I am still in Australia, and still staying with my friend. I was originally intending to only stay a few days with Matthew before heading North or South to continue exploring Eastern Australia, however i haven't made it too far. I am having a blast with Matt, and with my dwindling money supply and being spoiled with crazy luxuries like cars, my own bathroom, bed, and laundry facilities, i just cannot be convinced to leave!!
In reality it is just having a great friend who is willing to let me crash at his house for 3 weeks and laugh and play with me which is keeping me here! We have been quite busy the last 1.5 weeks. As i mentioned Matthew is a dance instructor and is currently trying to open his own studio, so was not working when i first got here but was waiting for approval by council to allow him to start building. On my 4th day here he got the approval that he has been waiting for 3 months to get and now he is a ball of energy and work. I am really excited for him, but i was really enjoying my own personal tour guide who had nothing to do but entertain me!!
He is still doing quite well balancing finding things for me to do and taking me around with work, so i am really in no place to complain.
We have been on some fun adventures, heading out to the Hunter Valley, which is wine country about 2 hours outside of Sydney. We went wine tasting on Sunday this weekend, taking the whole day to drive out and enjoy the beautiful country side, and then explore some of the wineries they have here. The first few i was sorely disappointed, but then we struck pay dirt with a few. We were trying to discover what Matthew liked in wine, and he would always laugh at me because i would always try the same things and then go for the most expensive red they were sampling on the list. Of course i kept falling for the $50 - $70 bottles and Matthew would just shake his head. His favorite was a $13.50 bottle of white! I was making him crazy as well trying to explain all of my "expansive" wine knowledge.... i may be exaggerating slightly on how much i really know.... but I guess i miss pretending to be a wine expert to all the tourists who fell upon Summerhill.
Matthew also took me salsa dancing over the weekend with 2 of his dance instructor friends. Now if you would like to talk about being intimidated... please, go to a Salsa bar, where everyone is either professional salsa dancer, or old creepy men with shirts unbuttoned to their belly-buttons. (and they say some women show to much cleavage, i never want to see hairy old man cleavage again!) I had receive 2 lessons at this point of my professional salsa dancing career. The first included about 10 minutes learning the basic step, and being yelled at because i always try to dance on the balls of my feet. I am convinced i look better being bouncy, maybe if i just bounce up and down of my feet people will think i am a pro..... Matthew disagrees.. So i have less than 40 minutes of salsa under my belt and after watching people eat up the dance floor, was quite content to suck on one beer all night and crawl under the table and cry. Unfortunately that was not permitted. I danced one salsa dance, then crawled under the table and cried! After the dance instructors all got up and started dancing. I realized that they all waited for me to go first because after i saw what they could do, i did not feel like dancing any more. My jumbled shuffling feet remained glued to the floor.
We eventually moved to another bar when no one could take the Latino version of N'Sync and other 90's music any longer, where i danced the night away. And by dancing i simply mean jumped up and down and shook my hips now and then. Matthew and his dancer friends dance differently... but i could at least blend in with the rest of the crowd who don't know the difference between their left foot and their right.
I haven't seem much of the local wildlife save a bunch of spiders and lots of different types of birds. The strangest thing is watching parrots, and parakeets, and cockatoos fly around wild. I keep waiting for one of the parrots to say hello to me, but they never do! Maybe they don't understand my North American accent.
I am also working for my keep here. I have been helping Matt paint and clean his new studio, which is where i have come across the majority of the spiders. Mostly just daddy long legs, but a few others i have either attacked with long handle brooms or long hosed vacuums. Anything within to close of a proximity and my squealing alights Matthew or his friend Mark to spider killing attention. The best part of one of my days beyond the spider patrol by the boys, was when in their attempt to paint the wall of the stairs, and without a proper ladder to stand on the stairs the boys devised a multitude of ways to stupidly stack or lean the ladders against things. In my last attempt to help, Mark was holding one ladder, and i had to hold the paint bucket as Matthew scoured the other and didn't have a free hand to hold the can. When the ladders collapsed because of the stupidity of the boys, fortunately it fell against the stairs landing, but not before smashing my paint can held arm and pouring 90% of the paint down my hair, face and shirt. Thank God it was a water based paint otherwise i would have been scalping the two boys for my new hair! Needless to say i was done helping for the day and started cleaning up instead after giving myself a full bath in the smallest sink imaginable. The boys were too afraid to come near me after that!
One of the best things we have done so far was last night Matthew and I got dressed up in full fancy-shmancy gear and went to the Sydney Opera House and went to see a symphony. There was the full orchestra, a choir, and 3 opera singers. 2 of the opera singers i could have done without, only one of them i really enjoyed, but the orchestra and the choir were both amazing! I am such an old fart but that stuff absolutely amazes me. Almost as great as the symphony was during the intermission, we were in some really great seats (thank you Matthew!!) which opened up onto a bar that overlooked the whole harbor, bridge and Luna park ( a famous amusement park) which were all lit up. It was an absolutely gorgeous view of the inky black water with a few boat lights on it, and a close up view of Northern Sydney.
In total i think you can tell i am having a great time here. I really enjoy Sydney and could only ask for a bit of sun because i am drastically loosing any tan that i had gained! I know all Australians would curse me (as they have had a 6 year drought) but i don't want any more rain! Give me Sun! (Don't worry Father i have been wearing 30 sunscreen everyday!)
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
The Land of OZ
I am in Australia, and having a really great time. I have only been here for 2 days so far, but am staying with my friend Matthew, who i went to high school with. He picked me up bright and early on Saturday morning and showed me a bit of the city. The first day was actually spent mostly doing my laundy as i regret to say it had been about a month (EW!!) since most things had seen a washing machine. Now not to harp to harshly on my cleanliness, I have become a great bathroom washer of clothing in sinks with hotel bars of soap that I scam. But whites always seem to become a bit grey, and they just don't get rid of that musty back-packers smell. With the humidity in Thialand also things never seemed to fully dry, unless i racked the airconditioning up to sub-zero temperatures. So Matthew was a little overwhelmed at my 3 months on the road, worn-out and slightly smelly clothes, and insisted that i shower, and at my refusal to burn my clothes, we washed them in hot hot water, and they even went in a dryer!!! Let me tell you how much i love dryers. They are the best thing in the whole entire world, and my next big love is dryer sheets. Yes i know that they are bad for the enviornment or something, and are loaded with chemicals, but they are chemicals that make my clothes feel and smell WONDERFUL!
But washing my clothes is not all i have done in Australia. Matthew lives outside of Sydney, or in Sydeny... i am not sure which it is. I think Sydney is another Vancouver or Phoenix where the city had grown into other cities so you don't know where th boundries lie. But iether way i am in or around the capital city. We have checked out Manley Beach and Bondi beach, I met Matthews best friend, another dancer and went to a club that has 5 rooms which all play different music, but the inside looks like Ranchmans ( a cowboy bar in Calgary). Matthew has started to try and teach me to dance, as he is a dance instructor and is curretnly opening his own studio. I am not very good, and tend to get dizzy! I have learned that one day when i grow up and can drive a car without hitting other cars that i want to get a motorcycle. Matthew has one and after gearing me up in leathers and helmets i have decided i look good as a biker babe and should invest in one of these two wheeled machines. But as i said since i tend to run into things, i still would like a big steel metal cage around me!
Tomorrow we are going to head into the city and check out the opera house and the botanical gardens and whatever else there is to see. I have ridden over the Sydney Harbor bridge via motorcycle and seen the opera house from afar, but want to get closer!
I am hoping to check out a bit more of the country and see what wild animals i can run into so we're looking into going camping one weekend!
That is really all for now. The last computer wouldn't let me upload the pictures that i had promised so i will try to get onto that soon!
Love from down under!
But washing my clothes is not all i have done in Australia. Matthew lives outside of Sydney, or in Sydeny... i am not sure which it is. I think Sydney is another Vancouver or Phoenix where the city had grown into other cities so you don't know where th boundries lie. But iether way i am in or around the capital city. We have checked out Manley Beach and Bondi beach, I met Matthews best friend, another dancer and went to a club that has 5 rooms which all play different music, but the inside looks like Ranchmans ( a cowboy bar in Calgary). Matthew has started to try and teach me to dance, as he is a dance instructor and is curretnly opening his own studio. I am not very good, and tend to get dizzy! I have learned that one day when i grow up and can drive a car without hitting other cars that i want to get a motorcycle. Matthew has one and after gearing me up in leathers and helmets i have decided i look good as a biker babe and should invest in one of these two wheeled machines. But as i said since i tend to run into things, i still would like a big steel metal cage around me!
Tomorrow we are going to head into the city and check out the opera house and the botanical gardens and whatever else there is to see. I have ridden over the Sydney Harbor bridge via motorcycle and seen the opera house from afar, but want to get closer!
I am hoping to check out a bit more of the country and see what wild animals i can run into so we're looking into going camping one weekend!
That is really all for now. The last computer wouldn't let me upload the pictures that i had promised so i will try to get onto that soon!
Love from down under!
Loas and Southern Thailand
The river kyaking day ended up to be kyaking in rapids. Tonnes of fun however quite the adventure was getting there and back in itself. The kyaking trip in Loas, was stated to be a hour public bus ride out of the city of Vientiane. Now typically when one thinks of bus, they think, well a bus. Even in Africa my bus expereinces, while always interesting (and fillled with the blasted red dirt) were always in some form of bus transportation. This was my first non-bus bus. Instead the public transporation comes in the form of a pick up truck, with two bench seats along the back, and a open canopy to store all the luggage on the top. No goats on the top of this bus, but a cooler full of chicks twittering away was stored up on the canopy. And of course after 5 - 6 people are crammed on each bench seat the drives stop and pick up people to stand on the back of the truck and hold on to handles off the canopy.
So this was a bit of a surprise, and the next surprise came when after 1 hour, and multiple stops at each town the we drove through to ensure that there were no other people in the village who could be crammed into the "bus", we were nowhere near the city we were headed to. After 2 hours dad and I became certain the we were off to the wrong city, and as the bus driver, or anyone on the bus did not speak english, scared and frustrated glances were passed back and forth between dad and i in each passing town. Finally after 2.5 hours, we were dropped off at the side of the road and pointed to a bridge.
We found the kyak place, and although our guide was mostly there to ensure we made it through the class 3 rapids, (only instruction was if you fall out, don't swim, you'll get stuck in the whirlpools... just wait until your out of the rapids and get back in the boat.) The journey was uquite nice and serene. Dad and I enjoyed the scenery, and made it through the rapids without falling out of the boat, or losing control!! (same cannot be said for our guide, HA!) It was a really fun time on the water.
The next adventure came on our return to the city. After some lunch we were informed that we would be taken via tractor (..... really tractor??) back to the city, and then driven again by bus that isnt a bus, back to Vientiane. However instead of said tractor, our guide walked us out into the center of a small local village, and left us at a shop. He said the bus would come, to just wait, as he left for home on his scooter. Dad and i were glared down by the local men who were crowded around a table infront of the shop. It was at this point that Dad adopted my word of "sketchy"!! We were in the middle of no where and were feeling quite vunerable. I was about 2 more minutes away from hoofing it back through the jungle to get back to the eco-house where we had lunch, and insisting on a real bus with air conditioning, when the non-bus bus came. It was another 2.5 hours home, but it was an adventure!
The next morning we were off to Phuket to enjoy some beach time and a bit of relaxation. As both Jamie and Cindy were sounding a little stressed at home, we decided it would be a great idea to get everyone to Phuket for a last minute family vacation. Dad and i were informed of a fantastic website called wotif, (www.wotif.com) which gives great deals on hotels all over the world. We got a 4 star hotel for about $50/night!! The place was lovely with golden sand in a small bay. Lapiz blue waters, and beautiful tropical gardens surrounded the area. We each had small little bungalows which faced out towards the ocean. My favourite part though, beyond the crashing of the waves rolling up on shore, was the pool. Now usually when there is an beach and the ocean to be had, i could care less about pools. But unfortuantly the golden sand beach quickly gave way to a old rocky coral bed. The pool more than made up for the not so fun ocean swimming. It was huge and rolled around the hotel gardens with lots of waterfalls, and flowers dipping into the water. It felt as though you had wandered into a small oasis. In a shallow section of the kiddie pool there were big elpehant statues in the water which when turned on spurted water out of the elephant trunks to make a shallow water park. A swim up bar enticed you to drink pina coladas out of coconuts, or my favourite the banana daquiris! It was a great place for some R&R. I was really excited to have Jamie and Cindy come down as well. We stayed off Patong Beach for a few days, mostly just relaxing and doing some shopping at the markets in town. Dad and Cindy always could manage to find a Irish pub somewhere in the towns that we went to do grab a Guiness, and Jamie fell in love with the local beer Singha.
After Patong we headed north to Kohlak. Kohlak was the big hub-bub where many of the really swank hotels and resorts were before the tsunami, however as it was farther north without any protection from other land, it was hit quite hard, and the everthing the layed on the beach was completely destroyed. The town is doing quite well in its rebuilding process, but it is smaller now, and i actually hope it stays the same, and it is quite and beautiful in comparison to Patong.
We stayed again at a wonderful hotel thanks to that website for a great deal. This hotel was even better in the sense that although didn't have all the amenitites the other hotel had, (they are still rebuilding) the rooms were glorious, everything was brand new, and the beach rocked my world. Golden sand beach that stretches out a couple miles on each side, rolling blue ocean, and we could wander past the surf stil not past our chests into the water and not a rock to be found! It was great. I love the ocean, but dad kept having to go back and jump in the pool to cool off as the ocean was not cold enough! The ocean was probably a good 80 degrees F or 25 degrees C!! It was fantastic!
We managed to also do another elephant ride, bamboo raft trip, with cindy and Jamie as well as visiting a turtle conservation farm, seeing wild snakes sleeping in trees, more shopping and massages and pedicures, fishing and snorkeling, visited the police boat tsunami memorial, and watched 3 fanstastic sunsets!
After a what seemed like a very brief stay in Southern Thailand, we headed back to Bangkok to each go our seperate ways.
I had such a fantastic time traveling with my dad, and was very happy that Cindy and Jamie came to join us for the last bit. This trip has been a great experience and i am so glad that i have had the chance to see my family and expereince so many things with them!
So this was a bit of a surprise, and the next surprise came when after 1 hour, and multiple stops at each town the we drove through to ensure that there were no other people in the village who could be crammed into the "bus", we were nowhere near the city we were headed to. After 2 hours dad and I became certain the we were off to the wrong city, and as the bus driver, or anyone on the bus did not speak english, scared and frustrated glances were passed back and forth between dad and i in each passing town. Finally after 2.5 hours, we were dropped off at the side of the road and pointed to a bridge.
We found the kyak place, and although our guide was mostly there to ensure we made it through the class 3 rapids, (only instruction was if you fall out, don't swim, you'll get stuck in the whirlpools... just wait until your out of the rapids and get back in the boat.) The journey was uquite nice and serene. Dad and I enjoyed the scenery, and made it through the rapids without falling out of the boat, or losing control!! (same cannot be said for our guide, HA!) It was a really fun time on the water.
The next adventure came on our return to the city. After some lunch we were informed that we would be taken via tractor (..... really tractor??) back to the city, and then driven again by bus that isnt a bus, back to Vientiane. However instead of said tractor, our guide walked us out into the center of a small local village, and left us at a shop. He said the bus would come, to just wait, as he left for home on his scooter. Dad and i were glared down by the local men who were crowded around a table infront of the shop. It was at this point that Dad adopted my word of "sketchy"!! We were in the middle of no where and were feeling quite vunerable. I was about 2 more minutes away from hoofing it back through the jungle to get back to the eco-house where we had lunch, and insisting on a real bus with air conditioning, when the non-bus bus came. It was another 2.5 hours home, but it was an adventure!
The next morning we were off to Phuket to enjoy some beach time and a bit of relaxation. As both Jamie and Cindy were sounding a little stressed at home, we decided it would be a great idea to get everyone to Phuket for a last minute family vacation. Dad and i were informed of a fantastic website called wotif, (www.wotif.com) which gives great deals on hotels all over the world. We got a 4 star hotel for about $50/night!! The place was lovely with golden sand in a small bay. Lapiz blue waters, and beautiful tropical gardens surrounded the area. We each had small little bungalows which faced out towards the ocean. My favourite part though, beyond the crashing of the waves rolling up on shore, was the pool. Now usually when there is an beach and the ocean to be had, i could care less about pools. But unfortuantly the golden sand beach quickly gave way to a old rocky coral bed. The pool more than made up for the not so fun ocean swimming. It was huge and rolled around the hotel gardens with lots of waterfalls, and flowers dipping into the water. It felt as though you had wandered into a small oasis. In a shallow section of the kiddie pool there were big elpehant statues in the water which when turned on spurted water out of the elephant trunks to make a shallow water park. A swim up bar enticed you to drink pina coladas out of coconuts, or my favourite the banana daquiris! It was a great place for some R&R. I was really excited to have Jamie and Cindy come down as well. We stayed off Patong Beach for a few days, mostly just relaxing and doing some shopping at the markets in town. Dad and Cindy always could manage to find a Irish pub somewhere in the towns that we went to do grab a Guiness, and Jamie fell in love with the local beer Singha.
After Patong we headed north to Kohlak. Kohlak was the big hub-bub where many of the really swank hotels and resorts were before the tsunami, however as it was farther north without any protection from other land, it was hit quite hard, and the everthing the layed on the beach was completely destroyed. The town is doing quite well in its rebuilding process, but it is smaller now, and i actually hope it stays the same, and it is quite and beautiful in comparison to Patong.
We stayed again at a wonderful hotel thanks to that website for a great deal. This hotel was even better in the sense that although didn't have all the amenitites the other hotel had, (they are still rebuilding) the rooms were glorious, everything was brand new, and the beach rocked my world. Golden sand beach that stretches out a couple miles on each side, rolling blue ocean, and we could wander past the surf stil not past our chests into the water and not a rock to be found! It was great. I love the ocean, but dad kept having to go back and jump in the pool to cool off as the ocean was not cold enough! The ocean was probably a good 80 degrees F or 25 degrees C!! It was fantastic!
We managed to also do another elephant ride, bamboo raft trip, with cindy and Jamie as well as visiting a turtle conservation farm, seeing wild snakes sleeping in trees, more shopping and massages and pedicures, fishing and snorkeling, visited the police boat tsunami memorial, and watched 3 fanstastic sunsets!
After a what seemed like a very brief stay in Southern Thailand, we headed back to Bangkok to each go our seperate ways.
I had such a fantastic time traveling with my dad, and was very happy that Cindy and Jamie came to join us for the last bit. This trip has been a great experience and i am so glad that i have had the chance to see my family and expereince so many things with them!
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