Lucy So many people are overtaking me here in New Zealand, they are heaps of crazy drivers here! Sounds fantastic about your diving, hope the master course goes well. Take care.
Lucy
-x-
Is there anything this man can't do? Phil,
You never cease to amaze me - if you've got the time, why not try and get your pilot's license while you're on a roll?
Well done, sounds like you're still having a whale of a time.
Regards,
Geoffrey, Andrea, Megan, Jodie and Linus
along the oodnadatta It was so lovely coming across a single town where white australians and aboriginals work and get along together, it's all about respect and it was beautiful to see this. It made it even sadder though by then seeing the aboriginals in alice springs which you are warned to stay in at night from. Before Australia I really had no idea about all of this, not even about the stolen generation.
Aboriginal Culture It was interesting that the writer took the time to look beyond the people he found walking around the street corners and petrol stations in Australia. Aboriginal Culture has been widely written about and is considered the oldest continual culture in the world. There are outstanding examples of art and music that is currenly available to interested people. Even such popular books as Bill Bryson's In a Sunburned Country devotes space to Aboriginal Culture and the presence of anti-Aboriginal feelings in Australia. I hope the writer continues his interests in these fascinating people.
splat... I'm sure Australians would love you if they were cane toads you splatted, but if they weren't...
enjoy your time up in the tropics, I miss the warm evenings there but at the same time can't wait to make some snowmen!
Walkabout Revisited Phil,
I think you'll find the reason the aboriginals look so pissed off is that people have been trying to wipe them out for the last 300 years, added to the fact their burial grounds and sacred places have been dug up to mine opals and uranium and their most sacred symbol, Ayres Rock has people clambering over it 24/7 just adds to the general feeling of disillusion. Just watched 'Rabbit Proof Fence' about the forced removal of aboriginal children in the fifties - very uncomfortable watch.
Hypocritical sod that I am, having said all this, if I had a chance to see Ayres Rock, I'd be shinning up it like a gecko - what an awesome place.
We're all thinking of you.
Geoffrey, Andrea, Megan, Jodie and Linus
I love coober pedy... Ah i'm so glad you got to coober pedy! I was so happy when I finally went there after wanting to go for months and months :)
The outback is truely amazing, the best part of my australian adventure i think...only 16 days left now :(
take care
lucy
-x-
Oh Adelaide... That's a shame your not liking it there..i stayed with a family up near the barossa and loved my time there. If you get a chance, go to the drive in cinema...so much more fun than a regular cinema! And maybe Kangaroo Island...
Enjoy the drive up north and stop in Coober Pedy!
Take care
lucy
-x-
Such a beautiful trip... Ah that hostel in Robe is so nice, the unisex toilets are rather interesting though with the urinals next to the sinks and opposite the showers!
Keep enjoying yourself...
take care
lucy
-x-
yeah it's boring yes, it is very boring indeed. the only good thing i could think of is walking on the beach. nice beach, i think that's the only attractive thing in gisborne, coz gisborne is so so damn boring, another suicide capital of new zealand (after palmerston north)
Ah Narooma! Are you staying at the YHA in Narooma then? The couple there are so lovely! And the dogs are cute...free bikes to use too! Don't forget to go to the Bega Cheese factory in Bega and the whale museum in Eden if your working down the coast. It's a really beautiful journey.
take care
Lucy
-x-
Vicarious Travel Really enjoying your reports Phil, keep them coming - sometimes it's almost like being there. Especially enjoyed the Sydney Harbour Bridge one. Apparently Kangaroo Poo is the name of an outrageously priced range of surfing gear, but you probably knew that. The photos are great as well - hope you post some of Sydney and the kookaburra. Wet and dull here. Well it's cricket season so that's pretty much expected!
Geoffrey and Andrea
The Last Paradise? It's lovely to see you're still enjoying yourself Phil, we were beginning to think you'd been kidnapped. Your description of Bluff sounds like the Gupshill on a busy night - it's still clean, still designer, still deserted. Not how I expected New Zealand to be at all - maybe the background in Lord of the Rings was CGI after all! Apparently the fjords are pretty special but you've been in NZ for ages and still haven't mentioned sheep - have you seen any at all? Tee Hee.
Best wishes,
Andrea and Geoffrey
Where did you stay on Lamai Beach Hi there. I am travelling out to Ko Samui in two weeks. I was wondering if you could tell me what the beach huts were called? It sounds perfect!! Perhaps you could send me a message to brokenbeatrecordz@hotmail.com. I Hope you continue to enjoy your travels.
Purely amazing... where you're staying sounds wonderful Phil. You must try and get some pictures up here, the view from your hut...make everyone jealous...
The best of times I got back from Thailand 2 weeks ago were i spent the majority of my time on Koh Samui, Lami area. Now i'm back in alaska looking at the pictures i took while i was thier. If you happen to go down to the south end of Lami and find an Irish themed bar called Molly Mollones, tell them Zack says "hi". Its a place always on my mind.
pianosupernova
Lucy Hewes
Lucy
So many people are overtaking me here in New Zealand, they are heaps of crazy drivers here! Sounds fantastic about your diving, hope the master course goes well. Take care. Lucy -x-