Singapore: The Bubble

Indonesia had been exhausting. I think I didn’t notice until we got to the airport, where there were modern conveniences. Don’t get me wrong, I am glad we did Indonesia and I wouldn’t have traded it for a Western toilet, a Starbucks coffee, or clean sheets. But I was still so tired of horns in traffic, stares for my white skin, and feeling like at every moment I needed to evaluate for scams or fibs. I think I may be especially susceptible to this exhaustion because I’m in my head so much.

We love the chance to listen to podcasts and contemplate

Indo 4: Motorcycle Wrecks, "Lobster," and Puppies

When we arrived in Medan, it was getting close to dusk. We caught a bus to the center of the city, as instructed by our AirBnB. Once we got there, we found a tuktuk who would take us, but he seemed confused by the address. We told him the address, but when he asked if we meant a certain hotel, we said no because the only info we got was the name of whoever runs their AirBnB process.

Indo3: Bonus Video, because there are just too many photos

Here's a quick video for you.  There were just too many photos to fit in with the text, so they are here in slideshow format.  If they go too fast for you, pause as needed.  :)  Thanks for "tuning in."

Indo3: Java Island, Volcanoes, and Buddhists

We had to say stern nos to the hawkers who were offering us taxis to anywhere and everywhere, and finally got directions to the train station.  We got there just as the office was closing, but the lady was kind enough to help us before she left.  All trains were sold out the following day, most likely because it was Indonesia’s Independence Day and everyone was visiting their families in villages.  We couldn’t buy tickets with her because she was closed, but she gave us a flyer of a hostel that would be helpful and told us we could buy tickets at any IndaMart.

Indo2: Lombok, Gili, and a bit more of Ubud

Once we docked at Lembar on the east coast of Lombok, we were hit with waves of really intense hawkers.

Indo1: The Wonderful Island of Bali

Our flight was the cheapest of the cheap, meaning that we were arriving in Bali at 3:00 in the morning.  We knew we were going to try to head to Kuta, which was the really touristy area, but we didn’t know much after that.

OZ10: Kakadu, Waterfalls, Mozzies, and Burning Hair

Darwin gave us a chance to rest (other than the 3am fire alarm that had us standing out on the street for an hour).

Waiting on the street as the firemen checked the building

We slept in, did laundry, and made an appointment for me to see a doctor the next day. We spent a good part of the day exploring the city. 

OZ9/11: Darwin, Finally

Bleh, so three waterfalls and a mental breakdown out of the way and we were pretty exhausted by the time we started the drive to Darwin.  I booked the cheapest hostel we could find in the city on the way there.  We stopped at a little Indian restaurant on the way to help stave off the hangry.  Soooooo good.

OZ9/10: Litchfield, Waterfalls, and Breakdowns

The next morning when we got up, Marco was already packing.  He thanked us for standing up for him and we thanked him for being such a good dude.  We all worked hard to make sure when the other two got back that they couldn’t find any faults with our packing job.

OZ9/9: Robyn Falls, Arguments, and a Lot of Climbing

The next morning we were up at a reasonable hour (the three were hung over, which pushed the wake-up time out, but Jojje and Gwen NEEDED to touch rock again, so it was not too late) and headed up the trail.  We spent the best part of the day on climbing, headed to Robyn falls, which was a lovely straight-down falls that had shrunk considerably with the dry season.

OZ9/8: The Road Made Us Crazy

The animals really start to stir at dusk each night, so we stopped that evening to make dinner at a rest area.  Once the sun had fully gone down, we got back on the road with eagle-eyes, trying to spot animals before they darted across the road.

OZ9/7: Alice Springs, the Most Dangerous City in Australia

In the morning I wanted to pick up some more garbage at this place because the comments on WikiCamps said it was pretty littered, but when I went out to get more wood for the fire, I saw just how bad it was and knew that I couldn’t do enough and I felt discouraged.

OZ9/6: Uluru & King's Canyon, Australia's Big Ticket Landmarks

We drove as long as the sunlight held out, but since dusk was the easiest time to hit kangaroos in Australia, we stopped and cooked dinner in the sinking sun.

OZ9/5: Coober Pedy and the (mostly) Underground City

I drove that day, since we were coming up on Coober Pedy, which was my thing to see on the trip.  I had been told especially to visit Coober Pedy by my cousin Breena.  In their year in Australia, she and Will had spent some time there and had gone noodling (fossicking, except for opals, which you “noodle”) and brought a few home for some of us back home.  I was excited to see the place because it had come so highly recommended.

OZ9/4: Flinders Ranges, Poisoned Kangaroos, & Ribbons of Color in Rocks

We left Adelaide and headed north.  We all had a few ideas of some places we wanted to visit along the way to Darwin, but the distance from Adelaide to Darwin was so huge that we didn’t know how we could break it up.  There were only a handful of things to do along the way.  We saw signs to the Flinders Range National Park and we took the road, excited that there was something to see.  The detour would add some time to our drive, but we really weren’t in too much of a hurry.

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OZ9/3: Cam & Min, our Adelaide Family

We headed toward Cam and Min’s house, buying a couple bottles of wine on the way as gifts.  They welcomed us warmly into their dry home.  They had a small pool in the backyard that was covered by a roof and windows.  They let us hang up our dripping tents in there (Joe and I set ours up since it was free-standing, small, and would dry better that way) and they offered us the washing machine for our clothes.  Such generous people!

OZ9/2: On The Road with a Slow Start

The next morning we packed up our stuff.  The ground was wet from rain, so that made it extra difficult for us to attempt creating a packing system for the car.  Jojje (Johannes’s nickname from childhood that he came up with for us to call him) had a strange plethora of unnecessary items in the car with us, but he insisted we needed them, such as a fan, a kettle bell, and a footy ball (rugby).  Somehow we were supposed to fit the five of us, all our big bags, plus the unnecessary items and things we needed for the car.

OZ9/1: Grampians and the Dirtbags

This bit of the story covers the trip through the Red Center of Australia.  Since I am nothing if not verbose, it came out as disgustingly long, so I've pieced it out into different bits.  I'll be posting them every day or so and you're welcome to peruse any that you'd like.  Feel free to leave comments as well.

OZ8: Tasmania

Hobart
We were scheduled to land in the afternoon in Hobart and we already had a family lined up to stay with for the first five days or so. We caught the bus towards the center of town, where we called Angela and went to the corner where we were to meet her.  She was there within five minutes.

The lovely town of Hobart

OZ7: Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne

Arriving in Sydney was a relief, but also a little sad.  I had really gotten attached to the weird little Canadian!  :)  We had to run the several blocks to her brother’s apartment in the rain to get her and her stuff there, so we could make our appointment to drop off the van.

This time I want to hear from YOU

Sometimes when we travel we meet white person after European after middle-class living the exact same story we are.  Live and work in Australia.  City hop through South East Asia.  Find a beach to lay on, or a bar to drink in.  It's all been done, as the song says!  Our story starts sounding stale.

But there are a couple of things that I have to remind myself that exist outside of our current situation:

First, there are sooooo many people back at home living happy, healthy, and blessed lives.  It doesn't include snorkeling during the day and beer at night, but instead it's packing the kids' lunches in the morning and tucking sleepy eyes into warm beds at night.  There are family reunions and new girlfriends and growing pains.  There are tears and fears, but also lots of love.  We give up being involved with all that because we travel, but it's just as valid of a life as the one we're living out here on the road, and I WANT TO HEAR ABOUT THAT LIFE.  Tell me why you love your new fiancée, what recipe you've really started to master, what thing in life you are most worried about.  Tell me your struggles and conquests.  Tell me all, because my blog is not even remotely valid without knowing your stories too.

Second, you find the darkest and most interesting stories in the most unexpected places.  One of our favorite new acquaintances that we have made since traveling is a woman who cringes and weeps at the thought of anyone giving so much as a gentle swat to animals of any kind.  Fifty years ago, she traveled the world with a friend, from London all the way down into the Middle East, where they wound up in a drug den by accident.  This woman who is impossibly modest and proper has a whole wealth of amazing stories from her whole life that are waiting to be heard.  I WANT TO HEAR THOSE STORIES.  I want to hear the extraordinary.  I am continually surprised at the depth of people and the stories they hold so close.  Tell me about your 9-5, but also tell me about the time you lit someone's hair on fire because he said he needed a haircut.

I'm so psyched to hear from you.  Feel free to leave stories in my comments, send me personal messages to my email (and let me know if you need that address), or catch me online with Skype or any other means.  I'm looking forward to your stories, because I sometimes get tired of my own.  We all have such great stories just waiting to be shared.

 

-*-

OZ6: Cairns to Sydney

It was a little sad to leave our six month home, but we were happy to get to see Gary and Sue.  We had found out in the last week or two that they had been struggling because a lump on Sue’s leg that the doctors had originally said was nothing was, in fact, cancer.  Their life went upside down right away and we didn’t really know if our presence would be good because we could help out and take her mind off things, or if we would just be a nuisance at a really stressful time.

OZ5: Port Douglas (fifth and final bit)

When we got back to Port, I called Ramada to see what my work schedule was going to be and Tjaart answered.  He looked at the schedule and said, “You start in ten minutes.”

OZ5: Port Douglas (fourth bit)

As my parents’ visit was coming closer and closer, I started to get nervous, but not for the reason you might think.  Sure, I was excited and thought I should be excited to see them, but my brain was having an argument with itself that I should be more excited.  I was worried I wouldn’t be thrilled enough when they showed up!

OZ5: Port Douglas (third bit)

Joe impulsively bought plane tickets to go home and see his family in February. 

OZ5: Port Douglas (second bit)

There was a stretch during these busy months where I was working so much and eating so little because I didn’t have much time to make food, which meant that I was starting to get skinnier than I needed to be.  I liked feeling so slender again, but I could tell it was a little too skinny. 

OZ5: Port Douglas (first bit)

This is the biggest chapter in our story so far, which means I will have to break it down into segments.  We would live in Port Douglas for over 6 months, working our guts out, but enjoying the place.

The view on Four Mile Beach

Life seemed super idyllic when we first moved into the house.  We had air-conditioning if it ever got too hot, we had a pool to cool down in, we had lovely sunshine and we were within a block of the beach.  Not too shabby.

OZ4: Photos

We do love the dinner shots--a lovely meal by chef Sue.
(Left to Right: Gary, Joe, me, Susan)

OZ4: Gary & Sue

When we caught the bus back to Townsville from Ravenswood, we were breathing easy knowing we didn’t have to be around Al anymore.  Liz, our crazy new Scottish friend, had invited us to stay in her yard if we needed a place to crash.  We seemed to be going from one crazy person to the next!  :) 

OZ3: Photos

Salads galore, complete with squash flower toppings!

OZ3: Al and Lyd

Ooooooooh, this should be fun.  This one gets good.  Hehehe, what a strange experience.

Just to express...

Can I pause to say how amazing this life of travel with the absolute best person in the world is? Joe is amazing. Our life is amazing. I'm so damn lucky. Sooooo lucky.

OZ2: Photos

Smiley in the rainforest!