i write this in BKK airport after a rather massive day which involved rising at 4.45am, a magnesium, salt, gatorade hit, a bandaiding of feet, arrival at the mcg (the inaugural melbourne cricket ground), the 7am melbourne marathon with another 5000 odd people (with a super route tracking around all the inner city historical sites, along the bay from inner city out to elwood, and a return through st kilda), culminating in a joyous lap of the mcg @ just before 11. from there a speed walk/hobble for another km or two to a tram to get me home to st kilda, a lightning fast shower, a picking up of the backpack, another 2km walk/hobble to a 12.30 tram to zip me back into the city, to a 1.30 bus to the airport, to a 3.30pm flight to sydney anddddd bc of the weather delays on this one, required me to then hobble at high speeds through sydney international airport to jump on the waiting plane to now be here in bkk. nothing like a flight booking to help push you through those 30km + moments where you just feel like stopping, stretching or plain slowing up out of something close to just being sick and tired of running!
and if you’re wondering why I am in BKK not Australia still? had to make a last minute change (ie a couple of days back) of dates due to a fabulous interesting challenging work opportunity in the Solomon Islands in nov/dec … hence having to get back to laos and finish up some work here first. so apologies if I didn’t call you and explain etc etc … but it was all completely last minute, and my brain is still racing to catch up with the when’s, the where’s and the what’s at the moment. so the next couple of days in bkk for some lockdown uni writing time and then laos on friday.
just thinking a little further … it was a large day indeed, but a happy day, and a chosen day. there’s a lot of people having way beyond large days at the moment, and days that are far from anything happy and certainly not chosen. sobering.
well the sun is rising soon … time to head out and find somewhere to sleep. more soon. and in case i don’t say it often enough … THANKS for all the different types of special places all of you hold in my life. even if for many of you, i don’t get to say it face to face so often.
FOOTNOTE THOUGHTS
- the mcg is really a lot bigger than you think ie upon entering the mcg at the end, i thought i would put in a sprint to the finish line, but then after about 200m the end point still looked a long way away, so I had to pull my enthusiasm back under check until the real last 200m!
- murphy’s law … the very day when you do have a plane of hundreds waiting just for you is of course the day when the airport security decides to do a full drug/bomb check down, body, bags, mouth the lot. “But I don’t have time for this today, I’m running to catch a flight” Yes dear, everyone’s on the way to catch a flight. “No but you see mine is meant to be taking off in 1 minute and i’m the final passenger they’re waiting on”. Yes dear we understand. I even showed them my boarding card, drawing attention to the departure time, and was there a moment of consideration? No nooooooo. And the worst thing about these moments is when you eventually stumble red faced, sweaty and puffing onto the plane and every 2nd person sends grumpy looks your way, bc you (aka “I” in this case) are the person that has clearly been holding the flight up. I can see everyone just assumes I have been trawling through the duty free shops, buying up on perfumes and makeup & lost track of the time. And I want to explain the weather delays, the security people and the blisters under and between my toes. But there’s no point. So I sit down all the while feeling large buckets of gratitude for the lovely check in man in melbourne who put me on an exit row without charge, bc he was impressed with the early morning run. such a lovely unexpected treat.
the daily visual inspiration for reports, readings, writing on koh phangan before arriving back in aus. fairly delightful huh!
well i am now in my usual transition koh phangan home enroute between laos and the next stop … which is melbourne for 7 weeks! have a fab opportunity working with an aus lady i met in laos actually … on various cross cultural training things, monitoring and evalution of project design type stuff, workshop preparation for various seminars w ausaid staff, abc etc etc … will be great
it will be a little bizarre being back in aus again for a permanent stint, but also totally looking forward to and intending to have daily doses of good homegrown live rock n roll, beach runs, VBs, daryl lea licorice and brushing up on my slang …
the last month in laos was spent working with akha ladies … amazing … check out www.towardsgenderparity.com (a few little layout font issues at the moment until i have better internet, but 95% ok) … or use the link on the left if you’re at all interesting in seeing, feeling, knowing more
well if you an aus person in my life … these are the movements
- arriving in melbourne 13th sept
- staying in st kilda with some lovely people (thanks rach & jess!) til 31 oct
- in g coast from 31 oct pm til 10 nov
- then laos again for a bit
so if you’re in melbourne, i’ll be seeing you soon … if elsewhere, book a wnd to melbourne!!! if gc or bne, c u in november, but definitely talk on the phone without any strange beeps fuzz or delays soon soon soon!
some pics of the last month below …
so i am now in aus for 10 days, but have just spent a completely sparkling delightful month in thailand studying, writing, swimming, seafooding, singhaing, mountaining and having all round lovely times … so easy to study overlooking the ocean with a fresh pineapple shake in hand!
back to laos this weekend for a month
enjoy the pics …
lovely bec bought this thai lantern which was launched into the sky with many wishes to commemorate the day that i became katie de carteret … verrrrrrry special. thanks bec!
… a little excursion to the beach for these monks from northern thai … and yes there was a stripping down and swimming involved!
and this is where my writing, studying, inspired thoughts happened on the island … hmmm … the anu library in canberra or here … is there even a need to ask the question??
… and all it took was a little roll of my head and a lifting of about 2 cms to be welcomed by sunrises such as this every am
the lovely deck … and a perfect contemplating, writing, reading, thinking, working, drinking, talking, giggling and and and spot
TODAY people, 05 march 2009 i am officially officially KATIE DE CARTERET which makes this the first visual representation on record!! … and just to make sure i don’t spend the rest of my life correcting people, this is “little d e space big C, a r t e r e t!! I think in fact i have been this for 2 weeks but just was notified today, so today is the day! So there will be a celebration tonight here at Than Sadet Beach on Koh Phangan in Thailand at the Treehouses with Bec and Sandy at my favourite bar, with berlin dj’d tunes with whoever else wants to join! If the notice is in fact too short for you 
lock in 05 march next year to join!
Feeling great! Now to track down some family genealogy and see if there is in fact a castle waiting for me in the Jersey Islands to come and take up residence!
have just finished up an assignment in laos and have 6 weeks to soak some sun and salt, get stuck into some study, invigorate some creative thoughts and train!
the purpose of this quick entry is to motivate some of you people to kick some travel plans into action and join me for an adventure sometime in the next few months!
some dates places events to motivate you …
feb 14 – 28 than sadet beach, koh phangan in thailand … there’s a bungalow ready and rented so all you need is $$ for prawns, pad thai and pina coladas (www.thansadet.com)! i have a mate coming for a few days up til the 28th but aside from that is free!
feb 28 – mar 14 … well now unfortunately thai visa rules have changed since dec and land crossings only give you 15 days! so after this either a quick border run to myanmar/malaysia and back for more than sadet time orrrrrr another little adventure somewhere else for a couple of weeks … any bright ideas throw them my way!
mar 15 – 28 australia time
march 29 – april 28 another assignment back in laos
and then people … 3 months or so in europe with a few little plans in amongst there for you to join on
a warmup mara to olympus again … currently trying to decide between one in the vineyards of austria 02 may (www.welschlauf.com – translate it) or in trieste, italy 03 may (www.bavisela.it – english version) … if anyone feels like a little challenge and feels strongly either way, i can be persuaded either way!
then time to roam …
june 29 olympus marathon
july 02-05 roskilde festival in denmark http://www.roskilde-festival.dk/uk/
july 16 – 19 benicassim festival, spain … i have been trying to make it to this festival on the beach for a few years now, but think i need a festival buddy for this one … anyone??? http://benicassimfestival.co.uk/
july 28 back for another assignment in laos ….. and that’s about it so far
a few little pics to help motivate you … i’m waiting to hear from you!
… and this is where you can come stay visit and spend your days in that water, on those decks with fresh pineapple shakes and calamari in hand at all times !
the last month has been a wonderful merging of all things i love about laos … far remote villages, beautiful souls with nothing showing wonderful kindness in random places, karoake and keys moments, several lao lao, giggles and friends times, papaya salad at the market, sticky rice and chilli dinners with adopted families, early am ginger tea gazing over the misty fishponds, creative wedding dancing, morning runs through the fog, random meetings with random travellers and a consequent broadening of my mind (thank you estonian toms) and it goes on … a new aus girl, julie, is taking over my F/T job here, so she has been here for the last fortnight for some handing over which has been equally fab … our combined love of papaya salad, morning runs, roasted pumpkin seeds and the fishpond pad has made the time highly enjoyable.
now in bkk enroute to aus … and realllllly hoping the election of the new PM tomorrow doesn’t upset the wrong people and see me spending the next few days at the airport! i have to admit tho, despite the rather adverse immediate effects on some individuals and the stability of the country as a whole in the process, i do admire the overall peaceful manner by which the people cut to the source and took the effect they were after.
tried to go xmas shopping today and i have to say the constant reruns of jingle bells, the fake snow, the overly fashionable people and the ridiculous prices of ridiculous things kept me sipping coffee and eating papaya salad for most of the day.
a couple of final snaps …
Have just come back from an absolutely delightful week island hopping thru the Andaman Sea on the south west coast of Thailand. My pal Angie, who I haven’t seen in over 2 years, flew over from Sydney, first to LNT for a few days before heading with me for some island good times. I told her when she first arrived that she needed to focus on building up the 3+ syllable words in my vocabulary again, however I think the reverse has occurred and I am now speaking in more slang, abbreviations and various shortened word options than I did previously. Hmmm … Was so great to have someone here to share some LNT moments and places with … not forgetting the bats in the bedroom, the bats in the mosquito net, the rice whiskey, the friends and my favourite sunset spots.
As for the beach time … a continual rotation of swimming, snorkelling, hammock time, sundowner sampling and beach bbqs was had. True true bliss. Some of the beaches around this area (Koh Phi Phi, Koh Lanta, Koh Jum and the tiny places in between) have the clearest water, the most colourful fish and the whitest sand I have ever seen.
So the photos below show you a bit of island time, a bit of lnt time and the first official dining of my fishpond fish in celebration of women’s day.
yes people … this water is real and there is so much of it to be enjoyed around these islands!! you must visit here! a snorkelling spot out from phi phi island
enjoying a cheeky hammock moment from our amazing treehouse deck at viking bay, phi phi island. now i like to think i am pretty experienced on prime beach spots around the world and i am going to say this place is in my top 3 … truly truly beautiful
i think most afternoons were spent in this luxurious manner … now let me remember … was it a pina colada mango daiquiri pineapple daiquiri strawberry magarita …
the waters surrounding maya bay … from the pseudo famous movie The Beach … and the first snorkelling spot from our trip out from Phi Phi island
a cheeky evening beverage sampled by my cute Ange … you need to zoom on this photo to appreciate the cocktail shirt however … stylishness to a T
not too hard to enjoy a morning coffee with this view to gaze on … unfort the camera was having trouble adjusting from the aircond room to the muggy heat of the day … but the beauty can still be seen
aaahhhh … so have been back in Asia for about 36 hrs now and slowly emerging from culture shock … I am slowly reacquainting myself with life here … 48 hrs in BKK (population too many) … 24 hrs in Udon Thani (population a bit under too many) … 96 hrs in Vientiane (population maybe 400 000) … 24 hrs in Oudomsay (population around 50 000) … and back to Luang Namtha (population it feels like about 50) …
Don’t get me wrong … I’m happy to be here doing what I’m doing etc … love it in fact … but I do feel a knot developing in my stomach contemplating a return to night time closing down at 8.30pm, no beaches, no espressos and an overwhelming lack of people!! But hey … these things help you love the other times even more hey!
My final european moments …
