After a long trip on which I didn't manage to sleep much and left me with sore knees I got to Santiago airport at one in the afternoon (having left 16 hours earlier at 11am). I'm not sure my 1 hour at Christchurch airport counts as a new country so I haven't given it a post of its own. Once I got to the hostel I proceeded to settle down to try and sleep for a short while, but in the end had five hours of weird and crappy sleep. I nipped out for dinner and found that Chile was definitely going to be more expensive than I thought. That night I slept poorly, with some jetlag insomnia, and also getting fairly pissed off with noisiness of the hostel, which turned out to be a bit of a party hostel, with my dorm right by the reception where you could here the doorbell going every 5 minutes all night. Also, when I came back from dinner there was a guy pissing in the doorway. And not just quietly doing it in the corner, but waving his willy about like a sprinkler. Having waited till he went to tiptoe through the doorway, I wasn't feeling to enamoured with Chile at this point.
Next day was Santiago day, I headed into town pretty early, found that to the rate of commission on travellers cheques is prohibitively extensive so used my card instead, and then wandered around the Plaza de Armas for a bit before the museums opened. First up was the museum of Pre-Columbian Civilization. This had a excellent and fairly compact collection with informative English captions. Quite freaky were the Chinchorro Mummies, made millenea before the Egyptians were making theirs, where internal organs and bones were replaced with mud rocks and sticks. After that I took in the National History museum. This had eclectic collections from a long period, but all the captions were Spanish, so I couldn't get much out of them. I walked around a bit before grabbing lunch and heading up a large hill overlooking the town on a funicular railway. From the top I could finally see the snow-capped mountains overlooking Santiago peeping over the smog. At the top was a statue of the Virgin Mary, and half way up was a zoo, which you could smell before you could see. After that I went to visit one of Neruda's houses, getting the English language tour all to myself. I enjoyed this, it was built in three separate parts to look like a ship and have great views, and is full of interesting knick-knacks and pieces of art from around the world. Something a bit different.
When I was here I realised I'd lost my key to the padlock I'd put on a locker with my bag in it back at the hostel. D'oh. It had been in my wallet so I retraced my steps to everywhere I'd had it out. At the bank they seemed to say they had it, but couldn't give me it until the next day (as they spoke as much english as I do Spanish, this involved having to make the internationally recognised gesture for "I've lost the small key to my padlock in your bank, maybe"). The next day after going to Valpairiso I went back and indeed they had it so I didn't need to smash the locker open. Still have no idea why they couldn't give it to me straight away.
Anyway, that afternoon I also had time to visit the Palace de belle artes, which was a good collection of generally fairly modern art in a beautiful old building. That night I struggled through a beer in the hostel ("just one" I thought but they're 1 litre big here) before going to bed and grumping again, it wasn't the right hostel to chose to try to sleep through my jet lag. I'd decided to go on a trip through the lakes leaving on after my third night there, which meant a dash to take in Valpairiso in a day trip the next day. At 630 am I knew I'd get no more sleep that night so I got up and headed straight to Valpairiso, see the next post for details of that.
I got back at about 3 in the afternoon to Santiago so I had time to get a haircut and search out another museum before going to the bank to retrieve my key! Well I was trying to go to the museum of solidarity for Savadore Allende, but it was shut for restoration. The guy there directed me to somewhere on the other side of town where I thought it was temporarily housed, but this turned out to be a different Allende museum, with a small collection of works by modern Chilean artists. Was ok, but had an interesting photography exhibition. After that I walked to town to het my key (I must have walked 10 miles this day) passing though town it was packed with people and they were pumping out a pan-pipe version of night fever through a tannoy all down the street. Strange. That night I watched a slide show in the hostel about the trip I was doing the next day, and a similar trip to the north, where I hope to head later. Next morning I got up for the minibus south, eventually getting my breakfast in time after it taking them over an hour to fail to make toast.
I actually liked Santiago as a city once I got out to see it. Was in a bit of a grump for a bit with jetlag and lack of sleep, and the key incident to worry about, so wasn't very social in the hostel.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Australia
Time spent: 40 days
bites: only in the north, my ankles got ravaged one morning.
On budget/time: Just about made my revised higher budget, if you don't count the didgeridoo purchase
Lost/stolen: Chucked the shoes I got in Indonesia as they were too small and hideous, bag briefly lost but found, accumulated far too much stuff, including 2 pairs shoes, warm clothes and two small penguins.
Sound of Australia: Hmm, much like the UK of course. Don't hold back must was the sound of the backpacker bars and clubs, and Horse with no Name was well and truly stuck in my head at one point. Dr Karl's band also must get a mention.
Taste of Australia: Fish and Chips by the coast, witchety grub, and yet more Tim Tams. Sadly didn't manage a Chicko roll.
Highlights of Australia: Really enjoyed the trip in the North, especially swimming spots in Lichfield and Kakadu, and around Uluru. Melbourne if a lovely city, and Bondi beach at sunset was special. But can any of this compare to visiting the town of Penguin, and seeing actually real little penguins question mark.
Drink of Australia: Tooheys extra dry was pretty good, Boags and Cascade not bad either. Coopers green also. Beer beer beer.
I had a great time on the trip in the north, in fact good times, great times. Taz was nice, and good to drive for a change, but meant you were a little isolated. Melbourne was nice and so was Sydney, was good to meet up with people in these cities. Still a bit tired of traveling alone, partly because when you do meet nice people you often go your separate ways very soon after, never to meet again, that's why its nice to meet up with people again. Australia was of course as developed at Britain, and as expensive, if not more. That's why going to South America has felt like starting the trip all over again. Theres so much of Australia I still haven't seen, and I hope to be back some day, and to see a bit of NZ.
bites: only in the north, my ankles got ravaged one morning.
On budget/time: Just about made my revised higher budget, if you don't count the didgeridoo purchase
Lost/stolen: Chucked the shoes I got in Indonesia as they were too small and hideous, bag briefly lost but found, accumulated far too much stuff, including 2 pairs shoes, warm clothes and two small penguins.
Sound of Australia: Hmm, much like the UK of course. Don't hold back must was the sound of the backpacker bars and clubs, and Horse with no Name was well and truly stuck in my head at one point. Dr Karl's band also must get a mention.
Taste of Australia: Fish and Chips by the coast, witchety grub, and yet more Tim Tams. Sadly didn't manage a Chicko roll.
Highlights of Australia: Really enjoyed the trip in the North, especially swimming spots in Lichfield and Kakadu, and around Uluru. Melbourne if a lovely city, and Bondi beach at sunset was special. But can any of this compare to visiting the town of Penguin, and seeing actually real little penguins question mark.
Drink of Australia: Tooheys extra dry was pretty good, Boags and Cascade not bad either. Coopers green also. Beer beer beer.
I had a great time on the trip in the north, in fact good times, great times. Taz was nice, and good to drive for a change, but meant you were a little isolated. Melbourne was nice and so was Sydney, was good to meet up with people in these cities. Still a bit tired of traveling alone, partly because when you do meet nice people you often go your separate ways very soon after, never to meet again, that's why its nice to meet up with people again. Australia was of course as developed at Britain, and as expensive, if not more. That's why going to South America has felt like starting the trip all over again. Theres so much of Australia I still haven't seen, and I hope to be back some day, and to see a bit of NZ.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Sydney
I had a bit of a lazy time in Sydney as I was still pretty worn out and it was good to be staying with someone (Emma) in a house for quite a while and just be able to chill out - the old holiday from traveling.
I arrived at noon on a Monday and Fiona and Emma (part of the original Cambridge crew) were kind enough to pick me up and take me to lunch in Chinatown before heading out to the flat Emma was living in in Haberfield, which is about 30 mins from town by bus. The house had been her grans, and had a definite old persons house feel, winning points for having a log fire and a bath. Unfortunately Em had a deadline just when I left so was a bit busy with work all week, so on the first night I went out for dinner with Fiona, who was also staying there for a further night, to Newtown where we had an African meal. Next day Fiona left for Singapore with her family and was exchanged for India the cat, who was very talkative and friendly, and pretty stupid. The next day I failed to get up, then had a lazy bath and trip to the supermarket and before I knew it the day was gone. In the evening I met up with Irene and Rachel again, for the 3rd time in Oz, and along with their random cohort of hostel roomates we headed to the high class dining establishment known as "Scruffy Murphys" for a cheap dinner, which was actually pretty good. After that, and necessary faff breaks we all headed to the Shangri La hotel, which has a top floor bar with views of the harbour bridge and opera house. No I didnt have my camera on me. Yes they let us in despite out scruffiness. It was a rather nice spot and you almost didnt begrudge paying 10 quid for a cocktail.
Following day I was going to do all the big sites... but I failed again. Instead I managed to make it out to Bondi, a 3 bus trip, in the late afternoon and got there in time for sunset on the beach, whcih was really nice. The idea was to meet Louise, who Id last met in the Cameron Highlands, and go out for a drink with her and her English friends who live in OZ, in whose flat she was staying. We headed out to the Beach Rd Hotel which was a huge place with many bars inside, and I was kindly offered a sofa, with hotwater bottle, for the night, to save the long journey back to Haberfield and an early departure. I was also kindly offered to be showed around a bit of the city the next day, as I was sounding slightly miserable. So the next morning I went for a coastal walk from Bondi to Cogee then bused into town where I climbed the pylon of the harbour bridge. After that I mey Lydia, one of the flatmates and we had a bit of a wander, past the opera house and down to Darling harbour where we had lunch. After that I checked out the nearby maritime museum, where the star attractions were a destroyer and submarine that you could go inside and clamber about on. That evening I went back to Haberfield and hung about in the house. The next day I did nothing constuctive either, until going out to meet Paul and Maureen, the Scottish couple Id already met in Thailand and KL for many many beers in Wooloomooloo and Kings Cross. They are now working in Sydney for a while, he for backpacker publication of ill repute "British Balls" and she for the British Lolly shop, just the place if youre craving tunnocks tea cakes. Had a great night, and eventually stumbled back to Haberfield and nearly 4am.
The next day obviously required a sleep in and not much activity, and I did nothing, saving myself for the final day. I met Paul and Maureen after lunch and we got the ferry over for a stroll at Manly Beach and then back in time to meet Sean and Sally, more of the Cambridge Australian crowd, whod literally just moved back to Oz from the UK. We had a drink in a very nice location by the opera house before heading to Glebe for dinner. Had a firly early night as Sean and Sal were jet lagged, and the rest of us had plans to get up and watch the Euro 2008 final at 0445. Id actually moved my stuff to a hostel in town as Id be going almost straight from the game to the airport to fly to Chile. We watched the game in a bar in Kings Cross and it was remarkably civilised, and the first time Id ordered my first beer of the day at 5am. The trip to the airport was uneventful and I settled down for a long trip. We touched down for 1 hour in Auckland and got off the plane, but I dont thing I can count that as a trip to New Zealand.
Apologies for the lack of punctuation, I cant deal with this Spannish keyboard. The lack of exclamation marks is particularly disappointing.
Photos:
Bondi Beach.
The Opera House from the Pylon of the Harbour bridge.
The Harbour Bridge.
Canberra
The trip from Melbourne took around 9 hours, half by train then the rest by bus. It was reasonable scenic in the middle and the longest journey I'd done in one go for a while. I got to Canberra at 9pm on Friday night, and their were already a few casualties around the place. The hostel was about the only one in town and was an outrageous $32 a night. Because of the extortionate rate I decided to make use of the facilities as much as I could: umpteen cups of free team, and a few visits to the pool, spa and sauna. Unfortunately my plans to do a few lengths were confounded by the fact the pool was around 2m by 2m, and 1m deep (the no diving sign wasn't really necessary). The spa was to cold to sit in for long, the sauna wasn't hot enough and the light didn't work, but I went back the next day to get my monies worth, god damn it! The hostel was also pretty dead and about the only guy in my dorm was Taiwanese. He was a nice guy, but man, he had a serious snoring problem, enough to ruin my nights sleep. I spent 2 days/3 nights in Canberra, on the first day, after buying my bus ticket to Sydney, I bussed over to the War memorial/museum. First up was a long and fairly informative tour, starting in the memorial and moving on to the vast museum. There were also large exhibits featuring in sound and light shows, including a Lancaster Bomber, and a Japenese mini-sub that had got into Sydney Harbour. I went back through the centre of town for lunch and then to the National Museum of Australia. This was modern, good and quite quirky. Like the war museum I spent over 2 hours here and didn't see everything.
On the second day I first went to the Australian Institute of Sport, where there was a 90 minute tour led by an athlete, an archer in our case. This was okay, but nice to do something a bit different! After my packed lunch I went to the parliament house. Again there was a free tour, and I was the only one on it at that hour. Got to see in both chambers, went up on the roof and saw some old documents including a copy of the Magna Carta. After that it was off the the National Gallery of Australia, which I really enjoyed, and again didn't cover all of. After that I just had a walk back to the hostel via the shores and bridge over lake Burley-Griffen. That night I met a guy from Northern Ireland and we went for a quick pint, but Canberra was sooo dead on a Sunday night. He told me he was going to support Partick Thistle if he went to Glasgow Uni as Mark McCrystal had gone to us from Derry! The night before I'd got up to try and watch the football, but they didn't have the right channel so I've not seen any games so far, but am aiming for the final tomorrow night!
The old parliament building.
On the second day I first went to the Australian Institute of Sport, where there was a 90 minute tour led by an athlete, an archer in our case. This was okay, but nice to do something a bit different! After my packed lunch I went to the parliament house. Again there was a free tour, and I was the only one on it at that hour. Got to see in both chambers, went up on the roof and saw some old documents including a copy of the Magna Carta. After that it was off the the National Gallery of Australia, which I really enjoyed, and again didn't cover all of. After that I just had a walk back to the hostel via the shores and bridge over lake Burley-Griffen. That night I met a guy from Northern Ireland and we went for a quick pint, but Canberra was sooo dead on a Sunday night. He told me he was going to support Partick Thistle if he went to Glasgow Uni as Mark McCrystal had gone to us from Derry! The night before I'd got up to try and watch the football, but they didn't have the right channel so I've not seen any games so far, but am aiming for the final tomorrow night!
Photos:
Stained Glass window at war memorial.
View down ANZAC parade to war memorial from roof of new parliament building.
The old parliament building.
Melbourne part 2 featuring Great Ocean Road
The day after the Penguin trip I went on the Great Ocean Road trip. This headed off very early in the morning, on a rather cold and windy day. After driving for a bit we got down to the Coast. We stopped first at Bells Beach, where part of Point Break is set apparently. The next stop was a lighthouse, the one used in Round the Twist! Had a bit of a walk around there and then a cup of tea, before heading back in the bus. There was a brief stop at Memorial Arch, the official start of the great ocean road, and as far as I can remember the next stop was for lunch in Apollo Bay. Now I remember, we stopped before that to see some Koalas and Rosellas, in the wild this time. After lunch there was quite a bit more driving and stops at the main attractions, there were the 12 Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge. The 12 Apostles (of which around 7 remain) are large rock stacks on the coast and are pretty scenic. Loch Ard Gorge (anoingly pronounced more like Lockhart Gorge by the guide!) is named after a ship which was wrecked there with the loss of all but two lives. There were 3 short walks to do and more spectacular cliffs and beaches. The final stop was at 'London Bridge' a single arch cut off from the mainland (it used to be double arch but the inner one collapsed a few years ago - A couple were marooned on the outer arch until rescued by helicopter - the guys wife was not pleased when she saw him on the tv during his business trip!). Anyway, it was a decent trip, but the weather was damn cold, and I was feeling a bit down and antisocial due to my still missing bag and I didn't really speak to anyone on this trip. On returning to the hostel I found out the bag was found and was much relieved!
The next day I did some washing and then headed to St Kilda, to first pick up my bag and then have a look around. It was nice down by the pier in St Kilda but it was a pretty grey and cold day. In the afternoon I went to the Ian Potter Gallery of Australian Art, which was again very good. I was going to head to the contemporary art gallery on my way back, but I was a bit galleried out by this point. Next day I headed to Canberra on the bus at around noon. Despite setting my alarm for 430 a couple of times to watch Euro 2008 matches, I never made it up!
St Kilda Pier.
The next day I did some washing and then headed to St Kilda, to first pick up my bag and then have a look around. It was nice down by the pier in St Kilda but it was a pretty grey and cold day. In the afternoon I went to the Ian Potter Gallery of Australian Art, which was again very good. I was going to head to the contemporary art gallery on my way back, but I was a bit galleried out by this point. Next day I headed to Canberra on the bus at around noon. Despite setting my alarm for 430 a couple of times to watch Euro 2008 matches, I never made it up!
Photos:
Round the Twist Lighthouse!
Some of the 12 Apolstles.
London Bridge.
St Kilda Pier.
Photos Updated.
I've added photos to all posts right back to Bangkok, so check them out if you want (you'll have to go beyond what's on this page). Sarky comments welcome.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Melbourne part 1 and Penguin trip
Originally I was only going to spend a few days in Melbourne and then try to hire a car to head up towards Sydney, but this option looked like being to expensive and lonely so I ended up spending 6 nights in Melbourne and taking two daytrips out of the city. I went to the same hostel as Irene and Rachel, who'd been on the middle trip in the NT and on the first day I went with them to see an Aussie Rules Football game: Carlton Vs. Collingwood at the MCG. There were 80,000 people there, and as i decided to support Collingwoon, they lost. It was a very swish stadium, and of course you are allowed to get your beer inside, which is very civilised. That evening we met up with another friend of Irene and Rachel, who happens to be a particle physicist (!) and went to a Burlesque show, of all things. It was actually very enjoyable. A strange combination of activities though.
Next day I wandered into Melbourne and took in a few museums, starting with the Immigration museum (good and a bit different). The art gallery I planned to go to next was shut but next door was an exhibition of classic computer games, which I went to instead, again a bit different, and it was fun to play all these old classic arcade games. I also went to the International art gallery of Victoria, which had some very good collections, and tonnes of stuff too. During the day I also booked my daytrips for the next 2 days. Because I booked two trips I got a free ticket to Neighbours night(!). I was persuaded to go along despite my antipathy towards Neighbours by the promise of a good night and some free drinks included! That was this very night, and after first taking advantage of the free welcome drink and free (hearty) barbecue in the hostel I got on the free bus to the Neighbours night. I actually was having a great night: firstly some of the 'stars' came out and answered questions before going round the tables for photos. Then there was a pub quiz and some silly games where people could win free trips. Our table of people from our hostel won almost everything, including first prize of $250 in the quiz (which was mostly down to me, even if I say so myself!). Then "Dr Karl"'s band played a set of covers, which wasn't bad. Unfortunately my bag got misplaced around this point when tables were cleared from the centre of the room, and I was unable to get it back that night. Next day was my trip to see the Penguins and it still hadn't turned up by that evening so I reported it stolen and canceled my credit card that was in the bag along with some other valuables. The next day I was pretty down about it, but when I got back from my Great Ocean Road trip that day they had finally found it behind the bar in the pub, much to my great relief!!
Anyway: Penguin trip. This set off at about 11am, and after about a brief lunch stop the first stop proper was a wine tasting. This got everyone warmed up and I really enjoyed this trip as it was a good group of people. Turned out the bus was full of physicists and biologists in town for a brain imaging conference! (After meeting a particle physicist, here for a different physics conference two days before, it seemed Melbourne was crawling with physicists.) Next stop was a wildlife park with a placid wombat, some Koalas, and many a Wallaby and Kangaroo amongst other things. There were a couple of scenic stops on Philip Island, before we got to the main event: the parade of little penguins. At dusk they come out of the sea and waddle up the beach to there homes. There's a big stand build where you could watch them come out of the sea, but much better was after where round the back you could see them up close wandering to their nests. Little penguins are blue and only 1 foot tall. Unfortunately you were not allowed to take photos, but this was a great thing to see. The last stop was for a pizza dinner on the way home. This trip featured an Israeli couple who had the most amazing and blatant disregard for timekeeping, which totally pissed off everyone on the bus and had the driver fit to throttle them. Other than that it was a very good group, some very nice people, good tour, good guide, and I was able to forget my missing bag most of the time!
To be Continued...
Next day I wandered into Melbourne and took in a few museums, starting with the Immigration museum (good and a bit different). The art gallery I planned to go to next was shut but next door was an exhibition of classic computer games, which I went to instead, again a bit different, and it was fun to play all these old classic arcade games. I also went to the International art gallery of Victoria, which had some very good collections, and tonnes of stuff too. During the day I also booked my daytrips for the next 2 days. Because I booked two trips I got a free ticket to Neighbours night(!). I was persuaded to go along despite my antipathy towards Neighbours by the promise of a good night and some free drinks included! That was this very night, and after first taking advantage of the free welcome drink and free (hearty) barbecue in the hostel I got on the free bus to the Neighbours night. I actually was having a great night: firstly some of the 'stars' came out and answered questions before going round the tables for photos. Then there was a pub quiz and some silly games where people could win free trips. Our table of people from our hostel won almost everything, including first prize of $250 in the quiz (which was mostly down to me, even if I say so myself!). Then "Dr Karl"'s band played a set of covers, which wasn't bad. Unfortunately my bag got misplaced around this point when tables were cleared from the centre of the room, and I was unable to get it back that night. Next day was my trip to see the Penguins and it still hadn't turned up by that evening so I reported it stolen and canceled my credit card that was in the bag along with some other valuables. The next day I was pretty down about it, but when I got back from my Great Ocean Road trip that day they had finally found it behind the bar in the pub, much to my great relief!!
Anyway: Penguin trip. This set off at about 11am, and after about a brief lunch stop the first stop proper was a wine tasting. This got everyone warmed up and I really enjoyed this trip as it was a good group of people. Turned out the bus was full of physicists and biologists in town for a brain imaging conference! (After meeting a particle physicist, here for a different physics conference two days before, it seemed Melbourne was crawling with physicists.) Next stop was a wildlife park with a placid wombat, some Koalas, and many a Wallaby and Kangaroo amongst other things. There were a couple of scenic stops on Philip Island, before we got to the main event: the parade of little penguins. At dusk they come out of the sea and waddle up the beach to there homes. There's a big stand build where you could watch them come out of the sea, but much better was after where round the back you could see them up close wandering to their nests. Little penguins are blue and only 1 foot tall. Unfortunately you were not allowed to take photos, but this was a great thing to see. The last stop was for a pizza dinner on the way home. This trip featured an Israeli couple who had the most amazing and blatant disregard for timekeeping, which totally pissed off everyone on the bus and had the driver fit to throttle them. Other than that it was a very good group, some very nice people, good tour, good guide, and I was able to forget my missing bag most of the time!
To be Continued...
Photos:
Inside the MCG
Me and my good mate Dr Karl
Sleepy Koala
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