Just a "normal" day in Australia!!!!

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I just spent one of my most amazing spring breaks in the remote rainforest of Australia. What is Kristin Melody's idea of an amazing spring break, you ask? No it is not a drunken crawl through Cancun or catching up on the TV show "Teen Mom"; it was surrounded by natural beauty, zip lining through the Daintree rainforest canopy, being surrounded by toxic plants and animals, lovely hippies, lovely hippie parties and live music, having no cell reception or internet, beer, laying on the pristine beaches of Australia, seeing my best friend, and experiencing the overwhelming beauty of the great barrier reef.

Australia is big, as in virtually the size of the contiguous United States. If all you think of when you think of Australia is Sydney and the Outback, than you are sorely missing some highlights. That would be like only knowing the states for Los Angeles and The Rockies. This spring break gave me an opportunity to go explore some other parts of Australia besides Melbourne because my best friend is coincidentally here and working in Australia at the same time.

Where 2% of Australia's population lives: map by e8odie on Reddit

I headed up to the northeastern state of Queensland, towards the northern most tip of Australia (Cape York). After arriving to Cairns, which is a very popular vacation destination for Aussies, and having the best fish n' chips I've ever had (below) and watching an amazing sunset... I met up with Julie, my best friend since the 4th grade.

Let my vacation within my vacation begin

Friends reunited...in another country...again.

After cruising around Cairns, we began our road trip up to Cape Tribulation. On the way we were graced with absolutely gorgeous views of the coastline, friendly faces, and stops of absolutely beautiful beaches (like Palm Cove and Coconut Beach). It felt amazing to have the sun beating down on me, and perfect 75 degree weather after nearly two months in chilly and windy Melbourne. On the trip, you must cross the fairy to get to Cape Tribulation, and once you do it becomes another world because it is the Daintree National Rainforest. Cape Tribulation is a very small secluded town in the middle of this rainforest (the 2006 census showed a population of 101); this is where Julie lives and works at Jungle Surfing canopy tours and Ocean Safari reef trips.

Where I got to stay for 10 days.... living THE LIFE!

Looks horrible, right? Gosh it was rough.

We stayed at this closed down house/cafe/restaurant/art gallery that we were watching for a friend. The rainforest is all around you, the sounds of it are louder than you think but soothing all the same. With those sounds comes all sorts of critters and insects (yes, all of you that asked me about spiders, this is where they are). In my time in Cape Trib, I saw: large creepy spiders (!), black snake (about half of black snakes are poisonous), pythons, kangaroos, tree kangaroo (only about 300 left in the world), goana lizard (lace monitor), the famous cassowary (an emu like creature, about 1,200 left in the world), countless smaller lizards, cockatoos, cane toad (a slight poisonous and invasive toad), sea eagle (not that is not a joke...and no I do not mean seagull), countless other birds, and probably many more things that I didn't even realize I was seeing.

Just a normal day in Queensland, Australia
 

This spider was larger in length than my entire hand

That is a mould killer bottle....nothing is safe up here!

The invasive, destructive, and highly reproductive cane toad

That is a bug....not a stick....so yes it is a stick bug

This was the kangaroo that had an affection for scratching his balls

So yes, Australia is full of these kinds of things, but you just kind of get used to it after awhile....after awhile you don't even continue to worry about it because if you leave them alone, they leave you alone. I was lucky enough to come in this "winter" month (read: dry, non-muggy month) and have spectacular weather with clear skies and hot weather. I was also fortunate enough to miss the marine dangers that are usually present. At this time of year, there are no deadly box jellyfish in the water, the crocodiles are keeping themselves, and the sting rays aren't too bad, and lucky enough, the beach here is absolutely beautiful. So I laid on the beach every day for either 20 minutes or 2 hours. I had to be careful though because, you know, I'm white, and you know I burn, and Australia has a damaged ozone so the sun is much much stronger here.

This was only part of my trip there in Cape Tribulation. My next blog will be a detailed description of my zip lining, canopy experience, and the great barrier reef..... until next time, CHEERS!

If anybody can guess what kind of burger this is, I will send them a postcard.

BEFORE

After

One month in, and the flair of Oz is coming out

Possum's Plastering : "Get plastered with us"

Earlier this week, I passed my 1 month anniversary here in Australia. What a nonstop whirlwind it has been, full of something to do everyday and every night. I'm finally feeling like I know where I am, have my bearings, and have gotten so used to things that I sometimes forget I'm in Australia. But some things keep you grounded here, remind you that you are down unda.   

I was walking around Camberwell, and found this..... um, that baby toy has no head. Does that classify as recycling?

Australia: The land where they drive on the left side, line dry their clothes and dishes, constantly say 'no worries,' vegemite and nutella are indeed everywhere, they don't drink Fosters, they almost never call each other by their first name, and they are genuinely nice people.

"Sagittarius: Cheerful, Enthusiastic, Generous"

Australia: Where everything is abbreviated like breakfast is brekkie, arvo is afternoon, and chocolate is choco. They add a 'u' into labor, color, neighbour and tons of other words. They call you Sheila and Mate all the time,







Australia: A place with great names for places like Warnnambool, Gippsland, Dandenong, Geelong, Great Otway, Ningaloo, Woolloomooloo, Lilly Pilly Gully Circuit. (Thanks Holly)

Surfing the waves on the Great Ocean Road

I have been in Australia for two weeks, and the time has absolutely flown by and yet I feel like I've done so much.

After leaving the wonder hospitality of some friends of a friend, I moved in to what I will call home for the next 4 months or so. I'm living in what they call a boarding house here, which means that the couple that own the house live in the downstairs area; the upstairs area is a self-contained rentable area. I live upstairs with two other girls, both originally from China, and we have three bedrooms, living room, full kitchen, and a shared bathroom on the second floor of the house. It is a wonderful set up and I am very close to campus, 3-5 mins. walking time. I've lived there for a week now, and am loving it, and I love hanging out with their cute dog!

Sunrise view from my kitchen window

Me and Jessie

Let me know by email or post a comment if you would like the address.

Well luckily for all exchange students, my school here Deakin University set up a three day beach trip to the picturesque town of Lorne, located on the famous Great Ocean Road.

So, before I left there were a lot of questions about surfing in Australia, quite a trademark of traveling in Australia (cough**David**cough). So dude, even though I'm like from Southern California, dude, I've like never totally mastered the surfing bro. (Hopefully you understand the exaggeration there). Keeping in mind that is winter here, and that the air temperature during the day is 15°C (55° F), at night is 5°C (40°F), and the water is 13°C (55°F). I did go surfing, in the town of Lorne. I had to wear a full wetsuit, actually everyone was wearing a full wetsuit except for this crazy old guy, wearing white, see-through-when-their-wet underwear.

Photo by: Nadia Buttice

Well we did get surfing lessons, and after attempting to catch some waves...I was actually able to stand up! ...and then I fell....but I sure felt accomplished! Surfing is really so much fun, and quite a good workout.

Me and my Australian surf instructor

The university had activities set up for us for all the days, meals set up, a place to stay, etc.... all at no extra charge to us. Well a line up like that attracted almost all the exchange students, and in total we were about 200 people. It was a giant group, but surprisingly over the three days we got to know each other all pretty well. Split into groups of 50 people, we rotated though the activities for three days.

The first day, my group had surfing which was an absolute blast. That night at dinner, I was part of a limbo competition, i'm not as limber as some of those people. The next day was a jam packed day of fun; beginning with a hike into the Australian bush. We headed inland early in the morning, the landscape can best be described as semi-arid forest, with plenty of ferns and eucalyptus as well as rivers running every which way. It was my lucky day because we spotted a kangaroo. It was a much different spotting a kangaroo hopping around in the wild than it is to see one in the zoo; and I have to admit, I felt a little bad about eating kangaroo steaks only a few days before because it was probably his cousin or something! After the really nice hike, I opted for beach yoga. This was very refreshing and felt good after being sore from surfing and hiking. The afternoon was full of fish and chips and beach volleyball and then wine. You have to watch out when your eating outside because there are yellow-haired cockatoos everywhere, as well as the black and white magpies...together they threaten any meal you eat outside. Dinner that night included Trivia Night. So, without using your SMARTPHONES!!.....first person to get this question right by leaving a comment, I will send you a postcard!

Which of the following is not an Australian innovation?
A) Chiko Roll (kind of like egg roll)
B) Lawn Sprinkler
C) Plastic Bank notes
D) Dual flush toilet
E) Wine cask


 The trip to Lorne and traveling along the Great Ocean Road was amazing and loads of fun!

First day on the Great Ocean Rd.

I still don't understand how they destroy homes???

Hiking into the bush

Magpie birds, that are everywhere, like our crows

A great group of friends I've made

I didn't mind looking at this view for 3 days

Men's short shorts, ugly buildings, and drunks

They make taking a trip into dowtown Melbourne quite easy, lots of public transportation and crowds of Rugby fans sloshing their way into the city. As you arrive into the city, and more specifically the transport central of Federation Square, you come into that square army colored building on the bottom there, named the 5th ugliest building in the world by Virtual Tourist. Nothing says "Welcome to Melbourne!" like that.

I took a day trip into the city on one of the sunny days (most days have been about 12-15 degrees Celsius, or 50-60 Fahrenheit). I think heading into cities is a lot of fun, they are full of energy and life and sights, but they can also be exhausting. I wandered around downtown on a Saturday afternoon, and noticed that everyone, and I mean everyone, was wearing red. Come to find out there was a huge Rugby match on that afternoon, the Lions (yellow) versus the Wallabies (red) - and the streets and pubs were overflowing, kind of like a Sunday afternoon during football season. It was fun to walk around and listen to all the singing of team songs, seeing men in short Rugby shorts, and people in good spirits.



The opposing teams sitting side by side in a pub



The abundant Wallabies fans

The Lions - getting interviewed, they were outnumbered. (With the famous Arts Centre Spire in the back)

As I continued walking around town I noticed how multicultural the city seemed to be; the city isn't full of Crocodile-Dundee-like men and Aboriginals, but rather people of all mixes. While walking, I eventually ran into Melbourne's very own China town. The Chinese restaurants sold a lot of fish and sushi was everywhere (even though that's Japanese...) seeing as we're in a coastal town. Just up the way was Greek corner, full of yummy bakery shops and Greek food. Apparently Melbourne has the largest Greek population of any city in the world, outside of Greece.

Now I referenced earlier in my blog the interesting animal encounters I may have in Australia, which I rambled on about here. Well now that I've had kangaroo steaks, which were mighty tasty, lean, and earthy, I want to touch back on a few others. Most importantly of which is dog poo. There are 90 tons of dog poo left on the streets of Melbourne each day. Now as I've walked around a few of the suburbs and the main city, I have miraculously not seen much - imagine my delight! Now that I know the soles of my shoes are safe, I set my mind to greater things. Next being, Batmania. Now this part is true, Batman is around. I saw the road to his house, and surprisingly, he lives in suburbia. Come to think of it, the ugly building from the above picture looks an awfully like the bat cave.... now I wonder.

Another thing is how expensive alcohol is here, the exchange rate is more or less 1:1. For example, a bottle of Jack Daniels on special is AUD $44. A 24 pack of Heineken is AUD $56 on special. A 24 pack of local Victoria Bitter beer is AUD$ 40 on special. Apparently there are some microbrews around, so I'm keeping my eyes open. With such high taxes on alcohol, it's a wonder how Aussies have a reputation for drinking so much. Well maybe it has something to do with the fact that full-time minimum wage is $16.37 per hour . Time to start looking for a job!



So far, I'm loving Melbourne!

Cheers!

Two English speaking countries, separated by a common language

I've stepped foot on Australian soil !!!

I think this is my 15th foreign country (see the rest here Countries traveled to ), and that number only seems like a drop in the bucket of all the places I want to go.

So bags were packed; an 85 liter backpacking bag and a regular school backpack fit everything I think I will need...

The flight here was not bad at all; I left LAX 10:30 pm and transit time was about 19 hours, so I arrived at local time about 10 am. Now some of you may be gasping, thinking that is an awfully long time to be in transit, but let me explain why it wasn't. So first, LAX on a late Tuesday night isn't so bad, security went fast and there was no cavity search, so I knew things were looking up. Once I finally sat in my aisle seat on the Air New Zealand plane and got situated, I was all nervous and such. I kept telling myself to breath and relax, and then the most relaxing thing you could imagine happened..... the safety instruction video came on. Now normally this wouldn't calm me at all, but guess what the video clip was a cheesy safety instruction video made by the one and only Bear Grylls -- only on Air New Zealand!!! Take a look here, and tell me what you think ??  Feel safer now? Thanks Bear Grylls  Air New Zealand became OK in my book, but they sweetened the deal with complimentary full dinner, complimentary alcohol, complimentary breakfast, my choice of new release movies on my own screen, and the friendlist flight attendants I've met. I think American airlines need to take a hint. Honestly though, after a 2 hour movie, dinner, and 2 glasses of red wine, I feel asleep for 10 hours! I woke up with 1 1/2 hours left til landing and breakfast on its way.

I had a 2 hour layover in New Zealand where I contemplated exiting the airport and traveling around New Zealand for six months. I want to go to that country so bad!!! But, I decided trying kangaroo meat was more important, so I went to my flight gate.

So upwards and onwards, after landing and standing behind some really smelly guy in the customs line, I was admitted to enter Australia...and I'm still smiling about it. I had a friend back home hook me up with this buddy and wife who live here in Melbourne (thanks smokin' joe!) and they were kind enough to pick me up from the airport, they are so sweet. I am staying here for a couple of days until I can figure out a place to live close to campus.

In the meantime, I have been running around with Walt and Lorraine who live in a suburb outside of the city. So far this place reminds me a lot of home, but there are some key differences. Like there are sheep everywhere and much more open spaces. They spell tires, tyres, and yogurt, yoghurt, and trolley is a shopping cart, and globes are light bulbs and that everybody is friendly. I learned that southern Australians talk much faster than northern Australians. That there really are times that I can't understand what somebody is saying. That I'm 17 hours ahead of home. That things are more expensive here unless they are goverment subsidized (some of those things include milk and eggs), that gas is like $6/gallon, the public transportation system is great, it is hard to find a regular sized black cup of coffee, and that I won't run in to TOO many spiders and other deadly creatures while inside the city.

So I leave you with this...Remember the old ad slogan, "Beef. It's what's for dinner." Well tonight's meal is "Roo. It's what's for dinner," so Kangaroo steaks it is!

Cheers!

Everyday in Australia

I leave for Australia in 4 days.

My preparation includes: seeing what the current exchange rate is, packing away all my "stuff," doing all the San Diego summer stuff like the Del Mar fair and Padres game, seeing all my friends and family, packing my bag, checking the Australian weather (most days 35-55 degrees F---bbrrrrrrrr!), and most importantly, getting EXCITED!!

As part of my preparation, I am trying to figure out what a normal Australian day consists of ???

So thanks to my friend Morgan, I now know some every day things, and check it out it includes -->  Killer Koalas!!! 

(Click on the above "Killer Koalas")

Australia is synonymous with animals - I'm headed to BATMANIA !!!

So when I tell people that I'm heading to Australia, some of the first things out of their mouth is "wow there are some crazy animals there! Have you heard about all those dangerous and poisonous things there!?" Well I say, YES, I don't live in a hole, I know that Australia has quite the reputation and The Outback sure does have a daunting and exciting sound to it. But let's take a realistic, closer look at what animal dangers I will be encountering... 

Before Melbourne was Melbourne, it was called Batmania.... 
Other names Melbourne had were  Bearbrass, Bearport, Bareheap and Bearbury.

Getting the hint?? I think I'm either going to be running into Bruce Wayne or I'm stepping back in time to the 1999 movie, Bats. 

Well rest assured friends and relatives and that weird person who shows up on my Google Analytics from Germany.... Melbourne was not named Batmania because of bats, it was named that because of one of the founding fathers whose name was John Batman. 

So now that we cleared that up, let's take a look at some of the other quirky animal encounters that might come up in Melbourne. 

Well I was planning on bringing my goat "Pinkie" into the country, until I read the laws...
"Under local Melbourne by-laws, it is an offence to drive your goat (or dog) harnessed or attached to a 
vehicle in a public place. It's also illegal to sing a rude or bawdy song within earshot of another person."

I guess she'll have to stay at home  :-( 

So I can't bring my goat for transportation nor will I be delayed in traffic by people pulling goats...I won't be attacked by bats in "Batmania"... should I be knocking on wood?

Well then I read that Melbourne is officially the fox capital of the world, with between 6 and 23 foxes per square kilometre in the urban area of the city. That compares with 4-6 foxes per square km in country Victoria and around 13 sheep and 3 people per square kilometre in Australia.

So this foxy lady is headed to foxy Melbourne, hanging with foxy Melburnians...in 2 weeks (to the day!). 

And I leave you with one animal thought....... About 90 tons of dog poo is left on the streets of Melbourne every day.

That sounds like an incentive to come visit me while I'm studying abroad!!!