Cyclone

Tonight my grief, uncertainty, anxiety, and depression all hit me at once. I was catapulted into a vortex of misery. Circling around my head like a cyclone above the sea was all of the grief I have faced in recent years: Grandma Winniczuk, Grandma Diane, Poptart, and Matt, who lived a great life but it was so short. He had so much more to live for and it was ripped away from him. He has almost been gone a month yet other than the initial shock I've been carrying on with life as usual. I feel guilty for not constantly feeling grief for him and for everyone I've lost. Now that it's hit again, I'm surprised by my agony. I never want to know how it feels when I lose a friend even closer...I can't even phantom. The cyclone also contained my uncertainty on life, jobs, the world, and society as a whole. I don't understand the point in most jobs...to just make money in order to live? Should we really have to pay for life? Who decided that? Oh right, ancient civilizations with egotistical rulers with more fortune then the rest of the town. We've all accepted becoming slaves. We're taught to be slaves from the day we are born. And we don't question it, "it's just how it is." Well, ITS NOT just how it is. It's how it has become, but that doesn't mean we can't question it. And now society doesn't even have the decency to call it slavery...now they call it work and make it look like a good thing. "You work for me, I'll give you some money, in the meantime all your hard work adds to my fortune and soon I'll be sipping champagne on my private yacht laughing at all you slaves that brought me the fortune, slaves that are happy with the small percentage I give them, ha!" Companies where you work your way "up the ladder"...haven't we learned that from grade school? All it really means is you're selling your soul to the company and before you know it you can't even remember why you started going up that ladder in the first place.
And the anxiety. It presses on my chest like I'm pierced by a 100 year old tree that I've grown to accept but now the world is chopping it down and making the pain worse with their ax. If I find myself more than a foot away from my tweezers I endure a panic attack so unavoidably absurd that I start blaming and entertaining the most ludicrous scenarios. God forbid I leave them at home while I run to the store for milk. It's unthinkable to leave them behind for a whole day. Without them I am hopelessly anxious.
Then there's the depression. Nothing I do, nothing anyone does, nothing I think, nothing I can imagine, makes me happy. Nothing is perfect in my eyes, and when it's not perfect, it's unacceptable. Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, Italy, Greece...there's always something that goes wrong to make me unhappy. I cannot accept anything less than perfect. A delicious dinner was great but not garlicky enough, the bread wasn't soft enough, the beach wasn't sunny enough, he's not tall enough, the water wasn't clear enough, there weren't any nudibranchs, I didn't get the perfect photo. Perfectionism stems from depression. Depression stems from perfectionism. Always unhappy in the end.

Tonight's weather report: Category 5.

Being home is difficult

I'm home now.

Been here two weeks. Other than the first weekend where two of my best friends were having separate parties, I haven't left the house. Would you believe no one has actually invited me anywhere (other than the group party invites)? I've asked people about going out and they say yes you should come...but I really don't want to go and show up alone.

And now I seem to devote all my time to waiting for him to call/text/fb...which he doesn't but maybe once or twice later at night. I know I shouldn't be so insecure but I've become seriously obsessed with it. I get so upset/mad/sad when I text/call and there's no answer the whole entire day. Really, can't look at your phone once? But its not his fault...its mine for needing his attention and security so much. At least he has friends that want to meet up still. Though it would have been nice to be invited to Gville for the weekend. Maybe it'll all get better when I get busy with a job.

4700km of NT and WA

4700km
03/02/11
We arrived back in Darwin at 3am and slept in the airport/used free wireless until 7am when we were allowed to go back to Beth’s to gather our belongings and sleep another night if we wished. Back to the land of $17, five minute taxi fares. Beth made breakfast for us and her other CSer, then the two of them went off to Aboriginal land and Jesse went to sleep immediately, recovering from another bout of food poisoning from traditional Indonesian meals. I stayed up and planned our trip to Perth, sending couch requests along the way and getting the relocation car booked. I napped for a few hours then we went to the store and collected items for our road trip and to make vegetable curry (no chicken, salt, sugar, or orange fruits/vegetables) that night for Beth and subsequently the other CSer…who when I asked if he wanted to join us said no and of course upon smelling it decided to join us without contributing anything to the cost. Whatever. Beth offered to drive us to the airport in the morning to pick up our car which was very nice and saved us the $15 taxi fare, or a 6km walk in the heat. Slept on the couch cushions.
04/02/11
One quick check on the internet showed that every one of the requests I sent out was accepted (mainly only one host in each of the towns I checked). So we now had our plan: Litchfield today, 8 hour drive to Kununurra by night; Halls Creek the next night after seeing the Bungle Bungles; Broome, then Karratha. The rest yet to be determined.
One of the guys, Mark, at Europcar in Darwin was extremely helpful and nice, and we were soon on our way. No insurance or extra driver under 25 because it would have cost too much. Only had to pay a refundable deposit of $100 (typically it’s over $1000), the car cost a grand total of $44 for the 8 days. Fuel will be about $550. Relocations are awesome. Back to Beth’s to pick up our things and one last store stop for a big jug of water.
The two hour drive out to Litchfield National Park was luckily uneventful. Soon we were in a land of rocky waterfalls, swimming holes, and Australian wildlife. The magnetic termite mounds were endless, the Buley Rock holes were incredible for swimming and exploring (the water force was very strong in the middle of wet season and sent us over some small falls), Florence Falls was flowing mightily and I was able to get great photos of a couple swimming under them, and Wangi Falls was flowing so intently that the land surrounding it was flooded and the swimming hole contained white capped waves from the force of the falling water. We took a short walk and I found a crocodile attacked hat, which Jesse retrieved from a quick tramp through poisonous spiders, grubbly grubs, and potential crocodiles. A well-earned Australian hat (of course the worms, spiders, and mold had to be washed off before wearing). We found some great bugs worthy of Umpa Loompa land, but no crocs or snakes. From there we traveled back to the highway and continued onto Kununurra. All was well and daylight until Katherine. The five hour drive from Katherine to Kununurra was in the dark and full of everything Australians warn you against driving at night for. Jesse drove the entire way and dodged cane toads (though you’re supposed to intentionally try and run over them because they are an invasive species), birds, snakes, cows, and oddly enough, no marsupials. The saddest part was hitting a bush stone-curlew, one of our favorite Australian birds…we were only going about 80kmh (speed limit 130kmh), but in thinking the bird would fly out of the way didn’t stop fast enough and it didn’t budge an inch. Poor little guy. The scariest part was when in the distance I spotted two gigantic cows in the middle of the road. Jesse did the quickest stop possible and we sat stopped in the middle of the road while the two cows stared at us unmoving. The rest of the herd trotted across the road in front of us (about 20-30 cattle), then the two initial ones followed suite and we were on our way again. We reached Kununurra at 1am, found the hosts house without directions or technology, and stayed up until 4am getting to know the 62 year old ranger. He had just gotten back from dancing (rock n roll) and was full of energy and life the entire time we were there. The next morning he was up before us and planned a day of 4WD tracks, hikes, and swimming holes. He told us it was an easy pathway so we could just where sandals and took us to Miramar national park where we walked (high speed) through spikey spicket? bushes, marshlands, and over who knows how many dangerous spiders, snakes, and scorpions (though we were going too fast to notice any). First stop was an incredible semi-ancient rock art of what seems to be a large no legged woman. Then we were led through the canyon (known as the mini Bungles) to a large swimming hole where Richard dove right into head first. We followed suite and soon found a water monitor lizard hiding under the rock we dove off of. Jesse did his first cliff jumping at about 20 feet. It started raining a bit and then storming, but no matter because it felt great after the heat of the sun, plus we were already wet from swimming. Two 14 year old local girls came up as we were swimming as well, photos of them cliff jumping were taken. Can you imagine that being the place you grow up? It’s an incredible outback land of all sorts of dangers and hazards, yet these girls hiked there unaccompanied to swim just as we would swim in a backyard pool in America.
After the hike we returned to the Patrol and Richard took us on a 4WD track to a magnificent hill of Jesse’s favorite tree, the boab trees (Animal Kingdom Tree of Life). The 4WDing was so much fun climbing up steep hills, going over an endless amount of large rocks, and plowing through sand pits. It was Jesse’s first time and I think it’s safe to say he fell in love with the sport. From there Richard took us to Ivanhoe Crossing (featured at the beginning of the movie Australia with Nicole Kidman) where we witnessed unintelligent fishermen wading in the dangerous current supposedly surrounded by both freshies and salties (crocodiles; we didn’t actually see any but pretty sure they’re there). The only fisherman to catch anything was actually a fisherwoman, a young aboriginal lady who caught a small barramundi; apparently they are allowed to keep them no matter the size since it’s technically their land, but white Australians are not allowed to keep them unless they’re of a specific size (this is my understanding of what Richard was explaining, I may have gotten it wrong though). Then we went back to the house for lunch after passing a flock of black cockatoos, planning to go to another hike later in the day. But the weather turned worse so we stayed cozy in the house and watched 4WD videos and took naps (well, I took a nap, no one else did). We were also introduced to his Bower bird (a wild male bird that chose his yard for his nest; the Bower bird collects random bits of prizes to decorate his nest to attract the ladies like green army men and bits of other plastic shiny things); his ta-ta lizard and nest; and his finches (all wild animals that like his yard because he spreads seeds twice daily and doesn’t mow over their nests, just like my dad).
We also learned Richard’s opinion of the Aboringal culture, which is much more republican than Beth’s democratic stand point (speaking in American political terms). He agrees that it was distasteful for the first British settlers to take the land from them, but we can all agree that the modern Australian government has tried very hard to mend fences. We learned that some people believe indigenous Australians misuse the wealth they are given; for example, he shared a few circumstances where the government builds houses for them, and they don’t clean it or keep up with it, and when they want a new house they just burn down the old one at no charge to themselves and gripe about being homeless while a new one is built at no expense to them. We also learned that some people believe they gripe about there not being enough jobs, but the government gives them property like a store or town of stores and instead of hiring their own people, they hire white people to do the work and sit back and watch, thus not leaving many paying jobs for themselves. Again, this is just another view point and not to stir up any trouble in writing about it, but it’s a huge part of something I’ve learned while traveling here and something that is continuously happening in the Northern Territory and Western Australia, so I feel the need to get in everyone’s views if they’re shared with me.
We decided to stay the night upon Richard's invitation, and join him on another hike and a hash harrier walk the next day. Then we went to Coles (yes a Coles in Kununurra yay!) to pick up items for dinner. Broccoli was $6.48/kg, zucchini’s were $2/each…ridiculously expensive but what can you do when you’re in the middle of Australia? In any case, at the check-out Richard refused to let us pay even though we were the ones making him dinner. We made our perfected chicken vegetable curry with coconut rice, and boxed brownies for dessert (when I asked Richard if he liked brownies, he said, “I don’t know, what are they?” Needless to say…I had to introduce him to this American treat. That night we watched the movie Australia since we were in the Kimberley’s where it was filmed and seeing all the sights from it.
The next morning, February 6, 2011, I made crepes and we went on another hike. The first was to Black Rock Falls, an 18km 4WD track to a 100m walk. The waterfall was a relatively thin flow but powerful and about 200m tall (can look up), falling into a creamy blue pool of water. There was a young local lady sitting on a rock there reading a book after having a swim. Again, what a great place to come just around the corner from your house, it’s unbelievable. It reminded me of how much I enjoy taking the kayak into the middle of the lake in Auburndale and reading a book.
From those falls we took another track out to an amazing swimming hole with a mini 20m waterfall. As we were hurriedly photographing this great land Richard basically said, no sillies, this isn’t the best part; this is just a little nuttle. As we were gearing up for the hike a Jurassic Park 4WD comes barreling through a 2 foot deep waterway led by a rambunctious black dog. Richard and the Jurassic driver got to 4WD talking and the Jurassic’s ended up coming with us on our hike up the waterfalls, dog too. I got to help the big dog up a large rock, but other than that the dog was an extreme rock climber and swimmer. At the very top we had a swim in an incredibly secluded spot, climbed up the mini waterfall (and consequently got these little worm things all over our hands), and watched the dog whine when her owner was in too deep of water for her liking. The scenery up there was full of reds, browns, greens, and an overview of the plains and hills of the Kimberley’s. We quickly had to make our way back down to get home for some lunch for the hash harrier walk, but not before exchanging details with the Jurassic couple for potential housing in Perth. They even offered to take us out on their boat, but we unfortunately had to decline since we were already a day behind schedule. Next time for sure.
While having lunch we decided it was probably best to skip hash in order to get driving during the day to Halls Creek for the scenery and avoidance of crossing cows. It was really sad to leave our Australian grandfather behind, he is such a wise, adventure loving man, and so generous and hospitable. I miss him already and hope we get to meet again one day.
The drive to Halls Creek proved to be scenic, passing many creeks and rivers, including Dunham River which had at least three freshies in it, with a family fishing and swimming just a few meters away. We also passed a pack of wild semi-feral dogs (not dingos), who followed our car when we slowed (I guess they’re used to being fed by passing cars). They looked like happy dogs but I’m sure they could’ve gotten mean quickly. We witnessed (after we had already passed two cows, I noticed one of them eyeing the road like it wanted to cross it so I continued to watch through the rear window since a car was coming in the other direction) a cow cross right in front of a car, luckily the 4WD was able to stop in time and not hit it. We also passed a horse that had just crossed the road. And many large lizards. The four hour drive went by with no major hang ups. When we arrived in Halls Creek I naturally lost the directions to our host’s house, but luckily was able to remember something about a hospitable and a green fence and found it with no turn-arounds (that’s a first for us). Emily met us at the door and invited us in to join her dinner party she and her boyfriend Troy were throwing. We met their teacher friends, ate Troy’s (he’s the chef at the school) delicious potato scallop gratin, garlicky roast beef, sesame broccoli, salad, sweet potato vegetable mix, then dessert fruit and chocolate tray, and had a great night socializing with Troy, a very fun loving guy with quite a story. When he was two he had bacterial meningitis (Philippines) and was left deaf. From then he’s had a hearing aid and finally 6 years ago was able to get a cochlear implant; he’s quite happy with it and saving up for another one for his other ear. He also shared his own viewpoint of the Aborinal culture (all three of these cases I’ve written about have not been instigated in anyway, it’s just where the natural conversation has led). Since he and his partner work at a school for mainly indigenous kids, his viewpoint was largely focused on the difference in generations. Currently he says this first generation is not very focused on education because their parents never were. He said in a school of about 300 students, an average of 240-250 show up each day because the parents don’t really care if their kids are educated or not. He believes it will take three generations before education is widely accepted in their culture.

07/02/11
The next morning we caught a glimpse of the Super Bowl (though I didn’t realize it was the live game from this year…I thought it was a rerun from a prior year, oops) before our 7 hour drive to Broome. We arrived in Broome after only one stop at the visitor center in Fitzroy Crossing right in time for a rainy sunset on Cable Beach which ended up being the most beautiful sunset I’ve ever seen, and a rainbow behind us. Great photos to help describe this...there’s no other way. Plus it was my first time setting foot in the Indian Ocean, and what a warm glorious ocean it is. We were then informed that our host canceled on us last minute (though not all her fault because we had originally asked to come the next day, and only gave a two days’ notice of the incorrect timing. So we went to the local McDonald’s (first fast food place we’d passed since Darwin) and used the wireless to send out some last minute requests, but ended up sleeping in our little i30 in the driveway of the host. Other than the hard seat back and extreme heat it wasn’t too bad for me, Jesse had a little more trouble with him being taller.
The next morning (February 8) the lady invited us in for a coffee and to socialize a bit before her kids went to school. Their new 3 month old boxer (?) puppy jumped in the car to give us a good morning scratch and nibble (I actually think she wanted to go on a car trip but yeah). Jesse took kindly to the 5 year boy Trent and started drawing pictures of Australia, America, and then somehow dragons. The 8 year old girl was pretty interested in the drawings after a while as well but had to leave for school (one of the first times she was allowed to ride her bike to school alone). Trent in no way wanted to put his uniform on and leave for school as many Australians (and any 5 year old for that matter), but we left so his mom could get him there without too much a fuss. Diamond (the puppy) jumped in the car as we were leaving and I very much wanted to take him with us, but I refrained (I’d probably get a bad reference for stealing their dog).
We went back to Cable beach for a morning swim, but due to the cloudy, silty water, decided against it (I’m pretty sure great white sharks roam frequently here, as well as the occasional box jellyfish) when no one else was in the water. Instead we explored the tide line and rock pools and found a mini blue spotted flounder and a small octopus and a big one too! Lots of fish and crabs as well. How great is that? Videos and photos of the small octopus fighting for our shoe (when we poked it in its hole), then running away, then coming back and hiding, then disappearing when a big wave came in, and the big octopus playing tug-of-war with Jesse for his sunglasses (which we also poked into its home); then we were scared off when a wave came in and we couldn’t see the octopus anymore and feared our feet would get suctioned and nibbled by its beak, so we left. Though we were only at the beach for an hour (we had to get on our 9 hour drive to Karratha), I can safely say it was a wonderful beach with the best sunset, warm Indian Ocean water, and octopi and I hope to get back there one day soon and stay for much longer. After using the showers and photographing a ta-ta lizard (Richard described them as running on their hind legs, then stopping to wave “ta-ta”, then running again). Then we went to McDonald’s for breakfast and some internet action, then Coles for cookie provisions, before setting off on our journey. Barnhill station was recommended to us for its secluded stretch of beach, but unfortunately the gate looked pretty closed and we feared for our little 2WD so had to skip it. The drive passed many humped cows but none in the road, a swarm of yellow butterflies (only two casualties thanks to Jesse honking the horn the whole way through them), and many, many suicidal lizards. Between fly land and Port Hedland were a mixture of brush fires in some spots and major flooded roadways in others. More cows and lizards.
We arrived in Karratha at a decent hour, surprisingly short drive (6-7hours), and made tacos for our host Marina, a girl our age that works for the theater. She had a giant tumble weed.
09/02/11
The next morning we headed off early to Exmouth but not early enough, and ended up getting into Exmouth too late to go out to Ningaloo Reef. We didn’t realize the reef was another 70km from Exmouth, and an $11 entrance fee. So we went to a local beach and called up a host we had in contact, while waiting for his return call a truck pulled up to us and asked if I was Nastasha. Yup, it was the host, Joel. So he took us back to his place for a drink then gave us a grand tour of the northern peninsula, including a sunset soak in the ocean with a beer. Then we went to our host Adam’s house, enjoyed a chicken burger from a fish and chips shop, and watched a slideshow of his videos and pictures from swimming with whale sharks. He’s in the US Air Force and has a gorgeous 3-bedroom house, car, fuel, and additional funds all paid for by the US government. How great is that?

10/02/11
Joel had the day off so he came with us/drove us to the reef, and in doing so saved us heaps of money because we would have gone over our allotted kilometers. Ningaloo Reef at Turquoise Bay was really incredible, though it would have been more incredible on a less windy day. Highlights were huge reef fish, bigger than any I’ve ever seen, and two large white tip reef sharks that I followed around a while. Also snorkeled South Mataram? and Oyster stacks, but both of those were too silty to see anything that late in the day. We left Exmouth by 3pm and continued onto Carnarvon, via a stop at Coral Bay to snorkel, but again, way too silty to see anything but I’m sure on a good day it would have been amazing. Flies galore in this land as well. That night we pulled up to a bar where our Canadian host was celebrating her friend’s birthday, bogan central. We left and went to the host’s house, something straight out of a horror movie. Her roommates have a fish farm there and many organic plants (yes, including that one too). Jesse played some didge and we enjoyed fresh mangoes before going to sleep, afraid of being eaten alive by fleas and mosquitos, but it ended up being great and A/C too.
11/02/11
So now we had a ten hour drive to get to Perth in time (before 5pm). We left at 6:30am and the drive went on without any hang ups, straight to the petrol station then airport by 3:30pm. The car was perfect, a few huge bugs on the grill but no dents, scratches, etc. to dispute. Then our host Silvia picked us up and took us to her house. She was a German lady married to a great Kiwi bloke. We spent the next few days with them, sightseeing a little in Perth and mainly getting our futures sorted. Jesse now ((15/02/11 I’m writing this) has a free house in the country, and two job offers on the table (server). I’m off to Cairns now to work on Mike Ball! More updates to come in a few weeks.

Indonesia 23/01/11-02/01/11

Indonesia 23/01/11-02/01/11
23/01/11
We spent the morning in Darwin at markets with our host Beth. Taxi ride to airport $14, got there two hours early and only took about 10min to get through security and departure. Darwin airport has free wireless. Upon arrival we were hounded by taxi drivers and though they may have been cheaper we weren’t sure so we just booked at the taxi window 55,000 rph to get from airport to Kuta square. We passed a pizza place with a free sample lady outside and it was the best pizza I’ve had since leaving America for 6,500 rph, which is pretty expensive for Indo standards. Ended up at Gloria Jeans Coffee to use wireless and try to find our host. After finding a SIM for a suitable price (50,000 rph with 5000 credit, it may have been cheaper elsewhere but also more expensive elsewhere for 150,000 rph) and spending too much time on the internet to try and register my phone with it, we were able to contact Ngurah and he came and picked us up in his car. The drive to his home was about 40 minutes, rainy wet roads with many potholes, glad we never got a scooter or car. His home was probably upper middle class for Indo standards, two bedrooms, bathroom with western toilet and stone shower (I think it had hot water too but couldn’t figure out how to turn it on). There was no furniture in the small living room and both sons and nanny were home so we slept on the tile floor with our Gator blanket. He gave us a pillow. Though it was extremely uncomfortable, he was very kind to come pick us up late at night in the rain and take us to his home and give us shelter.
24/01/11
Starting around 4am the kids woke up, so for two hours we tried to sleep on the floor in the middle of all the racket with the mom and nanny trying to get the kids ready for school and prepare breakfast. At 530am we gave up when one of the boys stood over us and gave an ear piercing scream. They invited us for breakfast and in fact wouldn’t eat until we did first. Breakfast included an omelet, pig ears, other parts of the pig, some dried meat topping, rice and seafood soup, fried bananas, and bananas. After breakfast I shared a unicorn lollipop with the older son (after asking parental permission), he quickly opened it and I’m sure was the hit of the classroom that morning. Ngurah offered to take us into Denspar on the way to work after dropping off his son at pre-school. Once in Denspar he took us into the bus station and helped us get on a bus so we wouldn’t be eaten by the piranhas. As soon as he stopped the car a swarm of 5-10 Indonesian guys tried to get us to go with them. We had to pay 500 rph to even cross the parking lot, and then another 100,000 rph to ride the bus to Padang Bai. The ride took two hours and we passed some pretty interesting places along the way, including rice paddies, rivers, etc. First impression of Bali: it’s what I expect Vietnam would look like. Once in Padang Bai we were very confused and had no idea where the ferry was. Many people tried selling us packages to Gili and Sengiggi for 200,000-300,000 but we didn’t know who to trust. Instead we used the internet to try to find where we wanted to go. Eventually we walked towards the water, found the public ferry for 23,000 rph and dodged peddlers selling drinks, snacks, and paper cones of chicken and rice that had been sitting out who knows how long. The ferry took almost 5 hours, when we arrived in Lombar we yet again didn’t know where we wanted to go and how to get there when we decided. We were trying to get to Kuta Lombok to try and get some surfing in, but it was two hours in the opposite direction of Gili Islands where we wanted to go the next day to meet some CSers and do some diving, so instead we went to Sengiggi for 100,000 rph. We decided to stay the night there and took a few hours searching for the right hotel and price. We ended up splurging for a really, really nice resort for 300,000 ($30 USD). The first room they sent us to had carpenter ants all over the ground, so we went back to get a different room. The second room seemed okay at first until a rat ran out from behind the tv, then a second one behind the blinds. When one of them ran across the bed I left. Jesse tried to get a photo. So we went back again and ended up in the ant room but they sprayed and cleaned it. We went out to find some dinner and ended up at a local tent eatery with 15,000 dinners, though we were hesitant because there didn’t seem to be any refrigeration anywhere and less than adequate sanitation practices…but there were so many people, both locals and travelers, eating there that we thought it would be okay. Jesse had his fried noodles with chicken which was very good and I had a chicken stir fry which wasn’t good at all. Then we went back to the hotel, booked a transfer for Gili Air, enjoyed the last hot shower we were going to have for a week, and enjoyed an actual bed as opposed to a tile floor. I wouldn’t splurge again in Indonesia, though it was nice, it wasn’t really worth it when we probably could have found the same type place for 100,000.
25/01/11
We woke early to enjoy our free breakfast of eggs, rice, toast, and pineapple juice. The shuttle to Gili Air was 30 minutes late and the whole trip was spent telling the workers that no, we do not wish to purchase a return ticket from them. They just repeated and continued to ask. The shuttle took an hour to Bangai, then we waited to be shuffled to the next mode of transportation. They tried getting us to pay another 40,000 for a horse carriage ride 300m to the boat; we walked. Once at the water we waited another hour until the 100 people standing around decided they were ready to take the boat to Gili Air. In Gili Air we dodged the horse carriage transport people and walked to Blue Marlin to meet our hosts. A few other CSers were there still as well and ended up randomly running into a guy, Adrion, who we planned/plan to check out WA with. After getting acquainted and settled we took a walk around the island. The island takes an hour to walk around, and all around it are quaint beach bungalows, little restaurants where the kitchens are located in a house and you sit in private thatch huts on pillows. We ate at Chill Out upon our hosts reference, the food was subpar (supposedly the fish is the reason to go there but…I don’t like eating where I snorkel) but you can’t beat the location. That evening we spent with our hosts Yamil and Mario, two of the most accommodating gay men you’ve ever met. Yamil’s Chai Tea is stellar. After my cheesy meal at Chill Out our suspicions were confirmed of the restaurant the night before not being a safe place to eat. The next 3 days we stayed away from most dairy and were quite sick anytime we did eat.
26/01/11
I still wasn’t feeling well so I didn’t go diving that morning but Jesse did and he saw clown fish and a mimic octopus. We had great visibility for snorkeling that afternoon, highlight was three ghost pipefish and a few cone snails, and in the evening went to Chill Out with our hosts, though we only had a snack in fear of getting too sick. Also important to note that almost every time we were in the water we were stung by jellies or sea lice, non-deadly but still painfully annoying. We went to Space Bar for a drink at night and encountered many hermit crabs along the way.
27/01/11
We went on the morning dive to Manta Point (Sunset Reef). The dive started with 3 white tip reef sharks, an octopus, an eel, a nudibranch, and ended with a massive amount of clownfish in every anemone. Apparently on the boat they saw a manta jump out of the water, in the shallows while we were in the deep. After the dive, we returned to the house, made pancakes, and refilled the water bottle with real water by tramping through the backyard towards the center of the island on a grassy pathway. Then we did more snorkeling with cone snails, clownfish, etc. We decided we were hungry enough for a real dinner and gluttonous enough not to care how sick we got, so we went to Bibi’s Italian Restaurant. We ate Bruschetta (38000), a Chili Pizza (60000), and the wrong Calzone (55000). The bruschetta was amazing with tomatoes, garlic chunks, olives, mozzarella, and toasted homemade baguette slices. The calzone was more like folded pizza than the ricotta cheese blend calzones I’m used to. The restaurant was very good but pretty expensive for Indo. We didn’t get very sick afterwards either. We meant to go to Space Bar that night with our hosts but everyone was too full and tired for it.
28/01/11
We were meant to dive but I was under the impression that the sight they were going to was Hans Reef, which was just offshore and easily snorkelable; instead we stayed behind and snorkeled where they were going. Turns out they went to Halik Reef and saw lionfish and turtles, we really missed out on a great dive. However, our snorkeling was amazing with the highlight being a 10 foot long poisonous sea snake. Jesse first saw it and pointed it out to me, warning me not to get too close because they can definitely kill a human, so I stayed at the surface. I got some photos and videos but they would have been much better had I dove down to the bottom (and risk aggravating it and dying). We also found Danger Cove with thousands of neon sea urchins, worms, brittle stars, and other alien like creatures we have yet to research. Later that day around sunset we went for another snorkel, full of sea lice, fearing hungry sharks, and found our first Gili sea turtle. I photographed it for a good 30 minutes while it swam around before heading into shore. That night we ate with our hosts at Bibi’s, had homemade Panna Aspargi gnocci and the correct calzone, and journeyed to Space Bar with our hosts for some shroom shakes but it ended up already being closed so we postponed our departure for yet another night in order to experience that with them. Yamil and Jesse went out for a beer together like the social butterflies they are.
29/01/11
We went for an early dive at Shark Point, as we had been attempting to do all week. The group was just us and the dive master. We descended directly onto a green moray eel but my Octopus hose was leaking badly (I didn’t even notice it) so we had to go back up, safety stop, get back on the boat, and switch gear. In the second descent, Jesse lost his underwater camera clumsily and it drifted away south in the current before he noticed it was missing. On this dive we intended to find pygmy sea horses but were unable to, not for a lack of trying. For future reference, they live on purple sea fans by specific coral features at 22m depth that the dive master at Manta Dive claims to know. However, we did see a good variety of sea life including two frogfish, six turtles (3 sleeping, 3 swimming), two cuttlefish, and a black tip reef shark. After the dive we were dropped off on Gili Trawangan directly in front of a turtle hatchery! We didn’t even know it was there, it was fate! Tasha was excited to see the turtles, and we had a few things to accomplish when we were there. Firstly, Tasha wanted to experience “fish therapy,” a spa treatment where you submerge your feet (or body, in some places) into a tank of hundreds of minnows. They feed ravenously on your dead skin cells for as long as your feet remain in the tank. We located the best “fish therapy” treatment for Tasha at Exquisit Spa, with a 15 minute session costing Rp25,000. After that, we explored the southeast side of the island getting a great hamburger lunch at the Sidewalk Café for Rp25000 each. Throughout our walks we also asked every dive shop to keep a lookout for the camera. We headed back to the harbor, then the turtles because we still had 20 minutes left, then back to the harbor where we were 2 minutes late and the boat was already leaving. They saw us running and turned back around for us, but then accidently beached the boat. Definitely our fault. Oops. That’s Tasha for punctuality…Back on Gili Air we skipped dinner so we wouldn’t be too full for shroom shakes. Unfortunately, Yamil and Mario were too beat after a full day of diving work to join us. When we arrived Haans didn’t have any juice for shakes so instead had some snot-nose high f give us chocolates (tried charging us 100,000 when we already knew the price was 75000 and giving us a “discount”) which weren’t strong enough and put us to sleep instead of shrooming. I got really mad at wasting a whole days worth of budget on a little piece of broken chocolate…but whatever. I’m still mad about it. Yamil said we should have just told Haans they didn’t work and he would’ve given us more, which is what I tried to do while leaving but...
30/01/11
We woke early, made some crepes, gathered eggs from the chicken nest (the store in the backyard), and went snorkeling along the front yard north to Danger Cove and Hans Reef. There were way too many Sunday Indo fisherman on the reef though so we stayed around Danger Cove instead. It was the fourth beautiful sunny day in a row (we never expected more than one day of sun since it’s the middle of wet season), and had a nice lunch at the Blue Marlin Café in the beach hut. Nachos are NOT good in Indo, chicken fingers are acceptable, honey is too watery and tastes like metal. Then all of a sudden it was 2:20 and we still had to pack, pay the food bill, say goodbye, and walk 20 minutes to the harbor. We hurried and rushed but still almost missed the ferry, again. Luckily Jesse ran ahead to stall and convinced them to wait for us. When we were leaving another boat ran into us (or us into them, I’m not sure); it was straight out of the Little Mermaid were the bow spear plows into Ursulas stomach, only this time is was the bow spear plowing into the roof of our over packed boat and splitting the 2x4 in half. Once again, wouldn’t have happened had they not been nice and waited for us. Oops. Back on Gili Trawangan we tried to get the 6pm ferry for 185,000 to Bali, but found out we completely read it wrong and instead the ferry leaves at 8:15am and ARRIVES at 6pm. Fail. So we were forced to stay on the beautiful Gili Islands for one more night. I decided we would stay on the beach in a private bungalow as long as we were stuck there. It took a lot of walking and Jese bargaining to find the perfect one. Rp150,000 on the beach; no AC or hot water but still great. Then we went to snorkel and eat at one of the restaurants on the north part of the island. They didn’t have food for some reason so instead Jesse had a diet coke, I went snorkeling, saw lots of good things but nothing too unique (and it was sunset and I was snorkeling alone and a little worried since we were so close to the dive site known as Shark Point), then had a chocolate milkshake (Rp18000) made of ice, not ice cream (but I never got sick so I guess they make their ice okay on the Gili T). Then we raced towards sunset and had a long walk down the west side of the island searching for Jesse’s camera (hoping it washed up) in the dark (with phone torch light). It was another clear, starry night and quite enjoyable until somehow deciding where to eat was too stressful for me and I got really upset walking back and forth indecisively until most of the restaurants were closed anyway and my flip flops were giving me blisters for the eighth day in a row. I must get it from my dad. Then Jesse picked a great little spot with our own beach hut and had delicious chimichangas with proper guacamole (not that Australian lime crap), then Cornetto ice cream at a convenience store on the way back to our cheap beach bungalow which don’t even exist in the states.
31/01/11
We woke early so we wouldn’t almost-miss our ferry for the third time. We ferried to Bangai, Lombok, shuttled to Lombar via three stops and two different vans, then hopped on the public ferry, dodged the peddlers for a half hour, then took the 4-5 hour journey back to Padang Bai. Then 2 hours to Kuta. Once in Kuta it was pouring and they dropped us off in a huge puddle haha. Luckily we had an umbrella. McDonalds free wireless saved us once again. Also, the manager and workers at that McDs were some of the best ever – the place was packed and I guess they could tell I was distressed because they conjured up a table and chair for me to sit in. After the heavy rain we walked around until we found a decent hotel, $20 for a room with A/C, hot water (it has now been 6 days without hot water), in room breakfast, and beautiful pool with swim up bar.
01/02/11
MOMS BIRTHDAY
The day was spent walking around Kuta bartering for unnecessary goods.
02/02/11
Tried to get to Ubud but not enough time and too much money for the quick trip, so instead bartered more and relaxed.

Sydney, Melbourne, Darwin 29Dec-22Jan

29/12/10
Arrived late to Burwood, had some steak stew and damper thanks to Sue, went to sleep.
30/12/10
Woke up, went to find Jesse, he wasn’t there yet, got a recharge, picked up breakfast for Bill and Sue and the other CSers. Ate it. Jesse arrived, went to find him. Went to Manly via pictures of Opera House and bridge with Leslie from Texas/NZ. The ferry wharf was packed, the line to get on the ferry was ridiculous (but all fit on one ferry). Snorkeled at Fairy Bower, freezy, good baby dusky or bronze whaler. Got lost along the trail on the headlands and ended up at Little Manly Wharf. Back on the ferry to Circular Quay to get to Litchfield for Outback Steakhouse, walked in some dinghy places to get there. It was delicious but cheese fries are better in USA.
31/12/10
Had Christmas, had breakfast, went to Opera House around 3pm to get a spot for midnight fireworks. Didn’t get there early enough, it was already closed off. Stormed around trying to find a spot, ended up in the botanical gardens in front of the gate, would have been better up on the hill though so gate wouldn’t have been in the way of photos. Next time, 7am and no gate, preferably near Margarets Chair and the big stairs or whatever its called. Spent day with Leslie and Jesse in sun and waiting. Luckily alcohol check isn’t strict, easy to smuggle in via water bottles or camel back. Fireworks at 9, fireworks at midnight, wind going wrong direction so you could hardly see the fireworks…they were still cool though. Took train back, didn’t take too long after hanging around the gardens a bit after fireworks.
01/01/11
Slept in, walked around Sydney. No James Squire on weekends. Sue invited us for a delicious Eggplant Parma dinner.
02/01/11
Blue Mountains. Cockatoos. Ran into Eszter and Carlos, random!
03/01/11
Walk in rain Bondi to Bronte. Photos of bridge and opera house at night. Lots of bats, get lost and fight a lot until we get back to Burwood.
04/01/11
Kiema blowhole. Tuesday Dominos. Photo pushing. Handstand on the wharf. Another fight and long trip back to Burwood.
05/01/11
Sydney city, Chinatown, Paddys Market, Museum, James Squire with girl.
06/01/11
Decided to go to Terrigal/North Avoca. Kurt and friends accepted our request. Decided on a taco night which was so delicious and bountiful.
07/01/11
Beach, manowars, nudibranchs, bats. BBQ at John (American) and Carly’s. Ride home with sister. Great night with conversation, BBQ food, and Q game.
08/01/11
Beach, manowars, nudibranchs, etc. Drinking games and such at Kurts, then out to a bar. Walk home in rain, another fight.
09/01/11
Bouddhi Hike with Carly and John. Then switch hosts to meet Kathy and Vic. Kathy helped me out a lot when I was still in Florida preparing for my move to Australia (similar to what Sue did). I never got a chance to go up to Terrigal when I first got to Australia, but so glad that we made the time to go because it was one of the best places I’ve been in Australia thus far. Kathy and Vic were so hospitable and had a beautifully architected house; plus Vic wanted a drinking buddy since Kathy was fasting so he and Jesse had a grande ole time, plus Jesse their dog too.
10/01/11
Beach? No snorkel, too scary. More wars and nudis.
11/01/11
Beach. Hash Harrier Run/Walk with Kathy and Vic at Bouddhi. Though Kathy was fasting and now at 3 days with no food or drink other than water, she did the 6km uphill run with Jesse. Vic and I did the walk and I was delighted to have a little boxer puppy with us the whole time (though dogs are not allowed in national parks in Australia). The Terrigal Hash Harriers are absolutely insane; having all the runners drink port twice during the run, then at the end having many down downs for all sorts of bs, whatever they could make up, including us for being new footprints, the dogs owner for bringing the dog to a national park, the head ladies 800th run (which deserved her not only a down down, but also a down down on her head, a full bottle of beer on her head, ketchup, dirt, leaves, blue paint, etc), and many, many more. A down down is when you have to chug a mixture of some alcoholic beverage for doing something unique, whether it good or bad, while the group sings, “Here’s a ___ (insert name, like Tasha), she’s (he’s) true blue, she’s a hasher through and through, she’s a bastard so they say, she tried to go to heaven but she went the other way, she went down down down down down down…” starting on the downs is when you start chugging (it’s a popular Australian drinking anthem to get someone to chug (“skull” in Australian) the hashers turned into a hash song; similar to the simple American chant “Chug chug chug chug!”) It was really fun, I’m very glad I went though I was very timid beforehand.
12/01/11
Train back to Burwood. James was home now and Sue invited us for Thai green curry dinner. I made cookies that night similar to the chocolate peanut butter Reeses pieces cookies from Hershey, Pennsylvania, except mine were chewier and better. I don’t quite recall what I did because I didn’t have hardly any of the correct ingredients, but it was a great mistake. Win.
13/01/11
Train to Britz Campervan. Pick up the girls, smuggle into Melbourne. Stay at whatshisnames, scary as host with way too many ludicrous comments to the girls. Don’t trust.
14/01/11
Great Ocean Road; girls decided to stay in Melbourne because it was rainy. The day ended up being beautiful on the GOR, saw Bells Beach (no waves though) with kangaroos in front of it. Fed cockatoos by the creek in Lorne; got really hungry and angry that we were on such a strict budget. GOR closed for 45km between Lorne and whatever but the detour was really great too, going through many farmlands and mountains. We were able to make it to the Apostles for sunset after rushing heaps. Great photos of the orange sun lighting the Apostles. Then we backtracked to Princetown, a town of 17 people, and met and stayed with Grant and his Canadian friend Bob. I made brownies for all and we had great conversation learning about their exploits and flying experience. Grant’s house was so beautiful and the bed was possibly the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept in, right up there with Sheraton beds. He also mentioned the possibility of going up in the helicopter if an extra spot came up.
15/01/11
That morning we really wanted to get to the helipad for the chance of flying over the Twelve Apostles. But the travel gods had something else planned. Instead, we spent the morning getting the campervan stuck in the wet grass (Jesse doesn’t do much off roading and didn’t realize that wet grass meant muddy conditions not fit for a gigantic 2WD campervan). Luckily the neighbors dogs barked at us so much that the neighbors were alerted to come over and help push, though we still managed to get it stuck a bit more. By the time we got to the helipad two couples were leaving, I knew we’d just missed our chance to be a third wheel on their helicopter tours. But Grant was optimistic and said to come back in a little bit, so we walked over to the Apostles and got daylight photos. Then I sent Jesse back to the helipad to check, telling him to go without me if he had a chance, and alas, he got on a 25min helicopter ride over the coastline for free (typically $290). I, of course, was disappointed I didn’t get on one but it was my fault for eating brownies for breakfast and feeling sick. But then another family walked up and Grant ushered me through with them; I was able to join a mother and her kid for a 10min ride valued at $95. So incredible! I love couchsurfing!! It opens up so many doors and create so many once in a lifetime opportunities. After saying our thanks and praise to Grant we had to race back to Melbourne to turn the car back in. Naturally with limited time we discovered the maps we were given of the location of Britz in Melbourne were fail maps and too blurry to read, so we spent the better part of an hour circling the west side of town, stopping and asking directions many times until we finally found it. By now we’re 15min late but there’s a line for car return, so when we roll up they ask how long we’ve been waiting and they let is slide that we were a bit late. They also seemed to not care that we went over distance by about 100km (with relocation vehicles you’re given a limit of free km, every additional km you go over is $0.50 extra), and didn’t charge us any extra and we were able to get back our full bond. Then we walked 1 km to the train stop. Being Jesse’s first time in Melbourne and my first time using public transport (don’t you love trade shows that pay for your taxi fares?!), it took about two hours to find our hosts house, which ended up including a few train lines, then wandering around the train stop in Brunswick trying to find her street or get her to answer the phone. I eventually went in a store to ask for a map or directions, but the worker didn’t speak much English so I gave up, but then the guy behind me pulled out his iPhone and showed me the way; then, on top of that, offered to give us a ride so we didn’t’ have to walk the 2 km with our packs. Random act of kindness number I’ve lost track! It was so nice of him, he took us straight to the door of our host. Our host, Natasha, we actually met at the Swap Event we threw while living in Gold Coast; she said if we come down to Melbourne to look her up, so we did. She threw a CS dinner party that night and we ended up having a good 20 people from all over the world making food and sharing drinks. After our long day we went to sleep early in the middle of the party on the futon in the living room, but it was easy to sleep since we were so tired.
16/01/11
We woke up and headed into the city. We wandered aimlessly and ended up finding a PRIDE festival. Random sex education activities and free giveaways, gay men playing twister in speedos, and tons of small incredibly cute dogs, including a LuLu look-a-like are what resulted there. More aimless wandering had us seeing all the sights of Melbourne including the graffiti street art, museums, and amazing hot jam doughnuts that can compete with hot Krispy Kremes. We headed to the Italian section, Lygon Street, for real pizza but didn’t see any restaurants there that were serving real pizza (just the Australian crap they call Italian pizza), so instead went to walk around Brunswick and eventually decided on a beer at Little Creatures Brewery then dinner at a cheaper than usual Australian restaurant Umago Café (I believe that was the name, don’t quote me on it though) which was surprisingly delicious and though the pizza was Australian, it was much better than most. Then we headed to St Kilda pier to find some penguins and definitely found them! As did the Penguin Volunteer Research Team who were capturing them, tagging them, and releasing them. We were able to get better than average up close photos of the penguins because the team had lights on them for recording data (typically you cannot use flash on cameras because the light disorients them…why you can shine a flashlight on them I don’t know but oh well). During our penguin encounter we set the leftover pizza box on the ground and soon discovered the infamous Melbourne water rats. We turned around in time to see the huge rat dragging the box away; having just splurged for a $20 pizza (average for a small pizza in Australia), I ran it down and got my darn pizza back. But then Jesse questioned bubonic plague and we got in yet another fight. I also photographed the rat using flash, not realizing it was one of the protected animals that you’re not allowed to use flash on, and when a guy yelled at me for it I got really upset. By the time we left the penguins we only had one bus left before we would be stuck. So we got on it but then got off because I thought we had gotten on the wrong one (turned out it was the right one). So then we had to wait for a different last bus which ended up only taking us as far as the convention center. From there we had to walk to the nearest train or bus stop to find another mode, but as it turned out all public transportation in Melbourne ends before 1am on Sundays. So our choices were to walk an unknown distance on the tram tracks until we got to our host, or take a taxi for what is sure to be a $20-30 taxi fare. So we did what any budget traveler would do, we walked. It took us over two hours and it wasn’t until the next day that we looked up our route and found it was only 8km. It felt so much longer. Not the best night in the world.
17/01/11
The next morning we found out that almost every German CSer in the house has also done that walk to avoid the taxi fare…glad we’re not the only cheapees. We took a taxi to the airport (three options: walk 15km with our luggage, get the shuttle for $15/each but need to take the tram into the city for $5/each, or take a taxi for $35 – we took the taxi. Flew to Darwin, got to our host, Beth’s, at 1am (already planned and she was aware of the late hour).
18/01/11
Woke up to join Beth for breakfast. Went back to sleep a few hours when she left for work. Then we walked to the store and got some snacks and walked around Coconut Grove. In looking at our hand drawn map deciding which way to go, a tradey pulled over and asked if we were lost and needed directions. We started to say we just don’t know what there is to do here but instead I asked which was the beach was. He told us and went off but then pulled over again and asked if we would like a lift. We accepted since it was pretty clear he just wanted to help and was a little bored at work that day. He was friendly but once he heard we were Americans the friendly level went down a bit (happens all the time). But we shared our tiny bears (it’s a Wooly’s food like teddy grahams but cheaper) and he kept driving us to the pier. From there we walked the coastline and checked out the tidal pools and clay-like rock, photographed the idiots surfing during croc and box jellyfish season, and wandered in what we hoped was the right direction back to Beth’s. We decided it would be another two hour walk but didn’t want to pay for the bus so just kept walking. Luckily we were right about which way it was but wrong about the time, it only took about 30 minutes to get back. We picked up groceries for dinner and made Spaghetti Bolognese for Beth (and picked up a Cheaper Tuesday Dominos pizza and garlic bread for lunch the next day), not knowing what foods she ate or didn’t eat (so glad we didn’t do the chicken, she’s allergic.
19/01/11
This morning Beth took off work and joined us to go to the NT Museum. It was exceptional and free; then we walked around downtown Darwin until we were bored. Beth shared a meal from Ghana with us (she loves and has worked as a nurse in Ghana, married a man from Ghana, and traveled extensively in Cuba, so loves spicy rice and bean dishes).
20/01/11
We joined Beth for work in the morning where she was due to pick up a patient at a camp, a place she doesn’t enjoy going to alone in case things go poorly. She is a renal nurse for indigenous Australians and sometimes has to pick up the Aborigines to try to give them free treatment, sometimes they don’t respond well to it. I had to make sure I was dressed conservatively as to not upset anyone there, but being from Florida and only having a backpack of summer clothes, I didn’t have anything conservative enough (long pants), so I had to stay in the car when we went. But that morning the lady we picked up was quite happy to come, though we had to wait a while for her to finish her breakfast and lazing about. Then Beth dropped us off at the gardens were we set out to find frizzled dragons (frilled lizards, I just think frizzled dragons sounds better). It was a nice walk and we did discover some boab trees, but no frizzled dragons. So we took the bus back to Beth’s to do some internet planning (at this time we weren’t sure when we were getting a relocation car); on the walk from the bus stop to the house we crossed the park we had already crossed a few times and there on the ground a little nudger ran across the ground and up a tree. A frizzled lizard! Yay! It went pretty high up the tree and soon we lost sight of it. I scanned the park in hopes of seeing another one, and alas! I did. Well, I saw a bump on a far away tree and imagined it to be one, and sure enough it was! This one was much lower and Jesse climbed the tree to get better photos. We wanted to see it frizzled (frilled), so I told him to quickly move the camera closer to him in a sharp motion, and he frizzled! It did it a few more times for some good photos until finally it was just too scared and jumped off the tree from where it was 3m up and ran away on its hind legs. Ahahaha it’s so hilarious to watch them run. Jesse made Sue’s famous Eggplant Parma for Beth that night and it was a hit.
21/01/11
We still hadn’t found a relocation anytime soon, so Jesse mentioned the idea of heading to Bali because the flights were on sale. I immediately said no without thinking about it because I have less than a month left for WA and wanted to spend a lot of time on it. However, after listening to his reasoning realized it probably was the best option, that or stay in boring Darwin for two weeks. So we booked the flight to Bali and planned to book the relocation for a 4WD 3 berth campervan to Perth with $310 fuel. However we forgot to call right at 9:30am the next morning and someone beat us to it. So now we had our flight to Bali but no relocation car. Now starts the planning for Bali. I wanted to go to Borneo but realized it wasn’t right for this trip due to the short amount of time we had. So instead we resorted to CSing and sent out many, many requests.
22/01/11
We spent the day doing laundry, cleaning, and preparing for our Bali trip. Still no responses from any of the requests, so not sure what we’ll do.
This would be a good time to mention Beth’s opinions of indigenous Australians. She views them in a very high light, higher than most people. Though she admits they are lazier than most, and booze more than most, she loves treating them treats them with much respect, including going to the back of the bus every time she rides one (from what I saw while riding public transport with her).