Last Blog for a while

Ok so here is the deal I have had One Kickass time In Australia due in part (in a large Part) to tall the fantastic people I have met.

Greta has been a star for the past week here in Melbourne so visit her site
handsupwholikesme.blogspot.com.

Just this morning we had a lazy think in and came up with a genius idea for a short film about a girl who has soap for arms...

Yes I will be writing it soon

And they say the drugs don't work

More importantly I fly to Singapore today, for 2 days then off to Japan. Talk about crazy! I have a rail pass for Japan that will let me travel any where in japan for 1 week!

So Since I don't know when I will be able to Blog again in the immediate future let me just say that I am still alive, well and fit (cycled 24KM yesterday... Long story).

Any way... Will catch you all later.

and if any one can find me a job by the time I get Back I would be grateful!!

Some new photos up online now

Just to say that I have now loaded up a new images to my Flickr account.
Check them out:

Sydney - Part 2
Melbourne
Canberra- Australia's capital
Great ocean road Day trip

Canberra

Ahh this is so good I am now getting virtually up to date here!

Ok so I spent about 4 days in all in Canberra and obviously the main reason for this was to visit Questacon, THE Australian Science centre.

Day 1:
It was an early bus that left around about 8.00 am, especially with the night before being my last night in Sydney. But it did get in to Canberra at about 12.00. it had been a while since I had carried so much stuff with me.

Mainly since I had the opportunity to store stuff with kath and Emma I had been traveling light down the East Coast. Since I had Not heard from my contact in Canberra/Questacon, I booked into the Hostel accommodation for 2 nights I knew I would probably stay more than that, but at least it meant that it was out of the way.

I do believe that I bummed a little bit around town all day and then promptly found myself falling asleep at 20.00. but not before I made contact with Lish and arranged to meet up with her the next day.

Day 2:
The morning saw me going to the local park where they had a flower competition/display on. All very nice but the weird and the cool bit was finding a gnome coloring/painting competition. Schools and businesses had submitted a load of rock and roll inspired gnomes... My favorite was this kiss one.

But the afternoon was more important than kiss ( I know what a thing to say!). That was of course me Visiting Questacon. It was great to see Lish Again. I hadn't seen her since London just before I quit my job there.

Any way she got me into the science centre and I got the chance to look around the centre, it is so good they have genuinely good interactives. Ones that actually get people to think. But enough of my old shop talk. In the afternoon they gave me the chance to use the internet and talk to some of the teams there. They indigenous communities programme is pretty amazing, I would so love to be involved with that programme.

Lish then lent me one of her cycles for the night and before I headed back to my hostel we had a quick pint at her local. Oh and some great beer batter chips!

Day 3:
The previous day I had agreed to do a talk for a questacon about adult programming and the Dana centre. So at 12.oo at sat down at a computer terminal and about 1 1/2 hours later I had Put together an amazing 24 slide power point presentation. I then gave a 40 min presentation of what they should and shouldn't be doing as well as an amazing history of the Dana centre Project.

What was most amazing was the fact that after not having been working at the place all the information was still in my head like a form of brain washing.

Then I was introduced to the Director of Questacon, Graham Durant, who I had a beer with up in his office, talk about classy.

The evening saw me having a lovely meal with Lish and one of her friends who worked at csiro, another science communication place in Canberra. I was good to have a good old gossip about Science communicators in the UK. Then It was off to a local folk playing bar for a quick bevy. Then to sleep at Lish's House for one night. Lish was kind enough to let me stay at hers and it meant I did not have to spend more money at a hostel.

Day 4:
Ok time for some serious tourist stuff around Canberra on what was to be My last day. I went and headed to the New parliament buildings as well as the old one and the portrait gallery.

I saw an Exhibition of Cecil beaton Photos as well as some thing about foreign reporting by ABC.

Ahhhh the culture flowing through my veins.

It was a late night Bus to Melbourne and got there the following day at 07.30 in the morning!phew

OK I am going to get this one done quickly

A week in Sydney.

For the purposes of trying to drag this blog some where relatively near to where I am time wise. I am going to purely write up the highlight of my last days in sydney before I headed off to Canberra and the south.

The only problem Is that I did not keep the extensive notes that I should have on my time there so this will have to be brief.

• Went to the Maritime Museum.
• Spent loads of time in the Global Gossip on george street doing net stuff
• slept badly on the overnight bus from Byron bay and arived wasy to early 5.00am
• Last two days Angelika caught up with me again and we did loads of tourist stuff
• Had an amazing dinner/night out, in Darling Harbour
• Crashed at Kath and Emma's again
• Went to see the Syndey Football/soccar team play (they have Dwight Yorke)
• Got into a free Architects party (with a free bar) and huddled underneath the heater all night
• Went to the top of the brick pylons on the sydney harbour bridge.
• Purchased a cheesy $100 bill design towel from Paddy's market.
• Went to the old observatory in Sydney.
• Said goodbye to Angelika, My semi travelling companion of the east coast, I was heading to Canberra, She was flying back to Switzerland from syndey.... Boo hoo.

• Left for Canberra

I am sure there was more stuff that I did, but to be honest I don't have the time to go into all of it now. So I will leave it as written above.If you want o know more ask me when I get back.

Byron Bay

Sept 12 - Day 20
Phew getting through this so well This was the day I went surfing then left for an over night bus to sydney.. So since I already have written about this I can skip to the next day. hooray! I have so much to write up on this damnable blog.

Brisbane leaving

Day 19 - September 11th
So I Had the morning of doing pretty much doing exactly what I had been doing the night before. Absolutely bugger all. I knew Angeleika was getting into town for about lunch time, but that I was also going to be heading on at about 17.00. Which was cool because it meant I got to spend time with some one I knew. I did However see this Psycho old guy who was annoying everyone in Noosa. And pretty much looked like he was doing the same thing again in this hostel as well.

Lunch was at an Irish pub and a cold pint of Guinness was exactly what I needed. After walking around town and going through the Botanical Gardens with Angelika. We suddenly realized that I might miss the Bus. it was Like Magnetic Island all over again. it was a mad dash across town to collect bags, then to the bus terminal with 5 min to spare. Phew....

Byron bay was the next destination for me, I wouldn't bump into Angelika until a week later in Sydney. When arriving at the hostel was a little bit out of town so myself and two French people had to call them to collect us. It was not a nice hostel. Especially when I got the room I put down my bags and put some stuff on the bed. Then later on I went back to my room and there was someone sleeping in it.

I found out that the miserable bastard who was at reception had given me the wrong key. What an idiot.

Jesus!

Any way got to sleep after watching Australian Idol.. Though my sense of taste and culture felt sullied.

Brisbane Bound

Day 18 - 10th Sept
After all the time in Noosa it was time to head on tothe next destination. Bisbane. Angelika was going to stay there for a day extra so as to able to go to the australia Zoo.

I myself was off brisbane for one night only. I had a free night there with my package deal for the whole of this leg of the travels. I did not care much for doing anything big in the city since i have allready done a big city llike sydney and also I knew I would be spending time with Greta in Melbourne.

I basically got to the city and spent a good 2 hours uploading and blogging.
I really should have moe to report on this but it was a day of nothing ness. I spent the evening watching a bad UK film called Purely Belter. It was around this point in time that I was starting to realise that my shoes where starting to get a bit funny.

I like to ride my Bicycle.

Day 17 - September 9th

We had a plan Angelika and myself, we wanted to cycle around town and see some more of te coastline. With outhe ability or legal right to hire a car we went for hiring bikes. which at $15 for the day was a bargin.

We headed out early and cycled west first of all andsaw some of the great house's that I am sure cost a bomb. Noosa is also known for it's fine dining/cuisine and witheh restaurants we saw along the way that would not surprise me.

Unfortuntely we made a sort of a wronf turn and we spent about 1-2 hours going through the less nice side of Noosa. The area where all the building centres are. But we did get back to the nice part fo town ad go around some nice bits of parks. A quick stop at coles to collect our lunch/picnic.

Off to the end of the spit of Noosa Beach. An afternoon spent just lazing in the sun... In fact i lazed out so much that I fell asleep. Angelika took advantage of this to cover me in sand. Lovely.

I prepared another dinner for us and yet again (unintentionally it was pasta again, how mundane) and we jsut had alvely night together watching noosa from the balcony of the hostel.

New day

Day 16 -8 September
Again there was not much to do early in the morning so I sat and read some more Of Henry Miller. I knew that Angelika would be coming along at about 10.00am and that after having got an over night bus would be completely out of it.

Went down to meet her at the bus stop and helped her carry the stuff up to the hostel. It has to be said it is good to have a semi-traveling companion for this part of Australia.

Angelika was pretty much ready and raring to hit the beach early on. So we grabbed some boogie boards and headed for Noosa beach.

Though unlike Aeirlee and magnetic island it was now m turn to be un tired and listless. Which did eventually get to the point were there was a sand fight... I lost... i had sand in every part of my body.

One of the best things about the hostel in which I stayed was the fact they had deal sand coupons for all over town. This included the ice cream parlor. I did not think it was possible to eat too much ice cream... But I think I did at this place..ow ow ow.

the next stop during the afternoon was the national park (again for me) but for angelika the first time. it was a beautiful walk along the coastline mainly because we could tick off more animal that we had seen wild in Australia. Out in tea bay there was a pack of Dolphins swimming around, Koalas hanging around, possums moving through the trees and wild turkeys all over the place.

On the way back I took some amazing pictures of the sunset that I won't ever forget.. The sun turned to this tangerine orange as it set over the sea and sand.

Back at the hostel it was an evening filled with the following
1/2 bottle of shiraz
Pool games
Table football (I want one for my own house)
a shooter cocktail
and about 2hrs of playing the card game shit head with some of the English crew in the hostel.

Sleep beckoned soon after.

New video

Just to let you know that I have created another video from my photos. This one is from Fiji and the music is a traditional fijian dance/song type thing... enjoy.

http://www.gaetanlee.com/video/fiji.wmv