No Shitting in the Toilet FC

Well my name is Andrew Matthews – I’m British – And yes I’ve travelled….

…oh I see you want examples, well there was 11 months on a working visa in Australia (well, you can call it working, but getting up at 4am to go picking tomatoes for not very much money is more like slave labour, but there were good jobs as well…apparently!) Did most of the East coast, Perth, and most of the bottom (Adelaide, Melbourne, Tassie etc) Edinburgh aside, Melbourne is my favourite City in the world, I loved it so much, and despite the fact I fell in love and got my heart broken on my first visit, I still went back 4 times whilst I was out there! I never got to do the centre, but it’s a big rock and I’m sure it’s not going anywhere, so maybe next time! That’s my most major travelling experience, though have been to Hong Kong, New York, Paris, The Algarve, Bangkok (ok that doesn’t really count as it was for an hour stopover) and Rome and Istanbul!. Really want to go back to the last two as I was young first time around and never got to appreciate them, but really want to go to South America and Cuba….oh and Canada, and US and New Zealand….hey why not lets do the whole world (with the exception of Iraq….well, for the moment anyway!)

So Top Tens? Well, as I spent 11 months in them, it has to be my Top Ten “memorable” hostels. In no particular order (mostly as it’s too hard to find the most “memorable”)

10. Federal Backpackers, Bundaberg, QLD

A 2mm thick mattress, on a top bunk of a bed that you had to lie on the side as your afraid that you’ll go through the sag in the middle and end up on the poor chap below. Sleeping with all doors and windows open as it’s like an oven and trying to find and put on your clothes on at 3.30am….so not quite 5 star!

9. MAZE Backpackers, Sydney, NSW

The second hostel I have ever visited, and not too bad. Ok the kitchen was a complete joke, but in the early days your cash rich and food is only a stones throw away!

8. Big Backpackers, Sydney, NSW

The last hostel I stayed in in Australia. Stayed there for a couple of months while I worked in Sydney and met LOADS of great friends, got to have a few beers and laugh at the night manager as we watched Australia lose the ashes!

7. Spencer St Backpackers, Melbourne, VIC

Imagine the scene, you’ve had a long train journey from Adelaide, your in new city, you walk into your room and inside are two big guys, shirts off, tattoos out (such as “Yorkshire”, “Mam & Grandad” and “Made In Halifax”) asleep on the beds and you think….”welcome to Melbourne!”….but who turn out to be the nicest guys you’ve ever met. Also Apart from the case of bed bugs on my second visit, I met a load of great people, some of whom I’m still in touch with after nearly 2 years!

6. My Place Backpackers, Adelaide, SA

Not the best looking hostel in the world, nor the biggest, but still my personal favourite of all the hostels I stayed in in Australia. I can’t explain why, but I went twice and enjoyed myself so much on both occasions. It’s almost like a house it’s so small and even has a sauna in the car park!

5. Launceston Backpackers, Launceston, Tasmania

Quite a big place, yet completely empty as I was there out of season. Apart from the odd coach tour that came by, it was frequented by me and a few other guys, the guy who ran it and the cat, Fiji! Still, was great when you came back from work as no-one was ever in the kitchen!

4. Beaches Backpackers, Airlie Beach, QLD

Not a great hostel, too big probably, and my second case of bed bugs, but just memorable for two American guys I met who got me the most drunk I have ever been in my life!

3. Tin Billies Backpackers, Brisbane, QLD

Not so much a backpackers as a cheap hotel. Mainly memorable for winning the pub quiz thanks to a bra, a condom and a ‘left’ shoe (unfortunatly one person thought it was a “wet” shoe….wouldn’t have been so bad if he hadn’t chosen the ‘right’ shoe to pour a pint over!)

2. New York YHA, New York, USA

Ok not an Australian one, but still memorable for the slenderest, prettiest member of staff. I thought she was a pussy cat….then I mentioned someone had used my locker and suddenly out come a pair of bolt croppers bigger than her and off comes the padlock without even questioning it!

1. Skye Backpackers, Kyleachin, Skye, Scotland

Last but by no means least. Again not another Australian one, but oh so memorable! First of all being welcomed by a woman with painted figures all over her face for some pagan festival, then sleeping in a converted 50’s caravan, decorated in a star trek motif and sleeping in a bed named after on of the characters (I’m afraid I forget)