BootsnAll Travel Network



This blog is about my adventures during my round the world trek

Welcome to my blog. I am a newly turned 40 year old that has decided that it is time to see the rest of the world outside of my little part of it in Calgary, Canada. I am planning to see as much of the world as I can and have no time limit on the adventure. I plan to go which ever way the wind blows. I am starting in the South Pacific (Fiji, New Zealand, Australia) and then on to South East Asia, Europe, Africa, South American and anywhere else I can find. I have lived in Calgary, Alberta, Canada for 20 years and worked in the food industry. I have a great family that is concerned but supportive and fantastic friends that I hope will join me somewhere on the journey. I hope everyone enjoys following along on my adventure and you can also email me at sdietrich90@hotmail.com

Steve in East Timor

November 24th, 2009

Hello all,

Well i flew into East Timor on the 18th of November and it has been hot and humid ever since.  It has been in the mid 30’s everyday with at least 85% humidity.  It is taking a bit to get used to it but I am getting there.

I left Australia at 6:30am so i did not get a hostel bed that night and just tried sleeping at the airport.  That sis not work so well and I ended up getting no sleep.  I landed into Dili at 7:15am and got a taxi to the only hostel in the city.  I got a room right away and pretty much fell asleep.  I got up at around 11am and felt a little better.  The dorm room has air con so it kept everything cool and helped me sleep.  I had a talk with the manager, Ben from England, about what there is to do in the city.  He had lots of good ideas and I then went for a walk.  I only walked for about 1 hour and the heat really got to me so I went back to the hostel.  I chilled out for most of the rest of the day trying to get used to the heat.  Late in the afternoon an Aussie bloke (Nick) checked in and we chatted.  After some supper and more rest for the evening it was time for bed and I still needed it.  I did not accomplish a lot for my first day but my first impression is that the people are always smiling and very nice.

The next morning I was up at 7:30, rested and ready for the day.  Nick and I walked to the Indonesian embassy to pick up the forms needed to get a visa for that country.  Because I am crossing by land I need to get it in advance.  While we were there we meet a Dutch girl (Rianne) who was doing the same thing.  Nick and Rianne waited around to get their forms processed and I headed back to the hostel as I was in no rush for my visa.  They both came back to the hostel a little later and then we all went for a walk together.  On the way we got East Timor cell phones that cost $10 which included the phone, Sim card and $3 of credit.  We then found an internet place that was cheap but so slow that I was able to get nothing done in a full hour of trying.  We left the internet and decided to o for lunch.  We took a taxi to a place the Nick had heard about and ended up going on some roads that were  closed because of paving.  The taxi driver did not seem to care and all the workers had to get out of the way.  The restaurant ended up to be a bit out of the way but we had lunch in front of the beach.  It wasn’t a great beach but was fun to watch the fisherman in front of us.  After lunch we walked along the beach and stopped at a few places to check them out.  It was a long walk back and by the time we made it to the hostel I was wiped out.  I went into the cool room for a nap and Rianne headed back to her hostel, Nick went to a museum.  That evening Nick and I discussed going on a trip south of Dili and into the mountains.  We had looked at some tour groups earlier and they are all very expensive and usually only go if you have 4 or more people.  Later that evening an English guy (John)  checked in but was very tired so he did not talk much.

On Friday morning we got up at 7:30 and got cleaned up and ready to go south.  We left our big packs at the hostel and only took a little bit of stuff with us.  At the last minute John decided to join us znd we all caught a taxi to the bus stop.  The bus stop ended up been more of a spot on the side of the road were some people met up. When we got there we asked where to catch a bus to Maubisse.  After much talk and not understanding the language very well we found out the bus does not leave for another 3-4 hours.  We decided that the best thing to do was to hitch hike and see how far we got.  We walked to the edge of town about 10 minutes away and started to flag down vehicles.  You do not use a thumb here, you wave your hand in a downward motion like you are asking them to slow down.  It did not take long and we were picked up by a guy, who worked for the telecom company,in a 4 door ute (small pickup)and he took us all the way to Ainaro.  We walked out of Ainaro for about 2 hours and saw a big group of monkeys.  They were to quick to get a picture but there must have been 50 of them.  We then got picked up by a 5 ton truck, just imagine a big farm truck.  We rode in the back with 3 other guys and were taken to a town called Casa.  We continued our walk and were then picked up by 2 Philippino guys that we executives for a company that was repairing some roads in the area.  They roads are not in great shape here and full of pot holes so they have a lot of work to do.  The took us as far as their construction site and then set up a ride for us to Zumilu. This ride was in the back of a 5 ton dump truck again with a few others.  Our next ride was from a mikrolet (minivan) that took us all the way to Suai and our final destination.  they try to fit as many people into a mikrolet before they leave and we had about 12 people in ours but is was still surprisingly comfortable.  There are 2 places to stay in Suai, the hotel at $35 a night or the convent at $10 a night.  We had to search out the convent but finally found it and the sisters were very nice and got us some beds to stay in.  For the first day of the trip we had seen only the country side and the inside and outside of a bunch of vehicles.  There was very little in Suai but this trip is no so much about the destinations as the travel in between.  We felt great that we had made to where we did and laughed at all the modes of transport we used at a total cost of $3.  The only restaurant in the area was a ways away so we got a ride on the back of motorbikes to eat.  When we finished there were no bikes around so we walked back to the convent in the dark.  The 3 of us chatted about our day when we got back and then the power went out.  The convent turns the power off at 8:30 and we sat in the dark until about 9 and then went to sleep. What a crazy first day of our adventure!!!

We were up early and on our way by 7am the next morning.  Suai is know  for its huge unfinished cathedral, which we walked around.  After a big massacre during the war for independence from Indonesia it was just never finished.  We ten made our way to the town center and found the same mikrolet there that we got into town with.  We asked if we could get a ride back to Zumilia with then and they said yes.  Soon they were packing us in and we noticed that it was full of supplies.  Not just any supplies either but it was fuel day and about 20 20L containers of petrol were in the back along with some food and other supplies.  They pack 13 people including in as well and we were on our way.  I was getting dizzy from the fuel smell as were the others but we made it to Zumalia.  We then walked for a while which was good to get some fresh air and were picked up by 2 guys in something like a Nissan Pathfinder.  They dropped us off in the middle of nowhere but we were pretty sure where we were  and continued to walk.  After about 1 hour we got picked up by a 4 door pick up to the junction to Betano, where we actually thought we were before.  With it been Saturday afternoon there was not a much traffic but got picked up by  guy and sat in the back of his ute to Betano.  Betano is on the south coast of East Timor and has a great black sand beach.  We hung around the beach for a while and then found a place for some lunch.  We then found out that there is no where to stay in Betano so we decided we better get back on the road and find a ride to somewhere else.  We were picked up by a mikrolet and taken to Same and tried to find a ride to Maubisse but no one was going that this late in the day.  We found a guest house to stay at and organized for them to cook some supper as well.  We decided to go for a walk and see the small town.  It did not take long to see it all and on our way back to the guest house we passed a group of people and chatted with them.  They were aide workers that wee teaching blind people how to play music instruments.They invited us to check it out the next day and then we got back to the hostel for supper.  after supper we were chatting but having a tough time keeping our eyes open so we went to bed pretty early.

In the morning we were up early and relaxed a bit until 9am and then went to find the plces where they were teaching the blind.  It took a little while and after going all through town we found the place.  They were teaching them to play guitar and bass guitar when we were there and it was pretty cool to watch.  They played really well and we enjoyed our short stop watching them.  We got back on the road and walked for a while and were picked up by a family and got a ride in the back of their truck to the middle of nowhere.  We then walked for a while and finally got a ride again in the back of a truck to the junction to Hatubulico.  This is the town we wanted to get to and started to walk.  We walked for a long time until a vehicle came that was going the other way and were told that we were still a log way from the town.  If we were still walking when they came back they would pick us up.  We ended up walking all the way to the town, about 18km and found a guest house to stay at.  The reason for getting to Hatubulico was to hike to the top of Mount Ramelua the next day.  We were served supper and then chilled for a while before heading for bed real early.

Our hike to Mt. Ramelau started rel early, 2:45am in fact.  The idea is to see the sun rise at the top of the mountain.  Nick was sick in the morning and could not do the hike so John and I went with a guide.  We hiked for about 3 hours in the dark with flashlights to lead the way.  The stars were amazing and the hike was very difficult in places.  We made it to the top just before the sunrise and it was amazing.  They have built a church and a statue of the virgin Mary at the top.  The sunrise had so many colors in it and made it worth the early morning and big hike.  I think the hike would have been easier if we had not had to hike so far the day before, but it was all good.  After a 2 our trek back down the mountain we got a ride back to the junction by owner of the guest house.  Nick was still not feeling well so we stayed there to hitch a ride instead of walking.  After a little waiting we were picked up by a priest and a few others in a ute.  The priest made the other get out of the back seat and go in the back of the truck and let us sit inside.  I felt really bad about it but it was a lot more comfortable.  They gave us a ride to Maubisse and then we walked to the edge of town.  We then got picked up by some aide workers and rode in the back of a truck all the way back to Dili.  We ended up back at the hostel at around 3pm very tired and smelly.  I showered up and  then took a nap for a while.  After 4 days on the road in very remote areas our Tetun (East Timor language) is getting pretty good.  i know all the numbers up to ten and how to greet people and a few other words as well.  The word we heard the most on the trip was “malai” pronounced “ma-lie” and it means foreigner.  All the kids yell it as you are passing by and most of the time it sounds like they are happy  to see us.  The people were so friendly and had such big smiles for us even though we struggle to understand them.  A lot more people travel to the east of Dili and the beach areas where we decided to go to the more remote places and it was completely worth it.  What a fantastic experience and it did not cost much at all.  We spent about $20 a day and that was for all the rides, accommodation and food.

I am now hanging out in Dili for a few cays and will work on getting my Indonesian visa.  There is a holiday on Friday and Monday and a lot of stuff in town for the weekend.   There is supposed to be a parade and fireworks and who knows what else.  I might try to get to Aterio Island on Saturday as well and see it for the day.

That is about it for my first bit in East Timor and Dili.  Looking forward to the rest of my stay here and I will update again when I get a chance.  I do want to take a minute and reassure you all that it is very safe to travel in East Timor.  If you read the government web sites they say that East Timor is not stable but they are writing about an East Timor from 1-2 years ago.  They talk about refugee camps all over the place but I have to see one, they talk about taxis with cracked window from rocks been thrown but i have yet to see and rocks thrown or broken windshields.  The UN has a very big presence here and are training the local police and have handed over 2 provinces back to them and more are to come.  The country is rebuilding everything like roads, hospitals, schools and community centers.  There is no reason not to travel in East Timor and I will continue to enjoy the country.

Take care all,

Steve

PS: Birthday wishes go out to my cousin Troy, make it a great day!!!

Along the waterfront in Dili

Me in the back of the 5 ton truck hitching a ride south of Dili

Me in the back of another big truck, just another mode of transport

Small kids in a village yelling Malai

Unfinished cathedral in Suai

Black Beach at Betano

Guy carring chicken on Mikrolet

Scenery on hike to Hatubulico

Sunrise at Mt. Ramelau

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Australia Completed

November 17th, 2009

Hello all,

Well my final journey in Australia is now complete.  When I wrote last I was in Broome and it was a nice little town.  It was pretty rainy when I was there but it made for some incredible thunder and lighting storms.  I was able to catch a ride out of Broome on Monday the 9th with 2 Aussie blokes.  I had met Jake a few days earlier at the backpackers and we were both helping each other to find a ride.  Brodie contacted Jake first and then me and we made our plans.  We got out of Broome at about 10am and started on our way.Brodie had a small van with all the camping gear we would need for the trip.  There are not a lot of stops along the road so we figured camping would be the best option.  Brodie drove for about 2 hours and then I took over for about another 2.  The van has a mind of its own and no mater how hard you push on the gas pedal it goes the speed it wants to, which is usually between 80-90.  It was kind of disappointing seeing the speed limit signs at 130 knowing that we were never getting close to that speed.  On one downhill we topped out at 112!!!  After a quick lunch Jake hopped behind the wheel and drove to Halls Creek about 3 hours away.  We stopped to pick up some supplies and then drove about 10minutes out of town and stopped at a truckers roadside turnout.  We cooked up some chops and salad for supper and sat around and bull shitted for most of the evening.  Brodie slept in the van and Jake and I slept in a tent.  We thought we had a great spot until all the trucks started pulling in and not turning off their trucks or the noise from the generators on the back of them.  It was pretty noisy which was okay and did not bother me to much but the heat in the tent was crazy.  It had been about 38 degrees during the day and did not seem to cool down a lot during the night.  After a restless sleep we were all up at about 6:30 and after some breakfast we were on the road by 7am.  Brodie ended up driving the whole day even though we had offered to take the wheel for a while.  He drove to Kununarra and stopped at the dam for a few photos along the Ord river and then again for a huge Moab tree.  Once we got into town we picked up some more supplies (ice & beer) and gas and continued on our way.  We made a detour to Lake Argyle that Jake had heard was really nice.  It was a really big lake and and it looked awesome.  Since we had gone a while without a shower, a swim was a definite must. We stopped at the little campground first to ask if it was safe to swim in and were told that if we stayed to the one area then all is good. The other parts do have Salt Water Crocs and we did not want to see them.  After a very refreshing swim we got back in the van and put on some more miles. It was not long and we left Western Australia and crossed into the Northern Territory.  We drove until dusk and pulled into a regular roadside turnout this time instead of one for the truckers.  We got set up and had a few drinks in the process.  I cooked up some steaks and veggies for supper.  After Brodies long drive he was pretty tired and went to bed early.  Jake and I pulled out my computer and watched Eddie Murphy Raw until the battery died.  It ended up been early to bed for us as well as it was only 9pm and nothing else to do.

With the early bed time we were all up by 6am and on the road by 6:30.  In the morning we drove to Katherine with a few picture stops along the way.  Once we got to Katherine I was all for getting to Darwin since I had seen all the stuff from Katherine to Darwin already.  I thought the others might want to see Katherine Gorge and a fewother sights but the past and we headed for Darwin.  We got in at around 4pm and Jake and I checked into the YHA, Brodie called his fiend and went to stay with him.  I so wanted to have a shower but that would have to wait for a bit.  When I checked in I only had enough cash for the room and  nothing left for the key deposit.  I hoped they would just let me get in the room and then go get more cash and pay them then.  That did not happen and I had to put my bags in the lockup and get cash before they gave me a room key.  I put my bags in the lockup and started walking out when the girl asked for the key to the lockup back but I said I did not have it and the room was unlocked.  She said that I took it and I had to go and find it, so I went back to the lockup to look for this key and could not find it anywhere.  I went back to her and said again that I did not use it and she said that it is a big key and hard to loose (it was attached to this big crocodile thing) and I needed to look again.  I was getting pretty irritated since I was sure that I had not used but went to look again.  After another minute of looking I could hear her yelling to me that she had found it.  It had been sitting on her side of the desk the whole time.  I left rather quickly to get some cash before i really lost it.  I got back and got my key and went and had a great cold shower.  I chilled out for most of the evening but did go for a walk and picked up a few groceries for breakfast.

The next few days were very similar.  Wake up around 8:30 and have a great fruit salad for breakfast and then wander down to the library for some free internet.  I had chats with lots of different people during the time but most of it was spent doing research on South East Asia, my next destination.

On Friday I made my decision on where to start the next part of my travels and booked a flight to Dili, East Timor.  i was also able to book a place to stay in Dili for the first few nights and so I was set.  I leave for Dili on Wednesday November 18th.  The rest of the day was spent continuing to do research and getting ready to go.  I met up with Jake later in the afternoon and a friend of his, Josh.  They are traveling together going south to Uluru and Adelaide.  They are buddies from home and had made a big bucket of punch and were on their way to getting drunk.  I had a few glasses with them but did not intend to get to drunk.  I was successful at staying relatively sober but I maybe should have got drunk.  There was a new guy in the dorm room for this night (a Canadian from Van. Island) and he had some bad dreams.  He was talking in his sleep saying “help me, please help me” 2 of us got up but he was asleep.  We did not know what to do so we left him and tried to fal asleep.  The next morning I chilled out at the hostel and got some extra sleep since not much was gotten during the night.  In the afternoon I meet up with Jake and Brodie and we went on a fishing charter.  It was the same type of charter that I went on the last time I was here but I wanted to go again.  There were a total of 11 of us on the boat and the fishing was pretty slow.  I caught 5 fish (only 2 keepers), Brodie got 6-7 (1 keeper) and Jake got 2-3 (no keepers).  It was enough to feed us for the evening but a bit disappointing since the last time I was here I got about 15 fish.  We did the fish on the BBQ and they tasted great, we also had some salad and garlic bread to go with it.  I chilled for most of the evening and found a new book to read, another Girsham novel.  THe nights have been entertaining with the sleep talker in the room.  He has now started to kick the wall and bed and last night he was spitting at the wall.  He even got up at one point and called out for Charles and then went back into bed and kicked for a while again.  We talked with him about it and he does not remember a thing.  He told us that it started a few weeks ago when he was working on a Mango farm and has not stopped.  He apologized to us and I really do feel sorry for him cause I think he is a bit embarrassed about it.

The last few days have been spent chatting with friends and family on the internet about Australia and my new adventure coming up in South East Asia.  I did another walk around Darwin to check out the sites again and just took it easy.  I have continued to do research on SEA and feel very prepared to go.  I would have to say that I am excited but also a bit nervous as well.  You all know that i do not really travel with a plan and I am continuing with that but i have figured out at least a possible route for the first bit.   I fly into Dili and will spend some time around there and talk with the hostel and tour people on what there is to see.  From there i am thinking of busing it toKupang in West Timor which is part of Indonesia.  I want to stop in Lombok, Gili Islands, Borneo, Bali and Jakarta in Indonesia before going to Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.  I have no idea how long this is going to take but I would imagine 6-9 months at least.  I have talked with a few friends that might meet me along the way and that would be great and i am sure I will meet new friends as well.

After just over 7 months in Australia it feels a little strange to leave.  I know that I am ready to go but it has been such a great country with spectacular sights and so many great people.  I would like to thank all the friends that I met along the way in Oz for a fabulous time.  I traveled with so many different people in Oz and saw so many different places.  To think that I put on about 25,000 kms in the past 7 months and have been almost everywhere in Australia, some places even twice and Melbourne 3 times. It was definitely MEJ!!!!  Thanks to all!!!

Now on to my next adventure in South East Asia!!!

We will talk to you all soon,

Steve

Huge Moab tree outside of Kununarra

Ord River damn near Kununarra

Lake Argyle

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West Coast Australia – Perth to Broome

November 7th, 2009

Hello all,

Well it has been 2 weeks since my last blog and I have gone about 2500kms up the west coast of Australia.  I traveled with Saskia and Colin for the whole trip and today both are leaving to head back for Perth as I make plans to continue north.

Our trip started on October 24th when Colin picked us up at the hostel with his van that his nephew had named Philmore.  We drove to Numberg National Park and what they call the Pinnacles Desert.  It reminded me of the termite mounds that I saw in Litchfield but the Pinnacles are Limestone rock formations and not made by termites.  The area is quite vast with many formations but it is also very touristy and had lots of people around.  From the Pinnacles we went to Kangaroo Point in hopes of seeing some kangaroos on the beach but there were none there.  It was a very nice beach and we just hung out for a while.  We then made our way to Lake Thetis which is known for Statolamites, which are like live rocks.  It did not look like much but we saw it anyway.  It was time to make it to a hostel for the night and we went to Cervantes Lodge where we cooked some supper and then taught Colin how to play Bohnanza.  Good thing I got this game from Felix as I seem to be playing it all the time and having lots of fun with it.

The next day we were on the road at 10am and stopped at 2 lookouts (Molar Hill and Grigson) that gave a great look of the area.  We drove on and stopped at a town called Geraldton.  We stopped to pick up some groceries and a look at their famous St. Francis Xavier Cathederal.  We then drove on to Kalbarri for the night.  We did a BBQ for supper and then chilled out from a long drive that day.  We woke up to a big rain storm in the morning and not sure what to do.  We waited the rain out in the morning and then headed out to see some of the sites along the coast.  Our first stop was the Natural Bridge and Island Rock.  It was an awesome place to listen to the ocean and spot whales.  We saw at least 6 or seven while at this spot alone and many more the rest of the day.  We then did a 3.4km hike along the coast to Shell House Grandstand which was another lookout and along the way we saw lots of kangaroos.  We then went to Rainbow Valley and did the walk to Mushroom Rock which is a big rock the looks like a (I bet your thinking mushroom) well you are right.  It actually was not that impressive but the whole coast is very impressive.  Our final stop for the day was at Red Bluff and the views were amazing.  We were very lucks as a pod of whales came by when we were there and a baby was breaching and a couple others were doing a bunch of tail slaps.  The whales were about 200 meters out but the slaps were very loud and could be easily heard. We were the only ones there and once some others showed up the whales were leaving, what great timing we had.  Very MEJ!!!  It was back to our hostel in Kalbarri for the night and time to chill out.  It is a little quiet right now as it is the start of the slow season to go north and not that many people are around.  There is one tour group that has ended the same places we have been and they are paying $2500 for 10 days to get to Broome.  It is costing each of us about $50 per day instead of being on a bus and rushing thru everything.  The next morning we made our way to Kalbarri National Park and it was time for some hiking. We started with the loop walk and to Natures Window.  It is the first part of an 8km hike along the gorge.  It was a really good hike and very warm.  The weather is getting a lot warmer as we move north and we made sure we had lots of water for the hike and used it all.  After a quick lunch we drove to another hike called the Z Bend Gorge and a 2.6km hike straight down the gorge through rock formations.  It was almost like caving except above ground.  We were told that at the bottom are great pools to go for a swim but all we could find were pools that were knee high.  When we got back to the top I went to the lookout as well and got a great view of the actual Z bend. It reminded me a bit of Kings Canyon but just not as spectacular.  It was nice to get in some exercise and we were all very tired at the end of the day.  Back to Kalbarri for the night, supper and time to chill out.  An Australian guy came with us on the hike and asked if he could join us for the next few days until we got to Exmouth where he grew up.  We all agreed that it saved us gas money and invited him along.

The next morning we left Kalbarri at 10am and headed to the Hamelin Pools where we found more Statolamites and these ones were much more impressive.  This was also an old telegraph station but it looked like most of the stuff was closed for the season and we could not get into any of the buildings.  We made our way up the highway and stopped at Shell Beach. The beach was really cool and made up of very tiny shells.  The water was a very clear blue and a great place to relax for a while and take a break from driving.  Colin and Saskia ended up in a water fight where they both ended up in the water.  After they changed clothes we made our way to Denham to pick up some groceries and then out to Monkey Mia.  On our drive there was a big group of Emus on the road and a few lizards in another spot.  We chilled out with a few drinks with some of the people we had met through the first few days and keep on running into.  There are not many choices along the west coast so you end up seeing the same people all the time.  Monkey Mia is known for one thing and that is Dolphins.  The dolphins come right up to the beach every morning for a small feed and a little interaction with humans.  They used to feed them a lot and touch them but all this stopped in the early 70’s as they found out what they were doing is harming them.  Now they only feed them a few fish and no touching is aloud.  They allow you to walk into the water to about knee high and the dolphins swim right in front of you.  It was really cool to see them that close.  I was not picked to feed them but I don’t think I would have anyway.  After the dolphins Saskia and I went on a 1.5km very boring nature hike.  The cool thing about the hike was that you could the difference between the red sand inland and the white sand on the beach.  There was a stop to look at all the different birds but there were none around, but we did see another emu and a lizard.  We met up with the others on the beach and just sat in the sun for a while.  In the afternoon our plan was to drive 3 hours to Carnarvon with a stop at Eagle bluff where we could see sharks swimming in the water below.  Carnarvon was supposed to be a bigger town and a few more things to do.  We got into town and there was a big 4wd event going on and all the hostel beds were booked and the caravan parks were full.  We then decided to go all the way to Coral Bay which meant driving some in the dark.  We all kept our eyes on the road and it was a good thing because there were lots of kangaroos and cows on the road.  We had to drive slower and this meant that we did not get there until almost 8pm.  We got booked into a hostel and then went out for some food because no one felt like cooking.  I was not feeling that well but still hung out with the group for the evening and played some pool and table tennis with Colin.  I had a really good sleep that night and woke up recharged and ready to take on the day.  Coral Bay is the gateway to the Ningaloo Reef.  Many say that this reef is better than the Great Barrier Reef on the East Coast but the part I saw I would not agree with that comment.  The reef was really cool and was all hard coral.  There is no soft coral on this reef and not that much color.  The reef formations were a lot bigger than at Great Barrier and you barely had to leave the beach to see it.  Colin and I rented snorkeling gear and went for a swim, I got a noodle to help me float as you all know I cannot swim that well.  It was lots of fun and we stayed out for almost an hour and saw a big turtle and tons of different fish. We sat on the beach for a while and then went back to the hostel for some lunch.  We chilled out for the afternoon and evening and met a few of the other backpackers (Antje from Germany, Emily from the UK and Ashley from Alaska) and had some drinks with them. It was Friday night so we decided to check out the local bar but it was closed when we got there.  A few hung out at the beach for a while and others like me went back to the hostel and hung there.  The morning was spent at the beach with some tanning and water volleyball with our new friends.  My tan is looking great again but I am watching very closely not to get burnt with all the sun that is here.  Every day is around 30 degrees right now and it will only get warmer.  In the afternoon we took the short drive to Exmouth and found a bigger grocery store and got some food and an ATM for some money.  The evening was spent chilling and playing Bohnanza again.

In the morning we were on our way to Cape Range National Park.  We drove right to the end of the park and Yardie Creek.  Here we hiked 1.3km along the gorge which looked like some splashed white paint all over the place.  Most of the other gorges and rocks I have seen have been in layers but this was different and cool to see.  The gorge itself was not that big and we were only allowed to hike certain parts and that is why it was such a short walk.  From Yardie Creek we went to Turquoise Bay.  This is a very touristy spot and the beach was filled with lots of people.  It is also another place to see Ningaloo reef but there are lots of warnings about the under currents and not good for average swimmers.  I stayed out of the water here but Colin went for a swim and said that it looked the same as Coral Bay.  On our way back to the hostel in Exmouth we stopped at Viamingh Lighthouse and lookout.  There were only a few people when we got there and luckily a few whales also were there.  After about 15 minutes 3 big tour busses showed up and we made a hasty exit.  In the evening we got a little laundry done and relaxed.  There was an awesome full moon in the sky and we went on a walk across the street to the park that was full of kangaroos.  We watched them for a while and looked at the moon and stars then headed back for bed.

We were up and on the road at 9am this morning with just Saskia and Colin.  Todd found Exouth very different than the last time he was there and asked to come along with us but the 3 of us agreed that we would rather move on with just the 3 of us.  Today was all about driving as we were headed inland off the coast.  It took 7hours to get to the town of Tom Price with a few stops for lunch, gas and bathroom breaks.  There were not many cars on the road but we did have to stop for a very long train. We got some supplies for the next few days as we were headed into Karijini National Park and there is nothing for supplies there.  We stayed in a caravan park for the night but did not camp because we could see some rain clouds coming in.  The backpacker part was more like Atco trailers with beds but it was nicer on the inside than the outside and the showers were very nice. We had timed everything very well because once we got settled the rain started and it did not stop until sometime through the night.  There was some amazing lighting to see and loud thunder to go with it.  In the morning we were on our way at 9am and I was surprised to see no real evidence of all the rain.  The country is so dry that the ground sucks it up so fast and it so warm the rest evaporates pretty quickly.  We drove to the Karijini National Park info center and looked at the Aboriginal display they had.  From there we made our way to the Dales Campground and got a site.  It was very hot already and we packed lots of water for the hike we were going on.  We hiked along the Dales Gorge and then down to the Circular Pool.  The hike was really cool, over and under rock formations and ended with a little tropical forest.  When we got to the pool we went for a short swim that had a waterfall along one side of the gorge.  From there we walked along the bottom of the gorge to Fortesue Falls with one wrong turn and ended up having to cross the river to get back on track.  After some pictures of the falls we continued on to Fern Pool and another swim.  There were a lot more people here and we only stayed for a little while and hiked back to the campsite.  We set up camp and made supper early so that we could see what we were cooking.  There is not lights out here and we only had 2 flashlights with us.  Once it got dark there really was not much to do.  Once the moon showed up it was picture time.  The moon was still very full and I spent the next hour or so taking pictures and deleting them.  I played around with the different functions on the camera and ended up taking some really nice photos.  It was still a fairly early night with nothing to do but that was okay.  With going to bed early that meant getting up early and I was up by 7am.  I had my breakfast and got the van organized and then the others got up and we were on the road at 9am.  We had a 3 hour drive to Port Hedland and our expected stop for the night.  Port Hedland is a mining town and as we found out that is all that is there.  Everything in the town is red from the ground to the houses and everything else.  Our first stop was the Information center because we could not find the hostel.  We were informed that the hostel was destroyed by the last cyclone and never rebuilt.  The cheapest place to stay was a motel at $90 a night or a caravan park at $40 for 2 people.  We decided to get back on the road and find somewhere else to stay.  Colin drove for 1 ½ hours and then I took over for the last hour and made it to 80 Mile Beach for the evening.  We set up camp again and made some supper.  While roaming around the park we found out that this area is famous for turtles coming up the beach to hatch their babies.  That night we went to the beach and saw a few turtles.  The first 2 we saw we already at the sand bank up the beach and digging holes for the eggs.  We watched for a while and then one of them was finished and went from the bank back to the ocean.  It was really cool to watch but very difficult to get a photo.  While we were waiting for the other one I took some more pics of the moon and they also turned out great.  Still waiting for the other to finish and we see another turtle coming from the ocean and up the beach.  We watched it all the way up and then decided we had seen enough.  Earlier in the day we were disappointed with Port Hedland but were so glad that we did what we did and found 80 Mile Beach.  Strange how things seem to work out for me, I know it was meant to be, no coincidences!!!  I was up early again and had my breakfast and got all my stuff together.  It was very warm in the morning and I think the low was about 25 degrees.  The caravan park had a tv and computer lounge so I went there and thought I would start writing this blog.  I was the only one there and turned on the tv and watched part of the morning news.  I had found out that the high for the day before was 42 but up in Broome where we were headed it was only 35.  We left 80 mile beach at 9am and drove straight through to Broome.  We got checked into the hostel and chilled for a little while and then I headed to MacDonalds for some free internet time where I caught up with a few people.  We chilled out for the evening with a few drinks and met some new people.  That night a huge storm blew in and I was awaked by the loudest thunder I have ever heard.  I think it woke up the whole hostel because a lot of people got up to watch the lightening and listen to the rain and thunder.  From my bed I could see out the window and watched from there.  It was amazing to listen to the lightening was crazy.  It was very close to us and made a lot of noise.  Friday was all about getting updated on the internet.  I was able to chat with my sister Cathy and then a few other friends.  It was nice to get caught up with everyone and see what is going on.  I also was able to download all my pics on Facebook for everyone to see.  I also made it to the grocery store and got a few other things done.  Today I said goodbye to Colin early in the morning as he started his trek back to Perth and then later on to Saskia who decided to fly back.  I am looking to get a ride to Darwin in the next few days but so far no luck.  I thought I might have one that leaves on Monday but there is no room for me so I will continue to wait.  If I can’t find a ride in the next few days I might just go fishing!!!  I can also take a bus for about $200 to Darwin or fly next Friday for about the same price.  I guess we will see what happens.  I really want to drive it though and see the area they call the Kimberley’s.  Once I get to Darwin my plan is to head straight for South East Asia.  I am still deciding where to start but right now it looks like it might be the city of Dili in East Timor.  I will update everyone before I do head into South East Asia.

I have been surprised by how isolated the west coast is and the lack of services in the area.  I knew that there was a lot less here than on the east coast but I did expect a little more.  With that said the scenery here has been amazing.  I think a lot of people come here because it is isolated and not as many tourists.

I hope all take care at home and hope to see as many of you on Skype or Facebook as possible.

Steve

PS: Birthdays wishes to give, my cousin Dale had a birthday on the 6th on November (not sure I have ever wished him a happy birthday so it is about time!!!) and I think he is the only one at this time.  Lots of friends birthdays but I can never remember them all and will get those done on Facebook.

Me at the Pinnacles Desert

Me holding the Kalbarri National Park up, damn I am strong!!!

Me sitting at Natures Window along the Esat Coast

Steve, Saskia and Colin at Red Bluff on the Weat Coast

Dolphins at Monkey Mia

Me on the beach at Monkey Mia

Snorkeling the Nignaloo Reef at Coral Bay

Yardie Creek Gorge in Cape Range national Park near Exmouth

Circular Pool in Dales Gorge at Karijini National Park

Fortuscue Falls at Dales Gorge in Karijini National Park

Me on 80 Mile Beach with full moon

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Perth and South West Australia

October 22nd, 2009

Hello all,

Well after some chilling out time on Melbourne I have finally moved on and I am now in Perth.  Before I left Melbourne I met up with Madleen who I met at Fraser Island.  We spent an afternoon and evening together catching up and seeing more of the St. Kilda area.  After getting back to the hostel a group of people were going out to the bar and wanted me to come along to celebrate 1 year on the road.  We ended up partying until the early morning with some of the hostel staff and had a great time.  It was a great way to end my time in Melbourne.

On October 11th I flew out of Melbourne to Perth, on the West Coast.  My flight was at 6am so I was up before 4am and had to take a taxi that cost $80.  I got into Perth at 7:45am with a 3 hour time change.  I went straight to the hostel I was told about from a few other backpackers called The Witch’s Hat.  I could not check in yet so I left my stuff and went for a walk.  It was cold in Melbourne when I left and it was rainy and cold in Perth when I arrived.  I was so looking for some warmer weather.  I think it was right around the same time that the weather turned for the worse in Alberta and got really cold.  I can’t imagine how cold it is there and to have snow already!!!   I took it really easy for the day, mostly because I was tired from getting up so early.

On Monday the weather changed here as well, but for the better and it has been around 25 every day and really nice.   Monday morning was a great morning; I got to talk with my whole family on Skype.  Everyone was together celebrating Thanksgiving.  I got to talk to all of them and catch up with all the things going on.  The best part was seeing all their faces especially my newest nephew, Nicholas.  He is going so quickly!!!  Everyone is doing well; I enjoyed the call so much.  The rest of the day was spent roaming around the city checking out some of the sites and going to other hostels to see if anyone was looking for a ride up north.

Tuesday was a pretty chilled day as well.  I went back into the CBD and found a really cool Aboriginal shop and talked to the guy running the place for a while.  I spent most of the rest of the day relaxing.  I was beginning to worry if I was going to find anyone to travel with but as you all know everything just seems to always work out.  Later that evening 2 separate girls showed up at the hostel straight from Europe and were looking for some things to do.  We chatted that night and made some plans to tour around together the next day.  Saskia is from Germany and Satu is from Finland.  We got up in the morning and walked to Kings Park.  Kings Park is a huge park that contains the Botanical Gardens and other open areas. It is really nice and we walked around for about 6 hours and almost the whole park.  Everyone was pretty tired from the walk and the evening was pretty chilled and I checked out some stuff on the internet.

Thursday was another chill day besides prepping to head on a road trip south of Perth.  Saskia, Satu and I decided to rent a car and head south for a few days and see what we can find.  We also went shopping at some discount stores and I found some cheap short pants as the ones I started with are wearing out.  The girls came back with a few more things than me but we had a good day.  In the evening I taught them how to play Bonanza and we played a few games before heading to bed fairly early.

On Friday, the 16th of October the 3 of us headed out of Perth going south.  Like always we had no real plan but to see what we come across along the way.  Most travelers go along the coast and then back up the middle but I thought it would be better to get the long drive all the way south first instead of leaving it for the last day.  We drove for a few hours until we found our first stop at Kojonup.  Here we stopped for lunch and then walked through a rose maze.  The maze did not have that many roses because spring is just starting but it was a pretty cool place. The maze including 3 womens stories about their lives in the area.  One was from an Aboriginal, another from an English women and the last from an Italian women.  The stories were all very different but I found the Aboriginal one the most interesting.  From here we went to a lookout at the top of Mount Barker for some great views of the area.  After about 5 hours of driving we made it to Albany, our final destination for the day.  We got checked into a hostel and then hopped back in the car to check out a few of the sites in town.  We went to Mt. Clarence which was more like a hill than a mountain and the memorial lookout at the top.  We then made our way to Middleton Beach where we thought it might be nice just to relax for a while.  It was windy and pretty cold at the beach so we did not stay that long.  We then went back to the hostel for some supper and relaxing.  We had met 2 guys along the way and they ended up at the hostel as well.  The group of us chatted for most of the evening and played more bonanza.

We got up early on Saturday and went to the outer coastal part of Albany and a place called The Gap.  These are rock formations along the coast and it is truly amazing.  Pictures will never do an area like this justice but my pics turned out pretty good.  A little further down is the Natural Bridge and then the Blowholes.  We stayed in the area for about an hour taking it all in, as the waves crashed up to the shore and all the birds flew around.  We then continued across the bottom part of the south to a town called Denmark where Satu wanted a picture with a sign even though she is from Finland.  Just outside of Denmark is the Valley of the Giants, where a huge forest is and a tree top walk.  You get to walk amongst the tops of all these huge trees and see what it is like at the bottom and top of them.  It was a little touristy but not too many people were around.  We ended up meeting the 2 guys from the night before there again.  We hung around there and had our lunch sitting in the sun and relaxing.  We then continued to a National Park called Point D’Entrecasteaux and hung around to do some whale watching.  Unfortunately we did not see any whales but the views were fabulous.  On our way back to the car I experienced one of the dumbest moments in my life.  We were walking along the path and came across a snake.  Not just any snake a Brown snake, which is one of the most venomous snakes in the world.  We stayed back and just looked at it for about 5 minutes and took a couple pictures.  Instead of continuing to wait and let him get off the path I decided that I might be able to walk past it on the other side of the path.  How stupid id this you ask, well very stupid.  I walked very slowly and when I was about even with it, it reared up and started coming towards me.  I screamed like a 3 year old and jumped and ran.  These snakes are way faster than me and if it wanted to bite me it would have been very easy for it.  I was very lucky as it decided not to and went into the bushes instead.  After I could not believe what I did but I guess it all ended all right.   Our next stop was a place called the Bi-centennial Tree.  It claims to be the highest tree climb in the world and wow is it ever high.  It is free to climb and I made it about half way up before starting to get freaked out a bit. There are no safety nets and it is just re-bar stuck into the tree to take you up.  Not very safe but I thought that it would be pretty easy until I got going and once you are up a ways things change.  I was happy to make it as far as I did.   It was starting to get late and I wanted to get on the road and make it to our destination (Margaret River).  It was a very tough drive because it was straight into the sunset and the area is known for lots of kangaroos.  We made it to Margaret River just before dark and checked into a backpackers.  Once at the hostel I had a rum, which I needed and relaxed for the evening.

Day 3 of the trip began with a drive out to Prevelly Park and a famous surf beach in the area.  There were lots of surfers on the water and we watched for a while but the water was really cold and so we stayed out.  We then drove on what they call Caves Road through the wine region and made a couple stops at some of the wineries.  There is nothing better than tasting wine at 11am, which I didn’t get to try much since I was driving.  After the tastings we went to the Ngilgi Caves and toured around the caves.  It was really cool and we ended up about 40 meters below ground walking through a natural cave.  It was not a good as the Waitomo Caves in New Zealand because it was all set up so any tourist can walk through it.  They were still really cool but no abseiling or tubing here.  We then made our way to Yalgorup National Park and Preston Beach.  We hung out on the beach for about 1½ hours getting some sun and relaxing.  It was pretty windy but we made the best of it.  The water was cold here as well and Saskia was the only one to go in. From there we drove to Freemantle for the night.  The hostel was right downtown and they offered free internet.  We got in pretty late and all the grocery stores were closed. We ended up going out for pizza and there are tons of Italian restaurants here.  Actually it is a huge Italian area and they just finished having a big street party that day.  At around 8pm a bug fireworks display happened and lasted for about 20 minutes.  We used the free internet for a while and then Saskia and I played backgammon.

In the morning we toured around Freemantle.  We found another cool aboriginal store with some great stuff.  We then went to the Freemantle Prison.  This is a maximum security prison that was opened in the 1850’s and closed in 1991, 3 years after a riot.  The tour took us through all parts of the prison and lots of crazy stories.  None of the cells had toilets, they were only given a bucket and that was still the way in 1991.  After the prison we walked along the port and saw the Maritime Museum and other port highlights.  We had lunch there and then drove back to Perth.  It was only about an hour back to Perth and we checked into the Witch’s hat again.  Lots of the same people are still here and they were all interested to hear about how our trip went.

Tuesday was a chill out day.  I had to return the car for 8am and then got ready for the day.  I walked into the CBD to check out a few things and get some groceries but basically I was just wasting time for the day.  Saskia and I are trying to find some others to go north with and so a few emails and texts were sent after looking up some people on the internet. I planned out a day to Rottnest Island and started to work on this blog but did not get very far.  Later I taught Jen and Nathan (hostel  workers) how to play Bonanza.  I love playing this game!!!  We also got a call from a Scottish guy that is looking to go north and we are going to meet up with him on Thursday.

On Wednesday I was gone from the hostel by 8am and on my way to Rottnest Island.  It was named that because the first explorer here mistook the Quokkas for big rats.  The ferry to the island went down the Mary River to Freemantle then out on the ocean to the island.  The ferry ride down the river was interesting and they showed us 2 multi million dollars homes, one that had a boat launch and dock inside the house.  A garage door opened and then you could drive your boat right into the house; some people have way to much money!!!  Once on the island most people bike around the island because it is not very big and you can easily get around it in a day.  Well I am not most people and I decided to hike it.  I had an incredible day walking along beaches, paths and rocky out croppings.  I stopped at a really cool area to have lunch, I thought I would just sit on the rocks but they just kept going out and ended up leading to a little beach that I had all to myself.  Listening to the waves and these little birds that I wasn’t sure what they were but something like a finch.  As I walking back to the main path I saw a Quokka, it was so cool.  Please don’t laugh at the next thing that went through my mind but here it is: One for all the hockey fans; If you remember back a few years and think about Ken Linesman or Theo Fluery, well they were pests on the ice and were aptly named rats.  I am not sure who is the current rat in the NHL, probably someone on the Oilers, but I think they should be given the nickname Quokka instead of Rat.  I am not sure how many of you are the MEJ but I guess this is another one you guys can use.  I hiked all the way around the island coast and had some many amazing views.  There are no personal vehicles allowed on the island and the only autos on the island were work vehicles and busses.  I think the one bus driver waved to me about 6 different times and every time he had a bigger smile on his face.  The total hike was somewhere between 20-22 kms.  I got back to the hostel at around6:30 and made some supper and chilled for the evening.  It is now Thursday and I slept in this morning and I thought my legs would be pretty sore but everything is good.  We met with the Scottish guy this morning and saw his van and have agreed to travel north with him.  We are going to leave on Saturday and go all the way to Broome.  From there I will have to find another ride to Darwin as he and Saskia will be coming back to Perth.  The rest of the day was spent writing the blog and chilling out.  I will spend Friday getting everything I will need for the trip which is not much and getting ready to go.

It is going to be so much fun heading north and I am looking forward to it.  Right now it is anywhere between 30-35 where we are going and high humidity, just the way I likeit!!!

Take care all!!!

Steve

PS: A few events to catch up on!!! Uncle Louis and Aunt Lovina had an anniversary on the 11th of October, you guys are awesome and I thank you for the comments on the blog.  Mt brother in law Darryl has a birthday coming up on the 25th, damn he is getting old!!! And I am sure there will be some trouble on the 31st because it is Kirby’s birthday, have fun girl!!!

London Court in the Perth CBD

Perth CBD from the Botanical Gardens

The Gap outside of Albany

Brown Snake that almost bit me

Ngilgi Cave

Beach Pic

Freemantle Jail

Maritime Museum in Freemantle

Ocean view from Rottnest Island

Quokka at Rottnest IslandRock outcropping where I had lunch at Rottnest

Pier on Norht part of Rottnest Island

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Year 1 Review – Steve’s Top 10 List

October 6th, 2009

Hello all,

Can you believe that I have been on the road for 1 year?  Wow, sometimes it feels like I just left.  October 7th 2008 and I changed my life forever.  It has been a great adventure for me and I have learnt so many things, saw so many places and met some fantastic people.  I did not want to just recap the year in the same type of blog that I have been doing for the past year so I decided to take an idea from David Letterman and do my Top 10 list from year number 1.  This was really difficult to do because there have been so many things I have done so It ended up being a bit vague but you will get the idea of what has impressed me along the way.  I have also not added any pictures as they would be the same as you have already seen.  So here goes:

Number 10:  The Wildlife

Yes, all these animals that you do not see in Canada have impressed enough to make it onto my top ten list.  I think back to Fiji and all the enormous spiders that were around and going into the ocean and swimming with amazing fish and white tipped reef sharks.  Then I got to New Zealand and swam with dolphins, saw whales and ate crayfish.  All the birds, including the huge Albatross along with Kiwis, Tuis, cuckatoos and bats.  Moving on to Australia and some amazing animals.  Crocodiles, snakes, lizards, kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, parrots, kookaburras, stingrays, sharks, turtles, Tasmanian devils, echidnas, wombats, emus, quoll & penguins.  The really cool part of this is that I saw all these animals in the wild, not in a zoo.  I know I am missing some on the list but I can’t remember them all but it is a lot different than seeing the deer, elk, bears that you see near Calgary.

Number 9: Fishing

I grew up fishing with my Grandpa and Dad, actually it was the whole family and I have always loved doing it.  One of my goals early on was to fish in every country I go to and that has happened so far.  Actually I have fished quite a bit and caught all kinds of different fish.  It started early in Fiji at Bounty Island where I caught a long tom some perch and a poisonous stonefish.  I also went deep sea fishing in Fiji but struck out.  My favorite spot for fishing was outside of the Te Papa Museum in Wellington.  Ernst, Alain and myself hand lined fished here and caught our supper along with some mussels.  Fishing at Stewart Island for Blue Cod and Kaikoura for crayfish was also awesome.  When I got into Australia, the fun just continued in St. Kilda.  Barramundi fishing in Darwin was great and then on my own at Mission Beach and Agnes Water/1770.  Once I got to Brisbane I got to fish with Russell that I met in Vanuatu and finally I fished with Felix at Fraser Island.  For all the times I went out I caught tons of fish and had some great fish fries.  I have learnt some new techniques like beach fishing and new ways to tie lines.  By the time I get home and go fishing with Lee, Roger and Paul I might be able to show them a few things they have never seen.

Number 8: Vanuatu

If you remember back from my blogs at the time I was not that happy with Vanuatu and so some may be surprised that it made my top ten list.  Well after thinking back and all the crazy things that I did there I can’t imagine it not on the list.  The start of the trip was not that good but once I decided to go island hopping and take in some of their culture everything changed.  Nowhere else in the world am I going to find a place that I can stand at the top of an active volcano and watch it shot lave way above my head.  It was amazing how close we were able to be and probably very crazy.  Not only that but to see land diving in Pentecost Island was even crazier.  Who in their right mind would jump 3 stories off at bamboo structure with vines ties to their feet with the plan to hit the ground and try not to kill themselves.  The cave tour in Santo that I got the Dora Explorer float tube comes to mind as well and hiking for 2 days around another active volcano and not been able to reach the top because of bad weather.  I have not singled out any other countries but Vanuatu, it was not my favorite place but it was an amazing adventure that not a lot of people will ever do.  I think that is why it made the list.

Number 7: Hiking

Oh my god, how much weight have I lost because of hiking.  I have done some amazing hikes and ones that I never thought I would be capable of.  As with everything on this trip it all started in Fiji.  This time it was at Kuata and a big mountain hike.  While I was on the Fiji Experience tour we climbed the Namasi Highlands and another hike I will talk about later.  Once I got into New Zealand I had the bug for hiking and was really enjoying it.  NZ is where the best hike I have ever done is, the Tongariro Crossing.  This is a hike that everyone should get a chance to do, absolutely spectacular.  I also did great hikes at Franz Josep Glacier, Mt. Luxmore near Milford Sound with Jolein and A big hike near Raglan.  I think this was all just the start for the amount of hikes I would do in Australia. The list here is long and includes hikes from every state.  It started at Coles Bay in Tasmania (one of the most scenic places I have ever seen) and numerous hikes on the west coast with Meghan.  The Grampians in Victoria were fantastic and included Wilepena Pound and Mt. Remarkable.  The 27 kms of hiking at Uluru, Kata Juta and Kings Canyon were so good that I did them twice and one time it was in flip flops, how crazy is that!!!  Along the east coast I travelled back and forth between the hinterlands and the oceans and found great hikes in both places.  Along the hinterlands were the Glass House Mtns, Blue Mtns and the Sunshine Coast hinterland.  Along the ocean was Magnetic Island (great Koalas here), the coastal walk in Noosa , the coastal walk at Bondi Beach and Ben Boyd National Park.  I know I have not listed all the hikes I have been on but there is only so much space for this blog and you would all get bored of reading it.

Number 6: Adventure

I know this one is pretty vague but I found it hard to break any one adventure out from the rest.  If I had to them the number one adventure that I did would be Skydiving.  All of those on facebook I am sure have seen the video and it was an amazing thrill.  I was not the only cool adventure I have had though.  As most of you know, water is usually not my friend but with the amount of it around I have had to get used to it and I think I have done really well.  Snorkeling in Fiji and especially Bounty Island was a highlight.  I have never seen so many colors and fish before.  The Great Barrier Reef was also amazing but the best was touching a black tip reef shark while snorkeling at Kuata!!!   Still in the water, abseiling down a 100 meter waterfall and then caving at the bottom during our tour at the Waitomo Caves was brilliant.  I had so much fun I went a 2nd time with Philly but this time I tubed through the caves and it was fun as well.  Do you all remember my sailing trip on New Years Eve?  I still laugh at myself thinking back how I lost my sunglasses, hat and broke my flip flops.  I was so mad at myself at the time, I must have looked so funny, no wonder Olive and Karen could not stop laughing.  Flying in an Ultra light above Abel Tasman was so cool and then to actually fly a plane myself in Kiakoura is (I am running out of adjectives to use) sweet.  Kaikoura was such a great place with flying and fishing but this is also where I got to swim with about 200 Dusky Dolphins.  I was so scared to start with but got over my fear and I still can’t believe I was looking eye to eye with these fabulous creatures.  Find me a steep hill made sand and what am I going to do?  Well sandboard down the hill of course!!!  I have now done this 3 times, once in Fiji (Sigutoka Sand Dunes), once in NZ (90 Mile Beach)and once in Oz (Fraser Island).  On the lighter side of things I have got in a few golf games in every country and had a wicked night canoe trip in the Atherton Tablelands where I saw the best wildlife.  One of the coolest moments and I am not sure it belongs under the adventure category but it is going here anyway was being one of the first to see the sun rise in the world on February 16th at Gisbourne.  Sitting on the beach that morning and seeing all the colors was spectacular.

Number 5: Culture

One of my goals when I left Canada was to see many different cultures and see how other people really live.  Well I have definitely changed my views since I started this trip and learnt a lot about myself and others.  When I started in Fiji I was pretty amazed at the culture shows with the Fijian dance and the fire shows.  Going to the villages and seeing how poor they were and getting to participate in a Kava ceremony.  It was all changed when I went to Voro Voro and spent 5 weeks to learn the true culture and I am going to save the rest of this story for later.  Going to New Zealand and seeing the Mauri culture was another eye opener.  The Mauris’ are closer to the native Indian culture that I am used to in Canada.  The main difference is that the Mauris have been able to keep a lot of their land and customs.  They make up about 30% of the population so they still have lots of say in what happens.  I started to learn their customs by participating in welcoming ceremonies and watching other ceremonies.  When I was with the Stray tour we alos got to learn and perform the Haka.  They take their Haka very seriously and I think when we did it they we really surprised how good we were.  I then spent 4 days at the National Kapa Haka Festival where I sat beside a Mauri family through the whole thing and was taught a lot of what was going on.  It was about 95% Mauri and 5 % white and they all made me feel welcome.  The performances I saw we outstanding and by the end I had a pretty good idea what to look for and understood what the performers were trying to say.  In Australia it was shocking to see how they are treating the aboriginals.  I first thought that the Mauris were like our Indians but now that I see the Aboriginies this is much closer to what we have in Canada.  200 some years ago the white man decided that the land belonged to them and they moved the aboriginals out and took over whatever they wanted.  Not much of a fair fight when the whites are using guns and the Aboriginals only have bow and arrows.  When alcohol was introduces it affected them just like our native Indians and now most think that they are just drunks.  For all of you back in Canada, does this sound familiar?  A guide told me a great story about the Aboriginals that seems to make sense to me:  He said that the aboriginals look lost and I agree with that.  How else are the supposed to look when they took an entire generation of them and moved them into white society and taught them white rules and then when they were finished no whites would hire them so they went back to their people but then they did not know the Aboriginal way either.  What do you do then?  You look lost!!!  I have definitely changed my idea of how these people should be treated and how we as white people should sometimes just leave things alone.  This does not mean that I think we should be giving them tons of money either, it just means that they should be able to learn their customs and live by their customs.  Okay enough on that!!!  There is another culture in Australia as well.  It is the aussies themselves.  They may speak English but just as we have slang so do they and a lot of it is really cool.  Anyone know what the following slang means: fair dinkum, crikey, yobbo, flat out like a lizard drinking, chuck a wobbly, barbie, tinnie, bloke.  Okay that is enough of them and you get the idea.  No, I am not going to tell what they mean, you just have to figure it out on your own.  I would like to hear from you what you think they mean.  The aussie culture is laid back and the closer you get to the outback the more of it you see.  A good example of this is bush tucker or food.  In the outback they eat whatever they can find which includes Witchite Grubs like I ate and Kangaroo and all sorts of other anamals.  In my stay I have had kangaroo, crocodile, emu, bat, and some assorted fruits and leaves and stuff like that.  Of course I did,I eat anything!!!

Number 4: The Sites

This is a huge category and should probably have been broken up into its own top ten but I just don’t have the time or space to do it.  The interesting part of most of these places is that they are they touristy spots and I did not spend that much time at them.  I have tended to like to go to the path less chosen but some you just cannot miss even if they are filled with tourists.  By the way, I do not consider myself a tourist but a traveler and yes there is a difference.  If you go to Fiji 95% of the people will go to the Yasawa Islands as I did and it was a great way to start my adventure.  Most of the rest of Fiji is unexplored unless you get off the beaten path and that is still to come.  In New Zealand there are so many things to see.  Many people say the south island is better than the north but I think both were great.  Auckland itself has a great harbor area and really nice Botanical Gardens.  90 mile beach heading north was fun to drive on and Cape Reinga at the very top is cool to see 2 oceans come together.  Anytime you can go to a beach and dig in the sand and make your own hot pool you know you are in a cool place and that happened at Hot Water Beach in the Coremandel.  Rotarura with its hot pools and unusual smells and one of my favorite places in NZ, Taupo.  I went to Taupo 4 times and it is where my favorite hostel is, Urban Retreat.  I got treated so well there and had an amazing Christmas there; Santa even showed up and gave us gifts!!!  Abel Tasman, Mt. Cook and Franz Josep along the west coast are spectacular sites.  Milford Sound was incredible and even better was a stop on the way called The Chasm, this place was heavenly.   Barrytown is off the beaten track but very memorable for the party we had and because this is where I made my carving the eventually ended up in Esthers’ hands.  Queenstown (Adventure capital of NZ) was crazy with parties every night and lot off tea pots to drink. I spent 10 days in Christchurch to watch the buskers festival and volunteer for the ALPG golf tourney.  Dunedin had Baldwin Street (the worlds steepest) and a ton of Albatross birds to see.  I have seen so many churches in all the countries and all were great but St. Stephen in Brisbane sticks out, I wonder why???   Now we get to Australia and of course the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge .It was cool to be in Sydney when the Naval exercises were going on, so many sips in the water.  Staying in the Kings Cross area was interesting as well, it is the only place I know that has a library beside a strip joint.  Tasmania was the most scenic place that I have seen on the whole trip and so many people do not go there.  The roads and the million turns on them I will never forget.  Melbourne has some great building and of course the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) where me and 75,000 others got to watch Aussie Rules Football.  The Great Ocean Road with the 12 apostles and everything else along the coast.  Coober Pedy and the underground accommodation. The amazing sites and drive through the middle of the country was remarkable.  Katherines Gorge, Uluru, Kata Juta, Kings Canyon: I needed to go to these places twice just to understand them and they are all incredible.  Darwin and its 30 degree weather in the winter was lovely.  Kakadu and Litchfield were tremendous for wildlife and scenery.  Most go to the east coast of OZ and I can understand why.  Sailing the Whitsundays and 4×4 through the sand at Fraser Island, these adventures are for everyone.  Cairns is beautiful and gets you up to Cape Tribulation.  Whale watching at Hervey Bay are just relaxing in the sand at Noosa or Byron Bay.  Brisbane was one of my favorite cities with great people and a lively atmosphere even if a certain jazz club was closed after a 2 hour walk!!!  The mountain drives and scenery on the east coast is awesome and staying at the Blue Mountains for my birthday was MEJ.  Yes, have not used MEJ yet but it wasn’t until the east coast till I heard this word and did not want to use it too early.  There is plenty more of it to come.  Everywhere I have been has been exciting and new and very rewarding.  My only hope is that all who read this get a chance to see these places as well.

Number 3: Voro Voro – Tribewanted

If someone asked if I had found paradise yet then this would be the closest that I have come.  It is not paradise because it has everything one would need but paradise because I think I found myself.  I felt great when I left for my adventure but of course I had a lot of questions inside wondering if I was doing the right thing leaving a great company friends, family and life.  Here is where I knew that I had made the right decision and that this was exactly where I was supposed to be and what I was supposed to be doing.  On the island you could do as much or as little as you wanted and of course I had my hands into lots of different things. We had Karma Duties and I think I did everyone of them except feed the pigs and chickens.  The 3 peaks challenge hike was very difficult but completely rewarding.  Our snorkeling trip was outstanding.  But once I really got into the true Fijian culture is when I learnt so much more.  I can’t believe that they let me help build a house; if this was at home I am sure it would have fallen over in a day or 2.  I got to weave coconut leaves to make a roof, weave bashed bamboo to make walls, bash mangrove to mush and the tear apart to make rope.  Getting to be a part of a true Sevu Sevu (welcoming) ceremony and being asked to be a Toana guard was very special.  I was invited to Tui Mali house for the weekend and went to a church service with him.  I remember the remarkable Fijians on the Island.  Tavita and his incredible story, Maura and his fishing ability, Leavi and his guitar playing, Pupu an amazing old gentleman that knew more than I could ever expect to know, Poasa the quiet man of the island, Save and his teachings and healing hands, Api and Jone our boat captains and their antics, Sosi and Tale always giving a helping hand and of course Va (my Fijian mom) always putting a great meal on our plates.  These amazing people live their lives every day like I got to for only 5 weeks, what lucky people!!!  I also learnt Fiji language and the Meke (Fijian Dance) which we performed whenever possible.  This was an amazing place and everyone there seemed to help everyone else no matter what their background was or what their story was.  This would not be paradise for everyone, actually probably very few but at the time I was there it was definitely that for me

Number 2: All my new Friends

I can honestly say that I never expected to meet this manly incredible people and make so many friends.  This is the main reason I can stay on the road and not completely miss everyone back home as these people become your family.  And I have a great one!!!  There are so many, so if you are reading this and not mentioned I am sorry but everyone I have met has been special in their own way but here are some that stand out:  My Irish friends from Bounty Island and Beachcomber: Christine, Caoham, Carol and Katie but she was from England.  You guys were the first friends I made and we had so much fun singing Irish songs till very early in the morning. Eve for the US, even though we did not see each other for very long you made a lasting impression and I still follow what you are doing on Facebook.  My 3 friends from the Czech Republic, Teresza, Lenka and Vera: we met at Kuata and became friends during the Fiji Experience, your Halloween costumes were amazing.  The rest of the Fiji experience crew especially Nicole, Jerry, Jen and Emily; you guys made it an adventure.  To all my friends from Voro Voro and this list is long: Sophie, the best chief ever, Ben you have a lot to tell the world, Jim the boss and head of the hammock society, Amy always a smile even when stung by a jellyfish, Dan worked so hard and did so little,  Ole and Jonas the Norwegian crazy boys, Mark I learnt lots from you, Andrew the poker champion that never won, Giovanni your pasta is incredible, Irina you are an amazing lady with the whole world in front of you, Paul you lucky bugger because Irina loves you, Gemma my little sister on the island and I am so glad that I got to spend Christmas with you, Laura the sister that I pick on, Philly our time in Fiji and NZ will always be remember for fun and frolic, Nieke we left the island together and met again in NZ and I bet we meet again sometime, John Cel,Michael and Danielle you 4 are truly amazing and I am so glad went time together in Fiji and NZ. To all of you I sent my love and thanks for a great experience on a beautiful island.  Now the New Zealand crew: Olive and Karen who taught what it really means to party, Iris the quiet girl who I enjoyed talking with, Liam the English traveler, Ernst and Alain who forever changed my image of people from the Netherlands and my fishing buddies, Jolein our week together was incredible you are the most mature 18 year old I have ever met, Corey you are the man!!! Zoe who knew such a little girl could party that much, Lena you were special and I learnt a lot about art, Dave and Joe I didn’t understand half of what you said but no one should drink that many Jagermeisters, Carlijn we got to spend time together in NZ and travelling through the middle of OZ you were so much fun. Look how lucky I am and I still have Australia to go. Australia was a little different because I travelled it in my own car and spent a lot longer with most of the friends I made here. Meghan (bugs) I was so lucky to meet you and have you with me for Tasmania and through the middle you made everything easy, Matt you put up with me for a month while trying to buy a vehicle I thank you for the bed to sleep in, Juliana, Lindsey and Olivia we made it through the worst drive I have ever done thank god I had you along to get through it all, John and the staff at Travellers Oasis the advice you gave and looking out for my car while in Vanuatu thanks is not enough, Kim we meet so many times along the east coast I think maybe you were stalking me but I guess not because you ended up with Tim, Tim you lucky dog and my favorite bartender, Sanna my Finnish friend you can always count on me for English lessons, Felix thanks for the Bonanza game I will play it everywhere I go,  Tobi you will always be the Simpsons guy, Susanna and Mona you were great to spend my birthday with you are both very sweet, Sabrina my little sister in Melbourne thanks for the help with the German.

Number 1: meeting Esther

I am sure that this is not a surprise to any of you.  Meeting and getting to know Esther has been the most incredible adventure in my life (MEJ).  I almost still can’t believe that I turned my car around at Byron Bay and went back to Fraser Island for a second time.  I met you on August 12th and we got to spend 24 wonderful days together.  I don’t know if I have the words to say how much you mean to me, the only thing I can come with is “the world”.  The day we said goodbye was one of the hardest days I have ever had and I can’t wait to see you again. There are no coincidences in life and I look forward to what happens next.  Your incredible smile and amazing eyes are seared into my mind forever.  We have talked or text every day since you left and I love getting your messages and I love sending my own. I could sit here and write another 10 pages but I think everyone knows how I feel.  I love you very much and we will see each other soon.

I have been asked many times over if I plan on coming home anytime soon and I can definitely say that I have no plans to do that.  The thing is I have no plan at all.  I have random thoughts of where to go but I have spent 1 year not making plans more than a few days in advance and I will continue with that.  I have many more adventures to find and many more friends to meet.  I thank everyone for following along in the first year and look forward to telling you about my continuing adventures.  I love the fact that I can talk with my family and friends on skype and facebook and if any of you want to chat with me that is the best way to get a hold of me.  Everyone can have a drink to my first year of travels; I know I am going to have a few to celebrate!!!

A special thanks goes out to my family for the support and understanding.  I love you all and miss you lots and think of you often.  Big hugs to you all!!!

To all my friends that I have been in contact with I thank you for being there and  listening to me.  I love hearing things from home and all the updates from your lives.

Take care everyone and thanks to a great year

My life is:   MEJ

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Sydney to Melbourne via Canberra

October 3rd, 2009

Hello all,

When I left you last I was still in Sydney and had all my forms completed to get my new passport.  All I had to do was drop them off and be on my way.  Well as most of you now when government is involved it is just not that easy.  I took my forms to the consulate the next day and they were all done properly but they would not accept my birth certificate.  I did not know a birth certificate can be invalid but it was my original and it means nothing at all.  So now I had to get a new birth certificate.  I got online with the Alberta government and filled in a form for them, they were really nice and understood my problem and processed it really fast.  I then had them send the new BC to my Aunt Audrey in Calgary.  My Aunt then had to take the BC to the passport office in Calgary and show it to them and then the passport office had to send a copy of it to Sydney.  The whole process took about 5 days to complete which was pretty quick since it was also over a weekend.  Thanks to Audrey for doing all the work on the Calgary end, I owe you!!!  I talked with the Sydney office and asked if I needed to stay in Sydney while this process was going on and they said that I should be able to continue on my travels.  I then made plans to go to Bondi Beach for the weekend and some fun and sun.  I went back to the hostel in the late afternoon after getting everything sorted and sat back and had a drink.  I made some supper while chatting with a few other backpackers and we all chatted for most of the evening.  We had the pleasure of having an American girl that was part of our chat and she had some interesting opinions.  She had been at the hostel the entire time I was there but I had not talked to her at this point.  I was talking with Tyler (dorm mate) and he said that she is very tiring to listen to.  Me being me decided to have some fun with her and so what ever her opinion was i took the opposite side and we had some interesting debates.  It didn’t really matter what the topic was she just was not used to someone challenging her opinions.  Tyler knew exactly what I was doing and laughed a ton.  She was getting very mad at me and all I would do was just smile and stick with my side, even if it did not make a lot of sense.  Tyler let a few of the others in on what I was doing and next thing you know it was everyone against the American.  We laughed a lot at her expense but everyone we all had fun with it.  Once she figured out what I was doing she just gave up and went to bed.  The group said that it was the best night they had since she had arrived.  We sat up and had drinks until about 1am, I took it easy and only had a couple but made more friends.

The next day I was up and checked out for 10am and then drove to Bondi Beach.  It is not very fat but I had to go through the center of the city so it ended up taking about 1 hour.  I checked into a place called “Beached at Bondi” which was above a bar close to the beach.  It had very small kitchen and no lounge room but the room was clean and fairly cheap.  I was in an 8 bed dorm and it was full of a bunch of friends from England, Scotland and Wales.  I expected this group to be a big party group but they were all pretty quiet and did not do much.  In the afternoon I walked to the beach and then went on what they call the Coastal Walk. The walk goes from Bondi to Coogee.  I am not sure how long the walk is but it took about 3 hours return.  I walked along the cliff side above the beach for most of the walk.  It was a fantastic walk with some great sites and a lot less people than at Bondi.  It even goes through the middle of a huge cemetery which was a bit freaky.  I got back to the hostel just before dark and sat back for a bit then went out for Pizza.  After supper I relaxed back at the hostel for the evening chatting with the dorm mates.

I slept in the next morning and then went to the beach.  I spent most of the day at the beach getting some sun, reading and walking.  It was a very relaxing day and I enjoyed every minute of it, sometimes you just have to waste a day away.  I headed back to the hostel in the late afternoon and listened to some music and tried playing my harmonica.  I have lots to learn and spent a lot of time looking at the lessons I copied off the internet. It is going to be fun learning how to play properly.  After supper I had a great chat with Esther and then prepped to head off the next day.

In the morning i was still not sure where I was going to go.  Almost everyone I talked to said that going to Canberra was a waste of time but I just can’t see going to Australia and not seeing the capital.  Not that I am a big fan of government I decided that I wanted to go anyway and see why everyone says that there is nothing to see.  The drive is about 2-3 hours long so it is not far out of the way to go see.  I got in the car and drove from Bondi toward  the city and ran into a huge Sunday traffic jam.  They were running the Sydney Marathon that day and a lot of big roads were closed down for the run.  I took about 2 hours to get out of the city and turned my drive into a 5 hour experience.  I was okay with it because I just looked at how mad the other drivers were getting and it made me laugh so much.  I had one guy pull out from behind me and go in the wrong lane to try to move ahead of us, he ended up stopping all the traffic coming in the other direction which made them mad and then when the police officer came around to find out what was going on he made the guy pull off to the side of the road and started writing the guy a ticket.  It was so slow that I got to see the whole thing and just laughed.  I do have a lot more patience now than when I was at home.  The drive itself was not much and not a lot to see.  Once I got into Canberra I headed into the CBD and see what was there.  It was Sunday so there were a lot of shops closed but it was like most other downtown areas, with lots of big buildings.  You have to pay for parking in the whole area and it was quite expensive so I did not stay to long.  I still needed a hostel and when I started to call everything was full.  I got onto the internet to see if I could book something that way but I found nothing.  I then drove out to a neighborhood called Waden Valley and found a place to settle for the night.  It was close to a Macdonalds so I went on the internet for a while and then back to the car and set up for sleeping in the back seat again.

I had the best sleep that I have had sleeping in my car, not great but I felt rested.  I got up and brushed my teeth and changed into some nicer clothes for the day. I then drove to Capitol Hill to check out the Parliament buildings and area.  I was expecting it to be difficult to find parking but they have a huge underground park lot for tourists and it was free.  The parliament is built into a hill and the top of it is actually a lawn that you can go on.  I did my own tour around the building and saw the Senate, House of Representatives and the rest of the building.  It looked like most other english parliamentary rooms and not that exciting.  The view from the lawn on top of the building was really good but parts of it were closed off which took away from the view.  After looking at the main building I went for a walk.  I walked along Parliament Way and saw the Rose Gardens (no roses this time of year), the Old Parliament Building, Treasury, and National Library.  It took a few hours to see it all and not all that exciting either.  I was starting to see why everyone was saying that there was not that much to see here.  My last stop before leaving for the day was the war musuem.  This was definately the highlight of Canberra and an amazing place.  I have seen all the other city war memorials and this was by far the best.  The ultimate highlight was the tomb of the unknown soldier.  I took a picture outside of the tomb but did not take any inside.  I do not have the words to describe it but to say it was incredible.  It ended up being a very emotional place for me and I spent quite a bit of time there.  There was a speech that was on the wall from John Keating the Australian Prime Minister in 1993 that he gave on Nov. 11th.  I am not much of a war person but reading this speech I had tears in my eyes and think that we should all take more time to thank our war heroes for what they do to keep us all safe.  I go onto the internet almost everyday and it is way to often that I see Canadian Soldiers are killed keeping us safe.  I think if you have time to read my blog then you have time to read this speech and think of those serving our country, even if it not Nov. 11th.
Here is the link:  http://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/keating.asp

After the war memorial I walked back to my car and headed out of Canberra.  There were no hostels beds available again so I wanted to make it to the next town before dark.

I made it back to the coast and a town called Batemans Bay.  The only hostel in the area was a YHA so I checked into there.  I figured it would be pretty full but I was the only one there.  Later on a few girls checked in but went straight to bed.  I went to the Macdonalds down the street for the free internet.  I was able to catch up on emails and a little on facebook.  I also had another great chat with Esther.

I was on the road at about 10am the next morning,  it was a very strange morning for me, the wind was very strong and it was very dusty out.  You could not even see across the bay.  It made for my mind to be a bit muddled and was thinking of crazy things, I won’t go into details but I laughed at myself afterwards.  I made my was north to a place called Pebbly Beach where I saw a bunch of kangaroos hanging out on the beach.  It was a pretty cool site and lots of fun to just hang out for a while and watch them.  I was thinking they would not be around because of the wind, but sure enough they were there doing there thing.  From there I drove back to Batemans Bay and continued south along the coast to a town called Bermagui.  I found a great spot to stop and watch whales.  I made myself some lunch and sat there for about an hourand saw lots of whales on their migration south.  I talked with a local that was watching as well and he told me about another spot just down the road that was good as well.  After he left I just relaxed for a bit and took it all in and then went to the spot he suggested called the Blue Pools.  It was very nice there as well but there were more tourists there.  I hoped back in the car and continued down the coast to Ben Boyd National Park.  There are lots of parts to this park but I was told the best was a place called the Pinnacles so that is where I went.  I had a 1km hike to get there and it was totally worth it.  It was incredible to see this cliff face, red on the top and white on the bottom and then going straight into the ocean.  So many awesome colors all in one view, MEJ!!!  I stayed there for about an our reflecting on the day.  My head was so muddled earlier and now everything was so clear in my head and the weather, it was a great feeling.  I then drove to a town called Eden and stopped at the Visitor center to see if there was any accomodation in the town but it was closed.  There was a nice couple walking by and they told me about a bar just down the street that had rooms above it.  I went to the bar and a single room with its own bathroom was only $20.  I was so surprised and did not expect much but it was a really nice room.  I went down the street and had a $10 pizza for supper and then chilled for the rest of the evening.  I could hear the wind pick up during the evening but was not to bothered by it.  Maybe I should have been because it was the dust storm of the century.  I am sure you have all seen the pictures all over the internet in Sydney when it got covered with red dust, while this was the same storm and it hit Eden at night.  When I went out to my car in the morning it was no longer silver, now it was red!!!  I did my best to wipe some of the dust from the windows so i could see out and made my way for a service station to clean them off.  I asked where a car wash was and the guy said not to bother the there was more to come.  I cleaned the windows and on my way out of town I saw an auto parts store that I stopped at.  I needed a screw for my licence plate on the back of the car, which currently was held on with tape and something to fix a guard under the front bumper that was coming off.  It was a very small store but the lady running was awesome and I was able to fix both problems very easily, it is amazing what a hammer can do!!!

Today the goal was to get to Melbourne and get a hostel in the St. Kilda area.  It was only a 2 hour drive and I was at the hostel and settled in by lunch time.  I got into a place called Habitat HQ and it is an awesome hostel.  It is really clean with excellent facilities and lots of fun stuff to do.  I booked an 8 bed dorm for $21 a night and went up to my room.  I met 3 of my new dorm mates right away, a couple from England (Matt & Emma) and a French guy (Roman).  I relaxed for most of the rest of the afternoon with a stop at the grocery store to get some supplies.  That evening they had a pub crawl planned for the St. Kilda area and I thought why not.  I met some great people on the pub crawl (mostly Germans) and we had a great night.  The girl who co-ordinates all of the stuff took us on the tour to pubs in the area and had a bunch of free drinks for us as well.  I spent most of the night with Sabrina, Julia, Antonia and Stephan but there were others with us as well.  We heard some great live music and got back to the hostel at about 2am.  I ended up having a great chat with Esther when I got back, no I was not drunk,     I only had about 4 drinks all night.  It as a great way to start my time in Melbourne again and met some great people.

There were a few reasons I wanted to get back to Melbourne, not in any particular order: sell car, grand final of the AFL season, see Mona and Susanna again.  Now that I am here I just wanted to take some time to chill as well.  On Friday I talked with Mona and we made plans to meet at the Victoria markets later that day.  We met up in the afternoon and walked around the market.  I bought some fresh fruit and veg and they bought some souveniers for family and friends.  We then went for a coffee and made plans to meet up the next day for the AFL grand final.  I took the tram back to the hostel and chilled with my new friends for most of the evening.  I did not drink much because the next day was going to be a big outing.

Saturday Sept 26th – Grand Final day for Aussie rules football.  I really like the game and we have a big group going out to watch.  Totally impossible to get tickets to the game but we will go to a pub.  The 2 teams playing are Geelong (about 1/2 away from Melbourne) and St.Kilda (yes, the Melbourne suburb that I am staying in).  Most of us are cheering for St. Kilda and we head off to a pub in the area.  It kinda reminds me of NHL playoff time and everybody is pretty excited.  The game is at 2pm and the hostel has a group going a 1pm but I think that is to late so we have a plan to leave at 12 noon and make sure we get a table.  We have our first drink at 11am to prepare for the day, it was almost like a breakfast drink!!!  A group of 10 of us head out for the pub and when we get there, I expected it to be full but we were the only ones there.  We got the best set of tables in the place and had perfect place to watch the game.  Over the next 2 hours the place filled up and it was an awesome atmosphere.  They had drink specials and free meat pies, what more could some one want.  I had the group playing Bonanza and having fun.  Mona and Susanna also showed up and all my new friends from the hostel were there. MEJ!!!  It was a great game and very close, tied at half time and tied with 3 minutes in the 4 th quarter.  Geelong scored 2 quick goals and ended up winning, kind of a bummer but we were having so much fun it did not really matter.   The locals were not happy and ended up leaving pretty quickly but most of us hung around for a while.  If St. Kilda would have won there would have been a big party on the street but with the loss there was no party.  Not like at home where we party anyway.  We headed back to the hostel and had some supper but most of us were still in the party mood.  We decided to go to a bar that we never made it to on the pub crawl.  We hung out there until about midnight and then we were all getting pretty tired from our 11am start.  We headed back to the hostel and went to bed.  What a great day, completely MEJ!!!!!

It was a very slow start to Sunday and did not get anything accomplished in the morning.  I went to McD’s for some free internet in the afternoon and then had a chat with Matt and Emma who said they might be interested in my car.  They took a quick look at it and then we all relaxed for the evening and did very little.  We did play some more Bonanza but most of the time we just chatted.  I also had another great chat with Esther but everyone was in bed early.

Monday morning and my plan is to start working on selling my car.  I get up at 8am and have breakfast and get ready for the day.  I took a walk to the St. Kilda library to use their free internet but it is really bad and end up coming back to the hostel.  I made up a flyer for my car so that I can post it at all the different hostels around Melbourne.  I contacted Norman (the man that helped me buy the car) and talked with him about selling it.  The was used up quickly and next thing I knew it was 5pm, where did the day go?  I chilled out for a bit then cooked supper and then the group of us chilled and again.

Tuesday morning and I got a call from Norman that I can bring the car down to get the road worthy test done.  I get ready to go and Matt lets me know that they would like to come along and see how the car checks out.  Now that I know they are really interested I agree even though I would have liked to get this done with no one there.  We head down to the shop and leave the car there at about 11am.  It takes the rest of the day and we picked the car up at 5pm.  everything checked out very well, I had to replace a bulb in one brake light and had to get the brakes machined and new pads, also a couple of minor other things.  All total it cost me $300 to get the road worthy and everything fixed.  I let Matt drive the car back to the hostel so that he knew how it feels, but I know they are really interested in buying.  We got back to the hostel and I went to the kitchen and away from Matt and Emma and let them think, they know that I will not go below $3500 for the car and was asking $4000.  After about an hour they came to me and offered me $3500 for the car and I agreed.  If you remember I paid $2500 for it and then bought all the camp gear and had to fix some stuff along the way.  In total I put $4000 into the car and gear and now I am getting$3500 out of it.  I am very happy with that.  To think that I traveled around Oz for $500 is awesome.  If I was to rent a vehicle it would have cost about $7500 and if I used a bus pass it would have been $2200 and not stop at 1/2 the places I went. MEJ!!!  We had a celebration drink and chilled together for the evening.

The only bad thing about selling the car is that now I have nothing to do while I wait for my passport to get here, but I am sure I will find things to do.  There are 2 things that are taking up a lot of my time right now, 1. I am trying to learn how to play the harmonica and 2. I am learning how to speak, read and write German.  German is a language I always wanted to learn but never did it when I was young.  I remember Dad and my Grandparents always talking in German.  I would love to have a conversation with dad in German, that would be MEJ.  And yes, Esther also speaks German and it would be nice to communicate in her language as well.

On Wednesday I went into the CBD and Federation Square for free internet and got onto a skype call with all the boys from the hockey pool I was in back in Calgary.  It was really cool to listen in with the guys and pick on a few of them along the way.  i must have been on for over an hour and it was lots of fun.  I walked back to St. Kilda from the CBD, not sure how far it is but it took me 1 hour and 15 minutes.  The rest of the evening we chilled out and played more Bonanza and just had fun together.  Sabrina has become like a little sister to me and we are having a fun time together.  It is so nice having great people around so that I don’t miss those at home to much.

Thursday I went back into the CBD and had a skype conversation with Tara (work friend from McCormick days).  It was great catching up with her and everything that is going on at McCormick. It sounds like a crazy place now and glad I moved on from there long ago.  Over the past week I have also had chat with John (partner at Access) and everything is going great for him and the company.  Back at the hostel for the evening, Mat and Emma as well as Sabrina are leaving tomorrow so we all go out for supper.  We went to a burger joint down the road and all pigged out.  From there we went to the Base bar for ladies night were the girls got free champagne and OJ for 2 hours, then we went to listen to some live music.  It was the same place we went for the pub crawl last week but totally different music this time.  It was 2 heavy metal bands and one was okay but the other was complete shit.  I think I could have done better and I have not played in a long time.  They even had groupies that were going crazy for the shit they were playing.  It was great to do some people watching and damn they were funny.  One girl was so drunk that she got up and just hit this guy in theface for no reason, he was standing right beside me, thank god she didn’t hit me.  She got kicked out then tried to sneak back in from behind the stage, it was so funny seeing this girl crawling from behind the band, she got caught and taken back out. There were at least 3-4 guys hitting on Sabrina and that was hilarious.  One guy kept on buying her drinks and when he started to get to touchy she just came over to me.  He was totally devistated when she left with us and not him.  To other guys both drunk kept on trying to talk with her and it was so funny to watch. My little sister has a boyfriend in Germany and she was coming home with us, she just laughed at them (MEJ).

Friday was a complete write off and I did pretty much nothing.  Esther is helping me with my German lessons and sending me homework to do.  So far I have learned the numbers to 1000 and how to tell time.  I am now learning new words that you would use in the kitchen.  I am trying to form sentences but it is very difficult.  Sabrina is also helping so that i am pronouncing the words right.  She giggles a lot so I am guessing that I am not that good yet.  It is a great time to be learning this as there will not be much to do until i get my passport and it is great to be learning!!!  Thanks to Esther, Sabrina and everyone else that is helping me.

So what is the plan from here you ask?  Well I will stay in St. Kilda and wait for my passport to show up.  My camera that mom and dad sent has made it to Matts house and I also have to wait for something that Esther is sending me.  I do not know what it is and just have to wait until it gets here.  When everything is here then I will fly to Perth on the West Coast and travel from Perth up to Darwin.  This is the only part of Australia that I have not seen.  I think it should take about 3 weeks to month to see it all and then from Darwin I will be heading into South East Asia.  I was thinking of going to Bali but I will have to see how things are there after the Sunami that just went through there over the last few days, maybe they could use my help???  That is still to far away at this point but looking forward to getting on the road again.

Another blog will be coming in the next few days as I approach Oct 7th and 1 year on the road.  I am putting together Steve’s Top Ten list for everyone.  It is a lot of info and taking a lot of time but that is what I have lots of right now!!!

For all those wondering how things are with Esther, well things are great (MEJ).  We are still texting each other everyday and we chat online a few times a week.  She sends me such great messages!!!  She is really busy right now with school and working at her uncles restaurant but we always have time to talk.  Her brother got mugged in South Africa so that is a bit scary but all is well.  She is a great teacher and her stories from school are crazy.  I am glad she is teaching me German!!!

Till next time or in German (Bis bald)

Everyone take care,

Steve

PS: On my last blog I said my dads birthday was on the 3rd of October, but it is the 4th, I knew that just typed it wrong.  So HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!! Have a great day!!!!

The coastal walk from Bondi to Coogee

Bondi Beach

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Canberra

Kangaroos for Pebbly Beach

View I had to watch whales at Bermagui

The Pinnacles at Ben Boyd National Park

Antonia, Myself and Sabrina in Melbourne

The group at Grand Final Day (Mona, not sure, myself, Sabrina, Stephan and Susanna)

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My birthday in the Blue Mountains, MEJ!!!

September 16th, 2009

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!!! 

At the end of Muttonbird Island in Coffs Harhour

Mountains outside of Coffs Harbour

Large Goana lizard on mountain walk

Dirrigo National Park

Dangar Falls

The Blue Mountains

River falls the Mona and I stopped at for lunch

Me standing on the edge of the Blue Mountains

Journal from Esther and the saying on the front cover

Tags:

Planes, trains & automobiles with Esther

September 6th, 2009

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.

Steve with his fish at Fraser Island

Whale breaching at Fraser Island

Meheno Shipwreck (Esther’s Pic)

The group pushing the bus

Dingo at Sunset at Fraser Island

Sanna, Steve and Esther at Fraser Island

Felix, Steve and Esther in Brisbane

Steve and Esther on the bus to Uluru

Esther and Steve at Kata Juta

Me eating a Witchite Grub in the outback

Sunset at Kings Canyon

Esther and Steve at Kings Canyon

Tags:

Brisbane and Beyond with Esther and Sanna

August 20th, 2009

Steve at Mt Coot-thaSanna, Steve and Esther at Rainbow Beach Steve and Esther at Byron Bay

Hello all,

I am sorry there are no pics with this blog but where I am at it is taking hours to get one pic on the site.  When I get to someplace better I will add the pics, should be in about a week.

Last time I bloged I had just got to Brisbane which was about 10 days ago and I have lots to catch up on.  I wanted to say thanks to my 2 aunts and their note to me, it is great to get these notes from home and I enjoy them, so keep them coming.

I got into Brisbane heading into a weekend and this city has tons to do.  I needed to get up to date on all that was going on and so I spent quite a bit of time at the State Library on my computer.  I had a planned Skype call with mom and dad but ended up running into some more computer problems and it took me 2 days to figure it out.  Once I got it figured it was so easy to fix, as usual and was able to have a great conversation with them.  In the mean time I tried to get some touring done around the city but always ended up in the area called Southback and by the beach.  It is a man made beach but that was all right and a great place to just hang out.  On Saturday night they had a “dancing in the streets” festival and I went with 2 people from my dorm room.  I put a bottle of wine into my black water bottle and off we went.  We thought it was professionals that were supposed to do the dancing but they would put on a short show and then teach everyone how to do their dance.  There was everything from hip hop to salsa.  The more I drank the more I danced and by the end of the night I am sure I was a hip hop star even though I have no idea what I was doing.  I think I will stick to salsa and jive, it is more my style.  I got up a little later on Sunday and had a pretty lazy day.  I went to the library to try to fix my computer and almost fell asleep while I was typing.  I laughed at myself and packed up my stuff and started back to the hostel with a stop at the muesum for a quick look, but I needed to get back and have a nap.  The rest of the day just drifted away because when I look at my journal to remind me of what I did there is nothing there.  Monday morning is when I figured out the computer problem and had the chat with mom and dad.  I also had a chat with Daryl (work buddy) and a couple of Facebook chats with Cathy and others.  By the time I got out of the library most of the day was gone and I still had not seen a lot of Brisbane.  I had met up with Kim again (met her in Agnes Waters/1770 and Hervey Bay) and we ended up making some plans for Tuesday.  The rest of Monday was spent reading and chilling out, I seem to be doing a lot of that but damn it is good.  I am guessing that everyone should have this opportunity to chill for a few hours every day.  It would make for such peaceful people although I am sure that some would go stir crazy.

On Tuesday I picked up Kim in my car and we drove to Mount Coot-tha.  We went to the lookout first and had a great view of the city.  It is a lot bigger than I thought (1.5 million people) and really spread out.  We did a 1 hour hike around the lookout area before hopping back into the car and going to the botanical gardens.  We walked around the gardens and it was in really good shape.  The last few gardens I have been to have left to grow out because it is winter here.  This one was neatly trimmed and lots of flowers blooming.  They also have a lot of Bearded Dragons (large lizard) around the gardens as well, which ended up been a problem.  We found a really big one when crossing a bridge that was below, I pulled out my camera to get a picture and it slipped and fell.  It almost hit the dragon in the head and then took a big bounce into the pond next to the dragon.  I just stood there looking at my camera bubbling away thinking “shit there goes another one”, my other camera that I sent home has been fixed and mom and dad are sending it to me but I will not get it until I get to Melbourne.  I got one of the workers to retrieve the camera and took out the batteries and picture card right away.  The pic card was okay and I did not loose any pictures but the camera was soaked.  No big deal because Kim was taking lots of pics and I could just get hers.  We left the area at around 4 and headed back to the city.  My plan was to take apart my camera and dry it out right away but when I got back there was a bbq starting and some of the others (Tim, James, James 2, Breandan and Rob) forced (like it was hard) me to join them.  We ended up in some party games and of course we (James, who was a dorm mate & I) won.  We won a jug of beer, a shot each and a t-shirt.  We ended up having 5 jugs between the 2 of us and then it was time to go to the pub where more cheap beer and rum were consumed.  I ended up talking with a girl (Kelly) for about an hour, got here email and said I would send her a facebook note the next day. It was a fun night and I did not get to bed until about 3am, gotta love Tuesdays!!!.

Everyone slept in on Wednesday and then the group of us walked to the library to check on email and whatever else.  Kim also met us there.  I got online and checked my emails and then went onto facebook to send a note to Kelly who it turns out gave me a fake email and obviously was not that impressed with me.  We all got a good laugh about it but I think the young guys felt better because they went home with nothing.  We all went for lunch and then chilled in Southbank again for a while till we went back to the hostel to chill.  I finally found time to take my camera apart, it was still very wet inside once I got it apart and the viewing screen was busted up pretty bad.  Not much chance of it working again but I am not giving up on it and put all the pieces in the room to put back together later.  It was looking as though it would be a very quiet evening because no one wanted to spend money and most were still tired.  I was sitting and talking with Tim after supper when I saw another girl (Esther)and knew that I had to talk with her. She went into the TV room and I followed.  We ended up having a short chat and then decided to watch a movie (Bourne Ultimatum).  After the movie we had another short chat and decided to meet up the next day and tour around the city.

Esther was traveling with another girl from Finland (Sanna) and we all met up after breakfast, around 9:30.  They had just got in the night before so they had not seen any of Brisbane yet.  We started our walk with the Southbank area (I love this area) and then the Botanical Gardens and along Queen Street in the CBD.  We stopped at food court and had some lunch and then we continued walking to 2 cathedrals (St. Stephen’s – catholic & St. John’s – anglican).  St. Stephen’s was really nice but the face of it was under construction.  St. John’s was nice as well but the stain glass was not as good and it was different to see a childs playground in the middle of the church.  I had to go in and start playing with the toys, I am more like a 4 year old than a 40 year old.  After I was done playing we went to ANZAC Square and looked around and then sat and relaxed for a while.  We decided that it would be a good idea to go to a jazz club that evening and picked the one that must have been the furthest away.  We went back to the hostel and got ready to go out and then went to an Indian restaurant which was about 2 blocks away from the hostel.  We decided that walking to the jazz club would be a good idea because we ate too much and started on our way.  It should have taken about 45 minutes to get but we took a wrong turn and it ended up taking about 2 hours and with all the luck we had going it as closed.  We had a good laugh at ourselves and then saw the ferry that goes along the river that if we would have taken it in the first place we would have been there in about 20 minutes.  We all wanted a drink and ended up at a pub called the Rumpus Room that was right across the street from the Indian restaurant that we started at.  After 3 hours of walking that beer tasted great. My plan was to leave to go to Surfers Paradise and Coolangatta the next day and they were planning on taking a bus to Byron Bay which is a little further down the coast.  We decided it would be great to travel together all the way to Byron Bay and then they could headed back north and I could continue south.  We had the one beer and headed back to the hostel as we were all very tired from a very long walking day.

We met up for breakfast in the morning (fruit salad & toast with peanut butter) and then continued our walking tour from the day before.  We went to city hall and up the tower for a great view of the city and then toured the Brisbane Museum which was pretty dull.  We then went to the Queensland Museum and I left Esther and Sanna to tour around and I went to the library to do some quick internet stuff.  We then walked back to the hostel and had lunch and started to make our way to Surfers Paradise.  I was told by everyone that Surfers was way over rated and just a bunch of big buildings and tourists and it would be best to get out as soon as possible.  When we made it to Surfers it was just that and we never stopped to get out of the car and left as quick as we got there and made our way to a much cooler place down the coast called Coolangatta.  The hostel was more expensive than most I have been staying at but it was really nice.  It had a big patio outside our room with nice loungers and chairs and we just sat back and relaxed.  We ended up having supper at the same spot even though the rules said no food in the rooms we figured we were okay because we were on the patio. Sanna was not feeling that well and went to bed early and Esther & I took a nice bottle of red wine down to the beach and chatted.  It felt like it was about an hour but 4 hours later we were both shaking from the cold and finally decided to head back to the hostel.  Instead of being smart and going to bed we ended up looking at pictures until 3:30 in the morning.

Our check out was at 10am and we used every minute of it to wake up and get organized.  We drove to the store to get some groceries and then ate breakfast/lunch on the beach.  From there we walked along the beach and ocean front to Danger Point and then to the beach on the other side.  We sat at the beach for a few hours relaxing and talking.  I thought about throwing both of them in the ocean and did get them to the waters edge and thought better of it.  We then walked back to the car and made our way to a town called Nimbim.  This is supposed to be the pot (marihjuana) capital of Australia.  Since none of us smoke it it was pretty funny walking around.  The whole town is locked in the 70’s, it reminded me of Nelson BC.  The first guy we walked by wreeked of pot, actually the whole town did and the hours they work were funny.  We strolled through the shops for a while and then got back in the car and made our way to Byron Bay.  On the way we stopped at a roadside fruit stand and picked up some fresh fruit and vegetables.  The last 1/2 of the drive was in the dark but we made it to the YHA hostel with no problems. I made supper (pan fried fish with potatoes, peppers, onions and a salad.  With it been Saturday night we decided to head for a night club and took in some music.  Esther and I were still really tired from staying up so late the night before so we left after about an hour and went back to the hostel.  The plan was to go to sleep but we ended up talking for another 4 hours and going to sleep around 2am. 

Sunday ended up been a big time chill day in Byron Bay.  I got on the internet and did a few emails and had a couple of conversations but got tired of that real quick.  We had plans to walk on the beach but the big beanbag chairs were to comfortable to get out of.  Esther & I talked for quite a while and Sanna actually was productive and got a few things done.  In the afternoon Sanna went for a surf lesson and Esther & I picked up some groceries and then finally walked along the beach to where Sanna was taking her lesson.  We got there just as they were finishing so we sat back on the beach and watched the sunset.  The sunset was amazing and the only word to describe it is the slang word “MEJ”, I know it sounds different but it means “better than perfect”  and that was exactly it. 

We walked back to the hostel and then had made mexican food for supper.  After relaxing for a while we had chocolate fondue for dessert with strawberries, bananas and apples. Now that we were extremely full we made it back to the beanbag chairs and relaxed until they made us leave the area at 11:30 because they were closing.  We finally made it to bed at a decent time for once but it did not make much difference for waking up the next morning.  We slept in until 10am again and did not accomplish very much in the morning.  Sanna made us breakfast/lunch (eggs, ham,peppers and cheese on toast) and then off and running around the city.  She rented a bike and spent most of the day out and about.  Esther and I planned to go for a walk along the beach again but ended up just chilling in the room looking at pictures and talking.  Sanna came back and made supper for us but would not let us help at all.  We were not allowed anywhere near the kitchen so we stayed in the room until Sanna came and got us.  She made a remarkable meal of chicken breast wrapped in prosciutto and sage (wow,wow,wow) along with ravioli and salad.  She also had 2 bottles of wine to drink.  After supper she took us to a restuarant for dessert.  We did not know what to expect and it was definetly MEJ.  The waiter came out with 3 glasses of champagne for us and then 3 incredible desserts, one was a chocolate log another a blood orange tort and finally a carameliaed banana and ice cream.   I was so full after I could barely move and we decided that it would be a good idea to go for a walk to work some of it off.  When we got back to the hostel everyone was very sleepy and we went to bed.  As I get to know Esther and Sanna better I am learning some German and Finnish plus they both have some very cool sayings.  Now that I have travelled with them for a few days you need to know a little more about them.  Esther is 33 and a  teacher in Endingen, Germany which is in the south west part close to the Black Forest.  She is amazingly nice and we have been getting quite close over the last few days.  She has also done lots of travelling and has been to more countries than I have but I will catch up quickly as she has to go back to Germany on Sept. 7th for the school year. As we have got to know each other better Esther has had assorted saying that are really cool and mean a lot to me.  Esther always says that there are “no coincidences” and that there is a reason for everything, which I truely believe.  They obviously know my story at this point and what I am doing, or at least what I think I am doing.  Esther says that  I suffer from “Fernweh” which is a Greman word and is the exact opposite of homesickness, I am not sure if there is an English word for it but I will go with the German one.  Another saying that really stands out to me and really explains me is “all who wander are not lost” which was writen by JR Tolkien.  I seem to be learning a lot about myself and having a great time with them. Sanna is 34 and a doctor in Finland, she studied in Helsinki but now lives in a smaller town north.  Sanna has been taking english lessons from Esther & I and is doing great, but still makes us laugh a lot.  The last 4 days with them has been MEJ, so much so that I decided to continue to travel with them even though they are going in the opposite direction I was going and to places I have already seen.  I figure I am having this much fun and really I do not have any time limits like they do.  So the next day after breakfast, laundry and some time to chill we were headed back toward Brisbane but passed it on the outside and went to a place called Rainbow Beach.  I actually have not been here and so this was good.  We took it pretty easy for the rest of the day and did not get a lot accomplished except for another good supper and great conversation, but really what else do you need.

I got up in the morning around 7:30 and then went on the internet from 8 – 8:30 for a quick update.  We had breakfast (our usual of fruit salad with yogurt and toast with peanut butter.  I started to write this blog in the morning and by noon we were all ready for a our along the beach.  We walked along the area called the coloured sands which were similar to waht I saw in HerveyBay.  We got back to the hostel in time to catch a bus up to a lookout and a sand blow.  We brought a bottle of wine and a few beers with us and watched the sunset, hich was absolelutely MEJ.  We walked back to the hostel and made spaghetti and sauce and then listened to the one man band playing for the hostel.  He was really good and we bought a CD but onece we put in the car his music just dod not seem to be as good.  We sat around and talked about funny stories about each other and even some serious ones.  Nothing to deep and we had a ton of fun.

Now we had to decide on how we were going to get to Fraser Island (guided like I had done before or self drive with a group of teenagers) and it came real easy and we decided to go with a guided tour.  We called the operator and found out the earliest to start was on Saturday and come back on Monday which will work great since Sanna has to be back in Brisbane for Tuesday and a flight to New Zealand.  It was still a long drive to Hervey Bay from here so we decided to backtrack a little and go from Noosa.  We left Rainbow beach at around noon and stopped once for a break and then again at a lookout oint with a 45 minute hike.  The hike was real easy and then made our way to the store for groceries and finally to the hostel.  We sat around just catching the atmosphere of the place and then cooked a supper of Salmon done in Yogurt sauce, potatoes in rosemary and spianch with onion ahd herbs.We had  bottle of red wine with supper and chilled after with some more great conversation. 

I am headed back to Fraser Island for the 2nd time to see the sights with Esther and Sanna and then after 3 days there it will be back to Brisbane and Sanna heads to New Zealand and Esther is supposed to go on to Uluru where I have been as well.  I am still not sure what I am going to do but I guess I will figure it out over the next few days.  I have so much fun the last week I wish it would never end.

Esther and Sanna are such a big part of this blog they have both decided to write a note to whoever can read it or take the time to translate it: Esther’s is in German and Sanna’s is in Finnish, good luck to all who take the time to figure out what they said.  If you do let me know because they won’t tell me.

“ES SIND DIE BEGEGNUNGEN MIT MENSCHEN, DIE DAS LEBEN LEBENSWERT MACHEN.” GUY DE MONTPASSANT
Was fuer ein Glueck, einen Menschen wie Stephen zu kennen und als Freund haben zu duerfen – ich kann komplett verstehen, wie sehr ihr ihn alle vermissen muesst. Das einzige Wort was diese paar Tage, die wir zusammen verbracht haben beschreiben koennte ist MEJ…
ESTHER

LAhtiessAni matkaan pelkAsin eniten yksinAisyyttA, mutta tultuani Australiaan en ole ollut pAivAAkAAn yksin. Tapasin Estherin ja Stevenin, ja olemme matkustaneet yhdessA yli viikon ajan pitkin Australian itArannikkoa. Me sovimme hyvin yhteen, jokin ihmeellinen tasapaino meidAn vAlillAmme on. Olemme nAhneet paljon ja syOneet joka ilta (liiankin!) hyvin…MinA olen oppinut, etta elAmAssA on paljon asioita, mistA voi iloita. EikA aina tarvitse elAA varjossa.

MinA en ymmarrA sitten millAAn, miksi Australiasta katsottuna tAhdet ovat taivaalla yloOsalaisin…? Ja mita loytyy siita pisteesta, missa ruusulinja (0 pituuspiiri) ja paivantasaaja leikkaavat?

SANNA

Well I guess that is all for this time, I hope you all take care and here is one last thought to leave you with “Getting old is mandatory, growing up is optional”

Till next time, love ya all

Steve

PS:2 Happy Birthday wishes go out this time, first is my nephew Emerson who has his bday on Friday the 21st of August, I think he turns 12.  I am sure he will have a great party with his friends and get ay to much stuff but the little shit probably deserves it.  2nd is my cousin Denise who is turning ????, I know but I am just being nice and not saying, on August 23rd.

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East Coast Australia – Still Continued

August 6th, 2009

Hello all again, it has been 2 weeks since my last blog and the adventures continue!!!

In the last blog I told you that I was going fishing off the beach which I did and I caught absolutely nothing, well that is not totally true I got some seaweed, trees and rocks but nothing I could eat. 

 Me fishing at Agnes Waters/1770

I left Agnes Waters and made my way to the town of Bundaberg.  This is where they make the local Australian rum by the same name.   I did a quick tour around town and then made my way to the plant.  I did the plant tour which was a bit disappointing compared to the Bacardi plant in Puerto Rico but it was still fun.  At the end we got 2 free samples and they tasted pretty good.  The Bundaberg rum is not the best rum that is for sure but it is usually pretty cheap compared to Appletons or other quality rums.  I decided to buy one of there top rums since it was about the same price as the regular stuff in the shops and I was also disappointed with that as well.  It is okay mixed with some cola but not real good to sip on its own.  From Bundaburg I made my way to Hervey Bay where I checked into a backpackers called The Friendly Backpackers and it was as its name states.  I was given a twin share room at a dorm price and then had no roommates for the first 2 days, sweet, best sleep I have had in a long time.

My first morning in Hervey Bay I was just chilling out reading about what there is to do and decided to spend the afternoon on a whale watching tour.  The humpback whales migrate from the antarctic to Hervey bay and this is where most will give birth to their calves.  The migration is just starting to come but they had been seeing whales so I thought why not.  It was a fantastic trip and we saw 3 huge whales up close.  After about 2 hours of cruising around we saw them and then the whales came up right beside the boat.  It was like they were playing with us and they were as interested in us as we were with them.  There was a group of young kids on the boat who were a pain in the ass most of the time but when the whales came we were told to make lots of noise and cheer and they really did there part.  I talked with the skipper for a bit and he said that it was real early into the season but it’s usually the best time because it is the younger whales now and they are inquizative while the older whales go a little slower and have seen all the people before and can sometimes avoid them and do not get as close as the young ones.  Whatever the timing I had a great day with the whales.

Humpback whale in Hervey Bay

The next morning I was up early to make a call to Cathleens house and talk with everyone that had showed up for the Dietrich Family weekend.  It was great to be able to hear all their voices and talk about what is going on here and there.  It sounded like a great day with extreme heat and time in the pool.  The rest of my day entailed chilling at the beach and touring around Hervey Bay.  I also got ready to go to Fraser Island.

Fraser Island is known as the largest sand island in the world.  There are 2 ways to see the island, 1 is self drive with a rented 4wd and about 11 others in it and camping or 2 is a guided tour and seeing all the important sights.  I decided on the guided tour mostly because the self drive is mostly young kids and a lot of drinking and little touring.  I am glad I decided on that way because the 4wd tracks are very tough to drive and I am sure you would get stuck a lot.  We had a group of 18 on our tour and it was a great group of people (8 of which were Irish). We were picked up at 7:30am at the hostel and taken to the boat across to Fraser Island.  Once on the island we met our tour guide (Ash) and he looked exactly like Kurt Russell the actor.  He did an awesome job for the entire tour and was full of all kinds of facts and information.  We started the tour with a drive to a fresh water lake called Basin Lake.  It is not very big so we walked around it but it is protected so we could not swim in it.  From there we did a few short walks around central station, pile valley and a rainforest.  We finished up with a very cold swim at Lake McKenzie.  Most of us did not last very long in the water and some did not even go in.  It was very refreshing but when the sun went away it got pretty damn cold.  We then made our way to the backpacker accommodation  at the King Fisher Resort.  We were served a fantastic supper and chilled for the evening, as a matter of fact all the meals on the trip were great and way more than I ever expected.  The 2nd day of the tour started with a drive on 75 mile beach (it is so cool driving down a beach) to Eli Creek.  A group of us walked on the boardwalk to the end of the creek and then decided that it was a good idea to walk back in the creek.  The water ended up been about waist deep and we all got wetter than we were expecting but it was a lot of fun. 

 The group at Eli Creek

Back on to the bus and our next stop was a place called the coloured sands.  Lots of deep red and orange colors in the sands and interesting formations.  We then stopped at the Meheno Shipwreck along the beach where we looked at the wreck and then waited for a few that took a flight around the island and then did a beach landing of the plane.  Our next stop was one of the highlights of the trip with a stop at what they call the Champagne Pools.  This is a group of swimming holes on the edge of the ocean surrounded by big rocks.  The waves come over the rocks and splash into the pools and look like bubbling champagne. 

 Champagne pools on Fraser Island

The water was still pretty cold but we all had a lot of fun.  After drying off we made our way to a cliff called Indian Head. The views were great and we could see whales, dolphins and turtles from the top.  This place is very sacred to the aboriginies and they never actually go there.  When the English decided to take over the island and wanted them off they took a bunch to this spot and then just pushed them off.  Hundreds died there but there is nothing there that tells the visitors about this, we found out because of our guide.  Our last stop of the day was to Hammerstone Sandblow which was a big sand dune in a very open area.  Now as I said this is the biggest sand island but you would be amazed at the amount of vegetation on the island.  Most of the sand is covered by trees and brush but there are a few open part just like this sandblow. Another evening of fun with the group with a few drinks along the way. Our last day started with an hour drive which we needed so that it warmed up before we got to Lake Birrabeen and another swim.  Only a few of us went in and I was one of them even though I did not do a lot of swimming and more just standing, we did get in a decent game of frisbee on the beach.  From there we made our way to Eurong Resort and an early lunch.  Then we did a good hike to Lake Wabby, where half way there we walked into a sand dune and walked along that to the lake which was at the bottom of the dune.  It looked real appealing to run into but we asked not to because to many people have broken there necks doing it.  Everyone went for a swim here and some swam across the lake and back, I took a more restful approach and dog paddled around the shallow parts.  We dried off again and then made our way to the boat that was going to take us back to Hervey Bay.  We got in about 6 and a bunch of us met up for drinks later that evening.  We had one good last night before everyone moved on. 

 Tour group at Fraser Island

I stayed in Hervey Bay and met up with Stacey who I had met in Vanuatu while watching the land diving at Pentecost.  We met up for a smoothie and exchanged some pics and videos from the land diving.  The rest of the day was spent catching up on laundry and other stops I needed to do.

My plan from here was to get to Brisbane and meet up with Russell who I also met in Vanuatu and he was going to take me fishing.  After a phone call to Russell I found out that he was not available for about 5 days so I could take my time getting to Brisbane.  After getting this info I decided to go to a place called Noosa.  The town is split up into different areas and has hundereds of traffic circles.  I thought I knew where I was going and got so turned around with the traffic circles I ended up having to call the hostel and get some help getting there.  I was only a few blocks away but just could not find the right street.  One of the big highlights of the area is the Eumundi Markets on Saturdays and I went there.  The market was huge and full of all kinds of Aussie stuff and food.  They had everything from $2 cheap souvenirs all the way up to $10,000 paintings.  I ended up buying a t-shirt that had a picture of Cournal Saunders (KFC) and one chicken talking to another chicken with the saying “so this guy killed your dad”.  I was funny and I liked it so now I have another tshirt to wear and I can get rid of one of my old ones. Noosa is also known for it hikes and the next day I did some hiking.  The main hike is called the coastal track from Sunshine Beach where I was and Noosa Heads which is the town center.  It started with a walk along Sunshine Beach and then into the rocky cliffs of Devil Kitchen where hang gliders were flying around. 

 Sunshine Beach at Noosa

From the cliffs it went down to Alexanderia Beach which is a clothing optional beach.  This place was very messed up and more of a hang out of gay men or very elderly couples.  Can some please tell me why there are never good looking women frolicking in the sand??? this is what I expect at a nude beach not an 80 grandma with her boobs at her knees and grandpa (well I will that one alone).  I walked by this beach really fast and got to the next rock cliff area that included Hells Gate, Winch Cove and Dolphin Point.  You can really tell that I have gone from the snorkeling and diving area to the north and now into the surfers area.  The surfers are everywhere and they are young and old.  There were also a few koalas on the walk and great scenery out to the ocean and surfers.  Once I got to the main beach I chilled for a while before making my way back to the hostel.

Surfer on Hells Gate in Nosa

From Noosa I made my way into the Sunshine Coast hinterland and some cool little towns.  I drove thru Mapleton and to Kondalilla National Park where I did a 6.5km hike through the forest with some waterfalls.  From there i drove to Montville and then Gardners falls which was a pretty disappointing stop and there was not much of a waterfall.  Then I went to the Mary Cairncross Park and saw a bunch of wildlife through the rainforest walk.  Lots of different birds, pademeloms (type of wallaby) and other stuff. 

Kondalilla National Park 

There is not much in the area for accommodation so I decided to sleep in my car for the night in a small town called Landsborough.  I stayed in the train station parking lot which was good except for the train that came through at 12 and 2 and 4, but I did sleep pretty well.  The next morning I got and drove the 10 minutes to the Australia Zoo.  This is the zoo that Steve Irwin (crocodile Hunter) has made famous and I was told by many that it was a must stop.  It was hard to pay the $54 entry fee and in the long run I was disappointed.  Most of the animals are native to Australia and the main feature is the crocs.  The tigers were pretty cool and i got to feed an elephant but that was about it for foreign animals.  The birds of prey show was pretty cool as well.  I liked the zoo I just don’t think it was worth $54 since I had seen most of the animals already in the wild.  I left the zoo and made my way to the Glass House Mountains and stayed in a camp ground for the night. 

 Big Eagle flying right at me at Birds of Prey show at Zoo

The next day I toured around the Glass House Mountains with some spectacular scenery and then made my way into a town called Caboolture.  I called Russell from there and set up fishing for the next day and since he did not live in Brisbane and close to where I was I ended up finding a caravan park to stay in at Beechmere.    I packed up early the next morning and made my way to Russells house.  We were in the water by 8:30 but the waves were pretty big in the open water so we fished in the river channels in the area.  We caught lots of little fish that we had to throw back and only had 2 keepers by the time we were done.  It was still a great day on the water and I had a ton of fun.  After getting everything cleaned up and showing him my pics from Vanuatu I made my way into Brisbane.

Brisbane is where I am now and will spend a few days here before moving on to the Gold Coast and then Sydney.  I drove most of this part on my own but it has been good and I have been meeting up with lots of others that I have known.  I should be able to get someone to ride with me to Sydney.

That is all for now, everyone take care.

Steve

PS:you can tell we come from farming country because it is the start of August and no birthdays to report, farmers never have kids in the summer as they are to busy, I think maybe sometimes they may just push them back in and tell them they have to wait till fall or winter.  How do I come up with this shit???  My mind is very different but I like the way it works.

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