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Part 1 South America
BRAZIL
All you can eat buffets by the kilo, toilet paper in bins next to the toilet, lots of water (from the sky and to boat
on), buying beers anywhere and anytime and muscle bound guys dressed as princesses…oh and mosquitos;billions of
mosquitos;..
Go go go go....NOW!!
Good start to the trip with an upgrade to business class from Sydney to Santiago - steaks (4), better red wine and a seat-bed
that was almost long enough for me was a good change up from cattle class. No pole dancing flight attendants as I envisaged
though. Maybe that's first class.
Arrived in Sao Paulo, Brazil, one of the biggest cities in the world at about 8pm and rocked up by taxi to my couchsurfing
host's apartment in one of the nicer parts of town to have her forget that I was coming..great start to the trip..but she
took me out to have some traditional Brazilian cuisine - Japanese food - and after a couple of sake's all was right with the
world again. Started eating at 10pm as is the norm in Brazil,but meant I was ready to eat the plastic fruit on the walls of
the restaurant, and consequently the volume of food eaten was large and surprised the chef who saw that his next month's rent
was going to be paid on our bill..
Got to see the different sides of the city in the next few days, with its slums, markets, malls, and putrid river all
being highlights, as was the best Brazilian Barbeque restaurant I've been to - Fogo de Chao - where I was in heaven with the
waiters constantly coming up to you with a huge variety of perfectly cooked meats on swords until you cant eat any more..it
was a lovely four hours and I must say we made a good dent in the beef supply of Sao Paulo that afternoon.
Very unimpressed that the internal flights in Brazil do not have any alcohol on them but made it to Manaus up in the Amazon
rainforest with the DT's just setting in as I landed. Stayed 100m from the 2014 World Cup stadium in Manaus but the huge piles
of dirt in front of the house blocked my views of the stadium as construction works are a little behind schedule as is the
case with big sporting events - only 4 people have died during construction so far - stay tuned for updates!
Visiting waterfalls and river beach resorts in the amazon rainforest, eating huge seafood platters( from the amazon river
???!!), watching carnival salsa band practice and getting up close and personal with the carnival queen ( ;) ), and getting
introduced to cachaca and capirinhas (local liquor and cocktail) and heading off on a ferry down the amazon to Santarem in
my private suite like a member of the royal family (not Fergie).
Managed to find the only two germans that weren't travelling in Australia on the ferry and spent the next few days with
them around Belem and out to Alter do Chao, a little river beach resort with bars on a sand spit on the river, where we stayed
at a random tour guide's little oasis in the town and had an enlightening night with him and his Russian shadow who was helping
him write his next guide book on the region. I think I saw him without a drink in his hand for about 5 minutes the whole
time we were there, so we got on like a house on fire…but he did make an awesome capirinha I will give him that!
The ferry that was promised to leave the day I wanted didn't exist so I had to book a last minute, bloody expensive 1hr
flight to get to Belem so that I would have some time to go to the Amazon brewery there before I had to move on. Another alcohol-less
flight later, and I was at the mouth of the amazon and getting lost in the dodgy part of town at 11pm and trying my best to
get mugged..the locals weren't quite up to the task - not like the kids of Salvador (spoiler alert!!!) Saw my first leopard,
capybara and caiman alligator in town - wonder what they taste like!!
Flight to Salvador, on the north east coast, with an amazing old town, nice beaches, excellent live music (right outside
the hostel) my first dodgy couchsurfing host who left me high and dry and kids with the stickiest fingers around - two of
them managed to steal my phone from my pocket as I was drinking beer from a street cart round the corner from the hostel.
I was there just before their Carnival and they had boarded up the whole town to protect the buildings from the people drinking
and partying - or they knew I was coming..
RIOOOO!!!! Where's Big Jesus? Ah..there he is!
Well. That escalated quickly.
Down at the Copa Copacabana!!!.a few times, Ipanema beach a few times, the party zone at the Lapa arches most nights during
Carnaval, mostly following the planned and impromptu blocos - or block parties, where people would gather, music and drinking
would start up and you would start wandering through the street as a huge group - dancing and buying drinks off the huge collection
of drinks carts following the blocos around selling beers and cocktails..how convenient! Which led to most mornings being
missed and waking up in the afternoons were the norm, except for the day to go see big Jesus, who enjoyed a beer with me as
we looked over his domain of Rio and its beaches.
TUCAN TOUR..... RAAAARK!!
Time for the Tucan 112 day overland truck tour to start..a bit lazy by me, but there's a lot of South American to see
in a short amount of time! Wow what a mix of people, everything from a 19 year old girl from the the Northern Territory to
a married 36yo couple from country England, there was something for everyone...and I didn't have the most auspicious of starts
to the tour...
A great final night at the Lapa Arches with various members of the new Tucan crew meant I didnt get to bed til about 5am,
just after my room mate turned up..we didnt quite get the wake up call to get packed and get on the truck til everyone was
on the truck and ready to go...glad they didnt leave..wouldnt want them to leave me on the first morning...won't happen again
I'm sure! :P
Headed south to Parati and camped next to be beach and spent the days on a booze cruise with unlimited capirinhas on the
boat - with them getting stronger throughout the day..i don't see a problem with that at all!! Less alcohol involved in the
sliding down large, wet rock faces in a river up in the hills and dodging monkeys and flash floods in the campsite..at least
I wasn't left behind when we left this time.
Two days to get to the Pantanal, a huge area of wetlands in the middle of the country, and a place filled with mosquitoes,
caiman crocodiles, mosquitoes, tucans, howler monkeys, mosquitoes, capybaras and other weird looking animals....oh and mosquitoes.
Horse riding and piranha fishing as well as nature walks trying to evade mosquitoes. It didn't work.
Next to Bonito, which sounds very nice, and the nature around there including the crystal clear spring fed stream we floated
down was pretty awesome, but the reaction to the huge amounts of the local shots at the main bar in town was not. Taxis, throwing
up and general loss of direction and facilities. Still not left behind again.
Big drawcard of the trip next, and we got to see Iguazu Falls from both the Brazilian and the Argentinian sides, as well
as heading to Paraguay for some sneaky currency exchange shenanigans, and wild St Patty's Day partying. The falls are absolutely
amazing, with so much water coming over such a wide set of falls, and we got to go on a powerboat ride right up to some of
the falls, getting totally wet, which was great to wash away the pee coming from all the scared people on the boat..very very
fun. Got my credit card eaten by an ATM on the Arg side so reacted as usual by trying some very tasty local beers and buying
a big argentinian steak. Definitely made me feel better.
To Buenos Aires next, a vibrant city and our hostel was right downtown on a pedestrian mall, which made the truck loading
and unloading a fun adventure in the middle of peak hour traffic and angry parking attendants. Went to a local football game
(after a beer tasting session of course) and was surprised at the 3 security checkpoints to get into the ground, then was
more surprised that this was done even though no opposition supporters were allowed to go to the game..apparently a few people
getting killed at a game isn’t the norm in Buenos Aires. Lots of tasty wine and bbq meats (of course) and the BA
trip was over very quickly...and the day trip over to Colonia in Uruguay made it even shorter. Ask Guido about that trip..wow!
Heading south, south , south to Puerto Madryn and Valdes National Park, where we got to play with penguins, mini llamas,
elephant seals, weird looking half wallaby – half rabbits and a strange concentration of Welsh people before heading
down through Patagonia to the end of the world at Ushuaia. Absolutely beautiful, the launching point for Antarctica expeditions
is the location of the end of the world national park and train ride, many North Face clad europeans, and the most southerly
brewery in the world, the logically named Cape Horn Brewery. Yum.
Up into Chile to Punta Arenas and Torres del Paine National Park, one of the most beautiful places I've been to in the
world. A group of the crew went and walked the W track, and most of the rest of us did the first day of that with them, the
Towers Walk, which ends up going through a crazy boulder field and up to a hanging lake below the 3 Towers, that the national
park is named after. Definitely worth the hike, and the refreshing swim in the glacier fed lake, then down to spend a few
days sitting in the sun looking at the mountains, waterfalls and drinking tasty local wine..brilliant.
Up through the Argentinian Andes region and to the Perito Merino glacier near El Chalten, where we got to go out and cruise
under the glacier and saw lots of calving of huge house sized ice blocks into the water, but no surfing of the big waves coming
off them like in the movie Ice Age, but it was still amazing to see the huge chunks come off of one of the few advancing glaciers
in the world. The bbq lamb cooking on open fires in the restaurants in the nearby town of El Calafate were also good. Oh and
the wine...no surprise there.
Coldest night of the trip in El Chalten under the huge presence of Mount Fitz Roy of -5 degrees Celsius, very lucky I
had the day walking round the town and the night in a bit of a adventure truck takeover of an unsuspecting wine and beer bar
in town to prepare myself to brave the cold. IT worked just fine!
The little Switzerland - style town of Bariloche was very dangerous and beautiful, kinda like Taylor Swift I guess...with
the amazing views of the lake, the cable car up to the top of the Cerro Otto mountain looking over the town, the 10 metre
high chocolate easter egg in the middle of town, heaps of chocolate shops and the two excellent breweries within walking distance
of our campsite..what more do you need..definitely a place to visit!
Back into Chile past huge volcanoes, amazing lakes and other such jaw dropping scenery to Pucon where I white water rafted,
partied, cruised around the lake to get good views of the smoking Villarica volcano, and also got stuck talking to two americans
all night and drinking copious amounts of red wine that made the ride the next morning to Santiago a nice, sleepy one.
The highlight of the capital of Chile was the afternoon trip out of town to the Concha Y Toro winery, which was a dramatic
affair with a full light and visual show in the 'Cellar of the Devil' at the amazing winery and grounds that is over 150 years
old and sells wine all around the world. I wasn't scared one bit..I mean, the wine kinda helped that and I only cried a little...ahem...well
back to Santiago, nice enough town and I walked around most of it, just nothing, except for the biggest flag in the world
in the city square, that is super amazing about the city..same feel about Cordoba in Argentina, so I'll mention it now and
not after Mendoza...which is coming up in a little bit.
ARGENTINA Part 3 (ie no more Chile)
Mendoza..what a cool little town that just happens to be in one of the best wine regions in the continent! A new appreciation
of malbec while riding round the wine region dressed in silly costumes has made my dad happy, and the prices of this amazing
wine here makes him more happy, until he learnt I wasn't bringing him any bottles home to Australia..poor old fella.
Cafayate, A cute town at the base of a big hill gave us the chance to go out to a working ranch and to hang out with the
local cowboys while eating good argentinean meat and drinking house made tasty red wine...and for me to try my first llama
steak. Yum! Then onto Salta, where the full day we had was spent walking round the wineries (not as good as Mendoza! :P),
and playing a round of golf at an awesome valley location with mountains around..oh and some wine and cooked animals as well...very
tasty and a very cool little town square to wander around at night.
BOLIVIA
SO much bare dirt, so many mountains and as much salt as you would se in a fish and chip shop owner's dreams! Out to
Uyuni and the salt flats that extend way out from this frontier town..a very cool overnight trip at the base of a volcano
on the other side of the salt flats that we got to via ageing toyota landcruisers, with our one mot having 4th or 5th gear,
so the high revving and possible overheating of the car was a feature of most of the trip. Tasty local quinoa soups were the
taste of the days here, and beers and shots were more on the menu than wine as unfortunately, the el dorado of wine that was
Argentina was now behind us...what ensued was drinking cocktails out of boob and penis shaped cups and watching a crazy norse
man drink a stupid number of these drinks and shots to get his picture on the wall..didnt throw up much at all..until about
half an hour after he finished..then he did..a lot..and everywhere.
Potosi, one of the most barren and dusty mining mountain towns I've seen anywhere in the world, and I lived in Kalgoorlie!
The mines were up over 4000 metres and were at maximum 5 foot high in the tunnels, so I was glad I didnt check that box in
high school to be a bolivian gold miner as I don't think that would have worked too well. KFC was just fine. Hand moving tonnes
of dirt each day doesn't sound like fun..but the coca leaves, 96% alcohol hooch and the cigarettes I took up to them must
make it a hell of a lot easier!
The two capitals of Bolivia, Sucre (a very pretty city with great markets and architechture) and La Paz were polar opposites
- La Paz is located totally inside a volcanic crater, and is so hilly it is not the easiest place to get around by foot, or
crappy taxi as the high altitude makes it hard to do both..however if you want to go downhill really fast, La Paz is definitely
the place to go as we did by going down Death Road on a mountain bike, where we had some good close calls neat the 1000 metre
drops off the side of the one car wide dirt track into the Bolivian jungle..such a great ride!!! and got to play with monkeys
at the end so how much better could it have gotten!!
Back up onto the high ground and into..
PERU
Lake Titicaca was a bit of a disappointment in one respect as there were no titis to see and there weren't big piles of
caca just hanging around the place unless you counted what came out of the donkeys on the islands in the middle of the lake...buuut..form
every other respect it is an amazing place to visit, yet alone spend a night, which we did on the island of Amantani with
villagers in their houses, getting to go to a tradional dancing party dressed in traditional clothing and being shown up at
soccer/football by local kids. We visited the floating islands of Uros, made completely of reeds found in the lake, and the
ultimate Pikey community...not wanting to pay land taxes to the government, the locals decided to start stacking reeds and
make floating villages off the coast of Puno..very smart. Great local lunch on the way back on the Island of Taquile and a
quick dip in the highest navigable lake in the world made me nice and refreshed and not needing a post lunch nanna nap at
all.
Lots of mountains, a sacred valley, bus loads of old people and not so old people, silly people actually walking over
these mountains to get to one really old place on top of these mountains..it has to be...
CUZCO and MACHU PICCHU
Wow. Thats about all I need to say.
OK, I'll say some more...9 days in total in this area and when they weren't spent recovering from the tourist trap bars
that Cuzco is made famous for, they were spent renting a motorbike and cruising through the sacred valley, exploring various
archaeological ruins within walking distance and riding distance of Cuzco, eating the local delicacy of Cuy - or guinea pig
as we know it (mmm!!), getting sideswiped by a tuk tuk late at night on my motorbike and lucky to escape with a broken miror
(little bastard!), taking the amazing train trip to Aguas Calientes for the night and getting up at 4am to line up for the
buses up to one of the most spectacular human constructions in the world, Machu Picchu, and eating lots of eggs covered in
mashed potato and then being deep fried..magnificent! A beer at sunrise as the sun came up over the sun gate at Machu Picchu
has to rate as one of my favourite experiences ever. Absolutely spectacular.
Had a great overnight trip to the Colca Canyon, east of Arequipa where we saw lots of condors cruising round, spent the
night in a hotel in a little village on the side of the canyon, and got to have beers in the most natural thermal pools by
the side of a river. Down to the ocean and to a little cove called Puerto Inca, where the Incas (funnily enough) would trade
with people from Machu Picchu, some 200km away over the mountains, and where I spent the night in a seaside room with campfires
and tasty beverages under the stars..not a bad and secluded spot at all!
Then to see the Nazca lines, which unless you went up and saw them from an aerial view (which I didn't), didnt seem all
that amazing - I could organise a group of Grade 2's to go out into the desert to make a big rock drawings in the shape of
a fish pretty easily I bet. Then to Huacachina, a proper desert oasis with a big lake in the middle, where we went out on
a desert dune bugy and sand boarding trip before camping under the stars in the middle of the dunes, with tunes and buckets
of cocktails to help us while the night away. Night sand boarding was a little scary in the pitch black though.
To another pretty South American capital city, Lima for a few days then on to Huaraz in the White Mountains to spend a
few days exploring thermal baths, mountain lakes, towns covered by landslides and some tasty local beers (duh!). Out to the
beach town of Huanchaco to look at some sandstone ruins and then to the Northern Peruvian seaside resort of Mancora for some
fun in the sun, fishing (then eating the fish as tasty ceviche), partying, swimming and relaxing before heading to the last
country of the Tucan tour -
ECUADOR
Starting in the southern, and strangely full of retired americans, city of Cuenca, then on to the mountain valley town
of Banos, which translates as Bathroom form spanish, which is funny, because you struggle to find toilets in a lot of places
in Ecuador. There were plenty of showers and baths at the very cool thermal baths in the middle of town, and the rushing rivers
and waterfalls all around the area. Went up to the swing at the edge of the earth, where you swing off the top of a cliff,
not as amazing as it sounds, but was nice drive up and back and we got to play in some mud and see some girls do the swing
naked as we were leaving..so it was pretty amazing after all! A 5km walk over landslides to the local bar to watch a Brazil
world cup football game was a good way to finish here, and the best empanadas in south america near the bar in River City
were worth the walk alone!
Into the wilds of the western Amazon near Misahualli next, where we stayed in a jungle camp and got to explore tributaries
and communities of the amazon, visiting local chiefs and medicine men, getting to try the local "beer", fermented
using their saliva - an acquired taste but does the job! Tubing down the rivers, dodging piranhas by not dangling your feet
in the water for too long, and going on jungle walks and playing basketball and football with the local village kids was
pretty special and definitely worth the trek so far east!
Biggest market in at least Ecuador was conquered in Otavalo on the second last day, and many souvenirs and llama related
clothing was purchased. Remember when I said that I wouldn't go close to getting left behind after the first night shenanigans
on the tour in Rio? Well, I lied. I managed to get left in Otovalo on the last night of the tour as the rest of the group
went off to the Equator and Quito while I slept, recovering from a big night out with locals at bars and nightclubs in the
very very non tourist area of Otovalo. Only got lost for half an hour on the way back to the hotel, and I got a bit of a surprise
when my room mate and the rest of the people on the tour had left when I woke up at about 10am! Local bus to Quito later,
and I was wandering around a deserted city centre without any access to internet, and no idea where the hotel was as I let
one of the other people borrow the itinerary...fun day!! ha ha well it ended up ok and I said goodbye to a great group of
people in Quito. I stayed a couple more nights in Quito, exploring the old town and its random, dodgy markets, as well as
awesome little brewery before heading off for a night in the big port city of Guyayaquil on the way to Trinidad, via Panama.
Not a remarkable city at all, the nicest part was the old town on the hill with its stairways and little restaurants and bars
overlooking the city and river.
A quick stop in Panama and a beer at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville before flying to the CARIBBEAN and the bustling city
of Port of Spain,
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
Couchsurfed for a couple of nights in Port of Spain and got to check out the site of the big Mas (carnival) festival,
and my couchsurfing host actually designed the costumes for it - makes the costumes in Sydney at Mardi Gras look like everyday
business suits - and everyone is choreographed in big groups with complicated dance routines..very cool! Went to Queens Park
cricket ground to see the T&T under 19 cricket team were playing and had a beer at the great ground's bar, then came back
a bit later to watch the Dutch play in the world cup.
Managed to get on local TV at the famous Smokey & Bunty sports bar..where I predicted Brazil winning the world cup.
Goooooaaaallll!!!
Over to Tobago (much less developed and more of a natural island than Trinidad) for my PADI Open Water Course, and set
up in my little room by Buccoo Bay to study, then did my confined water dive at the Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs' former
mansion on top of the hill overlooking Tobago, and had to do the rest of my dives walking in off some of the prettiest beaches
anywhere..absolutely amazing.
BARBADOS
Overnight at Trindad airport on the way a bit annoying, but ending up with a 3brm house to myself at St Lawrence Gap in
Bridgetown and the 2 min walk to the tropical white sand beach made it worthwhile. Bus into downtown and walked to Kensington
Gardens cricket ground where I took a tour just as the Barbados T20 team were training on the ground - got to field a few
balls while wandering around the ground and chatted with some of the west indian players on the ground. A few beers on the
beach on the way back and met Neil Mackenzie from the South African cricket team at the hilton hotel on the way back –
had to have a brew with the bru - wouldn't be right otherwise..nice fella! Drove around the island the next day and got to
see the farming areas that were much less developed than the west coast, with all the little limestone coves dotted around
the island being very secluded and pretty.
GRENADA
In the business lounge for a couple of hours as no wifi anywhere else at the airport..and that was where the unlimited
alcohol was..shame, hey! So got to Grenada happily buzzed and met a local wino at the bar outside the airport while waiting
for my couchsurfing host to get home who insisted he shout me a small bottle of local rum - then insisted I shout him back..needless
to say I was very early to bed that night...after finding out that the only microbrewery in the WHOLE caribbean randomly happened
to be right across the road from where I was staying!! ha ha gold!
Toured the island with my hosts and their big dog and saw some great waterfalls, tropical forest, port towns and historical
sites. Went to a few Caribbean Twenty 20 Premier League games at the national cricket stadium and saw some good players play
some average cricket..good fun, beer and local food though.
Hungover ferry ride up to Carriacou Island in the north and had a day in an old Rav4 to cruise around the island and hang
out on deserted palm lined white beaches, spots with awesome views of all the islands to the north, watched a half of football
with locals at a beachside bar – they love their football here as well! Checked out of Granada at the police station
and took the mail boat across to Union Island,
ST VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES
A hot day and Good rain meant the first two rooms in the hotel I got given had a broken AirCon and a leaky roof. The third
room was leaking through the door but i'd had enough of moving so I put on my bathers and watched the storm roll in. Dived
at the Tobago Cays , which was amazing reef diving, with excellent visibility. Explored Union Island by bus, very small but
a cute set of communities. Ferry to the main island of St Vincent, where I stayed in a nice hotel in the middle of nowhere
in the city, and walked to the little resort on Young Island and had a beer looking at the city and the coastline. Local
bus up to the Pirates of the Caribbean cove and saw the remains of the set, which isn't much now - they haven't really preserved
anything there, and all that was left was a little shanty bar on the beach, which has lots of pictures of what the set used
to look like..pretty cool. Flight out to the neighbouring island of St Lucia had to go over night via Trinidad, making what
should have been a 40 minute flight into a 12 hour mission. At least the fried chicken shop was open at the airport.
ST LUCIA
Cute little island with most tourist stuff on the west coast, and I stayed up in the NW corner at Gros Islet where I got
to try the local food and beer at the friday night market where lots of food stalls and bars open up on the main street and
there's partying for most of the night. The steel drum bad finals were also on at the national cricket stadium and was pretty
awesome, with thousands of people in bands of about 100 playing and dancing to be crowned band of the carnival. That's why
I couldnt get a direct flight...was worth the extra flight to get here just for the steel drums. Tour down the west cost to
see the tetons, really pretty giant pinnacles coming out of the water, and got to see some little towns, had a swim in mud
baths and waterfalls, and cruised around the rainforest and farms. Very pretty.
DOMINICA
Called the Green Isle for a good reason - most of the island is covered with with wild rainforest, and you think you will
never see a town as you drive through the forest form the airport to the capital, Roseau. My couchsurfing host here lived
most of the way up a ridiculously steep hill - of course - and so I had to lug my bags up there in the 33 degree heat and
90% humidity. Definitely earned that beer! Went scuba diving a few days on Champagne Reef and through lava tubes and at Scott's
head, a submerged volcano cone with some of the best visibility around. I almost ran out of air one time as my dive master
went off to kill some pest lion fish and left me without any idea of time..very interesting. Went to the last night of the
ocean festival, with thousands of people dancing and singing and drinking in one of the little seaside town, watching boat
races in dinghys out on the water...great introduction to the island! Walked around downtown Roseau, into the national cricket
stadium and up to awesome natural thermal pools at night. First flight to Sint Maarten was cancelled so I had to spend the
night in a hotel until the crazy tropical storm cleared up the next day.
SINT MAARTEN / SAINT MARTEN
The smallest land mass to have two countries sharing ownership it was weird to be driving and all of a sudden the signs
change language without warning. Lucky everyone spoke english. Best bit of the island was the airport, which has a beach at
the end of it, and you can stand on the beach as planes land about 50 metres from you and about 15 metres above your head.
Pretty speccy. Stayed in a little atco hut hostel next to the airport, and pretty much had it to myself. Took a day trip over
to the dutch protectorate island of SABA, where the island is a volcano, and has the shortest commerical runway in the world..crazy
to watch the planes get to the end of the runway and drop off before they can steady themselves. That's why I went by boat!
Dived around the east side of the island in underwater lava tubes and the best visibility and underwater life so far. So pretty
and such an amzing little island. Definitely going back there
JAMAICA
Caught a bus to downtown Kingston, not the best idea for a lone foreigner, but was met by my host and we headed further
into the most dangerous part of the Caribbean, to his shack in the shanty town of Fletcherstown, where I was very very luck
to have been there with my host, as I might have been relieved of most of my possessions. He is a music artist and producer
and we went around Kingston to little local street parties and performances where he got to show off his reggae skills and
I got to see come cool local artists, go to cool little local bars and eat lots of random cooked meats from the side of the
road.
Got my rental car at the airport and headed east around the coast and up to Boston bay, one of many little secluded bays,
and had some jerk chicken..very tasty. Stayed up in the hills behind Port Antonio at a couchsurfing host's place, with awesome
views ofver the forest and the coast. Went to Bob Marley's childhood home and was very disappointed with how tacky and touristy
it was..awesome crazy drive to get up there and it was very very tacky. Down to Paradise Beach and very cool little coves
and beaches, with restaurants and bars overlooking the water. To Negril and a little place on the main beach, away from the
big resorts, where I got to explore the beach bars and restaurants, jump off 18 metre platforms into the ocean in front of
hundreds of restaurant going tourists, snorkelling around the aptly named booby island, and relaxing listening to live music
on the beach with a beer and other local delicacies in hand..veeeeery relaxing! :D On to Montego Bay for a couple of days
and explored the local markets, had a great time at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville restaurant with huge waterslide down into
the ocean from on top of the restaurant. Very cool way to finish a great week in one of the coolest islands in the world.
CANADA / USA
Back to some familiar territory! Flew into Vancouver and a night in a hostel before leaving early morning on a bus to
seattle to catch up with Pete, a mate from University of Arizona, and Mariah, who I met in Washington DC in 2004...couldn't
believe they lived 5 block apart in the same suburb..either side of the huge troll under the Fremont bridge, just north of
downtown Seattle. A great week exploring the breweries of Seattle and catching up before heading back up to Vancouver, to
an older mate's place right near the airport, and to look for a car / van for my huge North of Canada road trip. I found Doris
the Plymouth Voyager after a few days and loaded her up with the essentials – blow up bed and removable bed frame,
food, beer and a big cooler to put it all in. ALL SET!!!
THE GREAT NORTH OF CANADA (and bits of the USA) ROAD TRIP ODYSSEY 2014 begins!!!!
Vancouver - Whistler - Smithers, BC - Hyder, AK - Whitehorse, YK
Felt a bit sad driving through Vancouver, the site of many exploits in the past, but excited as I realised that even though
I'd seen the first leg of this Odyssey before, I remember it as being one of the most spectacular drives i'd been on..and
I wasn't disappointed..the drive to Whistler from Vancouver is a stunning mix of water, islands, mountains, random animals
and car drivers who don't get out of the city all that often and lose it when they see one or more of the previous things
while driving. Caught up with the Gumboot in Whistler and was there for the last day of the red bull downhill mountain biking
festival, so any pics of us half naked standing half naked on a rock halfway up the Whistler mountain make a lot more sense
now..the place was buzzing and it was great to get to experience it. A round of golf at the Chateau Whistler Golf Course was
an amazing experience, and hanging round the village was great as I hadn't been there since the 2010 Winter Olympic games.
The road from Whistler back to the North heading Cariboo highway is also spectacular..amazing lakes, forests and mountains
were a good start...up to Prince George and west to Smithers where Garnet's dad lives - a small town at the base of some big
mountains, very very quiet and that's about it..I also plan on not having many more 13hr driving days. Ouch. On to the Dease
Lake Hwy up to Stewart and Hyder, either side of the Alaskan border, with fjords, glaciers, mountains, and gold mines on either
side of this border that no-one checks as you go between the both. Spent the night up in an amazing local cabin for all the
townsfolk of Hyder to use in the middle of the wilderness..a great night around the fire, listening for bears, not getting
eaten by bears, which you know is possible as the outdoor toilet was only accessible by a ladder that meant you sat about
4 metres above the ground to do your business..nice view from up there though!
A bigger day than planned heading up to Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon and had a god couple of days exploring the
local animal preserve, seeing all the local big animals you don't usually see like different types of bison, deer, and other
things people love to hunt. A Yukon brewery tour was always on the cards, and being greeted by an aussie guy at the front
counter meant I had to stay for a couple more after the tour..some cool local food and drinks in a town in the middle of nowhere
was a great hint of things to come.
Whitehorse, YK - Fort Nelson - Yellowknife, NWT - Slave Lake, AB - Prince Albert, SK - Saskatoon - Regina
I thought the drive to Whitehorse was long and a little boring, then I had to do a good part of the same drive to get
across to Fort Nelson in the NE corner of British Columbia, which except for stopping at some awesome hot springs, was pretty
mundane. Stopped at Beaver Lake (giggle) for the night then up the long dirt road into the North West Territories and up to
Yellowknife, another city at the end of a really long road, and as far as i'd get north on this odyssey. Saw where a huge
proportion of the province was still on fire, although the grazing bison on the side of the road at one point didnt seem too
worried about it all. They didn't know I was going to eat a steak of one of their cousins the size of my leg in Yellowknife
the next night..
Parked Doris up on the edge of the downtown area, next to a power substation and had a buffalo burger and beer at the
WildCat Cafe, a local insitution, while watching the sun set..it was about 10.30pm when this happened so I was happy that
there was only one place left open after that – Boston Pizza, and had a couple of quiet ones with some locals before
heading back to the mobile palace that is Doris and had a well earned sleep. Went further east and got to see the world's
longest ice road that wasn't really driveable in Summer, and Doris hadn't been german amphibicar certified so I left that
one to the ice road truckers in the winter. A really pretty little city, Whitehorse is right on the great slave lake, and
made up of several islands, so there are always water views from your house, especially for the well known house boat community
that's on a show called Ice Lake Rebels. Interesting. I just wonder where the poo goes when the place is all iced over...there's
one for you to ponder as we start heading south...
Another long day back down around the great slave lake and into Alberta, where I turned off at the big strip mall of a
town of High level and went south west towards Slave Lake and the western border of Alberta. Stayed on the banks of a river,
right under the wooden bridge of the highway. Spectacular spot, but even my earplugs couldn’t block out the huge
timber trucks crashing across the bridege every hour or so overnight. Through the north eastern agricultural area of Alberta,
and all the radio stations turned country, christian, or christian country. Not a bad change, but there's only so many times
you can hear slack jaws singin' about jack daniels and their pick up's in one day before you want to drink lots of Jack and
drive your pick up off the end of a jetty. Speaking of torture, I ended up at a place called Prince Albert that night (some
of you will get that one, if not..you definitely shouldnt know!), a most uninteresting of towns, then headed north east to
Flin Flon, a mining town up in the hilly forest, then south through some cool forests as the sun was setting and the deer
were getting frisky, to Hudson Bay, a tiny agricultural town with one pub and nowhere to pull up except down a country lane
. Cold night in Doris, but we survived and headed south west down through the big city in Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, to try
a few beers and get out of there before I got stuck, as there were so many good beers at the one brewery. To Regina where
I caught up with my mate Josh who plays punter for the Roughriders - a football team, not a prophylactic - who were having
their big local derby game that Sunday. Got to go to my first North American football game, and even the pre game drinking
in the set up across the road – no tailgating though :( - was great fun. The game was great, and the atmosphere
was amazing. My mate tore his hammy but didn't tear his vagina so still came out with the rest of the team and their partners
for a great dinner and drinks and making fun of Josh for being a pussy...felt just like being in Australia playing footy!
Regina - Kenora, ON - Thunder Bay - Chapleau - Barrie - Guelph - Niagara Falls - Punxutawney, PA
Long drive via Winnipeg, where I only stopped at a bar for a drink and almost stayed except the attached hotel wanted
some stupid amount of money for a sunday night, so I continued on through the last of the prairie style agricultural land
of central Canada, and into the forests of western Ontario, where I ended up in the cute little lake town of Kenora and the
Lake of the Woods Brewery, where I parked Doris out the back, set her up then went and tried all the wares this brwery had,
which were plenty and very tasty, then went out the back and jumped into Doris. She loved it. Woken up at 6am or so by the
unnoticed postal delivery centre next to where I was parked and head off to Thunder Bay. Caught up with a friend from working
in Banff in 2004 and spent a couple days exploring and got to go out on a yacht and have a swim in Lake Superior - just a
little cold in September, but still very very nice! Stopped in to see the Terry Fox memorial (amazing story, go check it out)
and along the top of the Lake til I turned off into the forested wild of central Ontario at Wawa (I was sad about it too)
and spent the night being worried about bears in a forestry coupe in the middle of nowhere - you have no idea how many things
sound like bears til you've spent a night in the middle of uninhabited Canada! Via Sudbury and the Flying Monkeys brewery
at Barrie to Guelph to catch up with another mate from Banff , Dewey, who is a stalwart in Guelph and knew an amazing proportion
of people whenever we were out and about!
To Toronto for a couple of days to go to RiotFest with Press Passes courtesy of Dewey and his connections, and we had
two awesome days in the mud listening to lots of bands I hadn’t heard of, and eating random carnie foods on sticks
that I never knew existed. Craziest band was Die Antwoord (The Answer) from South Africa, whose crazy outfits and hard core
hip hop in Afrikaans and English were the standout in the line up. Check them out!
Sexy bingo and lots of beers in Guelph and then out to the Niagara wine region to a couple of wineries before heading
across the border at Niagara Falls, then to Buffalo for some of the most famous chicken wings in the USA at Duff's (meh!)
and then headed south into the hills and forests of western New York state and northern Pennsylvania, where I ended up surviving
the possibility of being dealt with Deliverance-style and made it to the home of one of the world's most famous rodents, Punxutawney
Phil. Pulled up in a little bar on the outskirts of town after not finding any motels open, and had a few local deep fried
bar snacks and beers before crashing out in Doris, looking forward to meeting the famous Phil the next morning....
Saw lots of statues of Phil but no live ones, and found out that the real ceremony, unlike the movie, takes place out
of town in the forest a little bit, and is a big thing if you get to see it. Ah well...
Philadeplhia - Bay Head NJ - Atlantic City NJ - Newport, RI - Provincetown, MA - Boston - Portland, ME
Off to Philadelphia through proper amish country, where you know you're not at home when there are horse and wagon road
signs along the way..a little different! To Philadelphia to meet up with Mariah and her brother and his fiancee, and got to
see a bit of Philly, including the best philly cheese steaks, but didnt get to see Rocky at the top of the stairs..next time..
To Bay Head, NJ where Hurricane Sandy came through a year or so before, which you could see by some people still living
in tents alongside the water, and some jettys being at right angles to where they should be. Here for Mariah's friend's wedding
and the reception at the partially rebuilt yacht club here was one to remember, in a boat shed that was over 100 years old,
and the awesome jersey shore style boardwalk and sideshows, including a batting cage and awesome mini golf courses –
not tacky at all! Ha and just when I thought that was silly..off to Ocean City, NJ, where Jersey shore was filmed, but unfortunately
all the mikeys and snookys had left and oly a strange procession of old people and hundreds of clowns (literally) were on
the boardwalk and the strangely located chairlift along the beach.
Next to Las Vegas' bastard child, Atlantic City, and even though we stayed in a bustling casino on the beach, the town
seemed to be slowly dying, with one of the Trump casinos closing while we were there. The extravagance of the Tropicana casino,
beautiful beach and views, and restaurants, bars and pedi cabs along the boardwalk were still amazing to witness, and it's
definitely a place to see before you die.
Via Philadelphia and scooting past New York City to Newport Rhode Island, and no PewterSchmitt's in sight, but they could've
easily been hiding in one of the many huge stately mansions in the top end of town, some of these up to 200 years old and
amazingly opulent for today's times. Nice drive around Cape Cod to get to Provincetown, right at the end of the bay, and found
out after checking into a predominantly gay hotel, the Provincetown was the homosexual capital of the state. Was a fun night
people watching and seeing lots of bumping a grinding of all sorts. Really nice nick nack stores too...
Back around the Cape to Boston and explored some of downtown and had a drink at the Top of The Town restaurant and an
awesome steak before heading out to the airport to say goodbye to Mariah. Very early morning start and made it to Portland,
Maine, where I parked in the back of a famous BBQ restaurant and craft beer venue, Salvage BBQ and had a great night eating
many smoked meats and drinking tasty local brews before heading to the back of Doris for some shut eye before heading towards
the border with Canada, which I arrived at at about 5pm, and zoomed up to Saint John before dusk.
Saint John, NB - Green Gables, PEI - Charlottetown, PEI - North Sydney, - St Anthony, - Happy Valley - Goose Bay, NF -
Labrador City - Baie Comeau, QC - Montreal, QC
CAANNNAAAADDDAAAA..again. A couple of breweries in Saint John and after trying to set up on one of the docks near downtown
and having police officers come past a few times checking me out, I finally found a place to sleep in a car park up in an
apartment building complex..bit dodgy but ya gotta do what ya gotta do! Great feel to Saint John, and very pretty harbour,
but moved on to Prince Edward Island via the bridge, and tried to hit a golf ball from the mainland to the island before heading
over it - fell short by about 13 ½ kilometres...so close! Stayed in the very quiet tourist town of Green Gables in the closed
national park campground with a literally beachside campsite.
Drove around most of the island - very green and lots of rolling hills,ended up staying downtown in Charlotteville, a
really pretty little city, with leafy streets, nice restaurants and bars, and a great brewery. Ferry back across to Nova Scotia
and drove up through Cape Breton to North Sydney and caught the ferry to Port aux Basques on Newfoundland Island. Driving
up the finger of Newfoundland for the first time was pretty amazing - the road stays pretty much on the coast and you can
see how barren a lot of the land is, with little french enclaves at different points along the road and how much of an outpost
kind of town St Anthony is, right up at the northern tip. Went to the local legion (RSL for aussies) and got invited to a
wedding reception at a little village on the way to the 100 year old viking landging site at Lans aux Meadows. Arrived there
and got a room, walked in to the bar to the groom wearing the same t-shirt and baseball cap he was wearing at the wedding
ceremony in the pictures (they got married on the mainland previously) and a traditional irish-newfie band on the stage playing
sea shanty songs that are very similar to the old Australian folk songs with a beer cap stick, banjo/violin and lots of toe
tapping...also got made an honorary Newfie by being screeched in by the elders of the bar - I had to kiss a cod, have a shot
of the local "screech" liquor and recite a sea faring poem while wearing a rain slicker hat and jacket..great fun!
Ferry across to the South east corner of Quebec in the morning, and headed to mainland Labrador and north towards Happy
Valley - Goose Bay and past lots and lots of nothing. Except forests. And a new hydroelectrical project, but that's pretty
much it. HV-GB is a tiny outpost town in two parts, and has a native village a few miles away, which keeps the police busy
in the evenings at the bars in town.
Then to Labrador City, which is set up primarily as a place for mining and mining related industry employees to live,
so it has a very quiet feel to it, with not much happening at all. Across the border in Fermont QC, where the whole mine support
town is built behind a four storey wind deflecting set of apartments and you can buy 100 can packs of beer, and that's it.
Good to be back in Quebec though. A big day to get down the dirt highway to the St Lawrence River and Baie Comeau, where I
got right into French culture by attending an improv show in french, that was set up like two hockey teams competing against
each other, with the crowd deciding who wins each round and the referee adjudicating. Was very funny, with all people dressed
as players or in full referee garb, but not literally funny as I don't really understand french..kind of a pre-requisite to
judging how funny a response is. Lucky the event was being held at the town's microbrewery ;)
Awesome drive west along the banks of the St Lawrence River, including a ferry across the Saguenay River next to a moose
head stuck to a quad bike in a trailer next to me on the ferry..not something you see every day! Past Quebec City (will get
there next time) to Montreal to see Fabio from my Tucan trip, and see more of the city that I had a great time in 15 years
ago..great pubs, bars, restaurants, breweries and architecture were amazing, as I remembered.
Completing the THE GREAT NORTH OF CANADA (and bits of the USA) ROAD TRIP ODYSSEY meant having to head east again to the
industrial town of Sudbury, Ontario, and this was completed after leaving Montreal and just as 20,000km on the clock was reached..
wow.. how bloody special has this been so far!!! Still have a fair way to go to get back to Seattle and Vancouver though..so
lets do it!!
Sudbury, ON - Sault St Marie ON & MI - St Cloud, MN - Salem, SD - Mount Rushmore, SD - Casper, WY - Yellowstone NP,
WY - Coeur d'Alene, ID - Seattle, WA - Vancouver, BC!
Drive to the border at Sault St Marie was again messed up by a policeman on the same road in Ontario..talked him down
$150 or so so that was a plus. Over the border fairly easily and stopped at a brewery in the US side before looking for a
motel for the night – found non so ended up driving half an hour and setting up in the dead centre of town west
of the main highway - by that I mean in the cemetery..it was nice and quiet so I got a good sleep.
Via Marquette and the south coast of lake superior before heading inland and across to the little town of Salem in South
Dakota to see first hand how corn and cattle farming go together. They do, especially if you have huge tractors, lots of willing
sons to work at the farms and heaps of land. Well done guys!
Was driving the next day and randomly came upon four giant heads carved into the side of a mountain. Weird. Wonder if
they meant anything..you never know in america..Through the black hills of South Dakota and random wineries and breweries
before hitting the western part of Wyoming and the trees disappeared and nodding donkeys of oil country appeared, along with
the standard looking support towns that come with the industry.
Got to the suprising town of Casper, Wyoming and got to check out the cool art deco atchitecture and micro brewery, then
stayed the night in the most deluxe log cabin i've ever seen perched up the mountain from the town, with some amazing views
that look like they could go as far north as Canada. Off west through back country farms and tracks then up through the Grand
Tetons National Park and their amazing mountain range on a big lake, and the geysers, bears, elk and lakes of Yellowstone
National Park. Very nice, except for my first speeding ticket in the USA, and learning that you don't get out of the car to
talk to an officer when they have pulled you over..having a gun pointed at you is not the most fun thing in the world..at
least we got to laugh about it afterwards...things are a little different over here!!
Back on the road after changing my underpants and drove through the amazing mountains and valleys of montana then through
idaho and back across to Seattle to spend another few days in brewery heaven before heading back to Vancouver to sell Doris
and fly out. A couple of days of brewery hopping in Vancouver, and staying in East Vancouver down the road from a homeless
camp on a baseball field where one of the people had just died form exposure, made the last couple of days here very interesting
indeed.
A couple of days in Oakland visiting little fatty Ben, and exploring the opposite side of the bay than i've been used
to, and the a flight out across the ocean to..
OL' BLIGHTY - I mean - ENGLAND
A couple weeks here visiting old friends in and north of London, including the new addition to the White family in Bishop's
Stortford, and the time went very quickly. Found out that a mate of mine from Bendigo was working at the local Brewdog brewery
where my other mate from Perth was living. Drinking the list from that bar took some effort! Phew..need a bit of time to relax..might
just stop off in..
THAILAND
Three weeks here heading down to the southern islands of Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao, over to Koh Phi Phi then
up to Khao Lak for a 4 day liveaboard scuba diving trip, then a couple of days in the tourist trap of Phuket. Spectacular!!
First few nights at the brand new cheeky monkey hostel (you are where you stay! :P) and spent the days riding round the
island on my rented scooter, checking out the little villages, and generally trying to stay away from the tourist centres.
Did the same on Koh Phangan but did so from my beach side bungalow on a quiet beach..was very cool. Found some awesome random
bars and spent one night going to the black moon party at the full moon party bay, which had been shut down after the death
of some tourists a couple of months before, but was now getting back into the swing of it. The island was pretty quiet, so
I found some awesome secluded little beaches, bays and villages up some of the most crazy dirt tracks a scooter has ever gone
up and down..spending more time with my feet on the ground trying to help the scooter up the hills and stopping it from skidding
too fast down the hills...
To Koh Tao for the advanced open water and 10 dives, and I found out pretty quickly that the whole west of the island
was covered with resorts, hotels and dive centres - over 60 on the island made it hard to get a quite dive at a site, so when
it did happen, and the visibility was good, it was pretty magical. Otherwise there were 50 people all trying to look at the
same thing..which isn't fun at all!
Looong overnight boat and buses, then another boat to Koh Phi Phi which was pretty amazing, but the touristy areas were
very touristy, so it was great to get out among the amazing limestone islands and explore places like Maya bay - from the
movie The Beach, and swimming in azure blue lagoons.
Ferry to Phuket and a very late bus to pick me up to take me to Khao Lak, where the dive shop was. Found out they decided
to change my 5 day liveaboard to a 4 day liveaboard without telling me, so was a little bit annoyed as we got shoved onto
the boat and headed out towards the Similan Island for some of the best diving in the world. I saw turtles, almost got slapped
by a manta ray and saw so many amazing types of underwater life, it was absolutely amazing. We didn't get to go out to one
of the most famous sites because the captain stuffed up the schedule but that means I will have to go back.
Back to Phuket for a few nights to be a normal aussie tourist and spent days wandering around the town, fending of advances
from bar girls (and guys who looked like girls) , found a new brewery that had awesome beers, got suits made and relaxed on
the very very busy beach.
Singapore for a couple of days to see the old Salty Dog, the Singapore Cricket Club and the final White son and his family
and then after 10 months on the road, heading back to Australia.
Wow. That escalated quickly. Again.
Cheers!!
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