Back in the saddle

It's a hot sunny day here in little country Cleve. The main street hums with activity as the locals from around the countryside wander in to town. They meet, shop, chat, laugh, chat some more in a weekend ritual that seems to have been practised since the dawn of man.

Mum's scurry, cars buzz, kids trail happily along munching on whatever sweet bribes their parents have bestowed in order to get a few moments peace.
There's a slight breeze, only enough to tickle the cheek and dry the sweat of the farmer, busy packing his ute for the week of work to come.
Wispful clouds arch high and back into the sky, blazing a trail for dreamers and flyers a like. It's a good day to be embracing the sun.

Despite all this, I sit here in my little cubby hole of a room. Airconditioning droning with it's endless 'ruuunnnuuu, ruuunnnuu, runnnuu'.
Being on side street, the sounds of activity seem a world away, with only an ever persistent fly to keep me company...

Well, I'm back at work. Currently down on the Eyre Peninsula in a little town called Cleve. It's a quaint little town with a fair bit of infrastructure despite having a population not over 200 people. It's basically a massive farming area and one could see how busy this place would get given the right amount of rain. Right now the ground is parched and brown, dust blowing around everywhere when the wind gets up. It s a welcome change from the usual red dust of outback mining towns and the oysters here are yes 'cheaper by the dozen'.

It's been a week or so now back at work and I'm slowly getting back in to the swing. My break was an exhausting one for various reasons and it's good to get back to some sort of routine again. Of late, well in the last few days anyway there's been the moments of reflection on this job that seem to come up every now and then.
Same questions. Same answers
Where is it going?
What is it for?
What after?

Does there need to be any reason at all anyway or can it be like any other soul plugging away to make a living?

I seem to have a great ability to make my life a lot more complicated than it needs to be and coupled with a tendency to seek meaning in things that don't neseccarily have any, I tend to get lost in what I do from time to time.
One thing I have realised more and more with this job is that the way you view it will determine the things you do and hence what you get out of it.

As a job, it's a pretty cruisy one, well paid and varied. As a job one could plug away happily for quite some time, catching up with loved ones whenever break rolls around.
As an opportunity to adventure and explore however you tend to live in the moments a bit more. Place a little more meaning to what you do. Also the time you spend in the field stretches out until there's a reason to get on break.
Right now I'm seeming to swing between the two. On one hand it's a lot easier to see it as a job. Get on with things and do what you need to get to the next break where you can spend time with friends and family. On the other, I set out on this with a sense of purpose, of travel, adventure and it would be a shame to loose that shine, that spark. The downside is that it is a very lonely path to tread, one where relationships that exist get put on hold, and new ones that come up only go so far. How happy I am with this I am yet to determine.

I put a lot of value in the people I choose to keep near me on an ongoing basis. There's a constant nagging thought that I'm missing out on memories and the experiences with them that make them the friends that they are. Especially when they're in a new phase of life, somewhere I may be headed one day, namely children. One friend in particular has had a head start and is working on number 2. I had grand notions of visiting often. Seeing, watching, getting involved. It's because of opportunities that I miss that I question what I do.

Seems silly in the overall sense. Choose something, do it well and be happy with what you get. That's the way it's meant to work. In all it's altruistic glory. But I'm too greedy for that right now. I want it all. To see it all, to live it all, have them all as memories, not as stories I've been told.

Don't know where I'm really heading with this bit of a rant, but it's an insight to where my head and heart are right now. In flux, between settling now or continuing the chosen path.
There is more to the story of course. Much more. But considering the purpose and the reading audience of this blog I'll leave it to tell on an individual basis.

Lastly for the day, I don't know how many of you are still reading this after that initial flurry of interest. But to all those who drop by, thank you. From the deepest part of my soul thank you for being an audience to this particular show. It would means a lot less should you not be here.

Sleeeeeeep

Well it’s finally happened. The shine of travel has hit the inevitable and is starting to wear thin. Like the clear coat of paint on my Pajero, the repeated exposure to the elements has left me tired and wishing for some rest. Too many airports, too many planes, too much moving around. Apologies to those stuck in their offices reading this but try taking 11 flights in the space of one and a half months while on break knowing that you’ll have more of the same when you get back to work and you’ll see what I mean.

Sitting at home and doing a lot of nothing is sounding really good right now.
In any case I’m sitting in a café on St Kilda beach killing time until a friend finishes work so we can go have some dinner. A different friend is having a 30 tenth birthday and I decided to make the hop over to the rival city for a few days to send my wishes in person.

Time for a quick back track to cover the past few weeks.

Climbing in Thailand did eventuate, if not for a few transport issues. The only flights left were to Phuket rather than Krabi so a few days in tourist town had to be worn before the real fun could begin.
Steep walls, big jugs. Sounds like a bad porn movie but that about sums up the attraction to climbing on the Phra Nang Peninsula. Tired, unfit and out of practice people need not apply. Despite fitting all of the above I persevered and managed to fart my way up half a dozen so climbs over a few days.

All the whining aside I had a good time and it is a beautiful place. The scars of the tsunami are still evident but things are recovering slowly. Being isolated as it is, it serves as a bit of a time capsule where life is simple as are the pleasures to be had.
One pleasant surprise of note were the people of Thailand in general. Warm, curious, friendly people who offer help with a smile. Sure there are the odd sharks as you would find in any country but overall it’s a welcome change to constantly having to watch your wallet and back.
My time there ended too soon, I had only just started to unwind and get into the flow. A return trip would see at least a week to chill, a week to ease back into the climbing, and another week pushing hard.

The rest of my south east asia sojurn was spent between the shopping malls of Kuala Lumpur and the rain forests of Miri in east Malaysia. Eat, shop, eat, shop, that’s about the summation of most people’s memory of Malaysia so I didn’t disappoint. I really must try doing something different next time I’m there.

Coming back to Sydney was more surreal than the trip back from Joburg. It didn’t help that they had changed the arrival terminal and customs at the airport leading me to think for a moment that I had flown into the wrong city. “Same, same but different” As quote from a local Thai in reference to a comparison of Thailand and Malaysia. It could be used to describe a lot of the world though. People essentially want the same things, they just have different ways and priorities of getting them .

Rain, mud and elephant poo

I am alive. Sore and a little tired but alive. The unusual rain for this time of year persisted for 3 of the days that I was out trekking and resulted in much mud and general wetness as well as the death of my near new MP3 player.
Yes, yes I was asking for trouble bringing electronic gear to the jungles of Chiang Mai and the dumbest part of it all was that I had multiple dry bags in tow and I was only dunked for a second. However, as many a canyon newbie has come to realise, if you don't put your stuff in the dry bag before you get wet, well you can guess the result. That was a cost I wasn't quite expecting to pay. And yes, as seasoned canyoner I should know better.

Anyhow, as mentioned 3 days of mud sliding and river crossings ensued. The hill tribes were interesting in as far as seeing rural asian living but wasn't anything new to me considering I'm from Malaysia. What was fun was smoking a corn leaf rolled bark cigarette with a local sharman before getting 'blessed' on my journey. All in all very farang type experience, but at least my legs hurt by the end of it. My fitness level is of non-existant standard and it was very demoralising seeing the guides trot along wearing bits of plastic for shoes, puffing away at a cigarette the whole way. But do that trip day in day out and I guess you get used to it.

Having come out of the DRC for 3 months I've also noticed my time there has tainted my view towards the world a little. Not quite as glossy and innocent as before and there's a tint of cynicism in the way I see things. It is a shame on one hand, but I'm glad to have seen the other side of the coin. One of the 'village tours' was nothing more than a meat market with every foreigner getting mobbed by kids chanting 'Hello ten baa, hello tan baa' while waving the ubiquitous woven wrist band. Unfortunately for me this was a solo tour so running down the street with 10 kids in tow made things a little more interesting. In the end, for the ones who hung on the whole way, I just bought them all an icecream. Yes it cost '10 baa' a piece anyway but I'm a firm believer in not giving young kids money. At least they got something for themselves rather than disspearing to whoever ran the show.

Well, food is beckoning so it's off to hassle to locals for some chow. Trying to stay as authentic as possible so it's off to the food markets again.

Hopefully, a week or so of climbing is beckoning. I'll update the next adventure as it comes around.

It's all about timing

For the last month or so here in Chiang Mai the weather has been a toasty 25 to 30 degrees with clear sunny skies. The very day I bomb in to do a 3 day hill trek it starts a monsoon rain. At least I won't be sweating too much...

As far as interesting places go Chiang Mai is pretty cool. It's a lot like small towns in Malaysia but the people are friendly and less abrupt. I've also seen more foreigners here in one day than my whole 2 months in the DRC. A refreshing change to say the least.

Cost of living for a farang is also pretty good. The boutiquy hotel I'm in is only 1000baht a night. About $35 aussie at current rates.

Had a wonder down to the night markets tonight. There are 2 different sections. The first one where you'll struggle to see one white man, is the local food area with roadside stalls and fruit vendors. Makes for a great dinner location. Chilli lime squid, dumplings, fresh juices.
To my amusement, I get treated as a local (initally anywhay) so I get to move around without getting hassled too much.
Down in the next section however, is where all the local trinketry is sold and where you'll find the grazing grounds of the 'Great White Tourist'. You'll see them milling around their favourite food dispensers of such variety as 'Burger King' and 'MacDonalds'. Kind of defeats the whole purpose of a culture change if you ask me, but no one is so moving on...
The foreigner radar was a bit keener down there. What was funny was looking at vendor faces and seeing them trying to work out whether I was a local or not and what language to start in. One industrious lady covers it all and produces a version of "Hello, hello you look see" in 5 languages all in one breath.

Bearing in mind I've got a 3 day trek ahead of me and I'm carrying everything I've got, I restrained from buying too much. So I only escaped with 3 pairs of cotton pants, 2 silver neck chains and a silver ring. I reckon I did alright.

End of Chapter 1

It's 9.00am and a bright and sunny day here in Lusaka. My morning has involved nothing much more than stuffing an already full stomach with a buffet breakfast and seeing off the crew of a 2nd plane that was here.

My time in Africa is drawing to a close. I'm outbound to Joburg on Sat and then out to Sydney on the long haul on Sun.

It's not quite time to get excited yet, still a couple of days to go.
I'm 'home' for a couple of days then off on a long awaited break in Thailand and Malaysia.

So while I wait for the time to pass, I might as well pop my introspective up now. What follows is my little slice of what I've seen in the past few months.

Before I got here, Africa was just one big country. Kind of like Australia, big in size, but where ever you go people would pretty much be the same. After all, an Aussie is an Aussie whether from Sydney, Perth or God forbid Brisbane. So why wouldn't all African's be the same?

Well that got shot to pieces very soon after I got here. Africa is as diverse as places as the likes of Europe and South America. With as many differences and troubles as any truly multi-national continent would have. Within it there is a scope of living and people that range from the chaos and fighting of Mogadishu in Somalia, to some of the most decadent coastal communities near Capetown in South Africa. There are so many things, and so many issues going on here that it's almost an impossible task to get a grasp on it all. So like any stubborn male, I'll have a go.

Firstly I want to separate the countries that are getting somewhere and have a clue about what they're doing. Places like Botswana with their tourism. South Africa (to a point) with primary industry, tourism, modern living and healthy exports. Zambia, an up and coming country who has a big potential for tourism, business and export.
These places and the people who lead them understand the value of what they have as a country. But more importantly they seek to educate themselves and are willing to build the infrastructure required to make the most of it.
They understand the place they take in the wider world and understand the balance between national identity and foreign trade.

Now this brings me to the other 75% of Africa, the people and in particular the leaders there. This is the scenario. You have a tribal culture, where most of your day is spent just trying to get by. Food, shelter raising kids and the like. For the most part, if that were all there was, there would be nothing wrong at all. People like the Kalahari bushman, the native amazonians are all seen as intersting and rich cultures that can be studied but otherwise left alone to exist as they should.

Now however, put several billion dollars worth of gold, diamonds, minerals, oil and gas under them and it all changes very quickly. No longer are they of novelty value to the western world, they are now obstacles in the way to getting very, very rich.
So what do you, pour in 'aid'. Help 'lift' their standard of living. Show these people what life is like on the other side, but by the way, let us dig up those little bits of glass that you have no real interest in. One thing though, don't want to pay everyone, just enough people at the top of the ladder to get things done.
After a while, people catch on to what they're sitting on. They start to like what they are getting in return for these bits of glass and now they've got the weapons to take over other areas and start working on a 'to kill one day' list. As long as you keep the money and guns coming you can keep digging.
A few years and CNN reporters later, the leaders of the western world develop a concience and sends in support to the 'government' to combat the bad guys who are getting out of control. The shit starts to rise and 'aid' starts pouring in to help the people on the bottom end getting shot and starved. Handouts, food, endless freebies. After all, the guys at the top are getting fatter, so the bottom should as well.
Given enough time, it prevades the culture. Instead of being happy with who they are and what they have, they embroil themselves in conflict, fighting over all the cash that's flowing into the counrty. Little do they realise, if they just got together, organised their resources and built some infrastructure they'd have more money than they could ever know what to do with. But at the end of the day, tribes are tribes and what's mine is mine, and if I can get yours as well, even better. The idea of co-operation and the common good is non existent. They are still just living day to day, only instead of spears they have guns. Instead of horses they have cars. Instead of growing food, they can now just import.

This situation, although taken from what's happened in the DRC is represented through so much of Africa. It's caused a situation where children are growing up expecting to get a hand out from anyone who isn't a local. The moment someone sees you, the hand goes out as though you were expected to give them something and those that have heard the words utter 'Mister, mister, money money'. Interesting at first, but infuriating after a few months. I never thought one could know what an ATM feels like. You can see people trying to work out where the money is on you and how to get it out.

The thing is there is not silver bullet. While there are riches to be dug up, the western world will want it. While there are freebies being flown in every day, people won't want to work. While everyone is trying to grab the first thing they see, their nation will continue to suffer.

Let me throw some statistics at you. Year round rainfall, rich soils which extend in some places as much as 10 meters. An abundance of minerals, metals and of course diamonds. And a river so vast and so powerful that with a proper hydro scheme, could power the entire continent of Africa. Imagine having that amount of resources in Australia. Imagine the wealth and the standard of living we could have. Yet they choose to live in straw huts next to concrete buildings. Drive around potholes instead of fixing them. Ask every foreigner for money instead of learning how to earn it for themselves. Dig half hearted diamond mines instead cultivating land.
It is a shame and it makes you sad, angry and frustrated all at the same time. They could live the lives that they dream and see us westerners living, but they just don't realise what they have to do to get it.

Having said all that, there are some great people and some amazing places here. My experience has seen more dark than light, but I do know there is a lot that this continent can offer. You could come here, and see none of what I've just talked about, and most people will do just that.
They'll do the safaris, stay in the lodges, buy a few pieces of endangered wood. For them Africa will be the sunsets and sweeping savannahs of the National Geo's. And that's fine.

For me though, I'm glad I've seen what I have. To have lived it, breathed it, swore at it.
I can jump on a plane and book a tour anytime. But to see the real Africa. The Africa most people here live. The Africa that will ultimately guide the future of the whole continent. That was worth all the heartache and pain. And to be paid all along the way, even better :)

At the end of the day there is still a lot more to see. More dark, more light and I think I'll be coming back for more.

A different kind of paradise

Here we are, back again. In the paradise of all paradises the DRC. The moment I stepped off the plane I was reminded how bad a shithole this place really is. It seems in the week or so I was away, everyone got a bit more arrogant and a bit more corrupt. Trying to get a car into the airport was harder than getting a hooker into heaven but eventually after much swearing and gesturing we got through. The problem? I simply refused to pay the 'entrance tax' to the airport guards especially when we were getting charged drive on fees from the airport officials anyway. The guards simply wanted their lunch money.

Someone told me it takes 2 days for a tourist to become a racist in Africa. Well it took 2 months but I'm really sick of the hoops you have to jump through to get anything done. The DRC is a real fuckker of a place and I can't wait to get done here.

The upside it that we've moved to a nicer place where there's 24 hour electricity and decent food. Cheaper overall as well so the powers that be should be pleased. Also, we've managed to fix 90% of the equipment to the point where we can do some work and the weather seems to be holding out as well. So with any luck, I'll be out of Kananga and into Mbuji Mayi in a week or so. Sometimes you have to walk through hell to get to heaven.

Back to civilisation..... almost

The nature of this job is always on 2 ends of the scale. Weeks and weeks of nothing, then 5 days of absolute ball tearing work which leaves you very much wishing for a long sleep followed by sun soaked beach.

I'm back in Praetoria after a whirlwind trip covering a few thousands kms and about 20 hours of flying. Back to fix a plane that should have been fixed a month and a half ago.

Lusaka was nice. And by nice I mean no "you must pay, you must pay" at customs. No cold showers and 'holy' tar roads. And most of all, no locals who look like they're going to fleece you of everything you have the moment you're not paying attention. Bought a few trinkets there which was nice. Other than that there's not much to report.

Really at the end of it all, if you read back a few posts to when I first got here, that's where I am now. Waiting, waiting to go back to my beloved DRC to get some work done. Hopefully this time it's done properly and the company I work for can stop flushing thousand dollar bills and start earning some.

When you talk about pink elephants

you end up seeing pink elephants.

After a few emails asking me what's happening with the blog aka 'Am I still alive' I guessed it was time for an update.

Motivation has been bordering the non existant to the point where I wonder if there's any use getting out of bed. Still stuck on the ground with no work to do while we're waiting on a new part to arrive here in deep dark Africa.

Oh and I got malaria. No need to panic, put the phone down. Yes malaria can kill you and mortality can be as high as 20% even when treated in severe cases but I caught it early and it wasn't cerebral or terminal malaria.

For those of you wondering what it feels like to have malaria try this:
Swim 10kms or do a 3 hour full body session at the gym,
that night go on the piss like it was New Years Eve,
then eat really old and bad curry that would burn the bark off a tree.

How you feel the next morning is pretty much on target except it only gets worse not better.

I first had symptoms last Tues and went to a local military hospital to ge tested. Blood work was back in half an hour and showed parasites of simple Malaria. Must have been bitten in the first few days as I'd only been here about 12 days and it takes that long to show symptoms.

Anyway, I had meds given to me by a field medic working for one of our clients and I took them as instructed. 24 hours later feeling better, 72 hours pretty much 100%. I was lucky.

My public service announcement. If you're going to a malaria zone, bring a treatment option with you as you never know what type of malaria you're going to get or what treatment you'll have access to. The best for Africa is Coartem (Artemether-lumefantrine) along with paracetemol for fever. Unforunately Coartem isn't distributed in Australia but you can pick it up in a travel clinic when you get where you're going. Artemisinins are distributed by the WHO and bring parasites counts down quickly. They also work better for parasites resistant to cholorquinine which is the most used form of treatment.

Anyhow, all is well now. Just waiting for time to tick over as usual.

There's been a bit of a fuss going on here with one of the Fathers who is causing a bit of trouble for us, so we're going to pack up and move locations. We'll actually save money AND have 24hour electricity as well. Why we didn't know about this new place before is beyond me, but we do now so we're off probably on Sunday.

I've taken a few more photos around the traps and I'll update quick snaps a bit later.

Other than the above, not much else to report which is half the reason I've been AWOL for a while.

Til something interesting happens again, adieu.

What does one do when they have their birthday in Kananga? Head to the local chinese restaurant of course. These two characters have been here for 4 years from Shen Zhen I think. I never thought I'd have to pull out the old chinese school lessons in the DRC but here I was, looking at a menu in French, and trying to order in Mandarin. Well I got 2 dishes out of 3 of what I wanted.

The meat quality was the same as everywhere here (ie. tire rubber) but at least the spices and sauces were good. And for those of you thinking it, yes I need a shave and yes I look ridiculous in that hat, but out here they don't know any better.

Anyhow, I've been diligently planning my break and holiday. At the moment it looks like trekking in Chiang Mai for a few days, climbing in Krabi for about 10, then back to KL to do whatever for another 10. Very much looking forward to it.

Oh and I've realised I'm not going to be at home much in the next 12 months (even when I'm in the country) so I'm coming back for Christmas to catch up with everyone. I'll probably rent an apartment for the 10 days or so people can come and go as they please. Should be fun.

Well I'm off to go outside and do a happy dance coz a massive storm is brewing. Storms = no fog and no smoke haze = work getting done = Alex not shooting himself from boredom.

See ya.

Going to have some strange dreams tonight

If I start publishing instructions on how to surgically remove malaria parasites from my liver using only a teaspoon, please contact my office and have them fly me home.

Type in 'Mefliam' into Google and look up side effects.

I didn't really notice any huge changes from my first dose last week but after today's dose my head is swimming. It would also explain the little bit of a downer I had a few days ago that dissapeared over night.

Anyway, Mefliam is the best option for anti-malaria meds in this area. Type in 'cerebral malaria' in Google and look up side effects and you'll understand why I'm taking them. I'm off to make apologises to the cats because I haven't been feeding them lately. Then I'll put the fairies to bed.

It's not a competition

Ok, this has come out of a few conversations with people.

Firstly, if you open one of my emails and the next thought out of your head is "Geez he must really be bored", you DON'T have to reply with one of equal length.
Even a quick description of what you've been doing in the last 5 minutes is something I appreciate.

Secondly, I know I have a propensity to get a little heavy in some of my longer short stories, please read them with consideration that I am stuck in the vacant room next to hell and I haven't done nor will be doing any work for weeks. I can be a little melodramatic at times.

Other than that. :) All is good in the hood.

Hello breakfast, lunch and dinner


Forget flying commercial. Cessna 208 Caravan all the way. Pizza, drinks and room to stretch and sleep.


One night here in Botswana


One month here in Kananga

I knew I was setting myself up for a big fall getting wound up to get to the DRC. And oh what a friggn fall is was. I’m currently sitting in a room fighting off malaria ridden mozzies in the middle of a Catholic mission in the middle of the DRC.

WTF am I doing in a Catholic mission? No I’m not converting, it’s the only place around here with any infrastructure to operate out of. So I’m trying to behave lest my soul be damned to the deepest pits of hell (wait I’m already here) but I’m doing something wrong because the weather has been F(*&ed and we haven’t done a single days flying. Almost a whole month now in Africa, a week in the DRC and I’m yet to do a proper days work.

It’s an eerie feeling as I’m the only one left. The others got eaten 2 days ago and now they’re starting to look at me with hungry eyes. Meat is in short supply here and we’re pretty much the ‘other white meat’. Well, not really. The pilot I was with was due to go home a month ago and after extension after extension he’s finally on his way back to Oz. What that means for me is that I’m stuck here alone until Tues when his replacements arrive. If they arrive on Tues.

So I’m slowly going out of my mind. I really want to get some f(*&ing work done. This place wouldn’t be so bad if I knew I was getting closer to getting out of here. But as it stands, I’m here in Kananga for 2 weeks probably more, than out of the pan and into the fire of Mbuji. More corruption, more bribes, more bullets. I’ve had one of those serious ‘WTF am I doing here moments’.

It could be worse. I could be a geologist in field on site collecting samples. Met a team from DMA that had just finished a 2 month stint out bush. We’re talking 30 degree plus days walking, hacking and hauling 20 odd kgs of sample bags. I thought malaria was an issue, try getting bitten by a Boomslang 5 hours from the nearest brick wall.

IT DOESN’T MATTER WHERE HOW BAD YOU THINK YOU HAVE IT, THERE WILL ALWAYS BE SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE WORSE. GRATITUDE IS A VIRTUE NOT A CONCEPT.

I feel much better now. Gun laws here are no quite as strict as in Oz and a visit to the local firing range has all sorts of health benefits. So long as you don’t shoot yourself.

Well FINALLY off to the DRC tomorrow. Got a quick shopping trip to do for food then off into the wilds of Africa. And to all those who have been asking, yes I will finally take some photos and stick them up. I’ve been a bit lax up but really the only shots up to now would be of shopping malls and cafés which is not what you want to see I’m sure.

See you up there.

No work, no play

Ok, I am now officially annoyed. I've been here 2 weeks to the day and have neither done any real work or gotten to know any of the locals/go sightseeing. Haven't even taken any photos.
We've been trying to get the plane ready to go to the DRC and finish the job there but there has been delay after delay and it keeps stretching out. Originally I thought I was going to be here just 6 days so I was ready to go and do as much as possible before leaving. Things like skydiving, game park tours etc as well as meeting up with some of the locals and getting on the fire water.

Well none of that has really happened and it's annoying me as I feel I've wasted 2 weeks and many an opportunity to get out and about. What makes it hard is I only know what I'm going to be doing for the day a few hours before doing it. Sometimes I have stuff I need to do for work, sometimes nothing. So neither working or nor a tourist right now and it's just gotten to me today. But it's the nature of this job so it's time to suck it up and move on.

Bah, anyway, now I've had my spit at all of you I'll just ride my time out until we get away. I'll have a chance to do the holiday/tourist thing later. Actually I'll probably head to Cape town for that as there's more to see/do and less chance of getting mugged shot than in Joburg/Praetoria.

Off to eat myself silly again. I'll be back later.

GMT +2

WARNING FOR THOSE WITH SHORT ATTENTION SPANS:
I haven’t posted something in a while so the whole kit and caboodle is going up here. If you want the quick version with just the facts and not the rhetoric just read up until the red asterisks ****. For those with a bit of appreciation for banter (thanks to my blond Romanian sister for the support, you know who you are) read on! :)

Not having the time when you have the motivation or not having the motivation when you have the time is often why bloggers go AWOL every now and then. That’s my excuse anyway.

It’s been a bit of a whirlwind time since I got the call to head to Africa and it’s only now that the aforementioned two have come together.

Back tracking a little, I got an email from the office wondering if I was interested in Africa. About an hour after I sent an enthusiastic reply I got a call asking if I had my passport on me and whether I was ready to go NOW. Huh? Umm no, it’s back in Sydney and I might need to repack. So after about another hour my flights were booked to head off in about a week. Still had to get home from Maralinga.

After about 10 hours travelling the next day, starting in the back of a Fletcher and ending in a Qantas burner, I managed to get home at about 9.30pm. The decision was made to see as many people as possible before heading off this time so the entire duration of the taxi ride home was spent finding out where people were at and when they could be available.

Next few days were spent getting jabbed for all manner of nasties and a little shopping to get stuff together. Fri night was the designated ‘catch up’ night and an open invitation made to those who were interested. Managed to get most people on the list, it’s surprising how much you can get done in a few days when you put your mind to it.

Everything packed, crammed into the flying fish can of a plane for the long haul to Joburg. 14 hours have never seemed so long. Not to complain too much, but those of you who know how I like to eat, feeding me twice on a 14 hour trip with only pretzels and water in between just doesn’t cut the mustard. I ended up buying one those hideously overpriced choc macadamia boxes to see me through. What wasn’t funny was see the 2 five dollar notes in my wallet for a $20 item. Fantastic plastic to the rescue again.

Looking out the window from the plane at the airport only to see brown grass and red dirt, I thought we might have landed back in central QLD. But no, 14 hours 30 mins had passed and I was the mother country of the Springbok.
Standing in line waiting for immigration was my first taste of ‘Africa time’. What I found rather amusing was the ‘If you have a complaint please refer to the relevant department’ sign next to the ‘Welcome to Johannesburg immigration’ sign. No mention of who the relevant department was but at least they were thoughtful enough to acknowledge those with lesser patience.
Not so amusing was the 1 hour wait to move 20 places in the queue. And that was the locals line that I had some how found myself in.

Meeting me at the airport was my soon to be pilot/guide/bunk buddy Rohan. I had sent an email earlier telling him to look out for the 6’1” Asian guy wearing a drover hats and seeing as they were in reasonably short supply on that flight, he found me without too much trouble.
Driving the quarter hour to our hotel in Centurion I saw the odd scrub fire along the median strip. I could only guess the locals were either a) attempting to flush out would be car jackers b) trying to stay warm or c) cooking their dinner. Still have no idea why you would light a fire in the middle of a dual carriage four lane highway.

Pulling up at the swanky Protea Hotel I was really starting to like what was ahead despite the pictures of the DRC I had in my head. Actually I should just mention here that the plan was to only spend about a week in Centurion before heading off to the Democratic Republic of Congo. That’s where the real work is and my to be home for the next month or so. In any case I had a great pizza for dinner by the natural/man made lake that edges up to the hotel and neighbouring shopping mall before crashing to bed.

For very similar reasons to the Malaysians and Singaporeans, it seems the locals here love their shopping and their shopping malls. I guess it really stems from the need to have somewhere to hang out and play. Considering the average house has a 7 foot wall topped with razor wire around it, you can understand why there aren’t too many parks or places outside to mingle and congregate.
One thing that did catch me by surprise was how well everyone was dressed around here. Well the one’s with money anyway. No such thing as a general no name clothing shop, everything here has a brand of some kind. Even the ‘Discount Clothing’ warehouse is filled with cheap branded American labels. I was actually thinking of a new pair jeans. I haven’t worn them for years and considering they cost upwards of AUD$60 at home I never found the need strong enough. Well when they cost about AUD$10 a pair here, and with more choices of cut and length than you could poke a roll of boer worse at, I bought a few.
Now to be completely politically incorrect here (well it is my blog) the local Afrikaans women here are really gorgeous. Must be the Dutch and European heritage but the concentration of good looking chicks here fair out weighs what you get in Sydney. The only thing is that they could smile a bit more because they look even better when they do. I guess when you consider the history and the current climate around here you can understand why they’re not jumping out of their skins to each new day. I’ve got a more social commentary later on but for the sake of brevity I’ll continue with what else has happened.

The next couple of days entailed running around meeting the local African office support team (sum total 2 people) and checking on the plane etc. One of the ladies is the logistics manager and very much a mother goose type personality. A true Afrikaan through and through but she would do anything for us guys here in the field. A really beautiful and lovely person. The other lady, well she’s the helper around the office, blonde in the same way Jessica Simpson is an academic but also very nice as well. Did manage a bit more shopping to keep me occupied in the DRC. One thing that is rather expensive here are books and magazines. About 10-50% more in fact. But if it keeps off the boredom… Oh and a new guitar. Yes, yes didn’t I just buy one in Mt Isa? I really like that one so it’s sitting at home lest it get stolen or shot. I found a music shop here and got an entry level Cort for a couple of hundred bucks which as cheap as they get. But it’s actually a lot nicer than I thought and I might bring it back with me. Original plan was to just leave it at the office here when I take a break and pick it back up again when I’m back on shift. We’ll see.

Which leads me to where I sit now. Punching out prose and verse (lol yeah right) to those who care to read. It’s still damn cold here, I’m shivering slightly but I can’t tell whether that’s the cold or the coffees I’ve put through my kidneys. Once the sun gets low it’s time to move indoors or pull out the down jacket and beanie which fortunately I did pack.
I’ve been here 5 days longer than expected and probably another 5 more as one of the instruments on the plane is buggered (3 times over actually) and we’ve got no idea where or when we’re getting another. Such is the fickleness of aviation.
No complaints though, I could be waiting in far worse places, like the DRC ……

****

Well that’s the usual bit of where is Mr Lee and wtf is he doing. Time to peel a few layers.

I’ve always maintained that the spirit of a place grows from the influences and attitudes of the people that fill it. The buildings, the surrounds, the environment are only a reflection of that. Seeing how people interact with each other, with their surrounds and to outsiders is what makes travel interesting to me.
Beyond that, trying to understand how those ideas and actions come about in the first place and finally where I would fit in and how I would be were I to live there gives a bit more meaning to a trip rather than the usual stop, snap and go.
I’m in a fortunate position that the places I visit I do get to see what it is like to live and work there, even in a limited capacity. It really makes me appreciates what I do for a living and gives some meaning to what I do.

In the time I was working around Australia however brief I realized a few things.
Australia’s a big place but at the end of the day an Aussie is an Aussie not matter where you go. Despite doing things in different ways, we mostly chase the same things, live our lifestyle in the same laid back way. Our attitude is our identity and it’s something a) I really like and appreciate and b) is something that is very ingrained in how I see and live my life. I’ve discovered I really like being an Aussie for what it’s worth and while it’s not about flag waving and anthem singing, being proud of the influences that drive you through the day is a fulfilling thought.
I think most of my whinging and complaining about Sydney is that the people there have lost a little of that open, easy going and optimistic mindset that you find in smaller places around Oz. Getting away from that and seeing that there were still plenty of people with my same mindset was a great thing. While I wouldn’t like to be away from Sydney forever, I don’t think only living there forever would be a great thing either.

Now over here in South Africa I’ve made a few mental notes on the people here. First a bit of scene setting and background.

Most people would know of the history of apartheid in South Africa (if you haven’t just Google it) and divisions between blacks and whites. It’s recent enough in history that there are a lot of people especially in the baby boomer and generation X ages that remember what it was like to have full control and power of the blacks in their country and are a little resentful of what it is like now. The whites here still control the vast majority of the economic wealth despite being only a 10%-20% population minority.
In recent years there is a swing towards shifting this balance and it’s reflected in business and criminal laws. There are two examples I’ve seen here, firstly, every business has to employ a certain number of blacks versus their white workers. It’s actually quite a strict law and it’s quite common to see the black South Africans as the majority of front line customer service staff while the whites still hold greater positions of authority and power as managers and owners.
The second example is of a black South African man that killed a person trying to rob him of his mobile phone. Although I don’t know the full details, the reason he made the news was that he had been found not guilty of murder, was released and had just been re-arrested for another robbery. I’ve been told if a white man were to kill a black man here, the consequences would be very dire indeed.
There are rumours that things may be headed the way of Zimbabwe and the laws they have there.

Understand I’m not making a judgement of what is right or wrong or what should or should not be, it’s just to give you an idea the circumstances that surround the people here and how it could influence the way they interact.
So the divisions are still quite clear, particularly in the cities with most of the animosity coming from the white Afrikaans.
Having said that, most of the black population here are honest hard working people who are trying to earn their living just like rest of us. There is no social security here and at most intersections you’ll find a dozen or so guys with their finger in the air hoping to pick up a days work so they can get by. They do look after themselves as well in that they are clean and don’t smell. They’re clothes might have more holes than a particular Australian Labour politician’s IR laws but they are clean and ready to work. And I’m really going to throw the cat in here and quote a fellow Aussie I met “every time I hear the Afrikaans complain about the blacks here, I say to them, ‘I’ll swap your black for our blacks any day of the week”. I don't mean to offend anyone with that, it's just a comment on the differences between the indigenous cultures.

So where does that leave an Aussie Asian brother who cusses and drinks with the best of them? Actually, I’ve been reasonably well received here. I do get the occasional odd look from the Afrikaans but nothing more than ‘I don’t see many of your kind here’. Once I start talking and especially when I mention I’m an Aussie the attitude is as welcoming as it will get.
Back in the days of apartheid, Asians, Indians and Middle Easterners were classed as ‘coloured’. They didn’t get full rights but weren’t as marginalised as the blacks.

So really it’s the same story as most Asians in the Western world, they’re not openly welcomed, but not completely disliked either. More indifferent than anything. Argue with me if you want, but that’s what I’ve been seeing and experiencing my whole life.

Not that it bothers me much. I get the odd moment where I know things would work so much better if I were blond haired and blue eyed, but then there are moments where I’m very glad I am the way I am. Focusing on confusing the hell out of people who try and pigeon hole me by my appearance is a favourite past time and provides endless enjoyment. Nothing beats the look of shock and confusion on someone’s face when you quietly walk up to them and then belt out a ‘Gday how you goin cobber?’’
And you know what, the people who manage to get past that and really connect, are the type of people I want to get to know anyway.
I’m not very likely to be surrounded by superficial people who just love me for my rugged good looks and I’m very happy about that. :P

Well that’s about as much as I can ponder for the day. The staff in the café are probably wondering how the heck I have so much to write. Probably you are too. :) So off to upload all this to the site and unload some tea. More to come later.

Well wouldn't you know

Well in the most proverbial of ways, assume and you make an ass out of u and me. Shrouded in a sense of mystery that is not common in a country as free as ours, Maralinga brings up veritable images of nuclear waste dumps, men wondering around in radiation suits as well as infamous Simpsons 3 eyed fish.

And when you see a front gate like this

and a doorbell like this,

it’s not hard to understand why.

As with everything in life though, peeling back a few layers often reveals the truth of what we imagine we see.

So here in the middle of nowhere, a place not on many maps, a place where the welcome sign includes warnings of radiation exposure, I find what could be only described as an outback rustic homestead.

There’s a gym, swimming pool, billards room, TV/movies room, self contained cabins and supremely hospitable care takers in the form of Dianne and Leon.

The area we’re staying in was the base camp for all the British Navy personnel while they were setting up for their tests. There’s not a lot here compared to when it was at it’s peak but there’s a heck of a lot more than I expected.

Dianne and Leon have been the caretakers for about 3 years and will be the last government appointed caretakers before the site is hand back over to the natives. Maralinga for them is essentially their home now and they’ve set it up in a way that really shines with pride and care.

Each night we’re lavished with a 3 course meal and lunch and breakfast are in our rooms every day. After living out of a motel for the last month I can tell you this was an extremely welcome change.

No mobile reception, only 2 phone lines in the main building and 2 channels on TV, it’s a chance to unwind and catch up on some reading that I have been meaning to do.

In a place like this you would begin to wonder what it is I actually do for work…..

Right now, while it’s not summer (try 0-5 degrees C in the morning) there’s a steady stream of visitors from around the surround native communities as well as varies government representative types. Although it’s not exactly a tourist resort, there seems to be quite a few people passing through here once you stay a while.

I haven’t posted many shots from inside the compound as it is still government land and protected. Considering the exemplary treatment we’ve had I wouldn't want to cause any trouble.

All too soon, we’re about to head off as we're almost finished the job here. Myself slightly earlier as I’m bound for Africa and the DRC on the 1st July. More about that later. Suffice to say it’s all happening pretty quickly and new adventure awaits.

I’ll be back in the mother town on Tues 26th for a few days so for those inclined, give me a bell and I’ll try on swing some quality time and a brew before tripping off again.

(Sharing lunch with one of the locals)

Ah stop complaining, your fingers will grow back

I’ve been looking around for some cheap snorkelling gear to send friends and fam at home as it seems the rain Gods have decided enough dry for now at least and started the deluge. It’s sad to hear people have died though amidst the wet and my heart goes out to the families who are affected.

Up here, yes we are getting the scraps of all this weather. Firstly it was a bit of rain and thunder, but now it’s just cold. And I mean COLD. I’m at the airport 6.00am every morning and the mercury is barely touching 5 degrees. Normally I wouldn’t bat an eyelid at cold weather, in fact revel in it, but up until yesterday my cold weather gear was putting on 2 pairs of shorts and 2 t-shirts on for the mornings.
Thankfully I found a lovely sporting shop with some winter cycling tops and gloves so I’m now reasonably toasty and I have some decent cycling gear for when I get back to Sydney. For those wondering why I didn’t just go to Kmart and buy a fleece jacket, well
a) I have a heap of them at home
b) I want to keep weight down
c) I needed some cycling gear anyway.

It’s not about to get any better either. I’m due to head out to Maralinga in a couple of days. Those of you not laughing at me right now, Maralinga is the place where the Brits decided it would be a great place to test a few nukes about 50 odd year ago.

It’s about 100kms inland from the south coast of Sth Aust and there’s nothing but flat desert out there. So add this cold stuff we’ve been getting, I’m expecting to be chipping ice of the plane before we get started in the mornings.

Well, at least it will be good conditioning should I eventually get to work in Canada/Alaska/Greenland.

Oh, I got my new toy. Here’s a pic.



Cort SFX 5 limited edition in blonde. Great sound. Small and light which is great for travel and wasn’t too expensive. Very happy camper. Been annoying the neighbours for a few days now with my musical aspirations.

As mentioned previously, I really need to get some more exercise. I’m starting to feel very portly at the moment. I’m also considering doing a quick climbing trip to Thailand in Oct, so I’d better get in shape otherwise the only climbing will be to the bar and back. I did buy a basketball though…

That's what you get when it rains

Been an expensive day. And an unhealthy one. Not something I’d readily repeat in a hurry.

First order of the day was my contribution to the Qld treasury coffers courtesy of the local boys in blue. It seems my driving habits from Sydney aren’t too appreciated here. Speeding in Sydney is like trying to run through mud. Trying hard but not going very far. Do the same thing without the traffic however, (like the long open roads here) and silly speeds ensue.

Lesson learnt though. Just a matter of setting cruise control and doing the steering. No stop start traffic here. There is nothing and I do mean NOTHING here that requires rushing.

Secondly, almost embarrassingly so considering my last post, I had Maccas for breakfast, KFC for lunch and was seriously considering a thin pepperoni pizza for dinner. But after a quick glance at my expanding waistline I headed for the gym and played basketball for about an hour. Then it was vintage cheddar, Vegemite and Vita-Wheats for dinner…..

Last thing was paying for a new guitar I just bought. Well almost new. Got it from a girl in Brisbane and it’s pretty much new. Had to buy a hard case locally as Aus Post won’t accept anything over 105cm in length.

Which leaves the question of what I’m going to do with my existing guitar. Really don’t want to send it back to Sydney so I’ll probably trade it in for some $$ off the case. Am considering donating it to a local primary school in Cloncurry though. I’ll call them tomorrow to see if they could do with one.

Hopefully tomorrow bodes a better day with respect to both input and output. And if it doesn’t bloody rain again, we can get some work done.

Food for thought

The biggest challenge I face right now is stopping my brain cells from slowly switching off. As I may have mentioned before there is a lot of downtime in this job and I’m on a holy quest to find something to do to fill it.

Anybody that’s spent a bit of time with me quickly realises that I abhor sitting idle with nothing to do (often indicated by a sudden shaking of my leg) and I normally just prefer go to sleep instead. But when you’re up at 5.30am and not usually sleepy till midnight, that’s a few too many hours to be spending asleep.

So, I guess this blog is one way to fill in sometime. Catch is that if I have enough time to write something decent, I probably don’t have anything too interesting to actually say either. Ah well, such is life.

But not today. I actually got a chance back in April to dash home to sort some things out, but also gave me a chance to repack. After umming and ahhhing I decided to bring my SnowPeak Giga Power liquid fuel stove.

Now for those of you who aren’t gear nuts like me, it’s basically a portable stove that runs of any high combustion liquid like kerosene, white gas or petrol. I have since discovered it runs very well on AVGAS and I have an unlimited supply of it from the planes that I’m working on.

So instead of getting stuck in a motel room eating cold soup and instant noodles every night, I can cook pasta properly, fry eggs, steak etc and have a decent meal without having to go out.

In the spirit of cooking and boredom avoidance, I decided to see what I could do with the stove to cook some quick healthy meals.

Lo and behold, warm or cold soba noodles in a tradtional Men Tsuyu soup.

One pack of soba noodles $2.50
A few sachets of complimentary motel sugar FREE
One bottle of Pearl River soy $2.20
One bottle of local dry white $5
One pack of dried Shitake mushrooms $2.30
A couple of fresh cup mushrooms $1.20
One red onion $0.60

Boil up the mushrooms in 500ml of water until soft
Throw in 125ml of wine and 125ml of soy sauce and the sugar
Add fresh mushrooms
Gentle boil until it looks all good
Set aside

Boil up soba in about 4 mins.

Add soba to soup and add onions
Tada! Dinner is served.

Nothing too flash, but sure beats Maccas everyday. All for about $15 and is enough for 3 nights of food. And not too bad tasting if I do say so myself. Hardly any fat, very little sugar and if you scale back the soy, not too much salt.

The sauce that’s made up can be kept over night and just chuck in new noodles the next night. One bunch of noodles is enough for most, 2 if I’m really hungry.

All ingredients were bought from Woolies btw. I used to bag out the Asian sections in supermarkets all the time. In Sydney that makes sense when you can get it cheaper and fresher from the asian store usually located right next door, but here in Isa, it’s a God send.

Well if I’m really struggling for food I could try this:

Ok, quick comparison of Sydney to Mt Isa.

A gentleman who is considered wealthy by local standards is wanting to buy something to run the family around in.

Sydney
Porsche Cayenne $150,000
Method of payment: multi-year finance lease through line of credit owned by the family trust


Mt Isa
Piper Malibu $3.5M
Method of payment: $100 notes coz fifty's won't fit in the back of the ute



A young twenty something year old steps out of a car like this. You immediately think

Sydney
Drug Dealer

Mt Isa
Young mine worker with an alcohol and pokies allergy

An example of peak hour

Sydney


Mt Isa


I think you get the idea.
Really it comes down to 3 things:
A) there's some good money to be made here either on land or under it
B) there's no one to impress, no image to keep up with andC) if you avoid the pokies and the pubs you end up saving a stack of money

That plane above is a plane I've seen here and in Cloncurry. And yes it was bought brand new for $3.5M and it's used as the 'family runabout'. And the other thing, there's no finance around here. Banks won't touch land owners after all this drought. I can pretty much guarantee you that it would have been a case of 'here's the cheque, where's me plane?'

When you see things like this, you realise how image driven Sydney is.
Beautiful city, beautiful harbour, beautiful looking people. It's almost as though living there you're implicitly driven to keep up and look good. And when you're only earning the average of what everyone else is around the country, there's not a lot of change left in the piggy bank at the end of the week. That cycle of work, borrow, buy repeat seems to be getting worse by the day. I've never met so many good looking broke people than in Sydney. I'd be willing to bet, most under thirties in Sydney would have less than half or even a quarter of their net assests in cash. The rest is all fluff. Flashy car, flashy clothes, flash home and no money left at the end of pay day.

I get it now when people say Sydney is an expensive place to live. It's not just about how much rent or houses cost (as ridiculous as they are), it's also about living like you belong there. How much it costs to eat out, to look good, to buy things, it all adds up. And unless you wish to be ostricised as some bogan, you'll do what you can to keep apperances up.
I haven't travelled to many of the major cities like NY, London, LA etc but I think the story is much the same.

"Pretty broke people"

So much for the laid back land of opportunity of beaches and a laid back lifestyle that we get stereotyped for...

BTW, your measure of your wealth has got nothing to do with what you've got. It's about how much you can afford to give away. Have a think about the sheik in the UAE that just donated $12 billion dollars to advance literacy in his country. How much do you think you could give away without it affecting your next latte. Well, that's your measure of wealth.

A bit of culture and civility

It's been a day of relative uneventfulness. High winds mean no flying and no flying means nothing to do other than occupy myself with food, music and high thought. Well 2 out of 3 ....

Managed to find a quite well stocked cellar here and I'm slowly working my way through a bottle of 2000 Rosemount Shiraz whilst watching/listening to the SBS classical series on at the moment. I feel quite the aristocrat despite sitting in an $80 motel room in the middle of no where. Oh and all the shops here close at 12 so it's going to be a long afternoon. Did manage to clean and moisturise my hat though ... (yes leather is dead cow skin and all skin needs moisture from time to time)

So, this all leads to having to opportunity to catch up on missing thoughts from the last few days. I must though my guitar skills are making a marked improvement.

I'll split them up as I know the attention span for most people reading this ended about 5 sentences ago.

Until the next day of no work.....

Finally away

Well we're off and running for this job now. Got 2 flights in today which has kept me reasonably busy. The rain system that started south and came over yesterday has moved on.

Went out to see Spiderman 3 last night. (Yes they have a cinema here). Nothing great, about the same as the second one. Did see some previews for Transformers though which looks great. Micheal Bay directing and Spielberg producing, can't get much better than that. (Anybody wonder what I'm talking about rent 'Heat" and fast forward to the bank robbery scene. My kind of fun)

Dropped in to the local night club to have a look. Left after about 2 mins and bought a six pack of beer to have with dinner.

One thing I will say, travelling central NSW and QLD make me realise a lot of Australia still makes judgements on people from what they see straight away. Walking into a pub in Dubbo looking the way I do seems to be fuel for getting a stubbie in the back of the head. But hey, I'm not complaining or sterotyping, it is what it is. I've accepted what I have to work with and look for other ways to experience different environments.
I'll have a rant at some later point about passive racism when I've travelled a bit little bit more.

Finally, I'll be keeping this blog (hopefully) to accounts of something reasonably interesting or insightful as I get very bored with "well today I did this, then I met so and so, and then I went here..." and I wouldn't want to subject any readers to the same pain.

Waiting for clouds

Got up a little later today (7.00am) to check the weather. Cloud level needs to be at least 6500ft above ground to do the calibration flight today. It's at 6100ft and falling and rising.

So every hour we call to check the levels and try and decide whether to go up and try anyway. Why the hesistation you ask? Well each flight in running costs is around $5000 so going up just for sake of it isn't the smartest thing to do.

In mean time, I've managed to setup this blog as promised and done a bit of running around.

Hopefully we get to fly today as we need get this out of the way before we can start the proper surveying.

I'll be building a travel tips page as well so hopefully this will keep me occupied during the down times.

Getting up to scratch

For the sake of completeness I'll quickly detail where I've been up until now.

I've gotten a job with a geophysics company as a data operator. Basically I follow a plane around the country (and eventually overseas) and collect and process the data that is generated during the aerial surveys.
The team consists of 1-2 pilots, an operator (me) and of course the plane. We're based in a location anywhere from a few days right through to months at a time depending on how big the job is.

I started on 23rd April in Bourke NSW for a few days and then went to Dubbo for a week where I was trained up by the existing operator.
Since then, I've been in Cloncurry QLD by myself, learning and working but ultimately getting to grips with the job on my first real shift.

Now I'm in Mt Isa QLD for a few weeks and I've settled in quite nicely. I made most of my rookie mistakes in Cloncurry although I'm sure there are many more to come, but I'm quite confident in what I'm doing now and happy to be working.

Where is all begins

Well I've finally gotten around to starting a blog and to keep all the loved ones (and not so loved ones) up-to-date about my whereabouts. Pondering the title I came up with something that really sums up my whole life's motivation right now.

Anywhere But Sydney

Now don't get me wrong. Sydney is a gorgeous, vibrant place and somewhere that I'll always see as home. Problem is having lived there my whole life, it started to go all shades of gray and it was time to make a move. I really want to like Sydney again and the best thing right now is to get away, see what else there is out there and develop an appreciation for all the great things I already have.

Gratitude and humility are virtues often spoken of but just as often missing in big city thinking, and it's time for me to re-discover both.

So "Anywhere But Sydney" it is for now. I hope to share my simple and everyday, to my more layered and pensive moments with those who would care.

Travel isn't about "finding yourself" in new places and environments.

All the bits you're looking for are already a part of you, inside you.

Too often though they get buried under what's comfortable and easiest.

But, perhaps with new perspectives, fresh challenges and different ideas,

the parts you're looking for might just come out to play.