One planet at a time...

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2009-07-02T15:19:00.000+01:00

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Where in the world?

2008-07-24T11:12:00.001+01:00

So it has been some time since I last wrote here. The main reason for this is that I spent July 2007 to July 2008 living in Fiji. For various security reasons relating to my work I was not able to post anything here at the time. Since I am no longer there I am going to put together a series of backdated posts based on emails sent home and other sources.

Since leaving Fiji three and a half weeks ago I have been to:
* Auckland, New Zealand
* Canberra, Australia
* Perth, Australia
* London, United Kingdom
* Copenhagen, Denmark
* The Freetown of Cristiania
* Amsterdam, The Netherlands

I'm naturally kinda tired now! Off to Berlin tomorrow and then to the 2008 International Vegetarian Union congress on Sunday.

Sing. Sing a song...

2007-09-21T13:40:00.000+01:00

Or at the very least listen to other people when they sing.

During the year and a bit I was in Canberra my music collection has doubled (possibly tripled), the number of times I have gone clubbing has increased by lots and I've seen heaps of live gigs. The east coast has done wonders for my music appreciation and experience. I went to folkies, saw heaps of local bands, saw artists that I have admired for a long time live and have spent large amounts of time discussing, sharing and enjoying music.

This gig
So the going out to a gig thing has really been happening. I took a road trip with Ben, Andy and Jocelyn to Sydney to see My Friend The Chocolate Cake in Sydney last December. And then I dragged another nine people with me to see them in Canberra in May. As always MFTCC were awesome, the fine Miss Kitten claiming that the Canberra gig was one of the best shows she's ever seen. And this was without Hope on violin and slight sound problems.

P has invited me along to hear him play in the National Capital Orchestra and also to hear other, orchestras play. I like classic stuff but I've not heard so much of it live before which was a great new experience. The 1812 overture with special effects by Questacon (think hydrogen balloons exploding) on the lawns of Government House was a special highlight.

Wandering through Civic one evening I saw that the Wilderness Society were hosting a fundraising gig with Dana Lyons performing. This resulted in much happiness and bouncing on my behalf. For those who don't know (and according to P I needed to explain this) Dana Lyons is the guy who did Cows With Guns. He also has done heaps of environmental/folk/comedy type of stuff which is by and large very, very good. I went along with P and Nem and even though it was small it still rates as an awesome gig. The group rendition of Monty Python's The Lumberjack Song at the end was a highlight.

A little pennywhistle and a mandolin
Pretty much since I met the Campbell House people I have received subliminal messages (and blatently obvious ones) that I should attend The National Folk Festival over the Easter weekend. Given I no longer attend organised religious events and going back to Perth for Swancon involved going to Perth I really had not alot else on that weekend.

Which was good because Folkies rocked!

Lots of tasty vegan foods, lots of cool market stores, neat buskers, dancing, about a dozen stages and friend made it a most excellent weekend. It was nice to attend a hippy event (it's been awhile) and wandering around with some tasty kofta balls waring a poncho with a cute boy whilst listening to various musics was most relaxing. Highlights include listening to Cam n Ry (who have some delightfully veg flavoured songs), The Cashews, Anne Kirkpatrick, Mal Webb (who was as funny as everyone told me), Jigzag (who weren't as good as everyone said IMHO but were still enjoyable), Dahahoo and Totally Gourdgeous (who play instruments made out of pumpkins). The Beatles sing-a-long was heaps of fun- think a tent full of people singing along to different Beatles tunes on a Sunday night...

There was some dancing, chatting with friends, talking to strangers, meeting new people, wandering through market stalls, eating, drinking, cuddling up with soy hot chocolates in the cool Canberra autumn evening. I could wear strange hippy clothes and noone cared, indeed I got many compliments and I bought more stuff including my much loved patchwork pants!

Let's Dance
So clubbing. How about that. Isn't that something you should do when you are 18 in order to get really drunk, smell like cigarettes and hook up with random people? Suffice to say clubbing isn't really my thing and never really has been. Until I moved to Canberra. I went to Toast mostly but especially the Cheese nights of "retro 80s" music were where you can sing and dance along to heaps of crazy 80s musics, meet friends, hang out on the hexagon blocks outside, curl up on the couches with a loved one and just have fun that made it for me.

Speaking of dance I also started pole dance lessons again which were a bit different to the ones I took in Perth but were still heaps of fun.

A disk for every season
The number of albums I own has increased. By alot. In part earning more to spend on albums, in part because people keep burning me copies of stuff, in part because I have discovered heaps of new stuff that I want to own. Also living with Phil ment that I had access to his vast, vast collection of old Rock, new Rock, jazz, reggae, blues and I'm sure there is stuff I've since forgotten, some of which I fell in love with and went out and bought for myself.

I now own all the MFTCC and BNL albums. I also have signed Scared Weird Little Guys and Dana Lyons :)

This year and a bit of musical discovery was unexpected, but I'm glad I have had it. It means my ipod has a vast great range of different things to hear.

Long time...

2007-01-14T11:23:00.000Z

So long that I now discover that blogger has changed itself. Oh wells...

Same old moonbug, same old Canberra.

Oh wait! No! I've only been here for nine months (long enough to have a baby- but I didn't). I find I have been neglecting this poor blog as I have come to view Canberra as home now rather than just another place I am moving to. This is a good thing, Perth may be the place where I grew up but it certainly isn't home.

I went back to Perth for Christmas. Whilst it was good to see maybe one or two people and okay to see another few I have to say that I felt I wasted my time.

Now don't get me wrong, Perth is a pretty city and well worth a visit if you haven't been there (ideally in the Spring- nice weather, wildflowers, festivals etc) but it was the town I grew up in. It was the town where I've had fun. But it is also the town that is full of pain and bad memories. A place that in many ways haunts me with hurt and regret. Well I try not to regret anything but there is alot of stuff that has caused "yet another fucking oppertunity for growth" that happened in Perth.

It was nice to see my crazy loud family, lots of good fun over Christmas and nice to see Nevryn, Olly, the Penguins and a few others. But at new years eve, one of the most important days in my calendar, the place I wanted to be and the people I wanted to be with were at home. I spent AEDT midnight on the phone to Nemo and listening to the Canberra fireworks...

Over the past few months I have done alot of reflection about the people I interact with and my friendships. I had a wonderful albiet short romantic liason, have rediscovered and strengthened many previous bonds, actively assessed the type of people I wanted to associate with, assessed the way I am perceived and found some people who are very important and special in my life.

I have also looked at some of the ways I have been treated in the past and am aware not only that I cannot, will not, put myself in those spaces again. I am tired of being judged by gossip and lies. I am tired of helping and investing in people who will not do the same for me. I am tired of tryng to maintain friendships across the country with people who don't put in any effort of their own. I am tired of some old story from the past being spread around and people assuming that I am just the same and I haven't grown and changed. I am not stagnant and what is it with Perth people who do not understand this?!

So right now I am working to surround myself with people who are wonderful, caring and worthy to know. People who are quirky, friendly and who care and share about the same things as me. I want to be with people that will care for me and help me even when I am unable to help myself. And I want to be with people who I will care for and help if they need it.

I left Perth early and spent a few days in Sydney. It still is a loud, busy, rude city but it was nice to be somewhere different and alone to chill out for a bit before going back to work. Did a bit of shopping, saw some touristy things, hung out in the Park, saw some great photos at the museum and ate ice-cream with Ben who then drove me back to Canberra.

At work they asked if I went home for the break. My response?

"I went to Perth and loved it so much I left early and went to Sydney for a few days. And then I came home."

Because home is where you feel safe and loved. It's where the people who value you are. Where the people who love you and will protect you are. It's where the people who you love, care for, protect and value are.

And it has taken me 26 years to find this place...

So thank you to the Canberra crew, you know who you are, for helping me to find a place where I am welcomed and safe. Thank you for making this town feel like home.

The sunflowers are doing nicely. Happy 2007!

hmmm....

2006-11-27T10:43:00.000Z

Poor neglected blog... I will find time to update you!

But in short, Dana Lyons, Dalyesford, Zombies, Clubbing, Sydney, Melbourne, Vegan Festivals, Garden, Sunflowers, Spring, Snow and Sun!

And Birthday stuff- Having a few events to celibrate another trip around Sol, drop me a line for details :)

Here comes the sun...

2006-08-15T07:02:00.000+01:00

One thing that has struck me about the beauty of a Canberra winter is the glorious clear days. The sky is blue and clear, often dotted with hot air balloons in the morn and the rays of Sol peak over the horizion and dance across the sky during the day. But it isn't warm. Standing in the sun you still feel cold as the rays that hit you seem to have lost all their nourishing heat somewhere in the atmosphere before hitting your face. It's somewhat bizzarre if you aren't used to it and as a result my complaint for being cold is summarised as "the sun is broken."

Walking around the market on Saturday morning I noticed something was different- the sun in the sky felt warm on my face! They fixed Sol! I walked around my back garden on Sunday in my towel just to get more sunlight. Would have done it naked but didn't want to freak out housemates and neighbours. I've missed vitamin D.

There is a tree near the house on the corner. I think it is an apple or a cherry- I don't know my trees well enough to tell. Her naked branches are beinging to be covered in delightful pink and white blossoms. It's the first hint of spring. Nemo and other more permenent Canberrians have warned me that spring isn't here just yet- that there will be a cold snap or a storm, that spring is wet.

But, they fixed Sol and I am happy :)

Down by the sea...

2006-08-15T04:44:00.000+01:00

Okay so the following weekend happened almost two months ago, I started this post and then had to abandon it so just assume you all read it six weeks ago. Bad moonbug for not updating more regularly...

I've spoken before about the geographical terminology used by Perth people such as "down south", "over east" etc I've caught myself using these in a reverse manner over the past few weeks (ie using the term "over west" meaning Western Australia). Not surprisingly there are terms that Canberra-folk use, the main one being "down the coast". The say that one is going "down the coast" means that one is spending some time on the New South Wales coast at one of the many seaside towns that exist between Wollongong to the Victorian border.

Last weekend Rob and I went down the coast.

I caught up with April after work on Friday and we caught the bus back to my place. Hung out a little with Phil one of my housemates before Rob called saying he was going to be later into town than expected so was piking on dinner plans. So we convinced Phil that having dinner with us was much better than mooching around the house all evening and wandered up to Kingland Vegetarian for Chinese mock-meaty goodness. They do vegan "drumsticks" which are a little bizarre but are fairly tasty and the food there is generally pleasant. After dinner Phil headed home and April and I decided to hangout at a coffee shop because we were wussy West Australians and it was far too cold to walk home just then. Rob joined us eventually and after dropping April home we crashed for the night.

I woke on Saturday early with the urge to clean things. I have learnt that doing anything noisy before 11am in my house is not a good idea on account of sleeping and hungover housemates (and in this case a houseguest) so I swept, cooked breakfast and called home. After some discussion Rob and I decided to head to the coast around lunchtime with no particular plans other than stop when we have a reason too- ain't inertia grand?

Once you leave the outskirts of Canberra city you are greeted by rural New South Wales. The vast expanses of paddock that, due to the drought, are light brown and grey in appearance with a few sparse trees is a vast contrast to the city which we were in less than a half hour before. Okay so maybe large country town is more accurate than city, but it is the capital after all.

Eventually the farmland gave way to shrubbery and then dense eucalyptus forest as we began to travel through the mountains. The vegetation is amazing and such a contrast to the farmland. It's dense, rich and a lovely shade of green. Whilst it was obviously an Australian forest- the ferns and eucalyptus gave that away- it was unlike any other forests I have seen in my own country before. As we crossed the mountains the vegetation changed again, it was thinner and eventually gave way to coastal plants as we came further to the coast.

We drove through Batemans Bay to Moyra Heads along the coast but decided to stay the night in Batemans. It's a funny little town, a touristy seaside village that has grown through popularity and now sprawls up and down the coast. After finding a place to stay we headed out to dinner at a nice little Italian cafe.

The following morning we went for a walk along the water before finding breakfast. It was a gorgeous morning, blue sky scattered with a few clouds and the sun. After wandering town a littler we had breakfast in the pancake cafe which overlooked the harbour spilling into the Pacific, utterly delightful watching the boats, humans and birds wander about their Sunday.

Drove back through the mountains, the forests, the river valleys, the rolling farmland, through Queanbeayan, Bungendore and other small towns til be got home. A most relaxing weekend with a good friend.

And yes Greg I promise to write more often.

Arbor-ation

2006-06-24T08:44:00.000+01:00

Walking back from lunch yesterday I noticed that there were three shopping trolleys lying on the ground on the lawn between the bus station and the office. One was upside down and the others were on their side. I thought this was a bit odd, but given there is a shopping mall across the road the occasional stray trolley isn't anything unusual. Then I looked up.

The tree had three more trolleys in its branches.

The displaced shopping trolleys were clearly ripe and had recently fallen to the ground in order to sprout and grow more shopping trolley trees. Or were being shed so the tree could hibernate for the winter.

The things I never knew grew on trees...

And so the invasion of Earth begins...

2006-06-15T12:31:00.000+01:00

Thanks must go to Aristotle for the title of this post- it was his reaction when I told him that there were 5 daleks running about the National Museum of Australia on the weekend. Conflux 3, the Canberra SF convention, was on and I had a fantastic time.

After a totally horrible day at work on Friday where I deleted files I shouldn't have I headed down to the Rydges hotel to meet Little John and the Fabulous Jo. It was great to see them and we went to wait for the shuttle bus to take us to the museum for the opening ceremony of the convention. The bus didn't stop where it was supposed to so we ended up taxing with James. We may have declared that we loved the taxi driver. At the entrance to the museum we were greeted by Daleks and Stormtroopers which was surreal, but very cool. For those of you who haven't see it the National Museum has strange, funky slightly futuristic architecture, which is well suited to a science fiction convention.

Before the opening ceremony started I milled around catching up with people who I haven't seen in awhile but who I care about alot. Wuffie now has bright pink hair and everyone else seemed pretty good. The opening ceremony was amusing (go the Red and the Blue!) when it started and beforehand they had samples of the digital work from the artshow on a large screen. The artshow was great- so much stuff to look at of such a high standard. The rest of the evening was spent at the cocktail party where I got my ID checked (I told the waiter he made my night!) drinking, chatting with people, teasing a boy in Melbourne and generally hanging out.

Walked down to the hotel on Saturday morning and was interviewed with April about fandom by a nice man from a glossy magazine. When asked why we were attracted to fanboys the first words out of my mouth without thinking were "They can fix my computer." You know it wouldn't be so funny if it wasn't true...

Had lunch with Bec H and wandered around the art show. Went to a panel or two but mostly hung out chatting to people. Wandered into the Hucksters room and discovered that the artist that writes/draws "Greener Pastures" one of my favourite comics is involved with the Supernova conventions. Ran into Magical Trevor on the way to watch the interview with Sir Arthur C. Clarke and got to see it from the technical room. Also got to meet my "twin" which was a little bizarre. She has similar hair to me, has the same first name, is a vegetarian and works as a teacher.

I decided not to go to the Medieval Feast (vegans didn't fare well in medieval western Europe) so went home, did some grocery shopping and then headed back to the con. Greg was having a bit of a birthday party in his room so hung out there for a bit before Wuffie and I decided to see the Steamy Readings panel. It was running late so instead of catching the last 15 minutes we saw it all- even had front row seats. Which was fine until a piece involving the alter-ego of my ex boyfriend was read out. That sounds so vague. But, it is now known that I can turn a lovely shade of beetroot and my fetish for pirates with bad accents has been revealed.

And my goodness, chaosmanor writes some saucy stuff. Damn she can read it oh so well too!

On a more serious note the reading before chaosmanor's unfortunately resulted in alot of issues that I had buried deep down to be brought to the surface and I spent far too much of the evening being quite upset. On the upside I got drunk (again!) and got to talk out some of the issues I have been having about the breakup with a few people which helped with the healing process a little. Thanks especially to Russell, Lyn, Jo and Bec for that. It's interesting that a reading could evoke such strong emotions out of me that I didn't realise were there and cause me to burst into tears at the drop of a hat. Oh where has that hard, cruel bitch gone?

Was mopey on Sunday to begin with, had food with Shay and caught up with what he was doing in his life which was lovely. Saw a number of panels and enjoyed them before heading out to dinner with April, Bec H and Karen to a noodle house. The noodles were yummy and it was good to sit and have a talk with three very intelligent wonderful women. Whilst I only met Karen at the convention it turns out that we both know heaps of people in common (she works at the same school as one of my relatives and knows several people involved with some of the activist circles I used to work with) and she is a lovely person. After tea April and I set out in search of alcamahol which wasn't too difficult to find and we purchased girly-drinks. We were ID-ed again and the lady behind the counter realised that I was much older than 18 she gasped in horror.

Me: "Yes I am 25."
Man behind the counter turns to April: "I suppose you aren't 25 too?"
April: "Actually, yes I am."
*laughter*
April turns to me: "Next time we get fake ID we need to check that it says we are only three years older, not ten!"

They still let us have the girly drinks.

Wandered back to the hotel and quietly got dressed as Wuffie was sleeping. After having my hair in two long braids all day (to go with the spikey collar) my hair came out all curly- the exact type if curly hair I have always wanted. It worked well with my dress and I looked a little like a pixie/fairy creature. April dressed as the chick out of Resident Evil and we proceeded (fashionably late) to the Masquerade Disco.

When we got there we discovered everyone else wanted to be fashionably late as well so we drank our sparkling wine and chatted. Had someone take a picture of us and then a man came up and spoke to us in Italian. I replied in Italian. He then spoke in English (you can't impress me that easily with languages), and proceeded to try and pick us up. Patrick arrived to save the day and then we went dancing.

I haven't danced in such a long time and totally enjoyed the evening. Sean Williams was a fantastic DJ and played music that I love, own and used for work many moons ago. I spent most of the evening dancing with various people, only to pausing to say hello to people. Had many drinks bought for me (Oh, where did that teatoteller go?) and got to meet a few interesting people as well. Then Little John's 21st birthday arrived at midnight and there was much celebrating for that too.

As a side note to all the fanboys and geekboys out there I would like to point out that if you ask a pretty girl if you can buy her a drink, wait until she finishes her reply before running away. If you were that guy who asked to buy me a drink and ran away before I could finish the whole sentence was "No, thanks I'm fine for the moment, but how are you going?"

Once the disco was over those of us who will still up for partying continued to the bar. Sat around chatting and generally having a good time. Kaneda saved me from what could have been a rather embarrassing "wardrobe malfunction" and I mangaged to convince the nice stunt man who was hitting on me to remove large amounts of leather (ah, the advantages of being a vegan...) April, Marcia and I posed for a picture entitled "Three Years of Gorgeous UniSFAn Women." Then April and I sat on Magical Trevor's lap for the "Why You Should Run a Convention" picture.

Eventually we got thrown out of the bar because the staff wanted to get some sleep. We hung out in April, Kandice and Rick's room for a little while before I got a lift home and crawled into bed, exhausted and alone around 4:30am.

I woke and wandered into the convention later than I hoped but felt alot less seedy than I imagined. Caught a few more panels and took lots of pictures of the daleks. Saw the closing ceremony then headed back to the hotel for the Dead Dog. Had a great time chatting to various Perthies and Canberrians. (Thank you Lee & Lyn for offering some much needed advice) Managed to have a catch up session with JP before heading home at a comparatively reasonable hour.

Of course the soccer was on so when I got to work the next day I was well rested and everyone else was tired and sports mad. Also discovered that a number of my workmates are fans and were very interested in how the con went.

So in short Conflux 3 was a fabulous weekend for me. In many ways it was like a really big Swancon, except all the people I don't like didn't turn up and it wasn't in Perth. I'd like to thank Magical Trevor and his committee for putting on a great show. It was also wonderful to catch up, laugh, talk and share with my partner in crime April, Wuffie, GregT, Lily, Bec, Karen, Lee, Lyn, Kandice, Rick, Bec H, Karen, Bec K, Shay, Russell, Little John, the Fabulous Jo, JP, Kaneda, James, Mel, Patrick, Marcia, Julia, Magical Trevor, Lisa, Paul, Stephen, Elaine, Danny, Sharron anyone who bought me a drink and anyone else I interacted with but who I've forgotten right now. You made the weekend a fabulous one.

Thanks, that was fun.

Stormtroopers and Daleks and Fanboys (oh my!)

2006-06-13T12:03:00.000+01:00

Conflux was fabulous. Will post a proper writeup later on.

Thankyou all for a fantastic weekend!

Frostbite is your friend

2006-06-13T09:43:00.000+01:00

This morning I woke, dressed, pottered around chatting to a housemate who told me the soccer score and after all that set out for the day. I opened the front door and noted that it was a little cooler than it has been in the past few weeks as I could see my breath when I exhaled. I had no idea where my gloves were and it didn't seem so bad that I needed to dig out the beanie so carried on. A few paces up the road I stopped and looked around. Something wasn't quite right but I couldn't put a finger on it. Everything seemed to have a little less colour despite the clear sky and the radiance of Sol. I inspected a leaf on the neighbors hedge.

Frost.

Icicles covered everything. The lack of colour was a soft white caused by the settling of crystalised water over everything. I run back to the clothes line and inspect my washing. Beautiful delicate ice crystals formed beautiful sculptures across my clothing. The leaves on the trees and the fences well all covered. The pile of leaves I stomp through with enthusiasm each morning- each leaf was covered in frost. It made for a wonderful sight and set me off to a beautiful day in a great mood.

Of course spending 5 minutes waiting for a bus without headgear or gloves in near zero temperatures made me loose all feeling of my ears and fingers. Frostbite is a small price to pay.

Leave(s)

2006-06-06T10:05:00.000+01:00

I have a place to live. It has a bed in it that I own and possessions that are of some importance to me. My bed is simple but comfortable and has a thick warm doona and lovely sheets on it. I share my home with two strangers who are becoming less so. The garden has a plum tree and a loquat tree. It is full of dried leaves. The path to bus stop every morning is also covered in leaves. A golden brown carpet that lines the streets, that crunches under my feet and breaks the usual sound of my gait. The trees stand bare and naked, waiting for the cold of winter to pass, asleep until the spring. The air is fresh, breathable despite the cold and dry. The birds are foreign, I don't recognise the families they belong to, their colours and shapes are unfamiliar.

In the past two and a half years I haven't owned a bed of my own. I haven't had a permanent job. I haven't had the intention of staying in the one place for more than a few months. The world is a confusing place. One I love to explore, yet one that has left me trapped, by myself and by others. By being tied and obliged to a place I didn't want to be at. Everything that I have wanted and cared about in my life has focused around a single longing to be away from the city that I grew up in. A country town with delusions of grandeur where I have felt nothing but judgment, pain and unhappiness in for many years.

I am not in Perth anymore, there is no reason for me to return for more than a fleeting moment. The temperature, the sky, the buildings, the trees, the birds all tell me this. But it's the sense of calm and the unfamiliar contentment in myself that really gives it away.

It's what you make it.

2006-05-10T09:41:00.000+01:00

So, I am no longer a resident of Western Australia. Sure I haven't actually got a formal residence nor have I told the electoral commission, but in essence I am now living on the Eastern side of the country.

Who turned off the heating?

After my possessions were sorted and packed into boxes and bags I flew to Melbourne on late Thursday night. It was difficult to say goodbye to Nevryn at the airport knowing, that unlike all those other times when we have said goodbye, I was not going to be coming back anytime soon nor was he coming to join me. It hasn't been easy but the last two years have been very special and I am not going to forget them lightly.

The red eye is a killer regardless of the fact that I managed to sleep through most of it. It was a pleasant surprise to be met in the early morning by Rob who was graciously offering me a bed for the next few nights.

After some sleep I wandered into town and spent the afternoon hanging out with Tiki chatting, catching up and wandering through Carlton and the city. She showed me a neat little South American cafe that has a whole page of its menu devoted to different types of hot chocolate and also introduced me to KokoBlack which is a delicious chocolate shop. I highly recommend the dark peppermint creams. We also bought ribbons and discovered some lovely yarn in the fabric shop- I really want to learn to knit now!

We then met up with Aristotle and discussed geek related things and went to Minator to look at geek related products. We bid goodbye to Tiki before walking into Fitzroy and set about looking for a place to eat. This normally wouldn't have been a difficult task for a vegan and a vegetarian but our usual eatery (Vegetarian Orgasm) has recently closed *sigh* and Aristotle wanted to find a particular Turkish cafe that he ate at recently, but couldn't exactly recall the location of. We found it in the end (on Smith Street) and the food was delicious- hummus, stuffed capsicum, dolmades and other delights. Afterwards we stumbled to the Vegie Bar for dessert and split a slice of chocolate cake between us before parting again. There are few people I know of where I would be happy to spend an hour and a half in the cold and drizzle with looking for a particular place to eat. Aristotle is one of them. It's been nearly 2 years since we've seen each other and slipped immediately back into our finishing each other sentences and talking with much enthusiasm about the same topics that we both understand and get excited about. I am very happy to know that I will be able to visit him more often now we don't live on the other side of the country from each other.

After a slow start on Saturday I caught up with Mel at her new house for lunch. Mel is a fantastic cook and her thick vegetable soup with crusty bread was just the thing to battle the Melbourne cold. I also got to see the vegetable garden which is really neat and hear about how her honeymoon went. I then trammed it back to town where I caught up with a old friend/distant cousin, her hubby and little girl which was really good too as I hadn't seen them in several years.

Saturday evening was spent catching up with Rob. We saw American Dreamz which was rather amusing, though not in a laugh out loud kinda way. Dinner was Japanese food (yum!) and good conversation before fighting the footy crowds to get home. He is another friend who I don't have the oppertunity to see and talk too ofthen and it was great to spend time simply catching up with him.

After being away for 22 months it was an utter delight to revisit Melbourne. It's a gorgeous city despite the weather. I spent alot of time just wandering around and looking at how the buildings had changed. I was delighted to spot people selling roasted chestnuts on street corners in the cold weather, a concept that I always enjoy. I wish I could have caught up with many more of my friends but value the chance I had to catch up with those that I did.

After a slack Sunday morning I left Melbourne and flew to my new home.

It's cold here, really cold though with the exception of Sunday it hasn't rained yet and the sky has been mostly clear. I am really enjoying my new job, though the sheer amount of information I am absorbing right now is a little overwhelming.

This is a fresh start. A new chapter. And I like it...

Flap, flap, flap!

2006-04-24T06:29:00.000+01:00

Flights booked I leave on the evening of May 4th. A few days in Melbourne before final destination on the 7th.

Going away.

2006-04-24T03:26:00.000+01:00

I'm having a small going away event tommorrow afternoon (25th April) in town. Drop me an email for details.

I should be ex Perth in around May 4th -ish. Still haven't booked flights, but I do at least now have dates for when my stuff will be moved.

Blowin' in the wind...

2006-04-14T06:44:00.000+01:00

Three weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of Mel and Steve. Mel is an old friend from the uni vegetarian group from several years ago who now resides on the other side of the country from me, but who I love keeping in contact with. She is a passionate vegan who is a lot of fun and a mad physicist.

The wedding was held in a beautiful old chapel in Albany which is about a 4-5 hour drive from the city where I’m living and I took the trip with a friend of Mel’s who I didn’t know prior to the event. It was heaps of fun looking at all the countryside and chatting. Although lots of people came from all over the world, which made the travelling for a mere 4-5hours seem effortless.

The wedding itself was beautiful and the happy couple looked gorgeous and Mel spent most of the ceremony in tears (but in a good way!) It was the only wedding I have ever been too where one of the prayers was for the couple to have “good sex”. Though in retrospect I think it really should be a standard. The reception was vegan (of course!) with stuffed mushrooms to die for. There was much dancing, lovely views over the bay and some beautiful heartfelt speeches (aww). I wish them both the best for their married life together.

Albany was the country town I studied for my end of high school Geography exams so despite only having been there once before I am somewhat familiar with the layout of the town and surrounding areas. However, towns change and grow and develop over time and it was interesting to see what was new. Like the Wind Farm.

Spent a few hours looking at the Wind Farm on the Sunday morning and I have to say that I was awed by its beauty and power. The farm consists of 12 turbines spread along the coastal cliffs with walkways and information points throughout. The views of the cliffs and ocean were fantastic (we were fortunate enough to spot a pod of dolphins riding the waves) as were the views of the Albany town site across the other side of the bay. The turbines themselves are magnificent to behold and are awesome to watch. The pathways mean you can walk right up and stand below one of them and they have designed it so that there are different vantage points to look at the others. There is so much controversy over power sources and many people consider wind farms to be an eyesore. Perhaps it is the geek winning out over the environmentalist in me but I found the Albany Wind Farm to be beautiful and graceful to look at. When you consider the other options such as smoke stacks or nuclear power plants I have to give wind power a big thumbs up.

Spent the Sunday taking a bit long coming back as we stopped off at a few of the towns to have a look around and stumbled across a little growers market. Bought some white nectarine and vanilla jam, fresh raspberries, organic nashi pears and zucchini all of which were very yummy.

A rather good week

2006-02-25T16:40:00.000Z

This past week at work was great, I'm really enjoying my classes and despite being directly above the cooking room without aircon on a 40 degree days it's fairly enjoyable.

Some hightlights from this week in no particular order include:

1. What may actually be the best lesson I have ever run. It was disgustingly hot so I figured we could spend sometime discussing plate techtonics, folding, faulting and volcanoes and then maybe give them some time to do their homework. Very casual and not too intensive because of the heat. In the end we discussed all of the above but also cloning, nature vs nurture, time travel, cyrongenics, questioning scientific theories, the future and flying cars. Heaps of animated discussion and some really good questions and ideas came out. I was also asked one of the most pressing issues of our time, "Miss, will the future be like Star Wars or Futurama?"

2. Catching up with friends for dinner and today for lunch. Though I am generally rather neglectful of the whole socialising thing at the moment.

3. Got to listen to a Nobel Prize winner speak during assembly. He was very cool. Promoted the idea of "not being very good at sport is ok", "if you want anything done you should do it yourself" and told amusing tales of being a student and blowing things up with chemicals.

4. Babysat a PE class. Normally this would result in much pain on my behalf as I hate school based PE classes. I was told that the kids were watching a demonstration so all I needed to do was sit at the back and made sure they behaved. I did this for about 3 minutes. The demonstration was a juggling workshop so I joined in playing with the poi, juggling and diabolo with the rest of the kids.

5. Extra fans magically appeared in my classroom later in the week.

6. Got down to City Farm early today for lovely organic fruit and veg. It's amazing how much more stuff there is at 8:30 compared to 10:30.

7. Breakfasting on yummy smoothies every morning. So thick they are like icecream (but less junky).

8. Did some field work with kids in the bushland reserve near the school. Nice to get out and about.

Going Down

2006-01-31T11:28:00.000Z

Two weeks ago Nevryn and I managed to spend a few days down south. Given we had been talking about doing this since September last year it was nice to finally get away.

For the non-Perthies "Down South" is a very generic term relating to any place in Western Australia that has a latitude further south than Mandurah. Mandurah was once a small town where people went to retire but is now the southerly limit of Perth city and is one of the fastest areas of real estate growth in the world. We also use equally descriptive terms to describe other regions. "Up North" is anything in WA that is North of the Perth metro area and "Over East" or "The Eastern States" which anything that is located further east of Western Australia.

We travelled from Perth down to Cowaramup stopping in Busselton for a break (don't drive tired kiddies!) We made it to Cowaramup to purchase some Settlers Ridge wines. I'm not much of a wine drinker but they do a lovely drop which was well worth driving out of the way to get. The wines are low in sulphate, certified organic, are vegetarian with all but two being vegan and are very nice. We then carried on to the Karri Valley Resort (just out of Pemberton) via Margaret River, which is a very out of the way route but ment lots of time was spent eyeing the countryside.

The resort is situated in a national park and our room overlooked Lake Beedelup. A beautiful view with many ducks, fish, marron, hawks, kangaroos and other critters were spotted in the dusk. Some of the trees on the opposite side of the lake were illuminated which made for a very pretty scene once the sun went down.

We drove to the Tree Top Walk in the Valley of the Giants just out of Walpole the next day through the spectacular forests of South West Australia. The Tree Top Walk is a 600 metre walk amongst the giant tingle forests that slowly works it's way to a maximum height of 40 metres above the ground. It's amazing to be look down at the forest floor below and still look up and see the branches of the Tingle. I was terribly well behaved and didn't run along the walkway or jump up and down on it when Nevryn was on it. Though he seemed to look significantly less pale once we returned to the ground. We took a walk through the park at ground level and saw some very cute joeys who were with one of the local wildlife carers.

We stopped off at a few other national parks on the drive back to do some more walking and to look at the trees. As we covered a large area of forest it was interesting to see the different types of forests and how the plants were different between them. The Karri and Tingle are magnificent trees and there were still some very pretty wild flowers in bloom.

Spent the evening eating nibbles such as artichoke, tomatoes and olives on the balcony, drinking wine, watching the ducks splash about and the sunset. Followed it with dinner over looking the lake. The waitress was really nice and sat us in a corner by the window away from the screaming children (without me even having to ask!) They illuminate the lake near the restaraunt so we got to see alot of fish and even more ducks, including what Nevryn dubbed the "Jesus Duck" who appeared to be walking on top of the water.

Went for a nice long walk around the lake the following morning and up to the falls which were very pretty before heading out to the Gloucester Tree. One of the CALM officers was letting people feed the birds so I took some seed and became covered by several western rosellas. There was also some wood pigeons and twenty-eight parrots. I was on the ground feeding one of the twenty-eights who was sitting there nibbling seed out of my hand and was slowly moving it in order to stand up again. Ever so gently the parrot took my hand in his beak and pulled it back down to ground level so he could eat some more without having to move :)

Spent the rest of the day doing more walking through the forests, eating lunch by the side of the road (I thought it was rather dignified though- we had wine glasses), wandering around Manjimup and making our way back home.

All in all a very pleasant and relaxing trip.

Employment!

2006-01-20T16:22:00.000Z

Confirmed that I have been offered the job. Just waiting on the paperwork to come through. New city. New job. More money.

*does the happy dance*

WTFPB?

2006-01-12T08:57:00.000Z

Yesterday I recieved a phone call out of the blue. I am being offered one hellava fantastic job and they are willing to take me on *after* my current contract finishes.

I must have put some good karma out somewhere recently.

Also heading to Pemberton for a few days next week so there will be much travelling goodness related updates soon.

Halfway or so.

2006-01-05T06:38:00.000Z

In order to get a UK working holiday visa I need to prove that I am able to support myself for the first 2 months or so and need to do this by showing I have money when I apply for the visa. Today I went to the bank and transfered some of my holiday pay into my long term savings account. Much to my delight I have discovered that I am halfway there.

*beams muchly*

Movin' Right Along...

2005-12-10T00:56:00.000Z

So I finished up my last day at small country town school yesterday. Given I had been slowly cleaning up over the past week I didn't have alot to do after the champange breakfast but helped with the movement of furniture between rooms. On Wednesday night was presentation night.

It's annoying when your neighbours play bad country music in the middle of the night. It's bad when they have drunken, screaming domestics over the top. It's terrible when you have to teach their children. And when they turn up pissed to the schools presentation night and sit next to their child (instead of with the other parents) you really have to cringe.

On Thursday we had the pre-primary assembly which was really cute and the leavers had a waterfight on the lawn outside the school. Then two students had a brawl in class 10 minutes before the bell. I happen to be the duty-of-care person at the time, despite it not being my class. Why couldn't they have waited 10 more minutes, really? The day was finished with much alcohol consumption. It is hilarious to have conversations with ones boss when both of you are tipsy.

I move in a week back to the city. Let's see how long it will be for me to get sick of it again.

In other news I have three months work at large city private school next year (Term 1). I wasn't sure if I would take it but given the Department were rude to my inquires on the phone I decided to go with it. That and a long list of pros and cons, discussions with my boss, a couple of workmates, Nevryn, my folks and several friends. The travel thing helped.

I have made a decision that, assumming I can get the money together by mid year (and I'm already a third of the way there), I will be going to IVU India and then continue on to become yet another Aussie in the UK for a period of time. This is mostly because I've been meaning to do this for literally years (the world wide teacher shortage was a contributing factor to me doing the Dip. Ed.) and the longer I wait the more difficult it will become.

I get to meet my Head Of Learning Area on Monday, which I am looking forward to. It will be nice to have someone to bounce ideas off and have some sort of guidance with what I should been teaching. And I don't have to teach english- yay!

Shiney Happy People...

2005-11-25T07:00:00.000Z

Today has been terrible. I am itching to find out about what I am doing next year work wise, the kids are ratty as it's end of term, I'm tired, a few students really ticked me off this morning and my tollerance for bad behaviour is low.

So in Year One this afternoon I decided that we should make Christmas cards because even though I am in running for the Miss Scrooge of the Year Award the little kids love it and it keeps them amused. I took down stickers and card and figured I would work with the craft stuff that they have there.

One of those things was glitter.

Now I am trained to teach high school students, so the once a week in Year One gig that I have is in a whole new arena. The behaviour management has been totally different (If you clap, they respond- how neat is that?), as have the questions (Can I take my jumper off Miss?), as have the complants (He poked his tounge out at me!) and the general ability (What do you mean you can't read?) Most of this I've figured out by myself with a couple of hints along the way.

Now given I was thrown in the deep end with this there is something I really want to ask and that is:

"WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME ABOUT SIX YEAR OLDS AND GLITTER?????!!!!!"

Given there were several big jars of the stuff in the room I thought it was a safe thing. This is not true. Glitter is a terrible, terrible thing that covers every square millimetre that it touches and it spreads and it can't be moved easily. It can't be scopped out without becomming ingrained into anything and anyone it touches. And six year olds think it's the greatest thing in the world.

There is now a class of Year Ones and a teacher covered head to toe with tiny sparkly stuff and the cleaner is probably going to have a heart attack the moment she walks into the room.

Now where's a drink...

Golden brown...

2005-11-08T05:44:00.000Z

You know you're living in the country reason 184:

You go to the school disco and they play "I'd Like To Have a Beer With Duncan" by Slim Dusty...

And all the kids (even the little 5 year olds) know all the words. You know this because they are all singing along!

Went for a drive with Nevryn yesterday, it's amazing to see how the landscape has changed so quickly. Only a few weeks ago we had green rolling hills. A few weeks before that a patchwork of different crops. Different shades of green mixed with squares of golden canola. Now it's all golden brown and dry with the fields full of hay bales and a few sheep chewing at the stubble. The bird life has changed too. Lots of cockatoos right now and more kookaburras than before.

Oh and my potato plants have sprouted through the soil, which for some reason makes me rather happy.

All who wander...

2005-10-16T06:53:00.000+01:00

I occurred to me yesterday morning that this small country town I have lived in for the last 3 months represents the longest period of consecutive time I have stayed in one place in the past two years. It looks like I will be moving again in another two months. I knew I have been rather transient over the last little while, but two years is a fairly long time. I have plans for more wandering over the next 2-3 years, and probably will keep going for alot long after that. So this realisation in particular, that I really haven't been tied down to any one place, has been a surprise, but a good one.

Right now I seem to have heaps of friends who are doing the whole settle down, regular job, regular partner, regular house, owning a mortgage, marriage, commitment, breeding etc. Which is in part an age thing, I hit a quarter of a century in seven weeks and most people do those sorts of stable things when they get to mid-20's and 30's. Of course because I'm not doing that, because I am not settled, I often feel looked down on, it's as if the collective mind is "You will be in a stable relationship and it will last for years", "You will produce more screaming neglected children the world cannot cope with", "You will buy a house and stay in the one place for ever", "You will buy as many material goods as you can max out your credit card" and because I don't fit into this nice little box then I clearly am a bad person not worthy of the time and space of others.

And I know that if I actually want to do these sorts of things now is a good time to start, from here on in my fertility will be decreasing, I need to get alot more experience for promotions and work, I need to sort out some extra education if I want to broaden my job prospects, I need to buy a house now because the market is only going to increase and it's going to take forever to pay off anyway. So yes I am immature and need to grow up. But only if we go by what the rest of society says, and when the hell was the last time I did that?

As they say, not all who wander are lost. And I have alot more wandering to do in this life.

I looked out the window and what did I see?

2005-09-09T06:43:00.000+01:00

It's offical, I really am living in the country.

I just looked out the window at work and a lady walked by the school.

She was leading a pony with a small girl on it. On the footpath.

*starts playing the banjo*

The fact I can be sitting in my dining room and hear the sheep from the paddock at the end of the road at breakfast time should also give it away.

The local show was a few weeks ago and I must say it was a pretty fun day, despite the stress of my family and Nevryn's family meeting each other for the first time. There were the funky craft desplays and farm animals. A harvester that was huge and very impressive and at half a million dollars you would want it to be! There was some work from my students on display as well as the usual rides and sideshow stuff. I picked up some apple and blueberry jam as well as a jar of mango chilli chutney both of which are very yummy. The jam is particularly good on pancakes, which I must say I have perfected now. In the evening we wandered back down to the showgrounds (living a 10 minute walk away from them) and watched the fireworks which were great too, especially with the rising moon.

In other news the film bastardisation, I mean new adaption, of Fever Pitch was released in Australia yesterday under the title "The Perfect Match" and with the line "From the makers of There's Something About Mary".

I have started rereading Fever Pitch in order to be totally devestated when I see the film. Which I will because I have a thing for Nick Hornby stories and Nevryn has a thing for Drew Barrymore. Rant arriving real soon now.

Forget the caffe latte, screw the rasberry iced tea...

2005-08-04T06:56:00.000+01:00

There is a terrible, terrible alcohol (a whiskey or a rum I think, which shows how much I actually do drink) out there that I sampled once called "Teachers".

And now I am begining to understand why.

The sad thing is that there are quite a few kids who do want to learn and work and are interested but they have to fight with the ones who don't for time.

On the upside I do get to live in a neat little country town, which is far too close to Perth. People keep on expecting me to just drop everything and come down to visit them or come to this event, or that event. Which is ticking me off. The distance between my house and your house is the same if you care so much you should come up and visit me. But hey noone ever did when I was 30kms away so why would you now that I'm 130km?

Right now I get to spend large amounts of non-work time alone which is nothing short of fantastic. I'm not getting through all my projects that have been put on the back burner as I'm usually busy with work related stuff but the solitude is something I need, well, all of the time. I really cannot handle having to see people 24/7, or at least people that I have to put any effort into seeing. Eight hours a day is quite enough thank you.

The birdlife here is fantastic, mostly twenty-eight parrots, but so many birds around. There's a family that live in one of the big trees out the front of the school and it's lovely to see them every morning. There's also alot of dogs in the town, most of them quiet friendly and always wanting a pat. One of the other teachers (who lives 4 houses down) has a dingo who is simply gorgeous.

So in short:
* Teaching certain students is driving me mad
* The town has nifty animals
* I don't get to see people which is keeping me sane

Of course my nearest vegan neighbours are about 40mins drive away, but you can't have everything I guess.

Over the hill and far away...

2005-07-01T04:26:00.000+01:00

So I seem to have wound up with a job which requires me to move to a small town just outside Perth in the Wheatbelt. I start in two weeks (at the begining of next term), which means I have to write up programs and lesson plans for six classes, pack, move, resign and resettle in two weeks.

Which should be fun!

I will be the Society & Environment/English teacher for years 8, 9 and 10. The S&E should be pretty good, I am worried about the English though. I mean I had enough trouble with high school english when I was a student, though I did win scrabble last night, so there is hope...

Will they feel the chainsaws power?

2005-05-29T12:52:00.000+01:00

Not really sure if it is appropriate here, but reading this report made me rather sad.

Appetite for Amazon destruction

All the small things...

2005-05-04T02:13:00.000+01:00

So I'm leaving again tommorrow and as per usual everything is in a mess and I'm not all that fussed about it.

Yet to pack, but have at least bought all the medication I will need. Off to a noodle place for dinner tonight, with Nevryn being invited, which is a big thing in my family (you aren't deemed to be an "adult" unless you are in a long term relationship, even if you are my fantastic 36 year old jet setting, but single, uncle). Went to another uncle's wedding the other week which was okay. Will be nice to see the crazy extended family I guess and then I can come back and hide, I mean recover. I don't have to go to work for two weeks either and I'm waiting to hear back about some applications. My car has decided to break itself this morning which is a little irritating. Also trying to find a camera I would like to spend money on has proven to be difficult too, so much bloody choice! My puppy passed on as well, which I'm not going to go into here so if you care you know where to find me. The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy film was great and I got to see it with 200 of my closest friends- don't you just love fundraiser screenings? It also gave me an excuse to see people I have been meaning to catch up with, though still many that I haven't seen yet. And all the people I've been meaning to email and have been slack about- bad neglectful I.

All small things really. Nothing exciting to report. Back in two weeks.

Best of all I have a new Nick Hornby book to read on the plane.

Everything remains the same despite the change...

2005-04-02T02:26:00.000+01:00

So I've been back for three weeks now. Getting back into the swing of things and reworking my place in Perth. After eight months things change a fair bit. Couples have changed, friends have moved, the people I value are different, actually people are generally different, my puppy is alot older and my bank balance isn't all that healthy.

Trying to figure out where I fit in the scheme of things in Perth. The biggest thing to get used to is the fact I cannot up and leave when I need to, something that has contributed to my sanity in the past. Also not wanting to slip back into the old scheme of things with the same old people and being stuck in the same old rut. It's hard. I don't belong here, and often I wonder why I'm trying to. Oh that's right. It's Home.

I suffered four trying days being unemployed. Then I got a job with a nursing agency, so I'm back doing carer work. Which is generally fun. Have seen some lovely nursing homes with great staff and a couple that are the opposite. Also looking for teaching work. Figure I should use that degree for something.

Also booked my next trip away in May within the first week of being back. Am accompanying my mother to her high school reunion in Malaysia for two weeks. Which should be interesting in the least. It also means bye bye to my weight loss plan but hello to yummy food.

Swancon was fun, despite having to deal with some rather tragic personal issues on the Saturday. Those who were kind enough to put up with me, thank you (especially Hipikat). Got to see a few people I hadn't yet had the chance to catch up with which was nice as well as some lovely people who don't live in Perth like Danny and Sharon. Mynxii is rather cute when you make her blush. Got to spend a fair bit of time with Nevryn which was lovely. And got go meet a couple of new people too. Pannels I was on seemed to go okay despite many of them not being all that well discussed beforehand. And I have another dance workshop that I'm organising as a result!

My asthma in the past three weeks has been worse than in the previous 8 months. I spent the first three days back waking up not being able to breathe, with terrible asthma and hayfever. It's offical, I am literally allergic to this city!

The place that when you go there they have to let you in.

2005-03-14T06:29:00.000Z

Back in Perth. Oh the joy. Very broke. Already planning the next two trips (and you think I'm kidding!)

In Short:

217 days

20 flights

17 countries

14 currencies

4 continents

a handful of train trips

too many bus journeys

zillons of footsteps

lots and lots of photos

much interesting and new foods

umpteen new friends

a plethora of experience.

Chivarly.

2005-03-09T02:30:00.000Z

Chivarly is not dead. Come to South America.

For the past five months I've had to get used to people offering to carry my bags, open doors for me, help me in and out of vehicles, over logs and other such generous acts because I happen to have two X chromosomes. As in I've seen men not get offered any of these fine services.

It was International Women's Day yesterday. Which makes me wonder about a International Men's Day. Or a International Transgendered Day. And given I only actively celibrate New Years Eve and World Vegan Day as important days of choice, it's a day I usually forget about.

Anyhow, usually it's a day for ranty feminazi's to go "ooer we're oppressed" or to protest against skimpy barmaids or some other tripe at home (which apparently they did in Broome).

But not here, no they gave all the ladies at the market I was at yesterday roses. And whilst usually I find the idea of giving someone plant reproductive organs rather pointless and bordering on insulting, it wasn't from someone trying to make up for cheating on me, nor trying to get into a relationship. Which made it a really lovely gesture.

Chivarly is nice. I may even let someone carry my bag for me at some point. I know how much it weighs too ;) (Well I did say I went to a market!)

Who loves the sun?

2005-03-08T02:20:00.000Z

The 22 hour bus journey from Arica to La Serena wasn't as terrible as I thought it would be, though the landscape was. Well it was desert. And desert. And even more desert. Though the night sky was brilliant.

La Serena is a costal town just north of Santiago, kinda small but still pretty. After spending my first day walking around, I spent the second in Valle de Elqui, which involved driving almost the width of the country. Chile, not being very wide and all ment this could be done as a day trip.

The Valley is on the opposite side of the Earth from the Hymalayas so there is a fair bit of mystic about the place. But then that could have something to do with the pisco.

Pisco is the national drink of Peru and Chile and is a liquor made from grapes and some of the more well known factories and vineyards are in Valle de Elqui. It's all irrigated farmland, being a desert and all, and heaps of gum trees as wind breaks. Visited three pisco factories with many taste tests. Pisco is not all that bad.

Had lunch at the solar restaraunt. Being an area with 300+ days of sun a year, solar is the way to go. The restarunt cooks everything using solar ovens, and the fresh bread smells absolutely wonderful as you arrive. I have decided that if I live in the desert I want a solar oven too.

Went out to one of the three observatories in the area that night. The stars and planets are so pretty, I'd never seen saturns rings before.

Bus the next day to Santiago, got taken out by lovely people I am sharing a room with last night. Vodka is evil :P At the last international stop, home soon.

One last crossing.

2005-03-02T09:56:00.000Z

Well I'm in Chile now, the last country before I fly back to the merry old land of Oz. In the town of Arica, which is surrounded by the desert on one side and the Pacific on the other. It's such a lively beach town. I head south on a 22 hour bus trip tommorrow (yay for busey goodness!) for a few days stop then on to Santiago for my flight to Sydney.

So what else have I been doing? Well after Lake Titicaca I bussed to Arequipa then spent two days out in the Colca Cayon amoungst fields of corn and quinoa. I am addicted to quinoa and fresh cocoa tea. Saw three of the four Andean camalids, very pretty though desert-like scenery, some eagles, other birds and condors.

The condors are amazing to behold. When someone tells you a bird has the wingspand of 2.5-3m you never quite belive it until they are swooping 5 or 6 metres above your head! Spent over an hour watching the birds fly around the canyon and be, well, bird like.

Also made it to the highest point yet, 4800m asl. There were rocks, and some snow covered volcanic mountains in the distance but not alot else.

More details later when I don't have to go eat.

Sitting on top of the world...

2005-02-25T12:32:00.000Z

So yes I have been slack. But let's face it only about 3 people read this other than me so I wonder why I bother. Oh yeah 'cos my diary is almost as behind as the blog!

Go to see some ancient ruins...
Well the third day in Cusco I spent doing a tour of the Sacred Valley with previously mentioned Irish girls. We were the only English speakers on the tour which ment the tour guide would give us the little spiel then let us wander off by ourselves which was nifty and ment that we didn't have to keep up with the group. The first site we saw was the old Inka ruins of Pisaq. A bit of a hike around a mountain on a path that was more single file than double, with a rather spectacular drop into farmland.

The second site was the village of Ollantaytambo which is still inhabited. Most of the ruins are some spectacular terraces- which ment more steps, but there was also aquaducts that are still in use, a rock that looks like the face of Inka (and rather niftily is the point where sunrise occurs during the summer solstice) and a rock that looks like a condor. And there were some fairly adgile goats as well.

The third site was Chinchero which used to be a Inka palace. Until the Spanish came and turned it into a church. You can still see all the old foundation work underneath the Spanish arches and the paintings in the church.

A very full day, and there were many markets, hmm markets. Speaking of which I am a market junkie and have many blankets of bright colours.

City in the clouds...
You can do a day trip to Machu Picchu from Cusco. It involves catching a train at an ungodly hour then a bus to the bottom of the ruins, then climbing, enjoying the view and then doing everything in reverse. It would have been alot nicer had I not got 4 hours sleep and went drinking the night before.

The train ride is plesant enough winding through rural Peruvian countryside with corn, cows, rushing rivers and gum trees. The number of gum trees here are impressive. Apparently in the 1860s the government ordered that gum trees be planted to reforest areas where native trees had been removed. It still freaks me out a little.

Anyhow on Monday I went out to Machu Picchu and despite the weather being less than brillant the mountains were still pretty and covered in whispy clouds. It's a mean engineering feat, granite rocks forming a city on the top of a mountain. And rather pretty to look at. Oh and there are steps.

What is it with the Inka's and steps? And building things on the top of bloody great big mountains? In this altitude? Crazy!

I spent a few hours wandering around the site before spending an hour in the village of Machu Picchu and getting back on the train. Had a lively conversation with two New Yorkers and a Canadian before getting off a stop early and catching the bus back to Cusco where I met up with drinking buddy from the night before and had dinner.

Also sussed out some of the ruins closer to the city and went to the Inka Museum.

The wheels on the bus...
Well after over a week, I braved a bus trip to Puno yesterday. I signed up for a tour bus that stops of at different sites along the way. The Andean Sixtina's Chapel was our first stop, which at the time was being restored. It had a rather impressive altar covered in gold, which interestingly had a mixture of Christian and Inka symbolism in it. Went on to the Raqchi site which is an ancient temple made of volcanic rock and mud bricks as well as an accompanying village. Our last stop was another museum focusing around pre-Inka culture in the region.

Floating about...
Went out on Lake Titicaca today. Spent the morning on Uros, the floating islands. The Uros people are the oldest tribe in the region and they live on floating islands made of reeds. Basically every three months or so another layer of reeds is layer and the ground of the island to make up for the bits that rot from the bottom. Most of the houses are built from reeds and they have boats made from them too. And you can eat them, but they didn't taste too great. Reeds, is there anything they can't do?

It took another 2 hours by boat to get to the island of Taquile. We did a hike to the top of the island which was pretty hard going I must say, felt like my heart was going to explode, but it was well worth it, the sun had come out by that stage and the views of Lake Titicaca were magnificant. There are only a couple of places on this Earth that I have been to where the water is that clear (you can see several meters below the surface) and the air makes the lake seem a gorgeous blue. The view was simply amazing and the island has some beautiful flowers.

100's of languages...
Today I had conversations in English, Spanish, Portugese and Auslan/British Sign Language. It's funny, my brain goes "well we aren't using English so it must be one of those other things we know". It resulted in me speaking Spanish whilst I was signing, which didn't help with the lip reading a single bit. And I found out they have changed the sign for Australia, from a fist then palm against the side of the head (to represent the digger hat) to something than now makes me look like I am imitating a kangaroo. The Europeans laughed. I still think it is better than the sign for France, which looks like you are tweaking a curly moustache.

Cream...
Puno is in party spirit tonight. I went to a concert in the Plaza de Armas which turned into a street party and then was supposed to continue to a proper concert venue. It involved different bands and dancers performing in one spot, then moving and continuing onwards to a different place. It's traditional Peruvian dancing from the region, lots of costumes and twirling of hankerchiefs. And marching bands with a double bass (which was impressive to watch people lug down the street). Oh and shaving cream fights. They have high pressured shaving cream in cans that shoot 2-3meters and *noone* is safe. More to the point the first group of dancers sprayed the croud and I witnessed and was caught in several fights in the several hundred meters from the square to dinner and dinner to this net cafe.

We don't need no education...
Peru must have the best geography teachers in the world. Many of the kids who try to sell you stuff, be it a friendship band, a shoe shine, food or finger puppets also ask you where you are from. On telling them the country you will be told the capital, the flag, the national anthem, the colours of the flag, the head of state and other important features from the country (ie kangaroos!) Next time i am going to say I'm from Turbekistan!

There'll be days like this...

2005-02-16T06:26:00.000Z

So I'm in Cusco, which has an altitude that is rather uncomfortable. These past few days haven't been the best on the trip. But parts of them were somewhat amusing.

Nazca was great. I got a flight to Lima from Iquitos then bused it the following day down to Nazca. The Peruvian lanscape is somewhat surreal, desert like and barren, nothing like what I expected. Was six hours to Nazca, followed by a nice dinner with some people from the bus. The following morning I went out to the airport for the flight over the lines.

The lines are really interesting, though the flight was in the tiniest plane I have ever been in (a cute little four seater) and the flight takes about half an hour with the pilot pointing out the different lines and shapes as we went over them. The flight is a bit rough as they tlit the plane left and right so everyone can get a good look at the different patterns. The landscape is primarily platue but with a few hills rising out of the lanscape. And barren until you get to the irrigated farming areas which look so out of place.

Spent the afternoon wandering around with one of the people I had dinner with the night before, then caught the bus to Cusco.

Worst. Bustrip. Ever. Many of you know I do suffer from nausea on buses, particularly buses which are crowded, poorly ventilated and go on dodgey windy roads. Well, the road to Cusco is windy and mountainous. Got on the bus, to find it nearly full which wasn't too bad, I crawled into my seat and managed to doze for a bit.

I was woken at about 1230am with everyone getting off the bus and the attendant speaking loudly and quickly in Spanish. I managed to ask a nice Canadian couple what was happening and discovered that the bus had broken down and we all had to pile onto another bus.

Which would have been fine, had the bus had enough room for all of us. I got on realised that there was no bathroom on the bus, nor were there enough seats. I then got back onto the broken bus which is where all the gringo's (the Canadian couple, two Irish girls and about half a dozen Japanese people) were and decided that staying with the people who I could talk to in time of crisis (plus had bathroom access, given I wasn't feeling all that well) was probably a wise move. We then freewheeled back down the mountain and then waited until they called another bus.

Buses in the early hours of the morning are *freezing* when they are not turned on, particluarly when they are up a mountain. So I tried (being the operative word) to sleep on the bus, feeling more and more ill and cold. The next bus arrived at around 3am, we then swapped buses and were on our way, but not until I had lost most of my afternoon snack. Oh and the second bus didn't have enough seats either, so a bunch of people sat in the front of the bus near the driver, the attendants sat literally on top of luggage and on each other up the back. And Peruvian buses, unlike Brazillian buses, don't stop for food and bathroom breaks, you get given sandwiches, which of course, I cannot eat. So essentially I didn't eat for about 24hours, which given my stomach was probably a wise move.

So about 4 and a half hours late we got to Cuzco. Myself and the Irish girls decided to share a cab to a hostel. It was okay, the bed was warm and they had hot water (bliss!). We stumbled to find dinner then got to bed at the ripe old hour of 7pm. Because you know we like to party hard.

We all woke up at 2am, and then for the next hour my upper back decided that unless I stood up that it would give me the most intense horrible pain I have ever experienced. I am not exagerating, having my wisdom teeth pulled was much more enjoyable. Yay for panadine forte!

Got up and went for breakfast, I had Mate de Cocoa (Cocoa leaf tea) which is supposed to help with Altitude sickness which I seem to have. This means at the moment I am nauseous- which intally was put down to the evil bus, but given I didn't keep breakfast down, I think has got to do with being up high. I am slightly dehydrated. I am hungry- though there seems little point to eating and I can't take my vitamins because I'm still on the anti malerials. I'm tired- even after a 3 hour kip this arvo and breathing is difficult. Okay so the breathing thing isn't a new thing for me but it's still annoying. It's like having a bad asthma patch plus an nasty virus all at once.

Part of me is "screw Macchu Picchu, get me back to sea level" but hopefully everything should settle over the next couple of days. Anyone wishing to donate to the "lets buy moonbug flights for the rest of the trip so she doesn't have to take the bus" fund would be highly appreciated :P

We found another hostel this morning as well, which is newer and alot nicer than the one we stayed in last night and in a better location close to the main square. Oh and I got my bag slashed too. They didn't take anything however I've decided that my nice bag from Argentina is not rectifiable and will be left behind.

I've found a disadvantage to my Veganwares Microfibre boots, every single shoe shine boy asks if they can polish them. No you can't, leather polish will screw up my nice cow free shoes thank you very much. I wonder how you can say "No, my shoes aren't leather" in Spanish?

Oh and after some googling Nevryn came up with the english name for the family of lisa fish. It's the mullet.

On the upside blogger has decided to work again- yay!

blah!

2005-02-15T06:43:00.000Z

Blogger ate my other posts. And it won't let me rectify them.

In Cuzco, it is cold, the bus broke down in the middle of last night, my lungs have to work harder than normal for me.

Peruvian landscape is funky and slightly surreal.

The Nazca Lines kicked arse. There are many pics.

Sleepy time soon. Will write more when I am confident the posts won't be eaten.

In the Jungle...

2005-02-12T01:43:00.000Z

I spent the last six days in a jungle lodge 140km upstream (3 hours by speed boat) from Iquitos on the Yanayacu River, one of the tributaries of the Amazon. Quite simply these were some of the most amazing days I've had in my life. I've been interested in rainforest conservation since I was, oh I don't know, 10 years old? However, all the articles I've read, the pictures I've seen and the documentaries I've watched simply don't compare to being there.

Anyhow here is a brief diary style description of my trip:

Day 1
I walked the few blocks down to the lodge office from the hostel this morning. I had to walk an extra two blocks to avoid the main square where the weekly flag raising cerimony takes place. Marcus, the guy from the office, was saying that the government still saw Iquitos as a war zone from the war with Ecuador and the weekly pompous cerimony was to warn any stray Ecudorians that Peru was ready to fight them.

It took three hours by speed boat to get to the lodge, so we got there about lunch time. The lodge is a series of rooms on stilts, bungalow style connected by walkways. The rooms are all mosquito netted, though looking at the number of midges around the kerosene lamps I am writing by this evening I am not sure how effective they are. It's rather pretty at night with the way it is lit up, little burners on the walkway give it a Ewok Village type look.

After settling in and having lunch we (myself, Carlos the guide and a couple from Lima, who are the only other guests here for the moment) went for a walk through the rainforest to a village up the river and watched a soccer game. It rained so the ground was really muddy, the sort of step in it and sink in over your ankles muddy, but the walk was great! Heaps of different plants and everything is so lush, green and alive. And there were bugs, like centipedes, spiders and different types
of ants.

Also got to swing on a vine and look at some really huge trees. Most interesting plant was one that has fruit that is spikey on the outside like a rumbutan, but has red berries on the inside used for face painting and food colouring.

We took a boat back from the village and had dinner. After dinner we went out on the boat again and caught a cayman (white nosed alligator). This involved Carlos leaning out of the boat reaching into the water and grabbing him. He was about 7 months old and we took some pics before putting him back in the river. We also went out and looked for bugs. Saw some pink toed tarantulas and a scorpion that were nifty.

There's a great Sesame Street song with Kermit the Frog singing about why his pond is so great and quiet and he mentions different noises of the pond at night. It ends with him going "This is the loudest quiet I’ve ever listened to!" Anyhow I thought of this whilst trying to get to sleep where the number of insects, owls and other night critters did not give one "peace and quiet". They were fabulous though.

Day 2
We woke early this morning and went back out on the boat to look for different types of birds. There was a slight mist on the water and it was all very pretty in the morning light. Lots of different birds, vultures, herrons, hawks and many kingfishers to name the ones I can remember. Came back for breakfast, the back on the boat downstream to the Amazon. We watched the birds and insects, including dragonflies, butterflies and these rather nifty bugs that scooted across the water
surface. Also got to see some prianhas and other fish. On our way back up the river we stopped by a farm where they grew bananas and peanuts and a few other things. Most of the farming is subsistance with a little bit of excess being traded with other people on the river. The farmer happened to catch a yellow anaconda who was trying to roll a pig when we were there. It was rather impressive, over 4 metres long. Farmers who catch snakes like this generally keep them for a few days and then let them go back in the jungle. We also saw some monkeys from the boat who were neat.

Day 3
Had a bit of a lie in today (no early boat trip in other words) and headed into the forest at about 8am for a walk. Managed to spot some squirrel monkeys. Then we went out on the river and mangaed to see some marmosets and found a sloth who was rather happy to be sitting at the top of the tree and wasn't all that interested when Carlos tried to get him to move. There were heaps of birds as well. We went back to the lodge not long after that and had lunch and then the couple from Lima
left, so I'm the only tourist here now. Had a relaxing afternoon in the hammock before all of us (the cook, the guide, the tourist and the manager) went out to get some catfish from the people in the next house over. Alot of people keep prehistoric catfish in nets in the river, they are a hardy fish and can live for hours out of water and in shallow water also. I also watched the sunset from the river. After dinner we went spotlighting on the boat again, but didn't catch anyone. Oh and the
night sky was somewhat clearer tonight- the stars are gorgeous without the light pollution.

Day 4
Myself and Carlos went out early this morning in the tiny canoe. Part of my spent the entire time hopping we wouldn't capsise! It was really good though we got to see lots more birds and some monkeys too. It rained for most of the later part of the morning so we stayed in. I must say it was kinda nice curled up by myself listening to the rain on the thatched roof. Oh and we now have running water (still from the river though). Two guys from the Neatherlands came today and we went out the the swampy area of the forest where we saw the sloth yesterday this afternoon. Saw
some more birds and got some pictures of the lake too. The next house over had an anaconda that Carlos showed us, only a little one though. Because of the rain this morning it's not too hot, interestingly we saw some of the river plants floating upriver which means the Amazon has had a downpour which is pretty nifty. On our walk we also found two pink eggs, about the size of a chickens egg that Carlos said was from a local bird that was about the size of a hen.

Day 5
So it's my last full day here in the jungle, we went out early again this morning and saw some birds, though not too many as we were in the motorboat rather than the canoe. After breakfast we went out to the lake that we couldn't get to before because it has rained a fair bit and the water level has risen we could get through. I was rather pleased to see a pair of toucans (given I had asked about them the previous afternoon) though they were too quick for me and flew off by the time I got my camera out. We also saw a dolphin in the lake which was pretty neat too.
I no longer even try to film dolphins they are just too fast. Took heaps of photos today- over and entire roll. Not sure how some of them will turn out. Also saw some squirrel monkeys. After lunch and a rest we went for another walk in the jungle which was good, saw some marmosets. On our way back form the lake we stopped in at the village where we saw the soccer match a few days ago. We got to visit the shaman (medicine man) who gave us a drink of herbs mixed with what tasted like rum. It is
supposed to help with coughs, colds and promote general well being. He also showed us a skull from a big alligator that he caught a few years ago which was rather impressive. We also ate some fruit today which has a pulpy inside but is about the
size of a orange. The texture is rather gummy and it was sticky but sweet. Difficult to explain the flavour though. Also chewed on a swall flower thqat turned out to be a natural anesthetic. Tasted gross but left my mouth feeling tingly and numb.

Day 6
It hasn't stopped raining all morning! This is my last day (well half day) here at the jungle lodge and I haven't been able to go out because of the weather. I'm currently in the hammock room looking out at the river and the rain. It is impressive the amount that the river has risen over the past few hours and it appears from the way the water plants and floating (up rather than down stream) that the Amazon is filling up again. On the other side of where I am is the garden here which has mostly flowering plants in particular red hybiscus. There are a few
butterflies out too. Which is something I didn't expect in the rain. Also saw a humming bird flittering about. The hummingbirds here are different to the ones in Olinda, they are a dark colour whilst the Brazillian ones are a metalic bright green. Took the boat back to Iquitos later in the afternoon. It's weird to be around things like running water and electricty again. The trip was great :)

Hehe, so there we go, oh and a list of the animals I had the priviledge
of seeing:
marmosets, squirrel monkeys, a white nosed aligator, pink toed tarantulas, scorpions, red belly prianha, crabs, prehistoric catfish, toucans, pygmy kingfishers, greater kingfishers, black headed vultures, red headed vultures, dark hummingbirds, pink river dolphins, a three toed sloth, brown collar hawk, prehistoric centipides, giant mosquitos, regular mosquitoes, yellow anacondas, a green frog, common great egret, river gulls, yellow headed carcacara hawk, white necked herron. Also several types of bats, flycatchers, butterflies, dragonflies, ants, birds and bugs I didn't get the names of.

There are over 90 photos. And they still didn't catch alot of the more interesting creatures due to speed and lighting (such as the monkeys, dolphins and the toucans). Yes, Adam I will show them to you.

I would also have to thank TGVITS who ensured that when I asked about a creature we usually saw them the next day. Carlos thought this was rather amusing.
M: "Carlos, are there sloths around here?"
C: "Yes, but they are difficult to spot"
*later*
C: "There's the sloth you were asking about"

Oh and it seems that there is also a local fish that has the same name as me, which was something one small boy found hillarious. But the if I met someone called Trout or Snapper I'm sure I'd have a giggle too.

Regards to the fish, hey?

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

2005-02-11T14:22:00.000Z

SquareBear drew this comic of Captain Vegetable and I just had to share it with you all.

Oh and for Sesame Street context, look here.

Update on rainforest adventures, soon. I promise.

Can't think of a title, but this one is about Buenos Aires and Iquitos.

2005-02-05T10:30:00.000Z

Currently I'm in Iquitos the biggest city in the world without a road link. It's about an hour and half flight from Lima in the Peruvian Amazon Basin, I got in yesterday evening after a day's travel from Buenos Aires.

So my last few days in Buenos Aires were blessed with sunshine after a couple of days of heavy rain. I spent a day out in the La Boca area, went back to the sunday market, saw heaps of street performers, had lots of time in parks and just wandering the city and took some spanish lessons.

La Boca is a port area that originally had buildings made from shipping iron and decoratively painted with ship paint. The result is zaney, brightly coloured buildings which have continued to be painted in this style. It naturally attracts a fair few tourists so there are heaps of cafes and souvener shops. At the same time lots of local artists also have stalls showing their paintings and handiwork. It's quiet funky. Interesting to note how different it is from the surrounding area in terms of renovation and development.

The street performers in Buenos Aires are really rather brilliant. Tango dancers, puppeters, buskers, jugglers and living statues all make an appearance in the pedestrian malls and around the market areas. My personal favourite were the guy and the girl who were living statues who dressed as business people walking into the wind. Their costumes included wired up trenchcoats and ties made to look like the wind had caught them. Very nifty.

Took spanish lessons during my stay, and now I'm, well... not toally hopeless! But saying that my teacher was great (very patient) and I know enough to get by.

Caught my flight yesterday morning from BA to Lima then spent a few hours in Lima airport then flew up here to Iquitos. The view of the sun setting through the clouds over the Amazon and the rainforest from the plane was rather spectacular. I feel I am back in South East Asia. It's equatorial (only 4 degrees south of the Equator), hot, there are tuk-tuks, everyone is laid back and I stick out like, well a tourist!

Given Carnaval has started (Ash Wednesday being next week and all) I was witness to many waterfights today. Brazillians have street parties and dancing, Peruvians have waterfights. Which is not a bad idea given the heat. It's rather amusing to be walking around town and see fully grown men peeking around a corner with a water balloon. Got hit by a water pistol whilst riding in a tuk-tuk which was rather funny.

I forgot how big macaws were until I walked past one at head height on my way out tonight. There was also a tiny kitten at the hostel as well which was about a third of the size of the macaw. Which gave me all sorts of amusing birds chasing cats images.

Spending the next 6 days at a jungle lodge up the Amazon, don't worry there will be many photos.

A day in Uruguay. A night in Buenos Aires.

2005-01-29T16:48:00.000Z

So I spent yesterday (being after midnight and all) in Colonia, Uruguay. It's a pretty little colonial town with cobbled streets (have you picked a theme yet?), boganvillia, museums and craft shops. Being a tourist spot and only a short ferry ride from Argentina all the stores (even the little deli's) accept three types of currency thus making it slightly confusing when you want to know the price of anything.

Anyhow got there about midday and went for a stroll around the old fort. There were several small museums (each with a guy dressed in colonial costumes out the front), plus some ruins. Then explored the rest of the town looking at the pretty buildings and also went down to the river. The weather wasn't the best today, overcast, a spot of rain, but still warm. The river, as a result, was rather choppy and rough but still nice to walk along. Did get some sun and a breeze later in the day that was nice as well. The rivers edge had some interesting rock pools and trees.

It's quiet simmilar to Olinda in that Colonia is a bit of a centre for arty people with several galleries and people selling handmade products. And there is an arts fair which is more touristy than the other areas, but still worth walking about.

After a extra long trip on the boat back. For reasons I could not understand (no really, I don't think they gave a reason, even in Spanish) we sat in the harbour for an extra 40 minutes with everyone getting more and more techy. I decided to go out to a nice little vegie place in the northern part of Buenos Aires. Which was open and still full of people at 2330 (makes noises about a city that doesn't die at 9pm). Asian food and cheery staff. I had seen it advertised that the staff sing to the patrons, but there was no singing tonight. On the ride back in the taxi I was treated to a great sight. We were heading towards the Obelisco (the giant, pointy, phallic monument) which was lit up (as giant, pointy, phallic monuments are at night) and the whole street down was alive. People walking around, places to eat still open, theatres, lights and just a touch of neon. Given that most of the nightclubs are currently closed here (due to a fire safety enquiry because of a fire 3 weeks ago that killed almost 200 people) it is nice to know that there is so much to do at the more ungodly hours and that there are people who do things other than club during this time. It was rather simply something special.

And the lights are pretty :P
(I think I have used a few too many brackets here)

Good Air to you.

2005-01-26T08:38:00.000Z

So I faffed about Rio for a few days where the weather was less than desirable. Yay for the wet season! Still warm though. Ended up looking like a water rat by getting totally drenched one evening whilst going on a walk and happened to be wearing my palest, thinnest top which was slightly embarrassing. Caught the bus and spent a day in Sao Paulo.

Went with some people to one of those meat on a stick places that Brazil is famous for (given I had been in the country for 2 and a half months I figured I may as well suss out the salad range). What happens is there is a huge salad bar type thing with different vegetables, rice, beans, chips etc which you can help yourself to. Then waiters come around to your table with big skewers of meat and offer you bits cut straight off onto your plate. Roast chicken, beef (rare, medium and well done), chicken heart, sausage, pork, you name it, it was there. It did get a bit ridiculous after they came around about the 20th time despite everyone feeling totally stuffed and all politely declining (again). As I was the only person who declined every time the waiter came around clearly there was something wrong with me and one wait er cut off a slice and placed it directly onto my plate despite my multiple polite "No, obrigada senor". Charming. I was well done at this point and someone else ate the bit but to be totally honest it was more than just a little bit gross.

Slept the following night at the airport and flew here to the city of Good Air early on Sunday morning.

Buenos Aires is often labeled as being the most European of South American cities. And part of me can see why. There are many statutes, memorials and parks. The architecture is rather funky. There is a certain elegance to the tango (which I am yet to attempt to perform). Lots of people speak English (and I'm trying to learn Spanish). Oh and the good air doesn't seem to extend to any enclosed space. Smoking is acceptable everywhere. They don't even have the health warning labels on the packets.

Speaking of cigarette warning labels my favourite was one from Brazil that was of a half used cigarette with the ashed bit curled over and the written warning telling you about how smoking leads to impotence.

I arrived last Sunday morning on minimal sleep but decided to clean up and go out to the art and antiques market that was going on, being the market slut that I am. It was well worth it. The market focuses around Plaza Dorrego in San Telmo, however the surrounding streets are full of buskers (I *really* am begining to appreciate the piano accordion), street performance, market stalls and tango dancers. It had a really lovely feel to it. The fine weather (clear skies, low 30s, low humidity) also helped.

Spent the past few days sorting out the changes to my ticket, taking Spanish lessons and wandering around San Telmo and Centro. The main pedestrian mall has been full of people but in a pleasant way and the few squares and parks are people friendly too. Am glad I am here for awhile there are heaps of different areas I am looking to explore.

There was a costume party at the sister hostel to the place I'm staying last night. Due to the fact that costumes are high on the list of things for the average backpacker to carry they supplied a few bits and pieces for those of us who made that difficult choice between first aid kit and fancy dress. There were streamers which I used to go as a quasi anime character and a variety of hats, horns, masks and the like. Wasn't too bad but I left when it got too smokey for my liking.

Tonight there is a Australia Day Party with the expected "piss up by the pool" and rumors of sausages in bread with tomato sauce. There isn't an actual pool at the hostel so a paddling pool is being brought in. Fosters may be hard to find (but lets face it no self respecting Australian would be caught drinking it). And no lamb. I did wish the nice man at the Qantas office a Happy Australia Day though.

Semi surreal comment from last night: "I'm going to Peru next Friday." And I am. How very cool.

Less than two months before I get back to Perth, how terribly scary. Any Sydney-siders wanting to catch up mid March, drop me a line.

Leaving Olinda.

2005-01-18T02:14:00.000Z

Am back in Rio after 40+ hours on the bus. My last few days in Olinda were rather enjoyable, despite the weather being less than it´s usual glorious self.

Spent last wednesday night out in the Forroe club, though left somewhat early due to smoke, exhaustion and the need to get up early in the morning. Had an enjoyable class on Thursday followed by another dancing lesson.

We did Calypso and Frevo dancing. Calypso being much more difficult than one could imagine and Frevo leaving my thighs sore for several days. Frevo is the local dance of Recife and involves lots of jumping up and down and twirling a little umbrella. All good (if a little painful) fun.

Patrick and I discovered that the revolution had indeed begun and didn´t have any students on Friday. I must point out this is due to a dispute over bus tickets (or lack thereof) which are part of their wages than anything else. So we pottered around old Olinda for a bit. A few of us went to a nice little Italian place for dinner which was enjoyable then hung about São Pedro square for the evening.

Caught the bus on Saturday afternoon and arrive in Rio early yesterday afternoon. As far as long bus trips go it wasn´t too bad.

It has occured to me that my time in Olinda is the longest I have spent in any one place in almost a year. The previous longest was mid December 2003- early March 2004 which I spent in Perth, which is kinda scary. I met some really lovely people, saw some really funky things and found a climate type that my body seems to enjoy.

UPDATE: I forgot to add earlier that walking back home last Friday (at about midnight) one of the 24hour funeral parlours was totally going off with loud music, dancing and many festivities. Who says the dead can´t party on?

Volunteers, Carnaval, Monkeys and of course the Fish.

2005-01-11T11:44:00.000Z

Last Friday a new group of volunteers arrived, fourteen to be exact thus more than doubling the number of us here in Olinda at the moment. It´s a bit of a shock and everything feels a bit like a school trip when we all go out but they all seem to be pretty cool.

Spend last Saturday at Intamaracá which is a small island just off the coast near Forte Orange, north of Olinda. Whilst the skies looked a bit grim to start with it turned out to be a gorgeous day, blue skies, white fluffy clouds, the Atlantic, shade on the beach, scorching sand and fishes.

Once we caught a cab to Forte Orange (which was only slightly more expensive and heaps quicker than four buses) we took a short boat ride to the reef where we snorkeled for about an hour. The fish were amazing, lots of different types though the main ones were the zebra striped ones with a patch of yellow (okay so I´m not too crash hot on the names of them) there were quite a few sea urchins too. It should also be pointed out that there was a floating bar at the snorkeling spot. This was a guy in a dinghy with an umbrella and two eskies full of drinks, which was rather funky. I also discovered that you can get prescription snorkeling masks thanks to Bruce (new shiney volunteer from my corner of the planet) which I was very impressed with. The rest of the day was spent relaxing on the beach in the shade chatting to people. Most enjoyable.

Speaking of fish, Bill Bryson´s book about the history of most things (or something like that) has been doing the rounds. Apparently it has a really good section on the fishing industry and the fact most of the world´s fish stocks have been depleated. There´s at least one more person who doesn´t eat prawns nows. I´m finding it very amusing watching someone else guilt trip prawn eaters over dinner.

I spent Sunday afternoon walking around old Olinda which was rather relaxing and managed to catch several drumming performances on the street as well as a Carnaval rehearsal. Got to see a full Carnaval drumming band in full gear practicing as well as some girls in the traditional big hooped skirts dancing. This will continue ever Sunday until Carnaval. Dinner was a the local Chinese where I got tofu for the first time in over a month- joy for simple pleasures.

Yesterday morning I spent at my project. Not alot to report on that I guess, it´s pottering along well. The afternoon I accompanied Kate to the soup kitchen where we threw the Christmas party a few weeks back. We played more games with the kids for a few hours in the afternoon, mostly ball games such as soccer, a variation of volleyball and piggy in the middle. I also learnt a new game where you stand in a circle and throw the ball randomly to each other on the fourth throw you have to throw the ball as a hard and fast at someone, if they catch it or dodge they stay in, if they get hit they go out. Those Favella kids can really throw hard!

Today I skipped out on my project and went with Lizzie to her project in the Botanic Gardens. The gardens are not a formal, well manicured garden but rather a piece of native forest with a small museum, a herb garden and some paths through it. Apparently quiet a few school trips go there though and it is lovely to walk through there and listen to all the sounds. We got there early and spent the first hour weeding the plant beds in the medicinal herb garden before having a break and split a fresh from the forest jackfruit for morning tea (which was rather yummy). Continued with weeding for a bit longer then found Bruno the supervisor, or rather he found us. He´s a really lovely biology student who showed me around and seems to know everyone. We spent some time collecting seeds that had fallen in the forest and would be replanted and chatting. There were also the cutest monkeys who live in the forest and were happy enough to accept the crackers we offered (though a few preferred the jackfruit that was already broken open) and stopped long enough for Lizzie and I to get a couple of pictures.

The afternoon was spent at the zoological gardens, a museum which was mostly closed (but had a very funky display of Carnaval costumes that was open), a old colonial house and an art museum. Bruno kindly showed us around and introduced us to all the people he knew at these places. It was a very long, but fun afternoon.

We caught a very crowded bus back to the hotel most of which I spent holding on for dear life to the rail that was above my head, just within reach. I am sure my arms are long from the stretching that happened. Dinner, then an intensive almost two hour dance class. Slightly exhausted now.

I leave on the weekend, am going to miss this place, but it´s well time I saw something different.

New Years and that sort of thing.

2005-01-06T03:35:00.000Z

So I welcomed in the New Year 11 hours later than normal at a house party which is somewhat traditional for me. The catch was that most of the conversations for the evening were not in my native language and there was much more dancing and music than usual.

Richardo (one of the waiters at the place I am staying) kindly invited the volunteers to a NYE party at his mother-in-law to be´s house. Nine of us headed out at about 11pm for the party and whilst we were the only gringo´s there everyone was very welcoming and we had a great time. There were fire crackers in the surrounding streets, much dancing, much alcohol and much food. And rather surprisingly much conversation. I got kidnapped briefly by the kids (who were terribly cute I might add) and was interrogated on the details of my family, Australia and what I did.

At one point I was summonsed over to prove that I was a vegan (or "vegetariana totale") I answered the usual questions of what I did and didn´t eat and why. This is fairly common, I´ve been the first vegan people have encountered even at home. I am rather chuffed that I could have the conversation in a language other than English. Trying to ask for a bus ticket is another story.

We left at about 4am for central Recife for the end of a street concert and wandered around chatting to people and having much fun. I chatted alot to my new roommate, Lizzie who is from London and is working out at the Botanical Gardens. Hannah claimed she was from Moldvania only to get the response "I like your country" which resulted in many drunken giggles. We stumbled home from the bus stop at around 8am, and collapsed for most of the day.

All in all a good new years.

This year has been pretty good so far, despite the fact that there was a flash downpour on Monday night (thankfully we were undercover) and Tuesday was mostly overcast. It´s still warm and has returned to sunny. Patrick, one of the other volunteers, has started out on the teaching project in the mornings with me and it´s going really well. Beach is planned for the weekend.

I am here until the end of next week and my time in Olinda has gone awfully quickly. I can´t believe I´ll be back in Perth in a little more than 2 months.

Oh and a Christmas picture courtesy of Borisontour to prove I´m still alive.

Most favourite time of the year...

2004-12-30T01:28:00.000Z

So it´s almost the end of 2004 and New Years Eve is tommorrow, which is my favourite time of the year. Other than marking the end of December (my least favourite month) I like the freshness of the celibration and welcoming of another 52 weeks. Sure I know in the grand scheme of things it´s just another night, and the calendar is a human made system. But it is one time I enjoy sharing with people and I usually find time to think about what was sucky in the year past and how to fix it. I guess we all need to stop and reflect about the good and bad stuff in our lives and for me New Years is a good time to do it. I don´t make formal resolutions with a date stamp but I do identify things I would like to fix or change. And there are usually pretty good parties and gatherings as well. Have heard of at least 6 gatherings in Perth, but am not sure how I will be spending the turning over of the clock a whole 11 hours later. Probably a beach party.

Class went fairly well today, next week I will have another volunteer working with me which should be good too.

For those of you concerned your donations will be going to administrative costs rather than people I suggest you donate to Food For Life who have stated that all donations will be given directly to victims. Having met their director at IVU I can say they do heaps of good work around the world, staying in areas the Red Cross has even left and providing meals to the poor and those in need. In Sri Lanka they are already providing 5000 hot meals a day to Tsunami victims.

And an interesting article on animal deaths. Or lack thereof. So who was the smartest species again?

It´s the end of the world as we know it...

2004-12-28T22:12:00.000Z

Some of my students took me on a tour (well they *are* tour guides) of old Olinda yesterday. I learnt many new and shiney things such as that the Boganvillia plant is native to Brazil, the Church considered the pelican as a symbol of Christ and some history of pretty churches (there are seven big ones in Olinda). I taught them some new words such as bark (which they had been calling tree skin) and increase. We saw some pretty views of the area. Oh and apparently the world is comming to an end real soon now.

Ed: You see we belive that there will only be one more Pope so there is only one more space left on the picture.
Me: So what happens after we run out of Popes?
Ed: The world ends.
Me: Well, that´s a bit depressing.

And people wonder why I have issues with organised religions.

In happier news I got in touch with my cousin & all family members are accounted for. I promptly emailed the work crew at home who emailed me who was on the other side of the planet to ask if I´d heared anything. Yay for the internet making strangers of your neighbours and friends from people on the other side of the planet.

They seem to have upgraded the earthquake to 9.0 on the Richter scale, putting it on par the fourth most intense since 1900. Rather impressive we´ve had two decent size quakes in the past month, but the other one only affected a few penguins off Antarctica (most of whom were apparently okay). People are complaining about how little other people are donating for aid, yet few stop to consider the number of people dying each day through famine, preventable disease, hunger and the like. I guess I´m saying you should all do something regularly for those less fortunate, there is always suffering in the world, just because it isn´t making CNN (pathetic news service that it is) doesn´t mean it doesn´t require help.

Oh and a story about sharks and the place I am currently staying is here.

ooer I gotta get to work now...

UPDATE: work was great, I got to draw diagrams of techtonic plates and explain tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanoes. Geography is everywhere, even in your English class...

Cheese on a stick.

2004-12-26T16:16:00.000Z

Part of the conversation on cartoons over dinner the other night:

Q: Who is Spongebob Squarepants?
A: He lives under the sea and wares y-fronts which are square because he is square and he is like a sponge and he looks like the cheese on a stick.

Yup, that´s right here there is cheese on a stick that looks like Spongebob. As in it´s the pale yellow colour with a sponge like consistancy (a bit like that mini-col cheese) and it´s usually cut into cubes/rectangles and threaded onto a skewer. And then you roast it on hot coals like satay or kebabs.

(I just had to share it because I keep forgetting to mention it to people and for some reason I find it amusing. Will return you to more vegan-friendly ramblings shortly.)

Class went well today, there were hummingbirds in the garden who are bright metalic green and rather pretty. Students are pretty good as well. I was not required to sing.

Still haven´t heard about my aunt and uncle for sure, though mum thinks that they are still in Bangkok which hopefully they are. Other family appear to be unaffected. Heard Monge (vegan, online friend) is alive and well but had to be evacuated.

Still wanting to slap anyone who uses "tidal wave" to mean "tsunami". If you get a slapping when I return in three months out of the blue this is probably the reason why.

Disapproval would be folly...

2004-12-26T02:55:00.000Z

I loathe the month of December. It starts with my birthday and goes down hill from there. Christmas is not something I enjoy. I hate the commercialisation. I hate the fact it is okay to lie to children. I hate the hypocrisy associated with "peace and good will" to all, unless you are of a different race, creed or species. I hate obligation. I hate that you are expected to drink. I hate the fact that everyone tries to be nice to people they usually don´t give a toss about. I hate the carnage. I hate the fact that they read the bit about the "lion eating straw like the ox" at church and *noone* thinks "hey maybe God is pissed that I killed a whole farm yard for lunch" (well I thought it, I also stopped attending church because of it). I hate the tacky music about a non-Australian climate blaring from every street corner. Yes, usually I am very bah humbug!

Here in Brazil things are different. There is no tacky decorations, they are all rather tasteful. The only Christmas music you hear in shops is a samba version of songs played at the supermarket by a man on a keyboard and it isn´t in your face. There are event´s where the entry fee is a kilo of food to give to the poor. The electronic display on buses wishes you "Feliz Natal" as well as giving you the destination (usually they wish you good morning/afternoon/night). The shops aren´t anymore insane than usual.

Also Christmas Eve is much bigger than Christmas Day. Or at least that´s what I have been lead to believe. The hangover of several volunteers and some of the staff here seems to encourage this belief.

This is my different from home Christmas...

After I phoned home to wish my family (and got told off for not attending an organised religious service) late on the 24th I headed out to the concert that Nina´s Afro-Brazilian band was in. There were five of us who got there and despite all outward appearances of a big event, there were sadly only about 50 people. The music was pretty good though and we hung around to listen to a couple of groups before heading into Recife.

Despite arriving around 1am, Recife was still partying and we listened to a little of the music before running into some of the students at Kate´s project who took us to a bar where we stayed in the street chatting until we headed home and got in around 330am and called Nevryn.

The following day involved more phone calls to a rather intoxicated Hipikat in the morning. There was Christmas lunch, which for me was salad, chips and pineapple (so nothing all that different from home). There was dead turkey for the other volunteers with gravy that Dave had his girlfriend send over from the UK. Miriam the project coordinator and her family turned up with her husband (a rather pudgy Welshman) dressed as Santa. It was amusing and embarrassing all at the same time. Much laughter. There was much toasting to "a warm Christmas", "no family" and "no stress" amongst other things.

Then to the beach by bus. After being here for 3 weeks I just assumed that overcast was not part of the weather. But yesterday it was. The beach was still good though and I had a lovely swim. There was less seaweed and bigger waves and the ocean was fairly warm as well. I also got treated to the best moon rise I have seen in a long time.

It was a full moon (or near enough to) last night, something that at home makes me cringe about going to work. I never believed it until I started working at a nursing home but people do go nuts on the full moon, even more so if they suffer from dementia it seems. Anyhow a full moon rises fairly early. And because of the overcast day the sunset was one of those ones with a medium blue sky and bright pink clouds. And being on the east coast it set behind us with the moon rising over the ocean. And the moon was bright with little clouds around it.

I´ve just read my appalling description. It doesn´t do it justice. I don´t have any pictures having left my camera behind. So you just have to believe me it was amazing, okay?

After dinner we headed back out to Olinda for a few drinks before I called Shay. Fe nicely surprised me by saying she actually read my blog- so thank you it´s nice to know this serves a purpose to people at home who aren´t whiney ex boyfriends.

So all in all a nice Christmas I guess. There was no obligation, no screaming family, no gift giving, no songs about possessed snowmen, no drunken friends throwing up. I should go away more often!

It´s a tsunami not a bloody tidal wave.

2004-12-26T02:52:00.000Z

So this was to be a post about what I did for Christmas. But due to the planet being her usual gorgeous self I now am going to talk about earthquakes.

For those who don´t know have a look here

Some thoughts on earthquakes...

1> From a "geography slut" perspective earthquakes are really cool.

2> From a "I have several close family members in the region" perspective they are rather stressful.

3> From a "disaster and death" perspective they are rather sad.

4> From a "the Earth is alive" perspective they are a rather fabulous reminder.

5> From a "the ABC and BBC should have reporters who understand basic geographical terms perspective" it is rather ranty.

I like earthquakes because they are a reminder that humans do not own the planet. Mother Nature occasionally likes to remind us all that she´s had enough and that the Earth is a powerful entity to be respected. I love the fact that the Earth is alive and natural disasters are a reminder of this. Earthquakes are cool because they change the landscape and if it wasn´t for the tectonic plates moving about we would just be one continent. There would be less diversity in the life of the planet. And there wouldn´t be hot pink bubbly mud.

I am concerned about the several family members I have that are holidaying in the region. This goes without saying. I may rant and rave about my large crazy family lots but I still would prefer it if any of them weren´t swept away by a tsunami. Then again I have yet to hear reports of earthquake issues in Phuket shopping malls so my Aunt is probably okay.

If I read another report about "tidal waves" that are caused by earthquakes I think I shall scream. I mean how bloody hard is it to make sure your reporters have passed high school geography. For those of you who are not aware a tsunami is a big waves caused by an earthquake (or tremor) out on the ocean. It is not caused by the tides at all. Hence you should not be calling it a tidal wave. For a better explanation have a look here. Tidal waves are what we experience every day when the tide goes in and out.

And what have you done...

2004-12-24T05:12:00.000Z

Well, bah humbug!

Things are going along nicely, not much to report, though today was spent shopping and being girlie (well more girlie than usual- I now own hair clips) as the Tourist Centre was closed so I didn´t have to go to work. My class are pretty cool (in the way bouncy 14-17 year olds are) and we went to the top of one of the many hills here to eat tapioca pancakes after work yesterday.

On Monday I helped throw a Christmas party for some kids who live in the Favellas with some of the other volunteers. We discovered that Brazillians do not know what pass the parcel is (we had to explain- in portugese- to the kids). Also discovered Americans don´t either as it also had to be explained to one of the volunteers from the US. It was decided that they clearly had a deprived upbringing. There was cake, dancing, lollies (not candy, not sweets damnit!), guarana (soft drink of choice), a rather violent version of musical chairs and much fun. This was run from a soup kitchen that one of the local ladies organises from her house. Once a week she makes big pots of soup for the poor families in the surrounding area and she likes volunteers to come along and play with the kids for the afternoon. She isn´t well off, but still does this for other people which is wonderful.

On Tuesday night we went out to watch a open air Afro-Brazillian drumming show which another volunteer is part of and we will be watching her band again later tonight. Also found a place that sells Carnaval costumes which was pretty neat as well. Much glitter, sequins, flowers and feathers. Dancing classes are going okay, I still have two left feet though!

The Atlantic is still blue, the sun is still warm, the breeze is still lovely, the palm trees are still tall. Beach tommorrow. Feliz Natal to you all!

Dancing with Puppets

2004-12-14T11:30:00.000Z

Things here in Olinda are going rather well. My class is very laid back and alot of work is done in the garden outside the Tourist Centre. I am very much in favour of class in the open air, with humming birds, the sun, palms and mango trees. Stories of me singing Smashmouth´s "AllStars" to my students may or may not be true (okay they are, but really it was only because they asked).

Last week was orientation which for the most part was learning Portugese. I´m getting there, slowly. Very slowly. And in just over a month I will have to learn Spanish. And after that... Well lets not think about being back in Perth.

On Wednesday some of us went to a Forroe (sp?) club which is one of the local styles of dance I am learning. On Friday night a group of us went clubbing to a western style club. Strangely there are alot of popular English language songs that get translated into Portugese. This means you hear the introduction of a song and go "oh I know that" but then the words don´t seem to match with what´s in your head. The club was okay, though packed.

On Saturday and Sunday there were puppets in Olinda. Three big stages, two smaller stages, a tent, big screens and a gallery with performances in the evening. The tent had a display of puppets from around the world. The performances were cast on big screens so if you couldn´t see the stage you could still watch what was going on. Marrionettes, hand puppets, rod puppets, shadow puppets... you name it, it was there. With a stilt-walker introducing it all. There was also a photographic display of the puppets in action which looked great. Lots of music on Saturday night as well. And on Sunday a parade in the afternoon.

The Parade was of the giant carnaval style puppets and we watched as around 30 of these brightly coloured, detailed, 10ft tall puppets made their way through the streets of Olinda to a marching band and followed by a 20ft (at least) long dragon puppet which was done in a simmilar style to Chinese dragons. Very, very funky.

Seem to have picked up a virus, unfortunately so missed dancing class tonight. Shall have to subject myself to more fruit juice to help recover. Woe is me.

Dancing in the street...

2004-12-06T08:20:00.000Z

So this is the third time I attempt to update this for the entertainment of you at home over the past week. Computers and the internet are usually rather handy but can at times be rather evil too. And besides there are far more interesting things to be looking at.

Spent last Tuesday night in Salvador. It is a pretty, historical centre with cobbled streets (which I seem to be getting a taste for) and pastel coloured buildings. In Brazil most towns have a traditional evening which is deemed "party night" and in Salvador it is Tuesday. Things kick off around 6 when food and drink stalls open up selling all sorts of local foods, juices, cocktails and the like. Then there is Capoeria in the streets which people can watch and some of the schools also have more formal shows inside that people can go and see. Later live music starts on big stages in the town squares and there are people drumming and dancing in the street as well. All the clubs play music, the place is crowded and a little crazy and all the cafes and restaraunts are full. There are heaps of art shops which are also open so you can have a look at some beautiful local paintings and the like as well. Very good fun.

Took the bus on Wednesday night to Recife then on to Olinda where I am now and where I will stay til mid-Janurary. Met some of the other volunteers over the weekend, there are two girls starting the same time I am which is pretty neat. We had our first day of orientation week (half a day of introduction followed by half a day of Portugese which we continue tommorrow).

There is a art fair for the past few weeks which just finished so on Saturday we walked around looking at lots of art and having a look around the old buildings (also pastel with cobbled streets!) and found out where I´ll be working. Yesterday four of us went to Faria Marinha Beach for the afternoon. It´s what I consider a real beach because it has palm trees. Consumed local alcohol and coconuts (not at the same time) and was also offered everything from clothing to seafood to skin cream by vendors. Shopping from your beach towel! Also swam in the Atlantic which was much fun.

Capoeria class now and Samba tommorrow apparently, yay!

Cooking the planet.

2004-11-30T07:30:00.000Z

So I just checked my hotmail and you know how it automatically brings up the msn homepage? (yes I still have a hotmail account, I know) Well for once they actually have a poll that isn´t based on government scare mongering, pop stars or sports. The topic: "Do you think Global Warming is to blame for Australia´s unpredictable weather?"

How about the whole damn planet? This was something that I was going to write about once I had been to another 3 countries and got home. But the thing is everyone has been saying the weather has been extra hot/cold/dry/crazy/odd, *everywhere* I have been. And it´s supposed to be a La Niña year too (which hopefully means no flooding in Peru when I´m there *crosses fingers*).

In New Zealand, it was a dry winter, Kay was compaining about it affecting the soil when we were transplanting blackberries. In Bangkok, Nevryn & I were there for the hottest day in 10 years. In London, it was an unusually wet October with prediction of snow. In Rome it was a warm autumn. And to quote Mo (who runs the nice hostel in Rio and who I was discussing the weather with yesterday morning) "This weather is crazy. It never used to be like this." Becuase over the past 5 years the weather in Rio has become more unpredictable, hotter than normal and raining at odd times. Like now.

I am in Salvador. The 30 hour bus ride was moderately evil, because it was 30 hours on a bus and despite all possible comforts you still notice every single pothole. Saw the most amazing lighting storm from the bus as well as some funky scenery. In many ways the rolling hills and the greenery remind me of New Zealand- except it´s hot. To Recefe tommorrow night!

Those of you who were kind enough to email, I will reply properly later.

Answers to Questions.

2004-11-26T11:15:00.000Z

Because lots of people have been asking about these things of late and quite frankly it´s ticking me off at the moment:

1) What I am going to do when I get home? It is in four months time. Short of "finding work and going to Swancon" I have no idea. This is a 8 month holiday because my I worked my arse off and had no social life for the past two years. (Remember the 16 hour days, the double shifts and working every Saturday night?) Let me bloody well enjoy it!

2) Am I getting it on with lots of cute, fabulous, international (vegan) boys? Quite frankly it isn´t any of your business. (Though if you know any feel free about passing on my email ;P )

3) Will Nevryn and I get back together when I get home? This is also in four months time. This is also isn´t any of your business. Why doesn´t someone contantly bug him about it? He´s in the same city as most of you, I´m on the other side of the planet. Basic geography people!

That is all.

We will return you to my usual ramblings on shiney travelling things shortly...

The little things.

2004-11-26T10:40:00.000Z

So I´ve hit the half way point, or there abouts I´ll be home in just under 4 months. And right now I am noticing the little things most of all.

Yesterday morning I also got the chance to do ironing. I haven´t done any form of ironing in four months, so this is a major thing. It was sort of surreal standing on the top of a building at 0730 in the middle of downtown São Paulo listening to the traffic in my pj´s doing the ironing.

Today when I was walking through the market and the craft shops here in Paratay it wasn´t the cost, the suitability or the detail of the work that got me. It was the size. I look at everything and go "that´s far too big to lug around for the next 4 months." Totally takes the fun out of shopping, which is probably good given my financial situation.

Last night when packing I have realised how much stuff I am carrying that I am not using right at this moment. Sure I will need my jacket when I get to the mountains (I sure as hell did in London). But that´s not for another 2 and a half months and it´s taking up space in my bag until then. There´s the grammar books which get ditched gleefully RSN. And the medication, though I need it I probably shouldn´t have taken two boxes of ventolin. Of course I would have needed it if I didn´t. And then there´s the sleeping bag...

*glares at my pack*

Actually I have gotten packing down to a fine art (having to do it at least once, usually more times a week). I still don´t like it. Am looking forward to teaching where I can unpack for a whole 6 weeks. Six weeks with no packing or major bus journeys, I can´t wait!

Eating it up in São Paulo.

2004-11-25T10:35:00.000Z

WARNING: this post contains lots of references to food.

So on Monday I caught the bus from Curitiba to São Paulo. São Paulo is big. There are somewhere between 12 and 20 million people living in this city (it blends into all the surrounding cities so it´s hard to come up with a exact place where it stops). But big can be good. The hostel is nice and located in the porn store/cinema district, so very convienient. If I have a urge to look at porn that is.

Alan, one of the UK vegans I met at the conf changed his flight so we got to catch up. Hung out on Monday afternoon, eventually found a place for dinner and tried to meet up with Alex (who runs VeggieGuides) but didn´t due to flights. On Tuesday we made it out to the cafe where Lucas (vegan online friend, general fantastic person) works and chatted to him over lunch before going for a walk and trying to find a park with grass that we could sit on. Failed, but still had a good time before he had to leave to go back to London.

Spent Wednesday again with Lucas for lunch. Vegethus rocks and they have great chocolate truffles that rival Constant Cravings and vegan caramel pudding. Oh and some healthy stuff like the vegan pizza with tofu topping. Generally speaking here most restaurants offer a buffet for lunch (and sometimes dinner if they are open) which is either all you can eat or pay by weight. So I´m not going hungry- they all have salad, rice and beans (and that´s the non veg places). So much for starving on the road- at this rate you´ll have to roll me off the plane! Checked out the Lotus for lunch today, which was less vegan friendly but still very good, a few of the mock meat asian dishes that remind me of just about every place in Perth. Also went out to a ice cream place that does a big range of soya ice cream this afternoon. If you were the kid that loved the dessert bar at Sizzler, this is the place for you. It is essentially make your own ice cream sundae with half a dozen toppings plus nuts, sprinkles, fruit etc plus a range of over 20 flavours of ice cream (vegan and dairy for those of you who haven´t been weaned). And they had vegan chocolate mousse.

To combat the large amounts of chocolate consumed I took a local dance class this evening which was great fun. I even managed to get a few of the steps correct!

On Tuesday evening I went to see a play with one of the girls I am sharing a room with. It was really good. I couldn´t understand most of it, but since when have I let something like language get in the way of a good time? Took a formal Portugese class yesterday evening to help with my pronounciation and feel I am butchering the language a little less.

Off to Paratay tommorrow for a couple of days. Pronounced par-a-chee, rather than par-a-tay. Hopefully will be doing a little partaying there.

In other food related news some of the pictures from the conference are up. So for all you philistines who wonder what vegans eat, and all you vegans who I want to make envious have a look here for the answer.

I see trees of green...

2004-11-21T10:00:00.000Z

Curitiba has the largest green space to people ratio of any city in Brazil so have spent most of the day hanging out in various parks. It is a fairly walkable city (as long as it isn´t too hot) and the public transport is pretty cool. The bus stops look like giant clear pipes that people can stand in. Essentally the bus service works like a train metro, but above ground, with buses having their own lanes on most roads and different coloured buses taking different routes.

Yesterday I took the train ride to Morretes which is a three and a half hour journey mostly through Atlantic Rain Forest. The railway hugs the mountains for the most part. Pretty? You bet. With mountains up to the clouds, lush forest as far as the eye can see and the ocean off in the distance I was most impressed. The sound of the train scares away alot of the larger wildlife but still got to see lots of different birds (including a sparrow sort of creature that was a brilliant blue with a black face) and a few butterflies as well. We also went past the lakes that feed Rio Iguaçu and some smaller towns.

Morretes is a bit of a tourist town, but is rather pretty, spent a few hours walking around looking at craft shops and chatting to a girl I met at the hostel. Then caught the train home again. Also made it out to Rua 24 Horas (24 Hour Street) which is more like a mall and mostly places to eat, but still pretty neat.

Off to catch up with vegans in Sao Paulo tommorrow.

Don't go chasing waterfalls...

2004-11-18T21:42:00.000Z

Of course you'd have a fairly boring life if you did that...

I am currently at the bus station in Foz do Iguacu waiting to catch the bus in a few hours to Curitiba.

After spending my last evening in Florinopolis in the company of a delightful vegan who I met at the con (soy ice cream, pizza and walks along the beach) and then being dragged out clubbing by people at the hostel (including a Canadian who is born within a few hours of I), I caught the bus to Foz.

The reason to be here is Iguacu Falls between Brazil and Argentina which are one of the most spectacular waterfalls in the world. Spent Tuesday walking around the Brazillian side of the falls- it was overcast and a bit rainy- but you got wet walking near the falls anyhow, regardless of the amount of rain gear you had. It ment a slightly uncomfortable ride back (four of us squeezed in the back of a taxi may have had something to do with it), but it was worth it.

Yesterday a group of us went to the Argentinian side which was even more beautiful. The bus from the hostel stopped so we could wave across the rivers to Brazil and Paraguay. The weather was warmer, fairly hot actually and there was lots of wildlife too. Saw a coatis (a creature that looks a bit like a numbat, thylacine, raccoon crossed), one of those big rodent creatures (the name of which I forget), heaps of birds (including humming birds and eagles), four different types of lizard and butterflies of every colour of the rainbow. There were lots of walking trails and areas where you could walk over the falls which were pretty spectacular. My pictures won't do it justice so you will all just have to visit one day yourselves.

This morning I went out to see the Itaipu Hydro Electric Power Station on the boarder of Paraguay and Brazil. It is the largest such station in the world. A joint project it supplies 90% of Paraguay's power and a quater of Brazil's. The spillway by itself was huge as was the whole dam. They have a big conservation area around it and a Workers Woods where staff plant trees after 15 years of service. The station is neutral land, but the offical boarder is between turbines 9 and 10.

So technically three countries in two days- Land boarder crossings are such a novelty!

So still alive, still having fun.

Where have all the vegans gone?

2004-11-15T04:40:00.000Z

I am back in the Real World (tm). A world where I have to cook. A world where I have to read labels. A world where everything needs to be viewed with suspect before consumption. A world where there are people who eat animals. A world where people don´t give a damn about themselves, the earth or our non human animal friends.

On the upside I now know other people who aren´t like this and also have to live in the Real World (tm). I have names and addresses. And I have invited lots of them to visit Australia.

The 36th International Vegetarian Union Congress was absolutely wonderful. I cannot describe how much fun I had. The food was excellent, the talks were informative, the cooking workshops were great (I may inflict some of you with my cooking skills when I get home) and the people were beautiful. Of course there were things that needed to be run a little smoother, but that happens with any convention. The organising committee and Marly in particular need to be congratulated on a job well done.

Some more highlights (becauase I can´t write down everything that happened):

* Cooking demos (which involved alot of love in the cooking process).
* T shirts made out of recycled PET bottles.
* Dancing (we had demonstrations of Brazillian and Latin American dancing, as well as everyone dancing).
* People jumping in the pool fully clothed after the Gala Dinner and then hugging everyone who wasn´t wet.
* The birds.
* Seeing dolphins in the harbour.
* The beach on a good day (which didn´t happen as often as I would have liked).
* The beach on a clear night (star gazing vegans).
* Watching people try to convert the tour guide to plant based food.
* Chatting and working and hanging and socialising with heaps of other veg*ans.
* Different activist/vegie t-shirts that people were waring.
* Having the full intention to go to 7am yoga, only to party late every night so that you sleep in.
* Meeting and bonding with like minded souls.
* Finding out lots of cool stuff people have done for vegetarianism and why they have worked, thereby having ideas for heaps of stuff for home when I get there.
* Chocolate crepes for dessert.

Some quotes (attributed to many people):

"So what do vegans eat?" (said at any meal where everyone had huge plates piled high with yummy food)

"Tofu is scary." (why one group won´t promote tofu to meat eaters)

"If you want to get osteoperosis, remember, drink at least 2 litres of milk a day!" (said loudly, in a German accent on the bus to the non vegan tour guide- it was funny at the time okay!)

"Go vegan, you cow sucking pervert." (a button)

"The great vegan in the sky will send people to you." (how the great vegan in the sky will help when you are doing vegan friendly work)

"They´re GMO´s you know." (on the really thin and good looking models at the fashion show)

"There is nothing vegan food can´t fix." (because it will, you know)

"Peixe enosso amigo nao e comida" (fish are friends, not food)

There are people in this world who have open eyes and hearts and they actually get it.

See you in Goa, 2006!

Keep my things they´ve come to take me home...

2004-11-10T14:36:00.000Z

I am at the 36th IVU Congress in Florinoplis, Brazil. In the first two hours of being here on Monday afternoon I met more vegans than I ever have in the entriely of the previous part of my life. There are two cooking streams and five talks at any oen time, so I am totally spoilt for choice. The food is excellent- I have to cut back on the three helpings at every meal! The venue is lovely- there are these cute little owls that nest in a burrow in the ground and I can see the Atlantic from my window. The weather is crap, but you can´t have everything. So many interesting people. Here are some highlights so far:

* This morning over breakfast I had a discussion about the chemistry behind folate and B12.
* There were children from a vegetarian school who did a performance at the opening ceremony.
* Going to the beach with a Spanish raw fooder and two American vegans.
* Having two London vegans spend most of lunch yesterday trying to convince me that I should move to London to live with them and work in the local vegan co-op.
* Learning more about vegetarian food relief (where the Red Cross have pulled out Food For Life has stayed)
* Staying up last night til 2am chatting to people, including a 17 year old raw fooder.
* Meeting online friends in person. I am dubbed "the fish girl" because of my email sign off.
* Cooking workshops with lots of garlic.
* Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner!

People who you can have a sane conversation with. People who will only be offering you vegan food because that´s only what they eat. People who are fun and enthusiastic. People who are happy to share knowledge and love.

There are people who actually get it!

The wheels on the bus...

2004-11-07T03:11:00.000Z

In Florinapolis, IVU starts tommorrow.

The 17 and a half hour bus trip from Rio was alot nicer than I expected. Given I usually get bus travel sickness I was very impressed. The buses are really nice they have leg room (for tall people, not just short people like me) and reclining seats (and I don´t mean 5 degree recline you get on plane seats). Pillows and blankets. Snacks and frequent stops. And they are alot cheaper and nicer than flying. And I ended sitting next to a nice local lady who spoke english, thought I was 16, who was nursing a pot plant (and explained all about different plants), looks after the local stray dogs and gave me her number just in case anything happens and I need help.

Staying at the YHA for tonight. I may go out to a sXe concert if I can get in contact with vegan cohorts. Then off to where the conference is tommorrow. It´s Sunday and not alot seems open.

Also got some bad news abotu the health of a friend this week which has upset me a fair bit too.

The city by the bay...

2004-11-05T06:45:00.000Z

Rio de Janeiro translated to English means January River, because some old sailor who found the place thought that it was the mouth of a river (he should have paid more attention to his geography teacher). It´s not. It´s a bay. Actually it´s a settlement on a stretch of land containing several bays, headlands and beaches. There are mountains covered in lush green tropical rainforest, granite peaks and lots of little islands. It´s pretty damn spectacular. Especially when viewed from a height.

So that´s what I have been doing. Viewing things from a height.

Yesterday later afternoon I headed up to Pao de Açucar (the Sugar Loaf) with two Canadian guys who are staying at the hostel. It´s about a half an hour walk to the bottom and then you have to get two cable cars to the summit. The view up is pretty impressive (and your ears pop- it´s 396m asl!) and you can see all the different landmarks of Rio. Watching the sunset (behind Cristo Redentor) and then all the lights come on was amazing and the breeze really helped with the temperature. We then went back down and decided to go to a little beach we had spotted and seemed nice. It was a nice little beach with a Samba band playing (with singing, percussion and those really big drums) who were really, really good. So we sat and listened to them for a bit with the beach and the palm trees and I danced with a lady who was selling coconuts for a bit too.

This morning I went up to Corcovado (meaning hunchback) where Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) with some other people from the hostel. For a group it was cheaper to book a taxi to take us all rather than trying to battle the buses and wait in line for the trains. Corcovado is a peak to the west of the coast so gives you a totally different perspective on the city and beaches. Cristo Redentor is a really, really big granite statue of Jesus with his arms outstretched as if he is blessing the city. It´s pretty impressive (not as impressive as the Big Buddha in Hong Kong though- that was covered in gold and had a vegetarian restaurant) and there were lots of different birds flying around too. The statue is lit up at night and because most of Corcovado is dense, lush rainforest it appears as though the statue is floating over the city.

I have used almost an entire roll of film on Rio and the pictures are never going to do it justice.

In other less peak related things I went out to Ipanema yesterday during the day. From a beach perspective it seems to be a better place to swim in/lay on, but most of the surrounding area is housing (it´s a very ritzy suburb and about as densely populated as Copacabana), places to eat and the shopping is a bit more upper class. Still good for a sorbet and a wander though.

I also made it out to the bus station to book my bus ticket to Florinapolis tomorrow. The bus ride appears to be over 24hours. I am not looking forward to it. The bus station is in a somewhat dodgey area. It is interesting here, unlike lots of other places I have been to, the difference between the have´s and have not´s seems more extreme because you can see it directly contrasted. You can see people begging in the streets and fancy clothing shops within a mere 5 minute walk. From the Sugar Loaf you can see the favelas (slums) and the ritzy apartments of Ipanema it makes it a interesting thing to note. I am currently reading Hope´s Edge (the 30 year follow up to Diet For A Small Planet which you should all read) and found out that one of the cities in Brazil makes food a right of citzenship (in the same way we have free education, they have government subsided places to eat, all local grown and all healthy) so that noone goes hungry and apparently it only cost about 1% of the city budget- how cool is that?

Oh and it got to over 40°C today. You should try mango sushi. And for those who want to get in contact with me I have a local number, email me and I´ll let you know.

IVU in a few days! *bounce*

At the Copa...

2004-11-03T07:13:00.000Z

Spent today at Copacabana. Aside from being a suburb surrounded by mountains on three sides and the Atlantic on the other it is also one of the most densely populated places on the planet. So there is apartments galore as well as a lively shopping area, street vendors and of course the beach.

A hand full of palm trees, but about 4kms of sandy beach and the beautiful blue ocean. There are lots of little stalls where you can buy drinks including coconuts (yes Simon, even served in the fruit) which being a favourite I had to try. And Brazillian coconuts are damn fine. High twenties, slight breeze- perfect costal weather. All good.

Finally in Rio de Janerio.

2004-11-02T03:30:00.000Z

So I am in Rio, I am staying near the beautiful Botafogo beach (it is the beach immediately north of Copacabana) in a hostel where the staff are insanely friendly and helpful (and somewhat disapointed I won´t be here for Carnaval). I just had a belated World Vegan Day lunch at a place called VeganVegan so am content and have a full belly. Oh and did I mention it is warm? And I have Reals in my pocket. And IVU Congress looks to be great (400 delagates from 35 countries!).

But yesterday wasn´t like that. No, yesterday was sadness and badness. This is what happened... (it involves the use of the word fuck alot)

Yesterday morning after breakfast I packed up (pack is down to 15kg now- yay!) and caught the metro out to Madrid Airport, not too many people around due to a public holiday (for All Souls Day), and eventually found the Iberia check in desks. Walking past I saw two desks that had really big lines and avoided them. As none of the desks seemed to have flight numbers above them I walked up to one where there wasn´t a line and tried to check in. The nice man said he couldn´t issue me my seat at the moment, printed out a form and told to go wait at desks 226 or 227.

Of course, 226 and 227 were the two desks with really long lines that I had just walked past. Thinking "just my luck" I got in the line and realised they weren´t moving all that quickly, people seemed to be going to the start of the line and then back to talk to their travelling partners. After about 5 minutes I asked the nice man in the line ahead of me if he spoke english and when he said yes (with an London accent, I might add) I asked what was happening. It turned out we were all on Standby.

You see Iberia Airlines for some reason belives that if you book a ticket with them and pay them large amounts of money it means that you will probably not want to actually travel to the desination you have paid for on the day that you have selected. No. That would just make sense. They belive that you might like to travel within the week to some place that may be near where you booked to go. So I was standing in a line with alot of people trying to get to Mexico, Peru, Argentina and Brazil. Most of them were not happy. Pretty fucking pissed off would be a more accurate description.

On the upside I got to talk to the nice English man who was trying to go to Peru with his wife. They had come from the Canary Islands a day earlier and that flight had been over booked as well. He also had been a vegetarian for 30 years and travelled quiet a bit so at least the wait had enjoyable conversation. During this conversation it should be noted that the flight they had booked actually left. Without them and several other people (including a couple who´s luggage had gone but they hadn´t).

When I finally made it to the front counter I was told I had two options (I might add no explaination or apology, I worked out the overbooking thing from one of the pieces of paper I was given). A flight in just over an hour on another carrier (Varig) that was via Sao Paulo or a flight with Iberia that would get me to Rio on Thursday. I took the flight in just over an hour. To do this I had to take paperwork to the Varig counter to get a ticket. Then wait in the line to check in my luggage. Then to the Iberia counter to claim my renumberation for them fucking me about. Then through customs and passport control.

Of course the lines for each of these things were at least 15 minutes each. And full of mostly fucking pissed off former Iberia passengers trying to make flights in a short amount of time. Met four really nice Irish people who were in the same boat as me, though about two steps behind. After checking everything in I had 15mins to get through the passport and security line which looked to be half an hour wait at minimum, not the line was that orderly. I also figured I could pick up my renumberation at another office (it did say it was valid at any office and I really didn´t have time to stuff about with it then as the line for that was huge and full of angry people). So I followed the lead of a couple of other ladies and went straight to the front.

You see for the last month I have had people push in front of me at every possible chance. The line in the supermarket, the line to get on the bus, the line to buy a train ticket, you name it in Europe you can cut line for it. I figured I at least had a legitimate excuse. But still after fighting my way through I got to the x ray scanners and realised I had 2 minutes to get to my gate. So I grabbed my bag as soon as it came through the x ray, almost left my jacket behind (they threw it too me) and ran.

I can tell you I have never been happier to be physically on a plane in my life. I can also say I am fairly unfit. Of course then we had to wait on the plane for no less than 45 minutes. So I really didn´t have to run. Was also nice to see the Irish people made it on the plane as well and I ended up chatting to them for a few hours of the flight. Turns out they were also supposed to take a flight that got them into Rio early in the morning but it had been cancelled as well and their flight from Dublin was also fucked about.

So it was a lovely almost 10 hour flight to Sao Paulo (which is west of Rio so we actually flew over where we wanted to be). With bugger all food because of the flight switch. Spiderman 2 wasn´t too bad though. And and I managed to get a look at the Brazilian coastline (in the dark- though the lights were pretty) as we flew over it. Then a wait at the airport (where after 20 minutes the girl still couldn´t figure out what to do with travellers cheques so I gave up) then a 50 minute flight to Rio de Janerio. Where I got less of a grilling by immigration than I did at Heathrow. Of course by this time there wasn´t a money changer open at the airport so I took the taxi becuase they accepted credit to the hostel and arrive there just before midnight. I mean 1am, daylight savings just kicked in.

So the morals of the story:
* Iberia are the most fucking hopeless airline, never book anything with them if you plan to get there on time.
* Vegetarians are everywhere.
* Make sure you have digestive biscuits with you when travelling and dried fruit.
* Nothing is really a major problem- I am in one piece, I have a full belly, I am in a really friendly hostel, I didn´t loose important paperwork...

And I have a really funny (in retrospect) story about trying to get to Rio :P

Did I mention it is warm? And there´s a beach? And tropical fruit?

Melting clocks and the like

2004-10-30T11:05:00.000+01:00

To combat not feeling too crash hot of late I decided to treat myself to lunch out at one of the vegie places on Happy Cow. My body now likes me after I fed it much wholegrains, tofu and organic vegies. Amazing what a good feed can do if you are feeling a bit low. They also have pot set soy yoghurt here which I am very impressed about. And it seems all of Europe has vegan puddings (sorta like a thicker version of yogo) which are very junkie but yummy too.

Also went and looked at a couple of art museums in the afternoon. The first I went to was Museo del Prado which had more old school art, marble sculptures, a few things by Raphael and lots and lots of religious paintings. I was all crucifixed out by the end of it. Not too bad I must say, though I am hardly an art critic.

The second was Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. It has work both by Dali and Picasso as well as a lot of photography and mostly modern art. I was happy to discover Dali does more than melting clocks (melting clocks are very cool, but nice to see a big range of his styles shown) and I must say Picasso is kinda overated. Alot of his stuff is funky and some of the shadowing would have taken ages to perfect. But they had stuff that looked just like his doodlings framed on the wall, just because it was a Picasso. Also in one gallery there were two teddybears tied together and hung from the ceiling, which I really don´t see as art as much as you want to be abstract. Many sculptures that were really cool however and as I said before some splendid photography.

So yes here for a day and a bit longer. Apparently there is a party at the hostel tonight which given how small the kitchen is should be interesting!

Airline woes.

2004-10-29T10:00:00.000+01:00

You see the thing is I am currently in Madrid, Spain. And the trip to Madrid was just for a couple of days as a quick stopover before going to Brazil. This is because of my funky airline ticket giving me all these little flights that I may as well take advantage of because well I am paying for them. And I have never been to Madrid before and that is a good excuse as any to go there. But the thing is I am now stuck here an extra 12 hours.

Twelve hours isn´t that much really in the grand scheme of things. However it means I need to find another nights accomodation somewhere. It also means I get into Rio in the evening instead of the morning. I prefer to arrive during the day to places I am not familliar with. It means just that much long to South America.

All in all these are slightly annoying things.

However for me to actually work this out several things had to have happened.

Firstly when I changed my flights in London the girl stuck a flight change thing on my Madrid-Rio ticket, I looked at this yesterday and went hmmm that's no good, I rather liked the flight I was previously booked on why did she do that. So I went to no less than two counters at Rome airport to see what had happened. They suggested I sort it out when I got to Madrid. Fair enough, it was with a Spanish airline after all.

After the flight that was half an hour late and was foodless (as I felt €2 was far too much for a small packet of peanuts) I was in Madrid. I spoke to no less than 5 different people over three levels of the airport (lugging my 17kg pack) before I found out that Iberia just changed the time of the flight on that day and there were no other flights with seats at suitable or unsuitable times before then. And that is just tough bikkies if I actually needed to be in Rio say on the afternoon of Monday.

Which I don't have to, but I want to be.

I am curious as to what would have happened if I hadn´t chaged my fligths in London and just rocked up to the airport on Sunday night as I planned.

That is all.

You should all go to Rome as it is very beautiful and had wonderful food and weather.

Well that is just typical.

2004-10-27T11:56:00.000+01:00

It is raining today. How miserable for my last day in Rome!

Went to Santa Maria Maggiore yesterday which is yet another decadent church. However it still has a peacful churchy feel to it and doesn't scream tourist trap in quiet the same way as the Vatican.

The coffee here is good. The pizza here is great. The sorbetto is fantastic. Off to try the pasta now.

That is all. Off to Spain tommorrow.

Poverty, chastity and obedience.

2004-10-26T09:36:00.000+01:00

WARNING: If you are of particularly devout, closeminded or brainwashed by organised religion, particularly Christianity you may find this post offensive.

So yesterday I went to the Vatican museum with some lovely Irish ladies who I met at the hostel. There are four of them here to celebrate one of their birthdays and they are incredible lovely and friendly people who seem to have a urge to adopt and feed everyone. Two nights ago they made up a big pot of Irish Stew and roasted chestnuts in the oven and had wine and insisted everyone who was there have something.

We headed out early to the Vatican (the world's smallest country, but no passport control, so no extra stamp). But even when we got there the lines for both St Paul's and the Museum were *huge*. But there were buskers (am beginning to appreciate the piano accordion), beggars, sprukers for local pizzerias and I got to listen to a discussion on Irish politics during the 40 minute or so wait so it was all good.

After finally getting in you get entry to about a dozen different rooms and exhibits as well as the Sistine Chapel, so well worth it for your Euros (which seem to be getting more valuable by the day). Given the lines they must be making and utter fortune. It starts off with the Egyptian gallery. I am beginning to feel sorry for the Egyptians, it seems everybody has plundered their ancient art. Then a room full of Roman marble statues which were mostly of ancient figures and old Roman Gods. Very impressive. Then a room full of tapestry from the Raphael school. And then my favorite...

The Map Gallery. Think a long hall. Think of maps of the different regions of Italy. Think of them painted floor to ceiling fresco style (where you mix paint in with the wet plaster so that it is literally part of the wall). Think of the places on the west coast on one side, and the east coast on the other. A cartographical delight. The photos do not do the room justice (and for some reason there are alot of them). Also the ceiling has some fantastic paintings too and marbled floor throughout.

I likes maps. I especially likes them when they are 500 years old and painted floor to ceiling.

After that there is another room of tapestries. And then half a dozen rooms covered in art, mostly by Raphael. Some depicting the life of Christ, some showing Christianity destroying Paganism, some showing different aspects of Christianity over time.

And then there is the Sistine Chapel. Which I think really does deserve it's reputation. The painting is amazing, detailed and vast. Words really cannot do it justice. You do get a bit of a crick in the neck though! Absolutely beautiful.

Then there is the Library which has more trinkets and artifacts than books. Mostly because the Vatican is paranoid that someone will actually sit down and read the old books and discover that the church has been doing some creative editing over the years. There are some very old globes and star charts too which I found great. Even one of those models of the solar system and had a discussion on if it was the earth or the sun a the centre of the model.

The affect on your eyes and brain is huge. You start to get a visual overload and have to sit down and close your eyes for a minute or two lest your brain explodes from the amount of information it has to take in. One of the people I was with is an artist so she was also explaining the different styles and techniques used which was also really cool.

It is all very decadent, marble everywhere, a little gold leafing and heaps of totally priceless art work.

It is very commercial too. You can buy all sorts of trinkets from about a zillion shops, the most amusing we found was the pin up priest calendar. I kid you not, a calendar with young attractive men in Catholic priest outfits. Which was kinda funny and launched a discussion on "who on earth was it marketed at", possibly other priests, possibly nuns, possibly sweet little old church going ladies. Would have bought one, but I couldn't think of anyone who would possibly appreciate it.

So much wealth.

So much for poverty and chastity.

Also went to the Pantheon which was impressive and interesting historically. It was the first Pagan site to be converted to a Christian place of worship. Architecturally it is amazing. The first time concrete was used in a major construction and the dome roof should theoretically cave in given there is a hole in the middle, but those Romans were pretty good a building stuff I must say.

Been doing heaps of wandering around and around here you can just stumble over big fancy fountains, churches, ruins and the like. The coffee is good and the sorbetto is better.

Rio in less than a week- huzzah!

A walk in the park.

2004-10-23T17:42:00.000+01:00

I spent today getting my vitamin D by hanging out in the park. It's the biggest park in Rome and is full of park like things such as trees, birds, park benches and grass. There were things that I occasionally associate with parks like scouts, canoodling couples, families, ice cream and those funky bikes that are like the Proshmobile. It also has things I don't usually associate with a park like the Museum of Modern Art, old statues, the zoo and a copy of the Globe theatre. I kid you not. A copy of Shakespeare's Globe with appropriate seating, open air and made of wood (French forests that have been replanted according to the sign). Was kinda nifty.

Spent the entire afternoon there lying in the sun, catching up on some writing, listen to the birds, enjoying the good weather and watching the world go by. I have forgotten how much I like the weather of a Perth Spring, which during the day at least seems simmilar to a Rome Autumn. But given they both have the same climate type you'd kinda expect it. Warmish days, blue skies with the occassionly fluffy cloud, nice humidity, no more than 29C, but unlike Perth the nights aren't hideously cold. So lovely.

Of course saying this I have tempted fate and the weather will turn. Which means back to looking at museums and art galleries :P

Farewell to old England...

2004-10-22T07:21:00.000+01:00

The last few days in the UK were good. I am seriously considering living here, though the weather is frightfully shite. Of course to mock me leaving it was a gorgeous blue skied day and last night was comfortably warm (as in I didn't need to wrap my scarf around my head and put on gloves).

Went out to The British Museum on Tuesday. Everyone said I had to go there, the collection is quiet impressive, really interesting etc etc. Well I must say I was a little disappointed. It's the biggest collection of stolen goods in the world and was full of screaming school children (yes I'm noting the irony that I am one of the people who will be dragging said school children to museums). Had a look at the Egyptian section which was packed and the Roman and Greek stuff which was less packed. Also the section on money where the feature display was on badges which as a badge collector I found really interesting. Everything from "born again pagan" to boy scout badges to really old political party pins. Wandered into the Asia section and decided not to bother, I've seen far more impressive Buddha statues on this trip.

Had lunch and loafed about before going to pick up my passport which now has a visa for Brazil in it (yay!) with a few hours to spare I decided to have a quick look at the Natural History museum. Given time limits I thought I'd just have a quick look through the Earth Gallery and maybe look at the Life Gallery later on.

Well not only is it housed in a far more impressive building but it has a far cooler collection of stuff. Fossils, rocks, a statue of Atlas to greet you at the door. And lots of hands on stuff as well and even more funky stuff involving volcanoes and the like. Impressed? Very much so and rather annoyed that I had wasted most of the day looking at some old pots at the Museum.

I managed to catch up with Bec on my last night (after phone chasey over a week). We went out to dinner and had a good catch up and gossip which was most enjoyable. During the day I made it out to Greenwich to have a look at the Prime Meridian (or where it's officially recognised to be at the moment) and it was funky. Lots of clocks, including a 24hour style hand clock, maps, telescopes and globes. Really interesting. Catching the Docklands Light Rail out made me remember what it was about the DLR that I learnt in class a few years ago. The redevelopment reminds me at times of East Perth, but more so of Melbourne.

So now I'm in Rome, was going to go to Naples but now I'm not so sure. Went to the Collussium today which was interesting to walk around and just took a general wander around the city.

All the leaves are brown...

2004-10-19T08:37:00.000+01:00

Despite all stories and suggestions that it was going to snow this week, yesterday turned out to be beautiful and clear. After running around with flight changes (yes again, I know), getting show tickets and visiting the post office (I am very impressed by the British Postal Service, less than a week for a parcel to get from London to Perth) I wandered down to Forbidden Planet, the big SF store. OMG it was most impressive and was conviently within a mere stumble of a dozen or so other book shops and no less than three vegetarian eating places. That's right you can get books, fantoys and vegan cake in less than 15minutes if you paced it right. Needless to say I was rather impressed.

Given the fine weather (fine as in no rain, rather than a decent amount of heat) I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon in Hyde Park. A well manicured park with lots of lovely European trees with golden brown leaves all over the place. And squirrels! They are terribly cute were more than happy to carry out their business and ignore the stupid tourist with her camera. Got the oppertunity to sit and lie on grass with autumn leaves all around me which was lovely.

Went and saw Jerry Springer- The Opera last night in the West End. With David Soul as Jerry. Think of the average Jerry Springer show, with all the usual hillbillies, transexuals, wannabe strippers, adulterers and fetishists. Now think of them all singing and dancing in opera style. Think about the usual lines used in the show such as "fuck you", "dip her in chocolate and throw her to the lesbians", "talk to the hand", "three nipple cousin fucker", "whore", "chick with a dick" but sung in opera style with no bleeping. There was even Steve and JerryCam. Transexual angels. And tap dancing KKK members. It was hilarious and suitably highly offensive.

Falling down...

2004-10-18T08:41:00.000+01:00

Actually all stories of London Bridge falling down are lies I tell you. Yesterday at least it seemed to be in one piece and looked more blue than being built of "siliver & gold".

Spent yesterday at the Tower of London, home to Beefeaters, ghosts, more fancy architecture and some of the biggest ravens I've ever seen. Although packed with tourists my uncle & I managed to get two short guided tours, one with a Beefeater who was rather amusing and one with a historian who spoke about the chapel in the White Tower. Also saw the English Crown Jewels, which compared to the Scottish Crown Jewels was a bit of a disappointment.

This is also the place where poor Anne Boylen was excecuted for alleged adultery. Given Henry VIII had 6 wives by the end of it I think it's just a wee bit rich of him to go around accusing others of such things. Didn't even have a proper coffin for her, just a old box. I'd come back and haunt the place too if my husband was such a cheapskate.

The ravens are the biggest crows (black birds local to an area) I've ever seen. Incredibly well fed they also have their wings clipped to stop them leaving, but given their size I'm not sure that they would be able to, or would want to fly away. the story goes that if the ravens leave, the monarachy will fall. It seems the republican movement has it all wrong. They should just employ a few members of the A.L.F. to liberate the birds and the next thing you know presidential elections for all.

Ended the day with a curry at the east end of town. Walked past the pub where many of the victims of Jack the Ripper were sighted prior to their demise. Also went to where they filmed Diagon Alley for the Harry Potter films. All in all a good day.

Castles in the sky.

2004-10-15T17:26:00.000+01:00

Well not in the sky, but more up a big hill.

In Edinburgh, saying with the best friend of someone I met in the hostel in Prague (because we all know I paid attention to those stranger danger classes). Caught the night bus up two nights ago & spent most of yesterday marveling at the old buildings, cursing the weather and being underground. Did two tours, one of Mary King's Close (as suggested by my uncle) and a ghost tour of some of the old vaults (which was less spooky and more scientific).

Mary King's Close was a small street running off High Street (the Royal Mile) which was covered by the Council Chambers. They literally built right over the street, the result being that many of the old buildings are still there, just underground. So someone has made them safe, did a bit of restoration, wacked in a few wax statues and put some very knowledgeable tour guides in period clothing. It's actually a really interesting insight into the life of the lower and middle classes during the 1600's. Also really interesting to see how land use has changed and how they went about building over a part of town without filling it in.

There are literally dozens of ghost/horror/spook related tours that you can take here. The one I chose went through the old vaults, which were built under the South bridge. It covered different accounts and reports of various spirits in the area, as opposed to traditional style ghost stories. The vaults were inhabited by the poorest of the poor and so have more than their fair share of unhappy spirits, but not all of them. The work done by psychologists and scientists in the vaults were really interesting as well as the different accounts from the tour guides and tourists. Would like to point out we didn't see any ghosts.

Spent yesterday evening hanging out and listening to Canadian/Scottish Punk, which is actually pretty good.

Today I tackled Edinburgh Castle which is a fantastic structure in the Old part of town. Has the Scottish Crown Jewels, a bunch of military stuff, the POW jail (lock up them American pirates!) and has some of the most elegant period artwork as well as some of the most lovely views of the area.

Also got Perthed today. I ran into one of the receptionists from UWA student services in a cafe who's on a months holiday.

Back to London tomorrow morning at some ungodly hour, but this time I'll be able to look out the train window at country side. Still alive, lungs are shot though, playing wait and see.

To walk the fine line between self control and self abuse...

2004-10-12T19:01:00.000+01:00

Just got back from visiting Simon Fryer in Swindon. Had a fantastic time! I caught the train up to Swindon on Saturday early afternoon. A bit later than I was hoping but had to deal with medical issues before I left London. Swindon is about a hour on the train from Paddington Station and is home to The Magic Roundabout (amongst other things). The Magic Roundabout is basically what happens when town planners are on acid or other fun drugs. Think one really big roundabout, but with 5 smaller roundabouts around it in the shape of a pentagram. Roundabouts are great :)

We went out to Avebury (place with older stone circles than Stonehenge) for a walk about on Saturday evening then again to look at the museum on Sunday. It's amazing to think that people have been living and worshipping in the same place for thousands of years. The country side is pretty, the stereotypical rolling hills, hedgefences, sheep and cows (go BSE & foot and mouth!) that you expect to see in the English countryside. Also a bit chilly.

On Saturday night we went clubbing. I drank local beer, a half pint. I then had a stolly. And then 5 shots of vodka with lime. In under two and a half hours. No hangover! No depression! (but a weak stomach). It seems I drink much, much more when I am away from Perth (as in I drink, rather than teatotal which is what I do in Australia). It was pointed out when stumbling home that I wouldn't have put myself in such a situation unless I trusted the people (or in this case person) I was out with. And after much sober thought it has occured to me that there are very few people I trust enough to be in that situation (when I am out of my comfort zone, off my nut & slightly flirty) to ensure that they will take care of me. I did however notice the two guys who were perving on me all night (as did Simon) and I still was able to give a suitable fake name and contact details to get them to go away. Thanks also to the nice girl who dragged me out of the bathroom so I could stumble home, I hope she got laid as it was her birthday :)

Went out to Bath on Sunday afternoon and Hay-on-Wye (the book town) on Monday, will go into more detail later about them.

So yes, election result. What the hell are people thinking? I can understand why some people would want to vote Liberal, but who on earth would vote for the crazy right wing groups who want to put us back in the dark ages? What on earth are you on? Can you please leave my planet?

It's really sad, you meet so many people travelling. Some of them have been really nice people, who also happen to be from the United States. It's really sad to see people who are ashamed and embarrassed by their own country and the mentality of the people in it. I don't want to be like that.

Embassy

2004-10-08T19:19:00.000+01:00

Today after crawling out of bed (or should that be couch?) I went down to Australia House (our embassy/consulate thingy) to vote. The line was halfway down the block so had to wait about half an hour before getting inside. During this time I was given a flyer for the play Cosi (which happens to be one of my favourites) and was harrassed by people from the major political parties. I go to the other side of the planet to vote and I still have to put up with how-to-vote cards and flyers. I politely told them I had already decided (well I did have a nice chat with the man from the Greens, but can you blame me?). This is an improvement on what I said to a Liberal campaigner a few years ago who asked me (whilst waring my nursing uniform) would I vote for John Day who the previous week had blamed the nursing and hospital crisis on nurses, my response wasn't very repeatable. This year there seems to be heaps of right wing, anti choice, religious nut jobs that just had to be put below all the other parties meaning that the two major parties were about halfway down my senate form rather than at the bottom.

The security wasn't as tight as at Singapore, but still a closed road and police with guns. They let me take my camera in and didn't ask for ID. There is a funky sculptor as part of the building of a naked man and some horses. I have decided that this is someone who has gotten sloshed on Melbourne Cup Day and is streaking before the race in a fine example of Australian sportsmanship.

I then hiked out the the Brazilian Embassy to sort out my visa. After waiting 15 minutes I was told that I had to go to the Consulate. Of course it was about 40 minute walk in the direction I had just come. So I hiked back. By then it was after 4pm so they were closed. I would like to thank the nice security guard who ran upstairs and got me a form anyway. So, yes more paperwork. Though on the upside I did get to walk through Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Regent Street and other places found on the Monopoly board. Also walked along the Thames and saw Big Ben and Dowing Street (which you can't actually go down) too. Some very pretty old buildings.

Tommorrow I am going out to Swindon to vist Fryers for a few days which should be fun. I hope my cough goes away. All of you going to Wastelands, I hope it's a riot of a weekend and you better be having fun and creating gossip you can tell me about. I demand gossip! Seriously though, I do appreciate the occassional email, it's nice to hear from people.

Looking forward.

2004-10-08T12:23:00.000+01:00

In London, flight delayed for over an hour on the runway as they reorganised cargo. My meal was pitiful (okay so having flown Cathy Pacific, I now have really big expectations of airline food), but the nice french men next to me gave me their fruit cup things (well they had pasties, cake, chocolate, fruit and salad and I had stewed fruit and a tiny bit of carrot and cucumber). It is alot colder here than in Prague. I am worried about a few health things that don't seem 100% Got grilled at the airport by immigration (like how am I supposed to know which company my uncle and all my friends who live in the UK work for?)

But I am in London! Yay!

And best of all the IVU Congress program is up here.

Prague.

2004-10-05T04:05:00.000+01:00

Well I'm in Prague which was the city everyone said "You have to go there, it's really amazing/cool/funky/pretty." I must say that they were right. There is some fantastic architecture here, though it is insanely touristy. Also they have street art similar to the lions in Singapore, but instead with different painted Cow statues.

Helsinki (aka Nokialand- yes I saw it advertised like that!) was great, I really liked it, got a few nice clear, but still cold, days which were lovely to walk around in. Went to the City Museum, which had bullet holes from one of the wars in the front door and did a self guided walking tour, the details for which I got from the uber friendly information centre people. The market square was lovely, lots of food, fish (including a lady selling it straight off her boat), furs and crafts. On the last day the girl I was sharing a dorm with, Laura, one of her friends and I went for a walk to a flea market where there was a distinct lack of fleas but still pretty fun.

Also spent a day in Tallinn. The old part of Tallinn is a sweet medieval town (nothing new has been built in about 400 years or so). It's really great with turrents, cobbled winding lanes, big fancy churches and a town square. Lots of little stores selling handy crafts like pottery and woolen hats.

Having a great time in Prague, the hostel I'm staying at is really friendly and I'm finally getting over the sore throat/lung problem after reluctantly starting antibiotics. It's alot easier to take them when you are told you aren't allowed out of hospital until you do, rather than having to make the choice yourself thinking "oh I'll just give it another day..." Drank "young wine" the name of which I forget but it was really thick with the consistency of juice, but tasted like a very sweet wine yesterday. Went to the Museum of Sex Machines which had really old porn, a big display on corsets, old style peepshow box and a bondage room to name just a few of the interesting things. Also one of the guys who works at the hostel took a few of us for a long walk to see stuff yesterday, which was really nice as it was his day off. We went up to the castle and back across Charles Bridge and a few other places too.

So yes, alive, well and having fun. Also found a place selling vegan central European pastries. Hmm, cake...

Just a quickie

2004-10-02T17:46:00.000+01:00

Currently in Prague, still alive (though it doesn't feel like it at times), Helsinki was great, ditto Tallinn, will write more later about them. Having issues with gmail at this hostel so if you need me you can get me via ucc or hotmail or phone.

It's cold outside...

2004-09-28T02:40:00.000+01:00

Someone has turned off the heating!

In Helsinki after flying in from Bangkok yesterday morning. Plane was chockers but manged to get some rest before staggering to the hostel and crashing out there. Seem to have a slight sore throat and battling a possible cold, which the weather isn't helping with. My body has basically decided to have a whinge about being taken away from more suitable temperatures and food.

Alot of people speak English, but only after trying to talk to you in Finnish or Swedish or any number of other languages first. I feel insanely stupid for only being fluentent in English and only knowing handfuls of other languages.

The buildings are pretty and the city all seems to be in reasonable walking distance. The information centre has lots of walking tours and there are a couple of museums which seem to be worth looking at. Also will try and visit Tallin later in the week if the ferry's are running (they weren't today, due to heavy winds)

A new shiny continent- hurrah!

Waiting to take you away...

2004-09-26T09:15:00.000+01:00

Okay so more details on the Thailand leg of moonbug's magical mystery tour...

Chang Mai was really lovely, the sort of town where one can just sit, grab a smoothie and chill out. It caters extensively for both monks and tourists, there are lots of Wats, over 500 tour guides and heaps of vegetarian places to eat. It's a lot quieter than Bangkok and also a lot cleaner. Other than going to see the elephants (and meeting the hippie geek tour guide) we also went up to the Wat on the mountain (the name of which I have forgotten right now). The views of Chang Mai from there were great (lots of photos) and the Wat is where the Emerald Buddha statue was originally held. Lots of pretty sculptures and statues as well as very detailed teak carvings and murals. Our tour guide Ping Pong (yes that is her name, no I am not making it up) was great and could tell us lots of stuff not only about Buddhism but also about the Wat's history. I particularly liked the story of the hen called Pho who lived in the Wat and used to attack anyone who did not remove their shoes before entering.

Also did a cooking workshop. There are literally dozens of different places you can do them in both Chang Mai and Bangkok. The place we went to had an open air kitchen on the river which was lovely, I thought the green snake that slid by whilst I was washing my hands was great- the lady from Belgium did not. It also offered about 6 or 7 options as to what you wanted to learn and were really sensitive to allergies and picky food people. We did the Thai Vegetarian Cooking course and learnt how to make Pad Thai noodles, fresh spring rolls, fried spring rolls, mushroom and baby corn stir fry, sweet and sour vegies, black rice pudding and fruit carving. The first hour was spent walking through the garden with a crash course on Thai herbs- what they look like, where to find them, how to use them and what to substitute. Very much worth doing for this alone. The fruit carving (okay vegetable carving- we practiced on carrots) was really amusing- I made a flower and a butterfly and Simon made a mockery of the art (his words not mine).

After Chang Mai we went down to Ayuthaya which is about 150km north of the capital. This is after our plans to go to Sukothai and Lopburi were dismissed due to rain and timing. For more information on being thrown off a bus in the rain, see Simon's blog. Adventures are fun!

After two nights in a gorgeous 80 year old teak guesthouse in Ayuthaya we caught the train back to Bangkok. Also got the chance to meet up with Monge, one of the many people also part of the main Vegan mailing list I'm on. Was pretty cool and he introduced us to the best falafel in the world. Yes it's strange after eating some of the best Thai food I have ever eaten over the past 10 days, it turns out that a stall on Khon San Road has the best falafel I have ever eaten. Khon San Road is also incredibly touristy- the only Thai people I saw were the vendors and Tuk Tuk drivers. Lot's of neon as well, though not as much as Hong Kong.

Monge also explained the road rules for us- they are just a suggestion rather than a requirement. This is something we gathered when walking across pedestrian crossings and realising that the cars weren't slowing down in the slightest (thankfully the buses did). Motorbikes tend to be a law unto themselves often running red lights, and traveling in a Tuk Tuk is something everyone should experience. Interestingly we didn't witness any road accidents in the time we were here.

I'm sure my posts from Europe will be less food orientated as I will only be able to afford two minute noodles from now on.

Waiting for the plane...

This sentimentality doesn't look good on me...

2004-09-26T04:10:00.000+01:00

Am waiting for my flight to Helsinki in Bangkok International Airport.

Yay for Helsinki! Yay for a new shiny continent I have never been to before! Yay for adventures!

Simon has just left on his flight to Singapore, then back to Perth.

Adventures for the past two weeks were fun.

Feeling weird right now.

I maybe should book some accommodation so I have places to stay in Europe.

More about stuff I've done later.

Pink elephants on parade...

2004-09-21T17:56:00.000+01:00

Actually they were grey asiatic elephants. And they were very cute. Went to the Friends of the Asiatic Elephant Hospital and the Elephant Conservation Centre. Our guide runs a permiculture garden, has studied organics, invited us to a peace rally and was very excited to know that Simon was a linux freak becuase they were "trying to use Windows less". Yes hippy geeks are everywhere!

Just a quick post to say I'm in Chang Mai, all is well, this place has got to be a vegetarian utopia with well over 25 pure vegie places and every other second place offering a decent vegetarian menu. Did a cooking course yesterday which was great fun. Ate lots there too.

Tonight we ate at a place called THC (which had more tobacco than anything else) which was upstairs with an open roof, pillows on the floor, to die for smoothies, yummy curries, strange people to talk to and Australian hip hop playing. Very cool.

Will rant more about Chang Mai later, Simon is looking very sleepy and we need to be up early too.

*hugs*

You're talking to a tourist...

2004-09-18T08:47:00.000+01:00

Currently in Chang Mai, we caught a sleeper train up from Bangkok last night which was fun. Didn't sleep well due to fear of falling off the top bunk, but the view out the window in the morning was really nice and lush.

Had been in Bangkok since Wednesday and spent most of it stumbling around randomly looking at things, including very spiffy night markets. Two things I now understand from experience:

1. What my lung specialist ment when he said "Don't spend more than about 3 days in Bangkok"

2. What a lecturer said in 2nd year when he explained the number of different departments that were responsible for road construction and development. The road map he showed really doesn't do it justice, especially when you are trying to make your way around on foot.

The food thing is still a delight- our first night in Bangkok we found a mostly vegetarian place that did very yummy tofu (thank you Lonely Planet). A bit up market, with really good service and terribly romantic in the candlelit sense. Apparently there are over 25 vegetarian places in Chang Mai, so I shan't be going hungry.

The last night in Singapore was good, we caught up with Daniel for dinner which was enjoyable. He and Simon got enthusiastic about taking photo's around the river at night. Prior to dinner we spent the early evening wandering around Chinatown which had lots and lots of mooncakes as it's now Mid-Autumn festival.

Have also learnt that Nevryn can read maps. This is useful when I can't be bothered. Looking over at his computer he's also written more than me, so go look at his blog for more details on stuff we've been doing.

Geekboys and dosa.

2004-09-14T08:07:00.000+01:00

Just wandered through Little India which has a large number of vegetarian places to eat. Also a very funky Hindu temple, pirated Bollywood films and tailors.

Dragged Simon to the IT Mall yesterday. Five floors of shopping extravagance and almost entirely geek related. The eatery list is titled "Food For Geeks" and there is a food court with a vegetarian stall. The coffee shop has soy milk (yay! caffeine!) The book store has a large collection of manga and SF. There's several gaming stores. Heaps of software, hardware and geek toy places. Endured calls of "but I really cannot justify buying an iPod/Palm/insert random geektoy here" It's the sort of place geekboys would die and go to.

I now have chocolate. Still enjoying the food. Introducing Simon to many delights, most of them food related. The expression when I presented him with a entire coconut was highly amusing.

"Well you asked for coconut juice, what did you expect?"
"I don't know, a glass?"

Hotel we are staying at has an icecream vendor outside in the evenings. And lots of streetwalkers. It also rents out rooms for $20/2hours "transit". Lots of pretty girls and not so pretty men. Go the red light district!

Off to Thailand tomorrow.

I can write english proper.

2004-09-11T15:43:00.000+01:00

The bane of my life for the past month or so (namely the stupid evil TEFL grammar module) is over...

I PASSED WITH 84%

Thanks to everyone who gave me suggested readings :)

*bounces into the ether*

(I also found vegan chocolate today and had ice kachung for dessert)

A film rant.

2004-09-11T09:00:00.000+01:00

Okay I'm one who rarely rants about films and books. There are many fans and geeks who do a far better job at this than I. However, I'm currently having a gripe about the remake of a film and this is my blog and I'll rant if I want to. (Thanks to both LastCall & Nevryn who endured my ranting this afternoon).

Fever Pitch which is based on a novel by Nick Hornby (the guy who brought us High Fidelity, About A Boy, How To Be Good and 31 Songs). He is one of my favourite authors. I have read his books time and time again and he is one of the few authors I'll buy books of before reading the blurb of the book. His characters are enjoyable despite their neurosis and he has a clever way of dropping characters and locations from one book into another (for example one of the settings in About A Boy is the record store from High Fidelity). His short stories are great as well. He makes me laugh as well as pointing out some of the most beautiful and tragic aspects of human relationships.

I saw High Fidelity (the film with John Cusack) on multiple occassions (at least 5 times in the cinema) and it is the only dvd I own, the soundtrack is one of my current travelling cds. I enjoyed the screen adaptation of About A Boy, despite my inital hesitation of Hugh Grant as Will. The screen adaption of Fever Pitch with Colin Firth was great, and the soundtrack was compiled by Nick Hornby himself (it's very good too). So far these adaptions have been fairly faithful to the stories and still capture the important issues the books raise.

But you see there's a problem. Americans can't watch a film made outside of America. No, those funny English accents make it too difficult to understand. And football? Soccer? Arsenal? What's that? No we only understand good American sports like baseball.

So there is a remake of Fever Pitch. With baseball instead of soccer. And Jimmy Fallon instead of Colin Firth. And Drew Barrymore. And depending on which website you read Nancy Juvonen or the Farrelly brother's directing.

Jimmy Fallon instead of Colin Firth.

Saturday Night Live guy instead of Mr Darcy!

At least it seems Nick Hornby has given his blessing, so there's hope. I guess.

That was just a dream...

2004-09-09T10:33:00.000+01:00

Two days ago I woke up with a funny bruise on my upper, inner arm (you all thought I was going to say leg, didn't you?) which didn't hurt. Thinking it was an unsual place for a bruise, but not being in pain, I ignored it.

Yesterday my cousin noticed and asked about it...

C: what's that on your arm?
M: oh just a bruise I woke up with yesterday, don't know how I got it
C: does it hurt?
M: no
*C gives M a funny look*
M: what?
C: tell you in the car
*in the car*
M: okay what's up?
C: local superstition says that a bruise that doesn't hurt & you don't know how you got is caused by an evil spirit feeding off you
M: uhuh
*C thinks*
C: we haven't gone anywhere eerie or out late have we? must have been one of the hungry ghosts

It's currently the Chinese "Hungry Ghost" festival, where for a month prayers and food are offered to ancestors who have passed on and it is belived that spirits walk the earth. It is followed by Mid-Autumn Festival (aka Mooncake festival). I also visited the oldest Chinese temple in Malaysia (devoted equally to Taoism, Confusicism and Chinese-Buddism) and the oldest Catholic Church (built in 1710) where the above conversation took place. Also have been to several museums and had a good wander around the historical buildings that Melacca has to offer.

Have been doing alot of religon based stuff (like go to mass, visiting temples etc) of late. I find different forms of worship interesting and also in Asia there seems to be more of a cross section of different religions present, especially when compared to Perth. I have also found a label for my form of theism, apparently I am a "Free Thinker". Whilst I hate labels they can be most useful at times. It's much easy to say "vegan" than "I avoid as much as possible in our society animal products including meat, honey, dairy, eggs, leather, wool, birds, silk, beeswax, meat stock, fish, sealife, cheese becuase of animal & social ethical, environmental and health reasons." (though the number of people who think vegetarians eat fish makes me think that labels suck!) Trying to write "I think that there is a higher being or beings of some variety that some people refer to as "God" but I do not follow any particular organised religion becuase I have yet to find one I totally agree with, and besides if God is devine how can any direct order based on an interperitation made by a mortal be correct?" is a pain on the one line they give you in the census forms. So there we go.

Caught the bus to Singapore today. Just at the hostel I'm staying at now, went for a walk earlier, should maybe get food at some point. Though still full from Malaysia. My family are very cool but won't take "Not really I'm not very hungry" as an answer. I have been subjected to many fabulous vegan foods over the past two and a half weeks including (but not limited to) goreng pisang, roti, dhal, chee cho fun, popiha, various vegie delights, sweet & sour with fresh pineapple, restaraunts that do Happy Buddha type food except for next to nothing and a zillion times better, mung bean cakes, fried kuey teow, pow (what Perth people call dim sum buns), pineapple, mango, papaya, rumbutans, mata kuching, fresh coconut juice...

Hungry now, catch you all later.

BTW anyone who wants a gmail invite, email me.

Still alive

2004-09-07T14:53:00.000+01:00

Just a quick post.

Am alive and well and eating as much as is socially required at the moment! Which is alot.

Currently in Melacca, Malaysia staying with a cousin and her family which is pretty fun. We went to "Light & Sound" which is a nightime history lesson about Melacca in 45mins using lights to highlight and simulate different events/areas of interest in Melacca history with a audio play/description. Pretty nifty.

Off to Singapore later in the week where Simon will be meeting me. Seeing heaps of cool stuff that often makes me think "wow such & such would really get a kick out of this" so it will be nice to share stuff with someone. Of course we could just end up driving each other insane! Will be expecting all those hugs Mynxii has been passing on.

So we (we being Australians of voting age on the roll) have to vote. Would like to say thank you to Aristotle for being the only person who bothered to tell me! Though given our politics are quiet simmilar I'm sure it's just so he could guarentee another vote for our side ;P

Hmm lunch now...

Another postcard...

2004-08-27T11:03:00.000+01:00

So the obligatory postcards thing that I've been doing (no I haven't gotten around to you all yet, really I've only been away for a month!) has made me realise the differences in the efficency of the postal service. The postcards I sent from New Zealand have taken their sweet time to get to Perth (in order of over 2 weeks) whilst the ones I sent on Sunday from Hong Kong have taken a mere 5 days. For less distance. And less postage.

Also should be noted that if you didn't give me your address in my little, metophorically black (in the sense that it's kinda grey) book you probably won't be getting a postcard. Alternatively email me your address & I'll consider it. Suitable threats will encourage me to write more. The best threat so far has come from Miss Tiki who said she'd buy all the chocolate peanut nougat cake from Vegie O and not let me have any. Which is really mean. So you all have to try to beat that.

For those who care, I'm currently in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia staying with family for about a week before going south to Melacca (Melaka) my mother's home town for a good dose of history & a bigger dose of family before then going to Singapore to meet Simon.

My father has always said "Eating is the national pastime in Malaysia" and he's right. In a constant state of my stomach exploding since I got here. Which is not a bad thing. Though it makes trying on jeans difficult. But it's all very yummy. And the goreng pisang (fried banana) is great. And the mango. And the rumbutans. And you get the picture.

Avian flu is still in the papers, though only up north near the Thai boarder. Still slightly worried about it and they have ordered a bird cull which is sad. There are many people skeptical about what the government is saying about the safety of bird products. The ministers all had a photo shoot showing them eating chicken which reminds me alot of the British government's reaction to vCJD in beef (mad cow disease). Also the US government has released a contingency plan of what they will do if we have another flu epidemic. Am I paranoid or what?

Also it's nice to get the occassional email from home so if you are bored/procrastinating feel free to drop me a line. If you can guess the songs where most of my post topics come from, you get a big hug* when I get home.

(*hugs are limited to one per person, unless I think you are especially cute)

Let's go out tonight...

2004-08-23T14:13:00.000+01:00

So my last night in Hong Kong, I should really head home as certain people are expected to call, but the lure of email and a iced soy mocha entraped me...

Today visited the monestary on Lantau Island where the big golden Buddha statue is. Whilst I'm not in favour of organised religion in the slightest, the monks run a vegetarian restarant and the views were awfully pretty. The artwork and detail put into the temples and statues was quiet amazing as well. Oh & they have signs banning meat. Not as cool as Jain temples (where people must remove all leather & fur before entering, Jainism is by far the most animal friendly organised religion I have studied up on) but still very funky. Oh & the food was really nice, big servings and yummy coconut sago cakes.

It's a lovely balmy night tonight so have gone for a quick walk along Victoria Harbour, HK side and had alook at the exhibition centre where the 1997 hand over to China offically took place. It's hot, but still comfortable for a stroll. I do like this heat thing for the moment, at least at night. But then I am pretty much a night person and cold nights often mean staying in or getting ill for me.

Speaking of which *touch wood* my lungs seem to be holding up rather well. The signs for "How to Prevent Avian flu" and for SARS awarness has a certain "Terrorism: Be Alert, Not Alarmed" tone to them. The paper two day's ago mentioned Avian flu had been found in pigs (which is okay as I don't eat birds or pigs, right?). And then there's the people walking around waring surgical masks. Hmmm, let's see how I handle Bangkok.

Tommorrow I head to KL to visit family (in the "everyone's your family, rather than immediate biological family" sense). Given that I haven't been to Malaysia in about 10 years (my plans to go 3 years ago were halted due to pneumonia) it should be fun.

As I watch the madness of the world below...

2004-08-21T13:11:00.000+01:00

Still in Hong Kong, currently at "The Peak" which consists of a lovely walking trail through the tropical forest, two really big shopping centres and a tram to take you to the top. It's one of the highest points on Hong Kong Island. It also has some great views of the city and Victoria Harbor. Don't worry I have lots of pictures.

Hong Kong does shopping in a big way, which would be great if I was a shopaholic, but I'm not. It's also the shopping festival at the moment. Wandering around it in the heat is great (yay heat! yay mugginess!) though slightly crazy at times and the shopping centres are ginourmous selling shops specialising on just about everything one can imagine. Still the cityscape is amazing, especially at night when it's a mass of pretty coloured lights.

They have a spiffy museum pass which allows you entry to about half a dozen museums/galleries over a week. I tackled the Science Museum (a hands on wonderland of learning fun) which had a small but fabulous geography section including an ancient seismography which looks like a fancy copper statue with dragons & frogs. However when a small ball is balanced inside when there is an earthquake it rolls out & you can determine where the epicentre and strength of the earthquake is. Okay so I can't expalin it all that well without diagrams. But it was really cool. Honest. And maps. And those funky magic eye pictures (yes in the geography section). Currently they have a special exibition on the human body with lots of pickled and preserved human bits. Including resin displays of different systems and pickled foetuses. The cross sections of torso reminded me of bacon.

Opposite the Science Museum is the Museum of History which has an 8 gallery perminant display of Hong Kong history from prehistoric times through to the 1997 hand over to China. Really interesting and heaps of work went into it, so highly recomended if you have any interest in the development of HK.

So yes, still alive and kicking on with a iced lemon tea. How's all of you lot going?

Feeling hot... (you all know the rest)

2004-08-19T13:05:00.000+01:00

In Hong Kong, I'm in a coffee shop as this seems to be the only place I can get net access from.

Alive (only just).

Sleep (not had much in the last 24 hours due to early flights, late nights and time zones).

Flight (was good, got the chance to see Day After Tommorrow, won't wast time ranting now).

Weather (lovely hot & humid).

Tourist (I wonder if I'll ever reach a place where I don't feel like I have "tourist" tattooed on my forehead)?

Credit card (decided it didn't want to work at the place I'm staying , grumble).

That is all.

Just in case the Mafia get me

2004-08-18T06:22:00.002+01:00

Still in Auckland, just booked my accommodation for tomorrow night in Hong Kong and received a email from the hostel which has the ever catchy line in the directions:

"Please take the "ELEVATOR No.5" to the 14th FLOOR directly, don't trust any people on the street, they may be mafia and make you trouble! So, do not follow any of them!"

Well, now that's a way to make your guests feel safe and secure!

Came back to Auckland yesterday and met some nice Irish people whilst waiting for the bus. Ran around today changing flight details (20 minutes wait on the phone to talk to a incompetent call centre person who was totally useless). Would like to plug the nice people at STA who were very helpful and pointed me in the right direction for this. Also the nice man at Cathy Pacific who didn't charge me to change my flights (unlike certain other airlines who have a crap phone service).

Decided to go to one of the places recommended from Happycow called "Raw Power" (1st floor, 10 Vulcan Lane, Auckland city). Despite the name they do actually do cooked foods. The pumpkin soup with garlic bread and hommus was a tasty lunch (the hommus being one of the best I have ever tasted). Dessert wise they have a very moist vegan chocolate cake (covered in coconut and dried apricots and sticky fudge icing) for a mere NZ$3.50 a slice which is highly recommended. Yesterday I wandered into the SAFE (Save Animals From Explotation) store where I got into a long rant about the joys of Vegan Wares with the nice girl who works there. They also have vegan chocolate. Also went to the Hare Krishna place for a cheap lunch/dinner too. Both are on K Road.

So yes well hmm... Still puzzled/frustrated with this grammar course, am tempted to chuck it in to be honest. Really is there anyone out there who can seriously explain adverbs and contexts and tenses and all this other stuff?

Calm. Blue. Ocean.

2004-08-16T00:34:00.000+01:00

Okay so I'm some what calmer than I have been in my two prior posts. I departed the glorious geothermal delights on Saturday and caught the bus up to Coromandel Town on the Coromandel Peninsular.

The drive up the peninsular was spectactular. There are sections where on one side of the bus was sheer mountain, on the other ocean. No rambling plains down to the sea, a tiny strip of beach (if at all). Mountain. Water. It's great :)

Coromandel Town is quiet during the winter (ie now) but during the summer the population quadruples with the summer season. Being a coastal town there is alot of fishing and most eateries have quiet an extensive range of sea life, the butcher advertises mussel sauages. The town also has a strong artistic community and there are lots of galleries and stores selling pottery and the like. One guy even built a light rail line to get clay from the top of his property to the kiln. He started in the 1960's and today it's a half hour ride to the top and they take tourists up at least twice a day. Really lovely views of the region. Also some nice bushwalks around.

Been watching the weather when I cook dinner every night. Yesterday afternoon it started snowing in Christchurch (which apparently only happens every decade or so) and the airport was closed. The forcast for snow is something I'm finding very novel.

Tommorrow heading back to Auckland before Hong Kong on Thursday morning (yay heat!)

Fly me to the moon...

2004-08-13T08:33:00.000+01:00

WARNING: Even more geography geekiness in this post

In Taupo (about an hour or so south of Rotorua) at the moment, came down this morning, just here for the day. The town is on Lake Taupo the biggest lake in the Southern Hemisphere. The lake is also the rim of a volcano.

YAY Volcanoes!

I spent the day doing to the museum, dodging rain, looking at the waterfalls, exploring the Craters of the Moon and the Volcano Centre.

I can highly recomend the Volcano Centre (it's a little bit out of town) to anyone who is interested in natural disasters and hands on learning. They have a earthquake simulator, a geyser simulator, a funky outlay of the surrounding volcanic area (with lights), a 3D jigsaw of techtonic plates, movies on volcanoes and a tornnado box. Very VERY cool! They also have updates daily of all the Earthquakes in New Zealand as well as a computer siesmegraph (okay I can't spell but it's the thing that you measure earthquakes with!).

Craters of the Moon is (yet another) area of geothermal activity, but is mostly eerie craters with steam and pink bubbly mud. Mmmm pink bubbly mud. And moss and algea.

This stuff is incredibly interesting and wonderful and many *happy bounces*

Glorious mud...

2004-08-11T07:19:00.000+01:00

WARNING: This post has high levels of geography related geekiness, sluttiness and ranting.

Last night there was a high school geography trip staying at the hostel. This is the second trip I have encountered on my travels the first being a bunch of students doing land use survey's and cross sections in the Auckland hostel dining room. Last night I got interviewed for a project on tourism in the Rotorua region, why did I come here? Simple. "I am a geography slut & I find geothermal activity funky." (yes that is the exact response I gave, I also gave them some tips on how to get more people to interview) It has occured to me since that really this whole trip that I'm taking is just one really big Geography Field Trip, though as Simon pointed out, without the assessment section. Yay field trip! Yay geography!

Rotorua is fantastic. It's on the edge of two techtonic plates causing pressure under the earth to result in geothermal activity. I spent the afternoon walking through a park and spent most of my roll of film taking pictures of sulphur gas, bubbling hot springs and bubbling mud.

Did I mention how fantastic this is?

I actually don't mind the smell of sulphur. I don't mind the fact that I can't see when my glasses fog over because of the gas. It's wonderful. It's also warm, unlike everything else which is freezing.

Oh and there was also the museum which had lots of stuff on volcanoes. Yay! Volcanoes. The museum is in the building of the old public theraputic baths. Yay! Geothermal heating. Yay! Hot mineral springs.

*bounces*

If you could read my mind...

2004-08-08T04:25:00.000+01:00

I wouldn't need to learn grammar or spelling or any of those formal English things!

Currently working my way through the grammar section of the online Teaching English as a Foreign Language course I need to do for the volunteer teaching English thing I signed up for. It appears I am totally incompetent in formal details of my own language, much less my ability to teach the damn thing or learn the formalities of other languages.

Going for a walk now. Am too frustrated by tenses, verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, where to put the ruddy comma etc. Can anyone recommend a easy to follow grammar book or website? Would be much appreciated. Alternatively if you know how to communicate via telepathy and could give me details that would be useful too.

Also in Paihia on the Bay of Islands, for those who care.

(Yes the poor language use in this post is intentional)

Beneath the wild garden waits to grow...

2004-08-07T02:04:00.000+01:00

Just a quick update, I'm currently in Rawene on the West coast of North Island north of Auckland on Hokianga Harbor. I traveled up from Auckland Tuesday to Rawene & then caught the ferry to KohuKohu where I've been staying with some lovely people as a WWOOFer (a program where people work on organic farms for food & board). It is really beautiful here and I have learnt alot about gardening as well as some more easy to make vegan dishes. All the people I have met have been really nice especially the two ladies that I stayed with. They are both pescitarians who are very kind & caring & passionate about the environment and local area. The property has alot of bush, two dams, fruit trees, vegetables and aesthetic plants. The weather hasn't been the best but still fairly good for winter. I helped with transplanting of plants, weeding, setting soil up for planting in the spring, collected pinecones & stones for paving amongst other stuff. The area is very hilly with some beautiful views of the surrounding hills and the harbour (& the pine monoculture... but don't start on that!). They also make their own chutneys, pickles and fruit wines. The boysenberry wine is really nice... and I'm someone who doesn't drink alcohol! For the first time in a long time I've been content & happy.

Off to the East coast to the Bay of Islands now on the bus. More later.