So the last entry was left unfinished because my credit ran out at the airport. I'm home now, didn't have the balls to rebel against already made plans. I guess it's for the best, this way I can prepare for my next visit properly, with sufficient funds and plenty of socks. The idea of living at home for a few months is nice, especially when I start working, and I'll be super motivated to save and not spend. I also want to spend some time working on my photography, experimenting with my camera and doing something with my photos - I've found a bar that exhibits paintings and photos, which are both on display and for sale, so I'm quite excited about giving that a go.
The journey back was pretty long and it felt weird getting into London and being pushed around and treated like sheep at Stansted. We spent the afternoon in central London, and went to an exhibition in the Natural History Museum about fish who live in the dark depths of the sea. It was average, and there were no wear near enough freaky fish in jars - a lot of them were ridiculously toy-like plastic replicas. But there were a couple of informative videos and the timeline listing the various forms of underwater exploration along the years was really interesting. Made me want to be a marine scientist, to get on boats and take samples of sand. Imagine that.
After the museum we headed to Liverpool Street and found a pub. We loved that it was still daytime until 9ish, and sat outside, amongst our various pieces of luggage, sipping on a pint and playing UNO. We met up with my friend Dave for a couple of hours and jumped on the Stansted Express, getting into the airport at midnight, where the cold floor awaited us for the night. Our bosies were slightly confused because of the time-change, and I ended up having an English breakfast at 2 am, which I afterwards regretted.
Now we're back home, trying to re-adjust to the flat, which amusingly seemed to have shrunk in size. Unpacking my backpack brought back lots of memories, but I'm not sad. We had a great time and the fact that it was a short stay has made us want to go back and do it properly, and I have the feeling we will.
G'day to all.
sábado, 14 de agosto de 2010
martes, 10 de agosto de 2010
Bye bye baby Brisbane
Just a quick word from the airport. For the past couple of days I've been thinking, if I were a little bit crazy I'd say fuck it and not get on the plane. Well, I'm here already after all, and I don't really need anything from home, except maybe some more socks...
domingo, 8 de agosto de 2010
Back to Brissie
Apologies for the long wait. I stopped writing while at the winery, as I found out Tony, the owner, was reading through my posts and felt uncomfortable keeping it up knowing he was following my every comment. Not that I had anything negative to talk about. I just found it a bit nosy and inappropriate.
So, the second week at the winery was more of the same really. We kept bottling different wines, and that's what we really enjoyed - you get to do the whole process, from rinsing and sterilizing the empty bottles, to filling them, to bottling them, to taking them down to the cellar-door. Trudie and Tony are experimenting with making cocoa port, so we contributed by spending 4 hours peeling cocoa beans. Sounds bad, but was actually pretty enjoyable. Elena and I just sat and chatted and listened to the customers wine tasting outside. We got a couple of good weather days, and sunbathed in the orchard. We made paella one night, and it tasted as good as my Mum's, so we were pretty chuffed. It was quite hard filling out the day with things to do, so sometimes I worked in the afternoon, alternatively I just slept - was probably a good idea, good sleep reserves in preparation for Brisbane and the return of the backpacker lifestyle.
And I tell you, feels good being back in the city. We were amazed at seeing so many people and being back in civilization. Cafes and bars, cars, life. We flew on Saturday from Cairns to Brisbane, a two hour flight to cover the distance we'd initially traveled in several days. It felt weird getting on a plane, almost as if we were returning home. But we're so happy we've had these couple of days to catch up with the city and also to see people we met here and amazingly, bump into people we met on our way up north. On Saturday night we saw Steve and Nick, some Australian guys we met on our last night in Brisbane last time. They're really fun and were really happy to see us again. We went to a house party in the suburbs and chatted to other Aussies and didn't get much sleep. On Sunday we got up early and went to the Brisbane Museum. Its arrangement of displays was a bit mystifying but it was enjoyable overall. The best bit were the genuine specimens of wild-life (dead obviously). We saw box jelly-fish, red back spiders, taipan snakes... the deadliest creatures in Australia. We did our best at reading all the information panels, but it was a little bit too much for our hungover brains, but it's the intention that counts. We then headed for Brisbane's fake beach, which sounds pretty tacky but is surprisingly attractive. The water is pristine, and the juxtaposition of beach, river and skyscrapers makes a nice change from your everyday scene. We sunbathed for most of the day then had some food in McDonalds (don't ask), and relaxed in the hostel. At night we went to Ryan's (one of the Brits we met at Rainbow beach) old Brisbane apartment and gained access to the steam room and jacuzzi, which was such a great day of ending the day, accompanied by some Jaboticaba port from the winery and a stroll by the river.
Ryan is back in Brisban,e after 2 months of backpacking, taking back his old job to start earning again. And it's something that's been floating around my mind for a while, especially since being back in Brisbane. It's a great city.
Today we caught the bus to Lone Pine Sanctuary, a sort of wildlife centre, specializing in koalas and kangaroos. It was nice being able to get so close to the animals, and we loved being able to stroke them - but as always with zoos and stuff like that, I felt bad for the animals. The wombats seemed so sad, and the koalas must be sick of the never-ending camera flashes and constant admiration. We thought it was a bit of a rip off too. And you had to pay an extra $15 to get your photo taken holding a koala, which we didn't do, of course.
So we've just got the rest of today and most of tomorrow to make the most of what's left. We might go to the cinema tonight and walk around another area of the city tomorrow. The flight doesn't take off until 11 pm.
And then it's back home.
So, the second week at the winery was more of the same really. We kept bottling different wines, and that's what we really enjoyed - you get to do the whole process, from rinsing and sterilizing the empty bottles, to filling them, to bottling them, to taking them down to the cellar-door. Trudie and Tony are experimenting with making cocoa port, so we contributed by spending 4 hours peeling cocoa beans. Sounds bad, but was actually pretty enjoyable. Elena and I just sat and chatted and listened to the customers wine tasting outside. We got a couple of good weather days, and sunbathed in the orchard. We made paella one night, and it tasted as good as my Mum's, so we were pretty chuffed. It was quite hard filling out the day with things to do, so sometimes I worked in the afternoon, alternatively I just slept - was probably a good idea, good sleep reserves in preparation for Brisbane and the return of the backpacker lifestyle.
And I tell you, feels good being back in the city. We were amazed at seeing so many people and being back in civilization. Cafes and bars, cars, life. We flew on Saturday from Cairns to Brisbane, a two hour flight to cover the distance we'd initially traveled in several days. It felt weird getting on a plane, almost as if we were returning home. But we're so happy we've had these couple of days to catch up with the city and also to see people we met here and amazingly, bump into people we met on our way up north. On Saturday night we saw Steve and Nick, some Australian guys we met on our last night in Brisbane last time. They're really fun and were really happy to see us again. We went to a house party in the suburbs and chatted to other Aussies and didn't get much sleep. On Sunday we got up early and went to the Brisbane Museum. Its arrangement of displays was a bit mystifying but it was enjoyable overall. The best bit were the genuine specimens of wild-life (dead obviously). We saw box jelly-fish, red back spiders, taipan snakes... the deadliest creatures in Australia. We did our best at reading all the information panels, but it was a little bit too much for our hungover brains, but it's the intention that counts. We then headed for Brisbane's fake beach, which sounds pretty tacky but is surprisingly attractive. The water is pristine, and the juxtaposition of beach, river and skyscrapers makes a nice change from your everyday scene. We sunbathed for most of the day then had some food in McDonalds (don't ask), and relaxed in the hostel. At night we went to Ryan's (one of the Brits we met at Rainbow beach) old Brisbane apartment and gained access to the steam room and jacuzzi, which was such a great day of ending the day, accompanied by some Jaboticaba port from the winery and a stroll by the river.
Ryan is back in Brisban,e after 2 months of backpacking, taking back his old job to start earning again. And it's something that's been floating around my mind for a while, especially since being back in Brisbane. It's a great city.
Today we caught the bus to Lone Pine Sanctuary, a sort of wildlife centre, specializing in koalas and kangaroos. It was nice being able to get so close to the animals, and we loved being able to stroke them - but as always with zoos and stuff like that, I felt bad for the animals. The wombats seemed so sad, and the koalas must be sick of the never-ending camera flashes and constant admiration. We thought it was a bit of a rip off too. And you had to pay an extra $15 to get your photo taken holding a koala, which we didn't do, of course.
So we've just got the rest of today and most of tomorrow to make the most of what's left. We might go to the cinema tonight and walk around another area of the city tomorrow. The flight doesn't take off until 11 pm.
And then it's back home.
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