Shameful Seamus

Hello everyone! Just a quick update on our travels. We are in Queenstown at the moment, after spending a few days in Christchurch, a charming European feeling town. On Wednesday we will be heading to Wellington for a few days and working our way up the North Island, and hopefully taking part in some adventure activities along the way! Too lazy to write more right now but that is what we're doing for now!

Quote of the Day: "Ew, the sushi at the mall looks gross. Let's go get some at the train station."-The Logic of Buck

You Know What?

The past week has definitely been the best week so far! Magnetic Island was three days of nature and relaxation. The only downside was that the bay our hostel was closest too looked like Ocean City. We were very confused as to how an island in the middle of the ocean off the coast of Australia could be anything but breathtakingly beautiful. But the fact that we got to hold a koala trumped everything. And the fact that the Koala's name was Dexter made it that much better.

After Magnetic Island we headed up to Cairns, a lovely little beach town that, oddly enough, doesn't actually have a beach. Delightful, nonetheless. But the real highlight of the trip so far has been the Great Barrier Reef. I even tried out scuba diving for a bit! Given, we didn't go down too far and we weren't under for very long since it was just an intro dive, but I still did it! And it was quite a triumph considering all the ridiculous fears I had before actually going under. (What if my goggles fog up and I swim head first into the boat and knock myself unconscious?) The snorkeling was amazing though. It was a little disappointing not seeing any sharks or turtles, but I saw hundreds of big, colorful fish, and a stingray and giant clam!

For now, I'm just floating around Cairns and taking in all the warmth and sunshine I can before heading into the middle of winter in New Zealand. Oy! I was thinking about doing a day trip to one of the beaches around here but apparently there are crocodiles in the water so you can't even go in. Oh, Australia... such an odd country you are.

Quote of the day: "What is that sound?"- Me
"I don't know. It sounds like a monkey. Or a bird. Or a monkeybird. Oh. My. God."- Ilan

Dutch Scissor Sisters

Fraser Island was... okay. It was one of the main things we had been looking forward to seeing, and had the weather cooperated, it would've been great. But it rained most of the time we were there, turning us into miserable, mean people. But, surprisingly, it also accounted for a lot of laughs, as well as the construction of the most awesome fort ever. We were lucky enough to at least have sunshine on our first day, when we saw the famous Lake McKenzie. I took a dip in the lake, which is said to make you one year younger each time you go in. So I am back to being 23, which means I have a whoooole nother year before I freak out about being in my mid-twenties and having no life path set yet!

After Fraser Island, we went to Airlie Beach, a delightful little beach town near the Whitsunday Islands. We did an ocean rafting trip to the Islands yesterday, and although we had some clouds, that didn't take away from the beauty. The big finale was Whitehaven Beach, National Geographic's most beautiful beach in the world for a few years now, and with good reason. The tide creates sand bars that weave in and out of the water across the whole beach, giving you an amazing view. Pictures to come. If I can figure out how to upload at an internet cafe. Oh yeah, I was also attacked by pigeons on Whitehaven Beach! We had out lunch there, and as I was bring my bread roll up to my mouth, a pigeon swoops down, pecked at my finger, causing me to scream and by the time I had opened my eyes again, my roll was on the sand and the birds were going to town on it. And everyone laughed :( I was also the only person on the raft to get soaked going to and from the islands. A girl just can't get a break...

We are now in Townsville, the Sears of urban development. It honestly feels like we have traveled back in time and I'm not sure I quite like it. So far we've just gone to Woolworth's to pick up some groceries and were followed down the aisles by a one eyed Aboriginal man. (no joke) Needless to say, we fled. Tomorrow we are heading to Magnetic Island where I am going to hold the crap out of some Koalas. And probably cry tears of joy while doing it.

Quote of the Day: "Look, Beaches Travel Agency! Oh no wait... it's Beaches Hostel. Hey, they have the same logan."-Ilan
2 minutes later...
"Did you just say 'Logan'?"- Me
"Yes."- Ilan

Mrs. Doubtfire

Hello everyone! I am currently in the midst of my travels up north and it has been lovely. After Sydney, which I was EXTREMELY excited to leave, we went to Byron Bay, a quintessential Aussie beach town that we fell in love with. We were originally supposed to stay for one night and ended up staying for three, spending our days lounging on the beaches and enjoying a Bulmers at night. We spent one evening hiking up to the lighthouse for some incredible views of the ocean and mountains. After a rather intense hike up, (ok not really, it's just been a while since I've engaged in physical activity) we weren't too keen on hiking all the way back down. So I decided to be a daredevil and hitch a ride down for us. (Don't freak out, Ma!) It was me, Ilan, and a girl named Natalie from our hostel. As soon as I stuck out my thumb, a crazy Italian hippie picked us up and gave us a ride into town, telling us about his upcoming trip to Seattle for a 10 day frisbee competition. It was a delightful three days in Byron.

After Byron we went to Surfer's Paradise for a night, where the only eventful thing that happened was Ilan puking his brains from his first goon experience. Haha.

We are now in Brisbane and leaving soon for Hervey Bay, where we will then FINALLY make it to Fraser Island! The one place I've wanted to see the most! Can't wait.

"I wish I had a black dad."-Ilan

Annoying Weirdos

I'm back, baby! I have no valid excuse for not updating le blog, just pure laziness. My last month in Melbourne went by far too fast. It's true what they say, it takes some time for you to fall in love with the city, but once you do, it gets under your skin and stays there forever, even when you work at a gelato shop where everyone is stupid and doesn't know how to function in society. We tried to squeeze in as much as possible during our last few weeks there, but I'd have to say the highlight of it all was the footy match we went to. Footy is Australian football, which is pretty much drunk American football, so it's 10 times rougher and 10 times more fun to watch. We supported the St. Kilda Saints, who surprised us and ended up scoring 18 points in the last 3 minutes of the game and unexpectedly winning! We picked the perfect match to attend.

I absolutely loved Melbourne and was sad to leave, but now I embark on a journey up the east coast of Australia for 3 weeks. I have been in Sydney since Sunday and can't wait to leave. I hate Sydney. It doesn't help that we are staying in the Underbelly and our hostel is full of annoying English folk. We've been rather antisocial and hung out on the glorious, smelly floor most of the time. Tonight we are taking an overnight bus to Byron Bay, followed by Brisbane, Fraser Island, the Whitsundays, Magnetic Island, Cairns, and the Great Barrier Reef. I am quite excited for all of this, but at the same time I'm terrified of sea life and am praying that I don't see any box jellyfish.

Quote of the day: "God, Tracy Chapman, how ambigious can you be?"- Buck

Not my chair, not my problem. No way.

Lazy Patch Duvet Suit.

http://www.lazypatch.com/

OMG.

Poor Owl

So the surf competition ended up being a total bust. We woke up at 7 am to catch the train to Geelong. After an hour long ride, we had to catch a bus to Bells Beach. We finally arrived at around 11:30 am... or so we thought. The bus dropped us off at the "Bells Beach" stop, but the actual beach ended up being about a 45 minute walk down a sidewalk-less road with cars zooming by the entire time. After coming dangerously close to being hit, we finally arrived at Bells Beach only to learn that the competition had been moved to another beach due to a lack of waves. Great. Where was this other beach, you ask? A 50 freakin dollar cab ride away. But, of course, it wasn't easy to get a cab. After calling the company, I was informed they need an actual address for pick up, and not just a beach. Faaaantastic. There were no buildings around. We trekked back until we came across a random house which I don't even know was real. But we used it anyway. And, of course, the cab took about 45 minutes to find us, due to the random location of the aforementioned house. While waiting for the cab, we decided to watch the kangaroos in the nearby field. While watching, we decided to pee since there were no bathrooms around. The looks the kangaroos were giving us while peeing... it's like they knew we were tainting their land. I was terrified I was going to get stuffed into a gooey roo sack. After finally getting in the cab, which we all thought was being driven by a man but ended up being a woman, (see below post: female mustaches) we arrived at 13th Beach. By this time the weather had turned fairly cold but we didn't care, we finally made it! We found a spot to relax on the beach while watching the competition, but half the time we didn't even know what was going on. There were so many random surfers in the water at the time, and the waves were so miniscule, that it really didn't seem like much of a competition. We were expecting music, drinks, food, etc. to all be provided on the beach, but due to the location change, there was nothing. After watching the pathetic competition for 2 hours, we decided it was time to make the trek back home. On the pamphlet we had read that there were free shuttle buses running back to the bus. But, as all other things went wrong, so did this. There were no shuttle buses running from 13th beach, only Bells. So we tried to catch a regular old bus. We were told they were running every hour. But, of course, they were not. I could've punched a baby out of frustration. Sooo we had to take another 50 dollar cab ride back to the train station, and we finally arrived back at 6:45 pm. Which gave me just enough time to shower and head into work... terrible. The only good part of the day was actually getting back to Melbourne. We all felt so overjoyed to be back, and for the first time I actually felt like I was back home, which was a nice feeling. The entire tram ride back to our apartment we just kept repeating "Oh my God I am so happy right now!!! I'm so happy to be back!!!!" Never again will I venture out into the countryside where everything goes wrong. Get it together, Australia. Surfing is your forte and this was the lamest thing ever. We did get to see Kyle Odom, and semi famous surfer from the States.

Besides that, I just finished book 4 of Harry Potter, I've been working everyday, and we are out of food.

Quote of the Day: "Dear Glamour, I have a crush on a fat guy, what's wrong with me?"- Nonsense at work