We have spent about half of 2012 in a campervan. By the end of 2012 we will have spent around 1/5 of the year living in a van. Its strange putting it into that context, as we haven't fallen out once, and it hasn't been a problem at all. Don't get me wrong, I long for a living room, and don't get me started on the bathroom. However, we have adapted nicely to the camping lifestyle, I kinda like it.
So, I'm one hour outside of Sydney and we are flying out to New Zealand today after dropping off the van. Then we will upgrade to a bigger van in New Zealand, to a 6 berth with Luke and Liam. I'm excited about the 3 weeks ahead of us.
Australia
I think Alex summed it up pretty well when he said to me "I'm looking forward to getting travelling again". Because Australia doesn't feel like we are travelling - It feels like we are on a holiday, or just relaxing, or passing time. So we are excited about going to New Zealand, because it feels like we are going on a holiday to see Luke and Liam. We are excited about coming back to Australia to work for 6 months, because thats a whole new challenge in itself, and having a routine will be fun. However, we are most excited about getting to South America and seeing some amazing sights.
Writing it down has made me realise that I am not too enamoured with Australia. Sure, the weather is amazing, the beaches are special, and there are free BBQs everywhere, but thats about it. The towns lack any character, the people are bigoted racists, and the drivers...don't get me started on how bad Australians are at driving. Asia felt special, like we were doing something great, Australia doesn't have that. It may just be because its a Western country, but to anybody thinking of travelling I would put Asia top of your list and Australia bottom. I hope Ant is still having an amazing time out there.
What we have been up to
We have still spent a lot of time walking around national parks, which are all amazing. The diversity in wildlife is incredible. In a 2 hour walk you can go from rainforest to scrubland to woodland to mountain ranges. We have seen plenty of Kangaroos, Wallabees, Koalas, Spiders et al. It becomes a bit of a blur, which park had what in it, so I will leave it at that. We did drive down "Waterfall Way" which is a beautiful drive with lots of waterfalls (duh) along the way.
Sydney is different, I like Sydney a lot. It was a very hectic time for us though after our chilled out lifestyle. I had my job interview, and my purchase of a suit was not a waste of time as I have been offered the job as a contractor for Accenture Health. The job sounds like a lot of fun (honest) so I look forward to coming back to that in June. The interview was very relaxed, basically just telling me what I would be working on. Having contacts back in the UK has definitely sorted me out on this occasion. It's not what you know, it's not who you know, it's what you know about who you know! Alex will be applying for jobs as a Videographer and hopefully will get one soon, otherwise he will be the househusband. He sounds confident of getting one though so it should work out just fine.
The strangest thing about Sydney was seeing my cousin Phil and my brother Danny. It is a very odd feeling being on the other side of the world and walking around with them. I had a lot of fun though and Phils knowledge of Sydney meant we could just follow him around like a tour group and see all the best of Sydney. The only problem was that for Danny he was on holiday whilst we are travelling, so we have a lot less money available. We couldn't afford the frantic spending Danny seemed obsessed with. I think I spent more in Sydney than the rest of Australia put together. On the other hand, Danny spent more in 3 weeks than we have spent in 3 months in Australia. It was great to see family and we had a lot of fun. I think Danny is a bit jealous of us.
After Sydney I was pretty ill, which wasn't much fun for Danny who came with us in the campervan. I don't think Danny liked our slow pace of life or the campervan, and he made us drive as fast as we could to Melbourne (with a whistle-stop tour of Canberra) and then checked into a hostel. We did stop off at the Blue Mountains and did a great walk.
Melbourne was fun, if a little cold. We went on a "Alleys and Arcades" self walking tour and went to an AFL game. After about 30 minutes I think we understood the rules enough to enjoy the game. There was 40,000 people there yet it was oddly quiet. They don't chant and only cheer goals really. It doesn't have the same atmosphere as a Premier League game thats for sure.
After Danny had gone back to his job (haha) we went to see Tess and Phil who we had met in India a few times, then Laos, then Thailand. They had been working in Melbourne for a few months staying with Tess's Aunty. It was lovely to see them again. The highlight was going to Straws Lane. It is a crazy hill where you stop your car (or campervan in our case) on the hill, and put it into neutral and take your foot off the pedals. Instead of rolling downhill it rolls backwards uphill. Apparently it may have something to do with a magnetic field underneath the road. I loved it though. Don't believe it? Here's the videos https://vimeo.com/41834192 and https://vimeo.com/41834191 .
So, thats it for now. We are still fine, we are still enjoying it, and we still don't want to come home yet. Currently it looks like we will be home in summer 2013, but then my plans change more regularly than my underpants so who knows.
I will love you and leave you now.
Tom
So, I'm one hour outside of Sydney and we are flying out to New Zealand today after dropping off the van. Then we will upgrade to a bigger van in New Zealand, to a 6 berth with Luke and Liam. I'm excited about the 3 weeks ahead of us.
Australia
I think Alex summed it up pretty well when he said to me "I'm looking forward to getting travelling again". Because Australia doesn't feel like we are travelling - It feels like we are on a holiday, or just relaxing, or passing time. So we are excited about going to New Zealand, because it feels like we are going on a holiday to see Luke and Liam. We are excited about coming back to Australia to work for 6 months, because thats a whole new challenge in itself, and having a routine will be fun. However, we are most excited about getting to South America and seeing some amazing sights.
Writing it down has made me realise that I am not too enamoured with Australia. Sure, the weather is amazing, the beaches are special, and there are free BBQs everywhere, but thats about it. The towns lack any character, the people are bigoted racists, and the drivers...don't get me started on how bad Australians are at driving. Asia felt special, like we were doing something great, Australia doesn't have that. It may just be because its a Western country, but to anybody thinking of travelling I would put Asia top of your list and Australia bottom. I hope Ant is still having an amazing time out there.
What we have been up to
We have still spent a lot of time walking around national parks, which are all amazing. The diversity in wildlife is incredible. In a 2 hour walk you can go from rainforest to scrubland to woodland to mountain ranges. We have seen plenty of Kangaroos, Wallabees, Koalas, Spiders et al. It becomes a bit of a blur, which park had what in it, so I will leave it at that. We did drive down "Waterfall Way" which is a beautiful drive with lots of waterfalls (duh) along the way.
Sydney is different, I like Sydney a lot. It was a very hectic time for us though after our chilled out lifestyle. I had my job interview, and my purchase of a suit was not a waste of time as I have been offered the job as a contractor for Accenture Health. The job sounds like a lot of fun (honest) so I look forward to coming back to that in June. The interview was very relaxed, basically just telling me what I would be working on. Having contacts back in the UK has definitely sorted me out on this occasion. It's not what you know, it's not who you know, it's what you know about who you know! Alex will be applying for jobs as a Videographer and hopefully will get one soon, otherwise he will be the househusband. He sounds confident of getting one though so it should work out just fine.
The strangest thing about Sydney was seeing my cousin Phil and my brother Danny. It is a very odd feeling being on the other side of the world and walking around with them. I had a lot of fun though and Phils knowledge of Sydney meant we could just follow him around like a tour group and see all the best of Sydney. The only problem was that for Danny he was on holiday whilst we are travelling, so we have a lot less money available. We couldn't afford the frantic spending Danny seemed obsessed with. I think I spent more in Sydney than the rest of Australia put together. On the other hand, Danny spent more in 3 weeks than we have spent in 3 months in Australia. It was great to see family and we had a lot of fun. I think Danny is a bit jealous of us.
After Sydney I was pretty ill, which wasn't much fun for Danny who came with us in the campervan. I don't think Danny liked our slow pace of life or the campervan, and he made us drive as fast as we could to Melbourne (with a whistle-stop tour of Canberra) and then checked into a hostel. We did stop off at the Blue Mountains and did a great walk.
Melbourne was fun, if a little cold. We went on a "Alleys and Arcades" self walking tour and went to an AFL game. After about 30 minutes I think we understood the rules enough to enjoy the game. There was 40,000 people there yet it was oddly quiet. They don't chant and only cheer goals really. It doesn't have the same atmosphere as a Premier League game thats for sure.
After Danny had gone back to his job (haha) we went to see Tess and Phil who we had met in India a few times, then Laos, then Thailand. They had been working in Melbourne for a few months staying with Tess's Aunty. It was lovely to see them again. The highlight was going to Straws Lane. It is a crazy hill where you stop your car (or campervan in our case) on the hill, and put it into neutral and take your foot off the pedals. Instead of rolling downhill it rolls backwards uphill. Apparently it may have something to do with a magnetic field underneath the road. I loved it though. Don't believe it? Here's the videos https://vimeo.com/41834192 and https://vimeo.com/41834191 .
So, thats it for now. We are still fine, we are still enjoying it, and we still don't want to come home yet. Currently it looks like we will be home in summer 2013, but then my plans change more regularly than my underpants so who knows.
I will love you and leave you now.
Tom
