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Welcome to the 9 – 5

October 26, 2010 by Marianne

Well I’ve just had my six month anniversary at a full time job.

Well it had to happen some day right?

After the USA, university, teaching in Thailand, adventures in SE Asia and working in Australia’s Outback, here I am. Back in London, currently living a few streets down from where I was born. Talk about a full circle.

But (here comes the cheesy lines…) this is just another chapter of an adventure right? Thanks goodness I work for a travel company. I’d say I’m not done racking up the air miles just yet.

Posted in England, Great Britain, London | Leave a Comment »

Back to the Nest

October 24, 2010 by Marianne

After my first year of university in 2005, when I was 18, I went back to the parents house for a summer of enjoying myself, and working over time at the local BBQ restaurant. Since then, I was back for Thanksgivings, Christmas, and a few other random visits, but it stopped being my main ‘home.’ Until this summer happened. The problem with traveling for two years after graduation is that it gives you no chance to find yourself a solid home. Not being in the same country for more than a few months makes that pretty difficult… Surprise surprise.

So one thing came in handy – while I was off exploring the lands Down Under, my parents moved back to London to a flat with an extra bedroom. Success.

What has six months living back with mum and dad been like? Well, to be honest…not as bad as I thought it would be. Might be something to do with the fact that I still spend half the week staying elsewhere… But I give them their space, and I get my space so it works out right?

People always think heading back to the parents home as an adult is a bad thing, but hey – turns out it’s not so bad after all. For now.

Posted in England, Great Britain, London | 1 Comment »

My Australia in Review

August 25, 2010 by Marianne

After almost five months in Australia, having sneakily avoided winter, I’m settling back into London life. When I think about my most recent travel adventure, I suppose I was able to see quite a lot of Australia, but really, I didn’t see half of it. This is one big country. I passed through five of Australia’s eight states and territories, saw cities, the ocean and the outback and I left thousands of miles uncovered. But what I did see, I’ll never forget.

I loved wandering through Darling Harbour or taking the ferry to Manly Beach in Sydney, exploring the great cafés and night spots in Melbourne, and hitting some of the fantastic museums in Canberra.

In the Northern Territory, I got a taste of what I’ve always imagined to be ‘real’ Australia (not that the cities are any less real) in the Outback. I walked around Ayers Rock and ran under its waterfalls after the rain, trekked through the Valley of the Winds in Kata Tjuta, and hiked around the rim of Kings Canyon. I drove past herds of wild camels, slowly backed away from a Western Brown Snake (one of the deadliest in the world), and evicted various lethal spiders that had found their way indoors.

On the coast, I got to see some music legends at the Byron Bay Bluesfest before heading up to the Whitsundays for a spot of sailing among these beautiful islands. I walked across pure white sand on Whitehaven Beach, and went snorkeling around the most amazing reef I’ve ever seen. The Great Barrier Reef isn’t world famous for nothing after all.

And finally I got to explore the famous Fraser Island – the largest sand island in the world, with its stunning freshwater lakes and abundant dingo population.

My list of Australian memories could go on, but the list of things I still want to see is even longer. It is almost impossible to really convey how fantastically huge and diverse this country is. I’m glad I got to see what I did, and I can’t wait for my chance to see more. The plane ride has never been more worthwhile.

Posted in Australia, Ayers Rock, Byron Bay, Canberra, Festivals and Holidays, Fraser Island, Kings Canyon, Sydney, Tourist sites, Travel, Uluru, Whitsundays, Yulara | 1 Comment »

My Last Days Shower Free

August 23, 2010 by Marianne

So after I recovered from the shock of jumping out of the plane, I hit that annoying (for everyone else) stage where I could not stop talking about it. “I just jumped out of a plane! I can’t believe I just jumped out of a plane. Wow, that really just happened…” on and on it went. I did eventually get the hint, I promise, but not for a bit. You stop being aware of other people’s reactions to a thing like that after awhile…

I met up with the Fraser Island group (the ones that got stuck sorting out the 4×4s and doing the grocery shopping) and hopped into the back of our truck to head to the largest sand island in the world.

After navigating the bumpy (huge understatement) trails, and getting just a tiny bit lost, we found Lake Wabbe. Actually, we found a trail and a towering sand hill that promised to have a lake on the other side. I wasn’t so convinced. But we’d come all that way, so we started to trek up the sand. The steep, slippery, hot sand. When we finally made it to the top, it was totally worth the sweat. The view was fantastic, and luckily there was indeed a lake. Good thing because getting hot and sweaty after a shower free few days is not so nice… A family that had beat us there had boogie boards and the kids were surfing down the sand hill into the lake which made us all incredibly jealous. But we still all barrelled down and collapsed into the cool water. Definitely worth taking a boogie board if you’re going though.

By the way – don’t touch the catfish. They’ll swim around you and act all friendly, but according to our Australian friend, they were armed with poisonous barbs. No thanks. According to the same man, Lake Wabby also has crocodiles. Apparently they’re only baby crocodiles, but then my question is, where the mama? Just sayin…

Every day in Fraser Island was spent speeding down endless white beaches, finding fresh water lakes, champagne pools and breathtaking lookouts, then firing up the barbeques and camping out in dingo-safe circles. The dingoes still got in, but they didn’t cause us any trouble. No babies being eaten here. We saw rays, dolphins, dingos, and the most postcard perfect places I’ve seen in awhile. An island paradise if there ever was one.

Even though I left Fraser with a slightly bruised bum, camping on this stunning island was the best thing I could have done for my last few days in Australia. After this it was on to Sydney for one night before heading back to London town. Oh yea, and I showered once back on the mainland again. Best. Shower. Ever. Although my five days shower free were pretty unforgettable.

Posted in Australia, Fraser Island, Tourist sites | Leave a Comment »

Day Three of the Back to Nature Period

August 21, 2010 by Marianne

After my days on the Hammer, it was onto the bus for a 13-hour drive down Australia’s East Coast. After watching The Green Mile on the bus television, I did my best to get my dream on, but it’s not the easiest in a cramped upright seat. Oh well. Arriving at about 6 in the morning in Hervey Bay, I got picked up by the Palace Adventures hostel van and taken to check in. Two hours later I was sitting in the lounge room listening to the most painful government safety video. Ever. I was headed to Fraser Island that morning on a three-day camping trip to the largest sand island in the world. I tried my best to listen about dingoes, camping, cooking and driving on dunes, but if I’m honest, I was dozing off… Hey, what can I say, no sleep and a poorly shot film doesn’t help with the whole staying awake thing.

After that, me and all the other backpackers were split into groups to go into the 4×4s. Then we were told about our chores for the morning. Go to the garage. Pick up the 4×4s. Inspect them. Pack the camping gear. Go to the supermarket and plan our meals. Fun. Times… Or…….

After we got our safety lesson, a man came in and gave us another option. I was way too tired to know what was going on and getting out of the morning chores sounded good so I raised my hand…and volunteered to jump out of a plane. Ummm what?

I’d always wanted to go skydiving, but it’s an expensive adventure and I never felt like I could justify the cost. But on this particular morning, I had less than a week left in Australia, and no time to lose. So there I was sitting there with my hand up taking one of four spots to get into a plane and fly over one of the most beautiful scenes

I didn’t really have any time to think about any fears I might have, which is probably best anyway. I got into the tiniest tin can of a plane with my instructor and one other jumping couple. Then before I knew it, a door was opened, a massive gush of wind hit my face, and two people were falling out of the plane.

A voice in my ear was saying “right, okay, left leg over, right leg over, cross your arms, let’s go!” Thank GOODNESS I had no time to pause (the man tightly strapped to my back wasn’t exactly going to stop moving no matter what I did) otherwise who knows what would have happened. But what did happen. Was amazing.

That first second of panic quickly passed on to sheer joy and excitement. It was unreal, and hard to describe, but now I can say that I jumped out of a plane, AND I got to skip the morning chores. Success.

Next, it was off to Fraser Island for three days of camping and swimming in rivers. I was starting to get used to this whole not showering thing,..

Posted in Australia, Fraser Island, Tourist sites, Whitsundays | Leave a Comment »

Five days shower free: Days One and Two

August 19, 2010 by Marianne

Okay, it sounds gross. Five days, no shower, no soap. Definitely no sugar coating on this one – I was…dirty. Why, you ask, did I go five days without washing? One day, okay sure, two days starts to get a little if-fy. Five?

Let me explain. In those less-than-clean days, I went sailing on a professional racing yacht, traveled hundreds of miles on an overnight bus, jumped out of a plane, and slept on an island covered in dingos. Not much time for showering.

After landing at Proserpine Airport, I grabbed my bags and boarded the bus to Magnums Backpackers. On the way, for the one and only time while I was in Australia, I passed a group of wild kangaroos! It was early and I was tired, but wild kangaroos in Australia, it would seem, are harder to come by than you’d first expect so I was pretty happy. During my one night at Magnums I took what I already knew would be my last shower for days. I did my best to appreciate every drop of soap, promise.

The next morning started Day One of what we’ll call the Back to Nature Period. It began on a boat. A 75 foot Maxi boat to be precise, called Hammer, that competed in a lot of huge racing events including the famous Sydney to Hobart races. I packed on board with a group of like-minded backpackers ready to finally see part of the Great Barrier Reef in the Whitsundays.

Unfortunately it didn’t start off exactly as planned since the first day was spent cowering in the pouring rain cutting through the waves. Luckily the sky cleared up enough for us to check out Whitsunday Island though, and its amazing beach. The sand here is pristine. Apparently, it’s so pure (98% silica) it was used to make the lenses for the Hubble Space Telescope. Other than that use, it’s illegal to take the sand away from the beach as the whole area is protected. Pretty neat, huh? Oh yea, and I went swimming in the ocean, naturally, as my shower-substitute for the day.

Then it was more cold and more rain, but as backpackers do, we kept in good spirits. The good thing about rain is it makes for great sunsets. Our skipper hung a canopy over the boom to create a shelter and a group of us slept on deck since 20+ people cramped into a very small indoor space makes for one hot, uncomfortable night.

Day Two, it was time to don the snorkels and flippers (and all-in-one stinger suits) and check out why this Barrier Reef is such a big deal. It’s true that I wasn’t at the outer reef, but this place is pretty fantastic. I’ve never seen such huge coral formations, full of colour and ENORMOUS fish and clams! It was truly breathtaking. After stopping at a couple of different spots around the islands and swimming around as much as possible since, of course, this was my ’shower’ for the day, we raced another boat into harbour. And won. Oh yeah.

The Whitsundays were stunning, it was the perfect start to my Back to Nature days.

Next it was on to the overnight bus (after a bit of a deodorant application) and on to Hervey Bay where my morning plans were scuppered by a persuasive man with a parachute on his back…

Posted in Australia, Tourist sites, Whitsundays | 1 Comment »

Queen of the Canyon?

August 17, 2010 by Marianne

What do you do with three days off work when you’re living by Ayers Rock (Uluru, or just the Rock) in the middle of nowhere Australia? You drive four hours down a big long road and find Kings Canyon. Another fantastic natural feature of Australia’s middle, and only slightly closer to any kind of civilisation than my home by the Rock was.

My friend Gareth and I rented a car, and after a delayed start, found the road to Kings. Okay, it is the only road out of Yulara, so I guess it wasn’t that hard.

In two months living in the desert, I never got sick of it. It takes your breath away every time you get a real chance to see it – to see how truly vast this place is. Our first stop was Gareth suddenly pulling over on to the shoulder to see the herd of wild camels that were loitering by the side of the road. I always expected to see kangaroos around here and there are a few, but mostly we get camels by the dozen. They eventually ran off after I tried getting a little too close.

We eventually arrived and headed to the pub. Kings is a much smaller community than Yulara  and we quickly identified the staff table. Gareth found a friend who had transferred from the Rock to here, so after enjoying a few we headed off to bed a bit later than intended as we wanted an early start for our hike around the canyon.

We had good intentions, but nothing ever happens as planned, especially when it’s early in the morning, so we headed off around midday. We stopped by reception to get a map and guide, and all the staff insisted that we were starting too late; the sun was at its height by now of course and the climb was going to be too hard in the heat. Thing is, we were leaving the next day and gambling on the fact that we were going to be able to get up early again would have been pretty stupid considering our failure that day.

After thinking about it, we decided to go for it anyway and just load up on water. The hardest part about the Kings Canyon climb is the very beginning. Before you get anywhere, the first thing you have to do is get up to the top, since the walk starts in the valley. No easy staircase here – this was Heartbreak Hill. After being appalled at my own fitness level, we made it to the top eventually. The walk around the rim is stunning. Simply stunning. Unlike the Rock, Kings isn’t a sacred site for the Aboriginal tribes around here, so there’s no controversy connected with walking around. Climbing around the edge, and sitting on a ledge hundreds of feet above the ground – unreal. If I’m honest, while I love the Rock, the scenery you get on the Kings rim walk is far superior – it is NOT worth missing if you head to the middle. We checked out the domes, created naturally over years by erosion, and sat by the water in the Garden of Eden. I can’t emphasize enough how fantastic the hike was; we were definitely pleased to have decided to go for it. Especially the next morning…

We woke up the next day to rain. It rarely rains in the Outback (it is a desert…) but when it does, it really does. It poured. I was the lucky driver, so I had to navigate roads that were completely flooded since the ground here hardly absorbs anything. A small comfort was the fact that even if I hydro-planed off the road, there wasn’t exactly much in the way for me to hit. I didn’t though. I did have to drive off road around a herd of cows that didn’t feel like moving however.

We stopped at Curtin Springs on the way there and back – a huge cattle station with a tiny pub and guesthouse that owns another fantastic wonder – Mount Connor. The Rock has become famous because of its historical significance to the Aboriginal people, but the fact is that just about everything else around here is far more impressive, visually. The Olgas, Kings Canyon and Mount Connor are all a lot more fantastic. Sorry to disappoint if you all thought that Ayers Rock was the greatest thing around these parts. Not the case. Kings Canyon flooded that day and closed down.

Posted in Australia, Kings Canyon | Leave a Comment »

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