It Draws To A Close

24/01/11

So after a strange flight to Darwin involving a little more hang time in the air than expected (we had to wait for a cyclone to pass over Darwin!), I made it onto the connecting flight and into Singapore as scheduled. I don’t want to blog too much about my boring SG stuff as it was just much the same as previous visits i.e. sit down in the same (cool) hostel and email work and agents back and forth, but at least I had a chance to get quite a bit sorted out before going home. I’m now faced with a manic few days on return. I fly into Manchester, land and get through customs, do a few visits to potential houses I’ll live in, catch a train to Nottingham, allow 1 day for jet lag, pack the car up and return to Manchester. Pretty shitty eh?! I supposed deserved after blogging so many good times whilst others work away and pass time by thinking “What a b*&%£$d!” Well, it’ll be home-time soon enough and you can al tell me to F-right off in person then.

As for SG – well, it’s my ….. sixth visit I think; maybe seventh. I really should know my way around by now, so confidently, but foolishly I did not take a map! I got a little confused and a little bit lost, so Najiah came to meet me for lunch at a venue of my choice rather than one we’d penciled in. My phone playing up didn’t help the cause and I was almost an hour late. It was brilliant to catch up though and it must be pffft what the best part of a year now since I’d seen her, but we made plans to catch up later in the evening with my other friends in Singapore, now including my German friend, Andre, who I’ve seen in 8 countries and counting, Sarj, Mark, Shylla, and Abu, all of whom I’ve travelled and met up with heaps over the last two years. What a great time. Food a beer provided the needs for conversation, and it was much the same for the second night.

I once again got slightly confused and turned up late to meet Sarj for lunch, but in no way was I late for the evening! Wednesday night is key in Singapore as it is the only time you can drink in the bars for cheap! $20 entry into Insomnia for two hours of free-flow gave me enough time to get standardly/Britishly drunk! We had a great time, but I felt a touch concerned for Sarj who I’ve never seen so drunk hahaha – well, knowing her, no doubt she’d pull a sicky anyway.

[sic] Guys – I’ll be blogging all this fully, as per usual, when I get home, so keep an eye out in a week or two.

27/01/11

Slightly dazed I flew off from my penultimate destination the next day to Hong Kong. It was here my jaw dropped! The place had an uncanny resemblance to New York for me. Huge building squashed together on separate islands. It’s seemingly impossibly given the landscape and geography of the area, but somehow they’ve managed it, and managed it very well!

I’ve squashed in so much with my time here, but in general it’s all been the common touristy stuff. I’ve seen the Avenue of Stars and Symphony of Lights; I’ve gone up the funicular Peak Tram and been treated to the exceptional view of the city from Victoria Peak; I’ve explored Kowloon, Tsim Sha Tsui, and Central inside out; I’ve even been to Stanley Market and the southern beaches! I’ve been all over Lantau Island and knackered myself out climbing the incredibly masochistic peak before shying away from doing the rest of the Lantau Trail (I caught the Ngong Ping 360 to get up there and did the Po Lin and Tian Tan Buddha statue thing), but I have managed to avoid the likes of Disneyland and Ocean Park, but thankfully I still have a healthy four digits in the spending account, so I’m off to Macau to gamble, gamble, gamble! Viva Las Vegas for my last blow out!

I only have a couple more days to go now, so maybe I’ll squeeze in one more blog before I leave. I will put up some accompanying photos as well as the East Coast ones asap (this time out of pier pressure – Sarj bit me and Naj threatened me!).

Oh – I must say it really good to see Notts County take the game to Man City the other night. I thought they were a little bit unlucky to come away with a reply, but good to see Nottingham teams giving City a hard time still despite the gap. I guess the state of the pitch might have had a fair factor in the proceedings, so maybe the rugby team should get a shift on with their proposed move, though I quite like knowing Jacko is playing in a decent venue. I really should go watch him more, but rugby can never be a football substitute; the world agrees.

A Sinking Ship And A Sad Goodbye

So where did I finish off last time? Ah yeah, I was falling to a gruesome death from 14,000 ft. but miraculously survived right? It’s true, I had a great time at Mission Beach, and my second day/night there seemed to give it a bit more of an edge; I finally met some people who were going up to Cairns! It had seemed up until then everyone was going down from Cairns as they could now get through the floods, and those who leapt over the sodden ground were few and far between; not now though. Dervla, an Irish lass I’d met in Brisbane was there and needed a gentle nudge into doing a skydive, and Rosie, a really nice, bubbly English chick from just outside of London, kept me company alongside a couple of Dutch guys and a few from Sweden. No danger of a lack of company this time. I sat next to Rosie on the bus up to Cairns and she was making me laugh quite a lot.

Once in Cairns I went out for a couple of drinks in Gilligan’s, but didn’t last too long. With a 5:45am pickup time for the liveaboard and diving, sleep was a huge priority! I didn’t get anywhere enough of that though, and so quite surly, I got taken to the dive centre and geared up. I was pretty antisocial at this point given the truthful fact that I am just not a morning person at all or a punctual person for that matter!

A bumpy ride later and after a few introductions we were at the outer reef. I buddied up with Jan, a German guy who would later divorce me for his girlfriend (after she qualified from the Open Water Course) and down we went. Over the course of 3 dives I had seen plenty of fish, but had a bit of disappointing comparison to the Yongala wreck dive; the reef was good without being great. Maybe they should rename it to “The Good Barrier Reef” or “The Big And Decent Barrier Reef” instead of misleadingly using the word “Great”. That said, I did see a lot of sharks, turtles, nemo’s and other anemone fish (one had been blinged up with a massive speed stripe down his back. I think he was the bully), but I do prefer Asia and Ningaloo reefs for vibrancy, life, variation, and colour.

The night dive provided a new experience, and by this stage I was on course to becoming an Advanced Diver.

The next day gave me a deep dive and a couple of other tests, and my qualification was complete. I was now free to explore the reef in different environments. I was been played with like a pass the parcel game with dive buddies (I seemed to be only temporarily wanted, much like the kid who gets picked last for the footy side) and went through a disappointing four different buddies in three days. The best one was possibly Chevie though. She was content to follow my lead and have me point out and find the fish which was cool. Pleasingly I did not disappoint and found a massive Nepoleon Wrasse sleeping in a cave during out night dive. We also got circle by heaps of sharks before coming back onboard ridiculously over-excited.

Day three was the last dives and I got bullied by a turtle for a little while barging me out of his space; ran away from a trigger fish, keen not to repeat the Gili Island’s episode with Naj about a year ago; and teased a nemo or two for good measure. It was all good fun, but watching the boat fall to bits as we travelled back through a cyclone wasn’t as great. The ceiling fell down and cracked the skulls of the three body buildings onboard which made me cruelly laugh. Beef Beef Beef – serves them right for only talking about diet, protein, and gymnasiums. They have well and truly killed any Arnie jokes for me as well, but apart from that they were really nice guys (I’m being serious for once).

Back in Cairns I partied for a couple of nights with the other divers and crew and bumped into the various people from Mission Beach every now and again. It wpould have been nice to have spent more time there and see everyone a bit more, but as with all travels, you simply run out of time. I hope to keep in touch, and I’m sure I will with a lot of the people I met over my final week in Australia. Hey, I’ve even tried convincing some of them to join me in South America later in the year, but of course, all are very welcome.

Now I’m in Singapore and have only a short amount of time left, so it’s a bit of catching up with friends I’ve known for a while, and no doubt a heavy amount of drinking. I’ll blog this chapter later, but let it be known I was very sad to leave Australia, but I’m sure I’ll be back one day on my never ending travels.

The Different Sorts of Diving

So after flying out from Brisbane and over the flooded zones, I arrived on the cloudless and hot Hamilton Island (in the Whit Sundays). I caught a ferry from there to Airlie Beach and could only think about the cyclone that had hit last year. After seeing the edge of flooded area from the air, I was a bit pensive about the disasters that seem to constantly hit the region. That said, however, Airlie Beach was now as vibrant and open as ever, and it was like visiting a totally new place. I did think a bit about all the brilliant people who I’d net along the way just a year ago, and remember the fun I’d had from here on upwards with the various groups. Thankfully I’m still in touch with many of them, and hopefully will continue to be so for a very long time to come. As for this visit, it was more of a convenient stop to get back on course with the Greyhounds and continue on up the east coast away from the harm and devastation of the floods. I partied the night away and ended up stopping out far later than planned.

With just a few hours sleep to my credit, and a roaring headache, I got onboard the bus and went up to Ayr to dive the S.S.Yongala, one of the top ten wreck dives in the world. It’s a deep dive in small places as the wreck sits about 20km off shore, and is at a depth of 30m at its deepest. Here I had the best dives I have ever done! Even on descent I saw cod fish as big as my leg and reef sharks in abundance. A huge school of giant barracuda swam past, all hanging around for a good nosey at us, and all that was before I’d made it to the graveyard of the wreckage! I have never seen so many fish in such a small space, but most were huge! The seventh most poisonous snake in the world is a familiar underwater denizen there, and giant Queensland groupers bigger than me are very common. I was lucky enough to see all the above, but most impressively was a giant turtle who seemed not to take an interest in divers approaching him/her to a touching distance. The turtle was about two thirds my height in length and was incredibly social; in actual fact most of the marine life are more intrigued by the divers than scared by them. It certainly is one to be seen to be believed. The features of the ship are still clearly distinguishable, and we found intact lanterns, toilets, and a bathtub. It kind of brings it home that no survivors from the 122 passengers and crew onboard at the time the cyclone brought it to an abrupt end almost 100 years ago, and most of the human remains are still actually in there somewhere! It’s a fascinating dive and the first one ever that I will make sure to do again someday. With dive master training available to me for just lending a hand with upkeep of the ship and house, maybe I’ve found a future travel option – especially as no working visa will actually be required to do it! Hmmm Manchester first I think then take it from there.

Onto Mission Beach to finally tick another one of the growing bucket list and complete the skydive the weather prevented me from doing last year (this time I wouldn’t be the picker on Blind Date and so paying the full price).

Oh My God! Chucking myself out of a plane at 14,000ft, defenseless to the gravitation acceleration has to be up there with the best things I’ve ever done in my life! With sixty seconds of free fall, followed by a much gentler, parachute aided descent gave me the adrenaline rush that everyone who opts to do such a thing craves, and time to take in the vast and exquisite views of the entire area, from the beach lined coast right over to the rugged, lesser noted mountainous inland of Queensland. The whole experience was just incredible, and I loved it! I was actually the first out of the plane, but that way I had to show the confidence and guts for the others to follow. I quickly realised what a good actor I actually am, as I appear to be quite unmoved by the heights, and have a huge smile and excitement blazed across my air-strained face; if truth be told though, I was shitting a brick! Dangling over the edge and looking down without seeing anyone falling was a seriously nerving experience. With little choice otherwise though, Andy (my tandem instructor) flung us out and Earth-bound. It’s a first, and possible a last time I will ever gratefully and acceptingly have a man to be so intimately tightly bound to me! I would recommend it to anyone, hey, even a 101 year old man did it last year! I have 70 years to go until I can have any chance of leveling that record; here’s to hoping.

As the trip now approaches the end stage *big sigh (crowd encouragement and participation “Awww”* I have a liveaboard and 11 dives to do on the GBR (2 at night), and then a few days to party it up a bit before I fly to Singapore to re-meet some of my very best travelling friends, who are now considered some of my very best friends in life – hell how many countries is it now for me, Andre, Naj, Sarj, and Abu?? Loads I believe, spread over 3 continents as well! Awesome, long my it continue *uh hum, South America remember guys ;-) * It then approaches home time for me via Hong Kong and Macau (where another adrenaline-fueled effort is scheduled, the World’s Biggest Bungy no less! I’m nuts! Mum and Dad, you probably shouldn’t have read this on this occasion – soz.

Was It Really A Good Idea To Go Up The East Coast???

My first stop off up the East Coast was at the holiday town of Coffs Harbour. I’ve got to say I really liked it there and found lots of activities that could keep me entertained for a few days, most notably diving in the Similian Islands and kayaking up Coffs Creek. It’s a great little place to break up the journey from Sydney to the Gold Coast, and one which I may return to in the future. Unfortunately the unrepentant rainfall gave me little reason to hang around, so I left for Surfer’s Paradise

I got to Surfer’s, but made the daft mistake of not booking accommodation in advance. It was gone 11pm when the bus pulled in, and I’d been ringing around during the day in order to source out an available hostel, but found no reward for my efforts. Instead I figured I could rock up to one of the abundance of motels and book in there for a slightly more expensive night. Well that phrase “slightly more expensive night” was certainly not applicable to me! With the blaze of ‘No Vacancy’ neon plastered everywhere as holiday makers had arrived in their hoards, due to the lack of options for a break in Queensland (an area the size of France plus Germany was flooded), I was pretty much stuck. With my low level of effort, I only tried a couple of places without joy, before giving up and checking in to a slightly better class of hotel. At $230 for the night (about £140), I really did treat myself to one of the best rooms I’d ever stayed in, but at that price, I could only stay for one night. I’d managed to get a modest hostel for the 2nd night at $32, and so did little else other than drink in SP. To be fair, there wasn’t anything else to do. The rain was thrashing down constantly taking away the option of surfing from me. I left SP bound for Brisbane after that.

Was choosing Brisbane a good move? Errrmmm anyone watching the news recently will know it probably wasn’t. I stayed with my good friend Rob, from university days, and his wife Kay for a night and it was great to catch up and hear some really good news from him (Kay is expecting in May). We had some lunch in a pub attempting to be British-styled, but the really bad beers, quite typical of Australia, made sure it was a failed attempt. I spent the rest of the day having a look around Brisbane, as last time I was here, Rob took me camping in the Great Diving Range (that was a great weekend!) which left me no time to see the city itself.

For the next day, Kay dropped me off at Roma St Station and I caught my bus bound for the Australia Zoo, but given the weather, it was always going to be touch and go. We got there to find the staff ankle deep in flood water, and the zoo closed. We had to turn back to the city. This was annoying for me as I was supposed to get to Maroochydore and do some diving the next day, with hindsight it turned out to be a blessing; I would have been trapped! That said I was trapped! In the short time we’d got to the zoo and turned around, a creek we’d crossed over had risen and flooded the road. The Bruce Highway was also impossible to drive on, so with nowhere to go, we had to turn the engine off and sit and wait until low tide and the water going down. I went with a couple of girls from Blackburn to the nearest service station to get some food for the long wait ahead. When we got there, we saw the almost bare shelves being snatched at for the last packets of crisps. I got a few bits and joined the thirty minute long queue which circled the interior of the shop! Talk about panic buying, one girl even bought a packet of tampons; my guess said it wasn’t even that time, it was just in case we were sat there for a few days! That got a chuckle from the NW girls.

Well I got through it and now I’m back in Brisbane. Maroochydore was impossible to get to, and probably dangerous as well, so I booked a flight to Airlie instead where I can continue on my route and dive the Great Barrier Reef and shipwrecks all the way to Cairns. I didn’t want to worry or trouble Rob again with everything he had going on (Brisbane city was flooded and causing chaos with road closures, and building flooded, so I booked into a hostel where I could lounge by the pool and get pissed. There was quite literally nothing else to do. I did get a look at the city though, and the pub where I’d had lunch with Rob was now closed and barricaded by heaps of sandbags. The roads I’d walked were about a metre or so under water; and as for the river, well you couldn’t even see the walkway that I’d used just two days before. A boat floated by, unmanned and wrecked, and this was becoming a disturbingly common sight. I really got disheartened when pieces of houses started drifting by.

Brisbane is like a ghost town at the moment, without next to no traffic flow, and everything closed and boarded up. It’s so quiet, that even the people walking around are too depressed and anxious to speak. In fact the only sounds you really hear are the occasional siren from police cars, fire brigade trucks, and ambulances; failing that, the news team’s helicopters wisp by to report the devastation globally. I’ve found a great hostel to be in, but it’s a bad time to be here. Maybe I won’t stick up the accompanying photos this time.

Lastly, I’ve given to the relief appeal, and I would actively encourage others to donate too. Australian’s do come together very well to help their people, so please at least consider a donation of some note. At time of writing 15 are dead and 89 are missing, and it isn’t looking too favourable for those missing. It’s mainly from small towns where the people now have next to nothing left. I hate pestering, but this is my way of doing my little bit to the cause. Sorry if I sound like I’m preaching.

P.S. to Will and Meds if reading - I see Everton have crept above Liverpool, and little Kenny lost to Blackpool...... hmmm....... After Sunday, I think our little bit will favour me again *cheeky smile*

Bringing The Ashes Home

23/12/10 - 29/12/10

I arrived in Melbourne, slightly reluctant to leave Tasmania after my time there, especially after all the fun from the previous night, but that’s the way travelling goes. Sometimes you have a great time and want to stay amongst people and places, and sometimes it’s just time to move on. Fortunately for me I’d be meeting Robin (who I lived with in Manchester a short while ago) and RJ (a friend from several previous travels), so I wouldn‘t be without great company from the off. With the cricket due and the massive influx of Barmy Army followers, I knew I’d be in for a great time as well.

I used the time largely to catch up on some long overdue sleep after the West Coast and Tas adventures, but then Christmas quickly arrived, and so did the inevitable drinking. It never feels quite right being away from family, and with a distinct lack of decorations and holiday vibe, it feels more like any other summer day travelling than that particular special day. I can get over that though, and that’s why I’m here. I was actually looking more forward to Boxing Day and the fourth test than anything else. With the series tied, this would be the big one. I saw the England team training on Christmas Eve, and they looked in good shape. They were happy to acknowledge the fans, and looked ready for the coming days. It quickly became apparent that observation was a good one. Come Boxing Day we bowled them out for a poultry 98! In came Strauss and Cook and between the two, they bettered the score without loss. I was there for day two singing my head off with the Barmy and glugging down beer after beer as England smashed over a 400 first innings lead. We knew we’d got it in the bag by then.

Day 3 left little doubt as to who would be the victors, and Day 4 was more of a formality than anything else. England won by an innings and plenty of runs, and that was great to be amongst. I’d packed the St George’s cross with me, and wore it daily with a distinct, almost chavvy pride. Often stinking of ale and wobbling merrily around the Melbourne streets, it really had been a fabulous couple of days. It felt a darn sight more like I was in Manchester than anywhere else though. Obviously having Rob there was the main reason, but via a dose of serendipity in its finest form, both Skedge’s, Ash, and Gav - guys I used to play football with at Manchester University, were there too. It really did add that extra homeliness at the time of year when you probably are at your most pensive for being away.

I now leave for Sydney for New Year and the final test. All I want now is a series win, and I’ll be one very happy boy. Not in my lifetime have England won the Series on Australian soil, so please let this be the first. Hell, we deserve it!

Couple of acknowledgements this time:

Cheers RJ and family for looking after me for a couple of days - very much needed.

Gibbo - All the best and big congratulations from me; yes I’ll be back for your birthday, so see you in Feb. My round(s).

Andrew Strauss and co - nothing really needs to be said, but that was the reason why I came here! (I doubt that will ever be read by the appropriate people though ;-) )

“Everywhere we go. People ought to know. Who we are. Where we come from. Shall we tell them? Where we come from. We are the England. The mighty, mighty England. We are the army. The Barmy, Barmy Army.”