Troy Archie – Everybody Knows This is Nowhere

Well here I am writing from someplace in Queensland, I can’t remember the name of the place, just reunited with my mom, Brad and step-sister Paula. In the last week I’ve been reunited with my sister Tiff and her friend, said good-bye to some great friends I made in Sydney and took off up north. We spent a couple nights (or was it one?) in some little crap towns along the way before settling down in Byron Bay and getting a decent cabin to stay in. We had camped up to this point but had quickly realized that camping without any camping equipment, save a tent, sucks. To top it off you can’t have any open fires down-under because of brush fires so we checked into a little self-contained cabin that had all you needed and split it 3 ways with Tiff and her friend Tracy. To be honest, I rather liked the little place and looking at it now I really question what more you would need. It had 2 rooms, a full bath-room and a kitchen and really, that’s more than what most people in the world have. It really makes me realize how over the top we live in North-America, but that’s a whole nother rant unto itself.

More Pics here

Tiff and I reunited

So Long Sydney
So I got reunited with Tiff and we spent a couple days in Sydney hanging out and me finalizing all my loose ends before we hit the road. I had a couple final work-outs with the Crossfit crew and went for Yum Chum before I left and Korean BBQ the week before. I got really sick after the Korean BBQ night but it wasn’t from the food or a stomach sickness; I went to sleep that night and broke into chills as I tried to fall asleep. It was only until I put all my blankets on and got into my sleeping bag that I fell asleep and when I woke up a couple hours later I found that I had broken a fever and was red as a lobster and like a million degrees. I went back to bed and woke up at 6 for the days workout but felt like a truck had hit me. The fever was gone but I just didn’t feel right so I had to call it in, which was my first workout that I missed in 2 months. Anyways, I ended up sleeping like 14 hours that night, morning and afternoon, didn’t leave my flat all day and again had a 12 hour sleep the next night. I’m sure that I haven’t slept that much since I left home nearly a year ago.

All in all I have to say Sydney is an amazing city, living there was a real treat, from cheap fruit and vege at Paddy’s Market and the little Asian markets that I can get my seaweed and bean sprouts at for next to nothing to all the great restaurants to, most importantly, Crossfit Sydney/Crossfit Australia.  I think anyone who says that all cities are the same has either lived in only ever one city or only boring cities.

Korean BBQ night – Andrew, Alena and I – Crossfit Cook & Philip

So me Tiff and Tracy left town and spent our first night in Nelson’s Bay I think.  I must say that I got very homesick that night but it wasn’t for Edmonton but for Sydney, what a city.  Honestly, I have a feeling that I’m going to have a very tough time moving back to E-town when I do and if I do I have a feeling it will be a short stay.  It’s funny how I can go from wanting to live on a farm and own my own land to wanting to live in a big city, I think it has to be one or the other; Metropolitan city or little acreage/farm.  Edmonton will always be home but I probably just won’t live there.

Byron
We spent 3 nights in Byron and had a pretty laid back time.  About the most exciting thing that I did was walk up to the lighthouse with Tiff and Tracy, the rest of the time I pretty much just worked-out, ate food, drank coffee, read, wrote and just plain old chilled out on the beach, at the cabin and at coffee shops.  I intend to do more of all the above from now on in my travels, unless of course a job comes along that I think would be a cool, new challenge and experience but until then…

Me pissing around with my camera and the light house in the background.

So after Byron we took off to hike Mount Warning before we got together with the rest of the family.  It’s an extinct volcano, not much of a mountain and wasn’t too hard a climb I Tiff and Tracy thought yet the other people at the top were falling over themselves and pounding down food like they’d never eaten before. We did it in a solid 3hours and 20 minutes, well below the 4-5hours the sign said it would take. 
Troy 1
Mount Warning 0

Me pissing around more with my camera

Tiff, Tracy and I on the top – f*ck I’m skinny.  I gained 3kgs and the first my mom comments on is how skinny I am…

End of the line
After our climb we drove up to Brad’s relative’s place and met up with my mom, Brad and Paula ending our little trip up the coast.  At first I wasn’t going to go with Tracy and Tiff as I thought I would have gone insane but it was good fun.  The last little bit of the journey I got a little itchy to get out of the car; I don’t think they didn’t sing at some point of any song that came on the stereo but it was all in good fun.  After spending the last couple days with my sister I’m really scratching my head as how we can be related.  I love you Tiff, you’re a blast, a hoot to be around and the best sister in the world but you really have got to wonder, huh?

One is Company, Two is a crowd
I am finding it a bit difficult to be travelling and doing things with other people though as I’m so used to doing things on my own schedual and pace.  I used to think that I’d rather travel on my own as I travel faster that way but not I realize it’s the opposite; I like to travel on my own as I travel slower.  I take my time, stop and smell the roses and quite simply procrastinate to no end.  The only time that I really travelled with others down here was when I first arrived on the west coast and quite frankly I hated it but that said all the people that I was travelling with were on vacation, had limited time to do this, see that and go there.  I really don’t see myself travelling with others ever again but who knows, in a country that doesn’t fluently speak your native tounge it could be a completely different story but then again, while go to Asia to hang out with Australians and why go to Australia to hang out with Germans and English?

Mommy
It was a little weird seeing everyone at first but things have settled down, all is good and I’m really enjoying seeing everyone after all this time.  We’ve been pretty busy the last couple days, visiting people, shopping, thanksgiving (even though they don’t have it down here), getting ourselves reaquanted with one another and enjoying the company.  Things are starting to slow down now and I’m hoping the rest of the time here will be nice and slow and laid back instead of the chaotic set pace of the first week.  We’ve been staying at some reletives of Brad’s here in a town called Nerang on the Gold Coast south of Brisbane, which has been really generous of them.  I was a worried that I would have to bunk myself in some rip off of a dank hostel or pay an arm and a leg for a hotel but thier generosity has prevented that.  That said, I feel rather guilty about it all as I feel like we’re invading these people’s house but I guess when they come to Canada they have a place to stay with us, so it’s all good.

Things have been a little too up pace for myself since getting to the Gold Coast and getting together with my family; sight seeing, shopping, visiting people, shopping, Thanksgiving, shopping…yep, everyone’s done a lot of shopping it seems… except me that is.  Everyone’s up at the crack of dawn wanting to run around and rush off to do this or go there and see that, while I’m much more partial to sitting at a cafe, reading a book and just talking to my family and seeing what’s going on in their lives and minds.  Call me borring I guess…I guess this furthers my thoughts on taking things slow. 

Thanksgiving
There’s like half a dozen Canadians down here, all from the Leduc area that have somehow all managed to bump into each other and become friends so my Mom and Brad both decided to have a Thanksgiving (they don’t have it in Australia…ingrates) and invite them all.  There was about 20 or so of us and plenty of great food, specifically the turkey, which I had been having cravings for over the last couple weeks.  You can’t buy turkey breasts down here and what turkey roasts you can buy are insanely priced so this bird was a godsend.

Thanksgiving

Another little thing we did was went to a conservation park in the area, here’s some pics of that.

Small Town Fever
Most of my friends forgot to wish me happy birthday, which I’m not angry about nor do I hold any hard feelings as I know that I’ve forgotten a couple birthdays too.  People are busy with their lives, and such and it’s this busyness that makes me realize something about back home, which also ties in with seeing all my family and spending time with them down here; nothing has changed back home.  It’s business as usual back in Alberta, the economy is rolling, people are hustling and bustling here and there and mindset that I really wanted to get away from is as strong as ever (standard of living over quality of life).  I was getting rather nostalgic for home the last little bit and I was a bit afraid that after seeing my family here I would want to go back home with them.  Instead the opposite effect has happened, I have less of an urge than ever to get back there and all of these factors together make it just that much easier not to go back.  So I guess the underlying tone to all of this is that I really don’t have much a reason to go back home anytime soon and really what’s the rush?  I have no obligations or responsibilities to anyone but myself, I’m young but I don’t think age matters anyways and this could be a once in a life time opportunity and experience so I better take my chances while I’ve got it.  I think the only thing that really pulls me back home right now is my want to futher my education and my career goals but I have the rest of my life to do that; what’s the rush?  That and Crossfit; nothing like a solid gym to dish out pain.

So that’s that for this update and probably for a bit, just chilling out here on the Gold Coast for the next couple weeks with my family, with a brief stop over in Sydney to say good-bye to friends and family there and from there it’s off to Thailand and beyond, which is where my next update will probably be from.  I’m big time looking forward Asia and have been for quite sometime.  I thought I’d be a little freaked out about heading to Asia, what with it being a different culture and all but I’m not.  I think the jump from my 55-hour work week, Mastco slave life to travelling Australia was a bigger jump than travelling Australia to travelling Asia will be.  I’ve gotten rid of like half my shit that I’ve been carrying around OZ and am going super light from here on in.

As much as I’ve enjoyed my visit with my family down here I am looking forward to heading off on my own.  I hate to say that but it’s true.  It’s amazing how quickly the whole family unit revert back to the way it was and how quickly little bickering and quaralls can resurface but I guess that could be said for anyone when you’ve been stuck in a car with someone for 6 hours and sharing a house with 5 others; it’s inevitable I suppose.  I guess that’s more proof for travelling alone.  Seeing how quickly things can turn back to the way they were, inregards to the family scene, makes me miss home even less.  I’m sure in a couple months time I will miss them all but until then…

What I really hope to get out of Asia in pretty simple as I’m a simple guy:
Culture – A different way of life, perspective and lifestyle.  I’ve been pretty forunate as I’ve experienced all of that here in Australia but in a different way then what I had expected and wanted.
People – As much as I like Troy time, spending time and travelling alone, I still love people.  I thoroughly enjoy simply meeting others and conversating with them.
Chilling out and relaxing – under a nice tree with a good book or at a cafe, where ever, it’s an art.
Food food food!!! – ‘nough said
Cooking classes – goes hand in hand with above.  Don’t laugh, lots of people do it there and it’s dirt cheap plus why not learn from the best?
Working out – Shameless plugs – Check out Ross Enamait’s book Never Gymless, which I’ve been reading the last week.  Amazing stuff with little to no equipment.  That and Crossfit.
Climbing – I hear there’s lots of great places to climb specifically in Thailand and Laos plus you can take lessons on the basics of it all which is something that I never could get going in Edmonton.  My cousin Mike was big into it, Andrew is a climber, so is James another Crossfitter that joined us just when I left Sydney and also two of the guys that I worked with were both climbers.  All these people told me how great it is and filled me with stories of the sport and told me how great Thailand is for it.  Now to top it off one of the Canuck couples that I met down here from Leduc spent nearly 2 months in Thailand doing nothing but climbing.  They had never done it before they got there, fell in love with it and have regailed me with stories of their excursions.  I think sport is calling to me.

Well that’s that, stay healthy, stay fit and stay alive.  My next update will probably be Thai-side and like usual it could be a while.  Don’t have too many plans for when I get there other then find a place to stay in Bangkok for the first night and past that it’s all up for grabs.  I got my plane ticket so here I go.

Pics

Troy Archie

Well after god knows how long I finally have some pictures to put up and show everyone where I live work and play. Oh and I’m not an idiot, I have no idea why there’s that huge ass empty space above the text.

There’s more here

My apartment building

My bed and area where I store all my crap. My roommate Lionel just moved out so now I get the room souly to myself. Unfortunately he took his laptop with him which he let me use when he wasn’t around, which was pretty much all the time. I probably saw he guy like 6 times in the last 3 weeks and 4 of them was in the middle of the night when I woke up to go to the bathroom and saw him laying in bed sleeping.


I see there’s no underwear hanging in any of those pics, that’s good…

Now you’re probably asking what the hell all that money is doing on my bed; I sleep in it. Nothing more comfortable then sleeping in a big pile of cash. Actually I has this big ass can that I taped shut, put a hole in the top of and procedded to shove all my tip money that I made as it came in. I started doing this on July 31 and opened it the other day to find a nice $443.41 waiting for me but on my way to the bank to deposit it I walked past the Lindt chocolate cafe/chocolateria and blew it all.

Kitchen Area

Communal area. The cubical thing on the left is another bedroom that is occupied by Ed from England.

View from the patio

Good old Pitt St.

Off to work now; work is on Darling Harbour which is a pretty popular tourist spot and for good reason.

Work; it’s a little dank looking…well actually it’s a dump and I’ll be glad to leave. The place is clown shoes, absolutely no professionalism, which I guys is a good thing and a bad thing. It was fun while it lasted but I’ll be glad to leave. I look back at the place now think, “I can do better”.

The little blond dude there is Nikky from Scotland, he’s good shit, I have no idea who the girl is as she just started and that was her first or second day and the Korean guy way in the back is Neil the owner who can be a pain in the ass sometimes but overall pretty genuine.

Now here’s the reason why anyone would come to our restaurant and Darling Harbour in general. The flag there is at half mast because it was Steve Irwin’s funeral that day.




I spent many a night starring at that view but after a while it started to become a painting…the first sign it’s time to move on.

Well that’s the gist of it, like I was saying there’s much more here of Darling Harbour, my flat, work and whatever else. I was hoping Alena would have emailed me a couple pics of me her and Andrew but I haven’t got them yet so you’ll have to wait. I was going to rant more but I’m lazy and will have to save it for another post. Yes I know Thailand had a coup and I do still plan to go there. From the sounds of it, things are pretty much business as usual and by the time I’m ready to go all should be 100%, that said if it isn’t then I was thinking about going to Malaysia and Indonesia first, which I’m thinking I might just do anyway…I am young after all and sleep in a bed covered in money.

Over and out
Troy

It appears that my blog host server crashed and I lost this post but fortunately I still have it on a back-up disc.

Coming to an end
Well the end is almost here, I’ve been in Sydney for almost 3 months now, which is the longest I’ve been in one place for my entire time in OZ. Time has flown by here but I’ve a great time in the city, my knee is repaired and back in tip top shape and working out with Andrew has been the tune up, make that a complete overhaul actually, that I needed from months of being gym less. It’ll be hard to go back to not having a gym again but the amount of things that I’ve learnt and different perspective I’ve gotten from training with Andrew has been and will be invaluable when I’m back on the road. Sydney has been great to me; a new lifestyle, job, experience and life skills to notch onto the old belt.

The end of my days in Sydney also mark the near ending of my time in Australia; can’t believe it’s been a year already, it’s flown by but at the same time when I look back at all the things that I’ve done, experienced, seen, felt, people I’ve met and things that I’ve realized and found out about myself, it feels more like 12 years not 12 months.

So I know look back at my experiences of Australia and question what I liked and didn’t like about my time here. For starters I’ll say that I’ve hated traveling Australia but I’ve loved living here. I hated traveling by bus from town to town, jumping from hostel to hostel to go see some rock or something that you have to pay an arm and leg for. I’ve hated how expensive food is here and how you end up carrying around a bunch of food from hostel to hostel as you make your way across the country. I hate how if there’s a way to market something someone will find a way to do it and try to make a buck on it; i.e. going to see the sunset on camel in Broome or ATV in Coral Bay… Perhaps the main reason that I have hated traveling Oz is that I’m a cheap bastard that said it is an expensive country and even while hardcore cutting corners I still spent a fare bit of money and in the end I feel like I got little in return for it in regards to food, accommodation and general experience.

In saying all that though, there are more things that I love about the country then I hate, like I said I loved living here. I loved going to farms, working, living and meeting other people and seeing a lifestyle that I had never seen or known before. The people that have touched my life on this journey have been amazing and the experiences I’ve had evoke emotions that words give no justice to. I can honestly say I feel like a changed person from my time here and although I hate to use the term that I have “found myself” as I see it being rather pretentious and self-righteous but I have found out a lot about myself and really can’t find many other words to describe it.

Now for the big questions; Do I have any regrets or done things any differently? None. Would I it all over again exactly the same way? Without a doubt, YES. There is one thing that that I wish I could have done but have simple run out of time and that pertains to my complaints of traveling Australia. I would have really liked to have bought a car or met up with some like minded people with a car and travel the country on my own pace, seeing what I want to see and how I want to see it. In retrospect I think that this is the best and only way to see the country and even Canada for that matter. My friend Jesse regaled me with stories of his travels in OZ and how he saw the majority of the country in the back of a van camping along the way, it was these stories that influenced me to come down here and try it for myself. In the end I ended up having a completely different experience than him, one that I wouldn’t trade for the world and I honestly think is more interesting has been more fun (no offense Jess, just seeing it through my eyes only).

Making it Work
So I was looking thru my records and counted the numbers and have realized that as of writing this I was spent 312 days in Oz, of those 312 I have spent 220 days working in some form or another; so much for a vacation huh? I don’t really know what to think about that, maybe I just like working, or maybe like I’ve alluded to earlier, I’m a cheap bastard and hate spending any money. Whatever the reasons are, the work that I have done down here has been the best of my experiences and have made me a richer person and I don’t mean rich money-wise. When I left home I got together with a couple old friends, Sean Hoyle and Kevin Burns the second I had not seen in like 4 years up until a party I was at Sean’s place. We got together for drinks and Kevin brought with him a whole bunch of photos of his travels in Europe and Turkey. I asked him for any advice he could give me, looking for some info on how to pack my bag and what to bring. Instead he told me one thing; go live and work in another country. Do a job that you’ve never done before and be a part of that city or country and really see what life is like there. At the time I brushed off the advice not thinking much about it and actually thought it was a little bit of bullshit. Why would I travel half way around the world and do some shit job that I could just do at home? If I were to work down here it would probably be drafting, I thought. Oh my how the times have changed; now I have no intention on ever going back to drafting and all those little “shit jobs” have been my best experiences. Don’t know if you’ll ever read this Kev but thank you, that bit of advice has ended up being the best advice I could ever have gotten. Ha I also remember my buddy at Mastco, Fletcher saying that maybe I’ll go and wait tables somewhere or do something like that and me brushing him off thinking I don’t think so…

So after the counting the numbers and realizing that I like to work and am a cheap bastard, I am about to head off on a “real” vacation for a while with my mom, Brad and Tiff for the remainder of my Visa here, from there it’s off to Thailand, southeast Asia and beyond. This pretty spells an end to working or at least I think it will be. Who knows though, I could end up teaching English in China or working at a resort in Thailand, you never know and right now I’m pretty much open up to anything. A lot of people have asked me, as a lot of travelers do it, why I’m not heading off to New Zealand after Oz? I hear it’s amazing there but I think the main reason I’m not going, at least right now is because I’m questioning what I could get out of it experience-wise that I couldn’t get in any other western-culture nation? If I were to travel another western country right now it would be my own, Canada. Start off in like Halifax mid-May, buy a car and some camping gear and just start driving. Maybe get a wwoof Canada book and stop off at a couple farms along the way to see how other Canadians in other parts of the country live. Again, I think that’s how you’ve got to see the country and as of right now I intend to do that someday but for right now it’ll be something completely different, Asia.

When I got to Adelaide at the beginning of January I was not having fun, in fact I was ready to leave Oz. Up to that point had I mainly been just traveling my way via bus through the country hoping from town to town and hostel to hostel. Asia looked so much more promising, interesting, fun and cheaper. 8 months later and I’m still here about to head there and as of right now I’m a bit nervous about my travels there. I’ve almost built up my potential experiences there so much that I’m a bit afraid it’ll be over-hyped and a little bit of a let down. I’m so used to working that I don’t know if I’ll be able to just sit back, relax and take it easy for a change. Well there is one thing that I have learnt thus far in my journeys; take it as it comes. People ask me what I want to do there, see and where I plan to go and to be honest I really have no plans or any idea, I just plan to land there and take it as it comes. I do have some things that I do hope to experience and that is good food, cheapness and friendly people; the last one can be found anywhere as far as I’m concerned.

Birthday
It’s my birthday in a couple days and I’m a bit excited I must say. I can’t believe it’s already been a year, it feels like just yesterday that my cousins came over for a BBQ and my cousin Ryan bought me a vacuum cleaner for my birthday (HA!). Afterwards Mike and Erin came over and we went up to the Sidetrack Café and saw the Uncas play, it was a great birthday. This year I have no plans, will probably do absolutely nothing and there’s a good chance that I’ll end up spending it alone, all of which I kind of look forward to. Might sound depressing but I look forward to using the day to look back at the last year of my life, life in general, where I am, where I’m going and who I am and have become. A little introspection will be good and I like the fact that it is my birthday to do so as I have a marker and event exactly one year before to look back at it all on. I would like to go perhaps go out for a nice dinner but as I mentioned before I am cheap and am not getting lots of hours at work so perhaps I’ll just cook up one of my favorites like eggplant lasagna or pumpkin shepard’s pie both made with kangaroo. Yep, still enjoying cooking. I’ve received a couple things in the mail, one a package from my mom, which I think is a present, the other is a letter from my sister Paula that although isn’t a b-day present and I got it a couple weeks ago, I’ve decided to make it into a present and open it on my day.

Hockey
Well it’s about that time of year again, summer is just about over, training camp is starting up and the pre-season is right around the corner. It only seemed like yesterday that I was just about to board my plane from Adelaide to Sydney when I got a text message from home saying that the Oilers had lost. I wasn’t terribly upset, to be honest I kind of didn’t care, the whole thing seemed like a million miles away at the time. I was like, “dam, that sucks,” but that was about it. I’m sure if I was at home for the entire run and seen it all I would have cried like a little girl though. Anyways, training camp is right around the corner and a new season is on the horizon and I have a strange feeling that I am about to lose more interest and attachment to the game than I already have. I think that while the current CBA saved a number of NHL teams, made it much more exciting and balanced of a game it has also created a league where we’re going to see players changing teams thru trades and free agency at a break neck pace that it will pretty much eliminate what little team loyalty the players have left pretty much making them hired guns but here I am ranting away at a game that I say I don’t have much attachment left to…

I am getting very itchy to go at times and other times rather disappointed about leaving. The time that I’m disappointed is when I’m at the gym and after my workouts, definitely going to miss that. Other then that I’m pretty much set to go as work has been a bit of a pain lately.

Bitch Bitch Bitch
Note: This is the bitching section of my blog where I rant about work and other people enjoy.

The weather here the last week and a half has been really really shitty, which has kept people from wanting to go out and eat at an outdoor café/restaurant. To top off the lack of business, and bad weather my boss in her infinite wisdom seems to be highering more people than she needs and taking back on people who had previously worked there so in turn, hours and shifts are few and far between for myself. Now for my entire time working here I seem to be on my boss Jenny’s bad side, or so it seems. There are days she the greatest but others that everything I do she has to give me shit for even though everyone else is doing it and seems to go out of her way to give me flak. At first I thought it was just my view but my workmate Nicky confirmed that there’s days she seems to be out to get me and as Nicky puts it, “she’s a funny bird and I don’t mean that in a Mike Myers funny”. Now I’ve made mistakes in the past, screwed up a couple orders, spilled the odd drink but you know what, so has everyone else. I’m only human and is everyone else. So this week when the new roster comes out I see that Joe, a former workmate is back on the list and has 4 shifts, other people have 6 and most have about 4-5, I have 2 but after much pissing and moaning to Jenny I finally manage to get 3. Joe was up in Byron Bay for a about 6 weeks basically getting drunk everyday. He said he was going to be back about November but sure enough blew all his cash and is back. I like Joe he’s a good guy but he’s the bosses favorite, Number 1 and the saying around here goes and a much undeserved title at that. Again he’s a great guy, funny and good natured but shit to work with showing up hung-over 5 out of 7 days and drunk as shit for at least 2 of them. If he’s slotted in anytime before 12 you’re pretty much guaranteed he’ll no-show, is constantly late, shows up looking like he got hit by a bus and days that he’s just useless to work with, all of which Jenny thinks is hilarious and is “Number 1″. Meanwhile I on the other hand am always hearing shit and getting flak about some stupid pointless thing regardless of the fact that I’ve come in time and time again and that’s after being called in at 7 in the morning even though I had just worked the night before until 12, am never late and always show up sober, clean shaven and presentable.

Blah blah blah, bitch bitch bitch, cry me a freaking river. Well that’s done. I do have the wonderful consolation that in less than two weeks my sister Tiff will be here and in less than four mom, Brad and Paula will be here and I get to hit the road again saying good bye to my little stresses and see a different part of the world with different people and different cultures. I also get to see people that I haven’t seen in just about a year, which I’m very excited about. Again, it seems like it was only yesterday that it was my birthday and my cousins were over and I remember thinking I have no idea where I’ll be and what I’ll be doing in two months time. The idea of that really turned my crank and excited me and again here I am, birthday in a couple days and I’m thinking the same thing, very cool.

So yeah Happy Birthday to me and… Safe Travels.

Troy

Looky looky, an update.  It’s been a while as I’ve been a busy boy, working out lots, swimming lots, going out to eat at nice restaurants and working.  I work about 6 days a week, usually start at 5pm, work about 5-9 hours a day depending on how busy we are and average about 40hours a week.  Guessing if and when we’re going to be busy is like guessing when it’s going to rain while standing in a room without a window, it can be pretty bizarre.  You’ll get a Sunday that’s insane rush ass busy, a Tuesday where you don’t quit until 12 and then work a Friday that we close at 11.  But enough about work, how is life treating me?  Extremely well.  For the first time in a long as time I don’t care about money.  Pretty much every cent I make I spend and to top it off I have nothing to show for it.  I’m not spending my money on stuff and acquiring clutter but doing things, mainly eating at expensive restaurants and drinking good coffee.  When I first arrived here I thought for sure I’d be getting fat but since I’ve started to train with Andy and swim tons, I need all the food I can stuff down.

Fun
I’ve been thinking lately that I really don’t miss anything from back home.  Sounds bad but it’s true.  My work mate Joe put it perfectly, “The only thing that I miss about back home is playing football. Yeah I miss family and friends, that’s a given but they’re going nowhere, they’ll always to be there (home) and when I get back there they’ll be.”  I thought that was well put and pretty much the same way that I feel except the only thing that I missed was the gym.  Fortunately I don’t even miss that since I’ve started working out with another Crossfitter down here, Andrew and just recently another guy Don who are trying to set up a Crossfit Sydney.  Andy and I had a great session Sunday morning, with me on 3 hours sleep and afterwards went out to Don’s place for more fun.  Don’s got a pretty good garage fym he’s slowly building up and has some really cool toys to play with.  Seeing his set up has me thinking about my eventual garage gym. 
Having someone else to workout with, specifically Crossfit style workouts is a blast.  I’ve never had a training partner before and I have been missing out all these years.  It’s amazing how much more intense the workout of the day can be by having someone yelling at you while your pushing yourself to the limit.  Pretty much every workout ends with lying on the ground gasping for breath trying to keep your shit together.  Plus the whole social aspect of it is great.  Having someone else to talk fitness to beyond the basic bodybuilding crap is great, the amount that I’m learning through him is invaluable and even only after a week I can as if my fitness level has gone up.  To top it off having someone else to Crossfit with doesn’t make you look completely insane and have people treat you like an outcast.  I’m sure you don’t want to hear about my fitness crap but that’s to freakin bad because this is what’s on my mind.  Andy’s also introduced my to the C2 Rower, an amazing piece of equipment that some day I must own.  We did two 2500m rows with a 4 minute rest between and I just about passed out after the last 2500m.  Later that night what I call “The Truck Effect” set in and I was trying to figure out the license plate of the truck that hit me.  On top of the great workouts that I’ve been having I’ve been swimming lots lately and have been improving quite nicely.  I’m still a terrible swimmer but I’m really enjoying it and making ground.
Being exposed to Andrew and Don has left me thinking that I really need a sport and goal to reach with that sport.  I’m thinking that swimming might be just that sport and that my goal to be to attain the highest level of swimming that I can get to and even become certified to be a life guard.  I have no intentions to be a life guard, career wise but view it as a goal to get to.  I dunno, something to think about for when I get home or even play around with while down here.  Oh yeah, my knee has been feeling great lately and It’s getting better and better.  Did a workout with 300 squats in the other day pain free, the next day I hit a 135kg/297lbs deadlift and finished off with a 100kg/220lbs squat all with no problems.

Black Sheep
Since getting back to the city and such, I’ve been confirmed even more that I am a bit of a black sheep, hell you’ve read what I consider fun so that’s a given but also in regards to other travelers and what they do and want.  I’ve found and am finding that most travelers in Australia are and as Andrew put it, a bunch of piss heads.  What do you do in Auss?  You come down here on a 1 year working visa and get loaded, a lot; some people haven’t even seen a kangaroo yet or left Sydney.  At first I thought it was just me but talking to Andy, who’s traveled not only abroad throughout Asia but also in his own backyard, Australia is a haven for a lot of people to come and party and do nothing else whereas a lot of countries you’ll find more people out doing things like rock climbing and other specific sports.  I look back at my previous mindsets of viewing the piss tank scene as a waste of time and such but now realize that it’s definitely each to their own and that everyone wants different things at different times of their lives.  The thought of going back to wwoofing and back out onto a farm makes me shudder.  I can definitely see now that wwoofing is not for everyone but at the same time think that most people should give it a shot.  New experiences and I think all travelers will agree with me, is the reason why we’re here.  At the time it was great, exactly what I wanted, was having a blast and viewed the life I’m living now as a waste of time.  My how perceptions, goals and wants can change at a whim. 
Of course my views as to what I consider fun and the lifestyle that I live don’t really help me be part of the crowd.  The flack that I get from people about what I eat is insane.  I usually bring some cut up veggies, a piece of fruit or two and a can of tuna/salmon to work with me for dinner.  We’re offered food at work but the food comes in the delicious variety of chips, deep fired chicken and fish and pies.  I personally don’t consider any of that food but then again what do I know.

Kiss me I’m Irish
I get a kick out of this one; what’s the place in the world that people think that I’m from?  America? Nope.  Canada?  Guess again.  Ireland.  I get more thinking that I’m from Ireland than anywhere else.  Boggles my mind but it happens at least twice a week and I get it from not only Aussies but also Brits and Scots too.

9 Cups a Day
A couple weeks ago I was right into the thick of things with work, moving and just life in general.  I had worked the previous night and was up again first thing in the morning to work again.  To top it off I had just moved into my flat and didn’t get to bed until late because I was unpacking and trying to get myself half-assed organized so I was pretty much on no sleep most of the day and it didn’t look like I was going to get to bed until late because we were having a staff night out.  The World Cup was in full swing and on this particular night Germany and Italy were about to face off at 5:00 AM the following morning so I figured I might as well pull an all nighter and stay up for the game.  Anyways, the day started with two cups of coffee before I shipped off to work , I usually only have one but this morning was a tough one thus far.  At work throughout my shift I had another 2 cups to help me through the day.  We have amazing coffee at work and I take advantage of it when I can.  After work I went home and had another cup before I hit the gym to get the juices flowing and again had another one a bit after my workout with my post-workout meal.  From there I set out for a night out with everyone from work and went on my way to meet everyone at work.  When I arrived Jenny, my boss, was pouring free drinks for everyone and since I don’t drink she poured me a cup of black goodness.  I couldn’t refuse as she makes the best coffee in the world, she’s definitely a pro on the espresso machine.  By this time I realize that I’ve had 7 cups throughout the day, just a little bit more than usual and quite a bit insane.  From there the night began and we set out to a number of bars before settling down at one pub at around 3:30 to watch the game.  This is where lack of sleep really stepped in and my head started to nod up and down so I figured I needed a hot shot of black.  Number 8.  The game started up at 5 AM and by then I was pretty tired and as the game progressed on I only got more and more tired so much that eventually I had to stand up to keep myself awake.  Even though I only lived like down the street and could have gone home at any moment, the atmosphere of the place was great with all the German and Italian fans going crazy over the game so I wanted to stay.  At half time I was just staggering with exhaustion and was a bit puckish so I decided to make a quick run home, which was like a 3 minutes walk away.  At home I had a quick snack and again, a cup of pure black coffee, number 9.  Insanity and definitely not the healthiest but either is 9 beers or 9 shots in a night.  I guess we all have our poisons.  I went back to the bar and watched the second half of the game up to penalty time where by then I was so tired I had to stand and just about fell over a couple times anyways so I went outside and watched the penalty time outside of the pub through the window just so the fresh air would keep me awake.  After penalty time was up and it was going to go into overtime after a short break, I decided that I was being just completely insane for standing out of the street watching the game through a window and that I needed sleep.  I went home from there and crashed and ended my insanity of 9 cups of coffee in one day.  The next two days I didn’t have a single drop of coffee and didn’t have a cup until three days later and since that insane day have averaged 2 per day.  Surprisingly I didn’t have really too bad of with drawls the couple days after that I went without.  I expected headaches and such but all I felt was a bit groggy the first day and I’m sure that was because I still didn’t get much sleep the following morning as I would have liked.

Dosed
In order to enter my apartment you need a electronic key swipe card that you use in the elevator in order to access the floor you live on.  It only works for your floor and the 5th which is where the pool and gym is.  My fat has 3 of these such cards and I share mine with my room mate, Lionel and what we do is put the card in the mail box if we’re the last one to leave the flat so that other or yourself can get back in.  Being the dumb ass that I am I would normally carry it around with me during the day because I knew Lionel wouldn’t be home until 5 and by then I’d be at work and would have left it in the box by then.   This day was no exception and I made my rounds throughout the city going to Physio and then the gym with it in my pocket the entire time.  Somewhere between the gym and home, while texting and playing around with my Mp3 player, it fell out of my pocket.  I didn’t realize this until I got home and began to retrace my steps.  I retraced my steps twice that day and then twice the next day with no avail.  I must have looked like a lunatic walking through the streets starring and panning the ground, walking left to right looking for that stupid thing.  Luckily on the day that I lost it, just as I was getting home, my landlord was there and I reiterated everything to him and he was cool with it.  Unluckily, it was going to cost me 100 bucks that would come out of my deposit.  Now as many of you know I am a cheap bastard.  100 to me is big bucks and I relate it to 10 hours of my time and money that I could be spending elsewhere.  I decide as punishment to myself that I’d instead of having the money come out of my deposit, which is money that I took from my savings, that I would use money from my pay.  The week before it had rained a lot and I only got to put in minimal hours so my last pay check was pretty small plus I had to pay for physio sessions so I was going to pretty much be living off of what tips I made in the up coming days.  Yeah it’s stupid, I know.  Why put myself through such stress and strife when the whole reason I’m here in the city is to work and have fun.  So I go to work that night punching myself the whole time and bitching about how stupid I am.  I wasn’t so much pissed off about the 100 but just how boneheaded I was and how I lost it.  That night after work I headed off with friends from work for a going away party for one of our co-workers, Kat.  Now Kat’s been away from home, traveling and living abroad for 4 years.  She left home when she found out that her boyfriend/fiancée of 4 years had cheated on her on her birthday so she said screw it all and the life they had planned together and took off traveling the world.  I personally think that’s simply rad how she took a shitty situation and made the best and most out of it instead of sitting at home crying about it.  Very strong women she is.  She was originally going to take off to Thailand before heading home but changed her mind a couple weeks earlier, deciding just to go straight home back to Ireland.  I had talked with her a bit how crazy it must feel and how she must be in a very interesting state of mind to be heading home after all these years.  After all the amazing experiences she much have experienced over the years that this must be a really cool and exciting new one to be taking on, even though it seems rather mundane and normal.  We talked about her plans of what she was going to do when she got home.  Her main goal was to go and take a course that would let her teach English abroad and take off to Korea where she had lots of contacts.  Our boss Jenny, who’s from Korea, was pretty much a second mother to Kat so she had lots of contacts in Korea and was pretty much set.  Before the party we fill out a card and in my portion I write about how strong of a woman she is for making the best out of a shitty situation and how she shouldn’t stay in Ireland for too long and get to Korea as quick as she could.

So I go to the party and it’s a rather sober mood in the air.  I don’t think much of it as it’s still pretty early and these are the type of people who go until 10 the next morning.  A lot of the people there are making comments about ‘Little Michael’ and a couple of people at work were kidding about it earlier too.  I chalked it up to an inside joke and nothing more.  People started to joke that Kat would rather have a little Irish lad than an Aussie bloke.  That’s when things started to click in.  Save for a couple weeks earlier, I had always seen Kat in a black top and tonight she was wearing a green one.  She had a bit of a belly but nothing huge.  A couple weeks earlier she had complained that she had to stop eating chips and junk food so late at night and needed to start going to the pool in the morning as she was getting a ‘beer gut’.  I chuckled at that and thought nothing more of it and I’m sure she did too.  Ends up that beer gut was a little more that beer and chips.  Ends up it was/is a baby.  She had just found out two weeks prior that she was pregnant, 7 months pregnant to be exact.  I guess she had still been having her periods and missed her first one a couple weeks earlier which prompted her to go see a doctor.  I’d heard of women not having their period and not being pregnant so I don’t see why the opposite couldn’t happen.  She’s a shorter girl and a bit plump so I personally never noticed and either did anyone else.  When she told Joe, one of our co-workers, a week later he was in complete denial and our boss Jenny, who helped through all of it and took her to the doctor and was shocked too.  So much for Thailand, school, Korea, life abroad and everything that she knew and called life, instead back to Ireland with only a suspicion of who the father is and plans to keep the baby.  So here I am punching myself about losing this small piece of grey plastic and being out of 100 and here Kat is, pregnant and heading back home after 4 years of a care free life to a world completely opposite as to what she had been living.  Definitely put my flaming little pile of shit life and problems into perspective.  The next day Kat flew back home.  I said screw my 100 plans and went out to eat at a nice restaurant.

Well that’s about all I’ve got to say for now.  Thought I’d also throw my address on here just in case anyone wanted to send me something.
Troy Archie
58/418 Pitt St.
Sydney, NSW
Australia
2000

Cheers

Hey thought I’d just throw you an update as to what’s going on down here in the big S.

Good
I went to a physio therapist today and got my knee taken a look at.  The good news is it’s nothing serious.  Its patellar tendonitis but it’s brought on by the fact that my hips and calves are really inflexible so I just have to work on my flexibility in my hips and calves for starters and also work on getting my knee back to 100%.  The physio therapist was great.  She knew lots about sport and such and had a real understanding for crazy people like myself that do stupid things to themselves in the name of fitness.  I’ve got another session on Monday where we’re going to start working on increasing my knee strength.  It already feels good just after one session of getting it stretched out and massaged.  As for now I’ll just be stretching and keeping away from squats and running.  I’ve substituted running with swimming, which I’m rather enjoying and even though I suck at it I think that I may have finally found a sport for myself.  I think it’s kind of like golf, as it’s an individual’s sport that you can play/compete against yourself and others.

Bad
The bad news is that it costs $69 a hit for a session so that means an end to lunches out and expensive restaurants.  I was thinking about dipping into my savings for this but I figure it’s more of an interesting and learning experience to do it with what I make instead.  Unfortunately to top it off it’s been really crappy weather here the last two day’s and we’ve closed shop pretty early so I’m not getting as much time in so next weeks budget will be a bit tight.  I was thinking that maybe my AB health would cover it but I highly doubt that.
Great
As for the great news, I’ve started to get together with one of the guy’s from Crossfit Sydney down here and am starting to train with him.  Today was our first session and it was rad.  He works as a life guard at this huge Aquatic/fitness facility about a 15 minutes walk away and can get me in for free anytime I want so long as he’s working.  It was my first workout in a proper gym in ages and it felt great.  Along with the workout and the physio I have a feeling I’m going to be feeling it tomorrow.  It’s great, for the first time ever I have a training partner and to top it off it’s another insane nut case that does Crossfit; can’t get much better I say.

That’s about that I can think of for right now.  I need to start writing down some of my crap so that I type it out.  I also need to get some pics of work and my view from work.  Work has been good and life in my flat has been fun even though I pretty much just sleep there and stop by to eat, other then that I’m either down at the pool, at work and now at the Aquatic/fitness facility hurting myself.  I figure that was the biggest thing that I was missing about from back home, a proper gym.  Sorry friends and family but what can I say, I love it.

Troy

This is a bit of a quick update just letting everyone know what’s happening in my little world.  The last couples weeks have been great, after getting off of KI I spent a week in Adelaide, laying back, relaxing and treating myself to good things.  I went and saw 2 movies, X-men 3 and Mission Impossible 3 and treated myself to 3, yep 3, good meals in nice restaurants, it was a blast.  I thought X3 was alright, not as good as the 2nd one but still good fun, as for MI:3 I thought it was really cool.  Lots of explosions, insane over the top stunts and just pure cheesy action, just what I wanted after reading way too many well written books.  For my dinners, I went to two Thai restaurants and an Indian place.  All 3 were great but the first that I went to was the best but I’m not too sure if that’s because the whole meal was very built up after an amazing day.
 

One of the Bestest Days Ever
June 15/06 was a very good day.  I woke up nice and early with the complete intention of having a workout but after realizing how cold it was I said screw that and put it off until the afternoon.  I guess it had hit like a 23 year low in the city that night, not too sure if it froze or not in the city but I think it got dam close.  I got out of bed, had a long hot, high pressured shower and sat down afterwards to a great cup of this Kenyan roast coffee that Kate brought back for me from South Africa, it is amazing stuff.  I then proceeded to make my rounds around the town taking my time, doing a couple little errands in between things that I wanted to do.  This was one of the first times I’ve just taken my time in the city in ages and it felt good.  After a couples little errands and homework I hit the movie X-men3.  It was good fun I thought.  I was pounding my head into the seat in front of me trying to figure out who it was that was playing Beast, the big blue guy.  I finally put the voice to the face and realized it was Side Show Bob, aka Kelsey Grammer, I nearly laughed out loud.  Afterwards I hit went back to the hostel and had my self a nice cup of coffee, it was delicious, from there I went to a local soccer pitch for a workout.  I used to always go there when I was in town for my workouts and I had hid a cinder block in the bushes to workout with back in March and lone behold it was still there.  Bonus.  After a great workout I headed back to the hostel and proceeded to shave my head.  Kate let me take an old pair of clippers that were kicking around at her place and earlier in the day I found a place called “Shavers” that was dedicated towards men’s shavers and shaving needs where I bought a guard for it.  I hadn’t had a hair cut since I left Kangaroo Island, the first time way back in the beginning of April so it was much in need.  After that I had another really long, really hot shower and finished it off with a nice smooth shave.  Wonderful.  Next I again, proceeded to sit down and again have a nice cup of Kenyan deliciousness, really taking my time with the cup and enjoying its flavors.  Man I love coffee.  It’s not that I’m addicted to the caffeine, I just love the taste.  Anything other than straight black is a travesty.  After that I went out and treated myself to something that was in dire need of being done.  A good meal.  I had been scoping out a couple places the night before of where I was planning to break the chain of only eating out of a grocery bag and finally made my choice at a place called Tiffany Thai Cafe.  They had a special on for $20 which included a main and an entree.  I ordered the Thai Salad, which was with cabbage, cucumbers, capsicum, prawns, chicken, cashews and a nice spicy Thai sauce.  There were a couple other odds and ends in there too and all in all it was an amazing salad.  For the main I ordered the green curry with Kangaroo meat which nearly knocked my socks off.  I love my curry and cooking one up so going to a nice place and seeing how they do it was really cool.  A job well done and I should have gone there a couple more times but I decided to see what else the town had to offer.  After my great meal I went down the street to a nice little café and had myself a pretty dam good espresso, after which I was so hopped up in caffeine and just simply feeling great from an amazing day that I just about ran thru the streets with the music to Rocky playing.  Fortunately I didn’t because I would have been the only one who heard the music and would have looked completely insane.
Oh another fun little misadventure I had that day was just about getting into a fight with some dude on the street.  I think he was homeless or at least a moocher.  He came up to me with this bit wad of paper acting all nice and such asking for money, saying that his bills for his medicine has gone up and he needs some cash.  Now, why he came up and asked me I don’t think I’ll ever know.  Here I am, shit covered worn out old boots, a pair of old tattered jeans (my only pair), all scruffy still (I hadn’t saved my head or face yet) wearing an old jacket that I just bought for $10 at the Goodwill the day before.  I don’t think I look like I have lots of money in fact I probably looked like I should have been asking him to help a brother out.  I really don’t even let the guy finish off his sad sap story before I march off saying, “sorry man, I’m a poor ass traveler, can’t help you,” as I walk away and cross the street.  He then starts following me across the street giving me shit that I didn’t need to be so rude and that I should get back on that plane and f-off.  At this moment I start feeling a bit bad, yeah I guess I didn’t need to be so rude to the guy and such and he starts telling me that if I was anyone he knew he would have kicked my ass.  I start thinking that, yeah I probably would have deserved it and think that I must make all other travelers, Canadians especially look like shit.  He follows me down the shit for a ways giving me shit and I take it feeling like a complete dink the whole time.  We finally split ways and he still yells shit down the street at me and what not before he walks out of my life forever.  Again, why he asked me for cash I’ll never know.  Do I look like an easy mark or a sap?  I hope not.  Why not ask some dude with nice shoes and a suit and tie.  He’s obviously got cash.  So we part ways and I start thinking about the whole exchange feeling like a complete ass and how he was right that I didn’t need to be so rude.  It then donned on me.  F^ck him I think, I wasn’t the rude one, he was the rude one.  The guy came up to me, a complete stranger on the street and asks for money for absolutely nothing in exchange.  Bullshit.  He came up to me acting all nice and crap simple because he wanted something, MY hard earned cash, money that I worked and slaved away for so I can be out traveling the world, experiencing new things and broadening my horizons.  I met this French guy somewhere and someplace, I don’t rightly remember and the topic came up as to why the French come off as rude especially to strangers.  He replied that it’s not that the French are rude; it’s just that we have no reason to be nice to you, a stranger.  They don’t know you, they’re not your friend so why be should they be nice to you?  He went on saying that, most of the time when a stranger comes up to you being very nice, they almost always want something.  What better way to get what you want than being nice and polite?  Sure, after they meet you and because acquaintances with you and even friends, that’s when they will be nice, generous and polite to you, until then what’s the point?  What has this person shown or done to be worthy of their generosity and friendliness?  Good point Frenchy.
 

So Long Suckers
Finally it’s happened, after a week in Adelaide, relaxing I took off to Sydney and I am glad as hell to get my ass out of Adelaide and South Australia in general.  I got there back in January and save a short 3 week stint in Melbourne and Victoria, I have left for good.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very nice place and was extremely welcoming after spending two months in the freakin’ desert and outback, which I’ll rant about some other time.  So I arrived in Sydney on a Tuesday and hooked up with my coursin Mike, who let me stayed at his place while I search for a job.  I spent a couple day’s getting my things set up before I set out looking for work on Friday.  I handed out 10 resumes that day and by the end of the day found a job.  Monday morning I had like 4 people call me up asking if I was still looking for work so thinkgs went pretty good.  I got a job waiting tables on Darling Harbour/Cockle Bay at a cafe/restaurant called Harbour Side Pie Cafe.  It’s right on the water front with a whicked view of the CBD.  Again, Score.  My bosses are great people and so are all my co-workers.  We’re all pretty much backpackers working there save one guy who’s an Aussie but other then that it’s pretty much the UN there and that could be said for the entire city.  I swear there’s no Australians in this town.  So after much worrying and fears of the future I found myself a great job in a great place right in the heart of the city.  Eazy Peazy.  The pay isn’t the greatest, only $10 an hour but its under the table/tax free so it’s all good.  From what I hear as a backpacker I would be hit with a minimum of a 45% income tax.  Ouch.  I’ve had some of my co-workers say that they’re making more money at $10 an hour tax free then at like $17/hour.  Oh, and I also get tips but since most people don’t tip down here it’s usually nothing special, about $10 a night I’d say I average but hey, I’m not here for the money but for a good, no great time. 

Home
So after finding a job with no hassles I went about finding a place to live.  There’s tones of advertisements all throughout the city from anywhere in the free papers to on lamp posts so I had a feeling this was going to be an easy one.  I looked at one place and took it not wanting to have the hassle of looking at a million places that look exactly the same, plus it was a Friday and I had to be out of Mike’s place by Sunday. I found a placeright downtown Sydney, like a 15 minutes walk to work and 5 to Chinatown and Paddy’s market, it’s pretty sweet location plus there’s about a million amazing restaurants in the area and it’s got a pool and a gym too which were sort of the selling features for me.  It’s a 2 bedroom place that I share with 5 others.  I share a room with a Swiss guy, Lionel, there’s a Thai/Koren couple in the Master bedroom that I never see, an Indonesian guy in the den/sunroom and an English guy in the cublical style room that’s in the living room.  All this for a bargain price of $130 per week.  You’re probably thinking what a rip off and how I must be living like a sardine but really, compared to a hostel it’s 5-star.  Most hostels are $20/night ($140/week), you’re in a dorm style room with about 8-10 beds and share a kitchen with about 50 others so really, when you put it in that context it’s actually a steal of a deal.  I do wish I would have found a place where I was in the living room though as it would have been a bit cheaper and it’s really not that bad plus I’m practically never home.  I must say it’s nice living with a bunch of people, it’s nice to come home to a place to someone.  When I get back home and move out again, I’ll for sure get at least one roommate if not four.

Waiting Tables
Waiting tables is fun and stupid easy.  I’m taking orders and talking to people all day, how cool is that?  Now that I’ve got this skill under my belt I highly doubt that I’ll go back to drafting when I get back home but of course that’s a long way’s away, at least 3 months anyways.  I probably won’t make as much waiting tables as drafting but could probably make pretty close to and more important than money, I’d be doing a job that I thought was fun and would have my sanity unlike back in cubical world.  Plus I figure I could make some killer tips back home.  People here don’t tip or at least very much or very often and I can’t help but feel that if I was wokring for my tips I could make some decent money.  It pisses me off that they don’t tip too as down here, I have the accent and could milk it for all it’s worth.  Back home I don’t have it.  Thus far waiting has been a blast, a breath of fresh air, a great experience and extremely interesting.  By interesting I mean I am seeing things on the other side of the coin sorta speak and seeing it thru the eyes of the people serving me.  It’s amazing how one person with a shitty attitude can walk into the place and bring you down but how one really nice person can come in and brighten up your day.  Some day’s and people can drive your patients, like the other day when no matter how much conversation I tried to stir up with people or how hard I tried to get a smile out of them I couldn’t get anything other then, “I’ll just get the bill”.  It was like talking to a brick wall.  I also see the value of a tip too.  Again, it’s not requirred to tip down here and give the 10-15% like back home but the cheapness some people pull down here is just sad.  The amount of people that sit there and wait for their $0.50 to come back to the table is just sad.  It’s not an insult to me but an insult to them.  Everytime I go out to eat now my rule of thumb, down here at least, is give 1-1.5%, might only be a couple bucks but if everyone did that at the end of the night you’d get an alright haul and I know when I get those few dollars I’m pleased and I know so are the people serving me.

Knee
The wing to my yang.  The balance of my force.  The good to my bad.  My left knee has been giving me problems the last month or so.  I first noticed it when I stepped off the bus leaving from KI.  At first it only hurt in the morning when I started to walk around but got better thru the day.  After a bit of a warm-up and stretch I could still workout with it no problems but in the last little bit it’s become worse and I’ve now gone to the point where I’m only doing upper body workouts and have just bought myself a cheap knee support to give it some rigidity and keep it warm.  It’s helped a bit but walking around still gives me problems.  It probably doesn’t help that I’m on my feet 6-10 hours a day at work too.  I’m looking to make an appointment with a physiotherapist and will probably end up paying out of my own pocket and out of the teeth for this but I don’t want to go home.  A girl I work with, her roomie is a physiotherapist from France and say’s that she could arrange us to meet but I’m thinking that that could take a while so I think I’ll just pay and get in but I’ll talk to her first.  It’s funny the way we are how we go from, “my knee is sore”, to “oh my god, I’m going to have to go home, get reconstructive surgery, end my trip and never get a chance to see the world like I had planned.”  We’ll see what happens.  I think it’s patellar tendonitis but we’ll see what the physiotherapist says. 

Food
Although I don’t make very much and pay out the teeth for rent, since I don’t drink I am making more money than I anticipated and need to spend more, which is why I came to the city in the first place so I’ve decided to spend my money on food.  There are probably more amazing privately owned, unique restaurants on my street alone than in entire Edmonton so I figure I’m going to take full advantage of it.  I’ve been introduced to a number of interesting foods as of late like from my boss Jenny, who’s Korean I’ve discovered Kim Chee which is a pickled cabbage/spinich in a discustingly hot/spicy sauce.  It’s a staple in Korea being served with most meals and is amazing.  Last week Mike took me out for Japanesse and I had some Sushimi, which is raw fish thinly sliced.  It too was amazing and I see there’s a great Japanesse restaurant across the street from my place that has a pretty decent looking serving of it that I’ve been meaning to try.  I also found this really great and cheap sushi place down the road that had a pretty good Kim Chee, not as hot as Jenny’s homemade batch but still solid and they got these rolls made of rice paper with like prawns, beefs and veggies inside of them, they kick ass.  To top it all off since I work nights starting at 3or5, which at first I wasn’t too fond about but now see it as a good thing, I can go out for lunch which most restaurants have special deals with as much as $5 off the dinner meal and even a lunch menu with a lot of great deals.  So my goal is of now to get fat, well not really.  All the food in these places is pretty healthy and taste so dam good.

Google Earth Fun
Here are a couple google earth coordinates for people to play with:
“Aussie Home” lat=-33.8789035705, lon=151.207552046
“Work” lat=-33.8721643945, lon=151.199313658
“Snelling Beach” lat=-35.6674298545, lon=137.07330339
“Maslin House” lat=-35.2435607015, lon=138.476060012

Well this is a bit of a quick entry as I really don’t have much patients for a computer as of late and writing this much has been pushing it so I’m going to cut it from here and perhaps go look for some sushi or sushimi as I;m not at home right now but at my cousins new place out by Bondi.

Cheers

Troy

It’s the end of something….
It’s been an interesting 5 weeks out here and in retrospect, exactly what I needed at this juncture in my journey. 5 weeks being pretty much alone out here has allowed me to get a couple things done that I badly needed to do, namely reading, writing, cooking on my own, independence and a lot of great workouts but most importantly a lot of thinking. The main thing going through my head has been, what next? My last two wwoofing experiences were good and fun but I didn’t get very much out of them as a person like I did my previous stays. So again the big question, what next? I didn’t want to jump back onto the tourist trail, paying money to take pictures of rocks and trees but wwoofing wasn’t fulfilling me like it had in the past. I realize now that I have been wwoofing for nearly 5 months of the 7 that I’ve been in Australia and change is what I needed. I questioned if my travels in OZ were coming to a close and perhaps it was time to ship off to another country (like I’m going back home yet pff). That thought and that thought alone has made me realize that I’m done with wwoofing. That probably sounds bad but it’s not. The experiences that I’ve had while wwoofing have been amazing and have not so much changed me but have allowed me to realize and find out a lot about myself and life in general. 5 weeks alone has also allowed me something that I haven’t had in a while; independence. The biggest catch with wwoofing is that quite often, you eat when the hosts eat and what they eat, you work when they work, you sleep when they sleep…Alone out here, I got to do everything on my schedule. If I wanted to sleep in until 10 I could. If I wanted curried shark or pumpkin Shepard’s pie for lunch I could. If I thought it was way too nice out to be working right then and wanted instead to have a workout, there was no one there to say otherwise, it was great. I had forgotten about how nice it truly was. So from here it’s off to the big city, Sydney to do what seems to be what the majority of the other backpackers do and that’s find a Joe job and live in Australia for a while. Seems pretty simple. Yeah I know, I used to always bitch about everyone for doing that, not really seeing the point of coming half way around the world to work at a Subway or some nowhere job but not giving something like wwoofing a shot because there was no pay check at the end of the day. From what I saw they weren’t getting anything out of it as a person and just didn’t get it. I realize now that instead of being a hypocrite, bitching about them not trying my world and wwoofing that I really should try their world and see just what it’s all about, you never know, I might just learn a couple things about myself along the way and get more than just a pay check. I completely rejected the idea of waiting tables or scrubbing dishes in Australia or teaching English in China as something I’d try while travelling but now I think anything goes. It’s interesting and very refreshing how ideas, perceptions and mindsets can change while travelling. That and well to be completely frank, I’m sick of shovelling shit. I have shovelled more animal excrement in these last 5 months than a lot of people have their entire lives. I’d be really interested in how many pounds (tonnes?) I’ve shovelled. If my next job involves poop in anyway, I’m walking out the door. Maybe that’s why a lot people don’t wwoof…So here I am closing what’s turned out to be a very interesting, educational and really amazing part of my travels and even life, out to break a whole new comfort zone. I’m hoping to get a job waiting and clearing tables in a restaurant or cafe like I had done now and again at Wind in Wings but unfortunately outside of here I have zero experience in that field and think I might have a bit of a tough time finding work. Needless to say I’m a bit unnerved. That said, I think I’m a pretty dam good dishwasher and pretty handy in the kitchen so if that’s what ends up being my means to an end so be it. It’s not like I can’t quit if I don’t like it and buy a plane ticket to Thailand…

Living in a City
I’ve been thinking about it lately but I’ve never truly lived in a big city. Sure I’ve lived in Edmonton and even Vancouver for a short stint but both experiences were at a time when I was basically flat broke. When living in Edmonton, I was going to school and when living in Vancouver I had no job, both times living pretty much on what I had saved up. I never really went out much and experienced what both cities had to offer. I’ve never attended any of the festivals, special events or special sports events that went on in the city. I never experienced the nice restaurants, cafes, social venues or social clubs. I pretty much just sat at home, rented movies, hung out with friends now and again and went to Whyte Ave bar hoping; not too much of a cultural experiences or being a part of the city I must say. This is something that I want to experience and figure why not here and now in the world class city of Sydney? So that’s my plan. I realize that for the last…forever it seems I have been either living on nothing while going to school or trying to make a living in Vancouver to working my ass off, being a cheap tight-wad, trying my best to save up and make a go at this travel thing. I haven’t really just “lived”, wasting money at a nice cafe everyday, going to a nice restaurant once a week, taking part in a social club or sports team. Hopefully I can give these things a try in Sydney and see what happens.

I’m also hoping that Sydney is a bit warmer. The temperature is getting pretty cool down here, a couple weeks ago it was dam cold for a good week and they measured the coldest temperature for the month of May in Adelaide one morning at like 3. Yeah I know that doesn’t sound terrible but it’s all relative. It’s like when you first go back to school and the week before was beautiful out at around like 20 everyday but then it drops down to like 10 and you’re thinking, “dam it’s cold”. Same thing here plus everything is very wet and moist and there’s always a wicked wind that cuts right through you coming off the ocean. In the sun it’s always really nice and around like 10-12 in the morning it’s actually pretty warm out and you’re thinking that it’s going to be a great day but from about 1-2 onward the temperature plummets and the wind picks up and you’re looking for your jacket and toque. I love that world, toque. Only in Canada. Everyone looks at my like I’m from outer space when I use it. I have to laugh, I called Mike back in the beginning of May and he asked me if I was near the beach. Ha, I think you’d die if you went into the water, even in March it was cold. As I write this the news behind me is saying that it’s unusually cold out right now and that today was one of the busiest day’s at the hospitals in like 2 years with people coming in for colds and flu’s. I’m also wondering as I write this as to where my jacket and toque are…

Gas
Gas is $1.50/liter here on the Island. That’s $1.24 Canadian. Something to think about. I remember when I was in Alice Spring’s at the beginning of the year, gas was as high as like $1.64 in some of the remote roadhouses. I can’t wonder how much it is per litre there now…

Bananas
When I first arrived in Australia bananas were going for about $0.89/kg at most major grocery stores and the highest I had ever seen them was around $1.20/kg but you could go to the farmers markets and find them as low as $0.69/kg. They were basically giving them away. That was before cyclone Larry ripped through northern Queensland, the “banana belt” of Australia, a couple months ago and pretty much screwed it up like a bad accent. In the ensuing aftermath and devastation, bananas jacked up in price to the point where only the rich could afford to eat them. On the radio they had people calling in saying how much they were going for in their neck of the woods. The highest I had heard was $8.99/kg, basically ten times the amount it normally was. The other day I was in the grocery store and for shits and giggles I thought I’d check how much they were. At first I couldn’t find them and thought that they weren’t carrying them because of the price but out of the corner of my eye I spotted them, stashed away in a small little corner on the fruit stand with the price on the bottom of it that nearly knocked me over. $12.99/kg. I just about grabbed the stock boy that was standing next to me by each shoulder, shaking him and yelled in his face, “$13/kg for bananas!? $13/kg for bananas!?” but I didn’t. Yep…bananas are expensive.  

Oilers
I see the Oil lost again and are now done 2 games to 0. Dam. That sucks hardcore that Roloson got hurt but I don’t think it’s as a big deal as the media has put it. From what I could see thru reading articles and stats, there’s no one player on the team that’s carrying the entire team. Yeah there are players that are more predominate and fill a larger role but you can’t attribute the team’s success specifically to one player. That all said, I honestly didn’t like how the Oilers stacked up against either of the teams coming out of the east wether it was the Canes or Sabres. There was something about both teams that made me uneasy. I felt they had a chance against the Wings when they were playing them, when they were down 2-0 to the Sharks I thought they could easily come back and when they were up against the Ducks I felt there was no contest. Now, for the first time, I think otherwise and have a bit of doubt in the back of my mind but this is coming from a guy who wasn’t seen a glimpse of hockey since November.

In the end though I’m not losing any sleep over it like I’m sure a lot of people are back home and like I know I would be if I was there to witness and be a part of it. It’s probably for best that I’m not there actually. By this point I’m sure my hair would be dyed blue, have an Oiler’s tattoo, would be spending an hour ever morning applying Oiler face paint and would still be wearing the same socks and underwear that I wore when they beat the Wings. Yep, for the best…

Reading Lolita in Tehran
So I finally finished her off. I don’t even remember when I started to read it but I do remember trading in my last book for it in February, so about 3 months ago. Don’t let the time it took me to read it say anything about the book though. It’s a great book and I’d give it 4 out of 5 for sure, recommending it to anyone who’s interested in life in another country, specifically life as a women in Iran and anyone who’s a fan of classic literature like The Great Gatsby, Pride and Prejudice, Lolita… The book is a memoir of Azar Nafisi, an English professor in Iran and her life through the country’s Islamic Revolution, it’s aftermath, how it changed her and many other women’s lives and the eventual private classes that she taught with a small group of women where they would read and discuss great works of English literature which were pretty much all banned. They’d all bringing parallels of their lives with the lives of the characters in the books they read and a lot of other interesting points about patriotism, religion, the roles of women and just generally how messed up their country had gotten. Give it a read if it sounds like your cup of coffee.

Da Vinci Code
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. I’m not even sure if I should bother writing a review about this one as it seems a lot of people have already read it but what the hell. My sister sent me this book in the last care package that I got, I honestly never intended to read it and I think that’s just because of the hype around it and the fact that everyone else has read or is reading it and I wanted to stay away from the herd. After finishing Lolita though and being out in the middle of nowhere with nothing else to read or do I gave it a go and went into reading with a an open mind. Now I say open mind not because of the controversy surrounding it with different religious groups and such but because of the general hype and media attention that it’s gotten. I find that when something is really really popular, is super hyped up and gets a lot of media coverage, it’s usually not that good and in fact often a complete cultural dud; Reality TV, enough said.

The first word that comes to mind when I think of this book that would sum it all for me would have to be fun. It was a good fun page turning read. I don’t think Dan Brown is the most accomplished writer, the style of writing in the book is like any other thriller/suspense book, fast paced, a little over the top and constantly moving. It’s a lot like an Schwarzenegger movie actually. In Dan Brown’s writing though, he has the great ability to make you stay up an extra hour, and in some cases two, reading onto the next chapter leaving you not wanting to close it. The book is filled with so many tense moments that leave you hanging and wanting to find out more. Just about ever memory scene ends in as a cliff hanger to be revealed later on in the book, same goes with just about the end of every chapter and if there’s a scene change you’re guaranteed that it’ll change with a lot of questions to be answered in the last. The style got to be a little campy as the book wore on and in some cases I found it a little too trying. Were the characters rich and evolving like in a Pride and Prejudice, ones that you could relate to and hold emotional ties with? Nope. Was it a very interesting, descript and unique writing style like you’d find in Lord of the Rings? Nay. Is there any chance that you were going to walk out of it with a different perspective on life and philosophy like you would Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance or Siddhartha? Hehe, I don’t think so. That said thru and thru it was all good fun.

Now as for the controversy that surrounds the book, personally I can understand it as it does place the Catholic Church in a bit of a negative light, even though it is fiction. I don’t know if a lot of the historical references made in the book were true or not and I kind of don’t care, I’m sure I’d end up wasting way too much time on Wikipedia if I was. I’d be rather pissed off too if someone wrote a book with a character based on me and the character was portrayed in a negative way but I would have the right to sue if that was the case, which makes me wonder why the Church can’t. Anyways, because the Church is portrayed in such a negative way and you as the reader is constantly barraged with all these seemingly historically accurate references, you can’t tell me that there’s at least one person out there who’s going to think it’s the truth and completely accurate. There’s plenty of gullible folks out there that I’m sure have read this book and took a lot of what was said for pure fact but I digress.

It took me a whopping week to read this book. I don’t know if that’s because I had way too much time on my hands, if my reading level has gone up, if it was just an easy read or all of the above. I would recommend it, however, to anyone who isn’t much of a reader and only picks up a book or two a year. Like I said, I think it was an easy read plus the way it’s written makes you wanting to read more so losing interest in it or getting stuck on a really slow part is pretty much nil as there is none. 4 out of 5.

Done and done
I must say that all felt really good, writing out all my thoughts and feelings onto this blog that is. I’m finding that the toughest, and really only negative thing about travelling alone is not having someone to unload my mind onto, which is where this blog comes in so handy. I’m sure a lot of people thought, and I’m sure I did too that when I started this I would be writing more about where I’ve been, what I’ve seen and what I’ve done not so much what’s going upstairs and what I’m feeling. As I mentioned before, it’s interesting how ideas, perceptions and mindsets can change while travelling, if you call what I’m doing travelling. I guess exposing yourself to new things will do that. Now mix all of what I just wrote with the fact that I’ve had extremely little human contact in the last 5 weeks and the fact that Willow, Smooch & Screech (cockatoos) and Winger & Ranger (kangaroos) aren’t much conversation and give absolutely no feedback, you can imagine I’ve a lot on my mind.

One last thing I’ll say that kind of sucks about travelling alone is that you have no one to share all these amazing experiences and no one to relate all the wide variety of emotions that encompass these experiences with. That said, on the flip side I get all these special magical moments just to myself, no one else. It’s all mine and it’s great.

From here I’m looking to spend a couple of days in Adelaide where I will treat myself to a number of things, namely at least one good meal, a couple of movies and a lot of really long, really hot, high pressured showers, I think I look forward to that one the most. I’m thinking curried duck for the meal. As for the movies, X-men 3 and Mission Impossible 3, how’s that for culture? I want big explosions, huge over the top stunts, a shallow plot and lots and lots of special effects dammit. Plus I’ve been thinking lately that I see no point in going to a movie in the theatre with it’s big sound and picture that doesn’t take full advantage of it. That said, seeing a really tense drama like the Godfather would be pretty cool.

While in town I’m also going to do something that I haven’t done in a long time while in a city; take my time. The last three times I’ve been in the city, which is how many times I’ve been since January, I’ve spent the majority of my time running around doing errands, looking like an escaped mental patient trying my best to spend as little time in the city as possible in order to continue being a cheap bastard and spend as little money as possible. You spent $32.44(AUS, about $26CAN) in the month of May Troy, I think you can step away from the ledge.

Well, that’s it for now. My next update will probably be from Sydney and hopefully by then I’ll be writing about my new job that I found and the flat that I’m sharing with the Australian bikini team. Until then…

Safe Travels

One of the best Beatles songs of all time for sure. Howdy, out here on the Island, still and again, taking it easy and making sure everything runs smoothly while Kate is gone. It’s been a couple weeks now and they’ll be getting home soon, I haven’t gone insane yet sitting out here on my near own nor have I really gotten that bored in fact there never seems to be enough hours in the day, always something to do it seems. My stay here has been nice, I’ve had some amazingly devastating workouts and have been making my own equipment with what I can find laying around out here. Been doing lots of reading and lots of cooking too, which has been great as I know in all due time I probably won’t have that luxury and will be back to tuna and oranges.As for what I’ve been up to, well my daily life looks a little like this: Up at 6:30, have breakfast and a coffee, get all the animals food ready for the day, head out, feed them at about 8:00 and start making my rounds. I start off with bottle feeding two joey kangaroos and then sit with them and hand feed them a cut up apple. From there I head off and feed the chickens their daily mix and throw in a couple dead mice that I usually catch overnight, they like mice. After that it’s the ducks and goose, changing their water, stealing their eggs if they have any and feeding them. Next is Smooch and Screech, the two cockatoos. I usually spend a bit with them in their pen making sure they’re eating and are happy. Screech pretty much plants himself on my head for the entire time I’m in there unless Smooch is doing something that he doesn’t like, which is when he flies at her chasing her to another perch and then lands back on my head. Finally I end up with a quick check on Kate’s 2 horses and 4 sheep, giving them straw and pellets twice a week and the horses carrots and some apple daily.That’s the morning animals run, after which I start up my daily little odd jobs. Everyday I head off into one of the paddocks next to Kate’s place where there’s cows grazing and collect a wheelbarrow full of manure which I take back to the compost bin and pile it up. I also collect some the horse shit when there’s enough to collect. I’ve shovelled more shit in the last 6 months then my entire life and bizarrely enough I really don’t mind it. It doesn’t smell really bad. Torran’s dad was ranting about how he liked the smell of compost, how to him it smelled of life, good growing and really good tasting food. I’m not at that point yet but I will say that when I was in Adelaide I took a stroll through the fish market and I rather enjoyed the smell of fresh fish. To me it totally smelt of the ocean and fishing. There’s something about the ocean that’s quite…something, I really can’t put it into words but it’s…something. Where was I? Oh yeah, shit. I think I can safely say that in the last 6 months I have shovelled more shit than all of the people that read this sentence have combined over that same length of time. What a thing to brag about huh?After feeding the animals, collecting manure and I’ve recently been having my workout. It’s odd, I swear the warmest part of the day is like 10-11 and from there it starts to cool down quite a bit that by 4 it almost feels cold but I guess by that time there’s only 2 hours of sunlight left before it goes down. So I workout and then get back to work, chipping away at the list of jobs that Kate has left me. Now that I realise it, I’ve pretty much got it all done with the only major thing left is the second compost bin so I’m not too sure what I’ll do after that, I guess shovel more shit.