I last spoke with you guys when I was in Hervay Bay, just after my brilliant trip sailing in the Whitsundays and the day before I left for a 2-day excursion to Fraser Island. Fraser is the largest completely sand island in the world. From the photos, you can see that you can do a lot of cool driving around on the sand right by the water. But, you need special 4x4 vehicles because it's difficult to drive in the sand and you can get stuck very easily. I travelled with a cool group of people from all around (Canada, the Netherlands, England and Ireland). We had a lot of fun travelling through the rainforests, seeing Dingos and checking out all the sites (including Lake Birraben, where we did some exfoliating with the sand).

 

On this trip, I've met a tonne of travellers along the way and one central thing is common, they are almost all quite young in the 19 - 21 age group. I'm not saying that I'm an old guy or anything but when I'm talking to these other backpackers and find out that they were born in 1985 or 1986, it really makes me feel like a grandpa amongst them. Oh well, it makes for fun times and I've enjoyed meeting most (certainly not all) of them.

 

From Fraser island, I took an overnight bus to Brisbane and hung out with some familiar faces. First, it was with my cousin Ashwini. She's studying in Brisbane at the moment but it was cool that we got to spend some time together, especially cause I missed her at the wedding in India back in March. We saw some sites, randomly ran into one of the guys (Andrew from Calgary) from my Whitsundays trip on a bus in the city). We also went to the Australia Zoo, home of the famous Crocodile Hunter - Mr. Steve Irwin. That was quite a neat experience. Definitely a bit on the commercialized side with the "Crocoseum" and all but still fun and educational nonetheless. While in Brisbane, I also spent some time with my friend Jacelyn. That was cool and her and I cooked some good meals together so it was definitely nice to get back in the kitchen for a little while.

 

I got back to Sydney last week (May 24) and it felt like I was "home". I think Sydney is quite comfortable for me cause I have a lot of friends there now. I went to this huge Rugby match last week at Sydney Olympic Stadium. It's called the State of Origin. It's a match between New South Wales and Queensland and it's a battle to see which is the better state at rugby. NSW was winning the match 16-0 going into the second half so it was quite boring. Queensland came back and tied it with 2 minutes left and then NSW kicked a single and won the game 17-16 with 30 seconds left. All 76,000 fans left quite excited by the ending so it was definitely a cool experience.

 

I also met up with some friends from Toronto last week while I was in Sydney. I got to spend the day with Bobby on Thursday which was a blast. He'e here right now visiting his fiance and it was really good to catch up with him and that really brought back good memories of home. I also got to see Brenda again and we chilled out and made some good meals too. And I got to see Kulvir who is also working in Sydney. So, last week was a mini Toronto reunion of sorts so that was kinda cool.

 

The last couple days, I went to Australia's capital - Canberra. It is pretty much just like you'd expect a Capital city to be. Kinda boring, a few scenic sites to check out and generally just a place to chill out for a bit. We did a lot of walking. I was there with two buddies, Vik and Niv - both of whom are really solid guys. I'm really glad I've gotten to know them well during this trip. I can see us staying good friends for years and who knows, it looks like there might be future trips down the road... And probably more "man tests of strength" as well.

 

I'm back in Melbourne right now. I came to meet up with a couple friends and check out some parts of the city that I missed last time. I have gotten a good vibe of Melbourne in both of my visits here. That could be primarily because of all the excellent food I've eaten. In these two days alone I've had Mexican, Greek, Italian, Vietnamese and Japanese. Who knows what tomorrow has in store. Thanks a lot to Erica and Joel who have been such amazing hosts while I'm here in Melbourne.

 

I must say though - the best part of travelling is the food you get to enjoy. A close second is the people you meet. The stories you can share and the things you learn. It's really neet cause everyone has a really cools story. I've met probably close to 30 or 40 people who quit there jobs to go travelling. They've bought around the world tickets and are just doing similar things to what I'm doing. They are from all walks of life and varied ages (most are in their early to mid 20's). And the careers that people have are so cool too. I've met lawyers, doctors, restaurant owners, musicians, costume designers and actors.

 

That's it for now.

I'm off to New Zealand next week so that should be a blast!