A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

Or to be more accurate a journey of 10273 miles. Thats the flight miles between London, England and Brisbane, Australia. A daunting journey to put it mildy. A 4am start after a night of no sleep with manic last second packing. Not helped by my losing the television remote and suspecting it had ended up somewhere at the bottom of my suitcase.

Unfortunately I wasnt first in the queue for check in (despite having arrived ridiculously early) but it worked out well as I met a girl in the queue who was travelling by herself too so we got sat together. I somehow managed to get away without having to pay excess baggage either. Survived take off given how much I hate flying. After so many hours in the air to get here I think its fair to say now Im much better at flying than I used to be! We were in the row of three in the middle of the aeroplane so I was also sat next to an Aussie guy so I reacquainted myself with the Queensland accent. Was really glad to be sat next to friendly people as chatting made the time pass much more quickly. I was dissapointed with the selection of films, there was only about 15 to choose from and they were really random. I ended up watching the Truman Show twice. The flight crew looked after us really well, we were given way more food than we could ever possibly eat. After around seven hours we made an unexpected stop in Dubai to refuel, didnt really even get time to see much of the airport we were there for less than an hour. The leg of the flight between Dubai and Brunei was definately the hardest, it was just over 8 hours and it really really dragged. Its really difficult falling asleep when you have so little space so couldnt really do any more than doze. Spent most of the time eating as they were forever serving us food or chatting. Really dont know how I would have got through it if I hadnt of had interesting people to chat too! My newest aussie friend tought me about which aussie beers to avoid and which ones to try.
Finally made it to Brunei, it really did seem to take forever to get there. Had to part with my new friends at this point as they were catching a different connecting flight to me. My stopover in Brunei was seventeen hours long... So I decided to upgrade my hours free tour of Brunei to a five hour tour. I'm really glad that I did.

The tour was really good and actually did a lot to increase my confidence about the trip as made really cool new friends straight away again. Met a guy who used to have an office on Field End Road, literally around the corner from my house!
First stop was at the Sultan's palace, its the biggest lived in Palace in the world. The sultan lives there with his twelve children and one hundred Ferrari's! We were also lucky enough that whilst we were outside taking pictures the police arrived and stopped all of the traffic and the palace gates began to open before a parade of cars exited at speed. Our guide informed us that it would be the Sultan or one of the other members of the Royal Family and that we were very lucky to get to see them. I cant help but be a cynic and think that the guide probably knows what time of day the cars leaves the palace and co-ordinates his tours for the same time, but still, was pretty cool to think it could of been the Sultan.

Next stop on the tour was the Jame’ Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque which really was absolutely breathtaking. It was opened in 1994 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Sultans accession to the throne and therefore of course it had to be suitably grand. We were asked to remove our shoes, hand over our cameras, and cover ourselves with long black coats which were provided. I have to say having to wear a long thick black coat in the hottest weather I have ever experienced was not particularly pleasant. But it was well worth it. As you enter the mosque there was a water fountain which was lit from underneath with many different colours. Then you walk past the bathing areas which reminded me of roman baths in their layout. Then as the mosque opens up inside there is a big white sweeping marble staircase that to me looked like something straight out of a disney film. At the top of the staircase the guide opened heavy wooden doors to lead us into the Womens 'prayer room.' (Not too sure of the correct term.) It was an enormous circular room with skylights in one of the domes above. It was incredibly cool which was a relief from the temperature outside. The main feature of the room was what is the largest chandelier ever to have been made ... and whats more its made out of 18 carot gold, as are all of the chandeliers and fittings inside the mosque. It was without a shadow of a doubt the grandest room I have ever seen but admittedly our reluctance to leave did also have a lot to do with the beautifully cool temperature.
Our guide gave us time to explore the grounds of the mosque and take pictures from the outside of the landscaped gardens and fountains aplently. I may not be a religious person but the whole place did have an extremely peaceful ambience.

Next we went to the Royal Regalia Museum where we again were asked to remove our shoes and put our belongings including camera's into lockers. In pride of place as you enter the building is the royal coronation carriage which took 55 men to carry. Our guide led us through the first half of the museum telling us all about the history of the Royals of Brunei. We saw plenty of pictures of the Sultan and his family and it seems by all accounts the people of Brunei are extremely fond of their Sultan. Which I guess it isnt hard to imagine why when they dont pax taxes, have free healthcare and education and 60% of the population of 400,000 work for the government which entitles them to free goverment accomodation. We saw a mock up of the scene of His Majesty's coronation and everything was made of gold and extremely ornate. My favourite part though was the fact that the crown is so heavy that when it is placed on his head they have a 'golden hand' which is literally like a hand and arm made of gold which they place under his chin so that his head doesnt give way when they place the crown on his head.

Next we went to Brunei's Water Village, Kampong Ayer. Its a community of 40,000 people (10% of the population of Brunei) who live in buildings on stilts on the Brunei river. From a distance it looks like some short of shanty town. We were led onto a sort of large speedboat that the locals use as a taxi service, and after taking our seats we were informed that there was no speed limit. We were driven around parts of the community which is made up of lots of different villages before stopping off to visit one of the houses. Despite the exterior appearance the inside of the houses were actually very nice and the govenment has supplied them with everything they need so they have television and phone lines and running water. The houses are all connected with wooden walkways but theres no railing and theres big gaps in the pieces of wood so its a bit worrying especially when youre carrying a bag with your passport and all of your electricals in it! We were invited to share tea with the family who's home we visited and I think it was some sort of green tea we had any a variety of traditional cakes and breads which were really pretty good.

I was pretty tired by this point (Having not slept for 2 nights by now!) so I was glad there was only one stop left which was another Museum, I think it was the Brunei History Centre but I'm not sure as I was having a lot of trouble keeping my eyes open by now! We were given half an hour to look around and there was some really interesting things there like artefacts from the 12th/13th century including chain mail type armour which was pretty cool, and plates and tapestries etc but I was just too tired by this time to really appreciate it properly.
We drove back to the airport and I'll admit I did keep falling asleep but we saw the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque which is supposed to be one of the most famous mosques in the world with its main dome being covered in pure gold.

As soon as we had got back to the airport we put our bags down and fell straight asleep. We had another five or six hours I think it was to kill before we got on the aeroplane which we spent sleeping and chatting.
Fiiiinally it was time to get on the last leg of the flight to Brisbane and strangely enough despite all of our tickets being issued seperately the four of us who had made friends found eachother sitting in a row one behind eachother which was nice as it meant we could talk for the last six hour flight. We had been told that we were going to get a meal as soon as we got on the plane as given that all we had eaten in the seventeen hours in Brunei was a few biscuits and sweet breads we were pretty starving by this point! But dinner turned out to be a sandwich and a small muffin and my friend Stacey and I probably complained a little bit too loudly about how hungry we still were as the people sitting around us started offering to share their food with us... so we felt a bit like scavengers but at least we werent starving anymore! We slept for most of the journey to Brisbane being totally exhausted by now.
I was sat next to a helicopter pilot (who was amused at me jumping every time we had bad turbulence) which was quite fun as I got a tour of Brisbane from the air as he pointed out all the landmarks.
Finally we actually touched down in Brisbane! The people who I'd made friends were laughing at me cos after such a long journey to get there I couldnt sit still with anticiaption of actually finally arriving. It was a relief to get the last of the airporty stuff out of the way and made it through customs without any trauma's. My suitcase arrived but unfortunately not in one piece the handle had been broken off which made carrying it out of the airport bloody difficult!!!

My aussie friend Kathryn met me at the airport, I dont know what Id of done if I was on public transport with my broken suitcase! Ive been saying for ages the first thing I wanted to see in Australia was a kangaroo/Wallaby so she took me to a nature reserve and we went looking for wallabies. Somehow we ended up walking the longer trail rather than the shorter one so we walked for about 8k but it was actually really really nice after being couped up for so long!!! Kathryn laughed at me for being astounded by the fact that as we were walking along she spotted a snake skin just lying on the ground. Not something we are used to seeing in England!!!!!!!! We spotted one wallaby 'hopping' (is that what you say for a Wallaby moving fast? I dont know!) in the distance but it was only when we got back to right next to the car park that Kathryn spotted one close by. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand it had a joey!!!! So ridiculously cute! It wasnt at all bothered by our presence and was quite happy to sit there and let us watch it. I have to admit I was completely fascinated. Very very very very cute.

And that pretty much concludes my journey to Australia!
Ive been here three days now and am getting over the jet lag. Been to the shops a couple of times and suprised by how similar things are to the Uk, from the way the roads are set out, to the familiar shops (blockbusters!), and familiar brand names. So it doesnt really feel so foreign. Apart from the fact that I keep having to remember to talk slowly cos apparently I have an accent. I maintain my argument that I speak the Queen's English so I'm not the one with the accent!
Have cought up with all the aussies I was friends with in London which has been really good, had missed them. Experienced my first Aussie house party... which involved one of my aussie friends wearing an outfit made entirely of feather dusters... Australians are strange but cool! Lol.
Im moving in to the room I'm going to rent whilst I'm here later today so I am going to be internetless for a couple of days but Im going to try and sort that out as soon as I can. Ive got an interview for a job in a convenience store, not exactly glamerous but a job is a job!!! Im going to the beach on Wednesday so I'm reaaaaaaaaaaaally excited about that.
Ill try and update again as soon as Ive got internet access, so for now g'day and I'm missing you all lots and I'll speak to you all soon hopefully!!!! Much love xXx