Diving Anyone?

Just got back from my first day at the dive course... YAY!! what an experience... had to get up early for once..lol, had a coke and bounty for breakfast...mmm..nutritious but I learned lots, passed my Dive medical, barely passed the pool skills... I didn't realize how out of shape I am... I can barely tread water for 10 minutes...pathetic isn't it? and then the five laps around the pool almost killed me... gotta do something about that... but I was able to do all the stuff they asked me to, clear your mask while underwater, find your regulator to breathe when it's not in your mouth... crazy stuff, can't wait to get on the boat in a few days!!!

get this... I actually have HOMEWORK to do tonite... isn't that messed up? me, homework? not even 15 mins into the classroom bit I started to fall asleep... go figure.

Had a really healthy overly salted quarter chicken for dinner.... got yelled at by some older lady who obviously hasn't gotten any action in decades... hunny, there called Energizer... got get some... freak woman... after I had gotten my food to the table, (food court) I went back in a bit to get some ketchup (or Tomato Sauce they call it here) so I stood beside the lineup for food, and as soon as the guy was done with the chick in line and started walking to get her drink, I ask for some, he says it's 40 cents for a pack.. then this bad starts yelling at me saying that it was rude of me to jump the queue .. hun, I assumed the kid behind the counter would toss me a pack of ketchup, pardon me, it's not like I'm gonna jump in line to pay for it... faack, relax....anyways, that was the excitement for the nite..... oh and I met this really cool girl from Brandon Manitoba of all places... it was good to chat with a fellow Canadian.. it's amazing, I've met more Canadians in Cairns than I have in Sydney... and I've only been in Cairns for less than a week... crazy eh?

It was off to bed for me after the OC and an Aussie comedy called Rove Live... silly humour, but it works...

The second day of the course wasn't too bad either, I did manage to get my homework done and passed all of the in pool skills... and.. get this... I passed a multiple choice exam... yup, all without studyin... 47/50... I'm proud of me... it was an easy and pie exam, but still, I'm happy about it :) went back to the hostel, took a shower, got ready and it was back downtown for an educational seminar on the Coral Reef, the guy that does it is pretty mad, and puts on a great show! I basically freebased on sugar cookies and coffee the whole time, chilled for a bit at the hostel and it was off to bed for meee... had to get up early so that I could go live aboard a dive boat for a night! YAY!!

Sniff, Sniff..Sniff, Sniff..... I smell....SKANK!

Clubbin was funnn the place was quite a meat market, everybody all upscale and shit
a place called Establishment... reminded me of the Palace in the early days... then it was off to have pies outside in the cold at 3am... gotta love grease that ain't good for ya at such a great time eh?

Sunday woke up..barely... went to the Zoo with Natashya... it was fun.. but I expected alot more, there was lots of room for the people to walk around, but I felt bad for the animals b/c there wasn't alot of room for them... great views of the city tho!

Had dinner at Scruffy Murphys Irish pub, not bad... hit the internet cafe to upload the rest of the pics (I know, I've been slow at getting them to ya...sorry) packed my sorry ass bag and went out for coffee... :)

woke up at an awful hour of 4:45am... and it was off to catch the plane...only when I got downstairs.. I find out that I could have slept for another hour and taken the train to the airport instead... waaaa....and it would have only cost an extra $3

fine, whatever.... got to the airport and was able to chill in the Airport lounge (I love my priority pass) and eat my Egg McMuffin...mmm...colesterall...mmmm

got on the damn plane, Australian Airlines...didn't know what to expect... but wow, the seats had legroom, the staff was friendly, I was sleeping and they put the tray down and popped the food on it for me... ain't that great! and you'd think that breakfast would be some shit meal... nope, it was all stuff I like... Omlette with potatoes and spinach and' shrooms with a tomato sauce, a nice roll with whipped butter and this really good strawberry jam, there was a pecan muffin (and this one was a muffin, not the cake disguised as a muffin that I had for brekky before hitting the zoo), AND they had Peach and Mango yogurt...mmm.mmm.mmm delish-us

got to Cairns and I swear it was like arriving at a resort town like Bahamas, Cancun etc... water, blue skies, humid and palm trees... .excellent! got da bus to the hostel, checked in, got settled, went to town, wandered, booked a tour to Cape Tribulation and my Greyhound bus pass, ate at this kewl Turkish restaurant, booked a room at Gilligans which is this awesome party resort in town, bought a shirt that I've always wanted.... but I think they lost the translation when it was printed in China... "Wanted - Overnight Meaningful Relationship" I can't wait to wear it out!!!!

There are so many cool shops in Cairns, the even have a few indian stores with some really cool clothes in it... it's amazing how accepting of indians people are here... a lot more so than we are in Canada (with the exception of Vancouver)

hit the pool, the hot tub (wasn't hot) made some friends... it's an ok resort...a little tame... oh desperate housewives should be on soon, gotta run in a bit...
I ate Vietnamese Chicken with Wide noodles...mmm...until I raked in the chilli... it got stuck to my teeth so I was using my tongue to get it loose.... bad idea... oh well, gave me the excuse to eat a pineapple cheescake! mmmmm

In Cairns

Yes, I'm still alive, in Cairns now, took an early morning flight out

more later

Blue Mts etc

Ok, so I was bitch tired on the Blue Mts ride, have notes in my diary, but am this point am too lazy to reach into my bag and get it out... if you really want to know, email me...

at this point I'm lost as to what I did next, did end up at City Extra yet again though... ;)

Earlier went and grabbed a bite to eat with Dave and Natashya, injun food I eat

then went and played video games, flight simulator was phun, I landed the plane several times... it was quite fun... perhaps a career opportunity?

then city extra..again.... muhahahaha

got home at 4ish again... :)

woke up on Friday, metup with Zabeen, chatted, then went to STA to find out about my flights... looks like it'll be a Secret .... muhahahahaha

went off to Luna Park, went on a whack of rides, the rollercoaster was actually quite fun, felt about as safe as the deathtrap at West Edmonton mall, did a ferris wheel and wasn't scared...yay... bumper carz... I WON!...then did this spinny ride. oh boy... ill was I.. basically you stand flat with your back against the wall in this round room, and it spins... then the floor drops out from underneath you... and it's still spinning... and spinning... and spinning until finally the floor comes back up and the thing stops and you're back on solid ground.... I wasn't feeling like hurling, but I was just out of it for about a good 3 to 4 hours... but I did manage to make it to JK.

Chilled at Nasim and Karims place, watched a movie called 100 girls... tons'o'laughs as well as the OC... I'm hooked, I can admit it... Nasim and KArim totally remind me of me and my brother..umm..."sister" Zayn, silly silly silly fun times..... got home at 3:30am ... zzzzz ...

slept in a bit on Sat, finally forced myself up at 10 and was ready by 12ish to go eat brekkie... ate Chaat and veg indian food at a restaurant called Maya, really good food, wanted some sweets for dessert, but the line was too long... Made our way to Coogee beach and did a few km's walk from there to Bondi...excellent and amazing views... we took the non path and walked along the side of the cliff, kinda scary at times...but I got some awesome pics of me being dumb... it's not like the rock I'm sitting on and dangling my feet off is gonna fall the few metres into crumbled rock and punishing waves below... nooo way...lol

had me cappa and bondis and the flatbread again, rushed back to the hostel, passed out after meeting a chick from calgary, woke up, ate, and now m on my way clubbin!

Computer geek = Helichopper

Computer Geek strikes again.. maybe I can turn him into a superhero or something? so I went to the CeBit show where I saw lots of kewl Toys and gadgets... they even had this amazing little 1 gig mp3 player that I wanted.. but it was $160 wich is an awesome deal.. but I really don't need it now.. do I.. anyways, I passed on it, but it was sooo coool! oh well.. need a job again so I can buy toys... anybody hiring?

Got some good contacts, found some cheap office space in Dubai, Internet City, so it wasn't too too bad..worth the visit for sure. Now I just have to figure a bizzness plan for something between Nairobi, Dubai and Sydney!

Oh did I mention that I ate a 1200 calorie box of McDonalds cookies in about 5 minutes flat? yeh!

Went off to Manly to listen to the chic that I heard the last time I was there... man is she ever good... went for Dinner at a place called 3 ducks, and had this incredible spicy chicken laksa, I couldn't do the sauce, but ate most of the filling...mmmm.... then it was off to the lounge/bar called 'In Situ' Nas and Karim met us down there, we chatted, had some good laughs.. I think I was still way too tired from the long day to really be 100% focused, but the music was also really good.. we got to hear the singer blow a whole lotta snotties right by our table... was quite appealing.

Luckily we caught the Last Ferry out of Manly and then decided to go to the Pancake House for more food... mmm.... had beef ribs... oh so good... laughed some more again, and then I was back at... yup, you guessed it... the Internet Cafe!

Slept in, and woke up in time for my Helichopper ride, it was so awesome, it's a great feeling being up there, 500 - 1000 feet above the water and the ground, saw a lot of the landmarks, got an idea of how big the damn city is, very awesome, took 248 pics in 1 hour of flight... crazy shizzy eh? after the flight it was off for some
Korean Food, now I knew that I was kidogo (a little) slow, but it wasn't until now that I realized that bean sprouts are actually the tips of beans... like the term implies...Bean Sprouts... it's the sprout that comes out of the bean... they served me food with the beans still attached... and Eureka! so I learned something new!

Hit the internet cafe to upload the pics.. man, I must spend at least an hour a day on average with all of this... well it's worth it at least!

Went to see the movie Crash with Sandra Bullock and a whole cast of stars (no not the soft-core one that Cronenberg did), very interesting movie, I would recommend it .. Had frozen coke and Rasberry... mmmmm.. oh frozen coke is what we would call a slushy.. or a squishy if you're a Simpsons fan. mmm...mmm.. brain freeze! Dinner, steak and mash...mmmm.... for $5.95... oh ya and you have to buy a $3 drink along with it... had coffee at City Extra again... thank god for 24 hour places... eh? ... and then it was back to the inet cafe...

Gotta go to the Blue Mountains Tomorrow at 8 am...it's 3am now... faack

It's Alive....

I finally Got it working again, that damned Elio is alive and kicking... after messing with it for quite a few hours, I found the corrupt file that was hanging it, and found a replacement, but that did'nt work, deleted the damn thing and YAY, it's all good again, popped the music back on and I'm in Bizzness. Thanks Natashya for the loaner laptop, came in super handy with the USB 2.0 port on it...

Checked into the YHA Hostel, this place is a dead zone, there's like nobody around at all, zombienation comes to mind...

Hungama, spent about 2hrs in line.. it wasn't that cold but people were in jackets and sweaters and freezing their azzes off... lol... it did get a bit chilly, but it wasn't that bad.. met a few people in line, it wasn't too bad... it's weird, I just assumed that if I told them I was Ismaili, they would know, but nobody has a clue what it is out here...just as I got to the front of the line.. guess what? they stop it to let ticket holders only in.. WTF?!?!, was looking forward to seend RDB play, but in true brown fashion, it was only a DJ from RDB...fuckers..., there was a wicked fashion show some of the girls were absolutely stunning..., it was a very professionally done show, which I wouldn't have expected from indians, so I was pleasantly surprised... amazing how many brown people were in there... and very few fights, it was great... try doing that in Canada... not happening... saw a group of guys get into a fight.. and when the bouncers came to see what the commotion was, all of them just started throwing their hands up and dancin and the bouncers had no clue..lol.. way to go..

on the way out I was shocked to see the number of cops outside, I'm talking at least 20 officers in full uniform.. guess it's a good way to stop the fights..as I wandered down the road to find a cab, decided to split it with a few guys that were outside as well.. the ride came to $10 and in my incredible math skillset, I came up with $2 per person for the damn thing.. I gave one of the guys $2.20... figured, throw in a tip for the cabbie the guy gave the cabbie a $10.. lets see... $10 divided by 4 is.... ya, 2.50... ya think I would know that... this guy probably thought I was some cheap idiot... of course, I didn't clue into the math error until the next morning.. :)

Thanks again to the laptop I was able to get the rest of my stuff done on the Elio and fix it up! YAY!!! of course the geek in me decided to do this after the party at Hungama... I need help...lets come back from a concert show, and play on the computer...

Remembered a plate I saw on a beemer here... ID 10 T

of course I pissed myself laughing... why the hell would you use that plate?


Saturday was spent at the Cultural Arts Program that the Ismaili community did here in Sydney, it was awesome, one heck of a first class performance... the kids in the play were so cute, in little bumblebee outfits running around and dancing, a really good message from the play on environmental responsibility. The food was good (I snuck in some of the food that was for the "VIP Guests"

We headed off to City Extra, in Paramatta for lots of jokes and fun, hee hee, I got a few good ones in there, had Apple Cinnnamon Pancakes...mmmm....with a little bit of Ice Cream!

Get back to the hostel and lo an behold, there's nobody in my room! YAY!!!
It was good to sleep, nobody snoring or smelling bad... it was grrrreat! but I think I got eaten alive by Bedbugs...there pretty nasty out here

Went for a Lunch / BBQ on Sunday, the food was awesome, another great view, more jokes and laughs... and I learnt a few more jokes too...

Left lunch and went to see Star Wars Episode 3... it was pretty good, nice SFX and lots of violence :) it was pretty good, but the theatre was freezing cold... I think if it got any colder I would have lost my nipples to frostbite...

Hit up a Chinese restaurant with Natashya for Dinner...mmmm.... Ginger Fried Cat.. hey Jason, when I get back.. any chance I can marinate your new cat? hell if you're gonna call it Ginger Beef.. .might as well... ;)
the food at the place was good, had a good time.. until the end, when I saw the guy bring a live crab to the table, show it to the ppl at the table and then head back into the kitchen... I was ok at that point, then when I saw the lady eating the crab and these giant legs sticking out of her mouth, I thought I was gonna be sick... I had to get out of there... yech... I can't handle seeing people eat anything that they've met while alive... that's just gross...

Saw the aftermath of what looked to be a gang fight or something, the cops had the guy down on the ground and was cuffing him, the kid was yelling and seemed to be in quite a bit of pain. There was a guy there with a video camera and they asked him to leave... well actually, one of the security guards was a little rough with the guy, and then the cop asked him to leave... but why? isn't it a free country? he's in a public place, should be allowed to film it, what if it turned into some sort of police brutality case or summthing?

after a while we saw a whole lotta cops and a Helicopter hovering, I thought it was b/c of a fight, but it turned out there was a chinese diplomat driving around and I guess this is how they show people how important they are? it looked cool tho...

Get back to the hostel and Again! Nobody in my Room... score!
Went to listen to the Live Band at Side Bar... damn these guys are good, that and me, live music? WTF?!?!

Headed back to the internet cafe, you know you've been there too much when the songs they play are very, very familiar... got hungry so I ate a fillet o fhisy

on the way back to the hostel I saw a Bar Bouncer pushing and shoving a bum/drunk/homeless guy around... what is it with the violence? can't we all just get along? and if you say no, I'm gonna pop a cap in yo ass... aiiight?

Got some good Sleep again and then headed back to the real party hostel.. WakeUp.
didn't even bother packing, just shoved everything together and dragged it up the street. Did my Laundry... YAY... clean clothes... and then it was off to breakfast... I had fruit again with it, can you beleive it? I don't know what's goin on, I'm eating fruit, and vegetables... and that is not like me.. I mean, where's the fun if there aint a dead animal involved? although, there is the flipside

I'm not a vegetarian because I like animals, I'm a vegetarian because I HATE plants

headed downtown and gave the laptop back to Natashya..THANKS! it came in very handy, a bloody cool laptop too...

Visited the STA Travel to get some info on Central Asia and travels etc...I think I might be able to find a way to get there... but we'll see how things go... need a visa for Moscow still... :)

Wanted to go to the zoo, too late.. walked around the rocks, up to Pilsons point, great views and a lot cheaper that the $160 they want to climb the Harbour Bridge...

Ate a Kangaroo Pizza and ended up back at the internet cafe again.

Sorry if these next few posts seem short, I was so busy, I just did some notes on what went on and I'm filling in the blanks about 2 weeks later.. f

Keep Smilin'

What a wonderful day! it's sunny outside.. a little chilly but it's all good, I'm Canadian right?

Went for a long walk along the beach this morning, was so nice.. the waves were cool, and it was just very relaxing... almost got swept away by one of them coming in a little too far... lol.. kinda funny, all I could think about was the phone and camera in my pocket and I hoped that I didn't fall...

Checked out of the crappy hostel... I was in the can last night... and realized that there was lots of graffiti on the walls... FROM 2001.. WTF?!? I ran into the cleaners at about 6am as my bladder is not what it used to be... when I went back around 8:30 the place was still dirrty... yech...

Last night was great! I ended up back at the live music place for some chicken breast and pan fried gnocchi with spinach..mmm... so good, much needed it after my 2nd workout in one day... (had to make the most of the $12 drop-in fee) there were two guys playin and the one dude.. felix was awesome on the guitar... another good nite for sure... skipped outta there and watched some telly, met a girl from Israel and chatted for a while, while watching the telly, met another girl from Finland, a guy from England and an Irish dude.. pretty nice people, twas good chats, I ended up managing to finish off the book I started in the evening.. impressive eh? there was another funny paragraph in there that had me in stitches, but I'm too lazy to type that one up as well.. some ppl were lookin at me cuz I had this smile on my face and the occasional giggle would escape while I was reading... Finally went to bed around 1 in da morning...

took a walk along the corso, stared at the rolling waves at the beach, had a breakfast burrito at one of the cafes... mmm... reminded me of the ones I used to have for breakfast at the cafeteria in the Tower... mmm... and then it was on the ferry for another entertaining ride back to the city... the waves are kewl, they were tossing us from side to side and up and down... WOOHOOO!

Needed a coffee after coming in, so of course it was McCafe for me... it's great! they have a coffee bar in almost every Maccers here... frickin bloody good idea... So I order my Cappucino and what do I see in front of me? ya, you guessed it.. not... a Macadamia Nut and Mango Cheescake... did I say no like I should have? nope, I got the damn thing and ate most of it... it's gonna go straight to my hips ya know... then I'm gonna have to buy another ticket home (ok, well I don't have even one, so I'll need to buy two) so that my fat ass can fit in the seat... geez... travelling...food...travelling...food...mmm... at least I get to check into a diff hostel today, Pool, Sauna, Hot Tub... YEAH BABY... time for some water therapy... my muscles are hurtin a tad from working out after so long...

Bloody Rain!

It's still bloody raining... please stop.. please?

Went for a stroll by the beach today, saw people learning to surf, people surfing... looks kinda kewl.. maybe I'll try it out... looks kinda scary too... was gonna go hit Oceanworld, but the sun came out so I took a bit of a walk down the walking path... some incredible views... found a cafe overlooking the water, had a cappucino, and just put my head on the table and stared off into the horizon, seeing waves crashing into the rocks, surfers getting the waves, the sun shining.. wicked, wicked...Met a cute little puppy dog named Bobby who kept me company as I sipped my cup of "the best substitute for sleep ever invented" with chocolate sprinkles on top... mmm...mmm... good... a pretty nice cafe it was too...the waitress was telling me about how she almost killed herself in the surf out a ways... the waves looked K-razy.. saw people of all types running, and young and old people heading out into the wild blue yonder with their boards and wetsuits... it was kinda cool... then of course the rain started again, so I ran for OceanWorld.. Saw fishies and Sharkies and Snakies... the tank they got isn't as cool as the one in Sydney, but they have these really pwetty brown sharkies..can't remember what they were called, but they were lwittle and cwute.... saw a big ass turtle/tortoise... what's the diff? eh.. Saw Nemo, read lots about jellyfish and pufferfish and the toxins'n'stuff pretty interesting shit as to how lethal it is... saw the 5 most venomous land snakes... kinda creepy, there was a lizard on display and get this... Giant Roaches... or to keep with the theme, roachies... yech... I just shuddered... and shuddered... dem eeby jeebies came back to haunt me,.... they're just so.. yucky...gos I sound like such a little pwincess... he he

Grabbed a bite to eat at a pie place... I couldn't decide on a pie... so I had 3 mini pies.. Mince Beef, Spinach and corn, Thai Chicken... pretty good I must say... with a nice Liptons Iced Tea to wash it all down.. it's no Arizona Ice Tea, but it did the twick...and then for some odd twisted reason, I ended up in a .. ya ... a book store... me... crazy eh? took about 20 mins and finally decided on a reccomendation from the sales chic... William Sutcliffe - are you experienced?
http://www.topwritecorner.com/reviews/review17.htm

it's about a guy who goes to India with a chic he knows and his experiences... bloody marvellous novel.. I was reading it by the beach (until the rain started again) and then it got cold, and then I made my way back to the little cafe (Candies it's called) for some warmth and another Cappucino. For someone who usually falls asleep or gets way distracted while reading.. I made it 144 pages before I couldn't focus anymore...I'm impressed... It's a good book, y'all should check it out..

There's a paragraph in there on how the English Lad views Hindi / Bollywood movies... here it is..

"As far as I could tell it was about a guy who wants to marry a sexy girl, but his parents want him to marry an ugly girl. Just when he's about to marry the ugly girl, he discovers that the sexy girl has been kidnapped by an ugly man who wears black leather and scowls at the camera. The hero rushes out on a horse in search of the kidnapped sexy girl, and has a punch-up in the desert with the ugly man. He's about to save the sexy girl when it emerges that the ugly girl is in cahoots with the ugly man, and she has somehow tied the father to a chair in the sand and is in the process of pouring petrol all over him. The ugly girl pulls out a box of matches, and they all pause to sing a song. Just then, fifty blokes in black jump out from behind a bush that wasn't there until they jumped our from behind it and start shooting at the hero, who hides behind a small wooden box. Eventually, he comes out, holding a white handkerchief, but when the ugly man in black comes to gloat (which he does in song) the hero trips him up, steals his gun, and shoots all the fifty men in black who jumped out from behind the magically appearing bush.

The Father, whose petrol seems to have dried off, frees himself from the chair and has a comedy fight with a fat man who appears to serve no purpose. The sexy girl points out to the hero that the ugly girl is escaping through the desert just as the father defeats the fat man by putting a bucket on his head. The hero, the father and the sexy girl then all sing a song in which the father seems to give his blessing to their marriage. Meanwhile, the ugly girl on the horizon shakes her fist, and says something which can only be a vow of revenge. A few seconds later, just as she is on the point of dying of thirst, she comes across a lonely hut on top of a sand-dune. She knocks on the door and is welcomed by a man who tries to seduce her (in song). She is unimpressed by his advances until she notices that in the corner of the room is a mini-laboratory, containing what appears to be a half-finished nuclear bomb. Together they hatch a plan.

After that, the plot became a bit too difficult to follow. As far as I could tell, in the end the sexy people married each other, the ugly people got blown up, and the fat people ended up with buckets on their head.
Now that's what I call quality entertainment"

If you've ever seen a Hindi flick... you should be laughin your ass off by now..

anyhoo, now that I've proved I can still type without looking at my fingers, I'm off to the gym again, din din, and bed... back to the City tomorrow!

mmmm....Butter Chicken

What a nite... wasn't super hectic, but a very good one... went back to the hostel and checked in, can you beleive it, there was someone at the front desk? amazing eh?

got to my room, what a dive, smells like wet socks, the dude in my room is kinda sketchy... oh well, at least there's only 2 of us in a 4 share room, I think with 4 people it would be pretty cramped.. and smelly..er...

watched a bit of 50 first dates in the TV room, until the disc decided to quit about halfway through the movie... it's all good, at least I've seen it before... :)

Went out to an Indian Restaurant for dinner, The Last Train to Bombay it's called, food wasn't too bad, the chicken was really yummy, but I had to send it back for them to add some chillies... was a little too unspicy for me..lol... made friends with the waiters.. .they were asking all sorts of questions about Canada and what it's like... can you beleive they make Masala Tea (Chai) here from a teabag? like a masala teabag..yuck...tastes so watered down... gimme the real stuff... please?

wandered around Manly Corso (the main strip), chilled at the beachside watching the waves roll in... it's so calming...lots of people running around town and the beach... I walked back to the Corso area and heard what I thought was a loud CD playing... ended up being this guitar chic in a cafe called In Situ playing the guitar and singing.. it was soo good, what a voice.. I just chilled there by the heater and comfy couch and listened for an hour or so, great songs, very calming... a very memorable moment, I sat there and went back in my mind to all the diff places I've been and the things I've done... this trip has really been very eventful and I'm very glad I did it... I have no idea how I'm gonna pay it off (there's always that job at McDonalds.. Crew Trainer!), but I guess I'll worry about that later... for now it's a matter of focussing on having as much fun as possible... and making the most of the time off, I probably will never get the chance again, although I hope that I do one day... make it a family thing eh?

after that it was back to the hostel, caught the last bit of the OC and it was time for la la... got into bed and passed out for a few hours... it was weird.. time seems to move so slowly here... couldn't sleep properly either, I think it's cuz it's a new place / bed / etc... in the middle of the night, I felt something in my hair.. thought it was just the back of the bed, until I ran my hand through my hair and heard a thunk against the wall... tried not to think of what it was... then this morning.. ya, I saw my first Aussie Cockroach.. my god these things are massive! I moved my bag to get my clothes, and saw the thing scurry across the floor onto the wall and behind the bed... of course I shrieked like a little girl and jumped back... took a few seconds to catch my breath before I could go near the bag again... still get the creeps thinking about it... yech... I can handle doin 252km/h in a car, or 235km/h on a bike, doing an 80 foot free fall from 120ft in the air, hanging my feet over cliffs that overlook treacherous water, but I can't handle cockroaches... go figure...reminds me of the time that I saw a roach in the basement of the old place in Toronto... god that was embarrasing... but of course I'm not gonna tell you that story..

yech...gives me the heebie jeebies... yech...

anyways, got ready and hit the cafe again for cheap brekky... read the paper they had there, there was an article on the Calgary Stapede, kewl eh? then decided to hit the gym for some odd reason, it's been raining like crap here, finally now the sun is coming out... hopefully I'll get some beach time... it's a little cold to tan, but I gotta touch the water and walk the length of the beach at least... and check out Oceanworld... should be fun times...

Manly..

Took a ride on the ferry to Manly Wharf... a must do.. the ride is great! there was a storm coming in so the water was a little rough.. what a great ride, amazing views of the Harbour and the coastline... some incredible houses and trees and rocks and cliffs... breathtaking.

There was one spot where we were passing by one of the cliffs overlooking the sea, and the rain was coming in, you could see the cliff, and then slowly this grey mist started to roll in, the rain started to come down, the seas got just a little more choppy and before you know it, you couldn't see the horizon on the water, and slowly the mist engulfed the cliff, leaving just a dark silhouette of the cliff in the distance...and then... the cliff vanished from sight... replaced with the diagonal streams of misty rain, pouring down and being carried on by the wind....wow..

how's that for an attempt at creative writing? had to look up the word silhouette lol...

So I got to Manly.. nice place, found a good indian restaurant to check out for dinner, went to the hostel.. omg..what a dive.. this place kinda freaks me out.. it's half deserted, no staff anywhere... tres freaky.. wandered around inside trying to find staff...no luck.. I think they don't open till 3 and one of the guys there said they're very intermittent... great.. good thing I'm only here for 2 days...

left and had brekky at this little cafe... I'm trying to broaden my horizons, so I ate scrambled eggs, with brown toast, butter, and get this... sauteed veggies.. and I actually ate the veggies instead of pushing them aside to find the eggs... amazing eh? they were really good, carrots, zucchini, potatoes, green peppers, mushrooms, onions, and others that I couldn't identify... lol... hey at least I'm trying? right?

at the Inet cafe now, killing time until 3 so I can go see if there is anybody at the hostel to give me a room.

Clubbin!

Been looking forward to Sat nite for a while now, getting to go clubbin and all... we headed out from khane and stopped at Salima's place so she could get ready and we could take a look at the map to see where we were off to for din din... it's far far away from th city..at least that's what it looked like on the map... hit the road.. ok, I have to say this about Sydney, great place... but the traffic is worse than Toronto... yech... so we were bumper to bumper in traffic, stupid buses kept jumping in front of us a few times... didn't look like we'd get to where we were going anytime soon, so we called and cancelled, felt really bad about it, but it was that or show up for dinner realy late...

Went to an incredible Thai Restaurant in Newtown.. the place has no sign, and is at the bottom of a hotel/pub, the entrance isn't even marked... we get down there, and it's packed, and I mean packed with people... we had to sit outside where it was cold and nipply.. ordered and grabbed a seat inside after a while... had a drink called Schweppes Lemonade.. it was really good, not lemony at all.. Me likeeey ..
and the food was pretty awesome too... huuge prawns with the heads still on 'em... hee hee... ended up on my shirt at one point.. :( good thing I don't wear light colors.

After Din we picked Natashya up and hit Retro a bar with 4 floors, different music on each.. bloody hell $20 cover charge.. WTF?!?! way to rich for my blood, but the music was good, danced to some R&B, OldSchool, Retro, Hip Hop, Techno... not bad at all, plus I couldn't complain being in the company of 3 very beautiful women... :)

We found a nice place on the dance floor (carpeted) that had a fan, so it wasn't bad... kept cool and danced... YAY!

Dropped Natashya off at home and then it was back on the Grand Prix motorway to drop Farheen off at jk where her car was... when we get there.. lets go for coffee!!!! of course Macers was closed, so we hit the gas station (memories of Dubai) chilled with coffee and ferrero rocher at the gas station... then it was back towards the city... vroom vroom... think I ended up going to bed at about 4am... kewl... of course being the lazy ass that I am, I rolled it out of bed at about 2:30pm... hee hee.. love traveling... had a craving for Pancakes and Eggs, so I got the Insiders tip and went to a pancake house in the Rocks with Uzma... oh did that ever hit the spot.. I never thought I would say this.. but I miss Denny's :( someone needs to open one out here, 24 hour breakfast joint.. grease, grease and more frickin grease... it's so good and healthy for you, I can't beleive it! lol
Had a bite of a Chocolate pancake... not bad, really sweet... but yummy all the same..

Left the pancake house and it was dark.. WTF? oh ya, it is like 5.. Feisal's a moron... that's what happens when you wake up at 2:30pm... lol.. Uzma had a craving for a roller coaster, so we headed down to Luna Park... all the rides were closed hen we got there, but there's a great view of Sydney from there, way cool, and I actually managed to get a nice night pic finally... YAY me.. got back to the hostel and watched the last half of Star Wars Episode II... I was amazed at the number of ppl that were there watching it, it's like everything at the hostel stopped... gotta love Star Wars eh?

Hit the bar quickly and then went to la bed..

Slept in on Monday till about 11, figured I'd get a bunch of stuff done, had a large list... ya right.. did that happen.. umm.. nope...spent 6 hours on the internet... had a big mac for breakfast, mmm... grease again! it was good tho.. chatted with quite a few ppl on MSN, got some emails done, applied for some jobs in AUS, listened to some music (well needed after both my damn MP3 Players are fooked) really did get a lot accomplished...

oh wanted to tel you all about my Vegemite experience. don'e do it, that stuff is shit! tastes like ass would taste like... wanted to frickin throw up ... yech! how the hell do these Aussie's eat it... BARF, HURL, GAG,, YUCKEEEEEEEY

Had some really good pad Thai on the way back to the hostel and got there just in time to catch a bit of Big Brother, Pack and Desperate Housewives!!! saw that, and the Oprah Special Episode of Desperate Housewives... laugh all you want, it's a good show.. figured it was time for bed

Bed...riight... got up there, lots of ppl in room, played cards, some really strange game called shithead.. so of course.. feisal is the shithead, and he wears a yellow wig to the bar downstairs, he danced, he had lots of fun, he looked like an idiot. but the redeeming moment was when this fit bird from Holland told him "You look so attractive with that wig on" ha ha.. very funny... Am glad I got to meet new people, but it was kinda shitty that it was the night before I was leaving...back to the room, get some rest, and the other guys come in and we start talking about food, mcdonalds and shit.. I was getting sooo hungreeey...finally 2 of us get up and go for maccers at 2:30am.. ha ha.. get outside..it's raining, ok drizzling...hmm... not such a good idea eh... hit the Kebab place round the corner...mmm..hits the spot... back to bed, more food talk,... finally sleep... had another weird dream...like I was actually there.. crazy eh? wake up, and one of the girls in the room was like... what the hell are you doin up so early? lol, when I met her last night, she looked at me and said.. wow, this is the first time I've seen you awake... lol.. my theory is, if I don't got anything to do, why wake up? what a waste..he he....now on my way to Manly!

mmm....carz...

Yupperz... went to the Sydney AutoSalon.. OMG it was incredible... the place was hoppin with wicked music, nice cars, lots of space... xbox demos, lots of S2000's some done up really nicely... glad I went.. not quite worth the $22 admission and $7 train ride.. but oh well...when in rome..

had a good nite last nite, hit the bar downstairs for a while... chatted with a fellow canadian for about an hour.. pretty good to be able to talk like a canuck again.. I keep using Aussie words and accents these days...eh?

woke up early, and it was eerie...usually when I wake up, I'm the only one in the room, this time everybody was still sleeping.. it was weird... finally made my way outta da hostel and decided.. Feisal needs a Haircut.. so I'll go and get one... went down the street.. there was a place that was doin 'em for $12, so I figured why the hell not right? ya,.. told the gal to trim it, I want to grow it, just clean it up a little... what does she do... yup, gives me a cut... so my hair is short again... oh well.. grabbed a bite and hit the train to the Sydney showgrounds for the show... pretty good as I said...

the train back was uneventful, changed and off to khane again... tonite's gonna be a partay nite (I hope) can't wait to go clubbin!

I like little words written bigly, not big words written littley

just listening to some Indian music... remixes and stuff.. .reminds me of Nairobi... man I miss that place...don't get me wrong, Sydney is great and all, but miss all the people out there... it's such a great place...

Went out for Goan food last nite... mmm... so good, they had this really cool banana cake stuff with coconut ice cream and caramel....mmm...mmm... good.

Ended up waiting for the Light Rail in the "BatCave" the station is at the bottom of this rock formation, and it's just eerie down there... little light, bad security cameras, water dripping down the walls... an insane staircase to get there...it was kinda creepy cool... nice place to hang out at night...lol... it's safe, just kinda gives you one of those deja vu feelings from a horror flick or something... :)

Today was a good day, hit the art gallery, laughed my ass off at all the things they called "art" it was pretty frickin funny... some of the crap that passes is bloody stupid in my opinion.. but then again, what do I know... it's not like I'm cultured or anything... there was a tube of hair... and you call that ART? bloody hell, other paintings could have been done by a 12 year old... like... whatever...

got to see another sculpture outside of a Matchstick... can't say it was very artsy.. but the burnt out matchstick was very..umm...entertaining. I'll share the pics when I get 'em online...

Went and saw a movie called Extra, it was funny... got shushed for laughing... gimme a break... it's a comedy... I think the lady was pissed cuz she was watching it by herself... get a life... lol... they guy had a line in there that had me on the floor... he was reading Shakespeare and said

"I like little words written bigly, not big words written littley"

I loved it, sounded like something I would say... lol...

got ready, hit Khane and back to the internet cafe... such a geek I am, I know, gotta get out and do something tonite, I mean it is Friday night...we'll see... gonna hit the car show tomorrow... YAY.. Sydney AutoSalon...

Road Trip!

Here's my account of the road trip from Sydney to Melbourne that I took on a rental Motorcycle. May 3 - 10 2005

Pics

Day 1 285Kms Sydney - Batemans Bay (Princes Highway)
Day 2 571Kms Batemans Bay - Wodonga (Snowy Mountains Highway)
Day 3 258Kms Wodongoa - Melbourne (Hume Highway)
Day 4 80Kms Melbourne
Day 5 600Kms Melbourne - Port Campbell - Melbourne (Great Ocean Road)
Day 6 663Kms Melbourne - Wodonga (Great Alpine Way)
Day 7 660Kms Wodonga - Sydney (Hume Highway)
Day 8 50 Kms Sydney

Bike Out - 23094 Kms
Bike In - 26264 Kms
Total Ride - 3170 Kms in 7 Days (Avg 452 Kms / Day)

Day 1
Picked up the bike... it's a nice pretty red CBR600F4i..mmm...speed..hehe... got all geared up, the people at the rental agency are supa nice... got me rain gear, helmets, gloves, jacket, luggage carrier. got all my stuff packed on the back of the bike, strapped it all in, did all the paperwork and I'm off... it was so good to be back on one.. missed it lots... of course I had to ask if they move the throttle and brakes to the opposite side as well.. lol.. nope the bike rides the same... just on the wrong side of the road...lol. Took forever to get out of Sydney, there was a really bad accident on the road, the seats on this bike ain't that comfy... ass was hurting like mad... had to keep adjusting, it was either the bum hurts, or my neck would hurt... need a massage and a jacuzzi...mmm...jacuzzi...any volunteers?

Stopped off at a place called Bulli Lookout... oh my god, it's like you're on top of this amazing town on the coast...well, not like, you actually are on top of it... the view is breathtaking. tool some pics, jumped back on and headed off on my way.

It's amazing on the roads, the rolling hills, green grass, animals, whackjob drivers that are inconsistent, but the roads are great... doesn't even feel like i'm in another country/continent. Stopped at this cafe in a town called Nowsa, nice little place, very trendy looking in the middle of a hick town.. go figure eh? at least they're trying to change the image. got back on the highway and off again, this part was fairly boring... it got dark earlier than I expected, and the headlights on the bike weren't aimed properly, so I got off at a place called Batemans Bay instead of Bega, found a motel, of course they have no rooms available, but the guy had a self contained apartment style room that's usually $100 but he gave it to me for $75, cuz he used to ride a bike... until his wife made him get rid of it... so I took it, didn't know what else to do, offloaded all my stuff, was tired, went and grabbed some grub, and realized that there was NO SOAP or SHAMPOO in the room, and they didn't have any... frickin frack.. watched the telly and headed to bed, hoping for an early start.

Day 2

Left fairly early, I think I was out by about 8:30 and on the road, jumped on the highway to Bega, another boring drive. Had breakfast there and began the trek to Cooma on the Snowy Mountains Highway. The roads were absolutely awesome.. long sweeping turns and more long sweeping turns... I swear I was leaning for like 6-10 seconds on these things at about 90-100km/h... it was amazing... me in full tuck leaning on the tank, felt like a video game... the road went up and turned, and down and turned, it was heaven. then from Cooma to Adimanaby they were long twisty roads... WOW! finally made it to Cabramurra, the highest town in Australia at 1400m, really really high up. Nice little town, great views. I was in the snowy mountains.. of course being the end of summer, there was no snow thank goodness... lots of trees, mountains, hills, wowee.... headed out of Carbramurra and started making my way towards Corryong. These roads were small twisty ones, not bad, but you had to go kinda slow as you were coming down the backside of the mountain. some amazing little man made lakes that they have put in for electricty n stuff.. as I was coming down towards the dam, I see 2 lanes, so I stayed in the left one... ya, it was a gravel bed... next thing I know, I'm on my side, the bike is on top of my leg, and I'm like..OUCH! so the adrenalin is going, it's the first time I've ever fallen of a bike, and I got fairly lucky that I wasn't hurt... got the almost 400lb bike off my leg, got it back on two wheels and moved it off the gravel, did an inventory, I still had all my limbs and body parts... hip felt a little hurt and my leg and knee were a little sore, but thank god no blood or major injuries... figure I must have been doin about 15km/h or so when it happened and the gravel would have slowed it down some more... it just happened so fast... glad I didn't really skid or slide much.
As for the bike... ya, fairing is scratched... the mirror broke and the blinker was smashed... glad the mirror just broke off and didn't crack.. don't need another 7 years of bad luck... once in my life was enough. The dam was a one lane crossing and they really shouldn't have a gravel bed like that... oh well, shit happens I guess.. I just have to be thankful that I'm ok and alive.
Got back on the bike, and continued on to Corryong... ya know, just as well it happened where it did, because the roads from there were pretty shitty, loose gravel and stuff, so I was more cautious then I would have been if I hadn't fallen off the bike... everything happens for a reason..I guess... I even ended up on a full gravel road. I'm pretty impressed with myself that I got back on the bike, didn't really have a choice being in the middle of nowhere, but all the same... I just need to apply the lesson of "gettin back on the horse" to all the other things in my life... ya, like that's gonna happen anytime soon...lol.
Got to see some wild 'Roos crossing the road, they're so cute.. hopping away... lots of roadkill too... so sad... all these poor animals getting murdered by drivers... poor things.. anybody for a wallabee sandwich? hee hee.
Corryong was a kewl little town, pretty dead, but it was pretty much the only town that had any cute girls in it... saw a few.. but they were too young... ah to be 16 again... had a chicken souvlaki at one of the cafe's and then popped off to Wodonga for the night, gotta get a mirror and blinker for the bike... kinda hard to ride without them.. .not the safest thing to do when you can't see what's next to / behind you. It was starting to get dark and I just wanted to park the bike and get some rest. On the way there, I passed one of the most beautiful sights, the sun was setting, the sky was orange and on fire, and as I rode past this lake that had dead trees standing in it, the water was reflecting the orange sky and OMG wow, it was like the water was on fire... that was def a Kodak moment that I couldn't get, no safe place to stop... :( got gas in Wodonga, found a motel room and got all my stuff in there.

Day 2 Night
Watched some Television program on the DaVinci Code.. all of a sudden was falling asleep, hungry and craving hot chocolate.. of course they didn't have any at the hotel, called and ordered a pizza, asked them if they had hot choco.. they do.. YAY.. but... they won't deliver it... c'mon, even if I say its ok to be cold? nope.. Fine then.. be that way. So I wandered out of the motel, onto the street, saw a pub and asked there, of course they don't serve hot chocolate.. it's a frickin hotel bar.. crap... now what? ok, so I go back to the reception at the hotel, this lady was so nice.. get this, Milk is free, the coffee and tea in the rooms, free, the shortbread cookies (that I forgot to take with me) free! Wow, not bad for $60 bux a nite ... if you're evern in Wodonga Sanctuary Park Motel check it out. So anyways, I see fudge.. lots of fudge.. with all sorts of alcohol fillings... but wait, there is a caramel fudge one there.. so I buy it... $4.50 and I get a bottle of milk.. figure, I can make hot caramel fudge milk.. get the fudge back to my room... it's got mold growing on it... great.. now what.. my precious plans are going awry... k, I go back to reception, ask her if the mold is normal.. she goes.. hmm... I don't think so... of course the other plain one has mold too.. the alcohol laced ones are fine, they're normal.. the mold probably got drunk and passed out somewhere... geez.. ok, so she has a big box of caramel fudge for $10.. I'm jonesin' so I check it and say I'll take that one... go to reach for the difference in price.. she says, don't worry about it... such a sweet old lady.. I'm like Kewl! so I go back to my room, microwave the milk in a mug, spilling it over a few times.. add the fudge.. damn thing don't melt very well.. but I finally get it.. mmm it was tasty.. just what I needed.. Watched SVU, ate my 'za watched s'more telly and off to bed!

Day 3
ended up having some of the most twisted dreams last night... they felt so real... got lots done.. only to realize when I woke up that I had accomplished absolutely.. NOTHING! not sure if in some alternate universe I am all caught up with outstading stuff... ?!?!? finally dragged my ass out of bed, had the best shower in a long time.. hot water, great water pressure, and it wasn't a dorm shower!!! had nice smelling soap, shampoo... mmmm.. heaven... ok nothing beats a bubble bath with a jetted tub.. but this was close enough for being so far away.

Got dressed, checked out and headed for the Honda Dealership in Wodonga, Bob Crosby's Honda, to see if they have a mirror for the bike.. umm... "no, we only to quads and stuff" ... grrreeat! so they send me to the Honda dealership in Albury, about 10 mins away... do they have one.. ummm "no, you'll have to go to Melbourne"... grrreat! so I did end up buying a blinker from them, needed one, bought 4 for $80 bux b/c they don't sell singles... grrreeeat!. the guy at the parts counter put it on for me... oh well, at least it's a start...

off to Melbourne.. the weather was getting a little shady, so I jumped on the M31 highway which goes straight to Melbourne.. they are sticky on limits here, lots of warning signs and stuff.. so I pretty much did about 115-120 in a 110.. can you believe it? ha ha, neither can I, I got lucky and was able to shadow 2 cars doing 130-140.. hee hee.. made it to Melbourne finally, as it starts to rain, glad I didn't get hit when I was on the highway, that would have sucked the big one... so I get lost, get on High street, keep going, where the heck am I? ask at a gas station.. he has no clue.. luckily one lady that was paying for gas helped me out and gave me directions.. the roads here in Melbourne are Shit, confusing and backwards... yuck. See a couple of weirdo's on the street, find the damn dealership, get my damn mirror and put it on the damn bike, $100 for 1.. ONE.. UNO... MOJA ... EK ... ONE .. FREAKING MIRROR!!! anyways, done venting, pop the mirror on, looks good, head off to St. Kilda, by the beach.. it's overcast and raining and cloudy and cold... yuck... after navigating the crappy one ways and don't turn here and you can't do this and turn here not there one way ..AARRRGH it was about 45 minutes to get on the St. Kilda road, BTW: What's up with all the cops? saw 9 cops at ONE intersection... that's the way to give tickets.. forget giving the Donut Hunters cars.. just have them stand at intersections to give tickets... Bleh! Riding down St. Kilda.. I feel something hit my leg when I was stopped... light turns green, I go... check my pockets at the next light... guess what? no map!! it fell out of my pocket at the last intersection.. the guy behind me was nice enough to tell me. Finally get to St. Kilda, riding around, I find the hostel, BASE BackPackers.. not a bad place, so far, rooms are roomy, have their own bathroom and shower (YAY) so we'll see how it goes, will decide tomorrow to stay or not for the next 2 days... I wandered around town a bit to see what's up, found a Nando's... will go there for din din I think.

Back from Nando's, pretty good chick'n .. this is crazy, unintentional, but crazy, have had Nando's in Vancouver, London, Nairobi, Dubai and now Melbourne.. crazy eh? went to khane, got lost, just made it for the end, not a bad place, nice and small, not too many people tho... got lost coming home as well, the roads here are ridiculous... metup with Shazma for coffee (Thanks Sana) got the inside scoop on Melbourne and Travelling adventures... nice cafe's and stuff here..

So I get back to the hostel... wow, this place rocks! DanceFloor, good dj, stripper poles, wet t-shirt contest, Karaoke (ok not that cool), the bathrooms are stylin.. hell the glass partition between the ladies and the mens is translucent, so you can see shadows through the stalls... I see a shadow of a chic and I'm like, what the hell is she doin in here... she's not, she's next door.. .lol.. pretty funky place! Met some peeps from Ireland, they been here a month partyin.. this place is nutz! probably will stay the rest of the days here... plus it's great to have secure parking for the bike underground and card access... :)

before I forget, back to the Weirdo's that I saw downtown today.. saw the same ones walk past me into the little shopping centre that they have in St. Kilda... it was like I'd seen them somewhere before...lol...

Day 4
Got up, barely slept a wink, lots of noise outside, changed rooms.. so hopefully now I'll be ok. They are very accomodating here. Was Starvin' headed off to Grill'd for a burger and fruit juice, bought a bus pass :) asked one of the bus guys which Tram to take, jackass tells me the wrong one.. so I'm on my way into the burbs before I know it... grr... but just as well, I get off at one of the main roads, look at the Tram that's going the right way, but it's on the wrong side of the road, so like an idiot, I wait and then watch it go the right way... grr... wait for the next one.. YAY it's early, get on.. then the conductor gets off and about 10 minutes late the new guy shows up and we leave to go towards downtown. See Chapel street, get off there.. way cool stores and stuff, hit the French Connection store because I can't resist.. :) didn't see anything too too exciting, walked to the almost end, got on the tram to the station downtown and I was on my way, checked out the visitor info booth, not much happenin there, then it was off on the free City Circle tram that goes around the CBD or Central Business District I assume it to mean.. it might mean Crazy Bloody Downtown for all I know..lol..

Checked out the Rialto Tower, really high up, observation deck, outdoor viewing.. wow that was high up, got some kewl pics... saw a really boring video on Melbourne... pretty city.. then it was back on the tram for little italy or Lygon St. found another FCUK Store, again, nothing overly exciting... and a kewl cafe / restaurant called Milano... the kitchen wasn't open, so I had Cheesecake and Cappucino for lunch..mmm... got back on the tram and back home I was... exciting day eh? had a shower, met some cool blokes from London, and then off to Khane. Got there on time this time around, I was impressed with meself. Met some new people there, we headed over to a place called Shine, restaurant downstairs and dancefloor bar upstairs... and then it was back home for me.. .got lost again, but managed to find my way no problem... gotta go to bed now, early morning ride to the Great Ocean Road !!! :)

Day 5

Got a txt from Zahra at 6:45 am.. rolled out of bed around 7:48ish... got ready and then it was off to see the Twelve Apostles and the Great Ocean Road. It was cold, chilly, cloudy and the sun was nowhere to be seen when we left Melbourne, stopped for brekky (Mmmm Hungry Jacks... aka Burger King... .. Whopper with Cheese) and it was off to the Great Ocean Road..... got on it, and yes, this road is GREAT! You're right on the coastline, with stunning vista's of tall cliffs and waves rolling into light brown sandy beaches.... saw THE most awesome sign of all time... "Next 27 Kms.. Twisty Road" 27 Kilometres of twisties... way cool.. stopped and filled up gas along the way and headed into Apollo Bay for lunch.. had a chicken burger with chips, it was cool to have someone along for the ride... one heck of a crazy first time sportbike experience... so if you thought the coastal roads were awesome.. then you head out from Apollo Bay to the Twelve Apostles which are these big rocks in the middle of the water... such a beautiful view, we got there just as the sun was heading down, not quite sunset, there was still an hour and a bit to go... took us about 6 hours to get there on the Scenic route from Melbourne... luckily the sun was out for most of it once we were out of the city. Saw a crazy 3 car car crash in the mountains/hills that we drove through.. beautiful, nice twisties, and loads of great scenery, I'm talking ocean on one end, and then these great forest valleys on the other. WOW! I was shaking my head quite a few times... Once we got to Princetown area and saw the apostles, it was a rush to Port Campbell to get petrol and then up a shortcut to the Highway that runs straight to Melbourne.. had to get on the highway before it got dark, b/c the inside roads would be mildly treacherous..... got on the highway just in time... grabbed a mochachino, brownie and hot chocolate (thanks Zahra) at Maccers (rotten ronnies, McDicks, McDonalds... whatever) and then it was cold straight highway riding until we got back to Melbourne... Freezing cold... some rain, not too bad tho... we got really lucky...good to be back.. I'm bloody exhausted... izz time for la la.. but first din din...

Ate some Malaysian food, coughing like crazy, went to bed early...

Day 6
Woke up around 8:00, snoozed till about 8:30 got ready,checked out and it was off, got gas and a map and it was onto the highway for me. Headed out from St. Kilda and jumped on the M1 to Dandenong. Grabbed a bite there... there are lots of brown people in the mall,I was quite surprised. When I left Melbourne,it was sunny, as soon as I hit the highway,it got cold and cloudy,it was dreary when I went to get brekky (mmmm lamb and chips) but as soon as I got out of the mall, the fog and clouds were gone... YAY.... turned out to be a beautiful day! jumped back on the highway and headed off towards Bairnsdale. Got there in pretty good time, boring road tho. From Bairnsdale it was nice on the Great Alpine Road to Omeo, great views, the road wasn't that exciting, but it was fairly fun. but wow, the drive from Omeo to Bright over the top of Mt Hotham was incredible... you end up getting to the top (1800m or so) and WOW! the views of all the other mountains are breathtaking, When you get to the top, you realize exactly how high up you are,b/c the road is at the edge of the mountainside and it's straight down........pretty scary, especially on the way down, you really have to go slow...lots of the turns can't be done at more than 35-50km/h and let me tell you,it's bloody cold at the top. After that it was a rush to get out of the mountains before dark.... Passed through a Lavender Farm on the way out... smelled soooo good... managed to make it to Wodonga in pretty good time... luckily I was driving west at that point so the sun pretty much stayed where it was for a while. Got on the main highway just after the sun set,and I was good to go... saw an amazing array of stars, out here it's amazing, no light pollution....and even though it was freezing, there would be these stretches of road that had warm air and others that had cold air, it was so cool... first you're freezing, then you're like..aaahhhh warm air.... it's great! Checked back into the same motel I was at last time... same great student rate! I'm still freezing and shaking and sore from all the riding... can't beleive I did a trip like this, but am so glad that I did, some of the views and the roads were spectacular... definately a must do, would love to do it again sometime, and mark it as one of the most exciting things I've done.... WOW.... gonna go grab some grub, get to bed,got about 560km to do to get back to Sydney, the good thing is that it's all freeway (almost) so I'll do pretty good time I hope... ta ta...


Day 7

Had Chinese food for dinner last night... mmm.. good! I ordered veg spring rolls, and they came and said, we don't have any, do you want a veg curry puff instead? then they came back and said, we don't have any... do you want shrimp toast instead? ok... finally got my food, tied it to the bike and back to the motel to eat it while watching back to back episodes of CSI!

Woke up in the morning to the alarm at 7, hit the snooze button, slept for about 3 minutes, woke up and looked at the time... it was 8... there was no snooze button on the damn alarm... grrreat eh? amazing how time flies... literally I though it was 7:03... hmph... and then these idiots with Harley's start their bikes up outside... I mean really, does it have to be that freakin loud? is it a compensation thing? I just don't get it. Then to top it all off, I find that I don't got shampoo... here I am looking forward to this amazing shower again, and there's no damn shampoo.... waaa...waaa... so I called reception and they brought me some... YAY...had another amazing shower, got ready, packed all my stuff and I was off for the marathon ride back to Sydney.

Stopped in a town called Gundagai for lunch/breakfast, had this really good steak sandwich... it was actually a sandwich, with 2 pieces of toast...mmmm... and a cappucino...mmm.. I'm still chasing the flavour from the cafe at Bondi... gotta go back soon... headed off to a bakery down the street... the oldest working bakery in Australia, they had this pastry thing with cream custard and strawberries..oh my god, yummy... Got out of there and it was smooth sailing... the highway was nice and sraight, concrete and some blacktop, 130km/h all the way back, the roads are great, the view was ok, but lots of rolling hills and trees and sheep... kind of reminds me of Calgary.. minus the sheep... very picturesque (it's a dictionary word, if I spelt it wrong, sue me) decided I had to have some fun, so on the on ramp to the highway did 13,000 RPM in Second Gear... WOOOHOOO this bike has power...got to Sydney finally, these roads are crazy, the drivers are mad, they just zip by you... went under a really really long tunnel by the airport... really stuffy and smoggy inside.. had to hold my breath for a while, but didn't do any good, had a bit of a headache when I got out of the tunnel.. they really don't make 'em moto-cycle friendly. Then had to pay a toll... I can't beleive they charge bikes as well... morons.. the time spent looking for change and stuff.. bleh... made it back to the hostel, had to fandangle parking in an alley nearby, thank god I didn't get any tickets... the parking tix are like $160 out here... ya, that's dollars, not rupees. Got my room, they got a special, book for 6 nights and get the 7th free... YAY, brings the cost down to $24 per night... get to my room, there's a weird guy that smells really bad... great... more entertainment.

forgot to mention some of the roads that I passed on the trip...kept seeing names of people I knew... nutz eh? Grossman Way, Noble St, Audley Road

Went to Khane, got lost, made it there late... traffic was bloody insane, there was construction, mad crazy drivers... it was frickin nutz! had exit the motorway and get back on, ended up paying a toll twice... WTF?!? finally got there, got to blow up balloons for little kids, met Gav's Cousin Natashya, she just moved to Sydney last week, crazy eh? Salima convinced me to go to rotten ronnies for dinner ... mmm Double Quarter with cheese .. showed her the pics from the road trip and gave her the highlights.... then ... then we left to get back to the city... what a drive.. .topped out at about 162 km/h hope I didn't hit any speed cameras... oopsy... but it was pretty good, about 120-130 most of the way back.. a little cold outside.. but other than that, lots'o'fun! back at the hostel, gonna check out the bar and head off to bed... gotta move the bike at 8:30 to another parking location... geez...

Day 8
Got up at 8:30..actually got up earlier than that... got an early morning email from Zahra... thanks!..not!..got out of bed at 8:30... moved the damn bike to another spot in the alley... and went back to bed. Rolled my ass out at 11:00 and changed, hopped on da bike for my last ride to return it. Got to the rental place, they took a look at the bike... not good news.. they figure between $1000-1500 to repair the damage to the bike... I'm hoping it won't even be close to that amount, but will have to see... got my fingers crossed that the quote won't come out to that much.. I was hoping for $500 - 800 tops... will have to wait and see I guess... :( Said bye to the bike.

End of the Road Trip Story. I had a great time, it was worth it, the views and the scenery were incredible... I wish I could have captured more of it in pictures, but hopefully these will give you some indication of the amazing beauty that is this island called Australia!

Diving anyone?

WOOOHOOO!!!! I booked my flight and dive course in Cairns!!! getting excited already... 4 day course, 2 days liveaboard on the boat... 5 dives.. PADI cert when I'm done... YAY.. pretty cheap too, the have a winter special for $319 that's incredible... hopefully it'll be load 'o' fun. Got my flight and accomodation booked... the flight wasn't too too bad, could have been cheaper, but oh well, $160 one way to Cairns... figure I'll jump on a bus in Cairns and make my way down the coast back to Sydney... no biking this time... but there is a 4x4 package on Fraser Island that I might do... not to mention Skydiving! jumpin out of a plane at 14,000 feet... now that's my idea of an Adrenalin rush (shhh... don't tell my dad...)

Today was another lazy day, did laundry, went for a run (yes, me, a run... lasted all of 2 minutes and 30 seconds before I was winded and had to walk... got about another 45 seconds or so out of me before I was done and walked back to the hostel), sorted out my luggage, had this really good Chilli Chicken and rice at a little cafe around the corner... there's so much food around here, I'm surprised I'm not 350lbs by now...

Might go check out a Latin Street Dancing class tonite, not too sure.. depends on how much energy I have, looks like itsa gonna rain tonite... they fig it'll rain for sure tomorrow... :( boo...

ta

I forgot my Towel :(

What a day... ugh... came home last night from the internet cafe, talked to me dad again on the phone for a while, and then passed out cold... woke up this morning and felt like absolute crap... I'm really getting sick of being sick... yech... realized that I forgot my pack towel (this really cool microfibre towel) in Melbourne, of course the scary part was that I could not remember for the life of me, what bed I slept in at the hostel, or even hanging the towel up for that matter... I'm seriously getting annoyed with this old age thing... it's getting on my nerves. Finally got out of bed around 11, had brekky, caught up on some emails and it was back to bed for me... passed out for a good 4 hours (YAY) and got up again, bought a towel for $10 at the hostel, just had PHO (Vietnamese Noodle Soup) for lunch and some Iced Coffee...mmm...reminds me of home..

Found out that the AutoSalon is on this weekend in Sydney... m gonna go check it out... can't resist looking at hopped up cars... I'll take lots of pics...

I'm almost done with the Road Trip stories and pics, should have 'em all ready pretty soon for ya'llz

not sure what I'll do tonite, I think Medium and SVU are on... prob just chill and watch the telly

Advice

Here's an email I got the other day... looks like good advice... any comments?

ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

TWO. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

THREE. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

FOUR. When you say, "I love you," mean it.

FIVE. When you say, "I'm sorry," look the person in the eye.

SIX. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

SEVEN. Believe in love at first sight.

EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone's dream. People who don't have dreams don't have much.

NINE. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.

TEN.. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.

ELEVEN. Don't judge people by their relatives.

TWELVE. Talk slowly but think quickly.

THIRTEEN. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"

FOURTEEN. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

FIFTEEN. Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.

SIXTEEN. When you lose, don't lose the lesson

SEVENTEEN. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and responsibility for all your actions.

EIGHTEEN. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

NINETEEN. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

TWENTY. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.

TWENTY-ONE. Spend some time alone.

mmmm....Indian Food!

Dropped the bike off today :( jumped on the train and headed over to Salima's place for lunch (breakfast) mmm m Khima Curry and rice... and then apple rasberry strudel.. mmm.mmm good... watched an Indian movie (Kal ho na ho) pretty aiight flick.. a little cheesy, the last half was better than the first half... but not a bad flick... kinda predictable. Headed back to the hostel on the wonderful Tram they gots... it's kinda kewl little nifty setup they got... a little expensive, but convenient. aint that always the case? headed back to the hostel to chill, called me pops in Nairobi, he's doin ok.. good to chat with him after so long... I mean it's only been like a week or so, but I miss the guy... ya know? hit the internet cafe for a bit, gotta send some CV's out for the volunteer work that I wanna do soon, and then it was off for Dinner with my buddy Gavin's cousin Natashya... she just moved here for 4 months to work... pretty cool little bar we went to, nice view of Darling Harbour... food was great as well.. although as usual, I didn't finish my bit.. :( hit the internet cafe and now off to bed....

saw a really cool video today... check it out...
http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=Blaupunkt_Pimp_my_Rid.mpg-2

Back In Sydney!

I'm back, in one piece and alive in Sydney after my wonderful Road Trip to Melbourne!

Made it to St. Kilda (Melbourne)

I'm here! Nice place, at BaseBackpakers pretty kewl digs, can't complain.
ta ta

I'm Alive!

Still on my bike tour, lots of interesting stories to tell you
Will post an update at some point, right now I'm at a motel in Wodonga, Victoria, Australia
Hope to be in Melbourne by Tomorrow

mmm Bike...

Guess what? I get to go for me ride to MElbourne Today!!!!! YAY!!!! didn't get much sleep though... went out for coffee and then the Snoring dude kept us all up last night...thank god I'm out of that room!!! the guy was so loud, that even with earplugs (Thanks Emirates) I still could hear him...grrrr.... but anyways, it's a nice sunny day, the weather looks Grrrreeeat! and after I eat some breakky, it's off to pick up da bike... got my bag packed and everything.... kewl eh? wish me luck, hopefully I make it in one piece! And I'll try not to speed, apparently the cops out here don't have much tolerance for speeders....

ummm... Music Party anyone?

What a day it has been, had an awesome time! Woke up at around 11, hit the pharmacy for some cuff syrup and shizzy... then it was off to the most amazing house in one of the suburbs of Sydney... right on the water with one hell of an amazing view of the city skyline.. WOW. The group that was playing was pretty good, lots of good songs... the food was great, and I got to meet lots of new people.. can't complain one bit about it, I'm glad I stuck around and went there...

Went to Khane afterwards, hit Rotten Ronnies for a coffee... and then got Violated by Ronnie... got the pic to prove it... man, they don't call it a "Big Mac" for no reason... only did it cuz I was dared to... ha ha, you'll just have to wait for the pics now won't you!!??

Went back to the hostel, and am chillin at the internet cafe again... had some stuff to get done, uploaded more pics and moved and captioned most of the pending ones to where they needed to go... kewl eh? about time I figure...

tomorrow gotta pack, get all my stuff ready for the big trip! YAY, leave on Tuesday, am mega excited about it.. .hopefully the weather will be aiight... keep your fingers crossed for me...