Tropical Winter, Sat, 19 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
I keep learning more about Australian pests. The biggest pests – white people – brought with them a while host of other creatures that soon became a massive problem, for the land, but for humans as well. The story of …
Tropical Winter, Fri, 18 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
at a Jungle, Sea, Waterfall
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
Last night I slept well! Finally! The earplugs I bought yesterday really helped. Got up at a crazy 8:30am and had a wonderfully relaxing morning, not rushing anywhere, eating a glorious tropical fruit breakfast. Charlie and Dee got up after …
Tropical Winter, Thu, 17 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
at a Sea, UNESCO site
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
What a noisy night! We have room on the back of the building yet I can hear all of the street noise! Are walls made of paper here? Every truck passing by made the air conditioner vibrate, and then a …
Tropical Winter, Wed, 16 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
at a Jungle, Mountain, Museum
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
Last night was colder than I expected, and definitely more noisy. But the warm day is making up for it! We had some fruit for breakfast and went out pretty early to catch a scenic train to Kuranda, a mountain …
Tropical Winter, Wed, 16 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
at a City
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
Today I woke up to a lazy morning. Charlie and Dee went for a run, Eva went to see the opera house and parks, and I just stayed home pretending this whole city episode isn’t happening. I spent the morning …
Tropical Winter, Tue, 15 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
at a City, Transit
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
Today was a travel day. We had a relatively lazy morning, Eva and I went to see the sunrise over the canyon, we had breakfast outside watching birds and people on the campsite, dingos running about… Really need to come …
Tropical Winter, Mon, 14 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
at a Desert, Mountain
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
Today we got up very early to go and see the sunrise. However, we were once again almost late due to needless faff. This time driving was even more stressful – tour guides can wait, sunrises generally don’t. We barely …
Tropical Winter, Sun, 13 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
at a Desert, Mountain, UNESCO site
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
Today we wanted to start the day by taking the Mala walk – the free one the Anangu people want you to take. Dee was slow to get up and we were almost late, which was quite stressful for me …
Tropical Winter, Fri, 11 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
at a Desert, Mountain, UNESCO site
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
Today we got up early to be at the airport for our 9am flight to Uluru. Oh. My. Gods. On the plane, I had an aisle seat, but then spotted an empty window seat and just clawed my way to …
Tropical Winter, Thu, 10 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
at a City, Museum
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
The last two days, both spent in the city, were hard. It was everything I don’t want from holidays now – having plans, busy streets, cold and wind, people wanting me to go to places, huge crowds… I’m tired. It’s …
Tropical Winter, Tue, 08 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
at a City, Museum
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
Today we got up early to go visit the settlement in Swan Hill. Dee couldn’t sleep last night and got up late, and Charlie, whose snores might have been related, did go for a morning run. I’ve seen the settlement …
Tropical Winter, Tue, 08 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
at a City, Forest, River
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
Today we got up around 9, after yet another night of sleep-not-sleep. Morning at the Farley Estate was rather pleasant – after some playing with the dog I sat on the verandah, under a blanket, enjoying the sun. Perfect state …
Tropical Winter, Sun, 06 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
at a City
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
This morning I couldn’t sleep past 7am. I tried, but soon I joined Eva, who got up even earlier, for a literary morning. Around 9 Charlie and Dee got up, abandoned their ambitious plan to go running, and we went …
Tropical Winter, Sat, 05 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
at a City
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
They were waiting on the other side! We did eventually come out of the mammoth queue – turned out that Dee, who was landing half an hour later but has a UK passport which can be used in the automatic …
Tropical Winter, Fri, 04 Aug 17
Simon
with Charlie, Dee, Eva
at a Transit
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
I am not looking forward to this. 27 hours between three planes. First leg, Edinburgh to Amsterdam, was very stuffy and sleepy – I was pretty much passed out. I think I dreamt that Eva kept offering me some of …
Great Eastern Journey, Thu, 07 Mar 13
Simon
at a Sea
in Australia & Oceania, New Zealand
Since it’s my last day on the road, I decided to spend some time on the beach – I won’t really have a chance to do that again probably until the end of the trip, and definitely not without staying …
Great Eastern Journey, Wed, 06 Mar 13
Simon
at a Park
in Australia & Oceania, New Zealand
Rotorua! Volcanoes rock! Yesterday was, as some locals told me, cold – 19 degrees. I went to the Waimangu Volcanic site to check out one of the youngest thermal areas on Earth. In 1886 the eruption of and around …
Great Eastern Journey, Mon, 04 Mar 13
Simon
at a Sauna/Baths, Sea
in Australia & Oceania, New Zealand
View of Wairoa Breakfast on a hill, as is tradition Everything hurts… What a perfect time for a spa! Fortunately there are tons around, just pick a road. After a breakfast on a hill (this has become a theme, I’m …
Great Eastern Journey, Mon, 04 Mar 13
Simon
at a Forest, Lake
in Australia & Oceania, New Zealand
Walls of green Technically, it’s a highway I`m writing today, so something clearly didn’t go as planned. I woke up and left Taupo at 6am, when it was still dark. The trees and hills tricked me from seeing the sunrise, …
Great Eastern Journey, Sat, 02 Mar 13
Simon
at a Lake, Waterfall
in Australia & Oceania, New Zealand
Moving on: Taupo. When I arrived it turned out that some bicycle race is talking place and half the town is closed off. I couldn’t get down to the lake, but a couple helpful people pointed me to an alternative: …
Great Eastern Journey, Sat, 02 Mar 13
Simon
at a Cave
in Australia & Oceania, New Zealand
OK, so everything today was awesome. New Zealand is beautiful!!! First, the caves. Waitomo is the largest cave complex in NZ, and even though only is small part is available to the public, it’s still huge. I went to all …
Great Eastern Journey, Fri, 01 Mar 13
Simon
at a City
in Australia & Oceania, New Zealand
Today stated off slow – I went to see the downtown with the goth guy whose name I don’t remember anymore. To be honest, I`m not terribly impressed with this part of the city. Lots of boring big buildings with …
Great Eastern Journey, Fri, 01 Mar 13
Simon
at a City, Sea
in Australia & Oceania, New Zealand
Auckland is awesome! Within the first few hours here I was on a boat, on a hill, in a tunnel, among villas, and at an acrobatics-burlesque show. But all in order. I arrived a bit late so instead of going …
Great Eastern Journey, Wed, 27 Feb 13
Simon
with Charlie
at a City, Park, UNESCO site
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
Shiny Sydney So many sex shops here! And tons of ‘massage’ places too… I heard so much about how boring and horrible and not half as good as Melbourne Sydney is from various Victorians, that now I almost feel bad …
Great Eastern Journey, Tue, 26 Feb 13
Simon
with Charlie
at a City, Park
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
OK, that does it. Too hot. A climate in which one cannot leave a bar of chocolate unattended for half an hour least it dissolves is not worth living in! Today was a working day. I dropped off Charlie to …
Great Eastern Journey, Sun, 24 Feb 13
Simon
with Charlie
at a Sea
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
Somewhat underslept, today we took off for a roadtrip towards the Great Ocean Road. We got really lucky – we didn’t have to rent a car, because Lisa offered us her mum’s. She’s awesome, isn’t she? Not only that, but …
Great Eastern Journey, Sun, 24 Feb 13
Simon
with Charlie
at a City
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
What a night! But in order. Australian chemists prescribe ukuleles for many ailments In the early hours of the noon we went to the Victoria Market – a huge outdoor market with absolutely everything. I bought a hat and almost …
Great Eastern Journey, Fri, 22 Feb 13
Simon
with Charlie
at a City, Museum
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
With Miriam and Adam, superhero posing On the next day laziness continued. Adam showed me his impressive collection of WH40K figures, took us for a motorbike ride, and after a good lunch we were off to Melbourne. Interactive shadows in …
Great Eastern Journey, Thu, 21 Feb 13
Simon
with Charlie
at a City, Park
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
Today we woke up at an ungodly 5.30am to catch a 6.30 bus to Bendigo. We almost saw the sunrise – the one moment when we could use the fact that everything is flat, we spent at the Swan Hill …
Great Eastern Journey, Wed, 20 Feb 13
Simon
with Charlie
at a Forest, Museum, River
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
Flatland I didn’t know that this is the smoke of the burning Grampians In the last two days I went to visit Charlie’s family. As soon as the train left Melbourne, we entered the edges of Nowhere. City ended and …
Great Eastern Journey, Tue, 19 Feb 13
Simon
with Charlie
at a City, Museum, Park
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
OK, body, can I please sleep tomorrow? Waking up at 6 am is not fun if there is a full day ahead of me… Today was the day of museum and gardens. The museum was OK, but not what I …
Great Eastern Journey, Sun, 17 Feb 13
Simon
with Charlie
at a City, Park, Sea
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
A random airplane show on the beach Today was a recovery day. I woke up still felling quite rough, so although the initial plan was to check out some museums, after the Farleys left I ended up just lying on …
Great Eastern Journey, Sun, 17 Feb 13
Simon
with Charlie
at a City
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
It got me. It really got me. I think that yesterday I was just too excited to feel it and managed to stay OK for one day, but the delay only made it worse… It’s like a monstrous hangover-comedown from …
Great Eastern Journey, Sat, 16 Feb 13
Simon
with Charlie
at a City, Sea
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
The beach has various attractions It’s warm! And there are palm and eucalyptus and gum trees! And the ocean is warm! And the sky is cloudless! Yes, I am quite excited. Charlie is out of order for an hour, so …
Great Eastern Journey, Fri, 15 Feb 13
Simon
with Charlie
at a Sea
in Australia, Australia & Oceania
Scotland said goodbye in its usual way – with rain. Actually, snow, then rain. Though love, that one. While sitting on the bus to the airport I finally felt it. Until today I have been very relaxed and perhaps even …
