So wow it's been ages since I last posted, just when I think i'm on top of the blog I realise just how quickly the weeks are flying by and how much more i've done. Infact, im sure time is speeding up...it's definately faster than when I was at school, definately.
How can this be possible? The best solution I could come up with was that the earth, sun, moon, the whole solar system is moving perpetually faster and so we're not feeling it. If everything's speeding up at the same time then it'd be easy not to notice losing an hour here and there right??
Anyway, i'm rambling so what's been going on over here in Oz? Back at the end of October the amazing Amanda (who was gutted at not being given a blog entry sooner lol!) took Loz and I on a whirlwind drive down along the local coastline ending in a tasty finale watching the Michael Jackson cinema documentary 'This is it' and dipping marshmmallows, strawberries and banana bread into the most incredible chocolate fondue at Max Brenner. Max.B is an insanely gorgeous chocolate restaurant and since that day has become a delicious addition to the diary, you can't go wrong and i'm very pleased there are more branches in Sydney!
A couple of Tuesdays ago we were lounging in Perle with some Mojitos and randomly decided to go out to the classily named 'Sin City' nightclub. I still remember Loz and I walking down Orchid Avenue (The strip) on our first night in Surfers and seeing Sin City and its very dubious clientell waiting in line outside and from that moment it became a sort of joke that we had go in at least once.
The persuading factor was it being Ladies Night which meant free entry and free drinks all night so within half an hour we'd gone from the maturity of cocktail smoozing to plastic champagne flutes and lycra mini skirts. Highlight of the night was having photos with the two guys from 'Man Power', their rippling abs were a nice shade of mahogany.
I've managed to do some more kitesurfing which is cool, it's now obvious that when we arrived here it really was still
winter for Australia and with that, non-existent winter winds. But now it's a different story, as summer has subtley crept in the days have got gradually lighter for longer, the heat hangs about later and the sea breezes are getting stronger daily. It's a shame that once we get to Sydney i'll be putting the kiting to bed untill i'm back in the uk but i'm not really progressing up here anyway because of the waves so not tooooo much is lost. The problem is the man made sand bars that have been put in place to create artificial waves. It means the sea becomes a turbulent vast mass of scary dark water, riding and falling in huge chunky mountains and to be honest, makes me so uncomfortable i'm not able to try any tricks or jumps for fear of landing badly and being crushed by a wave! Oh well, hopefully i'll rip it up back in england (surfer talk for get better)...
What else...well, work at the club is going ok but i'll be more than glad to say my goodbyes! 6 weeks of night work and having to chat to wasted idiots is kinda doing my head in. There are a few regulars who come back week after week and obviously recognise me, even approcaching like olds friends but I just have no idea who they are! I just smile and use the old line 'Ah how you going? Back again eh?' while thinking...."Who the hell are you?". It's alright money though and tops up the funds for Sydney and NZ so can't complain.
On Monday the 9th of Nov Amanda and I took Jules to sample some more Max Brenner at Marina Mirage, home to the world's first and only fashion hotel by Versace (I also just found out this is the hotel they take the celebs too before and after the jungle on I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!) We also had a little browse around some stores including a trendy furniture shop and picked out what we would buy if we were rich. I chose a cow hide and chrome chair for $3,500, nice.
The next day Jules, Martin and I jumped on the bus down the coast to visit Sam at Nobby's Beach. Sam works next door to the bear shop and kindly sald we could borrow his surf boards for the day and teach us the basics. We started early and after a couple of hours had built up enough of an appetite to indulge in some local fish and chips, it's been ages since i'd had such a uk dish!
My fish burger was made with a type of fish called Dori which made me think I was eating Dori from Finding Nemo with every bite.
Between working and organising our trip I found myself down amongst the sand dunes one late afternoon. It was one of those days where you find yourself somewhere, not really sure how but are just glad you did. I spent a couple of hours watching the wind blow the sand into a constantly changing landscape of mini mountains and crevices while listening to the calming but contradictory tones of my Winter Chill album. I guess I just had one of those deep moments which I love to dwell in as the afternoon sun set behind the buildings and the shadows crept further and further up the beach.
Last Wednesday Jules, Martin and I spent the evening at an awesomeeeee little bar (actually a converted old house) called Swinging Safari. It was the kind of place i'd love to set up and own myself, nothing in there the same, everything random, a kind of delapidated Alice in Wonderland film set. We sipped our drinks while listening to the echoey tones of French music and a life drawing class drew burlesque dancers behind us.
Then it was time for the long awaited trip to Wet n' Wild and I wore my most robust bikini in preparation for any waterslide wedgies coming my way! Loz and I managed to get in for a discount by pretending to be Jules and Martin which was good but truth be told it was a bit overrated, smaller than we thought and quite kiddy. There was one very steep one which I overcame my fear of and managed to do but it just feels so wrong to launch yourself down a near vertical piece of plastic so many meters up. It definietely gave me a chance to stretch those vocal chords by screaming at all the drops.
That evening I caught up with Michelle on Skype as there's lots of planning to be done as December approaches, I can't believe i'll be meeting her at the airport in under 3 weeks, it's pretty exciting! It really feels like a transitional stage is about to begin and then the backpacking part of the trip begins in the new year.
That weekend I worked as usual but Loz and I found time to grab a drink at The Secret Garden. It's a tiny inconspicious alleyway that leads from the pavement into an overgrown jungle like garden patio which has been converted into a mini restaurant/cafe, such a cute idea! If it was in LA i'm sure all the celebs would go there to remain all hidden away...infact there probably are these types of places in LA. The couple that run it even have a big wild iguana living there called Dan who sat by our table and posed for a photo.
On the Sunday afternoon I went for a quick kitesurf to stretch the legs and watched the Australian Idol final...sorry this is getting really boring i'll move on!...
...So that brings us to Monday just gone where Amanda, Loz and I went to Max Brenner yet again(!) and to see the new Twilight movie at the cinema which was awesome...and then yesterday when Jules, Martin and I all hired a car for a little road trip to Nimbin and Byron Bay. Nimbin was home to the 1972 Aquarius Festival and not much has changed since, it's home to almost 100% long haired, wrinkly hippies smoking joints and seriously chilling out. The buildings are painted multi-coloured and emblazoned with murals of peace, love and harmony, defo an interesting place to visit!
As Nimbin only consists of one road we were ready to move on pretty quickly so we drove on to the beautiful Byron Bay for the late afternoon. It's a lovely little surfer town with a great vibe so i'll be very keen on staying in it longer when Michelle and I pass back through on the way up through Queensland next year.
So there's lots coming up...tomorrow i'm going to be filmed making a bear for a travel program! They're trying to show that the Gold Coast can be family friendly as well as a party town so that'll be fun. On Sunday i'm heading back to Swinging Safari with Jules and Martin for another abstract drink, next Tues we're doing our final tapas and cocktail evening, Saturday i've got the Build-a-Bear Christmas/leaving do party and next Sunday is the Stereosonic music festival in Brisbane ...so much to look forward to.
As my time in Surfers Paradise comes to an end it's easy to start planning the next sections of this adventure...Sydney for Christmas and New Year, camper vans around New Zealand in January, then March onwards...Adelaide, the Great Ocean Road, Melbourne, Byron Bay, Noosa, Fraser Island, The Whitsundays, Cairns, Cape Tribulation and maybe Perth..,
...wow, it's exhausting even thinking about it!
P&H (peace and hugs.....yes, we have a peace and hugs bear in the shop) xxx
Thursday, 26 November 2009
Wednesday, 28 October 2009
8 Weeks in on the Gold Coast
Hey, hey, hey...
Things are really on a roll now and the Surfers Paradise calendar is gradually filling up. This week has seen me check out a house music fashion show, Tapas Tuesday, lots of free drinks, losing spectacularly at bowls and enjoying the simple things in life like beers on the balcony with Jules in the afternoon sun.
The 2009 Gold Coast GP has got to be the biggest anti-climax of the moment with town feeling very empty during the day and bizarrely the night also. We'd been warned for weeks about how it was going to morph the area into a battle ground (which it normally is on a Saturday night anyway) but the only real change was an influx of promo girls in chequered hot pants and exposed bum cheeks.
A highlight of the last 7 days was discovering that the Aussies have Iced Magic, the hard topped chocolate sauce for ice cream. I've got an unhealthy but enjoyable routine going on of buying 4 litre vanilla ice cream tubs and devouring the lot with sugar strands and the special sauce within a worryingly short amount of time.
*Being on a budget i’ve had to downgrade to the supermarket's own brand ice cream and hard topped sauce but it's still great*
So last Sunday I managed to blag myself, Jules, Martin, Loz and a new guy called Richard who we nicknamed 'Tasmania' because that's where he was from into the trendy Elsewhere club for free, bonus! We wanted to check out a fashion show that was supposed to be happening so just chilled in a booth waiting for that to materialise (no pun intended).
After a couple of hours listening to some very enjoyable deep house, the fashion part of the night was still a mystery to us and it all turned into a bit of a joke as there were only another 20 people in the club including the bar staff and dj!
Finally at half midnight the show began...and oh my god, it was the worst thing i've ever seen, pretty much primary school standard clothing and models pulled in from the street. Still, it made us all laugh and Tasmania bought me some drinks which went down well.
On Tuesday evening Jules, Martin and I went to Pearl for Tapas night which is a real find here in Surfers. My $9 mojito wasn't made to perfection like last week (new bartender) but it was still tasty and the tapas were absolutely delicious, only $6 a plate too. I asked to doggy bag a lonely unfinished meatball but was met with a look of puzzlement and warned about possible food poisoning if left out of refrigeration...I guess i'm still used to the American way of dining out!?
Weds and Thurs were great as I had no work and managed to get some kite surfing in. The wind forecast is good this week and as long as the swell remains small I can keep kiting out on the sea. After some beach front lunch on Thursday J, M and I headed back to the Azzura to top up the tan by the pool. As the heat eased off, the sunbathing session quickly turned into a white wine and spritzer session and then into a cocktail and shots session. All this for free though as we've become friendly with the bar staff at the hotel and they seem to like treating us :).
At work on Friday I realised how all the kids coming into the bear shop were born in the 2000's and I got a strange feeling of age creeping through my bones, suddenly the 80's seems a very long time ago.
Also every week we have a competition where the person who puts the biggest sale through the till wins a bar of chocolate and now I try and guess who the rich are as they walk through the door. It's never who you think it's going to be though and it's beyond me how people can spend over $600 on bear clothing!
The period of time between 4pm and 7pm I call dead time as the sun has set and there's nothing to do but on Friday Mike, his mate James and I filled it by playing lawn bowls. To be honest I was concentrating more on the conversation than the game and that's my excuse for losing...the conversation and the beers.
Last night Jules and I went out to a great little club called Ruby Tramp, randomly I actually managed to come home with a job starting on the door there next weekend, how does this stuff happen??...probably because I hunted down the manager and asked him for a job so there we go. It'll be a couple of shifts a week which is cool as Loz is out working then anyway too.
We also had some unexpected guests join us out last night including the owner of one of the hotels here in Surfers and we were very spoilt the whole night. Anything to drink for free all night, doesn't get much better than that!
Today was supposed to be a relaxed affair but Jules and I were invited out with the same guys from last night who insisted on buying platters of seafood and antipasti for us so we weren’t complaining there either.
I think next week's going to be a busy one with 5 shifts at Build a Bear, new work at the club and our now infamous Sweet Chilli Blue Thursdays. Sweet Chilli Blue is the name given to a recipe Loz created in LA out of all the leftovers in Chris's fridge, and it's possibly the best dish i've ever had. J, M, L and I get together at the flat, cook it up and devour it fast.
...Reading back over this post for spelling errors is really surreal...is this life i'm writing about mine? It's so completely random and different from anything I was doing 5 months ago. I guess that's why people travel and what they hope to experience when away from the norm. I mentally pinch myself regularly as a reminder of where I am on the globe and how far from home I am and I never take the hot sun and clear blue skies for granted. I have to admit I miss home, family and friends more and more each day but it's likely i'll never get this much continual sun ever again so am trying to appreciate and take advantage of it!
xxx
Things are really on a roll now and the Surfers Paradise calendar is gradually filling up. This week has seen me check out a house music fashion show, Tapas Tuesday, lots of free drinks, losing spectacularly at bowls and enjoying the simple things in life like beers on the balcony with Jules in the afternoon sun.
The 2009 Gold Coast GP has got to be the biggest anti-climax of the moment with town feeling very empty during the day and bizarrely the night also. We'd been warned for weeks about how it was going to morph the area into a battle ground (which it normally is on a Saturday night anyway) but the only real change was an influx of promo girls in chequered hot pants and exposed bum cheeks.
A highlight of the last 7 days was discovering that the Aussies have Iced Magic, the hard topped chocolate sauce for ice cream. I've got an unhealthy but enjoyable routine going on of buying 4 litre vanilla ice cream tubs and devouring the lot with sugar strands and the special sauce within a worryingly short amount of time.
*Being on a budget i’ve had to downgrade to the supermarket's own brand ice cream and hard topped sauce but it's still great*
So last Sunday I managed to blag myself, Jules, Martin, Loz and a new guy called Richard who we nicknamed 'Tasmania' because that's where he was from into the trendy Elsewhere club for free, bonus! We wanted to check out a fashion show that was supposed to be happening so just chilled in a booth waiting for that to materialise (no pun intended).
After a couple of hours listening to some very enjoyable deep house, the fashion part of the night was still a mystery to us and it all turned into a bit of a joke as there were only another 20 people in the club including the bar staff and dj!
Finally at half midnight the show began...and oh my god, it was the worst thing i've ever seen, pretty much primary school standard clothing and models pulled in from the street. Still, it made us all laugh and Tasmania bought me some drinks which went down well.
On Tuesday evening Jules, Martin and I went to Pearl for Tapas night which is a real find here in Surfers. My $9 mojito wasn't made to perfection like last week (new bartender) but it was still tasty and the tapas were absolutely delicious, only $6 a plate too. I asked to doggy bag a lonely unfinished meatball but was met with a look of puzzlement and warned about possible food poisoning if left out of refrigeration...I guess i'm still used to the American way of dining out!?
Weds and Thurs were great as I had no work and managed to get some kite surfing in. The wind forecast is good this week and as long as the swell remains small I can keep kiting out on the sea. After some beach front lunch on Thursday J, M and I headed back to the Azzura to top up the tan by the pool. As the heat eased off, the sunbathing session quickly turned into a white wine and spritzer session and then into a cocktail and shots session. All this for free though as we've become friendly with the bar staff at the hotel and they seem to like treating us :).
At work on Friday I realised how all the kids coming into the bear shop were born in the 2000's and I got a strange feeling of age creeping through my bones, suddenly the 80's seems a very long time ago.
Also every week we have a competition where the person who puts the biggest sale through the till wins a bar of chocolate and now I try and guess who the rich are as they walk through the door. It's never who you think it's going to be though and it's beyond me how people can spend over $600 on bear clothing!
The period of time between 4pm and 7pm I call dead time as the sun has set and there's nothing to do but on Friday Mike, his mate James and I filled it by playing lawn bowls. To be honest I was concentrating more on the conversation than the game and that's my excuse for losing...the conversation and the beers.
Last night Jules and I went out to a great little club called Ruby Tramp, randomly I actually managed to come home with a job starting on the door there next weekend, how does this stuff happen??...probably because I hunted down the manager and asked him for a job so there we go. It'll be a couple of shifts a week which is cool as Loz is out working then anyway too.
We also had some unexpected guests join us out last night including the owner of one of the hotels here in Surfers and we were very spoilt the whole night. Anything to drink for free all night, doesn't get much better than that!
Today was supposed to be a relaxed affair but Jules and I were invited out with the same guys from last night who insisted on buying platters of seafood and antipasti for us so we weren’t complaining there either.
I think next week's going to be a busy one with 5 shifts at Build a Bear, new work at the club and our now infamous Sweet Chilli Blue Thursdays. Sweet Chilli Blue is the name given to a recipe Loz created in LA out of all the leftovers in Chris's fridge, and it's possibly the best dish i've ever had. J, M, L and I get together at the flat, cook it up and devour it fast.
...Reading back over this post for spelling errors is really surreal...is this life i'm writing about mine? It's so completely random and different from anything I was doing 5 months ago. I guess that's why people travel and what they hope to experience when away from the norm. I mentally pinch myself regularly as a reminder of where I am on the globe and how far from home I am and I never take the hot sun and clear blue skies for granted. I have to admit I miss home, family and friends more and more each day but it's likely i'll never get this much continual sun ever again so am trying to appreciate and take advantage of it!
xxx
Sunday, 18 October 2009
Back in the Loop
6 weeks on and finally some kind of routine has formed...granted it consists of bbq's, monday night tv sessions and work at the bear shop which is hardly crazzzzyyyy behaviour but it's nice to have some consistency for a few months before things get shaken up again in December.
We've come a fair way since that first week of work at the holiday company...actually it was only three days before we got as far away from that fraudulent group of people as possible. Only one good thing came of our brief stint there and that was meeting Jules and Martin, a cool couple from the Midlands who i've latched myself onto! We're totally on the same wavelength and have begun planning lots of exciting plans and things to look forward to so thats cool. They also have an awesome jacuzzi and grill area in their building which is great to chill in after a day stuffing bears.
At first I only had 3 shifts a week at Build-a-bear and it really wasn't enough but we've had some scandalous things going on recently and 2 people have just resigned so I was the first to stick my hand up for more work which is cool.
So what else has been going on here on the Gold Coast? Well Jules, Martin and I go out clubbing every couple of weeks just to mix it up, the majority of people and clubs here are 100% chav havens but i've done some digging and found a few hidden gold mines which are worth going to. I'm not sure how i do it but i've also managed to get friendly with the girls running the doors too and that means free entry for everyone which is always good :)
Last Tuesday Jules, Martin and I went to a classy establishment called Pearl for the cocktail deal they were doing and honestly, it was the best classic mojito I have EVER had. Really, really good. We're soooo going back next Tues to take full advantage of the tapas as well. I guess that's the good thing about earning some money while we're here, I don't feel too bad treating myself to a drink or ice-cream here or there....well, quite freqently actually lol.
The four of us have also taken to holding little dinner parties for each other... how middle aged of us haha! Loz and I have just got back from The Azzura (J+M's building) where they'd made homemade sangria and got some awesome dips on the go, they've really stepped up their game this week lol.
This Wednesday just gone J, M and I went whale watching which was an amazing experience, Martin works for the local tour company and managed to get a good discount for the three of us which was a benefit. We got to cruise round the canals looking at the Aussie homes of the rich and famous and then out into the open sea to look for the humpback whales making their migratory cruise south back to Antartica. We saw quite a few in the 2 hours we were out and one even jumped right out of the water which was a very 'Free Willy' moment.
My building is attatched to the local grass bowls club which is quite amusing and yesterday J, M and I had a quick game or two after work. It was funny to see Martin get so competitive over the sedate game but the true master won (me obviously) and now i'm really going to focus on that 'kneel and roll' technique, you never know when it'll come in use.
The other highlight of the week is our Monday tv night - 'Flash Forward' followed by 'The Apprentice' (Australian version) and then a pretty bad American reality tv show called 'Momma's Boys', all washed down with a bowl of ice-cream, chocolate sauce and sugar strands of course.
It's the Motor GP car racing event next week which completely takes over the Gold Coast and will no doubt bring in big crowds so we'll have to see how that goes. Other things in the pipeline are a trip to Wet n' Wild in November (a waterpark) which'll be so fun with Loz's underwater camera and the Stereosonic festival in Brisbane which i'm going to just before returning to Sydney.
The one thing that's really thrown me and I have to admit really don't like is how the sun is weak by 3pm and sets around 5pm....WAY too early! It makes the evenings feel so dark and long and the days too short...and after the 9pm sunsets of Maui it is not cool.
Aside from the above we're regulars in the jacuzzi, try to chill with beers on the beach and cook alot of meat on the bbq. I can't get enough of the avocado and helumi burgers we've been making, defo more of them to come. Delicious...xxx
We've come a fair way since that first week of work at the holiday company...actually it was only three days before we got as far away from that fraudulent group of people as possible. Only one good thing came of our brief stint there and that was meeting Jules and Martin, a cool couple from the Midlands who i've latched myself onto! We're totally on the same wavelength and have begun planning lots of exciting plans and things to look forward to so thats cool. They also have an awesome jacuzzi and grill area in their building which is great to chill in after a day stuffing bears.
At first I only had 3 shifts a week at Build-a-bear and it really wasn't enough but we've had some scandalous things going on recently and 2 people have just resigned so I was the first to stick my hand up for more work which is cool.
So what else has been going on here on the Gold Coast? Well Jules, Martin and I go out clubbing every couple of weeks just to mix it up, the majority of people and clubs here are 100% chav havens but i've done some digging and found a few hidden gold mines which are worth going to. I'm not sure how i do it but i've also managed to get friendly with the girls running the doors too and that means free entry for everyone which is always good :)
Last Tuesday Jules, Martin and I went to a classy establishment called Pearl for the cocktail deal they were doing and honestly, it was the best classic mojito I have EVER had. Really, really good. We're soooo going back next Tues to take full advantage of the tapas as well. I guess that's the good thing about earning some money while we're here, I don't feel too bad treating myself to a drink or ice-cream here or there....well, quite freqently actually lol.
The four of us have also taken to holding little dinner parties for each other... how middle aged of us haha! Loz and I have just got back from The Azzura (J+M's building) where they'd made homemade sangria and got some awesome dips on the go, they've really stepped up their game this week lol.
This Wednesday just gone J, M and I went whale watching which was an amazing experience, Martin works for the local tour company and managed to get a good discount for the three of us which was a benefit. We got to cruise round the canals looking at the Aussie homes of the rich and famous and then out into the open sea to look for the humpback whales making their migratory cruise south back to Antartica. We saw quite a few in the 2 hours we were out and one even jumped right out of the water which was a very 'Free Willy' moment.
My building is attatched to the local grass bowls club which is quite amusing and yesterday J, M and I had a quick game or two after work. It was funny to see Martin get so competitive over the sedate game but the true master won (me obviously) and now i'm really going to focus on that 'kneel and roll' technique, you never know when it'll come in use.
The other highlight of the week is our Monday tv night - 'Flash Forward' followed by 'The Apprentice' (Australian version) and then a pretty bad American reality tv show called 'Momma's Boys', all washed down with a bowl of ice-cream, chocolate sauce and sugar strands of course.
It's the Motor GP car racing event next week which completely takes over the Gold Coast and will no doubt bring in big crowds so we'll have to see how that goes. Other things in the pipeline are a trip to Wet n' Wild in November (a waterpark) which'll be so fun with Loz's underwater camera and the Stereosonic festival in Brisbane which i'm going to just before returning to Sydney.
The one thing that's really thrown me and I have to admit really don't like is how the sun is weak by 3pm and sets around 5pm....WAY too early! It makes the evenings feel so dark and long and the days too short...and after the 9pm sunsets of Maui it is not cool.
Aside from the above we're regulars in the jacuzzi, try to chill with beers on the beach and cook alot of meat on the bbq. I can't get enough of the avocado and helumi burgers we've been making, defo more of them to come. Delicious...xxx
Monday, 14 September 2009
Ticking the Boxes
Sooooooo,
Loz and I arrived at Coolengatta airport last Saturday night and have had a hectic time
trying to settle down and sort everything out asap. We're pretty much there with everything
now though and for the first time have found ourselves with too much free and time and not
much to fill it with!
We'd planned to catch a local bus to Surfers once we landed but didn't know where or when
to catch it from and I was more concerned about how I was going to carry my 80lbs of baggage.
It's fair to say we're NOT travelling light and everytime we're about to move is accompanied
by a feeling of dread at the pain i'm about to put myself through. In the end We did manage
to find a trolly on the loose and we gladly piled the bags onto it.
After wheeling ourselves around for a while we found the coach depot and a jolly aussie
told us the next bus was in about 11 hours at 7.30am, really helpful! I'm pretty sure he
was wrong but the stop was a 10 minute walk away and I couldn't really be bothered to find
out as he offered to drop us at the hostel for $21...with the weight of the bags on my mind
it was an easy sell for him!
So then we arrived in Surfers and at our hostel, The Sleeping Inn. It wasn't much like a
hostel as we had a privte room but the vibe was cool and i'm looking forward to staying in
them and being more social with the other travellers when i'm backpacking with Michelle.
Our first morning we went straight to the local accommodation place and luckily they had a
suitable flat on the books, we arranged a viewing, liked it and accepted the 3 month lease
from Herman, our new landlord! It's a nice big clean apartment with everything we need and
works out cheaper than the hostel so that's all good. There's even a sauna and jacuzzi to
chill out in :)
Next up was the job hunt, seeing as we're going to be chilling here till December it makes
sense to get some cash and keep busy. We're both starting shifts in a sales job on Sunday
which i'm not reallllly looking forward to but will hopefully bring in good money. To
make things a bit cooler we're also both going to interviews for a surf shop next Thursday,
it'll be good to top up the bank account again, i'm aiming to get it back to what it was
when I left.
Ummm, yeah so that's it really...there's not much going on at the mo! Will write more when
there's more fun things to write about....
Loz and I arrived at Coolengatta airport last Saturday night and have had a hectic time
trying to settle down and sort everything out asap. We're pretty much there with everything
now though and for the first time have found ourselves with too much free and time and not
much to fill it with!
We'd planned to catch a local bus to Surfers once we landed but didn't know where or when
to catch it from and I was more concerned about how I was going to carry my 80lbs of baggage.
It's fair to say we're NOT travelling light and everytime we're about to move is accompanied
by a feeling of dread at the pain i'm about to put myself through. In the end We did manage
to find a trolly on the loose and we gladly piled the bags onto it.
After wheeling ourselves around for a while we found the coach depot and a jolly aussie
told us the next bus was in about 11 hours at 7.30am, really helpful! I'm pretty sure he
was wrong but the stop was a 10 minute walk away and I couldn't really be bothered to find
out as he offered to drop us at the hostel for $21...with the weight of the bags on my mind
it was an easy sell for him!
So then we arrived in Surfers and at our hostel, The Sleeping Inn. It wasn't much like a
hostel as we had a privte room but the vibe was cool and i'm looking forward to staying in
them and being more social with the other travellers when i'm backpacking with Michelle.
Our first morning we went straight to the local accommodation place and luckily they had a
suitable flat on the books, we arranged a viewing, liked it and accepted the 3 month lease
from Herman, our new landlord! It's a nice big clean apartment with everything we need and
works out cheaper than the hostel so that's all good. There's even a sauna and jacuzzi to
chill out in :)
Next up was the job hunt, seeing as we're going to be chilling here till December it makes
sense to get some cash and keep busy. We're both starting shifts in a sales job on Sunday
which i'm not reallllly looking forward to but will hopefully bring in good money. To
make things a bit cooler we're also both going to interviews for a surf shop next Thursday,
it'll be good to top up the bank account again, i'm aiming to get it back to what it was
when I left.
Ummm, yeah so that's it really...there's not much going on at the mo! Will write more when
there's more fun things to write about....
Wednesday, 2 September 2009
Into the Unknown
Yo,
Plans are slowly and surely progressing during the time we've spent here in the suburbs of Sydney, our flight to the Gold Coast is today, Saturday September 5th (we'll try not to miss this one!) and we're ready to embrace the exctingly named Surfers Paradise for 3 months and all it has to offer.
We're booked into a hostel for the first couple of nights as we won't have any long term accomodation but hope to find somewhere cool quickly and then the jobs and routine will follow. I'm also planning to buy a trusty bicycle to carry me and my kitesurfng gear down to the beach whenever I feel like a sesh, that'll be everyday then! Apparently the distances are manageable there and not like the sprawling mass of cityscape that was LA.
So for now it's all about doing some sight-seeing with the Dobrees. Yesterday Mary took Loz and I up to the famous Blue Mountains which are situated a couple of hours drive out of Sydney and are home to The Three Sisters (a rock formation on the edge of the gauge). They're called the Blue Mountains because of all the eucalyptus gum trees in the gauge that give off a blue glow in the light, at least I think that's what Mary said!
Right, time to pack the bag...
Plans are slowly and surely progressing during the time we've spent here in the suburbs of Sydney, our flight to the Gold Coast is today, Saturday September 5th (we'll try not to miss this one!) and we're ready to embrace the exctingly named Surfers Paradise for 3 months and all it has to offer.
We're booked into a hostel for the first couple of nights as we won't have any long term accomodation but hope to find somewhere cool quickly and then the jobs and routine will follow. I'm also planning to buy a trusty bicycle to carry me and my kitesurfng gear down to the beach whenever I feel like a sesh, that'll be everyday then! Apparently the distances are manageable there and not like the sprawling mass of cityscape that was LA.
So for now it's all about doing some sight-seeing with the Dobrees. Yesterday Mary took Loz and I up to the famous Blue Mountains which are situated a couple of hours drive out of Sydney and are home to The Three Sisters (a rock formation on the edge of the gauge). They're called the Blue Mountains because of all the eucalyptus gum trees in the gauge that give off a blue glow in the light, at least I think that's what Mary said!
Right, time to pack the bag...
Sunday, 23 August 2009
Cabin Number 2
Hello there...
So this was going to be my second Hawaiian post before moving on to Oz but once again things have gotten in the way, times moved on and it's now going to be classified as my first post in Australia! Another month has passed and Maui has been and gone, but not without a fight. It seemed the island did not want us to leave and in a strike of unfortunateness we went and missed our flight to Sydney. Not by a minute, not by an hour....but by a whole day.
I have no idea how we got things so drastically wrong but I do know that it meant we were in America illegally for 3 days and have now lost our UK visa rights (not cool) but that I used the extra days to practice back rolls (cool).
I'm really happy with the amount I managed to get done whilst on the island, the last month had been an interesting and varied one with a dollop of beach, a spoonful of kite surfing, and a pinch of soul searching. By the end I'd seen loads of the island, pretty much all of it actually and I feel like I really know it inside out which was the grand plan.
So since my last post we've done a few more larger road trips and I finally got round to doing the Waihee Ridge Trail hike which nearly killed me (a VERY strenious 2 hour, 2,600ft uphill climb into the clouds to the mountain summit).
Our first road trip was a few weeks back and I call it the West Maui Loop as we did a loop of, well, West Maui. The drive is a circle and takes you along the top of the north cliffs, round to the touristy west coastal beaches of Lahaina town and south along the base of the mountain back to the starting point in Kahului.
It's a testing drive especiallly for Buck the truck who is almost wider than the actual road at some points but we made it round the windy corners without hitting another car or falling off the cliffs which is good, because we didn't have any insurance, oops.
Along the way we stopped at all the right places according to my guidebook and even managed to find Julie's stall which is quoted as having 'the best banana bread in the world', and yes it was really, really goooooood.
Our first stop were the Olvine Pools which are natural formation rockpools formed from sea erosion on the black lava. They were only discovered in recent years and now although a bit of a tourist trap were very pretty and worth seeing. There are about 5 different pools of different depths and colours (a coloured gem in the rock make them shimmer green in the sun) and with the pacific crashing dramatically against their edges it was a cool experience.
Next along the coast was the Nakalele Blowhole which is again formed from sea erosion and pumps a water spout high into the air when the sea pumping right. We were doing this trip a few days after a tropical depression had passed by the islands so luckily the sea was quite ferocious and it was exploding 30ft in the air!
By now it was mid afternoon and we hadn't even got to Lahaina yet but I wanted to squeeze in one more thing, locally called the Dragon's Teeth at Makalua-Puna Point. Hundreds of years of salt spray had whitened and eroded the lava into sharp points which kinda look like teeth, it was pretty cool except I didnt charge my camera the day before and annoyingly couldn't take any photos!
Then we got round to Lahaina, sat on a beach for Sunset and had a nice (but expensive) dinner. After that, it was highway all the way home and straight to bed.
On our last weekend in Maui I had arranged a 2 day camping trip around the island which actually worked out really well. The plan was to camp over night in Wai'ananapnapa State Park (that's the real name I promise!) just outside of Hana, the most eastern point of the island. We picked up our permits, packed the cooler with food and drink and got going on a bright sunny Saturday morning.
Again the trusty guidebook was used to get us to the extra special hideaways along the way and although the boys wern't too keen on stopping much we managed to see and do a lot the first day. My favourite things were a bamboo forest hike and eating/swimming at secret little waterfalls off the beaten track.
That evening we pulled into Wai'ananapanapa just before night fall and checked out the local black sand beach and caves which were quite scary in the dark. We had booked a cabin to sleep in and initially the plan was to live up to the stereotype of marshmallows and camp songs around the firepit but as darkness fell we felt more and more like we were in a 1950's horror film where the house gets surrounded by bugs and creepy crawlies are swarming all over the windows. Infact, there were so many flies, mosquitoes, lizards, spiders and cockroaches on the other side of those huge glass panes that I wouldn't sit near one let alone go outside and be eaten alive. Plus I also got paranoid that some serial killler was watching us from the woods and couldn't sleep so it fair to say it was a restless night.
So this was going to be my second Hawaiian post before moving on to Oz but once again things have gotten in the way, times moved on and it's now going to be classified as my first post in Australia! Another month has passed and Maui has been and gone, but not without a fight. It seemed the island did not want us to leave and in a strike of unfortunateness we went and missed our flight to Sydney. Not by a minute, not by an hour....but by a whole day.
I have no idea how we got things so drastically wrong but I do know that it meant we were in America illegally for 3 days and have now lost our UK visa rights (not cool) but that I used the extra days to practice back rolls (cool).
I'm really happy with the amount I managed to get done whilst on the island, the last month had been an interesting and varied one with a dollop of beach, a spoonful of kite surfing, and a pinch of soul searching. By the end I'd seen loads of the island, pretty much all of it actually and I feel like I really know it inside out which was the grand plan.
So since my last post we've done a few more larger road trips and I finally got round to doing the Waihee Ridge Trail hike which nearly killed me (a VERY strenious 2 hour, 2,600ft uphill climb into the clouds to the mountain summit).
Our first road trip was a few weeks back and I call it the West Maui Loop as we did a loop of, well, West Maui. The drive is a circle and takes you along the top of the north cliffs, round to the touristy west coastal beaches of Lahaina town and south along the base of the mountain back to the starting point in Kahului.
It's a testing drive especiallly for Buck the truck who is almost wider than the actual road at some points but we made it round the windy corners without hitting another car or falling off the cliffs which is good, because we didn't have any insurance, oops.
Along the way we stopped at all the right places according to my guidebook and even managed to find Julie's stall which is quoted as having 'the best banana bread in the world', and yes it was really, really goooooood.
Our first stop were the Olvine Pools which are natural formation rockpools formed from sea erosion on the black lava. They were only discovered in recent years and now although a bit of a tourist trap were very pretty and worth seeing. There are about 5 different pools of different depths and colours (a coloured gem in the rock make them shimmer green in the sun) and with the pacific crashing dramatically against their edges it was a cool experience.
Next along the coast was the Nakalele Blowhole which is again formed from sea erosion and pumps a water spout high into the air when the sea pumping right. We were doing this trip a few days after a tropical depression had passed by the islands so luckily the sea was quite ferocious and it was exploding 30ft in the air!
By now it was mid afternoon and we hadn't even got to Lahaina yet but I wanted to squeeze in one more thing, locally called the Dragon's Teeth at Makalua-Puna Point. Hundreds of years of salt spray had whitened and eroded the lava into sharp points which kinda look like teeth, it was pretty cool except I didnt charge my camera the day before and annoyingly couldn't take any photos!
Then we got round to Lahaina, sat on a beach for Sunset and had a nice (but expensive) dinner. After that, it was highway all the way home and straight to bed.
On our last weekend in Maui I had arranged a 2 day camping trip around the island which actually worked out really well. The plan was to camp over night in Wai'ananapnapa State Park (that's the real name I promise!) just outside of Hana, the most eastern point of the island. We picked up our permits, packed the cooler with food and drink and got going on a bright sunny Saturday morning.
Again the trusty guidebook was used to get us to the extra special hideaways along the way and although the boys wern't too keen on stopping much we managed to see and do a lot the first day. My favourite things were a bamboo forest hike and eating/swimming at secret little waterfalls off the beaten track.
That evening we pulled into Wai'ananapanapa just before night fall and checked out the local black sand beach and caves which were quite scary in the dark. We had booked a cabin to sleep in and initially the plan was to live up to the stereotype of marshmallows and camp songs around the firepit but as darkness fell we felt more and more like we were in a 1950's horror film where the house gets surrounded by bugs and creepy crawlies are swarming all over the windows. Infact, there were so many flies, mosquitoes, lizards, spiders and cockroaches on the other side of those huge glass panes that I wouldn't sit near one let alone go outside and be eaten alive. Plus I also got paranoid that some serial killler was watching us from the woods and couldn't sleep so it fair to say it was a restless night.
The next day we got going earlyish and started the drive around the south of Maui and towards more of Maui's natural attractions. We stopped at Hamoa Bay where there were some big waves to play in and then continued round to the Venus Pool, a freshwater and saltwater mix pool where the locals go to hang out and jump off the rocks.
As the afternoon wore on it was important for us to get through the baron sections of road and up to the volcano before sunset. Buck took some brutal batterings on the unpaved roads and to be honest i'm very suprised the rust didn't give way and everything fall through.but somehow he managed the 10,000ft climb and we thought our luck was in....but it wasn't. On the way back down our brakes stopped working for the SECOND time which is not what you need on a 20 mile steep downhill stretch...on the side of a volcano...in the dark. After pulling into a scenic view area in a panic and assessing the danger levels and risk of death we decided to carry on at 3mph with Loz pumping the emergency break and 3 hours later we somehow, and I have no idea how, got home safely. All fun and games when driving Buck!
After the Hana trip we had a few days to round things up before our flight to Oz. I kited everyday and Loz managed to flog the broken truck to a garage for $350, to be honest I didn't expect to get anything for it so that was a bonus! Then we suceeded in missing our flight by getting the wrong day and spent a night on the phone to Qantas, Hawaiian Airlines, STA Travel and American Immigration and paying the price for our stupid mistake. The next flight Qantas could put us on was in 5 days and I used those by kiting everyday and battering my body to the point of exhaustion.
When Tuesday 25th rolled around we had to be up at 4am, in a taxi at 4.30am, on a flight to Ohau at 6.00am and ready for boarding to Australia at 9.15am, all pretty crazy but second time round it went well and without a hitch.
Arriving in Sydney was a weird feeling. I don't know, I guess being thrown back into civilization was a shock to the system and not only that we were going from an all-year summer location to an Australian winter. We're now 9 hours ahead of the UK rather than behind and to top it all we lost a day and a half on a 10 hour flight. Our bodies are confused because the sun starts to fade at 4pm, the shadows get longer and there's a freshness in the air but still I have to say, even their winter days and better than a UK summer day, I think I may have to move here at some point.
So now we've been here 3 days and it's the morning of the 4th, our first few days were all about settling in and checking out the city which I really love and yesterday we got to explore a bit of northern Sydney and the national park area which was beautiful. Today I believe it's time to get down to research as our plans have changed and we will no longer be staying and working in Sydney for Sept, Oct and Nov but rather at Surfers Paradise in Queensland (This is Lauries fault from Maui as she recommended it!). We will come back to Sydney for the month of December and for Christmas and New Year though. Thinking ahead of that scares me so we'll leave it at that for now!
Ok, so that's it for now! Time to look into booking flights to the Gold Coast...
Sunday, 9 August 2009
Boot Camp Paradise
Helloooooooo people!
I thought it was about time for a Hawaii update and as the pace of life is nice and slow here so I can't be blaimed for leaving it till now!
I've had lots of time to learn about the island in the last 2 weeks and our 'Maui Revealed' guidebook has hardly left my side whenever I leave the studio.
The island is actually pretty tiny and i've written up a mini list of things I want to achieve while here (no surprise there then).
My routine mainly consists of 2 things, beaching and kitesurfing. Not a bad routine!
Seeing as it's the best place in the world to do it I'm kiting often and doing the mingle thing with the locals. Kahana Beach doesn't seem to have the same localism issues that Kite Beach does and i'm really enjoying the freedom that taking to the sea alone gives me. In fact i'm full blown obsessed with it and the thought of not being able to kite 5 times a week makes me break into a sweat.
Maui is very varied and beautiful and there are many things to do when you have a car and the desire to explore. The boys don't seem so keen about the hikes as i do though so I'm getting out there and back to nature with myself for company.
Since my last post Buck has 'sort of' behaved himself with no more random scary incidents occurring whilst on the road. Until yesterday that is, when he ran out of gas halfway up the mountain while I was on a rare drive alone. Cheers Buck.
There I am trying to be all independent when I get left in the extremely undesirable situation of knocking on random residential doors trying to blag a lift back to my house for the forgotten gas tank. Did i mention our fuel gauge doesn't work!?
There are a few places that have become our regular day visits, these are Paia, Ho'opika, Baldwin Beach and Big Beach.
Paia is a very quaint little town with a surfer type population and oozes Maui charm. The buildings are wooden and painted all sorts of bright oolours, palms line the roads and little (pricey) boutiques suck peoples bank accounts dry. There's a great little coffee shop called Anthonys where we've become VERY familiar faces and i'm able to walk in and say 'the usual please' which is novel.
Ho'opika is a stretch of coastline with a small beach on the North shore that is widely known as the best windsurfing spot in the world. A pretty impressive claim for a little piece of island! It's fun to watch them zooming up and down like ants on a water motorway but no kiters are allowed so I can't join in there.
Baldwin Beach is beautiful, a golden strip of sand with artistic looking driftwood poking out of the sand at all angles. It's a great place to chill and i've taken to drinking a beer and listening to music as the sun goes down here.
Big Beach is Loz's favourite as there is a dangerous shorebreak present most of the time, perfect for bodyboarding. This wave is known for for its injury count and it's not unusual for people to break their necks and backs from being thrown over the lip and down onto the sand. Therefore I'm very careful when I go in the sea there and never turn my back to the ocean!
So last Monday we ventured to Twin Falls, a set of fairly touristy waterfalls buried in the jungle along the North Shore. Aside from giving the jurassic sized mosquitoes a tasty lunch it was a fun day trip and I got an extra buzz by wondering off the beaten track and discovering a much prettier and secluded waterfall away from anyone else. Playing under the falls was like something straight from a movie scene and I loved it. There are many more to be found but they will come during our road trip to Hana (more on that later).
On Tuesday we snuck down to Baldwin after dark and attempted a BBQ on the beach. Previous travellers had left a surprisingly well built fire pit made of reef stone accompanied by driftwood logs to sit on and although we had our fair share of problems (like Loz forgetting the grill for the meat!) we made some mean burgers and you know what they say...it's more about the experience than the food. Well, it was with us anyway!
Last Thursday I was itching to take the car and get some time in the mountain so I tried one of the small hikes mentioned in the guide book called the 'Waihe'e Valley Trail'. I was one of very few people on the trail and it was amazing to be walking around in the lush vegetation. However, as the sun began to set and the wind started its evening whisper in the trees above me the jungle definitely begun to take on an eerie atmosphere and I was glad to get to the end. I had to cross two swinging rope bridges and boulder hop some streams which added to the mini adventure but is probably as close to being Indiana Jones as i'll ever get.
I've been busy organising a few trips for us in the upcoming days but hurricane Felicia which has now been downgraded to a tropical storm is set to hit us tomorrow and is likely to keep us housebound for a day or two. Later this week i'm hoping to do a loop drive of west Maui and visit some of the sights in that part of the island, apparently there's an ocean blowhole formed from lava erosion which is worth a look.
Also, i'm dragging the boys on a 2 day road trip around the island which involves staying overnight in a remote little cabin in Hana on the eastern point. I'm really excited about it and know it'll be a feast for the eyes :)
It's just started raining, I can hear the drops on the wooden roof above me which is weird as it's the first rain i've had for almost 3 months. Had almost forgotten what it was like...bet you hate me for saying that?!
Anyway, time to watch some Dexter on the ipod and dream about kitesurfing (I wish i'd been born in a tropical location with wind as I know i'd be a professional by now!)
Ciao for now.
I thought it was about time for a Hawaii update and as the pace of life is nice and slow here so I can't be blaimed for leaving it till now!
I've had lots of time to learn about the island in the last 2 weeks and our 'Maui Revealed' guidebook has hardly left my side whenever I leave the studio.
The island is actually pretty tiny and i've written up a mini list of things I want to achieve while here (no surprise there then).
My routine mainly consists of 2 things, beaching and kitesurfing. Not a bad routine!
Seeing as it's the best place in the world to do it I'm kiting often and doing the mingle thing with the locals. Kahana Beach doesn't seem to have the same localism issues that Kite Beach does and i'm really enjoying the freedom that taking to the sea alone gives me. In fact i'm full blown obsessed with it and the thought of not being able to kite 5 times a week makes me break into a sweat.
Maui is very varied and beautiful and there are many things to do when you have a car and the desire to explore. The boys don't seem so keen about the hikes as i do though so I'm getting out there and back to nature with myself for company.
Since my last post Buck has 'sort of' behaved himself with no more random scary incidents occurring whilst on the road. Until yesterday that is, when he ran out of gas halfway up the mountain while I was on a rare drive alone. Cheers Buck.
There I am trying to be all independent when I get left in the extremely undesirable situation of knocking on random residential doors trying to blag a lift back to my house for the forgotten gas tank. Did i mention our fuel gauge doesn't work!?
There are a few places that have become our regular day visits, these are Paia, Ho'opika, Baldwin Beach and Big Beach.
Paia is a very quaint little town with a surfer type population and oozes Maui charm. The buildings are wooden and painted all sorts of bright oolours, palms line the roads and little (pricey) boutiques suck peoples bank accounts dry. There's a great little coffee shop called Anthonys where we've become VERY familiar faces and i'm able to walk in and say 'the usual please' which is novel.
Ho'opika is a stretch of coastline with a small beach on the North shore that is widely known as the best windsurfing spot in the world. A pretty impressive claim for a little piece of island! It's fun to watch them zooming up and down like ants on a water motorway but no kiters are allowed so I can't join in there.
Baldwin Beach is beautiful, a golden strip of sand with artistic looking driftwood poking out of the sand at all angles. It's a great place to chill and i've taken to drinking a beer and listening to music as the sun goes down here.
Big Beach is Loz's favourite as there is a dangerous shorebreak present most of the time, perfect for bodyboarding. This wave is known for for its injury count and it's not unusual for people to break their necks and backs from being thrown over the lip and down onto the sand. Therefore I'm very careful when I go in the sea there and never turn my back to the ocean!
So last Monday we ventured to Twin Falls, a set of fairly touristy waterfalls buried in the jungle along the North Shore. Aside from giving the jurassic sized mosquitoes a tasty lunch it was a fun day trip and I got an extra buzz by wondering off the beaten track and discovering a much prettier and secluded waterfall away from anyone else. Playing under the falls was like something straight from a movie scene and I loved it. There are many more to be found but they will come during our road trip to Hana (more on that later).
On Tuesday we snuck down to Baldwin after dark and attempted a BBQ on the beach. Previous travellers had left a surprisingly well built fire pit made of reef stone accompanied by driftwood logs to sit on and although we had our fair share of problems (like Loz forgetting the grill for the meat!) we made some mean burgers and you know what they say...it's more about the experience than the food. Well, it was with us anyway!
Last Thursday I was itching to take the car and get some time in the mountain so I tried one of the small hikes mentioned in the guide book called the 'Waihe'e Valley Trail'. I was one of very few people on the trail and it was amazing to be walking around in the lush vegetation. However, as the sun began to set and the wind started its evening whisper in the trees above me the jungle definitely begun to take on an eerie atmosphere and I was glad to get to the end. I had to cross two swinging rope bridges and boulder hop some streams which added to the mini adventure but is probably as close to being Indiana Jones as i'll ever get.
I've been busy organising a few trips for us in the upcoming days but hurricane Felicia which has now been downgraded to a tropical storm is set to hit us tomorrow and is likely to keep us housebound for a day or two. Later this week i'm hoping to do a loop drive of west Maui and visit some of the sights in that part of the island, apparently there's an ocean blowhole formed from lava erosion which is worth a look.
Also, i'm dragging the boys on a 2 day road trip around the island which involves staying overnight in a remote little cabin in Hana on the eastern point. I'm really excited about it and know it'll be a feast for the eyes :)
It's just started raining, I can hear the drops on the wooden roof above me which is weird as it's the first rain i've had for almost 3 months. Had almost forgotten what it was like...bet you hate me for saying that?!
Anyway, time to watch some Dexter on the ipod and dream about kitesurfing (I wish i'd been born in a tropical location with wind as I know i'd be a professional by now!)
Ciao for now.
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