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