Hello. I’m in Australia: Memento Style

Soooooooooooooooooooooooo…good news. For Christmas, I finally got my computer charged again, so I can actually make posts with a keyboard rather than using my phone, camera, uhhhh…mobile device.  My parents sent over a new charger that Microsoft sent to their house.  It cost a lot, but I also got my watch replaced (it wasn’t elephant wrestling proof so it went down the Mekong river) so that was also in the box.

Now that I have my computer again and can make real posts, guess I don’t have an excuse not to update this site once again.  Sorry for taking so long!

Alright, so first things first.  My last update was almost a month ago when I was in Singapore.  So much has happened since then, so I’ll try and give you a rough snapshot…I wonder if I can do it Memento style…

I woke up this morning in a daze as I look at my phone to see it tattooed with info about going on a flight to Brisbane.  I got my belongings together, ate, and checked out to rush to the terminal.  Barely making it I got on my flight, slept, and arrived.  I was later picked up by my friend Jeff who two years before I met in Ireland on a bus tour.  I spent the afternoon walking around the center of Brisbane.

Flashback

I arrived at my friends’ Steve and Gaija’s new place in Melbourne.  They showed me around and I soon spent the next few days spending the holidays with them and their family as well as exploring the city.  I attended my first ever cricket match with Geoff and his friend from home, Steve.  It was a long afternoon, but I learned a lot about the game…though it was quite boring at times.  That evening I met up with my friends Thom and Jack who I met traveling through Vietnam a couple months back.  After moving into their hostel I hung out with them the rest of my time in Melbourne outside of spending an evening with a bunch of Couch Surfers bowling, playing pool, and shooting people in laser tag.  The night was late before my departure to Brisbane.

Flashback

I walked to the car that would be my ride to Melbourne over the Great Ocean Road.  I was accompanied by our driver, Geoff, and two girls from Germany which I found through Gum Tree (Australian Craigs List).  We loaded up the vehicle and headed South.  We stopped at a number of places on the way from German towns, giant blue crater lakes, kangaroos, Australian Portland, huge cliffs, the remaining of the twelve apostles, sleeping spots, shopping joints, and more.  We traveled around four days to make the journey into Melbourne.  After we arrived we did a sweet walking tour around Melbourne center and was later dropped off at my friends’ place.

Flashback

I met up with Danielle at a bar after getting a bus after my flight into Adelaide.  We had a drink, left the bar, and was shown my home for the next few days.  Outside of a kickass time at the Gorge Wildlife Park, I didn’t get to hang out with Danielle enough.  She was sweet to let me stay and I had a great time getting to know her and her son.  My time was spent on a wine tour, spending a couple days exploring Kangaroo Island where I slept in a sleeping bag in a camp site late at night that had koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, spiders, and more.  After KI, staying out late, and being brought home by the police, I slept and got into a car off to Melbourne.

Flashback

I arrived into Perth on the 8th of December.  I spent my first two nights in a hostel called the Old Barracks in the center of Perth.  After realizing how expensive Australia really was, I met up with my friend Robyn Davis (who I kinda used to work with) and her awesome family.  They really showed me an excellent time in the Western Australia area south of Perth.  Really thankful for them showing me around the place.  After heading back north from their place I stayed in Fremantle at Oly’s place.  Oly is a friend of my friend Drew in Portland.  He took me in and I hung out with his other friends and enjoying late nights having some beverages.  After an awesome time exploring the sites around Fremantle, I had lunch with Oly, and took off on a plane to Adelaide.

Flashback

Because of the extra time I spent in Thailand hanging out on the islands, it took away the time I could have had in Indonesia.  Thankfully my time there was awesome for how short it was.  I started in Kuta Beach in the Bali area of Indonesia for a night before getting to  Ubud.  Ubud was a quiet town with a lot of culture to it.  Though I broke my phone the day before I left, I was able to sneak off a few pictures.  The rest of my time in Indonesia however is mostly without pictures.  I followed up Ubud with a journey to Gili Trawangan, one of the three islands at the north west corner of Lombak.  My time there was spent diving and sleeping at Aquaddiction, riding a bike, and eating good food.  I met a new friend, Maria, who showed me parts of the island and helped me make my way to Mataram, Lombak, Indonesia.  I went there to try to get my phone fixed, but that didn’t work out so I spent my time with Maria and her family who lived in the area.  My flight to Australia was out of the Lombak area, so it just made sense.  I left in the mid-afternoon from Lombak heading to Perth, Australia.

Flashback

After exploring the center of Brisbane, I ate some dinner and began writing this blog post.