Some pictures from along the way

Bali Sunset!

At the zoo

Our sunset dinner on the beach

The boys at the club

My caddie and I on our golf trip

The crew at a bar in Semanac

Our camp the first night of traveling

The hot spring outside of Katherine

Lake Argyle outside Kunnunnura

Long time coming!

Well it's been a long time since I've posted anything so I have a lot to fill everyone in on! The last time I posted we were on our way to Darwin in the Northern Territory. After the night we stopped at the christian radio station we stopped by Lake Argyle. It was one of the biggest lakes I've ever seen! There were rolling hills all around and the water was so clear. The temperature was starting to heat up and we stopped in for a refreshing dip in the lake. We spent the rest of the day driving and arrived in Katherine in W.A. that night. We slept in our traveling partner's camper but it was miserably hot! Our tires were wearing down so we had to buy a couple new tires to make sure we arrived safely in Darwin. On our way out of Katherine we found a really nice hot springs to take a dip in. We also stopped at another swimming hole called Edith Falls half-way to Darwin. We arrived in Darwin in the evening and met up with a few of Tom and Brooke's friends and had a few drinks. This was my first experience in Darwin and I enjoyed it, but it was so humid! This would only get worse when we got to Bali(the humidity that is)! That gets me to the next adventure... Bali! I can only describe it as Mexico times a thousand! It is cheap, has beautiful beaches, good waves, and a party atmosphere! We did some fun activities like whitewater rafting, a day cruise to a local island, surfing, and golfing. There was a group of 11 of us and the 8 others were all aussies. During the trip we met some really cool people from New Zealand, Sumatra, other parts of Indonesia, California, Perth, and Melbourne. Through our travels I hope we are able to meet up with them again. Our friends had spent a month there last year and had met two locals named Darwin and Chandra. They were extremely nice people and helped us out with everything we needed! The nightlife was also pretty exciting around Bali. The clubs wouldn't get going until 2 am and would sometimes go all night(but of course I never stayed out past 11 pm)! After you left the club you'd just hop on the back of a transport(a moped) and they would take you home for about $1. Everything else was cheap too! Most times you could get an appetizer, an entree, and a drink for around $4. Our last night there we had a beautiful sunset meal on the beach. You actually went and picked out the fresh seafood you wanted and they would cook it up for you however you liked. It was one of my favorite experiences and it was a perfect ending to an amazing trip! Since then, we've been living in Darwin and working... kinda! For the first 3 weeks we were staying in hostels and we recently moved into a 2 bedroom apartment. I sleep on the fold-out couch but it's still a better deal than the hostels. Our apartment isn't too fancy but it's nice. We have a large rap around balcony where we spend most of our nights hanging out on. From one side of the balcony you can even see the ocean which is pretty neat! On the job side I'm supposed to start working at a surf shop type place next week. I'm not sure how many hours I will get a week so I might have to start looking for other options. I'm hoping that I can find a pub around here that is going to have the osu/cu football game on. They don't watch football here so it might be a struggle. Either way... I'll be rooting for the pokes! With Thanksgiving coming up... us 3 Americans are trying to extend the tradition to Australia. We have started planning our meal and I hope we can all come together and celebrate the friendships we've made along our journey. It will be hard without our families but I know they'll be there in our thoughts and prayers. So I hope that everyone is well back home and have a happy thanksgiving!

Random day

So this is really random that I'm writing you because I didn't think I would have internet or cell service for a week or so... but God works in mysterious ways... literally. We spent last night at a stop called Mary's River between broome and halls creek on the Great Northern Highway. We woke up this morning with the sun at 5 am and packed up and left. I was riding with tom and all 3 girls were in our car. Around 10:30 in the morning we passed an older couple that had a flat tire so we pulled over to help them. Three hours later and with a hole in the fuel tank we got the tire on. When tom was jacking their car up a screw from the jack pierced the fuel tank and we watched as 59 litres leaked out on to the ground. We waited for the tank to empty and then tried to repair it with a steel repair putty. It wouldn't hold a seal and we ended up taking them 100 km to the next town so they could call a tow truck. We waited at the next town, turkey creek or warnum, until they heard back from the towers at 3pm. From there the 8 of us (including tony and mary... and their dog muffy) trekked on for the 300 km to their home town, Kununurra. Come to find out they work for a christian broadcasting company who happen to have some spare beds for free to sleep in. The company they broadcast for is hcjb global voice and they broadcast the gospel, music, and news to china india fiji and places like that. It's a pretty cool little place and they also grow mangoes and bananas so we have as many of those as we can eat! Oh... and they have free wifi so i'm able to tell you this story. It's been a crazy day that included many sunburns, a small dog, a dead roo on the side of the road that smelled horrible, and after all a nice place to rest our heads. I hope the people aren't mad at us because all we were trying to do was help them out and we ended up immobilizing their car!
CHEERS!

Last day in Broome

The time has come for Broome and I to part ways and it's a bittersweet feeling. On one hand I'm excited to move on to a new place and see what adventures lay ahead. On the other, I've met so many good people here that it'll be hard to say goodbye. They've been there for me and have become part of my australian family. My last day of work wqas on wednesday and it felt great to not have to clean another room for a month or so! The pay was pretty good, but other than that I'm not a big fan of housekeeping. As for the traveling we're heading out at noon tomorrow. We're traveling with a couple and they're taking the backroads for the first day that is only accesible with a 4 wheel drive(which we dont have)! We'll only drive 5 or 6 hours a day so we'll be able to see some things in the towns we stop in. We'll be staying at campgrounds and sleeping in the car and in a tent. The weather has been fairly nice at night so hopefully it will stay that way so we can sleep peacefully. We should get to Darwin on wednesday night and we fly out from there thursday afternoon. We'll be leaving our car parked at a friend of the couple we're traveling with's business in Darwin. I'm looking forward to being able to relax on the beach and also experience the Indonesian culture... and the cheap food! The past 2 months have been fun and there's no telling what the next couple have in store for me. Hope all is well back home... and go pokes! Cheers...
TJ

A little view of Broome

Another day at the beach

The pool at the resort

Our beautiful car

Hey everyone! So, since I updated last we've finalized our plans for Bali! Our last day of work will be the 9th of October and we will leave the next day for Darwin. I believe it's about 1200 miles from Broome to Darwin and should take us 4-5 days. We will be staying in campgrounds when we travel and will sleep in the car and in a tent. We're traveling with another couple that works at the resort with us. They are really nice and have been to Bali many times before. We fly out of Darwin on the 15th and will be there for 10 nights. We're staying at a nicer hotel for 7 days called the Bounty. It's a popular hotel for younger people and it's close to most things. We'll also be staying for 3 night in a budget hotel. We did this so we could save some money and still make sure we saw as much as possible. We'll fly back to Darwin and start making our way to the East Coast. The first place we want to see is a town called Cairns. It's a popular town and is supposed to be beautiful. It will be the beginning of the rainy season by the time we get to cairns and hopefully it won't affect us too much. From Cairns we are hoping to head south and work on a banana farm. We know a guy that owns one, so hopefully we'll be able to work there for a couple weeks and earn some money. After this month or so worth of travels and adventures there's no telling where we'll end up! I've heard the area around Aerli beach is a good spot to find a job and it's high on our list of prospects. Recently in Broome I've seen some pretty cool things. This morning I saw a Japanese fighter from WWII that had crashed in the ocean right by our resort. You can only see it a couple times a year because of the tides and this was one of them. Also, we saw some fossilized dinosaur prints. They were pretty cool but I'm still a little skeptic if they're real or not. Also, a group of us went on a cruise around the bay on an old pearl lugger. It was a relaxing day capped off by a beautiful sunset. Ill try to upload some photos for everyone to see as soon as possible. I hope all is well and everyone is enjoying life.
Much love,
TJ
p.s. Go Pokes!

Work... at 4 a.m.??

Hey everyone!
Sorry it's been so long since I updated last... but life's been pretty busy lately. I've been working the last 8 days and I have to go into work at 4 am tomorrow morning. It's gonna be a rough day especially since I probably won't be able to fall asleep until 10 or 11. I have to go in so early because another guy didn't show up for his shift yesterday and so he got fired. It won't be much fun, but it'll be nice at noon when i'm done with work. In other news, we will be heading to the Indonesian island of Bali in a month. We're gonna spend a week there and then drive to the east coast once we get back to australia. It's gonna be around 3000 km from darwin to the general area on the east coast we're gonna go to. Needless to say, the three of us are going to be very close after this trek! It'll probably take around 2 weeks to make the drive and then we'll start looking for jobs wherever we stop. We're heading to Bali with an australian couple and some of there friends. They have been there before and know the places to do and see. I'm looking forward to being able to have a week of rest and relaxation before we make our voyage in the car. I have two days off on saturday and sunday so I'll hopefully be albe to upload some photos and I will probably be on Skype some. I'll try and get on in the morning time so if you'd like to chat it'll probably be saturday or sunday night around 9 oklahoma time. Hope all is well back home.
Tj

Day Off

So today is my day off! We also got paid on wednesday so I think I'm gonna celebrate and go do some shopping. I haven't been around town much but there's an area called Chinatown that has some shops and we also have a little mall here. In Broome, on the weekends, they have a local market with all sorts of jewlery and crafts and food. I'm gonna head over to that and check it out too. I'm thinking a nice curry dish for lunch sounds pretty sweet! Also, some people from work and I are planning a sunset camel trek on the beach. I've barely ever ridden a horse and definetly never ridden a camel... so we'll see how it goes. It's supposed to be really cool. During the week I've just been working all day and trying to get to the pool or the beach as much as possible after work. Last night was a coworkers birthday so we had a little celebration at the hotel bar. Te chef cooked us some bar food and I was lucky enough to burn my lip on a meat pie. It blistered up and I now look like I have a severe case of herpes! Other than that life is pretty good. I made a decent amount of money on my last paycheck and I'm just enjoying life. Cheers.
Tj

Some more pics

Another koala... they're just so darn cute!

Some random guys with the Darling Harbour in Sydney in the background

The infamous Bondi Beach

So these are just a couple pics from my journey so far. It's been exciting, boring, nervous, wild and always an adventure! I've started to get in the groove of working and it's going pretty well. I have Sunday off, so I might go out with some friends from the resort tomorrow after work. I heard that the housewarming party was fun, and I'm sad that I missed it. I miss all of you and hope you're doing well!

Much love,

TJ

Work

So the last two days have been exciting in that I have started working. I am doing housekeeping and it not all that cool! I don't have to wear a maid's outfit... but I'm realizing the reasons I went to college. The first day wasn't too bad... I learned how to do everything and even made a couple of new friends. Today, I considered quitting during lunch. I wish I didn't need the money. I worked 9.5 hours today and it was hot and humid outside! My legs are killing me but I'm enjoying it here. It's a good experience... at least it's building character. Have to go... my internet is almost up!
Much love,
TJ

A couple pics

Just a couple pics:

Town beach, right by the hotel

Not in Broome, but a cute little Koala

You want me fluff yo pillow?

Well hello again from Broome! So everyone can be proud of me... I got a job... doing housekeeping! Anyone that has seen a room that I have lived in for more than 5 hours will be shocked at this, but we'll see how it goes. I'm not too excited about it, but the hours aren't bad, and it actually pays pretty well! With the job, I'm also able to live on-site. It's and older motel that the Oaks, the resort i'm working for, bought and turned into their staff quarters. I'm living with another guy in a room that's similar to a dorm room. We have our own bathroom and shower, so it's alright. We live there with about 20 other workers who are all pretty cool. So of my favorite times so far have been a group of us sitting on the porch and just hanging out and talking. The workers are mainly from Australia, but there are some from Korea, Germany, China, and Japan. Although they all speak english, it's been harder than I thought it would be to understand the Australian accent. The weather here has been pretty good. It gets into the low 90s during the day and at night it is beautiful! I've been spending quite a bit of time at the beach or by the pool. The beach is only 5 minutes away, so it's too easy not to go. I drove a car for the first time last night, and it was weird. They drive on the left side of the road, and the wheel is on the right side of the car. It wasn't too bad, it just takes a little getting used to! We don't have wireless at the hotel so I have to come to an internet cafe. I'll try and keep updated with everyone as much as possible and hopefully be able to skype with people soon. Hope all is well.
Much love,
Taylor

Broome...

So I arrived in Broome last night and have enjoyed it so far. If you try to find it on a map, its in the very far northwest of Australia. It's in the state Western Australia, which is none to be sparsely populated but with some great scenery. The population of Broome varies from 14,000 during the rainy season (October to January) to around 40,000 around now. During the wet season no tourists come and the weather is extremely hot and humid. I was told if we didn't leave before the second week or so of october we wouldn't be able to travel in our car as a result of the heavy rains and flooding. I was only on the beach for a short bit, but it looked pretty. I think I have a job either working in the resturaunt... or maybe doing a little housekeeping! It won't be the most fun... but it's a job and I get a cheap place to live. We went to a movie last night at a cool little outdoor theater in town and saw the most depressing and most boring movie imaginable! It was about a couple who were homeless and never talked to each other and they were always getting high by inhaling gasoline! The whole movie I was like "what kind of weird person made this!" After that we ate dinner with 9 of the workers from the Oaks, the resort i'll be working at. Today I think I might go fishing with one of the girl's friends who's living here. Other than that I think a nice relaxing day by the pool doesn't sound too bad! I've got some pictures that I'll try and pst soon... but I forgot my camera today. See ya!

The last couple days

I spent most of saturday walking around. Later that night I was able to catch a rugby match where the Syney Bulldogs were facing the Carberrara Raiders. The hometown Bulldogs ended up winning the match with a goal-line stand with a minute left.

Today, my roommate Peter and I went to the world-famous Bondi Beach. There was a large running race so there were people everywhere. It was very crowded, but still so beautiful. After that we decided to head to Darling Harbor and check out the wildlife museum. Here we were able to see Koalas, Kangaroos, crocodiles, and the most deadly spider snake and birds in the world(which all happen to reside around Sydney!) It was a fun day, but definetly an exhausting one! My feet are killing me... so I've gotta go sit in the sauna and have a couple beers and everything will be perfect! I hope everyone is having fun back in the states!

Much love,
Taylor

SYDNEY!

Welp, I arrived in Sydney in the early morning hours Australian time. The time here is 15 hours ahead of Oklahoma... so you can view this as a message from the future! We just took a walk through "the rocks" district and around the Opera house. I'll be able to check into my hostel in a couple of hours and it looks to be a pretty cool place. Hopefully the rooftop pool has a hot tub attached! It's a little chilly today with a high of around 22 degrees Celsius... which is around 71 degrees Fahrenheit. I've met two new friends and we've been walking around together and hopefully we'll meet some more tonight. Well, it's about time for me to take a nap... so i'll try and keep updating as much as possible!
p.s. I think we have plans to attend another ice bar tonight... Cheers!

Pre-Departure

With Hannah and my Mom's help, I am setting up my blog for people to keep up with me while I am "Down Under!" I leave tomorrow (Wednesday, August 5th) at 1:30 PM and will arrive (if everything goes as planned) in Sydney, Australia, on Friday, August 7th at 6:30 AM. Sydney time is 15 hours ahead of Oklahoma time. From there, I will spend a couple of days in Sydney before heading to Broome on Tuesday. Sydney is on the SE part of the continent and Broome is located on the NW part of the continent so it will be quite a flight!

Stay tuned and I'll try to update my blog as much as possible. I will also be checking my Facebook and email. My email is taylorj87@sbcglobal.net. My Skype name is taylormacb59

Until then... let's put another shrimp on the barbie!!!