Archive for June, 2006
Yes I am in Bangkok again, finally, and it seems like an eternity since I was here last. A lot has changed since I was here 2 years ago – my favorite coffee shop, best restaurant for green curry, and most favorite spot for a pedicure – they are all gone, long since replaced by another operation. So it’s kind-of sad, but the smiles are still everywhere on the faces of Thai people and the friendly feeling that brings everyone back to this unique place is still very much alive and well. And yes, there are still old-man perverts everywhere you look walking tall with their 20-year old Thai mistresses, and I am sure in all the years between visits to Thailand, that is one aspect of this place that will never change. Even as I write this I have an ugly scrawny Frenchman sitting directly across from me chatting with his Thai lady-friend-of-the-day, and really, it is so pathetic that it’s actually humorous in a way. He is pretty drunk and incoherent and she keeps talking about some job that she applied for, but who cares? It’s Bangkok and I’m sure their romance will flourish for the time that he’s here.
I will try to ignore their imminent love connection while I write of the things that bring me back here – mainly the notion of having a proper holiday filled with Thai massage, beach time, and of course colonic irrigation down on Ko Samui. Yes it’s that cleaning-out time again, and I’m sure you are all delighted to know you will be hearing all about it very soon. I am anxious to do another round of cleansing after having finally figured out what was causing my rash in Australia for over 2 years. It was about 8 months ago now that I determined through an elimination diet that I have a food intolerance to a flavour enhancer known as ribonucleotide, or 635. I cannot begin to explain what a relief it was to finally find the cause of my misery and to know that I wasn’t crazy as many doctors made me feel. Once I removed that additive from my diet, the horribly itchy and weepy rash went away. It seems so easy now that I know, but from 2 years I was led and misled in every direction other than that by doctors who tested me for everything from heavy metal poisoning to HIV. And then, when everything would come up negative, they would say, oh well I guess it’s just eczema here’s a cortisone cream. I am still amazed that such a dangerous chemical is legally allowed in foods; it disgusts me really. If you are curious to know what items this particular nasty is in I can tell you: flavoured chips, rice crackers, veggie burgers at Burger King and Hungry Jacks, tofu hotdogs and most tofu burgers, chicken salt at KFC, Maggi noodles, and some flavoured margarines just to name a few. I have been in contact with an amazing Australia woman, Sue Dengate, who has a website dedicated to educating people about the many effects of preservatives and chemical additives. Its called fedup.com.au. Anyway she has used a photo of my face with the rash in her latest DVD that just came out in Australia (it’s available on her website if anyone is interested or just wants to support her which I think we all should). This new DVD has been getting some good media attention in Australia, and an evening news program there actually interviewed me this week about my experience with 635. It all happened so fast once they found out I was leaving for Bangkok, and the afternoon before I flew out of Darwin I had a film crew meet me at the house where I was staying to do the interview. I didn?t even really know the guy I was staying with since he’s the brother of my boss at the cattle station, and here I was ringing him at work saying, um, it’s a long story, but Today Tonight will be in your house when you get home from work!! I don’t know if they will use the footage, but the show is meant to be aired in Australia sometime in the next week. As I told Sue, I am willing to do anything and tell my story to anyone if it stops this from happening to other innocent victims like myself.
Just a little background info there gone wild, but that is why I am back in Thailand – to give myself a chance to purge this toxin from my body once and for all and hopefully repair some of the damage that it’s done to my liver. The best way I know how to do that is through my cleansing and fasting at the Spa, in combination with herbal steams, dry skin brushing, massage and liver flushes, so that is what I’ll be doing in the upcoming weeks. I’ve got a friend coming over from Australia for a visit too so that should break up the cleaning-out with a bit of fun. So, it’s a few days in Bangkok for me and then I head south.
June 30th, 2006
Enjoying sunset in the bush with a nice glass of red, listening to the sounds
of a didgeridoo being played by my camping neighbor and relishing in the
fresh feeling of having just had a nice swim. It doesn’t get much better than
this. I had a good drive up from Mataranka today, considering that I had no
set plan, as usual. I stopped in Katherine to refuel at about 9:30am when I
saw the sign to Katherine Gorge and I thought, well why not? I had forgotten
all about it actually, but since it was only 30km out of my way, I figured it
would be an ok side trip. I did about a 45-minute walk in the park to see the
gorge and stretch my legs a bit and then I was on my way. Not before re-
supplying the food and wine rations though.
While in Katherine I received a text message from my friend in Darwin who
said she wanted to drive down and meet me at Litchfield tonight so I said
great! I was excited to have some company. It tool me another 3 hours to
get to the park and for the most part it was an uneventful drive with me
singing Eddie Rabbit’s ‘Driving my Life Away’ over and over to myself.
Got into the park and went to the first carpark to meet Shaza as we agreed…
.it was the viewing area for the termite mounds so I checked them out while
waiting for my friend. Another hour later and getting almost dark and there
was still no sign of her, so I left a note and took off for the first campsite. I’m
here at the Buley Rock Pools campground paying $6 for a site. I was hot and
sweaty after a long day of driving so I changed and went down for a swim.
Ahhhh! I walked about 15 minutes downstream and found the perfect pool
away from the crowds. It was heavenly. I’m told there are no crocs here this
time of year but I didn’t stay in long, just in case.
Now I’m back at the van and the wine’s been cracked, but there is still no sign
of Shaz. I can’t help but feel how lucky I’ve been to see so much of Australia
on this little road trip of mine, and for almost no cost apart from food and
some petrol. It’s been really fun. Tomorrow it will be sad to turn in my last
van, for now. Signing off with the sounds of didg still going strong.
Late note: Found out the next day that Shaz didn’t quite understand the
meeting point and couldn’t find me so she drove back to Darwin that night…
June 26th, 2006
I highly recommend ending a long day of driving with a nice relaxing soak in a thermal spring whenever possible. I’ve done just that today on my ride north to Darwin. I arrived here at the Mataranka Homestead Tourist Resort at about 2pm, and could have continued driving for another 2 hours, but why? I spent the afternoon exploring some lovely walking tracks, and then had a nice soak in the thermal pools, and that to me is much better than just getting a bit further down the track. There was really nothing to see along the road today, and all I can say to that is thank you Apple for iPods and iTrips. I am noticing a very slight change in the terrain as I leave the desert behind and head closer and closer to the tropics – the termite mounds are getting bigger, the trees are getting taller, and the landscape is slowly getting greener. I sense that I am now closer to the ocean than the red centre. It?s about another 500km to Darwin from here, but I am thinking of taking 2 days to do it because there is still another interesting spot to check out on the way.
Website note: Sorry to everyone who is trying to navigate around the site – I am very aware of the gremlins still lurking about – actually I am working now on re-doing to entire site, so please be patient for awhile longer and I will reward you all with a flash new and exciting fabulous homepage.
June 25th, 2006
Back in another relocation van again and it feels good to be on the road. The road north from Alice Springs is extremely flat and straight, and in true Northern Territory style, it has no speed limit. There really isn’t much to see along the way except for red dirt and bushland but I kept myself entertained by listening to an audio book. There are a few places worth mentioning though – one is Barrow Creek, made famous from the Peter Falconio “backpacker” murder a few years back. If you didn’t know about the murder, you would have no idea that anything ever happened there, but if you do know then I think you can’t help but drive along and wonder where his body might be (it was never found).
Much more interesting heading north is Wycliffe Well, otherwise known as the UFO Capital of Australia. It’s just a roadhouse and caravan park, but the entire place is decorated in tribute to the many alleged UFO and alien sightings there. Even the toilets are labeled ‘Femaliens’ and ‘Maliens,’ but it definitely adds interest to what would otherwise be just another caravan park. It also happens to known for having the largest selections of beers of any roadhouse in Australia – about 160 I think – hmmm, could there be a scientific reason why the aliens would single out a place with an extraordinary selection of beers???? Things to think about while driving I guess.
I’m camping tonight at Banka Banka. For $6 you get a campsite, a nice hot shower, and a slideshow by firelight about the Banka Banka cattle station. It was interesting to see photos and hear stories about a different station after having just finished working on one myself. I couldn’t help but look around at all the people watching the show getting their 40-minutes insight into station life and think how fortunate I was to be able to live and work amongst it for 5 weeks. I definitely got the real deal.
On a side note, the temperature’s been rising as I head north as well, so I can well and truly say goodbye to -5C nights in Alice and hello to 30C days in Darwin very soon! Tomorrow I continue north. It’s about 1900 km to Darwin from here.
June 24th, 2006
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