Able Man from Tas?

(Written 14/12, 07.48)

After our frustrating journey of delayed ferries and non-starting coaches, we arrived at Nelson - one of New Zealand's "most livable towns". It did actually appear to be a very nice town with a cobbled main street called Trafalgar Street and a backdrop of green hills. I did a mini hill-run in order to get to the Centre of New Zealand point before dark and, as it turned out, I reached the top in time to see a cracking sunset over the Tasman Sea. On return to the hostel, I found Bhavesh setting up for a game of Ring of Fire with some other backpackers, and I knew that standardly I would claim the "dirty pint" that evening!

We awoke the following morning to grey clouds and heavy showers - not ideal for the boat rides and hike that were on the cards at the Abel Tasman National Park that day. The rain beat down on the coach as the two of us passed out for the ride, and we awoke to the sun blazing down with us unsure as to whether the prior weather had just been a dream! The tiredness from the late night faded, and it was an absolute beauty of a day at Abel Tasman. This was another day that I will struggle to describe in words but, unlike the Tongariro Crossing, this hike was reasonably civilised and so pictures were taken! For us, Abel Tasman National Park equated to impressive rock formations (particularly the 136 million year old Pacman rock!), many untouched bays of white sand, more unbelievably blue seas reflecting the glorious sun, steep hills of rainforest with the odd clearing allowing vantage point views of the bays, and a couple of bouncy and wet speed boat rides to get into and out of the national park! Beauty. National parks don't seem to disappoint!

The evening was another story, but also provoked excitement. A close-to-one-kilogram burrito caused much salivation, and we sat on a bench in central Nelson to enjoy this to the maximum. After a few rounds of Golf (cards) with a couple of Germans, and a much needed sleep, we are now on a ten-hour coach ride to Franz Josef Glacier! Nature-wise, New Zealand has literally got it all! 

Song of the New Zealand trip (so far): "In the desert, there's a horse wih no name..."

Travelling

(Written 12/12, 16.33)

Yesterday we travelled a long journey from Rotorua to Wellington with a stop at Taupo for a few hours. Lake Taupo and the Huka Falls made for a tranquil walk, and we were particularly amazed by the ridiculously bright blue water colour. We attempted a night out in Wellington, but it was one of those nights that never really reached its potential. The most interesting people we met were some kids that came third in the Young Enterprise Nationals on the way back to the hostel! 

Today we have travelled from Wellington to Blenheim so far, en route Nelson. This included a nice ferry ride down the Cook Strait between the two islands, but a less nice faulty coach at the ferry terminal in Picton. This means that we are currently three hours behind schedule, and that this has been a seriously long travelling day!

From Adrenaline to "Culture"

(Written 11/12, 18.18)

We are currently on a long coah drive from Rotorua to Wellington, and I really do enjoy seeing the country by road. The long coach rides have gone on for over three weeks and strangely they have not gotten old!

Rotorua is a geothermal activity and Maori culture hub of New Zealand. The accent in Rotorua sounded very South African! We stayed in a hostel called The Funky Green Voyager where the people continued to be cool and interesting. Very few of the people I've spoken to at hostels have followed (what I consider to be) the "straight route" in life so far.

We had a packed out day in Rotorua, starting with adrenalin-pumping Whitewater Rafting down the bad-ass Kaituna River (where Bhavesh and I received the nicknames Bash and Crash, respectively!). This certainly exceeded expectations (which were already high!), as we were violently thrown down a 7m-waterfall and bullied by the rapids. Bhavesh was selected by the river as the main target of the bullying, as he was hurled out of the raft at the waterfall and just generally took quite a battering! Our guide from the company (Kaituna Cascades) made the trip a lot of fun by helping the river, and cracking some tidy jokes. There was a French couple on our raft who took the verbal proportion of the bullying because they were horrendously bad at rafting! 

The evening held our Tamaki Village Maori Culture Experience. For the second time that day, Bhavesh was the chosen one, being made Chief of our 30-person group! Supposedly this role gave him the power to refuse the peace-offering of the Maori Chiefs, leaving all of us exiled from the village! The evening introduced us to various Maori activities including the Hukka,  which were all entertaining, if a little simple. They laid out a massive and much-appreciated Hangi feast for us, in which the food had been cooked under the ground by white-hot rocks. The food was good! They also played out some relaxing music during the show before dinner, and to finish off the meal. The evening was fun, but Bhavesh and I both felt that the whole event was a bit too contrived and inauthentic. I, possibly naively, thought we were going to a real Maori village where we would genuinely have to be careful not to offend, and I believe this was the impression they were trying to give with warnings about laughing, et cetera. But even the "Maori chiefs" themselves seemed to be mocking some aspects of the culture. This lack of authenticity seems to be a recurring issue with cultural experiences, and although it is supposed to be an attempt to educate people of a culture that was, I think it was more an attempt to make commercial gain from a past culture that no one (or at least the group we saw) really takes seriously anymore. This may be obvious, but it's more just a reminder to prepare myself the next time I head to a cultural education event! All that being said, taken less seriously, it was an enjoyable evening! And we survived - Chief Bash did well. (The last of the day's entertainments was a very strained game of Pictionary back at the hostel!)

Not very fun fact: Lake Taupo, New Zealand's largest lake, is big enough to house the land of Singapore! 

Back to Life

Ok so after muchos searching I found a shop in Sydney with the part to fix my phone. Great success! I should have realised my phone was going to struggle when it gave the message "Flash unavailable because it is too cold" at the volcano! No lie it actually said that. I shall now publish the posts in correct chronological order so all iz vell again.

Brokeback Phone

Blogwise, I have disappeared off the face of the earth because my phone has given up on me after being abused by volcanoes, glaciers and the likes. I had written up some draft posts on there awaiting WiFi, so I think I will have to leave their publishing until I get home and get my phone fixed. This means there is a gap at this stage that includes:

- Culture and adventure in Rotorua
- Lake Taupo and Wellington
- Abel Tasman National Park
- Franz Josef Glacier Heli-Hike

It also means there shall be no photos attached to the blog. Oh well... I think my phone breaking halfway through the travel is almost part of the classic experience so maybe it's a good thing. Funnily Bhavesh's phone also broke down around the same time, and it seemed that the two of us were crumbling to a tribal (i.e. non-electronic) mess!

TONGARIRO CROSSING!

(Written 08/12, 23.00) 

I have just woken up from a seriously deep nap, and the whole hike seems like it was a dream...

The staff at the backpackers hostel said that the 19.4km distance was the hardest part of the trek. On this particular day they were very wrong! They also warned us about the volcano erupting with rocks and hot ash. While this occurrence would be devastating, an eruption was far less of a threat than the "more trivial elements". The Met office had forecast 50km/h winds at the peak of the crossing (the Red Crater), which was on the threshold of them cancelling the trip. On my return journey, I was told that this forecast had been adjusted to 70km/h shortly after our departure! It was absolutely crazy on the approach and crossing of the Red Crater. I was literally holding on for my life! Each time the wind slowed slightly I would run to the next boulder to hold onto, and drop to the ground. I obviously could not capture this picture by camera, and I don't think any description will do justice to how terrifying it was! A steep drop into the Red Crater on the right (the same direction as the ridiculous wind!), a steep drop down the outer wall of the volcano on the left, temperature at about -4℃ (so lucky I had spare socks to use as gloves!), and visibility of about 5m due to the clouds. I genuinely felt close to death, and I think this was one of the best and most terrifying experiences of my life so far!

I set off on the hike with just two other people this morning, which is much less than usual - clearly other people took notice of the memo. I walked with them for about 6km uphill on volcanic rock, but with fairly minor winds. Then we hit "The Devil's Staircase" where it became steep and the winds amped up. The other two wisely bailed, and I didn't know how stupid I was being by firstly continuing and secondly going it alone! We saw a few others turning back saying they had reached the South Crater (before the Red Crater) but it was too crazy up there to cross. Uh oh. I caught up with a couple of Phillipinos who were as determined as me to complete it. They had actually done the crossing before, but apparently that day was a nice sunny day! Meeting them was very lucky because otherwise I reckon I might still be up there clutching a boulder and crying! They had done a lot of "tramping" (NZ for hiking) before, but even they began copying my down-on-all-fours technique! They also were not certain we would make it and that was very worrying! 

After getting past the Red Crater, there was a very steep downhill section of volcanic rubble, so we basically decided it was best to run down this. Immediately after the Red Crater we were rewarded with the beautiful Emerald Lake, and everything after this seemed like a cake-walk compared to the top! It didn't occur to me how early in the hike this insanity actually was until I recovered from the traumatic experience - there were still 13km to negotiate! That being said, the visibility improved dramatically yielding spectacular scenery all the way down. The last few kilometres felt like they went on forever, but I guess that's how it goes with the back-end of a long trek. The hazard signs for the active volcano and advice to move as quickly as possible through the section obviously did not phase me - I still took a million photos. 

Looking back at it now, the whole experience felt suitably like the epic journey that is The Lord of the Rings. However, the picture remaining in my mind at the top reminds me more of the end of The Lion King when Simba and Scar are fighting on top of the crumbling rock and there is fire everywhere. There was no fire in my story, but there might as well have been!

Having survived it, this was a seriously awesome day.

("Nature is no joke, kids. No joke." - the line I will end my story with when recalling this adventure as an old man.) 

(Nice quote from a crazy Kiwi who I shared a couple of cans of bourbon and cola with: "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything." Everyone I meet on this trip seems to have some interesting things to say about society and the world! Pretty cool.) 

Whangarei Diving

(Written 06/12, 17.13)

Yesterday, Bhavesh and I headed down Northland to get to Whangarei for the most popular New Zealand dive site, Poor Knights. On getting off the coach and getting in the "shuttlebus", we discovered that the YHA (Youth Hostel Association) had been moved from the city centre to the ghetto! The accommodation, however, was the nicest YHA so far! It felt like the setting for some holiday villas, but the rooms were still cabin-like. We had a little wander down to Whangarei Falls and they were surprisingly impressive even in the dark! Whangerai also gave us our first encounter with the Moaris: they shouted some Maori from their car. That was our reason for deciding we were in the ghetto of Whangerei. Apparently we actually got lucky in Piahia because tourists are frequently abused by the natives there!

Today was my dive day, and it seemed luck has turned! The last two days' dive trips were cancelled because of the weather but today was a beauty. We had a long drive and a very bumpy boat ride out to Poor Knights islands. (Probably should have taken a strawberry sea-sickness tablet!) The dives were fun (because scuba diving is fun), but the poor visibility meant it was not as spectacular as expected. Visiting the underwater Air Bubble cave was still very cool, and I can now imagine that wreck-diving is really fun! The boat also took us to the world's biggest sea cave Rico Rico, which has such incredible acoustics that bands, including the fantastic Spice Girls, have apparently played there!

Bhavesh and I have now parted ways for a few days, as he begins his diving certification at the Poor Knights and I make my way towards the Tongariro Crossing - the site of Mordor from Lord of the Rings and apparently one of the world's best single day hikes! Hopefully...

Rainy Paihia!

(Written 05/12, 18.18)

After receieving Bhavesh in Auckland, we headed north to Paihia - "the birthplace of the country" (the place where the Maori signed the Treaty of Waitangi effectively handing New Zealand to the Europeans!). Paihia is a quaint little town that is mainly famous for the nearby Bay of Islands, so our intention was to just do the Hole in the Rock cruise and move on. But it rained and rained rained... 

Our original cruise was cancelled and rebooked for the following morning. We took a quick ferry over to Russell (another quaint town that once was the boozing central for sailors in the bay!), and pretty much just nursed a coffee for an hour in Sally's cafe before returning to Paihia! Each time I woke up that night, I heard rain. This spelt bad news for the morning's trip! Unsurprisingly we awoke to a cancellation notification in the hostel. They offered us an upgrade to a bigger boat for a longer cruise, which we accepted after rearranging our bus. Half an hour later, this cruise was cancelled! Fairly lolworthy*. Five additional hours to kill in "it's-always-rainy-in" Paihia. 

To keep a long story long, the rain faded, the sun is up, and we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon cruise around the Bay of Islands. We saw a group of about fifteen impressively large bottle-nose dolphins jumping around the boat! It was quite spectacular to see so many so close to us! The swell was still too intense to actually get to the sacred Hole in the Rock (one wave actually made the whole boat get air-time!), but no complaints as we did eventually enjoy a nice cruise around the islands and a nice materialisation of the well-known phrase "fourth time lucky".

*Lolworthy = worthy of provoking one to laugh out loud. 

Waiheke

(Written 04/12, 23.59)

After having a little explore around Auckland I realised that it is a nice city, but travelling New Zealand is not about chilling in Auckland! On my first full day in New Zealand I hopped on a ferry to Waiheke - the most popular island of the Hauraki Gulf. Similar to the sail around the Whitsunday islands, there were some very nice views of untainted islands along the way, but the water was a bright teal colour and the islands were even more green. Then Waiheke lived up to its popularity! Lush green rolling hills, beautiful beaches, an abundance of wineries and a fair few interesting hike trails. I have always wanted to try wine-tasting, but I didn't expect it to happen on an island in New Zealand! From a distance wine-tasting does seem like pure pretence but, as with paying attention to and learning about most things in the universe, it was interesting! I genuinely tasted "toast and butter" in the Chardonnay! Unrelated, I lost my way along the trails on more than a few occasions, and certainly overhiked that day! The spectacular sunset behind the Auckland skyline during the return ferry journey rounded off a nice start to the New Zealand travels. 

Cool story bro.

Sydney #1

(Written 01/12, 07:48)

Wednesday (27th Nov)

On the back of the rough and ready setup at surf camp, we cruised into the architecturally astounding Sydney (smooth and not ready?). The sight of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House did not disappoint! 

The first night was fairly relaxed although we did spend a short while in a backpackers' club called Scary Canary, where I heard the best music I have heard in Australia so far. 

Thursday

The next day we toured around Sydney representing Contiki (the tour company) to the maximum. I don't think I have captured the powerhouse of a cult that Contiki is! At the beginning of the tour they played us our group's song ("Everybody" - Justice Crew) on the coach and told us we would love it by the end. And surely enough, we did all bond over that song playing every single day! The coach rides down the East Coast were long but a lot of fun, and by the end we all had Contiki in our hearts! Quite surprising given how apprehensive I was at first! 

I digress, but that needed a mention. After our coach tour of the city, we headed to Manly Beach. We chilled, we surfed, we ferried back. That night was the tour's last supper (a really nice restaurant called Stacks) and a fun night out at World bar, where cocktails are served in teapots. 

Friday

The next day's excursion to the Blue Mountains made for spectacular scenery, and the cool crisp fresh air was much appreciated after very little sleep that night! A few of us had our final bonding over a park bench hummus and pitta bread lunch, and forty farewells later, the tour was done. Although it might have been nice to have a little longer to chill in some of the places, the tour was a pretty special experience and overall a good way of seeing the East Coast.

Saturday

The next and final day of Sydney #1 was full of iconic Sydney entertainment with Harshiv: lunch at The Opera Bar, a stroll around the Royal Botanical Gardens, the Harbour Bridge Climb and a visit to Sydney's best whisky bar (Baxter's). The Bridge Climb is severely overpriced, but is a truly unique experience. With the vast amount of old steel (52,800 ton) and the towering height over the water, it felt like walking through a rollercoaster! The whole procedure of getting in a jumpsuit, connecting all the required attachments, and then the actual climb to the 140m-high summit (about 1000 steps) made it feel epic. 

Sunday 

I am now sitting in the airport awaiting my flight to Auckland. New Zealand is meant to be better than Australia? This should be fun. 

Fun Facts:

- 16 people died in construction of the Harbour Bridge. Given that none of them had harnesses, it is a surprise this number is so low!

- The initial cost estimate for the Opera House was $7m, but it ended up costing $102m! 

Surf Camp

After much confusion as to which of our stops actually contained Surf Camp, we drove into Mojo's Surf Camp in Coff's Harbour and all was clear. In appearance it was a quirky little village of containers near a nice beach. We were soon receiving our surf lesson and getting psyched for hitting the waves. Grabbing the boards and running out to the water felt like living the Australian dream! The surfing itself was very tricky and to we were literally just hitting the waves to start with. Improvements were made and some people had some pro wave-rides leaving most of us gazing in awe, but it really was as fun as it looks! 

After the surfing, we went back to camp and lived the surf camp life for the evening. There was music blaring, we were served a massive jacket potato and later we chilled around the bonfire. The resident surfers were really relaxed and cool. Like the diving in Cairns, this is another awesome lifestyle I reckon I could get used to! 

Noosa, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Byron Bay

(Written 26/11 12.50)

Noosa was a little town that pretty much seemed to be just a convenient stop-off point rather than a significant East Coast site. We had a nice dinner, checked out the mountain/coast national park and chilled on the beach.

On the way to Gold Coast (the "Miami" of Australia), we stopped off for three hours in Brisbane. Brisbane was nicely laid out, but from the view on the bridge it didn't look too dissimilar to London on the Thames! We were hanging out at their South Bank, chilling in the lagoon under the "Brisbane-eye" and soaking in the sun. Dope. 

The Gold Coast (a.k.a. Surfer's Paradise) centre mainly consists of bars and restaurants about a five minute walk from the beach. School is out and all the "schoolies" were running wild! Surprisingly the beach there was actually not as nice as the others we have seen down the East Coast. That being said towards the suburbs it is much nicer, and Jackie Chan even has a house there! The night 4WD excursion through the mountains and rainforest exploration was a pretty unique experience, but the rainforests along the East Coast do seem rather tame! 

Next we hit Byron Bay, and that actually felt like it should have the name Surfer's Paradise! Most of the buildings were basically shacks and there was a really nice hippy vibe to the place. That's another lifestyle I think would be a lot of fun! We did a long sea-kayak through very rough waters, and this turned out to be a pretty fun and intense workout! There were meant to be dolphins. There weren't. Unfortunate. The wildlife has been much more scarce than expected, but luckily we spent time at the awesome Currumbin wildlife sanctuary on the way to Byron. Chilling with kangaroos, koalas, emus and other cool creatures was sweet!  

Fraser Island

I have just arrived at Noosa after a night and day on the world's largest sand island (170,000 hectares), Fraser Island. Yesterday we got a ferry over to the island from Hervey Bay just in time to catch sunset on the beach, which unsurprisingly did not disappoint. Making some ghetto peanut butter and jam sandwiches on the beach was highly satisfying! That night's Toga Party included Goon, chin-ups, broken sandals and all the usual entertaining features! 

Today was filled with an incredible 4-Wheel Drive (4WD) excursion around the island. The size of the island was reflected in the variety of terrains and environments that we covered on the trip. The first stop of the bumpy 4WD trip was Lake Mackenzie. It was a serene and clean lake with an adjacent sand bed. The Aboriginals say it has healing powers, and while this is unlikely to be true, the water did actually feel very nice! After lunch we ploughed on to the "rainforest". No humidity, no mosquitoes = no rainforest! That being said, it was a lush green aesthically pleasing forest and made for a relaxing exploration walk. A lot of photos were taken. Selfies feel like a thing of the past, as I now have people around to take the photos! The final stop-off was at rainbow beach - named so on account of the 70-odd shades of resident sand. This was another highly picturesque spot and made for a good game of "smack ball". Smack ball is basically where you smack a bouncy ball to each other - tres fun. The truth. The journey to Noosa continued with a bouncy ride in the 4WD along aptly named "Seventy-five mile beach". The drive on the beach felt like army trucks in the desert. Twas very cool!

Brahman Beef?

After another fairly long but relaxing coach ride, we settled at The Old Station cattle farm for the night. This was a part of the trip that the group did not believe in at first, but with open minds it turned out to be a great setting for the evening. The ranch was 26,000 hectares in area, and despite it effectively being a slaughterhouse, I found the operation highly impressive! The cattle seemed to be very well looked after and I began to understand the appeal of farm life. The species was called Brahman cattle! I didn't get around to asking them about this, but that felt a little ironic to me given the purpose they were serving. The evening's entertainment included whip-cracking and karaoke. 

For me:

As we pass through Australia, I am trying to absorb as much as possible about the business behind the various industries prolific in the country. 

- Australian farmers get no subsidies for during low production times, which is why this particular farm has diversified to tourism. 

- Australia is the third largest producer of sugarcane in the world. 

- Not Australian, but I spoke in depth with a Project Manager at Apple, and their ideas about producing in-house PM techniques rather than following the standard seem pretty backwards. Similar to keeping a unique charger, this type of arrogance could hold them back in the future. Let's see.

Sailing to Heaven

(Written Wednesday 20th Nov. 11.50)

From Cairns, we took a 9-hour coach journey plus a ferry trip over to Daydream Island (one of the 74 Whitsunday Islands). The journey went surprisingly quickly because of the sleeping, the lunch-stop in Townsville, and the tour group growing on me! The island had just one resort on it and the rest was fairly untamed with a rainforest and rugged beaches. The resort was rather interesting too, with some big aqua-life in a marine park (huge sting rays, manterays and a big bad lemon shark!), which we got the opportunity to feed and pet. We also had a go at carrying a small shark, and it had a very strange texture indeed! Unrelated, the buffet dinner was exceedingly well received and our buffet technique was quite the masterclass! 

We spent the day sailing around the Whitsunday Islands, and I have realised that sitting on a boat in the sun never gets old! The highlight of the Whitsundays was undeniably the Whitehaven Beach. It is one of the top five beaches in the world, and with ridiculously fine white sand, perfectly blue water and absolutely no infrastructure, I can understand why! It certainly is something special. The sail on the way back was rough and wet, so we particularly appreciated the heavenly sun on Whitehaven Beach! 

Cairns and Diving

(Written Saturday 16th Nov. 16.52)

I am sitting at the Esplanade lagoon in Cairns as I write this, and it is up there with the best places to chill. There is a huge outdoor swimming pool, a live band playing in the distance and people just doing their thing under the blazing sun. It feels a lot like California (but less fake) from what I remember and expect based on tv shows. The Esplanade street at night lights up and has cool restaurants and shops. 

Yesterday I had my final three dives for qualification and I did one snorkel swim. Again Fish Bowl on Brigg's Reef delivered with two sharks chilling out under the boat and a MASSIVE Moray eel that seemed like it should only exist in a story. It was like seeing a Gyarados! The final site, the Coral Garden lived up to its name. The colours were much more vibrant since the coral was quite near the surface. The variety of textures and the way the coral moves with the waves makes for a very pretty picture. 

Last night I had dinner and a couple of drinks with my tour group and I am slightly apprehensive about the tour now! I guess I have to make it what I want. Outside of the group I met up with some strange and interesting people from Vancouver, and we ended up going to this lively hostel club called Gilligan's. Before going out, we drank somethig called Goon (Aussie boxed wine that tasted like grape juice) while sitting in a tree - the authentic experience I guess! 

Scooby Doo and Sharks

(Written 14th November, 22.15)

Woahhhh! I have just finished my first day of diving. The whole day has been awesome, but the highlight certainly was the night dive! Exploring the Great Barrier Reef in the black of the night with only a torch? That was unique! I felt like I was James Bond! While at the beginning of the day I thought we would run away crying if we saw sharks, it turned out that we actually went looking for sharks! The night dive sightings included five reef sharks and a massive sea turtle sleeping in a cave. Earlier on I saw a strange octopus in a hole, a Moray eel, and a bearded cuttlefish (amongst of course a bunch of Nemos and other colourful fish)! The bearded cuttlefish flicked into a different colour when we got near it, which was very cool to see. A day in the life of a diver seems very appealing: eat, dive, eat, dive, eat, dive, have banter and then sleep! While you're not in the water, you're catching some rays under a beautiful blue sky. 

I also seem to be meeting some very cool people along the way now. My instructor, Ned, is a crazy stereotypical Aussie. I have been hanging with a couple from Texas (where the 22-year-old guy plays proffesional baseball for the Minnesota Twins) and another couple (one Mancunian and one Parisian) who are just roaming the world indefinitely! The Texas couple seemed to think that British people are all about crumpets, tea and red buses - pretty accurate! I returned with "Is Texas all about shooting Mexicans crossing the border?" Apparently that does actually go down in the deep south! Bedtime on the boat now and another three dives tomorrow. The Australia travels have started with a bang for sure.

Sydney Beans and On

(Written Wednesday 13th Nov. 07.30)

As I wait for my connecting flight to Cairns, it is occurring to me that I am realising my one dream holiday destination since childhood. AUSTRALIA! The clouds of Singapore are a memory - the sun is up and my excitement for this chapter of the trip is starting to build. Each time I hear someone speaking I immediately think they are commentating on cricket!

(Written same day 21.30)

I have been here for less than half a day and I can already understand the attraction people have towards "working holidays" for extended periods of time in Australia. So far people have been very friendly and there is just a strong holiday feel in the air! The hostelling world is cool, with "hostel meals" available at various restaurants (well, one so far) and it almost feels like restarting university! Like Singapore, the Cairns Esplanade seems like the place to lepak. It is a lagoon near a small beach with a lively California-style street running alongside it. That seems like the ideal place to hang out for Spring Break! 

On Wheels in Pulau Ubin

(Written Monday 11th Nov. 18.00)

I am on the bus back after an unbelievable day on Pulau Ubin (a Singaporean island just off its east coast). I spent the whole day with the cast of Starlight Express! I got to the Changi Village jetty and heard British accents, so I thought I would follow them for the procedure to get to the island and hiring bikes - I didn't realise they were the touring cast of a famous musical from my childhood! 

Given the rain over the last few days and its remote nature, I had been slightly apprehensive about visiting the island and mountain-biking around it. This set up for an important day to find and join people. The island was effectively a rainforest with some very picturesque openings and a few obscure feats of nature, particularly a "land-fish with arms"! The biking itself added another dynamic to the exploration, and the cast members were very cool and friendly people. Mountain-biking with the Starlight Express cast through a rainforest island - this was one special day indeed!

(Written later)

I am now back at Shoban's flat, and it seems surreal that the mall-after-mall comprised Singapore is just forty minutes from a serious rainforest! We have been playing a little one-hand one-bounce cricket in the block court to build up an appetite for dinner! That it has done, that it has done. 

Jalan Parlimen and Lepak

After wondering what was left in Kuala Lumpur, I started wandering what was left in Kuala Lumpur. I headed towards the Lake Gardens in attempt of a relaxed day with some nice scenery. This led me down Jalan Parlimen (Parliament Street), which looked more like an American Boulevard than just another street in KL! The greenery was trimmed to perfection, the road was very smooth, and there were Malaysian flags at regular and short intervals! Coincidentally (or not) the Malaysian flag looks very similar to the US flag. The road also accommodated the National Monument (a memorial for the victory over Communsim) and the ASEAN sculpture gardens. After much roaming around Lake Gardens, I did find the illusive, but worthwhile, Orchid Garden.

In the evening I returned to KLCC park under the Petronas Twin Towers, which has rapidly been established as my favourite place to lepak (Malay for 'chill') in KL. In hindsight, three days to explore the capital seemed perfect - good that I messed up my flight booking and returned a day earlier than intended!      

Material World: Caves to Skyscrapers

(The next paragraph was originally meant for the end of the post, but it is now a precursor to the two overly-long paragraphs below. One may not be interested in "Descriptions by Prashant"!)

I seem to have gone fairly overboard with these descriptions, especially as I am reading about renouncing sense gratification! This material world certainly does have some magical natural and man-made features (including people) - big love for the Higgs' Field - but I guess the key is not to depend on them for happiness since they only provide temporally-finite happiness.

Today included two of the major icons of Kuala Lumpur and even Malaysia as a whole. Both lived up to expectations! First to get to Batu Caves I braved the KL monorail, which behaves roughly like a slow rollercoaster! It works well and costs almost nothing so no complaints. On arrival at the Batu Caves you are struck by a massive and impressive Hanuman statue. Alongside the caves are a couple of intricate and colourful temples including a Ganesh temple. Then a 43-metre Lord Murugan (a.k.a. Subramanium) commits theft on your attention for quite some time. This stands against the vast set of steps leading into Temple Cave. This must be the most interesting location of a temple I have seen, and it does feel like a very spiritual place. Whilst in the cave the heavens opened up and a huge monsoon downpour made the setting even more epic. (All this being said, I currently don't understand where the rituals that are widely seen as synonymous with Hinduism fit in with the spiritualism.)

I got home to set back out for my appointment with the Petronas Twin Towers. People are obsessed with taking photos there! Write-ups of the towers even talk about the best way to capture the towers! I went in hard and took about a million photos. At first, "yes quite impressive." But whilst in the building, darkness appeared, the towers lit and that was when they really showed their decorative side. Spectacular! The external glass and steel panelling does make the Petronas Twin Towers a special set of buildings.The view from the 370-metre high observation deck in the towers does not compare to that from the Empire State Building however. New York, New York. At the base of the towers lies KLCC park. Now you look from a distance, and you think "oh right, a fountain." But then the water show starts and this is no ordinary fountain! Apparently it can make 150 different movements, and between this, the lighting and the music, it does make for a pretty nice show. 

Write less next time.

Ok.

Oompah Kuala Lumpur

After touching down in Malaysia bright and early this morning, a good day of exploring has left me finding KL very interesting thus far. It seems to have a great variety of happenings from the bustling Petaling Street Market to the tranquil Jamek Mosque surrounded by coconut trees at the intersection between the Klang and Gombak rivers. There was also some history in the day such as visiting a majestic Mughal building, which sits near to the flag where independence from the British Rule was announced on 1953.

My exploration of KL today has also made me appreciate how impressive it is that Singapore is so ridiculously sophisticated despite only being a 35 minute flight away. Singapore appears to be growing on me like algae in a tropical fish tank. Weird.

Fun reaslisation: I am the devil when it comes to haggling with street vendors! So many broken hearts, so little time. Sad face slash happy face.

Monday evening with a Singapore Sling

(Written Monday 4th Nov, 19.00)

I'm sitting at Esplanade Outdoor Theatre on The Bay and it feels like the perfect picture of a city at night. I wrote about this in the first blog, but it doesn't seem to get old! The Singapore Flyer, the Marina Bay Sands Hotel (which holds the swimming pool in the sky) and the towering financial district comprise the view.

I spent most of the day at Sentosa Resort World. It is a small island off the harbour, which houses a huge number of activities including Universal Studios. It was quite a magical place, and walking around the sweetshop, Candylicious, felt particularly like Christmas! 

(Written Tuesday 5th Nov, 10.00)

Last night we went to Raffle's hotel (named after Stamford Raffle who effectively founded Singapore) to have a Singapore Sling cocktail. Apparently it was invented at that hotel! The drink tasted good (primarily juice), the bar had an old-school American pub feel and the hotel was very classy! We also managed to fit in a nice concert at Esplanade theatre. It was in East meets West style, and included interesting renditions of Jennifer Lopez and Jay Sean tracks!

Pride, party and monsoon

(Written Monday 4th November, 13.00)

Fitting for the complete newbie that I am, I just got caught nicely in the God's cross-fire (the monsoon)! As I felt the first few drops, I looked up and though "nah, this isn't going to come down hard". Right.

With its bright lights and frenzied ravers, Singapore's club area Clarke Quay is very similar to "The Strip" found on all club-holidays (Faliraki, Algarve, etc.), but with added sophistication. Getting a bottle of Belvedere inside the club seems like the norm! Hanging out with Shoban's friends, "The Irish" and a few locals, made for a good night out. 

Following the late night and a late wake-up, I decided today was the day for a trek at McRitchie Nature Reserve. After a 5km walk through the jungle, keeping my eyes on the prize, the HSBC tree top bridge was closed because it was gone 5pm! Oh dear. Luckily I found a couple of French people at the top who managed to persude the bridge-keeper to let us check it out and take some photos. Decent. 

So far it seems that each time someone advises "this is not a walkable, take the bus" I take it as a challenge and walk! Better stop this foolishness before I reach Australia where the distances will be legitimately unwalkable.

Exploration @Singapore

(Written Saturday 2nd November, 19.00)

I have just returned after a long day of world exploration. I saw India (Little India), I saw China (Chinatown), and I saw New York (Brooklyn Bridge?). It seems that Singapore is an amalgamation of several cultures, leaving a Singaporean culture a bit of a misnomer in my eyes. Little India closely resembled a generic unattractive part of India, and Chinatown looked a lot like London's Chinatown. Of course I had to bag myself some Ma Po Tofu (when in Rome... eat tofu?)! Not one hundred percent sure, but about halfway through I started feeling like the sauce was meat-based, so my mouth said leave it. I don't think Singaporeans believe in vegetarians!

By taking an excessively long walk from Bugis to Chinatown I seemed to cover a lot of the towns. This part of the day was not very exciting. Singapore seems like possibly a good set-up to work and live, but not built for tourism. I did return to Marina Bay in the afternoon though, and so far I think it's all about that place! It's a really cool place to explore and chill, and it seems to be home to everything: the financial centre, an unbelievable hotel (with an incredible swimming pool in the sky!), a really flashy shopping mall and some decorative flower gardens - quite like Canary Wharf.

Now to see how these guys party... Shoban's 2nd birthday celebration!

Round 2 begins: Singa...rich?

Welcome back folks.

The trip began in similar fashion to Prashant vs. World Part 1 with a nice panic about catching the flight. That being said this panic was far more severe, arriving at Heathrow just one hour before departure time! Maybe that means this trip will generally be a more intense version of Part 1? Hopefully. I still had the nerve to record myself telling an apparently poorly constructed joke. Better luck next time.

From Dubai to Singapore our first plane failed with a ruptured wall. We landed on a rescue island and then boarded the backup plane. This "safety plane", however, ended in an emergency water landing making use of the inflatable slides! I must say vivid dreams of plane crashes whilst sleeping on the plane are not ideal.

Since catching Heron-science-enemy (a.k.a. Mr Shoban Rahulapaskaran or buddy old pal) at the airport, I have attended three people's birthday celebrations (all of which were highly successful surprises), been awoken by the loudest thunder I have ever heard ("welcome to day one of monsoon season"), and seen some pretty spectacular city sites at night around the marina. The "heart of Singapore" so far seems like a smaller but more spaced out version of London, with some architectural influences from Sydney (based on third-person viewing of the Opera House). Big day of exploration tomorrow for first impressions to be validated or diminished.

(Please refer to Facebook for a photo of Shoban and I fashioning our best photo-smiles in front of Marina Bay if interested.)

Homeward bound

(Written 12.00, 13.10.2013)

Having rushed this morning with fear of missing the flight, I am sitting in the airport with a two-hour window before I can look out of an aeroplane window. No complaints - as discussed in blog post number two, missing a flight does not appear to be a good time.

I'm not going to sit here and write a long essay reviewing my trip because that would roughly entail copying and pasting all of my previous blog entries into a new one. Shall I do that? Nope. But I will say that this has probably been my most interesting trip abroad (not just because it was the longest!). It has been memorable for so many different reasons given the highly varied nature, but particularly for the things I have learnt through visiting historical places, reading and listening to knowledgeable people. During this travel chapter, the ups and downs encompassed in "real life" were non-existent. Let's see if that was just the holiday feeling or some of these readings have filtered through. 

Two-and-a-half weeks until the cows become kangaroos! 

The Big Beach Adventure

(Written 20.00, 11.10.13)

After yesterday's disappointment of a beach, I set out for Kovalam beach bright and early this morning. I took a bizarre 2km heritage walk (which felt a lot like trespassing) to Chowara junction, where I got a bus to Kovalam junction. Holding on to the bus was quite a nice arm workout. Another 2km walk later, I reached Kovalam beach and it looked much more appealing. Unfortunately a serious storm was brewing, and before I knew it the precipitation had hit. It actually made for quite a pretty picture! Not a great day for getting brown though. 

Well... Actually it was! The sun melted its way through the clouds and the storm subsided after about an hour. Half of the beach had black sand and half white, and the Arabian Sea was a soothing blue. I met a couple of very funny Goans who worked in shops along the beach, and claimed that this sight was nothing compared to Goa. For 25 rupees I got the opportunity to climb the Vizhinjam lighthouse. Great view and not too dissimilar in feeling from a rollercoaster - holding onto a rail, legs dangling off the edge (they made us take our chappal off) and strong winds smacking me in the face! (While thinking about the rollercoaster similarities, I realised it was actually more similar to a tower-drop ride. As a consequence of this realisation, I decided it was time to remove myself from the lighthouse!)

The journey home was fun! I missed several buses and tried my best to get run over. Reversing the walking route I had taken in the morning from hotel to bus stop proved quite difficult in the dark! Strangely, I felt some relief as I began to hear the booming voice over the loudspeakers meaning I was nearly home. But as it got louder the relief faded and the 1984-esque fear resumed! Funny how a two-night hotel can seem like home after what felt like a big adventure. A highly entertaining last day of the Kerala tour!

As I write this I feel that I have not captured the adventurous nature of the day effectively, and it seems as if I simply got the bus to town, chilled out and cried like a little baby all the way home. Possibly the truth.