In an attempt to catch up...
Noosa
Noosa is where Aussies go to vacation. It is a quaint beach town with pricey shops and restaurants. The nightlife is almost non-existent as the town is geared towards family vacations.
Our first night in Noosa we met an Aussie boy that "lives in Melbourne, but has worked in Ios for 9 seasons!" Most of you know my affinity towards Ios. Ios is a little island in Greece where I spent a few weeks. I would say those few weeks were probably the best weeks of my life. We knew pretty much everyone on the island and we are still good friends with most of them - even though we all live in different parts of the world. I am actually traveling with one of those friends now! Oh how the world is small!
We spent our days in Noosa on the beach and our nights walking around the town and checking out the few pubs on the strip. There is one night club in Noosa, but unfortunately it was packed with schoolies.
What are schoolies you ask? Well, schoolies are recent high school grads who travel to a beach town and reek havoc with binge drinking and the like. They usually go to Surfers Paradise (a town we intentionally skipped do to the schoolies timing). They are just these young little rug rats that remind me how old I'm getting and how annoying drink kiddies can get.
We turned our car back in in Noosa - so now we are Greyhounding it with the masses.
Brisbane
All I had heard about Brisbane in the backpacker circuit was how awful it was - and everyone was pretty much right. It really isn't THAT bad, but we stayed in such a smelly, disgusting, scary hostel that it pretty much ruined the Brisy experience for us. (note to the reader: NEVER stay at Tin Billys in Brisbane).
The great thing about Brisbane is that Tamara's mother and stepfather were in town and took us out to dinner. They also introduced us to a lovely girl named Sarah.
Sarah is a grad student from Ohio studying in Brisbane. Sarah made dinner for us on our 2nd night and it was definitely the highlight of Brisbane. She lives in a Queenslander, which is a typical style home in Queensland. It is high off the ground with big windows and large patios. They used to build homes in Queensland in this manner because of the floods and to have a cool breeze go through the home. Sarah made us a lovely vegetarian dinner and we met some of her school mates which, where very inspiring to me.
One of Sarahs school mates was Chip, a British boy who just came back from Africa to study medicine in Brisbane. Her roommates were a Swedish mathematician and a German physicist. Sarah herself is working on a peace theory thesis for the UN. I really enjoyed chatting with such educated people. It inspired me so much that I am thinking that going back to school would be a real option for me - once I'm settled somewhere (God knows that Tati and settling may never happen).
Byron Bay
Oh Byron Bay - quite possibly my favorite spot in Australia thus far. It is a hippy type beach town with cute little shops, backpackers, and a few key pubs.
I LOVE the lifestyle in Bayron. The people that work the restaurants and pubs are mostly hippy style travelers picking to live in Bayron for the time being. Some become permanent residents.
Our Swedish friend Carin was still traveling with us in Bayron and the 3 of us took turns cooking dinner every night. We had some incredible meals and our hostel was more of a beachy resort than a hostel with apartment style accommodation.
We met 2 British brothers at a club one night and it turned out that they were staying in a room across from us. We hung out with the brothers most nights and just lazed around during the days. I did some surfing on 7 mile beach in Byron and LOVED it. I'm sure you will all see me on TV competing in a surfing competition soon. :)
I could live in Byron ... and maybe at some point during my year in Australia I will.
Newcastle
Newcastle is just 2 hours north of Sydney. My friend Tamara is originally from Newcastle and we have been staying at her mothers lovely home. We have been having home cooked meals everyday and spending much time with her family. They have been VERY kind to me and her mom even made some Pavlova (traditional Aus dessert - yumma)!
Some other friends that we met last year in Ios are also from Newcastle. We actually went out with them last night. We went to the pub that one of them, Sammy, manages. His brother Ian and his girlfriend met us for some drinks and some awkward Australian dancing (note: Australians might be the WORSE dancers in the world). It felt like we had never left each other in Greece. 5 minutes into seeing them I realised why I keep in touch - they are just great people.
Seeing Sammy was a bit strange as he was kind of my little short term boyfriend while in Greece. Even before I left Greece he told me that he was ready to come back to Aus, buy a house, and start a family. I knew that he would have a girlfriend in no time - being that he is uber charismatic. I could not help but note that it seemed like he was just a shell of his normal self. In Greece he was bubbly, funny, charming, and energetic. Now he just seems to sort of float around and I wonder if stability has killed his soul a bit. I think that people sometimes THINK they know what they are supposed to do and THINK it is what they want - but, especially when it comes to settling down - I find that maybe it is not the right thing to do for them. I think that Sammy might just not be the right kind of person to just work, buy a house, and live a sort of monotonous life. Maybe I'm wrong.
Hunter Valley
We spent a couple of days in the Hunter Valley for some wine tasting. We drank on and off for 12 hours - so I dont have much to say other than... I LOVE DAY DRINKING!
We also visited the Hunter Gardens with its Christmas lights and it is the first time I felt like its the season.
Tomorrow we leave for Sydney and it is bitter-sweet. Tamara leaves for Thailand next Sunday and then she is off to move to London. I can't believe our road trip down the coast is coming to an end. I have many friends to catch up with in Sydney and others who I met along the way, but it just wont be the same without her. We have become family.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Ode to the Backpacker
Let me take a break from telling you all about my whereabouts to talk a little bit about backpackers. You all know how much I love the backpacking culture and with last years travels and this years... I have attained some backpacking 'wisdom'. What good is wisdom if it is not shared right?
Backpackers Commandments
Backpackers Commandments
- A backpacker MUST always travel with a backpack. None of this rolly bag bull. Stuff it in a backpack and lug it around mate.
- Stay in hostels. Even if a hotel comes out cheaper - there is nothing like interacting and living in hostels whilst traveling.
- Always respect your fellow backpackers. This includes never turning on the lights when you get in from a night out, NOT stealing from your fellow poor colleagues, cleaning up after yourself in the shared kitchens, and not taking long showers.
- Tell all good and bad experiences. Learning where to go and what to do from backpackers is one of the best parts of traveling this way.
- Share. We are all poor and we become like a little family. Make that spaghetti for two!
- No high hells. Get over it gals, your backpacking - your aposta look like a bum.
- Wander. Don't over plan. You want to sort of drift to places as you hear about them and stay longer where you enjoy to - and leave where you don't.
- Talk to randoms. You will meet people from all over the world in hostels - just start up convo.
- Pass it forward. Sometimes you stay with a friend of a friend of a friend in Berlin, or an aquantance in Melbourne... when the time comes, let a semi stranger stay in your home or make them dinner.
- Do what you would not normally do at home. Maybe you can pick up work feeding llamas or start surfing eventhough you are normally a little afraid of the ocean and its habitants. This is the time when you are learning the most about yourself, so push those limits.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Fraser Island as a Goonie
Fraser island is a sand island. It is a nature reservation - and , to say the least, it is a gorgeous place. There are a few resorts on the island, but most people camp on the island. Visiting the island at minimum impact is ideal. We went on a self driven tour via Paradise tours.
Our 4X4 included 10 people total. The camping equipment (which was, falling to pieces mostly) was given to us along with the car. We were to purchase our groceries, cook, camp, and navigate the island on our own.
We knew we had a good group off the bat. Tamara and I were accompanied by our Sweedish friend Carine; Jack, an English recent grad lawyer with a sarcastic sense of humor and an eye for Tamara; Anette, a 'sweet' Sweedish girl that rarely spoke unless she got hammered and started showing her true, slightly scary, sexual experiences; Tom, a dreamy English man traveling all over who just jumped in to help everywhere he could and did most of the driving... and most of the drinking... but not at the same time; Phil, a chubby English fella constantly conserned over everything and who navigated most of the way (hence why we got lost a few times) and a fobia of EVERY creater - including march flies; Dave, Phil's brother who seems to spend lots of time working out and is very proud of his body yet keeps to himself a lot of the time; Kelly, a young British girl whos age shows, is more fun while drunk, and tends to nag her boyfriend 23 hours a day; Mark (pronounced, by Kelly as MAAAHARKKK), a 25 year old Brit with the maturity level of a 10 year old - Mark's random gestures and comments might have been top on our list of highlights for the trip.
The first half hour on Frasers we managed to mess up our tires - rookies. We didn't notice the mess until the next morning, which is good because we had such a great day that to know about the tire any earlier might have taken away from it. We started off at Lake Wobby, which is a beautiful fresh water lake between the doones and a forest area. It was the most refreshing swim. We played a lamer version of volleyball in the water while Tom snuck up on each girl 'croc' style.
After Lake Wobby we decided it was enough excitement and we wanted to get to our campsite. We settled in front of the beach and set up camp. This is, mind you, a sand island. Sand is EVERYWHERE and there is nowhere to hide. This and the lack of showers made us all look like hobbos by the end of day 1.
We played soccer on the beach and cooked up a barbeque. After eating we played Ring of Fire, which is my new favorite drinking game to date. It usually involves drinking Goon, which can get nasty. By the end of night 1 I had a name for us.
We are... The Goonies.
Day 2 was spent at Champagne Falls, the lookout, and an early dinner. I drove a bit on day 2, which was scary and exciting. We played Ring of Fire on night 2 and it was even more interesting than the 1st. A small group camped near us and joined in. We had pasta for dinner - which had sand in it - for texture. At this point one cooler had red blood leaked all over it from our meat and the other had red goon all over from our goon. :S
Day 3 was spent in Lake Mckenzie which was even better than Lake Wobby. The water is clear and warm. It was gorgeous and we spent most the time attacking eachother with sand balls and throwing the football around.
The largest drama that happened to the Goonies was our trip back to our ferry. the last ferry off the island was at 4 pm and we were on our way to 'central station' where we THOUGHT we were to fill our tires back up and get on the ferry. Well, we got to the station and it was the wrong location. We needed to go to the port in Fishermans Bay 18 KM away! On terrain like that of Frasers, this is not an easy distance to reach. Luckily Tom was at the wheel and he went as fast as possible in those conditions. It was the first time our car was completely quiet, with the exception of someone asking the time every now and again. We had 2 minutes to go when we were filling up our tires. We arrived to the port and the ferry was leaving. We all screamed and pleaded and... the ferry came back! We made it on and jumped around. Everyone on the ferry was clapping. The captain told us that some people had come up to him and asked "where are the Goonies? I don't think they are on yet!" ha!
We arrived back to Harvey Bay and spent Tamara's birthday night at our hostel... playing Ring of Fire.
Our 4X4 included 10 people total. The camping equipment (which was, falling to pieces mostly) was given to us along with the car. We were to purchase our groceries, cook, camp, and navigate the island on our own.
We knew we had a good group off the bat. Tamara and I were accompanied by our Sweedish friend Carine; Jack, an English recent grad lawyer with a sarcastic sense of humor and an eye for Tamara; Anette, a 'sweet' Sweedish girl that rarely spoke unless she got hammered and started showing her true, slightly scary, sexual experiences; Tom, a dreamy English man traveling all over who just jumped in to help everywhere he could and did most of the driving... and most of the drinking... but not at the same time; Phil, a chubby English fella constantly conserned over everything and who navigated most of the way (hence why we got lost a few times) and a fobia of EVERY creater - including march flies; Dave, Phil's brother who seems to spend lots of time working out and is very proud of his body yet keeps to himself a lot of the time; Kelly, a young British girl whos age shows, is more fun while drunk, and tends to nag her boyfriend 23 hours a day; Mark (pronounced, by Kelly as MAAAHARKKK), a 25 year old Brit with the maturity level of a 10 year old - Mark's random gestures and comments might have been top on our list of highlights for the trip.
The first half hour on Frasers we managed to mess up our tires - rookies. We didn't notice the mess until the next morning, which is good because we had such a great day that to know about the tire any earlier might have taken away from it. We started off at Lake Wobby, which is a beautiful fresh water lake between the doones and a forest area. It was the most refreshing swim. We played a lamer version of volleyball in the water while Tom snuck up on each girl 'croc' style.
After Lake Wobby we decided it was enough excitement and we wanted to get to our campsite. We settled in front of the beach and set up camp. This is, mind you, a sand island. Sand is EVERYWHERE and there is nowhere to hide. This and the lack of showers made us all look like hobbos by the end of day 1.
We played soccer on the beach and cooked up a barbeque. After eating we played Ring of Fire, which is my new favorite drinking game to date. It usually involves drinking Goon, which can get nasty. By the end of night 1 I had a name for us.
We are... The Goonies.
Day 2 was spent at Champagne Falls, the lookout, and an early dinner. I drove a bit on day 2, which was scary and exciting. We played Ring of Fire on night 2 and it was even more interesting than the 1st. A small group camped near us and joined in. We had pasta for dinner - which had sand in it - for texture. At this point one cooler had red blood leaked all over it from our meat and the other had red goon all over from our goon. :S
Day 3 was spent in Lake Mckenzie which was even better than Lake Wobby. The water is clear and warm. It was gorgeous and we spent most the time attacking eachother with sand balls and throwing the football around.
The largest drama that happened to the Goonies was our trip back to our ferry. the last ferry off the island was at 4 pm and we were on our way to 'central station' where we THOUGHT we were to fill our tires back up and get on the ferry. Well, we got to the station and it was the wrong location. We needed to go to the port in Fishermans Bay 18 KM away! On terrain like that of Frasers, this is not an easy distance to reach. Luckily Tom was at the wheel and he went as fast as possible in those conditions. It was the first time our car was completely quiet, with the exception of someone asking the time every now and again. We had 2 minutes to go when we were filling up our tires. We arrived to the port and the ferry was leaving. We all screamed and pleaded and... the ferry came back! We made it on and jumped around. Everyone on the ferry was clapping. The captain told us that some people had come up to him and asked "where are the Goonies? I don't think they are on yet!" ha!
We arrived back to Harvey Bay and spent Tamara's birthday night at our hostel... playing Ring of Fire.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)