Michelle's Grand Tour
Michelle O'Riordan takes a year from rowing and travels the world.
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Write to Michelle here
Final Installment Being that I have never owned a car before this was going to be a tall order. Where to begin? What make to go for? - Ford, Nissan, Toyota, Mazda - and what type - a van, a hatchback an estate and what about the price? - what on earth was a good buy and what was not? That's not even mentioning when you settle on seeing a car and you have to look for goodness knows what signs that there is problem/defect/rust/dodgy engine/suspension etc... I hate to admit it but if I had ever needed a man more it was now - and who should be my knight in shining armour?. Gary of course, the american Ben Nevis bungy jumper. I still can't get over how easy it all was - before I knew it I was clutching the keys to my very own white toyota corolla 1987 station wagon (estate). He is not my 'car' any more, he is 'Elton' - how I will ever be able to bring myself to part with him when I leave these fair shores I don't know. Lucy arrived at last and I turned into a blubbering wreck I was so happy to see her! Imagine what I will be like when I come back!! I was determined not to let her succumb to jetlag so we spent the day keeping busy and planning our route around the islands. The next day we were off on our adventure - having done the organised tour, I was looking forward to the freedom of going wherever took our fancy!
I was naive to think we would have all the time in the world.....as it turned out, it was just as full-on as the tour had been but we did manage to see loads! There was no slow-easing into the travelling life for Lucy - oh no, on our first day we climbed up a mountain and I mean literally climbed...with all fours it was so steep! The mountain was called Avalanche Peak and it was so windy on the top we thought we were going to get blown off as we clung to the ridge like Frodo on Mount Doom!
After this bracing start we wanted more...and where better than taking a helicopter ride onto the Franz Joseph Glacier. We were so excited about this - the helicopter takes you up over the glacier, then drops you off at the top and you hike on the glacier for a couple of hours before being whisked back down the mountain again. Now, some of you may know that New Zealand weather is about as predictable as a...tasmanian devil (well, I couldn't think of anything else!) New Zealand being a small island with the sea not far from anywhere is very susceptible to extreme weather patterns - why do you think kiwi band Crowded House came up with the well-known song 'Four seasons in one day'? - well we certainly knew about it - we went from hot, sunny, cloudless skies climbing in Arthurs Pass to full-on torrential rain and not a vista in sight when we arrived at the glacier. We didn't do the helicopter ride that day. We were so keen however that we threw caution to the wind, uprooted our well-planned travel itinerary, spent hours trying to find accommodation in a small town that was bursting to the seams already and both came to hate the word 'fully booked'. The next day, the rain had cleared, the sun was out and we were flying over the glacier...if only! The wind was too strong so we ended up going on a hike instead which Lucy really loved and so did I but if only...
We had planned to travel to Wanaka and then on to Queenstown. I couldn't wait to introduce Lucy to the madness of Queenstown partying, adrenalin sports and much much more but alas we didn't have time so we contented ourselves with Wanaka and the amazing maze. Yes Wanaka is home to one of the biggest mazes in the world - it is constructed in wood and we thought it would be a breeze...ha, we got thoroughly lost in there and I hate to admit it but we started cheating towards the end as there was far too much going round in circles! The topsy-turvy house was the funniest thing ever - to see a rather elegant and serious older gentleman crack up in fits of laughter was the most hilarious moment of all! Our next big stop was at the Abel Tasman National Park on the north west coast. By this point we had clocked up a fair few km's and it would not be a fair account of our journey if I did not mention our time in Elton. Our roles were pretty clear-cut - Lucy was DJ and map reader and I was the driver.
However, I had a tendency to get rather drowsy at times so if supplying me with endless snacks didn't kick the habit then Lucy would take the helm. Lucy is relatively new to driving having only been doing it a year and I must say she was excellent - it is not easy negotiating narrow hilly roads when you have only driven in the flat Thames valley - she was a pro and let me happily do what I do best....snooze! If we were not being blown away by the spendid views around every corner we were singing to cheesy music or taking the mickey out of the much-loved phrases they have over here - 'sweet as', 'no worries', 'choice bro'...we love them!
Abel Tasman is one of those jewels in the crown - it is this backwater nature reserve on the coast with bay after secluded bay of white sandy beaches and clear, turquoise seas. Wildlife is abundant and particularly bees - huge ones that seemed to follow us everywhere although that could have been to do with the fact we were kayaking in bright yellow kayaks! We went on a one-day kayak tour and it is certainly a great way to see this place - if not just for the food we got on the day - real coffee, cakes, gourmet sandwiches and more. The company we went with was called Ocean River and I would highly recommend them. We were nearing our time to head on the ferry over to the north island but we managed to stay a night in Nelson (we almost didn't when the hostel we had booked decided to sell our beds to someone else and we thought we might have to sleep in the car!) a very arty town and Picton where we took the ferry over to Wellington. From there we headed to Lake Taupo and my nerves started to jangle...why? I was going to do a sky dive in Taupo and by gum (gulp) no one was going to stop me not even my mother who had warned me not to try any kind of nonsense like that!
The day of the sky dive was perfect - damm it, I thought it might get cancelled - we were shown the warm-up video and to be honest I don't think I looked at it once my brain was like soup. We were then made to wait for what seemed like hours before we were called up. After donning a green jump suit and trying not to show my trembling knees too much we were each given our tandem sky diver instructor and marched to the plane. I am not sure what I expected but not this...inside the plane we were seated all facing forward in a queue and the noise was deafening! Communication was limited to sign language when my tandem sky diver would point at his
altimeter in glee every time we increased our altitude by a 1,000m or the camera man would point his camera at me and I had to smile as if i didn't have a care in the world certainly not giving away the fact that any minute I was about to drop out of a plane at 12,000 feet! Writing this now makes me shake and my mouth feels dry - when the moment came and the door opened my brain was screaming insanity and my limbs were lifeless. To be made to kneel down in front of the open door was so scary. I knew if I looked down there was no way in hell I was going to jump so I looked up and prayed.....the next minute we were tumbling head first out of the plane…….aaaaaggghhhhh! I am now picking up this diary 7 months later…..most of you by now have seen me after all I have been back in England for 5 months and if you haven't, I am sure we will meet up soon!!! What a shocker that it has taken me this long to continue with the story….it would be a shame not to finish this diary of an epic year out so for those of you that have the time or inclination to read this then I hope you enjoy it…for me, writing this last installment is a great way to reminisce and remember all the wonderful things that I had the pleasure of experiencing…talking of which………aaaaaggggghhhhhgh - yes, free-falling out of an airplane. I think apart from feeling the ground beneath my feet on landing, I think the best moment was that tumble out of the plane - complete insanity and going against every grain in your body - what a buzz!!!!!!!!
Rotorua was our next stop which I am sure I described in my first NZ installment - needless to say the smell was just as potent!!! My favourite bit had to be the mud pools - wicked I had always wanted to see them and they didn't disappoint - absolutely gloop-tastic!!! Lucy and I took turns getting precariously close to the gloopy stuff to get the ultimate shot…it looked like a rather excellent mud bath - shame about the boiling heat! We also visited the famous Waitomo caves on the western edge of the north island - famous for their stalagmites and 'tites' and glowworms. There are two ways to see the caves - the sensible, no-nonsense approach where you take a walk in the caves and go on a little boat trip or the stark-raving mad kiwi way: getting donned up in rather attractive wet suits, hard hats and wellies and venturing in to pitch-black darknewss on a rubber ring with only the torch on your hard hat for light. Well, there is no need to tell you which option we went for or rather I persuaded Lucy that this was the best thing since sliced bread and the newest adrenalin thrill to hit the island. After floating in icy water for a few hours, deep beneath the ground and being forced to jump backwards over ledges on my rubber ring I was beginning to wonder if this was such a good idea! It certainly was an experience and now that I am sitting in a warm cosy house I can safely say that I am glad we did it - it was amazing especially all the twinkly glow worms but…..I might just take the sensible, no-nonsense route next time. We were nearing the end of our mini-adventure and it was time for Lucy to head back to England from Auckland - it was really sad to say goodbye - it had been such a treat to have spent over three weeks together and I was not sure I fancied being on my own for the last two months of my trip. No amount of persuading Lucy to delay her flight or make her feel guilty for not giving New Zealand enough time could prevent me waving her off at the airport. With a heavy heart it was time to get myself together - I only had two months left - come on! I had heard talk that New Zealand was home to some giant trees - was this the stuff of myths and legends or was I about to see the real thing? Me and my trusty Elton headed north to Kauri land to find out.
I followed the signs to the Kauri trees and I had noticed that all around me the forest did seem to contain some rather large specimens but nothing very unususal. After venturing further into the forest I came across signs leading me to a special maori-named kauri tree. Now I thought I was going to see a big tree but honestly, nothing prepared me for the sheer size of it - it wasn't particularly tall but my goodness, it was the widest tree and I mean wiiiiiiidddeeeee that I had ever seen! I must have taken 100 shots trying to capture the enormity of it but it was impossible - all I can say is you have to see this tree in the flesh - it’s the only way!
My funds were starting to get low so it was time to head east towards the fruit/wine and veg basket of New Zealand. Aptly named the 'sunshine' state - I stayed there a whole month and I can honestly say it only rained once the entire time I was there. The area of Hawke's Bay was my home - I had heard of an old prison that had been converted into a very cheap backpackers hostel in the art deco town of Napier so I headed there and made my new cell homely. This 1900 prison was closed some 20 years ago and had been left in ruins until an enterprisng family (scots/maori) decided to take it on. It was weird living in a cell with no window just a tiny hole with metal bars in the heavy
iron door. Stranger still was seeing all the graffitti of the former inmates scribbled all over the walls. This prison was ruled by two gangs - the white power gang (whites) and the mongrel mob (maori) - to this day, the mongrel mob is still going strong. In the days of the prison, the two gangs were segregated or things would not have been pretty. Most of the graffitti was the symbols of the two gangs. The spookiest part of the prison had to be the area where you hung your washing. In years gone by it wasn't washing that they hung but prisoners who had committed murder. There was even a graveyard where the sentenced prisoners were buried.
I spent my month in this golden state by the sea packing apples for Waitrose and counting bags of onions in a warehouse. Despite the long hours and hard work, I loved working here - I got to meet some very cool maoris and when I wasn't working Elton and I would head off into the mountains or down to the sea and take in the stunning views and fresh air. I felt lucky that I was able to walk away from it after a month though - many of the people that live and work in this area do this job year on year - working seven days a week quite often up to 12 hours a day and all this for pityingly low wages.
My last days in New Zealand were not all work….I managed to do the Tongariro Crossing, one of the all-time best one day walks in the World - trekking across a volcano with warm steam rising from the ground, emerald green sulphur lakes and a perfect volcanic cone that looked ready to erupt any second! This draws me to the final part of my trip. As autumn was starting to cool the land, I was dreaming of hot tropical islands in Fiji. But before that, I had to sell Elton. Perhaps because the gods had been so kind to me when I bought Elton, it came as no surprise that I proceeded to spend my last two weeks living
a complete hell in the basement of an ugly car park…yes, the Backpackers Car Market, the best place to sell you car - not. This corrupt, horrible, ugly excuse for a Car Market was no more than a money spinner for the nasty owners who proceeded to take big sums of money so that cash-strapped backpackers could stay in a dark, dingy underground carpark for eight hours a day in the small vague hope that a backpacker was going to turn up in the first place and if they did, that they would choose your car/van over the 20 other vehicles around you. I saw some ugly moments - what had once been a seller's market and van's kitted out to the nines being sold at $5,000, were now been sold for less than $1,000 - I never want to experience that again. Was I going to end up like the backpacker who had to abandon his car at the airport? I had given myself two weeks to sell my car - some people had only given themselves a few days and yet I was beginning to get a cold sweat as the days went by and my flight loomed every closer. I am happy and relieved to say I ended up selling Elton at a much more lively car market set on a race course just outside Auckland to a wonderful potter who fell in love with my car just as I had done…I ended up getting the same money I had originally paid for it and Fiji was finally about to become a reality rather than a dread at the thought of never selling my car. Farewell Elton and New Zealand – the land of ferns, mountains, sheep, volcanoes, underground caves, maori culture and much, much more.
As we neared the runway at Nadi,Fiji I had a strange experience of deja-vu – just as I had felt when I first landed in Bangkok at the start of my travels, so here I was again about to land in another world – what I saw below me was hundreds of tiny islands, many just covered in white sand stretching for miles in aqua marine shallow seas…you see this kind of thing in fancy brochures but to see it first hand was incredible and unbelievable – I was actually about to enter a tropical fantasy world of palm trees and islands….I couldn’t wait… The underground car park horror was beginning to be but a distant blip of a memory…
As recently as the last 100 years, Fiji was cannibal country, home to some of the most ferocious cannibals in the world. If you got caught by your enemy, well, you were ‘dead meat’ literally. It wasn’t long before I was introduced to an array of wooden cannibal tools – people actually buy them as souvenirs? The market seller was keen to tell me all about a three-pronged tool much like the sort of garden tool you twist into the earth to remove weeds. The Fijian equivalent was apparently used to disembowel your enemy - nice. Present-day Fiji is very different – Fijians are very welcoming people and the word ‘Bula’ is the country’s favourite buzz-word meaning ‘Hello’ or ‘Welcome’. There is also the Bula song, the Bula dance, the Bula cocktail and best of all the Bula pass! The Bula pass is a golden ticket which allows unlimited travel on a huge catamaran that services the remote Yasawa islands. The resorts on the Yasawa islands are owned and run by Fijian families and so are a popular destination for travellers giving you a truly local experience. It would not be a true picture however, if I did not mention the luxury islands along the way…Bounty Island, Castaway island (where they filmed ‘Castaway’ with Tom Hanks) and one island that charges $1,000 a day!!! I can only dream of what luxuries await you there… There are two types of Fijians – mainlanders who are mainly of Indian descent and the islanders, who are of south pacific descent stretching from Samoa and Tahiti through to New Zealand. I was surprised to find that these Fijians are very tall people. They are not small-framed either and the women generally have very full figures. Add to that a 70’s afro hairdo which seemed to be ‘de rigeur’ and the men seem lanky in comparison!
I spent the best part of two weeks island hopping – literally. The first island was so small you could walk around it in two minutes! It was an island made entirely of washed-up coral and a couple of palm trees. The next island took about 7 minutes to walk around. This had proper white sand and a mini forest in the middle where all the lodge accommodation was discreetly hidden. This famous island called Beachcomber, was the PARTY island. Located in the mamanucas, the waters around this island were so clear it was dazzling – I could have snorkeled all day there was so much to see, but I couldn’t visit the PARTY island without joining in the fun! With a dorm of 101 bunk beds – your chances of sleeping are pretty slim so after two days of cocktails, daily parties and beach volleyball, it was time to move on to calmer shores. My next stop was Waya Island - my favourite. This was backpacker accommodation – luxury style! No bunk beds, just your own single bed with your very own mosquito net, bedside lamp and even a daily fresh flower – superb. I experienced a fijian massage with coconut oil from a formidable fijian lady – thank goodness it is nothing like a thai massage – the opposite in fact, very gentle and relaxing - just like fijian music.
After that I visited the famous island where they filmed the ‘Blue lagoon’ with Brooke Shields – I can see why they chose this location – it is picture perfect. On my journey around the islands I learnt how to basket weave; joined a kava ceremony and drank muddy water from a wooden bowl which made your mouth numb; watched traditional fijian dances; learnt how to dance ‘bula’ style; was meeted and greeted on every island with a wonderful fijian welcome song and sang the ‘goodbye song’ on leaving; learnt that fijian men are great musicians and sing beautiful harmonies; drank coconut milk straight from a coconut and learnt that this is not my favourite drink in the world! Learnt that if you put a flower behind your right ear you are single, and behind your left you are not available (or was it the other way round?). Best of all, I and my fellow companions were treated like we were part of their family - a rare thing these days – must be all that good food, sun, sea and music maintaining their good spirits!
My days of paradise were becoming numbered and coming back to the mainland was like being slammed back into reality with a giant thud..I was actually going to be flying home in less than two days…a whole year away of travelling which had seemed like it would last forever was about to end – this was about one of the most surreal experiences of my whole journey…on the one hand I wanted to be at home straight away…on the other hand I was sad that I would be letting go of this care-free lifestyle. A 24-hr plane journey and a brief stop-over in LA and I was landing in Heathrow. To find that the entire O’Riordan family had come along to welcome me back was fantastic! I met my second nephew Joseph for the first time – he was born while I was travelling. So. I did it. I had a dream of visiting far away places and I made it happen. Looking back almost a year later and it is difficult to believe it really happened – but then someone will say something or I will see something on TV and I am transported back there. My year away was everything I could have imagined and wished for…best of all, it has made me appreciate what I already have..my family and my friends…so for those of you still reading this now – thank you for sharing in my experience. One final big thank you must go to Graham who made it possible for you all to read my travel diary on the web – technology eh – amazing! J Until the next adventure…. 24th March 2004 Hello peeps - its that time again for another diary installment so sit back, relax and immerse yourself in the tales of middle-earth... New Zealand - the land of hobbits, elves, orcs, ents and...the one ring! Bring on green hills, snow-capped mountains and endless views that's what I came here for - to soak up the scenery and while away the days sitting on a mountain.
New Zealand is made up of two islands - the north island where the majority of people live (mainly in Auckland) - a land of rolling hills, beautiful coastlines and volcanoes...including boiling mud pools, hot springs and lots of eggy sulphur. The south island in contrast is sparsely populated - it has a much more rugged untamed feel with towering snow-capped mountains, fjords and fur-flung remote hamlets which seem to be living in their own time-warp. Think hobbiton for the north island ??? for the south. My journey through New Zealand was to begin in Christchurch, the biggest city in the south island although it is really more like a town. It is very very quaint and very very english! They even have a river where you can go punting. Christchurch has a new england feel about it with large wooden slatted houses, verandhas and pretty gardens. My plan was to spend a week here before flying up to Auckland to meet my friend Kate who had come all the way from England to spend a couple of weeks with me. My first three days were a shock to the system as it was rainy and cold - all I wanted to do was go back to the heat of Australia. After that however, the weather picked up and I soon realised how fierce the sun is (they have no ozone layer). You have to put cream on all the time and even on cloudy days you can get burnt! After whiling my days away punting, getting into the relaxed pace of life over here and trying to make sense of the kiwi accent where they say 'igg' instead of 'egg', 'fince' instead of 'fence' or 'Tirry' instead of Terry...it was time to head to bigger things....Auckland.
I had planned to meet Kate at the airport - now this is no mean feat considering we can both be pretty scatty at times and true to form - Kate was no where to be seen. After walking around with my heavy rucksack and me stooping lower and lower under the weight of it I decided it was time to take action...being that there were three terminals my only hope was to go to the other two and pray she was there.....as I rounded the corner there she was....how delightful and completely bizarre to see a friend from home sitting at Auckland airport. Having been away for a year and only met one other friend from home it is the strangest thing for my backpacker life to collide with my life back home - it also happens to be the best feeling ever when a friend can experience first hand what I have been doing for the past year rather than just reading my diary!
Kate is a keen believer in a trekking company that organises tours all over the world - having done various treks herself it was only natural that we should do 'Trek New Zealand' together. This was a 15-day trip with a guide and driver travelling around both islands with a group of 12. With most meals and accomodation included I was looking forward to some high-living at last! I must have put on a few pounds because the food was delicious - having spent the previous week eating not very much I became the all-consuming monster (those of you at my old work - you know about my fondness for food so I guess it comes as no surprise!) I was also nick-named the ????? - I had a habit of sleeping on the bus almost the entire time and we were in the bus a lot...so much for taking in the scenery - I was too busy doing the nodding dog impression and trying not to dribble too much hee he!
We had the most fantastic two weeks - the group were superb and from all over the world - England, Scotland, Wales, Japan, Australia, USA, Germany and Canada. Beer drinking was par de course every night (when we finished it took me a while to shake the habit!). We went sailing on a tall-ship round the bay of islands a pretty spot which is home to lots of dolphins. I swung off the ship into the sea on a rope and felt like a pirate from the caribbean!, We ate 'fush and chups' by the lake
- a kiwi institution washed down with L&P, New Zealand's favourite soft drink - a rather sickly sweet fizzy drink. We visited eggy hot springs in the middle of the town park. We climbed the Tongariro - a cone-shaped volcano (actually I didn't cos I didn't have the footwear for it so I can't take any credit for slogging over 7 hours!) We went wine tasting and some of the pudding wines were out of this world (like peach liquor), we went on a boat cruise round the milford sound, gazed in wonder at the scenery, went on walks to hidden waterfalls and lakes and climbed glaciers with crampons and wooden staffs in hand.
Best of all, what New Zealand is most famous for (or at least before Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings came along) is ......high octane, full throttle adrenalin sports. You can bungy, jet boat, sky dive, fly through the air on a wire, river surf, white water raft, canyoning roll down a hill in a giant ball - you name it its here - every possible way to squeeze some adrenalin out of you has been dreamed up by some mad kiwis and the home of all this madness - Queenstown. Queenstown is the party town of the south - with all these people coming to take part in mad and ridiculous sports it is no wonder they are out in droves partying nightly to celebrate having jumped out of a plane at 12,000 feet, flung themselves off a bridge with only some elastic tied round their ankles to stop them from plummeting to the ground or braved a raging river with 3m waves and rocks looming every where on a boogie board!. All these things were done by at least someone in our group - and the most respect of all has to go to Gary from the USA who at 53 was the oldest member of the group and the only one to do the Nevis highwire - the tallest and most frightening bungy in the world at 134m. You bungy off a cable car into a canyon. Compare this to the original and first bungy off the Kawarai bridge at 43m and it gives you some idea as to how high it is! The Canadian girl who had booked to do it too was so scared as she got out of the coach and saw the cable car as a wee dot in the sky that she broke down in tears and couldn't bring herself to even get in the thing!
So what was my adrenalin-pumping experience I hear you ask? Well - for starters there was no way in the world that I was going to attempt a bungy so I opted for the safer option (safer? well, less dangerous) white water rafting. At grade 5, this is the hardest grade you can navigate on a commercial basis - the reason for this level of difficulty? A 7m waterfall that we had to get down in a raft - aaaaaaaaaggggggghhhhhhh! Needless to say, we made it and my heart has only just started to slow from the sheer terror and absolute, raw, maddening excitement! If you are thinking of coming to New Zealand but don't have much time I would definitely recommend the Trek NZ tour - I did find it hard-going though as we had to get up really early every morning and there was a lot of travelling in the bus. However, you do get to see so much in such a short time and all you have to do is sit back while all the tours, accommodation, driving and cooking are done for you! I could get used to that! The tour came to an end all too quickly and it was such a shame - from 12 there remained only one, which was very sad as we had got on so well. Luckily I didn't remain on my own for long - in fact, you are never on your own as a backpacker! I made friends with an israeil (there are loads of them over here) and we hung out together for two weeks in Christchurch. Why? Well I was waiting for yet another friend to come over and travel with me - this one, Lucy, from the 'massive' was coming for three weeks and my mission before she got here was to buy a car. And that folks is another story which I will tell you about next time along with my most scary, adrenalin-pumping moment ever!!! Kia ora (the mauri word for goodbye, hello, welcome and just about everything else!) Love Michelle 3rd February 2004 Hello Everybody and a very Happy New Year to you! The gaps between my travel installments seem to be getting longer and longer - sorry about this guys...I will make up for it by bombarding you in one gigantic sweep all the things I have been up to whilst you have all been training hard at the rowing club!
No story about central Australia can ever be complete without mentioning Ayers Rock (Uluru). I went on a 3-day no expenses spared tour to visit the famous rock. Our first stop was hilarious - we got to ride a camel (there are about 100,000 wild camels roaming the deserts of Australia apparently). It was so bumpy I thought I was going to be bumped right off - me laughing my head off probably didn't help! Our next stop was a mystery - our guide wandered off into the scrub and then made us follow him where he proceeded to dig
out the roots of a bush - I seriously thought this guy had had too much sun or something! Anyway, the next minute he was squeezing out the biggest juiciest witchetty grub I had ever seen - you know on 'Survivor' when they make the contestants eat all kinds of squirmy creatures - well this is one of the worst ones - a big, fat, white grub about twice as fat as a party sausage! The aborignals eat these things and are very fond of them apparently as they are high in protein - you eat them alive by popping them in your mouth and then biting the head off before swallowing it whole! Did I have the courage to eat one myself I hear you ask...? You have got to be joking!!! Two people did and I admire their bravery - perhaps if there was a million pounds at stake I might have been persuaded! After that ordeal we headed to Kings Canyon which reminded me very much of all those cowboy movies - I expected to see a red indian on horse-back ready to shoot me from the cliff-top! We had a welcome swim in a watering hole before setting up camp or rather laying out our swags on the ground around the campfire.
We had our first glimpse of Uluru the next morning at sunrise - it is weird to see it for the first time - you feel very in awe. It doesn't seem real - this immense red rock that towers above an otherwise flat desert. It is very majestic and I can see why it is so sacred to the aboriginals just by the atmosphere there. You can climb the rock up a very steep path holding onto a chain but I walked around the base instead - the aboriginals do not like you climbing the rock and I wanted to respect that. Uluru is definitely as its best at sunset - the red colour of the rock gets so intense it looks like it has
been painted. We also went to visit another sacred place call Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) - they are just as spectacular as Uluru and the atmosphere equally unbelievable -it was like walking into a huge Cathedral and everyone speaks in hushed tones - the Olgas are towering, wonderfully smooth spherical rocks. Back in Alice Springs I was sharing a house with five others. I mentioned before that I was going to talk about cockroaches - well, well, I had been warned and was prepared for them so when I saw my first of many cockroaches I didn't scream - no, not brave me. That didn't last long... unfortunately, these cretins have a habit of sprinting the moment they get the slightest whiff that you are on to them and they don't do what any other normal insect would do and run away - oh no, they seem to sprint directly at you which had the unfortunate effect of sending me screaming in
the opposite direction. I am so glad we don't have them in England they really are disgusting! I was going to tell you about the social life in Alice Springs - well, actually, there isn't one really if you can call two bars, a cinema and a bowling alley a nightlife! The only good thing about it was that it was really easy to plan where to go out for the evening as you were guaranteed to see everyone in at least one of the bars! Whilst there may not be much going on in this middle of no-where town, there are a couple of events that are an absolute must and I was lucky enough to
witness one of them: the 'Henley-on-Todd regatta'. Yes, I did not miss out on Henley, oh know, I got to see the entire spectacle being carried out on a dry river bed with pairs, fours and eights racing up and down using their legs to carry the boats! It was the most hilarious thing I have ever seen and if you are totally confused just check out the photo. After three months it was time to leave this town that had become home to me. I was sad to leave as I had become fond of the place - why you may ask? - it beats me but may have had something to do with the people I met who could not have been more genuine, sincere and friendly folk. My nostalgia didn't take long to disappear as I sat on the plane heading to Sydney. Sydney is the place that every backpacker in Australia aims to get to for Christmas and New Year and I was no exception - I was about to join the biggest party of the year and after going to the same two bars for 3 months I was ready for it! I had always wanted to know what it would be like to spend Christmas Day on the beach. After coming to terms with the fact that I would miss out on Christmas dinner, presents round the tree, family gatherings etc.. I was surprisingly fine - in fact, far from feeling incredibly homesick - I had a wonderful day on Bondi beach braving the waves, sunbathing and catching up with friends. Unfortunately, I have no photo to show you but imagine a beach you have been to abroad which is rammed with people and that's pretty much what it was like. The weather was perfect - hot, hot sun and blue skies and we stayed there until sunset it was so relaxing I could do that every year! Christmas is so toned-down over here - I saw very few Christmas decorations anywhere - such a contrast to England where it is rammed down your throat from September onwards! After non-stop partying since I arrived in Sydney I thought it was time to recharge my batteries
before the New Year so I headed off to the Blue Mountains. This is a popular destination for Sydney-siders - a huge national park in the mountains with surprisingly cool weather. I had been told that the were stunning but the funniest thing was that while I was there you couldn't see a dicky bird because of the thick fog everywhere! I did manage to get some views on the last day as you can see in the photo and I thoroughly enjoyed the 1930's art deco style hostel which has to be the nicest hostel I have stayed in so far. Back in Sydney I was staying in a share house in Sydenham (all the places in Sydney seem to have London names!). We were not staying in the house itself though - oh no, that would be too much luxury - instead, we were in the converted garage. The owners had managed to squeeze seven beds in there and with no air conditioning, four scottish lads, an english lad, me and a german girl it was rather cosy if not interesting on the nose! New Year's Eve turned out to be even better than Christmas Day which I did not think possible.
We went to the Botanical Gardens and were treated to the most spectacular views over Sydney Opera House and the harbour. Everyone sat about on the grass picnicking and drinking from about 2pm onwards and the atmosphere was so friendly and happy I was amazed. The fireworks were excellent especially off the harbour bridge as well as the many tall ships that sailed through with their blazing lights. With New Years Day came the ending of a long chapter in my journey. After 6 months of hot sun, blue skies, friendly ozzies, golden beaches, red sand, gum trees, poisinous insects, barbies, tim tams (Australia's favourite dunking biscuit), 'G'Day mate how are ya?', vegemite (thank goodness to be leaving that behind - bring on Marmite!), kangaroos, koalas, kookaburras, crocodiles, steaks, billabong, Australia losing the rugby....it was time to say farewell and head over to Australia's favourite buddy (not!) - New Zealand. Until the next instalment All the best, Michelle xxx PS Forgot to mention that I met up with Capt' Oz in Sydney - he lives in the best location Sydney
ever and is quite frankly the luckiest person I know! Oz - thank you and your Mum for having me - it was 'awesome' as the aussies say! Also must mention my good friend Lee, Rachel and her Mum who were only in Sydney for a couple of days but took the time to meet up with me - thank you ¨C it meant a lot. Finally, to all those of you who I may not have emailed personally or replied to, I have not forgotten you and I will be writing soon I promise! 11th November 2003 (Michelle's outback road trip) Hello one and all - long time no diary!!!! Do not despair as here is the next installment: In my last email I was about to head off into the outback with two unknown people that I had
managed to hitch a lift with - things didn't start off too well when Barbara the owner of the Mitsubishi 4x4 monster had to have a new engine fitted only the day before we left. I had visions of us breaking down in the middle of the outback, withering in the sun with no shade to protect us and running out of water before anyone came to our rescue. With gas stations some 100km apart, no mobile phone coverage and not much in between except mile after mile of red sand, scrub and the the odd kangaroo it really seemed like madness to be doing this! I shared the journey of 2,300km with two italians Barbara and Daniele. Daniele, like me was also
hitching a ride. When the two of them got chatting in italian, I sometimes didn't know if they were arguing or just talking as they seemed to be so loud and passionate! The van as it turned out, ran pretty smoothly - she was a dual-fuel vehicle which I thought was very appropriate considering my environmental background! You could switch between liquid gas and petrol with a flick of the switch - you just had to remember to flick it back to petrol if you decided to stop as we had a scary moment when the van wouldn't start - gas just isn't powerful enough to get the engine going. Our first major stop was Adelaide, some 700km west of Melbourne. On the way there we stopped to have dinner. Nearly every australian town has a public barbecue you can use so it was just a
matter of hunting down the local park and voila, we were cooking sausages for dinner - very surreal! We spent the best part of a day in Adelaide - its a nice city, not too big and pretty laid-back. The sun was out so we made the most and sunbathed in the botanical gardens. The funniest experience in Adelaide was eating our breakfast out of the boot of the van on the main shopping street just as everyone was starting work. We got the funniest looks including this one guy who was so dumbfounded by the spectacle that he watched us for over 1/2 hour!!! From Adelaide you pretty much head north into central Australia until you hit Alice Springs on one very, very, long road! Roads in this part of Australia are so straight - not like the windy ones we have in England. This is a good thing in fact when you are encountering road trains as you need at least a kilometre of empty road ahead to even begin to
think about overtaking one. A road train you ask? - well, its a huge articulated lorry that has three and even as many as four lorries attached to it - imagine a big lorry and and two or three more added on to the back of it and you have a road train. Road trains are very common in these parts and are used to transport mainly heavy freight. Road trains are also the main reason why there are so many dead kangaroos on the sides of the road - these vehicles can't and generally won't stop for anything so kangaroos get squashed I'm afraid. On the flip side, this has benefited the scavengers of the sky and wedge-tailed eagles are everywhere!
Our journey through the outback took three days and four nights. It was one of the best and most real experiences of Australia that I have had the pleasure to have been a part of so far. For any of you planning to come to Australia - please do a road trip - this country is made for it! When you are tired, all you have to do is pull off the side of the road, get a fire going (which is such a pleasure
as there is dry deadwood everywhere not like England where everything is wet and damp!), open a few cans of beer, cook your meal on the fire and sleep under the stars. This is exactly what we did and it was so much fun - to have a million stars watching over you as you sleep and to wake up with the sun warming your face is a magical feeling. Half way through the outback we stopped in a small settlement called Coober Pedy. Coober Pedy is the opal mining capital of Australia if not the world and is also one of the weirdest places I have ever visted! Over 70% of people live underground here as temperatures can get up to 50 degrees! The place looks like the moon with opal mines dotted everywhere. We were also lucky enough to visit the place where one of the Mad Max films was set and Priscilla Queen of the Desert.
The outback has a special quality about it - while there may not a great deal to see apart from mile upon mile of red soil and bushes, there is a lot of wildlife out there if you have keen eyes - we managed to spot an emu, kangaroos, camels, lizards and eagles. Just being in an immense of open space where you don't meet another living soul for days is an experience in itself especially coming from an area like south-east of England which is so cramped and busy that the chances of you finding a place where you would not meet anyone are pretty slim. Arriving in Alice Springs was very surreal after passing through such emptiness for days. I expected Alice Springs to be a very small town with one strip running through the middle with a bar and maybe a couple of shops. It is in fact a fairly big town about the size of Staines. There is a large aboriginal community living here as
well as other locals and backpackers. There are a lot of people coming in and out of town as well from cattle station cowboys stocking up on beer and food to american tourists coming to see 'The Rock'. What I didn't know about Alice Springs is that there are a lot of jobs here. This was a good thing for me as I had pretty much run out of money and it was now or never to find a job. With no waitressing or bar experience (can't really count pulling a few pints at Staines boat club bar work can I??) I wasn't sure who would want me! However, I have been very lucky to have found a job in
a rather nice hotel. They have trained me as a waitress and I can safely say that I only drop the odd spoon or glass every other day!:-) Not only have I learnt how to be a waitress but I am also doing bar work and I know how to make a great cappuccino! I am also cleaning at a backpackers hostel in the mornings where I have a very sexy pair of marigolds!!! Next week's edition will include: -Michelle's trip
to the big red heart of Australia - Ayers Rock (Uluru) -The house where
Michelle is staying in including encounters with spiders and cockroaches.
-The social life of Alice Springs including some peculiar events like
Henley-on-Todd -Anything else you want me to talk about - please
email. Take care everyone and I hope you are all well and enjoying
yourselves. Michelle x
9th September 2003 Hello folks - how are you all? Here are the highlights of my travelling over the last month... We left Cairns on the Oz Experience bus, it is a kind of tour bus that takes you on a set route but via interesting locations as well as the odd supermarket and best of all, drops you at your hostel. Our plan for the next month was to travel down the east coast of Australia from Cairns to Sydney. Our first stop was at Mission beach. This is where people do
sky diving and white water rafting and all those other mad sports. We didn't hang around though as I am planning to all those things in New Zealand instead. We then made our way to Magnectic Island - this is a beautiful island with gorgeous beaches and bays. I was going to dive the Great Barrier reef from here but was strongly recommended to dive a famous wreck called the SS.Yongala. This ship was wrecked many years ago and is now home to thousands of fish, sharks and other beings who use it for protection. I managed to get a discount in exchange for working for the dive shop for a few hours as it's not cheap - the question is did I feel it was worth the money? I was certainly not let
down by the fish - there were loads especially these gigantic grouper fish that were bigger than me! However, there is NO WAY I will ever pay to go there again because the 2-hour boat trip was to put it mildly, the most sea-sickening experience you could ever imagine. I had been warned that even sea worthy people get sick on this boat - not being someone that suffers from sea sickness however, I paid scant heed to these comments and merrily jumped on board. It took less than 10 minutes for sea sickness to strike and I never want to heave all over the side of a boat ever again! With that lovely image lets move swiftly on to Airlie Beach. Airlie beach is the gateway to the
Whitsunday islands where we were planning to sail for three days. Our boat was called Ambition and we were with a group of 10 others. This trip was spectacular - we spent the entire time up on deck enjoying the scenery, whale-spotting, helping the skipper to sail or mooring up to have a hearty meal cooked by the on-board chef! Seeing a whale for the first time was the most unbelieveable experience ever - we saw a pair of humpback whales, a mother and her baby and I just can't wait until I see another one. We also saw several turtles - they are great, just like the character in 'Finding Nemo' - they take no notice of you, very chilled out - one happily swam by while we were diving, oblivious to us! We also stopped at the famous Whitehaven beach which is renounded for its pure white and rather dazzling silica sand. Apparently the Japanese wanted to buy the island so they could mine the silica but the Australian government declared it a National park instead.
We had free accomodation in Airlie beach which was great apart from the fact that every other backpacker warned us not to go to the very hostel we were staying in as it was renowned for having bed bugs. We were so worried that our beds might have these nasty bugs that we kept checking under the mattress every five minutes and didn't sleep much. Thankfully, we did not experience any bed bugs although we heard lots of nasty stories from people who were not so lucky! After Whitsundays, we headed into cattle station territory. We were fortunate to stay overnight at the Namoi Hills cattle station. We got to have a go at whip cracking, boomerang throwing and then were taken on a tour around the 40,000 acre ranch. This is where I saw my first kangaroo - well, more than one actually. They're pretty big beasts, I wouldn't like to come across an angry one that's for sure! They
organised a big party in the evening for us and we tried a bit of line dancing - what is that all about?? - very funny though! Luckily, they played pop tunes for the rest of the night and we danced on the tables til dawn (well almost!) We could have stayed there for much longer as they had lots of activities like bush campouts on horseback and paint your own didgeridoo etc.. unfortunately we had already booked our next tour so we had to reluctantly leave. The next tour however, certainly made up for our disppointment. Out of everything we did on the east coast, this was for me, the best of the lot. We spent three days on a sand island called Fraser Island. You can only get around the island in a 4x4 and we were in a group of 10 driving around in a LandCruiser. We cooked over a fire every night and camped out in tents. We shared the driving between us and I got to drive the most notoriously difficult bit where most people end up getting stuck in the sand. You have to back the Landcruiser as close to the sea as you can so you can have a really long run at it and then you have to ram the accelerator and go for it full pelt! I managed to get through and it was so much fun, the vehicle was sliding all over the place
We swam in a creek which was like one of those mini rapids you get in leisure pools, rolled down massive sand dunes, saw some eagle rays and sharks from a cliff called Indian Head, came across a couple of dingoes and generally had a fantastic time with a great bunch of people. After Fraser Island, we headed to a posh beach town called Noosa and then on to Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. Brisbane was great especially as the place we stayed in was really nice and we met loads of good people there. Brisbane has a big river running through it - it is not a big city and is pretty laid back. We found an authentic thai restaurant here and it felt like we were back in Thailand - aahhh. After Brisbane we stayed overnight in a hippy town called Nimbin where everyone seems to be stoned. It was founded in the 70's when peope came over for a festival and they never left! It is a mad place - you walk down the high street and all the locals are offering you 'smokes', cookies etc... We swiftly moved onto Byron Bay, a laid-back hippy surf town. We tried surfing here which was so much fun - I managed to stand up on the board a couple of times which made getting bashed by a wave every five seconds seem worth it - Oz how do you do it? I have to say, snowboarding is so much easier! I think I'll try it again when the weather warms up as it was a little chilly even with wetsuits on. Anyway, our trip down the east coast was slowly drawing to an end with Sydney our last stop. I
don't need to say much about Sydney as the images you have all seen countless times speak for themselves really! It is an impressive city and very big - it is very beautiful especially having the harbour right next to the city. My only disappointment was not being able to see a concert at the Sydney Opera house as there were no showings on the days we were there. I will be returning to Sydney though so hopefully will get a chance to go then. I was going to stay in Sydney and work but I decided to head over to Melbourne and then make a decision on where I wanted to live for four months. I am now in Melbourne and have been here almost a week. My sister went home some days ago so its just me on my own now. Melbourne is not as impressive as Sydney, in fact, its not the nicest looking city I have been to but it does have a great cafe culture and some trendy restaurants and bars. It is also quite arty and is home to 'aussie rules', a sport which is a bit like gaelic football and they are mad for it over here. Melbourne is also home to the largest single casino in probably the whole world, on a scale of Las Vegas! I tried a 'pokie' machine but was absolutely hopeless. I clutched my bucket thinking it would soon fill up with dollars like everyone else's bucket but I just couldn't work out how the machine worked and so I sat there hopelessly pressing buttons while the lady next to me was clocking up 100's of dollars worth in winnings! Today I have been busy buying a sleeping bag and roll mat. I have decided to go on an adventure into the outback and put off earning money for a little while longer! Two italians and myself will be setting off in a 4x4 van and driving for four or five days all the way to Alice Springs which is in the heart of Australia and is also the place to go to see Ayers Rock. We will be camping under the stars the entire trip and so I have bought a warm sleeping bag as the desert temperature drops dramatically at night even though during the day it can be 40 degrees! This is where I sign off and hopefully make it through the outback in one piece. With over 2,000km to cover, its going to be an interesting journey! Hasta la vista Michelle 26th July 2003 Hello all - how is everyone?
I am writing from Cape Tribulation, on the northern tip of Austrailia - have just been on a fantastic walk along the beach and stumbled onto the only food store in town (actually, there's no town really!). I am sitting on one of only two PC's. It seems an age away since my last travel installment - I have done so much since then that I'll just give you a taster of what I have been up to... Before that, I just wanted to say good luck to everyone for Staines Regatta and I hope you all have a great day! After the Full Moon party, we headed over to the island of Koh Phi Phi
. This island has become famous as it was the place where the film 'The Beach' was made. The beach is in a beautiful bay surrounded by limestone cliffs and jungle - it is definitely by favourite island so far. The water is crystal clear and really shallow and it is teeming with fish. Best of all, this island has no cars on it apart from some mad cyclists who whizz around inches away from you! From Koh Phi Phi we headed into Malaysia. We went to the island of Penang and stayed there for a couple of days. We had every intention of doing the 'cultural/sightseeing' thing but we got really excited at the numerous shopping plazas and the amazingly cheap price tags and basically spent our entire time shopping! The people of Malaysia are a mixture of indians/chinese and malays and they all seem to get along very well. Malaysia feels so much more westernised than Thailand. I was over the moon to find decent biscuits here as the Thai biscuits are not quite the same as an english biscuit!.
After Penang, we headed across to the east coast of Malaysia to the Perhentian islands - these islands are considered to be amongst the best islands in Malaysia and the most unspoilt - I would have to agree - they are beautiful. We spent a great deal of time lazing on the beach, drinking fruit shakes which are very popular here. After the Perhentians, we went to the main muslim city in Malaysia, Kota Bharu. We had to cover our shoulders and legs here but we still stood out as we were the only women not wearing headscarves! From Kota Bharu we went on a 2-day jungle trek into the Jalawangang jungle. The jungle in Malaysia is much more 'rainforest' jungle - it is sooo humid - I never sweated so much in all my life! We saw some cool insects including a giant millipede and this big bright red centipede-type thing which we stayed clear of as it is very poisonous. We also saw a Horn-bill which is a large bird with you guessed it, a big beak - these birds are apparently rare so we were lucky to see it. Our guide
was great and showed us all kinds of things including which plants we could use for different ailments - we tasted malaysian ginseng which was very bitter and there was another equally bitter plant which if you ate with muddy water would cure you from a snake bite! After the jungle we headed into the Cameron Highlands - this is where most of the tea is produced in Malaysia. This was the first time we had to put a long sleeved top on as it was a bit cool but actually it was a welcome relief from the heat!. The Cameron Highlands are really beautiful, it is a retreat where lots of city people from Kuala Lumpar come on long weekends. We drank lots of tea here of course but also found a great indian restaurant that served all their food on banana leaves - at least we were given a knife and fork to use here because in Kota Bharu we had to eat with our fingers one time and most of the food ended up on our laps! Kuala Lumpar was our next stop. I really like this city - its not too big and you can get around on the sky rail. The tallest twin towers in the city are pretty spectacular - I believe they might be the tallest twin towers in the world. I also went to another tower where they have a revolving restaurant and some great views across the city. I had the best chinese soup I have ever tasted here. We met some good people from Australia, Chile and Puerto Rico and spent our evenings on the roof top bar on the top of the guesthouse.
From Kuala Lumpar we headed into Singapore. This city is even more modern than KL - with the added twist of really old colonial buildings surrounded by skyscrapers! We met some friends here who are also fellow Staines residents although one of them has decided to swap Staines to live in Singapore instead. We went to Raffles hotel of course - it is like stepping back in time, you do not feel like you are in the middle of the city when you there - its like a living Titanic - very 1930's. Finally, we did some more mammoth shopping in Singapore - this is definitely the place to go - there must be about 30 shopping plazas on one street alone! Sadly, this was the end of our trip in South-East Asia, but on a good note, we couldn't wait for the
next stage and the thought of heading to a new continent...I felt like we were starting our trip all over again as we boarded the plane to Darwin, Australia. We really liked Darwin which is in the northern territory 'outback land'. The weather was classic Ozzy weather, blue sky, sun shining and very hot and dry. We went on the most amazing three-day trek to Kakadu national park. Our group of five and an aboriginal guide travelled by 4x4 and we camped under the stars. We had no showers and got absolutely covered either in red dust from the roads or ash from the firewood we collected so we could cook our evening meals. Kakadu is owned by the aboriginal people and is about the size of Switzerland! We swam in some amazing waterfall pools, saw ancient aboriginal rock paintings and got to see some stunning views across the park which is mainly covered in trees, lakes, creeks and rocky plateaus. The most exciting bit of the trek had to be seeing crocodiles - there were loads of them - I didn't need the numerous crocodile warning signs to tell me to stay away from the water's edge believe me!
After Darwin, we flew to Cairns on the east coast. This is the gateway to the great barrier reef and I am looking forward to diving there when I get back from Cape Tribulation. Cape Trib is in thenorth-eastern tip of Australia - it is all rainforest which has been here for thousands of years - a large bird that looks a bit like an ostrich lives here called a Cassowarie - I saw one trotting across the road - they have this mohican on their head which is in fact as hard as a rock! Right, I'll write again once I have travelled down the east coast a bit...we have booked a three-day sailing trip around the Whitsundays islands and a 4x4 self-drive trip with nine other randoms on Frasier Island which should be fun...we have been told not to leave any food out as the dingoes will get it. Am looking forward to some off-road driving. Take care all, Michelle
15th June 2003 Hello everyone! Its been a while since I last emailed and you must be wondering whether I have been lost in the depths of Cambodia....I can safely say that I survived (just!) and am emailing from the island of Koh Paghnan off the east coast of Thailand...it is post 'Full Moon' party today and the island is quieter than ususal....for those who don't know, Koh Paghnan's Full Moon parties have become legendary with DJ's coming from all over to play. It is a big beach party where some 5,000 people descend onto a stretch of beach and party from sunset to sunrise... Before I begin, I just wanted to say thank you for all the emails people have been sending..I do read all of them and love hearing about what is going on in leafy England...I try to respond to as many of them as I can but don't be miffed if you don't get a reply every time, there's just not enough time in the day! Arriving in Cambodia from Bangkok was quite an eye-opener...it makes Thailand actually seem like a rich country. There were children begging everywhere..its was very sad to see but we were told to stay away from them as they can pickpocket you. Cambodians are very pretty people..especialy the children - it is hard to ignore them...they have such big eyes and beautiful faces. I really liked the atmosphere in Cambodia...people are very friendly and laid back..they don't harrass you or try to swindle you unlike some of the Thais we have experienced! The bus to Siem Reap from the border was one to remember! We had been warned that the road (dirt track actually) was bad and it certainly lived up to the hype! I kept dosing off only to be woken by my head cracking the window every time we went into a pot hole...ouch. I don't know how the bus survives going up and down that track every day! On our first day in Siem Reap we visited a Landmine Museum. It is run by volunteers and was founded by a Cambodian man who was recruited into the Khymer Rouge army, the Vietnamese army and then the Cambodian army since the age of 10! His parents were killed by the Khymer Rouge. During his time with the army he laid hundreds of land mines all around Siem Reap and he now works independently to clear them. We also visited the ancient Angkor Wat temples, the main reason for visiting Cambodia. There are about 40 temples in total spread over a very big parkland (a jungle version of Windsor Great Park) with lakes and everything! The first temple we visited involved climbing lots of steps (in fact all the temples seem to have lot of steps!) but it was worth it as the views were stunning! What was most striking was the lush jungle for mliles around and yet driving through Cambodia the landscape is quite barren and flat.
The temples are so well preserved it is not difficult to imagine what it would have been like all those civilisations ago. We only managed to visit six temples in the end..the area is so vast, but it was more than enough. My favourite temple was the one where the jungle has taken over and giant Banyan trees are growing on the walls of the temples with their roots spiling over the top. Most people in Cambodia get around on motorbikes and we were no exception..we each had our own motorbike driver who drove us around Siem Reap and the temples...great fun!!! We then carried on to Phonm Penh, the largest city in Cambodia and stayed in a very picturesque guesthouse by a lake. Shame about the room though, not so nice. Had a mare with ants and a mouse! We visited the prison/torture camp run by the Pol Pot regime...very upsetting especially seeing the hundreds of photos of all the victims (teachers, farmers, shopkeepers just ordinary people really). There were many camps across Cambodia but this was one of the most notorious and where the evidence still remains. It was a school before being turned into prison cells. We then went to the Killing Fields. It is unbelieveable how many mass graves there are and only about half have been cleared. On a lighter note, I managed to capture a photo of what it is like to drive around Cambodia...it is
quite common to see up to four people on one motorbike!!! I can't work out if they have any road rules as everyone just seems to do their own thing...I still can't believe I did not see or was not involved in any crashes..I just shut my eyes half the time and hoped for the best! After Cambodia we decided we needed a break and went to a small island called Ko Tao, only 21km sq off the east coast of Thailand. The island is really chilled and there's not much to do except diving...for a small island there are a lot of dive schools...over forty! I spent most of last week under water completing the beginners dive course and then the advanced certificate. I had no intention of doing the advanced course until I saw a reef shark and some really big barracuda at about 25m depth...at the time I had just qualified to dive to 18m and so was not allowed to go any deeper...that was so frustrating that I just had to carry on to the next level and am now qualified to dive to 30m. For the wildlife enthusiasts amongst you...I saw lots of parrotfish, a sting ray, a moray eel, a rather funny looking porcupine fish and some very cute clown fish which I hear are the stars of the forthcoming Pixar animation movie. I am developing a nice sun tan now and blend in a lot better with all the other backpackers that are ridiculously brown! The islands are so beautiful here...really white sand and clear tropical waters fringed by coconut palms. We are going to relax on Koh Paghan for a few days...I am not sure where we will be heading afterwards, either to Koh Phi Phi (where they filmed 'The Beach') or into Malaysia but I will keep you posted. Congratulations to all those who will be rowing at Henley and I hope
you all do really well - you certainly deserve it! Love Michelle x 27th May 2003 Hello everyone! Here's what I have been up
to since I left the nice hotel.... We found Koh San road (backpacker's
place) after catching a very crowded bus ...we paid the
 ridiculous
sum of 14 baht which is about 12p. With some lucky guess work and hand
signalling with the conductor we managed to get off at the right stop.
Imagine over 40 c heat with an over-packed rucksack...not pretty! Koh
San road is jam-packed with hostels,street-sellers and bars all playing
movies. Street food sellers are EVERYWHERE in Bangkok...does anybody cook
in this city? On every stretch of pavement there is someone cooking noodles/kebabs/rice/soup
etc... People had warned me about the smell in Bangkok but to tell you
the truth I hadn't noticed it until the 2nd day. The smell of those chargrilled
fish was too much and I succumbed to good old western food - pizza! We
didn't do a lot of sightseeing in Bangkok as it was way too hot...we did
take a tuk tuk however and saw a couple of temples but as with most tuk
tuk drivers, we ended up
being taken to the temples via a jem shop so the tuk tuk driver could
get free gasoline from the shop - bloody nuisance! We then headed up to
Chiang Mai in northern Thailand which I have to say I much prefer to Bangkok.
Chiang Mai used to be the capital of Thailand many years ago - it is much
more of a backwater city and I would say not as poor as Bangkok. The best
thing is people don't hassle you at every turn. We booked a three day
trek and had an amazing time...we did elephant trekking, bamboo rafting
and swam in some lovely waterfall pools. We stayed in a tribal village
(the Karen tribe) in a hut on stilts and slept on the floor -fine until
we spotted cockroaches...aaaah! Also met up with some great people at
last as we hadn't really met anyone in Bangkok. Two of the girls on the
trek were from Woking! We arrived back in Bangkok this morning and are
off to Cambodia tomorrow. The bus leaves at 7am which is good because
it means we will be travelling in daylight hours - the foreign office
warns against travelling at night in Cambodia as there are no proper roads
only very pot-holed dirt tracks. It is going to take us 6 hours from the
Thai border to reach Siem Reap where we will be staying even though it
is only about 150km! I hope you are all well and I am following your regatta
results via the website - good luck for the next regatta! Love Michelle  |
