Surfers and Byron

Attempting to surf!

From Brisbane we arrived in Surfers Paradise which is a city right next to the beach with big waves meant for, of course, surfing. We stayed in one of our nicest hostels yet (only 4 beds!) which is only 5 minutes from the beach.

We went for a 2 hour surf lesson one of the days and it was a lot more fun then I expected. The water was surprisingly warm and we got two cute instructors for the day which didn’t hurt (don’t worry Calvin). Kirsten and Shannon were much better surfers than me. In fact, I will probably still have surfing injuries by the time I get home. However, I was able to stand up on the board about 3 or 4 times so I felt like quite the super star.

For one of the evenings, Shannon and I headed up Dracula’s Cabaret which is a really random attraction but I thought my interest in burlesque and horror would make the night quite fabulous. First, it’s in this weird haunted house type of thing and you take a ‘ghost train’ to get into the restaurant where they performed a pretty decent show for an hour or so and we got a 3 course dinner which was a treat! Shannon and I put on our best gothic gear and overall it was a pretty fun night.

We also went out several nights and played a fun game of dare since we were bored. That game ended up with us getting kicked out of 2 night clubs but all in good fun since we won’t be returning anyways!

We are currently in Byron Bay and tomorrow is our last day before we head out to Sydney. Byron Bay is again, on the beach, and is a small town filled with hippies. Lots of dreadlocks, tie dye and crystals. We are staying in an old concert hall called The Arts Factory which has free drumming and didgeridoo lessons daily and you can stay in tee pees. I really like the town; it’s very relaxed and always interesting.

Yesterday we took a trip to this mountain town called Nimbin which is known for marijuana. Everywhere you go they are trying to sell you cookies and stuff under the table, it was HIPPIE CENTRAL. Very interesting. On the way back we saw this beautiful waterfall and saw koalas in the wild for the very first time. It was really cool!

Today, I gave into the hippieness and got a Reikii reading for $20. Basically, it’s supposed to release all of your negative energy and you get a reading at the end. You get covered in stones and the lady uses crystals and your body head to determine different things about you. She warned me I may feel heat and tingling and may be in a hypnotic state. I thought it was going to be all BS but I truly did feel very peaceful at the end and in a half awake/half asleep state. Definitely a once in a lifetime experience.

Again, we leave for Sydney in 2 days and that’s it! We’ll be seeing you next week!

Brisbane

Tomorrow we wake up, hopefully watch The Canucks win the cup and head out of Brisbane and into Surfers Paradise. We’ve been in Brisbane for a total of 4 days and have enjoyed it. It’s the first big city we’ve hit in Australia which has its pros and its cons. It’s much more convenient but there is less stuff to do.

We spent the first couple days roaming around the city center and going out to a few nightclubs. The city is nice and clean and the main area is a pedestrian street with lots of buskers to keep things entertaining. It’s a lot of shopping and restaurants, but that’s about it. The biggest thing I was surprised about with the shopping in Brisbane is the jewellery stores. At home, in a display facing the street they may have a few pricey items in the window but nothing major, or they’d have bars on the windows as well. Here, there are $60,000 diamond rings in the window that you can just look at. All I can think is why wouldn’t someone just smash the window and take all they could get?

During the day we also went to a winter festival which was very similar to that German Christmas market we had this past winter at home. It was really weird. Hot chocolate, fake snow, an ice rink… it was like 15 degrees outside! Bass ackwards!

We also took the time to see The Hangover II which was funny… not as good as the first one though. Here, you get assigned seats in the theatre which is different.

Kirsten and Shannon love heading out to the nightclubs so we went out 2 nights. I personally hate nightclubs…they make me think about work while pushing away dirty tourists and spending my life savings on a drink. Not my idea of fun.

Bindi and Bob Irwin on top of the croc. Photo by moi!

However, speaking of fun…today we went to The Australia Zoo which is rated one of the best zoos in the world and is owned by the Irwin family (as in Steve Irwin, Croc Hunter guy). The zoo was dead which was awesome… no lines, no pushing etc. The best parts of the zoo is they had an open field of kangaroos and koalas and you could just hang out with them and pet them. The best part of the day though was the surprise that after a 2 year hiatus of not filming, the Irwin family chose today to start shooting a bit for a new series!

So, we saw Terri, Bindi and Bob Irwin from about a meter or less away wrestle a crocodile (with help from a few trainers of course) and tie the croc up to move him from one area to another. It was so cool! It was already interesting to see how they go about wrestling a croc and tying him up while avoiding an attack but it was really neat to see the Irwin family. I don’t think you can get more Australian then that.

Again, tomorrow we are crossing our fingers and watching the game (it’s times like these I wish I were home) and then taking the bus to Surfers Paradise which has been described to us as a Miami type of place where there is the city and the beach. Should be fun! Hope all is well at home.

Fraser Island

On Sunday morning, we left for Fraser Island, one of the big weekend trips that everyone tells you is a ‘must do’. Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world and one of the only sand islands to have a rain forest on it as well. The trip overall was really fun aside from the fact that everything got really sandy and for what we paid the accommodation and facilities were very poor. And our tour guide was kind of a dank and one of the guys in our group was a big dank… okay, all that drama aside this is what we did on Fraser Island:

We are split into 3 groups of about 8 people each and we get a 4X4 jeep type of thing. We get to drive on the beach, directly in line with the water. It’s a really fun experience, not to mention very beautiful. Throughout our stay there we also had to go on some very, very bumpy roads. Enough that you had to watch your head! All good fun though. We slept in tents which were pretty uncomfortable, and like I said the facilities were poor. We got a couple of crappy tin cooking items and a gas stove top, we had to make sure to keep our food close because the island is crowded with dingoes. They may not eat your babies, but they will eat anything else you have! At first, I was kind of weary of the dingoes but by the end I realized that they’re basically just wild dogs and you can walk right beside one without worrying about them.

The first day on Fraser, we went for a 45 minute hike through the trees to this remote lake that was surrounded by sand dunes. The lake was multiple shades of beautiful green and very peaceful. Once you reached the sand, it felt like you were in the middle of the dessert and the lake was just a mirage! During both of the nights, we survived off of the little, crappy food that we had and drank a popular drink in Australia called ‘Goon’ or ‘The Silver Pillow’. Basically, it’s the cheapest most disgusting wine you can get and it’s in a box form. It’s the only thing we can drink and still have some change in our pockets.

The second day was my favourite. We went to a viewing point called Indian Head that had a magnificent view. From the top you could see all of the ocean and spot things like sting rays and dolphins. A lucky group even saw a humpback whale.

Champagne Pools

We also visited an area called Champagne Pools which is a collection of little pools and rocks…the giant waves hit the rocks and spill over to the pools. We ended the day by going to another lake that had tons of fresh water turtles in it.

The last day, we visited Lake McKenzie which has 98% silica white sand and crystal clear water. By the end of the trip though I was so tired, dirty and hungry I couldn’t be bothered to care about another lake.

Tonight, we spend one night in Rainbow Beach which is basically just a stop over so we can take another bus in the morning. Then we head to Brisbane where we plan to do some surfing and visit one of the world’s top zoos which was opened by Steve Irwin and of course party.

That’s it for now! Hope everything is dandy at home.

Airlie Beach to 1770 to Pervey... I Mean Hervey Bay...

Hello Family,

Well… we’ve had a rather interesting past 2 days. Yesterday we took a 10 hour bus ride from Airlie Beach to 1770 which is a very, very small town but is known to have good and affordable surfing. We were expecting to stay a night, take a surf lesson in the morning and a bus to Hervey Bay in the evening. By doing a double take and making a few calls we realized our travel agent booked us incorrectly and we had no choice but to waste our trip to 1770, cancel our surf lesson and take a bus the next morning to Hervey Bay so we don’t miss out on our weekend Fraser Island trip (more on that later). So, yah… that pretty much sucked because we wasted a whole day.

He looked like this, minus the jacket and hat.

We arrived in Hervey Bay today, optimistic and looking forward to our Fraser Island trip. We decided to take a leisurely stroll on the beach when we noticed a man walking towards us, of course we didn’t think anything of it until the man said in a very skeezy voice, ‘hey, how’s it going’, as we turned to respond we let out a simultaneous WHAT THE F&^*! As the man had his pants to his ankles and he excitedly exposed his genitals.  I decided to run for it as we were fairly alone and Kirsten and Shannon kind of stood around in shock as the guy laughed and walked away. Now, we’re not talking about some 13 year old trying to be funny. We’re talking a grown full out perv.

I decided the logical thing to do was to alert the authorities, so we called the police who arrived incognito. We were asked to go on a ride along, which we thought was pretty bad ass, so we joined them ‘catch a predator’ style. Unfortunately we didn’t catch him and I’m sure he will live on to expose his parts to another female sometime in the not so distant future.

The rest of the day wasn’t so great either. I got my first Visa bill of the trip which wasn’t very fun. I do believe I will get out of here over budget… I’m trying hard to keep the costs down but everything in Australia is so expensive. A small coffee is around $3, a standard sandwich or burger is $8 and so on. I purchased groceries for the next week that consist of a can of beans, a can of spaghetti, 3 packs of instant soup, a bag of oranges, bread, Nutella and muesli. I call it the Australian back packers diet.

So, back to Fraser Island. We are taking a 2 night, 3 day trip to this island which is supposed to be beautiful and have lots of lovely lakes etc. You can’t swim in the ocean because everything wants to kill you. We get our own jeeps that we cruise around in and camp in tents. A sleeping bag rental was $15 so…yah… talk about being broke…

That’s about all for now, I’ll blog about our trip when I return! Hope you are all well.

Airlie Beach

Me at White Haven Beach!

Tonight is our last night in Airlie Beach, as tomorrow we go to 1770. I’ve spent the last 2 days by myself as Kirsten and Shannon went on a 2 night sailing tour that I couldn’t go on because I had to work. I’m kind of glad I didn’t though because it sounded a bit too rowdy to me!

Yesterday, I was out all day on a boat called the Camira that sailed around the Whitsundays and stopped at the beautiful White Haven beach. It’s a pristine beach with white sand that’s like powder. The sand is 98% silica and is good enough to make the requirement for glass making and to polish your jewellery in. It also doesn’t retain any heat either because it’s reflective. The bottom line is that it was beautiful.

I met a few Irish boys and since the boat was all inclusive, enjoyed a few beers with them before we headed back. The best part of my day though was what we saw from the boat – wild dolphins! It was really, really cool!

The day was really long and tiring which was why it was so awesome when I came back to my 8 person dorm to find I was the only one there! I relaxed, caught up on my Glee and went to bed.

Tomorrow we head out to 1770 which is a beach town where we are taking 4 hours of surf lessons! That should be interesting… I have a feeling I will be pretty crappy at it.

Cairns to Magnetic Island

An aerial view of Magnetic Island

The last few days in Cairns were very relaxing aside from work. We spent our time on the beach doing nothing but reading. I started work on Tuesday so that’s been an adjustment. When we have big day trips, I’m waking up at 4AM and doing work until we leave for our trip and then catching some Zzzs on the tour busses.

On Friday we did a tour called Uncle Brians which was highly reccommended by our travel agent at our hotel. We can’t really figure out why… we spent 12 hours with a tour guide who would not shut up. He told us pointless stories that weren’t funny and we had to play really cheesy games and do dances like the YMCA. The destinations we went to were nice… a waterfall, a volcanic lake and the rainforest. If I were 10, it would be the best day of my life.
Anyway, from Cairns we took an Oz Experience bus to Magnetic Island which is a beautiful tropical island off of Townsville. Oz Experience is pretty much like a Greyhound but better. It’s catered to young people and the drivers are informative and make cool little stops along the way. We are taking it all the way to Sydney for around $300.

Today was our only full day on Magnetic Island. We rented a cute little Barbie themed convertible and whizzed around the island. It was manual so only Kirsten could drive which was probably for the best since I’m a bad enough driver with having everything on the right side of the road. We basically went beach hopping and stopped for lunch and dinner. We watched the sunset and headed back to our hostel which is right on the beach. Tomorrow morning we are going to do some snorkelling before catching our bus and heading to Airlie Beach where we have a sailing trip planned to Whitsundays which looks gorgeous. Hope everyone is doing well at home, love you all.

Great Indeed!

On Monday, we safely arrived in Cairns after about 12 hours of flying. We’ve settled into our Nomads Hostel where we are paying $16 a night for a room we share with 3 very smelly people, not too happy about the stinky room mate choice but for $16 beggars can’t be choosers! Our hostel also offers free breakfast and $3 dinner meals plus free transport hourly to and from the city centre…again not bad for the price!

Yesterday was my favourite day of the trip so far. We got up bright and early and headed to the marina to go on a cruise to The Great Barrier Reef. The boat was really nice and filled with young travelers much like ourselves. The staff was amazing…there was even a guy who went around and memorized every passengers (50 or so) name! I was impressed! The offered us a pretty substantial lunch and coffee etc throughout the day. We were able to relax on the boat and snorkel the reef, I however for a mere $70 more decided to ditch Kirsten and Shannon and try my hand at diving.

It was amazing! The equipment is super heavy and I was pretty nervous as I’m not a good swimmer but they give you a little crash course and after about 5 minutes you stop worrying and realize how cool it is! We saw everything from reef sharks to giant clams to little nemos. One of the best experiences ever and I was happy to pay the extra cash for it!

After our cruise, we returned to our hotel and headed out on the town to have some drinks with some folk we met on our boat. It was really fun – we went to some crazy hostel that had jello wrestling… it was very uh…interesting…to watch but no worries Calvin, I would never participate ha-ha!

We’re going to speak with a travel agent tonight about our options for the rest of the trip as far as busses go and such. I am back to clubZone today which was kind of different but I’m thankful to have a job that lets me travel…even if I have to work when I’m traveling!

Make sure you enjoy Vancouver right now… I’m a tad jealous I’m not there for all the excitement….listened to the game today on the radio. Wow! It’s going to be Olympics all over again! Anyway, miss everyone lots – keep going on Skype!

Great Barrier from Kayleigh Lum on Vimeo.

Made it to Cairns...Cans? Karens?

Just wanted to let everyone know that we've safely landed in Cairns (to the Aussies it's prounounced Cans, to othes it's Karens...either way you get embarressed everytime you say it). We are stying at Nomads Serpentine hostel for $16 each a night! With the money saved we're going to snorkel and dive the Great Barrier Reef tomorrow! It's my last day of full freedom as I start work on Tuesday, Vancouver time. I think it's a great way (pun intended) to finish my vacation time!

I'll update tomorrow!

A Wednesday to Saturday in Bali

Ah, another Bali update…let’s start with Wednesday…feel free to take a coffee break when necessary, kind of a long post.

Wednesday

We woke up a tad hung-over and headed out to Stadium Café to watch the Canucks game only to find out that there was no Canucks game, so that kind of sucked. From there we met up with Rob and Kylie and headed to a recommended beach called Dream Land. Dream Land it ‘twas! The beach was beautiful with lots of cliffs, sand and blue water. The waves were super strong so I opted to lie on a beach chair and people watch. We had a decent lunch, returned to our hotel and then went out for the evening. Our favourite bar so far is Sky Bar it’s a rooftop patio with a big dance floor and really cheap drinks!

Thursday

Thursday has been my favourite day so far. We went to an ethical safari just outside of Kuta. There we got to watch an elephant show that Shannon got to be involved in where the elephant placed a flower necklace on her. We drove around in a little bus and got to see tigers, lions, hippos, rhinos all up close. None of them were caged. We also got to hold a baby Orangutan which was the highlight of my day!

From there we went for a drive through Ubud which is the cultural capital of Bali, filled with tons of wooden and silver crafts and crazy pushy sales people who will not leave you alone until you wussy out like Shannon did and buy a scarf. We stopped off at a volcano that was only last active in 1996. It was very picturesque with lots of trees, lava rock and a lake.

We ended the night off at a beautiful seafood restaurant directly on the beach. You went up, got to see all the fresh seafood and order as much as you’d like. I chose the prawns which were so fresh and delicious! Pretty cheap too.

Friday

On Friday we went to Turtle Island. We took a glass bottom boat out to the island where they have tons of turtles from baby ones to ones that weight up to 200 pounds! We were able to hold them as well as a few snakes, monkeys and other random creatures. Of course we ended the day with a solid dinner and a night on the town.

Today we lounged by the pool and did a whole lot of nothing. Tomorrow we are going river rafting which should be really fun! Then around midnight we fly to Cairns…about an 8 hour flight which kind of sucks but I’m super excited to see Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef…not so excited about working though. We will be staying for the first three days at Nomads Cairns Hostel. Info if you need it: http://nomadshostels.com/hostels/australia/cairns-serpent-backpackers

Anyway, we’re having a pretty solid time… it’s been nice to see most of you (aside from Calvin, *shakes fist*) on Skype! I’m glad the weather is holding up nicely in Vancouver and hopefully the Canucks can make it to the finals! I’ll write again in Cairns!

Bali - Day 1

We have made it safe and sound to Bali and it's wonderful so far. It's super hot around 30 degrees and muggy as hell but I'm not complaining. We woke up today and took a cab to our friend Rob and Kylie's hotel which is right on the beach. Beautiful! We then walked around the town and went into all the dodgy little shops and bartered for some sunglasses and dresses... they think I'm a mean white girl but as long as I get what I want for cheap, i'm not too bothered by the name calling.

We then got a 1 hour massage which was heavenly... I fell asleep, may have drooled a little bit... we'll never know. It was $7 which was pretty decent considering the day before I spent $7 in Australia on cough drops. We had lunch and now we're about to meet Rob and Kylie for dinner.

Tomorrow morning we are heading out to the bar bright and early to catch the Canucks game and then probably do some beach hopping. Life is good. The girls also really like it here so far, it's a bit of a culture shock for them as they've never been to an Asian country or any place as hot and busy as this. It's really cool to share the experience with them. I also dipped into the local grub today and got a kiwi sunday and McDonalds... amazing.

Hope everyone is well at home, I enjoy reading your posts!

PS. We are staying at Bali Ayut if anyone's interested!

Melbourne to Perth, Perth to....

Update: Warning, this is going to be a long blog post. So, we arrived in Perth on what was technically the 13^th of May as our flight landed at 1AM. From there we anxiously took a cab to our destination – Cottesloe Beach Chalets. Our friend from Contiki, Iloni, told us she’d be in room number 10 and to knock when we arrived. This was the start of our chaos.

The chalet was closed and there was a gate blocking the entrance to the rooms, so we exhausted the following options:

• Calling the emergency number for a lady to say ‘I can’t help you’.
• Tried using the internet on Shannon’s phone.
• Broke in via the underground parking.
• Attempted to squeeze Kirsten through the gate.
• Knocked and yelled.
• Called a Contiki friend.

Finally we were able to get the internet and looked up a 24hr hotel. At 3:00AM we were finally able to sleep. Welcome to Australia.

The next day we discovered Iloni was actually at another hostel which was ironically behind the hotel we were staying at. Anyhoo, we are now enjoying Perth. We are staying in an area called Cottesloe which is beautiful. The weather is around 24 and when we look out the window it’s white sand and blue water. Plus the waves are huge! (don’t worry dad, I didn’t go in the water). Yesterday we spent the day sun bathing and then we met up with about 18 people from our Contiki tour. It’s so great to see everyone again! We went into this cute little city called Freemantle by Skytrain and had dinner at a brewery which was okay aside from the fact they said our Canadian licenses weren’t valid so we had to go all the way back to the hostel and get our passports. I called them racist.

We woke up this morning and had a great breakfast on the beach and went to a little arts and food market in Freemantle. Kirsten and I tried Kangaroo jerky… it was pretty good. Don, I’ll try to bring some back for you, I feel like you’d appreciate it.

Tonight we are heading out to the bar again with our Contiki people and tomorrow just hand by the beach. Monday we’re going to Bali.

Oh yah, surprise! Our friends Rob and Kylie from Sydney convinced us to take a week long trip with them to Indonesia. We were originally going to go from Perth to Ayers Rock to Cairns, but the flight from Perth to Bali to Cairns is actually cheaper, also since everything is so cheap there we will actually be saving money on living expenses, plus it’s pretty awesome and spontaneous which I like. Yah yah, I’ll be safe... don’t worry. Love you all lots, see ya in a few!

In Melbourne...

Yup, in Melbourne counting down the hours to our 4th and final flight. There is nothing around the airport and nothing to do so we rented a little motel room to sleep and watch TV. Shannon is attempting to change her flight for the way home because she recently got a new job at the SPCA and is starting end of June. This is a very frustrating process as she can't seem to get a hold of anyone who isn't half retarded. Again - not much has changed...Melbourne pretty  much looks like Vancouver, weather included. The major difference is that Burger King is called Hungry Jacks and a bottle of water or pop is $5. Heres to tap water!

In Sydney!

Hey All,

Quick post from me. We're currently in the Sydney airport after a 2hr flight to San Francisco and a 15 hour flight to Sydney...and I must say it wasn't that bad! Our flight was half empty so we all got to stretch out in our on aisle. We all got at least 8 hours of sleep. Amazing. Well, not much else is new.... we are alive and that's important.

I'll write once we get to our final destination.

<3

Plans, Plans, Plans

Hey Family, Friends and Boyfriend,

Here is some info on my trip for the time being including my outbound flight itinerary, accommodation and my work schedule.

In case you want to air stalk me, here is our itinerary from Vancouver - Perth with a few stops along the way and many hours of eating airport food and getting traveling billionaires to buy us martinis. 

Vancouver - San Fransisco (UNITED)
Flight Number: 0787
Leave 7:00PM, Land 9:10PM

San Francisco - Sydney (UNITED)
Flight Number: 0863
Leave: 10:37PM, Land: 6:25AM (may OD on Nyquil during this time)

Sydney - Melbourne (UNITED)
Flight Number: 0840
Leave: 8:00AM, Land: 9:40AM

Melbourne - Perth (TIGER AIRWAYS)
Flight Number: 5598
Leave: 10:45PM, Arrive: 12:50AM (KILL ME!)

Cottesloe Beach, Perth Australia

Obviously it's going to be a long time traveling but we're hoping 2 months of beautiful beaches and winery tours will make up for it.

We will be spending our first 3 or 4 nights at a place called Cottesloe Beach. More specifically, we will be spending our nights at Cottesloe Beach Chalets. In case anything crazy happens at home or if you just miss me you can contact me there.

I'll be on a full blown vacation from May 10th - 24th so DON'T BUG ME (jk...sort of). From the 24th of May until the end of my trip I will be online 5 days a week for clubZone so you can always count to bump into me on Skype anywhere from 2PM-6PM Vancouver time.

That's about it! See you all in July!