Australia Working Holiday

A Visit to Fremantle, WA

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 29 May 2013 02:36:00 +0000

Fremantle is a port city settled at southwest of Perth and many heritage buildings in the city are still remained until today.

Commonly, visitors who come to Fremantle will try a meal of locally and freshly caught seafood, typically 'Fish & Chips'. I tried it once with my friend Cloud at Cicerello's which is located at 44 Mews Road, Fishing Boat Harbour. We're overlooking the Fishing Boat Harbour while enjoying the meal.

Cicerello's at Mews Road

In Fremantle, South Terrace is also called 'Capuccino Strip' and it is a busy dining place. Here has a combination of restaurants, cafes and pubs. It is a great place to enjoy pizza, pasta or a cup of coffee.

Besides dining, patrons may find good shopping at some shops and Fremantle Markets. There are variety of products can be found from the market.

Entrance of Fremantle Markets

One of the stalls selling body care products

If you like chocolate, then visit Fremantle Chocolate shop should be in your visiting list too. It's located at Atwell Arcade, Corner Market & Cantonment Streets. Many chocolate items sold in the shop are award-winning products and there's free tastings of milk, white and dark chocolate offered for all patrons. It's a great option to scout for souvenirs for friends, family or yourself. Even if you're not intend to buy any bar or box of chocolate, you may just pick from the individual unique pieces of chocolate. I tasted two of them which cost $1.50 each, not bad!

I took a free CAT bus to visit Fremantle Arts Centre and Army Museum of WA. Fremantle Art Centre is built in a historical premise but there're not too many artworks displayed in the art centre, so I didn't spend as much time as I used to spend in other art galleries throughout other cities.

Fremantle Arts Centre

1 Finnerty Street, Fremantle
9432 9555

Army Museum of WA

Artillery Barracks,
Burt Street, Fremantle
9430 2535

Just a short distance from the city centre, there's another interesting tourist attraction which made Fremantle popular and that is the Round House. The Round House was used from the year 1831 to 1886 for the purpose to hold criminal person. In fact, the building is claimed as the most historical public building in Western Australia. The building is open for public every day from 10.30am – 3.30pm and free admission.

A Quiet Christmas Day in Perth

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 01:06:00 +0000

Streets in the city were well decorated and celebrations were held before the actual Christmas. However, it was extremely quiet as expected when it comes to 25 December.

My friend Yuka and I met up for a drink in the city and we had a walk in the evening. As shown in the photos, merely no pedestrian was hanging out on the streets. It may be somewhat lonely for individual travellers who spent the day in the city.

My Second Trip to Australia – Perth, WA

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 15:32:00 +0000

Almost one year after I left Australia, I returned to the land of kangaroos for extended visit; to visit Perth which is set in the region that I hadn't been to – Western Australia.

Perth is the capital city of Western Australia and it's the 4^thmost populous city of Australia after Brisbane. I could sense some differences among Perth and other cities in Australia. For instance, it's more likely to meet Aborigines in the city of Perth.

Places that I visited while in Perth city include Esplanade, Bell Tower, London Court, Kings Park, City Beach, Cottesloe Beach and Harbour Town.

The Esplanade

Bell Tower

Built at Barrack Square, Bell Tower is one of the remarkable icons in Perth. Interestingly, visitors may see padlocks shaped in love or known as love locks fixed to a public structure to symbolize endless love of a couple.

Kings Park is a very popular recreation place visited by millions of visitors every year. The large park consists of distinctive bushland, relaxing parkland and botanic gardens, a cozy cafe and gallery. It is virtually a habitat for hundreds species of flora as well as fauna. During day time, many local and abroad visitors enjoy walks, scenic views over Swan River or picnics at the park.

Some stunning views of city and Swan River from Kings Park...

The park is also perfect for those who like sports such as jogging and cycling. I went to Kings Park twice; my first visit was in the early evening and I revisit the park at another night. It is also a great experience and popular to enjoy night scenes at there. In fact, Kings Park with its over 400 hectares area is the largest city park in the globe and it has become the most well-known destination in Western Australia. To browse more information, please visit www.bgpa.wa.gov.au

Set on Sunset Coast, Cottesloe Beach is Perth's iconic beach and crowded with many beach lovers especially during hot Summer.

The attraction of its unspoilt white sandy beach with blue and clear water makes it a hot spot for locals and tourists come to swim, sunbathe or just relax. Other than Cottesloe Beach, City Beach, Scarborough Beach and Trigg Island are also popular sites for beach activities. However, beach visitors are always advised to apply sunscreen and wear a hat due to the harshness of the sun in Australia.

Harbour Town...a real bargain shopping!! This outlet could be found in most of the larger cities throughout Australia. Harbour Town is my favourite shopping place since it is a hub with over hundred brand outlet stores and I could find pretty good deals most of the time. Levi’s, Nike, Adidas, Esprit, Cotton On, Valley Girl, Ally, , City Beach and many more... stores are open 7 days from 9am - 5.30pm(Mon-Thu), 9am -9pm(Fri), 9am -5pm(Sat) and 11am - 5pm(Sun). Perth's Harbour Town is not far from the city and could be reached easily by taking a free Yellow CAT bus on Wellington Street.

Melbourne - Final Destination of My Work & Holiday Journey

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 04:31:00 +0000

Melbourne was my first destination upon arrival in Australia and it’s also the last point before my leaving. In fact, my first arrival in Melbourne was only 2 days and of course it’s not sufficient for me to sightsee and explore.

This time, I spent more time exploring things and places in Melbourne as much as possible, before I end my work and holiday journey in Australia.

Royal Arcade at Bourke Street Mall

National Gallery of Victoria (NGV)

Melbourne Chinatown

Sunday Market at The Art Centre

Crown Casino

Colourful bathing boxes at the Brighton Beach

One of the suburbs of Melbourne - Fitzroy

The Explanade Market on Sunday at St. Kilda, a suburb of Melbourne

A1 tasty Middle East food at Sydney Road, Brunswick, also a suburb of Melbourne

Words could hardly express my opinion and feeling towards this lovely city at this moment. Perhaps photos could do the talking.

At night, Melbourne CBD is embellished with the lightings almost everywhere…

Fascinating Architecture in Melbourne

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 15:29:00 +0000

As a former student of Housing, Building & Planning, I’m fond of architecture and design. One of the reasons I loved being in Melbourne is because I easily surrounded by those heritage as well as contemporary buildings with sense of arts and design. Some of them were captured into my camera while I had casual walks on the streets. Therefore, please don’t mind me putting all these photos of building :P

Well, this last photo is none too much about architecture; it’s just the accommodation I used to stay – Hotel Discovery at 167 Franklin Street, Melbourne.

Learn to Surf Experience in Gold Coast

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 06:12:00 +0000

Surfing was always what I dreamed about and wanted to do while in Australia. I chose to learn in Gold Coast as the weather is warmer and it’s a popular surfing destination.

One of my days in Gold Coast, I called up the Get Wet Surf School and decided to join for the first surfing lesson for beginners. In the afternoon, a crew came and picked me up and three others to The Spit, north of Surfers Paradise. At the beach, we were taught the basic steps on how to stand on the surf board and some restrictions before we headed to the water.

Four of us took turn to perform and I was occasionally able to stand on the surf board when the waves came. Still, I once forgot what the crew warned and I faced the huge waves with the surf board when I was not ready to jump on it yet. Oh my god! I was badly hit by the surf board caused by the waves and injured. What a shame! In truth, I initially intended to take consecutive 3 surfing lessons. However, I eventually gave up the other 2 lessons after my first surfing experience.

Visiting Warner Bros. Movie World in Gold Coast

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 04:27:00 +0000

Warner Bros. Movie World

The only theme parks that I have visited with my friends in Gold Coast were the Warner Bros. Movie World.

Superman Escape Roller Coaster

Those rides that we experienced and thrilled about included Superman Escape (We rode the roller coaster at extremely high speed, just like superman! Too excited for me!!), Batwing Spaceshot (This is another adrenaline rides which is being pulled to 60 metres high) and the Arkham Asylum (The most crazy, dangerous and challenging rides I have ever experienced!).

Entrance of Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster

At the Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster, we rode the coaster cars in the dark full with mystery but also excited with its sound effects and laser lighting. Among all the games in the movie world, this was my favourites and we played it twice!

A thrilling and hilarious show that we have watched was the Hollywood Stunt Driver and we felt the exciting real experience show featured by the professional stunt drivers.

There are other attractions such as Justice League 3D - The Ride, Green Lantern Coaster, Wild West Falls Adventure Ride….

We also grabbed a chance to take pictures with Scooby Doo, Looney Tunes, Batman and many more whenever we saw them :D

We watched a circuit of all of them at the Star Parade to end…

Warner Bros. Movie World

Address: Pacific Motorway, Oxenford

Gold Coast,

Queensland 4210.

Phone: (07) 5573 3999, 133 386(booking & info)

Website: http://movieworld.com.au/

Opening hours: 9.30am – 5pm every day
(Closed on Anzac Day & Christmas Day)

Exciting Gold Coast

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 02:57:00 +0000

I boarded a city train by Queensland Rail traveled from Brisbane Transit Centre to Nerang station on the Gold Coast line (BDVL: Airport via Brisbane to Varsity Lakes – Gold Coast) and it’s about an hour plus journey. I bought a go card to pay for the fare owing to the cheaper price it offered compared to regular paper ticket, particularly during off peak period. Moreover, it’s widely used for most of the public transports in Gold Coast. From Nerang station, I boarded a bus No. 745 to arrive in Surfers Paradise. The bus driver dropped me just opposite the Surfers Paradise Backpackers Resort that I have booked.

Gold Coast, which is located in the South East Queensland, is a popular coastal city that attracts millions of tourists yearly. It consists of areas include Surfers Paradise, Main Beach, The Spit, Broadbeach, Mermaid Beach, Miami, Burleigh Heads and many others but I was in Surfers Paradise most of the time.

Gold Coast is well developed with many skyscrapers specifically in Surfers Paradise. The Q1 building is renowned as the tallest building in Gold Coast and one of the tallest residential towers in the world.

Hilton Boulevard Towers

Twin Towers

Surfers Paradise Boulevard - the main street

Retail shops and the skyscrapers

A bridge connect Surfers Paradise to Chevron Island

View of Surfers Paradise from the Chevron Island Bridge

Shops & residential apartment buildings in Broadbeach

Beautiful beaches, theme parks, nightlife and other amusement activities are some of the core temptations of Gold Coast.

Mini Golf & Bungy Trampolines in Surfers Paradise

Haunted House in Surfers Paradise

Ripley's Believe It or Not! in Surfers Paradise

Pacific Fair Shopping Centre in Broadbeach

Copenhagen Ice Cream in Surfers Paradise

Gold Coast Casino in Surfers Paradise

Beachfront night markets each Wednesday & Friday in Surfers Paradise

The tallest building in this picture - Q1

Skysrapers can be seen along the beach. Sunny weather great for beach activities.

The subtropical climate throughout the year is also another great persuasion to tourists for holidaying in Gold Coast, especially for beach lovers and surfers. I was there during winter and I loved being there as it’s sunny and warmer than in other cities like Sydney. My friend, Christiana in Sydney actually told me that the heater in her room is necessary turned on to keep herself warm while I replied her that I could walk on the streets in Gold Coast with my short pants and flip-flops. It’s indeed made Christiana envy, lol!

In short, Gold Coast is one of my favourite cities in Australia!

An Artwork Tour in Brisbane

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 09:32:00 +0000

On my second day in Brisbane, I mostly spent time enjoying the artworks in the city. I know that arts and crafts are not everyone’s favourite, but they’re definitely mine. I went to visit both Gallery of Modern Art and QUT Art Museum.

QUT Art Museum

Some of the paintings by the artist William Robinson themed ‘The Transfigured Landscape’ displayed in the art museum…

QUT Art Museum

Location: 2 George Street, QUT Gardens Point Campus, Brisbane, Queensland.

Opening hours: Tue – Fri: 10am – 5pm

Sat – Sun: 12pm – 4pm

Monday & Public Holidays closed

Admission: Free

Inside the Gallery of Modern Art

Queensland Art Gallery/ Gallery of Modern Art

Location: Stanley Street, South Bank, Queensland.

Opening hours: Mon – Fri: 10am – 5pm

Sat – Sun: 9am –5pm

Admission: free except some special exhibitions and programs

Visiting Brisbane

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 06:07:00 +0000

I took a Premier bus leaving from Bundaberg to Brisbane at early hour in the morning. Premier is an alternative transportation to train along east coast including Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. It took 9 hours to reach Brisbane from Bundaberg with one stop-off point.

I spent 2 nights in Brisbane and City Backpackers at Upper Roma Street was where I stayed. This hostel is within walkable distance to Transit Centre. It’s clean and looked new, has great facilities such as free internet service and swimming pool. My plan to Brisbane was not only to transit to Gold Coast but also visit another old friend which is my ex-classmate from high school. Again, I found her at facebook :D

Compared to Sydney, Brisbane is more calming. Brisbane is geographically separated by the long indeed Brisbane River and there’re about 16 major bridges built over it.

Brisbane River

Merivale Bridge

Victoria Bridge & Brisbane skycrapers

I spent time exploring the city alone while waiting for my friend to get off work. Places I visited include CBD, South Bank arts and recreation precinct, City Botanic Gardens and Roma Street Parkland.

The Cathedral of St Stephen in CBD

Queen Street Mall - the major shopping hub

Kangaroo sculptures on the street

Chinatown

We met up for a Malaysian Nyonya cuisine as dinner. After it, she brought me to the Mount Coot-tha before we found a café for some cheese cakes and warm chocolate drinks.

Something about Bundaberg in Queensland

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 09:43:00 +0000

Bundaberg is one of the agricultural regions of Australia and it’s located in Queensland of East Australia. The weather here is similar to subtropical; it’s hot during summers but mild during winters. As a result of its location, Bundaberg becomes a stop off point for some travelers before visit to the world famous destination - Great Barrier Reef. Sugar cane fields are largely found in this region and zucchinis, tomatoes, capsicums, sweet potatoes are some of the commercial vegetables farmed abundantly here.

Bundaberg CBD

Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery (BRAG) at Barolin St

After I left Sydney, I came to Bundaberg and stayed for exactly a month. There’re more Asian in this city compared to Griffith in NSW that I stayed before. As what I personally experienced, I found that it’s actually harder for me to find casual jobs here and the accommodation especially working hostels are extremely expensive, some of them without proper facilities and condition too. I still remember that I stayed in a working hostel and paid almost $200 each week for a bed in an extremely small dormitory room. Frankly speaking, it was the highest rent I paid for the hostels so far in Australia. Furthermore, I wasn’t guaranteed with the works. Sometimes I was scheduled to work in the field or work in the pack shed if lucky enough. Most of the jobs for backpackers here involve agriculture and they very depend on season. So if you come to find a job at improper timing, your money will be sucked much sooner.

On the other hand, Bundaberg has its uniqueness. There’re many recreation areas like parks, gardens and riverside for relaxing. Some houses in this town are structured differently; they built higher with ventilation on the ground just like Malay kampung house. I guess this difference is related to the hot weather here.

Burnett River

Burnet Bridge

Burnett riverside is a great recreation spot

Oriental garden as part of the Botanic Garden

House in Bundaberg look like kampung house

Before I came to Bundaberg, I had already heard from my friends about the famous $6 steak at Central Hotel (18 Targo Street) in this town. I tried it once with some other backpackers on one Sunday. Well, I would say it’s really cheap but the taste is so so. However, it’s a favourite hub for backpackers.

The bundy's famous $6 steak

Bundaberg is also the place to produce ginger beer and rum beverages. The famous Bundaberg Rum is produced from molasses, which are the byproduct of sugar cane. Therefore, you may want to try them yourself or buy as souvenirs for friends or family if you come to this town.

Ginger beer made in Bundaberg

Bundaberg Rum icon at Bunderberg Rum Distillery

I and a friend passed a craft shop named Bundy Kegs/Schmeider’s Cooperage on one afternoon walk. There’re nice things to see in the shop and extended art gallery without admission charge. This place sells some unique local souvenirs, artworks and barrels. We met a German glass blower was doing his work. We saw his presentation and attracted to buy some of his beautiful artworks back to hostel.

Glass blowing art gallery

Some of the artworks...

...and more

The glassblower was demonstrating in front of us

Home decorations made by him

some of the glass blowing jewelries

Schmeider’s Cooperage

Address: 5 Alexandra St, Bundaberg, Queensland.

Phone: 4151 8233

Opening hours: 9am – 5pm Mon to Fri, 9am – 3pm Sat

Zucchinis & Tomatoes Picking in Bundaberg, Queensland

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 04:30:00 +0000

Zucchinis and tomatoes picking were some of the hard works I tried in Australia. Most backpacker jobs in Bundaberg were provided by the working hostels and I stayed in one of them. A van usually reached the working hostel at 6 am to pick up the backpackers to the field. Frankly, working early in the morning in the field was not fun as it was extremely cold and my pants easily got wet caused by the dew on the plants.

Workers got to the field when it's still dark and cold in the early morning

Every worker in the field was provided a knife and some number tags every morning before the picking started. Then, we’ll be arranged to work in different rows of plants.

Zuchinnis field

Rows and rows of zucchini plants

For zucchinis picking, we used the knife to cut off the zucchinis from plants and put gently into a bucket until it’s full. To identify everyone’s work, we were asked to show the number tag we owned on top of each bucket we filled.

For a full bucket of zucchinis, it’s only paid as much as $2. Sometimes we’ll get penalty and lost the wage of buckets if the contractor found that the zucchinis picked are damage, too small, too large or they’re slightly less in a full bucket. The hardest part was my body required to bend and also carried the bucket along the row in order to perform the work.

When there’re not many zucchinis to be picked on the day, we’re arranged to pick tomatoes as well. To me, tomatoes picking was slightly greater as it could be picked by hands and easier to fill up a bucket. However, same as zucchinis, tomatoes picking required energy to carry or drag the bucket before it’s fully filled.

We usually get off work before lunch hour and went home. It’s good for our body but we could hardly earn enough to pay rent and shared petrol L

A Visit to Sydney Fish Market & Bondi Beach

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 10:43:00 +0000

As planned, my dear old friend came to the hostel and picked up me and another new friend from the hostel on one Sunday before I left. I suggested having a brunch at the well-known Sydney Fish Market located at Bank Street Pyrmont.

Patrons were walking into the Sydney Fish Market

There’s abundance of seafood offered by different stalls in the market; lobsters, fishes, oysters, mussels, prawns, crabs….everything seemed fresh!

There’re actually more than 15 retailers and restaurants in the market, not only seafood but also other foods and merchandises such as bread, pizza, sushi, wines, fruits and gifts. Be ready to wait longer when ordering seafood and finding seats especially on weekend or public holidays due to many patrons. Its official website stated that the market starts from 7 in the morning every day except Christmas Day and most retailers close at 4 in the evening.

Interior of Sydney Fish Market full with patrons

Some patrons include us prefered to enjoy the seafood meal at the waterfront

There’re many public transports available to get you there, you can choose either by bus, monorail, metro light rail or boat. I went there by my friend’s car, but the parking fee was pretty costly.

After the seafood meals, we headed to Bondi Beach. Bondi Beach is one of the popular attractions for travellers throughout the year and it’s a surfing paradise for surfers.

I found a website which is a great hub for you to search much information such as how to get there, things to do, food, accommodation and so on. I’m not the expert, so let the Bondi Village to tell you everything you need to know.

Vivid Sydney – A Wonderland of Colourful Lights

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 04:19:00 +0000

The coming event of Vivid Sydney is on 24 May – 10 June 2013.

I went to visit the festival with some friends a year ago, by chance. Fortunately I was in Sydney on June and I had the opportunity to enjoy the once a year event.

Well, we captured most photos of Vivid Light on the Sydney Opera House. I would say the lighting technology and creativity was superb!

These outdoor lighting shows usually take place in Sydney’s CBD, Circular Quay, The Rocks and Walsh Bay. During the festival, they started from evening 6 o’clock when the sky is getting dark till midnight.

A Road Trip to Central Coast, NSW

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 04:12:00 +0000

I have an old friend living and working in Sydney for years. She is my ex-schoolmate and in reality we didn’t see each other more than 10 years. Yet thanks to the advanced social media Facebook, I finally found her and planned to meet up with her on my work and holiday trip in Australia. First time, we talked over the phone again after years and both of us still have many conversations. Later, she suggested me to join her for a road trip to Central Coast with her cousin and cousin’s friend. Since I was in Sydney too and always looking forward to seeing her, so I said yes!

Driving from Sydney, it took us about 2 hours to reach there. The first place we stop off was the Norah Head Lighthouse.

We caught some photos and got back to my friend's car when the sky was getting cloudy very soon. It was a long rainy day! We could hardly visit any other places because the rain was nonstop. We stayed in a motel that night and we left after lunch the next day. It was still raining on the journey back to Sydney L

By and large, that was not an excited trip to us.

Norah Head Lighthouse

40 Bush Street, Norah Head NSW 2263, Australia

A Day Trip in Wagga Wagga

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 05:11:00 +0000

One of my friends, who visited the town earlier, persuaded me and some other friends to visit Wagga Wagga purposely for a buffet lunch at Golden Season Family Restaurant that he always recommended. Since we stayed in Griffith, it’s not far for us to visit there. So, I agreed and went with 4 of them on a day off and it was Mother’s Day. We wanted to have a buffet lunch as planned but there’s full house when we walked in. Yes, we should make booking in advance as that day was a public holiday. The person in charge asked us to try our luck after another 30 minutes or so, hopefully there’re people leaving earlier. While we were walking aimlessly in a mall, she called us and told that there have seats for us. Thus, we returned to the restaurant and enjoyed the special seafood buffet lunch of the day with very many great foods to choose from. All of our stomachs were full and we couldn’t take anymore, even though there’re still plenty of girl-like-desserts such as cheese cakes and ice-creams that we haven’t tasted :P

Golden Season Family Restaurant

Address: 27-31 Forsyth Street, Wagga Wagga NSW

Phone: (02) 6921 1177

Opening Hours: 11.30am– 2.30pm (Lunch), 5.30pm – 9.00pm (Dinner) 7 days

Over the lunch, we had a short walk along the streets. Compared to Griffith, I found that Wagga wagga is a convinient town with many more shops and buildings situated in the town center.

Wagga wagga council chambers

Wagga wagga civil centre

One of the unique sculptures displayed along the street

We drove around and found the Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens located at Willians Hill, Macleay Street. We also found a mini zoo in the Botanic Gardens. Some photos captured from these adorable animals before the gate closed...

Visiting Jindabyne, a Small Town in the Snowy Mountains

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 09:59:00 +0000

If not because of attending an interview for a snow job, I think visiting this town wouldn’t be part of my plan. I tried in vain searching on the information about the possible ways going there as I didn’t have a car. In fact, I could hardly find any public transport available connect to Jindabyne unless in winter.

Fortunately, a friend of mine reminded me that he has a car and he didn’t mind to take me there. In the morning we drove from the place I lived in Yenda and we passed other small towns before we reached Canberra.

On the way heading to Canberra

Capital city - Canberra

I didn’t hear much about Canberra from other backpackers as the capital city was not a travel destination for most of them. I think Canberra is a clean and organized city but it’s not as crowded as in Sydney. We merely did some shopping in one of the shopping centers before we took another 2 ½ hours continue our journey to the small town, Jindabyne.

We spent a night at Snowy Mountains Backpackers . Although it’s just a budget hostel, it’s well worth mentioning here because of the great location as well as the clean and cozy condition. I felt like home. Jindabyne is majorly for skiers in winter. Nonetheless, you still can go for some other adventure activities such as whitewater rafting and mountain biking if you come in other seasons.

After the interview I attended was over, we explored around the town and paid a visit to Snowy Region Visitor Centre at Kosciouszko Road.

Jindabyne Visitor Centre

Shopping hub of the town

Travellers were having drinks in front of a cafe

Not far from the hub, we had a relaxing walk along the Jindabyne Lake. Sit back and relax, we enjoyed the calming atmosphere very much.

One of the great walks in Jindabyne

Lake Jindabyne

Strzelecki Statue in front of Lake Jindabyne

That day was actually my friend’s birthday, so I surprised him with a cake and we enjoyed it before we left the town :P

Working as a Vintage Cellar Hand in Winery

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 13:46:00 +0000

I was told that there’re some jobs in Australia that pay well and working in winery is definitely one of them. I had no experience as a cellar hand and didn’t know much about the job. However, the hostel owner in Griffith encouraged most backpackers to give it a try (so that we have money to pay for him). Well, I did apply the jobs online and also went through with an agency. The interview with the agent ended up unsuccessfully. Before long, I was called up by a winery company which I applied directly via online. I was asked to come in person to sit for a simple test and interview. Fortunately, I was accepted soon on the same day. Weeks later, some of my friends told me that they also got the jobs.

Working in winery as a vintage cellar hand is a brand new experience for me. I mean me as a backpacker coming to Australia and previously New Zealand, experienced quite a few jobs involved in agriculture, like picking and packing fruits and vegetables. Working in winery is really my first experience and pretty tough time for me. It involved some knowledge and skills and I believed that’s the reason we had some training sessions before we officially worked in the winery.

Every cellar hand has own task and may different from others. As for me, I used to climb up to almost 12 meter height on top of the wine tank to measure wine levels, take some samples, transfer wines from tank to tank/truck or vice versa, carry weighty rubber hoses, chill wines, assemble equipment and so on (more like men’s work). I was arranged to work at night shift from 10 at night to 6 in the morning. It’s pretty odd that I had my break time sometimes on 3am.

I used to work on top of the tanks

Stainless steel wine tanks

Wines tanks located in different farms

A four-storey-height staircase

A truck was parking in front of tanks to load/unload wines

Unloading wine from a truck to tank

Undergoing wine chilling process

All equipment were gathered and assembled before undergo the task

I used to carry this huge spanner at work

Wage was good, staffs were nice and the experience was cool. However, I had enough and I guess that is my first and also last experience working in winery ‘o’

Griffith Fish Market & Clock

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 08:12:00 +0000

There are quite a few good foods in Griffith. Griffith Fish Market and Clock are among the great places I went and tasted for the foods.

Front facade of Griffith Fish Market

Chefs were preparing meals at the open kitchen

Griffith Fish Market offers variety of seafood meals with reasonable price. I loved the hot served Fish ‘n’ Chips.

Clock is a restaurant serving Modern Australian cuisine. The selections of food are not varied but all the meals my friend and I ordered from the menu were excellent, they were so good in taste and well decorated.

We ordered pasta as our appetizer...

Main course 1: Honey Glazed Duck Breast, with cranberry & star anise reduction, potato spring roll, vegetable & crispy garnish ($34)

Main course 2: Char-grilled Scotch fillet, rosemary scented potato cake, red wine jus & caramelized red onion ($29)

Dessert 1: Classic lemon tart with brulee crust & cream ($13)

Dessert 2: Affogato, vanilla gelato, espresso, Frangelico & biscotti ($12)

I loved the well-organized interior and great ambiance of the restaurant. Glad that I had a very decent dinner on my birthday at Clock! J

Clock Restaurant

239 Banna Avenue, Griffith NSW 2680

(02) 6962 7111

Griffith Fish Market

9 Banna Avenue, Griffith NSW 2680

(02) 6964 2015

Random Visit in Sydney CBD

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 01:36:00 +0000

- Chinatown

Sydney Chinatown, the largest and oldest Chinatown in Australia, is located in Haymarket and it’s only a short distance from Darling Harbour and Central Station. In fact, Chinatown is a great place for shopping and scouting for variety of Chinese cuisines. Even if you’re not a Chinese food lover, you still can find something special to dine here.

Sydney Chinatown at night

Market City - A shopping place to go

Chinese shops & restaurants along the streets

We came across a well-known Taiwanese dessert house while having a casual walk in the Chinatown.

Many were queuing to order in the Taiwanese dessert house - Meet Fresh

This dessert house serves cold and hot desserts include Taro Ball Desserts, Herbal Jelly, Tofu Pudding, Winter Melon Tea, Traditional Meetfresh Tea, Whipped Cream Tea and Meetfresh Cold Dessert. This dessert house is interesting and I had the Herbal Jelly my first time. Some of the ingredients they use to make desserts include green beans, pearls, lotus seeds, sweet potato, barley, red beans, peanuts, taro, honey beans, coconut jellies, glutinous cake, noodle jellies and taro mash. You can check out the Meetfresh menu here.

One of he cold Herbal Jellies I tried from the dessert house. It's so tasty and really good to be taken in a hot day.

Meet Fresh
Address: 13 Goulbon Street, Haymarket NSW 2000, Australia.

Phone: (02) 8339 1031
Website: http://meetfresh.net/
Opening hours: Mon – Thu & Sun 11am-12am, Fri & Sat 11am – 1am

- Circular Quay

Circular Quay is definitely a popular destination being part of the Sydney’s central business district and it’s always busy and crowded with people. Circular Quay is a hub well combined causeways with cafes, restaurants, malls and parks. It keeps Sydney so alive!

Harbour Bridge

Visitors crowded in front of the Opera House

One of the facades of Opera House on the waterfront

Swedish ceramic tiles used as the roof covers of the Opera House

- Hyde Park

Hyde Park is a public recreation park sited mainly at Elizabeth Street. It’s a free access green space for everyone.

Archibald Fountain in the park

- Historical Buildings

Some of the heritage buildings in city are well worth visiting; I almost couldn’t get my eyes off the fine architecture of the buildings.

Visiting Blue Mountains of New South Wales

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 13:17:00 +0000

After the NYE celebration in Sydney, I agreed with my friends to have a day trip to Blue Mountains on New Year.

That day was an extremely sunny day; we took a train by City Rail for about 90 minutes leaving from Sydney Central Station to Katoomba Station. The ticket price can be checked from the City Rail Fare Calculator

There is actually a bus service ExplorerBus.com.au takes visitors from the Katoomba Station to destinations around the Blue Mountains, but we choose to walk from the station all the way up through the shops and houses before we reached the lookout.

The most famous feature there is The Three Sisters. According to Wikipedia, The Three Sisters are rock formation in the Blue Mountains towering above the Jamison Valley. The views of Jamison Valley were amazing. We then spent hours for nature walks and exploring the green environment there.

Although we were exhausted from the bushwalking, we did enjoy our trip pretty much.

This video is showing more views in Blue Mountains. Enjoy!

NYE Celebration in Sydney

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 13:44:00 +0000

Weeks before New Year, backpackers had been discussing about the coming New Year celebration. Most of them were planning to visit Sydney. As for me, I had no idea and I seemed not bother so much about where I’d be. Soon, my friends kept persuading me to go to Sydney with them as well. Yes, I bought a train ticket after I finally made up my mind. If there weren’t their help and arrangement in advance, I won’t be so easy to get the accommodation and train ticket. For your information, the price for majority backpacker hostels in Sydney will be raised significantly in conjunction with terms during the period. For instance, one hostel situated in the heart of Sydney may charge $60 per night for 10 bed dorm (ordinary price is $30). In addition, the hostels also required minimum nights that you must stay or pay, usually 8 or 10 nights in between Christmas Eve and first week of January. Don’t be surprise if most of the accommodations are fully booked for 31/12 weeks ahead… Hence, be sure to organize in advance if you’re going to celebrate New Year’s Eve in Sydney in order to avoid any disappointment.

I was glad that I came to Sydney with my friends. In fact, it was my first time in this well-known metropolitan.

As we were told that some destinations in Sydney will be crowded with people for the fireworks event, so we prepared earlier and headed to the Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain on afternoon. Wow! We saw so many people are queuing up to the entrance when we just arrived there.

Moved bit by bit, we eventually did enter to the site. However, we could hardly find a perfect position to watch the fireworks as there was full with visitors who reached earlier than us. As a result, we simply found one place to settle first before more people are coming in.

It’s still half day long before the fireworks show. We chatted, ate foods, walked around…time just seemed moved too slow at that moment. The sky was still bright, I wondered if we could wait for so many hours before the fireworks start and was it worth our time waiting?

An hour before 12, people started to squeeze closer and the ambiance was getting more excited. Everyone hoped to view the fireworks at the best position. We wait…wait and wait, finally everyone shouted 10, 9, 8…3, 2, 1! The fireworks were start blooming beautifully over the Sydney Harbour! It lasted for about 50 minutes and most of the visitors caught photos and videos to record the spectacular moments. It was truly a very stunning celebration! Then I realized that it was well worth waiting although for so many hours :D

Joyful but tired, we got back to our rented apartment on early hour of 1^st January. What a memorable New Year’s Eve!

(I was attempting to upload the fireworks videos, but so sorry that there’s an error occurred. Perhaps I may try again later. Sorry! :P)

Christmas Celebration

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 06:01:00 +0000

When Christmas was coming soon, the residential area in Griffith was decorated nicely as if to welcome the significant celebration. Consequently, the hostel owner drove a bus and picked us up for a visit.

On the Christmas Eve, I joined some Hong Kong friends to attend a party belongs to the local dweller - Mick. We knew him from the nursery job. Mick and his family were kind to invite us to join them for a very decent Christmas Eve dinner. See…so many great foods prepared by his wife and son. Yummy!

Appetizer 1

Appetizer 2

Appetizer 3

Appetizer 4

Some sweets and chocolates

Some juicy stone fruits

Main course 1

Main course 2

Main couse 3

Main course 4

Main course 5

Actually there were also main course 6, 7…before dessert, but I know I have already posted too much photos. So, that’s enough. Be frank, the foods prepared were far more than enough for 7 of us. Everyone enjoyed the foods anyway.

We also played some video games after the dinner. Next, it’s time to exchange gift. Oh! I was surprised that I got 2 lovely presents from them, a feminine cup and a pair of silver ear rings. Thanks to Mick and Joy! Thank them once again for celebrating a memorable Christmas Eve party with us.

My first Christmas present...

...and my second one

On 25/12, I had a great Christmas dinner together with all the backpackers in the hostel.

All the backpackers were waiting for the dinner to start

Santa Claus wearing his uniform in short sleeves and short pants

The party was fun and exciting especially during the gift discovering moment… Everyone of us won’t know who’s the secret Santa Claus of our own unless he/she was willing to tell. However, I knew mine and I got a present consisted of lip balm and Cadbury chocolate, nice ;)

Working Experiences in Australia (Part II)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 03:19:00 +0000

Yeah, this is garlic picking! This is a 10-dollar-per-hour job. All the workers couldn’t be slow as a tractor was following at our back. I hope my friends don't mind me uploaded photos of them :P

All the workers leaving the field when works done

A tractor was carrying containers filled with garlics

Garlics picked by us in a day

We love GARLICS!!!

In fact, I tried onion picking as well, I didn't take any photos tough. They were almost the same (in terms of hard work).

Stone fruit picking was much easier for me. Nectarines, peach and apricot seemed juicy and attractive. Many of us worked together and had more fun.

Nectarines tree

Tasty nectarines

All of us soon filled the containers with the fruits

We love NECTARINES!!!

The job of onion flower picking was none too bad. All the jobs I worked here required speed and energy except this one. The contractor asked us to look in details slowly and pick the ‘female’ carefully. Be frank, it’s pretty challenging to differentiate between the ‘male’ and ‘female’ because they looked almost the same. The onion flowers looked stunning from short or far distance. Anyway, this job only required us to work there for a day. We’re happy with the work of that day.

Onion flowers

Close-up of an onion flower

Working Experiences in Australia (Part I)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 08:41:00 +0000

I had my first job on the second week of my stay in the working hostel. I worked in a small plant where gourmet foods are manufactured. My job was really easy and the wage was not bad. However, the working hours was not guaranteed except the peak season before Christmas. As a result, I hunted for other jobs in between.

My first outdoor work in Australia was……Guess what? Mandarin picking! I worked in a team with 3 Korean guys, picking mandarin from early morning until evening but just earn 30-50 bucks in a day. Hard work!! Yes…I know this was not my first time involved in fruit picking (I experienced it in New Zealand before), it’s still tough for me though. Most of the fruit picking jobs here are paid by contract and not by hourly basis, so you have to work really hard and fast. For this job, we were provided with ladders and we were commanded to pick every single fruit on the trees. End of the day, we’ll get approximately $40 for every full container of mandarin. But don’t forget that it still needed to divide among 4 people. One good thing about working there was we had eaten enough mandarin J

The following job was by contract again. I worked in a nursery field. Every day except weekend, work started at 7 o’ clock while the weather was still cold. I was bending my back, sometimes squatting or sitting on the ground to prune the plants along the rows. Every backpacker was paid according to the quantity of plants they worked on. I still remember that our wage merely worth 10 cent per plant. Thus, we had to prune almost a thousand plants in a row in order to earn $100. Fortunately, I was able to make more than that. Still, the champion was my German friend :)

One thing I really hate about working in the field was the presence of flies. I had no idea where’s the flies came from, they were extremely annoying! The flies stayed on the face or any exposed skin and they came back again and again even I repelled them. Thus, a face net or repellent is well worth prepare if you’re planning on working in the field. Just in case.