Adventures in Western Australia

Well, I started my 4 day tour up the coast of Western Australia, and we barely made it to our first night's destination. We had to push the bus to get it started at one of the stops we made and had to drive with a flashlight for most of the way because the headlights were out. They originally thought it was the battery so they said they were just going to get a new battery and we'd have a slightly later start the next day. However, it wasn't the battery it was the alternator. So we were stuck in a place called Kalbarri for another night. This wasn't all bad as there were things to do (I went hiking, swimming, and abseiling), but it meant our tour was interrupted and potentially going to be cut short. They didn't offer a refund, but they offered to extend the trip by one day. The people who couldn't make that would have to leave early. So, thankfully, this morning our bus was finally fixed and we headed off to Monkey Mia. Along the way we went to a really cool beach called Shell Beach. It's named so because the entire beach is made up of shells. Tomorrow we have a bit of an early start, but we get to feed the dolphins. The people who couldn't stay on will get on a bus tomorrow afternoon and go back to Perth, and the rest of us will continue the itinerary and add a day to the tour. Ironically, I was actually originally assigned to a different bus that left the same day, but there was a person that got separated from their friend so I switched. Even with all the troubles, I would not have traded circumstances. The people on this tour have been really nice, and it was great to have a relaxed stay in Kalbarri, not to mention that it makes a good story. :-)

Whirlwind in Perth

So, I'm currently in Perth, and wow, it is really nice here. It's very laid back and there's even a street dedicated to old London. There's also a restaurant here that I ate at in Spain that had the best falafels I've ever had. I didn't even know they had locations in other countries (I guess there's only like 5 in the world). Then add the fact that it's only a short trip to the nearest beach, and I'm wondering why I didn't come here to work for a while. I went on a day tour yesterday to Margaret River (a wine region), and I couldn't help buying another bottle of wine. My suitcase is going to be really heavy :-(. I might have to start throwing things away if I want to take all of this home. Then, just to add an interesting twist, something got messed up at the bank or my former employer and I still haven't gotten one of my checks...So the past couple of days I've been living off of credit. It's been sort of interesting finding myself without money. This trip has definitely been full of twists. Now I'm headed off up the coast. I can't believe I'm going to be going home soon!

Alice in Oz

Wow, it's been an interesting past few days. I took a Boomerang tour to go from Adelaide to Alice Springs. It was 2 days of driving and, surprisingly, quite a few of the people from that trip went on into my next one.  The next one was called "the Rock" tour.  It was 3 days and 2 nights.  I was, unfortunately, not prepared for this. It was reaching up into the 100's during the day and down to the 40's at night.  I hadn't gotten the chance to get shorts so the first day I was in jeans and sooo hot.  That night, since I had brought a thin summer sleeping bag, and we didn't sleep in tents we slept in swags out in the open, I was a bit cold.  The stars were amazing though, and I saw a few shooting stars.  It was also nice to just enjoy the utter quiet of being in such a remote location.  The best place I think we saw was Kata Tjuta (or also known as the Olgas).  Uluru (Ayers Rock), on the other hand, wasn't as spectacular as I would have hoped.  It was pretty, but really touristy.  It was nice getting back to civilization yesterday; to take a shower, to use electricity, to sleep in a bed, and not to have to get up at 4:50am to join the train of tour busses taking people to see the sunset and watch Uluru change colors.  Today, I go to Perth, and I am so happy I'm going on a plane. I don't think I could take another 12 hour bus ride.  It will also be nice to be on my own for a while and not part of a tour.  :-)

The Real Outback Experience...kind of

So just to give you all a quick update, I am currently on the "Boomerang" tour.  The drive today was long to say the least (912 kilometers), and my butt is sore to prove it.  Tonight I'm staying in Coober Pedy.   They produce 80% of the world's opals, to quote the tour description, so I will be taking an exciting mine tour tomorrow before I get to spend another ridiculous amount of time on the bus on my way to Alice Springs.  This is perhaps not the most exciting tour I will be on, but I have gotten some pretty awesome pictures watching the scenery slowly change to the nothingness of the outback. I will try to post them, but I have been having internet issues as of late, so I can't promise.  In any case, I will update here again soon.

Blowing in the wind...

I wanted to give a quick update tell you all about my first 2 tours.  The Great Ocean Road tour went pretty well, but had a rough start.  The first day it was rainy and windy.  It was so bad that I had trouble holding my camera still to take a picture.  Then, one of the guys on the tour threw up on the bus.  We had to stop about 3 more times to let him be sick.  The weather finally started getting nicer when we left the coast to go explore the Grampians (a mountain range).  The people I met on the trip (including the guy once he started feeling better) were really nice, and I'm happy that I've been able to hang out with a couple of them still now that I'm in Adelaide.  I also have some really great pictures.  

The second tour I took today was the winery tour.  I didn't really connect with any of the people from that tour, and again the weather was rainy and cold. I seem to be catching the poor weather on this trip :-/.  We went to four wineries, including Jacob's Creek which I believe most people will recognize.  I enjoyed tasting all types of wine, but there really wasn't one that stood out as spectacular.  

Tomorrow, I have a free day, and I'm not sure what I'm doing yet other than sleeping in.  All that wine has made me tired!  My next tour will be a 2 day tour, taking me up to Alice Springs, and I'll let you know how that goes. Here's hoping the bad weather doesn't follow me!

Melbourne with an Irish twist

I am here! I am tired. I got maybe about 2 hours of sleep, but I met 2 Irish blokes on the bus which helped make the time pass. I guess I just couldn't get away from the Irish on this trip. So, when I got here I thought I'd take a quick nap to help me get through the day. Well, I slept through my alarm and suddenly it was 1:30pm. I get the feeling I'm not going to see much of Melbourne. Yet, I did anticipate this might happen since I knew sleeping on a bus wouldn't be comfortable.
Now, to describe Melbourne...It is a bit cooler here than Sydney, and it also feels a bit more laid back. From what I've seen so far, there are quite a few newer buildings mixed in with European style buildings, but it does sort of have an American feel to it (in other words, you could believe you could find a town like this in the States). There's also a more artistic feel here. As I'm not too much of a city girl, I haven't felt much inspiration to break out my camera, but I will try to take a few pictures to capture the feel here.
I've got a bright and early start tomorrow, 6:45 am, but I'm so excited to see the coast. That is what I can't wait to take pictures of. I'll try to stay updated, but being on a tour, I may not find internet access. Check back regularly though, as I will be updating as often as I can.

Just a quick update

I apologize that I haven't updated my blog in a while. I have been super busy working at 2 jobs to get enough money to go on my travels.  It has been a relatively great past couple of weeks.  The people at both jobs have been really nice, and now I'm super excited to be starting my next adventure.  The plan is, I'm going first to Melbourne, then Adelaide, then Alice Springs, then Perth.  I'm going to be taking a few tours, so there will be places in between that, but this is the rough outline.  I will be taking lots of pictures, and I will try to post some of them, but it will depend on how often I can get internet.  I also plan to try and keep updating everything as often as possible so keep checking back!  

My free helicopter ride...

So, I'm back from my week on a farm, and I have a crazy story to tell.  Most of the week went well, other than it was freezing there.  On the last day I was there, however, begins my story.  We took the horses out for the last time to practice trotting on a dirt road.  My horse decided it didn't want to trot, it wanted to run.  I tried to stop her, but she was not having it, and the last thing I remember, I knew I was going to fall.  I blacked out from that point, and, according to others who came to help me, I was out for about 2 minutes.  When I came to, I remember knowing the people who were around me and I was seeing stars, but it took me a little bit to realize that I had fallen off my horse.  They called the paramedics because I had blacked out. Then, because the weather left the roads slippery (and it was an hour ride to town), they took me to the emergency room via helicopter.  They let me go that night, saying I had a concussion and a bruised rib, and telling me to take it easy.  Since it was the last day of the class, I only missed the farewell dinner.  I'm starting to feel better now, but I think it will take a bit for my bruised ribs to heal completely.  I guess I'm lucky it wasn't worse.

Yeeehaaa!

As requested, I am writing another entry in my blog to let you all know what's new with me.  I think this actually marks about the mid-point of my trip here.  Can you believe it? I worked last week in a couple odd jobs, most interestingly enough as an extra.  I will be in 2 commercials and in the background of an Australian television series.  It was fun to do something different, and next week I'll continue the trend.  I'm going to a Jillaroo course (aka Australian Cowgirl).  We will be learning things like lassoing, cattle and sheep herding, sheep shearing, and natural horsemanship.  They do offer the opportunity to set you up with a job afterwards if you're interested, but whatever the outcome, I think it'll be nice to get out of the city for a while.  Plus, I hope to come back with some great pictures!   

Shocked

I felt I should write at least a quick entry to let you all know what's going on.  I'm not sure how many of you may have heard, but yesterday Starbucks Australia held meetings all over the country to let us know that they were closing about 60 stores.  What this means is that there are only about 20 stores left open in the whole country.  Unfortunately, the store that I was working at was one of the stores that closed.  We were told that we could try to apply to the stores that were going to remain open, but otherwise they said our jobs had become "redundant".  I did apply to go to another store, however, I am among almost 700 others that have also become "redundant" and have been given the same opportunity.  Since I am only wanting to work now for 2 more months it may work as an advantage or disadvantage to me in getting a position, so I don't know what's going to happen.  I'm currently looking at all my options, and I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do.   Yet, I also want to say not to worry about me.  While it's been a shocking thing to have happen, I know I can find something else if need be and it's just a matter of deciding which option I want to choose.  I will keep you updated and let you know what's going on and what I've decided.  

In the meantime, if you want to see my store and some of the people I worked with, you can go to the video clip attached to this news article http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/4836317/union-shocked-starbucks-closures

Moonlight in Bronte

I've officially moved out of the place I was staying at in Bondi, and spent my first night at my new place in Bronte.  I literally feel like I've stepped out of one life and into another.  Not to say that living in Bronte was bad.  It was nice living there, having a place to myself for a while and I guess just sorting things out.  I woke up this morning and everything was quiet and peaceful.  I went for a quick walk by the beach, and now I get to start at my new Starbucks store today (hopefully the one I'll be staying at the rest of the time here).  I guess it's just nice to know that I don't have to move for a while.  That I can completely unpack (and I already have) and just live.  It probably helps that it is a really nice day out with the sun shining and a fairly reasonable temperature, and that my flatmate has nicely kept me laughing so far (there may just be a book of "isms" by the end of this trip).  Yet, life in Bronte also means limited internet access, and no tv and that will be interesting to get used to.  So this is it.  This is my world, my life in Australia.  

Random Thoughts...

When I look up at the sky at night, I don't recognize the stars.  I wish I had someone to explain them to me. 

 

The fashion here reminds me of Robin Hood Men in Tights.  Robin and all his merry women are running around the streets of Sydney!

Sydney doesn't feel like a typical major city.  It feels quite young, with an Asian flair, a European foundation, and yet it retains the feel of a small city someone just happened to decide was important. 

They have a store here called Boost Juice.  It's kind of like Jamba Juice (for all who've heard of that), and I think I'm addicted....

Happy 4th of July!

It's funny celebrating holidays in countries that don't recognize them (it's even funnier when someone asks why and misses the fact that it's American Independence Day, but hey we all have our moments).  Being here, yesterday didn't feel like a holiday.  I suppose, yes, I missed the fireworks, Summerfest, and parades among other things, but this was not the first 4th of July I've missed.  I could have gone to a bar, as some of the backpacker bars celebrate it for all the American travelers, but it wouldn't have been the same.  So instead, I celebrated by relaxing most of the day and taking a walk by the beach at night.  So, I had my own little parade down the beach, the waves were my fireworks, and the night before I went to a local musician event down the street so I suppose you could say I had a little hint of Summerfest.  All in all, it's been a nice weekend. 

Nevermore...

Good news! I got the job at Starbucks, and I start on Monday.  Since next week marks the start of World Youth Day (in short a big deal to encourage young people to come together to celebrate Catholicism with all sorts of events all week long, culminating in a mass held by the Pope), they are in desperate need of extra help.  So, surprise, I had a double interview today and got hired for 2 stores.  Of course I am super excited to be working at Starbucks again over here (and I know some of you are laughing).  I guess for the time being, I still plan on working at the other temp job part time, and we'll see how things pan out.  It's funny because one job pays more, but I can't be guaranteed enough hours, and the other I can be guaranteed the hours but it pays less.  Life is funny.

Speaking of how funny life is...I need to explain the reason for the title of this entry.  For the past couple nights there has been this annoying bird right outside the window. Two nights ago it was so bad it kept waking me up.  Well, today I decided to see if I could figure out what kind of bird it was, so I went here: http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/feature/top-40-bird-songs.cfm.  From what I can tell, it's an Australian Raven.  Although, I did have to go by the sound as I haven't actually seen the bird, so I could be wrong.  Still, if you go listen to the clip on the website above, imagine waking up to something like that. Should I start writing a poem?

Getting in touch

I apologize that it's been a while since I added an update.  I felt like I had a lot going on in the past couple of days.  I had an interview on Monday, which was slightly confusing, but I believe I have that job.  She gave me all the tax forms and told me what I needed for a uniform.  So, you would think that I have it, but I guess I have to go back for an "induction" which I think is like a let's-make-sure-we're-on-the-same-page training thing.  After that, then I guess I can be put in the system to be chosen for an assignment.  I don't have any idea how many hours I'll be getting, and generally all this uncertainty has made me want to have a back up plan (which arrived today).   I know that many of you may think this is somewhat hilarious, but I have an interview with Starbucks tomorrow... and I am super excited.  

Other than this, I have a place to stay in Bondi, which is a suburb of Sydney.  It only takes me about 20 minutes on the train to get into the city center, and it's right near three beaches.  It's absolutely wonderful.  It's only a temporary situation at the moment.  I'm essentially house-sitting for someone while she's away for 2 weeks.  Can I say it's a little weird living on my own, especially in another country?  I've thought a lot about living by myself, and now I guess I get to try it out.  Well, unfortunately I have to wrap this up now and get some sleep before my interview.  I hope you are all doing well, and I'll write again soon.

On my way

I'm happy to report I feel much better, and things are in full swing now.  I've had my orientation and now I'm on full lookout for a job and a place to live.  I learned 2 interesting things at my orientation:  1) Over 80,000 people per year come here and do what I'm doing (called a working holiday), and 2) Australia is about the same size as the US.  The first thing means employers are used to people like me and there are many resources for people like me to find a job and a place to live.  The second thing means I won't be traveling across Australia as much as I hoped.  If you think of it like this, I'm in Florida.  If I want to go to the Great Barrier Reef, that would be like going to Maine.  If I wanted to go to Perth (Western Australia), that'd be like going to California.  The flights respectively would cost about the same.

Well, I'd like to write more, but unfortunately I have limited internet access.  I will write more later, but until then I hope all of you are doing well!

I'm here

I apologize for any of you who may have been worried about me. I made it to Sydney yesterday, but felt so sick that I ended up sleeping most of the day. I managed to make it to the supermarket, and I’m getting some food in my system finally, although my stomach still seems to protest it. I know it’s better to get something in my system to help me feel better. On the way to the market I passed by a Starbucks. It made me smile, and I felt like I got a warm hug from back home. I would have gotten something, but I figured it was probably too early to tempt Starbucks on an uneasy stomach.
From what I’ve seen so far, Sydney has a European feel. It reminds me a bit of England, but newer and with Asian intermingled rather than Indian. I suppose that makes sense, given Australia’s history. I’m going to see how I feel later today, and perhaps I’ll explore a bit more. Maybe I can take a few pictures and post them. Hopefully I’ll at least be able to report that I feel better.

Not a good travel day

So here I am at the Los Angeles airport on my 7 hour layover. This has been one of the worst travel days I have ever had. I felt a little sick this morning, but figured I could ride it out. As the day has progressed though, I've just felt worse. I felt really motion sick on my first flight, and now my stomach is at that phase where I don't know what it wants. I am not looking forward to my long flight, and although I remembered to pack Dramamine, I didn't look in the bottle. It only had 2 pills. I finally broke down and bought some medicine, and I really hope it helps. This morning I thought my long flight was going to be great as it wasn't very full, but even that has gone sour. The flight for Sydney that was supposed to leave before mine got cancelled. So all the people from that first flight are now on mine and now the plane is overbooked. Just to add icing to the cake, my flight has also been delayed. Trying to stay on the bright side, at least I've gotten internet access. I was able to talk to a couple people back home, and I may have a more permanent living situation worked out in Sydney. So while getting there has been horrible, once there it looks like things are set to work out well.

Off I go!

So here I am, the night before, and would you believe I only have 4 things left to pack?  For those of you who know me well, this is an unusual thing.  Normally, I stay up really late the night before I leave packing like mad.  Although, I also normally pack light, and this time I'm teetering on the edge of the weight limit.  Perhaps when I pack in a frenzy, I don't think as much about wether or not I really need something, but I do feel more prepared this way.  Yet, today has been such a mix of emotions for me.  I have been jumping up and down excited, freaking out scared, and almost in tears sad.  I'm really going to miss everyone.  This is probably the hardest part of this whole trip.  I will stay in touch, though.  This is not really goodbye, it's more have a great summer and I'll see you in the fall.  So that's how I'll leave it.

Time is flying!

It seems unreal that I only have about 2 1/2 weeks before I leave. It feels like the month of May has just flown by. I have a lot to do before I go, and it almost seems overwhelming now. Yet, I know it will all come together. If there's one thing I've learned from my travels it's that I'm queen of last minute packing. Well, I'll try to write at least one more time before I leave, and I look forward to seeing you all at my party.

Welcome

Thank you for visiting! In the future, I will be using this to keep in touch with all of you while I'm on my journey. I have set this up so that you can write comments after my posts, but please be aware that everyone will be able to see what you've written. I look forward to hearing from you, and I thank you all for the encouragement and support you've given me.