Great Connections

As I've been travelling and meeting many great peeps along the way, I've realized that some tours are better than others, however, its really the people that you meet on the tour that make or break your experience. The group of peeps that I met on my Trek tour were fabulous. Most of us connected really quickly with each other, and after our trek, we spent the next 3 days/night hanging out with each other and simply enjoying life! In my 5 months of travel, I definitely laughed the most during the time I spent with this group. Thanks guys for such amazing memories!

Sonkran Festival: New Year, Thai Style

Getting soaked all day long!! Bins of water to fill up your water guns!

April 12-15

I had no clue that I was going to be in Thailand for the New Year. It just so happened, that I also chose to be in one of the best areas of Thailand to celebrate! After getting back from the trek, we began to make our way back into the city. Before I explain the ride back, I think it's necessary to explain my vehicle conditions. Picture this: a pick up truck, where the back side has benches for people to sit on (where we all were). The sides of the pick up have metal bars and when necessary, you can roll down these plastic sheets that are used as pseudo windows.

Okay, so back to the ride. About 20 minutes into our ride, I thought there was some sort of riot, or political unrest--however, soon realized that it was simply people beginning the pre-New Year celebrations by partying on the street. I guess the best way to describe this New Year is a mixture of a massive street party, a chaotic water fight and a music festival all wrapped up in 3 days. The problem with starting the party in the vehicle we were travelling in was that we were total targets; 13 foreigners, sitting in an open truck with absolutely NO ammunition (water to fight back...lol). Needless to say, the beginning of the drive back was so much fun. We would be driving, and out of no where, someone on the street would throw a bucket of water at us. I wouldn't mind the warm water, however, there were some who filled their buckets up with freezing cold ice water, and having that blasted on your back, when you are least expecting it, not so much fun.

Pretty much, from about 10 am to 7 pm the Chaing Mai streets were drenched with people celebrating the New Year. There was no way that you could walk anywhere on the streets during these times without getting soaked. I did end up buying a 'backpack' water gun to join in the fun and most of the Trek Crew agreed to meet at a certain spot to spend the day splashing, and soaking away! What struck me the most is that for a few days out of the year, Thai people of all ages, young and old, come together to celebrate. I especially loved that adults were able to let their guard down and simply enjoy the feeling of 'being a kid' again. I wondered how a festival like this would fly back home, even if it was for a day. For all people to take a day off of work, and enjoy the simple things in life. I seriously think it would be good for people's health to have a similar festivity -- without it getting out of control of course!

Chiang Mai Trek

April 11-12
Man, it sucks when you haven't blogged in a while and now I have to write from memory. So I got to the north of Thailand safely and found a great little hotel in the center of Chiang Mai. Thank goodness my dates worked out well, because the Treks were not running this whole week due to the Songkran Festivities (Thai New Year).

I really wanted to do a 2 night, 3 day trek but that wasn't available-- so I ended up getting a 1 night, 2 day trek. It seems that everything works out for a reason because what a FABULOUS 2 days it was!! There were originally 5 of us in the truck and we made our way to see the Long Neck Village. This village seemed to be set up primarily for tourists but it was still pretty interesting to see. These women and young girls are originally from Burma and have migrated to the Northern area of Thailand. They have these gold rings around their necks to stretch them out. I ended up trying one on my neck and could not believe how heavy it was! It is believed that back in the day, when these Burmese people lived in the forest, it was thought that if a lion attacked them, their necks needed to be protected and therefore, they started wearing these golden rings.

After the Long Neck village visit, we picked up the rest of the crew. The lovely spacious truck was too good to be true!! In total, there were 13 of us. It's funny how some tour groups utterly suck, and others connect immediately! Well, this was a group that just seemed to connect from the get-go, and as they say, the rest is history!

We stopped briefly at a local outdoor food market to pick up a few things and then made our way to the elephants, where I was able to ride an elephant through the jungle! The ride was definitely bumpier than I expected, but thoroughly enjoyable! After the elephant rides, we began our trek. I wish I had brought more water, as most of our walking today was uphill and it was fairly hot and humid. We walked for about 3 hours.... did I mention that it was all uphill??
About half way there, in the middle of the Northern Thai jungle, a man had a cold water and beer station set up for us. I truly didn't appreciate my cold water until after we began walking up the steepest hill yet and realized that this man was not too far behind us. He had packed up the rest of the water and beer and was carrying it all on his back. Unreal.

We finally made it up to the hillside village--our accommodation was a beautiful bamboo house, where we shared a wonderful dinner, some evening games, and a some of the local children also came to sing for us. Overall, a great exercise day, a big check next to one of my 'must do's' which was riding an elephant in the jungle. I also met some amazing new people. How much better can life get?

Day 2

The next day we all had breakfast together, and began to make our way down. Personally, I found going down harder than going up. Cardio wise, of course going upwards was a bit more difficult, but going down on the steep hills was bad on the knees! About half way down, we made it to this amazing waterfall, where we all cooled off for a while. After that, we were taken down to the river, where we went river rafting. I am a little embarrassed to call it rafting, because the river was so still that we barely rafted. LOL.

Along the way, there were hundreds of locals who were all close to or even in the river, beginning to celebrate the Song Kran festivities. Local children were splashing water on us as we went by and being part of this day, up in Northern Thailand was a memory I will keep forever!

After the rafting, our group jumped on a bamboo raft, which pretty much took us the end of our trek. Another group lunch together, and we were loaded back on the truck to make our way back to the city.

Saying Goodbye is never easy :(

April 10th
Well, the girls and I are going our separate ways and I must say, it was much easier to say bye to them in Phi Phi, as I didn't know them all that well at that point, and they were all asleep when I left. This time was much harder. I've been fortunate enough to have travelled to so many places in my life, but am realizing it's difficult to find good travelling partners. What's really odd is that Kelly, Lucy and Carey were so easy to travel with, yet, I barely knew them. There have been other times in my life when I have travelled with people who I thought I knew fairly well--and we were not good travel partners at all. I guess what it boils down to is personality and common interests. Thankfully, I was totally blessed to have met these 3 lovely ladies to party with, and experience some of life's highs together!

Phnom Penh

April 8-10

Killing Fields
Today we took a tuk tuk to the Choeun Ek Genocidal Center to learn about the "Killing Fields." Sometimes I feel so ignorant that I don't know about historical events such as this one. More than a million people were killed during the Pot Regime in the mid 70's. Victims were detained and tortured at this time -- and were then beaten to death by the killers with canes, bamboo stumps or the heads of hoes, they were also stabbed with knives or swords. They died without being able to say goodbye to their children or loved ones.

The victims ranged from peasants to intellectuals, foreigners, women and children. At this genocide center today, I literally walked by the mass graves where all these people were placed after being killed. Each of the graves had a simple sign that read, "mass grave with 166 victims without heads," or "mass grave of more than 100 victims, all children and women." I think the area that stirred the most emotion for me was this massive tree in the middle of all the graves that read, "Killing Tree--against which executioners beat children to death."

I have never visited any Holocaust centers, but I imagine it is just as heart wrenching as this.
There was a memorial stupa (a sacred structure that contains the remains of the deceased) literally took my breath away when I realized that it contained more than 8000 skulls and bones which had been recovered from the graves. It definitely serves as a tribute and reminder of the atrocities that took place and effected millions of Cambodian people.

Meeting a Monk

April 6-7th
Yesterday, Carey, Lucy and I went to this place called "raja yoga"to practice some meditation. It was alright. The instructor did a little too much babbling for my liking, but the actual meditation part was pretty good. She had wanted us to meditate with our eyes open, which I found really difficult--hence, I closed mine. The highlight of the session was that she mentioned that the following day (April 7th) there would be "monk chanting" at 5 p.m. We ended up staying one extra night because Kelly wasn't feeling really well, and the girls still needed to get their Visa stuff sorted out.
Monk chanting to me sounded intriguing, and off I went on my own! Just the other day I had told the girls that I would love to learn more about monks and what they are all about, and this evening I got my opportunity. Tui, a 26 year old monk of 10 years, talked to the 5 of us for about an hour. He actually said that it would be better that we asked him questions, and he would do his best to answer them. Here are some things that I learned today:

* it is not an obligation to become a monk, rather a choice. Although parents highly encourage their young teenage sons to become monks for at least a short period of time to devote part of their life to Buddhism.
* once you become a monk, you can stay a monk for however long you like.... a few months, years, or as some do, a lifetime.
* as a young apprentice monk, you must follow 5 important doctrines: no drinking, no sex, using your words properly, no stealing, and no killing (including bugs, any wild life, etc...)
* if you are a monk for a short period of time, you must follow 10 doctrines, and if you choose to be a monk for a long period of time there are 127 doctrines to follow (Tui fell under this category)
* Buddhists believe in heaven, hell, nirvana, and enlightenment. We had a good discussion about nirvana and enlightenment, and I really do need to read a little more about it.
*Tui will be leaving "Monkhood"next year, and said the most exciting thing he's looking forward to is getting a job and being able to make some money, and learning how to ride a bike! To think, he's never ridden a bike before! (one of the doctrines). He said he will most miss the strong bonds he's formed throughout the years, and meditating and praying on a daily basis, although he plans to continue his religious practise, just not as regimented.

At the end of our conversation, he asked if it would be okay to personally bless each and every one of us. I awaited my turn and kneeled in front of him where he proceeded to tie a small piece of string on my right hand and wished me good health, and happiness. Once we all had our red strings tied on us, he asked us to close our eyes and he chanted a prayer in Cambodian, to bless us one more time. It was spiritual, and moving. It reminded me of all the amazing moments I experienced with Father Norm in Africa. It also goes to prove, for me anyway, that there are so many other things that can enrich us spiritually besides going to church on Sunday. I'm glad I ventured off on my own today, as it was definitely a spiritual hour.

OVERWHELMED

April 5th (I think) ... maybe the 6th?
So hot today that we didn't do too much. I had to go get some bank stuff sorted out. When I left what seemed like the 10th bank I had to go to, I decided to go to the corner store to get something to quench my thirst. On my way into the store there were several young girls and mothers holding their babies (children or siblings) begging for milk. The begging here is different than what a person would experience in Cuba or Mexico.

It is total desperation.

So of course my heart broke and I told the one little girl that I would buy her some milk for her sister. Smart little cookie that she was, she took me to the most expensive "powdered milk" products and asked if I could buy her a few canisters. I told her that I would buy her a carton of milk and she randomly grabbed one, which happened to be skim. I put that one back and went to look for one that had the highest amount of fat in it. She politely thanked me as we walked out. I then realized that I had gotten something for the baby, but nothing for this 12 year old little girl. I asked her if she too was hungry and she shook her head yes. I offered to get her something too. Of course, my dumb ass Western brain thought she'd ask for chocolate or chips. Instead, she asked if I could buy her some bread or rice. Bread I could buy, but I thought some fried rice might be better, so I suggested for her to come back to my hotel where I could order her something from the restaurant. I could see that she was a little hesitant, so I asked where we could go that was a bit closer for her and she pointed towards a side street.

We began walking together, her baby sister on her hip, and I happened to turn around to notice another little girl (age nine) and a mother and little baby also following us. Call me a sucker, but how could I possibly give rice to one and refuse the other two? So we all went to a local restaurant to eat some lunch. I don't think the waitress was too impressed that I was bringing in a handful of beggars into the restaurant, but I really didn't care. You could see the excitement in the children's eyes, and of course, wanting to take full advantage of the white tourist, they all wanted to order the most expensive things on the menu. The waitress I reckon proceeded to tell them in Cambodian to not take advantage, and they all ended up ordering chicken fried rice. The waitress also told me that they wanted to order a shake each, and asked whether that was okay.

I experienced two amazing things sitting at that table. The first one humbled me greatly. When the rice came out the older sister blew on the rice -- like a little mom-- and fed her sister the whole time. She did not once put a spoonful of rice in her mouth, until her baby sister didn't want any more.

As a teacher back home, I'm always dealing with kids bickering with each other, and fighting. Very rarely do I hear students speak highly of their siblings. Here on the other hand, these two sisters shared a bond with each other, that most people in our Western world will rarely experience. This young girl displayed compassion and love, virtues that I try to teach on a daily basis. These virtues do not have to be taught here, as they are necessities for survival.

The second thing that struck me was that I was sitting across a woman -- we did not speak the same language, and live such different lives, yet we both felt so connected to one another. I smiled at her in awe of her strength and determination, and doing whatever it took to feed her child. She smiled at me, who knows what she was thinking?

After waving goodbye, we both went in opposite directions.... both on the same dirt road. I met back up with the girls, sitting by the pool, and had a full emotional breakdown. I felt guilty going to put my bathing suit on and cooling off in the pool, while these people have to continue to live like this. I don't feel sorry for the Cambodians, however, it's really difficult for me to grasp how it's possible that there is such extreme poverty, when as a nation, we have the funds and resources to be able to feed everyone in the world. I just don't get it.

Siem Reap

April 4th
Well, it's hotter than the sun here, definitely over 100 degrees every day. I really don't have a right to complain about anything, after my day today, but my body is in head to toe sweats all day long. LOL. We had an action packed day today. Started off with negotiating a tuk tuk price for the day with Ti and his friend David.

Angkor Wat
Our first stop: Angkor Wat, the temples which is the largest religious monument in the world. It was wonderful to see, and I got some amazing pictures, but I could honestly spent all my time taking pictures of monks. I love them. I'm utterly mesmerized by them. They pop in pictures because of their orange garb. I definitely need to read up about them, because I feel so ignorant about not knowing anything about their lifestyle.

After Angkor Wat we saw the Bayon Temple of Angkor Thom, and Ta Prohm Temple, where Angelina Jolie's Tomb Raider was filmed.

Floating Village
The girls decided to opt out of seeing the floating village, as they are going to see one in Vietnam, but I decided to go on my own, so my driver took me. It's hard to imagine what a floating village would look like--all I had in my head was Venice, Italy, which is really the only type of city I've ever seen on water.

Driving to the village I saw local people's homes; shacks built on wooden stilts, mopeds with 4-5 people/kids on it, naked babies, children playing with each other, children helping families build/carry things. I don't really think anything could have prepared me for seeing this floating village. I learned that approximately 5000 of the poorest people (mixture of Muslim, Cambodian and Vietnamese) who cannot afford to live on a piece of land, literally build their own floating home. When the monsoon season comes, they move their homes to a part of the river where it will not be flooded.

The Tonle Sap river is the life blood of Cambodia, which provides more than half the fish consumed in Cambodia. The river and the people's lives are greatly intertwined. Today I saw boys rough housing with each other, women bathing, older men with their whole bodies shovelling mud out, fishermen, children washing their clothes, and a floating school. It's truly a sustainable village on water. There were several times when I had to hold my tears in because it's hard to imagine that this place is actually a place where people call home. This is their life.

ACODO Orphanage
Tonight I went to visit the ACODO Orphanage where we were happily and excitedly greeted by many of the orphans. This orphanage is run by a non-profit organization. The only way they sustain it is through an evening performance of Khmer Traditional dancing-performed by the orphans, and songs from one of the disabled orphans.

I reckon there were about 40-60 orphans here-- what made me swallow back my tears (again) was the wall of "mug shots"-- underneath each shot was the child's name, DOB, reason for being in the orphanage. Many of the reasons stated "poor, too many siblings, single mother." The children who actually still have parents alive, but literally cannot afford to feed them due to numbers, get sent to live in this orphanage. It's really sad, but on the bright side, they are fed and taken care of, and also get to go to school.

After the performance, we were able to take a few pictures with the kids, and we all left a donation, which is how the orphanage is still able to exist. I think when I get home, I will definitely be sending over some school supplies for these kids, who were so thankful that we came to visit them. Did I just say that? THEY were thankful.

Cambodia, First impressions

April 3rd

I was up really early today to catch a bus to Cambodia. We had to hand in our passports to a lovely Thai man (haven't seen that too much), which made me a little nervous, but apparently obtaining a Visa for Cambodia is easier if you let a Thai person take care of most of the dirty work, which is what we opted for. It took us 4 hours to get to the border, where a local Cambodian man explained the "visa process."

As I was standing on the Thai/Cambodian border I had a few initial thoughts:
That I was going to like the Cambodian people much better than the Thais, and that the country was much, much poorer than Thailand. I saw young children pulling wooden carts filled with fruit, wood, metal or anything else that needed to be moved from one spot to another.

Once we literally walked through the border and got our visas stamped, we boarded another bus (4 hours) to take us to Siem Reap. While on the bus, I read some info about Cambodia and learned that about a third of the country is under the age of 14... I've seen lots of children playing with sticks and stones on the dirt roads. The houses that I've seen thus far are shacks made out of wood but on really, really, high stilts--I'm assuming due to the monsoon/rain season.

Highlight today: While waiting at a bus stop, a local little boy was skipping and I asked if I could use his skipping rope. I showed him several times how to jump and "criss cross" the ropes. He was in awe, and as I walked back to the bus, I saw him smiling and trying it out. I have a really good feeling about Cambodia

Bangkok

April 1-2
So I was absolutely dreading this day as the travel day was going to be around 19 hours of hell. LOL. The first leg was on a boat from 12-6 pm which actually wasn't too bad because it wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be. Thank God. Once we got to the pier, we had an hour wait for the bus, and hopped on the night bus around 7:30 p.m. Kelly and I got on quickly and we got some pretty good seats. I also pictured the bus to have no air con (even though they always say it will) and it did, so I was pleasantly surprised!

I couldn't fall asleep for a while, and the Ireland boys encouraged me to go to the Pharmacy before I left to pick up some pills to help me sleep. Let's just say the pharmacies in Thailand are very different than back home. You don't need a prescription for anything really. Just tell them what you need and you get it. I walked in and said that I needed a pill to help me sleep and she wanted to sell me 10 Valium pills for $10!!!!! How funny is that! Anyway, I bought 2, and took one that night which knocked me right out. Worked like a charm. We arrived in Bangkok around 4 am and I'm glad the girls had already been here because they knew exactly where to go.

April 2nd
Kelly and I decided to go and visit the infamous King's Palace. As we were walking there, we kept asking for directions and 3 people told us that it was closed, either closed early on Fridays, or closed for a Thai celebration. Apparently, this 'trick' is done quite often. The tuk tuk drivers want to take you somewhere else to get your money so they tell you that something is closed. Such a scam. I was quite disgusted actually that so many local people would try to scam us like that.

It's sometimes difficult to see any charm in Bangkok as it is a dirty, loud city, with many people just wanting to get your money. But I definitely saw a beautiful part of Bangkok today. The palace was serene, peaceful and full of lush gardens. The only problem was the heat. When you're on the south coast the heat is bearable because you simply jump into the water when you get hot. But walking in this city was brutal.

Khoasan Road is a busy touristy street that we stayed on, so I literally could have sat in a bar the whole night people watching because there is so much going on: street vendors selling bugs, Thai ladies trying to lure Western men, clothing vendors, etc....
However, Kelly and I decided to venture out of our busy street to go to Patpong Road, where there is another night market and 'evening shows.' We got there safely but walking through these markets you get hastled so much with hearing the same thing, "Hello Lady, you wanna try, I sell you for goo' price." When you politely say, "no thank you" they mutter something in Thai under their breath. It's brutal. And after a while, you just get sick of it.

The main reason we went was to go see one of the 'famous Thai ping pong shows'.... the catch is that you can go in but you have to buy one drink, and nothing else. I made sure when I was wheeling and dealing with the guy that there was NO other HIDDEN prices to pay. He assured me there wasn't. LOL. After being there for about 10 minutes, these 3 butchy women came up to us, demanding that we pay 300 Baht each for sitting in their establishment. We said "no" several times but then they started to get loud and mean, so we coughed it up. We were totally scammed. I hate feeling like a sucker. Now looking back at it, I wish we would have simply gotten up and left, but I will chalk it up to an experience I guess.

We finally found a tuk tuk to take us back to our street... while driving down a main road there was a blockade with tons of police officers directing traffic, which was due to the protests. We have heard about these political protests and as a foreigner it's a bit scary to be in a country/city where you know there is some political unrest. We had been able to avoid the "protest" area completely until this moment. The tuk tuk driver pulled over and motioned for us to 'get out' and kept pointing and telling us that our hotel was 'just over there'.....of course he was pointing in the direction of the thousands of protesters dressed in red with red bandannas over their faces. In the background on a huge mega phone all I could hear was an angry Thai voice saying things, with all the protesters listening and then cheering. There was no way in hell I was getting out of the tuk tuk at this point. A not-so-friendly police man walked by and Kelly asked if it was safe for us to walk through the area. I don't think he really knew what she was asking him but he said no. We were livid and relieved when we got back to our hotel because he had pulled over another time too, telling us to get out. We had no clue where we were, in relation to our hotel. We insisted that he drive us back to Khosan Road and really, I think he was simply irritated that he had to drive us the longer route because of the protests. What a night! Ripped off at the Market and then almost literally thrown into a sea of Thai protesters.

Tomorrow I am off to Cambodia, a place I've always wanted to visit, so I'm really pumped!

Things I've gotten used to in Thailand

* Eating with a fork and spoon, instead of a fork and knife
* No flush toilets--meaning, having to put buckets of water into the toilet yourself for everything to drain
* Same same, but different
* Being on the back of a pick up truck, with all of our backpacks and a half a dozen other peeps
* Taking off my flip flops when entering a) restaurant b) store c) hotel... anywhere really.
* Capacity on boats: non-existant
* Trying to get scammed, ripped off..... although I'm getting used to it, it still bothers the shit out of me every time it happens!
* Squatting
* 2-3 peeps on a moped, no helmets.

Ko Phangan

March 28-April 1st
Wow, I really don't know where to begin. You could actually feel the excitement in the air! Carey had come a night earlier and found us good bungalow accomodations in Heead Rin (the main town). It was a perfect location, about a 5 min walk from the beach, but far enough that it wasn't super super loud at night.
The beach here is amazing and it was the first beach where the waves were actually quite big and fun to frolick in during the day! I thorougly enjoyed riding the waves or quickly diving to get underneath them to avoid being swept away! The first few evenings were really good...we actually met Warren and Eoin from Ireland the first night and it was the 7 of us that hung out quite a bit. The beach party the first few nights was good, but less busy than I expected, and the girls kept saying wait till The Full Moon; it will be different.
going to stop here.....will continue again later!

Ko Tao

March 25-27
So Ko Tao was good too, but it wasn't my favourite island. It was pretty small and it was difficult to find cheap accommodations the first night so we stayed in a more expensive spot and then found a cheaper place the next night.

The highlight of Ko Tao was renting mopeds which I was a bit nervous about, not because I don't know how to ride one, because of the amount of accidents that happen on all these islands. I would say that every 3rd or 4th person I see on the street, they have either their ankle, wrist or another part of their body bandaged up, either from a moped accident or jumping/skipping through fire.

The other thing I was nervous about is the 'moped scam.' You pay a super cheap amount of money to rent the scooter but then when you bring it back the owner claims you made a certain scratch on the bike and makes you pay a ridiculous amount of money. Until you pay, they will not give you your passports back. I wouldn't have believed it myself, but on Lanta, I actually saw the scam happening and it made me a bit worried.

So of course, being slightly paranoid, I was proactive and took a ton of pictures of the bikes and all their dents and scratches before I actually left the rental place. I think the owner must have thought I was crazy! The bikes were returned safely and it was a great way to explore the island!

Ko Samui

We were only in Ko Samui for one night and I would have liked to have stayed for an extra night because I actually really liked it, although many people didn't have too many nice things to say about it. I will admit, it's a bit grimy at night with a lot of the lady boys prancing around.

The beach was amazing and the night life on the beach at night was really good. They transform all the beach beds to these quaint little tables that you can lie on and order food/drinks. There were also fire throwers and many people were lighting lanterns and letting them go into the air so when you looked up you saw all these lanterns. It was beautiful.

Travelling

March 23-24
So Lucy said the other day, "the worst thing about travelling is the travelling!" So true. We ventured off to Ko Samui today. We were loaded onto the back of a pick up (which I'm used to now) and transferred to a bus. We then got off that bus and put on another pick up to get to our boat. I sort of felt like I was being herded like an animal, going to the slaughter house.

When I saw the boat I wanted to die. The travel guy we booked the ticket from told us we'd all have our own beds on the boat. Well, his version of a bed is so different than mine. I guess it's my fault that I didn't ask him to describe the bed. LOL.

The 'beds' consisted of the floor. These tiny thin floor cushions all lined up next to each other --so you were literally smack next to a random person next to you. I think it would have been fine if it wasn't for the people that kept leaping in the air in the middle of the night screaming because they saw cockroaches, which were either on them or next to them. Gotta love travelling in foreign countries.

Koh Lanta

March 20-23
What a quiet island compared to Koh Phi Phi. I stayed at the Lanta Riviera and I absolutely love it here! I think the highlight of this island must be mentioned....and it has a story of course.
So when I left Phi Phi, I had been sharing the room with Kelly, Lucy and Carey (from England) and kissed them all good-bye in the midst of their sleep. I knew they'd be sleeping when I left so the night before I left them a little note and my email details. I was sad to say good bye but when I arrived in Lanta all of them had sent me a message on Facebook wishing me safe travels.

Well, the next day, I heard a knock on my door, and of course assumed it would be cleaning staff. Nope! It was Kelly. They didn't know that I was staying at that particular hotel and as she was walking to her room she noticed my bathing suit hanging on my balcony and knew for sure it was me!
So I've decided to prolong my stay in the south of Thailand for the infamous full moon party which is on March 30th.

I got another phenomenal massage on the beach, at night in Lanta. I think this one has almost been my favourite. I guess the best way to describe it is that it's a massage as well as some crazy-ass yoga moves all in one! I loved Lanta I think more than the rest of the girls, and would come back to this island in a heart beat!

Phi Phi Island

I have to catch up on blogging and don't know when I will have free Internet again so I'm going to make these next few blogs rather short and then when I get home I will expand on them!

Highlights of Phi Phi
-meeting Kelly, Lucy, and Carey
- fruit shakes
- food vendors at night
- Thai kickboxing bar
- fire throwers on the beach (great entertainment) and I ran through fire myself! what was i thinking?
- buckets of alcohol
- day trip to Bamboo Island (where there was no bamboo), Monkey Island, Shark Point, and Maya Bay -which was my favourite spot; the place where "The Beach" was filmed.
Maya Bay was amazing. I was reading a book on the Tsunami while I was on Phi Phi and read that there were a lot of protests during the filming of the movie because of all the excavations that were done.
-medical massage (where a man literally walked all over my body)

Thai Massage at Mamma Massage

So I spent most of my day on the beach today, but before heading off to soak in the sun, I decided to get my first Thai massage, which cost 300 Baht (about $10/hour).

Where do I begin?
Is it possible to experience pain and pleasure at the same time?

The massage parlours are all of these little low beds, that have a curtain to separate the beds. These curtains don't exist in all of these places. There were lady boys working there, and I was hoping to get a Thai woman to do my massage. The lady told me to "take everything off" and lie on my stomach. I was a bit antsy, as I knew this massage would most likely be a little different than the ones I get at home.

When she came in, the first thing she did was put a lot of pressure on my back and arms with the towel on, and then the towel got pulled down, very low...LOL. She literally hopped on top of me and started massaging my back with her elbows and arms. It was actually quite painful, but a good pain, if that makes any sense at all. She had me later on sit up (she was behind me) and had me lock my arms behind my head, where she proceeded to crack my back. I felt like the massage was part massage, part yoga. Phenomenal.

When the Thai's advertise "full body" massage, that is exactly what they mean. She massaged my ears, in between my fingers, toes, chest.... full body was right! Well, this trip is all about being open to new experiences and I went in with an open mind, and thoroughly enjoyed my first Thai massage. For the price, I think I may just go and get another one tomorrow!

First impressions of Phuket

March 13-March 16
Well, I hadn't slept in about 24 hours -- and was in a really nice hotel, which I booked at the airport, but afterwards realized that I paid a bit too much and could have gotten a place for a bit cheaper. Live and learn I guess.
My initial thoughts while I was driving from the airport to Patong Beach: I was disappointed that I saw a Starbucks, McDonalds and Burger King along the way. For some reason, I always pictured Thailand to be less westernized and wasn't expecting to see all the "junk" restaurants on the streets. Once I was settled into my room, I ended up walking around a bit, seeing the main strip --and the main road called Bangla Road.

I noticed a lot of mixed couples--which initially, I thought was great, but then I started to notice that most of these couples were older white men with young Thai women. I soon put two and two together and recognized that these women are all 'hired,' whether it be for a day on the beach, for the whole day, for the evening, or for the week. I was totally mesmerized by this whole concept and partially disgusted by all these dirty men who come here to pretend to have these young beautiful 'girlfriends.'

These women have perfected the "art of seduction" and know exactly what to do to have a guy buy her drinks, and then hire her for the evening. Pretty much, it's glorified prostitution. I had really good intentions of going out to see what Bangla Road is like at night, but ended up falling asleep, as I was dead tired.

Bali to Thailand

March 12-13th
Flew to Singapore first and then had to wait from midnight till about 8 am at the airport which was brutal. I was royally frustrated with the check-in process because there was no sign for "Phuket" and I stood in line for about 45 min. to be told to move aside and wait another hour. So frustrating!
Shortly before I had to go onto the plane I ended up chatting with a guy who had just left Phuket and was going back to New York. He had flown from New York to Phuket for 3 days! Crazy. He told me all about these "lady boys" and how you couldn't tell the difference between the Thai men and women. I'm a bit nervous to go to Thailand all on my own -- but it seems as though everything so far has worked out and my time travelling on my own has been nothing but AMAZING.
I sat next to this cute gay couple on the plane, and chatted with them the whole time--they both cracked me up, and were both such divas!

White Water Rafting

March 12th
Well, today was my last day in Bali and my flight wasn't leaving until late in the evening, so I wanted to make the most of my day. My taxi guy from the other day suggested that I go white water rafting, which is something that I've always wanted to do, and didn't do it in New Zealand because it was so expensive. Well, the rafting here was for 2 1/2 hours in the river and it cost me $24 which included a pick up, an amazing lunch, the rafting, and drop off back at the hotel! What a steal.

The drive up was amazing, where we seemed to climb higher and higher into the mountains, through local villages. The drive in itself was worth the price I paid, but I did start to feel a bit queasy along the way.

The rafting itself was amazing---there were 2 guys from Aussie, myself and Fidel, plus our raft guide who was great! My only problem was that the scenery was so damn beautiful, I kept forgetting to paddle because I was so busy looking up!

The other problem was when the guide said "Paddle, forward" I thought he meant the people in the front needed to paddle, and when he hollered "Paddle, back" that it was my turn to paddle. Needless to say about half way down the river I realized that we were all supposed to be paddling in the direction he said, "forward" or "backwards." OOPS.

I just couldn't help that I was totally mesmerized by the rice fields, local farmers working with their machetes, palm trees, coconut and cocoa trees, waterfalls. I was so excited that I had my first white water rafting experience in Bali! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get too many pics while rafting because I didn't want to ruin my camera, but we did stop at a waterfall and took a few pics there!

Life on the Bike in Bali

Thurs. March 11th
Yogi offered to take me around on his bike today, and I was a little hesitant, but I was living in the moment and said 'yes.' I really wanted to see an orphanage and he said that he had no clue where there was one in Bali but that we would find it. It took us a while, and I really did think that I was going to die today, no joke. There don't seem to be any rules for the roads in Bali--2 lanes really end up being 4, bikes weave in and out of small crevasses to try to get ahead, and people drive on one way streets; going the wrong way.

Yogi must have stopped a dozen times to ask local men on the side of the road for this one particular orphanage. I felt like a freak every time we stopped as all the men would turn and gawk at the 'white girl' and snicker, but I really didn't care because I wanted to find the orphanage, and Yogi was determined to make me happy!

I also realized today that I think I have a serious sweating problem...lol... because I felt like I was doing hot yoga without moving at all.... but it was well worth it, because we finally found it: The Dharma Jati Hindu Orphanage, established in 1985. It's led by 2 local people whose intention is to run an orphanage to take care of orphans and the poor in order for them to have a "good future life and education to be kind, honest, good mental and mannered, as well as having cultural minded." There are 200 orphans living in this building, ranging from 3 - 23 years old. I didn't feel sad at all when I came in, as the children were very happy and well taken care of. I was blessed to have met such an amazing woman, who has devoted her life to running this orphanage and taking in all of these children.

After leaving the orphanage, Yogi suggested taking me to Dream Land, a famous surfing beach -- where we went swimming. From there, we went to a Balinese Cultural center, a huge place with massive Hindu statues and temples.

By this point, it had gotten dark, and Yogi took me back to my hotel, where I quickly showered and got ready to go to a local Balinese restaurant for dinner, which again, was amazing.

A day Trip in Bali

March 11th

What an action packed day today! My driver, Fidel picked me up super early and proceeded to tell me about what the day will look like.

First stop--Barong Dance. The play represents an eternal fight between good and evil spirits. Barong (a mythological animal) represents a good spirit and Rangda (mythological monster) represents and evil one. The dance was beautiful, but it wasn't simply Balinese dancing, it was a story with various creatures acting, and live music.

Next, Batik: a place where I got to see the process by which local women make sarongs. I was in awe of the amount of work it takes to make 1 sarong, and the tedious process. To think.. all that work ends up in a small market place where us westerners bargain and can buy it for a few dollars.

Celuk was the next town that I stopped in where there were dozens and dozens of these gold/silver stores. Massive stores filled with jewelery... I kept asking Fidel, "how in the world do these stores survive, with such high competition, and sometimes low tourism?"

Ubud Market was bigger than I expected it to be, and I was actually a little afraid that I'd get lost because all the booths start to look the same after a while. I put my bartering skills to good use, even though I didn't really want to buy anything, as I don't have room for it. One of the lady's wanted 250,000 rupiahs for a sarong, and I ended up getting her down to 40,000 and I think if I really wanted it, she would have come down even more.

After the market, Fidel drove me to The Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, where I went camera crazy taking pics of these cute little monkeys and the sanctuary that they live in. Amazing.

Kintamani was the next stop, and on the way there I was able to see rice fields for the first time. In Kintamani, I had a buffet lunch overlooking the famous volcano. Once I sat down on the terrace, I thought it was just too beautiful of a spot to not share it with someone, so I ran back outside to get Fidel--I would have treated him to lunch--but he had already left. Having lunch/dinner at a nice place was another great fear of mine, and today I overcame that!

Fidel wanted to ensure that I had a memorable day so we then drove about 2 hours to Tampaksiring Temple, where I had to wear a sarong to cover my legs. I pictured a temple to look like one big building, but really it's on acres of land, with many sacred ponds, smaller temples, statues. This place was really spiritual, women were making offerings, people were praying and leaving offerings on an 'alter' type structure. I could have stayed here all day.

After that, Fidel drove me to the Uluwatu temple where I experienced the highlight of my day: the Kecak and Fire dance. It is the most unique Balinese dance which has a choir of about 70 men, who perform 'sanghyang' or a trance dance. In this dance/ceremony, a person is in a state of trance and communicates with the deities or ancestors. I am truly blessed to have experienced such an amazing culture today.

A Whole New World--BALI

March 9th, 2010
Well, it was a much longer flight than I expected. When I got off the plane, I truly felt like I had stepped into a whole new world. The structures and landscape are so different but absolutely beautiful--pagodas, small temple-like buildings. Walking out of the airport there must have been at least 100 local Balinese people holding "name" signs, and I began scanning all the names to find mine. We all received marigold lei's, which of course reminded me of my Tata, as it was his favourite summer annual. Him and I would always bicker about planting them on the side of the house, he loved them, I didn't... needless to say, the lei was a definite reminder that he was with me. Of all the flowers for them to make a lei out of!

The streets are very busy and narrow with lots of motorcycles, mopeds, trucks and taxis. I've noticed many of the homes, stores have small boxes made out of palms and inside they put flowers, herbs, and some food as a daily offering to the gods. This they change every day.

So I attempted putting this "new earth" philosophy into action today -- to "make my life my friend" and speak to others with pure sincerity--it's unreal what happened. LOL. I met Yogi, this young host trying to get me to eat at the restaurant he worked at. I ended up chatting with him a bit and he offered to take me around on his day off (Thursday). I saw him later that night and his friend suggested that I go speak to another guy to book my trip to Ubud. I then went an bartered with Roberto... he wanted 450,000 Rupiahs to hire a taxi for the day... I got him down to 300,000! I am the Queen of Bartering!

Elated on Life

Just left Peter Pan's (travel joint) and the guy there was totally high on life. He was super helpful -- he printed off a map to show me where to go from the bus station to my hostel in Brisbane. When I told him that my next stop was Bali he was absolutely elated! He actually got so excited that he pulled out a sheet of paper and drew me a map of Bali and gave me a bunch of suggestions for things that I can do while I'm there. As I was leaving P. Pan's he yelled out "have an AMAZING life" and was completely and utterly genuine. It's not very often that you meet people that are so happy to be alive and friendly to complete strangers. I left feeling really excited about the next part of my trip--temples, outdoor markets, and hand feeding monkeys!

Surfer's Paradise

March 5-7
Craig dropped me off at my hotel and my room had 2 German girls and an Israeli couple, yet only 4 bunks... you do the math. LOL. The couple was on the top bunk above me and the girl was especially irritating as she refused to use the ladder to get down, but would instead jump onto my bed as her stepping stone. Some people!

I had some trouble connecting with Beatrice (from NZ), which actually worked out okay because I ended up with a brutal migraine. Beatrice and I met the next day at noon and we walked around Surfer's which is a great place--reminded me of Miami--just a little less poshy and a little more surfer-ish. In the afternoon, we went back to Beatrice's place in Broadbeach, where we went for a run along the boardwalk. There were also these stations along the boardwalk to work out at, which I think would be fabulous in TO!

My highlights: Getting my 2 packages from home! I was SO EXCITED! Michelle sent me a bag full of goodies: oatmeal , WW bars, and some clothes. Eliane sent me a pair of my pants, which cost her an arm and a leg. :(

Beatrice's flatmates are all foreigners and so many are in Aussie to learn English. When I walked in, Katarina was getting ready to train for a waitress job. After we got back from our run, she had come back and was so pumped because they hired her. She had been cleaning windows prior to, so this job was much better and it would also allow her to practise her barely-there English.

Gabriel, this outspoken, loud Venezuelan talked to me about the difficulties of living in South America and how lucky I was to have a Canadian passport: to simply be able to pack my bags and go pretty much wherever I want in the world. He was absolutely right. Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to live in such an amazing place.

That night, Beatrice and I walked to Broadbeach--fantastic place full of great restaurants, bars, discos. We went to a place called Alto for a glass of wine and chatted with these 2 Australian guys, one who asked the silliest questions, and was quite boring, the other was really nice.

Queensland

Feb 27-March 5
Craig came up from Sydney for us to see the east coast together! We drove from Rainbow beach to Noosa, where we saw a lookout with 360 degree views, flying ants and blue butterflies. The main street in Noosa is so quaint, full of shops! Went to the beach to take some pics of me and the Tsunami that hit Aussie. Michelle was so worried back home about it, but everyone in Oz was joking about it because aparently is was a 20 cm wave or something like that! That night we went to watch Valentines Day and I was so excited to do something that reminded me of home!
The next day... downpour, again. Nothing to do. We stayed in Mooloolaba and went to the Ettamogah Pub for dinner. The weather can really put you in a shitty mood when you are a tourist and there is literally nothing to do when it's raining this hard outside.
The next day we decided to go to the Gold Coast but the guy at the hotel said that that rain is even worse so we're going to drive to Byron Bay instead. I found out that the rain Queensland has gotten in the past month has been the worst in the past 126 years! Flooding everywhere in this area---of course they've been in a drought for the past 7 years and the few weeks that I'm here, the weather gods decide to flood the area. Nice.

March 3rd: Totally homesick today. We drove to Nimbin, this Hippie town and I ran into the Canadian boys from my sailing trip, and Ellen from Fraser--what a small world! I laughed so hard at all the little stickers and signs in Nimbin because they reminded me of Eliane. I miss her tons today. I'm also so indecisive about my Africa trip--don't know which tour to choose? ahhhhh.... I guess I should be saying, "life is good" if this is what my worry is right now.

March 4th: Finally, a nice day out! Craig and I went up to Cape Byron, the most eastern point of Australia. Also went to see the Byron lighthouse. This afternoon we took some surf lessons. Our instructor picked us up at 2 and we drove to Lennox Head, which is the river mouth that hits the ocean. I of course, was disappointed with the fact that I was going to learn to surf in a murky river, versus the beautiful Byron Bay... but the waves were just too big to learn anything for a beginner. After learning how to surf I realized that the tiny waves were perfect for us! The first thing we did was learned the basics of the board: fins, nose, tail, rails on the side. Next we learned the stages of getting up:
1. paddle
2. chicken wing (hand/arm position)
3. knees
4. foot positioning
5. up
What a fantastic feeling when I was actually able to ride the wave! Surfing was easier than I thought it would be, but I would definitely need to take several more lessons to get better! Overall, a fabulous day today.

Our last night here before Craig leaves to go back to Sydney. He took me out to Hogs Breath Cafe for a steak dinner. He caught me totally by surprise with a beautiful momento ... a pen with my name engraved on it, to represent all of our discussions in the car over the past 5 days and the things we want to do with our lives!

Fraser Island

Feb 24-27
Travelled from Airlie Beach on an overnight bus to Hervey Bay and then caught another bus to Rainbow Beach. So about Fraser Island.... its the world's largest sand island and in 1992 was listed on the World Heritage site. Had to attend a briefing--met my new travel mates for the next 2 nights: 2 Swedish, 3 English, # Frenchies, 1 Dutch and me. We were doing a self-drive 4 wheel drive, 2 nights/2 days camping. I was a bit disappointed when I realized that you needed to drive standard in order to drive the truck :( So it's on my list of things to do when I get home.
Day 1: Drove up to Indian Head with our packed vehicle. I hung out with Steffi and Georgina and was rather annoyed with the Swedish girls who did absolutely nothing. We also drove up to Lake McKenzie, probably the most beautiful lake I've ever seen in my life--an inland, perched lake, flour-white sand, and sparkling blue water.
The tent held 3 of us and I was the lucky one in the middle. Lets just say my neck was so stiff in the morning, and I could barely move my back. Not in the middle tonight!
Day 2: Woke up to rain. Again. Had to pack everything wet and drove to Lake Wabby, which is the deepest lake on Fraser. The 2.4 km walk to the lake was beautiful. This lake is so different than yesterday's.... greenish water, cat fish swimming and little ones nibbling on your toes, with a huge sand dune to lie on!
Samuel, one of the frenchies, was a crazy driver, going all over the sand bumps at top speed--again, annoying at the time, but pretty funny now that I look back on it!

Airlie Beach and Whitsundays: The Great Barrier Reef

February 17-23
I am almost embarrassed to be writing this today as it's March 13th! I've had a few action packed weeks, and thus, haven't written. However, I have jotted everything down in my journal to help me keep track of everything.... so here it goes! My sail boat was called "Spank Me"--there were 14 of us, a few Canadian boys, some Brazilians who I became friends with, a few Germans and Americans.

Our first stop was Whitehaven beach, which is the beach that is on ALL the postcards. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a cloudy day, so my pics aren't as clear and beautiful. This beach is totally unspoiled and is considered to be one of the top 10 beaches in the world, located in the Great Barrier Marine Park.
My first day also consisted of an intro scuba dive, which to be totally honest I was a little disappointed with. On the second day I debated whether I should do another dive and as the other peeps were coming back on the boat from their dive, not too many people were raving about it.... which helped me with my decision. I went snorkeling instead and it was unreal! One of the crew members told me that the most you will ever see is within the first 5-10 meters of the water, so I was actually really happy with my decision! The third day we did a few more snorkel stops, each time putting on our stinger/wet suits, as there are so many dangerous creatures in these waters. The ones to be most worried about is of course sharks and jelly fish! Did you know that Australia has 8 out of the 10 deadliest animals on the planet?

Kangaroo Island

February 15-16

Day 1
Again, got picked up very early and believe it or not this tour had 12 of us ... all girls! 8 happened to be from Germany, 1 French, 2 Austrians and myself. Drove to Penneshaw where we had to hop on a boat to get to KI. Our tour guide, Brendan, announced that we all had to speak English to each other, but that didn't seem to apply to most of the German girls, as they all spoke German to each other, which kind of sucks when you don't understand what they are chatting about.

We drove to Pennington Bay, a beautiful beach, where we played some gay get-to-know-u-games... I felt like I was in grade school. We then headed to the Emu Ridge Eucalyptus Distillery, where we learned about all the benefits of eucalyptus and eucalyptus oil. There was also a little joey (baby kangaroo)... who was injured there and being nursed by the staff there... he was sitting in this little wicker basket all bundled up... he for sure thought he was in his pouch. Too cute!

After that we went to the "remarkable rocks" where we saw these rock formations... got some great pics! Brendan has started calling us "his angels" and we call him "charlie" ... LOL
Next stop, Admirals arch where we spotted some seals, and then drove to Flinders Chase National Park--where I saw koalas, kangaroos, wallaby's and tons of birds in their natural habitat. Since this island is totally protected, these animals really don't have any threats, they are disease free, etc.
I learned today that the word "kangaroo" dates back to when the European people came over to Australia. They asked the Aboriginals the name of the animal "pointing to the kangaroo."... They replied, "gangaroo"-- meaning, "we don't understand you." The Europeans heard "kangaroo" and thus named the animal the KANGAROO. I know, useless information, but I actually thought it was kind of interesting.

Back at our accommodations, another group joined us, and one of the guys was from my Groovy Grape tour--a face I recognized! So I hung out with Abigail (from France), Bastien, and this other guy named Mick from LA. Mick was hilarious. Two of the German girls asked him what the name was for an apron.... as they pointed to it.... he called it a "sphincter"...I could not stop laughing as they repeated the word.

Day 2
Seal Bay: got to learn about sea lions, and was able to get really close to them on the beach... so cool.

Highlight of the day: SAND BOARDING!!!!!
First thought, "WOW".... seeing all the sand dunes, this pristine white sand and hills to climb!! Getting up the dunes was a total workout. We first went down on a double board which was a ton of fun.... having to climb the dune again, not so much fun. The steps you take climbing up these dunes is like stepping into fresh snow, your feet just sink into the sand.

I did work up the guts to try the single sand boarding, even though I was scared shitless. The longer I waited, the worse my anxiety got.... so I just had to do it. All I have to say, is MAJOR SPEED, MAJOR WIPEOUT. But so amazing. Even though the sand burned my leg as I took my first wipe!

We also all rolled down the dunes... we were literally covered from head to toe in sand. My last attempt at the sand boarding I took a huge wipe and totally got the wind knocked right out of me--but looking back, totally worth it. I also went down on the double board by myself--on my stomach and that was great. I didn't think I'd see a thing from the sand, but I kept my head up, and it was good.

Brendan took us to this amazing beach afterwards to try and wash off all the sand we had on us, but honestly, it took a few days of showering to be able to say that I officially got all the sand off me. I kept finding it. LOL
For lunch today and yesterday I tried kangaroo meat.... the first day it was a kangaroo sausage... and I didn't really like it all that much. I think mostly because I couldn't stomach thinking that I was eating a poor kangaroo. The second day I tried a little piece of k-steak, which tasted so much better, but I still felt bad. Off to Arlie beach tomorrow.

Great Ocean Road

February 12-14

Jeeze, again, I feel so far behind in blogging.... I have several hours to kill before I hop on a bus so I thought I'd try to catch myself up. When I'm this far behind though, I may keep things short, at least so I can write down the most important highlights, and then possibly come back and add more details later.

I was picked up nice and early (6 am)... and boarded the Groovy Grape bus. The tour driver, Amber is fantastic, and is so knowledgeable about the surrounding areas. There were about 17-18 of us on this trip and I wasn't quite sure what to expect, and to be totally honest, was a bit surprised by the type of travel I was doing, but okay with it. For example, our meals... we stopped at a park for lunch, got out the plates, cutting boards, food, and all pitched in to cut things up to make ourselves wraps. I'm okay with embracing all these experiences because if it was always restaurant food, I think I'd get sick of that!

So we headed out of Melbourne and did Victoria's famous tourist drive and got to see some spectacular lookouts along the way.
We stopped in Torquay, close to Bell's beach, which is the Surfing capital of the world... this town is also home to Quiksilver and RipCurl, the surfing shops, and I was finally able to buy myself a few more Roxy flipflops for half price! Woo hoo.... gotta love a discount, as Australia is very expensive.

So this drive is amazing... I would say the highlight of today was definitely seeing the "12 Apostles." These apostles are famous rock formations in the water.... and there are only 8 remaining, as the water hitting them has caused 4 of them to fall. I ended up doing a helicopter tour of the area, and I'm really glad I chose to live in the moment and cough up $70 to do it.... well, well, worth it!

I think my most embarrassing part of my day, was asking this Russian lady on the trip to take my picture. I went to pose... and as I posed I fully farted. I was an unexpected slip and I was SO embarrassed. She right away heard it and was like, "it's okay, it happens to all of us!" Lord, that was a first for me. LOL

Day 2
Woke up really early and got to see the 12 Apostles one last time. Drove to a ton of lookouts today--London Bridge, through the "wheat" area of the country. Today I saw Wallaby's hopping across the road.... similar to the way we see skunks and raccoons, here, we see Kangaroo's and Wallaby's (which are smaller versions of Kangaroos).
Also got to go to the Aboriginal Cultural Center, where we learned about the Indigenous people of this area. The spot where we went to tonight to see the sunset was phenomenal and I ended up spending most of my time with Clare and Heather from Scotland. My only problem with them is that I could not understand them most of the time. I always thought they were speaking another language because they're accents were so heavy. I felt like a total moron half the time, as I had to keep saying "pardon" and they were always repeating themselves... but we got a good laugh out of it.

Day 3
Today we did a 3 hour hike of The Pinacle (the area) in the Granpians National Park... what a frickin' great hike! Got my heart beating today, that's for sure!
After that, we got to see MacKenzie falls, had lunch, and then a long drive to Adelaide. Overall, a great tour. Amber, the tour guide, may actually meet me in Thailand for a few weeks!

Finally Living My Dream, On My Own!

Feb 9th-11th
Melbourne, St. Kilda
Well, as I mentioned before, I am officially on my own and my nerves got the better of me. I'm in Melbourne and arrived at my hostel, which is a total backpackers joint. I felt a bit awkward at first, especially when I walked into my 8 bed mixed dorm room. I was dead tired and crawled onto my top bunk to go to bed super early when Heidi from Finland walked in, introduced herself and started chatting with me.

That night, she invited me to go with her to look for penguins by the pier and I had to take the opportunity! So we walked down to the beach where we met up with her 2 other Finnish friends and hung out. The boardwalk is beautiful and we were able to spot some beautiful baby penguins!

The next day, we hung out at the beach but the weather, yet again, turned on me and was not that great to be lying on a beach. Later that evening, Vivian, a Contiki friend came to pick me up for dinner. I will have to write more about my "shady" story waiting for Vivian when I get a chance. We got to know one another better over a great meal, and exchanged lots of teaching stories, especially the differences between Canada and Australia. Later on I met up with the girls and went to enjoy some live music in a local pub, which is part of the St. Kilda festival going on right now.

Today, Sarah, another Contiki friend came to pick me up and gave me a fabulous tour of the city! I was able to go into the Melbourne Aquarium, the Casino, St. Paul's Cathedral, some art galleries, hop on the City Tram, and each lunch in Chinatown. Again, Sarah and I roomed together in Queenstown for a few nights but didn't hang out too much, so spending the whole day with her today was great. Hopefully, she will be living her dream next year by travelling the world, and Toronto will be one of her stops!

Just finished packing up my bag and showering, as I am up early tomorrow--leaving to go on my 3 day, 2 night Great Ocean Road tour.

Sydney, Australia

Friday, Feb 5-9th

Well, from one country to the next... I finally made it to Australia. I actually applied to go to teacher's college in Aussie, and was accepted into all the universities, but my dad got sick at the time, and I simply felt too guilty leaving him home alone. So I declined my studies abroad, and promised myself that one day I would make it to Aussie.

Peter and Craig from our Contiki tour offered to 'host' Marci and I while we stayed in their city which was amazing! The only not-so-amazing part was that it rained literally from the time we arrived to the time that I left. :(

The first day Craig picked us up at the airport and took us right away to the Sydney Olympic Park where I was able to see the various stadiums and structures from the 2000 Sydney Olympics. We then took a ferry to the centre of the city where I saw the famous Sydney Bridge and the Opera House! For some reason the Opera house excited me so much... every time I think of Sydney, that is the structure that comes to mind. At this point it was POURING.

We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed off to the Sydney zoo. This was by far the highlight of my day, where I was able to take a picture with a Koala and a Kangaroo! Woo hoo.... I actually have a list of 'must do's' while I am travelling and the pic with the Koala was one of them. Check.

That evening we ate at Darling Harbour and then up to the 17th floor (of a hotel) for some drinks with Craig and Peter's workmates. What a great view of the city at night!

The next day was pouring again so didn't really do too much besides try to get into the Opera house but the guided tours were just too expensive. We made dinner at home and watched movies. It was great to just chill!

Sunday... guess what? Rain again. LOL. We went to Bondi beach, and man, would I have been sunning my buns had the weather been nice. The beach is amazing, but of course, the weather put a little damper on things. That night, Joe came over (Contiki guy we met)...and everyone went out for Thai food. I had a splitting headache, so I stayed in.

Monday--Alfred met us at the train station to take us to the Blue Mountains, another 'tourist' attraction where there is a legend of these 3 sisters who got turned into massive rocks, and everyone goes for the magnificent view. Once we got there, our view was fog--so we did not actually get to see the 3 sisters. However, we took a 2 1/2 hour hike down the 3 Sisters Trail.... in the rain forest pretty much, and by the end of our time, we were soaked but what a fantastic day. And some really great pics too! With all the waterfalls and density of of the forest, the 3 of us at some point all got bitten by leeches, Yikes!

When we got back back to Sydney, the 5 of us grabbed a quick bite to eat at Darling Harbour and then were off to the IMAX to see Avatar. This IMAX is the biggest screen in the world, so I was VERY excited to see it again. I don't think I've ever had that much fun in a movie theatre before, all of us taking pictures with our 3-D glasses on. LOL.
Just as we were leaving the theatre, we happened to literally run into Jakob, another Contiki guy from Germany actually...he was so pleasantly surprised to see us, and in some serious shock too! It was quite entertaining.

Marci and I have decided to split up, and embark on our own journeys separately. We both want to see different things in Australia, and it would be impossible to see both what I want to see and what she wants to see in the span of a month. So tonight was our last night together. I was feeling quite anxious today, as travelling on my own is totally out of my comfort zone. But I've always said that I need to push myself out of my comfort zone in order to learn and grow as an individual. So I hope this does it! Let's see how long I last. LOL.