And Reality Sets In...

So for those of you who read this, you know the stories I've told you about my first trip to Australia in 2007. Saying things like everyone you see is tall and fit and beautiful, that everyone is happy and go-lucky...That everyone eats healthy and that you hardly see any fat people or homeless people.. etc.
Well, now that I've actually been living here and been able to spend more than 3 weeks in the same place, reality has set in....
Now don't get me wrong! There are a BUTT LOAD of beautiful people here, and I've noticed a lot of them are in Manly (northern beaches suburb) and Melbourne... it's weird.
But Australia is a lot like the rest of the world and yet not at the same time. Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and so on.. they're all regular cities.. with people and jobs, traffic and craziness. Fat people do exist here... so do homeless and crazy people on the streets. The streets get dirty and trashed.. people get drunk and stupid and can be mean, rude and inconsiderate. Things get loud and out of control. Accidents and tragedies do happen. You don't see kangaroos hopping everywhere, you don't play with koalas and you don't go throw the boomerang around after work.
The bright light that is Australia has dimmed slightly for me since coming back, but I have to tell you... regardless of the "reality" of the situation.. It's still like no place on Earth! It is breathtakingly beautiful.. all over.. Every day I wake up and look outside and think "I LIVE here!" and it's amazing. While you don't see kangaroos in the city.. go a bit North and you can see them almost every morning or late evening in the fields.. you can't play with koalas but go to a wildlife park and you can hold one! You don't go play with a boomerang.. at all.. but you can go to the beach every day after work. While I live in the biggest city in Australia, the burbs, even though they all run into each other like regular burbs, they still have a small town feel.. where the local grocer recognizes you and people are friendly and start conversations on the bus or standing in line and invite you to BBQ's on holiday's when you have no where to go. There definitely IS an "Aussie way of life" and I love it.
Even though this country doesn't have the same impact on most people.. they love to visit and see the sites but then are happy to go home.. it's different for me. I feel like a better person here. I'm less introverted, I'm more open and friendly.. I'm not as self conscious or worried about what people think here. I'm less stressed, more easy going, and just all around happier. One way to describe it is, when in the States whenever it came up in conversation, people would guess my age pretty much spot on.. 26, 27.. But here.. NO ONE has guessed my age yet.. they say I'm 23, 24.. I've had as you as 22!! To me.. this says that I don't look my age or act my age (in a good way) because I'm happier and feel younger and more alive. I've lost a little weight and have been eating healthier and being healthier here. I feel like I've finally found the place where I fit.
I don't think that Australia is my final destination... but I know that I'm going to try my hardest to stay here for as long as possible!

So now you know! and hopefully now you understand my love for this country and why I'm here. Hopefully by reading this I've inspired you to want to visit me! :D and hopefully I've planted a seed in your mind to find that place for yourself.. whether it's in your backyard with your children, on the beach in Florida, or in the mountains... find that place that makes you feel that way and brings out a happier and better person within yourself!

Cheers Mateys!
~The Quasay Australia Backpacker

Strange Words Aussies Use

Traveling around Australia, I've gotten into conversations where sometimes what they just said sounds like alien speak... It's like they're using real words, but they just don't make sense!
Anyway, I've been documenting some of these words and have compiled a list for you to review! I'm sure there will be more fun and funky words/phrases to add onto this list.. but for now here is what I got:

Trolly = Shopping Cart
Biscut = Cookie
Light Globe = Light Bulb
"Having a piss" = Fuckin with ya
Breakky = Breakfast
Tram = Trolly / Rail Car
Sunnies = Sunglasses
Torch = Flashlight
Dobber = Snitch/ Narc
Hire = To Rent
Tyre = Tire... just spelled funky
Crisps = Chips
Chips = Fries
"Good on ya" = "Good for you"
Bogan = Hick/ Red Neck
Trainers = Sneakers
Avo = Afternoon
Docket = Receipt
Que = Pause/Wait ie: "Do Not Que In Intersection"
Tripper = Drug Dealer
Duvvah = Duvet / Comforter
Macca's = McDonald's
Vinnies = St Vincent Depaul's
Savvos = Salvation Army
Thongs = Flip Flops

Nice eh??? I know.. totally weird... and some of those terms apply to England as well!
I'll add onto this post more as the phrases and words come up... but till then.. enjoy and have a chuckle and try to use an Aussie word today! :)

Cheers!
~The Established Australia Backpacker

Killin like a Villin!!

OKAY!! So yes, it has been a while... over a month in fact, since I have last graced you with my words of delight and titillation. But, as you know, I didn't have a personal computer nor did I have the time or the money to pay for internet for the hours it takes me to be clever enough to write a blog.
SOooo, this post is gonna be a SUM UP session! YAY! So, to sum up: my trip was AWESOME!!- The End.

No, just kidding. But it was absolutely awesome. Met some great people, did some really fun things and saw some beautiful and breathtaking sites. But instead of writing a whole book about each day and what not I'm gonna do a list. YAY lists!! Love em! So efficient.
So here's my list:

The Places I Stayed And The Things I Saw While Traveling The East Coast

Newcastle- Didn't see much or do too much here, met some neat Sweedish people, but that was about it. You can read more in my previous post.
Port Macquarie- (pronounced port ma-quar-ee, as I've been corrected by many an Australian) This place was cute, again you can read more detail in my previous post. Met a neat couple staying in my hostel, which wasn't really a hostel as much as it was a travel resort. Spent Australia Day there and rode a camel!

Coffs Harbour- Nice place, (can read more below) went to the beach, bought a sarong, went canoeing, and met the first other American traveler on my trip!

Byron Bay- (read below) AWESOME spot! My favorite out of all the spots. It's the only other place where I would consider living besides Sydney and Melbourne. I saw beautiful beaches, dolphins, sting rays, met some great girls and had a really fun birthday goin out and getting some body paintage! And finally got to go horse back riding which was beautiful! I was sad to leave.

Surfer's Paradise- DON'T LIKE IT! Way too commercial, I got there and immediately thought "Miami". Hostel was shit, but the kewl Canadian guy that I met the day or 2 before was there and we spent my 1 full day there and had a great breakfast, went to the beach, played mini golf, shopped around, got milk shakes (which BTW, interesting fact to be inserted here: In Oz, they have 2 different kinds of shakes. There is a Milk Shake and a Thick Shake. The thick shake is what we as Americans would consider a milk shake.. but nooo, here in Ozziland a milk shake means milk with ice cream flavor... it's odd, but true, and kinda sucky since they charge at least $1 more for a thick shake) But that day was fun, even if the town sucked.

Brisbane- My stay here was awesome!! Brisbane itself was a bit of a let-down. I don't really know what I was expecting, but it wasn't that. It's a lot more spread out than Sydney, so therefore it feels bigger, it's got some great suburbs and a lot of pretty spots, but it didn't give me that "vibe" that I was looking for. But that whole stay was mostly business related anyway. Carole and Greg had a beautiful home with the best dog ever! and made me feel very welcome. Didn't do much besides look for work, catch up on emails, Facebook and blogging, much needed laundry, visited the Art Museum. But I did get to hang out with Carole's daughters and had Thai food for dinner, that was nice.

Hervey Bay- (pronounced Harvey Bay) This place was great. I don't know if it was because of the awesome people I met there or the bats or what, but I had a great time. The hostel I stayed at was nice but the people made it so much better. They turned on the Super Bowl for just me and I got to teach a couple of Britts about US Football. I felt so proud! They let me change rooms when the air-con didn't work that well in the room I was in and then I found the bats! The water was great but I was kind of afraid to go swimming by myself. Did a fair bit of walking and saw some pretty sites. I didn't go to Frasier Island (which is why most backpackers stay in Hervey Bay to begin with) but I hear it's neat. It's the largest sand island in the world and it has a bunch of wild dingos. Other than that.. not too sure what the awesomeness is all about.

Airlie Beach- Well the bus ride from Hervey Bay to Airlie Beach was quite a tote. But luckily I had some good company. Which brings up another fun side note: the interesting and sometimes painful positions you get in while trying to sleep on a Greyhound bus! Some really hurt afterward, and sometimes you amaze yourself with the way your body can contort to fall asleep! Anywho, Airlie beach was very nice and very cute. I went on a half-assed Whitsunday Island tour. I say half-assed because the boat was OK, but the seats look like they had a dog chewing on them, everything cost extra on top of the $140pp costs and then after going the 2/3 stops scheduled the pump broke and the boat started to take on water, so we had to head into shore. It was ok though, because they gave us all a 50% refund and I got to see Whitsunday Island and Whitehaven beach. Whitehaven beach was so beautiful. It had the whitest sand ever and it was sooo fine that when you held it, it felt like baking flower or powdered sugar! And, it was so fine that it polished your jewelry when you played with it!
I also spent some time swimming in the man made lagoon, which was really really nice!

Cairns- Another LONG bus ride to Cairns. But Cairns was great! Again, met some neat people and the best part of my trip (of course) snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef!! OK, SO, if you've ever been to Hawaii and snorkeled or scuba dived there, yeah.. this kicks HI's ASS! It was like HI times 1,000! I paid a pretty penny for getting pretty much the best tour boat out there who had exclusive rights to boat to the outer reef to 3 private and select spots. The staff was great, the food was very tasty and the snorkeling was amazing! Even though I was with like 60 other people, when I was out in the water, it seriously felt like there was no one around. I saw lots of tropical fish, a couple of sharks, a sea turtle, lots of jelly fish (which btw, aren't as "jelly" as you'd think... they're actually kinda firm.. it's weird) I was wearing a stingger suit though so it was fine. I saw a clown fish and a huge giant sea clam, and of course, tons of beautiful coral. I snorkeled around so much that I wore two nice blisters on my middle toes! But it was definitely worth the pain and the cost!

Adelaide- Flew from Cairns (which is pronounced cans btw) and had a fun time finding my way around. Adelaide is actually quite small. For the first night I didn't actually stay in "Adelaide" I stayed in a Southern burb called Glenelg. Which was quite nice and the hostel I stayed at was fun and funky as well. A lot of little rooms that were opened up together to create the sitting, dining and kitchen areas. Then the rooms were neat because there were no bunk beds (yay!) but only like 1 shower and 1 toilet for like 2 floors, so that was interesting.. didn't seem to be much of an issue while I was there however. The style was also kewl, it was like a New Orleans, LA- French baroque style with the rot iron and the fun filigree details. The next night though, I stayed in the actual town of Adelaide at a different hostel (I would have stayed at the first one, but because I had a free bed coupon i was forced to move to this one) But it was good that I did, because I met this cute little peanut of a Canadian and we went to Kangaroo Island together. Kangaroo Island had a lot of beautiful spots and was a fun day. Way too expensive for having to ride around with a bunch of Asians and old people on a big tour bus hoping off and on and off and on, but it was still fun and I got some good pics!
That night coming back from the tour I met these two interesting guys who after talking with them for 5 minutes invited me with them on a road trip down the Great Ocean Road into Melbourne. I told them I would, but that I had already paid $50 for my Greyhound ticket and it was non-refundable. So the next day we hung out together at the beach in Glenelg and I got to know them a bit better. One was named Stuart and he was from Scotland, and the other Dan from England. Both were fun guys so after about another 6 hours of thinking about it I said "fuck it" and tossed my Greyhound ticket and stayed an extra night at the hostel to head out with them in the morning for the Ocean Road. And I'm really glad I did!! It was AMAZING! (see top picture). We had the best time, it was really those two and then me, they pretty much decided where we were going, what we were going to do and where we would stop... but I got out easy. We ended up with a camper van and stayed two nights in the van, which was interesting because there was a top loft part, but the guys were scared it'd collapse and they didn't want to sleep next to each other, so of course, I had to sleep in the middle. Not only that, but those little *bleeps* talked me into playing strip poker!! And I lost... BADLY! There went my ego, right along with almost all my clothes. I refused to take off my underwear, so as punishment, they made me run to the toilets and back (yes, outside) but I only ran about 1/2 way before I heard the *bleepers* start locking the doors! So I ran back and promptly chewed their asses, got my clothes back on and swore never to pay poker or any betting game with either of them ever again. (Especially since I found out that the Scot, who was also the dealer the whole game, was fantastic at card magic tricks!!)
So I spent 2 nights and 3 days with these boys traveling the Great Ocean Road. We picked up two hitchers on the second day which was great because they were from Cali! Of all places!! And so we all hit it off quite well and spent the whole day together site seeing and getting to be friends. It was a really really beautiful trip and I'm glad I went... even if I lost my clothes along the way ;)

Melbourne- When I first got to Melbourne, I wasn't too excited. My hostel was shit and falling apart and the night life when we went out was kinda lame. But it grew on me. I ended up staying 4 nights and 5 days there and had a really nice time. Met some new friends, mostly from England (I met a butt load of English people on this trip!!) went to the Digital Arts Museum, the Shrine of Remembrance, St. Kilda beach, Melbourne Central, and the Botanical Gardens, which are the largest in Australia. All of it was beautiful and so full of culture I loved it! My friend from the states also hooked me up with her big brother who lived in St. Kilda as well, so I got a couple of free nights from him and saved a couple bucks which made me very happy, as well as being able to do some much needed laundry! But even though I had met some new friends and was having a great time, I couldn't stay longer because I needed to get back to Sydney for Mardi Gras!!! - see next line -

Sydney- SO HERE I AM!!! Back in Sydney... Whew... long trip.. but can you believe it? I did all of that in only 5 weeks!! Most people will take a couple months to do all of that.. oh well.. I work fast.
I made it back on Feb 25th, a couple days before Mardi Gras. It was a little hectic, only because the mate that I was supposed to crash with, pulled out at the last minute and I was desperate for somewhere to stay. I found one hostel but could only get 2 nights before having to move to another because of Mardi Gras and they were booked. So I stayed the 2 nights, met again, more neat people from England, got my computer fixed!!! (which was awesome, side note: the guy at the Apple store was way super nice and got it fixed for me within 4 hours, AND it cost me about $200 less than it would have in the states! AND he also offered to help me find a couch to crash on! it didn't work out, but holy cow that was awesome and so kind!) So I tried to get onto this website couchsurfers.com and find a couch.. did it wrong, so no one would host me... but this nice lady took pity on me and invited me out on Mardi Gras for lunch and then to hang at the parade afterward.
So I met these 3 ladies for lunch and within an hour we were all great friends and having a blast. I went and changed into my "outfit" and decided I needed to wear something on my head! So we all 4 got in the spirit and found this cheep dollar store and all got bunny ears and feather boas. Thus... the 4 bunnies were created!! We had an absolute blast, hung out, had some drinks (except I had soda) and watched the parade.. we had a great view and I think we managed to get on TV a couple times!!

Then one of the girls, being the angels that they are, offered to let me crash on her couch for a while. I of course took her up on the offer and after a couple days she asked if I'd like to rent the room!!! I told her that if I could find a job and be able to pay her that I would... and low and behold- I gotta job!! YUP, last week I landed a job as a digital image correction technician at a photo studio! It's good so far, my boss is way chill and easy going and he threw me in right away. Last Friday (the 12th) was my first day on a trial basis, he liked me, so he asked me to assist the next day on some shoots! I of course said yes, but little did I realize, that it would mean assisting for 3 hours on two baby portrait shoots and then for another 8 1/2 at a full wedding where I wasn't assisting, but instead, was a second shooter!
All in all though, it was a fun day and the next day I got to go to Bondi and relax on the beach with the Bunnies and watch the pro-surf competition. So hot surfer guys and sunny beach.. not a bad way to end the week.

Which thus leads me to today... Monday... Nice and easy Monday... Had today off, (thank god) and had breakfast with the hitchers from Cali before they headed back to the US and then stopped at the chemist to pick up drugs. Although the place I'm staying is very nice... the room I'm renting causes my allergies to go nutz!! So now I'm living in a Northern burb called Cremorne and staying with a beautiful Columbian named Paola and her mother Nalita and doing all kinds of everything for GM Photographics! AND THUS completes my summing up... my 5 page.... long... sum up.... :P

TILL next time folks!
Keep smilin and stay away from Scottish men who want to play strip poker!!

~The Newly Settled Australia Backpacker

10 Things I've Found Out About Australia Thus Far...

1. Suntan Lotion is now your new moisturizer

2. It's sandals, flip-flops or bare feet (unless you're out in the bush)

3. "Hey, how you going?" does not mean "where are you going"

4. Not all backpackers are greasy hippie, pot-smoking odd balls

5. It IS possible to maintain proper hygiene while staying in hostels

6. About 90% of music you hear is from America

7. Saying your from Alaska gets the same shocked response no matter where you are in the world

8. I still have yet to come across a toilet that spins in the opposite direction. Or spins at all actually

9. In the summer, you're in a constant state of WET and living in the pool or in the shower is the only way to not feel sticky

10. You can get away with a LOT by apologizing and claiming you're a stupid American

Top 15 Things I've Seen So Far...

1. Dolphins
2. Little Sting Rays
3. Koalas (at the koala hospital.. sad but still neat)
4. Ibis (not that they're particularly kewl, because they're everywhere.. but now that I FINAllY know what they're called.. it's neat)
5. PUPPIES!
6. Cows
7. Baby possom
8. 100s of thousands of BATS flying over my head from the sunset into the night
9. Wallabees(sp)
10. Cows, cows.. and hey, guess what? COWS
11. Quite a few REALLY good looking people
12. Huge waves crashing over Freshie Beach
13. Beautiful sunsets
14. Did I mention the bats? It really was amazing
15. Fire juggler

Hope there will be a lot neater things to post later as to what I've seen and done.. till then this should hold you off :)

Cheers mateys!
~The Offical Quasay Australia Backpacker

Reasons I Am Awesome

I'm stealing that headline and the subject of this post from a dear friend of mine.. only because she IS awesome and extreamly clever and I am not....

I paid my bills today!
I booked my bus pick-ups and hostel stays for Hervey Bay, Airlie Beach and Cairns.
I also booked my flight from Cairns to Adelaide!
I job searched and applied to 13 jobs that I'm probably not going to get.
I updated my travel calendar.
AND walked 4 km to the store with Sully (big fluffy teady-bear dog) and back!

I felt very accomplished.

....and then..

I realized....

I just spent over $400 in less than an hour....


Awesomeness ended.

And She's BACK!.... for a day

Hey hey hey!

I know you missed me, you poor poor thing!

Well I'm back... for today at least.

I'm gonna TRY to not make this blog post really huge.. because usually when I blog only about what happened in one day it turns into a book.. and those of you who know me also know that when I tell a 5 min story it turns into 15-35.. Soo yeah.. I'll try and keep it neat and tidy by organizing it into the neat days where something interesting that I remember happening, happened!

So here goes: (from first day of travel to now)

Friday, Jan 22nd-

Well it was a pretty normal day really.. I got on the Greyhound to start my adventures North along the East coast and my first stop from Sydney was Newcastle!

Yeah, so Newcastle kinda sucks... nothing interesting really to do and it's kinda run down looking. The people are super nice but other than that.. *yawn*

Aaannnd as most of you have heard, that was the day that when I got to Newcastle I sat down, opened up my bag, pulled out my shiny beautiful brand new, only 2 months old laptop to find that the monitor was SHATTERED.. yes... that's right... shattered like a mirror!

Apparently, something pushed into the top of the neoprene case and pushed into the top of the laptop which caused the monitor to bow out and break. Can't see a damn thing!

NOT covered under Apple's shitty warranty and my travel insurance will only cover $500, which isn't even a full 1/2 of the total cost. So now I have to wait until I get BACK to Sydney at the end of FEB to take it in and see what it'll cost to repair and to see if it's even worth it or if I have to purchase a brand new computer... I'm P-I-S-S-E-D!

So there's day #1- not to mention that the hostel I stayed in forgot to pick me up so I was at the bus station for an hour, was crazy with hippy people high on shrooms, making a ruckus and the pool was so dirty that you couldn't see 2ft down into it. But like I said, the people in the town were kewl, so it wasn't all bad.

Sunday, Jan 24th-

And I was off like a herd of turtles to Port Macquarie! The place I stayed was ok. It was huge though.. it was actually a whole Travel Oasis type place that had not only shared rooms for backpackers but also lots for RVs, cabins, tents and all sorts of stuff! The kewl part was though that the rooms were only booked with whomever made the reservation. So if 2 people were traveling together they put them in their own room, if 3 were traveling together they got their own room and thus for 2 glorious nights, I got my own as well! They kept the place fairly clean and they had free internet which was nice, and the pool was clean.. at least the water anyway.. the people.. not so much (creepy, sleazy guys always seem to find me).

Met a neat couple traveling around, the girl Lea is from Norway, and the guy Chris is from Sweden. They are studying in Perth and took their Christmas break to travel around. So it was neat that I had someone to talk to. ALSO, *highlight* I got to ride a CAMEL!

Yup! His name was Obama.. and he was adorable.. it was amazingly cool and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.. even though they stink.. bad.

Tuesday Jan 26th (Australia Day!!)-

Well, I left the cute and quaint little Port Macquarie and headed North again to Coffs Harbour. My bus didn't leave until around 2:30, so Lea, Chris and I went down into PM town and hung out, they had lots of stands selling goods and food and good stuff to celebrate Australia day. I showed my support by getting an Aussie flag tattoo and putting it on my bicep, GRR! AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE, OI OI OI!

Coffs was really pretty, a bit more beach that Port Macquarie, but bigger and more spread out. The hostel I stayed at was nice and quiet and they tried to keep it as clean as possible, which I appreciated (I still wore flip-flops in the shower). I met a neat chick from Spain and we went for a canoe ride up the river into/behind the botanical gardens. Sorry folks, no crocks.. just pretty scenery and birds.

The people who worked at the hostel though were asses and completely unhelpful. I wanted to go horse back riding the ONE day I was going to be there and they said that I needed a min of 2 people, but they said they'd help by posting, asking if anyone else would want to join me and then post my name and #. Yeah.. they never did that. Also, when I showed up to check in, I immediately paid with cash, not knowing that they had a card machine. So later I asked if I could possibly get my cash back and pay on my card instead because I needed the cash for food and I didn't have my PIN for my card (yeah.. I'll get into that).. and they said "No, we don't do that here.. you should try the gas station." And I'm sitting there thinking "WTF would the gas station do!?!" But whatever, I just left it alone and paid with what I could... Bitch

Thursday, Jan 28th (My Australia Birthday)-

Well I left Coffs and headed North to Byron Bay. I was pretty stoked because I'd heard all sorts of good things about it. As soon as I got there I loved it. The hostel I stayed in was AWESOME! It was clean, organized, nicely decorated, had air conditioned rooms that WORKED! And the bathrooms were hella clean and I felt comfortable to actually not wear flip-flops!! They also had a dual sex bathroom, which I thought was going to be weird, but it really wasn't, not at all. I actually met a really neat guy named Dave in the bathroom after I let out a stream of curses due to me stubbing my toe, putting it up on the counter to check it, hitting a nerve which made it hurt worse, causing me to wiggle my foot around, to which I then hit my second toe (which is longer than my first) causing it to crack sideways and hurt MORE.... anyway... it was some what amusing and Dave and I got to talking and ended up having a like 35 min conversation in the bathroom!

I also had some great bunk mates. One girl Marrit (said like marrd with a roll of the Rrr) from Holland and she was super sweet and cute and FUNNY! Then there was Holly who is from England and is also super sweet and cute and funny. We had a good time together. Byron I have to say has been my best stop yet. I walked through sting rays, sat and watched the dolphins out in the bay, went snorkeling (didn't see anything) and finally got to go horseback riding!! Not to mention got to go out to a couple bars with the girls and have free food, free drinks and get stuff painted on ya!! All in all it was a great time!

Sunday, Jan 31st-

After Byron I headed up to Surfer's Paradise on the Gold Coast of Queensland. (See, Byron Bay is the last stop in New South Wales before you cross into QLD)

This place sucks!

It immediately reminded me of Miami FL, not in the good way and which is odd because Surfer's Paradise is actually the next town North of another town called Miami... Anyway.. I was all stoked to stay in another Nomad's hostel because the last one was bomb... yeah.. NO.

This place was dirty, grungy, no air conditioning, only had a small table fan that was busted so we had to sleep with the balcony door open to which all the people who were smoking out on their balconies allowed their smoke to come right into our room. Not to mention the first night I got there, there were these 3 Asian chicks (I think maybe Japanese) who were there already and did not say a WORD.. they spoke to each other 2ce and in another language and that was all... it was creepy. And when I tried to ask or say anything to any of them, they "didn't speak English"... WTF!?

Anyway, the next day was a hell of a lot better, because Dave (the Canadian I met in the bathroom) was living there and had just arrived and was determined to not let my vacation suck. So we went out for brekky, went and saw a movie (Law Abiding Citizen.. LOVE IT.. GO SEE IT!!) Went to the beach, went and played mini golf, went and grabbed Korean food for dinner- which was a WHOLE new experience since I'd never had it and what I got they said was "glass noodles". These things are weeeiiirrdd. Not a bad weird.. just weird. They're totally see-through! And apparently made from sweet potatoes... I KNOW.. weird!

So that day totally rocked and made the stop in Surfer's all the more worth it.

Tuesday, Feb 2nd-

Happy day to be leaving Surfer's. Had fun the day before, but was ready to get the hell out of there! When I checked out however, I asked the lady for my key deposit back and she said I didn't give her one. I said I remember giving her $10 and she said no, because I paid for the room with my card, they had the # on file and didn't need the cash because they could just charge my card if they needed to. I was pissed to all hell and glared at her and said "I wouldn't have remembered that it was $10, had I not GIVEN you $10!" and walked out.

But at the bus stop though, I met another AMERICAN!! Oh happy day! (you meet so few of them here that you just wanna jump on them and give them a hug when you do.. it's weird) So she was in the same boat I was with the whole having super short hair, traveling around the East Coast and working and what-not, longing and in pain for her man back home.. so we bonded and had lunch before her next bus and she gave me tips on getting around Brisbane.

Brisbane is were I am at this very second, staying with --*takes a deep breath*-- Adam's father's wife's sister and her husband. Otherwise known as Carole and Greg. Two AMAZINGLY awesome people who opened their home to me and gave me food and clean sheets and a super clean bathroom and my own bedroom and a super huge fluffy teddy bear of a dog to play with!! So needless to say it's been an amazing 4 days here and I'm sad I have to leave. I feel like I just want to snuggle in and live in their house forever. Although I don't love Brisbane as much as I was hoping. Don't get me wrong, it's really nice, and it feels a lot larger than Sydney, although it's only the 3rd largest city (it's because it's so spread out). But there's not really any beaches here, the river is dirty and gross, and it's HOT. But if this was the only place I could get a job, then I'd live here... especially since I know people.

Yesterday Carole introduced me to her daughter Alyssa who is awesome and we spent the whole day together to which we found out we're a lot alike and have tons in common. We had lunch and then went to her other sister Hillary's house for dinner. She's a sweetheart who has the balls to actually CHOOSE to teach high school kids!

Other than that Brisbane has been a catch-up and deal with business stop, as well as get some actual sleep and good rest!

I'm only hoping my next stops will be nice and fun and give me exciting things to do!

I leave tomorrow to head up to Hervey Bay, a lovely 5+ hr bus ride.. WHEEE...

Not a clue what to expect, but I'm definitely choosing my hostels a little more carefully this time!

I don't know when I'll have free internet again to actually have the time to blog about this particular part of my journey.. but when I get back to Sydney I definitely will have the time.. so just in case I don't get the chance (because here in AU you have to pay an average of $4 for 1 hr of internet usage) be sure to hang on tight to these fleeting words and I'll catch ya'll up in a couple weeks!

OH.. so that you know what's goin on.. After Hervey Bay I'll be going to Airlie Beach/Whitsunday Islands, then up to Cairns (the end of my northerly journey) Then I'll fly down to Adelaide, bus it over to Melbourne, then to Canberra and back up to Sydney with an ETA of roughly Feb 23rd!

So hopefully Ya'll can hang on till then!

Sorry this wasn't as cheeky and ROFLAO funny as I know I usually am.. but it was a lot to try and fit into one post.. My future ones will be better, I promise!

Till later my friends!

~The Official Quasay Australia Backpacker!