I flew to Osaka in Japan to spend a week with my cousin. The intensity of Japanese culture and lifestyle is so overwhelming, to experience it, is the only way it can be understood.
I then returned to Brisbane for 4 weeks of partying hard and drinking heavily.
In mid December I flew to Thailand for 3 weeks to meet my Brother. The plan was : 5 days in Bangkok (party central); 5 days on Phuket where we would meet my cousin on Christmas day; 3 days on Koh Phi Phi (a paradise island) before returning to Bangkok for a massive new year - massive in terms of alcohol consumption.
Christmas day started late after a heavy night at the Banana club in Phuket - with a mini Christmas tree which I stole from a go-go bar, earlier that evening. After picking up my cousin we started playing ridiculous drinking games at a bar, although we were all very heavily drunk we decided to have one last beer at another bar. Somehow this turned into an excuse to buy a massively expensive Christmas dinner, consisted of 6 prawns each the size of a family car !.
New years day started early as we needed to get from Phi Phi to Bangkok, after nearly missing the ferry, then the airport bus, then the plane, we did make it. With the 8 hour journey behind us, the drinking and partying could commence - highlights include falling out of my wheelchair, braking my glasses and falling down stairs all with a high number of beautiful women ‘in tow’. The nights activities ending at 7 am, 24 hours after origination in Koh Phi Phi.
Me and my Brother left Thailand in early January, to spend 3 weeks in Bali. We spent several days and very drunken nights parting, being my brothers birthday it was our obligation !. After leaving the tourist ghetto of Kuta, we a ferry over to Lombok.
On Lombok we hired a 4 wheel drive for 3 days. We took it upto its limits and beyond its performance capabilities. Hiring a car is the best way to see a country you are visiting. We saw more of the ‘real’ Indonesia in those 3 days than I have ever experienced before. From the little local villages to the amazingly friendly people. The realism of happiness within lives of poverty is something that is unrealised by western nations. An incident of having no petrol in the car bought the point home - driving halfway around Lombok in 5th gear, up vertical hills and neutral down the other side, in the dark and pouring rain with the imminent problem of running out of petrol.
We returned to Kuta in Bali for our last week. Did we make the most of our party time on this party island ? I’d tell you if I could remember, I was drunk all week !.
I then flew to Hong Kong for 2 days before I returned to Brisbane, Australia - where I had spent much of the previous year. I spent 4 weeks in Brisbane before waking one morning and deciding to go to America, immediately. So that morning I booked to leave for L.A. the same afternoon. I flew straight to Vegas - 24 hour partying in the town where there are ‘no limits’. I spent 10 days hanging out with a good friend. Vegas is ............ indescribable, it’s one of those cities that you must experience to understand. It has a total holiday atmosphere, everyone is there to kick back and relax. There is always something going on, such as free entertainment or cheap 'all-you-can-eat' steak buffets at 4am in the morning !. I drank cheap drinks and partied all night, every night.
I then returned to LA,the home of ............ well, anything and everything. I hung out for 2 days and went down to Venice beach where I spent the day 'people watching' - my favourite past-time !.
Again, I woke one morning and decided to return to England for a week. So again, that morning I booked to leave for London the same afternoon.
I spent a week back in England then returned to America.
I spent 10 days around Atlanta. I stayed with my friend Garry, his wife and beautiful 3 year old daughter who called me "liamy" which became "slimey" when I had my hair bleached. I went to fire fighting school with my mate Garry and he also persuaded me to go to church - 5 times - but we made up for our good behaviour by getting up to plenty of mischief !. I hung around at the fire station and with his firemen buddies who took me on the fire truck and four wheel driving. I then went down to New Orleans for 2 days.
After 10 days without alcohol at Garry’s, I had to make up for it. I met another stunning girl in New Orleans who I drank and partied with. I them flew up to Vancouver in Canada to meet a friend from Australia, Nicol.
We spent 2 weeks in Vancouver doing ............ not much really. I met a lot of my mates old friends, we went fishing (in a fish pond !) and we also went up to a ski resort called Whistler where I skied for the first time. The biggest problem was I was dragged along upside down, my head in the snow, under a chair lift !. But my greatest moment was when I was mistaken for a D.J. in a club.
I then returned to Brisbane, Australia for a few weeks but decided it was time for me to move-on, yet again !.
While I was back in Australia, I saw many of my old friends down at my old haunt the 'down under bar'. I went down to the Gold Coast for another wild night, clubbing at the ultra ‘cheesy’ club - 'Cocktails and Dreams'. I got the full VIP treatment - shown to the front of the queue, taken to the VIP bar and given free drinks, the proceedings ending at 5am in another drunken state. Obviously, the weekend didn't end there. Despite my severe hang over, me and the other hostel guests went out again the following night, getting even more drunk but finishing early at 4am !.
I then left Brisbane and headed up to Noosa for 3 more drunken nights and Hervey Bay for yet more drunken nights. I spent about a week in Hervey bay, doing nothing more than for eating fresh fish & chips and amazing Chinese prawn curry every day. Then I returned to Dingo for another drunken night in stereotypical outback Australia - Cowboys, horses, red dust and loads of wide open space.
I then headed for the ocean again, to Airlie beach and the Whitsunday islands. I went on a 3 day sailing cruise, Scuba diving, Para-sailing, Jet-skiing, and spent a day sea fishing. A most amazing day, where I caught trout the size of small children (3 or 4 foot long and very, very heavy) !.
For the 4th time, I decided to return to Dingo for a week, which was a great success. I spent a day making a didge’ - we found a tree (yellow box), cut it down, stripped it, sanded it then painted it. I also went on an overnight camp out where we sat round the campfire until 2am playing drinking games then slept under the stars - or tried to, it was freezing !.
My ‘main man’, ‘Macca’ took me for a ride in his 33 year old car, he started by pulling numerous crazed hand brake turns, then slid the car round a severely rutted field, over some major logs and flattened several tall shrubs - an activity called 'paddock bashing'. Generally the whole experience of doing nothing in the outback was great.
After my week at Dingo, I returned to Airlie beach. I decided to go on a fishing ‘buzz’. I bought some gear and I went down to a secluded pier each day - I never caught anything but its the whole 'tranquillity experience' of fishing in a beautiful place.
Although my days were peaceful, my nights certainly weren't. For 3 consecutive nights of my week’s stay, I drank a bottle of cheap champagne before going out to party the ‘Airlie’ way. On my south bound trip back to Brisbane, I decided to stop at Dingo again for my final drunken nights in the outback. On my fifth and final Dingo experience, I just sat in the sun by day ; reading & thinking and by night ; getting drunk with the help of the bottle of tequila I bought from Airlie beach..
I then returned to my spiritual home, Brisbane. Where after only 24 hours, I was bored, again. So I came to the conclusion that I should plan another trip, another 'mega'tastic trip - Las Vegas, Atlanta, New York, Rio in Brazil, London, Bangkok, Hong Hong and back to Australia !. I purchased another round the world airline ticket and away I went.
My first stop was Vegas, my 3rd visit, where I spent several drunken nights with my very good friend Jill. I went to several seedy strip clubs, saw Josh Wink DJ'ing at a dance club, and ate massive amounts of food at all-you-can-eat buffets at strange times of the night.
I then flew to Atlanta, Georgia where I stayed with another friend, Garry and his family. The highlight of my week was driving a borrowed electric scooter with no brakes around a large Wal-mart super-store with much driving abandon !. We also went to Six Flags, a famous American theme park where we went on every big ride, twice, proceeding directly to the front of every queue.
My flight to New York was financially beneficial !. United airlines forgot to load my wheelchair which meant I had to wait 5 hours for the next flight to bring it from Washington. For my patience, United airlines gave me paid for 4 nights in the Holiday Inn costing US$190 per night. In New York I saw 4 Broadway shows which cost only US$7 for people in wheelchairs and watched several videos with questionable content !.
I then flew down to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. I found Rio to be too ‘European’, the atmosphere and architecture were to much like France and Spain which I experienced and disliked several years ago. The positive side of Rio was the pristine beach and large number of big breasted beach babes in bikini’s. I spent my time in Rio at the beach watching ............. no, surveying .............. no, starring at the beautiful, tanned girls in bikini's. But my greatest achievement was single handedly, holding up the plane to London by 15 minutes !.