Update from abroad

December 29th, 2004 at 12:00am

Hello everyone. It’s been awhile since my last entry – what can I say? I’ve been pretty lazy. Thanks for the emails from those who have been wondering where I’m at. It seems an appropriate time for an entry given the circumstances in Asia. People want to know if I am there and/or what I know about people who are there. Don’t worry about me – I am safe and sound in Australia at the present time. And I should add that I am very thankful that I am not in Thailand, or anywhere else in Asia for that matter. It is surreal to imagine the places that I’ve been that have been hit quite hard – especially Phi Phi, Krabi, Koh Lipe, Koh Tarotao, and Koh Lanta. I spent many months at a time on those islands and beaches. In fact, I have spent 2 of the last 3 Christmases in Thailand. It could have easily been me. I feel very lucky not to be there to witness such devastation.

For anyone who is wondering what I know from people over there, I will update this as I get any info. I have only heard from one friend at the Spa on Koh Samui so far, and as you may know, that side of southern Thailand was not affected by the tsunami, so the Spa and everyone there are safe. From what I could gather online, it seems as if Koh Lipe and Koh Lanta were not hit nearly as hard as Phi Phi or PhangNga. Here are the relevant links that I have found:

http://mythicaldude.typepad.com/mythicaldude/2004/12/tsunami_photos.html

http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/messagepost.cfm?postaction=reply&catid=51&threadid=677435&messid=5746801&STARTPAGE=1&parentid=0&from=1

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/4128075.stm

http://www.lantainfo.com/tsunami_photo.htm

http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/messagepost.cfm?postaction=reply&catid=51&threadid=676919&messid=5742187&STARTPAGE=1&parentid=0&from=1

http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/messagepost.cfm?postaction=reply&catid=51&threadid=677921&messid=5751822&STARTPAGE=1&parentid=0&from=1

As for me, I have been in Australia since September. I had a wonderful summer at home visiting family and friends (the first time that I had been home in 3 years!), but after 3 months the feet starting itching and I was off again. Australia seemed like a good choice because I am able to live and work here indefinitely. I spent my first 2 months here as a fruit picker. It is a job that I think everyone should do once, just to truly know what an awful job is. After that, any job will seem great in comparison. It is hard work in the hot Australian sun. My team leader was the crudest most typical sexist, racist, white-trash, low-life, pig-ignorant, idiot Australian man you can imagine. If he had any other job, he would have been fired on the first day for calling Indians ‘camel jockeys’, using the c-word, and for crudely talking about sex with his wife. As if the picking wasn’t bad enough, I had to listen to that all bloody day long. Needlesstosay , I was VERY relieved when the picking season was over. I will never look at a peach or nectarine the same way again.

I am about to start a new job after the New Year as a room attendant at Lizard Island, an island on the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Cairns. The entire island is national park, and employees get to dive for free and have use of the all of resort’s facilities. I should expect it to be much more enjoyable for me than the fruit picking! And I hope that the isolation of the place will finally inspire me to write a book about my travels and adventures. It looks like a very inspirational place to get the writing to flow. Check it out: http://www.lizardisland.com.au There is internet on the island so I will definitely make the effort to update the site and let you all know what life on a tropical island is like. If the disaster in Asia teaches us anything, I hope that it is to live each day to it’s fullest because we just never know when our time is up.

Every day is a gift.

Entry Filed under: Australia,Lizard Island