Merry Christmas from Sydney...

I've been in Australia for two months and I've finally found my way to Sydney. And it is definitely a very cool city. So how do you spend your first day in such an iconic city? I'll tell you.

You arrive at 1:00 in the afternoon and you source food right away as the bus ride from Port Macquarie started at 5:20am. From there...you find an Irish Pub to allow yourself some time to organize what you want to do and see in Sydney. It's pretty overwhelming. Unfortunately, when this course of action is taken...you may find yourself falling under the spell of international relations when you meet some boys from Ireland and Scotland. I'm proud to say that we sent one Scottish boy home at 6:30 so that he could get sick. And then a first happens...I get cut off at the bar at 10:30pm. Crazy!! However, when I asked why she was cutting me off...the bartender said..."you don't look drunk...you don't sound drunk...but you must be drunk because I know how much I served you!!" I'll take that as a compliment. It was a worthy drinking session with straight shots of whiskey, Red Bull and Vodkas and $7.00 pitchers of beer. And the even bigger compliment came the next day when the Scottish boy (who did last all session) said it was the first time he had been out drank by anyone other than a fellow Scots man. Notch another one up for the Embro Boys!!

Day two actually had me up at 8:00am (no hangover again...I love life!!) I found my way to the Sydney Aquarium which is one of the coolest places I've ever been. I could have stayed there all day. Unfortunately, I found out that my camera is CRAP and most of the pictures I took didn't turn out because it was too dark for my camera. (once again...insert four letter words here) I've seen some amazing sites here in Australia, but the Aquarium rates in the top 5 to date. You have to see it!!

Even though Sydney is a pretty big city (over 5 million) it still has a laid back atmosphere. Besides "G'Day Mate"... "No worries" is the second favourite phrase of the Aussies and Sydney is no different. I can't believe that phrase pacifies so many situations that could easily escalate. In Toronto...there would be fist-a-cuffs.

I actually expected to be "let down" by Sydney as so many people had built it up in my mind. However, it's even more awesome than I could have hoped for. I've walked the Sydney Harbour Bridge; I've partied in King's Cross; I've been up close to the Opera House and so much more. I went to the "Rocks" district today which is a fairly high end neighbourhood to buy you all a Christmas gift, but I couldn't decide between Gucci or Dolce Gabbana so I went and had a beer instead. I'm sure your response will be "No worries mate!"

I have two more days in Sydney before I fly to Perth for the holidays. I can't wait to get back to Sydney in Febraury to see the Blue Mountains; Manly beach and Bondi beach.

I want to wish each of you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a safe and wonderous holiday season.

My next blog will be coming in the New Year as I'm sure you're all too busy to read my blog...or you should be!!

Happy New Year!!! My thoughts are with you all!!

Twins and the Gold Coast...

Finally...a few extra comments. Thanks... However, I definitely see where your loyalties lie and they are certainly not with me as only Anita has ever asked to see ME in a picture (thanks Anita)...no...I mention Swedish twins and everyone wants to see a picture of them (and I'm guessing without me in the picture as well) I curse you all!

So let's talk about twins...no...not the Swedish twins, but your twins. They say everyone has a twin "out there"...well...I've found most of them in Australia. I know all of you think you're unique and special (and you are in my eyes...yeah right), but it's been freaky how many times I could have sworn I saw some of you lurking here in Australia. Damn twins. Unless...are you guys stalking me?

Australia's Gold Coast...heaven on earth. Even with sketchy weather right now, it's the promised land. I suggest everyone hop on a plane right now and experience the Gold Coast...and meet your twins. Once again...as you can see from my pics...I'm getting trigger happy with the camera. Who really takes pictures of the sky as many times as I have? I know I've always been close to "the edge", but something has now pushed me over. I guess you guys were right. I'm not quite "all there"

The picture with the lighthouse above was taken in Byron Bay and considered to be the most Eastern part of Australia. Just some trivia for you.

Only in Australia can you find a huge Christmas tree beside palm trees. Bizarre. Not even seeing the sight of a sweat-drenched Santa Claus clone seems to get me in the Christmas spirit this year. I'm going to have to switch to alcohol, close my eyes and pump carols through my ipod.

You have to be a proud Cdn when you see a rock (along the Aussie coastline) painted with the Cdn flag. In Port Macquarie, they encourage people to paint the rocks...it was actually very cool.

Also in Port Macquarie...I decided to try out my diving abilities with two more dives...and all I can say is SHARKS...lots of sharks! I've now progressed from the smaller reef sharks, to the very menacing looking gray nurse sharks. Yes, people say they're harmless, but when you see a 7-8 foot shark swimming about three feet from your head...it's still a little disturbing.

CRIKEY...crickets!!! The crickets down here are absolutely deafening in some parts. It's unbelievable how loud they are!!

And since we are talking about insects...the cock roaches are starting to get bigger as well. Careful where you step!

I'm proud to inform you that I've copyrighted a card game and promoting it to an international audience. I had five Israelis teach me a card game, but the Hebrew name had no English translation so of course...I named it "Joe's Game" So far it seems to be a hit with the Backpackers.

I'm also proud to inform you that my trivia team and my beach soccer (OK...football for you Europeans reading this) team were victorious and I have the wounds to prove it. Bloody hell... backpackers are competitive. Even the girls were into high shin tackles. I'm getting too old for this... but I'll die before I let some young, punk-ass backpacker get the better of me. I still haven't met a true contender to challenge me at the bars. I'm not sure I'll be bringing my liver home with me at the end of the trip. Oh well..."it's only a flesh wound!"

See you in Sydney...actually...I'm already here, but you don't know that yet. Cheers!!!

Surfer's Paradise...need I say more?

Good on ya mate! Well unfortunately, that wasn't the case once again. My latest attempt to become more Australian came to another painful end result. I figured I'd go barefoot as many Aussies do, but only in hindsight did I figure out their feet must be tougher than mine. I walked across the busy road and across the rough parking lot to the beach with ease...only to find my return attempt about 3 hours later with a much different environment. I don't know if you could boil an egg on the pavement...but it did a great job of boiling the soles of my feet.



But once again...hard life lessons sometimes open up new doors. My faith in Canadians has been restored as Brian and Dustin (some good Calgary boys) were pretty cool lads and we partied most nights together. But the real highlight...wait for it...don't worry boys, it's worth the wait...OK...here it comes...YES...Swedish Twins!!! I have now had the priviledge to hang with two beautiful Swedish twins. They are two very awesome girls...I don't know what else to say. I actually think our travels have us staying in the same spots for the next 10-15 days. Life is tough down here!!


On another interesting note...I find myself at Surfer's with all the "Schoolies". Basically it's March Break down here for the High School students. They are everywhere!! And yes, I do feel old...but getting over it quickly. Most of them have been pretty cool.

Surfer's also marks the place where the topless beaches seem to start. It's a slow start with only a few going topless, but believe it or not...for the most part...they were the ones you wanted to see topless. Did I mention that I REALLY enjoyed my time at Surfer's and would recommend it to anyone. Yes, it's pretty commercial, but good times were had by all.


Surfer's also provided another first for me. I've become what I hate the most. I actually went jogging along the beach one morning. To make matters worse...it was before 6:00 in the morning. Yes, the world is a mysterious place.

Have I mentioned the Swedish twins yet? They're going to hate me if they read this blog. Sorry girls...the Cdn people need to be informed!


Ahhhh...I've now deleted another two pictures (insert MANY four letter words here)...and I have no way of getting them back to their correct spot. I added the hotel above. The cool shot of the waves at Surfer's will have to be another figment of your imagination. If anyone knows how to get deleted pics back where they're supposed to go...please let me know. And pretty feeble attempts on the comments people. Thanks to the few who have written comments. For the rest of you...shape up!!

It was tough to leave Surfer's as you can imagine, but thanks to my good friend Jackie who lives in Brisbane...I left on a very cool high note. Jackie took me to dinner at the Versace Hotel restaurant. WOW...is all I can say. I think the starting rate for a small room is something like $500/night. We had a buffet meal like I've never seen before. Mostly seafood...anything you can imagine, but if you wanted some meat...you could also find prime rib, veal, pork and chicken...just for kicks. The chocolate cake I had for dessert (it wasn't the only dessert I had either) was the best chocolate cake I've ever had. Sorry Mom, but it's true.

Next blog will introduce Byron Bay. Later...

Steve Irwin's - Australian Zoo

Alrighty...another proud moment in my life shot to hell! A few days ago I took the next logical step to becoming a real backpacker by lightening my load. I said enough of this crap and threw out three shirts and a pair of shorts. A very bold move I might add!! Thank you...thank you... Unfortunately my smugness was short lived as I found out that you had to actually wear real pants and real shoes to many of the bars in the City. What's that all about??? This is Australia...home of the flip flops. So begrudgenly (is that a word) I went to the mall and sought out a some deals. For my proud negotiation skills...I was able to score a great deal on a pair of shoes and two pairs of jeans. Sounds good so far...right??? Hell no...I don't have room for all that stuff in my backpack as I found out this morning packing up to hit Surfer's Paradise next. Nice move Einstein!!



But to rub things in a little and make me feel better about myself...the night out with Jackie and Davin was the first time I wore pants instead of shorts or anything but sandals on my feet since my flights to Australia. Did I mention it was about 30 degrees yesterday?

As stupid as I may appear to many of you, especially based on my comments above...I'm not as crazy as this guy. What's he thinking? The next few shots are of the Steve Irwin Australia Zoo in case you couldn't read the picture above.

This picture and many more of elephants I'll add to facebook is for my buddy Vernon as he's one of the elephant keepers at the Toronto Zoo. I'm not sure why I comment on him since I know he's way too busy or at least not that bored to read this blog, but hey...you can tell him about it when you're at the Toronto Zoo next time.




Ahh..let's hear it...isn't it cute?

OK...unless I have pictures of a Koala ripping someone to shreds or singing AC/DC tunes...this will be the last Koala picture I put on my blog. Whew...I'm glad thats over!





Lizards are becoming my new friends. Yeah...I have friends!!

These guys run everywhere and anywhere. It's always entertaining to see people scream as the lizards run across their feet or legs. I'm sure the zoo has no idea how many of these little suckers are running around and terrorizing people.



I must admit, it was pretty freaky to see all the pictures and videos of Steve Irwin at the Zoo. He's certainly been enshrined. I feel a little bit bad for saying this, but there are some pretty funny/sick jokes about Steve Irwin as told by many Aussies. I leave that to your imagination. The zoo actually isn't that big, but they have some pretty big plans as they outlined in one of the shows. I'm still glad I got to see it and would recommend it to those of you who come to Australia.

If you find yourself in Brisbane, I would also recommend heading up to Mt Coot-Tha (yeah...something like that) at night which gives you an awesome panoramic view of the lights of Brisbane. I was told it was a good spot for other things as well, but I wasn't sure what they meant by that.

Yeah...I'm running out of things to say...at least semi-intelligent things anyway. But I've pretty much done all the talking so far. Let's have some comments from those reading the blog. To those who have already commented on the blog...keep up the great work.

The picture to the left...still at the Zoo. I thought the statue was cool...nothing more than that. And hey, it gave me another try for the photography awards.

See you in Surfer's Paradise!!

Now it feels like Australia - I've hit surfing country...

OK...I knew I was in Australia (in case I had forgotten) when I hit Noosa. Here was my first introduction to the surfer mentality and laid back attitude that I've never experienced before. If you can picture Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High...that's pretty close to the surfers I met. I guess I better learn how to surf before trying to embrace that life style. But I'm leaving the surfing until Byron Bay. However, let's not rush things as I'm still in Brisbane.

I was going to start my blog bragging about my photography skills as I think my pics from the Brisbane Botanical Gardens and the Brisbane River ROCK!!...but the very next day at the Australian Zoo...I forgot I had my camera set to "night" vision and the first half of my pics from the zoo look like the animals have an aura eminating from within. Back to basics with the camera. And for those who haven't figured it out yet (I know who you are), but you can click on the pictures on the blog to enlarge them for better viewing.

I was lucky enough to see my first familar face here in Australia. Jackie Chua (from Highschool) and her friend Davin took me out for a nice steak dinner here in Brisbane. Outstanding...thanks Jackie. And believe it or not...Jackie brought her Woodstock Collegiate Institue Year Book with her from 1988. Why Jackie...why...you've made me remember 80's hairdos and fashion. I was hoping to forget Tim's mullet!!

Brisbane isn't as laid back as I had hoped with lots of suits walking around (too sad for them :) )...it is still a big city. However,with the Brisbane River meandering throughout it makes for some great views and the downtown core is very green. I'd like to take this time to let everyone know that even Embro Boys have some culture and I visited the Queensland Art Gallery and Queensland Museum. I bet that's a surprise for a few of you. OK...let's be realistic...they were both free! But my culture only extends so far...at the mall yesterday (at different times luckily) I had to witness opera singers and Christian singers belt out Christmas carols. Why can't people leave carols as they were written? I don't want to hear some wonky version that shatters my eardrum and neither group knew Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. Come on people...it's a classic!

It took me almost a month to run into more than 5 fellow Canadians, but in the last week I've found out where they've been hiding...Noosa and Brisbane. I've now shared rooms where Canadians outnumbered the rest of the world. However, I hate to say it, but the young Canadian girls I've met are giving us a bad name. They're obnoxious and loud which I find somewhat surprising. Very sad. C'est la vie.

Another try for some camera brillance. OK...those of you who forced me to take my camera...you may have created a monster.

And fellow Cdns...I need your help. The Aussie are trying to say that they are known for saying "eh"...not the Canadians. Help me in drinking them into submission. I'm doing my part over here. Will you take up the fight as well? Cheers...eh

Heading Down the East Coast

After leaving beautiful Magnetic Island, I find myself in Airlie Beach (home of the WhitSunday Islands) where I hang my hat at the Bush Village hostel. It's pretty nice with self contained cabins. Wow...only sharing a bathroom with 6 people...things are looking up! Like usual, I haven't planned or booked any excursions, but once again, my brother Scott comes through in the clutch and gets me on a 3 night/4 day sailing cruise on a tall ship called the Coral Trekker.



Airlie beach is a high priced tourist trap (alcohol is way too expensive here for a guy with my alcohol tolerance) with the only real adventure being on the water. The picture of the marina to the left is actually pretty misleading as there were hundreds of boats worth millions floating in the marina, but I couldn't be bothered to take another shot. It was smokin' hot and I had just walked about 3kms.






The Coral Trekker (left) was a great adventure. And no...I didn't take the picture (I pulled it off the Net) It's hard to take a shot of the boat with the sails up when you're actually ON the boat. Think about it Tim!! One of the highlights of the cruise was definitely watching two dolphins play along side the boat under moonlight and at sea...the stars are brilliant. We also hiked to a few lookout points with great views of the various bays we stopped in. Once again I couldn't be bothered with the camera. Sorry!

Now here's something to ponder and it still freaks me out a little. During our stop at Blue Heron Bay off Hook Island, I decided to go for another scuba dive (poor visibility...about 5-6 metres) and a nice long snorkel. After the dive, the dive master asked if we had seen a 6 metre crocodile. He was laughing and we didn't think anything of it, but he told us of an unconfirmed sighting of the crocodile a week prior. I figured he was pulling our leg as we were so far off the mainland and we all went snorkeling. But chills went up my spine as we were informed the VERY next day that at the exact spot where we had dived and snorkelled, the croc was spotted and no one was allowed in the water. Could you imagine diving through murky water only to see this huge croc swimming at you. CRIKEY!!!



I know I have no right to bitch because I did it to myself, but damn it...I'm writing this blog...so here goes... No one (especially a tall guy like myself) should have to endure a 13 hour bus ride. Can you say...uncomfortable? I took an overnight bus from Airlie Beach to Hervey Bay as nothing really interested me in between. Things did get a little better as I found myself sharing a 3 bed dorm room in a great hostel with two smokin' hot German girls. But as I have found out many times, most things are too good to be true and as they practised their English on me...I found out they were travelling between high school and the start of University. Once again...I'm officially a dirty old man.


Hervey Bay is the gateway to Fraser Island and everyone should visit Fraser Island in their lifetime. It is the largest sand island in the world and very impressive. I decided to take a guided two day tour instead of the self-drive, but if you had a few buddies...self drive is the way to go. I would also recommend at least three days as there is SO much to see.






Sights include a subtropical rainforest. Did I mention everything here is growing in SAND! Absolutely astounding. Pristine lakes, huge sand dunes (like you'd picture in a desert), great treks and lots of critters. We saw eagles, HUGE spiders, dingoes, sea snakes stingrays, etc. The waters off Fraser Island are very treacherous with lots of nasties in them so you don't have many people sunbathing on the beaches. This is probably a good thing as the shoreline is one of the main "highways" with a speed limit of 80kms/hr. Driving on a beach is wicked! And to make things even more crazy...planes take off and land on the beaches as well. Too cool!


The shipwreck (above) has been on the beach for over 70 years. Who leaves something like that just sitting on the shoreline rusting away? Only in Australia. I have to tell you about a funny sign in the 4x4 vehicle we were in. It was a sign stating the the dingoes are becoming more agressive in the area and to be very careful around them. Duh! But it went on to say...never let your children out of sight...that's crazy talk...I'm in Australia trying to hide from any of my potential children out there. The sign also went on to say that if you are attacked by a dingo...defend yourself aggressively...I wasn't going to play dead if that's what they were implying.

Oops...just deleted a picture. Imagine a pristine, bright blue, sand bottomed, sparkling lake.


Even though I fell in love with Fraser Island, it does have a few faults. The main one being the March flies. We would call them horse or deer flies at home, but these things are nasty can bite through clothing. Screams and flying arms and legs were the norm when these things swarmed you. Hey...I wasn't the only one!!

Gotta run...Hope everyone is well. Cheers...

@#%#^$&%&

Don't ask me why...but for the next three blogs with similar titles...please read the third one first, then the second and then the first. Today's postings have almost killed me. I need a drink! Cheers...

Finally on the move...cont'd...for the last time I hope!

OK people...give me some love...are my pictures getting better yet? Come on...I've been working on this "tri-posting" for over three hours now. And to make matters worse...it's gorgeous outside.



I've also bought some rechargeable batteries so I shouldn't miss some great photo opps like I have already. Yeah...whatever, but hey...you won't know what I've missed anyway.



From Cairns I travelled south to Mission Beach. I had heard great things about Mission Beach and I wasn't let down, but wow...I expected something larger. It may be a town of 2000? The beach is huge and after a crazy two weeks in Cairns...I was looking for some down time. Once again, Mr. Szasz came through with a great pick for a hostel. I stayed at the Mission Beach Shack and the atmosphere was awesome. It felt like one big family and the pool in the backyard (see below) wasn't hard to take either.

Outside of drinking, I really hadn't planned to do anything at Mission Beach, but how could I let my fans down. Even though I didn't want to cause a huge commotion, I decided to visit the island named after me...Dunk Island. A 40 minute ferry brought me to this awesome venue. However, with all the excitement...I kind of lost my head and promptly headed to a walking trail. This trail was a 1.5 hour excursion to the top Mt. Kolamldjfl (I have know idea, but it did start with a "K".)

I thought things were going very well and ahead of schedule on the trail(remember...I'm competitive) only to see a sign (by this time my SANDALS...oh yes I'm an idiot...were killing me and the sweat was running off my nose) saying another 1.1Kms to the lookout. Now you would think this was the worst of my problems, but upon reaching the very picturesque lookout I worked so hard to achieve...I realize my camera batteries are out of juice. Yes, I almost did throw my camera off the peak. But after I calmed down...I soon found out that going down a steep grade in sandals is actually more painful than going up!

After a 4 hour bus trip from Mission Beach, I arrived in Townsville to find out that my hostel was double booked and I was out of luck and without a roof over my head. But as fate would have it, there was space at a hostel on Magnetic Island. This was my main reason for stopping in Townsville anyway (besides breaking up a 9 hour bus ride). The Island was definitely worth the stopover and I could have spend several more days there. And just so you know I really stupid I am...once again I find myself on a fairly aggressive trail with sandals on. Who really needs those two layers of skin I've already lost from the bottom of my feet?

I've also learned that I cannot keep drinking every night if I hope to have my money last for the entire 10 months. So I have actually stayed in a couple of nights. It actually hurts. However, this was not the case in Magnetic Island as I befriended an Irish lad, a British lass and three German girls. Various drinking games and the different ways to "cheers" someone and in which country were the discussion topics of the two nights. And don't worry boys...I made Canada proud when it came to drinking. I'm hoping "Beer-A-Mid" and "Three-Man" become known around the world!

This last picture was my attempt at "catching a moment" with my camera. I think I need more practice. I'm off to cruise the WhitSunday islands on a tall ship for the next four days.

Finally on the move...cont'd

All of the pictures on this page are either from Kuranda or Cape Tribulation. And of course, you have to have a picture of a kangaroo. And no...the kid isn't mine. I don't work that fast!


And my friend Dave Szasz was correct when he informed me that I would be a hostel veteran within three weeks. I now feel pretty at home in cramped bunk beds and using communal washrooms. OK...maybe I'm not used to the communal washroooms yet,

but I'm working on it.



I'm also pretty proficient at re-packing my backpack. Although, I must admit...it is pretty weird to leave the hostel for a few hours...only to come back with new people in the room. I've "lived" with men and women from all regions of the world. And of course, every guy wants to share a dorm with all women, and I still do, but I'm finding out that they are usually bigger pigs than guys.





Just to show how small the world is...I met a older German couple in Cape Tribulation and other than Toronto...the only Canadian city they knew was a town called Stratford. (I was born in Stratford and grew up just south in Embro) The husband works for FAG Bearings which has a plant in Stratford. Too weird.





So as I head south along the East Coast, I've already found that I'm really too tall to ride the bus for too long. Unfortunately, even though I've survived several 4+ hour trips...my next leg will find me on the bus for 13 hours. OUCH!! Does anyone have a private jet I can borrow? Damn...Australia's big!!

Finally on the move...

OMG...please tell me that people other than my immediate family are reading this blog on a regular basis. If not...postcards will be the norm as this blog is killing me. I just learned the hard way that the server can only save so much data per posting. I guess I really didn't need those two hours anyway. Moving forward postings will have fewer pictures so as not to go over the limit.




The first couple of pictures are of Cairns. As I've found out, any town in Australia that doesn't have sandy beaches usually has created a man-made lagoon where people gather to beat the heat. And yes, good sights can usually be found there. However, I'm not sure they're ready for my pasty white skin and well formed beer belly. Not only am I the oldest backpacker...I'm definitely one of the least fit hanging out at the lagoons. I am officially a dirty old man...too bad for them!



For those of you who know Grand Bend...Cairns is the Bend on steroids. It's a city of about 135,000 with it's sole purpose being tourism. However, most of the excitement...other than bars and places to eat are normally found outside of Cairns. It's really just base camp for excursions to the Great Barrier Reef; rainforest tours and beautiful tropical beaches found north of the city.





Thanks to brother Scott, I was fortunate enough to get out of Cairns on few excursions. Kuranda is a village in the rainforest and a definite must when in Cairns. Although the village is pretty "touristy" the sights were incredible. I took the Kuranda train (railroad built in the 1870s...amazing engineering feat) up to the village and the sky tram for the return route. The few scenic pics I have here definitely don't do the place justice. For anyone finding their way to Cairns...you MUST take the sky tram. It's breathtaking.

Other highlights of Kuranda included the amphibious army transport through the rainforest; learning to throw a spear and boomerang...no...mine never came back (I never expected to miss my target, so why would I need it to come back?) ; lessons on the digeridoo and watching some very "interesting" aboriginal dances.
Ahh...isn't she cute. Luckily she was awake as they sleep 20+ hours a day. How do I get that gig?




Another must is Cape Tribulation. I would suggest a multi-day excursion as my single day was just too jam packed to see everything properly. A bird sanctuary as well as a butterfly conservatory were pretty cool. Yes, I just said butterflies were cool. (I'm trying to show my sensitive side for the ladies...I'm no dummy!) A rare feeding of the saltwater crocs (approx 6 metres in length) was pretty impressive and scary as you learn they can leap out of the water almost 2/3 the length of their body.


A very fast ride out to the Great Barrier Reef on the Quicksilver catamaran ended my time at Cairns. I was hoping to have another dive, but a head cold stopped me from doing that. But then I heard about an advanced snorkel excusion and signed up for a 45 minute open water snorkel with a marine biologist. Most people wouldn't find this out of the ordinary, but I've never really snorkeled before...except for about 30 seconds on all my scuba dives. What could possibly go wrong in the middle of the ocean for my first snorkel adventure? Luckily the answer is nothing and it was an amazing experience as I got to see another shark, sea turtle and HUGE schools of fish.



Unfortunately, my camera loves the taste of batteries and I have no pictures from the Quicksilver or a few other sites as I headed south.