Last night we drove out to a beach in Port Douglas (unfortunately T & T couldn't come, which sucked! I came north at this time specifically to see them.  Ah well, I'll see them when I get home!), where we made a fire and slept under the stars.  So there I was, middle of the night, walking down a path in the woods with two men I've just met online, in a strange country.  Hello horror movie much?  Heh.  Anyway.  The stars were stars I've never seen before, like the southern cross.  Very cool.  Woke up to the fire still burning and the sun just starting to rise over the horizon.

Realized this morning that THIS was what I'd come here for.  To see and do things I've never done before, and may never again.  It doesn't matter if I wake up hungover like in Melbourne and don't really know the people around me, cause I'm HERE.  YAY :D :D :D :D

Then I spent the day snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef!!!!! SO AMAZING.  We went to three spots, the last one was called Turtle Bay but sadly we did not see any turtles :(

Tomorrow I'm taking the train up into Kuranda, which will be my last activity until Uluru.  I'm almost fucking BROKE, this place is expensive to begin with and I've been doing any and every thing I can imagine, and then I almost had a heart attack when looking at my bank account yesterday.  Got some money coming to me from hom next week and that should get me through til the end.  Not too bad though - half the trip doing whatever I want, half the trip scrounging like a traveler should be.  Next week will involve lots of cheap relaxation on the beaches in Brisbane :D

After Brisbane, I'm flying to Alice Springs, for a three-day trip out to Uluru and surroundings, then taking the Ghan train down to Adelaide, which means I'll get to stop in at Coober Pedy - yay underground mines!  Then two days in Sydney, and back to Melbourne, then home.

Well, two days of feeling blah aren't so bad.  Today I woke up feeling great, the next three days are going to be some of the most exciting of my entire life.

Today I'm going skydiving.  This evening, the guy I'm staying with and his friend and I are going to meet up with T & T from home and drink on the beach under the stars.  Tomorrow I'm snorkelling the great barrier reef.  Friday I'm taking a steamtrain into Kuranda and coming back on the skyrail.

And I've found a place to stay in Brisbane!  With a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend. HA!  People are amazing.   Life is good :D

Three weeks left of my trip.  WOW.  It's half over already, I can't believe it.

The next week of my trip will probably be the loneliest, and it's an odd feeling.  So far I've been with people I knew years ago, or friends of friends that I got along with instantly, so although I've been alone for most activities, I've still had people to come home to and hang out with at the end of the day. I definitely lucked out in Melbourne, and people there are giving me hookups for Brisbane, so it looks like here will be the only place I'm stuck without any decent people to hang out with.

Now I'm in a place where I know noone, and I'm currently sitting on a patio at a backpackers, having a pint of beer in the sun.  But I realize I don't exactly fit in with a lot of the travellers around. There are two groups of people sitting near me right now, and I find nothing appealing about either of them.  Sometimes I think maybe I'm a judgemental bitch, but I really think it's that I'd just rather be alone than spend time with people I don't really have anything in common with.  You should have seen the look on the face of the guy I'm couchsurfing with now when I said I'd crashed at a squat in Melbourne.  People here are kind of separated into backpackers, and yuppies.  I'm neither.  I may be here with a backpack, but I've got the cash to go and do a lot of things mostly just yuppies do so I kind of stick out around the backpackers.  I can sleep in a squat and love it and spend my money on beer instead of accomodations but if I was stuck I wouldn't have to sleep outside, I could rent a room somewhere.  So it's a little odd.

All I wanted to do today was sit around and feel hungover and rejected and sorry for myself, but luckily, since you have to buy plane tickets in advance, I had no choice but to get my ass in gear and get on my plane.  Which is good.  It's one of the things about taking a short trip (I know some of you may think calling a six-week trip short is crazy, but in travellers time it really is) but you don't get to have a lot of time-wasting day or feeling crappy/lazy days.

Oh well.  I got on my plane and made it to Cairns.  Staying here with someone from couchsurfing, the guy is a great host already he picked me up from the airport and has a spare room, washing machine (YAY laundry), and he even has spare adapters in my room so I can charge more than one thing at a time.

Should be hooking up with Tom and Tara tomorrow, yay! Haven't spoken with her in a couple of days but hopefully will by the morning.  Then Wednesday, thinking of going to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef, Thursday possibly bungee jump in the rainforest, Friday taking a trip into Kuranda, then may head down to Brisbane on Saturday but not sure yet.  Might not head that way til Sunday or something.  Should be meeting up with J there, the dude from the sandy beach adventure waaaaaaaaaaay back in Caye Caulker in December.

I'm really hoping I wake up tomorrow and feel better.  Feeling blah while on a vacation is the worst.  If I can't get out of this funk, it'll waste my time and money being here.  Grrrrrr.

Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh

Hangover days are much better at home.  Woke up today feeling like a sack of crap, and for the first time since I arrived I really wished I was at home.  Spent the morning/afternoon sitting around just chilling with a few people in Essendon, and while everyone was really nice, it was so odd to be feeling so shitty and hanging out with strangers.  Not seeing real friends.  Felt especially crappy cause the closest person I had to a friend here, CNZ guy, took off last night without saying anything to me, which made my hangover feeling crappy day feel even worse.  Wish I could have been home with my felines snuggled in around me.

But, c'est la vie.  One shitty day out of 2.5 weeks ain't so bad.

Off to Cairns now!

Drunk in Melbourne.  Fucking MOTORHEAD last night.  I love this place.

It's been two weeks since I arrived in this country.  Barely more than a week since I've left Melbourne.  I can't fucking believe everything that's happened since then.  Hahah no wonder my body feels like jelly right now, I'm exhausted!

Tonight is my last night with Lisa and my last night in Western Australia.  I can't stress enough to anyone considering visiting this country - COME TO WA!!!!!  All of the travel books will tell you that Perth is a hidden secret of this country and they are correct.  It is so beautiful here.  I've been so spoiled getting to stay with Lisa, she's such a sweetheart and I'm happy to have been able to catch up with her. Hahahaha although I don't think she liked it much when I accidentally flashed her and her boy in the ocean today, HAHAH! I popped up saying 'Ha the water almost pantsed me!', not realizing I was falling out of half my top. OOPS!  Ah well, in Canada I'd say everyone one my friends has seen my tatas at some point so it had to happen over here at some point too :P

Back to Melbourne in the morning for ultra party time, then Cairns Monday.

Abseiling in Margaret River, Western Australia!

Faaaaaaaaaaail

Well it looks like I'm going to fail big time on my first night alone.  Checked into this adorable little hostel, the teevee room is full of dudes who work in the local vineyards (although they're all just playing computer games and watching game shows, not very exciting), and I can barely keep my eyes open.  The last two nights I've had a room all to myself and ample time to sleep, but nooooo I couldn't sleep, I've been waking up at 6am on my own, every day, since my last morning in Melbourne last Thursday.  And now, here I am, my first night alone and chance to be social with other travellers, and I'm going to pass out very soon.  It's not even 6pm.

Now granted, I've been sitting on a sunny patio drinking beer since 2pm, and I do have to be energized for the rock climbing tomorrow, but still. LAME.  Grrr. Id been thinking about doing a surf lesson, but the town isn' on the beach and I got here too late to try and get transport or anything.  Plus I really need to stop spending so much. This is a problem about spending only one night in a place - there's almost no point in trying to socialize with the people here, cause once I go to sleep tonight, I'll never see any of them again cause I'll be checking out at 8am.  Ah well.

Margaret River, WA

Heading down to Margaret River today.  Wanted to go for two nights, but the bus didn't match up with my return from Exmouth yesterday.  Oh well.  This afternoon I may sign up for my first ever surf lesson, this is one of the top surfing spots in the world so I think I kinda have to!  Tomorrow I'm going abseiling and rock climbing (http://www.margaretriver.com/tours2/margaret-river-climbing-co/?tourcode=16373).  So excited.

This will be my first night all on my own since I left, weird!  I've been very lucky so far, with a comfortable place to stay every night, incredible hosts,  and plenty of privacy - except for the nights I stayed in Essendon, I had my own room and everything (not that I'm complaining about not having my own room in Essendon, hehehehehe).  And now that I think of it, tonight will be the only night alone until Brisbane at least, if not Alice Springs, which means it's almost two weeks away.  So I will enjoy this!  Or be really bored, hahaha.

The whole Exmouth debacle ended up being by far the most expensive part of my trip.  It cost me 200 to change my ticket date, so with the flight, and the insanely expensive (but totally worth it) whale shark tour, I spent over a weeks budget in three days.  Have to play a bit of catch up the next few days, I don't want to get to the end of my trip and be scrounging.

Exmouth, Western Australia

Well this was the first time in months I've made it through airport security without any additional screening.  When Ash and I flew to Belize, we had to step into the full body scan.  On my way back, they pulled me out of the line boarding the plane and gave me a full pat down and tore through my bag (after I'd already passed airport security initially). When I boarded my first flight out of Ottawa for this trip, they searched my bags for traces of explosives.  On my way into Sydney, they took me in a little room and asked me a bunch of questions and made me sign that my answers were true.  Although not once on this trip have I been asked the questions I'm used to receiving, about employment or travel plans. Weird!

So I'm currently at the Exmouth airport, heading back to Perth.  Going to spend the night with Lisa again (she's the cutest hostest EVER, god I've missed this girl!), and we're going to eat at the same place we went Saturday so we can ogle the hot boys again.

My 48 hours in Exmouth have been exciting, relaxing, and terrifying.  It's a very teeny little town, when I called the airport shuttle today they immediately said 'we'll pick you up at 11:50', as they didn't have to ask what flight I was on as it's the only one.  The people are very friendly, and there are a group of American military guys here who are constantly hosting couchsurfers, it was very welcoming.  I had my own room and everything!

I'd planned to come here initially to do my scuba course.  Once that failed I decided to come just a few days, and snorkel around Coral Bay and Shark Bay, but when I got here this marine biologist who is also staying at the place I stayed was all, you HAVE to go see the whale sharks, people come from all over the world for this.  So I did, and it was amazing.  At one point we jumped off the boat and headed over to the shark, and without realizing it I'd floated right over him, I looked down and he was right beneath me, his blue body glowing with white dots.  So incredible.  We swam with three different whale sharks, and on the way back at the end of the day we spotted dugongs!  Got to see a mom and baby swimming along together.

The terrifying part happened at the beginning of the day.  Our snorkel guide took me and the two other non-divers off the reef to snorkel around, without any care about where we all went, so I was constantly popping my head up to make sure I could still see them.  Well, suddenly I pop up and I can see them all halfway back to the boat - I was all alone, the water was CHOPPY, and I'm still freaking myself out about the breathing problems.  YAY.  So I had to swim as fast as I could to get back alone, and as I didn't want to snorkel my way there as I didn't want to stray off path, I had my head up and kept getting water in my mouth. I'm not the world's strongest swimmer so this was actually really scary.  Lame.  I fucking LOST it on the snorkel guide when I got back, many of you have witnessed Angry Danielle and believe me this dude saw the worst.  Fucker.

Anyway. Heading to Margaret River tomorrow, it's going to be gorgeous!

Exmouth, WA

Today I:
Snorkeled off the Ningaloo Reef
Had my snorkeling guide swim back to the boat and leave me alone in giant swells of water 100 metres from the boat
Swam beside three whale sharks
Saw a mommy and baby dugong
Got a pretty bad sunburn on my back
Saw an old shipwreck
Was in the passenger seat of a car that hit a kangaroo

What a crazy day, and it's not even 8pm!

FUCK MY LUNGS, I'm having a smoke

Not exactly to do with my travels, but it effects it, and this is also my only place to rant so you have no choice but to read my rant about my crappy lungs (yes, I am aware you could simply close the browser window, but in my mind you absolutely must read what I write if you've made the effort to come here, hahahaha).
Since I failed the dive medical I've had to try really hard to not let it get me down.  Its not just the diving that sucks - I'm still going to both Ningaloo Reef and the Great Barrier Reef, and the snorkeling will be absolutely breaktaking, so no huge deal.  But once I sit and think about it, I realize the things my shitty lungs have already effected for me, and wonder what the fuck else is going to happen.

Here's the lowdown on my lungs and respiratory system:

I've pretty much always had some time of issue with my throat/lungs/breathing, now that I really think about it.  Beginning around age 12-13, I consistently had strep throat/tonsilittis about every two months, before my tonsils were finally removed at age 14.  I also began smoking at age 11, and was a half pack-pack a day smoker up until about 19.  At nineteen I quit smoking, and at 23 I started working out on a fairy regular basis, and during this time I don't recall much of an issue.  However, I always had problems running/jogging.  In elementary school I remember crying in the washrooms during Canada Fitness days and such, because they'd make us run - and my face would get beet red, and I could barely breathe seconds into the run.  I'd always just act then like I was too cool for running, and chose to walk instead.  But really it's because I couldn't.  In my mid-late 20s, I started jogging, on my own time, and eventually began to enjoy it.  To love it actually.  Some of my best memories of Ottawa are about waking up in my apartment near Lebreton Flats and jumping right into my running shoes, and waking up by jogging along the canal while the sun was rising and the ducks were just waking up.  Then I got bronchitis.  And it didn't go away.  This was in 2009.  I was so sick that year I stopped working out completely because it hurt so much, and I even had to cut a trip to NYC short because I was so sick.  I would finally get better, only to get sick again about a month later.  It was brutal.  And I'd just go back to the doctor, who would give me the same spiel about 'if it gets worse again, come back', basically just ignoring me that I'd been barely able to breathe for months.  I'd say it was about six months before that finally got out of my system.  But since then, even though it's been about a year and a half, i've never felt I've had my full lung functions back.  I still work out, but for only about half the time and half the intensity that I used to.  I just can't do it anymore.  I kept hoping if I just pushed myself it would come back, then in January this year I got sicker than I'd ever been before.  I got pneumonia, which basically kept me bedridden unable to breathe for about a month.  It was so bad the morning I finally pulled myself out of bed and into the cab to the doctor that I was crying in pain when they were making me do that breathing into a tube test (which is what made me fail the dive medical.  You have to blow for six seconds, and hit a 75 minimum.  I couldn't get past 4 and my scores ranged from 48-65).

So honestly, I wasn't surprised to fail the dive medical.  It's actually not even a legal requirement here in Australia any longer, but I chose to do it anyway, and I'm glad I did, as diving with lungs like mine could actually kill me.  Scary.  But thats what makes me say WHAT THE FUCK.  Even when I started smoking again about a year ago, I never smoked much.  And I quit smoking back in December!  Now I'm letting myself be stupid, I currently have a pack of cigarettes in my purse and know I'll be smoking again as soon as I crack a beer later today.  What if my lungs get worse?  What if  end up not being able to hike up mountains, or rock climb, or do all of these other things I want to do?  I never expected this.  It's frustrating too because it's caused me to gain weight, because I can't exercise as I used to.  Grrrrr.

I've been here a bit over a week now, and I'm still amazed by the fact that I'm really here.  I'm in fucking AUSTRALIA!  I'm on the plane right now heading from Perth to Exmouth, and I feel like pinching myself as I gaze out the window.  I've been here ten days, and each day has been one of the best ever.  And still I've barely touched on anything I'm going to experience here.  I have yet to snorkel, surf, and do anything in the outback.  I honestly don't know how I spent 30 years of my life barely leaving Canada.  Well actually I know the answer to that, MONEY, hahaha.  Being here though has also made me realize I have taken advantage of very little that Canada itself has to offer.  At the beginning of winter last year, I swore to myself I would go skiing.  I didn't.  I've been through the Rocky Mountains once, and that was over a decade ago.  I've never been to the east coast.  WTF.  So this is all going to change.  I'm going to get my licence when I get back (I'm thinking of getting my motorcycle license, as I believe you G1 comes with it automatically, so why not).  Once I have a car (or motorcycle, fuck yeah)  I have no excuse to not drive everywhere back home.  I also talked to Pudge about doing a road trip to the east coast, and he seemed genuinely excited about it, so looks like I'll be heading to Moncton and Halifax at some point this summer, fuck yes!

I already would love to extend my trip out here, but at least a couple of weeks.  BUT, if I do that, I can't apply for a working holiday visa to return here.  Turns out you can't apply once you turn 31 - but you can apply right up til your 31st birthday.  When I get home, that gives me 9 days to submit my visa application, then I can look at coming back here and actually working and living here.  Don't panic though my Canadian lovelies, as applying doesn't actually mean I'll do it - I just don't want to lose out on the chance, and once I turn 31 it's done.  I would LOVE to come back here for a year or two, I know it already.  But then it would get into the issues of what to do with my kitties.  I hate the fact that once I'm away from them, in another part of the world, I have to honestly admit there is a part of me that could be okay with leaving them behind.  WHAT.  Yes, I really said that.  But saying that makes another part of me panic and think WTF is wrong with you!  They could always come with me, but they'd be subject to 180 days of quarantine (although 150 could be done while still in Canada), and they'd have to have so many vet appts and vaccinations, it would cost me literally thousands of dollars to do so.  Plus I could never subject them to SIX MONTHS quarantine, that is just ludicrous.  I love them too much.  So leaving Canada permanently doesn't seem to be an option.... yet anyway.  We'll see what happens.

I'm definitely going to apply for the visa, and definitely going to move to Montreal in September.  I need to get the fuck out of Ottawa.  I love the handful of real, good friends I have there, but I'm sorry everyone, Ottawa really is a pit of laziness, drama, and non-motivation.  I need to be in a city where people enjoy being there, where you can walk outside on any day and actually make something happen.  So, once I get back, I'll begin French lessons, and hopefully by the end of the summer be bilingual enough that I can get a job in Montreal once I get there.  Purrhaps if I live in Montreal, I won't feel the need to move to a country I travel to, but I'll actually be happy enough just with the travelling.

I think Thailand is next on the agenda.  But what deters me from there is how close so many other amazing places are.  If I'm so close to Laos/Cambodia/Vietnam/Nepal/Japan (so sad about Japan right now), how can I not go there too?  That journey would have to be at least 3 months I think, unless I limit myself to one/two countries like I did this time, which would make 6 weeks sufficient.  I also NEED to come back to Oz though, so I can spend time in Tasmania, and head over to New Zealand as well.  So many places to go, so little time... I still want to go back to school September after next (2012 start date), and I really can't push that date back more than one year after that, or I'll be too damned old!  Fuck I hate being old enough that things like that actually become a concern - I can no longer think of having a child 'someday', because I have less than ten fertile years and even less that I'd actually want to start a family in, I really wouldn't want to become a mom after about 36 - so five years left?  Fuuuuuck.  And I want to start a business.  Hmmmm.  Purrhaps I'll leave the bakery until I'm old and grey, and I'll spend my years with my baby strapped to my chest (and the kitties following on leashes? hahaha) while I clamber all over mountains all over the world.  Who knows what time will bring.

Western Australia rules!

WOW do I ever love it over here.  This morning Lisa and I woke up bright and early at 6am, met up with a friend of hers, and drove over to Rockingham to go kayaking off Shoalwater Bay.  It was my first time kayaking and it took me a bit of circling around to get the hang of it, but I made it through three hours of kayaking through pretty choppy waters so YAY me.  My arms will probably hate me tomorrow though.  We paddled over to Lion Island first to check out the sea lions, they're such funny little creatures.  Then over to Penguin Island, which was stunningly beautiful.  The little chubby penguins were so cute!

We then drove over to Cotteslau to get ice cream and walk around the beach.  Very, very gorgeous area, but a bit too crowded of a beach for my liking.

Then Lisa and I came back to Perth and we went out for dinner where we got the best service I've received so far in Oz (Lisa said the best she ever has too and she's been here six years), and my GOD were the boys that worked there ever gorgeous.  Definitely going back to eat there when I come back later this week :D

Tomorrow I fly to Exmouth, to check out the Ningaloo Reef and snorkel around Coral Bay.  Wednesday I'm heading down to Margaret River, which will be my first night actually on my own since I arrived.  Booked a cute little room, and I'll be getting there mid-afternoon so I might go get a surf lesson that afternoon but I'll see what happens.  Thursday I'm going abseiling and rock climbing, then coming back to Perth to spend Thursday night and Friday with Lisa and her boy.  If they're not working Friday we're going out to Rottnest Island, so I have my fingers crossed as I've heard nothing but awesome things about out there.  Then Saturday, back to Melbourne for the weekend!

Today was AMAZING.  I'm falling in love with this country, BIG TIME.  The weather, the people, the scenery, the incredible activities available, the very, very cute boys... the list goes on and on.  I could see myself living here for a very, very long time.  Don't tell Ashley.

I fucking failed my dive medical.  Not too surprised, seeing as I just got over pneumonia in January.  My lungs suck.  So now my plans have to change.

A big piss off about this is that I just bought plane tickets to/from Exmouth earlier today - now, without doing the scuba, I don't need to go there at all, and def not for a week.  It still is a gorgeous area, so I'm going to go there for two nights - and the change of plane ticket cost me over $200.  Then I'll come back to Perth and hang with Lisa and her boy, then I'm deciding between the Pinnacles and Margaret River.  Then I'll head back to Melbourne on Saturday for two nights and then up to Cairn on the following Monday.  I'd planned to dive the reef up in Cairns, but I'll still get to surf and check out a lot of amazing shit.  Small but expensive setback, oh well.

WOW it's hard to get around to other areas from Western Australia.  I'm in Perth right now, heading to Exmouth  on Sunday, and my next destination is Cairns, where I want to be on the 28th.  There is NO WAY to get up to that spot from Exmouth.  I tried looking for flights/buses any where north from Exmouth, like Broome or Darwin, nothing available on either Saturday or Sunday the 26 or 27.   So instead, on the 26th I'm flying back to Perth (no buses available), which is cool cause I'll get to spend more time with Lisa.  Then I looked for flights to Cairns from Perth - they ALL stopped through Sydney or Melbourne, and were really expensive.  So instead, I'm saving $100 by flying to Melbourne from Perth, then to Cairns from Melbourne.  Totally backtracking, but it's cool cause instead of just laying over at the airport I'm going to fly to Melbourne on the Sunday, then to Cairns on the Monday, so I'll have another random night in Melbourne, which is fine with me! PARTY TIME!

My GOD is the weather in Perth incredible.  Lisa picked me up at the airport yesterday, and she's just as adorable as ever!  I'm so happy to be here with her, she made me a nice barbecue yesterday and we sat outside drinking wine and smoking cigarettes (eeeek I love having someone to sneak the occasional cigarette with!).  Not sure what the plan is today for sure but I know my bikini and the Indian Ocean will be involved for sure :D

Sonofa...

I definitely have a crush. Fuck. Crushes are fun but I need to think about scuba diving, not cute boys!

I'm on the plane from Melbourne to Perth right now, which means my trip has really just begun.  So far I've ventured out of Melbourne for the Great Ocean Road and the Grampians, but that's about a teeny little pinprick out of the Australian landscape.  Its not just the boy that would have kept me in Melbourne longer though,  it is a great city and I can see myself living there easily.  Definitely a great start to this trip, I can't imagine what it would have been like if the last week had been spend somewhere I didn't feel comfortable.  Although as I type that, I can't really imagine not feeling comfortable somewhere -  I never want to leave New York or Vegas any time I go, and I wanted to stay forever in Belize and Guatemala.  So maybe it's just that my mind and heart fall in love with each place I'm in and heading somewhere else makes it break a little.  I remember I was almost in actual tears the morning I was driven out of Guatemala, because it was ending.  I wanted to see MORE - well today I'm doing just that, I am going to see EVERYTHING.  Only one week done, still five more to go - and only a bit more than four til I see the cute NZ guy again, aaaaaaaaaaaah. Waitaminute - isn't this blog supposed to be about my travels, not my romantic pursuits? Shit, sorry faithful readers (all what, five of you? hahahahaha).

As I said above, today really is when the journey begins.  To do those two excursions out of Melbourne - whoa interjection, I'm watching 'Burlesque' at the moment here on the plane and Alan Cumming (fuck I love him), just told Xtina 'baby, I should wash your mouth out with Jagermeister'.  AMAZING!  Okay back to Melbourne.  Both of those excursions had to be done with a tour group, as they were far out of the city and being a non-driver I had no way to get there myself.  The rest of my trip should be tour-group free (I fucking hope at least).  So from here on in it's all up to me.  Once my scuba course ends next week, the only time I have a set destination is to be up in Cairns on the 28th to see Tom and Tara from home.  I've been planning about ten days in that area, to dive the reef and learn to surf, and to wander around the tablelands, but I may shorten that up a bit and head down to Brisbane for a bit.  J, the British boy I met on Caye Caulker is heading there, he's been in Melbourne the whole time I was there but we didn't meet up so purrhaps we'll get to have a beer in Brisbane, or maybe a litre of rum so we can pretend we're still in Belize (although here it'll cost $40, instead of $6), haha.  Apparently it will be HOTTER here than there, YAY this has been the sunniest winter ever :D  And Brisbane would be another place to dive, another place to try surfing, and if I pick myself up a tent it'll be a great place to camp out on the beach a few nights.  That would be so amazing.

I've been here a week and am already heavily thinking of applying for a working visa to come back here.  Apparently it's not too easy once you turn 31, which means I have nine days to submit the application once I get home.   I did love Central America but never once thought about moving there, but a week here and I'm already curious how long my kitties would have to stay in quarantine for if I brought them over here with me to live with the 'roos.

So far the thing that is striking me the most is just how incredibly nice and non-selfish people here are.  When we were going through the sewers yesterday, any time one of us would slip a bit or say 'ow!', the others would immediately turn around and ask if you were alright.  I've been offered beer by so many others.  The people in the squat woke up after a three-day bender and immediately began cleaning up, to the point of even fixing a wooden chair that had been basically smashed to bits the night before.  The hangover day was spent buildng a gate to keep the dogs in the yard and tending to the garden.  These are the things that could keep me in a place like this.

Melbourne/Montreal

Quite a few people back home told me that Melbourne was quite similar to Montreal, and I figure they must be right, because I'm currently in a van being driven up into the Grampians and all I can think about is how I want to move to Montreal.  No matter where I travel to, it always strikes me how I don't think of Ottawa as 'home'.  I always love Montreal.  I feel more at home there than in any other Canadian city.  So I'm seriously thinking of packing up and moving there in September.  Give myself a few months, learn French, so I can hopefully get a serving job when I get there.  Just seems to make sense.
Anyway.  Today is my last day in Melbourne, and I wish I had more time here! I'm excited as hell to get out of cities and see more outdoors.  Lisa in Perth has already planned an awesome weekend for us, we're going to bike around an island, go snorkeling, see penguins, it's gonna rule.  Then up to Exmouth and I'll be starting my scuba course on Monday!  From there my plan has been to head up to Cairns, but there was an earthquake there yesterday so I'm not 100% if I'm going to head that way or not.  Also thinking of hitting up Brisbane once I have my scuba, I hadn't planned on going that way but I read about an old shipwreck you can dive around and it sounds like something I don't want to miss.  Plus D will be around there and he's been awesome to hang out with the last few days so it would be cool to hang out with him again.  Yesterday we put on ninja turtle bandanas and ran around the sewers for a few hours with J and CNZ (cute new zealand) guy.  Oh yes that's right, on this trip (for once), I'm not crushing on anyone with a British accent as per usual, this time it's CNZguy.  Think I'll have to come back to Melbourne for more than just one night at the end of my trip, there's a gig on the 17th of April so I may come back here for that and spend my last three nights here.  We'll see.
Now to put the computer away and go see some kangaroos!!!!

The Great Ocean Road

Currently in a tourist van on the way back to Melbourne after a day driving down the Great Ocean Road.  Last night at the squat in Essendon everyone made fun of me for joining a tourist group, but as I don't drive and there was noone with a car to drive me, it really was my only option.  As far as tourist trips goes, this wasn't bad at all: we stopped at Bells Beach (was I ever disappointed to discover that the final scene in Point Break was only pretending to be Bells Beach but was really shot in Oregan), did a little nature walk through some rainforest, stopped to see koalas, then went to see the Twelve Apostles, Loch Ard  gorge, and London Bridge.

Now my touristy crap is done for the day and I can't wait to get back into Melbourne.  I think I'm finally over the awful jetlag, and I don't have any plans tomorrow, which means I can actually party tonight.  I had a blast yesterday in Essendon, was the first real, functional squat I've ever seen and it was pretty rad.  Totally have a boner for one of the dudes there too, the cute guy from New Zealand I met at a party on Saturday, hmmmmm.  Wonder what tonight will bring :D Tomorrow he and I and D are running around the sewers all day apparently, ninja turtle eyewear and all.  This should be hilarious.  We were going to do it yesterday but it started to pour rain, and obv the sewers wouldn't be a smart idea in the rain.  the grampians tour, then Thursday I'm flying over to the west coast to see Lisa, whom I haven't seen in about 8 or 9 years!  That's exciting.  Might also meet up with M, a dude I went to high school with.  Cause you know, it's totally normal to see someone from high school for the first time in 13 years down here in Australia.

Small differences

I think the differences stand out so much here because everything basically LOOKS the same, but then it's like, what???

When I got here on Friday I went up to a coffee shop and asked for a coffee.  'What kind of coffee?' she asked.  I was like, um, a small one?  She said 'Yes but a latte, a cappucino, a mocha...'.  I said 'just a regular coffee, a black one?'.  She looked at me like I was nuts, and proceeded to make me a very watery espresso-based black coffee drink.  There is NO percolated coffee over here!  So even at the 7-11 (the cheapest place to get a coffee by the way, it's only $2, everywhere else it's 3 or 4 dollars!), the counter guy has to go and brew you a fresh espresso drink while the other customers wait in line.  So odd!

Also there is barely any wi-fi around.  It's in every McDonalds (where I am now, so I could finally come online), but yesterday I walked past a million coffee shops and there was no wi-fi anywhere.

The prices on everything here are just insane too.  My sausage mcmuffin breakfast (with extra hashbrown, I'm not ashamed!) just came to $8.

All of you back home would lose your minds to see the beer prices!  If you buy two 24s of a certain beer, you can get a deal and get them both for $70.  Otherwise they're $40 each.  At a bar/restaurant, a bottle of beer is $8.  But you don't have to tip - the people serving you are probably making at least $22 an hour, and it's only standard to tip about 5-10% if you receive exemplary service.  Not tipping will take a while to get used to.

The weather here is incredibly gorgeous.  And the sun is up from about 7am til 8 or 9pm.  It's wonderful.  I'm still crazy jetlagged though, which is annoying.  Last night M and D brought me to a party that seemed pretty awesome, there was a really cute new zealand guy there who I recognized from Montreal that I was talking to, but by 10:30pm I could barely keep my eyes open.  Granted I'd been up and out in the sun since 8am...but still.  Big fucking FAIL on my part!  Went home and slept right til 8:30 today.  Lame lame lame.  Was probably my only real party night here in Melbourne and I failed.  Dammit.

Melbourne

Arrived yesterday after a 29-hour flight.  Sitting in one spot in a darkened plane for 16-hours straight is NOT fun!

Was met downtown by M and D, two friends of friends who were awesome enough to offer me a place to crash and people to hang with.  The weather outside was freaking AMAZING, so we grabbed some beers and sat in the sun to drink for a while.  Didn't take long before I began to fade though, and we went back to M's where I passed out until 8 this morning.  Eeek!

So today, my real first day here begins.  It's 11am right now, and I've just booked myself on the following tours for while I'm here: Monday I'm doign the Great Ocean Road (http://gowest.com.au/great-ocean-road.html) and Wednesday I'm doing the Grampians (http://www.ecoplatypustours.com/tours/sov.htm).  I also really want to do the Phillips Island tour (http://gowest.com.au/phillip-island-day-tour.html) and could do that Tuesday, but I don't want to book up all of my days just yet as I leave Thursday for Perth.  So we'll see.

Right now I'm heading back to Ms where hopefully he's up and feels like spending the day out in the sun with me, it's SO gorgeous out right now!

On my way!

Sitting in the Ottawa airport, have about 45 minutes to kill before the plane to Washington boards.  Then LA, then Melbourne!

I left my packing to literally the last minute, about 20 minutes before I had to catch a bus to the aiport I was still shoving stuff into my backpack.  Hope I got everything I need, hahahha!

Was weird saying goodbye to the felines today, and I realized the weirdest part about it was the fact that someone else would be taking care of them for the next six weeks.  I'm SO not used to having someone else take care of me/my responsibilities.  So that was weird.

And on the bus on the way here, I thought about how my whole life is going to change in the next few days!!!! YAY!!!!

Haven't even left yet, and already have the next trip booked, hahahah!  Going to be hitting up Vegas again in May!!! FUCK YES!!!  Going to the punkrockbowling music fest, I can't believe I am actually able to say I have tickets to see the Descendents!  The weekend is going to be so amazing.  So far there are seven people from here going, hopefully the list gets bigger and bigger!

Also, in exactly a week from now, I will be on board my final flight of my trip, from LA to Melbourne. EEEEEEEEEEEEK!