You are not a tourist...you are a traveller. You have finally decided to buy that one year ticket to Australia. It's going to be hot. It's going to be amazing. It's going to be Hell.
Before you leave, there are so many things that you need to know and so many things that you'd rather not. If you want to have fun, listen to me and me only. I am going to give you the essentials.
- Only order Emu Bitter or Pure Blonde premium beer. Blondes are fantastic.
- You can usually purchase panadol in mini-packets at petrol service stations.
- Carry a packet of steri-strips (to close cuts and lacerations until you can get medical treatment).
- Dial 000 for emergencies (fire/police/ambulance).
- Use the bus service between towns when back-packing. West Australia has Transwa bus services. The distance between towns is too far and the conditions are extreme.
- Boardies and cotton tee-shirts are the easiest to travel around in. Most Australians don't dress up too much in summer. Bathers are easy to find in Perth's larger suburban shopping centres (Karrinyup, Innaloo and Garden City).
- Purchase 1 litre bottles of sunscreen at Coles and fill everyone else's sunscreen bottles with it.
- Look for military camel-packs at places like Big W and K-mart so you can have fluids with you whenever you are walking around places like Perth and Alice Springs. No-one will bat an eyelid - some of the West Australian nurses even use them at work.
- Many small towns don't have banks but you can use Eftpos at most stores and petrol stations.
- Australia Post have everything from bubblewrap to prepaid envelopes to post gifts and purchases home with.
- Most country pubs will let you purchase a few take away beers.
- You may be broke and starving and lonely at the end of your year so, prepare before you reach this stage.
PREPARATION FOR LAST WEEK IN AUSTRALIA.
Book accommodation in a serviced apartment in Wooloomooloo (pronounced Wool-uuuu-ma-loo) in Sydney for your last week: keep funds for basic purchases for this (unless you want to sleep at a bus-stop). You can relax and walk every day from Wooloomooloo, along the Sydney Harbour to the Sydney Opera House. In the Gardens, you can take a left under the tree with the bats and walk over to the Art Gallery. Relax on the lawns or eat your lunch on the steps of the Opera House while you soak in your last few hours. You are only a walk away from the Friday night Chinese markets and Paddy's markets. If you get lost, just remember that Chinatown is downhill and Belmore Park is uphill. Note your own landmarks. Every taxi-driver will know what days they are open (you can flag down taxi's easily in Sydney). You will find that famous van that was mentioned in the Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy. Leave the night-life alone and get up early so you can just hang out on the lawns of the Governer's House and experience it without feeling like a tourist. One last thing... every evening, the bats make a pilgrimage across Sydney's skies at dusk and every morning they return, one by one to their resting places. Batman, move over.
