INTRODUCTION

Welcome to my blog page, dawnstravels.blogspot.com. I wish I started this two and a half years ago after leaving school. I’ll give you a quick over view of my post high school lifestyle and on what got me where I am today.

After leaving St James’ C of E Secondary School, Farnworth, Bolton I spent my life roaming between the sunny island of Ibiza, Spain- where I worked as a waitress, and the other half of the year on the also sunny island of Koh Samui, Thailand- spending my days here training and studying to be a pro diver. At the age of 18 I took a year out of the sun, and the clouds, to spend a year on the Isle of Wight, UK. Here at UKSA I studied sailing and worked towards my “Ocean Yacht Master Certification”.

All of this diving and sailing paid off when I landed my job as deckhand/diving instructor onboard a 175ft/53mt motor boat planning on spending the next year cruising around Asia.

So cruising around Asia is what I’ve done on this yacht for the last year. Starting my journey in Langkawi, Malaysia, under the watchful eye and supportive attitude of our Captain, we slowly made our way South East down the idyllic island groups of Indonesia- visiting some of this planets most breath taking coast and dive sites. After a 3 month break in Singapore, during the summer of 2006, and after celebrating my 20th birthday, yacht and crew set sail again, this time bound to explore Borneo, Sulawesi, Philippines and all in-between.

Some of my highlights of the last 12 months have included:

• Walking with and hiding from the infamous Komodo Dragon on the island of Komodo, Indonesia. And yes, they are as scary as they sound.
• Climbing the active volcano- Krakatoa along with some of my crewmates. Staring into the crater at the steaming lava I knew this was a once in a lifetime experience.
• Laying witness to Kalamantan's “Men Of The Forest”- the Oran-gutans. I walked with these human like apes in South Borneo.
• After a short trek through jungle like conditions on the island of Kakaban, Borneo, myself and crew arrived at the famous “jelly fish lake”. Donning our snorkeling gear we went swimming with the thousands of jellyfish, which inhabit this lake. We were, mind you, fully aware of the fact that these particular jellyfish don’t sting due to lack of predators.

These are just a hand-full of great experiences I have had on my first year onboard. I have met some great people and exceptional new friends along the way, all the time never forgetting my old ones.
I love the life I lead now and I have my friends- old and new, my family back home in Bolton and especially my parents, Ian and Deb, to thank for that.