Packedin

Packedin Okpo, Geoje Do

iainob1 — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:22:00 GMT

Packedin Okpo

Don’t go to Pilipino bars when you have already had a fair bit to drink. This was what I was saying to myself at about 7:30 in the morning and wandering lost in the streets in Okpo.

For my first visit to Okpo, where a friend from England had been working for 4 years, had my wallet a lot lighter and nearly had me getting a taxi back to Tongyeong at 7:30 in the morning after just falling out of a bar.

I was taken by my friend, under orders of his then girlfriend now wife, for a night out around Okpo on Geoje Do Island. Okpo is a major Korean shipyard town with many westerners all working for one of the major ship building companies. Many are contracted for a period of time usually 4 years. After drinking in various bars around Okpo many of which were quite quiet, my friend was told to take me to one of the many Pilipino bars. These bars are usually owned by Korean men but have all Pilipino staff working for them. They are usually brought over for a year under the impression they are going to be dancers or singers and they end up working everyday for a year, in a bar as a waitress of sorts.

The girls also have to sit with the men that come to these bars and try to get them to spend as much money as possible. This means you buy them drinks and they sit with you. Scattered around the bar were various men from different countries draped around a Pilipino girl, some holding hands some feeling a thigh or two. As you walk in the door girls are waiting by the door and jump to their feet to take you into the bar. The two girls that were our waitresses for the night were both new in almost that day and put straight to work. They were a bit like the hare caught in the headlights of the oncoming car. You can’t help feeling sorry for them especially if it wasn’t what they were expecting to come to.

I had never experienced a bar like this so that is why my friend’s wife told him to take me so I could see exactly what goes on. They told us exactly how they got there and how they were feeling. They told us that they have to get at least five drinks a night bought for them otherwise they don’t get paid. No matter what drink they get you still pay about 20000 won which is about 10 pounds or twenty dollars. We were drinking Jack D which must have cost a fortune there. We played pool with the girls and bought them a few drinks. It’s a shame the bars are like that, as this bar could have been one of the better bars in town, as it had a big dance floor and a really great Pilipino band playing.

As it got late my friend paid up the bill and then we went back home and left me on my own which was his biggest mistake. By now I was quite merry with drink and after a few minutes ended up with a few girls all around me talking unknown to me they were all buying drinks on my tab. The next thing I know it’s very early in the morning and they are sending me out the door. I must be the only person ever to be asked to leave so they can shut. I was then confronted with the fact that I had no idea of how to get back to the apartment. I could not remember which way it was so began wandering up and down a few streets trying to recognize where I was. I was in fact only about 200 meters away from where I should have been, I know now.

Then I looked at my credit card bill from the bar which was utterly ridiculous but it was my own fault for being drunk. So I then had the great idea of dialing every recent number on my phone as I had yet stored my friend’s number. The first number I dialed was had the sound of a Pilipino girl who seem to recognize my voice, “Ah Iain where are you”. I was thinking who the hell is this I hadn’t gave my number to anyone I wasn’t that drunk. It was one of the girls from the bar who must have picked up my phone and called it to put her number on it. I explained I was lost and then managed to get her off the phone so I could try the next number which happened to be my mate. He told me to look left and put the phone down.

So that was my first experience of Okpo and Pilipino bars. I am glad I saw it and experienced it, maybe my wallet didn’t but I had no clue. These girls are some of the most beautiful, intelligent woman in the world with great personalities but unfortunately simply can’t get a decent wage in their own country, so put their trust in somebody offering something better and end up having to sit with and maybe more, with normally over weight, old westerners who only really after a bit of company. Lots will be married men away from their families but many are single guys. There will be those woman who know what they are coming to and do it very well but I do feel sorry for those who genuinely have come to make a bit money thinking they are going to be a singer or dancer. They even have to do an audition which may involve singing and dancing.

Packedin teaching Korea

iainob1 — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:11:00 GMT

Packedin Teaching, Korea

Teaching in Korea is a totally different experience to teaching in England. Many people who go to Asia to teach usually have done an ESL course but may not have had any teaching experience before, so won’t have anything to base it against.

In England our teaching systems rely on good teaching methods to control the students. We have to engage the students in the work or the subject to keep them well behaved in the classroom. Usually, and I mean that lightly now, students have a little respect for the teachers so normally don’t talk when the teacher talks. Here in Korea the students are often talking all the time during the lessons, depending on which Korean teachers they have. The students sometimes sit asleep at their desks unchallenged by the teachers. The teachers still use corporal punishment, which usually means having the student on all fours, on the floor and giving their backsides three of the best. I don’t think officially this is allowed in the country, but many of the schools still do it. I have many a time asked the teachers not to do it in my classes as it is so disruptive to my teaching and a little uncomfortable for me too. The students are not phased by this either. In fact they take it as a bit of fun or a game. They sometimes seem to get it done just to show how funny they are in front of the class, which totally undermines why it is being done in the first place.

We have this idea in our heads when we go to Asia that all the students are very well behaved and that they will all be very intelligent and well educated. That was my stereotypical thoughts of what teaching here would be like. I found that quite often exam results are very low in my schools, the students often don’t pay any attention at all in classes and this is usual in a lot of schools here. The students talk when the teachers are talking which means they are not listening at all, so the teachers quite often then go and get their portable microphone and just talk more loudly over the top of the students instead of getting the students to pay attention. This makes teaching English very difficult as they have to be listening to how to pronounce words.

The punishment system in the schools here seems to be based around humiliation, making the students look silly in front of the class. I quite often see students crouched down walking around the school due to some punishment. Often the students are punished for getting questions of tests wrong or doing work wrong, which in England would be seen as the teachers fault not the students. I had it explained to me by a Korean teacher that they try to humiliate them as punishment.

One thing I like here in the schools is how affectionate the students are towards each other. In the all boys’ school, the boys often are walking around school with their arms around each other like brothers. They sit on each others knees on the bus home from school and often hold on to each other to keep someone else from falling on the bus. In the UK students would give each other a black aye if someone put their arms around somebody let alone sit on their knee. You see the boys arranging each others hair and cuddling which is totally alien to me from customs back home.

Even the adults are very tactile here too, which can seem a little uncomfortable at times. I knew about this before I came but still have had to stop it sometimes as I felt is was getting a little inappropriate. I do feel there is a lot of homosexuality hidden in amongst it too, which is never really talked about, especially with some of the older men. Having your inner thigh stroked by a drunken male teacher isn’t what I call just being friendly. There seems to be different thoughts about this here too. Some people you ask, say it is normal that people touch each other a lot here and other Korean people say that it’s not normal for men to be touching other men’s legs or thighs. I have known of western men having to ask some of the female teachers to stop touching them as much as it sometimes gets to the point of stroking legs or the patting of bums.

Often I would find my arm hair being pulled by students on the bus as I am hanging on for dear life as the bus drivers have no regard to the fact that their bus is full of passengers and most are standing. Lots of elderly woman here end in hospital with broken bones or fractured ribs all because the bus driver can’t drive smoothly. They leap on the accelerator and then jump on the brake which makes the ride very uncomfortable.

I do find that although the students aren’t behaved that well that in general it’s not like the bad behavior of students that teachers face everyday teaching in England. I now have a lot of respect for the good teachers in England that can teach well and all with no means of controlling the classed all due to litigation. The teachers that I can remember that had me so interested in certain subjects and all because they were just good teachers, have now gone up in my opinion as many teachers here, even with the stick, still have great difficulty controlling their classes. Student’s here are not the aggressive type that we have England now, where they will threaten to knock your lights out if you try to teach them anything. They are naughty here, but it is never done with malice or with anger. All the naughty things they do are just childish things like throwing bits of paper at each other.

One funny incident was a day I had sideburns, and while I had my back to the students they had all fashioned themselves sideburns out of black sticky tape. When I turned around they were all sitting there like Vic Reaves dressed as George Best. You can’t help but laugh sometimes which is much more pleasant than feeling your temperature and stress levels rise because some grubby person’s kid has promised to knock you out and steal your car.

Teaching is in fact very easy here in Korea. The hardest part is the interactions with the other Korean teachers. The are often very shy people who become very embarrassed when faced with talking to a westerner. Asking a question often results in the Korean person covering their mouths and giggling or trying to make a quick exit. I often find some will try and walk past you in the corridor and pretend you are not there or they haven’t seen you so they are not faced with the task of having to say hello. At times the staff rooms can feel a very lonely place and no matter how hard you try with your Korean they sometimes will simply not understand what you are trying to say. No matter how correct you think you are they may still have no clue of what you are saying or be able to work out what you might be saying.

If someone said in England I am looking for Blondon you could work out that they are looking for London but in Korea the sound of the word is very important and also the length of the sound. The same sound long and short could be a different word. So it may seem hard for us to understand why they can’t understand our Korean efforts at all. It took me about 2 months before I didn’t have to say to the taxi driver that I wanted to go to Chungmu middle school more than 4 times before he knew what I was saying.

We have to realize that we may have read and learned as much as we can about someone’s culture and customs, before we go, but it never quite prepares you properly for what you will experience. Be prepared for people to not really be aware of your culture too and to realize that you are different. Often I’m looked at funny because I don’t like something or because I do something a certain way and they just don’t understand that I am different to them. I always try to remember that what I am about to say or do could be the wrong thing or offend someone so I try to do things that I know will be accepted. Often this doesn’t happen the other way around as in areas Korea foreign people are still very alien to them, so they may not change the way the act or the things they say as what we do as travelers in new cultures.

Often people will be very racist towards you without ever knowing they are being racist as they aren’t really aware of what racism is fully. Sometimes I will challenge things people say as I think that is right to do that, but a lot of things you have to just let go and bite your lip as people do think differently about things and that is something I have learned over the last two years traveling around this colourful and interesting planet.

Hopefully this will sound more light hearted than negative as teaching in Korea has really been a good experience. Yes I have faced racism, misunderstandings, sometimes very lonely times but I have also gained so many experiences and memories that I will take with me for ever. I think that if I had known about the area I was more I would have maybe taken a position in Seoul.

Packedin Korea, Tongyeong

iainob1 — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 12:36:00 GMT

Packedin Korea, Tongyeong.

When do I get to my apartment? Was the question that kept entering my head every five minutes as I sat at 4pm in the principles office at Chungmu Middle School.

I arrived in Pusan airport very early in the morning, expecting to be picked up by someone from my supporting teaching agency. On pushing my trolley out of the arrivals gate I realized that no one was there waiting for me. After the initial “ agh no way” and then laughing about the situation I dragged all of my bags over to the information desk, at the back of the lounge. The woman straight away rang the agency for me and I was told someone would be there for me in about an hour.

After my hour wait I was picked up by a very smart dressed Korean man who apologized and then drove me not straight to Tongyeong where I thought I would be going, but to the education department where I was to have an interview. Luckily I had traveled wearing a shirt and trousers, which meant I was smart enough, I hoped.

During the interview I had to fight my case for being paid as a fully qualified teacher as they didn’t quite understand the information I had given them. I eventually explained well enough to gain my true pay scheme. I was introduced to my co teacher, who seemed very nervous at first around the education officials. I later learned this is just the way Korean people are with people in authority.

From the education offices I was then taken the two hours it takes to drive to Tongyeong. My co teacher tells me she is taking me to the school to meet everybody as they were looking forward to meet me. I was a month over due in Korea, as it took longer than expected to gain all the necessary paper work from the very efficient uk systems, not! This meant the teachers and students were even more excited about me arriving.

Arriving at the school, now quite tired my Korean experience started. You never quite get over the way some Korean people will stare at you like the way you see a child staring at someone with a physical disability. It’s a bit like the way you see someone staring into a baby’s pram watching the every move of a baby, bent over at the knees, head to one side.

I had a meeting with the principle before being taken up to the staff room and shown to my desk. I was then lead, by my arm, to the front of middle of the room where a microphone was shoved in my hand and I was encouraged to say something to address the room of teachers. I now wished I had burst into unforgettable by Nat Kin Cole.

I was taken back down stairs for another meeting in which I sat listening to about an hour of people talking Korean and no one telling me what was happening or being said.

As time goes by in Korea you will get used to that. I have spent many a time out for meals where not one word will be said to you. It’s just the way they are, even if they can speak English, they find it too embarrassing to try: so they spend a lot of time trying to avoid contact with you.

Later I was finally taken to my apartment accompanied by the principle, deputy principle, the finance lady and my co-teacher. I must admit being a little taken back how small the apartment was as all the pictures of other peoples apartments in the research I had done were a lot bigger. Mine was a one roomed apartment with bathroom and small wash area. The apartment was also supposed to be furnished, but apart from a bed and a table it was completely bare.

I was next taken to the lotte shopping centre to buy me a bed set as there were non in the apartment. They picked me out the one that no one would ever pick out for a man of my age, it was probably one that someone had ordered and then not turned up for a laugh. I was finally left to my own devices at 9pm with out any food and so tired I could hardly stand. I decided against walking out to find food as I had found I was already asleep.

Photos: Packedin teacher trip

iainob1 — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:08:00 GMT

Gallery: Packedin Summer class

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Gallery: Packedin TongYeong Marine Sports

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Gallery: Packedin Tongyeoung

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Gallery: Packedin New Zealand

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Gallery: Packed in Korea Okpo

iainob1 — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 21:07:00 GMT

Okpo

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Gallery: Packedin Vorovoro, Fiji

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Gallery: Fiji underwater

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Gallery: Packedin Fiji Main Island

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Packedin Agnes Waters

iainob1 — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 17:09:00 GMT

Agnes Waters

Agnes Waters was a very pleasant surprise. I had no idea of what to expect, as I had not even heard of the town until speaking to someone at Rainbow Beach.

I hadn’t made a reservation for anywhere to stay in Agnes Waters, I just left that to a wing and a pray. I talked with a girl, who was staying at a hostel that sounded nice, so I just decided to go along and see if here were any beds available. When we arrived in Agnes Waters the hostel bus was waiting at the Greyhound bus drop off point which then took us on a tour around the town, to show us all that the place had to offer. After a quick stop off at the bottle shop we headed to the hostel.

The hostel seemed more like a resort when we arrived. It was an amazing place with a great swimming pool and each room was an alpine lodge with it's own private bathroom. The main building which was an open fronted large aluminium shed, Shed being used lightly, as it was a great building that gave you the sense of relaxation from the outset. In the large grounds, with its own lake, stood a Buddhists temple adawned with relaxing hammocks. I was very impressed with this hostel as it was the first place where I could truly feel like I could relax and chill out for a few days.

The members of staff were very helpful and friendly and would stop and have a good conversation with you. They had various activities linked with the hostel all bookable through the hostel such as a national park walks day and a ‘scooteroo’ scooter tour.

I booked myself onto both these trips which were great. The scooter tour was especially good, which was a three hour trip around Agnes Waters and 1770 (the town) on a chopper style scooter that could get you travelling around 110 kph if you wanted to. What a site it is to see about 25-30 scooters, all in a line in your rear view mirror, flying along on country type roads heading to see a sunset along the coast in 1770. I even manage to get a second night’s trip free as I help the guy who ran the trip out by making sure everyone got across the roads safely and helped people out at the back. But be warned it does get you hooked on bikes and already I’m planning to buy a bike as soon as I am settled somewhere.

On the morning, I had booked to be on the Greyhound bus to Airley Beach, I heard that there was a free trip out to the reef on a brand new boat that had just been launched and they were wanting to do a test run of the boat and crew. After rearranging my bus journey and hostel booking I headed out onto the reef for a day of snorkelling. The boat was impressive and it was great to be the first person to put the wet suit and snorkel gear on without it already been worn and wet. The down side to the trip was the fact that my water proof camera, after 5 minutes snorkelling, proved not to be water proof so a new camera cost me about the same as the trip would have cost if I had payed for it.

Agnes waters and 1770 is a place I would advice everyone to stop off at especially as it would break up the very long journey from Rainbow Beach to Aireley Beach that some people do.

Packedin Fraser Island

iainob1 — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 16:05:00 GMT

Fraser Island Part 1

Early in the morning eleven of us backpackers worked together, instructions in hand, to pack a large 4x4 vehicle roof rack and all with all we would need for two nights and three days over on Fraser Island.

Even with a picture of where everything should go on the roof rack provided it took some of the group members a little longer than it should have to get everything packed neatly onto the roof. After almost another hour of talks and demonstrations of how the vehicle works and safety briefs we finally set off to the ferry crossing which would take us over to Fraser. It was a cloudy day that gave an impression of rain a coming and our first driver didn’t fill the group with much confidence of their driving ability as we kangarooed and weaved along the roads leading to the crossing while the driver attempted to search through songs on their IPod instead of concentrating on driving. Yells of “no just drive” came from the back as the driver kept asking if they wanted another song putting on.

Driving off the ferry and into the soft sand was an exhilarating feeling that we were about to spend three days on our own being self sufficient for the time spent on the island. We knew the tide times that meant we knew the safe times to drive along on the beaches. Driving rules on a beach are the same as any normal road in Australia, they have speed limits and the same passing rules as any two way street. Every so often you have to bump across a river outlet that could be quite a drop and quite deep so the drivers had to keep their wits about them. The other tracks that we could use with the 4x4’s were these extremely rocky tracks that winded and snaked their way around the island. The driving was a bit of a challenge for anybody who had never had any experience of this type of terrain. Some learnt quickly while others never really quite got the technique of driving smoothly and not turning the wheel too drastically which will make the top heavy vehicle roll from side to side making it very uncomfortable for those in the back. Another trick is to keep the revs up high and be in the right gear before you hit whatever obstacle is upon you.

Our first stop was at the famous Lake McKenzie were countless travellers have got a group photo of all of them in mid air jumping as the photograph was taken. Unfortunately the scene that met us was a very over cast cloudy place that didn’t quite give the lake its usual beauty. The group had to agree to come back on the last day before we would head back over on the car ferry.

One thing that makes younger travellers stand out is the way they can be so indecisive. They almost have to be told what to do as when confronted with a question or a choice they just freeze and become unable to speak. They can never just tell you what they want to do or give their opinion instead they bottle it up and they only ever let it come out when they get vexed at someone then they will go on a rant about how the other person is to blame. So often during the trip we would try to arrange things together for say the next day or the arrangements for camps or meals and all that would happen was that would people would stand about saying nothing or go off and do their own thing which was no help to anyone. Sometimes I would find myself stood on top of the vehicle with a heavy cooler box in my arms ready to pass it down to the next person who would then decide there was something better they could be doing so would just turn away and head off with me stood there having my arms pulled out of their sockets. I would then have to shout out before anyone would come and help. It seems that people these days are so afraid of making a fool of themselves they would rather do nothing than getting stuck in and helping out the group.

I was in my element during the short time I had to drive the 4x4 I have had a lot of experience driving different types of vehicles. In the soft sand of the camp site tracks you can keep the revs up high and just glide the vehicle around the tracks which gives for an exciting ride for the people in the back.

Packedin Rainbow Beach

iainob1 — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 15:50:00 GMT

Rainbow Beach

Rainbow Beach is a good gateway to the Fraser Island trips that most backpackers and travellers will want to experience. Rainbow Beach is a very compact little town that has great beaches and a Sunset on a sand dune to die for. The Greyhound drops you outside the main hostels in this petite town that service the Fraser island trips. Lines of 4x4’s sit in the car park behind the Dingos hostel awaiting their eleven backpackers who will be taking ownership of them the following morning.

The hostel is a great place to meet people as everyone is there for the same reasons as you so it makes it easier for people to get along and have a chat as they all have something in common. The Kitchen was a bit cramped which made it quite difficult to cook for yourself, which made the cheap hostel meals seem more appealing than the actual taste.

The day before my Fraser Island trip I met the group I would be sharing three days and two nights with. It was so surprising how many people had booked the trip and didn’t realise that it was a camping trip, a lot, I think, thought that they would be staying in hostels. I can’t believe that people still seem to not ask any questions when booking trips and tours and it doesn’t say much for the tour operators selling them either.

After watching a brief video of the fore coming trip and learning how folding arms and hiding your nipples has the effect of being able to scare off the wild dingos that inhabit the island, I don’t think so, the room came alive with excited backpackers planning their trip together in groups.

Packedin Noosa

iainob1 — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 15:32:00 GMT

After leaving a night early from the hostel in Brisbane I hitched a ride with a couple of guys who suggested to try the Dolphin hostel in Noosa. We shared the petrol and headed off in an old campervan which actually suited the guys well having half finished paint work and a large fake skull on the dashboard.

The Dolphin hostel is a brightly painted pink hostel which is set up around a walled courtyard with rooms set around it and also a line of rooms behind with an almost outdoor bathroom situated at the end of the row. After quite a cold night under just a light cotton sheet, which seems to be the norm in Queensland, I had to sneak out my sleeping bag for the sequential nights. All the hostels have a no sleeping bag policy to try and stop the spread of bed bugs, which I can understand but I do wish they would give duvets during the winter months as it is very cold at night.

The hostel tries to sell itself as a chill out relaxation hostel but really does miss the mark although it is a nice hostel, one of the better ones I have been in during my now five month stay in Australia. I know it’s hard to judge what the hostels will be like from reading reviews, as it does depend on the people staying there, but you get a feel for them as soon as you arrive what type of place it is going to be and I wish there was a good review system for hostels or some genuine reviews by seasoned travellers and not just by the party people.

At first glances the hostel looks as if it is going to be a chillout hostel with hammocks, large comfy outdoor sofas and Buddhism symbols all about, but after a night there you soon find out that it is another hostel like most of the rest. The hostel is a good one and all the people were nice who were there at the time. If you get to stay longer than a couple of days you will meet new friends. I would recommend it to anyone just don’t go with an impression of a hostel to have a quiet chilled time but also it won’t be a loud party fest either so don’t worry.

Noosa it’s self is split into different areas the main being Noosa Heads and Noosa Junction. There is a lovely walk along a promenade along the river and also in the national park areas. You could even be lucky to see a Koala in a tree in the hostel. The small town has two main roads with shops and cafes which can be nice lit up at night. A few people I met there had been back and forth a few time between Brisbane and Noosa to experience both a city night life and then the sun soaked beaches and town in Noosa.

Packedin Brisbane

iainob1 — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 15:29:00 GMT

Brisbane feels a lot slower and more relaxed than the bustling Sydney that hits you when you step off the plane on the first day on your Aussie experience. You can walk up the streets in the city centre at a slower pace and not feel your keeping people from getting on with their business.

The first thing you notice in Brisbane is the amount of Irish backpacking revellers that are in every bar and hostel drinking and noise making, which is fine as you will meet a lot of great people, but it can get a little tedious after a couple of days. A lot of the Irish guys are working during the day doing various labouring jobs and then hit the bars immediately after work and don’t even seem to have time to change out of their work gear, including aluminous day glow vests. Funnily enough each hostel room will have a drunk guy still in his day glow vest crashed out in bed stinking out the room with the smell of old B.O and linx spray no matter what the time of day.

The area down near the Botanical gardens and river side in Brisbane is a great place to have a wander and a stroll. Various cafes and restaurants line alongside the river which will look great all lit up at night. In the middle of this area is a street beach with salt water and sand that has bikinis and speedos sunbathing not too far away from the shops and bars. Various free concerts appear in a small stadium here, I could hear the high warbles of Japanese opera as I was heading past.

There are various hostels quite near each other just a little walk from the main city streets some better than others I stayed in the only Brisbane to offer free internet and had both wireless and computers to use. I think in this day and age all the hostels should be offering free wireless at least as not that many people travel with their laptops especially when they charge the same price for using wireless and their computers. One day and their monthly internet bill is paid I’m sure they can afford it. I’m positive that the offer of free wireless would bring in more people I for one would be more likely to go somewhere that did.

Packedin Byron Bay

iainob1 — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 15:22:00 GMT

Arriving in Byron Bay was a bit like arriving at an empty resort town out of season.

Looking out of the bus windows I gazed upon strangely deserted streets and shop fronts that had my almost saying out loud “where are all the people? It was a bit like when arriving at your hotel late at night on one of those package holidays and you suddenly realise it is going to be not quite what you expected.

I was expecting a busy touristy town with people marching up and down the main street in search of their next scooner of beer. Everything that people had told me about Byron was exactly what was not in front of my eyes. “was it half day closing I could hear myself saying?” and also “I would hate to see it on a quiet night”. Had they closed Byron Bay before my arrival? had someone tipped them off about my imminent arrival and decided they couldn’t cope with my conversations about string theory or my in depth knowledge of the mating calls of the migrating desert wolf bass? (which just so happens to be my number one chat up conversation).

I hoped the hostel would make up for the seemingly lack of people on the streets and on check in I could hear the familiar sound of drinking backpackers. After staying in farms and having a quite couple of weeks in Bellingen I liked the idea of spending a few days meeting people and socialising. One of the biggest problems with hostels is that meeting people realize on the layout and communal areas being set out in a way that would promote socialising. Unfortunately the hostel just didn’t seem to get this right at all. There was no comfortable indoors sitting relaxing area where people could sit in poor weather and chat and socialise. The kitchen was so uncomfortably cramped that it didn’t inspire you to get in there and cook, and the only area that one could sit was the outside eating and sitting area where roommates sat together on picnic style benches.

It would be interesting to hear the different experiences that different people have in hostels as unless you are sharing a room with likeminded or talkative and social people meeting people even in hostels can be difficult. Some people seem to be always in great rooms with nice people who all want to meet people. I was finding that I was seemingly getting a bit of a rough deal with the hostels I have been staying at. Every room I have stayed in so far has been sharing with quiet or solitary non talkative people. I would either be in a room on my own or I would be in with people who would get up at the crack of dawn and disappear for the whole day then be in bed asleep by nine o’clock. I never seem to get the chance to talk with people or to go out with my room mates as a group, which other people around me were seemingly doing all the time. I can imagine those people who are travelling on their own, perhaps for the first time, would get to feel quite lonely if this kept happening to them especially if they are not used to travelling or spending any length of time on their own.

Packedin Bellingen

iainob1 — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 15:09:00 GMT

A rest in Bellingen.

“I was only planning to stay one or two days” is a statement you here from most of the residents who reside in the Bellingen hostel.

After working on farms and helping in lodges for a few months a Bellingen rest is just what was needed. I had booked for four days and was brought to the hostel from Macksville by the hostel owner early that Monday morning. The hostel is a fairly new building that was built in an early period style to replicate the original buildings of the area. Although the building sits at the back of a car park once you enter into its grounds everything faces down toward the river and gives you a serene lush green view overlooking the river and nearby hills. A large half covered deck sits to the rear of the building which sits many of the residents all looking as chilled out as each other.

One of the real appeals of this place is the range of people that visit and stay here long term. The broad range of the ages of the people who gather to chat means that there is always someone to chat with and to try and put the world to rights. Once you get yourself parked on a seat on the deck it is very hard to remove yourself and force yourself to move on. My stay lasted for two weeks although I could have easily stayed longer sitting around the fire on an evening discussing everything from world politics to conspiracy theories. Some days the hostel fills up with families escaping the city life or the passing through backpacker that is keeping to a tight schedule.

I found that this place gives you the opportunity to slow down a little, to be able to do nothing if that is what you want to do. Stay a while and you will know when it is time to leave, wether you are heading north to Byron or south down to Sydney, a rest in Bellingen will do you good.