My World Trip Starting January 2008

America June 23

2010-03-07T17:11:00.000-08:00

Finally, back in the states after about 2 years of traveling and it was definitely a different experience and feeling. I was so used to being on holiday for so long that I knew that America meant that it was time to get to work in a sorta real job market. But....before work....we ended up spending about 2 weeks in San Francisco, California, with Cayce....a girl I met in Sydney when I came down to work and again met her in Malaysia. We had a great time on a house boat for a week with her and her family, pretty much drinking and water sports. It was a good time to have some reflection on what I wanted to do and to also prepare myself for life in the states again.......DEFINITELY DIFFERENT BUT WILL NEVER FORGET THE FUN!!!!

Saigon June 20 - 22

2010-03-07T17:06:00.000-08:00

We left and made it to the city of Saigon, it was basically like any other big city which had nothing super special to see or do. One day we did go check out the Ho Chi Min tunnels that were around for the Vietnamese war. This was really interesting to see how the war was viewed on the Vietnamese side. The tunnels were crazy in themselves and they were tiny, even after widening them for tourists. Pretty crazy life, but it was good to see partially what it was like there. We basically took it easy checking out the tunnels and we met up with a couple other travelers that we knew from before. It was off to America because money was tight......

Nah Trang June 16 - 20

2010-03-07T17:03:00.000-08:00

After getting suits made, we took a night bus to Nah Trang where it was basically a stop off before making it to Saigon. The best part about Nah Trang was the lobster "happy hour." We were on the beach and a lady with pails full of seafood and lobster walks up saying "happy hour" in her broken English. After trying to barter with her, we eventually got a lobster lunch with 12 scallops for less then $6 American. What was even better is that she cooked it for us right in front of us and we basically had lobster for lunch the entire time we were in Nah Trang. We did meet with a couple friends that we met along the way and all went out for a good time in the town.

Suits in Hoi An June 13 - 16

2010-03-07T16:52:00.000-08:00

Only took 4 hours to get to Hoi An and this city was know for cheap suits and custom clothes/shoes. The city was really slow and pretty small but we still found the best places to eat and of course to party. We did get some suits made, some nice suits and we also got some funny suits made also and we all went out wearing our funny suits.

Sleeper Bus to Hue June 11 - 12

2010-03-05T21:20:00.000-08:00

We had to take a sleeper bus to our next destination and funny thing cause it was a sleeper bus...that wasn't the funny part, that funny part was that there was room for 5 people to "sleep" at the back of the bus and guess the 5 guys traveling together got to share the little room and try to "sleep". We figured it was hilarious cause we just met 2 English guys (Courtney and Tom) and we have to sleep spooning them, haha. We did have a very eventful day. The 5 of us all woke up early because of the bus and we got some good breaky. We then met 5 Vietnamese guys and after talking with them they agreed to show us around the city a bit....from the back of their motorbikes. We bombed around the city with them and that was pretty crazy cause of the way they drove out there, but we did get to see a cool little castle, they took us out to the beach, where we had some food and plenty of drinks. After they beach, we all talked and said that we wanted to try dog, which they new of a good place that would serve dog. All-in-all it was a pretty good day that led into a long night and they were really cool also, we def had a good time and an experience.

I was able to try a fertilized duck egg, it was actually pretty good and that's what this picture is about.

Yes.....that is a dog paw, hahaha

Hay Long Bay June 8 - 9

2010-03-05T21:17:00.000-08:00

We basically did a day trip to Hay Long Bay with the 2 English guys, the bay was gorgeous, we ended up visiting a cave where there were rock figurines that looked like different animals and were supposed to symbolize different things, this first pic is of one that apparently looks like a lion looking to the right. We got to see some floating fishing villages were we were able to get out and walk around, it was really cool and we actually bought some fresh crabs that we had the cooks on the boat cook for us....very yummy. We spent the rest of the day hanging out, talking, drinkin and watching the sun set

Hell Bus to Vietnam, Hanoi June 5 - 7

2010-03-05T21:08:00.000-08:00

Hell Bus was definitely the right word to describe this trip. The bus picked us up at VangVien and wen to the capitol of Laos then drove to the border of Laos and Vietnam. They made all the Westerners sit in the back which made it for a really bumpy and rough ride....on top of that they had little critters and snakes in plastic bags that they kept in the overhead luggage places...pretty rowdy. When we got to the border the bus stopped and turned off the engine and we were supposed to sleep in a hot bus till the border opened. For some reason they barely let me into the border but we finally made it to Hanoi, the capitol of Vietnam. It was basically a big city but we did go to the snake village where we had the opportunity to eat 8 different dishes of snake, drink snake blood (red shot), snake bile (green shot) and local Vietnamese wiskey (brown shot), here are a few pics of the snake village and the shots....we also picked up 2 English guys traveling together, so our group grew to 5 now.....

VangVien May 26 - June 5

2010-03-04T22:26:00.000-08:00

If I though Koh Pan-Ngan was a party, VangVien was even rowdier. Everyone talked about floating the river there and basically what it is, is a bar crawl right on the river, there are about 5 different bars and you can either float to the next one or walk to the next one. If you decided to float, there are Laotian guys that would throw soda bottles full of water attached to a string to pull you into the bars because the river flows pretty fast and most of the time your pretty drunk because each bar pours Tiger wiskey down your throat cause its so cheap....1liter of Tiger cost less then a dollar. Not only that, but each bar had their own rope swings, slides and zip lines. From what I remember, you would take a Tuk Tuk to the first bar and they would immediately pour wiskey down your throat when you got there, then you would buy some beers or buckets and start partying. The first bar had a really cool rope swing that would launch you pretty high. At the first bar, they would give you a string wristband, this was to signify every time you "floated" the river, or keep track of how many times you came out to party. The second and third bar were alright, nothing really to write home about. The fourth bar was the "mud bar" they basically had mud pits and you would drink and play in the mud, they also had a rope swing. Definitely a good time there. If you made it to the final bar, they would pain one of your finger nails so you remember how many times you made it to the end of the "float". The final bar had a slide and zip line where people would hold on till the end and get a really nice jerking stop when they hit the end of the zip line and they would do double and triple flips before hitting the water. Haha....good times there are plenty more partying to do away from the river and I managed to get a really good morning picture of where we were staying. Here are a couple pics to give you an idea of the madness.....oh...I made friends with a local pet monkey there also

Thailand to Laos via Lang Prabang - VangVien May 23 - 26

2010-03-04T22:14:00.000-08:00

Leaving Thailand and making it to Laos was going to be hell....It was gonna take us about 2 days to travel and we had to go by bus then by slow boat on the river. So we take a bus to the border and end up staying in a guest house which wasn't too bad. We woke up early and got on a slow boat and by slow....I mean s-l-o-w...but it was good cause we got some booze and made the best of it. The boat was small but we had room to move around and stuff like that, just really nothing to do, but after 8 hours we finally make it to the mid point, Lang Pragang, where we stayed in a guest house were they shut off the electricity at 11 because everything ran on generators and they didn't want to waste the fuel keeping it on all night. We woke up and got on a boat....again, but this time it was definitely smaller then the first one and I swear it was slower. We make it to another stop off town and stay the night there and take a bus to VangVien in the morning. The ride there was really cool cause it was very mountainous and a very windy road, and these people are crazy drivers, passing other buses around blind turns where there is only room for 2 cars and no guard rails, haha good times.....

This is the double rainbow we saw on the way to VangVien....it did rain, but that did not stop the drivers from driving all crazy

Changmai May 19 - 23

2010-03-04T22:05:00.000-08:00

Changmai is a really cool city in Northern Thailand, there was quite a bit to do here, from trekking in the jungle and staying with some local jungle people, whitewater rafting, the Tiger Palace and quad biking up trails and mountain....we did all of them except for the jungle trek only because we didn't have enough time and felt that the others were definitely a bit more fun......

Visa Run then Bangkok May 11 - 18

2010-03-04T21:57:00.000-08:00

We spent 32 hours to renew our visa and traveling to Bangkok, and trust me that really sucked, but we were in a big city and the main thing I wanted to see here was the floating market but our partying sorta kinda got in the way cause we basically went from sleeping to drinking....occasional eating.....like bugs, haha, but here are a few pics of our fun in Bangkok......I will say, for Billy's b-day we hit some go-go bars and saw a very impressive ping-pong show...no pics please, haha

Koh Pha-Ngan Full Moon Party May 5 - 10

2010-03-04T21:47:00.000-08:00

All I gotta say about Koh Pha-Ngan is "I LOVE BUCKETS AND FULL MOON PARTY"....The party was just too wild to carry a camera, but man was it a party

This is what a bucket is.....its filled with the yummy of the yummy Thai whiskey, some ice and very little coke/redbull.....and I say that cause the wiskey is cheaper then the coke/redbull so they stack it, haha.......it'll get you druuuunnkk

The only thing that sucked, other then Ben getting his throat cut at the Full Moon party cause he tried to stop someone from stealing a girls purse.....he is alright by the way....is that our visas were up and we spent 32 hours traveling to Burma and then to Bangkok to renew our visas and get back into Thailand....

Phi Phi and The Beach May 1 - 5

2010-03-04T21:34:00.000-08:00

I'm not gonna lie, Phi Phi was plenty of partying, haha, perfectly catered for backpackers and it was close to the place where they filmed the movie "The Beach" it was gorgeous out there and we had such a fun time just hangin out and partying our faces off......lets see in Phi Phi, we drank our faces off, I got a bamboo tattoo and we saw the beach from the movie "The Beach".....oh did I mention we drank our faces off, haha. Pretty random, we were walkin around at night looking for the free buckets that was advertised at each bar and we turn the corner and I hear my name....it was a girl that I met in Australia over a year ago, she was working promoting for bars out there, pretty crazy if you ask me, but here are a few pics of how we lived and what the "Beach" looked like.....oh and I fed a monkey, haha

Langkwai to Thailand, Riley Apr 28 - 30

2010-03-04T21:12:00.000-08:00

We decided to move on and hit up another country, after traveling into Thailand by boat, which took forever but was an amazing view the entire time.....it was pretty harsh cause lots of people got sick so you basically was forced to head outside. We came into Krabi which is a small town and the jumpoff then getting into Thailand through boat. Riley is a really cool place that is an isthmus that is blocked off by really high limestone cliffs, which makes it for a secluded place to hang out and for some great rock climbing. We had to take a long boat to Riley cause it was closed off by land because of the limestone cliffs. May I add again that longboats are cool and everything but definitely not the best way to travel by water, haha

Once in Riley there was plenty of exploring to do and there were 3 main beaches, the first beach that we arrived on is where everyone pretty much stayed but it was not a pretty beach at all, but the main beaches were absolutely gorgeous, on one of the beaches there was a penis shrine....thats correct a penis shrine haha, it was to represent fertility for fisherman for their catch, also on this beach there was some cliff jumping, so we basically hung out on the beach and did some cliff diving.....after spending some time on Riley, I met a Canadian guy that was into rock climbing and we did a bit of rock climbing together, really cool experience and it was such a rewarding and beautiful sight.....

Langkwai Apr 23 - 27

2010-03-04T20:50:00.000-08:00

We were staying in Ponang which was a city and decided to head out to Langkwai, which is a cool little island on the West side of Malasia and there, we were gonna meet up with the group of English travelers that Cayce met. We decided to stay at a cool little hostel called Gecko, and it was pretty awesome, such a simple place where they had hammocks and stuff like that for just chilling and enjoying the amazing weather. Along with a cool chill place they had a really good happy hour, haha basically you could get 4 Tiger beers for 10 rickets, which is about the equivalency of about 2 or 3 American dollars. We decided to show the locals out building skills......

After the first night of happy hour, we were pretty much tired and decided to call it early cause we had an adventure planned for the next day. We woke up and hired scooters to bomb around the island again, this is always fun cause your basically in another country where you can do whatever you want and explore the island at the same time, we came across a really cool place where they had pools, a slide and a cool waterfall, so the entire group bombed around the island and did some exploring....

Here is an idea of the beach we got to relax and enjoy in Langkwai

Lumut to Pulau Pangkor 19 - 22

2009-04-22T02:49:00.000-07:00

Met up with Cayce on Pulau Pangkor, it was a small island off Lumut town. Traveling there was really cheap and we stayed in a hostel that cost us roughly $5 a night, Im sure it was much cheaper then that. The entire island, it only took us about an hour to take scooters around the entire island and Billy loved it. It was great to hire scooters and bomb around a lovely island with green water and clean beaches. It was definatley a simple life out there, but I loved the stay, I actually prefer staying on the islands then staying in the cities. Here are some of the pics from the island.....

Singapore April 17 - Kuala Lumpur April 18

2009-04-22T01:58:00.000-07:00

Australia was definitely a good time, but I think it was time to get on the road again.....

First stop was to Fly from Brissi to Singapore and to be honest it was really nice to see Billy in the airport cause we both flew out from different places and was just planning to meet in Singapore airport. I spent an hour looking for him considering that I flew in 3 hours after he did, but the reunion was really good. There really wasn't anything to see that was spectacular in Singapore so we just stayed for one night and headed up to Kuala Lumpur....It was just really, really hot in Singapore and it was pretty expensive for Asia, the prices were pretty much like Aussie...Also....it was time for a haircut and I heard it was hot in Asia....so.....guess you can just see the pics......

KL was a pretty cool place, just about a 5 hour bus ride from Singapore, it was really easy and the bus was pretty clean and nice. It was also really hot in KL but we stayed one night and decided to head out again, here are some of the main sights in Singapore, now the highest twin towers. It was kinda funny cause we thought things were really expensive until we actually found out the exchange rate and it made it so much better....decided to celebrate with some good Tiger Beer...which made for a long night and a fun bus ride up to Lumut, where we were gonna meet with Cayce, my friend from Aussie, who was out on a nice island called Pulau Pangkor.....The bus took about 4 hours and because we partied hard the night before we took a later bus that ended up breaking down, lol, so we missed the ferry to the island and stayed in Lumut for the night. The food was amazing and brought me back to what I remember of the Philippines. 3 meals a day cost us around 6-8 American dollars, lol and it was really filling.....

Biggest Loser Sydney

2009-02-25T09:19:00.000-08:00

Melbourne Cup Day in Sydney Nov 4th

2008-11-07T18:34:00.000-08:00

Alright here is a much needed upadate again....HAHA...Well after livin in Brissi for a bit, I decided to come down to Syd to get settled for the summer and get ready for some summer fun. Well Im settled in at Bondi Junction which is 15 min from the city and Bondi beach. I have like 4 jobs which are actually really fun, working for a direct marketer Mon n Tues 9-5, promo for Sapphire which is a fun club in Kings Cross, and a couple other promo gigs. Fun, easy work....esp if you know me, haha.

I got invited to the Melbourne Cup Day in Sydney by the lovely Dee, and it was an amazing experience....needless to say we all looked really good, haha!! The Melbourne Cup is a big horse racing day that happens in Melbourne, everyone takes the day off to get drunk and gamble, gotta love Aussie, Haha!!

Well here are just a couple of pics from that day...I gotta say that for a backpacker, I do clean up really nice!! Ill let ya decide for yourself!!

I just had to throw this in cause if you know me, no matter how classy a place is or how nice I dress up....I add my own class into anything, Haha!!!!

Brissi Apt....for now

2008-07-13T20:22:00.000-07:00

Here is just a quick glimpse of where Im staying at the moment, people call it Posh Packing, haha its pretty cool here in Brissi, I do admit, Im ready to get on the road again!!

Much Needed Update and Possible Future Plans

2008-06-08T19:48:00.000-07:00

Well....well....haha after leaving NZ cause of the unfavorable weathe conditions, I made it back to Cairns where it was really nice, I mean its the only place around here were its winter and you can still be wearing boardies and sandles, gotta love the atmosphere I felt like I was on holiday the whole time I was there, but yeah looking for work was not that easy, so after staying a week, I decided to head down to Brissi with a friend I met in Cairns in pursuit of work.....which turned out to be a flop, haha, guess thats how the cookie crumbles. Well currently we are sharing a room in a 2 bed 2 bath flat with 2 other Irish guys, its a really nice flat and we are in a good location, pretty close to everything important, transportation/food and a bottle shop (liquor store) haha. Yeah I currently have a job with a telemarketing position and it seems alright with plenty of possibilities, so yeah Ill be here for a couple of months or so to hopefully recharge the bank account then off to the next adventures!! Brissi is nice there really isnt anything great to see here other then the lagoon which is like everyother lagoon, but its a cool city and have met some great people and met up with my friend Paul who I met in Fiji!!

Possible future plans as of now, I say it like that cause if you know me, there is no such thing as possible future plans, haha but yeah I plan on being here for 3-5 months then heading up to Cairns to hang with friends and do a couple day trips from there, possibly doing agriculture work so I can extend my visa for Aussie for another year, then plan on spending the majority of the summer in Sydney, working and playing, then hopefully Ill have enough money to head to NZ for 1.5 months to travel the north and south island, then from there to Tazzie for a month or so, then plan on heading to Perth to work for a bit then the last few months of my visa to travel from Perth to Darwin, up the west coast, then from Darwin its off to Bali and the rest of the world!! We will see, there is plenty of time between now and then so there is a bunch that can happen from now, but that is the current plans, if I do any crazy daytrips or something remotely exciting Ill definately post it here but other then that its time to lock it up and get busy!! If I dont have your e-mail please e-mail me and Ill put you in my addy book (anthonycicc@yahoo.com) then Ill send off an e-mail with updates to the blog!!

Cheers

Anthony

Goodbye NZ Hello WARM WEATHER

2008-05-14T19:42:00.000-07:00

Well after spending some time and enjoying it in Christchurch and mainly Queenstown, I came with the decision that I DONT LIKE COLD WEATHER, haha so yeah I applied for my working holiday for OZ and currently in Cairns where I plan on looking for work and settling down for a bit to recharge the bank account and give the CC a break, haha!! I do plan on doing NZ again though and doing it right, like glacier walks, and all that good stuff but I plan on going out there during the summer where its not as cold!! but here are some pics of where I was staying in Queenstown and the view that I had from anywhere I looked out!!

Here was pretty much the only good thing to see in Christchurch, it was the main square!!

New Zealand April 26

2008-05-02T17:23:00.000-07:00

After leaving Surfers and headin to Brisbane to meet with friends and party for the last time in Aussie before I head to NZ. There really wasnt much to see in Brissi and even in Christchurch so unfortunately I didnt get any greally nice pics from there but, after meeting with Pierre (French guy I met in OZ who I traveled with for a month) I bummed a ride with someone at the hostel down towards Queenstown where I plan on settling down for a bit and getting a job.

On the way down, we stopped and camped at a lake, I cant remember what the name is right now but it was really nice........COLD........but really nice, haha, here is a pic of what our view was in the morning!!!

We stopped at a couple other lakes where the water was a nice torquise color, unfortunately the picture isnt as nice as being there. There were so many beautiful sights to see on the way down and there were mountains everywhere with snow slowly creaping down towards the valleys. What was really funny is that we got all kinds of weather, ex. sun, clouds, wind, rain, snow, hail and even nothing at all!!

What was really nice was seeing the trees and all the different colors, reminded me of living in South Carolina again.

Off to Queenstown for work and fun in the snow!!

Byron Bay to Surfers Paradise April 15 - 24

2008-04-23T22:12:00.000-07:00

Leaving Noosa, Mikey and I headed to Byron Bay to check it out there and unfortunately the whole time we were there, it was horrible weather and a bit cold......except for the day I was leaving, typical right, but yeah didnt get any good pics of Byron Bay because of the weather, but do have to admit, great parties there!!

Surfers Paradise was really cool, because I liked how there was the beach and the city with tall buildings right next to eachother. The day I arrived there was a surfing competition with some famous surfers, like Taj Burrow and they were doing a big air contest. It was nice to leave Byron becasue it was really good weather there in Surfers and also met up with Team Switzerland from Fraser Island!!

Currently in Brisbane, heading to NZ on Sat...........leaving the fun in the sun for a good time in the snow......hopefully some snow boarding, oh yeah and that 4 letter word I dont like doing WORK!!!!

Fraser Island April 9 - 12

2008-04-15T17:47:00.000-07:00

After leaving Airlie beach and tons of good times out with friends and people I met, I decided to get on the move again, I stopped in a really cool town called 1770, it was really slow but still loads of fun because it was such a laid back town, I did a bike ride around the town with some people and saw a really nice sunset, definately do the scooteroo tour, loads of fun!!

Fraser island is the largest sand island in the world and the only way to get around the isalnd is with a 4X4, which was really cool and lots of fun. With a group of 11 people we crammed in the vehicle and set off for a great adventure, I was really happy because I was able to do most of the driving. I felt back in CC again bombing down the beach on a 4X4, haha too bad our speedomoter didnt work, haha!!

There are a bunch of lakes in Fraser Island which were all fresh water, it was really nice to swim in them, and really safe, considering that the water around Fraser Island was considered a Tigershark breading ground with some crazy rips. Each of the lakes we visited were like mini places of paradise. I could see how someone could get caught up with visiting the island and wanting to camp there for some time!!

This second lake was called Lake Wobby, and there was a huge sand dune on one side of the lake and the other side was rainforest, It was really cool to climb the dune and see all the sand around and then to slide down the dunes into the water!!

Here is a famous shipwreck that was on the beach on the island. This ship has been here for a while and is a really popular photospot for people on the island!!

Here are a few pics from Indian head, a point on the island that sorta kinda looks like an Indian Head. From here you would see things in the water....like sharks, haha!!!!!

We stopped and hung out in a really cool place called Champagne Pools. This was really cool becasue the rocks created the poos and the reason they are called Champagne Pools is because when the waves would break on the rocks the pools would bubble up and sound like someone pured champagne in the water. Really cool and really cold, haha!!

The highlight of the island was Lake McKenzie, this was compareable to Whiteheaven Beach in the Whitsunday Islands. Ill just let the photo speak for itself, and just so you know, the water was so clear and clean that you could actually drink it right from the lake.....which I did try and it tasted better then the bottle of water that I was carrying!! You could litterly see the bottom of the lake from the surface, it was just insaine!!

Finally here is a group photo of everyone that went on the trip and how they had to sit in the car, we had Team Switzerland, Canada, Doichland, Scottland and of course Team America (Texas).

Whitsunday Islands April 4 - 6

2008-04-05T20:03:00.000-07:00

From Airlie Beach, I did a 2 day 2 night sailing to the Whitsunday Islands where we stopped in Whiteheaven Beach (top 10 most beautiful beaches), really beautiful white sand beach with 98% silica, meaning when you walked on it, it would squeak, but definitely a paradise.....wish I could build my house right off the beach, but here are the pics, unfortunately, the pics do not do justice to the beach!!

Heading to Fraiser Island for 4x4, I hear this place is just as amazing!!

Magnetic Islands March 29 - 30

2008-03-31T16:17:00.000-07:00

Heading south, I decided to head to Magnetic Islands for a Full Moon party, and if you have never been to one, these are definately a bunch of fun because its a huge party on the beach....well I did do one in Sydney but I made it a night to late for the Full Moon party, other then that, the island was a really beautiful island with some really nice secluded bays and some really cool look out points. Again I hired a car with some English ladies and one American I met in Cairns and toured the island!! Great fun and some really nice pictures!!

Cairns March 20

2008-03-31T16:14:00.000-07:00

There really wasnt much exciting to see at Cairns but the lagoon and do some day trips from the city. I did make it out to the Great Barrier Reef and saw some amazing fish and other sea creatures!! Unfortunately for me, I did that day trip with some friends and miss out on hiring a underwater digital camera but still, I have the images of the reef in my head and the experience on my back!! Here is a pic from the lagoon at night!!

Totally Random Road Trip March 24

2008-03-27T19:08:00.000-07:00

So......after totally pissing the night away with some mates, my friend Rene (Doichland) working at the hostel barges in my room and wakes me up during the ass crack of the morning, haha 9:30 am, I was acutally planning to do some important things but traveling you have to be able to roll with whatever you get presented!! Haha but yeah after getting up, we all meet up again in the reception, while I was waiting for the bus and he goes, "Texas you up for a road trip?" so i think for a few seconds and go....... "ehhh why not" haha which I am totally glad I did because it was such a good fun time, I am still waiting for some pictures from friends but here are just a few, 5 of us hired a car (3 Americans, which is rare to see Americans and 2 Germans) and went to the Boulders, Josephine Falls, Milla Milla Falls and Lake Eacham, then did a fun drive on the serpentine highway at night. I love doing random things like this because they are the most fun but here are some of the pictures!!

Here are the Boulders, it was really nice here, the first pic is of the group pic and the second one is of where we went swimming. I have to add that while swimming it drizzled a bit and just added to the experience the water was a bit cold but still really worth getting in and having some fun!!

Here is Josephine Falls, this was equally as nice and just as fun because you could get on the rocks and slid down them into the main pools, a really fun time that made me feel like a kid again!!

Here is a picture of Milla Milla Falls, this was really pretty also but we decided not to do any swimming here because we spent too much time at the other places and it was getting late!!!

Lastly we ended with Lake Eacham, this was a really nice lake, but I was expecting it to be like Blue Lake in my other posts, it was nice to see a sunset here and take the serpentine roads home afterwards!!

Alice Springs, Ayres Rock, Olgas, Kings Canyon

2008-03-19T20:10:00.000-07:00

Leaving Adelaide because there really wasnt anything to do there we took a bus up towards Ayres Rock, on the way, the bus stopped in Cooper Pedy, where we stayed in an underground hostel, this was really cool and it was actually cool underground. There are tons of opal mines in the area and they turned the unused ones into places for people to live, really interesting!!

After spending the night in Alice Springs, Pierre, Milly, Hanna and myslef hired a car and drove to Ayres Rock (Ulura) and the Olgas, It was really nice when we got it, haha it normally was $25 to get into the park, but me thinking of ways to save money jumped in the boot of the car to save the money, budget traveling, so yeah here is a pic of me in the tiny boot of the car, funny thing is that the tallest person was in the smallest part of the car, but it was worth it as you can see by the pics!! Haha, the reason for the finger was cause it was really, really hot and took them some time to get me out of the boot because we didn't want to get caught by the guard, haha, oops!!

Here are some pics of Ayres Rock, it was really nice seeing a sunset here becasue the rock would change different colors and it was just a really great atmosphere.....other then the flies, which I will address later, haha!!

After Ayres Rock, we check out the Olgas, which is pretty much a sister to Ayres Rock, here is the pic!!

Look at the two bombers walking up, Ayres Rock BOOM!!! haha thats what Pierre and I were saying when we did this, but there was logic behind it all, there were TONS of flies everywhere and the only way to get them off you face was to wear a net or something, and we decided to make our own nets, so yeah hence how the Bombers were walking around, haha really cool though, Im amazing I know!!

Here are some really cool pictures from Kings Canyon, it was hot but we still had a great time walking around!!

Here is a pic to give you an idea of how big the Road Trains were, there were everywhere!!

Off to Carins on the East coast for the Barrier Reef, fun in the sun!!!!

Melbourne to Adelaide Via Great Ocean Road

2008-03-13T18:17:00.000-07:00

Here is one final picture of some of our sleeping conditions in Melbourne, haha it was 6 people sharing a twin dorm, made for 2 people MAX, it was pretty fun doing this cause we had some crazy parties and it was only $12 each a night versus $27 so yeah budget traveling to the finest, haha!! There were 2 others that were on the bed where the picture was taken from!!!

ROAD TRIP ON THE GREAT OCEAN ROAD

We stopped and spent some time in Bells Beach, it was absolutely awesome because there is beach then mountains right there, it was really nice but the water was rather brisk, but still it was nice spending some time at the famous Bells Beach, the sand was really interesting, really fine, kind of like dirt but with sand characteristics!!

Here are a couple pic of the sunset that was on the Great Ocean Road, it was an amazing drive with winding turns and beautiful scenery, and on a couple occasions it would be cold outside then we would get a warm breeze then it would be cold again, but still a great experience and these pictures do not give justice to what we actually experienced. I know the second pic is sideways but ill fix it when I get a better comp!!

Here is the whole group again in front of the sunset!! So AMAZING!!!

On one of our campsites, there was talk about seeing wild koualas, so we were really excited about seeing them, unfortunately there was not any at our campsite, but while driving we did come across some on the side of the road, it was really cool to see them in their natural habitat!!

Here are some pics of the famous 12 Apostles, the Arch, and London Bridge!!

Finally ending our trip with a trip to see the......Im sure you can guess the name of this lake, I think the water gives it away, but just incase you didnt get it, it was called Blue Lake, really pretty and amazing!! I know its sideways but Ill fix it later!! =p

Melbourne Feb 28th

2008-03-13T00:23:00.000-07:00

After a few nights of camping and a couple days of driving we finally arrived in Melbourne. It was pretty cool here considering it is compared to Cali, where Sydney is compared to NY, I personally liked Sydney more, but there were still some really interesting things to see here. The whole cits was pretty much laid out in blocks, but still really nice!!

Here is a picture of the main staion right in front of Federation Square, it was really busy here but the rest of Melbourne was rather slow!!

There are parts of Melbourne where grafitti is legal, some of the drawings were really pretty and very elaborate, everything is pretty much hidden in this city, meaning pubs and other really cool places, but here is a pic of some of the grafitti!!

Not to mention, it was really cold the first day I arrived, then it got really hot. Pierre and I shared a hostel with some friends, so we pretty much stayed for free and ate the free breakfast at the place, haha staying in his van was pretty cool and really cheap!!!

I did get to meet up with my friends that I met in Fiji (Hanna and Milly)

Syd to Melbourne Feb 26 - 28

2008-03-13T00:15:00.000-07:00

Here is my first road trip and it turned out excellent. I met a French guy (Pierre haha) and we both took his van south through some really beautiful sight and great terrain. We first headed up through the mountains which was amazing, it was just south of Sydney, this was an interesting experience because they were extremely windy roads with no barriers or even a center line. I didnt get a chance to take a picture becuase we were both concentrating on the turns and everything that was ahead, some of the turns were like 20k/hr turns, but yeah I would look out the frot or side window and would just see the van, a yellow line and then the cliff, pretty scary but fun at the same time. I was finally able to drive and this was pretty cool and easy to get used to because everyone is going in the same direction but the spacial awareness was interesting, but here is a pic of me driving his van!!

I finally saw my first roo.....but he was dead on the side of the road, sorry to say but he was really red and pretty big, im still looking forward to seeing some roos on the side of the road that are alive!! We passed many road trains which were about the size of 2 18 wheelers in the states, when you pass them make sure to hold on the the wheel because they are pushing a ton of wind in front of them.

We did pass through a really small town called Eden, here we had something to eat and some time to just hang out, it was really pretty and here is a pic of Aussie's Eden.

This is pretty much how we camped on this trip, it was really fun and we were able to make a huge fire....even though there was a complete fire ban, haha oops, but yeah this night it poured down rain and out ghetto rig worked pretty well!!!

Here is a couple pictures of some beaches at Phillip Island, it was really cool, there were penguins and seals out on the island!!

Sydney Night Pics

2008-03-06T19:28:00.001-08:00

Here are just a couple of pics of Sydney at night, really pretty to head down to Circular Quay and other places in Sydney. It was absolutely beautiful and a great atmosphere!!

Blue Mountains Feb 21

2008-02-23T17:28:00.000-08:00

The three Texans (Ryan, Nick and Myself) decided to make a day trip up to the Blue Mountains. It took about 2 hours by train and when we arrived it started to rain, haha how typical right. After a small trinkle it actually got nice so we make the 30 minute walk to Echo Valley to see the Three Sisters. Once we arrived it began to rain again, haha yeah I know, great luck huh?? But actually it turned out to be a beautiful day and we got to do a hike and eventually take the steepest railcar in the world!! Here is a picture of what the Three Sisters represented and then me in front of the Three Sisters.

Here is a really nice waterfall that was in the forest around the Blue Mountains.

This is a picture from the steepest railcar in the world, it was pretty cool because there were no seatbelts and the chairs are like lounge chairs, but we decided to lean over as it was going up. This was really cool because once you though it was really steep, it eventually went vertical, haha pretty insaine =p

Heading down to Melbourne on Monday Feb 25, sharing a ride with some people in a van and should take about 3 days to get down there or so. Will update shortly!!!

Coogee to Bondi Beach Feb 10 - 14th

2008-02-17T19:25:00.000-08:00

There is a really nice walk from Coogee Beach to Bondi Beach, this is right along the coast and it is extremely beautiful. I was able to get a board and surf at the beaches there, this reminded my of Hawaii because the water was crystal clear and was beautiful. I definately liked the beach life out in Bondi and Coogee. There are a few other beaches around the area and I plan on showing my Yank friends them when the arrive. I just really hate backtracking so I want to do something once and then move on from there. Here is a picture of me and my Swiss friend Juli on the walk from Coogee to Bondi.

Here is a picture of Bondi beach where I stayed for 4 nights. There were tons of people here and a bunch of tourist.

Sydney Feb 7th

2008-02-17T19:17:00.000-08:00

G'Day mate from Australia. Sydney is a really big city and everyone is always on the move. There are a bunch of tall buildings and everything is pretty much centered around the harbors and the bays around Sydney. There are some really nice gardens that are walking distance from the main city center and they are nice because each are extremely beautiful. For some reason I really dont feel like im in Australia, I guess it is because Im in a big city and have not really seen the outback or anything like that yet. Im still waiting on some friends to come in and I am getting itchy feet and really want to get back on the road. After my friends get here I plan on going on a trip to the Blue Mountains, so the next posting should be from pictures from the Blue Mountains. Here are some good ole pics of the Harbor Bridge and the Operah House.

Like I mentioned, there are some really nice Botanical Gardens in Sydney, and in these gardens there are tons of bats!!!!! thats right Bats, so here is what a typical tree looks like in these gardens and if you look carefully, that is not fruit hanging from the branches =p

Here is another picture from the Botanical Gardens, funny, thats my friend Paul, we met in Fiji and again in Sydney, its awesome remeeting friends, esp from different countries!!

I want to get some pics of the Operah House, Harbor Bridge and the bats at night so expect to have some more pictures up from Sydney, but this time they should be night pictures!!

Fiji Jan 29 - Feb 7

2008-02-12T16:37:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately/fortunately for me, I flew in right after 2 cyclones blew through Fiji. This was pretty crazy because while I was there, there were still flooding and trees were blown down. It looked like a mess and from what I hear people go stuck on the islands without food or water for a couple of days. I did not get to make it out to the islands because the boats were closed and the weather was not co-operating with me. The whole week I was in Fiji, I saw about 20 mintues of sunlight, nevertheless, I still had a great time and met some great people who I plan on meeting up with again and traveling with. I made the best out of the time that I was in Fiji and plan on heading back up there in Jan 09 after my time in New Zealand!!

The second day I was there, there was a Kava ceramonie. This used to be just specifically for the chiefs of the village but then became a national drink. Kava is made from a root and filtered out in water, apparently it was supposed to make you feel mellow but didnt really do anything to me other then make my tounge numb. The way your supposed to recieve it is that you clap once, drink the coconut bowl, then clap twice when you done. It was pretty cool to sit around and talk to the locals about different things!!

At the hostel I was staying at, I ran into an Irish guy, Aden, we got talking and talked about hiring a car and driving around the South bend of the island toward Suva the capital. The weather was not great but we still had a good time. I mean if you spend more then 12 hours in a car with the same people then you know your in good company. Here is the crew at the Coral Coast, Millie, Hanna, Me, and Aden. I have to add that driving on the roads/highways in Fiji was an experience in itself. No lights on the roads, small animals/people that come out of nowhere, and to add to it, the Europeans I was with have never drove an automatic car.....meaning the brake got jammed thinking it was the clutch. To add, it was raining and the left light was out, haha and Fiji would have speed bumps that would come out of nowhere.....glad it was a rental!!

This picture is of me at the Coral Coast, it really didnt look like Fiji, so I held up some Fiji water to prove it, haha but the coast was really cool because there was broken up coral everywhere along the shoreline!!

Here is a picture of my infront of their "street lights" apparently they would light these on fire for some better visability, unfortunately for us they didnt light these, apparently they were for special occasions!!!

This is probally the funniest thing that I have seen while traveling.......Very Classy!! Anyone looking for a place to dine better check this out!!!

Will have some pics up from Sydney soon, I want to get the majority of the good pics together and do a posting all at once!!

Christmas Islands Jan 29

2008-02-12T16:32:00.000-08:00

Leaving Hawaii, I saw something that was pretty amazing in itself.....because it was raining while we were taking off, there was a double rainbow that surrounded the plane like a halo, unfortunately I was unable to get my camera out in time to take the picture but that still stuck in my head!!

Christmas Islands is apparently a small island chain thats between Hawaii and Fiji. It was amazing just flying into these island chains because the views from the airplane was awesome!! The sights were like the stuff you see in the postcards. Here is a picture from the airplane, here you can see 4 different colors of water that surrounded the islands!! Like I said it was amazing and pictures do not do justice to what I saw!!

This was a picture of the Airport....what was really funny about this is that the staff were not wearing shoes and if you look you can see the whole town at the airport to say goodbye to their family. I hear that the tallest point in the Christmas Islands is about 100 feet above sea level. There were tons of palm trees and it seemed like a really simple life!!

Oahu HI Jan 23 - 29

2008-01-23T21:37:00.001-08:00

Hawaii is absolutely amazing, John and Mikey have a pretty sweet place, they live downtown Wikiki on the 47th floor so they have a really awesome veiw. The first pic is from the airplane right before we landed, it was pretty cool to see the coast like that!!

Here is a few pics of downtown Waikiki, the first one is from the balcony of John's place, as you can see its amazing. The other two are from the beach, you can see the pink hotel in the first one and the tip of Diamond Head on the second one!!

Here are some pictures of what can be seen from the highway when driving around the island, they are all amazing.

I was able to check out the Spanish Walls, this is a really cool place and there are places where the waves crash up upon the rocks, its pretty sweet!!

I went on a quick hike with a friend Jamie, the hike was called the Pillbox hike. It was nice to see the island from there. First picture is from the top of the Pillbox hike and the second picture is from the beach that you can see from the hike. The island is called "Flat Island," haha how ironic right!!

We were able to make another hike and this one was pretty hardcore. It was about 4200 steps to the top, pretty crazy because it was really windy and rained a bit while we were on the hike. There were a ton of steps but it was well worth it!!

I was able to get into the water on North Shore. It was really nice and the water and waves were great. It was kind of intimidating because in Sunset Beach, the water was so clear you could see straight to the bottom and on the bottom there were huge rocks, haha pretty crazy when your dropping in on a 8+ foot wave and see rocks waiting for you at the bottom!!

This is a good, blurry picture that John took from the beach, haha!!

Long Beach Jan 21

2008-01-23T21:32:00.000-08:00

From my first trip to Cali, I was able to see some of the famous beaches like Huntington Beach, Venice Beach, and Sunset Beach, I decided to hit up Long Beach. I rolled down there with a friend I met the day before and actually met another traveler there from Switzerland. Together the 3 of us had a great time. We snuck into the Sain Mary's, the ship that rescued some people from the Titanic. It was cool touring the ship and reading the ghost stories. Here is a pic on the main deck of the ship. The second pic is of downtown Long Beach from Rainbow Harbor. Keep in mind it was still pretty cold and rainy down in Long Beach.

Los Angeles Jan 19 - 23

2008-01-23T21:19:00.000-08:00

After a fun time in San Clementer and the southern parts of Cali and Northern parts of Mexico, I decided it was time to pack up and check out another city. I decided to take the train up and it was a really nice train ride up to LA from San Clemente, very beautiful and a good time because I met other travelers and talked to them about different things, mainly traveling through. Well all in all the majority of the time I was in LA the weather was nice but the times I came out to take some pictures, it turned out to be overcast and rainy, so the pictures are not really that great, but they are still some picures from LA!!

The first major place that I went to was the La Brea Tar-Pits, it was pretty cool but not really what I was expecting. I though it was going to be black tar everywhere, but there was a major lake with bubbling coming from it and tar around the outsides, it was pretty cool but really smelt like BUTT!! The Tar-Pits were really cool and throughout the park, there were places where the tar was coming up from the ground and they were labled with a cone as you can see.

After walking around the town, I came across the all famous Pinks Hotdog Stand. We rolled by there a couple of times and the first time we rolled by there was a huge line that would probally take about 2 hours to get served. When I took this picture there was still a line and it would probally take about 45 minutes to get a hotdog. I did not get one becasue I really didn't want to wait in line for a hotdog. Everyone I talked to said it was a regular hotdog and honestly I didnt think it was worth the wait, but here is a pic of the famous Pinks Hotdog Stand.

The Chinese Theatre was were some new movies would premiere at and this is where the stars have their hands, feet and signatures in the concrete. When I was there, the premiere of Cloverfield was happening. The weather was not nice and the second pic is of the Hollywood sign, you can see me pointing to it!!

Last, but not least, the all famous Disney Concert Hall, this was extremely beautiful and an archetecture wonder!!

This is probally the best pic of them all. Seeing that I had a red eye flight to Hawaii on the 23rd I decided that the best way to be at the airport would be to sleep at the airport. This was definately an interesting experience, not the most comfortable but got the job done. So, yeah here is a pic of my bed at the airport, I call it my home away from home, haha!!

This is the pic that really made my whole LA trip. My older sisters, Chris and Carolyn, called me, my brother and my sister the munchkins when we were smaller......they actually still call us munchkins even through we are taller then them haha. So yeah, this was an awesome pic!!!

Tijuana Mex Jan 14

2008-01-18T12:19:00.001-08:00

I decided that I wanted to see Tijuana during the day because last time I was down in SD, Flo, Don and I left PB at 2am to head towards Tijuana in hopes to find a show....haha I think you know what Im talking about. Well reguardless we didnt find one but still had a great time down there, but I really wanted to experience TJ during the day. Flo and I crossed the border and stopped at a little bar and drank some beer, margaritas and ate tacos. It was a really nice and relaxing expreience. It was nice to experience the culture during the day because there was so much going on and it was just an interesting environment. The people, culture, food, beer and weather was amazing, so that was awesome in itself. Although no donkey show, there were plenty of donkeys for tourists to take pictures on, I thought that was pretty funny. Ill be heading up to LA on Sat Jan 19 - 22nd, will have some good pics up from there and then Hawaii on the 23rd!!

Here are just a few picture of TJs

San Diego CA Jan 12 - 15

2008-01-18T12:08:00.000-08:00

I decided I wanted to see SD again because last time I came down with friends, we got caught up partying and forgot to actually see the city and somethings SD had to offer. I was lucky and took the Amtrak train down to SD and the way down I was able to sneak on board and not pay the $15 charge to ride down...cha-ching...but unfortunately my luck ran out on the way back up to San Clemente =( haha. The weather down there was amazing and it was absolutely beautiful down there. I only wish I was able to do some surfing at Blacks beach. Last time I was down, we did go see Blacks, and the beach has black sand and what was crazy was when we went, right in front it was barely breaking but down the beach about 100 yards or so it was 2 - 3 foot over head and barreling, pretty crazy huh??

This is a picture at Mission Beach, there was a boardwalk and lots of touristy things here, including a rollar coaster and a artificial wave like at Slitterbahn.

Flo (my other little sister) and I went to a museum place, totally forgot the name but it was really pretty.

Finally, I ended my time in SD at a place downtown called Seaport Village, this place was really cool, it had a really nice and relaxed atmosphere.

San Clemente CA Jan 5 - 11 and 15 - 18

2008-01-18T12:01:00.000-08:00

I stayed mainly in San Clemente, CA with some good friends from high school and college. I have been here before and it was really nice to see them again and hang out and surf while here. When I first arrived on the Metrolink, it was overcast and cold for the first two days, but after that, the weather has been amazing and the surf has been really fun. Although, I do hate wearing a wetsuit when surfing, it was definately worth it becaus the water was still rather cold. I was able to surf Salt Creek, T-Street and the famous Trestles.

This pic is a good one, where you can see T-Street and the pier in San Clemente.

This is a pic of me about to go surfing at T-Street.

Here is a picture of the Pier right behing me, it was a beautiful day out there so I had to take a picture.

Lancaster CA Jan 2 - 4

2008-01-18T11:58:00.000-08:00

After a fun time in Vegas, Don and I drove back to where he was living and working at in Lancaster, CA. It was a relatively small town but was still really nice to see because there were mountains and deserts everywhere. Also, Lancaster has a huge airforce base where Don showed me the UAV that the military uses when doing recon. These things were really big, unfortunately I didnt get any pictures while in Lancaster, but still had a great time with Don and his friend Mark.

Las Vegas Dec 31 - Jan 2

2008-01-18T11:49:00.000-08:00

Shortly after graduation I planned on meeting some of my good friends in Las Vegas to bring in the New Years. This was a great time and it was really good seeing some friends who I havent seen in a long time. I stayed with a few friends at the Excalibur and John and Karlene stayed at the Luxor. For New Years, the entire strip was closed off and there were tons of people walking up and down the strip. The fireworks show was really awesome also and overall it was a great time. Vegas is always fun esp. if you surround yourself with great people.

Here is a pic of a few of the guys in our group (David, Don, Me and Derf), we were missing John, Karlene, Mike and Deana.

Here is a couple of pics of the fireworks show also......

Final thoughts from Corpus

2008-01-18T11:12:00.000-08:00

After my graduation of college at TAMUCC on December 15, 2007, I was faced with the decision to either get a real "job" or postpone that and take the adventure of a lifetime. After thinking of what I really wanted to do, I decided to take this trip and shortly after graduation, I was already heading out of Corpus. I know that I would be leaving some great friends and my wonderful family behind, but they all supported me because this is something that most people will never have the chance to do in their lifetime. Anyways, I was not ready to work and a job will always be there, so Carpe Diem!!!

Here is one of the last pictures taken of me in Corpus, with everything I plan on carrying on my back or in a small backpack. This picture is with my mother, me and my little sister.

Here is a graudation pic of my dad, me and my mom