Well, my week in Adelaide is now finished and tomorrow morning (in about 8 hours), I'm flying to Alice Springs to start my Northern Territory adventure. From there, it's up to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef.

 

Just a quick recap of my last 9 days. After Melbourne, I drove along the Great Ocean Road with Brenda. We had a really good time getting to know each other and seeing all the scenery. Both of us were pretty good with our driving skills as well so I guess that was a good thing. AT times, it's a bit of a treacherous drive cause you are pretty much going along a cliff but the views are breathtaking especially for the passenger. And, since it's right side drive here - and we were driving west, the passenger always had a great view. The first stop along the way (actually before the Great Ocean Road) was Bell's Beach. That's the place where the last scene in Point Break was supposedly filmed (where Patrick Swayze goes to surf the 50-Year-Storm, a weather pattern that yields 200-ft high waves). There was a Rip Curl surfing competition going on but I think we just missed it. We stopped in Apollo Bay for a music festival. I was quite amused b/c tourist operators in Melbourne were making me think this was some huge festival with road closures, etc like Live 8 or Woodstock or something. Turns out that it was pretty rinky-dink but all the people in town were pretty excited. The 12 Apostles (actually there are only 7 of them now) were a pretty cool site so that was nice to see them. We spent the night in Port Fairy at a really nice B&B and had dinner at this local seafood restaurant. Brenda and I shared the Captain's Choice - $90 of seafood goodness (prawns, oysters, calamari, fish and chips, bugs, scallops and salad). It was A LOT of food but in retrospect, probably not a wise $90 spent. In any case, we enjoyed it and pretty much rolled back to our room tired and drunk.

 

Sunday morning came and after a nice breakfast in our room overlooking the bay and the sound of the crashing water on the beach, we started the drive for Adelaide with a stop in Mount Gambier for lunch. This drive was less scenic although by mid-afternoon, we did end up going through the Coonawara Wine Region and we passed Wolf Blass, Lindemens and some other vineyards.

 

We arrived in Adelaide at my uncle's place that night and hung out with the family before hitting the sac. The next day, we had to get up really early to catch a cab into the city for our bus tour to Kangaroo island. At 6:15 am, we sat waiting for the cab driver. No sign of him. My uncle got up and we were a little frantic trying to figure out what was going on. Turns out that there is a 30 minute time differnece b/w South Australia (the state Adelaide is in) and the Eastern states (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria). So, we were actually early by 30 minutes. Actually, we had lost out on 30 minutes of sleep - that's the other way to look at it.

 

Kangaroo Island was a pleasant surprise and it was really great cause we saw a lot of wildlife including kangaroos (if we didn't see those, that would have just been silly), koalas, seals and even little penguins that do this march from the beach to their home every night at dusk.

 

The rest of my week in Adelaide was quite relaxing with my uncle's family. It was definitely nice to just chill here for a few days and enjoy the luxuries at this beautiful house. I had a lot of fun and it was great to spend time with family.

 

Now, the rest of my journey begins...

Wish me luck.

 

Folks, I'm in Adelaide right now - tired and frustrated.

The trip is going really well but technical difficulties are really starting to annoy me.

 

1. MSN Spaces has an upload limit for photos and I've exceeded it so I have to wait till next month (May 1) to continue uploading photos. I managed to get some of my Tasmania photos up but that's it. Also, I deleted a bunch of older photos from my early India albums (Rajasthan specifically) because I thought I needed to make room since it wasn't letting me upload photos.

 

2. I have typed this blog entry 3 times now and this PC I'm on keeps turning off on it's own and giving me the wonderful Windows Blue Screen of death so that is not a good thing at all.

 

Anyway, let me try to briefly outline what I had already written. For starters, my departure from Tasmania was a bit of an adventure. I was taking a ferry (the Spirit of Tasmania) from Tasmania to Melbourne. Sounds easy enough right? Well, I was in Launceston and had booked a bus ticket to take me to Devonport (where the boat departs from). I got to the bus station about 20 minutes early and was just chilling waiting for my bus. All of a sudden, I realize that it's past 5:30 and I never got called for my bus. I went to the counter and asked the lady and she said "I made a call for passengers 5 minutes ago - where were you???" I didn't hear her. Anyway, the bus had already left the parking lot so I went running after him and managed to flag him down at the next intersection. I got inside because she called the bus driver in the mean time to tell him that someone had missed the bus. Wow, that was quite a stressful way to start my journey.

 

In Melbourne, I stayed with my buddy Quincy from high school. He's working as a teacher out there. I had a blast hanging at Quincy's place so thanks a lot for your excellent hospitality man! Melbourne itself is a really great city. There seems to be a huge arts and athletics culture which makes it have a really nice vibe. Melbourne is a really tourist-friendly city too with an AMAZING visitor's centre and great maps/signage all round the downtown core. For me, whether it was hanging out at Queen Victoria Market, Federation Square, Flinders Station, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, touring MCG or checking out a Footy match, I had so many great experiences. Melbourians (at least that's what I'm gonna call them) really love their footy. The obsession is definitely like hockey is for us back home in Canada. Overall, I got a really good vibe from Melbourne and I think I'd love to go back and check it out again in more detail sometime.

 

On Saturday the 22nd, Brenda flew into Melbourne and I picked her up in our upgraded rental car. We started the Great Ocean Road drive that morning... So plenty more to come in the next little while.

 

It's so quiet in the house now. Why? Well, my parents left this morning to go back to India (via Singapore) and in a few days, they'll be back in Toronto. My bro and Pari left this morning too and headed to California for a few days for a mini-honeymoon before getting back to London next Tuesday.

 

It's hard to believe that all the wedding festivities are over. It feels like it was all a blur. With all of it coming to an end (until the Toronto reception of course), now the other part of my trip can begin. I am starting the solo part of my journey. And it begins tomorrow morning when I fly to Tasmania to spend Easter Weekend searching for a Tasmanian Devil. From there, it's off to Melbourne, the Great Ocean Road and then Adelaide. Along the way, I'll be seeing/travelling with some familiar faces so I'm looking forward to seeing Brenda and Quincy.

 

Time for bed. I've been packing way too long tonight. By the way, my Australian mobile number is set up. The number is 04 0669 1223. I'm not sure what the country code is and what you have to dial to call from Canada or elsewhere but hopefully you can figure it out... (I do think you have to drop the first 0 though when dialing).

 

 

Hi everyone, after much delay, the wedding photos are finally up. They are a combination of mine and the profesional photographer that we had in Pune. I think you'll be able to tell which are his and which are mine.

 

Also, it seems as though my Australia plans are slowly coming together. I leave Sydney on Friday (the 14th) and I'm going to Tasmania for the Easter long weekend. From there, it's off to Melbourne, then the Great Ocean Road followed by Adelaide (where my uncle lives). Then, I'm gonna explore the interior (Ayer's Rock and Alice Springs) and then make my way north to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef. Following that, it's down the Gold Coast stopping wherever I feel like... In total, I expect that to be about 30 - 40 days so I think I'll be back in Sydney by about the middle of May.

 

On Sunday, I played cricket with full gear. It was a blast! By the end of it, I was kinda getting the bowling technique but man, it is difficult when you've been playing baseball all your life. I definitely want to play again and might try to may more when I'm back home in Toronto.

 

 

Hi everyone. I'm in Australia now. I got here 4 days ago and so far, it has been a great experience. I've already met so many wonderful people - especially within the Marathi community. They are such a close knit and tight group here. Everyone is so helpful too. Tomorrow is Raj and Pari's wedding reception here in Sydney. It's a 5 hour boat cruise around Sydney Harbour so we'll be able to see the famous Harbour Bridge, Opera House and a host of other sites I'm sure.

 

To me, Sydney seems to be a cross between Vancouver and London. So far, Aussie people seem similar to Britishers (but maybe that's just the accent more than anything). I'm probably wrong though cause most people say that in terms of mentality, temperment, general outlook on things - Aussies are much closer to Canadians or (at times) Americans. From a city geography and demographic standpoint, Sydney is a lot like Vancouver with all the parks, the water and the different ethnic diversity you see all over the place.

 

I really haven't had much of a chance to expore Sydney yet but once the Wedding reception is done tomorrow night, I'm sure the adventure will begin. Instead, I've been doing a bunch of errands and generally just living day to day life. It's funny cause I feel like I'm at home. For instance yesterday, I was on the phone for nearly 3 hours with Big Pond trying to set up high speed internet at Pari's parent's place (where I'm staying). I must have spoken to about 6 different people and I heard so many differing stories. It was just super frustrating but I persevered and finally, it got done. I also set up an Australian bank account here today so now, it will be much easier to use ATM's and Debit transactions and I won't get hit with enormous service charges. I just have to set up my mobile phone and then I'll be set.

 

Over the next few days, I've gotta figure out my Australia plan. I wanna see Sydney, Melbourne (a buddy lives there), Adelaide (uncle lives there), Brisbane (2 friends there), Cairns, Great Barrier Reef, Alice Springs, Ayers Rocks and possibly Tasmania. Time for some shut eye - tomorrow is a big day.

 

By the way, I've uploaded some photos and the wedding photos are next. You can probably understand that there are MANY so it's taking me a little time.