Australia mate

Ok so I am trying to cover 3 weeks worth of backpacking in Australia in a condensed fashion...I'll try to just cover the highlights, and I have bolded the sentances that really sum up the place if you want to skim through the blog. I could go more in depth about each place and make the read more interesting but its too long!

First things first, Australia is REALLY really expensive. I mean I knew it would be more than southeast asia, but I am getting absolutely killed financially..its more expensive than the US! That being said, Im still having an awesome time and will probably change my flight home to extend my stay. I'll just go chronologically about what I've been up to and organize it by destination:

Brisbane: Flew into Brisbane, and that was my first few steps in Australia. Met a really cool Dutch guy named Neils, and we met up with two local Brisbanites and went to the drinking/bars district and watched a rugby game on TV and got real drunk with the locals, which was really fun. The name of the bar was Caxtons, and the next night we went to Tinbilly's and Down Under Bar. Also, I went to the top of a mountain near Brisbane called Mt. Cootha, and got some really sweet views of downtown Brisbane. Finally, went swimming in "the lagoon", which is a fake beach on the edge of the river in Brisbane. From my experiences in Brisbane, its a great place to live and grow up, but it's definitely not the big, loud, party central like other parts of Oz. A good time, but I was ready to move on.

Australia Zoo: I took the train about 2 hrs north of Brisbane, and went to the famous "Australia Zoo" which is also "Steve Irwin's Zoo". It was pretty cool, and I got to pet Koala's and Kangaroo's, and also see Casaberries (<--the big big birds that can't fly), Dingoes (<-like wild dogs), Wallabies, gigantic tortoises, tons of snakes/lizards, and even white children and white elderly people...it sounds funny, but throughout my month long travel in southeast asia I think I probably only saw 3 white children and maybe a few couples of old people. Makes sense though, as SE Asia was all 18-30 yr old backpackers and the locals...which I loved. Anyways, the Zoo is only about 4km from the train station (maybe 3 miles?), so in order to make the afternoon train back to Brisbane & the airport I decided to walk it... I had my big backpack with all my stuff, my little backpack, it was easily 100 degrees with a strong sun beaming on me, and I was walking on the side of a freeway in the mud and grass. I was so sweaty and was really worried about passing out. I stuck my thumb out and tried to hitch a ride to the train stop but this highway was not busy at all...I eventually walked into a police station and cooled off in the A/C, and thankfully I was only another football field or so away from the station. That was shitty, but overall the zoo was really cool and unique as I cannot see a lot of those animals anywhere else in the world.

Whitsunday Islands: From Brisbane I flew up to Airlie Beach, which is the port town all the boats use as a dock for the Whitsunday Islands. Definitely a highlight of my trip thus far. I did a 4 day, 3 night trip sleeping on a 50+ foot catamaran with ~30 backpackers. We sailed through the cluster of islands known as Whitsundays, and stopped at Whitehaven Beach, which is always in the top 10 most beautiful beaches in the world! In addition, we sailed up 4 hrs to the 'outer' great barrier reef, and I did 5 dives, including the most epic night dive of my life. To summarize briefly, the day dives were really cool and saw tons of turtles, sharks (6-10 feet), colorful fish, and did some really good cave diving. During one cave, all I could see was the red line on the person's fin in front of me and then poof, pitch black. Couldn't even see my own hand in front of my face. It was actually kinda scary, but I just kept kicking and eventually saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Then the night dive, we jumped in a fast current and dropped down to 20 meters (Like 60 feet?) and all you can see is wherever you point your flashlight. We immediately saw 5 sharks, sleeping turtles, tons of other sleeping fish, and other glowing creatures.

Fraser Island: I spent 3 days, 2 nights with a group of 5 people offroading on this sand island in a 4 wheel drive jeep. We saw beautiful lakes, dingoes, sea turtles, and then at night had a great campfire.

Surfers Paradise/Gold Coast: Surfer's was really cool because it reminded me of back home. The water was so so nice and warm, and the waves were perfect. I body surfed surfers paradise, then a break called Burleigh Heads, and then at night went on the famous "Backpackers Big Night Out Pub Crawl"... And yes, it was a "big night out" indeed. The next day I went down with my two german friends and an aussie guy to checkout the Quicksilver Pro Surf competition at Snapper's Rock and saw Bruce Irons and a ton of other famous professionals. Finally, at night we drove (the two germans have a car.. and actually, I travelled with them and slept in their car for a solid week!).. anyways, we drove to a cave at night that has a waterfall inside it and also tons of worms that glow during the night. That was absolutely gorgeous and beautiful.

Byron Bay: This place reminds me of San Clemente with an added dash of hippy-ness. It's small, but the surf was barrelling and the party scene at night is happening. Developers would love to turn this into a surfer's paradise (with skyrise hotels and such) but Byron is a small town with strong local roots. I met a Scottish guy with a surfboard, and he let me surf this break at Byron Bay called "The Wreck".. It's called the wreck because there's a ship wreck and the mast and other parts of the ship are rusted and jutting out of the water. The waves were easily 6 foot and barrelling, and the current was really really strong. I kept getting pushed up towards the ship wreck, and the waves were actually really big, so I caught one wave then went in and relaxed on the beach.

Waterfall Way: Did a drive on the "waterfall way" and hiked to the Dangar Falls, which was really beautiful. Unfortunately I hiked in sandals and got bit by a LEACH in between my toes! I didnt notice until like 2 hrs later when we were in the car and the german dudes couldnt stop laughing. We burned it out and there was a lot of blood... in fact, my toe did not stop bleeding for 3 days! The leaches have an anticoagulant that makes it so your blood doesnt clot...my socks were bloody and it was miserable!

Sydney: Ok Sydney is easily one of my favourite cities in the world! It was big and bustling, it was very young with an awesome night life, it has famous sites, its different neighborhoods are cool, and Manly & Bondi beach are only 15 minutes away! I did all the touristy stuff in Sydney (opera house, harbour bridge, sky tower, Manly Beach, Bondi beach, Kings Cross nightlife, etc.) and also met a lot of cool people at the hostel who were from all over the world but are living and working in Sydney. I really had a perfect time here, up until last night.... I was with a couple of friends walking on the sidewalk at like 1030pm headed to a bar, and all of a sudden some middle eastern or italian or some guido asshole sucker punched me in the left eye. I didn't look at him, say anything or do a thing to piss him off... He was just drunk or probably pissed off over some girl or rugby game and then wham..wacked me in the face. I was really stunned but pissed off, and wanted to kick his ass, however he was much bigger and with 3 other guys. I turned around and they started jumping up and down and really wanted to fight me for no reason.. We walked away and bought a bag of peas to put on my eye, and thankfully there was no blood and only minimal swelling.

And now I'm way way down under in Melbourne!

Links to Australia Pictures: (copy and paste link into a new tab):

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2152833&id=10808601&l=78b563aa80

AND

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2154018&id=10808601&l=a53662c54e

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Ending Thailand and off to Australia

Blogging is fun and all but mannnn can it be a big task looking at a blank screen and trying to remember all the highlights.. I'll try to remember but to be honest, the latter half of thailand was a lot of swimming in gorgeous beaches, which was absolutely amazing however it may not be the most interesting to read about... Just a heads up. Anyways, I believe I left off talking about the half moon party. Probably the best party I've ever been to in my life! We started pregaming at the "Coral Bungalows" which was literally right on the sand in Koh Phangan. Oh also I should mention that the word "Koh" means island in thailand, so keep that in mind. Anyways, the drink of choice in koh phangan are "buckets", which is a sand bucket filled up with about half a 5th of vodka, add coca cola and lime and poof you have a 'bucket'. They are meant to be shared between 5 people or so, but it was just me and Nick to start off so we handled two buckets and were ready to rumble in the jungle. Everyone was in the bar at our bungalow/hostel/resort place and painted each other up with glow in the dark body paint. Then you hop in the back of pick up trucks and follow the caravan of other trucks with drunken 16-30 yr old glowing bodies in the back. We rode for a good 30 minutes along the coast then took a side road leading towards the middle of the island. We got out and instantly we're so stoked.. Everywhere you look was lit up either by DJ lighting or glowing bodies. There was a stage set up, guys twirling fire, tons of smoke and lights, and a FAT bumping bass. We started at around 1130 at night and ended up leaving around 5am... It was SO SO SO rad, I am going to upload photos and a video to facebook right after this.

Anyways, after Koh Phangan & the half moon party, we headed north to the next island, Koh Tao - which is very popular for scuba diving. Although it was a bit pricey, I bit the bullet and went scuba diving on Koh Tao while Nick floated at the top and snorkelled. It was an afternoon dive, and unfortunately the really good dive spots were inaccessible as the wind and waves made it unsafe. However, we went to a different spot and saw pretty coral, a massive school of yellowtail that were swimming all around my body (I actually got a bit disoriented and scared.. shhh) and tons of other fish (needle fish, parrot fish, etc etc.). The next morning the dive company was going to do a shark dive, and I was really amped but then realized we had a flight later that day, and you cant dive & fly on the same day.. bummer. We took another boat back to Koh Samui, and thankfully made our flight. The airport on Koh Samui is hilarious as well, there are no terminals or McDonalds and all that.. its just a landing strip and you wait under a hut for your plane. Our plane was a propeller plane as well...which was a little nerve racking but we made it from the East Coast islands to the other side of Thailand: Phuket (on the west side).

From Phuket we took a ferry to Koh Phi Phi, which is quote "the most beautiful beach in the world"... I would agree. The small village on the island has shops and hotels and such, but the alleys are really small and only for walking. No cars on the whole island, that was a nice change as all the rest of asia is so noisy. Anyways, the beach was absolutely amazing. The water is 80 degrees, only about 3 feet deep for a solid half a mile out, the sand is white, and these huge limestone rocks covered in jungle plants (vines and stuff) cover the rocks. ALSO, its a huge destination for scandinavians, and the beach was filled with beautiful, tan, blonde, topless swedish women, mainly my age as well. Nick and I were in heaven. I never wanted to leave, but after two solid days of being unable to talk due to the beauty of the nature and swedish women, nick and I ferried back to Phuket. I'm really not joking either, we barely said a word to each other during the day except for words like "wow", "look at that chick", and "man this is paradise".

Anyways, we heard that Phuket was really dirty and just another typical sex tourist destination, but we were surprised at the amount of normal tourists and the beaches were actually very pretty. Not even sure if I have talked about the whole sex tourism in Thailand yet, but basically any bar in any city has loads of prostitutes soliciting themselves. You can do anything in thailand. Oh and theres a ton of older white guys who come to thailand for 3 weeks vacation/work and have a thai "wife". Basically the guy will pay for the thai woman to travel with him and food and stuff, and the wife just needs to put out at his request. Its pretty disgusting, and nick and I witnessed a guy tell his thai "wife" to get off the train a minute before it left. She looked really sad and we were pretty shocked. It's definitely a shock to see, but we got used to it and I gaurantee the industry will stay as permanant in thailand.

Ah so Phuket. The beach was fun and at night the nightlife was probably the craziest we have witnessed yet. The district called Patong has a long street where there are likely 110 + bars. They have these big centers too that would be like the size of a Clothing Store in a Mall and its just packed with tons of different bars. It was our last night in Thailand so we stayed up late and had a really fun time. Next day Nick left for Melbourne, Australia where he is studying abroad until June. I also flew out to Brisbane, Australia which is where I currently am. Although Australia is going to be fun, its going to be a totally different experience from Southeast Asia. I basically feel like Im back in America, and its really really nice to be able to drink water from the shower and sink again! Also, its probably 80-85 degrees, but it is such a relief as thailand was easily 100 - 115 during the day and night.

Looking forward to exploring the East Coast of Australia! Also pictures will be posted very very soon.

Pictures from Thailand:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2151916&id=10808601&l=f043f54b85

Cheers!

Trekking, Tiger bites, & islands of Thailand

5 days goes by and a lot happens when traveling in Thailand...plus I am going to a half moon party in the jungle in Koh Phangan island in about 35 minutes, so I'll try to make this blog short-ish.. try.

After Bangkok Nick and I rode a sleeper train up to Chiang Mai, which was a nice change from the heat, smog, and corruption in Bangkok. Chiang Mai is a city up in Northern Thailand, and a base for people to venture out into the jungle and visit hill tribes. We immediately got off the train at 7am and left for a 3 day, 2 night camping/hiking trip up in the jungle with a guide and 7 tourists, all of which were 20 or 21 yrs old. It was a LOT of hiking, and a lot of sweating, but at night we drank off our aches and eventually had this great idea of eating real animals straight from the jungle. So our guide took us at like midnight to some creek, and we all caught frogs and then barbeque'd and ate them! I would have never eaten random frogs from a jungle, let alone frogs in a restaurant..but when in Rome do as the Romans... haha. We slept in a bamboo hut, and it was actually really cold at night. The next day, we hiked a ton more, and walked through the Karen Village where we saw the local school, how they live, how they cook, etc. etc. Nick and I kinda already did the village thing in Cambodia (and me with the Vietnamese family when I slept outside back in Vietnam). More hiking..more sweating..BUT a lot of cool views, creeks, birds, and even a baby cobra snake along the way. Around 4pm we made it to an awesome waterfall, and we spent the night next to the waterfall and a bonfire we made. THAT was well worth the hike. On the last day of trekking, we rode elephants and went down a river on a bamboo raft! After that we went back to Chiang Mai, and went to a Muy Thai fight where we watched kids, women, and full grown men all fight! I placed bets with the locals and in the end lost 80 baht (~$3 USD) but had a really fun time.

And of course... I have the WORST luck and horrible horrible karma..some something bad/crazy always has to happen.. Nick and I wanted to go to "Tiger Kingdom" to pet and hold all sizes of tigers. So we went, and we paid to pet the baby tigers (4 months old... but still probably 150 lbs.).. When we walked in the cage, the two babies were play fighting, and then the guide seperated them and told us to go ahead and start petting and taking pictures. One tiger was laying down, so I squatted next to him and started petting it.. And then, the other tiger came right up behind me and BIT ME in the back! I was wearing a tank top and he got me right on the shoulder blade area! I didnt know what the hell had happened, it just felt like a stick scratched me or something. We laughed and were like "shit I dont think THAT was supposed to happen.." but then like 10 minutes later it started to sting and we looked at the bite and it was swollen and bleeding! The guide took me inside and they cleaned up the blood and were like "Oh its not that bad" and it really wasn't, yet the workers were all calling each other and coming up and looking at the bite! This one guy spoke really good english, and he said I was the FIRST tourist to be bitten in a full year! It was kind of funny, because the workers were trying to be so calm about it but every time they looked at the bite they put their hands to their mouth and speak real fast Thai and say "Oh my Buddha" .. which is also funny as we say "Oh my God". So I got taken to the hospital to get a tetnus shot, and fortunately the Tiger Kingdom zoo place payed the bill. Also an interesting experience being in a Thai hospital...although not as bad as i imagined. One of the nurses was flambouyantly gay wearing lip stick and all that.. and of course HE was the one chosen to take care of me and wipe off blood and give me a shot and gauze me up and talk to me and just be as gay as possible.. I bet he requested to help me: the white dude which the asians love so much. I have absolutely nothing against gay people, but it was just the icing on the cake.

Anyways, after being bitten by a Tiger in Thailand and going to the hospital, we still managed to make our flight and our now far down south in a GORGEOUS island called Koh Phangan. This island is notorious for parties, and they celebrate every full mooon, half moon, quarter moon, black moon, etc. etc. So tonight is the half moon party, so we are drinking, everyone wears glow in the dark body paint, and its in the middle of the jungle and there's a line up of DJ's and light shows. Its basically a rave in the jungle.. it's 10:30pm at the moment and it lasts till 10am tmrw morning. Should be epic! With that, I'm out.

Pictures to come soon. Cheers.