Moments of 2003 - 4

What to say about my time in Australia (澳洲 ) ... I wasn't going to write anything, but I did spend 5 months there, so I figure there must be some things to be said.

The trouble with Australia was that I had high hopes ... too high ... I had a one year working visa in my passport and being a lover of the beach and the ocean ... I imagined Australia would be a place I wanted to be forever.

After 5 months of being in Taiwan, 3 weeks in Malaysia, 5 weeks in Thailand and another week in Taiwan, I found myself landing at the Brisbane airport. I hadn't even collected my luggage and I already had a sinking feeling in my heart of not wanting to be there. It was a strange feeling as I couldn't figure out why I felt this way ... but it stuck with me, growing stronger with each passing day.

I spent 3 weeks living with two friends on the Gold Coast, trying to find me some work in a bar. I was able to find a job, but it only lasted a week as I kind of bumped heads with the gay night manager there. My 'working holiday visa' only allowed me to work at one place of employment for three months, at which time, I had to move on ... hence the name 'working holiday visa'. Most companies aren't interested in training you for three months, understandably.

Almost a month in, still having no luck with work and finding the Gold Coast to be a bit of a pretentious and boring place, I decided to make my way up the coast ... first stop, Bundaberg. I had called a working hostel as I had heard fruit picking was the way to go. My account was telling me I needed to stock up some funds as diving, Fiji and NZ were in the plans.

Bundaberg was a great little town. The work was hard, the money sucked and I think I was one of the oldest travellers in the hostel. For $25 a night, I got the top of a bunk bed in a two bedroom house, living with 8 people ... 4 to a room. Ugh. I was to be up for work every morning at 430 am and was on the farm by 5. By 10am it was in the high 30's to low 40's, so one was happy that the work day was almost over. I planted and picked sweet potatoes, planted squash, picked chilis. Nothing great.

After two weeks of work and with a cheque in my pocket, I found myself continuing on. My next stop, Rockhampton. Rockhampton was where I had some of my hard working money stolen. I spent the afternoon playing cards with this Welsh guy, I found myself trusting enough to leave my door open to run downstairs for a moment, only to come back to find my wallet empty. Of course, I confronted the guy and, of course he denied ... but seeing as though him and I were the only ones in the hostel and he had his bags packed ready to leave on a bus ... one has to wonder. The hostel did have video surveillance, but the tape had run out, so they weren't able to confirm my thoughts. Oh well ... it was only money, but nonetheless, I was a little bummed out.

After Rockhampton, I made my way up to Airlie Beach. I went on a three day boat cruise of the Whitsunday Islands. It was quite nice, but the diving wasn't that great. After Airlie, I went to Ayr ... what a hole. I stayed at a working hostel there, which wasn't anything like the organized one in Bundaberg. There was hardly any work, I was the oldest one there ... including being older than the owners of the hostel ... kids ... well, early 20's had been stuck there for months as they were drinking away their money at the bar every night. I stuck around for 4 days before getting out ... I met some interesting characters in that town, oh my goodness. I cut mangoes for 3 days on a farm. The farmer was 70 and had a 19 year old girlfriend. His girlfriend worked on the farm with us, but that didn't stop him from inviting me out for beer and then making a pass at me at the end of the night ... I mean ... as if?! I did find out later, that Danny's Backpackers ... the hostel ... was rated the worst hostel in Australia ... surprise, surprise!

Next stop ... Townsville. I thought Townsville was a great place. I had met two South African's on my boat cruise of the Whitsunday's and they happened to be there the same time as I. It was nice to have some people to chum around with for a bit. I only stayed in Townsville for 2 nights before I moved on to Magnetic Island. Friends of friends lived there, so I was staying with them for a few nights. There wasn't much to do on Maggie Island, but I was waiting for the weather to clear so I could do a dive trip of the sunken S.S. Yongala.

The dive was worth the wait ... the huge vessel was built in 1901, sunk in 1911 and wasn't discovered until 1948. It sunk in the middle of nowhere ... a few people were sick on the way out as the trip was quite bumpy. The boat itself was 30m below, so the dive trip was for advanced divers only. I was in awe of the things to be seen ... it's been my best dive to date. There were schools of fish that were as big as me ... there was a huge Hawk Bill turtle that resides inside the boat ... you could make out certain parts of the boat, like toilets and the anchor and the bathtubs and some of the rooms ... it was an amazing thing to see ... it brought tears to my eyes.

After leaving Magnetic Island, I spent another night in Townsville with my two new SA friends. The next day I was making my way to Mission Beach. The further up I headed, the hotter it seemed to be. In Mission Beach, I ran into a girl I had housed with in Bundaberg. That was the thing about OZ ... you'd always run into the same people here and there as everyone seemed to stop at the same places. Mission Beach was nothing to write home about, so I will continue on.

Cairns ... at this point, I have to admit ... I wasn't having much fun. I had managed to pick up some kind of skin rash thing somewhere along the way ... the doctors weren't sure what it was ... they figured it was a reaction from sea lice, perhaps from one of the wet suits I had been wearing ... anyways, I was put on steroids for a few weeks to try and get it cleared up. I had scarring on my arms for months. Besides that ... I was looking forward to diving in the Great Barrier Reef. It wasn't as great as my S.S. Yongala trip, but it was still very beautiful down below. I stayed in Cairns for about a week and then decided to hop a plane back down to Brisbane.

I had a few days to get packed up and express my thanks to Dan and Becky before hopping a plane to Fiji. My return flight from Fiji dropped me in Sydney as I was making my way to Newcastle to stay with my friend, Warren and his girlfriend. I lived at Warren's for about 3 months. I, again, had no luck finding work. I did do some telemarketing for about a week ... but I wasn't very good at it, so I was let go. There wasn't much else to be found. I had great fun with Waz and I was very thankful he had opened his home to me. I probably would've left OZ a lot sooner had it not been for him. He was my saviour through the bummed times.

I did go to NZ for 3 weeks within that 3 months, but funds were running low and my spirits were kind of down, so NZ probably didn't get the chance it deserved. It was a beautiful country and I made the absolute best of my time there ... I just wish it wasn't so far ... there were so many things to do, I'd like to go back one day if funds were ever to allow it. I did manage a dive day in NZ ... man oh man, the water was cold!

After getting back from NZ, it was only a few short weeks before I found myself making my way back to Taiwan. I stopped in Malaysia for about 8 days on my way ... I mean ... why not ... I had no money and I needed a boost before trying to make a new start in a new country.

So ... yeah ... Australia ... it had amazing beaches ... cheap Indian food ... lots of weird or deadly creatures ... great diving ... some good folk ... lots of weird folk ... weird lingo like, 'heaps' and 'how ya going' and 'mate' but most importantly ... it had good, cheap wine which one could purchase at drive through liquor stores which seemed to be on too many street corners ... now, if only I had me a car maybe I would've stayed!