New York was fantastic! It had so much to see and do and was a great place to visit!

Canada was great, so different to the States!
Montreal had a lot of French attitude but the street music festivals and graffiti were awesome. I then travelled down to Toronto which is a small 'big city' close to Niagra Falls. The Falls were great but to tell you the truth, I was more impressed by Milford Sound in NZ. Spoiled by nature.... ha....

I then left Canada to spend a few weeks in Berlin (via the UK) in the middle of the worldcup action. It was a wonderful time and Berlin was a great place to be. It is such a happening city with a lot of fun things to see and do, while still allowing you space to be yourself.

From Germany I went to Poland with a friend. We were then going to go around the Ukraine for a few weeks but ended up spending one week there in total, and the other couple of weeks in Hungary and Romania before heading to the Netherlands, where my friend's family are originally from.

After the Netherlands I headed back to Germany where I found out about some exciting and amazing opportunities back in Australia...

I realised that I had done a lot of travelling during this year and a lot of personal development and that another year of travelling seemed like a bit too much, especially when there is so much going on in Aus...

Over the next few weeks I headed to Czech Republic (which I thought was charming but overrated), Slovakia (which I loved because it was modest but adorable), Austria (where I felt like I had walked into the most Western European city I had yet been to - meaning it was gorgeous and wealthy and fun while still historical) and finally Switzerland (which was nice but really expensive...).

I then headed back down under for a totally surprising and last minute trip to spend a few weeks with friends and family, to graduate and to receive a community award through the Queensland Young Achievers Programme.

I then headed back to the States to see everyone again and find a job. I managed to secure a job with Santiago Community College as a Student Services Specialist, responsible for a pilot program trying to get foster kids into college. Due to start in the beginning of 2007, I headed back to Europe for a little more exploration of the West...

I initially headed to Amsterdam again and met up with a friend before catching up with extended family and seeing some of the famous sites of Paris. Afterwards I travelled down to Spain and started off in San Sebastian where I met a guy who ended up being my travel buddy for the next couple of weeks. We ventured out to Bilbao to see the Gugenheim (which was amazing!), down to Madrid which we both loved (despite the cold) before going to Lisbon in Portugal.

Lisbon was totally random but a lot of fun! Afterwards my new travel partner and I had to part ways suddenly and I continued back to Madrid to meet up with another friend and do a trip to Salamanca. The university town was interesting but really cold and I was glad to travel down to the very South of Spain soon after to catch a ferry to Morocco. The north of Africa, contrary to what you might imagine is really mediteranian with heavy arab influences. While there I met two delightful families who showed me into their city, their religion, their homes and their lifestyle. I felt very privilaged and have made some new friends.

After Morocco I headed back up to Barcelona in Spain. To tell you the truth I thought Barcelona itself was relatively overrated but I had a great time because my Dutch friend as well as two other friends from Australia came and met me there! Yay!

From Barcelona I flew down to South Africa and was really scared of getting attacked and/or robbed. Neither incident happened, thankfully, but I did meet the greatest concentration of friendly people I have ever come across and saw some lovely sites and beautiful people in Johannesburg and Durban.

Just before flying back to Australia for Christmas I learned that my US visa had been rejected at that the job and future I had lined up in the United States was not going to be possible just yet. So Christmas and New Years were unexpectedly spent in Australia and I am starting off 2007 with new hopes and dreams, no plans and an open mind.

I hope that 2007 brings everyone exactly what they need!

Peace and love

Kristiana