Thursday, July 7, 2011

East Coast Road Trip and Sydney Part 1

What an amazing semester!  I wish i would have wrote about everyday cause each day had a new adventure in it.  Before this trip, Rachael and I did an outback tour for 5 days and had a nice road trip to Adelaide, but if you want to read about those you can always check out her blog!  The end of the semester called for a final trip, unfortunately Penn (my Chinese Friend) couldn't make this one so it was up to me, Josef and Harry to drink his share haha  (which wasnt that much anyways haha just kidding Penn)!
      After a crazy last pub night, I needed Thursday to recover and still wasn't 100% on Friday before we left (yes, it was that crazy) so i left the driving to Harry and Josef.  While sitting in the back seat I realized (I can now use a z in 'realized' without getting judged or marked off from a professor....YAY) that is was the last trip i would take 1. in Australia and 2. with my good friends Harry and Josef (for awhile atleast)...it was a sad moment in the backseat for me.  After leaving the metropolitan area and suburbs, green hills began to roll all around us and in the horizon.  It was like nothing i've ever seen!  We had a quick decision to make between the coast way or just the highway, luckily we made the right choice and went the coast route.  So after a nice scenic drive, the sun began to set and we started our way through the Snowy Mountains and yes, they actually have snow on them! Now that the sun was down, Jumanji 2 started and the Australian wildlife was everywhere.  Kangaroos running across the street every couple minutes, wallabies, wombats and a Dinosaur...ill explain.  So Harrys driving, im sitting in the front seat and josef is sleeping in the back and all of a sudden this roar comes out of nowhere!  It was 11 pm and Harry didnt say anything about the noise so i was like "uhhh, did you just hear that?" and he was like I didnt want to say anything cause I thought i was hearing stuff!  So after being a little weirded out, we talked about how the velociraptor part of Jurassic Park was the coolest part of the movie and that the mountain we were on probably was a Jurrasic park....okay we hadnt seen a car in hours so we were going a little crazy, but we both heard the noise and when we told Josef he was convinced we made a stop and grabbed some mushrooms from the side of the road, but I assure you we didn't! Anyyways, we finally made it to the coast at a little after midnight and were lucky enough to find a hostel that was still open...well, we thought we were lucky!
     We walk into this building and there isnt one window and was already cold in the room. I called dibs on the extra blanket so i was 'okay' through most of the night but i woke up quite a few times and the bed would be shaking where Josef was shivering (it was a bunk bed... geese you guys are sick!) 
   So we woke up and i was feeling a little better than the day before but still a tad weird but i was okay enough to drive and we got a coffee and headed to a nearby "bush walk" or trail walk in other words.  The walk was 15 minutes and wasn't anything spectacular and the beach access was closed off....but this rule was obviously meant to be broken!  So we hopped down some steps and found ourselves on one of the nicest beaches we'll probably see!  Not a foot print on the beach, huge waves, clear water, raised cliffs behind us, oh and the dolphins swimming up and down the coast...pretty sweet!  So after hanging out, Harry and Josef swam a little and having a beer, we left with the feeling that the trip was already worth it.  I was feeling pretty good now and was ready to crank.  Harry made a mix from some of the songs out of my eclectic music collection and he chose some good ones, from Duran Duran to The Fixx and U2 to Seal, plus many more, and it made the drive even more spectacular than it already was.  so  little more driving and then we stopped in a nice town and got some fresh sea food.  Our accommodation was much nicer this time, more blankets, a heater, and it was a sort of camper park so we didnt have to worry about disturbing anyone!  We hung out for a couple hours and had a few beers and got hungry later so Harry and I had some chicken, which hit the spot!  Oddly enough, we fell asleep pretty early, maybe 930 this night and decided to make it an early morning as well.  So once we got to sleep, of course the camper across the street decided to have this huge rave and i have to say the DJ was actually really good, but i was ready to kill someone!  And then it stopped and after a couple more hours of sleep i had the craziest dream!  I woke up and looked around and my bed was surrounded by a brick wall...it was so freaked I woke up in the morning and had flipped around on the bed to where my head was where my feet were!  So weird....but we all woke up around 730 and were ready to start another adventure!

Monday, July 4, 2011

it's really hard to get into this blog thing!

WEll, continuing on my Adelaide trip, but I will give the 'spark notes' version! (c'mon we all love spark notes) and hopefully it wont be too long.
        After our interesting beach night, we woke up to a cloudy day and headed for Adelaide.  After finding where we were going to park the camper, we set off to go to the bigger wineries in the city.  The first one we stopped at after a nice long rainy hike along the a river, was a more historical type of museum than anything.  Just to taste a little bit of wine was like 20 bucks so we decided to take our chances and get a couple bottle that sounded good and yes, they were amazing!  Okayyy go ahead and say it, WINE TASTING...REALLY!  But this wasn't our last wine stop for the trip, but we were ready for some beer so we made a stop at a random pub with some live music and got our DRINK ON!  Somewhere around 10 pitchers of beer later, the four of us were hammered walking the streets of Adelaide!  Had no idea of what time it was, where we were or actually what was going on!  Luckily we got videos of hanging out with a drunk homeless guy at the bus stop which was toootally worth it!  Not in a mean way, but we definitely brightened up his day im sure.  WE get back safely to the camper and start making some bangin' pasta!  WE ATE soo much and that was the base of the four of ours' conversation for the next couple hours haha...!  Penn and I passed out early and Harry and Josef decided to continue the once again, really long night.    ( for my sake of remembrance, I forgot to mention about the spot we thought we were supposed to first park at!  It was where the trashcans were supposed to go, half the size of the real spots and Harry actually managed to get the van through!  Its hard to put a picture on this but just try to imagine a huge van squeezing through a little alley...)
      Anyways, so we continued to another winery and the tasting was FREE and the wines were preeetty freakin' good especially the last one, the desert wine haha ( I didn't think that actually existed but Grease was right all along)  so we're all not drunk just nice and chilled and we start heading up a mountain to maybe find a good hike while we were there.  So the hike started off good and then an eerie fog took over the forest covered mountain ( I thought Predator was gonna come out!)  so we pass a nice little waterfall and end up on a ZOO....i thought we were in an episode of the twilight zone!  we walked by some wallabies and kangaroos hangin' out behind a fence and theres a little sign that says electrical fence...haha just guess what comes next?!  Yes, we got Penn to touch it hahahahahaha!  I almost died from his reaction and couldn't breath for five minutes!  Then, somehow we end up at a ZOO....i thought we were in an episode of the twilight zone! We get in not knowing what to expect and then a million kangaroos come out of nowhere, some as tall as we were and luckily we put some bread in the bookbag so we gave a lot of the kangaroos a nice fiber rich lunch.  Kangaroos fighting, sleeping and just hangin' out everywhere...i knew we were in the twilight zone now!  So we finished walking the Clealand Zoo and were on our way home.  Stopped once to get a nice last dinner in that Harry prepared which was good and then Josef took the wheel all the way home! 

The End.....Finally
  

Friday, April 1, 2011

Adelaide Cont.

    So I realized a few really bad grammatical errors in the last post after trying to find where I had left off and I figured I'd apologize to anyone who had to read it and wonder if my college education was getting used!
     Where was I....ah yes!  So we started back on the road and were headed to Adelaide and it was my turn to drive and the whole left side of the road thing takes awhile to get use to, especially in a big camper van!  So in the first few minutes I go around the traffic circle and I almost took the curb out and gave Josef a heart attack, which was totally worth the little mistake!  So we get out of victor harbor and here comes the hills and wind and I WAS NOT ready for it.  The whole time I'm freakin' out trying to stay on the road because after driving for so long on one side of the road, you get use to certain things...for example,  you tend to lean to the left when you drive on the right side because you don't want to go off the road of course and I guess your eyes have been fixed on that side and this was the biggest problem I had.  I know that doesn't make sense but when you experience you'll be like" Ohhh yeaaa".  Another problem is that, like in our cars,  the turn signal is opposite the window, and the same rule applies here so any time I needed to turn...yes you got it, I turned the wind-shield wipers on haha!  So after mentally draining myself, we stopped at a rest area to get some info on the local wineries.  After hangin' out for a second I let Josef drive haha even though I got the hang of things, my poor brain had stressed enough, plus Josef and Harry are kick butt drivers so it was better he take the wheel on all the hills and tight roads! 
     So we get to the first winery and it was prettty big and we caught while they were harvesting a lot of grapes, which was pretty cool cause its this huge machine on wheels nthat seperates the grapes from the vine without even reuining the vine....nuts i tell you.  but we get in and we're walkin around and I noticed that to have like a full meal, like wine and all, was around 100 bucks per person so we were like "time to go", plus just one glass of wine was like 20 bucks...rediculous!  So we got out of there and the sun was shining bright so we tried to find a lake to eat at but it ended up being waste water or something so we just stopped at a rest stop and relaxed a little bit.  so after a short breakwe continued and soon arrived to adelaide! 
     Like I mentioned before, the sun was out and there was no chance of rain so Harry and Josef found a camper spot next to a beach where we would spend the remainder of the day and night.  We arrived around 2 and cranked open some beers and hooked up some music and were livin' it up!  After a few more beers, yes we drank a lot i'll go ahead and say it, we set lout to the beach and jumped in the suprisingly calm and clear water.  We weren't so intoxicated it was dangerous, but I cried laughing so hard when Penn decided to open his eyes under water hahahaha still makes me laugh!!  And then, everyone knows how I love to mess with people (you all are nodding your heads yeaaa right now), I cried some more after scaring the crap out of Penn by faking that there were big fish all around him....and yes I did this like 4 times, in different ways of course, Like a "holy crap don't move" and a "something just rubbed my leg" and my personal favorite " Yea, the further you go, the bigger the sharks get" hahaha and YES it worked every time hahaha  But we got out because it was pretty cold and everyone on the beach was starring at us 1 because we were the only ones in the water and 2 because we were all laughing really hard and all sounded like aliens because of our accents. 
   So by this time it was about 5 or 6 and after another beer or two we started the steaks we bought before we left.  It had been awhile since Harry and Josef had one and Penn just eats anything (no really) haha so we were all pretty excited.  WE fired up the hot plate that was supposed to be a grill, which sucks, but according to the guys the steaks turned out alright (I guess I have to give credit to Dad right about now), just I needed to work on my medium rares!  After this things get a little out of control, but controlled none-the-less!  The beers start racking up, and by the way theyre 500 mL (or half a liter) cans, so a good size haha, and we decided we would jump the fence to go out to the beach oohhh breaking the rules!  We brought a freind out with us to join the festivities and his name was Johnny Walker, but he didn't quite make it through the night cause we were all having too good a time haha!  Johnny Walker is a brand of Whiskey for any of you non-alcoholics haha)  So after some pretty good fun with Penn falling down a dune face first and me making the mistake thinking there was something other than roads on the other side of the cliff of sand, it was time to jump back over the fence and find a bed...fast!  But that wouldn't come easily with the neighbors freaking out that they couldn't sleep and for the record she sounded prettty wasted herself so it made for an akward morning when we saw each other haha  There some other good stories within this night I will just save it for the personal level and not waste too much space and your time!
    Sooo I guess I'll continue with the next day soon!  Thanks for reading and sorry if i miss any errors or it is confusing to follow haha
      

Sunday, March 27, 2011

The next couple of days...and beyond!

Seriously, I just spent like an hour writing about the next couple of days and then I try to post it and then the next page I see is, we're sorry for the inconvenience....this is prettty gay, but since i've been putting off doing another one because of this "inconvenience", i guess ill just skip onto my Adelaide trip I got back from this past Tuesday!
    So everything was prepared, we were ready to go and everyone was packed up, but of course we were running late because I decided to make everyone breakfast...go ahead, typical!  So we're on our way to the mall to catch a taxi and Josef had an "oh shit moment", and we're all like, "Josef doesn't have these moments"  so we all said, "oh, shit"and yes, we all each other a Pepsi!  Anyways, what happened was in the midst of all the craziness on the computer trying to find the cheapest plane tickets, the dates accidently got switched, this was an honest mistake and I reassured him i've done much dumber things in life and proceeded to give examples, i'm sure you guys could think of a couple yourselves! But, Tiger airways being the crap airline they are, didn;t cut us a break and give us any type of reimbursement or new plane to get on, so it was no Tasmania for us...Worse things could have happened so i was okay and Josef was kind enough to pay for the mistake.  So we pondered on what to do and decided to do something instead of eat away at ourselves on what we could be doing, so to the camper van place it was!  After being sent on a wild goose chase to find some form of transport (a walk around the airport and 2 taxi's later), we finally found "The Camper" and decided to go to Adelaide!  After signing all the paper work, it was Aldi time and the adventure had begun (actually it started when we walked out the door, but lets be sentimental). 
     After stocking up on necessities and beer (oh wait, thats a necessity also) we went to the student village (my home) to grab some odds and ends, eat a good meal and head on our way.  Josef began driving and we were all feeling good and excited about the days to come.  Heading west while the sunset hit the windmills, hills and sparse trees was a great start (and a sign we were going the right way haha)  After a a little while we stopped and got some gas and switched drivers, and we talked the front desk lady into giving us coffees...Score! 
                             I'm eating Planters' trail mix right now and omgosh...so good!
  Anyways,  it was late and Harry and I were in the front jamming while Penn and Josef chilled in the back!  first, it was like an hour of hardcore dub and dance, then I found my way to a station that was playing "everybody wants to rule the world" by Tears for fears haha how symbolic and not to mention total CRANK!  so after blowing the speakers in the van, we made it (t about 3 a.m) to Victor Harbor!  It was time to drink the rest of the day away and forget about what we did to get there...and we did! 
   After a couple hours of sleep, we realized there was an island about 100 m away via a bridge.  We ate some breakfast and I thought it would be a good idea to start the day off with a little hike...!  So we make it to Granite Island and start to walk around, random large rocks everywhere, large grass and great scenery...it was okay at first, but the we make it to the other side with crashing waves and massive rocks collected along the ridge so we hop a couple ropes and start to jump along the rocks which was pretty freakin' sweet i might say!  After some good photos and 30 mins of jumping from rock to rock Josef and Penn decided to head back due to running out of time at the parking meter and I wanted to try and run along the coast to finish the perimeter of the island.  as i o around, of course I see some great things and have to stop to try and soak it in, but i begin to run late so of course i look for a short cut.  Okay first, it was a fairly small island and I knew which direction to go, (for those of you who think im directionally impaired) i just thought I could hop some fences to save time!  WELL, i had the right idea but 1.) i ended up at a cliff, but the bridge was in my eyesight and @.) I swear I hit 100 spider webs on the way! and we all know that Australia is notorious for its poisonous spiders!  haha so you can imagine me, by myself, freaking out like im schizophrenic every 5 seconds cause I feel like im gonna be bitten by some huge spider!  But, I make it down in about the same amount of time if I were to fallow the trail (i swear okay haha) and meet up with everybody to start back to Adelaide. 
    So its gotten prettty lengthy and the next couple of days are priceless memories i'd like to share without you wanting to tare your eyes out from looking at a screen forever, so stay tuned and I hope all is well with any and all of my readers!! Have a good day

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Yeup, the first one!

WOW!  This took wayyy too long to start!  I've tried to start it a couple times, but so much has happened I get lost and just give up, but ill just start from the beginning i guess...
   I left at 10:30 on Friday and arrived Sunday at 11.  The 4 plane rides weren't too bad (except for the one to California in the Twilight Zone) and the flight from Sydney to Melbourne was worth the wait, I swear it is nothing you can see anywhere else.  I arrived and was super hot because the clothes I had to take out of the suitcase either went in my book bag or on me and plus I could barely carry everything I brought.  After I found who was supposed to be taking me to my temporary new home, I made the mistake of calling him sir...now one might think this was a kind gesture, but not to an Australian!  After getting a new butt-hole I found out that they thought I was arriving on the Germany flight a few hours earlier...so yes, there wasn't any space for me in the van!  I solemnly looked for something to do, maybe get a drink cause I was about to die of thirst, but I noticed that a 16 oz coke was 4 FING dollars!  I decided to thirst to death before I spent that much on a coke so I sought out a plug for my computer.  I finally found one in the corner of a magazine shop that wasn't occupied, so it was me and the floor for the next hour and a half. 
    Finally, my ride arrives and he tosses my stuff in the trailor attached to the van.  He looks at me and says its a little bumpy so secure it good (there wasnt anything to secure it with so I tried to tightly pack it).  The first freakin' 5 seconds of the ride, I thought I was going to have a heart attack cause I turn around and the trailor is flying through the air and everywhere...luckily I decided to put my book bag in the seat with me!   Other than that, it was nice to be in a car and on the ground.
     I get to the Village and I just know that there gonna be closed because the way things have gone the past 2 days and I would be stuck on the street, but finally I get a break and someone is there to take me to a room.  I drop my stuff off and try to get some internet and try to contact someone...but as soon as I thought things were looking up, I don't get any internet.  So I walk out, trying to figure out what the F is going on and someone asks me if I wanted to go to the store...so I did cause I was going to starve to death.  I get box wine, bread and juice with the little money I exchanged because it was so freakin' expensive to exchange at the airport.   So we get back and its about 5 by now and everyone starts to drink...not good if it feels like 1 in the morning!  So of course I get  to drinkin' a few cups of this wine they call "goon", (cause its 10 dollars for 4 liters and its 10 percent alcohol...it tastes like goon) and then I realize that I haven't eaten anything but a couple pieces of bread, so before I know it...yea you know where I'm going with this!  Needless to say, volleyball was really hard to play while stumbling everywhere, but man I had a good first night kickin' butt in volleyball at the Village!  By late night, i've been up for a couple of days and I decide to rearrange my room and get some sheets on the bed before I pass out on the gross floor!
    After waking up like 4 times, I realize I have to be at an orientation soon!   So i try to look up how to get to campus and I only get confusion...lost...and finally to campus after having to ask everyone on the bus for change cause I didn't have enough money.... HA! what a good way to make friends!          
          Because this is getting quite long, I will continue the recollection of my adventure another day.