Feb 2007

Yahoo! I finally got in to see the travel agent and after much deliberating, decided on a flight path.

Looks like I'll be leaving here, flying for a quick stop over in LAX, before headed on Quantas straight to Sydney. Thats a relief since the original ticket she wanted to book me with had a multitude of stops, which, while they were all in great places, I wouldnt want to stay on my own. Things like Singappore, Tokyo, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. I'll do those on an Asia trip I think. But for now, being my first trip I just want simple . That also means less chance for my bag to go missing.

So, arriving in Sydney on April 16th for Oz intro, and then I'm going to be booking with Ozexperience (sister company for ummm Adventure Tours) for their independant tour of the East Coast up to Cairns. That means I can go at my own pace, stop at all the cities along the way if I like.

I think I'll be stopping at Surfers Paradise, and of course Brisbane for a while. Then it'll be off to Hervey Bay to learn to Scuba Dive (its cheaper there apparently) and maybe a quick jaunt to Fraser Island before continuing up to Airlie Beach and touring the Whitsundays.

Once I eventually reach Cairns, it'll be a nice 2 day min excursion up to Cape Tribulation for a stay in the Rainforest and a tour out on the Great Barrier reef.

And then! its the Grey Hound for Western Australia. Heading up to Darwin, taking some time to head down to Alice Springs and Uluru of course before going back up and hitting the West coast down to Broome. I'm really looking forward to this part of the trip since I know very little about it, it should be very exciting!

Once I eventually reach Perth, its the Indian Pacific to Adelaide. I havent really decided on what to do about Uluru, since I can either go there from Darwin, or Adelaide with the Greyhound pass ... so I'll have to decide which time of year will be better.

In Adelaide, there will be the mandatory stop at Kangaroo Island before possibly heading inland to visit a few interior cities in Victoria before ending in Melbourne, hopefully for Christmas / New years. (Sydney is a possibility here too) then its down to the beautiful and supposedly unmissable Tasmania / Hobart, before heading back to Melbourne where my flight is leaving from in April again.

Oh my god! There is going to be sooo much to do! and I havent really got any dates in mind as to where I'm going to be when, but it should be alot of fun.

Looks like my travel agent thinks that the VIP back packers card is the best, though I think I'm still going to get the YHA one just incase. Its not very much money, and it will be nice if there arent any VIP hostels available.

Wow this is a long blog post. I think its time to cut it off before I really go nuts!

Del

Wow only 5 weeks left!

I have an appointment with a travel agent who deals only with the DownUnder area and a little bit of Asia for Monday evening. Looks like I might take a "backpackers fare" with Singapore Airlines that includes up to 5 stop overs either on the way there or the way back. Mmm Fiji anyone?

Anyhow, now that airfare is mostly out of the way, and I'm pretty sure I'll be booking with OzIntro, the only things left for me to really stress over for now are packing and gear.

I have an awsome, if large, bag, (65L!) so thats not worring me. I also have my travel pillow, a saklock, a waterproof bag cover just in case, a day pack, travel guides etc.

Now all I need are some decent cross trainers, which reminds me, are those really so different from runners/sneakers?

And of course, a mobile phone. For what ever reason, this is causing me all sorts of grief. I have a contract here in Canada, but the last time I travelled I ended up paying over $40 in roaming fees, and that was only to the US!

I've heard alot of talk about SIM cards, but I dont think you can really buy those here. It seems mostly that you either buy minutes, or you have a phone on a contract.
I guess what I need to know really is, should I bring my cell phone over and see what I can work out with my provider? Or should I wait and pick up a phone with a SIM card or pay as you go kind of thing over there?

The other thing is, I have an MP3 player here, which I can barely imagine living without (especially on long bus rides) but it takes a USB port to charge, and I really dont want to have to hit up an Internet cafe ever 2 days for 4 hrs if I dont have to. So I've been thinking about an MP3 phone. It would mean one less electronic to charge/get stolen, and one less thing for me to worry about.

Of course, the easy answer here is to just say no to a phone in general and rely off pay phones and international calling cards ... but if I need to find work, I need a way for someone to get ahold of me.

Who would have thought something that seems so easy could be so ... convaluted? well back to searching on the web, and hoping Bell eventaully gets around to answering their emails >.<

ugg I gotta retype this whole post.

Sigh.

Anyway, so I was flipping through my travel guide (Lonely planets Shoestring series) and this wonderful savior of a piece of loose leaf falls out. And on it? Behold! The glory of my planning! ... except I dont remember what the notes meant... annndd there is no apparent order to what I wrote down.... and its not very long.

my favorite part is the drawing at the bottom >.< Sigh. well at least it sort of gives me an idea .... like... Dont go to Darwin in the middle of the summer. great.

So looks like the West Coast is going to be alot of fun ... the only problem being, from a first glance at the maps again, there really doesnt appear to be much there.

I'm not sure what things cost, but the sites look beautiful! and I'm really looking forward to expersiencing the "real" Australia. I couldnt justify a trip over there without hitting though out back at least once.

Time get ahold of a travel agent today. A friend of my mom's is going through Downunder-Travel here in Calgary, and she has had nothing but good reviews for it. So here's hoping for some good results.

Del