Jan's Oh Too Short Adventure....

It is a good thing that I like Berkeley because if not Deb would have had a roommate for much longer than 10 days. While I am already planning my next trip here that will include much more travel throughout Australia, I can not imagine a place more perfect to spend a year than the Gold Coast. It is everything you would presume Australia to be- gorgeous beaches, surfers galore, exotic birds, enjoyable accents and perfect weather. Every day I saw a new, unique, modern apartment building that I wanted to live in, an area I wanted to explore and new chocolate bars that I was dying to try. (In case you were interested, Deb and I ate over 32 chocolate bars between the two of us, yes they are that much better than the ones in the US.) another fyi, my personal favorite ended up being TimTams, which are a chocolate cookie, with soft chocolate and honeycomb on top, covered in chocolate. Yummm…..

For the majority of my stay, I explored, taking long walks on the beach, sitting in the sun, and eating delicious kebabs. I did daringly get in the water once, which was not too cold once you are in it but the signs warning you of strong currents do not lie- I almost lost my bottoms giving me ample reason to get out after being in for a short 15 minutes. The combination of canals and ocean makes the Gold Coast even more picturesque, but also confusing as it becomes difficult to distinguish the two in some areas as they intertwine and merge. Deb and I discovered this the hard way after walking two and a half hours along the beach and then unable to find an outlet to the main road. After another long hour in the sun, we caught the bus in front of Sea World and made our way back to Surfers Paradise. By that time eating Deb’s index finger looked pretty appetizing so we got sushi followed by McDonald’s desserts of which I double fisted a frozen Fanta and an ice cream cone- once again, they are just that much better than the ones in the US.

As interested as you all are in my eating and walking habits, I will try to get back to the interesting stuff. The day after my arrival we left to go on a camping trip that was excellently planned by Todd. Our first stop was this campsite right next to a lake. We pulled in around 9 pm. By that time it was pitch black (because of winter the sun goes down around 5 pm) and you could not really see a difference between the land and the lake. We claimed our spot directly adjacent to what I assumed was the lake and began setting up the tents and the air mattresses. I was grateful for something to do seeing that it was so cold standing still just made me realize my inability to feel my fingers and toes. Once everything was set up and ready we sat out, staring at the vast sky scattered with endless amounts of beautiful twinkling stars. After a competition of who could see the most shooting stars, we got in our tents to sleep. Damn it was cold. I was very glad to be sharing a tent with Deb and Tellu, who I had just met but was prepared to get to know much better that night as the only way I could even remotely stay warm was by snuggling up right next to her under the covers. After what I think was one of the longest, coldest nights of my life, I awoke to the screeching sound of a horrifying bird. It was cawing away, so loud I was convinced that the only thing separating us was the thin canvas of the tent. Once it flew away, I realized that it was sunny outside meaning my misery was almost over. Outside the tent it was getting much warmer and we could finally see our beautiful surroundings- the clear lake, surrounding hills and cows across from us, eating grass and mooing away. We were all anxious to get the day started as people began to take turns on the jet ski and wakeboard. I was very impressed with Todd’s skills who has done it for a while, but even more so by Tellu who seemed a natural as she had only done it once before. I was not surprised when my turn came and I was unable to get up on the thing, which is essentially a snowboard in the water as balancing is not one of my skills.
After an exhausting day on the water we cleaned up and left the campsite to go to our next destination which was the property of one of Todd’s coworkers. This friendly, warm couple is living in paradise. Their 24 acres of land is located on a creek surrounded on all sides by beautiful greenery. From on top of the hill they overlook the entire valley. When we arrived the games begun, first gathering firewood for the bonfire, then archery and helping prepare a delicious dinner of corn, steak and potatoes all cooked directly on the fire. Dinner was followed by a game of darts where the people with the highest score and the lowest score paired up to wash dishes. As the competitive little sister, I was glad to beat my sister’s high dart score of 60, which sadly made me have to clean up. The night was much warmer with a more durable tent as I passed out almost immediately and did not move an inch til the morning when we had to wake up early to get Deb to class.

Other fun adventures included a trip to Brisbane with Deb’s friend Steph, where we wandered around the city looking at outdoor markets and the beautiful city. As all of Australia is very new, Brisbane’s architecture and design was clean-cut and unique with bridges everywhere and a fake beach next to the river. Our parents must have taught us well, as we went into a museum to look around at the interesting exhibits and beautiful textiles. Parts of Brisbane contain areas that are much less cared for and ‘sketchier’ than the Gold Coast, but this change of scenery was refreshing and added to the city’s character. The only downside of going to Brisbane was with the public transportation what could be an hour drive becomes three hours each way, therefore our six hours of travel was more than the time we actually spent in the city, but with good conversation it was well worth it and the time flew by.

I was VERY sad to be leaving Deb (and even more so to be leaving Australia ;) But I made sure to take back lots of chocolate with me so that I can eat my sorrow (and jealousy) away.