I find the life cycle of the relationships of people I meet while travelling very strange. Generally it starts because you want to ask someone a question, or have some other reason to talk to them. Then invariably you have the where do you come from? how long are you travelling? where have you been? what do you do back home? conversation. Then maybe you hang out with the person for maybe a few hours, maybe a few days, and then you say goodbye and never see the person again.

I guess what I find strange is that, in the 'real' world, if you knew, absolutely knew you would never see someone again after a few hours or days you probably wouldn't make any effort to get to know them. Certainly I wouldn't, but I'm a little anti-social. I might chat with them for a while, but while travelling if you don't meet people it's very boring, so you make a real effort to get to know people.

I got pretty tired of this cycle for a while, and for a few days in Thailand I just stopped meeting people because I couldn't have the same conversation over and over again, but I got over that. Now it's just part of my routine, and I'm fine with it. What bums me out a little though is when I meet someone I actually would like to see again, and I know that after we part company I'll never see them again. I've only met a few people like this, but still, the chance of seeing anyone I'm travelling with again is next to zero, and it kind of makes meeting cool people a little bitter-sweet. I get to know them and then it's see you later.

But I guess that's the deal. If I wasn't travelling I'd still be stuck hanging around the same losers I hang around with in Toronto (kidding, really, I'm kidding :), so I guess I'm coming out ahead.

I spent 6 of the last 7 days doing two 3 day tours. The first was from Alice Springs to Darwin stopping at sights along the way. This tour was a little boring, but at least in part it was just transportation. All in all it wasn't too bad and it got me to Darwin.

The second tour I did was of Kakadu national park, and it was pretty great. Kakadu was nothing like what I expected, but fantastic nonetheless, or maybe because it wasn't what I was expecting. It was just fantastic scenery. We went swimming in the nicest fresh water swimming locales I've ever been to, slept out under the stars, and generally just chilled out in a fantastic spot. On the way home we did a boat cruise where we fed 4m crocodiles, and eagles while they were flying (the eagles, not the crocodiles). I'm really glad I came to Darwin.

Tomorrow I'm off to Cairns, really this time. I made a bit of a miscalculation. I now have only a week on the east coast, but I thought the places I wanted to see were only a few hours apart. In reality tomorrow I'm getting up at 6am for my flight, and then immediately taking a 11 hour bus to Airlie Beach, where I want to do some sailing. I really didn't think it was that far. This means I won't see Cairns, or anything else on the east coast, except Airlie Beach. But Darwin was fun and everyone says the east coast is boring, so I'm not too concerned.

Oh, I posted some photos from the first part of my time in Australia. They aren't too exciting, but I'll put more up soon.

Within about one hour of my last post my plans changed completely. I booked all my flights within Australia long before I left on my trip. I was supposed to fly to Cairns tomorrow, but I've heard that Darwin, and some of the national parks around it are really nice at this time of year, so I decided to head north. I think that I over planned this trip. I should have left more room to be spontaneous with my plans, so from now on I'm going to try to be a bit looser with my planning.

I'm taking a three day bus/tour north tomorrow, for another 1500km of outback driving (doing 1500km over the last three days wasn't enough apparently). We'll stop at a few interesting places along the way, do some camping in the desert, should be fun.

I was able to change my Alice to Cairns ticket to a Darwin to Cairns ticket a week later, so I didn't lose anything, and I was able to be a little more flexible.

On Tuesday Oliver and I flew to Alice Springs. If Australia were a gigantic blob, Alice Springs would be right in the middle of it, if that helps. Alice is close to Ayer's Rock, that's why most people come here. There are lots of tours going to the rock, but it was going to be $350* for a two day, one night tour, which seemed like a lot. Instead of doing the usual backpacker thing, we followed the footsteps of Bill Bryson Oliver and I rented a car and set off into the outback. There is not much on the 5 hour drive between Alice and Ayer's Rock but rocks, low trees and dead Kangaroos. For about 200km there was a dead kangaroo on the side of the road, in various states of decay, every 200m, without exaggeration. It was really quite incredible. We actually did see one live, wild kangaroo on the side of the road too.

Ayer's Rock is a really big rock. Actually, I think it's the biggest rock I've ever seen. It was quite impressive. I was worried that it would be a let down, but it was bigger than I expected. It's about 350m high, which is almost exactly as high as the lower observation level of the CN tower, and it's 3.6km long, which is pretty big. However, there's only so much time you can spend looking at a big rock. We climbed it, and all together spent about 2 hours at the rock, plus the sunset the night before (which was quite good too; it goes a really bright shade of orange that looks quite unnatural).

We also hit the Olgas, another group of big rocks near Ayer's, and King's Canyon, which was a 300km detour on the way back to Alice. All in all it was a fun trip. It was nice to have the freedom of a car. I've been doing lots of tours and other things where I was on a timetable, and it was nice to be a bit freer. One snag was that because of the number of accidents with kangaroos our insurance didn't cover us driving on the highway after dark. So yesterday we did 800km, and a hike that was supposed to take 4 hours, in about 11 hours during daylight (we sprinted the hike in 1:55).

The only annoyance on the trip were the damn, damn flies. They didn't bite, but there were hundreds of them, buzzing around our heads. Bill Bryson is more eloquent than I, so I'll borrow his description of the flies:

Flies are of course always irksome, but the Australian variety distinguishes itself with its very particular persistence. If an Australian fly wants to be up your nose or in your ear, there is no discouraging him. Flick at him as you will and each time he will jump out of range and come straight back. It is simply not possible to deter him. Somewhere on an exposed portion of your body is a spot, about the size of a shirt button, that the fly wants to lick or tickle and turn delirious circles upon. It isn't simply their persistence, but the things they go for. An Australian fly will try to suck moisture off your eyeball. He will, in not constantly turned back, go into parts of your ear that a Q-tip can only dream about. He will happily die for the glory of taking a tiny dump on your tongue. Get thirty or forty of them dancing around you in the same way and madness will shortly follow.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

In the end, the rental car was quite expensive, and it looks like there are cheaper options for doing a tour. I'm not sure we came out ahead, but it was good time, and that's what really matters. Oliver and I parted company this morning. He's gone to see his relatives in Melbourne. I fly to Cairns tomorrow.

* Canadian and Australian are almost exactly at par (less than 1% difference) so all prices will just be quoted as $ as long as I'm in Australia

G'day Mate!
A dingo ate my shrimp!
Throw another baby on the barbie!
And so on...

Comin' at ya like Cleopatra from Sydney, New South Wales. I met my friend Oliver last night, and we've been hanging out here in Sydney. I have to admit that we've been to a Czech restaurant, and we enjoyed the Australian wine and the Czech vodka (hey, it's only 60%!) and the Czech beer, so if this post is a little incoherent, you'll have to excuse me.

Today Oliver and I did a bit of sight seeing around Sydney. Sydney seems a little like Toronto, but with a harbour. Kind of boring, but nice. The people are pleasant, the food is good, although about 500% more expensive than Thailand, the coffee is good, and yeah, generally things are pleasant.

Tomorrow Oliver and I fly to Alice Springs, which is pretty much in the centre of Australia. We're going to rent a car and drive to Ayer's Rock, which is about 500km from Alice. We'll spend two nights there, checking the dessert out, and maybe the desert, and then head back to Alice.

Yeah, I'm a bit bummed about leaving Thailand. Things were so easy and cheap there. Last week I was paying about C$10 for a bungalow on the beach, and now I'm paying C$30 for a shared room and shared bathroom in the middle of a boring city. But I knew I'd have problems leaving Thailand. A friend of mine from Phi Phi said that every time she leaves Thailand she has dreams she's still there and when she wakes up she's bummed out that she's not there. I can relate to that.

So, I should be somewhere in the outback by tomorrow night. Wish us luck.

When I was sick in Nepal I ended up missing 9 days of my trek. I had cancellation insurance, so I made sure I got notes from doctors, and the tour company was very helpful, and I hoped I'd get some money back. I was a bit wary; I thought the insurance company would weasel out of it some how.

Well, I just found out that my claim was approved. Since the trek was kind of expensive and Thailand is so ridiculously cheap the reimbursement for 9 days in Nepal covers my 30 days in Thailand almost exactly. Nepal was good, but not three times as good as Thailand, so I think I win.

I've put up my photos from Thailand. They're in the Photo section under Thailand. I leave Thailand on Sunday, but I'm posting them now because it doesn't look like I'll be seeing anything fantastic between now and then, and Internet access is cheap-cheap here.

I've met quite a few Scandinavians on my trip, and I've been hanging out with a Swede and a Norwegian for the last couple days. I've asked each of them what countries make up Scandinavia, because I've heard different things from different people. The answers I've received have included:

• Norway, Sweden
  
• Norway, Sweden, Denmark
  
• Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland
  
• Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland
  
• Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland

Lillian and Fredrik (the aforementioned Norwegian and Swede) went so far as to make a bet about what countries make up Scandinavia.

I looked it up online, and I found many definitions, one of them including Greenland, the Faroe Islands and the Baltic states, which just seems wrong. But the overwhelming conclusion seems to be:

The Scandinavian countries are Norway, Sweden and Denmark, which recognize each other as parts of Scandinavia. The collective label "Scandinavia" reflects the cultural similarity, and the strong historical ties, between these countries despite their political independence.

The usage and meaning of the term outside Scandinavia is somewhat ambiguous:

• Finland, the Faroe Islands, and Iceland are sometimes counted as parts of Scandinavia.
  
• In a German mindset, Norway, Sweden and Finland are usually included, but Denmark is not.
  
• In a British mindset, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark are usually included, often with the addition of Iceland, Finland, and sometimes even Greenland.

These alternative meanings are considered incorrect in Scandinavia, and occasionally some people may take offense by such usage in English.

The term the Nordic countries is used unambiguously for the Scandinavian kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and the republics of Finland and Iceland.

So there you have it. Ok, that's too much work for one day, I have to go lie down.

I'm on Phi Phi Island right now. For those of you that don't know, Phi Phi (pronounced pee-pee) was pretty much destroyed by the tsunami. Being here is quite interesting.

I first heard about Phi Phi a day or two after the tsunami, when they interviewed a foreigner who survived and he said something along the lines of: "you don't understand, everything on Phi Phi is gone, just gone". I got in contact with some people doing volunteer work when I was in Bangkok and they said they could use some help, so I came here last Friday.

My first impression from the boat as we approached was that this was pretty much tropically perfection. The beaches and resorts looked ok from a distance, and the setting was unbelievable. White sand beaches and huge limestone cliffs plunging into the ocean. Phi Phi is actually two islands, one that's inhabited and one that isn't. The movie The Beach was filmed on the uninhabited one. When Hollywood was looking for beach perfection they came here.

Once I got on land things started looking a little worse, but not too bad. There were many hotels and bungalows in operation, restaurants, bars, souvenir stands, etc. But there were a lot of vacant stores, obviously washed out, and there was a lot of rubble and debris in alleys and on the side of the road. It reminded me a bit of Kathmandu: some nice shops, surrounded by rubble, all looking like a nice place that had been bombed.

After getting a place to stay I walked around, and I realized that only the road along the beach had been restored. When I walked behind it you could tell that there used to be structures there, but the ground was just gravel, totally scoured clean, and the few buildings that were standing all had their first floor totally washed out. Other places you could see tile floors where building used to stand, but now there is nothing.

What's really remarkable is that no aid agencies came to Phi Phi, and nothing was really done to clean the place up until Jan. 28. At that time there were no businesses open, and there was five feet of debris everywhere. Now, just a bit over 3 months later, there are about 150 shops open, bars, hotels, tattoo parlours, etc. It's astounding how much as been rebuilt in such a short time, and that most of the clean up wash done by an ad hoc volunteer organization. I'd guess that in a year or so you will hardly know anything happened, or at least, they will all the amenities they did before the tsunami.

I've been volunteering the past couple of days, clearing debris mostly, but also helping out making a memorial garden. There are about 100 volunteers here at any one time. It's kind of a good thing that this happened in such an idyllic spot. Volunteering here isn't much a hardship: you work in the morning, take a long lunch and have a swim or sit on the beach, work again in the afternoon then stuff your face on delicious thai food and drink all night. It's just like a normal vacation with a few hours of picking up rubble every day. And if you don't feel like volunteering you can go diving or climbing or relaxing or whatever.

It occurs to me, thanks to Anne and Dad's post, that I've been saying where I am and where I'm going, but unless you know Thailand this doesn't really help explain where I am. Finding a map and linking it to the site sounds like too much work, so I'll just explain it:

Thailand has been described as being shaped like an elephant's head, facing west. It's trunk is formed by peninsula running south between the Adaman Sea (west/Indian ocean side) and the Gulf of Thailand (east/pacific side). I started in Bangkok, which is in the elephant's mouth. Then I went to Kanchanaburi, which is just above where the trunk meets the head. Then back to Bangkok and on to Chiang Mai, which is about half way up the forehead, and then to Chiang Rai which is right at the top of the head.

From Chiang Rai I went way south, through Bangkok to Ko Tao (Ko means Island in Thai), which is an island about half way down the trunk, just of the east coast. That's where I am now. Next it's on to Krabi, which is close to the bottom of the elephant's trunk on the west coast, then to Ko Phi Phi which is a bit south west from there. Then back to Bangkok and onto Australia.

I've heard Australia described as one of those ink blots from a Rorschach test....

I'm in Ko Toa now, 'Thailand's diving mecca' as they say, doing my diving certification. I was having fun up north, so I spent a few extra days there, and my plan was to come here for 4 days and 3 nights and do the course (the minimum amount of time), go to Krabi, which is near Phuket, and hire a guide and do one day of rock climbing, and then go to Ko Phi Phi to do the volunteering I committed to doing.

Once I got here, I discovered that there are whale sharks just off the coast. I won't see them as part of my course, because I won't be certified to dive deeply enough, but I can do a one day extension and do supervised deep dive at the site where the whale sharks are. Apparently and average whale shark is 7m, and they grow up to 14m (they are harmless, they eat plankton). It seems like a once in a lifetime opportunity to see a big fish, but I also really want to climb. Krabi is supposed to be a world class climbing spot. Decisions, decisions.

What I might end up doing is doing the dive, and then spending and extra day in Krabi when I'm done volunteering, and fly back to Bangkok instead of taking the bus. The bus is cheaper, but was going to take a day.

So, I don't know what I'm going to do. I still have two more days of the scuba course, and the jury's still out about whether or not I like it. So far, I've only done shallow water stuff, with a lot of skills training and not much scenery. This stuff is like taking your mask off and swimming around, or turning off your tank to simulate running out of air. Useful, but not much fun. I expect tomorrow, when I actually do a real dive, that it'll be a lot more fun.