Japan to Australia - 02/03/07

Time had come to leave Japan and head for the land far down under....Australia!!!

We left Kans House very early on the Friday morning as we were flying out of Fukuoka airport. After getting about 3 hours sleep the night before, Masao-kun kindly dropped us off at the bus stop at around 4 am in the morning.
Arriving at Fukuoka with plenty of time, we caught our plane to Taiwan where we would get our connection to Australia. We had a 10 hour wait but they had free internet and Kan and I managed to sit down in this rather comfy show room with a massive plasma screen showing a dvd about Taiwan. (it's a pity they didn't have a Xbox 360 there).
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10 hours past quite quickly, and before we knew it we were on the plane and making our way south. I managed to watch the film Babel which was pretty average.

At last we were landing in Sydney and seeing the harbour bridge and opera house from the plane it started to sink in where I actually was. Getting through passport control was one of the easiest experiences I've had, the Ozy staff were very friendly and things just seemed more relaxed than Japanese or British passport control.
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After a quick change into my shorts, as it was well hot when we arrived, we headed to catch the train to central station. From here it was a short walk to where we were going to be staying (Wakeup Hostel).

Even though we were very tired and after speaking to one of our room mates (Kevin - from France) Kan and I went out to get something to eat and explore. After eating at a food court we witnessed some chinese kids fighting, it was a full on scrap with security gaurds running all over the place. Kan wanted to get closer to the action to see what was going on.... I was surprised at her blood thirst :-)
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After the drama in the food mall we headed down to Darling Harbour. The view of the city buildings feels like your on a film set as they didn't appear real.

We both started to feel a little bit tired so we sat down on a bench and had a little sleep. When we awoke we saw another little fight between a couple with 3 boys.... this was just a verbal fight with no violence, I decided it must be the hot weather that causes everyone to loose there temper.

After this we strolled down to Cockle Bay / Darling Harbour and at night time this place looked amazing with all the building lit up by the setting sun. We watched a street performer who was actually quite funny.
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After walking around this area we headed back to the hostel to get some well earned rest as we hadn't... well I hadn't slept proper in at least 24 hours.

The Tourist Thing... - 04/03/07
After getting some well earned sleep overnight, although the whole room was awoken at 4am listening to a full conversation a girl was having on her phone while lying in bed (it was a 10 dorm room after all) Kan and I headed out to get some shopping from the local supermarket (Coles).
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After this we headed towards Sydney harbour to see the bridge and opera house. I have to say the bridge was bigger than I expected it to be and the opera house was smaller than I expected, although it was good to see as it finally hit home that I was in australia. With all the walking we both felt rather tired so we headed back to the hostel and both rang home to tell everyone we had arrived safe.

Getting Things Sorted... - 05/03/07 to 06/03/07

Because we are on WHV in australia we need to sort out some paper work for when we start work. Over the past couple of days we have sorted out the following.

Our Bank account, we decided to go with the Commonwealth Bank as the lady at the Hostel information desk recommended it saying that they dont mind you being a non citizen and having no fixed address. It turned out to be correct and it took about 1 hour to get things sorted there (their is a monthly charge of 6 dollars for the account we have).

The previous day we sorted out a sim card for my mobile phone, as it was already unlocked we could use any sim. We chose Vodaphone as Misuzu (Kans friend) was on that network. Their seems to be 2 main mobile companies to chose from, Optus and vodaphone, however there is also Telstra although I was told their very exspensive. I think Optus has an option where you can choose 5 numbers to ring for free, so if you had a group of friends then that might be a good option.

After sorting our bank account out we headed to get our Tax File Number (TFN) at the main office in Sydney (which is located at the bottom of the tall looking needle building, you cant miss it) you fill in a form on a computer (you can do it from anywhere on the net) but is helped having the big australian bloke, who couldn't have been more australian if he tried there to ask any questions. We were told that it would take 3-4 weeks to be sent to us which at that point we were a bit worried, although you can start working with the temporary number you get given, you will just get taxed at a higher rate but will be able to claim it back.

Another thing that might be useful to get is a post box at The Travellers Contact Point (TCP) it costs 50 dollars to have for one year and will help with any letters that need to be sent to you. I didnt set one up until after getting all of the above. Another option is to put you hostel address down and just hope they are quick sending out your mail. The bank card came very quick and even though they said it would be 3-4 weeks for the TFN it only took just over a week to get to us.

You can get companies to sort it all out for you and I remember seeing them advertised on the web when I was researching before I left England. But after speaking to people who chose that route it seemed a waste of money as you can do it all yourself.

My camera broke today so there are no pictures I can put up which is a shame, will need to look for a new one.

Looking for some wheels... - 07/03/07
Buying a car in your own country is hard, but when you got to buy one in a different country in less than a week the pressure is on. We had read all the information that the backpacker magazines supply you with, which is all good stuff don't get me wrong, but my head was ready to explode with information overload. Mainly because there isn't a simple answer or in this case choice of car/van to choose from, each has its own positives and negatives (which to this day Kan and I are still discussing).

We headed out to a car dealer who said they specialize in cars for Travellers. They are based out in Arncliffe which is a short train ride into the suburbs of Sydney. Arriving at “Travellers Mate”(name of the car dealer) we were greeted by a guy called Pete (the owner is called Murry). Pete was originally from Bolton (the accent gave it away) he was very friendly and helped us a lot. It was good to see what sort of cars/vans were available and also the size of them, although we were still very much undecided on which option to take.

After “Travellers Mate” we headed to “Travellers Auto Barn” which is a similar place to what “Travellers Mate” is, except it was in the city and the prices reflected this. They didn't seem to bothered in giving us advice or helping us (it was late in the afternoon after all). After speaking to a French guy at the “Travellers Mate” his opinion wasn't too favourable about “Travellers Auto Barn”. After looking around we decided that they were out of our budget, so we moved on..

Next stop was the kings cross car market, basically a multi story car park where you pay for the day to park and try and sell your car onto anyone who wants to buy it. By the time we got there everyone had gone home although we did see signs about the rules and regulations so it seems to be an option. I guess it just depends on the cars that come through, although speaking to some guys from Denmark in the hostel they had been down to check out the place and said the cars had seen better days.

So after our busy day we headed back to the hostel to digest all the days findings.

Make a decision, and go with it! - 12/03/07
Headed back to Travellers Mate today to check out some of the cars again and to also test drive a few. Our budget for a car was around 4000 Australian dollars so in a way we were limited to the choice we could go for. First car I had a test drive in was a Toyota Targa (1989) the thing I like about vans are you are up high. Another positive is the van is big enough to put all our luggage in and we have the option of sleeping in the van as well although how comfy that will be i am not sure.

Next up for the test was a ford falcon station wagon (estate). This was in good condition and was comfy to drive. It had plenty of room to put the luggage in the back if you fold down the seats and you could sleep in the back (many people do) but I am not sure where you would put all luggage if their are 2 of you.

Our last choice was to test drive a ford falcon panel van. When I first saw one of these cars I wanted to get one straight away cause I think they look cool. The cool factor is what made us make up our minds, although the room you get in a panel van is not as much as a the Toyota it does have more than the station wagon. You also having the option of building a bed/platform in the back. The Panel van had an added bonus of coming with a lot of camping gear already. It also had a platform built in the back, but this was not very strong as I tested it out and fell through it. But it would be something i would be able to improve on in the future.

After leaving a deposit we decided to head back to the city to get a photocopy of my driving license signed at a local police station, the copper I asked looked a bit confused but he signed it nevertheless. It feels good that we have made a choice at last, although I feel a little apprehensive to weather it is the correct choice...we will wait and see.

Lets do ART – 14/03/07
Today we went to the contemporary art museum. I managed to not fall asleep or get too tired. On my previous visits to art galleries with Kan, I have either fallen a sleep when sitting down or get really tired and cant stop yawning. Kan insists it is because I am bored (okay maybe a little) but I insist it is the lighting in the places that make you feel tired.

After that we visited a photo exhibition by chance on the way to the Art Gallery of NSW. The photo exhibition was quite interesting to see. After that I stayed at the library a little to do some emailing and web design and Kan went off to the Art Gallery of NSW, I would meet up with here later.

The Art Gallery of NSW was quite good. Mainly cause it was free and very busy, their were people everywhere. They had lots of different kinds of art in there, not just the usual pictures of religious stuff like when i visited the Prado art gallery in Madrid last year, which is where I fell asleep in the café.

Because it is March 14th today I bought some white chocolate for Kan on the way back to the hostel. This is because it is White Day in Japan today. The reason for giving white chocolate (or it could be cookies) is becuase the ladies give men the presents on Valentines day then 1 month later on this day the men returns a gift if he likes her. Kan told me at her school they said they would give you marshmallows if he didn't like you....but she never saw this happen.

No camera yet, but here is a picture of the opera house from my mobile camera.

New Address, New Camera – 15/03/07
Headed to the travellers contact point in the morning to get a postal address sorted out, cost around 50 Australian dollars. It means I can have stuff sent to me while I travel around Oz. Also went to choose a new camera today as well (check out the photos below).

After spending money in the morning we headed to have a look around The Rocks area of Sydney which is where the first settlers made their home. After the look around we decided to go on the monorail which runs in a loop around the inner city and over to darling harbour was good seeing the city from this perspective. Check out the photos below.
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New car – 16/03/07
went and paid for the car today, decided to pick it up the following morning. Travellers mate were very helpful and said we could ring up any time to ask advice in the future, so will see how it goes. After that we went back to the hostel to sort our stuff out ready for the morning move.

Spoke to one of our room mates today called Sebastian an Indian born Swedish guy who was adopted and brought up in Sweden. He told me a story about being arrested in India for being a terrorist while on the way to Australia, turned out that it was just a bunch of local police just trying to rip him off and get some money from him they decided that because he couldn't speak their language even though he looked like he should be able too, they thought he was suspicious, he spent the night in a cell and got release next morning with a few items missing from his backpack . A pretty crazy story but he saw the funny side of the experience.
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Scorching hot sun, Fog, Rain.... – 17/03/07
We left the wakeup hostel as soon as we had packed up all our luggage and headed out to go and pick up our car. We had only been in Sydney for 2 weeks but it seemed that our backpacks had doubled in weight, coupled with the today's weather being really hot. We managed to get across the road to the train station and had to rest because of the heat, Kan felt sick and my shoulders were killing due to the weight of my backpack.

We continued on and caught the train to Arncliffe. Once we checked out the panel van we headed out onto the roads. The Panel Van is pretty powerful, and about 5 meters long. This is the first time I had driven anything like this before, also my first time driving an automatic, so getting used to not changing gear was a bit strange at first. Had a bit of a panic in a car park when the car wouldn't start, completely dead, like i mentioned it is my first time driving an automatic....to start the car it needs to be in neutral. Whoops!

We decided to head south to go and stay at a caravan park near Wollongong (to be honest we just picked the first one we came too in the book). As we were leaving the suburbs of Sydney and heading out onto the free way we saw a traffic warning sign displaying something that I thought I would not see on this day or in Australia, it read “WARNING FOG AHEAD” for starters I didn't know where the lights were and secondly the weather looked pretty okay, that was until we went over the crest of a hill and saw nothing but trees and fog. Continuing for a a bit we decided to head off the free way as I thought our turn off was close and also it had started to rain and I wanted to make sure that I had the correct lights on for driving. (see picture)

Taking the scenic coastal road we arrived at the caravan park we had booked into. The place was called Bulli beach which is just north of Wollongong. We set the tent up that came with the car to see if it was suitable, the tent leaked a bit as it had started to rain again so we decided to place our luggage in in the tent and see if it was comfy to sleep on the foam mattress in the back of the van. It wasn't a bad nights sleep, but we woke up with bits of foam covering us. We decided for health reasons and comfort to maybe try and sort the tent out for the next night and through away the foam health hazard.
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Rains Stops Play - 18/03/07 & 20/03/07
I did plan on trying to organise the car out and build something a bit more stable than what came assembled in the car, but the weather in Bulli beach wasn't the best. I did manage to unload the car to see what we were carrying in the back. Check out the picture.

Even though the weather hasn't been the best we have managed to get out. The the rain held off so we went for a walk along the beach. We didn't go in the sea as I spotted some blue bottles (Jelly fish) washed up on the sand, so straight away I said I ain't going in the water.....yes i am a wimp! We did however eat at “Ruby's Café” which was all right.

We visited Wollongong where we bought a 2nd hand body board for Kan, got it for 45 dollars which wasn't too bad I thought. we spoke to a guy who owned surf shop that we visited and he was the typical surfer dude in my opinion with his chiselled looks and massive muscle neck (google Laird Hamilton and you will understanding what I mean).
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The Trip Really Begins – 21/03/07
We had to head back to Sydney to pick up the new rego for the car. Sydney was really busy and full of traffic. We drove over the harbour bridge which was pretty good, you don't have to pay if your heading north bound which was a bonus. We didn't have a destination to head for and I was still getting used to driving the car so concentration was at the highest on my part.

We stopped off for something to eat at McDonald's as it was the easy option then continued on. Once on Highway 1 we were making some good distance but we still didn't have a place to stay so we had to pull over for a rest break and check out the camping guide we had to see which sites we close by.

In the end we chose to stay at a place called Norah Head. It is a nice place although it doesn't have a proper camp kitchen. When we walked to the beach (Soldier's Beach) We found out that their was a surf competition happening. It is apparently one level below the world surf tour and is sponsored by Hot Tuna surf gear. We decided to check it out tomorrow.
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Surf's Up - 22/03/07
Today we checked out the surf comp and I went into the sea to try a bit of body boarding. The temperature of the water was nice and warm. Even though we have bought a body board we haven't yet bought any flippers for ourselves so catching a wave was quite hard. After the beach we headed to get some food for tea, I used the BBQ as you can see in the picture.

Surf Comp - 23/03/07
Got up really early this morning to go and watch the women's quarter finals in the surf comp. Decided to stay and watch the final which was good to see. A lady from Byron Bay came first her name was Samantha Cornish. As you can see from the picture the waves weren't that big compared to the previous day, so the conditions were tough.
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We headed back to have some more breakfast but the milk had turned to yoghurt, the problem with Norah head was it didn't have a fridge to put your food in which was a shame. After eating we headed into Toukley to do a bit of shopping. We bought a cooler box (Eskey) and also some beach mats for the tent, an added comfort for a good nights sleep. At night we had another BBQ, got some really nice kebabs from a butchers, we also spoke to an Australian guy from Newcastle who enjoyed his food very much.

The Heavens Opened! - 24/03/2007
We left Norah head today, although not before visiting the lighthouse which was near to where we were staying. It was nice to see, but you had to book in advance to be taken on a tour.
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Today was very hot and time was getting ahead of us so we decided to stop off at Hawks Nest for the night. The park was okay, not the best we had stayed in so far but it was quite cheap and we had decided to only stay the night. Check out the pick below. (Unfortunately that is not our boat in the background)
We wanted to see what the beach was like so we went for a walk after getting the tent set up. The beach was a bit of a walk down a sandy road but we eventually reached the end. It was not really a surf beach as it was a big bay. Even though the caravan park was near by the place looked pretty isolated. We decided to have a bit of fun with the camera and take some jumping photos. Check them out below.
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I was a bit concerned at the weather as the wind had picked up and the clouds in the distance looked pretty dark and nasty so we headed back and ate something. It was after we had our shower that I first saw the flash of lightening, when Kan came back it started to rain slightly. I nipped to the toilet which had a corrugated roof, all of a sudden the wind just got very strong, I had branches raining down on the roof and it was pretty loud. So I rushed back to the tent to make sure Kan was okay and had not been squash by a tree. The rain got pretty heavy and it didn't stop all night, my main concern was from falling branches but I managed to sleep the night.

Port Macqaurie to Crescent Head – 25/03/07

We left Hawks Nest in a hurry as the rain had stopped. We managed to pack the tent up but it was still wet. This wasn't really a problem as we would be setting it up again soon. We planned to head to Crescent head as it said in the book it is a famous surf break because of the long rides you can manage.

Before that though we called in at Port Macqaurie to have a look, unfortunately it was still raining so we just drove around the town and watched the surfers at the main beach while eating our sandwiches. Before leaving Kan went and bought some flippers from a surf shop so she could catch some waves.

We eventually arrived at Crescent head and I set the tent up in a downpour, we managed to get the inside dry by using the gas stove we have and also cooked our noodles. Again the caravan park didn't have a fridge so we were on limited food supplies again.

Crescent Head – Surf Time – 26/03/07
The weather cleared up today so we went body boarding. The waves were a bit further out and I didn't have the courage to get out to them being my first time at trying at a proper surf point so we stayed fairly close to the shore. Also the power of the waves is very strong which i didn't expect them to be so powerful. I also lost my watch which was a bummer. After getting dried we decided to go for a little walk up the headland.
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Coffs Harbour – 27/03/07
Left Crescent Head today for Coffs Harbour. Just before getting to Coffs we called in at The Honey Place which Kan spotted as we drove past. It was a shop selling Honey as you probably already guessed, you could taste all the different types of honey which was good and we ended up buying some.
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Coffs Harbour looked like a nice place when we arrived, It is a pretty big Town which has all the big superstores you find in Australia. We ate at hungry Jacks (Burger King) and then rang a few places to stay. We finally chose Moonee Beach which is 12 km north of Coffs and the place turned out to be really nice, with an added bonus of having free wireless internet.
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Coffs Harbour – Moonee Beach – 28/03/07
Just chilled out today, went for a walk before breakfast. The weather was very nice and it looks like the rain may of left us. Check out the pictures below, while eating breakfast we were visited by some lorikets.
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Hospital Visit – 29/03/07
It seems that every country I visit I end up going to hospital. Went to get a mole checked out on my back as it was sore, turned out to be an infection just underneath the mole so it was not serious.
In the afternoon we went to try and do some body boarding at Moonee beach. When we got there no one else was surfing and the current was very strong, strong enough to make it hard for me to stand up. So we decided not to risk it and head back to the tent. On the way back we chatted to a local guy who said to be careful of the strong rip tides, oyster shells and also the sting rays in the lagoon.

Chilling out time – 30/03/07 to 31/03/07
Over the last 2 days we just chilled out. It it nice to stay in a place for a little longer than just a few days. We went to Bunnings DIY shop (pretty much the same as B&Q back in the UK) to have a look at some materials that I could use to build the platform in the back of the panel van. When we got back to Moonee beach we went for a walk up to the headland, it is very nice up there although a bit windy. check out the pictures.
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