Dive day today, but first I wanted to make a trip to the Byron Lighthouse and the most Easterly point of the Australian mainland. It’s roughly a two-hour trek if you stop to take pictures and go off down all the little trails to the viewing platforms – well worth the effort. Just past the [...]

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Amazingly, I was awake before 9am. I just couldn’t get back to sleep so I forced myself up and started on errands. Also amazingly, I wasn’t hung over. A large glass of water and I was fine. The only bad result of the night out was my shirt stinking of smoke. Oz’s “no smoking indoors” [...]

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Happy birthday to me! Exactly a year ago today, I got on the plane from Heathrow and jetted off for Thailand to begin this insane trip. And you know what? My only regret is not doing it earlier in life (like when the Aussie government would let me work legally). Oh, and losing my girlfriend [...]

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When hitch-hiking there are a few guidelines worth following: Look presentable – who’s going to pick up someone who might make the car smell? Be careful – obvious, really, but check out the area. For instance, I’d not hitch in the outback where there are no towns for 8 hours at a stretch. If someone [...]

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I opted to stay on an extra day in Sydney as I got an email from Mike (he of Blue Dragon fame) saying he was in town. Obviously, Mike’s not often in Oz on holiday (he’s usually fundraising) so there wasn’t going to be much chance to catch up with him. Today was my only [...]

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I’m sure I did some other stuff today, but mainly it was all killing time until the Weird Al gig at the Enmore Theatre. Oh, one mention to a Swiss guy in my dorm who gave me some pointers on his country for The Walk, such as the fact that I can’t walk through any [...]

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I was up fairly early again as I’d been sleeping in someone’s lounge, so spent the first few waking hours in a semi-daze until I found somewhere to snooze for a while. A final BBQ lunch was washed down with definitely non-alcoholic beverages and one of my new friends gave me a lift back to [...]

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Despite a lack of sleep and a definite non-lack of alcohol in my bloodstream, I got up around 9am to get another lift from Dave. He was visiting his parents then heading into Newcastle itself (via Gateshead). We stopped at a couple of signs so I could get my photo taken in this city with [...]

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The first thing to say today is another “thank you” to Rachel and Dave for being kind hosts, putting me up and for driving me from Canberra to Newcastle. It was a pretty enjoyable trip and the first time I’d seen the scenery as both times I’d used the buss between Sydney and Canberra I’d [...]

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An early morning after a good night out with the mad French and Belgian brigade. We also met up – very briefly – with Leon the Welshman who has appeared at the same hostel. I’ll see him again on Sunday with any luck. The fully-laden walk down to the bus depot took less than fifteen [...]

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