There and Back Again

All Good Things

spongey — Tue, 20 May 2008 22:15:00 GMT

Come to an end, some of them come to a premature end, like my participation in this round the world trip.

For those of you that haven't heard 3rd party, or that i haven't yet seen myself, i am infact home in England.

After (what i believe) was Dengue Fever (straight after my harrowing foot infection) i didn't have the strength, be it mental or physical, to psych myself up for beginning my malaria tablet course (and the host of potential side effects that went with it).

The time its taken me to put this post up, indicates what state i was in when i returned home, i've been for numerous blood tests, and am ordered to live "cleanly" and rest until i recover from the viral beating my body has taken.

So for me, the trip is over, and will have to look at returning at some point (when im more financially secure) in order to complete the leg that i was denied 1st time around

Just like living in Paradise

spongey — Tue, 1 Apr 2008 10:00:00 GMT

Amazing here! friendly, extremely hot and just wow its so relaxing here, quiet and time just seems to stand still.

I haven't got to see much here, as im hobbling round with a bacterial infection on my foot (my spongeness won me that one) when i got off the plane i couldnt walk.

Mark the owner of the campsite and bungalows we are staying at is the most enthusiastic person on the island, we were cooking some tahitian food and he demanded to know when we were cooking so he could come in and make sure we got it right and enjoyed it.

Frustrating that my camera couldn't do me justice out here, but thats life, looking forward to being more active and able on easter island, what with the cooler climate and my foot improving daily.

get out and see those stone heads!

Take one

spongey — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 04:49:00 GMT

its the 29th of march, i fly in just over 5 hours and i haven't slept yet.

our goodbye last super turned into a goodbye party that went on and on!

the reason i stated the date, is because the party was the night of the 28th / morning of the 29th, when i get to tahiti it will once more be the 28th.

That means i get to live last night AND today, all over again, interesting spacial issues there... but the most fun thing is, that living the same day and a bit over again means that when i tell people "i feel older than my years" it will finally be true!

Only other comment about tonight, and really the trip in general is, that when i left england, i had no idea that i would meet people, people who come into your life that you only know for a day, a week, a tiny period of time, but because their involved in the same adventure as you, there as far away from home as you. The bonds made are really quite strong quite quickly, and its strange how intense the feeling of loss is that not only are you leaving that person, but that you may never see them again, and you definitely wont see them for a while.

The road goes on

spongey — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 06:39:00 GMT

The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say.

the adventure continues, saturday i leave to my own island paradise, kick up the ass after the comparative lethargy of being in sydney for 3 months.

tarnished a little (ok more than a little) by having my camera and ipod stolen from my hostel this week...

but positive thoughts, onto places im very very lucky to be getting to see!

New Photos

spongey — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:17:00 GMT

Got round to adding my sydney photos, all the way back from christmas day...

there are new gomez photos... but there not for the faint hearted...

and theres even the back of raúl's head!

enjoy

Gallery: Sydney

spongey — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:00:00 GMT

walking round the city day and night

Gallery: New Years Eve

spongey — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 17:58:00 GMT

fireworks and the harbour in sydney

Cooking Comments

spongey — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 20:05:00 GMT

As much as i dislike my own head swelling (as certain people tell me it's too big already) we most definitely are the talk of the hostel kitchen

We're either popular because we cook well (we have people commenting that they like watching us cook..) which scared me the first time i heard it!

Other people like us because were from yorkshire, the way we talk and what we say, this is slightly more calming than the cooking comments.

Spanish night is tomorrow night (as long as it doesn't mess with raúl's House watching... as people would die if it did. We are cooking a small spanish dish to serve up for people we don't even know....

and then! thursday is our evening of the cook off, the ladies made us lemon chicken, and on thursday we are going to try the unthinkable... apparently we are going to make dessert!

reason i'm writing this all now, is because its raúl's birthday on friday AND st patrick's weekend... and i know that gomez has been sitting around the hostel room with nothing to do, and is going to go out and paint the town red... (think his female companion is driving him to the drink) so i will be spending most of the weekend helping him (and probably raúl) recover

Survived!

spongey — Sun, 2 Mar 2008 20:04:00 GMT

This weekend was Mardi Gras here in Sydney, which doesn't sound too menacing all on its own, until you discover its actually Gay and Lesbian mardi gras and its the biggest one in the world.

We hid ourselves away from the cavorting going on in the streets, and the couple of times we did venture out it was deadly. I was nearly swept away a few times by groups of people where the number of items of clothing didnt total higher than the total number of people (that includes hats and feather boas) which seemed to be out in force.

raúl seemed to spend the majority of his time outside pressed against walls and leaving me to my own devices when it came to confronting a mob of "party goers" Though i suppose i can accept he had his own problems on that front, his dorm room was invaded for the whole weekend by the "enemy" and he was particularly concerned of returning to sleep in case any of them had pulled and were entertaining friends in the bunk above him.

Other than that, the previous week or so has been almost uneventful, raúl has a job, which is killing him slowly day by day. He returns home with a new injury after every single shift, the only thing getting him through the days seem to be a manically depressed work collegue called Denzil.

On his first day of work his injuy came from a purchase of new shoes, they fell apart (insert dramatic hand movement) and ripped his feet to shreds. Because his work shifts made it impossible to get to the shop to deal with this, he asked me to go in.

The manager (who doesn't turn up to the shoe until 2pm on any given day) informed me that the shoes had been repaired because that was policy, after i told him we didnt want repairs as any shoes that required repairing after one days wear were frankly worthless. He let me know he didnt care, that they were his shoes not mine and that it was all about what he wanted and i could go to hell.

I think i finally understand the helpless feeling that descends on people in a 1 sided relationship.

Raúl has a day off tomorrow, and is intending to go and do battle with "mr turd the shoeman" im wondering what new injury he will return with...

Typical

spongey — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 21:23:00 GMT

we had decided to move up the coast from Sydney this weekend, head towards Newcastle, the Hunter Valley and basically get sloshed on a wine tour or six...

however, this afternoon (while im catching up on sleep that "animal farm" my 50+ roommate has stolen from me) i got a phonecall from the agency that works for the paintball company, and of course they want me...

so monday afternoon at 2pm i'm either starting work, or going for an interview or, i have no idea what im doing other than knowing im not going to newcastle this weekend.

Morning after the nights before

spongey — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 08:28:00 GMT

In the overall contest of who has had the scarier, creepier roomates raúl is so far infront of me its not even really a contest.

Yet over the last few days (it seems like much much longer) the "tattoed man" has taken up residence in one of the bunks by the door in my room.

He's old, long grey hair in a pony tail and he's covered all over in tattoos, but thats not really anything to be scared of, what the problem is... is the noises he makes when he is asleep.

He snores like a chainsaw, talks in his sleep in a language none of us have heard before, and he moans and groans enough for a roman orgy...

Thats why at 8am in the morning, having only returned to my room at 4 this morning... i've been chased out trying to remove the sounds from my mind and struggling to think of something else to write here.

only other thing... Gomez found himself (or rather received for christmas) a female bear companion. I dont like her, she's never ready on time... she gets annoyed when i keep Gomez out on the beer all night, and she just whines and whines.

BUT she needs a name, and i dont intend to give her one :P

so... comment away with a name for Gomez's companion come domestic slave, only thing im really glad of is that my bag isn't full of tiny baby bears...

Who needs a job

spongey — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 00:12:00 GMT

Like to start this entry with two congratulations, though they are rather different.

Firstly its my brothers birthday today, so that deserves celebrating, think ill be popping for a beer or few after i've written this to do just that.

Secondly Kristen, a good friend of mine from Italy has had me worried about a rather serious operation she had to undergo. Thankfully it was 100% successful and thus congratulations to her, another reason to go drinking (if ever i needed one) in order to celebrate.

Now, as those of you who have been talking to me the joy search, which has been going on close to a month now, still shows no signs of actually producing anything worthwhile. Actually when i say worthwhile, i really mean produce anything AT ALL!

That is one reason why i haven't been posting on here anywhere near as regularly as in Denmark, or even when i was in Canberra. My life has descended into sleeping in, drinking and passing the time either reading, watching films or playing poker with my room mates.

I've been saving up more interesting stuff to add to my blog when i think theres enough to make a decent post, rather than adding it in tiny little bits.

I've had a tussle with a rather large black man, who had stolen an exceptionally small chinese man's bumbag full of money and was running down the street (and through people). I'd like to say i was very brave and extremely helpful, but in truth i was directly in his way and didn't get out of it in time. Being swept along clinging to one of the man's huge arms and waiting for enough men to be wrapped around him in order to bring him down. There was a tangle with a security guard who came to our aid and almost handcuffed me, but in the end the chinese man got his money back and i left the black man on the floor once id managed to untangle myself.

Sticking with the chinese, it was new year recently, slightly annoyed i had sttopped taking my camera with me on an evening. I encountered one of those large dragons i'd only ever seen on televison, also most corners were covered with drifting smoke from scores of firecrackers being set off, was almost like standing before a firing squad.

Then this weekend, last night raúl went off with some of his roomates to watch the six nations matches, and i found myself wandering around half at a loss what to do, and the other half of me certain i didnt want to watch another film or do anymore reading. I found myself dancing the night away of all things, which was quite a refreshing experience surrounded by people i didnt know, and would likely never see again.

Then tonight, and what pushed me to make this post, i went to the casino, after once more been filled with the notion of not wanting to sit in and do the same things again. I went in with 100 dollars (normally its 50 but the stakes here are higher than in melbourne) and i came away with 200..

all i need to do is continue like that! and i no longer need a job

Time Flys

spongey — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 21:58:00 GMT

When your sat about not doing much of anything?

didn't seem to notice its been 15 days since my last journal entry...

Don't worry, i've not gotten bored with this process or anything to cause all my avid followers undue stress.

Simply put, im still in Sydney, lazing my days away playing computer games and reading my way through the wheel of time series. All the while waiting on e-mail responses about prospective jobs and interviews from various agencies.

All in all... not really bloggable material...

the only real thing of interest is, that while we are in the same hostel again (with a reasonable kitchen) we are cooking again... taking it in turns to come up with meal ideas on a daily basis.

Tomorrow its a curry... light i never even thought of cooking a curry before!

Magic Hour

spongey — Tue, 1 Jan 2008 02:45:00 GMT

Well today is now the 1st of January, its almost 3am and i've had that much of a fun and exciting time that i didnt want to wait any longer before writing it down.

The day didn't start off amazingly well.... falling asleep in the park earnt me sunburn on both my legs which has me in agony (testiment to the evening that most of the night i didnt know it was there)

had to find my way to meet raúl and his friends on the other side of the harbour, i only found this out when the last ferry had just sailed. Finding a train, then a taxi took time and effort in crowds of people milling and surging around everything. I felt like i was in the war of the worlds, or actually any other movie that holds mass evacuation of people

The taxi ride was hampered by certain roads being closed to allow pedestrian access, the entire reason i had to take the train was due to the harbour bridge being closed ready for setting off the fireworks.

Needless to say i made it safely and just on time for the 1st set of fireworks on the opposite side of the harbour.

Come midnight, the harbour was packed with boats all garishly garnished with neon lighting and signage, the sides of the harbour were lined with people waiting for the display.

People were not disappointed, ten minutes of continuous fireworks, launched from the bridge, boats on the river, and even the highrise buildings of the city that were closest had launchers on them.

Colour changes, shape changes, reflections of the colours in the harbour water and the glass of the buildings, my words dont do justice to the display... and the photos i took were half arsed at best.. as the majority of the time i was watching with my mouth wide open.

But the magic didnt end there! after getting a free nonestop bus ride back to the station, i walked through the city still devoid of cars, people sprawled everywhere, hordes of people in the middle of the road.

Walking hand in hand with complete strangers

Having lightsaber fights with glowsticks

singing and dancing in the street

actually seeing police officers smiling!

and quite a few other things all in the middle of the street on my way back to this internet cafe

i know i miss my family, but i also know i might never have another new year like this one

Two Horse Towns

spongey — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:05:00 GMT

Heading down from Kakadu national park towards Katherine we passed a few places that deserve a mention, Pine Creek and Emerald Springs... i thought Hebden Bridge was small back home...

Emerald Springs is three buildings on the side of the road, and Pine Creek has one of everything, a school, tavern, petrol station (which is also its shop) there great scenic places, it was just an eye openner as to how small they were.

Katherine at least had more than one street in it, even if when we got there on sunday everything was closed. We were also the only white tourist faces i saw walking round the town.

It felt like one of those zombie movies where the tourists in town overnight get assaulted in their hotel / motel room and dont make it through the night.

Though these weren't zombies they were Aboriginal people, and although i'm sure they are (and have been told they are) a gentle and friendly people, they just look so angry! and seem to do nothing but argue all the time, though it does seem to be with themselves.

Monday saw us taking time out in the hot springs in the town, relaxing and swimming was the order of the afternoon, and we came across some strange australian guy talking about how much he disliked Rome for ruining the world, something about jewish people i wasn't listening too and how Kings weren't of this earth

It was an interesting conversation, though one thing he did say i agree with, how amazing the aboriginal knowledge of this land must be if they need nothing but sticks and rocks in order to find enough food not just to survive but to be in some cases fat as well.

Tuesday saw us head out on a tour to Katherine gorge, a system carved out of the rock by the river into 13 gorges. The river had risen over 1 metre overnight while we were there, and we only got into the 1st two gorges.

The views were stunning, the guide very knowledgeable and was just as much fun as the jumping crocodile boat even if not as intense.

Due to lack of accomodation we then began our (or rather my) mammoth 450-500km drive from Katherine (through Litchfield park) to Darwin so we had somewhere to stay.

Litchfield was interesting, magnetic termite mounds that look like oversized headstones, two waterfalls and more of the same picturesque scenery.

The only regret i have of the 1 day mega drive is that i was too tired to want to go down and swim in the waterfalls plunge pool, something on any other day i would have jumped at the chance to get to do

Alone with Nature

spongey — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:53:00 GMT

Setting off for Kakadu national park on the thursday morning was an exilerating experience. We had been stuck in darwin for a week, and although we didn't feel like we had wasted any time, it was good to be getting underway.

At the wheel of my own rented vehicle i felt as free as i had the day i left home two and a half months ago. Yet on arriving at our accomodation in the evening of the same day, i felt ready to break down and cry, i didn't fully understand it then, and i dont now. But Jabiru, a township in the middle of the massive national park is like a ghost town in the wet season, for the majority of our stay in the park felt like we were the only tourists inside the park we were for the most part very much alone with the nature around us.

While darwin had been empty of the flies we had taken for granted in australia, Kakadu was FULL of them, over 1,000 species of them live in the park apparently, and we think we met most of them. Them there are the other species of insect, the ones you can see flying infront of your car at night they are that big.... it was an enlightening experience to how few we get in the UK.

Due to the insect population, the lizard and skink population was just as huge, we were treated to skink hunting on the ceiling of the toilet block and the ceiling of our own accomodation, with them charging with lightning speed across the room (to which they stuck and moved just as fast as they did on any other surface).

Speaking of lightning, after experiencing tropical thunderstorms i don't think ill be interested in our tame european ones ever again. Lightning the likes of which i've never seen, moving in directions i'd never known it could go. varying in colour from bright white, purple and orange. Accompanied with rolls of thunder that shook the ground.

While in the park (we spent three days there) we were able to take in alot of walks and scenery, all of which was magnificent, we took the tourist advice and did the most of our walking in the early morning, staying out of the way in the hottest part of the day, and coming out again at night.

The two most memorable moments for me happened on the last day, the climb upto a lookout over "Anbangbang billabong" was the hardest 250 metres of my life, we had left it a bit late and it was hella hot, the sun was directly above our heads and for 250 metres up this slope it was just me, the sun and the rocks under my feet. I felt when i got to the top that there would be a hole burned in the back of my t-shirt, and that there wasn't going to be enough water in my bottle to unstick my dry lips from each other...

Then i turned round, and the view took all thoughts out of my mind of anything but reaching for my camera.

If i thought that view blew my mind, the view from Ubirr another rock climb (and art site) was even better, the guidebook had said that the sights from the top of the rock were incredible at sunset, but they didn't tell the half of it.

I told raúl that it felt like i was looking back in time, to some prehistoric or primordial scene which had been left unspoilt all that time. The colours and scenery only improved as the sun went down, and for once i didn't even try capture everything with my camera, i think i'd still be there if i tried.

Soap Opera

spongey — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:47:00 GMT

We kicked around in Darwin for a week total, aclimatising to the very different climate to what we were used too, and waiting for Paul the German.

You see Paul has a car, which would have saved on us having to hire one and made for a fun three man trip into the national parks

However, as is usually the case, perks dont come free, and this is very much the case with Paul, who was sharing his car with two rather strange german women.

Well one strange german woman, who seemed to be locked in a power struggle with Paul for control and dominance of the third member of their group (even though Paul wasn't controlling or dominating her)

Anyway, long story short everything exploded when they got to Darwin and it ended up in me and raúl heading off in our own hire car.

The one benefit to having to sit around in darwin for a week and wait was we got to play a game of mini golf, in which i absolutely destroyed him! though he argues he gave up after about halfway, in truth he's just a bad looser.

We also had our first lizard experience on the golf course

Gallery: Litchfield

spongey — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:46:00 GMT

The National Park

Gallery: Katherine

spongey — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:41:00 GMT

Gallery: Kakadu

spongey — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:24:00 GMT

The National Park