Saturday 26 May 2007

Australia - the Marisa Way!

I thought I'd do another little summary of all my activities / experiences/ sights in Oz! If I didn't keep track I'd probably forget half the things I've done and seen... and then what would I tell Roger's Grandkids?!?!?! :P

Sydney
Harbour Cruise
Monorail (again, and again, and again!)
Bondi Beach
Rugby Match - Sydney Roosters v Manly Sea Eagles
The Blue Mountains and the World's steepest railway ride
Ballet at Opera House - Don Quixote
Movies: 300, Bra Boys, Razzle Dazzle
Luna Park rides (won a white Monkey)

Melbourne
Neighbours Tour & Neighbours Night
Movie Marathon after 24hrs of no sleep
Penguin Parade
Comedy Festival
Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake
Great Ocean Road & Helicopter flight over the 12 Apostles
AFL game (Melbourne vs Geelong)
The Casino and its bartenders
THAT unfortunate date

Perth
PINK! in concert!!!!
Scientology Stress Test
Freemantle
Nudist in the dorm (yep, left THAT one unwritten... simply boring without pics to illustrate!)
The US army descends on Perth & Freemantle


Kalbarri - Denham - Monkey Mia - Coral Bay - Exmouth - Auski - Pardoo
Washing dried on the line outside (a Marisa First)
Hiked to Z-bend Gorge, Nature's Window
Flies, flies and more FLIES
The Pinnacles, The Stromatolites, The Termite Mounds
Pelicans, Penguins, and strangely friendly tiny fish that followed me as I swam
The World's Largest Shell Beach - 150km long, 10 metres deep, that's a whole bunch of shells
Swam with turtles, stingrays, shovel-nosed sharks, tropical catfish, tomato clownfish...
and snappers that try to kiss your leg (Snappers = Stalker Fish)
Swam with Whale Sharks!
Camped in Karijini
Damaged back... trapped nerve!!!
Caught locusts with my bare hands
Found a AU$15 shell (probably broke in the parcel on the way home)

Broome
Cable Beach, minus the nudists
Playing Poole
Sun Cinemas outdoor viewing
Camel Ride at sunset on Cable Beach
Pirates of the Carribbean and the Diet Coke Shower

Thursday 24 May 2007

Broometime!


Ahhh, the last treck up to Broome via 80 Mile Beach. It's almost sad to have to leave the bus and "settle down" again in one place for a few days. I do have to pay due respect to Sara, who is quite possibly madder than me (and thus more annoying in confined spaces).

80 Mile Beach was... 80 miles long (I elected to believe what they say rather than check it myself on foot). Lots of shells! I found one that I later saw in a shop with a price tag of $15. I see a new job...


Funnily enough, I don't have a single photo of Broome itself, or the hostel (Kimberley Club, comes with a pool, but without aircon... urgh!) But I have a GAZILLION of cable beach, sunset, red, blue, daytime, portrait, landscape, with nude guy (nude beach was to the right of the stairs... as we discovered during our camel ride accross it at dush), without nude guy, with parasol...with parasol! I'm please to announce that I managed to avoid getting a sunburn - perhaps another FIRST for me! This is entirely thanks to the wonderful parasol that Sara and I rented one sweltering afternoon...

Amazing pictures of the beach in various guises...








Hands-down the best thing I did while in Broome - and coincidentally another first - was a sunset camel ride accross cable beach. Would have been so much better without the saggy old nude guys sitting about as we were trying to "mount" the camels! Luckily for Sara, I actually paid attention to our guides and followed instructions to lean forward and then back as the camel stood up - being in the front seat I managed to block her from going head-first over the front of the camel as she body-slammed me from behind! Sunglasses went flying and I'm sure I heard Nigu (our camel) sigh. :) To be fair, we HAD been warned that he has a rather "energetic" way of getting up and to hold on for dear life. It wasn't until we were on the way and he kept trying to overtake the camel in front that we were told he was a camel bred for racing... let's not test that, shall we? :P





Broome has an open air cinema, which is a nice nostalgic trip into the past... unfortunately, mosquitoes also take this trip with you and as a consequence our viewing of The Last King of Scotland was accompanied by frequent slapping as we tried in vain to protect our limbs from the bloodthirsty insects! Why do they always go for the toes, fingers and any part of the body that somehow comes into frequent contact with straps??? How do they KNOW???



I have become quite the pool player - I start off abysmally and get progressively better with each game! Unfortunately, this cycle repeats itself each time I try - so I "have" to play at least 3 games to get my mojo going! Unfortunately, Kelly wasn't quite ready for the photo above left... :)


And for all those of you out there just waiting for me to go through another EMBARRASSING episode, WAIT NO MORE...


24th June, Pirates of the Carribbean is out in cinemas worldwide - even Broome! Kelly is flying out at 3pm, but she's just nuts enough to go with me to the 10:30am showing so she can then join Sara in Darwin that evening and go again! We're all happily ensconced in our seats (despite the BO coming from the Unwashed row in front) and I have the ultimate wake-up call: 0.5ltr diet coke in the cup with dodgy lid sitting in a cupholder beside me. The movie has been on for all of 10 minutes (total running time close to 3 hours) when I grab my coke for a drink. The lid pops off, I try to catch it, and up-end the entire cup over myself and Kelly / Rosie besides me. Lovely. Just absolutely fantastic. Wet, sticky, annoyed, cold... what is there to do but to watch the rest of the movie and wait for it all to dry? :) Nothing comes between me and my movie!


The last 3 weeks have been a highlight in the trip so far - here's to making the following 4 months live up to the Easyrider extravvvaganzzza!

Saturday 19 May 2007

The Incompetency Propagation Department strikes again!

I'm in Broome after an amazing 3 weeks of travel along the West Coast from Perth. Kalbarri, Denham, Monkey Mia, Exmouth, Auski, Pardoo Station and now finally Broome. I'll likely spend the next WEEK online trying to post all the pictures and stories - swam with sharks, had a flat tire, camped and hiked, slept in my ski jacket because it was so...COLD?!?!

I've finally updated Roadtrip part 6 including the Superpit with a fake post date just to confuse everyone while ensuring Chronological order for moi :) Happy Hunting!

Now for the latest in the HSBC saga - OMG. Truly, OMG! I don't know whether to laugh or cry (already shouted and swore plenty on the phone at midnight last night, so that's covered...)


Here's a run down for anyone who's missed it so far - skip it if you're not into extreme frustration!

14 April, HSBC sent a letter asking me to call them as they believe my card has been used in fraudulent transactions. I spend an hour on the phone from Melbourne with the Fraud Prevention Department (Incompetency Propagation Department = IPD) only to find out that:

a) there have been no fraudulent transactions
b) HSBC made the error and gave out my details, subsequently cancelling my card
c) they suggest I come into a London branch to pick up a new card...

Did I mention I am calling from Melbourne and am travelling for the next 6 months? Oh I did? Several times in fact? After much discussion, I get them to agree to send the card to me in Perth where I will be in 2 weeks' time. Since they cannot figure it out themselves, I go online to find the local branch, call the IPD and give them the address. They tell me the branch doesn't exist (right...), so I ask them to send it to the main post office for Poste Restante receipt.



30 April, 1 May, 2 May - still no card. I call up HSBC (ironically from just outside their branch - as shown - in Perth, which is located on the same street as the post office). I tell them the card has not arrived, I cannot delay my onward travel further, and they need to trace it & send me a new one at my hotel in Bali - basically start doing their job. I end up speaking to 3 different people over the course of the next 6 hours as they have to "reconfirm details", ...have lunch, pick their noses, attend how-to-speak-English-with-a-unintelligible-accent class, and presumably grow a braincell or two thereby doubling their collective intelligence in the space of just a few hours... Can you feel my love?

No one in the department can find "Bali" and I find myself in the middle of the street shouting the spelling into my phone for the fourth time as the Incompetent still didn't get it: "B-A-L-I". She helpfully suggests that they have a branch in Jakarta that I could go to in order to collect my card "while you are in Indonesia". Right... let me book that flight ticket right now, not. They are unable to send my card to the hotel, because after all, this would presumably be MUCH too convenient for me.

My next suggestion is to find a branch in Singapore as this will be my next stop after Bali second week of June. Since the Incompetent I was speaking to could not navigate the HSBC Singapore website to find a branch located close to Orchard Road, they suggested I pick one myself. So I go online once more and at 1 am my time I'm on the phone yet again with the address. The response: "they cannot hold the card for more than 2 weeks, so can you please call us back in 2 weeks to remind us to send you the card. We have made a note of the address and all the details in your file."

Is it just me, or is it really worrying that an international bank, the size of HSBC, does not have technology that equals the agenda/alarm function on my 5-year-old mobile phone? By this time I was beaten into submission and simply agreed to the plan.

Which brings me at long last to last night...zee icing on zee cake...

Marisa: I am in Broome and I am calling as arranged to remind you to send my card to Singapore.
Incompetent: I'm just checking the details for you now, please hold
10 minutes later
Incompetent: Mam, which issue # are you expecting on the card?
Marisa: Well, since you cancelled issue #1, and issue #2 was cancelled after it was lost somewhere en route to Perth beginning of May, I'm assuming this would be #3 - but shouldn't YOU be telling ME this?
Incompetent: I'm just checking the details for you now, please hold
5 minutes later
Incompetent: Mam, it looks like the card was already sent to Perth?
Marisa: Yes, as I said before that card was lost in the mail, I'm assuming you put a tracer on it before cancelling it?
Incompetent: Mam, the card issue #2 is an active card.
Marisa: Oh for God's sake, I want to speak to your Manager.
Incompetent: Miss Peek, I will just go find our supervisor for you, please hold
5 minutes later I am joined on the call by the ASSistant Manager
Incompetent AM: Hello Miss Peek, how can I help you ?
Marisa: (5 minute heated diatribe including info above interspersed with repeated references to incompetent department, idiot employees, and choice swear words)
Marisa: Please confirm you have traced the card you lost over 2 weeks ago, cancelled it, and I will receive my new card no later than 7th of June at the Singaporean branch I have specified
Incompetent AM: Mam, I certainly do not understand why you have been given these instructions, would you please hold while I review the details?
Marisa: Do I have a choice? Go ahead...
5 minutes later
Incompetent AM: Mam, it seems the card has not been cancelled. Can you confirm that you did not receive it and you wish to now cancel the card with issue #2?
Marisa: Yes. Duh. I confirmed this 3 times already on the 2nd of May, you may wish to review the tapes of the conversations I had with your employees? I assume you can trace the card that was sent somehow, HSBC would presumably not just lick a stamp and send it out, fingers crossed?
Incompetent AM: Mam, once the card was cancelled, we would not have put a tracer on it.
Marisa: But you just told me the card was not cancelled and asked me if I wanted to have it cancelled now?
Incompetent AM: That is correct, mam.
Marisa: So in the 2 weeks since I gave your team my instructions, you have neither traced nor cancelled the card?
Incompetent AM: Eh, I am unable to confirm those details for you at this time, mam?
Marisa: But that is what you just said?
Incompetent AM: That is correct, mam.

At this point I was about ready to jump through the phone and commit a massacre. Once again, the Incompetent AM couldn't find the branch that was listed on the HSBC Singapore website, so I told him I would go check on its existence once I actually arrived in Singapore and agreed to have my card sent to the main HSBC office in Singapore instead. He helpfully suggested that I could go to their website IF I wished to lodge a complaint... so I told him to effectively stick it, and that I would first publish the tale on my blog (fait accompli), start a smear campaign amongst anyone I know or have yet to meet (please do forward my tale of woe), send a letter to my personal banker, charge back all costs incurred in my attempt to retrieve the card in Singapore (think door-to-door chauffeur-driven limousine) and THEN I might check out the suggestion he provided to me, and that I hoped I would never have to speak to another member of his department ever again.

Me, vengeful? Noooooooooo.

My card should therefore be waiting for me in Singapore on the 7th of June... I am now accepting bets at odds of 100 to 1.

Friday 18 May 2007

Camping, Moi??? You've got to be...oh ok.

So... when I booked this trip, I was aware that the accommodations would be... somewhat basic. I was prepared for large dorms, snoring, sharing bathroom facilities, a general lack of privacy and comfort, and possibly the odd cockroach or two. However, a rickety tent in the middle of nowhere that looked about to collapse... that was not in my imagination. Cool! Another "first" !
Meet our home for the night in the Karijini National Park (it lies
inland, near the mining town of Tom Price and is run by Aboriginals). It is about the only place to spend the night in the vicinity of the gorges. Cooking in the open was an experience, eating even more so. Think: one bite for me, one bite for the mozzies. The insect repellant only seemed to antagonise them even more! Showers and toilets were a 5 minute walk down pitch-black paths and came with their own little residents. It would have been an excellent adventure if it hadn't been for the cold. After weeks of warm weather and even warmer nights, I was cold despite my:
- 2 blankets
- 2 sheets
- New Zealand ski jacket
- jumper
- t-shirt
- pyjamas
- sports socks
- AND beach towel on top!

We got up early to beat the crowds - 3 tour groups, total 50+ people, 2 showers??? you're having a laugh! Well, I had the last laugh because I asked a "rival" group when they were getting up and then set my alarm 15 minutes earlier. :P My dad would've been so proud!


Unfortunately, above are my best pictures of the "hike" - I made it as far as the look-out before I had to practically crawl back to the bus. Camping beds do not agree with my back and I feel really, really, really OLD! Kelly just didn't want to go and we had another invalid on the bus - so we held down the fort while the rest went exploring.


I was on a roll, so I decided to get in another first that day... a blown tire in the middle of nowhere. OK, so I didn't actually have anything to do with it, but I just wanted to mention it! Our driver for this section was absolutely great and managed to get us back on the road again despite a failing jack and other problems. He basically climbed underneath the bus while the group (minus moi & my back) lifted the bus up!


Last overnight stop after another 8 hour bus trip where everyone proceeded to get completely sloshed (did I mention the stop at Liquorland?) was at Pardoo Cattle station - again in the middle of nowhere - which was a veritable RESORT compared to the campsite after I caught and expelled the largest of the resident beasties!

Tuesday 15 May 2007

Swimming with Whale Sharks - the largest Fish in the World!

Today was another FIRST, but this one was certainly uber-special. I went swimming with WHALE SHARKS! Wehey!


The whale shark is the largest fish in the world - they can grow to be up to 18mtrs in length and weigh over 20 tonnes, with a mouth over 1mtr wide! Ours was a "baby" at just under 10mtrs long, but no less impressive. There are only 2 places in the world where these creatures show up reliably each year, and only ONE where you can actually go swim with them!!!


We left at 7am to make our way to the boat - I went with Kelly and Sara in the picture on the left (I'm the one squinting into the sun far left...). A little dingy took us to the main boat which then pulled up anchor and took us to a snorkelling spot about 30 minutes away to test equipment (and presumably to check that we could swim adequately!)


Valentina, the photographer on board, had the camera of all cameras - a true monster of a machine. I was snorkelling unsuspectingly when she suddenly appeared before me. What the picture doesn't show is me gasping, grimacing, the water rushing into my mask, forcing me up to the surface to splutter because I still can't breathe under water. I KNEW I should have tried mastering that after sledging in New Zealand...


After this we crossed over the fringing reef into the main ocean, where we waited for the spotter planes to find us a shark! We were all quite happily chatting, having a cool drink, sunning ourselves etc when suddenly the engines revved and we were off chasing through the water. Our boat was the first of 3 dive boats to arrive, so we got to go in first. Now, rationally, I knew all I had been told, the safety warnings, the process of getting in and getting out, when to stop and what to look for... but nothing prepared me for the huge dark shape slowly circling just below the surface of the water about 20 metres from the edge of the boat. My heart was racing, even more than just before my skydive, when I realised I was just about to jump into the ocean with a pair of flippers, a snorkel and mask, and swim ALONGSIDE A 10 METRE SHARK?!?!?!?! Ok, so the shark is a vegetarian, and unless I position myself unluckily right in front of its gaping maw, it won't want to ingest me... but still... having been traumatised at an early age by jaws, my imagination was running amock! However, like a lamb to the slaughter, I dutifully followed the orders to "go go go!!!" and jumped in, spluttered when the mask filled with water, swam after the "spotter" and suddenly caught my first glimpse of the behemoth under water. I'm usually a good snorkeller, but it took me a few moments to realise that I was forgetting to breathe (the whole point of having a snorkel).


The best shots from my crappy underwater instant camera

The Professional's shots...


No contest whatsoever! If you look closely at the middle picture of the professional shots, you can just about see a tiny blip that's someone snorkelling along on the other side of the shark - that's me!!! I was sick of getting flippers in my face from the other divers, so I decided to swim around the shark to the other side... never done anything more freakily scary than trying to navigate around such a huge wild animal out of my element while all the warnings "stay-3-metres-away-from-the-body-and-4-metres-from-tail-one-swipe-of-their-tail-could-seriously-injure-you-don't-antagonise-don't-touch-if-it-changes-direction-try-to-stay-out-of-its-way-if-you-get-into-trouble-surface-and-raise-your-hand-and-the-boat-will-try-to-come-to-you" just rushed through my mind.



In total we got to go in 3 times to swim with the whale shark - its amazing how after the initial FREAK-OUT, it all seems so normal and easy. It was truly amazing, possibly the best thing I have ever done!
But then again, plenty more places to see and things to do...

Saturday 12 May 2007

You thorny devil, you!

Hah! Saw my first Thorny Devil today. No, it's not a nickname for an evil Englishman with bad hair (what's with that gel-spiked-hairdo they all have???), it is in fact another example of an Australian Roadkill-Wannabe...


Our busdriver Nathan (that's him on the left...errr...licking Kelly?!) was happily (presumably) tootling along on the highway and we were all laughing and minding our own business, when he suddenly slammed on the brakes and I therefore landed wedged somewhat upside down inbetween my seat and Kelly's in front of me. Nathan, parked on the side of the road, opened the door and stormed out. After picking ourselves off the floor, we all looked at each other in utter confusion. All, except for Michelle that is. The Irish lass had been on Nathan's bus since Perth and knew the drill: grab your camera, Nathan spotted something.


Lo-and-behold, Nathan had run back down the highway a good 150mtrs to collect this little fellow:


Of course he then had to return it to exactly the same spot where he'd found it or it would have died, so cue another sprint by Nathan with cargo while we all admired our photos!

The remainder of the trip to Exmouth was relatively uneventful - a gazillion termite mounds, EVERYWHERE. In the afternoon we spent a few quality hours at Turquoise Bay - a lovely beach in the Cape Range National Park. Followed by a group BBQ at the caravan park... how Aussie!


Friday 11 May 2007

I swam with sharks... not intentionally!

I'm in Coral Bay - its *gasp* even smaller than Denham! It has only 1 supermarket! But it's larger than Monkey Mia and the room has airconditioning! I got the bed right beneath the freezing stream - so for the first time in a week, I actually had to go get a blanket to survive the night! The hostel is quite nice, with its own swimming pool and only a 5 minute stroll down to the beach.



I Went snorkelling on Ningaloo Reef last 2 days - it doesn't look anything like the pictures on the postcards - grey and brown coral - but it has the most AMAZING array of fish. I just couldn't stop looking at all the different colours, sizes, and types. And guess what? They all happily live right next door to each other, miding their own business, like a huge happy piscean family. Funnily enough, they all seemed to be just as curious about me as I was about them. Or maybe they though they were safe from being eaten just by hanging around with larger prey? Ah...




I spotted a turtle yesterday, a stingray today, and have had 3 sightings of a shovel-nosed shark! Apparently this is incredibly rare - especially since I was standing in waist-high water just off the beach, minding my own business adjusting the strap on the snorkel. I just happened to try to wash my mask and as it went into the water, I spotted a shark's tail about 1 metre in length right in front of me. I'd like to say I kept my cool, but I so did not! Although, first priority was to call out to Sara (who has the underwater camera that actually takes recognisable shots) before manically trying to get away. Apparently they don't "eat" humans. To me, a shark is a shark is a shark and I'm not sticking around to test the theory! This had so spooked me (and Sara) that we had another freak-out moment when what-looked-like-a-manta-ray came in close and and we both scrambled for shallower water. Again, a fish that apparently doesn't eat humans. Pity I didn't know that at the time!



Even just standing knee-deep in the water, there are lots of massive Snapper fish, which just swim along, stalking you. Hence Sara aptly renamed them "Stalker Fish". We went on a glass-bottomed boat today, stopping at several snorkelling spots on the reef. Unfortunately, I was severely traumatised when a mean-spirited fellow traveller threw in fish food around me as I was trying to climb back onto the boat... the feeding frenzy was unreal! I had Snappers jumping out of the water around me, smaller fish trying to butt me out of the way, and fish fins flying everywhere. I nearly drank the ocean (as opposed to just a river in New Zealand).



The pictures below were taken with my underwater instant-camera...not bad! Left is the mass of fish that was swirling around me!


Tuesday 8 May 2007

Monkey Mia - feeding Dolphins on the beach!

My next stop is Monkey Mia - a place with no USB ports and crappy Internet - but also the place of dolphins-feeding on the beach, pelicans galore, wide sandy beaches and possibly one of the nicest hostels so far! Yeah! Clean (a definite plus), set right on the edge of the beach, with a fan in the room if no aircon, and dryers for our washing, its a veritable oasis. And like an oasis, its surrounded by absolute nothingness. Bliss for a few days of working on the as yet non-existent tan!








Monkey Mia has had a dolphin feeding programme for over 30 years, and some of the dolphins that still come up to the beach are from the very first group that was approached all those years ago. See! I DID pay attention to the guide during the feeding while taking all those cutesy-wutesy-dinky pictures!




The dolphins come up to the beach to be fed up to 3 times a day - while we were there it started at 07:30 and they completed the third feeding by 09:30am. They only get a few fish so they still need to go hunt for the remainder of their daily requirement - but hey, a free fish is a free fish, right?! (un)Fortunately I wasn't one of the people picked to feed the dolphins, but that's ok because:


a) I didn't want to touch the fish


b) I didn't want to put my ankles anywhere near the dolphins' teeth


c) I realise that my "cute" years are far behind me, bribes make the world go round, and life is all downhill from here...

Look, after all the cuteness of the dolphins, the blazing sunshine, the wide open sandy beach, the idyllic weather, the flowers on the verandah, I needed to counter-balance all that positivity with some depressing reality. But let's not harp on it and move on to the amazing pelicans!



Sacriligious though it may be, I actually liked the pelicans better than the dolphins! Shhhhhhh.... don't tell anyone, but I actually took more pictures of the pelicans than of the dolphins. :)