Well I'm back in Australia now, but I thought I better do a final entry with a few pics. So since I last wrote, there's been a couple more highlights that need pointing out. First was probably one of if not the best parts of the whole trip, meeting my sponsor child in Fortaleza. I've put a few pics up, but basically it was a fantastic day that was both emotional & unforgettable. I had a slight change of plans around this time, and ended up going to Sweden instead of Switzerland. This was partly due to deciding to come home [View Full Entry]

---

---

Combuco... this place is HEAVEN! After the madness of Rio, this little town outside Fortaleza is ABSOLUTELY PERFECT! As far as music goes, Samba isn~t the music-of-choice here, rather a variation called Forro (pronounced FO-hoe), which can be fairly easily found being played around the town if you look & listen hard enough! In Fortaleza itself, it~s the usual city dance and club sounds, although I went to a club that came highly recommded that plays lots of rock. After an hour & a half of the usual boring House DOOF-DOOF (not a fan in case you hadn~t noticed!), there was [View Full Entry]

---

---

WOW! What a week or so it's been. New Year's was HHUUUUUUUGGGEEE!!!!! 2 MILLION people on one beach is pretty full on. Unfortunately I don't have any pics as I wasn't going to take my camera! Glad I didn't coz I saw one robbery & I'm sure there were plenty more! I did get some pics of everywhere else though, so I'll add them later. For now, a quick update before I head North to Fortaleza. I've seen all around Rio as well as some other areas and towns like Petropolis, all with their own music & attractions. It's been fantastic [View Full Entry]

---

---

I've found one problem of travelling alone is I don't get many photos with me in them! So here's a few even though they're a mixture of good & amateur! [View Full Entry]

---

---

Some photos of Toronto round Christmas [View Full Entry]

---

---

Well a lot has happened in the last week or however long since my last entry. I've visited quite a lot of music spots around Toronto, and it's been fun exploring the city with different people I've met. Christmas eve & Christmas day were really good with heaps of fun, snow, friendship & good times I'll remember for long while... (& of course lots of food & drink!) I went ice skating boxing day, & considering I've only skated a few times in my entire life, it was pretty fun, especially since I've never ice skated outside! After a few more [View Full Entry]

---

---

Well I better start by saying that seeing The Nutcracker Ballet for the 1st time was pretty awe-inspiring to say the least! I had a great seat on the 1st balcony right in the centre, so I could see everything including all of the orchestra pit! The dancing of course was world class. All the lead dancers just completely drew all your attention. The 2 children playing um.... what are the names.... Marie? & Misha I think... were AMAZINGLY talented & the dancers playing the Nutcracker, Uncle Nicolai & the Sugarplum Fairy were definite stand-outs. Being a ballet, the orchestra were [View Full Entry]

---

---

It's been a busy few days. On Thursday I went to Niagara Falls with 2 other people from the hostel. The falls are pretty amazing seeing them 1st hand, especially up close! On Friday I went to the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) with some Aussies I happened to meet off the plane when I arrived Sunday night. It's huge, or at least bigger than any I've seen in Oz. I spent a few hours there & still didn't see everything. It was a bit of a mess getting to & from there though, coz we're in the middle of a snow [View Full Entry]

---

---

Tuesday morning... walked into the city and looked around the theatre district. There's SO MANY! I can't choose what shows to go see! And the theatres are all so vintage looking and beautiful. The food here is so fresh and cheap too which is excellent. Tuesday night... went out to the Rex Hotel again to see a young jazz band playing originals. They were BRILLIANT and played so tight as a quartet. Their music was really varied too. Made connections with most of them afterward which was good. On the walk back to the hostel IT STARTED SNOWING! Absolutely beautiful, it [View Full Entry]

---

---

Here's a few pictures so far. [View Full Entry]

---

---