This is going to be an emo post so if you do not want to read it please either scroll down or come back in a few days. Emo beginning now:

Today is a very sad day in my life. Today at 0445 my Grandmother passed away. She was the last of my Grandparents and out lived her Husband (my grandfather) by over 13 years. I loved her dearly. She has been in my life for as long as I can remember and has always been kind, loving and fun. Some of my earliest memories involve my grandparents and I hope those memories will never fade. She was 97 and lived a filling life. A life that was full of joy and happiness.

I owe a lot to my grandmother. She gave me the passion for travel that I now have. Without her I would not be the person I am today. It was because of her that I travelled to disneyland when I was 13, Then to Mt Isa, Ayers Rock, Longreach, Melbourne, Kangaroo Island, Adelaide, Tasmania, Canberra and of course Sydney. I can remember as a child always going to Sydney to visit my grandparents. This probably helped feed this passion for travel. Without that passion I would not be the person I am now or be doing the job I am now, in that I owe her a lot.

I intend on travelling more in life now, I am already planning on going to the USA and to Canada something I know she would of wanted. For the rest of my life I will be happy whenever I travel as I know that is a joy in life she has given me.

I do not regret not seeing her in hospital, I feel that it would of made today a lot harder seeing her the way she was. What I do regret is not being able to show her the photos of my last trip, seeing the joy in her eyes of some of the places she has been.

I will remember her for the rest of my life. Grandma… I love you.

For all of those people out there who wish to send any emails to me to wish me well please do and I will pass your love and well wishes onto my family as well. Thank you to all those that have put up with my moodiness lately.

I will try and get back to normal as soon as possible. For those that want to know the Funeral will be on Monday the 24th of July. For more details please email me.

Thank you.

Well its about time i got these photos from the contiki trip online. Its only taken about a week. I’ve been so busy getting back into the groove at work that I havent had time. I have had to go to 2 different work functions this week with like 2 days notice :/

It was great to go back through all the photos and have memories come back. I would like to thank Elm who has sent me all of the Bling Party photos that you will see. Without them I would have no proof of my stupidity on this trip. To everyone from the trip looking at these let me know and I can burn an email for you with all of the photos I have on them.

It has been such a fantastic trip and I loved every minute of it. I’m already planning my next trip away, probably to the states to see a few people and then to Canada to visit a few more.

Anyway its my day off and I have heaps to do.. gotta go!

Link to photos here

Well its now all over… I can’t believe the last two weeks are over. It was such a great time, I had so much fun, met so many new people and just enjoyed myself thoroughly. I’ll cover the last few days.

So after a quiet one due to being up at 330am for Hot Air Ballooning my last full day in Cairns was spent doing nothing. I did go to the movies to see Superman but other than that… nuffin. Friday night though… That was a different story. We all piled into the coach for our quick trip on our last night together. We ended up at the Woolshed. I have heard many stories about the Woolshed from numerous different people all with the same story.. Fantastic night out. Dinner wasn’t to bad, Big Serves for the cost and quick as hell. Once dinner was finished into the booze we got. I tried for the first time a Snakebite which is Apple Cider (Strongbow), Beer and either Blackcurrant or Rasberry Cordial, or Grenadine. Although the first one of these i had… I dropped and immediately Chris stands up points and me and yells TAXI!!!! which got a few other people started as well… Embarrasing!

Once happy hour started though all was ok because I bought a jug for $8 and that lasted me most of the night. During happy hour the battle of the sexes occured and it was PJ and Chaz vs Alison and Robin. They had several different challenges all involving either a sexual act or drinking. As soon as that was over on came our day song (Sunshine of Your Love – Cream vs the Hoxtons) and that pretty much started the partying and dancing. It began on the dance floor… then moved to the table tops. Lindsay dragged me up onto the Tabletop and thats pretty much where i stayed until about 1am. Came home in a cab with a few others and went to sleep.

Woke up yesterday morning with two bruises on my arms, how i got them.. Not quite sure. Yesterday was a very sombre day for me. Having to leave all the people that i had gotten to know and meet them and had so much fun! It was a blast! I didn’t really hit me till the flight home. Luckily i had Michelle with me till i got home and then she was off to Perth on her flight.

Now for the soppy stuff. I don’t think the trip would of been the same without 4 of my new friends. Elm, Warren, Rob (Brokeback) and Michelle. Without them i’m sure the trip just would not of been the same. There were other people I really enjoyed getting to know over the trip such as Craig, Kenna, Alison and Grant, Rhana, PJ, Lindsay 1 and Lindsay 2, Laura, Christina, Michelle F, Chazz and Jason. Everyone on the trip just made it a fantastic experience. So much better than my last contiki. Hopefully my next tour will be as much fun. I now intend on starting to save up again.. This time for my USA trip. I’m hoping i can afford to do as much as I can in the amount of leave I can get.

Now a message to all those who are reading this from the tour. Thank you.. You made the trip the Best. Dan and Youngy, you guys are both fantastic, keep up the good work. I seriously don’t know how you guys do it, But you do it so well. The photos I have taken from the trip (all 300 of them) will be sorted out and the best ones up on the net within the next few days. If any of you want a copy of all of my photos all you have to do is ask and I will mail you a copy of all them on CD.

Now its time to continue fixing up the mess i have hear.

Current Location: Home 🙁

So it is nearing the end of the tour. Long Island… what can I say… it was an exerpience thats for sure. The boat ride over to the island was quick so I wasn’t to worried. It was the day sail that i was worried about. Especially when the fact that they were changing from going on Camira to going on the ex Sydney to Hobart winner. Ragamuffin. That was wierding me out quite a bit having to go on a single hull boat… something i try to avoid at all possible if i cant avoid going on a boat that is.

First day I rested on Long Island. I didn’t wake up until about 11am and felt so good. Jade and Leah from Fantasea were at the bar drinking half an hour later so I joined them. I had started drinking before anyone else on that day. What a great feeling.

The sailing day was different thats for sure. After getting on a tiny boat from the dock to get over to the boat. The first thing i do onboard the boat is smack my head on the boom… how smart am I!!!

It was a new experience for me to go sailing for real. It felt good to begin with as soon as the sails went up the boat started to tilt and it really tilted, to about 45 degrees. SCARY SHIT! The port side of the boat was almost into the water but it was fun. Then we hit the water between whitehaven and hamilton and I was scared out of my mind. I’m not sure if it was pure fear or panic that drove me to just want to fly back to long… I didn’t care about the cost at that time and was adamant to fly back. But the skipper of the boat had a chat to me and after eating some lunch I had calmed down enough to brace the 20-30 mins of roughness to come home. It was pretty bad but I dealt with it and it was all ok.

On the way back we caught up to another sailing yacht and played a little prank on them by pulling up very close to their tender (rubber dinghy) and throwing a bag of rubbish into it and then pulling away. There was plenty of yells and screams backwards and forwards between the boat. I even got to stear the boat at one stage. I am sure that all will eventually be ok. I hope that i can one day get over this fear I have.

Yesterday was a long long day. From long island to Cairns. 7 hours and who knows how many kilometres. We travelled through innisfail which was a moving experience. Seeing the destructions caused by Cyclone Larry still apparent several months on just made me stop and think for a bit. Dan (the tour guide) didn’t really talk much about it but i doubt many people on the tour would of cared.

This morning I had to get up at like 3:30am to go hot air ballooning. It was such an experience. I loved it and would definately do it again. Trying to work out something to do tommorrow in Cairns. Might check out something new. I wanted to go out to do the bloomfield track but that might have to wait till next time. O well.

Current Location: Random Internet Cafe – Cairns, Qld

Fraser Island sure was an experience thats for sure. The bling party went off. I made my experience in my stupid oversized clock. It was fantastic. It was so funny when we arrived to the island we rushed down to have dinner and found out that there was like 2 other tour groups were there as well. Most of us were worried that we were gonna look like such idiots, but I didn’t care. When we got to the bar in costume it was a funny night. The clock looked so stupid i was pissing myself laughing. It was a fantastic night. We had a “boat race” against some other people in the bar and we won. A boat race is actually a sculling competition. Who can scull the beers the fastest. I didn’t drink very much but some people were drinking quite a bit.

The next morning was very early start in the cold but it turned out to be a very eventful day. I did the full day tour and I was meant to be joined by elm but things didnt quite work out. It was a bit of a shock when he didn’t arrive. I was very very dissapointed but more to that later. The full day was great with a stop at Lake Mckenzie, Central Station, The Pinnacles, Maheno Ship Wreck, Eli Creek and Stonecutters Sand Blow. It was a very bumpy ride luckily it was a 4WD bus and I didnt have to drive! The sunset was fantastic that night and that was when i finally found out what happened to Elm. Pretty much here is a little bit of what was meant to happen.

7:25 – Shuttle to Dingo Bar
8:15 – Tour departs Resort Store

Here is what actually happened for Elm according to eye witness reports.

7:00 – His Alarm Goes off
7:30 – Elm found passed out in the Female Showers
7:45 – Elm found stumbling up the hill away from the dingo bar
8:00 – Elm found lying in the dirt outside of his cabin. Returned to his bed by Grant and Alison.
8:20 – Bus comes over to Lodges to find him, no sign.. leaves without him.

That night was pretty tame, I didn’t drink at all. Yesterday was a pretty boring day, just plenty of Texas Hold’em in the back seat of the bus. Got into Rockhampton and more poker. Last night we had dinner at the Korana croc farm. Definately an experience i would recommend to everyone.

At present I am sitting in a net cafe in Airlie Beach before heading over to Long Island. Probably won’t post again till i get to Cairns as net is apparently pretty exxy on the island. For the next few days should be good. Plans for a massive poker game tommorrow on long island for a few hours and also meeting up with Jade and Leah from Fantasea. Also going on Camira the day after that for the day. Open Bar should help keep my fears at bay.

We say goodbye to Elm on Wednesday when we leave which will suck but it should be fine.

Current Location: Random Internet Cafe – Airlie Beach, Qld

So its a wonderful sunny day in beautiful Queensland. Its been a full couple of days, we have just gotten into noosa and Im currently jumping on the net to update my site and just stuff around. On tuesday we went for dinner at Dracula’s. It was a fantastic night and i couldn’t believe how much fun this was. I had a few drinks at the show including a Jelly Shot Syringe. It was fantastic. I enjoyed it so much I bought a photo of the night. We then went off to Melbas again for another night of partying and it was a good time! Wednesday was a sad but fun day. Sad because we had to say goodbye to Rhana 🙁 Fun because I finally got my bling costume finished for tonights Bling Party. I will provide some photos later but to give you a heads up… think a big big clock 😀

Last night we went west to Adora Downs. We stayed out at a farm stay. The accom was a bit basic, but it was pretty good. The night was filled with some rum and some bush dancing. It made me feel like i was back in my primary school days. I felt like such a dick. This morning was freezing! Some funny stuff about the last couple of days. Rob finally getting his nickname (Brokeback), me getting mine… Master of Suck. I also met a cat and dog called Rum and Coke and watched rob get beaten up by a Kangaroo.

I am a bit sad to miss out on saying goodbye to Rhana. She was a fantastic girl and would love to get to know her some more. To all those reading through this from home… Hi.. im having plenty of fun. Tonight is the big bling party on fraser. I can’t wait!!!

Current Location: Urban Mailbox – Noosa Qld

So it has officially begun. Saturday i spent most of the day with old friends and new, I had lunch with Robin, Jason, Warren and Chazz and then went walking round the city and then had dinner with Kerrie my sister that night.

It has been an experience I can tell you. The tour manager is non other than Dan. The exact same tour manager as I had on my last contiki tour. It was a good tour and Dan was a great tour manager. I have been meeting so many new faces. The tour is majority of Canadians and Americans. It’s great to teach them all the aussie slang. It is fantastic to meet all these new people. There are 3 aussies, Craig, Adriana and Myself.

Yesterday we went from Coffs Harbour to Byron and back into Qld. I feel like im back home now that I am on the cost so I can relax even more. The twitch in my eye is all but gone and last night was fantastic. We had dinner at Tonys Alfresco Restaurant just down near Q1 (half the bus was following me hoping i would take them somewhere decent). We then went to Omalleys for a beer and then to Melbas where we caught up with the rest of the group and had our first party night!

Yes i was dancing.. no there was no tables thankfully! We are having a Bling party in a few days and that should be good. I am gonna go outrageously Bling and stupid and make myself a kitchen clock chain. We will be in Brisbane tommorrow so that will do then. At the moment time is running short on this terminal $2 for 10 mins (rip off) and i need to do some internet banking.

Current Location: Lobby Australis Soverign Surfers Paradise.

Well im in sydney, keeping megan company on a freezing cold saturday, shes sitting here bored so i thought i would be the good friend and bring her down some krispy kremes… well some for me to!

Yesterday was a nightmare. I couldn’t believe what a hassle it was trying to get out of Brisbane. I have never had that many problems. I left home about 730am to dodge traffic and make it to the airport around 8ish for my 945 flight. Checked in no problems about 10 mins waiting in line for quick check and then bag drop. Wasn’t to bad. But then i got up to the gate…. no go on the J class upgrade (o well). And then all the shit hit the fan. The flight before mine to sydney was delayed by like an hour… oops.. mine was meant to still depart on time and I was laughing at the other people about it. Then my flight got delayed… later and later and later… eventually around 10am mum and dad had to go.. and then around 1030 Qantas staff made an announcement that fog in sydney was causing delays. Finally my plane arrived and I was like YAY I can now get going…. sadly no. The crew walked off the plane.. and headed to Gloria Jeans… and then the Captain and First officer did the same… and i was thinking to myself GOD DAMN this plane has just gone U/S (unserviceable) and now im going to be stuck here. For moments i was hoping my brother never found out after all the times i picked on him about having late flights.

Eventually we got onto the plane around 11:15am (the time i was MEANT to arrive into Sydney). We boarded and then we sat… and sat…. and sat… all in all about 30-40 mins before we pushed back. At 12pm we rotated off Runway 01 bound for sydney… only 2 hours 15 mins late… not that bad. At around 1240 we were told that we would have to circle the hunter valley as there was a big back log of aircraft in the pattern. I didn’t mind. We landed on the runway at 13:35… only 2 hours 20 mins late… not bad. But then we had to wait again.. this time for almost an hour while a Airbridge became free. I walked off the plane 1415… 3 hours late.

I then grabbed my bag and found the transfer driver where i waited what felt like forever. It was shocking at how long it felt like. At about 15:15 I rang the girls in the sydney office and let them know i might not make it down to say hi… they sounded kinda sad but i said i’ll do what i can.. I also called Bridgeclimb and cancelled because there was no way i was gonna make the 16:05 climb (i had 30 mins to get to their office to check in.. the time it takes to get to the hotel).

At 16:15 i left sydney airport… 5 hours late. You would think the dramas ended there… not likely!!! When I got to the Vibe the hotel looked fantastic. But the door of my room wouldn’t open. The key worked fine but the door just would not budge. So i got a new room so at 16:50 i finally arrived in my room. I dropped my bag ran back downstairs and jumped in a cab (times a wasting) to get down to Circular Quay.

At 1710 i walked into the Sydney office to see Megan and the girls… i missed the Account Managers by like 30 mins 🙁

All is good this morning though.. after a good nights sleep all is well. Freezing cold though. Today i should be meeting a couple of the girls from the trip for lunch and my sister for dinner.

Tommorrow morning i’m not looking forward to a 6am wake up :/ Till next time!

Current Location: AOT Group Sydney Office

Well its 10pm 22Jun 2006. This years journey is set to begin in under 12 hours. At present I have just finished packing. It is looking to be a good trip. I’ve already organised with one person to meet them for lunch on saturday. I have also started talking to another person who is on the trip (a fellow aussie).

I am really looking forward to the trip but I am quite nervous in regards to tommorrow (friday). I am meant to go on a bridgeclimb at 4pm tommorrow but the forecast is rain. Now normally i’d be ok with that “pfft rain whatever.” But some of you know i am a massive clutz. I fall over myself often and have been known to fall up steps! I am worried that in the rain at night i will lose my footing and end up hurting myself BEFORE I even get on holidays. So if its raining tommorrow. I’m cancelling. I know it sounds like a cop out but im worried about my own safety.

What I am looking forward to tommorrow is seeing Megan again. Been a while and its good to get to see her again! Saturday will be a full day with catching up with megan fully in the morning, doing a bit of shopping (hello tripod) and then Lunch with some fellow travellers. Then contiki pre tour meeting on saturday afternoon before dinner with my sister.

Should be a few days before i post again (probably saturday if not monday or tuesday). I will definately keep this site updated as I am going and will also keep a journal going while I am away.

Anyway time for some sleep 😀

How hard can it be to get a shot of one plane. I have for ages been trying to get a shot of the Thai airways aircraft. It only comes in 3 days a week. Monday, Wednesday, Friday. All days i generally work. So thats hurdle number 1. Finding a day off that i can get down to the airport to get a shot of it has become pretty hard. Then problem number 2. Thai are currently repainting their fleet and only HALF of the aircraft flying into Brisbane have been repainted. So that means of the 3 flights a week i have a 50% chance i’m going to get one of the new looking aircraft.

So i take on this challenge today. I check the usual www.bne.com.au board for arrivals and departures today and notice that its gonna be early. But then i also notice that the Garuda flight is going to be mega later (about an hour). So i think “better get moving now then.”

Off to the airport i toddle. Get out there fix the camera up ready get it all ready to go and i can see a nice big aircraft on approach from the south and i’m thinking “Garuda must of picked up some time” as it was approaching. I’m standing there all alone on this pad in the middle of the airport on my ladder… looking like an idiot as i see this nice big aircraft on approach.. white body.. blue tail.. two engines.. looks a bit big for an A330 but its gotta be Garuda…. WRONG

ZK-OKE! Air New Zealands newst 777-200. I was like WHAT A DAY! If i can get the Thai new colours i’ll be having the best day ever. So right behind OKE is the Garuda A330… Looks pretty good… Then I can see the Thai A330 off the in distance.. praying that its new colours and hoping that the camera is set up right. Its coming closer… White body… Purple strip running down the length of the body……. DAMN! Old Colours 🙁

So now i have to try and find another time to go down to the airport and get one of the new colour aircraft. Probably also the last time i’ll get a chance to go spotting till i get back when its time for the YBBN BBQ.

pretty tired at the moment 🙁