Steve’s Travel Blog

Hello all,

 Well another week has gone by and it is time to catch you up on all the going ons in my life.

We will start where I left of last time, the plan was to leave Brisbane on Monday but…  I got invited to a small party at Tim and Kims new place along with 3 other backpackers from the hostels.  One cocktail lead to another and then another and next thing you know it was 2am and no way I am waking up to head out on the road.  It was a great night with my friends in Brisbane and I completely enjoyed it.  I also got a text from Esther which made me feel good, she was getting on her plane out of Melbourne.  Tuesday I slept in until about 10:30 but didn’t really get anything accomplished until the afternoon.  I got some gas for my car since it would not start and everything there was grand.  After that I made my was to the library and saw the the Ozy government had given me my extension and now I am allowed to stay here until December 29th, although I should be gone before that.  I chilled out for the rest of the day and took it easy but had smiles on my face when I got a text message from Esther on her stopover in Dubai (mej).  So now that you all know that I have been getting text messages, yes I do have a phone here in Oz.  I have not told very many people because I got it to get ahold of other backpackers to travel with and that sort of thing.  If you really need the number it is 0458175459, you can figure out how to send a text to Oz if you want, but I probably will not answer and international phone calls.

On Wednesday I took my time getting out of Brisbane and ended up leaving at 11am.  I drove straight through to Coffs Harbour about 4 hours away.  I was still pretty tired so I went straight to the hostel and relaxed for a while.  I had some supper at the hostel and then drove to a Macdonalds about 5 minutes away for the free internet and tried to have a chat with Esther.  The internet/computer on Esthers end was not working that well so we decided to try again the next night.

On thursday morning I slept in again but not late and then had a great fruit salad for breakfast.  Now it was time to do what I can here for and that is hiking.  I walked out to a place called Muttonbird Island and sat out on the rock face for about an hour taking in the beautiful ocean and seaside.  It is a great place to watch for whales as well.  I did not see any whales but the great ocean air and scenery was enough.  I made my way back to the wharf and stopped there for some fresh fish and chips. It tasted great, nothing better than fish caught in the morning and on the plate in the afternoon.  With my belly full and water bottle ready I made my way to the river/forest walk.  This walk took me through town the scenic way, along the river, through the botanic gardens and back to the hostel 7.5kms later.  I felt really energized from the hike which i did in my flip flops again.   I had left over spaghetti bolanaise that I made the night before, always better the second day!!! and then headed for the macdonalds again for a chat with Esther.  It was a little better than then night before but still quite slow.  We chatted for about an hour and then headed back to the hostel.  If you are starting to feel like there is a pattern going on here with talking with Esther, I guess you would be right.  We are chatting most days either with text messages or on Googlemail chat, and I feel great that we are staying in close contact.  As you could tell from the last blog, I care for Esther very deeply and not sure what I would do if we could not chat.  Imagine back in the olden days where there were no computers or email, how did people make it work??? Lots of letters I guess.  Back at the hostel I had a couple of drinks with some other backpackers and chatted with them, but was in bed pretty early to get some extra sleep.

Friday morning and it is time to move on.  I had another great fruit salad and got all cleaned and packed.  My feet were bothering me a little from all these hikes in my flip flops so I made my way to the mall to see what I could find.  I ended up i a Target store and found a pair of hikers that we $40 and they fit really well.  When I got the the till to pay they came up on the computer at $20,yeah baby, I win again.  I took my $20 shoes and made my way to the grocery store to get some supplies for the next few days.  I amde my way out of Coffs Harbour at 11am and headed toward the mountains.  The next few days will be spent in and around all kinds of mountains and hikes.  I drove through Bellingen and to the Dorrigo National Park.  I did a short tree top walk and then a 4km hike through the forest valley with some great sights including a huge goana lizard, but this time I was able to hold onto my camera.  From there I made my way to Dangar Falls and seen a really nice waterfall.  It was starting to get late and I needed to make some more miles before it got dark so I got on the road and drove through Armidale and to my final destination of the day Tamsworth (country music capital of Oz).  Now who knew that this place would be so busy on a friday night but it was and both hostels in the area we completely full.  I checked a couple of motels but they wanted $80 and I was not willing to pay that.  I pulled into the Macdonalds to get on the internet and see if I could find anything else at a reasonable price.  As it turns out that was my home for the night.  I slept in the car, which was all right.  I was a little worried about how cold it was going to get but with my 2 sleeping bags I had no trouble.  The really good part of it was that I had free internet all night and when I could not sleep lucky me because Esther came online and we chatted for about an hour and a half.  Got to sleep around 2am and ended up waking up to a lot of cars around me somewhere around 7am.  I made my own breakfast in the parking lot and was on my way at about 8am.  Today I wanted to make it to the Blue Mountains.  The drive through the mountains was awesome, lots of curves and turns.  There were lots of motorbikes on the road but most were going in the opposite directions of me.  One bad crash along the way, it looked like one biker decided to take a turn to fast.  Now one would think that seeing this would make me be a little more cautious, but i think it did the exact opposite.  I was having a lot of fun with the drive and probably was going to fast but damn it was fun.  I even tried to keep up to the Ferrari that zipped past me, but he had a little more power and handling than me and this did not last long, but I blew away the 5 old ford model T’s in my way.  The drive ended up being a lot longer than I thought it was and i got into Katoomba at about 4pm.  I decided to stay at a place called Katoomba Mountain Lodge and it was an okay place.  I got into a 3 bed dorm and had 2 German girls (Mona & Susanna) as my dorm mates. We hit it off right away ans I knew this was going to be a fun place.  I had only booked for the night but already knew that this is where I was going to be for my birthday.  My original plan to be at the Sydney Opera house was dashed since there were no real good shows on for my birthday.  I know this is the way it was meant to be and was ready for some fun.  I also got to chat with Esther for a little bit and this made me very happy.  The girls and I were joined by a Portuguese guy by the name of Nuno and we polished off 2 bottles of wine with some great conversation.

Sept. 13th: my brother Gregs’ birthday!!!  We all slept in but the girls had some plans to go mountain climbing and I really wanted to chill out for the day.  I did a walk around town and picked up some groceries as I was making supper for the group of us.  I was back at the hostel at noon for a skype call with by buddy Boyd.  It was great to see him, Tina and the kids.  We chatted for about an hour and a half and got caught up with everything that has been going on.  The rest of the afternoon was spent walking around town some more and buying myself a birthday present.  I got myself a harmonica, which is easier to carry around than a guitar or any other instrument.  I went back to the hostel and download a program on “how to play the harmonica” and started the lessons.  I even played happy birthday to myself, how pitiful is that!!!  The girls got back from there climbing and I started supper.  I made chicken with potatoes, onions, peppers and mushrooms and chinese broccoli as a veg (mej).  We started into a bottle of rum that I bought earlier and chilled out for the rest of the evening.  At 12:01am 0ne of my favorite days began, my birthday!!!  No better way to start the day than with a chat with Esther.  We had planned on being online at this time so that I could open my gift from her with her.  Esther was at home but ended up having computer problems and had to text me that she was on her way to her parents place so that we could talk.  We ended up online at 12:30 and started chatting. After about 20 minutes of chit chat I was desperate to open the gift, which Esther thought I did well she was going to her parents.  She was surprised by my patience and so was I.  I got a great card with a cool saying on the outside and inside she wrote “becoming my friend means being my friend forever! Sorry Stephen but that’s how it works:-)”, no words could have been better.  She also sent me a big hug and smile, and she has a lovely smile and great hugs!!!  Now onto the gift, I knew before, because of it’s shape and size, it was some kind of book.  As it turns out she got me a journal to keep my great stories.  On the cover was the saying “life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away” and at that moment I could find no air to breath (MEJ)!!!  This has a lot of meaning because when we were in Noosa and our favorite cafe that I told you about in the last blog.  This was her favorite saying on the wall.  I had to ask where she found this and it turns out that it was at the Cairns airport on our layover to Alice Springs.  She also wrote some words on the inside of the journal but I will keep those to myself.  We ended up talkng until 4am and it was the best start to any birthday I have ever had.  There are some really cool things to having my birthday here.  One is that this will be my longest birthday ever because I plan to celebrate until 11:59 on the 14th in Calgary.  That means my birthday is 40hours long this year, sweeeeeet!!!!!  THe second point is because I start early here, Greg and i celebrate on the day, Sweeeeet again. 

I did go to bed at 4am and was up at 10am ready to have a great day.  I had some breakfast and then turned my computer on.  It took about 3 minutes for Mom & Dad to call me and we had a great chat.  They are the greatest parents ever!!!  After an hour chat with them and a call to Greg and tons of birthday messages on Facebook and email it was time to do some hiking.  Mona and I (Susanna was feeling sick) made our way out of the hostel.  We left around 12 and walked to what they call the 3 sisters, from there we walked down the giant staircase (800 and some steps).  Now in the valley floor we walked along the path to a cool river area and had lunch.  From there we continued on until we got to the miners camp that was loaded with tourists.  It seems most just take the trolley down to the camp and then back up, we had very few people around during the walk.  We took the trolley up and then walked along the cliffs to Echo Point where it is a great lookout to the 3 sisters and then back to the hostel.  It was a great hike, I have no idea how far it was but it took 4 hours.  When we  got back to the hostel Susanna had a chocolate muffin and card for me, present number 2, life is good and they sang happy birthday.  I chilled out for a while and put some pics on to Facebook as well as checked my emails, tons of them from family and friends.  I guess there are people out there that do love me, just kidding, I know you all love me, what’s not to love!!! I made myself supper (pumpkin soup and garlic bread) and then chilled for the rest of the evening.  The girls and I played Bonanza (the german card game I got from Felix) and had a great time.  We were now 24 hours into my birthday and I still had another 16 to go in Canada.  We finished our games at around 1pm and who happened to be online at that time? yup you guessed it, Esther.  Talk about making a guy happy, getting to talk to Esther twice on my birthday (MEJ).  We were better this time and only talked to 3am before heading to bed.  I woke up at 8am and still had another 8 hours of birthday to go in Canada, this is awesome!!!  The birthday messages kept coming in and I was feeling great.  I had some breakfast and showered to get ready for the day.  The girls were still sleeping when I went back to the room to pack and then they woke up.  My plan was to get to Sydney by the end of the day.  I took my time leaving Katoomba and got some new music from Mona and she took some of mine while playing some more games of bonanza.  I left at 2:30 and drove into Sydney with the plan on going to Bondi Beach.  I called ahead for a bed but they were all gone so I changed my plan and stayed in a different part of town (Newtown). I got a hostle that had parking and free internet called Billabong Gardens.  I took forever to find the place as it was on a small side street hidden away from everything.  Even after I stopped and called them for directions it took me another 1/2 hour to find the place and I was 2 minutes away.  I was to lazy to cook so I went out for vietnamese food for supper and then came back and played around on the internet for a while.  I was in bed early and very tired from a few very long days. 

The reason I came back to Sydney was that I need to get my passport renewed.  I tried to do this before I left but they do not allow you to renew with more than a year on it.  At this point it runs out at the end of Jan 2010 so i need to get this done asap.  I got up in the morning and made another awesome fruit salad for breakfast.  I took the bus into the CBD and then walked to the Canadian consulate.  I got all the forms from them and then started running around to get them all filled in.  I did as much as I could and then went to a Macdonalds to make some skype calls to family and friends to get addressed and info for all the forms.  After getting everything I needed, next I needed to get photos.  I walked to the shop they recommended and got that done.  I went for lunch while the pics were getting processed and watched a Mexican band play for Mexican Indepdence Day.  I then went and got my pics and had to go the complete other direction to find a justice of the peace.  I need this because I do not have a guarantor and so I have to have 4 references and the JP has to witness my signature.  With everything now completed you would think that i could hand it in and be on my way, but no.  Before handing the forms and stuff in I have to have it all checked and they only do that from 9am till noon so I will have to go back tomorrow and hand everything in.  I took the bus back to the hostel and chilled for a bit and then went for groceries and cooked supper.  The rest of the evening was spent writing this blog and the plan to go to bed early.

I am only a couple of weeks away from being on the road for 1 full year and it has been fantastic.  I have had a lot of people asking when I plan to go home and I can still say that I have no idea.  At this point I am sticking with this traveling gig, it seems to fit me very well.  I will head off to Melbourne soon with a stopover in Canberra and then sell the car, get my passport and head for the West Coast.  I should take me a few weeks to go up the coast to Darwin and from there it will be time for South East Asia.  As for Esther and I, we will keep on chatting and keeping in touch the way we are and will meet up at some point on this great planet.  I miss her tons  but truly believe we will see each other again soon. 

Thanks to all that sent me messages for my birthday and even those that didn’t, i love you all. 

Till next time, continue to enjoy my blog and the pics.

Steve

What events are coming up in the calendar of Steve? (Thank god mom gave me all these dates before I left):  Sept 20th is my uncle Loius’ birthday, then the 24th is Auntie Lills’ birthday, then Oct. 1 is uncle Dons’ birthday and last but definitely not least is Dads on Oct. 3rd.  Happy Birthday to you all!!!  Expect my next blog around the 7th of October and I will recall the highlights of my first year on the road, that will be fun!!! 

Hello all,

Well it has been a bit of a whirlwind since i wrote last and I have a lot to say, I will try to stay in the correct order but i fell behind in my journal a bit so I may have a few days

mixed up a bit

Last time I told you that I was headed back to Fraser Island with Esther and Sanna, so I will start there.  We booked our tour with Trailblazer which is a different company

than the first time and we departed from Noosa at 8am on Aug 22nd.  Our guide, Cam, was an interesting bloke and will talk more about him later.  We drove from Noosa to

Rainbow Beach and picked up a few others and then onto a barge for the short trip over to Fraser Island.  We landed on the southern tip and then drove up the beach on the

east side to the beach house backpackers accommodation we were staying at.  We had lunch and then back on the bus to see some sights.  Our first stop was at the

colored sands and they were pretty much the same as the first time.  From there we went to Indian Head and I told Cam about the story I was told the first time I went here

and that the natives were pushed off the edge and killed bcause there were to many of them.  Cam had never heard such a story and said that he did not think that it was

true.  We talked with a few other guides and it looks like the guide from my first trip was telling a tale.  I was a little upet with this but oh well, what can you do.  We saw a

few whales from the top but the excitement started when we got back to the bus and a whale about 300 meters off shore started breaching and it was a mej site.  It flopped

around for a long time and Esther got a great pic of it as well.  After the whale we headed to the Meheno shipwreck where I was able to see both sides of the wreck this time

because of low tide and it was completely different than the first time.  It made for much better photos and it was fun to walk all the way aroud it.  Our last stop of the day

was to Eli Creek and I walked in the creek again but Esther and Sanna stayed on the boardwalk because they did not bring any swimming gear.  Before we left we had a

snack and then Sanna and I were playing around.  I threw Sanna over my shoulder and walked over to the creek to throw her in.  I had about 30 people shouting to throw her

in and she was begging me not to.  I walked all the way into the creek and was ready to do it and something told me that this would be a very bad idea so I let her down

nicely in the creek which was not deep and she thanked me but I don’t think all the others were that impressed.  We then headed for our beach house and chilled for a while.

 Some went to the beach for the sunset but we just relaxed and waited for supper.  After supper some of the others went to the pub just down the road, but Esther and I

stayed at the house and had a good chat.  With the accommodation right on the beach it makes for a nicer place than the first time.  The second day was flled with new

adventures as well.  We started off the day at Lake Boomanjin where the water looks rusty because it is full of teatree oils, but I went for a swim anyway and was the only

one to do so, I actually found out after that I was the first person Cam had that ever swam in the lake, not like me to be like everyone else.  We did a walked to different

parts of the lake and then headed for Lake Birrabeen for another swim.  From there we drove thru Central Station and then went on the rain forest walk.  At one point Cam got the bus stuck and we had to get out and push, which was fun.  I was a great walk and I did most of it with Esther.  After the walk we headed back to the beach house and Felix (young German guy) and I got to go fishing from the beach.  They provided the

big beach rods and reels and we bought some bait.  We did not fair very well and gave up once the sun set.  The best part of the fishing was seeing a dingo coming up the

beach while the sun was setting.  That night we had supper again and then Esther told me a great story about her home town and family and how some of it relates to

Venezuela.  It is a long and interesting story but to long for here.  We ended up been the last to go to bed again and it was only 12:30.  Felix and I woke up early 5:30 and

headed out fishing again with much better luck this time.  It did not start off that well but then Felix caught 2 fish and we got a picture with one of them.  He put them in the

bucket we had but then the tide came in closer than we thought and had tipped the bucket over and the 2 fish were gone.  I then caught one and was getting ready to take a

picture when the little bugger got off the hook and was gone.  A few mintues later I had another one and this one was not getting away.  Felix to a pic right away and I put it

in the bucket, and what happens, yes you guesssed it, the tide came in to far again and tipped the bucket and my fish was gone as well.  Thank god we had pictures or no

one would have believed us and the fish were tiny anyway, not big enough to eat.  The bus was late leaving because we took so long fishing but to bad we were having fun. 

We then went to Lake Wabby which is a lake at the bottom of a sand dune and we were able to ride a boogie board into the lake.  A ton of fun but a lot of work walking up

the dune.  We hung around the lake for a few hours and then headed back for the barge and off the island.  We stopped along the way to have lunch on the beach before we

headed home for the day.  We got back to Noosa and went to a nice little cafe for a tea and then stayed for supper as well.

We slept in until our check out at 10am and then we drove from Noosa back to Brisbane.  We wanted to stay closer to the airport this time so we booked in at a hostel

called Bunk.  Sanna wanted to go shopping before she left for New Zealand and Esther and I tagged along.  We went into a few shops and Sanna found one that she liked

and was talking with a sales guy and finally told us that she would meet up with us later and Esther and I went out on our own.  Now it was time to decide what I was going

to do even though I had made up my mind long before and so we went to a travel agency and booked a flight to Alice Springs for the 28th.  After getting that all done we went

for a beer at a pub near the hostel.  We figured we better hurry back so that Sanna was not waiting for us and when we got back she was not there yet.  When Sanna did

get back she was carrying all kinds of bags and had ton a lot of shopping, she was so happy she nearly hit the ceiling and it was 20 feet high.  She showed us all her new

stuff and tried it all on.  We had to stop her so that we could go for supper.  It was Sanna’s last night with us so she decided on chinese food, which was good since we

were in the heart of chinatown.  After supper we went back to the hostel and chilled for the evening.  The next morning was an early start so that we could get Sanna to the

airport for 7:30.  I was an emtional goodbye to her with lots of hugs and tears.  I know she will have fun in New Zealand as it is a beautiful country and I did give some tips to

help her out.  After that Esther and I checked into the Brisbane Backpackers where we had stayed when we met.  We got our room and settled in, then went for a walk

along Southback for lunch and then went to the library to check our emails and such.  Kim met us at the library and we all chatted for a while and made plans to meet up for

the evening.  We headed back to the hostel and had some supper and then headed to Ridges where Tim works for a couple of drinks.  It was nice to sleep in the next

morning and not have to worry about going anywhere.  We talked with Felix and made plans to meet at Southbank for lunch.  Once there we sat in the sun and chilled for

the afternoon.  Felix taught me a german card game (Bonanza) that we all played together and had a blast.  Kim met up with us as well and we all walk into the downtown

area but most of the shops were closed or closing.  It is a lot different here than at home as most stores close at 5pm and some are not open on Sundays, none of this 24

hour stuff and shop when you want.  We picked up some beers and headed back to Southback and sat by the river drinking our beer and talking, that was until the nice

police man informed us that it is illegal to drink there and that it was a $250 fine, but he let us off with a warning, dumb tourists.  We then made our way to Ridges again to

see Tim and played another game of Bonanza in the bar.  After the game Felix gave me the card game and said
that I could have it.  It was really cool and now i have to play the game with
others and then send a pic to Felix to show him that I am using the game. 
It should be interesting me explaining the rules to a German game, I hope
I remember all the rules because they are all in German.  I talked to Tim
about looking after my car while I was gone with Esther and he agreed to put
it under his name so that it would not cost anything to park it.  We headed
back to the hostel after that and had a late supper of whatever was left in the
 food bag that we could not take on the plane the next day.

We had to get up super early (4:20) to catch our flight to Alice Springs and it was not easy to get up.  We made it to our bus and had no problems with the flight either. 

There are no direct flights to Alice Springs so we had to fly to Cairns first, which was cool because we could see the Great Barrier Reef for most of the flight and this was the

first time Esther was able to see it.  After a 2 hour layover in Cairns we were on our way to Alice Springs.  When we landed I found a backpackers to stay at and we got a

free shutle to it.  Once we got checked in we talked to them about a tour out to Uluru and booked a 3 day tour with a company called Adventure Tours.  After that we took a

walk into the town center and checked out some of the shops.  I was still without hiking shoes after losing the one earlier and really needed something for all the hiking that

we were going to do.  Unfortunately I could not find and that fit me and did not want to waste my money on shoes I did not really want so I decided to just go with the flip

flops.  The town has a lot of aboriginal people on the street and most of the really look lost, actually we did not know how to describe them but once we got on the tour out

guide called them that and it made sense.  We went back to the hostel and had some supper and then were in bed fairly early because we had another early start with the

tour the next day.  We were up the next morning at 5:30 to catch our bus tour, I am begining to hate these early starts and Esther is not a big fan of them either.  Our guide

for this tour was a guy named Molly, must be a relative of a “boy named sue”.  He was young but really knew his stuff, he had only worked for the company for a few months

and before that he had rode his pedal bike around the country for one year for a charity.  We also slowly got to know the group of people on the bus and a bunch of them

were German.  I got along with one guy, Tobi really well and Esther met Martine from Austria.  When we first saw Tobi he swore that he met us before but I sure did not remember him.  We finaly figured it out when he asked about Brisbane and he was watching tv when Esther and I first met.  He was trying to watch the Simpsons and all I was doing was talking, you could tell he was frustrated with us but I did not care to much as I was much more interested in Esther.  We had a good lagh about it and now he will always be the simpsons guy.  We had a big drive in front of us and headed out on the road after getting all 17 passangers.  The first day requires getting all the way to Uluru which is 6 hours away and still fit in a hike at Kata Juta “valley of the winds”.  This is the same hike I did with Meghan but this time there were a lot more prople around but still really cool.  It is a very relaxing place and on the way back we saw a rare rock wallaby.  From Kata Juta we made our way to watch the sunset at Uluru.  I was looking forward to this because the first time I was at Uluru there were to many clouds to give a good sunset, and what happens agian but the clouds rolling in and having no sunset at all.  We made our way to our camp for the night where we all stayed in nice tents that had 2 cots in each.  Esther and I picked out ours and then we helped with preparing supper.  After supper we sat around a camp fire for a while but everyone was pretty tired and we had

another early start the next morning.  We were up real early as the plan was to watch the sin rise on Uluru so it was a 5am wake up.  We had breakfast and were on the

road before 6am.  We got to Uluru just as the sun was supposed to be risinf but of course the clouds were there as well and it did not add up to very much.  It was damn

cold as well with it being around 5 degrees and everyone bundled up.  After the sunrise we did a walk around the base of Uluru for 2 hours but thur most of it we were cold

and I had to go to the bathroom, I was not the only one that had to go.  There are no toilets at Uluru so after the walk we got on the bus and went to the cultural center for an

hour and used the facilites there.  After that we went back to Uluru and Molly gave us a guided tour of the Mala walk and told us more about the aboriginal culture.  He was

very informative and really told the truth about the natives.  This was nice to hear as our guide at Fraser (Cam) did not see them in the same way and I think that is becasue

he never took the time to try to understand them.  I think it would be the way most of us see the Natives in Canada, which I have said before when I was here in May. 

Molly’s comments really make you think of how they were treated and them lets you form your own opinion.  We learned a few words in the Pitjantjara language like “palya” which means hello or goodbye, “Nupurgi Nupurgi” which means “whats mine is yours” and a big reason why the never seem to get rich, and “Jukarrpa” which is the word that means aboriginal law and their ways of life.  After our walk we got back onto the bus and then drove to Kings Canyon which is a 2 hour drive.  On the way was one of the highlights for me, we stopped in the middle of the outback in search of a Witchite Grub.  Now imagine a big white worm about the size of you middle finger.  We had to dig under a Witchite shrub and then follow along the roots.  Inside the root is where the grub grows and we were able to find a really big one.  Now as you all know I will eat anything and today the grub was on the menu, actually there were 3 of us that wanted to try it.  A french guy took the first bite and then passed it to me, with most of the guts hanging out I got a really good bite and then passed the rest onto Colm (Irish guy) to finish it off.  It did

not have much taste, maybe like tofu but the skin was pretty tough to bite thru.  Somehow Esther managed to take some great pics but was totally disgusted by it and when we got back on the bus she would barely sit beside me.  I couldn’t blame as I had witchite grub guts all over my pull over and Colm’s girlfriend (Georgina) would let him anywhere near her either.  We got to our camp at Kings Canyon with the same set up as the night before and relaxed for a bit.  For some reason I voulenteered to help cook again, which was stupid because I missed an amazing sunset with Esther.  After supper we all sat around a big camp fire but it was still really cold.  I went and had a hot shower nad felt a lot better and clean.  After a while everyone started going to bed becasue yes again we had another early start.  Up again in the dark and having breakfast before we go, but most of us were half asleep while this was going on.  We left by 6:30 and were at Kings Canyon at 7 where we started our hike around the canyon.  This was the same hike I did with Meghan and Carolyn in May.  It was a great walk again but a lot different in flip flops.  Molly was a bit of a joker and had everyone convinced of a rare speices of pygmie koalas that was actually a toy he had put up in the tree on an earlier trip.  Everyone was taking pictures except for Esther and I, we just knew something was not right.  Earlier in the trip he had also put dried camel shit on a couple of seats in the bus.  After that I had a plan for him and I will get to that.  Molly took us thru the area and gave us some great insights to the aboriginal culture in the area and Esther and I had lots of questions.  After the walk we had a 6 hour drive back to Alice Springs so most of us sat back and relaxed and in no time we were asleep. xcept for Molly I think.  We had several stops on the way back and I had time to plan some revenge on Molly.  Molly gave out a few rewards for some of us that he called stars on the trip. I got 2 awards, one for eating the grub and a second for hiking 27 kms in flip flops.  After our last stop, with 2 hours left to drive, I asked Molly for the microphone because I had a story for everyone.  Most of them already knew my story of traveling the world for 8 – 10 years but I expanded on that.  I told them that I was actually working while I travel for a company called Tui International (the company that owned the tour we were on and that my job was to check out different tours around the world, Esther was from the head office in Germany.  I had a very convincing story and he took the bait hook, line and sinker.  For the last 2 hours I left him think about it and you could see his h4ad just spinning.  I went to the rest of the people on the bus and let them in on the joke and we all thought it was pretty funny except one Austrain girl (Martine) that had got to know Esther and she thought that everything that they talked about for 3 days was a big lie.  That made me laugh even more and I ended up getting a few smacks from her.  When we got back into Alcie Springs I finally let Molly in on the joke and he was stunned.  He said that it made so much sense and was going to ask me if he dould get a transfer to another country and be a guide somewhere else.  I was all very funny and he took it in stride.  We all met up for supper that night and joked about it some more and then went to the pub for a few more laughs and drinks. 

Esther and I ended up back at the hostel at around 2:30 and went straingt to bed.  We slept till 9:30 and then had to get ready to check out.  We had breakfast and showered after our checkout and then I chilled for the rest of the morning.  Esther went ot a place called “School of the Air” where they teach children in the outback by video screens with the teacher in Alice Springs and the students in there homes.  Esther said that it was pretty impressive and with her as a teacher that not a big surprise. 

She got back early in the afternoon and we went for some lunch and took a look around downtown again.  We got picked up at 3:00 for our flight to Adelaide and were on our way.  Tobi was also on the same flight and we all stayed at the same backpackers.  We went and got a pizza for supper and just chilled for the evening.  It was an okay place but it was really cold and in the morning the place smelt like fish from the market next to it.  Esther and I slept in till after 10 and then finally got our buts in gear.  We walked to the train station to book tickets for a train ride to Melboune on Friday and then walked around the city.  It was really cold and it rained to but not for very long. We made it back to the hostel and chilled for a while and then watched the movie Australia while we were having supper.  It was a long movie and a little cheesy after actually being in Australia and seeing the real culture.  We headed for bed afterthe movie and tried to get a ggod sleep.  It was cold in the room again and so with one night left together we decided to change hostels and booked into the YHA 2 blocks away.  We got into a 4 bed dorm that we got to ourselves and it was warm and very clean.  We decided to do some shopping as we both needed a few things and I got a new pair of shoes and a shirt and Esther was able to get a few birthday gifts for friends and family. We picked up some groceries and made our way back to the hostel.  We just chilled out in the room for a few hours and then ended up having a late supper. Then it was time for bed as we had another early start for our train ride.
Friday Sept. 4th (Esther and my last day together), we were up early and got a taxi to the train station.  There was another German kid looking to go to the same place so we shared a cab, I could not believe how much stuff he had and he was only on hte road for 8 weeks, probably double of what I am carrying.  We got our seats and the train left at 7:40 am.  It was going to be an 11 hour ride so we had lots of time to relax and reflect on our time together.  You could tell that it was on both our minds and we did our best to look at the sites and not worry about having to say good-bye.  I spent about an hour on my own talking with a nice gentleman from Melbourne and Esther wrote some postcards.  The toughest part was the last hour as we started our goodbye early.  Esther gave me a birthday present that I am not allowed to open until the 14th and it is wrapped and put away so that I do not touch it.  I gave Esther a small book that had sayings about friendship and I also wrote a few things in it.  We were already in tears and I had one more gift for Esther.  If you remeber back to my travels in New Zealand, I stopped in a place called Barrytown, this is where I did the bone carving that I have been wearing around my neck ever since.  It is Mauri tradition to create these carvings and then wear them.  They say that a piece of yourself goes into the carving and when the time is right you give the craving to someone special so that they always have a part of you with them.  When I did the carving I had no idea where it was going to go but after meeting Esther there was no doubt where it belonged.  It was a very emotional moment for both of us and it will help me to know that a part me is with her as we are apart.  We did not say a lot of words to each other and we really did not have to.  The train got to the station and we picked up our bags and it was time to say goodbye.

 To be honest I can’t even remember what I said but it was very little as we hugged and kissed each other.  This was one of the toughest goodbyes I have ever had to say and I can’t wait until we meet up again, where ever and when ever that will be.  The hostel I was staying at was only 2 blocks away and I went there and did very little except think of Esther.  Earlier in the trip she gave me a book called “The Celestine Prophecy” and I started to read it and I like the book very much.  I can see a lot of me in the book and the more I read the more I learn about Esther as well.  I my last blog I had mentioned a new word “mej”, well this is what the last 3 weeks have been for me, completely and totally MEJ!!!  Now it is time to move on and continue my journey through out the world. 

I had planned to stay in Melbourne for the weekend and then get my Visa extension worked out but on Saturday morning I went on line and found out that I could do it in Brisbane as well and then I booked a flight for later that day.  It was really cold in Melbourne as well so it was nice to get back to some warmer weather.  I talked with Kim but made no plans for the evening and continued to read my book.  I woke up in the morning felling better and made my way to the library to chck emails and facebook and

start writing this blog. Tim and Kim met me after a while and we had a good chat.  They invited me to there place for Monday evening for some drinks and social time.  On

Monday morning I went to the office to get my visa extened and found out the best way to do it was online and so back to the library and got everything completed.  I think

now I will leave Brisbane tomorrow and start to make my way to Sydney with stops at Coffs Harbour and the Blue Mountains.  I would like to go to the Sydny Opera House

for my birthday and see smoe kind of show.  I also got to talk to mom and dad on skype sothat was great, as always.

That is about it for now, so I hope everyone takes care and drives safe over the long weekend at home.

Love ya all and thanks for the great comments on the last blog.
Esther left me a message to put on the blog but I can’t until I read which will be on my birthday, so that will be on the next one.

Steve

PS: I missed the aniversary of my Uncle Richard and Auntie Lill, I still remember having tons of fun at your party last year.  Some big birthdays coming up as well with my

buddy Rob on the 11th, John who working with was always fun on the 11th, and my brother Greg on the 13th, and I guess mine the next day. By the way I am getting

younger, not older.