Singapore: Warning, eat before you read this.

Food, food, and more food. We spent our two days in Singapore eating. And why shouldn't we? In case you are wondering, the small island country of Singapore is located on the Southern tip of the Malay peninsula, next to Malaysia and Indonesia. The country is a mix of people originally from China, Malaysia, and India, so you can imagine the cultural blend. Four languages are spoken and are on all official signs. They are English, Malay, Tamil, and Mandarin.

This post is kind of a tribute to one of our travel heroes, the infamous chef Anthony Bourdain. If you haven't seen an episode of his show No Reservations on the Travel Channel, you've probably been living in a hole. And if you have been living in a hole, please watch so you know what we're talking about. He brings attitude and a love of food, to traveling. So in honor of Chef Bourdain, we ate, and ate, and ate our way through the city. We also took his suggestion that the best food always seems to be wherever there are plastic tables and chairs, and where the street dogs hang out. The local food stalls.

We started in Chinatown, near where we were staying at Tajong Pagar. On a side note, we stayed in a strange hostel that was basically a residential apartment. There are several like this in Singapore, so watch out if booking online.

Singapore was a great introduction to Asia for us. It was a little crazier and more authentic than the Chinatown or Little India in New York or Toronto, but it still had order to it. Ah order, where to begin. I'm sure you have heard stories of people getting fined for spitting, or smoking in public places. It's true, they even joke about all the fines on the tacky tourist tee shirts. From what I can recall, you can't eat or drink on public transport, no spitting, no smoking in public, traffic signals are followed by both pedestrians and cars, no demonstrations or disagreement with the current government. Basically, it's the complete opposite of New York City. I do like my political freedom, but I'll tell you, being in Singapore for two days made me want to move there. It's clean, safe, friendly, and did I mention it was ridiculously clean? Although, it did lack a certain bit of edginess which I love about New York.

Now back to eating. Where to begin. We started in Chinatown on our first day and visited several areas of food hawker stalls. The first stop was the Maxwell Road Food Centre, then on to the Cinatown Complex. Picture a giant food court, but each place is tiny, and specialized. There's the curry stalls, the noodle places, the stalls dedicated to the famous Hainanese Chicken Rice dish, which is a famous dish of steamed chicken over steamed rice. Basic, but really damn good. There's the vegetarian stalls, the Laksa noodle stalls, the the Halal food stalls, the fruit juice stalls, and of course the vendors selling mouth watering items such as pig's brain and fish head curry soup. We ate dumplings, we ate curries, we ate chicken rice, we drank the freshest fruit juice. Julie also had her Starbucks fix of an iced caramel macchiato, since you could find every American fast food chain.

We did manage to do a lot of walking as well and saw some beautiful Chinese buddhist and Indian hindu temples, as well as two old mosques. The Sri Mariamman and Thian Hock Keng temples were stunning. The layout of the city was a good mix of East meets West. Hawker stalls and electronic malls mixed with skyscrapers, and chains such as Hooters. Yes, they even had a Hooters restaurant right on the waterfront at Clarke Quay.

I should quickly go back to electronics. If you ever want to buy the latest gadget, being a computer, mobile phone, or mp3 player, come to Singapore's Sim Lim Square. It's a massive department store of five levels selling everything you can plug in or run on batteries, and it's half the price as it is in North America.

Our second full day was spent wandering around Little India, and I can tell you, it smelled and tasted like India. I visited India in 2001 and I felt right at home eating vegetarian Thali with my hands. Oh, I got right in there with the locals without shame. Thali, in case you are wondering is a plate of rice and lentils, and mixed with either meet or fish, and something like six or so vegetable sides with amazing degrees of sweet and spicy. The town was gearing up for Deepavali, the festival of lights, so there were banners and colors galore. Many travelers choose to stay in Little India, especially at the ever popular hostel called the Inn Crowd. So next time I might pick this over Chinatown, depending on what i'm in the mood to eat!

For our one big night out in the city, we were lucky to have locals show us a good time. My friend Noah put me in touch with his friend Justin, and we started the night at a great local Chinese Seafood restaurant with two of his friends from their cool tech company Garag3. After dinner they drove us around the Formula One track for the upcoming night race that was to take place in two weeks. As if the night could not have gotten any better, it turns out that I had two friends studying their MBA at INSEAD's Singapore campus, and there was a birthday party for our friend Lee. We danced, and drank, and caught up with old friends.

So after three nights and two days in Singapore, and our bellies full, we headed off to meet our friend Tal in Bali, Indonesia. We flew from Cairns to Darwin, and then on to Singapore with Jetstar Airlines, Qantas' low cost carrier.

Here are our photos from Singapore, so you really can see what we ate.

What I'm Reading

For a while now I've wanted to share the list of books that have been keeping me entertained on the road. Since most of you read (I think), you can hopefully appreciate how a good book makes all the difference when you're traveling.

After one year on the road (It'll be a year on Oct. 11th), here is a list of the books that were good enough to mention:

1. Kite Runner - By Khaled Hosseini. I'm sure you all know this book and what it's about, so I'll spare you the storyline. It is however a must read if you haven't already.


2. A Short History of Nearly Everything - By Bill Bryson. An amazing book that breaks down the history of science, geology, astronomy, and human evolution for the general public. It's written in narrative form with funny anecdotes. A good read if you want to stimulate the brain.


3. Finding George Orwell in Burma - By Emma Larkin. This book shook me up. Emma Larkin goes to Myanmar/Burma to retrace the steps of George Orwell who was stationed there as a British foreign police officer in his youth. She unravels the current history of Myanmar and compares the ongoing situation to the Totalitarian regimes in Orwell's Animal Farm and 1984. I was so unaware of what has been going on in Myanmar until now. There is no way that I will support the country's regime with my tourist dollars now. My friend Erin gave me this book, so thanks Erin.


4. Eat, Pray, Love - By Elizabeth Gilbert. A true story about the author's tough break up with her husband, and the road to recovery. It's kind of a chick book, but I enjoyed it. I spoke to some other people and the consensus seems to be that you either love it or hate it. The book is split into three parts: Italy (Eat), India (Pray), and Bali (Love). It's kind of ironic that I'm in Bali at the moment, and can seriously relate to the issues in the book. Note: Does anyone else think Julie looks a little like the author? Strange. There is also a movie version in progress starring Julia Roberts. Can't wait.


5. The 4 Hour Work Week - By Timothy Ferris. Wow, by far the most inspirational book I've read this year. My description won't do it justice, but Tim tackles the issues of the overworked, and inefficient employee/employer scenario. If you're a small business owner, or an employee/employer for a company, this will help to free more of your time, so you can enjoy it with kids, family, friends, or touring around the world. Go Tim, and thanks to Noah Kagan and Kareem Mayan for suggesting it.


6. Down Under or In a Sunburned Country - By Bill Bryson. I read this book about Australia, while I was in Australia, and you know, it helped to put the Aussie mentality in perspective. A recommended read for anyone about to visit Australia, or if you're an armchair traveler who might never get there.


7. Long Way Round - By Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman. A fantastic read for any traveler or bike enthusiast. The book is about their 20,000 kilometer motorcycle trip around the world, starting in London and finishing in New York. They brought a film crew along for the ride, so you might have heard about this or seen the mini series on TV.


8. The Places In Between - By Rory Stewart. Rory walked across Afghanistan shortly after the US invasion in 2002. He followed the route of the ancient emperor Babur, through difficult terrain in the winter, and survived by the kindness of villagers. It took me a little while to get into this book, but then I was hooked.
   

Two other books that I'd like to recommend were read before my trip, but they are so good, I wanted to list them.

The first is my favorite of all time, A Fine Balance - By Rohinton Mistry. This book takes place in India in the 1970's, and follows the lives of three different people. There are essentially three stories within the book, but I don't want to give too much away. I read it before it became listed on Opera's Book Club, but that endorsement should be enough.

The second book was inspirational for this trip around the world. It is Adventure Capitalist - by Jim Rogers. Don't let the title throw you off. It's a story about Jim and his wife Paige, who traveled around the world for 3 years in a specially built car, that took them to some far off destinations. It's not only travel writing, as Jim talks about politics and the global economy. It really is an interesting and inspirational read.

If you have any book suggestions, please let me know. I'm dying for another good book.

A quick visit to the Northern Territory: Darwin, Kakadu, and Litchfield

Ever since we got to Australia, we had been excited about seeing the "outback." Images of Crocodile Dundee, Billabongs (watering holes), and red dirt. The Aussies basically refer to the outback as anything inland from the coast/civilization. We tried to find some versions of the outback when we drove inland to Armidale, NSW, to see our friends the Greggs, and when we visited the Atherton Tablelands a couple hours from Cairns in FNQ (Far North Queensland). Here are photos from our trip to the Tablelands.

It wasn't until our flight was landing in Darwin, the northernmost city in the Northern Territory, that I saw red dirt from the window of of the plane, and I thought to myself that we are finally here!

Darwin is a nice spot to spend a day or two. My friend Eric from Holland who I met diving said he spent almost a month in Darwin just hanging out. There's no way I could do that, but the place has charm. We had less than 24 hours to see the city, but that was enough. It turned out that our one day coincided with a famous night market at Mindil beach, which rocked. We sampled food from the many stalls selling Thai, Indian, Malay, and even tasted some Crocodile and Camel.

The next morning we picked up a Wicked Camper 4x4 model, complete with bed and kitchenette (at a sweet employee discount), and headed off for Kakadu National Park (where they shot some of Crocodile Dundee).



Kakadu National Park is massive. I had heard that it is approximately the size of Switzerland, and I can tell you that we drove 1100 Kilometers in 5 days visiting both Kakadu and Litchfield. It took us a good day to drive from the North to South part of the parks. Note to any traveler, there are long boring stretches of road between the interesting sites. You need at least 2-3 days to see it all. I also think we went at the wrong time of year, since it was the end of the dry season. But there really is a small window of opportunity to see the park since it's flooded during the rainy/summer season.

We spent 3 days in Kakadu, and here is a map to follow our route. We drove in along the Arnhem Highway, visiting the ancient cave paintings at Ubirr, and spending a horrid night with mosquitoes at the Merl campground. The next day we drove to see more rock paintings at Nourlangie Rock, then visited the Warraddjan Aboriginal cultural center, saw a crocodile in the wild at Yellow River, and finished off the ridiculously hot day with a dip in the free pool at Cooinda. I should mention that the average daily temperature was about 38 degrees Celsius, and there are only a handful of places to swim in the park because of the Crocodile infested waters. The final day we drove along a 4x4 track to the swimming hole at Maguk, which was paradise. Probably the highlight of Kakadu for both of us. We didn't visit the famous Jim Jim or Twin Falls, which were dry this time of year, but they are supposed to be great at other times.

From Kakadu we drove out south along the Kakadu highway towards Litchfield National Park, which is much closer to Darwin. This is the place to come and swim. There are an abundance of waterfalls and swimming holes, that are for the most part Crocodile free!

We had two nights and almost two days to see the park, and that was plenty. You can really do it in a night and day if you need to. Here is the official fact sheet and map so you can follow along. On the way in we stopped by the huge termite mounds. These things were at least 10 feet tall and there was a field of them. I had no idea there were different kinds of termites, but Litchfield had magnetic mounds, which arranged themselves in a North-South axis to keep warm and cool, with the changing desert temperatures. There are also many fields of termite mounds in Kakadu, and this is where we first saw them.

We spent two nights at the Florence Falls campground. After two horrible nights in Kakadu, being eaten alive by mosquitoes (or mossies as they are known in Australia), we finally found peace in Litchfield. The campground is high up on the tableland, and a nice breeze seemed to keep them away. Florence Falls was my favorite of all the swimming holes. It was tiny, relaxed, and had great cliff jumping options for the fearless. I was happy jumping from a 20 foot cliff, but some crazy Aussies jumped off the main falls which are about 60 feet or more.

The main attraction is Wangi Falls. It's huge, picturesque, and a great place to swim. It's just overcrowded compared to the others. If you don't mind company of a hundred or more, then go for it. It is a good place if you have kids or don't want to walk much. Most of the other falls require at least a 1 km hike.

We didn't make it onto the off road track because of some deep river crossings, but I heard that Tjaynara and Surprise Creek Falls are supposed to be fantastic if you have a 4x4 vehicle.

Here are our photos from our visit to Darwin, Kakadu, and Litchfield National Parks. Photo captions by Julie.

Globestompers is now just a Globestomper

To all our friends, family, and loyal supporters of our travel blog, I have some news. As of this week, Julie is flying home to the US, and I will continue to travel on my own. Hopefully I can keep the spirit of the blog alive, and entertain you as much as Julie has.

Right now we are in Bali, Indonesia. We left Cairns on Sept 11th, and flew to Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia for a 5 day tour of Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks. From Darwin we flew to Singapore on September 16th, spent 3 nights exploring the city, and then arrived in Bali on September 19th to meet our friend Tal, who was visiting from New York.

This is just a quick re-cap as so much has happened over the last couple weeks, but I hope to write in more detail very shortly.

Jared

Diving the Great Barrier Reef for Free!

Long before I came to Australia, the Great Barrier Reef was a must-see destination. I learned to scuba dive in Egypt's Red Sea, also considered one of the best places in the world, and I've also been fortunate enough to dive all over the world, including Thailand, Belize, Mexico, and Fiji. Every time I went diving in one of these places, there was always someone who told me I had to visit the Great Barrier Reef, so my expecations were very high to say the least.

One down side to the weak US dollar is that Australia is now one of the most expensive places to scuba dive. A day on the reef with two dives costs around $150-175, and the three day/two night live aboard dive trip that I was looking at doing costs around $600! Much too steep for a backpacker's budget.

But, I was lucky enough to hear through the grapevine that some of the dive operators will take on volunteer crew to work in exchange for food, accommodation, and of course some dives. Deep Sea Divers Den, who operate the Ocean Quest and Taka boats, came highly recommended. The Taka boat is a minimum of seven days and it visits the well known Osprey Reef and Cod Hole. Since I couldn't commit to this much time, my other option was a three to six day trip on Ocean Quest, in which I chose the three day/two night cruise to give me a taste. The Ocean Quest vessel visits Norman and Saxon Reefs which are about an hour and a half from the mainland, and are better preserved sections of the reef compared to the areas close to Cairns that get too many day-trippers.

All in all, the trip was great. I wasn't prepared for the amount of work I would need to do on board, and I didn't have a moment to rest, but it was well worth it. There are two volunteer "Hosties" as they called us, and our duties included setting up and washing dishes for four meals, cleaning rooms, making beds, and odd job here and there. We were on a luxury boat, so it was basically a floating hotel that just moved between the two reefs to whichever spot was best to dive at that time. I should start off by saying that the food was fantastic. There was a big dining area, a bar and lounge, plus some sun decks. The rooms were a good size with their own bathrooms that weren't that much smaller than a normal hotel. There was room for 48 guests and 12 crew, and I was lucky enough that there was only 40 people in total during my trip, since that was enough. It was a good mix of people as well, mostly couples in their twenties and thirties. We worked hard, but played even harder.

Here is how a typical day was structured:

- wake at 6 am for a 6:30 dive

- back by 7:20 to set up for breakfast and eat quickly

- clean breakfast dishes and get ready for a 9 am dive

- back by 10 am to clean rooms, bathrooms, and make new beds for arriving guests

- set up lunch at 11:30, eat quickly

- clean lunch dishes

- break for 30 minutes

- at 2 pm, get ready for passenger transfer boat that shuttles people between Cairns and the reef

- break for 30 minutes

- dive at 4 pm

- back by 5 pm to set up for dinner and eat quickly

- clean dinner dishes and get ready for 7:30 pm night dive

- back by 8:30 to set up for dessert

- clean dessert dishes

-10pm, PASS OUT, and repeat the next day.

Even with all this work, I managed to get in eight dives. My favorite place had to be Saxon Reef, and some highlights included seeing blue spotted stingrays, white tipped reef sharks, and some big sea turtles. The areas of the reef that I saw were spectacular, but there was a lot of dead coral too, and I think the Great Barrier Reef is a little over-hyped compared to other dive spots around the world. I'm glad I had the experience so I can cross it off my list, but my favorite is still the Red Sea. Maybe because it was my first dive experience, who knows.

If you come to Cairns, and you want to dive the Great Barrier Reef, I highly recommend this unique experience. I heard that Mike Ball is another great operator where you can work for dives, and our friend Eduardo from Spain signed up with the Cairns Dive Centre (CDC) to work in exchange for a dive master's license, but I also heard that there are numerous operators that still make you pay a little, so avoid them.

Scuba diving is something you can't really explain, but hopefully my photos of the Great Barrier Reef can help a little.

Magnetic Island and beyond to Cape Tribulation

The tropical North of Queensland. This has been our final destination for the last two months of driving, and I should mention that we finally found hot weather. I know it's winter in Australia, and we figured it would be a little cool, but until we arrived in Cairns, the weather had really been quite chilly. So for all of you who think that Australia is always hot, try coming here in the winter season. The cold weather down south meant it was off-season and not too crowded, but it's the peak season up here.

From Airlie Beach, we decided to drive to Cairns as quick as possible, with a stop over visit to see Magnetic Island off the coast of Townsville. Three of us set off for the four hour drive to Townsville, to catch the thirty minute ferry to Magnetic Island. Three people you say? Well, we decided to invite another traveler to join our trip since the cost of fuel is astronomical over here, and we met Eduardo from Madrid who clicked with us like chorizo y queso.

Unfortunately the weather wasn't the best when we visited Magnetic Island, and we stayed in possibly the worst hostel ever (Arcadia Hotel, formally known as Magnums, and Arkies), but the island is beautiful and definitely worth a visit if you have time. We had a great day of hiking around the island, visiting some old World War Two bunkers. Most people outside of Australia wouldn't know this, but Townsville was actually attacked by Japanese planes. We also had one of the best days of animal sightings in the wild. We saw more koalas, kangaroos, and got to feed the colorful rainbow lorakeet birds, and a huge group of rock wallabies, which look like minature kangaroos. Another highlight was winning our third trivia night at the local pub. This time we took home the gold...three jugs of beer, and two really tacky tee shirts.

After two days on the island, we drove the last four hours to Cairns, the largest city in Northern Queensland, and a major holiday destination for visiting the Great Barier Reef. We spent two days getting a taste for the city where we planned to settle for a bit, and then said goodbye to our new amigo Eduardo, and drove north to see the nice trendy town of Port Douglas and then spend a couple of days in Cape Tribulation part of the Daintree National Park.

You can't come all the way to Cairns and not visit the northern beaches and rainforest. Cairns unfortunately does not have a beach (they do have a man made swimming lagoon), but drive 30 minutes north and you have the breathtaking areas of Palm Cove, Eli Beach, and Port Douglas, plus numerous deserted beaches, except for the crocs! We spent a night in Palm Cove, the affluent and touristy suburb of Cairns, and absolutely loved it. There's even a city-run campground right on the beach if you are lucky enough to get a space.

Drive two and half hours north of Cairns, and you'll finally get to Cape Trib, as the locals like to call it. The scenery reminded us of Fiji with beautiful jungle mountains just beyond the shore. We had to take a car ferry to cross the croc-infested Daintree river, and once you're on the other side it's a sleepy area of several villages without cell phone reception. We spent two nights camping at the Noah Beach campground run by the National Parks, and had a huge beach all to ourselves. I think the highlight for the both of us was taking a cruise down the Daintree River to see crocodiles in the wild. We saw four of them that day, and it was amazing to see them in the wild, just sunning themselves on the river bank. In case you are wondering, crocs are found in Australia and are more aggressive than American alligators. The salt water crocs can get as big as 5 meters (about 15 feet)!

Just another note if you decide to visit North Queensland. Don't go swimming in the ocean near a river mouth as crocs probably live there. If it's the summer season (Nov-May), wear a stinger suit in the ocean, as the tiny box jelly fish can actually kill you. And if these two things don't get you, then there are the sharks. Basically, Australia has more animals that can kill you than anywhere else, including several snakes and spiders, but the chances are slim, and this place rocks anyway!

We are back in Cairns now, settling into our new jobs and new apartment, but that deserves a whole separate post. Here are our pics of Magnetic Island and Cape Trib.

The Capricorn Coast as seen by a Capricorn.

Born in January, I am a true Capricorn. So I was intrigued to check out the Capricorn Coast which incorporates the areas of Bundaberg (known for its fruits and vegetable production), Rockhampton (the beef capital of Australia) and MacKay (famous for its sugar cane). We didn't care too much for these towns as they were pretty basic and bland, but venture a little bit further away and we found some great spots to visit.

We had a week to kill before getting to Airlie Beach and our planned three day boat tour of the Whitsunday Islands, so we took our time driving the short distance north. Our first stop was the town of Agnes Water with its little hamlet, the Town of 1770, so named for the date Captain Cook disembarked on its shores while discovering Australia.

Agnes Water and 1770 were hyped up for us well before we even got to Australia. We had met some Swedish girls in Fiji who raved about the place as their favorite, and even the Lonely Planet guidebook mentioned it as the next Byron Bay. I hope it doesn't become like Byron Bay, but it's a long way away even if it is heading in that direction. Sure, there are some big building developments going on, but aside from this, it was one of the smallest beach towns we have visited.

The town is the last official surfing spot when heading north. It is the start of the Great Barrier Reef, and so the waves virtually stop a little further north. It was my last chance to surf and so we set up camp at the nearby council-run site called Workman's Beach, and chilled out for four days. The first two days had great waves, but the last two were mellow and we just laid out and I finally got to play some frisbee with a Hungarian traveller we met. I'm still not sure why I didn't bring a disc (frisbee) while traveling as it's one of my favorite things, but the last two days filled a void not met since we played with our friends Kareem and Noah in Buenos Aires.

A little sad, I sold my surfboard to a happy local, and we headed north yet again. We sped through Rockhampton, but made a stop to visit the Capricorn Caves about 20 Km north of town. It's a privately run attraction with a labyrinth of caves, one that includes a makeshift cathedral where you can actually get married. They even set up pews and played us some beautiful music timed with lights. If the place was run by the parks department you would never have an experience like this.

Our next major stop was the Finch Hatton Gorge, and Eungella National Park, just west of MacKay in sugar cane country. We did a nice quick hike in the Finch Hatton Gorge to a waterfall and swimming area, and then rushed to get Eungella to try and see a platypus. Found only in Australia, we had been trying to see one for the last month. We had seen kangaroos, emus, dingos, wallabies, koalas, wombats, and the last on the list was the famous platypus. We were lucky to see them both at sunset and the next day at sunrise from the lookout at Broken River. I assumed these things would be as big as a beaver, but they were tiny. Almost like watching a mutated beaver/duck offspring the size of a swimming squirrel. If that makes any sense. But both of us were ecstatic and stood in the rain watching them dive around for about an hour. Unfortunately we couldn't get any photos. I'll never drink from my Platypus water bottle again without thinking of the little critters.

From Eungella we made our way back to the coast, and spent a night camping at the secluded Smalley's Beach, part of Cape Hillsborough National Park to the north of MacKay. With only ten campsites, it was a treat to have the place to ourselves so to speak. Then we drove up to Airlie Beach where we are now, heading on a much anticipated three day boat tour of the Whitsunday Islands on the Great Barrier Reef.

Here are our pics from our short visit to the Capricorn Coast.

Noosa, a gem in the Sunshine Coast

Everyone kept telling us to get to Noosa. "You'll love it there, it's more upscale than Byron Bay and without the attitude." I have to say that I agree. It's a tough time to find work here, as it's the off season, but people are still really encouraging and actually apologetic that they couldn't offer us jobs. That's a first for me.

Noosa is situated north of Brisbane on the Sunshine Coast, and is actually made up of the towns of Noosa Heads, Noosaville, and Tewantin, that are situated along the coast or the beautiful Noosa River that flows through the towns to meet with the Pacific Ocean. The area has tons of beautiful boutique and chain resorts such as the Sheraton, for the Sydney or Brisbane family on holiday. There are also tons of gorgeous multi-million dollar homes situated along the banks of the river. It's very South Florida here with the canals and waterfront homes, but less glitzy than the Gold Coast. Add the famous Hastings Street with the numerous restaurants and boutiques, and you've got Palm Beach's Worth Avenue, without the stuffy attitude. This is the place I would want to vacation as a couple or family on holiday for a week. Treat yourself right, rent a nice beachfront condo, and eat great food until you pass out on the main beach running through town. Oh, did I mention that there is a national park that occupies a big area, and it has good surf with a beautiful beach at Tea Tree Bay, and wild koalas that we finally saw outside of a zoo!



We lucked out with the Noosa River Caravan Park where we've just spent the last week. It's affiliated with the city, otherwise the property would have been converted a long time ago. It's right on Munna Point on the Noosa River, and the sunsets are spectacular. It's cheaper than a hostel and is hands down the best caravan park we have stayed at so far.

So, besides looking for work in the town, we spent our week laying on the beach, surfing in the National Park, and at nearby Sunshine Beach, and went on a 3 day canoe trip through the Noosa Everglades.

I'm not exactly sure why they call it the Everglades as it's nothing like the swampy land in Florida, and there aren't crocs this far south, but it has some nice saltwater lakes and rivers to canoe and camp along. There are bull sharks and stingrays that live in the water, so it still had the risk of possibly getting eaten if we fell overboard, although unlikely.



The trip was self guided and organized by Gagaju Bush Camp. Not exactly sure if I can paint a fair picture of the place, but the camp is somewhat like MASH meets a redneck retreat. There are shacks of longterm residents nearby, living out of tents with couches, under make-shift porches. You have to see it to believe it, although I have only good things to say about the place. It has charm, let's say that. The camp itself has some army style barracks in canvas tents with bunks, and they have an outside kitchen, tv and lounge area complete with a massive bonfire every night.

Our group consisted of seven other travelers from Holland, France, Germany, Turkey, and a father/daughter pair from Canada. The dad was the hardest partier we've met to date, and put us all to shame. The first two days were basically spent at the bush camp, with a side trip paddling out to a nice ocean beach. The last day and night we paddled north along the river to the Boreen Point camping ground, situated on the shore of a salt water lake. It was relaxing, and we had a fun night out at the local hotel/pub to celebrate all of our paddling.

Besides surfing, laying on the beach, and looking for work, some other highlights from our week and a half in the area included a pub trivia night where we beat out the locals, playing in a texas hold 'em tournament, and finally trying kagaroo steaks and vegemite!

We are now heading north towards Hervey Bay to visit the famous Fraser Island on 4x4 safari. Can't wait for that. Here are our pics from Noosa so you can get a better feel of the place.

From Sydney to Byron Bay...and everything in between.

Most travelers speed up the East coast from Sydney to Byron Bay. Friends of ours, Pablo and Christina, did the trip in three days. If you have limited time, then it really is only a 10 hour drive, but I think you would be missing out on some amazing national parks and beautiful coastline. We decided to take our time as we have a couple months to make it all the way north to Cairns, a classic travel route. I guess we're finally learning that it's better to take your time and see a place, than rush to see it all.

So, from Sydney we said goodbye to our friends and headed two hours west to the Blue Mountains National Park, and beginning of the Great Dividing Range that parallels the East coast. This was our one detour before heading up the coast, and I'm glad we made it.

The park has beautiful valleys, with gorgeous rock cliffs. If you get up early enough, fog covers the valley floors and it's pretty magical when the sun comes up. We spent two days hiking around the valleys, down to the floor and back to the top. A good climb. The whole place reminded me a lot of the Niagara escarpment outside of Toronto.

The town of Katoomba is the main place for visiting the park. It was also our first experience sleeping in our new car. Cozy, but took some getting used to. We actually slept on a residential street, and hoped that we wouldn't get a ticket. I can hear our friends shouting "dirty hippies." A highlight for us was our first visit to a Returned Services League, or RSL as it's known, which is basically a club for military veterans. The Cohens in Sydney mentioned it was a place to get a good cheap meal, and they were right. We were also entertained by joining in on their weekly trivia night, and even won some free drinks.

From the Blue Mountains we headed to the coast, and our first stop at Bouddi National Park. After a night at a beach front campsite, we headed for waves at Terrigal Beach. Now I should mention that for a long time I have wanted to get good at surfing. Five years ago I spent a week learning how to surf at Witches Rock Surf Camp in Costa Rica. Since then I've only gotten out about three times a year, and unfortunately became out of practice. So, I've made it my mission while in Australia to get good at surfing. Well, at least good enough to keep up with my friend Zack back home at Far Rockaway, Long Beach and Montauk, NY. I picked up a used board in Sydney, and we are stopping at every beach with waves. I need to thank Julie for her patience, as I drive from spot to spot stopping to see if there is good surf. It's kind of addictive.



There wasn't much surf at Terrigal that day so we moved on, resting at Crack Neck point to see whales pass in the distance, and finally stopping at Soldier's Beach near Norah Head for my first real afternoon of surfing. The next day we drove north to Newcastle, and visited a great little zoo, finally seeing wombats, koalas, emus, and kangaroos. We spent about 40 minutes watching the Koalas in awe, and the best part is that the zoo was free! That would never happen back home.

Our next stop was Hawks Nest, on the far side of Nelson Bay. A famous area for spotting whales and dolpins. Unfortunately we didn't see any, but we camped in a beautiful site in Myall Lakes National Park, and we had the whole place to ourselves. The next morning we moved on to Seal Rocks, visited the lighthouse, and got a good afternoon of great surf. We also had another night at a pristine campground in the national park.



After Seal Rocks we went to Crescent Head for more surf, and then headed inland over the Great Dividing Range to Armidale. The whole coast had suffered several days of pouring rain, and it made for an interesting drive. Some roads were flooded, and we took a ridiculously curvy path over the mountains, but we made it in time for dinner with the Gregg family. Some people looked at us like we were nuts to drive out of our way to Armidale, as it's four hours from the coast in farm country, but we went to visit with Vivienne and Michael (mother and brother of Julia who we stayed with in Sydney) who we shared three days with in a cramped landcruiser in the Salar de Uyuni in Boliva. After 2 nights of resting with friends, and getting our car fixed (our whole exhaust system was replaced after we put a hole in the muffler), we headed back to the coast.



The drive from Armidale to Coffs Harbour on the road dubbed the waterfall way, was scenic to say the least. One highlight was stopping in the town of Bellingen. Great architecture, with cool cafes and shops. It was like being in a Colorado mountain town. Coffs Harbour was a nice town, and I got in another afternoon of great surf.



The town of Yamba and the famous surf spot of Angourie was a must do for me. Angourie is so tiny, but everyone there seemed to be surfing fanatics. I can see why. They have a spot where the wave breaks perfectly all day, everyday. I hate to say it, but I was out of my league. I still need more practice, but at least I gave it a shot.

After a frustrating morning at Angourie, we drove a distance along the Pacific highway (our main route up the coast) to Ballina and then the coastal road up to Byron Bay. We stopped brifely in Lennox Head, to watch an all girls surf competition, and then finally reached Byron Bay in the late afternoon.



Byron Bay is not all it's cracked up to be. We were told it was one of the coolest spots for backpackers, but what we encountered is a chic surf town where the locals don't really like the tourists. The town has 9000 residents, but a ridiculous number of hotels, spas, and restaurants. I think they forget sometimes that the backpackers and tourists are the backbone of the town's income. That being said, the town is beautiful and has several beaches to choose from. We've been spending our days at Watego's beach just below the picturesque lighthouse, away from the crowds on Main beach. There are tons of cool restaurants, cafes, shops, and terraces to drink a schooner of beer and watch the sunset. Our plan was to try and get some work here for a month or two, but it's off season, and we get the feeling that locals are preferred. Oh well, their loss. We're headed north in search of better weather in Queensland.

So what's my impression of the New South Wales coast? It's basically like the California coast, but with much less people, and that's a great thing. There is beauty around every bend. A cliche I know, but in this case it's true. Here are my photos from our drive up the coast of NSW.

My Oh My Melbourne

Wow, what a great city. When I was living in Montreal during my "uni" days as they say here, I had some friends that studied abroad in Australia. I kept hearing how Melbourne was similar to Montreal, and I am happy to report that they were right. I loved living in Montreal, and I could seriously move to Melbourne.

From the moment I hit streets, I immediately felt the vibe of the city. It could have also been the fact that I had come from New Zealand with a significantly smaller population, but I'm attributing it to all the bustling restaurants and coffee shops spread out among the alleyways, and the hipsters in their skinny black jeans and Dunlop Volley sneakers.

This city breathes festivals and you can see how food and art are the topic of many. The major museums are free! I was there for two weeks in the Fall season, and witnessed the Next Wave Festival, Buddha Day, and the St. Kilda Film Festival. The Italian Festival was just after we left for Sydney and I could only imagine the great food dished out in the Italian neighborhood of Carlton. If this was the Fall, Summer must be one festival after another.

I was lucky to be staying in Southbank, just across the Yarra river, since there were great restaurants right on the water. I was also around the corner from the South Melbourne Market where I did my daily shopping for fresh foods. The Queen Victoria Market (or "Vic Market") is another spectacle. The largest market in they city, it was a must do for us on a Saturday, when it's the most packed with vendors selling everything from food to clothing. I ate the most amazing Turkish bread called "Boreks," stuffed with lamb and vegetables, and considering the huge line to get them, I figured it must be an institution.




So, I had a full nine days to enjoy the city before Julie arrived. I figured I could scope out the city and we could do all the fun stuff together. I stayed at a massive hostel complex in Southbank called Urban Central, that reminded me more of a university dorm than the traditional traveler's den. It was a five story building with a bar and endless number of rooms. Most people seemed to be long term residents with working visas, and living in the dorm. It was the last place I wanted to be for more than a week, but It worked out for me since it was low season and I had my own room. I should mention that even in low season there were more than a hundred people.



My good friend Dave put me in touch with his old flame named Brunka who was the best host. We walked around the cool neighborhood of Prahran, and went to an amazing house club that rivaled NYC and Montreal in the heyday of Stereo. I went to see live music at the famous ESPY in St. Kilda, and checked out the art and music scene in Fitzroy. The highlight of the week for me was a free day trip to visit the national park of Wilson's Promontory. Somehow the stars aligned and Bunyip Tours offered a couple free seats on their tour to the "Prom" as they were shooting a promotional video and brochure. Talk about a score. Normally the full day trip runs $110, but after going on the trip, I think it's worth the money if you are considering it. The Prom is located two hours southeast of Melbourne at the southernmost point of mainland Australia. We did two hikes, one up a hill to get a great view of the coast, and one along a beach, then topped it off with some animal viewings at sunset, the best time to see grey kangaroos, emus, and wombats.



Julie arrived on a Thursday and we painted the town red for four days before our flight out to Sydney. I said goodbye to the hostel life and we settled in with Steven and Natasha, our new friends. I should mention that they had never met us before, but our mutual friend Kareem put us in touch, and they were so gracious to let us stay in their home in Hawthorn East. So how did we do up Melbourne? We walked along the waterfront of the Yarra River, visited the botanical gardens, Federation square, the shopping areas in the CBD (central business district), took in day re-living our childhood at the Game On video game exhibit at the Australian Center for the Moving Image (best $5 I ever spent), ate really well from Natasha's cooking, and did a day wine tour of vineyards in the Yarra valley with our hosts.



The highlight of our wine tour was visiting the Yeringberg winery, which is only open two days a year. Their small stock usually goes to restaurants and wine enthusiasts like Steven. It is a family winery that has been around since the 1800's, and their $40 plus bottles were a treat to try. Corkmaster, do you have anything else to add about the tastings? I also got to see a "footy" match. The Australian Football League, also known as Aussie rules, is the sporting religion in the state of Victoria. I was lucky enough to see the defending champion Geelong Cats beat the Richmond Tigers at the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground, the site of the 1956 summer Olympics. I ran into some old friends John and Amit that I met in Fiji, who helped to cheer on Geelong.



So, after two weeks in Melbourne, we boarded a plane bound for Sydney. Australia has some super cheap low cost carriers. We flew Virgin Blue for $79 one way, and the bus was only $15 cheaper and takes 12 hours! There is also Jet Star, which is what we flew from Christchurch to Melbourne.

So, here we are in Sydney, about to head north along the coast in our new ride. I finally bought my first car. It's a pre-loved 1993 Holden Berlina station wagon with space in the back for the two of us to sleep. We have camping gear, my guitar, a new surfboard, a cook set, and the open road. What more could you ask for. Well, a job maybe? Yes, we need to find work at some point to help finance this pseudo-retirement.

Here are my photos from two weeks in Melbourne, and it looks like our blog found its way to the MSN.ca travel section, how cool is that.

Why we love life: Part 3

It's been some time, and I know you are all itching to see some more videos from our travels, so here are 5 quick videos from our trip to Fiji and New Zealand. This is Why We Love Life.

Fijian Fire Dancing - Taken at the Sunset Waya Resort, on Waya Island in the Yasawas.




Traditional Fijian Concert - Taken at the Wayalailai Eco Lodge, on Wayalailai Island in the Yasawas.



Maori Haka - Traditional dance, taken at Whakarewarewa thremal village in Rotorua.



Seals - Swimming seals on the shore at Abel Tasman National Park.



Bungy Jumping - That's me jumping off of the 43 meter Kawarau bridge near Queenstown. Video footage thanks to my darling Julie.

The South Island

With all the traveling in our campervan, we haven't had much time to get to online and fill you in on our trip, so here's how we spent two weeks in South Island of New Zealand. Here's a map, so you can follow along.

Upon arrival, we put our priorities straight and headed for the wine region of Marlborough, to the town of Renwick in the northeast. The area is famous for its white grape varieties, especially Sauvignon Blanc, and we managed to visit two vineyards before calling it a day and heading west. Normally I would spend hours, or days even, visiting vineyards, but unfortunately I was the designated driver being the only one who could drive a manual shift, and I should mention that wine is way, way too expensive in New Zealand. A cheap bottle is $20!



Abel Tasman National Park was our next destination, located in the northwest of the island on the north coast. The place reminded me a lot of British Columbia in the summertime, with a nice coastal rainforest, and little coves with sandy beaches. The Abel Tasman track usually takes 2-3 days to hike along the coast, but we only had enough time for a day hike, and I can't wait to come back and hike the whole trail. A highlight for us was seeing a family of seals swim right by us in the shallows of the surf. I should also mention that we had an afternoon of fishing at a nearby salmon farm where we were able take home our catch. We couldn't wait, and had some fresh raw salmon sashimi, prepared by the farm, with one of the bottles from our winery visit. What an introduction to the south island!



From Abel Tasman, we headed southwest to the west coast, and to one of the prettiest drives I have ever done. Going from Westport to Greymouth was stunning. It reminded me a lot of northern California. We stopped to see the famous Pancake rocks, and the obligatory tour of the Monteiths brewery.



We then drove further south to see the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers. They are massive glaciers, that are actually advancing at about a pace of 1 meter a day (which in glacial time is really, really fast). We ponied up the cash and did a full day hike on the Fox Glacier with Fox Glacier Guiding. What a great day. The weather was sunny, and we got to crawl through some caves and crevasses. I have been on a number of glaciers while climbing mountains, but have never really walked around an ice fall like this. It was also Julie's first time on a glacier and wearing crampons (ice shoes). It was well worth every penny we spent. If you have limited time, or more cash to burn, you can do a heli hike, which is a helicopter ride onto the glacier and then a hike. I'll be back to try this one day.



From Fox Glacier we headed southeast over the Haast pass, by beautiful mountain lakes, to the alpine town of Wanaka. Home of mountain guides, and not as touristy as Queenstown, we spent our two days trying to go skydiving. The weather stopped us from our first jump, but we did see a movie at Cinema Paradiso, a famously cool theater that is more like a living room filled with mis-matched furniture, and even an old car.



We ended up spending more time in Queenstown than we anticipated. It's actually not a bad place to rest for a couple days. There are good restaurants and shops, and every adrenaline sport under the sun. We finally went skydiving for the first time. What a rush. I think everyone should try it once in their lives. We jumped tandem style (attached to a professional) from 12,000 feet, and it gave us about 45 seconds of free-fall. For the first 5 seconds or so, you get that rollercoaster feeling in your stomach, but once you reach terminal velocity, it is like you are floating...but the ground is getting closer with every passing second. We jumped with NZONE, who were great. I also went bungy jumping off the 43 meter (141 foot) Kawarau bridge on the way out of Queenstown. I figured I came all the way to New Zealand, I might as well jump from the world's first commercial bungy site with AJ Hackett Bungy, the people who started this crazy sport.



I guess this is a good time to tell you that we kind of, well, crashed our campervan. It wasn't a bad accident, thank goodness, but we were shaken up nonetheless. Basically, we skidded off a narrow, curvy, wet road, and into rock. We weren't going that fast, but the right side (driver's side) was banged up pretty good, and for the next week we drove around with a door that didn't close all the way. What a sight. I would like to say for the record that this was my first (and hopefully last) accident. I'd like to think I am a safe driver. I've never even had a speeding ticket. But be warned if you are driving around New Zealand. The roads are tough, and according to the guy who rented us our van, 1 out of 3 renters have accidents. Also, if anyone was wondering about New Zealanders, we had two cars stop within minutes of the crash to help us change our tyre that was blown. One guy even dirtied up his nice clothes without thinking. That's New Zealand hospitality for you.



From Queenstown, I drove 'Andy the wreck' to Glenorchy and hiked the Routeburn track for two days. Julie stayed in Queenstown to take care of Australian visa issues. The Routeburn was fantastic, and as of May 1st the backcountry hut fee dropped from $40 a night to $10. Definitely the best time to hike. It was a little chilly, but worth it. Overnight the weather changed from sunny to a snowstorm, but mountains look so much better blanketed in white, don't you think? Again, I wish I had more time to do this hike. You really need 3 days, and another driver. All the good hikes in New Zealand seem to be a one way direction, not many loops. When I come back to this area, I am going to do the full 3 days on the Routeburn, plus the Keplar, Rees-Dart, and Milford Sound tracks, which are also really popular multi-day hikes.



After trekking, I picked up Julie in Queenstown, and we made our way north, first to the old gold rush settlement of Arrowtown, and then to Aoraki/Mt. Cook National Park. In 2001, I trekked across some valleys in Nepal, and a girl in our group kept saying how it reminded her of the Southern Alps of New Zealand. Up until this point, I had dismissed the thought, but Mt. Cook National Park is as beautiful as the Himalayas, and I guess that girl was right. The tiny town of Aoraki/Mt. Cook is in the National Park and is surrounded by peaks and glaciers, and dominated by the Aoraki/Mt. Cook summit (Aoraki means cloud piercer in Maori). We spent another chilly night here, and did a great morning day hike by glacial lakes with stunning 360 views of the mountains.



Unfortunately we said goodbye to the national park and drove the 5 hours to Christchurch, which was our final stop in New Zealand. Christchurch is a really great city. If you were to blend Denver and San Francisco, you would get Christchurch, but with much less people. Approximately 338,800 people live in the city, and if you are looking for the next outdoor adventure place to raise a family, head here. Here are our photos (part 1 and part 2) from the South Island.

I said goodbye to New Zealand and boarded a plane solo, bound for Melbourne, Australia where I am currently waiting for Julie to join me. She is still waiting on her Australian work/holiday visa, but we hoping that it will come in time for her flight here next Thursday.

If anyone has friends or family in Australia, or knows of any fantastic jobs for a couple of months, please let us know. We miss you all, and really appreciate the comments and emails from home, so thank you.

Happy Passover

Dear Family and Friends,

Just a quick hello to wish you a happy Passover. We usually celebrate each year with my great aunt and cousins on my mother's side, and they really have become close family since we moved to New York. We miss you this time of year, so a special hello to Ann, Jon, Janet, Josh, Sarah, Michael, Lisa, Vicky, Andrew, Lynne, Steve, Alexa, and Hannah.

We are currently in New Zealand and have just finished the first week of our three week tour. We are in the city of Wellington at the bottom of the North Island, and are taking a ferry today to the South Island, to spend two more weeks driving the country. Did I mention that we are traveling and living out of a beat up '94 Toyota van that has been fitted with a make-shift bed, table, and kitchenette! It's also painted from front to back in pop art images, and we get looks everywhere we go.

Here are two photos from life on the road. The first is of our van that we call Andy (as in Warhol), and the second is of our Passover seder that we cooked at a campsite on friday night (and ate in our van).





Much love,

Jared and Julie

Fiji on a budget

I've always wanted to go to the South Pacific. I can't really remember at what age I started having fantasies about living on a deserted island, but I must have been young. I could always picture it in my mind. I would live in a thatched hut, drink coconut water and eat the fish that I would catch. Maybe it came from reading Robinson Crusoe, or watching one too many episodes of Gilligan's Island. So when Julie and I found that the cheapest flight to New Zealand was through Fiji, we jumped at the chance to spend two weeks in paradise.

I was worried that Fiji was going to eat through our travel budget, as every image I had was of luxurious resorts that probably cost more a night than the W Hotel in Times Square. We prepared ourselves by traveling with our tent, hoping to stay on beaches. What we found was that we were not alone, and there is a whole tourist industry catering to backpackers (camping and dorms), especially since the decline of high-end tourism with the military coup in 2006. Just to let you know, Fiji is extremely safe, whether you are traveling as a backpacker or looking to stay at a luxurious resort.

From LA we flew on a cheap one way flight with Air Pacific to the town of Nadi (pronounced Nandi), which is on the main island of Viti Levu. There is not much to see in Nadi, and we only stayed there while in transit to the Coral Coast and the Yasawa Islands. We had a great time at Beach Escape Villas, which is located in New Town Beach with the majority of backpacker hotels.