Can you imagine a 40 kilo can of tuna moving at 70km/hr with razor sharp teeth? The tuna move with lightning speed and when you hold a little sardine above the water they pretty much bite your fingers if you’re not careful. It’s just a little scratch but if you’re a bit of a wuss maybe use the tongs.

Trent wasn’t too overjoyed to be in the water with them initially; it’s like being in a massive goldfish tank at dinner time except you’re floating around with fish that have a cutlery set in their mouths.

Whilst Trent was being a chicken I got straight in there and snorkelled with them, when you’re swimming with tuna they don’t really touch you, they move really quickly and come within centimetres of you but you don’t feel them. It’s a bit freaky though as the tuna are MASSIVE and people were having fun and games throwing the sardines next to me in the water.

It’s an interesting process that goes into farming tuna; they’re wild tuna caught then brought into a bay where they can be fattened up to be exported mainly to Japan. Over there they’re fetching at the prime market price around $250,000 a tonne.

After swimming and reboarding the boat to head back they had a taster on the boat of tsashimi. I love tsashimi but it’s not to everyone’s taste, and Trent’s face was a picture! This pricey Japanese delicacy wasn’t up there for Trent, but some raw tuna dipped in Wasabi was delicious!

It seems that there’s only two places to swim with the scariest thing in the ocean without dying, one of them being South Africa, and the other being Port Lincoln in Australia.  I had the opportunity to go swimming with the ultimate predator of the ocean, the Great White Shark on my road trip around South Australia.

It seems that not everyone is so keen to swim with this creature but I certainly wanted to see Jaws up close for myself. duh duh, duh duh….

We arrived into the Harbour at 6am to board the Calypso Star boat with a couple of Kilkennys and a few tablets to prevent sleeping sickness. One of our friends who did it the day before said there was a beautiful buffet but that unfortunately he has been vomiting the entire time… I was not going to follow suit. An incident on a boat in Portugal for my friend’s 21st birthday means I will now always carry travel sickness tablets with me despite the fact that they knock me out like a horse tranquilizer. Better that than being sick on the high-seas!

We were joined on board by Australian boxing champion Danny Green- I had no idea who he was but the reporter from the local news with the big TV camera sort of gave it away! Danny was the first person to turn Green (like my pun?) and was vomiting over the side of the boat. Not long after a few other people started throwing up but I sat there smugly on TravelCalm! The ocean seriously was rough, at one point I thought the boat would actually turn on its side but that’s me being a little over dramatic. The crew played a video about the Great White and it was quite fascinating to learn that people don’t really know very much about this creature. One thing I did know is that the crew had seen many of them out at the Neptune Islands, which is where we were heading.

When we finally anchored up the crew threw the tuna bait in the water, lowered the shark cage and it was game on! The crew demonstrated how we should get in the cage, you put a wetsuit on because the waters pretty chilly, attach some weights and then put a regulator in your mouth which is attached to the top of the cage so there’s no heavy tank on your back. The cage itself has a viewing gap but there is no way the shark can open its mouth if it stuck its head in.

Everyone relaxed a bit, stopped hurling off the side of the boat, got the fishing rods out and did a spot of fishing. We caught plenty of fish but there were no white pointers to be seen!

We waited…and waited.

Trent got into the shark cage for a swim with no wetsuit on so many times that he was starting to look blue! It was rather disappointing but as the crew pointed out, they are wild animals and it is not 100% guaranteed that you will see them. At the hefty price tag I think it depends how desperate you are to see them. One couple had gone on three seperate occasions at different times of the year and hadn’t seen a thing. But of course other people have, it’s just luck of the draw.

There weren’t any sharks but there was a proposal of marriage! Now to me that’s a rather bizarre choice to conduct a proposal, amongst scary Great Whites, but he held up a sign whilst they were underwater saying “Will you marry me” and she said yes.

We all took turns to swim in the cage- the cage itself is creepy without the sharks being in the water as you look out at the bait with all the fish swimming around it. I’m not sure how I would feel about a man-eating shark swimming towards me!

The crew prepared us an amazing lunch of oysters, mussels, prawns, chicken, salad…we were fed really well on the boat and on the way back there was free beers!!! The engagement was an excuse for a little party on the top deck with everyone drinking a few West End Draughts and having a good time.

So there were no great whites but everyone had an awesome experience- great food, great day out on the water, great people, a proposal and a boxer.

Back in the marina everyone including Danny Green and his crew stopped for a few drinks and pizzas and bonded over the events of the day! One of the highlights of our trip despite being let down by those Great Whites.

Lisa shucked some oysters in front of us and we had the opportunity to eat them natural with a bit of lemon. We had a quick tour of the oyster farm where we were shown how they sort through the oysters to get the right size.

It was then onto Elliston and over to Coodlie Park just before Venus Bay and Port Kenny. It’s incredible when you drive along this stretch of South Australia how you can travel for miles and miles of scrub and bush without seeing a single vehicle.

We had a great time at Coodlie Park- as someone rightly said, “It’s like Hotel California, you can check in anytime you like but you can never leave!” There were many nights spent drinking around a camp fire, chatting to other travellers and eating feasts cooked up by the friendly staff who operate the Nullarbor Traveller tour. The facilities there include camping facilities and hostel accommmodation, plus computers with internet access.

If you’re looking to have a bit of an adventure across the Nullarbor, do the Nullarbor Traveller tour to go swimming with sea lions in Baird Bay, as well as shark cage diving and swimming with tuna, something well worth doing!

The sea lions are really playful and will come right up to you. We were all given wetsuits to help keep us warm in the cold water and hopped aboard the boat to go in search of the sea lions. We anchored up in a pool off Baird Bay where the sea lions were chilling out on rocks and playing in the water. Snorkelling with sea lions is amazing- they look you right in the eyes and will copy your movements. If you roll over or dive they’ll mimic you and try to play. Some will even touch you on the nose and cuddle you!

We would recommend swimming with the sea lions in the wild to anyone! After the sea lions we swam with a school of dolphins, a great day! The difference with this is they are wild and you don’t feel like you’re swimming with something in captivity that’s beeing forced to entertain you. These animals are wild but still naturally curious and very approachable.

I’m writing this as I curse my laptop in yet another airport lounge, this time at Lisbon Airport. The supposed public wifi is being stubborn as hell. It knows I have a deadline and the portal is doing its utmost to block me from the worldwide web. Welcome to the joys of travelling and working online…

Airports

Lets talk airports. For those of you who have a short battery life on your computer (yes that’s me) sometimes the problem is not the internet connection but the location of a plug socket. You can have the best WiFi access in the world but if your laptop has no juice and the worst battery life in the world then it can be frustrating to try to find a plug socket. Even if you do find one you’re likely to find yourself crouched in a hallway on a floor somewhere being stepped over by passengers. Why oh why can’t airports have a nice comfy seat located conveniently next to a plug socket? I’m reminded of a time in Kuala Lumpur when I found a socket after an hour of searching in Starbucks. 5 minutes into my session and the lady says I have to move tables for cleaning….

I, as I write this, have conveniently found a socket at Gate 25 in Lisbon airport, but today it’s the wifi that’s being a bitch. I access the payment portal, only to find that it won’t take my address, apparently my UK postcode is invalid. Now it sends me nasty messages of “Network Timeout” and won’t even take me to the portal. In this day and age it would be nice if free wifi were supplied in every airport so that one doesn’t have to spend a fortune biding their time on an overnighter in the airport.

Let’s talk WiFi

WiFi or ‘weefee’ is a life saver. What did we do without it? But its surprising how many countries have poor internet connections and wifi hotspots.

Living in Bali, just as I would have an important Skype conference or email to send, the internet would cut-out or there would be a power cut and I would have to make a middle-of-the-night trip into town drinking coffee in the diner ungodly hours of the morning. Trying to get a house with internet in Bali was an absolute nightmare with set-up costs and much larger monthly fees than back in the UK.

Time-Zones

If you’re a freelancer you’re most likely to be working for someone in a different time-zone, which as a result means you can be up and random o’clock on your laptop for a Skype session.

Laptop and Equipment Deaths

Repeat after me. Back up. Back Up. Back Up. Everything you have that’s important to you on your computer, make sure you have a copy of it on a hard drive. It’ll save you the tears when your computer dies and you have to mourn the loss of your thousands of photos and documents. Another good way to do it is to email things to yourself so you have a copy of it in your email. Another obvious tip is to carry spares, spare batteries for your camera and spare memory cards are a must.

Carrying the stuff

Cords, cables, lenses, computers…my backpack is a maze of tangled-up leads entwined with each other. Carrying your equipment on the road can be a burden, especially when it comes to baggage restrictions and the occasional breakage.

Distractions

The most difficult thing about travelling and working is the distractions you face- people inviting you to go out partying or out for dinner, the desire to be out on the beach all day instead of stuck inside on a laptop. Time management and self restraint are essential. Whilst there are temptations everywhere to go and have fun you have to remember that your laptop is your office and that you have to allocate time to work.

Those of you who are location independents will know what I mean, but at the end of the day, these are small sacrifices when you think of the alternative.

]]> http://www.pommietravels.com/2010/08/the-greek-islands-in-photos/feed/ 0 http://www.pommietravels.com/2010/08/a-solo-female-travellers-thoughts-on-solo-female-travel/ http://www.pommietravels.com/2010/08/a-solo-female-travellers-thoughts-on-solo-female-travel/#comments Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:12:25 +0000 victoria http://www.pommietravels.com/?p=1384 People are always asking me what it’s like to travel as a solo female.

I’m often taken aback by this question because I always forget that not only am I a girl but I’m travelling by myself, it doesn’t really cross my mind. I’ve never really written about this topic before because, well, I don’t see myself as any different to any other traveller, whether they’re male or female, travelling alone or in groups. But I suppose as one of these creatures I should maybe take the time to impart some advice…

I started travelling by myself back in July 2008 and since then I’ve not really stopped moving around. Sometimes I’ve been joined by boyfriends or friends, but right now it’s just me and my backpack drifting around the world, sometimes living and working and sometimes moving around. One thing I can say is I’ve met some really cool independent minded girls travelling by themselves.

When I decided to finally talk about this topic, I thought I’d do a bit of internet research about ‘solo female travel’, which, as a phrase, I’m not too keen on.  The advice I found included “book hostels in advance”, “warn the front desk of where you are going” and “dress conservatively”.  I don’t think I follow any of these rules.  If I want to rock up in a country at a moment’s notice I will and if I want to wear itsy bitsy shorts I’ll do it (as long as I’m dressed appropriately for the country’s customs of course).

The truth is we’re in the 21^st century. Travelling to other countries is often no more dangerous than being in your home town. Obviously if you travel to a war-torn country things might be a little more hairy. But most of the time I feel far safer on the road than I did back home in England. I’m not saying the world is all roses and that you don’t need to be careful but I think it’s important for all travellers to travel responsibly no matter who you are or who you’re travelling with.

Why Travel as a Solo Female?

I personally love travelling by myself. I love the feeling of being able to pick and choose where I want to go, what I want to do and who I want to hang out with. Travelling alone means you are much more open to meeting new people and less blinkered into hanging out with your friends from home. There haven’t been too many times where I’ve felt alone when travelling because there are always people to meet and hang out with. I’m quite comfortable with sitting in a café or restaurant by myself, I know that most strangers won’t even notice me and if they do they probably won’t really give it a second thought. If it makes you feel a little nervous sitting there by yourself, take a newspaper, a book, a laptop or a pen and paper with you.

The only time I ever felt quite alone was when I had my scooter accident in October last year. With no-one to really look after you, you have to suck it up and take care of yourself. Sometimes you want to sit there and feel sorry for yourself, but there’s nothing better than feeling you got through something on your own.

What about packing?

Boys travel with tiny backpacks filled with a couple of t-shirts and clean underwear at a push. For girls it’s a little more complicated. We’ve got jewellery, belts, make-up, dressy shoes, not-so-dressy shoes, tampons and everything in between. I have a reasonably big bag and my thoughts are that as long as you carry it and it’s not over the weight limit for airlines, it doesn’t matter how big it is and how much stuff you’ve got. That doesn’t mean to say I travel with lots of clothes and accessories, most of my stuff is actually cameras, laptops, equipment and medicines.

Backpacking and lipstick

One thing I’d like to remind girls is that no-one really cares what people look like on the road. Obviously everyone likes to look nice, but there’s no need for hair straighteners and looking like you’ve applied your make-up with a trowel. There’s no need for a million outfit changes and high-heels.

I get ready for a night out in about fifteen minutes and when I leave my hair to dry naturally because I don’t carry a hairdryer, people ask me if I’ve just been for a swim at the beach.  I don’t own a pair of hair straighteners or carry a pair of heels and whilst I’m still a girly girl with dresses and make-up, I like to get stuck in with any activity going.

Remember it’s not about what you look like but whether you look like you’re having fun! Everyone likes a girl who’ll take part and have fun.

Staying Safe

I don’t walk around carrying pepper spray or notify everyone of where I’m going every minute of every day.

The rules for saying safe should apply to everyone whether you’re travelling or not. When it comes to my valuable belongings I don’t leave them lying around everywhere in hostels, I make sure they’re tucked in a safe place. I always carry a handbag that goes across my body so that it’s less easy to take, and I make sure I’m always aware, even when drunk. If men shout things in the street I don’t respond or engage in conversation, I just simply keep on walking. If I spot a fight in the street or someone dodgy, I cross over and walk a little faster.

Generally though when travelling I always feel pretty safe, and the most ironic thing is, the countries that people have warned me against or have had government warnings, have had the friendliest people and have felt the safest.

A little piece of advice if you’re going to become a “Solo Female Traveller”

It’s not scary I promise. Admittedly I was a little nervous the first time I went away by myself, but in two minutes I was playing drinking games in a hostel with a box of wine. People won’t pelt you with tomatoes and wonder where your friends are. You won’t be sat in a corner eating a pot-noodle alone or spend hours traipsing around European cities by yourself. You really will wonder what all the fuss was about.

Breaking news:  Being a girl and travelling on your own is all the rage. Everyone’s doing it.

P.S Stick- “Here I go Again” by Whitesnake on your ipod.

Preparing food on the beach, Koh Samui

]]> http://www.pommietravels.com/2010/08/thailand-in-photos/feed/ 0 http://www.pommietravels.com/2010/08/wicked-list-lagos/ http://www.pommietravels.com/2010/08/wicked-list-lagos/#comments Sat, 14 Aug 2010 08:17:01 +0000 victoria http://www.pommietravels.com/?p=1327

A friend of mine recently showed me his wicked list, a list of all things that he though were wicked enough to write down.

From now on I’ve decided that I’ll be making a Wicked List of every destination that I travel to. If you don’t have enough time to write a diary but you want to remember the best bits of your trip, just jot down a few words in a list of all things that are wicked!

Here’s my list from my summer in Lagos, Portugal

1. Breakfasts in Odeon
2. Chinese Shops and fancy dress themes
3. Beer bongs in Monkeys topped off with absynthe
4. Afternoon sessions and 1 euro pints in The Jam
5. Steve Oo the dog with the underbite
6. Mojitos on the beach
7. Having Conversations outside Inside Out that I don’t remember
8. Dancing on the bar in Monkeys
9. Honey mustard chicken in The Diner
10. Fishbowls in Inside Out
11. Jagerbombs
12. The man who sells refreshments on the beach- “Balinas, Balinas, Pineapple, Fresh Frutush, Cold drinksh!”
13. Axel Rose, the man who sells roses to unwilling men trying to impress inebriated ladies
14. Swayze cocktails
15. Swimming in the caves
16. Best Pool Party ever
17. Little Lion Man
18. Don’t Stop Believing- Journey
19. 2 Dum Ozzies
20. Grizzly the dog
21. Massive meals in Petiscos
22. Sangria in the Diner
23. 9 deadly sins in Whytes
24. Tosta Mistas
25. Bottom Lines
26. Night swims
27. Power Hour
28. Sangria BBQs
29. Darts Comps

We picked up the keys to the Wilderness YHA in Adelaide and headed on up to stay at the Barossa Valley Farmhouse which we had all to ourselves! I’d never heard of this before, but there are actually YHA hostels that are empty which you can rent out privately for groups or for yourself. They’re more expensive than a normal hostel but there are some beautiful hostels out in the more remote areas of Australia. Just be aware that you might have to pick the keys up and drop them off in the nearest city. The farmhouse itself was beautiful, with acres of land, a lovely kitchen, several dorm rooms and a living room.

We toured Barossa in something a little different- a joy ride in a trike! We put on our bandanas and helmets and hopped aboard the trike with our guide for a 30 minute tour of the area and stopped at a beautiful lookout in Angaston.

The following day we went to Jacobs Creek for a vineyard tour and some wine tasting- hic! Trent attempted to create a surfing terminology of wine- although we’re not sure our guide was impressed! We also enjoyed a tasty lunch and to wash it down, wine, wine and more wine.

Finally we had the opportunity to blend our own wine at Penfolds. Rather like scientists in a laboratory we had three wines and three goes at blending them together to create our own special wine in our personalised wine bottles! The wine doesn’t last very long after you’ve created it though so it was a perfect excuse to consume it rather quickly.

We enoyed the Barossa so much that we returned with tour operator Groovy Grape, who took us to the Whispering Wall. If one person stands at one end of the wall and one at the other, you can hear each other whisper from each end so clearly you would think you were stood next to each other.

We visited the Giant Rocking Horse, which by the name you can probably tell is the biggest rocking horse in the world. Our tour guide took us for wine tasting at various wineries followed by a delicious BBQ. The advantage of doing a tour to the Barossa from Adelaide was that we didn’t have to worry about drinking and driving so we could drink as much as we wanted. The Groovy Grape tour is aimed at young backpackers who want to experience the wine region but don’t want anything too posh and stuffy.

On our Vantastic Advenures we took the Sealink ferry from Cape Jervis to Penishaw on Kangaroo Island for a weekend of partying in Kingscote. Vehicles are allowed on the island but currently the only way to get to the island is by ferry which means it retains its remote feel without droves and droves of tourists. You can pay to take your car on the ferry or alternatively if you prefer you can go on one of the tours that operate from Adelaide.

It just so happened that the Coopers Kangaroo Island Cup horse races were on so we went to the Twilight Street Party at the Ozone Hotel and drank a bottle of Coopers (or two or three!) and partied away with the locals. A perfect way to begin our stay on Kangaroo Island! I would highly recommend going to Kangaroo Island for the biggest highlight in their calendar so make sure you check to see what dates the races are on here.  We took a shuttle bus from our campsite to the race course and enjoyed a day of betting, drinking and trying out the local farm produce.

After a big day at the Kingscote races we jumped on board a guided tour of Kangaroo Island, (more affectionately known as simply K.I.) with Surf and Sun. We met up at Peneshaw with the crew to start the mission around K.I, greeted by our legend tour guide Brendo. We visited a beautiful surf beach by the name of Pennington Bay for a little team bonding which involved some silly beach shenanigans which only pictures could describe, a bit of a surfing and a sandcastle building competition.

From there we cruised towards the camp for a BBQ at Vivonne bay, which was voted Australia’s best beach in 2002. I could understand why it was voted the best, with its caribbean-like white sand and turqoise blue water.

After a good feed we were back on the bus to Seal Bay which isn’t just a clever name. On the one particular beach there a couple of hundred seals from big fellas to mummas and their pups, I must say being only 10 metres away from them is an experience that will stay for a while to come.

We had our thrills for the day by racing around on QUAD BIKES at dusk around the scrub and fields of Vivonne Bay. We had the opportunity to see kangaroos running through the bush as the sun goes down which was magical.

On day 2  we visited the Remarkable Rocks which are really very remarkable indeed and provided a great photo opportunity as we struck some poses amongst the amazing natural rock formations. At Admirals Arch we observed another seal colony as they basked on the rocks after a hard day of swimming and fishing. We watched as a young pup tried to scramble out of the water and get thrown around by the giant waves. To see the seals in their natural habitat is quite tremendous.

We travelled in the bus through the Flinders Chase National Park that was ravaged by bush fires back in 2007 and the impact is still very visible today. We relaxed and played on Stokes Bay which was probably my favourite-a pristine beach with great water for snorkelling and swimming.

We visited a honey farm where we enjoyed some honeycomb ice cream before watching a pelican feeding show in Kingscote which was fun to see for a gold coin donation. As the tour came to an end, the crew on the bus were just winding up and there was much goon drinking to be done on the way home.

On our last few days on Kangaroo Island we went sandboarding, kayaking and night fishing! Sandboarding is so much fun but believe us when we say you’ll be finding sand in places you never knew sand could get for weeks after you hit the dunes! We went to Little Sahara and nearly passed out in the heat trying to climb up that steep sand dune!

We then took kayaks down to the river and had a leisurely cruise in the afternoon sunshine. We stopped for a couple of breaks along the river bank so that Trent could play with the Kangaroos and admire the trees (Trent really likes the Kangaroo Island tree, the Black Boy). On the way back we were paddling along when we spotted a snake on a tree branch. The Dutch Boys were kayaking by when all of a sudden it launched itself at their kayak! The snake had clearly been trying to hitch a ride for a while and looked a bit pieved that it missed its chance! At least we avoided a couple of snake bites and a trip to hospital.

We visited Hanson Bay Koala Wildlife Sanctuary and stayed the night in their lovely homestead playing some snooker on their billiards table and the boys went on the koala nocturnal tour whilst I caught up on some video making.

On our last night on Kangaroo Island we were fortunate enough to go and stay with Wallaby Bob, a local who says “With a name like Wallaby Bob I can get away with things.” Bob was up for a laugh and pretended to fillet a fish with a chainsaw for our video! We slept the night in his beautiful home at Baudin Beach and we were made to feel so welcome. It wasn’t like a tour but more like relaxing at a friends house and swapping stories. We enjoyed beers and Trent and the dutchies put their war paint on to go spear fishing! Bob cooked us an amazing fish supper on the BBQ- best fish I’ve ever had! I had a fever so unfortunately I couldnt go spear fishing but the boys came back with plenty of fish for a fish breakfast the following day! It was one of the highlights of our trip!

So for anyone visiting Adelaide or South Australia this really is one place not to be missed.