SENGIGI RELAXING, BEACH CAMPING

Monday the 4th of October SENGIGI RELAXING

Sleep in for a change, reorganize and relax. Go to the ugly Sengigi Beach for some cheap massage (35.000 Rp one hour full body) and rent some scooters for a beach hopping trip. Uhm, shit...it starts to rain. And it rained hard and long! At the end of the day it finally stopped, we rented scooters and tried to find a nice beach. It was more a scooter race in mud pools. We didn't find a nice dry beach camp spot, so back to Sonya. Again Bintangs and expensive food. Myrte was waiting for her sleeping bags and matt this time (Yeah, this girl forgets a lot of things and very lucky with people bringing back her I-pod and stuff). I booked my 5 day cruise from Lombok to Flores, again something to look forward to.

Tuesday the 5th of October RAINING SEASON ON LOMBOK, BUT STIL DAY AND NIGHT ON THE BEACH

Finally some sun! We couldn't camp last nght because of the heavy rain. Today will be our day at the beaches around Lombok. Get some mango's and 'spekkoek' (Inthough this was something from Suriname). Most beaches are black instead of white, Myrte's feet were still a big mess so we had to go to an easy accesible beach; Malimbu was the best option. Swimming and relaxing. Only some locals here. I went on a search for some nice hidden beaches; Setangi was the best! Also a few unfinished steps are hidden, so it will take some sliding down the bushes to bet there. But you will get a complete deserted and silent beach. I tried to reach another beach and I had to communicate with a local farm family to get there, a long walk through cow shit was not what I wanted so leave it. Back at Sengigi Myrte's stuff was finally delivered by Parman (the best travel agent so far and honest). Heading back with my camping gear for a night of camping at Malimbu Beach. And why not, it starts to rain again. Luckily there are some bamboo/palm leaf shelters on the beach, so we placed the tent under there. The campfire was not as big as we wanted, everything was wet so we had to 'borrow' some wood from te warung. The Birtangs and the snacks were good, watching a movie on an I-pod in a tent where it was way too hot! Still fun though.

Wednesday the 6th of October LUNATICS ON THE BEACH AND DRIVING WITHOUT MY LICENCE AROUND LOMBOK

WTF is that noise?! This local boy is doing weird things around our tent. Hitting stuff, throwing beer bottles, jumping, stealing our bags. After a while some older guy came and told us this boy was mentally ill. Mango's and spekkoek for breakfast and Myrte tried to learn me how to play the Guitalele...I like it. He got a lift to Lembar and I followed them to say goodbye. Myrte is flying to Australia so she had to leave. It's said, it were 2 fantadstic weeks. That's the way travelling goes, it's always saying goodbye to the best people you meet. We'll meet again and thanks for all the fun! ;-) After dropping her off at the ferry to Bangsal (which is only 31.000 Rp) I drove on to Sekotong and Bangko-Bangko. A long ride with some spectecular coastal views on beautiful Gili's. With low tide you could walk to one of the many Gili's; Gili Genting. Yes, I climbing the Island that seemed to be named after me :-) A 2 hour busy way back to Sengigi, long waiting at the petrol station (it's a lot cheaper -4.500Rp- to get your petrol here, than from the bottles along the road). Traffic was crazy this time, especially in and around Mataram. Getting lost is easy without any signs of where to go. Just follow my intuition and I will get there. No speed limits, so I just acts like some locals, 100km per hour through chaos. Had to buy a cheap phone with a shop where nobody speaks English and that was lot's of fun with all those local girls there. In Sengigi is was lonely me, no other nice travellers this time. I discussed loads of business opportunities with Andy, one of the owners of the bars in Sengigi. He made me a delicious local Lombok meal. It was a sunny but also sad day, keep smiling...new adventures to come!

RINJANI TREKKIING; ONE HELL OF A TRIP...TRYIN G TO REACH THE TOP OF THE VOLCANO IN A FEW DAYS

Thursday the 30th of September HALLO LOMBOK!

Bye bye Gili dream life, bye bye annoying mosquito's. I'm spoiled with the lazy Rasta life at the Gili's :-) Although, my Rasta hair is almost gone because Samir fucked up and didn't finish his job. Bad for him, no result, no money. Uhm, why did we pay for the boat? Like yesterday nobody checks your ticket or asks for it. In Bangsal it took some time to find the right person where we booked our Rinjani Trekking with. But he came, we only wanted to pay money to this guy. ... was a trustworthy though. Waiting for our car, have some Loempia. First a free ride with the pony cart and after a big car with our personal driver Ferry. Linking Park and Jay-Z were banging out of the speakers. When Ferry changed his taste of music 1000% to Celine Dion Myrte and I felt asleep immediately. The 1,5 hour drive was feeling like 5 minutes. Senaru Village, the place for the start of the trekking. RTC arranged accommodation for us at Emy's Cafe, clean comfy rooms with a shower that actually has (fresh) water! No multiple dips in the sea anymore. Run away from the local guides and try to find a path along the small irrigation canals; the jungle track to the falls. First one; SIr Terjung Sindang Gila (a 40 meter high collection of falls out of the jungle). A lot of locals love it over here, taking a shower under the falls. Lonely Planet says you're risking your life if you join them, but the hard massage is worth it! What a blazing shower! More jungle trekking, meeting the locals and see their farm life. Friendly people. The views are great, and why do we need to get a guide? Luckily Myrte is not a pussy and easy to convince to walk a little bit further. Crossing a high aquaduct and a river (climbing rocks) was easy enough for her, even on her flip-flops. At the end we reached Air Terjung Tiu Kelep, even better than the last falls and probably on of the best I've seen until now. Massive collection of water drops. Traditionally I jump in or under every waterfall, even when it's cold. I did, a swimming hole was the refreshing treat. We spend 4 hours in the jungle and at the falls, a perfect training for the 3 day Rinjani Trekking. Oh and we made a really good deal with that price!

Friday the 1st of October RINJANI TREKKING DAY 1, KRATINGDEANG FOR THE JUNGLE WALK AND A WINDY NIGHT

Money money money, the guesthouse owner thought we were stupid when he asked to pay National Park fee. Some just keep on trying, but we Dutchies are hard to get. The friendly Canadians Alex and Sophie joined us for the trekking, local Dewa was our guide. A walk into the jungle, some Kratingdeang (Indonesian for Red Bull) and some chocolate waffels for the energy. A long hot day under the trees, the shade helped a little bit to cool us down, although I was only walking in my runners and shorts. During our 6.5 hour hike today there were a lot of breaks, maybe it was more for the porters who carried around 30-40kg of weight on their shoulders with big bamboo sticks. The lunch break took more than 2 hours! We started the track in Senaru at 400mtr and during the day we entered the clouds (and some rain). Our team was fast and Myrte is a real die-hard walking the track on her flip-flops (she already had loads of blisters from her shoes the days before). I was still sick, but feeling strong enough for a rough climb. The end of the day we stopped just 100mtr under the Rim (at 2500mtr). That last part became a little bit harder and you can slip away easily because of the gravel. The porters put our tents up and I went up for a quick view at the crater lake. Just find a dangerous spot for the best view, looking down in the depth. Dinner was again rice and some veggies with chicken and pineapple. Sophie convinced me that I was too picky sometimes so I started eating things that I didn't really like :-) There was a thing I liked; the rice wine from Dewar. A sunset that was acceptable after a cloudy day, not the best one I've seen on a mountain. Be careful when you want to watch the sunset from a better spot, the better spots are used as a good spot for a natural human toilet :-) 'Take your rubbish with you, just leave foot prints...' is what they say. Hahahaaa, I've never seen a National Park with so much human shit, toilet paper and garbage! And then, the night in the tent...yep, no sleep. The guide and porters put the tents on the windiest spot that you could ever imagine! My earplugs helped a little bit against the sound of the strong wind and Myrte's snoring :D But the wind was blowing the tent in all directions. The tent of the Canadians collapsed every time. So we all had maybe 15 minutes of sleep before we woke up again.

Saturday the 2nd of October RINJANI TREKKING DAY 2; UP AND DOWN, SWIMMING IN A VOLCANIC CRATER AND THE BEST HOT SPRINGS/SHOWER EVER!

After a night 'Sleepless in RInjani' we were surprisingly enthusiastic. A few banana pancakes for breakfast (and guys, if you have Dutchies on your tour bring more food!!! We eat a lot). Just before 8 we started walking again, 100mtr up to the Rim. This morning it was cloudy and we couldn't see the whole lake. We have a new friend in our team, a funny white dog. He became our guardian dog and protected us against monkeys. I was showing my teeth to some Macack's and the dog was fighting with them. While we were walking over the RIm and climbing down, the dog felt down a couple of times. But he kept following us, because we gave him biscuits and the chicken left overs. A 600mtr climb down (3 hours) to the lake, crossing some deadly points. Nice to know that they only put some sort of fence at spots where people died. Some parts were pretty steep. Down at the lake the clouds we gone and the sun was there. TIme for a dip in the crater of the volcano, you don't do that every day. While the porters were resting and preparing our lunch, we walked to the hot springs. I saw pictures of some concrete pools with pipes with hot water, but holy shit! This was much better. Just walk a little bit further along the stream in the valley that you can only imagine in your fantasy. A green/yellow natural hot pool. The stream had the same color all the way down. The best thing was the water fall were we stopped. This is the best hot shower you can have! And just think that this is the only hot shower you will probably have in Indonesia when you travel on a budget. We spend a lot of time there and I was taking a hot massage under the water fall. The area was absolutely stunning (just take a look at the pictures). The muscles were fine now and after a 2 hour break we went up again, 600mtr climbing up to the base camp. A wonderful walk over the hills in the crater. Unfortunately Myrte couldn't enjoy it as much as we did because she had to do a painful walk on her shoes. The last part of our 2 hour climb was steep, very steep and though. The good thing was that it was more cloudy up here. But the heat of the sun was replaced by the humid atmosphere and dry breathing of the high altitude. And the dog was still following us! Keep concentrated, because it is not only steep but also a long fall into the depth when you miss a step. This trekking is not for pussies and people that are afraid of heights. Our team was the only one that went for the summit, all the other teams from last day went back after the Rim. There was only a big group of Indonesian Polis, doing some sort of training there. This time we told the porters to put the tents at a better spot, out of the wind. Be careful when you go out of your tent for a piss at night or during the day. We were just a meter away from a deep cliff, one step too far and you will be dead. The sunset here was one to stay awake for! Go to bed before 8pm is crazy, but we have to wake up at 2:30am. A quiet night this time, and 3 sleeping mats is a little bit better. Good nights everyone! The sky this night was clear and the stars look so much better close to the Milky Way. Shootings stars and hope that we finish this track safe :-) So many stories that it's gonna be hard and we met some people today that couldn't make it or just had no view because of the bad weather conditions...

Sunday the 3rd of October RINJANI TREKKING DAY 3; THE HARD WAY, THE LONG WAY, THE COLD WAY...KEEP BELIEVING

Damn I'm hungry this morning! And what do we get before starting the long way to the top? Biscuits!? WHAHHAA, you gotta be serious! But yes, it's true. We shared some with the dog. A walk with just the five (6 including the dog) in the dark with our headlamp and torches. Wearing 3 layers of shirts, 2 pairs of warms socks, a rain/wind jacket, a winter hat and gloves to stay warm. The track was heavy and steep. A lot of gravel and slipping away. Deep cliffs on both sides, it's good that we do this in the dark first. The say it's 2 steps up, 1 step down in the gravel. Just walk as the last person of the group and use their foot prints...it works a lot better. It was getting windier and really cold now, the climb to the summit should take 3 hours. The guide told us to stop at some point and shelter behind a big rock against the freezing wind. The walk doesn't look that safe, can we make it? The guide told us to wait for 45 minutes before going further, it was 5:15am. Well, the sun comes over the mountain at 6am in the morning when you stay at the Gili's...I think he makes a little mistake in time. And he did, the sky was already turning yellow, red, pink and orange. So he told us to follow the only other team that was trying to reach the summit. 'Dewa, you fuckin pussy!?' Our guide left us and stayed behind. We followed the other group, but they were slow. Or are we just so enthusiastic and full of energy? We passed them and tried to finish the hard way. Damn, this was steep and windier than I expected. I can do this...Myrte, Alex and Sophie stopped for another short break. Don't stop, just go! 1st on top...wow! The rest of our team followed quickly and funny enough the dog was there too, hilarious. The views, unsubscribable. The sky was so clear, you could also see the other volcano from Bali. The most beautiful thing was definitely the rainbow circle around your own shade on top of the mountain. We've never seen a round rainbow before (later it became a double one).After a long time the other team reached the summit and we went down. This morning we climbed 1.200mtr in heavy conditions, we did it whohooo! More than 3.700mtr high. Going down was a treat, 3 to 4 times faster and fun. Jumping down in the gravel, sliding away and sliding down. We are so lucky with the weather today, amazing views over the smaller volcano and the lake. Back at the basecamp around 7am for some jaffles and pancake and a really long walk down. Trying to do a swimming contest with Alex in a river without water. It was hot in the green hills. Meeting other people who do the opposite direction and they already look exhausted. After a knee-killing 4 hours of falling on my ass and losing liters of sweat we jumped in the back of a pick up.'We made it!' Well, don't say that to quick guys... I warned Myrte to grab my shoulder might she fall off the truck. Guess what happened? The backside of the pick-up went open and we saw Myrte falling backwards out of the truck on the road. This girl is soooo lucky! No cars behind us and so scratches at all, unbelievable. Maybe it was because we fed our guardian dog so much chicken? The guide and porters were doing fruit picking from a driving truck, the trip back to Senaru took almost 1.5 hour. From there it was a 2.5 car trip to Sengigi, stopped many times by the local wedding 'parades' (brass bands and loud rhythmic music from big speakers...is this Summer Carnaval?).

A long day with the best and most adventurous trekking so far. In Sengigi we stayed at Sonya Homestay for cheap accommodation (80.000 Rp for a room including breakfast).Treat ourselves on some large Bintangs and a good meal. The Canadian were amazing trekking partners! Nastassja joined our night out in Sengigi (one of Myrte's friends from Bali). More dessert on our way back home, we have to sleep guys...surprised we are not feeling that tired. But those legs, they hurt! :-)

WHAT'S HAPPENING?

It was expected that I would come back to The Netherlands in October...

I won't come back for a while, so I will probably see most of you next year!

BALI SPRING BREAK, DIVING AND THE WAY OF LIFE AT THE GILI ISLANDS

Wednesday 22nd of September BALIIIIIIIIIIII !

A 2 hour flight, hot steaming Bali! Taxi corruption, but I know how to handle this :-) Staying in Seminyak for tonight, guesthouses? Full, full, full. Ozzie Spring break, not the best time to start travelling without bookings in Bali. One guesthouse with a comfy double room for 150.000Rp, bargaining impossible. Some local food in 'expensive' restaurants, be aware of possible extra tax fees! Many bars, many Balinese girls and gays try to seduce you, many times 'No not interested' :-)

Thursday 23rd of September LOCAL LIFE AS USUAL, FREAKING WEIRD EXPERIENCES IN PADANG BAI

A long walk...nobody seems to walk that much here in Seminyak, I'm sweating and I'm soaking wet in a sec. Shops and bars, that's the only thing in Seminyak. I found the beach and the surfers...is this it? Unimpressed about the Seminyak beach life. I walk on and on in cloudy but hot weather. Many couples and families, not a good place to stay for a single backpacker :-) I didn't know anything about the public transport options to Padang Bai so I took a taxi. Hard bargaining and I Kelut thought he could change my mind in the taxi. It was a long drive to Padang Bai, more than 60km and 1.5 hour on some busy roads full with construction work. All these stories about money problems, it doesn't work with me. Fuck man, this guy can't handle the heat...the aircon was freezing. Thanks to this aircon tripping cab driver I became sick in tropical 'paradise'. Halfway a stop at a local place for some food, 15.000 Rp for a great meal...this is much better than the touristy western food places on the coast. A short temple visit with a Sarong. I Kelut put some flowers and rice on his face for some luck today, well buddy it was not your lucky day ;-) Padang Bai at last, the police pulled us off the road and we had to pay some fee for getting into Padang Bai. I thought it was stupid so jumped out of the cab and walked further on. The police officer started some arguments and the situation got a little bit rowdy. Padang Bai is different, lots of backpackers, laidback cafe's and it's all about diving here. My pit stop for today, Topi Inn, a Dutch owned guesthouse at the end of the road on the beach. I didn't know they had dorms in Bali. Well dorm, it's just a row of thin mattresses on the floor at a view deck. Diving seems to be so popular (evn more opular then all the local ceremonies), that almost every dive shop is fully booked for the next couple of days. But, one of the Dive Master (Karin) discussed all the opportunities with me to become a dive master or instructor in Asian countries, interesting chances over here! Next a short stroll up and down hill to the 'beautiful' beach were everyone talks about...whahaaa. The way to the beach looks more like a way to a garbage dump :-) Some bamboo sort of bars between the palm trees on a small strip of sand. It looks fine with me if you don't look at the concrete construction work for the resort that they never gonna finish. WIndy today and a lot of rain coming. a few dips in the sea make it more refreshing. Nice people here, and pancakes. My meeting with Josi was one to remember :-) It doesn't happen that many times that you are feeding a gorgeous funny girl while she is having a massage on the kitchen floor LOL. And this was the start of a long strange evening. We spend the rest of the day together, talking a lot! Good food and cocktails at Alola. But the conversations freaked both of us. Like talking to a mirror. Our lives and experiences were exactly the same! No matter where we talked about, it was identical, fuckin weird and scary sometimes. A day with someone special I will never forget.

Friday 24th of September DON'T DIVE WHEN YOU'RE SICK!

Wake up with a delicious Muesli together with Josi and more freaking identical feelings and experiences, does it ever stop? Yeah, sad that she had to go back home. Josi left me a book with some sweet messages inside. I went for a last-minute day of diving with Dutch owned Q Dive. Sunny start, rainy later on. First dive was ok, bad visibility, but a wreck dive was something new for me. At the end I got strong pain and pressure in my head and sinuses. A long break on the bumpy waves in the Blue Lagoon. Funny to see boats with Japanese tourists vomiting simultaneous. The second dive...problems already started after just jumping in. Strong pressure and pain. Stupid as I am, I went further down. The pain became less. DIving the walls of the Blue Lagoon. Using a lot of air, I got out early. And shit, I lost a lot of blood. I was bleeding for a while out of my nose and heaving an extremely strong headache. Yeah, it was because of the sickness after 24 hours of aircon.My advice; don't dive when you're sick! A lunch at the dive shop and a chat with the owner; Menno. He gave me some handy tips about starting my own business, especially in Malaysia. Back at Topi it was time to make new friends; Myrte, a funny Dutch girl who sleeps next to me on the floor. I love Bali now, so many laidback backpackers. It was a good day and night after all. Forget about the diving incident and remember the bars and drinking Arak at Babylon. Myrte is going to be my new travel buddy for the next week...Gili and Lombok here we come! And we leave the rain here on BALI!

Saturday the 25th of September A LONG SLOWLY TRIP TO PARTYING GILI TRAWANGAN

Bargaining for some tickets to the Gili Islands and leave Padang Bai slowly. Still sick unfortunately. First a 4 our trip on an old ferry, getting pain in your as after all these hours on a wooden bench. Easy to forget with good company. Locals that want to be on a picture with 2 tall Dutchies is something common here. Transport from one harbour to another at Lombok. A lot of changing tickets on our way and they try to sell you expensive trips and tickets everywhere, we're not stupid :-) At one place we booked our 3/4 day trekking to the volcano...well we know how to bargain hard hahaaa. They were surprised we stayed with our 1st price constantly. A last small boat trip to Gili Trawangan, the beautiful party island. 'In 10 minutes we leave...' Yeah right, we heard that for an hour. Gili Trawangan, guesthouses are used to hard bargainers and our game didn't work. Also because almost everything was full. But with someone to share it's not that bad, 200.000 Rp for a double with some red lights outside LOL. Time for some party! Bir Bintang for many times, heaps of reggae bars, free brem and arak shots for crazy drinking Dutchies, damn spicy and cheap food and the island's Pasar Malam and 12 diffent shots of Arak...always fun to drink with young Dutch student for some competition. 'Atten met die handel!' A long stay in one of the bars with live reggae bands. And Myrte convinced me of changing my girly curly hair into something different; RASTA!

Sunday the 26th of September THE DAY IN THE CHAIR FOR SOME RASTA

Spend 5 hours in a chair to get my hair done and it's still not finished because of a missing tool :-( Relax, its chill out time here. More enormous tasty Indonesian meals. A walk to the other side of the island for some sunset with my favorite electronic lounge music. Inviting new friends, a night in the big lounge pillows next to our new bungalow. It's more a penthouse than a bungalow. Showering outside in a huge shower where you can have a big private party. Cocktails not to be missed.

Monday the 27th of September GILI CHILL OUT - GILI PARTY TILL YOU DROP

Hot hot hot and time for a good long morning run around the island. Since yesterday everybody calls me rastaman and strangely enough more drugs is offered to me :-) After an intensive run a nice dip in the turquoise blue water, drifting away on the strong current. You can actually swim for a long time and you are still at the same place. Today it's party time on Gili Trawangan! First try out the Mushroom shakes that that you to the moon. Well according to all the signs on the island. 120.000 Rp for a mix with banana, a taste of mushroom but nothing happened... At least, not after this. On e of the bars where we crashed was Tir Na Nog, our famous Irish pub for shots. A group of Dutchies was already there. Myrte and I met Fernanda, a Brasilian beauty and she was wasted like a turtle on mushrooms! LOL A hilarious person crazy on tequila (and ofcourse we joined her). She couldn't stop talking about how cute and gorgeous I was and her moves made her boyfriend a little bit jealous I guess. After loads of shots she could hardly walk and Myrte and I followed our search to party party. Crashing with some Birtangs on the beach, demolishing chairs and watching the fireworks. The sheesha places were closed already so wait till the big party starts at Blue Marlin. And after 12 the party started here, big dance floor on the 1st level, a pool and a loud sound system, a mixture of locals and travelers. What a night, many many Birtangs, sweating and getting rid of your clothes, a piece of tooth is missing, dirty dance moves all over the place, ending up in some ones expensive resort, a part back to the penthouse I can't remember, ending up on the floor of our big outdoor shower (where you can have a huge party under the stars). Yeah, it sounds more like a few scenes for a 'Hangover'-movie :-) Thanks to Inge, Neeltje, all the other Dutchies and some other peepz. Illy Gili!

Tuesday the 28th of September RELAX, SNORKLING WITH SEA TURTLES, COLORFUL SUNSET AND SOME MINDBLOWING CHOCOLATE SHEESHA

Hangover?! Well it feels like having a good party last nite :-) Chill out on the beaches. Check out some snorkeling with Myrte, she warned me after spotting a giant sea turtle. Get ready for a long painful walk on the coral to deeper water and shiiiiit! A giant sea turtle having an afternoon meal on the coral. Floating on the back of the turtle. And some big fish I've never seen before, some with a big spear above his eyes. The best snorkeling is definitely on the North part of the island. The sunset was the next episode of this wonderful world, those pink and orange colors, changing clouds, the big volcano with behind the burning yellow/red sun. Too lazy to walk? No it's just fun to jump on the wooden wagon behind a tiny horse, making funny sounds when you don't have a horn. It was a big treat for ourselves today; delicious Gilato at Egoiste (25.000 Rp for to scoops is a lot for this country but who cares). And Myrte needed a cool down after a very hot and spicy dinner :-) 'Sheesha Myrte?' 'Ja Zekers!' Chocolate taste, we're both addictive to that. Chill out on the big mattresses of Egoiste for some sheesha under the stars (51.000 Rp). Chill chill chill in the orange moonlight.

Wednesday the 29th of September ISLAND HOPPING TO GILI MENO

Another day in paradise, we changed plans. A return to Gili Meno (40.000 Rp), the smallest island of the Gili's. Very quiet and relaxed. Beautiful beaches, hot temperatures, the first not spicy dish and more sea turtles! YEah, I can't dive for a while after that last incident but snorkeling on the surface is not a problem. The water is hot on the Western and North part of Gili Meno. An inland walk through the local villages, palm forest and along the lake. The boat trip back was bumpy, wind catching up and looks like a storm is coming. Lucky it wasn't. It's party day on Gili Trawangan again, what should we do? :-) But we need cash! ATM's are not working most of the time and the machine likes eating cards. Free cinema 2nite with a huge box of popcorn and some heavy brownies with strawberries at Blue Cottages. No big party before the intensive trekking on the volcano :-)

THE LAST DAYS DOWN UNDER, REUNITED WITH MY FRIENDS, THE STORY WITH THE POLICE AND LOOSING A LOT OF MONEY

THE LAST DAYS DOWN UNDER; THE FRIENDS REUNITED,THE COPS, THE LOST OF A LOT OF MONEY

Sunday 19th of September MELBOURNE, WELCOME BACK CAPIRINNA'S AND FRIENDS

After Doug dropped me of in St. Kilda it felt like 'home' again. Habitat and the colleagues, STefan waiting with his icecrusher to make a rediculous amount of Capirinna's, Adrien that gave me some new options for travelling, and Inkerman St... Oh yeah, Inkerman was like I never left 3 months ago. Everyone was still here (but Jacko, where the fuck did you go?!) and the ones that left a while ago...they all came back. I went back to my favority couch in Inkerman for 1 night, lovely couch, many memories. But guys what happened? The place is clean and most of you look like having a more serious life!? ;-)

Monday 20th of September AGAIN GOODBYE MELBOURNE, FEELS LIKE COMING BACK SOON

Arranging the last things before 5 weeks of travelling in a rush. Goodbye Habitat and Habitat friends, goodbye Aldi food and Inkerman St., goodbye Inkerman friends, goodbye couch, goodbye best city to live and work; MELBOURNE. STrangely enough it feels like I come back to this place soon and if I had an option to get a good job here I shopuld have stayed. I took the last shuttlebus to the airport...

Tuesday 21st of September HOW TO LOOSE 700 AUD IN A FEW HOURS?

In the middle of the night reunited with my close friend Saskia again, she was travelling with Nadine to Darwin and were on the same flight... Well almost, Vinnie made a stupid mistake and instead of 21st of Septmeber I booked a flight for the 21st of October. Options? A few, but it all costed me a huge amount of money :-( ANd because of my flight to Bali the day after, I had to take a flight now. Make a choice, so actually my feeling was not that wrong...it is possible to be back at Inkerman tonight whahaa. I paid 350 AUD extra to take this flight (the most expensive flight in my trip). And no fun and no drinks at the flight at all. Unexpected Saskia just wanted to sleep so my 4 hour flight was boring. 5AM in the morning in Darwin, Sas and Nadine checked in for a hostel after a taxiride with an old emigrated Dutchie. I called Kakadu dreams if they had a daytrip to Kakadu...2 boxes of strawberries, 1 muffin and 1 hour later I was in a 4WD to do a 2 day campingtrip in Kakadu National Park. Not what I expected but I do the Nothern Territory in 2 days. Thight planning, they have to drop me off at the airport tomorrow at 6PM. Oh, and it costed me at leat 360 AUD to join them :-) So in a few hours I spend more than 700 AUD! Fuck, my bank account goes down under!

Daniel was a cool tourguide, with his stupid crocodile hat. Jeroen and another single travelling guy were the friends of this trip, the rest of the group were couples. And they just don't talk that much with other travellers. Okay, Eva and miss Malaysia were quite talkative, 2 Mlebourne students. Kakadu trips are adventurous? Uhm, most of the time you are driving...long distances...for hours. The first adventure, a touristy croctrip, jumping crocodiles and they jump! Many saltwater crocodiles today, everywhere. 'Don't stick anything out of the boat' they said... You know me, trying to make a better pic at the back of the boat. Didn't see that 1 croc spotted me as a pieve of meat :-) No worries, still got all my body parts. Having lunch between Crocodile Creek and some billabongs and showing the crew and the rest of the group were Dutchies are well known off; eating :-) 10 big sandwiches...we'll keep our 'name' high. Driving to and artificial site with many aboriginal paintings. Collecting firewood in the burned bush, meeting massive spiders. Ending the day near Jim Jim for camping. Colorful sunset on the oldest cliffs of the world. Camping in a tent? It seems that there are too many special insects and snakes here. The group went to bed early so the single guys stared a hunt around the campsite :-) The other groups were not that impressed by our approach :-)

Wednesday the 22nd of September DRY FALLS, CROC ALERT, SNAKES AND DIRTY THIRTY IN THE PLANE

Running shoes on! Visit Twin Falls with a shuttle? Yeah, crocs everywhere and turtles. The Twin Falls were almost dry (it's the end of the dry season and normally we can't do this tour because the whole area is flooded in wet season). Stop! There was a baby Tipan snake crossing our way, they can kill 26 people with one bite of their poison...wicked! More 4WD action before we arrived at JimJim Falls. Damn, those fuckin flies on this trip are more then just annoying! They ask in the brochure for fit people. Maybe ask for a sharp vision as well next time. Miss Malaysia stumbled down the big rock and couldn't walk anymore. Blood all over, broken glasses etc. After a while continued the trip without her and it is a lot of climbing over (big) slippery rocks. The Jum Jim Falls were dried out, just a few drips. But after walking in 34 degrees for 2 days, it was more then welcome to jump into the cold pool at the bottom of the 'waterfall'. No crocs here they say, just sucker fish. A lot of swimming and then you can relax at the rocks were normally the waterfall drops into the pool. For the daredevils the was a hard climb up for a jump from the cliff. I climbed the cliff of the waterfall and finally a was a bit nervous again! Whoooo! It was high and you have to jump far enough if you don't want to get smashed on the rocks below. Beautifull and refreshing place. Snakes on the way back. A long way back, beers for lunch, stopp at Fogg Dam to see some longneck turtles, lost my shirt and camera at on the road houses (luckily I got it back because of some honest Ozzies). The group dropped me off at the airport as promissed around 6PM. There I was, a plane full of Ozzies, dressed up and ready for Springbreak and me? Dirty Thirty, smelly clothes, red dust everywhere... They let the Dutch crocodile dundy leave Down Under. Thanks to Asylum Hostel in Sydney I'm not allowed to enter Australia anymore! They reported me to the police because they made a mistake with collecting my rent. Asylum Sydney, thanks for fuckin up! Nobody arrested me, because they reported me to the police just after my flight. The flight was good...again I experienced special treatment by Jetstar, free food and drinks and lots of extra's. I met a nice Australian family who offered me a serious and well paid job...You see, opportunity's all over!

PARTY HARD IN SYDNEY, VIP & QUEENSDAY FEELINGS

The week in Sydney was time to reorganize everything again. And of course looking forward to the big party on Saturday; DEFQON 1 ! Exploring Sydney? Not really, I have been here so many times in my trips in the past. Staying in Kings Cross is not too bad. Loads of French and Germans again. My Dutch friend was here too. So some shopping for the party, hard to find good stuff in orange. Better use my Dutch soccer shirt. There is also the Sydney Marathn on Sunday...this was one of my dreams to do. I was signing in and they were mad! 185 AUD for running a marathon?!?!?!? I don't have that money anymore. SO I have to cancel this one :-( On Friday I met Veronique and jumped on the train to Bondi. Delicous food at the market there and the weather was changing this week...sunny, sunnier, sunniest! Bondi Beach, wow! The waves were massive. Some darfe devils in the water with their board. The waves were banging on the wall of the buildings close to the sea. The pools and rocks around Bondi were flooded and washed away. A lot of locals at Bondi today...like many said; 'This is crazy, the best surf of the year!' Yep, it were special conditions today. A crazy snorkeler jumped with a sort of fishing rod into the water and was washed against the rocks and buildings sometimes. Hang out with some of the locals climbing down on of the rocks to get closer to the impressive waves. That Friday night we went to the city for some party. Angela (London) and Gemma (Sydney) were in the same club as us, I met them somewhere during travelling. We went to IVY, a classy sort of club with several floors. It was a place for young dressed up bussiness people from Sydney. It's like a huge Friday afterwork drink (like the FRANK-borrel in my hometown Rotterdam). They even had a similar passion fruit cocktail, but they don't call it 'Pornstar' here... Angela introduced us to her girls from Sydney. Because we were dressed properly and with a nice group of girls, more things were possible :-) Yes, we ended up in the Poolroom, an exclusive VIP room on top of the building, with swimming pools, drunk girls jumping into the pools, loads of people that think they are important...it was just hilarious. Shitloads of special toilets; male and female signs on the doors doing all sort of sex positions. ANd the toilets are made for that, including shower and all sorts of things you might need LOL. The first door I opened this half naked chick was sniffing cocaine...whahaa, yes this is the VIP. A special night I must say :-)

A few hours after the VIP night it was time to get dressed for DEFQON 1. The first surprise was that your good 'friend' doesn't seem to be a friend at all. Like many times you think you have good and close friends, trust people and stuff like that...but you find out that some of them are just FAKE. No offence to all the friends that I still see or speak during the trip, a lot of you are true friendd and I miss that sometimes... So I had to go to Defqon on my own, orange shirt and jump on the train for a 1.5 hour trip to Sydney Regatta, a party Island. In the train I already made loads of new friends, young Ozzie's. And it's fun top be with them and see how they experience this crazy madness. Defqon is a Dutch hardstyle festival and is in Australia for the 2nd time now. Not as huge as in Holland (20.000 instead of 60.000 visitors) but still impressive. The weather is perfect! They showed me all their tricks (using pepper for the dogs, coffee for the smell, Vicks for their eyes hilarious) and some of them were having these special names for all sorts of dances. Well Dutchies just jump and party! They were proud to have a 30yr old Dutch party dude with them. After some free Enregy drinks it was already getting orange around the ticket booth. Oh yes, hundreds of orange colored Dutchies at the festival today! More new friends and the rest of the day was just amazing. 12 hours of unbelievable partying, jumping, dancing, drinking, screaming and getting hot! Very good times with Ozzies and Dutchies, all of you made this day unforgettable. These festivals, I miss that a lot. The festival was free for Dutchies, a long as you were orange clothes and show a Dutch passport, otherwise you had to pay 130-145 AUD. It was like Queensday in Holland sometimes, so many orange colored people, especially with the meeting in front of the mainstage around 17:00. And orange colored boats verywhere, the Asians like to chill out in these boats after using to much E (LOL). Well, we let them crowd surfing in the boats. Drinking is an expensive part at Defqon, 8 AUD for a simple beer! But I found a bar that gave me Smirnoff Ice for every empty can :-) I haven't been dancing that long and that enthousiastic in a long time. We had a crazy group in BLACK, Promo and Unexist they know how to make you jump. Meeting people at the other side of the world that recornize you from high school from 15 years ago is weird and I had a unforgettable end of the day with Brigitte and some other party Dutchies. The traintrip back was endless...3 hours with the typical Brabant humor :-) I can't remember how many times their 'mum called' whahaaaa. Good memories, arriving and having a nightly dinner at Maccas King Cross (damn, this place is dodgy like hell!). This day turned into a day with loads of new cool friends and one of the best party's in my party history.

3 hours of sleep and a lift to Melbourne with Doug. A (almost) retired Ozzie that takes travellers and locals between Sydney and Melbourne for a small fee. 900km and 10 hours of talking and snoozing in the back. The other guy in the car was Jay, half English, half Dutch. Many stops at Maccas, but I lost so much fat yesterday...it doesn't matter today :-)

MY 4TH TRIP AROUND AUSTRALIA! THE EAST COAST...

Sunday 29th of August ARRIVE IN BUSY BRISBANE, REUNITED WITH AN OLD FRIEND

OMG no problems at the Ozzy border this time; a miracle! My tent was clean enough so a quick train to Roma St. Chill Backpackers was my pick for today. Try to bargain for the room rates here because they rip you off. I paid 29 and others paid 25 for exactly the same. Brisbane is not how it was like 5 years ago. It's an interesting city though. I spend my whole day reorganizing everything, washing after a few dirty weeks and eating from the supermarket again. All of a sudden Verena bumps in to me; one of the long terms Germans guest from Habitat in MB. She showed me around in Brizzy and we bought some very cheap bad wine. Cheap is not always a good idea...Cider at the rooftop deck at Chill Backpackers made the taste a little bit better.

Monday 30th of August BRISBANE AND MORE SURPRISING MEETINGS

Another day is Brisbane, walking around in this hot city full of different building styles, free internet places, bridges, food courts and not to forget the city beach! Southbank is one of my favorite areas in Brisbane. Chilling on the fake beach, jumping into the water...very nice when the sun is shining. All of a sudden a formiliar face...Denise?! Yes, this was the girl were I had contact with for half a year and planned a road trip together. For some strange reason see changed her mind in the end and I stopped planning :-) A good thing, now I have the most amazing experiences instead of being in 1 city and party hard on goon every day. Nothing special in the evening, time to get some sleep after the exhausting time in Fiji.

Tuesday 31st of August NOOSA HEADS AND FOLLOW THE SUNSHINE

An early Greyhound bus trip to Noosa Heads, Verena asked me to come there. Why not? Good company and I've never seen the place before. 2.5 hours in the bus and it was enjoyable. Marloes (NL) was the only other person in the bus and we both couldn't stop talking. Interesting personality and I have to change my Dutch accent :-) Unfortunately she didn't stop in Noosa. But Verena was already waiting. Upgraded our room and time for the beach! Noosa is a place for rich and retired people; expensive property, shops and to many modern facilities. A good beach though and the National Park with the Coastal Walk is worth the effort. The sky turned grey in the afternoon so beach and walk were not so interesting anymore. Where the fuck do all those German colored (black, red, yellow) come from?!

Wednesday 1st of September NOOSE HEADS, FEEL FREE, RUN AROUND NAKED

A windy day, good for surf lessons. We spend the whole day walking, happy I took my running shoes on today. Noosa has a river that goes into the sea and it looks almost the same like Whithaven Beach with low tide and all the sandbanks. It turned dark and cloudy again but stay positive with the little blue holes in the sky. After a very tasty 500ml ice cream snack we started the walks in the National Park. The forest is crap though, but entering the Sunshine Beach from the hills makes it worth the walk. What a long nice beach and the sun came back! For me some cliff/rock climbing to spot some eagles eating their pray (a huge crab). Learned something about surfing by watching it for a while. A short climb to Devil's Kitchen and the next beach; Alexandria Beach. Beautiful! 'Did you see the turtles?!' a man approaches us. He was a Naturist and I said 'No', but I definitely see a turtle between your legs! :-) Funny and Verena was shocked for a while by this man that jumped out of the rocks naked. So this is a naturist beach? I took all my clothes off and run around naked. Some people that walked around with clothes looked a little bit weird at me...whahaaa! Fucking tired after a full day of walking and a stomach that was exploding after all the Mexican Tortilla's today. Party time at the Nomads Bar? Not really...

Thursday 2nd of September WHAT TO DO? NORTH OR SOUTH...RAINBOW BEACH AND I'M CRAZY

Verena left in the morning to Rainbow Beach, no actual plans for me. The surf was bad today so I decided to book a bus to Rainbow Beach as well and leave a little bit later with Greyhound. 3 hour boring bus trip, no interesting folks on the bus-a-bus... Verena was surprised and said I was crazy. Well I have the time and why not visiting a good friend and see places I haven't seen before? Beach time again. Besides the mental chef in Fraser on Rainbow there is not much to see here. A long beach and some over-the-top priced activities. Verena can't handle my laidback way of travelling/planning and thinks there's something wrong with me because it's hard for me to lose a game...a long time ago that someone told me I have some mental problems...WHAT A LAUGH! :-) I don't care! I know that most people like me and don't think too much. Time for me to leave and head back to Brisbane the next day...Bye Bye

Friday 3rd of September BRISBANE AND THE LONELYNESS

A long but cheap bus trip (30 AUD with Premier Motor Services) to Brisbane. Again nothing interesting and just grumpy young backpackers. A long walk to Chinatown. Chinatown is funky and cool. Many trendy shops around and many cool bars with live music. Funny conversations with a group of sexy dressed girls doing promotions for kinky place. Good cheap Asian food at The Asian House (Wickham St.) A cheap backpackers and I met m new travel partner for the East Coast; Marion. Another French and more people join us in the van Sunday night. The Friday night was not really booming. Since the last 2 days in Fiji you might have notice that my stories are not that enthusiastic anymore. And that's true. The lack of adventure, action and some good friends are making the trip a little bit boring. Sometimes you have one of these days but now it's almost a week! Tired of travelling? Maybe...I think it's just a temporary moment. Waiting for some new cool friends and some interesting stuff. Of course, the last 10 months were overwhelming, sick and twisted. You can't live in a movie all the time. Be patient and the feeling should come back... THE FREEDOM, THE EXPERIENCE!

Saturday 4th of September BRISBANE RIVER ON FIRE!

A day of preparations, shopping for the road trip. Trying out the vegetarian place on Wickham St. Tea House. This cheap Asian place has a lot of meat on the menu but it's all fake meat (soya) and it's damn tasty! After getting bottles of liquor Marion, Raphael, Johnny, some Germans and I strolled along the river for a good spot. South Bank was packed so we stay in the city. I tried to find a better spot next to the bridge, but again packed with thousands of Asians with big tripods and locals that sat there for hours with complete dining tables and bottles of wine... Yes, this is the Brisbane River on Fire Festival. The 5pm Airforce show never came, but at 7 there was a big fireball loudly shooting through the skyscrapers...it was a jetfighter on fire. A 20 minute non-stop massive fire show broke out! On several places on the river the same fire show, but at the big bridge it was fabulous! Like New Years Eve in Sydney and for some time I was thinking back to the New Years Eve parties in my old hometown Rotterdam. I was chilling with 2 locals and we had loads of beer, wine and champagne. The nightlife after? X&Y Nightclub and all the food places? One word > SUCKS! Everyone thinks they can rip you off hear, they think that everyone's is drunk and don't care about change. A long time ago for me in a nightclub and after 10 minutes it was already time to leave after some issues with bar staff and security. Luckily there was free live music all night long when I went back to my room :-) The Festival itself was worth a stay in Brizzy.

Sunday 5th of September RAINDANCE ON NORTH STRADBROKE ISLAND

For Marion and me it was the start of our trip, navigating to Cleveland for our vehicle ferry to North Stradbroke Island (without our vehicle). Rain was pooring down, so why not try hitch hiking in Australia? The 1st 4WD we asked took us. Andrew and his family were more than happy to show us around the island. A rich family with some property there. Marion and I did some walks around Point Lookout, Main Beach, Frenchmen's Beach. It was nice though, but the whales were really far away and hard to see. The weather was getting worse and worse. Hitch hiking on the island was not that easy so we jumped on the bus. A drunken local harmonica-musician kept us awake :-) We wanted to walk to Brown Lake and we got lost. No views, so much rain, no use to go further. One of the last ferries back and pick up our other French member of the team; JB. After the long search for food we drove and drove in the dark, through National Parks and our first free night of camping was in a park in the town of Canungra.

Monday 6th of September MEETING BIG SNAKE, CAR TROUBLES AND SLEEPING AT THE VILLA'S IN SURFERS PARADISE

Ok, these Frenchies already taught me something life changing...eating green Kiwi's with every breakfast. I love the fruit, never tried it...stupid. The closest National Park was Mt Tamborine, our 1st walk of the day. A nice walk through the jungle (tracks are quite easy), the Witches Falls were almost dry and that was surprising after all that rain from yesterday. Today was sunny and hot. The birdlife in these parks is fantastic. The Forest Lagoon, a great must-see, huge rainforest trees, spiders and shiiiiiit! I almost put my foot on a big snake if JB didn't warn us. This is cool and I'm full of adrenaline. Try to get closer. The next place, Lamington National Park. Should be a nice park in the mountains. Marion just received her Toyota Hiace van back from the garage, the temperature gauche was not working anymore and the van got overheated. It didn't want to drive anymore and after many longer breaks it was time to confront the mechanic (on the phone). He reacted suspicious and Marion was frustrated, after spending 550 AUD on repairs. We made it finally to Surfers Paradise. 'Paradise'? It's huge, the amount and height of al the skyscrapers is maybe more than Melbourne! Booze time and snacks and try to check the nightlife...well, maybe this place is booming during school holidays... SO just an early night, and we parked our van in the middle of a rich villa neighborhood. People were nice to us here, thanks for letting us stay :-)

Tuesday the 7th of September SWIMMING IN PARADISE, BURLEIGH HEADS AND NIMBIN COOKIES ARE BAD BAD BAD!

A stroll to the Surfers Paradise Art Gallery, the place was not interesting. The Goanna's outside made a bigger impression on me than all the artwork inside. The rest of the morning time to take the Ocean shower at Surfers Paradise. The waves were sucking you into the ocean and making you feel like you're in an enormous washing machine. It was a refreshing shower and I enjoyed it together with some local kids. Further down at the Eastcoast we stopped at Burleigh Heads for our chicken and rice BBQ. A hot sunny day again, perfect for more swimming and a BBQ. Burleigh Heads is an interesting place with different sort of (surf)beaches, rock formations and a lot of facilities. Climbing the rocks to spot the surfers with Surfers Paradise in the background, people popping the champagne here...they know how to live! And we know how to live as well, finding our way to Nimbin (a hippie town were everything seems to be allowed). Many kids tried to sell us marihuana, no way. And be aware of all the cameras on the street. We arrived late and after buying some snacks at the supermarket it was also time for some 'special snacks' from Rainbow Alley (the only place without cameras). Quality guaranteed said the woman bla bla. We looked for the hippie styled accommodation in the forest near Nimbin; Rainbow Retreat. This place is hilarious! Campsites are normal, the doubles are magnificent. Every double is different and are special creations...from western styles horse trailers to big mushroom hut in the trees. The dorm is wicked, bunk are semi-outside so you can wake up between the high kangaroos. Jay, a funny character from Lismore invited me straight away for a rolling-a-spliff-session. This mustache guy was doing stunts stunned on his motorbike. I wanted to stay, the place was exactly my style, the few peepz around here were so laidback. Did we stay? Nope, the Frenchies didn't want to spend 13 AUD for camping. We had to get the van up in the mountains, a splendid lookout over nimbin and the mountains, an amazing spot at first sight. But strange animals making loud annoying weird noises. Not good after eating spacey cookies :-) Also not good; leeches (blood suckers) falling out of the trees on your food, in your tea and sucking on your body. Not a lot of light so this can become an interesting night. More surprises; ticks! I had to use my first aid kit again. The movie was not really twisting our minds, only Marion had a head spinning night with the 'cookie monsters' LOL

Wednesday 8th of September NIMBIN COPS AND THE SURFLIFE OF BYRON BAY

A bright night last nite, shooting stars and waking up with a tick in my face. Back for a refund in Nimbin but the chick was still Out of Space I guess whahaa. So open the free Nimbin Museum, a colorful collage of all sorts of stuff and aphorisms. Interesting folks hanging around and some curious cops looking for 'stuff' with their torches. 'Where are you from mate?' 'The wonderful GREEN country on the other side of the world, The Netherlands!' I told those coppers. Oh now I got their full attention! Completely when they found out that I was with French friends LOL. Marion didn't realize that it were cops so she almost said some stupid things... They warned us several times about all the illegal things. Well, fcourse we're not gonna say anything about the 'bakery' :-) Time to leave this hippie town, after seeing some funny shops in this 2 street village. Up to Byron Bay, driving through Lismore. The weather was sunny but cloudy later on. In Byron JB knew a place for free hot showers and Wifi, backdoors of hostels are perfect for this. A few blue holes in the sky, a walk to the lighthouse, spotting some humpback whales in the distance, climbing some rocks to join some fishermen and a walk along the beaches for some special sunset; surfers in the yellow/red colored water...they just don't wanna stop surfing. Cheese and wine for me and the Frenchies? Nothing? Weird that a Dutchie does this and not them. BBQ at the boulevard, meeting 2 fresh German girls in their van and the surf dude Wayne. Good atmosphere, Wayne was a good bloke although not everyone shared the same opinion. Typical surfer, no place to stay, hanging around with friends, car is his home, BBQ chicken nuggets for dinner. If I could stay a little bit longer I would definitely love Byron Bay. JB knows a good camping spot near Tyagarah Beach (a few Km north from Byron). Not allowed for overnight camping and a 7 AUD parking fee? Nobody checks you here.

Thursday 9th of September SNORKLING JULIA ROCKS, WHALE WATCHING IN BYRON SUCKS AND THE GREAT CAMPSITE IN YURAYGIR NATIONAL PARK

Wake up way to early, went out for a long run on the beach, doing some exercise. I was surprised by some naked man doing the same running exercises. Later JB told me it was a gay meeting beach on Sunday WHAHAA! 11:00AM snorkeling with Sunshine Divers, offering a Free Humpback Whale watching afterwards. Well, 'lucky' me again NO WHALES! I'm just not lucky with tours for dolphins and whales. The snorkeling was around Julia Rocks. You can get real close to the Rocks but the waves can drop you on the Rocks as well. I was a little bit to curious following a turtle and got too close to the rocks, ending up in a current on the other side of the rocks. Heading back, loads of big fish and there are a lot of sharks here if you go 15 meters deep. So free diving I guess? I tried, but hardly possible with a 5.3MM wetsuit! The beginning of the afternoon no more sunshine. We drove all the way to Yuaraygir National Park, Red Cliff and Lake Arragan. Darkness falls but it seems to be great here. The campsite is packed with a big group of high school kids, most of them girls. JB and I started collecting firewood everywhere, the teachers warned us and showed us a place with a big amount of proper firewood, how easy?! Puffed potatoes in the fire and onions with sugar...yummie jammie. I choose to put Rosan's tent outside tonight. Well Roos, it's kind of waterproof (for at least 6 - 8 hours). But it was raining very hard this night, I woke up in a small pool. The funny part of the night, kangaroos around me all night long...opening the tent and seeing the hairy face of a kangaroo in front of me.

Friday 10th of September STORM - SUN - STORM - SUN, BROOMS HEAD, SANDY BEACH, SAWTELL, FISHING AROUND COFFS HARBOUR, WATERFALL WALKING DORRIGO

I thought I had a rough night, they hig school girls had a rough hiking trip to go. Tommy Hilfiger ponchos and sunglasses included. Well I run to the beaches with the half our of morning sun. Brooms Head (Red Cliff and Lake Arragan) is absolutely gorgeous! The cliffs are stunning, views in every way amazing, nice beaches, the river from the lake...so many different things at the same place. Kangaroos hopping around the dunes and on the beach. But storm started again, keep being positive guys. It helped, Sandy Beach (near Wollgoolga) was our 1st sunny stop of the day. Coffs Harbour was the place for that nice Mr. Coles and JB. Sawtell our third sunny stop, a picturesque place with a small island where you can walk to with low tide...good place for a refreshing swim. No good place for some fishing. The road trip followed up into the mountains, first the town of Bellingen (it was like time stopped here a while ago) and followed by an even sleepier old town; Dorrigo. Up on the mountain it was very windy and cold. The Danger Falls were okay, not that special. The lava structures were more interesting. It was already after darkness and the Frenchies told me to climb over the slippery rocks through the river and stand on top of the waterfall. I did, but it was not the smartest thing to do. Couldn't see a thing. BBQing in darkness and plastic plates blowing away all the time. I decided to sleep in front of the van...a once in a lifetime experience! Never again, definitely not for 11 hours!

Saturday 11th of September SKYWALKING DORRIGO, CRYSTAL SHOWERS, CRESCENT HEAD, PORT MACQUIRE, CAMPING AT BONNY HILLS

Fresh but very sunny start of the day. The back and neck hurts, so some stretching helps. Dorrigo National Park, the short skywalk for jaw-dropping views over the jungle and the mountains. The 2 hour Lyrebird track for many birds and 2 beautiful small falls. The first one you can actually use as a shower (Crystal Shower Falls), the other one you can climb down for some extra adventure. We did it just for a cookie time. No more hard working for the van today...Bellingen, Urunga, Nambucca, Kempsey and Crescent Heads for lunch. Very busy with local families on this sunny Sunday. I walked on to Pebbly Beach, the actual Heads and some old guy shouting at me that I was crossing a golf course...damn, you have to be careful here with all these senior golfers and bowling clubs :-) Good view from the lookout you might guess, not whit a bushfire like today. Sunset fishing around Port Macquire, shortly. After some bad navigating we finally stopped at a campsite near Bony Hills. A lot of backpackers staying overnite in their van in Port Macquire, we drove on to a more quiet place, Grants Beach. What a bright sky tonight and the Milky Way shined some light on our dinner. Movies in the van. Free camping, nobody send us away, while everyone could see us from the main road.

Sunday 12th of September CLIFF CLIMBING GRANTS BEACH, FISHING EVERYWHERE, FINDING PARADISE AT THE UNKNOWN BEACH NEAR CAPE HAWKE

Up-early-as-normal, sunny so check out this place. Small beach with huge cliffs on one site. Climbing the blocks and rocks for better views. I got lost in time. Crawling through some small holes, don't forget some proper non-slippery shoes. Crowdy Head was the goal, we didn't go further than senior fishermen's place Harrington. Loads of pelicans and the Frenchies are bad fishers. But what do you expect with Hungarian Salami as bait? :-) Big salad lunch at Tuncurry (just before Forster). My Australian buddy Dave unfortunately didn't give me a call for diving here. Cape Hawke, a 420 steps just for a bad lookout on a tower. This place is popular for couples making out... But we saw a small white sandy beach from here with turquoise blue water. We found a way to that beach, a steep and crazy 4WD track! Of course we walked and with my old flip-flops this was already a challenge. The hidden beach was sooo good. Loads of bites from the flies but amazing. All of a sudden a humpback whale jumps out of the water pretty close. And after having some thoughts I see 2 dolphins swimming through the rocks along the beach...this is my time to swim with dolphins! But more stuff to come, turtles just in front of me. Just when you don't expect anything you will get it all. There were more dolphins fishing here. The sun disappeared and the clouds came in. Camping at ugly Bungwhal Rest Area...an annoying place with too many noisy birds.

Monday 13th of September SEAL ROCKS, NO SEALS BUT WHAT A TERRIFFIC PLACE! NELSON BAY, TOMAREE NATIONAL PARK, LAST CAMPINGNIGHT DRUNK AT BUDGEWOI BEACH

Constantly ticking sounds in the morning, it was a stupid blue head bird attacking himself in the mirror for hours! We went to Seal Rocks. There is an unsealed road, but only for 1km. Parked the car at boatbeach and as we started walking the sun came just at the right moment. Boatbeach had nice views, wait until you reach the track to the lighthouse... Be Dingo Aware they say, don't be scared. A sandy walk down through some bushes brought us at the stunning rock formations before the lighthouse. We climbed the steep cliff walls and were surprised by the beauty of this place. When you reach the actual lighthouse , there you can finally see the Seal Rocks, no seals this time of season. The Beach is also worth a visit. Just a perfect day. Nelson Bay was too crowded, some nice beaches (Box Beach). Only snorkeling was very chilly with this cold wind. Try to rent a 4WD for the biggest sand dune area in Australia...190 AUD per 24-hours! Are they out of their mind?! Be careful with toilets in Nelson, they can be completely covered in shit :-) Drive on to Anna Bay, we stopped near Kingsly Beach. Quiet small beaches, after some climbing you can find more of these beaches. I was looking for the perfect cliff dive spot and I found one. Not over 6 meters high but a good jump, hard to get back on the rocks though. After all that chilling, diving and fishing we purchased 3 bottles of wine for our last campnite together...we were so wasted, JB in special ;-) Steaks and pasta for dinner, nacho's, dip and cheese. OMG, the campsites were closed, but like every day we find nice 'free' spot, this time at the dunes of Dudgewoi Beach.

Tuesday 14th of September WELCOME STORMY SYDNEY, WELCOME BY THE PARKING POLICE, WELCOME IN VAN-SALE-STREET

The French Toast for our last camping breakfast together? Nope, 2 hangover Frenchies instead. So JB, what did you say about Dutch people last night? ;-) Nothing interesting between here and Sydney today. Maybe, but it's raining after I crashed in the sand dunes for a while. The trip to Sydney was a long carwash. Driving on the 1 National Highway did actually have some good views driving through the National Parks...roads cut out of the mountains. Sydney? One big storm, raining harder and harder, flooding roads in Kings Cross. Marion, good luck with selling your van here, the street was full with vans for sale! Kings Cross is dodgy, just like most of the hostels here. Kanga Backpackers didn't really made good friends with me so time to leave this place ASAP...

TWO SIDES OF AN OVERATED HONEYMOON ISLAND HYPED COUNTRY, BUT THEY HAVE THE NICEST PEOPLE ON EARTH SO FAR, 10 DAYS IN A EASYGOING RUSH...FIJI TIME!

18th of August BULA BULA! FIJI AND THE CRAZY START WITH THE FRENCHIES

Here we are, left Auckland in the early rainy morning. No probs at the airports this time and no exit fees and stamps in NZ. Fiji gives a free tourist visa for 4 months. In the airport there was already the friendly mentality of Fiji, the woman was so helpful with advice and snacks. And if we get drinks in the airplane, why not asking for a bottle of champagne? Pop that bottle baby! Shocked the other passengers with the bang. 2.5 hours later I was there, hot Fiji whohooo! Looking for a hostel and no plans. Surprise that Adrien was waiting for me at the airport. We waited for his other friend Sebastien (who arrived 1 hour after me). Yeah a lot of people that tried to rip us off with deals and tours. But we managed to bargain the car rental price from 150 to 100 FJD per day (a fully insurreanced 4WD). We got a dirty half empty car, we bring it back like that. And we were happy that we rented a 4WD. The maps were crap, only some main roads. Hyper hyper, we've got a cassette player whohoo! So only radio with sometimes. 'Adrien, do you have some songs on your phone?' Only 1, 'Baby baby baby oh!'. Ok, this going to be our Fiji-song we said (and believe me it became a Fiji anthem this trip).We started around 4pm so it was getting darker. Supermarket; only crisps, noodles, cookies, some shampoo and drinks...nothing more, a basic assortment. And damn, Fiji doesn't look like all the stories and beautiful pictures. Around Nadi it's dirty and ugly. We missed the sunset on one of the resort beaches with a minute, some Fijians that wanted to get us on their horse for 25 FJD...hahahaa no way we gonna pay for that.

Plan; stay at Beachouse. But we made friends Sagi, a security guy from the 5* Warwick Resort. We went to BEachouse and booked a 40 FJD room and had some meals and drinks. But we didn't make friends :-) Adrien made a little mistake with the name/roomnr. (You don't pay cash, everything goes with receipts on name) and lucky Trevor became a little bit angry. After some threatening from Rocky VI Trevor, everyone in the hostel started to dislike us. Being extremely nice and friendly was like oil on the fire. So we went to the 5* Resort for some party party. And we started some party party there! Loads of rich families and couples and they are a little bit shy. The nightclub was not so booming so the 3 crazy backpackers started a;'caterpillar' (in Nederland welbekend als de 'polonaise'). Hahaaa, we took the whole resort out of their chairs. And followed by some crazy dance moves it was fanfuckintastic. After some hours it was time to go back to Beachouse and the gate was closed, the place was surrounded with a big wall/fence. So climb the gate, with some alcohol this was not the hardest job. What a night and what a funny start of the trip :-) :-) :-)

19th of August FLOORSURFING THE DIFFERENT SIDE OF FIJI

Early in the morning we left BEachouse without a notice. Bad memories about this place. Cruising along the Coral Coast, beautiful sometimes, but you have to take some dirt roads and climb in the telecommunication masts to have the best views. We took a dirt road and ended up in a small village called Talenaua, friendly people approached us and we asked them to show us around and tell them about their daily basic lives. Very cool and loads of fun with the kids. Yeah, this is what we gonna do guys, visit all the local stuff and show something about Fiji is in real. There are villages that you can visit by Tour Agency's and resorts, but they are used to it and do it mostly for the money. If you want, go far off the beaten track and visit them yourself. These people haven't seen travelers in a long time. Next, visiting the Sakiusa Naivalu Secondary School. Just park the car guys and walk in. They students were in an enthusiastic mood because it was the last day for School Holiday. The teacher invited us in their class and all of us had to do a presentation about their life and country. Hmmm, it's not so good to tell something about the Dutch main highlights like the Red Light District and Coffee shops maybe :-) One of the other teachers gave us some advice about where to go. Let's stop at an off-road beach and climb some palm trees! The local kids were laughing and showed us how to do it. All of a sudden they come to us with knives almost just as big as the kids. The 10 year old kids only wanted to show us how to cut the coconuts out of the trees. They taught us how to cut them open and how to make straws. Making baskets out of the leaves and drinking coconut milk. Making spoons. Time for a relaxing swim. Damn, this side of Fiji is soooo cool. And the kids know the song 'Baby baby baby ohhh!' and sing it fluently. Making more stops at beaches and do some running. And don't forget to buy some snacks and samosa's at the petrol station in Pacific Harbour! Delicious and fuckin cheap. Roadtrippin the South, entering the capitol Suva. A busy chaotic city filled with market and loads of sinking Asian ships in the harbour. NZ has too many sheep, Fiji has too many busses. Further on beaches full of garbage, this is not like the picturesque images you've seen in all the brochures. If you need a pair of flip-flops? You will definitely find a pair here on the beach. This is also Fiji...

Hit the East coast and find a beach to spend the night? Nope, no beaches here, we drove in the dark for a long time. Let's take a dirt road and see what happens. The road we took was not on the map, we drove for half an hour and ended in a village. I saw some people outside so let's join them. It were some locals having Cava with the Chief of the village. Ratu Robocca was surprised about our visit and our plans to sleep in the car. He invited us to sleep in their school. 'Did you guys have dinner today?' Me; 'NO!' A little bit too enthusiastic maybe, but he woke up his wife to make some sausages. And because we were eating like hungry dogs they made more and more. My first Cava experience...damn that stuff tastes like dirt. But it is dirt, it's crushed Cassava roots, put it in a piece of cotton and put it in the water in a big bowl. No clean water for sure! And everyone drinks out of the same coconut cup. One of the guys Cody invited us to sleep in his house with his family, he never had travelers before. A warm welcome. And don't expect a normal house...it's very very basic. Sleeping on the floor with loads of kids and dogs around you. Sebastien was in love with the cute little puppy. The house is just one room with a curtain. The kitchen and toilet are separated and even more basic. Sitting on a smelly pot with flies on your ass and in front of you the kids that look at you...funny, very funny. They arranged more Cava (6 bags in a bowl, 1 FJD for a small bag). Well, I still don't know what they like about the Cava :-)

The 20th of August THE LONG BOAT TRIP TO LEVUKA AND THE LOVELY LIFE IN THE NEXT VILLAGE, FOOD AND FUN AS MUCH AS YOU WANT

6am, sunset between the mangroves. Cody was a nice guy and the family was quite happy with us. They invited us to go to Ovalau Island and visit one of the villages there for a funeral of the local Chief's wife. But first we have to bring Cody and Johnny to Suva, they are free divers and earn their money with diving for sea cucumbers and fishing with a spear gun. 1kg of sea cucumber is about 60-80 FJD on the Asian market in Suva. Cody also showed us the turtle they ca? and killed (for decoration and food). In Suva we ended up in a sort of Ghetto styled village, people were a little bit different here. It was all about trading stuff. Cody earned around 700 FJD that day and bought a big box of Fiji Gold. Getting tipsy in the car and Johnny couldn't stop talking anymore. What about the garbage in Fiji? Oh, just open the window and throw everything outside :-) Back in the Vereta Village. A small boat from Cody had to pick up around 15 people from another village. Friendly people and some of the woman looked like men with their beard whahaa. And there was also the screaming big attached to a big stick on board. This was for the ceremonial food. Many nice islands and amazing blue colors on our way. And the bumpy trip made everyone soaking wet. Now I understand why they told us to bring a raincoat. I only had shorts and a t-shirt. After 3 hours we were finally there. A village even more back to basic but a welcome not to forget. Everyone invited us in their house, have some tea and bread with them, play with the kids. Cold shower or a dip in the river? But why is there a turtles crawling around in the shower? The kids don't really care about the animals, especially the pigs. They drag them on their legs over the streets, kick them and hit them. For them it's normal, they are going to eat it. For us Western people it looks like torture and you want to become a vegetarian... Playing rugby on flip-flops is not the best idea, Sebastian was so smart to bring his shoes. Kids dancing and singing with us with our Fiji-anthem (it's a real popular song here). Big buffets in the evening and many many bowls of Cava. The young local girls all wanted to marry us. But I slept alone in my bed, no worries :-) And I had to walk around in a Suvu (looks like a long skirt) because my shorts were too short, so the Frencies couldn't stop laughing.

The 21st of August THE OLD CAPITOL OF FIJI, BOUNTY BOUNTY, FIRST PARADISE ISLANDS AND THE NIGHT IN THE MOUNTAINS

Wake up with after a night full of ceremonial singing, screaming pigs and Cava. Breakfast and tea. The best tasting bread I ever had. Everyone makes his own bread and it's so sweet and delicious. Yummie yummie! Cody showed us how they make a Lovo, food that is cooked in the ground (sort of the same like a Hangi in New Zealand). Yeah, finally the pig is killed. Cody and Johnny took us to some other villages and the old capitol of Fiji; Levuka. No busses and too many people for a taxi. We waited for a small van, 1.20 FJD for a trip around the island. But Fiji time... Levuka; Most of the buildings in that city are still in the original European style. Everywhere you see signs that the villages and cities are crime free, why do they have so many fences and barns in the shops then? The police is an easygoing guy on a bike, cycling around with his freshly baked bread. We had some spicy food and drinks at an upstairs cafe. First time to try the dark Fijian Bounty Rum; I LOVE IT! 58% but very tasty if you drink it straight. Adrien was spitting fire after one shot. Sebeastien is still playing with dogs everywhere. Back in the village the funeral was over. Time for the Lovo, I prefer the beef. Pork and chicken is full of fat and bones. The goodbye was huge. One of the guys offered us some girls to marry them and gave us their details, whahaaa. The whole village was waving us goodbye when we sailed away. We wanted to stop at some of the paradise islands and we did. Some snorkeling and the other locals could spend some time on the resort. I think some of them had never seen a resort before. Everybody happy today... The goodbye with Cody and his family was hard. Yes, some small tears on both sides. Where on earth have we ever seen people so nice and friendly as the Fijians from the last days? We probably never see them again. But if I ever come back to Fiji, I will visit them again. Good luck in life, you were our best memory of Fiji! The ride to the North was bumpy and dusty...Kings Road was a future highway, but at the moment it was grind, flying stones around the car, drifting with a 4WD and heavy machinery all around. No lights and people walking on the road in the dark made the whole thing extra exciting. RagiRagi has nothing to offer, so we took a dirt road into the mountains and camped there. The Franchise slept in the car and I put up my tent. Pretty sleepless night because the wild horses were running around and that's not the best place to put your tent up.

The 22nd of August NO MORE FRIENDLY PEOPLE, WELCOME TO TOURISTY FIJI

Lovely sunrise over the bay. On our way to Navala Village (a characteristic village in traditional building style). As usual no road signs anywhere. So asking the way many times... 'Bula Bula' changed into the more simple way of asking the way... 'Navala?'. This because of all the Indian people in the North. Even if we saw some wild horses on the road we asked them 'Navala?' and they looked at us with big eyes 'Hihiiiii!'. After some time we say the traditional village in the valley, looked like a Smurfs-look-a-like village, the only difference was the color of the inhabitants. Kids welcoming us in the river, again a warm welcome. Only for a short time... After our 1st footsteps on the ground a woman start screaming at us; 'Admission admission now...pay 25 FJD each or leave!'. No Bula Bula over here. Okay, we go back to the river for a little walk, the kids invited us for a swim in the river. Swim shorts on and...Oh no, an older man comes to us 'Who gave you permit to be here?!' Uhm, this is a free piece of land, no fences or signs, everyone can walk along the river. But they became really aggressive and we must pay money to their chief. We drove away, more aggressive inhabitants at the end of the village. What happened here guys?! In Fiji they say 'Moce' (Mothe) and it means 'Goodbye'...well we say Moce Fucker! in this village. We drove over the top of the mountain ranges. Took the car back to the airport and the rental company wanted to rip us off. Then the office of the hostel where we wanted to stay on Mana Island tried to rip us off, but we knew the prices from the internet. The taxi and the ferry to the island were an even bigger rip off, 102 FJD for a short boat trip WTF?!

Port Denarau, we feel like tourists again. Paying shitloads of money and not welcome at all. Our stop; Mana Island. FInally something that looked like Fiji from the brochures. The Ratu Kini Backpackers was a basic hostel with a huge dorm room. No kitchen, so no opportunity to prepare your own food. The meals were good and the staff was not that bad. Walking around the island followed by the dogs. A golf cart full of girls waved enthusiastic at us. Like everything on Fiji...what we said, it just happened. We met them on Sunset Beach. A bunch of funny Kiwi (and 1 Sydney) girls, who gave us a lot of Vodka and invited us in their resort. Again a resort night guys? This is going to be fun. The staff in Ratu Kini invited me for a drinking game with the ping pong balls throwing into cups. They were looking for 1 more person to complete the last couple. It was Sarah, the girl sleeping under me in the dorm. They called us 'Team HOT' because we were the 2 hottest persons on the island. Yeah, it was true :-) A good team, but we didn't win the free day of diving. Adrien and Sebastien were nowhere to be found in the Resort, the Karaoke night was finished hours ago. So I think they have a good night with the Kiwi girls. Not exactly hahahaa, the security caught them and took them to the office. Interviewed them with torches on their face and gave them some warnings. This island feels like a prison, fences and barbwire around the hostel and we are not allowed to walk out?!

The 23rd of August WALKING AND SNORKLING AROUND MANA...CLIFF DIVING WITH TEAM HOT

Time to sleep in, relax, Fiji time. Some walks around the island, climbing the mountain of the island and good snorkeling at Sunset Beach. Snorkeling with low tide on the reef is quite a challenge I must say. But we saw sea snakes. My hot team girl young Sarah and Giana invited me to some quiet spots around the island. Beautiful places, silent beaches and a crazy spot for jumping/diving of the rocks and swimming between the fish. We had a good time together, watching the sunset at the end of the day. The Kiwi-connection loved the hostel life and food. A hot day and I got sunburned seriously. Some bonfire on the beach, the other guests can't understand how I can drink the Bounty rum straight out of the bottle. Johnny Depp did the same in Pirates of... so what's so strange about that? Crazy jumping over and in the bonfire followed by some free beers of the hostel, thanks Mitch.

The 24th of August ISLAND HOPPING

Booked an island hopping trip at the hostel with Mitch, but everything changes in a minute in Fiji. They cancelled the trip. We arranged something with another hostel. 70 FJD for a full day of visiting Castaway Island, Plantation Island, Malolo Island and the resorts there. 2 places for snorkeling. The snorkeling around Sandbank Island was the best, huge groupers and loads of fish. And they use the Sandbank for overnight party trips sometimes (minimum of 8 people). Our guides were not the most talkative guys. The old guy from Alaska that we met was a funny character. The people in the resorts were mostly families and couples, not that interesting for us. Adrien arranged some free drinks at one of the resort bars. These places are perfect to arrange a trip on a sailing boat as a deckhand. Sometimes we asked the guides 'What can we do here on the resort?'. The replied 'There is internet'. YEAH that's where we came for with an island hopping trip! Are you serious?! We pushed the guides a little bit to visit some of the private islands. Our last evening at the island means? Party!!! And we did...only Mitch and the other staff girl (both doing the Fijian dances tonight) and the Ozzy girls joined us. We completely lost our minds, making funny dance moves, dancing on bar chairs and the bar, taking our clothes off, limbo dancing, drinking drinking and drinking and the cooling down was skinny dipping with the Ozzy girls. This is how we party :-)

The 25th of August GOODBYE FRENCHIES, HELLO GERMANS. MANTA RAY ROCKS!

Again the reception changed their mind. Nobody else on the boat to Beachcomber so I had to pay 100 FJD instead of 60 FJD for a 20 minute small boat trip (they use 25 litres of petrol for a return, so they earn big money). Everything goes on Fiji time and yeah, I missed the connection with the Awesome Adventures Ferry. Luckily it was possible to jump on the South Sea Cruises Ferry. Manta ray Island was a 3 hour cruise and during the cruise the islands became more and more incredible. Manta Ray was the bomb! The food was absolutely amazing, choose your lunch out of 20 options (try the Mexican Beef). Meeting loads of nice people (couples or not). I started diving with Dave (an Ozzy guy) today. 2 dives; the first was cave diving. After my bad experiences 5 years ago this was my first cave dive again and it was magnificent! Sooo beautiful. Squeezing yourself to tiny holes and ending up in amazing cave lagoons. Murray Eels and tuna. The 2nd dive was along a big wall of coral. Lots of soft and hard coral and some turtles. Back on the Island more fun with Lucas and Kristen (US), Connor (Ireland), Angelica, Michaela, Magda, Andrea and Jessica (Germany) and Fikki and Mia (NL). Connor and all the Germans and I went for a long night of drinking in the hammocks. The staff was constantly following us. And the hammocks were quite a challenge for 2 persons at the same time :-) I had a wonderful night with Michaela. An early morning.

The 26th of August SIMMING WITH THE HUGE MANTA RAYS...THAT'S WHAT WE CALL AWESOME!

6am, here goes the drums, time for snorkeling with the Manta Rays. 20 people in the small boat, up to the small strait between the islands. You can only spot them with low tide. There it was, a big female Manta Ray (white bottom) swimming under us. Sometimes it came closer to the surface. But you have to do some free diving (diving 10 - 15 metres without a tank) to get close to them. All of a sudden 3 male Manta Rays (black bottom) joined the female and they start making flips. I tried free diving and it was sick! Making flips together with the Manta Ray and swim to the surface together facing their bottom side and very very close (10 cm away from them). The other wicked part was free diving and 'fly' with them just a few inches above their back. I loved it and they had to pull me out of the water because I didn't want to get out. It seemed that some people were hungry for breakfast. The rest of the morning was an unforgettable time with Michaela, this was one of the most interesting persons I met on this trip. She and her friend Angelica left and I went for 2 more dives in the afternoon. Troubles with the equipment of the other guys. The dive sites are not that interesting. Fikki (from Gouda) was a cool dude and the only Dutch guy in Fiji. The dive staff knew what happened last night and couldn't stop making funny references in and out of the water :-) Especially with the sea cucumbers whahahaa. The leopard sharks we maybe the most interesting of the dives, you can even cuttle them if you dare. The dive staff was happy with me and invited me to do a presentation at another island/resort. Barefoot Resort was really quiet. But the owner was a local and he and his friends had an enormous cava session. Why not, drink that stuff again...no low tide for me. I surprised everyone. Half of the locals were already sleeping after 20 bowls of Cava. Don't stop and play on! We were playing 6 guitars and some bamboo drums. They were singing locals songs. Back at the Manta Ray everyone was in panic, because they didn't know where I was. 'Vincent, maybe he died?!' Hilarious! Connor, the German girls and I went for another night full of whiskey at the beach. Staff members following us and they would only leave you alone after a drink. A bottle of Bounty rum for 228 FJD?! Are you fuckin nuts?! The dive crew couldn't believe I was still partying after all the cava, whiskey and wine. Connor started a heavy discussion with Magda and Jessica. Andrea seemed to be the coolest chick but in the end everybody went to bed halfway the night. Okay, Manta Ray is known as the party island? Not at all. But an unforgettable time here.

The 27th of August WHERE TO GO NEXT?

Manta Ray goodbye! I met more nice people, Gary (UK) was an older guy travelling with his French girl and he will definitely get a visit from me in the UK for some paragliding. Don't know where to go. A very high bill from the resort, luckily they forgot to charge a few things. I decided on the ferry that I should make an extra stop at Bounty Island. Most interesting people jumped off at Kuata, damn. The ferry was delayed with 2 hours because of technical problems. So we had to kill some time with breaking coconuts with our teeth and fists. Arrived at Bounty after sunset. This place was completely different then Manta Ray, basic food and filthy dorms. They changed the dorm because there we locals kids staying in our bed and having a sort of food fight. The evening was quiet and I talked most of the time with an old couple from the US.

The 28th of August BORING BURNING BOUNTY AND THE RAVE NEXTDOOR

Walking around Bounty in 30 minutes, snorkeling, snorkeling, and snorkeling. That's what you can do here. Or paying a lot of money for Jet Ski's. Sunbathing and jumping in the pool now and then. There were some English girls were I could talk with. Because all the German guys refused t speak English. Well guys, I understood everything! :-) These are the days when travelling on your own is lonely and boring. I missed my friends... I was walking around the island again and realized that it was already boarding time for the ferry. Lucky they work with Fiji-time so the ferry was 45 minutes late. A shuttle from Denarau to Aquarius in Nadi. A nice place with good food again. Killing time with moving and then... a big rave next door. Someone put up some tent, got a few dj's from Sydney and had a big rave party I LIKE THAT! Perfect when you have to wake up at 5am and your phone/alarm is not working anymore.

The 29th of August BULA VINAKA FIJI...MOCE!

Cute Emily and I were the only one that had to wake up early. Fiji time, the driver had to do some shopping first. The guy from the petrol station was shaking the van like a mad man to get a few extra drips of petrol in the tank...GOOD MORNING FIJI! Emily was just in time to board, I had to climb under some fences and create some angry looks to board my flight. No time to buy some Bounty Rum. A 4 hour flight to Brisbane...

Wonderful memories of Fiji. Not what I expected and the big differences between the real local life and the touristy island resorts. Beauty, relaxing and important lessons in life. Respect!