Stu's Travels

January 4th, Glebe, Sydney

The overnight bus took me to melbourne, Australia's most Southerly city, and as a result its' coldest. When I think back now to Cairns' nagging heat and sapping humidity, it's almost impossible to believe I'm in the same country.

Melbourne is easily the most European city I've been to here- the buildings are Victorian, the trams are oddly quaint, and the climate is most definately British, even during summer.

Luckily, I was able to stay with Morty and Kirsten, friends I had met on the African leg of my trip, who lived just a short tram ride from the city centre. This also meant i had much more money to spend on partying, which was lucky because it wasn't long before I met up with Dave, Will, and Ed from Uni.

Melbourne has a lot to offer- one night we went to the Moonlight Cinema, an open-air movie in the beautiful Botanical Gardens, to see "Ferries Bueller's big Day Off". A big, goon-fuelled party ensued back at the boys' hostel bar, in which I promptly broke my camera by dropping it, only to fix it by dropping it again! It was great fun catching up with everyone again, recounting stories from our travels and the good old days back in Nottingham.

Christmas Day turned out to be one of the unexpected highlights of my trip to Australia. I had the house to myself, and seeing as all travellers become orphans at Christmas I invited Will, Ed, and Dave and their roomates at their hostel Jamie, Miriam, Al, Chris, and Rica over for a backpackers Christmas Dinner.

Miriam did an incredible job by putting on a huge spread- we had salmon and prawns to start, followed by roast chicken AND beef with all the trimmings, and we all over-ate to extremes you only seem to manage at Christmas.

We also had a Secret Santa, which included some classic presents (I got a traditional aussie hat complete with dangling corks), and sat around digesting the epic dinner with a beer watching movies. I d have to say that, because we all expected very little from our Christmas day for a change, it turned out to be one of the best Christmasses ever.

Boxing Day is particularly important in Australia because its the start of the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG or simply, The G). Although we had already lost the Ashes, everyone still hoped we could bring out a performance against the rampant Aussies. Unfortunately,it wasnt to be, and we lost within 3 days!

Nevertheless, we went to both the second and thrid days, and hd a great time. From the way the Barmy Army sang, you would have though we were 3-0 up not 3-0 down. On day 2, we managed to get some great seats right in the middle of the Army, probable only 3 rows away from Jimmy Saville (the Armys unofficial leader), and right next to an aussie making a documentary on life in the greatest supporters club in the world.

Even though we were losing, we had a great couple of days singing the songs, taunting the far-too-quiet Aussies, and generally enjoying being on holiday. When the game had finished towards the end of Day 3, Will and I stayed behind with the Army to chant the songs, including a 30 minute rendition of:

We are the army, the barmy army,
We are mental, we are mad,
We are the loyalest cricket supporters,
That the World has ever had.

Over, and over, and over again! We stayed behind for at least an hour after everyone else had gone home.

The MCG itself was epic- with a capacity of one-man-and-his-dog shy of 100,000, the atmosphere was just incredible. Its not your traditional cricket ground (its infact more like a Colosseum), but the noise levels out in the middle must make it a deafening cauldron. On top of this its clean and theres no queues- certainly the best sports stadium I ve been to.

We then met up with Paul Reynolds and his brother Jack, and took the overnight bus back up to Sydney. Arriving at 6am with no accomodation booked over the busiest time of the year, with both the famous New Years Eve celebrations and the Final Test in Town, it was an experience to say the least! Admittedly at one stage we did have two dorm beds between 6 of us, but hey, it all sorted itself out in the end- another case of the Australian Motto "No Worries" ringing true.

We then headed over to Darling Point to welcome in 2007, which gave us some spectacular views of Sydney Harbour, the Bridge, the Opera House,and the best New Years Eve fireworks display in the world. There were between 1 and 2 million EXTRA people in Sydney that night, so we counted oursleves lucky to stumble accross at great vantage point where you could picnic and drink on the harbourside.

After a wonderful fireworks display, many a drink, and New Years Resolutions that had been broken ten minutes into 2007 (Dave claimed he was going to quit smoking!), we had to walk back into the city centre to find another party, but everyone seemed to be heading home. So, by 5.30, with everyone drifting off to sleep in Hyde Park, we trudged to our hostel in Kings Cross with all our luggage, to crash on the sofas there before our 11am check-in.

The first day of 2007 was largely a non-event, recovering from the night before through the best hangover cure of all- sleep. The next day we got up early, to get to the first day of the final test at the SCG. Again, we had a great time, made better by the fact that England were actually playing better in this match.

I should explain, that going to the SCG fulfilled a boyhood dream of mine- ever since Nick Brothers pointed out that they are also my initials when we were 7 have I wanted to go. The groung is much smaller than the MCG, but still holds nearly 45,000, and is much more like a traditional English ground with its Victorian pavillion.

But it was at tea on the when I realised just how much fun I was having- sat reading the paper with a beer in your hand, the sun beating down, and England on-top at the Sydney Cricket Ground really does take some beating.

This feeling was made evn sweeter when I realised that this time last year I was cramming in the Hallward Library in Nottingham for the first half of my finals. I can now report that it was all worth it... every bloody minute... just to be sat here! Looking back at the hard times really does make you appreciate the good ones all the more.

So I m now sat at my hostel in Glebe, Sydney, with England looking like they re going down 5-0 and only 3 nights to go before I leave Australia. I m going up the Sydney Tower later today, before preparing myseld for the final leg of my trip, to Peru.

Australia really has been good fun. While it lacks the jaw-dropping scenery and challenges of Africa, it is fun in different ways. The backpacking culture really is something else- people are friendly because they genuinely want to be, and take life at their own, laid-back pace.

I ve had some great times here, seen some wonderful places and made some good friends, but still havent seen a fraction of the country. I m sure I ll be back- I d love to do the West Coast and the Outback- and the country is so diverse there is no way you can take it all in at once.

I m leaving behind a lovely country, but moving on an equally intriguing one in Peru. As long as I can get there ok after on my 30- hour journey, I can t wait to finish this 5 months in style with one final treat- seeing the lost Inca city of Macchu Picchu at sunrise. Can there be anything more awe-inspiring?