A Quick Recap of My Life Since April

So, since I last wrote, Steve and I have been across the entire country and back, gone through two road trips, learned to drive a manual transmission, created a music video, and split up for a few weeks. In short….we've been a bit busy.

After Steve's marathon in Canberra, we bussed to Melbourne to meet up with one of Steve's friends, Pia, who decided she'd come with us on the first leg of our trip out to Perth. When we picked up our Wicked Campervan, we were pleasantly surprised and then a bit panicky. Surprised because they decorate all the Wicked Campervans and we ended up with the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo…freaking awesome to drive across Australia in the Mystery Machine, but when we opened the driver's door, what did we discover, but a manual transmission. Now this wouldn't have been a problem except that combined Steve and I have about the equivalent of an hour's experience driving stick shift and here we were faced with a 3,000 kilometer cross country trip in a vehicle we had no idea how to drive and the threat of a huge credit card bill if we killed the dang thing. It didn't help matters that our first foray in the vehicle was into downtown Melbourne to pick up Pia from her hostel before we headed west. Through much jerking, shuddering, frantic moments, and dozens of curses later, we managed to arrive without too much trouble.



So then we headed west, stopping in the Grampian Mountains to see some kangaroos, and then a few days in Adelaide where we rode for hours on free bikes and then wandered the night markets in Chinatown. After Adelaide, it was just Steve and I since Pia had to go back to Sydney. We continued along the coast, entering the sparsely populated area leading down to Port Lincoln where Steve went cage diving with Great White Sharks. Then we continued on our way across the Nullarbor, literally meaning "no trees" and you know what, it's just scrubby brush on hundreds upon hundreds of kilometers of flat land interrupted only by the occasional roadhouse and petrol station. I don't think I've ever been more governed by the sunrise and sunset in my life. Up with the sun, driving all day, and then cooking dinner by twilight in a rest stop before the sun disappeared for another 12 hours. It took us about 2 weeks to get from Melbourne to Perth, stopping in little towns and free camping in national parks over the Easter Holiday, because all the caravan parks were booked solid and we hadn't planned ahead. whoops! I completely forgot Aussies are the kings of caravanning and every holiday sees thousands of them on the road in search of the perfect campground to relax.


Driving across the Nullarbor!

In Perth, we spent some time with Byron, a friend of ours that we met when we first arrive in Lennox Head. We met both his mother and his aunt and their hospitality was amazing. We also got the chance to meet up with our friend Chris who we met way back in November while we were picking garlic in Hunter Valley. it was great to catch up and hear what he's been up to since we parted ways.

From Perth, Steve and I flew down to Tasmania, the Australian Island off the south coast of Melbourne where we had another 2 week road trip set up. We met up with Mary and Isaac, two awesome Nova Scotians, who we met in Lennox. We rented a Britz campervan, with two beds and a working kitchen (may I say a thousand steps up from our Wicked Campervan, and headed out on a leisurely trip around the tiny island of Tassie. We did a lot of hiking and wandering and boulder climbing. We saw Wineglass Bay, one of the top 10 beaches in the world, a car show, two of the oldest bridges in Australia, snow at Cradle Mountain where we huddled in the van under blankets because none of us had the proper weather gear, and a working wind mill. Traveling with Mary and Isaac was probably one of the highlights of the trip, despite the fact that nearly all of us were sick at some point during the expedition, because they are both so laid back and we all had a blast. If I could have, I would have made that trip last another few weeks. I already decided, I'm visiting them in Nova Scotia sometime in the near future.



Tassie's where we spent the better part of a day blocking and shooting our version of a music video for Rebecca Black's horrible, yet catchy, song Friday. If you've heard it, you know exactly what I mean. If you haven't and want to hear it, look it up on YouTube, but beware, it'll be stuck in your head for days afterward. That's probably why so many millions of people hate it.

From Tassie, we all went our separate ways. Steve went back to Perth to head north to the Ningaloo Reef to swim with whale sharks, the world's largest fish. Mary and Isaac flew to Sydney to stay with a family friend before they leave for home on the 5th, and I flew up to Cairns in Queensland to begin my whirlwind trip south, seeing in less than a month what most people spend 3 or 4 months seeing. I went snorkeling and scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef, and went up to Cape Tribulation and the DainTree Rainforest, home to the cassowary, a bird almost as big as an emu known for its razor sharp claws that can disembowel a human with ease.

My next stop was Townsville to meet Sonya Ashton's cousin who lives there. Now I've heard plenty about Townsville through Sonya's stories about crocodiles and snakes and spider bites, but it turned out to be a surprisingly suburban town with gorgeous views of the ocean and the mountains surrounding it. I didn't see a single crocodile, spider or snake and had a blast while I was there. It was like having a home for a few days because Colleen was fantastic. She even made me sack lunches for my day spent exploring Magnetic Island.

And right now, I'm sitting at a Mcdonalds in Airlie Beach (I know, Mcdonalds…but it has free Wifi, so there). I have an hour before I head out on a 2 day sailing cruise through the Whitsunday Islands and more snorkeling and scuba diving. I'm looking forward to it.

Home on June 15th! I have so much to do before that happens, but I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at home and dong a little work before I head west for school in September! See you all soon!

Glow Worms, Flies, and Marathons in the Rain

As I'm currently trapped on a bus for the better part of 9 hours, I thought I would take some time and update my blog a bit. Since Mom and Dad left us in New Zealand, Sreve and I have been busy. We did some exploring on the North Island of New Zealand, stopping in at Hobbiton, the real set for The Shire in all the Lord of the Rings movies. The totally awesome part was that since they're due to start filming the prequels to the movies anytime now, The Shire was picture perfect, complete with all the tiny gardens, the pub, and Bilbo's house at Bag's End. Since The Shire is on a sheep farm, as part of the tour we got to watch a local sheer a sheep in a minute flat, a feat which I'm sure took years upon years of practice.

We then made our way south to Rotorua where we went zorbing, which for all those unfamiliar with this weird and crazy activity, is where you shimmy inside a huge plastic ball, which they put some water in, and then you roll down a hill, slipping and sliding all over the inside all the way down. It was a blast! But way too short! Steve and I laughed the whole way down the hill.

A few days later, I dropped Steve off at the airport and headed to Waitomo for a few days spent in the glow worm caves. I took a tour where they kitted us out in wetsuits, gum boots and hard hats before we descended into the darkness, following a river into the depths to see glow worms light up the caves. They're really interesting creatures, actually a larvae of a type of fly, whose poop is luminescent and attracts prey toward the larvae for speedy devouring. If you don't think about that fact, it really is a beautiful sight. The glow worms look like stars of the Milky Way against the complete darkness you find yourself in. Oh, p.s. the water down there was FREEZING!



I had a nice welcome back to Australia. Going through customs, I decided to be good and declare all my food and tell them that yes i had been frolicking on a sheep farm whilst in New Zealand…I mean, it's New Zealand…you can't really avoid the sheep. anyway, the guy who looked over my stuff coming in was really nice and actually knew where Indiana was (the home of David Letterman!!!) and he knew we were Hoosiers! I have to say, he is the first Aussie I've met who had anything other than a vague idea of what Indiana might be.

From New Zealand, I went directly to Alice Springs so I could see and experience what Aussies like to call "The Red Centre." Alice Springs is out in the middle of nowhere, thousands of miles from any other town of note and still 5 hours from the major attractions that draw people to the area, namely Uluru, Kata Tjuta, and King's Canyon. I spent a day roaming the town, not much to see there, before I headed out on a 3 day camping trip to see the three natural wonders I mentioned above. It was a great experience, even though I went by myself. Our driver forced us out of our comfort zones and made us sit next to new people every time we stopped so, by the time we rolled up to Uluru, we were all laughing and chatting like old friends. We spent the next 3 days hiking, taking pictures, eating BBQ, sleeping in swags under the stars, and generally having a fantastic time with the exception of battling flies away from us every second of the day. Many thanks go out to the inventor of the fly net. After my trip, I officially declare it the best invention since sliced bread.



From Alice Springs, I moved on to Canberra, one day late due to a flight cancellation….boo! I met Steve there, where he had been slowly dying of boredom since his arrival there a week earlier. Canberra is a pretty nice city, though it doesn't seem anything like a country's capital. It's actually a bit sleepy. I played the tourist and spent a few days walking around seeing Parliament, the National Museum of Australia, and the National Gallery. Then, yesterday, it was time for Steve's big marathon. And you know what? It was the only day during my entire stay in Canberra, that it rained. Go figure. The conditions were miserable. Cold and rainy, but 4,000 people showed up to prove they could master the marathon and Steve was one of them. He finished in 3 hours and 9 minutes, qualifying for the Boston Marathon! I was so proud of him, mostly because to me, running 42 kilometers sounds like death. The cold and rain slowed him down a bit but he still did an awesome job.





So that was yesterday. Today we're headed to Melbourne and then, renting a Wicked campervan, we're touring the rest of the south coast over to Perth, where we're planning to crash at a friend's place for a while. That should take us to the beginning of May. Lots to do. Lots to see. Let the next adventure begin!

And We're on the Move

It's been a whirlwind rush the past 5 weeks, since Steve and I pulled up our roots at Lennox Head and hit the road and airways. The month traveling with mom and dad was pure luxury, staying in true motel rooms and eating out at restaurants, and of course having them visit as well :) It was a bit surreal to see them get off the plane in Ballina, to know that they came half way round the world to see us.

We spent a week in Lennox Head relaxing, checking out the weekend market at Bangalow, puttering up the river at Brunswick Heads, and watching Mom and Dad hang glide over Lennox. From Lennox we flew straight to Perth where we collected our rental car and headed out for a day's worth of driving north to Cervantes (rhymes with panties) where the most interesting part of the town is the water tower, where Steve and I wriggled through the fence and climbed up to the platform to watch the stars buffeted by gusts of wind that threatened to knock us off. However, it is near The Pinnacles, an eerie bit of the desert littered with thousands of rocky columns of various shapes and sizes reminiscent of an abandoned ancient miniature city.

The next day we resumed our journey up to Denham and Monkey Mia where a pod of female and young dolphins show up like clockwork every morning for their feeding. You're not allowed to touch them, but you do get to stand in the water within 3 feet of them and it provoked such a sense of awe to stand in their presence.

Our next big stop was back down south, past Perth in Margaret River, a cute town nestled near the sea and a collection of caves, which we checked out. We took a wine tour from Margaret River, spending a day shuttled between 5 different wineries and a brewery only to discover that we are not wine connoisseurs or even great appreciators of wine. We know what we like and don't necessarily want to drink anything else.

Next up was Melbourne and The Great Ocean Road, famous for the 12 Apostles, soaring rocky pinnacles jutting up out of the sea right off the coastline. We spent the night in Warnambool where we watched one of the most delightfully cheesy laser light shows ever which detailed the fate of an English ship that sank a mile from the southern coast, leaving just two survivors and an oversized statue of a peacock to wash ashore.

From that adventure, we boarded another plane, this time for New Zealand, one of the most gorgeous places on Earth. We checked into the Langham Hotel, a 5 star institution, complete with mints on your pillows, robes, and the option of dinner at the in house restaurant that had the best buffet ever with sushi, steaks, fish, crepes, home-made naan bread, and lots of desserts. Then we headed to Queenstown on the south island, one of my new favorite cities. It sits on the edge of lake Wakatipu, surrounded by mountains and peopled with lots of people who love the outdoors. We took a day tour to Milford Sound to see the fjords gouged out of the land by glaciers and rode the ferry out to the edge of the Tasman Sea, marveling at the towering sheer mountains that rose up around us.

Then we spent half a day climbing on Franz Josef Glacier suited out in our boots and crampons but otherwise sweltering hot as the sun beat down on us. It was amazing to see the crevasses and ice formations in the glacier and knowing in the back of your mind that this mass of ice is what carved out the gorgeous New Zealand landscape.

And the next day we left Mom and Dad at the airport in Auckland, waving good bye to them as we headed off to rent our own car and they trundled back inside to get on their flight home.

Fun in the Sun

So a little over a week ago…actually a week ago yesterday was Australia Day in Oz, their own independence day when they celebrate the day Captain Cook landed in Botany Bay. It's kind of a controversial day, this Invasion Day, as the Aboriginals call it, since it marks the beginning of their subjugation to the western world. Despite the controversy, Steve and I, along with our Canadian and British friends from the hostel had a great time celebrating. We missed the breakfast BBQ by approximately 20 minutes, much to our disappointment, but ended up getting ice cream and meat pies instead…and boy, do Australians know how to do their meat pies. Delicious! Then we made it down to the beach to watch the local Wildlife Research Team release 3 turtles back into the wild. This was Lennox Head's big Oz Day celebration…what can I say? It's small town life. We spent the rest of the day on the beach, building a sandcastle that was wiped out by the rising tide, and then made our way to a BBQ dinner at the neighbor's house. Great Day



Since then, all our Canadian and Brit friends have moved on, either up on down the coast and the hostel is a bit quieter since they'd been here for weeks on end. The day after the majority of them left, we got a replacement. A very unwelcome replacement called Andrew, a guy from Sydney, who had absolutely no filter on his mouth whatsoever. In my first conversation with him, he backhandedly proposed to me twice, called me hot, and asked if it was ok for him to perv on me. Eventually I just ignored him, but for days afterward everyone wanted to know when the wedding was. He left a couple days after that, muttering under his breathe about how antisocial everyone at the hostel was and that he wouldn't be coming back. I think we all breathed a sigh of relief.

Tuesday Steve got another job ripping down a fence and putting another one back up. I'm beginning to think that Australia only has casual labor for the menfolk since he got a job at O-pes too. Oh well. I'm enjoying my days of relaxation and freedom. So while he worked a 10 hour day in the sun, I went to the lake, read an entire book, and got to go hang gliding for free! yep, i said, FOR FREE! Graeme, the owner of the hostel, just came up to me in the afternoon, told me to get my shoes on and grab my camera cus I was going flying. And it was phenomenal, again! We did dives this time around and I actually got some good pictures of Lennox and of me. I saw a sea eagle fly by with fish in its talons. Oh, and the only catch of the whole thing is that I have to tell people who come through the hostel about it…as advertising for the guy. What a chore! hahaha.






And then it was Trivia Night again. The team was a lot different, a bit more serious, I would say. We weren't nearly as rowdy as last week, much to my dismay. I actually got shushed a few times when my contributions to the answers were said a wee bit too loud. It was still fun and we were only 1 correct answer away from winning the jackpot. Next week we try again. As they say, practice makes perfect!

And this morning I woke up at the unsightly hour of 4:45 just to drive to Byron Bay lighthouse to see the sunrise. And it was worth it. There is something peaceful and beautiful about seeing the world as it wakes up to greet the day. Here's a picture for you to enjoy as well.

$600 jackpot? I could win that...maybe...

So Tuesday here in Lennox Head is Steak Night…and just recently, it's become Trivia night as well, a night of epic mishaps, and misunderstandings, but fun nevertheless. This past trivia night, we actually got together a real team instead of just sitting in the pub and playing on our own without the chance to win the jackpot (it's $600)

So here we are, a group of 12 backpackers from the US, Canada, and Britain attempting to answer ridiculous questions. Now the week before, the questions were easy, straightforward things you knew from high school, but was that what we got this week? No, it was not. This week it was Australian trivia and we were extremely bad at it. So bad, in fact, that the guy leading the quiz night, gave us a couple points each round and subtly tried to give us clues as to the answers, which would have been great, if we'd even been paying attention.

As it was, half the table was chatting away about something or other, a group were drawing pictures on the beer coasters, some were doing sudokus, and the two people at the end of the table were making peanut butter and banana sandwiches for an after dinner snack. We didn't so much discuss our answers as yell them at each other, not really caring what got written down in the end, but enjoying the argument. What made this picture even better was the fact that the rest of the teams in the pub are the real serious sort, who come every week, and keep track of their score, and even contest the announcer when he gives them an extra point (who does that?!). I do believe we offended their sensibilities. Amazingly enough, we didn't come in last…we got 4th, out of 7 team. I think we'll go again next week…the regulars are gonna kill us.

Ah...a holiday!

ok, so i'm not as good with updating this thing as Steve is, so apologies up front, but i'm going to continue as I am…sorry.

We haven't been working the past week and a half since Suz and Avigdor went to Tasmania for a few weeks on a retreat and I have to say, I thoroughly enjoy the life of the semi-retired. In fact, I think I'm spoiled rotten and don't want to go back to work. Our time off has coincided well with the arrival of some awesome people at the hostel. We've formed our own little family, getting up, spending the day chatting, eating, and hanging out at the lake or beach and it's fantastic. At night we either have movie nights or board game nights or a combination of both…and I'm learning to like board games slowly but surely. I actually played my first game EVER of Scrabble last week and won it by 60 points….although i then followed that epic win by an epic fail, but then that's just how my board game abilities go…it's either one extreme or the other.

I finally made it down the beach to the Headland and climbed up to look down on Lennox. It's gorgeous up there and I timed it just right to watch a rainstorm roll in over the town.



I got some packages from overseas in the last 2 weeks which made my week off of work even better. Steve's Chrissy prezzy for me came and he got me a KINDLE! so now I don't have to lug around books when we're moving from place to place. It's really neat, but I'm going to have to get used to not having actual pages to turn and dog-ear, and in general, mistreat. And I don't think I can take it out to the beach…I'm not daring enough for that. And a day later, a surprise present came from Belgium! from ellen. She got me a day calendar thing that I write down the day's events in…that's why i can tell you what's been happening since I last wrote. Otherwise, me and my horrible memory would just come up with… "um, yea, I've been going to the beach and um, hanging out." haha…this is slightly better than that i think.

In the mean time, my faithful secretary, Mom, has been working behind the scenes helping me get all my application stuff ready for the mail so I can apply to the post-baccalaureate program for Communication Sciences and Disorders at Western Washington University. That program will get me prepared for a master's in Speech Language Pathology. The app is due April 1st (April Fool's Day, which makes me a little leery) so I should know sometime in April where I'll be come September. Wish me luck!

Best Job Op EVER!

So I was perusing the local paper tonight and came across this ad in the classifieds. I think I found my new job.