[Sharing] RTW - Red Desert journey : Uluru to Alice Springs

I was never thought I could drive across the desert before. But I really did make it with a distance of 1128.2KM from Uluru to Kings Canyon and continuing to the center of Australia, the desert city Alice Spring.

The Australian desert isn't the desert I thought it would be. It was red in color and full of grasses and small desert oak trees.

Ayers Rock (Uluru): It was a beautiful rock monolith, the Anangu(traditional owner of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park) doesn't like visitors to climb and there is a notice at the base not to climb Uluru because of its spiritual significance as the traditional route of the ancestral Mala men on their arrival at Uluru. Also for safety reasons they not want anyone get injured on their land. But still a lot tourists do not respect the aboriginal customs and do climb the mountain. 
There are many legends around the Uluru base. Do a 10.5km base walk and you will find the stories and also have a significant view of Uluru. 
Uluru is a red sand rock, but during dawn and dusk you may see it change the colour and becomes purple due to sunlight reflection. It is incrediblly beautiful during this time.

The Olgas (Kata Tjuta): It is another beautiful sandstone mountain in the national park. It may not be as famous as Uluru but it should always be included during a visit to Uluru. There are 2 walks at Olgas:
"Walpa Gorge walk" - Is an easy walk with few steps, 2.6km return takes around 40 minutes - 1 hour. 
"Valley of the Wind walk" - the full circuit is 7.6km and takes around 3-4 hours. But rather then complete the full circuit there are 2 lookout points you can stop at and return. 1st lookout is called Karu, and easy walk with few steps only 2.2km return from the car park. The 2nd lookout is called Karingana, and is a bit difficult with some steep steps.
The views are wonderful and it is well worth to go.
Uluru - Kata Tjuta national park entrance fees is: AUD35 for 3 days.

Kings Canyon: Is located in between Uluru and Alice Springs. Drive on a sealed road the distance from Yulara(Uluru resort) to Kings Canyon is 304km and from Kings Canyon to Alice Springs is 475km. Kings Canyon walk is one of the top walks in Australia and one of the world's best walks. There are 2 trails:
Kings Creek walk: is an easy 2km walk along the creek  with some canyon history and information.
Kings Canyon Rim walk: Is quite challenging with fantastic view from the top of canyon ^_^ the whole trail is 6km. At the beginning the trail is steep and when you get to top it is very windy therefore you have to be careful. But the views are well worth it. 
There is no entrance charge at Kings Canyon. But the accommodation at Kings Canyon resort is expensive.

Alice Springs - located at the centre of Australia. It was a centre for transportation and communication, it was establish when the first telegraph line was built between Adalaie and Darwin. The interesting places to visits are Ghan Train and Rail museum, The Alice Springs Telegraph Heritage reserve, and The School of the Air.
The town most famous person was John Flynn. You may not know him but you will see him when you look at an australian 20 dollar note. He is the founder of RFDS (Royal Flying Doctor Service) which provides medical and wellbeing needs to isolated people in the Australian outback. He was also the first person to provide medical services in centre Australia.
Ghan Train and Rail museum entrance: AUD22 for 3 days
Alice Springs Telegraph Heritage entrance: AUD8.50
The School of the Air: AUD6.50
RFDS entrance: AUD12.00

Australia Northern Territory is a wonderful place to explore and full of adventure. But the distances are huge.



Shadow with Ayers Rock


Uluru in purple






Trekking at Uluru base.


Night at Uluru with clear sky.


Stars in the sky.


Trekking at Olgas "Valley of the Wind






"Walpa Gorge" walk.


The Olgas landscape



Uluru sunrise


Kings canyon rim walk







Top of kings canyon


On struat highway. Memorial of Cannonball run accident on 1994.


Old Ghan train and rail museum


Alice Springs telegraph heritage





Royal Flying Doctor service (RFDS)


In flight

Alice Springs sunset

[Sharing] RTW - Explorer the Posibilities : Tasmania

Before arriving in Tasmania I was thinking it was just a small island with lot of wine and apple and nothing much to do except hiking. But after one week driving around the island with 1264.1km, I have to change my mind ^_^

Our journey started from Launceston and we drove to Hobart via Heritage Highway and then toward the west coast staying at Strahan and Cradle Mountain and back to Launceston

Heritage Highway was the most interesting part during this journey. Along the drive we came to many small towns and villages. All the villages were built during 19th century by convicts from Great Britain and they are all maintained very well with lot for tourist to see.

Hobart: After 200km drive through the country side we arrived in Hobart and I felt it was like coming back to civilization. Hobart is capital of Tasmania and is located at south of the island. The interesting part of this city is Mt Wellington. The Mountain is only 7km away from the city and you can drive up to the peak. From the top you can see the whole city with fantastic views and landscape ^_^ when we were on top they will still lot of snow on the mountain.

Port Arthur: Used to be a convict jail in 19 century and now it become a heritage place for sightseeing. It is 97km away from Hobart. It is an interesting place and you can spend a whole day to explorer the 19 century history of Tasmania. The entrance fee is including visit to 30 buildings and a 20 minutes cruise trip around Port Arthur area.
My personal suggestion for cost saving you should take a day trip (Port Arthur ghost trip) from local travel agency cost AUD100 that depart from Hobart and included some other sightseeing and the Port Arthur entrance fee.
Port Arthur entrance fees: AUD35
Ghost tour - AUD25 (additional)
Additional tour (Island of the Dead & Juvenile jail) - AUD15 each

West Coast: We were a bit disappointed with our west coast trip, because we purposely went there to take the heritage steam train between Queenstown and Strahan. But unfortunately the train was not in service :-( Due to winter time a lot of activities were closed. But we spent 2 relaxing days in Strahan and went to a beautiful restaurant next to waterfront call 'Risby Cove'.

Cradle Mountain: We had a lovely drive to Cradle Mountain but it was a very cool and cloudy day which made it difficult to drive in the cloud. We were only able to complete a trekking route around Dove Lake and 2 easy treks to waterfall in the drizzling rain with 0°c. After a long cool walk it was lovely to open the door and spend the night in a little cottage in the forest with a lovely wood fire to make it cozy and warm ^_^
Cradle Mountain national park fees: AUD16.50
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[Sharing] RTW - Brisbane a layback city

Brisbane is the 3rd largest city in Australia, it is suppose to be warm but when we arrive the temperature here was as cool as Melbourne.

We meet David and he is Don's financial advisor. He is a Malaysian and we have a wonderful lunch together and nice chat. David made a joke which I strongly agree "This city is so white". There are not many tourist nor foreigner in Brisbane compared to Melbourne and Sydney.

There isn't much to do in the city, in the morning you can see Queenstreet Mall (heart of the city) is full of people but when it comes to evening it is "as dead as a dodo". Even though at night Brisbane city is quite but you still able to find some treasure. We went in to a small alley in Queen Street Mall, there is a lovely small bar which running by few youngster called 'Brew'. The bar design and idea is very modern and price is reasonable, good to stay for couple of drinks.

Activities done in city:
1. City walk and went up the the Clock Tower in city hall, entrance is free for the Clock Tower tour.
2. CityCat river cruise from Riverside  went up to University of Queenland. The view and atmosphere is very good ^_^ CityCat charges AUD5.6 for 2 hours unlimited ride.

We visited a friend at Coochiemudlo Island, a small island like a neighbourhood village with population of 700. We took a ferry from Victoria Point (south of Brisbane city) cost AUD4. Unfortunately we came 1 week early and miss the Flinder's day celebration. The first person who landed in this island was Matthew Flinders on 19 July 1799.

It was wonderful to be invited to Don's cousin's birthday party at Kingston. Day after the party we went to a whale watching at Moreton Bay. Every year humpbacks migrate from Antartic to warmer water to give birth to their calf, in between June and August they will passing by Moreton Bay, fortunately we were able saw a few humpback whales included a new born calf.

Life in Brisbane is simple, most people live easy and simple here. 

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[Sharing] RTW - Re-visit The Footy Crazed city : Melbourne

In Melbourne everyone is crazy with Aussie rules football and you will see football everywhere. This is not my 1st visit Melbourne, I was here 2 years ago with family and most interesting places I have covered during my last visit.

- Philip's island
- Ballarat gold mining
- Chandon wine yard
- Great ocean road & 12 Apostles
- Dandenong
- Melbourne city walk

This time I was lucky to go to some places which I missed on my last trip.

- Healesville Sanctuary
- Brighton beach
- Yarra Valley

The hightlight during this visit was to meet a lot of new friends and enjoy and feel the real 'Aussie rules' atmosphere. I went to a match with few new friends and now I have become a supporter for Essendon ^_^ 

There is still other things I have missed :-( But we always can't cover everything in a single journey thefore we will have plenty of reasons to come back :-) woooooo hooooooo 
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[分享] 离乡别井的九十个曰子

从香港回来后就一直忙于工作，趁着这空档期就写一写吗!

海港城

2011年秋，被公司外派到香港三个月学习兼工作。刚收到消息还没太激动，但渐渐到出发日才倍感紧张！
在香港的十二个星期，最期待的莫过于周末来临。
香港有东方之珠的美称，许多人到此是为了见识这华丽的都巿和不夜的生活，而我第一次与三五知己到香港也是为此而来。
当我在这住上一段日子渐渐发现在这喧哗热闹且繁华的大都市背后阴藏着自然与宁静的一面。

大多数人到香港旅行都必到以下景点
- 太平山顶 - 香港杜莎夫人蜡像馆
- 上环与中环 - 荷李活道,摩罗上街,文武庙
- 维多利亚港 - 星光大道 & "幻彩咏香江"
- 兰桂坊及SoHo荷南美食区
- 大屿山 - 宝莲禅寺 / 天坛大佛 / 心经简林
- 海洋公园 / Disneyland
- 港岛 - 铜鑼湾
- 九龍 - 油尖旺

有些地方我个人认为是值得一去
- 大澳 （去了大屿山后再搭一乘车）
- 亦柱 Stanley （中环码头有巴士直到）
- 南丫岛
- 西贡 - 世界地质公园 （这有点难到，须搭计程车）
- 愉景灣 Discovery bay （非常棒的休闲地之一）

如果有时间可以搭船到澳门,澳门码头就在上环,船票大约HKD170.
可以逛逛 - 澳门历史城 (World Heritage) , 澳門威尼斯人 (Venetian). 然后吃吃当地小吃 - 葡京蛋挞和猪扒包.

在香港,食是绝不能少的一环，12个星期我体重增加了7公斤，主要因素是不能抗拒的美食，太多的美食我不能一一列举。但强力推荐Apps ''Open Rice"，它在香港有绝对性的地位！
但个人最喜欢的小吃一定要推荐'鸡蛋仔'，一个字＂讚＂。

九十天不是一段长的日子，但也并不短。足够时间让我体会当地生活与发掘一些新鲜的事与物和特别的地方（一般旅客不会去而当地人也不会特别去的地方）。这经验也为我写下人生的一页。

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[Information] America Visa Application

- There are 2 links is very useful.
http://siao1.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-to-apply-nonimmigrant-us-visa-for.html
http://www.travelific.my/traveltips_full.php?tid=18
- They provided the detail step how to apply and tip what to do during apply US visa.
- Here is the link for US visa apply online http://www.ustraveldocs.com/my/
- You do not need an account for this during application. But you do need register an account when you schedule appointment time.
- The above link step are clear, but here I would like to add on some personal experience during appointment.
   
    After schedule appointment time, actually you do not need to worry (as I did) and go to embassy 1 or 2 hours before your appointment time, cause is just wasted.. You are not allow to queue up and enter (by batch) to embassy (from the gate) until your appointment time.

    After your enter to the embassy, you need you take a sequence number. (For tourist the category is 'A'). You will require to sit in waiting room wait for your number being call. You will be call 3 times.
     1. To submit your necessary document. (App letter, DC160 confirmation, payment reset, passport, & photo). This waiting time around 15 minutes.
     2. You need to scan your finger. Waiting time around 15 minutes after first call.
     3. 'Climax' for this appointment, Interview session. Tip of question you can see from Travelific. Waiting time will be approximate 2-3 hours after 2nd call.

[Information] anada Visa Application

- High Commission of Canada in KL has closed. So if want to apply Canada visa physically you will need to go to Singapore.
- But Malaysian is allow apply online for Canada visa (with term & condition).
- Remember if you search the online visa via any search engine.. If you see the 'MigrationExpert'. DO NOT trust this web.. They are not helping you to get the visa.. and they are SCAM.

- You can visit http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index-int.asp and following are steps:

1) Select 'Apply Online', then choose your type of application.

2) You need to go through the assessment. This will determine if you eligible to apply through online

    a) After you complete the assessment and if you eligible you will be provided with a "checklist code". Keep this checklist code.

3) You need to register a MyCIC account.
    a) After select 'Register/Login' you will bring to a page with 2 options. Select the 'GC key login'
    b) You need to register yourself to "GC key login".
    c) Login to your MyCIC account. You will require to enter your "Checklist code" which provided after complete the assessment.
    d) There will be a set of checklist document require. Try to provide all information. (you have 60 days to prepare)
    e) After complete provide all the document, the step will bring you to a payment. You can pay the visa fee by your credit card.
    f) You will receive the first message in your MyCIC account. The message is computer generated said your request has been received by them. So the visa processing days for Apply Online will take 52 days. (but my visa is just take 18 days then I get my second message). At this moment you do not need to send your passport to High Commission at Singapore. They will send you another message if your visa is approve.
    g) You will receive message in your MyCIC account once your visa approved. Then they will require you send in your passport. (either by: in person, register mail, or courier) together with the confirmation letter in the message. They need to receive your passport within 30 days start from the day you receive the message.
    h) You may visit following link to guide you the option to submit/return your passport
http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/singapore-singapour/visas/apply-how_demande-comment.aspx

Here is some own experience, I send my passport to Canada High Commission Singapore by using DHL courier service. Before send my passport I was looking a way how to receive return passport. Due to urgency need my passport I'm thinking to get a pre-paid courier service, but unfortunately I couldn't find a way for pre-paid courier service (even Singapore national courier). So I end up receive passport by 'Registered Mail' which take longer time (10 working days)

- Pre-paid courier you need to find the courier service and pay the cost.
- Registered Mail, you only need to send an empty envelop with your own address. Don't you worry about the payment, it do not need any cost.
- Best way is submit passport in person which can collect in same day.