home again

So i just got home not more then 3 hrs ago. i feel very strange....kinda like i never left - or just left for a short period of time. met my good friend mai-li in the vancouver airport during my layover - it was really nice to see her, she's pregnant and i dont remember teh last time i saw her so we had a great visit. couldnt stop chatting! ive named her baby marshmellow ( i love that name right now i dont know why)

flight from vancouver to edmonton was really short - didnt hit me right away that i was going home and i think im still in that bubble. just have been uploading pictures since i got home. i'll go to bed soon i think. im not too tired so maybe i'll go for a drive! CRAZY!!! i havnt driven in 5.5 months! woah.

i was kinda disapointed when certain friends who said they would come to the airport didnt show up. or maybe they didnt say they would but implied it....but i was extremely happy to see courtney - my true love.

anyway hope to see some of you soon!

alia

ps seeing as i am home now i think this blog is over - thanks to all those avid readers and especially thanks to the commenters - its really nice to know that someone is reading this stuff and im not just putting it up here for my health. i'll see my two favorite commenters for ice cream tomorrow! love you both!

alia

*sigh* north america

So i made it! YAY 17hrs flying from SIN to LAX and then a VERY long wait through customs and then shuttle to my shady hotel, overnight and now here i am, back at LAX. I am spending $5 on 20 min of internet time here...woah culture shock!

only had to pay $34USD for changes with air canada, im still sendng a letter to singapore air. even though i got to fly in a fancy new plane.

I do believe that my arrival is on schedule - that may change in vancouver but i am on flight AC246 from vancoouver to edmonton - arriving in at 9:30pm i think. hope to see some of you there!

much love

alia

AANNGGRRYY

So, singapore air is officially my least favorite and most hated airline ever. i just spent the last hour and a half bawling my eyes out while the people working there tried to figure out how to get me to LA tonight. WTF! i dont understand....okay so when you call and confirm a flight and the person on the other end of the phone says 'yep its confirmed' does that actually mean its not confirmed? Someone messed up BIG TIME and i am having to pay for it. Yep $343 singapore dollars clocked in on my credit card. And who really knows whats going to happen tomorrow when i get to the air canada desk to try and check in.

I wish i could explain but its all so complicated, the important part is that i am getting into LA tonight, but tomorrow is another story. and singapore air will be getting a very strongly worded letter from yours truely shortly after i get home. i demand refund AND something special for the amount of stress i am in right now.

yours

alia

not sick....anymore?

hmm you know the good thing about getting sick in asia is...you arnt sick for very long. i felt like the biggest pile of poop 2 days ago and now here i am as healthy as a horse again. strange. so, if you ever have a choice - come to asia to get a cold.

anyway, im on my last 24hrs in thailand. pretty sad. but i couldnt sleep last night because i am so excited to get home. today is a beautiful clear day so im gonna lie in the sun and maybe wander around and get some photos and, i dunno we'll see where else the day takes me.

3 days ago i went into a travel agency to see if they would reconfirm my flights for me. and the ladyboy behind the counter (named ann) said she would do it for 200 baht. ann was wearing a very short skirt and had not yet mastered the art of keeping your legs crossed or closely together while wearing a skirt. needless to say, ann flashed me her junk a few times. i tried not to stare. but my flights are confirmed! which means im coming home - see you wednesday!

alia

SICK! argh

why does this happen!? i tried to deny it but here it is, in my face....i have caught myself a very nice headcold. #@!$*@&!!!!! im stopping at the pharmacy on my way back to the hotel to get something for it. last time i took some mysterious cold medication from indonesia and it worked quited well - im going to talk to a pharmacist this time, and hopefully my last 3 days here will be at least a little bit nice.

anyway, im off to sulk....and i want a slurpee a real one!

love

alia

phuket

so here i am, on phuket...its pronounced poo-get just so you know and dont go running around telling all your friends that 'alia is on fuk-it' - you'll just look dumb.

After bussing it for 16 hours from bangkok to krabi and then boating it from krabi to ko phi phi i found some shabby acommodation in the slums of phi phi. and it wasnt even cheap! 500 baht got me a cold shower and a fan. and a balcony viewing a whole pile of rubbish ( ihave photos as proof) to top it off, the name of the hotel was 'uphill cottages' and it definatly was uphill and from staying in this hotel i have learned that i am definatly not in good enough shape (jenn if you could please drop off that club fit pass at mom and dads as soon as you get a chance thatd be great id love to use it as soon as i get home). anyway so i paid for 3 nights, only stayed for two and got the heck off that island!

i am now on phuket staying in an area called patong beach - my cousin shawn recommended i stay here cuz he was here just last year on vacation from fighting in afghanistan so i took his advice and sofar it looks pretty good. the hotel im staying at is expensive (but mom told me to splurge, its my last 6 nights i might as well enjoy myself) but i have hot water and aircon and a tv and its really close to teh beach. couldnt ask for more....well i could, i hope the next 6 days are sunny!

love you all much!

see you soon

only 7 sleeps

alia

bye bye jenni!

So we stayed up all night last night - jenn drank 2 redbull - made her kinda wacky for a few hours but it wore off once we got her checked in. we left the hotel at 2:50am - jenns flight left at 6:50. she's prolly in tokyo right now. i cried when i had to leave her at security. we had such a good time together. i really enjoyed having her around.

the last few days were really good. we were on ko samui for 5 nights. we spent a few hours in the morning tanning each day then we'd sit around in the airconditioned room we had for a few more hours and then once the sun went down (it was too damn hot!) we would go for dinner and wander the streets. shopping etc. we took a 1st class train back to bangkok on thursday night - it was VERY nice (according to thailand standards i think) and totally worth the extra we paid for it. although it was a long day (3 hours hanging out in starbucks and then travelling for a few hours and then 3hour wait in the train station) the train ride made it worth while.

in bangkok we SHOPPED! we also went to a muay thai fight - it was very cool! the ultimate thai experience. we had ringside seats! it was very cool, i took tonnes of video.

jenn bought 10 tshirts and like a million buddhas and lots and lots of stuff! i bought a few things. i might save most of my last min shopping for phuket....which brings me to...

i bought a ticket today phuket - singapore for aug 7th...which means i wont be stopping in KL. im a bit bummed but i seriously dont have the money for it. oh well - next time!

10 days till im home....cant believe it

see you all then!

alia

phew

hey guys

sorry i havnt been updating the blog lately - just been really busy i guess....either that or really lazy! heres the dealio:

after ko tao went to ko phangan - which is the 'party island' each month it hosts the full moon party which jenn and i wont be around to attend. anyway we stayed in a nice, cheap place only 600 baht with hot water and air conditioning. it had a pool, free gym use, a restaurant, tv lounge i thought it was great. aparently the area we stayed in (called haad rin) smelled like garbage and there were gross things all over the place (i didnt notice but jenn did) so we caught a taxi and then a longtail boat to a tiny beach called bottle beach. very nice and secluded, sandy beach pretty quiet but not much to do. the water was so nice to swim in though! anyway, we left today and now are on ko samui staying in a crappy little place near hat chewang called cosy guesthouse - the airconditioning doesnt work but there is a tv and a fridge. we've already paid for 2 nights but we'll be looking around for somewhere else to stay after our time is up there.

and thats about all. soon enough we'll be heading back to bangkok. im thinking about extending my visa by 7 days so if i want to skip out on kuala lumpur and just stay in ko phi phi longer then i can and then i'll be home. less then 3 weeks. only like 18 more sleeps or something crazy like that! i cant believe it


lovelovelove

alia

ko tao!

Yay!

So jenni made it safe and sound here in bangkok - i went to pick her up at the airport - her flight landed early and i thought i missed her! so i waited, and waited, and waited and waited and then i really forsure thought id missed her but sure enough, she walked through the international arrivals gate 45min after her plane landed! phew! i shed some tears of happiness and off we went.

day 1 - jenn and i wandered around bangkok a bit. tried to take a tuktuk to siam square - shopping centre but i had to argue with him about price and stopping (cuz they will stop and want you to buy stuff from gem shops and tailors and stuff but i didnt want that) so we ended up getting out of the tuk tuk. caught a meter taxi and he said '100 baht to siam square' and then i had to argue with him about turning on his meter (cuz generally they will charge you more if they just give you a set price rather then what it costs on the meter) and he wouldnt so we got out and caught another cab. this one turned on his meter. we did alot of shopping! i bought a few shirts that are too small for me now but will fit once i lose the 10-15 ive gained. shopping is GREAT here! a little too good i think....im really enjoying it lol

day 2 - we went on a grand palace/temples and buddhas/city tour tour - thought it was just a morning tour, turned out to be an all day thing! it was pretty good. i saw all the buddhas i wanted to see (reclining buddha and emerald buddha) once we got home we were pretty beat so we just watched a movie (on satellite) and went to sleep

day 3 - early morning for our floating market/tiger temple tour! this one was cool! lots of driving though and TOO MUCH unorganization. they told us when we bought the tours that it would be no more then 10 people but they were juggling like 3 bussloads of people! it was crazy! paid too much for buddhas on the floating market but it was super cool! then wandered around the river kwai and did some souvineer shopping then headed to the tiger temple! this was cool - although the poor tigers were so hot! they just lied and slept - looked SO hot! to go and touch and pet the tigers one assistant would hold your hand and take you up to a tiger and then say 'sit, touch!' and you could rub the tiger while another assistant took like 100 pictures of you with your camera of you and the tiger. then the 1st assistant took your hand and took you too the next tiger. same thing 'sit, touch!' and 100 pictures later. thank god for digital cameras! anyway it was pretty cool to touch a tiger!

day 4 - today we are checking out of the hotel and prolly going back to siam square and then catching the bus tonight to ko tao! YAY BEACH! although im not sure the weather is going to be so nice its going to be great to get out of a big city for a while!


well tahts the update! less then 4 weeks till i get home! are you excited!?

love you all times a million!

alia

ps i think kdays is coming up soon! just a reminder for someone to please pick me up a chunk of oreo fudge!? thanks love lots!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

So....i am now 23 holey crap! What a special birthday too - crossed the boreder into burma....hmm wasnt that nice, a 7yr old kid demanded i give him 50 baht because he crossed the road at the same time as me. and the people at the immigration office wernt too happy to hear that i didnt want to go shopping in burma, just wanted my stamp and then to go back to thailand - oh well. got er done now im legal to stay in thailand until aug 2nd. although i may end up overstaying my visa - in that case its only 200baht a day. i plan to leave around aug 4th.

and on that subject - from talking to other travellers ive learned that you really wont know if you've made it off a waitlist until the day of travel. in that case id have to spend 3 more nights in singapore incase i didnt make it on the flight. and if i did make it on the flight - i may have to spend 3 nights in LA because i dont have flights to edmontonfor the 4th of august....so i think i'll just stick with what ive got. Home aug 8th at 9:25PM.

so thats the plan stan. that means i'll be home in 5 weeks.

see ya then! much loving for you all!

alia

hey you, lady boy!

Herro!

So im in chiang mai - got here on thursday after a bit of a HUGE complication (it involves a taxi driver taking me to the wrong airport and me having to take another taxi to the correct airport and then buying a whole new ticket to chiang mai and then after already arranging pickup at the airport in chiang mai having to catch a cab to my hotel b/c my airport pickup thought id be there 2hrs earlier then when i did arrive and then me being afraid that i wouldnt be able to contact the tour ppl because i had minimal contact information - yadda yadda well thats the story anyway) but everything has been sorted out and i am quite enjoying myself here. i'll begin at the beginning:

3 day/2 night trekking tour

day 1- get picked up too early from my hotel (was told i was getting picked up between 9 and 930, the driver showed up at 840 midway through breakfast) and then drive around to pick up 6 other people - an australian couple (who were on their 4th date evidently), a strange british woman who grew up in australia but hasnt been at 'home' in more then 2 years - 45 plus years old, a girl from holland who was pretty normal and two korean boys who had never been out of korea before. we first drove to a waterfall and then drove to a temple ( i dont know the name of it, they didnt tell us but it was at the top of a hill - neat view but shotty temple) and then started walking. we walked abuot 1.5hrs and by the end of it my fat little feet that were cramped into my too-small pumas were blistered and swollen! our stop was at a hilltribe somewhere north east of chiang mai (again our tour guide couldnt tell us where we were) had fantastic thai dinner cooked by our tourguide and then hung out around some candles while a hilltriber entertained us by showing us tricks with string and smoking tobacco rolled up in banana leaves through his nose. we slept in a big bamboo bungalo with mosquito nets on wooden rises. not so comfortable but thats roughing it.

day 2 - we have breakfast - toast and coffee - and then our team splits up. team korea and holland girl are only on a 1 night trek and they go off in a different direction. this is when the real trekking begins. me and the ozzies start heading out. with me and midlife crisis woman in the back while our guide, ding, is in the middle and the two 4th daters are at the front (it would seem they are a bit of a trek-a-holics) - i ended up trekking in my flip flops cuz i could NOT wear those pumas again. so it really wasnt that difficult but after about a month of doing absolutly nothing my body was feeling it. we walked for 2 hrs and then stopped at a waterfall. we ate lunch out of leaves and the others went swimming while ding and i played with his laptop (yes im in the middle of nowhere thailand and im playing on a laptop! he asked me to show him how to make a webpage....like because im white im supposed to be some sort of internet genious!). we then began walking again. this time for only about 45 min and then we stopped at a little 'store' i guess. these hilltribe women sold cold drinks and cigarettes and chips and stuff for the trekkers that were coming through. ding, our guide was a bit sleepy i guess - he ended up having a nap for about 45min-1hr while we sat around and looked at chickens and dogs. i lied in a hammok. once ding was through with his catnap we began walking again - another hr and a half or so until we got to our 2nd sleeping spot. this village was a bit bigger then the last we stayed at. our bedhouse was shared with the dogs though...hmmm...we ate jackfruit (really good, id recommend it - i seem to recall making my parents buy me one of these strange fruit when i was a kid but at that time we didnt know how to eat it and it didnt turn out so good- i'll show you when i get home!) and had another fantastic dinner - they eat pumpkin here....not like pumpkin pie but actual pumpkin its actually really good. i thought it was strange but aparently they eat it the same in australia. the village we stayed at had a shower (not hot or fancy or anything and y0u had to bring a candle in there with you to see anything at all) and offered thai massage for 120baht but i was too tired to indulge so i just slept.

day 3 - woke up late, ate breakfast - toast and coffee again - and then went on a cavewalk. was nothing too exciting except for the big huge bug that landed on ozzie guy's back that midlife crisis woman flicked off but it made a pop-click noise and squirted some sort of pee on his shirt and then flew off - gross! checked out the village stalls - ding showed me this little monkey that the villagers had found - she was only about 3 months old. the cutest thing ive ever seen (besides ninja) i got to hold her and give her fruit! so cute. then we walked about half hour to the elephant camp. me and midlife crisis woman got to ride an elephant together. our elephant didnt like us much - kept spraying us with snotty mud but it was a good ride. then went on a bamboo raft which i got to help steer down the river. was quite nice. after that we all got dropped off at our locations and that was that.

so it was quite the experience. i dont think id do it again anytime soon but i had fun either way. the place im staying at now is called padong travel inn. its quite nice only 200baht a night it has a hot shower and a fan with a mattress on the floor but the location is good and all ive been doing there is sleeping.

yesterday i did a longneck hilltribe tour. there were only 4 of us (2 canadian guys and an irish girl) and there was alot of driving but it was pretty cool. i felt extremely weird though going into these peoples village and taking pictures of them....it was like they were on display - some sort of sideshow freak act. i kept thinking how strange it would be for me to be sitting around watching tv and eating pizza at home and for a group of thai tourists coming into my home to take pictures of me doing what i do every day...very weird. there was one beautiful little girl who i took a picture of and bought a bracelet from. she was so cute.

the irish girl complained alot about how much driving we did (it was a 10 hour day for us - we stopped at a few places but never longer then an hour). i wanted to turn around and say to her 'look, what are they going to do? you wanted to see the longneck hilltribe and they live in the hills - they cant bring the village to you so stop complaining about it!' but it was a good tour also. again really good food! these thais know how to cook.

today i went on a 'safari' did most of the things i had already done on sunday - ie ride an elephant, bamboo rafting ride...but today was a bit higher class i think. and we got a great buffet lunch out of it! i also rode a oxen-pulled cart. there was an older lady from new zealand on this tour and she was afraid of heights so after the oxen took us up the hill to where the elephants were supposed to take us back down to camp she copped out and decided to walk. when we were all supposed to meet for lunch our tour guide, tom, couldnt find her! we were all done lunch and waiting around when he finally found her! ha it was kind of funny. i dont know why you would pay for an elephant ride and not actually ride the elephant. that was the highlight of the day! also stopped in at an orchid and butterfly farm that i went to yesterday with the longneck hilltribe- i just sat and had coffee - nothing too exciting.

tomorrow - my birthday! - im going to the golden triangle - this is where opium trading occurred i think and there burma, laos and thailand borders meet. i think here i should be able to cross the border and get my passport restamped so i wont have to get an extension before i leave chiang mai....very cool!

then i have 2 days to...hmm sleep in! haha i think i will go to the spa one day - the place im staying at is advertising some cool packages at s0me of the local spas. there is also a jewlery making course you can take at an artshop around here somewhere that i might check out. i think i will also have a starbucks coffee and take a yoga class.

well folks thats all thats new! i cant wait until jenn gets here only 5 days! we have to go shopping shortly after you get here because im too fat to fit comfortably into any of my clothes anymore :( - you people wont recognize me once i get home

love you all! miss you more!

alia

bangkok!!!

so here i am in bangkok! its a pretty cool city - havnt really seen much yet but sofar it looks good. everything is dirt cheap like almost everywhere else in asia. but its good! the guest house im staying at is quite expensive (as far as bangkok goes) but its nice, satellite tv, big kingsize bed,HOT WATER, air conditioning....i like it. i booked tonnes of stuff yesterday to keep me occupied until jenn gets here. im flying to chiang mai tomorrow, friday i start a 3 day/2night trekking tour (i hope its not too strenuous...i havnt been 'trekking' in a LONG time)and then i have 3 seperate day tours books to go on whenever i want to. one is to visit hilltribes, one to the golden triangle, and one is on a safari i get to ride and elephant and do a bunch of other stuff - so for the 9 or so days im there ive got 5 of them accounted for. im gonna look into taking a muay thai kickboxing class one of those days and i guess spend the other days just to relax and check out chiang mai. and then when i get back on the 7th - one more night until jenny comes! im so excited! ive already got plans of what we're gonna do all thought up in my head! (hope you dont mind jenn, if youve got anything specific you want to see or do just let me know and we can work it all in!)

the street vendors here are awesome. they make your food right in front of you - i had pad thai last night for dinner, it was only 15baht (about $0.50) and really good! this morning i had a big bowl of fruit, yogurt and museli for 30baht! what a great breakfast!

im feeling much better - not so sick anymore but i have weird swollen mosquito bites that are quite sore and still itchy from when i got them 3 nights ago! the swelling has gone down...i hope they go away soon!

anyway! missing you all very much! only 6 weeks till im home! can you believe it? i cant

lovelovelove

alia

head cold :(

So i have managed to catch a horrible head cold! what great timing! I hate being sick....ah well just gotta suck it up i guess. i bought some cold medication...at least i think its cold medication - on the box there is a picture of a guy sneezing so im gonna give it a shot and see how it goes. but i am so diseased im sure people are looking at me weirly thinking i might have avian flu. its gonna be hard to make friends like this!!!

well, other then that - things are good. im back in lombok, leaving for bali this evening - back to bali. i think i might do some shopping ( i need to buy clean panties! i dont have time to do laundry before i go to bangkok on monday and i dont have any left!!) and prolly just some chilling out and lots of water drinking i think. maybe i'll splurge and rent a dvd player for my room and buy a pirated dvd at one of the many pirated dvd stores they have here in indonesia!

So in 2 weeks im gonna be meeting my big sister in bangkok! im SO excited you have no idea! and in a little over 1 week im going to be 23! isnt that incredible!? time flies!

ANND in less then 7 weeks i'll be home. thats just crazy. 1/2 of summer away...but thats okay, gives us the rest of the summer to catch up!

love you all! miss you all TOO MUCH!

alia

small island - *almost* total seclusion

hi guys!

So after quite a trek - first from kuta, bali to denpasar airport (in bali) then waiting around for like 5 hrs then flying to lombok and then 2 nights in sengiggi beach THEN catching a boat to gili tranwangan --- here i am! lol. Something similar with the first night i came to indonesia happened when i caught the boat to gili T - a guy grabbed my bag off my shoulder and put it in the boat, and then took my other bag and put it in the boat and then helped me into the boat, he then said 'you give me 80,000rph' - this time i said 'no buddy! sorry, i didnt ask you to carry my stuff - maybe you should ask next time!' sucker. the locals were warning me about mosquitos and stuff - i had planned on buying at least bug spray anyways but i thought maybe a skeeter net would be ideal as well. so at the port i went to one of the shops and ended up paying 400,000rph for a mosquito net and bugspray with is RIDICULOUS! but he wouldnt barter any lower with me - i guess thats the price you pay for things when you buy at a port - because they know yo ucant get it anywhere else.

anyway so i got to the island - there is no motorized transport so i started walking. there are these little horsedrawn carridge things but everything is quite close together - the island is extremely small. i think it would take about an hr to walk around it. i asked a guy about accommodation and he took me to a place - said i only had to pay 60,000rph - which is a great price. it had a shower, fan, mosquito net (damnit), double bed. it looked okay at first glance so i said 'okay i'll take it' only after discovering the shower didnt work and the mosquito net had holes in it AND a big dead cockroach i decided i should find somewhere else to sleep. so i went wandering - saw lots of places for good prices but decided to splurge at this place called big bubble which is sort of a diving resort type deal. its pretty expensive 250,000rph but its very clean with free breakfast (all day!) and free coffee. id rather not be worrying about malaria while im sleeping and stuff like that. although the shower is cold. but i feel much much better

this island is super cool! its not unusual to hear roosters crowing and there are only cats on the island (no dogs!) and a few times every day you hear prayers(?) from the mosque. Lots of local people have told me how beautiful i am - i think its just cuz i have white skin - not something they're used to. i was talking to a guy who works at the place im staying and i was telling him how im going to see the sunset behind the volcano on bali today - he sort of invited himself to come. he kept saying how beautiful i am - but he has a child and is married! he also kept talking about how i have to sleep alone - and sort of implied that he could sleep with me . i said nothanks. kept talking about my 'boyfriend'. he also asked if i would be interested in hooking up with a local . 'of course not', i said 'i have a boyfriend'. why are the locals all such creeps! i might just avoid the hotel alltogether today so i dont have to go with him to the sunset. id rather go by myself anyways.

the weather is drab - very cloudy but humid. i dont think the sunset will be very nice anyways. ive got 2 more nights here i want to rent a mountain bike and ride around the island a few times. that would be cool!

ooh and every night at 7pm theres a restaurant/cinema here that plays movies as long as you buy something to eat - so i have dinner while watching the 1st movie and if the 2nd one is good i'll buy something else (2 nights ago it was ice cream, i didnt stick around for the 2nd one last night) but tonight they are playing pirates of the carribbean 3 (ugh!) followed by BLADES OF GLORY!!! im so excited to see it!

so to answer christine's question i will be home no later then aug 8th - i have been waitlisted on a flight that will get me home aug 5th but i dont know if ive been confirmed on that flight yet - or if i ever will be! so plan for aug 8th and hope for aug 5th! when is baby due? i thought it was september?

loveloveloveing you all

alia

dirty, cold and itchy

hi everyone!

so i tried out the mosquito net bit with my sarong - it actuallyworked out okay but the sarong wasnt breathable and i got too damn hot so i had to ditch it. i still wake up every morning with new mosquito bites! and i was warned yesterday by my tour guide (sunset tour was awesome!) that in lombok i have to becareful of malaria!!! MALARIA!!! i know its a small chance but he said to use mosquito cream...so mosquito cream and sunscreen and lotion - im going to be extremely creamy while in lombok. i think i might just pay the extra for rooms with air conditioning because aparently mosquitos can't fly when theres a/c in a room. or make sure the rooms i have have mosquito nets. but of course i'll go the extra mile and buy mosquito cream. i think you can get some here that smells like fruit yummy!

yesterday was the sunset tour - it was only me and two other girls on the tour and our tour guide and driver. saw a bunch of temples, went to a rice field, and a monkey forest! it was very cool. but most places we went they wanted us tospend more money - for example. they took us to a restaurant for lunch - this restaurant cost 60,000 rupiah/plate for a buffet lunch. which is only about $7canadian dollars. but we went walking and found a local sort of outdoor food market thing and they sold this soup that had noodes and blue spagetti noodle things and some chicken ball things and a hard boiled egg in it and abunch of other stuff (it looked pretty weird, i have a picture) for only 5,000 rupiah -and a coffee for 2,000 and a pack of 3 oreo cookies for another 2,000 - and that was lunch for me! also, at the monkey forest we had this guide who took us around ( i fed the monkeys peanuts it was fun! i have video of it) and then when she was done walking around with us (it wasnt even a tour, she just followed us around adn when there was a baby monkey she would say 'EXCUSE ME!! theres a baby' she said 'i will take you to my shop'. hmm okay so she took us to her shop - showed us some stuff and i was ready to walk out but seh said 'take something for good luck' so she sold me this woodcarving of 3 monkeys hear no evil, speak no evil and see no evil for 50,000 which is overpriced. but oh well. she prolly needs itmore then i do. anyway so thats how theywant you to spend more money. and every guide you talk to, every local all talk about how quiet bali is now because of the bombs. its unfortunate.

anyway - on a higher note. i do think i will end up shipping some stuff home. they have beautifulpaintings of buddha here and i want a HUGE one to send home but i think it would probabley cost more then the painting itself to send home. but i do want a teapot and i dont know....ehh we'll see. ive decided not to go surfing. im just too lazy.

other then that - nothing new....less then 2 months till i get home and less then 1 month till i get to see my big sister. looking forward to all of it!

alia

ps if i have learned anything its that to pay extra for a hot shower is definatly worth the money.

itchy!!!

so i got eaten alive while sleeping last night - ive got about 12-15 skeeter bites (i counted) and they're making me CRAZYY!!! i think tonight i will make myself a mosquito net out of my sarong....lets hope it works...

went rafting today! im SO burnt out after it. phew it was a long day . early rising - met 4 australian guys (2 were older, mid 40's id say and 2 younger prolly 17-19) on the shuttle to the river. they were all really nice. the country side of bali is GORGEOUS! we saw rice patty fields and drove past cockfights and cool stuff liek that. everythign is so green and lush! took a efw pictures.

the rafting boats consisted of 4 riders and a guide. the 3 guys who i rode with were all from hongkong and had obviously done nothign like this before. tey were weak paddlers and everytime our guide said 'paddle forward' they would lightly flip the water back with their paddles like little girls!

it was alot of fun tho - got free lunch out of it. sat with the 4 ozzies for lunch they were very nice. we talked about all the weird native animals they eat.

anyway - tomorrow is sunset tour. im looking forward to it

OH AND THEY HAVE A STARBUCKS HERE!!!! im totally buying a starbucks mug that says 'bali' on it im PUMPED

love u x a mil

alia

ps i would mail stuff home mom but i dont know how well i trust theri postal service....you dont trust what they have in their tattoo parlours, i dont trust whats behind the counter at the post office

love you!

happy in kuta!

So i booked it out of my resort - i put a bit of charges on my credit card from room service etc but it worked out to about $67 for the whole 10 days./ thats not bad! every night room service!? and a 3.5hr spa retriet! pretty darn good if youask me. this morning the water wasnt working (nice, fancy resort huh? i think not) so i couldnt shower so just checked out, hopped in a first available 'transport' van and told him to take me to 'hotel sorga' which is right near the beach (yes! i saw the beach! its not so fantastic....during the dayanyways - its supposed to be beautiful at sunset) and is pretty much teh same thing that i was in before. bigger pool though - free breakfast! cold showers and just a fan - no tv but im in a room by myself. so its different then a hostel but thats alright - i can live with it. and only 75 000 /night plus 10% hotel tax but i think it works out to something like $12/night maybe? i dunno but thats pretty darn good. im really happy here.

went for a walk today to inquire about going to lombok and gili islands - found out some good news it seems pretty easy to get to and from the islands - for a cost of course but nothing too bad i think it was 140,000 to go to senggigi (which is the port i want to go into when going to lombok) thats one way so about $30 - pretty good but it takes a while. flights i think are somewhere around 350,000 anyway i have some time to decide and i only have to book 1 day ahead

did some more walking around and inquired about daytours. i approached one 'touring office' and asked about their tours. but they only did chartered tours 'how many ppl?' he asked 'just me!' i said. so he said he could do a tour for me - one driver, one guide and me.....i thought that would be pretty boring. im not interested in having a private tour to be honest so i looked around some more. and met this really nice guy named Manggo (not his real name, he told me his real name is too confusing so just to call him Manggo) and he told me about all these great ORGANIZED tours that they do...but minimum booking is 2 people!!! ooh but its okay he says, his friend found someone who is also travelling alone and i am going on a sunset tour on thursday! yay! something to do! i get to see a bit of the island! and, tomorrow - because i will have nothing to do tomorrow, i also booked through mango a rafting tour - he said it was amazing and 'if you think its bullshit! you come let me know!' it includes lunch and all the safety equiptment, everything! so im really excited for that too - to get to actually do something is going to be nice. and i think for the 3 remaining days i have here in kuta i will surf. take my 3 days surfing lessons then head over to lombok and gili islands to sunbake in the sand and get stoned off mushrooms! (haha just kidding ma! i swear!) so im really really excited about what the next few days are bringing!

missing you all so much!

love you
alia

hello darling! where you go? need transport?

yep thats what everyone says to me as i walk down the street from my resort, around the corner to the internet cafe - every morning. soemtime between 9:30 and 11 am. These indonesians often recognize me and if ive been walking around the area a bit that day they say 'hey ive seen you 3 times today already!? where you going?are you lost?'. This morning, they noticed my shorts that say 'CSI: Las Vegas' on them and started calling me 'las vegas'. I came back this afternoon to create this post and 'hello las vegas! you need transport?' - i swear im asked about 10 times a day if i need transport.

but they are all extremely friendly people. i wandered into an alley yesterday looking for a 2nd hand bookstore and one guy asked me 'hey! where you go?' he didnt have a motorbike with him so i told him 'just looking around' coming to a dead end i turned around and walked back the other way, past him again. he approached me and asked me my name and told me his (i forget his, they're names are so hard to pronounce) and he told me where a bookstore was but it was too far. so i told him i was going to go back to the resort. he was going the same way so we walked together. he told me a bunch of stuff - i couldnt really understand much of it but he talked and talked. i think he told me that he built a statue! i thought that was cool. when we came to where he was going a differnt way he said 'it was so nice to meet you aleesha from canada - have great travels!' and he took off. not trying to sell me anything, just wanted to walk and talk his heart out. kind of a relief when most of what i am getting from indonesians is that they want you to buy whatever it is they are selling

bali for shopping is INCREDIBLE! i think i may come back here someday just to do a huge shopping trip. i want a HUGE buddha painting but it wont fit in my backpack, and i want a gorgeous ceramic tea set (the tea pot is in the shape of a fish, and the handle is made of bamboo!) but it'll break. beautiful bedding, lamps, jewlery, its all so beautiful and CHEAP!!! next time i come im bringing empty bags.

otherwise - its my last night at the resort - i may not order room service (liek i have been every night ive been here) and make my way down to the restaurant or pool bar for dinner, have a few of the tasty looking drinks they have on the menu.

and tomorrow -- off to kuta...supposed to be beautiful sunsets on kuta beach, big surfing area and i want to do some day tours of the island. i need some more culture.

much loving for you all!
alia

lazy dayz

So to answer my mom's question im staying at baleka beach resort in the legian area of bali. Still havent been too far from the resort - may check out the beach today...maybe not - i still have a week here. been taking it easy with poolside laying and roomservice ordering. the only thing that sucks is most tv programs are in indonesian (obviously). but there are always movies on at 10pm in english with indonesian subtitles.....but i have to wait until 10 to watch them. ah well.

other then that, nothing is new. its still hot as heck here but i am starting to tan again yay

much love

alia

just realized...

okay so i didnt mention in my last post who the two english girls were - one girl, jennifer i met cuz she was staying in the same room as me and we met trisha who wanted to check out the new 'tooth temple'(?) so we all went together to check it out. and may 31st was buddha's birthday so there were about a million people there. i think that about covers it!

alia

ba-ba-bali!

the last few days in singapore were very jam packed - one of the two english girls i met didnt really like me and the other girl -we asked her if she wanted to come to the zoo with us on friday and she declined, saying that she had her whole 6 days planned out and she was going to go on the 2nd last day, then she met some peopel and decided to go to the zoo with them instead! weird. oh well, we didnt like her much either -s he was very neurotic. anyways - when we went to the temple the queue was way too long so we wandered around chinatown and did some souvineer shopping - stuff is VERY cheap in singapore (as i have already said) i think i should be able to come home with a little something for everyone. because it was buddha's birthday they had a celebration going on - night market, some entertainment. i bought some origami paper and made a paper crane for charity (with some help!) and the girls bought some chip things that were kinda like prawn chips. i think i got an allergic reaction to them because after i ate them the back of my legs and bum got really itchy. i got a huge ugly rash now and i dont think i'll be able to wear a bikni for a few days - which sucks. i came here soley to work on my tan (ya right). so trisha and i (english girl) went to the zoo - it was wonderful! i got there too late last time i went so we wandered around and saw a splish splash show with penguins and manatees and stuff - very cute. then we went to the night safari and saw a 'creatures of the night show' and i think it was better then 2nd time around #1 because i got to share it with someone and #2 because i got to take my time with it. no rushing to catch a bus this time. even though by the time we got to the MRT station the one we were supposed to take back to our hostel had stopped running and we had to take a cab. it wasnt expensive though so its okay. then yesterday morning i got up, had breakfast and took the MRT to the airport. Trisha was leaving the same day but later on in the evening. When we were in chinatown she had arranged to have a chinese dress made for her! its going to be so beautiful. only $307 singapore dollars. which works out to about $212 canadian. im thinking about getting one on the way home....we'll see

Bali is nice. my first impression though was not a good one. bought a visa for bali ($25USD) and then got a cab to the hotel. it was 50,000 indonesian rupiah. the exchange is crazy. i think 50,000 rupiah is $6.00 canadian. but anyways, i queued at the taxi stand for a taxi and this guy came up beside me (not the taxi driver) and grabbed my bag - i was like, alright u can carry my bag. so he carried it to the taxi and put it in the trunk. i went to get in the cab and the guy taps me on the shoulder and says 'you give me a tip!' - i told him i didnt have any money and he said 'yes you do! give me the blue one' which is a 50,000 bill - as much as i paid for the cab! so whatever, i gave it to him. just pissed me off that i didnt even ask him to carry my bag, he just picked it up. whatever - im not going to make that mistake again. im sure i'll find lots of that kind of thing around here.

also - on my way to the hotel - the taxi driver was telling me how crap my hotel is - how its too far away from town and far away from the beach. thanks jerk, ive booked my hotel for the next 10 days and you are telling me how crap it is. way to promote your country. whatever.

im thinking about taking surfing lessons here. its about $190 american for a 5 day course. we'll see. i kinda just feel like lazing around. i also am kind of excited to check out the other parts of indonesia (ie. lombok). they sound a bit more laid back and lax.

miss you all so much! a little over 2 months till i get home!

alia

sweating!

made it to singapore just fine! arrived here at roughly 8:45pm local time and guess what the temp was? 29 degrees celcius! at 9pm at night! i couldnt believe it. i forgot how hot and humid it is here! crazy! so ive got the perma-layer of sweat on me as we speak. thank god for a/c

the hostel im staying at is right in the centre of 'little india' and well i havnt been to india but i guess i know now what its like - nothing really crazy. just a bit scary to be walking around alone. people look at you a bit weird but thats to be expected. im glad im only here for a few nights though. im gonna sleep in tomorrow and maybe check out the merlion, orchard road (big shopping district), and i dunno what else. i'll consult my tour book - already the prices are cheaper! i paid $0.60 for a 500ml bottle of water where as back in australia the same thing would cost probabley $2.20 - such a relief!

met a really nice older australian couple on the shuttle to the hostel - they gave me lots of good pointers about traveling through asia. they were both in their 50s and going backpacking in vietnam for 5 weeks i thought that was pretty cool.

well im on a bit of a jet lag here - singapore is 2hours behind australia so im gonna hit the hay

much love!

alia

last day in australia...

So here it is - im down to my last full day in australia. i cant believe it. it feels so strange. it doesnt feel like im really leaving tomorrow - but i am. i think i may shed a tear or two at the airport on my way out. its been a great trip. and i've got everything on my list (and more) checked off so what a great success this trip has been! Minus the fact that i am completely out of money - im doing alright! Ps mom i got the transfer figured out and the money has been deposited into my account thank you!!!! xxoxoxoxoxox

Today i have a bunch of things to do (buy a bunch of stuff, mail stuff home, back up my photos onto a cd, organize my bag) and then thats about it....maybe i'll do a little bit of souvineer shopping. i would walk around brisbane and take photos of pretty things but brisbane isnt really that pretty haha.

other then that...next time i blog i will probabley be in singapore! woweee!!!

much love to everyone

alia

noosa

beautiful noosa! its a great city - very posh! quite a few old people but thats okay. i spent today on the beach....THE BEACH! can you believe it!? i havnt seen a beach since whithaven beach back when i went whitsundays sailing almost a month ago! crazy!

met up with chris in brisbane!!! yay! i was so excited! he didnt get into brissy until later in the afternoon on tuesday but me, him and his friend ashley went street walking in downtown BNE (as us travel folk like to call brisbane) got some eats and just puttered around doing nothing much- took some interesting pictures 'crikey!' and just talked - caught up. it was really nice to see a familiar face.

so now i have 5 nights here in noosa then back to brisbane to mail some stuff home and then head on out to singapore! its crazy! liek i said before i cant believe im leaving. its so weird.

otherwise all is good. im gonna spend these days sunbaking and going to the australia zoo (saturday hopefully!) and thats all. life's good.

love love love you you you all all all!!

alia

back in brisbane

So i spent my last few days pretty much staying out of the rain in melbourne. it was extremely cold and rainy there - i contemplated buying mitts and a scarf because it was so cold. but then i thought 'its alright -soon enough i'll be in brisbane and it's nice and warm there!'...unfortunatly thats not the case. got here today and its rainy and overcast! what the heck!?

oh well - my last day in melbourne i spent taking the tram here and there - went to chapel street which is like a HUGE whyte ave with lots of shops and cafes on it - the main purpose of my trip was to find the only lululemon store in australia. which i did find. and sure enough prices are more expensive then at home so i left empty handed. I then trammed it downtown to a pancake place which was being advertised in the train station and had 2 pancakes and a coffee for a whopping $11.70!!! those were the best damn pancakes ive ever tasted thats for sure.

during dinner (i just ate toast and jam because i blew my daily spendatures on tram tickets and pancakes) i met a girl named shannon from new york who is going to school in brisbane. she was very cool - also a guy from germany named chris. we hung out most of the evening. shes getting back to brisbane tonight at around 7, said she would give me a call cuz there is a nice live music bar in the area where my hostel is in so perhaps i will meet her later.

today i booked 10 nights in a resort in bali here is the blurb:

Baleka Beach Resort (two stars) www.balekabeachresort.com

Situated in the heart of Legian, with the beach only a short 5-minute walk away, this small 45-room hotel has great rooms for families or a group of singles travelling together


i guess i am neither a family or a group of singles but thats alright. for 10 days including breafast eachday and a free kintamani volcano tour it was $315 so thats not bad i think!? I decided that i dont think i could afford 21 nights in a resort and now that ive picked up my southeast asia lonely planet guide i can scope out the island for 10 days and find the best backpackers retreats to spend my remaining 2 weeks.

other then that all is good - the hostel im staying at kind of sucks but im used to that sort of thing haha and tomorrow chris is coming! im so excited! we get a whole day of catching up and then out to noosa it is for me for my last week in australia. im so dumbfounded by the idea that im actually leaving australia. ive been here for so long it seems but at the same time it dosent seem long at all. so strange

much love to everyone

alia

plans have been made...officially? hmm not quite

Okay so here's the dealio -

Just today switched hostels from the crappy, smelly one in downtown melbourne to one called base backpackers in a suburb called st.kilda in melbourne. sofar so good. its a spiffy hostel that opened in mid 2004 very spic n span. I will stay here for 3 nights and then fly to brisbane - HOPEFULLY meet up with chris and hang out for a few nights and then up the coast to noosa. At this point i will have a week left in australia so i will sunbathe (hopefully) and get my hair cut and dye it myself. maybe a tattoo??UPLOAD SOME PHOTOS (cuz i know all of you are just dying to see!) and just chill. Then on may 29th i'll make my way back to brisbane, mail home some souvineers and tim tams and then fly off to singapore on the 30th.

I have to spend 4 nights in singapore so i think i will splurge and get a hotel that is closer to the airport and more central then the place i stayed last time. when i talk to the singapore people later today (hopefully) i will ask them about discounts that you can get through the airline for certain hotels.

Theeennn....to bali! I still have to make arrangements for a hotel in bali so i will do that sometime this week. either here or in brisbane. im running out of time and i forget sometimes that hotels arent like hostels - you can''t just walk in and say 'can i stay here for 3 weeks!?' maybe you can but i dont really want to test the theory - especially in indonesia!

THEEENNN....THAILAND! i'm leaving bali on the 25th of june. This gives me a week and a half to check out chaing mai and the northern part of the country and then jenni will meet me in bangkok on july 8th! really excited! then we'll do the islands and in the south bathe in the sun (if its not raining! check the forecasts, it doesnt look so good!) and rent some scooters and all that fun stuff. on the 29th of july i will travel back to bangkok with jenni and as she catches a flight home i'll catch a flight to kuala lumpur - my flight home leaves out of singapore (which is about a 4hr bus ride away from KL) but ill have a few days to check out the petrolium towers and all that other stuff there is to see in KL (im not sure what all that stuff is but...i'll find out once i pick up my 'southeast asia on a shoestring'lonely planet guide)and then....home. i think i have one night in LA but i think i'll give Nora (american girl i met in sydney) an email to see if she'll be able to entertain me for the night and be home Aug 2nd.

phew there it is folks. Im gonna need some moolah from ma and pa pretty quick (just a headz up!) but its a plan and its set and im ready for it.

I closed my australian bank account today. no more work. so if my flights dont really work out and i end up having to stay here another 20 days then....i guess i'll either work under the table (haha just kidding) or have to open another bank account? or maybe i'll just go back to adelaide and be a bum for 20 days. haha kidding.

i also found out today that i cant get any of my tax back because i didnt spend enough time in australia. that sucks. but oh well it was only about $250 so i guess i'll just have to do without.

much love everyone

alia

ps if someone from the audience could volunteer to pick me up a chunk of oreo cookie fudge from kdays for me this year it would be much appreciated - seeing as i will not be around for the event!

big kisses all around

alia

argh frustration!

i dont know what to do next. i have exactly 2 weeks left in australia and im stumped. I could spend $400 and go see byron bay and noosa like my sort of original plan but i dont know if it'll all be worth it. not only will it be $400 but its a pain in the ass to get to both places (melbourne - brisbane, brisbane - byrone bay, byron bay - noosa there are easier ways but this is the cheapest)both of those places are beautiful beach resort type towns. Noosa is a bit more posh and byron is a bit more party (not that i will be partying much while there)so i think i may just skip byron and head right up to noosa. Meet chris in brisbane a few days before he heads out (if he ever calls me! HINT HINT!) and then make my way up to noosa. BUUTT what do i do until the 21st of may? It is now the 16th and im in melbourne at the WORST hostel i have ever stayed at. 16ppl per room...this means that someone is up at everytime during the day....or night. and it stinks. The only cool thing is free coffee and tea and breakfast AND internet! I could check out friday morning and figure my way out through the tram station to a nicer hostel (recommended by simon, my pommy buddy) called base out in a suburb of melbourne called st.kilda and spend a few more days here doing some shopping (i hate my clothes)....but i am limited because i have given myself a $25/day budget on daily spending(this does not include accommodation or big travel expenses). and its $15 to get to the airport....this limits
things a bit i think. Maybe i'll look into that a bit deeper tomorrow.

I am also bothered by my weight gain....incredibly bothered by it. It was at about 11lbs back when i checked in bundaberg..last time i checked (in adelaide) i was up 18lbs! i feel terrible. not only do i feel like i look terrible i also feel terribly lazy. im afraid of people seeing me in a bikini in noosa and bali. im also afraid i might not beable to loose what ive gained before i get home and have to face my friends looking different. i feel so uncomfortable in my skin its unbelievable. not only that, ive pretty much lost my tan - stupid australian winter.

on the upside (sorry for being a downer guys) i saw probably my #1 or #2 favorite thing now in australia. today i went on a tour of the great ocean road. it was just so amazing. so beautiful - its up there with the great barrier reef (i love great things, what can i say?)but...to bring the upside down...we had and old man (between 55-63 id say) who was australian on our tour and he would not shut up. he could and would talk about absolutly EVERYTHING and he was old and experienced so he knew many things. he didnt take the time to learn the tourguides name so everytime he spoke to him he would say 'excuse me...did they widen the road with steam rollers OR WHAT!?' many things he would ask would end with 'OR WHAT!?' i seriously plugged my ears because his voice annoyed me so much. and he was sitting right behind the passenger seat (which was my seat) so he would shout the the driver and id be in the middle of it. sooo annoying. but the tour itself was beautiful. we drove 550km in about 12hrs and walked through a rainforest, saw the loch ard gorge (really beautiful! i have great pix, the 12 apostles (some big rocks sticking out of the water), and, of course the great ocean road. one of the most magnificent things ever created. the idea was based on hwy 1 in california so i think i may do a road trip down that area one of these days....well not anytime soon obviously but one day.

so now....i will try and sleep....and tomorrow i will take advantage of free breakfast and then go for a jog...and try and figure out what to do next.

getting kicked off my computer so gtg

love much

alia

adelaide-melbourne

weeew! what a great few days i had with my cousins! they sure do know how to spoil a person. i got lucky to have cousins who love me (and both have full time jobs and no kids....minus their husky, rogue who might as well be a 2 year old child) heres a rundown:

thurs may 10 - friday may 11- after going to the kangaroo rehabilition centre with pommy, simon (who was a great date, super cool guy i would've liked to go to darwin with him and a bunch of other pommys and some germans) i was almost late for the shuttle to the train station. hopped aboard the ghan into my day/night sleeper which was just a reclining airplane chair. nothing super. but probabley the most uncomfortable ride ive had sofar. the train was cool. there was a lounging car and a dining car but you had to pay for all your food and you wernt allowed in any other part of the train. they kept the cheap people away from everyone else. oh well. it was super boring with minimal things to see...should've splurged on a sleeper cabin but oh well, you live and you learn. got picked up from the train station by melissa and ashley and we went for lunch and went straight to the singapore airlines office. learned that my ticket isnt as flexible as i wanted it to be (my new dates are may 30 brisbane - singapore june 03 singapore - denpasar june 25 denpasar - bangkok and then surface transport to singapore and then aug 01 singapore to LA and then i think i have to overnight in LA and catch the next available flight to edmonton. i was thinking of maybe buying a beater and driving up the coast from LA to edmonton but that would prolly be too expensive) oh well thats life. not every road goes without potholes. after that we just went back to their house (cute little 2 bedroom plus study - tiny little place no basement! no houses in australia have basements aparently) and watched tv until bedtime

sat may 12 - got up and went for a jog - melissa was sure i was going to get lost but i assured her that i would stick to a path or run in circles, whichever was easier. after i got back i showered quickly and then we all went out to the footy! its a crazy game...pretty much no rules. 18 players per team on the field at once (yeah like 36 guys running around...weird!) with no direction at all. but ozzies love their AFL lots of cat calling and smart remarks between rival team supporters. I wanted to pick up a 'port adelaide power' tshirt but no keyosks were open after half time so ash gave me his team scarf. that was nice!

after the game we went back 'home' and changed then they took me to rundle street for dinner at a thai restaurant and then for drinks at an english pub. we caught up and chatted. both of them have very cool jobs - ashley said that if i end up getting stuck here then i could work for the immigraion agency he works for as an undercover agent and find out who has visas and who doesnt at the vineyards. that would be cool. unless the korean mofia come after me...then not so cool.

sunday may 13 - MOTHERS DAY! took a drive out to a smaller town outside of adelaide where ash's parents live. met uncle john (uncle jack's son - wow they could be the same person!) and auntie diane. also met ash's brother and sister in law. had a fantastic lunch of prawns, corn (haha funny story with the corn - but its a long one), chicken and fish and lots of other good stuff! after lunch took of with ashley and melissa to the barossa valley - a wine region of southern australia. this is one of the best thing si have ever seen. ther are hundreds of vineyards in this area and on weekends australians go out to the different ones they want to and sample wine. all day you can get extremely drunk for free this way! but it was all very good. ash and lis bought me a couple bottles of my favorite wines and are going to post them home for me (SPOILED!!). Melissa had to work monday morning so ash and i drove up to a small small town called mannum on the murray river and spent the night at his friends 'shack' which is a cabin...on stilts. they put it on stilts because sometimes the river floods. but it was very nice. we had 2 days of just chilling out and chatting. his friend (also named melissa) took us on a tour of mannum (it was short to say the least) but its very cool. very different from anything in canada. i took a few pictures.

monday 14 may - ashley let me drive part of the way home (COOL!) i did alright. stuck to the correct side of the road but kept flicking on the windshield wipers instead of the right or left clicker when making turns. saw the biggest rocking horse in the world! australians like to make big things....like big prawns and gum boots and echnidas...weird. drove past a town that got flooded and was now a lake. it was pretty neat. you could see the steeple from the church sticking out iright in the middle. once we got home it was pretty dark - went out for dinner with lis and then came home. it started storming at this point. woke up early in the morning to loud crashes and bangs. quite the storm.

tuesday 15 may - and now here i am. caught the plane to melbourne. had to say goodbye to my family. i could feel a few tears prickling in my eyes. not often am i treated so well by people who are practically strangers. just shows how strong our family ties are.

tomorrow i have a tour booked on the great ocean road. just one day NO CAMPING! YAY! and ive got 2 nights booked here so im not really sure whats the plan after that. Melbourne is really nice but i might just head off to noosa right away. i like big cities but theres too much to do. and i also want to catch chris if i can before he leaves on the 23rd.

anyway thats the dealio over here. talked to jenni today it was so nice to hear her voice. i cant wait for our big trip together its going to be a blast. and shes going to bring me a nice birthday present! i owe her huge!

much love for everyone

alia

COLD as heck!

i was pretty sure when i arrived in alice springs that i was going to a desert. unfortunatly winter has fallen upon australia and its freezing! (by freezing i mean maybe 14 or 15 degrees centigrade. i think it may be warmer at home!) and i have a feeling its going to get colder as i go south...actually i know its going to get colder. im so ready for asia.

anyway...

the past 2 days here have been good. 2 nights ago, james, a trainee tour guide on our tour threw a bbq for everyone who wanted to come at his house. so that was really nice i thought. i tried some kangaroo....wasnt too bad i guess. comparable to beef. and then yesterday he took me, simon (english) and christina (german) out to the macdonnell ranges just outside of town and we got to see some rock wallabys and rocks and stuff. he then took us back to his place and we hung out all day. in the evening some more people from our tour - rich (english) and tony (german) came over and we rented movies and threw a bunch of pillows and blankets on the living room floor and had a bit of a slumber party. james's roomate also has a cat, smokey, who i got to cuddle with. made me miss ninja and feefee alot! but it was just so awesome. ive never met a better host. james drove us anywhere we wanted to go, took us around the city, picked people up and dropped them off at the airport and stuff. super cool guy.

and now i am off to adelaide. but before i go im going to check out a kangaroo rehabilitation place! baby kangaroos that have lost their mothers - SO cute!tonight i will be sleeping on a train (never done that before!) and tomorrow afternoon i'll be at my cousin ashley and melissas house. pretty excited to be able to sleep for free for a few nights so thats good. give my credit card a bit of a break.

hope you're all doing really well!

xxoo

alia

alice springz

So ive been here in alice springs (and area) since friday. after i got off the plane i caught a shuttle to 'annies place' a converted motel - its quite nice. the room i got had a/c a tv and an ensuite bathroom which was good. the bar/restaurant here also offers $5 backpacker meals so i had some veg lasagne for dinner. very yum. got up early the next day to catch my coach bus for my tour to uluru (ayers rock), kings canyon and kata tjuta (the olgas) for a 3 day/2 night camp trip. it was very good - learned alot from our pommy (english) tourguide about sacred sights and the abos (aboriginal people). Its very interesting, the abos here have VERY dark skin but the young ones have blonde hair. almost as blonde as mine was when i was a baby (like brooke's hair christine) it looks so different. but when they get older it gets dark, almost black. the abos in the area also dig up bugs called wichitygrubs. we went digging for some with no luck. maybe next time i can eat a big marshmellow looking thing....maybe not. there are also millions and millions of flies that will NOT leave you alone. not so bad in alice springs but in the outback it was terrible! i asked our tour guide, Ash why they kept flying around and landing on my face and in my nose and ears and all over. he said it was because the flies thought i might die soon and begin decomposing and then they could eat....greedy bastards.

In 3 days i walked 24km - up and down red rock and through canyons and dipped in canyon creeks. it was all too beautiful. except my camera crapped out on me ( i need new rechargable batteries) so my memories will be from postcards.

during sunset at uluru (another one of natures greatest wonders of the world!) there is a 'sunset area' where everyone goes (about 1500 people a night!)to watch the rock change from bright orange to a deep purple. its beautiful and all the rich american folk sit out with their champagne and free peanuts and watch the sunset. i attempted to get myself a free glass of something but the server boys could see through my charm i guess.

at night we slept in 'swaggs' which are like canvas bags for people. you stuff your sleeping bag and yourself in there and zip it up and sleep under the stars. it was fantastic. so beautiful especially the first night we slept on a cattle ranch (one bigger then belgium!) with no electricity just the stars above us and a campfire. no one had any campfire ghost stories to tell so that kind of sucked.

on the way back to alice springs our tour guide pointed out lots of wild camels (yep they have wild camels here) and some dead cows and stuff by the side of the road. he also managed to spot a 'thorny devil' - a lizard with thorns sticking out of him all over theplace. he caught him and showed us it was pretty neat

we also stopped at a camel ranch. some people rode the camel, i played with their pet dingo the whole time.

but it was a great trip. im starting to get a bit sick of the camping thing. I head to adelaide on thursday and one of my roomates here in annies place (the room i got this time around wasnt so nice. no ensuite bathroom and less room) told me about a great ocean road tour where you spend the night in an almost luxery hotel. only $190 so i thought that sounded good. hopefully i can get details from her about it.

otherwise all is good. im in serious need of uploading photos i know, i'll get around to it. i also have great barrier reef photos so stay posted!

much loving from me to u

alia

opals!

So...i did it - after my FANTASTIC snorkelling in the extremely beautiful waters of the Great Barrier Reef ( one of the 7 wonders of the world, i'll remind you) i bought my australian opal. Its a beautiful solid white opal very shiny and sparkly with green and pink colouring in it. its a pretty darn big rock so it looks nice on my middle finger. iwould wear it on my right hand but my right handed middle finger is fatter then my left so i wear it on the left, although id rather wear it on the right. i'll get it sized when i get home. I try to buy myself an opal from every continent im at...sofar i have 3 - a pink one from greece, a fire one from mexico and now my australian one. it was the most expensive of the 3 but i enjoy it very much.

So back to snorkelling - got up a bit early (7am ) had breakfast and then hit the boat. They offered free 'tea, coffee and tea' - when i heard that i thought...maybe there are 2 different kinds of tea? but nope. the first tea is the drink - the 2nd tea is sort of like a light breakfast i guess. muffins, carrot cake type stuff...weird australians.

after that we took off to the reef - 1hr 10min boat ride out there and it was fast! 35knots i think. very different from being on a sail boat. our first dive was on the outer reef or 'ribbon reef' i dont remember the actual name of the reef we were on but it was the outer part of the great barrier reef. on this reef i saw REEF SHARKS! very safe animals - they swam away when i tried to swim towards them but it was still pretty cool. lots of coral, damsel fish, parrot fish, angel fish (haha i did my studying before hand) and rabbit fish.

we did 2 more snorkels after that at different reefs closer to mainland but i think the first was prolly the coolest (cuz of the sharks) at the other ones i saw more of the same - at the last one i saw NEMO! our snorkel guide took us on a tour around the last reef and she brought up a sea star (the star formally known as starfish - its not a fish at all so they're trying to direct people away from calling it a starfish) for us to look at and a sea slug - both pretty cool animals. i think i dissected them both in highschool during marine biology class.

and that was my day - gotta figure out how im going to get to the airport tomorrow and then alice springs it is! also need to get some accommodation figured out and that is that.

missing you all much!

Alia

cairns!

Ive got to say that i enjoy this city very much! from the second i got here i enjoyed it. i havent even been here 24 hours and im still enjoying it. theres just something about it taht i really like and i wish i could spend more time here - oh well i'll remember for next time. its a very bright city and touristy....which i kind of miss after being in bundaberg for 4 weeks. There are lots of casinos and lights and a wonderful lagoon which i may indulge in later today.

So the sailing trip was good....didnt really get to sail much - not enough wind. when we did set the sails we would float around for about 10 min and then turn the motor back on. the whitsundays were nice. not what i expected but very nice for sure. i enjoyed the snorkelling and i also enjoyed getting to sit around and read my book, cuz i hadnt been doing much of that in the past 4 weeks.

I also got to make offical plans for the next 10 days or so. Now im in Cairns, i will be here until friday - i think im going to book a day snorkel trip for tomorrow in the great barrier reef- although my german friend, kata is staying here (shes in cape tribulation right now, cominig home tonight). I feel bad because we only would have 1 day together as we are both leaving on friday but you gotta do what you want right?

Friday i fly out of cairns and into alice springs. On saturday Im going on a 3 day/2night camping trip to ayers rock, kings canyon and a bunch of other stuff. should be fun although im not really a fan of the camping stuff anymore and really dont want to do much more of it for the rest of this trip. dirty dirty dirty! I get back to alice on the monday and ive got 3 nights to sit around and enjoy alice (i really dont know what to expect - this is when i'll do the majority of my photo uploading and tomato farm documenting i do believe) and then thursday I catch The Ghan - a cross country train - to adelaide - where my cousin will pick me up from the station and i will get to spend some time in a REAL HOME! im kind of excited. He also mentioned going to a footy match on saturday (which makes me really excited! yay for tight shorts!) and his friend offered for us to use their 'holiday house' on a some river (i dont remember the name) so that should be nice as well. i also have to remember to go to the singapore air office to get my flights switched so i can come home early! yay!

and after that.....who knows!? i may do a great ocean road tour....or just fly from adelaide to surfers paradise and then from there go to byron bay, and then up to noosa to check out australia zoo....not really sure yet - and at some point i want to get with my buddy chris cuz i miss him SO much!

i have 3 months left but it feels like 3 weeks! time is flying by very quickly! i will see you all too soon! haha just kidding! miss you much!

Alia

what to do...

hi guys,

i know i said i was going to document my tomato pruning process here but its going to take some time so just chill and read this post aight!?

So ive been thinking about traveling...and about money....and now that im doing some traveling again ive come across decisions i have to make...AGAIN! Im such a bad decision maker when it comes to making them. its frustrating. I thought i had it all worked out but lying pool side today got me thinking about my options - please give me your thoughts.

Option #1 - original idea

go sailing in the whitsundays, from there go to cairns, from there fly to alice springs (flight $320), take a tour to ayers rock (roughly $300) from there take the Ghan to adelaid ($335) . From adelaid take a great ocean road tour ($200) to melbourne. then fly up to sydney or surfers paradise...yadda yadda what im deciding on now is my first 2 weeks of may

Option #2 - new idea

go sailing in the whitsundays - use my already paid for bus ticket to slowly make my way up to cairns (taking 2 weeks or so) and then fly from cairns to adelaid for about $260, skipping alice springs, ayers rock and the ghan. 3 things that i was looking forward to seeing but i dont know if i'll have the money for it.

I think it would be really nice to spend 2 weeks up north bathing in the sun, snorkelling in the GBR and just chilling out rather then running around trying to get to this place at this time etc, etc - but again, when is the next time i will be here? Should i take advantage of the time i have now and just spend my money willy-nilly? Or should i be more careful and just take it all very slow? i only have a bit more then a month left here, is it worth it to rush?

opinions are greatly encouraged

alia

update

So i officially have 1 week minus 1 day left here in bundaberg. not gonna lie, i will miss it a bit. i am extremely comfortable and now i have to leave! jebus! I guess i could stay if i wanted to but really, its bundaberg-and i am SO looking forward to visiting the whitsundays its NOT even funny! I have my bus ticket booked, my hostel booked AND my sailing trip booked. Im all ready to go.

last night had to say goodbye to my good french friends (from left)julian, nicolas and mattius. i just about cried - some of the most fun guys i have ever met. they said that the year after next the plan is to visit the states and canada so they will be in touch. i cant wait.

other then that, not alot new - ive been attending the gym - took a weight training class called THUMP on wednesday and then yesterday i took tai bo. the fitness classes here are not much compared to whats back at home. they dont talk about posture, correct positioning of legs, or feet or proper technique its kind of strange. but my arms are so sore today so it must've done something. im going to take one day of rest and then back at it tomorrow. my plans for future posts are these: 'a day in the life of a bundaberg tomato pruner' and 'my friends' - so look forward to those coming up! love much miss much alia

break-up

yep thats right. julia and i have broken up. she took all her stuff and moved out. im not so broken up about it but i think she was. it was such short notice. she told me tuesday night that she was breaking her contract with maneras (the tomato farm we work at) and would be heading up the coast to meet her friend. we were supposed to do whitsunday sail together but i called the travel agency and they told me it was all fine. they would put a note on the file that we wernt travelling together anymore -done and done!

she was a nice girl....but she put out a vibe to other people that she was better then everyone else. my friend, nicholas from france said 'maybe if she was beautiful or very clever she could think that way but she is not'. needless to say she pissed alot of people off and most people arent so upset that she is gone.

either way, we will stay in touch. i think she feels bad that i was so upset with her but she still dosent understand why. oh well. its over now

love muchly

alia

ps we worked 7.5hrs today! a record for us! and my fingernails are filthy....ewww!

long tiime!

yeah i know its been a long time but nothing is new. getting more hours at work which is good. started picking which is a good alternate to pruning (which we are still doing but also picking so it throws in a mix) and did one afternoon of tomatoe packing. needless to say i am sick of tomatoes.

Ive been here about 2.5 weeks now and im planning on probabley another 2 more. maybe 3 not really sure yet. ive had a falling out with julia - we dont really talk to eachother and are extremely sick of eachother (well i am of her anyway) so i really dont think i will be doing the whitsunday sail with her. at least i hope not to, im gonna see if i can get around it.

a french guy, nicholas was looking at buying a big bus to travel in and i would totally be up for something like that i think. he doesnt know the price or anything but will call on it. drive over to alice springs and perth. i think that would be a fantastic trip!

otherwise my days are pretty standard - wake up at 430am - leave for work at 520ish (it changes every day) -wait around for work to start at 6am - work as late as 12 - wait around for the van to come pick us up. this sometiems takes as long as an hour - back at the hostel go for a swim (sometimes! i try not to procrastinate) - eat - watch dvds - chat - go on the internet....and thats it!

it could be my imagination but i think ive noticed a bit of an extra fat around my midsecton that wasnt there before...YIKES! so i picked up a panphlet from the local gym that has drop-in classes for $7 so i think i will indulge in that a few times a week. although i am only here for a few more weeks.

this is a really boring town but im going to miss it for sure. i like being settled you know? and i really like alot of the people i am meeting.

hope all is well back at home! much love!

alia

ps keep checking my photo album new pix every day!

its been a while...

hello!

so same old - same old here in bundaburg. ive been here offically for over a week now. enjoying myself for sure. the work hours are short which kind of sucks because i am wanting to make more money then what i am going to spend on accomodation, food,internet etc. but sofar it doesnt look that way. oh well - the main point is im having a great time here. everyone in the hostel is pretty cool.

a few nights ago julia and kata and katherin (all german girls! julia is my friend julia, kata is a german girl travelling alone and katherin was traveling with 2 other girls but got in a fight with them and started hanging out with us) were all drinking bundy rum and coke (which is REALLY good by the way) and i was having tea because im on a detox regime. anyways, they were all drunk and kata wanted to go swimming, but julia didnt want to go change into her bikini so i was like 'i know! lets go with our clothes on!' they all thought it was great so julia pushed kata in, and then derek (a scottish guy) threw julia in and kathrin walked in herself and i stood bythe pool and watched - then ran into my dorm room with kata chasing me (shes not a small girl either) to grab me and shove me in the pool. i managed to get into my room and lock the door.i then changed into my bikini and went for a swim. julia was so mad ' it was your idea to go swimming with ourclothes on!!!' but thats why it was funny. i cheated muahahaha. we all hd a good time anyway.

decided to create a swim team -the team consists of: Me, Julia, Kata, Derek and Jono. we swim after work every day, and on the days we dont work. we started at 20 min and now are at 30 ( i was the only one who swam today, besides derek, he swam too but for only 15 min. and jono swam too but only for 6 min -lightweights). our names are the Bundy Dolphins. one day we will have a swim meet.

today while pruning i stuck my hand in a little hole in the plastic that the tomato plants grow out of and something moved! it was a toad! it hopped out of the hole and i screamed and jumped around a little bit. then i caught it and tried to get julia to kiss it but she would have nothing of it

we are planning a 'dress up day' here at the hostel. there are a few good second hand shops around town and we are going to find the worst possible dresses and suites to wear and wear them and drink very sophisticatidly - i hvent gotten my outfit picked out yet but i will take lots of pictures!

speaking of pictures, i am still uploading onto aliab.myphotoalbum.com they are quite a few weeks old but i will continue toadd them daily

much love

alia

photos

so i have begun the gruelling process (seriously it takes forever!)of uploading my photos. check out aliab.myphotoalbum.com for the first 10 picutres

work is good! i am UBER sore - we pruned 6 inch tomatoe plants today for 5.5hrs that means leaning over for 5.5hrs! booo! but its aight - day off tomorrow, a few of us are gonna hop the bus to the beach! very nice!

lovelovelove

alia

j-o-b!!!

what up? so finally it is true - i have a JOB! weeeew. i'll be working 6 days a week for around 6-8hrs a day pruning tomatos. not my idea of a dream job but hey, it will help pay the bills and a few extras thats for sure. so yah, for the next 4 weeks or so thats what i will be doing. unfortunatly that means for you faithful readers, there wont be much of anything interesting to post here in my blog so it will be lacking. I still would appreciate your love in the form of emails or just random posts to old blogs . ha.

so until something new and crazy goes on in my world,


much love!

Alia

bundaburg = bundaboring!

bundaburg is the equivelant of barrhead when it comes to stuff to do. nothing but drink, drink, drink. the first night we were here we met some locals - one of which, kent, offered to take us out, show us the beaches, the rum distillery in town, some of the local hotspots where there is nice snorkelling etc, etc. but twice now he has ditched out. last night we hung out with another one of the locals, luke who took us to central (the main club in town) and it was pretty fun. its a great club, there are 3 areas, one which plays top 40 dancing stuff, another that plays grunge music and an outdoor beer garden area with a live band. i thought that would be a pretty awesome place to have in edmonton then all of my friends could go out and party together and have a great time. today luke called me up and we went snorkelling together - bundaburg is on the southern tip of the great barrier reef so we saw lots of fish and stuff - pretty cool. no sharks or stingrays or anything interesting like that but alot of fun otherwise. met some canadians in our hostel and rented a movie. thats about it. now im gonna go for a run. ive decided while im here im going to detox (the past week and a half or so ive been drinking every night) and jog a few times a week. just so i dont feel SUPER lazy (ive also been having naps every day since ive gotten here and i feel like such a slob, but there is nothing else to do!!)

well thats the update - boo waiting on work! booo!!!

love alia

bundaburg!!

left hervey bay today and made it to bundaburg in about 2hrs time. i was a bit sad to leave because the past few days (on fraser and in hervey bay) i hung around with a cute british guy named david. He's going to arlie beach to do a whitsunday sail for a couple of days and then going home. he asked me to come with him to arlie but i declined - he's travelling with 2 of his friends and they were just planning on going out and drinking every night...boourns! but we will keep in touch - and he said i can come to london one day and he will show me his country house and make me fish and chips and we can have tea and crumpets lol.

Staying in a place in bundaburg called 'cell block' apparently its a converted jail?? verry interested. totally caters to the people working here - ive got a week booked sofar. there is a work manager on site and all you have to do is fill out a work file and he will put everything in the computer and take care of it all for you! verry nice! I prolly wont be packing bananas though- most likely do some tomato work - whether is picking or packing i have no idea.

wish me luck with work etc, etc - this is starting to feel like a whole other adventure! wowee!!

love much

alia

weeew!

if i never see sand again in my life i will die a happy person - sand, sand everywhere - in your pants, in your bra, in your eyes and ears - ALL OVER! it feels SO good to get back to a place that isnt the biggest sand island in the world. what a rough, but fun, 3 days - i had a great time. it was exhausting but a blast. saw dingos, and big spiders and lizards and a snake! it was supercool! and beautiful. except i burned my eyelids yesterday falling asleep on the beach without my sunnies on - BIG mistake! but hopefully they will heal up soon.

we got an extra night here in hervey bay and then up to bundaburg tomorrow! wooo!!! talking to a few people in my group, who just came from bundaburg, told us about a nice place to stay that has bus transfers to worksites for free and stuff so we're gonna check that out. and then work....booo! but thats fine. keeps my mind occupied. yesterday i was homesick for a while - i think its cuz the camping was over and it was back to real life in australia.

otherwise, life is as per usual - im doing fine, everything is fine - had a bit of a dramatic experience with julia on fraser island but nothing anyone would be really interested in (it involved alot of goon (which is what boxed wine is called here in australia) and julia wanting to head to the beach, alone, at night, with snakes and dingos creeping around in the bush it was a hassel to get her in bed)

much love everyone!

Alia

in hervey bay!

so safely in hervey bay - boring bus ride but the 2nd shortest one ive been on sofar!!

got here to the hostel and discovered we have to dish out a whole bunch more money for food, booze, fuel, cash on hand, deposits, shower - blah blah blah and julia has NO money left....so i believe i will be left lending cashola to her....which is fine if we get jobs banana packing (which i sure hope we do!)

up bright and early tomorrow to get orientated - we will be in groups of 9-11 i think and we pool $20 of money for food and $20 for alcohol i think. supposed to bring a small bag with us, where my daypack comes in handy. i know julia is feeling alittle uneasy and its making me uneasy, but what can you do? just dive in head first!

i think that working at WS with you chris would be FANTASTIC!! you should totally get me a referral! and i hope we can cross paths as i will be going the opposite direction you will be going - maybe we can meet near brisbane - in noosa or some other close town because I will be flying out of there hopefully on the 1st of June. haha i didnt know i looked like such a banana packer- maybe us schimankes all make great banana packers and no one ever got a chance to figure it out!

christine - alia is a great name for a baby! i think you should go for it - boy or girl alia is a great name! you could even change the spelling if you want! i'll allow it lol ;)

well seeing as i will be on the biggest sand island in the world for the next few days i dont think i'll be posting - so mama dont get your panties in a twist alright?

love much

alia

brisbane....again - not for long this time!

So i made it to brisbane nice n safely as per usual. staying at a really awesome hostel in the heart of 'the valley' which is supposed to be the night club area not that im interested. i find thats what most australias talk about or even other travellers - where the best place to party is. thats prolly one of the last things on my list of things to do - party. i dont find that very cultural at all. i agree with most people who've been here who say that australia is just like canada just on the other side of the world because this is what alot of what canada is like - partying, going out, getting drunk and thats not why i came here but its the first thing people say when i ask them about the city im about to embark on 'ohh its a nice place, only about 2 pubs in the whole main area of town so there isnt much to do...' does that mean that a place is boring without clubs or pubs? i think thats all what backpacking seems to be about these days. and when i did it through europe almost 3 years ago i'll admit that thats alot of what i did, almost every night going out and drinking but im 3 years older now and just grown out of that stage. some people havnt i guess.

anyways enough about my rant - julia and i have decided to head up to bundaburg(???) to do some banana packing - supposed to be a higher paying job with lots of hours. sounds good to me. sounds also like alot of intensive labour (and people say that red-back spiders come around often! eeekkk!) but im comfortable with that - even if we work for a couple of weeks (im hoping we push through for a whole month!) we'll at least make a few pennies and that will definatly help me out.

but tomorrow at noon julia and i are off to hervey bay for one night and then our 2 nights 4wd self drive camping safari of fraser island. ive only read great things about this island so im really looking forward to it. i have to do some laundry but i think i'll wait until after the camping to get it done.

learned today that my chances of getting into uni for the fall are extremely low so im having mom put in an application to gmac for the fall. im extremely dissapointed but what can you do? soon enough i'll be able to go to uni. (they call it uni over here and in europe, not university)

much love for all of you

alia

nothing nothing nothing

its been a boring few days here in manly - i missed a spot on my back with sunscreen and now i have a funny shaped burn...yep thats it. last night the 3 german girls in my room invited me out to the pub so i joined for a little bit - got up early and checked out. and now here i am. my bus leaves tonight at 7pm to get into brisbane at 11:30 tomorrow. and then saturday off to hervey bay! wee! something new to do im really pumped. i was thinking that julia and i could stop in noosa on the way up to arlie beach for our whitsunday tour for a week or so but aparently noosa comes before hervey bay and i cant afford to go backwards :( oh well, maybe at the end of my trip i'll be able to stop in all those places i wanted to go to at first but missed out on.

anyway - thats about all

much love

new beginning

so yesterday i booked a 4wheel self drive tour of fraser island for myself and julia. we got a package deal with a whitsunday sail so my next few weeks will be in the whitsundays - i hope the weather is beautiful!

today i booked my bus ticket BACK to brisbane (i'll be spending one night there with julia before we head up to hervey bay for our fraser island drive) and then getting the party started. im really excited!

other then that, its sunny out - and hot - and im gonna enjoy the sunshine..and maybe go for a surf

much love

alia

garsh

so ive come to discover that i dont think things through near enough. coming back to sydney was a BIG expensive mistake on my part. i wish i could see into the future.

i called julia and we've decided to meet in surfers in a few days (next week sometime) and book a fraser island/whitsunday tour. its expensive but probabley worth it (i hope) and then gonna take my time going further north to noosa and cairns and then to alice and down to adelaide - great ocean road and then header to bali.

im sitting here shaking my head because of the stupid stupid choices ive made thus far. it took me 3 weeks to figure it out. jeeze. this little 2 day trip back to sydney is costing me $300 (for bus fare to and from brisbane, 3 nights in hostel plus food and ferry/bus trips). i try not to worry about money but i always do and it SUCKS.

but you live and you learn....and i am definatly learning

much loving

alia

well

alright thats enough re-assurance for me. im done with the work thing. although, again this was a stupid move to go back to sydney (ive had my fair share of stupid moves this holiday) i will spend tonight and tomorrow deciding whether i should go south to melbourne through the great ocean road to adelaid and then taking the ghan up to alice springs and then fly to brisbane and move my way up from there - or will i bus it BACK to brisbane and go the orignal intended route. i think the former makes a bit more sense.

thanks mom, jenn and craig for your support. although i do fear my cash reserve is going to run out extremely quickly - but thats what i got ma and pa for right ;) that and a plethura of other things i guess.

pheww what a weight off my shoulders.

much love everyone

alia

blaaeehhhhgarrb

So i am honestly considering just ditching the whole 'try and find work and a place to stay for 6 weeks' and just going traveling. spending more time in bali and thailand then originally planned and returning home with my sister the end of july. trying to find work and a place to live is stressing me out too much, and i havent even looked very hard. i spoke to naomi (a girl with iep) today and she said that she would take a look for me and get back to me later today or tomorrow.

what do you guys think? does this make sense to you? because as far as im concerned, unless i get one of those fantastic jobs where i get free food and accommodation im not going to make very much money anyways (especially us working/travelling visa-ers get taxed $0.30 on the dollar) in such little time - ESPECIALLY since i will be spending what money i do make on food and accommodation. So today i will go to manly, wait for naomi to get back to me and if i get nothing i do think i'll continue on my trip onward and upward to cairns, down to alice springs and through to adelaid....drive the ocean road and then get back to brisbane around the middle to late april - stay in bali for a month and in thailand for 2 months.

am i just giving up? did i not give it a good enough shot?

i met a guy yesterday from winnipeg and he did just that - he got his work visa but didnt work. once he got here he decided to travel. and he seemed to have a pretty good time with it. he's off to singapore in the next couple of days - then thailand and then europe.

like my mom said, i wont be setting up my paypal account - keep your monies for yourself, for your babies (christine), and your new floor (jenn) and i'll just bum whatever i need off my ever-so-loving ma and pa!

id love to hear your guys opinion on this!

Alia

new camera

hey guys so i picked up a new camera. its the same as the one i had before, same memory card, same batteries - its just a newer model with 6.0 pixels instead of 5.0! oooh fancy! so i will be setting up that paypal account very soon here (mom could u please find one of my cheques that has my bank account info on it and email it to me so i could set all that up? thanks!)and feel free to send me money and i will repay you in other ways (ie in the form of a gift from thailand or bali and a postcard) so if ur planning on dontating, please also leave an address i can send a postcard to!

and if you dont want to or cant afford to dontate thats cool too - i still love you all very very much!

thinking about working in a country pub in the outback for free food and accommodation PLUS pay - wouldnt that be nice?

love all

alia

back....in sydney!

wow what a bus ride. i have never been more uncomfortable in my liiifffee!! i got the 2 seats to myself but they totally wernt catered to lying down on both of them to try and get a sleep thats for sure. well im glad thats over with. im also really glad i decided instead of heading right to manly (which is a train ride, a ferry ride and about a 20min walk away) i decided to spend one night back here in good old sydney central YHA. its 7am now and i cant check into my room until 12 so i think im gonna have some breakfast, watch a little tv and maybe take a short nap

thanks to everyone who offered to donate to the buy alia a new camera fund! its really appreciated! im gonna go get my camera officially looked at today and if there is no hope i will definatly be setting up that paypal account! you guys are too awesome!

and UNCLE WILL!? I had no idea so many people knew of this website - definatly good to hear from you! And thanks for the tip - i will look into Kiama, if manly doesnt work out so good!

I do believe i missed a day of blogging so i'll fill you all in on my saturday (your friday):

walked the hilly walk from my hostel down to queen street mall in brisbane. its like any other mall. nothing too interesting. then made my way across the river to 'south bank' - its a man-made area for those people of brisbane who complained that brisbane doesnt have a beach im sure. it had a little lagoon filled with kids and probabley pee, a jungle walk, and a bunch of restaurants and stuff. i lied myself out on the grass and proceded to read 'nineteen eighty four' (which i am done now, and i have to find a decent book exchange to exchange it because the one here at YHA is crap). i then began talking with these two guys who clearly had an accent. i asked them where they were from, one guy said 'brisbane!hahaha'. they had been in brisbane for 9 years but were refugees of bosnia!!! very nice guys. we talked about movies and about canada and bosnia and all that stuff, went for a drink and then i headed home. they invited me out but i told them that my bus left at 6am the next day and i couldnt go out. now i wonder if thats antisocial of me. not accepting invitation out with two perfectly nice guys, was it because they were bosnian? or because they were guys? was i being smart? or is this why im not making so many friends? anyway, i headed back to the hostel - stopped in at a movie theatre (an old one like the princess or the garneau) and saw 'the notorious bettie page' which was a pretty good movie i guess. too expensive for the venue it was in but, oh well. then i went up the hill to the hostel and to bed. met a very nice irish girl in my room who had been living in vancouver for the last 2 years.

and then today i got up early, walked DOWN the hill to the transit station and sat around until 2pm to catch my bus, ran into irish girl again she was at the transit station waiting for her dad's girlfriend's son - they were getting together to do a trip of fraser island together. aww how sweet.

yup other then that not a thing new here. gonna get my camera looked at later today, tomorrow gonna head over to manly and get my butt in gear to find a job and a place to live.

i sorta semi-started posting pictures on the net but its gonna take some time. i think theres 2 up there now you can check the site: http://s168.photobucket.com/albums/u168/aliabeth/

much love for everyone!

alia