SE Asia... Oceania... and Beyond

Sawadee!

To some of you this may come as a bolt from the blue, to others maybe not. For those of you who are not connecting the dots, what I am trying to say is… “Sawadee from Koh Samui, Thailand!” Yes from Thailand, not New York. I voluntarily missed my flight home when I disembarked the plane in Singapore during my connection and bought a flight to Thailand.

Ok… surprised or not it is time for me to continue my journey and blog. Here is the update and pictures I promised from OZ.

A 30 minute ferry ride from Hervey Bay brought me to Fraser Island where I enjoyed all of the unique flora and fauna amid the tropical beaches, wetlands, rainforests, arid deserts, pristine creeks, and implausibly clear fresh water lakes. Amongst all of this vegetation I found myself surrounded by over 325 species of birds, several species of spiders, insects, lizards, wallabies, possums, turtles, dolphins, sharks, stingrays, fresh water eels, flying foxes, echidnas and eastern Australia's purest population of dingo. Yes, this little island has it all, which is hard to believe seeing that it is an island completely composed of sand and absolutely no soil. In point of fact, Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world and the lone place in the world where rainforest grows in sand. Pretty impressive I must say. It was a great escape from Sydney and my first time camping on this trip. I also enjoyed my first savor of Kangaroo meat (mmmm… yummy). All things considered, it is hard to explain the true beauty of Fraser Island. All I can say is that it is something one should experience for themselves.

After 2 days on Fraser Island I caught a 12 hour night bus to Airlie Beach, the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Fortunately for me I was able to get a good solid nine hours of sleep on the bus. Unfortunately for me when I arrived in Airlie Beach the weather was awful. But as the unlucky as this was, in a way it was a blessing in disguise. The worst weather I have seen in a long time provided some of the most incredible sailing conditions. The “perma-grin” smile on the captain’s face said it all… full sails, big waves, and tremendous splashes all made for brilliant fun as we sailed among the GBR at an average tilt of 40 degrees. Over the next couple days and nights we sailed, snorkeled, fished and island hopped through the Whitsunday Islands. We all saw some incredible fish, a lot of turtles, and many more unspoiled beaches. It was such an enjoyable time and a wonderful alternative to going to the movies on a rainy day.

Disembarking on the final day was sad, but it was time for me to head back to Sydney for one last night before it was off to Thailand. All in all, great fun Australia was. I barely scratched the surface of the colossal island, but I know I will be back in the future to enjoy much more of the many offerings it possesses.

Some numbers
Trip Country Count: 7 (excluding US/Germany)
Trip Continent Count: 2 (exlcluding NA and Europe)
Life Country Count: 26 (167 remaining)
Life Continent Count: 6 (only Antartica remains)

G'day Mates!

Tim

Many, Many Pics from Oz

Darling Harbour, Sydney

Sydney Opera House

Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge

Fraser Island Shipwreck

Fraser Island Cliff

Indian Head, Lagoon, Fraser Island

Fraser Island Lizard

Fraser Island Spider

Fraser Island Dingo

Birrabeen Lake, Fraser Island

Relaxing at Birrabeen Lake, Fraser, Island

White Sand Beach, Whitsundays (cloudy day)

Snorkeling Lagoon in the Great Barrier Reef

Beautiful Fish from the same lagoon (trust me there were much bigger ones, but this was my favorite)

Sailing the Great Barrier Reef in the Whitsundays

Kangaroo's, not to far from Airlie Beach

Where will I go next????

Hello from Australia! Or maybe I should say “G’day Mates”.

Yes, my trip has taken a dramatic twist and I am now in the land of Oz. But before I tell you about it, let me backtrack to where I previously left off… Cambodia.

Cambodia was to say the least very different from anywhere I have ever been. It is very chaotic and poor, yet very interesting and strangely enjoyable. While in Cambodia I visited Phnom Penh, Siem Ream and Angkor Wat.

Phnom Penh is probably the poorest capital city I have ever visited. However, I can understand why this is when you read about the horrific crimes the Khmer Rouge (KR) committed against the country, this city and their own people in the late 1970’s. One also shouldn’t forget about the colossal amount of obvious political corruption that has gone on since. So anyways… while in Phnom Penh I visited the classic sights such as the Palaces, Temples and great monuments. I also visited the accepted tourist sights of the Killing Fields, shooting ranges and former KR training camps. I think at this point I need not say much more. However, I do necessitate that all the Cambodians I have met have all been exceptionally nice, welcoming and hardworking. It is nice to see they are not giving up and even with all the corruption are striving to make Cambodia a better place.

Siem Reap is the gateway to Angkor Wat (one of the 7 wonders of the world). Quite a small town Siem Reap is, but is has such a nice charm to it. The people there are also extremely helpful and nice, as they should be, the city survives off the tourism of Angkor Wat.

Angkor Wat, for those of you who do not know, is the pride and joy of Cambodia. Angkor Wat itself is the largest house of worship in the world, and it is also surrounded by what seems like countless other temples, terraces and altars. It is quite a sight to see. Some people take a week to see all the temples. I spent a day and a half there, after that I was all “templed out” and ready to head back to Thailand (via three hours on the worst road I have ever, ever, ridden on. Apparently this road is owned by an “unknown airline” (Bangkok Air I’d assume) who tries to force people to fly to Thailand.)

After the atrocious drive to the border I found Thailand. Again it was off to Koh Samui, my home away from home. I moved in with my friend Aom for about two weeks so I could just relax with friends, go to the beach, read some books and get a follow up dentist appointment for my wisdom tooth. It was nice being back. I enjoyed being by the ocean, yet surrounded on three sides by mountains, having a real bed, home cooked thai meals, water buffalos across the street and elephants on the corner.

While I was in Thailand I also snuck off to Koh Phangan for a weekend so that I could get in four scuba dives. The diving was quite incredible and better than the previous dives I had done. I think I am finding a new obsession.

So after two weeks and a failed attempt to change my airplane ticket I was off to Sydney, Australia. Sydney was great. Although it was kind of windy, I was able to see the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, the Circular Quay, botanical gardens, the various parks, and Ashbury, the home of my friend Kris’s family. All in all, I enjoyed Sydney very much and I found it extremely nice to be in a westernized country again.

So this brings me to today, Monday January 29th, 2007. I just arrived in Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia. The weather is hot and humid and the beach is waiting for me. Tomorrow it is off to the nearby Fraser Island, a World Heritage island. This island is supposed to be the jewel of Oz and I will spend the next two days discovering all it has to offer. Following Fraser is a two day/two night sailing trip in Whitsunday and the heart of the Great Barrier Reef. I am really looking forward to this trip. Just me, new friends, a retired championship racing yatch, more scuba diving and snorkeling, and of course the Great Barrier Reef.

OK… enough said mates.

Cheers,

Tim

P.S. – I am supposed to be heading back home on February 5th. We’ll see what happens?

Pictures *Pics of Australia coming soon

Laundry and Farming in Phnom Penh

My tuk tuk driver (called Santa Clause) and his lovely daughter

Killing Fields, monument of respect for those who died

Angkor Wat in the morning

Massive tree covering part of theTemple where the Tomb Raider movie was filmed in Angkor Wat

Ahhh... Koh Samui, my home away from home

Typical Samui... Coconuts, Monkey and my favorite roasted chicken stand