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Backpacker Budget Tips

AUSTRALIA | Monday, 5 February 2007 | Views [1008]

Nothing like sleeping in late on a Monday and not having to rush to do anything. Our second day in the beautiful seaside town of Robe brought us windy cool weather, with dolphins playing in the surf in front of our camp. I have that song playing in my head "she always brings the weather," because literally, we arrive and it's blistering hot to these beautiful towns, and then the weather turns windy and cold. "That's just South Australia" says a Perth local. I guess I won't make too much of it, but I'm dying to get out for a surf but it's been too much of the wrong wind to hold up a good wave. We met two women from the Netherlands today who shared with us traveling tips from having spent years on living on the road in Australia, surviving on $7/day for food. 1) Always go first to the Jetty in any new town, and get a lay of the sea for fishing, you should catch your own dinner. A crayfish net would have been helpful in this town. 2) Hit up Woolworths (national grocery chain) bottom rows in the vegetable aisle for fresh produce that's been reduced in cost to cents. 3) Bushcamp 16K's outside of town borders, it's free and you'll have the beaches to yourself. Be careful, and alert thought, to who might pull up next to you, as several years ago there were backpacker killings. We have a 4th one to add to the list: don't by the preprepared lamb schnitzel, or for that matter, and breaded or prepared meat/fish from the grocery store. There's a reason it's got covering all over it, to cover up that the meat's gone bad. No matter how much on a budget you are, buy the real stuff from the butcher shops and you'll end up with something actually to eat. We've done this twice now, once with lamb, and another time with chicken satay. They looked so good in the store - kind of the way Seaside Market at home in Cardiff has their nicely displayed food to go. Don't be fooled, the only thing that should be eating that stuff is the family pet.

Tags: Budgets & money