Travel Plans are Flexible

the best thing about this blog is that you can read back and laugh at the things you wrote a long time ago! whether i look back 2 months or 2 years, (its strange to think this blog is over 2 years old!) things have changed so much. Don’t get me wrong, i would still love to become a skydiver! or spend a winter in Queenstown NZ or even take the trans siberian train across russia but just for now it all seams a million miles away. It’s been a while since i last wrote so do you want to know whats been going on since? if not press that little X in the top right hand corner of this browser!!

I left NZ, i really didnt want to, I loved that place, I had re-found my travellin feet having been, for want of a better word – ’stuck’ in Brisbane. To be working and living in one place was not my idea of travels before i left, and with the utmost respect for the people around me i just wasnt having the same fun as a I would while travelling. to make things slightly more uncomfortable a week or so before leaving I split up with Hilary, so NZ and the people i met really did help me smile again and help me through a slighly emotional time.

you never did hear about Fiji, neither did I until i got to NZ – but now you are about to. Where ever you when travelling there are always people that have just come from your next destination or just heading there with you. NZ was a place where most people hd just come from australia or the
pacific islands and US so there were enough stories to make me smile. just think absolute serenity, white sand beaches, perfect clam seas with reefs on your door step, friendly locals and hours of sunshine, even in the rainy season. Unfortunately Fiji is not as cheap as you might originally think, access to one or more of its 300 and 30 something islands was not easy on the wallet and the ultimate deciding factor in me staying on the main island of Viti Levu. Don’t hang around in Nadi – the first thing you will be told about fiji, it isn’t very attractive and not the picturesque scenes you expect – one night is enough. the second thing to learn? the word Bula. Everyone welcomes you, Hi, how are you, Im fine thanks. Bula simple as that. the third and perhaps the most important thins to learn about Fiji is to develop a liking for Kava. Kava is a root vegetable ground up and when mixed with water produces a brown muddy looking liquid often with tiny particles floating around on top. this is not suprising as it is made in a similar way to tea, only using a rag as a tea bag and mixing bowl the teapot! Kava is legal in the UK and is used in anti stress medication it is supposed to relax all the muscles in the body without affecting mental alertness. When I say all the muscles in the body, I mean all the muscles, the way one local describes it in his broken english is, “It is not like Beer because you stay awake but afterwards with Kava if you drink too much there will be no baby making” thanks for the top advice John i think il stick to Fiji Gold! Fiji was sunbathe by day and Party by night, I loved it so much that the first resort I hit I extended my stay twice each time meant changing flights and booking an onwards bus! If you find yourself in Fiji i really do recommend Mango Bay on the Coral Coast. everything was perfect about this place, well almost, it could cost as much as $35 pernight and it wasnt self catered as there were now faclities or shops, but often they have 3 for 2 deals and you do get breakfast included. that’s it about Fiji really after NZ and Zimbabwe probably the 3rd best destination so far.

The more I write the more i realise i have missed so much, and if it wasnt for the free internet in the park right now i probably wouldnt have time to write anymore, wouldnt be a bad thing because i am not entirely sure you have time to read on! I always intended on teaching in Australia, that was always the plan except things went a little pear-shaped while i was away and there was so much red tape i thought i would be there forever. i paid $150 for an initial registration to teach NZ on the understanding that was all, i still have the email saying that is all – yet when i applied i needed another registration first so the first 6 weeks i lost was sbout to be extended by 2 months and wait for it – $450 something i really didnt want to do. i was so close to biting the bullet, payign the money and teaching in Oz but i didnt, I scrapped it! I lost the $150, hard lines i suppose but no big deal yet i still had anothe opprtunity to get into teachin in Oz. A school had a vacancy for a math teacher, i applied went for an interview, costing me another $200 and for all I could work out I got the job, or did I? It took 2 weeks to reply having told me they wanted someone to start monday (it was a thursday) then they replied with the principal wants to speak to yo but is unavailable right now she will call tomorrow. she didnt call, 10 days later i was writing an email express my concerns and dislike for the situation, effectively withdrawing my application when the secretary again rang to say the principal wanted to speak to me to seee if i was still interested, i stopped short of saying get f***** but that is realy what they needed. I wasnt prepared to commit to a school for a year when i didnt get a good feeling about the place. one thing to bare in mind was that at this time i had already moved 400km north of brisbane where the job was so that i could pick fruit as a means of income temporarily. this unfolds into a story in itself.

As you can see I have been changing my mind every 2 minutes. My first night in Fiji was not very exciting but had I not met Helene and Marian I might not actually be where I am now, whether to thank them or not I am not quite sure! Helene and Mairian were 2 french girls who had just completed the trip i was about to start, and I was only with them for about 2 hours as I shared a room with them. As it happened they too were returning to brisbane so we exchanged numbers etc in order to meet up again in australia. nearly 3 weeks later 2 days or so after returning from fiji i text them and they were picking fruit in a place called Bundaberg, 400km north of brisbane. At the time i desperately needed a job and so off i went, 4 hours on a train to a hostel called cell block. A week later i was picking avocadoes with the idea of teaching a couple of weeks down the road.

That never happened, 11 weeks later I am still here, why you ask? because its not all that bad. I said teaching didnt work out, so i abandoned the idea of staying in Oz until christmas in favour of earning $2000, enough for 2 months in Asia. that never happened either! I was so close, just one weeks wages from my target on about week 6 when it rained for nearly 2 weeks none stop. week 6 would have seen me travelling with good friends from NZ through Asia too so the rain did knock the steam out of me a little, it felt like i would be stuck here forever. as a result i need to make up the 2 weeks which will take me to 10 weeks n the job, the thing is if you do 12 weeks fruit picking you are entitled to a second working VISA to use before i turn 30 so now it makes sense to just see it out! 3 months of picking avocadoes of trees, sounds unbareable but its gone so fast.

One week friday will be week 12, i will (touch wood) have my target, (of course sick days like today dont help). that will be my travel money sorted, i no longer need to be back i August now (for a job i wanted 0 but didnt get) so i can travel until september 14th on my ticket. i want 2 months in asia and 2 months I will get the end of the month wil surpass my 12 weeks fruit picking and give me the time i need to travel in asia hopefully with a few extra quid to restock my backpack and refind my travelling feet. Although Cell block initially seams somewhat of a prison still, as it once was, you become accustomed to it and understand what Red really means in Shawshank Redemption when he says “you become institutionalised in a place like this”. I will actually miss this place when i finally leave, i laughed at the long stayers when i first got here, but now i understand. I have seen so many people come and go now and lots of friends have already left but right now i am probably enjoying my time more than ever here. Believe People when they say Bundaberg is Boring, and Cell Block is terrible, its true – still come though, do your 3 months, make your own fun, become institutionalised and move on when the time is right.

July 7th I go to Bali, See you at home soon

“Travel plans are flexible remember that” (Downey. C, 2008; Nolan St Backpackers)