Matt's Travelog: Around the Pacific Rim, 2003

Adios, G'Day, Au Revoir, Arrivederci

Hello All, (or should I say, "Goodbye, All!"?)

It is Thursday night, February 20, 2003 and in about 24 hours I will be heading west for Thailand... the first stop in what will be a 5 month long adventure that will take me around the world. (Though my roommate Bernie says I'm cheating because I am not completely circling the planet! C'mon - give me a break here! I just really didn't think it'd be fun to fly over Iraq or Afghanistan to get to Europe, so I am taking the long way back via California!) For those of you I haven't talked with in awhile, I am on a sabbatical this spring and decided to make the most of it by doing even MORE traveling than usual. I will spend the next 6 weeks traveling through Thailand, Bali, Australia, New Zealand, and Tahiti. I am home for - at the most - 10 days in April and then I leave for a month in Italy (where I will be doing a research study involving how the residents who live near Mt. Etna and Mt. Vesuvius perceive their risk from volcanic hazards). After Italy, I will join a group from my university for 10 days in the Greek Isles (Santorini, Crete, and Mykonos), and then another 3 weeks at a Dominican seminar/retreat in France and touring the country. And if there is any credit left on my Visa cards, I must then head immediately to Hawaii to present a paper at a conference in mid-July! It's going to be a real adventure...

I have been making arrangements for all this traveling for almost 6 months now, and I have decided that I am going to need to stop reading tour books about locations I am traveling to. As if I am not nervous enough about terrorism and the too many to count plane flights I will be taking, the tour books have insured that I will not be able to rest easy in any of the exotic locales I am visiting!

1) In Bali, there were warnings about driving... "If you are in an accident, no matter who is at fault, you will be regarded as the cause of the accident since YOU are the visitor. If you hadn't come to their island, there would not have BEEN an accident". "Locals have been known to rough up foreign tourists involved in accidents and the police tend to ignore the situation". OK, so I'm hiring a driver to guide me around the country while I am there...

2) In Australia, anyone who watches the Travel or Discovery Channels knows that there are of course poisonous snakes and spiders everywhere, but in my guidebooks I read with horror about the box jellyfish (known as "stingers") that roam the coast from October to June. If stung badly enough, one stops breathing in about two minutes and death usually follows. OK, so I know to swim at beaches that offer "stinger nets" to keep the nasty things out! But it's not safe to walk in the rainforests either... there are "killer cassowaries" - huge ostrich-like birds that have been known to kill tourists with their huge claws. If you come upon one in the rain forest, the guidebooks say to "back away slowly and don't upset the animal". OK, I won't tell them how much I loved those ostrich steaks I have eaten in the past... There are also supposed to be a couple of plants that if brushed up against, will cause excruciating pain due to a toxin on their leaves. OK, long pants despite the 90 degree heat...

3) In Tahiti and Thailand there are said to be "deadly cone shells" that if stepped on, will send a possibly lethal dose of poison into the bloodstream. Ok, so I wear my sandals at ALL times...

4) And let's not forget that while in Thailand and Bali I will be taking medication to prevent malaria, while covering myself in strong pesticides to avoid the mosquitoes that carry both malaria and the unpreventable dengue fever. Oh yes, and of course if I am unlucky enough to get sick, the guidebooks simultaneously recommend that I drink as much water as possible to keep from getting dehydrated, but to be sure to only drink bottled water to prevent getting sick. Ou est l'Evian?

But I am brave... I am a seasoned traveler; I have watched all five seasons of "Survivor" - I know how to outplay, outwit and outlast! I'm sure that when all is said and done I will have a lot of exciting adventures to share, and hopefully some beautiful photos too.I hope to regularly get to Internet cafes to send out updates as I travel. OK, wish me well and please feel free to write to me anytime. It does get lonely out there when traveling and it's always great to hear from friends and family. Take care of yourselves and stay in touch!

Love,

MATT

Monkeys and Elephants and Sea Gypsies, Oh My!

Sawadee Krap... 2/25/03

That's hello from a male person in Thai. I am very bewildered by the fact that in the Thai language, men must end sentences with KRAP and women with KA. I am familiar with words being masculine or feminine in other languages, but it truly seems odd in face to face speech to have to say, "Hello (I am a man)", "Thank you (I am a man"... Oh well, when inThailand, speak as the Thais do...

I have been here only 3 full days and it feels much longer - in a good way. The heat is oppressive... it was close to 100 degrees today and the sun is scorching. The ocean really provides only slight relief, as the water temperature MUST be close to 85 or 90 degrees. The best thing I did in planning this trip was choosing accommodations with AIR CONDITIONING. It has truly saved my life.

I have done so much in a short time. On Monday I went to a Buddhist temple built inside an enormous cave... bats sat quietly on the ceiling of the cave and monks sat cross legged in prayer (praying that the bats would miss them perhaps...). Outside were dozens of monkeys and dozens of vendors selling "Fruit for the monkey! Peanut for the monkey!" The monkeys come right to you, take peanuts from your hand and gobble them up. One monkey that I met kept pawing through the peanuts in my hand and not taking any, looking at me as if to say, "Don't you have any macadamia nuts? Or some Junior Mints?" They were very sweet, and occasionally they'd appear in the trees above your head and try to snatch your cap.

On to the elephant trek, where for over an hour I rode atop a 60 year old female elephant through the jungle. The driver sits bareback on the elephant's head and neck, while I sat in a chair on its back. It was amazingly slow, because these creatures stop whenever and wherever they want. Mine seemed to enjoy large boulders for scratching herself as I clung to my seat and laughed uncontrollably. They also burp and fart a LOT, which also made the ride interesting.

It was so nice to be able to go riding on an animal that could carry me. I was traumatized at age 12 when my mother took me on our annual trek to a park in Providence that had pony rides, and as my turn came to saddle up, I was told, "Sorry - you're too big to ride ponies." Years later my desire to ride a donkey down the Grand Canyon trails was dashed when I learned that I was 10 pounds over the maximum weight limit. Well, my dear elephant friend carried me with no complaints... the healing of those old psychological wounds may have begun.

I also took a tour of some amazing offshore islands by sea canoe and motorized Thai longboats. One of the highlights was a stop at a Muslim Sea Gypsy village, set in the middle of nowhere beside an amazing island, and built entirely on stilts over the water. A Venice of the Pacific! Well, there was no San Marco Square... but it WAS indeed interesting. The poverty there was amazing, and yet the people there (and everywhere in Thailand that I have seen so far) seem so serene and content. Maybe we could take a lesson from their example.

Last night I stayed on a place called Phi Phi (pronounced PEE PEE) Island, a beautiful green island rising from amazing turquoise waters. I stayed at the far end of the beach and it was idyllic. As beautiful as it was, I have a feeling that it can't even compare to what I will see in Tahiti. This morning I hiked to a lookout point at 9AM and the sun and heat almost killed me. I went back to the hotel and rested in air conditioned silence for a couple hours to recover - then treated myself to my first Thai massage... an hour for $6.50. It was at times painful and felt like acupressure, but I felt a whole lot better afterward.

And now I have one more day in the south before I head for infamous Bangkok Friday evening. I heard stories from people today of how their children suffered instant asthma attacks as soon as they got outside because of the amazing pollution. I have to say that is my biggest disappointment about Thailand... the trash on the beaches and on the roads makes me truly sad. Of course the tourists contribute. I wanted to strangle a German woman who repeatedly smoked cigarettes and threw each butt into the waters of the protected mangrove we were touring. Many Germans are vacationing here, and many Swedes too. I also met an Italian couple today and have talked to French and Finnish and British and Australians here too. If you are a non-English speaking European, it must be very hard to get by here. I have trouble understanding the Thais' heavily accented English; a German with a thick accent trying to order in English gets nowhere fast!

OK, I think it's time to catch a tuk-tuk (motorized motorcycle with side-car that is used as a taxi) back to my hotel. Just had a 3 course Thai meal for $5.00. Prices are so cheap and though I know that you are supposed to bargain and haggle over prices here, everything seems so cheap I don't feel like I NEED to bargain! OK, I did get $2.50 off my t-shirt at the sea gypsy village... but otherwise, I just pay the price if I want the food or service or item badly enough.
Thinking of you all and hoping you're all doing well, whatever you're doing.

From Bangkok to Bali

It is now Monday night, March 2 and I am in Ubud, Bali. What an adventure the last few days have been. When I last wrote, I was getting ready for the trip to Bangkok. First I have to say a few more things about Thailand. I have always loved seeing typos on Asian menus, but what laughs I have had reading English language signs in Thailand. One restaurant sign proudly stated, "We serve SANDWISHES" But the best was at a national park area where the sign at the entrance said, "If you enter, please be clean". They MEANT, "don't litter", but I thought I should find a shower before I could come in.

Another thing that amazed me again was the willingness of people to go out of the way to help. Imagine this... I have a rental car reservation with Budget. To get the car would have meant traveling to an airport 30 miles away by taxi, and then driving back... and this was in the middle of the day so I would not have been able to make any plans for the day. Never fear - Budget had the car delivered directly to my hotel at whatever time I wanted it. THREE employees came and filled out all the contracts with me. They then painstakingly showed me everything about the car and how to run the radio and air conditioner... they were SO sweet! And the cost for this special treatment - NOTHING. Free. Imagine this happening in the U.S. or Europe!

I hated to leave southern Thailand and its beaches. My last morning I took a swim and suddenly heard a strange fluttering sound... at least 100 flying fish swarmed past me, skimming across the water like a flock of birds... so wonderful! Other memorable moments - sitting in a small lunch place facing the water and hearing them play the BeeGees song, "Massachusetts". It is a small world. People may literally be living in tin shacks with no windows, and yet almost every one has its ornately carved and painted Buddhist Spirit House out front. Some of you have asked about food... I had some very delicious meals - a Tom Ka Gai (Chicken coconut soup) served inside a hollowed out fresh coconut was very memorable... but overall I would say the food I had was just average. Cheap though - a 4 course meal can be had for $5 easily. One of my favorites was the fresh fruit shakes... fresh fruit juice blended with crushed ice... so refreshing on those 95 - 100 degree days!

And then I flew to Bangkok... immediately my cab driver tried to cheat me by requesting a "fixed price" to my hotel, which I knew was WAY too high. I had to insist 3 times that he turn on the meter in the cab and he finally, grudgingly complied. Saved myself about $5... the ride is only $7 from the airport by cab. I stayed at a very nice place on the river in Bangkok, with a river view. The Hotel Shangri la was supposed to be a 5 star hotel and has been rated as one of the top 10 hotels in the world! It was very nice, but honestly I can't say it truly amazed me. But the staff were very cordial and helpful, and it was a comfortable haven in a chaotic Bangkok.

Walking the streets of Bangkok is exhausting. People are selling EVERYTHING you can possibly imagine... huge pots of boiling stews, grills cooking chicken and beef satay, fried grasshoppers, silk scarves, shoes, jewelry, - a million and one things that I can't even name as I am not sure what they were! People approach you trying to sell you massages, taxi rides, and "young girls or young boys". Scary. There is little room to walk, people crowd the streets and stop constantly to look at things, the sidewalks are up and down and broken, and even at 1O PM it's a humid 95 degrees! In addition to all of this, there is a very, very dirty river that is used for a lot of water bus and taxi transportation - like Venice, but Venice's canals are a LOT cleaner.

Despite all this, I can't say I disliked Bangkok. I had an absolutely amazing 5 course Vietnamese dinner, I bought some very cool souvenirs, and I saw the unbelievably colorful temples and palace. I am glad I saw it, but I as I caught my cab to the airport I was dreaming of a quiet and serene place to escape to after the craziness of Bangkok.

Had good flights from Bangkok to Bali by way of Singapore. What a beautiful airport they have there and everyone seemed to speak perfect English. I arrived on Bali at 9PM and thankfully I was to be met by a driver sent from my hotel... walking out of baggage claim you are assaulted by dozens of desperate men wanting to carry your luggage and drive you somewhere - anywhere. "Hey boss, where you want to go?" My driver was there and took me on the hour long trip to my hotel. I already have reserved a guide, but my driver tried hard to persuade me that he could be a guide for me too. I felt so bad for him, and yet I had to keep telling him, "I am sorry but I have someone already".

We arrived at the hotel and I was simply speechless when I saw it... it is a large walled compound containing its own temple and several bungalows. My room was on a second floor with private balcony overlooking a beautiful pool with fountains and gardens. Hindu statues are everywhere and the doors to me room are intricately carved wood. A king size bed surrounded by mosquito netting was in the main room, and the whole place is pretty much open air. The shower is in a bathroom but there is no real ceiling in that room - just beautiful trees and flowers. I just couldn't believe how beautiful it was. I fell asleep to the sound of exotic birds outside the windows and a cool breeze blowing in.

I need to go soon - the internet cafe is about to close, but I spent my day getting a wonderful massage treatment where I was rubbed down with herbs, spices, rice, and yogurt... and then put into a warm bath filled with exotic flowers! I felt like a king. My guide for the next few days came to the hotel to meet me and tell me what he was proposing for our trips around the island. His name is Anwar and he is Muslim (only 5% of the population here is) but his father is Muslim and his mother is Hindu. He speaks English very well, and was funny and charming and I think he will be a good companion. Meanwhile, people at the hotel did all my laundry for $5 and Anwar took my only pair of long pants to be mended for me - the stitching had come out of the zipper. Again, people's willingness to help is touching, but it also reflects their desperation for luring tourists back to Bali after the bombing last October. Several people today thanked me so emotionally for coming to Bali. They survived almost exclusively on tourism and the flow of tourists has become a trickle. It is a very sad situation.

OK, I am being thrown out of the cafe... time to close. I am sure I will have a lot to say about Bali after the next few days. I have never been to a place so truly exotic.
Thanks to everyone who's been writing.

Temples, Butterflies and So Much Rice

Hello again -
It's now Tuesday night here in Bali (March 3) and I am at the same internet cafe as last night - and I have an hour before closing! I think I had just left off talking about my amazing arrival on Bali at 10PM on Sunday night. Monday morning I awoke to the sounds of birds and the fountain in the pool outside my window, and shortly thereafter the hotel staff brought my breakfast to my veranda. Fresh fruits, French Toast and mango-lime juice. Soon afterward, my guide for the following 4 days, Anwar arrived to meet me and discuss our plans for the next few days. I instantly liked him; very warm and with a good sense of humor, and his English was excellent. He is married and has a 14 month old daughter and has been working in the travel business for 10 years (he is 30 now). He is part of the 5% of Bali's population that is Muslim... his father is Muslim and his mother, Hindu. We spent about an hour discussing plans and then he left (taking my pants which needed mending along with him to be fixed).

I then decided to walk about 1 mile to the Monkey Forest Sanctuary - a temple area where dozens - if not hundreds - of monkeys roam free. Outside the entrance, women pleaded with me to buy "banana for the monkey", which I did... for maybe 30 cents for an entire bunch. The currency here, the Indonesian Rupiah, is valued at about 9,000 per every U.S. Dollar. So you are charged admissions of 2,000 Rupiah, or have dinners that cost 35,000 Rupiah and think you have spent a fortune until you realize that 2,000 Rupiah is 25 cents, or 35,000 is $3.50!
Small gray monkeys were everywhere in the shady sanctuary, and some are very aggressive - as soon as they see your bananas, it's all over - they swarm around you - and unfortunately the little buggers are smart: putting the bananas back into your backpack does NOT fool them... they will try to jump and climb on your leg to get to the food. One big guy was very aggressive and after stomping my foot and screaming "NO!" several times, to no avail, I tried "TIDAK! which is Indonesian for "No", and that seemed to do the trick. It is so interesting to me that my friend Christian's dog in Italy understands Italian, and Indonesian monkeys understand Indonesian! Wow! :)

At the market place near the temple I found myself a sarong to wear to the temples I will visit. Anwar said that to wear the sarong and a headband would show respect, which many tourists do not do when they enter temples in shorts and tank tops. I got an orange (of course!) and brown sarong with a very Balinese design and a yellow headband - yellow is a sacred color to the Hindus. Anwar said I had made good choices, and today I had compliments from a few Balinese women, so I guess I did well.

After the monkey forest I had a nice peaceful lunch in a small place where you eat in outdoors in covered huts... and soon it started to thunder and rain very hard. I stayed as long as possible, but finally needed to leave and of course, silly me, I did not pack an umbrella! I got quite soaked but it was a warm rain and it felt refreshing. After a hot shower I was treated to my complimentary massage and spa treatment. A woman came to my room and set up a long cushioned place for me to lie on the floor. She proceeded to give me a wonderful massage for almost an hour; then she painted me with a thick paste that contained many herbs and spices and even rice... she let it dry on my body and then massaged again and it acted like a skin scrub... it felt great! Then I was covered head to toe in a yogurt polish! Good enough to eat! Finally she had me shower off and then she'd prepared my large tub with a warm bath filled with flowers of every color: bougainvillea, plumeria, hibiscus... it felt so decadent. What a wonderful way to finish my afternoon.

At around 5PM I called a man named Putu, who had served my friend LeeAnn as a guide when she was on Bali. He came and met me for a cold drink and then offered to take me on a ride through the countryside on his motorbike... I was amazed by his skill at balancing us on the small and winding roads. We saw the nightly migration of white herons into the trees surrounding a small village, and then he brought me to a master woodcarving shop owned by an uncle. The carved wood masks and statues were beautiful but a bit expensive, but there was quite a bit of pressure to buy something. Putu's uncle showed me a piece of carved sculpture and said that it takes one person perhaps 3 months to do something of this size - larger pieces can take 8 months! The detail of the work was really astounding.

He also told me how difficult it was since the bombings last October - people simply are not coming to Bali and for these artisans, this is their only livelihood. He also talked about how grateful they are that I came to visit Bali and begged me to encourage others to come. It is a very sad situation here. So of course I finally gave in and did do a little bargaining and got a beautiful natural wood carving of the Rice Goddess. Putu would take no money from me for showing me some sights, but I finally convinced him to let me take him to dinner, and he seemed to enjoy that a lot. So it was a nice evening and was fun to have some company.

Today I set out with Anwar at 8:30 in a big air-conditioned Toyota jeep. We visited two beautiful temples and I learned a lot about Hindu beliefs. They have a trinity of 3 gods... Vishnu the Creator, Brahma the Protector, and Seawa the Destroyer. Many temple statues and shrines are "dressed" in black and white cloth and this is to symbolize the good and bad in everything. Also yellow scarves are tied around them to indicate the sacred. As we walked through one lakeside temple, I heard a chorus of men's voices... it was coming from a nearby mosque, and Anwar commented that the two religions seem to be able to exist in harmony on Bali. If only this were true around the world.

We made many stops at local vendors - one fruit stand cut open a sample of every tropical fruit to let me taste them - mangosteens, rambutans, you name it! They filled a bag full of the fruits and the cost - 25 cents! We also got roasted corn and peanuts, and then stopped at a wonderful coffee plantation for jaffles (bread, filled with cheese, eggs and tomatoes and pressed in a grill... and some freshly ground Balinese coffee which was out of this world. the pleasant manager showed me in detail the entire process of harvesting and preparing the beans and it was quite interesting. On a short hike, we stopped to admire some flowers and the old woman living on the land there invited us into the yard and painstakingly explained each and every flower variety (in Indonesian).

We visited a huge waterfall where there were not even a handful of tourists, and we stopped many times along the way to get pictures of Bali's beautiful rice terraces and the workers who harvest the rice and plant it. Children going past us would all giggle and in unison chant, "Hello Mister, how are you? Welcome!" Driving remote back roads you pass villages where woman carry huge bowls of food offerings, dirty clothes, plants, etc. balanced perfectly on their heads; people are taking baths in creeks beside the road, boys are carrying roosters in cages to the cock fighting matches, and people sit together on steps and wave and smile as we drive through. It feels so much like the Third World; like something from a National Geographic special. And still, here I am in an internet cafe... certainly a mix of the modern and the primitive.

Anwar talked during the day about his life and the hardship he is under trying to feed his family. If he can make the equivalent of $60 per month, he and his wife and baby have food. His YEARLY rent is $300 and he almost lost their place in December because he didn't have the money - no tourists had come and used him as a guide since October. Evidently the woman who had recommended him to me as a guide actually sent him some money to help pay the rent and he got very teary-eyed and emotional talking about how she had saved his life, and how happy his wife was when she heard he had me as a customer for 4 days. (His fee for a full day of service as driver and guide is $6.25!!!)

We drove to the north coast to a town called Lovina where I plan to stay on Wednesday and Thursday. We found a charming hotel with little individual villas, air conditioned, king sized beds, pool, beautiful landscaping...the usual price was $75 a night for the most deluxe villa, but their "special rate" (partly because of Anwar being my guide and partly due to their economic hardship) for me was $35 a night INCLUDING breakfast. For $8 more they take me on a sunset sail for 2 hours to see dolphins. As cute as this hotel was, I was not impressed by Lovina itself and the beach was a huge disappointment- very brown water that does not look appealing to swim in. So I asked Anwar to change our plan - I will spend one night at Lovina, and the return to my wonderful hotel in Ubud for my last night on Bali. I was so grateful to him for letting me see this area before committing to two days there; it worked out very well.

Tonight Ubud has had a spectacular thunder and lightning storm, and some heavy rain, but it all quieted down tonight. I had a specially prepared free dinner from my hotel - smoked duck with many interesting Indonesian dishes on the side. Now I will walk back to the hotel and have a late night swim in the gorgeous pool. Tomorrow Anwar will first take me to see some traditional Balinese dance, and then a trip to a shop where batik clothing is made. Then he will take me up to Mt. Batur, the active volcano that last erupted in 1997. There is evidently a HUGE caldera and inside of that another smaller cone where smokes pours out. There are supposed to be hot springs that we can bathe in there, so it should be a great day.

Ok, I guess I have gone on long enough for this installment.
Wish you could all experience what I have seen and done here...
Love,
MATT


From Mean Monkeys to Cuddly Koalas

G'Day Mates! It is late on Monday night March 10 here in Australia and hopefully I can continue my travelogue a bit tonight.I left off on day 2 or 3 on Bali, so will pick up there and see how far I get tonight. On my third full day on Bali, I reluctantly checked out of my wonderful guesthouse in Ubud, but told myguide, Anwar that I wanted to spend only 1 night on the north coast at Lovina, and then return to Ubud andthis hotel for my final night on Bali, and that was fine with him.

We started the day attending a traditional Balinese Barong Dance... it is a story of good vs. evil and the Barong or Protector god is challenged by evil, and thankfully always wins. The music was wonderful, the costumes fantastic, and it was an enjoyable hour long event. From there we went to a place to see how batik cloth is made by hand. After an interesting demonstration ofhow they draw designs on the cloth with various colors of hot wax, I was then ushered into the store for somehard-line attempts to get me to buy stuff. The same happened at the woodcarving place where Putu had taken me and I ended up buying a beautiful, but expensive piece I hadn't banked on. I was more firm at theBatik store, and managed to get out with an $8 batik painting reminiscent of the Bali landscape. I told Anwar later that if the salespeople would just leave me alone to shop, I might be more willing to buy – but the hovering and pressure is really annoying. If you so much as look in the direction of something, salespeople converge and start unrolling and unraveling dozens of garments for you to look at. So instead of casually browsing and maybe finding something I really like, the high-pressure tactics make me want to run from the place immediately.

We drove up to the volcano, Mt. Batur... an amazing huge volcanic caldera dozens of miles across, and inside it, another taller volcanic cone. Ate at a restaurant there and I truly felt like a celebrity... we pull up, the restaurant staff come to open your door, and from all directions people SWARM around you trying to get you to buy their wares. It is really overwhelming. Then took a dip in the hot springs in the area (I love volcanoes!) and headed down the backside of Bali to the northern coast. I spent the night in a charming little hotel there, though overall the town of Lovina was not that appealing. Bright and early Thursday I had to report to the beach (6AM) to go on a dolphin sighting trip in a smalloutrigger canoe with just 3 passengers and a driver. Seeing the sunrise from sea was nice, and we must have seen at least 30 dolphins during the 90 minute trip. Anwar then met me at the hotel and took me to his village of Sawan in the hills above Lovina. I got to visit his family home and met his father who is at home and not working and his mother who runs a satay restaurant in the village. Also met a couple of his brothers who worked in the travel industry until the bombing in Kuta and are now jobless.

The poverty is again profound. In the home, Anwar's younger brother proudly showed me his race track... his father had built itout of scraps of cardboard and plastic and it seemed that he just pushes miniature cars around on the trackmanually. He was thrilled with it and I wish American kids could see how people elsewhere live, and the simple things that make them happy. Neither of his parents spoke any English, but we managed to converse with smiles and my very small Indonesian vocabulary. The mother made me satay and rice and refused to take a dime... Anwar asked me please not to insist on trying to pay, so I stopped my protests.

More temples... one particularly gloomy place was located in front of the entrance to a cave inhabitedby HUNDREDS of bats, while in the parking area very aggressive children tried to peddle beads and would not leave me alone for a second. We stopped at a butterfly reserve in which you walk through beautiful gardens enclosed in huge nets and watch hundreds of butterflies of various colors and sizes go from one brightly colored flower to the next. And we saw many more of Bali's famous and stunningly beautiful rice paddies terracing down the hillsides. The people working in the fields work so hard - each rice plant must be planted by hand, one at a time, in a watery paddy and in the hot sun. Others carry huge baskets ofrice that's been harvested on their heads. And yet everyone smiles and seems content, and many took time to pose for a picture for me.

We also stopped at a beach in east Bali called Candidasa where I got to swim in a very warm Bali Sea and then we both got foot massages from a local... $3 for half an hour! Prices for things are amazing... admissions to parks run 25 cents to maybe $1.00. In small local restaurants you can have a whole meal for 75 cents. If you want a truly gourmet style dessert or appetizer in a fancy restaurant, they run about $1.50. Using the internet cafe for 1 and 1/2 hours cost $1.25 ($12 an hour in the U.S.!)

Got back to my beloved Ubud hotel in late afternoon and took a long walk around town. I have never used my mosquito repellent spray - I think I have seen maybe 3 mosquitoes during the entire stay in Bali - far less than I usually have in my bedroom when I stay with my Aunt Helena and Uncle Harry in Massachusetts in the summers! I also have had absolutely no trouble with my stomach during the entire trip so far. I have been careful to drink only bottled water, but it's easy to forget that you shouldn't rinse your toothbrush in the faucet!

Had a fantastic dinner in the hotel's restaurant and then went for my last swim in the pool. Everyone seemed to be in bed by 10PM so I had the place to myself and was astounded by the noises coming from thesurrounding forests and fields. Crickets by the hundreds, frogs by the dozens, and a huge and loud gecko lizards (3 times the size of those in Hawaii and with much deeper voices!) created a chorus that made me laugh out loud because it was SO loud. Some sounds I couldn't even identify - but they sounded eerily like the noises that the cannibal plants made in a "Lost in Space" episode in which Judy Robinson was nearly consumed by a giant cyclamen! (You can take the boy away from his television, but you can't take the television out of the boy!)

My last day on Bali was slow and restful. Anwar didn't pick me up till almost noon, and decided to visit thebeach at the resort city of Kuta, and then we went to two seaside temples on the western and southern areas of the island. The terrorist bomb blast in October was accomplished using what must have been a HUGE car-bomb. The bar where so many people died was totally demolished, as was a big building across the street, while several nearby buildings are still under repair. Most of the casulaties were Australians, but Anwar lost a friend from his ow village. Kuta seemed quieter than I expected, and partly this is because people are afraid to go to Bali and hotel occupancies are about 12% of normal. It is the last place you'd ever expect something like this to happen, but then, so was New York...

We finished the day with a visit to the temple of Ulu Watu, a magnificent place built on cliffs over the sea. It is unfortunately inhabited by a large group of monkeys who were more aggressive than any I have ever encountered. Anwar told me to take off my glasses and put on my contact lenses and I thought he was being silly, but we witnessed countless incidents of monkeys coming out of nowhere, landing on people's heads and shoulders, and fleeing with cameras, glasses, hats and jewelry! They were, as my French friend Gilles would say, "A bunch of brats"; in fact Anwar began calling them "monkey brats"! At sunset we saw a dance held on the cliff top; it is called a Kecak Dance, and there are no musical instruments... only a group of men chanting as the dance and action of the play (a sort-of Romeo andJuliet tale about a couple named Rama and Sita). The stage area was swarming with enormous, colorful dragonflies, and the setting sun made for a beautiful backdrop. In the final act, a monkey spirit character is burned in a circle... and they actually create a huge ring of fire around him fueled by dry brush. Barefoot, the man playing the monkey spirit stomps out all the flames and escapes... it was amazingly dramatic. What a wonderful way to end my stay in Bali!

Finally, Anwar brought me to the village of Jimbaran for a seafood dinner on the beach. There was a musical group performing on the sand, and to my amazement, the last 3 songs they played before I had to leave to go to the airport were: "Leaving on a Jet Plane", "Hotel California", and most remarkably, "Down Under"! What are the odds?!

I said a hasty farewell to Anwar, who seems now much more like a friend than my tour guide, and then got checked in for my flight to Australia and went through immigration with ease. At 10:15 PM we departed, and 6 hours later (with only 2 hours of sleep) I arrived in Melbourne.

I immediately picked up my rental car at the airport and headed west out the Great Ocean Road (very similar to Highway 1 on the California Coast). I knew I had a long trip ahead of me, as I needed to get as close as possible to the ferry port from which I was taking a 9AM boat to Kangaroo Island the following day. But it was much longer than expected... and of course I'd had only 2 hours sleep! I actually had to pull into a parking area along the beach and nap for 90 minutes just to keep going! After 12 hours of driving and almost 700 miles later, I was banging on hotel room doors at 11PM looking for a vacancy. I passed through literally 100 miles where there were NO towns at all... truly the "outback". I finally found a Best Western and happily crawled into bed.

And so on Sunday morning I drove onto a ferry at 9AM and arrived on Kangaroo Island an hour later (it's just south of the city of Adelaide). Got checked in at my hotel and immediately began exploring. After seeing several wild koalas clinging to eucalyptus tree branches, I went to an attraction called "Paul's Place". Paul is a farmer with a personality not unlike the Crocodile Hunter on "Animal Planet". He took children from the group visiting the farm and tossed them many feet into huge bales of lamb's wool, where they landed unhurt but dumbfounded. He'd bring out pythons and drape them around screaming women's necks... I got to hold the pyhton too for a bit - very heavy and starting to get a nice grip on my neck... "Oh, Paul... could you take him away now please?"

I got to hold and bottle feed a kangaroo, hold a sleepy koala bear, hand-feed sheep and emu and kangaroo. The nastiest were the sheep - they jumped up on me almost knocking me over and sticking their heads into the food bucket! The emus by contrast, may be 6 feet high and look like ostriches, but they were very calm and polite! Except when Paul stood me against a fence, poured seed on my head and hollered a couple of names... giant emus came up on the other side of the fence and pecked it off my head, occasionally taking tufts of hair too I think! It was really fun and I should have some great pictures from the whole thing.

OK, well that ALMOST brings you up to date now. Last night I took a "Fairy Penguin tour". No, we aren't talking about gay penguins! They are adorable and very small, one foot tall penguins that come in from the sea at night. Today I swam at cold but beautiful beaches, took a tour of a beach at which we got within 10 feet of dozens of seals, saw a few kangaroos hopping across the road, and then viewed bigger fur seals from a distance as they battled one another on sea and land, while barking viciously at one another. There are times when you don't pass another car for over an hour... delightfully quiet and uncrowded here.

Oh yes! Before I close I have to tell you about the night sky here south of the equator! Everything is BACKWARD! The new moon is opposite to what we see in the north -

the crescent open on the right instead of the left. The Milky Way is unbelievably bright here, and the constellation of the Southern Cross is dazzling in the southern sky. Last night I noticed the constellation of Orion, the hunter, but it looked funny - and then I realized why - he is upside-down from down here! His sword hangs UP instead of down from his belt! SO bizarre!

Also, I am finding prices very expensive. A fill up with gas is $50 Australian (about $32 American). Even though I know that our dollar is much stronger, the Australian dollars in my wallet sure go fast - postcards a dollar each, dinner easily $20, bottled water $2... I have spent close to $300 Australian in just 2 days! Ouch! I return the car in Melbourne on Tuesday so for both Melbourne and Sydney I will not have a car and that will cut out the huge gas spending at least! OK, guess this is long enough for now, eh? Hope all is well wherever you are when you're reading this, and again thanks for all the individual e-mails to me. It means a lot.

Those Wild Aussies!

Hello Everyone,

It is Sunday, March 16 and this marks the exact half-way point in my trip. Three weeks down and 3 to go. Is the glass half empty or half full? It is a warm and occasionally showery Sunday here in Sydney, and between the rain and a huge traffic snarl because of the St. Patrick's Day Parade here, I decided to duck into a cool, dry Internet cafe and write. I am really enjoying Sydney... it is one of those cities, like San Francisco, Paris, Rome, Venice... that just captures you. Exciting, beautiful, great cuisine, and fantastic beaches and surrounding countryside.

But let me not skip ahead too much... last time I wrote I was on Kangaroo Island, having cuddled the koala, fed the kangaroos, and had emu eating seeds from atop my head! I also went to see the tiny fairy penguins that roost along the shores of the island each night. The following day I did a lot more sightseeing around the island, and the highlight was a guided tour of Seal Bay. A ranger took me and only 2 other people on a walk across a beach that is a major home for seals. There were probably 100 seals lounging on the sand, body surfing on the waves, and arguing with one another regarding who owns which stretch of sand. I probably got as close as 15 feet from some of them, so it was a wonderful experience and I hope I got some great pictures that day. (By the way, I developed my previous rolls of film and have wonderful shots of me and all the animals at Paul's Place, as well as some great shots of Bali).

After Seal Bay, I explored many of the coves and beaches on the south coast of the island, and then ended up at Admiral's Arch. Within a national park, this place is situated on cliffs at the southwest corner of the island, and is a home to the somewhat larger New Zealand fur seals. You could hear them barking at one another from a mile away, and descending a long staircase down the cliff side, you can watch them leaping off rocks and into the pleasant cover below. AT the end of the stairs is the dramatic Arch. the ceiling of which is "dripping" with stalagmites (or is it stalactites?). The sun was getting low in the sky and was making wonderful patterns of light on the water and best of all, I was the last person there, so got to sit and watch the seals for a good hour in quiet and solitude.

As I started the long ride back to the main town, I was going down a dirt road at a relatively low speed (thank God) when out of nowhere a very large kangaroo cam bounding out from my left directly in front of the car. There was no time at ALL to stop and I hit it. He bounced forward, and as I came to a stop, he continued hopping into the brush on the other side of the road. I tried to see if I could find it to see how badly hurt it was (the travel info says to check the pouch of a kangaroo if you kill one, as there could be live babies that might be saved), but I couldn't find it - so I am praying it wasn't too badly hurt and was able to just keep on going. The rental car's left front headlight popped out of its "socket" but nothing seemed broken, so I put it back in, and headed on my way... painfully slowly for the rest of the trip. There are many, many animals lying dead along the roadsides... wallabies, kangaroo, and possums mostly. It may be worse than deer, as these animals can simply hop from the bushes to the front of your car in one leap. There is NO WAY to see them coming! Of course, those of you who call me "the carnivore" won't be surprised that my feelings of unease and guilt over hitting the kangaroo did not keep me from ordering a kangaroo steak at the restaurant at my hotel when I returned... very very good... and does NOT taste like chicken! I also tried the local fish (called "King George Whiting") with chips for lunch - really excellent.

The following day, Tuesday the 14, I started the long ride back to Melbourne. Taking the coastal route going westbound had been 1100 kilometers (almost 700 miles) and took me 12 hours. Eastbound I took the inland route, which was 800 kilometers and unfortunately still took almost 9 hours as the "freeway" goes through many towns and forces you to slow down to about 35 mph for long stretches. There was also a lot of road construction which furthered delayed my trip. I returned the rental car at the airport and then took the shuttle into the city and got in at the hotel at around 10 PM and collapsed for the night.

I spent the next two days exploring "Mel-bun" as the Aussies pronounce it. It is a very clean, very safe feeling city, but honestly did not grab me all that much. It is very flat and laid out in a predictable grid. The architecture is rather interesting, but it just seemed like it could be any big city in the American mid-west - Minneapolis, Denver, Topeka. I am glad I stayed where I did: a suburb on the beach south of town called St. Kilda. It's an area with a small oceanside amusement park, and a couple of main streets, Acland and Fitzroy, which are jammed with interesting restaurants and cafes. I was able to walk to a main beach area and I did go swimming - it was VERY hot the first day in Melbourne, but thankfully cooled off the next day. There must have been a dozen cake shops along Acland Street within 2 blocks of my hotel, so I definitely enjoyed sampling those. The best thing I had was a chocolate kugelhupf cake... kind of a marbled coffee cake with dark, wonderful chocolate swirls throughout. It took about 30 minutes by tram to get into central Melbourne, and trams are easy and convenient to use there.

On my second full day in Melbourne I took the tram out to Melbourne University to meet Dr. Bernd Rohrmann, a German psychologist who now teaches full time at M.U. He is an expert in the field of risk perception and I just read a book of his last Fall, so it was exciting that he took time to meet with me for lunch. He is an eccentric man, maybe 55 years old, and was wearing brilliant red socks, pants with legs a bit too short (maybe to show off the socks), and a red button down shirt with a big Chinese dragon emblazoned across it. In his heavy German accent he got off on a tangent about how the Australians have no sense of time, and are always late to appointments and for classes. He continued, "Of course I must be careful not to say too much to them about this, as they then accuse me of being a Nazi..." I was very relieved that I'd arrived at his door at 1:29 PM for our 1:30 appointment, and he actually joked and said, "YOU, however, were quite punctual and I appreciate that!" We had a good laugh about it.

We had lunch on the campus (a school of 35,000 students) and he had taken the time to look over my volcano survey and gave me a couple of very valuable suggestions on ways to improve it a bit, so I was glad I was able to meet with him. His area is really on technological risks, such as nuclear power, but he still had a lot of valuable insights.

Had a big Chinese meal that night and got to bed pretty earl, as I had to be at the airport the next morning by 11 for my flight to Sydney and needed to take a tram to the central station to catch an airport bus. I flew to Sydney on Virgin Blue Airlines, and was I impressed by that company. I arrived to find a line of almost 150 people or so waiting to check in, and even though I was there 1 and 1/2 hours early, I was worried. I think I was at the check in counter within 10 minutes... they were so efficient, and had folks calling out flight numbers that were leaving soon - if you were on that flight, they'd whisk you off to an express counter. It was remarkable and they were SO friendly and funny. On top of all that, my Melbourne to Sydney one way ticket cost me all of $18 in American dollars!

An hour and a half later and I was on the Airport Express bus (it WASN'T express - we took the most ridiculous route of surface streets I could have imagined!) into downtown Sydney and my hotel. The hotel is located right in the heart of downtown, and an easy walk to the trains, ferries, and shopping areas. I checked in, got on the elevator to head up to my room, and 5 Aussie blokes hopped in with me. They were loud, obnoxious, and seemed drunk already, even though it was 2PM. One of them asked where I was from, and when I told them, another yelled, "Wow, San Francisco! How's the pussy there? Must be great!" I was so caught off guard that all I could do was laugh. We stopped at one floor and there were two women wanting to get on the elevator but it was too full. As the doors closed, another of these guys chimed in with, "See that, mate - if you hadn't had that bloody big bag of yours, we'd have had 2 ladies and 6 blokes on here! Them's good odds!" Again, all I could do was laugh and hope that the 10th floor was coming up soon!

And so for the last 2 days I have been exploring Sydney. It is a huge contrast from Melbourne. It constantly reminds me of San Francisco and/or Seattle... surrounded by water, somewhat hilly, beautiful harbor and nearby beaches, ferries going everywhere, great bridges... It is considerably warmer, of course, and the foliage is far more tropical. It is amazingly compact - very easy to walk almost anywhere in under a half hour, and the trains, ferries and buses are plentiful too.

On my first day I wanted to have dinner at a Chinese place that my friend Brian recommended. He'd had emu (a big ostrich-like bird) in black bean sauce and said it'd been phenomenal) at a place called "East Quay" located in an area called Circle Quay (which I soon learned is pronounced like "key") from which all the ferries depart. After a little walking toward the eastern side of the quay, I saw a second floor Chinese place called "The Quay", and thought this must be the place. It was closed until 6, so I at least decided to check out the menu... no emu. Drat! Could it have been a special? Was it not emu season? Sighing heavily I kept walking out along the quay and soon saw a Chinese place called "East". Hmmm. I looked at their menu, and there it was: emu in black bean sauce. AND it was open. I sat outside with a view of the Sydney Harbor Bridge and a glimpse at the famous Opera House and dined on emu and it was indeed amazing. It did NOT taste like chicken! Like ostrich, it is like a lean, tender beef, and I think far more flavorful, and the Chinese preparation was wonderful. What a great meal. Thank you, Brian!

Other culinary things I have discovered here: a coffee with milk is called a "flat white", an espresso is a "short black", and a large black coffee is, of course, a "Tall black". Iced coffee is unfortunately NOT iced... it contains a scoop of ice cream and loads of whipped cream, so it's not the thirst-quencher that its American cousin is. So, you want some ketchup on those fried? A small container (like a plastic jelly container) is 40 cents... perhaps containing enough ketchup for 2 fries. Oh, you want a larger size? $2.00!!! Yikes! I asked for some jam on my toast this morning - I got two of those little jelly containers - enough for a half a slice of bread... and had 50 cents added to the bill. They are very stingy with the condiments!

This is definitely a place to study road rage. The drivers are VERY aggressive, and foul mouthed, rolling down windows, screaming obscenities, blaring their horns for 30 - 40 seconds. They drive very quickly and are not keen on stopping for pedestrians either.

I went out on Friday night to the gay neighborhood along Oxford Street. Very interesting place... a much greater mix of gay and straight people than in areas like the Castro, and absolutely mobbed with people! It makes a Saturday in the Castro look like a small town by comparison. I was really amazed by the sheer numbers of people. The Aussies by their own admission LOVE to drink, and it shows... by 10 PM there are some pretty rowdy folks walking the streets - the harmless ones simply walking into other people and things; the more frightening ones screaming and singing and teasing others on the street. As I sat alone in an outdoor cafe having dinner (I was about the last customer they had) a drunken woman walking past said, "Don't worry, Love - you could have your pick of any man in the place!" At first I thought, "Well, that was sweet", and then turning around and realizing I was the last person in the place, I realized I'd just been slammed!

Of course, news about the impending war is all over the place here; some Aussies are very negative about the U.S. and feel they are being pulled into a war they have nothing to do with by their prime minister. Another guy I spoke to said, "Well, I don't know, but if anyone's gotta be the police of the world, I'm glad it's you blokes... there are some crazy countries out there that I wouldn't want to have running the show!" Last night I heard that the U.S. Congress made a change in their dining room menu as a protest against the French... they have decided to delete the FRENCH from French Fries and call them "Freedom Fries" instead. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry... sometimes it is very embarrassing to be an American. I am sure this protest is injuring the French terribly! (Actually it has become a serious issue for French restaurants in the U.S. who are being boycotted and need to lay off their AMERICAN employees! People are also not buying French wines or cheeses!). Don't worry, Gilles... they will ALWAYS be French Fries to me! And could you send me a big hunk of Cantal cheese, please?

Well, I better get out there and do a bit more sightseeing. Late yesterday afternoon I took a ferry to the beach at Manly, about 30 minutes north of here - surprisingly cool water but very clean and wonderful beaches. In fact, Sydney and Melbourne are really clean... San Francisco really needs to take a lesson. It makes me sad to see these spotless cities and remember how San Francisco used to look in the 80's and just how shabby San Francisco has become over the last few years.

OK, that's all for now, mates. I leave in the morning for the city of Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef. Back to Sydney for 2 nights on Thursday and then next Saturday it's on to New Zealand...
Hope you're well wherever you're reading this from.
Lots of love,
MATT

P.S. Some of you have been asking about the time difference... I am now 10 hours ahead of Italy, France and Holland, 16 hours ahead of those of you on the East Coast, and 19 hours ahead of the West Coast. So in many cases, my yesterday is your today. Sounds like a title for an episode of "Star Trek".


TeleTubby Spotted On Great Barrier Reef!

Hello from Cairns, Australia... Wednesday, March 19

I have been up in tropical Queensland since Monday morning and tomorrow afternoon will fly back to Sydney for two more nights... then on to Christchurch, New Zealand on Saturday. Queensland is the Australian state that is in the far northern region along the eastern coast, and I am guessing that Cairns, which is the largest city in these parts, is about 1000 miles north of Sydney. Remember this is south of the equator, so as you go north it gets much warmer and more tropical. Luckily for me, after 2 weeks of solid rain, Cairns has been sunny and much cooler than normal... it can be oppressively hot and humid here, but today was very comfortable... I even turned the air conditioning off in the rental car.

I was sorry to leave Sydney, but pleased that I will have another couple of nights there before I depart Australia. It really rates as one of the most wonderful cities I have seen. At any rate, after a pleasant 3 hour flight spent taking with a feisty British woman who is visiting her son here, I got to Cairns and picked up my rental car. The woman at the Budget Rentals office was hilariously funny and good-natured. They were giving me a brand new car with only 10 kilometers on it. When it came time to go over the little damage forms they ask you to sign (where you must indicate any dents or scratches in the car), she said, "You needn't bother with this... the car's brand new. But when you go out to the lot, if you find it's been totally destroyed, could you please come right back in and fill out this form?"

I drove up the coast about 30 minutes to my home for the next 3 nights: Ellis Beach Oceanfront Bungalows. They are not kidding when they say oceanfront. There is NOTHING on Ellis Beach at all except this very small set of bungalows... it looks like the beach in the movie "Castaway", except that it is lined with adorable little cottages. Palm trees are everywhere, and you can hear the surf from the bedroom of the cottage. When the full moon rose the other night and lit up the clouds, palms and the Coral Sea at my doorstep, I almost cried. What a sight.

There is trouble in paradise however: from November to May, it is impossible to swim in these waters due to the box jellyfish or "stingers" as the Aussies call them. One big enough dose of venom from their tentacles, and you stop breathing and die within a couple minutes. As my good Northern Irish friend Maggi would say, sarcastically, "How lovely, Dear!" The groundskeeper at my place told me that they never really knew about stingers until 20 years ago or so... he said that when he was a kid, people swam all year and sometimes, someone mysteriously just died in the water and people thought it was heart failure! Now they realize it was probably a stinger! Swimming is only possible in "stinger nets" that have been set up along certain small stretches of beach, usually near major towns, and when I drove up and down the coast it seemed that due to the storms they'd had, the stinger nets were not well in place... so no ocean swimming. Strangely, these awful creatures do not like deeper ocean water and are seldom found out on the reef. Still, there are about 6 other varieties of jellies that can sting you badly enough to ruin a few days of vacation. Viva Hawaii!

The biggest dilemma in this part of the country is deciding which tour operator to use to take your trip out to the Great Barrier Reef. Unless you carefully shop around, you could end up on huge boats that carry 400 people at a time to enormous pontoons... 2 story buildings built off the reef like big Service Stations. Boats dock there (to avoid anchoring on the coral, which is a good thing) and then shuttle their multitudes off to shallow areas of reef. They look like small sets from the movie "Waterworld". Not what I wanted for my outdoor experience. It's also possible to get boats to take you to one of several offshore islands that really aren't as far out as the reef... but here you can use the facilities of big mega-resorts built on the islands. Again, not what I wanted...

I finally settled on the 40 passenger "Poseidon"; this trip lasted from 8:30 to 4:40 and took us out to the very outer edge of Great Barrier Reef, stopping at 3 different sites. Best of all, they rent you "stinger suits" to wear when you go snorkeling. These are one piece blue lycra suits with a hood and mittens... all that is left exposed to water is your face and your feet (which have flippers on them). The added bonus of the suits is that not only do they protect from stingers, they keep you out of the sun, so no need for 18 gallons of sunscreen to be applied every 5 minutes! The bad news about stinger suits... they are lycra! Of all the materials in the world, lycra has to be the least flattering for someone with a lot of extra pounds... But if it came to a choice between humiliation in a lycra suit or death by stinger, I'd take the humiliation any time.
I was the first to try mine on (worried that it might not fit!), and one of the funny Aussie mates who made up our crew asked me to show everyone how they look... so picture me in this full piece, electric blue suit with hood and mittens! He then came up behind me and placed an upside down coat hanger on my head and said, "Look everyone, it's one of the Teletubbies (those impish little characters like Tinky WInky on that British children's show). I just waved shyly and said, "uh-oh!" in my best Teletubby voice. Don't worry - pictures were taken!

The first two dive sites were ok, but the water was quite rough and truthfully I saw more fish in Hawaii... though the corals here are amazing. The third site was much calmer and here one of the crew took us on a snorkel safari where he'd dive under and find something interesting to bring to the surface for us to see and touch and hold. My favorite were the sea cucumbers... about 1 or 2 feet long and sort of the size of a very wide French baguette (or is that a "Freedom baguette" now???). They came in all shapes and colors; some had smooth silky black bodies while others looked almost shaggy with "hair"... like space creatures from "Star Trek". Some shoot seawater several feet if you gently squeeze them. I got to hold one of them and the leader had me put him on my head for another great photo opportunity! Another thrill here was seeing a reef shark maybe 2 feet long very close-up. They look sleek and beautiful when they are that small. The coral was so colorful and comes in every shape and color possible. I took a lot of pictures with one of those disposable underwater cameras so we'll see how they come out. It was a very fun day.

Today I drove up the coast to Daintree National park and the rainforests. I hiked at a place called Mossmon Gorge and swam in a beautiful fresh water pool and waterfall area (this is one of the few places you can swim in fresh water anywhere in Queensland... there are those pesky crocodiles everywhere!). Then I took a boat trip along the Daintree River, and in addition to seeing many beautiful birds, there were several crocodiles in the water - even saw a baby (maybe 2 days old the guide said) sunning itself on the sand along the river.

At night I have been coming into Cairns for dinner. It's a very pleasant city - tropical birds fill all the trees along the pedestrian malls and streets, making an unbelievable level of noise. I have sampled the local fresh water fish delicacy, Baramundi (also a name of one of the "Survivor: Outback" tribes for you TV fans), and have had more kangaroo. The best meal I have had was at a place called Red Ochre Grill... they served Italian gnocchi made with sweet potatoes instead of regular ones, and then serve it with sundried tomatoes, carmelized onion, capers, smoked salmon and a white wine cream sauce. Some of the best pasta I have had outside Italy.

Well, against this carefree backdrop, the war is of course looming. There has been terribly heated controversy here - many Australians do not want any part of the war and feel their Prime Minister has involved them in a fight that they should not be involved in at all. To add insult to injury, for whatever reason no one included the Australian Prime Minister at the Azores summit with Bush, Blair, and the Spanish President, even though Australia is sending troops. People here pointed out that it was nice of Spain, which isn't committing any of its own troops, to be involved in deciding when and where to send Australian troops. Today the beautiful and famous Sydney Opera House was vandalized by this country's Green Party... they painted "No War" in concrete on top of the white sail roof... it will be very difficult to remove it and not scar the building permanently. Another Australian guy I spoke with said, "I don't know what's right or wrong to do anymore... but if anyone's gonna be the 'policemen of the world', I'm really glad it's you blokes and not some of these other crazy places!" It is a sad time. I think of my guide Anwar in Bali who had been praying that there would be no war as he feels it will completely finish Bali's economy. It is a strange feeling to be away from home when one's country has declared a war. I can only imagine how terrible it would have been to be abroad on 9/11.

It's times like when I feel grateful for the opportunity to dress up like a Teletubby, wear sea cucumbers on my head, and focus on the view under the ocean instead of across it.
Take care everyone.

Even Farther Down Under

G'day from the land even farther down under... New Zealand. This is about as close as you can get to the Antarctic without actually being there. Tonight, Monday the 24th of March I am near the southern end of the South Isle, in a village called Te Anau, located beside an enormous lake in what is called the "Gateway to Fiordland". Tomorrow I will drive out to Milford Sound and take a cruise in the fiords there. We will see how they compare with the ones I saw in Norway a couple of years ago.

Last time I wrote I was in Cairns, Australia. I spent my last day in that area by going to Tjubakai Aboriginal Culture Park. (Wasn't Tjubakai the OTHER team in "Survivor: Outback"?? Anyway...) This is a park that provides a history of the Aboriginal people of Australia and documents the struggles they have had to stay alive and maintain their culture since the white men came and began taking their land. There were films, and several demonstrations: dance, music, food preparation, medicine, sports such as boomerang and spear-throwing, etc. It was quite moving and very entertaining.

I had to get parental at one point. There were three children who were left sitting in an amphitheater area while their parents were doing something. The second oldest boy (maybe 10 or 11 years old) was swatting at the air and taking handfuls of sand and gravel and whirling around in the air. Finally I realized what he was doing: he was trying to swat and hit the beautiful butterflies that are everywhere in this area. I just shouted in my most authoritarian voice, "Hey! What ARE you doing? Stop that! What is WRONG with you?!" (Great child psychology technique, eh?) He immediately stopped and the three of them sat on a bench like three bumps on a log until their parents returned. The boy kept looking back over his shoulder at me, but said nothing. Later I saw this same family in a nearby village where there is actually a butterfly sanctuary that you can visit. It was all I could do to hold myself back from running up to the parents and saying, "Have you seen the butterfly park? You should go - I think your youngest son would really like it!". But I refrained. I also rode the Sky Rail, a sleek, silent gondola that takes you up above the rainforest and into the nearby mountains to an aboriginal village called Kuranda. It was again a spectacular day, sunny and not hot, so I really was lucky with the weather.

I caught my flight from Cairns to Sydney at 3PM, and had an odd encounter with the Qantas Airlines ticket counter staff. When I asked if they had my American Airlines frequent flier number in their system so I would get credit toward these flights, the guy said, "Are you sure you want to do that? Then everyone will know you're American". I was a bit surprised and confused by his remark, though of course I had heard that war had just broken out that day in Iraq. I just replied, "Well, I didn't think that would be a problem here in Australia".

I returned to Sydney and had booked a different hotel this time, closer to the Oxford Street and Darlinghurst neighborhoods and not right in the financial district as my previous one had been. It was a charming studio apartment with full kitchen... and only about $60 a night in US dollars. From there I could walk anywhere easily, and I packed a lot into my final two nights in Sydney. I had a great breakfast at a place called Bill's where there is one communal table seating about 25 people. Had a great conversation with a woman named Ariana, who is a chef on weekends and gave me the hot tips about where to eat. She said, "You're lucky you found this place... it's one of the best." Again, I am always able to find the great local places.

The last day in Sydney was glorious; sunny, cool... just picture-postcard perfect. I took the train and bus out to Bondi Beach on the coast south of Sydney and had a great walk along the cliff-walk that runs between three local beaches. Had a good swim and some fish and chips (without springing for the extra $3 for tartar sauce and ketchup... no wonder I am losing weight!) Did some shopping for last minute souvenirs and went to one of the bar/cafes where I watched in awe as people put away 6 or 7 beers in the time it took me to drink my one. The Aussies are really big drinkers, and how they can even be coherent after so many drinks is amazing to me. I ended up taking an evening ferry ride - didn't care where it was going, I just hopped aboard and sat outside watching the city lights, brilliant stars, and the sea gulls who followed the boat like a flock of angels... they were so white in the light from the boat, and then they'd almost vanish for a second as they raised their dark gray wings. It created a strange strobe-like effect and I was hypnotized by the show they put on.

And so at 7:15 Saturday I was up and out of the hotel, catching my shuttle to the airport. I am finding that I get a terrible night's sleep the night before I have to fly somewhere - I worry that the alarm won't work, I will miss the flight, etc. I had maybe 3 hours of solid sleep that night, so I was a zombie on the plane. Despite my luck in getting a window seat in the exit row, with lots of legroom, I didn't sleep a wink as it was absolutely freezing! And they had no blankets on the plane.

And so, frozen and exhausted, I arrived in Christchurch, New Zealand and waited in a long customs line (they are very concerned about people bringing in foreign pests, fruit, etc. so the customs lines take a long time), finally getting through and picking up my rental car. It was much warmer in New Zealand than I'd expected... and the sun is brutal. They are very concerned here about sun exposure, as the hole in the Ozone layer of our atmosphere is right over New Zealand. Sun exposure can cause burns very quickly.

I decided to drive from Christchurch across the central mountains and to the west coast where I wanted to spend the night close to the two big glaciers there. I finally had a chance to listen to the news about Iraq. It's all so depressing - and it really sounds like we may be there for a very long time. Human shields, prisoners of war, civilian casualties, rumors of Saddam being dead... and now the discovery of a big chemical weapons stash. How did the world get to the state it's in? Meanwhile, I heard that the U.S. Government just issued a travel advisory urging Americans not to visit Indonesia...I guess I left Bali just in time. I couldn't help thinking of poor Anwar and his family there, and the many other people I met in Bali. This news must be so devastating to them. They kept trying to be optimistic that the troubles would pass soon and that people would return to Bali, and now it looks like it will be far worse for them for the foreseeable future. I am so glad I had the chance to go there.

New Zealand thus far has been very quiet and very slow to reveal itself. It is in places, stunningly beautiful and in other places, I could be in Fresno, California or Illinois. They are just coming out of summer, but I didn't expect it to be so dry... everything is golden in many places, much like California in summer. The coast has amazingly lush rain forests, with snow-capped mountains above them and in places, glaciers coming down from the mountains to meet the rain forests. The food has been excellent - lots of well-prepared lamb and venison. During a long ride yesterday, I lost all radio stations, as the area is so remote. To pass the time, I started humming songs and in particular, a song by Enya kept going through my mind: "Shepherd Moon". I was humming it as I drove along the surreal coastline (but I am not as soft and breathy as Enya is, of course). To my amazement, as I sat having dinner last night at the restaurant, they played an entire Enya CD, starting with, of course, "Shepherd Moon". The coincidences sometimes are just mind-boggling.

Well, my friends, it is almost 10 PM and the Internet Cafe is again ready to close, so too must this e-mail. I will be on South Isle till Thursday and then fly up to Auckland and the North Isle with all its volcanoes. In just a few more days I will be on Bora Bora... how is that possible?
OK, bye for now. Thinking of you all. Take care.

From Tramping to Tahiti

Kia Ora, Everyone... Sunday, 3/30/03
This is the greeting used by the Maori (pronounced MOWRY) people who inhabited New Zealand prior to the European immigration/invasion. I have been surprised by how much the Maori culture mixes with the prevailing Western culture here, especially on the North Island of New Zealand. In Australia, the Aboriginees definitely seem not well-integrated into the mainstream society, and perhaps this is because the "colonization" of Australia was particularly brutal. On New Zealand, there was the usual taking of native lands, but overall it seems it was not nearly the violent conflict that occurred in Australia.

I also hadn't realized that the Maori are a completely different people from the Aboriginee. The Maori are Polynesian, and so are distant cousins to the Hawaiians and Tahitians. There is much similarity of language. The word "wai" for example, meaning "water" in Maori is the same as the Hawaiian word. The English word "taboo" is actually derived from "tabu" in Tahitian. In Maori it is "tapu", and in Hawaiian "kapu". The music and dance of the Maori is also very similar to Hawaiian hula or Tahitian dance; though the Maori dance is not as gentle as the Hawaiian hula, the songs have the same rhythms and beautiful melodies of the Hawaiian music I love so much. So traveling New Zealand and seeing some of the Maori culture has been a nice way of preparing me for my trip to Tahiti today - my flight departs Auckland in a few hours.

The past few days have been very pleasant indeed. I completed my tour of the South Island with stops at the west coast glaciers and fiords, and did a bit of tramping. Get your minds out of the gutter... "tramping" is the NZ term for hiking. It is rather funny to see signs in places saying "no tramping". I also love the term the kiwis use for sheep herding: "sheep mustering"! How British! I also like the New Zealand accent a lot.. it is similar to Australian, but different, though I can't quite figure out exactly what the difference is. There is no short "e" sound in their accent... in other words, bed, bet, or red all sound like "bid", "bit", or "rid", or even ""beed", "beet" or "reed". Of course I am always amused when I say something to someone and they go completely blank because they can't understand MY accent! I had someone in Australia tell me how much they love American accents. Too funny.

The glaciers were impressive and unusual in that they come down from the mountains - the Southern Alps - and meet dense, beautiful rain forest, so the change in scenery and climate is amazing. I also went on a wonderful cruise on a fiord (glacially formed inlet from the ocean) called Milford Sound. Spectacular scenery - in some ways reminiscent of the Norwegian fiords I saw 2 years ago, but also different - definitely warmer!

My other big plan in this area was to try either hang-gliding or parachuting from a plane... New Zealand is the world capital for adventure sports (bungee jumping originated here). I wanted to do a tandem hang glide, where you go with an instructor. I arrived all psyched up and ready to leap off Coronet Peak near Queenstown, only to be politely told that there was a weight limit and that I was about 30 pounds over it! It brought back the memories of disappointment and loss I suffered when I was told I was too big for those pony rides at the park in Providence some 30 years ago. I was told that if there'd been more wind, they might have "risked it"; however, with calm conditions, my extra weight would make us "drop like a rock". Lovely. So, with a heavy sigh I got back in the car and headed on. I didn't even inquire about the tandem parachuting because if I was going to drop to the earth too quickly in a hang gliding situation, I can only imagine what free-falling from a plane 12,000 feet up would be like. Gravity is NOT my friend!!

I finished my travels on South Island crossing the far southern tip of the island, the Catlin Coast - a spectacularly beautiful region of rolling green farmland, low mountains, rainforest and deserted beaches where sea lions lay on the beach and barely notice you as you walk past them. I stayed all along in wonderful little motels... all between $40 and $55 US dollars a night, and all had a full kitchen. An amusing custom here is that at every hotel and motel, they ask you as they hand you the room key, "Do you want regular or trim milk"? Of course I was mystified the first time they asked this, but I learned that every place gives you a small container of milk (for your morning coffee). Still, it makes me laugh as the motel clerk invariably says, "Oh, don't forget your milk. Regular or trim?"

My final night on South Island was in the very Scottish-influenced city of Dunedin (pronounced "Do-KNEE-dun". I found a great little motel at a beach just a few minutes from downtown, where I got a one bedroom apartment, both rooms facing directly onto the beach for only $40 (and MILK too!). At the end of the beach is a salt water heated pool which I used that afternoon - it was very cool, gray and foggy (a lot like San Francisco, and in fact Dunedin is surrounded by mountains and is very hilly). So a soak in a heated pool on the beach was great. I also had one of my best dinners that night at a place called "Palm Cafe", an informal but lovely place with high ceilings, candlelight, and a view toward a small park. I had a great meal of mushroom soup, and a "lamb hotpot", a stew of many vegetables and tender lamb poured over a flaky crust tart. Absolutely delicious food.

The next day I took the short 90 minute flight from Dunedin to Auckland on the North Island, and got my rental car and was on the road again. Driving here and in Australia has not been difficult at all. I have adjusted to driving on the "wrong" side of the road with little problem; however, I do often turn on my windshield wipers instead of my turn signal by mistake, as they are on the opposite side than in American cars, and I am always trying to get into the car on the wrong side... the driver's side here is on the RIGHT! I know that when people see me go to the wrong door to get into the car, they will know I am a tourist, so I am try to fool them by following through and opening the passenger door anyway and pretending to be looking for something in my backpack on that side, before I calmly close the door and walk to the driver's side! I am sure I am not fooling anyone, but it helps me try to maintain my dignity!

Listening to the radio has been like a journey back to my past and the 1970's. Fleetwood Mac has released a new song and it's being played often; Olivia Newton-John (who is Australian) also has a new CD and is getting airplay here too. I bought a very hard to find compilation of early material of hers in Sydney, and at the cashier, the young man said, "Don't you just love, Livvy? She's a bloody angel!" And of course the Australians are still crazy about ABBA and the BeeGees, and they seem popular here on New Zealand too. So needless to say, I am having 70's flashbacks as I listen to the radio while I drive here.

The North Island is far more urban than the South... despite the land mass being smaller here, 3/4 of the residents live here and it's a noticeable difference. I drove about 3 hours south to Rotorua, a large lakefront town that is surrounded in all directions by volcanic hot springs, steam vents, etc. I stayed at the Royal Geysers Hotel, my room overlooking a volcanic thermal park - literally a geyser and a rapidly-boiling mud pool beneath my balcony! What a great place for "disasterman" to stay! The night before, I slept with the sound of the ocean out my window, but this night I had the boiling mud pools to lull me to sleep... really sounds like someone left a HUGE pot of stew boiling away furiously on the stove. Very cool!

I visited some hot springs and mud baths at a place called "Hell's Gate" (lovely place to relax!) and had my first mud bath ever - very interesting experience. Unfortunately the weather here has been quite rainy - the first really bad weather I have had in 5 weeks, so I am not complaining! So this was really a perfect way to wait out the rain, while sitting in a wonderful natural hot spring spa.

On Friday I spent about 3 hours touring a traditional Maori village that is built in and amongst dozens of steam vents, hot pools, geysers and boiling lakes and mud pools. It was really interesting - it reminded me of the Aboriginal Park I visited in Australia, but less touristy - this is more of a real working village where people live. They showed us how they cooked their meals in the pools and in steam-heated outdoor ovens. Some pools have certain good minerals and so sweet corn is cooked right in the waters there. Many other dishes are cooked in huge boxes atop of steam vents, and the traditional "hangi" meal is kind of similar to a New England clam boil: potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, chicken, corned beef, stuffing, cabbage and onion are all cooked together in the steam ovens and they serve the meal at lunch, along with the sweet corn - really tasty!

There are also bathing pools and separate pools for laundry. The village did a music and dance concert performed by about 8 people that was just excellent... again, I really enjoyed the Hawaiian-sounding music and the dance, and there was a lot of audience participation (I got picked to help demonstrate Maori greetings... shaking hands while touching noses... "Just touch noses, don't rub them together - we are not eskimos!"). I also got to have my picture taken with a Maori warrior... with our tongues out in a fierce battle stance (another great photo moment, I am sure!)

I toured a few of the volcanic sites in the area, despite heavy rain, and then had to make the trip back up to Auckland. I definitely need to return here and spend more time exploring of all the volcanic areas. Maybe my next research study will be here. With the rain and the traffic, getting back to Auckland took a long time. Getting into Auckland's center was a traffic nightmare as there was a huge rugby match and a Bruce Springsteen concert going on. Anyway, I found my way easily to my hotel, and was pleasantly surprised by my luxurious room (again with a full kitchen and milk!) at one of downtown Auckland's nicer hotels. I used a company on the internet called http://www.ratestogo.com/ for making my hotel reservations in Australia and NZ and they offer amazing discounts on the nicest hotels. They do reservations in other places to, so check them out of you're traveling!

I spent Saturday wandering the city, which is a smaller and more sedate version of Sydney it seems. It is very clean, has a great location over a huge harbor, many hills surrounding it, and a great choice of cuisines. I had a scrumptious breakfast at a cafe inside the art gallery - corn cakes, which seem popular in this area. Drove out north to some of the surrounding beaches (one was featured in the movie "The Piano" years ago). Beautiful! Like Sydney and San Francisco and Seattle, there are many wonderful natural sights to see within an hour's drive. For dinner I had what was advertised as "the best fish and chips in Auckland", and it seemed to be... though I know my friend Ishmael would ask, "How do you know? Did you TRY ALL the fish and chips in Auckland?" I had kumara chips (sweet potato) instead of regular fries, and they were delicious. The kiwis dip them in sour cream instead of ketchup, but again, you pay for all condiments! My fish and chips cost about $6.00, and the tartar sauce and sour cream were $2.00!! Bizarre! I then visited a place called The Chocolate Cafe, where I had chocolate steamed pudding and an iced chocolate. That should calm my chocolate cravings for awhile!

Well, I am off to the airport now and hoping there is no one on my flight from China or Singapore. That strange flu/pneumonia they have there is scary. It was just making itself known in the news when I arrived in Australia from Bali, and since I changed planes in Singapore, I was worried when I developed a little bit of a cold, but thankfully I am fine. I am sad to be leaving New Zealand; so much more I'd like to see and such a laid-back, calm place. But I imagine Tahiti will be that and more. I guess the trick to good traveling is never see everything you want, so you have an excuse to return. Today will be interesting too, as I will be crossing the international dateline... therefore, I leave Auckland at 4:45 PM Sunday and arrive in Tahiti at 11:30 PM on Saturday! Tahiti's time zone is the same as Hawaii, which I think is currently 2 hours behind west coast time and 5 hours behind east coast. However, if daylight savings just ended... then it might be 3 hours and 6 hours now. Yikes!

Not sure what the internet situation will be in Tahiti, and I am sure it will be a lot more expensive than the $1.20 an hour here in Auckland. What a deal! So if I am out of touch for a few days, don't worry. I am staying at the Club Bali Hai Resort on Mo'orea on the 30, 31, and 1, and the Hotel Eden Beach on Bora Bora on the 2, 3 and 4. I then spend most of the day on the 5th in Bora Bora, return to the main island, Tahiti at 6 PM and fly out to SF via Los Angeles at 2:30 AM Sunday! What a schedule! Anyway, I should be home (in my own apartment again by around 7PM, Sunday April 6. Hard to imagine right now.

Have been watching a lot of coverage on the war and frankly, it's all too depressing to even talk about. I decided I needed to turn it all off for awhile, as it's bringing me down. Luckily, neither hotel on Tahiti has a TV set, so I will escape from the "real world" for awhile.

OK, off to lunch and then to the airport. Hope you're all well, and again thanks so much to those of you who have been writing.
Love,
MATT

Hawaii Has No Competition...

Ia Orana - which is Tahitian for "Hello"... not to be confused with Kia Orana in Maori or Aloha in Hawaiian... It is Wednesday, April 2 and I am at the airport in Papeete waiting for my flight to Bora Bora (doesn't that sound exotic?). Last night I typed a letter to you all for 1 hour solid, hit the "send" button, got an error message and all was lost. Merde! I was so pissed off. So here I go, trying to reconstruct everything I said last night.

I left New Zealand late Sunday afternoon and had a great 5 hour flight to Tahiti on Air New Zealand... wonderful food and comfortable seats, and of course because of that tricky international dateline, I arrived in at Papeete, Tahiti at 11:30 PM on SATURDAY night. I had made reservations at Hotel Matavai, having been told that I could call them on their complimentary phone at the airport and they'd send a bus to pick me up. I was spending only the night there, and the next day planned to catch the ferry over to Moorea where my real Tahitian vacation was to begin.

After a lot of searching I saw a sign for the Hotel Matavai phone, and rushed down the hall only to find that the cord had been ripped out of the wall. After another 10 minutes of searching, I found an intercom on a wall that said "Hotel Matavai", so I pressed the button, and after a few seconds, through ungodly static and electronic feedback, a dim voice could be heard asking, "EES THEESE MEESTER DAVEESE?" I screamed back that, yes, it was indeed Mr. Davees, and heard the static covered voice say, "Look for the bus in 5 minutes".

The big yellow bus arrived in about 15 minutes and off I went, arriving at the hotel at nearly 1:00 AM. It looked like a really run-down Holiday Inn, but it was only for a night so I wasn't worried. However, when I asked the desk staff when the ferry departed for Moorea the next morning they said, "We don't know. Come down and see our travel agent tomorrow morning at 6:30 or 7:00". So much for a full night's sleep!

I defied their recommendation and slept in until 7:45, got showered and down to the lobby and was told that the ferry departs at 9:15. Caught the shuttle down to the dock and drove through lovely downtown Papeete... picture a hybrid of Oakland, California and Tijuana, Mexico... with lots of chickens! There is a nice shopping area, but mostly it's a muddy, messy little hole in the wall. I couldn't wait to sail off to Moorea, which looms on the horizon from the port in Papeete.

I arrived a half hour later and had to catch "Le Truck", the island's bus system. Some of the "Le Trucks" are really buses, but many are a big pick-up truck like vehicle with a roof and bench seats down each side. It took about a half hour to reach Cook's Bay where my hotel was located: the Club Bali Hai. Cook's Bay is a beautiful body of water, surrounded on 3 sides by tall green mountains. Club Bali Hai has a prime location here, and my overwater bungalow was a roomy and pleasant little cottage of wood, with lots of windows and a porch built on stilts over the Bay. It had a refrigerator and stove and microwave, and a very cozy living area with separate bedroom and an outdoor shower with a garden. I was very pleased.

Starving at this point, I ate at the restaurant - only open for breakfast and lunch, and was introduced to Tahiti prices with my $15.50 cheeseburger and fries. Merde! I learned also that Le Truck only runs after or before a ferry departure, and there are only 2 ferry departures a day... so no public transport. Taxis cost between $25 and $40 depending on where you want to go. And everything within the immediate vicinity of my hotel was closed on Sunday. Great...

I ended up taking a long nap, and then went for a swim where I met Al, a 60-ish man from New Jersey. Al is a former US army officer specializing in chemistry who now bills himself as "Al, the Magician of Mystery". He is staying at Hotel Kaveka, a mile down the road and is trying to convince the manager there to allow him to do a dinner show of magic and mystery in return for a free dinner. Quite a character. By dinner time, I decided to walk up to the Kaveka as it obviously had a restaurant open for dinner. It was a very small place and rather dark and depressing, but I settled in on their outdoor terrace and ordered a plate of shrimp curry and rice for $28.50! Oh yes, that included a bottle of water (tap water is not drinkable in Tahiti... you must stick to bottled water everywhere). It was the most bland and tasteless meal you could imagine, and the rice was so dry and hard I thought it hadn't been cooked!

Of course Al soon appeared, lurking around looking for the manager of the Kaveka, who I am certain was trying to hide from Al. He joined me for dinner, and entertained me with several magic tricks... a few were kind of sad and pathetic, but he did do a few that truly stumped me, like smearing chocolate sauce into my right hand and having it magically move to my left hand as well. Also did a few interesting rope tricks that I could not figure out how he'd accomplished. He is, however, quite mad... he is saving money on bottled water (which is a bargain at the store for $1.50 a bottle) by using tap water and using iodine tablets to purify it. At the end of dinner he went off again in search of the manager, and I made a hasty retreat down the pitch-black road to my own hotel. I noted that there is a French gendarmerie (police station) just down the road from my place. I wish my friend Gilles could get transferred here!

The next day, completely short of cash, I made the 3 mile walk into "town" (if you can call 3 banks, two restaurants and a couple of souvenir shops a town) and after striking out on two of the ATM machines, the third one, Bank of Tahiti gave me my much needed cash. I then went to an internet cafe for a bit and was horrified by the $2.50 for 15 minute rates they charged. I ended up hitch-hiking back to my hotel the first time in my life I ever did this), and got a ride fairly easily.

I had signed up with Club Bali Hai's tour director, Stefanie, to go on a 4 hour long safari of the island... in a 4 wheel drive air conditioned van, scheduled to depart at 1PM. Well, I waited till 1:30 and no one was at the desk, but Stefanie finally appeared and told me I was the only person who'd signed up and the tour was cancelled. But she got on the phone and after the 4th try, found me a spot on Ben Tours (not Ben's Tours... BEN Tours). They'd pick me up in 10 minutes in front of the hotel. They did, after passing me by once and requiring me to run in and tell Stefanie they forgot me!

The "air conditioned van" was an open-air pick-up truck with boards for seats and a tarp on the roof... a kind of "mini Le Truck". The driver and guide was Roger (pronounced RO-JAY), a Polynesian man who spoke mostly French with a little English. There were two French couples already in the truck and neither of them spoke any English. Off we went to explore an agricultural area, a fruit juice distillery, a waterfall, a scenic overlook, and to complete a circle trip of the entire island.

We drove up terribly rutted and pot hole filled roads, mostly dirt and mud, and had to hold on tight to keep from bouncing on the plank seats. We entered the agricultural area, and without leaving his driver's seat, Roger began screaming fruit names, in French, from his window. It was hard to hear him with all the rattling and banging of the truck on the bad roads, and then of course, he only spoke French. Friends tease me that I learn the names of food first when I study other languages, but it paid off on this tour. "Annanas", Roger screamed (pineapples), and we would all look to the left to see a pineapple field. "Papaye! " (papayas), and we all looked to the right. "Annanas! Avocat! Annanas! Banane! Annanas!" (There were a LOT of annanas!) It was so absurd, I kept giggling, but I could not explain to my French friends WHY I found this all so amusing.

We then drove at least 15 minutes down horribly pitted and bumpy roads to the juice distillery. Free samples of tropical juice sounded good, as it was hot, sticky and rainy. Well, the distillery was closed, and why Roger did not know this is one of life's mysteries. Off to the scenic lookout, which would have been scenic if it hadn't been shrouded in clouds and rain. We then made a stop at a large flat stone structure that looked like the "Heiau" temples found in Hawaii. To my amazement, Roger actually got out of the truck and gave some explanation to the French tourists and they all hopped out to have a look. To me, all he said was, "ancient temple", which was wonderfully informative, as well as rather confusing since a sign beside this structure had English descriptions that said this was an archery platform. Maybe they shot bows and arrows during their religious ceremonies? I'll never know, as Roger herded us back into the truck for another grueling half hour's drive.

Meanwhile, cars would come flying up behind us, drivers cursing Roger's slow speed, and would zoom past us at their first opportunity. I got into a fit of almost uncontrollable laughter as I started daydreaming: I could make a sign saying, "Help... I have been kidnapped. Please save me!" and dangle it from the back of the truck. We finally stopped at a convenience store for cold drinks (price not included in the tour), and as we all got back into the truck I noted that one of the Frenchmen had a Hinano beer. I gestured to the beer and said, "Bon idee!” and then holding up my juice, said, "Je suis stupide", and this got a good laugh from the French who seemed every bit as bored as I was.

Finally we got onto the dirt road leading to the waterfall, but halfway down, Roger stopped, got out of the truck and told us that the waterfall was dry, pointing to a bare spot of rock on the hillside. Never fear... to make up for this sad state of affairs, Roger gathered several fruits (whose French names I knew by heart now) - pamplemousse (grapefruit), coco (coconut), and of course the ever popular annanas. Taking a hygienically questionable knife from the glove compartment, he began slicing them all up for us to sample. I began laughing again as I imagined my germ-conscious friend Carol being here, shaking her head and saying definitively, "I am not touching those fruits!" They were tasty, and several days later I am still alive.

That was my circle island safari. I can honestly say that other than a nice view here or there, I saw NOTHING on the island to warrant further exploration. There are simply widely scattered hotels, a restaurant or small general store here and there; that is the whole island. I kept thinking of Shania Twain's song, "That Don't Impress Me Much", making up my own lyrics in my head as we drove: "So you've got a lagoon... so you've got a juice distillery... that don't impress me much!" Maui, forgive me if I ever thought you could be replaced in my affections!

Things got a bit better that night. At 5:30 sharp, a guy named Muk (he is a white, American guy and I have no idea why he is called Muk) who founded the Club Bali Hai maybe 30 years ago holds a get together around the pool, and all the guests come out to have a drink and talk. It was actually fun, and I got the scoop on where to eat. A couple from New Zealand, Kevin and Christine invited me to join them for dinner at a tiny place called Chez Michelle. It is run by a single French woman (Michelle, I presume) who closes by 7:30 if no one shows up. We were her only customers, but for $15 she made us a delicious dinner of fresh fish, vegetables and fluffy rice, and some of the best ice cream I have ever tasted. Thank God, there is a good place to eat here!

The next day I'd signed up for a shark and stingray feeding trip on the lagoon, and many Bali Hai folks were on the trip too... the New Zealanders, a nice couple from Colorado, and newlyweds John and Erica from New Jersey. We set out on a sunny morning and went to the shark feeding location, where the captain was to get out and feed dead fish to black-tipped reef sharks while we all put on snorkels and held on to a rope down current from where the sharks feed. Although we were told by Stefanie (who I should not have trusted given her sending me on "Hell Safari") that the trip included full snorkel gear, there was none available... and when half the boat almost mutinied, they "found" a few stray masks, with no snorkel attached, and many had broken straps, so all you could do was hold it to your face, hold your breath and stick your head in the water for as long as you could hold your breath! I was furious. In addition, the waters were very choppy and it was hard to balance. I held onto the rope, but occasionally someone would hang on the rope, sending me underwater for a huge drink of sea water. Sometimes someone would cling to me for support and push or pull me underwater. It was a nightmare, and I got a few quick glimpses of golden reef sharks with black-tipped fins, maybe 5 - 6 feet in length.

The stingray feeding was MUCH better. We anchored in much calmer and shallower water, and before we could get out of the boat we were surrounded by dozens of these creatures, 4 - 5 feet across with tails about 4 feet long. They do not "sting" at all, as their name implies, and they are gentle and curious animals who will come right to you and sort of slide up your body until the front of the head is out of the water. They have very human-looking eyes that look right into yours, and you can pet them and feed them dead fish. It was an absolutely wonderful experience. Toward the end, many black-tipped sharks gathered around - at least 5, and some of them were swimming only 10 feet from me. It wasn't scary, even though it perhaps should have been.

After this "peak experience", we then went out to a "private motu" for a picnic lunch. A "motu" is a small barrier island. (It was also the name of one of the teams in "Survivor: Marquesas... see how informational TV can be!) This particular motu was by no means "private" though... at least 3 other tour boats docked along the beach and each had its own picnic area. They did serve a delicious lunch of grilled fish and chicken, pasta and rice salads, fresh fruits, and all the beer you could drink. So after the disastrous start, the day turned out well overall. That night I went back to Chez Michelle for dinner with the New Zealanders and two other couples. When we arrived, I said to Michelle, "We're back... and we brought friends!” Again we were her only customers and again, it was a delicious dinner.

And on Wednesday morning I climbed aboard Le Truck at 7:15 AM to get to the ferry dock for an 8:00 ferry. Arriving in Papeete, I found another Le Truck to go to the airport, and left a lot of my heavier luggage at a storage place there, since the flights to Bora Bora have strict weight limits on luggage. Interestingly, on the ferry crossing, I sat inside and didn't have the slightest urge to even look back at Moorea as we sailed away. Other than the fun of the Club Bali Hai and its guests, and the good cooking of Michelle, the island had little to offer at all, and uncharacteristically for me, I felt no twinge of sadness upon leaving. OK, I am going to stop here, as I must catch my flight. I'll save this and continue from Bora Bora....

Bora Boring

OK, here I am again... on Bora Bora 2 days later. The flight to Bora Bora took 45 minutes, and despite a lot of cloud cover, the clouds broke and we were treated to a spectacular aerial view of the island and its surrounding lagoon and motus. It truly is magnificent. The airport is located on a motu on the north side of the island, and is all open-air and fronting a beautiful with a view toward the main island. A launch from my hotel was at the airport to greet me, and I was taken across the lagoon to my hotel, the Eden Beach, which is also located on one of the motu on the east side of the island. I can truthfully say that as the boat docked at the Eden's pier, I thought I had arrived on "Fantasy Island". The lagoon is impossible shades of blue and green, and the white, coral sand beach was blinding in the sunlight. Palms trees line the beach and a pool and bar area have a million dollar view of the lagoon with the main island of Bora Bora and its craggy green mountains in the background. I got checked in and was shown my beachfront bungalow, which shares the same view as the pool area. No refrigerator here, unfortunately, but a nice comfortable room nonetheless.

The setting of the hotel is important to picture; it is on a long motu (island) off the coast of the main island of Bora Bora. I had read that it was on the same motu as the much larger Le Meridien Hotel, so I assumed I could always walk over there and sample their restaurants, shops, etc. My hotel has 14 units, only about 4 of which were occupied on the day I arrived. There is a restaurant, and a pool, and that is truly it. Nothing else at all. There is a free shuttle boat that takes you to the main island, but it leaves only 4 times each day: 8:30 AM, or 2, 3, or 5 PM. You may order a shuttle at another time, but it will cost about 6 dollars each way.

My first stop was the hotel restaurant for lunch. To my surprise I soon realized that of the three waitresses who seemed to be running everything, two were men... either transvestites or transsexuals. I later determined after doing some reading in my tour books and having a discussion with a New Zealander I met a day or two later that these people are referred to as "mahu". In Hawaii this term is a derogatory name for gays, like "faggot"; in Polynesia it refers to a "third sex". Mahu may dress and live as women out of a natural orientation, but in some cases boys who are born into a large family where there are already many boys may be chosen to be raised as a girl (mahu) from birth. According to my New Zealand source, these mahu are given a very special high status in the culture, but find life very difficult if they move to places like Auckland or Sydney where they are considered "freaks". I wonder how boys whose natural inclination is to be masculine and heterosexual must deal with this, especially when they reach puberty. Definitely an interesting discussion for my Human Sexuality course.

Anyway, this all caught me slightly off guard and I had my lunch wondering what it was going to be like to stay here. After lunch I caught the shuttle to the main island, and by now it was raining. When I reached the other side, I wandered around the dock area only to discover that there was nothing there except for a car and bike rental agency. No stores, no restaurants... nothing! The only substantial town is on the other side of the island and there is no public transport.

With the rain, I decided that renting a bike wasn't a great idea, so I caught the shuttle over to Le Meridien and figured I could walk from there back along the motu to my hotel. The Meridien is a beautiful, 5 star hotel, with the stereotypical overwater bungalows you see on TV and in movies. However, there was not much in the way of shops or anything to see, so I decided to begin the walk back toward my hotel. After several minutes of walking northward, the paved trails of Le Meridien vanished and I followed what appeared to be an established trail, but the farther I walked, the less developed the trail was. And then the rain started again... hard. I headed eastward across the motu to the ocean side and followed a gravel path for awhile, but that soon gave way to a rough coral path that was difficult to walk on. And there was little cover from trees to keep the rain off, so I zigzagged west again, back to the lagoon side. The trail got rougher, and soon small shacks that seemed abandoned cropped up in the dense foliage around me.

"Tabu!" (keep out) signs were plentiful, but by now I had been walking almost 45 minutes and figured the hotel could not be too much farther away. At some points the trail vanished entirely and I had no option but to walk into the warm lagoon and wade in water as high as my waist for many yards with my backpack over my head to keep it dry! At one point I came to another shack (and I began to realize that these were temporary quarters used by local fishermen) that was guarded by several barking dogs. Back into the lagoon I went for a long time until the barking was far enough in the distance for me to feel safe "coming ashore" again. Many times I was startled by things moving in the brush, and knowing there are no snakes on these motus I wondered what they were. Finally, I got a good look at one... they were huge crabs, the size of Alaskan king crabs! And then there were these plants that are covered in little sharp-tipped seeds that cling to your clothes and skin. Some of them got on my leg, and I thoughtlessly tried to sweep them off with my hand, only to have one embed itself in my thumb causing much pain and considerable bleeding! As if this weren't exciting enough, two thunderous explosions occurred off in the distance, but they were not thunder. I figured, "Wonderful. Perhaps the French have resumed their nuclear testing here!"

After 1 hour and 30 minutes I made it to the Eden Beach, soaking wet and exhausted. I showered and napped, and then went to the restaurant for what turned out to be a lousy and very expensive dinner. One of the mahu, Anastasia, urged me to return at 9:00 for the Polynesian dance show that she and her "girlfriend" were doing, but I reclusively hid in my bungalow, watching the rain from my porch. I have seldom felt so completely isolated. A rather odd hotel staff, a handful of solely French speaking guests, no easy transport off the motu and nowhere to GO if you could get off the motu! I went out on the beach and stole a scene from the movie "Castaway", screaming, "Wilson!!!!" several times out at the sea. (If you haven't seen the film, Wilson was a volleyball that was Tom Hanks' only companion during his time on a deserted tropical island. He talked to Wilson as if he were a real person as a way of staying sane. At this point, I could really relate!)

The following day I woke up early and decided I'd escape to the main island and rent a bike for the day, so I caught the 8:30 shuttle. But as the boat approached the shore, rain bucketed from the skies. No biking today. The basic rental car cost about 85 dollars for 8 hours (no air conditioning, manual transmission and no radio!), but I was desperate. I also learned as I signed the contract that they have a $2,000 deductible if you have an accident. But when I asked if I could purchase any additional insurance coverage to reduce my liability, I was told "no" quite matter of factly. Great. Thank God there are no kangaroos to hit on this island!

Risk taker that I am, I rented the car anyway, but kept it for only 6 hours and returned it early... I circled the whole island twice and there was simply nothing else to see! There were a couple of nice views along the way, many exclusive hotels that allow no public access, very few shops or galleries. For such a tourist destination, I am amazed at how little there is to offer.
I did have the good fortune to run into the newlyweds John and Erica whom I'd met at Club Bali Hai on Moorea, so we decided to meet at a famous restaurant called "Bloody Mary's" that evening for dinner. At least I'd have some companionship, and the restaurant provided a free shuttle for me! Before I left the main island that afternoon, I stopped at a general store in town and stocked up on some snacks to eat for the next day. I had decided I would just try and make the most of things and spend the next day at the hotel taking advantage of the lagoon, the beach and the solitude.

Back at Eden Beach that afternoon I chatted a bit with the French woman who manages the property. She seems bitter and disgruntled, and it became quite obvious that she hated being on Bora Bora... all the more interesting when you learn that her previous hotel job was in Nigeria!!! She had a look in her eyes that said, "Get me off this rock" and complained that there is nothing to do, no reliable phone or e-mail service, etc. I almost laughed when I asked her how long she'd been there... only 8 months! I said, "Well, it is a beautiful place,” and she replied, "It has the lagoon... that is all". I half-expected her to break into a chorus of Shania Twain's song... "So you have a lagoon... that don't impress me much!"

Dinner that night at Bloody Mary's was fun and I felt excitement and relief knowing that I was going out for dinner, though Anastasia seemed disappointed. This restaurant has been frequented by many Hollywood celebrities, and the daily fresh fish catches are displayed on ice. The fish is cooked to order on the grill, and my calamari steak and ahi tuna were amazingly good, though of course, tres expensive! And John and Erica were fun company, though that woman never let him get a word in edgewise. Poor John. They only got married a few weeks ago and I tried to imagine listening to Erica's voice for the next 50 years and a feeling of sadness swept over me.

I got back to the hotel at 10:30 PM, with my shuttle boat driver taking me across the dark and treacherously shallow lagoon holding only a flashlight in front of him for navigation! It rained hard all night long with strong gusts of wind, and it was still raining so hard when I woke up at 7AM that I stayed in bed and went back to sleep for another 3 hours!

By noon it had finally stopped raining, and I ordered a picnic lunch to go from Anastasia, and then went hiking along the outer edge of the motu. The open ocean with a couple of distant islands in the background were beautiful and I made a bit of peace with this place. I had my walk and my picnic and then I went back to the hotel and took out a sea kayak for several hours. The lagoon is so shallow that you can walk easily 1/2 mile out and be in water only up to your knees, so the swimming is not great. But the water is flat and calm, so it was easy to paddle the kayak and I had a nice time exploring the coast and then paddling out to where the lagoon deepens so I could hop into the water for a real swim.

For my final evening on Bora Bora, I arranged a shuttle over to Le Meridien (I had had quite enough of that lovely walk along the motu, thank you!) to attend their Polynesian Buffet and dinner show. The food was only fair, although there was a lot of fresh shrimp and sushi as appetizers and I really enjoyed those. The show was put on by several local families, and was very nice, though it was tarnished a bit by people with their cameras and video cameras. It amazes me how people are so busy trying to get a shot of the dancers or get the right camera angle that they don't focus on the event itself. When they watch the video they created once they get back home it'll be the first time they actually see the dance because they were much too busy to have experienced it live. This drives me crazy!

Anyway, I got recruited to dance with one of the young vahines (girls) for one number that involved me taking on a surfing posture and clacking my knees together in time with the beat of the music. Luckily no one took a movie of THAT! Those hula lessons I took a couple years ago paid off! Actually the Tahitian music and dance is a bit different from Hawaiian - far more reliance on drums and rhythm and I would say far less emphasis on melody. Speaking of Tahitian music, I heard "interesting" Tahitian versions of Cher's "Believe", and a medley of the Bee Gees' songs "Massachusetts" and "Words" done to a Tahitian beat by local artists! It is a small world after all! I also heard a Tahitian version of "Hotel California"... that song sure has haunted me during this trip!

I returned to my hotel around 11, and it was a beautiful night with no rain. Everyone was asleep. I got my walkman and one of my favorite Hawaiian music CD's and dragged a lounge chair right to the lagoon's edge so my feet could dangle in the water. I listened to my music and watched the sky as clouds parted and exposed a brilliant star or two before hiding them once again. I watched shells on the beach moving all around me... tiny crabs lug them around on their backs, but it is really amazing to see literally dozens of shells moving in chaotic patterns all around you; Mother Nature playing her own version of "The Shell Game". After almost an hour, lightning started in the distance and I watched as the storm came gradually closer. I could see the beautiful central peak of Bora Bora's main island illuminated for an instant against the lightning flashes. This was the experience I'd wanted when I dreamed of coming to Tahiti, and at least I managed to find it on my last night. Still, the Hawaiian music made me long to get back to my beloved islands again. I have such a strange pull to the Hawaiian islands, the culture and the music that it sometimes makes me wonder if there may be something to the idea of reincarnation or past lives. I thought of how the ancient Tahitians left Bora Bora in search of freedom from the controlling and violent religious practices there. While I sat on that beautiful beach I thought about glad I was to have experienced something of this strange and magical place, Bora Bora. But I also felt ready to go, and I am so happy that a conference this summer will take me back to Hawaii, where I really belong.

On Saturday, my flight back over to Papeete wasn't until 5PM, but the Eden Beach staff graciously allowed me a 4PM check-out time, so I did a LONG kayaking trip in the morning and lounged around the beach much of the day. Finally at 4PM, my bag was loaded onto the shuttle and off we sped to the motu where the airport is located, and within an hour I was back on the main island of Tahiti. Since my flight back to the U.S. was not until 2:35 AM Sunday, I had 8 hours to spend, so I stored my bags and caught Le Truck into downtown Papeete. My opinion didn't change all that much... it is not a very pleasant town, but I did take advantage of the Roulottes, a group of trucks and vans that park and serve meals in the main square for 1/3 to 1/2 what you'd spend in a restaurant. I had a delicious fish in Roquefort sauce, with fries, bread, and a chocolate orange dessert crepe for about $20 total. That seems so expensive given that you are eating on a stool in front of an open van, but it is so cheap compared to what you have to pay for everything on these islands. I truly felt as if I were just taking fists full of money and throwing them into the air the whole time I was there. It truly is outrageous, and only rarely does the quality of what you receive justify the cost.

It was hot, steamy, loud and obnoxious in Papeete, and as the night got later, there were more and more roving bands of guys drinking, so I hopped on Le Truck and returned to the airport by 11PM. I got checked in and resigned myself to the long 3 hour wait. After a bit of searching I found a comfortable couch to recline on and tried to catch a little sleep. Just as I felt myself slipping into a welcome slumber, I heard a loud voice shout, "Matt! How was Bora Bora?" It was Al, the Magician of Mystery, who just like the chocolate sauce smear on my left hand, appeared seemingly out of nowhere! He really didn't wait for an answer, and launched into a long description of all his trials and tribulations on Moorea where he'd spent the entire time.

Finally it was time to board the plane, with an 8 hour flight to Los Angeles. Getting through U.S. Customs was not as bad as I expected and I actually was able to go stand-by on an earlier flight to San Francisco, where my roommate Bernie met me at the airport around 6PM.

So I am now home, on my own computer, and in my own house... at least for 10 days. I can't believe that I leave for Boston on April 16 and for Italy on the 22nd. I can't believe that my six week Pacific adventure is over. But what a time it has been, and it has left me with so much to think about and remember.

First and foremost, I feel incredible fortunate to have been able to make this journey... what an amazing opportunity. I also am even more aware of how luck we all are to live where we do; I have seen so much poverty, people with so little, living in conditions we could never tolerate, and doing so with seemingly such good humor and contentment. I was also reminded how truly self-sufficient I can be; after such an adventure I am left with the feeling that I can handle just about anything that comes my way, and that is always a good thing to be reminded of. (Can I remember this when my sabbatical is over and I must return to grading that stack of mostly awful student papers that cover my desk?) I was seldom lonely on the trip; however, I did wish at many points that certain people could be with me to experience certain aspects of the trip that I know they'd have loved. When I did get lonely it was usually when I was around groups of couples and really felt like the odd man out.

To my dismay I found that even with a 6 week long time to just be off duty and relax, there never seemed to be much time to just "be". Just like home, at the end of a day I'd crawl into bed too tired to floss my teeth and tell myself I'd do it tomorrow... or the next day... Where will I ever find time to learn my Italian or French, or to write that novel I long to create? (well, maybe I have a start on the novel after all these long letters...)

So to wind things up... the Matt Davis awards for various aspects of the trip go something like this:

Friendliest People: Thailand (The Balinese, the Aussies, and the Kiwis were all wonderful, but there is something special about the Thai and their quiet, sweet manner.

Best Wildlife Experience: Petting and holding the various animals at Kangaroo Island, Australia and swimming with the stingrays in Tahiti.

Most Amazing Scenery: New Zealand, though Bora Bora is an amazing sight, especially from the air.

Most Exotic Locale: Bali. Such a wonderful mix of strange and wonderful sights, sounds, smells and sensations.

Favorite Hotel: Honeymoon Guesthouse in Ubud, Bali. Honorable mention: Wentworth Sydney, and yes, the Eden Beach Bora Bora... it really was an amazing spot.

Best Food Overall: New Zealand

Most Memorable Meals: Sweet Potato Gnocchi in Cairns, Australia; the Emu and Black Bean Sauce in Sydney, and the 5 course Vietnamese dinner in Bangkok (thanks for the recommendations Brian & LeeAnn!)

Biggest Disappointments: Tahiti (could you have guessed this?) and Melbourne, Australia.

Favorite Cities: Sydney, with a very honorable mention to Auckland, NZ

Place I'd Most Want to Return To: Tough, but I think New Zealand, and it's interesting since this was the place I was least enthusiastic about at the start of my trip.

Biggest Frustration: Cost and accessibility of e-mail.

Worst Moments: Hitting the kangaroo in Australia; the shark feeding in Tahiti.

Missed Most About Life at Home: Good, strong and bottomless cups of coffee, free ketchup, ice-cold drinks, TV (though not as much as you might expect).

Ok, I think it's time for me to call it a day. It's midnight and I had only 4 hours of sleep on the plane. Thank you all for staying in touch and being such a great audience for my ramblings. It's easy to travel the world when you know you have people who love and care about you back home and around the world.