Singapoor Blogger

I know this may be hard to believe, but this is literally the first time I've sat at my laptop with internet access for more than 10 minutes for over a month. I now sit, 2.5 hours into my 8 hour layover from Bangkok to Auckland, in the Singapore airport...wishing that it wasn't 3:23 am so I could have gotten out to see the city instead of sitting next to a wall with my computer plugged in. Between catching up with friends on gchat and being totally lost on what to even begin looking at on facebook, I figured there was no time like the present to update the blog that I hope all of you haven't stopped reading...and that some of you start. You know who you are!

When I last posted, I was still on the Queensland coast of Australia, preparing to leave Magic Roundabout. I've covered a lot of ground since, picking up a campervan in Brisbane and driving roughly 3,250 kilometers with Tessa(via Sydney and then the coast) to get to Melbourne, where we were flying out of a few days after. We just drove until we got tired, bored, or hungry and stopped at some of the most beautiful and isolated beaches I have ever laid eyes on. A few highlights of the 2 weeks on the road were finally learning to drive on the "wrong side," waking up to the sound of waves breaking and having your first few steps of the day towards the beach, the Great Ocean Road, and seeing Emstar, my best friend from home, who has emigrated to Melbourne for the year. Pictures to come later because I am honestly too delirious right now to sort through my best ones so they will have to come in waves.

From Melbourne, I flew to Bangkok for 2 and 1/2 weeks in Thailand with Hudson, who I haven't seen in almost a year. As it was more or less in between Uganda and New Zealand, we took to exploring Kho San Road in Bangkok, the original capital of Thailand and ruins of Ayutthaya, Tonsai and Railay beaches of the Krabi province, and last but not least, explored the island of Koh Tao by motorbike and snorkel. The landscape was nothing short of stunning, and while the Thais are relentlessly unhelpful almost to the point of rudeness, we still managed to have a wonderful trip. We may or may not have had a few too many buckets on New Years, gotten burned by one or two stray fireworks and made a phone call home that my family and Stoddart will never let me live down, but damn do the Thais know how to party on their day off. Leaving was extremely difficult, as it always is, but I have to remember that life isn't always a vacation or a trip travelling some faraway country with someone you love. There needs to be some room to try and help the poor and war-torn, save the seas, decide what to do next...or at least attempt to anyway.

From here I sleep off the travel and jet-lag in Auckland until Lisa (frenchie from OceansWatch) joins me in a day or so to see a bit of the South Island, infamous for its breath taking cliffs and Lord of the Rings mountains and volcanoes. Then it's back to Matapouri to try and get OceansWatch some funding for it's next trip to the South Pacific.

Until I have more energy to post pictures....Happy New Year to everyone. Love and miss you all!