The present

Ok, that concludes the recap. Sorry for the late start, but I've been absolutely exhausted after working long days in my current job. It is the 28th of February now, and I'm starting my last week in my job (I've been working for about 4 months. About Melbourne, it's probably the most relaxed and varied city in Australia I've been in, and really enjoyable to live in. I did do the Great Ocean Road trip and visited lots of museums, but mostly the times I've spend here have involved working and having a good time with friends in our new, familiar circle. On the 6th I will be meeting my girlfriend Pilvi in Sydney, and on the 10th it's time to jump in the plane again and head for the unknown :) It's almost impossible to believe that it's been this long already! Nevertheless, new adventures await.

Great Ocean Road scenery



I'm currently living in Brunswick Street, which is one of the artistic and musical centers of Melbourne. It's barbecue time (since it's sunday), so time to grab a beer and head for the balcony. Talk to ya soon!

Travel Days: 253

Happened so far [Part IV: Australia]

We arrived in Australia late August and took a train from Sydney to Newcastle, to Nick's place. We met him in Bali and agreed to meet up in Oz. In the end, we spent about a month in Newcastle, which was one of the highlights of our times in Australia, all the thanks to all the guys and girls there... good times :)

From Newcastle we took a flight to Brisbane. Unfortunately, the night before got a bit out of hand, so we missed our flight (doh), and had to take the next one. After a couple of hours, we were in Brisbane, disoriented and hangoverish. We checked in to Chill Backpackers and it was time to lay low for a while :P

During the next week, we met another guy from Finland, Robin, in Brisbane. A plan of an east coast road trip started to form, because we were going for mango picking in Katherine, and it would be logical to drive to Cairns and drive from there. A fourth Finnish guy, Henri, joined in our travel from back home (and is still part of the entourage :)), and we were set. Time to start driving first time in my life on the wrong side of the road :)

Photos from our roadtrip:

Sunset over Town of 1770

Motel @ Mackay

Wicked Camper!

After reaching Cairns, we took the flight to Darwin, stayed the night in the local YHA, and the next day we were already on our way to Katherine. When we arrived there with Greyhound, and went on to stay at the local caravan park, Riverview. On the next week, we got to work for the first time :)

Beware of the Crocs :)

Nitmiluk National Park

Mango picking was an arduous job. 5 weeks of getting up at 4:30AM and working until 4-5PM, and it was HOT in Katherine at that part of the year (october-november). Although it was physically and mentally demanding, it was a great experience, we made heaps of friends and most of all, had fun on the days off ;) Thanks for all the guys back at Riverview, you made all the time there worthwhile.

On November i moved to Mildura through Melbourne, in order to find a job there. After only one day of work in a winery, I was fortunate to be contacted from an electronics company in Melbourne (my first degree is as an electrician), and I moved back to Melbourne. On 15th of November I met up with my girlfriend in Melbourne, and by the 20th I was already working.

Travel Days: 120

Happened so far [Part III: Indonesia]

We arrived in Bali and settled into a nice, reasonably priced guesthouse. From now on the next 3 weeks would be dedicated to surfing and trying to generally get into the Balinese state of mind, in which I reckon we succeeded pretty well :)

Kuta Beach at sunset

For two weeks, we stayed at Kuta Beach, just learning the ropes on how to surf. After a few times it was surprisingly easy to get into the waves, and when the days went by, the board got smaller and the confidence went up :) The nightlife in Kuta is pretty wild, you have to go there yourself to believe it :)

After this we went for Ubud, which is a city famous for Balinese culture and art. We also visited the famous Monkey Temple.

Monkeys @ the temple

Front of our room @ Ubud

After Ubud, it was time to go for our final destination in Bali, which was the Gili Islands, more specifically Gili Air. We took the bus from Ubud to the harbor and headed on for the boat, and in the middle of the night and pitch dark, we arrived to Gili Air. After finding the guesthouse which, in my opinion, has been the best one we've had so far in any place, we also found out there was 2 other people from Finland staying in the same place. What a small world :)

Beach at Gili Air

Our room at Gili

Gili was a relaxing experience, there's not that much to do in the island, but after you're there, it doesn't seem to matter :) I was just happy to relax and not-do-anything for a change.

From Gili Air we took the boat to Lombok, a bus to the seaport in there, then a bigger ferry to the mainland. After almost a day of travel, we were in Kuta Beach again, with 2 days to spare before our flights. It was time for those last beers in the beach, last surf, time to say goodbye to friends... The Balinese people are truly one of the most friendly and surprising people, and I'll never forget the time I spent there. That said, I want to go back as soon as possible :) In the last day's evening, we packed our stuff, went for airport and took our flight to our next destination: Australia.

Travel Days: 72

Happened so far [Part II: Thailand - Japan - Indonesia]

Arriving in Osaka, Japan, we were in for a shock. There was no English. Not a goddamn word anywhere :) But, then again, it's our fault that we skipped on Kanji lessons before leaving, so no more complaining. We started with staying a week in Osaka, after which Jussi left back to Finland and we continued our travels to Okinawa, the magical home island of Mr. Miyagi, Karate and Awamori (a very strong rice liquor that can contain up to 60% alcohol).

Osaka at night

Our humble guesthouse at Osaka

We spent about two weeks in Okinawa. I'd really recommend the island to anyone who wants to enjoy both culture and relaxed beach life at the same time; and also for one more reason: it's very cheap. Our cheapest guesthouse in Okinawa cost only 1000 yen per night, where most guesthouses in Osaka and Tokyo range from 2000 to 3000 yen.

A local residence at Okinawa

 A touch of Finland in Japan :)

There was something very magical about Okinawa. Unfortunately it was time to move on, so we took the plane back to Osaka and jumped into the Tokyo night bus, and next day, we found ourselves in the middle of the most populated urban area in the world, Greater Tokyo (35 million people). After chilled Okinawa, Tokyo was hectic, maybe too hectic :) Nevertheless, we spent the next 5 days in various hostels (because none of the hostels seemed to have two consecutive free nights available :D), meeting lots of great people including Matt, in who's place I am staying at the moment in Australia :) Our Tokyo experience included karaoke (which is slightly different than the karaoke we're used to ;)), the usual sights, temples and doing a 10 hour walk one day, seeing most of the major districts.

Going for some Karaoke in Tokyo

Some gaming action, apparently getting my ass whooped :P


After Tokyo, we took the night bus back to Osaka, where it was time to pack the backpack again and jump to the plane for our next destination: Denpasar, Bali (Indonesia).

Travel Days: 44

Happened so far [Part I: Finland - Sweden - Thailand]

Sorry for the late start, but here we go :)

Setting off for my travels from Finland, I had only vague images and memories of travel documentaries to relate to, so it was all relatively new for us. I had traveled some countries before (Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Estonia), but nothing of this magnitude. I took the train from Jyväskylä, Finland and before that, said goodbye to all my friends, my girlfriend-to-be (more about this later, maybe ;)) and also to the familiar hoods I had been around for the last few five years, on my studies. After a 4 hour train ride I arrived to Turku, stepped off and met with my traveling partner Christian, who I would be spending the next year with. We crashed a friend's place for the night, and the next morning, were off to the ferry, which would take us to Stockholm.

After an early wakeup and a cab ride, we entered the ferry terminal and soon entered the ship. As conscious budget travellers, we of course didn't pay for a cabin, but spent the day roaming the hallways instead :P A good 12 euros to be spent later, a good start. When our (somewhat arduous) ferry ride was over, we arrived into Stockholm and hooked up with my friend Luke, who promised us a place to sleep for the night and wait for the day, when our first flight was taking off. And what a great host he was... a huge bed, some evening beers and a meal, everything you could wish for. Next day it was time to go our separate ways, and we continued to spend the day in Stockholm, particularly the old city which we found very appealing :)

The flight time came and we headed for the airport. Check-in, get into the plane, and after 50 minutes we were in Finland again, Helsinki though. The reason for this excursion simply involved money... I'll give you one hint: currency rates. Let's leave it at that :) In Helsinki airport we met our friend Jussi, who was joining us for the first 3 weeks, two in Thailand and one in Japan. We headed off, and after a long, long flight... arrival in Bangkok :)

In Bangkok we took a cab and headed off to meet the fourth member of our party, Jouko, who was going to have the Finnish "midsummer's eve" celebrations with us in Koh Tao, Thailand. We met him at the train station (easily recognized the guy who looked like a wannabe-Buddha ;))

Jussi @ Bangkok train station

Christian @ Bangkok train station

We took our train towards the state of Chumphon, from where we would take the ferry and head off to the small island of Koh Tao. The trainride was pleasant with nature's own aircon, e.g. no windows on the train ;) We switched from the train to a bus after long hours of travel, and after a 30 minute bus ride, we were on the ferry and off to Koh Tao.


After arriving to Koh Tao, Jussi and Christian stayed to watch our backpacks while me and Jouko went on to find our accommodation, and after a few hour expedition, we found a neat little place on the mountainside, with only one crazy enough cab driver to take us there with his 4WD. A perfect place to relax after 5 years of study, work, more study and more work. Chilling time.

Our private beach @ Koh Tao

After negotiating the price to the right level, we settled in and the next few days involved mostly moving between the hammock and the guesthouse's small restaurant, where everything was fresh. Sometimes they didn't have all the ingredients to make everything on the menu, since it was low season, but the food was nevertheless one of the best I've had so far :) Then came the midsummer's eve, and there's not that much I remember from the whole night, so I'll just leave it at that ;)

After a week in Koh Tao, it was time to say goodbye to Jouko who went back to Bangkok and headed off to Cambodia. We continued to Koh Phangan with a ferry, and found a nice place to stay at just by the beach.

Koh Phangan sunset... ah the memories :)

In Koh Phangan we attended the Black Moon party, which was completely insane and perfectly relaxing at the same time :) Chilling the little hours away with trance music in the beach, with the sound of the sea on the background... Perfect.

After Koh Phangan it was time to head off back to Bangkok, where we stayed a few days in Khao San Road, for solely the reason of gearing up a bit before going on our travels. Amidst all the chaos and commercialism of that place, we did find one place worth to mention: check out the bar called Roof Top, it has nice live music and a cool atmosphere. Next it was time to head off to the Land of The Rising Sun :)

Travel Days: 14