Tracey's doing travelling!!!

I have to admit that I was ready for a change after 4 months or so in Oz, and New Zealand is definately the place for it! I arrived In Christchurch to a much cooler climate (10 degrees - same as London) requiring me to wear all of my summer clothes at once, along with a jacket! A suprisingly nice shock to the system, as it reminded me of home. I've become a bit laid back on the whole reading up on the countries thing, so spent the first afternoon there trying to figure out what I wanted to see in New Zealand, as I was clueless. This time I had to plan it like a military operation in order to see everything and get to Auckland in 2 1/2 weeks in time to meet my mother...again! So this really is a whistle stop tour.

Christchurch is a really nice city (in the loosest possible sense of the word), which resembles a English town. It's got cobbled streets, lovely botanical gardens, a really interesting museum with a lot of Maouri history, a fair sized art gallery, a Cathedral (more like a church!) and loads of cafes. Probably not the most exciting place in the world, but very relaxing and quaint.

From Christchurch I visited Arthurs Pass on the Transalpine Train journey, apparently rated in the top 5 train journeys in the world. The views, especially of the snow capped mountains, were amazing, but quite often hindered by the foliage. We went on a jet boat known for their thrill rides, designed for the rivers out here as they're quite often shallow, so not suitable for propellers. It was a good day. I met some older American women who decided to adopt me for the day and then proceeded to treat me to dinner, despite my refusals! Bless them!

I then spent a very long 14 hour day travelling to Dunedin via Mount Cook. Mount Cook should not be missed - it's absolutely stunning! I wish i'd had more time to spend there and do some of the hikes,probably a good thing as my fitness levels are not at their best! This was proved in Dunedin, when I did a tour to the Otago Peninsular to sea seals, penguins and sea lions, and the hills that we had to climb were phenomenal. I almost had to pretend that I had asthma just to try and explain my ridiculous shortness of breath! I also found that by taking my time pretending to be looking at the scenery and taking a numerous amount of photos (only to be deleted later), gave me ample time to try and recover! It wasn't helped when on the beach our group was chased by a relatively aggressive sea lion (quite a unique experience). Its amazing that despite their size, they can actually move really quickly. It's a shame that that principal doesn't work for me!

Queenstown, was another brief stop, better known for it extreme activities like bungy jumping. I was not going to pay for that priviledge! Instead I took a leisurely tour to a famous Fjiord, called Milford Sounds. You go out on a boat and tour the area watching all the amazing waterfuls. I know it sounds quite lame in comparison to throwing yourself off a perfectly good structure, but its actually well worth a visit.

One of my favourite parts of the south island was Fox Glacier. There's absolutely nothing to do in the village, but the glacier hike was fantastic! I checked prior to going about the longstanding vertigo issue, and was informed that its perfectly ok. Really?! You do a fairly strenuous uphill climb through the surrounding rainforest, only to get to an area where you have to climb up a metal ladder screwed to a rock face and then proceed to walk on a fairly narrow ledge with the cliff face on one side and a bloody steep drop on the other!!! The guide was lucky that I was so afraid and shaking so violently that I needed him, otherwise I was ready to throttle him! However, I did feel an amazing sense of achievement afterwards. The glacier was well worth the effort and should not be missed if your visiting the south Island.

I flew from Hokitika to Wellington, which is on the very south of the North Island. I did contemplate taking the cheaper option of the ferry over, but then had vivid recollections of the nausea I suffered whilst sailing on the Whitsundays! Flying is definately the way forward!

Alice Springs was next in my little adventure. I have to admit, that I didn't really like it. It's quite small with not a huge amount to do, it has millions of flies that head straight for your eyes, nose and mouth searching for moisture, and the social issues of the Aboriginals become even more apparent. There's a lot of poverty and thus homelessness, drug and alcohol abuse, and what appears to be animosity between the Aboriginals and the white locals.

The situation of the Aboriginals really shocked me. I was talking to a local tour guide who was saying that until the mid to late 1940s the Aboriginals weren't even classed as Australian citizens. Apparently they were protected under the Plants and Fawna Act as being indiginous to Australia, with the Act stating that you couldn't shoot them unless to protect yourselves!!! As recent as the 80s I believe, they weren't even allowed to live in Alice Springs town, and were only allowed to visit between the hours of 8am to 6pm. To give you an idea of how recent their integration is, there is an Aboriginal man who lives at Ayres Rock, who remembers seeing his first white person when he was a child, and also in the mid 80s they found a group of aboriginals living in the north of Queensland completely unaware that white people existed and living exactly how they always have done.

The tour guide believed that the integration problems exists because it is all so recent, which I can see to a point, but Australia is a developed country and can learn from racial problems of the rest of the world, surely? Race issues and integration have been longstanding problems, so it's not as if they're the first to experience it. Ignorance isn't an excuse in this day and age. Australians also talk about being a very new country with not much history - hello?! You've got one of the oldest civilisations in the world that you barely seem to acknowledge. I've spent months travelling around Australia and have barely heard Aboriginal history talked about, or even acknowledged in Museums. This may be where the integration problem lies? Feel free to comment as I'm only thinking aloud.

I visited a few places in Alice. A Joey rescue centre, where the guy goes out to Kangaroo roadkills and rescues the babies from the pouch and then hand rears them. It's amazing to see! The School of Air was also fascinating. It's a state run service, assisted with donations, that educates children upto the age of 12 years that live too far from schools to commute. They used to be educated by radio, but now the internet has taken over. Worth a visit. Other places includes The Royal Flying Doctors Service, The Reptile Centre and Telegraph Hill (the original Alice Springs).

However, my favourite place was obviously Ayres Rock. I did it as a day trip from Alice - 19 hours if I remember correctly! So worth it though. We visited the Cultural Centre, which is dedicated to Aboriginal history and also part run by Aboriginals. Its nice to see a place where Aboriginals really seem to belong. When I first saw Ayres Rock I was completely in awe. It's such a famous Australian icon, it was almost weird to see it in person. With fear of sounding quite simple (I know thats not hard for me!), it was just so big and red, and in such contrast to the bare surronding landscape it almost looked out of place.

The State gave Ayres Rock back to the Aboriginals on the understanding that they would continue to allow tourists to climb it, despite the Aboriginal belief that the Rock is a sacred place and shouldn't be climbed by anyone not iniated to the Aboriginal culture. According to the tour guide the Aboriginals concern partly stems from the fact that when a tourist gets killed or injured there, one of the tribe will also suffer in a similar way. Looking at the climb I could well believe that this could happen frequently. It is so steep with only a metal hand rail to provide any safety. The guide said that several people have fallen and died, as well as many people suffering random injuries. A common problem is the wind getting up quite quickly, and as you're on a bare rock face there is little shelter. Another problem which made me chuckle, is people getting so far up and then panicking, and just laying down and being unable to get up from fear. That's the sort of thing that I would do! But to make it worse they quite often have to be rescued by helicopter - how embarrassing, but oh so funny (i've got a sick sense of humour for anyone that hadn't realised that by now)!

We spent the early evening watching the sunset by the Rock. It was truely amazing! The Rock changes colour as the sunset progresses, until it is almost a purple colour. The only draw back is that there are absolutely loads of tourists, but as i'm one of them I can hardly complain!

What can I say, other than this must be on your list of things to do in Australia! You won't be disappointed!

Cairns is a pretty average town, but more popular for being the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, the rainforest and the more remote parts of north Queensland. I stayed in a lovely YHA in the centre, in a 4 bed ensuite dorm...heaven after the hovels on the east coast!

All was good until we were coming back from Kuranda (a mountain top village which is well worth visiting) when we noticed it was particurly humid and the sky was becoming quite dark, and then noticed people were taping up their windows. This was when the alarm bells started to ring! When we got back to the hostel we found out that the east coast, predominantly the Cairns area, were expecting a level 5 Cyclone (rated on a 1-5 scale, with 5 being the worst) sometime over night. They advised us to stock up on food and drink, as nobody was sure quite what to expect! I never need telling twice when it comes to food, so myself and the girls that I had met along the way stocked up on chocolate and cakes...and then ate it before we had even got to bed!!! How bad could it get??

We were awoken at 6 in the morning by the tannoy system in the hostel, telling us that we weren't allowed to leave our rooms at all until further notice, and that if it got too bad to put the mattresses up against the windows, and that if that didn't work, the bathroom is classed as a safe place because it has no windows!!! The stupid thing is that they woke us up to tell us not to leave our rooms, when i could guarantee that in a hostel nobody sees the light of day before 9ish! So great, we were all awake at this ungodly hour, and then of course I realised....I was hungry and had sod all food!

At about midday we got a tannoy to say that we could now leave our rooms. We departed for the local cafes, dying of thirst and somewhat emaciated (whoever said I could be dramatic?!) only to find that everywhere was shut - even McDonalds!!! We found a tiny little fast food place that was making a killing, and had chips for breakfast!

Sorry, I got side tracked on food again...the local area wasn't too badly affected. There was some minor structural damage, and a lot of trees down but otherwise Cairns had had a lucky escape. Innersvale, a town just down the coast, had taken the full brunt of Cyclone Larry, and had pretty much been flattened. It was really sad to see in the papers the amount of homeless people there now, all without electricity and clean water. The other devastating news, was that the banana plantations, which is there predominant industry there, had all but been blown and washed away, which meant unemployment. The only good news was that due to emergency plans and evacuations, nobody lost their life to this disaster.

Due to Larry, I didn't get to do much in Cairns. However, I did treat myself to a massage and pedicure. I still haven't managed to transform myself from tourist to backpacker! It's probably too late to start now?!

Brisbane is a pretty regular city, but I should imagine a better place to live for awhile rather then just visit for a few days. It didn't help that it pissed down for the entire time I was there. However, I don't melt, so I didn't let it get in the way of exploring. I visited the local markets (and didn't spend a thing - i'll give you a minute to pick yourselves off the floor...!!!), visited the man made beach, which is suprisingly a really nice area, saw some of the historical sights etc etc. I spent a day at The Australia Zoo, owned by Steve Irwin (the crazy guy on TV who is famous for wrestling crocodiles and saying G'day Mate!). Well im a great fan, and was stupidly excited only to find that he was away filming! It's a really good day out though, with some fab animal shows.

I stayed in a lovely hostel called Tinbilly's, which is right in the centre. I booked a four bed ensuite dorm, just as a bit of a treat, to find I was there with three pensionable guys who were travelling seperately! They had obviously put them in a room together on purpose, and then found they had one extra bed, and put me in it! I was kept awake at night by snoring, and then when I did finally get to sleep, I was awoken by a symphony of farting! Only me!

My trip to Cairns was on the Oz Experience bus. It's fantastic if you're 18 year olds wanting to get trashed every night, and see how many STDs you can acquire in one holiday, otherwise it can prove to be a bit much...the same as the East Coast in general. Every place we stayed in was full of tourists, on the whole English and German, with that sort of mentality. I'm sure if I was 18 all over again, I would have had a ball, but I actually hated it along with all the other 'grown-ups' I spoke to!

However, the main features of the trip i loved! I spent two days on Fraser Island, which is basically a sand island or sculpture as the locals call it, and toured it on a four-wheel drive bus, exploring the beautiful beaches and lagoons. I had an amazing time and met some great people, and would definately recommend it.

Three days and two nights were then spent sailing around the Whitsundays on a boat called Summertime. We saw the stunning Whitehaven beach (rated 2nd best in the world by The National Geographic), snorkelled and scuba dived around the reef, and even sea kayaked on the last day. It was a real experience but I got hideously sea sick (despite medication) for the whole time. I don't know why I didn't learn my lesson on the boat trip in Phi Phi, where I also spent the day vomiting...instead I signed myself up for a 3 day jaunt! Very clever! We were really lucky on our boat, in that we had a great crowd of mid 20 year olds, and the boat and staff were fantastic. However, in hindsight, I wouldn't have done it knowing how sick I was going to be for the whole time. It's a really unique experience, and a must if you have sea legs, but be careful what boat you book with, because not everybody had positive experiences...bedbugs and shagfests were a common problem. I guess it depends what you want from your trip?!

Kroombit Cattle station was another stop. We goat hustled on horse back, did Rodeo, clay pidgeon shooting etc etc and had a blast. The accommodation left something to be desired, having effectively just put bunks in old stables. It was full of all sorts of creatures, including big hairy Huntsman spiders (the size of Tarantulas), which upset me to no end. I slept fully clothed on the top of the bed and even refused to have a shower in the bug infested outdoor washrooms! The owner was a real cowboy type, and lived a really basic life which I found fascinating, although some of the workers were real Hillbilly types who weren't particurly friendly. It was good fun!

A night was spent on Magnetic Island, in a lovely hostel resort called Base Backpackers. It was right on the sea front, and had its own pool. We went for a short hike around the local area and spotted Koalas. I would definately recommend Magnetic Island, for hiking or just relaxing by the beach, but spend at least three days here.

We also stayed at several other places, that really aren't worth mentioning. I believe that these are the highlights I saw from Brisbane to Cairns, but like I said before, it depends what you're looking for.

Hobart, in Tasmania, was my next port of call. It's a really quaint place, with a lovely harbour area selling fresh fish and chips off floating cafes (it always comes back to food, you should know that by now!!!), a very relaxed pedestrianised square called Salamanca Place where the buildings are all sandstone (i'm sure you don't give a damn, but i'm trying to set the scene!) and traditional, with just a very laid back atmosphere to it. But...there just isn't a huge amount to do. I think it would be nicer if you were there with someone, and then you could enjoy the cafes and pubs a lot more. I just got a bit fed up of reading my book, and would have liked a bit of company to enjoy the tranquility. Also, you'll never believe this - most of the pubs seemed to shut at 9.30 on the weekdays!!! What is that about?!

However, I did manage to keep myself occupied to some extent. I visited the Cadburys Factory...how amazing is that! And yes, they gave out lots of free samples!!! I thought that it would be rude to miss out this trip on the basis that a high proportion of my annual income goes there way. I also found out why the chocolate tastes different in other countries...some places use sugarbeet and others use sugarcane, setting it at different temperatures creating a supposedly 'slight' change in taste - it tastes REALLY different from the UK...foreign muck! However, still manage to force it down.

Spent a day at Port Arthur, where the British very kindly transported all their petty criminals to, to effectively do slave labour. The majority of the crimes that got people here, were stealing food because of poverty. The serious criminals didn't make it here on the whole, as they were executed at home. They even had a boys prison,where quite often children were sent here for the crime of vagrancy. Basically they were homeless and got re-arrested for it, and proving to be too much trouble got sent over to OZ!To top it all off, when they got released they couldn't even go back home as it was a one way ticket, and they quite often couldn't ever afford to return! Somewhat ashamed to be British that day!

The scenery is a stunning backdrop to whats remains of the convict town though; a really strange contrast. We also sailed around the lake there, and visited the Isle of the Dead, which is a burial island. Really sad, but at the same time a beautiful place. It really is worth a visit here. The coach trip I booked was really good, but someone forgot to tell me it was a 'saga' day out. No word of a lie, i was the youngest one there possibly by decades! The oldest couple were 87 and 88 years old...bless! I feared that i would come back with a blue rinse!

My other trip was a visit to Bruny Island, which is a nature reserve.
Again, another Saga adventure, but a lot more intimate...only four of us this time! It's a beautiful place with amazing scenery, but 8 hours later it all looked pretty much the same. We were also unfortunate, in that it was the wrong season for most of the wildlife - just great! It is definately worth a visit, but be sensible and do a half day...for you're own sanity.

I don't mean to brag, but I also made another friend! How popular am I?!

I would recommend Tasmania, but drag somewhere there with you and hire a car. It'll make it a lot more enjoyable.