Alex's travel blog

Brisbane, Australia

Look what I saw hopping around the airport! It could only be Australia. All the immigration staff were wearing those hats with little corks dangling from the brim. You walk out of the airport straight onto the beach, and there were people barbequeing as far as the eye could see. Plus...err...Waltzing Matilda was playing over the loudspeaker system and...yep, there was a huge marble statue of Rolf Harris in the arrivals hall.

OK, none of the above is true. There's been a disappointing lack of stereotypes so far, and when I arrived everything seemed almost identical to New Zealand. I didn't get the warmest of welcomes at the immigration desk. "What are you doing in Australia?" "Tourism...seeing the sights." "What particular sights do you plan on seeing?...Do you know anyone in Australia?...Where were you before New Zealand?...How long were you in those countries?..."After this had gone on for a while he said, in a tone of utter disbelief, "So you're telling me that you've come to Australia on your own, you don't know anyone here and you don't know where you're staying. Do you often travel like this?" Well, yes, that's exactly how I'd travelled so far, and it really wasn't a problem. I was quite annoyed at the accusational tone he was taking. He called someone over to look at my immigration form. They looked confused, then said dismissively, "that's fine." He asked me one more question to save face, then let me through.

The next morning I had a stroll into the centre of Melbourne to get my bearings. Because I stayed longer in New Zealand, I only have 4 weeks in Australia. I felt like I should quickly work out what I was going to do in Melbourne and the rest of Australia. This didn't happen, so I started to feel stressed. I wanted to avoid paying $50 for a new Lonely Planet, so thought I should easily find a copy in a second hand bookshop or in a hostel. I searched for a while, but came up with nothing (I just bought a new copy the next day). Having not achieved much, I headed back to the hostel for lunch. I hadn't really been in the right frame of mind, so hadn't been that impressed with Melbourne. I'd always thought it was one of the major must-see cities in the world...but I hadn't noticed any notable features or attractions. It just seemed like a generic big city.

After lunch I went to Melbourne Zoo (where I took the kangaroo photo). There were also some exciting animals like lions, tigers and elephants, but my main reason for going was that I was impatient to see kangaroos.

I really wanted to see an Aussie Rules football game in Melbourne. Melboune is the home of the sport, and where it's most widely supported. There was a match on in the afternoon of my second day. I was pleased to discover a load of people from the hostel were going to watch it, so I went along as well. The match was Carlton v Collingwood. These are both teams from within Melbourne, and it's supposed to be the biggest rivalry in the game. To add to the excitment, it was being played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, or MCG, which is the best cricket ground in the world. (Yep, Aussie rules is played on a round pitch. It also has 4 goalposts at each end. They look a bit like rugby posts, but there's no crossbar...and there are 4 of them. Weird.) The attendance was 60,000, which is easily the biggest at a sporting event I've been to. Even so, the ground only felt about half-full: the capacity is 100,000.

I had absolutely no idea of the rules beforehand. But they're fairly easy to pick up. It's much more simple than rugby: you can throw it forwards, backwards, kick it, tackle people from any direction...it seemed like a bit of a free-for-all, to be honest. Also, there seemed to be fewer stopages, so it was free-flowing and enjoyable to watch. We were supporting Carlton, because our hostel is kind of near Carlton. I was really getting into it. At least I was for the first half, after which Carlton had a narrow lead. Unfortunately, in the second half Collingwood kept scoring and it became a bit embarrassing to watch. Final score: Collingwood 138 - Carlton 66.
First thing on my third day, I went to book my bus ticket. My original plan had been to take a bizare route involving a few flights, and bussing up the middle of Australia through the outback. However, I was short of time and this option was more expensive. Therefore, I booked the standard, straight-up-the-east-coast pass. It was a relief to get this sorted out.
Next, I popped into the magnificent library. I particularly liked the huge, airy domed reading room. It made me want to sit there and do some maths for a few hours. I think not having to work for so long does funny things to you. I had a stroll around the centre after that. I was beginning to get the point of Melbourne (photo below). There aren't any world-famous sights, and there's not a classic Melbourne photo that everyone takes: no trademark building or skyline. But walking around the streets, I realised the city did have something about it: an easy-going confidence, a prosperity, a style. The galleries and museums are world class, it's the Australian capital of sport, and there's plenty to keep the citizens occupied. While I was there, there was an international comedy festival going on. When a friend (Steph) was there last year, there was a jazz festival.

After lunch, I walked round the botanical gardens, which are also world-class. There are sections with plants from all over the world, and it all looked splended with the autumn colours. I gravitiated to the tea room overlooking the lake. I sat and had a pot of tea and a delicious muffin, and felt totally relaxed and content. After this, I went to visit the "Australian centre for the moving image." Due to my leisurely afternoon, I didn't have long before it shut. There was a great underground gallery full of moving-image art (there must be a proper name for that) which ranged from the profound and moving to the hilarious (cross-dressers from Singapore). There was also a great game you could play by standing on pads. I wish I could have spent longer there.

After dinner, I put some washing on in a laundry, then used the internet. I was sorting out my photos and emails which always takes me an obscene amount of time. When I'd finished, I discovered the laundry was shut for the night. I was supposed to be at the bus station at 6.30 the next morning, but the laundry didn't open until 6.30. I prayed they'd open promptly.
When I arrived back at 6.25am, a jolly, rotund man let me in, which was a relief. I made it to the bus no problem, which set off for Canberra. I was excited about getting out of the city and seeing my first slice of Australia. Unfortunately, it all looked the same...for 7 hours...and was deadly boring.

Sydney, Australia

The following day (May 1st) the Stray bus took me to Christchurch, the biggest city (town) on the South Island and the second biggest in New Zealand. Once I got off, I was so happy I wouldn't have to deal with Stray any more. (Of course, booking that bus had been a load of hassle - I won't bother with the details). Well, I wasn't quite finished with them: I walked past their office so asked if they had any discounts in Christchurch. "No." Good, now I was finished with them. That afternoon, I took the tram round the centre to get my bearings. It's not an efficient means of transport at all. It's there for the tourists and just trundles round this loop at walking pace.

Next day (oooh, just farted noticably in this quiet internet area, that's embarassing...yep, it's quite smelly too) I spent strolling round Christchurch. First I went to look at the Cathedral and Cathedral square. I really liked them. The cathedral isn't particularly grand or imposing, but is attractive and fits in really well with the design of the square. I appear to have just deleted my photo of it. Maybe I was just impressed because there's something of a lack of historic buildings in NZ.

Next, I looked into the old parliament house. It's built around a courtyard, very much in the style of a Cambridge (or I suppose Oxford) college. The corridors also managed to create the same feel of walking round a college - old, laden with history - despite being much yonger. In fact, the whole city reminded me of Cambridge. Same size, same kind of clean, pleasant, touristy feel. There's a river (funnily enough called the Avon) that snakes through the centre, and lots of nice green parks along its banks.

After lunch I went to the art gallery. Normally I walk round art galleries determinedly looking at all the paintings by the masters - Picasso, Monet, Van Gogh - and think "mmmm, very nice. These are, like, really significant paintings." But this gallery was the first one that really grabbed my attention and held it. One room had very dark paintings full of devils and the like, which would look very nice in Ali G's room [that's one of my friends, not the popular entertainer]. The next room was amazing - I wanted to just stay looking at the paintings for ages. They were mainly vast landscapes with a bit of stuff going on in the foreground. What enthralled me was party the amazing photo-realism and partly the unsettling sense that there was stuff going on I hadn't noticed. The artist was Kees Bruin, if you're interested. Next, I had a look round the 'Arts Centre', which used to be Canterbury University, and saw the cupboard where Ernest Rutherford carried out many of his early experiments.

The next day, 3rd of May. I took the Tranz-Alpine railway right across the centre of the island, from Christchurch on the East coast, to somewhere called Greymouth on the West. It's supposedly one of the greatest train journies on the world. Once I got there, I had 20 minutes to grab lunch, then I took a bus back to Christchurch. Some might see this as quite pointless, and afterwards I tended to agree with them. If I had been using the rail journey to get somewhere, I think I would have loved it. As it was, it felt like a bit of an anticlimax, especially considering how much I'd paid for the day. It was a nice journey however: alongside some big river gorges, over bridges, through tunnels. There were some mountains in the middle, but after Queenstown, I was quite unimpressed by them.

May 4th was my last day in New Zealand. It seems like I have to visit the museum in every town I go to. I missioned it round Christchurch's in the morning, but it was nothing special. I did sit on a (fixed) penny farthing bicycle, which was nice. Before heading back to the hostel for lunch, I took a turn round the botanical gardens which were resplendant in autumn colours, then walked through Christchurch's Christ's College. In the afternoon I took a bus out to a hill and walked up it. There were supposed to be great views from the top. There clearly weren't going to be becuase the weather was so shit, but walking up places is another thing I've got obsessed with, so I went anyway. From the top I saw lots of mist.

In the evening I did the last 'must do in New Zealand' thing: I went to a Maori performance. I found it a bit touristy and unauthentic: for example I don't think guitars were a traditional Maori instrument. But it was good fun. They got the men up on stage to 'teach' them the Haka. This just involved running through the actions, while we struggled to keep up and looked stupid.

I think I spent most of the evenings at Christchurch using the internet, which is fairly typical. My plan was that, before leaving New Zealand, I would get up to date with my journal, my sending photos home, and my blog (hah, see how well I did with that!) I did nearly do all the photos, and after a massive effort, got up to date with my journal (I finished just before landing in Australia, so that counts). It's more time consuming than you'd think.

I had some time the next morning before my flight, so I went to the Antarctic centre. Christchurch is big into Antarctica because the US has its main Antarctic base there, and lots of famous expeditions have left from there. It was banterous. I took a ride round in a snow-vehicle which went over really steep mounds, across a hill with a huge 'crevass' in the middle which was, like, 1 metre wide, and floated through a pond. I went into a simulated Antarctic storm which was supposed to be about -20 degrees with windchill. I also pondered the fate of Antarctica in the future. At the moment loads of countries are bound by a treaty which prohibits the commercial or military use of the continent. But the treaty expires in about 2050. With such a strain on world resources, I think it's inevitable that the world's last wilderness will disappear. Antarctica will be mined, drilled and exploited for its resources. Maybe it should be. I don't know.

As I flew up, across the country and west over the Tasmin sea, New Zealand gave me one last visual treat: I got an ariel view of the magnificent Southern Alps, running down the centre of the island.

Canberra, Australia

After the Doubtful Sound cruise, on the 28th April, I travelled back to Queenstown. I had some odd conversations with some people in my dorm that evening. I was talking to one guy from Denmark, and he guessed that I was from Sweeden. Later, I was talking to an American girl who guessed I was Scottish or Irish. When I told her I was English she said - this is the worst part - "OK, but that must be the far north of England, right?" Northern? Me? God knows what's happening to my accent.

I had two further full days in Queenstown, and the weather was now marvellous (if a little on the chilly side). On the 29th I visited a tiny village called Arrowtown. There's not much to say about it, except that it's tiny and quaint. More exciting was the walk up the hill behind Arrowtown. The views weren't just good: they were better than the maximum I could possibly appreciate, and I actually felt overwhelmed. Maybe I was just in a funny mood: the views I got the next day were even better, so now I can't remember what the fuss was about. Anyway, the wide, fertile valley lay before me, with postcard-perfect snow-capped mountains framing either side. Maybe it was the sunny weather that made it look so good, maybe the contrast between the vivid green of the grass and blue of the sky, maybe all the details of fields, roads and houses I could see in the valley.

Now, the idea of doing a bungy jump has always scared me shitless, but I decided that I'd have to do one whilst in Queenstown. It is, after all, the home of bungy. The first bungy jump ever was from the Eifel Tower - the guys who did that set up the first commerical jumping site in Queenstown. Now I'd done the skydive, I was kind of looking forward to it...although I didn't know how the hell I'd force my body to jump off a high ledge. That afternoon I did a canyon swing, which was my bungy-type activity.There's a huge free-fall, but instead of bouncing around, you gracefully swing across a canyon at a rather high speed. I stood on the ledge, talking mindlessly to the operators which I think was a subconscious delaying tactic. When I decided to go, I tried not to think about it too much: I did a little run and leapt off. The next few seconds were unbelievably terrifying, but unbelievably exhilerating. When I'd finished I fell for their damn clever marketing: doing a second jump is much cheaper, so I went again. This time I sat in a chair on the edge of the ledge, rocked backwards, and fell. I'm actually shivering now, just thinking about it.

On the 30th I climbed up the mountain behind Queenstown called Ben Lomond. It was billed as a "6 - 8 hour demanding hike", so I thought I'd take the cable car up the first bit. There were, of course, great views over the town from there. Queenstown is in a very dramatic setting: by a lake and surrounded by mountains. But the mountins really crowd close round the town, and rise spectacularly to above the snow line. There was also a 'luge' track, although the things were more like go-carts than luges. That was fun. I then set off up the mountain. It was a hard walk, but not as bad as all the leaflets had made out. When I got really close to the summit, I was actually walking through snow a foot deep. I was glad people before me had left footprints, or else I wouldn't have known where the path was. As I climbed, more and more of the surrounding area came into view. Hills that I'd seen towering above me at the start began to look like insignificant little mounds. When I finally reached the top, I was rewarded for 360 views. It was just mindblowing. Hopefully you can tell I'm doing my best to make this sound good. The reason: it was one of the best things I did on my trip.

Melbourne, Australia

I made it to Australia. Hooray! But now, some more about New Zealand.

I forgot to mention: at Franz Joseph I met someone from John's [St John's College, Cambridge] who, naturally, I didn't like.

In the afternoon after seeing Lake Matheson (20th April) I was meant to be picked up by the Stray bus. I sat outside at the designated time and waited. I didn't expect them to be on time...but the minutes dragged by...eventually my patience ran out and I phoned Stray. It turned out that the bus driver had no idea he was supposed to pick me up. There was some excuse involving a broken fax machine...but I'd notified them more than 48 hours in advance, so you'd think, in this information age, that they'd have found some way of getting the message through. They booked me a normal bus instead, but I wasn't very happy. I'd payed extra because I wanted all the fun and excitment of a backpacker bus; if I'd wanted a plain bus-pass it would have been half the price.

So I stayed ANOTHER night at Fox Glacier village, and travelled to Wanaka the next day. Oh yeah, while I was at that hostel, I met ANOTHER person from Trowbridge! They're everywhere! Them and Germans. Wanaka is a pleasant small town by a lake. There's lots of adventurous activities on offer, so it's kind of like a mini version of New Zealand's outdoors capital, Queenstown. I spent 3 nights there. During that time I took a walk up another glacial valley. It was pissing with rain, but it was worth the effort. Near the top of the walk there were towering cliffs, and because of the rain there were literally hundered of waterfalls criss-crossing their faces. Maybe not literally hunderds, but there were at least 30 big enough for me to see. I also visited a fantastic attraction called Puzzling World, which is devoted to optical illusions. They had the best holograms I've ever seen, plus three really clever, interesting exhibits. There was a room with walls covered in faces which turned to follow you around the room. There were no moving parts or screens - it was purely an optical illusion. I looked into another room which was perfectly square and flat. Two people entered via the door at the far end, came up to me and asked me to take a photo of them. I didn't really see what the big deal was. They went to stand in opposite corners, and suddenly one looked huge and the other tiny! That was surprising. I think they used this technique in Lord of the Rings. There was also a tilted room which provided excelent photo opportunities.

During my Wanaka stay I'd tried to go skydiving a few times, but each time it was either too cloudy or too windy. Eventually, on my last morning in Wanaka, the conditions were perfect. It was one of the best things I've done on the trip. As the plane ascended, the grassy, hilly landscape around Wanaka fell away to reveal the snowy peaks of mountains. We climbed higher and higher and could see further and further: ever more mountains came into view right round the horizon. The jump itself consisted of three exciting stages. First we jumped out and tumbled through the air, seemingly out of control, accelerating all the time. This was the most terrifying and exhilerating part. (Yeah, by the way I was attached to a professional...I wasn't doing it alone!) Then, we somehow rotated so that I was facing straight down and we reached terminal velocity. The strength of the air blasting against me was breathtaking, literally. I tried to admire the view, but I don't think I was in the right state of mind to fully take it in. Then, I felt a few gentle tugs and everything went silent. Unusually silent. The guy shouted in my ear to hold my nose and breathe out: my ears popped and were back to normal. The parachute had opened and we were gracefully gliding to the ground. We were still well high, though, and this part was also very scarey.

Later in the day the Stray bus took me to Queenstown. On the way, we stopped at a fence which had hundreds of old bras hanging from it. I don't think anyone knows why.

I didn't know anyone on the bus to Queenstown, partly because I'd travelled the previous section of the trip on my own on a normal bus. The journey wasn't really long enough to get to know anyone. Queenstown is a big traveller party town, so the first two nights I spent there were a bit depressing: not knowing anyone and being surrounded by all the revelry. The weather was awful on the first day and I didn't do anything apart from admin. I moved my flight to Australia back a week: there was still plenty I wanted to see in New Zealand and there was no way I was going to leave before I'd seen it. It meant one week less in Australia, which was a shame, but at that point I wasn't that bothered. On the second full day I moved to a smaller, cheaper hostel further from the centre which I liked much more. The weather was still awful and again I didn't do anything. I did watch Snatch and American Pie: The Wedding, though, which were very enjoyable. On several occasions that day, the mist cleared just enough in various directions to reveal tantilising glimpses of snow-capped peaks around the town. I reckoned Queenstown would be ablsolutely beautiful, if only I could see it properly. I think the snow on the moutains had fallen while I was staying there, and it certainly felt like winter: the air was like ice. I don't have a coat with me, so the best I could do was put on 4 layers of clothes and my raincoat.

On the 27th and 28th April I took an overnight cruise on a fiord called Doubtful Sound. It was more expensive than my normal class of activities, but well worth it. We spent the night out there on the water, so I really had time to relax and appreciate the scenery. New Zealand had produced one landscape after another, each more stunning than the previous. And the trend continued here. On the cruise there was plenty to keep us occupied. Free tea and coffee was available any time, and we got muffins when we arrived. Soon after setting off, a group of dolphins came to swim at the bow of the boat and gave a spectacular leaping display. Later, we stopped and did some kayaking on the water. It was good getting right down to water level so I could really appreciate the immensity of the cliffs surrounding me. On arrival back at the ship, we were served hot soup. We then cruised out towards the sea, past an islet with seals basking on it, and watched the sun set over the sea. The weather here, on the western coast, was perfect which was unnusual: it's usually raining at the coast and sunny inland. The meal in the evening was a buffet, which was great because it meant I could have as much as I wanted. I loaded a plate with salad, then once that was finished loaded it with roast lamb, potatoes, veg and stuff. Then there was a pudding and even a cheese course. It was probably the best meal I'd eaten on the whole trip. I was in danger of being more excited by the food more than the stunning location. During the cruise I met a girl from Corsham, which is a town near Bradford on Avon. That was quite exciting, but not as exciting as if she's been from Trowbridge.

I didn't sleep particularly well that night: the old guy in the bunk opposite me was snoring very loudly. It was a small cabin, so I must have only been about a metre away from him. It was the type of snoring that let me know in detail what the phlegm at the back of his nose was doing. In the morning there was a cooked breakfast. After that, I felt like I wouldn't be able to eat for days. We had a cruise down a particularly narrow and beautiful arm of the fiord before disembarking and travelling back to Queenstown.

Christchurch, New Zealand

New Zealand fact: New Zealand was the first country in the world to give women the vote, in 1893.

Next morning the Stray bus set off for Franz Joseph, a small, touristy village near Franz Joseph glacier. On the way we stopped at a river to do a bit of gold-panning. It was fun, but if we hadn't been gold panning it would have been one of the most unplesant ways to spend a holiday I can imagine. Firstly, we had to take our shoes off and stand in the river, which was ice-cold. Worse than that were the sandflies. I thought I'd got pretty hardcore from my time in the rainforest, but obviously not. No amount of wafting or swatting could make them leave me alone. If I ignored them for a few seconds, I would find large swarms settled on my legs. The bites were very sharp and some drew blood. I then had to suffer the indignity of everyone staring at my face and saying "oh my god you've been bit really bad...that looks painful". About 12 of us all panned down to just the fine grain at the bottom. We then tipped them all together and the expert man finished it off. Eventually the gold was revealed at the bottom of the pan: a few virtually microscopic crumbs. Gold is cool and everything, but to be honest I didn't think it was worth the effort.

At Franz Joseph in the evening there was a big kareoke party in one of the bars. For me, the evening didn't get going for a while...then it got really fun. First, this crazy American/German girl called Jill persuaded me to sing kareoke with her: I think she'd chosen "You sexy thing" by Hot Chocolate. So we put our names in for that. Soon after, I heard my name being announced...but it wasn't for the kareoke. I'd been selected to take part in the Easter Egg Eating Competition! Ah, come to think of it, that means I can work out the date...it must have been Easter Day! I'd put my name into the pot earlier just for the sake of it, not at all expecting to be chosen. The competition involved eating 2 cookie things, 2 Forero Roche, then downing a pint. Becuase of that last bit, I knew I had no chance of winning...but I was put to shame by the victor: he'd stuffed all the chocolates into his face while I was just starting my second. I was grateful for the free chocolate and drink, though. Soon after we performed the kareoke. When you're voice is amplified and set to music, you suddenly hear how out of tune your singing is. Later, I was getting quite into it and really wanted to sing "Macarena", so persuaded Jill to do that with me. It was a good test of my fast reading Spanish skills, and I failed miserably.

The next day I walked along the glacial valley right up to the glacier's face. That was great. I'd seen a few pictures of glaciers, but seeing one in real life was a totally different experience. The whole valley was a spectacular and humbling setting: the whole scene was like a testament to the power of water. It was tipping down with rain, plus there was the glacier, the channels of water criss-crossing the valley floor, and the waterfalls tumbling off the cliffs all around.

Back at my hostel I overheard some people asking for a room at the reception. But because there were so many backpacker tour buses in the village, there were literally no hostel beds left anywhere. They were told to try the motels, which were much more expensive. I felt sorry for them - I generally didn't consider the possibility of no beds being available, so didn't phone ahead to make reservations.

The Stray bus set off that afternoon. After travelling independantly for so long in South America, I had got a bit fed up of being herded around and doing everything Stray told me to do. So I tried to be different. Most people had done a hike on the Franz Joseph glacier that morning. I decided against this. Instead, I would get off the bus at the next village, called Fox Glacier, and do a hike on the glacier there, called Fox Glacier. However, my plan backfired. The bus driver told me that all the backpacker accomodation in Fox was booked up, just like at Franz Jospeh. This was a setback. I hastily phoned and managed to book a room at a really expensive motel.

This place was a sort of campsite with a few cabins. It cost me $55 as opposed to the $20 which I had normally been paying. But it was so much worse than backpacker hostels! There was no plates or cutlery or anything in the kitchen, so I had to hire a set for $5. Luckily, I walked into town and managed to book myself a proper hostel for the next night. That night, after so many nights in crowded dorms, being on my own in a quiet room was weird, but quite nice.

I had the next day free because the glacier hike was fully booked, so I booked for the day after. For the rest of that day...guess what...I walked up to the face of Fox glacier. This was really cool, but not as exciting as yesterday. Seeing glacier faces was now old-hat to me.

For the glacier hike I had about 5 hours on the ice. I didn't really like the group I was in. It was mainly a group of American friends. The laughed very loudly and for an unnecessary amount of time at the smallest thing. The glacier was amazing, though. It's such a weird landscape. It's all hills, valleys, jagged peaks and deep crevasses. The there a few holes to climb through and lots of pools of water. The structure of the ice beneath my feet must have been so complicated, and I'm not sure how the guide knew it was safe to walk on. Occasionally you'd see streams of water, which meandered in odd paths across the ice before plunging down holes. It was a surprising amount of fun to throw big rocks down the holes - you heard them echoing for a long time before the splash. Apparantly, it's one of the fastest moving glaciers in the world: I may have read 3 metres per day. But I didn't feel any lurching while I was up there, which was a bit disappointing.

The next morning I impressed myself by getting up before sunrise to walk to Lake Matheson. This lake is one of the most photographed places in New Zealand - the idea is to capture the mountains reflected in the lake. The lake is incredibly, incredibly still. I don't know if this is because of the trees and hills around it, or what. It was so still that I actually moved around the lake to get away from the ducks: their paddling was creating an unacceptable amount of rippling. The clouds cleared for long enough for me to get my photo, which is below. Of course, a photo can never do a place justice, but I decided this was the most beautiful place I'd ever been in.

I didn't have time to walk back before I needed to check out of my hostel, so I had my first go at hitchhiking. (It was, like, a 5 minute drive!) For the first couple of cars I was too scared and let them go past. For the next two I put my thumb up, but they whizzed straight past. This is why I had been apprehansive: the feeling of embarrassment and rejection was terrible. The third car picked me up. It really was much easier than I'd expected.