Sailing at the Whitsundays it's amazing!

I arrived at the hostel in Hervey bay from Fraser Island at 6pm and at 8.30pm I had the night bus for Airlie Beach where I would have started my sailing trip at the Whitsundays! I was excited but, as easily imaginable, destroyed!



The sailing trip required everyone to take their own drinks...and as much as I wanted to take beers, I couldn't be bothered to carry cans from the hostel to the Marina, so I decided to go without beers...At the Marina, I met the other 20 sailors :)
While we were waiting for everyone to arrive, I heard two guys asking the staff where they could buy drinks, so I immediately introduced myself and said that I needed to buy beers too...and that's how I met Franz and Christoph: two Austrian guys travelling in Australia...
At the same time, Emilie and Kim, hearing us talking about going to buy drinks asked for some more...you know how much Swedish drink!! Yes, Emilie and Kim are Swedish and with them there were other two girls from the same land: Beatrice and Johanna. Next to them I looked the adopted sister :)

This impromptu request meant that the staff and the other passengers had to wait for us, which we had to call the taxi and go to the nearest shop in town...but hey, we couldn't leave without beers! :)

Arrived at the boat we started to socialise with the other people: Hugh and Bronwyn, two cousins from Melbourne; 4 English girls from Essex, two of which (we could bet) had the boobs job done :); 4 fun and lovely Brazilian boys; Mark and Shelley from California and a quiet couple from England and Sydney (yes, love at distance)!

Martina took care of our food, Andi - the first German with (too much) sense of humor - and Nigel were our dive instructors...

The first night was more about socialising and getting to know each others, but I went to sleep pretty early, especially when I heard that the alarm in the moring was at 7am...Jeez, it seems a survival tour, more than travelling with all these early mornings!

Anyway, the sleep was needed, so without saying anything I went to bed...

The day after we went to the famous and amazing Whitehaven beach...unfortunately it was cloudy and the picture don't make justice, but it was really stunning!
Still unfortunately, it's blue bottle (or deadly jelly fish) season so we had to wear the wet suit every time we wanted to bath, but still...it was fun!
Additionally, as you can see in the picture, there were many stingrays (those ones that killed the famous Australian Irwin a few years ago), so we had to be really carefully...and, yes I need to add something more: there were so many huge flayers, that seemed like they could eat us alive...which disturbed our paradise sensation, but put on a balance all these warnings and, on the other side, people, a crazy man wearing a bear suit, the stunning view, the amazing white sand and the heat...it was a winning situation!

The best way we found to socialise was to sing on the boat deck the National anthems of each of our countries...or, simply singing O Sole Mio, Imagine and other classics...and Emilie, for some reasons introduced the trip sound: WIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!

That night we had such a great fun playing "I've never ever...", which, as everyone that has played it before knows that it's a way to get intrusive in other people's lives about their sexual story/habits! It was pure fun and the litres of beers soon helped to open up! :)

Other than the lovely and truly fun crowd of boys and girls I was surrounded by, it was a real pleasure having met Mark, a charming 50 years old, business consultant from California...he's into environment and alternative energies industries and we got into so many interesting conversations that we decided to start collaborating about some ideas he and I have had for a while! This is actually pretty exciting as he gave me the right dose of inspiration to start writing down a business plan that has been stacked in my mind for at least one year!

The following day we did snorkeling: A M A Z I N G!!! When I did it back in Thailand, it was great, but here the coral is still alive and so colorful that looking at it in so many colours, it's as exciting as seeing fish! I saw rainbow fish and so many more, which I checked on the list but I forgot the names...just trust me! All amazingly colorful and playful!
Same day, reached the Great Barrier Reef, we could take advantage of a dive introduction...I really wanted to do it, but I was literally petrified! In fact, I asked Andi if he could take my hand while we were under the water! He took me seriously, so once under that water, I realised I looked silly, in a group of 4 people being the only one hand in hand with the instructor, so when I pointed to Andi that I felt OK and he could leave me alone, he refused! After, he explained me that when he tried to leave me, I went up so it was easy to hold me rather than keep pulling me down! Reasons? First I bicycle rather than slowly move the fins, second maybe I need more weight :)

It was really great (unfortunately I didn't see turtle - and most of the others did)...but I saw the Shrek fish: a big green/blue fish with big lips and big eyes which kept getting close to us and it seemed like he looked us with an attitude, almost like he was saying: I couldn't be bothered!!

This is wet season at the Tropics, so I knew that the weather was going to be a gamble, but I guess we'd been really lucky....no rain, except for one night (the Australia day, to allocate it properly) when the water was so rough and wavy that a few people were sea sick...and those that weren't sick, needed to lie down (preferably) on the deck outside...I was one of those!

Apart this (expected) moment, the sailing at Whitsundays win the price for the best and funniest experience on the East Coast of Australia!! The people, I guess contributed to win the nomination! Nice to meet you all :)

A flashpacker camping at Fraser Island :)

As part of the standard East Coast Australian places to see and tours to take part of, you have to do the Fraser Island safari, which involves camping and self driving (usually in a group of 8 people) a 4X4 Jeep car!

I have to say, that the agency didn't think very well about sharing the groups being thoughtful about how many women/men and drivers/non-drivers in each group! There were 3 groups...and we were 7 women and 1 man (not really) :)
And most of these women were from Europe where we drive on the right side...not that matters so much on a island that only has space for one way drive...but still!



Anyway, the adventure started and at the beginning, Frances was the only driver "willing" to give a go! The first 5 minutes on the island, we got stacked in a huge hole on the road...very scary!!! We thought we were going to loose the car all the passengers!

Panic over, thanks to some men on the other groups, we moved to the first spot recommended: the Wobby Lake...It was literally stunning! I've never seen something like that before: endless dunes of sand with a green lake where to swim and refresh! Absolutely amazing! Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, so no visual memories of this place until I get the pictures from my companions of adventure!

Speaking of which, in my group there were: Suzana, Valeria, Frances, Trine, Helen, Anne and the guy (kind of :))...I don't even remember his name!

The most remarkable things at Fraser Island are: Dingoe's...pure stray dogs that apparently attack people - mainly kids - to get their food! Unfortunately for someone, we didn't see any...but we always accompanied each others to the public toilets :) ...mh...open toilets, sand toilets with free ocean view! You can't swim in the ocean as there are sharks!

Food: I was mainly travelling with young backpackers, meaning that food for them is just a way to fill in the body and don't starve...so, I had to shut up and go with the flow and buy the cheapest meat and ingredients in the supermarket! The only thing I managed to do was to take over and cook the BBQ and the pasta the day after! At least...

Prohibit signs: everything is prohibited at Fraser Island...unbelievable...there are signs everywhere about not using water, using water only for drinking or washing, not smoking, not diving, not swimming, not touching...I was surprised that I hadn't seen a sign that prohibits to breath! :)

I guess this is the big difference between Australia and Thailand: here in Australia every place is protected and treated with the best respect (nature becomes priority to human acts), while in Thailand money wins on everything, and nature is forgotten, with the consequence of pollution, died coral, ruined beaches, etc...

Fraser Island is great and it was a real adventure, but we all had the sensation that 3 days were enough...especially after the last night when it rained and, having the tents a few holes, we got all wet and pissed off!

It was good fun, though...also meeting and chatting with other people in the other 2 groups: 4 really fun Irish boys and 4 really German, German girls :)

The most amazing 24 hours in Nimbin

When you say "Nimbin" everyone just thinks about the hippie place where you can freely smoke recreational herbs!
Well, I won't to deny that, but there is much more and actually more interesting things happening in Nimbin!

Nimbin is a tiny village, two hours away from Byron bay, in land...a place where, in the 60's the hippie community moved in because the lands where very cheap to buy, and they were free to cultivate marijuana! Bear in mind that selling (and cultivating) marijuana is now prohibited in Nimbin, but it's still very easy to find it! And I guess they cultivate it too, unless they import it from somewhere else! Though, apparently you have to be careful!



Two hours are more than enough to see it all and I was lucky enough that the day I arrived there was the Nimbin Market with live music and other local attractions! :)
When I say local attractions, I mean it! I saw a stand with a old-ish lady that red tarots (not that I need to know anything about my future, but I was curious) so I decided to go ahead and try to get some hints about a couple of questions! :)
I wish I had recorded the 20 minutes with Lisa - Spanish origin!
She held my hands and closed her eyes...and said something like: "you come from nothing and now you are love...I can feel the power, the power of the universe!...ah ah ah ah..." imagine the laugh of a witch...loud and a bit scary! :)
God...nothing revealed!
There was a queue of people waiting to interrogate the cards...
When I left, she gave me an angel's reading that said: "Allow your heart to guide you"
I guess, I can follow the recommendation! :)

And let's get to the real highlight of Nimbin: Nimbin Rox! It's a hostel situated at the top of a hill out of town, with a really great view, teepee's, hammocks, pool table, swimming pool, fire place work in progress to oversee the great green land...just all immerse in the nature! Great people...I met Paula from Wales, Raul from Switzerland, Roger from Canada (a 46 years old man that sold everything and went travelling...I think he was one of those hurt men, probably from a not worked marriage, with 2 kids...a few days after, one of his children was going to meet him to do some travels together!)...Roger told me that the day before I arrived, he saw a snake eating a kangaroo! I didn't want to believe it until I saw the pictures: he had been photographing more than one hour until all the kangaroo was in the snake's belly...you could even see the shape of the eaten animal inside the snake! Shocking!
An this was another highlight of my 24 hours in Nimbin: the wild life! I don't think I've ever seen so many rats, spiders and any kinds of birds!

Now, whoever knows me, knows that if I'm phobic of something, these are rats and mice!! They scare the hell out of me and I was already imagining myself screaming in the middle of the night in the most peaceful place in Australia! So, I kindly asked Raul to sleep in my big bed, I suppose to rescue me from the rats attack! :)

That night arrived a weird couple: Zoom from Botswana and Tina from Iran...they were both stunning and very high...Tina thought me how to play backgammon...really funny if you imagine that she was really high, having god knows what, with her boyfriend and I was kind of tasting the local herbs!! It was really fun...they had a clear posh background, but they also decided to steal the duvet the morning after they left!

Another hostel guest was Zac, 47 years old from New Zealand...another interesting character: never married, with a 26 years old child...a copper and gold miner that didn't trust women at all...so, you can imagine the long conversations we had about love and trust! It was fun...I actually bumped into him when I was in Airlie beach 10days after!

I loooooooooved Nimbin and I would have stayed at least a week in that great hostel, but unfortunately I had to leave as I had booked the Fraser Island and Whitsundays trip! Clearly I haven't learned that I should only book last minute accomodations and trips! :)

Highly recommended if you pass by: Nimbin Rox (it rocks!)...

Australia's East Coast: Byron Bay and Noosa

My trip across the East Coast of Australia started with a 12 hours bus trip to Byron Bay.
As my usual, I had booked one night in Byron Bay and, just to be sure I didn't miss on anything, I booked 2 nights in a hostel in Nimbin, which the Lonely Planet guide recommended as a "trip in itself" place to stay!

Arrived in Byron Bay, I was too tired to leave the morning after, so I decided to skip the first paid night in Nimbin and stay another night in Byron Bay! I met Katie and two Italian guys in the bus, so we went out there.

Also, I discovered a Bikram yoga centre just next to my hostel, so I wanted to attend a couple of classes, considering I was craving yoga days before.

(Later I regretted not having gone earlier to Nimbin...but that's another story)!



Byron Bay was good, but the Ocean scares me...too wavy and rough! And, apparently a week before my arrival 3 people had been attacked by sharks! I don't think it would be my favourite way to die :)

Anyway, 2 days after arrived in Byron Bay, I left for a night in Nimbin and I had to come back as I had the bus for Hervey Bay...

When I came back from Nimbin, Mick come and see me from Brisbane...Mick is Megan's son, which I met more that one year ago when he was living in Oxford! I was so happy to see a friendly lovely face! He waited for me at the best spot at the Beach Hotel, overseeing the ocean with a chilled bottle of white wine! What I needed after 24 "intense" hours in Nimbin!

It was great catching up after all that time, telling each other stories about relationships, his mum, what's the best place to live and what to do in life...no definite answers to any of the subjects, though! :)

Mick and I were starving and bumped into an Italian restaurant, eating pizza and drinking beers (Peroni, to be precise)!
Something that I find pretty unique and curious here in Australia is that you can (sometimes you have to) take your own drinks! They only serve food! If you think that most of the restaurants (at least in England and Itlay) earn money from overpriced wines, it's pretty strange!...
Anyway, the night became pretty late and Mick (very Kindly) decided to drive me to Hervey Bay - otherwise, I had to wake up at 6am to catch the bus at 7am - where I needed to be to start my safari tour at the Fraser Island!
It was a pretty fun drive...very hot and accompanied by some Manu Chao music coming from my iPod! Mick insisted to stop at Noosa!

It was soooooooo worth it! Great scenery, turquoise water, not too rough and not too crowded! Really amazing!

Arrived at Hervey Bay, we both were so tired that while having dinner, Mick fell asleep...I didn't think I was that boring Mick! :)

Anyway, I had the alarm at 6am and he had to drive back to Brisbane the morning after, so our adventure together ended with a lovely Thai dinner and a tight hug!

Another big city, Sydney

Landed in Australia, I was immediately impressed by the level of civilization at this side of the world. Police-dogs sniffing everywhere, so many controls before freeing you out of the gates and smiley faces! Well, more signs of civilization came under my attention the following days, but the welcome to Australia was already a good sign!

Big change from the past weeks in Thailand...

Photo by Maria Teresa Salvati

My friends Caz and Prataal became my guide to the main Sydney's attractions and (see how lucky I am) there was the Sydney Festival going on! Afternoon at the Hyde Park, drinking beers, socializing and admiring an amazing sunset while The Cat Empire and Grace Jones were performing!
Now, it was all very cool and dandy, but at a certain point the show was interrupted by some ladies demonstrating how to dance the "Sydney Dance"...it was something worse than the Macarena introduced by Los Del Rio years ago! I was a bit confused: the macarena is a Latino dance and, like it or not, it makes sense danced by Latinos...but in Sydney???!! It was hilarious seeing all these cricket and rugby fans simulating Latino moves...yes, simulating was the best they could do! :)

Photo by Maria Teresa Salvati

Apart this short parenthesis, the vibes were great!

I went to see the MCA Gallery, bumped into street art shows, walked through the Rocks, saw the Darling Harbour, the Domain...even the dodgy King's Cross area full of prostitutes, backpackers and cool bars just at the borders...
All great, but that's about it!

No offence, but it's just another city...great city, but I guess I'm not in the mood for city touring! Maybe because I come straight away from Thailand, chilled and cheap!
Nothing here is cheap and in many ways Sydney reminds me New York for the skyscrapers, the people walking with trainers and suits to work or running with the iPod...has the same English names for many places and streets: Wales, Hyde Park, Paddington...even the Queen on an Australian note!

Other signs of civilization: most of Australians drink tap water, they recycle, streets are clean (though, I've bumped in more cockroaches here than in Thailand, believe it or not!), there are even signs on some streets saying that "Alcohol is prohibited"...honestly, what happened to the drunk sport fanatics partying at Walkabout??!! :)
Distorting stereotype, maybe!!??
And, one thing I didn't like was seeing the original inhabitants of the land, begging on the streets, playing didgeridoo to the many distracted people passing by. But, I guess this is another long story.

Photo by Maria Teresa Salvati

Something odd: if the price on a shelf is, for example, 24.99$ they'll ask you for 25$...now, I know that 1p doesn't change any one's life, but I thought they were taking the piss! Change the price to 25$ so I know it before I get to the till! It might be the backpacker (inner and hidden very well) side in me, but I wanted to start discussing how wrong is that...then I thought: I'm leaving tomorrow!

Sooooooooo...I love you my Australian friends, but after 5 days, my time here is over!
Today I booked an amazing two weeks trip to the east cost involving: Byron Bay, Nimbin, Fraser Islands for a safari tour, Whitsundays for sailing, diving and snorkeling and Airlie beach!!

Leaving tomorrow eve!!! Excited!!! :)

Caz and Prat, thanks immensely for your hospitality! Love you xx

The post-tsunami Phi Phi

Looking for better weather, we moved to the southern beaches, Phi Phi island.
After a pretty long trip, including taxi, night boat, bus and boat again, we arrived in Phi Phi, where it was immediately clear that the island had lost his authentic Thai flavour and looked like it was embracing a Western look and feel. For necessity and/or for touristic reasons, the results is not great, I have to say!

Too many English-type bars, young people (again looking for buckets and ladies) and families; many Italians too - not a bad thing, though!
Mainly, we didn't enjoy the night life, except for a nice (ONE) place called Carpe Diem, which, because nice, chilled and cool, it was pretty expensive (at least for Thailand!).

Photo by Maria Teresa Salvati

Anyway, we booked a bungalow from Krabi just to make sure we had a place to stay! Well, if another tsunami had invaded the island, on the top of the mountain nothing was going to happen: we were so high up, that carrying rucksacks or just walking up there after a few beers was as dangerous as a tsunami! :)

After the first night and 20 mosquito bites we decided to move to a more central and easy to access place. It was there where I started to be named (officially) "flashpacker"! I had enough of cold showers and beds full of bugs! I think we found a good compromise, 900BAHT per night for air con, hot shower, clean and very central place! Jongs Guesthouse, really great place if you go to Phi Phi! Darren, however, didn't think it was a good compromise! Too expensive :)

We also got really familiar (every day) with a restaurant just in front of the guesthouse: Garlic restaurant. The place doesn't have a cool look, but the food, the prices and the people are really great! The place had been wiped away from the tsunami and re-built thank to the help of foreigners and locals; and the owner, which was there trying to talk with customers and tell them the tsunami stories, was so thankful and enthusiastic about the fact that he had managed to rescue people and re-build the place! He was so generous with tourists that as soon as he heard that the green curry and the tom yum soup were my favourite Thai dishes, he gave me the origial step by step receipes so I could cook them for my friends back home!

Darren and I decided to buy tickets for an excursion around Phi Phi that involved: Monkey beack, Bamboo Bay, Maya Bay, snorkeling and sunset seeing! It was definitely the highlight, not only of Phi Phi, but of the all Southern Thailand!

Photo by Maria Teresa Salvati

Just amazing! White sands, it seemed like walking on silky carpets, turquoise waters where fish swam on us, the snorkeling was so great: I saw so many different, coloured and fun fish.

Photo by Maria Teresa Salvati

The Maya Bay is the beach featured in the movie "The Beach": just breathtaking, stunning. We went for a walk in the inland and the colours of the plants and trees were just amazing. A huge ant decided to bite me between toes! Such a big pain, I thought I was going to faint! Well, it swollen and become red, went to the pharmacy, got the antistaminic lotion and when I asked if I had to worry, the pharmacist said: 'if you can't breath, worry!' That's good to know, I guess :)

Anyway, the excursion ended with a stunning sun ready to set on the sea, admired on the boat! Words can't explain!

The last 2 days in Phi Phi we met Daniela, a German girl, Rebecca and Nicola, two English girls, with which Darren proceeded his trip to Koh Lanta, while myself started a long trip to Australia...stopping to Bangkok at Rod's place...and passing by Singapore, where I stayed at Steve's (ex-Enfatico colleague)! Thak you to both for taking great care of me, even just for a few hours!

So far my Thai adventure has been fantastic! I met great people and seen amazing places!

Amazing Koh Tao

After having been to the crap place in Koh Pangan (with 5 nights pre-booked and pre-paid) with Jo, Sheniz and JJ, I decided to go with them and Barry to see Koh Tao...I'd have done everything to leave that place, really!

Arrived in Koh Tao, Barry and I where looking for a bungalow to share and we bumped into his friends on the beach! David and another girl were chatting on the beach while waiting for the sun to set, just on the sea! We also, while we were talking, met Darren...a lone traveller from England...

Photo by Maria Teresa Salvati

I liked the island straight away! Really chilled out, low chairs facing the sea, bars showing movies all day where to relax, eat great food and meet new people! On the way out for the evening, I bumped into Darren and we went for dinner where we started long, interesting conversations about life, socialism, free markets, Vietnam, relationships and food (of course!).

Since that night, Darren became my traveller companion across Koh Tao and around, and Phi Phi...

Of course, I had only taken clothes for two days, so as my usual I had to buy some clothes: I managed to buy a really cool dress from the supermarket for only 200BTH. I's been used as a dress in the day and a long skirt in the evening - apparently I looked a "hippy princess", and of course I liked the definition :)
Darren and I decided to rent a motorbike, a manual and automatic motorbile, and he decided to rent the cheapest, the manual! Now, apparently he had done it before and the motorbike was crap, but the times we stopped and started again probably lasted more that actual journey!
Renting the bike was great to see the other side of the island: great jungle trees and palms, great sightseeing, and we bumped into an amazing bar with the view on the sea at the sunset, where we enjoyed litres on Chang beer :)

We also decided to see an apparently great island close by: NangYuan, or also called Japanese Gardens! Well, a real paradise, it kept the promise far more than the expected: a protected national park, just amazing! The kinds of sands, seas and beaches you see on postcards!

Photo taken by Darren

After 3 days in Koh Tao, I actually had to leave to go back to Pangan and pick up my clothes from the terrible place I had stayed for one night. I did it and joined Jo and Sheniz for two nights, pondering if joining the girls and the Ibiza boys for the Full Moon Party for New Year's Eve, or go back to Koh Tao and have a fun, but chilled out party!

I opted for the second one, so I went back to Koh Tao and spend there the New Year's Eve!
It was like the Full Moon party, but on a smaller scale!

Photo my Maria Teresa Salvati

For my last week in Thailand and desperately looking for great weather (yes, I didn't mention the fact the weather wasn't that great all the days I spent in the South of Thailand), we decided to move to the Southern islands, Koh Phi Phi.

The 1st January night we left Koh Tao for a very long journey to Phi Phi...quite an adventure, but fun at the same time..the less fun part was me carrying that huge and heavy ruck sack!