Wandering back down
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Monday, May 01, 2006
My Final Days in Oz
Well, I've been back home for about a week and a half. Suffice it to say, the trip was a personal success (although perhaps not in the way I originally aniticipated) and it's good to be home. Here are my journal entries for my final days in Australia:
April 16th Entry:
Happy Easter! As I've changed my plane ticket to leave from Brisbane on April 19th, I only have 3 sleeps left in Australia. I've really enjoyed my time in this country. Let me get you up to date since my last blog entry about the Great Barrier Reef. After an amazing snorkling exprience, we took an overnight bus to Airlie Beach. It's a tiny little resort town. Really just a street along the beach front. Like Cairns, it has an artificial lagoon (freshwater) next to the beach for people to swim in during stinger season. There's not much to do in Airlie, other than a strip of tourist shops and cafes. It's main purpose is a jumping point to the Whitsunday Islands.
On April 14 (Good Friday), I went on a tour of the Whitsunday Islands. I went with a company called "Ocean Rafting", which took a group of us (about 20) in a speed boat/raft on a tour of the main island. The ride was fast, bumpy, wet, and fun! I met 2 really nice German girls on the trip. one of the girls, Julia, had actually been on the same night bus that Corinne and I were on from Cairns to Airlie and was taking the same bus out of Airlie that night with us. Plus, she's going to fly home from Brisbane on the 19th, too! Funny world.
Anyway, the tour took us to the main island (Whitsudnay Island) and we walked up to a look-out point over-looking White Haven Beach. This long stretch of very, very white sand has the world's purest form of silica sand. They actually used the sand from this area for the lenses of the Huble telescope. From the look-out, we trudged back to the boat and then moved to another location on that beach for lunch. We hung-out there for about an hour and a half, and then it was off for a bit of snorkling at yet another location. I had trouble with my snorkle masks (1st one had a leak in the seel, 2nd one was too big, and the lenses snapped out of the 3rd one!). After spending all my energy fighing with my masks, I decided to quit while I was ahead and made my way back to the boat. From there, we headed back to Airlie Beach. All in all, it was a good trip, although not as spectacular as the reef tour. The islands reminded me of the islands between Vancouver and Vancouver Island, although with beautiful blue-green water and white sand beaches!
After taking another overnight bus (left at 8:15pm), we arrived in Hervey Bay at 9:10am on Saturday, April 15. We were picked up from the bus station by our Servas hosts, Don and Barbara. They are wonderful people; a retired couple who just moved to Hervey Bay about 3 years ago. They live in a community complex, like a condo idea but with houses instead, including a community center and an outdoor pool. Corinne, Barbara, and I spent the late morning/early afternoon swimming and lounging by the pool side. Tough life! Corinne and I spent the remainder of the afternoon wandering around Hervey Bay (a very nice town). We walked out tot he very long pier, where many people were fishing, and enjoyed a fantastic sunset.
Today, Barbara and Don took us around to see the area. We set off this morning for a near-by market where people were selling all sorts of things...from jewlery to produce to old tools. Then we went to the town of Maryborough. It's a town of about 25, 000 people and boasts the largest concentration of historic Queensland-style buildings from the turn of the 20th century and is the birthplace of the lady who wrote "Mary Poppins". It's a very picturesque place. We had a picnic lunch after wandering the streets. Then we drove to a conservation area where, after a fair bit of walking and searching, we spotted a koala! Now I've seen kangaroos, platypuses, and a koala in the wild. Perfect! We then drove back to Hervey Bay and had a coffee/milkshake at the marina. Not a bad way to spend Easter!
April 17th Entry:
Today Corinne and I did a 4-wheel drive tour of Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It took about 1 hour by ferry to get to the island from the Hervey Bay marina. We had wet weather all day, but the island was still very beautiful. Swamps, beaches, rainforest, sand dunes (sand blows), and streams. Our tour was very small (only 10 people) and our guide was a funny German guy. We met 2 very nice couples on the tour, one from Switzerland and the other from England. The couple from England were on the last few weeks of their 16 month journey around the world! Amazing people.
We had a lovely supper with Don and Barbara when we got back this evening, enjoying beautiful fooed, great wine, and fantastic company. What more do you need in life?
April 20th Entry:
Well, here I am at the Singapore airport. I've left Australia and I'm on my way home. The last couple of days havn't been terribly eventful. On Tuesday (April 18), we left Hervey Bay and spent most of the day on the bus to Brisbane. When we got to Brisbane in the late afternoon, we made our way by city train and on foot to our Servas host's place. We stayed with Wilmai Davidson, a really nice lady. She used to work in the corporate world but a life-changing experience in Nepal (she got severe altitude sickness) caused her to re-think her perspective on life. She left her job, moved to Brisbane, and starting working as a nanny for a couple of different families. She also took a serious look at personal spirituality.
On Tuesday evening, the 3 of us went with some of Wilmai's family for a cheap meal at a "Service Club". This place was a small members-only casino that serves cheap food. Not the greatest, but for $3.50 a plate, who am I to complain? After, we went to the movies to see March of the Penguins.
The next day (April 19), Corinne and I took a tour bus to visit the Australia Zoo, just north of Brisbane. This is the zoo owned by Steve Irwin; a.k.a the "Crocodile Hunter". It's main focus was on Australian wildlife. It was good, but a bit of a "Steve Irwin" theme park. Not really a conventional zoo. And I found the animals much more domesticated than in other zoos I've been to. Still, the staff seemed to take very good care of them.
That evening, we had supper with Wilmai, then played a game called "Rummy-O". After that, it was time for me to head off to the airport.
So ends my 1st Australian adventure. It's a great place and I intend to visit again. I have no regrets about coming home early. I'm tired of traveling for now (physically and mentally) and these places are too spectacular to waiste me being tired. So, I'll just have to return another time!
Some important lessons I've learned:
April 16th Entry:
Happy Easter! As I've changed my plane ticket to leave from Brisbane on April 19th, I only have 3 sleeps left in Australia. I've really enjoyed my time in this country. Let me get you up to date since my last blog entry about the Great Barrier Reef. After an amazing snorkling exprience, we took an overnight bus to Airlie Beach. It's a tiny little resort town. Really just a street along the beach front. Like Cairns, it has an artificial lagoon (freshwater) next to the beach for people to swim in during stinger season. There's not much to do in Airlie, other than a strip of tourist shops and cafes. It's main purpose is a jumping point to the Whitsunday Islands.
On April 14 (Good Friday), I went on a tour of the Whitsunday Islands. I went with a company called "Ocean Rafting", which took a group of us (about 20) in a speed boat/raft on a tour of the main island. The ride was fast, bumpy, wet, and fun! I met 2 really nice German girls on the trip. one of the girls, Julia, had actually been on the same night bus that Corinne and I were on from Cairns to Airlie and was taking the same bus out of Airlie that night with us. Plus, she's going to fly home from Brisbane on the 19th, too! Funny world.
Anyway, the tour took us to the main island (Whitsudnay Island) and we walked up to a look-out point over-looking White Haven Beach. This long stretch of very, very white sand has the world's purest form of silica sand. They actually used the sand from this area for the lenses of the Huble telescope. From the look-out, we trudged back to the boat and then moved to another location on that beach for lunch. We hung-out there for about an hour and a half, and then it was off for a bit of snorkling at yet another location. I had trouble with my snorkle masks (1st one had a leak in the seel, 2nd one was too big, and the lenses snapped out of the 3rd one!). After spending all my energy fighing with my masks, I decided to quit while I was ahead and made my way back to the boat. From there, we headed back to Airlie Beach. All in all, it was a good trip, although not as spectacular as the reef tour. The islands reminded me of the islands between Vancouver and Vancouver Island, although with beautiful blue-green water and white sand beaches!
After taking another overnight bus (left at 8:15pm), we arrived in Hervey Bay at 9:10am on Saturday, April 15. We were picked up from the bus station by our Servas hosts, Don and Barbara. They are wonderful people; a retired couple who just moved to Hervey Bay about 3 years ago. They live in a community complex, like a condo idea but with houses instead, including a community center and an outdoor pool. Corinne, Barbara, and I spent the late morning/early afternoon swimming and lounging by the pool side. Tough life! Corinne and I spent the remainder of the afternoon wandering around Hervey Bay (a very nice town). We walked out tot he very long pier, where many people were fishing, and enjoyed a fantastic sunset.
Today, Barbara and Don took us around to see the area. We set off this morning for a near-by market where people were selling all sorts of things...from jewlery to produce to old tools. Then we went to the town of Maryborough. It's a town of about 25, 000 people and boasts the largest concentration of historic Queensland-style buildings from the turn of the 20th century and is the birthplace of the lady who wrote "Mary Poppins". It's a very picturesque place. We had a picnic lunch after wandering the streets. Then we drove to a conservation area where, after a fair bit of walking and searching, we spotted a koala! Now I've seen kangaroos, platypuses, and a koala in the wild. Perfect! We then drove back to Hervey Bay and had a coffee/milkshake at the marina. Not a bad way to spend Easter!
April 17th Entry:
Today Corinne and I did a 4-wheel drive tour of Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It took about 1 hour by ferry to get to the island from the Hervey Bay marina. We had wet weather all day, but the island was still very beautiful. Swamps, beaches, rainforest, sand dunes (sand blows), and streams. Our tour was very small (only 10 people) and our guide was a funny German guy. We met 2 very nice couples on the tour, one from Switzerland and the other from England. The couple from England were on the last few weeks of their 16 month journey around the world! Amazing people.
We had a lovely supper with Don and Barbara when we got back this evening, enjoying beautiful fooed, great wine, and fantastic company. What more do you need in life?
April 20th Entry:
Well, here I am at the Singapore airport. I've left Australia and I'm on my way home. The last couple of days havn't been terribly eventful. On Tuesday (April 18), we left Hervey Bay and spent most of the day on the bus to Brisbane. When we got to Brisbane in the late afternoon, we made our way by city train and on foot to our Servas host's place. We stayed with Wilmai Davidson, a really nice lady. She used to work in the corporate world but a life-changing experience in Nepal (she got severe altitude sickness) caused her to re-think her perspective on life. She left her job, moved to Brisbane, and starting working as a nanny for a couple of different families. She also took a serious look at personal spirituality.
On Tuesday evening, the 3 of us went with some of Wilmai's family for a cheap meal at a "Service Club". This place was a small members-only casino that serves cheap food. Not the greatest, but for $3.50 a plate, who am I to complain? After, we went to the movies to see March of the Penguins.
The next day (April 19), Corinne and I took a tour bus to visit the Australia Zoo, just north of Brisbane. This is the zoo owned by Steve Irwin; a.k.a the "Crocodile Hunter". It's main focus was on Australian wildlife. It was good, but a bit of a "Steve Irwin" theme park. Not really a conventional zoo. And I found the animals much more domesticated than in other zoos I've been to. Still, the staff seemed to take very good care of them.
That evening, we had supper with Wilmai, then played a game called "Rummy-O". After that, it was time for me to head off to the airport.
So ends my 1st Australian adventure. It's a great place and I intend to visit again. I have no regrets about coming home early. I'm tired of traveling for now (physically and mentally) and these places are too spectacular to waiste me being tired. So, I'll just have to return another time!
Some important lessons I've learned:
- Try not to have any expectations about the place your traveling to
- Try not to have any expectations about yourself when traveling (i.e. reactions, moods, etc.)
- Slow down and pace yourself
- You can travel at any age, and you don't have to do it all at once
- Traveling is a personal experience and if/how/why/when it's done should not be based on the expectations or opinions of others
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Great Barrier Reef
Greetings from Queensland!
After Tazmania, Corinne and I spent two more days/nights with the Chandlers (Felicity, Vicki, and Neil) in Melbourne, seeing the sights and watching Audrey Hepburn classics. We then took an early flight on April 11...leaving the house at "oh my god it's early!", in Felicity's words. What a sweetheart for getting out of bed at the ungodly hour of 4:30am to drive us to the airport! We arrived in tropical Cairns a little bleary-eyed but happy to be back in the heat and sun...although I was quite happy to find that it wasn't as stupidly hot and humid as Thailand.
The next morning (April 12), I got up early to go on a snorkling tour of the Great Barrier Reef. Corinne stayed back, having seen the reef on her previous trip. A bus picked me up from my hostel at 6:45am and we drove to Port Douglas, about 1.5hours away where the trip was leaving from. I borded a swanky jet-boat with about 60 other people and we made our way out to the outer reef, about 1.5hours away. We spent the day snorkling (and some people diving) at 3 different sites, spending about 1 hour at each site. Throughout the trip, we were provided with morning tea, lunch, and afternoon tea. We did not go hungry...it was a big spread of very yummy food.
The reefs were spectacular! What I saw in Thailand paled in comparison to this. I thought that I would get tired spending an hour at each site, but I could have spent longer! It was just like the pictures and documentaries you see on the reef. Lots of beautiful fish and spectacular coral formations. To name a few, I saw parot fish, anemone fish (a.k.a "nemos" thanks to Disney), a baracuda, and even a sea turtle! It was such an amazing experience. After snorkling, I definately want to try my hand at scuba diving some day.
I got back to my hostel at 6:45pm and then met Corinne for supper. After that we split up, I went to see the movie "The World's Fastest Indian" (really good!) and Corinne found a coffee shop to hang out at. Around 11:30, we collected our stored bags from the hostel and trudged through the POURING rain (happy campers we were not) to the bus station to catch the 12:25am bus to Airlie Beach.
We arrived at Airlie Beach at 11:45 this morning, more than a little worn out after an over-night bus ride. We had booked our hostel in advance, and a shuttle bus picked us up from the station and took us to the hostel. We dropped our stuff off and made our way to the lagoon ( a man-made public swimming/beach area that is used when there are stingers at the real beach), where we lay all day, soaking up the sun (or in my case, the shade of a palm tree). Tomorrow I'm off for a tour of the Whitsunday Islands and Corinne is scheduling some more serious sun-worshiping. Then, it's another over-night bus to Hervey Bay for the weekend.
Tonight is my last night in a hostel. I'm glad. Although it's kinda fun, there's a real party atmosphere here in the Australian hostels which would be great if I wasn't so worn-out from all the moving around. Sleeping as much as possible is high on the priority list for me, which is tough to do in a noisy place. From here, it's an over night bus and then 4 nights with Servas Hosts.
After that, I'm coming home. Yep. Got my plane tickets and everything. I'm flying out of Brisbane late (11:45pm) on April 19 and will arrive home via Singapore and Vancouver early in the evening on April 20. It's been a great trip, but I'm looking forward to coming home. I'm getting pretty worn out from moving from place to place. Ready to give my traveling shoes a rest. That said, I'm giving a big push for the last few days, doing lots of trips and seeing lots of things. Corinne will be continuing on, spending 10 more days in Oz and then flying to New Zealand on April 30.
Anyway, Happy Easter long weekend, everyone! I hope the Easter Bunny is good to all of you!
After Tazmania, Corinne and I spent two more days/nights with the Chandlers (Felicity, Vicki, and Neil) in Melbourne, seeing the sights and watching Audrey Hepburn classics. We then took an early flight on April 11...leaving the house at "oh my god it's early!", in Felicity's words. What a sweetheart for getting out of bed at the ungodly hour of 4:30am to drive us to the airport! We arrived in tropical Cairns a little bleary-eyed but happy to be back in the heat and sun...although I was quite happy to find that it wasn't as stupidly hot and humid as Thailand.
The next morning (April 12), I got up early to go on a snorkling tour of the Great Barrier Reef. Corinne stayed back, having seen the reef on her previous trip. A bus picked me up from my hostel at 6:45am and we drove to Port Douglas, about 1.5hours away where the trip was leaving from. I borded a swanky jet-boat with about 60 other people and we made our way out to the outer reef, about 1.5hours away. We spent the day snorkling (and some people diving) at 3 different sites, spending about 1 hour at each site. Throughout the trip, we were provided with morning tea, lunch, and afternoon tea. We did not go hungry...it was a big spread of very yummy food.
The reefs were spectacular! What I saw in Thailand paled in comparison to this. I thought that I would get tired spending an hour at each site, but I could have spent longer! It was just like the pictures and documentaries you see on the reef. Lots of beautiful fish and spectacular coral formations. To name a few, I saw parot fish, anemone fish (a.k.a "nemos" thanks to Disney), a baracuda, and even a sea turtle! It was such an amazing experience. After snorkling, I definately want to try my hand at scuba diving some day.
I got back to my hostel at 6:45pm and then met Corinne for supper. After that we split up, I went to see the movie "The World's Fastest Indian" (really good!) and Corinne found a coffee shop to hang out at. Around 11:30, we collected our stored bags from the hostel and trudged through the POURING rain (happy campers we were not) to the bus station to catch the 12:25am bus to Airlie Beach.
We arrived at Airlie Beach at 11:45 this morning, more than a little worn out after an over-night bus ride. We had booked our hostel in advance, and a shuttle bus picked us up from the station and took us to the hostel. We dropped our stuff off and made our way to the lagoon ( a man-made public swimming/beach area that is used when there are stingers at the real beach), where we lay all day, soaking up the sun (or in my case, the shade of a palm tree). Tomorrow I'm off for a tour of the Whitsunday Islands and Corinne is scheduling some more serious sun-worshiping. Then, it's another over-night bus to Hervey Bay for the weekend.
Tonight is my last night in a hostel. I'm glad. Although it's kinda fun, there's a real party atmosphere here in the Australian hostels which would be great if I wasn't so worn-out from all the moving around. Sleeping as much as possible is high on the priority list for me, which is tough to do in a noisy place. From here, it's an over night bus and then 4 nights with Servas Hosts.
After that, I'm coming home. Yep. Got my plane tickets and everything. I'm flying out of Brisbane late (11:45pm) on April 19 and will arrive home via Singapore and Vancouver early in the evening on April 20. It's been a great trip, but I'm looking forward to coming home. I'm getting pretty worn out from moving from place to place. Ready to give my traveling shoes a rest. That said, I'm giving a big push for the last few days, doing lots of trips and seeing lots of things. Corinne will be continuing on, spending 10 more days in Oz and then flying to New Zealand on April 30.
Anyway, Happy Easter long weekend, everyone! I hope the Easter Bunny is good to all of you!
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Tazzie!
Corinne and I just returned to Melbourne from a fantastic, adventurous 4 days in Tasmania. We flew into Launceston (on the north side of Tasmania) on Wednesday morning and decided to be adventurous and rented a car...a nice little blue Hyundai Elantra. It was quite the challenge to manage Tazzie's small, windy roads while driving on the "wrong" side. It was quite funny. Everything in the car is a mirror image of cars in North America, so whenever we went to turn on the signal light without thinking, we turned on the wipers instead! But we managed not to create too much havoc on the roads and after a day or so were doing quite well.
We spent Wednesday afternoon walking around Launceston. The weather turned rainy, so we ducked inside a coffee shop and spent a couple hours reading the magazines, chatting with the owner, and drinking coffee. Then we wandered to the Stillwater Cafe, which is owned by the son and daughter-in-law of the couple we had arranged to stay with. It was a lovely place overlooking the river and docks. From there, we met our Servas hosts, Alvaro and Suzanne Ascui, and followed them out to their farm which is about 30km north-east of Launceston. They are a wonderful, warm-hearted couple who made us feel welcome immediately. While staying with them, we slept in a small little cabin that we heated with an old-fashioned wood pipe-stove. Tazzie was a little chilly (around zero at night and about 12-14 degrees in the day).
Our original plan had been to stay around Launceston and do day trips to various places, including Port Arther. Following our first night, I was met by a concerned Suzanne in the main house in the morning who thought our plans of driving to Port Arther and back in a day was crazy! So, following the advice of Alvaro and Suzanne, we left Thursday morning and drove to Cole's Bay on the east coast. It's a beautiful area with a national park, where we did 4 short hikes: the lookout to Wineglass Bay, Honeymoon Cove, the lighthouse, and Sleepy Cove. It was a very windy day and the waves and views were spectacular!
We then drove to Swansea to find a place to stay for the night. It's a sleepy little summer town with not much choice for accommodation. We spent the night at a quaint little B&B (although breakfast was not included) with a restaurant next door. After moving into the room, we wandered next door to grab some supper. It was quite busy and were directed to the lounge while we waited for a table. Shortly after we sat down, an American couple wandered in with a bottle of wine and invited us to share their wine while we all waited. Once a spot was available, they then offered to treat us to dinner! They spoiled us with a fantastic meal, complete with plenty of wine (he made sure our glasses were never empty) and desert. What a treat! And such a surpirse, too! They were traveling through Australia after spending time in New Zealand, where they spend their winters. They are origianlly from New Hamshire and were very lively and wonderful. After supper, Corinne and I wandered back to our room, with "chink peeks" (ie feeling a pleasant buzz from the wine).
Friday morning, we drove down to Port Arther, the former site of a working convict prison. It was a stormy day, which was appropriate for such a place. That evening we made our way to Hobart and spent the night at a hostel/pub (the hostel rooms were on the floor above the pub). It was cozy enough and the pub had a great, friendly atmosphere. Corinne went down to the pub to have a beer and listen to a band. I couldn't keep my eyes open and decided to stop trying to fight the inevitable and turned-in early. Saturday morning, we got up early and went down to the weekly, saturday market along the harbour-front. It was a great little market, although it was quite cool (mochas helped). We then made our way up inland, visiting a couple of historic towns along the way: Ross and Campbell Town. We arrived back in Launceston mid-afternoon and took the rest of the day exploring Cateract Gorge, full of great little walks/hikes and full of people out to enjoy the day. We then made our way back to Alvaro and Suzanne's place.
Tazzie was great! I'm so glad that we went and it was wonderful having the car to tour around. Although it was a little nerve-wracking at times, we wouldn't have gotten a real feel for the place if we hadn't have rented the car.
We spent Wednesday afternoon walking around Launceston. The weather turned rainy, so we ducked inside a coffee shop and spent a couple hours reading the magazines, chatting with the owner, and drinking coffee. Then we wandered to the Stillwater Cafe, which is owned by the son and daughter-in-law of the couple we had arranged to stay with. It was a lovely place overlooking the river and docks. From there, we met our Servas hosts, Alvaro and Suzanne Ascui, and followed them out to their farm which is about 30km north-east of Launceston. They are a wonderful, warm-hearted couple who made us feel welcome immediately. While staying with them, we slept in a small little cabin that we heated with an old-fashioned wood pipe-stove. Tazzie was a little chilly (around zero at night and about 12-14 degrees in the day).
Our original plan had been to stay around Launceston and do day trips to various places, including Port Arther. Following our first night, I was met by a concerned Suzanne in the main house in the morning who thought our plans of driving to Port Arther and back in a day was crazy! So, following the advice of Alvaro and Suzanne, we left Thursday morning and drove to Cole's Bay on the east coast. It's a beautiful area with a national park, where we did 4 short hikes: the lookout to Wineglass Bay, Honeymoon Cove, the lighthouse, and Sleepy Cove. It was a very windy day and the waves and views were spectacular!
We then drove to Swansea to find a place to stay for the night. It's a sleepy little summer town with not much choice for accommodation. We spent the night at a quaint little B&B (although breakfast was not included) with a restaurant next door. After moving into the room, we wandered next door to grab some supper. It was quite busy and were directed to the lounge while we waited for a table. Shortly after we sat down, an American couple wandered in with a bottle of wine and invited us to share their wine while we all waited. Once a spot was available, they then offered to treat us to dinner! They spoiled us with a fantastic meal, complete with plenty of wine (he made sure our glasses were never empty) and desert. What a treat! And such a surpirse, too! They were traveling through Australia after spending time in New Zealand, where they spend their winters. They are origianlly from New Hamshire and were very lively and wonderful. After supper, Corinne and I wandered back to our room, with "chink peeks" (ie feeling a pleasant buzz from the wine).
Friday morning, we drove down to Port Arther, the former site of a working convict prison. It was a stormy day, which was appropriate for such a place. That evening we made our way to Hobart and spent the night at a hostel/pub (the hostel rooms were on the floor above the pub). It was cozy enough and the pub had a great, friendly atmosphere. Corinne went down to the pub to have a beer and listen to a band. I couldn't keep my eyes open and decided to stop trying to fight the inevitable and turned-in early. Saturday morning, we got up early and went down to the weekly, saturday market along the harbour-front. It was a great little market, although it was quite cool (mochas helped). We then made our way up inland, visiting a couple of historic towns along the way: Ross and Campbell Town. We arrived back in Launceston mid-afternoon and took the rest of the day exploring Cateract Gorge, full of great little walks/hikes and full of people out to enjoy the day. We then made our way back to Alvaro and Suzanne's place.
Tazzie was great! I'm so glad that we went and it was wonderful having the car to tour around. Although it was a little nerve-wracking at times, we wouldn't have gotten a real feel for the place if we hadn't have rented the car.
Monday, April 03, 2006
Sydney and Canberra
Sydney was a fantastic city. We spent our second day there walking around the tourist areas of central Sydney. Gave ourselves a good workout! We visited St. Mary's Cathedral, Hyde Park (including a giant outdoor chess board), and Sydney Tower. We stopped for lunch at Market City in Chinatown, wandered around Darling Harbour, explored the Rocks, and finished off at Circular Quay.
My favourite area was the Rocks, which is the oldest part of Sydney. It's full of old brick buildings, many reminicient of old factories, and tiny lanes and alleys. It's really wonderful to see the old, eurpoean-looking bit of town in front of a backdrop of modern sky-scrapers. A fantastic contrast!
In the evening, we made our way (lugging our packs) to our first Servas homestay. We stayed 2 nights with Joyce Martin, a university prof. who teaches Sociology and Communications. She lives in a little bungalow in the suburb of North Ryde. It took about 30 minutes to get to her place from central Sydney. Joyce is a really wonderful lady and it was a nice change to stay in someone's home. She made us feel very welcome and comfortable.
I spent my last day in Sydney running errands. Nothing too exciting.
On March 31, we made our way by bus from Sydney to Canberra. It was nice to get a chance to see the countryside. What immediately caught my attention were the vast, open spaces and the big blue sky that went on forever. It was strangely compforting to see these elements again, although there was no mistaking it for North America witht he signs informing drivers to watch out for kangaroos and koalas!
Canberra was a lovely little city, spread out in the valleys between the large hills in the area. The greater area of the city is the size of London, but with a population of only 320,000. Now that's urban sprawl! It's a completely planned city, specifically chosen to be the sight of the nation's capital. It's also known as the garden city, with good cause. It's very treed with lots of green spaces and a large, man-made lake in the center. Even the parlement building is under a hill! When approaching the city, you can't see it until you're in it because of all the trees.
We stayed with Angela and David McAdam in Canberra. Angela is the daughter of Granny's very good friends, Pauline and Walter. They are lovely people, who made us feel very welcome and at home. It was like visiting old friends! We stayed with them for 3 nights. On Saturday (April 1), Angela took us around the city to see the parlement buildings and the National Gallery. The Parlement buildings are really modern, built into and under capital hill, with the idea that the people should be able to look down on their government rather than the government looking down on the people. On Sunday, we all went to the National Museum and then up to the Telstra tower, which had a fantastic view of Canberra. That evening, we went out to a Turkish resteraunt for dinner. Really tastey!
Yesturday, Corinne and I took the 8 hour bus ride from Canberra to Melbourne. We're now staying with Felicity, a friend that we met when she was visiting mutual friends in Calgary a few years ago. It's so nice to be able to visit people.
Cheers for now.
My favourite area was the Rocks, which is the oldest part of Sydney. It's full of old brick buildings, many reminicient of old factories, and tiny lanes and alleys. It's really wonderful to see the old, eurpoean-looking bit of town in front of a backdrop of modern sky-scrapers. A fantastic contrast!
In the evening, we made our way (lugging our packs) to our first Servas homestay. We stayed 2 nights with Joyce Martin, a university prof. who teaches Sociology and Communications. She lives in a little bungalow in the suburb of North Ryde. It took about 30 minutes to get to her place from central Sydney. Joyce is a really wonderful lady and it was a nice change to stay in someone's home. She made us feel very welcome and comfortable.
I spent my last day in Sydney running errands. Nothing too exciting.
On March 31, we made our way by bus from Sydney to Canberra. It was nice to get a chance to see the countryside. What immediately caught my attention were the vast, open spaces and the big blue sky that went on forever. It was strangely compforting to see these elements again, although there was no mistaking it for North America witht he signs informing drivers to watch out for kangaroos and koalas!
Canberra was a lovely little city, spread out in the valleys between the large hills in the area. The greater area of the city is the size of London, but with a population of only 320,000. Now that's urban sprawl! It's a completely planned city, specifically chosen to be the sight of the nation's capital. It's also known as the garden city, with good cause. It's very treed with lots of green spaces and a large, man-made lake in the center. Even the parlement building is under a hill! When approaching the city, you can't see it until you're in it because of all the trees.
We stayed with Angela and David McAdam in Canberra. Angela is the daughter of Granny's very good friends, Pauline and Walter. They are lovely people, who made us feel very welcome and at home. It was like visiting old friends! We stayed with them for 3 nights. On Saturday (April 1), Angela took us around the city to see the parlement buildings and the National Gallery. The Parlement buildings are really modern, built into and under capital hill, with the idea that the people should be able to look down on their government rather than the government looking down on the people. On Sunday, we all went to the National Museum and then up to the Telstra tower, which had a fantastic view of Canberra. That evening, we went out to a Turkish resteraunt for dinner. Really tastey!
Yesturday, Corinne and I took the 8 hour bus ride from Canberra to Melbourne. We're now staying with Felicity, a friend that we met when she was visiting mutual friends in Calgary a few years ago. It's so nice to be able to visit people.
Cheers for now.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
G'day Mate!
So here I am in lovely Sydney. It's fantastic here! Such a beautiful city, full of wonderful contrasts. We spent yesterday afternoon walking from Kings Cross, where we stayed last night, around the main harbour front, and around the area surrounding the Opera House and Circular Quay. Along our meanderings, we took in:
- Mrs. Macquaries Chair - A rock that is shaped like a chair on the edge of the harbour where a Mrs. Macquarie liked to sit and enjoy the view around the early 1800s. Exactly who Mrs. Macquarie was and why she was important, I'm not too sure, but apparently you're supposed to sit in the chair and make a wish. There were actually two rocks that looked like chairs and we couldn't figure out which was the actual chair, so we sat in both (took pictures, of course) and made our wishes...just to cover our bases. There were fantastic views of both the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House from here, so of course we stopped and took a rediculous number of pictures. It was totally surreal to see this in person, after having seen it so many times in photographs, posters, and on T.V. It was quite spectacular.
- The Royal Botanical Gardens - This is a beautiful public park with a nice path to stroll along the harbour front. It was full of wonderful trees and plants that I don't know the name of, as well as cockateals.
- The Sydney Opera House - Wonderful, of course. I decided to splurge and bought myself a ticket to a play for last night in one of the smaller theaters in the complex: "The Importance of Being Ernest". It was done by two guys, who played all nine characters ... including all the women. It was really funny!
Anyway, I'm running out of computer time, so I'll post the details of todays wanderings later. Sydney is really beautiful and I love it here! The weather is great...mid 20's and not nearly as humid as Thailand!
Cheers for now. I'll post more later, with some pictures if I can!
Monday, March 27, 2006
Some Final Thoughts on Thailand
Wow, it's hard to believe that our month in Thailand is over. Although it was a bit of a challenge (not to mention my own personal struggle), it was a great adventure! The country was beautiful, the people were fantastic, and the food was great.
From Krabi, we took an ovrenight bus to Bangkok, which left us standing in the middle of the backpacker's district bleary-eyed early on Sunday morning. We made our way to our guest house in Chinatown and then spent the day exploring the weekend market and Siam Square. The weekend market was incredible! It was absolutely massive; a person could very easily get lost in the maze of stalls and tents. Just about everything under the sun was for sale: cloths, jewelery, food, plants, crats, supplies for crafts, pets, pet supplies, home decore, material, artwork.....and we only saw a small fraction of it! It was jam-packed with locals and tourists alike, and was pretty hot and close under the heat of the sun.
In search of other shopping experiences and a little A.C., we went to Siam Square, a posh area with modern-style malls. Some of the stores were really high end, while others had cheap knock-offs of the high end stuff. There were restaurants, an aquarium of sorts, food market, department store, opera hall, bowling ally, and outdoor concert venue where a public concert of sorts was on into the night. Along the walkways between the various buildings, vendors were hawking their wares. It was an interesting mix of the modern and traditional, inexpensive and very pricey, shopping styles. Part way through, we succumbed to temtation and treated ourselves to (gasp!) iced mocha's from Starbucks. I'm such a sucker for coffee shops!
We had a very hot and rather uncomfortable and restless sleep at our guest house (because of the heat) and were up at 5:30 the next morning to catch a train to the airport. Although our flight didn't leave until 4:00pm, we wanted to use the train to save money (only 10 Baht per person instead of 400 Baht per person for a taxi!) and to make sure that Corinne could get on the flight. We had a little mix up when we booked the tickets and didn't realize until we were well into Thailand that the date on Corinne's ticket was March 30 instead of March 27. Luckily, there was room on the March 27 flights, so we both flew together.
After seven hours of waiting at the Bangkok airport, a 2.5 hour flight to Singapore, a 1 hour stop-over in Singapore there's free internet at that airport!), and a 7.5 hour flight to Sydney, we arrived here in Sydney bleary-eyed but very happy to be here. We've yet to explore the city (doing laundry right now), but from first glance, it looks wonderful!
Our trip to Thailand was an excellent experience and I met a lot of really wonderful people there. It was also a time of self-discovery and personal growth that at times was not very easy. But all in all, I'm very glad we went there and I'm taking alot back with me. However, I'm very happy to be in Oz!
From Krabi, we took an ovrenight bus to Bangkok, which left us standing in the middle of the backpacker's district bleary-eyed early on Sunday morning. We made our way to our guest house in Chinatown and then spent the day exploring the weekend market and Siam Square. The weekend market was incredible! It was absolutely massive; a person could very easily get lost in the maze of stalls and tents. Just about everything under the sun was for sale: cloths, jewelery, food, plants, crats, supplies for crafts, pets, pet supplies, home decore, material, artwork.....and we only saw a small fraction of it! It was jam-packed with locals and tourists alike, and was pretty hot and close under the heat of the sun.
In search of other shopping experiences and a little A.C., we went to Siam Square, a posh area with modern-style malls. Some of the stores were really high end, while others had cheap knock-offs of the high end stuff. There were restaurants, an aquarium of sorts, food market, department store, opera hall, bowling ally, and outdoor concert venue where a public concert of sorts was on into the night. Along the walkways between the various buildings, vendors were hawking their wares. It was an interesting mix of the modern and traditional, inexpensive and very pricey, shopping styles. Part way through, we succumbed to temtation and treated ourselves to (gasp!) iced mocha's from Starbucks. I'm such a sucker for coffee shops!
We had a very hot and rather uncomfortable and restless sleep at our guest house (because of the heat) and were up at 5:30 the next morning to catch a train to the airport. Although our flight didn't leave until 4:00pm, we wanted to use the train to save money (only 10 Baht per person instead of 400 Baht per person for a taxi!) and to make sure that Corinne could get on the flight. We had a little mix up when we booked the tickets and didn't realize until we were well into Thailand that the date on Corinne's ticket was March 30 instead of March 27. Luckily, there was room on the March 27 flights, so we both flew together.
After seven hours of waiting at the Bangkok airport, a 2.5 hour flight to Singapore, a 1 hour stop-over in Singapore there's free internet at that airport!), and a 7.5 hour flight to Sydney, we arrived here in Sydney bleary-eyed but very happy to be here. We've yet to explore the city (doing laundry right now), but from first glance, it looks wonderful!
Our trip to Thailand was an excellent experience and I met a lot of really wonderful people there. It was also a time of self-discovery and personal growth that at times was not very easy. But all in all, I'm very glad we went there and I'm taking alot back with me. However, I'm very happy to be in Oz!
Friday, March 24, 2006
Thursday, March 23, 2006
From Lanta to Krabi (again)
Just to give you a glipse of some of the (mis)adventures when traveling from one place to another:
About 5 days ago, Corinne and I asked the guys who ran our bungalow on Ko Lanta if they could book us tickets for the night train from Trang to Bangkok for the evening of March 25, hearing that they tend to book up really fast. They said "Sure. No problem. No worries. We do everything for you". Great!
Well, the next day I asked them if they had booked our tickets yet. No one seemed to remember that I had asked yesturday, but they said "Sure. No problem. No worries." Okay.
This dance continued for a few more days, until yesterday, I asked again about our tickets and they again did not seem to remember my asking for them. They said, okay, sure, we'll call. So I sat and waited for them to call. Then they came back and said they think they had 2 tickets for us, but not sleeper, and what day was it you wanted to go?
You can well imagine that I wasn't terribly impressed at this point, although now that I've safely made it to my next destination, it's kind of funny. So I told them to cancel the tickets, as they obviously did not have a clue what I was asking for. Corinne and down the hill to the little "town" and approached one of the travel agencies. The man there phoned the train station and informed us that the tickets for the night train from Trang to Bangkok were all sold out for March 25.
Hmmm. Okay. Now what.
Well, how about a bus?
Yep, the travel agent said he could book us a night bus but it would have to be from Krabi to Bangkok, instead of from Trang. Okay, I guess we're going back to Krabi. One problem. We had already bought minibus tickets for March 23 (today) to take us from Ko Lanta to Trang. Thankfully, this was the same travel agent that we had bought the minibus tickets from, and he said he could change the tickets for no charge. Whew!
Now, previous to this whole bit, we had informed the guys at our bungalow that we would be leaving on March 23 to catch a minibus. We also asked if they could drive us to the place where we needed to catch the bus. "Sure. No worries. Okay. 11am" .... I should not have been surprized by what happened. 11am rolls around this morning, we're waiting for them to drive us to catch the bus, and they choose this time to inform us that they will not drive us because we did not book our minibus tickets through them. At this point, I was more than a little mad. Pissed off, actually. So we phoned the travel agent from "town", explained our dilemma, and asked if he could arrange a ride for us. He wasn't terribly happy about it, as we had told him the day before that our bungalow would drive us. Not to mention it was more than a little last minute. We had to leave immediately. Bless his heart, he got us a ride.
That over with, we experienced a rather exciting drive in a minivan with a driver that was an angry little man with no front teeth who was weaving in and out of traffic like a maniac in order to shave a few seconds off his commute time. And the van itself sounded a bit dodgey.
I'm happy to say that we've made it to Krabi safe and sound, having met a new friend along the way. A Danish girl, Kim, who's on the last 2 weeks of her 7 month trip to South America, Australia, and SE Asia. She's on her own, so she's sharing a room with Corinne and I at the same place we stayed at the last time we were in Krabi: the Chan Cha Lay Guest House. This place is spotless with toilets that flush. We even treated ourselves and got a room with a private bathroom. Such luxury! After our bungalow, this place feels like a 5 star hotel (not that the bungalow didn't have a rustic kind of charm)! The shower's kind of cool. It's open air (no roof), so we get to shower under the stars tonight.
We're planning on keeping a relatively low profile for our remaining 4 days in Thailand. It's gone by both quickly and slowly....but with all the personal and travel struggles, it's been an amazing experience. However, I am looking forward to heading off to Australia.
Now it's time for supper at that wonderful (and cheap!) night market.
About 5 days ago, Corinne and I asked the guys who ran our bungalow on Ko Lanta if they could book us tickets for the night train from Trang to Bangkok for the evening of March 25, hearing that they tend to book up really fast. They said "Sure. No problem. No worries. We do everything for you". Great!
Well, the next day I asked them if they had booked our tickets yet. No one seemed to remember that I had asked yesturday, but they said "Sure. No problem. No worries." Okay.
This dance continued for a few more days, until yesterday, I asked again about our tickets and they again did not seem to remember my asking for them. They said, okay, sure, we'll call. So I sat and waited for them to call. Then they came back and said they think they had 2 tickets for us, but not sleeper, and what day was it you wanted to go?
You can well imagine that I wasn't terribly impressed at this point, although now that I've safely made it to my next destination, it's kind of funny. So I told them to cancel the tickets, as they obviously did not have a clue what I was asking for. Corinne and down the hill to the little "town" and approached one of the travel agencies. The man there phoned the train station and informed us that the tickets for the night train from Trang to Bangkok were all sold out for March 25.
Hmmm. Okay. Now what.
Well, how about a bus?
Yep, the travel agent said he could book us a night bus but it would have to be from Krabi to Bangkok, instead of from Trang. Okay, I guess we're going back to Krabi. One problem. We had already bought minibus tickets for March 23 (today) to take us from Ko Lanta to Trang. Thankfully, this was the same travel agent that we had bought the minibus tickets from, and he said he could change the tickets for no charge. Whew!
Now, previous to this whole bit, we had informed the guys at our bungalow that we would be leaving on March 23 to catch a minibus. We also asked if they could drive us to the place where we needed to catch the bus. "Sure. No worries. Okay. 11am" .... I should not have been surprized by what happened. 11am rolls around this morning, we're waiting for them to drive us to catch the bus, and they choose this time to inform us that they will not drive us because we did not book our minibus tickets through them. At this point, I was more than a little mad. Pissed off, actually. So we phoned the travel agent from "town", explained our dilemma, and asked if he could arrange a ride for us. He wasn't terribly happy about it, as we had told him the day before that our bungalow would drive us. Not to mention it was more than a little last minute. We had to leave immediately. Bless his heart, he got us a ride.
That over with, we experienced a rather exciting drive in a minivan with a driver that was an angry little man with no front teeth who was weaving in and out of traffic like a maniac in order to shave a few seconds off his commute time. And the van itself sounded a bit dodgey.
I'm happy to say that we've made it to Krabi safe and sound, having met a new friend along the way. A Danish girl, Kim, who's on the last 2 weeks of her 7 month trip to South America, Australia, and SE Asia. She's on her own, so she's sharing a room with Corinne and I at the same place we stayed at the last time we were in Krabi: the Chan Cha Lay Guest House. This place is spotless with toilets that flush. We even treated ourselves and got a room with a private bathroom. Such luxury! After our bungalow, this place feels like a 5 star hotel (not that the bungalow didn't have a rustic kind of charm)! The shower's kind of cool. It's open air (no roof), so we get to shower under the stars tonight.
We're planning on keeping a relatively low profile for our remaining 4 days in Thailand. It's gone by both quickly and slowly....but with all the personal and travel struggles, it's been an amazing experience. However, I am looking forward to heading off to Australia.
Now it's time for supper at that wonderful (and cheap!) night market.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Kantiang Bay
Sawadee kah ("Hello")
I'm having a quiet day here today and want to take the opportunity to give my general impressions of Kantiang Bay, where we're staying on Ko Lanta.
The area itself is a small bay of white sand and rocks. The beach is split in two, one side for the really fancy resort and the other side for the rest of us, although there's really nothing keeping us from using the fancy side. There are about 3 or 4 little "resort" opperations besides the fancy one, all clustered on the north side of the bay at verious elevations up a hill that overlooks the bay. Our "resort" is on the top, hence the name "Top View". It's quite a hike up to it from the beach, but it keeps us in shape!
Outside of resort area is a small strip of shops that service the tourist industry. Only about 300 people live here and the nearest town is the main town of Saladin where the ferry docks from the rest of Krabbi and Phuket province. It's about a 15 - 20 minute drive from Kantiang Bay. The vast majority of the locals here are muslim, with a few budhists. The running joke here is that the budhists serve the alcohol and the muslims serve the food. All the people here are really kind, with laid-back, sunny dispositions. Wherever we go, everyone always says "hi" and asks how we're doing and where we're going.
In addition to the human population, there are a variety of small animals; domestic cats, monkeys, geckos, and the odd lizard. The cats here are really funny. Because it's so hot all the time, the cats are both very lazy and quite skinny. They're like rag dolls, sleeping most of the time. The monkeys provide quite a lot of entertainment, scrambling around the trees at evening, night, and early in the morning. However, they can become a little frustrating when they bang around on the roof at night. Not to mention the occasional theft of some possesion from an unattended balcony. The gecko's are quite sweet, small little creatures that scurry around and chirp during the evenings. Although Corinne doesn't think they're terribly cute when they occasionally poop on her when she's lounging on our balcony in the evening. I told her it's probably good luck, but I don't think she was impressed.
We've met some really wonderful friends here. Most of our time is spent hanging out at a local cafe called the Drunken Sailor. It sounds like a pub, but it doesn't serve any alcohol. When I asked May, the owner, about it, she said that it's named after a flower vine called a "Drunken Sailor". May is really sweet. She's 24 years old and owns and runs the cafe on her own, with a little help from some friends. It's a small place, and she lives with her boyfriend, Jim, on the second floor. On a lazy afternoon or evening, you'll find us hanging out in May's cafe, visiting with May, Jim, Malee (the tatoo artist that gave Corinne her tatoo), Sandra (a Swiss artist that has been here for a while), and Alex (a Swedish guy that has also made this place a second home), to name a few. All really sweet and wonderful people. It will be sad to leave them. Not to mention May's cooking, which I will miss very much, too!
The other haunt that we frequent at night if we're not watching movies at the Drunken Sailor, is the Why Not Bar. This is a ramshackle little open-air bar right on the beach. It's full of low tables and cushions for lounging on the floor and the place has a very rastaferian air to it. Alex works here when he's in Thailand. There's always someone to chat with into the night there.
Life here progresses at a relaxed, leisurly pace, and music is never absent long. Soft jazz coming from cafes, just about any type of music coming from the small bars, someone lazily strumming a guitar, people singing to themselves. Even the muslim call to prayer that can be heard 5 times a day. It's all wonderful to listen to, and never intrusive. Even the sounds of the Thai people talking has a soft, lyrical, and cheerful sing-song sound to it.
Although I am still struggling with homesickness, I will miss this place when I leave. The place, the sounds, and most importantly the people have been a balm to my soul.
Now it's just after 2pm. I think I'll wander back to the Drunken Sailor, lounge in a bean bag "chair", have a snack, and stick my nose into a copy of a Harry Potter book that I found.
I'm having a quiet day here today and want to take the opportunity to give my general impressions of Kantiang Bay, where we're staying on Ko Lanta.
The area itself is a small bay of white sand and rocks. The beach is split in two, one side for the really fancy resort and the other side for the rest of us, although there's really nothing keeping us from using the fancy side. There are about 3 or 4 little "resort" opperations besides the fancy one, all clustered on the north side of the bay at verious elevations up a hill that overlooks the bay. Our "resort" is on the top, hence the name "Top View". It's quite a hike up to it from the beach, but it keeps us in shape!
Outside of resort area is a small strip of shops that service the tourist industry. Only about 300 people live here and the nearest town is the main town of Saladin where the ferry docks from the rest of Krabbi and Phuket province. It's about a 15 - 20 minute drive from Kantiang Bay. The vast majority of the locals here are muslim, with a few budhists. The running joke here is that the budhists serve the alcohol and the muslims serve the food. All the people here are really kind, with laid-back, sunny dispositions. Wherever we go, everyone always says "hi" and asks how we're doing and where we're going.
In addition to the human population, there are a variety of small animals; domestic cats, monkeys, geckos, and the odd lizard. The cats here are really funny. Because it's so hot all the time, the cats are both very lazy and quite skinny. They're like rag dolls, sleeping most of the time. The monkeys provide quite a lot of entertainment, scrambling around the trees at evening, night, and early in the morning. However, they can become a little frustrating when they bang around on the roof at night. Not to mention the occasional theft of some possesion from an unattended balcony. The gecko's are quite sweet, small little creatures that scurry around and chirp during the evenings. Although Corinne doesn't think they're terribly cute when they occasionally poop on her when she's lounging on our balcony in the evening. I told her it's probably good luck, but I don't think she was impressed.
We've met some really wonderful friends here. Most of our time is spent hanging out at a local cafe called the Drunken Sailor. It sounds like a pub, but it doesn't serve any alcohol. When I asked May, the owner, about it, she said that it's named after a flower vine called a "Drunken Sailor". May is really sweet. She's 24 years old and owns and runs the cafe on her own, with a little help from some friends. It's a small place, and she lives with her boyfriend, Jim, on the second floor. On a lazy afternoon or evening, you'll find us hanging out in May's cafe, visiting with May, Jim, Malee (the tatoo artist that gave Corinne her tatoo), Sandra (a Swiss artist that has been here for a while), and Alex (a Swedish guy that has also made this place a second home), to name a few. All really sweet and wonderful people. It will be sad to leave them. Not to mention May's cooking, which I will miss very much, too!
The other haunt that we frequent at night if we're not watching movies at the Drunken Sailor, is the Why Not Bar. This is a ramshackle little open-air bar right on the beach. It's full of low tables and cushions for lounging on the floor and the place has a very rastaferian air to it. Alex works here when he's in Thailand. There's always someone to chat with into the night there.
Life here progresses at a relaxed, leisurly pace, and music is never absent long. Soft jazz coming from cafes, just about any type of music coming from the small bars, someone lazily strumming a guitar, people singing to themselves. Even the muslim call to prayer that can be heard 5 times a day. It's all wonderful to listen to, and never intrusive. Even the sounds of the Thai people talking has a soft, lyrical, and cheerful sing-song sound to it.
Although I am still struggling with homesickness, I will miss this place when I leave. The place, the sounds, and most importantly the people have been a balm to my soul.
Now it's just after 2pm. I think I'll wander back to the Drunken Sailor, lounge in a bean bag "chair", have a snack, and stick my nose into a copy of a Harry Potter book that I found.
Friday, March 17, 2006
Four Island Tour
Today, Corinne and I, along with a few other people, took a longboat tour of 4 nearby islands. We left our beach (Ao Kantiang) at 9am and went south along our island (Ko Lanta) to pick up a few other people staying at other beaches. From there, we headed to Ko Ma for some snorkling. The boat trip there took nearly 1 hour and was pretty choppy in places. We got more than a little wet from the spray, but it was fun. The snorkeling was really good, too. Lots of different kinds of fish and coral, and not as many other tours there as my trip to Phi Phi yesterday.
We then went to the Emerald Cave on Ko Muk. We had to swim from our longboat through the cave, which was pretty low and quite dark right in the middle. Our guide had a little trouble with his flashlight when we entered the cave, leading to more than a little confusion and a little fright at the pitch black of the cave. We made it through to the other side to find ourselves in a a beautiful little lagoon, completely secluded. It was surrouned by very high cliffs; the only way in or out is through the cave. It's a popular place for tours to stop, and today was no exception. There were several other tours there, making our passage through the cave a little cramped at times. When we got to the lagoon, it was funny to listen to the calls and uncertain sounds of the tour groups approaching. There was one group of Asian tourists that were really cute, singing and calling out relplys as they came through the cave and out into the lagoon in a long string of yellow life-vested swimmers of all ages.
We wormed or way back out through the cave and back to our longboat, heading next for lunch on a stunning white-sand beach on Ko Kradan. We hung-out on the shore for about an hour, eating, sleeping, swimming. Corinne built sand castles while I snoozed under the shade of a tree. The water was post-card picture-perfect blue green and the sand was amazingly soft. The water was perfect for swimming in, with only a light surf.
After lunch, we headed for our last island, Ko Chuek, for a little more snorkling. I think I'm getting the hang of this! Although I shortened my time snorkling there when I spotted some jellyfish. With all the bug bites I have, I didn't really feel the need to add jellyfish stings to the collection.
We made it back to our bungalow around 5pm to find that we both had gotten a little more sun then we should have. I bare a striking resembalance to an over-grown lobster...not that I expect much sympathy from those of you enduring the lovely white "spring" of the frozen north. But still, ouch! I tried to stay in the shade when I could and I re-applyed my sun screen twice. But that was no match for the combination of sun and water. Now I've got those really sexy tan (or in my case burn) lines that all the bikini babes our here have...although I don't feel particularly sexy with them!
Now to close out the day, I'm going to watch Corinne get a tatoo, using the traditional bamboo technique (don't worry, I'm not going to join her). After that, supper and bed. And maybe a short hunt for some aloe.
Cheers from the very patriotic red and white skinned girl.
We then went to the Emerald Cave on Ko Muk. We had to swim from our longboat through the cave, which was pretty low and quite dark right in the middle. Our guide had a little trouble with his flashlight when we entered the cave, leading to more than a little confusion and a little fright at the pitch black of the cave. We made it through to the other side to find ourselves in a a beautiful little lagoon, completely secluded. It was surrouned by very high cliffs; the only way in or out is through the cave. It's a popular place for tours to stop, and today was no exception. There were several other tours there, making our passage through the cave a little cramped at times. When we got to the lagoon, it was funny to listen to the calls and uncertain sounds of the tour groups approaching. There was one group of Asian tourists that were really cute, singing and calling out relplys as they came through the cave and out into the lagoon in a long string of yellow life-vested swimmers of all ages.
We wormed or way back out through the cave and back to our longboat, heading next for lunch on a stunning white-sand beach on Ko Kradan. We hung-out on the shore for about an hour, eating, sleeping, swimming. Corinne built sand castles while I snoozed under the shade of a tree. The water was post-card picture-perfect blue green and the sand was amazingly soft. The water was perfect for swimming in, with only a light surf.
After lunch, we headed for our last island, Ko Chuek, for a little more snorkling. I think I'm getting the hang of this! Although I shortened my time snorkling there when I spotted some jellyfish. With all the bug bites I have, I didn't really feel the need to add jellyfish stings to the collection.
We made it back to our bungalow around 5pm to find that we both had gotten a little more sun then we should have. I bare a striking resembalance to an over-grown lobster...not that I expect much sympathy from those of you enduring the lovely white "spring" of the frozen north. But still, ouch! I tried to stay in the shade when I could and I re-applyed my sun screen twice. But that was no match for the combination of sun and water. Now I've got those really sexy tan (or in my case burn) lines that all the bikini babes our here have...although I don't feel particularly sexy with them!
Now to close out the day, I'm going to watch Corinne get a tatoo, using the traditional bamboo technique (don't worry, I'm not going to join her). After that, supper and bed. And maybe a short hunt for some aloe.
Cheers from the very patriotic red and white skinned girl.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Ko Phi Phi
Today Sarah (the girl from California who is staying at the same place as me) and I did a day-trip to Ko Phi Phi. It's actually two islands, Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Leh. Phi Phi Don is a really resorty little island that was devistated by the tsunami 15 months ago. There was still some rubble lying around from the effects of the disaster, but it appears to be recovering quickly. Phi Phi Leh is the smaller of the two islands and is a national park with no accomodation or development on it.
We got up early to catch an 8:00 ferry ride to Phi Phi Don. Sarah and I both thought that we had simply purchased the fare for the ferry and that we would wonder the island on our own. To our surprise, we were herded off the ferry to a tour group. Apparently we had paid for a longboat tour of Phi Phi Leh! We joined two couples on a longboat, one from Poland and another from Italy, really great people.
The boat took us on a trip around Phi Phi Leh. We passed by what's known as Viking Cave to take pictures of it. I'm not entirely sure what the significance is of the cave, but it looked like the kind of place that pirates would have used to stash their booty. Then we went to a lagoon to do some snorkeling - my first time! I had a little trouble with my mask, which kept filling with water. It was neat, but I came back to the boat after struggleing with the mask and swallowing a fair share of salt water.
We then went to another little bay and went onto a tiny beach for lunch. From there, we went around the remainder of the island and then stopped at one last beach to do some more snorkeling. This time, I found a mask that fit properly and discovered how much fun it is! The tour guys through left-over friut from lunch into the water, which caused the fish to swarm around it. I swam through clusters of fish, and even saw a nice big baracuda (about 2 feet long)! The coral was really beautiful, too.
We then headed back to Phi Phi Don to wander on our own. The longboat trip was good, but a bit short. It felt a bit rushed, but the scenery was just spectacular. Great towering cliffs that decend into clear blue-green lagoons.
We took the ferry back to Ko Lanta at 3:00 and arrived at the main town at about 4:15 to find ourselves in a downpour. I didn't mind, since we had been wet all day anyway. It was actually really refreshing. I think it's the only time I've felt a little chilly on this whole trip, and it was a welcome feeling.
Now it's time for supper and another movie ("Walk the Line" tonight).
We got up early to catch an 8:00 ferry ride to Phi Phi Don. Sarah and I both thought that we had simply purchased the fare for the ferry and that we would wonder the island on our own. To our surprise, we were herded off the ferry to a tour group. Apparently we had paid for a longboat tour of Phi Phi Leh! We joined two couples on a longboat, one from Poland and another from Italy, really great people.
The boat took us on a trip around Phi Phi Leh. We passed by what's known as Viking Cave to take pictures of it. I'm not entirely sure what the significance is of the cave, but it looked like the kind of place that pirates would have used to stash their booty. Then we went to a lagoon to do some snorkeling - my first time! I had a little trouble with my mask, which kept filling with water. It was neat, but I came back to the boat after struggleing with the mask and swallowing a fair share of salt water.
We then went to another little bay and went onto a tiny beach for lunch. From there, we went around the remainder of the island and then stopped at one last beach to do some more snorkeling. This time, I found a mask that fit properly and discovered how much fun it is! The tour guys through left-over friut from lunch into the water, which caused the fish to swarm around it. I swam through clusters of fish, and even saw a nice big baracuda (about 2 feet long)! The coral was really beautiful, too.
We then headed back to Phi Phi Don to wander on our own. The longboat trip was good, but a bit short. It felt a bit rushed, but the scenery was just spectacular. Great towering cliffs that decend into clear blue-green lagoons.
We took the ferry back to Ko Lanta at 3:00 and arrived at the main town at about 4:15 to find ourselves in a downpour. I didn't mind, since we had been wet all day anyway. It was actually really refreshing. I think it's the only time I've felt a little chilly on this whole trip, and it was a welcome feeling.
Now it's time for supper and another movie ("Walk the Line" tonight).
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
News from Ko Lanta
Hey everyone,
Well, I've come to the edge and found my way back. Although I teetered over the edge and I'm still stumbling somewhat. Yesterday I made it over a threshold. I woke up with the intense need to come home as soon as possible. I spent the morning running around like a fool trying to contact Singapore Airlines to try and change my tickets to fly home at the end of March. Fortunately, I was unable to do it, due to the lack of fax machines on this little secluded beach. Thanks to that, and another traveler much more experienced than me, I've made peace with my backpack for the time being and have decided to carry on to Australia, at least for a bit.
We've been staying in a little bamboo bungalow overlooking a bay on Ko Lanta, one of the islands on the Andaman coast. The atmosphere here is really laid back and people are genuinely warm and friendly. It's quite a little community of locals and carefree travelers, where you soon get to know everyone. We're staying here for at least 3 more nights, maybe more. Neither of us feel any immediate desire to continue moving. If we're happy here, we'll finish our last week and a half of Thailand here. If we get bored, we'll move on.
After my little freak-out session yesterday, the day settled down and quickly filled itself with not much. I tought Chip (the owner of the resort), Corinne, Arron (from Australia), and Sarah (from California) how to play the card game Zap. It was an instant hit! After that, the five of us climbed down a steep slope to the rocky shore below to swim from the cliffs to the beach. We then slowly made our way back up the big hill to our resort. By the time we got to the top, we had a little thunder storm. Nothing too big, but really refreshing with some lovely lightening. The rain must have knocked out the power for a bit, because when we went back to our bungalows to shower and change, we found ourselves in the dark. I'm glad I brought my head lamp with me!
Us girls then made our way down to a little cafe called the Drunken Sailor for supper and to watch the movie "Memoirs of a Geisha". Although a little different from the book, the film was one of the most visually beautiful films I've seen. Really stunning! We then finished off the night at a local bar on the beach called the "Why Not Bar" (a very rastaferian feel), chatting, drinking cocktails, and (yes) singing. We stumbled home at 3 am and crashed. A very satisfying day.
So, I'm going to continue on to Australia. I'm looking forward to visiting with Angela and David in Canberra and with Falicity in Melbourne. That will take about 2 weeks. Around the time I'm in Canberra (first weekend in April), I'll take another look inward and decide if I want to continue on to Cairns or go back to Calgary. I think that the decision will be much easier at that time, regardless of what I choose. I'll have seen two countries and have visited with the people I wanted to see. It will be a 6 week trip by then. Okay to continue and equally okay to head home. The next time, I won't be in this place of panic and I won't feel any guilt or remose regardless of my decision.
Things are good. (despite my several dozen mosquito bites!)
P.S. I use the term "resort" very loosly in this posting, simply because that's what it's called: the Top View Resort. However, it's very basic accomodation, with it's fair share of dust and bugs. Still the people are taking very good care of us and the views from the place really are "tops". I would like to post some pictures for you, but internet is very slow here and I'm not sure that it would work. I'll have to wait until we get to a more urban area.
Well, I've come to the edge and found my way back. Although I teetered over the edge and I'm still stumbling somewhat. Yesterday I made it over a threshold. I woke up with the intense need to come home as soon as possible. I spent the morning running around like a fool trying to contact Singapore Airlines to try and change my tickets to fly home at the end of March. Fortunately, I was unable to do it, due to the lack of fax machines on this little secluded beach. Thanks to that, and another traveler much more experienced than me, I've made peace with my backpack for the time being and have decided to carry on to Australia, at least for a bit.
We've been staying in a little bamboo bungalow overlooking a bay on Ko Lanta, one of the islands on the Andaman coast. The atmosphere here is really laid back and people are genuinely warm and friendly. It's quite a little community of locals and carefree travelers, where you soon get to know everyone. We're staying here for at least 3 more nights, maybe more. Neither of us feel any immediate desire to continue moving. If we're happy here, we'll finish our last week and a half of Thailand here. If we get bored, we'll move on.
After my little freak-out session yesterday, the day settled down and quickly filled itself with not much. I tought Chip (the owner of the resort), Corinne, Arron (from Australia), and Sarah (from California) how to play the card game Zap. It was an instant hit! After that, the five of us climbed down a steep slope to the rocky shore below to swim from the cliffs to the beach. We then slowly made our way back up the big hill to our resort. By the time we got to the top, we had a little thunder storm. Nothing too big, but really refreshing with some lovely lightening. The rain must have knocked out the power for a bit, because when we went back to our bungalows to shower and change, we found ourselves in the dark. I'm glad I brought my head lamp with me!
Us girls then made our way down to a little cafe called the Drunken Sailor for supper and to watch the movie "Memoirs of a Geisha". Although a little different from the book, the film was one of the most visually beautiful films I've seen. Really stunning! We then finished off the night at a local bar on the beach called the "Why Not Bar" (a very rastaferian feel), chatting, drinking cocktails, and (yes) singing. We stumbled home at 3 am and crashed. A very satisfying day.
So, I'm going to continue on to Australia. I'm looking forward to visiting with Angela and David in Canberra and with Falicity in Melbourne. That will take about 2 weeks. Around the time I'm in Canberra (first weekend in April), I'll take another look inward and decide if I want to continue on to Cairns or go back to Calgary. I think that the decision will be much easier at that time, regardless of what I choose. I'll have seen two countries and have visited with the people I wanted to see. It will be a 6 week trip by then. Okay to continue and equally okay to head home. The next time, I won't be in this place of panic and I won't feel any guilt or remose regardless of my decision.
Things are good. (despite my several dozen mosquito bites!)
P.S. I use the term "resort" very loosly in this posting, simply because that's what it's called: the Top View Resort. However, it's very basic accomodation, with it's fair share of dust and bugs. Still the people are taking very good care of us and the views from the place really are "tops". I would like to post some pictures for you, but internet is very slow here and I'm not sure that it would work. I'll have to wait until we get to a more urban area.
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