I"M BACK BABY

Its over. The search has ended. My thoughts....Where do I start. Being the engineer, I think its easiest in point form!

favourite Place - Well Tarifa was my favourite destination I visited due to its chilled and relaxed atmosphere with the Spanish culture and so called best windsurfing in Europe. Rome was definitely my favourite city I visited.

Least Favourite Place - Brussels. Not a bad city, just non eventful or exciting.

Did i find what i was looking for? Well I wasn't really looking for much I guess. I was having a fun time in Melbourne and to keep the good times going I thought it was the perfect time to see a bit of the world and experiencing different cultures which I have heard so much about but experienced none.

Home! The Corona still going strong and boat number 3 ready to set sail!

Most Beautiful Women - Difficult one...I would say the roman women very closely followed by the women in the south of Spain

Least Beautiful Women - Next question

Number of nights I saw the sun come up - 5 to 10. To hard to be exact. I know on the Greek island of kos we had a few.

I guess the biggest thing about Europe is its history. Being from such a young country, Australia has so little history compared to Europe. Everywhere you look there is something different and the most amazing thing is you only have to travel a couple of kilometers and you can be in a completely different country with a different language, food, customs..everything.

Scariest Moment - Fab's cousin driving home after a couple of drinks and a few spliffs at 200 km/her in his BMW convertible with everyone insisting I don't wear a seat belt. As If!

Funniest Moment - Tim busting his penis. The phone call to his father who is a doctor was truly memorable.

Favourite Food - Kebabs. There is a kebab shop on every corner in Europe.

Least Favourite Food - Kebabs. There is a kebab shop on every corner in Europe.

For a Aussie guy, the night life Europe has to offer is the best by none. There is no waiting at queues in clubs only to be told you can't come in because you have no girl with you. Clubs aren't full of sleazy morons and most have more girls than guys. I am not sure if it was because I am on holiday and in a different country, but everyone is more accepting of everyone. Its awesome! And in Europe, when you order spirits you actually get spirits. None of this measuring out one shot crap. They just pour and keep pouring to when say when!

Number of spews - First night out in Rome (embarrassing - Didn't realize how much vodka the bar tender put in my drinks. Standard European practice!) and the farewell party from Lanzarote

My old room at my folks house which is being used as a junk room!

Money Spent - Put it this way, i have moved back home for a bit. At a guess, i would say around $12,000 - $15,000 (includes money that i earnt working)

Best Surf - Secret spot with Dave and Matt. Never had so many waves in perfect 4 foot left handers that walled up for miles. Photos to prove it.

Best Windsurf - Costa Teguise. Solid 30 knots, 2m swell, perfectly powered on the 4.0m with the 69L JP Radical Wave. Big Jumps!

Most Memorbrable Moment/Time - Lanzarote. The team and local people at Lanzarote made my time so enjoyable. My lifestyle there was so perfect. From my bedroom, I could be fully rigged and on the water in 5mins. When the swell hit, there were countless point breaks with no one to surf them. I will never forget my housemate Oggy who on the first day when I moved in said he had spent the night in the slammer! Thinking this was a bad idea, we clicked and had some awesome times. Thanks Ogg! The crew at Windsurf Paradise were so good and heaps of fun.

Romper - Loyal. He acted like i never left

Best traveling adive - Don't be afraid to spend your money for fun. Too many backpackers are such tight arses that they end up doing nothing because they are on a budget. We met a group who wouldn't even pay 3 euro to get into a club! Your trip might finish a couple of weeks early, but you will have so much more fun. Also, try to spend at least 3 or 4 nights at each destination. Staying at places for 1 or 2 nights is too stressful and a pain in the arse. If you are a aussie guy, hang around euro's and not westerner's. It will pay off!

Europe has been a experience. The search has been full of everything. There were times when traveling sucks and the only thing I could wish for was my bed at home, but the number of fun times far outweighed these. Traveling western Europe has planted a small seed to explore a bit more of the world. In the pipeline would be a long surfing safari down the South American coast. A visit to Hawaii is a certainty and a snowboarding season will be on the cards if all the snow doesn't melt away from global warming!

And to answer my questions posted in my first blog http://duncanbanks.blogspot.com/2006_03_01_duncanbanks_archive.html

1) Didn't see the pyramids

2) Walked through the Sistine Chapel

3) Got pissed in every country i visited

4) No i didn't shag anything that walks. Only quality;)

5) Australian lasses are harder work compared to their European counter-parts.

So that's it. I will keep updating the blog occasionally with new trips and some things I think might be worth mentioning.

Thanks for everyone who has posted their comments and thoughts and request and to those silent watches as well. I know who you are!

The Final Destination!

Thialand, Phuket...
Hot, humid, crazy, weird, beautiful, seedy, unique, fun, sad and...... On my return flight home to Melbourne, i thought it would be a good idea to get some more sun and water and stop off in Thailand for 7 days and head to Phuket. Thinking it would be pretty much like Bali without waves, i was about right but just add in the seedy bit. Arriving late at night and finding a hotel, i thought i would have a brief walk around town to see what i am up for. Lets just say when i went to bed that night, I was well and truely thinking of leaving Phuket and heading to another island. Being a young striking single man, i was mobbed by thai ladies wanting to love me "long time"! It was overwhelming. I could not walk down the busy streets as i was surrounded by Thai girls trying to hold me back, kiss me, pull my pants down...anything to get me to stop. They saw some fresh meat on the market that wasn't some old dirty german guy and wanted it.

That night, i was, well i will just do day stuff. So I booked my scuba diving and island hoping tours for the next couple of days.

The scenary in Thailand was amazing. All the surrounding islands have these unbelievable limestime cliffs sticking out of the water in prestine clear warm water abundant with coral and sea life. I did a couple of dives and a day island hoping on a tour.

Heading off to diving destination 1. Rachi Rachi

Rachi Rachi

Determined not to be beaten, i headed out with some South Africans dudes i met on the diving trip. We had a awesome night which gave me some faith for the future night life!

Beach from the movie "The Beach"


Cheeky monkeys


Limestones cliffs. Amazing

Phi Phi Don Port.

The next night i headed to the most exclusive club in Patong..''The Banana". Paying a $10 Aus entry fee, i was hoping to evade the throng of thai girls. Funnily enough, i met these cool Thai girls from Bangkok who were at Phuket for a holiday. They took me under there wing and showed me around the island and the for a few nights out.

Jirayu and A

A was up for a bit of pole Action

Typical bar in Phuket. Yes, every bar had poles and girls dancing around the poles. Classey!

Last evening in Phuket!

Phuket is a strange place. There is such beauty, but around the corner is a seedy scene which kind of leaves you feeling sorry for the people in it. I had a fun time there but I think my asian adventures will be based around indo for the surf.

Off to Melbourne!