Matts Meanderings

Just sitting on a bus, on the way back to the hostel, after a tour of LA, and then an afternoon checking out the attractions at Universal Studios.

Universal Studios was pretty cool - some of the rides/attractions were a bit crap, but some were pretty damn good. Glad I went, even if it was by myself.

This morning though, had a guided tour of LA, which covered Beverly Hills (inc. Rodeo Drive (we saw Larry King!)), Hollywood, Venice Beach, Santa Monica, and a few other places. Come to the conclusion that Hollywood is vastly overrated. The walk of fame (where the stars in the footpath are), is in a dingy street filled with tattoo parlours and dodgy shops.

Venice beach, where the hostel is, is pretty cool - very 'bohemian' and full of strange strange people - wait till you see the photos. But I think Santa Monica is more my style (minor problem is that over a 3rd of the people there are senior citizens).

All in all, LA doesn't seem all that much - not a lot here really. Add that to getting half attacked by this crazy dude while waiting for the bus yesterday, and well, not that excited yet. That said, really enjoyed Universal studios today, so it comes out okay.

Also, note to self, and to anyone coming to LA at any point. Apparently the Fox studio tour is free to Aussies, and you get a bag of free stuff too. Shame I didn't know...

Written Friday the 13th.

Currently in New Zealand, in Nelson, visiting Eva. It's a nice little town - just big enough to have everything you need, but small enough that you can easily know lots of people. Sits right between the mountains and the sea - really nice scenery.

Went and threw myself out of a plane the other day - from 13,000 feet. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your view point, I was strapped to the front of Bob, the instructor. Was extremely scary the first few seconds, then it was pretty cool. Over altogether too quickly though. Bob told me that I did a pretty much perfect free fall . Stay tuned for the photos

On Thursday, Eva and I went by sea taxi up into the Abel Tasman national park, so we could go for a bit of a hike, a gourmet lunch, then stay on aqua-packers, a hostel that’s on a boat. All sounded pretty damn good, right up until we actually went and did it... The weather on the boat ride up was a bit rough, but okay, and it started raining. Walking through the rainforest was not too bad - didn't get rained on much, but getting to the gourmet restaurant required an estuary crossing, which was a little damp. Halfway across, it started pouring down. From there, walking to Aworoa Lodge in the rain wasn't fun. Managed to dry off a bit, but missed out on lunch by 12 minutes - they'd closed the kitchen :(. Abysmal service too... Heading onwards by water taxi to the place we were staying was a bit of a disaster too. Pouring rain, we ended up having to wade out to the taxi, in thigh deep water, and no undercover seats left. So, an hour long ride in the rain, in soaking wet clothes, in the cold wind, over very rough seas. And to top it off, the driver decided to stop at the seal colony... Got to the aqua-packers, looking like drowned rats, and then looked at the accommodation we were booked to stay in, and decided to skip it - very cramped is the phrase, I believe. So, last water taxi of the day back to the car and home for a long hot shower... All in all, a litany of disasters, which all in all, made it a enjoyable day :). A few less disasters, and it would've been annoying, but this many, and all you could do was laugh. But, a beautiful park, amazing natural scenery.

The odd thing about being in New Zealand, and especially in Nelson is that Nelson is Hollys home town, so I was really expecting to visit NZ with her, rather than her being on the other side of the world. Odd. She's also very jealous that I'm here and she's not .

Anyway, its now Saturday evening, and we're just about to head out on the town, and tomorrow, I'm off to Los Angeles tomorrow - should be fun

In one way, its gratifying when someone tells you a secret - it means that they trust you. However, it adds a burden to you in your life - you've now got to walk around knowing this secret for the rest of your life. Sometimes, it seems that it'd be easier if they didn't tell you.

Now, if its a secret about someone else, or something that’s been told to the person in confidence - well, I'd rather not know at all, actually. That makes life way too hard to figure out if you don’t know how much you're supposed to know...

Anyway, no real purpose to this, just something that I was thinking about...

Ahh... Back in Melbourne again, just about to head out to dinner with the family. Just got back from Cairns, and just about to head off again tomorrow to New Zealand.

Had a good time in Melbourne - caught up with a lot of people, which was definitely a good thing, but missed out on catching up with some that I really wanted to see - not the happiest about that. But, all in all, had a good time. Christmas was pretty good - wouldn't have been good in London by myself. New years eve was good too - ended up in the city, watched the fireworks, and generally partied the night away. Bit painful getting up and going to the airport on new years day though.

Slightly odd the differences I'm noticing here. Realised that a lot of the plants and trees are a really dusty green compared to England. But, there's lots more of them around. Also really noticed that the sun really bites here as well - had forgotten that; ended up bright red within the first few days . Really noticing the Aussie drawl too - quite scary sometimes. Everything here is so much more open as well - you can see so much more of the sky.

Cairns was pretty good - was hot and humid though. Went diving on 2 days - 6 dives in all. Was pretty good - saw some reef sharks, some sea turtles, found Nemo , and lots of other cool stuff. Took a disposable camera with me - should have soon cool shots - will upload them when I get a chance. Also went on a 4WD trek through the tropical rainforest - was good. Also did a lot of relaxing and partying too. Was a good trip all up.

I think that kinda brings everything up to date... More I've got to share (visa issues, future plans, other random thoughts), but I'll save them for later...

Look out New Zealand - here I come!