One week to go!

I know I have been blogging like a mad man lately but, I figure I better do this now while I have the time to do it! I only have one week left in Australia! I seriously can't believe how fast it has gone! It has just flown by for me for sure. For those of you back home it may have gone slower but for me it has just flew by. Almost a year ago I had just landed in Australia with nothing really but a work visa, a little cash and an open mind. Now here I am a year later and I can speak "Stralian' I can navigate the public transport system,cook myself a fairly decent meal and generally get anything I need really. So I have really learned a lot about myself this year alone (even though I have never REALLY been alone) and it has been great.

I got my taxes done and dusted and now in 6 to 8 weeks I will be a rich man haha. By then I will be in Auckland for sure. Luckily they can mail it to me :) I have really enjoyed my travels in Oz and loved almost every single minute it has been great. These past few weeks have been amazing traveling up the coast with Ben and seeing Frazer Island and Bundy and Airlie Beach (LOVED IT!) and Whit Sundays and Townsville and Cairns.

I do have a few people I really need to thank big time though.  I have met a ton of really awesome people far too many to name and really had a great time but, these people get extra special mention from me. First and foremost I have to mention my good friend Sandradee from Sydney. I actually met her on the flight from LA to Sydney. Just total fate/luck that we were sat next to each other and we had 15 hours to get to know each other haha. She helped me out right away and really gave me a leg up. Not only that but, I helped her move house and after that she let me stay on her couch. She really was awesome to me and I will always consider her a great friend and she knows she has a place to stay anytime she comes to Texas!

Secondly I have to mention my good mate Bernie from Queensland. Ben and I showed up at his house and had planned to stay a week or two but due to work and whatnot, two weeks actually turned into 6 months haha. He was totally awesome about the whole thing and we had some good times and it worked out good for all. So I won't forget his kindness either. Brisbane was of my top favourite cities in all Australia and I will really miss it there. It is a great city to live in!

I can't forget to mention "The Wolf Pack" from Thailand. They all know who they are and the experiences we shared. I won't ever forget them and I doubt they will forget either! haha. Good times had by all and now I have 4 life long friends in the UK :)

Last but definitely not least I gotta mention Bernd (Ben) my German traveling mate. I met him on the bus in Sydney in December and he was looking lost and a little uncertain. His English was not as good as it is now but we clicked right away! So here we are almost a year later, best mates living and traveling together. We like to joke that this is a marriage haha. Well he is the closest thing I have to a wife anyway lol. Sometimes we fight like a married couple :P but never anything serious! He will be a mate for life and I can't wait to travel New Zealand and South America with him! It will be awesome to travel America with him too and show him my homeland. I am going to tour all over Germany with him as my personal tour guide in the near future too :). Good on ya mate!

Of course I can't forget to mention Josiah my American mate who is now in New Zealand. He is from Boston but I won't hold it against him for being a Yankee haha. He was the coolest American I met in Australia and it was great to talk "home" stuff with him! I am looking forward to seeing the East Coast of America with him as my tour guide! I won't forget our karaoke night in Sydney. I got to feel like a rock star for my 15 minutes of fame haha it was awesome!

One other person who deserves a special mention is my ex facebook wife haha. Tori is an amazing girl and we have had some great times together. Sadly I haven't got to see her as much as I would have liked. But, she is one of the few people in Australia who really "gets" me and I won't forget her for sure!

Well that is really all I have for now. I will keep you updated as I go but, unless anything super amazing happens in the near future this may or may not be my last blog before I hit New Zealand in a week! Take Care,Tyler

Late Edit: I thought I would just tack this on instead of writing a whole separate blog on it. Ben and I saw the new movie (new here anyway) called The Town. Appropriate since we are in Townsville haha. It had Ben Affleck,Chris Cooper and some more big stars in it. It was about Bank robbers in Boston and it wasn't exactly your typical bank job movie. It has a non typical ending and I quite enjoyed it. Kept me entertained until the end. I would give it 4/5 stars.

I also thought I would add a little about my weight. I have never been what you would consider "fat" I seem to be incapable of gaining any significant amount of weight as I have weighed pretty much the same since high school!  But, I used to be in pretty good shape and now that I have been traveling I am still not "fat" but where I used to have muscle it has now been replaced by fat lol. So, I look at myself in the mirror and I am slightly disappointed/embarrassed/sad that it has gotten this way. I mean I can't exactly join a gym and just go work out everyday while I am traveling but there is more I can do. So, I have decided that by the end of 2012 I want to be in top shape again. I will do it!

late edit: just a little disclaimer, I know I mentioned people up there who I really connected with and had a great time with but don't feel that just because I didn't mention you up there I didn't have a great time with you. I met tons and tons of awesome people and had some great experiences I just couldn't mention everyone! -Tyler

3 days in paradise with hint a disappointment thrown in

I want to show yall the bad things are the island we stayed at and the good things. so here goes... As you can see that is the good and the bad! Now for the actual blog!

Long Island Resort in the Whit Sundays

So Ben, Heiner and I decided to book a 3 day 2 night tour to an Island about 45 minutes by boat from Airlie Beach. We wanted to get away from it all for a bit and had heard good things about this from the tourist information place so we went for it. I have many pictures of the island coming to facebook soon so stay tuned for that!

As we stepped off the boat this place quickly looked like a postcard island paradise. It was absolutely beautiful! We were taken from the dock and the boat to the actual resort by the staff in a golf cart looking thing so we were all feeling pretty fancy already haha. Keep in mind that we only paid 100 dollars for this whole trip (return ferry trip included!)

So we get to reception and after a while we get checked in (we couldn't check in our room until 2pm) we realise quickly that there was a “rich” part of the resort and a “backpacker” part of the resort. I definitely felt a serious “class” system there and we were the 2^nd class citizens for sure! Our accommodation was way in the back of the resort and not once were we ever checked on to see if we needed anything.

Our accommodation was really basic and the bed pretty crap but, I am a backpacker I am used to much worse and for the price we paid that isn't what my complaint is about. My complaint is with their kitchen and their management staff. I have pictures to back up my complaints which I will upload shortly. There was I would say at least 40 rooms for backpackers with 4 people allowed in each room. When we got there we were told there was actually only six other people checked into the backpacker lodge at the time.

Before we left Airlie Beach we were told by the tourist information that we were free to bring our own food and cook on their “fully furnished” kitchen. So that is exactly what we did because the prices their were crazy expensive! 25 dollars just for lunch and 17 dollars for a cocktail! So we got to the kitchen and expected just to find the typical backpacker stuff. Nothing fancy, we don't need 5 star. But we expected at least a decent fridge, stove,plates,cutlery,pots etc. Just your basic stuff because they didn't tell us we had to bring our own kitchen stuff.

You know what we actually found? A kitchen with a disgusting sink,4 plates,2 forks,4 spoons and 4 glasses along with ONE pot. They also had a tiny refrigerator and NO dish washing soap but there was a really disgusting sponge.. I mean like college dormitory style fridge the little ones that go in your room. Keep in mind this shit kitchen was expected to be able to handle up to 40+ backpackers at a time! There was not even a stove! So we resorted to trying to cook our entire meal in a single pot that looked like it came over with James Cook in 1788 ( I have pictures of the whole kitchen and kitchenware) the grill was disgusting! There was dried up fat and grease all over it and flies buzzing all over it. (Yep I got pictures of that too) and there was nothing to even try and clean it with. So we were forced to wait to eat.

We went to reception right away and told them about the situation and asked to speak to the management. I told them I had a complaint and I wanted to speak to the manager. I was told they were trying to radio her. ( I got her name) and they asked me to fill out a “comment card” which I am 90% sure they don't even read but I did so anyway. I told them I would check back later for the manager as she never appeared.

THREE times I went up there to ask for the manager. I was told all three times she wasn't there. All the while we were sitting there with that disgusting kitchen and nothing to eat on or with or anything to cook with. I was getting more and more angry and more and more hungry. Finally we resorted to just asking regular staff workers to help us. To their credit most of the staff sympathized with us and tried their best to help. They also told us that their management sucks. FINALLY after I begged reception for a 4^th time we managed to get half a bottle of dish washing soap. That is it, nothing else just a bottle of dish washing soap and some rags.

So the 3 of us started to clean their filthy freaking kitchen. We used the rag and dish washing soap and washed what little dishes there was along with cleaning that sink. They should have been paying us for it. Do remember that we were told that they would have a fully furnished kitchen and that is what we walked into. We came back a little later to see that the bbq grill had FINALLY been cleaned and we saw some people using it. But, they weren't backpackers they were “rich” guests. So, the only reason it even got cleaned is because the “real” guests were using it.

Throughout our whole stay we never got to talk to the manager and never got anymore pots/dishes. But, we did FINALLY manage to get that dish washing soap and get that grill cleaned (even if it wasn't for us) so we ended up getting by. I guess they just didn't give a crap about us because we weren’t spending anymore money at their resort.

Now on to the good stuff. The views were amazing. The water was a perfect blue/green and the sunsets were awesome! Unfortunately the snorkeling was not that good because the water went milky because of the tide. But I have done some awesome snorkeling in Thailand and Fiji and elsewhere so it is ok. We saw wallabies and tons of birds and had some really good nature walks. The staff other than the management was actually pretty good. From what I could gather most of the employees were backpackers and new there too.

They didn't seem to enjoy it all that much which was weird to me considering that was paradise! But, considering how management ran that place I can't say I am surprised. They seemed to get paid decently though and all their food was provided for but, their accommodation looked like it sucked pretty badly. I also found out they had to bring their own cookware if they wanted to cook their own food I am pretty sure their kitchen sucked as bad as ours.

I did meet a really cool French girl there though. I called her the “Appy Girl” because for the French “H” (the letter) is just not easy for them to translate. So rather than Happy it becomes Appy. Years becomes Ears haha it is a little hard to catch onto but, once you get the hang of it you can understand them pretty well. So I enjoyed hanging out with her and helping her practice her English. You know what really amazed me when I first started traveling and even now, is how pervasive American culture is all around the world. I talked with Julie (the French girl) for quite a long time about American movies,music etc. Stuff I thought she would have no idea about but she knew exactly what I was talking about and she LOVED The Simpson's haha.

I also got to to take some amazing naps right on the beach in a hammock. I have been lucky enough in my life to go to amazing islands in Fiji,Laos,Australia and Thailand and take great naps on all of them haha. I just sleep so amazingly soundly in a hammock right by the ocean.

So just to wrap this all up, that island was beautiful and I would have had a totally amazing time if I wasn't so disappointed in being treated like shit by the management of that place. I think they were trying to milk money out of backpackers and cater to rich people at the same time. You just can't do both really. They need to make it either a backpacker resort or a rich people resort not both. You know a simple 20 dollar refundable deposit on cookware (like any decent hostel does) would work for them. It would give us what we need and give them satisfied customers. I am a backpacker I don't need 5 star but, just because I am backpacker doesn't mean I shouldn't be treated decently like any other paying guest. Sure I only paid 100 dollars to go there and I didn't spend a cent on anything else there (because I couldn't afford it) but that doesn't mean I should be treated like shit. I deserve to be able to speak to the manager just like any other guest when I choose too.

So I give the location A+, the staff B+ and the management and kitchen an F! So overall I would rate my experience there about a B+ just a few simple things on their part could have made it much better. I really hope that all my blog readers will read this. If you have a good amount of money to spend by all means go to Long Island Resort on Long Island In the Whit Sundays. If you are a backpacker and you don't have any money then I seriously suggest you skip it. For the first time in my life I am seriously considering calling and/or writing a letter to the upper management of that company and letting them know how we were treated there. I am going to upload my photos of that filthy freaking kitchen so yall can see how bad it was. I will also send those to anyone I am able to contact in upper management if I get the chance. It's such a shame that I could have had such an amazing time and it wasn't as great as it could have been because of those few easily correctable things.

Talk at yall later and I will try and update from Townsville/Cairns. -Tyler

Airlie Beach and various

I believe I left yall in Bundaberg with my last blog entry. I had a great time there with the Rum Distillery and the beautiful views and great company but, since then I have been a busy bee! After Bundy we left for Hervey Bay “The Gateway to Frazer Island” as the locals call it. We decided to take a semi expensive day tour out to Frazer Island. It was pretty neat to see the largest sand island in the world and we got a 4 wheel drive tour of the island along with a lot of great photo opportunities. We saw a wild dingo and had a great tour guide.

I have been super lucky to see some amazing islands here in Australia. But, that being said, I did think the tour could have been priced less. It was good and I enjoyed myself I just didn't really feel it was worth the price they were charging. But what can ya do? It is better than sitting at home doing nothing. I am just living life and loving it. I count my blessings every day and I know I am super lucky to see stuff most people never get to see their whole lives.

After Frazer Island Ben and I left with Heiner (the guy who was our ride share up to Airlie Beach) and we started the drive to Airlie Beach. I say “we” but really it was Ben and Heiner as I don't know how to drive a manual camper van haha. So I was lucky to be able to sleep and relax while they did all the hard work :) We did play a fun game on the way from Hervey Bay to Airlie Beach though. Basically one of us thought of something, anything, and the others had to guess what it was through a series of questions but the person who originally thought of the item could only answer your questions with “yes” or “no”. It kept us entertained and awake for a while anyway.

Once we made it to Airlie Beach I quickly realised this was going to be an amazing place and I would love it. We slept in the camper van instead of paying for a hostel. Two of us in the back in the bed and one of us in the front seat. Not great but we made it work true backpacker style haha. It helps to save money wherever you can! After touring around the next day we actually managed to pick up some (tax free) straight cash work building up a stage for a festival that was here in Airlie Beach while we were here. If I was to move anywhere in Australia it would definitely be Airlie Beach or Brissy. Both are amazing places!

We were offered the job and told that we would have maybe 4 hours of work. We figured how hard could it be? So we said yes. What actually ended up happening is we worked 13 hours straight with a half hour lunch break and a half hour dinner break. Then we got up at 6am the next day and worked some more. But I am not complaining at all because we did work really hard but we had a great crew of guys to work with and an awesome boss. (Much better than my boss at my previous job haha) It also made me feel really good to look at that stage and know that I helped build it. I am not the most mechanically minded person in the world as those of you who know me personally know but I have some experience from my previous job back in the states and I managed to do good here and not break anything or kill anyone haha. So it was nice to earn some extra cash and stay busy.

We did spend one night at a camper van park and that was an interesting experience for me. We were eating dinner and Ben, Heiner and I ended up meeting about 4 other people so we were all talking and having a good time just enjoying ourselves. Then this guy stumbles up and he was clearly drunk and quite possibly mentally ill. I still have no idea what country he was from. But, he asked me where I was from and I told him Texas. He just couldn't believe it! Now to be fair, I don't have a strong Texas accent. I have no idea why I didn't get one, I just didn't. But this really made him mad! I was in the middle of telling a story and he interrupted me and said “Your not from Texas, your a damn yankee” which was amusing to me so I laughed because I am about as far from a Yankee as you can get.

Then he started to push me. Now as those of you who know me, know that I am a lover not a fighter. Sure I will defend myself if I have too, I am not gonna get pushed around but I generally don't fight. So I quickly realised my options. I had over 6 friends around me who would help me out for sure and this guy was drunk and/or mentally ill so I could escalate the situation and cause a huge fight and really beat the crap out of this guy or I could just ignore him. So I chose to ignore him. Once he realised he was getting no reaction out of me he stumbled away and that was that. Strange but really I was in no serious danger. When you are traveling you just run into strange people sometimes. Such is life though, all part of the experience and just another story for my memoirs haha.

As our time was winding down in Airle Beach we decided to book a 3 day 2 night tour to an island in the Whit Sundays (an island chain about 45 minutes from Airlie Beach). So we went an booked a tour to Long Island. I had a great time except for a few things. I have a lot to tell you about that so I am actually going to make a separate blog entry for that trip. If you want to read it, it will be coming up shortly. As we speak Ben and I have left Heiner and we are on a bus to Townsville so more to come later....

P.S. I have lots of pictures coming on my facebook profile soon so take a look soon.

Take care,Tyler

Frazer Island and Various

I know it has been a while since I have blogged but, I have been on the road with Ben and our new mate Heiner and we have been traveling up the east coast of Australia and so far have seen Hervey Bay/Frazer Island,Airlie Beach (Where we are now)Bundaberg, and next is Townsville then off to Cairns. In Bundaberg we had an amazing place RIGHT on the ocean it was great! We have gotten a ride share with Heiner and stayed with some of Ben's mate from couch surfing so this has saved us a huge amount of money so far :)

Frazer Island was amazing and I got some great pictures which I will load on facebook as soon as I get a chance. We had a great tour guide and got to swim in a really cool place along with seeing a real live wild dingo. We are planning on doing a 3 day 2 night island tour here in Airlie Beach here that is really cheap actually! So I am taking advantage as much as possible my last two weeks here in Australia :( I will miss it here and I already miss Brisbane. The weather here has been amazing (minus today when it rained) It has been 26-30 degrees so far that is 85-90 degrees for my American readers. So it is just spring here but it is getting hot!

I may have blogged about this before but in the cities here in Australia it is SO hard to find a public toilet and/or free tap water. Because they charge for water they refuse to give you any tap water for free and toilets are not for public use the majority of the time so it sucks and makes me angry! Cell phone reception is another problem here in Oz. Australia has 21 million-ish people and almost all the people are clustered around the edges of the country with almost no one in the middle so cell phone reception is spotty in Australia. You get great reception in the cities but, once your out of the city it goes to zero! It is quite frustrating!

Our total trip will be roughly 1700 K's/ 3000 miles from Brisbane to Cairns and so far we have seen 11 dead kangaroos on the road. It really helps if you get behind the big 18 wheelers and let them clear the way wind wise and road kill wise. You go slower but, our camper van was built in 1979 and it just fits the 3 of us to sleep in so its not like we are speed demons haha. But, we have gotten a cheap ride up the coast (splitting everything 3 ways) and free accommodation most places thru couch surfing which is great! so things have worked out so far.

I have much more to say but I will end it for now and try and keep in touch as much as possible. I will update you hopefully once I get up to Townsville with everything that has happened thus far. Take care,Tyler

Day one in Bundy

Our first day here in Bundaberg has been awesome! I do miss Brisbane but being here with this weather and view is a pretty good consolation haha. Can't ask for much more :) 

Well I want to show you what I woke up too this morning. It has been an awesome first day here in Bundaberg with Ben's mate Ross. He has been totally cool showing us around and we are having a great time! As you can see the weather is beautiful and the Bundaberg Rum Distillery was really cool. We got to go to the highest lookout point in Bundaberg and just generally chilled out. We have had some great food so far and just a good time :) Soon we will be moving on to Hervey Bay/Frazer Island but for now we are here and loving it. The 4 of us are just loving life. If you haven't checked out CouchSurfing.org you totally should! Check my facebook page for more pictures of today. Take care,Tyler

We are RIGHT on the ocean and our view is amazing. I feel so lucky to be here right now. This is what life is all about :) more to come later....-Tyler

We made it to Bundy!

Well Ben made it back from Fiji in one piece so I got my mate back lol. Now that he is back and I am done with work (work was slow the last week anyway) we have left Brisbane (after 6 great months there!) and hit the road to Bundaberg. I will really miss Brisbane but, we need to make it to Cairns so I can fly to New Zealand so we are making our way up there.

It rained and rained and rained in Brisbane recently, it rained so much that there was some serious flooding. They haven't had this much rain since 1974 and the dam was almost overflowing! The dam here in Brisbane was actually a tourist attraction because of the amount of water spilling over it! I was quite sick of this freaking rain and almost bought myself a boat haha. The rain was so bad and the waters so swollen that they actually canceled all boating service on the Brisbane River.

Now that we have left Brisbane the weather has been much better. We got a ride up to Bundaberg (and as far as Airlie Beach) with a really cool guy from Germany we met. So the 3 of us are gonna split petrol/food costs etc. We made it to Bundaberg in one piece and it has been great! Ben actually has a mate here in Bundaberg and he has been totally cool with us staying here and has opened his house to us and even fed us! He has an amazing place RIGHT on the beach overlooking the ocean and the views are amazing I will have to post some pictures soon for sure. So far our road trip has been great and no complaints :) Life is good! Well thats all I got for now. Yall take care.

Tyler

The Kindness of Strangers

Hey I didn't want this to get lost in my last blog post because I think it deserves its own post. I wanted to talk about the kindness of strangers. I have been traveling since last November and I started out alone but I have never really actually been alone for long. I consider it a blessing that I am the kind of person who can really meet people easily and I am open minded and friendly and easy to talk too. Some people are "glass half empty" people and not very trusting and always assume the worst but not me. I like to think that I am smart enough not too be TOO trusting but also good with people. I haven't had a single problem yet, anywhere in this world. There is still good people in this world.

I have met multiple people on trains,planes,bus,whatever... I stayed in Sydney with an amazing girl I met on the flight from LA to Sydney. She was my seat mate and a great girl! We had 15 hours to get to know each other lol She needed someone to help her move house and I needed a place to stay when I got to Australia so I helped her move house and once we got moved she opened her house to me and let me stay with her. I had a great time there and she did so much for me. I wont forget her or her awesome flat mates. They really made my stay in Sydney good :)

I actually met Ben on the bus in Sydney. He was looking lost and at a map. I figured I would help him out so I did and we struck up a conversation. Now here we are almost a year later traveling together and best mates :) I have gotten free rides and/or accommodation and meals from people I have met on the street or public transport whatever. Once I even got a free ride on a public city bus from a nice driver.  There is nice people everywhere willing to help you if you are just open to it and nice in return. Sure not EVERYONE in this world is nice and you can't expect all of the world to be a paradise but in general overall I think people are just good.

Just today in fact on the train I started talking to the guy sitting across from me and we had a great conversation about travel and life for a half hour on the train. He was from South Africa and I am sure I will never see him again but it was nice just to chat. Some people fad from your life right away after one good interaction but others like my mates I met in Thailand are going to be mates for life! You just never know. Stay positive and give it a go! My good mate Bernie has opened his home to Ben and I for quite a while now and really helped us out so we definitely appreciate it! He has showed us around Brisbane when we were new here and gave us lots of good tips. He really took "Mi Casa Su Casa" to heart! We wont forget him for sure.

Well thats all I got for now I just wanted to mention that. Yall take care and do me a favour. Go out and meet someone new! Seriously, wherever you live just talk to a stranger. Strike up a conversation about anything and see where it goes. You might be pleasantly surprised. :) -Tyler

Time to leave Brissy :(

Well now its time for Ben and I finally to leave Brisbane. It has been a great 6 months and I really have loved it here. The weather has been pretty crappy lately but that isn't the norm here and if I was to move anywhere in Australia it would be here, its a great city! I am sad to be leaving. My good mate Bernie has been really cool about letting us stay with him so we definitely owe him a thank you for sure! He has opened his home to us and really helped Ben and I out.  Ben made it back from Fiji in one piece and had a great time ( I knew he would) so tomorrow we are off.
We got a ride share with another German guy we met. He is a really cool guy and he will be taking us up with coast with him so it is definitely gonna save us money which is good! We will be visiting Bundaberg,Frazer Island,Airlie Beach,Townsville and finally Cairns where I fly to New Zealand in November from. So we have a whirlwind tour ahead of us! I really will miss Australia a lot I wish I could stay I will be sad to be leaving. Nothing I can do about it though so upwards and onwards as they say :)

I am done with work now and wont be working anymore here in Oz. It was good while it lasted and paid me pretty good so I can't complain. It has kept me fed and a roof over my head while allowing me to have a little fun and save some money for onward travels. I am real excited about South America after we leave New Zealand in April!

I also wanted to mention something I find a little humorous. Before I left America I got a real Brazilian soccer jersey from one of my parents foreign exchange students. In the interest of full disclosure I will let yall know that I know basically nothing about soccer and really have no interest in it. It just isn't my thing. But, I get SO many comments on that jersey! People stop me on the street haha total strangers! I have been spoken too in Portuguese more than once and I don't speak a lick of Portuguese lol

I also wanted to mention the Chilean Miners. I am quite sure almost everyone on the planet knows the story, 33 miners stuck 600 meters (2000+ feet) underground for 69 days. It is really an amazing story of survival and I am really happy for all those guys. It really sucks that they were placed in that position in the first place because of substandard working conditions etc. Their bosses should be in prison! I heard it cost 20 million dollars to get them all out but I am sure for their families it was totally worth it. Those miners will be millionaires anyway if they choose to speak about what happened to them so they will never have to work again.  There was a few miners who were cheating on their wives and their mistresses showed up at the mines. Those guys should have just stayed down there haha what a mess! They shouldn't have been cheating in the first place but it will be interesting to see how they fare personally.

I am not sure how much Internet access I will have while I am traveling but I will try and keep yall updated as much as I can. Take care til next time,Tyler

It is fast coming to an end.....

Well my time in Brisbane (and Australia in general) is fast coming to an end! I gave my notice at work and my last day is Friday. I have been here in Oz for 11 months now and just have a few weeks left! On Sat. Ben and I will travel from here to Bundaberg and stay there for a few days before going to Fraser island for a day tour. After that we will head to Airlie Beach/Whit Sundays for a few days then on to Townsville. Gotta turn in my tax stuff in The Ville' before I leave Oz. Then after that we are off to Cairns where I fly out to New Zealand. Wish I could stay in Oz but my visa is expiring :( Ben will go off to Asia and we will meet up in New Zealand back in January and start planning hardcore for South America since we fly into Chile in April! Wish us luck!

I am going to make this officially my shortest blog ever. Just  one paragraph and I am done for now lol. Thats it.

Tyler.

My lists

 I figured today was just as good a time as any to make my list of things I love about Australia and things I don't really love. Along with the things I really miss about home. So here they are in no particular order:

1. I love the fact that Australia has toll free "131" numbers. example, 131230 is the toll free number for the Brisbane Transportation Line. There is tons of these 131 numbers and they are all free and easy to remember! It is so much easier than trying to remember 1800 xxxxx.

 2. I love the Aussie way of life and the Aussie people. I have been helped out by tons of random acts of kindness in my 11 months here and in general people are just really cool here and life is just relaxed and chilled out.

3. I love the fact that there is 16 free to air TV channels that we can watch without paying a dime and they have great shows (a bit delayed from the states) like House, The Mentalist,Top Gear (The British version, this is one thing the Pommies do MUCH better than the Aussie or American versions) and my local Aussie favourite, the ever funny Good News Week.

4. I love the fact that the news anchors here are so informal with each other joking around and calling each other by nicknames. It is refreshing to see them not so deadly serious all the time.

5. Nothing beats Texas BBQ but Aussie BBQ and meat in general is pretty good.

6. I love the fact that I can get almost anywhere I want, anytime I want on public transportation for pretty cheap. Not having a car for almost 12 months has not been a huge problem for me.

7. I love Aussie money. It is all different colours and sizes so you always know what you have. It is also coated in a plastic so if you accidentally wash it, its no biggie! In addition to that awesomeness, they have no penny which is great! And tax is already included in everything you buy so you don't have to mentally add it on later. I love love that! It will be so hard to adjust when I get back home :(

8. I love the fact that I get paid double what I would get paid back home for the same type of jobs. (but stuff is also more expensive here)

9. I love the fact that I am a backpacker here in Australia and for 12 whole months I have been able to do what I want when I want with who I want and just enjoy my life and experience many new things in a lot of different countries all before the age of 26! Also, the Australian Government has been really good to us traveling/working backpackers because we get a good tax return and almost 100% of our taxes back when we leave :)

10. I love the weather here in Brisbane (Queensland in general) Not too hot, Not too cold. I am not a huge fan of the seasons being backwards though. (December is summer and July is winter) right now it is spring and it will go from being absolutely beautiful one minute to pouring rain the next! That is a little annoying. But, Brisbane is great city and I love it here. If I ever moved to Australia for good I would move to Brissy :)


Things I don't like about Australia in no particular order are:

1. The business hours at the banks and other related businesses suck! Generally speaking it is 9-4pm Monday-Friday. That is almost the exact hours I work! It is so frustrating not to be able to get stuff done because everything shuts early here and generally is not open on weekends! Man that makes me mad! Not to mention, banking isn't "free" in this part of the world they charge you usually 5-10 dollars as "account fees" simply for having a bank account and doing normal stuff that should be free! It sucks!

2. The fast food over here is not of great quality, they have basically zero drive thru's, only a few are open past 10pm and the portion sizes are pathetic! Plus you pay double or triple what we would pay back home! Basically eating Maccas or KFC here is just a rip off in my humble opinion.

3. I hate that the prices of food and almost everything is higher over here just because Australia is "isolated" Petrol,clothes,food, almost everything is more expensive than what we pay back home and just because Australia is more isolated doesn't mean they should be getting ripped off! Everything still comes from China anyway lol. Alcohol prices are outrageous over here! We pay 38 Australian Dollars for a 24 pack of "cheap" beer. Back home I wouldn't pay anywhere near that! and I don't smoke but if you want cigarettes you are looking at paying at least 15 dollars per pack,easy! it sucks how bad they "sin tax" everything over here.  Going out to drink is just as expensive or more :(

4. I am not a fan of Christmas being in summer and winter coming in July. I guess I am just not used too it but it is just weird to me. Although, I did spend last Christmas on the beach so that was fun haha.

5. I hate the Imperial (American version of measurement) system. I hate it because I came here to Australia I was at a huge disadvantage not knowing how to measure distance or weight or temperature. In the past 11 months I have learned it pretty well and actually found it easier. I wish everywhere in the world would just standardize!

6. I hate being 15+ hours ahead of my family back home. It is a cool feeling to be "in the future" so to speak but it is frustrating when I want to talk with them or do any business back home.

7. I hate that movies and tv are so delayed here. We are constantly watching re-runs or seeing "new" movies only to find out they came out in America 3 months ago! It is frustrating and unfair. They also play the same damn commercials over and over! So many times in fact that Ben and I have most of them memorized! $506.95, anyone? :) (Hint that is a reference for an insurance company lol) and I hate that they constantly recycle the same actors and actresses and use them in multiple shows.

8. I hate that some Australian roads are inconsistently signed so its hard to tell where you are going. Luckily my map reading skills have improved a lot!

9. I hate that Australia is so huge I didn't get to see all of it I wanted too :( and I also have a love/hate relationship with Aussie lingo. I speak "Aussie" now so I can understand almost all of it but, they shorten everything! The bottle shop becomes "the bottlio" relatives becomes Relos. There is many many more but you get the point. It is ok when you know how to "translate" it but, when I first got here I was totally lost! I haven't lost my Texas accent but I totally speak Stralian' now lol

10. I hate the fact that soon I have to leave because while America and Australia profess to be good friends Americans are unable to get a second year working holiday visa here like most nationalities for some weird reason, but such is life gotta move on to bigger and better things.


So there you have it. My love/hate list. Now time for my what I miss about home list in no particular order:

1. First and foremost of course I miss my family and my friends. I do have some great friends here even a few life long ones but I miss everyone back home.

2. I miss my mom's cooking,especially her homemade chicken noodle soup.

3. I miss fried okra

4. I miss biscuits and gravy

5. I miss good Texas BBQ and Steaks.

6. I miss real Dr Pepper

7. I miss Shiner Bock

8. I miss Blue Bell Ice cream

9. I miss cheap fast food that actually tastes good like Whataburger or Wendy that is open practically 24/7. Oh and Taco Bell too!

10. I miss my new car and driving somewhere, anywhere. and I miss going deer hunting!

You may have noticed most of my "I miss about home" list was related to food. I just really miss food lol. It's the small things I miss. The stuff I can't get here. Well that is all the lists I have for you. Just thought I would let yall know.

One month to go.......

Well today is my 11 month anniversary here which means I have exactly one month left here :( it has gone so crazy fast I can't even believe it! In just a month I will be in New Zealand and have to leave Oz behind. I really have grown to like it here. This weekend was Ben's farewell party. He is leaving tomorrow to go to Fiji and then we will meet up back here in ten days. We went out with work friends and had a really good time. We actually just recently started hanging out with them which is a shame because they are a good bunch of people and while our living situation is pretty good, we have a nice house to live in for now and it is close to work and everything we need, our social life has not been all that active since we moved to Brisbane five months ago ( I can't believe its been that long!) the plus side is that we have been able to save a decent amount of money for our ongoing travels.

I met Ben back in December in Sydney and we started traveling together regularly in April. It has been nice to have someone to travel with since I did come to Australia alone (as did he). This two week "break" will be the longest we have been apart in quite a while. It will be weird once he is gone haha. He really has been a good mate to me. As much as we have traveled together we have never really gotten in a big fight about anything. We have had minor disagreements just like anyone and almost had a punch out over Brussel sprouts in Coles haha but all has been well. I have already been to Fiji so I decided I would stay here and make some more money while he went and explored Fiji. We will be back on track when he gets back in two weeks.

I had the strangest dream I have had in a long long time over the weekend. It was like something out of CSI lol. I had a dream that I was with a female friend of mine and something bad happened to her. In my dream I didn't see what happened but I did see the guy who I thought had hurt her so I proceeded to beat him up and the cops ended up coming and arresting ME. They didn't believe my story that the other guy was the one who had hurt her and I kept protesting that I was just trying to protect my friend but they decided to take me to jail anyway and let him go! I woke up in cold sweats as they were taking me off to prison. I hadn't been watching any movies or anything, nothing that I can think of bring on this weirdness lol. Ever since I saw the movie Inception I have been hyper aware of all my dreams and now I always realise that the movie was totally right about something. If you think about it you never really know how you get in your dream (like the setting) so my friend and I we were in a park but I have no idea how we got to that park. Then my dream ended with me being transported to jail. Strange huh?

On Sunday we also saw the new movie (new here anyway) Dinner for Schmucks. It was the comedy with Steve Carrel. It was about an office worker who wants a promotion (Paul Rudd) the only catch is he has to bring an idiot to dinner so they can unwittingly make fun of them. Only Steve's character was such an idiot he didn't realise that the whole dinner was actually making fun of him and others. His character just thought it was all full of talented people haha. It was really funny! It came out on the 30th of July back in America though so it took forever to get here! I would recommend it for a laugh though. I give it 3 or 4 stars out of 5. 

I guess thats all I have for now. October is gonna fly by I feel. I will blog more soon. Yall take care,Tyler

My day off (again)

I was thinking just the other day about my whole trip here. This whole thing started for me mainly because I got laid off back home and once I lost my job I had to do something. Rather than stress about finding a new job in a bad economy and worry about everything that goes along with that I just decided to pack it up and move here for a while. I knew a few people here but no one REALLY well. So, it was a big adjustment for me moving here alone with just my backpack and my wits.

My first month here was rough trying to adjust to a whole new country with no one to depend on but myself. But, I survived my first month and still doing fine even now. I really have grown to like Australia a lot and have really adjusted to life here. I have everything I need to be happy and healthy. Some people would consider this just "traveling" and not really anything else. I consider myself really lucky and don't regret doing this at all. That being said, I don't consider this just some trip. Sure, I have been backpacking and traveling but I have also been working hard for money to support myself. So I will really look back on this whole experience with fond memories knowing that I did learn a lot and wasn't just traveling for the sake of pure travel.I have some great skills and knowledge I can rely on and use in future jobs and down the road in life.

I have learned a lot about myself as a person and what I can do for myself. When I was back home I had a whole network of people to depend on and support me and here I just have me. You know back home I never had to cook. (Because my dear mother is an amazing cook!) so I never really knew how to cook anything because I was never forced to try. Well here if I don't cook I don't eat. So while I still can only cook basic stuff at least I can cook something. Sure I can eat out but it is expensive here so cooking is just cheaper. Ben and I split the grocery bill 50/50 so it is a good money saver. So I have learned a lot of new life skills with my time here and new work skills too. I do laundry with no dryer and wash dishes by hand, live with no Air Conditioner and just generally don't have all the creatures comforts from home. I learned how to read a map well and use public transport. Sure I miss my friends and family back home but have really enjoyed my time here so far. Now that is drawing to a close here I just have a bit left before I go to New Zealand and learn new stuff there!

I had another unscheduled day off today. It really is a bummer that I am not working five days a week currently but it has been slow lately. I have had stuff to do though so I have stayed busy which is better than just laying on the lounge doing nothing. Today I went to get a new charger for my computer which was luckily still under warranty so I didn't have to pay for anything! After that I went to Target to return something I bought.

The "interesting" part was actually getting there. I had to take two trains and three buses throughout my day. So that was a drag because it seemed to work out that all day I JUST missed the train/buses so I ended up waiting like a half hour each time :( and normally if you have "continuing" travel on the public transport network, with our "Go Card" we can get free travel (once you pay the initial fare) but, if you spend more than 1 hour "off network" and you go to "tap on" and ride again it isn't free anymore. On the train today for the first time that I have noticed they had "undercover" officers checking for tickets on the train. Normally they are uniformed officers and people have found them fairly easy to avoid if you want too. Well not anymore. Lucky for me I had no issues because I had "tapped on" and paid for my ticket.

So due to all my friggin delays it meant that for most of the day I missed the "free" travel window :( I even missed one bus because I was at the bus stop and the driver clearly saw me I was even waving my hand and he drove right by! It made me really mad that he was such a jerk! But there was a nice lady at the bus stop to talk too. Anyway I got everything done I needed done so it ended up being an ok if not long day.

Well thats all I got for now.-Ty

The Weekend

I thought I would take some time to elaborate more on a few of my past trips. When I was in Germany it was my first trip alone and I went to Hamburg Germany and the Dalai Lama was speaking there! I really wanted to go listen to him speak but the tickets were all sold out. I also did a bicycle tour of Berlin Germany, called Fat Tire Bike Tours. It was so much fun and informative at the same time! I even got to go see The Berlin Wall. I also toured Auschwitz and saw the memorial for all the Jews who lost their lives in World War Two. That was rather depressing but good to see and remember history. My favourite place that I visited in Germany by far was Koln (Cologne). They have an amazing cathedral there that is over 1000 years old! It is so solidly built and just amazing to be so old! They also have great food and great beer there and the best brisket I have had outside of Texas! I got to see so much history there it was great! It was great to see the good history and the bad.

I was in England/Ireland 3 years ago for some time and I had a lot of fun. I did a walking tour in London all about The Beatles and I got my picture taken by Apple Studios on Abbey Road just like the album cover. All the traffic stopped for me and let me take the perfect shot it was great! I got to see the last place Jimi Hendrix played before he died. I also did a double decker bus tour of all the hot spots in London. Tower Bridge,Crown Jewels etc. Not only that but, I met a guy on my tour who actually went to medical school with my grandfather back in the 50's! I was thousands of miles from home and I randomly met him! It was a really neat "small world" deal.

We made it over to Ireland the day before St. Patrick's Day so obviously the atmosphere was amazing! There was partying everywhere and the river was dyed green and everyone was going wild! It was sooo cool. We did 2 brewery tours which were really cool :) The Guinness Brewery and the Jameson Whiskey Distillery. Both were really cool and it was neat to see and get to taste their brews. I also remembered a funny story I will share. Every morning for breakfast I would go down to the little corner store and grab something to eat. The girls working behind the counter, I still don't think they spoke English. I think it was Gaelic. So I would ask for something, like a sausage roll or a meat pie and they said something. Well I didn't understand what they said so I just said "yes" and smiled. Then they gave me a food that I totally didn't order! LOL. This went on for 3 days straight. I finally just gave up and ate whatever they gave me haha.

I had 2 days off work last week, it was nice to have the time off to get everything done that I needed to get done (I had a big to do list!) but it sucked for my pocket book. We decided we didn't wanna just sit at home and do nothing though so we went out to see a movie. (Can you tell we like movies lol) We saw that Wall Street movie with Michael Douglas. He made the first one back in the mid 80's (which I haven't seen) and this was the sequel. It was all about money and stocks and stock brokers and making money and all that stuff. Ben enjoyed it but all that money crap just went over my head. I guess it was an OK movie but I wouldn't pay for it again. We only saw it really because we were on a "time budget" so it just worked out. Michael Douglas was recently diagnosed with throat cancer so I do wish him the best with that. He smoked cigars in the movie so that can't be good for him! Hopefully he pulls thru though, he is a good actor.

On Sunday afternoon we went out with some mates from work to watch UFC at a local pub and had some drinks there. It was nice to get out and have fun so all in all it was an enjoyable weekend. No complaints here :) Just a few more weeks left here in Brisbane then we are off to travel up the coast before I leave for New Zealand! -Tyler

My day off/busy day!

I had busy day off today! It sucked not working (and not getting paid) but it allowed me to go donate blood (to save 3 people's lives and figure out my blood type and get free orange juice afterwards hehe) There was some dramas with all my medical issues from birth but after lots of talking and question answering (the nurse actually called 2 separate doctors!) They cleared me to donate and everything was fine. I have donated many times in the past in America and everything was fine. Not to mention I had the coolest nurse ever! She was so witty and funny and we got on really well. She made me laugh and really made having my blood drained out of my body an extremely enjoyable experience even though I am sure all the questions/calls she had to make on my behalf was a long process for her haha. All is well though :)

I also went shopping for a new pair of shoes,jeans etc,go to the tax office and the bank,get my camera fixed,get a 10 dollar haircut at the haircutting school that took forever (but totally worth it for the cheap cost) go grocery shopping and now I am home and wiped out! Got all my stuff done and dusted though. Feels good to get my whole list done :P

I just now realised that a while ago I blogged about my past trips and Panama was my first trip out of the country. That was 10 years ago now when I was 15! My memory has faded a bit but rather than go back and add these memories to the blog I wrote about Panama I will just do it here. I just wanted to tell you a little more about the trip. Right when I landed at the airport in Panama City I was just speaking basic Spanish back then I timidly went up to the airport counter and asked them roughly where the bathroom was. They told me or so I thought, I went to where I thought they directed me too and what I actually entered was something similar to a women's locker room. A woman screamed at me and I quickly left haha.

Also, I got a chance to go on a boat ride in the Panama Canal which a lot of people would consider a once in a lifetime experience. While I will admit it was pretty neat at first and I was lucky to do it, it took a long long time to go all the way through The Canal and I ended up falling asleep haha. The other big memories that stick out in my mind was how cheap everything was (10 USD for a whole meal!) my first experiences with haggling and third world traffic laws lol. Also, we had a CRAZY truck ride up a mountain on a truck that was most likely built in 1930 haha. We did have an amazing dinner with one of the best sunsets I still have ever seen in my life in any countries I have visited. Right there eating on the beach right next to the ocean it was amazing! But, I didn't actually sleep on the beach next to ocean until I went to Fiji ( I slept like a baby) I had a great hammock :) I have more to elaborate on with my other trips that I missed but I will save it for another time.

A lot of people are up in arms about Facebook and similar sites here recently. Facebook has 500 million users worldwide. (if it was a country it would be the 3rd largest in the world) I for one will admit that I am a fan of Facebook and slightly addicted. I have tons of Facebook "friends" all over the world and it is a great way to keep in touch with them and reconnect with old friends from childhood. So really the whole privacy thing doesn't bother me all that much. I mean if you really sit down and think about it almost everyone is in some kinda government database these days. I think the one exception would be my dear father. He has no email,facebook,myspace, no nothing. As far as the Internet (and its related databases) are concerned he doesn't exist. I know he prefers it that way. He hates computers lol.

Ok a few more things and I am done spewing haha. On the way home from the city today I saw a health worker for "Queensland Health or so his shirt said anyway" (the local hospital system) he looked to be about mid 50's early 60's. He had a shaved head and 2 ear piercings with tattoos and I very odd necklace. It was a cross shaped necklace but it was made all out of skulls! I can't imagine he could wear that stuff at work! He would scare the patients lol

Last but not least I wanted to make an observation and tell you a little story. First off my observation: I have noticed here in Australia there is some "uncontrolled" intersections. Allow me to elaborate, In Sydney on George Street there is one and here in Brisbane close to Central Station (Train Station) there is one. I haven't found any others so far. What I mean is instead of crossing the road properly by waiting for the green little man sign and crossing straight across, you can actually cross diagonally across the intersection. So, when the green little man pops up everyone from all four directions swarms into the intersection crossing any which way they choose. It is wild and crazy (by Australian standards) and its kinda fun. Sure cuts down on the time crossing the street.

Now for my story: As I was leaving the train station today coming back from the city there was a little boy and his mother that I passed going down the stairs. He saw me going down the stairs and he looked to be about 4 or 5. He said "But Mum HE isn't holding onto the handrails!!!! Her reply was "But he is a big man and your a little man" he said "NO I AM NOT! It really made me laugh. Because of how angry he got at that statement and also her referring to me as a "big man" because while I am a full grown adult as anyone who knows me, knows I am hardly a "big man" lol. I am totally and utterly average in body size but of course I am super duper in personality which is why everyone loves me! haha

I must apologise for some of my longer winded blogs. I never thought I would really enjoy the whole blogging thing but I really do. I sit down to just write a little bit and I end up going on and on and on haha. So I am sorry I hope this doesn't bore yall (for those of you who even bother to read this far lol) take care. -Tyler

Weekend News

The weather here hasn't been great lately. It has been raining a lot and just generally crappy. So, rather than be cooped up at home this weekend Ben and I decided to go into the city. The trains were down as the rail network was being worked on so we got free bus service into the city which was cool!

We had planned to see some free comedy as part of the Brisbane Festival but, we went to see a movie on Sunday and by the time we got out of our movie it was raining again and we had missed the comedy :( we saw "Easy A" which was actually fairly funny. It had that girl from ZombieLand (great movie) in it. Basically she spreads a false rumour about herself but rather than deny it she just goes with it. It wasn't an AMAZING movie but it was good, better than sitting at home and it did have a great supporting cast.

On Friday we saw "Going the Distance" it was a comedy with Drew Barrymore (Remember her in E.T.? did you know she was 35?!) and Justin Long (The guy from the Mac Commercials) it was about two people dating long distance. I have been there and done that so I could particularly relate I think.  Again, it wasn't AMAZING but it was funny and worth the money I thought. It also had a great supporting cast. I give both movies  3/5 stars. So we have had our fill of movies lol. We didn't do too much else over the weekend and now it is Monday and we are just back at work (well its over for today Thank God!) 

Our time is really winding down here and Ben and I are just finalising what and where we will go next before I leave for New Zealand and he leaves for Asia then we meet up again in January in New Zealand. Life is not to bad just chugging along doing our thing. It isn't totally exciting all the time but as much as I would like to just travel ALL the time and do nothing else I actually have to work to survive lol. So life is life but I am still having fun and doing my thing. Hopefully things are still good back home and  I will be interested to see what has changed once I do get back home.

Yall take care,Ty

South America here we come!

So Ben and I are officially going to South America for real for real now!  I leave Oz in Nov (it has gone SO fast!)
the day I leave Oz I fly to NZ. I land in Auckland and I am hoping to have a job already or get a job really quickly because I am going to save as much money as possible for South America so I don't have to worry about money while I am there! I will be in New Zealand until April. Ben arrives in New Zealand (from Asia) I am SO jealous he is getting to back to Asia! He arrives in January and we leave New Zealand in April to fly to Chile! :) I can't wait!

Oh ya, I forgot to tell you that the other day Ben and I went into the city to see that movie, The Other Guys but before we saw that we went to a free art exhibit at the Brisbane Festival. It showcased pictures by a Canadian photographer named Douglas Kirkland. Apparently he was even in Brisbane talking to people but we missed him. I had never heard of him but, I know he is Canadian born and was born in 1934.

He has taken pictures of some really famous people including Marilyn Monroe,Michael Jackson,Rob Lowe and tons of others! His pictures were really great. I enjoyed it a lot and it was totally free :) I wish I had pictures to show yall. There was a picture of him in 1961 with all his tons of huge cameras and equipment and stuff. Right next to it they had a picture of him in 2010 with all his fancy new (much smaller equipment. It was really neat to see the comparison!

Work has been slow lately but it is still work and we are still pulling a paycheck. The days are flying by here and it is inching towards October already! There is a lot I will miss about Australia and some stuff I won't miss. I have a whole list but that is gonna be for another blog entry. I can't be bothered to do it now.

Talk at ya later,Tyler

Its been a long time

Today is the 14th of September here. I am assuming it is still the 13th of September back home. That means its been 7 years :( I can't even believe its been that long since one of my best friends in the world passed away. It was really hard then for me and it has gotten better over time but never goes away. Everything I remember about her is still crystallized in my mind even after all this time. I still do miss her and I feel just like it was yesterday even though its been 7 years. :( -Tyler

Back at it for another week

Well Ben and I used our free ticket to the movies over the weekend. We saw The Other Guys with Will Farrell and company. It was so funny! It was a cop comedy and I really enjoyed it. I mean it was his usual humour but he is just a funny man. It was even better because it was free! We also walked around the city and heard some bands and stuff from the Brisbane Festival for free. I tried the new "chicken schnitzel sub at Subway here and it was quite expensive and not that good. I was unimpressed.

Work has been work..... Still working hard and getting a paycheck which is better than being unemployed but nothing too amazing going on there except today I caught a lizard at work! It was the biggest lizard I have ever seen! It scared the crap out of me haha. But, I quickly determined it wasn't gonna kill me so I had took it outside. I later found out it was a blue tongue  lizard. They have even bigger lizards than that here. That was the most exciting thing to happen to me all day haha.

Big news! Ben and I bought and booked our ticket to South America! We leave from Auckland on the 5th of April! I have already booked my flight from here in Oz to Auckland for the 4th of November so I am all set now :) I have done my taxes here and just waiting on my return for last financial year. I still have to do taxes for this year before I leave. I also still need to get a haircut and we need to plan our South America journey.

Soon it will be time for more traveling so bring it on! :) -Ty

Movie Extravaganza

Ben and I have a busy weekend ahead of us haha. I posted the pictures/videos from River Fire recently on my facebook page if you haven't seen them yet.  But, this festival is a month long everyday there is something going on (Brisbane is really good about free festivals and stuff) so we will be going back there soon to check out some more stuff.

Last night Ben and I saw The Sorcerers Apprentice. Its a new (well new here) movie with Nicolas Cage about a sorcerer who is trying to find the next "super wizard" and he finally finds his apprentice. It wont win any academy awards by any means but, it was a good cheap outing and it was nice to kill a few hours. Tomorrow Ben and I will be seeing another movie. He got free tickets from work which is awesome! We are gonna be seeing The Other Guys. Will Farrell (and company) its a cop comedy and I have heard its really funny so I am excited about that.

I don't want this time seem like a side note seeing as it is at the bottom of this blog page because it totally isn't. But, today is Sept 11th here. :( I can't believe its already been nine years since that bad day. I still remember I was 16 years old and home sick from school. I woke up just in time to watch the second plane hit the towers live. I had no idea what was going on and I was really scared. I called my mom's work but the lines were busy. I finally got through and talked to her but none of us really knew what was going on. Finally Peter Jennings (late and great) came on ABC (channel 8) and calmly and clearly explained to us what was going on. I still remember how soothing his voice was and it was just good to finally understand what was going on.

Sadly he died a few years later from lung cancer. Due to smoking, a habit he picked up again after 9/11. I don't know anyone personally who was involved in 9/11 in anyway and I have never even been to New York but I just remember how hard all that hit me and still does. So even though I am here in Australia all my best goes out to all Americans today. (Tomorrow for most of yall back home).

On the 12th of Sept. 2001 I wrote pretty much the only poem I have ever written in my life and I haven't written one since really but here it is. It isn't much but I will let yall read it anyway.

They laughed, they cried, they died. They
went for a fatal for a ride, not knowing it
was their last, because of someone else's
task. We lugged, We dug, We hugged. We dug
in the rubble, they busted our bubble. They
shed blood, We gave blood. We laid them to
rest. They gave it their best. We salute
their bravery. God Bless America, America
the Beautiful.

 Well thats all I got for today. Talk at yall later,Ty

RiverFire 2010

Mom, this one is for you. Last night we went to RiverFire 2010 here in Brisbane along with 600,000 people. They had fireworks everywhere all synced to music! It is a month long festival and last night was the opening night. They had the best fireworks show I have ever seen in my life! These Aussie's sure know how to put on a good fireworks show (even though personal fireworks are illegal) it was even better than New Years Eve in Sydney with the Harbour Bridge! We had the PERFECT spot too! Ben and I were right on the river and we had no one in front of us and no trees or anything blocking our view. They shot fireworks from 2 bridges and 3 barges all over the river. Also, they shot them off buildings right in the city centre CBD. It was so amazing! they whole sky was lit up! Along with that they had jets and helicopters flying over too.

America back in the 1960's designed a fighter jet called the F111. The US doesn't use it anymore but, Australia still has some that they have continually updated. So for this riverfire they fly the jets RIGHT over our heads! They turn on the afterburners and dump fuel directly into the engine creating a HUGE flame! It was SO loud and SO fast... It was awesome! It was over it just a few seconds but, it came back three times. I loved watching that jet! It was so fast that it broke the sound barrier! I heard the sound and I literally thought there was a second jet but it was just the sound from the first jet flying by! We actually witnessed history because this is supposed to be the last year the F111's are doing the "dump and burn" fly by as they are being retired. Australia is the last country in the world to use them still so it was neat to see them as they are being retired.

The Australian military was also there recruiting and they brought out their weapons and vehicles for us to play with that was really cool. They had one of their attack helicopters do a fly by which was neat. All of this was free and it lasts all month!

After we finished watching the fireworks we went into the city and had dinner at a really good interesting Italian place called Vapiano's. Ben had raved about this place so I wanted to try it. Basically they give you something that looks like a credit card and then you go up and order your food. They make it right in front of you in the kitchen and you can say I want more of this, less of this etc. Then you go sit down with a buzzer and when its ready you go pick it up. It is all like self service. It was expensive but good! So all in all a good night had by all :)

The only downside to our whole day was when we got to the fireworks like 5 hours early! we were looking for a spot to watch them and we saw some ladies in a spot so we wanted to get near to their spot. Now keep in mind we weren't "taking" their spot in any way, just close to it. But boy did they bite our heads off! it was just the two of them but they SCREAMED at us. We have been here since 1pm and this WHOLE area is ours! (its not legal to "reserve" spaces there) but they were just jerks and it wasn't even worth fighting with them so we left and then we found our even BETTER spot. So I just laughed to myself. On the way home our train was packed with literally like 50 or 60 people wall to wall and thank god we had a spot to sit down because a girl ended up throwing up in our train carriage and it was really gross. It got all over some people and all over the floor and we were stuck with it :( Apparently she drank too much. Thank God it wasn't on us though! But, other than that everything was fine : )

Talk at yall later and enjoy your weekend wherever you are,Tyler

P.S. Check out my facebook page for more great pictures. I should give credit where credit is due and let you know these are Ben's pictures/videos.

My bucket list

You know this whole leg pain at times has been really severe, so bad that I went to a doctor and then a hospital thinking it was something REALLY bad. Luckily it wasn't but, it did make me think my about my life and how I live it and what I have done with my life. My life is by no means perfect and I haven't done everything I want yet but, overall I am happy with my life and I think I have lived a good one. I have seen a lot of amazing things in just 25 years that most people never get to see a do in a lifetime. So, if I was to kick the bucket tomorrow I would die a pretty happy and blessed guy with family and friends who love me.  

I figured I would share with yall my "bucket list" of things I want to do before I die. So here it is:

Love and be Loved                         
Be more positive                    
Find a meaningful career                    
Talk with my brother more                    
Give more and take less                    
Pass on some knowledge                    
Don't burn bridges                    
Take more Chances                    
Be different                    
Get another tat     4th Nov 2011    1 year 2 months, 1 day          
Workout more     30th Dec 2011   1 year  3 months, 27 days          
Get laser eye surgery     30th Dec 2011   1 year  3 months, 27 days          
Learn to dance     30th Dec 2012     2 years, 3 months          
Learn to play an instrument     30th Dec 2012     2 years, 3 months          
Shave my head     30th Dec 2012     2 years, 3 months          
Go to Brazil with Ralf     31st Dec 2012     2 years, 3 months          
Go to Africa     31st Dec 2012     2 years, 3 months          
Go to South America or Mexico     31st Dec 2012     2 years, 3 months          
To Learn Spanish     31st Dec 2012     2 years, 3 months          
To try sword fighting     31st Dec 2012     2 years, 3 months          
Drive or Buy Eleanor From "Gone In 60 Seconds"     30th Dec 2034     24 years, 3 months          
Fly in a jet     30th Dec 2034     24 years, 3 months          
Take military style survival training     30th Dec 2034     24 years, 3 months          
Retire at 56     30th Dec 2040     30 years, 3 months          
Travel round the world     30th Dec 2084     74 years, 3 months          
Complete this list!     30th Dec 2084     74 years, 3 months          
Go to Cuba     30th Dec 2084     74 years, 3 months    

Semi Pain Free

Today was the first day since my leg injury that I have gone all day with no pain pills. Just wanted to let yall know in case there are those of you who were concerned. Today wasn't totally pain free but I think I am slowly slowly getting better. A day with no pain pills is a step in right direction.

Tomorrow here in Brisbane they will be having River Fire a large festival/fire works/air display. Ben and I will be going and it should be a good day. I am glad work is over for the week and now we are in the weekend! I can't believe its already September! I don't have too much time left here in Australia! Then I will move on and see what life holds for me :)

You know this whole leg pain at times has been really severe, so bad that I went to a doctor and then a hospital thinking it was something REALLY bad. Luckily it wasn't but, it did make me think my about my life and how I live it and what I have done with my life. My life is by no means perfect and I haven't done everything I want yet but, overall I am happy with my life and I think I have lived a good one. I have seen a lot of amazing things in just 25 years that most people never get to see a do in a lifetime. So, if I was to kick the bucket tomorrow I would die a pretty happy and blessed guy with family and friends who love me. 

Yall take care,Ty

Its been a while and I dont have much

Well I haven't blogged in a while and I really don't have much to say. But, I thought I would just give yall a little update. As I said before, the hospital/doctors said I had a severe muscle sprain/tear but there is really nothing they can do. I have been on some strong pain killers and an anti inflammatory which are helping. I can feel my leg slowly getting better. There is still pain but it is much less and I can at least get through a work day generally in not a whole ton of pain.

Other than staying busy and working hard, Ben and I haven't been doing much. This upcoming weekend is River Fire, a big fireworks show here in Brisbane so that should be good. I saw the movie Inception for a second time. (I really like that movie). On the weekends in city down by the river they have a weekend market which is pretty cool to go too. I really dont have much else but it is just good to be working and staying busy and making money! Ben also has a 2nd job as a waiter at Suncorp Stadium and next weekend he might get to see U2/Jay Z for free!

I know its not much but thats all I got for ya. Take care,Tyler

I got this from a friend

I got this from a friend in an email but I liked it so much I wanted to post it here. Wish I could take credit for writing it.

Imagine that you had won the following prize in a contest:

Each morning your bank would deposit $86,400.00 in your private account for your use.

However, this prize has rules, just as any game has certain rules.

The first set of rules would be:

Everything that you didn't spend during each day  
would be taken away from you.

You may not simply transfer money into some other account.

You may only spend it.

Each morning upon awakening, the bank opens your account with another $86,400.00 for that day.

The second set of rules:

The bank can end the game without warning; at any time it can say, it’s over, the game is over!

It can close the account and you will not receive a new one.

What would you personally do?

You would buy anything and everything you wanted, right?

Not only for yourself, but for all people you love, right?

Even for people you don't know, because you couldn't possibly spend it all on yourself, right?

You would try to spend every cent, and use it all, right?

ACTUALLY This GAME is REALITY!

Each of us is in possession of such a magical bank. We just can't seem to see it.

The MAGICAL BANK is TIME!

Each morning we awaken to receive 86,400 seconds as a gift of life, and when we go to sleep at night, any remaining time is NOT credited to us.

What we haven't lived up that day is forever lost.

Yesterday is forever gone.

Each morning the account is refilled, but the bank can dissolve your account at any time....WITHOUT WARNING.

SO, what will YOU do with your 86,400 seconds?

Those seconds are worth so much more than the same amount in dollars.

Think about that, and always think of this:

Enjoy every second of your life, because time races by so much quicker than you think.

So take care of yourself, be Happy, Love Deeply and enjoy life!

Here's wishing you a wonderfully beautiful day.

Start spending.

Tyler.

I am all clear

So I spent six hours of my life today in the emergency room at the PA Hospital here in Brisbane. They examined you based on how sick you appeared to be so it took them three hours to even call my name. Once I was seen the doctor asked me questions about my leg/stomach pain and did some muscle tests. Then he took some blood samples and urine samples. He said he thought it was a muscle tear in the muscle that goes from my upper thigh/groin to my lower abdomen but he wouldn't know until my test results came back.

It was three more hours laster and finally he came back and told me that I had a fairly severe muscle tear but not bad enough for surgery. Unfortunately it is the muscle that I use to walk everyday (and I do a lot of walking at work) so it wont heal quickly (it has been over a month already) but all I can do from this point is manage the pain with medicine and hope for the best. It really sucks that I still hurt and there is nothing they can do.

The good news is that this isn't anything that is going to kill me or force me to have surgery or go home. I also wasn't charged for the visit to the emergency room other than wasting six hours of my life there haha. Well I am not dying anytime soon so there ya go :)

No worries. Yall take care,Tyler

Work/Life/Various Updates

Now that I am back from New Zealand visiting my family (had a great time seeing them again) Now I am back working at my new job I figured I would update yall. My new job is pretty good. At first I started out on the "benches" sorting,labeling and packing clothing and accessories orders to be shipped out to stores all over Australia. But, now I have been reassigned to "runner" duty. I do a lot of jobs all at once now. There is 14 work stations each with a minimum of 2 people on them. They are constantly unpacking stock and breaking down the cardboard boxes that the stock comes in. So, one of my jobs is to take all the rubbish to the bin and throw it away.

That is a job that never ends! 14 work stations and one of me. So as you can imagine I stay busy just dealing with the rubbish! Not only do I do that but I also move stock around and reorganize so they always have priority stock at the front of the line to do. I label boxes and build new cardboard ones for them to use. I also just do general cleaning and whatever else they need. There is 4 to 5 "bench controllers" or floor managers plus 2 managers above them. So, I am going a million miles an hour being pulled in 1000 directions all day!

I am on my feet all day not stopping. There is an upside to all this though, it makes me day go really really quickly and unlike the people who work on the benches who have "targets" to hit in the number of units they process etc. I have guaranteed work hours because they always need a runner even if it is slow and I am pretty much guaranteed five day work week which is not true of every casual worker there and working 7:30-3:30 close to home isn't a bad gig. I don't have any of that pressure I just make sure everything is clean and in order and running smoothly and I get the same amount of money. So it is a fast job and I have to multi task all day but overall I do like it! At least I am getting a paycheck and not unemployed anymore!

Also today at work we had an unexpected 45 minute break. Near the end of the day the fire alarm went off and everyone had to be evacuated. We were told it wasn't a drill. But, there was no smoke and no fire so no one was really freaking out or anything. They ended up giving us all the all clear and I  still don't know why it went off. By the time we were cleared to go back inside our day was over :) 

Other than that, I have a big to do list tomorrow. At the top of that list I actually have to go to the hospital. I have been having some severe unexplained leg/stomach pains that haven't been going away. I went to the doctor here and she couldn't figure out what was wrong so she referred me to the hospital. I hope it isn't anything too serious and I can still work and travel etc. I will keep yall updated for sure. I am still among the living don't worry :)

Ben and I also saw that new movie (it just came out here) The Expendables. It had a huge all star cast with Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham,Terry Crews,Mickey Rourke,Stone Cold Steve Austin, Eric Roberts (Julia Roberts brother)Jet Li and a few others. Our very own California Govenator Arnold Schwarzenegger ( I was surprised to see him in the movie due to him currently holding public office) and Bruce Willis both had very funny cameos. It was your typical shoot em up action movie but it was pretty good. I enjoyed the action/fight scenes and it kept us occupied for 2 hours and we got cheap tickets. I would give it a 3/5 stars. So all in all a good night. 

Well thats all for now yall take care,Tyler

mountain picture nz

Economy Class Hell

I really just felt this deserved a blog entry all on its own. I wanted to tell you about my flight from hell back home to Brisbane from New Zealand. Considering I have flown probably over 100 times in my life and this was the first time I have ever been sat next to children I guess I should consider myself lucky.

That being said, I told you I thought economy class from Sydney to Brisbane on the train was hell, that was a cake walk compared to this! I was the 2nd person on the plane to board (just random luck) I go to my seat and then I see a family coming towards me. A father,mother and 3 kids. 2 little boys and a girl. I am secretly they wont sit next to me but no such luck. :(

I flew on an airline that shall remain nameless but lets just say it starts with J and ends with Star lol. I didn't have much option for any kind of upgrades with them considering they charge for everything! Before they even sat down the mother said to me "I apologise in advance" I knew I was in for it then lol. The 2 bros were 6 and 8 and sat next to me. The little girl was 4 and next to her parents in the row in front of me. Directly behind me was some hooligans who would NOT get their freakin knees out of my back! There was also a baby in the row across from me. I was surrounded and just had no luck! :(

About half way thru the flight the 2 boys were driving me nuts going crazy and their parents weren't doing much to stop it. My ipod was totally dead and I had no book to read. It was impossible to sleep and I was going nuts! I decided to listen to the radio that was pre programmed on the plane and it was crap. There was nothing good on except a comedy channel that kept me occupied for about a half hour of the 4 hour flight. By that point I would have been happy to skydive out of that plane into the ocean and swim to freakin Australia lol.

I had a crappy flight but it got me thinking. The airline did their job getting me there in one piece so I am thankful for that. I am also sure that some of my readers have young children and have to fly. I understand you can never have a childless flight but in all seriousness I know how these greedy airlines put more and more fees on us these days. Taxes,baggage, security fees... all of it. Well if they could GUARANTEE me that I would have a seat on the plane not in the vicinity of a child and/or baby or crazy person  I would totally pay extra for that. I would pay up to like 40 dollars extra for the comfort of having a peaceful flight and I am sure others would too, so if there is an airline executives reading my blog. HINT HINT! lol. I just thank God I was not on a long haul flight a la Sydney to LA.

Ok rant over. I am just congested and a little sick and cranky ( I am sure I caught something from those kids on the plane lol). Anyway yall take care,Tyler