Finding Peace on the Beach. Eceabat Turkey.

Feeling the love in Turkey

After the somber experience at ANZAC cove we made our way to the easy-going Eceabat. Eceabat is this sleepy beach side town where you can look over to Asia. We all just sat around in a circle and reflected on our day and life in general. It was a perfect way to chill out and relax after the emotionally draining experience of Gallipoli. The beach was amazing and the beach bar sold cheap beer. I have become a big fan of beach bars. We sat around chatting drinking ice-cold beers and watching the sunset on this day that we will never forget.

Everyone enjoying the beach

We pretty much had the entire beach to ourselves except for this small group of guys. They loved that we were having a great time and attempted to teach us their football teams song. So all the boys lined up in the water and started to jump around and singing this random song that we had no idea what we were saying, what language or how badly we were butchering it. The guys seemed to really love it and were so happy, or so we think. We couldn’t speak their language or them ours. But somehow that didn’t matter. It was just this mutual understanding between travellers. Music and song span languages and the passion that these guys had for that song was contagious.

The boys enjoying the laid back vibe of Eceabat

Having a ball on the beach

Thank you for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed this post. Please feel free to share with your friends. You can follow my adventures either on the mykombiandi Facebook page, on Instagram and now on YouTube, or simple by clicking on the “Follow Button” or even by email.

Cheers

Shane

One Life One Search.

Re-focusing my Focus. Nepal? Tibet? Bhutan???

I have realised that I have lost my focus of resent, I know that sounds odd but I feel it and now I can see it. Now my challenge is to re-focus on my current project. In 8 weeks I leave on the most extreme adventure of my life and an opportunity to help out a very important charity.

This project all started way back when I was backpacking through China. My wife and I had planned on straying from following my dad’s footsteps as he fled from Russia through China down to Shanghai and made a decision to head to Beijing so we could visit the Great Wall of China. However the day we had planned on going up it snowed, and it

Snowed in means no Great Wall!

snowed hard for a week. So we didn’t get our chance to visit this remarkable ancient wonder. However it did give us a chance to really wonder around Beijing and get to know this cool city. One day we found ourselves in an interesting travel agency. The Tibetan flags in the window captured me. I have always wanted to visit Tibet, it is just a place that intrigues me.  So that day I said that I would go to Tibet! I had no idea when or how but I was going there. Fast forward 6 months and we were back in Australia and back in our “Real Lives”. The ones that I just don’t like and just do not want to be in, the ones where it just doesn’t feel right. So we started to make plans to travel again. We dropped in to the Adventure Store in Perth and found a cool trip to Nepal and Everest Base Camp, which just so happens to be rather close to Tibet??? So we decided we are going to Everest Base Camp!!!

I find myself very lucky “to have been born in the here and now” thanks Jack Scott from “Perking the Pansies” for that quote. I feel it is important for someone who is so lucky to support those that are not. So my wife and I started to think, what if we support a charity on this trek? We got talking to a close friend Mel who said she wanted to come on this adventure and suggested a charity that is very close to her heart, “beyondblue”. So it was set, we were completing a 22-day trek to Mt Everest Base Camp and raising money for beyondblue, who help people suffering from depression and anxiety.

Cutting to the chase, we contacted beyondblue and became an official fundraiser, we then started up our Facebook page and the “BeyondEverest project” was formed. Please drop by the BeyondEverest project Facebook page and please like!!! It would mean the world to us, maybe give us some advice on the trek? Have you been there done that before? Any words of wisdom you feel we should know? We would all love to hear from you.

Now I was thinking while I am in that neck of the woods I would really like to see the countries that have intrigued me, Tibet and Bhutan. Tibet because of the mystique behind the country and Bhutan because I just want to visit a country that “Gross National Happiness” is more important than “Gross National Product”. I want to experience countries that peace and love is just a part of day-to-day life not the hustle and bustle of the major cities and to see what is really happening there???

When were planning the trip we decided to stop off in Bangkok for a few days prior to the trek. Just to have some relax time and to mentally prepare for the trek. We had no idea that we had planned to be there at the exact time of Songkran festival, Thai New Year! So we booked a few more days there. That festival looks EPIC!

So now I have 8 weeks left to get my head right and prepare my mind and body for an extreme adventure which I think writing this post has really helped. Everest base camp is over

Training Hard! On top of Bluff Knoll Western Australia

5360m above sea level so the lack of oxygen is a worry for me. I have been training hard, so I am fit and healthy but the altitude sickness is always in the back of my mind. There is no way to know how your body will handle the extreme altitude until you are there. I will be taking plenty of photos and I will be taking my video camera so I can Vlog the trek. So to keep posted on the trek please check out my YouTube Channel and hit the Subscribe button.

Thank you so much for stopping by and letting me blurt out my feelings tonight. It means so much to me that you guys read my posts, I feel that I am growing a real friendship with you all. This post has really helped me regain my focus on this project and hopefully I have new energy towards everything involved in it!

Thanks again, if you have liked this post please hit the “Follow Button” you can also follow mykombiandi on Facebook, Instagram and now YouTube.

Also drop passed the BeyondEverest project Facebook page hit the like button and say hi.

Cheers

Shane

One Life One Search.

I attempt to milk my first cow, I fail! Vlog.

What a day this was, I got to milk my first ever cow, I failed. I did get some milk in the bucket! We visited MerriBee Organic farm in Nannup and then went and visited Jeff’s place SARI. Jeff is one of the Guru’s of the Permaculture scene and pretty much has been there since day one, what an honour to walk around his farm. We were treated to a surprise piano solo by one  of the and it was Epic!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwYewv6PQMs&feature=c4-overview&list=UUC0U2gFCvUe9Bm-Y3Riafrw

Thanks for watching, If you liked this vlog please subscribe to my channel. You can also follow mykombiandi on Facebook, Instagram and by clicking the “Follow Button”

Cheers

Shane

One Life One Search

The Day I finally make it to ANZAC Cove.

This morning we fare well Greece and travel into Turkey. Today is the day that I have been looking forward to since I learnt of the ANZAC story back in Primary School. Today I see ANZAC Cove and get to pay my respects to the ANZAC troupes that fought for the life that I now live. These soldiers fought and died so us Aussies can be free. I new it would be an emotional day but I had no idea of the power of this place. I am finding it hard even now to put what I felt, my emotions into words for you to read?

Kristy and Shane at ANZAC Cove. Gallipoli

I remember standing ankle deep in the water at ANZAC Cove and looking up. I wondered what the soldiers thought when they saw that huge cliff?

Pondering the ANZAC’s

I found myself looking out from the Lone Pine memorial down over the mountains and the dense vegetation. How did they get this far? I read the names on the memorials, so many souls lost. I was taken back by the beauty of the place and how calm it seemed. Thoughts of the horrific bloodshed this place had seen not even 100 years ago flooded over me.

ANZAC Memorial

There was this eery calm over this sacred place that I new everyone could feel. The entire 43 Contiki crew was together in mutual silence. Everyone was in their own little place, thinking? What ever they were thinking, they were getting their own peace from this place.

Shane at Lone Pine

I would like to say I walked away from ANZAC cove with a clear head and some kind of greater understanding, but I can not. This place left such a mark on my soul, I feel needed to be there. I am blessed that I have the freedom that allows me to visit such an important place in my countries history.

Kristy and Shane at Lone Pine

To the soldiers fought and those that lost their lives, thank you.

I leave you with “The Ode” I have heard this at every ANZAC day since I was a kid.

“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old,

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn,

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them”.

Thank you for stopping by mykombiandi, if you liked this post please feel free to share with all your friends, you can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube or via email by clicking on the “Follow Via Email” button, or if you are on Word press by simply by clicking the “Follow” button.

One Life, One Search.

Mykombiandi visit Burnside Organic Farm, Vlog.

So as you all now know I have been playing with the idea of Vlogging. In this short clip mykombiandi visit Burnside Organic Farm in Margaret River Western Australia. I had been staying at Fair Harvest Farm completing my PDC, Permaculture Design Certificate. So here is a short film/ Vlog about Burnside Organic farm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukISLG4mJuM

Thank you so much for watching, I would love to hear what you thought? If you liked the Vlog please subscribe to my Youtube channel so you can keep up with my Vlogs and what I am up to. You can also follow mykombiandi on facebook and instagram or even via email by simple clicking on the “Follow Via Email” button on my website.

Thanks Again

Shane

One Life, One Search.

My second attempt at Vlogging. What do you think???

So I have managed to “Hijack” my wife’s MacBook Air and download the 30 day free trial version of Final Cut Pro, I think I’m in love. It is a match made in heaven. If I can save some cash up over the next few weeks I maybe buying myself some new shiny toys. I started to play around with the software and managed to put this short clip together. I would love to hear your opinion?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJh7R0m-3i0

Thank you for watching and don’t forget to hit the subscribe button. You can also follow me on facebook and instagram.

One Life One Search.

Fair Well to our buddies and Hello to the Newbies

Enjoying a beer in Switzerland.

Well one of our first stops after the standard bus tour around Athens was the Athens Designer Outlet Mall, which we were actually hanging out for. Not for the designer clothes, as you can see I am not really into popular fashion, but I had been told that there is a camera store there and I will finally be able to replace the camera we had stolen way back in Rome. We had decided not to splash out and get another DSLR, but to get a compact camera with a good lens and if it was possible, one that takes panorama photos. We ended up bargaining with the guy and getting a little Samsung, with panorama, a few free cards and a little pouch for it. I also managed to replace my day pack that had busted its straps a week earlier, so it was a successful outing.

Visiting Ancient Greece

As all tourist do when they arrive in Athens is head up to The Acropolis and Contiki are no different. It is definitely the place to see in Athens and is worth the look. From up there on top of the mountain you can not help but imagine what it would of been like back in Ancient Greek times. This giant building in sparkling white stone perched high up in the sky’s, looking over the town below, it really would of been a sight to

I could just imagine

see and show of strength and power. The day was super hot, not uncommon for Greece and as we had slowly been accustomed to, the Acropolis was covered in

Preserving these ruins for generations to come

scaffolding. I can understand that these ancient structures need some repairs to keep them for generations and it doesn’t bother me in the slightest, but you always hear some annoying tourist complaining about the unsightly scaffolding.

That night we had our farewell dinner for the departing portion of the tour the “Southern Trek”. It was an emotional dinner as we had grown very close to the entire crew over the last 21 days together. It is quite amazing how quickly you grow relationships with strangers when you pretty much spend all day ever day in each others pockets We all had mixed emotions, we were excited to meet the new crew and eager to get to know them but saying good bye to our new life long friends was unexpectantly hard.

In the morning the new crew members started to turn up and we all started to get to know them. We had decided that we would play a practical joke on the newbies, in an attempt to break the ice. We had Nathan pretend to have Tourette’s syndrome and would yell out MUM at the top of his lungs just randomly. We had this full storyline behind it and even had a few of the newbies fooled for awhile.

Shane doing his best Spartan impersonation.

We were soon back in the coach and heading north towards Kavala we got to see the mythical Mt Olympus, Greece’s highest peak. We stopped at the famous Thermopylae, the location of where just 300 Spartan Soldiers held off the invading Persian Army’s masses of thousands. The next day we were about to visit the one place that I really wanted to see and such a special and emotional place for all the Aussie’s that make the pilgrimage, Gallipoli. I didn’t know how to prepare myself and was lost in my thoughts, the entire build up got the better of me and i was just waiting to see it myself.

 

Thank you for stopping by mykombiandi, if you liked this post please feel free to share with all your friends, you can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube or via email by clicking on the “Follow Via Email” button, or if you are on Word press by simply by clicking the “Follow” button.

One Life, One Search.

Georges Boat. Nuff Said

Well we have made it to Corfu, this is one of our extended stays so we get 3 days here. I had been told that Corfu is a party island and to look forward to the infamous Georges Boat Tour.

 

Are you ready for Corfu???

We set up camp, and wondered down the path to the beach. It is right there, just there only 1 minute walk. This place is awesome, there are bars and restaurants quite literally on the beach, you can hire an umbrella and deck chairs so you can hang out with all the “Cool Kids” on the beach. As you do when on Contiki you grab a drink and start to Party. We then jumped straight on the famous Georges Boat tour and met the one and only George, I don’t think this planet could handle two of this man. 

We were told not to drink until we hit the first of the island stops and had a try at all the adventure water sports.

 

1st Every attempt at wakeboarding

I learnt how to Wake Board which I now think is my new hobby as I just loved it. Then my wife and I went parasailing, it was just brilliant up there. You could see for ever, it was like you were flying. Until your legs started to get numb from the pressure on the harness. You had to try and sit in the harness to take the pressure off your legs. At one stage the driver slowed the boat down so much that we were able to run on the water. Well Kristy could I got dunked as I am almost a foot taller then her.

 

Walking on water

At one of the first stops we were all jumping off the boat and our little Japanese pocket rocket Ren, was doing all these crazy front flips and just going nuts. It was so brilliant to see. We were told of a tunnel that you could swim through right up on the cliff face. So we went and investigated, it was pretty tight and there was no way that I was going through it but a few of the guys did. It would of been pretty bloody scary and squeezy.

Getting some instructions

 

1st shot at standing up

George is this larger then life bloke who if you met him anywhere else in the world would be a Seedy Old Man but as he is in Greece and runs a boat tour that is famous for his Seediness it just works. He has this sticker on the cabin. “Sixty and Sexy”. You can also buy his famous singlets, if you have any friends who have done a George’s boat tour they would have one. They are completely wrong on all levels and are seriously inappropriate, however I did get one. Now I am a little inclined to get naked fairly often and not ashamed of it, so I was a little disappointed when I heard that Nudie Bay/ Hanky Panky Island or what ever it was called had been banned. It didn’t really make a difference I jumped in and got nude, so did a few of us. It was so funny when George slowed the boat down he would yell out, everyone off the boat and you had to just jump off the moving boat.

George gets everyone up on the front of the boat to sing either their national anthem or a famous song about there country. So country by country got up. It was pretty cool as we had, Aussies, Kiwis, Canadians, Americans, South Africans, English and a Japanese. That night we partied at the famous Contiki Toga party. It is a great night but be prepared, it is a little seedy, but a lot of fun.

Our Contiki crew partying it up, Toga Style!

The next day had us some free time and we just kind of wondered around Corfu, checking out all the little shops, markets eating at the local spots. I got addicted to Gyro’s, the greek version of the Kebab. We found this little shop in the old town who made awesome Gyro’s. We stopped there every day and ordered a different Gyro. Gyros are these wraps with what ever you want in them but they also have french fries in them, just brilliant, especially when you are hung over. I just loved that place, we always gave them a big tip for all the great service. He must of loved us as we always brought more and more people back each time. On the last day we turned up ordered our food and all these extra drinks arrived on our table. I just wish I remembered the name of the place so you can all check it out. It was a small cafe in the old town and on a corner, hope that helps? We also decided to get some tattoo’s. I already had my design and we found a place that was recommended to us                      “Dimitris Grapsias Koi-Tattoo“. We had been talking about the tattoo’s for a little while and ended up with 6 of us all getting inked.

One Life One Search is my philosophy.

 

The next day we were once again on a ferry and heading to mainland Greece and to hit up the Greece’s capital Athens. Sadly we would be saying good by to half of our crew but soon to gain the new peeps that we will spend the next 2 weeks with, travelling up Eastern Europe.

Thank you for stopping by mykombiandi, if you liked this post please feel free to share with all your friends. You can follow me on facebook, instagram, youtube or on wordpress by clicking on the “Follow” button or even via email, simply click on the “Follow Via Email” button. Thanks again.

One Life, One Search

I caught myself complaining today. Why???

I caught myself complaining today, about my job and feeling stuck at work. Not something that I normally do and definitely not something that I would like to admit. Then I stopped myself, I thought this is ridiculous, what have I got to complain about, really?

I remember back to when I was in Edfu, Egypt. We caught a horse and cart to the Temple of “Horus the Avenger”. We were warned that these people are very poor and that they will probably hassle us for cash, which they did. However they were so extremely poor and you could see that they were so hungry. Most of the money that they earned went to feed their horses, then to pay rent on the cart and then what ever was left over went to their family so they could all eat some measly amount of food. I could not comprehend how hard that is, and here I am complaining about how hard I have it at work, how ridiculous is that?

Getting a lift to the temple of “Horus the Avenger”

 

I have witnessed this image again and again all over the world. They are burnt into my brain and will stay with me forever. These people taught me a few things about myself, some of which I did not like and now are working so hard to rectify.

How can I complain? I have a great job with a good income that allows me to travel the world regularly I live in the “Lucky Country” Australia, where we are free to say and do whatever we want. This is a privilege not afforded to many of the people who I met all over the world. I am able to travel to these countries and support their people, even if it is only a little fare for a quick ride somewhere, I always give a little extra, what is a couple of dollars to me, may mean a meal to them.

I have always said that travel teaches you more than you could ever learn in a class room and this is a prime example. Now that I know this I am certain I will never complain about those petty little things that when you look at the bigger picture are insignificant. Why would you let something so insignificant take up space in your heart, in your mind and in your soul? When there are so many amazing and special experiences that are so much more worthwhile.

Thankyou for stopping by, If you enjoyed this post you can follow mykombiandi on facebook, instagram, youtube or simply by clicking on the “Follow Me” button or the “Follow Via Email” button.

One Life, One Search

My 1st attempt at Vlogging. What do you think???

So I have been a little quite lately in the blogosphere recently. Partly because I have been enjoying learning all about Permaculture and partly because I have been living on an organic farm in the south-west of Western Australia, out of any internet range. Which was a pretty awesome experience in itself. I spent two weeks living in my kombi at Fair Harvest Farm in Margaret River, completing my PDC, Permaculture Design Certificate. Which I might add is a “Life Changing” course. I am currently writting a new post about it and hopefully ill get it up here soon. 

I have always carried my camera around when travelling and have filmed everything from Lithuania through to Japan, but have never done anything with it. Whilst on the PDC one of the guys suggested that I chuck it up on you tube. So here it is. Please let us know what you think I would love to hear your opinion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76O3oKBN5yY

Thanks for watching, I hope you liked it? I have filmed plenty more and will hopefully get them up over the next few days. If you liked it, you can subscribe to my youtube channel and feel free to share it, you can also follow me on the mykombiandi facebook and instagram pages.