over-run with slightly mad excitement and instead of falling straight to sleep in our bunk beds, we amused ourselves for the best part of an hour talking absolute rubbish that caused us to lapse into raucous laughter. We did eventually fall asleep and Phil the Bus God had organized a luxurious late breakfast for us at 11am. It was the best spread we had seen so far – it had toast, tea, coffee and the stunner of the table – Cereal! It was fabulous.

I spent the best part of that afternoon searching for computer shops to fix my computer. Hint – Acers are just like Dells. As in once there's something wrong with them no one except their warehouse people back in country of purchase can fix it. Hmmm, slight problem then being the other side of world. This is the main reason why you're just reading about Darwin now – almost 5 months after I arrived. So I didn't have much luck getting it fixed but as I was walking around the surprisingly wide and cris/cross streets in the warmth of the first summer sun I felt awakened and welcomed to the country. Darwin is sleepier than I imagined it to be and a nice little introduction to an Australian town.

The next day I took myself off to one of the tourist attractions. I visited BAT (British Australian Telegraph) house or Lyon's Cottage as I wanted to view it as a snapshot of what a first Australian settlement must have been like. Thanks to a childhood of being dragged round the historical houses of Great Britain by my parents I now seem to seek old residences where ever I go. But BAT House was mildly disappointing. I was looking for a 'this is how people would have lived in year …' but it was set up more as a gallery of old photographs that had been found of the house and life during the war amongst a few other exhibits. But it was interesting all the same. At 2pm a few of us headed to Darwin's newest attraction – the Wave Pool. Darwin is on the coast but it's waters are fatal so no one can swim in them. So instead of natural surf they created machine made surf. It was a completely fun filled afternoon and I loved being able to splash about in the water.

After a brief noodle dinner in the evening us youngens crashed Jo/Ian's/Linda's nice sophisticated dinner. The waiter didn't really want to let us in to 'the' place to eat in Darwin but under the guise of all their children, we succeeded. Managed to have a decent Martini at this place.

Day 82 saw us having to leave Darwin at 6am. It was the start of a jam-packed almost non-stop drive to Sydney. We boarded the specially Australian bush adapted bus of Adventure Tours who OzBus had teamed up with to give us the best that the outback could offer. Our first introduction to the bush was at Fogg Dam where we were to walk along the dam road until I sign read 'Road closed due to Salt Water Crocodiles in area'. 'Nuff said. So we had a quick jaunt around a rain forest board walk instead. Then at 11am we were at the river getting up close and personal with the crocs on a crocodile river cruise. No not tea and scones on this little boat but a kind request from skipper not to rush from side to side unbalancing boat that could lead to being dumped in water. Somewhere we didn't want to be with one of the oldest and fastest swimming reptiles on earth.

The crew did a grand job of tempting salty after salty to jump up the sides of the windows for meat where we got to see just how large and prehistoric they really are. It was all fun and games with a hint of danger until Skipper told us story of how a mum was holding up her baby to window for closer look and instead of meat it was window Mr Crocodile aimed for hoping for a baby like snack. Shiver, shiver. A bit shaky back on dry land it was the experience of holding a large snake that entertained some and purchase of crocodile by-product memorabilia for others.

We headed to a traditional 'roadhouse' for lunch and after we were back on the road before stopping at the Kakadu National Park Visitor's center. This was a fairly interactive set-up and was a good part of the park to see. By 8pm we were having dinner at our Kakadu Park campsite. Our accommodation now was all in tents with the exception of Adelaide and our finishing point in Sydney. But these tents were proper structures in permanent campsites and because Adventure Tours might have been hoping for a few bookings after OzBus, we had access to the full range of camping facilities.

At 6am on day 83 and by 7am we were on our bus heading for Nourlangie Rock. Here we had an informative talk about Aboriginal art work and were shown some incredibly ancient exhibits painted on the natural landscape. It was incredible to see and I'm glad that the first real information I received was to do with Aboriginal culture – it felt orderly and chronological. At 12pm we had stopped at Pine Creek for lunch, another roadhouse. Then it was on to Edith Falls, a natural swimming hole with a waterfall. No crocs here, well none that would come out and 'get' you according to Mark our tour guide but lots of fishes in the shallows that were working the Thai 'eat your feet' thing pro-bono. But a lovely swim was had by most who wanted it.

At some stage in the afternoon we arrived in Katherine for some supplies before heading to our campsite. It was out of town this one and had turned dark by the time we sat and ate. We rose again at 6am the next day and had packed up and left by 7am and headed for Nitmiluk Park in the Katherine Gorge. Here, myself, Rob the Geography boy, Lara the German, Jimmy from Melbourne, Lou the Irish lass and Phil the Bus God all paddled down the Katherine river in 3 different canoes at varying paces. It was a great way to see a bit of Aussie nature and the natural landscape that seemed to envelope us. At 11.30am it was time to leave to head back to campsite for luncheon. After this we were on the bus again to head to the Hot Springs just off the Victoria Highway. Here the crystal clear waters pumped from the earth's surface at a lovely 32C make it a fabulous place to relax. I was at a welcoming calm in the pools and savored every brief moment of being there, before this experience had passed and it would be just another memoir jotted down on a page in my diary in 2009.

On the bus again and we rolled along the highway before turning off into a strange one man town just as we were losing light. There was a pub with a massive traffic light outside, a couple of odd signs that were clearly out of place, a few empty looking buildings, a couple of cars, a campsite next to a well lit pub. This was Daly Waters. A backpacker's must see in Oz.

Ozbus11 - Bali

Bali is somewhere I had visited before aged 11 and remembered it as being this exotic almost paradise location. When I got there as a 23 year old I was going to remember it for something else – Aussies, nightlife and surfing. It was the first place on our trip that we'd actually encountered other tourists and the fist time we'd met Aussies on the tour. The capital on the south side of the island was a hedonistic array of surf shops, reflexologists, spas and bars. A place that I found on the first day though was an Eco Warehouse boasting the biggest array of sustainable DIY and building materials in this hemisphere called the Little Tree. It was newly opened and at the back they had an organic vegetarian cafe which me and Rob enjoyed lunch at. My diet had taken a battering of various McDonald's when I couldn't eat spicy stuff and other meat laden dishes when I could so I was keen to become more vegetarian to maintain a balance.

The evening of our first full day in Bali the whole of Ozbus11 had dinner in the hotel restaurant. Then a few of the youngens went out to experience the Bali nightlife. And what an experience it was. Suddenly in these more than recognizable I got a sense of returning to the Western world and in that, leaving some of the adventure behind. But I did enjoy the frugal sense of going out and spending time enjoying oneself.

Day 75 saw me get up at a reasonable hour and head to the beach enrolled at one of the many surf schools dotted along the coast. I had visited with Irish lass Lou and Germanic blondie Lara when they booked their lessons and decided a beginners morning session was in order. It had always been my plan to come to Australia pursuing Surfing after being introduced to it in the South West of England and I can tell you now – lessons in Bali are a far sight cheaper than in Australia. So the lesson in Bali went well – standing up on the board isn't the hard part for me and I've got the technique pretty much after a weekend session back in England 2005 and a morning in Bali refreshing it. What I find difficult though is having the stamina for catching the wave over and over again without getting super tired. Guess that's just my lack of fitness but at the time of writing – I've been in Australia for almost 5 months and the closest I've got to surfing is taking photos of those actually doing it on Manly Beach.

But it was all good fun in Bali and nice to do something challenging. That evening a few of us made our way to the beach to watch the sunset with a beer and I had dinner in a tiny off street eatery with just the right amount of cuteness. I used the morning of our last day in Bali doing boring administrative stuff like emailing, trying to get photos off my laptop for a OzBus11 souvenir book but my laptop had refused to get better since Mt Bromo. Then it was time to pack. For some reason, just because my bag knew that we were in Bali for a couple of days, it took the opportunity to expel all of its contents forming a volcano of clothing at the foot of my bed. I was sharing with Dru again and she must have been shocked at the mess. At 6.30pm a light dinner was laid on for us before we all loaded onto shuttle buses at 7pm to the airport. It was an agonizing wait in the lounge for a 10.45pm flight to Darwin. Once on board, a few of us got a little shuteye until we landed at Darwin Airport, NT, Australia.

Ozbus11 in Java and Sumatra, Indonesia

Our ferry over to the islands of Indonesia was fairly indescriptive. It was a different kind of ferry to the ones we had been on before. It was a sit down one, with no outer decks but also no windows so you couldn't see how you were positioned on the sea. It was fairly crammed inside with seats but this ferry company provided passengers with 80's music videos and a film for entertainment along with a snack lunch. We left Melaka, Malaysia at 8am and arrived in Bergalisk,on the island Java 12.40pm local just in time for some horrendous rain. At the port we jumped on our Indonesian bus and arrived at our hotel in Pekanbaru seven hours later.

It was a one nighter there and at 6.30am we were on our way again. Now I write this a long time after we were there and my memory of the country is mostly marred by long days, group politics and the impending sens that this amazing journey was soon going to be over. However one of the highlights for me and something not a lot of other people really got was an experience on day 66 of the OzBus London to Sydney tour. At 9.35am we arrived at the Equator in Tugu. This was an enormous symbolic event for me. Firstly it symbolized that I'd left one hemisphere behind – the north I'd known all my life and this new and exciting, opposite southern one. Secondly it's a point on the world map I have always wanted to step foot on. Ever since daydreaming in Geography class, flicking through my school atlas and pointing at all the weird and outlandish locations I hope one day to see with my own eyes. And when I though of this, at the time, all I had around me was four walls and an expectation from other people of how my life would turn out.

So there I was, finally having reached the Equator and loving it! A couple of snack stops later it was evening and we had come to Jambi in Sumatra. Another one nighter (and Indonesia was simply littered with these and severe daily drives) and we left at 8am to arrive in Palambang at 3.30pm. Which didn't seem so bad and obviously meant we had some decent time to spend exploring – only I don't recall there being anything in this town worth exploring. I think the most exploring we did was attempting to find somewhere decent to eat (for those who didn't automatically turn to Pizza Hut just because it happened to be available). At 6.30am on day 68 we left and at 4.30pm we arrived at Bandar Lumpung. This was our Sumatra/Java border and at 8.45am the next morning we arrived for the ferry.

Indonesian ferries are interesting. I don't think our roll on/roll off boat was particularly overloaded but we did notice other ferries coming in with their cargo doors already down! Alarm bells! I don't think our one did that and the only bad thing I remember of it is that the deck with the toilets on smelt really bad. At about 12pm we arrived in Java and continued on to Bandang. I probably enjoyed this island more than the last but I think mainly because we got a chance to rest up a little on this one. We left 7.30am the next day on the way to the Green Canyon. Here we were loaded into traditional boats and taken to a swimming hole with currents, and boulders to jump off. It was a little bit of paradise and I didn't even find out there were leaches in it until I was in Australia which is great.

Day 71 we were taken to a National Park and even though we weren't changing towns we were changing hotels which was more than slightly annoying because of all our one nighters. At 7.30am we left Pangadarran and headed for Yogyakarta the cultural capital of Indonesia. This was a delightful two night stop over and on our 'free day' we went on a cultural tour of the city which included: The Sultan's Palace where every artifact symbolized sex according to our guide, a batik demonstration studio, a Buddhists temple where Rob the Geography boy assured us that big mass of black cloud wasn't headed for us and then changed his mind when were all stranded at the top where a torrent of rain was deposited on us. Suddenly I was cold and wet with only summer clothes on. I am not a cold and wet person – I have no central heating. Basically I'm amphibious and cold blooded – I need the sun to live. When I am cold and wet I tend to go into hibernation. Getting back to the bus from the temple was a bit of an assault course but lucky for me there was a tall French/Canadian who rescued me from a few deep puddles. Back at the hotel the weather had taken it's toll on me and I decided to miss out the cultural dinner that had been laid on for us. Besides I wanted to get some precious sleep before a 5.30am departure the next day.

Day 74 we arrived at a small hotel complex besides a crater besides an active volcano called Mt Bromo – oh yeah! It smokes, it smells, it's majorly cool and I got to ride across the crater on horseback. It was here that I found my laptop had ceased to live throwing my already sporadic OzBus updates into disarray. Bromo was a fabulous three night rest for the Ozbus group. We all got to wind down a little and enjoy ourselves in a relatively isolated location. All the places in Indonesia before had simply been towns or cities. We left on day 75 already excited about our next ferry trip to Bali.

Ozbus11 in South Thailand and Malaysia

Day 60 of Ozbus11's 92 day trip to Sydney saw me do absolutely nothing apart from enjoy my surroundings on Koh Samui Thailand, my beachside hut and the first resort we'd seen on our holiday. It was the next day I decided to do something constructive. By the amazingness of foreign law I was able to hire a scooter and go round the Island with it. I was incredibly excited as the last time I had been in control of anything motorised I was having driving lessons at the age of 17. I never achieved a full drivers license though.

It was a bit nerve-wracking, getting used to the sensitivity of the throttle and the vehicle was heavier than I thought making it surprisingly hard to manouver. So I thought I'd practice a little around the hotel. Something Charlie, our 'nice' Public School boy from Chester who had hired a massive 4x4 to tour with, found hilarious. Well after a few stops and starts, I thought I was ready to go. Luckily I hadn't crashed first time like a certain younf Irish interior designer on the bus did (she will remain nameless, she knows who she is). But mastering the scooter was just one part of motorised transport I had to deal with. It was becoming part of the Island traffic that proved the greatest challenge. My first task was to successfully ease out into moving traffic from the Hotel side road onto the main ring-road. I did not do this well. Unfortunately, too much throttle and not enough turning left hurtled me onto the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic. In England I would have been hit for sure but luckily, we had noted that in countries with sligtly more irratic driving tendancies, drivers had amazing reflexes. And all I got was a couple of a beeps.

Cursing and heart racing I stuck to the left hand side of the road and headed off to my destination. I knew where I wanted to go, I just didnt know exactly how I was going to successfully arrive. Somehow I managed it and I parked down another side road where I had found previously a nice little fishing settlement with lovely restaurants and shops. I felt gorgeously independent - it was a strange and new experience. I had a nice stroll and purchased some nice things and then went off again. This time I headed off to the Golden Buddha. Though I had some more difficult manuvers; in terms of turning accross direction of traffic but again, I managed it.

The Golden Buddha was MASSIVE. And an impressive sight on a small island. It was beautiful situated high above the sea and for a few moments I felt complete calm and tranquil. But back on the bike I wanted to head off to the new Tesco Lotus as I needed some batteries for my torch. I couldn't find it however and nearing the end of the day, I somehow, found my way back to our sideroad, miraculously turned accross fast moving traffic and ended up back at the scooter hire place.

The next day we all reluctanctly (some more reluctantly than others with heavy sleeping in behaviour) left Koh Samui at 7am to catch a ferry back to the mainland. At 3.30pm we arrived at Hyati and cursed Phil for making us leave so early when there was absolutely nothing to do in the town. On day 63 we crossed the Hyati border a little after 7.30am having been reminded by the Thai tour guides to have our passports on us and arrived in Penang in Malaysia in time for an evening birthday celebration for Aussie Sam. The next day we were on the road again in time to arrive in Kuala Lumpur for lunch. What a sight that city was. If a Sci-fi film was ever real then it would have based itself in Kuala Lumpur. Silver skycrapers seemed to fly up from the groud and everything was so clean and knew and everything screamed MONEY. Suddenly the 26 Ozbusketeers in their tired travelling gear seemed a little out of place. A nice lunch was to be had in the first shopping mall we'd seen since leaving Europe and then back on the bus it was to arrive in Melaka at 5.30pm.

This was the end of Malaysia and the beginning of an arduous Indonesian leg before hitting the red country. It was exciting and deeply sad at the thought of ending this once in a lifetime trip.

Ozbus11 - Thai Part 4, the Effects of the Moon

A full moon meant that att the hotel on Koh Samui, a few youngens on the bus were picked up and whized off to a beach to board a boat to Koh Phangan. We were given rather official looking lanyards (official for Thailand consisting of a laminated card with company name and boat times back tied with a pink piece of string) and numbers corresponding with a boat out. The ride out to the island was fun, for those at the front at least. Those at the back were more than a bit wet by the time they disembarked. But at the front, everytime the speed boat went over a wave the bow would rise and wallop down so fast that bodies were moved from seat to seat. It was hilarious and really set the mood for a party.

On arrival we paid an entrance fee for a plastic wristband stating "Fullmoon Party 2009 Haad Rin Thailand". Who knows what Haad Rin is? I thought we were on Koh Phangan. Inside the gates we were immidiately confronted with the famous bucket stalls. This is where Thai Island dwellers sell children's buckets full of various spirits. Wonder what the focus of this party is? Also on offer were luminescent accesories such as hair bands and body paint. All very fun, all so very tempting to buy but where to put such purchases? All of us girls had come out with just the bear essential money as EVERYTHING and anything gets lost/stolen on this Island. It was a perilous journey of fun we were on. But to the beach we strove!

Once there and passed a few foodie pitt-stops the music was pumping hard from various bars. We all headed to one in particular which lovely Mr Phil had said he was going to and meet some friends of his. None of us now had the will to party without him, it had been so long in such close contact! There it was, all fun, fun, fun, but crowded. Luckily I had brought Henry the blow-up Girrafe along as party mascot so we were easy to find as a group - there was a wager to see if he could get home un-punctured. The music was loud, the drinks were full on but I couldn't quite get into the swing of things. Maybe it was because the music they were playing required pills for you to enjoy but I think it was mainly down to the fact that the DJ played some god awful mixes. I thought that my soul was saved when I heard the intro to a Nirvana track - but alas it was put to a thumping 'dance' beat and I died a little inside.

Groups dispersed, re-appeared, changed in dynamics. We found Jimmy the Aussie Ocker off his face on something after his drink was spiked. Then it was time for the traditional drunk dunk in the sea. You know - when it doesnt matter that you're fully clothed and several blokes are pissing up-current of you. I didn't go in however as by this time, I was not into it at all and considering going back. My requirements for a successful all nighter had not been met - company was good but now sain conversation was hard to come by. I had a good chat with Elli but that was about it that night. The music was terrible. And then the heavens opened - that was my cue to go. So off I toddled to the make-shift docks where I found more than a gaggle of people. It was about 3am now and I thought to myself - I am gonna be here at least an hour waiting. But there, amongst the crowd, I found Aussie Sam waiting also. Yey - someone to pass the arduous time with.

Then, without too much waitng, a boat came in and by our own pushing and other people dragging us, we made it through a barage of people without lanyards (haha in your face randomers!) and successfully onto a boat back to Koh Samui. I was intensely tired at this point and just wanted to roll into bed. Though I just had to get through the ride home. I made it, just, with a few saltwater injuries to my eyes. Sam and I waited at the drop off beach a while, everyone else was getting into mini-vans and being taken to various hotels. We told the person apparently directing the vans which hotel we were at but her face looked blankly at us. Ah-well we thought, this is Ozbus after all, not an all inclusive tour, as we keep on being reminded and didnt think a van would have been booked for us. So we got a nice expensive taxi back. It wasn't until the next morning that Phil told us an official transfer had been organised for us as part of ticket out there!

Back at the hotel I had the keys to Elli's hut as I was sharing with Drew the newly proud Grandmother with a cavehouse in Spain and didn't want to wake her. I immidiately jumped in the shower in an attempt to wash all the luminescent pink paint that the Ozbusketeers had happily smothered each other with, off. My efforts at 4am though made little to no impact. But I think it was partly due to the permancy of the paint as I was still finding traces in my hair on the Australian leg. Even now as I write this, almost 3 months after the event - a pink fleck of paint can be seen on the top left corner of my watch. I don't want to see it go though - a fond reminder of a miniscule part of an awesome trip.

I slept until 10.30am when with sand still all over me I headed off for breakfast. I spent the rest of the day reading. The sea was rather rough unfortunately and remained that way for the duration of our time on the island which so no swimming was done. Gradually, throughout the later parts of the day, people emerged from the recovery processes of the night/day earlier. They informed me that sadly Henry had not fullfiled his wager but had made it back, limp and a bit worse for wear. In the evening most of us gathered for cocktails at the beachside bar just down from the hotel. But it was a quiet affair with everyone enjoying the peacful sound of the ocean - a welcome first from what had been up until then a mostly city tour of countries.

Ozbus11, still in Thailand - Part 3

I never managed to get up for breakfast on day 57 on Ozbus11's 92 day trip to Sydney, the previous day had done me in. I wanted to catch up on sleep and prepare myself for the fact that I'd be gettting little of it in the coming days. The youngens on the bus were excited as we were going to a Full Moon Party on Koh Phangan Island the first evening after leaving Bangkok. It was going to be an all night affair with a boat taking us there in the eve from Koh Samui and not taking us back til morning the next day. I can do all nighters if there is the following available: GOOD music to dance to (I don't count traditional Dance music as good, it's usually the fastest way to send me to sleep), a decent crowd (not shitheads, timewasters or people off their heads on whatever, just intersting perhaps slightly crazy peeps you can have a chat with) and finally good weather. So I was a bit aprehensive about the party.

Unfortunately I sort of pre-empted the whole all nighter thing by one night, our last night in Bangkok. After missing breakfast and being annoyed because it was amazing, a few of us found a great little cafe just around the corner from hotel. It was a Sunday and surprisingly, nothing much was open. Ozbus had been living out of the working week system for sometime now and we had not a clue how the real world worked around us. But here we found continental breakfasts on offer, milkshakes, croissants which I jumped on and of course that quintessential coffee.

After breakfast I'm not sure what I did as this is the part in my diary marked 'faffed'. So I guess I faffed before Dee, I and Rob the photogrpaher and computer genius decided to visit the Royal Palace. This was a good cultural visit with LOTS of gold and sparkly things to bowl you over. A good attraction just cover up and don't let the taxi men rip you off when you come out. Then I suppose we came back and had dinner and then we went out and did a bit of shopping on the main strip.

I was having drinks with Dee and Elli, our proper Yorskshire lass, desperately trying to order a Martini and not getting anywhere with the waiter when suddenly I stopped. I made a grab for my waist where I wear my money belt and to my horrow - AHHHH, it wasn't there! Panic set in as I was horofied at losing not only money but Passport aswell. Luckily Dee and Sam were amazing. They got a plan of action going, Dee re-traced my steps with me, checking the market we had just been to and Sam went back to our hotel room to see if I had left it there.

I was adement I hadn't as I only ever took the money belt off to shower or swim and then would put it back on when dressing. I was in a right state. What if I had to miss the Full Moon Party by staying in Bangkok at the Embassy? We all really needed this party. What if I couldn't leave Thailand with Ozbus at all and my trip would be ruined? If only I had listened to Phil the bus god when he said this is the time in the trip when everyone starts to become more lax and lose things? I was thinking now - it had to be at the hotel - it just had to, I just didn't remember putting it down anywhere. I never left my passport in hotel rooms as per advice from Phil.

Dee and I were walking back when Elli phoned. She said she had found it on my bedside table. I thanked Elli and turned to Dee and we both breathed a sigh of relief then giggled a bit. What a scare? What an adrenaline rush? Back at the hotel Dee suddenly realised she had not seen her Passport for a while also. Consequently, she, Sam and I started to turn our hotel room inside out looking for it. Our room had allready been a state for sometime now - you remember, Dee and I had officially moved in and decorated.

A few of us had been in Phil's room earlier that evening and Dee thought it must be in there. So with Sam, a forever cheeri Surrey girl now hailing as a Northerner, and a few others joining in, broke into Phil's room and started searching it. Phil doesn't trust hotel staff so rarely gives in his room key when he goes out so we wondering just how we were going to get in but we did manage it. It wasn't there unfortunately so Dee texted one of the boys who were all on an official 'boys night out' in Bangkok (that only means going to see one thing *shiver shiver*) to see if they recall Dee having it somewhere. But we had no answer so we broke into Charlie and Rob's room instead to search there. Remember this was a leave or no leave Bangkok situation. As soon as we busted their door, Sam and I spied it, obviously "hidden" underneath Charlie's pillow.

I think Dee's exact words were "Charlie! You k**b-jockey!" As she was relieved at finally finding it. After that we waited for the boys to come back. Charlie was first coming to Dee's and my balcony where we were all hanging out. He said he was quite adement that the ping pong ladies had put him off sex for life. But what really put things into context for us girls was when Rob our Geography boy came back. He rushed onto the balcony all out of breath from running, clearly drunk and with the rememnents of sick down his front. What a night he had had as he went on to tell us. The show shocked him as much as it did Charlie but he had stayed out with Phil to go to a fish foot eating place with Tamara our amazingly intelligent Canadian.

Unfortunately this probably wasn't one of the best ideas as Rob has a thing about anything touching his feet. Phil cohearsed him into trying it when Rob I think threw up a little from the shock. Then he leapt up and ran all the way back to the hotel, throwing up again on the way. As Rob was relaying the events to us we all couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy but also, it was late, we did find it hilarious at the same time. What really made the story a treat was this quote from Rob: "Women - pulling razors out of their f****s now that's rude. But FISH!"

The night wore on and Phil came back and the party moved into his room. Their must have been about 10 of us in there or something. We were having the time of our life for some strange reason, dancing and acting like prats in a Bangkok hotel room - that's where the scene is obviously. Before I knew it, it was 2am and we had to leave that day to get down to Koh Samui. I said to myself I really must go to bed at some point and I still havent packed. I set my alarm for 5am to make me get up and be packed in time.

Then later on, all of a sudden, my alarm went off - and we were all still in Phil's room! How did this happen?! The all nighter was meant to be happening the next night. Oh well. Off I went to pack. Made it downstairs after boobie trapping Jim and Julie from Essex's room door with empty cans and bottles. Jim and Julie were the top couple on board and were the type of people who could appreciate a prank or two. Breakfast was nice and then I blanked out on the bus during the day. I only really woke up for half hour of lunch and then at 6pm for the ferry.

At 8.30pm we arrived at our hotel and what a paradise it seemed. But before we could enjoy it, we rushed some food down to be picked up for the party at 9.20pm. We had all been told that there were boats coming back every hour through the night which set my mind at rest at not being able to cope with another all nighter.

The Full Moon Party was......

Ozbus11 in Thailand - Part 2

Day 56 of Ozbus11's 92 day adventure to Sydney offered an invaluble, jam-packed day trip. Or so I thought. Now there are many extras offered as part of the Ozbus experience and day trips are one of them. This trip included a tour of the floating markets, a visit to a Tiger Sacntuary run by Monks and a visit to that bridge over the River Kwai. It was a pretty full on day and kicked off at 7am.

Only a few on the trip had decided they would use the time to recouperate in Bangkok and not be carted off on yet another Ozbus group activity. At the time I chose to go and pay the day trip fee, in fear of missing out on the Thailand experience but out of all the excursions - this was the one I would have gladly missed, in hindsight.

The floating markets were more than a disappointment. Apparently there are 2 sites tourists are taken to. I can only explain the one I saw. The coach dropped us off at a sort of embarkation station where we were put into groups of 8 and loaded into narrow, tradional boats, with ruddy great big motors on the back. Before we zoomed off on the canals, we were all stunned momentarily by someone taking each pairs' photo on a digital camera.

Off we went at varying speeds according to water trafic, halting at differnt yet surpsingly similar trinket stalls and I started to wonder when we would get to the actual markets. Well the more we stopped at these stalls selling rubbish and the more I saw other boats of tourists doing the same, it became apparent that this was actually it. Not impressed. A smooth operation of dumping us at a decent looking shop selling more rubbish, there for 15 mins or so before our boat number was called and we went off again was the best we were offered at the markets. We were taken back to where we had got on boats and were offered a souvenir picture of the pairs printed onto plastic plates. Not entirely what I'd call quality merchandise but it appealed to Dee who bought one. It was destined for our makeshift mantlepiece on top of the TV in our hotel room.

Well, the floating markets didn't get us off to a good start. Luckily we were going to the Tiger Sanctuary next which many were looking forward to. Looking forward to it not least because they would each get a chance to have their photo taken with a tiger which I guess some people dream about since childhood. When I learn't this I did ask myself the question - how does one pose with a tiger when they are in a sanctuary? To a westerner the idea of a sanctuary is something of a mimmicked natural habitat for creatures to frolic in, as free as possible from human interaction. Not so in Thailand.

First of all the fee to enter this supposed sanctuary was extorionate for the experience it offered. Secondly it was quite clearly not run by Monks, merely people dressed in coloured robes. A few of us did go on the hunt for the temple that was meant to be there, but we found all we found was a massive cattle shed. Thirdly to get the picture with a tiger, one must que up with other excitable tourists, be guided into a compound of about 10 chained up Tigers and sit behind one smiling like "this is a completely natural environment for both of us to be in", touch it gently if you like while a robed 'monk' takes your picture.

If you're questioning the safety aspect of this right now then don't worry. We were clearly briefed by many young westerners who seemed to be working there (I presume this is where some of our fee goes, they'd be fools to volunteer at the place) who told us not to wear bright colours, make sudden movements nor stray from the line. Well thank heavens for that, I felt so much safer after thata as you can imagine. (what's comp. shorthand for being sarcastic?)

After an hour of walking around coming across chained up Tigers here and there for crowds to gawp over I became depressed. I felt completely and utterly betrayed by the company I was travelling with for allowing their customers to take part in something obviously barbaric and an absolute violation of animal rights. Personally I would strongly advise against all visits to anything described as a Tiger Sanctuary by Ozbus.

Back on the bus again, it was now nearly lunchtime and took a while to arrive at where we would have it. But once there, a little place on the side of a main road, the Thai people came up trumps again with some glorious food. Back on the bus (it seemed most of the day was actually spent on the bus) we were ferryed for a long time to our next destination, the birdge over the River Kwai. On our way there though, the group were starting to wonder how necesary our 3 tour guide ladies were. Only one it seemed was able to communicate with us and the other 2 simply chatted on their mobile phone and hogged the front seat. After much gossiping it was decided that the English speaking girl must be the official guide and the other 2 were her friends who were in it for the ride.

We eventually arrived at the Bridge over the River Kawai, weary from a long day allready. It was a nice bridge. Small with a train track on it. We got to walk some of it and I wondered if trains still used the line. Then we had to get into the side on little waiting platforms as a train came up and answered my question. And then it was time to leave again. The bridge visit sort of turned into a glorified toilet stop but it's one to cross off the list I suppose.

At 7.30pm Ozbus11 rolled back into Bangkok and I had my dinner and went promptly to bed. Exhausted and annoyed at having wasted my day and my money, my only solace was that there might be another episode of Home and Away on television. There wasn't and I had to make do with something on National Geographic.

Ozbus11 in Thailand - Part 1

On Day 54, Ozbus11 left our Calcutta *cough* 'hotel' at 7am, with none of us wishing to hang around. We drove on our bus around the city until we arrived at what I can only describe as a colonial railway station. Surely this wasn't the right place to get off bus? thought I. Surprise surprise, this was India's idea of an international airport; a dirty, smelly, looking disused building with people inside.

We had arrived well before check-in, at 10am, and so most of us tried to find breakfast. Not before too long check-in arrived, tags were put on bags and we borded a plane for Bangkok. As soon as the wheels of the aircraft left the Indian tarmac, a sweet sense of Euphoria swept through the Ozbus group like an electric current. We spent the flight like excitable kids as, at last, (though the feeling wasn't 100% shared throughout the group) we had been rescued from the nightmare that was India.

At 4.30pm local time we touched down, dis-embarked and entered a space-age like airport. I walked around in dis-belief as I could smell something vaguely familiar but not immidately identifyable. There was a brightness to the airport and finally I identified what I was smelling as I walked into halogen lit toilets with a cheerie attendent. IT WAS CLEAN! I was smelling CLEAN! If cleanliness had a smell, Bangkok airport sure had it. I mingled through our group sharing my discovery as other shared their own delightful wonderments.

The wonders continued when we were met by not one guide but 3 Thai ladies. They waited with us for our bus and we hapened to witness a famous Thai personality sign autographs and be whisked away by a smart looking campervan. Our bus turned up and it was the most colourful bus we'd seen so far with lush seating and a big TV that we found out one day actually worked. We arrived at our hotel and OMG - the place had an actual foyer, with computers available, hooked up to the internet. It had comfortable chairs, with not one but 2 eateries but the best was still to come.

I was sharing a room with Dee from Londahn and when we opened the door to our rooms we were greeted with the luxury of space, clean rooms and the best surprise - clean showers with complimentary shampoo and body wash. It was amazing. My favourite perk of the room was that the TV picked up Australian "best of" network. And I settled down to a treat of a Home and Away episode. It's the little things in life.

Everyone made full use of the hygenically white bathrooms and those that wanted to, met up later to go out and PARTY, Thailand style. This means walking down a street choc-full of bars and Thai restaurants where you see loads of tourists. I hadn't seen this many since Europe and it was a shock to the system but a nice one. A few of us found a nice little bar with a guy playing acoustic guitar covers of all the tourists' favourite hits. (Yes, he did play Oasis 'Wonderwall'). Unfortunately, becuase all these guys were Thai, there were some interesting pronunciations of lyrics.

Thailand is cheap - we all know that -except for one aspect of life: Alcoholic drinks. And when you want to party after a long spate of not being allowed to drink for religous reasons - you want to participate in a bit of a drinking sesh. Wallets must be prepared for the blow. Anyhow I can't exactly remember when I went home that night but the next morning I did manage to get up for breakfast at 9.30am. What a beautiful sight the Thai breakfast was. It had EVERYTHING. If it was almost imposible to eat anything in India - then Thailand sure was making up for it.

So I eat a delightful array of things and then went back up to my room and slept until about 1pm. Now, as I mentioned, I was sharing with Dee and at this point in the trip she had developed a firm reputation of being a terrible faffer. A rep. I thought, was unfairly given at that point in time. What the rest of Ozbus11 didn't know about me was that I was a secret faffer and notoirious for it in my own circle of friends. And so, due to this pairing, old habits started to emerge and there are large chunks marked in my diary where the activity written was 'poter' and 'faffed'. However it was a good pairing as the two of us ended up with the ultimate and best hotel room to hang out in.

I'm pretty sure by the evening of Day 55 our room was decorated with fairylights round the mirror, a blow up Giraffe named Henry and trinkets set upon the Television. Luckily we were scheduled to stay in Bangkok for a grand total of four days which in Ozbus terms is like renting an apartment. So the interior decoration was justified.

Ozbus11 in Nepal - Part 3

Having left the Orphanage a little low, day 45 of my London to Sydney bus trip was spent hanging and pottering around in a boat on the lake in Pokhara. It was day 46 that would mark a milestone in our trip. That morning more than half the group had left very early to go white water rafting. I opted out having done it before and wanting to take advantage of a lie-in before some very early starts coming our way. We left Pokhara saying another bye to Helen and made our way up winding mountain roads to collect the rafters. There, wet bodies (inc. Rob's brother and 2 Canadian women hitching a ride) bundled onto the tiny Nepalese bus and we celebrated officially being 'half way there'!

It was only another 46 days to go until we reached Sydney and having spent the last couple of weeks building up to this milestone, suddenly there was a sense that now we had reached it - it was all going to go far too fast from now on. We arrived in Khatmandu that evening and settled into another hotel in the heart of the city. Many were up early the next day to go on a pleasure flight around Everest. This was by far the most expensive extra on the tour and something I chose not to do owing to my no flying traveling. But it was with great satisfaction that they all came back to breakfast at the hotel, telling us how amazing it was to see.

A mini bus tour of some good sites was laid on for us including being taken to a Stupa and the Monkey Temple. The stupa was very beautiful being deocrated in flags and surrounded by traditional buildings. The monkey temple creeped me out a bit with all the wild monkees running about the place. I got cold and tired as soon as the sun went down and went back to the city for some local Nepalese dinner with Tamara, our super smart, doctor, Canadian Ozbusketeer.

At 6am on day 48 I and a few other Ozbusketeers caught a transfer bus to The Last Resort, near the Tibetan border. It was billed as the perfect retreat, a place to pamper oneself with a range of massages available and activities such as Canyon Swininging and Bungee Jumping optional activites. Accomodation were sveral grades of luxurious tents, but all I was looking forward to was a pool, peace and quiet and Bungee Jumping. As it turned out it wasn't really a retreat but a PGL activity centre for Grown-ups. On arrival our accomadation booking had been typically miscommunicated and there weren't, apparently, enough tents to go round as one lady was expected to share a tent with another man in our group. I don't know if I'm just out of date with things but isn't that completely unacceptable within the tourist industry? Regardless of country. It wasn't a sham organisation that was being run here. It was owned by some Kiwi's and the drinks prices at the bar set the tone for being a first class type of place. But the way it was run - completely over capacity, as the first day there, we had to fight to get any lunch (breakfast lunch and dinner were inc. in price). And it seemed that they were setting food out after being cooked and re-heating it for the different groups coming along. Very dodgy.

Also - there was no pool! How can you run a resort without a pool? Come on! There was a mini square of a cold plunge poole available but it's not the same. Initial dissapointment aside, it was a beautiful setting nestled into the mountain-side. I chose not to do my jump that day, preferring that I take the full time to relax and get excited tomorrow when I had to leave anyway. The next day I did my jump and of course I had to be the first one to do it. It was because you jump by weight and I was the lightest. Both the Bungy and Canyon Swing were over a gorge and we were told by Phil to feel priveleged as it was illegal elsewhere to bungy from bridges these days and was the no.1 Canyon Swing in the world. So I was called. Tentatively made my way over to the middle of the bridge. Stepped into a harness. Told to sit down as they attached bungy to ankes. My god - they strapped it on tight, just as well really. But it did hurt. Then I shuffled under fence out onto jumping platform.

Bungy jumping is something I have always wanted to do just because of the challenge that it is. Something so high, so un-natural - how will I cope? I refused to get scared though. The last thing I wanted was to be was on that platform, look down and have thoughts of terrible things making me hesitate to do it. I just powered on through. So I raised my arms making me into a sort of cross figure, listened to Nepalese jump guy count 3,2,1.......... and I dived head first into a gorge with a river at the bottom, my eyes were shut. Then I opened them and I was still falling. And then I bounced a bit, not much, then I hung for what seemed like ages until they lowered me enough for me to grap a stick and two people at the side of the river pull me in. I was relived to get the bungy off my ankles purely because it was so painful round them. But then I stood up, looked up and went... "huh. I've done it and I feel...... nothing?! How can I feel nothing? I've just jumped the third highest bungy in the world?" I thought.

So I clambered up the steep valley face up to the viewing deck to watch the others go. Then we all re-conviened for lunch and to watch our prosective videos. And I thought - I need something else. So I went and paid to do the Canyon Swing that everyone said felt amazing. By this time there were only 3 as opposed to approx. 30 people on the bridge doing their jump. Now it felt like my turn, something truly for me, nothing to prove. I jumped the Canyon Swing where the rope was attached to your waist harness and suspended from accross the gorge further out. Freefalling until it picked up the slack was really good and swinging back a forth a few times, I felt more of an adrenaline rush on this than on the bungy.

Satisfied I packed up my things to catch the bus with everyon,e back to Khatmandu. At 10am on day 50 I reluctantly got on the bus to leave Khatmandu and head to the Nepal border to go back into India. I was dreading it. Leaving behind such an amazing country with amazing scenery, food and wonderful people to go into one where I couldn't eat anything nor sleep properly in hotels where cleanliness was something out of a western magazine, not Indian culture. In fact it terrified Linda so much that she went back to Pokhara and met us at Bangkok airport when we flew there from Calcutta.

Ozbus11 in Nepal - Part 2

At a comfortable 10am the 26 inc. Phil the bus God (we had left Bernie the crazy but lovable frenchmen to his own devices at the border)borded our Nepalese bus and headed to the resort town of Pokhara. Here we found another comfortable hotel overlooking a beautiful lake and mountain scenery. We had arrived just in time for Dwali and there was a definite party feel in the air.

Our first day was spent rising before day-break to trek up a mountain to see sunrise. A slightly arduous trek but I set my own pace and kept to it and was one of the first to arrive at the summit. Here we had to pay for a ticket to set foot upon. Gradually we all gathered and watched the sunrise together. We took photos, posed for photos, watched some crazy Nepalese guys drop their camera over the edge of mountain and climb down steep rock face to get it. As you do. We departed in good light ready for the bus at the bottom to take us back to hotel in time for breakfast. Some chose to walk all the way back to town. Well those of us who chose safe, easy, non-tiring four wheeled option were a tad dissapointed when told bus had gone and had to wait somewhere along road for silly busman to come back for us. All in the perils of miscommunication. What jubilations were cried out when bus eventually did show and arriving back at hotel we barely beat those who had set out on foot. But we were just in time for Breakfast - which was the main thing.

Nepalese breakfasts were good. Well anything was good - we had been in India where they don't believe in Breakfasts at the places we were staying. I slept for a good long while after a good helping, until it was lunchtime and afternoon in fact. We had met Rob's "brother" in Chitwan (wasnt really Rob the camera/Curry's wizard's brother but looked identical). He told us of a little orphanage to visit in Pokahara which was on the itineray of things to do that afternoon. I had always intended to visit an orphanage that Phil knew of in Kathmandu so thought I'd go to this one.

We were met by Helen Henderson, a wee Scotish woman who lead us from the hotel to the Orphanage. We walked up a dirt track off the main road by the lake (behind Base Camp Resort) and to my surprise we entered a small plot of land through a new gate, up a garden path into a small house. It wasn't what I was expecting at all, when I think of Orphanages, I think of big unfriendly, godforsaken looking places with hundreds of children in dorms. Here, at Shangri-La new Dawn, I was pleasently surprised. There mission statement is "A loving secure small family orientated home for orphaned and abandoned children of Nepal". That was certainly the impression I got as I was invited to sit in the main living area/school room by Krishna and his wife. There were just five of us from Ozbus who were visiting and each of us asked our own intrigued questions as we ate fruit and drank tea they had laid out for us.

There were only approx. 8 children which is as large as they wanted their house to be, focussing on keeping a family atmosphere. The children were from a variety of destitute backgrounds and hadn't really been there long as the house had only been set up for about a year. Those of school age all attended the local but Nepalese education being what it is, were all tutored after with an empahsis on learning English. As it was explained - in Nepal where tourism is the 3rd religion, a future is not bright without a good grasp of the language. As we listened to Krishna and Helen tell us heartbreaking stories of the origins of each child, I looked out to the front lawn where most of them were playing. Helen had recently splashed out on a swing and they were all making good use of their new toy. They were running around, screaming and laughing - exactly how children should be. It was an immense happy sight. But inside, the realities were harder to deal with.

The children didn't have enough clothes. They were constantly running out of basic educational materials such as pencils and books to read. Toys were very limited. There was a shelf or so of toys we could see - that was the extent of it. The house was constantly struggling to pay eletricity bills and in the winter it got incredibly cold. The children were cared for by Krishna and his wife but there was just an underlying constant struggle that this orphanage had to deal with that tore on our heartstrings. Helen did what she could, dividing her time between Scotland and Nepal where she would arrive with what she could fit into luggage. But it was impossible to send things without human escort, a nightmare to get money to the orphanage.

It was clear that what this orphanage needed to continue the safe and nurturing environment for these children - something that every single child deserves. Because I know what some of you may think - these were just 8 children out of hundreds in the country, millions in the world but do these 8 children deserve less becuase they are simply so few? To continue - more man power is needed, more time from caring individuals, more donations, more attention from the outside world. Linda our resident shopaholic was one such person who was so moved by the time she spent with the children that she vowed to return and help.

Some of us were having fun outside aquaintng ourselves with the children when it was time to leave. We had memorable photos taken with them all and it was a sad goodbye that was said. Walking back down the dirt track I felt a queitness inside me. I didn't want to speak, I didn't want to think. I just felt. Felt so deeply and so moved for these childrens' incredibly uncertain futures.

Shagri-La New Dawn, Pokhara, Nepal
Krishna Acharya (Project Co-ordiantor)
manhimalayan@yahoo.com

Mrs Helen Henderson (UK contact)
mammychef@googlemail.com