thefrostmiester

Adelaide

2010-12-22T03:16:00.003+00:00

Our journey to Adelaide is the last on the bus and our second day in the panoramic front seat. On the way we stop at a salt lake where the earth seems to be as white as snow before our lunch stop is at Port Augusta. Our final stretch on the bus takes us past countryside that looks as though it has had a healthy dousing of rain during the past few months and we see the fruits of many farmours labours as the harvest is in full swing. Our arrival in Adelaide takes us past the Oval as cricket supporters are spilling out at the end of the first days play in the second test. It's quite a celebration for us getting off the bus for the very last time (and probably for our fellow passengers too).
Some of those supporters in full costume make their way back to the hostel we are staying at overnight and we have a quick clean and change before heading over to the nearest hotel for drinks with those who want to come and celebrate our last night on the bus – even Rickadile Dundee comes along.
The following morning we are entertained to a busking-style song of the journey from Matt and Allen before we wave off the bus and those who are taking the final two days to Sydney – many of whom we have shared our lives with for the past three months. It's mixed emotions and quite odd to see the bus departing without us or our luggage.
An hour or so later we are collected from the hostel to be taken to the second days cricket by the family and after a blisteringly hot day in the sun we make our way to Port Willunga to hook up with the rest of the family for Summer down under. Over the next few days we 'enjoy' carols under the clouds, stormy weather and lots of family fun, food and fizzy red.
So we made it. Overland - over 3 months with several highs and a few lows, but both intact. Definitely a little older perhaps even a little wiser. Met some interesting, funny, lovely and also some less appealing folk along the way.
Now it is time to spend Christmas, the New Year and a little more time with the family.
Hope you've enjoyed at least a couple of the blog entries along the way and keep an eye open over the next couple of weeks if you don't think you've seen enough pictures as we should be uploading a couple more links to the many places we visited along the way.
David & Helen

Coober Pedy

2010-12-19T04:11:00.004+00:00

For the first time on the whole trip, we decide to check out the front seat and are treated to a panaroma landscape of central flat Australia – the big sky you only get to witness in the Fens in the UK, but without the people. Another long day of travelling (200 kms + just to get back to the Stuart Highway). We arrive in Coober Pedy late in the afternoon and are treated to a tour of an old underground mining cave and given information on the Opal mining that the area is still famous for. The area has also been used as the location for a number of films because of its appearance including Mad Max and Pitch Black). Our hostel is underground which means a steady temperature all day long to overcome the outside day temperatures that can often been in the region of 50 centrigrade and way, way down overnight. The majority of accomodation in the town is underground because of this reason with folks using mining equipment to create extensions to their properties (although town centre extensions are banned now in case of knocking through to the next house!). After dinner we spend our penultimate night with some of the group having a nightcap under the stars.

Uluru

2010-12-16T04:59:00.004+00:00

Our first night on camp at Ularu entertained us with shooting stars. The following morning was an early start for some of us who went to see the sun rise at Ularu. To be totally honest the view of the sunrise was far more entertaining that staring at the big rock during it. Later in the morning though we took a healthily paced walk around the big lump of earth and it's hard not to be impressed by it. Sunset was a more impressive affair perhaps assisted by some Australian bubbles at the viewpoint with Uluru as a grand backdrop. When we returned to camp for dinner we were entertained by Debbie who had written a verse or several to sum up the trip so far – it was very entertaining. It made us mindful that Agatha Christie would have had plenty of material for a murder on the London to Sydney trip.

Kings Canyon

2010-12-14T09:42:00.004+00:00

On our way to KC, we stopped off for lunch where the rest of the passengers were 'entertained' by a singing and piano playing dingo – we decided that the excitement of it all might just be a tad too much to cope with and when our fellow travellers returned to the bus we were thankful that we had missed exactly what we had anticipated. We did however get to see some emu's running around a sleepy 'roo. In the evening it was back to camping, but this time 'upgraded cabins' – which in reality meant that we had proper beds, duvets and pillows – the additional bedding was very welcome though as the temperature plummetted during the night. Our walk around Kings Canyon was a stunning 3 hours the following morning before it got too hot. The natural steps made it quite easy to get around nd the views were great. At our lunch stop on the way to the next destination we came across a very hungry dog.

Alice Springs

2010-12-13T10:13:00.002+00:00

A 3 fuel stop journey sums up how long we were on the bus today.
During our trip to Alice we managed to see a number of things including a sun and cloud phenomenon quickly referred to on the bus as a 'sunbow' – but really called a halo, for obvious reasons we suppose. We also visited The Devils Marbles on route and crossed over the Tropic of Capricorn before finally arriving in town late in the evening.

Daly Waters

2010-12-11T07:48:00.001+00:00

Another day, another national park, another walk in the heat and the rest of us followed the only two lead walkers who had maps but still managed to go the wrong way. So, we walked back to the visitor centre via a shorter loop and David managed to catch a bit of the first test on the telly (sadly whilst Hussey was showing his form). In the afternoon our driver and tour guide - christened 'Rickadile Dundee' managed to spot a frill necked lizard at about 50 metres away on a tree as we were driving past at over 100kms per hour.
We arrived at the Daly Waters Hotel late in the afternoon and were treated to an impromptu 'whip' demonstration (oo er missus) and had the opportunity to sleep outside under the stars in a swag. With the storms still threatening, it was decided that the group would sleep under the roof in the bar area, but we decided between the two of us to upgrade to a room for the night.

Katherine

2010-12-10T07:46:00.002+00:00

It was a dull, but early start to move on to todays location (dull headwise due to the rumpus of the night before). Waterfalls and giant termite mounds were the order of the day and short walks in high humidity at termperatures of over 40C. This made the bunks in the tent feel like swimming pools during the night as more 'glowing' or rather sweating throughout the night.

Jabiru

2010-12-09T12:00:00.003+00:00

The morning we left Darwin for Jabiru (part of Kakadu National Park) we board our final bus (a 'proper' Oz bus) of the trip that will take everyone else to Sydney, but us to Adelaide. On our way we visit the wet land visitor centre to see the lush 'top end' landscape. We also saw some (Ab)original art work on several rocks in the park and great views into the distance. Jabiru was also our first camping night in the bush. You may remember what happened a lot whilst we were camping in France; so as not to disappoint - yes on our very first night camping in Oz there was a heavy downpour. In fact, there was a storm on camp in more ways than one as the little bubble we have been living in since September 5 finally burst and there was an ugly scene in the kitchen that David couldn't sit back and accept.

Darwin

2010-12-08T06:57:00.002+00:00

A very late evening flight from Denpasar meant that by the time we cleared immigration, quarantine and customs upon arrival in Australia, we didn't get to our hostel until around 5am in the morning, completely exhausted. Darwin was hot with extremely high humidity, and afternoon storms brewing in the distance. It was our first opportunity to sample the delights of fizzy red wine, which is always a very pleasant bonus.
Whilst in Darwin we took a wander down to the redevoped port area with it's artificial beach, outside pool with wave machine plus a trip to the local botanical gardens. However because of that high humidity you dont walk very far before you are completely drenched in your own glow, or sweat if you're a 'bloke'. We also took time to visit the museum and art gallery of which inside there's a good exhibition charting the history of Cyclone Tracy which devestated the town at Christmas in 1974. Darwin was also where we said goodbye to Jaime who decided it was too good an opportunity not to fly home to Melbourne as soon as possible after hitting the shores of Australia.

Indonesia - various (pictures in video)

2010-12-07T09:23:00.000+00:00

Kuta

2010-12-07T04:38:00.002+00:00

Arriving in Kuta via the ferry you might think you'd arrived in an outpost of Australia already – with the Bintang Bogan's all over the place! Happily though we re-joined Bev (and Lisa) from the intensive care option she had found herself involuntarily taking way back in Hat Yai and she was well on the way to recovering from a severe allergic reaction to penicillin. We were last in Bali two days after the most recent bombings in 2005, but that time we stayed in Ubud towards the centre. Kuta is the area previoulsy targetted on more than that occasion.
David managed to burn his legs whilst taking a long walk on the beach and Helen actually ventured into the sea on more than one accasion), We managed to while away an hour watching the sun slowly make its way towards the sea with planes coming into sight cruising into land at the airport. The sun set was looking good right until the last few minutes when we realised that a low band of cloud would stop the final visible 'plop' into the sea.

Mount Bromo

2010-12-05T12:49:00.002+00:00

On the last leg of our journey up to Mount Bromo, we were transferred into smaller minibuses. Sadly the weather was appalling and had really closed in for our journey up to the lodge. The wipers in the vehicle worked about as well the rust bucket did at keeping the rain out, that is, they didn't and from time to time the water that was lashing down made an appearance upon us occupants inside. Considering the awful conditions and the lack of visibility, it was both disappointing and stupid of the young driver to be trying to impress a couple of the girls at the front of the vehicle. It wasn't too long before David's day job kicked in and he made his way to the front to tell the driver to calm down and slow down. To his credit he took a look at David's face and complied for the rest of the journey. This meant that we made it safely to the top and the weather also improved after a few minutes to enable us to get a first class view of Mt Bromo. There was an option the following day of getting up at stupid o'clock to see the sunrise, but after several failed attempts on the trip for us actually to leave on time, we decided a lie in was in order. However, there were a couple of SFQ's that some in the group felt compelled to ask about the sunrise – to which we kid you not, here are a couple of good examples:-
Which way will the sunrise in the morning?
What will we see when the sun comes up?
When we arose from our slumber (sadly interupted by those leaving for their sunrise trip and the returning) we joined a small group to walk up to Bromo in the morning, and then do a further return trip at the end of the day.
From our vantage point high up near Bromo (and on our very carefully driven return downhill to the bigger bus) we could see the well tendered crops growing in the terraced, lush fertile land throughout the area.

Solo

2010-12-04T23:23:00.002+00:00

Solo is a late change to our original schedule because of the on-going eruption of Mt Merapi, which we witnessed in the distance on our journey. Strangely we were given the option of having a closer look the following day, together with a trip to a refuge centre for victims of the volcano – a strange option that we politly declined. Instead we decided to take in some of the immediate sights and ended up playing football with a couple of young kids at the traditional market before taking in an art exhibition by a local artist - Yaqub Elka.

Pangandaran

2010-11-29T00:29:00.002+00:00

When we arrived at this beach resort we discovered we were staying at a good hotel complete with it's own pool for two days, so a chance to stay well clear of the bus for a whole 24 hours. Tropical storms in the distance gave entertaining early evening lightning shows and a walk in the local national park whiled away a morning. It was complete with monkeys, deer and....thankfully none of the little creatures beginning with the letter 'L'. As we wandered along the beach on our final evening we saw the local fishermen coming but with what looked like a disappointing catch. The immediate trade in their haul was interesting to witness nonetheless and later Helen sampled some of the fresh catch from a more successful fishing outing.

Bandung

2010-11-22T07:00:00.001+00:00

Our journey to Bandung was yet another long one. Sadly made longer as the road we were going to take to Bandung was closed, so we had to take a detour that possibly added another 2 to 3 hours to the journey. We did however go through a forest of rubber trees where we could see (from the bus) the rubber being collected in the small pots tied to the trees. The roads however seemed to be non existent in places and the axles on the bus took a couple of severe and noisy poundings along the way. We managed to arrive for the noon ferry and back behind us we could make out Krakatoa in the distance. A long journey to our destination was made longer as our route took us through Jakarta during rush hour. After such a long journey we had a couple of drinks in the bar, where David discovered the following day that he'd left his cash and cards, but the staff had kindly and honestly discovered them and handed them in to the local tour leader.

Bandar Lampung

2010-11-20T10:34:00.006+00:00

Most of our time throughout Indonesia is spent looking at the countryside from the confines of the coach – unsurprising we know, for a trip with the title 'Bus' in it – there is a clue somewhere in that isn't there. Therefore every opportunity at the toilet break is taken to be outside the vehicle for a few minutes, although the climate is punishing outside of the air conditioning.

Palembang

2010-11-14T05:30:00.006+00:00

We arrived at today's hotel in daylight, which was good. It gave us enough time to visit a local shopping centre complete with supermarket to stock up on supplies for another long journey tomorrow. Wandering around in the daylight it was clear that we were quite a novelty for the locals with a lot of giggling and 'Good Morning, How are you?'s, despite it being late afternoon. Having stocked up we returned to the hotel (rating unknown, but better than last nights) to prepare for an evening out. We were taken to a local floating karaoke restaurant where the food was complimentary as part of the trip. The veggie selection was limited to rice and fried rice and when the fried rice came out it was interesting how David was accused of 'hogging' it. Unfortunately, afterwards a few people went on to a concert and then a boxing match where Rick had his wallet pickpocketed.

Jambi

2010-11-13T11:14:00.003+00:00

Our highlight of the day today was traversing The Equator. David checked the GPS on his phone and (despite allowing for error) amusingly it appeared to be a good few metres further along the road – a banana tree marks the spot, but sadly there were none for the picking – next time you're travelling through Indonesia you can confirm it for yourself and maybe grab yourself one. We finally arrive at our hotel at around 9pm – 15 hours after having got on the coach in the morning. Some of these days in Indonesia are going to seriously numb on the bum and as you might anticipate tempers are fragile upon arrival. This is not helped by the fact that we had been promised upon our arrival in Indonesia by the local guide that tonights hotel was a 5 star. The hotel complex was large, but we were not staying in the main part and clearly by the state of our room not in 5 star accommodation – in fact our hotel the night before seemed to be on a par. It obviously begged the question for most on the trip as to why to raise peoples expectations unnecessarily to say the hotel was going to be 5 star when immediately people think of that standard in their respective home countries – a tip for Oz Bus and the local operators in the future to not mention such a thing at all. Don't get us wrong, the hotel was fine, JUST NOT 5 STAR, OK! The mice or rats that were running around in the ceilings above some peoples rooms, including our own however, maybe thought they were onto something along the lines of 5 star though?

Pekanbaru

2010-11-12T14:13:00.001+00:00

We were dropped off for the ferry with plenty of time to spare and for the most part, the journey was fine as the sea was calm. Helen stayed outside at the back of the boat. This was a good plan as David tried to sleep through a Westlife karaoke DVD and a seriously violent Sly Stallone movie. Despite all the noise (particularly the wailing from Westlife) he managed to sleep for well over an hour until the waves hitting the side of the boat managed to find their way in through the windows and onto his head. Immigration when we arrived in Indonesia was a particularly hit and miss affair with everyone needing to buy their visa first and then hand over the passports with their receipts whilst the relevant visa was stuck into the passports and validated.
Despite being almost last out of customs, on the latest Oz Bus we were surprised to find a double seat, until we actually sat in it and our legs were dangling over the edge like a fairground ride – note to selves, NOT to suffer that seat again. It was a long trip to our first overnighter (the first of many long days on the bus and boats in Indonesia) but when we arrived we became instant millionaires withdrawing money from the ATM for our stay.

Melaka

2010-11-11T14:58:00.001+00:00

As with Penang, we have been lucky enough to visit Melaka previously and although there for only one night, we've been looking forward to it enormously. As we arrive, the guide takes the coach down to the harbour close to where we'll be catching our ferry to Indonesia tomorrow and on the way we see the highly decorated tri-shaws in the street. At night they are illuminated with flowers and fairy lights and have their own music systems to drown out everything else as you are pedaled around the streets by some seriously fit old guys, if that's what you choose. As for us? We headed down to Jonker Street for the market and although it was the end of Diwali, in addition to the street market we are 'entertained' by maybe ex tri-shaw drivers doing karaoki on the main stage – one guy in particular being seriously special. Although we were tempted to see if the 'sound and light' show was still as good as our last visit exactly five years ago, we thought there was a limit to our fun threshold with the karaoke so went to the Geographers Cafe Bar instead. Considering we had an appx 3 hour ferry ride in the morning those that came to the bar seemed to be oblivious to it on the night.

Penang

2010-11-11T12:04:00.004+00:00

Only an hour or so down the road and we are going through Thai border control to leave the country. We do a familiar 'bus swap' with all belongings and luggage being transferred. Then a short journey to Malaysian border control where we take our luggage back off and go through immigration checks.
Penang isn't too far away but again along the way you can see in the fields the results of the recent torrential rain and resultant flooding. A couple of hours on and we are crossing the impressive road bridge into Penang and our stop is George Town. We were here a few years ago and make our way to the Edelweiss cafe for tea – a quaint bar serving quality food - this evening prepared by hand by the owner who comes out to re-introduce herself to us. Sadly, as with many stops along the way, we are only here for one night. As we leave the following morning Kenneth suffers for his art whilst attempting to take a picture of the 13.5km road bridge.

Hat Yai

2010-11-10T11:04:00.000+00:00

On the day we leave for Hat Yai, Bev's rash has developed further and it turns out it could be a nasty reaction to some medication she has recently taken and today's journey is clearly one from hell for her.
Thankfully, after the depression that has recently hit Thailand, the sea looks like a mill pond and our journey down to the ferry is also clear of water on the roads. Back on mainland after our hot, hazy and humid crossing we board our latest bus. A super groovy Karaoke model, complete with disco lights upstairs and what seems like an old English pub snug on the lower deck – well that would be the case if the décor was a little more subtle – you certainly wouldn't want to be travelling on the bus today with a hangover. As we travel on towards Hat Yai, we are advised to stock up with supplies on the way. We see the aftermath of the recent flooding and there's still standing water on the way to the City. We arrive at the hotel to debris on the streets of peoples former belongings heaped up and awaiting removal, we can also see that the flood waters at the hotel were above head height from the marks left outside the hotel. We take a short walk around the block and see that the local 7-eleven store has been looted – 2 guys are sitting outside the smashed door trying to protect the remainder of the building now that the storm has subsided. Walking around it's clear to see that the people are already moving on with their lives. Obviously the hotel is open, but many of the staff are at home attending to their immediate clean up. It's therefore unsure whether it's too early for us to be here as tourists whilst the resources might still be best directed at the clear up operation rather than passers by. Sure, life goes on and tourism is a valuable industry but at the present time you cant help question whether this is responsible tourism?
As we are preparing to leave the following morning, Bev is worse still and a decision is made to call a doctor. An ambulance turns up and she is admitted to hospital for treatment. Lisa decides to take a noble decision to stay with her as the bus moves onto it's next destination.

Koh Samui

2010-11-09T17:03:00.002+00:00

While David enjoyed the sights of Bangkok, Helen flew off directly to Koh Samui with some of the other Oz-Bussers. It was an odd feeling leaving the comfort of the group and initially weird to be a group of only 5! The mini-group arrived in Samui at 10pm, got picked up as organised and were soon enjoying a beer or 2 at Harrys Bungalows (now a group of only Helen, Bev and Donna as 2 went off elsewhere). For the next few days, the weather wasn't great but lunchtime cocktails, relaxing by the pool, massages and enjoying the local night life made up for that. On the 2nd night in Samui, Jaime flys up from Bangkok. The best Samui night out involved....roast dinner at the Irish bar, feet being nibbled at Dr. Fish (its meant to remove dry skin but to be honest as much as it was actually enjoyable – the feet weren't really any better!), drinks in the Oz bar (with free vodka jelly shots), a very funny ladyboy show and then more drinks and lots and lots of laughs. Being in one location for more than a couple nights on the trip is a real luxury, as is unpacking properly and having clothes in the wardrobe - a simple pleasure! So much so that even the thought of moving to the main Oz-Bussers accommodation down the road seems like too much effort, and after checking it out – Helen and the new mini-group decide to all stay where they are...

Meanwhile when the main group arrives at Koh Samui there is brief confusion over where the collection coach is, but 3 separate minibusses and a utility vehicle (ute) for luggage have been sent to collect everyone. Although the drivers know they are all going to the same resort, why oh why do they have the desire to overtake each other on the way there?
Upon arrival Helen, Jaime, Donna and Bev are there to welcome everyone. Michelle is also at the resort having returned from his separate excursion. It later transpires that Liv is stuck on another island, which becomes an issue over the next few stormy days.
As we are now staying at Harry's Bungalows we go back there for dinner with the those of us who are staying there.
During David's first night on the island we can hear rain pouring down as well as the thunder and see the lightning light up the room. The rain continues pretty much into the next day coupled with a power cut that pretty much restricts us to our room for the morning. In the afternoon we go to the shore and see how ferocious the storm is and wander inland to the main resort. After a couple of hours we wade almost up to our knees back to our resort and take a taxi ride down to Fishermans Wharf, but this ends up being a questionable thing to do as our ute has to drive through some significant flood waters on the way there. We have a quick meal and return to the resort via another taxi ute. It continues to rain overnight and when we wake up the following day, the road between the two resorts that we waded through on the previous night is now up to waist height and water is now pouring out of the Mercure resort at a significant torrent. The resort is losing it's fish and there are several staff standing in the street trying to recapture them as they flow downstream in the new 'river'. The day sees us once again stranded in our hotel but we realise that we are in a good place, as our next destination is underwater between 1 and 2 metres.
At our resort Bev has developed a nasty rash on her feet and hands, which seems to be giving her some discomfort.
The following day, our last full day on the island the rain appears to have stopped its continual downpour overnight and we are in two minds whether to hire a moped. We enquire and the guy doesn't seem to think there's a problem so we go ahead armed with two of the most fetching helmets he has. We ride through patches of flood water, but do manage to make progress and get out to see The Big Bhudda, take a look around Fishermans Wharf and have a shop for supplies at Tesco's before making our way back to hand the moped in. Although we've got a little wet from the sprinkling of rain today and the splash back from the flood waters we are relatively dry until a jeep flies past us with about a mile to go and completely soaks us with spray. That final evening we celebrate Michele's Birthday and fireworks are set off in the sky to mark the occasion.

Bangkok

2010-11-06T16:02:00.006+00:00

...So David stayed in Bangkok, whilst Helen departed to Koh Samui with several of the group. It was odd after 3 months of spending day in, day out together to be going separate ways and waving goodbye.
At 'Arrivals' there is a new addition waiting to greet the group as our final Oz Busser Stu joins us, and he's a friend of Vicky's. The remaining group get on to a new bus as it's a new country and make our way to the City. It's a few days after the flooding but there is some residue, that we've been able to see in some of the fields from the air.
During the stay in Bangkok a few relationships formed through the Oz Bus become visibly clearer.
On the first full day David went on an informal walking tour with Matt, Allen and Laura visiting some of the sights. Chinatown, going to the rivers edge to see the burst banks of the recent flooding and visiting parks with public exercise machines, that unlike the ones at home in Northampton, hadn't been vandalised. The park detour took us past a cycle hire station – a free scheme in Bangkok city and the decision is instantly made for the group to return with ID tomorrow to take a ride. The following day, the original walkers are joined by Isabelle and take the tour around the City following most of the route, some of which is on dedicated cycle lanes on and off road, but also making our own way in the city traffic – which is encouragingly accommodating of cyclists. After a day on the cycle David decides to go for an hours worth of Thai massage with Matt and Allen. What a sight to behold in their massage tops and bottoms as their limbs and bodies are pulled apart, clicked and clapped. Afterwards, the trio leave the site in a bit of a daze, but manage to recover enough to spend the evening celebrating Janets Birthday with the oddest cake ever! A trip to the MBK centre the following day is, of course, taken on bikes and the cycling group has expanded even further! The longer journey is rewarded by free secure parking at the MBK and supplies are brought for the long day on the bus the following day.
It is a long one, but we are lucky enough to get there an hour before schedule meaning that we catch the 4pm ferry instead of the 5pm one. As it's stormy the group are informed that it will likely be 2 hours instead of the usual and hour and a half. David gets talking to a guy who has a Thai wife and child, who informs him that there's a storm coming in and this will probably be the last ferry of the evening and asks...'why are you going to Koh Samui in the rainy season?' This turns out to be a significant question.

Maldah to Kolkata

2010-10-28T18:59:00.003+01:00

The drive from Siliguri to Maldah was the longest day on the bus and
traveling in the dark on Indian roads is not to be recommended. Lots
of tea plantations along the way and a crossing of the Ganges via a
long bridge that looked way past its best gave us a bumpy ride.
David picked up yet another cold on the journey to Kolkata where we took a
couple of taxi rides to get dinner (McDonalds of all places!), but on
the way back our driver was vexed as he didn't know where he was
going and ended up with in an argument with a traffic cop and had his
number taken down to add to his stress. Mixed hotels for our last
two nights in India, but it's on to Bangkok tomorrow and upon arrival
- after several months of traveling together Helen & David go
their separate ways...