Biting off more than I can chew (Darwin, Australia)

I'm almost at the one month mark of my travels now. Everything has been going relatively smoothly. I just rented a car for the first time to go into Kakadu National Park. I've also booked a couple of day tours to better understand the Aboriginal culture.  I'll be on the road in the outback the next couple of days.

 

As if that wasn't enough to think about (Along with the return of large cockroaches - though not as large as Paraguay) I started learning Japanese today. I have (16) 30 minute Japanese lessons on my computer. I have 1 month to get through them all before I fly to Japan on Nov.30th. A couple of days earlier than I originally had it scheduled.  Before I left I wondered whether I  would be able to learn another language while traveling.  Learning another language is demanding on the mind.  It's not so bad here in Australia since I am using English right now. I'm imagining learning a language for an upcoming destination while IN a country where I may have just barely learned to speak a little of its language just a few days earlier. Confusing!  Am I biting off more than I can chew? ehh....speak?  Let me not even consider the effect of learning so many different languages in such a short period of time.  Onward!

 

If you haven't checked it out - I am dilligently updating my tour plans on a regular basis with the newer HTML only format.  There are quite a few links in each plan. You can surf and see the choices and decisions I am going through over here on a daily basis - as well as seeing my lodging and daily activities - before I even post any pictures or text.

 

 

 

 

 

Using Greenwich Mean Time for posting

Journals now are posted with GMT time - prior was US Pacific Std Time.

Where are all the Americans follow up (Alice Springs Airport, Australia)

Here is a link that shows how many people have active US passports (10 year vaildity)
(Also has been available in Trip Tools - Information section - I just found it again)

US Dept of State Passport Statistics

Assuming 1992-2002 - approximately 64 million passports issued. 64 million / 285 million people = 22%
It would be interesting to compare this to other countries. Also to do more research -- finding a more accurate number by eliminating children under X years of age and non-citizens who presumably do not have US passports.

Previously anecdotal hearsay has been that only a few % of Americans have passports. Which I was shocked when I heard it -- so I got the straight dope here. Clearly that hearsay is wrong (As it so often is).

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I have discovered a problem with the navigation bar on most pages -- it doesn't link to the new MAIN page correctly. I will correct that within a few days.

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Had a required overnight here in Alice Springs in the dead centre (As Aussies like to call it, not Red Centre - as the tourism commission will say) of Australia. Flying to Uluru / Ayers Rock to see the UN World Heritage site there. Flying certainly beats an expensive and rushed tour or a 5 hour one-way drive - 460km. I'll have 3 nights there so plenty of time to absorb it all before I head up to Darwin.

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I'm typing this from the Qantas Club / airport club (Because I am flying business) . Great place to get internet access and complimentary food and drink - which is expensive in these remote areas. Highly recommended to fly business if one is going to do as many flights as I have. I've even taken a shower in one of these clubs - in Melbourne. Pictures to come later. Nice quite and clean environment. I left my hostel at 8AM this morning - no sense in staying there...I've not been at the club here for a couple of hours with 1 hour to go before my flight. Getting my money....ehhh...frequent flyer miles worth!

New Main Page and other things

I've created a new main page for getting around to content on this site. This main page eliminates links to sections of the website that I consider - terribly inadequate / explained / formatted, etc... I hope you like it.

Added a Who is Wayne section with lots of pictures (10+). It takes a while to load on a slow connection. I hope you find it entertaining. I never really have explained who I am to those who don't know me anywhere on the site. For one, I have not really thought of it as too important. More important has been what I have been learning. But...it's there now.

I'll be posting a bunch of new pictures in the Frozen Moments section as soon as I can get to a high speed link - hopefully in Darwin.

I've also fixed the journal archive weblinks on the upper right of this page so you can read my past ramblings to your heart's content.

Size of Western Australia

Where Are All the Americans?

I've been on the road for 3 weeks now.

Here is the nationality of everyone I've met/shook hands with that I can remember:

Qantas Flight to Melboune
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2 Americans (On short business trips)
1 Aussie

Easyrider Tour Bus: (From Perth to Exmouth, Australia)
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4 Swedes
---> 1 US American (First American she had met in 3 weeks in Australia *I think*)
2 Irish
5 Brits / Poms the Australian like to call them - Prisoners of Her Majesty
1 Belgian
1 Spaniard (Living in Las Vegas most recently - soon to have American citizenship)
1 German
1 Finn

1-2% of backpackers are American as confirmed by two Easyrider Tour drivers. (Asked on different days/time)

Kangaroo Island Hostel
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1 Swiss (I think I was the 1st or 2nd American he had met while traveling in Australia for a month or two by car)
4 Thai students studying in Adelaide

Kangaroo Island Tour Bus
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2 Italians
2 Australians - probably more


Adelaide (On Bus)
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1 Indian student studying in Adelaide

Melbourne Hostel
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2 Brit girls (Traveled to Dubai, India / Nepal, SE Asia - could only recall meeting 2 other Americans, I was the 3rd!)
2 Germans
1 or 2 Dutch
a few Australians

Exmouth pub
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4 Brit girls (Traveling as a group)
1 German
1 Dutch

Exmouth dive day #1
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1 Swede - Could only recall having met a handful -Less than 5- Americans while traveling through Asia prior to Australia)
1 Aussie
2 Swiss Germans
3 others unknown - not US from accent/demeanor/look


Exmouth Dive Day #2
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2 Brit
4 Swiss French
2 Swiss German


Anecdotal questions to a couple of travelers who have been through Asia and Australia mention no more than meeting 5 Americans. More Canadians than US Americans met. Basically, the number could be counted on one's hands.

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Notably, no Asians (I know alot of Japanese come to Australia in large tour groups though - I saw a couple), Africans, or Eastern Europeans / Russians, or Latin Americans.

My initial suspicions are that Americans are traveling to Australia but are likely staying in nicer digs, not with "backpackers." These travelers are likely older on short vacations, and not backpackers. And of course - Americans on business.

I could come up with alot of reasons and theories from the above results. But I'll save them for a future article after I gather some more evidence and research (Like official Australian immigration tour statistics).

Here is the kicker though -- the ONLY American backpacker I have met and only American I have met on Australian soil is:

From my current hometown of Kirkland, WA too!!

Go figure....

oh yeah...the first American "backpacker" I met while on a 3 week backpack trip in Europe in 1998 was from Laguna Beach, CA, the city right next to where I lived in Aliso Viejo, CA in Orange County.

So...who else by coincidence am I going to meet?

Australian Wildlife

I've been on the road for 3 weeks now. The most interesting thing I've seen are a bunch of rocks, and I'm not a geologist. They are called Stromatolites. They reputedly are the life forms that existed on earth a few billion years ago that produced the oxygen for all current life to exist. Life forms? Yes, I did say life. These rocks breathe. They are found only here in NW Australia and in the Bahamas supposedly.

Unfortunately, my tour bus only stopped there for 15 minutes. Mostly because everyone started running back to the bus after a few rain drops (Wussies I say!) started falling. This is one of those places I could spend a few hours at pondering the meaning of life. With an ice cold beer of course. I didn't actually notice the rocks breathing, but that is what the signs say, and from the words of a girl I met later who had seen them prior. If I had more time I certainly ould
have. I even tried to figure out a route back to see them on my own but it would have been too expensive and time consuming. It's pretty remote. Another time...perhaps in the Bahamas.

I'll post pictures of my experience there as well as more thoughts on it in a future article.

I have seen some more animated wildlife while I've been over here too. Several Manta Rays underwater, a big sea turtle both on the surface and underwater while diving, and Sting Rays on the water surface. And the most fascinating creature yet in my opinion -- the Horny Lizard. Picture below.





I'm feeling a bit journal photo happy today. Since I haven't been consistent in posting photos in the journal...I'll post a bunch today of various animals (No humans though - sorry) I've seen.





Mini Kangaroo (Wallaby?)



Australian Seals (As opposed to Sea Lions I think)


Big Sea Turtle



Dead Sting Ray (Saw live ones too)

Feeling a Little Lonely (Perth, Australia)

Sometimes you just don't realize something until you're there. As I walked the streets of Perth, Australia this afternoon I had a somewhat empty feeling. Sure there were business people milling about and a fair number of people in the pedestrian mall but something didn't feel right. The answer became clear when I flipped through the pages of a tourist brochure here. It shows that Western Australia (1/3 of the country) is bigger than Germany, UK, and Japan combined with plenty of room left over, yet with only 1.8 million people. Obvious if I looked on a map, but like I said, I didn't realize it until I got here.

I think my timing of my traveling Australia could have been a little better. I wonder if I could have gone to Asia first then Australia. As I want to see more people, not less right now. Some of the adventures here don't sound terribly interesting ...that is for someone who just drove across the USA and then some. 4WD through the outback (Desert). Big deal. Interesting rock formations. Big deal - I saw plenty of geological things driving in the USA. I admit even the waterfall pictures in the Northern part I'm looking at don't ring my bell. After seeing Iguassu Falls in Brazil / Argentina in March. I mentioned this symptom of traveling some time ago in an earlier journal. There are the multi-billion year old Stromatolites coming
up though!

I am looking forward to alot of diving over the next 1.5 months though. While the reefs of Australia are over promoted by the Australian Tourism industry (Based on 2 dives (Ok - not a great sample set!) in the past and dive book readings) they should provide a good setting to gain more experience before I head into the more interesting and challenging dive sites of SE Asia and Micronesia. Or at least this is my expectation anyway. I'm keeping it low right now.

Cold!

This past week has seen me stay now in a widely different variety of accommodations. I started off in a Melbourne hostel where I met some other great backpackers. As I went to Adelaide I stayed at the home
of a woman I met on Global Freeloaders (www.globalfreeloaders.com). One of the nights I spent in a hostel while on tour of Kangaroo Island. The common thread between all of these places was that they were cold at night! Other than the latter, I had enough blankets though. Not sure if it is an energy saving idea or what. The Melbourne hostel had a warm lounge, but the actual sleeping dorm was
cold! I recall the memory of my first night on the road in Southern California (January 2003 Journal!).

Needless to say I've had enough and have splurged on better digs for the next two nights while in Perth, Australia (www.riverview.au.com). I like my privacy too. Most people think of young around the world travelers as budget backpackers. I admittedly do not fit that category. I don't even wear a big backpack. Usually only my computer pack - everything else is wheeled around. I like my creature comforts. Am I asking too much to have a warm room when I go to sleep and wake up? If I want cold I'll go back to camping. Having one's own bathroom and private desk area is nice too. I don't need these things everyday - but often enough.

Fortunately, I'm not confined to a backpacker budget. Then again I can't afford to stay at places like I'm at now everyday either - at least not in Australia. Besides, I've thought that to understand a culture one needs to experience it at different economic levels. Where one stays will convey different feelings - both comfort level and surroundings. The comparison of how I traveled in Melbourne 2 years ago and just recently is a great example. Back then I rented a new Saab convertible and stayed at a place called the Sebel in Melbourne downtown (www.mirvac.com.au). Definitely not the Lord's Lodge Hostel. And this time,
I did not have a car - only public transport.

My last note -- I'm finally starting to get into a mental traveling groove now. The weather is good here in Perth - that is helping. Onward!

Traveling is scary

I talk about fear in various articles now and again on my website. How it guides our behavior or how I overcame many subconscious and conscious fears. Well -- for the record, I am scared. Not as in mortal fear, but as in a little voice in the back of my head - that pops up now and again - what the heck are you doing? Why can't you just follow the Yellow Brick Road to Happiness? As I think back to what that road looked like at times - I'm reminded of why am I here. --- My first day it was really hitting me how long I will be gone from familiar territory, friends, and family. I'm sure the weather has a bit to do with it.

But, I know from previous life experiences (Traveling, new job, unfamiliar illness to family/friends, a move to a new place, etc...) that this is common. I just need to get into a groove, adjust expectations, and get better weather! I'm sure jet lag is involved too. I'm sure you know the feeling too - as the things I listed above are not exclusive by any stretch.

Perhaps the scariest thing of all though is how I will see the world. And how that will be different than friends and family's experiences (Or many people in general - how many people visit this many countries/regions by this age? In their entire life?). I do have friends that have traveled and have open minds so that helps.

These differences in how I see our world is already happening based on my life's experiences. I only expect it to magnify in intensity as more reality confronts my vision. There are differences by men/women, economic class, education level, age, etc...of course. But, I'm asking so many questions and seeing so many things that I hope I don't lose complete perspective and I hope I will always be able to connect what I see with people that I meet and know. I'm going to make a lot of mistakes as I've mentioned in my WRONG article (In the About section) Although, I know there is a time a place to not talk about certain subjects. Something I'm going to have to heed if I want to survive.

I guess that is why I have this website.

Off to a gray start - well sort of (Melbourne, Australia)

Well the spring weather isn't cooperating with my trip plans. Instead of giving me glorious sunny weather here in Melbourne, Australia I am dealing with gloomy gray and rain. Not too heavy, but consistent. A bit on the chilly side. A far cry from the weather I experienced in Melbourne 2 years ago. This must be the Seattle vengeance. My 6 weeks in the Seattle area consisted almost entirely of glorious 70+F weather. Very unusual as any Washingtonian would state. My last full day there was a record 80 degrees + F. Not normal for late September. I did live there for 11 years so I'm sure of that. Hmm..changes in global weather patterns.....good for some, crappy for others.

On the bright side I just had my dentist appointment and it was a great experience. Very modern office and friendly. The receptionist stated that while they've had non-Australians referred by local hotels, they have never had someone make an appointment from another country. First time for everything.

I'd post a picture, but I'm staying at a youth hostel so not possible. The irony...I fly to Australia in business class but I'm staying at a youth hostel.

My hygienist commented that Melbourne has the worst weather in Australia of all major cities. Well..at least I'm getting an authentic experience. As for interesting tidbits, she commented that Americans have the best teeth in her experience because kids have been getting good treatment for a long time now in America. This after working in Switzerland for a number of years cleaning teeths of American ex-pats, working with American hygienests(sp?), and the like. I commented that this contrasted with some article on a website I read about Australians having good teeth. Then we talked about the impact of candy and soft drinks. Who knows...maybe a different standard of measure or age group was used? The folly of statistics sometimes.

She did mention that dental teeth cleaning is relatively new in Australia. The concept of a hygienist in areas outside of South Australia (Adelaide) is new in the past 10 -20 years. I would have never thought. Who cleaned people's teeths before? Either no-one or the dentist himself. Of course if we go not too far back in time - there was no teeth cleaning period. Everyone in the modern world should be thankful for modern times and medicine! I only wonder how my teeth will fare 6 months from now after being on the road. Maybe I'll get them cleaned in some other country?

On another positive note, I met several friendly and interesting people while getting to Australia. One of them is from Melbourne (Coming back from the US) and even ended up picking up the tab for the cab ride that we shared. My hostel is near his office. Plane rides are great ways to learn more about other cultures. On my flight to Dallas I even met a US Air Marshal. Fascinating brief life story. Although he didn't tell me this until later in the flight -- I suspect after he had determined I wasn't a "terrorist."

So..yes, it's gray and depressing (Not many smiling faces on the streets or trains) but I have met a bunch of good folk.