My great big GUNGULA!

Hi all I'm still alive and well. Thanks to all who remembered my bday and wished me well! I'll fill you in more later, but I'm doing well! Love you all, Kaity

Ok, I'm back. I found a net cafe (I was getting in the way at Ruths work before!) However, there is no AC or fan in here and it has got to be at least 100F outside, so therefor hotter in here! Ahhh!! So I'm not sure how much more I'll actually write or how coherent it will be. I'm not sure exactly where I left off. My birthday was on Sunday. It was rather uneventful but it was ok. I really dont feel like it was my b-day since I was missing the snow and frostbite (which was replaced by blazing heat and sunburn!) That day I went to church, out to lunch, laid around watching the OC, ordered Indian "take away" as they call it here and had chocolate cocktails. Overall not a bad day. Monday Ruth and I went shopping some to spend my bday money, but didnt find much and went to her parents house for a bible study thing. Yesterday we went swimming in her rents pool and did a bunch more nothing. The heat is kind of draining...thats my excuse anyway I may have found a job but I'm not saying yet because I havent started and dont know if I'll do it for sure. Tommorow I'll go to train in and I'll let ya know after that. Sorry this episode is rather tame compared to some of the past ones! But it is kind of a nice change. It is nice to be in one place doing nothing for a little bit. I may extend my stay here if I do like this job, for my sanity and my wallets sake! I hope all is well with all of you! Again, thanks for the bday wishes - I'll take you up on all the cake when I get back!

We made it to Ruths house. She stays in a flat it town and her parents live on the outskirts of the huge city of Alice Springs, population 27,000. The landscape is a bit different here - mostly desert, no more lush rain forest here! Its dry and really hot here. So lets see, 2 days back where I left off, Ruths sister, Joy made us a lovely dinner of chicken parmesana. I met Ruths mom and dad, one sister, Canadian exchange student, etc. and they are all really nice people. I also got to see Bek! (She also worked at Mihaska with Ruth and me.) Then yesterday Ruth went to work and I went shopping and out for lunch and coffee and stuff with Bek and her sisters and friends. Its so wierd to see Bek and Ruth after so long, but also "heaps" cool! Aussies say "heaps" of everything. The last day has been an ongoing lesson in Aussie. You would think that since we all speak English we would understand each other but its not so! Yeah, anyway, then last night I went camping "out bush" or "out Fink" with a bunch of their friends. It was quite the experience. Basically they just drive out into the bush, sort of near a place called Fink motorbike race track aka "out Fink" and then just set up camp. They don't use tents, they use swags which are these canvas bag things that zip over a mattress and you sleep under the stars and flies. We had a fire and some of the guys cooked up "sausages" (Australian version of an Oscar Meyer hotdog but with a bit different spice) and pork chops. Then I went for one of the scariest rides of my life in the back of one of the guys truckbeds. About 10 of us were in the back holding on for dear life while he flew over the "woops" (bumps) in the Fink track..and all over the bush. It was pelting rain and we were all covered in red mud. It was fantastic We sang stupid camp songs and overall had a good time. I didnt sleep much - I think I'm allergic to smoke because my nose was stuffed all night until the fire went out. Then I woke up a few short hours later to flies buzzing overhead. In the morning we hiked around a bit and then headed back. Today I wasted most of the day away napping and watching movies. I'm currently back at Ruths mum and dads house on their net again. We are going swimming in their pool and having a cake for my b-day Woot! Ugg, I'm geting so old. Oh well, I'm still young at heart. Take care all, ttfn

The past 2 days have been incredible. On Tuesday Ruth and I went for our reef tour. I got the deal of the century/once in a lifetime blessing. We got up early and boarded the "Supercat" boat. We signed our lives away and answered our health questionairres and then went through the scuba diving orientation talk. Then they informed Ruth that she couldnt go because she checked yes that she has athsma. So that was a big dissappointment, good thing Ruth is so good natured she didnt get too down. She went snorkling instead. Meanwhile I got all suited up and went for my first dive. It was absolutely terrifying for the first 60 seconds while I adjusted to the idea of breathing through my mouth while underwater. Then it was just awesome! I saw all kinds of amazing colored fish, giant clams, sea cucumbers, corals, etc (all that stuff from the little mermaid!) That dive was about 25 minutes. Then we zate lunch and snorkled a bit and then went to the second location. When we reached there the scuba guide asked me if I wanted to go for a second dive that afternoon. Then Ruth brilliantly asked if I could use her first dive that she wasn't able to use, so I didnt have to pay for it! Amazing! So I went for my second dive. And since the georgeously handsome scuba guide took a fancy to me , I got a really long individually guided second dive for about 45 minutes and got to see and touch all kinds of sea creatures! I can't describe how amazing it was. I would love to take all the classes and become a certified diver! That night we went and had some drinks and watched an Aussie horror flick with our new friends. That was Tuesday. So then yesterday we went for a drive all around the Cairns area and went to some waterfalls and a coffee plantation. It was really cool to see where and how coffee is grown - and get a caffiene buzz tasting all of the coffees! Our last stop was Crystal Cascades. It was about a half mile hike out to it and we were exhausted and boiling hot. We decided to have a little swim in our undies, it was quite refreshing and good fun. We had to climb down a rocky hillside to get there but it was worth it. There are supposedly about a dozen waterfalls all aroudn the area but we only found 3 of them because the all the maps and road signs are dodgy. Anyway we had fun. We went out dancing last night at some kind of sleezy backpackers clubs, but we had fun. Today we packed up everything, shopped a bit then caught our plane. It was the first time in my life that I boarded a plane by climbing steps from outside, it was kind of wierd! Sean, Ruths boyfriend picked us up at the airport. Hes a really nice guy, he seems kind of goofy and funny - he and Ruth are good together! Now I'm at Ruths mum and dads house and we are about to have some dinner. Thats all for now, I shoud go be social and talk to them! Later!

Hi all I made it here to Cairns a few days back and met up with Ruth! It was a bit different than expected - it was pouring rain! It hasnt really let up since we got here. But we've had fun anyway. The first night we stayed at a backpackers resort that was a bit dodgy so we moved last night to a holiday apartment which is really nice and had a kitchen and everything. We cooked chicken curry and rice last night...mmmmmm The first night we ate some meal that we got free with our hostel fee...yikes! Not so hot! Yeah anyway...so the first day here we just bummed around most of the day, drove around a bit (she rented a car), went for a swim, shopped at the markets (there are markets everywhere!!!! I coudl scream I am so fed up of them!) and then came back and cooked dinner and drank wine (me) and beer (Ruth) and ate lollies (candy) and Cadbury chocolates while watching cheesy movies on TV. We had a great time! Today we went on a tour to Kuranda, which is a rainforest area northeast of Cairns. We rode a train to the top of a mountain and hiked around on the trails up there, then took the sky rail back down. The sky rail was the best! It was about 4 miles long and took you over the forest canopy and over barron Falls and river. It was amazingly beautiful. The river was the color of a caramel latte (sounds gross but it was beautiful) The waterfall was the highest and biggest I've ever seen (though I havent seen Niagra). So that was pretty much today. Now we'll go for a swim at the lagoon and get ready for our scuba reef tour tomorow! I'm so excited! I hope all is well with you all, take care

Hi all I'm here in HK still for the rest of today. Yesterday I walked and walked and walked. I saw alot but good grief I am soo tired today. I missed my bus into the city and I'm actually relieved. I am tired of travelling so fast to so many places. Today I want my job back and a steady life and to be near my family and friends. I'm sure the feeling will pass once I am rested but for the moment I am a bit crabby and tired. It is cold here in HK, well relatively that is. I tried taking a shower last night after all my sight seeing and stuff. Oh my gosh! Huge mistake! The water icy and the air was worse I proptly jumped out and went to bed stinky. One joy of travelling alone is that there is no one to care if I smell bad or have proper hygene accept myself. There are actually many joys to travelling alone, there is a great freedom to it. Unfortunately I have one 2 minutes left here on the net so I dont have time to fill in on all the details of my time here, maybe later at the airport I'll add on. In any case, thanks again to all who are writing to me and sorry I havent always been able to wrte back! Take care all

Haha, so its later at the airport and I have free net...not working very well but still free......

So let's see here....Yesterday: I walked a lot as I already said. My hostel was located on HK Island near Victoria peak. I took the hostel bus down into Wetern district. Hong Kong is extremely tourist friendly and they have walking tour booklets you can pick up. They are easy to follow and the streets also have big signs pointing to all tourist attractions and trasporation options. (Needless to say this is a HUGE change from all the other places I've been lately!) Anyhow, so I walked the wester district and central district tours then I took the star ferry across to Kowloon Island and walked the Star Avenue, and then all the way up Stanley street where there are a bunch of markets. I have never been anywhere are densly populated and full of skyscrapers in my life! It is overwhelming and quite amazing. After that I took the ferry back to HK Island and then made my way to the Peak Tram and rode it up to the top of the peak. Quite a view from up there, I bought so way too pricy Haagen Dass ice cream and did yet another walking tour around the top of the peak. It was georgeous - I started at dusk and was still walking it at sunset and was on the side of the peak facing central
HK when it got entirely dark. It was so amazing to see all the lights. Then I stayed on the peak until 8pm when they have a lights show where many of the main buildings light up in cool displays all at the same time. It was pretty good but not as phemomenal as everyone said it was. There is a sound show that goes with it but I didnt have a radio. Yeah, so I was pretty well exhausted, I basically ran back to the hostel bus in order to not have to wait another 2 hours. I made it on time. I ate McDs for lunch and dinner...they are everywhere here!! I would have tried local cuisine but I nearly vomitted everytime I walked past a food stall there. I dont know why exactly, but when I saw the obscure dried sea food parts, tanks of live sea food and unidentifiable objects I just couldnt do it. I totally wimped out. Oh well. Ok so then today, I didn want to be in the city again so instead I took a different ferry boat to Lamma Island and did the walking tour there. They said it would be an hour and a half of gentle slopes...LIARS! There was nothing gentle about those trails! (It probably didnt help that I walked 15 miles the day before!) Anyway, it was beautiful too. I saw star fruit growing on trees. That was pretty awesome! Thats about all I did today. I'm so tired I just want to get a good nights sleep..on a bed with a real mattress. Have I mentioned that I havent slept on an American style cushy gushy mattress since I left? That sounds so lovely right now. Other countries, or maybe its just hostels apparently dont believe in soft is for sleeping, mattresses are hard and thin. Oh well, I've usually been so tired it doesnt make a difference and I sleep anyway. Oh yeah! Today marks one month of my great big Gungula!! Who ha! Now on to Australia Can't wait!!!