Well "lazy" may not actually be an appropriate description of myself over the past 2 weeks since I last blogged. Perhaps stuck in the Australian bush with no Internet or phone reception would be more apt. If you can't tell from the last sentence Lindsay and I were wwoofing again. It was still a great experience, but I suppose when your first taste of something is paradise the bar is set a little high. I will definitely get into more detail about our new wwoof place, but we did heaps more in the weeks leading up to it.
After departing Sandra's (where we were wwoofing) we headed off to the Gold Coast to meet Lauren (our friend from Florida who was traveling in Thailand). We met up with her in Surfers Paradise, to sum up Surfers Paradise lonely planet describes it as..."If Surfers Paradise were a celebrity it would be Paris Hilton" basically pretty flashy and trashy, but we still had a great time. We stayed in a hostel there but we booked into a two bedroom self contained apartment so we were pretty separate from the rest of the hostel. It was nice to be able to spread out and especially nice to cook some of our won meals. While in Surfers Lauren and I took a day trip to a koala sanctuary; Lindsay didn't join us because she was feeling a bit under the weather and Im sorry to say she really missed out. Lauren was dead set on holding a koala and having her picture taken with it so that was the first thing we did. The koalas were ADORABLE and I found them to be surprisingly soft. I didn't get to hold one because as a budget backpacker I just didn't feel the need to pay to cuddle a koala but I was happy just to give it a pat. The wildlife sanctuary also had a lot more than just koalas they had pretty much all your staple Australian wildlife. After the koalas we went on to feed the kangaroos. It was so much fun to get to walk around and pet the kangaroos and feed them, but these were the laziest animals you could possibly imagine. Most of them were just lounging in the sun and would barely lift their heads to eat out of your hand. While at the sanctuary we also saw an aboriginal dance show, honestly I was not impressed, but Lauren was quite amazed and I did enjoy the didgeridoo part of the performance. We also made it to the 5 pm lorikeet feeding. We weren't sure what this was and for a bit were considering not even going, but I am so glad we did and would say it was the highlight of the day. At the lorikeet feeding everyone got a metal plate that was basically filled with sugar water plus some minerals, and the birds love it, there were literally hundreds of lorikeets that flew in for the feeding. I think at one point I probably had 10 birds on me at one point. It was so cool, but there claws actually really hurt and Im sure you can imagine the amount of waste produced by that many birds so inevitably some of it ended up on my clothes and in my hair, but it was still worth it. That was pretty much the highlight of Surfers Paradise and after a week in the Gold Coast we were on our way up to Cairns to dive the Great Barrier Reef and go to the rainforest.
As a side note, we also so Bruno while in the Gold Coast, it was hilarious but very crude so be warned if you plan on seeing it.
Cheers and sorry for the delay,
Laura
Friday, July 31, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
A Weeks worth of WWOOFing
So Lindsay and I have been in Cooroy Woofing for just over a week now and we are having a fantastic time. If you have looked at Lindsay's latest facebook album than you know that in my previous blog when I said this place was paradise I wasn't kidding. We have done such an array of activities here so I will try to recap as many as I can, but I will most likely forget some.
A typical day for us here on the farm starts out around 8 am. Lindsay and I have the same breakfast in our cottage every morning and I am not complaining. We make a pot of chai tea, and have toast with peanut butter, honey from the bees here, and sliced banana, also from the farm. We usually start the morning with some weeding or the furniture refurbishment project we have been working. After about 2 hrs of work or 2.5 hrs we come in for morning tea. Morning tea is a great part of the day; we make fresh squeezed orange juice and enjoy an assortment of locally baked treats. After about a half hour break we get back to work until lunch. The next couple of hours of work can be anything from mulching to clearing or my favorite the poo run.
The day we went on a poo run was surprisingly one of the most fun. Sandra called us one morning while we were down at our cottage working on the furniture and said "girls we will pick you up in the truck shortly we are going on a poo run". Lindsay and I didn't really know what this entailed, but we could gather from the title that it would involve collecting manure somehow. Well, the truck pulled up, with a large trailer attached, and Lindsay and I hopped in the bed of the truck for this new adventure. Btw riding in the bakc of the truck was really fun. We drove to a large field on their property where cattle graze and from the looks of some of the poo we saw also horses. Once out in the field we hopped out with buckets and spades and started scooping up fresh looking paddies. We had a lot of fun thinking of all the different poo puns, and our host Sandra had some pretty good ones. I won't write them all here because Lindsay will definitely put them in a facebook album. It took about an hour with four of us working to fill the the trailer of the truck. One the way back to the house we also stopped to throw some fresh cut hay into the back of the trailer. By the time we got back to the house we had already worked about three hours between the work on the furniture and the poo. We had a delicious lunch as usual on the veranda and then it was back to work for us. We weeded for an hour and Lindsay and I were both starting to feel a little tired, we had already been here for about 4 days working, and picking poo is much more labour intensive than it sounds. We had hoped the weeding would be the end of our work for the day, but we were wrong we still had two hours of mulching ahead of us. This was probably the hardest day we had on the farm so far, but it was also a really fun day, and I think Rob (Sandra's son) told his dad how hard we working because he guilted Sandra into letting us sleep in the next day.
Lindsay and I have done some other really fun projects here; for example we planted an herb garden with lemon grass, coriander, parsley etc, we chopped down some yuka trees and dug out their roots, and we picked citrus. Oh and we also had the job of feeding the colt in the morning before Ken (Sandra's husband) came back from mustering cattle out west. We lost the responsibility when on the morning Ken and Rob came back Lindsay and I went out to feed the colt as usual, but everything did not go as usual. We didn't know that there would be two new horses down near where the colt is kept and they were not in a paddock. The horses saw us an immediately associated us with food. We out smarted them and went around the shed (where the hay is kept), but then I had to carry the bail of hay through horse territory over to the colt's paddock. I decided the best method would be to run for it, Lindsay I also thought this would be the best method but she was running in the opposite direction away from the horses. The only problem with this method for me is that horses can also run and a hell of a lot faster than me. Luckily, I made it to the colt's paddock and threw the hay over the fence without the other horses getting any. It was a pretty funny start to the morning.
We have also been doing a lot of cooking and baking for the family while we are here. We prepared appetizers one night when they had some company. We made guacamole with pita chips, baked brie with raspberry jam wrapped in pastry dough, and bruchetta. Everyone was very impressed with our culinary skills. We also made Lindsay's spinach pie, an apple pie, and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. As you can probably tell we eat a lot here and really well. The 5 hrs of work definitely does not balance out the copious amount of food I consume.
Sandra's family is so kind and we really feel lucky for this to have been our first Wwoof experience. They also have three really nice dogs which are fun to have around. One dog Bill was kicked in the head by a horse as a puppy and is a bit retarded now, Charlie his brother is really friendly and wants everyone to love him because he doesn't have a family member to be attached to, and Zach was really not too friendly to Lindsay and I in the beginning but he has warmed up and now walks us down to our cottage every night. We love being around a family, but it makes us both really miss our own families.
We are here for 4 for more days, and then we meet Lauren Cooper (a friend from home) in the Gold Coast which will be a blast. I'm sure we will have more adventures to write about before we leave.
Cheers,
Laura
P.S The second morning we were here there was a kangaroo about ten feet from our cottage. It was an exciting way to start the day.
A typical day for us here on the farm starts out around 8 am. Lindsay and I have the same breakfast in our cottage every morning and I am not complaining. We make a pot of chai tea, and have toast with peanut butter, honey from the bees here, and sliced banana, also from the farm. We usually start the morning with some weeding or the furniture refurbishment project we have been working. After about 2 hrs of work or 2.5 hrs we come in for morning tea. Morning tea is a great part of the day; we make fresh squeezed orange juice and enjoy an assortment of locally baked treats. After about a half hour break we get back to work until lunch. The next couple of hours of work can be anything from mulching to clearing or my favorite the poo run.
The day we went on a poo run was surprisingly one of the most fun. Sandra called us one morning while we were down at our cottage working on the furniture and said "girls we will pick you up in the truck shortly we are going on a poo run". Lindsay and I didn't really know what this entailed, but we could gather from the title that it would involve collecting manure somehow. Well, the truck pulled up, with a large trailer attached, and Lindsay and I hopped in the bed of the truck for this new adventure. Btw riding in the bakc of the truck was really fun. We drove to a large field on their property where cattle graze and from the looks of some of the poo we saw also horses. Once out in the field we hopped out with buckets and spades and started scooping up fresh looking paddies. We had a lot of fun thinking of all the different poo puns, and our host Sandra had some pretty good ones. I won't write them all here because Lindsay will definitely put them in a facebook album. It took about an hour with four of us working to fill the the trailer of the truck. One the way back to the house we also stopped to throw some fresh cut hay into the back of the trailer. By the time we got back to the house we had already worked about three hours between the work on the furniture and the poo. We had a delicious lunch as usual on the veranda and then it was back to work for us. We weeded for an hour and Lindsay and I were both starting to feel a little tired, we had already been here for about 4 days working, and picking poo is much more labour intensive than it sounds. We had hoped the weeding would be the end of our work for the day, but we were wrong we still had two hours of mulching ahead of us. This was probably the hardest day we had on the farm so far, but it was also a really fun day, and I think Rob (Sandra's son) told his dad how hard we working because he guilted Sandra into letting us sleep in the next day.
Lindsay and I have done some other really fun projects here; for example we planted an herb garden with lemon grass, coriander, parsley etc, we chopped down some yuka trees and dug out their roots, and we picked citrus. Oh and we also had the job of feeding the colt in the morning before Ken (Sandra's husband) came back from mustering cattle out west. We lost the responsibility when on the morning Ken and Rob came back Lindsay and I went out to feed the colt as usual, but everything did not go as usual. We didn't know that there would be two new horses down near where the colt is kept and they were not in a paddock. The horses saw us an immediately associated us with food. We out smarted them and went around the shed (where the hay is kept), but then I had to carry the bail of hay through horse territory over to the colt's paddock. I decided the best method would be to run for it, Lindsay I also thought this would be the best method but she was running in the opposite direction away from the horses. The only problem with this method for me is that horses can also run and a hell of a lot faster than me. Luckily, I made it to the colt's paddock and threw the hay over the fence without the other horses getting any. It was a pretty funny start to the morning.
We have also been doing a lot of cooking and baking for the family while we are here. We prepared appetizers one night when they had some company. We made guacamole with pita chips, baked brie with raspberry jam wrapped in pastry dough, and bruchetta. Everyone was very impressed with our culinary skills. We also made Lindsay's spinach pie, an apple pie, and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. As you can probably tell we eat a lot here and really well. The 5 hrs of work definitely does not balance out the copious amount of food I consume.
Sandra's family is so kind and we really feel lucky for this to have been our first Wwoof experience. They also have three really nice dogs which are fun to have around. One dog Bill was kicked in the head by a horse as a puppy and is a bit retarded now, Charlie his brother is really friendly and wants everyone to love him because he doesn't have a family member to be attached to, and Zach was really not too friendly to Lindsay and I in the beginning but he has warmed up and now walks us down to our cottage every night. We love being around a family, but it makes us both really miss our own families.
We are here for 4 for more days, and then we meet Lauren Cooper (a friend from home) in the Gold Coast which will be a blast. I'm sure we will have more adventures to write about before we leave.
Cheers,
Laura
P.S The second morning we were here there was a kangaroo about ten feet from our cottage. It was an exciting way to start the day.
Welcome to Paradise
For those of you who don't know WWOOF stands for Willing Workers On Organic Farms you work for 4-6 hrs a day in exchange for room and board, and this is one way Lindsay and I hope to travel around Australia and save some money, but also we hope to get away from the party scene of backpacking and hostels and meet some "real" Australians. We decided on the two weeks we first wanted to give WWOOFing a try, we emailed about 20 people and right away got an enthusiastic response from a woman named Sandra. The description of her property sounded wonderful, 157 acres with orchards and horses and landscaped gardens and the final line of her description read "come enjoy a little piece of our paradise". She also told me in the email that she has a swimming pool and that Lindsay and I would have our own "self contained cottage" which for all I know could have meant a shack, and her description sounded lovely but really anyone could write anything they wanted and a farm is still a farm right? WRONG a farm is not just a farm. The place we are having our first WWOOF experience actually is paradise!!
We arranged to meet Sandra (our WWOOF host) at the bus stop at 1:25 pm on June 30th. At 3 pm when she still wasn't there we began to fear that perhaps we had been stranded in the tiny town of Cooroy where we didn't know anyone and had nowhere to stay. A woman at the bus stop was really kind and after telling us WWOOF horror stories of people never getting picked up by their hosts she gave us her phone number and address and said we could stay with her if we needed to. Thankfully within 30 minutes Sandra arrived in a really nice SUV and she was also really nice which was quite a relief. It was about a ten minute drive from the bus stop to their property, we turned off the main road onto a long, steep, winding driveway. Along the driveway Sandra pointed out where they had done the rainforest reforestation, and where their horses graze. When we pulled up to the house I can honestly say I was completely blown away, their whole property is absolutely stunning!! Sandra drove Lindsay and I down to our cottage which certainly is not a shack. The cottage has a veranda that wraps around, a living room, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. Once again Lindsay and I are sharing a double bed because Sandra thought Lindsay was a bloke and we were couple. To Lindsay's dismay we were also informed of the 10 ft python that lives at our cottage (for those of you that don't know Lindsay has a bit of a snake phobia).
After dropping our bags off at the cottage Lindsay and I had our first test as WWOOFers, carrying a large dining table from our cottage up to the main house. Our cottage is about 100 yards from the house and we had to carry it uphill mind you. We passed the test and got to enjoy fresh squeezed orange juice on the veranda that we actually squeezed from citrus that grows on the property. While sitting on the veranda drinking fresh squeezed orange juice and admiring the views of rolling hills, forests and a mountain I realized that I can probably never WWOOF again because it will never be this good.
As evening approached it became time to feed the colt (that's a baby horse for you city folk). As we were walking up to the paddock we actually saw two kangaroo grazing in a nearby field. This was our first kangaroo sighting in the wild and we were so excited, Sandra sent us to get our cameras and we were so worried they would be gone by the time we got back. We ran to get our cameras and when we were approaching again the kangaroos spotted us and froze, we were sure they were about to bolt, but they didn't hop away, they actually started boxing!!! I didn't know kangaroos really boxed, but I can assure they full on box and also kick a little.
It was such a perfect first impression of where we would be spending the next two weeks, and we finished the day off by helping Sandra make roast pumpkin soup for the next days lunch (with a pumpkin picked from the garden), we also incidentally got the reputation for burning onions, but we were able to redeem ourselves in the days to come. Dinner was a delicious spaghetti bologenese (sp) and we were in bed by ten pm because we had to be up and ready to work by 8 am. If it continues on like this I don't think I will ever want to leave.
Cheers,
Laura
We arranged to meet Sandra (our WWOOF host) at the bus stop at 1:25 pm on June 30th. At 3 pm when she still wasn't there we began to fear that perhaps we had been stranded in the tiny town of Cooroy where we didn't know anyone and had nowhere to stay. A woman at the bus stop was really kind and after telling us WWOOF horror stories of people never getting picked up by their hosts she gave us her phone number and address and said we could stay with her if we needed to. Thankfully within 30 minutes Sandra arrived in a really nice SUV and she was also really nice which was quite a relief. It was about a ten minute drive from the bus stop to their property, we turned off the main road onto a long, steep, winding driveway. Along the driveway Sandra pointed out where they had done the rainforest reforestation, and where their horses graze. When we pulled up to the house I can honestly say I was completely blown away, their whole property is absolutely stunning!! Sandra drove Lindsay and I down to our cottage which certainly is not a shack. The cottage has a veranda that wraps around, a living room, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. Once again Lindsay and I are sharing a double bed because Sandra thought Lindsay was a bloke and we were couple. To Lindsay's dismay we were also informed of the 10 ft python that lives at our cottage (for those of you that don't know Lindsay has a bit of a snake phobia).
After dropping our bags off at the cottage Lindsay and I had our first test as WWOOFers, carrying a large dining table from our cottage up to the main house. Our cottage is about 100 yards from the house and we had to carry it uphill mind you. We passed the test and got to enjoy fresh squeezed orange juice on the veranda that we actually squeezed from citrus that grows on the property. While sitting on the veranda drinking fresh squeezed orange juice and admiring the views of rolling hills, forests and a mountain I realized that I can probably never WWOOF again because it will never be this good.
As evening approached it became time to feed the colt (that's a baby horse for you city folk). As we were walking up to the paddock we actually saw two kangaroo grazing in a nearby field. This was our first kangaroo sighting in the wild and we were so excited, Sandra sent us to get our cameras and we were so worried they would be gone by the time we got back. We ran to get our cameras and when we were approaching again the kangaroos spotted us and froze, we were sure they were about to bolt, but they didn't hop away, they actually started boxing!!! I didn't know kangaroos really boxed, but I can assure they full on box and also kick a little.
It was such a perfect first impression of where we would be spending the next two weeks, and we finished the day off by helping Sandra make roast pumpkin soup for the next days lunch (with a pumpkin picked from the garden), we also incidentally got the reputation for burning onions, but we were able to redeem ourselves in the days to come. Dinner was a delicious spaghetti bologenese (sp) and we were in bed by ten pm because we had to be up and ready to work by 8 am. If it continues on like this I don't think I will ever want to leave.
Cheers,
Laura
Monday, July 6, 2009
A Honeymoon in an Historic Queenslander
Noosa is only a short 25 minute bus ride from Mooloolaba, and it was great, we actually saw a giant bald eagle swoop right in front of the bus. We arrived in Noosa without any reservations for the week, as I mentioned in the last blog, so we stood at the bus station for about 5 minutes before I pulled out our ever so handy Lonely Planet guide (thanks Becky and Lisa). We had basically two options, we could try the cheaper traditional backpacker hostel we had been staying in or try for the "perpetually booked" (Lonely Planet's words) Halse Lodge, which is still technically a hostel. We went for the Halse Lodge and they convenientally had only one room open, which was a double room with one double bed. The women assured us that after two nights she could move us into a dorm where we wouldn't have to share a bed and I think she was a bit taken aback when we said we actually preferred to stay in a double. We were just looking forward to having our own room for a week. The Halse Lodge was beautiful, it's a huge old Queenslander house that has been converted into a hostel, set in two acres of rain forest, and a five minute walk from the beach, hence why we felt like we were on a honeymoon. Our room was on the second floor of the main house, and there were huge verandas with comfortable lounging chairs, and the halls and rooms all had hardwood. The only downside was no electrical outlets or bathrooms in the bedrooms, but what this hostel was lacking in conveniences it up for in charm, plus the bed was finally comfortable. The property was also filled with at least a dozen different species of birds ranging from mag-pies to parrots, this was great for the most part except that they seemed to live outside our window and woke up about three hours earlier than Lindsay and me.
On our second day in Noosa Lindsay and I decided to go for a walk in the National park just down the road. We had read that koalas can sometimes be spotted in the park, but we didn't expect to see one within the first minute of entering the park. Right at the entrance there was a koala sitting up in the tree. We were so excited it was our first koala spotting in the wild. We took tons of pictures and stood there staring at it for ten minutes even though it really didn't move at all. The walk through the park was beautiful, we walked up a ridge that overlooked the ocean the entire way.
While in Noosa Lindsay and I cooked almost all of our own meals despite the fact that the kitchen was disgusting. The kitchen was pretty small and with he entire hostel using it I suppose it was inevitable that it would be as such, I was mainly grossed out that people were walking around the kitchen barefoot.
We went to the beach pretty much every day in Noosa. We had the intention of surfing while there, but on the day we borrowed surfboards the water was literally as flat as a lake and freezing. We also kayaked along the Noosa river one afternoon, we got out of our kayak on a sandy little island and waded through the water, of course we later found out that the river is where bull sharks breed. I suppose considering bull sharks are extremely aggressive it was fortunate that Lindsay and I are both too big of wusses to have gone any deeper.
I am embarrassed to say that while in Noosa Lindsay and I also went to see the new Hannah Montana movie and I am more embarrassed to say that we LOVED it.
Noosa was so beautiful, the National Park was gorgeous, the beaches lovely (even though I hear they were destroyed in a cyclone), Hastings street was great for strolling and it looked like there were tons of fabulous restaurants (regrettably fabulous restaurants are definitely not in our budget).
On our second day in Noosa Lindsay and I decided to go for a walk in the National park just down the road. We had read that koalas can sometimes be spotted in the park, but we didn't expect to see one within the first minute of entering the park. Right at the entrance there was a koala sitting up in the tree. We were so excited it was our first koala spotting in the wild. We took tons of pictures and stood there staring at it for ten minutes even though it really didn't move at all. The walk through the park was beautiful, we walked up a ridge that overlooked the ocean the entire way.
While in Noosa Lindsay and I cooked almost all of our own meals despite the fact that the kitchen was disgusting. The kitchen was pretty small and with he entire hostel using it I suppose it was inevitable that it would be as such, I was mainly grossed out that people were walking around the kitchen barefoot.
We went to the beach pretty much every day in Noosa. We had the intention of surfing while there, but on the day we borrowed surfboards the water was literally as flat as a lake and freezing. We also kayaked along the Noosa river one afternoon, we got out of our kayak on a sandy little island and waded through the water, of course we later found out that the river is where bull sharks breed. I suppose considering bull sharks are extremely aggressive it was fortunate that Lindsay and I are both too big of wusses to have gone any deeper.
I am embarrassed to say that while in Noosa Lindsay and I also went to see the new Hannah Montana movie and I am more embarrassed to say that we LOVED it.
Noosa was so beautiful, the National Park was gorgeous, the beaches lovely (even though I hear they were destroyed in a cyclone), Hastings street was great for strolling and it looked like there were tons of fabulous restaurants (regrettably fabulous restaurants are definitely not in our budget).
There's a reason when you mention Mooloolaba most people havnen't heard of it
So we took about a 2 hr bus ride from Brisbane to get to Mooloolaba. The bus stop was literally across the street from our hostel which was convenient. This hostel was extremely different from our hostel in Brisbane. In Brisbane the staff all wore uniforms, there were security cameras everywhere, and the rules were posted everywhere. Here there was no way to tell the staff apart from the backpackers, and we later found most of the staff were backpackers staying in the hostel, most of them came for a weekend and ended up staying weeks. This hostel seemed to really cater to surfers who are drawn to the famous Maroochy beaches. There were wetsuits hanging from all the balconies and over tanned shirtless men everywhere. Our room was very small with two bunk beds and some of the most uncomfortable mattresses imaginable, it was freezing at night and we didn't have any blankets in addition I thought there was a faint smell of urine to the room, but Lindsay didn't notice.
Lindsay and I walked down to the beach as soon as we arrived. Mooloolaba is an extremely cute little beach town with tons of restaurants and cafes right along the beach. The beach was only about a ten minute walk from our hostel which was really nice. The beach was gorgeous with views of the mountains to the North and large rocks jutting into the water that we could walk on. There are also terrifying shells that are wedged under large rocks that look identical to coiled snakes (Lindsay has a picture in her facebook album). After getting back from the beach we picked up a $5 pizza from dominoes to split, while eating it we met a very odd Dutch boy who insisted we play ping pong, not with him but against each other (we did not). We were in bed and sound asleep by 9 pm, but freezing, while the party raged on outside.
The next morning we got up early because we were supposed to go on a tour of the glass house mountains, but we were the only two signed up so it didn't happen. We also got to try Vegemite on toast for breakfast; Vegemite is not at all what I had imagined, first we didn't know that it is supposed to spread VERY thinly on toast, so I was quite surprised when what I expected to taste like a peanut butter substitute actually tasted the way I would imagine congealed gasoline to taste. Anyways not the best start to the morning but the hostel "staff" was very nice and offered to take us surfing instead of the Glass House Mountains tour. A group of six of us went to a beach about a ten minute drive away. No one in the group was an experienced surfer, the water was freezing, we didn't have wetsuits, it was an unguarded beach, and there were 15 ft waves. Lindsay and I decided theses were not the ideal conditions for us to try our hands at surfing.
Lindsay and I actually had a great time in Mooloolaba; we discovered there was free wifi at McDonald's, enjoyed the beaches, and had some delicious meals (see Lindsy's album for a picture of Pumpkin Pizza). Well we are off to Noosa next which is a bit more of a resort town, we don't have anywhere to stay yet but I hear there are heaps of 5 star hotels if we can't get into a hostel. jk. But really we are hoping for hostel vacancies.
Cheers,
Laura
Lindsay and I walked down to the beach as soon as we arrived. Mooloolaba is an extremely cute little beach town with tons of restaurants and cafes right along the beach. The beach was only about a ten minute walk from our hostel which was really nice. The beach was gorgeous with views of the mountains to the North and large rocks jutting into the water that we could walk on. There are also terrifying shells that are wedged under large rocks that look identical to coiled snakes (Lindsay has a picture in her facebook album). After getting back from the beach we picked up a $5 pizza from dominoes to split, while eating it we met a very odd Dutch boy who insisted we play ping pong, not with him but against each other (we did not). We were in bed and sound asleep by 9 pm, but freezing, while the party raged on outside.
The next morning we got up early because we were supposed to go on a tour of the glass house mountains, but we were the only two signed up so it didn't happen. We also got to try Vegemite on toast for breakfast; Vegemite is not at all what I had imagined, first we didn't know that it is supposed to spread VERY thinly on toast, so I was quite surprised when what I expected to taste like a peanut butter substitute actually tasted the way I would imagine congealed gasoline to taste. Anyways not the best start to the morning but the hostel "staff" was very nice and offered to take us surfing instead of the Glass House Mountains tour. A group of six of us went to a beach about a ten minute drive away. No one in the group was an experienced surfer, the water was freezing, we didn't have wetsuits, it was an unguarded beach, and there were 15 ft waves. Lindsay and I decided theses were not the ideal conditions for us to try our hands at surfing.
Lindsay and I actually had a great time in Mooloolaba; we discovered there was free wifi at McDonald's, enjoyed the beaches, and had some delicious meals (see Lindsy's album for a picture of Pumpkin Pizza). Well we are off to Noosa next which is a bit more of a resort town, we don't have anywhere to stay yet but I hear there are heaps of 5 star hotels if we can't get into a hostel. jk. But really we are hoping for hostel vacancies.
Cheers,
Laura
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Bunking in Brissie
Lindsay and I arrived at our hostel in Brisbane around 7 am in the morning. Our room was obviously not ready at this hour but we enjoyed a dip in the spa and some complimentary Internet time while we waited. We met with Josh (the hostel's resident travel expert) around ten to provide us with some information about trips we may be interested in taking while visiting Australia. Little did we know we would be spending $800 and booking a months worth of travel, excursions and lodging. At the end of the hour with Josh we had booked ourselves a trip to Mooloolaba with accommodation, a trip to Hervey Bay and Fraser Island (the largest all sand Island in the world) which includes 4 nights accommodation, our trip to Cairns including our dive, hostel and some meals, our trip to Cape Tribulation (the rain forest), as well as 3,000 km worth of travel on the Grey Hound bus. After the shock of spending about 1/3 of all the money I have to travel for the next couple of months I was settled by two thoughts: first, these were the main excursions we had planned to take anyways and the price we got them at seemed like good deals, and second, we would be having to do a lot of Wwoofing.
We spent the rest of the day wondering around the city taking care of some business such as going to the bank and buying a cell phone. Our hostel was in the Valley which is right near China town where we enjoyed a light and cheap lunch by splitting pad Thai. We headed back to the hostel for an afternoon snooze, but had plans to "go out" that night as we were informed the best way to avoid jet lag is to drink the night you arrive in Australia.
After waking up from our naps we headed downstairs for $3 steaks, salad and chips. A word of advice, Never Eat a $3 steak (which is actually like $2.50 US), it was pretty bad, hard to cut, hard to chew, and hard to taste, but I don't know why we were expecting more of a $3 hostel steak. After dinner we went back upstairs and met our bunk mates for the night. They were three very friends English girls all about 22 or 23. They introduced us to Passion Pop, which again I wouldn't really recommend unless you find yourselves backpacking Australia, it's a $5 bottle of very sweet sparkling wine and tastes as such. We spent the evening in the bar called Birdie Num Num. Everyone in Australia is so nice and friendly, even though most people we have at our hostel are not Australian.
Day 2 Brisbane
The second day in Brisbane we had really nice weather, it was a bit cool but sunny. We walked down to South Bank which is a really pretty man made beach along the river with shops and restaurants. We split a burger and chips (fries) for lunch from a vendor along South Bank and the women working there was the first mean Australian we met. She yelled at us for taking ketchup packets, apparently they are 30 cents each, and then yelled at me when I tried to pay her for them and our burger tasted like meatloaf. We walked back along the pedestrian bridge that crosses the river and through the botanical garden. I love that Brisbane has a lot of parks and green space. We stopped in a supermarket to buy food for dinner and lunch the next day, no more meatloaf burgers for me.
Day 3, 4 and 5? (all kind of a blur it was two weeks ago)
Unfortunately, the next couple days we were in Brisbane it was both pretty cool and rainy, but we still managed to get out and do things and not sit in the hostel drinking from 5 pm onward, which seems to be a backpacker trend. On Sunday night we went to a venue called Powerhouse that has free music and comedy shows every Sunday. Powerhouse was a really amazing space; it's kind of like a huge remodeled warehouse on the inside, boasting tons of performance and rehearsal space. It's right on the river and has a delicious looking restaurant that was not in our backpacker's budget. To get there we took the City Cat, which is a pretty fast catamaran style motor boat (that might be a terribly false description), on the boat we had beautiful views of Brisbane and the Brisbane bridge all lit up. We just got to Powerhouse in time for the comedy portion of the event. One of the comedians was really funny, and we aren't sure if the other two were funny because we couldn't understand them. We came back to Powerhouse the next day to walk through the photography exhibit they had. I wish we had been in Brisbane longer because they had some really amazing dance shows coming. The only other noteworthy that happened in Brisbane was that two guys were placed in our all female dorm which I think was more awkward for them than it was for us. As last word of advice when Aussies (not from Brisbane) tell you "Brisbane is shit" don't believe them, from what I saw it's definitely worth a visit.
cheers,
Laura
We spent the rest of the day wondering around the city taking care of some business such as going to the bank and buying a cell phone. Our hostel was in the Valley which is right near China town where we enjoyed a light and cheap lunch by splitting pad Thai. We headed back to the hostel for an afternoon snooze, but had plans to "go out" that night as we were informed the best way to avoid jet lag is to drink the night you arrive in Australia.
After waking up from our naps we headed downstairs for $3 steaks, salad and chips. A word of advice, Never Eat a $3 steak (which is actually like $2.50 US), it was pretty bad, hard to cut, hard to chew, and hard to taste, but I don't know why we were expecting more of a $3 hostel steak. After dinner we went back upstairs and met our bunk mates for the night. They were three very friends English girls all about 22 or 23. They introduced us to Passion Pop, which again I wouldn't really recommend unless you find yourselves backpacking Australia, it's a $5 bottle of very sweet sparkling wine and tastes as such. We spent the evening in the bar called Birdie Num Num. Everyone in Australia is so nice and friendly, even though most people we have at our hostel are not Australian.
Day 2 Brisbane
The second day in Brisbane we had really nice weather, it was a bit cool but sunny. We walked down to South Bank which is a really pretty man made beach along the river with shops and restaurants. We split a burger and chips (fries) for lunch from a vendor along South Bank and the women working there was the first mean Australian we met. She yelled at us for taking ketchup packets, apparently they are 30 cents each, and then yelled at me when I tried to pay her for them and our burger tasted like meatloaf. We walked back along the pedestrian bridge that crosses the river and through the botanical garden. I love that Brisbane has a lot of parks and green space. We stopped in a supermarket to buy food for dinner and lunch the next day, no more meatloaf burgers for me.
Day 3, 4 and 5? (all kind of a blur it was two weeks ago)
Unfortunately, the next couple days we were in Brisbane it was both pretty cool and rainy, but we still managed to get out and do things and not sit in the hostel drinking from 5 pm onward, which seems to be a backpacker trend. On Sunday night we went to a venue called Powerhouse that has free music and comedy shows every Sunday. Powerhouse was a really amazing space; it's kind of like a huge remodeled warehouse on the inside, boasting tons of performance and rehearsal space. It's right on the river and has a delicious looking restaurant that was not in our backpacker's budget. To get there we took the City Cat, which is a pretty fast catamaran style motor boat (that might be a terribly false description), on the boat we had beautiful views of Brisbane and the Brisbane bridge all lit up. We just got to Powerhouse in time for the comedy portion of the event. One of the comedians was really funny, and we aren't sure if the other two were funny because we couldn't understand them. We came back to Powerhouse the next day to walk through the photography exhibit they had. I wish we had been in Brisbane longer because they had some really amazing dance shows coming. The only other noteworthy that happened in Brisbane was that two guys were placed in our all female dorm which I think was more awkward for them than it was for us. As last word of advice when Aussies (not from Brisbane) tell you "Brisbane is shit" don't believe them, from what I saw it's definitely worth a visit.
cheers,
Laura
And 35 hrs Later...
So I know Lindsay and I have been in Australia for over a week and haven't blogged yet, so I am going to try to recap the last week. Please bear with the numerous simultaneous posts.
We left Fort Lauderdale really early on the morning of June 17. It was actually quite fortunate for us that it departed so early because since neither of us got much sleep the night before, partly out of excitement for our trip and the fact that we woke up at 4 am to leave, we both slept most of the flight. We arrived in LA around 10 am and we were so grateful Becky came to pick us up since our layover was 13 hrs long. She took us to Santa Monica where we enjoyed a delicious lunch of burritos and diet coke. On the way to the restaurant we had briefly walked through a farmers market, but didn't take the time to look around because we were starving, so we took the walk back to the car to browse the booths sampling fruit wherever possible. We bought a bunch of fresh mint, and pre flight mojitos suddenly seemed like a really good idea.
After Santa Monica we stopped by Venice Beach on the way back to Pasadena. It was really fun to see the outside gyms, graffiti and odd street vendors. The one I felt most inclined to buy from was selling magical wands, or rather nobby sticks with marbles glued to the end. The drive back to Pasadena from Venice Beach was awful, the parade for the Lakers was going on in down town LA that day so we were literally just stopped still in traffic on the free way.
After over an hour of sitting in traffic it was great to get to Franklins apartment where we could enjoy hot showers and mojitos before having to head back to the airport. We stopped at
"In and Out" (a burger joint only on the West Coast) to fully get the California experience.
Becky an Franklin were both so hospitable and having the opportunity to put on fresh clothes made the next leg of the flight not only more enjoyable for me, but probably for the woman sitting next to me as well.
Upon getting back to the airport ( a little later than planned) Lindsay and I learned that we were two of the last ten people to check in and there was no way they could sit us next together. We were sad and didn't want to spend the next 13 hrs sitting and sleeping next to strangers. But to our pleasant surprise when we asked at the gate they were not only able to sit us next
to each other, we were also seated in the bulk head, which means about an extra 6 inches of leg room. We also couldn't have asked for a better flight. I was asleep before the plane took off, woke up 9 hrs later, brushed my teeth, watched a movie, had a surprisingly delicious breakfast, and then we landed in Brisbane about 45 mins early. It was really simple getting from the airport into Brisbane. we took a short train ride and then had about a 5 min walk to our hostel.
We stayed at BUNK Brisbane and it was really nice. It had a pool, a hot tub, a bar in the hostel, en suite bathrooms in the rooms and the kitchen was relatively clean (which I would later learn is a luxury for a hostel). Our room was an eight person all female share, or so we thought... I will explain that later.
This is all for now, expect more soon.
Cheers,
Laura
We left Fort Lauderdale really early on the morning of June 17. It was actually quite fortunate for us that it departed so early because since neither of us got much sleep the night before, partly out of excitement for our trip and the fact that we woke up at 4 am to leave, we both slept most of the flight. We arrived in LA around 10 am and we were so grateful Becky came to pick us up since our layover was 13 hrs long. She took us to Santa Monica where we enjoyed a delicious lunch of burritos and diet coke. On the way to the restaurant we had briefly walked through a farmers market, but didn't take the time to look around because we were starving, so we took the walk back to the car to browse the booths sampling fruit wherever possible. We bought a bunch of fresh mint, and pre flight mojitos suddenly seemed like a really good idea.
After Santa Monica we stopped by Venice Beach on the way back to Pasadena. It was really fun to see the outside gyms, graffiti and odd street vendors. The one I felt most inclined to buy from was selling magical wands, or rather nobby sticks with marbles glued to the end. The drive back to Pasadena from Venice Beach was awful, the parade for the Lakers was going on in down town LA that day so we were literally just stopped still in traffic on the free way.
After over an hour of sitting in traffic it was great to get to Franklins apartment where we could enjoy hot showers and mojitos before having to head back to the airport. We stopped at
"In and Out" (a burger joint only on the West Coast) to fully get the California experience.
Becky an Franklin were both so hospitable and having the opportunity to put on fresh clothes made the next leg of the flight not only more enjoyable for me, but probably for the woman sitting next to me as well.
Upon getting back to the airport ( a little later than planned) Lindsay and I learned that we were two of the last ten people to check in and there was no way they could sit us next together. We were sad and didn't want to spend the next 13 hrs sitting and sleeping next to strangers. But to our pleasant surprise when we asked at the gate they were not only able to sit us next
to each other, we were also seated in the bulk head, which means about an extra 6 inches of leg room. We also couldn't have asked for a better flight. I was asleep before the plane took off, woke up 9 hrs later, brushed my teeth, watched a movie, had a surprisingly delicious breakfast, and then we landed in Brisbane about 45 mins early. It was really simple getting from the airport into Brisbane. we took a short train ride and then had about a 5 min walk to our hostel.
We stayed at BUNK Brisbane and it was really nice. It had a pool, a hot tub, a bar in the hostel, en suite bathrooms in the rooms and the kitchen was relatively clean (which I would later learn is a luxury for a hostel). Our room was an eight person all female share, or so we thought... I will explain that later.
This is all for now, expect more soon.
Cheers,
Laura
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