that time of year again.

Well it’s almost Xmas again… Have I been away that long…
Well it’s only about 15 months.
Its hard to believe its Xmas. Despite all the decorations in town and the late night shopping’s, my brain just isn’t wired to recognise sunny weather as xmas. I need the cold and the dark for it to register but I’m not complaining.

When I went to the station yesterday to get the train to work they we handing out free coffee and some chocolate covered marshmallows things, they also had a bloke dressed as Santa wandering around but it still didn’t feel like xmas.. I think I must just be getting old..
I have a job now, Although I’m still waiting to get paid, I’ve found a nice place to live and with luck I can start saving the pennies. Not that they are worth much now.
I have no real plans for Xmas or New year but am sure I will sort something out as everyone here takes two weeks of work.. Essentially everything closes down which is something I’m not so used to and also a bit disappointing as its two weeks without work or pay. But I can use the time to update this page and put a few of the photos up on my Flickr site and with luck I can even get away climbing for a few days on proper rock and everything.

Well I hope everyone enjoys Xmas and the New year, hope you have a good en. I think i will make it back to the UK in 2009.

shirts

Well i'v just spent my Saturday morning in a quest for shirts... i started in Richmond on bridge st, went to several stores all of which promised big discounts in big letters.

However upon closer inspection the prices still made me turn and run. most of the places didn't have white work shirts the options available would make me look like a lump of seaside rock candy.
The prices were not even realistic from about $60 to over $200. I was most offended by the idea that people pay money to look like such plonkers.
After several shops all sporting the same designer crap i started to long for a reasonable shop or department store which would have cheap white plain cotton shirts.

I ended up in smith street after a small detour via Victoria parade which is lined with Asian supermarkets and stores and non of which sell any of the good dofugan.

Disappointed but not disheartened i walked on and after arriving on smith st i found what i was looking for... i got 3 shirts for $45, still no dofugan though... but a small victory and i can now have a shirt for each day without looking too much like a plonker..

Its one of those days as now its raining and my almost dry clothes which i hung out earlier and now very wet again... I do so miss traveling when non of these things really bothered me but work is a requirement these days. At least its not snowing yet and its generally nice sunny weather with blue sky's.

Back to work lad.. and update

Well what I have been up to... contrary to popular belief I’m still alive and still in Oz.
It’s been a long time since I put a post on here and as you can guess I’ve done a fair bit between Yunnan and getting back to Australia.

I went back to yangshuo to meet up some friends from the time spent there earlier in the year and was happy to find them all in good health and enjoying life as much as when I left. A few have moved on like myself to other things but many of the faces I knew from my previous visit were still around and it was great to bump into Bon, Kev, and Donna who I knew from Hong Kong and whom were in town for a week climbing.

I helped out a bit at china climb and it was good to meet some of the new staff and catch up with friends. A few beers were had some climbing was done and Sonia joined me for a few days and we were able to get out to do a few routes together. Dan and Tyson were still around as were many of my other friends and I really enjoyed meeting up with everyone, I feel this is a place that will keep calling me back, it hold lots of great times and memories for me, and many more yet to come I hope.

Back in Guangzhou I spent a fair bit of time wandering around the city and trying not to get lost which is fairly hard. I think this is the most disorientating city I have been to as many streets look alike and have lots of flyovers and roads all over the place so you can’t see so many of the landmarks for orientating yourself.

Sonia and I stopped in a really nice apartment which she had found and there was even a pool in the building so we spent a few evenings swimming, we went out for dinner a few times with some of her friends and spent Halloween in a Reggie bar called Cunion. This had a really cool band playing and has good music most nights.

We did intend to go and see a free concert but it was rained off and the only thing we achieved was getting soaked in torrential rain & thunder storm that lasted almost an hour. However we did go to the circus which was great fun and worth the 150yuan even if just for the black bear riding a Harley style bike around.

As this was China and Guangzhou is known for its variety of cuisine, (Sonia tells me the only thing that fly's that they don’t eat is a plane and the only thing with four legs they don’t eat is a chair) we spent a good few nights eating out but most of the time cooked in the apartment, lots of hotpot was had and I miss the Chinese food now I’m in Australia. Despite a large Asian and Chinese minority in Melbourne the food just isn’t the same although it’s still good.

I have been back in Melbourne just over two weeks now and have (after sending many e-mails) found a job. It’s not as good or as well paid as I had hoped but this is because of the restrictions on my visa the market downturn at the current time and also because I can only do temporary contracts. However its work and it pays money so I can’t complain.

I’ve got an old bike for $140 that gets me around the place fairly well, although I did get told off by the coppers for not wearing a lid one day, almost told them to stop being so bloody stupid and do something useful for a change, fortunately I remembered that I’m not in China anymore . They have funny laws over here like wearing seatbelts in cars, lids on bikes, only cross the road at crossings and all that stupidness. Phew how can anyone have any fun with all these laws flying about? Next they will ban all walking as you could trip over...

I’ve found some accommodation at last, about 4km outside the city centre (CBD) in a really nice old house sharing with three others. It’s not bad for $800 per month including all bills, its fully furnished etc and is bang next to a train station which can have me within 500m of work within 10 minutes so that a bonus. It’s also not very far from a bouldering gym so I can try and get strong again and rid myself of the bit of a belly that I have from all this good food I’ve been having over the past couple of months.

I’ve spent the past couple of weeks or so sleeping on Maria’s sofa which is comfy but the situation isn’t really ideal even more so now I’ve found work. she’s been really good putting up with me for so long as my only contributions have been towards food, cooking and tidying up the place so I think she will be pleased I’ve sorted out some place, and will be moving Wednesday.
I just hope I can find more work after this contract finishes, and I can save some cash before heading back to the UK for the summer months. I figure after the winter I had last year I deserve a couple of summers in a row. Melbourne appears to be a nice place to spend the time. It has lots of really good markets with local produce and you can’t do better than the sales on Sunday when they clear all the food extra cheap as they don’t open Mondays, last week we got 2kg of sausages for $10, winner.

I guess I will start slowly slipping into a different lifestyle now I’m working but I will try to save as much money as I can.
Firstly as I don’t know how much work I will get in OZ.
Secondly as I don’t know what I’m going to do after returning to the UK and need to build a cushion whilst I figure it all out.
Thirdly I’m starting to think it may just be a temporary return as I have many things pulling me in different directions, there’s still so much I want to see around the world and so many places to go. With luck I’ve found someone who I can go and see them all with... this may just be the start of the adventures.

Now I just need the money to make it happen so if you happen to know the lotto numbers for this upcoming weekly draw do be so kind as to tell me. More posts will arrive as i will undoubtedly feel the need to let you know how sunny it is here whilst you sit in the gloom of a British winter but you have proper ale... however i recall seth saying he found Abbott or somthing of the like over here... lad, please tell me where.

Back in China

yep back again. I just can't stop away from the place. After a fine time in Oz and a few days RnR in Melbourne and crashing on Maria's couch, a few beers and some absinthe, it was time to head back to china.
After all i had a girlfriend i hadn't seen in almost four months, a handful of good friends to meet back up with and the promise of a trip to Yunnan and the Snow mountain.

Unfortunately the trip to Yunnan was crammed into a small space of time and we spent most of that on the road getting to and from our destination but it supplied a huge amount of quality vistas for us to feast our eyes upon and a yearning to go back for more. I have just added a number of photos to the flickr site.

We set out from Guangzhou by train to Kunming, unfortunately this wasn't booked far enough in advance so we had no seat or bed or anything reserved, except for the joys of overcrowded Chinese railways on national holidays... I could see this would be a fun journey, although we did manage to find just about enough room to stand for several hours until we finally made it into the dinning car once it opened.
We decided to eat slow and keep our seats. we payed a little extra and spent until near dawn sat drinking beer and dozing in the dinning car until a few free sleeper spots became available and we got some much needed sleep before our afternoon arrival.

From Kunming a couple of buses, fairly uncomfortable buses, took us to Dali when were spent the night in a wonderful hostel and awakened to see the sun rising above the mountains which cast exquisite shadows and reflections in the lake.
We spent the day driving around until our departure via bus and then mad speedy taxi van to take us to Zhongdian. with a brief stop in Lijiang to refresh.
We spent the next two days walking to and from Meili snow mountain Yunnan, i just wish we had time to spend a month here. but everyone else needed to get back to work so with great sorrow we made our way back and this time made sure we had a more comfortable journey and adequate space to relax in... well besides a mad taxi driver determined to break all land speed records and almost coming undone on one or two of the many corners which would result in a new air speed record for such a vehicle as a several hundred feet drop to a muddy river would await the unfortunate... however the driver would most likely remain unaware of this as he was too busy talking on his phone to pay attention to such trivial things as death. perhaps the next life would be better to him. Personally i like mine as it is thanks.
We also had time to take in the pleasure of the largest buddhist monastery outside of tibet (Songzanlin) .. a most pleasent way to while away a couple of hours.

I'm now sat back in Guangzhou sorting out my money so i can book a flight back to Oz and head off to see some friends in Yangshuo where this out of shape mess i call my body can enjoy some climbing for the first time in several weeks, hopefully it should help get me back into some form of fitness.

Time to be leaving.

Well after Sydney we headed to the Blue mountains. we went west via Penrith then north to Richmond and along the Botanists way, stopping to partake in some home made apple pie.

After this refreshment we continued on to Bell and then south to mount Victoria and then arriving at Katoomba late afternoon where we sorted out accommodation and I got a few nice photos of the three sisters which i will put up later.

whilst at Katoomba we went to the Scenic park, which has a cable car, Sky car, and funicular railway which is at about 52%, so steep.

A great morning was spent on these which provide access and views of the rain forest below the sandstone walls and the Katoomba falls.

The blue mountains getting their name from the blue hue which comes from the eucalyptus trees.

From the Blue mountains we headed for the great western highway back down to Penrith then to Wollongong.

The the sunny day that heated the car to extremes as we trundled down the highway past pebbly beach which was well worth the 8km detour along an unmade rd through the bush to view the parrots and wallabies playing in the evening light on the grassy fringes of the beach as the temperates dropped to a more bearable level and we made for the picturesque town of Batemens Bay.

I even went for a run around the bay which was nice as it rained a little that evening.

From Batemens we headed via Tilba Tilba, a nice historic town which is almost unchanged for over 100years. We stopped at Lake entrance that night and the following day went past 90 mile beach, then along the Gippslands highway to the Mornington peninsular. and up via St Kilda into Melbourne city.

last night we indulged in a wonderful gastronomic delight on Lygon st, with Melbourne's latest resident and old friend Maria.

Today mum flys home and this time next week i will be in China again, for more adventures although not in an automatic. I need a while off driving after the past 6 weeks and 8000km.

Latest news from Down Under.

Well after the Great Ocean rd we spent a few days in and around Adelaide. we hired yet another car for two days, this was a little Toyota Yaris,

We went to Mt Lofty and Hahndorf which is a major tourist attraction in the Adelaide Hills est in 1839 and as you can guess by Germans.

We stopped on final night at Mt barker and the following day on the 7th flew to Brisbane.

After two days sampling the delights of this wonderful city we headed down the car in the latest hire car. unfortunately i ended up with an Automatic Toyota corolla. as all the smaller cars with a clutch and proper gears were out. So once again i find myself having to put up with this annoying car without a clutch.

We headed down the coast past surfers paradise, which was once nice but is now a bit tainted by high rise and commercialism. past Burleigh heads, and stopped at Byron Bay, and on departing the following day we visited the lighthouse and most easterly point in Oz, Cape Byron, so I'm told.

We then travelled thorough several national parks, one of which named Guy Fawkes, and visited Ebor falls, then made for Kempsey where we stopped on the night of the 10th.

The 11th was spent driving the remaining 400 or so km to Sydney via the Pacific Highway and Port Macquarie where it would have been nice to linger a bit loner however we needed to get to Sydney where we were splashing out and stopping at the Waldorf, its only $120 or so per night.

We visited the Opera house and Botanical gardens today and then got the ferry over to Manly which was really nice and we had a late lunch of fish and chips. unfortunately the beer wasn't up to much to wash it all down with but the food was great and the views stunning as we came back into the harbour at sunset, getting great views of the bridge and opera house.

Tomorrow we intend to head to the Blue mountains , and then its back to Melbourne.

Back in Oz, The great Ocean road

Well after over 4000km in an automatic in New Zealand i decided to jump back in yet another car....
Thank god it was a manual, otherwise this time i would have driven it into the Ocean. being so close.
After a few days in Melbourne which we saw lots of rain but also some of the great parks and buildings of this historic city, including James Cooks cottage, we decided it would be nice to travel the Great Ocean Road which traverses the south of Victoria into the Southern Territories, taking in some breathtaking views and seascapes.
We headed out of Melbourne on the 1st and went south west before a small detour to Queenscliff and Pt Lonsdale, we then took up the great Ocean road proper at Torquay and sped along the coast through Anglesea, Airleys inlet, Lorn and onto Appol Bay on the edge of cape Otway National Park, where we stopped for the first night.
The next day was spent going through the national park and up the coast to where the clouds broke long enough for us to see the twelve Apostles. well only seven of them actually, the other were hidden from view.
We continued along dodging rain past two mile bay, the Arch, and London Bridge although these you need to rely on the imagination to see even when the clouds lift as they have log since fallen into the sea, which is eroding the coast at an alarm rate.
We made it to Warrnambool hopeful that we may spot some of the Southern right whales which are visible at this time of the year around the cost but unfortunately we were not to be that lucky.
after a stop of at Port Fairy we headed north and inland to the Grampians National Park, which pleased me somewhat , although unfortunately climbing would be of the cards on this whistle stop visit i could at least check out the area for a return visit.

We stopped at a wonderful place in Halls Gap. Brambuk Backpackers. and the owners were only to happy to inform me of the area and climbing and hikes, they also came up with a few things for mum to do whilst i did a small walk up to the pinnacle viewing point over the valley in which we were stopping and back in time for a cup of tea and to drive via Mt Gambia, which is a town situated on an old Volcano and even has some magnificent gardens in a sink hole,

and then onwards to Kingston, a very quiet town but home to the largest lobster I'm likely to see.
Today we drove from Kingston to Adelaide which on appearances seems a most pleasant town where we can spend a few days before flying to Brisbane on Sunday the 7th, and most likely some more driving. but providing its not an Automatic i don't really mind.
I will get the photos onto flickr when i get a chance, I have photos of New Zealand on their already.