Travel - Australian Traveller

Australian Traveller

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Travel - Australian Traveller

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With more places opening up to the intrepid explorer (unfortunately normally to the detriment of the local area) and even pleasure trips to the Moon being scheduled, travel has never been as exciting… or has it? Imagine what it was like travelling into the unknown with only the stars as your guide. Monsters lurked under every wave and dread beat in every heart with the uncertainly of when your ship would simply drop off the edge of the Earth. Now, in our hi-tech, busy world we become consumed by thoughts of our plane being hijacked or our train derailing. Ever run out of fuel on a dark moonless night or had a flat tyre on a hot summer day in the middle of nowhere? Travel definitely has its ups and downs and everyone has a story to tell.

Be thankful you were not part of the first pleasure cruise hosted by Englishman Richard Hore in 1536. The Portuguese and Spanish were roaming in their ‘Voyages of Discovery’, exploring and developing new trade routes. This was the start of globalisation. It had been 39 years since an English expedition had ventured out and after this one it would be quite a while until the next.

Two ships set out with the intention of reaching the New World, following French explorer Jacques Cartier’s previous route. To cut a long story short, things did not pan out quite how they had intended. After finding themselves run aground in a foreign and hostile land with no food supplies, eating roots and berries apparently saw them turning to cannibalism and feasting on each other. With the present trend in mysterious disappearances involving boats I wonder if anything has changed?

Thomas Cook had more luck in organised travel and in 1841 embarked with 570 others on a trip that would see the birth of one of the worlds most well known travel agencies. The reason for the journey, a giant 20 miles train travel across England, was to a rally against the consumption and production of alcohol (part of the Temperance Movement). He arranged for each traveller to pay 1 shilling which covered their journey and food and of which he was paid a small share by the train company. In the following years he arranged further trips for members of the Temperance Movement and so began the Thomas Cook Travel Agency. Hmm travellers are WELL known for their alcohol consumption – again it would seem little progress has been made!

1914 saw the start of scheduled airline journeys. Tickets were auctioned for the flight between St. Petersburg and Tampa, USA and the highest bidder, Mr Abram Pheil, paid US$400 to have the honour of being the first passenger. The trip of 21 miles took around 23 minutes to complete and later cost US$5 per passenger with two trips a day, six days a week being made. 1205 passengers were flown without injury and the airline, unfortunately, did not make any profits for its troubles. Progress has been made! Current operators are showing RIDICULOUS profits in air travel (although Qantas? Not so popular! I have to agree I was on a flight from Perth to Brisbane a few years ago and one extremely grumpy Stewardess, after handing out ice creams to everyone, walked back to the kitchen area and loudly announced to her colleague ‘That should shut them up for a while!’. On the same flight I was sitting next to an elderly lady who, upon the arrival of the Stewardess, had not yet decided what she wanted for lunch. We were the last two passengers she had to serve so it was not like she was in a rush and she rather impatiently said, ‘Love you have had long enough to decide, must I make the decision for you?’ Needless to say, I am not a fan of Qantas!).

Anywayyyyy, you can now include yourself in the next bit of history, unless you are reading this in a few decades. Then this will be in your history books and I will be sporting a really zooty new Zimmer frame complete with little turbo thrusters and mechanical eyes for me to see out of. The first space tourist blasted off in 2001, paying US$20 million for the privilege. Oh how we have made progress - from $5 to $20 million!

So there you have a little run down on travel through the ages. Now to get to the type of travel that has taken hold of my heart with a very firm grip – Experimental Travel. To me this is certainly the best type of travel and you can read all about it in the ‘Lonely Planet’ Publication ‘The Lonely Planet Guide to Experimental Travel’. Latourex, the Laboratory of Experimental Travel, came about from French writer Joel Henry. Basically it is a way of seeing the world, even the world around you, from a totally unique perspective and allowing you to explore places off the normal tourist track and those which you may not ordinarily see. For example – get on a train and stay on it until you reach the very end of the line. Spend the rest of the day exploring that area. Perhaps you want to explore your own local area? Go out of your house, turn left then right and keep alternating directions until you cannot turn anymore. These are the more tamer of the alternatives… I dare you to be bold and try the rest! Go on, get out there and explore your world!

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Posted By: Ash - Category: Travel

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What with everything changing...

May 31st 2007 08:36

... and us perhaps losing our blogs I think I will have to start posting to this site again because I don`t really want to lose it..... so keep your eyes peeled for further travel adventures being posted in this space... as time permits....

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Intoxicating India...

January 16th 2007 11:14

I have always wanted to go to India. A friend of mine went last year and said it was an amazing, life changing experience. They came back a totally different person. Another friend is going next month.......

I have also lost a lot of family members to the dreadful Cancer disease that plagues our planet today. I would not wish upon my very worst enemy the punishment of watching a loved one die to this disease.

What do the two have in common?

Well, a travel company called World Expeditions has got together with some charities and offers trips to anyone doing fundraising for that charity. The Cancer Council of NSW offers trips to India, trekking in the Himalayas, in return for a personal donation as well as meeting their fundraising target. They give you ideas on how to fundraise, as well as some time after the trip to do some last minute collecting.

As well as this they also offer trips to Nepal and Vietnam and Cambodia....decisions, decisions......Do not think this is a way of travelling for nothing. You must be committed - you will be required to overcome personal obstacles and it is not an easy road to travel. If you are interested in staying in the country after the trek travel arrangements will be made for you to do so, however the cost is all yours.

This is not the only charity challenge that is on offer. There are various ones to different parts of the world and for varying levels of fitness.

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Confusion

January 13th 2007 21:58

If confusion is the first step to knowledge, I must be a genius

Larry Leissner

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Why do something when you know the outcome is going to be a disaster?

January 10th 2007 06:33

We are interesting creatures, us humans. We will do something, knowing full well the outcome of it and then stand there scratching our heads in amazement and wonder why when things go pear shaped!
We will drink those tequila shots and then wonder why we spend the night curled around the toilet and wake up the next day with a thumping head and body wobbling around like a huge pot of jelly.
We will touch that wall with the big sign on it that says “Wet Paint” and then curse ourselves when we have a nice big green stripe up our finger. Or touch that iron, just to see if it is hot and then complain because we have burnt ourselves

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The Woodford Folk Festival Experience

December 30th 2006 10:22

Just a little background info - Woodford is a small country town in Queensland, Australia, that once a year holds a massive folk festival, very aptly named the 'Woodford Folk Festival'. It is 6 nights of dance, shows, comedians, stalls...you name it. Nestled in a valley, holding a scattering of ponds everyone sets up camp on the hillside and gathers in one harmonious crowd.

Tents on the hillside

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Christmas in Zimbabwe

December 25th 2006 20:25

Well the day has come and gone again for another year. I love this time, it has to be one of my favourite. People, for the most part anyways, are cheerful and friendly, kids laughter echoes down the streets and house sparkle with Christmas cheer. It is a magical time! I come from Africa and thought I would some Zimbabwean Christmas thoughts with ya'll:

Zimbabwe - this is the BEST country (sorry to everyone else, but we could not all have been born there

). We have the friendliest faces and the most beautiful scenery and the sunsets.....well you will never see one like it again! Unfortunatley we have fallen into the wrong hands and things have gone very pear-shaped for our beautiful home. Click here to read a fellow Zimbabweans account of Christmas 2006

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What`s the worst text message you have sent in error?

December 21st 2006 13:36

Yes i t has happened to the best of us I am sure....and created many problems. I do it all the time, generally when I have either been out on the town and squint through one eye and send it to the wrong name or I am so busy trying to juggle seven different things at the same time that I do not concentrate on what I am doing and it goes flying off into cyberspace and there is nothing I can do about it.
Last night my friend and I were sitting having a few pre_christmas drinks and she received a text message from her partner. They have been having a few issues recently, which, as all girls do. we were discussing at length and she obviously got a little too caught up in the conversation and without realising started to type what she was saying. Within seconds of pushing send she was white as a ghost, moaning and groaning and waiting for the reply. Well she told him what she thought of him....and so he replied!!!!
So this leads to rather awkward situations - what texts have you sent that you didn`t mean to? How much trouble did it get you into? Or have you received text messages in error and then watched as the other person tried to squirm their way out of it? Always good to get a little unintentional gossip is it not

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What is your most expensive gift?

December 20th 2006 09:45

The season for giving is upon us again and we find ourselves rushing through the throngs of people in the malls in search of that perfect gift for our loved ones (or hectically clicking on the mouse if you are into internet shopping) and it got me to thinking about all the presents that I have bought and been given over the years.
So why on a travel site you ask? Well Santa is about to make his travels around the world and we all send out our words of cheer around the world so it is perfect don`t you think?

An expensive gift does not only fall into the category of expense money wise, but expense sentimentally wise. I have many thoughless nights with the lead up to Christmas when I think of what to get people

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The things girls need to know about cars!

December 18th 2006 13:23

Well, while we are on the subject of this weekends trip into the city for the Robbie Williams (the last time I will mention his name, SERIOUSLY!) concert I should also relay a little info to any gals who may find themselves in the same position as I did.
I have always been lucky enough to have my dad or a partner around to check everything was functioning ok with the car, when I have had one, so I have never really paid much attention to them. I know how to check the oil and water and change a flat tyre but that is about as far as my car knowledge extends. So this weekend when I was driving in the middle of the city during a nice sprinkling of rain and I put my foot on the breaks I was a little perturbed when it went flat against the floorboard and I did not stop! I was even more perturbed when I noticed that the lights at the bottom of the hill, that I was about half way down, had decided to change to red. Could it get any worse? Yes! I was about 15 blocks away from my hotel, it was dark and raining and my dad was about 100km away and partner 20 000km overseas! The boys that I was with were of no particular use to anyone except to moan about wanting to get back to the hotel. They soon shut up when I had to gear down and slowly apply to handbrake which led to a lot of suqealing wheels and us skidding into a thankfully empty intersection! Talk about your life flashing before your eyes.
So just a little word of advice from the newly wise - before you head off on any long distance journeys make sure you check that there is brake fluid in the car! And make sure you know where to look for the little container thingy that you pour it into ( I had to stand in the rain with the owners manual and search in the semi-darkness for the darn thing!). I used to consider myself quite the independent woman, but this weekend I learnt I have a long way to go!

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Travel comforts

December 11th 2006 23:37

Has anyone seen that ad of the guy who is looking to buy a car and only settles for the one that has the cup holder? I have just come from a whirlwind trip overseas so I`m actually not sure if it was an Aussie ad or not. Anyways I HEAR THE MAN! I`m a tin drinking kind of girl. These plastic buddy bottles just do not do it for me - for some reason the drink tastes better out of a can. So it is a hot sunny day, you are hurtling along the motorway taking in all the lovely scenery and you do not have a cup holder in your car, so you either have to stick the can between your legs to hold on to it or glug the drink down all in one go and have such a gas build up that you do not enjoy it any way. So, without going out to buy a new car that comes with a cup holder already in it, what do you do? As a budget traveller I am always on the look out for little bargains and found this one the other day in The Warehouse which has solved all my can holding problems. A little clip on device that hooks into the slats of the aircon vents! Imagine that! Now you have a cup holder AND your drink is kept cool from the air coming out of the aircon. Plus it only cost $3 so what more could you ask for!?!

Funky isn`t it?

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A night at the Drive-In

December 10th 2006 23:32

The last time I went to the Drive-In was about 10 years ago so when I saw that we had one in Queensland I just had to add it to the itinerary. Little did I realise that it was so far or I would have left it for this weekend when we are in Brisbane. Anyways it was well worth the trip. We are on the Sunshine Coast at the moment and headed off two hours before the show started at 8:30pm, just to give us enough time in case we got lost. The Gateway Bridge is always something quite spectacular at night, reaching up into the night sky and creating a glowing arch over the Port of Brisbane below. After crossing here we went through Murrarie, which offers some great night views over the colourful city of Brisbane in the distance. Things were going so nicely up until this point. As I have mentioned before I am not a huge fan of map books (simply because everyone winges about having to be navigator so every 5 seconds I have to pull over to look up where we are going.) so it was here that our directions from the internet went a little wrong. Let`s just say that we were half an hour late for the movie and were truly amazed when we got there and it was still interval! How lucky was that! (for those of you who intent to go here just head toward Beenleigh and you will see a huge truck stop on the left. Take that turnoff and it is sign posted from there

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Hervey Bay Activities

December 9th 2006 06:47

So there you are, sitting on the beach, a fine glass of red in one hand, feet playing with the soft warm sand and the sun setting over the ocean and all of a sudden you get the urge for some excitement. So what does this little backpackers town have to offer?
Although we never did any of these activities while we were there this time we have done some of them before and I would highly recommend the splash out on the cash for them.
A few weeks ago I was up here and were lucky enough to go out Whale Watching. This only happens July-October so you have to pick your time carefully. I have been Whale Watching further down south on the Queensland coast but never had I seen Whales like I did here. They were jumping right out the water in front of our boat, mothers slapping the water with their long, elegant flippers. Also included in this trip is a cruise along the shallow waters of the coast of Fraser Island. If you are lucky enough you may see a dingo on the shore or some dolphins bobbing in the water

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Hervey Bay

December 6th 2006 21:26

As an avid traveller there are not many places I like to go more than once, but Hervey Bay is one of the few that I always seem to find my way back to. There is just something about the little town that is addictive - the aqua water, the pelicans waddling along the beach, the laid back backpacker atmosphere - the list goes on.