Loving Life

I'm having the best time out here. Australia is everything I imagined and more. The weather has been perfect, other than a couple days of rain. But for the most part sunny, warm and humid. I'm meeting so many people. Only 2 Americans so far. I'm amazed at the amount of single travelers going down the East Coast. Mostly young girls too. I'm thinking, how can they do it, surely they don't have much money...but they make it work. Many are traveling for months and working at local backpacker resorts for money when they run out. It's funny, bc I've been to 5 different towns along the coast and I keep running into people who I've meet before. Everyone has the same agenda. I'm in Airlie Beach today. I finally went out last night to listen to some awesome house music from some guys from the Gold Coast (Australia). There were 8 of us that all knew each other from diving or bus trips or hostels. So fun!

I'm leaving soon on my live aboard for 2 nights/3 days. I'll be sailing in the islands. Living and loving life to the fullest! I can't wait to share all the pics and stories of the crocodiles, jungle surfing, sharks, turtles, boats, beaches, people... It's awesome. I'm not ready for real life yet. And there's so much more to do and see.

I'll write when I return to Sydney.

Cyclone Charlotte

Despite Cyclone Charlotte, I'm here in the rain forest. Crazy weather! I've never seen it just straight down pour like sheets of water. This area got 14 inches of rain last night!!! There are floods everywhere, landslides, and roads closed. We made it up here - barely. And now the bummer part is the diving is canceled for tomorrow. Supposedly it's on for Wed. I will be so disheartened if I can't dive up here.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24900581-2,00.html?from=public_rss

I saw my first crocodile today! Luckily, it was somewhat contained, but still very freaky. The jungle is insane. It reminds me of tropical Hawaii, but better. Oh and I saw a python too! But it was in a cage. Everything is bigger up here! The snakes, bugs, spiders... what the hell am I doing??? I went to walk down to the beach and I got too scared to go by myself. I had to ask a Belgian girl to go with me. There was also a sign that said "A Croc's been spotted here recently". Ah...I would have a heart attack. Like I guess run and maybe climb a tree? I should carry a knife with me. Actually they say it's fine. There's only been 3 attacks in the past 21 years and it's only when tourists jump in the water. So no swimming for me! When I go home, I'm going to watch Crocodile Dundee again. :)

There are so many travelers here by themselves, mostly girls. It's great! Despite the downpours, at least it's warm. I love it here - the country of Australia...I don't want to go home...

Cairns

Well, I made it up to the Great Barrier Reef area. For those of you who want to follow where I am, please find my schedule below. I will not have access to much while I'm here in terms of phones or emails...which is nice! :)

I'm here for one night http://www.caravella.com.au/Then the bus is picking me up at the hostel at 7:25am to go up to Cape Tribulation. http://www.capetribconnections.com/
We see crocodiles and other crazy animals on the way.

I'm staying up in Cape Trib at PKs (unfortunately, not Patti Kelly's) for 3 nights.http://www.pksjunglevillage.com.au/
This is where I'll be diving the reef and doing night jungle tours. Super cool! But I hear there are huge snakes and spiders. Not cool :( I have borrowed a friend's flashlight for when I have to walk outside to use the bathroom so I don't step on a snake or something...EEK!

Then we leave Thursday morning to go back to Cairns and arrive there at 6:30pm, doing various sight seeing tours on the way. I'm staying at the Caravella 149 hostel again in Cairns.

Friday I take a bus from 9 to 4:40 to Ayr (Alva Beach). I'm staying at the dive shop. http://www.yongaladive.com.au/Saturday, I'm leaving to dive at 7:30am and returning at 3pm. We are diving the SS Yongala, which is one of the top 10 dives in the world! I'm actually really nervous about this one. I have to get adventure certified, which is another level above what I currently have. Supposedly, I can see huge schools of sharks, turtles, rays, barracuda, etc. The ship is 350 feet and it sank in the early 1900's!

Saturday evening I'm taking a bus from Ayr to Airlie Beach from 4:40 - 8:05. I'm staying at http://www.bushvillage.com.au/?PageID=1&wp=1 for one night.

Sunday I'm leaving for a live aboard for 2 nights/3 days. We go to pristine beaches and snorkel and just relax on the beach. I can't wait!
http://ozadventuresailing.com.au/vessel.php?name=SV+Whitehaven

I'm staying the night Tues night at Airlie Beach http://www.coralsearesort.com/I'm going to relax in a nice hotel and get a massage and just chill - finally!

I leave Wed to fly back to Sydney at 2:25 leaving via Properine.

I'm going to stay with a girl that I met and we are going to hike the Blue Mountains on Thursday. Yes, I decided to stay an extra day. I'll be leaving Sydney on Friday, returning back to Sac Friday afternoon. Just in time to sleep all weekend!

Thanks for reading the blogs. I hope next time, I'll have some exciting stories to tell!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I'm celebrating my birthday in Sydney this year. I'm really starting to get used to this city. It's actually a very nice, clean, fun city. It has beautiful beaches and a fun nightlife (I finally got to experience a taste last night). Yesterday it was very cloudy and cold (70). I was going to go to Manly Beach, but it was not the right day for that. I took the train into the city and walked around the wharf, walked over the Harbour Bridge to Kirribelli (a super cute ritzy town on the north side) and took a ferry back. Then I walked up and down Oxford Street. This is the kind of street that's similar to Haight Ashbury/Castro district for those of you who know SF. It had funky shops, gay clubs and body piercings everywhere. I met up with a friend of Maya's (Jacquie) for drinks and Thai food. OMG! The Thai food out here is amazing! There is a Thai restaurant on every corner of the city - very similar to Mexican restaurants in CA. I love Thai now! I've had Thai in CA and it's nothing like out here.

Then I met up with Mientje's friend (Tim) for a couple of drinks. He showed me around Sydney at night. It was very cool. I'm starting to really get in the groove of Australian life.

Today the sun's out. Yay! So I'm going to go to yoga, meet a friend for lunch and head over to Manly Beach and ride a bike around the island. Marcus and some Brazilian friends are in town and we are all going out for sushi, drinks and dancing tonight to celebrate "The California Girl's" birthday! And the good news is I can still celebrate tomorrow since that's my American Birthday!

Life is good.

Hot Men Hot Beaches

Well the trip so far has been great. I have been waking up between 7 and 8am every morning, drinking the best coffee on the planet, eating awesome seafood, and getting a lot of exercise. Monday, I walked from the apartment to Coogie beach along the east coast walk. There's a walkway that goes from Bondi Beach to Coogie Beach. It took about 2 hours. I spent all day on the packed beach. The people here are tanned with great bodies. It's a very healthy city. I haven't seen hardly any chubby people. The guys run around without shirts on...nice! Of course I stand out with my white skin. Oh well!

Yesterday, I went to a yoga class (right next door to the apt), walked down to the local beach, and swam in the ocean. The weather is perfect! It's about 90 with a breeze. Once I get nice and hot on the beach, the water cools me off. It's so refreshing, not bitter cold at all! But also not bath water. Perfect for the hot sunny days.

Then I met up with Marcus for after work drinks and dinner. We went to the Opera Bar right next to the Opera House. It was beautiful! Then we walked over to the other side of the harbor to eat. I wanted to go to a "shrimp on the barbie" kind of place. We walked in and picked out our meat, seasoned it ourselves and bbq'd it on a community bbq. It was sooooo good! Of course, I got filet mignon. Yummy!

A couple of things, I have noticed since I've been here. The people are not friendly at all! Very new york type. Busy, no one looks you in the eye, no one smiles and says hello, not only on the streets, but also along the walking path to the beaches. It's like hey people, you are not at work, it's a beautiful day, be happy! Smile. I've spoken with other travelers and they said they noticed the same thing. It's just Sydney. As soon as I go up the coast to Cairns and other places, it's way different. Things are slower up there. People say things like "Hey Braugh, how's it hanging?" I'm really looking forward to that!

The other thing is that they don't free pour the liquor. They use a one ounce shot glass. So the drinks are really weak. Luckily a typical vodka drink is about $5-6 Australian so about ($4 US). So I've been ordering doubles. That seems to work out. But it blows me away that the beaches are packed all day with people who are on vacation, in their 20's and 30's, and no one is partying. I expected it to be like spring break, but it's not. Some go to the bars for some cocktails around 5ish. But it's been pretty mellow in that sense. Of course, I haven't been to the downtown bars yet...this is just the beach bars. I'm not complaining...just something I've observed.

Today it's supposed to be 94! Marcus's friend Maria is picking me up at noon to go over to Manly Beach. We have to cross the bridge to go to this one. It's a little island type beach. We are going to either rent bikes and ride around or walk along the coastal walking path.

It's been pretty chill so far. I did book my flight, hostel and tours for Cairns/Cape Tribulation for Sunday - Thursday. I can't wait!!! The diving here is going to be insane. I've been reading a lot about it. I'll keep you posted... miss you all!

Welcome to Sydney

Wow! So I've been here for 24 hours now. The best way to describe this city to you is it's a mix between San Diego and San Francisco. The weather was very nice, about 75-80 all day. But the sun is hotter here. There's not much of a ozone layer like we have in CA. So I have to wear tons of sunblock.

Marcus is super nice and friendly. He was so sweet to take me around the city and to Bondi Beach. He gave me an Australian basics course (at least that's how I felt). We went to lunch with 10 of his friends and had Dim Sum. Definitely not my favorite. They even ordered chicken's feet!!! No way did I try it. You could see the fried toes. Yuck! But I made due. I stayed with noodles and veggies. Even though Australian's speak English, their accents and words they say are so different, I really have to strain to hear what they say. I felt like Carrie in Sex in the City when she was in Paris with Mihkel and all his friends were speaking French and she just sat there smiling...that's how I was for a while.

Also just little things like turning on the stove or drying my hair, flushing the toilet and DRIVING.. it's all a bit different. But for the most part, it doesn't feel too foreign. Mostly Eurpeans and Australians. I only saw one American so far.

After lunch we went to Bondi beach and had a couple of drinks. We people watched. I just feel like I'm soaking it all in right now. Marcus helped me with an outline of where to go. Not follow all of the touristy places and go a bit outside of them to find the best beaches with not so many people. Bondi Beach was PACKED! I mean you could barely find a piece of sand to lay on. Not really my scene. And a bunch of kids/families. So today I'm going to book my flight to leave for Cairns. I'm going to stay here in Sydney this week and leave Sunday for Cairns to dive all next week and do the chill beach time.

Marcus is working during the day and his roommates or should I say flatmates are gone. This week I'm going to walk the local beaches, go to the zoo, cruise around downtown, go on a boat (Marcus's friend has one in the Harbor), throw some shrimp on the barbie, eat fresh seafood and sushi, and go to some clubs. Saturday is a big DJ house music festival in Sydney. Good times ahead!

The house I'm staying at is perfect! I have my own room, it's quiet and the view is spectacular! I can see all of downtown Sydney and the harbor and I'm 20 min walking distance from the beach.

If you need to reach me in an emergancy situation only, I can get texts. I can't guarantee the phone will be on at all times, but that's the best way to reach me or email if it's something not that crucial. I can't use my cell phone to call out, so I'll have to call from an Australian phone.

Anyway, I better get going before it gets too hot out! It's supposed to be 30 degrees today, I think that equals to be about 90!

Hollywood

Well my adventure has begun. I'm sitting in an internet cafe in Hollywood setting up my blog page. This is totally new to me. The weather is overcast and cold. I've had a nice day to myself. Gathering my thoughts before I get on a plane for 14 1/2 hours!!! Very thoughtful. I've got my contact's names and email addresses for when I arrive and making last minute phone calls. Hasta Luego USA! Talk soon...