uncle brian and his tour

Oz memories:

Another successful day went by in Cairns on the Uncle Brian's tour. The tour differs a bit from other tours... The things you see and do are not on your normal sightseeing agenda and the bus driver/guide seems to have overdosed on Redbull and happy pills, making the Uncle Brian's tour hell on earth if you're not up for getting silly, listening to lame but funny jokes all day long, if you don't like swimming or singing, or interacting in forced social games in enclosed spaces. But if you are lucky as we were, the group you go with copes well together, and avoids all the awkward weirdness that can come off sticking 15 humorless shy weird uptight narrow minded and ignorant strangers in a 'talking' mini bus.

The uncle Brian's tour is a whole day thing, and our group decided to do what you do best in oz, to go for after tour drinking, making the day even longer. Me and Tanja had to call it a night though quite early, because the schedule for the next day showed diving, and diving with a huge hangover is probably not the greatest idea.

Long story short, the tour provided us with a fun day full of swimming, rock sliding, games and eating, hehe. We even managed to make some new friends. Always a bonus.

wanted zara shoes

Zara is not cheaper here than back home, or if it is, it is not much of a difference it makes in the end. Which makes it even harder here to survive a visit in Zara. I want, like I want at home, but the price just seems like a lifetime investment. Comparing these shoes in Zara for around 49€, to a meal of 2€ or a flight ticket to another country for 60€ just seems ridiculous, so I had to put the shoes nicely back on the shelf and walk away. Maybe they have them in Singapore on my way home and at a reduced price...? One can always hope. And what would I do with a pair of clogish heels here in Asia anyways, when I live in my flip flops...huh?

rainy days in krabi

Just a small hi from Krabi, Thailand. The weather is pretty crappy (hehe get it; Krabi-crappy) these days, so we're left to resolve our own boredom with trying to figure out what to do... Taking instagram pictures in the mirror is a start. And having free wifi at our guesthouse makes the time pass by just a little bit faster... But there's only so much fb you can take. So today we did the unthinkable, and went for a session in the nearby gym. My legs are going to ache tomorrow! And the after-gym-lunch led us straight to a big market place. Meaning now we have a food orgy planned for tonight. My tummy is going to ache tomorrow as well... Oh well, we have a trip booked for tomorrow, and in this weather, the trip is going to consist of snorkeling and sunbathing in heavy rain. Yuppie!

Gotta go take a shower now, so I can get ready for some hard core eating. Maybe Simone will take some better pics of me with my new old Levi's shorts. Maybe.

cairns

After Sydney, we took a flight up to Cairns. The city is dreadful in itself, but because of the enormous opportunities to do all kinds of cool things in the surrounding areas, and quite the nightlife Cairns has to offer, it is a must-visit if you ask me.

One of the first things we did was to take a day trip to the snorkeling paradise of Green Island, located just in the inner reef of the Great Barrier reef. Here we sunbathed on a superbly stunning beach, watched numerous turtles come up for air close to shore in the intense turquoise water, snorkeled in stunning coral gardens hosting millions of colorful underwater creatures, and snorkeled with turtles. Truly a beauty on earth! If it wasn't invaded by half of the Chinese population, it'd be even better. Paradise when you find a secluded spot for yourself.