Charlie Westover

Yeah I have no problem with being around alcohol and such, I enjoy the social side of it as much as everybody else just without the alcohol haha. Like I say, I've found the locals a lot more accommodating than other backpackers, the typical response I've had a few times now is people branding me "boring" as soon as they find out.

That's a problem I've had, I don't drink and other backpackers don't tend to really accept that haha. Aussie's have found it weird but generally have looked past it, but I've actually felt it cause some sort of automatic tension with other people travelling, which I think is very odd. I'm in a share house cause it's so much cheaper a hostel, I'm only paying $90 a week.

Hey guys! I've been in Aus for 4 months now, but have only recently actually started doing any serious travelling as I tried to save some money up when I first landed. I'm currently on Gold Coast, and being on my own hasn't bothered me until now. I've decided to stay here until after Christmas then keep moving, so I'd like to meet a few people while I'm spending an extended period of time here! I'm here on my own, and I've found it's a painful cycle to meet people when you aren't working. I find going out to bars or pubs or whatever a bit weird on my own, but it's really the only way to meet people! Anyway, if anybody's about give me a shout! Charlie

Where are you landing in March? I'll be in between Sydney and Melbourne at that point, so feel free to give me a shout.

Hey! I came to Aus on my own and I've found it very easy to meet people and I'm quite introverted, so you shouldn't have an issue. There's a lot of people travelling on their own in the same situation that want friends too, but I've found the locals a lot easier to get to know in depth, I've made a lot of Aussie friends and not-so-many traveller friends, but that's just me. I did my regional work as soon as I landed in a town called Gatton, about an hour and a half from Brisbane. I don't know about the towns in Victoria so I can't help you there. Although I would say it's good to get a chunk of your regional work done at the start so you aren't stressing about it come the end of your trip. $8500 is plenty, especially if you're going to work initially and earn some money. Try not to spend what you earn while you're in the farm town, it's a waste! You'd be better off being boring for a few weeks and saving it up to spend when you're somewhere more interesting. Going out drinking every weekend in towns of 6000 people isn't exactly exciting! And lastly, that all depends what you want to do and see. For me, the 2 years is necessary because I'm travelling very slowly and seeing more than the typical east coast route, but it all depends what it is you want to do. If you want to see it in it's entirety then I would suggest the 2 years is needed, I've been here nearly 4 months and haven't left Queensland yet, and theres still plenty more here for me to see.

I landed and had $1000, got a job within 3 days and saved up another $2000 in 2 months. I'm working my way around, topping up my cash as I go around. I know people that live off of the money they make busking, so if you learn an instrument or learn to make something, you can always make money!

I'm staying on gold coast at the moment too, down in Burleigh at the moment, are you gonna be on Gold Coast for a while or just here for a couple weeks? I can introduce you to a few locals i've met since being on Gold Coast, if you want!

Hi Oli! I'm on Gold Coast right now, but pop back to Brisbane to see a few people I met up there. If/when I'm next about you're more than welcome to tag along and meet some good ol' Brissy locals. Same goes if you come down to GC, i'm heading down to Mullumbimby 20th November though. Charlie

Hey! So i've finally got round to my next update, i've had some really good responses from it so i'm now in the midst of getting a domain and such and getting it how I want it, rather than the pre-set wordpress themes! I spent 2 weeks in Tamborine Mountain doing work for free food and accommodation, taking in the views and rainforests! My blog posts are quite long, roughly 1000 words each, so check it out for the full thing! I'm couchsurfing on Gold Coast right now, so I'll be updating pretty soon! http://revotsew.com/ Hope you's enjoy it!

So, I attempted this before and had a massive issue keeping on top of it as I didn't have internet where I was staying, and my life wasn't very interesting.. BUT now I am doing something way more interesting and worth writing/reading about, so I hope you guys enjoy! I probably wont actually update all that much on here, it will more be a summary of whats on my actual blog when I post something new. But I'm more than happy to answer any questions anybody has on here, I quite like the whole interactive thing rather than people just reading it and that being it.. My blog is revotsew.com - currently there's 4 posts on there about the rough idea of what i'm doing, which is walking from Brisbane to Sydney! I'm accepting lifts from strangers that I meet, but not walking around with my thumb out hitchhiking. Not that there's anything wrong with it, it's just not for me. It also has a little review of my time in Gatton while I was there doing some farm work, and something on Brisbane where I spent the first week of my journey! Over the next few days I'll be updating with quite a big post about the first part of my journey and my time in Tamborine Mountain, where I've spent 2 weeks! I hope you's enjoy, all feedback is very appreciated! Charlie

I'm not working till Monday, so I thought i'd give you's a quick update. Currently sitting in the garden having a doodle and enjoying the view and sun, been pretty hot last couple of days, not a cloud in sight! I've uploaded a couple photos from Brisbane, a few from Gatton to come in the next couple of days, assuming I can get myself a camera battery charger over the weekend. The house i'm living in has some roosters and hens, so i've been getting woken up at sunrise! Nice natural alarm I guess. Also got given potatoes, lettuce and spinach for free last night from the other people working in this house, was lovely! Now to just work out a few quick, cheap and easy recipes while i'm here, with 4 meals having to be cooked each night there's a bit of time restraint on the kitchen facilities! Sweet potatoes cheap at a farms little fruit and vegetable stall round the corner, so I reckon they'll be my staple for the time being. A kilo for $1.50 - can't be bad! Need to work out which meats are best value for money and i'll be alright! Anyway, not much more for me to say today, so i'll leave it at that until I have something interesting to post.

Hi Arianne, I've found work is pretty solid in/around Gatton starting September, Winpack is a big farm that starts its potatoes in September and a lot of other places have onion jobs. I would recommend coming here but with enough to sustain yourself for a couple of weeks, just while you get around the farms asking if there's jobs going

Hi Scott, you get a year from the date you enter Australia. I'm not too sure about the passport, although would you not like it to be valid for when you leave? I imagine getting a new passport once you're over here to get home works out difficult.

Hey Uprawr. Yeah September is busy for Gatton as aside from onion picking theres a big farm not too far (called Winpack - easy to find on google) that start their potatoes in September. A girl i'm living with is currently working at Bauers Organic Farm and earning $21 an hour in the packing shed, and worked 40+ hours last week. I'll still be here when you arrive, so if you send me a private message I'll give you my number, along with a number for a big contractor and, if you're looking for somewhere to stay, I recommend this house, it's in a decent location if you can find work in/around Tenthill, which is about half an hour away from Gatton. I'm currently working under a contractor but still looking for farmers directly as the pay's better. If you drive getting work will be a breeze.

Hey! Sorry I haven't been in contact all too much, the hostels wifi was $3 a day, wasn't quite prepared to pay that. Today I got to Gatton! Arrived about 2pm and went straight to the IGA noticeboard. Got several numbers for rooms, all for $80 or $90 a week. Also got talking to a guy from the Soloman Islands called Toocs (real name Manuel, but "everybody called him toocs cause he looked like Tupac"..) who gave me a number for his contractor, who I called and got a response from saying "turn up at 5.45 tomorrow for work", exactly the response I wanted! I finally decided on a house, really nice room with a really nice family - internet included and also a cinema room and pool.. Good, I know! Downside is that it's a 15 minute drive out of Gatton and I don't drive.. But a girl that's also living here is gonna put in a good word for me, so hopefully that works out. If anybody is in/around/is planning to be Gatton and needs either somewhere to stay or is looking for farm work, let me know and i'll give you the phone number for the contractor and also the phone number for the house i'm staying at. Anyway, I'm finally somewhere with free wifi, so I will be uploading more regularly. I will also post a loaaad of pictures up soon, cause I haven't included any yet! Turns out I forgot to bring the charger for my camera, clever Charlie.

Thanks! Yeah I know the 3 month thing may not be best idea, just gonna make a load of calls tomorrow and hope I find something asap. I've already bookmarked the list of contacts, and had a look on there earlier today.

I'm currently in bed in a 8 person shared dorm in Fortitude Valley, being kept up by somebody's increasingly loud snoring. I've already decided I hate hostels. I have this booked for 5 nights, and after that I refuse to sleep in a hostel! I want the sense of living in various parts of Australia and hostels do not make me, personally, feel at home. I need to figure out my next location quickly, my original plan was to do my 3 months regional work straight away to get it done and out of the way, but I got talking to a Kiwi guy on the plane and he told me I'd be better off waiting until September. Does a month really make much of a difference? Tomorrow I'm going to go to the bank, sort my tax number out and make as many calls as possible to get the ball rolling on some farm work, hopefully then I can get out of here as soon as possible and find a house share for 3 months. If anybody is currently doing their farm work in Queensland, please get at me with contact details! Also, if anybody happens to know the rough cost of getting a room in a shared house in Brisbane it'd be much appreciated, as after farm work I would like to spend some time in the city, as a Londoner I really do want the opportunity to compare city life. Betty, I'm always more than happy to meet up and travel with anybody, if you (or anybody) is in/around Brisbane and want to meet up, just send me a private message and we'll sort it. That's all for now, tomorrow I'll post some pictures up of Brisbane, my hostel, and anything else I decide should be included. Goodnight!

So after days of working out what to pack, sleeping on a floor and rushing around trying to make sure things are all sorted, I'm finally on my way! I have 10 changes of clothes, my laptop, phone, gameboy with Pokemon, some sun cream and toiletries, my camera and that's pretty much it. I'm sitting on the cold floor of KLIA to use a plug and it feels like a ghost town, i've barely seen anybody walk past in the last couple of hours! My first flight was good, i'm blessed with the ability to be able to sleep anywhere and anyhow. Slept through my entire flight except the first hour, which I spent watching friends and eating surprisingly nice airplane food. Kuala Lumpur airport is much smaller than I imagined, with not a lot really here to do, so i've sat in several different spots (mostly on the floor) and taken advantage of the free wifi. The "TV and Internet lounges" here are awful (plugs don't work and TV was off..) and the Jungle Boardwalk I was ever-so-excited for is closed for refurbishment! I'm a bit scared sitting alone thousands of miles away from anywhere i'm mildly familiar with, except the 24 hour Burger King I can see across from me in the airport. I land in Brisbane at 7pm and haven't got anywhere booked for my first night. My plan is to just find a cheap room initially for a couple of nights while I work out where to go and do my regional work, so far Bundaberg is looking likely, although once I land I can look in to it all a bit further. Anybody reading this will soon realise I leave everything till the last minute. I packed the night before my flight out of Heathrow, but hopefully it's fun for you reading me wing it, that way you'll discover things the same time I do and be able to laugh/learn from the errors of my ways. I'll post from wherever I'm staying in Brisbane for my first night, hopefully 1 decent sleep is enough for me to shake any jetlag I may have. Toodles!

HI GUYS, My name's Charlie and I'm currently sitting in Kuala Lumpur Airport at 3:45am waiting for my second flight. I'm just over half way through my 17 hour wait in the airport, bored, tired and out of things to do, so i've decided to keep a blog/diary type thing, not really too sure what to call it. I'm 21 and from London, i've always been interested in travelling and decided now was the perfect time to do it. I'm going to try and keep this up to date and post almost daily, although that could go completely out of the window considering I'm completely winging it and haven't got a real clue where I'm going, what I'm doing and whether i'll have access to the internet. I hope you enjoy my adventure! Also, i've started a little blog online also, what I put on here will really be more of a cut-down account of whats on there, although I will probably put things on here that aren't on there and vice-versa, all depends what you's wanna know about. Feel free to ask me anything as I go along and I'll answer to the best of my ability! Whether people read this or not I plan to continue writing it, as I just quite enjoy writing haha. Anyway, at some point before my flight i'll leave another post of what my journey's been like so far...