Melbourne Cup Day in Sydney Nov 4th

Alright here is a much needed upadate again....HAHA...Well after livin in Brissi for a bit, I decided to come down to Syd to get settled for the summer and get ready for some summer fun. Well Im settled in at Bondi Junction which is 15 min from the city and Bondi beach. I have like 4 jobs which are actually really fun, working for a direct marketer Mon n Tues 9-5, promo for Sapphire which is a fun club in Kings Cross, and a couple other promo gigs. Fun, easy work....esp if you know me, haha.

I got invited to the Melbourne Cup Day in Sydney by the lovely Dee, and it was an amazing experience....needless to say we all looked really good, haha!! The Melbourne Cup is a big horse racing day that happens in Melbourne, everyone takes the day off to get drunk and gamble, gotta love Aussie, Haha!!

Well here are just a couple of pics from that day...I gotta say that for a backpacker, I do clean up really nice!! Ill let ya decide for yourself!!







I just had to throw this in cause if you know me, no matter how classy a place is or how nice I dress up....I add my own class into anything, Haha!!!!

Brissi Apt....for now

Here is just a quick glimpse of where Im staying at the moment, people call it Posh Packing, haha its pretty cool here in Brissi, I do admit, Im ready to get on the road again!!

Much Needed Update and Possible Future Plans

Well....well....haha after leaving NZ cause of the unfavorable weathe conditions, I made it back to Cairns where it was really nice, I mean its the only place around here were its winter and you can still be wearing boardies and sandles, gotta love the atmosphere I felt like I was on holiday the whole time I was there, but yeah looking for work was not that easy, so after staying a week, I decided to head down to Brissi with a friend I met in Cairns in pursuit of work.....which turned out to be a flop, haha, guess thats how the cookie crumbles. Well currently we are sharing a room in a 2 bed 2 bath flat with 2 other Irish guys, its a really nice flat and we are in a good location, pretty close to everything important, transportation/food and a bottle shop (liquor store) haha. Yeah I currently have a job with a telemarketing position and it seems alright with plenty of possibilities, so yeah Ill be here for a couple of months or so to hopefully recharge the bank account then off to the next adventures!! Brissi is nice there really isnt anything great to see here other then the lagoon which is like everyother lagoon, but its a cool city and have met some great people and met up with my friend Paul who I met in Fiji!!

Possible future plans as of now, I say it like that cause if you know me, there is no such thing as possible future plans, haha but yeah I plan on being here for 3-5 months then heading up to Cairns to hang with friends and do a couple day trips from there, possibly doing agriculture work so I can extend my visa for Aussie for another year, then plan on spending the majority of the summer in Sydney, working and playing, then hopefully Ill have enough money to head to NZ for 1.5 months to travel the north and south island, then from there to Tazzie for a month or so, then plan on heading to Perth to work for a bit then the last few months of my visa to travel from Perth to Darwin, up the west coast, then from Darwin its off to Bali and the rest of the world!! We will see, there is plenty of time between now and then so there is a bunch that can happen from now, but that is the current plans, if I do any crazy daytrips or something remotely exciting Ill definately post it here but other then that its time to lock it up and get busy!! If I dont have your e-mail please e-mail me and Ill put you in my addy book (anthonycicc@yahoo.com) then Ill send off an e-mail with updates to the blog!!

Cheers

Anthony

Goodbye NZ Hello WARM WEATHER

Well after spending some time and enjoying it in Christchurch and mainly Queenstown, I came with the decision that I DONT LIKE COLD WEATHER, haha so yeah I applied for my working holiday for OZ and currently in Cairns where I plan on looking for work and settling down for a bit to recharge the bank account and give the CC a break, haha!! I do plan on doing NZ again though and doing it right, like glacier walks, and all that good stuff but I plan on going out there during the summer where its not as cold!! but here are some pics of where I was staying in Queenstown and the view that I had from anywhere I looked out!!





Here was pretty much the only good thing to see in Christchurch, it was the main square!!

New Zealand April 26

After leaving Surfers and headin to Brisbane to meet with friends and party for the last time in Aussie before I head to NZ. There really wasnt much to see in Brissi and even in Christchurch so unfortunately I didnt get any greally nice pics from there but, after meeting with Pierre (French guy I met in OZ who I traveled with for a month) I bummed a ride with someone at the hostel down towards Queenstown where I plan on settling down for a bit and getting a job.

On the way down, we stopped and camped at a lake, I cant remember what the name is right now but it was really nice........COLD........but really nice, haha, here is a pic of what our view was in the morning!!!



We stopped at a couple other lakes where the water was a nice torquise color, unfortunately the picture isnt as nice as being there. There were so many beautiful sights to see on the way down and there were mountains everywhere with snow slowly creaping down towards the valleys. What was really funny is that we got all kinds of weather, ex. sun, clouds, wind, rain, snow, hail and even nothing at all!!





What was really nice was seeing the trees and all the different colors, reminded me of living in South Carolina again.

Off to Queenstown for work and fun in the snow!!

Byron Bay to Surfers Paradise April 15 - 24

Leaving Noosa, Mikey and I headed to Byron Bay to check it out there and unfortunately the whole time we were there, it was horrible weather and a bit cold......except for the day I was leaving, typical right, but yeah didnt get any good pics of Byron Bay because of the weather, but do have to admit, great parties there!!

Surfers Paradise was really cool, because I liked how there was the beach and the city with tall buildings right next to eachother. The day I arrived there was a surfing competition with some famous surfers, like Taj Burrow and they were doing a big air contest. It was nice to leave Byron becasue it was really good weather there in Surfers and also met up with Team Switzerland from Fraser Island!!





Currently in Brisbane, heading to NZ on Sat...........leaving the fun in the sun for a good time in the snow......hopefully some snow boarding, oh yeah and that 4 letter word I dont like doing WORK!!!!

Fraser Island April 9 - 12

After leaving Airlie beach and tons of good times out with friends and people I met, I decided to get on the move again, I stopped in a really cool town called 1770, it was really slow but still loads of fun because it was such a laid back town, I did a bike ride around the town with some people and saw a really nice sunset, definately do the scooteroo tour, loads of fun!!



Fraser island is the largest sand island in the world and the only way to get around the isalnd is with a 4X4, which was really cool and lots of fun. With a group of 11 people we crammed in the vehicle and set off for a great adventure, I was really happy because I was able to do most of the driving. I felt back in CC again bombing down the beach on a 4X4, haha too bad our speedomoter didnt work, haha!!



There are a bunch of lakes in Fraser Island which were all fresh water, it was really nice to swim in them, and really safe, considering that the water around Fraser Island was considered a Tigershark breading ground with some crazy rips. Each of the lakes we visited were like mini places of paradise. I could see how someone could get caught up with visiting the island and wanting to camp there for some time!!



This second lake was called Lake Wobby, and there was a huge sand dune on one side of the lake and the other side was rainforest, It was really cool to climb the dune and see all the sand around and then to slide down the dunes into the water!!





Here is a famous shipwreck that was on the beach on the island. This ship has been here for a while and is a really popular photospot for people on the island!!





Here are a few pics from Indian head, a point on the island that sorta kinda looks like an Indian Head. From here you would see things in the water....like sharks, haha!!!!!





We stopped and hung out in a really cool place called Champagne Pools. This was really cool becasue the rocks created the poos and the reason they are called Champagne Pools is because when the waves would break on the rocks the pools would bubble up and sound like someone pured champagne in the water. Really cool and really cold, haha!!





The highlight of the island was Lake McKenzie, this was compareable to Whiteheaven Beach in the Whitsunday Islands. Ill just let the photo speak for itself, and just so you know, the water was so clear and clean that you could actually drink it right from the lake.....which I did try and it tasted better then the bottle of water that I was carrying!! You could litterly see the bottom of the lake from the surface, it was just insaine!!







Finally here is a group photo of everyone that went on the trip and how they had to sit in the car, we had Team Switzerland, Canada, Doichland, Scottland and of course Team America (Texas).

Whitsunday Islands April 4 - 6

From Airlie Beach, I did a 2 day 2 night sailing to the Whitsunday Islands where we stopped in Whiteheaven Beach (top 10 most beautiful beaches), really beautiful white sand beach with 98% silica, meaning when you walked on it, it would squeak, but definitely a paradise.....wish I could build my house right off the beach, but here are the pics, unfortunately, the pics do not do justice to the beach!!







Heading to Fraiser Island for 4x4, I hear this place is just as amazing!!

Magnetic Islands March 29 - 30

Heading south, I decided to head to Magnetic Islands for a Full Moon party, and if you have never been to one, these are definately a bunch of fun because its a huge party on the beach....well I did do one in Sydney but I made it a night to late for the Full Moon party, other then that, the island was a really beautiful island with some really nice secluded bays and some really cool look out points. Again I hired a car with some English ladies and one American I met in Cairns and toured the island!! Great fun and some really nice pictures!!

Cairns March 20

There really wasnt much exciting to see at Cairns but the lagoon and do some day trips from the city. I did make it out to the Great Barrier Reef and saw some amazing fish and other sea creatures!! Unfortunately for me, I did that day trip with some friends and miss out on hiring a underwater digital camera but still, I have the images of the reef in my head and the experience on my back!! Here is a pic from the lagoon at night!!

Totally Random Road Trip March 24

So......after totally pissing the night away with some mates, my friend Rene (Doichland) working at the hostel barges in my room and wakes me up during the ass crack of the morning, haha 9:30 am, I was acutally planning to do some important things but traveling you have to be able to roll with whatever you get presented!! Haha but yeah after getting up, we all meet up again in the reception, while I was waiting for the bus and he goes, "Texas you up for a road trip?" so i think for a few seconds and go....... "ehhh why not" haha which I am totally glad I did because it was such a good fun time, I am still waiting for some pictures from friends but here are just a few, 5 of us hired a car (3 Americans, which is rare to see Americans and 2 Germans) and went to the Boulders, Josephine Falls, Milla Milla Falls and Lake Eacham, then did a fun drive on the serpentine highway at night. I love doing random things like this because they are the most fun but here are some of the pictures!!

Here are the Boulders, it was really nice here, the first pic is of the group pic and the second one is of where we went swimming. I have to add that while swimming it drizzled a bit and just added to the experience the water was a bit cold but still really worth getting in and having some fun!!





Here is Josephine Falls, this was equally as nice and just as fun because you could get on the rocks and slid down them into the main pools, a really fun time that made me feel like a kid again!!





Here is a picture of Milla Milla Falls, this was really pretty also but we decided not to do any swimming here because we spent too much time at the other places and it was getting late!!!



Lastly we ended with Lake Eacham, this was a really nice lake, but I was expecting it to be like Blue Lake in my other posts, it was nice to see a sunset here and take the serpentine roads home afterwards!!

Alice Springs, Ayres Rock, Olgas, Kings Canyon

Leaving Adelaide because there really wasnt anything to do there we took a bus up towards Ayres Rock, on the way, the bus stopped in Cooper Pedy, where we stayed in an underground hostel, this was really cool and it was actually cool underground. There are tons of opal mines in the area and they turned the unused ones into places for people to live, really interesting!!

After spending the night in Alice Springs, Pierre, Milly, Hanna and myslef hired a car and drove to Ayres Rock (Ulura) and the Olgas, It was really nice when we got it, haha it normally was $25 to get into the park, but me thinking of ways to save money jumped in the boot of the car to save the money, budget traveling, so yeah here is a pic of me in the tiny boot of the car, funny thing is that the tallest person was in the smallest part of the car, but it was worth it as you can see by the pics!! Haha, the reason for the finger was cause it was really, really hot and took them some time to get me out of the boot because we didn't want to get caught by the guard, haha, oops!!



Here are some pics of Ayres Rock, it was really nice seeing a sunset here becasue the rock would change different colors and it was just a really great atmosphere.....other then the flies, which I will address later, haha!!





After Ayres Rock, we check out the Olgas, which is pretty much a sister to Ayres Rock, here is the pic!!



Look at the two bombers walking up, Ayres Rock BOOM!!! haha thats what Pierre and I were saying when we did this, but there was logic behind it all, there were TONS of flies everywhere and the only way to get them off you face was to wear a net or something, and we decided to make our own nets, so yeah hence how the Bombers were walking around, haha really cool though, Im amazing I know!!





Here are some really cool pictures from Kings Canyon, it was hot but we still had a great time walking around!!






Here is a pic to give you an idea of how big the Road Trains were, there were everywhere!!



Off to Carins on the East coast for the Barrier Reef, fun in the sun!!!!