As I promised a while back, here's the first part of my travel journal, written whilst I was in Australia last summer. It's not exactly a literary masterpiece (and I apologise if there's any rambling in there!), but most of it was written whilst travelling on a coach or by torchlight!
Enjoy! :)
Saturday 6th August 2011
Well, I’m here - I’m in Australia! And it's been a
long day! Well, two days, really (I’m more than a little confused about the
date and time at the moment!) We arrived at Heathrow around 6pm, where we met up with
all the other people flying from there- over 20 of us in total! Checking in,
going through Customs, and a lot of waiting around! But we found the right
terminal (easy to get lost in here- Heathrow’s massive!), and got on the right
plane. Took off at 10pm. A 23-hour ordeal involving loud people and almost no sleep. Ended up watching films and doing
about 20 sudokus. :P After 10 or so hours we stopped in Bangkok airport for
about an hour (by then it was 9am - or 3pm there!), then back on board for
another 11 hours! Arrived
in Sydney at 5am (or 8pm in England! Where did Friday go…?). I’ve had two hours
sleep in two days and I feel like hell! But I’m here!
We collected our suitcases, then the various groups split up
to go to our individual projects. Two groups, including ours, were going to fly
to Brisbane, so we waited, talking, in the airport for a couple of hours. The
flight wasn’t too bad- after that 23-hour one I’ll never complain about flights
again! Awesome views from the plane, anyway (I had a window seat for once!), of
the Australian coastline. Then we arrived in a very sunny Brisbane! We met our
project leader at the airport, and met the rest of our group, who had
flown in from America. Then we met the
people in charge of Wild Mountains Trust, with whom we’d be working for the
next two weeks. They drove us through the wild outback of Australia…it’s so
pretty! Endless fields of cows and horses, forests spreading for miles over mountains,
low hills…and we left the main road and followed a winding track uphill, into
the mountains themselves! The views are stunning! The first thing we saw,
halfway up the mountain? A koala sitting in a tree! Seriously! It was so
adorable! And apparently there are snakes around here, too… And I’m living here
for two weeks - I still can’t believe it!
We did some introductory activities and got to know the
building and the area. We’re going to be sleeping in A-Framed wooden huts on
mattresses with sleeping bags and pillows - pretty basic accommodation! And
there’s no heating. God, it’s cold! Well, it is winter here. And we’re in the mountains. Good job I brought a
lot of warm clothes! Still, we’re here. And I slept through my first night- for
11 hours!
Sunday 7th August 2011
Woke up marvelling that I’m actually here, on the other side
of the world! The weather was sunny, for a wonder- warmer than England!
So… today, we went for a walk in the rainforest! Saw so many plants you can’t
find in England, including stinging trees (“stinging nettles on steroids!”) and
eucalypts. We had a talk on Wild Mountains and what we’re going to be doing
over the next two weeks. Wild Mountains is an education centre which promotes
sustainable living, which is why everything is recycled and reused, and nothing
is wasted- the centre also operates on its own water and power supplies. Also,
the meals are exclusively vegetarian (a bit of a shock for most people! I’m the
only vegetarian in the group!)
The setting is beautiful, too. The sub-tropical rainforest
of Queensland, on the border of New South Wales (we saw the border- it’s
rabbit-proof, since rabbits are a common pest in Australia due to a lack of
predators!). We also climbed up the inside of a hollow tree, which was an experience!
(It was full of spider webs…) We also encountered various animals, including a
gecko, and a lot of creepy crawlies! Several people have been bitten by ticks
already!
This afternoon, we did a workshop on effective
communication, and discussed what we’ve learnt since arriving. Other than that,
we discussed the timetable for “chores”, and learnt to croquet. Or fail at it,
like me. Oh well. We stayed in the hall for a bit, huddled around the fire (the
only source of warmth!), then went on a walk to look for glow worms!
Monday 8th August 2011
To start our second day we each had to find a private spot
in the forest and sit there for a while, just observing what’s around us. A
lot, that’s for sure! We’re in the Australian bush, surrounded by acres of eucalypt
forests and rainforests…I could think of endless words and none could quite
describe what it’s like. I’d say it was peaceful- there’s no traffic around for
miles, and not even a whisper to suggest that there’s anyone else around- but
there’s so much life- from the tiny
insects in the grass (of course, some of them aren’t so tiny- such as the
spider discovered in the campsite toilet!) to the laughing kookaburras in the
trees above. Seriously, they sound like monkeys!
Already I’ve learnt so much from being here. I thought it’d
be hard to live like this, but it feels almost liberating. Far from the frantic
noise of cities, cut off from the outside world, without even a phone
signal…Technology doesn’t exist out here in the wilderness. And I have to say I’m
loving it.
Today we:
- Played a hilarious game this morning, “Wizards, Giants and Elves”. Basically a more interesting version of “Rock, Paper, Scissors”, only with more potential for injuries (especially when playing on gravel!)
- Shovelled a lot of gravel and rocks into the back of a truck (and learnt how to shovel properly! Unfortunately having the coordination of a one-legged ant led me into some slightly ridiculous scenarios including tripping over my own shovel. Clearly my clumsiness has followed me here…)
- And had fun riding in the back of the trailer! Justin’s mad driving, along with the winding forest path, made it an experience! And we saw a wallaby! (I’d better make sure I have my camera next time!)
- Succeeded in making part of a gravel path in the clearing to park cars on- a great team effort!
- And helped with the weeding, removing invasive weeds from the forest! (and discovered some extremely weird mushrooms that spit smoke at you when you touch them!)
Really tired (almost fell asleep on the floor this evening!)
but had a great day!
Tuesday 9th August 2011
It’s bloody cold! Woke up at 6 am freezing! Yeah, we have to
get up early, but considering I’m still jetlagged I keep falling asleep at 8 pm
so I wake up early anyway. Today, I joined the group paving the amphitheatre
they’re building in front of the main hall. We had to shovel a lot of gravel
(cue more shovel-related drama!), then pack it down by jumping on it and
bashing it repeatedly with a brick! Then we had to level it (a ridiculously
time-consuming process!) and arrange the bricks on top. No cement yet, but it
looks pretty impressive so far! Other groups were oiling, painting, and cutting
bamboo. Then we all went to do more weeding. We’ve certainly discovered some
weird animals today. A leaf insect (looked like a dried-up leaf!), a gecko, and
even a dead snake! (headless and tailless. Seriously! God knows why…) And saw
another koala, officially named Jim. :P
Paving progress!
Paving progress!
I read more of The Hobbit this evening, sitting by the fire,
until I actually fell asleep- on the floor! For about two hours! Frozen to
death when I woke up- the fire was dying and there was hardly anyone left
there! So I walked back to the campsite on my own. Through the forest. At
night, with only a torch. It was pretty scary- I kept expecting a giant snake
to lunge out of the bushes and attack me! But I made it back without freaking
out- go me! Slept through the night, too.
Wednesday 10th August 2011
Woke up frozen to death again. I’m wearing two pairs of
extra-thick socks, thermal top and trousers, three layers, fleece, gloves…and
I’m still cold!
This morning I actually managed to do a bit of writing! Character
planning for my new story :) Then:
- Our first activity took us into the rainforest, where we constructed “wo-boys” on the track to stop rainwater flooding it! More shovelling. At least dirt is easier to shovel than rocks!
- Went on a walk to see some waterfalls. Trekking through the rainforest made me feel like a real explorer, haha. :P
- Then continued with paving the amphitheatre. Finished paving the first layer! At last! And, on the way to Whiptail clearing to pick up some more bricks, we saw FIVE wallabies! They just popped up all over the hill! I’m so annoyed I didn’t have my camera!
- Another hour’s weeding...yay.
- We all watched a short film, “The Economics of Happiness”, which was really interesting (though I confess to falling asleep once or twice- damn my messed-up sleeping pattern!). It was about how big corporations are money driven instead of focusing on what’s important- making sure future generations actually have a planet to live on! I think my inner eco-warrior has been reawakened!
Thursday 11th August 2011
I had a pretty good day! Began with more
paving (oh joy!)- half-finished the top level now! Plus collected more bricks.
And it rained, for the first time since I’ve been here. I guess the weather
isn’t that bad. It can get pretty warm during the day, actually (and the sun is
blinding!)- It’s too bad the nights are so cold!
Saw another koala! This one was so close! It was sitting in
a tree just around the corner from where we were paving, and as we watched it
decided to do a massive JUMP to the next tree, and climb all the way to the
top! We were left staring in amazement! It’s the most active I’ve ever seen a
koala! (all they ever really do is eat and sleep usually!)
Friday 12th August 2011
Saturday 13th August 2011
Awesome day :) We left the hall this morning, and drove back
down the mountain, back towards civilisation! And we got to see more of
Australia :) Got some nice pictures of the beautiful scenery we passed-
mountains, fields, forests, even (in the distance) the sea! And saw a kangaroo!
Only for a second, but wow! And I finally got a phone signal! Yay! (even though
it was about 2 am in England :P) We went on a hike through the rainforest at
Lamington National Park, which was amazing- it was like walking through the set
of Jurassic Park or King Kong! Some of us got to see a funnelweb spider (yeah,
the one with the poisonous bite :P), and I think I saw a bandicoot! Also
climbed into some caves (if it has a “Do Not Climb” sign…hehe) Took some
awesome photos. Well, until my camera died. A great day, though I
was pretty tired when we got back.
Sunday 14th August 2011
Another awesome day. Most of us went on another hike to the waterfall on the
border with New South Wales! A “short hike” (according to Richard!) turned into
a full-day expedition, up and down a LOT of steep slopes. Every time we thought
it was over, another one appeared! We found the waterfall, but decided to climb
over the border to get a closer look at it. Another epic trek through the
rainforest! At several points we had to cross the river, balancing precariously
on stepping stones (it’s a miracle I didn’t fall in…) and even crawling across
this giant log that was suspended across the river!
Living dangerously!
Had a campfire outside the hall tonight, which was pretty
awesome.
Monday 15th August 2011
Today we all went back to Whiptail (where we saw the first
koala!) and did various jobs. I was part of a team who were attempting to move
a caravan which had been there for 12 years! We had to remove anything that was
fixing it to the ground, then use some ropes to create a pulley system so we
could move it without it rolling downhill! Once the caravan was free, we had to
help turn it around. It was like a game of tug-of-war! But our triumphant
moment came when we finally succeeded. Victory for the Caravan Crew!
Tuesday 16th August 2011
Today was Lantana Bashing day- time to get rid of all those
nuisance lantana plants that had been swamping the other plants and trees! We
also did some more bamboo cutting, and planted over 70 trees! Proud to have
done my bit for saving the rainforest :D It was freaking hot though; I could
hardly see for the sun! Did quite a bit of story planning in the evening.
Continued discussions on “Extreme Croqueting” :P Also finished reading The
Hobbit and started on the first Lord of the Rings book, whilst sitting around
another campfire beneath a starry sky. Nice :)
I can’t believe we only have two days left here!
Wednesday 17th August 2011
I’m going to miss this place. It’s so nice, sitting here in
the middle of the forest, not a sound save that of the birds (kookaburras are
so loud! Though not as loud as koalas at night…they sound like tigers!
Seriously!). I do want to see the rest of Australia, but it’ll be weird being
around so many people I don’t know.
Today we continued with the road we started last week- more
shovelling gravel and rocks, and wild rides through the forest in the trailer!
More wallabies :) I still haven’t caught one on camera!
Watched another short film, “The Story of Stuff”, which was
about consumerism. So much of it resonated with my prior-held beliefs about the
current obsession with technology and upgrading- why on earth do people feel
the need to replace their mobile phones every few months?! And it pointed out
the dire consequences if we continue living as we do now. Hmm. Some people
would do well to take its message!
We played the “endangered species” game this evening, which
was pretty funny. And the Hat Game, again! Honestly, it’s impossible to act out
the word “antidisestablishmentarianism”! Lol.
Thursday 18th August 2011
It’s raining. And cold. But it’s the last day… I guess this
has been an experience!
Final day of paving the amphitheatre- finally finished the
top level (covered in mud though!). This afternoon we all cleaned the hall from
top to bottom- pretty thoroughly! And talked about what we’ve learnt in the
last two weeks. I think
what the people at Wild Mountains do is amazing. I’m going to miss this place.
Friday 19th August 2011
An emotional morning! We finished packing and tidied the
A-frames, before carrying all our luggage up to the hall. I bought some Wild
Mountains postcards, including one of a wallaby (I never did get a picture!).
Viv gave us all medals (with croqueted chains!)- mine said “Best Hiding Ability”
(for the missing money!).
We all said our goodbyes as we all got into the bus for our journey to the airport. Away from the wilderness (though several people got bitten by ticks at the airport!) And we were off again- en route to Cairns! For the Adventure Tour :D A pretty good flight- got to see the Great Barrier Reef from above!
We all said our goodbyes as we all got into the bus for our journey to the airport. Away from the wilderness (though several people got bitten by ticks at the airport!) And we were off again- en route to Cairns! For the Adventure Tour :D A pretty good flight- got to see the Great Barrier Reef from above!
Our team leaders met
us at the airport and drove us to the hostel. It’s AMAZING! More like a hotel
than a hostel - it’s huge, it even has its own swimming pool, bar and nightclub!
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