East Coast of Australia

Matt and I have been very busy these last few months.
We quit our jobs 2 months ago and went on a 6 week, 7183km road trip up the East coast of Australia. We got as far north as Cape Tribulation. The idea was to get a little sunshine in before our trip to Japan (2nd winter in a row… *sigh*). Highlights of roadtrip:

- Breweries: Townsville Brewery, Blue Sky Brewery – Cairns, Murrays Brewery, just north of Newcastle. Lady at Murrays gave us a free taste of all the beers they had there (in a shot glass). There were so many delicious beers!

- Byron Bay lighthouse walk. Saw shit loads of whales! They were so cool. We saw a mum with her two kids, they got real close to shore, we could hear them breathing. We stayed at this really cool hostel, where the room was more of a canvas tent than anything. Cheap food, and free music.

- Steve Erwin – Australia Zoo. Uncle Ken got Matt and I tickets to the zoo. It was pretty damn good. My fave was the tiger talk, and the random lizards everywhere.

- Glasshouse mountains. Would have been nice to climb up one of them, we were on a tight time schedule though.

- Awesome rainforests, vines, ferns tall trees, general greenery, huge bats, tonnes of birds and wallabies – Daintree NP and Mary Cairncross Park.

- Day long boat trip around the Whitsundays. So good! Beautiful beaches! The most awesome soft white sand I’ve ever come across. (Whitsunday islands 34)

-Following GPS directions

- Walking/bussing around Magnetic Island. There was this old world war two fort which was really cool, some koalas on the walk up, and these tiny brown chocolate bats in the powder keg room. Had a swim at this really nice quite beach.

- We saw a freakin cassowary driving to Wallaman Falls! We saw the cassowary warning road sign, and it ran out on the road right behind the sign, that never happens! Apparently there’s only a little over 1000 left in the wild, we were really lucky to see it.

- Cairns festival, free flea circus!

- Scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef – we did a three day dive trip with Pro Dive. I did a two day learn to dive course, and Matt did a refresher. Matt did 11 open water dives and I did 8 in total. I didn’t really love it all that much, people are meant to be on the surface of the water, not underneath it. Going down the first few times was really awful for me, I got used to it after a while though. I hadn’t been drinking enough water though, and ended up being really dehydrated by the last day of the trip and had to miss out on one of the dives. We did get to see some really freakin’ cool shit though: turtles, reef sharks, seas cucumber, sting ray, giant clams, nemo (aka clown fish), 10 millions types of different fish of all different shapes and sizes. My favourite fish was the unicorn fish, and a massive school of these huge bump fish.

- We also went scuba diving at a 100 year old ship wreck, the S.S.Yongala. Meant to be a great dive, coz all that’s around it is sand, so all the sea life just hangs around this ship covered in coral. We saw some great shit, massive manta rays and eagle rays, leopard shark and a moray eel. The only problem was that the dive company was super dodgy, didn’t give us dive partners, didn’t do buddy checks on our equipment before diving, really old shitty rusted out transport vehicle with no seat belts, didn’t give a shit about the well being of anyone on the boat except the single female. I asked to go up, coz I was cold, and it took the guide 5 mins to scribe a message to the single female to see if she wanted to go up, and another 7 or so mins to get to the surface. The water was super rough and I got really bad sea sickness, voming all over the side of the boat. Really shit waste of 250 bucks. Oh well.


- Cairns, thirty degree weather, good/cheap hostel, hippy shops, delicious Mexican restaurant.

- Scenic Railway and Skyrail. Cool long gondola over a whole bunch of trees, and scenic railway to get you back, few walks/waterfalls on the way. Very nice.

We flew to Canada last week. We're here so Matt can get his working holiday Visa for Japan. Pain in the butt we couldn't get just get it in Australia. We've been saved a lot of the cost for flying all over by the generosity of this wonderful family, who are friends with Matt's mum, who work for air Canada. One member of the family flew all the way to Australia to come and get us so we can get the reduced rates. We're very grateful, such a wonderful/generous thing to have done for us.

We'll fly to Japan in late November. Fingers crossed all goes well.

Buzzz Buzzzz (Busy busy)

I've been super busy lately:

- for some reason I have volunteered to help organise my 10 year highschool reunion. Booking a venue and trying to decide how to organise for people to pay and making sure everyone's been invited. Not really my favourite job. Regretting putting my hand up.

- Organising work in Japan in Niseko (ski resort). It seems a little different to work in Japan compared with Australia. All the jobs I'm seeing (at the ski resort at least) seem to want you to work 8 - 10 hour days 6 days a week for a really shit hourly wage. You're expected to work every day over x-mas/new years: from 22nd Dec to 10th of Jan. Not excited, I'm going to Japan to snowboard, not work everyday.

- Accommodation at ski resort. Most accommodation seems to be supplied and subsidized by your employer, which is nice. What isn't nice is that it's all dorm style. I'm too damn old to be sharing a room with a stranger/s. I like my personal space these days. I don't like partying every night. I like going to bed at a reasonable hour, especially if I'm going snowboarding the next day. If Matt and I end up having different employers, may be difficult and expensive to find accommodation where we're living together. BOO! :-(

- Organizing working VISA for Japan. Lame process. Need to have flights booked before you apply for Visa, Matt and I are getting tickets with Air Canada with a family friend of his, no real physical ticket.

- Organising road trip to Cairns. Matt wants to scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef before it dies. Fair call. I haven't been North of Brisbane. Exciting idea, just worried about money for all the adventures we want to have.

- Deciding what kind of electronics to take with me OS, mini lap top or tablet?? I wanna use it for:
upload photos from my camera, and organise them into named/dated folders
upload photos to facebook
skype
checking email
basic word processing, in case I need to send resumes out, etc.

- Staying with Matt's family for a month in Canada while he gets his holiday working Visa. It's a nice idea, I'm just worried about there not being enough space for us and the 4 cats in the basement. Plus... I REALLY don't like cats. At all. Not even a little bit.

- Where to go after Japan?!?!?!? Who knows.

Trash and Treasure

Life in Wagga

I am currently living in Wagga with Dad and my man lover Matt. I am working at the DPI, formerly known as the Department of Agriculture. I worked here (the first time) at the end of high school in 2002, and worked here during uni holidays to supplement my beer and candy needs. I remember thinking “fuck this is a shit job, I can’t wait to finish uni and be a real person and get the hell away from these losers”. Now here I am, 10 years later, useless degree on the wall, still working at this same shit hole, doing menial borings tasks for arseholes that don’t appreciate my efforts, who keep me on as a casual instead of temporary employee so they can fuck me off whenever they feel like it. It sucks. From this description, you can probably tell that I’m a bit over things at the moment. I’m very lucky that Dad and I get along very well, and he doesn’t mind me staying here…. and perhaps even enjoys my company?! I feel very lame saying that; I’m 28, living with dad, working the same shitty job I did 10 years ago.

Chicks in Wagga are feral sluts. I’ve already whinged about it on facebook, but here I go again: Latest fashion trend in Wagga: The “homeless hooker”. Find the shortiest denim shorts you can find, then cut them so short at the front your pockets hang out under the pant line. Then rip the front of the jeans many times over around the pocket area so more pocket is exposed.

The Future

The main reason I’m here in Wagga, working like a mother fucker is…… money. Money is shit. I hate it. I just wanna go on adventures and enjoy myself, take up photography, painting, pottery, glass blowing and gardening.

There are many adventures in my sight right now:

- Matt would like to travel up the East Coast, mainly wants to scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef before it all dies. He would also like to see the guts of Australia, Uluru etc. So there are possible Aussie road trips to be had.

- Burning man 2012 (end of the world!!!!). I did not manage to acquire tickets unfortunately, but I’m sure if I REALLY wanted them I could sell my soul to the devil, or something to attain them. It would be amazing and my very good friends Eliza (Aus) and Alex (UK) and Marti (Can), amongst numerous other Canadian friends are going, and it would be awesome, but is very costly and excessive for one week of partying in the Nevada desert.

- Japan, November/December this year. Ever since discovering that I love snowboarding, and that I like Japan, I have wanted to do a ski season in Japan. The plan is trying to work at Niseko (mainly Aussies and English speakers). I would prob prefer a smaller resort where people mainly speak Japanese, but I think it would be much harder to get a job, and that Matt would get scared. This is my personal first preference of money spending. I’m not getting any younger, and need to get a visa before I turn 30. I’ve been getting Japanese lessons every week. If I had the money, I’d go to Japan in May, and have a second summer, and spend time living/working in Tokyo and picking up more Japanese, and go to the mountain in person to apply for job/sus out accommodation. Not sure it’s really possible though.

Canadian Road Trip

Haven’t had a great deal of time or internet in the last couple of months. I’ve been on a road trip with my man lover Matt. We left Courtenay, on Vancouver Island on the 1st of May and spent a month and a half on the road seeing the sights. It took us a month and a half in my 1985 Toyota Tercel. My biggest worry was the car (Harry, named after a former student) breaking down. We made it there and back without anything too major happening though. Tire blew out on the highway and the transmission was a bit shit. We got all the way to Halifax on the East coast of Canada and back. We camped when we could, stayed at Matt’s rels or friends, or stayed in a cheap skanky hotel as a last resort. Matt has a great camping kitchen, and we spent most of the trip eating crap we’d heated from a can, soup and chili, or pasta mainly.

We saw and did so damn much, I’ll try and just stick to the highlights:

- Canada’s Wonderland! Just outside Toronto. Matt had never been on a rollercoaster before, so this was quite the experience. He’s the kinda guy who likes to mountain bike down a crazy hill, white water Kayak, or jump off a cliff. That stuff scares the shit out me, roller coasters scared the shit outta him. He still went on every ride I dragged him on. It was a damn good day (for me at least). Most of the roller coasters were pretty old and rickety, the newer one, Bohemeth was my fave.

- Quebec city (where the girls are pretty?). The old part is freakin’ beautiful, how I imagine parts of Europe to look. Cobble roads, old buildings etc, plenty of charm. We were staying at this super cute hostel right in the old part. It had this super cute courtyard and b-fast was provided, mmm mmm. Quebec is a province in Canada, mainly French speaking. Quebec city is the capital. Quebecs liquor laws in chilled out hippy BC would be awesome. You can buy booze all hours, relatively cheaply, and from anywhere, corner stores etc. It was ace.

- Me, being an idiot, left the trunk (boot) of the car open when we went to sleep. Lucky animal sounds woke Matt up. Scared the shit outta me, I thought it was a freakin’ bear. Lucky it was only a raccoon though. Mother fucker nicked some Mr Noodles (2 minute noodles). Lucky we caught him in time, Matt scared him away and closed the boot. In the morning we discovered little paw prints over quite a few things, apparently if left to his own devices he would have invited all his friends and demolished everything in the car, so lucky Matt got onto it early. We heard him come back sniffing around for more once he’d finished his noodles.

- Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.). Super cute province/Island out East. We caught the Ferry over, and the Confederation bridge (longest bridge in the world or some shit) back. Super cute houses, red soil, Ann of Green Gables. Good times.

- Matt’s relative David. We stayed with him on Cape Breton Island, in Nova Scotia. He was just so lovely, had our time planned out for us, gave us travel advice, woke us up in the morning and had break fast ready. Made super awesome dinners (shrimp/sun dried tomato pasta one night, Newfoundland Steaks – A.K.A. Baloney and home made baked beans the next). He was full of great stories, a great relief to have someone other than each other to talk to.

- Halifax pubs, so many, so many beers, so good. Went on an Alexander Keith’s Brewery tour. Set up old timey, guides in costumes speakin’ old school. Beer, singing and games at the end. Pretty decent.

- White water rafting at Matt’s old workplace. He guided the boat I was in. Had a steak dinner, camp fire and a sauna in the evening.

- Nelson. Super cute town in BC, could see myself spending much more time there. Surrounded by forests/mountains. Right next to this big beautiful lake. Nice sized town, pretty hippy.

- Grizzly bear playing with a big ball at Toronto Zoo.

- Adding to my pressed penny collection.

- Swan Lake hot springs. I’d been hanging out for some hot springs that weren’t just a big pool full of hot spring water. These ones were the real deal, rock pool right next to a river.

There’s so much more, but that will do for now. Back on the Island, got a job as a lifty on Mount Washington for the down hill mountain biking season. Pretty boring right now, still snow on the mountain. Went snow boarding last weekend, crazy, the opened up just for the weekend. Moved into a condo on the mountain with this British girl. Dunno what to do once this finishes in September. Winter season doesn’t start till Mid-late December. That’s 3 months without work. Tempted to just come back to Aus, mmm, two summers in a row.

Road Trippin’

I fucked off Tofino right quick. Ended up working for 4 days and left. Everything was just too expensive, couldn’t find accommodation for man friend, everyone at work hated the place. Decided to pack up and head on a road trip across Canada. Fuck Yeah! I was worried I wouldn’t actually commit to doing this. Deciding where to go and what to do is not my strong point. If I left when I did, I could bring Man friend along with me though. That was the deciding factor. So with a loaded car and no real plans except that we wanted to get to Halifax we set off.

Up to day 15 today. All we’ve really done is get across the bloody country. It’s an epic fucking drive that’s for damn sure. Currently in Alexandria, Ontario, in between Montreal and Ottawa. We wanna get as far as Halifax. We’re trying to do it on a budget, so we’re staying in a tent as much we can, and eating easy/cheap stuff, like chili from a can, soup from a can, pasta from a jar… certainly missing the fresh fruit and veg.

We left a little too early on… on the first night of camping it started raining while we were putting up our tent. Over night it sounded like it had stopped raining, but there was something kinda sliding down the tent. When we woke up in the morning there was a good inch or two of snow cover on the ground. Pretty exciting camping… unfortunate I’m not a super big fan of cold weather. Makes it shitty when you get to a camp, there’s no fire wood, and it’s fucking cold. All you can really do is heat some food, and get into the sleeping bags.

I saw a moose! Two of the bastards! Definitely a trip highlight. I thought I’d leave Canada without seeing one of the fuckers. Like 5 mins after the moose sighting we saw a mother and baby black bear too. So cool. Also saw some coyotes this trip. Plenty of new wildlife.

Traveling with someone else sure has its trials. We’re doing orright though. Plan to head to Quebec City, Fredericton, Halifax, PEI, Montreal, Toronto and Niagra Falls then head back West. Real worried about not having enough time though. See how it goes.

Goggle tans, Tofino, A new car and Overseas loving

My days at Mt Washington are over. I have had a mother freakin’ excellent snow season. I have come out of the other side of my first Canadian winter alive and have had a freakin’ excellent time. I can now snowboard anywhere on Mt Washington. Sometimes I get stuck in snow in the trees after massive pow days (Powder days, days after a lot of snow), but other than that, I think I’ve done pretty well for my first season. I’d be tempted to come back for a second. Who knows.

Apparently getting a tan line from your goggles is a cool thing to do. I think it just looks fucking stupid. What is considered cool on a mountain is totally freakin’ ridiculous. It’s like a big fashion show, who has the latest/hottest/most expensive goggles, snowboard/boots, jacket, pants, gloves, socks, the most neon coloured outfit. It’s an expensive endeavour. I survived the season in 10 dollar jacket, 10 dollar pants, found goggles/gloves, rental boots/board. Still managed to see out the end of the season with no money some how. Good for me.

I recently bought a new car. It’s an 1985 Toyoto Tercel wagon. He’s a beast (Harry, named after student in my class in Aus). Cars are expensive, but damn, so convenient, esp living in small town with minimal public transportation. Broke down after the first few weeks, but managed to be fixed by excellent alternator fixer dude at a reasonable price. Lucky for me my man lover is also an all around Mr fix it.





Which leads me to Overseas loving. I still haven’t decided if it’s a good or bad idea. Dad did leave me with the warning that I wasn’t to fall in love with any Canadian boys. He wanted me firmly based in Australia. I’ve had a couple of attempts at relationships here. It’s worked out pretty fine so far though. I don’t wanna live in Canada forever though, so it does seem risky, asking for a broken heart, I guess as long as boundaries/intentions are set it should be all good. Still gonna be heart break, so many good times are had though. Worth it.

Just moved to Tofino yesterday, small tourist trap, surf town on west coast of Vancouver Island. Got this job at Weigh West Marine, whale watching, charter fishing, kayak tour, hotel company place. Had first day of training today, seems like a bit of a shit show, deff has potential to be decent though, wont judge it too soon. Sucks coz things are so expensive here, so small, one grocery store. I want my man lover to move here to stay with me for a couple months, they are saying no to him staying with at staff accom, so gotta try and sneak him here or something. Gonna be pretty hard to find alternative accom, expensive, limited.

Victoria

I went on a weekend adventure to Victoria this weekend just past. It’s so much nicer than Vancouver, not too big, not as many homeless people, much cleaner and the architecture is freakin’ amazing! It was big enough that there was tones of cool shit going down, plenty to see and do. Loved it.

Started my adventure off by being taken to a friend of a friend’s float home at Fisherman’s Warf for good times, good people, good food and good drinks. Super cute house, plenty of character (covered in unnecessary shit, loved it).

Spent the next day wandering around downtown, sussing out the shops and the buildings. Had a few beers in the sunshine, hell good. Walked along the beach. Super dooper. That night went to see Canadian dude Hawksley Workman and his band play. It was in this church, super good sound, good view, and good music.

Next day it was a bit rainy, so we went on a drive and checked out Hatley Castle, where the kids in xmen studied, pretty damn cool. Castles are the bomb. Went to French beach, it was raining and cold though. Went to Mount Douglas as well, super good view of Victoria.. again, raining and cold though. Perfect end to the weekend, ordered Chinese food, got some beer and watched honey I shrunk the kids.

Ended my trip with a train ride from Victoria to Courtenay. Can say I’ve been on a train journey in Canada now. Whoo hoo!

Only about 3 weeks left on the mountain, gonna be pretty sad to see it go. Might even be tempted to do another season here next year. Not really sure where to go or what to do next. Either work at a kayak rentals joint in Campbell River, an hour North of Courtenay, move back to Vancouver and work at Stanley Park again, or head out east and live and work in Halifax. Whatever I do, I wanna travel around the east side of Canada July/August, go to Burning Man end of August/start September, then probably head back to Oz after that.