Blerugh

The train journey passed without too many hitches. I managed to bag two sets of double seats facing each other which made for a reasonable comfy bed. Also, the meats, fruits, breads and cheeses I brought along from Adeliade market was a really nice treat after months of pasta and sauce ! As the journey came to an end, I quickly devored the last of the fruit to avoid quarentine control getting pissed off with me, and checked into a nice cheap backpackers in Perth.

It was here I started nursing a swelling around my ear which I aquired on the second day of the train journey, like a glandular ear-ache type thing. I hoped it would go away, but it turns out 2 days later that it is NOT going away, hence I am up at 6am writing this ! I don't feel totally awful, but I have been getting a little feverish and the swelling isn't going away. I am guessing I just need some anti-biotics, hopefully the medical system over here is good enough for me to pick some up today ! Not sure exactly HOW I get hold of medicine, I am guessing I go to the hospital first and they will either sort me out or telling me some GP to go and see... A quick search on the Yellowpages online map-based search revealed nothing of use anyway :(

So needless to say, I am not a happy camper right now, but I hope to be drugged up and back in the game by tonight !

Update (11am) :- the doctors have checked me for a variety of scary sounding illnesses, but finding not enough evidence to back up the scary illnesses have decided I have something like Cellulitus - e.g. some sort of basic skin infection. As hoped and predicted, they have given me a course of anti-biotics and some more painkillers, as well as an anti-biotic drip to get things started. Hopefully this should clear it all up anyway !

Get on that groovy train

Adelaide is still farily quiet, and offers to travel across the Nullarbor plain to Perth are few. Whilst I could wait 4 more days for a lift over to Perth, I am figuring that 6 days of driving through nothing sounds a bit too similar to my journey up to Uluru. So I am skipping whatever delights there were and taking the train tonight to Perth, which should arrive 39 hours later on Saturday morning (!)

Needless to say that means I am stocking up on food, drink and entertainment for this long slog across the wastes of Australia. I figure from Perth I can get a van to explore the SW region of Australia that I would overwise miss out on, and then head up the West Coast to Darwin - a classic traveller route that I hope to find some travel companions for ! The difference with this travel period compared to others is that time is more of a constraint than money now - I am pretty much aiming to be out of Australia by start Nov and back in the UK by Mid-late Nov (stopping via Taiwan).

Stuck in the middle with Uluru

10 days later, and my bold adventure is complete. A group of eight of us drove in a 4WD out to the Flinders ranges where we had a couple of short hikes. Then a few days later we drove through Williams Creek (pop 12) and Coober Pedy, an opal mining town built mostly underground and used in many sci-fi films, including Pitch Black. From there we drove up through Oodanatta and past Dahausie hot springs, where I experienced the only hot water of the trip so far, and then onto Uluru (Ayres rock) itself. We spent one day hiking around the base - I didn't climb the rock in deference to the Aboriginals wishes - and then a couple more days seeing the other interesting geological areas nearby - the Olgas, Kings Canyon and the Western MacDonald ranges. Finallu we drove into Alice Springs yesterday, and celebrated with lots of aussie beer and a nice long lie-in ! All the photos for this trip can be found in the Adelaide / Uluru photo album.

It was nice to meet new travellers again, and many of the people on the tour had interesting stories and opinions to share over a Coopers beer or two ! But ten days was enough time to spend as a group, and everyone is now heading there seperate ways - much to my dissapointment as I still need to find a way to get to Perth ! I am due to take a shuttle bus back to Adelaide in a couple of days, and from there try and get a lift Westwards, although if nothing comes up again then I guess another tour could be the quick, but again expensive, option.

Like a Sunday Morning

Having been offered a 10-day tour reduced from $1400 to $995, I thought long and hard about it, and realised that they must be desperate for people ! So I waited until the day before and phoned up with a counter offer of $895 which they accepted quite quickly. Almost too quickly. Damn, should of aimed lower still !

But for me, it's the haggle of the centuary, and it means I am getting my butt into action, departing tomorrow sometime around 7am (bleurgh) and getting into the Aussie outback, where I will be camping under the stars in swags (not wussy tents for us) and hiking around a lot with my camera !

So will be offline for a couple of weeks - not sure what kind of interent services I might see in the outback...

It's quiet... too quiet...

My first two days in Adeliade have mainly involved finding my travelling feet and resisting lattes, boost juices and tasty snacks - such luxuries are not permitted on the backpacker budget. My other money saver has been trying to organise a road trip up to Uluru, which so far has yeilded no response... It seems it's low season, many of the hostels are near-empty and people are mainly headed to Sydney or settled with work.

So it may be that I have to opt for a tour bus package - not a terrible option as all companies are price cutting at the moment to fill seats, but somehow the adventure is not quite as great on a pre-organised tour, the road trip "fun" just isn't quite there. But the fear inspiring sales tactics of the companies are quite good - after all the Australian outback is full of posionous evil and bad mobile phone coverage, so what if I broke down or got bitten on my own out there ! Ah, at the end of the day, lazyness may win out and get me to sign me up for the tour option :)

Forward march

In three hours I will get on board my coach to Adelaide. The last few days have been full of final, final, no really honestly final goodbyes, which has been all a bit emotional to tell the truth. It was only as I left London that I started to appritiate what I was leaving behind, and I think the same is starting to happen with Melbourne. If I didn't have plans to move on and see home again, I think I could of qutie happily stayed a long time in Melbourne; like Vancouver it was one of those vibrant yet pleasant cities you could spend a long time in and never get bored of.

But I must head on - lots of Australia to see, and plenty of people I want to meet up with back home before xmas. Plus of course, xmas dinner, surely one of the best reasons to return home of all! Last few days have therefore been spent on Tax (tedious forms), Visas (tedious waiting) and posting stuff home (tedious forms). Oh, and I managed to fit in a very enjoyable session snowboarding and a few nice days in the country too ;) I am once again back to just a backpack and a small day bag, although not much room for expansion this time, probably due to the addition of my manual camera kit and some extra clothes !

Oh, Melbourne photo album is now complete, lots more evenings out uploaded with workmates and non-workmates on there. Camera is clear and internet access is no longer free - back on the road again !