Dropped into Macau and found the ferry terminal, and took that to HK's Kowloon on Tsim Tsa Tsui. Were supposed to meet our friend Dawn there, unfortunately she went to the other ferry terminal and obviously couldn't find us. Luckily when we went to our guesthouse (tom's guesthouse, not tom's NEW guesthouse, hahahaha) we met up with her and commenced the shenanigans.
Went out for supper, then began streetdrinking thanks to a local 7-11. Proceeded back to our hotel room where Dawn and I did some well-needed shotgunning before we all headed out to Lan Kwai Fong, the party district. At this point we were slightly crushed and wandered in and out of a few places - watched some hockey at a Canadian bar, some pints at an Irish, and I can't even remember what else. street drinking most likely. Tons of pics of that chaos.. the night ended with dawn getting out of hand and smashing a full beer on the floor thus getting us kicked out of a nightclub. This was probably for the best as we limped home and spoke to the ivory telephone (not me of course).
A fitting end to our epic journey - on the 17th it was HK - VAN - WPG for 14 hours in the air, although we did travel through time and land 3 hours earlier in VAN than we left HK.
So all in all:
Months gone: 7 1/2
Countries visited: 8
Country-encompassing tours: 2
Pictures: 1,267
Golf tournaments won: 1
New friends: 3-4 dozen
Memories: infinite.
Nights of carnage: can't remember
Money spent: way too damn much.
Thanks for reading, and tune in next time. Not sure when it'll be, all I know is that it will be.
If you havn't done so already..... TRAVEL!!!
Friday, May 30, 2008
Cambodia
Cambodia. This country is truly one of a kind, for all the wrong reasons. Well really just one - the Khmer Rouge genocide induced by the US carpet bombing near the end of the Vietnam-America war. We were here from the 12-16...
12: arrived via 7 hour bus from Saigon, e-visas worked flawlessly. Met Devasting Dave.. the tuktuk driver.
13: got up early, went to tuol sleng genocide museum as well as the killing fields. What a harrowing experience, I felt absolutely sick to my stomach upon hearing and seeing the atrocity remnants firsthand. See video on facebook of over 9000 skulls found in mass graves at the Phnom Penh killing field ALONE.
That night we went out, and Kayla pwned me at darts. My bum still hurts.
14/15: Took the first bus we could to Siem Reap (6 hours) , the site of the infamous Angkor Wat. We weren't allowed into the temples until 4:45 or we had to pay an extra $40 as that was the time that you could purchase a day pass for today and the next day inclusive. Were able to see Angkor Wat at sunset. Stayed that night in pretty much the sweetest guesthouse ever, the Siem Reap Guesthouse. They had EVERYTHING. Spent the next morning at the ruins as well (we have 230894 pictures), specifically of ta prohm and the bayon, and caught the latest bus we could back to Phnom Penh.
16: Flew from Phnom Penh to Bangkok, and were tagged with a $25 p/p departure tax. Thanks a lot, douchebags.. joining New Zealand and Cuba as the only airports i know with such a thing. Then flew BKK to Macau , we were flying AirAsia exclusively (crazy not to) and they only go to Macau due to the high cost of landing @ HKIA.
It also monsooned while we were there.. torrential downpours like clockwork at the same time every day.
12: arrived via 7 hour bus from Saigon, e-visas worked flawlessly. Met Devasting Dave.. the tuktuk driver.
13: got up early, went to tuol sleng genocide museum as well as the killing fields. What a harrowing experience, I felt absolutely sick to my stomach upon hearing and seeing the atrocity remnants firsthand. See video on facebook of over 9000 skulls found in mass graves at the Phnom Penh killing field ALONE.
That night we went out, and Kayla pwned me at darts. My bum still hurts.
14/15: Took the first bus we could to Siem Reap (6 hours) , the site of the infamous Angkor Wat. We weren't allowed into the temples until 4:45 or we had to pay an extra $40 as that was the time that you could purchase a day pass for today and the next day inclusive. Were able to see Angkor Wat at sunset. Stayed that night in pretty much the sweetest guesthouse ever, the Siem Reap Guesthouse. They had EVERYTHING. Spent the next morning at the ruins as well (we have 230894 pictures), specifically of ta prohm and the bayon, and caught the latest bus we could back to Phnom Penh.
16: Flew from Phnom Penh to Bangkok, and were tagged with a $25 p/p departure tax. Thanks a lot, douchebags.. joining New Zealand and Cuba as the only airports i know with such a thing. Then flew BKK to Macau , we were flying AirAsia exclusively (crazy not to) and they only go to Macau due to the high cost of landing @ HKIA.
It also monsooned while we were there.. torrential downpours like clockwork at the same time every day.
Saigon
Our last day in Nha Trang was definitely the most fun we had on the trip. We got up early and took a bus to the harbour as we'd booked a boat trip for the day that consisted of 4 different islands. We ended up getting a crew of crazy vietnamese who whipped out a bass drum halfway through and somehow converted it into a drum set, cymbals - toms - and all. We did end up getting to all the islands via their junk, and did some snorkelling as well as diving off the top of the thing and hitting their floating bar. I believe the word would be malarkey. Awesome time.
Took the night train to Saigon and arrived at 0430. After powernapping on a bench Stan, Kayla and I were off to the Cu Chi tunnel systems, an elaborate underground maze made by the Northern Vietnamese during the American war. They basically used this maze to guerilla pwn the Americans .. i could barely fit inside the tunnels so it's a marvel that the Vietnamese lived in them. No wonder the Americans lost. Also in saigon we discovered a mexican restaurant that served some of the best food we had on the entire trip. I kept the bus card... "Le Cantina".
On the 9 it was off to the Mekong Delta for a riverfront stay. This was a stellar part of our trip as well, it entailed a few hours on a boat crossing back and forth across the mekong, and a smaller set of trips throughout the islands. We were crusing above quite a few sunken American ships, pretty crazy to think of the warfare that was going on in that exact spot only 33 years ago. Stayed overnight in a French mansion, rocked some snake wine, played a card game called Backpacker, saw a rice making factory, brick factory, blacksmith, tile making, and a whole bunch more from a standard vietnamese lifestyle. Quite eye opening and very glad that we were able to go out to the delta as part of our tour.
That was the last night of our tour, so we went out for supper (which sucked) although on the way home a moto ran right into the bumper of our taxi, total force maybe 60 km/h . I was sitting shotgun and almost pissed myself laughing, the viet guy who ran into us was straight back up on the bike and gone. Maniacs. On the 11 Kayla and I went to the Diamond Plaza which is a 8 level mall with everything you could think of. We rocked some Pizza Hut and then played some pool/vid games and went to see Jumper, which was a great flick with another stupid ending.
to CAMBODIA !
Took the night train to Saigon and arrived at 0430. After powernapping on a bench Stan, Kayla and I were off to the Cu Chi tunnel systems, an elaborate underground maze made by the Northern Vietnamese during the American war. They basically used this maze to guerilla pwn the Americans .. i could barely fit inside the tunnels so it's a marvel that the Vietnamese lived in them. No wonder the Americans lost. Also in saigon we discovered a mexican restaurant that served some of the best food we had on the entire trip. I kept the bus card... "Le Cantina".
On the 9 it was off to the Mekong Delta for a riverfront stay. This was a stellar part of our trip as well, it entailed a few hours on a boat crossing back and forth across the mekong, and a smaller set of trips throughout the islands. We were crusing above quite a few sunken American ships, pretty crazy to think of the warfare that was going on in that exact spot only 33 years ago. Stayed overnight in a French mansion, rocked some snake wine, played a card game called Backpacker, saw a rice making factory, brick factory, blacksmith, tile making, and a whole bunch more from a standard vietnamese lifestyle. Quite eye opening and very glad that we were able to go out to the delta as part of our tour.
That was the last night of our tour, so we went out for supper (which sucked) although on the way home a moto ran right into the bumper of our taxi, total force maybe 60 km/h . I was sitting shotgun and almost pissed myself laughing, the viet guy who ran into us was straight back up on the bike and gone. Maniacs. On the 11 Kayla and I went to the Diamond Plaza which is a 8 level mall with everything you could think of. We rocked some Pizza Hut and then played some pool/vid games and went to see Jumper, which was a great flick with another stupid ending.
to CAMBODIA !
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Hoi An - Nha Trang
I don't know if it's that I'm too busy or too lazy, but this blog has not been kept up. Time to finish this thang.
On May 3 we headed to Hoi An, the city of tailors. As could be expected, we went out 'shopping', which for myself consisted of getting custom fitted for a suit (15 minutes, $55) and replicating my yellow button-up I purchased for $1 from vv back in the day. For Kayla it consisted of picking up a sweet green dress that looks amazing on her, a winter coat (?), and a few other items. Her friend Cheryl, a lawyer from the UK, picked up over a dozen things. I'm glad I let them do their own thing because I would have went mental doing that much shopping. The evening of the 3 we watched the Terminator trilogy, and the next day while the girls continued their shopping extravaganza I rented a moto for $3, ripped around and went to the beach.
The 5 and 6 were lax as well, we were in Nha Trang for the two days and pretty much just beached it. Would have been much crazier if our tour group were more of a party crew... again, we expected more.
On May 3 we headed to Hoi An, the city of tailors. As could be expected, we went out 'shopping', which for myself consisted of getting custom fitted for a suit (15 minutes, $55) and replicating my yellow button-up I purchased for $1 from vv back in the day. For Kayla it consisted of picking up a sweet green dress that looks amazing on her, a winter coat (?), and a few other items. Her friend Cheryl, a lawyer from the UK, picked up over a dozen things. I'm glad I let them do their own thing because I would have went mental doing that much shopping. The evening of the 3 we watched the Terminator trilogy, and the next day while the girls continued their shopping extravaganza I rented a moto for $3, ripped around and went to the beach.
The 5 and 6 were lax as well, we were in Nha Trang for the two days and pretty much just beached it. Would have been much crazier if our tour group were more of a party crew... again, we expected more.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Arrival in Vietnam
We arrived in Vietnam at 830 on the 28th and it look about an hour to get through customs. Our visas on arrival worked flawlessly with a $25 stamping fee.
Took a taxi to our hotel, he was quite nice and knowledgeable. Spent that day getting some rest before our tour briefing in the evening. Karin, our tour leader, was quite the spectacle... first off, she was Austrian and wasn't strong in English. She also didn't know any asian languages, at all... quite different from Jack, our Thai tour leader.
On the 29th we took off to Halong bay, took quite a few pictures which will be added to my picasa account shortly. stayed overnight on a junk, explored a cave, and played cards until about 2 AM. Stan, the Brit in the tour group, got angry when he didn't win and it was hilarious. The next day was another relaxed day in Hanoi, until Kayla lost her debit card - this left us with only both of our credit cards. Kayla was able to contact her mom for her pin and I fixed my issue as well.
The next day we went to a decent club (3-level) but can't remember the name. Also went to the army museum, of which I took another gaggle of pictures which i'll upload soon. Took a night train to Hue and spent the day in Hue looking at some temples (temple of tu doc) via a boat that we rented for the day to tour us around. There was a cool bar known as the DMZ bar (as Hue was part of the DMZ during the American war), where the walls are absolutely covered with writing and there was free pool. I turned on the TV that night to see the wings sweet colorado 8-2, so my writing was clear:
DET 8 COL 2, A'LA 2002.
Took a taxi to our hotel, he was quite nice and knowledgeable. Spent that day getting some rest before our tour briefing in the evening. Karin, our tour leader, was quite the spectacle... first off, she was Austrian and wasn't strong in English. She also didn't know any asian languages, at all... quite different from Jack, our Thai tour leader.
On the 29th we took off to Halong bay, took quite a few pictures which will be added to my picasa account shortly. stayed overnight on a junk, explored a cave, and played cards until about 2 AM. Stan, the Brit in the tour group, got angry when he didn't win and it was hilarious. The next day was another relaxed day in Hanoi, until Kayla lost her debit card - this left us with only both of our credit cards. Kayla was able to contact her mom for her pin and I fixed my issue as well.
The next day we went to a decent club (3-level) but can't remember the name. Also went to the army museum, of which I took another gaggle of pictures which i'll upload soon. Took a night train to Hue and spent the day in Hue looking at some temples (temple of tu doc) via a boat that we rented for the day to tour us around. There was a cool bar known as the DMZ bar (as Hue was part of the DMZ during the American war), where the walls are absolutely covered with writing and there was free pool. I turned on the TV that night to see the wings sweet colorado 8-2, so my writing was clear:
DET 8 COL 2, A'LA 2002.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
KL continued
KL was alright, we took the hour-long taxi ride and went straight to Hostel Cosmopolitan (once we finally found it)... the hostel was run amazingly with everything a person could ask for. Took the monorail to TGIF and subsequently reggae bar, i bought like 100 ringgit worth of drinks on my credit card but it still wasn't that expensive. Got up the next day and visited the duelling Petronas towers, that was quite the sight as those things are an architectural masterpiece. Then it started raining, of course... so we went back to the hostel, grabbed a bite at Pizza Hut, then rested for two hours before getting up at 0200, taxiing to the bus terminal, then bussing to KLCC to take another AirAsia flight ($180 total) to Hanoi!
Malaysia was cool, definitely the most americanized of the Asian countries that we visited.
Malaysia was cool, definitely the most americanized of the Asian countries that we visited.
Home
Well we have completed our trip of asia and are safely back in Winnipeg. Sharon is driving me out to Langenburg tomorrow morning, so I'll give a rundown of what's happened since I left off.
On April 15 we started our surf camp, we booked a 4 day from Tuesday to Friday and met up with a group that had gone M-F for $100 more. Started the day with a 3 hour bus ride up the coast, then we donned wetsuits had a bite to eat and went for our first lesson. After two hours we started getting rained on and went back to camp for supper. After supper it got messy, there was a lot of cheap pints and even cheaper (and grosser) sangria, from what i recall... met quite a few people, a Canadian, about 6 Brits and a couple Irish. Par for Australia. The rest of the surf camp was pretty much the same routine, although we travelled the whole way from Sydney to Byron Bay over the four days checking out different surf spots every day. Unfortunately it kept raining on us (it rained every single day in NSW) but it was never torrential. Friday we did a surf comp then got to Byron at nightfall, had a hostel issue but it got sorted . That night we went out to Cheeky Monkeys and got right smashed again as a send off from the crew.
The rest of that week was quite boring actually, we didn't do much - biked up to the lighthouse, rented a board for a day, chilled with the irish, laid on the beach, went and viewed semi-pro. Saw some crazy Funky jazz-Fused ambient music by a Columbian band, that was sweet. Spent as little as possible, wired all of our cash home, saw the Wings beat the Avs in Game 1 and then boarded our $150 flight from the gold coash (coolangatta) to kuala lumpur..
(copied and pasted)
So we fly into Kuala Lumpur around 330 on April 26 , whose airport is 65 km SOUTH of the actual city for some reason. We're flying low cost carrier so we land at the KLCC not the KLIA, which is about 20 mins away.
Anyway, I get off the plane and go to the atm to get some Ringgit (about 3 Ringgit = $1). Put in my pin once, doesn't accept. Put in my pin twice, machine eats my visa card. fuck. I was even thinking, if this machine doesn't take my pin this time then screw it as I don't want to lose my card. But it ate it after TWO incorrect pins, unbelievable.
I call up the "cust service" and of course I'm in asia so it is extremely broken english. I'm also operating on my Australian SIM card as I'd just arrived,and I have no money or CREDIT CARD to use the pay phones. $6 credit total @ $.80 per minute to try to figure this out. So I manage to explain the situation and they sent a guy to get my card out of the machine, however I had to meet him at the KLIA at a main bank depot and thankfully got the card back.
If that had happened today (Sunday) I'd have been screwed as the bank ould have been closed. We leave this morning to 'nam and i couldn't exactly resched our flights on account of a missing card, but seeing as I lost my debit in Thailand I would have had no way of accessing funds for the duration of the trip. Whew.
Then i call visa to look into this pin issue and the dude tells me that many asian atm's have issues with pins >4 digits. On top of that, visa has nothing to do with the pin, it has to do with my "local branch" so I have to call them during normal business hours - considering they're about 14 hours behind, i have to wait a few days to even try to sort the issue. thank god for wifi gizmo voip on my nokia phone @ $.02 per minute to any country.
tbc..
On April 15 we started our surf camp, we booked a 4 day from Tuesday to Friday and met up with a group that had gone M-F for $100 more. Started the day with a 3 hour bus ride up the coast, then we donned wetsuits had a bite to eat and went for our first lesson. After two hours we started getting rained on and went back to camp for supper. After supper it got messy, there was a lot of cheap pints and even cheaper (and grosser) sangria, from what i recall... met quite a few people, a Canadian, about 6 Brits and a couple Irish. Par for Australia. The rest of the surf camp was pretty much the same routine, although we travelled the whole way from Sydney to Byron Bay over the four days checking out different surf spots every day. Unfortunately it kept raining on us (it rained every single day in NSW) but it was never torrential. Friday we did a surf comp then got to Byron at nightfall, had a hostel issue but it got sorted . That night we went out to Cheeky Monkeys and got right smashed again as a send off from the crew.
The rest of that week was quite boring actually, we didn't do much - biked up to the lighthouse, rented a board for a day, chilled with the irish, laid on the beach, went and viewed semi-pro. Saw some crazy Funky jazz-Fused ambient music by a Columbian band, that was sweet. Spent as little as possible, wired all of our cash home, saw the Wings beat the Avs in Game 1 and then boarded our $150 flight from the gold coash (coolangatta) to kuala lumpur..
(copied and pasted)
So we fly into Kuala Lumpur around 330 on April 26 , whose airport is 65 km SOUTH of the actual city for some reason. We're flying low cost carrier so we land at the KLCC not the KLIA, which is about 20 mins away.
Anyway, I get off the plane and go to the atm to get some Ringgit (about 3 Ringgit = $1). Put in my pin once, doesn't accept. Put in my pin twice, machine eats my visa card. fuck. I was even thinking, if this machine doesn't take my pin this time then screw it as I don't want to lose my card. But it ate it after TWO incorrect pins, unbelievable.
I call up the "cust service" and of course I'm in asia so it is extremely broken english. I'm also operating on my Australian SIM card as I'd just arrived,and I have no money or CREDIT CARD to use the pay phones. $6 credit total @ $.80 per minute to try to figure this out. So I manage to explain the situation and they sent a guy to get my card out of the machine, however I had to meet him at the KLIA at a main bank depot and thankfully got the card back.
If that had happened today (Sunday) I'd have been screwed as the bank ould have been closed. We leave this morning to 'nam and i couldn't exactly resched our flights on account of a missing card, but seeing as I lost my debit in Thailand I would have had no way of accessing funds for the duration of the trip. Whew.
Then i call visa to look into this pin issue and the dude tells me that many asian atm's have issues with pins >4 digits. On top of that, visa has nothing to do with the pin, it has to do with my "local branch" so I have to call them during normal business hours - considering they're about 14 hours behind, i have to wait a few days to even try to sort the issue. thank god for wifi gizmo voip on my nokia phone @ $.02 per minute to any country.
tbc..
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Well I see Kayla left off on the reef trip. Wow have we been through a lot since then.
The day after the reef trip was a trip out to the Rainforest village of Kuranda.. this would have been April 8. We took the SkyCable(or SkyRail, can't remember) to Kuranda and then the Scenic Railway back. Don't have time to upload too many pics, but here is one to tide you over..
Amazing scenery.
The day after that, we flew into Sydney (to arrive at 5 AM , actually) and went straight to the hostel I had booked known as "Wake Up". Great hostel, except the people in our dorm really had no morals. The last night was messy. The funnest night was definitely Saturday, when I met up with my old bud form high school (Blake Veitch) and he took us out for a night on the town. It started out around Darling Harbour and finished in Kings Cross, with about 5 bars in between. The best part of the night was probably rocking the World Bar's Teapots, which we were subsequently cut off of after about 12 of the things. I am amazed they let us keep buying em that long, it was a mess! I love it. Also in Sydney, we went around for a day trip on an explorer bus. Damn was it cold. We did however get to see all the sights - Botanical Gardens, Opera House, Bondi Beach. I saw the Royal Sydney Golf Course, and all I can say is OMFG as it had the most perfect fariways that I have ever seen. My guess is about $400 for a round, if you were lucky enough to get on as a non-member.
Did i mention yet that it rained damn near every day so far in New South Wales ? Ridiculous. It rained like 4 days in Perth.
After sydney we started our surf camp.. I will continue with that topic next time as my battery is almost dead. Take care all.
The day after the reef trip was a trip out to the Rainforest village of Kuranda.. this would have been April 8. We took the SkyCable(or SkyRail, can't remember) to Kuranda and then the Scenic Railway back. Don't have time to upload too many pics, but here is one to tide you over..
Amazing scenery.
The day after that, we flew into Sydney (to arrive at 5 AM , actually) and went straight to the hostel I had booked known as "Wake Up". Great hostel, except the people in our dorm really had no morals. The last night was messy. The funnest night was definitely Saturday, when I met up with my old bud form high school (Blake Veitch) and he took us out for a night on the town. It started out around Darling Harbour and finished in Kings Cross, with about 5 bars in between. The best part of the night was probably rocking the World Bar's Teapots, which we were subsequently cut off of after about 12 of the things. I am amazed they let us keep buying em that long, it was a mess! I love it. Also in Sydney, we went around for a day trip on an explorer bus. Damn was it cold. We did however get to see all the sights - Botanical Gardens, Opera House, Bondi Beach. I saw the Royal Sydney Golf Course, and all I can say is OMFG as it had the most perfect fariways that I have ever seen. My guess is about $400 for a round, if you were lucky enough to get on as a non-member.
Did i mention yet that it rained damn near every day so far in New South Wales ? Ridiculous. It rained like 4 days in Perth.
After sydney we started our surf camp.. I will continue with that topic next time as my battery is almost dead. Take care all.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Melbourne and Cairns
Well, after the game on Friday night in Malbourne we took it easy, seeing as we were going out on Saturday. Saturday we couldn't find the club we were planning to go to but that didn't really stop us seeing as we were downtown Melbourne and there's at least 3 pubs/clubs on every street. We eventually did find the place but there was a line of about 100 so there was no way we were going to wait in that. So we went to a pub and then asked around for a really good dance club. We went to CQ until 4 then waited for a cab for like an hour. Stupid things! They pick and chose who they take and won't take you if you live close because they think it's not worth their time. Meanwhile we flagged down at least 20 cabs and it took forever to find one that was nice enough. Really annoying.
Monday: drove down to the Mornington Peninsula to do some wine tasting and exploring. It was beautiful with really lush rolling hills and Eucalyptus trees. We wine tasted at 2 places and then went to an Enchanted Maze/ garden. Later, we went back toMelbourne and went to the casino / entertainment complex. It was huge and had everything in it imaginable. Really we needed way more time in it. John won a bit of money at blackjack. I was impressed, the night didn't cost a thing hahaha.
Tuesday: return the Wicked van and hang around the city until our flight at 9:30 that night
Wednesday: We arrived in Cairns at about 1:00 am and transfered to our hostel. We stayed at Calypso Inn which was so nice! It wasn't like a hostel at all. For a really cheap price we got our own room and the first night free because we were getting there so late. They were really accommodating. It had a tropical/Jamaican theme, there was a pool, kitchen everything you really need and one of the best happy hour deals and dinner buffet's that I've seen at hostels so far. After some much needed rest we walked around the tiny city and swam in the lagoon. You can't swim in the ocean in Northern Australia at this time of year because box jellyfish/ "stingers" occupy the water and they're the worst kind. Their sting can kill you. Oh yeah and the crocodiles occupy those waters too.
Thursday: was the best day. One of the highlights of my life actually. By far the best time that I've ever had swimming. This day made me want to come back and spend more time in this backpacker haven, even John who doesn't like swimming had a great time. Although he doesn't quite share my passion about it. Of course, we went to the reef this day. Our trip included the 2 hour trip out there on a sailing catamaran, snorkelling at Michelmas Cay and Paradise sea, a buffet lunch, photos (if you want to buy them), morning and afternoon tea, a free 10 min lesson on diving( which John and i missed cause we were to busy already snorkelling) and then a sail back. At Michelmas cay there was sea turtles, reef sharks, a few 100 year old clams(SO BIG) and fish of every colour. HUGE fish. One the size of a dolphin really. At Paradise Sea there were more fish but no turtles. It has shelf coral so if you're diving, you actually go really deep and then there's coral up to about 1 meter below the surface. It's really neat and the coral is amazing. Everyone should visit it! Amazingly John and I didn't get burnt at all after then entire day outside. hahaha.
Monday: drove down to the Mornington Peninsula to do some wine tasting and exploring. It was beautiful with really lush rolling hills and Eucalyptus trees. We wine tasted at 2 places and then went to an Enchanted Maze/ garden. Later, we went back toMelbourne and went to the casino / entertainment complex. It was huge and had everything in it imaginable. Really we needed way more time in it. John won a bit of money at blackjack. I was impressed, the night didn't cost a thing hahaha.
Tuesday: return the Wicked van and hang around the city until our flight at 9:30 that night
Wednesday: We arrived in Cairns at about 1:00 am and transfered to our hostel. We stayed at Calypso Inn which was so nice! It wasn't like a hostel at all. For a really cheap price we got our own room and the first night free because we were getting there so late. They were really accommodating. It had a tropical/Jamaican theme, there was a pool, kitchen everything you really need and one of the best happy hour deals and dinner buffet's that I've seen at hostels so far. After some much needed rest we walked around the tiny city and swam in the lagoon. You can't swim in the ocean in Northern Australia at this time of year because box jellyfish/ "stingers" occupy the water and they're the worst kind. Their sting can kill you. Oh yeah and the crocodiles occupy those waters too.
Thursday: was the best day. One of the highlights of my life actually. By far the best time that I've ever had swimming. This day made me want to come back and spend more time in this backpacker haven, even John who doesn't like swimming had a great time. Although he doesn't quite share my passion about it. Of course, we went to the reef this day. Our trip included the 2 hour trip out there on a sailing catamaran, snorkelling at Michelmas Cay and Paradise sea, a buffet lunch, photos (if you want to buy them), morning and afternoon tea, a free 10 min lesson on diving( which John and i missed cause we were to busy already snorkelling) and then a sail back. At Michelmas cay there was sea turtles, reef sharks, a few 100 year old clams(SO BIG) and fish of every colour. HUGE fish. One the size of a dolphin really. At Paradise Sea there were more fish but no turtles. It has shelf coral so if you're diving, you actually go really deep and then there's coral up to about 1 meter below the surface. It's really neat and the coral is amazing. Everyone should visit it! Amazingly John and I didn't get burnt at all after then entire day outside. hahaha.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Melbourne
Alright! Melbourne +area was a blast. We took off from perth on the 31st at night. No sleep on the flight over. We arrived at 5:30 am and had to wait around unil 9:30 when we could go pick up our Wicked camper van that we rented. The van has a Rolling Stones theme and the huge logo on the side of it. It was pretty pimp haha. We met Richelle that day at about 12. She's my second cousin, but we've never met before. She was amazing letting us stay there the whole week (when we weren't touring the coast in our van). Spent the first night just chilling out and getting to knwo Richelle and all the good places to go in Melbourne.
Day#2: we head off to The Great Ocean Road. It was a beautiful drive even with the blistering winds that were blowing down trees all over the highway and shaking our van left and right. Then the rain. A good 3 days straight of it.... hahaha... and they say this area's in a drought. Well it is. On our way back from Bells Beach we had to stop as there was an entire tree in our way. Managed to get it moved, with the help of 3 more people. Make it to Lorne and spend the night in a camper area. A very cold night! haha..
Day3: We head off to do a waterall walk that's in the area. Beautiful but has nothing on the waterfalls in Thailand. See some really great scenery, the biggest waves I've ever seen, and went to the most famous part of the drive where all the rock formations are uniquely beautiful. With all the stop on the way, a short tip took all of 2 days.
Day 4 : drive back to melbourne in time to go see an Aussie Rules Footy game. I can definetly see the appeal of these. It's a great game.
Day#2: we head off to The Great Ocean Road. It was a beautiful drive even with the blistering winds that were blowing down trees all over the highway and shaking our van left and right. Then the rain. A good 3 days straight of it.... hahaha... and they say this area's in a drought. Well it is. On our way back from Bells Beach we had to stop as there was an entire tree in our way. Managed to get it moved, with the help of 3 more people. Make it to Lorne and spend the night in a camper area. A very cold night! haha..
Day3: We head off to do a waterall walk that's in the area. Beautiful but has nothing on the waterfalls in Thailand. See some really great scenery, the biggest waves I've ever seen, and went to the most famous part of the drive where all the rock formations are uniquely beautiful. With all the stop on the way, a short tip took all of 2 days.
Day 4 : drive back to melbourne in time to go see an Aussie Rules Footy game. I can definetly see the appeal of these. It's a great game.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Last Week in Perth
Alright, it's been a while hahaha.... sorry. Not missin much. John and I work every weekday, often really long hours, get home and go to the gym. We're both seeing results of that strenuous effort though. Weekends are often spent playing tennis, going out with our roommates, and going to the beach. Perth has some of the best beaches in all of Australia, and we've been taking advantage of that.
Some things worthy of mentioning: Marianne and Ewan ( our Scottish couple roommates), John and I, and another Canadian we met, Jeana all moved into a great new townhouse on Feb. 1st. No more ants, dirty house or sketchy random people. It's a beautiful place, I'll be sad to leave it. The next day I had an awesome bday. Day at the beach, outdoor movie, bottle of wine, going out with Jeana, Marianne and the Irish Girls I work with. A bit of a headahce the next morning. hahaha.
Infected Muchroom rocked my world. They played in possibly the best venue for a show like that, 4 levels, glass floors and walls, great design. I danced on the balcony overlooking the stage for hours. John has great video and loved them as much as I did, though he wanted more trance.
St. Paddy's day was a blast! We work with 3 Irish girls who live in our old house and have a couple more Irish friends that are here. The threw a huge bash to which all of my work friends came to. Pre-drinking at our house, then buffet style BBQ at the Irish's place. Not too many people were feeling that good the next morning at work, and at least 5 of the stayed at our place overnight, so as to avoid driving.
This past Thursday night was Jeana's going away party. She's going on a trip around the world to certain countries. We were sad to see her go. After going to neighbourhood pub, the Flying Scotsman, for drinks and supper, we headed to Sean Tyas who was playing at Rise. Danced the night away to trancy music, sent Jeana off with a bang.
John, the next day after only 3 hours of sleep had to go play golf with a team from his work in a tournament for his work. He rocked it out. In a point system, double bogey being 1, bogey being 2, par being 3, and so forth. John had 40 points, and won the game for them. Therefore recieving jugs of beer and a BBQ lunch free. Awesome for only 3 hours of sleep I'd say.
Today, Sunday 23rd of March, John and I took the ferry out to Rottnest Island, rented bikes, biked around the Island and snorkelled all day. Some of the most beautiful bays are on that island. You just need to find them. We're both burnt. ahhaha. Really almost couldn't be prevented. P.S. John you still need to tag off.
Well, we have one more week in Perth, then it's off travelling again. So we're flying into Melbourne on April 1st. 5 days in Melbourne, then off to Sydney for a couple days, while we're there we're going to do a SURFari. It's a 5 day all expeses paid trip up the coast when they teach you how to surf. Then maybe a couple more days in Sydney. After that, we fly up to Cairns to the Great Barrier Reef for a couple days and go on a snorkelling trip up there, then we make our way down to the Gold Coast, for the last few days in Aus. We fly out of the Gold Coast and into Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on April 26th, and stay there for 1 day, 2 nights. Next we fly into Hanoi, Vietnam just in time for our guided tour that we booked through budget expeditions. Vietnam has become one of the main tourist attractions of many Aussie's that we talk to. It's becoming more and more common to go there, so no need to worry too much, it's just as safe as Thailand. But still cheaper..hehehehe.....After the 2 week tour we head over to Combodia for 4 days. Enough time to see the legendary Angkor temples and the capital city. We will fly out of Cambodia and into Hong Kong around the 14th and spend a couple of days there before coming back to Canada on the 17th.
It's not too long from now.....
Some things worthy of mentioning: Marianne and Ewan ( our Scottish couple roommates), John and I, and another Canadian we met, Jeana all moved into a great new townhouse on Feb. 1st. No more ants, dirty house or sketchy random people. It's a beautiful place, I'll be sad to leave it. The next day I had an awesome bday. Day at the beach, outdoor movie, bottle of wine, going out with Jeana, Marianne and the Irish Girls I work with. A bit of a headahce the next morning. hahaha.
Infected Muchroom rocked my world. They played in possibly the best venue for a show like that, 4 levels, glass floors and walls, great design. I danced on the balcony overlooking the stage for hours. John has great video and loved them as much as I did, though he wanted more trance.
St. Paddy's day was a blast! We work with 3 Irish girls who live in our old house and have a couple more Irish friends that are here. The threw a huge bash to which all of my work friends came to. Pre-drinking at our house, then buffet style BBQ at the Irish's place. Not too many people were feeling that good the next morning at work, and at least 5 of the stayed at our place overnight, so as to avoid driving.
This past Thursday night was Jeana's going away party. She's going on a trip around the world to certain countries. We were sad to see her go. After going to neighbourhood pub, the Flying Scotsman, for drinks and supper, we headed to Sean Tyas who was playing at Rise. Danced the night away to trancy music, sent Jeana off with a bang.
John, the next day after only 3 hours of sleep had to go play golf with a team from his work in a tournament for his work. He rocked it out. In a point system, double bogey being 1, bogey being 2, par being 3, and so forth. John had 40 points, and won the game for them. Therefore recieving jugs of beer and a BBQ lunch free. Awesome for only 3 hours of sleep I'd say.
Today, Sunday 23rd of March, John and I took the ferry out to Rottnest Island, rented bikes, biked around the Island and snorkelled all day. Some of the most beautiful bays are on that island. You just need to find them. We're both burnt. ahhaha. Really almost couldn't be prevented. P.S. John you still need to tag off.
Well, we have one more week in Perth, then it's off travelling again. So we're flying into Melbourne on April 1st. 5 days in Melbourne, then off to Sydney for a couple days, while we're there we're going to do a SURFari. It's a 5 day all expeses paid trip up the coast when they teach you how to surf. Then maybe a couple more days in Sydney. After that, we fly up to Cairns to the Great Barrier Reef for a couple days and go on a snorkelling trip up there, then we make our way down to the Gold Coast, for the last few days in Aus. We fly out of the Gold Coast and into Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on April 26th, and stay there for 1 day, 2 nights. Next we fly into Hanoi, Vietnam just in time for our guided tour that we booked through budget expeditions. Vietnam has become one of the main tourist attractions of many Aussie's that we talk to. It's becoming more and more common to go there, so no need to worry too much, it's just as safe as Thailand. But still cheaper..hehehehe.....After the 2 week tour we head over to Combodia for 4 days. Enough time to see the legendary Angkor temples and the capital city. We will fly out of Cambodia and into Hong Kong around the 14th and spend a couple of days there before coming back to Canada on the 17th.
It's not too long from now.....
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Three-ish months left
Well well well, guess who found a job. After working with Kayla for four days, I got a call from the western australian government who brought me in for an interview and offered me a helpdesk position which I gladly accepted. Hopefully i can save enough in the 8-10 weeks of the contract to further our journey eastwards. I don't think it'll be a problem, the only thing that sucks is how long I have to wait to get paid (Feb. 12) .
We are also moving into a new place as of Feb. 1, with the biologist/doctor we are currently living in the 5bedroom house with. That date can't come soon enough, for a couple or reasons - one being the lack of air conditioning in the house. The other being the fact that some guy moved in who was a complete flake, i believe he has schizophrenia which is possibly drug-induced. We kicked him out last night - don't worry.
Other than that, just been beaching it on the weekend .. went to a dream theater show ($130) which sadly was cut short due to some kind of electrical failure or blown power. So I didn't get to hear their last half hour which is usually the past part. Will upload pics and video later, tough to find the time when I don't have the internet at home.
tracklist :
Dream Theater - January 26th (Australia Day) - Burswood Theater - Perth, WA
In the Presence of Enemies
Octavarium
Endless Sacrifice
Dark Eternal
Stream of Consciousness
Forsaken
I Walk Beside You
Take the Time
Strange Deja Vu
Fatal tragedy (power blows)
My laptop HD is dying, so sometimes updates are far between. It might completely die and I won't be able to replace it before i get paid.
Have fun on your trip mom and dad.
John
We are also moving into a new place as of Feb. 1, with the biologist/doctor we are currently living in the 5bedroom house with. That date can't come soon enough, for a couple or reasons - one being the lack of air conditioning in the house. The other being the fact that some guy moved in who was a complete flake, i believe he has schizophrenia which is possibly drug-induced. We kicked him out last night - don't worry.
Other than that, just been beaching it on the weekend .. went to a dream theater show ($130) which sadly was cut short due to some kind of electrical failure or blown power. So I didn't get to hear their last half hour which is usually the past part. Will upload pics and video later, tough to find the time when I don't have the internet at home.
tracklist :
Dream Theater - January 26th (Australia Day) - Burswood Theater - Perth, WA
In the Presence of Enemies
Octavarium
Endless Sacrifice
Dark Eternal
Stream of Consciousness
Forsaken
I Walk Beside You
Take the Time
Strange Deja Vu
Fatal tragedy (power blows)
My laptop HD is dying, so sometimes updates are far between. It might completely die and I won't be able to replace it before i get paid.
Have fun on your trip mom and dad.
John
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Aussie update
Alright then. Haven't updated in a long time, Sorry. Rundown:
Xmas - +37. Exchanged gifts. Went to the beach (All the roommates plus a couple friends, John and I) and baked in the sun. We snorkelled just off the coast and saw thousands of fish by a local reef. You could actually swim down and literally swim with fish all around you. It was really cool. Then we went over to John and Katie's for a potluck xmas dinner. There was potato salad, shish kabebs(made by me). prawns, a Korean dish that our Korean roommate made. And a bunch of other various untraditional xmas dishes. hahaha it was a very Aussie xmas. And was definetly weird because of the hot temp. We all had a good time.
Boxing Day - taking it easy on the beach minus the fact that there was an 8 minute burn time if you were out in the sun without 30+ sunscreen on. It was an incredible 45 degrees celcius outside. Sleeping any time past 9 in the mornin was simply impossible seeing as the majority of houses don't have AirCon. Went snorkelling, saw tons of fish again. The ocean became our homes because it was too hot anywhere else. Spent the day swimming with the fish again.
John and I have the next week off and do various things. The beach many times.
New Years Eve - everyone comes over for a BBQ, such things occur sch as drinking games and John Kenny pouring champagne down everyone's throats. John and I head out to the main area of town to a club called Rise. It's a techno bar, but just the kinda of bar we need to dance the night away. Another plus was that it had a balcony that overlooked the main stage of Northbridge so we got to look above the crowd while hundreds of people counted down the end of 2007. the ball didn't drop. I don't know what's up with that! But John and I spent our 2nd New Years eve together and it was quite the fun time. We headed back to the house at around 3 to see that the BBQ was still thriving. Played some more dirnking games.
Jan 1 - Recovered.
I started my new job this Monday. I work in a lab with my roommate Marianne. I am a labroatory technician and loving it. Great hours,weekends off, great pay. We went to our first cricket match on Sunday. Boring!!! We need some hockey!!
Xmas - +37. Exchanged gifts. Went to the beach (All the roommates plus a couple friends, John and I) and baked in the sun. We snorkelled just off the coast and saw thousands of fish by a local reef. You could actually swim down and literally swim with fish all around you. It was really cool. Then we went over to John and Katie's for a potluck xmas dinner. There was potato salad, shish kabebs(made by me). prawns, a Korean dish that our Korean roommate made. And a bunch of other various untraditional xmas dishes. hahaha it was a very Aussie xmas. And was definetly weird because of the hot temp. We all had a good time.
Boxing Day - taking it easy on the beach minus the fact that there was an 8 minute burn time if you were out in the sun without 30+ sunscreen on. It was an incredible 45 degrees celcius outside. Sleeping any time past 9 in the mornin was simply impossible seeing as the majority of houses don't have AirCon. Went snorkelling, saw tons of fish again. The ocean became our homes because it was too hot anywhere else. Spent the day swimming with the fish again.
John and I have the next week off and do various things. The beach many times.
New Years Eve - everyone comes over for a BBQ, such things occur sch as drinking games and John Kenny pouring champagne down everyone's throats. John and I head out to the main area of town to a club called Rise. It's a techno bar, but just the kinda of bar we need to dance the night away. Another plus was that it had a balcony that overlooked the main stage of Northbridge so we got to look above the crowd while hundreds of people counted down the end of 2007. the ball didn't drop. I don't know what's up with that! But John and I spent our 2nd New Years eve together and it was quite the fun time. We headed back to the house at around 3 to see that the BBQ was still thriving. Played some more dirnking games.
Jan 1 - Recovered.
I started my new job this Monday. I work in a lab with my roommate Marianne. I am a labroatory technician and loving it. Great hours,weekends off, great pay. We went to our first cricket match on Sunday. Boring!!! We need some hockey!!
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