The Adventures of Mr. Walker, Mr. Docke, and Ms. Smith

Let me just say: only in Australia...

My weekend adventure started when Al picked me up after work on Saturday afternoon and we drove back to his neck of the woods: Coolangata. I know I have mentioned this city before but just for a refresher, this is a beach city about 30 min south of Surfers. It is the home of the Gold Coast Airport and boasts some of the best surf conditions around. Al is an avid surfer and so on the way to his apartment we drove on beach roads in order to get a feel for the waves. In the gold coast surfing is like a religion and I am slowly converting and beginning to understand when the conditions are good etc... its kinda fun and makes me feel hip ;)

After a surf (for Al) and a swim (for me) Roman (our German companion) joined us to allow the weekend festivities to begin! We went to the store and stocked up on breakfast food and beer for the evening/ next day. After all the necessities were purchased we settled down to veg for the next few hours: beautiful! :) When we finally got up enough energy to shower and put on some decent clothes we headed into Kirra (a neighboring beach town) to have dinner at the Ivory. We all enjoyed food from their $10 specials and then headed to a bar called Bread and Butter where we proceeded to sample cocktails and dance the night away. I had such an amazing time with Al and Roman and it reminded me of all the fun I used to have with my guy friends back home :)

The next day the real adventure began...

The plan was as follows: utilize the small, inflatable boat Roman borrowed off his roommates in order to make our way to Cook Island (a small piece of land about a kilometer off shore) to snorkel. As we went to check out our launching spot we looked out over the beach and looked for a place where the swell did not seem so huge. Of course waves always look exponentially smaller than they actually are and Al (who has the most experience with the ocean) looked a bit scared but still said, lets go for it! We head back to the car, pump up the boat with a little cigarette lighter pump and proceed to carry the boat and 4 horsepower engine to the water. After many stops and much huffing and puffing, we place the boat into the water, attach the engine and prepare to set off. Now we were all a bit afraid that the boat would not make it over the waves and so we were all wearing our snorkeling gear in case 2 of us had to abandon ship to lighten the load. After much trepidation and encouraging words between us, Al started up the engine and we began to put put put towards the waves. Now I had no idea how SLOW a 4 horsepower engine would go and so let me explain... we could have walked faster. The waves were easily overtaking us and so we are all clinging to the boat, trying to equalize the balance while trying not to capsize and to top it all off, stepping all over each other with our huge fins strapped to our feet. I don’t think we could have looked any more comical and I am sure the life savers (life guards) watching us thought we were complete idiots...

After only one capsize scare we managed to make it over the waves and to the island where we hooked up to a buoy and slid somewhat gracefully into the water. I always forget how beautiful and peaceful the ocean is. We began to swim closer the island where the water was shallower and the fish more plentiful. The fish were beautiful and colorful but the real treat were the sea turtles. We first spotted two small sea turtles side by side and Al, Roman and I stared at them transfixed as we floated in the water. A few minutes later we spotted the first of four HUGE sea turtles that we saw that day. They were at least three and half feet long and two and a half feet wide and absolutely breathtaking. They slowly swam through the water and would occasionally sway side to side with the tide. It was such an incredible experience: we were close enough that we could have touched them and we all stared mesmerized at these beautiful creatures below us.

After a few hours and a few rounds of snorkeling we climbed back into the boat and made our way back to shore. Once again, the waves overtook us and we could have easily made it back quicker on a surf board. At least this time the waves helped us make it safely home.

Only in Australia could I have boarded a badly inflated boat that bent beneath us with two friends and had such an incredible day/ experience.

Mr. Walker, Mr. Docke, and Ms. Smith over and out! ;)

Countdowns....

For the past few weeks I have been in constant contact with two of my friends back home (Steph and Anna) who are coming to visit me in March! All the planning with them and Kate and Becks (coming in April) is making me extremely excited for this semester! I can not wait to show all my old friends my new place :) My brain really functions on numbers at times and so below is a countdown list with remaining days until said event in order to make it all seem more real!

Countdown List:

To School Starting- 12 day (meh)

To Oscars- 18 days! (cause even though I am so far away I will be damned if I miss this! )

To Steph and Anna- 31 days!!! (we have a crazy schedule while they are here- going to cram in everything possible!)

To Becks arriving- 43 days!! (I will have a friend and new roommate for a month! SO excited! ;)

To Kate and Debbie coming- 47 days! (yes another Debbie, and then I will be going to New Zealand with them in 53 days)

Mom and Jan need to get their schedule sorted out but they should be coming in July which will be incredible. We plan on travelling around off and on for a month or so and then I depart for home on August 11^th! It is crazy how soon everything seems now. I can not wait until my visitors start rolling in! Anyone else wanna add themselves to my schedule of visitors ;)

Adelaide + ?

So today I cracked an egg in my hair. It isn’t exactly as it sounds. I did it on purpose and I was quite organized about it. I was perusing my email inbox this morning when I glanced at one of my many websites/blogs that I get email notifications from and the subject “what to do with your egg yolks” caught my eye. Another food item that I greatly miss is egg whites in a carton. I know it sounds gross but I love egg white omelets and not having to think about what to do with the yolk is a blessing. One amazing thing about the supermarket supplies here is the shredded cheese. They actually carry pre- shredded cheese with amazing flavor! Anyways off track… back to the egg… I eat a lot of egg white omelets and therefore discard a lot of egg yolks. This article’s solution to a discarded egg yolk was to use it as a glaze when making breads or pastries or homemade mayonnaise or use it in your hair as a conditioning product. Well I have noticed that my hair has seemed kinda lackluster lately and so into my hair it went. I let the yolk sink in for 10 min and then washed my hair with cold water (not warm in case it would cook the egg, gross!) and I have to say that after 2 washings I still smell like egg. The upside is that I think my hair does look a little better today but I could just be grasping out for a silver lining…

Back track a few days before I resorted to eggy hair for entertainment- I went to Adelaide last week and had a really nice time. Adelaide is a city of a little over 1 million and the 5^th biggest city in Australia. The central area of the city is called King Williams Street and Steff and I (and her friend Sy) spent two days walking around this area, window shopping and taking in the local culture. It reminded me of Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica: an outdoor mall area with people trying to earn money through various tricks and musical shows. It was nice to have a new place to walk around and hang out with friends. One day Steff’s friend Kristin drove us to hills behind Adelaide and we went for a nice hike up to the top where we could see the city sprawling before us. After sweating a bit Kristin took us to the best pie shop in Adelaide (meat pies, not fruit) and we all sat down with pies and pasties (which is another food Australia is known for but can really credit to the British). To be honest, I am not a huge fan of overcooked meat wrapped in puff pastry but if it is good enough for Harry Potter it is good enough for me!

We stayed with Steff’s friend Steph… ok this is getting a bit confusing, let me explain. Steff’s (my Canadian friend) step mother went on sabbatical in Adelaide a few years ago and they lived next door to Steph. Over the course of this trip Steff met Steph and Kristin who showed her around and then Steph and Steff and Kristin did the same for me. Make sense? : ) Steff and I stayed with Steph (the next door neighbor) who is an incredible woman with 2 adorable and rowdy children. Steph is recently divorced and her new fiancé owns a restaurant in town called Scoozie which had some of the most incredible pasta dishes I have ever had. We ate there two out of the total five nights I was there and I devoured two different dishes. Both had a light tomato sauce with a different mix of veggies and one was topped with shrimp while the other was topped with fresh crab meat. Truly incredible and it was not over priced! I am so used to the over priced gold coast food that these meals seemed almost cheap in comparison! I think that the food (and Steff’s company of course) made the trip 100% worth it!

P.s. I am trying to post more pictures but the blogger thing is misbehaving so I will try again later but I have also posted Adelaide pics on my facebook so check them out there! :)

Spice it Up...?

Well I have been absent from this blog for more than a week because I have honestly had nothing to write about... I guess that is the way of things though. I mean I can't be having crazy adventures every single day of my life here. And I think the reason is that this is currently my life... and that is not always so interesting... ha ha. Anyways, as a way to utilize my current freedom from all restrictions and requirements in life I have booked a flight to Adelaide to visit my Canadian friend Steff. She has been traveling around Australia since December: staying at family friends' houses and generally couch surfing. In short, she is having a blast and I have decided to join her! I have heard many mixed things about Adelaide. Mainly things like: "oh don't go there, it's boring" to "ahhhh that is a very cute little city to visit." In another week I will add my own opinion to the pot. Steff and I have no set plans and I assume that we will just wander around a new city for a few days: sounds great to me especially because it has been raining in Surfers for the past week or so. In Berkeley I always loved the rain but here the rain does not cool the air down and the mugginess has gone from stifling to fairly unbearable. I know Adelaide is currently a warm 100 degrees or so but at least we can go jump in the water there!

I will be in Adelaide until Sunday which will allow me to visit with Steff and get a good feel for the place. I will revert back to my old fashioned journaling in a (gasp) notebook and then let you all know how it is when I get back!

Random Thoughts

Firstly by the express request of Todd I have posted a picture of the awesome tea towel that he gave us all. This is why it is so awesome...

if you compare this map to an actual map of Australia I think you will get what the designer was getting at ;)

Secondly, now I can catch you all up on my recent life since I am done discussing my past Tasmanian experiences! Steff and I (my Canadian friend) went to an all day concert last Sunday. Even though it was a really hot and tiring day I had a great time with her.

My favorite part was the silent disco which was a tent in which we listened to djs through a set of headphones we were given when we entered. There was two djs in the room and thus two stations we could choose to listen/ dance to. It was really fun to just dance around and sing out loud when no one else could hear! Of course that is not entirely true as Steff and I passed the tent later and heard all of the people inside who I bet also thought no one could hear them... :)

Outside of dancing around like a crazy person in a tent I have been applying for about 5-10 jobs daily with no avail. I did get one interview at a bakery which is in the same complex as my gym so it would have been perfect!!! Unfortunately although I was told during the interview that I was perfect for the job and the manager really liked me, I was warned that the owner hates hiring internationals. Oh well… the search continues.

Thirdly (and most importantly) my sister is now in Ghana (if you didn’t know) and she is also writing a blog about her experiences. It is also a ton of fun to read and I am sure there is going to be loads of fun stories on it! So if anyone is interested: http://cocoandcoffee.tumblr.com/ :)

Those are my thoughts for now! Hugs and Kisses to all!

Continuation²

Well my very lengthy blogging about my Tasmania trip must finally draw to a close! I have so many other things to write about that have happened/ will happen soon and this topic is just getting ridiculously drawn out… my fault! : ) I left off with the BBQ count up to 6 and we are off to our road trip. Our day started bright and early

with a sugar rush as the girls and Al cooked Todd a very yummy birthday breakfast/cake. Along the way to Launceston we picked up a hitchhiker (kidding, just another friend: Wade) and so now our numbers are up to 8 friendly faces. We stayed in Launceston for the night which was a really nice town of approximately 65,000 people. That night our BBQ count increased yet again

and we stayed at Jodie’s (one of Todd’s really close friends) bright orange house. I am getting ahead of myself though. In the arvo (afternoon) we drove into Launceston (known as the five

minute city for its compact nature) and tried to check out the monkeys at the monkey park but unfortunately they were already put away for the day. Being the resourceful, goofy group that we are, we decided to imitate monkeys ourselves and started to do some very poor yoga in the park. Of course the yoga progressed to who can

do the most and longest handstands and other competitive displays of strength and flexibility. After quite a bit of time we were all tuckered out and went back to Jodie’s place for a really nice birthday BBQ for Todd. Our next stop was wineglass bay, one of the most picturesque and beautiful beaches IN THE WORLD. We stayed there for one night before moving onto Hobart for the Taste of Tasmania and Falls Festival in Marion Bay. Wineglass Bay Below $

Taste of Tasmania or “The Taste” is actually the only thing I had ever heard about Tasmania (besides the devils) before coming to Australia and I was not disappointed. The taste is a food and drink festival set in the backdrop of the Hobart harbor. The night before falls we all relaxed and ate and ate and ate until we could not squeeze in another drop.

We went home quite content and ready for the 2 day music festival that would bring us into the New Year. Falls was absolutely incredible. There were two stages where bands would perform from 12pm- 4am each day. We set up our tents in the huge grassy paddocks around the stages and spent the next two days listening to incredible bands while dancing like the crazy idiots that we are. Whenever we got tired we would just go back to the tents and take a nap or play cards under our life saving gazebo. For New Years Eve the lineup was Midnight Juggernauts and then the Yeah Yeah Yeahs which were both an exhilarating experience.

I have never had such an exciting new years eve and it was so incredible to be celebrating the new decade with all of my new friends. We all laughed and danced and sang until we exhaustedly crawled into our tents.

We awoke the next morning bright and early at 6am and after my slightly frightening experience with a HUGE spider (bugs love me) crawling up my leg we piled into the car and headed for Port Arthur which is an old prison compound that was used by the British to incarcerate their unwanted convicts. Having rushed to finish “For the Term of His Natural Life” over the past few days I felt that this experience was more profound and meaningful to me and Todd than to the other members of the group. It would be like visiting Auschwitz and not knowing what the Holocaust was. In any case, I love love LOVE old buildings and the history that went with them and so I really enjoyed walking around the old prison grounds. That night we all returned for a ghost tour and although none of us saw any ghosts I definitely think that our senses were stirred up a bit. Oh yah, add another BBQ to the count ;)

Port Arthur was our last official stop and the next day we drove back across the state to Ulverstone. The drive across the state was absolutely beautiful. The countryside seemed to change every mile or so and there was so many different little towns that we would drive through for 30 seconds and then it would be gone! Todd said “They say if you don’t like the weather in Tassie, come back in 5 min…” but we had absolutely impeccable weather for the entire trip. Even though this trip was packed so tight we could barely breathe I think we all had an incredible time hanging out with each other and experiencing this new beautiful place. I know that Tassie is a place that I will never ever forget. That night we had another BBQ to finish it all off and then we were forced to say goodbye to the place and people that had occupied our time for the past 16 days. We have all seen each other since but of course our feelings of companionship and closeness has changed just a bit as we all return to our normal lives. I am so thankful to have such an incredible group of friends to experience Australia with; my time here would not be the same without them. Cheers to you all! P.s. Check out my facebook for LOADS more pictures from my trip- It is worth it! :)

Continuation

From Al’s literally mind numbing stunt we hiked for a few more hours until we reached civilization again in the form of a cabin and land that was owned by one of Todd’s family friends. We ended up staying there for the next two nights and swam in the river that ran by the property and learned to play Finnish baseball!

Tellu used to play professional baseball in Finland and so she kept us all on top of the different maneuvers of the game. Camping in the same place two nights in a row was a welcomed break. The second day we walked to Leven Canyon without the extra 40+ pounds. I think we all felt like spring chickens after we ditched our packs. Our last night we all pooled our food and feasted… I mean it was no use bringing back extra food, right? I think we were all sad to leave the outdoors and the nice routine that we had created for our group.

The next day after Todd’s parents picked us up we picked up some food at a grocery store and sat outside while we waited for our clothes at a laundromat. We were all crouched on a bench or the ground because we quite frankly didn’t care what we looked like.

Well let me tell you, we got lots of strange looks and we all decided that we would much prefer to be out in nature where squatting on the ground is not only commendable, but quite often necessary. Well all good things come to an end and unfortunately this ended the last bit of my favorite part of the trip. I did love the road trip and falls festival and Christmas (more to come) but the first few days in the bush were just magical. It just felt like we were the only people out there. The only time we were reminded of others was when we read through the guest book at Bare Mountain Camp and when we saw trail. I always think clearer when I am exercising and so it felt like four days of cleansing reflection and thought. I think we all rush around too much to really allow ourselves to listen to what we really want and need and that time in the bush was exactly what I needed to restart my brain. I have started to write more in my journal again and really pay attention to my thoughts and reactions to the world. And I blame this reboot on this bushwalk… : )

On Christmas Eve we went on a pub crawl around the area and experienced some very different atmospheres/ groups of people. Todd of course knew loads of people and so the rest of us entertained ourselves with the juke box and finding our theme song from the trip “Meet me at the Border Line” (a song Roman sang incessantly, in a thick German accent, on our bushwalk).

Christmas morning was a combination of lunch preparation and present opening. Of course, Todd outdid himself and compiled “best of Tassie” kits which were comprised of a tea towel praising Tassie, bottle of the best beer and best black currant soda, coupon and magnet from the pizza shop he used to work in: the Red Grasshopper, a postcard of Tassie sites (that we all visited!!) and the best truffles in Tassie. This was taken right after we opened our secret santa presents from each other $

After the house was completely littered with wrapping paper scraps and we were all quite stuffed, Todd, his parents and I went to his Uncle Dennis and Aunt Helen’s farm to socialize with the family. Not surprisingly I ended up hanging out with the kids (Todd has LOADS of baby cousins) although I did manage to tear myself away for a tour of the farm and some big kid chatter.

Boxing day we went to Lake Barrington which is where Todd learned to ski, wakeboard and impress all the ladies with his talents, ha ha. Seriously though, we all had a great day in the water and all were crazy enough to jump off a 12 meter waterfall into the lake bellow. The day paused and then concluded with two more BBQs and I am sure I have missed a few in there so I am going to say the BBQ count is up to 6 :)

Do you see my problem? So many stories and I am afraid I am boring you all with my prattle. I think another break is called for and then I will try to finish up everything else in the next post! Fingers crossed people! :)