To Australia and Beyond

Leaving Bali, The Philippines and Tokyo

2011-03-01T19:37:00.002-07:00

I just realized this never posted! I wrote it when we first arrived in Tokyo, around March 2.

We arrived in Tokyo yesterday and I realized it's been a while since I updated. As our trip draws to a close we are moving around more and doing a lot more, so I may not get a chance to write very much till I get home.

Our last day in Ubud, Elesa and I went down to B.A.R.C. which is a dog rescue centre. We basically spend the day cuddling puppies, and it was awesome. This centre rescues abused animals, picks up abandoned dogs and puppies, vaccinates street dogs and will offer care do families who have dogs and cannot afford it. With packs of dogs wandering everywhere, it is an essential service and we were glad that we could help, even if only a little. Plus, who doesn't want to spend the day cuddling puppies?

The next day we headed to Kuta, and the next few days were not so awesome. Our first night was in a hotel that was a sweat box, and it was almost impossible to sleep. The last day Hitoshi and I did try surfing, for me the first time. That was pretty rad, I like it a lot better than snowboarding. It hurts less when you fall! And it's warm and in the sun. I managed to stand up a few tims, for about ten seconds once.

That night we switched hotels, but it sucked cause we had to say good bye to Elesa. Boo! We had to wake up at 3:45 am so I tried to get some sleep, but at about an hour before we had to get up I woke up and was violently sick. I think it was food poisoning. Whatever it was, I had to try to fly with it, which was one of the least fun things I've ever done.

We made it to Kuala Lumpur, and I survived. We only had one day there, and our first priority was sleep. We had a great nap, and I woke up feeling a lot better. We went and ate, and then went to a huge electronics centre near by. Prices were basically the same as Canada though, so it wasn't too exciting. After that we just passed out early, since it was back at the airport for 7 am.

The next day we flew to Manila, and along the way found out that Manila actually has TWO airports. We had a flight booked at 2 pm to fly to Dumaguete, south of Manila. Our plane was late, and when we landed we were a little panicked, we had less than three hours till our plane left. As we got outside this guy came up to us and when I told him we had to get to the other airport asap, he started freaking out and shoving us in a cab. He told us the only other option was a bus, and we'd never make it. He said the cab was $40, which seemed expensive, but we didn't want to miss our flight so we jumped in.

The guy drove like a maniac, and granted we never would have made it otherwise, but when we got there we learned the bill was actually $100 US! we were so shocked, but without much choice we paid it, and made it on our flight by the skin of our teeth.

We flew an our south to Dumaguete, in the Negros Oriental province of the Philippines. I have a Filippino friend who lives there, Ceasar (or Gigit, what he goes by in the Philippines), who I met in Toronto 8 years ago. He had told me that there was good snorkeling in Dumaguete, and we were sure to see turtles, so of course that is where we headed.

We spent four nights there, in the Hotel Nicanor. It was an awesome hotel, and only $25 a night. The Philippines was even cheaper than Bali, we ate breakfast one day for three people for under $2. Everyone gets around on 'trikes', which are motorbikes with a side car attached. You can hop in and go anywhere in town (it's a fairly small town), for 8 pesos, or $0.20 Canadian. There are also 'jeeps' which are like a cross between a truck and a bus, that you can take longer distances for about $0.45 Canadian.

We we snorkeling with Gigit one day at a marine park called Dauin, and it was beautiful. We bought a whole roast chicken and rice before we left, and ate it on the beach. Hitoshi caught a huge gecko, and a flying lizard landed on his shoulder. They must be his totem animal.

Another day Hioshi and I headed out to Apo island, a 40 minute boat ride away. They had great coral, and turtles! Hooray! It was Hitoshi's first time seeing turtles in the ocean and I was so glad to be there. We swam along it for a while, and then I got out cause there were jelly fish, but Hitoshi stayed longer and saw three more turtles.

On our last day there, and Hitoshi's birthday, Gigit met Hitoshi at the market and they bought 9 giant prawns and a lobster, and we took a jeep to Valencia, about 15 minutes away where Gigit lives. He brought out a charcole bbq and a cedar plank, and we proceeded to have the best meal I've ate yet. After that we said our goodbyes and headed back to the airport. Much thanks and gratitude to Gigit, for making the Philippines such an unforgetable time.

We spent on night in Manila near the airport. It was a night I'd rather forgot, since I lost or had my boots stolen at the airport. At $250, they were a gift from my mom and the nicest thing in my closest. The kicker was that they also had new, $600 inserts in them.

So now we are in Tokyo, and my toes are freezing. I'm trying to deal with the loss, which is sad but I will not let it affect the awesome time I'm going to have here. Hitoshi has 5 best friends that he has known since grade 5, and we are spending our first two nights with one of them, a man named Ash. He has a wife, a 4 year old daughter and a 1 year old son, both freaking adorable. And tomorrow my little bro comes for Canada. So with 9 days left till we head home, we have lots of fun things in store!

2011-02-20T00:57:00.009-07:00

I haven't updated my blog recently, I've just been too busy having a kick ass time. And when I am near a computer I am checking email and pay pal and feeling overwhelmed at the generosity of my friends and family. But tomorrow we leave Ubud, so I want to take some time to write about what we've been up to.

When we arrived in Ubud, we spent the first 9 days at our friend Sven's house. We loved staying there, but then new people were moving in and it was time for us to find a new place.

At the Alex Grey, we had just happened to sit next to two ex-pat Japanese women, one named Yasuko and one name Risa. It would prove to be an excellent seating choice, since Risa was the woman who ended up taking me to the orphanage, and one of Yasuko's many businesses is a villa, which was where we moved next.

We love Ubud and our new home!

Our bed at Yasuko's

View from where we eat breakfast every morning

On my birthday, we woke up and had breakfast upstairs with Risa, my birthday twin. Since Yasuko also owns a restaurant and bakery, every day we get pastries and buns and fresh bread.

Risa and I the morning of our mutual birthday

After breakfast, we headed into town. Elesa and I planned to hit the spa, but when we got to the main road in Ubud it was packed. With hundreds of people wearing the same shirt, with my birth date on it!

We realized that the entire main road had been closed down, and a giant parade of people were headed our way. In Bali when someone dies, they are buried. Then after several years, when the timing is auspicious, the body is exhumed and cremated. It sounds a little weird, but I love the idea. In North America after someone dies, the death is not often spoken about. But here, after they have had time to grieve, everyone comes together and celebrates life.

So from what I gathered, this massive parade heading towards us was the cremation ceremony for some important people. First came two enormous black cows, followed by two towers. The power lines had to be cut because they would have been too tall to fit otherwise. They were all supported by bamboo, and carried by dozens of people. Between each one were people playing music. It was such a wave of people that we climbed to the top of a (very safe) building that was under construction (don't worry Grama, we wore hard hats and steel toed boots of course).

Building we climbed to get a better view

View from the top

One of two giant towers

Pictures of the people to be cremated

That day was one of the hottest days we'd experienced since coming to Ubud, and after watching for a while we climbed down and headed to the spa. Hitoshi dropped us off and we enjoyed 4 hours of bliss - 1.5 hour full body massage, a hair cream bath (very popular here, it's basically what it sounds like with a pretty rad head massage as well) and then a facial. And all for $40!

After we were as relaxed as humanly possible, we met our old house mates, Sven, Yoshi and Russ, along with Mark Lee, at a Mexican place.

Mexican for dinner on my birthday - delicious of course!

A few days after my birthday, we decided to explore a little more of Bali. Elesa was itching for beach time, and we wanted to check out the two volcano's, so we headed north.

The first day we drove to Guntug Batur, not the largest volcano in Bali but the most active. Near the top is a large lake, surrounded by a few small villages. People who want to trek to the top of the volcano usually stay in one of the villages so they can wake up at three am and get to the top in time for sunrise. Feeling neither the need to trek or wake up at such an ungodly hour, we opted to simply stay in one of the villages overnight and enjoy the view from there.

Less than an hour after we left Ubud, we stopped on the side of the road for a water break. After I took a picture of my traveling companions, I put my camera back in my bag and pulled out my water bottle. And that's the moment my camera tumbled to the ground and cracked.

The last pic I took with my camera before it fell on the pavement and cracked

Oh well, onwards and hopwards. We made it to Toya Bungkah a few hours after leaving Ubud. As we were driving into the village, people started riding their motor bikes along side us, asking us where we were staying and trying to get us to follow them. Ahh, off season. I love your discount prices and the special attention I get as an only guest, but I'm not so into the desperate feeling of an empty town. We realized that Toya Bungkah was a virtual ghost town, and we had our pick of places.

Our hotel in Toya Bungkah, where we were the only guests

It was a little lonely being the only guests in this three story hotel, but luckily Hitoshi made a friend right away.

Hitoshi with his first beetle

It wasn't a very eventful night, we ate dinner at the hotel and went to bed early.

View of Gunung Abang (Mount Abang) from our hotel in Toya Bungka

The next morning Hitoshi woke up early and went to the hot springs. We were told it was $15 each, so Elesa and I opted to sleep in. But Hitoshi found out it was only $8, including a towel and a shower, and at 7 am he had the whole place to himself.

When he got back we hit the road, heading north down the other side of the mountain towards the beach.

Cabbage Patch on volcanic rock in Toya Bungkah

The drive was nice but pretty foggy, we donned our ponchos to stave off rain but it never came. Those ponchos do a great job of keeping you warm anyway.

Gates on the highway from Kintimani to Amed

About an hour into our drive my tummy started getting pretty upset, and it seemed like it was my turn for Bali Belly. Elesa and Hitoshi had both had it in Ubud and I thought I'd escaped but no luck. The drive to Amed took about 4 or 5 hours but it felt much longer. When we got there, we saw that this popular dive was also a ghost town, and after some searching and bargaining Elesa got the three of us our own bungalow with an ocean view for only $18 a night. Perfect, a place for me to be horizontal for the next two days.

The gecko in our bathroom in Amed

Elesa did get some beach time, and Hitoshi went fishing and caught a ton of fish, but I spent the whole time in Amed reading so I don't have much to report. After being gone for three nights we headed back to our beloved Ubud.

The drive back was one of the most stunning drives I have ever done, I was so glad to be on the back of a bike where I could just take everything in. I took a ton of photo and video, but non of them do it justice. I wish I could post video, but my internet connection here is just too slow, so these will have to do:

All the pics of our gorgeous drive

We made one stop on the way back to Ubud, at the Besakih Temple. It is over 3 square km and it is where the Balinese believe their ancestors live. It was very beautiful, but a complete tourist trap. You have to pay entry, parking, you must take a tour guide, you are followed by hawkers selling you stuff and asked for donations inside the temple. And then they tell you your donations are too small! Overwhelmed and frustrated (and still not feeling 100%), I walked around a bit and then waited while Hitoshi and Elesa did the full tour.

Until then, our drive had been rain free, but after that the skies opened. Our last hour to Ubud was a downpour, and we were so happy to make it back to our home at Yasuko's.

Since coming back, we have been trying to enjoy Ubud as much as we can. We went to a gamelan concert, with all female musicians and dancers. We've eaten more great food, and visited friends.

I think Hitoshi hearts you and Elesa is eating a burger

They want your love at Mojo Burrito

Bali Buddha

Statue at the end of the main road in Ubud

Demons that locals are making all over the island for Balinese New Years

Ogo Ogo

We went and did batik for the day, which is drawing a design on fabric with wax and painting it. Then the wax is removed and creates white lines. Many sari's and wall hangings are made with this method. Risa recommended a place that she has been going to and learning batik, so we went to check it out. This tiny little shop has some very talented and busy people, who make sarongs for many festivals in North America, including the Oregon Country Fair and Mile High in Colorado. They also make ones for bands, and had a ton of Dave Mathew's Band ones laying around.

We went in the back and chose a design to do. Elesa did a mandala, and I did one with flowers for my Grama. Hitoshi did two drawings on t-shirts.

Me sweating my ass of and doing Batik

People at the Batik shop free-hand drawing designs with wax, really cool to watch
Phew! So tomorrow we leave Ubud and head to Seminyak. Two nights there, then we part ways with Elesa as she heads home and we head to the Philippines (with a night in Kuala Lumpur on the way). Until then, Salamat Malam! (Good Evening!)

Thank You!

2011-02-20T00:37:00.004-07:00

Just to update on the fundraising, as of Feb 20th people have donated over $500! I am filled with gratitude. Donations are still coming in, and I think that we will reach my goal of raising $900, which will pay the orphanage's electricity bill for a year. Thank you for everyone who took the time to read this and donate!

Visiting a Panti Ashuan (Orphanage) in Bali

2011-02-12T20:29:00.004-07:00

On February 12th I went to an orphanage here in Bali, and before I leave this beautiful country I would like to do something to help the kids. My goal is to raise enough money to pay the electricity bill at the orphanage for one year. The following is about my experience, and how you can help if you feel moved to do so.

I have experienced some restless energy since I got to Ubud, a need to Do Something. It was an undefined something, but this is a place where people are doing things, and I wanted to do things too. The Something became very clear when Risa mentioned she was going to visit an orphanage and asked if I wanted to come along.

Risa hired a lovely man named Wayan to drive us the three hours to an area called Jembrana. The orphange (a Panti Asuhan) was called Giri Asih, and on the drive I asked Risa how she had found out about this orphanage, and what made her want to go.

She told me that she has visited orphanages in other countries, and getting involved in helping orphans has been something she has wanted to do for a long time. A while ago, she saw a poster raising awareness about molested children in Bali. She called the number to ask for more information, and through various meetings came in contact with a doctor who oversaw several orphanages. He was unable to make it out to Giri Asih with us, but gave us directions and told us we were welcome to go there.

We picked up some rice, cooking oil and noodles, as we were advised by the doctor that this was something that they needed, and arrived at Giri Asih at about 1 pm. We were welcomed by the director, a name named Purwanto and all the children who came out and shook each of our hands. There were 25 kids in total, 7 girls and 18 boys.

There were four buildings on the property that I could see, three of them housing the children and one with an office, kitchen and lunch room. We went into the lunch room where they offered us some water, and then they showed us around their property.

The own about 2.2 acres of land that looked pretty wild, but there were coconut and papaya trees and apparently they are able to grow other fruit and vegetables as well. They had a pig and a few chickens and a cow that the kids help raise to sell.

The buildings were freshly painted and kids looked fairly healthy, it wasn't some tragic, ramshackle place. Their rooms were tidy, but they were sparse. I didn't see any toys or games. I guess I'm just used to kids having so much stuff, but these kids really have nothing.

The kids were all polite but shy, and since most didn't speak English I couldn't really communicate. One 15 year old boy named Wayan could communicate fairly well, and told me he studies English from books, since they don't learn much in school.

Giri Asih is run by a foundation that has one other orphanage, and both are almost completely funded by donation. Purwanto the director of Giri Asih has lived and worked at there for two years. The director before him was caught stealing money that was donated by the community, and although he was replaced it gave the orphanage a bad reputation and people have been less willing to donate.

The government recently started giving them money, $0.30 a day per child, which is about $9 a month. The Four Seasons hotel in Denpasar also pays for the kids to go to school, so they are able to attend with other kids in the village. They also get rice and clothing donated from the local people, and a doctor comes once a month to give them a check up.

They seemed to have the most basic necessities covered. We took the girls aside and asked them if the needed anything. We took two of them to the store and loaded them up with sanitary napkins, shampoo and lotion. It seemed like such a small thing, but it was something practical we could do right then.

When we got back, we asked Purawnto what the orphanage needs. He said they do have trouble paying bills, since they rarely get cash donations. To pay the last electricity bill, which was several months overdue, Purwanto had to sell one of their goats. He also told us they would like to raise more animals, and also plant more fruit trees.

After spending a little more time with the kids, we thanked them and headed back home. On the drive, we discussed for a long time what the best way to help would be. Buying them animals, fruit trees, art supplies, toys, so many ideas.

Risa is planning is in Bali indefinitely, and has time to focus on something, and the connections to make it happen. I wish I could stay here help start something, but our time in Bali is almost over and any kind of long term solution is going to take some planning. I am planning to go back at least once before we leave, and I'm hoping Hitoshi and I can have some fun building or creating something with them. But I would also like to leave them something that can help them after I leave.

So I have narrowed my focus, and here is where I ask for help. What I would like to do is pay their electricity bill, so at least one bill is off their shoulders. The bill is $75 a month, so $900 could cover it for the entire year.

I am going to collect money in my Pay Pal account, and then use that money to pay the electric company directly.If you are reading this and feel moved to donate money, log into Pay Pal and click send money. My email address is krisgossen@hotmail.com.

If you could re-post this, that would be amazing as well.

Thank you so much for reading this

Where Are You From?

2011-02-07T19:59:00.004-07:00

This is something you will hear in Bali at least once a day, if not ten times. It is the standard question that all Balinese people ask a foreigner. We ask them back, Where are you from? And they usually seemed surprised. They laugh and say Bali! Then they ask Where are you going? It is important to know where you've been and where you're headed.

Where are we headed? The beach! Yesterday began with a day trip to Padang Bai, about an hour and a half drive. We ate at a small warung, and the food was...you guessed it, amazing! We headed to Blue Lagoon beach, a resort right on the water. It sounded exotic, but it was basically a small guest house with a few hundred meters of beach. We left Elesa on the beach, situated in the sun with a book, and went to find someone to take us out in the boat.

Elesa heading to the beach to 'read'.

We got a driver and a small boat for about $15, and he took us about ten minutes around the bay to a spot that can't be reached by road. Hitoshi and I jumped in (thanks Jon for lending me your snorkeling gear!).

Here is Hitoshi on the boat, taking his magic Chinese medicine for an upset tummy.

There were plenty of fish, some crazy purple ones and long skinny ones. At first it seemed like the water was murky, but then we realized it was actually millions of tiny jelly fish. They were so small you could just barely make out what they were, and we just swam through clouds of them. I did see about two full grown ones as well, eek. We got out of their way quick.

Over all not too bad for snorkeling, except the coral had been completely decimated and was almost completely dead. I heard they only recently made floaters the boats can attach to, where before they would just drop anchor anywhere and pull up a bunch of coral when they left.

After we climbed back in the boat, we headed back. We passed Blue Lagoon, so I decided to hop out and swim to the beach to meet Elesa. It was fairly similar to the place we had just come from, so I'm not sure how worth it it was to rent a boat. Hitoshi came back and we hopped on the bike to head home. Here's a video of us driving down the highway.

There were mountains on the left and the ocean on the right. And Balinese beeping there horns all around us. They beep to say move over, we're passing, go ahead and pass me, look there is a monkey, hi grama, whatever.

On our drive home.

That night we went to see a Kecak dance. The Kecak (pronounced Ke-chak) dance was originally a trance ritual. In the 1930s a German painter named Walter Spies worked recreate it into a drama that could be performed for Western tourists.

In Ubud there are quite a few places that put on large Kecak dances, for large groups of tourists. We opted to head to the small village down the road from our house. With only 700 people living in the village, over 80 of them participate in the Kecak dance once a week. The story we saw was about the opposition of Prince Rama's Kingdom of Ayodya to the Kingdom of Alengka, ruled by the wicked giant Rahwana.

We were seated in front of the entrance to the small temple, and since there were only about 20 of us watching we all got front and centre seats. The dance starts with all the men coming out, wearing sarongs and topless. I hear in some performances there are 150 or more men, but in ours there were about 75. They had lit a large fire candelabra type thing, and they all sat in a circle around it. They were chanting, with one man leading the beat. Here are some of the videos Hitoshi took.

It was wonderful to watch, and I love that we saw it in such an intimate setting. It was a small glimpse of life in a village, where at least one in ten people come to participate in something together once a week. There are so many ceremonies and rituals here, and people are so tightly bound to their home.

For the first time I can see beautiful things about living in a small, tight knit community. Growing up in Lethbridge I felt so constrained and out of place. Granted Lethbridge is not that small, but it formed very solid opinions of small town life for me. I can see here, they know exactly what there place is in a tiny village, and they all support each other. They praise their gods, they raise their kids, they grow their food, all together. It was nice to have some of my long standing ideas shattered. That's why we travel, isn't it?

Alex Grey and An-ten-nae

2011-02-06T02:42:00.002-07:00

Wow, what a day! For a few hours I stepped out of Bali and into some parallel universe, where I get to go to an intimate evening and listen to world renown artists talk, then dance under the stars at a private house party to a dj I've only ever seen at Shambhala.

The day started with a delicious meal (don't all days here start that way?). Cadek cooked us fish and veggies, which we enjoyed outside with our housemates Yoshi and Russ. Hitoshi had gone off to the bug park in search of beetles. Unfortunately he learned that they don't come out here until June, so all his bug hunting plots have been futile. On the upside, they let him play with bugs there, and he got some frozen in resin to bring home.

After a trip into town, we had a nap to get ready for the evening. Then we headed about 100 meters down the road to a house called The Mike's. It was a huge villa, with guards (or the local moffia?) waiting on the street to direct us in. It was a desert potluck and Elesa had picked up some treats for us to bring form Kue, a bakery in town.

We went upstairs to a large circular room with about 50 people seated on the ground listening to a band. We found some spots in the back, and about ten minutes later Alex and Allyson Grey came in.

For those of you that don't know Alex Grey (http://www.alexgrey.com/), his best known for his collection Sacred Mirrors (http://www.sacredmirrors.org/mirrors_view.html) and his psychedelic art. In other words, his is a very talented hippie who's done a lot of acid in his life, and out of that has come some amazing art.

Although I am not as into his art as other people I know, I have a deep respect for his talent and vision. It was a once in a lifetime experience to hear him talk about his passion. He is very calm and patient in answering questions about his life and work. But he also doesn't take himself too seriously, and is easy to laugh. He also gives huge props to his wife, which was awesome. I think she keeps him on task.

After he was done speaking, it was off to another once in a lifetime experience, heading to the house of a Frenchman who has lived in Bali for over 15 years. Still a little awestruck at the villa we had just come from, I was blown away when we got to the next one.

We headed about ten minutes out of town, out into the jungle. After parking on the road, we walked down about 60 stairs to this massive..house? It doesn't seem right to call it a house. It was straight out of an artists mind. We walked by a huge communal kitchen, and art gallery space, and down to a dance floor. The dance floor was covered, and in front of it was a dj booth, surrounded by four tall pillars carved like vines. Behind the dj was a rounded balcony, which opened under the stars. I gather that there was a huge canyon behind it, although I couldn't see much in the dark.

The dj was An-ten-nae, who had just played at Rainbow Serpent Festival in Australia. For those who have no idea who he is, I don't know how to describe how rad this was. For those who do, rad eh?

We found our dear friend Mark Lee, who Hitoshi lived and worked with on the Sunshine Coast. He had just arrived in Bali the day before and was staying at this artists paradise. He was also doing the visuals for the party, so we only got to chat for a few minutes. But I look forward to going back there during the day to visit him, and see that place in the day light.

Elesa and Hitoshi danced away, but I am still suffering from a sprained ankle. I hurt it in Mexico right before Christmas, and it flared up with the flight and humidity and all the walking we are doing. So I'm trying to take it easy, no mad dance partying for me. (Also no yoga, which I was planning on enjoying a lot of, but I have plenty to occupy my days.)

The music was killer and I had a perfect night sitting under the stars and listening to it. I guess these are the benefits to coming to a country and staying with people who live here, you get to find out about all the secret little things going on around town. We never would have seen Alex Grey if we hadn't been staying with Sven, and really it was chance that connected us with him. We all notice how well things are lining up on this trip, and can't wait to see what else Bali has in store.

In Love With Ubud.

2011-02-04T19:50:00.004-07:00

Everyone said I would love Ubud, and I did instantly. It is a small, quiet town, but also has lots going on. It is surrounded by rice fields and tiny villages. The villages each specialize in some kind of craft, there are whole villages with glass blowers, wood workers, bone carvers, stone masons, silver smiths, you name it. The villages are all along the highway, so as you leave Ubud you just drive through one town after another.

Our first day in town Sven took us on a drive to the Bone Carver village. It was a beautiful drive, through jungle and rice paddies.

On the way, Sven took us to a tiny warung (restaurant) that served amazing fish. There was fish on a stick, fish ball soup, and random fish something something. So yummy, and for less than a dollar each!

From there we parted ways with Sven, and he pointed us to Terta Emul temple. We went in, Elesa had to wear one of the sarongs provided. It seems like if you aren't wearing clothes that cover past your knees you have to cover up. I had wrapped a scarf around my shoulders since I was wearing a tank top, but the man told me to take it off. I felt like maybe he just wanted to see some cleavage, rather than there being an actual religious significance.

The temple was bustling, with some kind of ceremony going on. I gather ceremonies happen frequently in Bali (daily, from what I've seen so far). The temple was very interesting, lots of ornate carved stone covered in moss. There was also a large pond of holy water with something bubbling up into it from deep down in the earth somewhere.

After the temple we drove to the bone carvers village. The main reason for us to head there was to look for earrings. We heard almost 70% of the gauged horn jewelry you can find at home is made in this village.

We went to a store Sven recommended called Mantra, and I went crazy. Shopping is not my favorite, so I like to be fairly efficient. I went through that whole store and within half an hour I had found about 15 pairs of earrings I wanted. And guess what, they all cost less than $35, which is about what you would pay for one pair at home. I was all shopped out and very satisfied after that!

The horns of water buffalo, used to make earrings.

That evening Elesa and I went to get a massage at a place recommended by Little Woo, called Bali Healing. It was great, there was a nice garden, it was clean, the massage was top notch. It cost $8, a few bucks more than our ghetto experience in Kuta, and a hundred times better.

After that we went home to relax, and watch the fire flies dance in the rice paddies.

The next day the house cook, a woman named Cadek, came for the first time. Sven hired her to come and cook one meal a day for us, and Elesa and I were excited to meet her. We went to the market with her, then learned how to nasi gorang, the fried rice. I'm going to be able to make some delicious dishes when I come home.

After that we headed to Goa Gajah, also known as the Elephant cave. Built about a thousand years ago, it was pretty interesting to see. Sven had told us to wander around the back of the temple a bit, which proved to be as interesting as the front.

We walked by a small shrine, where about 30 locals were praying. An old man gestured us to come in, and we sat at the back. One man went around giving people holy water. He had what looked like a paint brush, and he dipped it in the water, then flicked it on a persons head. Then you held out your palms, right one over left, and three times he sprinkled water in for you to drink. We were encouraged to participate, it felt so welcoming.

While everyone was getting holy water, people were chatting with their neighbors and laughing. They all watched and smiled when it was our turn. Pretty different from the Catholic church ceremonies I went to when I was young.

After that we wandered off into the jungle a bit, and found another cave. Then we went back to the main area, where there was a giant tree and a giant fallen statue in a river, which we were told was a Buddha but was fairly hard to make out. We went down in the river and a little grandpa showed us the back. We took pics and then he took some of us, and we took some of him. He got really excited, I don't think he gets to use a digital camera often. And he wanted us to take more and more pics of him.

Part of a giant fallen Buddha statue.

After that Hitoshi and I headed home, and Elesa went to use the internet. We realized when we got home Elesa had the key, and with no way to call her we broke in, although we could get into our room we couldn't get into the rest of the house since the bedroom door locked from the other side. That was fine with us, as we passed out for a nap pretty quickly.

After Elesa got home a freed us, we headed into town and had wonderful curry dinner and the went to check out a shadow puppet show going on down the road. There were hundreds of people watching, and we crept to the back to check it out. I had heard that these shows can be long and hard to follow, and I can see what people mean. Although it was interesting there was not much happening, so we only stayed about 20 minutes.

We did walk around to the back of the stage and got to get a behind-the-scenes glance, which was fairly interesting. The puppets were huge, and there must have been more than 30 people back there working them, and playing live music.

Every night in Ubud there is dance, music and all kinds of cultural things to check out. I can't wait to explore more.

Up to Ubud

2011-02-01T19:29:00.003-07:00

After two nights in Kuta, we were ready to head out. Our plan was to rent bikes and just ride all over the island, with the first stop being Ubud, the cultural heart of Bali. Hitoshi and I packed one bag between us, so we could fit on one moped, since I'm happy to let him drive.

Equipped with bikes, helmets, gas and a map, we were off. In a car the drive is a little over an hour, but we took it nice and easy and arrived in about three. We did have a little detour as a 'helpful' local giving us directions lead us into the jewelry shop he worked at.

We had arranged to meet a friend from Vancouver, Sven, who lives 4 or 5 months of the year in Ubud.

Not sure what's making Elesa so stoked in this pic, she must just be happy to be in Bali.

He met us at Bali Buddha, my new favorite restaurant.

We ate a delicious meal (tacos in Bali are amazing!) and followed Sven back to the place he had rented, and where we would be renting a room for the next 8 days.

When Sven arrived in Ubud he found out prices for houses had gone way up. Since Eat, Pray, Love came out, people took five year leases on properties and then rented them out at higher rates. Worried he wouldn't find a place, he ended up taking one a little more high end then he had planned. We appreciated it though, it is stunning, and we get to live here for the next week! Pool, rice paddy view, tons of space, I love it.

So now I sit here, looking out over this amazing view, with a belly full of breakfast cooked by my best friend, and I am as grateful as can be.

Side of our house

Tower that many houses seem to have, still haven't figured out why.

Our front entrance.

The house alter.

Our bathroom. Beautiful but if it's raining at night when you have to pee, you get a little wet.

Where we eat.

Ahh, life is good!

Bikes (ok, Mopeds) and BALI!

2011-02-01T19:09:00.004-07:00

We arrived at the airport in Bali after a 4 hour flight from Hong Kong. We managed to snags seats by each other on the almost completely full flight, another bonus. As we stepped off the plane, we were hit with that thick, humid, wonderful tropical air, and I felt everything in me begin to relax. I thought that the customs ans immigration would be a nightmare, since we were at the back of an airplane filled with over 600 people, but we sailed through in less than 20 mintues.

We were met at the airport by a driver from our guest house, standing right out front with a sign for us. (Elesa looks sad, but she's just humid).

We drove through the hectic streets of Kuta, which is a huge tourist destination, mainly for young Ozzies and surfers. We knew we wouldn't want to spend time there, but at least stay to get our bearings and some much needed rest.

Our guest house was called Suji Bungalows, recommended by our friend Little Woo. It was perfect, down a small side street and away from the craziness it was like a little oasis.

Eating breakfast at the guest house restaurant.

Our little place for two nights.

We ate our first meal in Bali there, and it was pretty yummy. Much better than the dinner we had at on the strip later that night, which wasn't so good and too expensive ($15? Outrageous!).

Where are the giant shrimp like Thailand has? I will find them!

Calling Mark to tell him we miss him.

Our first full day in Bali we decided to rent mopeds and head a few kilometers north to check out Syminyak. It is were a lot of clothes are made, and there are a ton of shops selling interesting things. We drove around in circles for quite some time, but did manage to find it eventually. On one of our loops around I spotted a store that makes bags, boxes, stickers, business cards, etc. We went inside and ended up ordering business cards. So we are getting some work done ;)

I don't actually ride my own bike, I sit on the back of Hitoshi's. I feel safer, and I get more time to enjoy the view!

We stopped at a cafe for Hitoshi to grab a snack, and then the most intense rain I've ever seen began. I'm talking sheets pouring down. Hitoshi filmed a video of it.

We stayed a while and with no signs of letting up we decided we could kill time getting a massage. Of course, that entailed going out in the rain and we were soaked to the bone in a minute. That plan abandoned, we decided to suck it up and drive the 20 minutes home.

I had pictured being in Bali driving around on our bikes in the rain, since it is rainy season after all. But I never pictured that the roads literally turn into rivers. With the rain coming up to our feet, we ploughed through, and I had to laugh. Welcome to Bali.

Once we were back at the Guest House, we dryed off and headed to eat. We had a pretty good meal, although Elesa was finding it hard to eat vegetarian. We went for a massage after, at the most ghetto place imaginable. Massage was good, but I think I'll put out the extra dollar next time for a classier joint.

And We're Off!

2011-01-30T21:37:00.005-07:00

Finally finally finally, my dream of going to Bali is coming true! I think I first started dreaming of going to Bali in 2005 when I spent time in Australia and all the Ozzies were telling me how great it is. Since moving to Vancouver and talking to many more people who have traveled there, my desire to grow has just grown stronger.

Originally Hitoshi and I planned to go with two of our best friends, Mark and Elesa. We booked tickets back in September, only for Mark to find out a week later he was going to have to have minor surgery. Since he had to take time off work for that, he decided not to come to Bali since it would mean even more time off. Being the awesome husband he is, he encouraged Elesa to come with us anyways. Although we will miss Mark every day, I am grateful that Elesa was still able to come. Thanks Mark, we will make it up with lots more traveling together in the future.

Our trip started in Jan 28, and meeting Elesa in the Vancouver airport, so we could all leave together. Our flight included an over night in Hong Kong, so our first flight was a 14 hour one.

I pulled some serious fan-dangling and snagged us three exit isle seats. That meant enough space in front of us for the three of us to sit down on the ground and have a picnic. Or for an older Chinese Tai Chi instructor to teach Hitoshi and I some moves.

I had been dreading the long flight, but somehow it passed quickly. The stewardess kept offering us more and more wine, so Elesa and I did a little celebrating.

Then we all watch Eat Pray Love on our own tvs that popped up from under the seat, trying to time it so we were all started it at the same time. The movie was pretty lame, but we figured why not watch a movie about Bali on the way to Bali. A little nap and one more movie, and we were in Hong Kong.

Since our flight left the next morning, we decided to check into our next flight with Cathay Pacific before we left the airport. Good thing we did, because Hitoshi and I learned since we did not have our flight from Bali to Manila booked, we could not check into our flight to Bali. Unless you have a ticket out, no ticket in. I was a pretty choked at our travel agent, because if I hadn't tried to check in early, we would have had to do it in the morning and probably missed our flight. It took about an hour of frustration trying to find internet, book us a flight and show it to Cathay Pacific so they would check us in. I later realized that in my tired state I booked a 6 am flight, but at least we were set for the next morning.

Troublesome stuff out of the way, it was time to get into vacation mode. We took a short train ride to Kawloon, across the bay from downtown Hong Kong. Elesa had found us a little hotel called the Maple Leaf Guest House, on the twelfth floor of a huge building filled with tiny twisting hallways. When you walked in it felt like little India, I don't think there was a single Chinese person to be found. After walking down hallways filled with Indian restaurants and shops, we went up to our room. The manager was very nice, and although the place was pretty small, it was very clean and we were happy to drop off our stuff.

Our room at the Maple Leaf Guest House, snacking on Elesa's never-ending bag of trail mix.

The back alley behind our guest house.

The halls downstairs of our place (early in the morning so all of the Indian shops were closed).

I really wanted to eat a good meal, and we found a place right across the street filled with restaurants. Most of them were Japanese, but we ended up eating at a great Chinese place, and I had huge prawns in a XO sauce (whatever that is). Mmmmm.....

After that we headed to Victoria Peak (http://www.thepeak.com.hk/en/home.asp). It is apparently Hong Kong's most famous attraction. It is 552 m (1,811 ft) high mountain, where all the famous shots of HK are taken from. We took the subway a few stops and then it was a short walk to the base, where we took a tram up a really steep hill.

We had a good look of the city, but since we were freezing in the chilly wind (we only packed clothes for Bali!), we quickly headed down.

After that it was off to bed, and only one more sleep till Bali!!

Buildings under construction with bamboo scaffolding.

Last photo of HK as we fly off to Bali!

Random Thoughts of the Day:

2008-02-08T00:25:00.001-07:00

I don't think I would ever ride an elephant. It's just too sad. Even the places you see that look like a nice small family run business, and the elephants are just hanging out together and seem to be fine, you drive by that same place in the evening, the poor guys are on ten feet ropes. I guess I could see if I was traveling into the jungle somewhere that was only accessible by elephant, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. I'm sure it's an interesting experience, and they are so cute. Today we stopped by a place and there was an older one and a baby that couldn't be used for riding, so we fed them bananas. But if there weren't a bunch of tourists wanting to ride them, maybe they wouldn't have to live such a sad existence.

There are also tons of monkeys here that spend most of their time on super short leashes, just staring at nothing. They are used to get coconuts, one day there were six of them at work in the field next to us. Each one was on a long rope held by a guy who told them which tree to climb up. They pull off the ones they can then throw them down. When one tree is done, the guy tells the monkey which tree is next, and they leap through the air. It was a pretty crazy site. One guy saw that we were watching and told his monkey to jump to a tree that seemed way too far, and the monkey took almost five minutes trying to figure out how to do it. I imagine that the monkey has a pretty idea if he can make it or not, so I don't know why the guy was so insistent, yelling at the monkey to do it. When he finally did, he jumped and had to grab onto a leaf, with about a foot to spare after he slid down. The owner looked at us as if to say, 'Good show eh?'. I wish I could have told him that we were thoroughly entertained already, and there was no need to scare the crap out of the poor monkey.

Anyway, that was my animal rights talk. There is a monkey that lives on our property here, and every time we drive by and he is sitting there staring at the ground it breaks my heart. I wish I could give him a puzzle or a toy or something. I'm sure monkeys can do puzzles can't they?

Other than the sad state of some of the animals here, I don't have anything really negative to say about our time here. The people seem very friendly, everyone gives you a huge smile when you smile at them. The guys aren't rude, they don't yell or catcall like I experienced in Fiji.

The people here seem to be either fairly poor or fairly well off, there isn't much of a middle class. I don't think I've seen a single beater car here, if you can afford a car it's a pretty nice one. The houses on this island are basically varying degrees of shacks, with woven bamboo or thin ply wood walls, and tin for a roof or else pretty big nice looking places. Although even the tiniest shack seems to always have a tv, and often a satellite dish.

A lot of people run a small business, usually a food stand, motorcycle rental, internet, travel agent or a combination. I often wonder how these tiny stores or restaurants make money; I think it must just cover the cost of rent and their own food. The people seem to work hard, but slower. When I see a building under construction (always women are working right along side the men) I wonder how anything gets built since it seems like such a relaxed pace, but I guess it is just a different way of living.

Well that's my musings for the day, Hitoshi is getting shrimp ready and I'm going to go help.

Oh, and on one more completely random thought: I think that this is the longest I have ever gone not eating beef since I still didn't have my baby teeth and I snatched a steak off my mom's plate and gummed it for half an hour. I didn't think it was possible for me to go so long without it, it's an interesting change. I can't complain when there is such an abundance of fresh seafood.

To Ko Phangan

2008-02-04T02:25:00.000-07:00

New pics @ http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=89231&l=b63ec&id=509955156

After learning that two friends, Jill and Kix, that I met at Burning Man in 2006, were staying on Ko Phangan, we decided to head there next. The island is in the Gulf of Thailand, and just north of the larger, more developed Ko Samui. The island is famous for their Full Moon Parties, held once a month all year round and anywhere from 3,000 to 30,000 people in peak season show up for it. Personally, it's not my cup of tea (my impression is too many drunk 20 year old partying to bad house music, but I could be wrong) so we planned to wait until after it was over to head to the island.

On January 26th, we woke up in the morning to take a bus to the main port and then take a ferry. The 'air con bus' that we were supposed to take for about three hours turned into three mini vans, two buses and ten hours just to get to the ferry. All day we were shuffled from bus station (I use that term loosely) to bus station, and then left waiting anywhere from 45 minutes to several hours. We realized that in trying to fill the bus as much as possible, they would make everyone wait around as long as it took to gather more people, even if 20 people were left waiting for hours for 2 to show up.

After a bumpy ferry ride, and twelve and a half less than awesome hours after we left Khao Lak, we arrived at the pier in Ko Phangan. We were so glad to see Jill and Kix waiting to pick us up! They doubled us on their scooters to the house they had rented, and were generous to offer us space in their pad. Once we got here though we found out that the place next to theirs was open, and having a bed won out over the floor.

After staying two nights, we realized that this island had everything we wanted (beach, jungle, calm ocean, great weather), and so we rented the house. There are four houses here, which have one large room for a bed room, a bathroom, a kitchen and a large front porch. Our kitchen has a fridge, a sink and two burners that run on propane. We rented the house for a month for 7000 bhat, which is about $225 for a month. Our neighbours are Jill and Kix next to us, an Austrailian named Manuel who is here training in Thai boxing next to them, and across from us a man in his 50s who apparently comes here every year for a few months.

The island is quite small, we can drive down one side in about 20 minutes. It is very lush and not too developed, with almost 70% of the island protected. We are staying on the west side of the island, only a five minute walk from the beach. Our beach however is a sort of mini pier for all the long tail boats, so instead of walking there we usually ride the scooter somewhere. We haven't explored too much, although we have found the best snorkeling spot, on a beach up the west side called Ao Mae Haad. There is good coral and tons of fish, and we've been back there a few times. Hitoshi loves it and brings his snorkeling mask everywhere.

Less than ten minutes from us on scooter is a market and a bunch of shops. If we get up early enough we go to the market to buy fresh seafood for dinner. If we don't make it to the fresh food market, there are grocery stores or another market that has about twenty stalls selling anything from curry to fried chicken.

We did make it to a half moon party, which was in the jungle and very organized, since they do throw it twice a month all year. There was a 300 bhat ($10) cover, and one big stage. There were lots of black light decorations, and three bars. The music was mostly progressive house and I'd say there were at least 400 people there. It was ok, probably would have been funner if I was drinking more. Jill, Kix and I did split a bucket, which is a mickey of whiskey (or gin or vodkha), a can of pop and a red bull. I was warned about them before I left, and a not so fond memory of a bucket party a Crystal's does come to mind, so I hadn't had one yet. It was good though, and I do see buckets in my future, but that night I wasn't really in party mode. We hung out for a few hours, Hitoshi spun fire and then came home.

Other than that we have been lazing around, relaxing in our hammock, playing with our staffs, enjoying the weather which is perfect and swimming in the ocean. It is great to have a house, and be able to buy fresh, cheap groceries. We plan on staying here until we return to Bangkok for some shopping a few days before we fly home. I know exactly how lucky I am, and I am grateful everyday to be with the man I love, surrounded by so much beauty and great friends.

2008-01-28T00:13:00.000-07:00

new pics have been uploaded onto facebook, even if you don't have an account you can check them out here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=85534&l=20029&id=509955156

we just rented a house on an island, it is beautiful and we will probably stay here for most of the time we have left in thailand. i will try to upload another blog soon.

Getting to Khao Lak and TURTLE mania

2008-01-23T21:57:00.000-07:00

We moved guesthouses for our last two days in Krabi, to one called Laughing Gecko run by a Canadian woman and her Thai husband. It was a little more rustic than where we had been, the bungalows were made like traditional Thai houses. All bamboo, more open so the air flows through.

Since we were much closer to the main strip in Ao Nang we walked down there, although it was absolutely scorching. That night we went to the bar down the street, called Hippie Bar, where they do a nightly fire show. We didn't go in but we watched from the street. There were about 8 guys performing with poi, staff, double staff and rope. It was interesting, but Hitoshi was better than almost all of them, so we weren't overly impressed.

The next day I asked one of the guesthouse owners where we could see turtles, as we were trying to plan where to head after Krabi. He was telling us where to find monkeys and catfish, and I was telling him that other than the fact that monkeys don't look remotely like turtles, we had already seen them. Finally he says that there is the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries division near by, and they have really huge fish and lots of clown fish little sharks. Oh, and by the way, turtles too. Ok, now we're getting somewhere. Obviously he just didn't understand my all encompassing obsession with turtles.

After all that we rent a motorbike and head out to see what goes on at the Ministry of Agriculture. We found it just as it had been described, a big gate with Thai flags flying and of course a picture of the King. There was also had a giant ceramic clown fish. At the front office they told us to drive around back, where we saw several large pools, with walkways so you can peer down into the water. The pools were maybe 100 by 200 feet, and not very deep since you can see the bottom. I thought, no way are there turtles in here, that would be way to easy, since I had been asking everyone and no one had mentioned this place before. Maybe some kind of turtle, but definitely not sea turtles.

I was proven wrong in all of ten seconds, when we walked out onto on of the walkways, and right below us there was a turtle! I think it was a hawksbill, since they have really beautiful shells and are smaller and this one was only about three feet long, but it might have been a green. Either way I was so excited!! Then another one swam by and I was of course reduced to giggling hysterics. One of them was eating and Hitoshi filmed it coming up for air.

We walked around and looked at all the tanks, at least half of them were filled with Nemo fish (hence the giant ceramic clown fish at the front gate). I did see a group of Gills and one Dorrie which was exciting. After looking at the tanks we walked around the rest of the large pools. A school group had come and a man was feeding some of these giant fish (at least five feet long and two feet around) who where jumping trying to catch the fish. Then the kids wandered off, and then we saw them, little turtle juniors! They were probably about a year old and only a little longer than a foot. And there were three or four of them, all swimming around. Soooo cute.

We must have stayed at that place a couple hours, mostly watching the turtles. After we went to the front office to ask where the best place to see turtles in the wild is. They said it was very hard, but near Khao Lak there was another Ministry of Agriculture that specialized in turtles (this ones specialty being, you guessed it, clown fish). We got a name and a phone number and that finalized that Khao Lak would be our next destination.

What a good day. We are now in Khao Lak which is just north of Phuket. We are staying at Puh Khao Lak resort, which is the nicest place that we have stayed in so far, if not the most interesting. I guess by nicest I mean cleanest.. And we have a pool, which is totally necessary since the beach is at least an 8 minute walk. The grounds are actually very nice, almost like a golf course with palm trees, and everything is spaced pretty far apart. I can't believe we are paying about $4 each more a night for such a huge leap in accomodations.

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I have realized that in this perfect man that I have met, I have found someone that enjoys doing things by himself even less than I do. I don't really mind in general, since I like doing things together, but I was feeling weary when my presence was requested at Muai Thai, a Thai kickboxing event. I kept telling him he would have more fun without me, since I hate any kind of fighting and wont even watch it on tv, but after he told me he would pay, we could leave whenever I wanted and I would get a super foot massage after, I agreed to go check it out.

Khao Lak is a pretty small place, so the boxing 'stadium' was pretty tiny. When we got there, the third fight of ten was starting. The first 6 fights were all young kids, mostly teenagers. I really don't have much to say about the whole thing, except I would advise bringing ear plugs since the announcer is screaming a lot and between fights they blare horrible dance music.

I did make it to the end of the last fight, mostly by watching other people in the crowd. I thought the best part was the band made up of little grandpa's playing traditional Thai instruments while the fight was going on. And right before the fight, the boxer guys do a sort of dance / ritual thing which was interesting to watch. I guess I'm glad I went, since I know it made Hitoshi happy and it is a part of Thai culture. But I don't expect I'll be attending anymore matches in the future. Tomorrow on to much more exciting things - turtles!!

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I don't think there is anyway to top today. It started with a good sleep in, since we didn't get back from Thai boxing until almost 1 am. The we had a great breakfast and hopped on the motorbike to head 35 km south to Thai Muang to find the Ministry of Agriculture, Sea Turtle Conservation. Off the main highway we headed into town and then drove a few minutes north along the beach, which was gorgeous and had not a soul in sight. Too bad we didn't bring bathing suites but we were on a mission anyway.

We found it without much trouble, and then went and signed in. A guy gave us guest badges and then walked us around to the back, where there were rows and rows of tanks, about 4 feet deep and 6 feet wide and 30 feet long. And they were FILLED WITH BABY TURTLES!!!! Hundreds of tiny adorable flapping little turtles. I spent the whole afternoon watching them and holding them and seeing them get their medicine and eat their lunch, and even having their baths (the guy gives their backs a little scrub so they don't grow algae). There were tiny tiny newborns and teenagers and even a few full grown ones. I think something was wrong with the big ones, because I read that they release them when the getting bigger. I can't believe Hitoshi managed to get me out of there after a couple of hours, I had to keep going back to say goodbye. I want to go back right now!! I want to work there and live there and take care of them all day.

The rest of the day was pretty rad too - consisting of swimming in the pool, buying a few things, eating yummy red snapper and getting a Thai massage (you can have a pretty sweet day in Thailand and still spend less than $25) - but all I'm going to be thinking about is how I spent the best day ever with my little turtle buddies.

First Week in Thailand

2008-01-19T20:32:00.000-07:00

Hitoshi brought his laptop along, so I'm going to try to write what we're up to as often as I can and then upload it when I get the chance. Here's how our trip is going so far. (Sorry no pics yet, this internet is painfully slow)

It's January 12th, a Saturday morning, the first day of our trip. We arrived in Bangkok last night after a stop over in Beijing. We were hoping to stay in China but there were no seats available within the next week, so maybe on the way back. The airport in Bangkok is a pretty impressive building, not what I expected at all. I guess it's brand new, I think it's nicer than the Calgary and Vancouver airports.

After we landed we grabbed our bags and went to find a cab. There were three people dressed in suits on us as soon as we were our the door, asking us if we needed a cab. They told us 900 bhat, but a man from Vancouver we met on the plane had told us it should be around 400 so we walked a little further and found one for 450 (about $15 Canadian). So first lesson, which was pretty much what I expected, you can find things at least half price if you only walk 3 feet.

It was almost a 45 minute cab ride to Soi Ram Buttri road. It is very close to Khoa San Road, which I gather is the backpacker mecca in Bangkok, but our friend Dawn told us that Soi Ram Buttri was just around the corner from there and less crazy. It still seemed pretty nuts to us, considering it was almost 3 am. We started feeling pretty disheartened as every place we walked by was full. Finally at the very end of the road we found a small place. We didn't even care about seeing the room first, since it seemed like there weren't any other options.

It's 200 bhat a night (so about $6 each), and the bed is probably harder than the floor but it was all we needed. After we threw our stuff in the room we went down and ate at a street vendor, all seemingly run by little Thai gramma's. It was good food, and the street was pretty empty by then, which was nice.

We fell asleep watching a movie and only slept about 4 hours, but now we're up and showered and off to find a little nicer accommodations.

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It's later tonight now (well I guess it's actually tomorrow). We found a better place, with a/c and a shower, which is nice but when we get up we'll probably downsize to a cheaper room. Our sleep schedule is totally out of whack, thanks to a 4 hour nap we had earlier tonight. Today we went down to Khao San Road, which was nuts. I'm so glad we didn't stay there, thanks Dawn for steering us away. It is filled with stalls and people and bars and really bad techno.

One of my first impressions... I was the number of foreign guys with Thai women 'friends'. I was expecting it, but it is everywhere you look and so in your face. Today at lunch a guy in his mid 20s was sitting next to us, and he just handed the woman a huge wad of cash and then they left together. And the men all ages, from early 20s to 60 and over. It's a little bizarre but I'm already getting used to it. I'm wondering if people look at Hitoshi and think I've picked up a cute Thai guy for myself..

Tomorrow we're going to see the Grande Palace and Wat Pho and then make our escape from Bangkok plan. It's too much for me here, I think it's more for people who just want to drink and party. But I could also see getting stuck here, just hanging out and sitting on the patio, since there is so much to see, so I want to leave soon. We met a really interesting girl named Amy from Sweden tonight, who had been traveling the world for the past six months. Tonight was her last night before she headed home, and it was great to talk to her and get ideas about where we want to go.

Oh, and I touched a baby elephant's nose and it was really soft and mushy.

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Today we went to go see what else Bangkok has to offer. We first took one of the ferries down the river Chao Phraya to Tien and then took another one directly across the river to Wat Arun. Wats are temples, and this one had a very impressive skyline from the river. To quote the DK Eyewitness Guidebook that we are using:

Wat Arun, named after Aruna, the Indian god of dawn is a striking Bangkok landmark. It owes it's name to the legend that, in October 1767, King Taksin arrived here at sunrise from the sacked capital, Ayutthaya...the main prang (tower) is 79m high. In the 19th century King Mongkut added the ornamentation created with broken pieces of porcelain.

So basically, the whole thing is covered in broken porcelain and looks pretty cool up close. There are very steep stair that you can take up two levels, where we got some good pictures. After that we had a snack (we've almost given up eating full meals in the heat and are now just sharing an order from a street vendor whenever we are hungry) and took a ferry back across the river to see Wat Pho. To quote our book again (not sure if anyone is interested, but my Grama will be):

Wat Pho is not only Bangkok's oldest and largest temple but also Thailand's center for public education. It was built in the 1790s and in 1832 Rama III built the Chapel of the Reclining Buddha which is 150 ft long.

The Reclining Buddha was definitely the highlight, it was absolutely massive. After that we headed up to the Grande Palace, which was just across the street. But by the time we had reached the front door, a good way along the almost 2 km long wall, we were pretty beat.

There seemed to be endless vendors selling stuff off blankets along the street, I thought because it was Sunday. We looked around a bit and decided to skip the Palace, since it seemed obscenely packed. We found out later that the King's sister recently passed away, so people were flocking to the Grande Palace. I'm not quite sure why, since the King doesn't live there anymore. But everyone here loves the King and I'm pretty sure it's illegal to say anything bad about the royalty, so I feel weird about asking anything about him. On a side note, it is totally fine to say anything about politicians in the media, so that's nice.

After that we took a boat back up the river to our street, and stopped on the way home to get a massage, which was heaven and dirt cheap. I plan on getting another one as soon as possible. We came back to the guesthouse to sleep, but we couldn't so Hitoshi went out and about and I thought I would write in here. This is getting really long, I should try to go upload it soon..

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January 19th

We have made it south to the ocean. We booked a flight to Krabi, which we almost missed cause we got sick (especially poor Hitoshi, he was in pretty rough shape). But we did make the flight, and arrived in Krabi three days ago. It is across the bay from Phuket, which we decided to avoid cause it seems to hectic. I don't think too many people stay in Krabi, since it is not right on the beach. Most people head to Ao Nang, which is maybe 15km away. It has a few main streets and is mainly built around resorts, shops and restaurants.

We ended up at a place maybe 20 minutes out side of Ao Nang, at a place called Pine Bungalow. It is really isolated, there isn't even a store within walking distance. I really like it here. It has little cabin type houses (not really bungalows) and is totally surrounded by jungle. Our place has what seems to be the typical Thai bathroom and shower - both in one small room with a drain in the floor, no separate area for the shower. It is so different than Japan where you would never have the shower and the toilet in the same room.

Our first day here we arrived in the late afternoon and just had a swim, the ocean is really warm. The next day we rented a motorbike and went to check out Ao Nang. I have never been on a motorbike or had any desire so it was a little scary. Hitoshi had one for almost ten years in Japan so he's a good driver, but I still made him drive 30 km an hour. We went to two different beaches and looked at some stores (way more expensive than Bangkok, we didn't buy anything except a hat). We ate some great Barracuda at this little place run by a family.

The next day we rented a motorbike again and went to Wat Tham Sua (tiger cave temple). It has the Buddha on top of one of the massive cliffs that are around here, so we made the trek up. And what a frikken trek. It is straight up a 300 meter high staircase and I was melting. It's over 1200 steps and I almost gave up when I was dying and saw we were only on the 400th one. But Hitoshi was very encouraging and we stopped lots (he being a ninja, of course didn't even break a sweat). I was glad I made it, but I don't think I'll feel the need to do that again in my lifetime.

At the bottom of the cliff we did see tons of monkeys, which was awesome. There were little babies and old pensive looking grandpas and they were running around everywhere. They were running around everywhere, leaping from trees and onto the store roof, it was pretty fun to watch. On the way home we stopped at a giant catfish farm where we had some BBQ catfish and then walked around the ponds feeding them. I was glad I had eaten before I saw them up close, they aren't very charming, all jumping on top of each other to catch some food and making weird sucking noises.

Later that night I was rewarded for my heroic mountain climb when we ate dinner; we ate a plate of the biggest prawns I have ever seen in my life, aptly named King Prawns. There were only five but that was more than enough for both of us to share. I don't think I can get sick of eating prawns.

Yesterday we took a long tail boat out to Ko Hong (ko means island). Having realized in Australia that boats and I do not get along, I was a little nervous. However, we were the only two on the boat and there are virtually no waves around here, so I was actually ok for the 30 minute trip. There we hung out on the beach in this inlet, it was really stunning. We walked in and fed the fish bread our boat driver had given us, and bright yellow and black stripped fish were all around us. We did some snorkeling too, and although of course all the coral around there is dead from so many people, Hitoshi had never done it before and was quite excited. We did see Nemo, in his anemone. And Gill was swimming around near by. That's a clown fish and an angel fish for you non disney fans.

After that we took the boat around to the other side of the island and saw a ton of mangroves, very interesting trees. We finished by going to a small beach and having a quick nap. Once we got home we rented the motorbike again and went to check out the Muai Thai, the Thai kickboxing. Hitoshi really wanted to see it (I of course had no interest at all, but said I would think about it). In the end it was way too much money so we went back to the little family run restaurant where we had had Barracuda and this time tried the Marlin.

Today we decided to do nothing, which was great. We laid on the beach at our guesthouse, which was almost deserted with only three other people doing the same thing we were, reading and napping. We spun some staff, swam in the ocean and then laid on the beach until it got dark and the moon came out. The staff here lit a small fire just down from us on the beach which burned for a bit, then it was just really bright moon light (full moon is in three days). It was a perfect day, and now were going to go have some dinner, which will be seafood of course.

Burn Him! Twice!

2007-09-16T10:03:00.001-06:00

Burning Man is fast becoming a blur of dust, flashing lights, random art, bumpin music and good looking people. I want to try to get down some of my experiences this year before all I can say is 'Wow, what a wikked week' although that's pretty much where I'm at almost three months later.

It really started Monday night, just after the huge full moon popped out, when we passed the Greeters station. We knew that the rest of our crew (Dae, Mike and Norm from Calgary and Elesa and Mark from Edmonton) were already in there setting up. Even though it was dark we had no problems finding them since we had already decided what address we wanted to camp at (9:15 and Kelp Forest). Every year the city is set up in the same pattern, like a giant clock that goes from 2:00 to 10:00. And that is what the streets coming out from the center are named after, times on a clock. Then the inner rings are in alphabetical order, changing depending on the theme that year. This year was Green Man, so the street names were things like Arctic, Fresh Water, and Habitat.

We found them already mostly set up, including most importantly a line of booze about 15 feet long. We set up our tent and then moved all the stuff from the truck into the tent, since the plan was to sleep on an air mattress inside the truck. As we were doing the set up I started drinking the vodka like it was water, so not too sure what happened next, although my memory was aided by a YouTube post Dae found for me recently, but I'll get back to that.

We all went out as a group, something we did last year too, since after the first night it is hard to find everyone in the same place. I gather we were headed towards the Man, and stopped at some bars along the way. And we were riding the turtle, whom we dubbed Kame-chan (kame being turtle in Japanese). So we made it out to the man, pretty much right on time to witness something that I hear has never happened in the 20+ years of Burning Man - someone climbed up and lite the Man on fire. I hear that it is rumored every year that someone is going to lite the man on fire, but as far as I know no one has ever actually accomplished it.

So we are standing there, watching the Man burn, and everyone is freaking out while I remain calm and proceed to yell at everyone in a terrible Russian accent that everything is under control, they meant to do it, no one should worry. This I know I did even though I have no memory, thanks to the aforementioned YouTube video. We were standing right next to someone who was filming the whole thing, and I got my entire witty commentary on record. This person has since posted it on YouTube and Dae somehow found it and sent me the link. If you want to hear it I'm not going to help you along by posting the link, let's just suffice to say that it is out there in cyber space.

From what I gather that was a pretty fun night, although it did ruin me and I was unable to drink again until Thursday. Thankfully Elesa kept up the good work and drank enough for both of us.

The next night I was feeling a little under the weather, so Hitoshi and I took an easy night out together, and we spent the night rolling around on Kame-chan. We spotted a stage in the middle of the Playa, surrounded by these 12 foot high pillars that shot flames outwards and towards the stage, lighting it up from above so you could see it from far away. When we got there we saw it was a stage for people to do fire performances, anyone could get up. I encouraged Hitoshi to get up there and spin staff, I just love watching him.

After that we ran into our friend Sailor near the roller disco, and he said since he was wearing short shorts he had to get into some skates. I sat on the side lines while Sailor busted out some moves to the 70s tunes the dj was playing. Then out of nowhere Hitoshi gets on some inline skates and is doing jumps and turns all over the place. Just one more hidden talent I didn't know about. It was so much fun, Sailor grabbed some orange cones and was making jumps and the dj is yelling out praise for him. After that we got back on Kame-chan and parted ways with Sailor. It was a pretty relaxing night, even after which I needed yet another day to recover from the vodka fest.

By now I can't really remember exactly how the rest of the week went, just the highlights. I know we didn't have much dust the first or second day, so I was starting to question rumors that this was to be the dustiest BM in years. However by Wednesday any doubt I had was all blown away. The dust storms were not only crazier, but lasted much much longer than previous ones I had experienced, sometimes lasting a few hours. For the first one I hid in the truck but soon realized if they were going to last so long I was going to be stuck at camp forever if I did that. We did miss a few events due to the dust, including the Billion Bunny March. Although Hitoshi did get on his super cute bunny costume (which he built to fit over his stilts) and bounced around for a while making the neighbours poke there heads out and cheer. Even trying to avoid them doesn't always work, since they spring up out of nowhere. On the day of Critical Tits Elesa and me found ourselves stuck in one for over an hour, an experience I'll never forget.

Elesa and I decided that we would do Critical Tits together, which is bascially around 1,000 girls riding bikes wearing no shirt. We went to a work shop to get body painting done first, and then went out to meet up at the Man. I was feeling a little shy because there are people who just stand there with these massive cameras taking pictures and video, so I appreciated that it was a little dusty giving me an excuse to wrap a scarf around my head and put on my goggles. I figured my boobs might end up on the internet but at least not my face! (Sorry Grama, I hope you see the logic!).

So we set off, all in a huge line. I didn't know who was leading or what our planned route was, all I knew was at the end all the girls go to this big Goddess party that I had heard about. Well, we were about 5 or 10 minutes into our bike ride when a pretty massive dust storm hit. We tried to keep going, not knowing what else to do, and following whoever was right in front of us. The dust got so bad at some points we had to completely stop, and soon we realized there was almost no one in front of us, nor did we have an clue where we were. We waited a while, then a bike/art car driven by about ten cyclists drove by, calling everyone to follow them. We did, with maybe 20 or 30 other girls, all the way to the end of the world. Literally, we were on the most outer street, on almost the most outer ring, at least a 20 minute bike ride from camp in good weather. We went in a bar that said yes when i asked for vodka and cran, so I decided this place was alright. When Elesa asked what they had they said anything, and when she asked for a Baileys on ice we realized that 'anything' meant vodka and cran, which was all they served.

Now that worked for me, but we wanted to get to the Goddess party, and the dust seemed to be dying down, so we decided to give it another shot. Well, we were about 20 feet from that bar when the dust picked up again, and for some unknown reason instead of going back we pushed on. When I think now, I have no idea why we didn't stop in someones camp for shelter; we were compelled to keep going. We were covered in an inch of dust with nothing to drink and only a vauge idea of where we were. I think it had been at least 45 minutes or an hour since we had started and we were exhausted. Finally we stopped and said 'ok this is insane, let's turn down this block and head home'. As we were driving, the sky started to clear and it even started raining just a tiny bit, which was unexpected and nice. And then we saw dozens and dozens of bikes lined up in front of a camp, and we realize that we had found Camp Adoration! We couldn't even believe it, we locked up our bikes and headed in.

This camp is set up and run by guys, but no other guys are allowed in. The idea is a place where all the girls can go after the ride to be adored, and well basically pampered in all different ways. First thing we did was get a vodka snow cone, and then line up for a foot rub. There was so much going on in there, massage, yoga, dancing, several bars, and guys everywhere just waiting on girls. In short, it was heaven, especially after finishing the most grueling bike ride I'd ever had. We ended up getting foot massages right when the sky cleared and a full double rainbow came out, which I just stared at while munching on a yummy snow cone (crazily enough, as I write this I am looking at a full double rainbow outside my window, and these are the only two times in my life I can ever remember seeing that).

After our feet were clean and happy and relaxed, we got some more drinks and started to look around. I won't get into too much detail about what was going on there, since my Grama will probably read this, but we didn't stay too much longer anyway. We were starving and couldn't be satisfied by the candy and snacks they had, so we were going to head for camp. Elesa could barely push her eyes back in her head, and insisted that we would come back. I told her the camp was only open for one day, and after sunset boys were allowed in, so I knew we wouldn't be back, but she was sure we would.

We went back to camp and ate and hung out. We did make it back to Adoration eventually, but it was dark and deserted and there were no boys hanging around to get us whatever we needed. I am sure that we will find the camp next year, maybe this time we'll bring more supplies so we wont have to leave.

This year I hung out in Center Camp a lot more than last year, mainly because there were always people doing Capoeira, and Hitoshi wanted to get in on it sometimes. Plus I realized what a great place Center Camp is to just hang out and watch people during the day. You can lay on couches, watch people preforming on stage, like the guy we saw playing electric violin with a loop machine making this incredible song all by himself. There are also people just doing the most random stuff in the middle of the camp; Center Camp is a huge circle and in the center is another circle which is open and filled with people doing Capoeira, or interpretive dancing or some stuff I didn't even know what they were doing. A few days in a row I saw a dad and his little girl who was maybe 3 dancing, they looked so happy. One day there were some story tellers in the middle of the circle and rows and rows of people watching them. I missed the beginning of the story, but it seems like the circles was divided in two and they were talking back and forth, and doing all kinds of shouting and hand gestures to go along with it. It was pretty fun to watch.

Having Kame-chan was the best, she was so good. Sometimes she didn't want to start, and a few times at night she ran out of gas. Once Hitoshi had to borrow a bike to go back to camp to get more and once we borrowed some off the back of an abandoned art car. (Sorry guys, but it was only a splash!) Other than that, we were able to just cruise all over the place, wherever we felt like, to whatever we saw in the distance without having to think about peddling all the way home. And everyone loved her, she was a great success. The best was the last day Hitoshi and I followed the outer fence, which is so far out you can't really see it from the city, and go and look at all the art that was placed randomly out in the Playa. I wished we had gone earlier than Sunday because some stuff was half taken down, and I'm pretty sure some stuff had just blown away, but we did see tons of cool stuff.

The funnest memories that stick out for me were when Elesa, Mark, Hitoshi and I all headed out together. We danced at the Roots Society, the most massive dome structure I have ever seen which usually had great music inside. We went to the circus, under a real big top. It was so packed that tones of people were crowed around the door trying to see in, but we snuck in under the side of the tent and had a great seat. There were all kinds of performers from acrobats on suspended scarves to the most amazing hoola hooper I have ever seen. He was a really thin Brazilian looking man, with more grace than any girl I've ever seen.

At some point, Elesa, Hitoshi and I ended up at the Cubatron which is this crazy art piece. It is almost indescribable, but I'll try. It is made of a post in the middle, and then maybe 20 posts around it forming a circle. The outer posts have hooks from the top to the bottom, maybe 15 with strings attached that all go to the post in the middle. Basically from the top it would look like a pie. Then all the strings have LED lights going down them that can change colours, and are covered with ping pong balls. The lights are run by a computer with over a hundred sequences. The result is one of the best art pieces on the Playa. From a distance it looks like a flat screen, but as you ride up you realize that it is three dimensional, and it waves and ripples. My favorite looks like rain.

So the three of us were sitting in front of the Cubatron and someone gave us these paper glasses that are like 3D ones but instead make rainbow patterns around light. We are sitting there, watching the best light show imaginable and suddenly we see fireworks going off on the other side. This one art structure maybe half a mile away called Crude Awakening was made up off a massive wooden oil derrick (I can't even think of how big this thing was) surrounded by nine welded statues. The plan for that night was to have a fireworks display then burn the derrick.

Now, there are fireworks going on all the time at BM. I saw them every night, and a pretty great show when the Man burns. And even with all those and seeing the international fireworks competition in Vancouver this summer, the fireworks around Crude Awakening were the best I can remember seeing. We watched them through the Cubatron, then we walked around it to get a clear view. Next came something straight out of a movie - the biggest explosion I will ever see. We were expecting that they were going to burn it, but nothing like this. It made a giant mushroom cloud. We could feel the heat from where we were, and everyone was going nuts cheering and yelling and clapping and jumping up and down. It was rad.

After that Hitoshi insisted that we head over to the Thunderdom. For anyone that has seen Mad Max, that's exactly what it is. Well, except they don't kill each other but beat the crap out of each other with foam covered bats. Hitoshi had never done it in the three previous years he had been to BM, so he was insistent that he wanted to do it. We drove over to the dome, which just like in the movie has people climbed all up over the outside of the cage, looking down and cheering. The rule is that you have to bring your own opponent, and no one we knew wanted to go in. So we gathered around to watch the on going fight and Hitoshi went to go talk to one of the Death Guild members, the group that builds the Thunderdom.

Next thing I know, Hitoshi is in the middle of the dome, getting attached to the bungee cord. I looked around me in shock, and no one I knew was near me, so I started yelling to strangers "Holy crap, that's my boyfriend!!". I hadn't thought he would be able to go in since he didn't have his own opponent, but I guess they had one other guy looking for a partner and this was to be one of the last matches of the week, so they went in together. Well, it was an epic battle, most of which I missed cause I was trying to delete pictures off our full memory card to catch some of the fight. And also because I watched through my fingers cause I don't really like fighting. When Hitoshi came out he was vibrating he was so excited, and the first thing he said was "I can't feel my face!". And he couldn't for about the next three hours, but he was so happy he got to do it he didn't seem to mind. I don't get it, especially the next day see how bruised and battered he was, but if he was happy it was fine with me.

After that we were off again, Hitoshi and I on Kame-chan and Mark and Elesa on bikes. We ended up at this huge swing set, it must have been at least two story's high. It had to swings, those really great bucket ones. Elesa and I got on and Hitoshi was pushing me, and then out of no where some random guy came in front of me and grabbed my feet and started pushing me backwards to do and under duck. I was yelling "No no no!!", because it seemed so high, and well I haven't had an under duck in at least 15 years. As soon as he got under, I was sailing through the air and I was yelling "Weeeeeeeeeee!!" and having about the best 5 minutes ever. I could see all the lights across the Playa, and if I leaned all the way back I could see it all upside down. That was the best night of the whole week.

The night of the burn, Hitoshi and I headed out towards the man, but got there a little late to get a good seat. All the art cars come and make a giant circle around the man, and then inside that circle is people standing, then people sitting. The inner most circle is fire performers. I had thought that I wanted to try to spin fire, but you have to go earlier in the week, show them what you can do and then get a pass. There must be over a thousand people spinning staff and fire poi, as well. We got a really great seat by randomly bumping into people we knew who were sitting on the back and roof of a truck, so we climbed up there. The night of the burn is pretty crazy, when Black Rock City swells in population compared to the rest of the week. There are lots of what people call Weekend Warriors, who don't really come out to BM to do anything but get loaded and yell. So it's a different vibe, and then after that night people start the Exodus, and it calms down again.

Sunday during the day was pretty chill, we headed out at dawn to what was left of Crude Awakening to see if Lorin was spinning. We didn't see him, but we saw the remains of the massive explosion and the nine statues. Last year there were three of these statues in front of Center Camp, this year there were nine in total. The are beautiful and represent people in different positions, and made of welded together scrap metal. Hitoshi and Mark decided that they wanted to climb them, so we came back out later that day. As we drove back to the camp we saw the sun just coming up over the Playa, right in the middle of the circle of the temple. It was breath taking, and I saw some photographers with their stands lined up to capture that exact moment.

Later we went back so the boys could climb around. Hitoshi being a ninja and Mark being an iron worker, they had no problems scaling up there. I could barely look it made me so dizzy, but they must have had the best view of the Playa. We snapped some pics while they did some poses for everyone cheering on the ground, then they climbed down and that is when Hitoshi and I headed out on Kame-chan to check out all the art.

Sunday is the Temple Burn, which is very different from the Man burn. Many people go to the temple during the week and place pictures, stories, poems, whatever for someone they have lost in the past year. So when the temple burns there are no fireworks, no spinners, no blaring music and it is silent. Well, we were next to some asshole who felt like it needed his special commentary attached to it, but for the most part it is very quiet and peaceful.

We all ended up back at camp and decided we had no choice but to drink as much as possible, since we would not be able to carry booze across the boarder without paying duty. So we all hit the bottle, and then decided to commandeer an art car. We all hoped on and told the driver to head to the Playa. We wanted to see an art piece we only knew as the Monkeys, that everyone had been talking about all week and most of us hadn't seen. We brought booze, they had an ozzie bar tender, Mike drove the bus and we made a stop for Hitoshi and I to spin fire for entertainment. All and all it worked out very nicely. We made it to the Monkeys, which was like one of those swing sets at the fair where it rises up and all the swings on long chains spin out. Except it was run by people, so we had to get people on about 5 different pedal bikes, and once they got going it spun these monkey. There were maybe 15 monkeys, each in a different position, and a strobe light when so if you stood in one place it looked like the monkeys we swinging from branch to branch. It's hard to describe, it was great and also felt like it was giving you a seizure all at the same time. After that we headed back to camp to sleep for about 3 hours.

We woke up Monday morning pretty early and started to break camp. Norm managed to sleep through the entire thing, until all that was left of camp was him sitting in a chair. The last thing we did was dump the rest of our water out over top of us, and then jump in the car. Hitoshi and I headed out first, only to wait in line for about 3 hours trying to get out. It wasn't the smoothest Exodus, but broiling in your car with no water is just another part of the BM experience. All said and done, it was a great year and I'm so glad Hitoshi and I got to do it together.

Getting to Burning Man Drama Rama

2007-09-12T10:46:00.000-06:00

The few days we had between getting home from Calgary and leaving for Burning Man were complete chaos. We did tons of shopping and list making and running around. Hitoshi had to build the box for the back of the truck we were taking, and build the turtle art car that we wanted to cruise the Playa on.

Hitoshi got a huge block of styrofoam on Thursday and started carving it. I helped him with what I could. The first step was taking this big cube shaped block and turning it into the general shape of a turtle shell. Of course Hitoshi has all the tools to do this since he has done tons of sculpting with styrofoam for work. We used these two wooden sticks that you hold in either hand, and each one has a screw in the top. There is a thin metal wire wrapped around each screw, so when you hold the wood about a foot apart the wire is pulled tight. The wire has an electrical current running through it, so when it is turned on it gets incredibly hot really fast. So I held one and Hitoshi held the other and we went on either side of the block and started carving. In no time we had the basic shape of a turtle shell and a turtle head.

Hitoshi worked on it after that while I did tons of running around and packing. He smoothed out the shell, then used a dremel to carve in the detail. I could help with that since it was just following the lines. After that the next step was to coat it in hard plastic but when Hitoshi got to the store it was closed. So he started working on the box for the truck. Luckily he had his friend Sailor to help him, since for that project I was only useful in standing and looking cute for a picture.

Hitoshi got the supplies he needed to make the plastic cover Saturday morning and then the race was on (since we were planning on leaving Saturday morning or early afternoon). To make the hard plastic coating you have to make a half and half mix from two bottles. The mixture hardens in 45 seconds, so you pour a tiny bit of each into a cup and use a paint brush to brush it on the styrofoam as fast as you can. In 45 seconds it hardens and you have to throw the cup and paint brush away and do it all over again. So it is time consuming (and wasteful, I know!!) but I got to work on it as fast as I could. Hitoshi had bent a piece of rebar to put in the back that would stop the second person sitting on the turtle from falling off. I tried to coat those areas in the thickest plastic to make sure it would stay in.

After it was completely coated, Hitoshi got to work on painting it. It was originally a sea turtle, but I found a picture of the cutest tortoise called an African Sulcata which actually lives in the desert so I thought it was perfect. He painted it and put it back together and it looked so cute!

Once that was done, we loaded it into the truck with all my camping supplies that were in the studio and came home to finish packing. We finally pulled out of here at almost 11:00 pm on Saturday, only 12 hours behind schedule. Which didn't matter since we were expecting it would only take us 16 hours to get down there, so we would arrive at a great time to meet up with everyone.

It didn't quite work out like that..we were so tired we had to stop and pass out for a little while, and the truck would only go a max of 80 km and hour, and we lost the gas cap - twice! So by the following night at about 12:30 am we were still two hours from Reno so we passed out in a hotel and decided to drive in the next day. The crew in Reno got a bit of a head start on us, so we didn't end up meeting them in Reno. We finished our shopping and started the drive from Reno to the Black Rock Desert, when we realized we didn't have a map and I had to call my dad and ask him to Mapquest where we were going (thanks Dad, we had missed the turn off, but only by about 10 minutes!).

We finally can see Black Rock City in the distance and there is a long line of cars waiting to get in. At Burning Man they don't search the car for anything, they basically as if you have fire arms and give a quick look to see if you are sneaking other people in. So the line does move fast, but they also have Greaters waiting to say hello, and especially if it is your first time and you have to ring the bell it can take a while.

We were in line around an hour, which was fine cause we had the mini dvd player and we were watching movies, but I was going crazy cause I had needed to go pee since we left Reno. So the line felt like it was crawling along and finally as we get near the Greaters Station I see a port a potty of in the distance and I make a break for it.

When I came back I was feeling so much better, and so glad we made it, and excited to see the city up ahead..and the Hitoshi handed me a cheeseburger that someone in line had gave him. I knew I was home.

Shambhala and Goodbye to Calgary

2007-08-21T10:45:00.000-06:00

We just rolled in last night, after going to Sham and spending almost a week in Calgary. Sham was great, it was fun to be there with Hitoshi for his first time. We arrived Wednesday late afternoon, and waited in line almost 5 hours. It wasn't bad, Hitoshi worked on our Clockwork Orange costumes and we watched movies. The only bad part of the line was how so many people were drinking and throwing their cans on the side of the road. I started picking them up and putting them on the roof of my car, and by the time we got in my roof was covered. They seemed pretty happy that I had done it though, so we didn't get searched which was nice. The ticket scanner did break down when we were 6 cars from the front and we had to wait almost an hour, but as soon as we got in we found Pat and Kelsi and a great place to camp with them so everything worked out well.

Thursday was a pretty rad day, from what I can remember. I started drinking pretty early in the morning, then spent the day drinking vodka and running with my friend Brit. Hitoshi spent some of the day in the Village building a structure shaped like a mushroom with Pat out of twigs and branches.

For 4:20 we headed over to the potluck. I am a huge forum geek and spend time on the Shambhala message board, and every year we have a potluck so we can actually meet each other in person. I don't think I really met any new people this year, it was mostly saying hi to the people I talk with on line all year but hardly get to hang out with. The picture on the left is my friend Travis, me and my friend Dan and on the left is Elesa (I think making her angry Russian face), Asia and I. We all ate tons of good food, I brought popcorn balls because that is what I bring every year and there are people who insist that I continue doing so every year. One of the people that posts on the forum is named Valeon (oh my, no idea what his real name is) and he is an wikked acrobat so the past two years he has treated us with a really entertaining show (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9joKFuaoNY). Overall from my foggy memory it was a raging success.

Not too sure what we did the rest of the night, more running around and screaming with Elesa and generally having a great time. We went to see Hitoshi's friend Timothy Wisdom play at the Rock Pit, but by then it ten so I'd been drinking over 12 hours, so Hitoshi just put me to bed.

Saturday Hitoshi and I wandered around together, checked out the stages and saw some people we knew. We had a nap and Elesa, Mark and Christine came to wake us up at 11:00 pm. Hitoshi and I were wearing the Clockwork Orange costumes that nigh, which turned out really well. I had a bowler and Hitoshi had a top hat, I had a great find a Value Village for black boots, and we bought these plastic tubes filled with candy as our sticks. After we got our costumes on we all headed over to the Village to see Hoola and then Krafty Kuts play. It was good music and we went to bed not too late.

Saturday during the day we checked out the vendors and mostly lazed around, we had to be well rested for the best music night of the year. Elesa came and met us at our tent and we all put on our Ewok costumes. The Village stage is called the Village because it basically looks like the Ewok village on Star Wars. There are tons of platforms in the trees and bridges and walkways connecting it all. This year especially looked incredible, they did so much work. So there had been talk on the Shambhala forum of some people trying to dress up like Ewoks, although I didn't see any others that night. Hitoshi's costume got rave reviews, everyone loved it. He bought a stuffed bear from Value Village, cut a hole in the back and put in a zipper, then cut the face of the bear out so he could put his own face through the back and his face in. He wore all black and he attached sticks to the bears arms so he could move them around. I'll tell you, that bear shook his ass to some awesome jungle all night.

We got to the Village just in time for Pat's (who plays as Broken English) set, which is always the musical highlight of Sham for me (I posted two clips on YouTube of him and MC Black Rose http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qs3p_7w7jlU and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deBgXsa8TVg). Dirty dirty jungle with bass that vibrates your entire body. It was the only time all weekend that I braved the crowds so I could go dance right in front of the speaker. Hitoshi got on a platform and that Ewok danced like mad, and I had to take part of my costume off I was dancing so hard. After Pat's set we went on a walkabout with with some friends, and Dae and I and Hitoshi took a picture on the Bench. Dae and I have a pic of us sitting on it back in 2000 so every year I have to find it and get a picture of me on it.

We checked out some of the other stages, but as every year the Village is really the only place I want to be. The line up that night was sick, after Pat was Diesel Boy and then Hive. I danced and danced until I was too tired to dance any more, then I tried to stay awake and listen until I couldn't listen any more. Eventually I was falling asleep, so I turned in for the night.

Sunday we got up and headed down to the beach stage, where a friend had mentioned there would be people doing capoeira, which is a Brazilian martial art. Hitoshi trained for four years learning it, and although he hasn't trained at all in the past few years he is still a super ninja. I love watching him do it, it is really graceful and pretty tough at the same time. Usually there are a few people playing instruments performing a half circle, and two people enter the circle at a time. At first there was only two or three people down there, but once the music started going at least 10 or 15 people came down to play and tons more stopped by to watch.

After a while we decided to head down to the beach. It was the perfect afternoon. It was sunny and hot, and we found a shady spot by the river. The Salmo river is great, there are places you can walk across and places you can submerge yourself completely. We laid in the shade all day and splashed in the river and laughed our asses off and had a really fantastic day.

That night was pretty relaxed. Since I drank 3 days worth of booze on Thursday I was totally sober, which was just fine. My friend Shamik, who is an unbelievably talented beat boxer (you can see his profile and hear him on his myspace at http://www.myspace.com/teamshamik) opened for Lorin Bassnectar. He did really great, I loved seeing him up there in front of so many people. He has been all over the place in Alberta in the past few years, and it seems like it is really paying off. When I saw him at the gas station on the way home later I asked him when he would be in Van he told me he is opening for Method Man in November, which is rad.

Anyway, he was on for 20 minutes then Lorin came on. The Village was just packed, so many people just wait all weekend to see Lorin at the Village on Sunday night. Unfortunately after less than ten minutes the bass stopped working. Pat told me later that someone smashed some equipment with a hammer; I can't imagine who would do something like that, but it took over 45 minutes to get the sound back up. I didn't even really mind, we just hung out and chatted with people, there wasn't anywhere else I wanted to be. When they got the music back up we listened for maybe an hour and then headed to bed. It was good music, but I know that Lorin will be playing several times at Burning Man so I felt like it was ok to pass out early.

Monday morning Hitoshi woke me up with breakfast, then we packed the car and took one last jump in the river before we left. We drove to Calgary and got in around midnight, then slept a solid 13 hours.

So the past week we spent in Calgary, mostly hanging out with family. We went out for sushi with my mom, had a really nice dinner at my dad's, stopped by Cyries to say hi to people, went out for lunch with my friend Ginnette sitting by the river, hung out with Kuma and took her for walks, and finished packing and cleaning up the house.

On Saturday a bunch of people came over to say goodbye, it was meant to be a potluck but mostly we just chatted, drank beer and spun fire. Hitoshi and I brought out our staffs and Lindsay had fire poi and fans. I was glad everyone came over, even Sarah was in from Toronto. It was sad to say goodbye, especially to Kelsi. I was feeling pretty emotional and overwhelmed after everyone left.

The next day was hard too, we packed everything up, said goodbye to my uncle, my grama and Norm and drove to Salmon Arm. Stacey's parents Sharon and Gary live there and offered to take Kuma until we can find a place where we are allowed to have pets. I am so grateful to them for taking her, I know she will be happy and well looked after. It was still hard to say goodbye to her, I'm sick of saying goodbyes. We spent the night and then drove into Van the next afternoon.

Now we're back home, and we have 3 days to build the art car for Burning Man, build a cover for the back of the truck we are borrowing, pack and shop. So I can't believe I just spend so much time blogging, I've got work to do!

Getting to Vancouver

2007-08-06T23:08:00.000-06:00

Wednesday July 25th was my last day of work, and I felt some serious love. I got presents from people at work, and Hitoshi sent me gorgeous flowers. I went out for lunch with Dae, Marion and Maria and then out for drinks after work. It was weird to say goodbye, although it didn't feel like I was really leaving for good.

I went home and Steph and Kelsi came over and helped me absolutely cram my car as full as it would go. I left the next morning and drove all the way to Van, stopping in Banff to meet my friend Mykul for breakfast and in Salmon Arm to say hi to friends. I was pretty tired when I arrived, but so glad to see my man! It felt great to know that now we would be in the same city.

On Saturday was the Illuminaries festival, where everyone makes lanterns and goes down to this park. People are so creative with their lanterns, it was amazing. I saw a dragon fly attached to helium balloons so it was floating over the pond, and even a turtle! We had signed up to volunteer at the Wishing Well, so we spent the day making faerie costumes then went down to park and got our makeup done. They had a well set up where people (mostly little kids) came and made a wish, then threw money down the well and looked inside. At the bottom of the well was a mirror, so they saw themselves. Lots of people wanted to take their pictures with us, it was different being dressed up when no one else was, as opposed to Burning Man or Shambhala where lots of people are wearing costumes so it's not super special.

It was fun and some of the kids were super cute, the only down side was that we didn't get to go see what was going on too much. Our shift lasted until almost 11 pm then we walked around, saw some fire spinners and huge drum circles with tons of people dancing around. There were so many lanterns, all different shapes and sizes and some floating out on the pond. We decided we wanted to go out dancing, so we went home and took all our makeup off, then went out with our roommate Chelsii to see a Boylesque. There were girls hosting it, but the performances were all boys. It was a really fun night, I saw some people I had met before (a nice feeling the first time out in a new city!) and Ooah was spinning. Hitoshi and I saw him earlier in the month at Motion Notion and he just rocked. We were dancing away, but it was insanely hot in there and even standing still you could work up a sweat. So after we wore ourselves out we headed. I love that I have my own place here, and Hitoshi has the best bedroom. I have never had such a beautiful place to sleep before, he did the walls himself and bought a bed that was imported from Asia. The view looks right out to the mountain, and you can see the harbor. I love love love it.

On Tuesday a super sweet Italian guy named Fillipo came to stay with us a few days. He was living in California with one of Hitoshi's friends and was moving to Canada to live and work. On Wednesday he called us saying he was down in Kitsalano and asked if we wanted his parking spot - it was the Vancouver fireworks competition.

"The fireworks competition sees pyrotechnic experts go up against each other to show off their abilities and each have a 25-minute set lighting the skies over the waters of English Bay.

As many as 1.5 million people arrive in Vancouver for the HSBC Celebration of Light every year, which usually features new techniques and experiments as the experts look to outdo each other at the free shows."

The night we were down the country was China, and it was really cool. It was so nice of Fillipo to give us his spot, we just drove in, walked down to the beach, then drove out no problem.

On Sunday we went down to the Pride parade, which was fun. I have been to pride in Toronto before which is party rama rama. I guess Pride in Van has grown a ton in the past few years, and this year there were over 300,000 people down to see the parade. We checked out some of the floats, then went down to the beach where there were vendors, a beer garden and a stage. We watched a burlesque and listened to some bands, then went home to craft it up.

We spent the rest of the week getting ready for Shambhala and Burning Man. Hitoshi bought a little 70 cc A.T.V. which is going to be converted to an art car (I'm hoping a turtle!) and we started getting all the parts for our costumes ready. It feels like we go to Canadian tire at least once a day.

We did actually do some work for a day when Hitoshi got a call to help out for a commercial. I think the commercial was for Pictionary, and they had these astronaut costumes that were in really rough shape and needed to be spruced up. So we ran around and got some materials, then took them all apart and fixed 'em up. It was fun, afterwards we went down where they were shooting to drop them off, so I got to check out what was going down. The best part was playing around in the space suits before we took them back.

We are almost finished most of our costumes, and will be leaving for Sham tomorrow or the next day. This summer is radtastic.

NYE in San Fran

2007-01-21T16:24:00.000-07:00

For New Years I decided to head down to San Fran and meet up with some I met at Burning Man. I have always wanted to go down there, and since Ben lives there it seemed like a good chance. I left Calgary on Friday with a bit of drama. Jeremy was coming in from Denver, and they were having their second major snow storm in as many weeks. I met Caley and Ben at the airport in Oakland, and found out that not only had Jeremy got on a flight as well, he ended up arriving at the same time as me, rather than that night as was planned. It was just the first of many things that happened that weekend where everything fell into place.

Ben lives in the Mission District, so we headed down there and got some food, then Jeremy and I got dropped off at our hotel. It was only a 10 minute walk from Ben's house, which was great. That night we had a nap then went for a walk around, but ended up staying in.

On Saturday we did some tourist things, saw the Golden Gate bridge and went to Muir Woods, and old red wood forest. We were really lucky, it was sunny and gorgeous out. The bridge looked amazing, and the woods were really beautiful. You can tell that its a big tourist spot, there were tons of people there. I was trying to imagine exploring it with no one else around, I think I could stay down there for hours.

That night we went and met up with a few other Colorado burners that were in town, including Dave who had stated making glowfur, something that started with a coat that he made at Burning Man. A few of them, including Caley were all dressed up in it, and Caley of course looked amazing. His website is http://www.glowfur.com/ if you want to check it out, and see super sexy Caley modeling some of the clothing.

The bar we went to was called Mighty, and it was in a really cool space, almost like a big loft. One thing I really liked was outside there was an art car parked playing music, with a bus parked blocking the street. I like the music out there better, so I hung out there most of the night dancing. I had the biggest grin on my face, cause well it was December and I was dancing outside at night in a tank top.

On Sunday we drove through the Golden Gate park, and I was amazed that they had such a huge beautiful park in the middle of the city. Ben said that it was bigger than Central Park. There was green everywhere, I was trying to soak up as much as I could to tide me over for the next five or six months.

We drove to a place called Mile Rock Beach, where you walk along a path at the top of this cliff, and then take some stairs down to the ocean. It was so nice, everything seemed almost neon green. I'm not sure if it was because I haven't seen green for too many month, but it felt so good to be surrounded by it.

You had to walk down quite a few stairs to get to the beach, which was all rocky. You could see the Golden Gate bridge from there. It was grey and cloudy out, but it made it seem warmer and it was perfect for the day. We walked around and checked out all the star fish on the rocks and then sat down for a while and hung out. There was an old structure down there that Ben had done some art on previously, so we sat on there of a while and just relaxed. I haven't seen the ocean since I got home last March; it was good to just hang out and listen to the sounds.

After that we went to the Haight District and walked around a bit, it was really busy; I could have sat there and people watched all day. I bought some new earings, then we got food and headed back to the hotel for a nap.

That night we had ticket to go to Sea of Dreams (http://www.seaofdreamsnye.com/), a huge Burner party. The line up was unbelievable, Lorin Bassnectar, Tipper, String Cheese Incident, Zap Mama, it went on and on. Of course I was most excited to see Lorin, but the party just had everything. There were cabarets and belly dancing and tons of different kinds of entertainment. We got ready and went to meet the other Denver Burners before we headed out. They were staying at the house of a friend who was out of town who had a swing right in the middle of their living room, so we took some pics on there.

Once everyone was all done up we headed down to the party. When we got there we found out that the tickets I had bought were not at will call, and that me and Jeremy didn't have tickets. We were standing there at 10 minutes to midnight, and I couldn't even speak I was so upset. Then up walks this woman, who has two tickets and says 'It looks like you need these'. I could not believe it, since there were other people following her asking for them and she came right to us. So everything fell into place and we got in just before the count down.

The night was amazing. The music was great, most people were dressed up in costumes, the building was huge with tons of stuff going on. I danced all night, met a gorgeous girl from Oz and another one from New Zeland, met someone with a snake and took a bunch of pics. I talked to tons of people, and it just felt like a little piece of Burning Man for the night.

The next day Jeremy and I were on the same flight to Denver, where I caught a connecting flight. Of course I was sad to leave San Fran, I knew I would be. It was what I thought it would be, the houses and the hills and everything you see on tv. But it was a lot more than that, it just feels good to be in that city. It was somewhere that as soon as I got there I could picture living there. I don't know if that will ever happen, but I'll definitely be back.

Nobody Burns Burning Man!

2006-09-07T09:58:00.000-06:00

How do I even begin writing about the most amazing week of my life? Where do I start? I left Calgary with Norm, Dae and Mike the evening of Saturday August 26th. That seems like as good a place as any to start. Actually, it really started when I bought the coolest bike ever, but more about her later.

We drove all night, only stopping at the boarder while they made sure we didn't want jobs in America and that our tattoos passed the test, and then in Idaho at I-Hop. Idaho wasn't very memorable, except the cop that pulled us over was exactly what I picture small town American cops to be. Square jaw, crew cut, country accent, it was pretty funny.

We did one more stop in Winnemucca at the Wal-Mart to pick up supplies. It was great to see burners every where you looked, and people that weren't burners seemed to really like us, waving and asking us if we were headed to the Burning Man.

We arrived in Reno around 7 or 8 pm, and checked into Circus Circus. Reno is...ghetto. And tacky. And old. Did I mention ghetto? Our hotel was mostly tacky, but it was fun to stay there. We unloaded our bikes and some of our stuff, and then headed out to find a buffet with Norm's friend Karen. By then I was beyond starving, so Karen and I went into the first buffet we saw, and Norm, Dae and Mike went to the one we were supposed to meet at. But I had a good chat with Karen, who had been to Burning Man the past few years, and I ate a ton of food. We went to bed pretty early that night, no one was up for gambling and partying.

The next day Mike and Norm went to get groceries and booze (why we sent the two slowest ones on that mission, I don't know). We eventually made it out of Reno, and made our way out to Black Rock City. We drove down the long dusty road that leads in off the highway, reading quotes about fear and hope that lined the way.

When we got to the gate it was really dusty, which was what I pictured it would be like all week. Luckily it was just the cars kicking up dust, and it wasn't nearly as crazy as I thought it would be.

When we got in, there is a bell that people get to ring on their first journey into BRC. After I rang it, and girl came over and asked if it was my first time. When I said yes, she said 'Ok, this is a ritual.' She put her hand on my heart, and basically welcomed me home, and invited me to feel the connection with the ground I was standing on. It was beautiful and perfect and made me cry, I felt such relief.

We drove in and found where Paula and Steph were camped easily, with a bunch of Canadians at the Mad Hatter's Society and the Church of Respect. Our address for the week was 3:30 and Fate.

The sun was almost down, so we just had time to throw up our tents before it got dark out. Then the four of us went exploring.

The first place we stopped was right at the 4:30 plaza. I chatted to some guys sitting outside a dome playing beats, and when they found out that this was my first burn, they called for the paddle. So this guy pulls out a plastic paddle and asked if I was ready to get spanked, but luckily one side was covered in fun fur, so it was actually pretty nice.

Right before we left, a guy named Bob asked for a hug, so I tackled this huge guy to the ground, and he said it was his best burning man hug ever.

We kept walking, just looking around at everything. We stopped by a dome called Chillonia with a bar inside, so we popped in, and there were pics of turtles on the wall, in the same style of my tattoo. What a perfect place for our first drink at burning man. You just walk up to the bar, hand them your cup, and they ask what you want. At first it definitely feels weird, since you aren't giving them anything, but that is one of the awesome things about the burning man community. They are giving because they genuinely want to, without having any expectations of getting something in return. If you hang out at a bar for a while, or if it's one you really like, its nice to bring a bottle of booze or some ice to donate. But people really expect nothing.

That night we went to bed pretty early since it had been a long day. Tuesday we got up and started setting up our camp, with a huge shade structure, a bar-b-q, camp stove, table, chairs, rugs...Dae and Mike were hooked up. And Mike was amazing, he basically did everything, he was the man with the plan.

After we were done setting up, Paula and Steph came over and told us that they were taking Purgatory out, the art car that the Mad Hatters Built. So we grabbed our cups and sunscreen and headed out.

I thought we would tour around for an hour or so, but it turned out to be an all day affair, and it turned out to be one of the best days. We stopped at bar after bar and got drunker and drunker, people hopped on and people hopped off.. Everything just came to us and we watched the camps go by. People passed out goodies to share, we made friends with our neighbors and met people camped all around the playa.

We went all the way around to The Deep End, the busiest bar during the day. There is a shaded area with couches and cushions to sit, a huge dance area, and the best part, a bar. We danced there for a while, and it started feeling a bit much for me, since the heat is so intense. But right when I felt like I needed a break, everyone yelled 'Purgatory!' and we all jumped on.

Norm and I were screaming 'Fuck you hippie!' and 'Fuck you raver!' at the top of our lungs the whole time, getting people to join in. People always look at us like we're crazy, but if they try it they understand how fun it is. Later in the week people even came up to us and said 'Hey, you were at Shambhala!' since we screamed that the whole time we were there too. It is the best way to find Norm in a crowd.

At one point, Purgatory was out in the middle of the Playa, and I couldn't see anything but desert. It seemed like we were in the middle of nowhere. Then all of a sudden, someone hands me a freezie. Someone road up next to us on a bike, and then gave us enough freezies for everyone. It was great! And just the kind of random gifting that continued all week and never stopped making me feel in awe of Burners collective generosity.

As we continued cruising across the Playa, we came across these people working on a huge art project, which would later turn out to be this huge crazy metal serpent that had fire shooting out from all over it's body. We stood in front of it while they took a pic with this camera in a huge bin, and we had to stay still for 45 seconds, which by then was quite a challenge, since half of us could barely stand.

Eventually we made it back to camp, and I think I must have passed out for a while. That night I cruised around with Paula and Steph on my fabulous sexxy bike. We road out to the Waffle, an apparently racist term for this huge wooden structure 60 Belgians built. We ended up at the Opulent Temple, a great stage that I kept going back to through the week. There was a huge arch over the dj that shot flames, because everything on fire!

I started feeling not too good around the time the sun came up, so I went back to the camp to lie down, but after about half and hour I realized there was no way that I was going to sleep. So I went and climbed up the Church of Respect, onto this platform where you could look out over everything. I talked to some other Calgary burners that were up there, and after the sun came up Paula showed up and we sat up there for a while.

Right when she was ready for bed, Steph came back, so we stayed up there a bit longer. We brought a bunch of stuff up there to wash our feet, one thing you have to be careful of. The dust has alkaline in it, so it can destroy your feet. I brought a spray bottle with vinegar and water in it, and we washed them off then put lotion on them. I did that everyday, and my feet were more pampered then they ever have been.

When I finally went to bed, I ended up missing the biggest dust storm that happened while we were there. It woke me up from my nap, it was so loud. I could hear the dust hitting the tent, the tarps flapping everywhere, people yelling. I just stayed in my tent, so I didn’t actually see it. But when I came out it had ripped our tarps right off the zip lines, and everything in our shade structure was covered in a layer of dust. Norm told me when I got home from BRC, I would have playa dust on my soul, and he was right.

Two of our neighbors were Jill and Kicks, who were from Alberta too. We met them on Purgatory and they came to hang out sometimes during the day. Dae brought a blender and we had ridiculous amounts of booze and margarita mix, and fresh fruit, so we had a steady stream of margaritas pouring out of our camp. It was the best way to spend the hottest part of the day, sitting in shade and drinking cold drinks.

On Wednesday was Santarchy, where a bunch of people dress up like Santa and go pub-crawling. They have it in a lot of major cities in December; Norm has gone the past few years in Toronto. The Santas were meeting at a bar to drink for a few hours, then heading out together. Norm, Dae and I dressed up, Norm in a red santa hat that his dreads stuck out of the top, me in red fish nets and booty shorts, and Dae in a Scooby costume with a santa hat on top. We were slow getting Santafied, so we missed the meet up, and got there as everyone was heading out. Unfortunately, the Santas were way to drunk to stay together, so when we got there they were scattered all over. We managed to find about 15 on an art car that we hopped on. We danced and sang Christmas carols but after about 10 minutes realized that the art car wasn’t going anywhere, so we got off to search for booze. Our numbers dwindled down to about 6 as we went in search of a bar. The first bar we found was called Comfort and Joy, which seemed fitting. We even met Jesus there. Too bad he was a dick.

We continued on and did hit up a few cool bars, like Whiskey and Whores (we got whiskey, we got whores, what the fuck else do you need?), where they served whiskey shots and had girls stripping. We also found Absinthe, a bar that served tons of different flavors of Absinthe. Then we went to Spike’s, which is a Vampire strip club. Even the goths have a home at Burning Man (at least I was wearing fish nets, so I didn’t feel too out of place). They were serving sangria out of iv bags, hanging from the ceiling to look like blood bags.

The three of us left the remaining Santas and went back to find our bikes, and then stop by our campsite. We discovered that Norm Santa could not hold his Absinthe, and he passed out in a chair at our site, so Scooby Santa and me left his ass there and headed to the Opulent Temple.

While we were dancing there, we met some people from Denver, a cutie named Jeremy, his sister Caley, and their friends Ben and Todd. I ended up wandering around with Jeremy and Caley for a bit, checked out their camp and took some pictures. Then Jeremy and I wandered off, and we danced a bit more when we found a small stage playing jungle, and then Dae wandered by, so him and me headed back to camp since I was really beat after a serious session of drinking.

The next morning I woke up around 11 am and Paula and Steph asked if I wanted to go for a bike ride and take some pictures. We stopped by the Playa Go Round, the camp where Jeremy was staying, and I actually found him awake, so I asked him if he wanted to come along for a bike ride. We cruised across the Playa, stopping to take pics, and ended up at the Deep End, your favorite daytime party place. We found Norm there, Paula and Steph took of, and Jeremy and I hung out on the couches in the shade.

After a while we headed back to his camp, and realized it was already after four. We had a rest in Caley’s trailer, which was air-conditioned and heavenly. We got up around 9 to go see Caley’s performance at center camp. The guy that organized their camp was singing and Caley was dressed up in some of her gorgeous costumes dancing on stage.

We had missed the billion-bunny march while we were sleeping, which made me a bit sad, but I wore silk pajamas and fuzzy slippers and my bunny outfit. I did see quite a few wandering bunnies while we were out and about that night.

We met up with Steph after that and headed to the Roots Society to see Lorin. The Roots Society had a really cool set up, with huge gates all around that you can climb up on and a dome in the middle. The dj played in the dome, which made it a bit weird to dance there since there wasn’t too much room inside. When we got there, he had already finished playing and there were some really dark breaks playing. I wouldn’t have minded, but I didn’t think Jeremy and Steph liked it too much, so we kept riding our bikes. I really wanted to hear some jungle, but there wasn’t much to be found.

It think we went to bed pretty early that night, definitely before the sun came up. Not sure what we did Friday during the day, but Friday night was one of the best nights I had out there. Jeremy and I headed out to the Cathedral around midnight to hear Lorin. The cathedral was such a crazy structure. We danced there for a little bit, but I knew Lorin would be playing again later, so we cruised over to the Opulent Temple, which really was the best place to be all week. When we got there Freq Nasty was playing a great set, and I was getting so excited dancing and jumping all around.

After he was done, Lorin came on and played hands down the best set I have ever heard him play. It was so amazing. I was jumping around and dancing so hard and just having a wikked time. When Lorin was winding down his set, I was thinking of where we could go next, and then he says ‘Are you guys ready for some Stanton Warriors?!’. I lost my mind. To hear those three djs in a row is unheard of, it would never happen. And to not even know that they were there just made it so amazing. I just danced and danced. It was the best night.

On Saturday I hung out with the Mad Hatters for a while, drinking wine and chatting. Later on I went out and about with some of the crew from Jeremy’s camp; Caley, Ben and Todd. We rode our bikes around, took pics and ended up at the Deep End of course. We stayed there and drank then went back to my camp to nap.

We woke up around 8:30 pm to get ready to head out and see the man burn. Everyone was sleeping, Paula and Step, Mike, Dae. We tried to wake everyone up to get them out there, but then just headed out on our own. There was a really weird energy in the air. We got a spot fairly close to the man. All the art cars were out, all around the playa. They were all blaring their music, so we tried to stand near the one with the best beats.

I didn’t realize that when they burned the man down, there is also a fairly large fireworks display, so it ended up being a lot more impressive than I thought it would be. At the same time I was a little disappointed in the crowd. There were tons of fire spinners and people dressed up, but there were also lots of people that seemed to be just milling around. Where we were standing no one was really cheering or getting excited. It felt like the ‘weekend warriors’ that you hear about were out in full force.

After the man burned, we just rode our bikes around and looked for things that we had missed. I took Jeremy to the Cubatron, one of my favorite art installations. We cruised around, stopped at some stages, checked some things out, and then headed back. It was a really nice relaxed evening. I had expected the Saturday to be one of the craziest nights, but I was really glad with how it turned out. One last chance to soak everything up before we started packing up on Sunday.

Shambhala 2006

2006-08-21T09:25:00.000-06:00

This year I got to return to Shambhala with Norm, which I was beyond excited about since I met him there 6 years ago, and he has not been back since.

Norm flew in from Toronto on Monday morning, and I picked him up from the airport. We had a really busy day, hanging out with Crystal, going on a shopping spree at Future Shop, and moving a ton of stuff in my new place around.

The next day after I got home from work, Norm's friend Elsbeth and her friend Galiya had just arrived from Yellowknife. They drove all the way down to come out to Shambhala. I was really excited to meet Elsbeth, after hearing about her from Norm so much. And of course I wasn't disappointed, she's awesome.

We spent some time doing some serious costume work, since most of my grande ideas had fallen apart. Elsbeth helped me out, and after turning my house into a fun fur tornado zone, we managed to get quite a lot done.

That night Norm's friend Erin (who I always seem to meet right before or after I am going to sleep) came in from Jasper to spend the night. It was a full house, but I just went to bed and they all went out to Morgans to see Broken Toyz, and 80s metal cover band.

The next day I worked in the morning, then Elsbeth and Galiya drove down in her car, and Norm in my car to pick me up, and we headed to Salmo. It was a good drive, with me and Norm getting more and more excited. As we turned in off the highway, we were so pumped, and then we hit the line. I realized that we were much further back than we had been last year, and it was going to be a few hours.

We hung out in line, Norm went wandering and me and Elsbeth chatted, and moved our cars 10 feet every half and hour. Finally after two hours in line, we decided that Elsbeth and I would walk the tents in, find our friends and set up, and Norm and Galiya would drive in.

We walked in and found Kelsi working away, and she told us where they were camped. Pk had blocked roped off and area behind the village, so we went and set up camp next to them. It took us almost two hours to walk in and set up, and right as we walked back to the gate, Norm and Galiya were just pulling in. That night we pretty much set up the rest of our stuff and passed out.

Wednesday we did some wandering, and met our neighbours, Hareesh and Zara. Hareesh was playing at the portal, and the were both super nice, we were glad to be camped next to them. I also saw an RV on the main road that I knew must be Motaboy (Michelle), someone of the Shambhala forum. We stopped by to say hello to him and he was great! He gave us stickers that said Shambhala or Bust, the same ones I got last year but I managed to lose. We hung out at his campsite for a bit, and then at 4:20 we headed to the potluck for the Shambhala forum people.

I was so impressed at the turn out, last year due to rain it didn't really work out. I met a ton of people for the first time, and saw other people that I had met before. Elesa had been stick in the line, but she managed to just make it. Bret and Laura had just arrived from Vancouver, and they came too. There was tons of great food, and we even had some entertainment when one of the forum members did an acrobat show for us. Then he showed Elesa how to do some moves, so we got dinner and a show.

That night me and Elsbeth hung out, and wandered with some people checking out the stages that were open. Eventually we wound up back at the camp site, where Pat and Jesse and some other people were playing records. That night I ended up losing my backpack, which was the worst. I had my wallet with my money, credit cards, id, and my cell phone, my keys, my ciggarettes, everything. I looked for it everywhere, but eventually realized that I wouldn't be able to find it that night. So instead I got wasted and wandered around a bit more. The stages closed really early, maybe around two, and me and Elsbeth found ourselves in Hareesh and Zara's RV to warm up before bed.

On Friday I started a full on search for my bag, without any luck. I was pretty upset, but decided that I was going to be out there for days, so there wasn't much I could do about it. And I am so blessed that I know some amazing people, who helped me out all weekend. I had so many things gifted to me, from cigarettes, to money to buy food; basically all my party supplies.

That afternoon I had a nap, and was woken up by Norm and Elsbeth. We went over to Brett and Laura's campsite for some tea, and then headed out. We stopped first at the Portal (the one and only time I went near the trance stage all weekend) to hear Hareesh play for a minute, then moved on to the Village.

On the way through the Village, Norm and I stopped to discuss a good meeting spot if we got separated, and of course lost Brett, Laura and Elsbeth. We looked around for them, but ended up spending the night with just the two of us, which was awesome.

We went and watched some of Vinyl Richie play, which was pretty awful. Then we went down to the beach to see the Elves, some people Norm knows from living in the Kooteny's. There was a sign saying 'How Far Down the Rabbit Hole Do You Want to Go?' and when we walked in I knew we had fell down the rabit hole. There was a tea party set up and a long table, croquet, and lots of comfy places to relax. Me and Norm cuddled up in a huge chair for about half an hour and had a little rest.

We went back outside, and hear Cypress Hill coming from the mainstage, so we ran in. It was the Freestylers, and although we had heard the first part of their set and weren't too impressed, the last half was great. And as we were running in, I saw Elesa up ahead, so we caught up with her and got to party with her for some of the night. We danced at the Main Stage, in the Fractal, we ran around yelling 'Fuck You Hippie' and 'Fuck You Raver' at the top of our lungs, and generally had a great night.

Right as the sun was coming up, Norm and I found this bench carved out of an old tree that we have a picture of us sitting on in 2000. We sat down there and chilled out, and met a guy named Stephen who came back to the campsite and hung out for a bit.

Spending the first party night of Sham with Norm was great, and I loved introducing him to Elesa. I just kept looking around and thinking 'I get to party with the coolest people!'.

Saturday I slept a lot of the day, and then went down to the river with Elsbeth to get clean. The water was pretty baltic, but it was really warm out and we hung out on the beach for a while.

I went back to the campsite intending to make my way down to the village, but there were a bunch of people hanging out there so i stayed around there for a while and drank some wine.

That night I wore my costume, which felt really weird because it was an outfit I would never normally wear. I was camped with people that have signs up that say 'Rave Camp Eats Babies' and 'Protect Yourself From Rave Camp'. So dressing up like a raver with fun fur felt a little weird, but the red fish nets and booty shorts made me feel hott, so i had a lot of fun in them.

I found Norm and Elsbeth, and we headed down to the village. I managed to lose them before Pat and Jer (Broken English) came on, which was to bad, because for me it was the best music I heard all weekend. I went up to the sound booth and found Kelsi, then ran around with her all night. I was really excited to see LTC (all girls dnb), SS and Hive, all playing at the Village. Unfortunately, SS was pretty boring, and even with all the things in me to keep me up, I ended up going to bed around 3am and missing Hive.

On Sunday Elsbeth and I went and looked at the vendors, and bought a few things (well, Elsbeth bought my broke ass somethings, since my bag never turned up).

That night was one of the best nights, because I got to hang out with Norm and three amazing women, Elsbeth, Elesa and Kelsi. First me and Norm found Kelsi, and then went to the Rock Pit to see some rock-a-billie band Kelsi wanted to check out, but we left there pretty quick and then went to the food vendors. We hung out there for a bit and chatted, then walked around until we found Elsbeth and Elesa.

We rocked out in the Village to Lorin, and I had such a good night. All my friends got along so well, and I just kept thinking about how lucky I am. This year for me was the best Shambhala, and Sunday night was the best night. That night we also ran into one of the other people off the forum, Jordan, who has been teaching English in Korea the past few years. It is so hard to explain to people that you can meet some great people off the internet. If you have never done it, I guess it just sounds weird. But that is how I met Elesa and Jordan, and they were so fun to party with.

I headed home Tuesday first thing, and got back to work on Wednesday. I had sold my Burning Man ticket to Daemond before I went to Sham, thinking there was no way I would have the time/money/ability to go. But when I got back from Sham I realized I wasnt ready to be back in the real world. So when Norm got back into Calgary on Friday from Nelson, I told him that I decided I am going!

This weekend we went to a calgary Burner party where they revieled the art car that they have been working on. Paula and Steph were there, and I realized that I knew some of the other people from different festivals. I even went to school with the guy who owned the house. You never know who you are sitting next to in class.

The art car looked great, and there was such a good vibe in the house. Of course there was, they were Burners! It made me even more excited to go. I don't know why I even thought of not going. And now we leave in 5 sleeps!

Home Again

2006-05-18T10:03:00.000-06:00

Wow, I have been home for more than a month and a half now. I have to look at pictures and emails to believe I even left. I was so looking forward to my boy, my dog, my bed, my kitchen, all thoes things you think about every day you are travelling.

It was great to see Dave and Kuma, and she was only mad at me for about a day, then wouldn't leave my side. She still hasn't except when I go to work. As for the rest of it though, you get used to it again so quickly, its hard to believe you missed it so much. The day after I got home, everything felt exactly the same. I'm not sure what I expected, but I thought it should feel different somehow.

I am proud of myself, and what I did. When I left Calgary, I had no idea how I was going to do this on my own. And what I learned was, I didn't really have to. I met so many amazing people. I could be alone when I wanted to, but travelling forms such an instant bond with people that you never have to be alone if you didn't want to. I found that lots of people were so impressed that I was a girl travelling alone, they would right away invite me to join them. The world is full of amazing people! Looking back at this blog and my pictures, I know I was so blessed.

I also feel inspired to do more with my life - I feel more capable. A while after I got home, I decided that I would go to Burning Man (http://www.burningman.com) this year. I wasn't sure how it would work out, but I just told myself I was going no matter what. In less than two weeks everything just fell into place! I think that instead of waiting for things to happen, I feel more impowered to make choices.

For now, I am glad to be home. This summer is shaping up to be truely amazing. My awesome friend Stacey is coming from Victoria today to stay with me, and this summer I will see her at her bachelorette, and then her wedding! I am also making it to three festivals, Motion Notion, Shambhala and Burning Man, which I believe will be a life-altering experience.

Thank you to everyone I met on my travels, and all that you taught me (which was so much more than how to speak Australian!).

Bula! Vi Naka! Fiji!

2006-04-05T16:16:00.000-06:00

I arrived in Fiji in the afternoon, and got picked up by my hostel's shuttle. I stayed at Nomad's Aquarius, and I was so relieved when I walked in to see the ocean out the back. I had heard that sometimes you can be quite far from the ocean. When I walked over to check it out though, I realize why everyone says get out of Nadi. There was a beach, just out the back of the hostel past the the pool, but it wasnt nice at all. It was sand, but kind of dirty and you wouldn't want to swim in the ocean there. But there was the pool, and there were hammocks that you could lay in and look at the ocean and it was still really beautiful. And the sunsets were everything you could hope for! This guy rode his horse down the beach every night, and this little pony would follow after them, it looked like a postcard.

My hostel was in a group of hostels and hotels, about 5 minute drive out of the city. There weren't any stores or anything out where I was, you had to take a cab into town if you wanted anything. And there was no kitchen or anything, so you had to order all your food from the restaurant in the hostel, but it wasn't expensive and it was pretty good.

The first night I was there I met this really cute, sweet couple from England. Their names were Huw and Jemma (anther Jemma with a J!). They told me how they were going to check out the islands and showed me some of the brochures and stuff they had. Originally my plan had been to just stay at the hostel, but seeing the beaches on the island and how amazing they looked made me want to go check it out. I didn't want to be on a boat for any length of time, but Jemma and Huw's first stop was called Bounty Island and it was only 20 minutes on a boat. We had dinner that night, and they left the next morning to head out there. We decided to meet out there the following day, and I booked a day trip to the island.

The day they left was a pretty lazy day. I love tropical places, its the only place you are allowed to lay around and do absolutely nothing and feel like that is what you are supposed to be doing. I did go into town, to go to the grocery store. I shared a cab with this Irish girl I met, and we wandered around a bit. The people there are beyond friendly, but I can see as a woman by myself it could be a bit much when the guys all yell and stare at you. They ask you were you are from, and what is your name, and all that. Fiji is the most underdeveloped country I have ever been too, so it was new, but I wasn't shocked by it.

This one guy walked with us a few blocks, and then convinced us to come into his store. He said he wanted to do a welcome ceremony for us, since we had just arrived. We sat down on a mat on the floor. I could tell this girl I was with was freaked out, saying 'Get me out of here' under her breath, but I figured we were in a public place with people around and it seemed fine. We did this quick ceremony with their national drink called Kava that makes your mouth a little numb. It is made out of the root of a pepper plant. They said you have to drink the whole thing, which is poured into half a coconut shell. I just threw it back, it wasn't too bad, tasted (and looked) a bit like dirty water. When this girl took hers though, she started gagging. Then she threw down the cup and jumped up. I looked at the guy and he said they weren't finished yet, but we could stop. In the end these guys tried to scam us into buying these necklaces, putting them on us saying they were a gift, then asking for money right before we got out of the store. I kind of expected that, and gave it back, but the girl just threw money at them and ran out of the store.

I don't blame this girl for how she acted, obviously she was put off by the whole thing. It just seemed a shame that the only Fiji she wanted to experience was the hostel and the tourist spots. I guess that is what most people want out of these kinds of destinations, but I was glad even for the chance to talk to local people and try their drink and learn a bit about them. Not that I would have wanted to stay in town much longer, but really the people there are so generous and kind.

The next morning I caught a bus to the boat, and then headed out to Bounty Island for the day. Jamma and Huw were waiting there playing pool. Instantly I was so glad that I had made the decision to go out there. It was a stunning, white, perfect beach, and Jemma and Huw were awesome company. We laid on the beach, we snorkling, we ate a great lunch and hung out and chatted about our love of monkeys and turtles. We walked to the other side of the island and saw the remains of this English show called Celebrity Love Island that they had filmed there. We found a jellyfish washed up, and Jemma and Huw had been told the jellyfish around there didn't sting out. We were sure but we picked it up anyway for the photo opportunity. It felt so weird, and left this purple slim on me.

Then we went snorkling again, and Huw found a sea cucumber for me to play with. I had see tons of them, but never picked one up. I suggest it to anyone playing in the sea, they are pretty cool. Then we just stayed in the water. I realized that this would be my last time in the ocean (especially bath tempurature ocean) for a long long time and I felt so sad. In Sydney I was 30 seconds from the beach, and I didn't go every day. What was I thinking? This trip changed a lot of my feelings about being outside. I now love the sun, where before I would always hide in the shade. And not only am I ok wearing a bikini, but I am acutally posting a pic of me wearing on! *gasp* I just feel like I appreciate the outdoors and sun and warmth more now. As I am writing this from home, it is cloudy and rainy outside. But the rain will bring green things, and soon I will get my second summer this year, and I am going to enjoy every single second of it!

As we were sitting in the ocean, the boat came early and I had to race out and get changed. I guess it was like ripping of a band-aid, just leap out and get dressed and don't look back. Huw and Jemma stood on the beach waving goodbye, and that was the last real day of my vacation. The next day my flight wasn't until almost midnight, so I lazed around the hostel reading and listening to all 72 of my Bob Marley songs. When I finally got on the plane, I was definately more excited to come home than I was sad to leave. This trip was an astonishing, astounding, surprising, stunning, staggering, shocking, startling, stupefying, breathtaking, awesome, awe-inspiring, sensational, remarkable, spectacular, stupendous, phenomenal, extraordinary, incredible, unbelievable, informal mind-blowing, jaw- dropping, wondrous once in a life time trip, and I can't wait for the travellind adventures I will have in the future!!

Bus It, Sword It, Luge It, Glow Worm It

2006-04-04T12:15:00.000-06:00

So I booked it through the south island in only ten days, and then had ten days to do the same on the north island. New Zeland may be small, but it was still a lot of bus time. The day after we left Wellington was one of the longest bus rides, up to Taupo. We did pass Mount Doom on the way, although it didn't look nearly as ominous as I thought it would. Dave suggested photoshopping some flames into the picture I took.

Taupo wasn't too eventfull, but it was a nice little town. We stayed two nights there, going out to the pub. I did meet two people from Calgary, which actually shocked me because I have met hardly any Canadians. All the English people I meet (who are the vast majority of travellers I talk to) say they have met tons of Canadians. But the Canadians say they have met hardly any. I have no idea what that means. Anyway, it was nice to talk to people from home, and to compare where we have been to places in Canada.

The next day we headed to Rotorua, which was only a short drive. Rotorua has hot thermal mud pools, and we stopped on the way up there to look at some. The smell of sulphur is overwhelming from them, and Rotorua can smell a bit like rotten eggs, but it wasn't horrible. This place was, but it looks really cool. The pools are extreamly hot, over 100 degrees, so no jumping in. But they are constantly bubbling up, and the mud is shooting in the air. There are mud hotsprings that you can go into, they are filled with naturally heated water and the mud is at the bottom. I wanted to check it out, but it was fairly expensive in Rotorua, and my tour guide told me I wouldn't smell very good after.

We arrived in Rotorua two days before St. Patrick's Day, and I was stoked that it would actually be warm out for a good day of drinking. At home we always wish for that, and I remember years when it was plus 8 out and we would be walking around outside wearning t-shirts. Kate and Louise decided that they were going to continue on to Auckland on the 16th, so I was sad that I missed celebrating St. Paddy's Day with the Irish. But Rotorua turned out to be one of my favorite stops on the trip.

The first night we went to the Tamaki Maori Village for a dinner and some Maori heritage. We went out on buses to this village, and they came out doing a traditional greeting. We walked around to different stations where they were explaining different traditional Maori ways of life, from cooking underground to spinning poi (who knew the Maori spun poi?). Then we filed passed into a meeting house. The men dressed as traditional warriors stood outside the building, making faces and sticking out their tounges and bulging their eyes, basically showing ways the Maori warriors would intimidate others. As I filed passed, one warrior called me over to come an take a picture with him, and I felt pretty honored, becuase everyone else was taking pictures as they walked past, but weren't in the photos with them.

Inside the house they did lots of dancing and singing and spinning poi. Their poi are shorter and used to hit the hand and back to make a sound that they use in there dancing. It was really interesting. After that we got to have the most amazing feed. The meat was cooked underground in the traditional way, and there was chicken and lamb and muscles and veggies and it was the best meal I had eaten in ages. After the meal they got us to hold hand and sang this song to say goodbye. Overall, it was pretty cheesy and there were just so many people (I'd say about 200) who were just watching it though the lens of their camera. But I am still glad that I did it, beacuse where else are you going to see that and learn about it. And the people were so friendly, so even though it didn't exactly transport me back into the histroy of the Maori, I got to learn a bit about their culture and their traditions.

The day after we arrived, me and some people went black water rafting to see glow worms. Now, its not really rafting, but it did not disappoint. We donned wet suits and miners helmets with flash lights on the top, and carried inner tubes that we would ride on once inside the caves. Nerida had told me that I had to see the glow worms, but I had no idea what to expect.

The north island was formed by volcanic activity, so the land is all hills pushed up by the movement. We went out to Waitomo on a day trip, where under the hills there are miles and miles of caves. So we went in at ground level, but they stretch up way above your head. We were walking through the caves in the water; in some places it was deep enough to ride on the inner tubes, other places we had to carry them. We got to this spot where the roof was pretty low, and there was a group of glow worms, maybe clustered in a group the size of a coffee table. The guide stopped and told us a bit about them , and we got to look at the pretty close. I thought that would be it for the glow worms, I've learned not to expect too much out of tours. We kept walking and riding in the tubes, and then suddenly we looked up and there were tens of thousands of these green lights above us. It was incredible. They just went on and on, and as we rode down the river, we could lean back and just watch them go by. It was what people try to accomplish with outdoor lights, but so much better. That ended up being one of the more memorable things I did in New Zeland, I highly recommend it to anyone.

The next morning after Kate and Louise left I met some of the other people that were staying in our room. There were Jemma and Karl, who were brother and sister and from Oxford in England, and Daniel and Erik, two friends from Sweden. I was really glad that they ended up in my room, just another twist of fate that brought me together with really cool people. I hung out that night with Jemma and Karl at our hostel bar, and they were trying to convince me to come luging with them the next day. I wasn't really on board, but the next day, which was St. Patrick's Day, I decided to give it a go.

It ended up being such an awesome day. We took a bus out to the hill, and then rode the gondola up to the top. It was a beautiful view of Rotorua. Then we went luging. It wasn't what I thought it would be. It was sort of like mini go kart, and you ride them down these roads. You can see it hanging from the bottom of Jemma and Karl's lift in this pic. When you go down, you can pick what level of difficulty you want, which is really how fast you go. They don't have engines or anything, and you just pull back on the handles to let go. It was so fun! At first I was nervous, and then we were flying down. We went twice, and then this couple ended up giving us extra runs so we went some more.

After that we went down and caught the bus to a place where you go zorbing. I'm not sure how to explain what this is. It basically looks like a giant hamster ball that rolls down a hill. You can either get strapped in it, or they put you in with some water and then you get tossed around inside it while you go down the hill. Well, Jemma seemed to think this sounded like a good idea, so me and Karl watched her. She chose the water, which was green for St. Paddy's Day, so she would get bounced around inside as she went down. We pretty much just stayed at the bottom of the hill and laughed at this, but when she got out she said it was really fun, so you never know. I filmed a little video of her going down, but here is a pic of her right when she got out that I think is really cute, especially in her zorb outfit.

After our big day of fun and adventure, we decided that it was time to get down to some serious St. Patrick's Day business, and get really drunk really fast, since it was already mid afternoon and we were getting a late start. Jemma and I went shopping for some supplies, and we bought wine, and then cranberry juice and this other green juice that you can only buy in New Zeland to mix with vodka. Then we went back to the hostel and sat out in front of our room on the step with our drinks and watched the sunset. Karl and Daniel and Erik joined us, and then it starts getting a bit hazy from there.

I do remember Jemma busting out my markers and decortaing Daniel up for the occasion, and I did get Erik a bit, but he wasn't as enthusiastic as Daniel. I did get Erik a fabulous hat from somewhere though, which he brought out at the bar and looked great. Our hostel had a bar about ten feet from our room and we hung out there. We were dancing for a bit, and busted it out for System of a Down.

I think eventually we figured that we should try to go to an Irish pub, and went on a walk to find one, but of course the line up was around the block. Not sure if this was the same time that we thought we should go get something to eat, but around 3 am we found ourselves in this weird little cafe ording hamburgers. This was the funniest place to me; it was packed with the most interesting characters. We had some good food (although Daniel and Jack's hambugers had no burger on them, not sure what that was about), and then started walkin back to the hostel. Jemma and Jack got a little side tracked picking up some pilons, and then explaining to the police why they had them, but we made it back to the hostel safe and sound. It was a really fun day, one that I will hold the rest of my St. Patrick's Day's up to as comparison.

The next day I said goodbye to my four roomates as I headed to Auckland, with plans to meet them there on my last night in New Zeland. We drove to Auckland and stayed in a hostel called ACB that I quite liked. We arrived on a Saturday, and the next day we went to a huge outdoor concert. There is this New Zeland band called Fat Freddy's Drop, that you hear absolutely everywhere you go. We were so lucky that we were there on the weekend they were doing a free concert in a local park.

We headed down no sure what it would be like, and it was packed. There were people everywhere, laying on blankets and drinking and eating. We hadn't been sure if we were allowed to bring alcohol, so we didnt' have any. It didn't matter though, because they started playing less than half and hour after we got there. I went with a few girls right up to the front, and danced my ass off as they played for about two hours. It was such a great feeling, dancing on the grass in my barefeet under the sun to great music.

That night, a bunch of Kiwi Bus crew went out for dinner, as the last night that we would be together. It was a group of people that met up a week or two before we met them, and you could tell that they had really bonded in that short of a time. It is amazing how quickly you get to know people when you share a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen with them. You can learn more about a stranger than you know about someone you have been friends with a home for years. It is an inspiring thing to see. Here is a pic in front of the Auckland tower after we went out for dinner. That was a really good day.

The next day was my final full day in New Zeland. I did a day trip up to the Bay of Islands, in Paihia. The driver recommended that I take a 15 minute ferry ride out to a town called Russel, which was the first capital of New Zeland, but now is just a really pretty, tiny town. I said goodbye to the crew I had been travelling with for the past week, and got on the ferry. One of the reasons I was so keen to head out there was that the bus driver told me that there was a nice beach, and I couldnt wait to get into my bikini (which was very under-used since leaving Sydney). I stopped at a cute fish and chips place, and then headed to the beach.

The beach was on the other side of the island, so you had to walk up a hill and down the other side to get there. It only took about 15 minutes, and the view from the top was beautiful. As was the beach when I got there, so I spent a very relaxing few hours chilling out there, listening to music and reading. Then I took the bus back to Auckland, for my last night in New Zeland.

First I met up with Kate and Louise, who were staying at another hostel. We met in the pub downstairs just for one drink, cause they had to get up at 3 am or something to catch their plane. It was nice to see them, it was awesome travelling with them, andit was good to see them again. It didn't get too emotional though, because this group of guys came over and invited themselves to sit down with us. (notice one of them peeking into the corner of the pic). I think thats the only thing that stopped the waterworks. I was sad to say goodbye though, but hopefully they will be one of the many people that take me up on my offer to come visit me in Canada, or hang out with me when I make it to Ireland one day.

After they left, I met up with Jemma, Karl, Daniel and Erik. We didn't have quite the session that we had on St. Patricks Day, but I couldn't have asked for better people to spend my last night with. We did get a pretty entertaining night, first with two guys kissing to win a bungy jump, then with two guys next to us kissing just for fun.

I actually had to get up pretty early the next morning, even though I don't think I got in until after 2. It ended up that I was the only one left in the hostel room, and I had no alarm clock and they wouldn't do a wake up call, so I pretty much had to stay awake until 7 am to make sure that I went and caught the air port bus on time. And it ended up that my flight time had changed, so I got to the airport 5 hours before my plane left. I wasn't too upset though, cause I was on my way to Fiji, and how can you be upset when that is your destination. I felt like New Zeland had been a compelete whirl wind, but it was a fantastic time in a stunning counrty with incredible people.

South Island Experience

2006-03-17T22:22:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Auckalnd today, my last destination in NZ except for a day trip to the Bay of Islands on Monday. These amazing three weeks all started in Christchurch, where I only stayed one night before hopping on the Kiwi Experience bus and heading to the west coast, on the opposite side of the south island from Christchurch. We rode in a small van, with only 10 or so people in it. On this bus I met two Irish girls named Kate and Louise that I ended up travelling with through most of New Zeland. It was a really senic drive through Aurthurs Pass. We stopped a few times, to look at waterfalls and lakes, and a spring bridge. We also stopped along the way at a place called Bearded Miners Inc. It was just this sort of shack run by these two old mountain looking men. They did some blacksmithing and showed people how they used to pan for gold back in the day. I think it was just an excuse for these two guys to get out of the house and hang out and talk to people, but they were really nice and it was fun. We also got $0.50 ice cream in that town, so that was exciting.

Our first stop was in Westport, where we just stayed one night. The next day we started heading down the west coast, joining a big bus with people heading down from the north. Our first stop was at the Pancake Rocks in Punakaiki. They are called Pancake rocks because, well, I guess they look like stacked pancakes. They were really cool, all these towering rock structures that formed blow holes where the water sprayed up. You get pretty wet but it was good fun. After that we drove a ways and stopped at a place called the Warehouse, which is like a Walmart. We were all absolutely freezing, most of us having come from Oz and not having anything warmer than a small sweater. I bought a childs sized fleece pullover, which served me well in the south.

We stopped that night at a hostel sort if in the middle of nowhere, owned by a guy named Lez. He is the cute old man with the huge beard. He made the most amazing dinner for us, huge steaks, potatos, salads, it was such a good meal. There was a bar there called the Poo Bar (not sure why) and they do a dressup night there everytime the bus goes through. Our night the boys dressed in drag and the girls had to make costumes out of garbage bags. It sounds weird, but I was shocked by the amazing ideas that people came up with, using only garbage bags, and with almost no supplies. There was a bride, with a full gown, vail, and bouquet, there was a bumble bee, a nun.. Everyone looked great. Unfortunately since we had just joined that bus, the people that had come over from Christchurch didn't really know what was going on. We were all sitting in the pub drinking wondering where everyone was, and then realized too late that everyone was dressing up. So we missed out on the dress up, but decided that we could still participate by dressing two of the boys that were on our bus in drag. Lez had a huge supply of dress up clothes, and Kate did the make-up. Honestly, they were the best looking cross dressers there.

The next morning we stopped at the Bushman center, which was a werid little place run by a crazy moutain man named Pete. He set this place up to teach people about deer in NZ. They were introduced in to NZ, and roamed all up in the moutains. Eventually they decided to farm them, so they had people go up in helicopters and track down the deer to put them on farms. This guy Pete used to jump out of the helicopter onto a deer and wrestle it to the ground. We saw vidoes of it, it looked nuts. He was pretty funny, he dropped some stuffed animal on these girls sitting in the front watching the movie, it was so random and we laughed our asses off. Then we got to pet this massive pig, after he made a Japanese guy named So feed it, telling him to run or it would bite his arm off. Here is a pic with Kate getting up close and personal with the pig. Pete also had possums, and you could get possum pie. He had anti-vegitarian slogans all over the place, Crystal, it made me think of how much you would have loved it.

That night we stopped in Franz Joseph, and I loved loved loved it there. It reminded me of Canmore. It felt so good to be back in the moutains, it was stunning. We stayed two nights there. Lots of people did glacier hikes, I just walked around and enjoyed the town. This pic is of the Franz Joseph glacier. I didn't hike it, this was as close as I got.

The next day we drove to Wanaka, a cute little town on a lake. We got to stay in a hotel there, it was very thrilling. I actually started getting sick there and debated staying, but decided to head to Queenstown. If Franz Joseph is like Canmore, Queenstown is like Banff. It was gorgeous, and I guess had a lot of the good and bad things that Banff has. I actually got really sick there, and stayed in bed the whole time. I sort of missed it, but I was glad to have a few nights just to stay in bed and recover. On March 8th we headed back up to Christchurch, having done a big circle across the island, down, and back up the other coast.

We stayed two nights in Christchurch, and I decided to get my Lord of the Rings fix there. I took a tour out to Mount Somers, where they flimed Edoras, the capital of Rohan. For thoes non LOTR tivia masters, that is the city on the hill, with the king who Gandalf helps, and then they have to flee the city and head to Helm's Deep. If thats not ringing any bells, go watch the movies again!! I took tons of nerdy pics of me running around with swords and axes, but this is one of the uber nerdy ones of me with Aragorn's sword and Helms Deep in the background.

So, we drove out to the Moutain, and then got to climb up it. They brought swords owned by the King of Rohan, Aragon, Eowyn, and Gimli's axe. So we got to run around and play with thoes. It was really fun. We could see the shot of Helm's Deep, although the scene was filmed in a rock quarry. So it was a great day, and I'm glad I went. The only thing that wasn't great about it was that I was definately more knowledgable about the movies than the guide was. I even knew some of the things he said weren't right, but I didn't say anything. I was disappointed that I didn't learn anything new, but it was fun anyway. I waw also surprised by the lack of nerdiness on the bus, I thought it would be full of uber geeks and we could all talk about the movies. I did meet a cool Japanese guy named Yu who was staying at our hostel, and we stayed up quite late that night talking to him, and he taught Kate some Japanese.

That night Yu and I also went to listen to a Maori named Dave Brennan from the Ko Tane come to the hostel and give a talk about the history and culture of the south island Maori. I was really interested in what he had to say, and we even had a really good discussion after he was done about the settlers in New Zeland and their impact on the Maori, compared to the settlers in North America and their impact on the Native American. He was very well spoken, and I was grateful for the opportunity to talk to someone so passionate about their people and educating others.

On March 10th we headed up to Kaikoura, which was a lovely little beach town. You could go swimming with the dolphins, or go kayaking. We stayed in a nice hostel, and Louise, Kate and I got the 'Love Shack', which looked like a little cottage covered in vines that fit three people. We met some cool people who were, surprise surprise, from England, named Kristian and Kyle. Kyle was about 8 feet tall, and we took some funny pics of Kristian and Kyle trying on each others shoes. These are the kinds of things you do at two in the morning at small hostels in the middle of nowhere. This pic just makes me laugh though, and reminds me how many great people you meet while travelling, and how people can imprint themselves in your memory after meeting people for only a few hours.

The next day we headed to the north island. We had to take a three hour ferry ride, and it must have been the biggest boat I've ever been on. We arrived that afternoon in Wellington. That night was a Saturday, so we went out. Kate and Louise wanted to watch a rugby game that wasn't playing until 4 am or something crazy, so we went to an Irish pub to hang out for a while. I was surprised how crazy the streets were. Wellington is not that big, I think less than half a million, but around the corner from our hostel was the main drag, and it was absolutely packed. I wasn't quite up to staying up till 7am to watch rugby, so I hung out at the pub for a bit, then made my way back to the hostel.

In Wellington I also went to the Te Papa museum. We saw a really beautiful Maori meeting house, but the best part was that they were having a showing of a private art collection that inculded a Picasso, Woman in a hairnet. It was so unexpected to get to see that, and there were some other ones by artist that I have never heard of that I really like, including Collioure lighthouse by Andre Derian, La Ciotat by Emile-Othon Friesz, and Fishing sloop (Red sky) by Emil Nolde. I think my brain was thanking me, it was nice to see a bit of culture. Wellington is a nice city, although I was looking forward to heading north and getting back to warmer climates.

North Island

2006-03-14T15:36:00.000-07:00

Right now I am in Rotorua, which is on the Northern Island. I am more than half way done my tour of NZ, and it is flying by. We did the South Island in ten days, starting in Christchurch and heading over to the west coast. We toured around and then crossed over on the ferry on March 11th. Now we are one stop away from Auckland. We should be there for a few days. There is a free outdoor concert, and I am going to do a day trip up to the Bay of Islands. There is just so much to do here everyday that I don't have time to post, but I will definately be putting up pictures when I get home (in less than 2 weeks, ahh!).

New Zeland

2006-03-11T20:01:00.000-07:00

I have been in NZ for 12 days now, and it is flying by. I arrived in Christchurch on February 28th, to find that it was absolutely freezing! By freezing, I mean 13 degrees, but compared to Brisbane it was arctic. I got in at 11:30 pm and waited outside for the bus for an hour and a half that never showed up. I finally had to catch a cab, and arrived at the hostel around 1:30am, then I got picked up by the Kiwi Experience bus at 7 am.

So getting here wasn't too fun, but I have had a great time ever since. Sitting on the bus next to me was a girl named Louise from Ireland, and she is travelling with her friend Kate, and it turns out that we are travelling all of NZ together, and then flying to Fiji from Aukland on the same day. It will be great if we can share at least part of our journey together, they are great travelling companions, I am so glad I met them, and that I now have really cool people to share this experience with. I want to write all about what I have been up to, but I am moving around so quickly now that I don't know if I will be able to write all about it until I get home. Which is in two weeks, I cannot believe it!

Alright, You've Seen Sydney, Now Move On!

2006-02-19T16:32:00.000-07:00

I have been back in Sydney now for almost two weeks, and in two days I will be leaving (for the third and final time). I have had the best time in Sydney, it is a great city. Somehow, once again on this visit, I missed out doing all the tourist stuff that I said I would. The problem is, if you are at the beach, and it is sunny and beautiful and you are able to burry your friends in the sand, you really can't be asked to leave.

So what have I been doing the past two weeks, if I never actually made it into Sydney...a lot of time spent on the beach, hanging out with friends, sitting in the pub, on the patio at the Steyne or the Ivanho, drinking goon, singing such classics as the 'o' and the riree songs along to Alex's master guitar skills, mostly just relaxing with cool people.

We had a few barbq's, thank you to the Norwegian girls for letting us hangout at your places, especially Ingvil (I know that isn't spelt right) for feeding us great food. She let us come over to her place and eat as much as we possibly could. As if that wasn't enough organized us so the next day we all met at Little Manly for a left over party. We watched the sunset, the guys played football, and Chris and Alex hung out on the swing set. Not sure if Chris is still there, stuck in that swing.

I went dancing a few nights, one Friday with George and TJ and some guys that George works with. We went to the Base Bar, and danced for ages. It was really fun, I have tried to go dancing here as much as I can, but it isn't too often. Here is a pic of me and George the night before my birthday. We went to Shark Bar to hear a live band and dance.

On Saturdays, we headed to Shark Bar for free champagne. I only really started drinking wine and champagne in Exmouth, and then moved onto the goon. But it seems that champagne has powers that other alcohol does not, and the first night we went there I couldn't see straight after about half and hour. We must have been pretty drunk, Steve even forgot to throw up his gangster sign. It was fun to hang out up there though, the patio overlooks the ocean and the corso. I don't think the ocean was what Chris was looking at, you can see he looks a bit confused here, sitting between me and the lovely Kaia.

One day Averil took me to the larger beer gardens in the southern
hemisphere, the Arms in Newport. It is impressive, they even have several playgrounds so you can bring your kids and they'll have something to do while mom and dad get pissed all day. It overlooks the water, and on the day we were there we got a pretty cool thunder and lightning show.

One day we went to see Walk the Line at a theater that has a seating area upstairs with normal seats, and a special one downstairs where you have to pay something like $30 and you get these huge comfy recliners to sit it. Although I disagree with this separation of the have and have-nots, I got over it when we snuck downstairs and enjyoed the really comfy seats.

Even though we had such a busy schedule, Alex spent a little time showing me how to play guitar. In Exmouth Linda taught me the beginning of Redemption Song by Bob Marley, and Alex showed me Come As You Are by Nirvana. I'm not sure if my musical career is going to take off when I get home, I'll be impressed if I remember that much. But both of them were really good teachers, and besides, I just think I look good holding a guitar.

It was not just boys that made Manly fun, here are Nicole and Faye, two wikked Scottish girls. And of course, there were all the Norwegian girls, who live in Manly and go to school there. One night they had their beginning of the year ice breaker and we got to go check out their school, which was stunning old building on top of a hill. I think it used to be a monestary, or something related to the church. I only got a photo of it at night.. We went up there and drank outside, went in to play some pool, and then headed down to the bar.

Going out in Sydney was always fun, but when ever I think of Manly, I will think of sitting on the patio at the Steyne. Alex, thanks for always making that fun with your guitar, and that one time with that banjo. I know that some nights you played until your fingers killed and your hair went all crazy, but I will always laugh when I hear 500 miles, and when I think of you guys rhyming dirty lyrics. Ross, you ruled at that game, sorry I always brought it to a screaming halt when it was my turn.

Chris, I hope that your love of plastic will carry you through the tough times. I bet that this look on your face in the picture is the same look of unbridaled extasy that you wear all day at work.

Steve, thanks for helping me when I was homeless. When ever anyone at home throws up the devil horns, I will think of you. You are like, totally the best, and I will be smiling for ever when I think of you guys and Manly.

Well, I guess that I am done with Sydney, and its time to move on. After I left Sydney, I came to Brisbane to stay with Nerida for a week. She was a great hostess, thank you heaps!! She rented a car on the weekend, so we could go to the Gold Coast and Surfers Paradise. It was a little cloudy, but I laid on the beach anyway, because I have just realized it's going to be a good long while before I can walk out my door and hit sand.

On Friday night we went to Australia's largest electronic music festival, which was a lot of fun. There were so many huge djs there, although a lot of house music that didn't do it for me, there was good breaks. I got to see Ali B, which was the most exciting to me. It was at a pavillion outside, and we danced until 5 in the morning. Everyone was really nice, the vibe reminded me of home.

The next day we went to the Sunshine Coast, which had no sunshine, but the drive was beautiful. It looked like BC to me. We saw the Glass House 'Mountains' and did hang out on Coolum beach for a little while. We stopped at the side of the road to buy some seafood, and the guy said welcome to Australia and gave me a crab. So I did get to eat crab here.

And now I really have to go, cause my flight to Christchurch is in a few hours. Nerida, thanks again for the hospitality, we will party it up when you make it home this summer!

I'm feeling really sad to leave Australia, especially after working on this and thinking of all the phenomenal people that I have met, both on the east and west cost of this country. Goodbye Australia, I love you and I will see you again one day!!

Last Days in Exmouth and Goodbye to the Turtles

2006-02-11T22:28:00.000-07:00

I have left Exmouth now and returned to Sydney. I really had such an unbelievable experience up there. I did have a fairly busy last week; I tried to pack in lots of fun stuff before I left.

The weekend before I left I met an Australian guy named Andrew, and we went snorkling at Lakeside and Turqoise Bay, and then went for a short walk at Yarddie Creek and saw a mom and baby blackfooted rock wallabies. I think they are pretty rare to see, but they are so cute and see a little tame, this mom and baby let me walk right up to them.

On Sunday our last social was an op shop party (second hand clothing store, for thoes of you who dont yet speak ozzie, I will show you my newly created Australian Canadian dictionary - thanks for all the help on that!). We all had to wear something that we had bought from the local op shop, which was a tiny shed ran by an adorable little grama, and everything cost one dollar. Or less. We all dressed up in our fancy new clothes, and I mean fancy, some girls found prom dresses from about 19 years ago, and managed to look lovely. Rachel and Naiomi, I`m looking at you here. Katie's animal themed bodysuit kicked ass. Mistral and Beth, both looked great of course., I don't know many people who could wear a yellow and orange tube sweater dress and pull it off. Jess found a full on Bundaberg wifebeater and matching tie were classic, and the tights matched so well. And they were not only fashionable, but functional as a coaster. After we all dressed up, we went down to the beach all decked out, and had a barbq, where I ate of course, kangaroo, and also a ton of fish. That was a perfect last soical.

One day we headed down to the nursery, where you can see tons, or sorry, heaps, of reef sharks from the shore. After we left here, we stopped at the side of the road to take some pics of Naiomi scaling a termite hill in her bikini, which turned out to be a fairly erotic picture. Anyway, while she was trying to figure out how to get down, we were wandering around ignoring her cries for help, we found a shark head sitting there. Linda had a moment with it, then we took it back to the potty. Our plan was to hide it in some bushed until it was fully decomposed, then pull the teeth out to make jewlery or something. I don't know how legal that it, but we figured out it was already dead, so it was ok. But unfortunately, when we went back to the bush, it was gone, so we figure that dingos must have come and eaten it. Or thoes gilrs from 406 took it, they were always so jealous of everything we did, like finding rotting animals at the side of the road.

On Monday before we left, we had a reef retreat day. We went down to South Mandu beach, where there are some cabins set up and a dinning area and people pay hundreds of dollars to stay there for the night, but we got to go hang out and go snorkling and get a nice lunch. I spent most of the time in the shade on the beach because I was feeling slightly hungover and couldnt really move or sit up or think or talk. But I couldnt think of a better place to lay around and be hung over.

Another day we went to Bundegi beach and watched the sunset. I took some great photos, but my favorite is this one of Rachel doing the ultimate chin up pose, and has nothing to do with the sunset, except the sun is shinning on her. We ate our last meals at Planet Burger, which was a small caravan that would appear across the street and produce awesome food. We hung out at the beach, and finally got to hear Linda play the violin. After enjoying her on the guitar, banjo, and glokenshpiel for the past month, I was blown away when I heard her play on the instrument she has grown up playing. Thank you Linda, for your music and sing alongs, that made the nights so much funner. You are a legend, a classic, whatever they call wikked people in Australia. I hung out with Jess in the car, the only place you could have a few feet of personal space, thank you Linda and Jess for that. Jessie, I hope that you come visit me in Canada soon, I miss how you would growl at me everytime I would say 'Good Morning Sunshine!', I also miss that my skin has not been burned in over a month now. You are awesome, come enjoy the snow in my country. Thank you Naiomi for the kangaroo steak, I will think of you every time I eat it. This picture of us enjoying it for the last time tugs at my heart strings. Also thanks to Rachel, you saved my sanity (living with so many people in the tiniest hostel room on record for more than four weeks can be challenging, but we made it through!). And although you may not realize that nothing ryhmes with orange, you are still amazing.

All the other girls, it was a pleasure meeting you. Oh, and Pete, although I consider you one of the girls since I got you in that skirt. I thought it would be really hard living in a small town for so long, but when you are always surrounded by a beautiful crowd of turtle vollies, you can make anything fun (even the bimbo bar!). So I said goodbye to all the great people I met, hoping that some of them make it to Canada one day. I said goodbye to the stunning beaches, the flies, the pool, the supermarket, the bakery, the pub, the turtle bus, to passion pop, to our fabulous kitchen with no knives, cutting boards or utensils, to Club 405, the best place to hang out any day of the week, where everybody knows your name, and eveyone wants to hang out, to the Jurabi Turtle Centre, to waking up at 4:45 in the morning (this picture of Rachel passed out after monitoring in the morning pretty much sums that up), the friendly cleaning staff and receptionists at the Potshot (bwhahaha) and finally goodbye to the turtles! I still never got sick of seeing them, as some people predicted I might. Everytime I saw one heaving herself up the beach, or swimming happily in the water, it reminded me how lucky I am to be doing what I am doing. I am so glad that I did it, and in the process got to explore Western Australia, which I think too many people overlook.

Now I am back in Sydney, staying with one of the turtle volunteers, Averil, in Newport. I have been hanging out with the boys, and for my birthday I got to sit out side on a patio in 28 degree weather (which felt cold after Exmouth!). It was the first time that I really felt lonely for home though. I have missed my friends, but it was more wishing they were here, not that I was at home. I can`t believe that my trip is more than half over though, so I wont spend too much time wishing I was home, I know it will come soon enough.

Oh, and just for fun, here are some more random pics of Rachel on the ground.

Lazy Daze

2006-01-24T19:29:00.000-07:00

So I have been in Exmouth for just over two weeks now, and I love it. We work every other day, which leave plenty of time to relax. We go snorkling every few days, or just hang out on the beach. Friday nights are the big party nights here, they call the bar the Bimbo Bar, it is pretty funny. They have a three dollar disco ball and the local mechanic is the dj. There are some pretty cool people up here volunteering, so it is great to go out and have fun with them. We drink at Club 405, named so after our very prestigious room number at the fabulous Potshot (potty). We drag a bunch of chairs out infront of our room, where we can listen to music provided by Linda or Averil, and we have a good view of the bar so we can judge whats going on there. We drink vodka and goon, and even after a hard night, we remember to keep our chins up. If the goon flows freely, some of the sexy Turtle Girls may provide entertainment, and if you have ever seen Tam at the bar, you'd know she is always pure entertainment.

Other than drinking, we do a fair bit of..I don't know, more drinking.Here is Katie representing 406, as well as her home counrty, the USA. Us North Americans did have some serious competition with the Ozzies though, Naiomi for example has no problems drinking goon straight out of the box if she is falling behind.

Sometimes we venture out into the world that lays beyond the Potty. We go all over the place, Exmouth is surrounded by beauty. The only real problem with leaving the safety of the Potty is that if you don't watch Rachel every single second, she tends to wander off on her own and cause trouble. Here are some pics of her getting into scuffles with the local wildlife. Then I have to get in there and bail her out, but I try to at least get a picture first. You should have seen the ones that I couldn't post on here.

If it is not Friday, and therefore there is no Bimbo Bar, we have to go to the regular bar, which is really no comparison at all. I mean, no Love Generation, no disco ball. But as a bonus there are usually some old fisher men that want to discuss how stupid it is that we are saving the turtles, and how good they taste in soup. This pic was taken before any of our original crew left us, including Averil, and Roni, who although not a turtle volunteer was always a vip member of 405.

Here is a pic of Roni and Linda playing two of some of the many instruments we were lucky enough to hear while staying at the potty. Linda was talented at everything from the glokenshpiel to the banjo, but to hear her on the violin was magic. Roni was pretty decent at the guitar, the real reason that we let him be a vip member.

So, apparently, Exmouth has no wet season, it is dry all year. But we experienced three cyclone warnings, and although nothing too exciting happened (well, there was that one morning we didn't have to go monitoring) but we did get some pretty crazy rain. It usually only lasted minutes, but my favorite was one time I was swimming in the pool and it rainned and it was warm and nice..I never understood why my friend Stacey told me it was nice to hang out in the rain when it is warm out (the two don't really go together in Calgary). The other time was when this pic was taken, on night infront of 405. Some of the girls ran home from dinner at the Sea Urchin, and got a touch wet. And when it started rainning, we would get some new friends, so little frogs would appear in our garden. I do appreciate the guy that caught me one to look at, but I wasn't too impressed when he said he would eat it live..

One Sunday, our social was held at the local pool, and it was closed except for all the vollies. We had a bouncy castel type obstical course that you had to run over, and here is Mistral doing a fantastic job of stradling one of the obsticals.

One night there was a going away party for a few CALM (Conservation and Land Management, who with in conjunction with the turtle program) staff who are leaving. So we had a big barbq, went to the bar and then stayed up all night drinking. Since our sleeping schedule is so messed up some nights I can stay awake until 6am and others I have to be awake by 4:45am. Sometimes we head back to Craig's house for a barbq and to enjoy his amazing deck. Here is me and Mistral enjoying that deck, I also just wanted to throw in a more dignified picture of Mistral, who is actually gorgeous, and not always stradling large blow up plastic things.

Another night the other week there was a free party at the beach, with a group called the Lounge Lizards playing and it was so fun to dance on the beach. At night you can go to the back door of the bakery and order pies so one night me and another volunteer Rachel stumbled over there. She somehow managed to slice her toe open on the flat ground. If you knew how often she ended up on the ground, you wouldn't be too surprised.

After Rachel broke her toe open, we got pulled over by the police, but I think they were just bored and wanted someone to talk to. The only other action I think they've seen since we got here is a domestic dispute we helped break up in the parking lot one night. The cops asked us where we were going, and we didn't want to say, because we thought it might be a black market backdoor bakery operations, but when we stood there for 5 minutes going 'Ummmm..' trying to think up a good story, they said 'Well, we'll let you keep stumbling to the bakery then.' We did, and hung out there waiting for pies, and trying not to let Racel look at her sick toe.

One day we headed up to the lighthouse to watch the sunset, which was really pretty over the ocean. Other than that, we usually saw the sunset from the front of 405, which although over a parking lot, I still found to be nice. You can sit back and hear the birds that sound like they are being strangled, and then the stars start to come out, which are so bright out here.

Yesterday I went fishing, which was a first ever for me. It seems like everyone fishes here. The girls next door used to go all the time. Me and Rachel met a cowboy and he took us out to Learmouth Jetty. I really only went to get away and do something different, not thinking that I would really like it. But it was awesome! He actually did most of the work, setting up our poles and baiting them for us. But then we actually started catching fish. At first we caught little ones that we had to throw back, and the first one freaked me out a bit. I was screaming a bit and saying sorry and I didn't want to look at it cause I felt bad. But I got over that. Then we just hung out on the jetty with Alex and his dog Jez, who reminded me so much of Kuma, and made me miss her.

We caught about 5 Gar (no idea how to spell that) fish, and took them back. Rachel ended up going out to dinner with some of the volunteers that were leaving, and Alex ate something else, so he cooked up this massive plate of fish for me. I was really glad that he cut them all up and I didn't have to see any of that. I bought some french fries to eat with them, and it was the best dinner I've eaten in ages. It was fresh, free, and cooked for me, so really I don't know how it could have been better. And it was great to do something that I had a preconcieved notion that I would hate, and end up having a great day.

Another great day was Australia Day, on January 26th. We got up bright and early and headed down to the local pool for free breakfast. They even had hashbrowns, which no one really eats here, so I was in heaven. Then we headed home to get down to some serious business, mainly listening to Triple J's (the nationwide radio station) Top 100 and a bit of drinking. Me and Jess decided the last person to wake up had to skull (chug) their first drink, but then she went for a nap, and that person ended up being her. After that we all got on the bus to head down to the local yatch club, which was really just an open space out on the grass looking out onto the ocean, it was great. Then we heard our favorite local band, the Lounge Lizards play, and we danced for ages. I can see why Naiomi says that it is her favorite holiday all year, I just hope one day I can share mine, Halloween, cause they don't really celebrate it in Oz.

And here is another reason that being up here is remarkable - a gorgeous turtle, I believe her name is Murial. I took it apon myself to name every turtle I saw, so pretty much all my female friends now have turtles named after them. Aww, just look at her eyes!

The Shire of Exmouth and Turtle Mainia

2006-01-12T00:22:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Exmouth on Sunday January 8th with my tour group. The group checked into a hostel, and I checked into the dorm I will share for the next four weeks with 9 other volunteers. None of them were in the room when I got there, so I just threw my stuff in and went out with my tour group to Turquoise Bay. We went snorkling there, and it was great. There was a really strong current, so you walk up the beach and then just ride the current back. We saw reef sharks and a turtle in the first few minutes. I can't explain how blessed I feel. I have never seen a sea turtle in my life, and now I am in this incredible country where I can just walk out ten feet into the ocean and swim with them. It is beyong amazing.

After we went snorkling, the tour group dropped me off and went back to their own hostel, with plans to meet later at Gracie's pub. I got to meet a few girls that I would be volunteering with, and they said they were going to the Sunday social. I guess every week the volunteers get together and do something, and that week it was a pool competition, which happen to be at the same pub I was meeting my group, so we walked over together. I went and picked up my friend Lucy and a few others, and we had dinner at the pub. I didn't talk too much to the volunteers, but I could see that they looked like a good group of people. After we ate and chatted a I said goodbye to Lucy. When you are travelling, you know that sooner or later you know you will have to say goodbye to everyone, but it is still hard. It is great to know that there are such amazing souls all over the world, and I am grateful for the chance to meet and learn from as many as I can.

There was a cyclone warning here when we got here, and I was a little nervous. Some people were really excited because they have cyclone parties, where you just find a secure building and drink until it passes. Even so, I am glad that it passed over us with only a tiny sprinkle of rain, which in itself is apparently really rare here; they have no wet season. And thankfully it didn't affect the turtle nests.

The next morning the volunteers went to the CALM office, which is Conservation and Land Management. They work with the Ningaloo Turtle Program, and the Jurabi Turtle Centre and the volunteer. We got a bit of an introduction, to learn what we would be doing. The first week is pretty busy. In the morning we meet at 5:30am to go out to the beach to look at turtle tracks and see what they were up to in the night, and if they laid any nests. We get back around 9am, and then have time off during the day.

At night from 6 to 11pm we work with the Jurabi Turtle Centre as a Turtle Scout, which we are trainning for now. They offer guided tours on the beach to see turtles laying their eggs. They have really strict rules, to have the least chance of disturbing them. Once we are trainned, we will look for turtles that the groups can come and see, and also talk to people that are on the beach looking themselves about the Turtle Code of Conduct. It is about how and when to approach a turtle, how far back you should stay, when and if you can use a small flashlight.

So that is what I will be doing for the next few weeks, although after this week I will have every other day off, so it is not very busy. There are two remote camps, and I might go stay at one for 5 days and help out there.

I have only gone out on two mornings and one evening so far, and it has been amazing. I know that I am saying amazing all the time, but how else can I explain what I am doing here. Everyday blows my mind, and I see and do things I couldn't have even imagined. I got to help walk a turtle back to the ocean who was stuck behind some rocks. I got to see more than a dozen turtles on the beach or in the ocean in the moonlight. I got to see a turtle actually dig her bodypit, then come up behind here and actually see her lay her eggs. And I get to do this everyday, while helping them collect important information about turtles, and help people have their own amazing experiences with them. Some one told me that I would loose my enthusiasm after seeing them everyday, but some how I doubt it.

The West Coast

2006-01-07T01:56:00.000-07:00

On January 3rd I was picked up by Easyrider tours from my hostel to set off up the coast towards Exmouth, where I will be volunteering starting January 9th. It is a 1200km drive, so I did the tour to take my time.

The first night we drove to Kalbarri, stopping at the Pinnicals. They reminded me of the hoodoos, in that they were free standing rock formations, but the pictures about them are a little deceiving, as you can find when travelling. We stopped at a nice beach called hangover bay for lunch, but the first day was almost all driving. We ate dinner at a really great little seafood restaurant, it was all outdoors, and there was a firepit and picnic tables and good food.

The next day we drove to Denham, stopping at Kalbarri Gorge, which we hiked down. On the way up a guy dislocated his shoulder, so that was a crazy afternoon waiting for paramedics to come out to the middle of nowhere. The guys had to all help carry him out on a stretcher and we didn't see him again, I think he had to stay in the hospital a while. After that we went to Nature's Window which is the rock formation I'm sitting in in the photo. Then we went to look at stramatolies, the oldest living life form on earth. They look like rocks though, so not too thrilling. on to our hostel in Denham. We had a barbq there and went to bed early, everyone was pretty tired after all the.

The next morning we went to Monkey Mia, where although there are no monkeys there is a bay where they feed the dolphins so they come in 'like clockwork' every morning and you can wade in and pet them. Unfortunately for us they didn't show up, a volunteer said she had worked there for 16 years and that was only the second time they didn't come.

Then we did the most fabulous, wonderful, uber amazing thing I have ever done in my entire life. We went to a small ocean park, which looked like nothing when we drove up, it is run by a man and his wife who are passionate about marine life, and it is tiny. They have a lagoon with a few cod and sharks, and other fish, but they also had baby loggerhead turtles. They had ones that were a year old swimming in a tank, and I got to hold one a little bigger than a dinner plate. Then they had ones that had just hatched, and I can't even describe how I felt. I was in paradise. I was picking up these tiny little babys, and I was grinning ear to ear. It was the best thing, and out of this small, out of the way place that we almost didn't stop at. They were so cute, and I could feel his little shell moving in and out as he breathed. It was the best. They had to drag me away after I held all of them, about 5 and took a million pictures and short videos.

We drove a little further and ate at a beautiful beach called Shell Bay where the shore is made up entirely of small white shells, making the beach a stunning white against the bluest water. Apparently there are 7000 beached in Australia and I'm slowly making my way through them.

We stopped that night in Coral Bay, a tiny town of only 150 people which is where I am now. Me and really cool English girl named Lucy decided to jump off here, so we didn't leave with the tour the next morning. The Ningaloo Reef starts here and goes up past Exmouth. We went snorkling on the reef, you can just walk out into the water to it, so no boat, which made me happy. The two of us spend a really perfect lazy day, lying on the beach and going to bed early.

This morning we got up and went on a glass bottom boat tour for two hours. We stopped twice to snorkle, the first time in a place loaded with fish, and the tour guide threw food for the fish so they were swarming. He threw some right where I was and then there were hundreds of fish all around me, I was reaching out and touching tons of them, so that was a great experience. The next place we stopped there was a green sea turtle that I swam with for about 10 minutes, which was just as amazing at the first time I saw one. It was a great day, and I am really excited to leave tomorrow and get to the hostel I will be staying with the other volunteers.

To 2006 and Beyond

2006-01-07T01:44:00.000-07:00

Well, the week after Christmas was amazing, just like every day here. It mostly consisted of lying on the beach, swimming, drinking, and more lying on the beach. If we were really ambitious and it could get quite busy, which could mean a trip to the pub or interent cafe. The weather was gorgeous everyday. One day my friend Steve drove us up to Palm Beach, which was incredible. So I did get to see more than Manly beach, although Manly is now one of my favorite places on earth. I also got to meet some of my cousins, the Sigmunds. I visited their house in Cherrybrook, which is a suburb of Sydney. They were really nice, I got to stay in their gorgeous house, eat great food and stay in a real bed. I also went out with my cousin Nicole and her friends, it was really nice. Thanks guys!

The night before New Years Eve I cooked dinner at Alister Ross's house, and we sat out on his amazing blacony that can see the ocean in two directions. On New Years Eve we hung out at the beach, then caught the ferry into Sydney later in the afternoon. The plan was to catch another ferry to a place called Meilson's Point, but the day had just been too hectic, so we missed the last one. We were standing in Circular Quay, which is right between the opera house and the bridge, so we decided just to stay there. We found a spot on the ground, and proceeded to drink among thousands of other people who had found a place in the harbour to watch the two fireworks shows, at 9pm and midnight. The first show was really good, but it is the midnight one that is unreal, we ran down so we were standing right under the bridge, with fireworks going off in all directions. They went off over the harbour, from the water, from the bridge and behind it. It was a really great New Years.

The next day I had to leave to fly to Perth, and although flying on New Years Day is not ideal, I was happy to be where it was air conditioned, because it was 43 degrees in Sydney that day. When I got off the plane I met a girl named Monia from Switzerland who was staying at the same hostel as me, so we hung out for two days going to the beach and walking around. Everthing was closed for the holidays, so I really didn't get to see much of Perth.

Best. Christmas. Ever.

2005-12-26T19:00:00.000-07:00

This Christmas will definately go down in the books as one of the best days. First of all, I got to spend Christmas with some very cool people - mostly from England, but also Scotland, Norway, and Germany. They were so welcoming, and being surrounded by awesome people was what made the day possible.

We went grocery shopping on Christmas Eve and bought enough food for all of us to bar-b-q, 15 people in total. We bought kangaroo kaboobs, steak, prawns, salad, chips, and chicken. Later that day we stole one of the plants off the patio, took it to our room, and decorated it with dollar store christmas decortations. We put all our presents under it, it was the best tree.

The next morning 5 of us got up, had steak and eggs for breakfast, then went and opened all our presents. Santa managed to find all of us, so no one had to go without. Then, with a little work we made it down to Shelly Beach around 10 or 11am. We spent the rest of the day eating, drinking, and swimming. The sun was out and we just could not believe how blessed we were to be here. I am so grateful to all the people we met, they made it the most memorable Christmas.

This is a shot of the beach we were on called Shelly beach.

Back in Sydney

2005-12-22T18:38:00.000-07:00

We have been back in Sydney for a few days now, and I love it here. Linda has headed back to Canada and me and Nerida are still in Manly. Yesterday we had a great day, we took the ferry into Sydney, about a half an hour ferry ride. We went to Paddies Market, which is a large flea market. We both bought skirts to wear for Christmas. I have really wanted one since I got here, all the girls wear long billowing skirts that look really comfy. Then we walked down to Darling Harbour, there are Chinese Gardens there, and a ton of bars and restaurants looking out over the harbour. We stopped at a cafe and sat outside for a while.

There is also the Aquarium, and we decided to check it out. It had tons of amazing stuff, lots of little turtles, two platypus which are so adorable, crocodiles, jelly fish, sharks, seals....but most imprtantly, a loggerhead turtle! I was beyond excited. He was in a tank that you can walk in and it goes over your head. He was so beautiful and I was just so amazed when I saw him. I have never seen a turtle even clost to that size, he must have been twice as big as the Green Sea Turtle we saw diving. I took a ton of pictures, until my batteries died. And then I jsut sat there, and watched totally stunned by him. Nerida had to drag me away eventually, I could not take my eyes off him.

After that we had a great dinner in Chinatown, and then to a bar called Ambercrombie to listen to some drum and bass. It was a good way to end the day. We caught the last ferry back to Manly.

Adelaide to Uluru

2005-12-18T16:38:00.000-07:00

After we spent an amazing few days in Cape Trib it was back to Cairns for one night, then on to Adelaide, or more specifically Glenelg. When we got there it was Sunday night, which is apparently the big party night for them. Our hostel was right by the beach, and the main drag, and it was totally packed. Every restaurant was full, there were huge lines to get into clubs, and there were people everywhere. We had dinner on a patio, and watched all the people go by. Our hostel was nice too, like a big old house.

The next day we headed to a car rental place, because the real point (for Nerida and Linda anyway) was to see wine country. So I agreed if they fed me for two days, I would drive them around so they could get hammered, because really there wasn't anything that interested me in Adelaide.

The first day we drove our to Barossa Valley, and the first winery that we went to was Jacob's Creek. I had never heard of any of the places we went, but apparently this was a famous one. We also went to Wolf Blass, and a bunch of others. The next day we went to McLaren Vale.

So after two days of heavy drinking (for them), we got on a plane to head to the Red Centre, the desert, the middle of nowhere. It is very red, but I was surprised at how green it was. It is the rainy season right now, and there was green bushes and small trees everywhere. The green and the red with the bright blue sky was amazing.

When we got to Alice Springs, our tour guide Kat picked us up to take us out camping for the next three nights. The first day was a lot of driving, and we got to our camp site in time to see the sun set on Uluru (Ayers Rock, although they don't like people to call it that any more). Then we set up our tents. I think that Linda was very shocked that it was real camping, but I was plesantly surprised. I was picturing just us and a tent in the middle of the desert, but we had a kitchen with a fridge and power, I was very excited. That night it did pour, and there was a small leak in our tent on my head, but it kept the heat down so I was grateful for it.

The next morning we got to sleep in, until 6:30am (that was the latest we got to sleep in the whole time). We ate breakfast and drove around Uluru, but then headed out to KataTjuta, otherwise known at the Olgas. Kata Tjuta means 'many heads', and it is rock like Uluru, but instead of one large monolith, it is many big ones together. It has to do with how they were pushed up out of the ground; Kata Tjuta was shoved up quickly and viloently, so the broke into many peices, while Uluru was slow and remained intact. We did a 7.5 km hike through Kata Tjuta, it was really beautiful. It was still raining, but it kept it cool and it was nice. That afternoon we did a short 2km walk at Uluru, and saw some drawings on the wall, as well as the area they used as a kitchen, and where women had to climb up to have their babies. That night we went to a different lookout point and watched the sunset on Uluru. We talked to some Japanese people on a tour, they thought my minimal Japanese was amazing, it was pretty funny.

The next day we got up at 4am, and went to watch the sunrise on Uluru. The reason that Uluru is red is because it is covered in rust, the iron in the rock mixing with the air and water creates rust. In places where the river runs off Uluru, you can see the true colour of the rock, which is a grey. The sun changes the colour of the rock and obviously the sky, so it is a big deal to see it as many times from as many angles as possible. After that we went for a walk around Uluru, which is just over 9km. The first half was ok, and it was all a flat walk, but once the sun came up it got pretty hot, even though we were done by 8:30am. It was pretty amazing, I took tons of pictures. There are some areas that they ask you don't take pictures of, because they are sacred. The also have a place where you can climb Uluru, it is really steep and there is a chain that you have to hold onto to pull yourself up and to get down. Even though you are allowed, the Anagu people who own the land ask that you don't, and our guide said that within the next ten years you probably will not be able to. I didn't want to, you can see how the path the people walk on is worn down from so many people, I think I got to enjoy it much more walking around the base. After the walk we went and packed up all of our camping gear, because we spent the last night at a different camp site.

That afternoon we went to the cultural centre. The land was given back to the Anagu people in 1985, on the condition that they lease it directly back to the governement for 99 years. So now they run the park together, and the people have bulit the culutral centre. There was some interesting vidoes, and really beautiful art. When we were done there, we drove to our new camp ground.

On the last day, we got up even earlier than the other two days, and headed to King's Canyon. I had never even heard of this place before we went there, and I actually thought it was the most beautiful place that we went. We climbed up it, and reached to top in time to see the sunrise. Then we went on a 7 or 8 km hike, and it was absolutely amazing. It was a huge canyon, all of red rock, and it went on forever. We walked down into it to a swim hole called the Garden of Eden, and then back up and around. This is a picture of me at the swim hole with three amazing French women I met, two from Quebec and one from southern France. I have been so forturnate on this trip to meet so many amazing people from all over the world, and from home.

That afternoon we got on a plane back to Sydney. I was really amazed by the Australian Outback, it was more beautiful than I could have imagined, but I was glad to be heading back to the city. We returned to the Steyne Hostel where I will be staying until January 1st. I was orignially going to fly to Perth for New Years, but I have decided I cannot miss the big fireworks display in the Sydney harbour. So for the next few days it is going to be all relaxing on the beach.

I Saw My First Sea Turtle!

2005-12-10T18:35:00.000-07:00

I have had such a busy few days. We arrived in Cairns, and the next morning a tour bus picked us up to head to Cape Tribulation. First we stopped at a small wildlife center which was like a zoo but you could walk up to the animals and interact with them. We ate breakfast with the birds, which anyone who knows my bird phobia will know I did not find very fun. They were flying all over the place, one with a really long curved beak took a sausage right off a womans plate, I have no idea how he managed to eat it. Then a parrot landed on our table and drank Linda's juice. I was glad to be done eating, it felt like a pretty stressful breakfast, even if it was beautiful.

We went to the koala area, and they were about to start a koala experience. So by giving a donation you could go in an pet the koala, and we met one name Pedro. He was so cute. His fur felt a little like wool, but softer. Australia is full of so many cool animals, I don't know if I could ever get used to them. They have kangaroos just hopping alongside the highway, and emus wandering around in the smaller towns. Before I left home I thought more about the snakes and spiders, but I haven't seen any snakes and only a few spiders (although I think I saw the one that eats birds, it was pretty big). But it is the other animals that blow my mind. I guess that is what people think about Canada, when they think of moose and bears.

Then we went into the area where the kangaroos were. You were supposed to stay on the path, but we had to leave soon, so we took the kangaroo food Linda bought and headed up a little hill where they were all hanging out and fed them. It was so awesome. The big ones kept their distance, but the smaller ones ate out of our hands and let us pet them. There are a ton of different kinds of kangaroos, and they all different sizes. I guess some of them do actually box, they get up on their tails and kick with their feet, and they grab each other in a way that looks like they are punching each other. I haven't see in, but it sounds pretty funny, I imagine the cartoons where they are wearing boxing gloves.

Then we got back on the bus and headed to a place called Mossman Gorge. Our guide took us on a walk into the rainforest, and then to a place where you can swim. In this area, you can't swim in the ocean because of box jelly fish that can kill you and you can't swim in the rivers because there are crocadiles. So you have to find swimming holes, and this one was in the rainforest, since that is what the whole area is. It was so beautiful. We swam there for about half an hour before getting back on the bus.
We stopped and ate lunch, in this small town with even more gorgeous trees. I have taken so many tree pictures, they are all different and beautiful. At home you get used to looking at the same few types of trees over and over, but here it seems like every tree you look at is one you have never seen before. I can't look in enough directions at once. Many of the trees have other plants, like ferns or vines growing in them, and the fern leaves grow down the tree and can make it look really cool. The ones in this town made the trees look hairy.

We then headed to the Daintree river, and took a boat ride down it looking for crocadiles. We saw one that I'm still convinced was just a log, a baby that was as cute as a crocadile can be, and then a big one with his mouth wide open. There was also a little green tree frog who came on our boat for the tour too.

After that we continued on to our hostel in Cape Trib, called PK's Jungle Village, which it really was, since it was right in the middle of the rainforest. It is in the middle of a bit of land that pokes out from the ocean, so you can walk to a beach on either side, even if you can't swim in in, it was of course beautiful. Right by there is the only place the rainforest meets the reef, and also the only place where two World Heritage sites overlap. Even the sand looks like art, these patterns are all down the beach.

The thing about the area all around Cairns is that you can't swim in the river because there are crocadiles and there are box jelly fish in the ocean, so this time of year you really can't swim anywhere except waterholes (we found a good one you can jump of the little cliff), or certain areas of the beach that are netted off so the jelly fish hopefully can't get through. But if you do feel like going in the water, there is vinagar next to this sign that you can pour on yourself. It wont fix anything, but it will stop it from getting worse.

The next day we went out on a boat to go to the coral reef. I was pretty nervous since my first experience on a boat was not very plesant, but I was more prepared this time and it was ok. When we got out there, I decided just to snorkle rather than dive. The reef in some place is very close to the surface, it is close enough to touch. There was so many kinds of fish to look at, but the reef itself was the most interesting. It is not all connected, there are small sections of it, and each kind was a different shape and colour. I, of course, was searching for turtles though.

I didn't find one, then we went back to the boat to eat. I didn't eat much cause I wasn't feeling to hot, and then I went out to try again. I still couldn't find one, and the waves were much higher in the afternoon, so finally I gave up to ly down on the boat. I was lying on the reef when I hear someone yell "Turtle!" I stood up and asked someone where the sound had come from, but they didn't know, so I laid back down. Then I hear someone yelling "KRISTIN! TURTLE! GET OUT HERE! I'M FOLLOWING HIM!!". I climbed down, and one of the crew said I couldn't go cause we were leaving soon, but Linda keeps yelling, so of course I go. She was pretty far from the boat, so I was really out of breath when I reached her cause I swam like mad. Then I stuck my head under and there he was. I don't even know how to explain it, amazing itsn't enough. I think I would have cried if I hadn't been so excited. We swam with him for a while, and it didn't even seem real. I tried to swim close to him, and Linda had her underwater camera. I hope thoes pictures turn out, but even if they don't I will never forget it. I will alway remember on December 8th, 2005 I saw my first turtle.

The next day we went Jungle Surfing, which is basically going on a zipline throught the jungle. It wasnt really a thrill kind of thing, it was just getting to see the jungle from way up in the air. I took about a hundred pictures of trees, I just thought they were so amazing.

Heading to Cairns

2005-12-05T18:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we did our first open water dive in Byron Bay, and I was so excited for it. I couldn't wait to get in the water, and see turtles and swim with them. This pic is our diving instructor, Thomo, who was really great. Unfortunately, I think my first dive might be my last. I got really sea sick on the boat ride out there, even though it was only 5 minutes. They told me once I got in the water I would feel fine, but I just felt worse. Going down the rope killed my ears, even though I went really slow. By then with not feeling good, even the slight current down at the bottom made me sick, and when we got back to the surface and had to float on the waves while we waited for the boat did me in, I got so sick and swalloed tons of sea water. I felt awful the rest of the day. I couldn't do the secong dive. We are heading to Carins today, where we were supposed to do two more dives, but I think I might stick to snorkling.

Not that it was all bad, it was actually really cool. This picture is the beach in Byron, an the rocks in the back ground are called Julian Rocks, and that is where the dive was, in a spot called The Nursery. I saw a sting ray the size of the roof of my car, even the divers said they'd never seen one so big. We saw all the fist from Finding Nemo, and I saw a Wobblegong shark, and a Grey Nurse shark, which other divers have told me is very rare and we are lucky to have seen it. I had to look away though, even I knew it was there I was scared to look at it. I didn't see any turtles though, but I'm sure when I get to where I am volunteering I'll see lots. So even if I never dive again, I'm glad I did it.

We have to go catch the bus now, to go to Brisbane where we catch the plane to Cairns (it feels like we never stand still!). Bye for now.

First Few Busy Days

2005-12-03T22:53:00.000-07:00

Well, it feels like we haven't sat still since Wednesday when we left Canada, and today is Sunday. We spent one night in Sydney in an area called Manly. Our hostel was right across the street from the beach, and it was beautiful. We will be going back to that hostel in three weeks. I dipped my feet in the water but didnt swim cause I was so tired.

The next day we left and flew to Brisbane, were we caught a bus to Byron Bay, which is where me and Linda are now. We left our friend Nerida in Brisbane to get ready for her classes. We are staying at the Arts Factory, which comes highly reccommended, and I really like it. Bryron Bay seems to be where a lot of hippies ended up, its a cool town, really pretty. The hostel has dorms, camping, tippis..we are staying in a dorm. I really like it, it is hard to describe what it is like though. There are amazing green lush plants every where you look, and today I swam in the ocean. Tomorrow is what I am really looking forward to, we are doing our first open water scuba dive and we will hopefully see sea turtles, and of course I cant wait. I hope to get some pics on here soon, but we are rushing around so much here. It feels like we havent sat still in days. Tonight at the hostel is dub and regga at the pub, and a bar-b-q, so that should be relaxing.

On the bus on the way here we met our first travellers Dave and Melissa, and they ended up being from Nanton, Alberta. They said they were from Canada, and when we told them we were too, they asked if we had ever heard of Alberta, which made me laugh. They ended up being from Nanton, less than an hour from where we live. I expected to meet people from all over the world, but not Nanton. It's cool to think that this is only the beginning of the people we are going to meet.

I leave for Australia today

2005-11-30T10:46:00.000-07:00

So this is my first blog ever. My friend Norm suggested it to keep me in touch with people while I go to Australia. He is the master of recording his life, so I thought I'd give it a try. I am leaving today for Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji for four months.

This blog must be short, cause I actually haven't packed yet (but I have a list!). Next time I write I will be a little more defrosted. Good-bye Canada!