Poor photographs of cool places/things...

 Riding across the 'new' bridge to visit a remote village.

 The local tailor(ess) fixing my shorts (not for the first time). The next day I ripped them from seam to belt loop (the whole length of the shorts) within the first 20seconds of my first soccer game with the locals. Kept playing for another hour.

 Hanlon Bay, 'Nam.

 Kayaking, Vietnam.

 Angkor wat, Cambodia.

 "How hard can the hard seat be?" This hard. For the next 17 hours...

 Local house, Rovieng, Cambodia. (with some of the nicest people on the planet as residents)

 Took them 10 months to save up for a rusty second hand bike - their only form of transport...other than walking.

Celebrating the 12 hour anniversary of our engagement.

Tadlo, Laos.

View from my $3 a night grass hut in laos. Poorly constructed, balancing on a precipice. Good view though...

kicked in the face by a horse.

Well, I haven’t actually been kicked in the face...but I did get my wisdom teeth taken out on Monday, so I look and feel as though I have been. While the slight pain is not enjoyable, this is easily forgotten whilst enjoying a hearty meal of bananas and yogurt (consecutive meals, consecutive days).  In all honesty, it was one of the least pleasant experiences of my life, but I am glad it’s all over and done with now. If anyone else is considering this procedure and opts to have them taken out in the chair I can recommend taking an mp3 player to drown out the sound of your teeth cracking in half...and it will also give those songs special meanings/flashbacks for the rest of your life. The top 2 were quite simple, so some upbeat coldplay songs were enough to drown out my tooth being ripped out of my jaw.  The bottom 2 teeth were a bit more complicated so linkin park on full volume was needed, almost an entire album. Good times.

So, I am writing this from Bangkok (home of the best dentists in SE Asia!) and also home to a 5.5 ton solid Gold Buddha statue (apparently).

I’m not sure if I made any ridiculous promises about how frequently I would write in this thing when I left, but I did intend to write more often than every 8 months (time really is flying over here + low motivation for blog writing)...but here we go...

Coming to highly sophisticated and (mostly) modernised Bangkok was a bit of a shock compared to the simple village life in Rovieng, Cambodia where I have spent the majority of the last 8 months. So, most of you will not have a clue what I am doing over here. I'm on a year(ish) long internship with ADRA, a humanitarian NGO which has been working in Cambodian since 1988.  I have been based out in the scrub in Rovieng, which is north eastern Cambodia, the province which borders with Laos.  I have not seen any other travellers/backpackers out there at all.  So, we just started a mother and child health project out in this province.  The province has terrible health statistics (on par with the worst in Africa) regarding healthy pregnancies, child birth, and mother & child malnutrition.  The stats are a result of lack of access to healthcare facilities, poorly equipped health centres, poorly trained and inexperienced health professionals and dangerous traditional practices.  Our project will operate for 3/4 years and aims to improve the situation by (in a simplified nutshell):

·         

- Building waiting rooms at healthcare centres; so women in rural areas can come and stay in preparation for their delivery, rather than scramble to get to the health centre (often with limited transport options on dodgy roads) hours or minutes before they give birth.

·          

Assist in raising the standard of health care professionals (especially midwives) so they can better prepared and equipped to handle complications.

·         Try to increase mother and child nutrition levels be encouraging the use of micronutrient supplements and (probably more importantly) encouraging families to engage with home gardening activities - in order to diversify their available food options and increase their nutrient intake.

·        

 Start up community groups which will share information about health practices within all of the villages. These groups are facilitated by a local village member and encourage group participation to identify challenges within the community and work together to think of, and implement solutions...

I’ve had a two week break since writing the above (writers block/low motivation for blog writing)

So that ^ is the project I’ve spent the majority of my time working on.  Although I prefer not to be staring at a computer screen all day – the office is where I am most effective, writing reports, proposal, donor communication etc. As fun as it is to be out in the field, you really need to have mastered the local language to be of any use. I have only semi-mastered a fraction of Khmer (mainly food, transport, money, bargaining skills and very basic conversation vocab – the necessities in life!).

Some other fun things I’ve done…

Vietnam

This entailed:

·         Spending 60 + hours on Busses and trains. We preferred to travel in the ‘hard seat’ section on the trains. When we first selected this option we thought “how hard can hard seats be?” They are very hard. It’s a wooden park bench bolted into a train carriage.  On our first trip (9 hours – just warming up) we met Fee, a 60 year old guy who was going 17 hours further north than us just to pick up a letter (using the post probably would have been easier) and then he would turn around and come straight back – at least that’s the story we understood from his charades and 7 words of English.

·     

    Travelling by trains is a great, and comfortable(comfort is optional), way to see the countryside. 70% of the countryside is rice paddies – and as we were on the train for extended periods of time we noticed that field workers were working hard right up until the last slither of light, and were working again in the morning as the first slither of sunlight came over the horizen.  For all I know they might have just been working all night (couldn’t see any torches, though).  Even if you hate your job, just be thankful that you are not a Vietnamese rice field labourer…

·        

 Finding a funky straw hat on the road. We looked around to see if someone had lost it (I’m guessing there is now a sunburnt and less cool motorbike rider getting around) but we just saw a roadside stall attendant motioning for Phil to put it on, so he did. This hat became known as the ‘party hat’ (or moo-lah in Vietnamese) the locals were loving it and were astonished when we told them it was the party hat (in Vietnamese) – they were stoked some foreigners knew some random Vietnamese words. We accidentally left the party hat on a bus.  Phil is now sunburnt and substantially less cool.

·     

    After a quick stop off to see my brother Ben, who was doing a mission/service trip in Nam Dinh…we jumped on a bus for Hanoi…After arriving in a ghetto bus station, jumped into a taxi for the touristy centre of Hanoi…We only had a crude map, and there was a small lake with an island in the middle on the map, just before the tourist place.  After passing a small lake with an island in the middle I said, “This looks like it. Besides, how many lakes could there be in a city anyway?”  Turns out there are 2 lakes in Hanoi (at least) and it took us another 2 hours to get to the other lake with an island in the middle…

·     

     We went to Hanlon bay (rocks/karsts? poking out of the sea, with sweet caves in some of them). Ill put up some pics, or you can google it.

Engaged:

That title seemed so casual, like it’s something you do every Sunday afternoon (actually, it was a Saturday night) and of course, it was actually quite a big deal.  Think exclusive candle-lit, roof top dinner under the stars. A view over Angkor Wat (google it) (in the distance) and fireworks (sparklers).  Just think of the best proposal you have ever heard of, it was WAY BETTER than that.

So I am now engaged to Jane, who also happens to be the most beautiful girl in the whole world. SCORE! (what are the chances of that?). I’m sure most of you reading this will already know her; but for those overseas or living under a rock, hopefully you’ll get the chance to meet her in the not too distant future.

Part of the fun/experience was buying a ring in Cambodia.  Although my Khmer vocab can handle food, transport and basic conversations, it definitely doesn’t stretch to Diamond carets and gold quality. So I went to a custom jeweller and drew what I wanted on a piece of paper. I left, hoping I would like what I saw when I returned.  It turned out sweet!

I am about do a similar drawing when I order a custom suit. I am not a good artist (nor very fashionable). A circle with a rock on top was easy enough for the ring, but a suit…wish me luck!

Got my wisdom teeth removed:

·        

 See above. Healing up well (2 weeks later)! Haven’t listened to coldplay or linkin park since…

Of course, this is just a few things that I’ve done in the past 8+ months.  I’m really enjoying the experience, time is flying and I’ll be home in pretty much 2 months +/-.  At the moment, I’m just finishing up some report writing, and then I’ll spend a few weeks building a bungalow out an outdoor Recreation centre. In mid October there is another week of national holidays – I’ll probably jump north over the border and cruise around Laos for the week.  Then more work…draw and pick up my suit…and I should pretty much be on the final stretch home.

I have really enjoyed my time working in the development field.  I think you are most effective when you can commit for an extended period of time – I don’t think I/we will be in that position in the immediate future - but I wouldn’t rule it out further down the track.  Really looking forward to playing cricket, bbqing, surfing, getting married and seeing where life takes us. Fun times ahead!

Seeing that it’s taken me 9 months to write this, don’t hold your breath for another one before I leave…But I will (somehow) keep you all updated on significant life events!

 Hope life is good. Peace.

: ) andy

cuba

Hi Friends,

Its been almost a year since a went to Cuba, and as i'm heading off again in 3 days I thought i'd better get this out of the way first. When I left for Central America I never considered going to cuba (or getting my scuba ticket), but met heaps of people who loved it. luckily i had a small amount of cash which allowed me to grab a ticket and head over for 10 days...The Cuban experience begins at the airport. All other airlines have nice, orderly queues...Cubana airlines has people, boxes, luggage EVERYWHERE. There is always at least 5 people at each check-in desk. Most people have more luggage then people moving house. I was about 20th in line when the checkouts opened, it still took me more than 2 hours to check in...The fun was just beginning...

Cuba was amazing, here are just a few fun experiences that are burned into my memory from a year ago:

1) I really like sport, and I especially like watching it live, in a stadium were passionate local fans go crazy. Cubanos go crazy for baseball. When I was at the bus station buying a ticket (which takes about 2 hours, as opposed to the standard 1 minute everywhere else in the world) I started chatting to a guy reading the newspaper. He told me there was a game on at the stadium just down the road. SWEET! After walking to the stadium, via the bbq'd corn stand, i found out that the game was at another stadium across the other side of Havana. I found out where and which bus to catch but not where the closest bus station could be found. I found two local workmen unloading their truck and asked them if they knew where the closest bus stop was, they didnt know...but told me to jump in their oldschool truck. End result: they drove me right across town in their spluttery old beast, went really far out of their way to drop me off right out the front of the stadium. At the end I wanted to give them a couple of bucks (just to buy a cold drink) but they wouldn't accept it...they just wanted to help out. So cool! I had many similar experiences where the local people were so kind and friendly...ace! The game was cool - entry was 4 cents (Au). Has to be the cheapest admission to any sporting event anywhere, ever!

2) Food in Cuba is dodgey. Tourists can eat in super expensive restaurants OR in local hangouts which serve mainly pizza, burgers, sandwiches (< all with very limited toppings), bread or fruit. Was getting hungry one evening and spied some old fella selling bananas, so a snagged a bunch and some bread from the local hole in the wall and made some banana sangas in the park. Whilst eating and enjoying my dinner a homeless guy came along and looked at my gourmet meal. I offered him a 'banana burger' and he sat down for a chat. He had a lot of misfortune in his life. His most recent case was sitting down on some steps after hurting his leg. while sitting there he noticed a plastic bag full of money in the gutter, He reckons there was about 10,000 euros in the bag...Enough to become one of the richest cubanos overnight. Sadly, he somehow lost the bag straight away and is still living on the streets. He still seemed upbeat and enjoyed life and had many good friends in the park. A cool little experience of meeting another local person, and finding out what life (reality) is like for that person. This, for me, is one of the greatest joys of traveling- meeting the people and hearing their stories.

3) There are no buses to the airport for tourists. You have to take a taxi ($25). But i got some tips from locals about how to get there for cheap (30c). Firstly, you have to take a bus to near the airport. The buses have a cool system in Cuba, instead of waiting in line when you get to bus stop you call out 'el ultimo' (the last) and the person who is last in 'the line' (they could be anywhere) will raise their hand and you know when the bus finally comes and you line up you will be behind that person. When the next person comes along after you and calls out 'el ultimo' you then signal to that person and they are behind you. So then if a bus comes every 20 mins people can go to a cafe, read the paper under a tree...then form a orderly line when the bus arrives. The system works so well! (except if you dont know about the system (like me, 1st time) and you think there is no line and just wait at the bus stop - and when the bus arrives you find youself being swarmed by, and eventually at the end of a line of 60 people). So I was waiting for the bus and a local fella started chatting to me about baseball, life, politics. He said if I wore different clothes I could pass as a local (even with a massive moustache (I had been growing one for 3 months by this point)...He even said "para mí, me gusta el bigote mucho"( "for me, I like the moustache very much")...the best compliment I have ever recieved. We jumped on the same bus and he told me he would signal when i needed to jump off. When I got off at an intersection my new moustache loving friend called out to another guy who worked at the airport to help me get there. We hitchhiked right into the terminal...he was a gardener there and invited me to the workers coffee room for lunch. I couldnt due to my plane leaving, but gave him the rest of my cubano pesos and told him to enjoy a cigar for me.
Such a cool experience mixing with the locals, such nice, friendly people...and so much better exploring local transport options, and traveling as a local rather than just jumping in a taxi (easier option- unless you are in a similar finiancial position to myself!)

This is just a snapshot of my experiences with the local people (I realise I havn't really talked at all about the country itself...but the country is the people!). Cuba really is AMAZING and I would recommend that YOU visit if given the chance...

Andy update: I have finished uni and as of next monday I will be in Cambodia for a year interning for these guys - www.adra.org. Should be a really cool experience and I'm looking forward to gaining some practical skills in the humanitarian field and traveling with a bit more purpose. Fun times ahead!

Hope this note finds you well.

Take it easy,

:) andy

Hitchhiking with a substantial moe...

...is possible, but more about that later. So, i know its been a while. HEAPS of you have been emailing me, continually pestering me to update my blog - so here it is.

After spanish school in Xela (the cold place) rach and i moved on to San Pedro (also know as San pedo (by us)) for another two weeks of spanish school. During this time christmas and New years passed by with nothing much of note taking place. However, for christmas we tried to make some bean burgers (veggie special) and despite soaking the beans for 12 hours overnight, it still took 2 hours of ferocious boiling to half cook them (we should have taken the can option)-so we had half cooked/half falling apart bean burgers for christmas lunch. The salad was good though...

Antigua 6/10.

It was the old capital of Guatemala until it got destroyed in the 1700s by a volcanic erruption. The city was rebuilt and is of course older than any building in Australia, so it looks old (to us). We climbed an active volcano which had a massive erruption 6 months before. There is a natural sauna there, and a place you can roast marshmallows (the only person to do so was an american) and a pit which you could throw sticks into and they would catch on fire almost straight away (just to prove there was some heat down there). Other than that, just an old city with heaps of america tourists fresh off the cruise ships...

Monterrico 6/10.

A small town on the coast where people go to do nothing, because there is nothing to do. Actually, you can go on an ecological tour through a mozzie infested swamp, release a baby turtle into the surf for Q10 ($1.40), or burn your feet on the black sand at any time from 8am to 5pm. We also started up afternoon games of waterpolo which got quite aggressive (for some players), it was also the most our soccer ball had been used since its purchase.

ps. soccer ball is the best ice breaker in central america (and maybe about 80% of the world) everyone wants a piece of the action, from the school kid to the guy selling bus tickets. Everyone wants you to throw them the ball and have a bit of a juggle...its great!

Lanquin/Semuc Champey 9.5/10.

The best hostel i have stayed in. In the rainforest, with a river running past it, great dorms, sauna and a communal buffet every night brings everyone together in a really social environment. From Lanquin we did a tour of semuc champey (worth a google) we swam in through some caves (apparently they go back 12km) holding a candle each (mine went out about 15 times) and climbed up waterfalls, jumped off rocks, went down little slides and through random claustrophobic (?) sections, we did it with a group of 27 people which was really fun, made heaps of cool friends there...Afterwards went tubing down the rapids, jumped off a ripe swing and swam in the pools of semuc champey (the ones you are looking at on google right now). The second day we were there a swiss surfing fanatic showed us how the surf in switzerland. The tie a rope across the river, then attach a board (like a door) with a handle on it on a length of rope running down the river (worst description ever). End of story, you can stand up and kind of "surf" the river, it was fun...alos kind of lame, but didnt want to tell the enthused swiss that...

Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras 8/10.

9 bus connections, one ferry and 20 hours later we arrived at Utila. The second cheapest place on the planet (apparently) to do a scuba diving course. Sounded like a good offer, so we did it. Really good fun. Met some cool people on the ferry and one dude from lanquin came with us to form our own little group. Its sounds lame, but it really is another world down there. Everything is silent, you can only hear yourself breathing. Its really calm and peaceful and you can see some amazing creatures down there. heaps of weird creatures as well...We also went to our own private island for another divers birthday. good times. The day we were going to leave the ferry didnt turn up - so we hired bikes and went to find the legendary mini golf in the jungle. A stoned american dude has been building a putt-putt course for 3 years (bad investment i say) and what evolved is an impossibly difficult course which includes a fireman pole, fighting a crocodile, an undergroud cave and "surfing the ball in" on a pivoting board. He also has designed a "thing" to help people swim easily in the sea. It is basically a foam cut out of a whale, with a place for the rider to sit, who then opperates the tail and fins by using their arms and legs. looks like a hard way to swim. He said to look out for it on the internet in the next few months (danoz direct?). I said i would...

Rio Dulce 8/10.

We stayed in a sweet place right on the water, built by a bloke from Australia. We visited the only (apparently) hot waterfall in the world. The water flowing down is from a thermal spring and must be about 80C. seriously hot, and it makes a natural steam room under the waterfall. really cool/hot. Just down the road is a sweet little canyon which you can pay Q15 to have a little kid paddle you down in a dugout canoe. Pretty fun and only locals know about it (apparently) Oh yeah! Off the beaten track!

Tikal, Guatemala 9/10.

Google it. Awesome ruins. (I forgot this the first time and cant be bothered typing anymore)

Caye Caulker, Belize 7/10.

Its an Island and other than snorkel and smoke weed theres not much to do. We did some snorkelling with stingrays and nurse sharks and just lazed around for a few days. We also ate some awesome pineapple and banana cake.

Tulum, Mexico 7/10.

After 8 hours on the bus, i got into Tulum at 10pm. I asked some French dudes if they knew a good place to stay. Before i knew it i was in the back of some randoms ute (re: hitchhiking) and out to this little camp site on the beach. My home for the next few days was a little shack of sticks and leaves which bear grylls (and his 30 strong support crew) could have built is about 7 minutes. So i was living with some cool hippy folks about 9m from the water. Awesome!

I am now in Cancun. Rachel split and is now somewhere in Honduras. Im flying out to Cuba tomorrow, I really know nothing about it - so it should be a fun experience. I doubt il be on the internet for the next 10 days while over there. Then is back to Aus...looking forward to bbqing and playing cricket (not so much uni. ha) Anyway, im up to date - that should fend off the requests for a while. Hope life is great. Take it easy :) andy

ps. the moe is going from strength to strength. I have had 7 photos with people (all girls). Many compliments from blokes, and more high fives than i can count...life is good!

¡QUE MANGO!

So now you all know a little bit of Guatemalan slang, ¡que mango! its what a guy says to their mates when they see a nice looking girl walking past, some of the bolder fellas might yell it out loud in a lame pick up attempt (which fails 99.9% of the time, i am told), but usually its just said under their breath about a girl way out of their league... and the term orginates from an actual mango (fruit) and means "sweet"...more or less...

So weve been traveling for about 3 weeks or so, and have seen a bit...so il briefly run through a few of the places weve been and things weve seen and il even rate them, so you can decide if you want to visit them on your next adventure...

Hollywood: 2/10

Hollywood is lame, like most of the movies it produces. There is the chinese and kodak theatre, stars with famous people on the sidewalk, handprints of famous people in concrete and the Hollywood sign in the distance. That is it. 50m either side of kodak theatre (main area) is ghetto. actual ghetto. Only the quality burrito shop across the road road saved Hollywood from a zero.

Venice Beach/ Santa Monica Pier: 5/10.

The pier is interesting for about 7 minutes, where you can get someone to write your name on a grain of rice. or pay $11 to go on a rollercoaster that doesnt even go upside down...very touristy. The walk down to Venice Beach is pretty cool. Heaps of outdoor gym equipment to muck around on, like a giant swing set and heaps of monkey swinging rings...good fun. Theres also heaps of markets along the path, with interesting hippy people along the way, such as a guy in a robe playing electric guitar while skating along on some futuristic roller blades. There is also a freak show where you can see "a two headed turtle and pretzel boy for free, with heaps more inside!" or where you can get your marijuana prescription filled (or get diagnosed as needing marijuana for medicinal purposes). Also, an outdoor gym where all the "big boys" go to work out in their american flag speedos...

Mexico City: 5/10.

Its a city with 23 million people living there. im not a huge fan of citys...but what we saw of Mexico city was pretty cool. A lot of history, a lot of churches a lot of stuff going on all the time. Pretty safe in the centre region. Good anthropology muesum (so i heard). Awesome taco joint. 30c tacos with unlimited guacamole and jalepeño carrots. we ate here often. We didnt see much, but what we saw was pretty cool...even cramming onto the subway with thousands of other people(it moves 6 million people a day)was a funnish experience...worth it, even just for the tacos...

The amount of moustaches in Mexico 10/10.

Everyone (male, usually) over the age of 35 has one. So thats about 130 million people. I also have one (6/10).

Teotihucan 7/10.

Old Aztec ruins, has the 3rd largest pyramid in the world (the 2 biggest are in Egypt) really big site to walk around, heaps of smaller ruins and ancient paintings to look at. fun times. I also bought this little clay cougar head whistle thing, which sounds like a cougar snarling when you blow through it. I have not seen or heard a live cougar, but it sounds real...

Cañon de sumidero: 9/10

(Worth a google) Awesome canyon in southern Mexico. You get to cruise down the river for a bout 2 hours with walls 1km high either side + the added attraction of seeing the hydroelectric power station at the end of the river. We also saw 26 crocodiles. google it.

Palenque:

Google it. We were going to go there, but a landslide in the mountains blocked the road for 4 days and we didnt make it. will fill in the details on our way back...

San pedro lago Atitlan 7/10

Really nice setting. A lake surrounded by heaps of mountains, small villages and 3 volcanos. We climbed one of the volcanos and go the SWEETEST view ever. Il put photos up on here in about 4 months when im home and have my film developed. cool chill out place...more gringos the guatemantecos though...rach and I will be heading back here in a few days to do another 2 weeks of spanish school...

Quetzaltenango, Guatemala 5/10

We have been here for 2 weeks studying in a spanish school. The school is great, but 5 hours of intense 1 v 1 spanish classes really does your head in. But you learn fast. Think i have learnt more in the past two weeks than in the last 2 years at uni. Theres no sleeping in the back of the classes here, the teachers is about 35cm away and grilling you for 5 hours + homework. haha. Ive got a sweet teacher, a wise old owl who knows everything about the history of guatemala. So if i even need a brain breather, i just ask him a political question and it usually buys me about 45 minutes...haha... the weather here is crazy, between 5pm - 8am it can get down too -4 degrees, but from 8am to 5pm its about 30 degrees...so were keen to move on to somewhere a little warmer...

Carros locos (crazy cars) 10/10

The way dodgem cars should be. No seatbelts. No specific direction (head on contact permitted, usually encouraged). 10 minute time limit. Pretty much no rules. We had 7 gringos going mad on the dodgems (with heaps of locals watching the carnage)...no better way to bring out the inner kid...(not that i needed any help with that) best 60c ive ever spent...

Anyway, my internet is almost up - going to make the most of the remaining sun and play bit of futbol with some mates from the spanish school. Having heaps of fun, meeting heaps of cool people, and have had a lot of cool little experiences along the way...i guess ive just written the boring stuff in here...sorry. Just believe me, were having a GREAT time over here. Hope you are well wherever you are!

take it easy :) andy

Mexico...

Hello friends,

Its travel time again, hence why i am writing in my blog. Im heading over to Mexico and possibly a few extra central american countries (currently have almost nothing planned)...Hoping to do a language school down in Guatemala as well, but we'll see how that turns out. My little sister rachel is also jumping on board, so there should be a few fun adventures down the track. Anyway i leave for the airport in about 17 minutes and still have some packing to finalise - so id better hop too it. Hope life is great for you wherever you are - i hope to write in this every month, which im sure the 2 people reading this will be excited about... Take it easy :) andy

Pictures.

Heres a few pics from my adventures. I only have a film camera, so my own photos will be developed in a few months. Thanks to the people i scabbed these from.


4 guys on a lift. Silverstar, Canada.

3 guys on the snow. Silverstar.

magic. Silverstar.

same as above. (won't delete for some reason)

aussie invasion. Kelowna, Canada.
(All my photos are on film, on the camera hanging around my neck.)

Big White.

Big Shawn White.

Massive goggles. Big white.

Oasis. Ica, Peru.

Juan with his new wheelchair and sister. Satipo, Peru.

Juan Carlos(and bro) with fernando. Satipo.

Local family with some supplies.

Happy kids + pirate (dog)
(this is the guy that climbed up me like a coconut tree - read a few posts back)

little Marcos. (notice the housing)

Delivery run.
Those mattresses were held on with one piece of string(and didnt budge).

Local family(super cool and hospitable).

home time.

Remember when the school bell used to ring at the end of the day and how stoked you were to get out of there. Well the bell has rung on my overseas adventure (for now). As fun as it is coming home to see family and friends, the excitement of travelling doesnt quite match up to sitting in lectures and writing essays. 10 days ago i was snowboarding some of the best slopes in the world, in 10 hours i will be in a classroom. The upside is that with uni you get 6 months holidays a year (tough), which noone could possibly complain about. So it wont be long and i will be out there again. Had a rad time in Peru, then a week each in canada and the US hanging with some aussie mates and getting in a bit of snowboarding, awesome times. Anyway im back in Aus now and will be for a least 3 months - hopefully il get to catch up with anyone reading this. If your in Australia give me a shout. If your overseas, also give me a shout, harass me to visit and give me even more reasons to keep travelling. Thanks for reading and have fun. Until next time, take it easy :) andy