|
san pedro volcano..
|
Jul. 25th, 2005 @ 04:20 pm
|
|---|
|
chad on the boat ride across the lake
wow... what a day! we woke up bright and early this morning.. or at least that was the plan... no trip is ever complete without oversleeping and almost missing your transport! we had an alarm mishap, and our 6am pickup was there just minutes after we started to wake up.. we asked them to give us an extra 10 minutes, and it was on to speed packing and skipping showers... We made it to the dock just in time to catch our *tiny* boat with like 30 people in it.. The views the whole way across the lake were amazing. It was such a breath-taking experience just to look around, little did we know what laid ahead for us..
once we made it across the lake, we stopped in at a resturant just up from the docks in San Pedro. It's a good thing that we had breakfast because we were in for quite the work out today!
to get to the volcano we had to first hike through town, and if the incline of the streets was to be any indication of the actual hiking of the volcano, i knew we had our work cut out for us. It was actually close to an hour before we reached the entrance to the national park, where the volcano began...
about 20 minutes before we made it to the park, we stopped to take a breather and check out the views... these two little kids were just walking up the hill, perhaps just to keep busy for the day.. they spoke no english, so it was only thanks to our guide that i was able to explain that i wanted their photo... unlike the little girls back in pana, just seeing their faces on the view screen of my camera was an exciting experience for them. sometimes it's easy to forget that technology that we often take for granted is something special for people who live without it..
it was an absolutely beautiful day today, but the heat and altitude really made this a grueling 4.5 hour hike.. there wasn't much in the way of shade, and when we found the shade, it was hot and muggy... but the views all along the way, really made it worthwhile..
finally after the first 2 hours, my asthma was kicking in, and i was ready to quit.. but chad refused to continue without me, and the stuborn photographer in me knew i would regret it if i didn't at least make it to the first vista point... so we tracked on, stopping pretty frequently so i could catch my breath, and even use the inhaller a few times..
but my patient boyfriend just joked around with me, and even carried my stuff so that we could keep on working our way up the mountain until we finally reached the first of 3 platforms..
at this point we were a little more than 1/2 way to the top, exhasted, and ready to call it a day... not to mention the next two sectors were even more steep and a harder climb... from the park entrance to the top of the volcano is about 800 meters... to put it in perspective we had already hiked up approximately 3-4 miles in hot humid conditions at a fairly step incline...
so we took about 30 minutes to relax and enjoy the views before we started back down the mountain.. the hike down took just over 2 hours.. we made it to the dock just in time to catch the last possible boat that would allow us to get our 4:30 shuttle back to antigua...
|
|
|
Jul. 24th, 2005 @ 04:03 pm
|
|---|
|
yesterday we arrived in Guatemala City in the morning.. we had decided to start our trip to Guatemala in a city called Panajachel, the portal into Lake Alitlan. The lake is actually a volcanic crater that is surrounded by 3 10,000 foot volcanoes, Toliman, Atitlan and San Pedro.
Getting to Pana (as it is referred to by travelers and locals alike), was not as simple as catching a bus or train from Guatemala city.. first we would have to take a bus to Antigua. Antigua is the old capital of Guatemala, and located about an hour away for Guatemala City. It is the travel hub of Guatemala for foreigners because it is "safer" than Guatemala City, and much smaller and easier to navigate. We will be returning to Antigua after a few days here in Pana, so I will talk more about it later. We had an hour or so to kill until the next shuttle bus to Pana, so we grabbed some traditional Guatemalan food (i had some scrambled eggs with tomato and onion, some black bean mush, and fried plantains..) and wandered around a little..
the bus ride to Pana was our real introduction to the wonders of Guatemalan drivers! talk about crazy.. on winding roads with frequent changes in altitude, they were fearless and fast.. passing slower vehicles when there was only one lane of traffic each direction, and half the time it was impossible to see around the next curve... their answer to the possible danger? honk the horn repeatedly until you were back in your own lane.. the views were breathtaking if you could put the fear of death out of your mind.
it was late afternoon when we arrived, and the clouds were starting to roll in... Chad had been a little apprehensive about my "no reservations" policy when we were in the planning stage, and when the first couple of hotels we walked into were booked, he seemed to be wondering if he should have trusted me with that judgment call.. but after seeing a couple of places that we passed on, and ultimately stumbling upon our perfect little hotel room, he was convinced that i knew what i was doing...
as we unpacked and got settled, we soon discovered that we were not alone in our room... and what would prove to be a great enemy for me on this trip, began with the first day... there was a little spider playing in our bathroom sink... he didn't look like the friendly harmless type, but i'm not too big on killing spiders, because well they do help us out by getting rid of other bugs, like the far bigger threat: mosquitoes...
but otherwise our room was great.. a decent shower, hot water, a fan and a patio with an amazing view... just as we started unpacking, the downpour began... we spent the next two hours in our room listening to and watching a fabulous thunderstorm... the storm even managed to knock out the power a few times... when the rain died down, we went out for dinner and made it an early night..
so this morning we decided to sleep in and relax... little did we know that the sun would go into hiding a few hours after we decided to get up.. thankfully i was able to get a picture of the amazing view off our patio while we still had clear skies!
we headed out to brunch and decided on a restaurant with a deck that overlooked the lake... it was nice and warm out and the views from this place were great!
it started to get overcast and muggy as we were finishing our food, but we decided to just wander the streets and see what this city had to offer... there was tons of shopping, and i was glad to see that my bartering skills were still intact... the neat thing about Pana is that in addition to all the traditional goods, they had all kinda of neat things to look at... beautiful wood carvings, hand-made instruments, tons of textiles, amazing paintings, lots of silver jewelry (and finally i have found jewelry at the prices i became accustomed to in Thailand and Bali!), even pipes and bongs!
but even better than the shopping was just getting to see what life here looks like... the chicken buses, like the one shown above are infamous in Guatemala and neighboring Central American countries... Known for their affordability, it is said to be quite the experience... but with old school bus benches meant to hold 2-3 children crammed in with 5-6 adults and occasionally children, and of course caged chickens... they are also well known for the high prevalence of pick-pockets and thieves who will go so far as to climb on top of the buses and steal people's luggage from the roof! needless to say we decided that as tempting as it all sounds, the chicken buses are one Guatemalan experience that we have no interest in having!
one of the largest commodities of Guatemala is it's traditional, colorful textiles and clothing... and not unlike many other developing and poorer countries in the world, the children start working young to help provide for their families... these three little girls have learned that perhaps a better opportunity for them lies in letting people take their photos for money. first they will offer you their trinkets, and if you agree to buy so much of it, they will let you take their pictures, but if you aren't interested in woven bracelets or blankets, you can opt to just give them cash for a photo... quite the entrepreneurs, their starting price is $5 a piece! and if you want a second shot because the lighting wasn't right or whatever, be prepared to pay again... of course, everything is open for negotiation, so for the bargain of $5 total i was able to get their photo...
perhaps one of the most beautiful places i've seen, Lake Alitlan and the cities that border its shores offer a wonderful juxtaposition lush green covered mountains and volcanoes with quaint buildings, a mixture of modern and more simple transportation, western influences on clothes and foods, and traditional Guatemalan culture...
tomorrow morning we are going to get up early (6AM!) to hike one of these volcanoes and explore one of the little villages on the other side of the lake..
|
|
just a quick update..
|
Jul. 23rd, 2005 @ 09:47 pm
|
|---|
|
after 2 planes, 2 busses, some of the craziest drivers in the world, a hunt for an atm that wasnt broken or out of cash, a 4 hourthunderstorm, and finding a big spider crawling through my unpackedstuff, i finally feel more settled...
its a lot harder to travel in central america without speaking the language than any of the other countries i have traveled in... even trying to decipher menus is a challenge...
everyone weve met has been super nice though...
anyways, all is well hopefully tomorrow the rain stops!
ciao!
|
|
|
Jul. 22nd, 2005 @ 08:50 pm
|
|---|
|
after nearly a year of being homebound, it's time to hit the road again...
it will be a challenge to travel with chad.. in many ways a true test...
i'm hopeful that mercury retrograde will not throw any obstacles in our way...
well, it's off to central america! hope you all have a fabulous next 11 days! |
|
Guatemala and Honduras at a glance..
|
Jul. 20th, 2005 @ 10:12 am
|
|---|
|
so the travel bug has finally got to me again, and a few months ago Chad and I booked our tickets to Central America... It will be his first time traveling outside of the US, and my first time in Central America...
I wanted to share my love of travel with the man I love, so I took him out to the city one morning, sat him down over brunch and said, this is important to me, and I want it to be important to you too.. so let's brainstorm and figure out somewhere to take a short trip later this summer...
So we headed to the travel section at Borders and I gave him three criteria to work with, and left the rest up to him.. I said, I want to go somewhere I haven't been, I wanted to spend at least a day or two somewhere where I could do some diving, and I think it should be somewhere that is less than, or around, 5 hours by plane away... After browsing through many books and travel guides he chose Guatemala..
At this point it was up to me to decide, where nearby did I want to get in my diving... I did some research and was basically trying to decide between Belieze which neighbors Guatemala to the North, or the Bay Islands in Honduras with was Southeast from Honduras.. Ultimately, the value for money, and the fact that Honduras and the bay islands are less developed and not as much a "tourist destination" led me to decide on Honduras..
so in a matter of days, it's off we go!
|
| » some traveler's humor.. |
|---|
my friend who is visiting from london right now forwarded this on to me today :)
Date: 12 Aug 07:17 (BST)
To: tina @
Subject: Fwd: FW: To all ex, current or wannabe back-packers
Having trouble readjusting to life back at home now that the travelling is over? Here's a few handy hints to help you settle back in.
1) Replace your bed with two or more bunk beds, and every night invite random people to sleep in your bedroom with you. Ensure at least once a week a couple gets drunk and shags on one of the top bunks. Remove beds one by one as symptons improve
2) Sleep in your sleeping bag, forgetting to wash it for months. Add some bugs in order to wake up with many unsightly bites over your arms and legs.
3) Enlist the help of a family member to set your radio alarm to go off randomly during the night, filling your room with loud talking.This works best if the station is foreign. Also have several mobiles ringing, without being answered. To add to the torture, ask a friend to bring plastic bags into your room at roughly 6 in the morning and proceed to rustle them for no apparent reason for a good half an hour.
4) Keep all your clothes in a rucksack. Remember to smell them before puting them on and reintroduce the use of the iron SLOWLY.
5) Buy your favourite food, and despite living at home, write your name and when you might next be leaving the house on all bags. This should include mainly pasta, 2 minute noodles, carrots and beer.
6) Ask a family member to every now and again steal an item of food, preferably the one you have most been looking forward to or the most expensive. Keep at least one item of food far too long or in a bag out in the sun, so you have to spend about 24 hours within sprinting distance of the toilet.
7) Even if it's a Sunday, vacate the house by 10a.m., and then stand on the corner of the street looking lost. Ask the first passer-by of similar ethnic background if they have found anywhere good to go yet.
8) When sitting on public transport ( the London Tube would be ideal) introduce yourself to the person sitting next to you, say which stop you got on at, where you are going, how long you have been travelling and what university you went to. If they say they are going to Morden,say you met a guy on the central line who said it was terrible and that you've heard Parsons Green is better and cheaper.
9) Stick paper in your shower so that the water comes out
in just a drizzle. Adjust the hot/cold taps at regular intervals so that you are never fully satisfied with the temperature. Because of this frustration, shower infrequently.
These simple but effective instructions should help you fall back into normal society with the minimum effort.
Aug. 12th, 2004 @ 01:21 am
|
| » *pout* |
|---|
theres a certain sadness that comes with returning home from any amazing experience... its like having your heart broken for the first time ever... as if you had never known the possibilities of love until you embarked on this amazing journey and opened your eyes to the world of opportunities and realities that exists out there... having it as such a recent memory stings like jumping naked into freezing cold water, a thousand knives stabbing you until you just go numb overwhelmed by it all... you start to question if you appreciated it enough, if you went after it enough, if you fought hard enough to keep it.. then you remember that it was yanked away from you and totally out of your control...
i think that sadness is magnified 1000 times over when you are stranded out in the middle of no where and so basically isolated from everything and everyone...
the one thought that made comming home tollerable was knowing i would have my friends and family to come back to... my mom is already out of town until next friday, my dad joins her tomorrow but is out for the evening, my brother is off to some party, and im all alone in a big empty house, pretty much an hour away from the city, with no friends close by...
and as i sort through my stuff and start to settle into the guestroom that is to be my "home" for an undetermined amount of time, i have to ask myself how im going to survive in this existance.. the memory of how much fun i had, how many amazing people i met, how many moments i sat there and wondered if life could possible be any more perfect than that moment, only to have something else completely blow my mind while the first memory was still fresh... you would think these things would make it easier, but it doesn't.. it leaves you with cravings that only a true addict could understand, with the burden to carry knowing that there are things out there that you are missing out on and every moment in time is unique and you can never get back what you had and never recreate the magic that it was, and every moment you sit here doing nothing is a moment where you could have been creating yet another incredible snapshot in your minds eye to file away under "wow"
at least steve, the british boy i went diving with in oz will be in town soon, so i can kinda still pretend i am traveling...
thank god burningman is just a couple weeks away, i'm going to need to get out of here...
Aug. 7th, 2004 @ 08:40 pm
|
| » welcome home! |
|---|
heh.. so after 27 hours in airports and on planes, I have returned to the bay area...
for now, i am living/staying with my parents in the east bay (oh fun!)...
( blah, blah, blah... )
Aug. 6th, 2004 @ 02:52 pm
|
| » all good things must come to an end... |
|---|
and what an amazing experience it has been getting to this particular end...
its bittersweet coming home, when it means leaving behind a lifestyle that i have grown so attached to...
but what a beautiful place to finish it all off. i've been in queenstown, NZ for the last 8 days and it has been amazing. i did a 12,000ft skydive (wow!!), spent 4 days snowboarding--one of which i got to do a full day all girls clinic at a terrain park called the snowpark. it was sponsered by billabong and the coaches are all amazing boarders. i got a lot of good feedback and tips on the basics, and learned how to take jumps (nothing fancy yet--just catching some air and landing them, but you've gotta start somewhere), started working on riding switch--dont know how you goofy people ride that way, it is so disorienting!--, attempted a small box (ow!), and made it halfway up the quarter pipe and almost all the way back down without falling... all in all it was an amazing day and the most fun i've had snowboarding yet... today i took a private lesson at cornet peak (aka concrete peak) and it was good because he pointed out the little things i am doing that are keeping me from progressing and we worked on retraining my muscles to do it the right way... however there was loads of ice so that sucked, and after that combined with boarding 4 of the last 5 days i am wreaked! i'm sure the fact that i've been out every night i've been here until at least 2am (usually between 3-4) doesnt help either...
my hostel roomie jess and i enjoying a baileys and hot chocolate after some snowice boarding at cornet peak
fun times at the bar with a aussie boy names brad
its such a beautiful little town, and i wish i could stay longer...
but at the same time, i think i am about ready to come home, if for no other reason that to see all my lovely friends and family. i have missed you all greatly these last 5 months, and im interested to see what you are all up to back home! and on that note, you can all reach me once again from friday on on my old mobile number... if you should have it and dont, email me tina at viberation dot com and i will shoot you the number :)
anyways, i should be going, there is a hot tub and a beer waiting for me, not to mention the required last night of the trip/in town bender that i've been informed by all my new friends here that i am about to go on!
Aug. 4th, 2004 @ 05:34 pm
|
| » drunken update |
|---|
skydiving was awesome.
snowboarding: hmm.. well the snow here sucks ass in comparisson, and i now truely appreciate quality equiptment...
and ummm yeah i should make a carreer at dancing on tables.. i seem to be good at it ;)
Aug. 1st, 2004 @ 03:14 am
|
| » sweet! |
|---|
so im in queenstown, going to hit the mountains tomorrow probably, as soon as my room is ready i'm hitting the hot tub first :)
last night i went to the kitchen in my hostel in christchurch, i was just stopping over there for the night since my flight to queenstown wasnt until today, and i was making myself a cup of tea when i looked up and saw the guy who got me in trouble on my dive trip, sitting there eating dinner... coincidentally he was there catching his flight out to figi today and we ended up going out for drinks with some girls he had been traveling with in nz. its so nice to run into people you've met a few weeks down the line in the most random places... i was going to be lame and stay in, instead i made sure i was good and hungover for my flight this morning, and almost missed my airport shuttle... *giggle*
Jul. 28th, 2004 @ 01:20 pm
|
| » cheeky monkeys |
|---|
so i went to a bar here in byron bay last night called cheeky monkeys... its a crazy backpacker bar, and they dont allow you to dance on the floor, you have to climb up on tables or benches to dance... it maddness really...
got me thinking, we dont really have places like that, (at least that i know of) in san francisco, but i have found them all over australia...
my roommates from the hostel and me
met two more english guys last night, from liverpool, who are traveling to san francisco in like 3 weeks, so i get to play tour guide to yet another set of ew friends met on the road...
among the ways that this trip has opened my mind a bit is that i never would have given a younger guy the time of day at a bar in home, but in my travels i've met some younger guys (and no you perverts, i'm talking like 20-22) that i have been quite impressed with... perhaps it is the accents ;)
in the uk, you just go to med school as part of your normal university, it isnt a post grad program, so its possible to be a doctor at like 23 or 24 there... in the last week i have met 3 quite attractive, single, english boys who are a year or two away from being doctors.. to me that is just insane, to be my age or just a bit older and be ready to start your carreer in medicine..
and just for good measure, a picture without people in it...
well its off to surf school :)
Jul. 24th, 2004 @ 11:28 am
|
| » (No Subject) |
|---|
its crazy to think i've been gone for almost 5 months now... and as i am getting down to the last 2 weeks of my trip, i cant really imagine what it will be like to return home....
i'm avoiding thinking about all the practical things, like adjusting not just to living back in san francisco, working, and being settled in one place, but also returning to my parents house for the first time after 5 years of living on my own... insuring my car, clearing up the financial mess that was made in my absence... and all the practical adult things like selling off all my furniture, major appliances, and such things...
at the same time i caught myself--for the first time in 5 months--yesterday saying that i couldnt wait to be home and just hanging out with my friends. not that i havent missed everyone at home--because i have in so many ways.. many of them the unexpected little ways... but it hasn't been something that was actually close to being real until now... and in a way i think its better to have not been focused on it..
but enough rambling on about that...
let's see, after my sailing adventures i met up with my fraser island 4x4 group... they sent 11 of us off onto the worlds largest sand island to drive around and camp on beaches for 3 days... we went swiming in the famously (and rightly so) beautiful lake mckenzie, took in the views from indian head, played around on the beach, got rained on and piled into the back of the 4x4 and drank beers and smoked spliffs until the rain stopped... it was a blast and the group that i was with was awesome. i have been blessed with so many great groups of people lately...
heh and they warn you to stay away from the dingos, which really just look like dogs to me... but apparently dingos eat babies!
anyways, we had an incredible time, and a fun group.. even despite less than ideal weather, it was a beautiful place and a great trip...
braving the freezing cold, but absolutely breath-taking waters of lake makenzie with two of the girls from my trip, yes the water really is that clear and blue
the whole group up on the cliffs at indian head
the boys running down the hill to lake wabby
so after another overnight bus, i have found myself in byron bay. tomorrow i take another surfing lesson, and this weekend there is a huge music festival here called splendor in the grass, unforutnately tickets have long since been sold out, as the line up is pretty sweet and j5 is headlining sunday... of well... c'est la vie... i will probably head out to nimbin saturday or sunday instead :)
Jul. 22nd, 2004 @ 01:47 pm
|
| » i can see the moon in the spoon... |
|---|
hehehe.. learned a few new drinking games two nights ago, hense the title...
got back from my whitsundays sailing trip yesterday. the whitsundays is an amazing area of the coast of queensland, australia. Its home to 74 tropical islands and the great barrier reef.. it is considered one of the premier holiday locations in australia. it was amazing, we were on the matador, which is the largest maxi racing yacht in its class... it won loads of races and all that stuff... but for us it was more of a luxury trip...
I didn't have much time here, but i did saw a lot on my 3 day, 2 night sailing trip through the islands... got to spend a morning on whitehaven beach, which is renowned for its fine white sand... i brought my ipod and speakers out there with me, and did yoga to some nice trip-hop with two of the girls on the trip...we also did some diving, some snorkeling, sunbathing, played drinking games, and just got to know each other... we got to do some whale watching as well, which was really cool.. unfortunately i dont have enough zoom on my camera to get a clear picture of the whales...
they actually let me steer the yacht for about an hour!
i got to steer the boat for about an hour, and helped raised and lower the sails and stuff too... the people on my boat were awesome, so nice, fun, and funny!
got back into town last night and met up with everyone for drinks, got nice and drunk and nearly missed my 11:30pm bus to hervey bay, which is where i am now... leaving for fraser island tomorrow morning with what seems like another awesome group :)
me with the chef from the trip
almost the whole crew
Jul. 18th, 2004 @ 06:12 pm
|
| » there's something about the motion of the ocean.... |
|---|
imagine 3 days spent 56 kilometers out on the ocean on a clipper ship, waking up at 6am to hit the great barrier reef for your first dive... spending the rest of the day eating lovely meals and diving 3-4 times a day...
my world is still in that perpetual soft sway that comes from living on a ship for a few days... i assume the drinks i am meeting some of the crew and my fellow divers for in half an hour wont help that much ;)
the great barrier reef, or at least this part of it, was a bit of a disappointment after diving thailand, lombok, and bali... the outter reef is said to be much better, but perhaps another trip with more time and money... that said, it was still an amazing 3 days out at sea. on the supercat out to the clipper ship we did our first dive on probably the most boring site i have ever been to, but i met a nice londoner who was to become my dive buddy the rest of the day and the next day until he left the ship... (you can book 1,2, or 3 night stays) coincidentally he's also planning to stop in san francisco just as i get home, so i will get to meet up with my first new friend met from my travels shortly after returning to san francisco :)
got in trouble diving with him though as he has a dive computer and was therefore exempt from the overcautious dive table rules on the ship. (due to the inability to actually monitor our multi-level times and pressure groups they based the pressure groups on our max depth... which mean i totally blew our first dive yesterday way off the charts...) but thankfully they let me sign a waiver accepting responsibility and keep diving for the rest of the trip. saw white-tipped reef sharks, turtles, puffer fish, a spanish dancer, loads of the normal reef fish, including tons of nemo's :)
today i was exploring a series of swimthroughs and caves when i turned to see my new buddy had not followed me through, a minute later he appeared over the top of the coral and called me back to follow him... apparently i had swam right past a *massive* moray eel (maybe like 3 meters long) and caused him to come out of hiding from his little hole next to the entrance to the cave... these things can do some serious damage, so im lucky that he decided to try and scare david off instead of bitting at my legs or something as i swam by...
tonight is my last night in cairns as i take off tomorrow to airlie beach to spend 3 days sailing the whitsunday islands :)
Jul. 13th, 2004 @ 05:48 pm
|
| » fitzroy island |
|---|
fitzroy island is a quiet little nature reserve.... it is actually quite boring, and i find myself thinking i would have been better off just spending the extra day in cairns... but maybe i need a quiet night off... at least there was a pretty sunset to keep me occupied!
Jul. 10th, 2004 @ 01:36 pm
|
| » bungy babe! |
|---|
so its a lovely friday afternoon here in cairns, and i am suffering from a lovely hangover ;) last night i ventured into the bar scene here, and to a place called the wool sheld. it is the most meat market place i have been to maybe aside from 1015! within about 45 seconds of walking in the door and up the stairs, some drunk pervert decided to just start sticking his hands between my legs and all over my ass... so shocking really... but once i escaped the wanker, i had a blast, finally getting to really dance for the first time since being in oz...
cape tribulation
spent the two days before in cape tribulation, advertized as where the rainforest meets the reef.. you literally walk through rainforest from where i was staying to get to the beach, its actually pretty cool walk from where i was staying through a narrow strip of rain forest onto the beach... and out into the ocean.. and i am loving the northern warmth, its awesome weather for winter! went to a wildlife "park" of sorts and fed kangeroos and pet koalas and saw all kinds of other australian animals, and yesterday did a river cruise on the daintree river and spotted a bunch of crocodiles...
i hung out with some cool german boys who were my roommates at the backpackers i was staying at, and with them i watched my first (and hopefully last) aussie rules football game... im not really a fan of american football either.. aussie rules football is like a mix between american football and rugby.. they have weird rules and the fans are just crazy... it was the state of origin finals between queensland and new southwales, so anyone who knows anything about australian geography, knows there was a lot of attention to this particular game that night...
sand crabs do the coolest thing.. they dig these little tunnels under the beach and in order to clear airways to the surface, where they also run around at night, they make little balls of the sand and throw they out of the the holes onto the beach... the beach in cape tribulation was abosolutely covered with these things... it looked soo cool.. the fun part was throwing the little balls back down the holes to find where the crabs were actually active, so they would throw them back out.. if you did it a couple of times they would pop up out of the hole to figure out what was going on... i tried to get a picture of one, but those suckers are fast!
i head off to fitzroy island tonight to hopefully spend the afternoon relaxing on the beach tomorrow :)
*************************
heh, so i have been sending out emails to some people with similar updates as i post here, and some (like this one) i just copy and paste... just realized that i failed to explain the title in my email...
i went bungy jumping today... it was a rush standing there 150 feet over a little pond type thing in the middle of a lush rainforest-ish landscape, looking over the edge and realizing i was about to jump off... its a short lived thrill, but im glad i did it.. thinking i will skydive when i am in queenstown though :)
Jul. 9th, 2004 @ 02:23 pm
|
| » i'm leaving on a jet plane.. dont know when i'll be back again... |
|---|
its funny that i know i have quoted this song a few times before, but i have no idea the rest of the lyrics... though i should have titled my last entry from san francisco with this one, as it is so much more appropriate and fitting that i could have ever known... (yes i am still comming home august 5th, but its more like a stop over in life than a homecomming)
i'm heading to the airport in 4 1/2 hours to take of on my great australian adventure... its so unlike me to walk into a travel agency and just book out a set itinerary, but im glad i've done it as i have no idea how i would have fit in even half the stuff im doing without down it...
crossroads seems to be the theme for a lot of people right now...
got offered a job working at a travel agency here in sydney, and for a minute i considered applying for my visa and not comming back at all.. but i have too many loose ends and responsibilities to just blow off my return... not to mention i really cant wait to see you all :)
so for the final time in this trip abroad, i have a new mobile number. you are all free to call me on it or txt if you feel so inclined ;) +61 0404405715
hehe txt'ing cute boys half way around the world has already made a dent in my credit, looks like i'll be topping up afterall :)
got to log onto aim today, cant tell you how nice it was to get all the hellos and i miss you messages... i havent really felt homesick much on this trip, been too busy loving every minute of it to think about what i would be homesick for, but you guys definately made me smile today, so thanks :)
well i think ive killed enough time online for the day... not to mention that the guy sitting next to me at the internet cafe has some serious gas, and the smell is starting to make me ill... its a true sydney winter afternoon, so i think i will just curl up with a book and chill until my flight. much love and kisses to you all!
Jul. 6th, 2004 @ 11:42 am
|
| » sydney tourist! |
|---|
today i did all the super tourist activities! i met up with karen and dave around lunch time, and after stopping to get something to eat, we took the sunset cruise through the harbor....
one of the benefits of meeting up with people and doing the site-seeing thing with them is that you actually get a few photos of yourself!
the harbour bridge at sunset
the pier outside of the aquarium
we also went to the A&P tower, which has the most amazing views of the city... it was especially cool to see at night....
playing in the elevator
I played around with the camera a lot at the aquarium working out which manual settings worked best not only for capturing images in water, but also for capturing them through thick glass without reflections, and with often times moving targets.... these are far from what i would call great, but it was fun to play around with...
Jul. 5th, 2004 @ 11:43 pm
|
| » down under... |
|---|
so i've arrived in oz, and so far in 24 hours i have slept, had my first chai in ages and spent half the day talking to a travel agent... i think it would have been a lot faster if we hadnt kept getting sidetracked with things like comparing the snow in tahoe to australia, and me giving her advise and convincing her to book a trip to bali on her holiday next week :)
i have so little time here, and im tired of figuring stuff out for myself, so i decided to book a few trips...
as it stands i fly out of sydney on tuesday night to cairns, head north from there to do a 2 day safari in cape tribulation, bungy jumping on the way up there!, then 2 days on fitzroy island, then a 3 day 2 night live aboard dive trip on the barrier reef, from there a night on airlie beach before a 2 day sailing trip around whitsundays, then its off to hervey bay where i will meet the people i will join on a 3 day night night 4x4 camping trip on fraiser island, before heading down to byron beach for a 2 day surf class and a day trip to nimbin (the pot capital of australia apparently), and finally one last day in sydney before it is off to queenstown, new zealand for some serious snowboarding and partying..
its going to be a packed itinerary, but im rather excited!
hehe, my travel agent said i am the most non american american she has ever met, im actually "normal" :) she was the one who reminded me that back home today is a holiday. i was like yeah so july 4th.. OH! *giggle* and all i could think was, oh, HAPPY BIRTHDAY LYDIA! :)
well im off to finalize the plans, then tomorrow i play proper sydney tourist and hit the sightseeing stuff and take a harbor cruise with a british couple i met at the travel desk :)
hope you all are well!
Jul. 4th, 2004 @ 07:16 pm
|
|
|
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
tinas_travels's journal