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......