I really feel like being at the very ending of a stunning story...and the very beginning of a new one!!!

Hi there everyone...

You know...it's a bit sort of like when you're reading the last chapter of a book you're enjoying very much.
You're a bit sad but finally willing to find a new one, a new adventure you'd like the same way.

Wow...It barely happened before...my blog is at last updated!!!
I do really think keeping in touch with your friends is a full time job when you're traveling for such a long time!!!

I'm now in Brisbane, after 2 fantastic weeks spent in the magical and surreal surroundings of the arts factory backpackers lodge, in Byron bay (New South Wales).

I'm staying at Michelle's, a friend I actually met in Byron bay, we got on very well straight away.
In Byron, I was camping with Rich, my friend from Bristol who I met in Broome nearly 7 months ago (see previous posts) and with who we knew we were gonna catch up again at some point and have fun together, and the arts factory was a perfect context for it indeed.

We unfortunately had to split up for some reason (not bad reason though), you know, you can't always stick to your plans...that's a very realistic thing when you're traveling and it 'd rather sound utopic to me for those who reckon they could.
Anyway...we've been to the east coast blues and roots music festival together, being drenched from the very first day as it's been pissing down all over easter week end, living in a tiny 2-man tent with all our freaking stuff everywhere (although we had a comfy inflatable mattress which was half way deflated all the time and with everything soaked anyway lol) and it was just a brilliant time together.
Thank you Rich as if you ever read this before having you on the phone, thank you again for everything my friend and I'll see you shortly back in England!

Anyway...it's rather tough to talk about feelings right now and I'd rather say I'm preparing and organising myself to get back home in the best conditions I can (in any way indeed although I'd tend to hiss that the psychological might obviously be the toughest and trickiest).
Well...we'll see how it goes!

Some photos will be uploaded in further posts...

Don't you forget, I'm heading back by Tuesday, May 8th and whether you live in France or elsewhere my friends, I'm looking forward to seeing you ASAP!

That will be the achievement of this whole story and the very beginning of a new one...

I love you all...to the best...

See you very soon,

Carpe Diem,

Your friend, Nico

Tripping and chilling out in Byron bay- April 2007

Hi all,

A delectable sunrise from the easterly most point in OZ...
One of the last ones unfortunately.
Been chilling out here for a couple of weeks and although it's a bit too full on, it's still very refreshing.
I'm heading back home by May 8th after roughly 800 days of emotions of all kind on the road and I'm looking forward to seeing you back in Europe.
I'm so emotional...my quest is nearly over, it was the trip of a lifetime...I need to look back and analyse...oh damn it I think too much...I'll seize each second left in Australia...life is beautiful...everyday is good because of being alive...

Take care, and see you soon then.

Farewell party- Perth, April 07

This event was the very previous day of my departure and I enjoyed it very much...it was exactly what I was expecting to seize my time left in Perth...suitable indeed in many ways, notably the madness and non- senseness that had been floating around the past couple of weeks. I had to pack up so I joined the lively troop later than most of the others and was a wise choise for as soon I got there (it was officially a BBQ party at Trev's, Brian's and Andrea's, a classic) things turned out into crazyness as usual (not that I mean it's because of me!!!)

It was a great last night in Perth and Scarborough with, as you can see, guitar jamming with Aaron from Canada, twister playing with Sally, Carl and Andrea (at least we're not playing the strip version of it)...

With Aaron, having the munchies...

With Teddy, crazy french boy...

Andrea and Sally were in a pretty good mood!

Once again, all these innocent (or less innocent sometimes ;-)) fresh and chidish smiles will stick to my mind for ever...

Furthermore, these 6 months spent in Western Australia will be engraved in my heart forever...from Broome to Perth, it was THE highlight of my quest and even though U2 did not, I somehow reckon I've found (at least spiritually and emotionally) what I was looking for...thank you all.

Blues n roots music festival in Fremantle- April 07

I've learnt something very important during my travels...music is BIG.
I always considered myself as a musician for I started reading music when I was 9 or 10, playing the guitar when I was 16 and by now jamming along with a few instruments...anyway, what I meant is although music had always been something special to me, I never got into it before as much as I did whislt traveling in New Zealand and then Australia.

Whatever mood or state of mind I am in, Music is my best Ally and my Guitar my best Friend.

I've seen loads of amazing artists live such as Jack Johnson and Xavier Rudd in Wellington, Fat Freddy, Katchafire, Anika Moa, some local bands, all the bands of the big day out and beyond that Ben Harper twice in a week (after the very first time in France) from the blues and roots music festival in Fremantle (20km south of Perth) to the one in Byron bay...without mentionning Missy Hingins and some random stunning live performers in a very chilled out and laid back atmosphere, much less full on than the big day out...probably around 10000 people in Fremantle and 20000 in Byron bay.
The good stuff is I've got most of the CDs in my case when I head back home...

With Teddy and Aeoffe, my companions for this memorable adventure and by the way, that was the day following the fancy dress party and I thought it would have been funny to get there with my make up I couldn't get rid off and Jack Sparrow's piratelike jacket!


Ben Harper on stage was just out of space...In Byron bay, he did what I've never seen nor heard of before, singing unplugged in front of 15000 people!!! Can you imagine??!!
With all these drunken people telling one another to shut the hell up...and it did work!!!
It was sooo beautiful and breath taking.
The most intense and brilliant communion I have ever seen between an artist live and the audience.
(Even far beyond and above U2 and 55000 people I had seen for my very first decent concert in 1997 and which is my favourite band I thought it would never be disthroned!)
When Ben Harper left the stage, his eyes was watering so bad after saying;
"Byron you make us feel very special...".

Fancy dress party- April 07

Well...it was THE communial achievement of the 2 and half months spent in Perth, the most isolated city in the world...and obviously at Scarborough backpackers.
Everyone played the game and was game for this stunning fancy dress party in reference with Stacey and Joanne's departure, as well as mine.
All the people who had been part of the story fancy dressed themselves up for this very emotionnal and special event, about 20 of us, gathering some random who just checked in and stuff...but every single person hired an outfit to celebrate...and as a backpacker, it's not everyday you can afford to spend between 30 and 60 bucks on a bloody costume!
But magic happens...we were all broke and skint and shit and we didn't mind nor complain for this very special moment...we knew it was gonna be awesome, unique and unforgettable!

The first photo is Joanne having the munchies as a beautiful ballet dancer...and here the fearsome captain Jack Sparrow (I was quite proud of my outfit though I was hesitating with Legolas) with Claudella I mentionned in a previous post, owner of the hostel.
She is once again a very special person and a friend and I was stunningly happy of seeing her joining in the party for the whole day...



Here with Carl, my room mate for 1 and half month, english as well as Will my other and previous room mate and as well as the entire first floor of the hostel for about 2 months!!!

Stacey in wonderwoman, Jo and Andrea

The whole crew before heading out to one of the local pubs all dressed up...the cruel but positive thing is that although I might never see some of these faces ever again (I'm not being pessimistic just realistic), I'll never forget the grin stuck on them and it'll remain like that till the day I die...

People working hard at some stage and earning their money as any westerner would do, but seizing the day and enjoying life to the best constantly...and smiling all the time.

I reckon it did suit me very well during the past 27 months and I'll miss that very much behind the fact of losing this whole backpacking atmosphere thing.

Jack with his ladies...the following one is Teddy (left) and Paul as 2 70's fashionnable freaks!

They look awesome!

Tim, kiwi boy, with a beautiful and suitable native indian costume, next to Claudella.

As you've noticed, the setting changed as we set off to the Saint, local pub.

That was the funniest thing ever to see 20 or 25 freaks dressed up in outfits...and yet pissed as f**k turning up in this club.

I guess it must have been very entertaining for the other hundreds of people sticking around!

Jo and Tiffan (Zorro)

Carl, Trev and Andrea

Most of the mental team posing by the bar...well, that was about midnight (we kicked off by 3pm!!!) and I won't comment our state after 7 or 8 hours drinking up and about 10 or 12 shots each in that pub...we ended up in another pub, the stanford arms, in an abolute and undescribable nonsense a few hours later...wasted...

With Jess and Kate.

Ambar night club- January, February 2007

Well...that was a very special experience.
Most of you guys have heard of it through my emails...but now, you actually can contextalize the scene of the madness.
When I first got to Perth after the west coast trip, I was broke (as always when I got to somewhere new lol) and I needed a job straight away.
As I was working as a (very popular lol) barman in Broome, I had some connections in Perth and I got this job which sorted me out.
I thought I was meant to replace someone for just one night but it turned out Simon, the manager, wanted me to integrate the crew and to work along for a bit longer, which didn't bother me...I was actually very keen!
I was working on fridays and saturdays from randomly 9, 10 0r 11pm till...usually 7ish in the morning...which was exausting especially when I found the other job (I indeed had 2 jobs in Perth for about 2 and half months) as it was a full time, so once again I was screwed up with no day off at all for bloody ages.
Anyhow...Ambar (the night club) was club number 1 in the whole Australia in 2006 concerning electro, house and breaks...I loved it so much, heaps more than I was expected!
Being addicted to Ambar easily occurs, and it's very hard to put in words.
I used to work there for about 6 weeks and unfortunately decided to quit for the combination of the 2 jobs was a bit too much to deal with especially such a short term before leaving the country.
It was one of the most amazing working experiences I had in Australia.

With Gillian behind the bar having a shot...well, I'll be waiting up to see yous face to face to tell you all the stories for it'd be a bit too trashy on here.

Thumb up, Simon, awesome manager, very efficient and competent person.

The actual dancefloor...too much crazyness to be explained...

Scarborough beach backpackers- Mid January till early April 2007

The Scarborough backpackers hostel's been my home for exactly 76 days in Perth.
A lovely setting a bare 50 metres from the indian ocean with the most amazing (I found it hard to get the right superlative as she truly is a special person) owner and manager, Claudella.
Just a few photos showing the general setting of the hostel, with the pool area, my room that looks very much like the other dormitories...

Stacey and I on that day we decided to organize a BBQ, a classic...

With Leano and Steph sizzling the sausages...

BBQ area...

And later on chilling out by the common area...if you ever go to Perth, you HAVE TO pop in...and Claudella will look after you... you'll be bewitched throughout the hostel's stunning and peaceful atmosphere anyway!

Toga party- February 2007

A fantastic day with the backpackers crew...
We started off at the hostel (and getting in the mood as well- no comment ;-)) and went to Andrea's (my english friend from Broome), Brian's and Travor's (irish lads) where we all were kindly invited.
As it's been happening pretty much all along in Perth, it wasn't as internationalized as it could have been in another context with the same amount of people though a lot of fun.
Don't get me wrong, it was brilliant but what I meant is most of the crew was from the UK and Ireland...a few Aussies though and one french!!!

Andy in a straw corona hat, from Scotland.
My 2 gorgeous "flatmates" (as we used to live next door at the hostel for nearly 3 months), from Manchester, Stacey the blonde one and Joanne the brunette.

Emma and Andrea...Broome crew as I actually met Emma in Broome as well.

Just mentionning that with Andrea, we've done loads of different trips with one another;

from bodyboarding in a cyclone in Broome, spending a night boosing in a wrecked car, going to the big day out, a toga party or a bit later on such as a mutual achievement of Perth lifestyle, organizing this crazy fancy dress party!!!

Nick from Melbourne (on the left), Andy and my mate Will from London who has been my room mate for 1 and half month, he 's a funny one.

Andrea with Susan (right) and Christina from Ireland.

Big day out 07- February 4th 07

The big day out is one of the biggest musical event in Australasia.
It gathers about 40000 people enjoying a large amount of artists coming from all over the world touring for a couple of weeks.
The show kicks off in Auckland and then sets off to Australia with respectively Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.
I missed out last year in New Zealand but I made it to Perth early Feb.
Although a bit too much comercialized and full on, it was awesome getting thrilled on a beautiful summer day to see a few interesting bands e.g. the killers, muse, violent femmes...

I met Andrea a few months ago, in Broome, and it was brilliant catching up again in Perth!!!

Comet McNaught, late January 2007, Scarborough beach

Comet McNaught happened to be the brightest comet in the past 42 years...rather hard to observe though for it was very close to the horizon and the sun.
I still didn't find out if it was observable from the northern hemisphere, you guys might be able to enlighten me when I get back.
It's been visible for a few days between the 15th and 20th of January and was a delightful and enchanting show.
I found these 2 photos very interesting.
They both obviously are set on a long time of exposure.
The first one is a wide angle shot of the conjonction of the comet on the left hand side and Venus aand the moon on the right hand side.
Furthermore, if you enlarge the picture, you can distinctly see all the spectrum colors from dark red to dark indigo (bottom to the top).
I very much the second shot for it looks amazingly surreal...much more like some sort of drawing from elsewhere!
Both shots have been taken from Scarborough beach in Perth.
I felt very lucky and priviledged that night.

West coast trip, Broome to Perth, January 2007

Broome to Perth is 2400km of wilderness, especially the northern part of the trip...we've driven an extra 400km with a few detours on the way down.
It obviously was a bush camping trip as well, camping all the way down in the most remote areas!
I was travelling with 2 swedish ladies of the nicest company, and we got lucky enough to get a relocation brand new toyota landcruiser!!!
To me, W.A. (Western Australia) is the place to be or to travel throughout.
I met so many people in Perth and they were like..."oh yeah well I'm heading towards the east coast afterwards because it's fun there and bla bla bla..."
But they definitely miss out for so few of them will make their way back to the west coast!
W.A. is the real genuine Australia.



Typical harsh landscapes in the northern part of the trip...not very comfortable to sleep on there either!

Well...the very first morning, I was still half asleep and I felt something slithering beneath my tent...it got pretty much right by my head and I tried to smack it with my elbow for I couldn't be bothered going out of the tent to check it out.

I forgot about it and when I folded up my tent a couple of hours later, it actually was a death adder, one of the deadliest snakes in the world, snuggling beneath my skull!

I thought about picking it up but swiftly forgot about it as I was in the middle of nowhere, if I had got bitten...

Observing my prey...

On the second day, we burst a tyre on the way, something rather rare with this type of cars...it was just due to the extreme heat of the tar I reckon...it was about 45 degrees out there, and that's what we had to bear when fixing the damn wheel during an hour.

You know this sort of day you feel like each gust of wind seems like coming from an baking hot oven...lol

We did it!

Camping in the middle of nowhere by the sand dunes in Coral bay...quite comfy with the short moor on the ground.

The following day, we've been 4 wheel driving on the dunes like 80km/ h , it was such a stunning experience!

Coral bay and the pure crystal waters, that is so typical of the indian ocean...a daydream.

That's the type of roadhouses you have all the way down to perth if you get the munchies or whatever.

Getting below the tropic of Capricorn hadn't happened in 8 months!

The pinnacles desert, about 2 hours driving north of Perth, different and geologically very interesting!

A few kangaroos by hangover bay... lol

Sarah on the left and Annika in the middle, my swedish companions...celebrating our fantastic trip that went all good mate!!!