Part 2: East Coast

Byron Bay

Nimbin, Minyon Falls, near the lighthouse

I flew into Byron Bay to save time and skip all the southern bit that I had already seen on my mid semester break. I stayed at the Arts Factory which is this hippie inspired little commune sort of place. I immediately met some cool people in my room. James and crazy English guy, Odette from Holland and Adam who came to Byron Bay solely to smoke pot. I had heaps of fun with them. The next morning, I went out to Nimbin the famous hippie town with Jim’s alternative Tours and was very disappointed. I was expecting a really cool, laid-back, fun time in Nimbin but it was so fake and had this really intense atmosphere and was full of dodgy, cracked out, drug dealers. I’m glad I only spent an hour there. The next stop on the tour was a old Californian hippie guy’s place. This guy bought a cow pasture and built a tropical rainforest on it. It was really amazing. And I saw my first wild Aussie snake. Next we went to Minyon Falls lookout and returned to Byron Bay at around 6pm. I was so sick and tired that I fell asleep at around 7 and didn’t wake up until the next morning. It had been raining since I arrived in Byron but in the morning the clouds had cleared, the sun was shining and I would not see another drop of rain until I was nearly in Melbourne a month later! I got up early and went for a long walk out to the lighthouse and the most easterly point on the Australian mainland. I had to take my backpack with me so I got a really good workout climbing up seemingly endless stairs to the lighthouse. Exhausted I walked back to town and caught the bus to Surfers Paradise at noon.

Surfers Paradise

My hostel in Surfers was really disappointing after my amazing stay in Byron. I had booked a 12-share dorm thinking that I would meet more people in a bigger room but I discovered that in big rooms people don’t talk to you because they don’t have to. N a small room you’re forced to talk to everyone and get to know them. I walked into my room said hi to a few people and they didn’t even say hi back. It was not the warm welcome I was looking for. So I spent basically zero time in my room. I went for a stroll around town in the concrete paradise and went down to the beach to snap a few photos on the skyline. That night thankfully there was a backpackers pub crawl. So I wasted some time watching tv in the hostel’s bar until the pub crawl started and met a cool girl from Germany named Alex and hung out with her for most of the night. The bars we went to weren’t very exciting so I didn’t stay out very late. I met a cool, wealthy, Argentine polo player named Alejandro who owned a couple stables (one in Argentina and one near Surfers). So I got to practice my Spanish and he taught me some really weird South American drinks.

Brisbane

The next morning I hopped on a bus to Brisbane. I got the in the early afternoon, grabbed a tourist map and did a whirlwind tour of Brisbane in 3 hours. First I went to the museum of Brisbane which was not on my map but I found it on my way to St. John’s Cathedral. It had some cool history of the city and you could go up this ancient elevator into the clock tower and get a beautiful 360 degree view of the city. Next I went to the cathedral where there was a huge fundraising luncheon on to raise funds to finish building it (it’s a new building but looks hundreds of years old). I was still able to look around. It was breathtakingly beautiful. Next I checked out the Customs House which was a beautiful old building with a nice view of the river. I was the only tourist there and felt really weird because people were working while I was looking around the hall outside their offices and it felt like I shouldn’t be there. Finally I went down to the Queen Street Market and looked through a few shops but wasn’t very impressed by anything so I went back to the hostel. I was staying at a new hostel called the Tinbilly. It was really nice and even had an elevator! A very nice change from the awful hostel I had in Surfers. That night I met up with Jay who was staying Brisbane with a buddy and looking for work. While I was waiting for him at the bar this creepy, incredibly high drug dealer kept talking to me and asking me my name every 3 minutes and telling me about some guys who stole a hundred dollars from him and if I had seen these guys and if I would like a drink and what is my name? He was nuts and it didn’t take long for security to toss him and his duffle bag of drugs out of the bar. Thankfully Jay and his buddy Julian showed up soon and we had a couple drinks and said another sad goodbye. I was getting really sick of goodbyes. Jay was the last Canberra friend I would see before coming home. It was a sad thought.

Noosa Heads

Early the next morning I caught yet another bus to Noosa Heads. My plan was to spend the whole time there surfing but when I arrived the guy at the hostel told me the surf was crap and I should wait until the next morning. So I did. I loved Noosa! My hostel was amazing, the town was gorgeous and the weather was perfect! The people at this hostel were the nicest of any hostel I stayed at in Aus. They treated you like a friend not like a customer. It was great. I spent the day walking through the national park and exploring the beach. I saw the most beautiful sunset that night.

The next morning a very gorgeous 20-something year old guy pulled up to the hostel in his van full of surfboards and picked me up for my surf lesson. There was only one other person in my lesson. I was standing about after an hour but it was really easy because I had a giant 9-foot board (the larger the board the easier it is to stand but the harder it is to do anything cool). Because there were only two people in the lesson our instructor was able to take a few photos of us. It was a great morning. I spent the afternoon lounging by the river watching the pelicans. I didn’t want to leave.

Bundaberg

I arrived in Bundaberg at 10 pm and stayed in an old prison turned hostel. It was a strange place and I felt very unwelcome there. Bundaberg is near tons of farms and plantations so backpackers usually stay there for months to do harvest work. So everyone at the hostel knew each other and I felt pretty left out. I went to sleep early and the next morning walked down to the Bundaberg Rum distillery. I had to walk because the buses don’t run on Sundays. As I walked through the town it felt very much like I was walking through a ghost town. Everything was closed except the supermarket and the coin laundry and there was not a car or person in sight. It was very eerie. The tour of the distillery was really fun and at the end you get some free drinks to try. I tried the Bundy dark and stormy which is a mixed drink of ginger beer and rum. It was okay. I also tried the Bundy liqueur which was a delicious creamy, chocolaty, caramel delight sold exclusively at the distillery. I spent the afternoon doing laundry and reading (that’s really all there is to do in Bundaberg). Then I caught the overnight bus to Airlie Beach.

Airlie Beach/Whitsunday Islands

I arrived in Airlie at 6:30am and watched the sunrise. Then I checked into my sailing trip I had booked for two days two nights in the Whitsunday Islands. I spent the morning sunbathing and hopped on my boat at noon. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to SCUBA dive because I had been so sick but the dive instructor on the boat said it would be okay because I was nearly well again. I was pumped! There were 25 passengers on the boat and 4 crew members (Carley and Christian the dive instructors, Courtney the chef and cleaning staff and Wayne the skipper). Our first stop was Luncheon Bay where I did my first SCUBA dive. It kinda sucked because I got stuck in a group of these stupid Irish girls who didn’t even know how to swim. So after like half an hour of trying to get them to calm down we finally got to go for our dive but they were still freaking out so we only got to go a few metres deep. But it was still super cool and I saw heaps of amazing coral and there were fish everywhere. The Great Barrier Reef was totally different from what I expected… It was WAY better! The beauty was breathtaking. So that night we watched a pretty sunset and went to sleep early to get up in the morning for a sunrise dive. The boat had really cramped sleeping arrangements as most boats do so the tables in the kitchen folded down into beds. As a solo traveler, this is where I got to sleep. It was okay for the most part because it forced me to get up early and not miss out on anything but I couldn’t have a nap in the day or go to bed early because I had no bed until everyone else went to bed. Before bed Wayne the skipper took us all out on the deck and showed us all sorts of constellations and told us how to find south by the Southern Cross (the constellation on the Aussie flag).

The next day we went for our sunrise dive in Mackerel Bay. I was excited to not be with the Irish girls this time and we saw heaps of cool stuff. I got to touch Bubble coral that was soft and slimy and I saw a giant sea turtle! It was really exciting! Next we went to Pitstop Bay for our third and final dive. I saw another sea turtle and the coral was the most beautiful in this spot.

After the dive we all went to Whitehaven Beach which has 98% silica sand making it some of the softest, whitest sand in the world! It was so beautiful I felt like I had been transported into a postcard.

The next day we spent sailing back to Airlie Beach to end our voyage. On the way we sailed through this area where water enters from five different directions and it is all different temperatures. This causes crazy whirlpools all over the place and has been known to turn good sized boats 360 degrees! It was so cool sailing through there as our boat kept getting thrown off course by the water. Then we sailed past George Harrison’s old house on one of the islands – very luxurious.

We arrived at around noon and I had nowhere to go until 8:20pm when I had to catch my bus to Cairns so two British girls Rachel and Gemma to their posh resort and lied by the pool. Gemma told me that her mom would never stay in a crap hotel like this (this was a four-star resort that had been featured in Vogue magazine!) I was so not used to spending time with wealthy people it was very shocking and I felt like a peasant compared to these girls. I left the resort around 3:30 to make sure I got to the place where I had left my backpack before they closed but they didn’t close until 8 so I spent the afternoon wandering around town and I booked a tour of the Daintree Rainforest for the next day when I would be in Cairns. After supper I had a little time to kill so I went and sat at a bus stop. I have discovered that sitting in random bus stops is the best place to meet the craziest and/or coolest people. As I was sitting there a pretty 30-something year old woman came and sat with me and chatted to me all about Cairns where she used to live and all the cool things to do there and how the people are so nice and that everything there is so much cheaper than in Airlie and she hoped I had an amazing trip and so on… She was so cool. Then she hopped on her bus and I walked down to the Greyhound bus stop at the other end of town. Two Irish guys from my sailing trip were on the same bus as me to Cairns which I thought would be great except that I slept the whole way there and didn’t even talk to them until we arrived in Cairns the next morning.

Cairns

I had neglected to get the address of my hostel in Cairns so when I arrived in Cairns I had no idea where I was supposed to go and ended up walking around aimlessly with the Irish guys until we found some guy on the street who gave us directions. So I got Naill’s mobile number and made plans to possibly meet up somewhere for a drink that night. As I was walking in the direction of the hostel and waiting at a stop light a girl asked me if I was going to the YHA. She was going there too and conveniently had a map AND she was from Toronto! It was really cool. I got to the hostel just in time to change my clothes brush my teeth and meet my tour bus for a day tour of the Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation. We started the tour at the Rainforest Habitat Wildlife Sanctuary after a beautiful drive on the Captain Cook Highway right on the coast. Our tour guide Troy was full of information about sugarcane and showed us the AJ Hackett bungy tower which made me really nervous. He taught us all about cassowaries, endangered keystone species in the rainforest. The seeds of many plants will only germinate after passing through the digestive system of a cassowary. Also we saw the only pair of breeding black storks in captivity in the world and I got up close to a HUGE crocodile.

Next we went to Mossman gorge for a short nature walk and a swim in a freezing water hole. Troy told us about all these really cool plants (one species that is 350 million years old!) and he found a deadly wild snake. Next we were off to our Daintree River cruise to see some wild crocs. We saw about 7 including 2 huge males, a tiny baby, a couple midsized females and a couple 7-10 year old males. We also saw a green frog that had hopped onto our boat and some green tree snakes. After the cruise we drove up to Cape Tribulation where I got to hang out at the beach for a while. On the way there, we saw a wild cassowary and his three chicks (chicks are raised by the dad). Apparently it is very rare to see wild cassowaries and especially chicks. It was very exciting. After the beach we drove all the way back to Cairns and saw a cane fire and the most magnificent sunset that turned the whole ocean pink.

Once back in Cairns I attempted to call Naill to meet up with him and Brian for a drink but his phone wasn’t working or something and we got cut off. I tried to call again a bit later but we got cut off again. I gave up trying to get a hold of them and went on a hunt for some supper. I also gave up on that hunt and ate some street pizza because it was already 9 pm and everything was closed except pubs and sit-down restaurants (I just wanted some take-away). Then I went to bed. Yes, I know, I am very cool. The next day, however, was bungy day and I needed to save my energy. So I woke up at the crack of 10 and met my courtesy pick-up at 11. I was truly terrified. There were about 10 other people in the van heading out to the tower that day all of whom expressed varying degrees of fear in their eyes. Once we got out to the tower I waited around for what seemed like an eternity to pay and get my ticket to go up to jump. The girl at the counter was totally incompetent. Anyway, once all that was sorted out and I had my ticket I could climb up the tower at any time whenever I was ready. I was stalling waiting to watch some other people jump first and build up my confidence but the guy who drove us out there came up to me and said I better get up the tower right away or I would have to wait until after lunch. So I climbed up the stairs to the top of the 50 metre tower and watched a bunch of people jump before me. Then it was my turn. The guys working the ropes were crazy and tattooed and dreadlocked but they actually made me feel quite safe. As the guys were tying up my ankles I was told that I was going to touch the water and I had no choice about it (I guess they could tell I wanted to but was too scared). The choice I had was how far in I went. If I jumped out far I would just get my hands wet but if I just dropped like a sack of potatoes I would go in up to my waist. After prying my death grip off the railing and counting down from 5 I had no choice but to jump. And I did. It was the most amazing rush of my life. Way better than any rollercoaster or any drop of doom. I was most surprised by how smooth it was. When you see videos it looks like people are getting jerked around by the bungy but it was nothing like that. You can’t even tell you’ve reached the bottom until you start going back up (unless you touch the water). It is totally smooth. I guess I did a perfect jump because it was only my hands that touched the water. It was soooooooo cool. I had to do it again. They had a deal on that day that if you did a second jump it only cost $35 as opposed to the $99 for the first jump. And a third jump would only be $25 and if you did a $25 fourth jump you could have a fifth jump for free. I had to wait until after lunch to do my second jump so I chatted with a British guy and a German guy until we could all go up for our next jumps. At the top of the tower I saw s really tall Dutch guy who I had seen at the front desk with his dad. He looked terrified. So I chatted with him and told him how much fun it would be. It was his last day in Australia so he decided to do something crazy. He was really cool and I probably could have chatted with him all day. He jumped right before I did and enjoyed it but didn’t do a second jump. For my second jump I went backwards. I felt free as a bird feeling the wind rush past me. It wasn’t nearly as scary the second time as the first but I did have a few choice words for the tower guy as he pretended to push me off the tower. I would have done more jumps but the driver came by to tell me he was taking a group back if I was ready. I took the opportunity to escape before I spent all my money. The Dutch guy came back to and we chatted some more all the way back to town. What a cool guy. I spent the late afternoon and early evening wandering aimlessly around town and discovered the night markets which were full of cheap souvenirs and yummy food. I wasted some time there and meant to go out that night but I had another failed attempt to get a hold of the Irish guys and ended up just going to bed early after a very tiring day. The next morning I checked out early, caught the airport shuttle, and hopped on my flight into the outback to start part three of my adventure.

Part 1: Paul's farm

Okay so here it is. I have been on an adventure over the last month. It all began in Canberra as we (Carlos Jay and I) were getting ready to leave uni and head out to Paul’s place near Welarawang. We decided that since we had to catch a 7:45 am bus that we would just no go to sleep at all and spend all night saying goodbyes and packing. It felt really weird to leave my room for the last time… seeing it empty and knowing that I would not be back. I shed many a tear saying goodbye to the amazing friends I have made and knowing that I will probably not see many of them ever again. These people had become my family over the last 5 months and I didn’t want to say goodbye. But alas the time came to catch a taxi to the bus stop in civic. However, our taxi we ordered never came so we ended up having to wake up Jack who we already woke up at 5 am to say goodbye to us to drive us to the station. It had frozen overnight and his car was covered in frost. There was no time to scrape it off so he drove us the whole way with his head hanging out the window. We arrived just in time. Jack is my hero! All three of us immediately fell asleep on the bus all the way to Sydney and then we slept some more all the way to Lithgow where Paul was to meet us to take us out to his farm.

Saying goodbye to Arscott House

We arrived in Lithgow at around 5pm and went to the pub for a while because Paul’s dad had to take our enormous amount of luggage to the farm first and then come back to get us. Paul’s place is super cool. They have 2 adorable dogs, a cat and a horse, heaps of beautiful land, and a beautiful home. Paul’s mom made a delicious curry dinner. After dinner we went on a walk out back to gaze at the stars. Tia the horse decided to follow us around on our walk, it was quite amusing. The next morning Paul took us on a long walk out to Stavin’s Cave. We got lost several times but it was worth is when we finally got there. The cave was a huge sandstone cave and we found a dead kangaroo inside… it was pretty creepy. On the way back Paul called his mom and told her that the entrance to that cave had collapsed and we were trapped inside. It was pretty funny… eventually he told her we were fine and on our way back. I had been quite sick so once we got back to the house I napped all afternoon while everyone else prepared a huge lamb feast for dinner. A whole bunch of Paul’s friends and family came over and we celebrated his 21st birthday. Paul’s dad gave a big speech about all the accomplishments in Paul’s life. It was so touching; you could see how proud his parents are of him and how much love they have for him. It nearly brought a tear to my eye. The party was great. Later on Paul and his mom pulled out Paul’s electric bagpipes and her harp and did a duet and then we brought out the hand drums and the tambourine and had a big jam session. It was amazing! I never thought in my whole life I would hear a harp-bagpipe duet! It was a wonderful night.

Paul lost, The lamb spit, Carlos and Paul's dad Andrew, Duet

The next morning Jay and I said some more teary goodbyes and caught the train back into Sydney. I hopped off the train in Parramatta and realized that I was supposed to get off at Westmead so I then walked back to Westmead which took a couple hours to meet up with Joann (you will recall that I planned to leave my luggage with her and her husband while I went backpacking). They were great! They took me out for supper and even paid for my train ticket to the airport the next day.

Post coming soon....

Hey all! Wow I've been on a crazy adventure all over Australia in the last month. Hence I have not had the time or money to post everything I have been doing. I will update this thing on the 21st for sure once I get to Sydney and have free internet again! yay!! and then I will be home on the 22nd! Crazy I know. I''m really excited to come home but a little sad to be leaving aussie behind. I'm in Melbourne right now after a tour through the outback and from Adelaide to Melbourne! Good stuff. Stay tuned... details to come. And heaps of pics!

Crazy Aussies

Top 15 Weird/Different Stuff in Australia... so far.

1. Let's start with the obvious: they drive on the left side of the road. This in itself is not so surprising but what got to me is that everything else in the country is backwards too. For example, escalators/travellators (inclined moving sidewalks to take your shopping trolley on) are on the opposite sides so you often try to go up the down side and down the up side, keys turn the wrong way, light switches flip down to turn ON the light, people walk on the left...
2. You cannot have a normal cup of coffee here... you must order a long black or flat white or any number of other combinations of distance and colour that all have something to do with espresso... this is very disconcerting when all you want is a coffee, just a coffee.
3. I cannot tell you if toilets flush in the opposite direction because in Aus. all the toilets are water conserving and do not use enough water to create a swirl. And all the toilets have a low water and normal water flush option (your choice depends on the amount of mess you made I guess haha) and you will rarely see paper towel in the bathrooms... everywhere has air dryers.
4. Things have weird names here: the trunk of a car is the boot the hood is the bonnet, ketchup is tomato (toe-mat-oh) sauce, a flashlight is a torch, the parking lot is the car park, bell peppers are capsicum, snapping your fingers is called clicking, something sketchy is dodgy, granola is called muesli flip flops are thongs, the pound key on the telephone is the hash key, a bogan is a moderately derogatory term for a country person - kind of like a hick, a spook is someone who you don't ever see because they are in their rooms studying all the time, and every word longer than one syllable requires an abbreviated form (board shorts are boardies, sunglasses are sunnies, university is uni, people who live in student res are ressies, the salvation army is the Salvo, afternoon is arvo...)
5. The most common greeting is: How ya goin'?, if there is a lot of something there is 'heaps' (something can also be "heaps good" rather than really good), 'I think...' and 'Do you think...' are 'I reckon...' and 'Do ya reckon...'
6. This one is not weird or different from home but still interesting: a group of kangaroos is called a mob and a group of jellyfish is called a smack.
7. If you ask for a lemonade at a restaurant they will bring you a sprite. Lemonade does not exist.
8. Aussies in the cities do not drive trucks, they drive Utes which are more or less the modern day El Camino.
9. If you order a burger 'with the lot' you can expect to receive a burger with pineapple, a fried egg, bacon, beetroot (everything in this country seems to come with beetroot), tomato, lettuce and cheese. It seems really disgusting but is actually quite tasty.
10. There is no orange cheddar cheese in Australia and you will be very hard pressed to find a bagel.
11.Cars all have different names. For example, a Ford Escort is a Laser.
12. Words are spelled with s instead of z like realise and analyse but they do say zed rather than zee so they can be forgiven.
13. Songbirds seem to have abandoned Australia. Instead they have big ugly things that sound like dying babies, or kookaburras that I think sound like howling monkeys not like laughter at all.
14. The dentist's office is called a surgery which can be very disconcerting when you walk down the street and see a sign that says surgery over a dodgy door in some side building.
15. Parking metres are electronic and fire hydrants are found in the sides of buildings, not little yellow things on the sidewalk.

An Update

Okay okay I know it's been a really long time since I posted anything. But to be totally honest not a whole lot of anything has been going on here. Well it seems that way because I've had my butt pasted to my desk chair for the last couple weeks working on essays and studying hard. But there have been a few fun study break activities and I finished my last paper today and don't have an exam until the 15th so I have time to kill... finally.

First, on May 17 it was Carlos' birthday so a huge group of us went into Civic for some karaoke and then to Uni bar where it was Woodstock and everyone was dressed up like hippies. Karaoke was soooo fun! It was an older crowd and creepy old gay men kept trying to dance with all the guys but we still had a blast! And Mandy, a girl from Saskatoon who I took French with and who is a friend a Jaret's was in town for a few days. It was so cool to see a familiar face.

Next, on May 25 was the Op Shop Ball which is an event put on by the Residential Students Organization where everyone goes to op shops (thrift stores) and buys the most hideous outfit they can find then we all hop in a bus go to a bar have dinner and drinks and dance to 80's music. I have to say I need to bring this idea back to Canada. It was so fun. At first I wasn't going to go because I wanted a quiet weekend to work on some papers but as everyone was getting ready to go I was wishing I was getting ready too and couldn't focus on my schoolwork. So I went down to Maki's room (who also wasn't going) and found all the other Mexican girls there making her go and it didn't take much convincing to get me to go too. I ended up wearing Maki's rainbow striped leggings and her sweater because I didn't have an outfit and left most of my wardrobe at home. After much confusion trying to find the place (we missed the bus) we arrived just in time for supper. It was a blast!

The next day Cindy, Carlos, Gooder and I borrowed Jack's car and went to Telstra Tower which stands on top of Black Mountain (more or less a large hill) in the middle of the city. There is an amazing 360 degree view of Canberra from the tower and we arrived just in time for a beautiful sunset. It was a perfect way to spend the evening.


A few days earlier I had been talking to a guy on my floor who is a huge AFL fan (Aussie Rules Football) and he mentioned there would be a game on the weekend and I told him I wanted to go (understanding AFL was one of my goals in coming to Australia... that and cricket which I have yet to master). As an illustration of how much this guy loves AFL his nickname is Vic which is short for Victoria which is the "homeland" of AFL. He is nuts for AFL. So anyway, I put together a crew of curious international students and Vic took us all to the game. It was the Sydney Swans vs the Western Bulldogs. The Swans destroyed the Bulldogs 100-54 or something like that. I officially love AFL! It is the coolest game and I think it would be sooooo fun to play (it's like rugby and soccer put together). And, I made friends with the most adorable little girl named Claire who was siting next to me in the first half. It was a great afternoon! Thanks Vic!


The whole next week was crazy for me at school. I had two 2500 word essays, a 20 min. presentation, an exam, and a 1000 word paper. I thought I was going to die from lack of sleep or information overload or something. However, I got an extension on one of the papers until today from my awesome literature instructor and the internet went down on Thursday afternoon so I was unable to do the other huge essay. This however, was seriously, seriously bad news and I am furious at the whole situation because my instructor does not live in Canberra and so she has no contact phone number which means that I had no way to contact her and tell her my dilemma. So, when the internet got back up and running again (which was after the paper was already due) I sent her an email asking her what I could do. She replied and told me she could not mark my paper and I would not receive a grade for it. This paper was worth 50% of my grade for that class and I have now failed the class. I am truly furious about this and am trying to contact student advocacy to see what can be done about it but in the meantime I just have to focus on my exams. I really am not a fan of the University of Canberra and would not recommend it to anyone.

So anyway... after my miserable last week of classes a big group of us went to Civic for supper and to check out the nightlife. We had supper at at Thai food place called Lemongrass which is rated as one of the top 10 restaurants in New South Wales by the Lonely Planet! It was pretty cheap and really really good. After supper we went to our favourite karaoke bar, P.J. O'Reily's to sing a few tunes and then to the Canadian inspired bar Mooseheads (there is really nothing Canadian about it besides the name) and finally we went to King O'Malley's Irish pub for a pretty good live band and a nice pint. It was a great way to unwind after such a hectic week.

Sydney Part III

It just has to be said right now that I love Sydney!!! It is definitely my favourite city in Australia so far. That being said, I haven't actually been to many yet. Anyway, I went to Sydney again this weekend to see its wilder side. Cindy and I arrived and got a hostel called G'Day Backpackers essentially in Kings Cross (they claim to be in Woolloomooloo though). You will remember Kings Cross from my first visit to Sydney. So that night after a nice nap Cindy and I headed out for a night on the town. When we walked out of our hostel we saw a couple girls dressed to the nines and appeared to be ready for a fun night out. However, on closer examination we discovered that right in front of our hostel is where one would go to pick up a transvestite prostitute. And so began our journey into Kings Cross. We walked down the strip to a nice ice cream place and got directions to our first destination: The World bar. We got there and were told we couldn't go in because we were wearing flip-flops so we then had to go back to our hostel, past the hookers (twice) and back to the bar in suitable footwear. It was so worth it though because this place was so cool. Above the bar were hanging tonnes of little teapots (which was weird since this place definitely did not serve tea). We then noticed a bunch of people pouring shots out of teapots. We were amazed and immediately ordered one. How could we pass up the opportunity to drink booze out of a teapot? Hahaha. It was so yummy. Then we met a group of random Irish guys and attempted to have conversations with them but couldn't understand a word they were saying for their accents and eventually made a stealth exit out the side door and went back to our hostel. It was such a fun night and we were really looking forward to getting our hair done the next day.



We got up bright and early and headed out to do some shopping before our hair appointment. We went to the coolest opal shop. It was on the 3rd floor of some building and when you get out of the elevator there is a big gate in front of you and a lady over a speaker says "Good morning. Are you here to see the opals?" After a long confused pause we said good morning and yes we would like to see the opals. Then the gate unlocks and we go through into this cool room and are seated at a desk where a lady gives us a lesson about opals and asks us what kind we are interested in. Then she brings out trays with the kind we like and we could pick out the ones we want to buy. Cindy wanted to get her mom some earrings but the opals were way more expensive than we anticipated (we saw some earrings worth nearly $3000). So we left empty handed but it was a really neat experience and now I could tell you way more than you will ever need to know about opals.

Then we went to out hair appointment. We were so excited as we were both way overdue for a cut and colour. I parted ways with Cindy and was taken to my chair. My stylist brought me a glass of water in a wine glass and a chocolate covered strawberry. She then proceeded to tell me (not ask me) what she was going to do with my hair. This was really weird but I'm not picky with my hair so I let her have at it. She put in some highlights and gave me a trim and sent me on my way with barely another word spoken between us. It was a very awkward hour or so as I am used to chatting up a storm with my stylist but I guess that's not how they do it in Sydney. Anyway i was pumped with how it turned out. Cindy got stuck with a junior colourist who took forever to put in her highlights so I got to sit and chat with her while waiting for her to be done. She had the coolest guy cutting her hair though who did the craziest things when he was cutting it. Overall, it was super fun and we both look hot now. Ha ha!

Before and after

That night we went to a club called The Cross. Once we got in we noticed advertising for a Peep Show and pictures of nude women on the walls and realized this may not be the kind of place we thought it was. However, as far as we could tell there was nothing dodgy going on and we had a couple drinks in the lounge, got bored, and went looking for a different bar in Potts Point. We never found it but we asked directions from some random German guys in the street who accompanied us back to Kings Cross and came with us back to The World for more teapots! All in all it was a super fun weekend and a much needed break from the stresses of uni!

School School :(

So not much has been going on with me of late. School has been really intense and keeping me super busy. Yes, I know it doesn't seem like it from all my stories but I am actually still in school here. Unfortunately, I've had to stay in "boring" Canberra since Easter break trying to save some money and get some work done (which hasn't really happened cuz I've been sick pretty much ever since I got back). But I'm going to Sydney this weekend with Cindy to de-stress and get our hair done VIP-style. It should be really fun. We're going to do some shopping and we have free entry into 4 hot clubs and fully intend to take advantage of that. So, I should have a more exciting blog post for you after the weekend. Yay! I can't wait!