I am happy to report I celebrated my first Australia Day. It was January 26th, and was a total success. I went up to Andrew's beach shack with about 35 of his friends. By "beach shack" you are probably thinking a tiny place on the water. No, no! It was a beautiful new 4 bedroom modern home right on the ocean. Gorgeous. Being part of the Cooper Beer family, there were kegs of Coopers, more BBQ meat than you could ever want, lots of wine, liquor, and all other types of total glutinous inebriation you can think of.
Part of Australia Day is to dress up all "Aussie". I did my part and had an Aussie flag tatoo, an Aussie flag sarong, a blow up Aussie flag hand, and much more throughout the day. It was one of my more favorite memories of the trip thus far.
I am really sad to be leaving Adelaide. I have met some awesome people, and all of Andrew's friends have taken me under their wing. I head to Sydney bright and early on Friday morning to collect my bag that I left there, and then head to Perth on the 8th of Feb. I will be in Perth for about 5 nights and then head to Malaysia on the 13th. Im pretty stoked to get some different culture, but I am sure when the Asia trip is over I will be anxiously awaiting to get back to a first world country again.
Oh and by the way, there is record breaking heat today. 44+ degrees. For all you Fahrenheit people, that is a whopping 111 degrees plus. Fuck that's hot. Needless to say, I have been trying to keep myself occupied with indoor activities, where the air con is blasting.
That is pretty much the recap of the weekend. I get my computer back when I head to Sydney in a couple days time, so I will post some pictures at that time.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
I know, I know
It has been awhile. I am well aware. Many of you have probably given up on me and stopped reading. I don't blame you. But here is a quick re-cap of my last months adventures.
Christmas was spent on Bondi Beach in Sydney at a sectioned off area where there were bands and DJ's and where drinks were expensive. Not one of my most favorite Christmas's, however I was with good people, and the weather was warm, but I did miss spending it with family, and looking at a Christmas tree and seeing snow.
New Years- one word. INCREDIBLE! I was at a house party of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend... you get the idea. It was directly under the Sydney harbor bridge so we saw the fireworks perfectly. Popped lots of bottles of Champagne and had a blast! I had a flight to Melbourne on the 1st- and it was the most hungover Ive ever been while flying. As soon as I got to Melb on the 1st I went to bed. I was dead asleep by 7pm. oops.
Melbourne- I was there for a week. Stayed at 3 different hostels. The first hostel was okay- too many grown ups for me. The second hostel was nice... BUT I had a terrible experience. I was totally weirded out by this guy in my room (moral of the story, trust your instincts), and just brushed it off. Anyhow I woke up at 4 am to him hovering over me, he was completely naked, and was fiddling with my underwear. I am not sure if he was trying to take them off or what. I immediately woke up, started screaming, I woke up the other two girls in the room. I ran to reception and they escorted him out of the hostel. He was Australian. and totally freaked me out. I have never experienced anything like that before, or heard anything like this happening to anyone. I am totally fine, just scared me, as you can imagine. It is so bizarre the only times that i hear of anyone having anything stolen or any problems with anything are by locals, not travelers. There is this backpacker code more or less that we abide by, don't steal shit, don't cause problems, keep to your own space, etc... but the locals pray on the backpacker life style.
I then hit the road with a girl Heidi who I met about 6 weeks ago traveling, and she and I and a German guy, Kevin, and a Brazilian guy, Bruno, went on a 3 day road trip to the great ocean road. The GOR was AMAZING! absolutely gorgeous. We camped out for 2 nights, and it was COLD... I know it is snowy and icy and freezing (literally) in the north east of the states, but i was frigggggid. I ended up sleeping in the car both nights i was so cold.
We also were able to hit up the Grampians National Park on the road trip. There were some stunning short hikes we took and watched the sun set on a cliff one night. You will see about 34892374270 photos of the sunset when i get around to post them... (sarah procrastination janowitz is at it again).
Once back in Melbourne from the road trip, I stayed in St. Kilda (the beach area of Melb) and that was lovely. My friend Simon, who I met about 6 weeks ago was having a going away party because he is moving to Bali to teach for 2 years. That was a blast, and the next morning I dragged my hungover self ( if you ha vent gotten the picture, Australians and backpackers like to drink) to meet an old co-worker from LA for b-fast while we watched her son's swimming lesson on the beach. I ended up staying at their place for dinner, and wine. I stayed the night and woke up early to watch the giants lose in the playoffs. Her husband is a huge Giants fan, and well, any one who knows me knows I despise them! :)
I got to Adelaide a week ago today. And it has been AMAZING so far. I am staying with my friend Andrew, who I met in Europe 3 years ago. He has been a great host. It is so nice to feel the life of a local. While he is at work, I occupy myself walking around the city or going to the beach, and at night we find something fun to do. We went to his friend Tom's Beach house for the weekend this past weekend and it was great. Also, let me mention that Andrew's family owns Cooper's beer, one of Aussies big beers. Friday night we went to the Cooper's Beer Box seats to watch a few tennis matches, and ended up watching most of the game from couches ON the court. I felt like a celebrity. I was even on TV. hah. It is really nice to be around locals, they all try to talk "american" and I have been told my Aussie accent is rubish. I know I said I would try to come back sounding like an authentic australian but I think my American accent is too deep.
OH- and the spiders in Adelaide are apparently the most poisonous ones in all of Australia.. EEK! I hope I dont see or get bitten.
Tomorrow I take off for Kangaroo Island on a 2 full day tour, and this weekend is Australia Day. Andrew is having a party at his beach house about 2 hours away. After that I leave Adelaide, and have about 2 1/2 weeks to go back to Sydney ( I left my big suitcase there) and head to Perth for a week. I fly out of Perth on the 13th of Feb to Malaysia (Kuala Lampur) and meet a friend in Siem Reap Cambodia on the 16th. I will then travel through to Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Indonesia (Bali). I may try to get to Fiji, but as of now the flooding is pretty bad.
Sorry for the lack of blogs lately... this one is pretty boring, but I just wanted to catch you all up.
Ill be better. I promise. :)
I have been here for over 7 weeks now, and it has FLOWNNN by. I cant believe almost 2 months have gone by. craziness.
Christmas was spent on Bondi Beach in Sydney at a sectioned off area where there were bands and DJ's and where drinks were expensive. Not one of my most favorite Christmas's, however I was with good people, and the weather was warm, but I did miss spending it with family, and looking at a Christmas tree and seeing snow.
New Years- one word. INCREDIBLE! I was at a house party of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend... you get the idea. It was directly under the Sydney harbor bridge so we saw the fireworks perfectly. Popped lots of bottles of Champagne and had a blast! I had a flight to Melbourne on the 1st- and it was the most hungover Ive ever been while flying. As soon as I got to Melb on the 1st I went to bed. I was dead asleep by 7pm. oops.
Melbourne- I was there for a week. Stayed at 3 different hostels. The first hostel was okay- too many grown ups for me. The second hostel was nice... BUT I had a terrible experience. I was totally weirded out by this guy in my room (moral of the story, trust your instincts), and just brushed it off. Anyhow I woke up at 4 am to him hovering over me, he was completely naked, and was fiddling with my underwear. I am not sure if he was trying to take them off or what. I immediately woke up, started screaming, I woke up the other two girls in the room. I ran to reception and they escorted him out of the hostel. He was Australian. and totally freaked me out. I have never experienced anything like that before, or heard anything like this happening to anyone. I am totally fine, just scared me, as you can imagine. It is so bizarre the only times that i hear of anyone having anything stolen or any problems with anything are by locals, not travelers. There is this backpacker code more or less that we abide by, don't steal shit, don't cause problems, keep to your own space, etc... but the locals pray on the backpacker life style.
I then hit the road with a girl Heidi who I met about 6 weeks ago traveling, and she and I and a German guy, Kevin, and a Brazilian guy, Bruno, went on a 3 day road trip to the great ocean road. The GOR was AMAZING! absolutely gorgeous. We camped out for 2 nights, and it was COLD... I know it is snowy and icy and freezing (literally) in the north east of the states, but i was frigggggid. I ended up sleeping in the car both nights i was so cold.
We also were able to hit up the Grampians National Park on the road trip. There were some stunning short hikes we took and watched the sun set on a cliff one night. You will see about 34892374270 photos of the sunset when i get around to post them... (sarah procrastination janowitz is at it again).
Once back in Melbourne from the road trip, I stayed in St. Kilda (the beach area of Melb) and that was lovely. My friend Simon, who I met about 6 weeks ago was having a going away party because he is moving to Bali to teach for 2 years. That was a blast, and the next morning I dragged my hungover self ( if you ha vent gotten the picture, Australians and backpackers like to drink) to meet an old co-worker from LA for b-fast while we watched her son's swimming lesson on the beach. I ended up staying at their place for dinner, and wine. I stayed the night and woke up early to watch the giants lose in the playoffs. Her husband is a huge Giants fan, and well, any one who knows me knows I despise them! :)
I got to Adelaide a week ago today. And it has been AMAZING so far. I am staying with my friend Andrew, who I met in Europe 3 years ago. He has been a great host. It is so nice to feel the life of a local. While he is at work, I occupy myself walking around the city or going to the beach, and at night we find something fun to do. We went to his friend Tom's Beach house for the weekend this past weekend and it was great. Also, let me mention that Andrew's family owns Cooper's beer, one of Aussies big beers. Friday night we went to the Cooper's Beer Box seats to watch a few tennis matches, and ended up watching most of the game from couches ON the court. I felt like a celebrity. I was even on TV. hah. It is really nice to be around locals, they all try to talk "american" and I have been told my Aussie accent is rubish. I know I said I would try to come back sounding like an authentic australian but I think my American accent is too deep.
OH- and the spiders in Adelaide are apparently the most poisonous ones in all of Australia.. EEK! I hope I dont see or get bitten.
Tomorrow I take off for Kangaroo Island on a 2 full day tour, and this weekend is Australia Day. Andrew is having a party at his beach house about 2 hours away. After that I leave Adelaide, and have about 2 1/2 weeks to go back to Sydney ( I left my big suitcase there) and head to Perth for a week. I fly out of Perth on the 13th of Feb to Malaysia (Kuala Lampur) and meet a friend in Siem Reap Cambodia on the 16th. I will then travel through to Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Indonesia (Bali). I may try to get to Fiji, but as of now the flooding is pretty bad.
Sorry for the lack of blogs lately... this one is pretty boring, but I just wanted to catch you all up.
Ill be better. I promise. :)
I have been here for over 7 weeks now, and it has FLOWNNN by. I cant believe almost 2 months have gone by. craziness.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
im alive and well
I know I have not written in quite a while, but take that as a good thing. I have been extraordinarily busy and have not had the time (or desire) to take the energy to write. I still don't really have either, but things have slowed down a bit. I am currently in Melbourne after an incredible NYE in Sydney. I spent Christmas in Sydney as well, although I wasn't too stoked about it. Ill explain more at a further date. Anyhow- I am in Melbourne, and it has been pretty chilly. I don't mind it one bit. The last 5 weeks have been hotter than you can imagine, so it is nice to wear jeans, and a sweatshirt. Apparently it is much colder than normal here and it should warm up shortly.
I will head out to the Great Ocean Road in a few days time. I am trying to get a group of people together to rent a car and do the road that way, but if I cant find enough, I will simply do a tour. After the Great Ocean Road, I will head to Adelaide to visit my friend Andrew. I am still torn on what to do next. Do I try to find a job and work and try to get company sponsorship? OR do I keep traveling. I still want to see New Zealand, and go to South East Asia. hmmm... I guess only time will tell.
The hostel I am staying at in Melbourne is HUGE! It is like an institution. 6 floors, each floor with at least 25 rooms, each room with at least 4 people. Like I said, huge. I prefer the smaller places where you can get to know other people, but those type of hostels seem to lack here for one reason or another.
I will write a mega blog in a few days to update on the last couple weeks, but for now, please know that I am alive, and well, and still loving it!
I will head out to the Great Ocean Road in a few days time. I am trying to get a group of people together to rent a car and do the road that way, but if I cant find enough, I will simply do a tour. After the Great Ocean Road, I will head to Adelaide to visit my friend Andrew. I am still torn on what to do next. Do I try to find a job and work and try to get company sponsorship? OR do I keep traveling. I still want to see New Zealand, and go to South East Asia. hmmm... I guess only time will tell.
The hostel I am staying at in Melbourne is HUGE! It is like an institution. 6 floors, each floor with at least 25 rooms, each room with at least 4 people. Like I said, huge. I prefer the smaller places where you can get to know other people, but those type of hostels seem to lack here for one reason or another.
I will write a mega blog in a few days to update on the last couple weeks, but for now, please know that I am alive, and well, and still loving it!
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