6 December, 2010
The bar opened and I made some friends, a Frenchman and a Canadian and enjoyed my last evening in Noosa. The next day I took the bus through the rain to Rainbow Beach, excited for my next adventure. Rainbow Beach is a SMALL town. Not much to do here, so I guess I’d better start drinking. The hostel bar was hopping. It was another karaoke night. I met a Danish guy who was a competitive tumbler and grew up in a boarding school, which is apparently normal in Denmark. As the night wore on people became friendlier and friendlier and we all mingled around. Everyone was pretty interesting to say the least. I met a drug dealer from England who came over to work on farms before going to explore Asia. I met a pompous, know-it all from England whom I laid into for saying that most Americans are idiots and don’t leave their own country, he did say I was an exception though. Then I met a German guy who loves the Mavericks and Dirk obviously. I told him he and my Nana would get along like a house on fire. I met a stumpy, obnoxious, gap-toothed Englishman who was allegedly a stripper in Sydney. Gross. The list continues. As you may have noticed there aren’t many chicks around. Usually they are coupled up and not as social towards other girls as the single dudes. Who would have thought? The bar closed down around midnight and we headed for the beach. The stars were out in full force. An Australian was kind enough to point out the Southern Cross for me, tick that off the list. I was so excited to see it. It’s the little things.
Today consisted of more beach time and a short hike through the Great Sandy National Park. The hike lines the backside of a strip of mansions that overlook the ocean. Not a bad spot I’d say. The hike takes you to the start of the Great! Cooloola Walk, everything is great here. I walked up the first 20 minutes of this epic trek and it led to a giant sand dune that was about the size of two football fields. It is bordered by forest on two sides, the ocean on one, and the town, a couple inlets and a peninsula on the other. I was speechless. I wish I had a frisbee and a friend. I hiked back down as the sun was setting and saw a spider web glimmering in the sunlight that was at least 4 ft in diameter. Thank God I didn’t see the spider.
28 December, 2010
Man how time flies. I have been avoiding updating this blog because there is too much to tell and it has become a daunting task. However, my fans deserve it, so here I am. I’ll just hit the really good stuff.
The really good stuff conveniently begins a couple days after my arrival in Rainbow Beach, mentioned above. I signed up for a 3 day tag along 4x4 experience of Fraser Island, the world’s largest all sand island. The tour included 4 land rover type cars with about 8 people per car. We drove all over the island and checked out the sites. This was absolutely one of the best experiences I have ever had. The weather was perfect, the sites were nothing short of stunning and the people were true value. There are no roads on the island so you just get tossed around in the 4x4 as you navigate through winding trails in the bush. The ocean side driving is less nauseating but I preferred the unpacked trails. We swam in some of the clearest fresh water I have ever seen. We saw sharks swimming from a cliff called Indian Head, where Aboriginals would make their wrong doer’s or captives jump to their death in the rocks and sea below. We drank water from a fresh spring, saw cliffs made of sand, enjoyed a sky full of stars at the beach, camped with Dingos (no one was eaten), saw the skeleton of a massive cruise ship that wrecked and washed ashore in the 1800’s, and hiked to a massive sand dune that led down into a lake about 3 km inland. I can’t explain how amazing the people were on my trip and how quickly we all bonded. In my car were an Irish couple, a Frenchman, a Brazilian, 2 German girls, an Englishman and our driver was Australian. It was quite the multicultural experience.
I was so sad to leave everyone after Fraser Island but I was heading for Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday Islands so who could complain? After a 16 hour night ride on a greyhound I arrived in Airlie Beach. Almost immediately I boarded my sailing boat for a 3 day cruise around the Whitsunday Islands. Again we were blessed with good weather, which is pretty hard to come by at this time of year, which is called The Wet, short for the wet season. The Whitsundays were also stunning. Bright blue waters, lush green islands and bright blue skies. Everyone just laid around the boat, sunning and drinking and making new friends. I went snorkeling for the first time and saw so many colorful fish! We made a stop at White Haven Beach, the 8th most beautiful beach in the world. If you are caught with a kilogram of White Haven sand you can be fined $50,000! Seriously! The sand is so fine you can brush your teeth with it and clean your jewelry. Or you can get it into the lens of your camera, rendering your camera useless. Luckily I avoided that. During the warm summer months in addition to your worries about sharks and The Wet, you have to be concerned about Stingers, aka jellyfish. There are several kinds that can do serious damage but there are two in particular that could kill a horse. So, when swimming in the ocean during the summer months anywhere north of Hervey Bay you must wear a stinger suit, much like a wet suit but a bit thinner. Luckily they don’t cover your face or protect you from sharks so you still feel adventurous. It’s a strange feeling to be swimming in such a beautiful place and be wearing a full body suit but honestly the sun is so strong here that I was thankful for a break from it. I have NEVER used an entire bottle of sunscreen in the States and I used up my new bottle in less than a month here. The sun is powerful here.
After the Whitsundays I had a night in Airlie Beach to do a pub crawl with everyone from our boat. The next day I headed to Magnetic Island, which was beautiful. I went on a hike there that had more great views, saw a kangaroo crossing the road and won a paper airplane contest, earning myself a free jug of beer.
The next day I was off to Cairns, my last stop before heading back to Melbourne. In Cairns I did a day trip to the Great Barrier Reef on a beautiful boat. We stopped at three different spots along the reef to snorkel and I did my first introductory dive. The snorkeling there was everything I ever imagined. Thousands of fish, fish everywhere!!! All kinds and colors and shapes and sizes! I saw a reef shark and jelly fish (not the deadly kind), giant clams, an Elvis fish, Nemos or Clown Fish, and a few hundred other types that were all so vibrant and incredible. My scuba dive was quite an experience as well. At first I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it because it hurt my ears so badly but eventually I equalized the pressure properly and was good to go. We spent about half an hour exploring under water about 30 ft deep. I felt like Ariel from the Little Mermaid, though not as sexy because instead of a shell bra I had on a stinger suit and diving equipment. Either way I was swimming around having a blast. Another highlight of the trip was the food spread. I had been eating pretty much the same 3 meals for the last few weeks so when I saw the sushi, prawns, fresh fruit, curries, etc. I went all out. Ahh so delicious.
Back in Melbourne things have been great. I’ve been busy working various jobs and catching up with friends. A big group of camp people went climbing at Ben Cairns in the Yarra Valley last week. That’s a wine region here so the drive out was through beautiful vineyards. Mark and Suzi are here now so they joined us for the climb session and we had a BBQ the other day so everyone could catch up. I’ve been meeting up with friends I met on the east coast that are either living in Melbourne or just passing through on their adventures.
The day after Christmas is called Boxing Day here. Long ago families used to box up their leftovers and give them to the poor or homeless. Now, I’m assuming with the invention of the refrigerator, people just eat their leftovers. Anyway I celebrated Boxing Day with the Carraghers, No-e and Lord Dubingston, and a couple of their friends. We went to a cricket match against the English. It was part of a very important tournament called the Ashes and Boxing Day is one of the biggest days to go. While cricket is far from what I would call riveting, I really enjoyed myself. Dub explained all the rules and scoring throughout the day and we basically just sat around enjoying the sun and a couple beers. Lucky for me that match will go down in history as the worst score the Australians have ever had in this history of the Ashes tournament. They were pathetic. It was great. Dub, being from England was delighted but everyone else seemed less than impressed for some reason. After that we all headed for a bar and to catch up with friends who were spread out throughout the stadium.
This month I will be organizing my next move and trying to find casual work for the next few weeks, as the events company has slowed down and I only work weekends at the café. The IHC reunion is on Jan 22nd and after that I’m road tripping it over to Adelaide with 1T. Plans are to do a bit of camping and exploring of South Australia, another cricket match on Australia Day, the music festival Big Day Out, which I am so excited for, and possibly a trip up to Ayers Rock if I can earn the money in the next couple weeks. We shall see. Hope everyone at home is having a great Christmas. I miss and love y’all so much.
xx,
Elizabeth
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Rent a Hummer and Drive Through the Bumps
4 December, 2010
Who knew I would end up here, in a hostel in Noosa? Not me. The past few weeks have been just as they should be. A lovely outline of where to be on what dates but nothing strictly planned. I had a flight back to Melbourne but I forfeited that, to keep traveling just a couple weeks longer.
Jake and I left Melbourne and headed for Brisbane mid-November, excited for our new adventure. Our first night in Brissie we saw a few sights and enjoyed take away Indian Food on Kangaroo Point with Megan and Wade. It was a great start to a great vacation.
We bee-lined for Byron Bay the following morning. It was time to enjoy the life of a beach bum. Byron proved to be amazing, even though it rained quite a lot. Jake decided that since we were essentially in the tropics the rain was something of a novelty, always the optimist. Rain or shine we were happy for Byron is a great town. Our first hostel, The Arts Factory, was a resort style hippie community. It had basketball, a swimming pool and “slightly warm” tub, a café, hammocks, bungalows, dorms, camping, turkeys, the famous Cockatoo Paul (a local celebrity), giant lizards and a laid back vibe. We enjoyed it so much we came back for our last two nights. Our second dorm was about 200 yards from the beach with a bar and back patio. It was set up more like a motel. It was cool, but paled in comparison to THE ARTS FACTORY, ahhh. Throughout the week we played frisbee on the beach, saw a fantastic group play music at a Sunday market, went to a wedding bbq and reception thanks to our friend Rob, ate delicious Portuguese chicken burgers (3 x’s…they were sooooo good), went surfing a couple times, swam in a lake stained red from the surrounding tea trees, hiked through the wilderness reserve to a lighthouse, were serenaded by backpackers singing karaoke (Jake performance was classic) and mainly just chilled beachside. One of my favorite moments happened while we were surfing. A wave was swelling up and just as it was about to crash over we saw a school of bright orange and pink fish swimming on the wall of the wave. I loved it. Then two seconds later I finally came to realize there really is a LOT of life swimming around in these oceans. Obviously I knew that before but now it was real. And I was concerned for my limbs. I find it’s best just to pretend I’m in a wave pool at Wet ‘n Wild, no creatures there, just a bunch of warm, pee filled water. ☺
At one point we were fed up with the rain and rented a car with Rob and a girl from our hostel and drove to Nimbin, a place I can’t begin to describe. It’s a very small hippie town that is petitioning for the legalization of marijuana. They promote themselves as a friendly, peaceful and open-minded community but truthfully it has fallen far short of success. The main street is jam packed with drug dealers and miserable, crazed addicts. Ironically it was more of an anti-drug advertisement, if you ask me. “This is what you’ll turn into to,” is the phrase that stuck in my head. It was a sight to see and the drive in was beautiful, lush countryside. I drove the rental car and managed to keep it on the left side of the road most of the time. Luckily Rob is English and when I got out of line he’d yell, “WRONG SIDE LIZ! WRONG SIDE!” We all made it back in one piece. AND we saw a Kangaroo on the side of the road!
After a week in Byron we headed back to Brisbane to stay with Johnny and Wade. Their house is just how I imagined a house in Australia to be. It was tropical and lively, with possums, geckos, spiders, cockroaches (gross) and god knows what else crawling all over the place. After our action packed week in Byron we thought we deserved a break, so we spent most of our time in Brisbane lying around. When the weekend came we had big plans, Thanksgiving in Australia! It was ambitious but thanks to Megan we pulled it off beautifully. I was in charge of whipped potatoes and they were delicious. We had a turkey, 2 kinds of stuffing, corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes and marshmallows. It was the true spirit of Thanksgiving, two different cultures meeting together to share a delicious meal and lots of alcohol. And I didn’t even have to watch football!
Sunday Johnny and Wade took us to Mooloolaba (good luck pronouncing that). It’s a beach town north of Brissie. We stopped at a famous Aussie pub for lunch called The Ettamugah Pub, I think. It was massive and had Aussie sayings and photos and decorations everywhere. We spent the afternoon playing frisbee in the ocean and getting tossed around on boogie boards, another great day in Australia.
Jake and I decided to part ways at the end of last week. He will be staying in Brisbane and I have gone north for a couple weeks before returning to the working life in Melbourne. I’m using a hop on, hop off bus tour to get from Brisbane to Cairns. My first stop was Noosa, a wealthy beach community situated around Noosa National Park. The past couple days have been a bit rainy but whenever the sun was out, so was I. I spent most of yesterday wandering the town and reading on the beach. The national park was stunning and kept me occupied for a good 3 or 4 hours. I kept looking in the trees, fingers crossed, for Koalas. I realized I should probably focus more on the ground when I nearly stepped on a MASSIVE Goanna. It was probably 3 ½ ft long. I’ll leave you to imagine what choice phrases came out. The rest of the trek was coastal views and trails through dense forest. I dipped into the ocean at the end to cool off and it immediately started pouring rain. So here I am back at the hostel watching the Australian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? And waiting for the bar to open.
xx
Elizabeth
Who knew I would end up here, in a hostel in Noosa? Not me. The past few weeks have been just as they should be. A lovely outline of where to be on what dates but nothing strictly planned. I had a flight back to Melbourne but I forfeited that, to keep traveling just a couple weeks longer.
Jake and I left Melbourne and headed for Brisbane mid-November, excited for our new adventure. Our first night in Brissie we saw a few sights and enjoyed take away Indian Food on Kangaroo Point with Megan and Wade. It was a great start to a great vacation.
We bee-lined for Byron Bay the following morning. It was time to enjoy the life of a beach bum. Byron proved to be amazing, even though it rained quite a lot. Jake decided that since we were essentially in the tropics the rain was something of a novelty, always the optimist. Rain or shine we were happy for Byron is a great town. Our first hostel, The Arts Factory, was a resort style hippie community. It had basketball, a swimming pool and “slightly warm” tub, a café, hammocks, bungalows, dorms, camping, turkeys, the famous Cockatoo Paul (a local celebrity), giant lizards and a laid back vibe. We enjoyed it so much we came back for our last two nights. Our second dorm was about 200 yards from the beach with a bar and back patio. It was set up more like a motel. It was cool, but paled in comparison to THE ARTS FACTORY, ahhh. Throughout the week we played frisbee on the beach, saw a fantastic group play music at a Sunday market, went to a wedding bbq and reception thanks to our friend Rob, ate delicious Portuguese chicken burgers (3 x’s…they were sooooo good), went surfing a couple times, swam in a lake stained red from the surrounding tea trees, hiked through the wilderness reserve to a lighthouse, were serenaded by backpackers singing karaoke (Jake performance was classic) and mainly just chilled beachside. One of my favorite moments happened while we were surfing. A wave was swelling up and just as it was about to crash over we saw a school of bright orange and pink fish swimming on the wall of the wave. I loved it. Then two seconds later I finally came to realize there really is a LOT of life swimming around in these oceans. Obviously I knew that before but now it was real. And I was concerned for my limbs. I find it’s best just to pretend I’m in a wave pool at Wet ‘n Wild, no creatures there, just a bunch of warm, pee filled water. ☺
At one point we were fed up with the rain and rented a car with Rob and a girl from our hostel and drove to Nimbin, a place I can’t begin to describe. It’s a very small hippie town that is petitioning for the legalization of marijuana. They promote themselves as a friendly, peaceful and open-minded community but truthfully it has fallen far short of success. The main street is jam packed with drug dealers and miserable, crazed addicts. Ironically it was more of an anti-drug advertisement, if you ask me. “This is what you’ll turn into to,” is the phrase that stuck in my head. It was a sight to see and the drive in was beautiful, lush countryside. I drove the rental car and managed to keep it on the left side of the road most of the time. Luckily Rob is English and when I got out of line he’d yell, “WRONG SIDE LIZ! WRONG SIDE!” We all made it back in one piece. AND we saw a Kangaroo on the side of the road!
After a week in Byron we headed back to Brisbane to stay with Johnny and Wade. Their house is just how I imagined a house in Australia to be. It was tropical and lively, with possums, geckos, spiders, cockroaches (gross) and god knows what else crawling all over the place. After our action packed week in Byron we thought we deserved a break, so we spent most of our time in Brisbane lying around. When the weekend came we had big plans, Thanksgiving in Australia! It was ambitious but thanks to Megan we pulled it off beautifully. I was in charge of whipped potatoes and they were delicious. We had a turkey, 2 kinds of stuffing, corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes and marshmallows. It was the true spirit of Thanksgiving, two different cultures meeting together to share a delicious meal and lots of alcohol. And I didn’t even have to watch football!
Sunday Johnny and Wade took us to Mooloolaba (good luck pronouncing that). It’s a beach town north of Brissie. We stopped at a famous Aussie pub for lunch called The Ettamugah Pub, I think. It was massive and had Aussie sayings and photos and decorations everywhere. We spent the afternoon playing frisbee in the ocean and getting tossed around on boogie boards, another great day in Australia.
Jake and I decided to part ways at the end of last week. He will be staying in Brisbane and I have gone north for a couple weeks before returning to the working life in Melbourne. I’m using a hop on, hop off bus tour to get from Brisbane to Cairns. My first stop was Noosa, a wealthy beach community situated around Noosa National Park. The past couple days have been a bit rainy but whenever the sun was out, so was I. I spent most of yesterday wandering the town and reading on the beach. The national park was stunning and kept me occupied for a good 3 or 4 hours. I kept looking in the trees, fingers crossed, for Koalas. I realized I should probably focus more on the ground when I nearly stepped on a MASSIVE Goanna. It was probably 3 ½ ft long. I’ll leave you to imagine what choice phrases came out. The rest of the trek was coastal views and trails through dense forest. I dipped into the ocean at the end to cool off and it immediately started pouring rain. So here I am back at the hostel watching the Australian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? And waiting for the bar to open.
xx
Elizabeth
Monday, November 8, 2010
Getting run over by a car is no longer a major concern of mine, finally. You would never believe how strongly the look "left, right left" before crossing the street is ingrained into your mind until you try jaywalking in foreign land. Cars drive on the left side of the road here. And it's scary, or was anyway. I was constantly grabbed by my shirt collar and yanked back to the curb by friends in a effort to save me from a trip to hospital. I would say I'm fully adjusted to that, except now when I see cars on tv it takes at least 30 seconds to figure out if it's an American car or Australian because I can't remember which side the steering wheel should be on. It's very disorienting.
The weather here is finally shaping up a bit. It's been so damn cold here. I was decieved. Apparently I should have been on the east coast first, then traveled down here when it was too hot up in Brisbane and Sydney. Oh well, you know what they say about hindsight.
I bought a frisbee and it has turned out to be one of my best investments, second only to the skinny jeans mommy bought me before I departed. I'm almost fashionable here. Scary. When the weather is nice we trek on down to a park and throw the frisbee for a bit then pop up to the chocolate shop for an iced chocolate. Yesterday I took all Jake's money in Texas Hold 'Em. Unfortunately it was really my money that I loaned him but whatever, I won.
I had a 12 hour day trip up and down the Great Ocean Road last week with Jodie OPT. We took the dog and went all the way up the coast to the famed 12 Apostles and back again. We nearly ran over 2 wallabees, saw a lamb that was literally just born, and 2 koalas on the side of the road. Or maybe it was the same one but either way that is EXTREMELY rare! It was incredible! The ocean was the most incredible color. I can't wait to get back there later in the summer and get in that water. There are a couple national parks that way too that we drove by that look amazing for camping and hiking. Perhaps even a bit of climbing if I can just find a climbing partner.
Last weekend Barlow and his brother, friends from camp, came to Melbourne for a couple days and we had a small camp reunion at Blue Bar on Chaple Street. It's unbelievable how many camp friends are here.
This week I'll be staying in a hostel in the city to try and meet some other backpackers and find new cool things to do for the next few days before some traveling begins. I've found that living out in the burbs has gotten me into a pretty lame lifestyle. My time off is during the week, when everyone else works so I don't do a whole lot. BORING. So this week, that will change.
A bunch of us are heading to the Grampians National Park or possibly Wilson's Promontory if the weather is bad up north, for the weekend. Either way I'm excited to do some hiking and swimming in the falls. Then on Tuesday Jake and I are heading to Brisbane, Byron Bay and the Sunshine Coast for 2 weeks. 7 days now....I can't wait. Those areas have a bit more outdoorsy things to do.
I've figured out that life is a bit more expensive here, but it's offset by the $15/hr minimum wage. Anyway I thought I'd give you all a little insight to prices here, if anyone is interested.
Movie (Facebook...pretty good actually): 17$
Pint o average Beer: 8-9$
Small Cafe Latte: 3.20$
Double Cheeseburger from McD's: 4.35$
Sandwich from average restaurant: 13-5$
Daily Train Ticket: 10.60$
Cold 20 oz Coke (Mr. Bill): 3-4.50$
Warm 1.5 Liter Coke: 2.29$
P.S. The chocolate here is WAY FREAKIN BETTER. And Mr. Bill, the Coke tastes different here. In fact, all the sodas and gatorades and all that business do because of sugar regulations. No high fructose corn syrup here.
That's life for now. Love and miss you all.
xx
Liz
The weather here is finally shaping up a bit. It's been so damn cold here. I was decieved. Apparently I should have been on the east coast first, then traveled down here when it was too hot up in Brisbane and Sydney. Oh well, you know what they say about hindsight.
I bought a frisbee and it has turned out to be one of my best investments, second only to the skinny jeans mommy bought me before I departed. I'm almost fashionable here. Scary. When the weather is nice we trek on down to a park and throw the frisbee for a bit then pop up to the chocolate shop for an iced chocolate. Yesterday I took all Jake's money in Texas Hold 'Em. Unfortunately it was really my money that I loaned him but whatever, I won.
I had a 12 hour day trip up and down the Great Ocean Road last week with Jodie OPT. We took the dog and went all the way up the coast to the famed 12 Apostles and back again. We nearly ran over 2 wallabees, saw a lamb that was literally just born, and 2 koalas on the side of the road. Or maybe it was the same one but either way that is EXTREMELY rare! It was incredible! The ocean was the most incredible color. I can't wait to get back there later in the summer and get in that water. There are a couple national parks that way too that we drove by that look amazing for camping and hiking. Perhaps even a bit of climbing if I can just find a climbing partner.
Last weekend Barlow and his brother, friends from camp, came to Melbourne for a couple days and we had a small camp reunion at Blue Bar on Chaple Street. It's unbelievable how many camp friends are here.
This week I'll be staying in a hostel in the city to try and meet some other backpackers and find new cool things to do for the next few days before some traveling begins. I've found that living out in the burbs has gotten me into a pretty lame lifestyle. My time off is during the week, when everyone else works so I don't do a whole lot. BORING. So this week, that will change.
A bunch of us are heading to the Grampians National Park or possibly Wilson's Promontory if the weather is bad up north, for the weekend. Either way I'm excited to do some hiking and swimming in the falls. Then on Tuesday Jake and I are heading to Brisbane, Byron Bay and the Sunshine Coast for 2 weeks. 7 days now....I can't wait. Those areas have a bit more outdoorsy things to do.
I've figured out that life is a bit more expensive here, but it's offset by the $15/hr minimum wage. Anyway I thought I'd give you all a little insight to prices here, if anyone is interested.
Movie (Facebook...pretty good actually): 17$
Pint o average Beer: 8-9$
Small Cafe Latte: 3.20$
Double Cheeseburger from McD's: 4.35$
Sandwich from average restaurant: 13-5$
Daily Train Ticket: 10.60$
Cold 20 oz Coke (Mr. Bill): 3-4.50$
Warm 1.5 Liter Coke: 2.29$
P.S. The chocolate here is WAY FREAKIN BETTER. And Mr. Bill, the Coke tastes different here. In fact, all the sodas and gatorades and all that business do because of sugar regulations. No high fructose corn syrup here.
That's life for now. Love and miss you all.
xx
Liz
Monday, October 4, 2010
New Beginnings
G'day everyone! Where to begin...well my first week was pretty much eaten up by jet lag. My original plan involved me passing out on a beach for a few days and wearing it off that way but I was sadly mistaken about the weather here. Turns out it actually gets cold in this country. Way to do your research, Liz. So I spent it in bed at No-e and Dub's, which is a close second to a beautiful, sun kissed beach. :)
Dub to Jake and I to Rickett's Sanctuary, which is a lush garden that winds around to sculptures of aboriginal people and scenes of the earth. It was created to address the destruction of nature at the hands of capitalism and progression.
Also we went to Phillip Island, south of Melbourne to a wildlife park where we saw all kinds of native animals and birds. We got to feed wallabies, some sort of terrifying dinosaur looking bird, Emus (not me thanks, they are worse than the dino bird), and of course KANGAROOS! There were hundreds of them just hanging out in the fields.
After the wildlife park we went to the Penguin Parade near by. Every night after sundown hundreds of Little Penguins, formerly known as Ferry Penguins (not pc), come out of the ocean and waddle in little groups back to their buroughs on land. They made there way up the beach and actually walked right by the boardwalk. I must have seen about 30 at once. So cute and little, can't be much more than 6 inches tall. Unfortunately you aren't allowed to take photos, but the memory will live on forever. :)
Our first weekend in Melbourne was the Grand Final. It's basically the Super Bowl for Australian League Football...nothing like the NFL. We took a train into the city central on Friday and happened to arrive just in time to see the parade. We had some grog (beer) at the pub and watched as thousands of people got smashed for their local team. It turns out Australian beer is stronger than American beer, which finally explains why all our Aussie friends drink the Americans under the table.
On Saturday St. Kilda played Collingwood, who has a reputation for being a bunch of bogans (white trash). Most of their fans have no teeth. No-e and Dub put on a big barbie (BBQ) for us and a load of their friends and we all sat around drinking a watching the footy on a projector Jess flogged (stole) from work. St. Kilda was predicted to get their arses (asses) handed to them but it ended in a TIE! Now in AFL if there is a tie you just play a rematch the next week. Even if it's the biggest game of the year. The only other time there has been a tie in an AFL Championship match was in the 70's. There was a strange vibe in the city the rest of the weekend. Can you imagine if the Super Bowl just ended in a tie and they said 'Right guys, well see you next week and we'll just do it all over again.' Weird. Anyway that's exactly what happened so this past Saturday the rematch was played and St. Kilda did in fact get their arses handed to them.
I started work last weekend at a cafe called Palate by Chapel St, which is a massive party scene. The area is very hip and the cafe is great. I bartended a couple night functions over the weekend and so far it has been a blast. The girls I work with a great and my one day shift was really slow. The coffee scene here is huge and since I don't drink that shit, there has been a lot to learn. I'm getting the hang of it though.
Today I started work at a hostel in Southbank, right near city central. So far it's pretty boring but hopefully it will lead to some helpful travel tips, deals, and connections in the future. I've got a phone now and the bank account is happening tomorrow.
Overall, or so far at least, Australia is really not that different from the States. Obviously the culture shock is nothing compared to my time in France. The people are really friendly and my mates from camp have helped out loads as far as sorting out jobs and places to stay and entertainment. We did however, go out last weekend with some friends and had a bit of trouble getting into the bar because the boys were wearing flannel shirts and flip flops...not classy enough for party life in Melbourne. They let us in after Greer explained that they were American and didn't know better but it was only after the bouncer said "Next time, teach your friends how to dress." :)
One other key difference that I think should really be integrated into the American lifestyle is called The Sunday Session. Sunday Sessions involve sitting outside in the sunshine (it's warmer now) and drinking with friends. It usually starts early afternoon and ends around 8ish, so you can get enough rest for work Monday. Our first Sunday Session was last weekend and it was fantastic. I am really loving it here so far.
That's it for now. I love you all and miss you and home so much! Shout out to Meghan! Happy BIRTHDAY Little Girl! I love love love you!
xx,
Elizabeth
P.S. Having some problems with my computer and internet access at the moment, will post photos as soon as I can work it out.
Dub to Jake and I to Rickett's Sanctuary, which is a lush garden that winds around to sculptures of aboriginal people and scenes of the earth. It was created to address the destruction of nature at the hands of capitalism and progression.
Also we went to Phillip Island, south of Melbourne to a wildlife park where we saw all kinds of native animals and birds. We got to feed wallabies, some sort of terrifying dinosaur looking bird, Emus (not me thanks, they are worse than the dino bird), and of course KANGAROOS! There were hundreds of them just hanging out in the fields.
After the wildlife park we went to the Penguin Parade near by. Every night after sundown hundreds of Little Penguins, formerly known as Ferry Penguins (not pc), come out of the ocean and waddle in little groups back to their buroughs on land. They made there way up the beach and actually walked right by the boardwalk. I must have seen about 30 at once. So cute and little, can't be much more than 6 inches tall. Unfortunately you aren't allowed to take photos, but the memory will live on forever. :)
Our first weekend in Melbourne was the Grand Final. It's basically the Super Bowl for Australian League Football...nothing like the NFL. We took a train into the city central on Friday and happened to arrive just in time to see the parade. We had some grog (beer) at the pub and watched as thousands of people got smashed for their local team. It turns out Australian beer is stronger than American beer, which finally explains why all our Aussie friends drink the Americans under the table.
On Saturday St. Kilda played Collingwood, who has a reputation for being a bunch of bogans (white trash). Most of their fans have no teeth. No-e and Dub put on a big barbie (BBQ) for us and a load of their friends and we all sat around drinking a watching the footy on a projector Jess flogged (stole) from work. St. Kilda was predicted to get their arses (asses) handed to them but it ended in a TIE! Now in AFL if there is a tie you just play a rematch the next week. Even if it's the biggest game of the year. The only other time there has been a tie in an AFL Championship match was in the 70's. There was a strange vibe in the city the rest of the weekend. Can you imagine if the Super Bowl just ended in a tie and they said 'Right guys, well see you next week and we'll just do it all over again.' Weird. Anyway that's exactly what happened so this past Saturday the rematch was played and St. Kilda did in fact get their arses handed to them.
I started work last weekend at a cafe called Palate by Chapel St, which is a massive party scene. The area is very hip and the cafe is great. I bartended a couple night functions over the weekend and so far it has been a blast. The girls I work with a great and my one day shift was really slow. The coffee scene here is huge and since I don't drink that shit, there has been a lot to learn. I'm getting the hang of it though.
Today I started work at a hostel in Southbank, right near city central. So far it's pretty boring but hopefully it will lead to some helpful travel tips, deals, and connections in the future. I've got a phone now and the bank account is happening tomorrow.
Overall, or so far at least, Australia is really not that different from the States. Obviously the culture shock is nothing compared to my time in France. The people are really friendly and my mates from camp have helped out loads as far as sorting out jobs and places to stay and entertainment. We did however, go out last weekend with some friends and had a bit of trouble getting into the bar because the boys were wearing flannel shirts and flip flops...not classy enough for party life in Melbourne. They let us in after Greer explained that they were American and didn't know better but it was only after the bouncer said "Next time, teach your friends how to dress." :)
One other key difference that I think should really be integrated into the American lifestyle is called The Sunday Session. Sunday Sessions involve sitting outside in the sunshine (it's warmer now) and drinking with friends. It usually starts early afternoon and ends around 8ish, so you can get enough rest for work Monday. Our first Sunday Session was last weekend and it was fantastic. I am really loving it here so far.
That's it for now. I love you all and miss you and home so much! Shout out to Meghan! Happy BIRTHDAY Little Girl! I love love love you!
xx,
Elizabeth
P.S. Having some problems with my computer and internet access at the moment, will post photos as soon as I can work it out.
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