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Many of you will be wondering if I have made it to Australia. Well if that person is you then it’s your lucky day - I have been here for the past 3 weeks and for the first time this year I have settled down (well sort of)….
BUT FIRST! My last 3 days in Thailand turned out to be of superior quality forcing me to dedicate one last paragraph to the country full of rice and noodle delights. My itinerary for the 18th April was born three years ago when I was watching a documentary on Discovery about Monks that cared for orphaned tigers, the twist in the tale was that their monk magic tamed the beasts. While flatmates back then told me to change the boring documentary channel I formed a plan to visit this unique place. It has turned into a full on tourist hotspot since then but theirs no denying an extraordinary photo opportunity and I love tigers. The tiger cubs were great to see and play with as well! Also in the local area of the tiger sanctuary was the seven tiered Erawan waterfall, which is where I spent the next day. The local inhabitants
of the waterfall were Thai families on a day out, however the higher you climbed up the more peaceful it got. It was a 3km trek up to the top tier of the limestone fall so I felt good when I got to the top.
Terrigal is the Central Coast town in New South Wales where I’m now staying, its small town but has a gorgeous beach and a couple of good places to party. Another great thing about Terrigal is my long term camp friend Kim lives here, so it’s been amazing hanging out with her again and meeting all her friends. A popular question people back home have been asking me is do you have job yet? The simple answer is no. But I have been training, I am now qualified in the Responsible Service of Alcohol & the Reasonable Conduct of Gambling (RSA & RCG). It turns out Australians like to gamble and drink - a lot, so to work in any pub/restaurant/club these courses are mandatory. Each course took one day long and they were quite interesting, even though I turned up to the alcohol one hungover.
One highlight of my trip so far
was a visit to the big city of Sydney - technically I had already been here when I flew into the country but I decided it didn’t count since I flew in while a world record was recorded - the longest consecutive period of rain in Sydney ever; 17 days! I think the record for Glasgow is probably 4 and half months. Anyway Kim and her friend Nikki showed me some tourist attractions then took pictures of me in front of them, mainly the opera house and the harbour bridge (the bridges nickname is ‘the best bridge in the world’ that’s a fact that I can trust). But we were at Darling harbour when the sun was going down and it looked amazing. The girls left to see the Foo Fighters live, but I arranged a meeting with Morri, Ash and Kash; more commonly known as some people I travelled round Asia with. So it was great seeing the guys again for a piss up in the seedy part of town, partying with some Swedish guys (damn Swedes are everywhere, but I like them!) My only other expedition was a trip to Newcastle to see Aussie band The Panics (like
a more accessible Sleepy Jackson with a bit of later Get Up Kids stuff thrown in the mix - that’s just my opinion) but that was my first gig of the year, in May! Absolutely shocking.
This is me in Australia though. Good Teabags. Crap biscuits - I’m told there is Hob Nobs but I’ve yet to find them. Good pies - they have HP sauce. There is rumoured to be Irn Bru but at this moment of time it’s like a quest for the Holy Grail. A great Australian invention though is Chicken salt - its yellow salt that tastes a bit like chicken - I didn’t think the Aussie had such genius initiative! Everyone speaks English which is pleasant, I can understand signs everywhere and don’t have to worry about going in the wrong direction. With all this civilisation all round me I have outstretched my hand back out to my good buddy technology by getting back on the network of mobiles, so give me a call or send me a message with texts on this series of numbers - +61450348959.
I get the feeling it’s going to be a winter to remember.
I’m signing
off with what I'm being called in Australia.
So much love, your pal,
Kelv.
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anonymous
non-member comment
i reaaaally want to be with you and keem right now :( i love you both a lot. HAVE FUN!!!!!! molls