Gold Coast Pt. 2 - Rain and No Internet

Day 15, MON AUG 23 - The second day in Surfer's Paradise was not any better because as usual, I brought the rain with me :(  I didn't see much to do in the town besides going to a casino, strip club, bowling, the beach or shopping...none of which appealed to me whatsoever.  I thought I'd catch up on the blog and perhaps edit some photos and post them on the web.  But strike 2...the Inn's internet was not working!  I was so tired of trying to get internet and pay a ridiculous amount for it and decided I would go into the city once the rain died down to see if I couldn't find a cheap pre-paid wireless internet card.  My roommates, Vincent from Denmark and Nikki from Germany, joined me too as they were going to town to use a cheap internet cafe.  After going into several shops, I quickly found out that wireless internet cards were  $50+ dollars for 2GB worth of internet.  Insane!  I missed the free fast wireless internet that was offered in the many of the cafes back in the US...something I will no longer take for granted.  After hassling with the research of wireless internet, I couldn't be bothered with paying that much money so I met up with the new roommates, stopped by the grocery store for lunch and headed back to Sleeper's Inn.  On the menu was a cheap frozen Hawaiian Pizza and Aussie's version of Ramen noodles.  Strike 3...the pizza was terrible and the back up plan of Ramen noodles wasn't great either.   Oh the joy of being a broke back packer...hahaha.  All three of us ended up watching movies on Vincent's laptop for the rest of this grim and grey day.  As the day ended, I was ready for a change.  Tomorrow, I was heading to Byron Bay to meet up with Katerina :)

Gold Coast

DAY 14, SUN AUG 22 – After having seen enough of Brisvegas, I decided it was time to see what the Gold Coast was all about.  I was in search for waves of course.  Put a surfer out of the water for a week and we start to get withdrawals.  I was certain I’d find some waves in Surfers Paradise and booked my chartered bus ride yesterday afternoon. But later that evening before departing on a 2-hour bus ride, a recent visitor named Kate informed me the city’s name is very misleading.  I had already booked my bus and hostel so I thought I’d find out for myself. 

Buut…she was right.  It was far from paradise.  As the bus began to enter the surfer town, it instantly reminded me of the break back home, Virginia Beach, but smaller and dirtier.  It had tall hotel buildings, blocks of bars and restaurants along the coast, and people walking around in colorful bikinis and board shorts.  It was a clear and warm day at the beach and despite the city’s appearance, I was ready to soak in the sun in my bikini.

 The only cool thing in Surfer's Paradise

 Welcome to Surfer's Paradise Marquee

I quickly checked into this typical beach hostel named the Sleeper's Inn which reminded me of the Melrose Place, though not as fabulous.  There was a small swimming pool located near the entrance and the building structure surrounded it.  Luckily my room was around the corner, on the first floor and had it’s own little kitchen.  My bunk bed was located in a private room with 2 bunks.  The others had to sleep in the hallway towards the kitchen and bathroom.  I can’t imagine that anyone could sleep that well in such a high traffic area, but then again most people can sleep through a hurricane and not budge.  But regardless of my surroundings, I dropped my bags, changed into my shorts and bikini, said hello to the British girls staying in the room and started to make my way towards the beach. 

Katerina decided to join me for the afternoon to have our usual Sunday sesh before she had to see her friend’s performance later that evening.  Luckily our different chartered buses arrived closely at the same time so we could enjoy the sun together.  The winter sun in Australia quickly runs out of steam as soon as 3 or 4 o’clock hits, so it was a limited beach day as Katerina and I both arrived around 1pm.  We met half way and made a pit stop at McDonald’s because I was craving an M&M McFlurry.  I took the first bite of that delicious treat and instantly felt I was in a familiar place; home…on the corner of 21^st Street and Pacific Avenue.  There were many people on the beach, many of which were backpackers.  I knew instantly because a large group was squatted on the sands with their bulky backpacks.  It was as if bums were living on the beach…hmmm sounds familiar.  Brazilians were playing sand soccer, girls in the tiniest bikini’s, a few people playing catch, and even fewer surfers in the water.  It was chilly with the Arctic wind blowing from the coast and waves were small and choppy.  I was definitely in Virginia Beach.

After soaking in the UV rays, Katerina and I made our way back to my hostel to change for evening festivities.  Before leaving we asked the reception desk to see which restaurant was best for dinner and a good place to go for Sunday Sesh.  We walked towards Billy’s Beach Bar and Grill as suggested to us, but decided it was too early to go there.  We ended up at an Irish pub, similar to the one back in Sydney and repeated the Sunday Sesh tradition.  We ordered a pint of beer, our meals, and paid for it at the bar.  I find it quite convenient that most places in Australia requires you to order and pay first so you don't have to deal with waiting for the bill to come.  Tips or Gifts and Services Tax (GST) is always included so you don't have to calculate a tip either.  Although convenient, customer service is limited to say the least.  Katerina enjoyed a large meal of fish and chips as I decided on a burger.  I’ve had many burgers, but this one takes the cake on the largest or at least the tallest stacked one I’d ever come across.  I stared at it for a moment and debated whether I could even fit the thing in my tiny little mouth.  I even took a picture just to prove how big this sucker was.  (SN: and no…that’s not what she said!) But I was hungry and thought why not, doesn’t hurt to try right?  I cut it in half first thinking it'd be more manageable but it really wasn't.  I could barely take my first bite.  As soon as the tiny bite hit my mouth, a rush of rich flavor filled my mouth…it was so delicious.  Enjoying our meal, an older man began to set up on the stage beside us and began to play cover songs with his guitar while the melody of the song played low in the background.  His first song was Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds,” and I knew then it was going to be a good night.

 Sunset view of the beach from the Pub

 BIG BURGER!!

We left after devouring our meals and walked over to give the Billy’s Beach Bar a try.  It was still early as only a handful of people were in the bar, but we went in anyway before Katerina had to catch the last bus back to Brisvegas.  We sat outside near a heat lamp and ordered drinks by the pool.  This was the life, I could only imagine what this place looked like in the summer as the pool was heated and a large truss system hovered the empty pool.  As we finished our round of drinks, a few Irish men decided to come talk to us.  We quickly got bored with their conversations and hoped they’d leave us alone, but one was persistent even though his friends had left him stranded.  We were too nice to say no and although Katerina was hinting at leaving, I failed to read between the lines.  That was a big mistake! This one began to tell us his life story and how he gambled for a living.  Even worse Katerina had to suddenly leave, as she had to catch the last bus.  I thought oh no…do not leave me with this guy!!!  Luckily, I got rid of him quickly and safely made my way back to the hostel.  Other hostel guests were headed back to this same bar later in the evening around 10pm, but I was not sticking around for the late night crowd.  After the creepo, all I wanted to do was call it a night.  As the other travelers in my room headed out to the bar, all I heard was silence and went to bed peacefully.  Tomorrow would be another day in Surfer’s Dump.

Slow Down

Hello to my fellow followers.  I apologize again for the lengthy break in between these blogs.  I find that blogging is more difficult than I imagined.  I've been traveling so much I've barely had time to take a breather.  But finally things are slowing down.  I have yet to tell you about the rest of my adventures in OZ and my recent trip to New Zealand.  Besides having limited access to internet, the number of pictures to filter through is just an undertaking I haven't had the urge to tackle.  Now that I have 3 days off of work and the Thanksgiving/Christmas season coming I'm sure I'll be able to fit in a few sessions of quiet time to sit down and write about my adventures.  Keep your eyes peeled for the next blog by the end of the week :)

Love and Blessings to you all!

P.S. Here's a peek of one of the places I stayed at in Surfer's Paradise.  Hilarious advertisement if you ask me.

Lions, Tigers, and Bears

DAY 13, SAT AUG 21 – No not really lions, tigers and bears, but sounds exciting right?  Exploring and taking in the nightlife, culture, and city got old fast so today I thought it was time to really see what Australia has to offer…their magnificent wild life!  In the afternoon I headed for Lone Pine…The worlds first and largest Koala Sanctuary. I was excited to see these cute little creatures.  I read in the brochure that there were other wildlife to see like kangaroos (aka joeys), emus, wombats, birds, dingoes, and gators.  It was going to be an action packed day. 

The bus ride took about half an hour or so but after this visit it was well worth it.  I quickly made my way to the entrance to get a closer look at the koalas and hopefully get to hold them.  Sadly I missed the koala talk, BUT not the feeding time.  Rangers were placing fresh eucalyptus branches for the koalas to eat.  Boy, did they get excited.  They climbed and hopped around, quickly making their way to the nearest branch.  While I took photographs as they ate, some of them winked at me a few times.  SO cute!  If they could talk, I imagined they were saying…oh yea that’s the stuff.  And after eating said…that hit the spot.   And although they probably winked because they were finally relieved to eat, I’d still like to think they were winking at me and saying hello.  I walked over to see if I could hold one, but when I read a sign it cost $39 to hold one and take a picture, plus the cost of a photo package.  I later found out that it only cost $15 to hold one and take the picture.  So sad I missed this experience.  But no worries, I won’t leave this country until I get to hold one!  Also I find it interesting to know that eating the eucalyptus leaves places the koalas in a sedated state…equivalent to being high on marijuana I suppose.  Funny association, but that’s what someone told me.  The leaves are the only things the koalas can eat because their bodies require the nutrients available only from the eucalyptus plant.  Despite this fact, I thought that this is the life…eat, sleep, and be merry.  No stress, work, or drama.  Oh wait…that’s what I’m doing J I know it won’t last too much longer but I’m going to make the most of it for as long as I can. 

After taking a lot of pictures, I walked over to the kangaroo area.  I walked around observing them in their own element and soon found out that you can feed them.  Oh lord…now this is going to be a real treat!  Not only do I get to see them up close, I can actually come up to pet and feed them.  I was SOO stoked but nervous too.  I heard that joeys kick and that’s a little intimidating because they have really strong legs.  But as I slowly came up to them they were nice enough to let me pet them, but some also ran off.  Hahaha. BUT a few were hungry enough to eat straight from the palm of my hand.  They’re tongues were a bit slimy but didn’t leave too much of their slobber behind. Lol.  I couldn’t believe I was in Australia feeding these joeys! 

Besides all the roos there were Emus too.  But before I began to feed them, a small boy warned me that they would knock the bag from my hand so hold on tight or hide the bag.  I didn’t believe it, but they were aggressive and were not scared or shameful of coming up and pecking at my hand.  Although it was fun to feed them, their swift pecks began to hurt my hand.  I quickly ran away from them before they could eat all my feed or my hand for that matter.  I made my way to the other side of the park to feed the rest to the red joeys.  There were so many hopping up to me and were more willing to eat the feed because they hadn’t eaten yet.  SO fun!

Once all the feed was gone I walked over to the parakeet park.  There were certainly A LOT of them.  They were going nuts during the feeding time, chirping loudly and flying swiftly past me in the air.  Many guests were holding the feeding wands while the birds landed on their shoulders and on the wand.  It was a bit scary for me, as I’ve been attacked by a bird before.  But I braved my fear and came very close to the feeding area to take photos of their colorful feathers. I tried to get up the nerve to hold one of the wands but they made me too nervous, even though I knew they wouldn’t attack me.

Next, I visited the other areas of the park where more birds were located (thankfully in cages though ironically I don’t like animals in cages.  But like I mentioned I’m a bit scared of birds flying over my head), a gator, huge lizards, farm animals and the Tasmanian devil.  The Tasmanian devil definitely didn’t look like TAZ the cartoon character, but still great to see one in person.  Lastly, I was completely surprised when I saw a sign for a platypus tank.  I never thought I’d actually see this creature in person, much less all the other ones I did get to see.  It was really cool to see the platypus swim in the murky looking water.  I definitely felt blessed to be in the presence of such beautiful and unique wildlife.  It’ll be an experience I’ll always remember.

Valentino

DAY 12, FRI AUG 20 – Surprise, Surprise…RAIN!! It seems to follow me wherever I go.  I’m finding that these kinds of days call for a visit to a museum of some sort.  Fortunately, my hostel was close to all the good museums in Brisbane and had quite a bit to offer as far as the exhibits were concerned.  Katerina and I thought it would be great to go to the Modern Art Gallery to check out the VALENTINO Exhibit.  What a show it was and worth the $20 entry fee.  The amount of detail and craftsmanship into each of his pieces were incredible.  I thought wow…I wonder if he actually sewed all these pieces.  Turns out he just designed most of them and collaborated with his seamstresses.  Still…the man is brilliant.  I wish we could have taken pictures inside of the exhibit, but unfortunately like all great exhibitions photography is prohibited. 

We later treated ourselves to a nice dinner at a restaurant.  We ended up eating at an outdoor restaurant around the corner from my hostel called Pig and Whistle.  Great name for a restaurant, huh?  Well we thought it would be cheap bc of the name but surprise, surprise everything on the menu was kind of expensive.  I enjoyed a nice spicy chilli sauce & cheese nachos.  It was surprisingly delicious.  The sauce closely represented spaghetti sauce…it was quite interesting.

After dinner we explored what Brisbane had to offer for its nightlife.  We ended up at this hole in the wall bar called Fat Louie’s which took us some time to find.  We had a few rounds to make it worth the effort.  They had pool tables and young people who barely looked like they could drink legally.  It reminded me of a rundown college bar.  Next, we walked another several blocks to head to bar called Friday’s, a restaurant located near the docks on the second floor.  It had an expansive deck overlooking the water as well as an indoor dance floor.  Of course that’s where we headed ;p  And the best part…I finally found a bar that carried Captain Morgan’s Spice Rum.  I could finally relish in a proper rum and coke with lime.  It made my night!  We danced the night away until it was time for me to catch a cab back to the hostel. 

Good Night to another great day in Brisvegas!

BrisVegas!

DAY 11, AUG 19 – After all the drama of missing the flight, I arrived in Brisbane nice and safe.  But of course I had to take the shuttle to the hostel…another $15.  I arrived at the airport at 7:30ish, but didn’t get to the hostel til 9ish.  I swear you get the fastest service from these airport shuttles…NOT! Anyway, when I arrived at the hostel I couldn’t check in until 2pm so I put all my things into the storage room and decided to explore the city.  After walking around, I was quite hungry and stopped in a small sushi cafe to have breakfast/lunch…which by the way it is the cheapest thing in Australia.  Two rolls for about $6 or less…so great!  I finished it off with a delicious banana honey smoothie from Boost.

Later, I met up with Katerina and we explored South Bank.  It was by far the warmest day I’ve experienced in OZ…a whopping 24 degrees (Celsius of course).  We decided to sit around and enjoy the weather at a fake beach/lagoon in South Bank.  Katerina also showed me a unique ceramic exhibit in the art gallery close by.  I’ve never seen anything like it.  Most of the pieces were larger than life but also included smaller intricate pieces.  It’s too bad the artist didn’t have a website, but luckily the museum did have postcard size advertisements for her exhibit (which I grabbed on the way out).  After the beach and gallery, we met up with her friend Florence to have lunch at a cute little café in the hip part of town.  It reminded me a bit of Colley Ave ;)  I wasn’t too hungry and everything was a bit expensive so I enjoyed another smoothie, mango strawberry flavored this time around.  The café had amazing food, which I’d probably return to if I get a chance.  Florence had this English style hash potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, etc that was very tasty.

 

After lunch all I could think of was a nice long hot shower and a nap.  I walked back to the hostel while they left to explore more of the city.  The hostel room was nice, clean, roomy, and included a drawer locker under the bed.  One of the girls was friendly enough to say hello though we had a bit of a language barrier.  She was Korean and didn’t understand English very well.  We made it work with a bit of sign language involved.   So after meeting the roomies I headed for the showers.  I must say their shower facilities were cleanlier than the last hostel I stayed and conveniently located beside my room.  Following a luxurious shower or at least as luxurious as it can get in a hostel, I walked around to get familiar with the hostel’s amenities. Base Brisbane Embassy had a huge kitchen and entertainment room, 2 large deck/balcony areas, and large laundry facility. I was impressed…especially for $22 a night for an 8 bed dorm.  Even better was the fact that they upgrade me to a 6 bed dorm for free.  

While waiting to meet up with Katerina and John for our evening outing, I went downstairs to watch TV in the entertainment room.  I met a nice Irish guy named Stephen.   I chatted him up for places he’d traveled in OZ and any suggestions he may have for where to stay, things to do, etc in those places.  Shortly after, I met Katerina downstairs in the bar for a drink until John showed up, our Canadian friend we made while @ the Blue Parrot.  We had a few there because drinks were decently priced.  Upon Stephen’s recommendation, I suggested this place called Victory.  We tried to find it, but no luck with a lack of directions given by Stephen.  So we just walked up the street to see what else this city had to offer.  We eventually made our way up to the balcony of Beaches which was blasting decent music.  After ordering a round we quickly found out that by 12 o’clock they were closing.   A bar closing at 12 on a Thursday night…weak.  But it’s okay I was pretty tired, Katerina had to make it for the last train to town and John had to get up early to check out. I passed out quickly despise the loud rowdy boys in the hall.

Welcome to BRISVEGAS…as the locals would call it.

Beginning Traveler's Mistake

DAY 10, WED AUG 18 – I am leaving Sydney today heading North for Brisbane in hopes of warmer weather.  It seemed like a normal day.  I’d pack, get ready, and say bye to all the new friends I had made.  My flight was supposed to leave at 15:10 or 4:10pm…or so I thought.  Clearly 15:10 is 3pm NOT 4pm.  I had scheduled the shuttle about 2 hours before departure since an hour was all that was needed to board a domestic flight.  In Australia, shuttle buses wait or they go around picking up as many people before heading to the final destination of the airport.  After an hour of driving around the city, I get to the airport…lugging 3 bags of heavy equipment and 2-3 seasons worth of clothing.  I wished I had packed MUCH less, but being here for 2-3 seasons required such necessities.  I’d say for a girl…that was exceptional.  Especially considering the fact that half the weight was the laptop, camera, and all the things that go along with it like chargers, external drive, tripod, etc. I would have borrowed a cart to lug all these bags, but they charge for everything here and a cart was $4.   No thanks!  I slowly dragged my way up to the check-in desk, ready to unload the bulge of what seemed like a large boulder fastened to my back. 

“Hi, I’m here to check in.”

What does the flight attendant say…”I’m sorry but your flight is closed.” 

A blank and confused look on my face, “Ah hem, perdon a me!?  WHAT!?  My flight doesn’t leave until 4pm”, I replied. 

“Well all flights require at least half an hour to board the flight, your flight was actually at 3:10pm.”

I looked at the clock, looked at my printed boarding pass and sure enough it was. 

FIASCO is what came next!  I asked if there was another flight that would depart later.

“Sorry, NOPE that one is closed.  The next one is not until 6am.   Oh and by the way it costs an extra $80 to change your flight now that you missed yours.  Your other option is to wait on stand by on a flight that will depart at 6pm to the Gold Coast.  You will have to catch a train or bus that will take you into Brisbane.”

Of course I would, because I had already booked a hostel right before leaving Sydney.  GREAT!  I called Stephany to see if there was a train that was scheduled to leave the Gold Coast around 8 o’clock.  Before she could call back with a reply, I decided that it would be too late to figure out how I would get to the hostel from the train stop.  Plus it would be dark and super late before I arrived into an unknown city. Guess it would be another night at the Blue Parrot. 

Stephany had offered me her free night on her bed since she was leaving by 8pm for her overnight bus trip to Melbourne.  So I paid another $15 to take a shuttle back to the hostel, which took another hour or so to repeat the process of filling the bus until it drove to the city.  I didn’t arrive back at the hostel until 5-6pm!  Fun stuff I tell ya.  I go to check in to see if I could take Stephany’s bed for free…but no! The owner of the Blue Parrot wouldn’t allow it, even though I had stayed there over a week and would only be there until 4am to leave for my flight the next morning.  LAME!  I frantically tried to cancel the hostel before I left the airport but the number was disconnected.  Finally after searching for half an hour for another number that might work (which didn’t), I called a branch of the same hostel which gave me the same phone number I dialed.  GREAT!  But thankfully she made the changes to my reservations and didn’t suffer the consequences of paying for that evening.  After settling a bit from the fiasco, I watched a bit of TV until it was bedtime.  The only thing that made my night was that, it was the best sleep I’ve had since I’ve been in Sydney, despite the fact it was only 4 hours because of my early flight.  There was no partying downstairs in the kitchen, no loud roommates entering the room late, and finally NO snorers in the room.  It was a quiet night ☺ 

I woke up early and thought about catching another shuttle or even the train, but didn’t want to take any chances so I hailed for a taxi to the airport.  He was a really nice New Zealander that I had an interesting and informative conversation with unlike the mute driver I had when I first got into the city.  He gave me good suggestions on where to visit in New Zealand along with other things and I guess that alone made it worth the $35 it took to pay for the fare.   I walked over to check my bags…only to find out that they were too heavy (only 2 bags, not weighing over 10kg together were allowed as carry ons) and paid an extra $40 for a 8kg bag.  UGH! 

So FINALLY after all the shuttle rides, taxi, the switching of flights, extra night @ the Blue Parrot and the extra luggage costs…the 1 hour mistake cost a total of $232 and a massive amount of stress. 

Note to self/Lesson Learned: Check and RECHECK when your flight leaves and ARRIVE 2 hours before it leaves no matter if it’s international or domestic.

Whales and the Opera

Again with the delay...keeping up with this thing is a lot harder than I thought.  Since I'm going to be in one place for at least a week I should have a few up this week.  I'll try to catch up on all my adventures and post a few of the hundreds of pictures I've taken.  Cheers!

DAY 7, SUN AUG 15 – Luckily Steph and I were wise enough to go back to the Hostel.  Apparently the night didn’t get much better from the frustration of walking all the way to the bar.  It took them an hour to walk there only to find out that one of the girls didn’t have the proper shoes on so the group had to go elsewhere.  I tell you its crazy that these bars and clubs will not even let you in if you have cute strappy sandals on…is wearing my chucks that much better than cute strappy sandals!?  Apparently…and if they’ll let me in wearing chucks well it’s pretty sweet but I’d prefer the cute sandals to match my outfit ;p

This morning the group decided to meet downstairs around 10-11ish to see if we could catch the Whale Watching Tour at 1pm.  Hooray!! We were able to fit in the tour.  So we walked our merry little way to the metro station.  2 stops and a change in the line and we were there. 

FYI – if you’re going to be in Sydney for a week or so it’s best to just purchase a My Train Pass.  $41 gets you unlimited ferry, train, and bus rides throughout the city for the week. 

We arrived early so we explored what Darling Harbor had to offer.  We checked out a few cafes and cute little shops.  I was getting hungry and thought we definitely need to eat lunch b/c the tour was from 1-5pm.  And ya’ll know I get hungry every 2-3 hours ;p  Lunch was delicious!  I ventured a bit from the normal menu and tried Lamp Kabobs served with a small salad (though their definition of a salad was quite different…peppers, roma tomatoes and a little bit of dressing).  Also, instead of having chips (aka fries) we went for the wedges.  OMG were they very scrumptious!  Here in OZ chips are pretty much served with EVERYTHING!  And most often they are paired with sweet chili sauce and mayo. Never thought of that combination, but the sweet chili sauce was great ☺  Xnay on the mayo…not really a fan.  Tomato sauce as they call it is not that popular here and if you do like the good ole ketchup on the chips, sometimes they charge extra for packets of those.  During lunch it started to pour, luckily we were done with our meals and were just hanging out until it was time to walk back to the pier.  We made our cover into this hidden room in the back that had a TV, pool table, and a few other games (pretty cool if you ask me).  The rain quickly subsided and we walked back to the pier and waited patiently for the boat.  It wasn’t very long of a wait.  We all boarded the ship, went over safety and other procedures…like where to find a bag in case we were feeling sick.  The guy was a bit rude by explaining, “He DOES NOT clean!” so you better grab one of these bags or else.  Whatever man…it’s your job if you’re part of the crew.  In any case, we were all excited to get a glimpse at these majestic creatures.  (SN: The great thing about this particular tour is that if you don’t get to see a whale you can either get ½ your money back or come back another time for free.)  When we left the pier we oddly made our way to Sydney Harbor and were surprised because we took the train and walked all the way to Darling Harbor when we could have just waited at this pier.  Weird I tell ya and a bit irritating.  But we were already on the boat so no worries. 

Group photo on our way out to see for the whale watching

The view getting out to sea was of course amazing…cliffs, coves, lighthouses, etc.  The rainy clouds looked feathery and I definitely had to take a picture of that.  As soon as we hit the open seas, the water and sky were just gorgeous, cerulean blue skies and deep sapphire ocean.  We quickly joined a group of near by boats who were also scoping out for whales and luckily came across a blue humpback whale.  He was shy for a bit but after getting comfortable with the surrounding boats he responded with frequent tail shows.  (He wanted some tail.  Hehehe).  The captain explained that each whale was unique; where the undersides of their tails were all different and so that’s how scientists could identify and tag each of the whales that returned each year.  We wanted him badly to breach, jump out of the water like those posters you see…but we weren’t as lucky ☹ We watched him for a bit and was supposed to move on but the captain decided to stay and watch him because we were pretty close to him.  Thankfully I had my telephoto lens with me; otherwise I couldn’t have gotten the shots I wanted.  The group wanted copies b/c he was just a bit to far and fast even for their 12 optical zooms cameras to catch a good shot.   I absolutely love the supposed 6.5 fps on my Canon.  After a bit we headed back to shore to see if we could catch glimpse of other whales.  I’m glad the captain turned the ship around when he did because the wind was getting out of control, as did the waves.  It still surprises me how fast conditions change out in the water.  We thought we’d enjoy the ride back by sitting in the front on the first level.  We quickly found out…not such a grand idea.  The wind was fierce…freezing us to death.   We were also greeted with a surprising cool slash of water that drenched us.  After shrieking from the icy water, we just started to giggle foolishly.  During our ride back we ran into quite a few more whales.  There were two whales far off in the distance in the direction of Manly, synchronized with each stroke and breath. I wish we were closer ☹ This experience was definitely cool…literally and figuratively.  I love nature at its best. 

We were heading back to Darling Harbor as the sun was setting and was thrilled to get shots of the Sydney Opera House during this time of day.  Colors galore! Instead of getting off at Sydney Harbour we decided to continue onto Darling Harbor where we boarded to explore the other side of it.  We found cool water fountains surrounding the grounds, a large ferris wheel, and plenty of restaurants and bars calling our names.  Though they were quite tempting, we decided to head back towards the city to catch the metro.  As were trying to find our to the metro we ran into an Irish Pub and decided that this was probably the best place to have an irish coffee that Katerina was craving.  The pub was huge as was the bar, with a second floor to beat.  In many of the places in Australia you pretty much seat yourself, order at the bar, take a number and they deliver to your table.  The great thing about this process is that all tax and tips are pretty much included.  You can leave when you want and don’t have to worry about waiting for a check and calculating the good ole tip.  Though if you do receive good service, an 8-10% tip is always appreciated…so says my guidebook.  We were in luck it was Sunday, because we quickly learned that Sunday’s are a big deal in Australia…they call them Sunday Sessions.  Friends get together, grab dinner and enjoy each other’s company at a bar.  It was a good ending to a wonderful day of adventure.

DAY 8 – MON, AUG 16 – I was supposed to go to Bondi Beach for the day but everyone woke up late.  It was alright with me because I had to take care of banking business.  It was taking forever!  Here in OZ or at least at the ANZ bank you come up to a little touch screen kiosk, choose which option you are there for (ex: personal banking, teller, etc.) and they give you a ticket as if you were at the DMV.  They post the number on a central screen directing you to which teller and that was it.  It was a different experience, as you all know, most banks have a winding rope leading up to front of the counter with tellers waiting to take the next guest.  It was nice to wait sitting down, but took forever.  While I was handling business, Joff and Stephany made their way to The Rocks to explore the oldest part of Australia.  After approximately 2 hours I was finally out of there…yet I still didn’t have an “active account.”  Apparently you need a chunk of change to start an account…$500!!!  My good buddy Broughski started his account in Perth with the same bank for a measly $70.  WTF!?  Obviously I wouldn’t carry that in my pocket, I only had $50.  I said I had that in traveler’s checks and they wouldn’t accept them!  I had to cash them at an exchange office and then deposit it…super lame!  I didn’t have the checks on me so I decided enough of this shenanigans!  They close at 4pm! which was not enough time to go all the way back to the hostel and back so I met up with everybody else.  I waited for Katerina and Mike at the metro station so we could all meet up with Steph and Joff.  I talked to Steph and they went to the Observatory and the Rocks already…so jealous.

Finally we all met up at the Rocks and walked around the Harbor for a bit.  We later headed towards the Sydney Opera House to check out prices for tix and times b/c Katerina had mentioned she wanted to see the opera that was playing there that evening.  After talking to the ticket attendant, we huddled in our little group and came to the census that it would be a unique experience even though tickets were a bit expensive so we waited back in line to buy the tickets.  While waiting the guy in front of us was getting quite upset and took forever getting his tickets.  By the time we finally came up to the front, a huge line had formed behind us.  Since we waited so patiently and were a large group, the ticket attendant was quite generous, offering us the tour and ticket combo w/o us having to actually buy the tour tix.  So for the fabulous price of $51 AUS dollars we were going to see an opera at the infamous Sydney Opera House!  The Marriage of Figaro…3 hours with one of the most controversial operas during its time but now infamous ☺ I don’t even remember if I’ve even been to an opera as a child so I was definitely looking forward to this experience.  While everyone wanted to grab dinner, I wanted to find nice shoes to go with my semi dressy dress for the evening.  Although we probably could have shown up in nice jeans and a cute top, I wanted to feel like I was going to a super fancy opera you pay top dollar for in the states.  So I headed to China Town to get proper shoes for the evening…yea I said it.  None of the shoe stores in the city carry a size 5 and even then those are often too big for me.  Lol.  After walking around and getting lost in a long search for shoes, I found some in a cheap place in Paddy’s Market.  I headed back to the hostel to change and have left over spaghetti dinner I cooked.  Everyone was supposed to meet downstairs in the lobby at 6:30PM… but as usual we were all running late.  We had to take taxi’s into town to catch the show…barely making it before 7pm.  As we entered the glass doors, everyone was semi dressed up all chit-chatting with their glasses of wine and champaign…so classy.  Hehehe.  I felt a little out of place with my not so fancy dress and shoes, but I made do with what I packed.  I’m glad I made the decision to dress up though.  Well, we made our way to our seats and on the way was a beautiful evening view of the bridge and city.  Entering the theatre was grandeur with the balcony seats covered in red duvet cushioned seats.  I was in love!  I felt a little like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. Ha!  But everyone made their way to their seats, the lights dimmed and in a few moments the symphony began with one of my favorite Mozart tunes.  I couldn’t tell you the name but if you heard it, you’d know.  The curtains opened and on with the show in Italian.  Thankfully we had seats where we could see the subtitles.  What an amazing show!!!  It was quite hilarious too.

The cast taking their bows.

View of the Bridge from inside the Sydney Opera House

After the show, half of us went back to the hostel while others decided to see the city.  It was quite chilly so I went back to the hostel.  After changing into Pj’s everyone convinced me to go out again to a bar close by called The Sugarmill.  It was pretty chill music but not the best for dancing.  It definitely had the stickiest floor I’ve ever set foot.  I requested from the DJ to play my favorite genre of music to dance…reggae, but not surprisingly he never played my request.  All they played were a few popular R&B and 80’s/90’s to house music. Ugh!  I danced a bit, enjoyed a beer, was shot with Kim’s water gun, and walked home early with Joff.  It had been a long day and thought I was ready for bed…wow did I feel old. Lol.  I tried to go to bed but had a difficult time sleeping b/c I was still wired and these girls snore like crazy.  Everyone swears I snore a bit...I guess I'll accept that, but these girls were roaring beasts.  Oh well…guess that’s what I get for staying at a hostel.

Until next time...

Blurr

So the Internet is not too reliable here at the hostel hence the delay of this post, but also these past few days have been a blur.  Every day pretty much planned with new activities and festivities with meeting new friends and saying goodbye as soon as I meet them.  So here goes nothing…

DAY 4, THU AUG 12 – After an evening of shenanigans, it was time to leave.  Showed the boys up by out dancing them and beating them in pool. Some of the boys wanted me to jump in their pockets cuz I was so tiny and they lifted me high in the air as bench press weight...it was a good night!  Some wanted to go to other bars while a few wanted to go home.  I was a bit tired from walking around the city all day and decided that I’d go ahead and walk home with my new UK buddy Mike.  In the wee hours of the morning…it was freezing and although I would have jumped at the chance of riding the metro…they close at 12am.  So we decided to walk home instead of taking a taxi.  Bad idea!  It took forever to walk home…by the time we got there we didn’t realize that both of us forgot our swipe cards to get through the gates.  Brilliant!  But wait there was a bell to ring…we rang it several times.  No answer, which was no surprise as it was past 2am in the morning.  I thought…wait, there’s a number we can call if we get stuck outside.  Well good thought…if only one of us had it. Lol.  So we waited outside for the other half of the group to arrive, pushing the button several times more every half hour or so but two hours later from arriving at the hostel, still not a soul!  I began to worry because most of the bars in Sydney closed at 2am or 3am.  After 3:30 hit we thought they probably took a taxi home and beat us to the punch.  Oh Crap!  Well we waited some more and this stranger on the street, Travis from the UK, began to have a conversation with us.  He had to deal with his good mate fighting with his girlfriend and decided he couldn’t take it anymore and left the place he was staying.  He was wandering through the streets with his luggage, hoping he’d find another hostel or hotel to stay at, but was having no luck.  After speaking with him we thought we go to another bar down the street and have another round, but Mike and I were too anxious and did not want to miss coming across one of the pack.  So we all chatted some more and Travis was kind enough to lend me his sweatshirt b/c I was so cold.  Then around 4am we thought we would never see them, but low and behold Dan the Man would come waltzing down the street a few moments later to let us in.  I gave him the biggest hug and said thank you…you’re me hero!  Come to find out the next morning, the other boys were just hanging out in the kitchen and if we shouted loud enough could have gotten in.  I tried to give Travis his sweatshirt back but he said I ought to keep it bc I looked better in it.  I laughed thinking, this thing is half the size of me, but it was comfortable so I kept it as souvenir from the crazy night.  We all said our goodbyes and good nights and went to our separate rooms.

Crazy Boys...Terry and Brad

The boys (Mike, Dan, Terry) making fun of my shoe size

DAY 5, FRI AUG 13 - Through this whole ordeal you’d think I’d just pass out and wake up late in the afternoon but no, I had to deal with loud snoring and women farting after each other.  I was like, REALLY?  Did I just hear that!?  The other nights I had put on my earplugs so I wouldn’t have to deal with any of these crazy sounds from the first night but I was too tired from the night before to even think of it.  Well I finally passed out and woke up at 9am!  If you guys couldn’t do the math that is barely 5 hours of sleep.  I tried to go back to sleep but of course once I wake up I can’t really ever go back to sleep.  I was going to go running that morning but decided that it wasn’t the greatest idea…it was cold and chilly which was not an appetizing recipe after only 5 hours of sleep.  So I made breakfast and slowly the rest of the crew walked through the kitchen to tell stories from the night before.  Crazy I tell ya, but good times for sure.

It was a sad morning bc Dan the Man, aka Aussie rugby player, was leaving to travel overseas with his UK buddy Terry, to play rugby in England.  Bye to another set of cuties.  Hehehehe.  Well no one was up so I hogged the TV in the common room and plopped down to see if I could fall asleep watching Devil Wears Prada.  No luck ☹ But after a few hours of lazing around I met a new girl Vanessa from Canada and we decided to go shoe shopping.  She wanted UGGS and I apparently needed cute flats or heels.  I was a bit surprised that Sydney or Australia as a whole are very particular about shoes when you go out to bars and clubs.  Traveling here I tried to pack as light as possible and pack the essentials, so I only brought a pair of tennis shoes for running/hiking, my converses cuz they were small, light and matched anything, my warm tan moccasin looking shoes/slippers and my favorite pair of flip flops…the black reefs with yellow and pink details.   I thought its Australia, surferville, very chill and laid back.  The girls would probably wear cute sundresses, shorts/cute tank, and a cute pair of sandals.  Wrong!  The girls get all jazzed up in snazzy short dresses (some of them slutty if you ask me, but whatever) and many in the tallest heels I’ve ever seen or at least the most painful looking ones.  The guys also get dressed to kill in collared shirts/jackets with loafers or dress shoes.  I mean these people really get all dressed up.  It’s also quite chilly here, getting down to the 40s or cooler in the evening and the women wear these small outfits like it’s 70 degrees.  I’ll be in search for a city or town that is more laid back.

DAY 6, SAT AUG 14 – It was supposed to be a warmer day here in Sydney so I thought…time to surf.  I convinced a few of my new friends to join me in a day of surf at Manly Beach.  Everyone was pretty much a beginner so I thought this should be an interesting session to say the least.  Getting there was almost a whole day ordeal…taking the metro, walking a few blocks and finally catching a half hour ride of the ferry to Manly Beach.  Man was the ferry ride amazing.  Seeing much of the coast of Australia, the little coves, sail boats docked and also sailing their own courses, seaside cliff homes, and the beautiful water…all was gorgeous and worth the ferry ride.  Although the temperatures were warmer…it certainly didn’t feel like it.  It’s crazy how it’s a little warm in the sun but soo freezing in the shadows…feels like a 10 degree difference if you ask me.  Anyway after arriving in Manly we walked for a block or so and went to rent our gear.  Pretty reasonably priced if you ask me.  $5 = suit and $10/hr, $15 for 2 or $40/day.  After everyone geared up it was time to give the beginners a quick surf lesson.  1.  Waves come in sets of 3, 3rd usually the best, 2.  Position yourself on the board so 6” of the board is at least above the surface of the water, 3.  Practice the “The Pop”, 4.  Wait until the set is over and then 5.  Get in the water and paddle your heart out!  Surf was about knee to waist high so perfect for a beginner’s day…or so for a while.  Once the wind and the tide got on it, it was pretty rough to try to paddle back out again, but by then the sun was going down, the chill of the winds creeping through the tiniest hole of our suits, and exhaustion beginning to hit.  Time to get out and go home for the day.  We all took a much needed nap and had Thai for dinner.  Surprisingly we had the energy to go out.  A whole group was going out to some bar that was supposedly “walking distance.”   Yea right!  Well with my better judgment, my new friend Stephany n I decided to head back to the hostel.   We really didn’t feel like walking to a gay club anymore or chance a $15 cover.  So the long walk home was interesting to say the least.  We saw a man dressed in a red and white bright glittery get up, two of our hostel acquaintances make out, beautiful pointillism art in a window, slutty dressed women stumbling down the street, listened to loud music blasting from all the bars, but finally we reached the hostel.  Thank God bc we were ready for bed.  Tomorrow would be another day for a group activity with my new friends and I was excited.

The Paddle out to sea

My students for the day :)

Exploring the City

After arriving I seemed fine, no terrible jet lag, just overwhelmed that I'm in AUSTRALIA!!!  I wanted to explore the city a bit but decided to relax for awhile after my long journey.  I decided to take a little nap after settling in and that turned out to be a long cat nap.  I passed out at 4ish and didn't wake up til 11:30pm...glorious nap I tell you. lol.  Passed out for the rest of the night...or tried to.  The loud trash cans that come in the wee hours of the morning, the person sleeping below me snoring obnoxiously, and the crazy birds are a few of the things that kept me from sleeping the rest of the evening.  Besides all the little things..the Blue Parrot Hostel is pretty chill.  It's like a college dorm...bunks beds, shared bathrooms, an entertainment room, a community kitchen and fridges.  Already had a culprit drink some of my coke...clearly its not yours, DON'T drink it!  You'd think these people would know better but my expectations I guess are too high.  People should know that there's 2 things you never mess with...their mom's and their food.  And those of you who know me...FOOD is def not something you mess with that's mine. lol.

DAY 2 - One of the first people I met turned out to be Bostonian...apparently she has found few Americans traveling in OZ and found it comforting to have met me.  The weather was cool and raining...I wanted to turn in the towel, but alas I wanted to get out and explore Sydney.  So the Bostonian and I braved the weather and headed to the New South Wales Art Museum.  But before the museum, we made a pit stop at this small intimate coffee cafe called Toby's Cafe.  I'm not a coffee feen like so many other people I know, but the art they create with the cream would be worth a cup.  They definitely don't make coffee like this in Starbucks.  The Aussies really know how it's done.  Back to the art museum visit.  It was pretty cool...it was free and very welcoming...they took our umbrella and jackets as courtesy.  During our guided tour, we met another American, this time from Cali.  Our guide was a bit boring and I know this for a fact because we later joined another group because the tour guide was that intriguing.  I got to thinking that I could do tours for a few hours a week.  hmmm...Addie as a tour guide?  Well we left the museum after a few hours and decided we'd walk to a cathedral nearby.  WOW!  That building was unbelievable.  We thought the outside was gorgeous but inside was even better.  It's too bad they didn't allow photography inside because it was definitely a scene I would liked to have a picture.  The grandeur feel of the tall ceiling and columns, rows of pews and the colorful stained glass was unlike the catholic cathedrals back home...every inch with such intricate detail.  They even had this beautiful crypt...yes I know, crypt doesn't give the connotation of beautiful, but it was.  Its too bad it wasn't one of the scary crypts I was thinking because they were giving free tours.  darn!  Well we headed back after the church because the Bostonian was leaving town later that afternoon.  The rest of the evening consisted of going grocery shopping, cooking dinner, watching a movie and passing out.

DAY 3 - What a beautiful day!  I got up very early in the morning once more...body still getting used to the time difference and noises of the city.  I went for a run through the city and found a breathtaking view of the Sydney Opera House and Bridge, deciding later that when the clouds cleared and the sun shined that I'd enjoy the day by walking through the city...specifically along the harbor and through the botanical gardens.  Yes...this was the life...warm sun on my face and taking in every bit of my surroundings.  Highlight of the day though was the LARGE bats hanging upside down from the trees.  Crazy stuff I tell ya!  I could sit here and try to describe what I saw but it wouldn't do any justice.  Endless pictures are to come.  Soon....???  (I'm deeply sorry for the delay).  The day was coming to an end at about 9ish but someone called my bluff...they asked me "why not?" (referring to going out with the group).  I giggled to myself...knowing earlier what I had posted about this specific question.  There was no good excuse not to so I took my own advice...I went for it!  hehehe.  Let's just say the evening was unforgettable...lil bit like me going out with a bunch of aussies, canadians, and english boys.  Oh boy...trouble!!

DAY 4 - Coming to a report near you!

P.S.  I find it amazing how many people from all over the world is traveling throughout this country :)

Flight and Arrival

So leaving home was crazy!  I had to pack everything I owned and put it into storage, but after this grueling process I don’t ever want to do it again for a very long time.  Least to say…I’ll be traveling as long as I can.  But before the big day I had to fit in what I loved most…food, surf, and my great friends and family.  I devoured every favorite food…BRAVO’s required 3 course meal, yes you read that right, it’s REQUIRED (the house salad, pork chops, and the sinfully delicious bday Gelato), Rancho’s chicken quesadilla and cheese dip, Chicho’s spicy pizza, New York Deli brunch in RVA, etc, etc, last but not least was my mom’s cooking.  As many of us know…there’s nothing like mom’s cookin.  Adobo, chicken with Filipino soy sauce & vinegar, bay leaf, pepper, and of course white rice!  Oh so good, my mouth waters just thinking about it.  I also fit in an unexpected great surf session and spent a great night with the bff’s in Richmond.   I also had one last adventure with one of the sis in Wrightsville, NC and Charleston, SC…what a blast!  Dinner with the family at good ole Bangkok Garden.  It was grand!  I’m definitely going to miss the familiarity of things back home.

But alas, the adventure began with a pit stop to Cali.  I had to visit one of the bff‘s from high school, Mrs. Kate Saunders (aka Token White Girl).  Cali was a lot cooler than back in VA…90+ degrees w/ humidity to 70’s with a cool ocean breeze.  But it was a good transition because it’s even cooler in Sydney (guess it worked out that I didn’t fly into Melbourne because I would have been freezing my buns off!).   While in CA, I got a chance to see a real roller derby event…that’s some good stuff! made me want to try it, fire dancers during half time, and as luck with timing would have it, the US Open Surfing Competition out in Huntington Beach.  I’ve got great shots from the comp, so keep your eyes peeled for when I post those.  It might take awhile because the hostel I’m currently staying at prohibits uploading photos.  We even got to see Weezer perform…for FREE!  Gotta love that, right!?  But before commencing in what would be an 18-hour flight, I had to have the infamous In & Out Burger.  A single cheeseburger, hand cut fries and a chocolate milkshake…mmmm!  Went out with a bang in the states and now off to OZ ☺

Ohhhh the flight.  I was hoping I’d be sitting by a handsome young Aussie, but instead had to sit by an old married couple.  No worries though because they didn’t have that old funky smell some old people have.  I know that sounds horrible, but ya’ll know what I’m talking about.  The old lady was sweet and her accent seemed like Australian, but I knew better, it was English.  She was raised in England but her hubby was from Australia.  Funny enough that they are retired in Perth, a city I will be visiting in mid September.  She told me about job opportunities in the mining business just North of Perth which I appreciated, but I don’t think that’s where I’ll be working anytime soon.  The flight took forever to take off, sat in my seat for over an hour before we finally took off.  Luckily my flight took off late in the evening around midnight so sleeping was no problem…I passed out almost immediately.  I wasn’t sure what time I was woken up but our first meal arrived through the evening.  I had my choice of warm food now or cold food later.  I went with my gut and chose the warm beef dish, which was delish!  2 Roast beef slices, string beans and steamed red potatoes seasoned with a little garlic and basil.  It also came with a small roll and butter and a chocolate mouse dessert.  All was delicious except the fruit salad.  Your first impression would be…mmm sweet fresh fruit, right?  Well…I took one bite and it was sour!  Apparently they placed vinaigrette dressing on top the fruit.  After I got used to the idea that it wasn’t supposed to be sweet, it wasn’t that bad.  After eating, everything was picked up and the flight seemed to be going well.   Though not too long after, in the midst of trying to get comfortable in my seat to pass back out again, the elderly lady was leaning over her husband’s seat and wasn’t feeling well.  All of a sudden half the flight crew swarmed our seats trying to get her comfortable.  I didn’t know what was going on…they brought her an oxygen tank and asked her to breathe in slowly.  At this point I was kinda freaking out, but trying to stay calm, and also concerned about how she was doing.  They had to ask me to leave my seat so they could tend to her.  Finally after 30-40 minutes they decided to get a wheel chair and move her to the front of the aircraft.   Thankfully a stewardess informed me that she would be okay…something about low blood pressure, which occurs often for elderly people especially in high altitudes.  Phew!  So I went back to my seat and through strange circumstance, had the whole row to myself.  They told me I could sprawl out on the whole row since the old couple would not be returning.  Small win for me.   Morning approached and we were served a delicious breakfast.  Egg omelet topped with cheese and seasoning, this time a sweet fruit bowl salad and strawberry yogurt, topped off with apple juice.  As we were flying closer to Auckland, New Zealand for my transfer flight, the country was dim, a light purple haze as the sun was beginning to slowly reach the horizon.  But before we landed, the sun came out to greet us and through the clouds got a sneak peek at the country’s beautiful landscape.   It was breath taking!  The gorgeous green lush terrain and the beautiful ocean surrounding its many shores were just gorgeous!  I can’t wait to visit it in October.  After a short layover in Auckland it was off to Sydney.  During the 3-4 hour flight, we got served breakfast again!  Oh was I loving it.  The food again did not disappoint.  The young cute male stewardess was difficult to understand when he explained my choices, but I didn’t mind because it was darn sexy! Hahaha.  Finally, I arrived in Sydney and after some technical difficulties, found the Blue Parrot Backpackers Hostel I will be staying at for a week.  It was highly recommended by my friend Bernard, or what the girls in the front like to call him, Bernie.  Hehe.  I’ll be settling in for now so until the next post, I am finally here safe and sound.

The Adventurer

Where to begin?  For those of you who don’t know me…a little intro.  My name is Addie, a 25 year old, previously employed as a Design Coordinator/Production Coordinator.  I recently graduated with my BA in Art Studio.  What does that mean…well in simple terms I enjoy art and was already deep in the program to switch into PR. Lol. I’m the type of person that is easily adaptable to any situation.  I love and thrive in such environments.  I excel when I’m challenged, tested, and pushed to the limit.  Least to say I crave adventure.

I’m sure my friends and family have wondered why, why now, why across the world, why for so long with no set return ticket home and probably high at the list is how are you even affording all this!?  I’ve always dreamed of traveling the world, but to do such traveling, it does cost ALOT of money.   I guess with the help of my savings, remaining school loans, tax return, and most importantly God’s faithful provisions, I am able to do this. 

How many chances do you get, to have the opportunity to travel somewhere amazing!?  Not many, so I jumped at the chance.  Many think that what I’m doing is irresponsible and reckless, to quit my job when the economy and job market is terrible and to travel to some place with ZERO job offers, plus I barely know a soul.   Yes to some degree I do agree.  I’ve always been the responsible person…do well in school, get a job, pay my own bills, be a good person and live my life as a “normal and responsible” 25 year old.  Well…I’m tired of that part of me. I think to myself I am young, single, no children, and finally finished college.   Yes it was a long road to finish school but I got here.  I think its time to move onto the next journey in my life.  I want to explore the other half of me…the adventurer.  So while the other half is concerned about the responsible side of me, the other half is excited that I’m going to be doing this.  They’ve even asked, can I come too!?  My reply, SURE!...I always say the more the merrier.  They know that I love meeting new people, seeing new places, experiencing new things, and absorbing different cultures.

So here I am about to embark this adventure around the world.  Many of us have wondered and day dreamed to pack everything up, leave all our worldly possessions behind and travel somewhere to start all over.  It may be because of the job, the family, the stress of everything around you or simply just because you feel like it.   You may have thought to travel to another city, another state, and perhaps even another country.  In this case I’ve chosen to go the daring route and travel to other countries…AUSTRALIA and NEW ZEALAND ☺  (And these are just a few of the countries on my list to travel).  And its easy to make excuses to do things we’d like to do such as, it’s not the right time, I don’t have the money, I have too much going on, etc., etc.  What ever reason it is, it’s easy to let our passions and dreams be set aside because the real world has idealizations of what we all should be doing in our lives.  But I challenge you to set your eye on the prize, your dream, your goal; whatever how big or small and just make it happen.  Don’t let anything stop you!  I’m an optimist (if you couldn’t already tell), so if you want something bad enough you’ll make it happen.  I also urge you when presented with a situation, to ask yourself “why not?” and if you don’t have one good reason not to, DO IT! 

I don’t know where this road will lead me and I don’t know what I’ll find.  Perhaps I’ll find new friends, amazing secret spots, an unbelievable surf sesh or that one perfect wave, lots of craziness and maybe even love.  Nothing is certain, how long I’ll be here or where I’ll be headed.  All this is done intentionally of course because I’d like this road to lead me where it may. If anything is certain, I will find one of the biggest adventures of my life.  I have hope and faith that whatever happens, whomever I come across it will be for a reason. It will be God’s will.

Lastly, I leave you with this.  Sometimes you have to dream big to win big!  And as surfer lingo goes…Go Big or Go Home!

I hope you’ll follow me along on this journey, live vicariously through me, and perhaps I hope to inspire you to do what you want, what you crave.