Tag Archives: Travels

Leaving to arrive somewhere else

Hello hello to you little forgotten blog, I think I got stuck somewhere in transit between one destination and the other. Then there was a reminder the other night that sometimes it’s nice to share so let’s see. I started this year off so so nice, I keep forgetting how blessed I am. So I finally ran out of excuses (no full time job commitments or lack of time) to sit Vipassana so pretty much the first thing I did this year was to spend 10 days in silence. Away from social media, my iPhone, internet, news, books all of it was traded for 10 days of disciplined meditation practice. The hardest work I’ve ever put into anything but in return a very powerful experience. I’m mind blown by this practice and tradition, so beautiful. I always did my best to hide from meditation I guess just being to lazy to make an effort but this course made a huge change.

The Big Smoke – Stockholm

Today I went to the big smoke of Sweden, Stockholm and man it wasn’t a let down. Stockholm has to be one of the prettiest city I have seen. I knew it was going to be a great old european city, but it was next level.  I walk around for a bit until we ended up on this lookout that over looked the city, I was so amazed to see such a view.

One thing I found a little funny about the swedes is that they don’t say hi to each other, even if they are looking  right at each other (what the).. So for this crazy kiwi that says hi to everyone even if they are look the other way, I found a little weird. I think they thought i was a little crazy or on something, but a Kiwi got to do what a Kiwi got to do..

The photos of the people on the bike from the 1940’s was not from a ride in a time machine, it was (I’m guessing) some bike ride though the city and everyone dress up and rides bikes from that era.

The you know what blows my mind the most about Stockholm? Bands,  like real bands come to play there. When we where walking round the streets of Stockholm I’ve seen a poster or Tame Impala, thats so crazy that anyone come this far. (Just joking Sweden has lots of great music and bands).
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Words Of Wisdom

“A jug fills drop by drop.”

So true. Life is about baby steps, and patience. Anything worth having is worth waiting for, and this teaching serves to remind us that life is all about the little things.

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.”

Essentially, our thoughts become our actions. Filling your mind with positive thoughts results in positive actions.

“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.”

Harboring hate and resentment lowers your quality of life, not the person you are resenting. We are all human, and we all make mistakes. Forgiveness is the key to happiness.

“However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on upon them?”

Actions speak louder than words. You can talk about doing great things and having high ambitions, but unless you act on them, that is all they are: words

“It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.”

Self discipline, self control, and self awareness are all essential elements to living a good life. There is no one in this world holding you back, except for you.

“Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.”

Being thankful is the direct result of appreciating what you have. Appreciating each day for the opportunity simply to live it. You didn’t get to where you are, so be thankful for the experiences – good and bad- that have brought you to where you are.

“It is better to travel well than to arrive.”

Never stop moving forward. life is all about making the best of it, and as soon as you settle, you stop learning, growing, and achieving.

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Jet lag In Halmstad At 5am

After a 38 hour flight to Sweden from the land down under (Australia) there was one thing I needed more then anything else, that was SLEEP SLEEP SLEEP.  So after trying to stay up for as long as possible i finally went to sleep about 6pm,  after sleeping for a good 10-11 hours i was ready to start my european adventures . The only thing is it was 4:30 am, the thing is, everyone in europe is sleeping at that time, and won’t get out of bed till at last 10am. So what will a KIWI boy that likes to get up at sunrise do at 5am with jet lag and no friends??? He takes out his camera and takes some photos of Halmstad for the blog…
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Some Fun Ones With The Porta

Got some fun waves on my boy Portas on our last day in Medewi. We had it all to ourselves for about 40min, till the pro tour come out (haha).. The last 2 days were the best super fun and bigger but today was the only day we got photos 🙂  IT was fun surfing with the Ports over the week, next time i hope we have a month or two …   🙂the-sidewalk-secrets-travel-blog-surf-surfing-sunset--1

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Got a little over confident the late take off 🙁the-sidewalk-secrets-travel-blog-surf-surfing-sunset--7

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Fun

The long road back to Bali

Oh well my flight back from Perth couldn’t land in Bali because of the ashes from the volcano. So I ended up in Surabaya for the night which was ahhh interesting. A lot of upset people being quite rude (shame on you’s) to the Air Asia staff that did such an awesome job organising transport and accommodation for all the 200+ passengers. The next morning there was still no news on when the airport might re-open so I decided to get on a domestic flight down to Banyuwangi and then travel overland back to Bali. This was a brilliant idea until I rocked up at the airport in Surabaya again just to find out that the airport in Banyuwangi was also closed… due to the ashes. After a bit of hassle getting a ticket refund (I was quite stoked getting the last seat on this flight an hour earlier) me an a kiwi girl decided to get a transport down to Banyuwangi instead of waiting around for airports to open. Oh yeah what didn’t go wrong? It took us two hours to leave Surabaya going back and forward to the airport picking up people and luggage being dropped on the road and picking more people up. Then the van broke down in the middle of the night when heading for the ferry and we ended up spending an hour at the mechanics (lot’s of love to Indo where you can actually find a mechanic at that time). About 18 hours since I left Surabaya I was finally dropped off in Medewi to catch up with the guys again. So happy 🙂

Day Trip Part 2 – Green Valley

After the green canyon we jumped on the scooters and hit the road for about 30 minuets to find the green valley (easy when you have a guide). But first things first FOOD FOOD FOOD. A little lunch stop and everyone started to feel a lot more happier, even our guide started to talk & move his hangover must have started to get a little bit better. The green Valley is a very cool place, it has a big cave that you can swim into that gets very dark,  so dark you (ME) might get a little scared if you swim in to fare. There is also some tree roots you can climb up to ledge, that you can jump from if you like that kind of thing.. If you don’t think the green valley is that cool I have saved the best till last. It has a waterfall that you can jump off, then you can swim under the waterfall into a little cave, just like in the movies. On the way home we stopped for a photo or 10 but to top it all off we got to go over a bamboo bridge, that can only hold one scooter at a time. So i was hopping all the pancakes I have been eating was not going to make me to heavy and make us end up in the river…

FOOD FOOD FOODDCIM100GOPROGOPR3710. The guide alive at lastDCIM100GOPROG0213712. The cave and the jump spot
DCIM100GOPROG0233720. Inside the cave
DCIM100GOPROG0253739. The waterfall from the topDCIM100GOPROGOPR3740. The bottom
DCIM100GOPROGOPR3747. Inside the waterfall
DCIM100GOPROGOPR3748. DCIM100GOPROGOPR3750. DCIM100GOPROGOPR3751. The jump rope DCIM100GOPROGOPR3754. Road trippers 1 & 2DCIM100GOPROGOPR3813. DCIM100GOPROGOPR3816. DCIM100GOPROGOPR3815.DCIM100GOPROG0393821. The bamboo bridge DCIM100GOPROG0403827. DCIM100GOPROG0413831. The home stretch thank god – It was a long day 🙂 🙂 🙂 DCIM100GOPROG0423839.

Happiest Man In Sri Lanka !!!

We have now been staying in Midigama (Sri Lanka) for about 6 weeks. Most days we run into a local dude, that has to be one of the most happiest people i have ever met. I don’t even know his name, but he always will stop to say hi, and talk about how good the day is. Him and his girlfriend who is just as nice, just got a new puppy and we see them walking him round the village, from time to time. The other day we where watching the sun go down and they turned up and we got some happy snaps of them … Next time i see then i will get there names but for now, I’m happy that we don’t need names to be friends 🙂

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