Adventures in 1990

This was my first year in Victoria and I didn't know much about it. I learnt about this multi day bike ride that takes you from Bairnsdale back to Melbourne. I thought why not ?  What a great adventure it proved to be.

With the blue bird days we had for this trip, in its snow white garb, Mt Kosciuszko and its siblings were nothing short of awesome.

My first snow camp... It was the coldest I've ever felt, I swear the bones in my skeleton were frozen. I think it dropped to -6C with wind chill it was more like -18C. When cooking, I burnt my fingernail on my thumb not realising that the Trangia stove was alight.

On one of my journeys migrating my stuff from Sydney to Melbourne I checked in with some mates from university. They were heading off for a walk from Bundeena to Otford and asked if I would like to tag along. The forecast was for fine weather,  and always one up for adventure I said yes.

One summer day I went on a lilo trip in the Blue Mountains in Wollangambie Canyon, starting at Mt Wilson.

My last days in Bangkok were much better than the first ones. I had better accommodation and a better set of traveling friends.

Ko Phi Phi. refers to a group of islands off Krabi in western Thailand. I chose this as it is a bit more low key than Phuket and Koh Samui. It was the right choice for me, I hate crowds and over built tourism areas.

On the night of the full moon, Thais launch their krathong on a river, canal, or a pond, making a wish as they do so. The festival may originate from an ancient rural ritual of paying respect to water spirits. ( Wikipedia )

It was a long overnight journey from Bangkok to Chiang Mai,  the rattling and roll quickly sends me to sleep. There are enough stops and noisy entry and exits to make that sleep somewhat a disrupted one. I had a sleeper, the extra cost over a seated carriage is well worth it.

It has been a year since leaving home and it is time to head back. I looked and my ticket and noticed I had a stop in Bangkok, Thailand. Being completely ignorant of anything other than English speaking nations I thought it was about time I stepped out of that cocoon of safety.

We woke in the very early hours as we had to arrive pre-dawn in Pokolbin in the Hunter Valley. Even though my parents lived in the Central Coast of NSW it was still some way. Anyway - we're young and it's all doable !