Since my Australian gap year has officially come to an end, I will no longer be posting on this blog. For future posts on my travels, you can follow along at my new site, Clueless in College.
In addition to traveling/backpacking, Joe (the other co-blogger) and I cover the following topics:
Of course, I'll keep all the originally posted content here for your reference. Thanks for reading and I look forward to seeing you at my new house... err site!
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Saturday, August 25, 2012
NZ Adventures!
Finally decided to stop being lazy and give the rundown of my time spent in NZ. The week I went, I was supposed to start working but decided I'd rather spend most of my remaining savings on a 7 night/8 day trip to Kim Dot Com's holy land. I made the decision on Friday afternoon, less than 24 hours before the flight departed. Here's to impulsive decisions!
Day 1-2:
Steve (flatmate), Evan (lounge dweller), and I crossed over the Australian border and into Auckland, NZ. We got in pretty late so not much was going on. I don't normally eat fast food but Wendy's was open so we stuffed our faces full of burgers and fries. Strangely enough, that made me feel more like I was back in the US for a minute (there's no Wendy's in Oz). Insert --> case of beers --> bed for two and an air mattress --> ZzZzZzZz...
The next morning, we had to go pick up what was going to be our home for the next four nights. Take a Toyota Hiace, remove the back seats, add some cushions and some storage compartments and you have a campervan. We fondly referred to it as the "[a word that rhymes with grape] van" for the duration of the trip. To ensure we would stick out like a sore thumb wherever we went, the van's exterior had been painted by a NZ artist. A pig in a hot air ballon to be more precise. Kids and their drugs.
We had a full day to kill so we decided to hoof it around Auckland and check out where Steve grew up. We ended up meeting up with a fellow traveler, a french girl named Marine, that we met on the plane and took a tour of the local art museum. There were some interesting pieces. Especially, the tripod Maori or Islander. You'll see what I mean when you look at the slideshow.
When we got home, it was time for a proper NZ roast dinner of lamb, kumura, and spuds lathered with gravy. DE-LIC-IOUS! After dinner, we packed up our stuff, had some beers, Steve and Evan got into optimal positions to play big spoon, little spoon and the lights went out.
Day 3:
The next morning, we embarked on our five day tour of the North Island. First stop was Hobbiton in Matamata. For those of you who don't know, Hobbiton is the set of the Hobbit village used in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings and the soon-to-be released flick, The Hobbit. I'm not much of a Lord of the Rings fan, but this was awesome. The set is on a huge farm and it is massive. Check out the pictures below.
After the tour, it was off to Rotorua to set up camp for the night. What a sh!tty night. It was raining, cold, and there just simply isn't even room in the back of a Hiace for three grown men to sleep facing the same way. After many attempts to get comfortable, I decided to sleep on the front seat. This was also equally uncomfortable. Morning didn't come fast enough.
Day 4:
But when the sun did finally come up over the horizon, we quickly scarfed down some brekkie and headed off to go whitewater rafting. We were supposed to do a trip with Class 5 rapids and a 7m drop off a waterfall but, due to the rain the river was too high. We settled for a Class 3-4 river. After popping on wetsuits, fleeces, and a water-resistant top, we shoved off and went for a nearly two hour journey. No pictures for obvious reasons.
To continue on our quest for adrenaline-ridden activities, next stop was Tapou. While searching for the bungee jumping outfit, we stopped at a hole-in-one challenge where you could win $10,000 if you sunk a hole-in-one on a floating platform about 100m offshore. We didn't win $10,000 but Steve and I both learned that we have absolutely no chance at being professional golfers.
We had all been skydiving before, so the next logical step was obviously to jump from a much lower altitude. This bungee place offers the unique opportunity to do a submerged bungee jump. Since it's over a river, you have the option to jump and have enough slack in the cord to dip you into the river. Because the water was damn near freezing (which we found out from whitewater rafting), we decided to stay dry. Unfortunately, no pictures from these endeavor either. It was f**king awesome though!
After getting our adrenaline fix, we ate dinner at Burger Fuel which was a NZ version of Johnny Rockets but better. I tried kumura fries and they were delicious. Like a sweeter, sweet potato. Then, we went and played some pool and had a few beers at an Irish pub before calling it a night. This time, the person in the middle slept with their head in the opposite direction. Much, much better.
Day 5:
It's my birthday! The one thing I wanted to do while in NZ was head up to the snow and go snowboarding. Evan and Steve had never been so they were keen to give it a go (uh-oh, I'm starting to type like an Aussie). We headed off to Mt. Ruapehu to board at Whakapapa (pronounced fuck-uh-puh-puh). I spent the afternoon giving Steve and Evan some "lessons" and spraying them with snow whenever possible. We boarded until the lifts shut down and then headed back to our hostel.
After dinner and a case of Tui (NZ beer), we passed out.
Day 6:
We spent the next day on the slopes again. This time, the weather was either misty or blizzard-like depending on how high up you were. What I would have given for some Colorado tree cover. Lava rocks don't do much to block wind. Even with the weather, it was still a great time and a much needed snowboarding fix (last time I went was in HS).
After boarding, it was off to Waitomo to spend another night in our sweet-ass van.
Day 7:
The next morning, we went on a tour of the glow-worm caves. Couldn't take any pictures (which seems to be the case with anything interesting on this trip) but to paint the picture for you, it was like millions of tiny LEDs all lit up on the roof of a cave. Pretty cool!
That marked the end of our journey so we headed back to Auckland. After a quick dinner, we decided to go out with a bang and headed out for a night in the city. We again met up with Marine and proceeded to get sloshed. Good night with great people!
Day 8:
We had to have the van back by 10am the next morning so we drew hypothetical straws on who was the least intoxicated after the night on the piss. Steve won. After saying good-bye to our mobile home, it was back to Steve's house to back up and head back to Sydney.
In closing, I would like to add one more thing. New Zealand way of life is awesome. The pace is much slower compared to the hustle and bustle of Sydney, which I used to consider slow compared to the US. People seem generally happy and relatively stress-free. I will definitely be going back for a tour of the South Island later this year!
Monday, June 25, 2012
Bali Days
Earlier this year, Danielle (friend from previous posts) had the brilliant idea to visit Bali or Fiji as part of her extended Australian vacation. Luckily, I had 50K reward points on my Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card from a sign-up offer. These transfer to Hyatt points at a 1:1 ratio. Hyatt just so happens to have a 5 star hotel in Sanur, Bali, Indonesia and it only costs 5K points per night per room. Free hotel rooms? Yes, please!
June 3rd: Arrival
We arrived at the Denpasar Airport at 4:00 pm, quickly went through customs, and were on our way to the hotel (not before negotiating our taxi fare of course). Myself and the rest of the group were immediately taken back by the level of service the Bali Hyatt offered. Leis upon arrival, fresh fruit juice, and an open-air lobby filled with traditional Balinese music welcomed us as we waited for the most well-mannered person I've ever met to check us in. Once our things were in our room, we took a quick walk around the hotel grounds to inspect the tropical paradise that was to be our home for the next five nights. After picking our jaws off the ground, we went and grabbed some dinner at one of the hotel restaurants. Perhaps the "million bucks feeling" overcame us as we ordered a Rp 110,000 (roughly $110 USD) bottle of wine. F**k it, you only live once!
June 4th: Elephants, Shit Coffee, and Temples
Our waiter from the prior night offered us a sweet deal to have his brother drive us around for the day for about $50 USD. We went to several different villages, my favorite of which was where I was able to drink Luwak coffee. Luwak coffee is made from the coffee beans eaten by the Kopi Luwak, a cat-like animal, and then sifted out of their excrement. We dubbed this coffee, Shit Coffee, which was fondly taken to by our tour guide. I also rode an elephant, watched Kelly risk AIDS whilst hanging with an orangutan, saw some rice paddies, and toured a Hindu temple. We finished off the evening with some Bintangs and a 3 course dinner for around $10 USD.
June 5th: Surfing at Kuta Beach
Steve and I wanted to get some surfing in so we decided to venture on over to the west side and have a surf at Kuta Beach while the girls soaked up the sun and fended off street vendors. Waves were okay at first but started to close out after about two hours so we packed up and headed out. We had a particularly interesting taxi ride home since the cab driver didn't have any straps to put the surfboards on top of the car. He ran down the street and returned with some plastic rope/string. Needless to say it was a sketchy ride home with us reaching up out of the windows to hold on to the boards. We hit up the pool for happy hour which became a regular theme for the remainder of the trip and closed out the evening with another dirt cheap meal and some more drinks.
June 6th: Surfing at Hyatt Reef and Ubud Markets
Steve saw a group of surfers heading over to one of the boats parked near our hotel so we decided to take a chance and pay $5 for a round-trip boat ride out to the Hyatt Reef. Hardly any wind and solid chest to 1 ft overhead surf with only a handful of other guys out made for an awesome session. Unfortunately, my Go Pro got water damage so I don't have any footage from that day. Second half of the day was spent at the markets in Ubud trying to barter with local shop owners for the coveted Bintang tank top. I finally found one and talked the lady down to $3. Deal.
June 7th: Beach Bums, Waverunners, and Booze
We decided to take a break from running around and decided to hang around the hotel. We had a few Bintangs down by the beach before we negotiated to rent two waverunners for half an hour for $30 each (half the price they were asking). Poor Danielle. I was jumping waves, sliding out, and trying to surf the waves with her clutched to my back. Did I mention it was her first time on a waverunner? In all fairness, I gave her a turn at the wheel and she managed to tip us off into the water while I was trying to teach her how to slide out. The rest of the day was spent playing golf, badminton, and tennis with Bintangs in hand, horribly might I add. We finally accepted our lack of coordination and choose a less strenuous activity, drinking at the pool bar.
June 8th: Relaxing and Departure
After checking out of the hotel, we spent the rest of the day hanging out at the beach and by the pool until it was time to depart for the airport. Three security checkpoints later, we were on the plane and back to cold, rainy Sydney.
That's all for now. Enjoy the pictures!
We arrived at the Denpasar Airport at 4:00 pm, quickly went through customs, and were on our way to the hotel (not before negotiating our taxi fare of course). Myself and the rest of the group were immediately taken back by the level of service the Bali Hyatt offered. Leis upon arrival, fresh fruit juice, and an open-air lobby filled with traditional Balinese music welcomed us as we waited for the most well-mannered person I've ever met to check us in. Once our things were in our room, we took a quick walk around the hotel grounds to inspect the tropical paradise that was to be our home for the next five nights. After picking our jaws off the ground, we went and grabbed some dinner at one of the hotel restaurants. Perhaps the "million bucks feeling" overcame us as we ordered a Rp 110,000 (roughly $110 USD) bottle of wine. F**k it, you only live once!
June 4th: Elephants, Shit Coffee, and Temples
Our waiter from the prior night offered us a sweet deal to have his brother drive us around for the day for about $50 USD. We went to several different villages, my favorite of which was where I was able to drink Luwak coffee. Luwak coffee is made from the coffee beans eaten by the Kopi Luwak, a cat-like animal, and then sifted out of their excrement. We dubbed this coffee, Shit Coffee, which was fondly taken to by our tour guide. I also rode an elephant, watched Kelly risk AIDS whilst hanging with an orangutan, saw some rice paddies, and toured a Hindu temple. We finished off the evening with some Bintangs and a 3 course dinner for around $10 USD.
June 5th: Surfing at Kuta Beach
Steve and I wanted to get some surfing in so we decided to venture on over to the west side and have a surf at Kuta Beach while the girls soaked up the sun and fended off street vendors. Waves were okay at first but started to close out after about two hours so we packed up and headed out. We had a particularly interesting taxi ride home since the cab driver didn't have any straps to put the surfboards on top of the car. He ran down the street and returned with some plastic rope/string. Needless to say it was a sketchy ride home with us reaching up out of the windows to hold on to the boards. We hit up the pool for happy hour which became a regular theme for the remainder of the trip and closed out the evening with another dirt cheap meal and some more drinks.
June 6th: Surfing at Hyatt Reef and Ubud Markets
Steve saw a group of surfers heading over to one of the boats parked near our hotel so we decided to take a chance and pay $5 for a round-trip boat ride out to the Hyatt Reef. Hardly any wind and solid chest to 1 ft overhead surf with only a handful of other guys out made for an awesome session. Unfortunately, my Go Pro got water damage so I don't have any footage from that day. Second half of the day was spent at the markets in Ubud trying to barter with local shop owners for the coveted Bintang tank top. I finally found one and talked the lady down to $3. Deal.
June 7th: Beach Bums, Waverunners, and Booze
We decided to take a break from running around and decided to hang around the hotel. We had a few Bintangs down by the beach before we negotiated to rent two waverunners for half an hour for $30 each (half the price they were asking). Poor Danielle. I was jumping waves, sliding out, and trying to surf the waves with her clutched to my back. Did I mention it was her first time on a waverunner? In all fairness, I gave her a turn at the wheel and she managed to tip us off into the water while I was trying to teach her how to slide out. The rest of the day was spent playing golf, badminton, and tennis with Bintangs in hand, horribly might I add. We finally accepted our lack of coordination and choose a less strenuous activity, drinking at the pool bar.
June 8th: Relaxing and Departure
After checking out of the hotel, we spent the rest of the day hanging out at the beach and by the pool until it was time to depart for the airport. Three security checkpoints later, we were on the plane and back to cold, rainy Sydney.
That's all for now. Enjoy the pictures!
Monday, June 11, 2012
Video: Diving the Great Barrier Reef
Here's a short clip of some footage I took when I dove the Great Barrier Reef two weeks ago. All related to the previous post. Enjoy!
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Australia in a Week
May 27th Friends Arrive and the Tourist Trifecta
The third and final stop for the day was the infamous Sydney Aquarium. This place had all sorts of marine life. Sharks, fish, penguins, rays. You name it, they had it. See the slideshow for pictures.
After the aquarium, we headed back to the apartment to cook up some lamb on the spit and give the Americans a proper Aussie roast dinner. Jet lag had finally won the battle for everyone who arrived that day so we turned our lounge into a pseudo hostel and called it a night.
May 29th - May 31st Cairns, QLD and Diving the Great Barrier Reef
June 2nd Karen O Presents Stop the Virgens
Last Sunday, the second round of US visitors passed through
Customs in the Sydney airport and onto the other side of the world. We headed on over to the car rental counter
to pick up our wheels for the weekend, a Kia minivan. I know, pretty awesome (read: soccer
mom). Australian roads are NOT designed
for this type of vehicle. Luckily, the previous
trip up to Gold Coast gave me some practice time behind the wheel before
hauling six people around metropolitan Sydney for the next three days. Unfortunately, we didn’t snap a picture of it
so you’ll have to use your imagination.
Despite the jet lag and baggy eyes, everyone decided to hit
the ground running with what I’ll call the tourist trifecta of Sydney. The first stop was the Sydney Tower Eye. For those of you who don’t know, the Sydney
Tower Eye is the tallest building in Sydney (260 meters, I think?) and allows
people to go up to the very top floor and take in 360° views of Sydney. You can also go up on top of the building and
do a Skywalk. We had to wear jumpsuits
and tether ourselves to the railing like ADHD children at Disney. Luckily it was a nice, bright sunny day so we
had great visibility and got an awesome aerial view of Sydney. See the slideshow for pictures.
The second stop was the Wild Life experience. Amongst other Australian creatures, I
finally got to see a kangaroo. It was an
awfully suggestive creature, laying spread eagle and leaving nothing up to the
imagination. I guess I’d get bored
hopping around for tourists all day and would need a new way to entertain
myself as well ;). Other than the ‘roos,
we saw koalas, wombats, kookaburras, wallabies, snakes, and the largest ants
I’ve ever seen. See the slideshow for
pictures.
The third and final stop for the day was the infamous Sydney Aquarium. This place had all sorts of marine life. Sharks, fish, penguins, rays. You name it, they had it. See the slideshow for pictures.
After the aquarium, we headed back to the apartment to cook up some lamb on the spit and give the Americans a proper Aussie roast dinner. Jet lag had finally won the battle for everyone who arrived that day so we turned our lounge into a pseudo hostel and called it a night.
May 28th Blue Mountains
Something I’ve been wanting to do ever since I came out to
Australia was visit the Blue Mountains to see what all the hype is about. We piled into the van and took off on the
two-hour drive out to Katoomba. The
drive was worth it. Mountains, plateaus,
waterfalls, and winding staircases descending into the abyss, not the Australia
you see in Outback Steakhouse commercials.
Throughout the day, we visited the Three Sisters, Katoomba Falls, rode
the Skywalk, and did a couple of bushwalks.
In true cliché, pictures are worth a thousand words so I’ll let them do
all the talking. We also ate lunch at a
little café that was as mom and pop as they come. Fresh mountain air, good food, and a laid
back atmosphere. What’s not to love?
May 29th - May 31st Cairns, QLD and Diving the Great Barrier Reef
On Tuesday, we descended into our second level of vacations
and were off to Cairns, QLD to dive the Great Barrier Reef. KP said it best. Cairns is Gainesville, FL on the water. What a shit hole. The food was mediocre at best and the
nightlife was all but nonexistent. But
we weren’t after anything on land or near shore. Our sights were set a 70-minute,
vomit-inducing, boat ride to the east.
On May 30th, we hopped aboard the Silver Swift
for a day of diving on the Great Barrier Reef.
More specifically, we spent the whole day at Flynn Reef and visited
three different dive sites called Gorden’s, Tennis Courts, and Tracey’s. The boat ride out was stomach wrenching to
say the least. At one point, nearly
everyone on the boat was out on the back deck with faces buried in barf
bags. Last time I try to tough it out
and say “I don’t need that shit” when asked if I would like any Dramamine. Once we got out to the reef, all was well and
we suited up for our first dive of the day.
Despite the overcast and dismal weather, visibility was
actually pretty good (roughly 30 ft/10M).
All three dives were down to about 16-17M with a duration of about 35-40
minutes each, allowing for plenty of time to explore the underwater world. Again, pictures, 1000 words.
With the exception of Kristen, we all made the return trip
home puke-free. After a quick shower and
change of clothes, we went back down to the marina for some dinner and a few
beers at The Pier Bar before calling it a night.
Unfortunately, our last day was plagued with less than ideal
weather. We spent the day eating,
drinking coffee, and ducking into a movie theater to watch MIB 3. The day actually wasn’t all that bad despite
the crappy weather but I was glad to get back on the plane to Sydney and sleep
in my own bed rather than a makeshift bed of couch cushions on a tile floor. Oh, we also stepped up our minivan game into
a full-size people mover. See slideshow for pictures.
June 1st Sydney Scenery, Opera House Tour, Vivid
Festival, and Bar Hopping
Coming back up to our first level of vacations, we decided
to explore other parts of Sydney and do some bar hopping. First, we took a walk along the Royal Botanic
Gardens to get some panoramic views of the Harbour Bridge, Opera House, and cityscape. Then we took a tour of the Sydney Opera
House. Unfortunately, no cameras were
allowed so no pictures. After the tour,
we grabbed a few beers at Opera Bar and checked out the Vivid Festival, a
combination of lights and animations projected on buildings and the Opera House
around the Sydney CBD and a celebration of music, film, and art. We then headed down to Darling Harbour to do
some more drinking. Once we were all
liquored up, we headed back to Dee Why, stopping at Kebab World along the way
to get a Kebab and show the US visitors how Aussies get their late night food
fix. See the slideshow for pictures.
June 2nd Karen O Presents Stop the Virgens
The previous day, after a few beers, we made the decision to
buy tickets to a rock opera being shown at the Opera House as part of the Vivid
Festival. When in Rome. It was called Karen O (from the Yeah, Yeah,
Yeahs) presents Stop the Virgens. $100
well spent. I’ll describe it as a loud,
chaotic, sinister, and sweet medley of guitars, strings, drums, bass, and
voices all organized to create one hell of a production. One of the coolest musical performances I’ve
seen so far. Again, no pictures allowed.
June 3rd Americans Depart and Off to Bali,
Indonesia!
All good things must come to an end and it was time for
three of the four US visitors to depart.
However, where one story ends, another begins. As my friends were beginning their journey
back across the Pacific Ocean, Danielle, Steve, Kelly and I were boarding our
flight to Bali, Indonesia for six days and five nights of warm weather, surf,
and exploration. Stay tuned…
Thursday, May 24, 2012
First US Visitor and Gold Coast Trip
May 15th - Dani Arrives
May 15th marked the start of the next 4 - 5 weeks of visiting friends and getaways. I dragged myself out of bed at 5:15 am and grabbed a bus/train to the Sydney airport to meet up with the first visitor, Danielle. For those of you who don't know, I used to work with Danielle at Lockheed and we share a similar mantra on taking advantage of our youth, seeing the world, and being poor. Unfortunately for her, she has to put up with me until June 12th while she does the "seeing the world" part. The price we pay...
After I met up with her, I spent the rest of the day showing her around Dee Why, pumping her full of caffeine, and not letting her fall asleep. We took a walk up to Long Reef just before sunset (see slideshow for pictures) to drink in some scenery. Drop the curtain, cue next scene...
May 16th - Royal Botanic Gardens & Sydney CBD
In the four months I've been in Oz, I had never toured the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney before. Danielle and I decided to spend the day walking around the gardens, the city, and grabbing a bite to eat and a beer. A picture is worth 1000 words so I'll let the slideshow below do the rest of the talking.
May 18th - Bar-hopping in Sydney
Now on to the inebriation! It's been awhile since my Aussie friends and I had a night out in the city so we decided to head out for a night of social alcoholism. We kicked off the night at the King Street Brewhouse for a beer and game of pool. Then it was off to The Star Casino where we drank fancy cocktails and listened to 80s/90s covers. I don't remember the name of the next bar we went to but either way it provided alcohol to fuel the fire. We then proceeded to Helm in Darling Harbour/Cockle Bay for some more drinks and booze dancing. The last stop of the night was at Cargo Bar for more drinks and of course more uncoordinated dancing (speaking for myself only of course). We caught a bus back to Dee Why, stopping off at Kebab World for a delicious late night snack, as is the custom. Plenty of documentation in the slideshow below.
May 19th - Gold Coast Day 1
After shaking the fog from my head, it was time to get our things together in preparation for my first trip away from Sydney. Danielle and I flew up to Gold Coast (thanks for the ride to the airport Kelly) to enjoy 4 nights/5 days of fun in the sun. After we landed, we took a 45 minute drive north to Paradise Point where we were lucky enough to have a free place to lay our heads thanks to Danielle's family friends. This was also my first time driving on the left hand side of the road for an extended period of time. I think that's the first time I've ever driven with both hands on the wheel. On to Day 2...
May 20th - Gold Coast Day 2
Day 2 of the trip began with a cruise on the boat on the west side of South Stradbroke Island. It was an absolutely gorgeous day with mostly clear skies and temperatures around 23C/73F. Again, pictures. 1000 words. You get the idea. The second half of the day was spent with me trying to figure out where the hell Duranbah, the surf break, was. Apparently, it's nowhere near the suburb of Duranbah on the northern NSW coast. I ended up surfing for an hour or so before sunset at Kingscliff. Waist to chest but mostly short rides in semi-choppy conditions. Still better than not surfing at all.
After we got back and ate some dinner, we decided to go into Surfers Paradise for some drinks. We had our first drink at Melbas which was a pretty cool bar but full of somewhat sober people. We shifted venues to an Irish bar which had a crowd with an average BAC that was much higher than Melbas and had two guys doing an acoustic cover of Foo Fighters' Everlong as we walked in. Sold. All in all, great night.
May 21st - Gold Coast Day 3
On Day 3, Danielle and I decided to venture away from the beach and go up to Mount Tambourine. About an hour drive through twisty roads (which was extremely fun for me, not so much for Dani) and we pulled up to the Rainforest Skywalk. See the slideshow for visual representation. After that we went and grabbed lunch at a little restaurant that served up some fairly good Greek food for being in the middle of nowhere in the mountains of Queensland. We stopped at another lookout spot that had awesome panoramic views of the countryside below and took a 900M trek through Cedar Creek to see some waterfalls and rock pools. Needless to say, we both had had enough walking for one day and began the hour long drive home. Nice change of scenery from my normal beach and saltwater experiences.
May 22nd - Gold Coast Day 4
Having not found Duranbah, the surf break, on Day 2, I decided to dedicate Day 4 to finding the actual break and getting in a few hours of surfing. Luckily, Google was able to give me the actual location of the break which is in the Coolangatta/North Tweed Heads area. Pulled up to clear skies, even clearer water, and waist to chest high surf. In those two hours, I probably surfed the best I have in my entire life. To bad I forgot the GoPro that day. After a quick lunch, Dani and I took a walk up along Kirra, Rainbow Bay, and Snapper Rocks. For those of you who don't surf, that stretch of beach is the epicenter of surfing in Oz. Think the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii. Since I got skunked on big surf this trip, I'll be making a trip back up there to surf those breaks before my visa expires.
May 23rd - Gold Coast Day 5
Our last day was spent being beach bums and enjoying the warm weather that the Gold Coast was so kind to keep around for our trip. No pictures from this day but you get the idea. Sand, sun, water. On a side note, the similarities between the Gold Coast and Florida were plentiful. Both are called The Sunshine State, have cities named Palm Beach and Miami, have a handful of theme parks, and are full of hotels that dot the coastline. Home away from home much? I'll definitely be paying the Gold Coast another visit or two before year-end.
To Come
May 27th: Dan, Evan, KP, and Kristen arrive
May 29th - 31st: Trip to Cairns to dive the Great Barrier Reef
Jun 3rd - 8th: Trip to Bali
May 15th marked the start of the next 4 - 5 weeks of visiting friends and getaways. I dragged myself out of bed at 5:15 am and grabbed a bus/train to the Sydney airport to meet up with the first visitor, Danielle. For those of you who don't know, I used to work with Danielle at Lockheed and we share a similar mantra on taking advantage of our youth, seeing the world, and being poor. Unfortunately for her, she has to put up with me until June 12th while she does the "seeing the world" part. The price we pay...
After I met up with her, I spent the rest of the day showing her around Dee Why, pumping her full of caffeine, and not letting her fall asleep. We took a walk up to Long Reef just before sunset (see slideshow for pictures) to drink in some scenery. Drop the curtain, cue next scene...
May 16th - Royal Botanic Gardens & Sydney CBD
In the four months I've been in Oz, I had never toured the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney before. Danielle and I decided to spend the day walking around the gardens, the city, and grabbing a bite to eat and a beer. A picture is worth 1000 words so I'll let the slideshow below do the rest of the talking.
May 18th - Bar-hopping in Sydney
Now on to the inebriation! It's been awhile since my Aussie friends and I had a night out in the city so we decided to head out for a night of social alcoholism. We kicked off the night at the King Street Brewhouse for a beer and game of pool. Then it was off to The Star Casino where we drank fancy cocktails and listened to 80s/90s covers. I don't remember the name of the next bar we went to but either way it provided alcohol to fuel the fire. We then proceeded to Helm in Darling Harbour/Cockle Bay for some more drinks and booze dancing. The last stop of the night was at Cargo Bar for more drinks and of course more uncoordinated dancing (speaking for myself only of course). We caught a bus back to Dee Why, stopping off at Kebab World for a delicious late night snack, as is the custom. Plenty of documentation in the slideshow below.
May 19th - Gold Coast Day 1
After shaking the fog from my head, it was time to get our things together in preparation for my first trip away from Sydney. Danielle and I flew up to Gold Coast (thanks for the ride to the airport Kelly) to enjoy 4 nights/5 days of fun in the sun. After we landed, we took a 45 minute drive north to Paradise Point where we were lucky enough to have a free place to lay our heads thanks to Danielle's family friends. This was also my first time driving on the left hand side of the road for an extended period of time. I think that's the first time I've ever driven with both hands on the wheel. On to Day 2...
May 20th - Gold Coast Day 2
Day 2 of the trip began with a cruise on the boat on the west side of South Stradbroke Island. It was an absolutely gorgeous day with mostly clear skies and temperatures around 23C/73F. Again, pictures. 1000 words. You get the idea. The second half of the day was spent with me trying to figure out where the hell Duranbah, the surf break, was. Apparently, it's nowhere near the suburb of Duranbah on the northern NSW coast. I ended up surfing for an hour or so before sunset at Kingscliff. Waist to chest but mostly short rides in semi-choppy conditions. Still better than not surfing at all.
After we got back and ate some dinner, we decided to go into Surfers Paradise for some drinks. We had our first drink at Melbas which was a pretty cool bar but full of somewhat sober people. We shifted venues to an Irish bar which had a crowd with an average BAC that was much higher than Melbas and had two guys doing an acoustic cover of Foo Fighters' Everlong as we walked in. Sold. All in all, great night.
May 21st - Gold Coast Day 3
On Day 3, Danielle and I decided to venture away from the beach and go up to Mount Tambourine. About an hour drive through twisty roads (which was extremely fun for me, not so much for Dani) and we pulled up to the Rainforest Skywalk. See the slideshow for visual representation. After that we went and grabbed lunch at a little restaurant that served up some fairly good Greek food for being in the middle of nowhere in the mountains of Queensland. We stopped at another lookout spot that had awesome panoramic views of the countryside below and took a 900M trek through Cedar Creek to see some waterfalls and rock pools. Needless to say, we both had had enough walking for one day and began the hour long drive home. Nice change of scenery from my normal beach and saltwater experiences.
May 22nd - Gold Coast Day 4
Having not found Duranbah, the surf break, on Day 2, I decided to dedicate Day 4 to finding the actual break and getting in a few hours of surfing. Luckily, Google was able to give me the actual location of the break which is in the Coolangatta/North Tweed Heads area. Pulled up to clear skies, even clearer water, and waist to chest high surf. In those two hours, I probably surfed the best I have in my entire life. To bad I forgot the GoPro that day. After a quick lunch, Dani and I took a walk up along Kirra, Rainbow Bay, and Snapper Rocks. For those of you who don't surf, that stretch of beach is the epicenter of surfing in Oz. Think the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii. Since I got skunked on big surf this trip, I'll be making a trip back up there to surf those breaks before my visa expires.
May 23rd - Gold Coast Day 5
Our last day was spent being beach bums and enjoying the warm weather that the Gold Coast was so kind to keep around for our trip. No pictures from this day but you get the idea. Sand, sun, water. On a side note, the similarities between the Gold Coast and Florida were plentiful. Both are called The Sunshine State, have cities named Palm Beach and Miami, have a handful of theme parks, and are full of hotels that dot the coastline. Home away from home much? I'll definitely be paying the Gold Coast another visit or two before year-end.
To Come
May 27th: Dan, Evan, KP, and Kristen arrive
May 29th - 31st: Trip to Cairns to dive the Great Barrier Reef
Jun 3rd - 8th: Trip to Bali
Sunday, May 6, 2012
PADI Open Water Dive Course
In preparation for a trip up to Cairns, QLD to dive the Great Barrier Reef at the end of May, I decided to get my PADI Open Water Diver certification. I booked through Pro Dive Manly for $297 for the weekday course. Anyone in the Northern Beaches of Sydney who may be reading this and is looking to get their PADI OW cert, I highly recommend doing the course with them. Not only are they the cheapest one around by $50 but my instructor, Tom, was awesome. He is an extremely accomplished diver (he's a specialty cave diver amongst other things) with 12 years of experience. He's also only 21 years old and has travelled to/lived in more countries than most people have by the time they hit their death bed. He has plenty of life stories to keep you entertained during the breaks between dives.
I got lucky with a small class. It was myself, two Canadians, and a Columbian guy. The course was spread out over three days. Tuesday was the classroom and pool training, followed by three ocean dives on Wednesday, and finishing off with the last ocean dive and a BBQ and beers on Thursday. The actual skills we had to do were much simpler than the book made them seem. Hardest thing is to fight the instinct to hold your breath when you have to take the regulator out of your mouth.
For the ocean dives, we went to Shelley Beach in Manly. Luckily, we had clear skies everyday and the water wasn't too cold. Before entering the water we were told that we'd be seeing some blue grouper, blah, blah, blah, and some sharks. My first thought was okay, he's just trying to freak us out. I was wrong. Within 5 minutes of being underwater, I saw the outline of a finned predator lurking about 5m away. One outline turned into about 5-6 a few seconds later. Once they got closer, I realized they were little baby (about 3-4 ft) Dusky Whalers, a relatively non-aggressive shark. There's some footage of them swimming around in the video below. I had a staring contest with one about 2m away which was a little uneasy but as I got closer it turned around and swam away.
All in all it was an awesome experience and I'm looking forward to getting to dive the Great Barrier Reef instead of having to snorkel and/or do an intro dive. Met some cool people, had some beers, and learned to dive. Sounds like a productive week to me :)
I got lucky with a small class. It was myself, two Canadians, and a Columbian guy. The course was spread out over three days. Tuesday was the classroom and pool training, followed by three ocean dives on Wednesday, and finishing off with the last ocean dive and a BBQ and beers on Thursday. The actual skills we had to do were much simpler than the book made them seem. Hardest thing is to fight the instinct to hold your breath when you have to take the regulator out of your mouth.
For the ocean dives, we went to Shelley Beach in Manly. Luckily, we had clear skies everyday and the water wasn't too cold. Before entering the water we were told that we'd be seeing some blue grouper, blah, blah, blah, and some sharks. My first thought was okay, he's just trying to freak us out. I was wrong. Within 5 minutes of being underwater, I saw the outline of a finned predator lurking about 5m away. One outline turned into about 5-6 a few seconds later. Once they got closer, I realized they were little baby (about 3-4 ft) Dusky Whalers, a relatively non-aggressive shark. There's some footage of them swimming around in the video below. I had a staring contest with one about 2m away which was a little uneasy but as I got closer it turned around and swam away.
All in all it was an awesome experience and I'm looking forward to getting to dive the Great Barrier Reef instead of having to snorkel and/or do an intro dive. Met some cool people, had some beers, and learned to dive. Sounds like a productive week to me :)
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| Gearing up @ Shelley Beach for our ocean dive(s) |
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| Ready to get in the water! |
Monday, April 23, 2012
Trip to Forster + some random stuff
Hello again internet, friends, family. It's been awhile. Let me bring you up to speed on what's been happening in April down under so far.
The Aussie American Palmers (Uncle Thomas, Grace, Olivia, and Luke) arrived in Sydney on March 31st. Immediately (read: after 3pm when I finally woke up from my drunken stupor from the night before) we jumped into the water and then shot up the road for a proper Aussie BBQ at a friend's house. Another night of good drinks, good food, and awesome people. Next few days were spent hanging out by the pool, having a few beers, grabbing dinner after work, and celebrating the old guy's 46th (I think) birthday. The time in Sydney/Dee Why quickly segued into 3 night/4 day trip up to Forster in northern NSW.
continued below....
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| 46th Birthday Dinner with my Uncle's best Aussie friends |
Mid-morning April 5th, we packed up the car and headed up to Forster. Four hour drive seemed like an hour and was spent catching up with the cousins and talking shop with the Uncle. Upon arrival, we chucked our stuff in the cabins, the kids disappeared, and we started drinking, as is the custom. Had a couple of meat pies for dinner (another thing I love about Oz) and some Blue Tongues (beer) to close out the evening. Next few days were spent surfing some heavy waves, hanging at the beach, more beer, and hanging out with intoxicated middle-aged adults. One unique thing I got to do was go out on a 100 acre property that was owned by a guy my Uncle's friend knew. Went 4WDing out in the boonies and enjoyed the peace and quiet away from the hustle and bustle of suburbian Sydney. I don't know if I could live there permanently but it was an awesome house with some very serene views.
All in all, the Forster trip was the best weekend I've had since I've been in the country. It was great seeing family, although it did challenge my ability to repress homesick feelings. Nothing a few beers and great surf couldn't fix ;). Oh and I almost forgot. I had my first taste of the Australian national animal. Stopped by a place called Fredo's Pies on the way back to Dee Why. I got a Kangaroo meat pie but they also had croc pies as well. Guess I'll have to make a trip back up to sample that one.
continued below...
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| Beach in Forster |
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| and again |
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| and again |
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| and again |
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| The cabin |
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| View from the deck of the house on the 100 acre property |
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| Croc pies? Awesome |
Once back in Dee Why, I used the rest of the Easter weekend to finally fashion up some cheap surfboard racks for my bike. They're a bit sketchy but they get the job done. $45 in materials and a few hours of labor. Deal.
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| New wheels |
And to end this post, there was a food and wine festival in Dee Why last weekend. I was extremely hungover and didn't eat anything or drink anything besides a beer (smart right?) so I don't have much to say about that. However, I did see the coolest limo ever. It was a VW Bus turned into a stretch limo. Pretty awesome!
continued below...
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| VW Bus turned stretch limo. I must hire this before I leave the country. |
That's all for now folks. Anzac Day is on Weds (equivalent of the US Memorial Day) so I'll be busy getting sloshed and gambling all my money away playing 2-up. Not having to work again is awesome. Until next time...
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Don't worry, I'm still alive!
It's been a few weeks since I posted on this thing so here's a little recap of what's going on in Oz.
On March 9th, I started working as a Data Entry Analyst and/or Project Coordinator for IBM Australia. I think the latter sounds more official so I'm going to stick with that. It's a mindless job and I hate it. However, I'm getting paid $30/hr (about $21/hr after taxes, expensive country) and work a 37.5 hr week. It's a 6 week contract of which I'm about to round out week #3 so after that I'll be unemployed and can go back to being a full-time surf bum until about mid-June. If anything, I'll make a few contacts out of it and potential clients if I get into consulting over here, which is the loose plan for mid-June. Everyone I work with is awesome and it's cool to see how a business in a different industry operates. Not having to deal with Earned Value and manpower planning is pretty nice too (sorry former-Lockheed co-workers :P). To top it all off, I can still get about an hour or so worth of surfing in before the sun sets. Sydney 1, Orlando 0.
This next part will only excite you if you're into surfing and wish to own an old school style board. Went out last weekend in the search for a step-up board for a trip to Bali I'm taking in June. Came across this shop that had the sickest old school fishes and single fins. If I have an extra $700 lying around, I definitely know where I'll be spending it.
In the coming weeks/months...
On March 9th, I started working as a Data Entry Analyst and/or Project Coordinator for IBM Australia. I think the latter sounds more official so I'm going to stick with that. It's a mindless job and I hate it. However, I'm getting paid $30/hr (about $21/hr after taxes, expensive country) and work a 37.5 hr week. It's a 6 week contract of which I'm about to round out week #3 so after that I'll be unemployed and can go back to being a full-time surf bum until about mid-June. If anything, I'll make a few contacts out of it and potential clients if I get into consulting over here, which is the loose plan for mid-June. Everyone I work with is awesome and it's cool to see how a business in a different industry operates. Not having to deal with Earned Value and manpower planning is pretty nice too (sorry former-Lockheed co-workers :P). To top it all off, I can still get about an hour or so worth of surfing in before the sun sets. Sydney 1, Orlando 0.
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| IBM building from the street |
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| View from my desk, Opera House is next to that bridge |
And now onto the semi-more interesting stuff. One of these past weekends, my roommate had free tickets to a NRL (rugby) game at ANZ Stadium in the city so we started pre-gaming around noon, as is the custom, at the apartment. A case of beer and a shot or two of whiskey later we hopped a bus and train to the stadium. Unfortunately, our booze brains didn't exactly calculate how long it would take use to get there so we only saw about 25 minutes of actual play. That was okay though because I could barely see the field both due to my near-sightedness and being about 14 drinks in. After the game, we met up with my roommate's friend and went out in Parramatta. Went to a place called PJs where we continued to get shit-faced. The crowd was, eh, diverse to put it politely. You had people my age and then the washed up old hags sprinkled around here and there. A guy was getting thrown out by 4 bouncers as we were walking in so we knew it was going to be a fun night. Worst hangover I've had in Oz so far but it was all worth it!
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| "Man we're all out of beer. You guys wanna do shots of whiskey?" |
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| ANZ Stadium |
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| A fellow American, my brother's friend, Colin, and I at the NRL game. Ignore the shaka. Like I said before, 14 drinks. |
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| NRL Game |
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| A glimpse of what PJs in Parramatta was like. Vision was likely as blurry as this picture ;) |
In the coming weeks/months...
- Uncle Thomas and my cousins visiting from Mar 31 - Apr 9th, hopefully making a trip up to Forster with them.
- Trip up to the Gold Coast in mid-May to do some surfing at Snapper Rocks, Kirra, etc and see what QLD has to offer
- Trip to Cairns from May 29th - 31st to dive the Great Barrier Reef
- Surf/Leisure trip to Bali, Indonesia from Jun 3rd - 8th (another post to come on how I booked two rooms for five nights at a 5 star Hyatt for FREE)
That's all for now, stay tuned!
Friday, March 9, 2012
Photographer for the Day
I'm currently out of commission in the surfing game due to a pain in my left side which the doctor has diagnosed as "likely musculoskeletal in origin." Not sure what I did or how I did it but it's keeping me out of the water, doctor's orders. I'm not sure what hurts worse, my left side or not being able to surf the waves in the slideshow below. Enough B&M.
It was much better this morning at about 6ft from the back (8ft on the face) with light offshores. Barrels and rippable walls were plentiful. Unfortunately, all those pictures came out washed out since I had the camera on the wrong setting. Went back in the arvo (afternoon) to see if I could get some more and the winds had switched onshore out of the SE. Still plenty of fun looking waves to be had. Enjoy!
It was much better this morning at about 6ft from the back (8ft on the face) with light offshores. Barrels and rippable walls were plentiful. Unfortunately, all those pictures came out washed out since I had the camera on the wrong setting. Went back in the arvo (afternoon) to see if I could get some more and the winds had switched onshore out of the SE. Still plenty of fun looking waves to be had. Enjoy!
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