Holy Smokes...where to even start....

So Bali is amazing...I apologize for no updates on the blog (yes, we are still safe and very much alive)....There is just so many better things to do on an island paradise besides sit in a painfully slow connected internet cafe and update your personal blog...but now I've started so hopefully this is a good one....

One thing I have to say, and I really emphasize about Bali...if your first stop is Kuta, where I recommend staying for about 1 or 2 nights, in which time you will hear any of the following sentences about six thousand times, (imagine all sentences with funny balinese accent...roll the Rs and high-pitched)..."Transport?", "Motorbike?" "Sarong?", "I give you good price, morning price", "Come inside, jus looking", and of course, "Yes, please?"...anyway, if your first stop is Kuta, you dont have to bring anything at all...as long as you dont mind quality made knockoffs...the board short and t-shrit selection here is tremendous..everything from Volcom Stone with an obviously wrong logo to Balibong to T-Shirts that dont quite make sense, but you know where they are going...ex. "Harden Up Princess", "Josh is Gay", "I-Pood"..the clothing options here are endless for the average male skate/surf look....for the ladies there are more garments that I can imagine, but the exact words to describe them escape me. I would just say there is a lot of different dresses and stuff. Barganing is a lot of fun though, and I've learned that it is almost impossible to give back an offer that is 'insulting'. Basically, whatever price they start with, cut it down to anywhere around 10 or 20%..Example of a conversation.."How much?" "For you, 250 000.." "Yikes, thats way more than I thought." "What you want for price?" "How about 30 000?" "Oooh, no cannot do that price"...and then as you start walking away...."Okay, how about 40000?".......Anyway, Kuta is an interesting place, but way over the top touristy. As soon as my luggage was found (yay) we got out of there and went to Ubud.

I was able to get some nice beach time in Kuta and spend some time with my cousin Danny who I'm sure I'll see again when I go back to that area.

Ubud....this is a great place. We stayed ina second floor room with hot/cold shower, free breakfast, swimming pool and incredibly friendly staff all for 100K/night...thats about $12 CAD. What a deal....Ubud is in the middle, so no beaches, but it has a lot art and temples in the area and the unforgettable Monkey Forest where Balinese Macabes? Socialize with the forest visitors..especially those brave enough to carry any kind of food with them. Some great pictures from here...cant wait to show everyone. Another highlight froim Ubud involved a Temple called Ganung Kawi. According to our Lonely Planet book it is located in Tempak Siring, which is approximatley 11km NE of Ubud. 11Km, thats no problem on a Bike..."Hey Kate, let's rent bikes and go to Tempak Siring for the day, stop at the Elephant Cave." Unfortunately Lonely Planet neglected to mention for those attempting the journey on Bike that it is ENTIRELY (no joke, the whole way) Entirely up hill. Everytime we would come over a crest, or around a bend..the hill just kept going. Katie and I made it though and we are still in love as ever..although there was some mild swearing a couple times during the climb. The ride back was a blast.

After a couple more days in Ubud we visited Tirta Gangga and now we are in Lombok leaving for Gili Trawangan tomorrow. I will write about those adventures in a nother couple weeks.

Thank you everyone for reading this far. (Now the softy goo-goo gaa gaa crap) I apologize if there is spelling and grammar mistakes littered throughout this script, I have no time for editing and I type looking down at my keyboard usually (most of my co workers know my typing style). Happy Thanksgiving Everyone and Happy Belated Birthdays to Sara and Manette and Nathan and Brennan?..how about Tom, i know his birthday is this time of year. I really hope I havent missed anyone else...Vanessa?.

As for my family and close friends we miss you so so much. Mom and Dad I think about you all the time. I think you guys might really like Bali (except maybe the quality fo the mattresses - Dad) I love you a lot and can't wait to see you and tell you about all our adventures....and I hope my crapload of stuff in the basement isn't getting on your nerves. I always smile when I think about you.

Grandma Fry, Grandma IJ, my brothers, Vanessa, Aunties, Uncles, and all my friends, I think about everyone a lot and I hope everyone is enjoying whatever they are doing in Calgary and Alberta and the other parts of the world. Thats all for now....Note - Please send me your addresses to my hotmail address and I will send you postcards.

Auntie Carla, please send me yours, your Kids, and Grandma's mail address to my hotmail.
Mom - Please send me Grandma's mailing address.

Someone comment on my blog! Tell me whats shaking in Calgary. Flames winning?

Made it across the Pacific

So we've made it across to Australia here...we fly to Bali tomorrow midday. We're staying one night at a hostel here in Sydney, nice to sleep in a real bed and have a real shower after how many hours of planes and trains (no automobiles yet.)

The whole not working thing is weird to adjust to, it is still a welcome change, but lately I have the occasional dream where I show up at work and they are like "Where have you been?" "You didnt even call in sick or anything and you've been gone for like 2 weeks... ". I just tell them "Don't worry about it", and play it cool, although i know in my head (in my dream) that I actually havent showed up in like two weeks and someone is going to get me for it, I sometimes say "I was just cleaning underneath my desk, so you didnt see me...or...I was working off site, at the Repair shop, ya know?"

Here's the thing though, the Airline has misplaced our bags, throwing a total loop into the equation. I just got a call a few minutes ago and they have located ONE of the TWO bags, its in Melbourne. Fancy that, eh? At least its in the right country, on the proper side of the ocean. I'm hoping the other is found before we have to go to Bali, or else there might be a slight extension to the Sydney "layover" of our trip until Quantas locates our baggage. Quantas will compensate us for any fees due to changing our flight to Bali as well as Hotel Stays in Bali, and so if the bag is found in say...3 days, this could all work in a little extra spending funds for Kate and I...although I would rather just find our bags and be able to stick to the original plan.

I want to write about our last week in Ontario, because it was a lot of fun, but I am getting kicked off this PC right now. I'll update it soon enough. Bye for now everyone. Don't worry about my luggage situation, heck, Im not.

Home sweet home!

We're finally here! After flying into Toronto on Monday we took a Greyhound bus to good ol' Sudbury -- a warmup for the many buses we'll soon be travelling on!
We spent the first few days at home relaxing- sleeping in, drinking coffee on the dock in the morning, fishing, canoeing, and having Sauna's (that's Sow-na! haha ) every night. As much as I love Alberta, it's so nice to be home.
Tonight I'm taking Dave into town for a dinner with the "eccentric" side of the family...should be fun (or at least interesting). This weekend we plan to go camping on Manitoulin Island (Providence Bay, in case you want to Google-Earth stalk us) with my sister and her boyfriend. I'm really looking forward to hiking the cup and saucer trail-- my parents used to take us there when we were kids. There are so many thing I wish I could show Dave while we're here, but we are here for less than two weeks so we'll try to get in as much as possible.
We leave for a little road trip to Ottawa on Sept. 25th...then back to Toronto on Sept. 28th for our flight to Sydney, Australia!

We're in ONTARIO now...

Let's start by thanking EVERYONE who came out from work on Friday and all my great pals who came out Saturday for the BBQ and/or the show. It was really nice to see everyone, and there was some faces that I havent seen in a while...the surprise really put a smile on my face. One more shout out to some of my other special friends who did not come out on Saturday, but made an effort to hang out earlier on in the week. (You know who you are).\

I've gotta say, Northern Ontario is a lot more beautiful than I expected. It is so much different than Alberta's foothills...While they are both beautiful in there own respects, I already feel like a tourist even though I'm still in my own country. I have found that no matter where you go in Canada though, road construction always makes you want to simply lose it. I'm still very realxed thoguh..easy to stay relaxed when you retire (for some months) at 27 yrs old....

Katie's parent's place is a unique little Double Cabin set out in the sticks about 40 min past Sudbury. It is right on the lakeside of Lake Panache and it is quite the dockside paradise...Katie always said it was really nice, but i never would have thought it could be quite so peaceful and pleasant. With lakeside Sauna, great fishing, and calm waters around somewhere at most hours, it is a real fisherman/sailor/boater's dream out here. Maybe I can convince Mom and Dad to bring the ol Tiga out here sometime...haha(i think it would actually be a little far).

Anyway, thats all for now..just want everyone to know we got here safely and Katie's parents have been spoiling us like you'd think that they havent seen her in 7 months or something. The food and accomadation is more than I could have asked for, and I am sure that the accomodation and food will probably go downhill once we arrive overseas...(the 'island paradise factor' makes up for that though.)

We love everyone so much and you are in our thoughts always. Thanks for reading and stay posted for more once we arrive in Wonderful Indonesia...

Tickets are purchased, how exciting

So we have our tickets and itineraries booked! Yay! Very exciting. We bought our backpacks and soon we'll stat packing them....still compiling a list of stuff to bring.

I've given my notice to work and boy is it going to be different here. Everyone will really miss me and all my hard (and very good) work. They'll make it though, and if not, then I can come back and work here again as it is a great environment and I already know everyone (everything too?)!!

My girlfriend and I really love each other and we are doing this trip together. We are in on it together and everything is just better together. I know that everything will work out as long as she is at my side to keep me strong when times get tough (if they do). I've been reading a lot about Bali and Vietnam so far and it sounds this trip should be unreal!