backpacking

Adelaide Couchsurfing

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Due to lack of planning and last minute decisions Chris and I ended up in Adelaide with nowhere to stay and a few days to kill before going to Sydney for New Years. So we booked into the cheapest hostel we could find and handed over $28 each for an 8-bed dorm.

It wasn’t the worst hostel ever. There was free internet, a decent TV room, and a balcony terrace area. But the rooms were cramped, the air con didn’t work, and the hostel was home to a cliquey group of backpackers who were staying long term and working in Adelaide. They spent the night playing drinking games and dares out on the terrace.

At 1am I was awoken by voices outside my room. They were whispering loudly and giggling. Next thing the door burst open and a guy came running in with another guy behind him filming on his phone. They turned on the light and started shouting, jumping on the people sleeping in the bottom bunks, then ran out again, laughing.

As far as I was concerned that was enough, I couldn’t be bothered with idiots like that, it’s hard enough getting a good nights sleep in a hostel as it is! So I made use of the free internet and started frantically sending out couchsurfing requests. Continue reading →

Christmas With the Deckerts

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It was always the plan to stay with Aussie Nick and his family for Christmas. Nick is Chris’s old school friend and his mum is originally from Northern Ireland. When he was 11 his family moved back to Northern Ireland for a while, and then he came back again for a working holiday a few years ago. The two guys had gotten pretty close during that second visit and Chris had always said he would visit Nick in Adelaide, so now was his chance.

It just so happened that Nick was in Melbourne at a golf tournament two weeks before Christmas, so Chris and I were able to get a lift back to Adelaide with him. The 8 hour car journey wasn’t as bad as I thought, I slept most of it!

We finally arrived at his house in Normanville, a really nice beach town, to be welcomed by his mum, Jennifer, and dad, Ian. Straight off we were made to feel at home. We were given a beautiful room in their Bach, fed amazing food and there was always beer and champagne on hand. It was funny seeing the mixture of Northern Irish and Aussie in Jennifer. She’d moved out to Australia when she was about 10 but still had a funny twang to her accent and I felt very relaxed in her company. She’s very bubbly and talkative, and she loves champagne. Continue reading →

Taking a Walk on the Wildside

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A few weeks ago Chris and I had just finished our second season working at Cardrona Alpine Resort.  After being in the the same place for over three months we were both pretty eager to get back into the car and do some travelling again.  Also the thought of being unemployed for a while was very appealing.

Our first stop was the Wildside Backpackers in Hari Hari on the South Island’s West Coast.  We weren’t going there as guests, but instead as WWOOFERS.  This would be our first WWOOFing experience.

Arriving

We arrived at the Wildside to be greeted by Dan, a friendly guy sporting a long beard and mullet.  He directed us past his house and into his work shed instead.  It’s hard to imagine what this place is like.  It was full of all kinds of tools, machinery, wood work, metal work, three motorbikes, a pool table and a large newly varnished table.  Dan cracked open a few beers and started talking, pointing out his various projects around the room, along with the table he’d made that was going to sell for $2,000.  “She’s a good life,” he’d keep saying, “she’s a hard life but a good life.” Continue reading →

WWOOFing in New Zealand

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Silage

When you’re travelling around a country such as New Zealand it’s easy to feel like you’re following the same tourist trail as everyone else. As you drive along the roads reading through your Lonely Planet Guide Book there’s countless signs pointing to waterfalls, viewpoints, historical sites etc etc.  And if you take the time to stop and check these things out, you’ll usually find you’re just one of many trigger happy tourists snapping away on your camera.

Usually the best experiences you can have are the ones that get you off the beaten track and spending time with the locals.  With this in mind I decided to sign up with WWOOF NZ.  The organisation stands for ‘Willing Workers on Organic Farms’ and gives volunteers the chance to stay with Kiwi families and experience their way of life.  The types of hosts you can stay with are vast from large organic farms, to small family gardens, to vineyards.  And it’s not always strictly organic, there’s also a section for Cultural Exchange hosts meaning you can find all kinds of weird and wonderful hosts in the WWOOF database. Continue reading →