HillnGrace

After a short flight from Bali to Phuket, southern thailand, we soon found out how long it actually takes to get from point A to B in south east asia. Promised a 3pm arrival on the Full Moon Party island of Koh Phangan we arrived at 8pm in the dark - most of the people traveling with us on the bus/boat were really frustrated but Hillary and I couldn't help but laugh at how long it took. On the ferry over we witnessed a stunning sunset over the islands of southern Thailand and the rise of the orange full moon. We took a taxi shared by 4 other strangers and headed up the dark hilly roads to reach JB Hut bungalows on the far side of the Island. The taxi's here are pretty entertaining: the driver ... read more

After a deathly exhausting 12 hour bus ride from Byron Bay we arrived, 10 am, in the midst of a busy city. After walking around barefoot for 3 weeks in a town that doesn't even have a starbucks or a mcdonalds - this was a shock. Sydney is a gorgeous city (strikingly similar to Vancouver) but it definitely took us by surprise on the first day. We spent the day awestruck lying in the botanical garden park that overlooks the Sydney Opera house, reading and writing. Yesterday we took a ferry over to Manly, a nearly town that Hill's sister Meaghan lived in for 3 months, and spent the day lazily. It started to thunder when we were on the beach so headed to a cafe to avoid getting wet. Our plan was kayaking but since ... read more

Greetings from Byron Bay! So after our long day of travel flying from Cairns to Brisbane followed by a bus to Byron Bay we checked in late at the Backpackers Inn - the only hostel on the beach, which was recommended to us by another traveller we met in New Zealand - we've landed in paradise. As soon as we stepped off the bus we were greeted with a free chai tea and pancake convention taking place in a park - they even had maple syrup. Byron Bay is a tiny town just south of Surfer's Paradise that is surrounded by gorgeous beaches and inhabited by the most relaxed crowd. When you walk down the street at night you're bound to hear at least 3 different live musicians playing anywhere from street corners, benches, parks, to ... read more

WWOOF! (Willing Workers on Organic Farms) So Hillary and I have officially left civilization - we're in the bush. We arrived at Port Douglas, population less than 300, in the early AM on wednesday the 23rd. It was hot, humid, and sticky. We were picked up by Suzie and her girls and taken up a winding road through beautiful, lush, tropical mountainside to their farm, the Black Mountain Hideaway. As Suzie says, it's "five star camping" up here. We live with 26 horses, 4 cows, 9 going on 40 cats (they breed constantly), 7 dogs (Blue Dog, Red Ted, Max, Tiki, Dot, Pearl, Mini, potentially more..), a million chooks (chickens), occasional bats, free flying parrots (Carlos the green one has taken a liking to Hillary), plenty of spiders, and butterflies the size of birds.. oh yeah ... read more

Greetings from the land down unda! So things have been a little hectic since we've left the city, we're spending our first night of the past 4 indoors. Day one we took a short road trip from Melbourne to a surf town called Warnambol on the Great Ocean Road. We camped near the beach and went to the only local bar open - everyone we met asked us why we bothered coming to Warnambol - very small town. After a good night out with some local Aussies we hit the road again heading inland in attempts to do some hikes and tours. However, half way to the middle of no where we noticed the station wagon was on empty. Great. The last town was nearly 50km back, and the next closest was over 70. We managed ... read more