It was a reasonably early start on the 27th for the trip to Oz, I was dropped off in Taupo centre and picked up the Naked Bus (just a company don’t worry) to Hamilton. I had planned to be met by Christian one of the German Gappy’s also at Marks school and he was going to take me to Auckland airport. I had a slight scare when his phone was off and I couldn’t get through till about half an hour away, but luckily he was there and I made it to the airport on time. I had to get the taxi to Spencer’s in Sydney where I was staying for a week with all the other Gordon’s boys who were meeting in Sydney for New Years. Matt, Adam’s brother, saw me in the cab before their road and he took me to their house. Dan, who lived with me in the Annex had arrived that morning, and had brought out some things from home, mainly my Morphsuit, which I will get to later, new white woolly hat after my other one was nicked and two packets of lime Doritos which I had missed for so long. Cameron was there as well who we had bumped into on state highway one. Us four then went straight out to the local restaurant/ pub and caught up on the last few months. The weather in Sydney the next day was amazing, not a cloud in the sky and 28 degree heats. So we hit the beach. Played a legendary game of bums involving to ozzies as well. And I started work on my tan, not before getting slightly burnt. On the 29th Jake flew in from Perth, he had moved out there with his family from Gordon’s at the end of Year!!. So I did my first driving in Australia, only after Cam wasn’t trusted behind the wheel after an interesting attempt at reversing out the drive. We spent the afternoon, relaxing in Spencer’s pool which over looked the whole of Mosman. Finally the rest of the group arrived on the 30th, Monty and Sewell both flew in and when they arrived we turned them around and all went out for some more drinks at the pub.

Then came New Years Eve, which will go down as probably my best ever. I had mentioned the Morphsuit earlier; basically they are an all in one lycra skin tight suit that comes in different colours. They had started to become popular and after Dan bought the first one for Halloween, Chris and I had decided to get them for The Wellington Sevens as our costume. Adam had also got given one for his birthday and so there were four of us Dan in green, Chris is silver, Adam in Orange and Me in Red. We decided that we would take them to the Opera house on New Year’s Eve and see the kind of reception we got. But first when we started the walk to the ferry we found out through Adam’s mum that her friend had seen us in town walking past Nicole Kidman, shame it’s fuzzy to see through the suits as we missed that. Immediately everyone was giving us so much attention, we jumped a huge queue to get into the Opera house grounds where thousands had lined up to watch the fireworks. We started having so many people coming up wanting pictures, but unfortunately we had also attracted the attention of security. One woman asking me what our intentions were and finding out with her boss whether it was okay. They didn’t take too kindly when I put my hat down and tried to get money off all the people wanting pictures. As more security came we started to move but found ourselves cornered. Then two guys said it was time to leave and were walking us out, I thought maybe if we were to unzip the hood we may be able to have a serious conversation, but on doing so I realised the guy was a absolutely huge body guard with tattoos all over his face. So hood back on we quickened up the pace and left. We then walked around town had a few more pictures before we noticed a guy sitting outside a bar having a pint who looked remarkably like a guy from Gordon’s. After debating about it Jake asked and yeah he had gone there, he obviously didn’t recognise us as he was about 5 years older than us, but still a really weird coincidence. We then headed back to Spencer’s to get ready for the party. After we had been drinking for a while we had a long hour and half walk to one of Spencer's friends party, his flat over looked the harbour so we could see the fireworks. It was an interesting night in which I didn’t get back to Spencer’s till I11am and Spencer’s mum saying she was pretty worried about me! So a very interesting New Years and one that was very memorable.
We had planned to leave to travel up the coast on the 4th of Jan, so the next few days were just spent relaxing and going out to town, however I started to come down ill, and on the day we were getting ready to go I realised I had tonsillitis. So instead of being able to lie down on the sofa and getting waited on hand and foot, we were going to be travelling, going out and sleeping roughly. Dan Creagan who was a Gappy from just over a year ago was taking us up the coast in his mum’s car, and Dan Adam and Cameron were going up in Adams friend’s car. So we set off on the first leg which was only a three hour drive to Forster. This was only a small place on the beach and we were meant to stay there a night, but there was absolutely no accommodation, luckily Dan had brought two tents in case but seeing as there wasn’t even a campsite free we had to make a decision. We decided to carry on driving up another two and a bit hours to Sawtell where one of Dan's friends was camping and there was loads of space there. This was meant to be our next stop anyway so we headed up. Unfortunately Chris, Mark and I hadn’t expected to camp so we didn’t have a blow up bed, sleeping bag or pillow. But we set up camp and they all went off for a drink, but I tried to get some sleep feeling absolutely horrible. Meanwhile Adam and the others had got to Sawtell after us and didn’t think it was worth it to drive up and slept in the car, pretty sure they regretted the decision. It was a very early start as the sun was shining into the tents roasting us; I was in my own tent in quarantine due to my illness, which was understandable. We went to Coffs harbour to the beach but it didn’t bode well for me and I went to the doctors to try get an appointment. I had one seven hours later, and the diagnosis I had given myself was correct so I was on antibiotics for 7 days and no alcohol. The last bit didn’t last long.
After two atrocious nights in Sawtell we drove another three hours to Byron Bay which Adam raved about. This was definitely a surfer’s town. Again we tried to find accommodation but anywhere that had vacancies were charging extortionate prices so we tried a campsite just out of town. Looked like we were having another three nights camping, my back was becoming accustomed to the floor and neck less sore than before after a few nights on a hoody. Byron was just a place to relax so we were at the beach all day then picked up so beer and took it to the beach that night. We ended up playing touch and some Swedish guys started joining in. When one quite drunk guy ran through and stole the ball, he was showboating and I thought I would teach him a lesson so I dive tackled him from behind. I thought I may have started a fight but when he tried to get me back he was so drunk he fell over and just wanted to be friends. Luckily the antibiotics were kicking in by now and I was on a high. The next night I was designated driver but when they got a round of beers in at dinner at a bar, it was too hard to refuse and we all agreed to walk. That night was pretty funny as it was a wet t shirt contest, self explanatory really. Was a good night. I was starting to get into the surfing life, just without the surfing, tan was coming on nicely after a few times getting burnt, picking up bracelets and still looking for a straw hat I had wanted for the trip. We went up to the lighthouse in Byron which was apparently the most easterly point of Australia, not sure how much truth was there. And we went back that night with some beer to look at the stars, haven’t seen stars like that since Saudi Arabia, one or two shooting stars as well.

On the 9th it was time to head up to Gold Coast and Surfers Paradise, it was odd recognising it from when I came at the age of 9 but I guess it was just a random memory. Like an old record we had the same problem with accommodation but to add even more problems we came here on a weekend that the rodeo competition was on and a young music festival so absolutely everywhere campsites included were booked. It was unbelievably hot and after getting rejected by accommodation for 3 hours tensions rose as we had different ideas of what to do. Some thought drive to Brisbane that night; others sleep in the car and others on the beach. But I think most people just didn’t want to have to have another night on the floor of a tent. So we split up for two hours so everyone could do what they want. Adam and I weren’t to the beach and then decided to have one more shot at accommodation. Walking down the street most places receptions were shut and others not enough for seven people. Then there was a hotel with apartments about 40 stories high and we thought surely they must. When the receptionist was going through free rooms and saying nope not clean and we tried to convince her we didn’t care she had one. We tried to reserve it but didn’t have enough for the deposit. So we franticly called the others and told them to get here as quickly as they could. I think it was fate that we made it, we snuck two people up through the elevator and when we got in we couldn’t believe it, we expected a big room but got a full on apartment with beach view and were paying between us $3 more than a hostel. So we pretty much saved the whole cohesion of the group. And I got a much needed night’s sleep.
As planned we got up early the next day to go to Wet ‘n’ Wild, Mark and I have never been so excited. We both hadn’t been to a good water park since America whilst it was expensive it was worth every penny and we spent from 10am till 5pm without stopping. That night Creagan took me and Sewell to a casino, as we can’t go in New Zealand we thought we would give it a go. It was pretty much like the movies, flashing lights and people gambling stupid amounts of money, I dream to be able to throw away that kind of money. Creagan first taught us how to play the pokies or slots which there is a sort of knack to it and when he won $35 after four goes it was his lucky night, even more so when he won another $25. I had my small win on the pokies and wont $12 so was up for the night. We spent most of the night watching people play the roulette wheel or blackjack until Chris had the guts to sit down and play blackjack with Creagan and his money pooled together. They lost big time, however I played the online blackjack and after going $25 up and I was convinced to go for more. I came away that night with a $10 loss but for a few hours of fun it was worth it. I'm pretty sure I’m addicted. The next day we drove to Noosa which was a posher Byron, after finding a nice complex with big dorms we hit the town and beach. That night in the hostel was poker night so Mark, Creagan, Dan and I signed up. Not realising how serious it was going to be, it was set up extremely well and after sitting at my table I realised a lot of them looked too old to be staying there and that’s when I found out after two people started arguing and I got out the tension turtle that I was in a Poker League. Dan and Creagan had sat next to each other and were cheating their way through, I however on betting large on three good hands I lost by a card evertytime. But I stayed in for some fun and had a really good night. Creagan did the best after making it to the 3 table. So I think gambling is calling me home really. Our last day in Noosa we spent the morning at the beach, Adam and I we swimming when we saw a huge turtle and kept following it, this was pretty sweet being only metres from a turtle in the sea. I then finally found a straw hat that I wanted, and we then walked to the national park trying to spot a Koala but only seeing lizards.
Basically Noosa was an hour above Brisbane and we had missed out Brisbane for good reason to come back to as Creagan would be leaving us to drive back home and it was best to be left in Brisbane so we could get back to Sydney. On the way to Brisbane we went to Australia Zoo. Again a bit of nostalgia as it was all coming back to me from the last time I had been. We spent a long time there, as it was Steve Irwin’s Zoo. Unfortunately we were two late for the big crocodile show by his wife and daughter but we did see his son wandering out of bounds with security. Got to pet a Koala and Kangaroo which was awesome and saw a lot of the animals again. Luckily Brisbane had a lot of accommodation and we booked into a hostel there but this was when Chris Mark and I realised we were flat out broke and so it was noodles and bread for dinner and probably for the next few days. We had a very cheap night that night and the next day weren’t up until 2pm. The others joined us that night but we said goodbye to Creagan who was on his way home. We spent the next day with them in the Botanic Gardens. As Mark and I were then going to Sydney the next morning and Chris to Perth we said goodbye to Adam, Dan and Cameron, weird to think it would be another 6months. Fortunately for us Will Williams who was a Gappy at Gordon’s when we were in 6th Form lived in Brisbane and was back from Uni and kindly put us up for a night and agreed to take us to the airport at 3am, as otherwise me and Mark would be sleeping in the airport. It was awesome to catch up with him but meant we had 2 hours sleep before we hit the airport for a flight down to Sydney, the beginning of the end of our trip to Oz. Mark and I arrived in Sydney pretty early and got a ferry to manly, where Tom and Rhys who had just come out travelling were staying with Jess and Phoebe, two other girls who went to Gordon’s. It was great catching up with them, and heading into to Sydney centre to do the opera house with them. Then we all went to a bar with some of Jess’s friends and then back to the beach with beer, pretty much all you do in Australia. It was another late night that night. So our final day in Oz was spent in the pool, and me lying on a lilo trying to get the last bits of sun. We then all went to see Avatar, which is an amazing film, then it was 2 or three hours sleep for the third night in a row as Mark and I both had early flights back to New Zealand.

After waiting for Mark at the airport and both of us still low on money we decided we should try hitchhiking to marks school. I had made a very crappy sign on a piece of paper but had to make another one after Mark pointed out we weren’t going to Auckland but Hamilton. We started walking hoping to get to the main highway but stopped off after 15 minutes at the nearest garage to get some energy drinks and food. We decided to try our luck at getting a better sign so after getting a cardboard box and a marker pen, which was given to us by some guy filling up petrol we had a new and improved sign. We had placed it down and were getting our bags on when a young guy said he was going to Mata Mata which was 30 minutes outside of Hamilton and if we helped him open his petrol cap he would give us a lift as far as he could. This guy was a uni student and after talking the whole way, he said he may as well take us the whole way it wasn’t that much extra on his journey and so he drove us right to the gate of marks school. I think he had some sympathy as he had done a lot of backpacking himself. So that was the end of the trip to Australia!

Well this was an absolute mission to write, I guess I should have left it so long, but once again I would be surprised if many get to the end of it. Mark and I have spent the last 4 days sleeping till past 1pm everyday and watching movies. It’s a good way to spend no money, which is what we both need for a while until we get paid next. So all in all it was a very expensive but worthwhile trip, and I would love to still be there now. And I am sure that sometime I will go back, maybe even to live for a while when I’m rich and famous. Things to look forward to are the new Gappy coming to my school, which will be good to have someone to work with now. I will be looking at joining a rugby or football team so hopefully I find a good one. Then there is the Wellington Sevens in a few weeks which will be awesome. So until I have the energy to write another one after this, hope all is well in England and only 6 months left, time does fly.

Till then, Prim x