Interlude

Surprise! Contrary to what some of you might be thinking, I have not disappeared, gone (entirely) native, or ended up in a Thai prison. In fact, I’m alive and well here in South East Asia!

Apologies for the hiatus, apparently I lied when I said that month-long gaps between posts wouldn’t be the norm… my bad. The only explanation I can offer is that I’ve been having way too much fun, if there is such a thing, and Asia is so different to anything else in my experience that getting my head around life in this new world has been about all I could manage up till now, writing about it was sort of out of the question. Don’t worry though, I remember (most) everything I’ve been doing and fully plan on cataloguing it, so massive amounts of pictures and stories are on the way!

Just a quick overview: Since September I’ve spent a total of four months in Australia, three weeks in New Zealand, three weeks in Indonesia, five days in Singapore, three weeks in Thailand, three weeks in Malaysia, two weeks back in Australia for the Byron Bay Bluesfest (woooo!), one month in Cambodia and almost a month now in Laos, give or take a few days here and there.

Up until now this blog was pretty nicely organized; my posts went in order of the places I visited at least, but I don’t think I’m going to do that anymore. I’ll just write about the places I’ve been in the order that they come to me, or maybe the pictures I feel like looking at or some similarly scientific method, and continue titling the posts by the name of the place they relate to. Maybe I’ll add dates, who knows? I’m sure the suspense is unbearable.

Anyway, if you’re reading this, it means you’re still checking this thing after months of no posts, so thank you! I really do appreciate it, and I’ll try and show it with some great stories and pictures!

In the meantime, here are some random pictures, a few from each ‘leg’ of the journey so far.

Hannibal the 8m saltwater croc, AKA the most terrifying animal I've ever seen, Darwin, Australia

Cooling off in a waterfall, Litchfield National Park, Australia

Typical night out in Darwin

Bike ride on Rottnest Island, Perth, Australia

The first IPA I found in Australia… 12 FREAKING DOLLARS!!!

‘Ol Reliable – The Jeep that got us across the Nullarbor, BFN, Australia

Trying to get that Xmas feeling in the Outback… it's just not the same.

Outback driving at its best! Look at all that open road... Somewhere in the Nullarbor, Australia

Xmas in summer! Byron Bay, Australia

My first Silent Disco, the Buddha Bar, Byron Bay

Byron beach bonfire, NYE 2014!

Our creepy bush camp, Noosa, Australia

Longest. Canoe. Trip. Ever. Luckily these two ladies were so much fun, it eased the pain a bit. Noosa Everglades

Rainbow Beach, Australia

Mobbin’ in the 4WD, Fraser Island, Australia

First dingo sighting! Fraser Island

Champagne Pools (note our classy invisible champagne flutes), Fraser Island

Snorkeling in the Whitsundays, Australia

First turtle sighting!

The beautiful Whitsunday islands, Australia

Snorkeling in the rain and creating new hairstyles, Great Barrier Reef, Australia

I found Nemo! Great Barrier Reef

Giant stingray and some of his little yellow buddies, who are about 6 inches long, for perspective. Great Barrier Reef

Reunited after 5 months! Derek and I on Gili Meno, Bali (all Indonesia pics are courtesy of Mr. Stoner, because my unfortunate camera drowned our first day on the island)

Our Gili Meno bungalow, Indonesia

Hiking in the rice fields in Ubud, Indonesia

Making monkey friends! Ubud, Indonesia

Avatar meets Fern Gully; giant electric trees in Singapore

When a giant hotel isn’t good enough, put a cruise ship on it! Singapore

The cutest orangutans ever at the Singapore zoo

Ordering food at a restaurant. They’ve replaced the waiters with iPads!

Livin’ it up on Khao San Road, Bangkok, Thailand

Island life, Koh Tao, Thailand

Full Moon pre-Party, Koh Phangan, Thailand. Photo courtesy of Chris (pictured) ((the one with the beard))

Baby tiger at the Tiger Kingdom, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Formula 1 race in the rain, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Blowgun lessons, Taman Negara National Park, Malaysia

My travel buddy Jill’s 20^th birthday, Penang, Malaysia

Insanely gorgeous sunset on Langkawi Island, Malaysia

Street art in Penang, Malaysia

Part of the Bluesfest team Red 1 crew, the best crew, obviously. Byron Bay, Australia

Briefly back on the goon, a most regrettable and extremely classy decision. Bluesfest

More of our epic crew

Oh right, there was music there too! Wait, isn’t that a really blurry Dave Matthews, Boyd Tinsley and Tim Reynolds? Uh, yeah it is! Because I was THAT close to the stage! No zoom needed here baby, EPIC show!!!

Cutest slash coolest kid ever, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Sunrise at Angkor Wat

Bayon Temple

Great people + boat trip = beautiful day. Otres Beach, Cambodia

Waiting for a bus (for 5.5 hours…), stranded somewhere near the Laos border, Cambodia

Mekong sunset riding home from a boat trip, complete with live didgerioo, Don Det, Laos

Weaving lessons, Boulevan Plateau, Laos

Tubing in the rain, Vang Vieng, Laos

Kuang Si waterfall, Luang Prabang, Laos

And that brings us up to present day. I’m waiting out the end of June here in beautiful Luang Prabang with good people and great food, because my Vietnam visa doesn’t start until the 30^th. Then it’s off on more adventures! Stay tuned, I won’t take six months to write another post, I pinkie swear.