I am dreaming of a sunny Christmas!

And, yes, it's that time of the year again! After last Christmas in Thailand (and the Thai massage as a Christmas present to myself), here we go with another hot Christmas.
No definite plans just yet, maybe beach, maybe pub... but surely no Christmas jumpers!

BUON NATALE to everyone, wherever you are - I hope I'll see you all again soon!

Window view

Take 1.15 FJD (roughly 0.50euro), one "town" to get out of and one hostel to get to.

One bus, one route... on the beach. Oh, yes. The local bus goes on the beach, just for a little bit, just to make the westerners smile but it’s pretty weird.

Happens only in Fiji.

Some weird museum...

Sometimes, when you’re traveling, you come up with the weirdest things... From a McDonald’s right next to a Hindu temple (ooooh yes!), to a Cable Car Museum.

Wellington is situated on a few hills, so to go up to the botanical gardens (yes, beautiful but could we stop the rain, please?) you have to take this cable car. As the city is pretty old (we’re talking  1800’s, here!) they obviously changed the cable car a few times... and they well thought to make a museum out of it!

Not only they have old cars in display, they also show you a video of repairing them... silly me thinking of getting stuck in the hostel streaming new episodes of Jersey Shore when there’s so much to see out there!

Adrenaline!

When I first started thinking about coming to New Zealand, there were two things I mainly wanted to do once over here: bungy jumping and whale watching.

New Zealand is the place where bungy was invented so I thought it made sense to jump the Nevis, 134m and 8.5secs of free fall while I am out here and I personally don’t know many other places where you can go and look at three sperm whale diving in the ocean and take pictures of them.

One thing I wasn’t expecting is white-water rafting. I am not big into outdoors and I’d rather go partying than go hiking but this is definitely one of the best thing I’ve done so far: we jumped on the boat, all geared up... helmet and wetsuit as the water was freezing. Not only we paddled hard (my whole body was aching the next day) but we jumped off a couple of cliffs and went down grade V rapids and I believe I am totally an adrenaline junkie now!

Rugby world cup? Anyone?

As I was landing in New Zealand, the flight attendants handed me the card to get my visa and to enter the country... I love the kiwis already!

On the road...

That's it - the end of this chapter is very near.
I am going out to St Kilda for a few drinks tonight but then that's it in Melbourne for me, the place where my life has been filmed for the last 7months.
It'll be hard to say good bye, pack all my stuff in my small 65L backpack (panic), download the pictures from the camera and move on. And that weird feeling, when you say goodbye, because you know some people, some places, some emotions, some memories will never come back, will never be the same... I thought I was well used to this but this overwhelming feeling is always there when you're just about to leave again, like an old actor who's getting ready to go on stage...
I have so much to look forward to, some new adventures, meeting new people, seeing new places (shouldn't really complain since I am going to fecking Fiji!) and I know every thing will be allright once I get on that plane to New Zealand... but for now I just want to breathe it all in and I have the right to feel a bit emotional!

Chilling in Torquay

Since I have finished working a bit before I am supposed to fly out to New Zealand, I decided to take a couple day off the city life and head down to Torquay (yes, it's pronounced like Turkey more or less so everyone asked me why I was going to Turkey for two days, but it doesn't matter...), a surf village on the Great Ocean Road, in Victoria.

I spend a couple of days doing nothing, eating Aussie pies and fries, reading my books, falling asleep in front of the sea and looking at the surfers walking barefeet around the place!

The funniest bit was the 3 German guys I shared a room with, 18 and loaded on goon as they were trying to forget their car broke down on the first leg of their Ocean Road trip but, as they said.. "We'll zee if ve kan get it vixed" :D

Italy vs Ireland

It almost always surprises people, after they heard me speaking for a while, when I say I am Italian. They get quite confused by my mixed accent - some say it's Irish, some says it sounds like I have been hanging around with English people for too long. The other day the taxi driver asked me if I was from Lebanon...
But I was as Italian as I could last night, watching the Rugby World Cup. Was drinking Peroni, screaming a few "merda"s here and there, trying to support the Azzurri in the sea of Irish jerseys.
The first half was really good, the Italians really got into the game and I was well excited. A few drinks and 40mins later, Ireland won 36-6 and I was a crushed Italian woman, getting beaten up by all the Irish people around me (most of all my friends!).
Good thing is, next time, I could draw a few freckles on my face, sculling pints of Guinness and cheer for the Irish team... hoping they make it all the way to the final - as I'll be in New Zealand for that!
Go the boys in green!

Yum sweet home!

Never really been homesick, even if I haven't been living at home for quite some time now... and that's because I have a secret trick to deal with it.
Whenever I miss home, I make some Italian food! Carbonara, spag Bol, a nice bottle of red and it all goes away...
But... just the other night, I had an amazing dream. I was at my Nonna's home (grandmother) and we were just getting ready to eat, cutting the prosciutto, placing the olives around, some nice fresh bread... I could just see her calling me up to her house to eat... and I woke up.
It was a weird and kinda sad feeling... so I just had to go and buy some fresh bocconcini di mozzarella yesterday and have some nice salad with balsamic vinegar to make it all better!

Girls night out!

Take some stressed childcare workers, my leaving do, a few bottles of champagnes and some naked men... brilliant time at the strippers!
My amazing girls from City Kids took me out to Melbourne's best male strip club.
We were all so excited we knew all the best acts already: Pistol Pete in his policeman uniform, some Italian stallion (wtf, he couldn't even say "ciao" in Italian!) and some Spanish dancer to show you how to salsa...
We had a great time, I got to dance on stage and, last but not least, I also got a goodie bag... I'll let you guess what's in the strippers' goodie bag! ;)

An average Sunday afternoon...

As it happens, we're trying to make the most of our time Australia.
That means feeding the kangaroos, being afraid of spiders and all... but sometimes I just forget I am in the land down under!
Not only we live in a part of Melbourne crowded with Irish people (so much we call it Co. St Kilda!) but we have also found an Irish bar called "The Craíc".
They serve Guinness, they have live Irish music... and we ended up having a Sunday session, playing spoons and dancing to some Irish songs: we know all the lyrics now... and none of us is Irish!

Just go with the roast

Living in Melbourne with 2 English girls has shaped my idea of food. Not only do I eat pretty early (yes, 530pm is considered an acceptable dinner time) but, also, as much as I try to cook Italian, the odd beans on toast and mash potato always comes up!

Sometimes you just have to give in completely, forget all about balsamic vinegar and the home made pasta sauce and just go with the roast...

That is the result of a Monday night roast (yes, it was supposed to be a Sunday dinner but a few beers came our way instead!), lovely gravy and all - thanks girls!

Change of plans (...and planes!)

MS ELENA GIULIA VENTURINI

Itinerary Details:

From To Flight Date Departure Arrival Cabin Baggage

NADI MELBOURNE FJ 931 22NOV11 18:25 23:45 ECONOMY 23 KG

Ticket Details:

Ticket Number: 260242119****
Guess I always knew that I was not coming home in December...
I just bought a ticket back into Australia, coming back here after a month of traveling between NZ and Fiji.

I haven't got many plans, I just want to come back to Oz and see what life takes me from there.
Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Leeds, Edinburgh - I don't know... we'll just wait and see!

Now I have officially no flight home - exciiiiiiiiiiiiiting!

Passenger Details:

The Goon

If you've never been backpacking through Australia, the Goon is hard to understand.

The Goon tower in our house.

It's wine in a box, it's really cheap and it's very popular. It comes in a bag within the box, you "slap" it when it's almost finished... and if you had too much of it, you can even use it as a pillow! Handy, uh??

You can be proud of the fact "you're on the Goon for the week end" and, if you mix it with apple juice, it's not even that bad... but, beware... it gives you a mighty hangover! I've been there!

Not doing much, really...

I haven't been very busy lately, still haven't started work properly so I am just chilling every day. I have found a house so I am pretty busy watching the only fuzzy channel that we have (there seems to be cooking programmes all the time!!), cleaning out the fridge (there were only guys living in here first so I'll let you guess what's hiding in there!!), sitting out in the garden and sunbathing with my housemates when it's nice weather.

Hard life, isn't it?

I once met a girl called Adelaide

Took a couple of days off my very busy life (worked for 4days straight and was sooo tired!) to go check Adelaide out, people said there is not much going on but I had a great time!

The bus ride over there was crazy... 10hours, not too bad... but we went through literally the middle of nowhere! Towns that look like they're still in the '50s, with one café and old people having Sat breakfast in!

Night life is amazing, went out the first night (with people I met 4minutes earlier!) and came back at 3 resisting the temptation of a falafel on the way back - not to mention that I got lost, had to get a taxi after walking 40mins... just to discover I was 500m away from the hostel!

Went around the city a bit (nice Migration Museum!) and then spent the Monday on the beach in palindromic Glenelg, had the biggest ice-cream with marshmellows and loved every single moment of it!!

Great Ocean Road

I know I should be job hunting and all, especially after moaning about it for so long... but I am in Australia (which is the other side of the world, right??) and I guess I am still traveling... so... I went a bit mad and went on a tour to the Great Ocean Road today, amazing.

Some places looked like the Cliffs of Moher, Co. Clare, Ireland... but with 10degrees more and a fit surfers as well! Wow!

And, on the way there, we stopped at a rainforest to have a little walk and in an eucaliptus forest... to see some furry friends - koalas! They are really sleepy, slow and a bit hard to spot but... so cute!

Back to reality

And here we are, in Melbourne.

It's a bit overwhelming altogether, thinking that I have no job (yet!), no friends (maybe I'll have some later when I hit the hostel bar with wine for 3dollars!), no house (mind you, I am sharing a room with 3 Irish people... all the way here to live with Irish people! Go figure!) and all.

But tomorrow I'll do a bit of shopping and officially start the job hunt... haven't seen one bit of the city yet, been busy moaning and feeling sorry for myself... need a rocket up me arse! :)

You keep your fingers crossed and I will be fine!

Walking in Sydney

Got in early this morning (it was 630 in Oz time... but 230 in my Bangkok body, ouch! so tired I fell asleep in the park like drunkards!!) and took the whole day to walk around this new city... Seeing the Opera House in Sydney Harbour was soooo cool, can'tbelieve I am actually here!

And seeing the signs around here... I am sure my new Australian life will be fun!

It's all over!

After 4 countries, 3 pairs of flip-flops, 5 currencies, 11 boat journeys, 2 international flights, 2 G&T's (but a ridiculous amount of beer), 19 bus journeys (7 of them overnight), 7 islands, 5 and a half pizzas, 5 days of rain, 18 books, 5 postcards, one guidebook and more than 4 GB of pictures... It's time for me to leave South East Asia and start this Australian challenge.

And, like Calvin Harris says "these are the good times in your life so put on a smile and it will be allright"

Kitchen time!

After moaning cause I haven't been able to cook since I started traveling (pain in the arse to go out for every meal and doing no washing up, right?) I took a cooking course in Chiang Mai, spent the whole day eating/cooking today. Green curry, chicken cashew nut, hot and sour prawn soup, fishcakes, sticky rice with mango... had them all!

Masterchef Australia, make some room cause I'm coming over!

One more day of tubing!

Am in Vang Vieng, tubing... you float down the river with a tube (if you actually make it down...) or you can sit in a few bars and drink, and drink, and dance, and drink, and jump off ropes and swings, and drink, and party and drink.

Hard life, uh?

Heard people getting stuck here for weeks, I swore I was not going to do that... but here I am, day 5 and still 2 to go... having shitloads of fun! :)

Let's go jump!

Went to some waterfalls in Luang Prabang, Laos - got my adrenaline dose for the day!
The water was cold but at the third time you jump in, you're fine!

And it was sooooo good to get a bit of sun&water after freezing Vietnam!

Happy camper!

I'm glad I am leaving Vietnam on a high note, some bits of the Vietnam have been hard for me... but guess it's all part of the game.

But went to Halong Bay (amazing!), met some cool people and am ready to make the most of the last month of this trip... am moving on to Laos later today and I am really excited about it!

And on top of it, I have booked a flight to Melbourne, finalized my tickets to New Zealand and Fiji - I just can't wait for it all! Excitiiiiiiiiing!

Happy New Year!

It's Tet! Vietnamese New Year!
20mins of fireworks last night... and nothing to do in Hanoi today cause it's all closed!

But Happy New Year everyone - yeah, I know it's the 3rd of Feb... but still!

Not so far away, actually

Just got to Hue, north Vietnam.

It's cold and it's raining (feels a bit like Dublin on a Sunday night in November)... managed to organize a hotel, it's small and I'm on my own but it's okay.

Especially cause the telly in the room broadcasts Rai Italia, the international Italian channel... guess what I am going to do tonight - in this tiny town in Vietnam.

No, thanks.

I know I shouldn't be moaning, am still on holidays (and man, what a holiday!) and certainly not stressed about work and all rest... but I did get a bit pissed off when the weather got worse.

Especially cause I really couldn't lie down on the beach with a book.

Now, books. Been going through a lot of them and Vietnam has helped a lot with all the bus journeys and the photocopied books you can find pretty much everywhere.

Except that today the lady that was trying to sell me books wanted me to buy something in the lines of "solo - how travelling alone turn into a murder" ...

Ehm, no, thanks. And I'll skip that 12hours bus ride tomorrow in the middle of the night!

Do I look like I speak Vietnamese?

Border crossing, Cambodia to Vietnam.

Two English girls were with me, so allright.
Then they left. Still allright.
Then I changed the bus... and another bus, trying to be still allright.
Then they told me it was going to take 6hours to get to Saigon. Mhmm.
Then I realize I have no food and no Vietnamese money, no good.
Then no one speaks English anymore, I really don't know what's going on...
People on the bus speak to me Vietnamese, the only thing I can understand is that they want to know how old I am and they look at my clothes, my bag, my diary (WTF) and still to speak in Vietnamese... oh, dear.

Then I get to my hotel, down a beer and a vegetable fried rice and suddenly I like Vietnam all over again!

Hard day at the office

Ended up in Sihanouk Ville, "city" on the coast of Cambodia. Staying in a bugalow on the beach with no sink but a lot of sand (and a wi-fi spot just down the beach).

Otres Beach, the name of the place - hasn't got a lot to offer (unless you do drugs or a serious binge-drinker), not a shop, not a travel agent... but a internet café! Made me feel like I am not that far away from the rest of the world!

Things you've never thought you'd do...

... like getting up at 430am, cycle more than 5km through a city you've never seen in the daylight (I only got in the night before) and get to the temples just in time for sunrise!

Here's the Angkor Wat in Siam Reap, Cambodia at 622am.

It's amazing, yes, but what's more amazing is that's I've woken up at dawn for 2days in a row... and if I'm good I'll make it three tomorrow!

Stressful times

My visa runs out pretty soon... so after 8days in Koh Tao, I wanted to make my way up north and then out of the country.

• 14:00 - a taxi picks us up from the hotel
• 14:30 - ferry boat to the mainland
• 19:50 - bus to Bangkok (it stinks!)
• 3:00am - got dropped off in BKK, in Khao San Rd (full of bars...and drunk people at that time) ... so we start waiting and waiting and waiting...
• 5:00am, a bit hungry ... we get a Burger King (I know, I know!)
• 5:30am - been sitting outside the police station for 1.5hrs now, used their toilets a couple of times (and no, not even the police has toilet paper!) and saw a few ladyboys/prostitues being taken in.
• 8:00am -minibus comes to pick us up, all bags crammed in a 12seats bus, that was going too fast for my liking
• 10:30am -first stop, I couldn't resist Thai food so had a chicken curry at this time of the morning (I know, I know!)
• 13:45 -we get another ferry 
• 16:00- Koh Chang, finally!

Then obviously we had no accomodation, so we had to take taxis up and down the island to find a suitable bungalow, but that's another story!

The shoe issue

Taking your shoes off before going into a restaurant might seem pretty strange for some... but that's the way they do it over here.

Pharmacy, take your shoes off.
Hotel reception, take your shoes off.
Beach bar, take your shoes off.
Supermarket, take your shoes off.

Most of the time you find them when you're back...

(except New Year's Eve... left them outside the bar from 630 til 4am, they were gone! Had to walk barefoot til 12 the next day cause all the shops were closed!)

You just have to embrace this barefoot-ness! And buy new flip flops from time to time!