Day 2 in Melbourne

Long time no see friends. It's been more than 3 weeks since my last post.

In the past weeks I'd been working as a receptionist at Alatai Holiday Apartments in Darwin for more than 2 weeks. It was a challenging job. I needed to learn a lot to do the job well, and it was not easy, especially that I didn't get to understand all the English accents quite well. The pay was about average at 18 per hour. My boss's family was from East Timor, their family name is Tchia. They are Chinese descendants which means that they are just like typically Chinese boss that will treat the employees not too well. My work sometimes was in the nighttime from 10PM to 06AM, and sometimes in the other hours, but the pay was all the same. It is a job I could learn much from, and I liked it, just that one of my colleagues was quite bitchy.

I'd been to Litchfield NP for 3 times when I was in Darwin. The first time I took the tour made by Kakadu Dreams, and the 2nd and 3rd time I hired cars with some Taiwanese friends. It was a tragedy at the 3rd time. When we were on the way to Termite Mounds, before going to a right turn we met a car close to our lane and I as the driver tried to drive the car, a Ford Fairlane, a bit to the left side to avoid the car, our car ran over sands and we lost control and bombared into a tree. The frond side of the car was severely damaged, and both of the airbags popped put. Fortunately no one was hurt at all. But we waited for more than 4 hours until the car rental company sent another car to us, and then we could continue our journey. But it was almost dark, so we could only go to Tolmer Fall and Wangi Falls to take some photos before we set on the way back to Darwin. When we waited at the place where our car crashed, many people stopped and tried to help us. There was an old couple from Perth gave me a ride to the nearest caravan park to make a call to the car rental company. I'm very grateful for their help. And we found out that there are many Australian people very thoughtful and considerate and keen to give help. We paid AU $440 for the crash, thankfully we had bought an insurance policy at AU $36 per day.

I had also been to Kakadu NP twice. On the 2nd time, I rent a car with Hendrik, a german friend, and Red and Renee, both are Taiwanese girls. We'd been to Fogg Dam, a funny name I know. There were thousands of different kinds of birds in the swanmps there. The scene was quite amazing. I liked it very much. After that we went to do jumping cricodile cruise. The host was different from the first time I did it. It was run by a couple who live in Victoria most of the year, and only runthe business for a few months in the dry season. It was not bad.

I got bored much by the life in Darwin. So I decided that I have to move again. This time I came to the place that I had long thinked of, Melbourne. The flights depart from Darwin Airport are normally in the very early morning. My flight was at 2:35 AM. Before taking the shuttle bus from YHA to the airport, me and Paula, Lilian, Red, Renee and Jerry went to see Shrek the Third at the cinema. Red found some of her cards including the Master Debit card were lost right before the show began, she was quite unsettled, she phoned the bank to suspend her card, and some one found her cards excluding the debit card and gave back to her after the movie. And the movie was below my expectation. It's in fact quite boring and lacks of new ideas in my opinion.

I arrived in Melbourne yesterday morning at around 7:00 AM. The weather in Melbourne was rainy yesterday. And the temperature was very low. The highest temperature these 2 days is only about 14C. I stay at a hostel called Urban Central at 334 City Road, Southbank. Because I checked in early, the staff gave me a room she thought was clean, but it was in fact full of litters due to the previous tennants had a party in it on last weekend. I told the staff, she wanted to give me another room, but I told her thant I can stay in the same one, and I would go out and get back after 2:00 PM when the shousekeeping was done. So when I returned it was clean.

The city of Melbourne disapointed me infact. It's also below me expectation like Shrek the 3rd. The city is not as beautiful and interesting as Brisbane. It's in fact ugly, small and also boring like Darwin. The Yarra River is ugly, too. The southbank, where my hostel is, is far more interior than that of Brisbane. The Chinatown is small and most of the Chinese people there are from mainland China. The gardens here are not as big and as beautiful as the Brisbane Botanic Gardens. All in all, I cannot believe why this can be the 2nd largest city in Australia, and there are quite some people think this is a good place to live and to go to.

Yesterday I walked around in the central business area. And today it's almost the same. Just today I've been to the Fitzroy Gardens and a big cathedral. I think the only things beautiful here are the cathedrals. There are 2 of them quite big, including St. Paul's and another.

I don't know if I will stay here or go to Hobart. Currently I'm waiting for 2 of my Taiwanese friends, Elsa and Tai. They took the Ghan from Darwin to Alice Springs and did a tour to Ayers Rock, and they're on the way to Adelaide right now, and they'll be here in a few days. I will guide them to walk around the city here, and maybe we'll go tp Philip Island to see the penguins together.

Return to Darwin, First Post in Traditional Chinese

上週四回到Darwin
天氣仍然很熱
只有比1個月前好上一點點
這整個禮拜都在找工作
目前只有在一家講廣東話的移民開的holiday apartments
找到一份nighttime receptionist的工作
昨天才剛開始
昨天去進行訓練約2小時
今天早上6點也去到大約11點
薪水應該比一班的打掃工作好上一些
可惜不是每天都能上班
是真的非常casual的工作
而且將來的上班時間是晚上9點到早上6點

我想我會一邊再找另外比較固定的工作
我的一些朋友在這裡當cleaner雖然只有$17 hour pay
可是一周工作六天的收入就比我多多了
真希望趕快找到穩定的工作
然後我會在達爾文待上6~7個月才去別的地方旅行

秋子今天出發去比利時和奧地利旅行2周
祝福她順利平安 ^^

Noosa

I've been in Noosa for 5 days already. This is a place rich people come for the beautiful beaches and boutique shops. It is not big at all. The shops are all on the Hastings Street.

The YHA hostel here is called the Halse Lodge. It's an old wooden building built in 1880. It has also a bar and a bistro which sells breakfast and dinner. The foods are not very delicious but compared to the restaurants here, they're a bit cheaper.

I stayed at room 6. There were a German girl, Tanya, who was a nurse in a town in Germany near Luxembourg border, and a Singapore girl, Jesse Wee, who worked in the TV industry for several years and had traveled to many places already, who were quite friendly. And there was an English boy whose name I didn't know, and he's been a bartender for 11 years. He had been to many many places around the world.

In the days I spent here, most of the time I was at the verandahs resting and reading book and looking the scenery nearby. And I'd been wlking the tracks in Noosa National Park. Track 4 which is along the seashore had the most extraordinary views. I walked along tracks 2 and 5 to Sunshine Beach. And I had lunch there at a life savors' club. The beach there is serene and very beautiful. The main beach here behind Hastings Street is beautuful as well, but usually full of people.

Originally I was planning on finding a job here. But unfortunately this place is too small, there are not many job offers here except for chefs and bartenders. And I miss some friends in Darwin, so I'm flying back to Darwin this evening. It's like returning to the start, the origin, of my journey. I think that temporarily I've been traveling for long enough. And I really need to settle down and get a job for a few months.

Traveling alone is free as a bird, but it's lonely sometimes.

These few days in Brisbane

I came to Brisbane last Saturday. The first impression is the ridiculously expensive, slow and dirty train I rid from the airport to Roma Street Station. The distance between the airport and the station is not very long, and it cost me friggin' 12 dollars.

I'm now staying at a backpackers hostel named TinBilly right in front of Roma Street Station. At first I booked the 10~13 people dorm for 7 nights, but it was so badly disgusting and always noisy at nighttime. So I changed to a 4~5 people dorm shared with 4 Irish people who are friends traveling together. I shortened my stay for 1 night and I still had to pay 20 dollars more.

In the past days, I've been to many places in Brisbane. The casino where I lost almost 50 dollars to the machines, the Queen Street malls, movie theatre where I saw Spider-Man 3, city countil building up to the clock tower, the south bank, New Farm and several parks and churches.

The building of the city council is really beautiful. And the chime of the clock is great as well. You can hear it even from a far distance. The church right next to the council is beautiful as well. And I met a man, maybe a fater, and he was so kind and friendly to me, he talked to me about God for a while.

The place I liked most in Brisbane is the Botanical Gardens along Queensland University of Technology and the Brisbane River. The garden is big and full of plants and birds. The best site in the garden is along the river where you can see yachts and the beautuful Story Bridge. I enjoy sitting along the river and studying books.

Generally I feel that people here are not as friendly as those in Darwin. But I still got to talk to some locals who were friendly nevertheless.

On this Saturday I'll be moving to Noosa Heads. I heard that it's abeautiful town. It's close to beautiful beaches. I'll be staying at the YHA there, and I'll be looking for a job there. I'm really looking forward to it. I hope it will be a great experience and memory to me.

I also met a colleague, Joyce, back in Nantou Elementary School. My best friend Grace informed her that I'm in Brisbane. She is currently studying at Queensland University of Technology. She accompanied me to ride the city CAT ferry to both of the ends of the route. And we took some pictures at the New Farm garden. She also took me to her home, and let her husband cooked steak for our dinner. Their house is tidy and lovely. I really appreciate their kindness.

All in all, I think Brisbane is a beautiful and comfortable place. The temperature here is much more comfy than in Darwin. But I still miss my friends and families in Taiwan and Darwin of course.

I love Brisbane

I flew from Darwin to Brisbane this morning. Brisbane's CBD is not very big, but there are many things to see, especially when compare to Darwin.

There are many buildings built in the 19th century here, and they're all very beautiful. The city hall is quite beautiful as well. I'll go see its bell tower tomorrow.

The weather in Brisbane now is much more comfortable than that of Darwin. Coll all day, and a bit chilling in the evening. There are many gardens in Brisbane. Along the south bank of Brisbane river is a long band of pedestrian area with many shops, markets and even a man-made beach. It's really beautiful there.

I'm currently staying at Tinbilly backpackers. I booked the cheapest dorm with 10 beds for 7 nights. In the next week I'll have to find a job, and see if I can move to Noosa.

I went to a church with more than 180 year's history this evening. One of the staff was very friendly. There will be a concert there tomorrow at 13:00. I'll be there.

Things to do in Darwin

The internet access here at hostels are very expensive at $1 per 15 minutes. So I typically go to the libraries to use the free internet. There are 2 libraries here, one's in the Parliament building, it opens between 10:00 to 17:30 during weekdays, and also opens on the weekends for less hours. The other is the city Council Library, it opens between 9:00 and 17:00 on weekdays, and 9:00~12:00 on Saturdays.

The toilets of the parliament building are quite clean, and the toilet paper is better than that in hostels. So it's a good place to go if you don't like the toilets of the hostel.

At Cullen Bay, onday I took the ferry to Mandorah. The return ticket costs $20. On the way to Mandorah I saw many box jellyfishes in the water. They're as lethal as mines. It was good to sail in the sea, very beautiful, but was pitiful that I didn't carry me camera with me. Mandorah is a penninsula at the opposite side of Darwin. The ferry sailed for around 20 minutes to get there. There's nothing much to do there. Just a bar you can have some drinks and listen to the music and watch the sea. But it was comfortable there. And in a tree beside the bar are many noisy parrots. There is also a woman selling some hand-made necklaces, ear rings and other jewelry at the bar. I saw a beautiful necklace with glass chilipeppers from Brazil and a pendent from Africa. But it was expensive at $40.

The restaurants at Cullen Bay are all very expensive. After return from Mandorah, I was thinking about having lunch at a bar where most people are, but after seeing the menu I can only order a bottle of Fiji mineral water at $8. The other foods cost around $25 and more.

Will leave for Briabane on Saturday at 1:20 AM

I've been in Darwin since 19, May. The city is lovable but to hot to me. I feel that I'd have to move to some place cooler. So, I already bought a flight ticket to Brisbane on the very early morning of this Saturday. Will be arriving there at around 5:00.

On this Tuesday I moved from YHA to Youth Shack. It's much closer to the city center. The rent is $20 per night for 4-bed dorms. But at the first night I couldn;t sleep at all. One of the other roommates closed the air conditioner, and it was so hot in the room. And the worst thing was there seemed to be some kind of bug kept biting my feet. I got dozens of bites. They were very itchy, until now the bites still are very itchy. Last night I moved to another room, it was better there. I regret my moving out of the YHA. But the staff of YHA really sucks. There're arrogant and extremely unfriendly. And the air conditioning is not available whole day at YHA, but I slept better there. The bed was more comfortable. And I got friends there. Currently my roommates at room 524 of Youth Shack include an Australian from Perth, he's been traveling around Australia for 4 years. He's friendly.

The hostel rent in Brisbane is a few dollars than in Darwin. But there are also more jobs there. And the weather in Brisbane I heard is comfortable. Not too cold nor hot.

But the city area of Brisbane is much bigger than Darwin. So it'll take me more time to get to know that place well.

Darwin's city center is rather small. But the suburbs are big. There is a hugh shopping mall in Casuarina. There are near 100 shops in the mall. I like it there. I went there by bus with a 47-year-old Japanese man. He's a great person. We lived in the same room at Darwin YHA. He says he likes Australia better than Japan. And he's been to Australia for many times. He also spent 4 years in Sunny Bank Brisbane. We had fish and chips together last night. I'll miss him in the future.