Just Another Smith...

Denham was only a few hours on the bus from Exmouth. We had different drivers to before, and they directed us to two seats at the back of the bus. The aircon wasn't working so they had had to open the hatches on the roof. As a result, cold wind was blowing through constantly and I was bloody freezing. We pulled up at the Overlander Roadhouse just after nine thirty and, before we were even off of the bus, our bags were being collected by our taxi driver. In order to get to Monkey Mia itself, we had a long drive down a very straight road past Denham and down towards the tip of Shark Bay. Dennis was our driver, he was very loud and told very inappropriate jokes. Even when I didn't laugh. He was racist, sexist, ageist, you name it. But at least it wasn't quiet in the car, and he did blast out some good music. We arrived at the hostel very late, with Dennis showing us right to our rooms. It was pitch black so we stumbled around to find empty beds. Luckily, we both had bot...

I arrived in Exmouth at lunchtime after a very long night with little sleep. The bus stopped at the visitors centre, and from there it was a short walk to the hostel. I checked in and discovered that I had a room to myself? What luxury! I was shocked, but made the most of it, choosing the best bed and spreading my things. I decided to walk back to the visitor centre to find something to do with the rest of the day. It was a sweaty walk and I was glad to find air con when I arrived. After looking through one hundred and one different leaflets and brochures, I gave up and sought help from the desk. A very lovely lady told me everything I needed to know, where to go and what to do. I booked on to a sunset whale tour for that very evening and had a browse through what she had recommended. I then realised the time, I'd have to rush back if I was to make my pick up! I hot footed it to the hostel and grabbed my camera. I just made it to reception in time, the bus was just parking u...

My route to Western Australia took me from Cairns to Darwin first. I then stayed in Darwin for one night, in order to catch the Greyhound bus in the morning through to Broome. This journey was 1,871 km (about 1160 miles) and over twenty five hours including time differences. I spent the time staring out of the window at the sheer expanses of nothingness, watching the Toy Story films and eating chicken and spinach rolls. We did have comfort stops, which I was very grateful for, in Katherine and Kununurra. We finally arrived in Broome just before 7am on the Friday and it was raining. It was a fine, warm drizzle and made my walk to the hostel a little damper than I'd have liked. I checked in to Kimberely Klub, and was surprised to be given a key to the room straight away. It wasn't until I'd gone up to quietly dump my stuff that the reception man came along to point out that my bed "might not be vacant yet". I'd figured that one out myself and just grabbed what ...

I flew back to Cairns with the sole reason of visiting the Atherton Tablelands, and booked myself a tour with Barefoot. I was the first to be picked up in the morning, by a driver named Roh. I grabbed the front seat so I could have an awesome view as we drove along. As we were running early, we had the chance to jump off and "grab a coffee". Obviously I don't like coffee, but had an amazing hot chocolate with "stay amazing" written on the lid. So sweet. Soon the bus was full. Joke. We only had six people on the tour altogether and it was a right international affair. We had Taylor (NYC), Guoda (Lithuania), Anna (N.Ireland), Jeremy (France), and Lindsey (UK) who was actually from Rushden! Our first stop was at a servo by the Pyramid Mountain. This was mainly a toilet stop, but some of the guys did grab breakfast from McDonald's too. We then began to wind through the mountains, up to the tableland. There was a lookout at the too where we could see how far...

After leaving my photography job in June, I actually returned in September for another month. Previously, I had worked all around Melbourne and in Darwin. My return took me to Brisbane and surrounds. All in all I worked in twelve different shopping centres, on four different sets and with ten different teams. I clocked up over five hundred hours in just over three months, drove three different cars, and dealt with hundreds of screaming children. As always, here's the pros and cons... Pros • Pay: The hourly wage was pretty good and, although I was taxed enormously, I could still earn a decent amount each week. Weekly mid-week pay was also a plus, it meant I could treat myself to a Wednesday Icecream (depending on the weather) that would help me get through until the weekend. • People: Especially when on the travelling sets, I made great friends with the guys in my team. We were working together and living together, but it worked. It was lovely to spend time as a team outside ...