Land of Oz-part III

Sydney and Malbourne did not dissapoint. Anytime you know locals, anytime you can stay with friends, you're gonna have fun. I actually ended up doing a bit of freelance work in both cities- so I got to see what shared workspaces were like. I also managed to stumble upon multiple festivals in both cities-leading me to believe that festivals are a thing in Australia. I went to the Sydney wine festival, Newtown festival, and the Melbourne food festival. All were quite fun. If I sound a bit flat in describing these cities it's probably because something has happened to me along the way. I'm over cities. Yes there are tons of amazing things to do, but nearly everywhere I've been, most cities start to feel the same. They become a blur of coffee shops and stores, gas stations and noise. And yes obviously I've had a great time in each city and appreciate the different languages and cultures in each, but I've come to seek out and appreciate the stuff outside the urban locales so much more. For me, the highlight of Sydney were the Blue Mountains. Having a gorgeous mountain range an hour outside a major city is a big deal. And hiking for hours in clean air surrounded by waterfalls and eucalyptus trees was quite special.

I even managed to meet a fellow traveler-L, an Irish woman working in Scotland who decided to take two month off of work to see New Zealand and Australia. We got along so well that we even drove the Great Ocean Road together.

Great Ocean Road was perhaps the only dissapointing part of my Australian sojourn. It was like the Pacific Coast Highway, but really short and you can't really see much of the ocean. The only highlight were the twelve apostles:

Yes it was photo perfect, but not worth the drive. The only thing that made it at all worthwhile was the company. L and I turned a lame road into a very fun road trip. And if the worst part of my Australian adventure was getting to know someone new, I cannot really complain. In fact, I can honestly say it was an incredible trip. It was all planned last minute, yet I managed to do everything I wanted. Who can ask for more?

So L and I came back to Melbourne, and I headed to the airport, and back to London for an amazing Thanksgiving.

More on that later.

Land of Oz-part II

Damnit. I'm on a bus...again. In fairness I just got off of a plane, so my modes of transport are improving. After my second overnight bus in Australia, I decided flying was the way to go. But these long hauls do give me the chance to reflect a bit. So here's what I've got:

Australia is fucking rad, and so are its inhabitants I sound so eloquent, don't I? Crude language aside, let me share so examples- after returning from my Whitsunday adventure, I grabbed a drink with my new Danish friend, who promptly invited me to stay with her in Melborne (I'm en route to her place now). I took an overnight bus -to Hervey Bay, and headed to Fraser Island from there. Though I'm not big on guided tours, it's really the only way to see the sand  island. Yeah, it's an island. Made of sand. One can drive 75 miles along its coastline, which is considers a federal highway. Anyway, I get on the massive bus which will haul us around for two days (massive due to its huge tires for ploughing rough said sand) the driver, Pete, introduces himself and asks where everyone is from. Before anyone can speak, he says, "let me guess, we have Germans on the bus."

"Jah, jah" a few people respond. Then the usual cast of international characters chime in- Holland, Switzerland, Denmark. Finally, I say: "American." Pete gives a quizzical gaze, "did you say American?"

"Yup."

"Americans don't travel."

"This one does."

Then, without hesitation, Pete said "well then get on up here American, you're traveling up front with me."

So for the first time, being an American made me special, and not the ostracized kind of uniqueness generally reserved for Americans- I got the good seat.

Fraser Island was beautiful. White sand beaches and all that. But I must say, maybe it's because tour groups and tedious, or maybe because I had such an amazing time on board Kiana, I would classify the trip at first as thoroughly meh. That is, until dinner time. We stayed at some tacky resort built in the 1960s, though way nicer than any hostel, I felt like Baby and Johnny Castle would most likely be making an appearance that night. Sadly they did not, but guess who did? As I was waiting in line for "Mediterranean" buffet food, I heard my Canadian friends from Kiana calling my name. It was this hilarious reunion. There we were, the only North Americans for  miles, friends for maybe 5 days, hugging it out like we'd all grown up together. I loved it. We caught up, had whatever  passed for dinner, and went back to their patio to drink wine and talk.

**I didn't get a chance to finish this post- so fast forwarding a bit, here are the rest of the Australian highlights:

After Fraser Island, I headed to Brisbane. A friend of mine from high school randomly lives there. She picked me up from the bus station (don't worry, it was a short ride) and with her two year old son in tow, she asked if I would be ok if we visited the "hop hops." Not knowing what she meant, she explained that her son calls kangaroos hop hops. Did I mind? Absolutely not. So off we went to Lone Pine Sanctuary.

I hate zoos. I hate the way they smell. I hate the way people gawk at the animals. I hate seeing caged creatures. Lone Pine, though technically a zoo, or maybe Aussies have a different definition, because that place was the most un zoo-like animal habitat I've ever visited. Little (and sometimes not so little) water dragons and wild turkeys roamed freely the trick was not stepping on them.

Emus were given free reign to mingle with wallabies and the famous hop hops. Birds were fed by willing visitors. And koalas just hung out on eucalyptus trees. Oh and you could hold them. I held a koala. Her name was Cocoa, and it was glorious. 

Then we fed the kangaroos. We hand fed kangaroos. It was magic. Watching my friend's son feed them with no feear, with gentleness and respect was amazing. Why can we do that in the US?

The next day, I took a very short bus ride to Byron Bay. I squeezed in 24 hours to this small surf town last minute because everyone I knew told me I had to- and it didn't disappoint, I only wish I could have spent more time there. I surfed crappy waves (they can't always be great) but had fun with my instructor nevertheless. He told me where to go out- and for the first time in a while, I wasn't in a total tourist trap. Live music, great food, and I was a happy camper. The old hippy town did not dissapoint, but Sydney beconed and off I went in an aero plane to the capital. 

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me

The last few days in Australia have been incredible: I boarded a sailboat called "Kiana" on Thursday and spent the next three days diving, eating and sleeping on the open sea- specifically the Coral Sea. We (the three crew members and 14 passengers) spent most of our time in the outer Great Barrier Reef, 64 kilometers from the nearest land mass. I woke up to watch the sun rise, and watched as it set, giving way to more stars than I knew were in existence. Calling the experience spectacular barely does it justice. My fellow passengers included 3 Brazilians, 3 Canadians, a Chinese couple on their honeymoon, an Australian couple, a British couple, a Danish girl, and me. Somehow the entire group gelled and by the end, I collected everyone's email address so we could share photos of the experience...as somehow we all ended up in each other's photos.

I'll be honest, I was worried about a few things before boarding: being the only single person on a boat full of couples, getting sea sick, getting claustrophobic (not unfounded, as my bottom bunk was tiny), or ending up on some sort of party boat with a bunch of 19 year olds. Apparently, this last concern was not mine alone; J, the Danish girl, who became a good friend after we immediately clicked while bumping into each other en route to the marina to board Kiana, actually called to verify that the average age was over 25!

See why I like her?

Anyway I could go on and on about the feeling of freedom and the utter beauty of the Whitsunday islands, about the endless underwater terrain that is the reef, about its vastness and the variety of creatures that I saw- especially the dolphins. DOLPHINS CHASED OUR BOAT. It was magic.

I could go on and on, but you should just go see it for yourself. I will leave you with this: the crew took notice of my sea legs and how much I enjoyed myself, cause I got a job offer- $170 AU per day. Not bad. I told them if nothing else works out, I'll be back.