City of Angles to the City of Monkies

I've made it to Centeral Thailand. After a few days staying a basic beach side bungalow on Ko Phan Ngan I had a bit of a scare. I was about to hop on the boat when I realised I didn't have my wallet. I raced back to my hotel in a monsoon to get it. Then the next day when I was about to get on the boat I thought I'd lost my passport (fortunately I hadn't).

After that trying experience I headed for the bustling capital of Thailand, Bangkok. All I have to say is Fucking Bangkok. The city is nuts and at first is just too much for a western white boy to take. Eventually I started to get the hang of it but I left after only a few days. I then traveled through centeral Thailand and saw such sights as the Bridge over the River Kwae and some ancient ruines. Recently I've seen alot of wildlife up close. The more spectacular of these include Elephants and Tigers and Monkies (oh my!). Feel free to send me an email or two or post a comment.

See you guys later this month.

-Drewdles

Asian Adventures

Hey

I'm waiting in Stuait Thani for an over night ferry to Ko Pha Ngan. To be honest I'm a little apprehensive about the ride. The boat is really just a barge with a few "beds" in it. I plan on sleeping with one eye open.

That aside I'm having an amazing time in South East Asia. Singapore was, as every traveler describes, a very nice city with nothing to do. Two days there was more than enough. On my third morning I hoped on a public bus to the border of the tiny island state.

I spent 6 days working my way up through Malaysia. Melakka didn't have much to do but I met a cool Dutch couple and hung out with them. As for KL I really didn't like the city. It was noisy dirty and a bit sketchy. I've also heard that Bangkok is even worse. From KL it was off the Perhian island via that fastest speed boat I've been in. The boat was no more than tub with two 140 HP engines strapped to it. The islands were really beautiful but much more expensive than the rest of the country.

After a few days in paradise I had to come back to the mainland as I was running out of RM and there are no ATMs on the island (the island only has power at night). I than had to cross the Thailand border which was kinda of crappy. Literally the minute I stepped into the country I was greeted by monsoon (that's what you get for visiting in the wet season). I met an English bloke and two California girls at the border and traveled with them for a few days. This was a major mistake. The girls had a collective IQ of maybe 8 and were useless at making decisions.

Traveling through Southern Thailand was probably the sketchy leg of my trip. The road had millitary check points every 40km or so each with barbed wire, pillboxes and scores of machine gun toting rangers. It was a little un-nerving. Once clear of the military presence we went to Hay Yai where we ate at a 60s bar and heard the funniest attempts at some classics sung by a Thai band.

Spent a few nights in Phuket (tourist city) which were interesting. The bars full of fat old white guys trying to pick up Thai girls (and Lady-Boys) who in turn expected a few drinks and 1000 Baht . BI rented a step scooter one day which was amazingly fun but very deadly. For thos of you who don't know what a step scooter is it's a 100 - 150cc bike that has a semi-automatic transmission. I decided to ride from our hotel into the city on the other side of the peninusla which invluved some trecherous mountain roads and frantic Thailand traffic.

And now I'm here. Well hopefully I survive the nights ride. Can't wait to see all you guys when I get back.

-Drew

Leaving Australia

Hey

I thought I'd make one last post before I leave Australia for the East Indies. I'm in Sydney now finishing up a few things (like buying souvenirs) before I fly out for Singapore.

The Main train Station in Melbourne

I've been quite busy since I last wrote. After Noosa we headed up north to Hervey Bay. The sole reason for visiting this torusit over run town was it that it was the departing point for our next adventure; a 4x4 adventure. We booked into the Hostel and met the other 8 members of our group. All of which were of the female persuasion (not as good as you might think). After fighting over the food shopping and taking a shower long enough to hold me over for 3 days I crawled into bed for a good hard sleep.

The following morning was possibly the most stressful day of my life. Up at 6:00am we had to make all the preperations for our upcoming 3Day 2 Night journey. We loaded the truck, filled out paper work and watched the funniest safety video ever made. Somehow I was selected as the primary driver for our vehicle. Thrust behind the wheel of the mamoth Toyota Land Crusier, that looked like it was desigined to takle the Dakar, I had to safely drive the car over to the docks and onto the Ferry. After the 30min boat ride I was finally able to start having some fun. I got to drive the first leg of our off road adventure on the rainforest covered sand dune known as Frasser Island. The trip went off more or less with out a hitch and was full of beautiful senery coupled with a heavy dose of percarious driving and palatable adventure.

After the excitment on Fraser Island I hitched a ride with two Dutch girls to the sleepy town of 1770. The town probably barely clears a thousand permanent residence, which made it an ideal location to relax. I spent my first doing chores. The second day I was thrust behind the wheel of another Land Cruiser and had to take a truckload of unsuspecting Backpacers on a tour of the town. The after was spent cruising the sourounding coutry side on scooters.

Most recently I was in Airley Beach the lauching point for yet another adventure. This time it was 2 days and nights living on a sailing boat, island hopping in the breath taking Whitsunday islands. Plenty of awesome snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef, the highligh of which was petting a fish the size of a BMX bike. After some great times out at sea I hopped on a plane to my current local Sydney.

Next time you hear from me (if at all) I'll be in the far off land of South East Asia. I can't wait to get home and trade stories with everone.

Whitsundays Beach (Rated as one of the Top 10 beaches in the world)

- Drew

Lazy Daze

Hey

Well when I last spoke to you (my dedicated readers) I was in Melbourne. Well I spent a few days there which to be frank weren't all that great. Melbourne is known for it's unpredictible weather and when we were there it was quite unpleasant. Mel was OK but I would liken it to a smaller Tornoto. Theres lots of cultural venues to peruse and fashion there is big. The markets were fun but nothing too radical.

After Melbourne I flew to New Castle a small town North of Sydney. The only reason I went there was because the flight was so cheap and I needed to go that way. After spending a long day there I went up to Surfers Paradise to meet Josh and Tyler. Surfers is easily th most expensive place on the east coast. It's a developed area along a 70km beach, designed to suck up tourist's money.

After to days and too much money we went up to Brisbane the Queensland Capital. Brisbane was nice but nothing too special. It was a good spot to catch up on some chores. After a night I litterally can't remember we hopped on a bus and made our way to Noosa where I am now.

Our first day here we went Kayaking and I attempted surfing the next. That pretty much brings you up to speed.

As for the next while I'll be going further north until the 20th when I'm flying back to Sydney. From there I'm flying into Singapore. The plan is to make my way up to Thailand and travel around there for a while. I Fly back to Aus on the 20th of August and then back to Toronto on the 21st.

Well keep reading and posting comments. Miss you guys.

-Drew

East Side

Sorry I haven't updated in a while but the travel life has proven to be quite hectic. I left sleepy Perth last tuesday and been on the road since. Ian and I got into Sydney 6:00am tuesday where we made our way to Coggee beach, where Tyler was staying. His place was a complete dive complete with mold and bugs. We stayed on the floor of his tiny appartment until friday. We spent the intervening days sight seeing around Sydney. Let me tell you it is an incredible city. I would post some pictures but I'm just in a internet cafe in Mel so I can't upload my pictures. We saw all the classic sites like the Operah House and Manly.

That weekend we headed inland to the famous Blue Mountains. We hiked during the Day and set up camp out in the middle of the park. There we basicly froze to death as the temperature dropped below zero and our tent wasn't quite thick enough to ward off the frost.

We came back to Sydney to on Monday to get a few errands done and then went into the city at night to watch the big soccer game. We watched the first half in a bar and the second down at Circular Quay (equivalent to Nathan Phillips Square). It was awesome until that unfortunate penalty crushed the Socceroos' hopes.

We hopped on a train that morning at 7:00am (we got back from downtown at 4:30) and headed back inland to the Aus capital Canberra. It was quite cold as it was winter and there's no major body of water there. I quite liked the mueseum and monument filled town and enjoyed the cafe culture while Ian couldn't stand the climate.

After a few days there we headed further south to Melbourne, where I am now. I just got into the city and I'll tell you all about it in a later post.

- Drew

G'Day to WA

Well exams are finishing up and my time here in Western Australia is coming to an end. It's been a while since I've posted so I thought I'd start with getting you guys up to speed with what I've been doing in recent days.

A few weekends I went to Rottnest Island a tourist destination visible from the beaches of Perth. The island is tiny, measuring 8km by 1km. It's the perfect size to bike in a day. Though when you rent a single speed bike to save 5 bucks your legs really get a workout on the up hill sections. The island features a giant naval cannon which was built in the second World War to keep away the Japs. The coasts are lined with dozens of small coves which make for incredible secluded beaches. From your towel on the sand you can feel the strange solitude knowing there is nothing between you and Antartica and you Africa (Madiagascar doesn't count.) The island is also the exclusive Habitat of the Quoakka a small furry animal that is equal parts curious and trusting. The accomidations were quite comfortable in the converted army baraks, another relic from the war.

More recently I went south to Visit a few more mines. What would have been a relatively uneventful trip was transformed into adventure when I was put behind the wheel. That's right we rented a car, and not just any car, a small Hyundai that was manual. So not only was I driving or the first time in months it was on the wrong side of the road and stick. The vehicle which I piloted was the awe-inspiring Hyundai Getz. For those of you in North America and never had the priviledge of seeing this marvel of engineering in person I've included a picture. The highlights from the 6 hours of driving I did that weekend included, stalling on a highway, driving on the right-hand side of the road in downtown Perth, trying to pass a road train (triple tractor trailor) traveling at 110km\h with few than a hundred horses and negotiating a large roundabout at rush hour.

Since my adventures I've mostly been relegated to my room studying. All in all my time here has been great and if I had to go back I'd do it again. I've made some great friends and shared in some interesting adventures. College life was quite good and it's been a well enjoyed break from the pressures and stresses back in Canada.

It's just occured to me that not all of you are aware of my plans for the days ahead. Well on Monday I fly to Sydney with Ian Millwood, a friend I met here at college, where we are staying with Tyler and Josh for a few days. In Sydney our plan is to procure a car, failing that train passes and make our way along the East Coast. That will last until late July. From there my plans are less concrete, I may spend some more time in Australia or make my way to Asia. I'll do my best to keep posting (and keep alive). I'm coming home on August 30th and I'll be eager to swap stories with all you guys.

- Drewdles

Fast Cars and Slow Living

This past weekend my good buddy took me to his homeland to the south. We hoped in his car Saturday morning and after picking up a few hung-over friends scattered accross perth we were off. Our first stop was Bunbury where we dropped off his friends and I met his mother. We had no time to waste though as we needed to be in Nannuo to catch the main event, the Quite Forrest Rally.

That's right, we went to catch a rally race. The Quite Forrest isn't very high profile, it's not on the WRC circuit and it is open to manufacturers as well as individuals. When we got there we wondered through the streets (actually just street) of Nannup which had been converted to the maintenance areas for the teams. We then found a good spot at the first turn of a short stage. Many subarus and toyota's riped around the corner before us. The sounds from their engines made one feel as if the car would explode trying to contain all the power under the hood.



After we had our fill of dust clouds and lound engines Gray took me on a whirl wind tour of the southwest. We hit Margret river and Buesselton. Buesselton has the Southern Hemisphere's longest Jetti (2km) however they wanted to charge us 2.50 to walk on it, forget that. We stopped briefly in the Karri forest to enjoy a little serentiy. We then hurried back to Busso to catch the night stage of the rally. The stage was a short tarmac circuit where the competetors tried to get the fastest 3 lap time.

We then made our way to a classic Australian bush party. The party was full of underagers and really was nothing to write home about, except that I got to sleep in a swag.

We spent Sunday at Gray's family's hobby farm just outside of Bunbury. It was incredibly beautiful, complete with the classic rolling green hills. We went on a motor bike ride around the property and then returned to the homestead for some crab and conversation. We then went for a walk to a scenic spot up on one of the hills to watch a calf take her first clumsy steps. We sat and enjoyed a fine picknic of meats, cheeses and fruits and took in the strikingly fresh air. After the light lunch it was time for some tea and a little shoothing practice. We fired off a few rounds into some unsuspecting cans. Standing there with my tea in hand comenting on the boy's shooting skill I truely felt like an English Gentleman from a time long gone. Before I knew it, it was time to get heading back to the city.

- Drew Bahh