Well Bryce and Cam are on their way home, they're spending a few days in Honolulu with Bryces dad before flying home. I still have money left and don't want to start working again so I'm going to try solo travel for a bit. Unfortunately I went for a swim with my phone and it's ruined, I hope I can somehow get the photos off the hard drive. I bought a new camera and Bryce accidentally left his iPod touch so I can still get wifi.
I'm in Brisbane for a few days then I'm flying to Auckland, New Zealand. Don't know how much longer I'll travel for, I'm feeling a little more homesick and with my friends gone I'll probably have trouble meeting people. But I did meet a Scottish couple and their English friend who are also headed for NZ next week, maybe I can tag along with them.
Friday, 27 July 2012
Monday, 16 July 2012
105 total travel days.
Past few days have been up and down. I'm sitting here at the bar of our hostel in Noosa, it's a resort town in Queensland on the ocean. It's gorgeous and would be perfect, but we've run into van trouble. We picked our parking spot behind the hostel and started setting up camp. But then the sliding door on our van wouldn't close. It's locked in the open position. So far we've only had minor inconveniences (leaking roof for the upper bed, the lawn chairs they gave us are all broken, the DVD player doesn't work. some other small bullshit) but this is a major problem. So roadside assistance couldn't fix it, now we have to get up tomorrow and get the van ready for a tow truck. I don't think it will cost us anything but it's such a pain in the ass. It especially stresses out Bryce. I usually don't care, there are worse places to be stuck and Jucy (the rental company) should he paying for it but it's just a fucking headache and stuff like this ruins his mood.
Enough bullshit though, we spent the last few days in Byron Bay. The hostel is wicked and there's a brewery and bar sharing the parking lot. We hung out with our high school friend Sam and her friends. She's been here since October, traveling, surfing, sheering sheep. Shes really bubbly and has made many friends in her travels. We drank with her boyfriend and her pretty Norwegian friend. I guess after Australia Sam wants to move to Norway. We got really drunk and drove her the next morning to her bosses house so she could start her next sheep gig.
We spent another night in Byron, and met two Scots and an English dude who also had a Jucy van. They had been living for the past year in Melbourne and have been away from home for 16 months, they've hit up South East Asia, India, and Europe and are planning on going to South America next. We passed the whiskey around and traded van stories and bitched about the queen.
Next morning we headed to Nimbin. The drive in was incredible, tight twisty roads with amazing scenery and waterfalls, dotted with fruit farms, it was gorgeous. It made me miss my bike and made me day dream about going home with the money I have, going home buying a Harley and riding across Canada. I had heard about Nimbin before our trip and wanted to check it out. It's a tiny town about 60 kms inland from Byron Bay. Marijuana is illegal in Australia but in Nimbin it's sold openly on the streets and they have huge weed festivals here. The 60's never really died here, it's only a few hundred people living here but everyone is either a burnout in his 60's, a aboriginal living off welfare, or just a sketchy dude. The main drag is filled with hemp stores, craft stores, psychics readings and other bullshit. Our hostel just outside of town was amazing though. We pulled in and about 3 Wallabies were sitting along the fence staring at us. The hostel, like Nimbin, was run by hippies, but the bathrooms were nice, theres a pool, and our van overlooked an amazing valley. At night the stars here are amazing and the animal noises are unreal.
Bryce and Cam are both leaving at the end of the month. I'm going to stay, but I don't know for how long. I don't want to travel alone but I don't have much choice. I've still got a lot of cash left and don't wanna go home. Honestly I don't miss much from home. I really miss my family, friends, motorcycle, and my own bathroom. But that's about it, out here in the van I have steak everyday (it's 5 dollars for a steak in Oz and it's almost 5 dollars for a green pepper here), I also navigate while Bryce drives, and just listen to music and enjoy the scenery. I don't know how I'll fair on my own though, Bryce says I've come out of my shell on this trip but truly solo travel worries me. I'm still an introvert and having a huge beard and tattoos probably doesn't paint the most welcoming image.
Right now I'm thinking of either finding a hostel here in Oz to work in, or I'll fly to New Zealand. It's only 300 for a flight to Auckland. I don't want to admit defeat just yet. I think after my friends leave I'll get a nice hotel in Brisbane and just enjoy some hot showers and TV for a few days and try to think about it.
Enough bullshit though, we spent the last few days in Byron Bay. The hostel is wicked and there's a brewery and bar sharing the parking lot. We hung out with our high school friend Sam and her friends. She's been here since October, traveling, surfing, sheering sheep. Shes really bubbly and has made many friends in her travels. We drank with her boyfriend and her pretty Norwegian friend. I guess after Australia Sam wants to move to Norway. We got really drunk and drove her the next morning to her bosses house so she could start her next sheep gig.
We spent another night in Byron, and met two Scots and an English dude who also had a Jucy van. They had been living for the past year in Melbourne and have been away from home for 16 months, they've hit up South East Asia, India, and Europe and are planning on going to South America next. We passed the whiskey around and traded van stories and bitched about the queen.
Next morning we headed to Nimbin. The drive in was incredible, tight twisty roads with amazing scenery and waterfalls, dotted with fruit farms, it was gorgeous. It made me miss my bike and made me day dream about going home with the money I have, going home buying a Harley and riding across Canada. I had heard about Nimbin before our trip and wanted to check it out. It's a tiny town about 60 kms inland from Byron Bay. Marijuana is illegal in Australia but in Nimbin it's sold openly on the streets and they have huge weed festivals here. The 60's never really died here, it's only a few hundred people living here but everyone is either a burnout in his 60's, a aboriginal living off welfare, or just a sketchy dude. The main drag is filled with hemp stores, craft stores, psychics readings and other bullshit. Our hostel just outside of town was amazing though. We pulled in and about 3 Wallabies were sitting along the fence staring at us. The hostel, like Nimbin, was run by hippies, but the bathrooms were nice, theres a pool, and our van overlooked an amazing valley. At night the stars here are amazing and the animal noises are unreal.
Bryce and Cam are both leaving at the end of the month. I'm going to stay, but I don't know for how long. I don't want to travel alone but I don't have much choice. I've still got a lot of cash left and don't wanna go home. Honestly I don't miss much from home. I really miss my family, friends, motorcycle, and my own bathroom. But that's about it, out here in the van I have steak everyday (it's 5 dollars for a steak in Oz and it's almost 5 dollars for a green pepper here), I also navigate while Bryce drives, and just listen to music and enjoy the scenery. I don't know how I'll fair on my own though, Bryce says I've come out of my shell on this trip but truly solo travel worries me. I'm still an introvert and having a huge beard and tattoos probably doesn't paint the most welcoming image.
Right now I'm thinking of either finding a hostel here in Oz to work in, or I'll fly to New Zealand. It's only 300 for a flight to Auckland. I don't want to admit defeat just yet. I think after my friends leave I'll get a nice hotel in Brisbane and just enjoy some hot showers and TV for a few days and try to think about it.
Friday, 13 July 2012
Van life
We picked up our van last Sunday. It's only been a few days and we've had some ups and downs. It's winter here so it's dark by 530 to 6, It's around 20 degrees, though so it doesn't get too chilly at night though. We spent the day in Sydney yesterday, it's pretty busy and it took awhile to find a parking spot. Our pass gave us a few hours to check out the harbor and opera house but when we returned to our van it was gone. We were late to get it by a half hour and it was gone. I had purchased a prepaid phone that day for emergencies, the salesman said the ten dollars credit I had would be enough to make several local calls and some back home. We asked people in cafes and on the street what to do but had no luck. We asked the security guard at the Australian Federal Police station and he gave us the number to call. Just as the operator was telling us where our van was it died. No credit left, so walked around looking for a pay phone and luckily found one. Turns out in Australia they'll just tow your van around the corner and leave it there for a while then take it to impound. Our van was towed right across from the police station we were at just minutes ago. We received a $180 fine, it was getting dark and we took off heading north. Despite all this bullshit Sydney was cool, filled with tourists, and it was expensive but the harbor area was really nice. The streets were clean and lots of cool pubs and restaurants line the side streets. I'd like more time to explore, apparently the neighborhood Kings X (cross) is filled with 24 hour pubs and other adult entertainment.
It was pitch black and we had hours to go before any campsites would appear, we were still deep in Sydney suburbs in rush hour traffic. I said fuck this and asked the others how they felt about staying in a motel, we hadn't showered In two days and I really wanted a decent bed. We pulled into a pub with rooms for rent. They only had rooms for two people so Bryce volunteered to sleep in the van. We stayed in the pub drinking Aussie beer, which reminds me of generic beer like Lucky or Canadian back home. We played pool and chatted up the cute bartender who was leaving for Europe at the end of August. I gave her a list of hostels and other stuff to do.
Tonight we're drinking 50% alcohol content vodka with vanilla coke (they still have that and cherry coke here) sitting by a river in New South Wales. Tomorrow we drive 3 hours to Byron Bay to meet our friend Sam. She's been living here since October. It'll be good to see a familiar face, I haven't seen her since 2010. Hopefully I or Bryce will drive, Cam can be a touch sketchy.
It was pitch black and we had hours to go before any campsites would appear, we were still deep in Sydney suburbs in rush hour traffic. I said fuck this and asked the others how they felt about staying in a motel, we hadn't showered In two days and I really wanted a decent bed. We pulled into a pub with rooms for rent. They only had rooms for two people so Bryce volunteered to sleep in the van. We stayed in the pub drinking Aussie beer, which reminds me of generic beer like Lucky or Canadian back home. We played pool and chatted up the cute bartender who was leaving for Europe at the end of August. I gave her a list of hostels and other stuff to do.
Tonight we're drinking 50% alcohol content vodka with vanilla coke (they still have that and cherry coke here) sitting by a river in New South Wales. Tomorrow we drive 3 hours to Byron Bay to meet our friend Sam. She's been living here since October. It'll be good to see a familiar face, I haven't seen her since 2010. Hopefully I or Bryce will drive, Cam can be a touch sketchy.
Wednesday, 4 July 2012
Melbourne
Flew into Melbourne yesterday morning, the flight wasn't actually that bad. Good movies on the plane and I took a handful of melatonin so I blacked out for the duration of our flight. I booked our hostel (x base st kilda) because it was listed as one of the best party hostels in the world on a number of websites. It's pretty good, the rooms could use a cleaning but there's good amenities here. We originally planned on buying a van or SUV and driving up the east coast but Bryce is short on funds and will be flying home by the end of July. Luckily we found a rental service that is pretty affordable and the van we ended up renting is way nicer than anything we saw for sale. It's a 2007 Nissan with TV and DVD, gas stove, fridge, sleeps four and all the stuff we need for camping. It'll be our home for the next 22 days.
Melbourne is absolutely amazing, it reminds me of Victoria and Vancouver. It's an incredibly modern city, especially downtown, with huge art and restaurant scenes. St. Kilda where we're staying is like Old Strathcona and Whyte Ave but with palm trees. There are plenty of side streets and alley ways with cool bars and restaurants.
We spent today meeting our friend Brendan, who we met in Iceland, he's from Tasmania but is living in Melbourne currently. We met up at The Crown casino which is fucking huge. I've walked through casinos in Vegas but this place is immense. It's probably three kilometers long along the river and it has an enormous high rise in the center for a hotel. It's filled with fine dining, food courts, a movie theatre everything. We exchanged stories with Brendan about our travels since Iceland, he tried to move to Denmark but had visa trouble, he's now here probably going to work at a ski resort. He showed us around the city center and took us to an awesome hotel bar and bought us beers and pizza. The high rises attached to the hotel houses the police HQ and the head office of the worlds second biggest defense contractor. The whole downtown core is lined with sky scrapers and gorgeous apartment buildings. Brendan mentioned a friend was paying ten grand a month for rent in one building. We said goodbye and headed home. On the way we bought tickets to an Aussie Rules Football match at the MCG Stadium which holds about 90,000 people. Should be awesome.
Melbourne is absolutely amazing, it reminds me of Victoria and Vancouver. It's an incredibly modern city, especially downtown, with huge art and restaurant scenes. St. Kilda where we're staying is like Old Strathcona and Whyte Ave but with palm trees. There are plenty of side streets and alley ways with cool bars and restaurants.
We spent today meeting our friend Brendan, who we met in Iceland, he's from Tasmania but is living in Melbourne currently. We met up at The Crown casino which is fucking huge. I've walked through casinos in Vegas but this place is immense. It's probably three kilometers long along the river and it has an enormous high rise in the center for a hotel. It's filled with fine dining, food courts, a movie theatre everything. We exchanged stories with Brendan about our travels since Iceland, he tried to move to Denmark but had visa trouble, he's now here probably going to work at a ski resort. He showed us around the city center and took us to an awesome hotel bar and bought us beers and pizza. The high rises attached to the hotel houses the police HQ and the head office of the worlds second biggest defense contractor. The whole downtown core is lined with sky scrapers and gorgeous apartment buildings. Brendan mentioned a friend was paying ten grand a month for rent in one building. We said goodbye and headed home. On the way we bought tickets to an Aussie Rules Football match at the MCG Stadium which holds about 90,000 people. Should be awesome.
Saturday, 30 June 2012
Leaving Thailand
We left Phi Phi and headed to Kata Beach, I figured like the other beaches on Phuket it would be nice. It was a dump, our hostel didn't have a/c like they said they did, the city was boring, and the food was brutal. We spent hot days reading in our dorm and hot nights sweating in our beds. After only two nights my pillow stunk of sweat, it smelled like hockey equipment. The hostel was basically a scuba schools side business. Everyone staying there was taking a scuba course of some kind. Our last day we hailed a cab and went to the shooting range. We figured we should at least do something in this town. We all shot handguns, Bryce and I also used a shotgun. I've never fired one before I thought it was wicked.
We decided to cut out losses and just get a hotel close to the airport. We booked a resort for about 20 bucks a night each. It was on Nai Yang beach, a small beach with a handful of nice resorts. Our room was awesome and a/c equipped, with room service, pools and right on the beach. It was one of the nicest places I've ever stayed in. We spent a few days eating junk food (which I'm now regretting in this Bangkok bathroom) and enjoying the sun and air conditioning. There's a abandoned resort next to ours that was wiped out by the tsunami, it's really creepy. I wanted to explore it, but its blocked off.
We flew an hour back to Bangkok and are now killing two days before flying ten hours to Melbourne. Bryce is running low on funds and might only get to do a month in Australia. Cam says he might be ready to go home by August too. I'd like to stay longer, but I must admit I miss home a bit. I've still got lots of dough left and maybe I'll come home for a few months and go travel again.
We decided to cut out losses and just get a hotel close to the airport. We booked a resort for about 20 bucks a night each. It was on Nai Yang beach, a small beach with a handful of nice resorts. Our room was awesome and a/c equipped, with room service, pools and right on the beach. It was one of the nicest places I've ever stayed in. We spent a few days eating junk food (which I'm now regretting in this Bangkok bathroom) and enjoying the sun and air conditioning. There's a abandoned resort next to ours that was wiped out by the tsunami, it's really creepy. I wanted to explore it, but its blocked off.
We flew an hour back to Bangkok and are now killing two days before flying ten hours to Melbourne. Bryce is running low on funds and might only get to do a month in Australia. Cam says he might be ready to go home by August too. I'd like to stay longer, but I must admit I miss home a bit. I've still got lots of dough left and maybe I'll come home for a few months and go travel again.
Sunday, 24 June 2012
Last night on Phi Phi
Our last night on Phi Phi consisted of more drinking. We went to Reggae Bar again to watch the fights and drink a few buckets. There was a group a girls sitting not too far from us, but they had quite a few dudes with them as well so we stayed back. They got up to leave and Bryce asked where they were going next, they said the beach. We asked if we could join them but not before making the mistake of calling them "British" when they were actually Irish. Luckily we defused the situation by asking then where we were from they answered with America, then apologized for the mix up. Turned out that none of the Irish girls or guys were dating and we ducked into a bar before the beach. The Dj stopped playing at about 2, but after asking our Irish friends to sing The Fields of Athenry we filled the bar with Irish folk music. A group of Brits came over to challenge us and a crazy back and forth folk song sing off ensued. We outnumbered the Limeys and they soon took off. We returned to our room around 4 and Bryce began puking as one does after three buckets of liquor. We took the boat back to Phuket it was filled with good looking British girls sun bathing. Bryce says this is the worst hangover he's ever had, we arrived in port and grabbed a taxi to Kata Beach our last destination before going back to Bangkok then Melbourne. The hostel is nice, but they advertised a/c and our room just has fans in it. It's brutally hot here and we have 5 days booked. I guess this is normally rainy season, but we've had nothing but sun and 30 above since we left Bangkok.
Wednesday, 20 June 2012
Phi Phi/James Bond Island
This is the Thailand we've been hearing about. We spent about 5 days in didn't do much besides drink and sit on the beach. We did do a day trip to the James Bond Island where they filmed The Man With The Golden Gun. The island itself was little disappointing , but the other three islands were amazing though, we got into kayaks and went into some caves and lagoons, it was amazing. The last island everybody went swimming, Bryce jumped off the top of the boat and the water wasn't deep enough. He came up to the surface along with a cloud of mud. A couple people got stung by jelly fish, so I was happy I didn't go in. We met an English couple, the guy was a total douche, he seemed cool at first but once we told him we were 23 (older than him) and didn't go to college his attitude totally changed. He talked to us like we were idiots, we mentioned going to Australia and he reminded us that it was an island. Total university pussy.
We took the ferry to Phi Phi Island and finally we're at the Thailand we imagined. The island is tiny, two mountains on each end and a tiny town in the middle. There's no cars here and you can walk from one end to the other in about 15 minutes. There's nothing here but bars, guest houses, and restaurants. We hit up the Reggae Bar, which has nothing to do with reggae. There's a boxing ring in the center and you can fight other bar patrons. Win or lose you get a bucket filled with liquor, Bryce wanted to fight me but I refused. A chubby English dude wanted to fight but no one volunteered. Cam and I convinced Bryce to fight, after an offer of 100 baht each and a little coaxing from the Thai promoters. I was his corner man and had him convinced he could beat the English guy. He was fatter than Bryce but he was fast, Bryce landed more punches but his opponent had more style. He could duck and weave pretty good for a big guy. In the end the English dude was given the decision. Him and Bryce talked afterwards they both had some impressive bruises and patted eachother on the back. A couple girls were yelling at eachother in the the bar and decided to head into the ring, one girl was in trouble. She fought like a girl while the other stood in a proper stance and beat the shit outta the other girl. They had to stop the fight.
The next day Cam got a traditional tattoo done with a bamboo needle. It was amazing to see the work being done with just a single needle.
At night we went to the beach which is lined with bars, they had jump rope on fire, and some fire dancers. Other than that it was a typical nightclub.
We took the ferry to Phi Phi Island and finally we're at the Thailand we imagined. The island is tiny, two mountains on each end and a tiny town in the middle. There's no cars here and you can walk from one end to the other in about 15 minutes. There's nothing here but bars, guest houses, and restaurants. We hit up the Reggae Bar, which has nothing to do with reggae. There's a boxing ring in the center and you can fight other bar patrons. Win or lose you get a bucket filled with liquor, Bryce wanted to fight me but I refused. A chubby English dude wanted to fight but no one volunteered. Cam and I convinced Bryce to fight, after an offer of 100 baht each and a little coaxing from the Thai promoters. I was his corner man and had him convinced he could beat the English guy. He was fatter than Bryce but he was fast, Bryce landed more punches but his opponent had more style. He could duck and weave pretty good for a big guy. In the end the English dude was given the decision. Him and Bryce talked afterwards they both had some impressive bruises and patted eachother on the back. A couple girls were yelling at eachother in the the bar and decided to head into the ring, one girl was in trouble. She fought like a girl while the other stood in a proper stance and beat the shit outta the other girl. They had to stop the fight.
The next day Cam got a traditional tattoo done with a bamboo needle. It was amazing to see the work being done with just a single needle.
At night we went to the beach which is lined with bars, they had jump rope on fire, and some fire dancers. Other than that it was a typical nightclub.
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