Surfer's Paradise

Surfer's Paradise:

Sunset in Surfer's Paradise.

There was no problem catching the train to Negura, which was where the bus would pick us up to go to Surfer’s Paradise. The train had free wifi, which is always a bonus. I even gave a Facebook status to let the world know I was still alive. We caught the bus no problem and even got concession since we were students. And just like that we were in Surfer’s Paradise. I called up the hostel and it ended up being a five minute walk to our left. It was a little place called, “Backpackers in Paradise,” and its rates were reasonable enough.

Surfer’s Paradise is beautiful. Almost like a low key Miami. Amusement parks, clubs, restaurants, beach front, Ferris wheel, palm trees. It has it all. Hot guys. My god at the hot guys. What’s best. The weather was SUNNY. This first thing we did was change into our bathing suits and go to the beach.



First day on the beach.

When we checked in, we found out that they gave us a free upgrade to an eight person  room instead of a 20 person room. So we were paying 19 for the value of 26. She also gave us a discount on the local zoo and surf lessons. We were floating. There ended up being a guy and girl from Manchester in our room, an Asian guy who never talked and always watched Manga on his computer, and a big guy who slept a lot. The rest of the bunks were empty. There was a shared bathroom, but honestly the upkeep was quite nice. Really nice for what we’re paying. We were more than happy with it.

So we grabbed towels and books and headed for the beach. It was so beautiful, and in less than an hour I knew my way around the whole city. It’s all about landmarks and street names. We browsed through all the shops, happy not to have a schedule to meet or other people to worry about. Two is definitely the best travelling number. The beach was awesome.  An Indian guy ended up taking our picture together since we were struggling not to take selfies. It was handy until he started asking too many questions. Then we decided to trek it back to the hostel. I was convinced I’d left my phone on the beach but ended up finding it later under Shayna’s bunk bed. Oops. 

That night we ended up going to Hardrock café. I was so stoked. Besides the one in Sydney, which opened just last year, it’s the only one in Australia. So yes, I splurged. I got a mean grilled chicken focaccia with chips. It was awesome. I was just happy to be at Hardrock in Surfer’s Paradise. It reminded me of my Dad.  Anyway, after Hardrock, we made our way back to the hostel. We were going to walk on the beach, but it was super windy and we were in sleeveless shirts, so we decided to call it a night. Since we were pretty pooped at this point and we had a huge day planned ahead of us, we ended up just watching “Get Smart” on my laptop on Shayna’s bed. I bet the others in our room thought we were crazy laughing our heads off at a screen. We shared my earphones. It was so chill. It was kind of weird that everyone else went to bed so early. I swear people were lying around by 10 pm. They must’ve been travel weary, as well.

 I took a shower in the communal shower and was happy to see it wasn’t gross. The hostel actually had surprisingly good upkeep. The next morning I had my alarm set, so Shayna and I got up and got ready to surf. It was all arranged for the surf coaches to pick us up at 9:30 and for us to have a two hour lesson. I’ve never been so excited, nor more freaked out. You have to realize, it was my first time in the Australian ocean. The guy who picked us up was such a surfer. Meaning his accent was righteous and his jokes unparalleled. I never seen such driving maneuvers. Haha the van was even missing a mirror. But we got there and suited up in wet suits.

It ended up that we were surfing with an older guy named Les, and an Asian guy who I unfortunately can’t remember the name of. What I do remember is that his girlfriend came with him and that she had a huge camera. So I took the opportunity to hand her my camera to see if she could get some shots of us surfing. It was legit. I was so pumped.

The first thing they taught us was how to properly carry a surf board. Then we trucked it across the road and onto the beach. We had to do a few warm up exercises which reminded me of soccer. Anyway, our coach was legit with the best Aussie accent ever, and he was so energetic and happy to teach us about surfing. He’s been surfing since he was six. Kind of hard to imagine.

I learned all the different part sof the board: the fins, rails, bottom, nose and plank. Then we learned different positions like board control with both hands centered on the back of the board. I learned to push the back down to get the nose to lift up over waves. Timing was easy. After all, I’ve been boogie boarding and body surfing since I was little. It was the standing that got me. My pops were all wrong. I just couldn’t find my balance. But catching the waves was no problem. In the end, I ended up getting up about four times. Only two of those times did I ride the board all the way in. It was so awesome. That feeling you get when your feet are solid underneath you and the water just coasts you in, making it feel effortless, but your body knows different.

 Ah, the whole two hours made me want to chuck everything to the side and live here to pursue some kind of familiarity with a surf board. I think my next purchase will be a skateboard. And then I’ll start practicing my pops. Too bad we didn’t even get to turning! We then caught a quick KFC lunch, swung by the hostel, put on clothes and headed out for the Currumbin animal sanctuary. It took forever to get there, but we finally figured the bus routes out and ended up at the sanctuary, which is kind of in the middle of nowhere. The first thing we did was hold a koala. It was freaking awesome. Her name was Baby and she was born in another sanctuary. Apparently, she loves to cuddle, and if you don’t give her attention she’ll crawl up your leg for some.

 It was surreal having that thing latch onto me. Almost like I was carrying a baby, hence the name. It was like I was her momma and she would love me forever. And we got a professional picture made. How cool is that? I kept thinking that the girls would have loved it. I wish they could’ve been there. Then we went around and explored the rest of the zoo seeing things like wombats, albino dingoes and lizards that had free range and would skirt under your feet. They were huge too, mind you. We then got to pet kangaroos. We didn’t have money for the feed they were giving the roos, but we made do anyway, psyching the roos out when we offered them imaginary food. They’re so cute!

 We then looked at the crocs. It was funny that they only had the fresh water kind because the salt water crocs are just that dangerous. They’re too aggressive to even consider keeping in a zoo. Then we got to see an aboriginal dance. It wasn’t that special except for the emu dance. I liked that one. It so exactly replicated the movement of the large bird that I was surprised the dancer didn’t end up sprouting feathers right there. We then swung by and picked up our photos and caught a bus back to Surfer’s Paradise. By this point, we were pretty tired and a little achy from surfing that morning, so we decided to cook some pasta for dinner instead of going out. The hostel had a free cooking facility and cookware.

As we were cooking, we met a few guys who coordinate events. They told us about a 10 dollar special that got you into this club called Vanity, gave you a free drink at the hostel, a free drink at the night club and then a discount on any of the other drinks you ordered that night. For someone who likes to drink, it was a prime opportunity. So of course Shayna was all over that. But before we did any going out, I wanted to hit the night markets. As we were walking out, there was a big group of Aussie guys who were also staying at the hostel, heading out to the city. They ended up being footy players from Geelong. I walked next to a guy named Dessi, who was totally hitting me up. He was quite a bit older than me, probably by three or four years and he was handsome in a rugged sort of way.

Anyway, before we split off for the markets he got my number just like the other dude got Shayna’s, and we told them we might meet up with them later that night at the club. Obviously, in my head, I was like there was no way. Basically, when we got to the market, there was a whole row of white tents that line up on Friday nights and sell all sorts of handmade goodies. We explored for around an hour and I found lots of cool gifts for everyone back home. There was this one girl who hand spray painted coasters and postcards on canvas and then allowed you to customize a message on the back. I thought it was an awesome idea. Then Shayna and I got Swiss ice cream. I got cappuccino flavor. It was superb.

 We then went back to the hostel and decided we would go out with the hostel group that night. We changed. I showered then we went downstairs to play some pool. I wasn’t too thrilled about spending ten buck to get into some club, since I wouldn’t be drinking. But Shayna has done everything I’ve wanted to do so far, so it was only fair that I allowed her this one instance for me to do something she wanted to. We ended up watching a few guys play pool and before I knew it, we were invited to play doubles. I was so thankful for those pool lessons from Bangladesh guy. Because the first one I hit was a hard shot, and I totally pocketed it.

 Shayna did well, too. I think we surprised the boys. The tall blonde Australian guy with curly hair was from Perth and he chose Shayna to be on his team. Our team ended up winning even though Kyle, the Aussie I was playing with, was totally pissed (drunk). I had the chance to win it but totally missed. Oh well. I don’t think he cared since he won it for us. I tried the Aussies’ favorite brand of beer for the first time, XXXX Gold. It was pretty crap. I really have no idea why the Australians like it so much.

Anyway, since I’d only taken a few sips from it, I gave it to Mitch, and he decided to chug it right there in front of us. I was highly entertained, especially in his suddenly exuberant demeanor. We all walked to the club together and for the most part, Mitch was all chatty. We got to go in a special line, showed our IDs, and before I knew it we were heading down red stairs to a night club in Surfer’s Paradise. Man, it was fancy. About what I expected, really. The first thing Mitch did was maneuver us toward the bar so we could use our free drink vouchers. I didn’t want anything though and Shayna got a rum coke. I tried a sip, and it was so strong. I’m never tasted rum before, but I don’t like it. A bit too overpowering for me.

I was kind of bobbing my head to the music and Mitch had been hopping up and down since we got there so when he caught my eye, he’s like, “Want to go to the dance floor?” I figured it would be like another paint and glow thing, so I agreed and all three of us headed toward the dance floor. I just danced like I usually do and before I knew it Mitch had my hand in his. I was trying to dance with him and Shayna, but by this point Shayna had some Brazilian all over her. So there I was dancing with Mitch and Shayna and Brazilian guy to my left and just like all raves you get close and end up bumping into the people you're around. I couldn’t help but noticed when Mitch put his hand on my waist and was a little closer than I expected, but it was totally fine. He wasn’t pushing any barriers or anything we were just dancing and having fun and as time went on he kept trying to get me to dance solely with him and put my arms on his shoulders. But I really didn’t want to kiss him or get intimate so I kept breaking away.

Now you have to realize, Mitch was super sweet and the whole night had proved over and over again that he was a decent guy. But when he tried to kiss me a little later on into the night, I realized it was time to scram. Geez. I’m getting good at this. I ducked my head and said something to the effect of, “Not tonight.”

After that, Shayna and I sdacned for another thirty mintues or so. I danced with Mitch a bit more and then we left. I felt rotten. It probably wasn’t the safest thing to do to walk back alone, but I knew exactly where we were. Surfer’s Paradise isn’t big. Anyway as we’re walking, out of nowhere this guy from Dubai starts asking me if I knew where he can buy cigarettes, and I told him no and then he starts asking questions about me. At this point, I knew exactly where his intentions lie and told him he should probably check Woolworth for the cigs, which was the total opposite direction from where we were heading. He asked me if I would walk with him to get them. That’s when the steely look came in my eye, and I replied with a clipped response, "I’m not going that way." Then he’s like, then I’ll walk with you. To which I said, I don’t think so. He was like, oh so that’s how you’re going to be. I shrugged and turned around with Shayna to listen to a street musician who was playing guitar. I waited until I was sure he’s walked away before we headed off for our hostel again. I think Shayna said something like, did you shake him off yet? Haha.

Yes. Why yes I did.

As we’re walking back, Dessi and Jordi start texting us about getting together that night since they were heading back, too. This was around 12. I didn’t respond because I had no interest. Shayna talked a little with Jordi over text but told him she was crashing early. Basically, I got no less than two calls and a text from Dessi wanting to meet up. It kind of made me laugh, since I wasn’t the slightest bit interested. After Mitch’s rejection, I was a bit sick of guys at the moment. So, I put my phone on vibrate so it wouldn’t wake anyone else and quickly fell asleep.

Woke up the next morning surprised yet again that I’d slept like a baby.  I honestly thing that hostel is the best place I’ve slept in a while, and it was a bunk bed; the top bunk at that. Shayna and I checked out, stripped our sheets and packed up yet again. But we weren’t in a real hurry to leave Surfer’s Paradise so we decided to dress in our bathing suits and go lay out on the beach again. And lay out we did. It was so chill. The waves were beautiful, the beach was beautiful and I was at peace. I even finished the book Ben gave me. We lay out until 12 or so and decided it was time to grab something to eat.

At this point, I had a small tan and Shayna was burnt. Yus…. SUN! We then tried this little breakfast joint Shayna had had her eye on since we got there. I just got fish and chips. It was five bucks, so there. Cheap. It was so sunny and nice and hot guys were walking past with no shirts and tattoos and our cokes came in slim cans that made us feel fancy, and we decided in that moment that we never wanted to leave and that living in a place called paradise is about as good as life can get. But alas, we had to leave and get to our Brisbane hostel.

We caught a bus from a stop near our hostel. Carrying around our stuff wasn’t the best idea for our already finicky backs, but I swear I’ve got the biggest calf muscles in the world now. I got a frappe too just for good measure simply because it was sunny and I felt like splurging. Oh, and interestingly enough, even though everything else at Mackers is more expensive here, their mocha frap is the only exception. It’s cheaper. What now.

We then hopped on a train at the bus station and before we knew it we were at a train station in Brisbane. It was cool. While we were waiting on the platform, sun coming in on our legs, a little lorikeet just like the ones we’d previously seen in the zoo the other day, just came up and landed on the tree in front of us. I don’t know why, but it made me so happy.

Once we were on the train with wifi, we were able to update everything online again and get the numbers for the hostels we were going to be travelling to as well as google-mapping how to get there. When we got to our stop, we were all packed up and ready to get off the train, so we stood at the doors. We waited for a good minute and the stupid doors never opened. We were so confused. The train started moving and before we knew it we had missed our stop. But never fear. Apparently, all you have to do is push a yellow button that conveniently says “Open Door." Who would've guessed. None of the other transportation we’d taken this far had buttons so we were a little confused. But we got squared away fast enough. We got off at the next stop which was super close and hopped on a train back to the stop we had missed. Easy as pie. Then I navigated our way to the hostel, only having to call them when the directions Google gave us didn’t add up. Before we knew it, we were safely at Brisbane’s Bunk hostel. And just like that, we had signed in, got our room keys and happily deposited our hefty bags on the bunks.

But our adventures in Brisbane will have to wait for another time!!
Catch you guys later J

Holidays! Sydney.

(I've decided to update my two week holiday in intervals and by city. Also, instead of rewriting for the blog, I'm just dragging and dropping from my personal journal I kept througout the trip. Hope you guys don't mind!)

HELLO SYDNEY!!

Ah, so many mind blowing experiences today! After a 40 minute flight yesterday through Jetstar, Shayna and I arrived in Sydney with no problem. (Though, there was a 35 minute delay.) Rhi and her friends picked us up at the airport and we got to see Sydney at night before arriving at her house in a nearby suburb. Basically, Rhi’s whole family is amazing and she has a beautiful home complete with dogs, a rabbit, a cat, and two guinea pigs. And her dog Ishka is a German Shepherd. I’m right at home.

Sydney weekend markets.

After grabbing Mackers and watching 40 Year Old Virgin, we decided to call it a night since there wasn’t really time to get out to experience the night life.

We woke up to warm weather. I was so happy to walk out in shorts and a sleeveless shirt! Bring on the warm weather! This is the Australia I came to experience. I saw so many things today and the whole time I walked through the city, I felt like I was in a dream. We caught a train into the city (the main mode of transportation in Sydney) with Rhi’s mom and brother and walked under the bridge, past the harbor, and into “The Rocks,” which is one of the last older regions of Sydney where cobblestone can still be felt under your feet and the buildings were built by convicts. No, seriously. There are supposedly arrows carved on the sides of building that were the same arrows found on convict clothing.

We caught breakfast in a cute café and then browsed a market that is only open on Sundays. So many cute things! I’m almost glad I’d forgotten to swing by the ATM. I’m afraid I would’ve spent every last cent. We got to see this man who did Space Art. It was so amazing. He used spray paint and newspapers to make beautiful works of art. His method was basically layering colors that mix well together, so when the newspaper smears the paint, the colors underneath can be seen. Anyway, in under ten minutes, he had created a beautiful piece with details that looked like they took hours to perfect.

And he was only charging 40 AUD a piece.

We then went down to the Harbor. Geez, it was just as I imagined it. Or rather, as “Finding Nemo” portrayed it. Except, not animated, that is.

Anyway, it was beaut!

We then separated from Rhi’s mom and little brother and hopped a ferry to Manly Beach to meet Rhi’s friends. Ah, it was picturesque! White sailboats, ocean cliff-sides, the opera house, bridge and city getting smaller in the distance. Simply unreal.

Then we crossed over to Manly, a suburb only a ferry ride away from the Opera House. It was the perfect beach town with wide streets of surfer shops and psalm tree and eucalyptus lining the middle of the streets. And then it opened up right onto Manly Beach. Clear water, surfers, coast of ocean side villas and tons of lounging Australians. It was really nice until the wind picked up. Then it got cold enough to put on a jumper.

We all caught sushi for lunch. It was so fresh, and I was more than satisfied. Sushi in Sydney. Heck yes.

When we got back to Rhi’s house, we watched “Finding Nemo” IN SYDNEY. It was one of those moments I’ll never forget. We then had dinner with Rhi’s family. It was awesome. Tomato and avocado salad, potatoes, quiches, and rissoles. And strawberries and vanilla for dessert. It was delicious. But the best part was the conversation. We all sat at the table enjoying ourselves and talking about the differences between American and Australian culture.  I find it hilarious that all Australians are appalled at our gun laws just as we are flummoxed by the Aboriginal problem. 

Every people has their problem, every outsider their suggested solution. The thing is, if the problems were easy to fix they’d be solved already. But I’m afraid it’s not so.

We picked up Tom and Flo at the airport today. It’s funny how fast you latch on to a city. Before I knew it, I found myself playing tour guide just as Rhi had to us, showing off the great city I had only spent two days in. We rode with Rhi to pick them up and pointed out the Opera House, Harbor Bridge and The Rocks. It was so good having everyone back together again. After we got in, Tom was super excited about a discount that was going on for ear piercings in a place called Newtown. Of course, none of us really knew the area so we were all up for it. When we got there, it was a rundown little suburb with surprisingly few people in it. We set off following Google Maps on Tom’s phone and ended up finding this creepy little joint with a red anime character covered in piercings as its icon. Yes, a little more than sketch.

 So we all hiked our way up the stairs and ran into one of the scariest dudes I’ve ever seen. You know how you usually look at whatever specialty a person is in before putting your oh so fragile self in their hands? Well, let’s just say this guy’s appearance wasn’t exactly comforting. His earlobes were positively drooping and his lip was so full of piercings, I’m not sure how he was able to talk. We browsed around until we realized the discount didn’t include the price of the jewelry as well. Convenient detail to leave out, eh? So we made up some lame excuse about grabbing lunch before coming back and ran for our lives. So we were stuck in Newtown, which wasn’t new at all, and decided it was time to rustle up some grub. We ended up finding this delicious Indian Kebab place. It was so good! I got a veggie style kebab with chili sauce and it was the perfect amount of spicy.

We then headed out and caught a tram back to Rhi’s deciding to hit a Bottle shop before we went out on the city for the night. We found some delicious champagne that may or may not have been stronger than suggested. Anyway, it was a nice pink hue and before the end of the night we were spilling our guts and eating all sorts of random things in a game of truth or dare. Call us elementary if you like, but it was positively delightful. I feel like we all got a little closer by getting to know a little more about each other. Things we would’ve never known if not forced to ask some random question. Surface level friendships are for wieners Oh yea, I was dared to take a bite out of a solid block of coffee grains. Why yes, I did go through with it. Can’t say I didn’t warn them.

We had plans for the next day to get up early and go to the city since we didn’t end up making it out that night and then driving to the Blue Mountains to camp the next night. But as always, our plans were changed. Everyone slept in a little later than planned and Rhi ended up having to go to the doctor because she wasn’t feeling so well. Unfortunately, that put Rhi out for joining us on any excursions which really sucked, since we missed her and it was her home town. In the meantime,  Tom, Shayna and I (Flo was still passed out in Rhi’s room) headed to the center of Roseville (Rhi’s suburb) to grab coffee. After stopped at a cute little café, we all sat down on a random sidewalk bench and enjoyed the sun. It was so nice, sipping pure caffeine and taking in sunshine. We then decided it was time to pick up something for lunch since we felt guilty about bumming Rhi’s family’s food. We picked up the usual. Past pasta pasta! While waiting for the pasta to boil back at the house, Flo joined us on the steps in the sun to listen to Tom play guitar. I even strummed a few chords in no particular order. I officially know G now. Yup. Progress in slow. Maybe I’ll get around to a full song one day. Maybe a verse first though.

Yea. A verse.

We then decided to go into the city since it was too late to drive out to the mountains. It was pretty cool, playing the tour guide instead of the touree. Then again, I carry my camera everywhere so I’m basically always a tourist. Even in my own hometown. We checked out Harbor Bridge, The Rocks, Circular Quay, and The Opera House and even made it out to Sydney’s Botanical Gardens. OMG. I was so excited. It’s HUGE. Though, there honestly weren’t that many flowers out. Then again, it was pretty cloudy and Spring is just starting.  I think one of its biggest pulls is that it’s just beside the water and the Opera House so it’s extremely picturesque. After laughing our way through and taking goofy pictures, we decided to truck it back into the city to find some souvenir shops. Let me tell you. Nothing is cheap in Sydney. And the city is so big. I honestly felt like an ant walking around the CBD. And out of place. Geez. We were all walking in t-shirts, shorts and thongs while everyone around us had on suits and business dresses. Ha-ha. It was funny.

We did find some stores, but they were all pretty generic unfortunately. We hiked down to Town Hall and checked it out. We also decided to make Rhi’s family a cake so we swung into a Coles and picked up stuff to make a chocolate and strawberry cake. There may or may not have been 90 cent 1L sodas involved. (What? We were thirsty.) We almost ended up walking into a red carpet event. Literally. We were just walking along and out of nowhere the street in front of us is carpeted in red and people in fashion savvy black clothes were holding clipboards and not letting people through. Apparently there was a big TO DO and important people were all entering a lighted building for some event. I think the words out front said something like the OPENING OF SYDNEY. Yea I was confused too. Last time I checked Sydney has been open for several centuries now. Though not as long as most cities.

This is about the time it started pouring rain. So we ducked into clothing shop called CottonOn that was actually reasonably priced. I was surprised. Well, not really. There is one in Melbourne on Lygon that has similar prices. After the rain abated, we desperately searched out a restaurant that wouldn’t charge us an arm and leg. While walking, I happened to turn my head and see a place where people were happily cramming their faces with quality looking food. It ended up the place had a ten dollar entrée special going so we went for it. Grocery bags, sopping shoes and all.

So there we are, surrounded by suits with top quality food in front of us. And what do we do? Well, we asked for empty glasses of course. Paying for drinks….psssssht. Out come the 90c Cokes from underneath the table. Haha. Best memory ever.

That night we all played Mario Kart with Rhi and her younger brother, Bryn. I’m ashamed to say he kicked my butt and wounded my pride. But hey, it’s Wii. Get a real gaming system. (Cough cough, xbox 360, cough.) Nah, it was fun. We cooked up a plan and after baking a cake and watching Tangled, we went to bed with every intention of visiting the Blue Mountains the next day. Why yes, we actually went through with those intentions! We caught a train and ended up only paying 8.40 round trip. TAKE THAT 70 DOLLAR EXPLORER BUS! Outsmarting the system, oh yea.

When we got to Katoomba we realized it was adorable. Such a cute country suburb. It had all sorts of nifty well priced stores. Too bad we didn’t have much time to spare. Although Tom did find a place to get his ear pierced. But that only took ten minutes. We hiked out and saw the Three Sisters, three massive stone outcroppings that have some odd native story behind them that no one really believes but likes to recount to others as if it could actually be possible. I felt so at home out in the trails. Honestly, it was like I was back at South Mountains. The same blue hue, leafy coverage on every side, trail marked by a bank and drop that you will not get back up from. There were some beautiful outlooks. 

We even found a souvenir shop that had a huge stuffed koala. Of course, we took a picture with is. I think the coolest part of the trip was when we were leaning over the rail/crawling over it when out of nowhere a white flock of giant cockatoos flew up and surrounded us. They were beautiful and loud. It think it was there way of saying, “Hey, this is our waterfall. SCRAM!” Yea, I took pictures. It made me think of my grandpa. This picture if for you, Grandpa! Oh, and they were huge.

When then hiked our way back before it got dark and ended up eating in the town of Katoomba. There was this hole in the wall restaurant called Country Noodle that we tried. I ordered Pad Thai and it was unique. A lot different than the usual dish, but with the same base of water chestnut. Not bad. We then went to the train station and of course, when I went to buy my ticket, the machine ate my five dollar bill. When I told the train station lady where I was going she informed me that I needed to be on the train that was leaving NOW and that the next one was an hour wait. Thank God the lady actually made the train wait for us and everyone began scrambling to buy tickets for the ride back. Keep in mind there were four of us! In the end, we were all happily nestled  on the train on our way back to Roseville. The only casualty: my left over noodles sitting back at the station.

That night we were all exhausted and hung out in the shed where Shayna and I have been sleeping comfortably for the past few days. We played more Mario Kart, packed, and fought over who was going to pet the cutest koala the next day. Of course, this was last night. We’re all splitting directions today; Tom and Flo are heading out to Sydney’s zoo and then the beach before heading back to Melbourne. Rhi had to go back early, so she’s already in Melbourne. And Shayna and I took off for Brisbane this morning. I was so proud of us. We had no problem whatsoever navigating roads, train stations and airports. It was actually pretty easy. Oh, except that awful hike UP HILL with our ginormous backpacks. My god, that was my work out for the next few weeks! Haha not really. I’m just out of shape.

At the airport we had a little time, so I decided to put the Australian traditions to the test and bought a coffee to finish off my last TimTam. You’re supposed to bite both ends diagonally and then suck the coffee up through the chocolate bar. It was amazing, don’t get me wrong, but the coffee was so hot that the remainder of the melted bar ended up splashing into my coffee. So much for that plan. I drank it anyway. We then caught our flight and we were off to Brisbane. I sat beside this sweet old couple and had the window seat. It was nice seeing us take off from Sydney. It was sunny enough to see the golden coast stretching out before us as we flew. I realized as we took off that I would be ok with dying in a plane crash. At least, I was going somewhere. (I know…that’s morbid. But it was what I was thinking!) There was an Asian kid who was kicking my seat the whole flight. I wanted to turn around and scowl at his mother who was sitting beside him, but then I remembered my Dad and thought twice about what it means to have patience. And what it means to understand that people are people and children are children. And after an hour of listening to John Mayer, we had landed in Brisbane.

But that, my friends, will be for a later post, as this one has become a novel J

Days 72-75

All right.  I'll make this one quick.

San Churros strikes again.

I basically was completely lazy the remainder of this week besides finishing a synopsis and doing regular work for classes.

Wednesday, I skipped my Bio lecture because... well, because I was completely content sitting at Don Tojos across from Shayna finishing my Japanese food and moving on to Lygon St. where we found the largest piece of chocolate cake we could find and tried to devour it.

Even we couldn't finish it.

That night I hung out with my Urban Life group again. And, as always, it was refreshing to see familiar faces.


Thursday I saw an opossum on campus which was definitely the highlight of my day. I was walking up the steps when I saw this brown little fuzzy thing scamper past some Uni students' feet and up into a tree. Then he casually began to munch on leaves like nothing had happened.
Then, God saw my misery of having a writing workshop until 8 PM, so he let sushi rain down from the heavens. Or rather, from the hands of one of my classmates who happened to be walking by the cafe downstairs when they were about to throw out all of the sushi rolls that had not been eaten that day.

Ah, the joys of leftovers. (Aka Free food.)



Brunettis

Then I hung out with Nanna and Wendy who came over to Unilodge. Haha, it's the first time I've been self conscious about my room being a mess. It was good to catch up with them before we all go our separate ways for break. We've determined that I'm going to Europe at which point I will have free housing and that they will visit the States where they will have free housing.

Excellent plan if I don't say so myself.

Interesting fact of the day: The first language in Singapore is English. (Why yes, I do plan on travelling there!)

That night I played pool with a guy from Bangladesh. Apparently, he was on the national pool team! I never knew there were such things. But there are, and he taught me so many small techniques from  angles, to how to cue, to shadowing, to avoiding cheap trick shots by using the ACTUAL techniques. It was awesome. Now, like every other thing I want to get better at, all that's left is to practice!

Today (Friday) I spent the whole day with Janielle. It was her 19th birthday and we both spent it with cameras in hand. It was so awesome to talk to someone who has so many of the same passions you do. We went to Brunettis (a heavenly coffee/chocolate place) and then walked through Melbourne's Botanical Gardens. Even though it was a really drab day, we made the best of it and didn't really notice the weather. We then had lunch at a Thai place that was spicy and delicious. I've never really tried Thai, but I'm now convinced I love it.

Afterwards, we walked around Melbourne Central until our feet hurt. Haha. A day well spent, if I don't say so myself.

AND FINALLY! I wil release the details of my Spring Break plans.

Tomorrow night, we fly out to Sydney where we will be staying at Rhi's place. (Rhi has been so accommodating. Much more so than Unilodge... She's really been so great about the whole thing. It makes me glad I've found the friends I have while staying here.) Tom, Flo, Shayna, Rhi and I will spend four days living it up in Sydney, and then Shayna and I will take off for Brisbane. After three days in Brisbane, we will head up to Cairns. (Yes, the place where the Great Barrier Reef is located as well as the Daintree Rainforest.) Wish us good luck!

I will have my laptop on me, but I cannot guarantee regular updates as the presence of Wifi has not yet been confirmed. But for now, hold your breath and wait for my next installment of life in Sydney!

If I get eaten by a freshwater crocodile... I love you guys. ;)

Days 69-71

And… breathe.

Finally, a chance to lie back, shoes off, parrots above, endemic flora around, good o’ basking in the sun. This week has proved to be the busiest of any as it has been full of deadlines. (And it's only Tuesday.) The good thing? I’m learning!

The line on campus for free food.

A few things to note: I took my first Australian midterm this morning for my biology class. Amidst all the usual stress that comes with exams, I was also a tiny bit curious if there would be any differences in the Australian test format as compared to the American format. As far as multiple choice go, NOPE! They still word things just as confusingly, asking the inverse of what the question should actually be then giving you the answer for the question they should have asked! Confused? Exactly.

It wasn’t hard.

It was a breeze really, after I’d gone through all of the power points and made my study guides. (All I’ve got to say for myself is that I will be well equipped for finals.)

Anyway, the whole point of my story is that right before I took my test in a room lit by sunlight on my cushy stool, our tutor mentioned the fact that if we needed extra pencils or “rubbers” that he had some at the front. I  had to turn around, if not only for curiosity’s sake! Erasers, of course. What else could he be referring to?  Australians… Gotta love them.

Free soda, veggie burger and snag.

I also got my first lab report back and got 11/12 ½, so a high B  (American grading system) or H2 (Australian grading system.) Considering I kind of threw the thing together and didn’t fully complete the last question, I’m pretty pleased with myself.

Writing, however, is a different story. (Ha.)

I’m not sure where to start, frankly.  Speaking of puns, I did have a point this week, where unfortunately for Shayna, I was completely tired and stressed so I had a whole three minutes of flinging every pun that was in my head at the time out to Shayna. This conversation went like so:

“Hey, hey Shayna! I was just thinking. Bald men must not get irritated.”

“What?”

“Nothing gets in their hair!”

“I’m not even going to respond to that…”

“Hey, hey. You know people in wheelchairs?”

“Yea?”

“They must have a hard time with politics, because they don’t stand for anything!”

“Again, I’m not even going to respond to that…”

“And they can’t even show their approval properly! Nope, not a single standing ovation!”

Pause.

“You know what? You’re right. Tonight… I’m just full of it.”

Hysterical laughter (from me.)

Now, let me explain why that last one was funny. Or wasn’t funny. (Depends whether your sense of humor is awesome or not.)

St. Kilda Beach.

Sunday, I completely  blew off all of my work and went to St. Kilda with the Unilodge crowd (Shayna, Flo, Phil, Ray, Rhi, and Rhi’s brother Liam. Tom had to work. Sad face.) It’s the first time I’ve been in good weather. When we first got there, we noticed a row of tents lined on the sidewalk just before you walked out onto the beach. There were all kinds of knickknacks. It was funny. We girls had to stop and take a look while all the guys were worried about was getting down to the beach. Ah, gender differences.

I found a really cool tent full of bracelets, where everything was mostly made out of leather. I came close to getting something, but resisted. Maybe next time.

It was pretty cool to just lay out in my tank top and cut offs with a nice breeze rolling over my shoulders. We all spread out towels, munched on strawberries and listened to Phil talk the majority of the time. All in all, it was a relaxing experience and a complete procrastination of anything productive. We then got it in our minds that we were going to deep fry candy bars, because it’s a Scottish tradition. At least, that’s what Flo said. Deep fried Mars bars. Heck yes.

Fried Snickers bar!

So Phil contributed a bucket full of pasta and we all ate an insane amount of cheese (it was Phil’s home made Alfredo sauce, which mainly consisted of Parmesan cheese.) After fried squares of Parmesan cheese, two bowls of Alfredo pasta, and a fried candy bar… I thought I was going to barf. But at least I wasn’t alone. We were all suffering together.

So, that was a long way of explaining why me being “full of it” in both senses was, at the time, hilarious.

Needless to say, night-time sanity is fleeting.

My play was workshopped yesterday. It’s funny. As a writer, I tend to cling to bits of words, character or plots that I know people won’t like. It’s rather counter intuitive and has caused me a lot of grief. Alas, I brought it on myself. But this time, however, I went in knowing what the problem with the script was, but not knowing how to fix it. I guess the workshop clarified that the problem existed.

Campus was beautiful today.

Now I’m being rather harsh on myself. Besides one of my character’s not earning an emotional payoff, the class and teacher loved the dialogue, main character and rhythm of the piece saying it had a rather poetic intensity. And with those words, I could not be more satisfied.

As far as screen writing goes, I’ve finished my synopsis on “No Country for Old Men.” It’s about a 100 words over. I’ll get there. Eventually.

Moving on to real world issues. I’m sure many of you must be wondering about a rather evasive part of Australia’s culture that tends to be talked around as opposed to directly confronted.

Aboriginal culture.

Every nation has a past, every person has their flaws. And we must all come to terms with the world our ancestors left us. With Australia being a relatively new country and still in a limbo as far as politics are concerned, I think social issues of a certain standing and importance are, in a sense, lacking. I’m not saying Australian issues are trivial. But, as compared with the U.S.,  they have not had time to let those issues brood and fester into something more encompassing that effects people on a more massive scale. Poverty, social injustice, gender inequality, political corruption—issues that we debate over daily in the States, seem nonexistent in comparison. Or rather, exist on a much smaller scale.

So, the issue that seems to be in the recesses of every Australian’s mind is the question of Aboriginal assimilation. In 2008, the Prime Minister of Australia, Keven Rudd, made a public appearance to apologize to the "Stolen Generation," otherwise known as the Aboriginal children that were uprooted and taken from their homes. Even now, before every formal dinner of event, Australians will pay “homeage” and thank whatever tribe previously owned the land.

I may be crossing a line when I say this, but I think a lot of that is lip service. Don’t get me wrong, I think it is  good to give thanks, to bring awareness to what has been done and where it has left you. But it seems like the problem is almost being skirted over. The Aborigines truly are invisible in society. At most, I may’ve seen three while here, and they were on the outskirts, browsing a trash bin or averting their eyes when walking down the street.

We discussed the problem in my theatre writing class. We even read a script that really opened my eyes. (If you are interested, check out the play, The 7 Stages of Grieving by Wesley Enoch & Deborah Mailman.) Apparently, our teacher was in a band with a few Aborigine guys, and they travelled up and down the coast. He watched as not one,  but four police men dragged one Aborigine man into the back of a squad car because of “noise disturbances.” What was sad is that a pub full of raucous music and drunk Australians sat right on the corner.

A lot of the problem resides in marriage systems. In the Aboriginal culture, who you could marry depended on knowing who your relatives were. If someone is your child or brother/sister, you can’t marry them. So, thus, when children were taken away from their families, and many women were taken advantage of whose children ended up being half-cast (or half Aborigine, half white) the whole culture was thrown into turmoil. If you don’t know who to marry because you don’t know who your relatives are, and marriage leads to societal success, then you as an individual and ultimately as a culture fail to progress.

Iced Mocha. Boo yea.

It’s a sad situation, all around. But no one has any answers. It’s akin to the Native American ordeal in America.

What can you give to a people your ancestors took everything from? What can you do that will ever equate to the words, “I’m sorry.”?

I think people strive every day to make up for/ make sense of the injustices of the world around them. And to be honest. It doesn't make sense.

But, that's enough preaching from me.

I will leave you with a delicious picture.  THIS is what I finished my lovely day with:

Days 63-68

It is now effectively Sunday (yes, I did just pass the midnight mark) and I have spent my whole Saturday catching up on Biology notes/making a study guide for my midterm coming up on Tuesday. I've been caught in a huge limbo all day between two thoughts.

On one hand, I want to do the best I can do in these classes because I took them specifically because I was interested in the material as opposed to the classes being obligatory. But on the other hand, the thought keeps creeping into the back of my mind that these classes are Pass/Fail and that I should blow off all my work and do whatever I feel like doing.

Something tells me the first notion is more proper...

I'll probably end up compromising because I've spent the whole day mindlessly reviewing the ins and outs of Aussie Flora and Fauna and I'm only on lecture 7 out of 18. Yes. Compromise it will be.

Daniel was nice enough to make dinner for us and a few friends tonight, so we went down to 10th floor and hung out while eating beef stew. It wasn't bad. When the conversation turned to what state was better and why by the little group of Americans sitting at the table, I decided it was time to get back to being productive.

I really liked the bark on this tree...

I'm trying to reflect on my week, but I'm afraid it's all become a blur. I've been writing so much for my creative writing classes that I haven't even been keeping up my journal. You know when Jordan doesn't journal OR blog that it's bad. 

Let's see... Wednesday, I mindlessly attended another biology lecture. Though, I have to say the lecturer is quite entertaining. The zoologist, that is. Maybe it's the fact that she uses the word "beasties" to refer to any creature she finds fascinating.

I ended up (pre)preparing my meals half way through the week so I wouldn't have to mess with cooking when I was cramming for deadlines. Wednesday night, though, Wendy was kind enough to invite me over for dinner. She lives about 10 minutes away by tram. However, since it was night, I was a little discombobulated on which stop to get off at. I ended getting off too early and having to walk down the street a little further. However, after passing a few sketch looking places I found my landmark (Birdie O'Rileys) and quickly found my way past the railroad tracks and into Wendy's apartment.

When I got there, I saw Nanna was there, too. It made me so happy, just to see them both again since we haven't really gotten together since the Great Ocean Road Trip. Dinner was couscous with a delicious tomato based vegetable spread to go on top. I also tried a new type of hot tea that turns red when the bag dilutes in the water. I felt special.

We ended up catching up for a few hours and discussed spring break. It ends up everyone is going somewhere different. Nanna is trucking it West and making it out to Alice Springs and Uluru. (So jealous.) Wendy is going North and spending some quality time in Darwin.

A random bird on campus.

Ah, I wish I could do it all! Who would've known Australia would be SO BIG? It's not like that's covered in the 'continent' description...

I've thought it out. Though I would love to lie out under the great expanse of stars in the desert with no civilization within a 4 hours drive under the presence of something with as much spiritual significance as Uluru, I simply can't afford it. With the money I would spend just in travel to get out there and back, I can go to three separate cities on the East Coast.

It's pretty neat, though, when you think about it. How every individual's experience, even if in the same place, can be so different. Can be so unique. No one will ever experience Australia the same way I have. Wow.

But don't worry. I can tell you from this end, that this experience has been completely worth it. I've really thought about it, and there hasn't been one negative experience. Even being sick led to my acquaintances showing that they were in fact friends.

I must be tired. I'm getting so off track. Thursday. Thursday was long. Our writing workshops for short fiction extended to two and a half hours as opposed to one and a half hours. Long story short, I'm in class until 8 at night. I don't mind the workshops, I really don't. You just get hungry, ha.

In my screen writing class, my Australian friend and I made up a screen play about drop bears and how an American biologist couldn't garner enough support for her campaign to keep them from going extinct because no one believed they existed. It was pretty hilarious.

Graffitti on the streets of Melbourne

I took most of Friday to work on my synopsis for my screen writing class. Basically, we have to summarize a movie in three acts in under three pages. I chose "No Country for Old Men." The synopsis wasn't hard in the respect that I didn't know what to write, but in the fact that you have to fit such a long film (almost 2 hours) into three pages. What's more, is that the script is so brilliantly written that it strays away from the traditional three act structure. It's completely devoid of the usual emotional payoffs that usually accompany the third act. In fact, it's because of its deviations that the film was so amazing. And probably the reason it won the "Best Picture Academy Award in 2008." (I still can't believe I just now got around to watching it.)

Anyway, I finished that Friday and realized I was 750 words over. I still have around 200 more words to cut, but I couldn't look at it anymore after working on it so long. I figure I'll just come back to it next week right before it's due and set to cutting. Again.

Friday night was Suey's party downstairs in Unilodge. Geez, it was a mess. From a slushy machine mixed with tequila to a broken karaoke machines, it was what was to be expected, I guess. I ended up playing pool with Tom, Rhi, Flo and Shayna for most of it. I'm just happy the sticks aren't broken. For now.

When I shook hands with a guy who fell off his chair while introducing himself, I decided it was time to go and called it a night. (Meaning I curled up in bed and watched "The Sunset Limited.") If you have not watched that movie, YOU HAVE TO WATCH IT. Superb performances by Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel Jackson. I was completely awe struck.



Cormac McCarthy strikes again.