the speed of life

2011-04-15T10:31:00.000-07:00

spring is finally here! in sweden anyway, probably has been elsewhere for a while... Here's some pics from our trip the other week to scotland and holland...

pub in edinbourgh, great live fiddle band. Edinbourgh is a beutiful city, all stone buildings , everybuilding looks like an old medevil church or castle. i don't know why i don't have any pictures of it up here...

and i saw nessie swimming deep in the canal here coming out of loch ness , a long dark shadow and blowing lots of bubbles, huh, not that hard to spot, i don\t know what all the fuss is.

Up in the highlands near Inverness we visited the Findhorn Ecovillage and Marcussea where there\s lots of neat sustainable building practices

paint dancing or dance painting, pretty much turned into dancing on a brown sea of paint, the band was good

Whiskey barrel homes
the holland pics were just of the people we were with, friends from magnetic island. adam`s getting married so we met his bride to be and her family and it was awesome to hang with squim and roel again and see nanny once again. Holland has got to be one of my fav places on earth.

addictive childs `something` pilet game played late into the night

Nanny!

amazing supper at super host squim`s place

the soon to be wed aussies, adam and marianne, great to see them and their family too bad we can;t make to sydney for the big day.
i know, my camera sucks in low light, it;s got no flash and i mean it`s got no flash!

Land of Ice

2011-02-01T10:22:00.000-08:00

So back in Sweden now; settling in; yup... So, since the school year doesn't really line up with us come to sweden at the same time, Miki and I have the idea to start our own school. it's called Cannon College and we put up a web site if any of you are interested (copy/paste)
http://www.cannoncollege.co.cc

it kind of explains what it is there and the courses we're making for ourselves.

also working on a project to convert an old barn into a guest house for us to live in while in Sweden. Its alot of work but all part of the sustainable living course i'm doing trying to reuse all kind of materials for building renovations.

the most delicious lobster soup on the planet
traditional folk opera music for evening entertainment
ol' faithful guiser

Ahh so yes we also stopped in Iceland and had a great time. went on my first "Tour bus" and had a guide drive us to all the neat spots like craters and guisers and the north american/eurasian contenantial divide and all the while give us a head load of iceland trivia. then off to the blue lagoon hotsprings to warm ourselves back up after an extremly cold day. (iceland cold by the way)

the famous iceland (don't call 'em ponies) horses

new music page

2010-12-16T14:18:00.000-08:00

hi all, i got a new web page for a new album of my solo stuff i finally got recorded and released. it's called "nightshade" and you can listen to it and download it (full cd quality wav file! or mp3) here...

(updated below to complete website as of Feb '11)
http://www.pmglimm.ca.tc

i'm really glad to have found these site/pages as i have been so frusterated with myspace; so i can finally give up on that site. this new site now has pics, videos, info like shows and then links to my bandcamp page to hear music.

most of my energy has been going into this album. handcrafted cd's and cases is alot of work and time, but i enjoy it.

other than that i finally finished making/converting the electric moped out of a 1973 italian ciamatti gas moped a couple months ago. it runs great, bigger batteries than the electric bicycle means longer range. also with the tougher suspension we can go 2up with miki on the back!

time on the farm has been over for a while. it was really worth while and i learned lots about life an organic farm. propagating plants, constucting chicken coups, building and fixing various things. there was also no garbage pickup so everything was either composted reused or recycled. i really loved the open space there and realised that i prefer the rural life to city dweling.

i joined jzero and renee's band "the dyeing merchants". although it will be pretty short term i've enjoyed getting back on the bass. my friend rob even had a "marcus miller" signature fender jazz bass that i used to play for a while in Red not Evil that i'm able to use now. brought back some memories.

i'll be playing my last show with them boxing day in kelowna. then the tour of the new "nightshade" album begins. i'll be playing on katharsis cjsw 90.9 fm for those of you in calgary Jan 9th 8pm. then a record store in iceland and off to sweden for a few months with some random shows, then later in 2011 over to scotland and probably holland and germany again. would like to see france and a few other more southern countries as we have made some friends recently that we could visit. we'll see.
juan de fuca trail 2010then getting back to civilization
i guess it's coming up on that time of year again... chill week dec 20-27th. should be a good relaxing cold one again. hope you enjoy yourselves too.

long time coming

2010-06-20T19:45:00.000-07:00

fixing the fire fly, must have been vapour lock. let's go bowling dude!stef & kurt good timesthe folksthe latest rig

so i thought i'd do some updates. we're in victoria now looking to get set up on a farm. we got some really good prospects so far. been on the road for about a month now; to calgary and the rockies to see the bros and meet sally, mikaela's friend in canmore. then to landner, and now on vancouver island. been travelling around the island the last couple weeks; off and on staying at jzero and renne's place.

heard some pretty rotten family news recently. all i'd like to say is make sure you tell those around you that you love them and appreaciate them dearly while you have the chance.

for terry, peace be with you in whatever comes next

i love you all.
-peter

2010-02-06T23:36:00.000-08:00

So here it is the electric bicycle! it's once again a 24v system made completely from recycled parts (almost all from stuff around my dad's shop and storage). 24volt motor from an old scooter, 2 specific elecric bicycle batteries he just happened to have, a kids bike wheel used for the rear pully found at the local bicycle recycle yard, wires, connectors, drive belt, trailer rear light, car headlight, motorcycle horn all found around here. i think i gotta give jzero credit for the 2 light switches used for turning stuff on and off aquired from the 2617 moveout. so it's clocked at about 25 kph goes up hill (ok), striaght (good), down(great, charges battery). one way to downtown/work (half hour) then needs a recharge for a few hours. it can still be pedaled for extra power too.

so what else ? i made a zero energy outdoor fridge a couple days ago. sealed box with thermo 0- +8 approx in a non heated room attached to the house, usually doesn't freeze. good for certain things a cold beverage, root veggies, but it's really an alternate storage and is just nice for the extra space.

here's a christmas pic, my last "gig" playin christmas tunes amonst others with my cousin mark.
oh and i almost forgot FU'N life. went out to fernie at the end of jan and met up with brendo , rich and marcus. good times were had by all. the "flamage"snow shoe'n through the wilderness the recording studio/ cabin of residence

been working hard to get dad's shop done (finish drywalln' paintn' organizin') . don't have before and after shots so here's an inbetween shot

and i guess lastly but certainly not leastly would be the trip out to salmon arm that mikaela took me for my birthday. we loaded up the 65-70 litre backpack and then some , straped on the cross country skis and headed up 250 metres up a hill/mountain to a little cabin where we spent the night building fire drinkin rum and enjoying being the only ones on the hill (there's only one other cabin to rent there at the base of the hill). at first i hated it .. well hate is a strong word. it was just one of those things you had to work really hard at and then appreciate all the more once the hard part is over.mikaela fixing her ski boot with a shoe lace which she rode down the mountain with

one of the next projects involves the continuting of the "goldy" saga...III

chill week

2009-12-24T12:37:00.000-08:00

so it's that time of year again. taking time to take it easy.
the last month i've took up cross country skiing which ive really gotten into. it's amazing how easy it is to set up and try. thrift stores are littered with used skis, the problem though is finding the right sized boots. i finally did by going to a nearby village called armstrong where time doesn't tick as fast.
and since you're basicly moving at a fast walking pace the need for top of the line new gear (as the safety of those things might be useful for downhill/alpine) is not needed. all it really takes is to do a bit of internerd research, find some used boots/skis/poles and any public park, backcountry road, or deserted farm oh and some decent snow, and you got the ingredients for a pretty awesome day.

the most recent project though is actually my last project in reverse.

the electric bicycle.
it's about 70% done. i'll put pics up soon when it's complete.

take it easy this week, + enjoy your holiday dinner and company.

other energy elsewhere

2009-11-30T23:58:00.000-08:00

the first step in the alternative energy systemthis is what ive been working on all day & im pretty excited its done (well 95% at least) . a human-powered-excercise-bike-generator. its a 24v system for any geeks reading, and it does at least 5 amps w/o any tinkering.

-excercise bike stand from value village $10
-bike $ free
(when i told the bike store owners what it would be used for)
thanks Olympia bike and ski
- 5 gel batteries $0 courtsey vernon medical (old wheelchair batteries not usable to them but still mostly good)
-old dryer belt yeah free too
-multimeter $0 some freebee i got with that motorcycle mechanics course i did a while back
-pm dc motor, a few nuts and bolts, and a great welding job and other techy help from dad, thanks a bunch

so the next project for the system is a wind generator .... been doing some reserch and it should be in the works soon enough. also i heard you can get solar panel kits now and with soldering gun and a decent case you can make them in a day for a decent price. we'll see maybe down the road. still gotta put those tour pics up ahh maybe next time.

"are you extremely satisfied?"

2009-11-25T21:38:00.000-08:00

you ever get that feeling if you dont stay on top of things all the time they pile up and just become overwhelming?

hello wheene

brendo remind me i got a bunch of pics from your show i could send you...
lasts daze at 2617

so i'm set up back in vernon now...got a couple jobs hear and there, cooking again at italian kitchen and p/t (sort of) at a tree nursary...helping out around the house; getting stuff done then adding more stuff to the to-do list . really researching on the building of a semi-permanent home... or dome or yurt or igloo or all those ideas and more combined.

i still gotta put up those pics from the LU44 tour eh? maybe next post...

so ive been working some at a new myspace page for my solo stuff (which could be one excuse for the non-existant blog entries). at least the stuff i did last year with pat palardy is up there. hopefully i can get the new ones recorded soon and get them up too. it doesn't look like much but if you wanna see it's...

www.myspace.com/pmglimm

i tryed to keep it as simple as possible...

K.I.S.S.

2009-09-17T00:23:00.000-07:00

so these are my last couple days abroad. im in stockholm now and ill be heading back to canada tomorrow and land in TO. you may have noticed i changed my blog title. since ive collected multiple mushrooms, picked many flowers (although very few gave me the ability to shoot fire balls) and have rescued the princess, i decided it was time to change, once i realized that i would be going (a)round the world. but then soon that will be done too, i guess i need a longer lasting title.

the next part of the adventure is to join 'lucid 44 and the roofers' on their tour from ontario to nova scotia. you can hear their music on www.myspace.com/lucid44gutterawl. it will be fun times indeed and there will lots of pics from then. i definatly feel ready to come back home and start setting up longer lasting little life luxuries. ?? what does that mean, i guess ill find out.

Great Uncle Jurgen

2009-09-14T23:47:00.000-07:00

this post is for my great uncle jurgen who passed away last week shortly us after leaving hamburg. i'm very glad to have met him and his family. of 8 brothers he was the last. of 8 brothers he was my opa helmut's favourite and the feeling from jurgen towards him was mutual. a medical surgeon and yet a man who found time to be a world traveler with his wife roma, he had a great passion for exploring and experiencing things outside his comfort zone. although from multiple back operations his physical ability was limited, he was fighter until the end, always trying to do things for himself. he is survived by his loving wife roma their children and grandchildren posted in the obituary.
peace be with you in whatever comes next Jurgen Glimm.

me and roma

roma and jurgen's son andy, wife sebina, daughter karoline, and son simon

i tryed to find a hamburger but they were called fricadella

2009-09-06T01:59:00.000-07:00

the sea was calm as the day grew light. the journey to hamburg germany started easy enough arranged though a carpool website (modern hitchhiking). we travelled on two different ferries to take the shortest route there with a german builder named ingo. as an appreation gesture for travelling with him he gave us some chantrelle mushrooms and blueberry jam, the same things we've been collecting and eating for the last few weeks.we stayed with mikaela's friends karl and birte for the first few days and explored the inner city. hamburg has alot of character show though the architecture and mostly tastful graffiti. different independant clothing and 'junk' shops lined the quaint neibourhoods, and the harbour was a work of modernism with beautiful ships disprised thoughout.after our stay w/miki's friends i got ahold of some distant relatives that were near by and stayed on the outskirts of hamburg nearby in a place called neugraben. there we were closer to apple orchards and forrest walks but still within the city tram limits. i got to meet my great uncle jurgen and wife roma and had a nice time chatting over some coffee and cake. then off to their son andy's to stay for the remainer of the time. he took us out to a small town not far away where modern homes haven't laid destruction upon traditional buildings.had a great time all in all, and soon enough we had to stick our thumbs out into the internet to catch a ride back. stopped for a couple hours in copenhagen denmark and finally got our hamburgers.

sweet sweet sweden

2009-08-20T13:32:00.000-07:00

so ive been in sweden the past few weeks. got to meet alot of mikaela´s friends and family and its been helpful being able to put a face and character to match the stories she´s told. it's a very nice scenic landscape not unlike parts of canada and tasmania. im trying to to speak some of my broken swedish but everyone's english (aside from some older shop keepers and such) is really good and i think they enjoy the practice of speaking english anyway. so im getting by...
back on the bicycles after a weekone of gothenburgs many canals. we´ve spent half the time in gothenburg, sweden's second biggest city next only to stockholm, and half the time on the outskirts of a town called hored, (its not as bad as the name might suggest). real country/rural sweden.who doesnt want to ride in a tea cup?jazz band in an old church during the jazz festcrayfish seasonsome acoustic jams street performers i dont know i guess i had a staff that dayimpromptu scherades sp? in a park ah yes and mushroom hunting!! a favorite swedish pastime (dont worry its very safe and yes i have seen 'into the wild')so about a month left here now to see and explore; the ticket back to canada has been booked. so we'll be seeing you all soon enough (or leaving depending on whos reading this) hmmm, still finding out about getting to denmank and germany in the next week or so though. lots to plan and do trying to make the most of it...

from new holland to old holland

2009-08-02T10:59:00.000-07:00

the last night in australia was pretty good. we spent it w/our good friend from california that we met on magnetic island, taylor in fremantle w.a. (is that a confusing sentence? it makes sense to me anyway)

we spent the night catching up, jaming on guitars, talking about life and where our soceities values lie (general backpacker talk) and sneaking in booze into the hostel made for a great night.

the next day we were finally taking off back to the northern hemisphere, the long flight waited there patiently for us to arrive. nothing crazy to report except for the usual knife-in-the-brain-pain that comes with flying for me. landing in malaysia just for a few hours then off to amsterdam.

our host squim (of the roel & squim magnetic island duo) treated us like royalty. great house to stay, food, drinks, old and new friends to hang and chat with, sight-seeing all the touristy stuff, couldn t have asked for a better time there... well ...
the first time i almost flip over the bike , one might think one would learn the first time, but insted we all laughed. i now believe that i am accident prone. those of you that have known me more than a few months pretty much know i cant make it a year without being injured.
yeah this is what i looked like for my first day in europe.
i know it looks like i got a tooth ache but because of the beard we couldnt find where the blood was dripping from my face later found out it was a giant lump\gash in my chin
there's some better pictures that squim took that im waiting for (thats nanny another dutchie from magnetic island)
chop goes the mo
had a little bit of a bicycle accident, where my face and arm met the pavement and the bike tryed to ride me (ended up on top of me while i was lying face down on the paved bike path). i still think bike riding is bar none the best way to get around. and whats the old saying "why do we fall? so we can learn to pick ourselves up again"

seeing the amount of bicycles/scooters/motorbikes there is incredible. apparently outnumbering people 3to1. at train stations theres 1000 bikes where 100 cars would usually fit. bikes roads everywhere there are car roads. bikes with front and rear trailers, speed-babys, tandems, taxis, electric, motorized bicycles, all shapes and sizes everyones got a bike fat, fit, tall, small, everyone. coming from bunbury where no-one was quite sure what this thing on two wheels and no motor was and trying to hunt them with the front of their front cow herding bumpers on their cars was quite the contrast.

aside from the bike culture and bike tours around which was definately the highlight of holland, we got to see an old windmill inside and out, an old castle forttress, mardurodam which is miniature holland, sort of a tulip field, ww2 barracks, amsterdam cafes and usual red light district tourist attractions.

it all seemed a little like too short a time though, and once we met up with roel when his flight from sydney came in on friday, we knew we would soon be back on the plane later that evening to fly out.
ah yes the north sea dankevell(north atlantic ocean)
did you know australia was originally named new holland?

sounds surround seas; goodbye australia

2009-07-20T21:12:00.000-07:00

the indian ocean handshake.
well im about to leave the land of oz in a week or so. It seems like only yesterday i was frantically trying to sort out where to get my motorbike, and get my business papers organized and sent by rich (since the car with my papers got towed a couple hours before my flight left for australia). hopefully this flight goes smooth ;fingers crossed.

it's been a wonderful period in my life for growth and change but time here is coming to an end. slowly i'll be continuing my way round the world and home to canada but first a little side journey. im off to kualla lumpur maylasia just for a partial day then to holland on tues where we will meet up with some old friends from magnetic island, roul, squim, and nanny. and then a few days later, off to sweden to meet some of mikaela's friends and family. while there we'll probably try when possible to see the surrounding countrys( denmark, germany, and norway) time and money permitting of course.

i feel like somehow summarizing my time here but not quite sure how to put it in words. i mean i've accomplised what i set out to do and but have really gained much more. really im coming away with purpose, cause, ideas, greater knowledge, inspiration/musically miles ahead of where i was, and a great girl. i can't wait for all you to meet her. what else could i ask for? im not intending to boast but just to recognise the fruits of what has come into my life and feel fortunate by everything thats happened to me. never taking the small things/luxuries for granted is one very important lesson learned over and over here.

im not going to go over everything ive done and experienced and go trotting down memory lane cause i've already written most of it, for it is the future that we seek and the present that we experience right?.

just when you see me next and ask 'yeah, and how was australia'? in the same way you might ask someone how their breakfast tastes, you might be in for a long winded answer or you'll probably get the canned "fine" answer. in getting an answer you want its always good to know the right question.

wait a minute, i didn't miss canada day did i?

2009-07-02T22:59:00.000-07:00

so for canada's birthday i went out with mikaela and her sister to augusta the most southern west point of australia where the indian and southern ocean's meet. there we were on a whale watching ship where we spotted countless humpback whale who would get very close to the ship and do the whole tail flip and shoot water out of their blowholes and other such whale behavior that whales would be known to do. also at the end we spotted a giant and i mean giant stingray, very cool to see.

for mikaela's birthday we went out to rottnest island off the western coast near freemantle. there we took bicycles and toured around spotting quokas (a small rare rat like kangaroo) giant ofspey's nest and other unique and interesting wildlife. both were gorgeous days to be out on the water again.

oh and today i got my next job here in bunbury. i'm now a consultant for a new pizza pasta restaurant opening downtown. another case of tell one aussie your looking for work and him dropping everything make a few visits/calls and the next day have a job. it's just part time so i can still keep working on my music and studying which i planned to do while here. that's all for now; give canada a big belated birthday hug for me and tell her i miss her so.

W.A.(WA)

2009-06-22T00:56:00.000-07:00

well ive made it to western australia. 2 hours south of perth in a place called bunbury is where ive set up residence for now. getting to there though was very tiresome; 8 hour bus ride from strahan to hobart, up very early to take the airport shuttle, at the hobart airport i walk in with 40 minutes untill the flight leaves still having to disassemble my bike pack it check it and my 20kg guitar/2Xsaddlebag bungie cord'd together thing (also carring my double 12kg tankbag topped to the nines as a carry-on), and go through security. lucky its a pretty small airport but i still got the announcement over the p.a. "Mr. Peter Glimm if you are in the airport please proceed imediatly to your plane it is fully boarded and awaiting your boarding for departure". so with me barging through the security line saying "that's me their asking for on the pa" empting and filling 10 pockets full of crap (cargo pants) to avoid excess luggage charges i got escorted promptly to the plane with very little in the way of security and bording hassle.

only when i got to sydney my flight to perth had been delayed which ment of course that when i get to perth i gotta bust it (via another shuttle bus) to the one train that leaves for bunbury or have to wander the streets of perth with all my luggage and disassembled bike for the night trying to find somewhere to rest. .. regardless of all obsticles in my way i made it. exausted, mind you.

meanwhile ive been getting to get to know my new 8 flatmates one of which is mikaela's sister and i'm very happy to be reunited with miki once again. (yak or sigh here if needed). once again limiting library computers restrict me with not only pics but with email's now. somehow this blog isn't on their radar yet, so yeah comment-away!.

it's miki's birthday on weds and we're going to rottnest island outside of fremantle to do some cycling and whatnot. ill try to put up some pics when i can but for now it will just have to be the words that come out of the mouth or in this case the words that come from the fingers.

except the old

2009-06-08T23:21:00.000-07:00

pics of part of the bicycle trip from devonport to strahan are up check em out! (@cradle mountain /chapter 6: to tasmania entrys)

hi ho hi ho

2009-06-01T21:43:00.000-07:00

Alright! (hands swiftly brushed together as friction slowly illuminates the warmth back into them). so ive finally got some new pics to post so i thought it would be time for an update.saying hello to the southern ocean and inviting it for the initial welcoming handshake. i didn't even know that there was a southern ocean until getting to tasmania. mikaela tryed to tell me but on all the maps ive seen it's not included. yet it's the beginning of all currents to all the other oceans. in my defence it's still debated by sceintists weather it exists or not still; where does one ocean begin and end?. the same debate could be said about global warming... yeah right!

we've been out on the harbour a few times, first was a friends diving boat where they dive for dead fish to remove from the fish farm nets and try to fight off the seals that try to eat them! (the fish not the divers) then we went on the world famous gordon river cruise. it was a great trip but the real story is behind it no t the trip itself. some of the more mature readers might even remember...back in 1980-83 there was the biggest environmentalist protest in australian history against the damming of the franklin river which would flood much of a mostly undiscovered rainforest in western tasmania. home to many wild animals and the great huon pine trees. one of many qualities of the huon pine is the oil extracted from the trees is the only oil known to man to sink in water. anyway a worldwide protest and an issue so strong it threw the federal government out and replaced it with the opposition whose main platform was to save this river. it is now listed a a world heritage site where the redneck government and loggers cant touch it. its nice to see the power of protest for the greater good of mankind not just short term financial gain can be won. the story is outlined in a great book written by bob brown a green party member and australian senator 'memo for a saner world'
fish factory(that's mikaela! we look pretty ridiculous in all the hair nets and safety getups)some pics of risby cove
that's me an head chef dave

i'll still be here for just a couple more weeks. in the process of getting a bunch of pics uploaded from the cycle trip through cradle mountian and ill put them up in the back log of the journey so you may have to scroll through a bit of the past. mikaela's gone to perth already since she had the begining of the dolphin research project beginning in june. so im alone here for a couple weeks untill i fly out mid month to join her, i can't wait to see somewhere else. so if you've been huming an hawing about sending me an email now would be good . it would be good to hear from you all. it can get pretty boring in this small town. i got many more stories but it's off to work i go...

your patience is appreaciated and your call is important to us, please hold the line and you will be rewarded with more elevator music

2009-04-15T22:20:00.000-07:00

I know its been a while now. the problem with using these library computers is i can only get on about once or twice a week. it operates for 10 whole hours a week, 8 of which im working, and they wont let you upload pics. so heres a couple oldies that didn't make the cut b4.

its starting to get chilly here, winters coming & im back in the kitchen again at a place called "risby cove" cooking 4star seafood and such still in strahan tasmania. never cooked @ a 4 star restaurant before and its not bad. the people that work there are still really down to earth and a good group to work w/. the chef is super helpful and a patient teacher.

Oh yeah and i got another guitar (i left my other blue 3/4 sized one in melbourne since it didn't fit on the bike) a full sized suzuki classical. it does the trick. all my friends who play guitar (sf59) would understand that being without one for even a week can be devastating. this woman i just met who runs a local restaurant just gave it to me, brand new never opened/played and just told me to wear it in. ill give it to the aussies for helping you out. they'll stop whatever they're doing say "Oi mate not a worry ill make a few calls for you an set you up" and after meeting 12 new people along the way you have your directions/place to stay/guitar/job whatever.

so kind of slowed down a bit, for tavelling at the moment, and just working tonnes to get back in the black or red or whatever the saying is.
next state ... the great and vast western australia, not for a little while yet. but you gotta keep your goals and dreams in focus no matter how far away they seem.

Gutterawl?

2009-03-27T18:21:00.000-07:00

So i've made it as far as Stahan on the west coast of Tasmania 250 k. we've settled in nicely to our own place and have a job gutting and packing fish. yup. it's... interesting, not as smelly as one would think. BTW have you heard the new gutterawl record? its not as smelly as one would think either. send me a copy of the mastered one marco it sounds good.

@ Cradle Mountain

2009-03-18T17:27:00.000-07:00

100 km so far just a snipit in the long run...fine tuning mikaela's bike by "re-threading" or rather "unthreading"can't start an insane bicycle journey w/o a morning joe did i put up any tasmanian devil pics already?or emu?

chapter 6 : to Tasmania

2009-03-09T19:36:00.000-07:00

After 6 months of being in the land of OZ we're about to set off on the ferry for 10 hours or so to tasmania. time in melbourne has come to a close, for now anyway, as we may return after. it seems time to move on. and the way to travel has been chosen.

Goldy 2(or jr)

and Bronco
i'll put up some more pics with all the ridiculus saddle bags and stuff hanging off the sides after the trip. we're planning on doing the west coast; around cradle mountain one of the final national parks in the world not interferred by man.

and some sweedish ive learned too:
Jag cyklar i tasmania under pistolhot av mikaela...:Qthe bicycle recycle shop at ceres. a converted refuse tip (garbage dump) in the middle of the city with self sustainable houses (fruit trees, roof collected water, solar panels etc.) rentable garden lots, and self sustainable literature meca centre.
i'd like to side trail into the pros and cons and costs of owning this bicycle verses having a motor vehicle.
1. regisrtation $0
2. insurance $0
3. hassel of setting those things up and renewing them.
D. licence $0, fuel $0, engine oil $0, Chain oil $12
6. maintenance maybe $40 including all spare parts AND cup holders. all done quite easily by myself with no specific bicycle training.
7. parking fees $0
8. parking spaces =infinate
H. able to travel on roads, sidewalks (defensively) and bike trails anywhere and never be stuck in traffic. getting places sometimes faster than a car could.
X. something or other for the environment.
11. total cost of bike only at most $140
12. garage space, minimal in comparison to motor vehicle
and lets end w/ lucky
13. the whole getting fit business and not getting RLS restless leg syndrom at night.

now the cons ... hmmm... sometimes my leg gets chain oil on it and if im wearing long pants and forget to roll one up the cuff can get caught in the sprocket....maybe i'll think of more

our flatmate (look closely , notice anything strange about her?)

Goldy '81

2009-02-25T21:54:00.000-08:00

first beginings/last endings
place of rest sometimes used to dry and hang clothes, very helpful place of birth

so where to begin...

2009-02-17T03:14:00.000-08:00

left bambooland as of the beginning of february, been on the road travelling south , south and yet further south, all the way to melbourne now !

but first, we rolled into brisbane to see a couple of miki's friends , the state museum and some freezing cold art galleries (i know some of you are cursing if i claim australia as freezing, but when it's 35+ outside and yer wearing shorts and t-shirt and every place you walk into is blasting the air-con so it's +3 deg it SEEMS really cold) anyway.... next into new south wales for my second time and it was raining and piss misserable. riding in rain... camping in rain...eating in rain you get the drift. we did see some beautiful scenery and bits of nature though. woopee!

went to the national motorcycle museum in nabiac nsw, 700+ different bikes from around the world. bsa, triumph, norton, ariel, honda, indian, you name it and it was there.

another highlight was in north NSW at a "bushtucker" garden with all kinds of different indigenous edible or medicinal plants which has been really interesting learning about the whole time here in oz.
climbed a mountain in pomona.
but as of now a few changes :
1. have found a house to live in near downtown melbourne. i have seen just some of the devastation the victoria bush fires have caused. they are still burning and destroying land but it's very encouraging to see all people from all walks of life give such great support to the victims of said fires.
2. have gotten some sweet new bicycles to get around with,(best way to travel around any city, some of my favorite times in calgary were ripping around the city on bikes w/ jzero & marcus)
C. and the big one ... the goldwing is . . ... toast . dead. done. gone. finito. broken crankshaft the day it arrived in melbourne. and its too expensive and time consuming to repair; 2nd hand 28 year old crankshafts for unpopular bikes are hard to come by.

so like the times, things have changed. new ideas of getting around are brewing. realistically my goal was to get it to adelade south oz and get rid of it there before going to perth. close enough.

met a lovly ex school principle who has offered her beach house along the great ocean road to stay at. also looking at going to tazmania soon to before winter hits (im still getting used to the idea that it gets cold in june/july).

have found a little multitrack recorder, so i can start recording some of the new songs and ideas ive come up with.

pix of bambooland times

2009-01-31T00:56:00.000-08:00

the wind-chimeophone mallotsversion 2 of the bamboo saxfly swattamikaelas cactus basketbambusa vulgarus vittata mikaela.s dress making sessionroel: be happy with what you got

i have had cake and i was able to eat it as well

2009-01-09T03:14:00.000-08:00

happy new year everyone! and happy FL to my bros back home and rich jzero and marco the band tourers of beautiful british columbia and all the way out to brendo in halifax. i´ve had a great time the last few weeks... christmas was a blast spent at the ol´ dent street house on magnetic island w\manny along too, then new years eve we rolled into a bamboo nursery called bambooland in howard queensland and have since spent time here wwoofing (willing workers on organic farms) where we exchange a few hours of work for food and accommodation. the time working here is spent planting and gardening during the morning and then in the afternoon free range of using bamboo and being creative. ive mainly spent my focus on musical instruments although the more u think of it the more you can build anything out of bamboo. more versions of the xaphoon and a bamboo saxophone to come, and many hours building a giant hanging xylophone with mikaela and chief janne.
so i´ve also made it to the ripe age of 29. yesterday mikaela took me out on an all day boat ride to fraser island , the largest and oldest sand island in the world. it´s only a half hour drive from where we´re staying now so i´ll probably be going back at some point. a really great day out, saw dolphins all around the boat and a dingo running down the beach that reminded me of the end credits of ´the littlest hobo´. earlier in the morning a couple kangaroos jumped out right in front of the bike, not an everyday occurance. got back home and our host and his lady friend had made supper and and baked a cake. pretty nice, being away from home and having people who ive only known a short while care to make your birthday special. also thanks for the emails all. and, getting outside myself for a minute, id like to give my folks a big happy 30th anniversery too.

lets all make the best of the last year in this decade, the last year to say ´0#.

chill week

2008-12-23T21:39:00.000-08:00

so, we've come back to magnetic island for the holiday's. it seems as though this is the best and closest thing we can call "going home for christmas". it's been great seeing all our old friends here and manny has come over from ayr as well to celibrate the season. i'll post some post-chirstmas party pics after christmas but this post is for all my friends and family back home who may or may not still be keeping in touch through the blog here.

Happy holidays to you all and much love your way for the season. remember not to fret too much and enjoy your company who ever your with this christmas. think about what christmas really means to you, & not what others, or tv , or flyers tell you to think. christmas is about the others in your life. and it doesn't matter one bit whether you got enough presents received or to give. give human traits as gifts... give love, be kind, patience, give respect towards others in your life that you love. this will bring far greater joy than any thing from walmart you pick up last minute will do. much love to you all. peter.

the falla

2008-12-11T22:27:00.000-08:00

so any of you reading this from magnetic island, welcome to my slow world of updates. it's been a great trip since we left maggie, lots of travelling around the atherton tablelands, up to cairns (yes i did finally make it there) and as far north as cape tribulation. after that the road futher north gets a little rough so we decided to head back down south and find a farm job in the tablelands near atherton. it's been good here helping out on a cattle farm doing odd jobs and eating beef 3 times a day. the land is gorgeous like the land hobbits would live in in the lord of the rings. we're both doing this a: for second year visa requirements in which you must complete 3 months of agricultural work and b: for just new experiences. a wild king parrot who decided the bird feed was worth the risk.we ate some cow brain lunch meat that kind of tasted like tuna. i guess there's a first time for everything. been going around on the atvs/quads and checking out some good swimming holes and trails.

so about a week ago we took a small sailing boat w/ about 15 other passengers out to the great barrier reef. my first time out there. it was amazing, clear and calm got to go snorkling a few times. went out to a sandy white beach about 10 metres wide in the middle of the ocean. on the way out got to drive the boat most of the way trading off with mikaela, anyone else was welcome to steer but i guess we were the only volunteers. on the way back we had a "how many times can you catch the piece of watermellon in your mouth' contest. i seemed to have won after disputing the fact myself but the judge insisted i had won. i had a funny feeling about what happens to the "winner"...a giant mixing bowl of all the left over watermellon thrown over my whole body. (and a beer and a watermellon crown)

2 up

2008-11-21T19:24:00.000-08:00

So today i'll be leaving this island i've grown to love. i've felt so much joy from the people and the natural surroundings here. i've gone on many more amazing hikes and swims seen turtles walabes and countless weirds giant bugs to name a few. i've since had two awesome flatmates (roomates) adam and adrien to hang and chat with. adam is australian artist/bartender and is in the first stage of becoming a traveller of his own country, having rarely ventured much outside sydney. adrien is an irish dj nomad who will be taking over for me in the kitchen slinging currys and chicken parmys.

my continuing journey anyway will include mikalea along with me on the bike. we've made quite a few sacrifices with our possesions to fit it all on the bike (the guitar stays though). when i met her in the first few days here, she told me of her plans after her time here as a ranger and they were very similar with my own. quite like getting the chef job here, i knew once i met her we would travel together. i'll be continuing up north to cairns and quite likely going to see the great barrier reef for the first time. this is my main goal for going up there although there will be much to see and do along the way. and now having somone to share will is quite exciting too.

these are my flatmates. the last day at dentorious and a little too much fun with face paints.

for those opposed to lows

2008-10-28T20:13:00.000-07:00

well i really did standby on my plans to cairns(pronounced cans in case you didn't understand my rhyme scheme). i've been living on the tropical magnetic island just of the coast of townsville queensland for the last 3 weeks or so and i intend to be here for a few more. 9/10 of the island is a national park, there's about 15 different beachs, one road about 10km, and apparenty there is the most wildlife per square kilometre in all of australia.
i got a job as the 2nd chef in a restaurant called swanson's . i also got my own house for super cheap that i'll be renting for the next month or so. i'll be able to save some good coin since there's not much to spend your money on and all the hiking trails and beach dwelling is free. i'm also getting paid even better than my leaving rate as head chef at my last cooking job and it's just a starting wage!

so coming over to the island i took a vehicle barge which was so rocky i had to sit on the bike the whole time and just try to keep it steady. started driving the perimetre of the island and was blown away by the views; in particular seeing oz from beyond a short distance of ocean water. once i got to my camping destination i saw a sign for cooks wanted and imediately knew i would be staying here for a while.

since then i've hiked countless hours around mountains and boulders separating beautiful white sandy beaches each one with it's own unique personality. yesterday and the day before i went snorkling with my lady friend mikala whom i met on the island the first week i was here. we swam amongst all kinds of tropical fish, coral, reef sharks, sting rays to name a few. breathtaking . the hikes are always really interesting too. mikala's job here is being a ranger for the zoo that's right beside the restaurant so it's like having my own personal forest tour guide telling me what each animal and plant is and what it does etc. there's really such an abundance of things to do here that don't cost a cent so i'm able to save my money for the next leg of the trip.

my camera is being really weird and i can't preview and chose the pics i want so whats up here is kind of a crap-shoot. that's the jist of my life so far here; i've met some really good people too, and many of them spend there island life pursuring the arts who then make up an interesting bunch. it's really nice to become familar with locals too instead of only talking with travelers and backbackers.

i started working on a bamboo version of my xaphoon. it acctually works! (although it's a little flat.)
those are lorakeets which are everywhere like the sparrow or seagull here, i call them mini parrotsthats a curlew which screams like a small child in the middle of the night, really freaky sometimes koalas are protected everywhere in oz but one of the only places their population is growing is magnetic island everywhere else they mainly only have 2 babies that survive thus only replacing the 2 that created them.these guys are in my house all the time.art projectmikala in the middle of creating my first beach boulder walk here, which was not the last.

stand by on plans to cairns

2008-10-16T20:13:00.000-07:00

So i've made it as far as townsville now... looking back on the last week since i left brisbane on saturday was one of ups and downs. this time not the roads but in myself. it can be a lonesome journey sometimes. and alas, manny has abandoned me; he only got as far as brisbane and felt at home and is planting roots. i'll see him when i go back that way though. and benni is planted too for a while , i met up with him again in bunderburg... nice town, i may go back to check it out for a while.

i spent a couple days in a hotel in prosperpine just to get my back feeling better. i can only do a couple days in the tent now in a row, i guess i'm not as young as i used to be. that being said this journey has been good but i've decided not to circumfrence the country, instead i need a home base. after travelling up to cairns next i'll probably head back down south via a different route and find that launching point. travelling allday everyday is in every way tiresome and not enjoyable, but if i break it up it's awesome. from the home base (in which ill find some work before i go broke) i can do separate trips to all the different states. i still have melbourne in mind for that it's pretty central to everywhere else i want to go but who knows.
so there's frogs and lizards and sugar refinaries everywhere(this one was my fav. maybe jzeros next psychic pollution cover?)

what a nice frog...

...to eat!
lots of the landscape is pretty barren wasteland. dryed up creek beds pass by mile after mile and i wonder what they are like during the rain season. oh that's also influencing my decision not to go around north ... monsoons + tropical storms is no place for a motorbike and tent. also abandon cars littered every so often makes me realize the auto theft here is real.
also i saw my first kangaroos!
i was wondering if they were only mythical creatures. 3 weeks in and i hadn't seen any. still no koalas though....or crocs. apparenty over on magnetic island, just a 20 min ferry from townsville, are lots of wild animals. it's also really interesting to listen to the chorus of birds in the morning. different mix every day i wake. some sound like monkeys, others finish each others beautiful songs.

bamboo! ahh made me think of the old watering hole.

big guy, little guy and other guy.
i also crossed the tropic of capricorn for the first time in rockhampton.(well i guess i did in the plane) but it was still pretty neat since i'm a capricorn.i can see the constellation here too i don't think you can in canada. i never even knew it is a SEA goat not just goat. huh. well now we know.
did you know? australia doesn't use the penny. everything is rounded to the nickel. genius!

where i am

2008-10-13T22:36:00.000-07:00

i'm actually in mackay now. + i'll do some posts when i get to townsville. i'll probably stay in that area for a while just to much to say and i gotta find out where to sleep in the next hour.

awesome possum/

2008-10-06T21:19:00.000-07:00

so ive been in brisbane for a few days now dont really like it much better than sydney but its ok. its been super hot since i crossed the border into queensland probably on average 28-35 deg and my face burnt the first day being here leaving a lovely outline of my sunglasses.

been hanging with manny again and always finding fun stuff to do during the nights. last knight we witnessed a possum fight in a tree which was quite entertaining & we found a giant chess board and played king vs king... it ended up being a stalemate. the night before we had shopping cart races and went to a fake beach in the middle of the city which had fake sand and a giant clorinated pool.

although i'm having a good time, i'm getting the same itchy feet to leave brisbane as well and get up to cairns (pronounced cans). probably the most beautiful land and the furthest north ill go. i'll be travelling up the sunshine coast which will soon be great barrier reef teritory. i can't wait....

oh yeah if you ever want to get ahold of me text or call 0011 61 414226563.

true or false, there are more kangaroos then humans in australia?

pacific coasting roller coaster roads

2008-10-04T00:59:00.000-07:00

so i made it up to brisbane 3 days later, a few muscles sorer, and a couple extra pounds of dirt on the bike, which i cant stop calling goldy even though i'm trying to come up with a more original name.

anyway got out of sydney finally at about noon after getting kind of lost on the way out. remind you this was my first real day driving in sydney and on the left hand side, kinda confusing at first but i think i got the hang of it now. i get as far as wyong about 3 hours into my trip and stop at a cafe for lunch and realize when i look the other way down the road it says "sydney 77". i've only gone 77kms and i'm 3/4 the way through a tank of gas... me thinks this is going to be one expensive trip especially since brisbane is only about 1000kms away.

once i hit some open road though, which isn't stop and start city travel, i can get about 200km on a tank. better. still think the bike needs a good tune up.

1st generation of luggage. have you ever seen a more ridiculous set up on a bike , oh.... well, if you've never seen my other touring set ups that is.

so to fill you in on the way i bike travel it's : wake up when the birds wake you up, drive as far as you can in a day(and obviously insert other stuff/activites etc. here) , then about an hour before sunset find where to lay your head for the night, preferably for free or close to free. the problem/advantage with this system is you never know what area/city/town/farm/ho(s)tel/rest-stop you'll end up in so it's impossible to book ahead. and i love it that way. benni had a great quote which i think i might steal: person A "where are you going to sleep tonight?" person B "i don't know?... where ever i wake up."

so anyway first night i only get as far as forster (pronounced foster like the beer, no aussie says the r sound). i'm in "the great lakes" region. and of course i laugh because we canadians know what great lakes are. suns coming down fast and there's okanagan sized mountains around so that'll cut a good 1/2 of light out of my time. so i took the first gravel road with the camping sign on it, soon to realize it's 10km of windy gravel roads with potholes everywhere. but suns setting fast and i got to set up before nightfall. first day riding a new-to-me bike down an unfamiliar road at dusk. great. it was the long weekend too so it was quite likely to be full. luckly i made it up and down and all around the shaky road & i got the last spot just in time, really, a car was looking for a spot right behind me. set up, and an aussie couple came over to chat and give me my first vegemite sandwich in oz. delicious, seemed i forgot to take any food or drinks even water with me. whoops.
i got to start rushing through this now it's costing me $5 an hour

2nd night i made it to the queensland border and what a sight! the road leading up to it was 25kms of wonderland. but i have very few pics to prove it, because while i'm trying to enjoy the beauty of the land again night is falling within the hour and i know i got about an hour left of riding through these windy hilly roads. worst of all my oil indicator light is flickering, bad news. i later find out it was just low but it was making me pretty nervous. anyway, i've never driven any road like it. majestic i guess would decribe it best. i had no time for photos except at the very beginning when i crossed the first of many single wooden bridges and... oh yeah! at the very end the road acctually turned into a roller coaster steep steep hills straight up and down about 6 times. i'll go back on my way down south again and set the camera up to movie capture to show u what i mean.
that's some of it anyway. this has cost me about $8 so far, and if i was making money at the time too it wouldn't bother me so much. you'll have to buy the book to get the rest of the story....

top of the (bottom) world!

2008-10-01T03:19:00.000-07:00

it felt so great getting my last piece of mail today that enabled me to get my registration and plates. and yes i did finally get my business papers from rich a week and a half later(fyi if you're sending me a valentine card).

but what felt even better was riding away on my new bike! it handles so easily for that size of bike. i think i'm going to keep the fairing too, it's starting to grow on me and it would be a huge hassle to get and re-wire the signals and like the seca, the headlight is mounted in the fairing. too much trouble; i just need to enjoy the ride.

so as scheduled i leave tomorrow morning north up the pacific highway. expecting to meet up with manny in a couple days in brisbane. it's about a ten hour drive but i'm going to split it in two or three days ... hopefully. it's also labor? day weekend here so getting proper camping might prove difficult.
got all my camping gear today. tent, inflatable mat, cooking supplies. i'm going to have to downsize my stuff as i go since every nook is filled on the bike including both tank bags. so much for travelling light.

i'll put some pics up later on this post i just dont really have much time now, just wanted to let you know everything worked out so far and i get to start exploring the real australia and get out of this lost:city.

d.y.k.,the little blvds in the middle of the roads are called refuge islands?

beach song # 2

2008-09-28T17:40:00.000-07:00

so yes, i ended up buying that guitar and aside from figuring out how to bring it along i think it has been my most favorite purchase in oz so far. below is a picture of someone else playing (cant remember his name).

went to bondi beach yesterday with a brazilian girl i met named luara, and met about 20 of her friends. the guitar i bought about an hour earlier was a hit as many there knew how to play so they just passed the guitar around and played between brazilian and north american songs singing loudly into the ocean.

it got really cold near the end of the day so went home changed and found out our hostel group was doing quiz night at a near by pub. so i made a team with 2 girls from holland named "the botanic gardeners" and we did fairly well. did you know australia was originally to be named new holland? well now we know.

itchy feet

2008-09-27T02:33:00.000-07:00

as you can see i bought another instrument today. my first harmonica (that i can remember). i'm also eyeing up this 3/4 sized blue classical guitar that i could probably strap down on my tail box. it's the same color as my bike so i'll probably get it. i kind of miss the old house always having a guitar lying around to use or listen to someone else play.

most of the friends i've met have left today. benni went to bundaberg queensland to pick fruit, shane is back in melbourne area, jamie's long gone too up north of brisbane and manny's leaving tomorrow for brisbane. so i've had a mix of being excited and depressed today. i really want to leave sydney now and start seeing the real australia.

Ahh yes, also i spent my day travelling an hour by train to see my bike again. paid it off in full now so here's a sneak a peek pic.

there's still a few issues with getting plates on it and registration that will have to wait untill weds and hopefully, fingers crossed, i'll be on the road thurs. i'm still waiting for that package of stuff rich sent to me with my international drivers licence. they must be kayaking it accross the ocean.

computer troubles/sight seeing slightly

2008-09-24T03:42:00.000-07:00

i forgot to mention i did some sight seeing with some of the guys, got in a car accident with a giant boulder (you allways gotta 'watch for falling rocks')but luckly benni saved me with his pocket first aid kit, then found some wine and cheese and enjoyed ourselves in a near by park by the wharf theatre. i think the summer of enjoying yourself is going to be quite long this year.

those are two austrian girls benni and i met and have been hanging with for the last couple days but now there off to new zealand. it's great knowing someone who speaks german it comes in handy from time to time.

so i think i've figured out how to put pics up now but its frusterating as per usual. the ones i really want to show you guys wont re-size but at least some work. sometimes i wish i was more of a computer geek ... but really not.

went to newtown just south of downtown today with a new oz i met named shane from outside melbourne to see a graffiti fest through all the back alleys. it was really cool. here's something if you have a friend named jeff with his birthay coming up (there's a really scary/happy ghost unerneath saying it, but again with the re-size prob.

yeah i now have figured out how to resize! ....but i still cant rotate the pics.

2008-09-23T05:19:00.000-07:00

so now a few days later....
i now have some time to post since i've caught a cold and am resting up and staying pretty low key. i've met a few good people at the hostel i'm at 'nomad's maze'. they have day and night stuff planned for anyone there to do. so the first few days i did most of the night activities, which are mainly going to pubs and enjoying yourself. aside from the social aspect, usually a good free diner is involved with your first couple drinks covered as well so the night out is made for the traveller, dirt cheap.

i made a couple good friends to hang out with elsewhere through those nights; mainly a northern australian named jamie and a german named benni. benni's travelling the country kinda the same as me minus the bike and add a car but still starting out on his own.
he just got here too and just getting here and trying to figure out what all needs to be set up to get started here ie. tax file number, bank account, shopping for the outback etc. can be taxing; it's nice to have someone to bounce off ideas and questions.

Emmanual (the cook from vicious circle whose travelling oz the same time as me) came into town last night. he's been in melbourne for about a week and has some good stories. it's good to see my first familiar face from back home. did some sight seeing with him today and i think we're going to check out the opera house tommorrow.

supprisingly i've found quite a few people to jam with here. there was a 3 peice jazz band in hyde park sax, 3peice drums , and a bongo player. i'm getting a little better with the xaphoon and was able to play w/ them for a while (once the sax player figured out what key the xaphoon was in). at the very end of playing with them this oz was walking by threw down about 6 shopping bags and started freestyle dancing and singing while we were playing; it was pretty fun times.

also played with a guitar player last night while we we're in kings cross area near manny's (emmanual's) hostel and played more cover tune like songs. 'labamba' was definatly our hit. accidently broke the reed this morning and found a really great music store here called allen's. i nearly bought a ukelayle (sp?) for $25... we'll see about that one.

oh i almost forgot the biggest news.
i chose the bike......jzero, rich drum roll......................................................................................................
1981 Honda Goldwing GL1100 is mine! Dark blue almost the same as the Suzuki850, hard locking saddlebags, a tail box for even more storage and a really ugly fairing which i'll rip of to put my wind screen on (customizing to come after inspection). i'm pretty excited even in my non healthy state. so it's way out in the suburbs and takes me an hour and a quarter train ride to get to. i've put a deposit down and will be going back soon to pay the rest and pick it up. yeah!

this last week is feeling like the week before it. preparation. although i've been doing stuff and having fun it's still like it hasn't started yet. sydney is a huge city all full of tourists and travellers i'm sure it's not the same as the rest of australia. in time, we'll see. ... ..killing hours, filling power lines ha ha. i had to.

recharging through barging crowds and traffic

2008-09-19T03:12:00.000-07:00

well first day after a good sleep. went out on the town with some of the people here at maze last night and got as far as midnight and did a classic smoke bomb.
i've been trying to set up some of the essentials like a bank account, getting electricity adapters, setting up my cell phone again, stuff like that and i'm really getting caught up in the incredibly fast pace of this city. people fast walking everywhere, traffic speeding around nearly hitting pedestrians all the time. people pass you on the right like the traffic flow here is more confusing than it seems. instictivly for 28 years i've been used to looking for traffic a certain way now it's a thorn in my side.
i had my first jam with an asain guy busking on a street corner downtown playing this weird single string instument with a wooden can looking thing on the bottom and playing it with a bow. he didn't really speak any english, so i just pulled out my xaphoon and he nodded and we started playing together.

did some bike shopping today since i'm getting tired of walking everywhere. there's a GL1100 (honda goldwing) on the edge of town im going to check out tomorrow and another 2 VT750's (honda shadows) at a dealership right by me just waiting. hopefully i'll decide between the 3 tomorrow and have wheels for next week, that's the hope anyway.

down under time

2008-09-17T23:40:00.000-07:00

it was pretty amazing flying over the pacific ocean this morning. in the boeing 747 we were flying 900 mph away from the sunrise which made it last for about 2 hours. for those of you concerned with the trials of my ear explosions, as i expected the decent into san francisco was again the most painful of my life (sorry marco i chewed a whole pack of gum and it didn't do anything). almost luckly though i don't think i re-pressurized before i was in the air again so that made the sydney decent alot less painful. fyi about 3 hours to san fran 14 hours to sydney not quite 20 but long enough.

so now i'm set up at nomad's maze hostel, and honestly after that long a flight , jet lag setting in, maybe an hour sleep, this place is huge and very much a confusing maze. seems to be alright though.

oh yeah , get this. so right before i leave cow town with my buddy rich, the car we're riding around in gets towed! luckly my bags and passport we're yet to be loaded in. all i am missing is my last paycheque and the international DL i got that day. oh well it'll all work out and could have been much worse.

testing, checkvar, 123

2008-09-08T20:23:00.000-07:00

So i've just set this up and am testing my terrible computer skills. i'm obviously not really posting anything until i get to australia but just so you know it's here- you found it! check back next week and i should have something...