Kruger National Park, South Africa

10th August 20186th August 2018Sarah2 Comments

Once again, we took our tents down in Blouberg and had an early start for a long drive to Kruger. The National Park is larger than some smaller countries including Brussels, home to a lot of species including the big five.

Upon arriving, we put up our tents to get ready for an evening game drive. Honestly, I don’t know how I feel about doing it as we were driving around at night, shining spotlights at wild animals. There’s so much said and put into practice about not disturbing the animals, yet shining light onto nocturnal animals is apparently ok.

During the drive we saw hyenas, elephants, owls, potentially zebras but probably impalas, a hippo out of water and a civet, which I had never heard of prior to the tour. There were two cars used for our group, and the others saw a family of leopards which I’m gutted that I missed – they’re the only ones I didn’t see out of the big five.

The following morning we took our tents down again to go on a safari. I took one of my favourite photos that I’ve ever taken of a giraffe, as well as heaps of elephants, impalas, zebras, buffalo, a couple of ostriches and species of birds.

Getting towards the end of the safari, the one animal that we wanted to see, the lion, had not been seen, until someone shouted that they could see some. It was from a distance so the picture is not great, but still. They were around a watering hole and it was interesting to see the other animals drink from it in at least pairs; one keeping an eye on the lions.

Moremi Gorge, Botswana and Moving Onto South Africa

9th August 20186th August 2018SarahLeave a comment

During the trip there were a couple of days put together to cover a lot of land on the bus. We went into Botswana as it’s easier to cross the border into South Africa from there as opposed to the Zimbabwe one.

Honestly, these couple of days weren’t that interesting. Moremi Gorge, we just went for a walk which was pretty dangerous; we were more or less bouldering at some points to get to a waterfall.

The next day we went off to Blouberg in South Africa – the name translates into Blue Mountains. It’s the third Blue Mountains I’ve visited, with the first being in Canada, and the second in New South Wales.

We went for a walk that was not as dangerous as Moremi Gorge, then went to the pub with the locals. There’s a beer made locally where they’re not too sure of the alcohol percentage and to drink, you have to spill some at the start and end of your drink for your ancestors. I chose to have a lot of ancestors.

I am waiting for pictures to be sent to me, but we were also made to dance with the locals with only a beer or two in us, and after we were off to have dinner at a homestead. It was pretty decent besides the caterpillar that I tried, and chatted to the local woman.

The next day we took our tents down once again, and headed for Kruger National Park

Hwange & Matobos

8th August 20186th August 2018SarahLeave a comment

We took down our tents in Victoria Falls and went to Hwange National Park, which took a few hours. We were told that if we needed to get up in the middle of the night, to get our lights around to absolutely make sure there were no wild animals, such as lions and hyenas, as we were camping in the park.

After lunch we were picked up in safari cars to spend a few hours going around the National Park. We saw heaps of elephants, giraffes, hippos, baboons, impalas, as well as a lot of birds, though not a lot of animals were up close. It was my first time seeing wild elephants up close, and saw a herd of them crossing the road behind the car which was amazing.

We left the National Park in the dark, then went back to the campsite and sat around the fire until it started to get late. The next morning we took down our tents and went to Matobos which took the best part of a day to get there, then we put the tents up. In the evening we went for a walk/hike in an area near the campsite.

The following morning we set off for Matobos National Park, where we set off to find some rhinos. Once in the park, our guide took us to an area where he told us about the challenges that are being faced by the parks to stop the rhinos being poached for the horn, to the point where there are armed guards in the park who are instructed to shoot to kill any potential poachers.

The rhinos are being poached for their horns, which are wrongfully assumed to have medicinal purposes. Despite the fact that the horns actually grow back, they are being killed, and sometimes left to die whilst their horns are being cut off. It seems as though the parks in the country want to be able to sell the horns that they have collected in order to prevent poaching in order to bring in profit to help prevent the animals from becoming extinct.

After this, we got back in the van and drove for around fifteen minutes, then we got out and went on foot to get nearer the animals. We ended up getting around ten meters away from them.

Afterwards, we were taken around the park, had some lunch and stopped off at a locally-run souvenir market, then we went to climb up one of the big hills in the park. Afterwards, we were taken to a cave where there are paintings from the Bushmen over 30,000 years ago still marked on the walls, which is painted the same way as the paintings in Ayers Rock. The animals painted are thought to show the animals in the land, to show others what was available to eat, as well as the dangerous animals in the area.

It’s interesting to hear about the similarities of the Bushmen to the Aboriginals in Australia: they both treated everything, and each other in their environment with respect and only took what they really needed from the land. For instance, they wouldn’t kill an animal that they could not finish eating, and were resourceful as to how they would use the inedible parts of the animals. It is also thought that they had the same beliefs as to how the human race started, despite being thousands of miles apart.

After, we were taken to a local village to meet the chief, and then back to the campsite.

Victoria Falls

6th August 20186th August 2018Sarah2 Comments

Last Friday I left Australia, after having spent two years (minus four days) in the country. It took 36 hours to get there with two layovers: both in Perth and Johannesburg. First stop was Victoria Falls, to start nine days of camping in Africa, in Zimbabwe, a night in Botswana and to finish off two nights in Kruger National Park in South Africa.

I was under the impression that visiting Victoria Falls would be similar to visiting Niagara Falls, however this was not the case. There is a US$30 entrance fee, and takes the best part of an hour to get around if you’re rushing it. Apparently, the view is better from Namibia, though I was quite done with going through border security and didn’t fancy paying extra for a visa.

For me, it took around an hour and a half to get around and got soaked from the spray. Over the past two and a half years I’ve seen quite a few waterfalls, lived in Tasmania for a couple of weeks and seen nature that is simply stunning, and Victoria Falls tops the list.

In terms of the town, I couldn’t walk a hundred meters without someone trying to sell me something that neither want nor need, and I did get a few men giving me unwanted compliments. Another thing that I hadn’t expected was to see so many baboons in the street; I went to buy some water from the supermarket and on the way there saw one drinking from a puddle in the middle of the pavement.

Two Weeks Left in Australia

12th July 2018SarahLeave a comment

Well, two weeks after today.

It is really, really nice being unemployed again. I’d anticipated last Saturday as my final shift of the year, but have since worked two and have one more to go – just a bit of extra money which should cover my living costs until I go.

For now, I’m on track to having my shit together: everything I own doesn’t even fill up a backpack, flights are booked and seats are booked tactically so hopefully no one will sit next to me, vaccinations are sorted – three boxes of malaria tablets are more expensive than my laptop, my Japan Rail pass is somewhere in my room and I have accommodation booked up until halfway through August. With that said, I have a fair bit still to do, mainly with sorting out money and creating some kind of budget for myself; with the amount that I have saved in Australia, it would be nice to stretch this beyond Asia and be able to go to Iceland when I’m back in Europe.

A couple of weeks ago I said that I was going to go to the Grampians for some hiking, but as usual, I have another injury: this time it’s my ankle. I haven’t been pissed since April so don’t know what’s caused it, so just taking the opportunity to rest. With that said, my back is heaps better and almost back to normal.

Next time I update, I will probably be in either Melbourne Tullamarine or Perth International Airport, probably trying to sum up the past two years, and to start the next chapter in my life – travelling the world a bit further.

One Month Left Until Africa

27th June 2018SarahLeave a comment

I haven’t really done that much over the past few weeks since I last updated. My back is still a hot mess, though heaps better than what it was, which means that if I’m not working then I’m usually laying down with a hot water bottle somewhere.

Despite the shitty back, I’ve still made it out to go for dinner near enough weekly. One restaurant we couldn’t decide what to eat so went for their option called ‘The Feast.’ The restaurant is a five minute walk from the flat and I felt as though I needed to order an Uber to get home. Also spent ~~at least $250 on gin~~ a day in Healesville to visit the Four Pillars Gin Distillery, and had a lot of cheese in addition to the volume of wine and gin that was drank. No regrets.

Next Saturday is my last day at my job; I was going to spend a week or so longer but I just can’t be arsed. I may have a few shifts in between then and leaving the country at another job. I’m now having to be a grown up, so today I’ve repaired a balls up on a flight I booked a few months back. Tomorrow I’m off to apply for a visa to get into China, with accommodation booked in Beijing and a flight going from Shanghai to Seoul.

I was intending to travel with hand luggage like I did for five months in Europe, but this isn’t really logical. It’s not really that interesting but I have to stock up a bit better with stuff like first aid (I didn’t even take plasters on my Europe trip), I’ll be carrying Malaria tablets, insect repellent, a copious amount of suncream, now have a laptop, chargers, clothes for different weathers etc., it’s just going to make my life a lot easier to have more space.

Between now and leaving the country I was planning to go up to the Northern Territory to escape the cold for a few days but it’s upwards of £400 for a return. Was thinking about Tassie but it’s going to be cold. If my back feels up to it I may hire a car in a couple of weeks time, go to the Grampians for a day of hiking and come back the following day.

Getting Old…

28th May 2018SarahLeave a comment

It’s been a while since I updated last. Not really been up to much besides the usual – working, going out for drinks, dinners, wine and cheese and chilling. The weather now is not so great, so between now and when I get to China I’ll be refraining from sending snapchats with the temperature on.

I injured my back and had to have it x-rayed around a month ago which I’m having treatment on still, so I have to try and be sensible. With that said, I did go to the x-ray place a little worse for wear, so thankfully it was just my back and hips that they were looking at.

This week I may make it out to do something but I have two days off together and am off to a distillery at the weekend, so will be taking it easy up until then.

Another Week in Melbourne

7th May 2018SarahLeave a comment

For the first time in a couple of weeks it’s not been that much of a big one.

Was supposed to go out during the week, but instead I to cover a shift at work, however, I made up for it by going out last night for a wine and cheese night and turning up to work surprisingly ok on a red wine and gin hangover.

One thing that I did outside of work that was slightly productive was sort out my visa for China, so now all I need to do is go to the Chinese Consulate in Melbourne and hope they approve it. I’ve been looking at the big trip coming up in a couple of months time now – I think it’ll take six or seven months, and am looking at going to Jordan, Egypt and Turkey in addition to the twelve or so other countries.

As for the opposite of slightly productive, I watched 42 episodes of Designated Survivor on Netflix over four sittings.

For this week I don’t really have a lot planned. Maybe going for a drink or two a couple of times but have 8 shifts this week and don’t really fancy writing myself off before I know when my next day off is.

Phillip Island

29th April 2018Sarah1 Comment

On Monday I hired a car and drove to Phillip Island. I visited in my first week in Australia with a friend from back home, but it’s quite close and the weather is still pretty decent. I caught the train to Frankston instead of driving through the city as I wanted to miss rush hour traffic and there’s a lot of dickheads on the road in the city.

Once I’d gotten into the car, I’d already established my first world problems:

The WiFi in my flat is pretty bad and didn’t download the Spotify playlist properly
I was probably going to run out of battery on my phone, for which I was relying on the GPS, and my portable charger wasn’t fully charged
The indicators and windscreen wipers are controlled on the different sides of the wheel than in the UK, and I have to overthink which side they are on. This was the first time I’ve driven a car in Australia and not used the wipers instead of indicating. Go me.

An hour or so later I reached an animal sanctuary and petted some kangaroos.

Half hour after leaving the kangaroos behind, I drove to the Nobbies Center, which is a boardwalk on the coast. Really nice views.

The weather was still clearing up, but after reaching Cape Woolami the sky was blue. Bearing in mind that I work on my feet all day and had done around 15km of walking just a few days before, I opted for the shortest walk.

Next week or the week after, depending on my shifts, I’m going to go to the Mornington Peninsular for a day. At the moment I’m working not a lot of hours with two jobs, this week it’ll be around 30 hours and am expecting the same next week.

Wilsons Prom

21st April 2018SarahLeave a comment

Not really done anything that amazing this past week. Had my first day off in 15 days and think it was only one piss up.

As I’m quite conscious of the fact that I don’t have that long left in Australia, I’d quite like to explore more of the state that I have lived in for most of my time here. Wilsons Prom is a three hour drive away and I just don’t want to spend six hours driving, so again I used the tour operators Hike and Seek.

We did a couple of hikes, both with amazing views. The second one the view was just so worth walking uphill for around 40 minutes in the weather that we were lucky enough to get. The pictures don’t really do the view justice, but they’ll have to do.

This coming week I don’t have a lot of work, so tomorrow is my sort-my-shit-out day, depending on what time I wake up. Monday I’m thinking of hiring a car and going somewhere, but that is dependent on the weather and if I can find a really good playlist.

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One Woman, One Backpack

20-Something working her way around the world with one backpack