First full day in Singapore

After a long nights sleep I was happy to wake up around 7am, grab myself a shower and get ready for the day ahead. I had already received a text from my friends D' & T' so I knew that I would be seing them in a few hours, but that still gave me almost half a day to go for a walk round the hostel and see what I could find. This wasn't my first trip to Singapore, so I was not so completely surrounded by the unknown, but like any large metropolis not only can one area be vastly different from another but also it is almost impossible to see it all, so there were still fresh experiences to discover just around the corner.

One of the best things about Asia is that you are never too far away from a temple, they are almost always very ornately decorated and coloured and they add a calming influence and a balance to whatever area they are located.

Being a Saturday morning I expected things to be open around 9am, but apart from the occasional corner restaurant that opened up for the early morning trade most of the shops were shut til around 10:30am. After the trouble finding something resembling a breakfast for under AUD $12 in Australia it was refreshing and heart warmng to get a bowl full of rice and pork plus a drink for a mere SIN $4.30, and even here I had to remind myself that Singapore was one of the more expensive places in Asia.

True it was not a contiental breakfast and neither was it a flashy unmarket downtown restaurant, but then that just added to its appeal and certanly the customer service was more prompt and smiling, even if the English spoken was thickly accented.

After breakfast I walked around more and came across a massage place, so I decided that this was as good as place as any to get unstiffer, so I went in and for SIN $50 I was able to get an hours massage. The place was cleaning and tidyer on the inside than it appeared on the outside, and the place had both mini lockers for valuables, larger lockers for clothes and several shower cubicles as well as plenty of reclining chairs for you to wait on til a space became free upstairs.

Like most asian massage places I have visited they give you some baggy pants and a shirt to wear, instead of your own tight and thick clothes, so that they can work your budy and muscles without fear of ruining anything and also to get better access to the body if using oil.

The actual massage took place upstairs, on a floor with around thirty flat mattresses on which they fill up from one end to the other, so I guess the masseuses can talk to each other while working. I actually prefer a more private massage room than an open hall style like this, but then perhaps that was why the price was cheaper than I had expected.

The massage was fine, nothing out of the ordinary except she did like to try and strangle me and even managed to crack my neck twice, which even now I am not sure is a good or bad thing. Thankfully after the painful pressure pinches, came the relaxation after and I was almost fully asleep when I felt a draft down one leg and I chanced to open my eyes long enough to see that the massage lady was displaying my body to the other masseuses nearby.

Slighly angered that I should be treated thus, I gave her a very dark look, which she quickly apologised for, but it had totally ruined my mood and the whole experience and so I just woke myself up, excused myself and left to get changed. I was considering complaining, but then what exactly could I say to the management and what would it have achieved, so I just promised myself never to come back here again and to keep my eyes open next time. Its a good job that I am not body shy or else the whole thing could have really upset my mood and put me off massages for along time, whereas now I will just be against going to places where you are not massaged behind closed doors.

Getting dressed I left and returned to my hostel where I would be meeting my friends in less than an hour, which gave me time to check a few things and prepare for an afternoon out. I was not sure where we would go, but I brought along my camera and was in a "yes" mood, meaning that almost any of their suggestions I would say yes to, as having already met them in the past I knew I could rely and trust them.

When we met up it was great to see them again, and quickly we decided to go to Sentosa, which is where much of the tourist stuff for Singapore is located, included the Tiger Tower ( SIN $12 ), a recreation of the Merlion that you can walk inside and climb up, pleasure beaches plus the Images of Singapore ( SIN $10 ) which is where we all wanted to visit.

The Images of Singapore is a cross between a movie theater, a museum and a was works combined with plenty of lifesize scenes displaying the history of the city from its origins, with strong influences of the Malay, Indian, Chinese and European cultures.

It was great to see things like the shadow puppet theatre and the dragon dance costumes as having just missed the Chinese new year, it was unlikely that there would be other festivals here in Singapore than I could go to see these live.

We also took a trip up the Tiger Tower which is Singapores highest view point and is a tall thin tower with a revolving glass disc that travels up and down the central colomn slow enough to get a good view of all around but if you want to take a good picture then you have to follow your target or else it will be slighly blurred, as I learned to my cost.

Around 6pm it started to get a little dark so we grabbed a bite to eat and then I said goodnight to them as I had plans to make for tomorrow and they too had only just arrived back today in Singapore and I did not want them to get home too exhausted.

The MRT is a very cheap and efficient way of getting around the city and I got back to my hostel in good time although sadly missing sunset. I collected my laundry from the hostel owner, thanked her and then went to my room where I was sharing it was a couple of just graduated girls from NY, who had just flown up from Australia and were on their way to Tibet to work there for three weeks. As they were tired and had to be up at 6pm the next day, I decided to skip writing my blog for tonight to let them get some uninterrupted rest, want for a walk and then crashed.

Final day in Darwin, Australia and arrival in Singapore

My final day in Darwin was always going to be a bit of a dead day as I had booked the flight out at 6:25pm thinking that I would be hard pushed to fit everything in before then, so when it came down to it and I'd pretty must done all I wanted there was not much left to do but eat, sleep, shop and drink.

The hostel receptionist was as friendly as you might imagine but even after I explained my situation she informed me that guests were not really allowed or encouraged to hang around after check out, so as the computer, vending machine and television were all inside the main complex all I could do is ask them to hold my rucksack for me while I took yet another slow stroll around the town.

With plenty of time free I decided to do a little souveneir shopping, getting a nice size and shaped boomerang and fridge magnet, plus some amusing post cards and such to send home with in a package along with all the usual recepits and gumph that I had collected travelling through Australia.

Finding the post office was easy once I remembered where I had left it, and following the signs found it no problem. I am guessing that the staff are all decendence from Eskimo's as the aircon was on so high that it almost blew me right out the automatic door, but from the thick and muggy humidity of outside I guess I can't blame them. AUD $35 to send a small package back to the UK by sea, double for airmail, and the journey is so slow that I might just beat it back home too.

Once I had lightened my load considerably I bought some proper sandals, not the flip flop variety, and then wandered off to see what the local adult store had to amuse its patrons with, only to find out that it had been burgled the night before - probably by some rabid tourist upset that it closed at 6pm prompt every night. The breakin was more an inconvenience than anything else, as whoever it was had only just messed up the back storeroom and had not entered the main store, much to the bemusement of the owner.

Not wanting to get in anyones way I left and headed on over to a restaurant near the cinema, where I planned on spending the remainder of the afternoon before an early trip to the airport. I am not sure if the Australian restaurant over had ever been to Italy, but his pasta sauce was more like a thin soup and so it was impossible to coat any of the pasta with it ir even eat the pasta with a fork as it just slipped and slid off at every available opportunity.

After the meal I headed on over to the cinema to watch the chick flick, Bride Wars, which was preductable, unbelievable and fun in equal measure, and hapily killed a couple more hours til I was able to pick up my stuff and head on over to the airport.

Darwin airport is one of those anoyingly small but paranoid airports where you need to check your stuff through security twice before you board the plane, which meant me having to try and down an entire bottle of fanta seconds after buying it as I could not get through the secondary securty screen with it, not that the staff who sold it to me moments before gave me any heads up of this fact.

The flight over was almost 5 hours, if you include the time difference that is 1.5 hours, and Jetstar again decided that this length of flight only warranted a free mini bottle of water and everything else was extra, so of course I went without and preferred to sleep the whole flight. The flight was less than half full and so I was able to find a row of empty seats, stretch out and try to fall asleep for the duration, which would have been easier had they switched the lights off or even given out blankets to everyone, but I guess that too is a paid for added luxury for Jetstar. I can see now why some people avoid certain airlines, I know I do with Delta.

Changi international airport in Singapore has got to be one of the nicest airports in the world, both in style, confort and organisation. Stepping off the plane the first thing I came to was a bank of 6 free internet stations, which meant that I could check up on everything, even before clearing customs or collecting my luggage. After the shops and internet stations you have to go down a escalator and across a huge wide open hall with lush sofas and very elegant decorations all around, then you come face to face with the imigration staff, who smiling help you through with minimal fuss or bother.

The overall feeling is that from stepping off the plane you are checking into some fabulous hotel, not passing through an airport, its truly refreshing and different to any other airport I have seen so far.

There is a wonderful and subtle smell that you get when you are in Singapore, it is hard to describe but it always reminds me of fresh noodle soup. There are also plenty of places to grab tourist or business info en route to the arrivals hall and although there are taxi's you are not mobbed for business the second you collect your luggage but instead they eagerly wait for you to come to them.

I had other plans, as my directions to my hostel was via the MRT ( i belive it stands for mass rapid transport ) and the support staff here are so on the ball that he knew exactly what I wanted to and was counting out my change before I even reached his window, giving me coins for the machine and a map so tha I knew where to change to reach my final destination.

The directions for the hostel were simply and clear to understand and I found the hostel within three minutes of arriving at the desired train station. Check in was a bit of a struggle as I arrived after 10pm, but soon enough I had my shoes off and was being shown a nice clean dorm room where I saw my first bunk bed for couples.The place was full of English tourists, backpackers and gap year travellers, and in my dorm room I ended up sharing with a couple who were from the UK, the young guy being from as close to my home town as Gravesend.

A final full day in Darwin, Australia

I have often said while travelling that I have a bit of bad timing,
especially with the weather, and today was no exception.
Having already done most of the things that I wanted to do while in
Darwin, there were just a few things left for me to try and visit, one
being the feeding of the crocodiles and the other being a visit to see
the deckchair cinema. So, with a day and a half left of my stay in
Australia I decided that I would take a walk on down to the wharf area
and check out the whatever it was that was described as the deckchair
theatre.
As it was a yet another humid day, I chose to try out my flipflop feet
again and happily left the socks and trainers behind me while I went
for a walk down the Esplanade which would lead me onto the area where
the outdoor cinema was shown on the map.
Now I am not sure if it a common design fault or I just have ill
shaped feet, but the flipflips straps appear to be made of a thick and
hard rubber which in these humid conditions both stick and rub against
my soft feet causing blisters each and every time I wear them, but
unlike new shoes the rubber never seems to soften up or break so the
phenomenon is forever reoccuring.
By the time that I reached the steps leading down my feet were already
smarting and so I could not go much further without taking them off,
and I could not walk far without any footware so it was almost a
relief when I passed a local and he informed me that the deckchair
cimena was down the long flight of stairs but, you guessed it, there
is nothing to see with it being the rainy season and all.
Giving up on that idea I settled to have a snack for lunch, having
decided that there are no cheap places to get breakfast in the city
limits, and so instead I would go to Crocosaurus Cove where they would
be feeding the biggies in less than an hour.
For an entrance fee of AUD $28, or $25 if you but it elsewhere of
bring a 10% vouchure available at most tourist places, you get to
wander around the miniature water park and learn all about the
crocodiles, plus see them feed.
Being keen on the educational aspects I learned that the human jaw is
one of the weakest bites in the meat eating world and the crocodile,
pound for pound, has the highest, greater than a lion, shark or even
what a Tyranasaurus is believed to have had. Other interesting facts
was that they can launch themselves into the air of almost their full
length, are very light sleepers, have great night vision and can run
at up to 17 kph if they so chose.
The place was a crocodile lovers paradise and the raised tanks bottom
had vision domes built into it so that if you crouched you could
actually put your face right up to a crocodile and see them from
underneath. I tried to take some photos up close but the hardened
plastic was scuffed and scratched making my shots very blurred.
I even got to meet a genuine the world famous star, Burt, featured
crocodile in many documentaries and also shown alongside Paul Hogan in
the first Crocodile Dundee movie!
While I waited for the feeding time I took a moment to watch the
miniature movie about Darwin and it was here that I learned that the
Japanese bombed the city over 60 times during the second world war,
leaving only a handful of building standing. Then when Hurricane
Tracey struck almost twenty years later it again left only around 400
buildings standing with a remaining population of only around ten
thousand people, which is much of the reason why it is still so small
these days, it has had a very turbulent past.
Around 2:25, barely five minutes before the big feeding was due to
start, the rain started to fall and in less than a minute it got so
bad that you had to stand at least two meters away from the edge of
the roofs as the rain was coming in hard, fast and at an angle.
With no idea of how long the storm would last the croc handlers said
that they could hold off the feeding for a minute or two, but they
could not do it for long as the crocs have a keen sense of time and
they didnt want to upset the routine.
At 2:32 with the rain at its worst the keepers decided that enough was
enough and rain or no rain they were going to feed the crocodiles, so
on mini fishing lines they dangle the chopped up fish or meat above
the tanks and watch them jump, mainly for the tourists but also to
give them a bit of exercise.
I got a few shots but didnt want to get too drenched in the rain, and
my timing was perfect as by 2:45 the rain had stopped. Tell me its
just a coincidence that the only time in the entire week that the sky
choses to rain down bucketloads during the middle of the afternoon is
when I decide to go to an open air display!
Anyways, after avoiding the rain, I decided to but my mum a little
souveneir crocodile keyring, and a little known fact is that as a
tourist I need to obtain a tiny permit ( free thank god ) to say that
the souveneir was obtained from a managed farm, as opposed to me going
off into the wild with a hunters rifle I guess!
With permit in hand I left and headed on over to the rock and country
music to listen to some great music, have a drink and play some pool.
The best thing about sweet cider is that if you throw it in a chilled
glass with ice its THE MOST refreshing drink you can get, IMHO of
course.
The best thing about playing pool in a rock and roll, er I mean
country, pub is the great music that they play in the background.
The worst thing about playing pool in this humidity is that even with
a fan on, your hands get sweaty, the cue swells up, the table cloth
stretches and warps and trying to get a graceful and fluid playing
motion is like trying to run through treacle.
The first game was not too bad and I managed to get off a few shots
but by the third game I could barely play a shot unless it was using
the side cushion as support, and I would probably have faired a lot
better playing one handed than trying to persever with the cue
sticking like glue to my hand as it did.
Although it was only around 6pm the place was totally dead, me being
the only person inside a bar that can hold fifty with ease and so I
asked the barmaid why it was so quiet and why they closed around 9:30
last night, only to be told that they close at 9pm sharp ever night
during the wet season.
Giving up on trying to meet any locals this way I headed off to grab a
pizza and bring it back to the hostel and munch my way through it
while watching television.
What surpised me was not that a large pizza, a bottle of coke and
stick of garlic bread cost less than a breakfast around these parts (
being only AUD $17 ) but that the pizza delivery place only sold
pizzas in one size, large.
So despite me being just one person, and most likely I will end up
throwing some of it away, I was left with the choice of large pizza or
no pizza, and being hungry and in no mood to try someplace else I went
with the option A).
Back in my hostel the receptoin, tv room and computer room were all
empty too, so there was not even anyone to offer it to and be
sociable, so I ate til I was no longer enjoying it then threw the rest
in the bin, sat back to watch the end of the B&W original version of
The Day The Earth Stood Still and then went to bed.
Despite the lower section of my back still being in some pain the top
half and shoulders started peepling, so I can expect the rest of my
back and my legs to follow suit any minute.
For the last time I went up to a quiet dorm room in Australia and
wondered how much it would cost to post a didgeridoo and a boomerang
back to the UK with all my normal travel stuff before I left
Australian shores.

Nighttime in Darwin

Well after a pretty unfun-filled and rainy day in Darwin I thought that I would crash for an hours sleep and then see what action there was in the nighttime scene.

Although some of the clubs had signs saying that they were closed for the rainy season, not all did, and with a few youth hostels, irish bars, a cinema and a mall all in close proximity to each other I thought that there would be a few happening places to go and hang out at.

Whatta-mistaka-ta-maka

If Darwin is sleepy during the daytime then it is positively comatosed during the nights. Most of the bars, restaurants and pubs had closed by 9:30pm, not a good start and the thought that this would mean people roaming the streets looking for fun was also not on the cards.

I could not believe that the music from the few places that were still open was not enough to drown out the noise from the bats ( of flying foxes ) overhead or the cedars and crickets in the undergrowth.

I wandered past what might be considered the red light district of Darwin, that is if it had any red lights, if it had any women working on street corners and if the clubs and video booths were open. As it was, if it was not for the word Adult on a few store windows I swear that I would not have known the different and could have walked right past it without giving it a seconds pause.

After an hours fruitless stroll I decided to come back and was amused to see a group of three teenage /early twenties ladies all out on the pull and as equally frustrated and bemused at the lack of nighttime activities as I was, and had I not already mentally given up for the night and was only seconds away from my hostel I think I might have considered about heading on over and seing if we could make a rather unlikely foursome.

Back in the hostel it was as quiet as it was on the streets and so my firm advice is to stay away from Darwin if you dont like fishing and especially avoid if during the rainy season of November to March.

UK to suffer worst slump, warns IMF

"The UK is expected to suffer the worst slump of all advanced nations in the "deepest recession since the Second World War", world economists have said.

All major economies are expected to experience steep falls in output in 2009, but the drop for Britain is forecast to be substantially greater than the average, according to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) World Economic Outlook.

Official figures last week confirmed that Britain fell into recession at the end of 2008. The UK economy contracted by 1.5% in the final three months of the year - worse than expected by analysts and sparking fears of a deep and prolonged recession.

Overall, UK gross domestic product (GDP) for 2008 as a whole fell to 0.7%, the poorest full-year output since 1992.

The UK recession has been all but inevitable in recent months as the financial crisis escalated in the wake of the credit crunch, which caused a crippling lending drought. This has hit the housing and construction markets hard, with all sectors across the economy now suffering."

- - -

With news like this it is very hard for me to make a decision about when the best time to come home would be, or how much to keep spending and borrowing for my trip.

I don't want to cut my trip short if when I get back to the UK there is no job or security, but equally even the credit card and loan facilities will run out eventually so I can't just stay away semi-permenantly til the economy recovers!

As such, current thinking is that I will stay for as long as originally planned with either cutting the return through Europe short or elongated depending on financial markets at the end of April.

A second full day in Darwin, Australia

Well I was up early for some reason, but around here there was not much to do, so I just lazed around for an hour or two before I decided to go for a stroll and see if I could find a cheaper breakfast than the night before.

Chosing some flipflops I managed easily to cope with the snail pace traffic here and I think if anyone from Darwin wants to drive anywhere outside of the town then they should have to retake their test as the pace of life here is so slow and sleepy that otherwise they would probably have heart failure the first time they left the city limits and reached anywhere that the general driver attempts to get near, or dare I say reach, the speed limit.

After being here for a couple of weeks now, which feels like a couple of months, I can understand why the local youngsters go travelling as with or without spending money, there just isnt that much to do around here. The clubs, bars and restaurants are dead for almost the entire rainy season, with the bigger ones actually closing down with signs saying " you can find our staff and girls in hotels in and around the suburbs if you look close enough", but then why would anyone bother!

Many people might condemn me for living off fruit gums, chocolate and cans of fizzy drink but when a vending machine can of coke costs AUD $1.80 ( which isnt cheap in itself ) but a tiny glass of orange costs a whapping AUD $4.00 and i am afraid to even ask what a proper glassful might cost then I say, can you really blame me!?! I am sure my teeth are screaming at me, taking in all this sugar, but I need something to keep my energy levels up and awake without having to go find a cashpoint several times a day.

The weather here is changeable, which means that while it is hot, humid and muggy at any moment it could still chuck it down with rain for anything from a minute to an entire afternoon.

The mood of the hostel is little better than from outside of town and despite me sharing a room with three others I have yet to even be awake and in the same room with any of them even long enough to know their name let alone get a good story out of them, the kitchen and tv room are vacant most of the time and the only time we even rub shoulders with each other is when we are queuing up to use the free internet computers.

There are still plenty of places where you can visit to see boomerangs, didgeridoos, aboriginal art and crafts but taken away from their normal surroundings they look even less impressive than animals in zoo cages, and when you see a whole line up of them ruled over by a white Australian shop owner I just can't help feel that things have gone wrong somehow and that I will just be buying into more tourist nonsense.

The way to visit Australia is not like this, you need to drive, to rent or own a big 4x4 jeep and take a couple of weeks holiday and go off driving off into Arnham land, but if you want to do this I'd be quick as in the local papers I saw plenty of notices of intending mining rights in Aboriginal land, so sooner of later they might not have any land left to call their own.

The Darwin that I have visited is far removed from that of the film Crocodile Dundee, or even of the recent epic Australia, and being the rainy season just makes it ten times more sad and depressing. Even the McDonalds is not worth mentioning, which is a shame especially as those in New Zealand are, or were, exceptional.

A full day in Darwin, Australia

I woke up around 6am, not quite full of the joys of spring, but feeling better and in a mood to try and call a few people back home as it was probably just be the best time to catch them awake and not busy.

The first few numbers all came back not possible to dial, and feeling that I was doing something wrong I called the help line, only to find out that if a phone is switched off, in use or going directly through to a voicemail the system will automatically give me the same unable to dial message, which was a bit of a relief as I then knew that I was doing it properly just having bad luck or timing.

Eventually I found someone that was in and enjoyed a natter with folks from back home, before I had to go and start the day properly.

As the hostel does not serve free breakfasts I was forced to go and search out a place to eat for myself, but this was harder than it sounds and in the end I resorted to a slightly upper notch cafe where a breakfast, tea and orange cost over AUD $19, a far cry from what I wanted and I wondered who on earth would want to buy one of their t-shirts for another AUD $25 and give them free advertising!

In no real hurry, I ate my big breakfast ( big in name if not in content ) and then read a few articles in Time magazine before I decided to go investigating the towns CBD a little more. However the second I left the place the rain came down, light at first but within minutes heavy enough to be overloading roof guttering and making a right racket on the corrugated iron roof I was temporarly sheltering under.

It passed almost as quickly as it had arrived and then I continued on my way through the town til I found myself back at my hostel and in need of the triple S, and as reception had once again shut up for the midday interval I had nothing better to do than watch a bit of ladies tennis.

Someone is famous for saying that only two things in life are certain, "death and taxes" - well as a fairly well seasoned traveller I can say that for anyone that goes travelling there are another couplet that are as certain as the sun rising or setting, which are "fliers and bugs".

Be they ants, fleas, flies, mosquitoes, scorpions, nits, grasshopers, moths, spiders or just those tiny mini crawlies that are too small to see properly but crawl all over just about everything, every world traveller will at some stage be irritated both from above and below by tiny things getting into places that they really are not needed or wanted.

I myself, mainly due to my destinations and my desire for cheap accomodation have been bitten just about every day from here to Brazil and even Europe was not entirely safe or free from the pesky biters, as my friend K' in Germany will no doubt attest to as she gave me an electronic swatter for just that reason.

While England does have ants, bees and other insects and fliying critters looking back it is a rare day when I was actually bitten or had to go around with inset killer to get ride of a mini invasion, whereas on a daily basis out here I have to suffer them and my poor arms and feet have been bitten so many times that now I have bites on my bites, especially round my elbows for some reason.

Today was the first day when the hostels new sky satelite was being installed and so although its range of channels was limited, it was so much better than watching tennis through a haze of cloudy interference and I can't even remember the last time that I was able to watch an episode of doctor who all the way from the beginning.

I remembered a chat that I had with the other Brits back in Cairns, about trying all the differnet styles of meat and fish over here, so I decided that for supper I would give a go to either Aligator ( or crocodile ), Shark or Kangaroo, with Shark being the eventual winner by random chance and the fact that three medium sized battered portions with chips was only around AUD $11. Shark was a white fish that tasted a bit similar to haddock, cod or place, not having too strong a flavour and going very well in batter with tartar sauce, though not wanting to get too greased or salted up I scraped most of the batter off and left half the chips.

After having something to eat I took a wander back through the main shopping street, wondering how such a small place with so few locals manages to have such a big name for itself and came back just in time to pay my bill at reception, being unable to do so yesterday as I had arived too late in the afternoon.

Looking through the brochures in the reception I was surprised that there was not that many places to visit that commemorated the great wars, and indeed apart from camping or safari trips into the middle of nowhere the only thing that really interested me on offer was to see jumping crocs, as i have never been a big fisherman which is about the only other big tourist industry it has. The main strip has plenty of backpacker hostels, but I saw only a few wandering around town, not even as many as I saw of aboriginal descendence, and even the minor red light district was so pathetic and open only a few days a week that it was almost not worth having one there at all.

With my back still a little sore, and still a good few days left in my trip to Darwin, I decided to have this final night as further rest and recovery for my back in the hope that by tomorrow morning it will be almost as good as new, safe in the knowledge that it will only stay so for a further two days before my entire back will start to peel.

Leaving Cairns and arriving in Darwin, Australia

A second night sleeping on my front did a little to ease the burning on my back but having to get up early meant that I could not lounge around much longer before I had to pack up, check out and get myself to the airport.

The Canadian couple were up early and headed on out to drive their way to a few of the nice spots just outside of Cairns city centre, while my other dorm buddy, a Frenchman from Toulouse, was packing up also as he was due to go meet some friends and also visit a place where they would teach you both how to make and to play the digereedoo.

Knowing that it took even the great Rolf Harris a good six months to get the breathing right for this extremely tricky on instruments, I did not envy him the lessons, but thought that at the least the learning how they made them woud be fun and almost wished I had thought to see them do it on an earlier day.

Down in reception I checked out and learned that the hostel operated a hourly run to the airport which I had just missed by minutes and so I could either wait for an hour or call a taxi, but thankfully as I had planned in advance I could wait the hour and still get to the airport in plenty of time.

Heading back to my room I was spotted by my French dormmate who was about to play a game of cards with an eager looking local boy, but neither knew how to play poker. It turned out that the kid was big for his age and could hardly count let alone read and I cursed my foolishness as I had to fruitlessly try and teach the pair of them how to play when they could barely shuffle the cards properly.

I exscused myself pretty soon after it became apparent that the youths attention was waning and instead he wanted to show a few card tricks, which I let him do before returning to my spot near the receptionand waited for the minivan to collect me. As I had a few minutes to kill I liberated a book from their exchange book shelf, chosing a book written in 1966 about the Hells Angels by a sympathetic freelance newspaper hack who actually took time to ride with them ( or drive as it turned out ) and know a few on a first name basis instead of basing his works on gossip, scaremongering and the usual mix of urban myth and legend.

The only thing that surprised me was that by the end of the book it read as if the entire Hells Angels were almost folding in upon itself and even at its height had only a few hundred members, but by todays reckoning they are still very much alive and kicking ass with chapters all over the world and membership in the thousands.

I am very glad that I was not in a hurry as not only was the pickup a few minutes late but his collection run lasted almost half an hour more before he headed off towards the airport, which itself was only a ten minute drive away and yet my gladness turned to manic frustration and anger as I found out that Jetstar airwards considers a flight to Darwn necessary to leave from the International Terminal and not from the Domestic.

Apparently it has something to do with that they use the same plane to fly a brief stopover in Darwin before flying on to Singapore and thus everything needs to go through security, just in case as it were. The International Terminal was only a ten minute walk away but that was enough to give me the raging hump as my back protested strongly at any suggestion of me putting its combined weight on my still sore shoulders or back, thus I ended up craddling my rucksack in my arms as I walked, forced into taking brief pauses and switching arms as I went.

Checking in was a breeze and I began to think that things were starting to loop up until I got randomly checked for a second time on only my second internal flight, and I began to think that these random checks were not random at all. Once through security I grabbed a bit of sushi and internally objected vehemently at being charged over AUD $4 for a simple orange juice.

In the departure hall was a huge costumed kangaroo, which a few tourists chose to have their photo taken with, while I traded travel horror stories with a fellow Brit in the line who seemed to hate everything and everyone over here in Oz, so much so that I almost felt bad for her, til I remembered that half of travelling is overcoming obstacles with a smile on your face. While it is true that Aussies have no real idea of good customer services techniques, neither do they dont expect a tip and as often they are fellow travellers trying to eek out a few more bucks to go partying with after work it is hardly surprising, whether it be a hostel or a 5 star hotel resort.

Australia is known for its travellers, its barbeques, its all night drinking parties, its weather, its surfers and its aboriginal arts and craftwork, not its international customer services skills.

The flight over was unremarkable and was only marred by Jetstar deciding that the flight isnt long enough to warrant free food, but not wanting to keep their passengers hungry or thirsty went upand down the aisles often offering to sell food and drinks at high prices. The worst rub was that they were renting video screens for AUD $10 for each leg of the journey from Cairns to Darwin and then a second rental fee for Darwin to Singapore although they didnt say til late into the flight that the flight time was not long enough to watch a complete film on the first leg as they turned off the entertainment system way before the plane touched down again.

Such greed and thoughtlessness on the part of Jetstar was enough to make me almost regret flying with them, til I remembered that I was meant to be doing this as cheaply as possible, as that did not include splashing out on AUD $20 to see a film I have either already seen or only want to see to relieve a few minutes of boredom.

Landing in Darwin I had a few minutes to grab my stuff before the nearest minibus took a group of us travellers into town for AUD $9 each, which I thought was pretty reasonable even if the trip was only about ten or fifteen minutes long.

Riding behind me was a young lass, also from the UK, who was taking her third large travelling trip around various parts of the world. I could not help but ask how she could afford to be on her third big trip at such a young age and she replied that apart from living at home she was a uni graduate who was prepared to work for around five to ten months to save the travel money and then once she arrived at a place she would then find work enough to get by on, as well as staying in one place long enough to meet a good group of friends and buy local food form the supermarket instead of hitting the restaurants like I had been doing. One last point was that she did not really like to drink that much, or smoke, which again cut down her living expenses quite a lot so as long as she did not plan to do too many of the big daytrips she could spend several months in one place on a budget that almost paid for itself through the day or night shift work she always found.

I pondered on this as I reached my hostel and found that although the reception was closed for a few hours, they had set aside my door key in an envelope just around the corner, so I grabbed it and headed on over to my dorm room to unpack, finding immediate relief that there was lockers inside my room both big enough for my rucksack and free as long as I had my own padlock, which I did.

Two free internet computers in the common room, being only AUD $20 a night and being very central to the town and ocean view put a huge smile on my face, only slightly dampened by the fact that the place had no actual wifi facility and also that the pool was out of action due to the heavy flooding in recent weeks had made it unsafe ( how I have no idea, as it looked fine and perfect to me, but there you go !).

Today being Australia Day, I expected the town to be buzzing with excitement but a mix of heatwave, heavy rain, test match cricket, australia open tennis and the fact that Darwin centre just isnt that big meant that a few of the bars were full to capacity while others did not even bother to open. Walking around to get a bite to eat my eye was caught by a club, that was onloy open three nights a week, a rock and country music place that I might visit later in the week when I plan on getting pissed and a restaurant that had a great variety of food if only it wasnt all AUD $25 and upward for a standard meal not including any drink.

Instead I walked on until I found a Nando's chicken place where the girl behind the counter could only have been 18 if she was a day, and the prices was cheap enough for me to afford both a meal and a drink for under AUD $12 before heavind on back via the Esplanade.

Wandering down by the ocean side I was surprised to note that there was no real beaches within eyeshot and came across a guy with a huge camera and lens wh owas out hoping to take a photo of the imminent solar eclipse. Regrettably the cloud was out in full force and I dont think that he got his shot and after a quick natter I came back to catch an early night and hope that tomorrow I can wake up feeling good enough to book something for the next few days.

My last full day in Cairns, Australia

I went to bed last night, faced down with a load of aftersun smothered all over my back with little hope of feeling much better by the morning, but certainly it was the best option I could take under the circumstances.

Waking up I was relieved to find that I was still faced down which meant that I had not done my back any further injury, but what woke me up was the calling of my name, or rather an asian lady calling out Springfield from the open doorway and I remembered that I had booked a trip for today at the same time as the others, this time a walk through the rain forests.

Unwilling to put my back under further risk I just cried off that I wasnt interested any more, and in truth visiting the hot and sticky inner rain forest was the absolute last thing I wanted to do at that moment, and luckily the deposit I was about to lose was only a 10% of the overall fee.

Drifting back to sleep I gave myself another couple of hours before I got up, took a cool shower and then decided that I was just going to have a very lazy day in and around the hostel premises, popping no further than about ten minutes walk away and doing my best to hug shade wheverer possible.

I managed to get as far as the nearest cinema and shopping complex where I killed a little time, grabbed a bite to eat and found a discount sweet store where I could buy a pack of marsbars cheaper than a single would cost me back in the hostel, and similarly only AUD $1 for a 1.5 litre of pop instead of AUD $2.50 for nought more than a can from the vending machines.

With the heat and humidity not really letting up I headedon back to the hostel with my new found goodies and then slipping on my swimming trunks went to see how long I could hide out in the pool before I actually turned from a wrinkle into a prune.

After the second hour I was joined by a couple from the UK, then a little later by one of their room mates and then by the other so that in the end there was five of us all just lazing about by the pool, cahtting about past trips and suggesting future experiences and locations to visit.

Like most of the travellers I have met they seem to have been out for as long as I have, though visited a lot less places and I began to appreciate what a hectic and breakness pace of travelling I had set up for myself.

Although I guess I could still crop a day off here and there but I am far removed from the relaxed month or two months that most proper travellers give themselves when visiting Australia. Listening to their stories I realised that although I am travelling with a rucksack I am not backpacking in the truest sense.

I am not just arriving at a place with no idea of what to do or where to stay, I have already tried to make contact with friends in teh city before I arrive, I am not staying anywhere for weeks at a time and I am not buying up stocks of food and drink to cut down on costs, mainly as they wont let me carry stuff through customs on flights and both food and drink are very heavy. Neither am I able to just bum around for weeks, going to nightclubs and parties in the middle of the night, buying up soveneirs, sending postcards home, braiding my hair, getting tattoos or working my way through using the onely planet or rough guide to just about everything from accomodation, food, trips or excursions.

Finally I am not inteerested in trying to do find temporary work in the fields, shelf stacking, cub hosting, working as a receptionist or cleaner in a hostel or even behind a bar in a local bar or club, mainly because I hate alcoholics and also because by the time I find a job it will be time for me to catch my next flight out.

Although I set out to experience all I could and planned on writing a travel book and my journey, it is not really going to be that much use to your average backpacker as my trip has been so far removed from that travel lifestyle as to be almost unrecognisable. It is true that I have tried to do many of the best trips advertised in the hostels, have collected probably in excess of 10 kilos of gumph, leaflets and fliers about what to do and where to stay, but even the fact that I am bringing along my laptop and try my best most nights to update it is flying in the face of the true backpacker spirit.

It is a bit like a wall street accountant going out and buying a black leather jacket, a harley davidson, getting a couple of tattoo's and calling himself a Hells Angel, or even just a biker for that matter. It is not enough to look the part, you have to act, behave, live and believe in both what your doing and why your doing it, and for those reasons while there is no question of me being a traveller, I cannot say that I am a backpacker.

My whistle stop tour of the world has been a great eye opener, it has given me many opportunities to take some great photos, some extremely interesting and unusual people and try things that would be impossible in my ordinary life back home, but I can't say that it has gone the way I expected it to.

Having said that, I do not reget coming or even always the way I have planned this, as there is always something new to experience the next day, always some new people to get aquianted with, hear new and funny stories and I am never bored for more than a couple of days as that is as long as I have currently given myself in any one city before moving on to the next one.

As we sat there floating and lounging in the pool we chatted about some of the places that they had been to here in Australia and I was surprised that they had been to Green Island and despite wearing stinger suits they had received their fair share of shocks from the local jellyfish population that lived there. Almost every part of their body was covered in the stinger suit yet still the tips of their toes and around their lips had been zapped a number of times, often no more than mild bee sting but sometimes the feeling would last several mintues, or until the next and fresher sting screamed out from a different part of their body.

The real shame was that they had not yet had the chance to spot any turtles, sharks or whales and of these I had seen a few and if I had of been prepared to turn up early enough and pay I could have myself fed the sharks while back in Sydney.

We also chatted plenty about the far east, as they had all been there and had plenty of stories about taxi or tuktuk drivers being personal guides for around £30 for an entire day, which included being a guide, translator and covering all the entrance fees for various attractions. It amused me that they were willing and open about their brother who went for one reason only and apart from the nighttime activities would take on a local girl as a personal chaperone and guide for his entire stay in Bangkok and all for next to nothing.

For me, this is not really an option as I have got plenty of friends already in Bangkok that I have promised to meet up with, not to mention that staying in hostels they are often against guests bring in visitors into the dorm rooms, but it sure is interesting to hear and makes a great story.

After the sun went down and my skin was about almost forming one giant wrinke I decided that I could not stay in the pool any longer, so made my farewells and headed on out to dry off and go grab a bite to eat. I had hoped that I could have met them after I got changed and we could all have headed out together but they said they were waiting on another pair of friends who must have turned up while I was getting dressed and together they all went off together.

Not wanting to spend any more money or go too far from the aircon, as despite the nighttime coming there was no release from the heat, so I just grabbed a bite from the nearest takeout restaurant, which ended up being KFC, where a meal and a drink was AUD $12 and then I came back and watched movies til it was time to get a good nights rest.

A burning hot day on the Barrier Reef, Cairns, Australia

Today was the big day, a visit to the world famous Great Barrier Reef, a long stretch of reef running along the East coast of Australia plenty of miles out, but shallow enough for you to see it snorkling and on occasions even rising out of the ocean.


It was so named the barrier as it is indeed a long unpassable barrier for ships of any kind, except the lightest and narrowest one or two men canoes, and during the time of the great expansions and colonisation by the European powers no craft of that day could pass it and make port on Australia without having to go the long way all around the reef.


Tragically scientists today say that the reef will be dead and gone within the next fifty years if levels of world pollution, greenhouse gases and global warming do not stop, but as none of the great political powers in the world seem intent on doing enough to reverse this I think that any children I may have in the future will have to go visit it as soon as they are able and it is unlikely that their children will even have the opportunity to see it.


The day started with a pickup from my hostel that was around twenty minutes late, but the dirver was not only very apologetic but funny too so it didnt matter that much in the long run. I had already packed a small bag with sun cream, hat, change of clothes and flipflops and was the only one from the hostel going on this trip today.


The sun was already out in full force, making things both hot and humid and I was very glad that I had remembered to bring my suncream with me, as I would hate to burn again, and I made sure that despite charging us AUD $3 per drink that I kept up my water level and helped myself to the free water fountain often. As an added bonus the firm that I was travelling with, the Reef Experience, made sure that almost everything was included in the price, so reef fee, port fees, snorkling and scuba equipment hire and both a breakfast, lunch and cheese snack on the way back were all complimentary.


Back in the hotel I had asked about hiring an underwater camera and was told the price was AUD $40 per day, but here on the ship itself they were selling a very similar model at AUD $45 to buy outright ( or AUD $20 for a disposable underwater camera ), so although perhaps it wasnt the exact same make of camera I am sure that the reef people would not see crappy ones so I'm guessing that the hostel are just making a mark up or are in league with an expensive brand of camera rental.


Breakfast was a slice or two of fruit, a bacon and egg blockbuster of a roll ( with a vege option too ) with mugs of tea and coffee being available and free through the day. It was a nice start to the day and I was looking forward to getting out there.


The trip out to the first place was about an hour long, which shows how far out to sea it is as the catamaran that we were sailing on was no slow coach in terms of speed. During the trip over I striked up a number of conversations with other passengers, one a couple from Ireland, one a Engish and Azerbajan couple and one a couple of retired Americans, and all had their own stories to tell.


One story that the Americans told is that the husbands brother used to be a great scuba diver, cleared and certificated to swim just about anywhere at any time under and under any conditions, when one dive at a place he had been told had a rather nasty underwater current he got caught in it and was almost sucked to his demise in an underwater cavern. He managed to escape with his life, barely, by grabbing onto the outer face of the cave at the last second, the current being too strong for him to swim out of, and climbed his way out of their, vowing never to return to scuba again and to this day aparently he never has.


Another story was from the Azerbajany who told me that when she visited Russia the local authorities were extremely rude and demanded bribes in order to have her passport returned to her, with the policemans line being that his wife would not let him return home if he did not bring back money. Again, having heard that many similar stories to do with the corruption in Russia I do not doubt the story, and would say that the best thing to do in Russia is avoid the authorities and government officials at every opportunity if at all possible.


The water we travelled over seemed very flat and calm, almost like a circus mirror, but still as the catamaran powered its way up and over there were plenty of dips and troughs and one guy was throwing up in less than ten minutes of setting off.


Once we reached the reef our crew did a good job of introducing us to them, of going through all the safety procedured we should follow and for both snorklers and scuba divers were told that if we get into any trouble to shout, scream, wave and splash as much as possible because with many people remaining still not to scare the fishes it can be pretty hard to spot a dead person from a live person in the water. Also we were told that it takes the reef about a year to recover one centimeter of growth so there is to be no touching or standing on the reef at any time for any reason whatsoever.


We were all givena safety number, mine was 40, that we had to memorise and use often and for checking us all onto and off the ship and as I had signed up to do a introductory dive I got to do almost an hour of snorkling before it was my turn to take the big plunge.


I saw a large number of people putting on suncream thick enough to be almost pure white on their backs and so I double doses myself, hoping that my stuff was water proof and not just a little bit water resistant.


Snorkling around was great fun and I got to see so many different varieties of fish that I could not count them all, but by far away the coolest was a huge turtle that I managed to keep pace with for a bit til I was in danger of reaching deeper waters again and had to turn back.


I was in group four of the intoductory dives and the largest of the group, with 5 other first time divers. I had been given the drill, had practiced on the ship the two key skills that I needed but still I was totaly unprepared for what I was about to face. For some reason, despite me overhearing that the girl handing out the weights was new and was told to put on less weights than she had been, I was given three belt weights which with the tank too felt like a ton strapped to my back.


Clearing my mask of water was easy, but keeping it free of water was next to impossible as it just reflooded within seconds and I felt like I was going to be doing it constantly for the whole dive. Removing and replacing the mouthpiece while underwater was the other key skill that I had to master, but each time I did it I could not stop what seemed like gallons of sea water flooding into my mouth at the same time, and I choked and almost gagged.


The instructors saw me do this once or twice and were not satisfied that I had dont them happily, so I had to repeat them but it was more than I was able to do without yet again flooding my mask and my throat and so in the end I chose rather to go up and cancel the dive than repeat these horrible tasts. A bit like eating live grubs, if my life depended upon it I am sure that I could master the basics enough to survive, but they are so unpleasant that I do not chose to do them willingly and frequently.


The instructor tried to coax me into giving it another try, which I grudgingly did, but with the same results and in the end I just headed on back up and out and had to get a drink to wash the taste of the water out of my mouth. I have never been big underwater and yet agian this proves that although I can face my fear I just don't like it and would rather be doing anything else but this.


I know I can swim, but can't really dive and even pre-scuba episode I saw plenty of snorklers dive to the bottom of the reef and back up again but when i tried it despite my best efforts I was unable to get even a meter below the water, I was just a manic floating buoy, going close to being totally submerged but never actually managing it.


After the failed attempt at scuba I just stayed on the craft, in the air conditioned lower deck, til it ws time to leave for the second spot location and in the meantime it was lunch. Chicken, sausages, potatoes and salad for a healthy and tasty light snack, alcohol forbidden til after the second location was over or else they would not allow you going back into the water again.

I forgot to reapply my sunscreen before I went back into the water at the second location, and although I was one of the first out of the water again, I could feel that it was a mistake and that my back and legs were feeling the heat. It was crazy on the water as often you would find yourself floating into a very hot patch of water and then just as quickly as it arrived you would float right on through it and be in colder water again, being clumsy and not used to it I could not change direct quick enough to see if they hot water dissipated or just moved.


One other highlight was spotting Nemo and his fellow clown fish all dancing and playing in and out of their little habitat, not really going too far from the safety of the many strung out fingers bristles of the stinging anenemy.


I think of all the safety warnings that the cew gave out the one thing that I needed to hear most, was to put of some proper water proof suncream often and thickly as during the return ride back to Cairns harbour I could feel it start to sting and redden visibly and I began to have doubts that I would be ok enough to go on the tour tomorrow, where the heat and humidity outside of my aircon dorm room would just feel as hot and hell.


I walked back to the hostel, managed to find the after sun and applied a healthy dose before I was due to go back out and grab a bite to eat at central Cairns backpackers restaurant, more commonly known as the WoolShed. I had already guessed that you could both exchange the vouchure that the hostel gave for a basic meal or upgrade it to a full meal by paying a little extra, but I didn't know that you could also double upgrade to a AUD $10 meal vouchure that included a drink and a choice of desserts. I only found this out when I bumped into my dorm mates here again and learned that this was exactly what they had done.


Things like this make you wonder why, being a backpacker hostel and a backpacker restaurant, the staff are not more open and forward about advising you what to do to get the best deals, and is again another example of typical Aussies not really being as friendly or as helpful as their reputation suggests.


As the meal was over pretty quickly, being not the largest I had seen, I was not too keen to stick around for another hour just to see the local nightly entertainment of goldfish racing, this being a Saturday and the place thinking that there was no real need to give backpackers a reason to stick around as they probably would anyway, unlike the middle of the week where wet t-shirt competition, etc are all held to entertain the punters.


My back still stinging like anything I headed on back to the hostel, accepting a lift from my friendly Canadian dorm mates, and then after lubing myself up with even more aftersun left the aircon unit on all night and got an early nights rest.