Fly And Arrive (16&17th Jan)

So, flying Korean Airlines wasn't too bad, though I dont think I'm gonna develop a habit of Korean food. It was generally ok but there's only so much soggy airline rice I can put up with. However Rice Cakes are sooo yummy: like sweet uncooked dough with a squidgey chocolatey inside. Yum yums.

And seeing South East Asia from the air at night was beautiful! Like passages of orange between islands of light. Still not sure if they were real islands or not...
And then seeing Australia for the first time at about 5am.
Completely perfect sunrise; proper midnight sky with a perfect array of blue, yellow and orange, with silhouetted clouds. Very very pretty!

Then after a very brief getting through customs (stupidly quick) and not being able to find the right persons to meet me at the airport, out to Brisbane.
The day itself in Brisbane was quite sleepy and uneventful. I'd only had about 3hours sleep in 2days! But the evening was brilliant.
Could fall in love with that city at night.
So many pretty lights but can easily find peace and quiet to just enjoy.
Went for a walk down the South Bank of the river. Well worth the walk. Was tempted to hire a city bike and cycle down the river. Glad I didn't because I ended up having some brilliant encounters.
First with Australian wildlife. Namely bats and possums! The bats were so huge I couldn't work out at first if they were bats or birds. And the possums... so cute. Like the equivalent to squirrels!

And then the best part of my Brisbane wander, meeting a group of random lovely people. Casually walking along by the river and happened to here a reference to Doctor Who, which led me to an encounter to a group of brilliant people, one of whom was a brilliant street busker, and another who was such a lovely fangirl, in love with BBC programming.

Anyway, onwards to Rainbow Beach!

Leaving Tomorrow!

... Well actually leaving today, or already left!!! Finishing the rounds of goodbyes and staying with grandparents in Cambridgeshire tonight to be closer to the airport!
Flying away at 20:05 tomorrow!

So I have already packed.... one big case!!!

That's it. The next year in one big bag.

And in the bag...

Shorts! Plenty of pairs! (one of which has gone into hand luggage)

T-shirts, and a couple of long sleeveds so I don't get too sunburnt =)

Swimmy stuffs (and a spare)

A dress and a skirt for niceties.

Work clothes (that probably make up most of the weight)

And a couple of warm things, just in case I do get cold out there.

So that constitutes a years worth of clothes, supposedly. And theres a rain coat in there somewhere...

Few extra little bits... spare glasses, first aid kit, head torch, towel, sleeping bag liner, notepad, alarm clock, plug bits and of course a disposable camera because it's fun.

So that's it, give or take a couple of things. 23kg hold luggage allowance and I use about 14ish.

Shockingly carry on luggage is about 12kg allowance.... thats huge! I may have managed about 4kg...

Book

Journal

Spare Clothes

Kindle (with lots of free books)

Visa, Insurance and Flight details.

Camera (with spare batteries and SD Cards)

And possibly a couple of other things.

Anyhoop off I disappear. Internet connections maybe a bit sketchy while I'm away, outback isn't renowned for it's wifi, Kangaroos have yet to be adapted to carry wireless adapters in their pouches.

And before I go; and image and a song:

A very BIG country

Au revoir mes amis!

T-minus 4 months... Progress.

Whey!!!
I have finally booked my flights! Travel Insurance is sorted. List now consists of visa and Australian bank account.... And a hotel in London for January 14th before my flight.

So for a few more details so you actually know what I'm doing....

Flying from Gatwick on the 15th of January, 20:40.

Not sure what time arrival in S.Korea is on the 16th but depart at 19:35 (looking forward to the flight back just for the 12 or so hours in Korea... not that I'll get to see much but my hotel room I'm sure)

Anyway, touch down in Brisbane at 06:20 on the 17th!

... And then a day in Brisbane... must write a mini list of things to do and see there... not too stressful. Long flight.
Then after a night in a hostel it's off to Rainbow Beach (only a 3 and a half hour journey) for a weekend of relaxing, recovering, beach, boat trips, surfing, quad biking.... or anything else I happen to want to do there....

Monday work starts... To the training farm in Goomeri where I will spend the week being taught the essentials of farm work, including how to ride horses, motorbikes, tractors; to use a chainsaw; fencing, and; how to muster cattle... I will so be able to use a lasso by the time I come home.
Then by the end of the week I will have hopefully been offered a job and be off somewhere into the outback...

The first job is guaranteed with the company I'm going with (oysterworldwide) and that can be up to 6months. After that I want to do a bit of travelling hopefully, possibly go to Kangaroo Island, and maybe even for a couple of weeks in New Zealand, I'll book that when I'm there though, should be cheaper that way... Then back on the books for another job...

So yeah... now you know generally what I'm going to be up to for the next year...
A few facts...

• The Outback covers about 70% of Australia's landmass.
• The Australian Outback covers roughly 2.5 million square miles.
• That's about 30 times the size of the UK, (about the size of the entirety of Europe!)
• Farms can be about 200 kilometers from the nearest town.
• Temperatures can range from 50'C on summer days (when I'll be arriving) to -10'C on winter nights.

Scale image.

And another song...

 

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Getting Started

So here we go. So most of you I'm sure know by now that the plan is I am off to spend 2013 in Australia. 
I will be flying out on the 15th of January, spending a couple of days on Rainbow Beach, going to a training farm, then spending the rest of the year working on various ranches in the Australian outback. Hopefully I shall be able to keep up some kind of contact during that time.


We're currently at T-minus 6months... with a lot to sort out before then, most important I would say are: insurance, flights and visa. The former being quite simple, the latter two presenting the problems. One of the terms of applying for the visa is you must have a return or onward flight... simple enough... Now flights... it would be easy enough to get a flexible return date but do I want to come straight back? or, do I want to go to NZ for a few weeks before coming back? what to do??? The sooner I decide, the sooner I can book flights, the cheaper it will be... what to do?




And a song I rather like at the moment...