So I'm leaving! Home I come! I figured I'd do one last post, since I have some time to kill.
To begin with, Sydney's pretty lame. It's just another big city, and once you've seen the opera house and the bridge, it ain't all that spectacular.
I spent yesterday wandering around town (again), and had lunch at the same place (and ordered the same thing), and then spent a couple hours walking around the botanical gardens, which brings me to the "sex + death" part of the title. I was walking (and walking and walking) and I came across this huge glass pyramid with plants in it. It was pretty neat. Then, as I walk closer, I notice that in flowers, right in front of the pyramid, it says "sex + death" and I mean it's huge. The "S", if I laid down next to it, would be longer than I am (5.5 feet), and all the other letters were in caps, as well. Anyways, I found it strange and amusing.
I bought two books on sale for 5 bucks. (I am so sick of spending 20 dollars for a book) And yes dad, I know "Why don't you just go to a library?" WELL! I did. The Melbourne Library doesn't even loan out books, and at other libraries I can't get a card because I'm not an Aussie Citizen. So there. And I was not about to lug around library books with me from back home, while I traveled.
Alright Crab Racing. The bar below the hostel in Sydney (Scu Bar), every monday night, does crab racing. Hermit crab racing. It's a giant circular platform, and the crabs start underneath a bowl in the middle of the platform. Once the bowl is lifted, the first crab that gets to the edge of the platform first, wins. Well, the bartender is from San Francisco, so he told me to pick crab 16. Well, crab 16 was taking his steroids because he just flew (and i mean FLEW) to the edge. It was the most spectacular crab race I've ever seen. And for the hard work of my awesome crab (who I named Flounder) I won a free day trip w/ a scuba dive. Unfortunately, I was leaving today, so there was no way for me to do it. So. I sold it. bwahahahaha. Being the amazing person I am. It was a 95 dollar value, and I sold it for 50 bucks plus a drink, so like a 55 dollar value. I was very pleased with my negotiating skills.
Anyways, other than crab racing, last night was pretty amazing. I hung out with a bunch of aussies and california people. A bunch of girls from UC-San Diego were out here for next semester, so they just got into Sydney for orientation, and start school next week. So last night was lots of fun.
Now, the last segment of the title. The friggin Pope is here. It's World Youth Day here in Sydney. Although it's a lie, it's world youth days (July 15th - July 20th), but it's also like World Youth WEEKS, because while I was in Melbourne all the kids (and adults -- "youth" is also a misconception) were there. It's a Christian extravaganza, and there's thousands of people everywhere with there red/yellow WYD SYD 08 backpacks. And everyone comes in 'teams" from their home countries, and walks around with their country flags and stuff. It wouldn't be so bad, except it's totally consuming Sydney. Plus all the streets are closed down for the Pope, and it's a good thing I don't have a car, otherwise it'd be super frustrating.
Anyways, I'm going to go grab some breakfast and head on home! Yay!
Oh, and for those of you who know Alex Shank, he got promoted to Full-time, Annual Salary, Jr. Programmer position. (He was a 3 - month intern before). So if you know him! Tell him Congratulations!!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Opera and Bridges.
So I made it to Sydney. The last two nights in Melbourne were awesome. The pub crawl we did was amazing. It went from about 7 pm to midnight, and we ended at a nightclub type spot called "eurotrash". Awesome name, yes? We also got to go to the ice bar, which was cool (literally and figuratively). The only down side to the pub crawl is that you end up spending way too much money on over priced drinks. The last night in Melbourne, we went to an AFL game (Aussie Football League), they call it footie. No, it's not like American football. No, it's not soccer. and No, it's not rugby. Basically, it's played in a huge oval (no lines drawn on it except two mini ovals, kind of like under the basket in basketball, but way bigger). The players are trying to kick this rugby-shaped ball through a series of poles (much like a field goal). There are four poles, and if somenoe can punt the ball through the middle two poles its 6 points, if it goes through either of the sides it's worth one point. They don't wear pads, and it's full on tackling. Anyways, it's probably not a very good explanation, but it took Annelise and myself three quarters to figure out the rules and logistics. The team I rooted for ended up losing, but almost made an amazing comeback in the fourth quarter, but then with ten minutes left, fell apart again. (Each quarter is 25 minutes long, but the clock never stops, so the refs add time to the end to account for the ball going out of bounds and what not). The ball, however, rarely goes out of bounds, because the oval is friggin huge. Anyways, I'm in sydney.
I went out last night to a couple clubs in Darling Harbour (Wallaby Bar, Chinese Laundry and Retro). Retro was this three story night club witha 20 dollar cover charge...but I ended up getting in for free because it happened to be "dyno white" night, so if you dressed in all white you got in for free....I was wearing a black/white shirt, jeans and a white hat, so the girl just let me go in. I was stoked. The floors all played different types of msuic. The first floor was liek retro rap and rock music from the 80s and 90s. The second floor was like 70s music, and the top floor was pretty much a rave, with neon lights and lasers and techno music.
I walked from teh hostel to the bridge/opera house today, which was about a 45 minute walk, and then walked around. I treated myself to a good lunch at a cafe. I haven't really eaten good food my entire trip here because eating out is so expensive, and my diet has suffered, so I finally decided money is worth trying to get back on my diet. I then spent 40 bucks on a tour bus thing that took me all around Sydney, which was nice. I got to see parts that I wouldn't have seen otherwise. I tried getting on a sail boat, because the harbor was filled with boats, but it was all "we don't need you" or trying to convince me to like charter a sail, and I was not about to spend 200 bucks for a sail around the harbor. So I failed on my sailing endevour, but I guess that's alright.
Tonight I plan on staying in and reading a dean koontz book I got. I'm also considering going skydiving tomorrow to end my trip, because there isn't a whole lot left to do, unless I want to shop...which I don't.
I went out last night to a couple clubs in Darling Harbour (Wallaby Bar, Chinese Laundry and Retro). Retro was this three story night club witha 20 dollar cover charge...but I ended up getting in for free because it happened to be "dyno white" night, so if you dressed in all white you got in for free....I was wearing a black/white shirt, jeans and a white hat, so the girl just let me go in. I was stoked. The floors all played different types of msuic. The first floor was liek retro rap and rock music from the 80s and 90s. The second floor was like 70s music, and the top floor was pretty much a rave, with neon lights and lasers and techno music.
I walked from teh hostel to the bridge/opera house today, which was about a 45 minute walk, and then walked around. I treated myself to a good lunch at a cafe. I haven't really eaten good food my entire trip here because eating out is so expensive, and my diet has suffered, so I finally decided money is worth trying to get back on my diet. I then spent 40 bucks on a tour bus thing that took me all around Sydney, which was nice. I got to see parts that I wouldn't have seen otherwise. I tried getting on a sail boat, because the harbor was filled with boats, but it was all "we don't need you" or trying to convince me to like charter a sail, and I was not about to spend 200 bucks for a sail around the harbor. So I failed on my sailing endevour, but I guess that's alright.
Tonight I plan on staying in and reading a dean koontz book I got. I'm also considering going skydiving tomorrow to end my trip, because there isn't a whole lot left to do, unless I want to shop...which I don't.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
The Machines Will Always Win.
Apparently gambling is a big thing here. I've fallen in love with all the bulletins and billboards that Australia has to stop people from doing certain things. For instance, the "drowsy drivers die" is awesome. Yesterday I saw one that said "if you drink and then you drive, you're a bloody idiot". The bathrooms around here at clubs (yeah...strange place, but..) all have these pictures of ice bergs (you know, Titanic style). With about 1/100th of the berg above the water line, and apparently it's supposed to represent meth. And it says "99% of what you get, you don't see, because it's below the surface". So I guess, don't do meth? Duh... And then, my recent favorites, are anti-gambling advertisements. They have pictures of super sad, depressed looking people with random captions like "the machines always win" or "it starts once, and continues to spread". Some of the captions don't even make sense...but then they show the gambling help hotline. Anyways, I love the ads here and I'm trying to take pictures of them.
So so so, we're in Melbourne. We got in Monday night, and we just hung around the hostel and met some cool people. I went into town and got my camera battery charged at Sony (my charger is broken). They charge 120 bucks for a charger here, but they offered to charge my battery for free, and then told me once I get into Sydney I can get it charged again at the Sony in Sydney. (Yay!) I did "meet and greet" with one of our room mates, Tom, from Leeds, England...and it was pretty lame, except we got a free glass of champagne (which is always a benefit).
Tuesday, Annelise and I went to Queen Victoria Market, which is 8 hectares...I have no idea what a hectare is, but it was like 6 blocks by 6 blocks of open air markets. They had the freshest fruits and veggies that looked sooooooo delicious, and so cheap. We bought a container of strawberries for 2 dollars and ate them as we wandered around. Annelise bought a hoodie, and I bought a pair of gloves (because my poor fingers felt like icicles). It was raining/windy on and off all day, so it wasn't the best conditions, but it was still a lot of fun. We had lunch at the cafeteria style place across the street, and I had wonton noodle soup and dim sims (both of which were poorly flavored and made me very sad).
When we were in Adelaide, we had one crazy night out at PJ O'Briens (where my friend Sarz met up with us), and I was feeling the effects of it the next day. I don't drink that often anymore, and I didn't drink a lot that night, but it was just more than I was used to, so I was a sad shannon the next day. Anyways, that day we had gone for sushi for lunch (which I didn't eat because I felt like sushi and a hang over would not be pleasant), but apparently the sushi was amazing, and ever since then I've been craving good sushi. Well! We found it here in Melbourne. The sushi here is phenomenal. They have these sushi walk-in shops, where you just walk in and get a handroll (not cut into pieces) for 2 dollars. And it's difficult to find raw tuna here (all most places have is cooked tuna, so it's liek a tuna salad wrapped in rice/seaweed). However! Here in Melbs, they do have it, and it makes me very happy. So for the last two days, we've had sushi for lunch (and I'm having it again today!).
Anyways, back to the story of lunch on tuesday -- it was so bad, that at 4 pm when we wandering around the city, I found an amazing sushi place (which I will hunt down again today) and had a tuna (not cooked!) handroll for 2 dollars. Best food price value around for sure. Everything here is so expensive. I am not looking forward to going home and paying my mom back for everything I've bought! So anyways, we wandered around the city, in the CBD (central business district), and I had all my camera stuff with me (camera, battery, charger), because I wasn't sure if it was the charger that wasn't charging, or if the battery couldn't hold a charge. So we went into one camera place, who was nice enough to test my battery and my charger for me. My dad taught me well, and I wasn't about to buy a new battery (or charger) without knowing which one had the problem. So we tested two batteries in my charger (mine and one brand new one at the store), and my charger didn't charge either of them! (Hooray! Problem located!) The next problem, as I was afraid of, was the fact that most digital cameras/chargers are sold together, and rarely are chargers sold by themselves. The guy at the camera store told me about the Sony store just up the street two blocks, so I was pretty pleased. I then walked to the Sony store, and they had the chargers! For 120 dollars. :( Lucky for me, though, the guys at Sony asked me how long I was staying in Oz for, and I said about a week, 4 days left in Melbs, and 3 in Sydney, and they said that they would charge my battery for me, and then when I get to Sydney, the guys at Sony there could charge it again. !! Yay!! So I stayed around, and when I saw my battery was taking a charge, I left my contact info with the guys at Sony and went around the city for two hours, while my battery charged!
We found a couple bookstores, which were nice to read in, because it was so cold outside, and we went to a couple ticket places to try and book a haunted night tour of the Old Melbourne Gaol (jail...), but unfortunately the one for Tuesday night was all booked, and the next one was Friday (which we already have plans!) So we decided to just do the day tour of the Gaol, which we did yesterday. After getting no luck with the night tour, we asked what else there was to do -- comedy clubs, music lounges, etc, and we were told of a Jazz Lounge, called Bennets Lane, and we decided to do that Tuesday night.
Well, Tuesday night rolled around, and we hopped on the tram to go to the lounge, based on directions and instructions given to us at the front desk of the hostel, but the tram stopped halfway there and said that the hostel was mistaken, this was the last stop of the night. I returned home, and Annelise decided to walk the rest of the distance to the lounge (which she never found). I returned to teh hostel, and entered in a pool competition. I made it to the semi finals (the only girl to do so), and then lost on a shit shot where I pocketed the black ball. The balls here are slightly smaller and are just red/yellow as opposed to spots/stripes. I'm not sure if it's considered "billiards" if it's smaller balls, but I always considered pool and billiards to be the same. Dad, maybe you could clear this up for me? Either way, regardless that I lost, it was a lot of fun. I won 3 rounds, and the guy that "beat" me (I prefer to think that I beat myself) ended up losing in the next round. Annelise finally got back from the city, and it turned out she had the wrong directions the whole time and wound up at a comedy place for amateur night. She said she still had a good time, and some of the acts were good, but some were just plain bad.
On to Wednesday (Finally!)
It's amazing how much teh days here blend in together. Yesterday we went back into the city with our new friend Andy, and Annelise and I went to the Old Melbourne Gaol. I was already excited to go, but it was even more awesome than I expected. THey had the main jail cells (three floors) open, and in each cell there was some sort of informative stuff, including, torture tools, hangmen's ropes, beds, linens, hundreds of informative posters that talked about different inmates. THe third floor was dedicated to women/children in the gaol, as well as commemorating war soldiers who went AWOL and wound up in the Gaol. It discussed, in detail, the politics surrounding the time, as well as controversies surrounding certain aspects (such as public v. private hangings). It also had a whole wing dedicated to Ned Kelly and his gang of badasses. Ned Kelly (apparently) is Australia's most notorious bad guy. We met up with Jim (a Korean guy who was on our Adelaide - Melbourne tour), and he and annelise walked around some more, while I went to the Watch Guard House (which was the holding jail for people before they were admitted into the main cell area). It was a half hour tour where we went through the process of being booked and admitted into the jail. The Watch Guard house was active until the 1990s, when it became too small for the purposes Melbourne needed, and was turned into a tourist thing to do. We were yelled at a lot and put in these cell blocks, locked in, and had the lights turned out on us. I got to see the white padded rooms, the exercise areas, the eating areas, and the showering areas. Like a true tourist, I even got my mug shot taken, and believe you me, my 10 minutes locked in jail made me never want to be locked in one ever. No more mug shots for me, thank you. But it was an amazing experience, and I really enjoyed doing the tour.
We met back up with Andy (who had already done the jail tour) and grabbed lunch -- Sushi, as I already explained, and we walked around Fitzroy (a section of Melbourne north east of town, I think). We walked up Brunswick Street, which is like the hippy/strange stores area of town, and it was pretty neat. I had this crazy scoop of ice cream, which I guess is based on some Australian dessert. Unfortunately I can't remember the name, but it was coconut ice cream, with a topping of strawberry jam with chocolate shavings. (SO GOOD!)
Annelise went back into the city, and Andy and I caught the free tourist shuttle back towards our hostel. We proceeded to watch a few episodes of the show, Scrubs, and then I made an amazing pasta dinner with fresh italian sausage mixed in. Then last night, Annelise had gotten a call from two girls who were also on our Adelaide - Melbourne tour, and they were going to a bar, and wanted to meet up with us. So we did. We walked to this bar, where maybe there were 10 people inside, and met up with them. Annelise and I had bought a box of goon earlier and had drank some of that before leaving, so we wouldn't have to spend much money on drinks later. Goon is this boxed wine here that comes in different flavors/varieties. We then walked across town (twenty minute walk) to this club that Annelise had read was "the place to be in Melbs on a Wednesday night", and there was a line out the friggin door. More like hoards of people standing around the door. It reminded me of USC with the big huge frat parties that were registered parties. Unfortunately, what the paper didn't say, was that this club was having an organised function for Uni students in Australia. Annelise could get in, because she had her school ID card, and I tried saying that I studied with her, but left mine at home, but the guy wouldn't let me in, so she was a pal and left with me. We said goodbye to our friends, and headed home. It was an 8 dollar cab ride, which was worth it to me, because my feet were killing me.
Andy had met up with a friend who lives in Melbourne, and they came back to the hostel (after being at the casino! -- I guess they don't know that the machines always win?) and we played pool for a little while, before I headed to bed around 2.
Today will probably be much of the same. We're planning on walking around federation square and take some pictures of awesome buildings (they are architectural marvels). I need to find a cheap (if cheap exists in Australia) bag, because I got a hoodie on that tour, and now I can't fit all my stuff in my backpack. I've still done pretty damn well though with keeping my load light and small! All you men would be proud.
A little preview of what's to come! Tonight Annelise and I are doing a bar tour of Melbourne (5 bars, 4 hours, 2 free drinks, free tapas) for 35 bucks, which is pretty awesome. Plus one of the bars we get to go to is the Chill On Ice Bar, where we get all bundled up in coats, and boots and furs and drink drinks out of ice cups, sit on benches and chairs made of ice, and order drinks at a bar made of ice. It should be pretty neat, especially since entry into the ice bar is 30 dollars on it's own. So we think its a pretty good deal.
Tomorrow night, Annelise and I are going to an AFL game (aussie football). I watched a game in Cairns, and it is nothing like American football. No pads, no touch downs, and all the points are earned by kicking the ball through a series of poles. No points are awarded for any catches. Anyways, it should be fun, and definitely a new experience.
ALright, this was a seriously long blog. I come back on Tuesday, and I'm quite excited to return home (at least for a little while). Wednesday I take apart all my furniture and load it into my awesome rental budget truck, and then Thursday, my aunt peggy is meeting me and we are driving the load up to her house in Nor Cal to store it for the year. Then I fly back to LA on the 18th (thursday), early in the morning, and spend a coupel days saying good bye to people, and then probably the 21st or so, I'll begin the drive to Michigan.
Next month I'll be traveling around Europe. First a ten day cruise through Scandinavia with my mum and aunt, and then I'll spend two weeks or so, backpacking around on my own. I plan on going to Amsterdam, Switzerland (because I went there when I was around 11 years old and always vowed to go back! well now i am!), and Italy (because, again, I went thre when I was 14 or 15 and didn't really appreciate it). So now that I'm older and wiser, I think it will be awesome.
Alright, I am off to the city. Love you and miss you all. My spider bites are healing (thank goodness).
So so so, we're in Melbourne. We got in Monday night, and we just hung around the hostel and met some cool people. I went into town and got my camera battery charged at Sony (my charger is broken). They charge 120 bucks for a charger here, but they offered to charge my battery for free, and then told me once I get into Sydney I can get it charged again at the Sony in Sydney. (Yay!) I did "meet and greet" with one of our room mates, Tom, from Leeds, England...and it was pretty lame, except we got a free glass of champagne (which is always a benefit).
Tuesday, Annelise and I went to Queen Victoria Market, which is 8 hectares...I have no idea what a hectare is, but it was like 6 blocks by 6 blocks of open air markets. They had the freshest fruits and veggies that looked sooooooo delicious, and so cheap. We bought a container of strawberries for 2 dollars and ate them as we wandered around. Annelise bought a hoodie, and I bought a pair of gloves (because my poor fingers felt like icicles). It was raining/windy on and off all day, so it wasn't the best conditions, but it was still a lot of fun. We had lunch at the cafeteria style place across the street, and I had wonton noodle soup and dim sims (both of which were poorly flavored and made me very sad).
When we were in Adelaide, we had one crazy night out at PJ O'Briens (where my friend Sarz met up with us), and I was feeling the effects of it the next day. I don't drink that often anymore, and I didn't drink a lot that night, but it was just more than I was used to, so I was a sad shannon the next day. Anyways, that day we had gone for sushi for lunch (which I didn't eat because I felt like sushi and a hang over would not be pleasant), but apparently the sushi was amazing, and ever since then I've been craving good sushi. Well! We found it here in Melbourne. The sushi here is phenomenal. They have these sushi walk-in shops, where you just walk in and get a handroll (not cut into pieces) for 2 dollars. And it's difficult to find raw tuna here (all most places have is cooked tuna, so it's liek a tuna salad wrapped in rice/seaweed). However! Here in Melbs, they do have it, and it makes me very happy. So for the last two days, we've had sushi for lunch (and I'm having it again today!).
Anyways, back to the story of lunch on tuesday -- it was so bad, that at 4 pm when we wandering around the city, I found an amazing sushi place (which I will hunt down again today) and had a tuna (not cooked!) handroll for 2 dollars. Best food price value around for sure. Everything here is so expensive. I am not looking forward to going home and paying my mom back for everything I've bought! So anyways, we wandered around the city, in the CBD (central business district), and I had all my camera stuff with me (camera, battery, charger), because I wasn't sure if it was the charger that wasn't charging, or if the battery couldn't hold a charge. So we went into one camera place, who was nice enough to test my battery and my charger for me. My dad taught me well, and I wasn't about to buy a new battery (or charger) without knowing which one had the problem. So we tested two batteries in my charger (mine and one brand new one at the store), and my charger didn't charge either of them! (Hooray! Problem located!) The next problem, as I was afraid of, was the fact that most digital cameras/chargers are sold together, and rarely are chargers sold by themselves. The guy at the camera store told me about the Sony store just up the street two blocks, so I was pretty pleased. I then walked to the Sony store, and they had the chargers! For 120 dollars. :( Lucky for me, though, the guys at Sony asked me how long I was staying in Oz for, and I said about a week, 4 days left in Melbs, and 3 in Sydney, and they said that they would charge my battery for me, and then when I get to Sydney, the guys at Sony there could charge it again. !! Yay!! So I stayed around, and when I saw my battery was taking a charge, I left my contact info with the guys at Sony and went around the city for two hours, while my battery charged!
We found a couple bookstores, which were nice to read in, because it was so cold outside, and we went to a couple ticket places to try and book a haunted night tour of the Old Melbourne Gaol (jail...), but unfortunately the one for Tuesday night was all booked, and the next one was Friday (which we already have plans!) So we decided to just do the day tour of the Gaol, which we did yesterday. After getting no luck with the night tour, we asked what else there was to do -- comedy clubs, music lounges, etc, and we were told of a Jazz Lounge, called Bennets Lane, and we decided to do that Tuesday night.
Well, Tuesday night rolled around, and we hopped on the tram to go to the lounge, based on directions and instructions given to us at the front desk of the hostel, but the tram stopped halfway there and said that the hostel was mistaken, this was the last stop of the night. I returned home, and Annelise decided to walk the rest of the distance to the lounge (which she never found). I returned to teh hostel, and entered in a pool competition. I made it to the semi finals (the only girl to do so), and then lost on a shit shot where I pocketed the black ball. The balls here are slightly smaller and are just red/yellow as opposed to spots/stripes. I'm not sure if it's considered "billiards" if it's smaller balls, but I always considered pool and billiards to be the same. Dad, maybe you could clear this up for me? Either way, regardless that I lost, it was a lot of fun. I won 3 rounds, and the guy that "beat" me (I prefer to think that I beat myself) ended up losing in the next round. Annelise finally got back from the city, and it turned out she had the wrong directions the whole time and wound up at a comedy place for amateur night. She said she still had a good time, and some of the acts were good, but some were just plain bad.
On to Wednesday (Finally!)
It's amazing how much teh days here blend in together. Yesterday we went back into the city with our new friend Andy, and Annelise and I went to the Old Melbourne Gaol. I was already excited to go, but it was even more awesome than I expected. THey had the main jail cells (three floors) open, and in each cell there was some sort of informative stuff, including, torture tools, hangmen's ropes, beds, linens, hundreds of informative posters that talked about different inmates. THe third floor was dedicated to women/children in the gaol, as well as commemorating war soldiers who went AWOL and wound up in the Gaol. It discussed, in detail, the politics surrounding the time, as well as controversies surrounding certain aspects (such as public v. private hangings). It also had a whole wing dedicated to Ned Kelly and his gang of badasses. Ned Kelly (apparently) is Australia's most notorious bad guy. We met up with Jim (a Korean guy who was on our Adelaide - Melbourne tour), and he and annelise walked around some more, while I went to the Watch Guard House (which was the holding jail for people before they were admitted into the main cell area). It was a half hour tour where we went through the process of being booked and admitted into the jail. The Watch Guard house was active until the 1990s, when it became too small for the purposes Melbourne needed, and was turned into a tourist thing to do. We were yelled at a lot and put in these cell blocks, locked in, and had the lights turned out on us. I got to see the white padded rooms, the exercise areas, the eating areas, and the showering areas. Like a true tourist, I even got my mug shot taken, and believe you me, my 10 minutes locked in jail made me never want to be locked in one ever. No more mug shots for me, thank you. But it was an amazing experience, and I really enjoyed doing the tour.
We met back up with Andy (who had already done the jail tour) and grabbed lunch -- Sushi, as I already explained, and we walked around Fitzroy (a section of Melbourne north east of town, I think). We walked up Brunswick Street, which is like the hippy/strange stores area of town, and it was pretty neat. I had this crazy scoop of ice cream, which I guess is based on some Australian dessert. Unfortunately I can't remember the name, but it was coconut ice cream, with a topping of strawberry jam with chocolate shavings. (SO GOOD!)
Annelise went back into the city, and Andy and I caught the free tourist shuttle back towards our hostel. We proceeded to watch a few episodes of the show, Scrubs, and then I made an amazing pasta dinner with fresh italian sausage mixed in. Then last night, Annelise had gotten a call from two girls who were also on our Adelaide - Melbourne tour, and they were going to a bar, and wanted to meet up with us. So we did. We walked to this bar, where maybe there were 10 people inside, and met up with them. Annelise and I had bought a box of goon earlier and had drank some of that before leaving, so we wouldn't have to spend much money on drinks later. Goon is this boxed wine here that comes in different flavors/varieties. We then walked across town (twenty minute walk) to this club that Annelise had read was "the place to be in Melbs on a Wednesday night", and there was a line out the friggin door. More like hoards of people standing around the door. It reminded me of USC with the big huge frat parties that were registered parties. Unfortunately, what the paper didn't say, was that this club was having an organised function for Uni students in Australia. Annelise could get in, because she had her school ID card, and I tried saying that I studied with her, but left mine at home, but the guy wouldn't let me in, so she was a pal and left with me. We said goodbye to our friends, and headed home. It was an 8 dollar cab ride, which was worth it to me, because my feet were killing me.
Andy had met up with a friend who lives in Melbourne, and they came back to the hostel (after being at the casino! -- I guess they don't know that the machines always win?) and we played pool for a little while, before I headed to bed around 2.
Today will probably be much of the same. We're planning on walking around federation square and take some pictures of awesome buildings (they are architectural marvels). I need to find a cheap (if cheap exists in Australia) bag, because I got a hoodie on that tour, and now I can't fit all my stuff in my backpack. I've still done pretty damn well though with keeping my load light and small! All you men would be proud.
A little preview of what's to come! Tonight Annelise and I are doing a bar tour of Melbourne (5 bars, 4 hours, 2 free drinks, free tapas) for 35 bucks, which is pretty awesome. Plus one of the bars we get to go to is the Chill On Ice Bar, where we get all bundled up in coats, and boots and furs and drink drinks out of ice cups, sit on benches and chairs made of ice, and order drinks at a bar made of ice. It should be pretty neat, especially since entry into the ice bar is 30 dollars on it's own. So we think its a pretty good deal.
Tomorrow night, Annelise and I are going to an AFL game (aussie football). I watched a game in Cairns, and it is nothing like American football. No pads, no touch downs, and all the points are earned by kicking the ball through a series of poles. No points are awarded for any catches. Anyways, it should be fun, and definitely a new experience.
ALright, this was a seriously long blog. I come back on Tuesday, and I'm quite excited to return home (at least for a little while). Wednesday I take apart all my furniture and load it into my awesome rental budget truck, and then Thursday, my aunt peggy is meeting me and we are driving the load up to her house in Nor Cal to store it for the year. Then I fly back to LA on the 18th (thursday), early in the morning, and spend a coupel days saying good bye to people, and then probably the 21st or so, I'll begin the drive to Michigan.
Next month I'll be traveling around Europe. First a ten day cruise through Scandinavia with my mum and aunt, and then I'll spend two weeks or so, backpacking around on my own. I plan on going to Amsterdam, Switzerland (because I went there when I was around 11 years old and always vowed to go back! well now i am!), and Italy (because, again, I went thre when I was 14 or 15 and didn't really appreciate it). So now that I'm older and wiser, I think it will be awesome.
Alright, I am off to the city. Love you and miss you all. My spider bites are healing (thank goodness).
Monday, July 7, 2008
Happy Belated Fourth of July.
So I made it to Melbourne. Annelise and I did a three day/two night tour from Adelaide to Melbourne...where we got to do mountain climbs (literally up the face of a mountain) in the Grampians national parks. The first day we did the Hollow Mountain Hike (I'm not sure if you guys can look these up online or not). Hollow Mountain was a lot of rock climbing -- over huge boulders and rocks, and through some holes in rocks, but when we got to the top, the views were stunning. We spent the night at a really nice hostel (which was actually a house owned by Adventure Tours), and we made a huge pot of pasta (enough for twenty people) and had spaghetti for dinner.
We awoke early and did another hike, this time up to the Pinacle. It started to rain on us (which made it miserable), and at the top it was rainy and windy (even more miserable), but I'm glad I accomplished it. To get to the top it is literally thousands of stairs constructed out of stones. It was a 3 km hike up the mountain face, and I was exhausted by the time I got to the top. The way down was very risky, because the rain made the rock faces slippery, but I was smart and kept my center of gravity and weight low to the ground. I had a couple close calls, but that one year in gymnastics did wonders for my balance, so my toosh never hit the rocks.
After the Pinacle, we began our journey on the Great Ocean Road. The first half of the road is all cliff faces and is home to hundreds of ship wrecks. We spent the afternoon seeing different rock formations, including the famous "Twelve Apostles". I spent 65 dollars on a helicopter ride along the twelve apostles right over the ocean, and it was amazing. I got some awesome photos. Unfortunately, my camera battery either is not holding a charge, or the battery charger is broken, so I'm going to hopefully find a camera store that sells chargers for my camera. If I fail in that mission then I don't knwo what I'll do for pictures for the rest of my trip. Anyways, I'm sure you can look up the twelve apostles online. After my heli ride, we went to the lookout point and saw the sun set over the twelve apostles. It was pretty magnificent.
That night we had bbq for dinner, and we watched Riding in Cars with Boys (with drew barrymore). I thought it was a wonderful movie. :] I went to bed...where...at some point I was attacked by a spider. I won't go into the nasty details, but my right leg is badly bitten, and if it gets any worse, I'll be touring an Australian Health Clinic. (Exciting?)
The last day of the tour, we spent driving the last bit of the Ship Wreck part of the Great Ocean Road, and then began the second half, which includes all the famous surfing spots, including Bells Beach, where the world chamiponship was held either this year or last. We stopped in Apollo Bay, and Anenlise and I got this heaping mound of fish and chips (which is their specialty), and it was delicious. After apollo bay, we drove up to Bells Beach, and then on to Torquay (for shopping for half an hour). I got a hoodie sweatshirt, and a beanie. It rained all day yesterday, and so far today, it isn't looking any better, but we'll make the most of it anyways.
Anyways, Melbourne is amazing. It's this huge awesome city with awesome city lights and big buildlings. I can't wait to go explore...which I'm going to do right now. This was kind of a short version of my tour from Adelaide to Melbs, so I may add some details later that I have forgotten at the moment. I come home in a week, and I won't lie I'm very excited. I miss my family, and being able to talk to them on the phone every day (haha), and I miss Alex a lot more than I ever expected I would, and I miss my car. Man, do I miss my car. Anyways, I'm sad that I'll only get to be in Cali for a few days before driving to Michigan, but next month I get to go on a Scandinavia Cruise and then I'll be spending a couple weeks on the train backpacking across Europe, before coming back to CHicago to start working.
Hope all is well back home!
We awoke early and did another hike, this time up to the Pinacle. It started to rain on us (which made it miserable), and at the top it was rainy and windy (even more miserable), but I'm glad I accomplished it. To get to the top it is literally thousands of stairs constructed out of stones. It was a 3 km hike up the mountain face, and I was exhausted by the time I got to the top. The way down was very risky, because the rain made the rock faces slippery, but I was smart and kept my center of gravity and weight low to the ground. I had a couple close calls, but that one year in gymnastics did wonders for my balance, so my toosh never hit the rocks.
After the Pinacle, we began our journey on the Great Ocean Road. The first half of the road is all cliff faces and is home to hundreds of ship wrecks. We spent the afternoon seeing different rock formations, including the famous "Twelve Apostles". I spent 65 dollars on a helicopter ride along the twelve apostles right over the ocean, and it was amazing. I got some awesome photos. Unfortunately, my camera battery either is not holding a charge, or the battery charger is broken, so I'm going to hopefully find a camera store that sells chargers for my camera. If I fail in that mission then I don't knwo what I'll do for pictures for the rest of my trip. Anyways, I'm sure you can look up the twelve apostles online. After my heli ride, we went to the lookout point and saw the sun set over the twelve apostles. It was pretty magnificent.
That night we had bbq for dinner, and we watched Riding in Cars with Boys (with drew barrymore). I thought it was a wonderful movie. :] I went to bed...where...at some point I was attacked by a spider. I won't go into the nasty details, but my right leg is badly bitten, and if it gets any worse, I'll be touring an Australian Health Clinic. (Exciting?)
The last day of the tour, we spent driving the last bit of the Ship Wreck part of the Great Ocean Road, and then began the second half, which includes all the famous surfing spots, including Bells Beach, where the world chamiponship was held either this year or last. We stopped in Apollo Bay, and Anenlise and I got this heaping mound of fish and chips (which is their specialty), and it was delicious. After apollo bay, we drove up to Bells Beach, and then on to Torquay (for shopping for half an hour). I got a hoodie sweatshirt, and a beanie. It rained all day yesterday, and so far today, it isn't looking any better, but we'll make the most of it anyways.
Anyways, Melbourne is amazing. It's this huge awesome city with awesome city lights and big buildlings. I can't wait to go explore...which I'm going to do right now. This was kind of a short version of my tour from Adelaide to Melbs, so I may add some details later that I have forgotten at the moment. I come home in a week, and I won't lie I'm very excited. I miss my family, and being able to talk to them on the phone every day (haha), and I miss Alex a lot more than I ever expected I would, and I miss my car. Man, do I miss my car. Anyways, I'm sad that I'll only get to be in Cali for a few days before driving to Michigan, but next month I get to go on a Scandinavia Cruise and then I'll be spending a couple weeks on the train backpacking across Europe, before coming back to CHicago to start working.
Hope all is well back home!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Drowsy Drivers Die and Kangaroos! (that are alive!)
Don't worry, no one died. On our way back tonight we passed this sign on the side of the road that said "drowsy drivers die" and I have a plan to duplicate and distribute in the states when I get back.
Anyways KANGAROO ISLAND! It lived up to its name. I'll go day by day for you guys. So.
Day One:
We leave our CRAZY hostel at 8 am to run across town (with all our gear) to the YHA hostel...which took us the whole 30 minutes (we were getting picked up at 8:30), and for a glorious seven minutes of those thirty, it rained. No. It poured. I was soaked, and miserable, but then we got picked up and I dried off, and I was no longer cranky.
Our ferry to KI (Kangaroo Island) isn't until 4 pm, so we spend the day touring Adelaide and the coastal towns. We got to see the highest point in Adelaide that overlooked the entire city, and we got to see some beautiful waterfalls. On the coast, we climbed this huge hill (I say hill because I want to use the word 'huge', but it wasn't quite a "huge mountain"). It overlooked the beautiful ocean, and we got some awesome pictures...there are two pictures of me jumping up on a huge rock and another of me jumping from that rock to a smaller one nearby. Annelise got some awesome shots of me in mid air (which makes the pictures so damn amazing), and I got some good ones of her. We then cruised the coast to the ferry and we departed for KI.
We got to KI around 5 pm, and then had an hour drive to Kaiwarra (our "farm" stay). It's considered a farm because of all the sheep, wallabys, and kangaroo...but they had a full bar...so it's not really the typical "farm". Oh, and there were only three of us! Annelise, Margot (a swiss girl) and myself, plus Hamish, our fearless leader. So for dinner we had heaps of pasta with amazing tomatoe, meat, brocolli, zuchini, onion sauce.
Day Two:
We woke up at 7 am to Hamish's idea of a wake up call (blasting The Killers -- ((a band))). We had an awesome breakfast of cereal and toast, and around 8 am we took off for our 10 km hike through the forest to Hanson Bay. We started at Keeley Caves (but we were on top of the caves...so we didn't actually see them), and then we hiked by Grassdale Lagoon (which isn't a lagoon...it's dried up) but it's home to kangaroos!! So we started trekking across this lagoon, and I got probably within ten feet of two kangaroos (but then they hopped away). I got some awesome photos though (of course). At this point we were 3 km into our hike, and my knees were holding up. At what I thought was 6 km in, we found a sign that showed us a "you are here" photo with comparison to where we came from and where we had to go. From the drawn to scale size we estimated we had 3 km left. Unfortunately we had about 5 left. :( So we kept walking, and then ran into Hamish (who had driven the van around to our finish point and had began walking back towards us). We finished the last 3 km together, and finished at Hanson Bay (right on the ocean!). It was beautiful. We climbed a cliff and saw some HUGE waves crash into the rocks...which then sprayed us with tons of salty water.
We then went back to Kaiwarra and met up with three guys who were joining us (they were doing the two day tour as opposed to our three day). In the afternoon we went to SEAL BAY! WHICH WAS SO NEAT. We saw live Australian Sea Lions and they were so cute. This baby one came probably within 2 feet of us, because it was all cute and curious and ( you guessed it) we got some awesome photos. I got to see sea lions surfing the waves, and some big daddys and mommys cuddling up together out of the wind. There were HUNDREDS of seals in this bay and on shore. Oh man, it was so neat.
Then that night we went PENGUIN HUNTING! Not with a gun...with cameras. There are these teeny tiny penguins that hang out by Vivonne Bay (whose beach, by the way, was voted number one in the world, and I must say...it was pretty spectacular and looked as if it would be a surfers paradise). Anyways, it was night so we all had torches (flashlights), and I attempted to get some shots, but we couldn't use our flash...because apparently the flash blinds them for life :( but i tried, so we will see what you guys think when I show you the pictures.
Then to finisht the night Annelise and I taught the other four the glories of S'mores. Apparently roasting marshmallows over a camp fire is totally an American thing to do...the ENglish, Swiss and Aussies had no idea what we were doing.
Day Three:
We arose again to Hamish's idea of a wake up call...which this morning was Michael Jackson's Beat It, followed by Billie Jean. IT was pretty awesome. Breakfast was homemade (from scratch) pancakes. We packed up and headed out for the day. We spent the morning at ANOTHER seal bay...where we saw New Zealand Fur Seals...but we couldn't get that close to them, because we were on an elevated path way (as opposed to Seal Bay where we were right on the beach with them). But these little babies (probably twenty of them out of the hundreds and hundreds of seals) kept following us and tried climbing up to get closer to us. It was totally cute, and yes, I got awesome pictures.
Then we went to REMARKABLE ROCKS. And trust me, they were remarkable. They are these rocks, which I'm sure you can google, that are on this HUGE boulder on the ocean, that have been weathered and eroded over millions of years and have created crazy neat pathways and cut throughs and overhangs. Yes. We got awesome pictures.
We spent the rest of the day touring pretty beautiful spots and beaches before headingb ack to the getty and catching a charter boat back to Australia main land. At our lunch spot we saw this kangaroo with a baby joey in her pouch...which apparently was used to humans, because it let me hug it....yes, pictures to prove it!
Anyways, we got back after the hour and a half drive back to Adelaide, and checked into a new hostel, Backpack OZ (which is not as crazy as the other adelaide hostel). Apparently a bunch of hostel kids are going out to a pub tonight so we're gonna go with them. Also my friend Sarz is going to join us again (I hope). She just finished exams on tuesday, so it should be a lot of fun.
Alright, I'm off! Oh, and p.s my cold is gone. YAY. I still cough a little in the morning, but I think that's just because some flem gets down to my lungs as I sleep. But other than that, I am all cured. Hope all is well back home. Happy day early fourth of july!
Anyways KANGAROO ISLAND! It lived up to its name. I'll go day by day for you guys. So.
Day One:
We leave our CRAZY hostel at 8 am to run across town (with all our gear) to the YHA hostel...which took us the whole 30 minutes (we were getting picked up at 8:30), and for a glorious seven minutes of those thirty, it rained. No. It poured. I was soaked, and miserable, but then we got picked up and I dried off, and I was no longer cranky.
Our ferry to KI (Kangaroo Island) isn't until 4 pm, so we spend the day touring Adelaide and the coastal towns. We got to see the highest point in Adelaide that overlooked the entire city, and we got to see some beautiful waterfalls. On the coast, we climbed this huge hill (I say hill because I want to use the word 'huge', but it wasn't quite a "huge mountain"). It overlooked the beautiful ocean, and we got some awesome pictures...there are two pictures of me jumping up on a huge rock and another of me jumping from that rock to a smaller one nearby. Annelise got some awesome shots of me in mid air (which makes the pictures so damn amazing), and I got some good ones of her. We then cruised the coast to the ferry and we departed for KI.
We got to KI around 5 pm, and then had an hour drive to Kaiwarra (our "farm" stay). It's considered a farm because of all the sheep, wallabys, and kangaroo...but they had a full bar...so it's not really the typical "farm". Oh, and there were only three of us! Annelise, Margot (a swiss girl) and myself, plus Hamish, our fearless leader. So for dinner we had heaps of pasta with amazing tomatoe, meat, brocolli, zuchini, onion sauce.
Day Two:
We woke up at 7 am to Hamish's idea of a wake up call (blasting The Killers -- ((a band))). We had an awesome breakfast of cereal and toast, and around 8 am we took off for our 10 km hike through the forest to Hanson Bay. We started at Keeley Caves (but we were on top of the caves...so we didn't actually see them), and then we hiked by Grassdale Lagoon (which isn't a lagoon...it's dried up) but it's home to kangaroos!! So we started trekking across this lagoon, and I got probably within ten feet of two kangaroos (but then they hopped away). I got some awesome photos though (of course). At this point we were 3 km into our hike, and my knees were holding up. At what I thought was 6 km in, we found a sign that showed us a "you are here" photo with comparison to where we came from and where we had to go. From the drawn to scale size we estimated we had 3 km left. Unfortunately we had about 5 left. :( So we kept walking, and then ran into Hamish (who had driven the van around to our finish point and had began walking back towards us). We finished the last 3 km together, and finished at Hanson Bay (right on the ocean!). It was beautiful. We climbed a cliff and saw some HUGE waves crash into the rocks...which then sprayed us with tons of salty water.
We then went back to Kaiwarra and met up with three guys who were joining us (they were doing the two day tour as opposed to our three day). In the afternoon we went to SEAL BAY! WHICH WAS SO NEAT. We saw live Australian Sea Lions and they were so cute. This baby one came probably within 2 feet of us, because it was all cute and curious and ( you guessed it) we got some awesome photos. I got to see sea lions surfing the waves, and some big daddys and mommys cuddling up together out of the wind. There were HUNDREDS of seals in this bay and on shore. Oh man, it was so neat.
Then that night we went PENGUIN HUNTING! Not with a gun...with cameras. There are these teeny tiny penguins that hang out by Vivonne Bay (whose beach, by the way, was voted number one in the world, and I must say...it was pretty spectacular and looked as if it would be a surfers paradise). Anyways, it was night so we all had torches (flashlights), and I attempted to get some shots, but we couldn't use our flash...because apparently the flash blinds them for life :( but i tried, so we will see what you guys think when I show you the pictures.
Then to finisht the night Annelise and I taught the other four the glories of S'mores. Apparently roasting marshmallows over a camp fire is totally an American thing to do...the ENglish, Swiss and Aussies had no idea what we were doing.
Day Three:
We arose again to Hamish's idea of a wake up call...which this morning was Michael Jackson's Beat It, followed by Billie Jean. IT was pretty awesome. Breakfast was homemade (from scratch) pancakes. We packed up and headed out for the day. We spent the morning at ANOTHER seal bay...where we saw New Zealand Fur Seals...but we couldn't get that close to them, because we were on an elevated path way (as opposed to Seal Bay where we were right on the beach with them). But these little babies (probably twenty of them out of the hundreds and hundreds of seals) kept following us and tried climbing up to get closer to us. It was totally cute, and yes, I got awesome pictures.
Then we went to REMARKABLE ROCKS. And trust me, they were remarkable. They are these rocks, which I'm sure you can google, that are on this HUGE boulder on the ocean, that have been weathered and eroded over millions of years and have created crazy neat pathways and cut throughs and overhangs. Yes. We got awesome pictures.
We spent the rest of the day touring pretty beautiful spots and beaches before headingb ack to the getty and catching a charter boat back to Australia main land. At our lunch spot we saw this kangaroo with a baby joey in her pouch...which apparently was used to humans, because it let me hug it....yes, pictures to prove it!
Anyways, we got back after the hour and a half drive back to Adelaide, and checked into a new hostel, Backpack OZ (which is not as crazy as the other adelaide hostel). Apparently a bunch of hostel kids are going out to a pub tonight so we're gonna go with them. Also my friend Sarz is going to join us again (I hope). She just finished exams on tuesday, so it should be a lot of fun.
Alright, I'm off! Oh, and p.s my cold is gone. YAY. I still cough a little in the morning, but I think that's just because some flem gets down to my lungs as I sleep. But other than that, I am all cured. Hope all is well back home. Happy day early fourth of july!
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