KUTA- This crazy town is a haggler frenzy, bargaining is the name of the game and we sure did. We bought two dollar Bintang Shirts, hats, beer coolers, you name it. We were full blown fat American tourists, fat because I drank beer every day and ate fried rice and fried chicken breakfast lunch and dinner. We saw cools shops, were eaten alive by bugs in our hotel room, it was a dirty little town but a stop not to miss. On my birthday we saw GWK a massive statue that is very controversial in Bali, Dreamland a surfers paradise, and then off to Uluwatu temple where we were harassed by evil monkeys and told by our guide not to "look at them in the eye" um, what? Also saw the Kecak dance, where a performer kicked fire balls into the audience. It wasn't ok. Then we finished off our night on Jimbaran bay for dinner, the most beautiful dinner I have ever had. I reallllly enjoyed the corn hut on the beach. Corn is so good.

GILI T- Small island near Lombok. Painful boat ride there. Most beautiful beaches ever, crystal clear and buoyant swimming. But a druggie little island with everyone indulging in "mushroom shakes", Cass I was too scared to try one call me a puss if you want. Wonderful restaurants with jaw-dropping views, no motorized vehicles only horse drawn carts, heavenly snorkeling saw turtles and giant clams on Gili Air and Meno, met a wonderful Vancouver couple love you Donna and Ed. I will never see anything like this island in my life. It was surreal. We chilled HARD on the beach here some days I didn't move from my lounge chair..only to get another cocktail or noodle dish. Helena read like six books, I just stared into space listened only to Astrid Gilberto on my ipod most of time... trying painfully to get through "The Sirens of Titan" by Kurt Vonnegut.

PADANGBAI- Seaside town, a bit sleepy but cool to see. Really fun bar called Babylon where we danced with locals but then had to dodge frothing cats and dogs in an alley in the dark. Terrifying. Thanks travel clinic for not pushing the rabies shot. Realized that every restaurant we were eating at was infested with rats and had to eat dinner while watching rats gobble up the food in the offerings (google "Bali offerings" it is crazy how many offerings and temples there are in Bali). This part of the trip was questionable I guess haha.

UBUD- Inland to see the ricefields. Stunning vistas where we ate more and drank more and chatted each others ears off, so much fun. Poolside chilling with the best watermelon juice ever YUM. Saw a lizard above our heads in a restaurant that I am pretty sure was a Komodo dragon ... they tried to tell us it was a Gheko. Danced and sang on stage with a band at a reggae bar, never danced with an odder bunch of people but It was so fun.

Now I am in Seminyak alone for 3 days, about to go explore. Then off to Sydney Australia to meet Cassandra. It's been a wild adventure and it is only going to get crazier. Loved travelling with you Lennie your the best partner ever haha and so excited for Aus journey up the coast Cassio.

Love and miss you all!

written by  Jamie~Dana on November 14, 2009 from Ubud, Indonesia
from the travel blog: Journey to anywhere
tagged DonTTryAndTellMeThatIsAGheko
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We started in Sydney which wasn't my favourite I don't really know why, maybe cause I wasn't feeling well. We stayed in Kings Cross, the red light district, at a hostel called The Palms and even though I met some cool people there I was itchin' to get on the road and unite with my true love Murgatroyd, the name of our van.

We started driving and made our way to a sketchy little town called Raymond Terrace just north of the beautiful Port Stephens and Newcastle. We stayed at a trailer park and drank with some locals who were a laugh and a half, asking us questions like: "How is the KFC in Canada?"
This was also our introduction to Goon the cheapest faux wine I became addicted to and am having withdrawl symptoms from now, for real.

From there we ventured up to Nambucca Heads where we met our friend Michael Crossland a motivational speaker who taught us many life lessons and showed us around his towns Sawtell and Coffs Harbour, beautiful places with many scenic lookouts and gorgeous Banana Plantation vistas.. he took us to some wonderful sand dunes, fed us the best Chinese food I have had to this day and even brought us home to his house for the night. We were truly lucky to have met Michael our tour guide and guardian angel.

Then we camped at a national park near Taree, where I really became one with nature. Dave thinks I am a princess for screaming about christmas beetle swarms but I still feel I can rough it in the wilderness Dave.

From there we continued on to Byron Bay where Cassandra couldn't handle the amount of "schoolies" vactioning there...look up "schoolies" I don't feel like explaining. Byron was fun but our campsite in Brokenhead really took the cake. It was overlooking a stunning beach with a wonderful coastal walk nearby. We met a great older man named Gary who fed me french champagne and blue cheese, it was splendid.

Onwards to the Gold Coast where we met up with Cass and Dave's friend Kiera in Surfers Paradise to party for a night, staying at "miami caravan park" a sleazy little place but a wild one to remember........

And then we arrived in Noosa, an idyllic spot: we lounged, flew kites, drank alot of Goon and loved life.

Finally we took a 3 day self guided camping trip to Fraser Island... where we were bombarded by dingos in the dark at our campsite, drove for way too many hours in our 4x4 through the roughest terrain I have ever seen and saw unbelievable beauty at Lake Mackenzie, Lake Wabby, The Eastern Beach and Elie Creek. It was a wicked adventure. I saw giant lizards, stingrays, sharks, sea turtles, a wild kangaroo....

Lastly we ended in Brisbane where Cassandra and Dave left for Thailand and I came here to Mt. Martha, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria -just outside of Melbourne to spend some time with my friend Jade's dad Don and his girlfriend Judy at their beautiful beachside home.. so very happy to be eating great food, sleeping in a bed and being stationed in one place! This part of Aus is the most beautiful of all my stops I'd have to say... the vineyards I saw today at Arthurs Seat were too much...

I start work at a Mt Martha beach restaurant on Friday for the holiday season and then plan on meeting my step cousin Annie in the new year for more adventures.

Happy Holidays Everyone !!!!!

PS: I likely missed some stop offs on our trip but those are the moments that stick out!!

written by  Jamie~Dana on December 14, 2009 from Mornington, Australia
from the travel blog: Journey to anywhere
tagged MurginIt
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