this year.

In less than 24h I will board a train on my way to Sydney Airport to begin my ’round Australia Tour (self proclaimed). I suppose it is fitting then that this is also the 300th post on my blog. Many of you may be thinking, “Isn’t he supposed to be going to school down there?” and you’d be right. The reason I am able to make this tour is because we get about month off between the Autumn term and the Spring term. Others out there may be wondering where this ’round Australia Tour will take me, and for those I provide the following general guide.

My tour (*note: this is not a purchased tour, I just like using the term ‘tour’ to describe it as ‘trek’ just didn’t feel right) begins with a flight from Sydney to Adelaide. From Adelaide I will board a bus and head due north making a stop in Cobber Pedy before reaching Alice Springs. Alice Springs is the common starting point for venturing to Uluru (aka Ayers Rock), and I’ll be making the same trip. A note here, it makes much more sense to stop off at Uluru on the way to Alice from Adelaide (as it’s on the way) but I am meeting two friends in Alice to venture to Uluru. Hence my path. Continuing on. After spending 3 days in and around Uluru I will board a bus and continue my trip north towards Darwin. Darwin is a solid 3 day (average days) driving from Alice. On my way to Darwin I will be making a lay over in a small town called Daly Waters. Why would I stop in a one pub town in the middle of nowhere? Easy, Mr. Clelland has found him self there working at a pub. It seems the drive to Darwin from Alice was to much for him so he decided to break it up. We plan to take a few days and drive off into the outback, with little but some maps to guide us (well, and some good advice and his new GPS device). After Daly I continue to Darwin where I’ll take a 3 day tour of the Kakadu National Park. From Darwin I fly to Cairns via a mining town called Nhulunbuy. In Cairns I will dive the Great Barrier Reef then work my way down the east coast stopping in Townsville (with a visit to Magnetic Island), Airlie Beach (to sail the Whitsundays), Rainbow Beach (to drive Fraser Island), Noosa Heads (to surf and visit Steve Irwin’s Zoo), and finally to Brisbane to fly home. It looks like my total kilometers traveled will be in the 11,000 to 12,000 range. Total cost? Priceless.

I hope to post a bit from the road, but don’t think I’ll be able to post many photos. I imagine I’ll make some paper notes, some short blog posts, then wrap it all up properly once I return in mid July.

See you all on the road.

I headed up to Sydney the other night to attend the Sloan concert. Sloan is currently on a mini Australian tour and played two nights at the Spectrum, a bar roughly the size of a postage stamp. It’s good fun seeing bands in small venues, and this was no exception. The place was packed with a largely Australian crowd — many who had been out the previous night and came back for more. The one thing I can say definitively about the show is that it was loud. My ears were ringing after the opening song of the supporting act and I half expected to see some blood seeping out. I’ve heard loud before, but this topped them all.

Sloan played for over 90 minutes and hit most of the tunes I was looking for. They seemed to be having a good time and enjoying the Australian love. I was surprised by the number of people yelling out song titles and singing along. I didn’t get to hear Other Man, but they did close off the encore with Underwhelmed — probably one of the best songs ever written. The only downside about going to concerts in Sydney is that it’s a commitment. The last train home is at 12:10am with the next one leaving at 4:45am. It’s an all-nighter, so thankfully many establishments are keen to keep you entertained well into the morning. Photos from the show can be seen on flickr.

photo by Habsag.

A storm currently rages along the NSW coast bringing 10.5 foot swells here in Wollongong, rain, wind, and even a tanker. In Newcastle the coal tanker Pasha Bulker broke it’s mooring and washed onto Nobby’s Beach. More images on flickr.

photo by Yooper shooter.

I have spent the past two weekends attending the PADI Open Water course (via Scuba n’ Surf, highly recommended) in order to obtain my scuba diving certification. The first weekend was theory and pool work, while the second weekend was open water diving (i.e. the ocean) at Bass Point, which is 20 minutes south of Wollongong near Shellharbour. Bass Point is supposedly a Gray Nurse Shark breeding sanctuary, and when we arrived some spear fishers were coming out of the water because the sharks were getting a bit aggressive, but we didn’t see them. I also heard a crazy Great White story after the first dive on Sunday — but that deserves a post all its own.

I put on my scuba gear, my mask, my regulator, and I fell into the ocean, with nary a sound, ‘cept maybe a ‘phhluunk’. And then I was underwater.It is an interesting feeling to be 18m beneath the waters surface, swimming with the fishes and experiencing a whole new world. The hardest part about scuba diving thus far is obtaining neutral buoyancy while minimizing excess body movements (i.e. flailing arms to stay balanced). By the fourth and final dive on Sunday I had improved, but still have some work to do. I had some trouble equalizing my ears on the way down, and ended up with a plugged left ear after my final dive on Sunday (from coming back up). There is no pain, so I haven’t damaged it. On seeing a Doctor he confirmed the prognosis: I probably blew some fluids into the ear canal when equalizing, and they need to come out. He recommended some allergy medication to dry out the sinuses. This is the same thing the diving instructor told me to do, and he even said a lot of people take it before diving to prevent my problem. I think I’ve had improvement since I took my first pill yesterday.

I don’t think scuba diving will become a regular hobby for me, but it is n fun experience and I look forward to diving the Great Barrier Reef in July.