peaches and cream

So, I thought I'd dispell this myth that I'm having the 'time of my life' as most of y'all have responded to the pics and such. Travelling isn't always easy and of course, blogs and diaries and such usually get the rose tinted shine shine to them. It's merely filtered, is all, but that has come to an end. I'm dedicating this post to all the shitty things that have happened to me since I was last on North American soil.

-first, customs in Canada almost didn't let me even board the plane since I didn't have my e-ticket for my exiting flight from New Zealand with me. Panic! I was shuttling around the frickin' airport looking for a internet terminal with a printer. Not easy. But I obviously made it with only about 15 minutes to spare.

- I was up for nearly 36 hours with the time difference and travel when first getting to NZ - but after that it was smooth

- I lost my bloody passport!! in Queenstown. It happened when we were looking for a place to pitch a tent around midnight and it spent the night getting run over on the highway. I had a major 5am freak out when I realized it was gone and then spend over an hour searching for it. Long story but Ken found it.

- Hitching from Milford Sound in the rain battling the sand flies! Yum! and then hitching (same day) from Te Anau and waiting for about 2 hours! We entertained ourselves though...

- Had major sore throat first two weeks in Australia. Couldn't kick it.

- No work scare. Realized work in film or tv was going to be hard to come by on the coast so had to look for work I haven't done in over 6 years. And my visa only allows me to work at one place for three months and most businesses know about this which makes it really hard to find anything.

- Working as a waitress/bartender at this shitty hipster club called Berlin. It was the worst job I've ever had. Every loser in there thought they were God's Gift. Thank God only worked there for 4 weekends.

- Minor depression about money/work/transition situation that lasted about a month and almost resulted in my returning home early. I'm over it.

- Food poisoning. The cause? A lovely warm egg salad sandwich. Sick for 2 days.

- Migraine/sinus cold last weekend

- In general, I don't love the Gold Coast, its great but I've lived in better places - while its cool and different and has a beautiful beach - its also filled with tourists, is nearly devoid of any culture other than beach/surf culture, the majority of the extra curricular shite just revolves around getting loaded and picking up tourists, etc. I think I'd much prefer a bigger city like Brissy or Melbourne and I'm thinking of moving in a few months.

So, look, I'm not complaining. I know it sounds like it but over about 15 posts, this is the most negative you're gonna get. And don't you wanna hear about the lousy stuff too? It's not all peaches and cream. Until next time...

see below post first or this will not make sense

And there were some primary school yard flirtations...









In the end, we three conquered and divided the group of Aussie males forcing them to retreat and regroup. Us chicks went on to 4 more pubs and more antics which were not as heavily documented.

So, I didn't make it to church this year. Easter was a peripheral experience without family functions to attend and mainly just seemed to be about chocolate and time off work. Hope y'all had a good holiday and are enjoying the warmer weather. The only difference in weather here now is that it is a welcomed 5-10 degrees cooler at night now. Still blazing hot in the daytime thankfully. Days are getting shorter now though. It's dark at 5:45pm now. But the sun is still scorching at 6am. Things are different here down under.

Not so Passion of the Christ

Hell yes, we had a good time on Easter Sunday. Is that sacrilegious?
Sharon (G's sister), her mate Amber and myself decided to forgo the festivities at FishO's (a grossly overrated local Sunday hangout) and head out for a pub crawl night.


me, sharon, amber






So, at our second location, we run into some fellow pub crawlers playing some bizarre game involving a clothespin and constantly switching clothes. Our introduction consisted of them running up to us and stripping. Hello?!












They encouraged us to join in the game.

the young ones...

Well, if you really want to know what I've been doing... front to back... since the last post back in February...

It's been a while so I'm going to smash it all in there somehow and leave out the illicit bits. Some of you will hear 'em, some of you won't. And if you really want to know then you'll ask.

This was taken last night at the ChopHouse. We went to see a ska band. It was a good night.

I need a gun, cos all I do is dance - part deux

A continuation of the trip to O'Reilly's national park...




















Me climbing into a hollowed out tree that had long been killed by many strangling fig vines. I got photos inside as well. My brother was afraid I'd get bitten by one of the million deadly animals they have here in Aus but I escaped just fine.

\

The first photo is at the end of the 5 km hike at the national park which was stunning with a waterfall that I haven't posted and the other photo is from the GC when we returned at the end of the night at Greta's parents in Arundel. Again, I know you just shouldn't photograph the sunset but if the devil's going to grab my soul because of it then so be it. It was f'n beautiful and I'm glad I can see it again and again... beeotch!

I need a gun, cos all I do is dance - part huh?

So, Ken, the brother, visited and left for Byron, and came back. I know it's all going to be very confusing for you all but deal with it. It's really odd trying to document shite in my life anyway so deal with it. Or just scan past and look at the photos and figure it out for yourself if you care. I'm just puttin' it out there, anyway. I just realized this morning that any journals or any blog type things I'm keeping while on this ride are probably best described by my emails to y'all. For myself anyway, I'm going to save all those emails and print them out in the end and that will be the document. Far out, hey?

Anyway, here is Ken and I enjoying ourselves at one of Greta's parents' many barbies.

The siblings Remark are doing their part chopping vegetables for the feast.














Greta made another of what she calls the "Canadian Trap" which consists of putting out a glass of wine and a bowl of snacks whilst a Canuck swims in an Aussie pool...
















The latest all out excursion was to O'Reilly's, the largest national park in south Queensland. Your typical Queensland rainforest/waterfalls/mountains/pademelons/parrots and lots more...
It was a lovely group of Americans, Canadians and Australians. Katia and Todd had arrived a week before from Washington D.C. It was a meeting of nations - nah, we just ate, drank and ran around in the forest...

Todd, Me, Katia, Ken and Greta in a giant rotted out tree.














Me feeding a parrot from my hand














A pademelon (pronounced paddymelon - I totally didn't believe them but check out Greta's blog for the information if you like http://midnightstation.blogspot.com)

I need a gun, cos all I do is dance - st. paddy's day!

Okay so, St. Paddy's Day, Ken was broke so G and I headed out together, united, in search of a good time at the local Surfers pub. Lansdowne. Boy did we find it. We ended up partying with these guys featured in the photos and stumbling around with them from pub to bar to club. I had no clue where we were out amoung the rest of the green folk, then down into little bars with loud music and then up through hidden stairways to hideaway clubs. I don't really know who half of these people are. I remember the names of two of them - Shane and Michael. But how lovely is it, in this particular day in age, that if you pose in a photo with anyone, anywhere, more likely, in a bar or pub or something, there will be a great chance your image will end up on the internet for all to see somewhere with a caption you might have no clue about... oh yes, you are out there... observe...

G and the boys... in locaton no. 2 on St. Paddy's Day. The dudes we were partying with ran into more dudes that they knew and the party grew...














I call this one, G - the comic scream - how cool is this photo?














Me with two Aussie boys - guy in red shirt and Michael - see I told you I only could remember two of the dudes names...



















And Shane the dancing Irish Aussie hottie... if he only knew...

I need a gun, cos all I do is dance - the prequel

this is Kenny bustin' it out on the first night here in the GC, Queensland. He was stoked that he was finally in Oz and it was hot! It wasn't supposed to be this kind of night, honestly. It started out with just a few pints but turned into a pub hopping, street pizza eating, stumbling home sorta night...



The next week we went on a walk with G's mum Jan to see several roos and kukkaburras, and one koala (which apparently we were lucky to see since they are so elusive)

I need a gun, cos all I do is dance - part something

So this is when Ken showed up in the beginning of March. We went for a long, long scooter ride out to the Currumbin Rock Pools. These photos aren't us but just picture us in the water instead...














Below is what the Gold Coast saw in the wake of Cyclone Larry. Just a serious big swell. Apparently, Kelly Slater had to be rescued it was so big.














Ah, a drunken night at Fish O's with Sharon and Greta... man, I don't even remember how this night started. I think with White Russians and bowling and somehow ending up at this place - a local hang out. Very, very popular but honestly, I don't get it. It's lovely and all, on this marina with gigantic boats, and the place is huge, but its filled with ridiculously dressed, half drunk, locals who all know each other from high school and who also go there every weekend. It's like you can't miss it or you are a loser but see, that's the vicious cycle... eh? get it? I don't.



















Sharon and G, and G and me covering my drunken face - thank GOD!