Corpus Christi – Vilnius ~ 5550 km 2011/04/08

Continuing from Corpus Cristi me and Canadian Sylvian went along the Gulf of Mexico coast. Generally it was a boring trip. Sylvain didn’t hurry to Florida, so sometimes we stayed whole day doing nothing, but walks around some random town along the coast route. It appears so, that having a dog really attracts a lot of attention to you as well. Helped a lot to stike the conversations with some random people. Not that I was interested in that. It was more of a Sylvain’s ground there. From Texas we got to Louisiana and the only more or less special memory of it was oldish Lafayette town with wooden and brick buildings, so unfitting in general majority of US houses. Then it was Mississippi, where we stayed a couple of days on a long man-made beach at Gulfport and surrounding areas. That was second such beach I saw after Romania’s Mamaia one. Not the man-made part, but overall shape and color. One day and night was spent at the harbor parking just beside the beach. While being there I saw a bunch of dead fish washed ashore, as well as a dead stinging ray and a rather big stinking turtle that crawled onto the beach and died. Dolphins (alive) were present in waters around as well. Next morning we had an unpleasant earful from a harbor patrol  officer, telling us it was against the law to park there during the night. We didn’t want to ignite any more anger, even though just yesterday another officer we asked about staying overnight okayed it. So we packed up and left the place. One other thing I did in the area immediately that day was finally exchanging pesos I had left from Mexico. Really, it is quite an ordeal just to find a bank doing excange operations overall, but what killed me was the fee. Out of my exchange value in dollars after the talk with a bank worker I thought the fee being 3.71$, but how surprised I was getting just those 3.71$ and bank keeping 20$ as a fee Stupid mistake, but still when I think about it, there was no place worse anywhere in Latin America or South-East Asia, with such kind of fees. Just for the record to anyone wondering name of the bank was Whitney National.

After getting rid this way of those pesos we went on to Alabama and as I planned I got off in Mobile city to continue on by myself. It took me a considerable amount of time finding my way out on 43′rd state highway going North, but then I was picked up by africanamerican guy Marshal, who treated me to a beer. Since it was late in the day he offered to drop me off back at Mobile to spend the night at Christian Shelter. Thus a new experience. Place was strict enough to feel safe. I had to leave my backpacks in the lobby guard area. After hearing Pastor talk in the Sanctuary, everyone went upstairs where the dorm was. That was also another chance to have a shower. In the morning I phoned Marshal and he brought me back on nr. 43, where I got a lift, which still landed me on I65, I decided not to go against the flow to much and just hitch off that interstate highway ramp. Had a few short rides and then had one long one all the way across to North-Eastern end of Alabama. That day there were quite a few tornados wrecking the state. I did see thunderstorms and showers, but ‘lucked out’ on skipping tornado thing. Originally I was riding in the back of a pickup, but when driver heard about the bad weather coming our direction, he stopped and made some space for me in the cabin. I was treated to a bunch of snacks and even given some stuff like germ-killing lotion and sunglasses, which I badly needed since I lost my half-broken ones somewhere. Shortly we got all the showers and thunders and eventually were stuck in a jam for 3 hours, caused by a 4 car accident with some people killed. It was really different from some jams I’ve seen in other countries. You could see people playing American football over the stopped cars or practicing golf on the shoulder of a highway. After we moved it kind of appeared to wife of the driver that they could have been one of cars in accident if not for those couple of stops. In Fort Payne I was dropped off and spent my first night in probably half a month sleeping in a tent again. It was fine, since all the 50-something mile per hour winds have passed already that area I was dropped off at. And showers with thunders wasn’t anything special.

Since it was Sunday, I rather naturally ended up at Church next day. I was picked up by Gary and Sonya, who where bringing a bunch of kids to a Church in different town, which was Jasper in Tennessee if I’m not mistaken. Didn’t ever expect to see people play guitars and drums while worshiping in a Church. They sure know how to make it fun out here. I got a very nice Bible from the Pastor. Some good stuff to read again – thing is over 1800 pages thick. Overall this part of US has quite strong Christian community or at least this is my impression after being picked up by a considerable number of Christians, which really helped me to go on with my trip without getting off the highway to go walmarting for cheap food. Reminded me a bit of Indonesia, where I was often treated to the meals and went on like that without visiting any town or city on the way. Well, I am going back home and my sightseeing enthusiasm is only good for random places I just naturally end up on my way. So this works out just fine by me. It is really great I am getting to see this part of US, otherwise my impression would be considerably worse. It is veeery different from any other country in the way what you see on the streets. You don’t see people at all, just cars… unless you go to some walmart or what not. You can be in a town having 100-something thousand people population and still think of it as a ghost town.

With a few short ones and one truck lift I ended up in Statesville, Tennessee. It got quite cold after I crossed Apalachian Mountains. While trying to get a lift from the ramp for some hours I got treated to a coffee by some guy working at the gas station nearby. Then I decided to drop the hitching thing for a day and go to a library. While checking flight prices I decided to skip going to UK, since it appeared to be much cheaper and easier to fly directly to Germany, than do an indirect flight via Iceland or that same Germany. So my trip time got shorter once again. For now… Getting out of Statesville proved to be difficult. I had to walk a few miles to another exit and try my luck again. There I met an old guy trying for a third day to get a lift. After an hour I tried another highway just nearby, but seeing it was only people driving localy back and forth I went back. Eventually we both got a lift in a pickup to some exit 40 miles to the North and were both treated to a meal at the Subway. That was my second time having quite a tasty salad out there, which I was tought how to order in my previous ride to Fort Payne in Alabama. Then there was a long 4 hour wait for a ride, which I got once that old guy went to get some water. Probably because the majority of the traffic was truckers naturally with only one seat available. Driver was a Mongolian speaking Russian, so we had an active conversation going. Guy actually have been to Lithuania in the past. After being dropped off at another interstate, this time nr. 81 I got another lift in a truck, which brought me to Winchester. Had to spend a night in the inside area of a circle ramp.

Winchester had a very unusual for US old town area, which reminded me a lot of some old towns I’ve seen in Australia. At least place had people, even though a small amount. When I went back to the highway it started to rain and snow a bit. Drivers pitying me were picking me up much faster than usually, treating to a meal or a coffee, giving a few bucks for the road… Nice going bad weather Still it was really miserable to stand by the road, truth to be told, so when I again ended up at a truck stop place I stayed at McDonalds there, using their free wi-fi all night. Didn’t bother to look for a camping spot around since it was drizling non-stop. Feeling like a zombie I went outside at around 7:30 am. Didn’t even have to walk to the ramp, as a guy on the parking asked me where was I going. I got a short ride. And really I should have just stayed at that area near truck stop. This way I had to hitchhike a lot from many other locations, having only some short rides. Some people had very little idea about they themselves were going, so there came some moments when I again had to serve as a navigator for a driver. At least apart from the cold it wasn’t really raining today. Half asleep I finally got a lift from the edge of Pennsylvania straight to New York with africanamerican guy Edie. Luckily it was that only decent ride that I so badly needed to cross New Jersey state without stopping, as it had very strict law against hitching. New York was obviously huge and full of traffic jams as it was the end of working day. I didn’t have any plans for sightseeing and just went to airport. Unluckily counters of AirBerlin airline, which I planned to use, were closed for the day. Luckily I found free wireless in another terminal. Next day I got my ticket for Dusseldorf. And after two more days of living in airport I left North America. Flight was nothing special and customs went uneventfully.

In Germany I found out that I was missing my thermos from the backpack. Baggage handling apparently can cause some items to disappear After a walk out of airport and Dusseldorf city limit I got a lift with a Russian guy Victor, who got me around 100 km further on my way back home. Then I was stuck hitching from gas stations. Had another lift with a driver from Tunis giving me 20 Euros for the meal at one of those gas stations. Then I had a longer lift in a truck to a gas station near Erfurt and got a lift with a guy going 200 km/h to Chemnitz. After getting another short lift to another gas station I camped near it. Next day I had another truck ride to truck terminal at the border with Poland. There I was stuck trying to get a lift. Was worried a bit because yesterday I run out of my last food supplies with just a jar of jam remaining. Just as I decided to leave and walk to the nearest town town to shop, after 4 hours of wait I scored a lift. Driver was English speaking and eventually even invited me over to his parents place, where I had a dinner and showed pictures from my travel to his family. Ended up staying there for the night and had a chance to wash my head thanks to this. Next day I was brought to the road onto Poznan. That day I got quite far, almost to Olsztyn. And on next day I reached Lithuania. Had to camp out near Alytus though as it got dark by that time. And in the morning I completed my world trip YAY! Took me just 406 days, 60150 km and 884 different vehicles. That’s that for now. Sometime later I will update that other page about the trip. For now I have other stuff to do… Thanks for following me during these 406 days, of which 404 days I was not found in Lithuania, lol.

Photo: click

Diamond Mountain – Patzcuaro ~ 2750 km 2011/02/25

I’ve spent about a month and a half volunteering in Diamond Mountain buddhist community. Most of the time I was behind my laptop or helping a bit with building and packing provisions for buddhist retreatants behind the mountain. Apart from that I did a few hikes in the surrounding hills and mountains. Went to Fort Bowie Historical Park just nearby and to Chiricahua mountains National Park. One other hike I will remember for some time was to this abandoned marble mine with Joshua, Sierra and Dennis from the buddhist campground. Had a lot of fun out there that time. By the middle of February I was getting ready to leave. Although there was something that was holding me back for a little while. Like me oversleeping an early ride out of that desolate place our campground was in. Night before that had a halo around the moon by the way. But eventually I had to leave. And it really felt like a second home leave to me. Noone else with I had a chance to asociate as much as I did here on my trip.

On the first day of my leave I managed to get all the way to border town of Nogales on US side and spent a night beside a road in a tent. Been a long while now since the last time. The way I got there was through supposedly scenic route across Patagonia town. But I sincerely didn’t think of it as being scenic. Nothing compared to the one from Flagstaff to Sedona anyway. On the next day I got some food and a couple of gas canisters in a Walmart, not knowing if I’d have a chance to do that in Mexico. Crossing border was quite simple. But now I know I made a mistake while blindly listening to US officer who pointed me to go straight to Mexican customs. That is because I wasn’t checked out as leaving USA. That might really sour my return there later after my trip all the way down to Argentina in South America. On the Mexican customs side they didn’t even tell anything about the necessary to purchase entry permit. Good thing I had that researched beforehand and got it for 262 pesos or something close to 23 US dollars. Now I was in Mexico.

First thing I had to do is get out of Mexican Nogales, which took me long enough. Now I carry not one, but two backpacks (another’s a little one I have in front of me). First ride got me to a toll gate before Hermosillo, where driver asked the officer if I could camp beside the toll gate, which was allowed and so I did that very thing exactly on the side of a toll gate. Gave some laugh for all the drivers passing by through that gate I guess. Next ride got me to Oregon, which I left in a truck riding through the night all the way to Chapalilla town, where I was turning off to visit Puerto Vallarta beach city. That was a looong ride and good thing I got to sleep on the couch in the back of driver’s cabin. With a few rides I ended up in Puerto Vallarta and had some rest on the beach. City center was definitely interesting, and definitely too touristic for me. There was a nice boardwalk along the beach though. Lots of bizarre statues along it, sand sculptures as well. There were also some whales jumping out of the water in the bay. In the evening I tried findin South exit out of the city but could only see one way roads to the hills with all the hotels on them. Camped through the night beside one of the roads. Spent another half a day wandering and looking for that exit, but didn’t find. Bad luck not having any city maps on hands. Had a rest at the beach and did a looong walk back to the North exit. Not just through P.Vallarta but all the other ‘little’ towns of that unending urban area.

Got to hitchhike out of here only on the next day’s morning. After that I managed to get to Guadalajara with several rides. During last one I had to wait until driver did his buisiness with some folks in different places of that huge city. Luckily I ended up being  dropped off closer to the edge of metrapolitan Guadalajara. Next came a couple truck rides, that got me to Morelia. I was heading now to Patzcuaro. Had a 4 hour walk across that city. Took a look finally into one of the Mexican supermarkets. Found it awesome how cheap their oranges and pastry is. Got a load of both. In the morning got a lift to Patzcuaro. And it so happened that I got to the center of the town exaclty as they were celebrating their Flag Day on February 24th, which happens to be when Mexico got independent in 1821. So I got to see some festivities around this nice old town, which I like the best so far of what I’ve seen in Mexico. Many thanks to Nick from Diamond Mountain for pointers on travel in Mexico. As I wandered around the center after the end of the ceremony I found this awesome library, the kind I’ve never seen before. I totally feel like in a church in it. Having some wireless here I used this chance to write some stuff on my blog which I also didn’t do in a long while. Oh and by the way, even it’s still 3 days short – it’s been a year since the start of my hitchhiking adventure – YAY! Greetings to all the friends and people who helped me to go on through all this time

Photo: click

United States: Los Angeles – Diamond Mountain ~ 1010 miles 2010/12/31

Once I hitchhiked to Auckland’s airport I was warned by some workers there that I would need an onward ticket from USA. I actually planned to buy one to Mexico anyway, but there was no counter of the airlines I wanted to go with at the airport. I tried finding United Airlines office in Auckland later, but had no luck as the person representing them wasn’t able to sell them and only ever did was to make changes to already bought tickets. Anyway, I decided to leave it to the luck. Flight was a dreadful 12 hours long. At US immigration I was asked a bunch of questions about my visit purpose, but nothing about onward ticket. So it seems I just got worried over nothing. Overall getting through the customs was quite a simple thing. After that came the question of getting out of Los Angeles. I got on a bus going to Santa Monica beach and walked from there to the junction before Malibu beach. Got a lift there in a pickup with 7 dogs in the back xD With another lift I got to Woodland Hills and walked up North to the number 118 freeway. That was for the first day in US. Next one was a hitchhike to Santa Clarita, where I stayed 4 years ago, while working at the Six Flags theme park.

Ride there came with a good treat of fishburgers Stayed at that town a few days while getting some stuff together for traveling further – gas canister, new compass, map of California, etc. Problem was that the towns in US are even more spread out than Australia or New Zealand, so getting around takes a lot of time. When I was about to leave Santa Clarita on a dark rainy evening I was picked up from a supermarket by a bulgarian Zdravec, who later invited me over to his place to spend the night. Thus I avoided the rain problem. At his place I got to eat traditional Bulgarian meal with cheese – Banica, to play some chess and talk about the travels.

Next day I hitchhiked to Vasquez Rocks National Park, where I’ve been 4 years ago as well. While continuing from there I was warned by a cop not to hitchhike while he sees me… By this time I sort of got the hang of hitchhiking in California acording to the law, but cops seem to have their own opinion on this. I just walked further a mile and got a lift. With several rides I got to Inyokern and was picked up by Kyle and Ryan, who brought me to their friend’s place, where they were doing their jamm session that evening. I ended up staying the night there. It was a fun evening with some dart games, wii, etc. Next day I hitchhiked to Death Valley. The ride through the park was with Italian Lorenzo. A bit annoying and overly sociable dude, thinking too much of himself. In Death Valley I planned to see the Sailing Stones, but roads there had some nonexistent traffic. Lorenzo tried milking me for money for the gas, once I told him I might be going in his travel direction, which was Flagstaff in Arizona. I planned first to go for Yosemite, but roads there were closed because of the recent snowfall. Anyway I declined.

At the park fee collecting kiosk some cops again began the story about hitchhiking being prohibited, but it seemed like it really was so on the National Park territory. Because of that I was in a dodgy situation, unable to hitch to see those Sailing Rocks. Lorenzo then used it to ask for 10$ to drop me off out of the National Park. I still ended up withough giving that to him, but overall experience was sort of disgusting. From Death Valley junction I went up North to number 95 highway with old guy Denis. Stopped there at the rest area for the night and next day hitched a ride to Las Vegas, where I got stuck trying to get further to Henderson. But after 3 hours of hitching from the ramp I finally got a lift.

I spent a few days in Henderson and when was hitchhiking further to Kingman in Arizona a driver gave me 20$ With another ride in a back of a pickup I finally got to Kingman, where a historic 66 route was passing through the town. This also was the very first place I saw those giant tall cactus, which are so famous in Arizona. I spent almost a week in Kingman and then hitched a ride on a No. 40 interstate in a truck to Flagstaff, where there was finally some snow. One night I went to sleep in a tent and in the morning woke up in an igloo. Everything was totally covered in snow, so it was a proper White Cristmass for me. And it wasn’t in the middle of desert as most of the places I was passing through.

Nevertheless on 24′th I decided  to hitch south. After a ride and a treat of pancakes while on the scenic way to Sedona I got called from a driver in a car and offered a ride even further. That was U.J or Uncle John. We stopped by in Cottonwood for a tea and agreed for him to pick me up in the morning on the further trip down to Tucson. While on our way next day I was offered to go to this buddhist community far away from the big cities in the mountains, where they were volunteering in building a retreat for some people to stay in silence there for 3 years, 3 months and 3 days. I eagerly decided to go there and help with that. Even more so, as they had free food, wi-fi and showers there. The very first evening I had one of the most fantastic Christmas celebrations in my life among 60 to 70 of interesting people out there. The food they had prepared was all vegetarian and super delicious. Next few days I was volunteering at retreat cabins and domes construction work. Almost each evening there would be some sort of event and an awesome vegetarian dinner. Even without an event, there would be some good stuff prepared for volunteers in the yurt kitchen. One night there was a tripple wedding at the temple too. Although because of some retreatant meetings it was postponed to 3 a.m. It was a hilarious event in a way, since one guy has fallen asleep just beside the flower road prepared for the bride and groom. Inbetween speeches one could hear his snoring too x] On the 30th of December the retreat was supposed to start late in the evening, so there was another banquet, after which there was a walk to the gate with all the retreatants and their friends, families and those who was volunteering here. 40 or so retreatants will now separate from the rest of the world in the mountain cabins for more than 3 years to meditate and try to find a way for world peace through their inner self. For more info one can check the website of this project – http://retreat4peace.org/

I will stay here to help for a bit longer. At least as long as my permit to stay in US is valid. Provided I’ll like it here that much. So far I’m satisfied though. I get to rest from my travel, contribute to something meaningful and do some Hatha Yoga, which I’ve been practicing in the past. In nearly a month of hitchhiking in US I didn’t cover all that much of a distance as I could have if not for staying at some spots for a longer time. Even though it wasn’t all that active, people, whom I met on my way here and experiences I had, left a very good impression on me. I have to admit I was prejudiced about hitchhiking in US. But as always those doubts are soon shatered by the kind people you manage to meet traveling this way. The only thing I probably didn’t like was metric system here x] Oh, well, and overzealous cops, who aren’t even sure about their own laws on hitchhiking :]

This will be a last post this year, which has been the most exceptional I ever had. I don’t remember now what I wished for before it began, but I have little doubt that it didn’t come true. As far as I’m concerned I am living my wishes and dreams out. I wish the same to all of you, who has been following me on the pages of my blog this year. Have a good and happy New 2011 Year.

Photo: click

New Zealand: North Island ~ 2060 km 2010/11/28

While crossing on a ferry to Wellington on North Island I finally saw some fiords, through which ferry was leaving South Island. Once ferry was in the more open area wind got too strong to remain on deck and I spent the remainder inside. Wellington was smaller than I imagined it to be as a capital of New Zealand. I’ve done some strolling around the CBD and then hiked up the Mt Victoria to have a better view of the surroundings. Leaving the city was in a way a headache, since the only road to be taken was a motorway, so I had to try hitchhiking from a bus stop on the edge of the city. Took some time, but I succeeded. Got to Paraparaumu that day. Next one I hitchhiked through to Upper Hutt. But that took a long time, since the road I chose was going through the mountain and was had very little traffic, not to mention that very narrow with just one lane. Anyway I managed to reach Upper Hutt by the evening. That town was the first one I managed to find a free wireless at the library and a very fast one at that, so I ended up staying there for a few days :] On the last one, while I was in the library, a nun came up and gave me 20$ saying she was backpacking a lot in her younger days and knows what’s it like :] Next stop was a Masterton, where I did some busking, but nothing much else. Same goes for North Palmerston.

After that I hitched a ride to Wanganui, and a driver Glen invited me to stay at his place that day, which happened to be Guy Fawkes day, when people in former commonwealth countries are celebrating the occasion, when Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the parlament building, by putting up a firework display. That one we went to see late in the evening from the Durie Hill. Next day Glen guided me a bit around Wanganui: the same Durie Hill with it’s famous old elevator, the only one of a kind in the southern hemisphere (quite a shaky and fun ride by the way), Durie Hill Tower with a spiral staircase and an awesome view from the top, Art Gallery, Glass works Exhibition at Information Centre and the process of making various glass sculptures at the Chronicle Glass Studio. We also went to this Virginia Lake, where heaps of birds where roaming around and took a short hike around. Later as we said goodbyes I went for a bit to a library and then went out of the town. Passed that Virginia Lake again and discovered Winter Gardens, so took a look at them as well.

Another one stop was in Hawera town. Did some decent busking there and spent a few days before going to Dawson Falls on the Mt Taranaki. This was a third volcano that I climbed on this trip. I arrived to Dawson Falls in the evening and only hiked up to Stratford Plateau, where I camped for the night. Didn’t put the outer layer of the tent at first and just stargazed till late, saw at least a dozen of shooting stars too :] At about 9 in the morning I went on with the climbing. Took me an hour or so to get to the hiking track leading to the summit. Overall it wasn’t very physically demanding climb or anything. But it was my first time climbing a snowy mountain and I didn’t have the equipment for that too. For the most part it was very easy and safe, but the last bit was the most difficult. First because of the pebbles section and then the snowy one – no stable grownd beneath, so that was one risky endeavour. Still I clawed my way to the top. Literally so, since I was thrusting my hands into the snow as well not to let myself slip. Unluckilly the day was cloudy, so I couldn’t see any surroundings from the summit. Still, being above the clouds was nice as always. While getting down I slided from the summit into the crater valley, then it was a slow and careful descent on snow and pebbles, which was even more susceptible to sliping. As I got down to the road on North Egmont side I walked for several km and then got a lift from one of the New Plymouth residents – Justin, who later invited me over to stay for the night :]

I spent a day in New Plymouth and on the other one hitchhiked to Whakapapa village at Tongariro National Park. It took me 10 shortish rides to get there though and the last one was with a Latvian family :] Having some spare daylight time I decided to get on with hiking Tongariro Crossing track. Got as far as Mangatepopo Hut and camped there. Next day I was doing the crossing itself and when I reached South Crater, turned for the Mt Ngauruhoe summit. That was another volcano again. There were dozens of other people doing the crossing and summit climbs too. Somewhat irritating, since there were even some traffic problems on the track because of that, not to mention rolling stones, unloosened by other climbers from up the Ngauruhoe. Getting down from Ngauruhoe was much easier than any other volcano I’ve been to. Part of the way down I just slided on snow :] After that came spectacular Red Crater and Emerald Lakes, finishing up across Blue Lake in yet another crater and a long descent from all the volcanic massive down to the road. Which by the way had no decent traffic at all, only tourist busses picking up the climbers. So after doing 20-something km walk I was doing even more walking to the nearest town. Although I eventually lucked out and got a lift almost to Taupo town. Got treated to an ice-cream too x] Tired legs aside, my face was burning yet again, even all the day it was a pretty cloudy weather and the only times I was under sun exposure were the summits of some volcanoes, but that was more than enough to get a sun burn this time around :[ A day in Taupo and another in Napier, nothing impressive, nothing after all that hiking in the mountains anyway. A few days spent in Gisborne before hitchhiking along the east coast to Te Araroa.

On the way I stopped by the Tolaga Bay to see the historic wharf, which is the longest concrete one in the southern hemisphere. I also did a Cook’s Cove tramp there. Getting further to Te Araroa was difficult, since this part of the island was low on population and there was little traffic. I still managed to get there. But my last ride was unforgetable. Pickup car stopped for me and since there was no place to sit inside I was offered a ride on the back completely covered with large board on which a TV was fastened, so I had 1 meter of space to the very end of the car and having my arms stretched out to the sides I was barely able to hold on to the edges of the board with my fingertips. If it was anywhere else but New Zealand I probably would pass on this ride, but with roads being in decent condition I didn’t think twice. Ride was going through the hills, so road was very winding. Speed limit was 100 km/h and on every corner I was literally holding onto my life with my fingers not to slide off the car. It was only 24 km ride, but it lasted far longer for me. Anyway, after a while I even started to enjoy this, thinking of it as the best atraction I ever had (and this with me having experience of working at roller coaster park 4 years ago in California). In the end when I got off, my fingers were totally numb. I said thanks for the fun ride and all excited went to search for a place to camp. Next day I went to Whakatane turning back west along the northern coast. Spent a few days there and started my finishing part of hitchhiking in New Zealand heading to Auckland, from where I will be leaving to Los Angeles.

I’ve updated my page about this trip, since my plans for travel changed quite a while ago.

Photo: click

New Zealand: South Island ~2640 km 2010/10/26

My flight and getting through the customs were with no problem this time. In Christchurch I’ve spent a few days and just did some walking around the city center, getting some supplies like gas canister and food, some bit of juggling on the streets or just being on the wireless internet in library. There quite a few signs of the earthquake, which shook this city a couple of weeks ago – some roads fenced of as not safe, some buildings missing walls or this one church without the top, which was removed and placed on the ground beside it. Every building had these green documents taped to the doors verifying their relative safety condition. Other than that it was stil a lively place, lots of tourists or people from some asian countries, especially Korea, who came here to study. There were many people doing some running and cycling in the city or it’s parks. For nights I would be going to the hills south of the city center, the only publicly inaccessible place, where camping would be possible. Had to do some climbing each time though Busking as I discovered wasn’t going as smooth and rewarding as I would’ve wanted. Only once during Sunday did I get good amount. People here are really used to that. Christchurch even has some anual busking events.

From Christchurch I moved to the north on my way circling the south island of New Zealand. My first destination was Kaikoura peninsula – a place with fantastic ocean views on one side and quite close mountain range on the other. Enjoyed tramping, as they call hiking here, around peninsula. Next place I got a lift was Blenheim – just another of the towns, nothing special as I saw it, but since it had a close place to camp not far from the town center, I stayed there for quite a bit. I do have enough time going around in New Zealand anyway, so I’ll be taking it easy now. From there I went to Nelson, where I spent almost a week. There were some really nice hills just beside town center with an awesome view. In the first place I only climbed one of them to see the Centre of New Zealand monument at the top. And since I liked the place I decided to stay for a longer time. Ended up being there for quite a long time :] Each evening or morning it was some hiking in the hills to and from the places I would stay for the night. During the day I once juggled in the town, but since it wasn’t really going well I was stuck in the library as usual lately.

Leaving Nelson I walked across Stoke and Richmond towns. In the later one I did some successful busking. My first ride in a while was just a little further to a free camping ground near Wakefield town. From there I hitchhiked to Greymouth, stopping by in Murchison, Westport and Punakaiki to see their famous Pancake Rocks and Blowholes. I spent two days in Greymouth and got a lift from there to Hokitika with a couple of Maori guys. They invited me to their place and I camped in their backyard. Got to use a shower as well. As a present one of them made me a necklace with a jade stone. Hokitika is quite famouse for it’s jade works and those two Maori guys were doing some jade carvings there. After spending the next day in Hokitika I hitchhiked to Franz Josef and next morning hiked to it’s glacier in the mountains. After this leg excercise I got to Wanaka with several rides. Last one was in a post van, so it took a bit longer than it would have otherwise. Had to stop by in some towns to deliver the mail :] Landscape around Wanaka was fantastic. Town is situated just near the lake with some snowy mountains on the background. In the evening I took a hike onto Mt.Iron and spent the night there. Next day I went to Cromwell just 50 km away. Didn’t do much there, just spent some time in the library and later hitched a ride to Frankton, where I camped in the hills again. Queenstown was about 7 km distance from Frankton and surrounded by beautiful snowy mountains. I had some little stroll around the town and juggled a bit on the Mall street.

From Queenstown I intended to get to Milford Sound to see a fiord. Although I would have to do a huge hook to get there. The day when I went off was awful weather-wise, so I had to skip on that. Fiordland here’s quite famous for it’s rainy weather, having around 8 meters anual rainfall. So I decided to skip on making that hook and headed to Invercargill. Didn’t escape that unstable weather though. Was lucky enough not to get rained at least when I was hitchhiking – managed to get rides just before it would pour down really heavily. In Invercargill though I had a taste of some rains and hailstorms. Not too warm there too – just 6 degrees at the time. From there to Balclutha I chose to take a scenic coastal route through Catlins Forest Park. Road had too little traffic though, so it took some time to get there. On the way I was invited for a second time in New Zealand to spend a night at a driver’s place – Catlins Farmstay. That was really helpful, since weather that night was especially nasty. After Balclutha I went to Dunedin, where I spent a few days just visiting library and one for some busking. Next destination was Oamaru, which surprised me a bit with all the Steampunk sculptures in and outside the town. Well, it is supposedly a steampunk capital of New Zealand :] There was a penguin colony in Oamaru, but it wasn’t a proper time of the day when I went to visit it, so I didn’t have the chance to see them :/ A couple of days in Timaru and another in Ashburton. Just moving a bit by bit to the North. Landscape on the East Coast is quite different from the West one. It’s flat with heaps of dairy farms along the road. While on the West it was more ruged and thousands of sheep on the hills Well, New Zealand is one of the leading countries for it’s cattle and dairy products… Spent another 2 days in Christchurch and went to Picton. The day when I got there was a public holiday, so with nothing better to do I did 5 hours of juggling on the main street. Got quite a good income from that and even ‘leveled up’ in juggling. I mean literally. Suddenly just attempted another 2 juggling styles with 3 balls, 1 with 4 and improved another one with 3. All this without ever practicing them before, just saw some of them being performed by other jugglers I met during my travel. Interesting thing is that it felt like I knew them before, so there was very little need in polishing those styles :]

Summarising my travel and living experience in South Island, it was rather relaxed and hardly as full of sightseeing as it could be in a duration of a month and a half. I spent more time doing whatever I felt like. Probably getting a bit bored of just traveling. Not like there aren’t places and things to be visited and seen in New Zealand. I still cleared most of the major stuff there is and the landscape is just ideal for hiking, there are heaps of tramping trails in the hills around most of the towns. There was also this big influence of having a laptop and there being free wireless available in most of the libraries. Actually I am getting tired of it too lately and it’s a good thing. Got reminded all over again of what I was bored about to the bones while at home – even if I missed that after several months of travel. My usual day here would be a hike from some hills or wherever I would have my tent set up, stroll around the town early in the mornings, a day spent on a wireless in the library while downloading stuff and reading japanese mangas, an evening hike back to the hills or hitchhike to some other township, camping just outside of it by the road, enjoying some cooked meal and watching animes in a tent. Quite an ideal way of life in my eyes right now, combining both of my interests for hiking/camping in the nature and indulging myself with reading and watching japanese stuff. Anyway, now I am sort of recharged to continue with actual travel thing. I still miss my friends a lot back at home, but that’s it. Well, there is beer and pub stuff in our old town of Vilnius too, but that comes in a package with friends thing ;]

Photo: click

Bendigo-Sydney ~1360 km 2010/09/12

From Bendigo I went on to Echuca, where I stayed the night near the river just in town area and next day after exchanging a book in library and having some free internet went to juggle a little. Next destination was Wodonga-Albury twin town located on Victoria and New South Wales state border. As I was leaving Albury I got stuck without a lift in the evening. That night I camped under a bridge inbetween a motorway and railway. So noises from both sides and from above xD But that’s just normal. What was not normal it’s the storm through the night. The wind broke small one pole of the tent, so it was flattened in my feet area. Luckily I was under a bridge so this didn’t force me to sleep in wet conditions. Next day I hitchhiked to Wagga Wagga, where I visited a couple of camping stores and got spare parts to fix the pole. Although I didn’t have to use it that day as during the last ride, which brought me to Tumut town I ended up staying at the driver’s place.

Even though I was going to Canberra now and it wasn’t all that far, shortest road there would be all mud and not really accessible in this time of the year with all the floods happening in these parts of Australia. I even missed one just by 2 days (supposedly a place I’ve been through was flooded up to ~1 meter high in water Another sort of disaster I was informed of was a ~7 point earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. Place I was now thinking of going to of from Sydney. Anyway, as I couldn’t go to Canberra through that straight dirt road, I had to make an enormous hook going down to Cooma across Snowy Mountains, which by the way still had some snow even for an Australian Spring. From Cooma I turned back north and this time to Canberra. There I just had long walk around the city lake and town center. After spending some hours on free internet in the library I walked of in the direction of Queanbeyan. I was picked up on the way and dropped off at some nice spot to camp. Thing is I was picked up by the same car next morning as I walked out of the forrest So this way I ended up in Queanbeyan. Did nothing much there apart again some internet time – got hooked on this library thing here in Australia now

Unluckily as I hitchhiked off from Queanbeyan next day to Batemans Bay I discovered that I lost my tent pole that I fixed and carried just fastened to my backpack because of it being in larger packed size :\ So I had to get some new stuff, which I did at Batemans Bay, where I spent two days. I left that place for Wollongong. There I spent some time at the beach, but my head started to ache as I was doing that. That turned into some nasty headache for the rest of the day. I walked quite a bit from Wollongong in search for a place to spend the night, but urban area was just unending… Finally though I did found some spot at charcoal storage area along the road with some suitable grass space there. As I got up next morning I was perfectly well again and walked another 5 km until I found a spot more or less suitable for hitchhiking. As I got a lift I was invited for some tea in Campbell town. Even got to use a shower there Next ride was to Liverpool with Tonganese driver, who even payed for a ride on a train to Sydney from that town ^^ Well, lucky day it is. In Sydney I just wandered around in town for a bit and visited Royal Botanic Gardens as well as Macquarie’s Chair point considered as a best spot for viewing Sydney Opera House. As I left that place and wandered of I spoted a library in the city – some time on wireless and the making up of this blog post

This is pretty much it for my travelling in Australia, which was a big pleasure and a fantastic experience, which is probably not gonna be equalled anywhere else or so I think. Even though hitchhiking here can sometimes be troublesome with noone picking you up for 5-6 hours (happened 3 or 4 times to me) in general it’s an enjoyable thing to do in this country as there are heaps of other travelers from all around the globe. So meeting same-minded fellows is quite common. Geography and a landscape are unique to this country in a lot of places and a lot of places have some adequates in all the other destinations in the world, that some tourists flock to. One can only be jealous of living in as a big a country as Australia and having this much of opportunity to travel just in one place. Them having all those visitor information centers in most of the towns is a huge help for traveler too. I after all didn’t know much about what I would be visiting here before I actually got to Australia. All those brochures and helpful staff in those centers was a considerable asset to my traveling here. All in all – this was fantastic. Moving on to New Zealand shortly after this…

Or so I thought. They apparently don’t agree much with one way traveling and require a return or ongoing ticket from the country of destination. Here goes my plan to hitchhike on sailboats then  And the more or less ‘cheap’ flight from New Zealand to Los Angeles in USA is with American Airlines, which - as I discovered after a long search in Sydney - had their office shut down :\ Well I’ll manage somehow. In the worst situation, if booking online not gonna go well as it didn’t previously, I’ll just go for a return ticket to Australia. Maybe even gonna revisit Australia for what I miss on during this visit, if I won’t succeed with sailboats that is o_O

Here’s some statistics again:
Land distance covered ~ 39140 km
Water distance covered ~ 280 km
Air distance covered ~ 4700 km
… so I did once over the globe in distance now
Vehicles used – 580
Days spent – 198
Books read – 15

Photo: click

Port Wakefield-Bendigo ~1460 km 2010/09/01

Next day of my stay at Ruel’s place we went to this Barossa Valley famous for it’s wineries. That was quite fun even though I never was interested in wine at all. A few of Ruel’s friends, also guys from Philippines went along. After another go at interentet until late at night and morning breakfast Ruel got me a lift just outside Port Wakefield and I instantly got a lift further. Not all the way to Adelaide though. Had to walk a few kilometers just to get in the city across the subburbs. In Adelaide I did a bit of juggling. Nothing impressive compared to small towns. At least I met this way a couple of Russians, so got to chat in that language after a long while Walking out of Adelaide was difficult again because of the city scale and because of the road going uphill for a long time. I ended up on a freeway anyway. And I wasn’t supposed to be by the law. So next day I got a lift by police. No dramas. Just got to this little Stirling town and continued on with small rides inbetween small towns. Nice change of pace anyway. Had another ride there to a free camping area with a woman working at information center, so got helped by her this way. She even drove to information center and got me a bunch of brochures so I wouldn’t go uninformed further on about the nice stuff around. That’s how I was settled for going on by this “Great Ocean Road” One disturbing thing while we rode to that free camping area is a road accident with a dead dog we witnessed just before our eyes. Quite nasty. On par with that cow operation thing I was witness before in WA.

I continued with my hitchhiking next day and got as far as Millicent and that’s it for the day. One more or less memorable thing was crossing of the river on cable ferry. Then next day I got to Mount Gambier town and went to see it’s Blue Lake, which supposedly becomes very deep blue on some days of November. It was actually a volcano crater lake, which surprised me since I didn’t think there were any volcanoes in Australia. Just as I was leaving the site a stong hailstorm began. Luckily I found a place to hide fast enough. Later it was a ride to Port MacDonnell, where I found myself on the road with almost no traffic for an hour. By the end of the day I did manage to get a ride on a better road and then just stayed the night in the bush nearby. Next day it was just hitchhiking to Warrnambool. Weather still was very windy with frequent short rains. Quite miserable, so no chance on juggling with those circumstances. Ended up camping outside the town. Next day proved to be much more successful in a lot of ways. Weather was much better. Less frequent rains and more sun, so I went and did juggling in the town center, which went really well there. I had to get permission for busking though. And when I went to city council for that I was asked to juggle for some office workers and got 5$ and invited by manager Murray over a dinner after I would finish my juggling on the street So that evening I got treated to some beers… and pizza… while having a chat with Murray, his wife and collegues at this Bojangles restaurant and later at a pub while watching a match of Australian football. Finally learned something about that sport then thanks to Murray explaining the rules. A nice bit of culture insight And then I ended up staying the night at his place. Unexpected would be the right word to describe the day. Well, that’s the thing about hitchhiking and juggling – you meet some nice and interesting people

Next day with Murray we went visiting some places in Warrnambool. Mainly shore sites, wavebreaker, rivermouths, rock islands offshore. Murray was very generous in his desire to help me on my trip and bought an adaptor for my European mobile charger and later even hiking boots as my own were torn in at least 7 places at that time and not so waterproof anymore. We agreed that I would symbolically repay with getting beers for that day’s evening Fantastic. Before getting back to Murray’s home we went to see Hopkins Falls as well – not too clean water looking waterfall. That day I also got some time to use internet and wash some stuff as well. Not speaking of delicious fish dish for dinner After another night I was dropped of at the turn off to Great Ocean Road, which I keep on following. On my way then I saw “London Bridge” and “Twelve Apostles” – all just some spectacular looking sand rock islands near shore along that road.

After a night near Apolo Bay I was zig-zaging my way to Erskine Falls near Lorne town. Waterfall was about 30 meters high. Getting to and from it was through this steep 1km hill road. Made me sweat a bit With a couple of rides I got to the premises of Geelong and on the next day had a looong walk into and out of that city. Forgot my notebook (paper one) while in internet cafe. And only found out that when I got to Ballarat ~90 km away. Didn’t bother with getting back. Weather meanwhile got quite miserable again – some weak, but constant rain and wind. With some 5 rides next day I managed to get to Bendigo, where I went to city library and wrote this post on their computer there. Before I would constantly be forgeting they have it for free in the libraries.

 Photo: click

Perth-Darwin-Pt.Wakefield ~9900 km 2010/08/20

After my last blog entry I did in Perth I walked back those 20-something km to Midland, where I spent the night in the bushes. Next day with another walk and several rides I got to Pinnacles desert. Fantastic place. It’s a pity weather was cloudy though and with some rain. Hitchhiked through Jurien Bay and Leeman, where I got stucked for around 4 hours. Got a ride from there without trying to stop this one touristic bus. Girl driver just decided to pick me up Ride was all the way to Geraldton. On the way we checked out these leaning trees with other tourists on board. After a couple days in Geraldton I decided to go back a little to check Dongara town, which I skipped. Though in the morning before leaving Geraldton I visited nice white lime sand dunes near Greenough. Place looked a lot like some scenery from Mad Max movie. Dongara only had a nice lookout with a view on the harbour and nice waves roling on the other side. From there I made some detour through Mingenew and Mullewa, where I got stuck for a while, but did later on get a lift back to Geraldton where I spent another day just juggling and chilling on the beach. When I was leaving the town a car stopped and a question came from a female driver “are you a hitchhiker?” Thus I got a lift to a gas station way outside Geraldton, without having to walk all those km And this even though driver wasn’t going in that direction ^^

Next day I got a ride to Kalbarri with a Finish family of three. On the way to Kalbarri we visited some nice places and gorges – Natural Bridge, Island Rock, Grandstand and Shellhouse. We also saw from the car Pink Lake too. Quite a bizarre thing. Later I would be hitchhiking back to Port Gregory to have closer look on it’s pink water. Managed to stop that same family returning the same way On the way back to Kalbarri I was lifted by a company somewhat high on drugs or drunk. One of the guys – Dane suggested I stayed camping in his backyard that evening, which I did. I spent the evening eating pizza with them and listening to Dane play guitar and sing song he wrote about quiting drugs Thing is he later in the evening was smoking weed again though Next day I got a lift to Kalbarri National Park with one of it’s workers transporting water. Thus no entrance fees… Got to see Hawks Head and Ross Graham Gorges along Murchison River. Later after a long lift to Overlander Roadhouse I saw first other hitchhikers in Australia. A couple of Girls from Estonia, Lithuania’s sister country from Baltic states We all had a trouble though to get a lift. I was going to Denham to see Shell Beach along the way and girls to Monkey Mia to see dolphins. They got a ride first and I an hour later, though after that I passed them for they were going very slow in overloaded minivan. I saw the Shell Beach and turned back. Got a lift straight to Carnarvon with a couple of travellers. Was riding in a covered pick-up on a matrass and reading “Complete Book of Running”, which I got after exchange I did in Geraldton’s store. Very interesting read. I only wish I had that book few years earlier, when I was more into long distance running.

While trying to get a lift from Carnarvon I got into a conversation with some old guy, who happened to be a descendant of Latvian, who came to live in Australia Hmm, so far no Lithuanians. After some time I finally got a lift to Karratha ~650km away and then to Dampier, where I was hurrying to see this Staircase to the Moon phenomenon, which forced me to skip on visiting Coral Bay. In Dampier I spent some time just chilling on the beach and later had a lift with an old couple going to see that moon phenomenon. First we got a look at some aboriginal petroglyphs on the rock just before Hearson’s Cove, where we were later gazing at spectacular Moon reflections on the mudflats. Next day while hitchhiking from Karratha I got picked up by Steven, who also invited me to go fishing with him next day, so I stayed at his place. Got to hear some interesting stuff about shooting kangaroos in the past and to hold original Smith & Wessons revolver of 44th caliber, used by Clint Eastwood in his westerns Next day we obviously went fishing. It was around 30 km off shore from Point Samson. While doing the fishing thing, we also saw some Humpback whales, dolphins, Manta rays and sharks too. One of which, a human size one – Steven got on his hook I only got some blowfishes and a spanish flag fish. On the way back Steven caught a young Shark Mackerel, which I later in the evening got to eat. Delicious stuff.

After going to Port Hedland and finding nothing interesting there I went to Karijini National Park. This time too my final ride there was with some worker doing a job for the park, so no entrance fees again ;D In the park I visited Weano and Hancock gorges and saw from the lookout a place where they joing with other 2 – Joffre and Red gorges. Place reminded me a lot of Grand Canyon somehow. Anyway I had great time there, although I would have liked not to have a backpack behind the back, for some of the hiking tracks were under the water. Later I got a lift to Tom Price town. Very cozy and nice place. While juggling there I heard from 3 people about some Lithuanian girl working in the store nearby, but when I went to check out I didn’t find her. Dayoff most likely. With a few lifts I ended up in Newman, which disappointed me because of Sunday, which are too tragical in Australia. Everything’s closed and not much life on the streets. While hitchhiking from there to Broome I got my first lifts by Caravan and Road Train in Australia. Both quite an interesting experiences. While going with a caravan we got stuck for an hour while waiting for a truck with an oversize load to pass by. Load was 3 storey building size To Broome I got with a couple of travelers – German girl and a French Guy. In Broome we spent some time on Cable Beach, where a lot of camels were used for tourist to ride on. Then we met this friend of their’s – Eugene and went to the first still operating open air cinema in the world – Sun Pictures, working since 1916. Saw a couple of short movies about aboriginals and went to this information bay out of the town, where lots of other Germans and French stayed, who were looking for the jobs in Broome. Next day I did some juggling and while walking out of the town got a lift with Road Train. Got to Derby with another ride. Saw a prison of Boab tree, where back in the day people used to lock up aboriginal rapists before transporting them to the court. In Derby I went to the warf, but finding nothing else to do went to hitchhike and with a few rides ended up in Fitzroy Crossing.

Last one was with a company of drunk aboriginals. Very disturbing. Especially when all 4 of them were trying to talk with me at the same time. In Fitzroy itself I met another hitchhiker – a woman from Canada. It was getting dark and she was in trouble because of a lost tent in one of the cars, that got her a lift. But the thing, which amazed me the most is that she was traveling with two huge suitcases. Not too attractive in a country, where most cars on the roads are already overloaded with stuff. I decided to help her to get to some lodging and just as we moved with those suitcases we got a short lift with a couple of Izraelites to this lodging place, we intended to go. I left without wanting to do much anything with her. charachter was too bitchy about people not wanting to pick her up and another thing – when I asked her for the name I got “Universe” as an answer Next day I got lifted by those same aboriginals, who got me to Fitzroy. They were drunk again and again talkin all at once. Got stuck on the way to Halls Creek at Mary’s Pool rest area, where something close to hundred caravans were spending the night, which was too damn calm for those numbers. Old fellows… Next day I got to Halls Creek and did some juggling. Was treated to some drinks by French girl working at the store nearby. Tried to hitchhike to Wolfe’s Creek Crater later but with no success. Unwilling to waste another day trying to get there I changed direction for Kunnunura and soon had a lift there with an Equadorian guy going for work with some aboriginal community near Darwin. Heard a lot of crazy stuff about unsuccessful government’s policy on helping aboriginals with installing solar energy stations in remote communities and other “big” and stupid projects.  Got after a long ride treated to a dinner and stayed the night at his place in Kunnunura, where I juggled the next day. While doing that I saw that same Canadian hitchhiker and Estonian hitchhikers too… On another day exchanged some books at the library. Some I got by exchanging with Steven with whom I went fishing – “On the beach” and “Revelations Unveiled” and another from “Universe” – “Flirting with danger” – all of them nothing much serious except for revelations thing, which was another interpretation of Bible, but this time it’s prophecy part. Anyway I got a “History of the World” ~1000 pages and a biography of Napoleon for that

From Kunnunura I was heading to Katherine, but got stuck at this Timber Creek place for a night and overall of 6 hours with what I had to wait next day. From Katherine I went to Darwin. While getting into the position to hitchhike, saw another hitchhiker, but after trying to talk to him found him to be uncomprehensible and high or drunk at the moment. Got a lift with an old guy Kenneth driving with caravan. Got treated to some sandwich and coffee on the way and stayed the night in his caravan parked in Adelaide River at his friend’s place. The next day he took me to Darwin and showed the town to me while driving around. After goodbyes I spent some time exploring the place on foot myself and later by stiching finally some torn stuffL backpack, shirt, sports bag and filling diary as well as reading a book. Spent the night in some jungle-like place near golf court area. Next day while juggling in the town center I was told to go get permission at tourist information center, which I did. There were 3 other “buskers” on that main street. One of them – an aboriginal just hitting sticks on the ground – very irritating “busker”. Later I checked the market near Mindil Beach and had a long walk out of the city and past air port just to find a place to stay for the night.

Next day I walked even more – past Palmerston satelite city to Darwin ~25km away from it. After a few short rides I finally got one bringing me to Katherine. From there I got a lift to Mataranka, where I was picked up by Irish guy Neil adn Italian Widle, working at the watermelon farm and brought to their place right at the birthday party of this Scotie guy. Been a while since I was partying There were people from other countries too – Great Britain, New Zealand and Estonia With one of the Estonians – Marvin, a crazy and fun guy we spent next day driving around to farm doing some favours for guys working that day there. On the way we picked another hitchhiker – Alberto from Spain, who was traveling around Australia for 2.5 months then. We spent some time watching other guys working and getting to eat lots of watermelon Later we went to Bitter Springs with it’s fantastic crystal clear blue water. There I did some jumping from 4 meters height of a tree After wathing some movies back at home we went to this Homestead Pub and crashed at one of the trailers in the caravan park later, partying there until 3:30 am. Next day after saying goodbyes to all those nice fellows I and Alberto went to hitchhike. Our directions were different though. While hitchhiking to Tennant Creek I was lifted by Dutch guy going to Cairns. We camped it out as it got dark and next day I was dropped off at Three Way Roadhouse, from where I continued on to Tennant Creek and later to Alice Springs with David, who said to be working at the council of the territory all the way down to Alice Springs. Anyway I got dropped off just before the town as it got dark and camped there. Walked out of the city and got a lift down south with two Italians and one German. We camped out as it got dark at one of the rest areas. I got a fire going and we had some of their potatoes roasted in it After that I typed a new entry for the blog. Took some time. Been a month after all

Night was rather disturbing with strong wind blowing dust inside the tent After a ride to a turn off to Uluru I got another lift to Coober Pedy. Didn’t do there much except for resuplying and cheching stuff at tourist information center. Place is famous for being number 1 in opal excavation in the world Wind there was blowing too damn hard and land around was either flat or covered in dugouts with restricted access and this for about 50 next km, so I was trying to get out of there as soon as I could before the dark. Got a lift to Port Augusta and was dropped off at about 6 km before the town. I juggled in the town next day and met a guy Ruel from Philipines, who invited me to stay in another town down on my route to Adelaide – Port Wakefield. Next day I hitchhiked to Port Pirie and then with some Vietnamese to Port Wakefield, where late in the evening I got picked up by Ruel and brought to his place near chicken farm, where he works.

In last month of traveling across Western Australia, Northern Territory and South Australia I once again got fascinated by this country’s nature: mainly beaches and gorges in some of national parks. I liked a lot gazing at the night sky, as star light is not diminished by any strong city light. Got to see 4-5 shooting stars while doing that ;D I met heaps of other travelers too. For the most part they were either Germans or French, but there were quite a few of Estonians as well. Generally all of them were in Australia on working visas. While hitchhiking from time to time I would be juggling in some towns with my hat down. This proved to be a very rewarding thing to do. Not only it covered my travel expenses, but I even saved up some cash to purchase HP Mini laptop One other thing is that while juggling I got to speak with some locals or other travelers. Just because I was more approachable with those balls flying around ;D Anyway I had great time so far and now it’s one more month left of my stay in this country

Photo: click

Perth-Esperance-Perth ~ 2660km 2010/07/15

Arrival to Australia wasn’t very smooth. I had to go through a detailed check-up of all my belongings and an interview at the customs. Relieved after the ‘green sign’ to enter the country, I went off. Had a little of free internet use at air port before though. Got a lift to Perth, which I left the second day for Fremantle town. Finaly I bought a new gas stove, so back to noodles and oats Although mornings now are muesli-only I spent some couple days at Fremantle and went down to Augusta, visiting quite a few towns on the way: Mandurah, Bunbury, Busselton, Dunsborough. All were near the ocean, so I had some swims even though it’s winter here, which could be compared to our autumn temperature-wise, but much more sunny Before going south of Dunsborough I had a really awesome detour with Larry, who got me a ride there – we visited Cape Naturaliste with all the nice surroundings there: Bunkers Bay, Eagles Bay, Sugarloaf Rock

On the way to Augusta I planned to visit some cave. Decided to go for Mammoth Cave. There were like tons of others there. No wonder road going down was called Caves Road Cave was really awesome and whats important big enough to have it enjoyed enough – cavern was 30 meters high and 80 meters long. Well, having mp3 audio guide also proved to be an asset Access cost me 20$ though. Crazy. Well one cave for Australia goes now, no need for more Now I wondered if there would be an access fee for Cape Leeuwin lighthouse near Augusta where I was heading next. Luckily it was free. Got there with help of some Taiwanese tourists. After Augusta I was heading for Albany. That day was my birthday by the way. And first half of it sucked big time. No rides or traffic whatsoever and frequent irritating raining Things got much better when I suddenly got a ride to Bridgetown by this Anthia woman, who was coming and turning back a few times to Nannup to try and do some street performing with her guitar. She ended up inviting me over to camp near her house. Later I got some cake in town store and had some birthday celebration at her place, while watching some New Zealand musician Neil Finn’s concert on DVD I also spent Sunday in Bridgetown. Hitchhiking on this day is more or less impossible, just family full cars on the road. Went to I think non-conventional Church with Anthia, quite a different experience from Catholic ones. Later we went to Bridgetown Pottery and Tea Rooms cafe, where Anthia was playing her guitar, while I was strolling across water paint exhibition in the next room. In the evening there was another music performance at Bridgetown Hotel restaurant. Got free beer there from one of the organizators by the way ;D Overall town is really full of artistic people or people playing music, quite a thing for such a small settlement

On monday I went further to Albany through Manjimup and later Denmark. In Albany I spent a day wondering around, was invited to some Couchsurfer’s place while doing that, but had trouble contacting her on the phone later, so went of for Esperance, which was almost 500 km away, but this I managed to cross in a day. First time for Australia, that I had some rides with truckies and with an aboriginal too by the way. Lastly some couple returning to Sydney got me all the way to Esperance. Next day I visited what is considered best beach in Western Australia – Twilight Beach, with amazing crystal clear water and awesome wave colours – and this is on a cloudy day Weather got bad after that though. I ended up in the town centre reading a Bible, which I got as a present from Anthia in Bridgetown. Because of this act I was invited to Elise, who was a traveler herself, house to have a dinner with her family and a shower. Wow, nice one Got another book from her interpreting the Bible Well, now I have something to do while on the wait for rides in Australia xD That day I ended up staying over at Elises friends Janice and John place. Saw some Tour de France. Seems like there’s another sports fever going out there in the world

From Esperance it was a road to Kalgoorlie, which I took. On the way I had a ride with a veterinarian, who invited me to see his operation on an Angus breed cow, that had a dead cub inside. Well,… I saw some nasty stuff, some unseen torture like instruments used Cub was pulled halfway from the back, cut in half inside cow and then other half was taken out from an opening cut out on the side of cow. Anyway, I didn’t vomit or even turned away from any sight, which sort of made me proud in a way for my strong nerves. I am vegetarian by the way I got to Kalgoorlie only on the next day and it was Sunday. This is considered a rather big city, but it was practically empty, which was even more eerie, than the Antony Gormley Statues on Lake Ballard 200 km to the North, which I decided to go and visit at that time. Getting there was difficult. Road was going through some semi-abandoned towns situated around some mines. Mining is the main income source for Western Australia by the way. But once mine is down, town is down as well pretty much. So there are some ghost towns around in Australia’s Golden Outback Kalgoorlie is one of such towns and it has one huge mine called Super Pit, where they mine for gold After Kalgoorlie I was going back to Perth. Most of the distance I crossed with Afgan guy Ahmad, who was returning after a big quarrell with his wife and speeding a lot, which is totally not common in Australia.

P.S.: Yes. I saw some kangaroos. From afar though, so no pics, or dead on the road, but from a car going 80-100 km/h. There is a big variety of birds in Australia and lots of parrots. It’s all good and all, but walking under trees or whenever in towns near ocean isn’t safe because of some bird bombing danger. Had to clean my light jacket once, no bigie though. Once though I had a close call when a big group decided to get a dump. 0.5 meter inaccurate xD People in Australia are generally good natured and all, but big paranoics for hitchhiking, which got a bad publicity in Queensland state after some guy killed 6 or so hitchhikers 20 years ago. So I often get rides only from past hitchhikers or some surfers, travellers or simple people, who are not too damn rich and paranoid about this stuff Anyway, I am enjoying my stay here. Ended up at the same place where I started after 3 weeks. Now I will be going along the coast to Darwin, then down to Alice Springs and Adelaide.

Photo: click