Sydney and Beyond

Well the last two weeks have been a blur. I rented a campervan and left the storms and cold of Sydney and have ended up in Alice Springs. Todays temperature is 25C and haven’t seen a single cloud for the last three days.

I have actually had two campervans up to now and have travelled across 4 states covering 4800km. The second campervan has been a brand new Toyota with DVD, fridge, microwave and cooker.

Even better though is that it is free with the company paying us to relocate it from Adelaide to Alice Springs.

I pick up another relocation on Thursday to go to Darwin.

There have been many highlights over the last two weeks but the ones that stand out the most are

Snowboarding in the Snowy Mountains
Watching Aussie Rules at the MCG
Climbing Ayres Rock
Ayres Rock at Sunset
Featherdale Wildlife ParkI
nstitute of Sport at Canberra
Driving along the Great Ocean Road
Having my first shower in days at Adelaide Aquatic Centre

Once I get to Darwin then I will fly to Cairns and then across to Fiji before travelling down the East Coast

Having arrived in Darwin it is hard to get out of as there are no rail networks, the planes are full as itis the end of the school holidays and the campers have been booked up - i am stuck!

See you all soon

Andy

G day Sydney


Well here I am at last on the other side of the world - Sydney- and it is pissing it down. What did I expect. It is the middle of winter. Well I have got my priorities right - found a football team to play for, found the pub and now I have to find somewhere to live and work.

As you can expect, Sydeny is an awsome city land the sights are amazing. they do really take your breath away. At the moment I am staying in the Wake Up Hostel, a 500 bed hostel with its
own night club - not quite Fridays.

Am trying to find accommodation in Manly at the
moment which is the more affluent part of time,
a mere 20 minutes away on the ferry but rent is
fairly ok split between a few of us..


Off to watch Sydney play in the AFL at Telstra stadium tomorrow and on Monday am making my debut for North Shore Sydney. Can you believe Monday is a day off for the Queen's birthday!

Anyway see you soon


Andy

Koh Tao and Koh Phangan

Koh Tao is 55km from the Thai mainland and is a two hour ferry journey from Samui. It is a very laid back, chilled out island dealing mainly with divers. All resorts offer free accommodation with a dive package. I chose the Open Water PADI certificate that allows any qualifying diver to dive up to 18m anywhere in the world.

The course had both a theory element - three hours in the classroom and a written exam and 5 dives where we had to go through numerous skills. The haredest was probably sitting on the ocean floor, 12m down, taking off my mask, swimming off and returning to put the mask back on and clearing it of water! Although I passed and I am sure I will use my license when I get to the Great Barrier Reef, I dont think water sports are for me - there is too much preparation and safety checks and not enough doing!

From Koh Tao I moved onto Koh Phangan, home of the infamous full moon party. Even upto to the full moon party the area of Haad Rin was buzzing and during the day a local hotel organised a 3 day beach soccer tournament. Our team was thrown together at the last minute and comprised of several Brits, Yanks and Norwegians. looking at some of the opposition - a team from Israel, one from Chile and the reigning champions from Thailand, we didn't think we had much chance but after a quick team talk which some of you who know me probably will not be surprised to hear it went along the lines of "Two at the back, two up front. Look at the pitch. You can't play football on that. Just launch the ball up front and if we get a throw in I will just throw it as hard as I can at the goals!"

Well 3 days later we had kicked the Israelis off the park, bundled in a few throw-ins, outskilled the Chileans (you would have been proud of my goal JC) got to the semis and missed a hat-full of chances against the worst team we had played to date. We eventually lost out to a dubious golden goal penalty. But we made up for it by beating the Thai holders in the 3/4 play-off to win 100oB and spent it quickly on buckets of samsong and sprite. Thanks to the lads who made those three days such a good time and thanks for their graft in such hot conditions. Come on the Wankers!

Bye Bye Samui

Well Samui has turned out to be the most

boring place on this planet - sunbathing all day and thats if the sun decides to appear. The travel guides have a lot to answer for sayingthat this is a good time to visit. So spur of the moment, I booked a ticket and flew to......Hong Kong!

And what a place. The city is amazing with an energy you would not believe and such breath taking scenery.

Staying in the YMCA on Nathan Road, bible in hand, I found this to be the ideal place to stay. Excellent room, half the price of other equivalent hotels - probably 3/4 star if staying in UK - and next to the MTR. The octopus card is a weekly ticket that gets you around in minutes.


The highlights must have been the view from the Peak, the Peak Tram to the summit, the view from the Star Ferry from Kowloon (mainland China) to Hong Kong Island, the cafes and bars of SoHo, the Mid Level escalators to save your legs walking up hill and the shopping which I couldnt afford. And this was just a 150 quid return ticket from Samui on Finnair. Finnair?


Anyway, back in Samui now after sleeping on the floor in Bangkok airport waiting for my 6am flight. Off to Koh Tao tomorrow for a week of diving then Oz begining of June. Keep you all posted.


See you all soon


Andy

Thailand

Just a quick one to tell you that I have arrived in Ko Samui after a flight from Singapore to bangkok with Cathay Pacific (very nice 777) then a turboprop down to Samui.

Chaweng is a strange place. The beach is gorgeous with perfect sand, it is clean and a reef 100m out breaks up the wash and creates a perfectly calm laggon. But inthe evening, it resembles Benidorm with prostitution on full view. A bit seedy. I am going to rent a jeep for a few days and travel around the island stopping at different hotels as I travel. I far prefer India but the massages are very good!

The hotel is basic but clean. The rooms are bit on the small side. There are mosquitos everywhere, not just in the hotels. I was never bit this much in India.

The area is suffering from a tropical depression at the moment. The sun is few and far between but when it does appear you burn very quickly. I was on the edge of burning today. I have red and white blotches cos i cant reach all of my back with my cream.

The hotel is Als Huts Moo2 Chaweng Ko Samui. You can find it on the web if you are interested and jealous.

The internet cafe I am using can download from my camera so I will post pictures soon.

China Town and All That

Why is it that all major cities around the world have a China Town, a Little India, an Arab Quarter or any other ethnic enclave that springs to mind. I am sure that the ex pat British populations in all these cities are equally numerous but they don't feel the need to establish a "Little Britain". Saying that, I believe that such a campaign is currently underway in New York.

Anyway, China Town was an interesting diversion with the hawker centre selling the most amazing food - anyone for BBQ pig's hooves whilst above all the hustle and bustle you could clearly hear the obligatory call from the local vendors "You come see my shop. Best price. Asda price.

The Arab Quarter, just behind Raffles, was much more sedate and dignified but why do I want to by a genuine Persian rug when I haven't even got a house - I suppose I could put it into storage.

Raffles was a bit disappointing as it is now dwarfed by the surrounding office blocks and Raffles shopping complex. You will have to do with a downloaded photo from the Internet at the moment as these computers don't allow usb connection to my camera

Zoological Gardens

Well, Day Three turned out to be very expensive and there goes a month's budget. If you are reading this Phil, at 8 quid a pint you are going to have to sell my car pretty soon unless Thailand turns out to be as cheap as people say it is.

Although a really good place to visit, Singapore is comparatively small and if your not into shopping or drinking your bank balance dry, then options are a bit thin on the ground. There is the zoo which was rather disappointing - a load of pissed off looking animals and equally pissed off workers getting very hot and bothered - or Sentosa Island - a Disneyesque theme island with artificial beaches and amusement parks which I have yet to check out.

Back to the cost of things. Although the cost of a pint can vary from 2 quid to 8 quid, other things are good value for money, especially food and electronics.

Nokia Phone 20 quid
Samsund 1GB Memory Card 10 quid
Olympus 1GB Memory Card 20 quid
Chicken fried rice 1 quid
Red Bull 30 pence

On the subject of Red Bull, this is the original blow your head off Asian version not the watered down stuff we get in the UK

The hostel is also fairly cheap at 11 quid a night - more expensive than other hostels - but with spotless rooms, free Internet and free bar then who is complaining.

Anyway, as I move on the chances of updating this blog as regularly as I would like will become more and more difficult especially in the absence of a convenient PC and free Internet.

See you soon

Equinox Bar Swissotel Singapore

After a sleepless nightdue to severe jet lag and the humidity there was only one thing to do but go and explore the city. I started off with a curry in Little India - the city has many of these enclaves: Little India, China Town, the Arab Quarter and Little Manchester to name but a few - and then headed off towards the marina front and bars at Clarkes Quay.

Wandering through the city, you get a feel of its cosmopolitan nature, the laid back atmosphere and the lack of any agro.

My ultimate destination was the Equinox Bar on the 72nd floor of the Swissotel building. The views over Singapore lit up at night, can only be described as a life experience, made even better with a couple of pints of ice cold Tiger Beer.

The only problem, as with most of Singapore was the price. Food is relatively cheap but a beer can set you back between 4 and 8 pounds a pint. Good job I had my credit card with me.

See you soon

Manchester to Singapore

Hi everyone. You will be glad to hear that after weeks of preparation, or lack of it, I have finally arrived in Singapore. And what a city it is. After seeing many cities around the world it is the cleanest, safest and most efficient place I have ever been. People are so friendly and accommodating and the views from my hostel are amazing. My hostel is situated high above the city next to the presidential palace. The views are stunning.

The one thing that does hit you is the heat, humidity and jet lag. As soon as you walk out of the air conditioned hostel / shops / bars! the heat drains you
straight away.

Any early morning exploration of the city this morning at 6am was still very difficult. The heat and the humidity at that time is still very suppressing but a Starbucks breakfast was welcome. Its a hard life.

Off to the bars and clubs of the city tonight. The bars are meant to be some of the best in Asia but a bit pricey. There goes my daily budget!

See you all soon