We mortals

musefully subdued by afternoon sun  we watch on where the gravels still and the dogs steal the steets people exhausted, Eyelashes reflecting in the last rays, on our dirty Spanish skin eating peaches smiling at donkies kicking up the dirt, covered in bites from foreign bugs our money dwindles through our fingers like sand
The sun donating it's goldeness to the moon so we turn in awe, like game clowns mouths at the show that you aim balls at, to face the moon, who keeps our attention out the back window for a good while
Wishing I could expand myself into a magic carpet covering every square cm of Portugal not to waste a single smidgeon
As some might say it's like being slapped in the face by a big wet cold fish til your mouth drops open in shock and someone sneaks some magic potion into your mouth and it instantly rides your blood like a wave to the shore 
Long stretch of road watching the sun set lined with palms replicating like dejavu of our hitchhiking 8 hr trip south from petchuburi to chumpton feeling the vibrating magic from it's  soil even before our feet hit your ground
Portugal you mother fucking flipping trickling shining diamond of the gods fallen into an odd shape of map I'll consider getting you tattooed to my forehead you make me that excited

Grooving to architecture on the beach
Nothings been funner
Nothings been tastier
Nothings been sunnier
Boys have never been cuter naturally  consumed by a little crush wrapped in glow in the dark sheets and a mighty lovely laugh
Gypsy scattered caravans in the woods tall pines casting their shadows 
West winds under my skin the arvo sun catching the breaks, old men hog the bus stations with their chitterlings chatter well feed loyal dogs walking sticks and grandpa hats we walk to the one foodstore to grab some grease along a dirty country road skipping and dancing trucks blowing dust in our face
No one wondering the hills just us and our tents blistered feet sweaty backs one could be wealthy if a surfer and farmer honks all within one day maybe otherwise just our tired feet and the road

Laura

'surely this was a touch of fine philosophy; though no doubt he had never heard there was such a thing as that. But, perhaps, to be true philosophers, we mortals should not be conscious of so living or so striving. So soon as I hear that such or such a man gives himself out for a philosopher, I conclude that, like the dyspeptic old woman, he must have 'broken his digester' Herman Melville    

trundling through portugal

Tuesday got off to a good start, all set for our huuuge journey to little Aljezur. took a whole half an hour, possibly our shortest distance between places. excited but deceived by the brochure, it wasnt quite on the sea (give or take 10 ks of winding roads). but didnt matter, Aljezur is just like my little Forth but with white houses :) Gum trees, handymen at work, birds twittering, hills rolling and cows along with the buzz of traffic. Hostel was super funky.



5 star mattresses, sleeping bags and the brothers grimm. salmon and pineapple pizza and cadburys :D. super cheap ingredients from the little corner store for Pancakes and banana chocolate cake cooked up using inventive methods. xavier rudd, kooks, ben harper and cat empire strumming through the air chosen by the cute dreadlocked hostel receptionist.





Aljezur a deliciously peaceful little town. Old ladies inviting each other over for coffees, saying hello to the old men trundling past. cats and dogs floating around. farmers farmering.



Went for a bit of a hike, to the beach. camping gear and fruit & fit bars spurring us on. vans zooming past full of surfboards and surfers and 15ks later we puffed happily into Arrifana.







The Portuguese coastline is absoooolutely stunning! every stretch we've seen of it has had us amazed. descended the winding road down the cliff to sit on the beach of Arrifana and jealously watch the surf campers carving it up.. well at least having a bit of a boogy board on their long boards. scampered around searching for a place to camp, bit of a fail. ate all our supplies and checked into another hostel hehe.



watched the sun set over the lonely cliffs and shuttered up summer houses. watched some news :| eek you sort of forget about the rest of the world. french still striking and threatening travel plans. Indo hit by tsunamis again. Argentina's first man is dead. the world is still out there somewhere.. lets just watch the sun and dream of other places :)

arrifana

'today is whatever i want it to mean' thumbs up to random acoustic song on my ipod. 

Left the melting pot, the cute hostel on the beach. spent my last windy day sinking my footsteps into dirty sand, listening to laurs tunes, and the doors. Hair a big mess of curls and wearing only a big white oversized sweater, complimented by an abercrombie and fitch employee who thought i was a model ( until he saw my face i think, but compliment of the year ) unlike another abercrombie employee who says i look like a feral kesha bogan ( newly learnt aussie words in use ) . Sitting on a rocky outcrop wondering why i was in lonely far off places leaving people i love to do their own things. 

Lagos, sunny sunny lagos quickly cheered me up. Wow, portugal so poor but bright and happy. No one ever tells you about portuguese beaches! Cliffs and caves, glistening clear blues. 6euro snorkels bought to eagerly explore the grottos, squealing about the sworls and swirls of hundreds of fish. 
Sun glinting off wet brown skin and grins. So much room floating through wide open space.
Frozen bodies plopped down into gritty white sand, not caring about our wetness. Hugging warm rocks and climbing graffitied stairs to find another way home but failing. Diving back into the fresh clearness through arches and caves to the little beach where we stashed our gear. 

Popped out through the cave to a roaring beach party, basically all south african or aussie guys having sex with each other or drowning on the perfect beach. Sometimes so embarrassing to be australian. 

Found our aussie mates from granada and had a general rukkus of a night. Card games, angry neighbours and running zigzagging skinny streets through rambles and shambles. 2 for 1 yummy drinks making us happy. Terrible wine. Cracker lady and cheese man looking after our appetites. Getting charmed off our feet :) 

more new songs on my ipod woo the xx and foals and so many others adding to the beachy sunshine. Feels strange to have wonderful people in your life for a few moments and then float off again. Just want to be selfish and put all the people you want in their special places in your life, available at your whim. This goes for allll the special people ive met, if you're reading this thanks for adding your little buzz to my life :) 

I LOVE food, and that is part of the reason why i love Europe, a big part! If i have a good dish of food, wherever i am, i am happy. And thats what it's been like. All through europe, each country has been treating me to their cuisene, giving me inspiration to dart home and start cooking up a storm for my family and friends, and a storm it would be.

Europe does food so much better than home, except for the fish and chips and barbies, but anyway sightseeing for me has been about strolling down colourful fruit&veg markets, feeling for the juiciest nectarine, being tempted by tasty street food, checking out the supermarkets for the next meal of the day, searching for the best gelato in Rome and tastist Pizza in Napoli, hmmm yumm =)

and we did succeed to find the most tastiest pizza in Napoli.., it was very simple but amazing, as simple things are.


the pizza place also featured in Eat Pray Love with Julia Roberts



Gelato in Rome..


Kinder feast


I'm pretty sure the reason for our extended stay in Malaga are the dinners we are getting, not the sun&surf. Not that anyone of us would admit to it. Who can resist a delicous seafood Paella, with various BBQed meats all cooked up by an attractive Spanish guy, with pumping reggae adding to the atmosphere.

So when i get home i plan to sift through my photos and create an album of delicousness.. right now i need the reality, and maybe a few runs up and down the beach!

hedonism. sunning ourselves all day like walruses. take away all those ologies and losophies and boxes, and become a basic human again. food, sex, sleep and drink.

our little triangle of malaga. cute hostel seperated from the beach only by a road, long sandy stretch of gold with an ugly burnie looking port in the distance but who cares it has beautiful mountains behind it, and the little supermarket where we can buy fish and chocolate to our hearts delight because we're not spending money on anything else.

salty curls sprawling out over the towels and toplessness, skin turning from white to red to golden. a stroll to the supermarket for some cheap goods and less than 1e red wine. back to the sand, a quick freeze in the velvety mediterranean the only thing that gets our blood pumping. a snippet of a read, a snatch of music, then eyes close again to glorious sunshine. dreams of dreams and dreams of futures.

in house chef cooking up delicious bbqs and seafood paella impossible to deny. conversation is animated about lovers and lives, but that may be the fault of the cheap wine and vitamin d. mojitos and fire sticks. ahh life.. miek

The rich man without any name

How be immersed beyond being some tears that come from deep within some well I didn't even realise existed inside me when im just plagued by some dreadful mentality feeling a little burnt out you made a split second of your life connect with mine you tell your story and remind our sweet souls to 'drop all those mental rack sacks' and
 your 72 yr old shell, a spirit that has riden (by bicycle) the south American whispers, hit by the beat hippie gen of the states in there hey day, to enrich the lives in India, enlightens every cell in my body, the wisdom and beauty that resonates some souls is just unbelievable why do we guard ourselves with these false habitions. The complete absorption of atman with Brahman is quiet a nice concept, beaten to the ground by the sun belonging to the earthperhaps selflessly content i light a cigarette and breath in the incense sitting alone on my andalucian terrace hungry for what Spain gives me. wanting to dive straight into a sea of pura vida and learning pure spontaneous living allowing this bodily shell to be carried away, giving into the truth of being a child of the universe knowing that she holds tight in her grasp and having no need or desire to commit my mind to any particular way of practise, with no need to fuel the conflict, no need to preach or universalise  just the acknowledgement of existing in some greater divinity and unity gives it all. Maybe there is a god above maybe there is not maybe theres 5 or 200 who cares what we think our theories dont differ that much so exhaust the fear and insecurities and give in to the mystery and the parelel way of living those mysteries not to be so sure of ourselves or others. your sweet wrinkled hands grab me intense eyes as I practise my Spanish and you expect so much more from me at this moment my mind trys to recognize Every word I have learnt in Spanish and I wish I could just speak to you with the knowledge of every Spanish word ever composed but my eyes full of self disappointment but total inspiration and motivation to learn your language embrace ur culture learn your history and paint your streets and come back to simply speak to you. you speak something along the lines of 'grab those sexy Spanish boys' or maybe 'they will grab you' but I think it was the first one because they certainly don't grab as I watch them sit in the afternoon sun enthralled in passion, plucking away at their strings, and green eyed just like at home when I look at his love for it not for one second could any girl or anything else interupt this moment between man and instrument... Our first spanish house party up high on the andalucian hills overlooking and the entire lot, the prerequisites of Spanish guitars, sangria a language that throws us all together, ukeleles saxaphones hearty jams and dances solid joy free of cameras and total submission to all happenings and surroundings, those incredible people eyes full of intensity and road whethered bodies with no home the road is the path since birth. feeling clever dancing round the rooftop singing 'happy anus" rather than 'happy birthday' slightly embarrassed I resort back to the boring old English tongue immediatly, hang out with neighbours of where joe strummer jammed finish up with Some Cuban and Spanish bars and dancing in down rocker town Granada with suar. From my doorstep The streets are quiet dirty dogs and cats roam, wheelie bins are rummaged by the nicest of homeless the smells of tonights leftovers float through the whitewashed kitchen and the bubbling of the shishas in the distance. knew It was Spain and I will not forget it not for one second Iknow my soul belongs to the universe but heart and mind belong here for now and I will do anything in my power to make it as u have stolen every part of me, I don't think the same thoughts for a moment I remain one and not give a damn, all those i been clutching to tightly Im sorry, we let go here so I must do it everywhere, asta pronto but we all know to well that pronto will be a few lives away so we be quietly grateful and farewell, I'm not ment to stick to your road or yours or yours , so ill let you go bid farewell let all these stars and past relics fold up, it's our time to make and take to create a high alone uninduced, a monster needs food Spain the belly button of being wrap up     Laura

did i say we have the life?..




malaga, costa del sol, melting pot hostel, relaxation haven

mali

Mali, (gardener) take me into your abode, let me learn your indian ways and meditate in your lowest cave among the draperies and incense, the pictures of the 70´s. Take me back 60 years to be born in Mexico, to travel the America of the 60´s, to bicycle to Brazil from Las Vegas and boat to Africa, wander through Europe and answer the call to India.





Let me paint and smoke and organise organisations to feed 1 family. to take part in gatherings of Auroville, learning to love one another and to become apart of the Universe. Let me see beauty...miek

wonderings wanderings

islamic key hole shaped doors inlaid with mozaic tiles and ancient painted walls guide us through the zigzagging paths up and down granadas hills. stunning white walls burn the blue skies and drain the blues of barcelona from our feet. four hours of wandering, our aussie walking tour guide uploading thousands of years of history into dimmed train travel brains. talk of harems, beautiful blonde women bathing stolen from the north, the sultans observing from above would throw an orange at the one they wanted to spend the night with.

fountains tinkling everywhere, cyprus trees standing tall, hidden gates opened to us to cool down in dark gardens where mixes of devout muslims once lazed in, until crazy spanish monarchs catholicized everyone, with the risk of being ´relaxed to god´if not. in 2005 the first mosque was built since granada was handed over 500 years ago.. the call of prayer is sung at sunset over the arabian incense shops, the hookah shops and the kebab bars. everything about this town is so buzzing with arabian culture.

tapas lunch in a paved square outside the old gate still hanging with the weights of thieves whose hands were lopped off hundreds of years ago. street art and buskers evading the cops by the lookout of the alhambra and deserty sierra nevada mountains. showers and drawn out siestas till 9pm, lying on crisp sheeted beds by cool tiled walls then to search out laura found on the roof terrace. bean bags , low seats, sangria and apple hookah pipes with the musky crescented moon glinting through the arches of sandy towers. we look over crumbling rooves , low lights and tinkles of laughter surrounded by aussie mates from all over the place. definitely making enough contacts back home, starting to wonder whether we travelled the wrong way..
delicious crab salad (free tapas with every drink wooo) scooped down with beers and sangria at a cosy wooden table on some unknown path to the east. kebabs full of deliciousness and chatter of future reincarnations with our melbourne compatriots.

hoping of one day having interesting tales like the old man living in a gypsy cave, his gold limited edition porsche parked in his garage cave and stories of india tied with his belt...miek

life..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJdgkyOzWOs

watch eddie vedder's soundtrack for eat pray love. wish we could have a soundtrack to our lives. one day i will give up everything and live amongst the rice paddies in south east asia or grow maise and chickens on the east coast of africa wearing floating skirts and fall in love with travelling men. for now ill just dream..miek

Glimpse to our paranoias, natural fantasy.
Searching the rabbit holes- to and fro, to and fro.
Different but the same old fears. Proportional to the resistivity of the material,
huge portions, you loathsome troll, don't keep me on your bridge.
Notion of friction, Fiction, Paper pencil keep me a while.
Quick, But, Majesty teach me before time catches the rats.
The rats aren't worthy, just some scribbles of your pride,
knocked on the head, by mr misled, taken for a ride, then dumped by the side.
Truth or Delusion.
A swift push over, you sly cunt, so discreat I can't notice, I thought the push was a lift of fresh air
comfort under my feet, no magic carpet ride, insted a push into oblivion,
The land I ran over before
And the clock sullenly positions and removes all evidence

The dreamer, The wizard, The lover

We'll all find our own way to dance and purr so calm down, you think my mind is gone with the wolves but when the sun burns and the oceans dry you will be the one asking where is my mind. 'when i arrive home i'll ask tom to build me a wok the size of that flowerpot so ican host cool dinner parties'Lei 'one room to paint, one to dance, one to eat' hello mr bank can we borrow a couple of mil to start our ever evolving business. We beat the train window like a drum scream the clash and the italians laugh aswe exhaust our energy and bursting adrenilin. i've always looked at those bums in the train stations and wanted to grow up and be just like them with know where to go covered in mud and ripped dreams i laugh uncontrollably looking at us as images out of my dreams. Take a morning wonder the streets coloured pastel fresh fruit markets with old italian fishermen poking at my lip ringmaking jokes about fish hooks headphones in strolling the galleries lining the old marina sun beaming on my face and one huge smile as i smell the salt and hear the waves lapping at the cliffs, please keep me cinque terre, reserve the fastest most exy train to barcelona with 5 min stopover connecting train oh lovely our connecting train is 25 min delay oops we try communicating with italians they laugh at our stupidity and all we do is sit anxiously biting our nails hoping the train cathes up and praying that someone pipes up saying i can help i speak english, laughing nervously about thepossibility of spending the night in some train station 3 italian men sit discussing our situation we watch in anticipation hoping to understand some words they call over aheap of young guys in hope that they can break the language barrier instead the carriage turns into a big conversation of confusion and everyone just ends up laughing and using exaggerated hand movements the situation has moved from stressful to extremely amusing with loud italians yelling over us, we get to platform 1 and everyone jumps off and drags us to platform 18 with one fat italian man with a briefcase leading the crew followed by lei and i, 15 kilos on back and 10 on our fronts and groceries in our hands, we sprint as fastas we can with a heap of people leading us and a heap of young local teens running after us to join in the fun, like in those movies where everyone assists the pregnant lady to the hospital in a mad rush, we make it just before the doors close collapsing in a sigh of relief and miraculous disbelief looking back to a platform full of crazy people laughing and waving at us wondering what the fuck is going on. i love italians!
'powerlines that look like cotton candyin the sun and lollipops dug into the sides of cliffs with tiny windows covered by cloth or weathered slatters allowing little glimpses. I wake up disorientated to a train chugging away thinking that its mollie sniffing at my bedroom door take off my complimentary eye mask see the unfamiliar surroundings remembering im on the train to barcelona left with this thought i get too excited to go back to sleep and instead spend the night listening to spanish podcasts.

http://www.lineacinqueterre.com/index.html
http://www.myspace.com/majinknauss
intiguing artistsand lovely people

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyRAHKTy6hI
beautiful losers

I want to tell you a story
About a little man
If I can.
A gnome named Grimble Grumble.
And little gnomes stay in their homes.
Eating, sleeping, drinking their wine.
He wore a scarlet tunic,
A blue green hood,
It looked quite good.
He had a big adventure
Amidst the grass
Fresh air at last.
Wining, dining, biding his time.
And then one day - hooray!
Another way for gnomes to say
Hoooooooooray.
Look at the sky, look at the river
Isn't it good?
Look at the sky, look at the river
Isn't it good?
Winding, finding places to go.
And then one day - hooray!
Another way for gnomes to say
Hoooooooooray.
Hooooooooooooooray.

spanish territory; men with sexy accents, wafts of deliciousness from tapas bars, siestas and general rambleness



toothy grins for aunty miek, enticing me home



i love europe and its buskers



leaning over the curved iron balcony, Rambla de Catalunya below. Three aussies and a Canadian, sipping 60c wine from cartons. Faces shining, laughter floating

..

Bopping away to fizzys r'n'b list 7000 new songs on my ipod woo :) its amazing how music makes you feel. Rips away your inhibitions. Makes you tingle in places you've never felt before. Bob your head, sway your hips, swing your hair. Its a sort of delirium.

Trying to work out life, all up and down nonstop. Love travelling by myself, just love travelling. You realise that life is made up of so many stupid human rules that you dont need. You feel so free, floating around i guess you only know what im talking about once you do it. Life and love isnt one set thing, but a series of beautiful connections, adding personal fuzzy things that make you you. "you are writing the story of your only life every single minute of every day" (thanks lexie) i wish i could just go arh stuff it and give up routine life and escape into the sunset like they do in movies. 1400$ phone bills dont help haha oops. And mothers depressing emails dragging you back to earth.

Love the idea of selling my car, staying here and learning dutch, french, spanish. Snowy winter, crisp christmas, ice-skating and weekend trips to london, markets and chic clothes :) history oozing out beneath my feet. Beautiful men :) one who just wont get out of my head even when strolling the streets of sunny barcelona, flying over the mediterranean. Time spent there just went too fast. Why do we make things so bloody complicated? 

Bought a book of poems by leonard cohen - book of longing haha name has nothing to do with it.. He makes me laugh/smile

You have been told to 
"go with the flow" 
but as you know 
from your studies,
there is no flow, 
nor is there actually
any coming or going.
These are merely
helpful concepts 
for the novice monk.
You can start smoking again, 
and what is called "your death"
and what is called "your life"
you can watch now
through the eyes of wisdom.
This is why
the Sages of Japan
named their cigarettes
"Hope" and "Peace"
and "Peace Light" and "Short Hope"
and "Short Hope Light."

There are so many philosophies in life, they fit a little bit but basically its a big jumble of colours and you can do whatever the hell you want. .
Now im going to head off down the coast of spain. Valencia, murcia, grenada and seville. Lisbon, madrid. Lyon, just giving myself one more anguish, paris, and holland. I am going to pay my bills and not think of the future, because before i know it ill be back having freesias and irises swimming before my eyes and letting numbers speeding up and down in unknown places become larger than other humans and experiences.

Stunned

Swiss flags fluttering proudly in the warm italian wind, next to the dark wooden houses cast deep in shadow by the looming mountains. Id be waving proudly too, these mountains dont stop at scraping the sky, they are the sky! They swallow the clouds which mist around their monstrous bellies. Cars race through the powerlines and pines taking no notice of the steady craggy presences. I want to cause a roadblock make them wind down their windows and YELL do you realise where you are!? Gasps, hisses of breath stolen from our stomachs. 10 hours spent on the road unnoticed steadily rising and descending meandering roads. Strolled through an icy blue glacier. Through that is, not on :) inched our way along a canyon path, filling three cameras. Dozed off in the car tired from so much wide eyed wonder only to wake up again to gasp and click away. Photos coming by the way.

Were totally spoilt by a beautiful swiss family, feeding us delicious swiss foods.. Yes melted cheesy things :) true about the swiss being organised, sheesh they'd have a nightmare in aus. Ate wayyyy too much chocolate... miek