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The Last Post, Australia




After a 30+ hour voyage from Seattle, Colin arrived in the blazing Australian sun and mild winter. Eager to show Colin as many landscapes as possible, we tasted our way through more vineyards in the Margret River area. The green south showed us many of it's natural treasures, whales, kangaroos, snow white sandy beaches, stars so bright and crisp we could watch them for hours, and to my unpleasant surprise a sleeping python lounging in the rafters over a toilet!

Julian and I have seen so many natural wonders in our amazing travels that we had become accustomed to the amazing, Colin's astonishment and love of Australia, made us realize all over again how awesome our lives had become and how lucky we were to be living this lifestyle!






After several cold nights in the tent, Julian was keen to head to the warm north. Freshly supplied with fruit, vegs and plenty of nibbles, we drove for days until we reached the Pinnacles Desert, a geological anomaly, yet to be solved. We were surprised to learn that the formation of the Pinnacles is still under question, as they very much look like weathered termite mounds to me. Walking through this National Park was surreal, Australia had shown us another of it's otherworldly environments.






The three of us were having a fabulous time together, and were all very keen to swim with the whale sharks in Exmouth, so we motored north. We ventured into the World Heritage Area of Shark Bay. I had always wanted to see the ancient stromatolites. My expectations were high, but as fascinating as they are, they simply look like rocks in pristine clear water. On a cliff above Shark Bay we searched for the famed dugongs, but all we could see were sharks and more sharks, the waters certainly live up to their name. Julian and I had secured ourselves jobs building an eco resort bungalow on an island 19 miles off the coast of Shark Bays largest town, Denham, we would return after Colin left.

Colin and I swam with the dolphins at Monkey Mia and I was fascinated by the observations of the scientists working with the dolphins every day. Apparently the juvenile dolphins hold puffer fish in their mouths for extended periods of time without eating them. Many pufferfish are poisonous and the dolphins do not eat the pufferfish, so they are gaining something from the experience.

As we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn and the sweat started pouring off us, we were all eager for a swim. Julian was saving his Western Australian swim for warmer waters. It was at this point I began to be concerned about Julian's headache. I decided, with Colin's support and to Julian's dismay, that Julian needed medical attention. We left Colin in Exmouth and I drove Julian to the closest hospital, 850km to the south. Julian had a CT scan in Geraldton, and it became apparent something was very wrong. Julian was flown on the Royal Flying Doctor service to Perth, WA where it was discovered he had a brain tumor. Surgeries were performed, Julian's life was saved, family from the ends of the earth came and supported. After a month in the Perth Hospital system, Julian and I returned to New Zealand to receive the rest of Julian's treatment. New Zealand and myself are taking care of Julian as he kicks this in its ass.

For now Julian and I are tied to the hospital as Julian receives his treatment.

Julian and myself have had a absolutely fabulous, challenging, rewarding, educational, fun and all round awesome lives especially over the past 4 years, and things were getting better and better all the time.

I don't think Julian and myself could have had better lives up to this point, we have created exactly the lives we want to live and we both can't wait to get back to them after this interlude. We will be back and better than ever in 2011. See you all then!

Green Australia













The remainder of our journey was leading us to the big cheese of Western Australia, Perth. Winding our way west and north, along the southern coast of Australia, we started to venture into a gastronomical tour of WA cheeses, meads, wines and chocolates. We passed through many charming, hippie villages and true, blue Ozzie farming towns, where a pub and petrol station seemed to be all a town needed to make it's inhabitants content. We stayed in one these good old farming towns with my Aunt Anita, Wayne and Jacob. We were introduced to their wholesome, organic lifestyle by working a day on the family farm, picking broccoli, cauliflower and my favorite, kale. As we worked our way through the field, gazing out over green rolling hills full of adorable, little lambs, we felt at ease with this natural lifestyle. We had a small glimpse into the hard, rewarding work involved in owning your own farm.

The cold, wet winter of Southwest Australia transformed the dry red landscape into a lush, green, agriculturally rich area in this vast, empty continent. This was truly a green sanctuary and I was glad to been in it, I had been missing the green.

But our days with The Beast were winding to an end and we pushed on to Perth, in hope of buying our own vehicle to carry us, and Colin, our friend from the states further north, along the western coast.

Perth is a flat, sandy outpost that still has the feel of a wild west town. Perth's few skyscrapers didn't manage to hide it's working class roots, and the 'cashed up mining bogans' cruising the strip in their supped up 90's Holdens further confirmed this.

While staying with my cousin Anna, we managed to find our new wheels, a 1993 Toyota Tarago 4X4, royal lounge van, outfitted with curtains and 2 sunroofs, perfect for parking and sleeping anywhere. Anna showed us the nibbles in town and we once again explored a new city by walking all of it's streets.

On June 8th we handed over The Beast back over to it's real owner, Chris Tant. Handing the keys back to him, was like giving a poor child a gift on christmas, his smile was from ear to ear.

Julian and I, however, were not so happy to be in our own wheels, we felt like we had gotten out of a Ferrari, into a Kia Sportage.

Thank you Chris for entrusting your your precious to us, mere strangers, you helped us to have the experience of a lifetime!



































Crossing into the West


We once again, filed the tank with diesel in Port Augusta, stocked up on water and food, leaving the last scraps of a town, grunted off west.
Heading inland, the desert gave way to dry farmland sprinkled with small towns, often just a single shop complete with a bench of staring locals; we grunted on past. Not tempted by the scenery, we made the coast before nightfall.

It was now cloudy but dry, the locals looked nervously for their mighty sun god who was strangely absent from their scorched landscape.
The southern edge of Australia is a huge piece of limestone, this massive flake of earth just drops off into the sea dramatically. Its not hard to stare South off the cliff-edge and the edge of the globe, the Ocean ending in a massive waterfall, pouring off the charts.
In surrounding directions the limestone plain has been swept of soil and nothing bigger than scrubs and small bushes survive, thus the Latin name for these huge plains
: Null_Arbor, no tree.

Even here there is life. We saw Dingoes scavenging road kill, Emus gawking as they do, and truckies moving massive mining machines and camping on the roadside; a truck can pull a lot more when the road has no hills or grade to fight up!
Not much else to be said for the Nullarbor Plain, its very flat and it's really big.
Anyone who has driven across States will know the boredom of endless miles of plainsAnyone who has driven across the States will know the boredom of endless miles of plains, well its the same but with less gas stations, less people and more dingoes., well its the same but with less stations, less people and more dingoes.

Eventually trees reappear and the road begins to regain features, leading us inland and into WA!
After two days driving we turn South, heading back to the coast and the town of Esperance.
Our supplies were low, our cameras out of batteries and the only showers we could find resembled the filming location for every prison rape film scene ever made, so we raced to a local State campground on the beach.
The Southern Sea is freezing cold and even Australia gets cold in its winter; coldish anyway for a couple of months that is, but the Southern coast is amazing!
The beaches are pure white and the water is deep blue, despite the cold these were the best beaches we have ever seen; Rounded rocks jut into the surf and rise as little islands just offshore!
Stretches of perfect white sands curve the land free of roads or settlements trembleing in te powerful surf. Really pretty.
We showered, shaved and cooked with a friendly family of Kangaroos investigating our every move, in the distance and rolling thunderstorms drifting thru.
What Ozzie heaven!

Brain Cancer







So i wake up in hospitable, i cant focus my eyes and everything is loud and echoes like a dream, Ami is there, looking tired as hell and worried.


As i kick start my thinking, i begin to worry,why am I here?


It turns out at the end of our big Australian road trip, i began to get head aches and slight dizzy spells, one morning I awoke, in-pain and against my pleas, Ami took me to an Aboriginal clinic in the tropical north of Western Australia.


It turns out i was lucky to survive the last stages of a very aggressive brain tumor, i was operated on in Perth and my life was saved... so far.


But before the doctors let the good news slip, they had more numbers and odds of survival to use on me. It turns out to be a very rear kind of cancer, one of the rarest in the world, and starting next week here in Auckland i will be receiving big doses of radiation and chemotherapy to try and kill it off for good.


{This ain't your grandparents or friends lump, cancer so no comparisons or advice thanks...}


So, now, after waking to the long blurry nights and days in a druggy Hospital haze, Ami watching over me.


My entire family came and visited from the edges from the globe.


Not to spoil the ending, i survived to write the story, and we end up being flown back to NZ for the remainder of my yet to come treatment.


So before i talk of Australia, and our amazing adventures this little hurdle as thrown a spanner into the works. I am expected to recover my vision and walking etc.


We are now in Auckland and thanks to the awesome help from our families we have rented a villa near my new best friend, the Auckland city Hospital.


Now if you want to hear of the horrors of surgeries, needles and brain damage i'm not the one to ask. Its not worth remembering and it's not that interesting!


The best part of this whole story is how Australia payed for all my medical care and even flew me home to NZ where everything is free! We even get a sickness benefit and housing allowance to keep us going! got to love a caring socialist society!


I Am pretty sure if this had happened in the U.S. I would be dead by now.


I'm a pretty cheerful guy, and this experience has given me some massive insights into the brain and our awareness and all I will say is that the brain is less cluttered or perhaps more robotic than I understood. From what I have had the privilege to witness, we are far less flimsy humans. More like supercomputers with shitty software holding us back into emotional cuffle!


I had two days with pure logic and Vulcan like emotionless and they where the most relaxing and rewarding of my time here on earth.


Just an observation. Now back to the past!