The Journey Ends
Hey People! Welcome to my very last post. First off, I apologize again for taking so long to post - it's been a busy time here in Kelowna, preparing for and working at summer camp. The first week is over and it's been a blast. The only crappy news to tell you is that my ipod is still broken, and I can't get my pictures off it... I'll be handing it in to some techies soon so that they can figure things out, but I'm not sure they'll be able to get any of the pictures off either. I guess all I can do now is hope! But, back to the task at hand - summing up my trip. An impossible task, I'm aware, but now that I'm back in Canada it seems so much simpler. I was gone, and now I'm back. I saw amazing things, met incredible people, and experienced more than some people do in a lifetime. I guess the best way to express my feelings about my trip is to say that it was never about going cool places and seeing nice things - It was about starting and finishing a journey. My journey took me all the way around our tiny planet and back again. It brought me joy, sadness, sickness and health. Through my journey I gained experience, knowledge, and perspective. I guess the one thing I hope you can take from reading about and seeing my travels, is the inspiration for your own journey. I hope I've inspired a few of you, as I've been inspired by my journey. Thanks to everyone I met while I was abroad, and thanks to everyone I missed before I got home. I hope you enjoyed my journey at least a fraction as much as I did. G'day, Sawa Dee Krap and Kia Ora - Spiker
The Home Stretch
Well hello there people. It's Tuesday the 21st of June here and I'm almost done my trip. It's been a long 6 months, and I must admit I'm excited to get home. I was wondering today just
why I'm so excited to get home, and I thought maybe it was missing my friends and family, maybe it was Kraft Dinner (Oh man I can't wait for Kraft Dinner), maybe I just miss Canada as a whole. As it turns out, I think the main reason I'm excited to get home is that I simply miss
being at home. Being able to leave my room as untidy as I please, being able to raid the fridge, being able to walk outside and recognize the neighbors - things you just can't get anywhere but home. I suppose this is one of the biggest lessons I've learned while traveling, is that - not to sound cliche - well... There's no place like home. Still, I'm sad to be coming to the end of my travels, and I will surely miss the freedom and energy I've been accustomed to while living out of a backpack halfway around the world. I know I'm very lucky to have had the opportunity to travel like this, and I've tried to make the best of it. I'm going to miss trying to decipher and understand random accents. I'm going to miss the ability to just pick up and move on at a moment's notice. Most of all, I'll miss all of the people I've met, from all over the world, that have had an impact on my trip. I've made some good friends over here, and though I'm sure I'll lose touch with most of them, they're the reason my trip has been so good. The best scenery in the world seems dull in contrast with something as simple as laughing with a new found friend. Hey, there's another reason why I should get home - I'm starting to get even cheesier than I was before... I can't wait to see everyone I've been missing all these months, and I've got a lot ahead of me in Canada. Thanks to all you readers who've kept up with my blog all this time, it's been a pleasure keeping this website up. I'll be making one more post in Canada, where I'll showcase some of my favorite pictures from my trip, and favorite memories from my travels. Until then, Kia Ora :) Spiker
Two Weeks Left!
Hey everyone! Apologies for not posting very often of late, I've been incredibly busy for a change! I've only got two weeks left, as this post's title suggests, and I've still got to do the entire south island of New Zealand. Things will be tight, but it can be done! Let's just hope I don't get stuck somewhere and spend a lot longer in New Zealand than I was hoping... I'd love to show you guys some pictures of the amazing things I've seen over the past week, but this computer is a pile of dung, using windows 98, and it can't figure out my camera. Stone aged piece of... Anyway, I can still tell you a bit about my travels, which is not nearly as cool, but all I can manage given the present situation. Hey, at least the net is free! And thank God for that... I used it last night for about 5 hours, getting my university courses in order, planning, registering, changing my mind a few times, and finally giving up and going to bed. This has been the lowpoint of my last week (Though I'm glad it's over, I can forget about university for a little while longer now!), as I've been rather busy, climbing mountains and bussing around the country. The coolest thing I've done is hike Tongariro crossing - What a fantastic time! It wasn't nearly as gruelling as I expected, and I got to climb almost all the way up the top of a very famous mountain, or so I'm told - Has anyone seen that movie, Lord Of The Rings? Kay, well
apparently there's this mountain called Mount Doom in this movie (Can't say any of this rings a bell, honestly...), and
apparently that's the mountain I climbed. I got some amazing pictures of it too... Stupid windows 98... I'll show them to you guys later on, when I get a free day to putz about the internet and throw some pictures up. On the way down the mountain, though, was the very best part. Someone further up dropped their water bottle, which went whizzing past me at about 100 mph, flying down the steep icy hill as fast as gravity could allow. Luckily we were provided with clamp-on spikes and such, to keep us from doing the same. And then I thought... You know... Why the hell don't
I launch myself down the hill at 100 mph! Having so much sledding experience from so many childhood winters in Canada, I decided to give it a try. I asked the guide first, of course, if there were any dropoffs or cliffs or... Polar Bears... or anything that might slaughter me were I traveling at 100 mph. he told me there was nothing there but snow, but he didn't think that launching myself headfirst down the hill with spikes on my feet and a bag on my back was a good idea. I, of course, took no heed of this warning and began my slide. Absolutely fantastic. I passed about 20 people on the way down, all of which I'm sure saw the Canadian flag on my back and thought "I guess they do this after they build their igloos...", but eventually some of them tried it too. I ended up at the bottom of the hill, about 300 meters down from where I started, and all I wanted to do was climb back up and do it again. So I did! I can tell you, I slept well that night... And the experience reminded me a lot of my time down in Elbow Park, sledding with my best friends Riley and Dan. Can't wait to see you guys, by the way. Well, with that, I'm off to visit a large museum in Wellington, of which I know not the name or contents... The girls are dragging me out. *Sigh*... It's a hard life kids, it's a hard life. Don't get too comfy over there in Kelowna, I'll be crashing that party in T-minus two weeks! See you then! Spiker
East As
Kia Ora! That means hello, in Maori, if you hadn't already guessed as much. I'm now in a tiny town of about 500 people called Te Kaha, which means The Strength. This town is, as they say here, Sweet As, which basically means as sweet as anything else that's ever been sweet. Yesterday we went to the most easterly part of the country, and were amongst the first few people in the world to see the sun ride (though certainly not the very first). The hill is a sacred Maori place - it's something to do with one of about 827435234 Maori legends - they've got a story to explain absolutely everything (From the shape of New Zealand to the reason their noses are flat). I'm really enjoying myself here, and I'm going to stay on for a few days to work for some much needed New Zealand funds. The internet on this computer is incredulously slow, so posting pictures would be an overnight event... I guess you'll just have to be satisfied with my incessant ramblings :) Today I start fruit picking, and fruit packing, and I'll be here for a few days, maybe even 5 or 6, depending on when the next bus comes around to collect me. Yesterday, though, I got some unbelievably bad news - my Ipod glitched out. As you may or may not know, my Ipod is not only the source of all my musical entertainment, it's also where I store every single one of my pictures from this trip... Essentially, there are three things that I absolutely cannot lose before I come home - my passport, my plane ticket, and my Ipod. So, when I turned my Ipod on to find that it had wiped itself, I was slightly upset, though optimistic that it might just be an error that wouldn't let the ipod read data, without the data being erased. Basically, I was hoping it broke the
right way, instead of the
really really shitty way. Thankfully, the latter was the case, and all the data is still on the Ipod, which I can exchange for a working one when I get home (Thank god for future shop extended warranty ;D), after I take all the pictures off. I won't be touching the bloody thing until I get it home - computers are evil things, and it might break even more. Other than that brief but ghastly scare, things have been fantastic for me, as usual! New Zealand is a raw and beautiful country, but with a softness that comes from the green fields and trillions of sheep, coupled with the lovely local Maori population. I'm staying in a small hostel (Well, not really a hostel, it's a guy's house) here in Te Kaha, owned by Paul O'Brien, who's quite a character, and a warm and generous host. I think he may teach me to do the Haka... Which would make my entire trip worthwhile. Anyway, fruit picking is starting soon, and I'm off to earn my 10 bucks an hour :) Not much more than three weeks till I'm back in Canada, land of Kraft Dinner, pine trees, maple syrup, and the endless barren wasteland we call the prairies. Much Love from New Zealand! Kia Ora! Spiker
Vacations Aren't Supposed To Be Cold...
Hey people! I'm writing you from a warm, cozy internet cafe in Taupo, on the north island of NZ. It's rather cold outside, though I must admit, I've just gotten used to the warm weather. I've been wussified. Despite the cold weather, I am enjoying NZ immensely! It reminds me a lot of Scotland actually, with it's deep green rolling hills, barely comprehensible accents, and the fact that there are tenfold more sheep and cows in NZ than people. That, and it rains a lot. I'm on the Kiwi Experience bus, which is basically just a tour bus for young people, which stops at budget hostels all over the country. I left Auckland a few days ago, and got some great views of the city, which is quite nice. With a population of 1.4 million, it's the 5th biggest city in the world as far as area goes - which means people have their own space, and are pretty laid back, especially for a big city.
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Basically, I'm using the Kiwi bus to blitz NZ and see as much as I can before I go home. I'm running low on money though, which means I miss out on a lot of the activities - including drinking! At the end of the day, I'd rather do cool things like hike up mountains and do bone carvings and stuff than drink myself out of money, so I've decided to see a sober New Zealand - I'm sure my family would approve, especially given recent events (like my birthday...). Our first stop on the bus was to a spot called Hot Water Beach, which is named as such since there's... Hot water... At the beach. Not very inventive, but at least they can't be blamed for false advertising. Basically, you get to the beach, dig a hole, and freaking hot water comes up through the sand and burns you. Then, you realize that mixing sea water with the uber hot water would be a good idea, so you dig a hole and freeze your butt off for a bit, until the hot water permeates the sea water, and then it's absolutely fantastic. I suppose this would be the first natural hot tub in the world, and it's free, yay!
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http://www.geocities.com/spiker43943/P5250011.JPG A very wonderful place. Next we went to Whitianga, where there was nothing to do but sit in the hot tub, which I was glad to do, and the next day we were off to Rotorua. Rotorua, translated from Maori into English, means "Evil Smelling Place". The name did not disappoint. Like Hot Water Beach, Rotorua sits atop a massive geothermal pocket, where magma heats water to boiling and it rises up through the crust to create cool things like steam baths, natural hot springs and geysers.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43943/P5260039.JPG It brings with it, however, the pungent smell of sulfur, which at times was pretty overwhelming. Rotorua also happens to be the Maori cultural capital of NZ, so we took the time to visit a Maori village to take in some of their culture. It all started with a bus driver who, upon learning that I was Canadian, added "EH!?" to the end of every single thing he said to me. He proclaimed that he was the best looking bus driver in the universe. I told him he was certainly the cheekiest. He drove us to the entrance, where our "chief" went out and met the Maori warrior that came out and offered us a token of peace. Of course, before he offered the peace token, he made all kinds of crazy sounds and gestures with his spear thingy. He was wearing a tiny grass skirt, and nothing else. It would have been funny, except he was much bigger than me, and he was pretty scary looking. The bus driver told us that if we laughed or smiled, the warrior would take this as an offence and an act of war. Basically, this means he would kick our asses with his big stick. No one really believed this but, then again, no one smiled either. Once invited into the village, we got to see a lot of their traditional games and songs - the Maori are
excellent musicians, playing everything from bone flutes that you play from your nose, to acoustic guitars, and hitting three and four part harmonies. It was already an awesome show, when they announced that they would be doing one of their traditional war dances - the Haka. Basically, I came to this village to see the Haka. If you've ever watched the All Blacks (The New Zealand national rugby squad - top three in the world) play a game, you'll know what I'm talking about. Basically, they all drop their spears (which should be relieving), and all make very aggressive actions and sounds together. It may have been the coolest thing I have ever seen. They get so into it that their eyes roll back in their heads and they flick their tongues out at you... It was very, very scary. If I were to encounter Maori on a battlefield, and they did the Haka, I would definitely run like a little girl. As I said soon after the performance "Even my shit was scared". Don't believe me? Imagine 25 of these guys doing crazy gestures and slapping themselves in unison. Be afraid.... Be very afraid...
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43944/P5260057.JPG Not one to bring home to mom, hey ladies? The second best thing I did in the village was the all you can eat buffet... WOW it was good. They cook their food in underground barbecue type pits, and it comes out with a nice smoky taste and a beautiful texture. I had starved myself all day in anticipation. I ate until I hurt. I slept very well that night :) From Rotorua, we went on to see many natural wonders, including waterfalls
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http://www.geocities.com/spiker43944/P5280083.JPG I also got to do one of the coolest things I've ever even heard of - underground tubing. Basically, you get into a really thick wetsuit, which looks absolutely goofy, strap your helmet on, get in an inner tube and go tubing in an underground river. Once you get into the fridgid water, you are very happy to be wearing the goofy thick wetsuit. Once inside the caves, we all shut our lights off and looked up, surprised to see about 1000 tiny green lights glowing on the ceiling. They're called glow-worms, but they're not actually worms... They're maggots. The green glow actually comes from these long tails attached to the maggots, and it's fuelled by... Their poo. They eat insects that have been unfortunate enough to venture into the cave, who fly into the maggot tails for the same reason moths always buzz around lightbulbs - because insects are incredibly stupid. Even though the glow-worms are actually poo-fuelled maggots, they were still amazing to look at. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the caves, since my camera would have been obliterated in the process. Here's the group I've been traveling with for the past few days - I've made friends with everyone, and I've enjoyed their company a ton!
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43944/P5270060.JPG They've certainly enjoyed my company as well - last night I got everyone to pitch in a few dollars and I cooked up a storm. I made some fettuccini alfredo from scratch, with mushrooms and chicken, and some mussels wrapped in bacon, fried with butter. It was a pretty awesome meal, and I will probably do it again before my trip is done - I actually made about 5 bucks, and I got to cook myself a great meal that just wouldn't have been economical without everyone else. Plus I got to keep the extra milk and pasta! SCORE! I can't wait to see the rest of New Zealand, and it'll be coming at me fast and furious as I travel to a new place almost every single day. I have to miss out on many of the adrenaline adventures, such as skydiving and bungie jumping, but I can do those things in Canada - I definitely can't go underground tubing in Canada. New Zealand has been even more enjoyable than Australia thus far, and I've great expectations for the remainder of my trip! Exactly four weeks until I'm back in Canada... Now that's a scary thought. I hope everyone is enjoying the warming weather as much as I'm enjoying the cold stuff :) Talk to you all soon! Spiker
New Zealand
Hey Y'all! Well, I've arrived safe and sound in New Zealand. To my horror, it's much colder here than I was expecting, so I'll have to buy some warmer clothes - I don't think my tiny Thai t-shirts will do in negative degrees Celsius. But, other than the climate (which really hasn't been so bad - I'm just a spoiled brat after being in OZ and Asia), I've already grown quite fond of New Zealand. The people are, once again, quite friendly, and it's really easy to get around the country, which itself is serenely beautiful. I've yet to leave Auckland, and I've already seen two volcanoes (One of which is still active...), beautiful landscape and scenery, and some great wildlife. Actually, the fauna here in New Zealand is quite odd - there are no land animals other than mice, possums, and other small helpless creatures. No large predators, in fact, no predators of almost any kind, unless of course you venture into the ocean. Quite a change from Australia, where just looking at certain insects causes coma and death. Before the Europeans killed them all off, however, there were a few larger land animals that lived here - one of which was called something I'll not even attempt to pronounce/type/spell, a very large bird - VERY large, we're talking 4 meters tall - that was unable to fly, much like an ostrich. This thing would have made big bird from Sesame Street look like a pigeon. Of course, the only thing that was able to eat these massive birds were even BIGGER birds of prey. The largest one of these massive Eagles ever recorded had a 14 meter wingspan. 14 meters... You know the bird that rescues Gandalf in the lord of the rings movies? The bird that lived in Australia would have been even bigger than that. Now that's a huge freakin bird. I've learned some about Maori culture (The Maoris were, and are, the indigenous people of New Zealand), including the fact that they used to eat each other on a regular basis, probably just for fun. Tomorrow I hop on a Kiwi Experience tour bus, and I go out into the wild parts of New Zealand, to meet these same Maori people and learn about their culture and whatnot. I'll make a point of not showering so that I smell less appealing than the other passengers. I'll soon have pictures and such for you all, but until then, stay safe, don't eat yellow snow, look both ways before crossing, and don't get eaten by indigenous tribes. I'll try to do the same. Cheers! Spiker
Farewell, Australia
G'day mates! How's everyone goin'? I'm leaving Sydney tomorrow, embarking on the last leg of my trip - New Zealand. I'm used to the backpacking now - just hopping from place to place, going wherever the wind takes me - but I'll definitely miss Australia. This country is a place of many faces - a place where everything can kill you (From the spiders that could drop a horse, to 8 meter crocodiles, to the 50 degree summer heat in the outback), but where usually, nothing does. A place with some of the finest beaches in the world, with ski hills two hours away. A place with the most interesting assortment of people I have yet encountered in my travels. Especially Sydney. I've never seen/met/ran from/laughed at so many odd people in my life. From the time I got on the bus in Byron Bay up until now, I've met very interesting - and some freaking weird - people. In fact, as I write this post, there is a strange man singing at the top of his lungs into a microphone he made out of a styrofoam cup, in the middle of the sidewalk, just outside. Like I said, some freaking weird people. On the bus ride down, I sat next to a large Irish man who felt he needed about as much room as an African elephant, squishing my poor body into the aisle, making it difficult for anyone to get by without having to kick me a few times. I was glad to get off that bus, 13 hours later, and I walked into the bus terminal in Sydney and called my hostel for a pickup. The lady on the other was completely loony. "Allo." "Umm yeah, is this the ambassador Hostel?" "Yep." "Yeah I heard you guys do pickups from the bus station?" "Yep." :Well I just got in from Byron and I have a booking at the hostel..." "Right then. Rooms all ready, anytime ya want!" "Awesome.... Awesome.... Right, so could I get picked up from the station?" "What station? Get off the bleedin computaahh!!!! Sorry, not you, the other one. What were ye sayin'?" "Oh, the bus station please" "Uhhh, yep. Be there in 10 minutes!" I turned around, a little bewildered, and sat down with my ipod for a bit. I looked up to see a strange squinting man looking at me and mouthing something. I couldn't hear him, because of my music. I took my headphones off, and he said clearly "So, what kinda nurse are ya?" Blank stare. "Ummm... Sorry, what?" "WHAT KINDA NURSE ARE YA" He bellowed with a smile, enunciating every syllable. "Uhh, what kind of nurse? What... huh? I don't follow ... What?" He then pulled out a bag of small prescription bottles and thrust them at me "I was wond'rin if you could help me with me eye drops mate! Can't put em in meself!" "Oh... uhhh.. yeah, what the hell. Sure." And so I helped a random man who called me a nurse to put eyedrops in his eye. I didn't really talk to him after that, I was happy enough just moving along to where I was about to be picked up by the crazy lady on the phone. Sure enough, a couple of minutes later a large woman in a mumu with wiry black hair screeched to a halt in a van in front of me. She threw my stuff in the back and off we went. We had a wonderful discussion about how her roof looked much better than the other roofs that were next to hers. She had been up some tower the day before, and she was so happy with her roof that she wanted to shout it... Well, from the rooftops.
Her rooftop, I guess. We got there and I settled in, my room didn't smell great but it didn't smell that bad either - at least it was cheap. That night I went out for some McDonald's, to sample what Australia has to offer as far as McDonald's specials go. The only Australian thing on the menu was called the McOz. It looked okay but not great, like everything else in McDonald's, so I tired it. I was sorely disappointed. It's just a cheeseburger with a bloody beet on it. A BEET. Why? There is no need for a beet on a burger. I should have complained... Maybe I would have, had I not been so distracted by yet another absolutely insane individual. I looked up to find a man dressed in black leather cowboy boots, black leather pants, a black leather biker jacket and a black leather cowboy hat, dancing in the middle of McDonald's to whatever music happened to be playing at the time. I really wish I could remember what song was playing, just for context, but you can still get the picture. The McDonald's management paid no attention to him whatsoever, which lead me to believe he was as frequent there as happy meals. On his way by my table, he noticed I'd finished eating (I was mostly just staring at him, unable to look away - it was like watching a train wreck), and he kindly took my tray for me. When he returned he tried to get a random guy to roll a joint for him, and seeing I would likely be next, I took my cue and left. Most of the people in the hostel are also quite odd, though I can't say any of them sang into a styrofoam sup, or asked me to put their eyedrops in for them... I guess I should count myself lucky? Of course, the sightseeing didn't stop at strange and interesting people - Sydney has more sights to see than I could even fit into my four days here. Vanessa and I (Vanessa has joined me for these last few days of Australia, having been to Melbourne and back) walked past all the strip joints and hourly hotels (We're in the not-so-posh part of Sydney... Like I said, at least it's cheap!), through some gorgeous parks and fields, and made it to the opera house, probably Australia's most famous landmark of all (other than the kangaroo, I suppose). Here's come pictures of the place, and some pictures of the Harbor bridge, which is just a bigass bridge I took pictures of. Apparently it took them something like 12 years to build, which was ok because it was going to be the biggest bridge in it's category in the world. But when they opened it, they found out it was 12 inches shorter than one that was opened about 3 months earlier, somewhere the States. TWELVE INCHES. BURN. I mean that is a monumentally massive heinous roast of a burn. Still, it makes for a nice picture!
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http://www.geocities.com/spiker43942/P5210120.JPG As you can see we walked up onto the bridge, which offered a very nice view of things. Of course we didn't actually walk
over the bridge, like these people.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43942/P5210116.JPG Apparently it costs about 200 bucks, but I guess it would be worth it for the view. When we came down from the bridge, we explored a little region of Sydney called The Rocks. It's sorta like Eau Claire in Calgary, except the shops are much more expensive, and there were about 37 weddings going on at once, in various settings. We walked by one of them, and then by a Rolls Royce, and ended up in a shop that had no price tags, presumably because they would have to use too much paper to actually advertise a price so large. I felt thoroughly out of place with my "No Money No Honey" shirt and my backpack on. After quickly exiting the shop before security was called, we found a small but useful map, and after looking at this map we discovered with happiness that we were a mere four blocks from the Canadian Consulate! I decided that I wanted to spend a few minutes on Canadian soil, so we walked over to the building. I was hoping maybe they'd greet me with a warm smile and say "Ah, a fellow Canadian eh?! Well it's just great to see ya, we've got some KD on in the back, and some reruns of old NHL games playing on the foyer! Just pop yourself on the chesterfield and grab a Kokanee!" These dreams soon crumbled to dust. When we got there, to my dismay, the Consulate was closed.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43942/P5210125.JPG That's probably because it's Saturday... I guess I didn't really think this one out very well. After recovering from my sadness, we went to a few markets, one of which was actually very good - I ended up buying some sandals, since my last ones were stolen (Who steals 10 dollar sandals... Seriously...), and I got some warmer wear for New Zealand, which is going to be colder than I was hoping for. We also saw about 39213 Japanese tourist busses driving around, unloading and loading passengers in tight groups. I call them pods. I got a picture of one such pod.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43942/P5210123.JPG What you see is many Asian people right after a picture was taken of them (They all gave the peace sign. Every single one of them. Even the 90 year old lady), by an Asian man, who was himself being filmed
and photographed by an Asian woman, who's not in the Asian man's picture. I guess Australians aren't the only weird people in the world. Besides, Australians have the trump card of all trump cards - they created one of the most amazing things the world has ever seen (though most of the world is unaware of their existence).
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43941/P5210105.JPG Ladies and gentlemen, I'm talking about Tim Tams. If you don't know what a Tim Tam is, you should probably go book a flight to Australia. They're that good. And they don't sell them anywhere else in the world. Not that I know of, anyway... I tried to get some in Canada, but I couldn't find any anywhere. But here in Australia, the Tim Tams are bountiful and fresh sealed for your convenience. They're basically a two little chocolate biscuits with a bit of creamy stuff in the middle, all wrapped up in sweet milk chocolate. Sounds a lot like some other chocolate bars, right? WRONG. Tim Tams are like nothing you have ever tried. What you do is, you bite off opposite corners of the Tim Tam, put one end of it into coffee, tea, or hot chocolate, and you suck the liquid through the Tim Tam. Heaven. And then, while the Tim Tam is just starting to melt from the warm goodness of whatever you're drinking, you pop it into your mouth and just let it dissolve (I believe the Tim Tam then bypasses your stomach and goes directly to that part of your brain that makes you happy, stays there for about 30 seconds, and then turns to pure fat and settles on your belly/hips/cheeks/arse). Wow. If I can find these things in New Zealand, I'm bringing some home. If I bought some now, they would definitely NOT make it through Australia without being eaten. By me. Maybe I'll just make an offer on the company... But enough silly talk. Tomorrow I leave for New Zealand, and I'm sure I will miss Australia, the country that's been my home for the last two months. The accent, the surfing, the beautiful beaches, the great (though sometimes crazy) people - this country is worth visiting. I'm sure I've said this before, but it reminds me a lot of Canada, and I love Canada! New Zealand will be amazing, and as the last leg of my trip, I'm sure it will absolutely FLY by. As of yesterday, the countdown is at 5 weeks. Only 5 weeks left until I return to Canada. It feels like I've only been gone for a month! Then again, I can hear Kraft Dinner calling my name... And I'm missing my family and friends more every day. Maybe home won't be such a bad thing when it finally comes :) But for now... New Zealand, here I come! Spiker
Byron Bay
Hey people! I don't have much to say at the moment, but I thought I should post anyway, since it's been a week, at least. I'm almost through with Australia, and I've loved it! My only complaint would be that it's so similar to Canada, it's almost like
being in Canada. Except with different accents and more things that can kill you. I'm finally out of Noosa now, I made my way to Byron Bay last night. Byron Bay is pretty much the same as Noosa, especially the weather - rain, rain and a 10000% chance of more rain. I swear it's been raining for the last 3 weeks straight... What is this, Vancouver? Luckily surfing in the rain is just as fun as surfing in the sunshine, although slightly colder. My tan is fading a bit but I can't complain - the fact that I ever
had a tan is amazing enough. I'm really looking forward to New Zealand now, to seeing some new exciting things, though I think New Zealand will be getting pretty cold this time of year... I might have to invest in some warmer clothing when I arrive. Still, it's not going to be like Calgary in the winter... More like Vancouver Island in the winter, something like that. I leave Byron Bay today (if I can get my bus booked in time) and head off down to Sydney, where I've got about 4 days before I get on yet another plane, headed for Auckland. I'll make one last post before I go, if I can find the time, and I'll surely have some nice pictures of Sydney to show everyone :) With less than 6 weeks left in my entire trip, I'm starting to miss home a bit more, anticipating my return I think. I've got University to come back to, and my best friend Dan is moving back to Calgary! Saaaweeeet! I never thought I'd be wanting to come back home, but being here in Australia is like being in Canada, just without all my favorite people :) Speaking of my favorite people, my parents just got news that the government of India has approved their journey there, and they'll likely be there for a year! In an act of misguided, foolish trust, they've let my brother and I stay in the house while they're gone... I wonder if they'll have anything to come back to? :D Incidentally, this means that I'm looking for one roommate, to live with my brother and I (A tall order, really) for the coming year. If anyone's interested, just drop me an email or somethin. Sydney, here I come! Spiker
The Board, The Birds, The Pooey Mess.
Greetings, readers! It's been a while since I've posted, which is again due to the lack of cool new things I'm doing/seeing/experiencing/ingesting. Over the last week, however, a few interesting things did happen. I'm still loving the job, still surfing most every day, and still enjoying Noosa very much. I leave one week from today (Monday in Australia, Sunday for most of you), to go down to Byron Bay and Sydney, and finally New Zealand. I'm getting excited to go somewhere new now, not because I don't like Australia, but because it's almost exactly the same as Canada. Again, don't get me wrong - I love Canada to bits, but I don't think any of you would pay thousands of dollars to fly to Banff or Vancouver Island, if you get what I'm saying. New Zealand promises to be exciting and new, and should be an excellent, albeit expensive end to my trip. But of course, Australia still has many things that Canada, and especially Calgary lack, one of which is surfing! I am absolutely loving it - I get to surf every day for free and I'm actually getting half decent! I may have some pictures for you guys by the end of my stay in Noosa, but I can't promise anything - it rains most days here, making it fairly stupid to bring my camera to the beach with me. I also do some boogeyboarding, which is basically just bodysurfing with a piece of plastic under you - it's fricken awesome! I went out three days ago and the surf was massive - the waves were getting as big as 9 feet that day. But I was not intimidated! I took my wee boogeyboard out there on the waves and I got my ass kicked! It was brilliant fun, just getting tossed here and there by massive waves, and occasionally riding one all the way to the shore. One exceptionally large wave decided to break before I thought it was going to, thereby tossing me like so little salad onto the ocean floor, and turning me over a few times for good measure. I slammed my side into the sand, bruised my shoulder and hip and felt somewhat like potatoes must feel after being mashed. I finally reached the surface of the water and I took in some air and thought... "THAT WAS FRICKEN AWESOME!" I pulled on the leash of my boogeyboard, which seemed oddly light... And along came the boogeyboard skipping across the water. Well, some of it anyway. As it turns out the wave not only rolled me like a sock in a dryer, it snapped the boogeyboard in half. To this moment, I've no idea where the other half went, but it was definitely not attached to the plastic backing. Take a look at the end result.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43940/P5050045.JPG Luckily the staff took mercy upon me and didn't make me pay for the board, since it was one of the old ones and was going anyway. But surfing isn't the only cool thing about Australia, there's tons more, including all the colorful birds here. There are a bunch of them living in the trees next to the hostel, with a Koala, who come every morning and eat pretty much everything they can find, with a distinct preference for jam. In fact, just about the only thing they won't eat is the Vegemite. Most of you probably don't know what Vegemite is. This is a good thing. It's yeast germ extract. And it tastes just like it sounds like it should taste. Basically, take the sludge at the bottom of a brewery's beer fermentation tank, and put it in a jar. Welcome to Vegemite. Anyway, these birds will even eat out of your hand if you've got some jam! They're called Rainbow Lorikeets, and they're cute little buggers - if they weren't cute, I think they'd just be annoying. Reminds me of children... Here are some pictures of said birds, and me feeding said birds.
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I quite like the one where the bird is nearly transparent - it started to fly away halfway through the exposure. It looks like it was digitally placed there. Another lucky picture, what can I say! As I've said, it's been raining quite a lot lately, so we've been forced to entertain ourselves by any means possible, which on one sad night meant playing dressup. You see, there's this closet in the flat I'm staying in, where everything you could ever imagine exists. An old dartboard, a cowboy hat, a computer, hoolahoops, an actual kitchen sink, a large metal crucifix... The list goes on. The girls decided to dress me up as a cowboy fairy thing and take pictures of me... Warning - shocking pictures to follow, may cause blindness and nausea, or in severe cases coma and death.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43940/P5060050.JPG alright so it wasn't my shining moment... Then again, it was much better than what happened last night. I have no pictures of what I'm going to tell you about, and you'll see why once I'm done. So, Chris is sitting on a stool by the bar, chatting up a couple of Swedish supermodels, when Chris gets a tap on the shoulder. It's the receptionist, Becky. Becky whispers to Chris that there is a "Situation" in the washroom in the second building. Naive and innocent, Chris asks what this trouble could possibly be, on such a wonderful night full of Swedish supermodels. Becky calmly replies that someone has had an accident in the shower. Accident? Someone slipped and fell and can't get up? No Becky says. Someone
let one slip... And didn't
pick it up. Chris wonders aloud who in the universe would shit in a shower, and ponders that it must have been some drunken idiot, acting on a dare. Chris entertains the notion that it could have been a powerful unanticipated sneeze. Chris notes that only a man could be capable of something so stupid. Becky goes a brighter shade of red and clarifies the coordinates of the mess - it happens to exist in the
GIRL'S shower. And now, Chris finds himself cleaning up someone else's poo. In the girl's shower. Not a night to remember, and now you understand why there are no pictures of this significantly disgusting event. Well, I'm trying to put that one behind me, though I did get a free slice of cheesecake for my job. But the cheesecake just didn't taste quite as good after cleaning up poo. Apologies for the tastelessness (and stinkiness...) of this story, but it just had to be told :) I hope everyone back home is enjoying spring and early summer, and I hope no one else has had to clean up someone else's feces in the last week! Only 7 weeks to go, and I'll be back in Canada. See you all then! Spiker
Underwater Pics and Australia Zoo
Hey mates, how ya goin'? Noosa has been treating me very well since I've arrived, and I'm still loving it here - the surf is good pretty much every day :) First off, I've got one more picture from Fraser Island that I didn't include in the last set cause my camera fritzed - I got this one from Vanessa.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43938/Ship.jpg Speaking of Vanessa, she's gone down to Byron Bay, but we'll meet up again in Sydney before I fly to New Zealand. Before she left she outlined her budget to me - she was planning on spending only 35 dollars a day for the next few weeks. That's about enough money for accommodation and food, if you budget well. I asked her why, and she told me "Well, then I have 500 dollars to go shopping with!". I will never understand the female mind. Before she left, though, we got our underwater camera developed, and I was absolutely ecstatic when I saw how the pictures turned out. Just look for yourselves. I'll start off with the manta ray I swam with in the Whitsunday islands - it looks almost fake it's so bright.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43937/F1000001.JPG Next we've got a picture of me petting the massive fish I told you about, on the great barrier reef. This thing was 2 meters long or so, and you get a good perspective from the size of my hand on it's back...
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43937/F1000017.JPG Next, we've got the turtle we swam with
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43937/F1000010.JPG And here's possibly my favorite picture I've taken in all of Australia. This one is definitely going on my desktop when I get home
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43937/F1000004.JPG The person you can see swimming in the picture is one of the girls on our Whitsundays boat. I think her name's Lucy, but alcohol has weakened my mind and I'm not entirely sure :) here's a picture of some random fish and reef structures
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43938/F1000021.JPG And finally here's a picture of little me swimming with the scuba divers, with my tiny snorkel and mask. I had so much fun down there!
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43938/F1000027.JPG While Vanessa was here we made it out to the Australia Zoo, which happens to be the zoo that Steve Irwin built with his parents (having viewed numerous informative yet boring videos on Steve Irwin, I now know more about him than I ever wished I would). The place was pretty awesome, although I was disappointed that I didn't see anyone get maimed or dismembered by a crocodile. I mean really, that's what we all hope for whenever we see Steve Irwin on TV, isn't it? We got to see the croc feeding, as well as lots of other cute but very fast animals that I couldn't get good pictures of :) I did manage to get a couple pictures of one of the slowest animals ever... Here's a picture of Harriet, the 174 year old turtle, when we got to the zoo at about 11 in the morning.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43938/P4280003.JPG Here's a picture of Harriet the 174 year old turtle when we left the zoo at 3 pm.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43939/P4280005.JPG That's what I call relaxed locomotion. I guess when you're 174 you can do whatever the hell you want, as slowly as you please. Here's a slightly younger turtle who was closer to the fence - take a look at his wrinkly little head - does he remind you of any famous movie stars?...
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43939/P4280007.JPG If you haven't gotten it yet, try thinking Steven Spielberg films. Still not seeing it? This turtle was the model for ET! Now you see it, I know I know... Here's a picture of the croc feeding - you all knew this was inevitable
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43939/P4280022.JPG And lastly here's a cute picture I took of some random birds. I think they're Cookaburras?...
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43939/P4280036.JPG I've settled into Noosa quite nicely now, and I'm saving a ton of money by working here and surfing for free. Life is good. I've met a ton of the locals here and I've actually been busking a couple of times with a guy named Rich - he's got a small djembe and he plays a lot of songs I know, so I just harmonize and play the wee drum. I let him keep all the cash we get, I just do it cause it's great fun! I've been eating way too many desserts at work... I think Sue is trying to make me fat. Sue is the cook in the kitchen at the hostel I work at, and she takes great pride and gratification from feeding all of the staff until their stomachs are about to burst. Who can say no to fresh baked home made strawberry cheesecake? Ah crap, I'm getting hungry again... Sue's basically a surrogate mom for most of the backpackers that come through the hostel - she reminds me of home, without actually reminding me of anyone I know. Strange but true! I'd love to tell you more but... Well, there's nothing more to tell :) My trip is going amazingly fast now - I cannot believe I've already been gone for almost 4 months - It seems ridiculous. Hell, I've been in Australia for a whole month! Anyone who's done this sort of traveling surely knows how I feel - even the days are going quickly now. And, on that note, I've got to get to the beach before the sun goes down - there's surfing to be done :) Spiker
Noosa.... Still!
Hey people! Well I'm still in Noosa, having the time of my life, surfing my arse off and working occasionally. My job is awesome - it basically consists of making people happy and doing dishes once a day, five days a week. It's like 18 to 20 hours a week, for free food and free accommodation, free laundry, free net, etc... Plus I get to live in my own little pad! AND THERE'S A PLAYSTATION! Home sweet home. I haven't played video games in god knows how long, and I'm probably going to get addicted to FIFA 2002 while I'm here :) I surf pretty much every day, I'm trying not to drink pretty much every night, and things are great. Having said that... Nothing new and/or exciting has happened in the last week. The job is solid, the people here are solid, the surfing is great and I'll be here for a couple more weeks, at least - I may actually have some money when I get home! Spiker
Fraser Island Madness
Hey kids! I'm in Noosa right now, I got here yesterday after some Fraser Island recuperation. Holy crap I was tired after that trip - And it was amazing! I have many pictures for you people, but I do have a bit of bad news about my camera - the memory card malfunctioned halfway through my Fraser trip, and I've had to delete the photos on it to get it running again. It was probably just a wee virus, lots of the internet cafes here have them. Thankfully, Vanessa has pretty much all the photos that I've lost on her camera as well! I still have some eye candy for you today though, Fraser Island was gorgeous - something I've come to expect here in Australia. We stayed at Beaches hostel on Saturday, and left for the island on Sunday, with 8 other people, in car "C". Basically, my trip to Fraser was a self drive experience. What this means is - Pile 10 people into a 4x4, go buy a lot of food, go buy even more booze - a REDICULOUS amount of booze - go to Fraser Island, set up camp, and finally eat and drink yourself into a coma. Our group was an excellent mix of people, including a few Brits, some Swedes and a Norwegian, us two Canadians and the craziest Irish man I've ever met. Fantastic. We saw so many amazing things on Fraser Island, and all three of our days there were absolutely packed with activities and destinations. As always, the pictures say volumes more than I ever could, so let's get to it! This is Indian Head- I got some pictures from up on top of there, but my memory card fritzed just after, so I've got no shots form up there until Vanessa gives me hers. From up there you could see turtles and stuff, as well as Tiger Sharks, two meters long, swimming in waist deep water... We did not swim in the ocean on Fraser Island :)
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43936/P4180003.JPG The views only get better from here. Next we went to the Champagne Pools, so called because the waves hit the rocks and foam up over them, it feels kinda like a salt water jacuzzi when they hit you.
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http://www.geocities.com/spiker43936/P4180012.JPG The next few pictures are of lake Mackenzie, which is in the middle of the island somewhere. I've never seen anything like this place... The white sand runs into a crystal clear freshwater lake, and then drops off suddenly, creating quite a nice color scheme. Hmm... I just said "color scheme"...
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43936/P4190044.JPG Here we decided it would be a great idea to hold hands and skip into the water, and get pictures of it. Now you see what two nights of heavy drinking does to brain cells. Stay in school kids.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43936/P4190052.JPG And here's possibly my favorite picture taken at lake Mackenzie, which shows just how rough a time I had on the island.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43936/P4190049.JPG Pretty hard work over there, I tell you what. There was also a lush rainforest on the island, and though I'm sure you're all tired of seeing pictures of trees, I think you might like this one anyway.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43936/P4190060.JPG Lastly, a picture of the most dangerous creature on the island. Deadlier than tiger sharks, more venomous than any snake, this creature strikes fear into the heart of anyone who sees it. Luckily this one was contained behind thick steel bars.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43936/P4190070.JPG How freakin cute is that? Of all the things we saw on the island though, I think the thing we saw the most was the bottom of empty beer cans as we finished them... I don't think I'll be drinking again for a little while, just to give my poor liver a rest. As a group, we finished 72 cans of beer and 8 liters of wine... ON THE FIRST NIGHT. We actually had to buy more for the second night... Ah, the hard life of a massive alcoholic :) I had such a great time over there, and made some good friends as well, it was a raging success. Having made our way here to Noosa, Vanessa and I are planning to spend a few days lounging around on the beach, and surfing our butts off! I really can't wait to get out there and surf, it's the only thing I've got left to do in Australia, and I'll be able to do it for next to nothing because I just got a job! Well, it's barely a job, all I do is work 4 hours a day, 5 days a week, and I get free lodging, free food, and a free SURF BOARD! Woohoo! I don't think it gets any better than this. I'll be here for the next three weeks or so, and I'm hoping to extend my stay in Australia until about the 22nd, so I can still see Byron Bay and Sydney on the way down. Needless to say, I don't think I'll be posting too much in the next little while, unless amazing things happen that you've simply got to hear about! After this, I've just got New Zealand left and then I come home to work in Kelowna. I am missing my family a bit more now, and I think that by the end of my trip, I will definitely be ready to come home :) Nevertheless, these next two months will go by very quickly I think... I can't believe I've already been gone for three and a half months... That honestly blows my mind. I've been so busy and overjoyed that the time has absolutely flown by. Then again, that's what they say - Time flies when you're having fun :) Spiker
The Whitsunday Islands and Chaka Shaka Washington
Ahoy landlubbers!... Okay, that was lame, but I
have been on a boat for the last few days - My sailing trip was a whale of a success!... Okay, I'll stop now. As most of you know, I was aboard a sailing ship in the Whitsundays for the last few days, and boy did I have a great time. We were aboard the Waltzing Mathilda, a beautiful sailboat about 30 feet long (that's just a guess), with 12 other adventurers and two crew. Here's a picture of everyone just as we got back to dry land, though I definitely can't remember everyone's names...
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43935/P4150068.JPG The darker girl was an American, and I mean she was AMERICAN - she complained a lot, about everything, and offered her opinion, on everything, and thought she was great (and didn't mind sharing this information), and always told you how her opinions weren't subjective, they were just... Right. I recall her talking about one of the crewmember's names, she said "What kinda name is
Tristram anyway... Is he like, named after Timtams or something?" It took all the power inside my entire body and soul to stop from pointing out that not only was her first name "Chaka", but her second name was also "Shaka", just spelled differently... How can someone with the name Chaka Shaka Washington declare that "Tristram" is an oddity?... Oh right, she was American :) I had quite a lot of fun with her throughout the trip - those who know me best know I have a tendency to push buttons... And she wore her buttons in bright colors on her shirt :) Aside from the fun I had with the American, we did a ton of other things that were both relaxing and exciting - an odd combination, but that's the best way I can describe it. We went snorkeling a few times, and Vanessa and I managed to find a sea turtle, some dolphins, and a manta ray! Amazing stuff down there under the waves. The manta ray felt like a rubber boot, and it looked so cool - I can't wait to develop the pictures we got on our underwater camera! Hopefully they turned out, you never know with this kinda stuff - we might just get streaks and bubbles. But if they do turn out, we'll have pictures of giant fish, turtles, rays... Australia kicks ass :) On our trip in the Whitsundays, we went to a Whitehaven beach, which was nothing short of stunning. Having been in Thailand, I was pretty sure I knew what a world class beach looked like - until I caught a glimpse of this one... The sand on Whitehaven beach is so fine that
it squeaks when you walk on it! It's made of almost 100% silica, but in reality it's just fish poop. Makes for one amazing sight though - take a look for yourselves. We got there early in the morning and so we were initially the only ones on this massive white sand beach. I'm actually making the first tracks on the beach that day, in the first picture here.
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This last picture is one of my favorites, though the fact that I got it is more luck than anything else - I awoke one morning to find that there was a big rainbow off the starboard of the ship, which was beautiful in it's own right, but then a ship sailed directly underneath it... Right through the middle. I found my camera quickly and took some shots, and they turned out great
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43935/P4150063.JPG I also got one where the ship is right on on end of the rainbow - I wondered aloud if they should rename the ship "Pot 'O Gold"... No one else laughed. A couple of the girls were feeling seasick that morning, though they didn't ever throw up - Chaka Shaka was the only one to ever lose her lunch on the boat. Speaking of lunch, the food on the boat was brilliant, and it was nice not to have to cook for a change - not that I mind cooking, it just gets tedious at times, especially having to use the kitchens in the hostels here, most of which are pretty crap - But, when I cook, Vanessa insists on doing dishes! It's a match made in heaven folks. Anyway, I'm off to Fraser Island tomorrow, yet another World Heritage Site, and I'm rather looking forward to it. Our group pooled it's money and we bought groceries together, and of course, liquor! It should be an enjoyable time, as long as I don't get eaten by Dingos... Once again, I won't be posting for a little while, but I should have some nice pictures when I get back! Cheers, Spiker
Crocodiles, Birthdays, and The Announcement
Hey people! Hope everyone's doin well over there, I know I am! Well... Alright, I'm kinda hungover from my birthday party last night, but what can you do? I'm 23 now, but my friends will tell you I'm not a day past 10 ;) As far as the post title goes, "The Announcement" will have to wait until the end of the post, so you don't just stop reading right here :) Now, on to my travels - I've got a lot to talk about. In the last few days I've been up to Cape Tribulation, been on a crocodile cruise, seen Port Douglas and most of Cairns, been out to the great barrier reef, and had a very awesome birthday party. Hmm, where to start... Cape Tribulation is a most wonderful place where the rainforest of northern Australia meets the ocean where the Great Barrier Reef lies - it's the only place in the world where two world heritage sites meet. On the way up there, though, we stopped at a few places, including Port Douglas, where I found this cute little church overlooking the ocean.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43930/P4070151.JPG We also found a very nice beach where we spent some time sitting on the sand. We never went swimming, however, because this part of Australia, at this time of year, is absolutely infested with box jellyfish. Apparently getting stung by one of these things is like putting a cigarette out on your arm. No thanks! We also found some very nice foliage - this one reminds me of a weeping willow, though I've got no clue what it actually is.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43930/P4070158.JPG After Port Douglas, we went out into the rainforest for a look at the interesting and frankly scary world that exists there. Spiders as big as your hand, snakes as long as a boat, and crazy lizards that look like dinosaurs, but still manage to blend completely into the plant they happen to be sitting on...
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43930/P4070180.JPG flora and fauna I've never seen before, or even imagined. Thankfully, once you accept that there are numerous things in the rainforest that can kill you, you sorta forget about it and just walk around wide-eyed, studying the gorgeous landscape in which you find yourself immersed. Take a look at these pictures and you'll understand what I'm trying to say :)
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http://www.geocities.com/spiker43931/P4070184.JPG Pretty amazing stuff. We did a crocodile cruise next, and we saw.... A crocodile!
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43931/P4070188.JPG Apparently, this croc was a pretty small one at 2.5 meters. The guide was saying the biggest croc he's ever seen was 8.5 meters long, weighed 3 tons, and was estimated to be 120 years old. Can you say dinosaur? If you hung it from a building, it would hang down like three stories! I'd like to see Steve Irwin take that thing on :) The Crocodile hunter would get great ratings for that episode, being his last. Next, we made our way up to Cape
Tribulation, where we stayed in a sweet hostel in the middle of the forest, close to the beach. We were pretty hard done by, as you can see by this picture :)
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43932/P4080232.JPG Cape Tribulation is actually named after English explorer Thomas Cook (I think it's Thomas), who was exploring just off the coast, and smoked the Barrier Reef with his ship. They went ashore for a bit, and he made camp in Cape Tribulation - so named because of the tribulations of this particular journey. You all know I love sunrises, so we couldn't miss the chance to get some pictures of a nice Cape Tribulation sunrise. The results were quite nice!
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43931/P4080207.JPG We had a free day in Cape Trib, which we used to spend even MORE of our money! We went kayaking on the ocean, out to the mangroves and creeks where the crocodiles live.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43932/P4080227.JPG I love kayaking, and though I did get a wee bit sunburned (Australia has no freaking ozone... Seriously), I still had a fantastic time. The guide was kinda worried that Vanessa would lag behind, cause... Well, cause she's a girl, but I think maybe in a former life she was an Olympic kayaker... Maybe even the person who actually invented kayaks. After kayaking, our guide split a coconut using a screwdriver, and we ate some of it, leaving the rest for the massive bush rats, that can get up to two feet long. Our time in Cape Trib was fantastic, well worth the money, though it was expensive... Speaking of spending excessive amounts of money, yesterday we went out and saw the Great Barrier Reef for the first time. It was simply amazing. Vanessa and I snorkeled our little hearts out, and saw some amazing things. Every kind of fish imaginable, every color, every shape, from tiny schools of fish as big as your the nail on your thumb, to sea turtles, to massive fish that troll the bottom of the reef looking for unfortunate food. I actually got to pet one of the fish - I'm not exactly sure how I ended up petting a fish, but there you have it - his name was Wally, or so I was told. He was about a meter long, and I think the only reason he let me touch him was because he was way too big for me to hurt, and he knew it. Most of the snorkelers just looked down at the huge fish, which was about 8 meters down. Luckily, I think I got a lot of my genes from Neanderthal man, including my large chest cavity, which lets me hold my breath for nearly a minute will I'm swimming around. I just swam down to where the scuba divers were and hung out with the big fish, swimming along beside it while it tried to ignore me. It felt amazingly soft, not what I was expecting at all. I tried to give it a hug, but it didn't like that very much... Still, I made a new friend :) We got lots of pictures from underwater, but they were with Vanessa's underwater camera, which uses regular film. I'll try and scan some pictures if possible, but don't hold your breath. The only picture I can offer you is this one, taken from inside the small semi submersible they had on the reef.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43932/P4090242.JPG This reef is only one of many types of reef that grow here. The entirety of the reef is massive. In fact, it's the only natural wonder that can be seen from space! I only saw a small part of it, but I'll get another chance to see some reef when we hit the Whit Sunday Islands. Oddly enough, the amazingly fine sand that makes up the beaches in the Whit Sundays comes from a most unlikely source - it's fish poop :) And now, getting to my birthday... What a strange, exciting night. It started out as all birthdays should - Having pints with some friends we'd made. These two English blokes were hilarious, it's too bad they're traveling North, since we're headed South. They're brothers, Lloyd and Byron.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43932/P4090251.JPG From there, it went places I definitely did not expect... You see... They have a coyote ugly type bar here in Cairns, named PJ's. Apparently they pick people from the crowd to come and dance on the bar, and whoever wins gets some kind of prize or something... All I know is, one minute I was drinking my beer, the next minute everyone around me was shouting "PICK THIS GUY, IT'S HIS BIRTHDAY!!", and soon after that I found myself... well, just look at the picture. WARNING - The image you are about to see is not only shocking, but it may cause temporary blindness.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43933/P4090264.JPG I know what you're all thinking - Proud day for me and my family! Luckily, I didn't make it past the first round. Even so, once I got down I was an instant celebrity, and everyone started buying me shots and drinks. From there, the night is a little hazy... What I can say for sure, though, is that I felt a lot better last night than I did this morning. Observe - Before:
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43933/P4100270.JPG After:
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43933/P4100272.JPG What a night. I had a ton of fun, and met a lot of excellent people, though I can't remember anyone's name... Finally, we went shopping today for sandals and books, and to my surprise I met up with a good friend I know from Canada, and from Thailand. I look somewhat like him, especially with my hair getting longer. I think most of you will know him too - He goes by Ronald.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43933/P4100274.JPG Ronald Macdonald that is. Didn't I tell you Macdonald's transcends the universe? Tomorrow we head off to Airlie beach, where we sail to the Whit Sunday islands. We've got an 11 hour bus trip ahead of us, which I'm not excited for, but the Whit Sundays are supposed to be absolutely gorgeous - the definition of the word paradise. Squeaky sand and tropical sun should make for a fantastic time - The only drawback was, as usual, that this trip is bloody expensive. Then again, you can't come to Australia and miss the Great Barrier Reef, the Whit Sundays, or Fraser Island, where we'll be going soon after our Airlie Beach sailing adventure. I will not be able to post for a few days, since I'll be on a boat in the middle of the ocean, though I'm sure it will take a while to read this post anyway - it's as long as a crocodile :) The only thing left now is the announcement! As you may know, last summer I worked in Kelowna at a camp called OAC, and I applied for a job there again this summer. I've just received word from the hiring staff, and I got the job! This means I'll be spending all summer in Kelowna, making lots of money for school and such, soaking up the sun in yet another waterfront location. My 24th year is shaping up to be a good one :) Spiker
Cairns
G'day mate! ... Shameless use of Aussie rhetoric, but it had to be done. So, I flew to Cairns yesterday, settled in here at my hostel, and we've planned out the next few days. I must say, Australia is bloody expensive... I would put it on the same page as England... Which is unbelievably expensive. If you've been there, or here, I'm sure you know what I mean. I'm definitely gonna have to do some work over here, that much has become very clear in the few days I've been here. In the next few days, I've planned a trip out to the great barrier reef, which happens to be the only biomass on the earth visible from space, and I've got a trip up to Cape Tribulation, which is where the Australian rainforest meets the Ocean. I didn't even know Australia had a freaking rainforest! Apparently, they do. And I'm going there, tomorrow. I don't have any interesting pictures to show you people, since I've just been arranging busses and crap all day, and I'm about to do some laundry and go swimming in my hostel's gorgeous pool. While, as I said, this country is very expensive, but I'm having a lot of fun so far. Australia is awesome, and I haven't even explored the most interesting places yet! I'll have tons of pictures for you guys when I come back from the reef, and hopefully I can find a computer that will let me upload them - this may be a problem in Australia, as many of their computer cafes don't allow this. Meh, I'm enterprising, I'll figure it out :) Look for a post sometime near... My birthday! I turn 23 on April 9th, and I think I'm having a pre-mid-life-crisis-crisis. 23 feels old. Don't start Omi, I know you're way older than me - I just
feel old :) Until then, good on ya, mates! Spiker
Brisbane, Australia
Hey kids! I write you now from Brisbane, Australia! I'm sure you guessed that after reading the title... Australia has been amazing so far - I know I've only been here a day or so, but I've been that impressed. Brisbane's resemblance to Vancouver city is uncanny. If I didn't know better, and if people didn't keep saying "G'day mate, oh yeeeeah, good on ya!", I might think I was back in Canada. This city is beautiful, clean (I can drink the freaking tap water, yay!), and full of very interesting people. Yesterday I was too tired to post anything - I didn't sleep a wink on the flight. There was this baby - it would not stop screaming. That's right, not crying, sobbing, or whimpering - screaming. This baby was the lead singer of slipknot. Seriously. I don't know exactly where the baby was sitting, but it's screams seemed to come from inside my head, after a while. I put my ipod on, full blast - and I could still hear the baby. It's poor parents, imagine how embarrassed they must have been... And it must have been red as a tomato, hahaha! Anyway... The plane did one good thing - it got me to Australia. Vanessa was there at the airport to pick me up! What a good friend, god knows I would have let her find the place herself - apparently Vanessa is much more a gentleman than I :) We got to the hostel, and wow is Australia expensive - especially after being in a place where you can live quite well on 20 dollars a day - our hostel alone is over 20 dollars each, per day. The food is expensive, the transit is expensive, alcohol is VERY expensive... It's a good thing this country is beautiful :) Plus, it brought me and a very close friend to a beautiful reunion...
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43928/P4010004.JPG Ah, Doritos. How I've missed you. Still no Kraft Dinner though, that reunion will have to occur back in Canada. To cut back on cost, and simply because I can, I'll be cooking for myself a lot here in Australia, doing my own laundry a lot, and churning my own butter. K well... Maybe I'll just buy butter. I'll make someone a fantastic housewife one of these years. Here's me, enjoying some cultural headwear
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43928/P4020012.JPG I look disgustingly good in that hat. Ew. After playing dressup, we went out to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, where we saw.... Some Koalas... as well as Kangaroos, Wallabees, and tons of other things I can't even remember. They were all really cool, take a look! And I would like to introduce my readers to Vanessa, the girl I'll be traveling with for the next few weeks, at least!
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43928/P4020033.JPG http://www.geocities.com/spiker43928/P4020051.JPG If that isn't the cutest picture you've ever seen, you need a head examination. Also, I made an interesting discovery at the sanctuary - I found an R.O.U.S! For those of you who don't know what an R.O.U.S is, be sure to see "The Princess Bride". This thing had massive teeth, and was about as big as a labrador dog.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43929/P4020057.JPG Actually, it's a tasmanian devil. Still, it was huge. Makes me glad Alberta doesn't have rats :) Lastly, here are some pictures of Brisbane!
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http://www.geocities.com/spiker43929/P4020087.JPG Well, thanks for reading the latest installment. We leave for Cairns, by plane, on Tuesday. Oddly enough, flying there is the cheapest way, by about 100 dollars each. Pretty ridiculous that it's cheaper than the bus, which takes two days to get there... Or the train, which takes two days and costs twice as much. From there, we plan on making our way down the coast, surfing our arses off, and going out on adventures to the Great Barrier Reef, the Whit Sunday Islands, Fraser Island, and anywhere else we can get to. I'll have to put myself to work somewhere in there as well, since I don't want to cut my trip short, and Australia is madly expansive. Farewell for now, and look forward to a new post in the next few days people! Spiker
Au Revoir Thailand
Well, this is it. My last post in Thailand, assuming I don't miss my plane :) It's been quite a run here. Two and a half months or so, and it ends tomorrow. I'm at once sad, but excited and anxious of what awaits me in Australia. I've been thinking about what I wanted to put in this post, and was having a difficult time summing things up - until today. I was walking back from the post office, when I was approached by a news crew from some random European country (I can only tell you that because of their accents), and they asked me if I'd answer a few questions for them. Well, you know me - any time in front of a camera is good! I said yes, and they started asking me questions about my time in Thailand. "What do I like about Bangkok" - Well... It's so big and busy I haven't really gotten a handle on it yet, despite being here for over a week throughout my travels... I definitely like shopping here, everything's cheap...The smog sucks, but what can you do? "Where have you traveled in Thailand" - Jeez, let me think... Pretty much everywhere! Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Chiang Khong, Nong Khai, Khorat, Phnom Rung, Aranya, Surat Thani, Ko Pha Ngan, Krabi, Ranong, Rai ley, Ao Nang, Ko Phi Phi... I guess that's about it. "Wow, that's quite a bit of traveling you've done... What was your favorite part?" without even hesitating, or thinking that he must have meant "what was my favorite place", I answered "The people". And that was the truth. The people are the best part of Thailand. Odd that it took a news crew for me to realize this, but nonetheless it rings true. Even besides the people, I can think of so many things that I loved about Thailand, and the rest of Southeast Asia that I've visited. The food - Green curry, Massaman Curry, Pad Thai, Sweet sticky rice, Amok, cheap fresh fruit... Never have I had such amazing, healthy, cheap food in my life. The temples - my favorites being Phnom Rung
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43911/P1010076.JPG , The Emerald Buddha
http://www.geocities.com/spiker4391/P1011412.JPG , And, of course, the unforgettable Angkor Wat
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43917/P1010153.JPG . My favorite places include Chiang Mai (by the way, take a look at how much I've changed since this picture... Scary)
http://www.geocities.com/spiker4393/P1011509.JPG , Ko Phi Phi
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43926/IMG_1265.JPG , Ko Pha Ngan
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43921/P1011446.JPG , and Rai Lei beach
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43923/IMG_1044.JPG . I've had some absolutely unforgettable experiences, including, to name a few, my pickup truck ride from Poipet to Siem Reap
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43913/P1010115.JPG , Riding Elephants in Doi Inthanon, Chiang Mai
http://www.geocities.com/spiker4393/P1011513.JPG , and seeing Bangkok for the first time, in all it's multicultural, fervently busy, breathtaking glory.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker4391/P1011425.JPG But the smog still sucks :) Thailand hasn't been perfect - there are a few things I miss from home, like my family, my friends, the ability to drink tap water, Kraft Dinner, Doritos, and my own comfy bed. There are things about Thailand that I won't have any problem forgetting about - The Bubonic Plague, the tuk tuk drivers in Bangkok, the people trying to sell you silk suits at EVERY corner (Hallo missa! What yo name? Whea you flom? You buy suit missa? ... No -.-), the language barrier, which was at times uncomfortable and loathsome, and the unbelievably hot nights. All in all, however, these few insecurities and challenges were overwhelmed by the sheer beauty, the cultural brilliance, and the supremely fantastic people of Thailand. I will never forget this place, the time I've spent here. The sadness I feel upon leaving Thailand is of the same nature as that which you feel at the departure of an old friend - I will miss this place until it returns, or rather, until I do :) Now, my sights are set on Australia. So much to explore there, so much to see, so many people to meet - I can't wait! I wish I was there already, but my flight leaves in about 24 hours - not soon enough by any stretch of the imagination. And so, I bid farewell to my good friend Thailand, and soon I shake hands with new, exciting Australia. By the way, you people still need to give me some ideas for books to read :) Spiker
Earthquake #2
Hey people. Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm just fine, having gotten off of Phi Phi about 1 day before the second earthquake hit. For those of you who didn't know, it was about 8.5, I've heard, though reports are varying. Ray said he could feel the quake from Phi Phi, but there was no wave whatsoever - thank goodness... Well, as for me, didn't feel a thing here in Bangkok, in fact no one here even knows about it. I was talking to lots of people who hadn't yet heard of the other earthquake... The only reason I know is because my mom emailed me to make sure I was ok. Isn't she sweet? :D Sorry to say mom, I'm fine - you can't have all my stuff. Speaking of stuff, I bought a camera today, an Olympus something-or-other, with 3X zoom, 3.0 megapixels, a free 128 meg memory stick, rechargable batteries with charger, and a nice little case, with a worldwide 2 year warranty for - remember, this is Thailand, not future shop - about 270 dollars CAD. Saweeeeeet! The salesman tried to sell me this beast of a camera that had like 8 trillion billion zoom and could hold eight hundred google pictures, the thing was like a freaking electron microscope... I decided on the simpler, cheaper, world wide warranty model :) I mean, other than taking pictures of my PORES, what do I need that much zoom for... I also bought a few clothes, some fire dancing equipment - they're called Poys, it's basically a ball of flaming death attached to a string... I know mom, I know... - and some really cool lamps for home. I'll be mailing em back tomorrow. My first two packages have arrived safely, so I'm gonna just hope with all my little heart that this last one makes it a hatrick. It's hard to believe that these are my final days in Bangkok. I've spent most of my time buying things and reflecting on my time here, trying to piece it all together. Flying into Bangkok at the beginning of my trip, seems like a year ago... But at the same time I can't believe I've already been here for two and a half months! Kinda strange, but if you've ever traveled, I'm sure you know the feeling. Being in Bangkok reminds me that Thailand is not such a big country, especially for tourists - no matter where you're coming from or going, everyone passes through Kao Sahn road at least a few times. I've met up with five different people I've met along my travels here, just in the last two days, in Bangkok. Pretty crazy, but I did meet a ton of people. I've still got one more post to make before I go so I'll spare the weepy goodbye for now. Check for another post tomorrow :) Spiker
Phi Phi Don, Phi Phi Leh, and The Toe
Hello everyone! Before I begin what will be a very long post, I'd like to apologize for not having posted sooner... I was, as most of you know, on Koh Phi Phi, a small island between Krabi and Phuket, in the middle of the ocean. Phi Phi got smoked by the tsunami, and when I arrived there, I saw some pretty amazing things... The internet there was very costly, and didn't always work very well, so I chose to simply check my email every few days, and wait until now to post! I could have put up a quick post on Phi Phi, but it would have cost me about a whole day's budget - kinda rough, but they just got the net back up recently. In fact, there were no working bank machines on Phi Phi until one day before I left. On arrival at Phi Phi, travelers are greeted with sights such as these
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43924/IMG_1078.jpg
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The other thing you see right away is that there are people cleaning stuff up everywhere - a work force of a few hundred ex-pats (foreigners) manning shovels, wheelbarrows and sledge hammers, doing demolition work, cleanup, and then construction all over the island - and this work is urgently needed, as the Thais come back and try to put their lives back together. Some of the numbers are staggering. About 700 people were pulled from a large reservoir, that basically turned into a mass grave after the wave hit, with exactly one survivor amongst them. The more you hear about it, the higher the numbers seem to get. I volunteered for a few days there, about half the time I was on the island. There is nothing more satisfying than helping the people who need it most. The progress you see is almost immediate, especially since most projects involve more than 5 or 6 people. I worked on a few different things, including some cleanup and some demolition, and it was pretty hard work, especially since Phi Phi hits 35 or so every day - even at nights the island doesn't drop below 20. Speaking of nights... Guess what the volunteers do, every single night of the week, after putting in hours and hours of physical labor? I bet you already guessed it... They play connect four! Oh and they get really drunk as well. Never have I seen a group of people who work or party harder than the volunteers on Phi Phi. I've got the pics to prove it! What began as a normal night for us three travelers, Ray, Cal and Chris...
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43924/IMG_1103.JPG
Ended like so
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43924/IMG_1152.JPG That's right, a mosh pit. There was this band that played at once of the few open bars there, called the Rolling Stoned - a fantastic Thai Cover Band, to be exact. They played all sorts of Iron Maiden and ZZ Top and Pink Floyd, all the old classics, and when they played Rage Against The Machine, well... Everyone went crazy! I actually got to play some drums later on at this same bar. Now, I have for you a new and exciting story. On one of these not-so-sober nights, I met these girls.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43925/IMG_1222.JPG They might seem like ordinary girls, but they are evil! Especially the one at the top of the picture - she is especially evil. Her name is Laura. We were playing a game of half inebriated soccer on the beach, and she kicked the crap out of my foot... Which made a very loud cracking sound after said contact. While I have no pictures of my toe Pre-Laura, I do have one picture of my toe Post-Laura
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43926/IMG_1229.JPG Kinda nasty. Don't get me wrong, I have ugly hobbit feet anyway - but that toe, in this picture, happens to be broken and dislocated. I've also got a picture of the medic who set my toe, a really nice guy named James, from the States somewhere.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43927/IMG_1306.JPG He yanked on that tiny toe with all his might, popping it back into place, though it was - and is - still broken. Sounds crappy, but of all the bones to break, on my entire body... Could I have picked a better one? Doubtful. And here's the proof - look how happy I was with my newly broken toe!
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43925/IMG_1223.JPG And it definitely didn't stop me from going to Phi Phi Leh the very next day! Phi Phi Don is where most of the population resides, the northern island, split into two bays with a big beach in the middle. Leh is another island just south of Don, and happens to be where they filmed most of the movie "The Beach", starring Leo Dicaprio. The exact location is called Maya Bay - What a gorgeous place.
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Apparently they digitally added mountains into the middle of the landscape to make it the secluded lagoon you've all seen in the movie. Not only was the beach absolutely stunning, but the marine life in the water was ridiculous - I've never seen so many fish in my life. Just ask Ray, who looks like he's being drowned by fish in this picture
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43927/IMG_1278.JPG Callahan managed to get some underwater shots with his waterproof camera bag
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43924/100_2170.JPG The fish looked nice, but our boat driver would throw rice at us while we were in the water, so the fish would swarm us and eat all the rice, while taking little bites of skin all the while - they didn't ever draw blood, it just hurt a little. All they wanted was the rice. In fact, when Ray decided to shove rice
down my pants, the fish decided to swim
up my pants to get the rice. What a wonderful friend! On the way back from Phi Phi Leh we encountered some large stormclouds, which of course did not raise any alarms with our fearless Thai captain.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43927/IMG_1285.JPG In fact, we stopped at another little beach on the way back to Phi Phi Don, where Cal, Reed, Jesse and Ray (All travelers I'd met earlier on in Thailand) were met by about 25 monkeys who were not pleased to have intruders on their beach. I don't really have any pictures of this occurrence, since I was resting in the boat, broken foot and all, and they were all running away from the monkeys. They also had a lot of fire dancing on Phi Phi, and it was the best I've seen, even better than Koh Pha-Ngan.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43925/IMG_1209.JPG
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43925/IMG_1213.JPG On the same night I took these pictures, I encountered one of the strangest occurrences I've ever experienced. It can be described using two beautiful words - free alcohol. Folks, let me first tell you that this story is not a joke, and I'm not kidding. The British Embassy, upon hearing about all the volunteering in Phi Phi, decided that the best way to help out - seriously - was to donate 5 thousand baht in free booze. Only the Brits... The thing is, Thailand refused foreign aid, and so this was basically the only way that they could help out. Besides, who doesn't like a bit of free alcohol here and there :) Well, after leaving Phi Phi, I took an all night bus to Bangkok, where I am now. I would have gone to Phuket a few days ago, but I was just enjoying Phi Phi too much to leave. So many fantastic people all in one place. I started this post at 6 in the morning, though I'm not exactly sure what time it is right now - the computer clocks in this country are consistently inconsistent. Here in Bangkok I plan on doing some major shopping before I hit Australia, since everything is so cheap here, and I'll send another package home which will probably arrive after I do. I need to buy a book or two for the plane - that's right, I've actually started READING BOOKS. If this doesn't confirm a complete change in my life, I don't know what would! I've read the Davinci Code, The Alchemist, Life Of Pi, and The Celestine Prophecies, as well as a couple beginner books about Buddhism. If any of you can recommend some good books that I should check out, it would be greatly appreciated! I also need to buy me a digital camera, since I'm not sure who I'll be traveling with in Australia. I'm meeting my friend Vanessa in Brisbane, but I'm not sure how long we'll be together, or what her plans are. I plan on making one last post before I leave Thailand, so there's no point in getting mushy quite yet - but I will surely miss this wonderful country when I am gone. The good thing is... I fly to Brisbane in three days!!! Spiker
Cobras and Beaches
Hello faithful readers! Well you'll all be happy to know that I've actually done something new and interesting in the last few days - a change is a good as a rest, I suppose, and I've been surprisingly reunited with a couple of my favorite world travelers. While I was in Ao Nang, a small town just outside of Krabi, talking to Calahan, one of the Canadian fellows I met in Laos, I discovered that he was also in Ao Nang. Amazingly, he was about one city block from where I was sitting, in a different internet cafe. We met up, and he informed me that Ray, one of my Full Moon party buddies, was on his way to the very place we then stood. What ensued can only be described as a massive gong show - we get along amazingly well, and... How shall I put this... Together, we are possibly the three most immature men on the planet. I'm talking fart jokes, followed by mom jokes, followed by strange sounds and inexplicably random movements... Complete lunacy. I've not laughed this hard in a long, long time. Normal people just shake their heads in disbelief. My brother would fit in quite nicely I think... At any rate, we the three-strong-gong-show ventured out to Rai Ley, a set of four beaches that are supposedly some of the most beautiful in the world. Before I show you some beach pictures (A special thanks to Ray and Cal for giving me access to their cameras!), let me show you the bungalow we stayed in, for about 3 dollars each, per night.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43922/IMG_0921.JPG Pretty awesome location. The beaches at Rai Ley are amazing mostly because of the huge limestone cliffs that jutt out of the sand just behind the treeline. Some of the best climbing in the world can be done here, although it's quite expensive and didn't fit into my budget. Plus I'm still not done working on my tan :)
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43922/IMG_0924.JPG http://www.geocities.com/spiker43922/IMG_0936.JPG Here are some pictures of me & the boys, and some Swedes we met up with at the beach. I should explain that the reason Ray is perched on the wall while holding a pellet gun in one of these pictures is that he was trying to shoot me while I was in the shower. No, really...
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While on the beach, we went and saw a cobra show. I wasn't really sure what a cobra show entailed and, as it turns out, it's just an absolutely crazy man who gets in an enclosed space with huge cobras, mostly for fun. He had obviously had years of training, he was one step ahead of the snake at all times, and always distracting it - most of the time with his HEAD, by moving it from side to side just enough to keep the cobra busy... I guess? He never faltered, always staring at the cobra intensely to make sure it didn't... uhh.. Kill him, as it were. Of course, the cobra was not a happy camper, and it lunged at the man many times, though in the end they were all unsuccessful. The man actually bent down and kissed the snake at one point, right on it's head, using his hands as distractions. Why one would want to kiss a snake is beyond me, but the man was quite obviously a lunatic, so I didn't ask. All in all, one of the craziest things I have ever seen.
http://www.geocities.com/spiker43923/IMG_0996.JPG That cobra was about 12 feet long, by the way. Amazingly though, the cobra show is not the coolest thing I've seen these past few days. It was overshadowed completely by my experience at MacDonalds. Having not been to MacDonalds in I don't even know how long, we decided to take a trip to our friendly neighbourhood Thai franchise. What we found there was undeniably awesome. You have not truly indulged in the greatness of MacDonalds until you've had a "Samurai Pork Sandwich". Couple that with the ever tantalizing "Chicken Prosperity", a tried and tested tastebud pleaser, and you've got the best thing since sliced McBread. And what goes better with the Samurai and Prosperity combo than MacDonalds' own house made sweet chili sauce. Simply amazing. Well, that's all I've done in the past few days, and next we're off to Ko Phi Phi, one of the areas hardest hit by the tsunami. Ray, Cal and I are hoping to do some volunteer work over there, cleaning up beaches and picking boats out of trees, that kind of thing - I feel I owe it to Thailand to help at least help a little bit. I've really enjoyed being here, and I guess this is the best way I can say thanks. Keep those emails coming, I don't want to get lonely over here :) Spiker
Krabi
Hey y'all! Just wanted to let you know that I've made it through Burma alive, and the journey was quite interesting. We took the night boat, at 10 pm, from Ko Pha-Ngan to Surat Thani (on the mainland). The night boat is basically just a floating mattress, though sleep is difficult to come by due to the always loud Thai women. Also, something peculiar I noticed on the boat - a man sleeping under a mosquito net... In the middle of the ocean?... I'm not entirely sure how much range mosquitoes have, but I think 50 miles is stretching it a bit. Come to think of it, I don't think a mosquito could have stung that man even if it was strapped to a laser guided missile and fired at our boat. At least he was well prepared in case of surprise attack, I suppose. At any rate, we then went up to Ranong, then took the boat over to Burma, where I was simultaneously accosted by 5 tiny money grabbing monks, four young men trying to sell me cigarettes and whiskey, three giggling ladyboys, two strange old men trying to sell me
VIAGRA (Seriously)
, and ... A partridge in a pear tree. I returned to the boat with all speed, then came back to Thailand and bussed all the way down here to Krabi, where I am now. So far I really like Krabi, it's just like the east coast, and the islands, except it's literally half price - should help me stay on budget! And of course it will help me continue on the road towards skin cancer, and a good tan :) Lately though, I've been starting to miss Canada a little bit - the only thing is, it's not what you'd expect to be missing. Yesterday I had the craziest craving for Kraft Dinner all day long... Today I was feeling the need to eat some Doritos. It's only the things that you've really become accustomed to and taken for granted that you start to miss. Oh and I miss my family too! ... And my friends!... (Yes, I have friends) But I think I'd trade my little brother in for a box of KD and a bag of Doritos at this point. Hope you understand Jason! Much love to everyone, and I SWEAR I'll have some pictures up before April, I promise! In the meantime, I guess I'll work on making friends with some people with cameras, so I can steal their pictures! Keep writing and, if possible, can anyone organize a Kraft Dinner airdrop to my current position?... Spiker
