Monthly Archives: March 2007

Flights booked

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Confirmed destinations now are:

Adelaide on the 28th of March followed by a 2-day Kangaroo Island trip
Perth on April 3rd
Darwin on April 13th
Singapore on April 19th

Everything after these dates on the list to the right is pure conjecture with the exception of Brussels and Graspop. I’m trying to juggle things around as I may be hitting the UK at the start of June for the Download Festival.

As an aside, B&A’s neighbour (Col, I think, or Carl) just popped round with a plate of fresh-baked apple tarts and a bottle of Cascade. Star!

Tip – Sleeping in airports

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Again, thanks to Hans for kicking me off on this tip.

If you have to spend the night in an airport and there is a mosque inside it may be a good idea to check it out – it will likely have carpet, and be dark and quiet (like Madrid!).

Also check that the airport you’re heading for is actually open overnight. Many small ones aren’t and you’ll find yourself with a taxi ride back into a closed town with no accommodation available!

Tip – ATM withdrawal slips

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Thanks to Hans for reminding me about one use and pointing out another.

Simply put – keep them, or at least your most recent ones.

Countries such as Tunisia insist on proof that you’ve disposed of all (or most of) their currency when you leave. As such, they want to see how much you’ve withdrawn while you’re there so they can work out if you could reasonably have spent it.

In India, if you’re buying train tickets with cash, you need to prove how you got hold of it (or something). Whatever the reason, staff will insist on seeing ATM slips that cover the amount you’re spending or they won’t sell you the ticket. Of course, you can always book them online on credit card if you can register with the relevant web site.

And Brisbane. Again.

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The main problem with hotels, motels and hostels is check-out often being less than four hours after you make it to bed… Fortunately I’ve kind of got used to lack of sleep the last few days due to the partying on Byron Bay, so I wasn’t as bad as I could have been.

Amber and James – two more people I met at the party – very kindly offered to drop me off at Belinda and Albert’s up in Brisbane. It turns out they live barely 5 minutes’ drive away. We spent a good couple of hours watching creep films (Hostel – ick) and Family Guy before they took me round Coles for some groceries and delivering me to my accommodation.

Belinda and Albert are away this week so I’m on my own, effectively house-sitting for them. I don’t have much planned this week and I’ve really seen Brisbane already, so there won’t be much in the way of updates for a short while. Mostly I’ll be catching up with friends and relatives including Elaine, Skye and Mike (from Blue Dragon, Nikki, Jodie…

Gold Coast paaaaarty

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I booked a trip around Kangaroo Island (near Adelaide) through Adventure Travel Bugs for which I received unlimited free internet. I made full use of it for three hours catching up with some of you lot!

After a quick lunch courtesy of some donated bread – I’d dumped what was left of my loaf in the “free food” bin and someone took it all – I wrote up a new hitching sign and started walking towards the highway. A fifteen minute wait and I was picked up by an all-American surf dude called Osea who’d had to pop back down to Bris from Surfer’s Paradise to pick up some stuff he’d left behind.

Seeing as he had time to kill, he even went as far as driving me around 15km north of where he was staying to drop me off somewhere easier for me to be picked up by the folks I was meeting. This was above and beyond so resulted in me picking up the tab for a Hungry Jack’s. Not bad overall, though – Sydney to Brisbane (taking into account tomorrow’s ride) for $6.35.

A short wile later, Donna – yet another Aussie resident (she’s really a Kiwi who’s snuck in somehow) I met online – picked me up and drove me to the motel our group were staying in. Beer was drunk, more people arrived and we made our way out for dinner and a night clubbing. I gained an hour as well. This is bizarre when you’ve travelled north, not west, but Queensland doesn’t have daylight savings like the rest of Oz (WA is “trialling” it for three years).