AUSTRALIA
The currency rate was UKŁ1 = A$2.20 approx (at time of travel). We arrived after many months in Asia on a working holiday visa, which we had organised in the UK before travel.
We arrived at Cairns airport at 5:00 a.m. after a tiring flight from Bali (via Darwin). We passed through immigration easily and waited around until a sensible hour to head into Cairns. There was a board in the airport lounge with details of all the hostels. All you had to do was pick up the phone and press the button next to the desired hostel and you would be connected. All of them promised free pick up. The problem was, no one was answering his or her phone.
Eventually we got an answer and a small group of us jumped in a van, which took us to a hostel called the "Captain Cook". It was quite a way out of town and had only dorm beds left, so we decided to walk into the centre, which took about twenty minutes. It was a lovely warm morning. Cairns appeared to be very pleasant and it felt really good to be back in a "civilised" place. Dibs was so weak and tired that I had to carry her rucksack. I was totally knackered myself!
We shopped around and found a great room in the "International Hostel". A large place with communal kitchen, swimming pool and most importantly free food and drinks vouchers for every day, redeemable at local pubs.
We spent the most of the day relaxing and eating things that we hadn’t eaten for a long time. Jacket Potatoes, Donner Kebabs, Meat Pies and other items of fast food. Our diet had been totally noodles/rice for the last few weeks, so some stodgy stuff tasted good! Walking back later in the afternoon we bumped into Heath – our English friend who we’d met in SE Asia. He’d been in Cairns for a few days and was very anxious to show us around that evening.
People in Indonesia, coming from Australia, had told me that Cairns was a budget paradise. That evening I found out how true that was. One of the free drink vouchers was for a bar next door to the hostel. This entitled me to two large beers, which I gladly guzzled. They also gave us a free meal voucher for a bar in town. We got a decent plate of barbecued meat and salad. It just so happened that this bar had a two for the price of one drinks night on.
Later we went to the local nightclub. It was happy hour, followed by $1 beers (40p) (and entry was free)! One hour during the night was "Ladies Hour" where all girls were served free cocktails. Dibs obliged by grabbing a few for the lads.
Towards the end of the night I realised I was getting quite drunk – I was not used to drinking much. A guy came up to me and said, "Are you interested in Rap Jumping". I didn’t know what "Rap Jumping" was, but Heath (now an expert in the Cairns budget experience) gave me a quick (just say "yes") in the ear and I just said "yep ok". They guy then stamped me on the hand with a black stamp and said – "Go and get your free jug of ale from up the back.. we hope to see you tomorrow morning".
I walked to the back of the bar to get my free jug and picked up the first one I saw. Some guy tried to take it off me and we ended up in a bit of a tugging match, me claiming that it was my free jug and he claiming it was his. About two minutes later I realised that the free jugs were located at the other end of the bar. I apologised profusely and quickly made my way to the free jug area – red faced.
We enjoyed our free beer and I didn’t go rap jumping.
Cairns is a nice place to relax, for a while. Really cheap and the opportunities to do adventurous things, such as white water rafting, diving, etc are unlimited. It’s a real backpackers budget haven – but I got the feeling the locals had quite a bit of resentment against us. A couple of times in bars I got "What you staring at" from local lads. I mainly ignored them. It’s understandable that the local youth get a bit upset I suppose – with all those drunken foreign backpackers around.
We spent the next few days sorting a few things out – getting a tax file number, sorting our Medicare out and opening a Bank Account. I chose National bank – they were very helpful. We also went to the hospital a couple of times so that Dibs could have her Malaria tests. The place was full of heroine addicts collecting their weekly methadone fixes. Luckily Dibs got the all clear – no malaria present, but was told she would have to have a blood test every six months.
25th April, 1995 The Golden PloverWe decided we would go out on a boat for a day, seeing that we had been in Cairns almost a week and done nothing "touristy", so we booked a trip on an old renovated tall ship called "The Golden Plover". It cost us $40 each including lunch. The boat left early, but about thirty minutes into the voyage it broke down! We had to return to dry land on a little dingy, but the owner refunded us and gave us a half price trip the following day. We couldn’t really complain. We spent the afternoon playing pool, eating and drinking. Whilst in the bar a leak developed in the roof – just a drip, then all of a sudden the roof burst open and there was water everywhere. Must have been a burst pipe. It was quite funny.
The following day we got back on the Golden Plover and set off. It was a really nice ship (not that I know much about ships) and we all got stuck into running it – winching things about and even climbing up the masts. The sea was beautiful and we headed for a small sand island on the Great Barrier Reef to do some snorkelling and diving.
Once we arrived the crew asked if anyone wanted to do any diving. Two lads had already booked, but they still had two sets of kit available. I don’t know why, but Dibs volunteered us! I was quite willing to try, but I thought she wouldn’t be up to it after her illness.
We paid $40 each to do an introductory dive. We sat in the water with Warwick, our instructor, and learned the basics. We went down between 5 and 10 meters and it was a fantastic experience. Breathing underwater was weird at first, but the reef was amazing – we saw loads of fish and sea creatures. At one stage Warwick produced a bag of food and we fed the fish. He also stuck one of the other guys hands into a Giant Clam. You should have seen his face and the sudden burst of bubbles come out of his regulator as he panicked. Luckily the myth about clams being able to trap divers is rubbish, and he pulled his hand free without effort. I’m really glad we did the dive and although Dibs struggled with the weight of all the gear, she really enjoyed it too.
After one more budget night out in the various drinking establishments of Cairns, we booked a ticket on the McCathertys coach line to Sydney – unlimited stops. It cost us $152 each. First stop – Arlie beach.
28th April 1995 The Whitsunday Islands, QLD
The coach journey to Arlie Beach was comfortable and on arrival we chose to stay at the "Backpackers by the Bay" Hostel, as recommended by someone in Cairns. To be honest I found it pretty grotty, but Ok for a few nights. Where the hostel lacked in cleanliness it gained in character and on the first night everyone got together by the pool (yes, it had a swimming pool) for an "all you can eat $5 bbq". We all at heaps. In fact during my first day at Arlie beach I’d eaten huge amounts of food including pie and chips for lunch. Making up for the low-fat veggie diet in Asia!
After a day exploring Arlie beach we booked to do a trip to the Whitsunday islands. We decided to take a 3-day trip on a small sailing boat called Rogue 2. It cost us $185 each – inclusive of food. The best value we could find for a smaller boat. That evening Heath and I went on a bit of a booze up – ending up at the local disco until 4:30 a.m.
We set off on Rogue 2 at midday the following day. The weather was mixed, a bit choppy, but relatively calm most of the time. There were thirteen of us on the boat – plus three crew members – and everyone seemed to be a good laugh, and there was a good balance of nationalities. The first afternoon we sailed across beautiful clear seas to Hook Island where we walked around and lazed on the beach. In the evening we set sail and anchored in a nice little cove where we ate some great food whilst drinking, chatting and stargazing.
We woke at 6:30 for an early morning swim off Whitsunday Island, the largest island in the group. The water was warm but the current was very strong. Only a few strong swimmers stayed out there for a while, two American girls and me. It was really hard work getting back to the boat, probably one of the hardest/longest sea swims I have ever done, but a really good challenge. We also did a bit of snorkelling off the boat, but the sea was quite cloudy due to a storm a few days ago. I still got chance to view some fantastic coral and fish and we saw some big turtles. When I eventually got breakfast I was starving!
We then walked across the island to Whitehaven Beach, which is an immensely beautiful long stretch of pure white sand. It was deserted. We walked around for a while and took in the scenery before a storm started to move in and we decided to head back to the boat. We sailed for quite a while, with everyone taking it in turn to do various tasks on board, but it got quite rough and there were a few seasickness casualties. Dibs wasn’t too bad as she had prepared herself with plenty of anti-seasickness tablets.
Later in the day we reached South Molle Island and the weather changed back to being calm and sunny. We landed on the island and made use of the resort for the rest of the afternoon. Swimming in their pool and stocking up on beers, we were even allowed to use their showers. In the evening we could have stayed in the resort and participated in the evenings entertainment, but we decided to head back to the boat. We had a super evening chatting and drinking under a star-lit calm sky.
On our final day on the boat we sailed to DayDream island and swam whilst feeding the famous "Bat fish". These big fish are tame and used to being fed, so you get mobbed as soon as you enter the water. We got back to Arlie beach around noon and headed back to the hostel, then later on met up with the "gang" at the beach bar. The trip on Rogue 2 comes highly recommended.
We took the overnight bus journey to Brisbane, which took 16 hours. We tired to get a room at the "Aussie Way" hostel but it was full so we ended up staying at the "Roma Hotel". Although clean and good value the Italian woman who ran it was mad. She first told us "You givva me a 20 dollar key deposit…. If you looza da key – I looza your deposit"! and later on she stormed our room after we opened a window saying "I told you – don’t open the windows!!". Crazy! A big room cost us $30 per night, and it was fine for one night as we were getting the 8:15 a.m. bus to Byron Bay in the morning.
Brisbane seemed OK. We saw a bit of the city and a beautiful sunset. In the evening we met with Heath and had a couple of beers in town. He was also getting the bus with us tomorrow.
Byron Bay is a really nice spot. Laid back, small, with fantastic coastal scenery. We decided to stay at the "Backpackers Village Hostel" for $38 per night. Quite expensive, but we got a nice room with a huge waterbed. The hostel had a very friendly atmosphere with lots of travellers moving to or from Sydney. We spent the best part of two days chatting and gathering/passing-on information. The weather was very nice. We discovered the RSL (Returned Services League) club, which offered cheap food and drink, and let in any foreign visitor. They are like a fancy version of the British legion. We also discovered the Aussie penchant for gambling. The RSL club was full of "pokies" which are simple fruit machines which lots of people seem addicted to.
Cape Byron, the most easterly point in Australia, is a great place for walking, surfing and beachcombing, and we spent quite a bit of time in this area. In the evenings Byron provided us with lots of entertainment.
The only bad thing that happened in this town was that Dibs wedding ring and some money was stolen from our room. Thieving bastards!
The bus journey down to Sydney was another long overnight trip, and to make it worse, the old git behind me insisted on moaning all night and "kneeing" the back of my seat. We arrived at Central Station quite early and Shaun came to collect us and whisk us away to Coogee, the beach suburb where they were currently living. It was great to see Shaun and Liz and they made us feel very welcome. We spent a couple of days just catching-up and looking around some of the sights of Sydney. It’s a beautiful city and we were glad to be there.
Shaun and Liz moved to Kirribilli the weekend after we arrived and we stayed in their little flat for a few weeks. My Mum shipped some work-clothes over to us and before we knew it we both had a jobs. Dibs started temping and then ended up working on the helpdesk at a company called ISSC in North Sydney. I also worked for ISSC for three months before moving to Westpac Bank on George Street in the CBD.
We earned good money, made a new circle of friends, and rented a beautiful flat in Kirribilli overlooking Sydney harbour. Everything slotted into place very easily and we spent six months living a "normal" working life. We managed to budget fairly well and saved up plenty of money, more than we could have imagined, for our trip home.
We had a good social life in Sydney with Shaun and Liz and our new friends, Gordon & Jenny and Jonathan and Louise (all Scottish – but never mind!). Shaun, Gordon and I would spend quite a bit of time fishing in the harbour (or boozing in the Kirribilli Hotel!), while the girls would go off Horesriding in Centennial Park. I also started to play a bit more golf with the lads. Shaun and I were the novices, whilst Jon and Gordon the old hands. It was pretty competitive but fun and I even won once, although the others will tell you they let me!
Talking of competition, we used to have some fantastic Saturday afternoon snooker challenges at the Kirribilli RSL club. Scotland v Wales & England (Gordon & Jonathan v Shaun & me). Of course we beat them most of the time.
We also started training at a local gym and played basketball on a regular basis.
Sydney was good to us and we made lots of friends at work too. Norm and Dave, two blokes from ISSC, and Patrick and Mike (from Westpac) are still good friends that I keep in touch with to this day.
We spent a week at Wollongong, a large town an hour or so south of Sydney, staying with my Uncle Arthur and Max, his son. We had a great time spent visiting so many places we almost lost track of all the places we visited. Arthur had lots of energy for an old bloke! Max and Arthur made us feel really welcome in their home and we also visited Pete and Heather in Canberra. The coastline south of Sydney is beautiful and we spent a couple of days visiting various coves and small fishing towns, as well as touring inland around the Great Dividing Range.
During one long weekend, a good friend of ours, Dave Bryant (Or Half-a-day as he is sometimes known), invited us to drive out to stay at his parents in Leeton. We stayed with his parents in this nice little town in the countryside. It was very relaxing and a nice break from the city.
For my stag night, Gordon, Shaun and I headed up to the Snowy Mountains for some camping and fishing. A six-hour drive into some beautiful alpine scenery. It was towards the end of the fishing season and before the skiing season, so the weather was pleasant and the area was quiet. We stayed at Lake Jindabyne, camping the first night, then opting for cabin on the second night. The fishing was fantastic – trying to catch trout in the crystal clear alpine lake and rivers, surrounded by breathtaking scenery and the curious local Kangaroo population.
First day we took out a boat, had a great laugh, and I caught the only fish (although it was on the worm and not the fly!). So, we had huge steaks on the campsite BBQ, followed by a good night out in the local taverns.
On our last day the fishing was more fun on the river, and Gordon caught a beautiful rainbow trout on the fly.
It was a great weekend, a real good laugh, and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my stag weekend.
3rd December 1995 The Big Day
We got married on 3rd December 1995. We opted to have a small ceremony conducted by a "celebrant" in Clarke Park, Lavender Bay, overlooking the harbour (next door to Shaun and Liz’s flat!), followed by a meal and drinks at a local Italian restaurant. Organising a wedding is easy in Australia and you can get married pretty much anywhere you want to. I think it cost A$200 for the celebrant.
We invited about 25 people. Friends and Australian relatives, and my Mum and Grandparents, and Susan (Dibs friend from England) all made the trip. They arrived two weeks before the wedding, and it was great to see them. Gordon and Jenny gave them use of their flat (as they were on holiday in India) and we did lots of touristy things in and around Sydney. The week before the wedding they stayed in Wollongong with Arthur and Max.
All week long before the "big day" it pissed it down with rain. On the day before, the forecast looked OK. Dibs spent the day with the girls whilst I was banished from the flat. I spent the day playing golf with the lads and boozing. I remember getting quite drunk, eating a spicy-hot-one pizza, and then sleeping on Shaun and Liz’s floor! I woke up very early on the 3rd with a bad stomach (nerves or the pizza?) to a crystal clear, sunny, hot day! My parents stayed in the Kirribilli Apartments for their final week.
The day itself was brilliant. The service in the park in the sun, with all our friends, and lashings of champagne, couldn’t have been better. It was such a nice way to tie the knot. Our only distractions were noisy Kookaburras!
The reception in the restaurant was really good. The food was spot-on and we paid for four hours of complementary drinks, which went down very well! The restaurant was within walking distance from the park, and although we had to share our reception with an Italian christening party, it was superb. Our half of the restaurant was divided off, but the other group respected our big day (and we theirs) and shared a disco afterwards and the music of "Luigi – the Italian entertainer"!
Shaun very kindly was my best man, and he did a stirling job. His speech was great; as was Granddads (there was no way we could keep him off the stage!). Our friends helped out with photography, especially Christine (should be a professional), and Jonathan very kindly took video footage of the entire day.
In the evening we walked up the road to the Sydney Rest Hotel where we had a suite booked. Everyone from the wedding came with us and we sat in the bar until late.
The whole experience was not only fantastic, it was good value, and I would recommend this type of wedding to anyone! I wouldn’t have changed any part of the day.
25th December 1995 The Festive Season.
We decided that we’d finish work in the New Year, buy a car, and set off around Australia for three months – simple! I looked around for a car for sometime and eventually picked one up at the King Cross Car Market just before Christmas. The car market is a useful place where backpackers buy and sell their vehicles. We got a 1979 Ford Falcon station wagon – 6cylinder 4.1 litre. A bit rough around the edges but not bad – and a good price at just over $2000. It had probably been around Australia a few times so I decided to book it into a local garage in Kirribilli. The Italian guy who ran it seemed pretty honest and told me exactly what was required. I paid another $500 to get it into good shape, bought some tools and some other essentials. We were ready to go.
On Christmas day we drove down to Bronte Beach with the "gang" and had a huge picnic. It was a corking hot day and a really different experience. In the evening we all went back to Gordon and Jenny’s for the traditional Christmas Faye. A good time was had by all.
New Years eve was also spent at Gordon and Jenny's flat, on the roof overlooking the harbour. Lots of friends turned up including Norm and David Bryant and the fireworks on the harbour were fantastic.
A few days later we emptied the flat, got rid of any unnecessary "stuff" and left our jobs. We hit the road on Jan 18th.
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