As Webb Wilder says....It gets in your blood!

It is January in Tennessee & it was 12 degrees for the low Thursday night. It is currently 72 degrees & sunny in Penguin, Tasmania. I have decided that in the very near future I will leave in early January & travel until it is warm again in Nashville, which is usually April. It seems like the perfect solution to this cold business. Not really much happens in Nashville when it is cold anyway. This way I'll travel the South Pacific when it is warm & now that I think about it, I'll get to wear shorts all year long! I can make this my annual pilgrimage for treasure to Australia & New Zealand. This will put me back in town & ready for the Nashville flea market at the end of April as well as opening night for the minor league baseball season. Then of course comes the gauntlet of fun known as May in Tennessee. It is warm, the top is down on the Cutlass & spring is in the air.
Once you start traveling & seeing different lands, it really does get in your blood. I find myself daydreaming about past adventures & looking forward to seeing new places and all that goes with it. Some may equal but none will excel my visionquest. I am going to add New Zealand to the itinerary next trip. I believe I can see a great deal of both islands with a 2 week tour. I've heard from alot of people who say new Zealand is so much more beautiful than OZ.....prove it to me! Until next time.
Cheers,
Rip
http://www.onmeway.com/

Treasure is everywhere in Kuranda, Queensland

Let us talk Australia some more. Outside of Cairns is the quaint mountain town of Kuranda. it is a day trip that I've made twice, once in 1998 & on my most recent 2007 adventure. It's claim to fame is the daily markets that are home to some of the finest treasure I've hunted. Everything from Aboriginal art to hokey boomerangs painted with Australian flags. The best way to get there is take the overhead sky rail up & the scenic train(pictured) back down to Cairns. It costs roughly $90.00 AUD & the tour operators pick you up at your lodging, give you a brief history of the sky rail(designed by an American by the way) & drop you off at the sky rail. They also tell you to be back at 4:00 sharp or you will be finding another way home. Fine by me as I'm never late. I board the sky rail with a nice Dutch couple who are pleasant. The sky rail takes about 30mins from start to finish & you can get off at a couple places to explore the rain forest. I forgo this as treasure hunting is on my mind. I depart the sky rail & make my way to the nearest pub Fanny O'Reilly's Irish Bar & Grill. I knock back 3-4 pints to quench my thirst & head into the Kuranda markets. I am amazed at how fast i spend money at the really good markets. I duck behind the markets & find some off the beaten path artists. I meet Charlond who is an aboriginal woman who is very pleasant & we trade contact information. I bought a nice cross necklace with a garnet stone in the middle. I buy Cairns highland coffee, Queensland honey, a ceramic penguin, ear rings, a alligator magnet made out of a macadamia nut & an original aboriginal painting. It was a banner day in the treasure hunting business. I hate to leave but I'm spending money like an addict in Amsterdam. I head back to the pub for some food & of course more Aussie beer. I met the owner Barry & we talk about an opportunity he has. Some many possibilities to import back to the U.S. I stay as long as i can but is getting late. The train is unable to go down the mountain due to a landslide so I ride it as far as they will let us then back on the sky rail. It is a beautiful journey over the rain forest with spectacular views of many waterfalls. The rain forest is so thick that you don't get to see much in the way of wildlife except for birds. I make it back in plenty of time for the ride back to Cairns. Tip of the day....if you are in Cairns, do yourself a favor & take the day trip to Kuranda. I give a money back guarantee that you will be glad that you did.
Cheers,
Rip
http://www.onmeway.com/

Land of the free & home of the Idiots....sometimes

I've been fortunate to travel outside of this great country numerous times & I'm constantly amazed at how obnoxious my fellow Americans can be. The number one issue with the locals seems to be....we want everything to be like America! Why? I'm soooo happy that there isn't a Starbucks or McDonald's' on every freaking corner. I love walking around aimlessly in a new town & just seeing where i end up. One of my favorite things to do in Australia is leave early in the morning & go on a pub walkabout. Bars in Oz have all sorts of different permits to serve booze so I can always find a bar serving at 8 a.m. if I choose. Amazingly, when I walk into one of these early morning spots, it is usually pretty busy with fellow functioning alcoholics. I learn so much from just asking the locals where to eat, what is a must do when I'm here in town & the next great pub. It makes for a great day & an early evening if you know what I'm saying. I never expect these countries to be like Nashville, what fun would that be? I am polite, courteous & I tip well.(which isn't necessary in Aussie pubs) It is funny the stigma American tourists have but I find after about 5 minutes of them taking the piss out of me(Aussie term for giving you a hard time), they accept me for what I am....a very large American who could kick some convict ass. just kidding, somewhat. So do us all a favor....when you are traveling abroad, be respectful of your surroundings & the people in them. If you are nice to people & get to know them.....they won't send you to the wrong side of the tracks!
Cheers,
Rip

Stick your head under the water & behold

I'm a scuba diver & I'm here to tell you, it is one of the most incredible experiences on our planet to suck compressed air & swim with the fishes. I've been PADI certified since 1993 & did my advanced open water in 1996 so I can deep & night dive. People ask me all the time where is the best place I've dove & i respond it depends on what you like to do. In my experiences I've found that the best drift diving is in Cozumel, although the Mexicans do nothing for conservation of their reefs or care about diver safety. The best wall diving was the Cayman Islands with Little Cayman's site "The Meadows" being spectacular! It started in 20ft of water then I swam thru a series of tunnels and came out on the wall which went straight down for 5000 ft. The best deep diving was Andros, the largest island in the Bahamas. I dove one of their legendary blue holes & at lunch the dive master was drinking a beer. I asked Jim if I could have a couple beers before the afternoon dive which is taboo....he said "Yeah, if you screw up they will never find your body, so what do i care" classic honesty. The Florida keys are good but thru the years all the hurricanes have shifted everything around. I dove the 585ft U.S.S. Speigel Grove & that sucker was huge. I also dove the H.M.S. Rhone in Tortola,B.V.I. & really enjoyed that except for it being jellyfish season. All these places are fantastic but The Great Barrier Reef of Australia is dear to my heart for many reasons. First, I don't know one single person from my neck of the woods who has dove it. Second, it is huge & stretches some 1,500 miles along the Queensland coast & can be seen from outerspace. Third, you see all sorts of species only found in the South Pacific like this giant clam pictured. I've seen Potato Cod(grouper family) as big as V.W. Bugs! I am at total peace under the water & plan on diving the U.S.S. Oriskiny(Vietnam era aircraft carrier) off the coast of Pensacola,Florida this summer. My advice to you is get certified & take the plunge. You will be amazed what mother nature has below the surface.
Cheers,
Rip
check out www.onmeway.com

Fear of the unknown, fear of failure, who knows?

As I've mentioned previously, I am starting my own import/export company focusing on treasure from Australia & New Zealand. I can easily visualize what i want to accomplish but I've run smack into a huge roadblock called the business plan. It is daunting to say the least. It is a road map of where your business is & where it is going in the next 5-10years. Not so bad you say....well I'm looking to raise 150k in start up capital ideally, so the plan has to be written so lawyers, accountant & venture capitalists can say....What a damn fine idea, we want to give you money so you can travel to Australia & New Zealand, drink beer, scuba dive & import treasure! I'm stuck with entrepreneur's block for lack of a better term. I got off to a pretty good start but ran out of gas when it came to predicting sales for the first year. Hell, I don't know if I'll sell a damn thing but my vision has me making an ass load of money by importing art, crafts, jewelry, furniture & even wine from these wonderful countries. I'm just going to start scheduling 1 hour a day to sit down & if nothing else just look at the damn thing. I have been meaning to go to a small business class on how to write a business plan but my job conflicted with the class tomorrow. I'll keep on working at it & then get to the class ASAP. I've had some friends express interest in my Visionquest as i call it. Something weird about asking someone to loan me $150k to follow my dreams. Oh well, they say a sucker is born everyday. I bet I can find one & we can both be OnMeWay.

Cheers,

Rip treasure hunter

p.s. picture is of the back of The Baths, Virgin Gorda B.V.I.