I Went to Australia and all I got was this stupid cast

So you've noticed no posts in a while huh? Well I didn't have any quality internet while on Contiki, so no posts. I tried once but it didn't work.

Now then, some of you know I'm back in Canada. For those that don't know the story, here goes nothing:

You'll remember that one of my first optionals was ATVing in the Outback, which I did because I love driving ATVs, and what better way to see the Outback up close. So while driving through this track, I misjudged a rather sharp turn, and through an unfortunate series of events, ended up crashing into a tree. 3 days later, I find I have a broken wrist which requires surgery to repair.

So, I've been evacuated from Australia under my insurance company's medical emergency clause to undergo treatment back home.

The good news is that they are also going to pay for the flight back to Aus after I'm deemed healed by whatever doctor fixes me.

All in all, I can't be upset because this is really just an intermission in my trip. In roughly 2 months time I'll be back at it, so check back then...

The Continental Capital

So Canberra was nice. It's not much of a city to be honest, no big buildings like in Sydney and only about 330,000 people.

The city itself was designed and planned long before a shovel ever broke ground, so the city itself is fairly easy to get around in. The nicest part was that most of the things to see and do were completely free. Parliament House, the Mint, Australian Museum, the Canberra Exhibit, and the National Gallery were all free.

Leaving today in a few hours to get myself to Darwin. I have to find a Laundromat in Sydney because my clothes aren't dry from doing laundry yesterday, Penny doesn't have a dryer.

Pictures of Canberra are up.

Things to make you jealous

I got all my documentation for the Contiki tour today, and with it came information on the optional excursions they offer. Now, to make everyone back home even more jealous of me, here's what I plan on doing:

• 4-wheel ATV trek through the outback desert
• Aboriginal "Bushtucker" tour - meet the Aborigines and eat Outback food (kangaroo, crocodile, emu, etc.)
• Outer Barrier Reef cruise with a Scuba dive (yes Scuba, not Snorkel) in the Barrier Reef
• Horseback tour of Aussie bush, rainforest and coastline
• 4-wheel ATV tour of Fraser Island
• Dolphin Cruise to see and swim with dolphins
• Plus a couple of group dinners and mybe a group photo

Now I know what you're thinking....I tried Scuba diving in the Dominican Republic and didn't enjoy it because the air tank dried out my mouth beyond belief. Well...its the GREAT BARRIER REEF....if you were given the option to swim underwater there would you pass it up because of some discomfort? I thought not.

More photos are up of Wildlife World and the Sydney Aquarium.

Tomorrow until Sunday night I'll be in the continental capital of Canberra, then back just in time to do laundry and take off to start the Contiki.

Bushwalking

So, the Manly Scenic Walk was very nice. The Manly suburb is definately where all the rich people live, and it was no place for a foreign slob such as myself.

But it pales in comparison to the Blue Mountains bushwalk yesterday.

I had a day trip tothe mountains area yesterday that left at 8am (ugh) and got back around 7:30 that night. We checked out the views, then did a 3.5 hour, 5km bushwalk. And when I say 5km, that's 1km down, 3 km across, then 1km back up. (You'll understand when you see the pictures).

Basically, if you look at shots above the treeline, that's wher we started. We then walked far below the trees, and back up again through the Grand Canyon. Pictures are uploading as I write this, enjoy!

The Shot

Since I stepped off the plane I've been trying to get the perfect panorama shot of Sydney Harbour. I gave my camera a stern lecture yesterday about the crap it's been giving me, and it finally smartened up and gave me this:


I think I've finally gotten the picture that's worth blowing up when I get back home.

I'm off to check out Manly Beach today and probably book a day trip to the Blue Mountains on Wednesday. The weather is finally starting to get nicer around here.

Australianisms

And I'm not talking about throwing a shrimp on the barbie. Nobody says that here, it's a cliche that really shouldn't exist.

But I digress.

Some things that are considerably different here than back home that I've noticed. For instance, pennies don't exist here. All prices are rounded to the nearest five cents, and all posted prices are including taxes, so you can have your money ready when you get to the register.

Cars drive on the left, not the right.

A switch that is on is pressed down, not up like it is at home. Also, every plug (called a powerpoint btw) has a switch on it to turn power to the plug on or off.

Oh, and the famous toilet spin (the Coriolis Effect, fyi). Well...that's a little tough. I haven't yet found a toilet that spins. It's more of a....um.....waterfall. I'll have a video of that later, but the internet is being a little hairy around here and it took 2 minutes to load this page to post something.

Toilets in this country have a neat little feature that should be worldwide. It's a dry country, so they have dual flush toilets. One 3L flush for when you're draining the nights first 3 pints. And one 6L uber-powerflush for when you have too much taco bell and chilli, thus creating the inevitable situation. It's a smart idea considering in Canada we use 6L of perfectly fine drinkable water whenever we need to get rid of 500mL of urine.

Something to think about...

Soaked and cold, but at the summit

Phew, well that was awesome. It was dirzzling with a light breeze when the climb started, and by the time we were at the top the wind was so strong the rain was going sideways and felt like little bullets hitting our faces. It wasn't particularly cold, but the wetness made it feel a lot colder than it was.

All part of the experience though. If you're going to climb a 400m bridge, do you want it to be a walk in the park in the sun, or a challenge? I wouldn't have changed a thing about yesterday.

I'll post a few photos from the climb in a little while when I go back downtown and get some shots of the building.

Climbing the Coathanger

It's so nice to know that I have such great support from back home. I think what scared me the most is not having a plan, and if anyone is considering the same thing I am doing, my only piece of advice is to have a plan.

I've gotten on the Contiki tour, so in 2 weeks I'll be heading to Darwin to begin the adventure through the outback and beautiful east coast. Once I'm done with that I'll head to Brisbane and check out the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Afterwards, Ill be heading to Auckland, New Zealand since I'm here already I might as well check out that country as well.

After that, I have nothing else I wanted to see while I was here and will most likely be heading home. So look for me in the sky some time around early August.

I'll be climbing the harbour bridge today, but they don't let you take your camera so who knows how many pictures of that I will have.

Change of plans

So I've come to the realization that I don't want to live and work here, I want to see the country.

I'm cutoff from my family and friends and just trying to schedule a phone call to hear their voices is a chore. While Penny had been a friendly face, and she is a very nice person, I'm just not have the fun that I had seen myself having while I was here.

I guess I'm not really a traveller, but an explorer.

I found another Contiki Tour called the Aussie Explorer which seems like a great affordable way to see the greatest sights of the country. After that, I'll probably travel around the country and see the sights I wanted to see before I left, and then call the adventure and head home to see the people I missed since stepping on the plane back in Toronto.

I feel like I'm letting people down back home since I told everyone I'd be gone for such a long time. But things are considerably harder than I thought they would be. If this were Toronto and I was just moving out things would be alright because I would have local knowledge and supprort from friends and family. But it's not, and I'm alone.


P.S. Pictures are up. You can see everything at picasaweb.google.ca/Nebulus64 Here's a taste:

Da Burbs

So I've moved in with Penny. She has a very nice house in a suburb called Bankstown, about 30 minutes outside of Sydney.

Had a nice day at the zoo yesterday. Still trying to figure out where to upload pictures so when I've figured that out I'll post a link. Didn't get too close to kangaroos since it wasn't allowed, but one did hop right by me, which was really cool to see.

Still trying to figure out what I'm going to do. A job, a place to live, bills, groceries, food, it's all incredibly overwhelming. I feel like I've jumped out of a helicopter into the ocean with no idea how to swim whatsoever.

Going to an orientation at the IEPoffices tomorrow, hopefully that will answer some questions. I think I'm leaning towards being a sightseer rather than a worker though. Maybe Contiki will have something that looks good at a good price.