Owner: travel-junkie.com URL:http://travel-junkie.com Join Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2007 15:18:45 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: boris is a travel addicted, white wine loving, unfortunatley quite accident prone, easy going and not so german dive instructor on a round the world trip.
he always travels with his hammock, his chess set and a copy of 'the big blue'.
this is his blog!! Site statistics:Click here
How To Aggravate Your Jet Lag! 2007-05-22 05:20:15
My 747
I really don’t like flying when that means having to sit for close to 24 hours in a plane! But let’s start at the beginning. Checked in at Heathrow and everything went smoothly. Absolutely no problems. In the plane, a 747, I found out that I had four seats to myself. I then had a look at the movie selection and there were loads of films I hadn’t seen so far, so things just couldn’t have been any better. I was well into “Blood Diamond”, just after the scene, when this old bloke stated that if they ever found oil in Sierra Leone they would all have real problems (which is one of the funniest movie lines I’ve heard recently), when I realized that I had neither a phone number nor an address of my friend in Melbourne with me.
That’s when I decided to have another glass of white wine, and believe it or not, things did look better after that. I watchd another movie and then thought that maybe I should try to get some sleep. If I would Read more:Aggravate
, Jet Lag
St. Kilda Sunset 2007-05-24 08:20:07
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Is Canberra Boring? 2007-06-04 23:38:36 Canberra
Landscape
It all started quite boring and innocently with a rainy 6 hour drive from Melbourne to Canberra. I had eventually met up with Dominique, one of my travel buddies (formal introductions will have to wait until Katrina, our last travel buddy, arrives in a few days), in Melbourne. She had just come back from Canberra with a friend and we decided that the cheapest option for us to get north was to drive up again to Canberra with said friend.
Once we arrived in Canberra we decided on a YHA hostel. Bad move that was. We were just sipping our second beer in a bar downstairs when I eventually met Pete, without a doubt the craziest person on this planet. Dominique had been staying with Pete for the better part of six weeks, so as soon as he came into the bar he made us get all our stuff from the hostel to move to his house. That’s one way of wasting 30 perfectly good dollars. But I just love the aussie hospitality!!
I just couldn’t believe how cold it can actually be i
My Lovely Travel Buddies 2007-06-14 00:28:11 I did say that I’m going to introduce my travel buddies at some point, so here we go…
Dominique
Dominique and Katrina are two german chicks in their early twenties. Both of them have a backround in finance and banking and both of them got disillusioned with working for a big bank. Dominique was the first to decide to take a year out from that normal german lifestyle and to go for that more relaxed and chilled out life of a backpacker. Soon after that Katrina decided too to change her high heels and smart business suits for a bikini and flip flops.
Katrina
Both of them are easy going and ready to start working on their tan. They love their shopping and are both a bit upset that there isn’t any more space in their backpacks. Recently the girls discovered a fondness for Vodka Raspberry and convinced each other not to set foot in a single museum while travelling, but to spend that time rather on searching for that perfect beach party somewhere in Australia and Southeast Asia. Read more:Lovely
, Travel
, Buddies
A Day Out On The Water In Sydney 2007-06-17 06:35:25
The day after the Queen’s Birthday the weather around Sydney
was brilliant, so Benn took us all out in his boat ‚Jack’. This is the video of our waterskiing efforts. You would not believe how much your muscles can hurt after not even 30 minutes trying to stand up.
Then on the way back, about 100 metres from our landing spot, the outboard engine died on us. Luckily we had one paddle and two water ski with us…
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Pumpkin 2007-06-24 04:22:40
We have finally managed to buy a car. Her name is ‘Pumpkin
’, she’s a Ford Falcon and her birthday is somewhere in 1993. She’s actually had to drive a fair bit in her life so far, but she seems to be quite defiant not to let it get her down. All in all we are happy with her and she’s been a bargain for 2500 AUD.
On our first night on the road we decided against a camping ground and opted for sleeping in the car instead. So that’s two girls and one big bloke in the back of the car. Wasn’t the comfiest and warmest place I’ve slept in, but then it was a lot nicer than some other places…
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Northern Moreton Bay Snapshots 2007-07-04 22:11:51 I’m really loving all those tourist drives you can explore in Oz when you’re driving yourself. So I thought I’ll just snap away as we drive along one. As it turned out this was one of the nicest ones so far!!
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Sydney to Brisbane 2007-07-01 23:55:09
Dominique, Katrina and I left Sydney
on another rainy day. The worst storm in 10 years had just hit the area and although we loved it in Sydney and at Benn’s place in Cronulla we all felt ready for a few days in the sun. We bought cheap sleeping bags, pillows, an air mattress and a pump for it, packed it all into Pumpkin and drove all the way up to Forster, a tiny sleepy town about four hours north of Sydney. It might actually be quite nice there during summer, but in winter it is quite cold and there isn’t that much to do.
The next day, after sleeping in the back of the car at some river near Forster, we were on the road again. We probably took every tourist drive in between Forster and Coffs Harbour, our next stop. This is truly a great way to see Australia. If you stay on the Pacific Highway all the way up north you might as well fly. Tourist drives lead you away from the main roads and you get to see small beachside towns, huge cliffs, amazing beaches, small serpent Read more:Brisbane
Hostels and Camping Grounds 2007-07-10 08:34:00 Here’s a short list of all the camping grounds and hostels we stayed at so far. Prices are for powered tent sites and shared dorms in the hostels. (Have a look at my disclosure and whatnot policies).
Coffs Harbour:Here we paid 24 AUD for the night. Very clean and we didn’t have to pay for a third person. Quite far away from the beach, though.
Byron Bay:It’s 30 AUD for up to 2 people at the Broken Beach Camping
Ground. Every additional person is 15 more dollars. Facilities are clean and it’s directly at the beach. You get 2 hours of free wireless internet a day with your own laptop.
Surfers Paradise:The Main Beach Holiday Park is close to the beach. They can’t seem to figure out how much to charge though. The first night we paid 43 AUD, the second 46 AUD. The staff was quite unhelpful, but at least everything was clean, plus you get the same internet deal as in Byron Bay.
Brisbane:Staying at the Prince Consort Backpackers sets you back 23 AUD a night, but if you stay for a wh Read more:Grounds
Cairns Interlude 2007-07-17 22:04:07 Just spent 10 days in Hervey Bay, where I went to see two very good friends of mine, Jeff and Emma. I had worked together with both of them in Indonesia and it was great seeing them again. We didn’t do anything, except drinking lots of beer, working on our tan, cooking lots of great food and having loads of fun!
Yesterday Dominique and I spent the whole day putting up and handing out flyers to our fellow travellers here in Cairns, because we’re driving to Darwin tomorrow and were looking for people to share the cost. Katrina has decided to stay in Cairns, settle down a bit and get a job. We, on the other hand, are meeting up with Benn and the rest of the road workers we met in Sydney in Darwin! There I will stay for about a week and then I’m off to Indonesia! I’m really looking forward to that. I will try to make my way all the way overland from Bali to the Alor Atoll east of Flores. Then I’ll head up to Thailand before flying back to Australia to drive al Read more:Interlude
3000 Interesting Km Of Boredom 2007-07-25 09:33:03
It all started with Dominique and me thinking that 3000 km is too long to drive. That’s when we looked into flying to Darwin, but we soon discovered that a one way flight is around 400 to 500 AUD. Far too expensive for our liking. That same day we started to make a little flyer, copied it and handed it out to backpackers and put it up in hostels and internet cafes around Cairns. We didn’t actually expect many people to call, but apparently there’s loads of people looking for a lift to the Top End, as we got flooded with requests.
The next morning we met Julien, a french guy, and Yuto, a japanese bloke, in a cafe in town. They seemed nice and relaxed enough that we agreed to tackle those 3000 km together, starting at 8 am the next day.
The drive from Cairns back down to Townsville was uneventful. In Townsville we bought water and food, filled the car and the spare tank up with gasoline and we were on our way into the outback. None of us really knew what to expe Read more:Boredom
Indonesian Consulate - Darwin 2007-07-23 01:31:12 The indonesian consulate in Darwin
, Australia, is situated just off Mitchell Street (the main backpacker street) on 20 Harry Chan Avenue. It is open for visa matters from Monday to Friday 9.30 to 16.00. A two month visa sets you back 60 AUD and will take approximately three working days. You will need a passport that is valid for at least another six months, two passport photos and your flight itinerary, showing that you have an onward ticket out of Indonesia. The visa forms can be downloaded beforehand on the consulate website. As always when dealing with embassies and consulates it is best to dress properly with long trousers and closed shoes, so you will not be refused entry!
NOTE: Most nationalities can obtain a visa on arrival in Indonesia for a stay of up to one month!!
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Read more:Indonesian
My New Room Mates 2007-08-01 09:43:25
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Back In Indonesia 2007-07-31 02:26:23 I arrived yesterday on Bali and it really hasn’t changed that much since the last time I was here almost two and a half years ago. I slept almost all day yesterday, so I didn’t do much else really. The place in Kuta I am staying at is called Rita’s House, it’s just off Poppies Lane I and it costs a whopping 50.000 Rp a night now. I remeber a time when the US dollar was stronger and I only paid 20.000 Rp there. But that was like 5 years ago. Anyway, I’m gonna leave today to Padang Bai, which is on the east coast of Bali. Not sure if I’ll be able to catch a ferry over to Lombok today, but then Padag Bai is a nice place to spend a day.
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Is There Internet In Flores Now? 2007-08-12 09:56:24 Just a quick note to my readers that tomorrow I will take a boat to Flores
. This will take four days. After this I will head further east. From my last visit there I remember that reliable internet is very scarce in the area, so I might not be able to post anything for up to six weeks. Well, that was four years ago or so, so it might have changed. Hope dies last…
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Read more:Internet
Climbing Gunung Rinjani 2007-08-10 09:38:36 Day 1 - Sembalun to the Base Camp
Mursan, our trekking guide
I met my fellow trekkers, a dutch couple named Robin and Ingrid, at 6 am, when we were all picked up in Senggigi. It was almost 8 am, when we finally arrived in Senaru, where we were introduced to Mursan, our guide, and Mordi, our porter for the trip. When we repacked our bags I noticed that Robin and Ingrid were equipped with the best gear money can buy. Well, it only made sense, considering that they had been to Mount Everest Base Camp and on the summit of Kilimanjaro. Nevertheless, I felt a bit inadequate with my Nike trainers and my flimsy raincoat. After a yummy breakfast of banana pancakes and tea we set off in a bemo to Sembulan, the starting point of our little adventure. There we first checked in at the Rinjani Ranger Center and then short before 10 am we started walking. The first hour was fairly easy, first through rice fields and then later through open countryside. When the forest started it got noticeabl
Magical Kelimutu 2007-08-22 07:56:52 In Labhuanbajo quite a few people from the boat I came over with decided to pay a visit to Kelimutu and the three famous colored crater lakes. As Toby and Louise, an english couple, needed to be back in Labhuanbajo soon to catch a flight to Bali, we decided on hiring a car. This is quite an expensive way of traveling, as it cost us 500.000 Rp a day. But since there were four people sharing the car the cost dropped down considerably. The fourth person to join our car was Karsten, a german traveler.
On the first day we drove until Bajawa, probably one of the most pleasant places I have been to. Sadly enough, we still had to drive on the next day. This was quite an uneventful journey, until the other car traveling with us was involved in a little roadrage accident. So we had to spend almost two hours waiting for the police. We spent this by sitting by the roadside playing cards, much to the amazement of the local children. This was probably the most exciting thing that has happened in thi Read more:Magical
Dili In Black And White 2007-09-14 22:24:05
Dili, the young capital of Timor Leste, is a bustling and vibrant city. At least during the day, that is. When night falls then gangs roam around, preying on the unlucky people still outside. Or so we have been told. To me it seemed pretty safe at night. But then, maybe we were lucky?
The whole economy not only of Dili, but of all of East Timor, is fueled by money provided by the UN and all the various NGOs. Everything here, from basics like food to activities like diving, is quite expensive, again because of the UN and NGO personnel, who just write it off as expenses. Which makes me wonder what happens when all of them pull out?
During the day every second car you see is a Toyota Landcruiser with the UN logo on the side. Australian soldiers in full battle gear come by your guest house for a quick beer and everywhere you pay with US dollars, which is, for now at least, the official currency.
I like Dili a lot actually, the people here are really friendly and seem to be hopeful to put Read more:Black
, White
Moral Dilemma!? 2007-09-12 10:04:38 Yesterday I was involved in a motorbike accident in Kupang, West Timor. Basically, a twelve year old kid drove straight into me, while I was indicating to go right. He was way too fast and he didn’t have a drivers license. Both of us had friends on the back, but luckily nobody got hurt apart from a few bruises and scratches. But this post isn’t actually about the accident. There was never any doubt in anybodys mind, that I was to blame whatsoever. Shit happens…
All of us went back to my guest house, where the owner of my bike tried to sort out the whole mess. He thought the damage to his bike will cost about 350.000 Rp (about 30 EUR or 35 USD) to repair. There was another foreigner present, who suggested that I pay for the damage, since I can afford it, whereas the parents of the kid will most likely have a hard time coming up with that kind of cash, it being almost a month’s salary. Now, I know that’s a lot of money for an indonesian family, but I think Read more:Moral
The Whale Hunters Of Lamalera 2007-09-04 04:19:34 Lamalera, Lama meaning feeling or blade and Lera meaning sun, is situated on the southern side of the mountainous island of Lembata, which is part of the Solor Archipelago. It can only be reached by taking a bus, which is a converted truck, from Lewoleba. The drive takes about three and a half hours, mainly due to the bad roads, but is nevertheless quite scenic and adventurous. The roads can be extremely steep and narrow and there are usually many people sitting on the roof of the bus because of the restricted space inside.
Sam, an american backpacker I traveled with at the time, and I arrived in the little whaling village around four in the afternoon on a Saturday in late August 07. We soon found out, that the fishermen do not go out to sea past 4 pm and neither do they work on a Sunday, when the whole community is going to church and rests. So instead of joining the whaling boats the next day as we had hoped, we walked for about half an hour to a nearby beach and a big bat cave and s Read more:Whale
, Hunters
Magical Kelimutu 2007-08-22 07:56:52 In Labhuanbajo quite a few people from the boat I came over with decided to pay a visit to Kelimutu and the three famous colored crater lakes. As Toby and Louise, an english couple, needed to be back in Labhuanbajo soon to catch a flight to Bali, we decided on hiring a car. This is quite an expensive way of traveling, as it cost us 500.000 Rp a day. But since there were four people sharing the car the cost dropped down considerably. The fourth person to join our car was Karsten, a german traveler.
On the first day we drove until Bajawa, probably one of the most pleasant places I have been to. Sadly enough, we still had to drive on the next day. This was quite an uneventful journey, until the other car traveling with us was involved in a little roadrage accident. So we had to spend almost two hours waiting for the police. We spent this by sitting by the roadside playing cards, much to the amazement of the local children. This was probably the most exciting thing that has happened in thi Read more:Magical
Here, There Be Dragons! 2007-08-18 07:07:20
Recently I had the chance to go back to Komodo Island and see the dragons again. They are really unbelievable. It’s kind of like Jurassic Park in real life! While we only saw two dragons on Komodo we saw at least 15 the next day on Rinca!
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Is There Internet In Flores Now? 2007-08-12 09:56:24 Just a quick note to my readers that tomorrow I will take a boat to Flores
. This will take four days. After this I will head further east. From my last visit there I remember that reliable internet is very scarce in the area, so I might not be able to post anything for up to six weeks. Well, that was four years ago or so, so it might have changed. Hope dies last…
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Read more:Internet
Climbing Gunung Rinjani 2007-08-10 09:38:36 Day 1 - Sembalun to the Base Camp
I met my fellow trekkers, a dutch couple named Robin and Ingrid, at 6 am, when we were all picked up in Senggigi. It was almost 8 am, when we finally arrived in Senaru, where we were introduced to Mursan, our guide, and Mordi, our porter for the trip. When we repacked our bags I noticed that Robin and Ingrid were equipped with the best gear money can buy. Well, it only made sense, considering that they had been to Mount Everest Base Camp and on the summit of Kilimanjaro. Nevertheless, I felt a bit inadequate with my Nike trainers and my flimsy raincoat. After a yummy breakfast of banana pancakes and tea we set off in a bemo to Sembulan, the starting point of our little adventure. There we first checked in at the Rinjani Ranger Center and then short before 10 am we started walking. The first hour was fairly easy, first through rice fields and then later through open countryside. When the forest started it got noticeably steeper and thus harder.
We kept
My New Room Mates 2007-08-01 09:43:25
I just checked into a room on Gili Trawangan. It looked nice. Then, short before I had a shower, I noticed something on the wall. It was a cockroach. Then I noticed another one. And another one. The shower only dribbles, the toilet does not work, the light makes the room look like a brothel. Outside you can hear cats sing their mating song and the door only closes when you actually lock it. I’m back in Asia. It’s good to be home!
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Back In Indonesia 2007-07-31 02:26:23 I arrived yesterday on Bali and it really hasn’t changed that much since the last time I was here almost two and a half years ago. I slept almost all day yesterday, so I didn’t do much else really. The place in Kuta I am staying at is called Rita’s House, it’s just off Poppies Lane I and it costs a whopping 50.000 Rp a night now. I remeber a time when the US dollar was stronger and I only paid 20.000 Rp there. But that was like 5 years ago. Anyway, I’m gonna leave today to Padang Bai, which is on the east coast of Bali. Not sure if I’ll be able to catch a ferry over to Lombok today, but then Padag Bai is a nice place to spend a day.
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Read more:Indonesia
3000 Interesting Km Of Boredom 2007-07-25 09:33:03 It all started with Dominique and me thinking that 3000 km is too long to drive. That’s when we looked into flying to Darwin, but we soon discovered that a one way flight is around 400 to 500 AUD. Far too expensive for our liking. That same day we started to make a little flyer, copied it and handed it out to backpackers and put it up in hostels and internet cafes around Cairns. We didn’t actually expect many people to call, but apparently there’s loads of people looking for a lift to the Top End, as we got flooded with requests.
The next morning we met Julien, a french guy, and Yuto, a japanese bloke, in a cafe in town. They seemed nice and relaxed enough that we agreed to tackle those 3000 km together, starting at 8 am the next day.
The drive from Cairns back down to Townsville was uneventful. In Townsville we bought water and food, filled the car and the spare tank up with gasoline and we were on our way into the outback. None of us really knew what to expect. The Read more:Boredom
Omarama VI And Happy Birthday!! 2008-03-01 19:05:29 Part 6 of the series of images from my office! I hope you enjoyed the images. This one is the last.
HappyBirthday
, Bro!!
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Omarama V 2008-02-29 17:03:37 Part 5 of the series of images from my office!
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