My default mode is crusty old cynic, but I went a bit goose bumpy this morning. Having now been back in the UK for 9 days after her 9 week Ozzie tour, our STA Explorer known as The Australian Adventurer, George, has posted a summary of her trip, reviewing the itinerary, tours and experiences, and the impact it’s all had on her life. This paragraph is one excerpt:

We’re really proud of ourselves in that with the help of STA Travel we made a plan, had an itinary that worked and we stuck to it. At no point did we backtrack because of a hangover or tiredness and at no point did we mess everything up. There was no tour missed, no bus missed, no party missed and no rock unturned. We explored every avenue we could and we did it our way. The two girls from London have officially backpacked up the East Coast of Australia and honestly had the time of our entire lives.

… but it’s really worth reading the whole thing, as it’s an emotional, individual and inspiring paean to the joys of Australia in particular and travel in general. It makes me want to wave some kind of flag, to be honest.

George’s 9 week Australian adventure has drawn to a close and she’s heading back home - but not before she writes a final - and typically funny, quirky and enthusiastic - post summarising her final few days in Alice Springs.

Highlights include an Indigenous Dinner, where they are priviledged to witness traiditional Aboriginal dancing and get an insight into their history, culture, artwork and Dreaming religion. They also take the 2 day, 3 night Wayoutback Safari, including sunrise over Ayers Rock and a hike through King’s Canyon.

It’s a typical update from George and her travel buddy Claire, who have packed their Ozzie trip with all the big attractions (and some more unexpected ones). They’ve mixed some big STA Travel tours with some exploring on their own, and so their blog is a brilliant resource for anyone searching for the highs and lows of all the different experiences on offer.

Previous posts include their visit to the Great Barrier Reef, the Whitsunday Islands and the rainforest; camping on Fraser Island; taking the Oz Experience adventure tour along the coast; campervanning along the Great Ocean Road and much, much more - all replayed in their inimitible style!

So although the girls’ trip may have come to an end, it will still live on in their blog as a treasure trove of tips and tales for fellow STA travellers and Australian visitors. And they’ve promised that the next time they travel, they’ll do the same - so we’ll keep you updated!

Although “two 4×4s, camping gear, maps, 16 nutters, wild dingos, 300 beers and 6 boxes of goon” may sound like the perfect set-up for an adult version of Wacky Races, it is in fact the shopping list that STA’s wild explorer Hip21 has deemed suitable for her tour of Fraser Island in Australia. 

And while I couldn’t begin to summarise the myriad of adventures she had there (you really must read it all for yourself over on her blog) – I will take the liberty of passing on her conclusion to the day – which was rather positive, even though there was a lot of dangerous dingos loitering, campsite woes and more.

“It was stunning and a really wicked experience. We both had the times of our lives but the camping and the group work is defo not for me! Digging a hole to wee in whilst having friends with us with weapons to hit dingos if they came is just not my idea of fun. But, I’m so happy we did it, we survived and we had the best time ever ever ever!!” That’s three ‘evers’… Must be REALLY good! 

Coupled with that, she’s spent a day at Australia Zoo, home of the Crocodile Hunter – which was “all in all, such a good, but very sad day” being as it was the 2^nd anniversary of his death – not to mention an incredible trip Whale-watching at Harvey Bay. 

“The whales would come so close to the boat and they were absolutely huge!! The additional excellent thing about this boat was that it had a platform at the back which lowered down to the actual sea level so we were practically touching then when they were playing around by us. They love human attention and we were told to wave our arms because they look for that, and call them too.” 

And that’s just a snippet of what Hip21 is up to at the moment in Australia – for more updates, full of inspiring ideas of what to do in the outback, follow this link and bookmark ahoy.   

Photo courtesy of Chewy Chua on flickr.

Now, if you ever wanted to know the power of being an STA Explorer then look no further than the experiences of our Australian Adventurer.

Georgina begins her latest post, Neighbours Night in Melbourne, with these words:

“Best night ever. Let me cut a long story short…”

I’m going to cut it even shorter, because who am I to steal any Alan Fletcher aka Dr. Karl Kennedy related thunder!

The girls of Hip21 had, as of the 18^th, posted about their anticipation of the Neighbours Night which you can read here – make sure to take note of the ‘honking’ reference involving good ol’ Dr. K. Come the evening festivities, and Alan Fletcher or Dr. K (I don’t think he minds), is prepping the stage for his performance in his role as front man and driving force of indie band, Waiting Room. It was at this point he spoke to the gathering crowd:

“Where’s Claire? Who’s Claire that writes the Hip21 blog? Who saw me honking my horn today at Ramsey St?”

At this point the experience is far better described by Hip21 girls themselves; needless to say excitement ensued in epic proportions, but basically Dr. Karl had been reading Hip21, which is cool by any measurement! The joy continued as they were invited back stage afterward to talk Hip21, get signed albums, pose for pictures and discuss his Portsmouth University gig!? All in all they were left with only one conclusion:

“Dr K [is] fantastic! He really is hot stuff.”

Gallivanting students George and Claire are camper vanning around Australia - and their drive to Adelaide and Melbourne sounds like a scary road movie!

After a Groovy Grape wine tour, sampling the likes of Jacobs Creek with some kangaroo steaks to soak up the booze, the girls promptly get stuck in a massive storm on the way to the coastal town of Robe:

our petrol gauge was on emergency low. million miles from anywhere, no towns in sight, no cars, no people, no light for miles and miles, was like somethng out of a horror movie… finally came to a petrol station, which was a huge sigh of relief except for the wierdo in a orange boiler suit!! horror movie!

Surviving unscathed to enjoy Blue Lake, the Grampians mountain range, Ballarat, and the Sovereign Hill olden-days re-enactment town, the girls then unbelievably get stuck again on the Great Ocean Road. You’ve got to admire their cool in a crisis:

So what did me and Claire do, we got in the van and ate chocolate laughing at our drama and traumatic situation. We put bright pink legwarmers on and tied our hair up, after all digging wheels with a spoon is hard work.

Thankfully, the girls were rescued by some grumpy Aussies, and went on to see koalas at both Wilsons Prom and Healesville Sanctuary, not to mention making time for another wine tasting at Domain Chandon. Now happily arrived in Melbourne, they have a final piece of advice for STA travellers in Oz:

STA Explorer George has finally arrived in Oz (despite nearly being detained thanks to a mouldy apple in the bottom of her travel buddy Claire’s bag) and has posted an update about their first week exploring around Adelaide.

The girls go into great detail about the hostels they stay at, as well as the tours they take. They particularly loved the ‘absolutely wicked amazing tour’ around Kangaroo Island, where they got to cuddle a joey called Millie, chill with the sealions in Sea Bay, sandboard at Little Sahare, spot baby penguins at night in Vivonne Bay and hike in Flinders Chase National Park (it makes me feel knackered just writing this!)

However, they do have a reminder that our summer is their winter:

Australia is not hot, it is not all sun and bright skies. Adelaide is cold and dreary …We have our hats our A$10 fleaces, gloves and wet soggy uggs boots - which are NOT cool here, aussies wear uggs as slippers so we do get some looks sent our way…

But they take refuge in wine, toasted marshmallows and layering, not to mention the occasional nice meal. The girls may be hardy adventurers, but they don’t believe in backpacker snobbery:

George asked some of the guys on the tour ‘are there any nice restaurants around the Adelaide Festival Centre?’ much to the shock of all the others, their response was ‘backpackers don’t eat in restaurants, but we can tell you where to buy cheap food!’ haha, we never asked again! Yes ok, we are splashing out but dam it we’ve worked hard for this all year so deserve to!! nice restaurant for lunch and dinner, why not?!!

Ask them questions, give them suggestions, and generally enjoy more of their Aussie adventures here.

In her latest post, Death by Dingo, STA Explorer George tackles the tricky subject of all the warnings you get given when you set off on a trip. As she prepares for her own tour of Australia, she’s been told:

Be careful.. Keep safe.. Watch your back.. Stick together.. Don’t talk to strangers.. Don’t jump in cars.. Listen to saftey instructions.. Don’t get stupid.. Don’t drink too much.. Don’t get silly.. Don’t play the fool.. Lock up your valuables.. Wear sun cream.. Blaaaa Blaaaa BLAH - Are we really that dumb?

As she admits, these exhortations usually have the very best intentions, and it’s great to be prepared, but sometimes they just feel like a case of hard-man one-upmanship (my relative was eaten by a dingo, my dingo was eaten by a relative).

George admits she went a bit crazy buying supplies in the STA Travel shop to cover every eventuality but ‘despite all the hidden dangers and even the obvious ones, nothing will stop Hip1 and I from loving every second of our time in Australia’.

What are the worst travel scare stories you’ve been told? Has a piece of advice from a friend or travel agent saved your skin? Or do you find it all just so much scaremongering?