Intermittent Internet...

Grrr... It's hard to go back to life without internet. These days I'm restricted to sporadic visits to McDonald's to use their free WiFi.

It's not that big a deal but it definitely makes it more difficult to keep in touch with people. I've been out and about every day since I arrived in Gold Coast but just haven't been able to update my blog much or check Facebook.

So I'll give you a brief recount of the past few days.

The day after arriving back from Lake Moogerah I took a drive into New South-Wales to climb Mount Warning (sounds ominous doesn't it). The trip began by instantly regaining an hour of my life- The state of Queensland is one of the few places in the world that still hasn't accepted the logic of Daylight Savings. Hense I could drive due south and still change time zones. Weird! Mount Warning is a dormant/deceased/dead/no-longer-gonna-erupt volcano situated in a rain forest just an hour drive from the Gold Coast.  I think the summit is about 1,000 metres high so it was a pretty strenuous hike, but I was told that the view from the top was worth seeing.  You can imagine my joy as clouds started rolling in when I was about half way up. They kept coming and it wasn't long before the mountain was completely surrounded. As for the view... just imagine pressing cotton balls against your eyes and you'll get the picture. It had taken me a few hours to get to the top and I was gutted!

I waited at the top for over an hour and a half before there was a brief break in the clouds. Finally we got a glimpse and the chance to take a few snaps. By that point I was sweaty and tired so it was time to climb back down. The mountains I'm planning to climb in New Zealand rise to three or four thousand metres so I guess I'll have to do some more training!

Yikes this entry is getting long so I better speed up.

Then next night a group of us went to the drive-in to watch The Green Hornet and Unstoppable. It was a good laugh and another opportunity to meet new people.

Yesterday we took a trip to Brisbane to watch the cricket. It was a great day's fun, especially because there were a few England fans sitting near us.

Today I'm making plans to go to Byron Bay for a few days. This is supposed to be a pretty cool location full of hippies and surfers. Then I'll start looking into heading down to Sydney before flying to NZ. Busy busy busy.

Sorry there are no pics, but this connection can't handle it.

Hope you're all well. Please send me a little e-mail and let me know what you're up to. 

Australia Day...

I awoke this morning bruised and aching. Don't worry, I wasn't the victim of any attack, all of my wounds are self inflicted.

Every year on January 26th, Ozians celebrate Australia Day. It's a day that everyone gets together to celebrate all the great things about being Australian- namely sitting in the sun, eating lamb (?) and getting out on the water for some form of aquatic activity.

I arrived in Gold Coast just hours before loading everything up and driving two hours inland to an Australia Day hotspot called Moogerah Lake (attractive name!). It was a day full of boat rides, wake boarding, doughnut riding, swimming, rock diving and of course BBQs.

Again I found myself in the odd position of being surrounded by people I didn't know. It's seems to be a theme of my trip that I'll meet someone who invites me to meet a group of their friends where, in turn, I meet someone who invites me to meet a group of their friends... and the cycle continues. It's been great!

So after a day's activities on the lake, it's no wonder I'm a little stiff and sore today. But it was worth it!

(More photos to follow when I have something better than this Macy D's connection.)

Away We Go...

Today I fly to the Gold Coast- probably Australia's main tourist destination. I dont have much of a plan, I'm just taking things one step at a time. I'll be staying with a mate I met in December, so I'm sure he'll be able to point me towards the cool tourist attractions.

I'll let you know...

Hitting The Road...

Wow, it's been a while since I updated this blog! I've had a quiet few weeks as I've been housing sitting in Melbourne. It's been good though 'cos it's given me time to get some travel plans together.

Summer holidays are over in about a week, but I've decided to hit the road rather than go back to work just yet. My plans are pretty loose, but they look something like this:

Monday, January 24th fly to Gold Coast. This is on the east coast, north of Sydney. It's a gorgeous area and should be great fun. I'll be staying with a mate I met whilst camping before Chrimbo.

After a week or two I plan on making my way down to Sydney to see the sights there. If it all works out I'll make the two day trip by campervan- I'll get to see more of the country and stop for some surfing along the way.

After sticking around in Syd for a bit I have booked flights to got to New Zealand for a month. I dont really have anything planned for NZ yet, but it'll fall into place, right?

And that's it for now.

I'll arrive back in Australia at the end of March and that leaves me four more months before I need to head home.

I'll keep you up to dates with any developments. 

Jet Setting...

Just booked flights to New Zealand!

I can't come this far and not see it.

Cave Crawling....

There have been a number of 'firsts' on this trip and yesterday was another- caving.

Before yesterday my opinion of caves was that they were only good for housing animals that I generally want to avoid. Why anyone would want to go snooping around in them was beyond me. Quite how I found myself sliding along on my belly through the narrowest of gaps, I have no idea! (Keep in mind, all I've heard since I arrived is how deadly the outdoors here can be-snakes, spiders, blah, blah, blah...)

To say I was nervous is an understatement, and it wasn't just the creepy crawlies. There's something about being stuck in small spaces that unsettles me. The further we went the more I could feel my heart beat rising into my head.

(Google image) there weren't as many as this

Thankfully, the cave system we were in was pretty cavernous so I didn't have to spend too much time on my belly. There was plenty to distract me as well and that helped. Besides the scary bugs there were lots of glow worms and weird grasshopper-type things.

Interesting fact No.1: Glows do not poop. It's true (apparently). They glow as they burn off their....waste. So we sat and watched the glow worms burn off their poop for a while. Good times!

Happy Snapper....

Yea! I came third in my first photography competition. The theme was 'shopping', so I submitted this:

Photos Past And Present...

You can view all the photos from my trip at this address:

http://picasaweb.google.com/PeterJGood?authkey=Gv1sRgCJCNkLDi-uDmMQ

Happy New Year...

Happy New Year to all! Hope that you're beginning to thaw out and that all the bumps and bruises from slipping on the ice are beginning to heal!

You'll all be happy to hear that this is turning out to be one of the coldest summers Australians have seen in years! So you're not missing out on much. Can you believe that we've only had ONE day where temperatures rose above 40 degrees. :o)

I spent New Year's eve on another camping trip, this time at Cape Otway (a gorgeous part of Victoria on The Great Ocean Road). The folks I spent Christmas with have a hut/cabin near the beach and invited me along to see in the new year.

The first and most important piece of news is that I saw my first koala! In fact I ended up seeing about 100 of them- they were everywhere!

We had a great time hanging out at the beach, eating spit-roasted beef on the bbq, horse riding, spotting the local wildlife and seeing tourist attractions.

Now I'm back in Melbourne trying to find a job so I can keep earning some cash over the summer weeks. 

I Love Messages From Home...