Stowing Away

Photos: The winner is... Sid-en-ey

stowaway — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 22:50:00 GMT

various 2012 wanders around Sydney

Photos: World nomads chase 2012

stowaway — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 22:31:00 GMT

Photos: Various pics from my travels

stowaway — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:47:00 GMT

Assorted pics from my travels from my flickr account

Photos: Canyoning

stowaway — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:00:00 GMT

Various canyons in the Blue Mountains, Sydney, Australia

Photos: New Nomads

stowaway — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 08:15:00 GMT

Welcome to our newest World Nomads, Heather & Charlie, who are embarking on the great journey of life. More pics at http://flickr.com/photos/stowawayatsea/

Photos: NSW North Coast

stowaway — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:10:00 GMT

Up the coast from Sydney to Byron Bay & back again

The Great Ocean Road super long titleThe Great Ocean Road super long titleThe Great Ocean Road supe

stowaway — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 14:33:00 GMT

Great ocean road, wind, rain. maybe a video. windey road

March of the Penguins

stowaway — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 12:36:00 GMT

We hightailed it from Wilsons Promontory to try and get to Phillip Island in time for the famous Penguin Parade which starts at dusk. Our research indicated that the good tickets sellout fast, so we drove straight there and got there with an hour to spare. We bought some of the premium tickets to be right at the front of the best viewing area, and then drove off again in search of a camping spot for the Van. Finding one without too much drama in a cheap local caravan park, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed back to the penguin parade viewing complex, just as darkness fell.

After about half an hour of waiting in the stands near the waters edge, the first groups of penguins emerged from the surf and waddled their way up the beach, right next to where we were standing. There is a long -fenced off boardwalk that follows the path that most penguins use to return to their burrows, so you can follow their progress inland until they branch off from their groups and head off to their individual burrows. In some of the burrows you could see some baby penguins anxiously awaiting the return of their parents, bringing dinner from the ocean.

The penguins kept arriving in varying sized groups over the next two hours. Everyone had got very exited when the first group of penguins arrived, and most people had then left the beach & followed that group of penguins up the boardwalk, so that there was almost no-one left other than us to see all the subsequent larger groups of penguins arrive and waddle onwards in force.

After 2 hours, the rangers usher all the tourists out of the viewing complex to give the nesting penguins some peace and quiet. The penguins still arrive at the beach for a few more hours, but at least they won't be disturbed by over enthusiastic visitors. On our way out of the car park, we had to stop the van to allow a pair of penguins to cross the bitumen car park & not get run over by the waiting cars behind us. The penguins seemed unfazed by all the bright headlights and continued on, but their black backs make them blend in easily with the dark bitumen so each night must be quite dangerous for them to cross over the very large carpark and road to get to their distant burrow.

Anyway, it was a very fun & exciting experience to get up close to so many wild penguins. BTW, you are not allowed to take photos of the penguins as the flash disturbs them - they are very strict on this - so these photos here were purchased at the penguin center (quite cheaply), hence no pics of us in them.

The next day we visited a koala sanctuary, a vietnam veterans museum, and passed up the chance to race the ambassador van around the Phillip island racecourse (due to time constraints). I'll write more about these soon!

Wilsons Promontory

stowaway — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 14:28:00 GMT

After spending the night with a pair of savage possums beating our door down to get into our cosy van (maybe because it was raining), we started our long trip straight to Melbourne for some van maintenance, then on to Wilsons Promontory. Thankfully the weather had changed from the 40 degree heat we had experienced up to now, to being much cooler and actually raining! "See you've brought the rain with you", drawled the man leaning against the exit gate, "Are you gunna make it stay?"

The bulk of the day was filled with fun fun freeway driving all the way to Melb, we are an ambitious pair. The rain kept us company.

Moving south from Melbourne and away from sharing roads with traffic-blocking trams & meandering drivers, we headed South-East towards Wilsons Promontory. Driver fatigue highlighted our over-ambitiousness, and we stopped for the night at Leongatha. The next morning discovery of a FREE (yes free!) internet facility in the local community centre made it all worthwhile. Tea & biscuits were plied upon us by the friendly locals, who sat around gossiping while we updated our blog. After about 2 hrs surfing the net on their one & only internet computer, we thought we might be overstaying our welcome, so we thanked them & hit the road south to Wilsons Promontory.

The one & only road into the Promontory National Park is very scenic, winding its way through the bushland & coastal scrub and cresting numerous hills that offered tantalising glimpses of the rugged coastline & bright blue sea with white sandy bays that we were heading towards. The wildlife on the way was plentiful, we almost ran over a meandering wombat, and escorted an echidna crossing the road until it had safely hidden itself in the bush.

When we finally arrived at Tidal River, the furthest south the road goes, it seemed like the entire population of Melbourne had come here to camp. Far from the isolated & pristene wilderness we had expected it to be, the campsite at the end of the promontory road was a sprawling tent city with little room to swing a cat. The nearby beach (Norman Bay) was also very busy - suprisingly so considering the fact it was overcast, windy and intermittently raining.

Outside of the vast camping area, the penninsula is a very beautiful wilderness area, with lots of bushwalks to do - up mountains (well large hills really) with impressive views, or onwards to the southernmost coastline battered by the sea in the wild Bass Strait.

We explored a number of the very pretty beaches, our favourite being 'Squeaky beach' with it's fine white sand, and took lots of photos. All in all, very well worth the trip, but the campsites will be crowded if you go in summer school holiday time!

Driving along, we spotted an Echidna slowly waddling across the road in front of us & swerved to avoid it. We pulled over and watched it finish crossing the road, keeping an eye out for other cars that might come hurtling along. It made it safely and disappeared into the scrub. Unfortunately I didn't get a good photo. Cute little critters.

Next we are off to Phillip Island to see the Fairy Penguin Parade!

Click here to see a google map of Wilsons Promontory

Photos: Great Ocean Road

stowaway — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 13:40:00 GMT

Great Ocean Road with the Ambassador Van. And lots of wind

Ned Kelly's Last Stand

stowaway — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 23:58:00 GMT

Check out our hard hitting Documentary about Ned Kelly's last stand in Glenrowan, Victoria. I have to say I was extremely disappointed with Glenrowan - I guess I was expecting something a bit more impressive considering the towns history with the rather famous Kelly Gang - especially considering it is the towns only real claim to fame.

Several telegraph-pole stumps with childishly painted faces on them are scattered randomly around the area of "Siege St", with no labels or other information highlighting who/where/what they are supposed to mean. The only stump-figure with any labeling is the one supposedly marking where poor Ned fell wounded after being shot in the leg & being unable to stand again with all that ridiculously heavy home-made armour on.

The pic below shows the location where the Glenrowan inn once was, with some more stump-men who are possibly meant to be other members of the Kelly gang. The modern houses directly behind & right next door (cropped out of camera shot as they are that close) are both for sale if you want to buy into a historic location.

Just around the corner, in the souvineer shops, you can buy a suit of plastic replica armour, or numerous t-shirts depicting Ned Kelly riding a motorbike - clearly the Harley Davidson was the key to how the Kelly gang got around so quickly in the 1870's...

In stark contrast, we spent the previous two days in Beechworth, which is a very pretty town, full of wonderful historic buildings which are well preserved & displayed. It has far more authentic Kelly gang displays such as the courthouse where Ned Kelly was imprisoned & tried, and the Bourke museum which contains many Kelly gang artifacts.

The town is also full of enticing antique stores & galleries and has worked hard to keep to it's original style, a walk down the main st is like stepping back in time. With an old style chocolate shop, bakeries, milk bars & pubs with sweeping verandahs, we could have easily spent another day or two staying there. A place not to be missed in our opinion.

Find Beechworth and Glenrowan on google maps.

High Country

stowaway — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 13:51:00 GMT

After a cool night in the van at Thredbo, we grabbed a hearty breakfast and headed up the crackenback chairlift, accompanied by the musical sounds of the continuing weekend long blues festival echoing up from the valley below.

From the top of the chairlift there is a specially constructed walking path to protect the fragile mountain vegetation from the thousands of visitors clumping boots. The path streches almost all the way to Mt Kosciuszko, which was our destination, and reminded me greatly of the Yellow brick road from the Wizard of Oz.

Two hours later we were at the highest point in Australia, without a munchkin in sight. (Yes for those of you that know Tamara she did make it all the way to the top) The views were spectacular, but limited somewhat from the smoke of bushfires that were still burning within the national park. The alpine flowers that dot the rocky windswept mountainside are so small, pretty & delicate, it is suprising how they thrive in such an enviroment of extremes. Even more suprising was the fact that Tamara had so much energy left after the gruelling climb, that she was seen running ahead. (It might have been the promise of a cold beer)

Coming back down into Thredbo we were once again serenaded by the sound of the blues floating up towards us. We were able to get a quick listen to a couple more performers before we departed for Khancoban. The road trip was extremely windey, with some steep ups & downs, but very scenic with tall forests. The occasional kangaroo hopped out on the road further down in front of us as the sun grew lower in the sky. We camped the night in Kahncoban, and visited one of the big hydro-electric power stations that form part of the snowy mountains scheme.

Today we have yet to work out were we are heading next, but we'll be sure to let you know where we end up!

Click for map of where this is

Photos: Threbo Blues Festival 2007

stowaway — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 13:42:00 GMT

Various bands at a Blues Festival in the mountain town of Thredbo

Thredbo Blues festival

stowaway — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 13:20:00 GMT

On Saturday we made it to the Thredbo Blues festival, an annual musical event held in the Thredbo village, which is now in it's 13th year (or 14th year if you count the one that was rudely interupted by a bushfire)

We got to see quite a few bands, many thanks to John for kindly offering us evening passes to see more of the main acts! Apart from the pubs & rooms where the bigger acts played, there were many free outside gigs & jams going on. The music was great and the weather wasn't too hot and the crowds were very enthusastic.

The act that most appealed to us was "The Hands" which features two keyboard players trading chops on a Hammond organ thru a swirling leslie speaker & a clavinet. "The Mighty Reapers" had the crowd dancing in front of the outdoor stage in the village square while Mal Eastick's band kept the Shuss bar hot, sweaty & packed with a very vocal & appreciative crowd.

Check out some of the photos of the bands we saw in the Thredbo blues festival 2007 gallery

Tommorrow we are off to climb Mt Kosciouszko - should make for some sore legs!

Canberra in a Heatwave

stowaway — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 09:40:00 GMT

After a day of travelling in blistering 40+ degree heat, we have arrived in Canberra. Both the van and us struggled a little in the draining heat but we pressed on with a few cooling rest stops. Along the approaches to Canberra by Lake George, a bushfire burned fiercly, blocking the road for some of the day. When we finally passed the bushfire area after dark, the whole hillsides glowed like lava from the embers of the mostly burnt out bush.

Yesterday also reached over 40 degrees (apparently their 3rd hottest day on record), and we sought some respite by going to the National Gallery, which is currently exhibiting "Egyptian Antiquities from the Louvre", which was very interesting. We also checked out the rest of the gallery's works. Jackson Pollocks splattered 'Blue poles' still reminds me of the TV ad about stain-resistant carpet, where the cleaning lady turns up, sees the "artistically splattered" mess everywhere, throws her hands in the air in disgust ("oh Mr Hart!"), and then proceeds to clean it up spotlessly. Apparently that cleaning lady hasn't made it to the National Gallery.

We've also been wandering about Canberra seeing the sights & taking a fair few pics. We caught up with Tam's brother who lives there, and tried out some nice resturaunts. Today we are heading off to Jindabyne and then to Thredbo to catch the blues festival.

Will write more soon!

Photos: Ambassador Van

stowaway — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 13:25:00 GMT

On the road from Sydney to Melbourne in the World Nomads Ambassador Van

Going Nomadic!

stowaway — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 18:00:00 GMT

Well, we've picked up the World Nomads Ambassador Van, and have taken it for a quick spin around sunny Sydney before we head off into the unknown. We have to drop the van off in Melbourne, but we will decide our path to get there as we go. Canberra should be our first major stop, the hopefully off to the Blues festival in Thredbo for some exciting musical feasts! Anyway, the road is calling, so will write some more soon!

Volcanoes & Earthquakes: Tanna Island, Vanuatu

stowaway — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 17:01:00 GMT

So there we were, quietly sitting in the airport terminal munching on a sandwich waiting for our flight to Tanna when suddenly the ground shakes & ceiling fans start wobbling wildly. Earthquake!!!

We looked at each other, then at the floor - which while it didn't look to be moving, certainly felt like standing on the deck of a small boat in a swell. Hmmm, maybe we should go outside.... Suddenly the tremor stops after about 15 seconds & a babble of talking breaks out inside the terminal.

We are about to get on a light aircraft to fly for an hour to an active volcano - was the earthquake a really big eruption & is there now a Tsunami moving our way?

The plane ride was without incident & provided us some great views over Efate Island, many coral reefs and a low fly-in over rugged Tanna. We quickly checked into our modest grass-hut accomodation (complete with 3 hours of electricity a day) and organised a 4WD to get us to Yassur volcano (about 2hrs away on the other side of the island, reached via rugged & muddy 4wd tracks), hoping to get there before the sun went down.

Crossing the vast ash-plain that surrounds the volcano was fascinating, very much like a lunar surface- all deep gray & devoid of vegetation. At times we had some light "ash rain", like fine snow. When we reached Lake Siwi - or where Lake Siwi used to be - It drained out to sea several years ago after breaking through it's natural levee bank. Where the water level once was, you can see numerous layers of ash deposits from many years of the vocano's constant erruptions.

Click to see Google Satellite map of Yassur Volcano & it's ash plain, and the remains of Lake Siwi where it drained out to sea

We reached the summit of the volcano, near the crater edge just before it got dark. We found a track that led a bit higher & would have given us views into the magma lake, but we were warned that the erruptions were throwing lava up onto that track today (due to the strong winds), so we stayed where we were. Every 3-4 minutes the smoke clouds in the volcano crater would glow bright pink, then a loud whooshing noise emenated from the crater depths. About 2 seconds later, a spray of small glowing blobs of lava would rise above the lip of the crater like fireworks, before falling back down into the crater. Some of the lava blobs could be seen splatting onto the far side of the crater, and stayed glowing for up to a minute. You would not want to be struck by some falling super-hot liquid rock!!! A few people have been killed at this volcano in the last few years, mostly by getting stupidly too close to the lava pool.

We spent about an hour by the crater rim after darkness fell, in the howling wind & intermittent rain, watching many erruptions light up sky. A continual shifting glow came from the crater, reflected off the clouds, fog, smoke & steam, but all else was pitch black - not even starlight due to the clouds.

The return trip was equally as adventurous as the drive out - recrossing the ash plain at high speed in the darkness, then the steep jungle tracks with wild shapes illuminated in the powerful headlights. Cattle & boars wandered suddenly onto the track in front of you, or reflected red-eyes in the distance. Eventually we got back to where our hut was, and after a quick dinner of local fish, crawled under the mosquito net & went to bed. A very good day!

Click to see Google Satellite map of Tanna Island, Vanuatu

Photos: Vanuatu-Tanna Island

stowaway — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 13:20:00 GMT

Tanna Island, Vanuatu

Bus it!

stowaway — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 14:57:00 GMT

I think the Bus system in Port Vila has got to be one of the best in the world! For a flat rate of just over one dollar you can jump on any of the countless mini-busses and be taken to anywhere you wish within the city of port Villa. Just like a Taxi you may think, but as each mini bus may pick up to a dozen people along the way, the route it takes to drop everybody off may take you anywhere within the Capital before arriving at your desired destination. Its such agreat way for travellers/Tourists to get about, so much cheaper than the official Taxis, and you get to see areas of Port Vila that you would never otherwise get to. Plus lots of interaction with the very friendly & helpful locals.

On one bus trip, on the way back from the airport after flying back from visiting the remote hill-tribe on Tanna, the mini-bus/minvan pulled into a petrol station (for some reason they only ever seem to put a few litres of petrol in at a time, so visiting a petrol station happens pretty often), the pump assistant peered in through the side window and noticed one of the souvineers we had brought back from Tanna - an intricately carved walking stick with boar tusks attatched. Excitedly he motioned us to open the window and said "Did you get that from Yakel village? Did you get that from Tanna? Thats my tribe, thats where I come from!" He then called his wife over to have a look, who also admired it. We showed them some pics from the digital camera & they recognised several of the people from the tribe we had visited the day before.

It turns out the the walking stick we had bought from the remote Yakel village was actually a "Chief stick", as carried by a tribal chief. It was much admired by all the locals that saw it on Efate, and I was rather impressed that we had bought "the real deal" rather than the usual tourist stuff.

Other journeys we took on the busses (while simply trying to get from our hotel room to the town centre & back - about a 5 min trip along the main rd) went via some local's farms, the port, muddy 4wd tracks into areas where the houses were grass huts & rusted cars with tin-sheeting extensions, the airport, various schools, open air markets (complete with half a bus full of fresh vegies), the grand tour of the town centre & secret back roads, numerous petrol stations, and just about everywhere off the main road. A great way to see the 'real' Port Vila, and perfect for finding out where things are around town. It also helped a lot when we hired a car to drive around the island with - we certainly didn't get lost in Port Vila!

Click to see Google Satellite map of Efate Island, Vanuatu

Photos: Vanuatu - Efate

stowaway — Thu, 7 Dec 2006 12:42:00 GMT

Efate Island, Vanuatu

Hanga Roa, Easter Island

stowaway — Sun, 14 May 2006 05:03:00 GMT

The sun is out today, after another night of torrential rain. Ive been visiting the local markets & doing some souvineer shopping. Pretty much every single building sells tourist things of one shape or another. Hanga Roa is a small, sleepy town of about 2500 people. Chickens, horses & thin non-aggressive dogs wander the streets, the locals mostly drive incredibly rustbucket cars that look like they could break in two at any moment. Bumpers, headlights, doors, windows are just things that vehicles can live without, so they do. The only modern cars seem to be the 4wds that are rented out to the tourists & are carefully washed of salt spray each night. The one petrol station on the island is deserted for most of the day but has a queue at about 6pm when all the tourists have to re-fill the tanks before returning their 4 wheel drives.

The locals are a friendly lot, mostly polynesian in looks (apart from the immigrants from Chile). There really isnt any industry here other than tourism, so i guess they like to keep the tourists happy (& sell them some carvings of Moai that they all seem to make.) Im trying to find a suitably nice carving for myself to take home. Shopkeepers with no customers can be found leaning agaist doorways, sanding down their latest small carving and/or watching the daytime soapies in spanish on tiny televisions. They all seem to work on 'island time' - maybe opening up their shops somewhere around 10-11am, have an extended siesta in the early afternoon, before closing up around 5pm. Around this time, the small plaza/park at the end of the main street, which has been deserted all day, fills up with locals & schoolchildren playing games, and everyone catches up of the days events.

The place where I am staying is right by the end of the runway, but this isn't really a problem as there is usually only two flights a week. It's a good 15 minute walk from the main part of town, so it's a bit of a pain to wander back & forth all the time. So I haven't tried out either of the two disco's in town as yet. Apparently there is a big sea-cave/lava tube in the cliffs very close to where i'm staying, but I can't find any signs or mention of it anywhere & I can't see anything from the seashore out the back. I shall do some hunting for it...

80's music is also huge here, as it is in Santiago (& Fiji apparently), but they also play some 90's/naughties stuff as well. Shakira is also big here - which is more understandable, given that she is at least South American. At the 'Ciber' cafe i have been frequenting, the playlist runs fairly consistently as; 80's song, 80's song, 00's song, local spanish or polynesisian-style song, Shakira, and then back to 80's again.

More soon...

Click to see Google Map of Easter island

Photos: Easter Island

stowaway — Tue, 9 May 2006 10:00:00 GMT

Rapanui - The Navel of the World

Easter Island

stowaway — Tue, 9 May 2006 09:47:00 GMT

Well if you can land the space shuttle on the runway here, it must have pretty good brakes! Running from one side of the narrowest part of the almost triangular Easter island, the airport is wedged between 2 volcanoes at its sides and the sea at each end. I thought Easter island only had 3 volcanoes, but apparently it has 77 (none active). The airport was extended by the Americans as an emergency landing place for the space shuttles. Landing in a Airbus is interesting enough - the runway is quite narrow & the gound is already sloping upwards before the end of the wingtips.

Easter island is fantastic - all you have ever heard and then some. am taking 150+ pics per day. I've visited many ahu (stone platforms that the Moai stand on), and have seen many dozen fallen Moai (the big stone statues) & a few that have been stood up again. (All the Moai on the island had either been deliberatly toppled, and others were damaged by earthquakes & a tsunami, so none had been left standing)

Easter island had also been completely denuded of trees, but there are some small planted forests growing back again, and they are all Aussie gum trees! Its the rainy season here, was raining all day yesterday, adding to the dramatic atmosphere of the rugged volcanic coastline.

Today was wonderfully sunny and I got so see the main quarry where they liberate the Moai from the slopes of the volcano called 'Rano Raraku', and also climbed to the top of the volcano crater for some fantastic views. I will upload some more pics but the one i have took sooo long my budget has run out for today. i will add some more to this blog tomorrow. Please add some comments!

Today I had the best fun i have had for years! I hired a motor scooter and hooned around the island , following every dirt & bitumen road i could find (mind you, there are only 2 main roads, and they don´t even go all around the island, there is a good third of the island that doesn´t have vehicular access). Anyway, despite never haven driven a motorscooter (or motorbike for that matter), I immediately headed up the dirt track that leads up the 2nd biggest volcano (Rano Kau). I had already been to the top up the main track yesterday in a minivan to the Birdman village, so this time I found some small side-track detours and went where no rental motorscooter is meant to go. I came spinning off in a large mud puddle and got completely soaked in mud (did i mention it´s the rainy season?), but still made it to the top of the crater rim for some awsome views of the crater lake, rim and sea.

Then I did my best to circumnavigate the island following the coast along mostly dirt roads, revisiting a few Ahu I has seen previously, and discovering many more (there are lots of them, bust most are in pretty poor repair and look like a big pile of volcanic stones) Fallen Moai litter the landscape (there are over 700 on the island).I want to the amazing quarry again where the Moai are carved from the rockface, and where you see the classic images of just the big stone head protruding out of a dirt hillside. There are lots of Hawks flying all over the island, they seem to be the dominant bird species.The rental place took the scooter back without a comment, despite it and me caked in dried mud. I guess they are used to that.

What suprises me a lot is how (relatively) recent the Moai and stone villages are. The first small Moai were made around 1100Ad - the same time the Poms were building their first version of Westminister cathederal, and Angkor Wat in Cambodia was built. Each Moai represented an ancestor, and was placed on an Ahu (stone platform) overlooking the village, where it projected it's power (Mana) and protection over the people in the village. That's why all the Moai face inland rather than looking out to sea. Over the next 600 years, more Moai were carved from the quarry at the volcano at the rate of roughly two per year, getting progressively larger & more stylised. The largest Moai (still unfinished in the quarry) is 10 meters long and is estimated to weigh 300 tonnes! The biggest Moai that was actually placed on an Ahu weighs over 90 tonnes - that's a big rock to move over 10km by manpower alone!

You can look up elsewhere to get the full facts & theories, but basically sometime around the 1600's the small island's natural resources became scarce, the last trees were cut down, tribal warfare broke out and the local religion changed from ancestor worship to a birdman cult. Pretty much all the Moai were deliberately toppled, and their white coral eyes were removed, which destroyed their 'Mana'. No new Moai were started and all those in progress were abandoned at the quarry. Many of the stones fom the Ahu's & broken Moai were used to make shelters, burial chambers & crematoriums. The Orongo village of the birdman cult, on top of the volcano, was built by making chambers with thick slate walls and flat roofs topped off with dirt & grass. These were still in use when the first westerners came along. A Dutchman, Jacob Roggeveen, arrived on Easter Sunday 1722 & named it Easter Island for that reason. Others followed, including good old Captain Cook in 1774, and the Frenchman La Perouse in 1786 - hence Easter Island has a 'La Perouse bay' like Sydney does.)

More soon...

Click to see Google Map of Easter island

Photos: Santiago

stowaway — Sun, 7 May 2006 04:42:00 GMT

Heave 'er up and away we'll go, heave away, Santiago.