Last stop (for now)...Adelaide. Final post!

This comic strip was sent over to Scotland by my parents. I think it sums up a lot about my travels this year!

I arrived home a little under a week ago and am a little surprised at how well I'm settling back in. Not that I expected to be restless but I suppose this is the first place I've come to in awhile where I don't have to figure it all out for myself, I already know it (like the back of my hand!)

Uni has started and feels manageable, while the job hunt is about to start. I'm going to take my time to get something I want and will tie it in with my postgrad studies (Grad. Dip. in Information and Knowledge Management). I'm hopeful for work in archives.

The Adelaide Fringe is currently in full swing and after having experienced the juggernaut that is the Edinburgh Fringe I can now definately say Adelaide's is much, much smaller! The weather is crazy at the moment, heatwave in Autumn! We've had a record-breaking nine days straight of 35+ degree weather and predictions are for no sign of relief for at least another 8 days.

Well, this will be my last post on this blog. Hope you've enjoyed reading my journey, and I'm glad I've got a written keepsake of some of my stories from my year of travel. I've been meaning to share many more stories with you, especially from Thailand, but alas, the moment has passed. Feel free to ask me any questions about anything via email (or in person) if you so desire!

My friend Tic (pictured) said the most beautiful thing when I left Kuraburi, and that was when she looked up at the stars she would think of me, and for me to do the same thing and think of her. I take the time out to remember Tic, and all of the great people I met on my travels and hope they remember me.

Thankyou for reading,

Besos (Spanish for kisses!)

Lisa

Perth-Moora

I arrived in Australia with a jolt. A jolt from the plane suddenly aborting its landing about a metre from the ground. The girl sitting next to me whom I'd been talking casually with then burst into tears and threw up into her blanket. For some reason neither of us had sickbags in our tray. Mmm. We circled for another half an hour and tried another runway, that did the trick in the particularly windy weather.

Greeted by customs (yay, nothing got taken off me) and then Jen at the airport standing there with masses of helium balloons, the envy of every small child that walked past her in the last two hours. I spent the rest of the day pointing out things I hadn't seen in a long time "Wendys!", "Coles!", "Holden Commodores!" etc. It amused me no end, poor Jen having to put up with it.

We headed to Jen's home in rural Western Australia. It's not quite a 3 hour drive to Moora, North of Perth. It was an amazing drive, just taking in the colours on the ground and in the sky, everything is so dry but still has life. Except the roadkill on the side of the road, yep I'm in country Australia.

It was my 24th birthday on that first weekend back and Jen organised to go camping at Sandy Cape with friends and Chris' (her fiance) brothers. Sandy Cape has a beautiful beach that rivals Thailand's, except the water is much, much colder! The next day we went for a swim in the morning as well then off to the Jurien Bay Hotel for a counter lunch. And a birthday cake which somehow the group had managed to keep secret (and cool!) for the weekend. The icing read "Happy Freakin' Birthday" which apparantly the girl at the Cheesecake Shop had problems spelling. Always a joker, that Jen...

And the last week and a bit has been full of either full on on the go in Perth, driving to and from Perth, or flat out on the couch watching Foxtel in Moora. It's been great fun. Other highlights include seeing Ben Lee play with the Western Australia Symphony Orchestra at King's Park (pictured), going out in Freemantle, dinner at the Little Creatures Brewery and shopping at Myer (a girl can't help it!). Also helping Jen with wedding plans, seeing her try on dresses and having our trial makeup done - fake lashes included!

We leave Moora later today and have tickets to see Miss Saigon on Wednesday. Then Thursday I will be home in Adelaide. University has started and I have started to grasp the fact that I will have a lot of work to do in amongst trying to find a job, catch up with friends and family, and enjoy the last week of the Fringe Festival. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Singapore

EDIT: My Thai mobile doesn't have international roaming so is rendered useless from now on. Was good while it lasted.

I left Bangkok yesterday for my final international destination, Singapore. Had two wonderful surprise phonecalls from two great friends from Kuraburi, Tic and Kelly while I was in the taxi to the airport. I had another awesome few days in Bangkok which I really want to write about, perhaps in a few days. Highlight was going to Lumphini Park which is Bangkok's version of Central Park and watching mass aerobic dance taking place at dusk. Lots of fun.

I was met at Changi Airport by Sherilyn, who I met when I was in Spain. We both spent the week helping to teach english at Vaughantown. We kept in touch and it was so nice being greeted at the airport by someone. She even brought me a little present of a cake made with pandam (sp?) leaves. It was a ring sponge cake, the lightest I've ever seen and very subtle flavour, kind of like a green tea cake. Very traditional in Singapore. And yum.

She's got this funky little car we spent the evening driving around town in, seeing the sights before having tea on the East Coast at a restaurant that is known for it's chilli crab. It was amazing. We had a huge spread with drunken prawns, veggies, rice, cuttlefish cakes and sharkfin soup (delicious) and Tiger beer. I have not eaten at a sit down dinner like that in a long time, in fact my time in Bangkok I didn't have a meal at all, just picked snacky things from the street all day, also very good.

After dinner we rolled out for a stroll along the East Coast, lots of locals eating out at the restaurants along the seafront and great atmosphere. Every table had something different and as it is still within the 15 days of Chinese New Year (now I understand why Happy New Year signs were still up in Thailand, oops), it was very busy with company dinners and families celebrating. We then went to Bugis market which is like a little bazaar selling all sorts and everything. I tried a local dessert which I have forgotten the name of but it was shaved ice with different coloured syrups, with red beans and grass jelly at the bottom. Was nice, but cold!

So I will be in Singapore for one more night, no doubt eating my way through the country with Sher. I suppose apart from shopping, culinary delights are what the locals are known for. That and the fact that everything is so clean and fragrant. My Dad seemed to think everything in Singapore had a fragrance, even the shower water. I can tell you my mixed dorm room smells too, but certainly wouldn't describe the mixture of mouldy feet and someone's unwashed clothes as fragrant. One more night of goddamn hostels!

I fly out tomorrow morning at 9am Singapore time bound for Perth. Should arrive about 3.10pm WA time and cannot wait to see the greatest friend I have ever had in my life, my precious Jen. Get to spend my 24th (eek) birthday with her also which comes up in a few days. Party!

Mai pen Rie

One essential phrase in Thai I have kept in the back of my head on the trip from Samui to BKK is 'Mai Pen Rie'. It means 'it's okay, never mind, doesn't matter'. A few days ago I had booked a VIP bus for the trip to Bangkok with a minivan pickup at my hotel in Samui. Simple, right? Minivan, airconbus, ferry, aircon bus. 18 hour trip for $30AUD. Cheap Cheap in terms of money but that's a lot of time spent journeying!

On Saturday I check out of the hotel at Samui and await the minivan that will take me to Na Thon Pier for the ferry to the mainland. Twenty minutes later, a taxi rocks up. Apparantly the mini van is busy today. Mai Pen Rie. The driver overtakes on the narrow, curvy, busy island road whenever he gets the chance. Even with oncoming traffic coming, apparantly that's a chance. It's at this time I think putting on my seatbelt is a good idea but despite it being a newish car, the buckle is missing. Mai Pen Rie. 30 minutes later, we take a turnoff, that's okay, we must be picking up someone else...turns out to be a family of 3 and their luggage. We can't fit them all in so we drive off for the taxi driver to hail another taxi down on the main road. This takes awhile. By the driver's continuous glancing at his watch, I start to think missing the ferry is a distinct possibility. Thankfully, we find a taxi for them and speed off to the ferry and I arrive in one piece. Bonus. About 30 of us and our luggage are squeezed onto a bus with fans and we wait on here for the 2 o'clock ferry to arrive. The ferry ride is okay, I feel a little odd, a little clammy and hope I'm not getting sick. Amuse myself for the almost 2 hour journey by falling asleep and by watching the crackling tv in the passenger's lounge. A 'Saturday Kitchen' style programme is on, then all of a sudden a Japanese Iron Chef-style programme comes on (dubbed in Thai). It's about croquettes, and every five seconds in between the Thai commentary, I hear the word croquette. 10 minutes into this one hour show I really feel like eating a croquette which is weird because I don't normally like them. Subliminal message 'croquette, croquette, croquette...'.

Depart the ferry and take the bus from the pier to the town of Surat Thani, another hour or so away. We suddenly pull to a stop on the side of the highway and I am the only one to be told to get off. The people around me are all taking trains or planes so this must be the bus station stop. Except it's not a bus station. Wait around for 5 minutes of so before being told to jump in the back of a taxi truck. We drive around for 10 minutes and the journey we take on back roads tells me I'm not headed for Surat Thani bus station. Really hoping at the time I haven't been done by a fake travel agent selling bus tickets to Bangkok, but again I override these thoughts with 'mai pen rie'. We stop at a little roadside cafe and I'm told to write my name and nationality down on a list of people going to BKK. At least I'm not alone, there's a group of Libyans here too. I've got about 3 hours to kill so eat some food, write this journal entry down in my notebook, beg Mum and Dad to entertain me by giving me a phonecall. All in all, the time passes quickly. Slowly, more people arrive and by 8pm, a gaudy double decker bus arrives and we all pile in. We watch 2 movies, the classy 'American Pie 4' and a film about the Mayan hill tribe that I didn't catch the name of. About 1.30am it starts to rain big time for the next couple of hours and I'm thankful the bus driver is relatively safe, a lot of these overnight runs are nailbiting affairs as the drivers often take methamphetimene to stay awake. About 2am wes stop for a meal break (you don't feel like eating at 2am? What!) and get chauffered under big umbrellas to the shed like structure at the fuel station. Like the fact we aren't stopping at a 7/11 which illuminate the roads here, there are just so many it's unbelievable. Don't like the fact they have a microphone blaring telling us about the different foods they have available. The Thai tones at 2am in the morning do not sound nice over a squeaky microphone.

We arrive into BKK only half an hour late and I'm at my hostel by 7am, ready for a shower and bed! The last 20 hours or so are why I would never recommend Thailand as a holiday destination for my parents. The logic here isn't the same as logic back home, things aren't as straightforward, perhaps. It would make my Dad's blood pressure rise and completely baffle my Mum. Mai Pen Rie!

Stay classy, Thailand...

My time in Koh Samui has been bizarre. For example, right now I'm having a late lunch at a beachfront restaurant and one of the staff has just turned on the music. The CD? Kenny G Christmas Album. Seriously...IT'S FEBRUARY! Signs here (all over Thailand actually) still proclaim Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Now even with Chinese New Year over there is no excuse!

Looking out onto the beach, there are A-frame signs littering the sand advertising day trips around the island, elephant treks, snake shows etc. Local touts trawl up and down the beach selling icecreams, tennis paddles, footballs, sarongs and souveniery knick knacks. The part of the beach I am on is quite rocky so not many swimming but certainly lots of people baking themselves silly on loungechairs. Some people look purple they are so tanned, and also don't give a care that Thailand is quite a conservative country and are walking around topless. My first thought upon arrival was how ugly the island looked with resorts cutting into the mountains, lessening the beautiful greenery. People think this place is great, but to me it's just overwhelmingly awful. Admittedly, I'm staying on the busiest beach in Samui - Chaweng - where the main road is a mecca to Globalised food brands. McDonalds, Burger King, Starbucks, Pizza Hut etc. There are girly bars everywhere where socially inept men can buy coolness for the night and play pool with a girl who tells him how "handsome" and "strong" he is. I'm not scrubbing Samui entirely, I know there are other parts of the island which are less developed, but I just think Chaweng screams awful, the equivalent of Patong Beach in Phuket. The one thing I do agree with here is the Thai massages on the beach. I've had one already today and I may go back for a second. Hooked, I tell you...

My speech at Rotary went well, spoke to about 20 members (one of them an Honorary Consul for Australia). It was located in one of the most exclusive resorts here in Chawend and we had a WEstern style buffet dinner before the meeting. Pork in mushroom sauce, potato, baked veggies...all these "new" flavours to me...yum! I just talked about my experience with Andaman Discoveries, and how I found the experience. Rotary helped fund NATR so it gaves them an update of how things are going now they are no longer working in the region. On a selfish note, I wanted to do this as an exercise in self confidence as I hadn't made a speech really since my school days as 'El Capitano'.

So I leave Samui tomorrow on a hellish trip to Bangkok on the bus. Leaving Samui around Noon, I get into BKK the next day areound 6am. Wish me luck, and curse Bangkok Airways having a monopoly on flights from Samui as they are ridiculously expensive.

Mobile phone and update

Those that use my number are already in the know but I should broadcast that my UK mobile phone number has no more credit has been made redundant. Delete that number from your phone and for the next few weeks I have a Thai number if you need to ring or send a random text message (highly recommended!):

+66836477793

When I get to Australia that number will also become redundant and I will probably get another Australian number. Keep you posted.

Today is my last day in Kuraburi and it's been a busy one. Starting to get sad with all the goodbyes I am doing as I have made some great friends. I spent the morning at school and the afternoon polishing off a speech I have written. For what, I hear you ask?

Well, when I arrived at the Andaman Discoveries offices last month I saw Rotary flags for Ko Samui and Patong Beach Clubs. Upon further investigation I found out that both clubs gave millions of baht to NATR immediately after the tsunami and also for sustainability projects after recovery work was finished. My connection to Rotary is that they gave me my first taste of travel overseas on an exchange to New Zealand in 1999 and gave me the love for travelling differently (ie. not in a hotel). I got in touch with the Samui club and they invited me to do a talk on Wednesday 13 February about my recent travels and what Andaman Discoveries is up to now. This opportunity justifies me lying around Samui's beaches for the following few days, something I definately did not plan but will enjoy. Update you on how it all went down soon.

Ironically, I will be staying in a hotel...pah to all this ponce about 'travelling differently'!

Side note:

I just read PM Kevin Rudd has released the wording of his apology to indigenous Australians, and it will be read out at 9am on Wednesday morning. I am amazed. I don't have much to say on this yet but for those that want to make a joke about this on my messages, please refrain. Opinions otherwise welcome, for or against it. A nice resource:

http://www.reconcile.org.au/

http://www.reconcile.org.au/getsmart/pages/sorry/sorry--faq.php

Lights, Camera...can I go lie down in the shade?

The film crew arrived in Kuraburi on 1 February and the next few days were a complete spin.

A little bit of background...the crew are filming for a television show for TV5 in Canada. The show is called 'Partir Autrement' which I am told loosely translates "to leave otherwise" The first season is currently showing on Monday nights at 10pm, I think they are up to the 4th episode and have been told it's become quite popular. They have a website if you read French http://partirautrement.ekimondo.com/. Looks like when the episode airs there will be video on the site and at that time I should also get a dvd copy in the mail.

We will be in episode 13, the finale of Series 1, which means it should air in 8-9 weeks time. The show, as the title suggests, is about travelling differently eg. fairtrade travel, community based travel etc. Emily and I played the "tourists" and we were filmed doing a range of activities in 2 villages near Kuraburi, Ban Talae Nok and Tung Nang Dam (my third visit there! It was only supposed to be once but it was nice to go back).

Here are the activities we filmed in the 4 days they had the cameras rolling:

--making soap with the ladies who run the tsunami soap cooperative in BTN. The group was set up after some funding and training was given to the community. The women who work on this project all lost their husbands in the wave and do it for a source of income. There is a website http://www.tsunamicrafts.com/. The soaps smelt gorgeous...the use all natural ingredients like lemongrass, tumeric, avocado and I think palm oil.

--Fishing with nets from the beach. We used a giant net which we walked out into the sea then dragged it back to shore. First time wasn't too successful but the second time we managed to catch a few fish and crab, and a whole lot of lil fish that needed to be rescued to go back to the water. The water was warm and we had beautiful blue skies. I bet the colours will look great on film. Didn't mind being filmed in the water so much as it is a Muslim village we had to wear tees and shorts in the water so lucky no getting my pasty, wobbly bum on camera.

--Nipa palm weaving. I didn't do this activity as it followed straight from coming out from the water and I needed to put on some dry shorts. These weaves are used to roof and decorate the exterior of houses here although demand is dwindling due to most houses now having corrugated roofs. Obviously the lifespan for iron is a lot better than the 2 years the nipa palm weaves last but certainly not as aesthetically pleasing.

--Cashew nut shelling. Around this time of year the ladies in the village are sent cashews in 5kg bags to be peeled from the factory, which then have to be sent back, same weight. So they have to send back shells and all to get the weight right. Very odd. They use a homemade peeler/knife object and it's a delicate art not to break the cashew! The ladies do it at lightening speed and gossip about the day's events, while I struggle with one! A lot of fun, though.

--Sea buffalo herding. I was not present for this one but basically the deal is at the same time each evening the sea buffalo all head down to the beach for a spa. What a sight!

--After dinner on the first day, we watched a fishing net weaving demonstration. It was filmed in a villager's house and a few people were watching but only P'Tui and I were watching whilst being filmed. The lady demoing was doing her thing making the nets and we were admiring in silence when suddenly...the sound guy farted. Do you know how hard it is not to laugh, or even let out a bit of a giggle when a camera is on you? Well, P'Tui and I did it, true professionals. however as soon as the camera crew left we were in stitches. I get my high brow humour from my Mum, by the way.

--The next day in the morning we took a longtail boat out to some mangroves, Ban Talae Nok are really getting into conservation and are planting lots of mangroves. We got our hands dirty and planted some mangroves although some had to be replanted as Emily wasn't listening and didn't realise she had to take off the plastic bag acting as a pot! Very very muddy work. The canal we took to get to the mangroves used to much narrower but since the tsunami they had to widen it in order to take out all the material that washed up. There are still some boats lying out of the mangroves that were destroyed by the wave.

--In the afternoon we attempted to do some batik, another cooperative started up by ladies in the village as the soap was not bringing in enough income for all. It was fun first outling the drawing in wax then filling the rest in with paint. Quite delicate work and I have quite a few splotches on my little canvas to show that it was my first time. Very vivid colours, wish we weren't so rushed from filming, otherwise mine would have been a lot nicer!

--Being a Muslim village, we also got to do cultural dressing in the community centre. Headscarfs are really really warm to wear and all I wanted to do was pull out a bit of fringe to funk up the outfit but then I remember that's not the done thing. Add a cheesecloth shirt, a traditional sarong and voila!

We had filmed so much that the film crew didn't think it was necessary to spend a second night in the first village. I welcomed the fact I could go back "home" to Kuraburi to have a nice, cold (bucket) shower. I was sweaty, stinky, and grumpy from the days filming and sometimes travelling on your own means that when you are around too many strong personalities you just need some bloody time alone!!!

Felt very refreshed the next day as we met to head to Kuraburi Pier, the crew did some filming there while I caught up with P'Noy who was going to take us all the Tung Nang Dam again. Orchid conservation, jungle hike and beach walk for the third time meant nothing new and frustrating time with nails again making orchid pots. Beautiful surrounds though and fantastic hike. That night we spent filming at the mosque where things came to a head when budding photographer Emily took a picture with flash just as the film crew was getting his perfect closing shot. Oh oh. Staying out of that one...

Last day of filming and we are lucky to arrive just at the time when the cashew nuts are ready for picking! P'Noy has an orchard(?) of cashew trees on her land and we picked a whole heap, roasted them on the fire (literally, as the pan we were using broke and all the nuts spilled out, then peeled them from the hard shell and ate them hot. With freshly picked young coconuts to drink. Mmmm mmm Dad would have really enjoyed this activity! Did you know the cashew nut is poisonous before roasting? The outside of the shell has a poison in it that irritates your skin and mouth. Nasty stuff.

Last but not least, we headed to a floating fish farm to feed the fish. Well I fed the fish anyway as Emily the veggie refused to. This involved me putting my hand into a bucket of slimy, smelly small fish and feeding it to the bigger fish. Lots of girly squealing involved and thankful for the journalist who offered antibac handwash straight after to get the smell off. It was here at this location where I was interviewed about my experience and wonder if part of it will get to air.

All in all the filming was fun, educational, frustrating, tiring, HOT! Ultimately I hope rewarding for Andaman Discoveries. Disappointingly, I didn't learn any French. But I now have contacts in the French part of Canada (it's the technical term ;)) so I will be putting it on the list of where to travel next. Before the crew left Jeff, the cameraman and director offered to buy us a round of beer then bloody left without paying for ours...tsk tsk! It was my first beer in 3 weeks too. The next day I got a stomach bug. Coincidence? You decide. Some beer brands rinse their bottles with formaldehyde here...spent a few days recovering as the combination of dehydration and heat wiped me of energy. Think I'm right now though, tally ho! As the sage Jen said, it had to happen sooner or later...