The End

Thats it.
Its now officially over.
126 days, 4 continents, 7 countries, 24 cities and a bucket full of memories.

I have had a whale of a time. This is the best trip that I have ever taken part in. When I first got that fateful news on the day that we all got made redundant from Best Buy I had no idea that almost a year later I would have had such a ball. Special mention must go to my Granddad who without him and his incredibly kind generosity this wouldn't have been made possible. He would have been so proud of me and would have also been incredibly jealous.

My final flight home was the best flight that I have had out of the 11 flights I took. The Airbus A380 is on hell of a great plane and to top it off I had the coolest pilot alive.

As I sit here typing this in true Welsh fashion the rain is lashing down on the conservatory making it hard to hear the radio in the background. Welcome home Tom.

I never realised quite fully what I would be letting myself in for when I boarded that plane to NYC in early April. As it turned out there was nothing to worry about. I wish that it was as easy to make good friends back in the UK. All you have to do is sit at the end of a bar or in a hostel and within a few minutes you are striking up a conversation about different cultures and experiences.

I thought that it would be kinda cool to give a few tips to anyone who is still travelling or has become inspired by my blog to explore the wide world out there.

1) Don't trust anyone. This may seem harsh but it is true.

2) Your passport is worth more than life itself. Always know where it is and what it has been up to. Treat it like a teenage daughter of yours, don't leave it with strange men!

3) Say yes. Too many people say no, if you say yes more then your life/travels will be 100% better.

4) Pack a towel. I wish I had read Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy before I had set off.

5) Read Hitchikers guide to the Galaxy before you set off.

6) Have a plan, but dont stick to it.

7) You WILL spend more money than you intend to.

8) If you have any tenuous links to any country other than England, fully exploit them. I was looked on far more favourably when I said I was Welsh than when I was English.

9) Don't get stuck. The whole point of traveling is to travel. Don't get bogged down in one place, however amazing it is. How do you know that the next place isn't any better if you have never been there.

10) Have fun. It is the best time of your life. You were born to live you life, so ruddy get out there and live it.

Just some small points, ignore them if you want. Your choice.

I want to say thanks. Thanks to everyone who I met in a bar and whiled away the evenings putting wrongs to rights. My view on the world has become so much richer because of you. From the bloke in the NYC bar to the guy in Rotorua. All of you have been amazing. Thank you to all the fellow travellers who gave me advice along the way. Thank you to the Australian women, your men just don't appreciate you enough. Finally thank you to YOU, the readers. You gave me the excuse to track my travels and keep a record as I went along. In total I have had just shy of 3,500 views. That is bloody impressive considering I am just a random guy from Wales/North Somerset/Croydon. I have had views from way more countries than I visited. Latvia, Sweden & Brazil to name a few. You have all been amazing by reading this. Who knows what the future will hold in store for 'Tom the blogger'.

The future for 'normal' Tom is in the form of a festival starting tomorrow. This carefree lifestyle is kinda hard to give up.

So long and thanks for all the fish.

Tom
x

Bite It

So, this is it. In 48 hours time I will be sat at home back in South Wales with just memories and bed bug bites to show for my travels. Let me sum up my final days in Cambodia.

After I last blogged I decided that I hadn't seen enough wildlife in the country and invited over 50 of Cambodians finest bed bugs for a sip or two of my finest O+ pumping throughout my body. It itched like hell but all part of the backpacker experience. This was down in Sihanoukville but it still didn't stop me from sunbathing and drinking. I headed up to Phnom Penh for my last 2 nights in Cambodia. I was flying out from there and it seemed the place where I had made the most friends. It is weird, I love Phnom Penh. I love the buzz about the city, I love the fact that it is always busy, I love the people. However after spending 2 weeks in Sihanoukville it didn't feel the same. Cant put my finger on it, just didn't. Needless to say I got rather tipsy on my last night and then flew to Singapore yesterday. I really am not that impressed with Singapore. Its just another big city, no real soul and massive buildings. I am flying out of here tomorrow back home.

T
x

One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer . . . . . .

. . . . . . in total costs me $1.75.

Good morning/afternoon/evening/that time when you get in drunk from the pub and bum around on the internet.

I am here in the seaside town of Sihanoukville. I decided that for the last 2 weeks of my travels that I just wanted to chill-out. Like properly chill. I have kinda had enough of sightseeing for the time being and it shows in the amount of photos that I have taken down here - pretty much none.

I don't really know the best way of describing this town. Its fairly small, but it is mental. So there is he beach front area (which I am glad that I am here in the 'low' season as I can imagine that it would get rammed in the Summer). Along the beach there are about 10-12 bars all selling ridiculasly cheap beers as well as all types of cuisine. As soon as you walk along the front you are accosted by so many small kids trying to sell you bracelets and small trinkets. Its all very well and good, but they are bloody annoying. There are signs all around the hostel that I am staying in saying that you shouldn't buy stuff off the kids because it will keep them on the streets. I am not buying stuff off the kids because I don't want to. I have lost count of the amount of time that I have been offered some 'ray-ban' sunglasses, whilst it was raining. That's another thing. The weather here is pretty poo. We get at least on major downpour a day. Last night the town lost power for 5 min.

My school days always taught me that you should 'just say no to drugs', and I have been, many times. I just must have the face for it because every tuk-tuk driver and his scabby street dog want to sell me some 'good weed'. When I inform them that I don't do that, I am then offered Ketamine, MDA, Coke, Ectasy etc etc. - Because obviously, I don't touch the weed but yea, if you have got some crystal meth going I will jump right on board (Disclaimer - I have never touch crystal meth!).

Now it does seem that I am moaning about my time here and that I ain't having a good time - WRONG. I do love this place, I do think though that if I was here longer that 2 weeks it would probably break me. I don't party too hard but I like to have a good time. This place will destroy even the most hardened clubbers. There is one bar called Eutopia. Its the nearest thing to a club that they have in the town. It has a 'pole' (for dancing) that has flames coming out of the top. It has a swimming pool and a jacuzzi that has more than once been frequented by the drunks. It is totally 'off the rails'. Then when you have had enough of the 50c tequila shots on offer the casino is always waiting for you. Where you can have unlimited free beer, cigarettes and food as long as you are playing at a table. Contary to popular belief I have been to the casino 3 times since I have been here and always broke even (technically I won because I drank, smoked and ate all of $5 worth of stuff - who's the looser now!).

I tend to wander down to the beach and chill out at a bar down there during the day. I have recently got into drawing. Not to sell loads of drawings or because I am any good at it but because it relaxed the heck out of me.

T
x

Don't Fear The (Siem) Reap - er.

So,

Another day another blog. How are you all? Giddy at the thought of a new blog? Or pissed off with the Olympics already?

Health and safety would have a field day with the steepness
of these stairs. That is if health and safety existed in
Cambodia.

I am back in Phnom Penh after a little excursion up to Siem Reap. I caught a sleeper bus for the 6 hour ride with a freind who I met whilst in Phnom Penh. We arrived into the Mad Monkey Hostel in Siem Reap. It was okay, not much to write home (or on a blog about) really. The second day that we were there we headed for the Temples. This was the main reason for the trip 'up north'. It was amazing. It was just like you see in the movies (especially tomb raider as it was filmed there!). We went to Ankor Wat which is the biggest temple. Apparently it is the largest religious building in the world. Weather that is just tourist talk or not I don't really know/care. All I know is that it was ruddy impressive. After 'doing' Ankor Wat we went to Ankor Thom. I thought that it was really nice of them to name a temple in my honour (even though it was spelt with a 'H' but this was the 12th century, so I will let them off). For me this was the better temple, bigger isn't always better. The reason that it was better is that the 'statues' (I know that is not the proper name but I am a little hungover so forgive me) were a lot more impressive. You can see from the pictures that I have uploaded that it just seems a little more 'temple' like.

Make all the jokes you want about me
looking in the mirror - this place rocked.

So that was cool. We headed home on what was probably the best coach that I have ever travelled on. The leg room was large enough to accomidate a character from the book jack and the beanstalk (and I ain't talking about Jack!). There was free wi-fi, A/C (or for my dad - air conditioning - he hates me shortening words) and a 22" flat screen TV with a hard drive showing movies for the whole 6 hours journey. Perfect I hear you cry! What could possibily go wrong, well it would appear that the person who was chosing the films for the trip was a 6 year old girl from the USA. I never saw this elusive child but I know that she was there as we had to endure 6 hours of Hannah Montanna, The Princess Diarys and other such classics. I have never been more thankful for my iPod and Frank Turner.

Since being back in Phnom Penh I have been doing what this city does best, making friends and drinking. I became friends with a American guy who was on 'vacation' over here. Properly nice chap and it was his last night last night and it wasn't untill halfway through the night that I discovered that he was a serving member of the US Air Force and was only on shore leave. It was such a shock because he just didn't fit the 'type'. Still, just goes to show that appearances can quite often be decieving.

Arty shot for the ladies.

I have discovered that there is a pool quite close to the hostel where we are staying and it only costs $5 to go there and you get a free cocktail. This pool is in a really swanky hotel and is the perfect way to chill out during the day. I am heading off to sit in the sun and drink cosmopolitans for the rest of the day.

I am coming into my last 2 weeks of travelling now and I head down to the south coast tomorrow. Another 6 our bus ride awaits me. Apparantly it is really quite cheap down there at the moment. Will be cool to just go and chill out even more on the beaches. One of the girls that I have been chatting to in the hostel is also coming down to meet up with me in my second week there so it would be good to have a bit of company.

Until our paths cross again.

T
x

Strange Things Happen

Hello there!!!

Ain't you just being spoilt. It is indeed another blog all the way from Cambodia. Why so soon I hear you cry? Well these past 3 days I have had so many interesting things happen so I thought I would tell all my little bleeders about it!

After I last blogged I ended up heading out to the 'Love Bar' in the evening. The Love bar is the bar that is owned by the owners of the hostel that I am staying in and as such it is pretty much the go-to place after the bar here shuts. It was a ok crowd in there. Lots of very good looking women (westerners this time who didn't want to take my money) and I worked my magic on all of none of them (I don't know why but my 'road sign' chat up line just isn't cutting the mustard here).

At about 1am it was decided (not by me) that some dancing was on the cards and I was informed that the Pontoon night club was the place to go. The Pontoon, the place that makes Soho look like Emmerdale. I was in two minds weather I should go or not but the call of beautiful women convinced me that I might have a chance with some (and apparently snow was forcasted at Lucifer's house!).

We walked in and it was worse than last time. I didn't think tat was possible either but it was. There was a drag act on the stage who was miming quite well. The issue she/he had was that she was miming in Cambodia, the backing track was in English. I gave her her dues though and stayed for a bit longer. The next 'act' (I use that in a very loose term) was Cambodias answer to Diversity. It was very refreshing to see that the band didn't discriminate at all when they put the 3 guy dancers together. They didn't discriminate on any factors, the major one being ability. I felt a little bad for them, they quite obviously needed the work out as they were on the 'rotund' side! This was the crap dance act the broke the camels back. I had enough and no amount of good looking women could keep me here.

This is where the evening got weird. On my way out I caught the end of two English guys conversation. This is what I heard ' . . . . . . . . yea, I couldn't believe it, it looked just like the ex Chelsea manager'. For any of you readers who frequent the night-life in your respected countries I am sure that you have heard many conversations, and many strange ones. But personally I have never heard anything like that. I didn't hang around to listen further as Cambodian Diveristy were just about to break out a Michael Jackson song and I got the feeling Bubbles might be involved. I walked through the entrance corridor and past the VIP room. The VIP room had glass doors and as I looked in (don't ask me why) looking back at me was the one and only Avram Grant! Yes, there sat on a barstool, surrounded by two of the biggest bodyguard I have seen was the only manager in Premiership history to be relegated with two different clubs. Now some people could say (and they have) that it was just a look-a-like, or that I am making this whole story up. Firstly, all the signs pointed to it being him, including the fact that there was shed-loads of blacked out Lexus parkes out the front. Oh, and the small fact that IT LOOKED 100% LIKE HIM! Secondly, IF I was making this up, Avram Grant, really? I would have picked a far sexier celebrity than him. I have done a little research and it would appear that Mr. Grant was 'accused' of having some fun with some Thai ladies a few years ago. I rest my case!

I then was laid up in bed for the next few days. It would seem that my fragile stomach decided to punch me internally from the inside at random points. This was probably because I had subjected it to all different foods since I have been here and he wasn't happy about it. My lower intestines decided also to join the 'lets mess with Tom's body party' and as such my 'stools' weren't the norm.

Before I continue with this blog I will just warn you that I feel that I need to get a little graphic from now. If you are eating your soggy wheat-a-bix you may want to continue reading later.

I havn't mentioned the toilet procedure since I have been here. Mainly because I forgot last blog. Basically the sewer system over here is not what we westerners are used to. You can't flush paper down the loo. Instead of the usual '1 up, 1 down and 1 to polish' routine that we have all been brought up with in every bathroom is a 'bum gun'. After you have done what you need to do, you then need to spray a high powered hose around the affected 'area'. After this you then used a small amount of paper to 'polish' and pop it in a little bin next to the loo. Now, this seems like a pretty shit (sorry, had to 'drop one' in this paragraph) way of doing things, but it was explained to me by one local like this. 'If you get poo on your face, would you wipe it off or wash it off?' Again, case closed. - and it feels pretty good aswell!

I went to the Killing fields and the S-21 prison yesterday. I will never do it any justice by writing about it on here. If you want to hear about it, ask me when I am back. If you are just a reader of this blog and you don't know me in the 'real world' - It was harrowing.

Heading the Siem Reip tomorrow to see some temples and stuff!

Adios

T
x

I need a Dollar

Goooooooood Morning Cambodia! (doesn't really have the same ring to it really!)

Yes, Yes I know. Its been too long. Sorry for not keeping you all informed sooner.

Anyway. Its here now so stop your moaning.

So I arrived in Singapore at just gone midnight and after getting through customs & immigration (which I was reliably informed on more than one occasion the drug traffickers WOULD BE KILLED!) and walked out the front of the terminal too be met by a friend that I hadn't met for over 2 months - HEAT! It was SO hot and SO humid. A whole world (well a 7 hour flight) away from what I left behind in Oz & NZ. I checked into my hostel and got my head down. The next day I decided to go exploring. There isn't too much to see in Singapore and so I went for a long walk around the main harbour. I ended up in quite possibly the poshest shopping mall in the world. Every 'big' name from fashion and jewellery was there. This is how big the mall was - it had a man-made canal running through it! In the evening I ventured into Chinatown and had crocodile. It was a bit like chicken and pork mixed together, very nice. I headed out in the evening and after a lot of tasting decided the the Singaporeans cant make a decent Vodka Martini.

The next day it was time to say goodbye to Singapore and hello Cambodia!!! As soon as the plane was skirting around the runway on final approach I realised that this is going to be unlike anywhere that I have ever been to before. It was a little bit scary first arriving as I had to get my visa on entry, this meant that my first experience of Cambodians was immigration officials that never smiled asking for dollars out of me!

This was all to change as I managed to get my visa and headed into the city to my accommodation. I am staying in a place close to the city center call the Mad Monkey. Never has a hostel name represented the place so perfectly. It is indeed mad here. Beer costs $1.25. That's 79p. I have been out pretty much every night since I have got here (except last night, I had to be a woman and have a quite one). One night we went to a Cambodian nightclub. Made Weston Super Mare look like Hollywood. I couldn't believe my eyes when we walked in. So many beautiful women, so little time. Drinks first though and so we went to the bar. As I was waiting for my beer (it was $1.50 here, bloody clubs inflating prices eh???) I felt a pinch on the back of my arm, now this isn't the usual avenue that gets my attention but I turned around never-less. She was stunning, and it appeared that she wanted to talk to me, to ME. At this point Lee (one of the ex-pats that works here, proper legend!) informed me that she was interested in me, but she was probably more interested in my wallet! Every good looking woman in that place was a 'lady of the night'. I got my beer and swifty moved away. I still danced my tit's off - which might explain why no more ladies wanted to talk to me! Say what you want about me, but if there is one thing I can do well, that is dance so bad that even call girls keep their distance.

I do really love Cambodia and I haven't even seen the best bits yet apparently. I am heading to the killing fields tomorrow (not saying for one second that the killing fields is a 'best bit' of Cambodia) and then up to Siem Reap to see some temples and 'stuff'. This is such a great country and the people are so friendly here. I am off to explore the 'Russian' market now.

Mamma Mia!

Ahh, the warm Aussie welcome.

Dearest Bleeders

I caught the coach up to Batemans Bay to see my cousin and her family on friday night. As I was waiting in the coach terminal there was a 'intresting' member of the human race waiting to catch the same coach as me. I prayed to god (and I am an athiest!!!) that he wouldn't get on the same coach as me, sure enough he did. This person obviously had a few issues, namely in the mental department, but, as I have learnt to be more tolerable whilst travelling I gave him his dues and didn't make any sort of judgement on him. This was to change, very quickly. I sat down on the coach and sat behind me were a couple who were obviously fellow travellers, they had all the trademarks - scruffy hair, unironed clothes, a hint of unwashed underware, just like me basically. So I got chatting with them. The guy was from the Isle of Man and his girlfriend was from Yorkshire. We exchanged stories and best places to visit when I heard shouted from the back of the coach (where this mental guy was sitting) 'will you just shut the f**k up you pommie git'. Nice!

Anyway the coach got underway and he wouldn't shut up. Abusing anyone and everyone. According to him . . . . Anyone who lives in Melbourne is a rat, Pomm's should f**k off to where we came from, Abo's should be locked up and the keys should be thrown away and he took on 4 'darkys' on the train to Melbourne.

Batemans Bay - Bloody Beautiful!

What really happened . . . . Melbournites are some of the friendliest people I have met, I am f**king off back to my own country in less than 2 months, Traditionally its the 'whites' who are the convicts in this country and I really hoped the the 4 guys on the train up to Melbourne gave him a bloody good pasting.

An advert for Australian tourism he wasn't. He is quite possibly the most disgusting, poor excuse for a human being I have ever had the displeasure to meet.

I got into Batemans Bay at 05:45 in the morning and my cousin was there to meet me. We went to a little bay just around the corner from her and watched the sun come up whilst catching up. After that we went back to her house and her two daughters were just waking up. Then the madness hit! Jana and Maya (the kids) are such good fun to be around. They are a real credit to Kate and Ric. We spent the day chilling out, going out for food and telling really poor jokes to each other - my experiance as a kids entertainer came in handy! On sunday I went to watch Ric play football. His team are undefeated so far in the league and sure enough they won 4-1. Maybe my curse on live sport was only restricted to the States.

Anna & Emilio's home - typical Italian styling,
well he did build it himself!

I caught the 10:15 coach up to Sydney on monday and Ric very kindly said that I could stay with his parents whilst I was in Sydney. They live about a 20 min train ride outside from the city so perfect for me, free food and accomidation. Ric's parents are both Italian and they emmigrated over to Australia 50 years ago. I feel like I have been to Italy as well now after spending just 1 night with them. It was amazing. We settled down to dinner and loads of family members came round (both houses next door are also owned by members of the family). Ric's mum (Anna) would not let me have a empty plate. I finished my excellent pasta and sauce when before I knew it it was full again - and I still had the main course to go! Ric's dad (Emilio) offered me some home-made brew. It is a spirit made out of grapes, I have seen them drink it in the Sopranos so blatently I said yes. He showed me his garden and his pizza room out the back. Other family members were hanging home-made salami. It is amazing staying with them. They are so so freindly and hospitalble. I am staying in a YHA tonight, just so I can go for a few drinks in Sydney and then head to the airport tomorrow morning.

Yesterday I went into the city and I have seen the Harbour Bridge and the Opera house, all the touristy things really. I went for a long stroll through the botanical gardens. They were really impressive. Such a little haven amongst the metropolis. Sydney is a cool city, not as good as Melbourne but what is making this part of my trip so very special is 'little Italy'.

Busking, Sydney style!

Today I said my farewells to Anna and Emilio and headed to my hostel, which its where I am now writing this. I will try to get some washing done later in preparation for all that South East Asia has to throw at me. I also need to pop back into the city at some point and stock up on souvenirs.


So, since this is going to be my last post from the land down under I better do what I have done for every other country and summarise. Australia is a strange, strange beast of a country. It is on extreme to another. I have met some of the most friendliest people so far here (except the Fijians, those guys are in a class of their own) but I have also heard some of the worse abuse of my life here. Now you could just say that it is one individual that caused that, and you would be right. However there is a certain feeling about Australia that I can't quite put my finger on, its not a malicious feeling but it isn't the warm, friendly, welcoming feeling that I got from New Zealand. I just feel as if the Aussie are pissed off with all the Brit's backpacking here. Well anyway I am outta here in less that 24 hours time. I probably will return. I would love to come back and stay longer with my cousin and her family and obviously I have to see the Ashes at the MCG, then I definitely would face the wrath of the Australian 'welcome'.

The 'money' shot!

I leave you with this though. . . . . . In a country that was predominantly founded by the immigrants of other country's it is with a huge amount of irony that I look back and realise that I found the Italians the most hospitable (and my cousin, who is English!).

Until we meet again,

T
x

Especially For You

What a stadium!

Good bye Melbourne and thanks for having me!

After 8 days in this amazing city it is time for me to head on, after all how pointless would travelling be if I never travelled. I am catching a 12 hour overnight coach ride up to see my cousin and her family in Batemans Bay, south of Sydney.

Melbourne is a bloody wicked city, there is so much to do here, yet it is SO expensive. It is by far the most expensive city that I have been to on my travels yet. The budget (like England vs Norway in 1981) has taken one HELL of a beating.

Having said all of that I have had such a good time. Melbourne is the first place (apart from Texas - but that is taken as read) that I will definitely be back during my life time. The reason for this is that my life will never be complete until I see England play Australia in the Ashes at the MCG.

The 'long room' at the MCG. They admit they copied the
idea from Lords!

So why do I love the MCG so much? Well I 'did' the MCG tour and visited the national museum of sport. Excellent! The MCG tour was really good as it focused a lot on cricket. I got a chance to walk on the hallowed turf of the MCG, saw where the players sit when a game is on, saw where the Aussies cry in the changing rooms when they have lost the Ashes and looked around a lot of the 'members only' areas of the ground. We were shown around by one of the members of the MCG. Was really informative. I also visited the National Museum of Sport as part of my ticket price. That too, was great. They had a really big section on the Olympics as well as a the Cricket hall of fame. I saw loads there too, but they didn't allow photography which was a little bit of a shame. Still I got to see Don Bradmans green baggy hat (if you know about cricket, you know that this is a pretty cool thing to see).

Staged photo? Don't be silly.

One of my days here I walked down to the river-front and to the exhibition center. There was a 'games-master' computer games show on. Naturally I had to go in to have a look around as it was advertised as having over 150+ playable games - my kind of show! What a joke! It is the school holidays here an as such all there were was kids running around playing on games and not appreciating them. I know I sound like a old man, but until a kid can tell my who the best character was to use on multi-player Goldeneye then you have no right to annoy me at a computer games show. Which conveniently brings me on to my next subject. I don't know who decided what should and should not be included in the show but they obviously had lost their presence of mind when given that job. It is commonly regarded that Goldeneye on the N64 changed the face of modern gaming and specifically the multi-player aspect of gaming - SO WHY WAS IT NOT ON DISPLAY AT THE SHOW! There was no Doom, no Quake - it was a joke. Too expensive and piss poor games. I did watch a documentary on Monkey Island and Sim City, so wasn't a whole day wasted!

Yes she is short, Yes she is a minor celebrity
but she defo wanted me!

From one geeky thing to another (although even most geeks might consider what I did next sad). I went on the official Neighbours tour. It was a lot of fun actually. The tour guide was a crazy Irish-man who really didn't take the show seriously (how can you really?). We were told that as we entered the fictional Melbourne suburb of Erinsborough that we didn't have to worry. Because if the coach crashes then only one of us would be in intensive care - and that would only be for two weeks. Nothing ever bad really happens in Erinsborough. As it was school holidays we went on the sets as well, which was a added bonus - finally the school holidays work in my favour over here. I met the actress who played Libby Kennedy. She was shorter than I remember when I used to watch it. It was obvious that she is just living on the fame of her part in the soap, but hey, good luck to her. She told a few stories that she had probably told millions of times before and then went on her merry way. I was the only guy there that hadn't been dragged along by a wife/girlfriend but it meant that I had a lot of eye candy to stare at for the day. Fun Filled Fact for you all . . . . . Erinsborough is a anagram of Or Neighbours, you learn something new everyday!

That's my Melbourne adventure over. It has been a blast, I loved Aussie rules football, was amazed by the MCG, met a (minor) celebrity, Spent a shed-load of money and realised that Aussies don't know the first thing about computer games.

Off to chill out at Batemans Bay now, until our paths cross again.

T
x

Jean Genie

Howdy  All!

The Australian crest of arms. I was chatting to one Aussie
who said that they are the only nation who eats both of
their national animals!

So, I dropped off 'Scully' the spaceship and headed off to Auckland airport to catch my flight to the land of Oz. I arrived in the usual unesescarry early time (its a habit, there is no way I am missing any of my flights) and thought I would have a good ol' browse of what the retail had to offer. As I was in one shop I saw a magazine on a low shelf that I quite like the look of (unusual for me, usually its the top shelf - that a whole different story thou) and so I squatted down to take a look (it was the type of squat where you bend the knees and spread the legs apart). Now when I have adopted this type of 'squat' before it has never caused me any concern and because of this it has become my favourite way of reaching lower shelf items, that would change thou. This time when I adopted the much loved lower shelf squat I failed to account for the 18kg back pack that I was strapped into. This added weight and the fact that I was travelling in my favourite (and only) pair of jeans made the kind of sound that you really dont want to hear just before 5 hours of flying. Yes dearest bleeders, I managed to rip my jeans. From jewls to my derrier, the kind of hole that come with 463 pages of health and saftey warnings. Needless to say I then sat for the rest of the flights with my legs crossed. I tell you what it was a good job that I hadn't just been travelling in a campervan for 17 days and wasn't down to my last pair of underware  that had already lasted for 3 days, oh, wait . . . . . . . . . . . . .

AMAZING stadium!

So after doing much needed washing I settled into my hostel in Melbourne. It is a pretty standard YHA hostel. Excellent views of the city from the 'roof' deck and about a 2km walk into the city center. I went out on my first day to discover what Melbourne had to offer and to buy some new jeans. I found out that there was a AFL game on at the MCG (god I hate these TLA's). The two teams that were playing were from Melbourne and after chatting to one of the guys at the hostel it seemed that it would be a good game to go and watch so I headed over to the MCG for the game. What an amazing stadium. Best way to describe it is kinda like the 'Nou Camp' of Cricket. After going there it has kinda lit a little fire inside of me that I would LOVE to watch an Ashes game here. Back to the Aussie rules football thou, that game is unlike any game I have ever seen in my life. There are only a few basic rules, and nothing else.

Love this sky! This was about 3 hours before 'the bounce'

1) You cant throw the ball
2) You have to kick it through post to score points
3) Once you have caught it (from another kick) you can call a 'mark' where you cant be tackled but have to kick it away.
4) If you decided to run with it then you have to bounce it every 15 meters.
THATS IT, seriously. I saw more punches thrown then at a David Haye fight (thats not saying much really). I got chatting to a elderly couple next to me and they helped me understand it at first, but by the end I knew exactly what was going on. I asked them 'do you have yellow/red cards in the game' to which they replied 'no, not at all'. Couldn't believe it! Was a really REALLY good experiance. The blokes that were playing were proper fit athleates as well. Was a joy to watch and what is more there were over 75,000 people there. My new team won - Hawthorn Hawks. I chose them because they play in chocolate and yellow stripes, the same colours as my beloved Sutton United. It was ment to be.

Hawks celebrating!

So with a fuzzy head (you have to drink at a aussie rules game - watch Australian, Think Australian, Drink Australian!) I woke up on Saturday and headed back into the city with no real plans, I ended up going to the Melbourne Museum, It was really good actually. There were a lot to see there and it was reasonably cheap. Took me about 4-5 hours to walk round it, so pretty goo value for money.

Look mother and father - I am not priceless, I am
 worth over 5mill Aus$. Well my weight in gold is!

Today is just spent planning the next stages of my tour. I am thinking that I will catch a overnight coach to Batemans Bay to see my other cousin and her family. So I might be in Melbourne untill Friday, but going on my past experiance of the last few days, that wont be a bad thing inthe slightest!

T
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Green Green Grass of Home

So here we go. Another farewell blog. It is my last night in New Zealand, however due to the internet connection that has the speed of a snail crawling over broken glass I will probably not be uploading this untill I reach Oz. I am writing it on my last night and thats what counts!

Very mixed feelings about leaving New Zealand if I am being honest. I experainced probably my lowest time yet on my travels over here but I have also seen some amazing sights that I know I will never see again (well until I look through my photos - but you get the Idea).

I am back in the city that I started my NZ adventure in - Auckland. I am flying out of here in the morning and I arrived from Christchurch this afternoon. I am staying in a hotel for the night as there isn't much point making the 50km round trip into the city center for just one night. Anyway, the city center wasn't anything special at all!

The middle of the North Island is pretty much no-descript. Its okay, bit hilly and a lot like Wales in a certain aspect. Another thing that I have to mention is that the people here are so SO friendly. Not met anyone yet who wasn't - still one more night to go though, so who knows.

Wellington was immense fun, was amazing to hang out with my cousin as 'grow-ups'. She moved over here when I was just 16 and as such I have never been for a drink with her. It was really good to stay with a 'native' in Welly a I am so greatful to her for letting me into her life for the week that I was there.

The south Island is definatly the best part of New Zealand and the west coast part of the Island is nothing less than amazing. I know I keep banging on about the sights, but its true, sorry! I defintaly chose the best tactic to rent the 'Spaceship' for the travels as it ment that I could just pull over at the side of the road at anytime and snap away. I also got some 'sick' footage with my video camera, I became a dab hand at holding the camera and driving at the same time. Oh the joys of automatic gearboxes!

I will make a special mention to Christchurch. On my last day in the 'South' I decided to pop into the city center and have a walk around. I couldn't believe the devestation that the Earthquakes caused (yes I didnt realise there were two either). It was really sad to see, and really just turned the whole day kinda sombre. I couldn't believe that the WHOLE of the city center was still a no-go zone. Just for a second imagine if the center of your town/city where you lived was just fucked up over night. For many of us, we don't appreiciate where we live enough. Now I am not preaching for you to go out and hug your local post office, but just take a moment to think. All credit to the residents of Christchurch however. They have just got on with it, as most Kiwi's tend to do. They have built a new center to the city - out of shipping containers, just remarkable.

So, New Zealand, some bad - most good! It is a shame to say goodbye to this beautiful little nation often overshadowed by its noisey neighbours (Wales again!), but I think that I have spent just enough time here.

I head to Australia with mixed feeling as what to expect. Quite a few people here say that NZ is better - they would. I am looking forward to hotter weather and my track record so far has been 'promising' with Aussie women!

Bring on the MCG, Ramsey Street, Kangaroos and Chlyamidia Infected Koala Bears!

T
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