From Grads to Nomads

Today is the first day in NZ that I have arisen before 3pm, so that fact that it is 9am right now is a great start to the day! We have not seen a lot yet, due to the fact that we sleep so late, and most everything here seems to close around 5:30, and then there are not an abundance of restaurants after that time. Yesterday I opened my bank account here, so I am now the proud owner of an Eftpos card (the new zealand equivalent of a debit card). Rob, Jason, Chris, and I went wandering around downtown for a few hours, discovering a park, a fish market (very stinky), and a nice view of the city from a pier. Pictures coming soon.

Last night the guys wanted one more round at Blackjack at the casino, so I went along, and it ended up being me who came out ahead of all!! I was 25$ up, but Rob did win 20$ this time so he was happier. Enough of the casino now. I do think though that the reason we won is that I kept stuffing all winning chips in my back pocket and refusing access to them!

The weather has improved here, it is now about 20 and sunny instead of 16 and windy and cold! Also, an interesting thing they have done here with the roads, is crosswalks are run in a different fashion. Rather than like home, they have the cars go both directions,and then all pedestrians walk at the same time, so you can walk diagonally across the street.

It has been a jarring few days sleep wise, as to get from Thailand to Auckland involved 2 nights of no sleep really at all, so then yesterday we arrived in Auckland after a 10 hour flight, and got here in the afternoon. The customs check when you land is very thorough, as they have their biosecurity unit which is like going through security times 10. I had the drug dog stop at my bag and sniff like crazy....turns out he was smelling the remants of the fruit I had had the day before. Once we finally got out of the airport, we were surprised at how chilly is was here, about 15 C outside, and with a cold wind. Today is warmer however, I actually was comfortable in just a t-shirt instead of being bundled in my sweater like yesterday.

New Zealand is stunning from the air, can't wait to get out and explore. There are so many insane adventure activites to partake in, it seems anything you can jump, swing off, climb, and roll down, the Kiwi's have found a way to partake in adrenaline rushes! We also have to get used to normal prices for food again, although I found that my 4.00$ tea yesterday was a bit exhorbatant for regular tea!

I think we will like it here however, it is a pleasant change of pace. We just have to get our sleep on track, as we all stayed up last night until 7:30 am, unable to sleep, and slept in until 2:30 today.

Well, after a long day of worries, we had a perfect day to get us to KL, with 2 uneventful flights, taking us back to where we started our Asia portion of the trip. Rob and I booked a weekend romance package at the Mandarin Oriental, and it has been fantastic. I got flowers upon arrival, we had great champagne and strawberries and chocolates brought to the room, we both got an aromotherapy massage, and then a butler prepared a bath! Tomorrow we get breakfast and we get to keep the room all day, until our night flight to Auckland. Next posting I imagine will be from New Zealand!

Addtional note here- Ko Samui was declared a disaster zone, 6 people drowned, and there were 200 rescue workers brought in!

SO the past 36 hours has been absolute chaos!!! A terrible storm blew into Samui, the worst in about 10 years apparantly.....no one had seen one like it in ages, and it started to rain on thursday night, very heavy, as we took a taxi home from town the roads were already beginning to flood. Awaking on friday morning, I saw the heavy rain and realized that could only lead to no good. First problem, our laundry was down the road at the launders and when we went to retrieve it yesterday morning...we discovered that the road was flooded, now a river with up to chest deep water. We hiked back up the hill with our umbrellas, stranded at the resort, and spent much of the day with no power in the room. We had great worry about getting out of the country....and we had several problems, being
- we had to check out of the hotel
-our Thai visas were due to expire on sunday
-we had non refundable flights out of thailand
-with our laundry stuck behind a wall of water, 4 of us had virtually no clothes left
- if we did not get to KL by sunday, our big ticket would become null and void

So you can see we all had cause for concern, especially learning the storm could last a few days and trap us.....the rains stayed heavy all day, and then this morning at 5 am we awoke to the beautiful sight of stopped rainfall. Upon going to the lobby, it was a struggle to get a vehicle to the airport, as the hotel manager insisted it was no open yet. No surprise he was lying as he had lied to us in the past week several times. We finally got a hotel vehicle and arrived to a very full airport, due to it being closed for 2 days leaving many stranded. Another bit of good luck, on the way to the airport, passing the laundry place, there just happened to be a woman there by candlelight at 6am....so we are with clothing now!!

We caught our flight, albeit delayed, but we are in phuket awaiting flight to KL....it is now stormy here but i imagine it should be fine. Next stop, the Mandarin for a night then onto Auckland. Of course, we hope our good luck of today holds out!

Yesterday, with surprisingly nice weather, we did a round island tour. (Rob, Jason, Chris, and I). First, we stopped at a rocky area by the sea where we could view the "grandfather and grandmother" rocks, which bore a surprisingly accurate resemblance of human sexual organs! From here, we went into the jungle and rode elephants, Rob and I had a massive elephant and were not permitted to try riding on the head of it, as Jason was. We then watched an elephant show, which, while amusing, made me pity the elephants as I am sure it was not easy to teach an elephant to walk on its hind legs holding a basketball in its trunk or to do a headstand. I also got sniffed by the elephant, as we sat in the front row, and so I found my shoulder covered in elephant snot! mmmm. We then got to see a crocodile show, and I think the people who work with the crocs are borderline crazy. It just can't be safe in the long run to poke a croc with a stick and then move away when he whips around and snaps. The ultimate was when the show person put his head in the crocs open mouth! I am sure the day will come when the crocodile will snap his mouth shut unforeseen and there goes the show!! Remember Roy and the tiger....

We walked up to a waterfall after this, lazed by it for 10 minutes, and then back into the jeep for a ride up the 550 Meter mountain, on a road that makes our backcountry roads look like nothing. It was filled with grooves, was very narrow, and the bumpiest ride you can imagine. It was actually kind of fun, and on the way to lunch at the top of the mountain, we stopped at this Magical garden with all these stone sculptures of buddhas and animals, and then we went to lunch on the mountain. It was quite chilly up top, which Jason and Chris liked, as they keep their room at 10 C. I was covered in goosebumps the whole time however.

The last thing was a trip to the giant buddha, where there were also many small buddhas, and I had my fortune read by a buddha machine for 5 baht, which told me that traveling south will yield great fruits, good thing New Zealand is south then!!

It has been pouring rain all day, so we are in town with our umbrellas, about to go for Japanese food. Our hotel restaurant needs some work, as their food is not so good, and the fact that they served us red wine in a chilled glass says it all! So sushi and tempura it is for dinner tonight!

All the ladies out there will be relieved to know that the moustache has been shaved off, much to my relief. As the results of our little survey appeared to be all men in favor of it and all women against it..... I can say I enjoy the new look much better

It has been very stormy since we arrived here, so I have enjoyed a massage and some good books. There is really not a lot new to report at the moment. Soon we are heading back from town to the hotel, and once more I will fear for my life as the crazy taxi drivers here pass on blind corners, speed along windy roads, and generally disobey every traffic rule I was taught in AMA!

I pray to you all out there....inform him how awful it looks to help me in convincing him to shave the terrible thing off!!!

Einstein, Ghandi, yes even Snidely Whiplash had one. Today, esteemed readers, I too join the ranks of these highly distinguished gentlemen. As of last night I have decided to sport this often overlooked fashion accessory. There are however those in my midst who argue this is not a good look for me. These people must be proven wrong! I kindly ask that you all leave a message voting "yay or nay" on the effectiveness of my soup strainer. Its fate is in your hands. Now if you will excuse me I am off to buy a stick to beat the girls away from me.

Today after a 3 1/2 hour check in from hell, we arrived at our luxorious resort, although it remains to be seen if we have sleeping room for 6 as stated on our reservation!! Anyhow, we got into town and there is a huge grocery store (as we have a kitchen in both rooms) and they sell all sorts of good stuff, like organic cereal and prego pasta sauce!! Note the picture of us enjoying the cereal selection. Then Rob, Jason, Chris and I had Japanese for dinner, and it was absolutely delicious, after involving a 40 minute walk to get there, including getting lost and ending up on the edge of town!

Yesterday, we left Koh Phanghan for Koh Samui, Turns out every backpacker on the island had the same idea, as I have never been on a more crowded ferry boat in my life. People kept pouring on over and over until there was literally no room except to stand where you were. What really made the ride even more pleasant was the nicotine addicts who could not find it within them to refrain from that one cigarette on a 45 minute ride. Some people seriously! It smells so digusting in close quarters. Anyhow......so we got to Ko Samui and hopped into a taxi to get to Chaweng, the main beach. We requested to be dropped off at Starbucks, and thoroughly enjoyed some delicious coffee beverages (or orangina for those who dont care for coffee) and sat in the air conditioned bliss for a while, meeting some Canadians who have lived here for 3 years and just happened to be from Vancouver and Edmonton!

We founda bungalow for the night, and are off to the timeshare at Samui Peninsula today (www.samuipeninsula.com). Chaweng is a little piece of Western bliss, as they have Starbucks, a Haagen Daaz shop, Pizza Hut, and an array of fancy restaurants. Rob and I enjoyed a very tasty dinner, at an Italian restaurant, where for the first time since we left home, we got bread to accompany the meal (for free) and free purified drinking water!! It was a very decadent meal, and well worth the cost (it cost what usually about 4 days of food cost me!)

We then went mini golfing later on, 5 of us (Chris stayed behind) and had a good time navigating the crazy obstacles they put up like pirates and crocodiles. Afterwards we wandered around, ventured briefly into a gogo club, to see that side of Thailand, and upon leaving the club we all made good use of my hand sanitizer that I always carry around!!! I also got mocked by the waitresses inside when I said "no thank you" when asked if I wanted a drink!

Anyhow, more news from Samui later.....and I will also get pictures up in a bit.

Well, last night was a real eye opener to the digusting and vile things that humans will do under mass consumptions of liquor. We first had a tasty Mediterranean dinner at a restaurant called Paprika, and then waited out the rain which came on suddenly as a thundering downpour in the safety of an internet cafe. When the rain subsided, we headed back to the bungalows, and enjoyed a starter vodka and redbull on the deck of the bungalow before heading to the party around 11pm. Well, the bass could be felt pulsating through your body as we approached closer, and we headed to one of the main bars to get our sand pails full of a drink, more vodka and red bull. Well, they certainly pour drinks strong here, so it made for slow sipping as we wandered down the beach.

We quickly began to see downright vile sights, such as one charming young man using the ocean as his toilet to rid himself of his dinner. There was also a constant small army of men urinating into the sea, while drunken girls and guys would frolick through the water, unaware of why the ocean must have felt so warm! Gross. We watched newly united couples get to "know one another" in the sand and the water, and we wandered around slowly sipping out of the pail until I was about 1/4 of the way through it and I had to leave it behind, it was getting disgusting and I prefer my drinks to have a pleasant taste rather than knock me out.

We managed to wander until about 3am or so when I finally was fed up with the drunken mess, the mass quantities of garbage everywhere, and the rotten stench of urine. So, stepping over passed out bodies along the sand, we made our way back the the bungalow and managed to fall asleep with the sound of the bass carried right through the walls and into my dreams. We awoke at 8 am, to a charming Swedish man belting out the words to Akon's song Lonely, which was hardly music to our ears at that early hour, believe me. Come noon, I finally got up and today was spent avoiding the beach, certainly NOT swimming in the ocean, and looking forward to moving onto Ko Samui tomorrow. Of course we both did enjoy a great massage today along with some pizza in a cafe which had FRIENDS on all day long! Plus I picked up 2 more books to read. I am going to try and post some pictures with this so here's hoping.

So all in all, the full moon party was not something I am eager to experience again in my lifetime, but for those interested in attending one day, do keep in mind that I personally am not a fan of heavy drinking, raveing, or drunken stupidity, so my opinion may only be taken as such.

Well the days here are certainly slow, we are not bored, just living a relaxed life!! Today was great, we had a afternoon nap and then broke out the frisbee and we had a good run on the beach tossing it back and forth. The grass may be greener on the other side but we realize we are living the good life! I was looking at pictures of the snow report at Sunshine and all of us here who ski/board are very envious of all those who get to enjoy it. We will just have to enjoy the beach doubly tomorrow. We are excited to get to Ko Samui in a few days, as we have discovered there is a Starbucks there. Globalization may have its pros and cons, but there is a point where a Starbucks everywhere can be a good thing.

Plus we are ready for a little more civilization, as we are slowly tiring of manually flushing the toilet with buckets of water. Plus we had to spray an army of ants that invaded the bathroom today!! Potent bugspray they have here, all ants died immediately on impact! As tonight is the last night before the full moon party, a little relaxing is in order. I think Krista and I will be heading to the massage place to see about a massage/pedicure combo. Should cost around 10 CAD!

Well, I have not posted for a few days here, due to the fact that there is nothing to do on this island. I will give you an idea of what days are like for us.
Awaken around 10am, lay in bed a while longer since there is no reason to hop up right away, eventually meander to breakfast.
Have a banana fruit shake and a fruit plate, maybe a banana pancake, linger in restaurant. Perhaps get my towel and a book and head to the beach, lay in sun, read, swim to cool off. Lunchtime, perhaps more fruit and rice, or pad thai. From here back to the beach, or like today, sit in a pub drinking Strongbow cider and talking about nothing in particular. Then go back to beach, go for a walk at sunset, back to the room, shower, and get ready for dinner. Post dinner, head to the Cactus bar on the beach, have a drink, use disgusting bathroom, later head to bed......that about sums up our lazy existence at the moment.

However, due to the abundant amount of stray dogs running around, there are tons of CUTE puppies, hence the picture. I can't resist a cuddle with them, and I do carry hand sanitizer with me 24/7.

Oh and that strange noise I had earlier mentioned, well, it belongs to this giant lizard creature. I was laying on my bed reading the other night and heard the noise so I decided to venture out to investigate. I turned on the porch light and what do I see but this huge red and black lizard creature on the side of our balcony, at which point I quickly moved back inside, closed and locked the door (lizards can be industrious I am sure) and waited a while until i was sure he had left. I think he lives on our bungalow roof however due to the noise we hear every night. I also killed 2 cockroaches in our bathroom today, that was not fun and not something I will miss when we leave rest assured!

Thailand is a beautiful country though, and the full moon party is coming up, we will see how long the two of us last, not being huge drinkers, but it should be fun none the less.

I hope the beginnings of winter is treating everyone well, I do long for snow when the sun beats down at 35 C, so enjoy it and keep us updated on Calgary/Canada life!

Not much new to report other than last night we heard the strangest sound that I am unsure if it is a bug, animal, or bird, and I hope to find out what it is soon, unless of course, it is a giant bug. It's bad enough we have cockroaches living in our walls!! Oh well, I can deal with that seeing as we are steps away from a great beach and a restaurant with incredible fruit shakes!

Now that we are settled into the Sea View Bungalows, nestled amidst palm trees and mangroves just a stones throw from the ocean, life is quite laid back. After a leisurely cold refreshing sleep, we awoke and I enjoyed a banana pancake/crepe with fresh fruit for breakfast. Our hotel also has fantastic fruit shakes, the mango one is out of this world. The ocean here is a brilliant turquoise and I spent the day reading, tanning on the beach (even though I know this is bad for your skin ;) ) and floating in the water on my air mattress. Ko Phaghan is definitly a backpackers paradise, with the whole island geared towards the backpacker culture. I don't think I have seen anyone over the age of 30 the whole time we have been here, and i doubt we will!!! There is not much to do here besides swim, eat, read, and drink, so that is the plan for the next 10 days!! I hit up the bookstores here for 5 new books, so I have 7 now to keep me going!

Rob is slowly getting over the loss the the sunglasses, amidst many a joke let me tell you!

A note for all those who wish to leave comments, just click on where it says comments below the posting ( it will say 0 comments, or 1 comment, or however many there are) and then leave a comment on the right hand side, there is a box and it is fairly easy, you will have to leave it as annonymous and then put your name in the comment so we know who it is from. Hopefully those who wish to leave comments now will know how to do so!

Also, on another note, more travel is in our future next year as I have been accepted into the University of Manchester, England for a Masters Degree for a year long program starting next September!!!

We spent 2 wonderful days on the beach in Kata, Phuket, although the 2nd day was better for me than for Rob. => Rob/Bob Interjects:

Having a sensitive optical condition I am forced to wear sunglasses that both make me look stylish and shield my eyes from the harsh rays of the sun. While the rest of the group were boarding in the sea, I was deep into a book (something on eastern mysticism, I think.) After an hour or so my tender white/pink skin was starting to burn. As such, I took a quick dip into the ocean; something/one caught my eye. I went out further into investigate, indeed I am a bit on the curious side. Just then a rouge wave hit me, and stole my Maui Jim's literally off my face. Well, I have been heartbroken ever since. While I am a highly trained diver, the conditions were far too dangerous to seach for them in that capacity. Fortunatly I have another set, however my Aviators are purely for making me look tough, yet trendy, they lack the polarization I so sorely miss. Ocean 1, Bob 0.

Just a quick note readers/mom: Christmas is coming up fast.. hint, hint

And now back to our regularly scheduled Sarah:


The next morning, at 8am we left Phuket, the taxi to the bus station made me horribly ill feeling, and then we hopped on a so called air conditioned Thai bus across the country to the Gulf of Thailand. The bus took us through very windy areas, with a narrow road, essentially across Thai mountains. The bus played these horrible Thai videos which were very irritating to listen to, and were probably the worst movies I have ever seen in my life. Picture a poorly painted backdrop with four Thais in costume and the sound of a symbal crashing in the background every minute and a half. This goes on for about two hours. We drove past an area hit badly by the Tsunami, you could see uprooted trees and tons of construction by the water as there were no buildings left.

We finally, 5 and a half hours later, got to Surat Thani, and drove right past the bus station as the bus dropped us off at a tourist shop. We were then told we had to really hurry to get into another mini van to take us to the ferry. Well, this was a HUGE scam, as they drove us to a ferry port an hour away when we had been less than 10 minutes from one, and charged us at least double what we should have paid. We were not happy at all about being ripped off, but we had little choice in the matter. We have also picked up 2 British girls along the way who have been staying with us the past 2 days.

After the ferry ride to Koh Phanghan, we were bombarded by little people trying to sell us on their bungalows. As it was late, dark, and we were starving, we picked the best priced one and hopped into the back of a truck. We ended up going down this dirt road to nowhere and while the bungalows were cute, they were ridiculously hot, and with no AC! I have never had a hotter night in my life! plus the huge cockroach in our bathroom left something to be desired. It was a sweaty tough night, and the one picture is of the bungalow, very rustic, with a toilet that you have to flush by dumping water into it. The toilets at the new place are the same, which does make me long for some items in Western culture. Plus I have not stopped sweating in 2 days and I am longing for snow right now!

The beach at our place is gorgeous, although thie island appears to be much more backpackerish and rustic than anywhere else we have been. At any rate, at least we have AC for tonight and hopefully all the roaches stay out of sight!

Yesterday we had an awesome day boogie boarding at the beach, we got rentals for the day and hit the waves. The largest waves were around 4 feet or maybe 6, they were HUGE above your head, we got some sweet riding in, sand got everywhere of course, but it was worth it. We are heading back there today to do some more boogie boarding, it was the most fun we have had at the beach yet. We then came back and enjoyed the patio off our hotel room, hence Rob with the beer. That is really all that we did yesterday, aside from going to dinner. Tomorrow we have a long commute day to Ko Phanang.

Yesterday we had a long commute day, checking out of our place at Ao Nang, and enjoying one last breakfast at JJ's, the great place by our guesthouse. We then had the worst craziest driver who would pass other cars on solid yellow lines around curves, who made me very very frusterated with his terrible driving skills, take us the 30 minutes to Krabi, where we transferred to another van to go to Phuket. We had a 3 hour ride, with one stop where I bought coconut balls, I got brave to tried and local food in the gas station, and then we transferred yet again to another van to get to Kata beach. We were originally going to Karon, however, upon learning that it is very dangerous in the water there and many deaths occur, we changed our destination to Kata. We checked into a nice hotel at about 40 CAD a night, all of the backpacker accommodation was washed away in the tsunami. We are here for 2 nights, and the beach here is gorgeous, but the town is not as nice as Ao Nang. TOday I intend to boogie board in the waves, so I will post how that went later on!!

Had our first game of poker last night....not sure who won, I have not seen the others yet today.

We awoke to a thankfully cloudy day for our rock climbing this morning. We had to all ride in the back of a van, open air on those bench seats, and from there took the most wobbly boat ride filled with Thai's to the site. We then were suited up with gear and headed over the the Rock site. We were unfortunately not able to climb at the beach site due to high tide. After my belay skills were tested, we got climbing, did 4 in total. The longest one was 22 meters, a good length! I thoroughly enjoyed the day, as did Rob and the others. I only wish I got to do more, but that can wait for New Zealand. We climbed about 4 hours, I was happy when the instructor told me she could definitly tell I was not a beginner at the sport!

After climbing we headed over to relax at West Railay beach, simply stunning, after a fantastic lunch where I FINALLY got great pad thai, just like Thai Chef in Washington DC. At Railay we had corn cooked by a man with a traveling BBQ and floated on our rafts in the water. Tomorrow morning we are off to Phuket.

This morning Ao Nang had a "planned" breakdown of power for the day, so there was no cold air and no cold anything really, so Kirby, Krista and myself went to this hotel pool where you can pay about 3 dollars to use the pool and get a towel and soaked in the nice cool waters until this afternoon when the power came back!!!

I also had a nice nap by the pool, because last night, the moron who has a room right under Rob and I seemed to enjoy his television- ALL NIGHT LONG, quite loudly, and I could hear it coming through my mattress and pillow straight up from the floor. We tried banging on the floor at 2 am, did no good, so when we woke up at 8am due to the tv being still so loud, Rob and I took great pleasure in stomping around our room. You see, as we had the room below us for our first night here and people above us in our current room walked around, we know EXACTLY how loud it is below, so we took great joy in our noise!

Rob is now a certified scuba diver, had some rough goes with boat sea sickness but enjoyed the dives, seeing a pufferfish, lionfish, sea horse and I have no clue what else. Lots of fish I imagine.

Tomorrow we are off rock climbing in the morning and enjoying a beach in the afternoon before going to Phuket on Sunday! While I was sweltering today I did think of all of you in Calgary in the nice snow, I briefly missed it until I was soaking in the cool waters of the pool!

Yesterday was a very relaxing day, I started it off with a morning walk on the beach where I saw a bunch of Thai's heading up these stairs into the jungle and decided I had to know where they led. I found out later in the day, that they led to another beach, but it was a very rickety stair case and a long way there and the beach had tons of construction on it so was not that fun!!! There were a ton of monkey's hanging out at the beach, lots of babies too!! We watched them for a while before heading to the Last Cafe, the last restaurant on the beach which is in the sand and mangrove trees, very quaint. We ate there, running into this retired British man who we shared a van with to get to Ao Nang, and he had given us all this advice. Well, turns out the man is half crazy, he had had a few too many drinks which did not help, then he kept insisting we go to this certain masseuse because he was THE best, and then had his "secretary" as he referred to her appear and then we had to buy her a drink because we are rich Canadians. He kept telling us about his secretary's while constantly informing us that they did not massage him "specially". Then he kept saying we had to come to "bungalow" to have drinks with him and take him to dinner friday....well I think we know that is a date that won't be kept!

Later in the evening we were stranded in a dvd shop when heavy rain began, and waiting it out seemed hopeless so once we were outside we were drenched in a minute, Rob and my balcony filled with a foot of water, as the picture shows with my floating sandal. It was very wet, and now today it is humid and hot, we are just hanging out as it is the end of Ramadan and next to nothing is open, and the other 3 are scuba diving at phi phi island today, more updates from ROb on that later.

Quick note....the grease has finally left my hair for all those wondering.....5 days later!!! Oh and to clarify anything, it is me (Sarah) who has written all posts except the one about our sly Malaysian man!!

Today is a slow day, have not accomplished much more than a walk on the beach, reading The Beach, and eating some ice cream!