Awww Australia

G'Day Mates !

and then there was Australia, a favorite of mine for sure... Hmmmmm and a great ending to our trip :)

Went like this...

Melbourne, Victoria - Probably the best 36 hours in Australia, ties w/the Sunshine Coast experience :) Arrived in St. Kilda's square at the doorstep of yet another person we didn't know, Anthony, he was ever so hospitable to let us lay our heads there for the night.... Anthony toured us around town, met up with a large group of his friends at a pub and they later treated us to their traditional Aussie barbie Q (chicken, snags, potatoes, delish!)... made a dozen new friends all of which have these marvelous warm fuzzy personalities & outlooks on life. This great energy carried on throughout the states we visited the following 10 days.... The Aussies really know how to celebrate life, soooo happy and abundant! Enjoyed the ESPY, The Vineyard, The Revolver, South Bank, Chapel Street and all 4 hours of sleep.... they were getting ready for the Melbourne Cup (horse races and a state holiday), would have loved to be there for that..... I didn't want to leave Melbourne, such a charming city.....

Brisbane, Queensland - Flew into Brisbane and took a bus up to the Sunshine Coast, beautiful picturesque coastal ride :) Landed in Coolum Beach/Yandina, stayed 7 miles from the beach on the river in the country with Ralf, Cheryl, Ema and Kong (family of friends of mine here in S.D.) ...... Ralf, Cheryl and Ema operate a Bromeliad Nursery and look after several cows, goats and the occasional roos that grace them with their presence all within their 10 acres of land.... Enjoyed the beauty of the desolate beaches during the day and barbies/fishing river side at night, such great times (Buddy, the family goat hung out with us most the time as well, so cute... pixs to follow) What a family, we loved them.

Headed north to Noosa for more beach time and window shopping.... Noosa was hosting their annual triathlon, 2nd largest in the World..... This made the beaches extra 'pretty'... met some locals, played soccer on the beach, visited the backpackers haven hostel/bar Koala's and had my first experience playing a Didjeridoo. (http://www.ididj.com.au/theDidjeridu/what.html)

Went back to Brisbane for another short 36 hours, stayed with Hamish and Daniel (friend of a friend of Rebecca's) in Bulimba.... They showed us the city nightlife (Story Bridge Hotel, Friday's and Chalk) and during the day Rebecca and I took the river CityCat ferry around town through South Bank and did some exploring of our own.... Once again, the hospitality in this neck of the woods was unreal. Another beautiful city :)

Sydney, New South Whales - Jacques hometown and our final destination: Stayed with Jacques in Cammeray..... Went to the famous Bondi Beach, Darling Harbour, Taronga Zoo (loved observing the wallaby's, crocs, koalas & wombats), suited up in full astronautish gear and climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge (INCREDIBLE views of the entire city from above http://www.bridgeclimb.com/). We met up with Jacs and Julian (France crew reunited) and the rest of the dressed to the nines city, that had 'shut down' in celebration of the Melbourne Cup, for the big race and spirits at the Opera House Bar. Efficient #6 won the Cup!!! Good Good fun :)

I came into a country so congenial that I'd like to invite all the days spent in OZ back tomorrow and the next day and the next. Big huge THANKS to Zank, Ryan, Derf, Schenka, Harmony and Cory for putting Rebecca and myself in contact with all these welcoming generous fun loving people that provided us our accommodations the entire time in Australia.

These weeks of spontaneous travel were some of the loosest days of my life, running through airports to train stations, buying tickets left and right, flexing my freedom and realizing in the last 2 weeks that I can go wherever I want....Over 28,000 miles on 13 flights operated by 8 different airlines, 7 countries, 6 currencies & languages, 3 continents, slept in 18 different accommodations (beds, huts, floors, couches, cars, airplanes & a movie theatre) and used every form of transportation (plane, car, bus, taxi, tuk tuk, train, legs & animals) all FULLY enjoyed with the absence of my CELL PHONE .... made it back to S.D. safe and sound ! Already planning round 2...

Thanks again for the encouraging notes and words of wisdom received along the way. I had the time of my life, will always cherish this time, all the amazing indescribable memories, the beautiful people I met and the education of learning others traditions and cultures.... I feel very blessed to have been able to do this, truly inexpressible.

Cheers, Sante, Chon Gaew, Selamat Minum, Proost, Salute!!!!

~ShawnaD.

Bangkok to Bali

Hello there!

I hope this note finds you all safe and sound. I can't imagine the devastation these fires have caused all of CA this past week. I've been reading and worrying all week as I'm sure you all really have been, please keep me updated on your safety and whereabouts :)

Writing you from an internet cafe in Bali, Indonesia, where I have been for the past week. Rebecca and I stayed north of Kuta in Seminyak Beach (http://www.pelangibali.com/). This week pretty much consisted of lying on the beach, eating and lots of relaxation (I know, far cry from what has been going on back home, feel a little guilty about that). I really hadn't seen the sun since I left San Diego five weeks ago so I'm nursing a pretty good sunburn and a messed up neck/back (this is what happens when you let random people give you $5 massages, I need a chiropractor in a hurry!).

Some Balinese culture for you:

We took a day trip up to Ubud to watch a Balinese (Barong & Kris) dancing performance at an outside performing arts center. The dance was a dramatic battle between good and evil and included the traditional Barong, a fierce playful lion-dog creature somewhat of a mythical beast, which represents the cleansing forces of the universe and is called forth to champion the village against the widow-witch Rangda. It was interesting and a little hard to follow but was great to see the extravagant Balinese costumes, makeup and music.

We also made a visit to The Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary (http://www.monkeyforestubud.com/). This little forest houses three holy temples and over 300 mischievous long-tailed Balinese macaques. The monkeys are very important to the Balinese-Hindu culture and tradition and are considered a holy animal & an ally of humankind. These 'sacred' monkeys are no saints!!! We bought bananas at the entrance and were in turn practically mugged by all of these small, medium and large very aggressive macaques before we even took a dozen steps in the forest. I think at one point I had 5 monkeys crawling up and down me, on my head and shoulders and pulling down my skirt! One little SOB got in my backpack and took off running with my bottle of OFF bug spray (which I have gone through a can a day in recovery to my million itchy oozing bites)!

We ended the day in Ubud by wrapping up in sarongs and sashes to view the mid-14th century Holy Monkey Temple, The Pura Dalem Agung (temple of the dead). Enjoyed chatting with the Balinese locals and learning of their daily spiritual rituals and great family traditions, such beautiful souls :)

Leaving here tonight and flying to Melbourne, Australia. On our way to the airport now, going to hit up our favorite restaurant TJ's for some yummy Mexican food...... gosh how I miss S.D. rolled tacos with sour cream and cheese!

Much Love and sending prayers too,

~sd

** got my first tattoo, on my hand near my thumb, it's the chinese symbol for love, and the name Jordan is written underneath it.... I'm a sucker, made his day :) ** ... it's HENNA

Bangkok to Chiang Mai‏

Hi there!!!

So long jambon and cheese, hello Noodle .... Pad Thai, Spring Rolls, Fry Rye and Chocolate Banana Pancakes.... Arrived on Bangkoks Khao San Road safe, sound and hungry!!!

Have to keep this short and sweet as I don't have that much time, wish I could write out the last week as my eyes saw and body experienced it cause it was the most intense and exhilarating days to say the least....

Bangkok: Only stayed two nights, had enough time to experience the backpackers paradise of the Khao San Road madness (tijuana-ish w/the best thai food on the street corners), shopped a bit (bought two pair of thai pants that I've worn everyday for the past five days, comfy), got 4 (1 hour) thai/foot massages in less than 24 hours (best ever @ $6 an hour), met a bunch of travelers even brought one with us to Chiang Mai, which is where I am now....

Chiang Mai: Rebecca and I stayed at a nice place in Thailand by the river, wanted to be super safe since we are traveling alone now (http://www.baanorapin.com/) ...stay here if you ever visit .... (also we were a little weary because before we left Bangkok, Jacques, our travel companion, was robbed of his passport, credit cards, all his $$$ and his camera.... SUCKS!... feel so bad for him:( )

We went on a 2-day 10-mile trek with the 'Hill People' in the jungles of Mae Wang. Visited the Hmong tribe, watched them sacrifice a pig in honor of their great harvest that the 'spirit' had blessed them with, pictures are pretty intense..... Hiked through mud, some rain, rice patties (2 of the girls had leeches on their legs after walking through the rice patties), ginormous tarantulas, snakes in the trees, wild pigs, cows, water buffalo, roosters, elephants and every little insect you can think of..... ya, I was a little out of my comfort zone....

Stayed the night with the Karan tribe in these little huts, had the fluffiest pillow top mattresses ever, they were about 1/2 inch thick (my back is still aching) and mosquito nets around our beds.... The nets didn't really help my case as I still woke up looking like Hitch did before the benadryl, who gets bites on their eyes?????... me apparently.... glad I could make everyone laugh..... Awwwwww but the stars and fireflies at night, MADE THE WHOLE TRIP, not to mention all the adorable little kiddos in these villages with huge laughs and smiles. We played Jenga with our new friends at night and had delicious meals prepared by our tour guides......the trip ended with a delightful bamboo raft ride down the river, we were so looking forward to this.... then we remembered that this was the same river that our elephants poo'ed in over and over again.... ya, the poo river..... not so relaxing.... ha!!!!! Loved this adventure, so humbling, learned so much.....

Leaving here tonight back to Bangkok then to Bali first thing in the morning....

Keep sending me update emails, I really enjoy reading all of it.

Love you,

~sd

A Week in Monsegur, Gironde (Bordeaux, France)

Grrrrrrrrrreat Morning !!!

Hung up our packs this past week & nested in a house. We stayed in a very small one horse town about 40 minutes out of the Bordeaux region in France called Monsegur, Gironde.... so secluded, quaint and quiet, feel like I'm on vacation now, contentness is GOOD!

The week started off w/a big bang for my travel companions. I don't think the boys came stumbling home the first night until around 6 in the morning... Sadly, both their rugby teams, Australia & the favored New Zealand 'All Blacks', were surprisingly defeated on the same day from the World Cup..... a dark couple of days followed, lemme tell you! Some of you have asked if I was getting sick of the rugby yet? I really haven't watched many games, maybe 4.... (side note: ladies, it's not torture watching the Percy Montgomery and Jonny Wilkinson's, take a google.... you too, might just become a rugby fan...)

Had a very relaxing week to say the least, was able to be a GIRL again, YESSSS !!! Rebecca and I went grocery shopping @ a market in town, we wanted so very badly to make Mexican food one night. Extremely hard to figure out exactly what we were buying, everything was in French.... a couple broken seals and finger dips later and VOILA! the sour cream was found!!!!.... cheese, tortillas, avocados ...Mexican was a happening.

Celebrated Rebecca's 31st B-Day on 10/7 and in style...... Drank some wine in town, picked grapes off the vines and ran through the cornfields that covered the valley.... soooo FREE and well, maybe a little tipsy too :)

We all fully enjoyed the simple things in life this week... reading and writing, sleeping 8 plus hours a night, cooking home cooked meals every morning and night, eating at the table as a family :), drinking tea and coffee on the porch, talking with our neighbors, eating Nutella on everything, laughing, washing clothes & hanging them out to dry... also all the outdoor activities: swimming, table tennis, playing pool, swinging on the swings, cards, movies, slugs, bullfrogs, mice (screaming was involved with those last 3)..... oh and I can't possibly leave out the plethora of mosquitos that have made sweet love to me this week as well..... luv that!!!! :(

Slowing down was good for my soul.  I look around and I'm really just so amazed...sitting here thinking about all these things that make LIFE so great.... I wouldn't change a thing about it.... This is the best feeling, going to hold on to this one......

Love and Miss You,

~sd

**Leaving Bordeaux Saturday, next stop is Bangkok then up to Chang Mai. Rebecca and I will be traveling on our own from here on out.... we'll be fine Mama, I promise :)

France to Switzerland to Italy back to France‏

Bonjour from Nice, France......

Thanks for the updates and sweet emails, I always feel filled up after reading them, keep 'em coming :) .....

Since I last wrote, we drove from Paris through the Champagne region down through France to Annecy over to touch through Switzerland and Italy (Lake Como) back down through the French Riviera to land in Nice, yes lots of sites in a short period of time (exclamation point...... can't find it on this keyboard)

I have to say, sooooooo nice getting out of a big city and driving on country roads..... What an amazingly beautiful drive so far, I don't think my pictures will even be able to capture the beauty much less my words... from Paris we drove through the picturesque little town of Epernay (Champagne Region in France), family run Champagne vineyards on every corner, very cute and charming, took a quick look @ the Moet & Chandon winery, enough time to snap a photo with Dom Perignon.

We then drove to Reims (still in the Champagne region)….ummmmm ya, maybe don’t go there (my least favorite stop) ….. needed to rest our heads, ended up spending 55 euro for the smelliest smoke infested room, lets just say I kept my pack closed & slept in my jeans so that I didn’t smoke up any more of my most cherished clean clothes (ex. Pnt) ….. Most Europeans smoke these rank cigarettes called Gaullois (sp?), only morning, noon, night and whenever they’re breathing, SSSSICK, I'm a lot over it, so are my sinuses…… Rebecca and I entered a standing teeter-totter balancing contest @ the fair in town, the 10 year old duo took a not too shabby solid 2ND PLACE while the 30 somethings took the GOLD, WE STILL GOT IT BABY (ex pt.)…. Toured a few more of Skeletors Castle Grey Skull Cathedrals then to the pub to celebrate our big win w/some locals over champagne & yet another rugby match (Italy vs. Scotland, I believe).

Finally left the ballpark ($ wise) when we chose to head further East to ANNECY, France….. My favorite place yet, such a breath of fresh air… great combination of places, kind of a mini mix of a town, a little bit of Venice, France, Switzerland and maybe Colorado too….Had all the outdoorsy sports that I love… with the mountains, lakes, parks, cobblestone streets, water canals through the town, pizza, crepes & fondue! (yes, found the exclamation point) … I had wanted to skydive or paraglide through the mountainside here but was running out of time, as fate had it, we met a local boy @ breakfast who happened to be a pro diver/paraglide/extreme sporter, so needless to say, Rebecca and I were up the mountain and running off of it, paragliding, 2 hours later! Such a rush, Lac D’ Annecy was sooo beautiful, wanna do this day over and over again!!!

Left Annecy, drove along the Swiss border to Geneva to Evian, St. Bernard’s Pass through the amazing beauty of Switzerland to land in Como, Italy…. George Clooney was anxiously awaiting our arrival but unfortunately we had to cancel since we couldn’t find any vacancies in town due to some big exhibition that day….(backpacking has its ups and down this way) Decided to drive through the night all the way down to Nice …. Rebecca and I chose our sleep sacks and the car to sleep in this night, being the budget girls we are and it being 3 in the morning, while the boys found a hotel to sleep in…. We slept solid for 6 hours only to awake to the alarm of honking horns….. I actually really loved this night….

Finally relaxed in Nice on the beach, lots of very tanned boobies starring at me as I read a book and wrote in my journal… dassa Nice!! Ha! Did a half day trip through Monaco, Eze and Monte Carlo on the French Riviera….. Leaving Nice tomorrow morning, driving to Toulouse (sp?) then to our house in Bordeaux for a week, looking forward to some down time…. Its been go go go, sooo tired out! Having a great time though, its been quite the scavenger hunt and a great adventure thus far, have many great funnies/stories to tell you already…..

Attached a few paragliding pics.......

Happy 31st B-Day to Terra Kristine Lewandowski tomorrow!!!! You don't look a day over 30, really dude, you don't !!!!

Much Love,

ShawnaD.

LONDON TO PARIS

Salut! Bonjour! Bonsoir!

Flight to London was amazingly quick and comfy, especially after a few glasses of wine, my IPOD, and the prescription of Ambian my Dr. ever so kindly gave me... God bless him!!

Spent 24 hours in London... trucked all over the city for hours, used the main transportation for locals & very user friendly, TUBE, to get around town.... visited Picadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace, St. James Park, Westminster Abby... enjoyed a delicious lunch @ a place called McDonald's ($10 for my meal no-deal.. budget/shmudget, apparently MickeyD's wants to send me home in 3 weeks). Beers @ a pub in Covent Market... dinner @ Sofa SoBar, sat on beanbags and watched The World Cup Rugby Match, Portugal vs. Romania, over wine & nachos... Interesting observing the ever so serious British, they never make eye contact & have their faces buried in literature 24/7... funny come 5pm to see several of the businessmen then buried in a juicy gossip magazine.

Left Londons Heathrow & arrived in Paris an hour later. Took the RER train & the Metro (similar to the Tube) to our hotel. Rugby World Cup billboards & talk of it everywhere, quite a phenomenon... was also surprised to see all the graffiti in this city?!?! Have enjoyed several darling sidewalk cafes, delicious bread, cheese & vino galore. I'm in great company, traveling w/my girlfriend Rebecca & 2 Kiwi buddies, Jacques & Julian.

Climbed 700 stairs up the Eiffel Tower in the freezing cold RAIN, didn't get the memo that it was going to be this cold here this week! The breathtaking views from the top of the Tower were most amazing, & of course took many snaps from above..... Left the Tower to tool around the Arc De Triomphe, Av des Champs-Elysees, ate/drank more bread/cheese & Espressos (caffeine is key with all this walking), & ended with touring Musee Du Louvre. Dinner w/a girlfriend of Becs @ a cozy elegant French restaurant (Jacques' treat - thank you so much!) & of course stuffed myself w/the usual French meal, Filet & mashed potatoes..... I'M BACK!!!

Walked all over town again today, toured Basilique du Sacre Coeur Cathedral (Sacred Heart) & managed to plop once again to yet another sidewalk espresso cafe..... ate the best Parisian pizza while sitting in a laundry mat, journaling of my travels thus far.

Currently sitting here in Paris in the red light district, @ an English pub, drinking a Corona, eating a panini & watching the England vs. Tonga rugby match on T.V... So fun to listen/watch all these yobbos (Englishmen) sing @ the top of their lungs their national anthem, God Save the Queen.... such great banter.... I luv it!!!!

Leaving Paris in the a.m., renting a car and driving east to the Champagne Region (Reims)... from there, tentatively driving southeast ... Germany, Switzerland, Italy then back to the south of France (Bordeaux).

Enjoying your emails, please keep them coming!! :)

Au Revoir De Paris,

Shawna

***lil history of places I've visited***

*Eiffel Tower: Created by designer Gustave Eiffel (324m high) built for the 1889 Exposition Universelle (World Fair). This metal apparatus was almost torn down in 1909 but was spared because it proved an ideal platform for the transmitting antennas needed for the new science of radiotelegraphy.

*Av. de Champs-Elysees: home to some of Paris' most renowned Couture houses, jewellers, antique shops, quite a popular tourist destination. Also leads to Palais De l'Elysee, official residence of the French president.

*Arc De Triomphe: commissioned in 1806 by Napoleon to commemorate his victories, that of countless soldiers is also commemorated here by a memorial flame.

*Musee Du Louvre: Assembled by French governments over the past five centuries, homeowner of the famous Mona Lisa & several other famous pieces.

*Basilique du Sacre Coeur: Beautiful Basilica (cathedral dedicated to Saints) built by Parisian Catholics as an act of contrition after the humiliating Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71.