Byron, Forests, Gold Coast, Oh My!

FYI. Since my internet is pretty much non-existent, I won't be posting pics with this
blog, but they will be posted at a later date. Promise. Thanks for your patience.

Updating my blog has become rather difficult, as you can tell from the lack of posts.
Not because I'm bored out of my mind with NOTHING to report. It's the fact that we
are really camping.

And by camping, I mean, finding the most beautiful spot to park, moving all the shiznit
from the back to the front and laying our heads down to rest in the back of a
station wagon.

For free.

These past 6 days have been amazing. And I'm not just saying that to make people
think I'm havin a great time while in reality I'm completely miserable.

I. Really. Am. Having. Fun.

Ross and I thoroughly enjoy one another's company and we haven't bitched each
other out. Yet. He's a true gentlemen and really thinks about others before himself.
It's a nice change of pace.

Blah blah blah. Who wants to hear about all that mushy gushy stuff. Yeah. Me
Neither.

So. I left off with our shooting star spectacular in Byron Bay.

The next morning, we got up and went to the lighthouse in Byron Bay. It's kinda of a
staple here in this town because of the fact it's the most Easternly point in Australia.
Look. I'm not lying.

That was cool, but it was hot and my ankle wasn't a huge fan of the uphill/downhill
scenario.

So. We got ourselves down to the beach and tried our luck in boogie boarding.

Yeah. Neither of us caught a wave, but we had a great time laughing about it.

Then we went to the grocery store to get ourselves some dinner -- which was a
brilliant idea. We bought ourselves one of those really greasy chickens that are
pre-cooked. Um. First -- delicious. Second -- lasted us for days. FOR DAYS.

And we enjoyed our delicious chicken with sweet potato mash, made by Mr. Foss
(my nickname for him) and I made some delicious steamed broccoli. For some
poor-ass people, we sure are living the dream. Ha!

Then we were off to go meet up with a girl I met on the bus from Surfers Paradise to
Byron. Really nice girl from the UK who's traveling the world. Oh right. I already told
you about her. Anyway. We met up at the Beach Hotel and had a couple of drinks
then we walked ourselves home where Ross and I laugh THE WHOLE WAY
HOME. There just wasn't any stopping us. Boom.

The next morning we got ourselves up and packed up all of our stuff and we said
goodbye Byron. It was bittersweet since we were having such a good time, but
there was camping to be had! None of this cozy hostel crap.

By suggestion of one of Ross' friends, Fi, we drove to the Lamington National Park
which was absolutely breath-taking. Notice how most of my pics are of nice
beaches or flat-lands, but rarely any mountains and the like? Well this is where my
pictures change. Glorious.

So we had lunch (yes, chicken) with a bit of Mug-a-Goon. Our new name for boxed
wine, since we don't have wine glasses. It fits. And it's funny. So there.

Afterwards we walked a 4km trek to the Gollossum Pools. And, unfortunately, it
wasn't that cool considering we definitely walked more than 4km and all downhill.

Which meant the trek up was going to be all uphill and more than 4km. Ugh. But we
did see a GINORMOUS iguana that leaped out at us and made me scream and
we also saw a rooster who somehow disappeared into thin air when we reached
his path. Don't ask questions, we aren't.

Then it was time to setup shop. We found out it would cost us $24 to camp in the
actual park, so we decided to go back out of the park and stop at an overlook that
was rather breathtaking. And where some paragliders happened to fly from. So.
Awesome.

Our first night in the car was uneventful, but a good laugh. And surprisingly
comfortable. Who would've thunk!

The next morning we awoke to all the paragliders setting up as well as an all
female Eco-tour. However, I'm convinced they weren't all female. They were all
lesbian. I mean, really. It just made sense.

Foss went over and talked to the "head-honcho" and got some information on
where to go for an awesome trek. And he stole some of their breakfast. Sad. We're
beggars.

As we were on our way to the trek, we pulled the car over because we saw the
most exquisite sight. The Gold Coast in the distance with the forest stretching out
towards it. Beautiful.

And Foss picked me some flowers. Aw.

We went to the Springbrook National Park where we went on a 4km circuit through
Twin Falls. It was beautiful.

Afterwards we went to a little cafe to get some water (we didn't plan on the trek
being as long as it was) and found some AMAZING hats. Srsly. Are these not just
amazing.

We bought 12.

On our way down to the Gold Coast we saw a sign for the "Best of All Lookouts."
We were pretty stunned that this might be, holy wow, the best of all. So we had to
have a look.

Good thing it was rainy and gross. Because that view was spectacular. Wow. So
spectacular, we didn't know what to do with ourselves. So we made a lot of jokes
and I think one of our favorites was that the guy who named the Best of All
Lookouts really had the last name of "Best of All." Has to be.

Off we went to go to the Gold Coast so we could see the sights and have a nice
night out of partying.

Only thing was we didn't really book in advance, so we had nowhere to stay.

Fortunately, since I had lived there, I had a couple of contacts. One guy from
couchsurfing that said I could crash as well as get us in for free at the Wicked Party
tour or my old roommate, since no one had moved in yet.

We were in luck and took my old roommate option. He's so freakin laid-back and
chill, I really appreciate the fact that I got to meet him and get to know him. PIMP.
So we got ready really fast and went to Strike Bowling to meet up with the Wicked
Party group. Ran into the head guy Nic, who had some crazy pink hair, and
slapped some wrists bands on us and said, "have fun."

Um. AWESOME.

So we got to go to 5 clubs where we received 5 drink coupons. You'd think 5 drinks
would be enough, but, um no. We still spent too much money on alcohol.

We started at Strike Bowling where everyone needed more liquid courage, went to
Melba's where everyone started to enjoy themselves with dancing, went to a
terrible place called Cheers & Drinks -- or something gay. I ended up dancing with
a guy there which was kind of dumb. But it prompted something else, I'll get to it in a
minute.

Then we got to go to The Bedroom, which is somewhere I've been wanting to go. It
was okay, not very exciting so I was a bit disappointed. Le Sigh.

Then Foss and I were ready to go back to Broadbeach and hit up a few bars there.
We went to Liars (where I met Vic) and had a drink, but sat and talked. About what?

The fact that I told the guy I danced with that Foss wasn't my man. Oh dear. Since
we hadn't gone over the guidelines of this trip to an exact T, I wasn't sure what to
call Foss.

Basically. We concluded. We're boyfriend/girlfriend.

SCORE. It's back on people, back on.

We then left Liars and headed for the Casino since I just couldn't stop myself from
going there All. The. Time. We didn't gamble, but instead we talked about serious
stuff. Why do I do this all the time? Whenever I get drunk, I get serious. And it's gay.
Someone slap me on the wrist. Hard.

The next morning we woke up with some serious hangovers. It wasn't pretty. So we
did some laundry, I watched a few deleted scenes from Forgetting Sarah Marshall
and then we were off. Went to Pacific Fair so we could buy a windshield shade for
the car and Foss wanted to try on some t-shirts. He's obsessed with t-shirts.

And being that we were going back out into the wilderness, we decided to get
some cheap grub from BK -- or as OZ knows it, Hungry Jacks. It wasn't half bad.

So. On our way we went. Off to The Glass House Mountains. That post is NEXT (in
like 5 weeks)!

Rollercoaster Wednesday

So for my last few days in Broadbeach, I didn't make most of it. I really relaxed, did some shopping (Hellz yeah! Finally!) and then I took a few walks on the beach.

As you saw in my earlier post, I went for a early-ass morning walk and then went shopping at a lil' place called Pacific Fair. I forgot to mention there's nothing lil' about this place. It's, in fact, the largest shopping center on the Gold Coast. And it was glorious.

On Tuesday, I went back to Pacific Fair to return some things. What. Some habits die hard. And that one will NEVER die. I promise.

Then I bought a dress to make myself feel special (what? It was $9.95) and I booked myself an appointment to have my eyebrows waxed and my eyelashes tinted.

It. Was. Awesome.

The girl was probably the best beautician I've ever had. She was quiet, didn't want small talk and took her time. While my eyelashes were being tinted, she asked if I wanted a head massage. I thought about it for a hot minute thinking that this might be extra, but what the hell. Why not.

Ladies & Gents, that was by far the best damn $40 I spent in a long long time.

Later that day, feeling a bit antsy, I went for a long 9k walk along the beachside until I ended up in Nobby Beach. Cute lil' beach town. But nothing to report there, just got some much needed exercise.

I went to bed pretty early on Tuesday consider I haven't been sleeping that well. Not so well that I had to take 1/2 an ambien on Sunday night. Kind of sad.

Woke up Wednesday a little uneasy. I had a lot to do before I left -- pack my bag, clean the apartment, do some last-minute laundry and get my ass to the bus station.

And I hadn't heard from my Sydney boyfriend.

That worried me most of all.

But it was all good, we chatted for a hot minute before I made my way to the bus station.

BTW. I don't ever want to do that again. This backpack is HEAVY. And it was hot. HOT.

I basically got to the bus station and picked the first counter that said Byron Bay and booked myself on the bus just so I could get rid of my bag. Thank you Jebus.

I sat down next to a girl who had booked the same bus and she was so nice. Caroline from London. She has a round-the-world ticket that she started back in August. She's been all over Europe, Asia, Australia and now she's off to South America, Central America, NYC and then back home. How PIMP. She said she only paid 2500 pounds for 17 different flights whenever she feels like it.

Lucky Bitch!

We exchanged numbers since we'll be in Byron the same amount of time. Hopefully we'll meet up for a drink.

We were dropped off at the Bryon bus station where I got to meet my Sydney boyfriend. It's been about 2-3 weeks since I've seen him and it was a bit nerve-racking. Silly. I know. But it was good.

We dropped Caroline off at her awesome hotel (this girl is living it up!) and then we checked into our hostel...which is fairly far from the town, but it's right on the beach and actually very nice.

We decided to walk along the beach into town where we stopped at a bar to get a beer. Price was all that mattered. Then we went to the grocery store so we could make ourselves a cheap cheap dinner.

$4 steak w/ tons of veggies and potatoes.

It wasn't half bad.

We walked down to the beach after dinner and just checked out the stars. I must've seen 6 shooting stars in the course of an hour. It was spectacular. What a great way to spend the first leg of our trip together.

It's gonna be a long journey, that's for sure. Camping not my thing, but I'm up for the challenge. I'll keep you guys posted!!

Adventures All Around

So. A dear, dear friend (relative, Uncle...whatever you want to call him) wrote me an email saying I haven't updated in awhile and that blows.

I don't blame him.

I mean, I know all of you (yes all two of you) wait around, checking, re-checking to see if I've updated. And for that, I am thankful.

And for you -- I am grateful.

Okay. Enough of the baloney talk. Speaking of Bologna -- I haven't tasted that nasty stuff since I was a child, and frankly, have no desire to.

SO!

Gold Coast. Still bored. No, I kid. I kid. It's actually gotten a lot better. Probably since I found myself yet another sugar-daddy. He's an old one tho...I'll let you do the math -- born in 1968.

MOVING ON.

Friday was just a normal, typical day where I hung out with myself and my computer (I love thee, computer) and contemplated getting some exercise in. I decided to take a nice long walk on the beach during sunset. It was pretty awesome.

I came home and my roommate was there, asking me if I had anything planned for the weekend.

"Hey Mariah, you have any plans for the weekend..."

"Well.."

"Ha! Not like everyday isn't the weekend for you."

Thanks for the reminder, jerk. And, incaseyouwerewondering, Yes. I did give up on finding a job.

So. We chatted it up, he told me how tired he was from the week and wanted to get an early start to Brisbane in the AM (visiting family)...but, he got the call.

Oh. You know. "The Call" - the one that says, "Get off yo ass and get out there, son!"

So. I accompanied him to a tavern in Mermaid Beach called....Mermaid Beach Tavern. I met several of his co-workers, who were all very nice and open to meeting me. I ended up chatting up a STORM with his co-worker's sister, Priscilla. She was almost 24 (acted a tad bit younger) and full of energy. She hadn't been out in 4 months.

OHDEARGOD. Help me now.

Some guys approached us, telling us they were friends with Kelly Slater, who happened to walk by as we said this. Priscilla grabs him and says, "Are you Kelly Slater?"

Granted, the poor girl didn't know who that was. And I, on the other hand, knew alll about Kelly Slater. He grew up in Cocoa Beach, duh. And I wasn't about to be bullshitted about this celeb biz. So I tell his friend, "What high school did Kelly Slater go to?"

AND OF COURSE, he runs up to "Kelly" and says, "This girl says she went to high school with you..."

Mind you -- I did not. Kelly's like 38. Okay? I'm not. The End.

So, Mr. "Kelly" walks over and I ask him where he's from. He smirks and says, "Newcastle."

Done and done.

WRONG.

He smirked as he walked away, but daymn. He was a good looking chap.

And yes. He looked pretty much like this, but younger.

By this time, everyone was ready to go home whether they were tired or hungry or whatever. Priscilla and I were just starting though. So we had her brother drop us off at a club right around the corner from where I live called, East.

That's about where you want to go after this. Anywhere, but East. The place sucked. Cost us $15 to get in and everyone was plastic to perfection. I and, no offense, Priscilla are not.

I walked into the bathroom and as I was waiting in line, this girl turns to me and LITERALLY pats me on the head and says, "oh, how cute."

WTF. Look. I'm a backpacker and I'm not going to backpack with heels in my bag. So I wear flats. Something I don't enjoy doing all ready. But I deal with. And I definitely don't need some plastic whore telling me "I'm as cute as...oh what do you call them...MIDGET."

Pretty much after two dances, we left and moved on to a place called Liars. It's a pub down the road, almost right on the water.

We walk in, Priscilla's gettin a little wild and we do a shot of sambuca. Kill me. Then some older guy comes over and talks to me, blah blah blah, and tells me I'm just gorgeous, blah blah, he needs to go to the bathroom and I escape to where Priscilla is.

Where I happen to meet -- my new sugar daddy. Mr. Victor. From Canada, living in OZ for about 12-13 years. Moved here for a girl. But. He's a graphic designer, turned copywriter and I find him fascinating. We end up hanging out all night.

After a tequila shot and then a shot some random stranger buys us, we decide...LET'S GO TO THE CASINO!

We're insane.

So hand-in-hand, Victor and I start to leave Liars. Only to hear yelling behind us.

Yes. Priscilla had enough to drink for the entire bar and *click* turned into psycho drunk. Apparently someone had said something derogatory and that was all she needed. As we walked the, oh, 10 blocks to the casino -- she wouldn't STFU.

"I'm a firm believer in woman's rights and no one should ever talk to a woman like that."

I literally had to slap her around a couple of times, shook her once or twice and told her to stop it. The more she went on, the more she was empowering that guy to say more things like that. Guys love getting a rouse out of girls, I'm convinced, especially with women who like to make asses out of themselves on the streets.

Thanks for being part of that scenario, Priscilla.

At one point she ended up fall down, shoes off, crying on the sidewalk towards the Casino. Boy, oh boy. I hadn't hung out with someone like this for a LOOONG time. So I grabbed her hand, threw her in a cab (hope I didn't hurt her) and told the cabbie, "I don't know where she lives, but just get her home safely. Ok?"

And that was that. THANKGOD.

So, Victor and I head into the Casino and got, of course, more to drink. Unfortunately we were at that "lovey dovey" stage and started making out. We had not one, not two, but three people comment on our make-out session. Including the security guy that asked us to leave as we were bothering the other patrons.

WTF. I've never been kicked out of a club/bar/casino in my life. And for PDA?!

Awesome. As my friend RJ said, "What the hell? You could be f*cking in a Vegas Casino and they'd say to you, 'Um, excuse me, but could you just move to the left a little...perfect, thank you.'"

Yeah. We're awesome.

So the next day, after much recovery time, Victor and I met up and went to the Emerald Lake Golf Course for a late lunch. But instead, it turned into more drinking. Shameful, I know.

We just hung out, chatted about life, design, OZ, Canada and, of course, the States. We ended up going to a Thai restaurant, where luckily, we weren't kicked out per se. It was closing time, so we had to leave.

Then we decide to walk down to the beach and check out the stars. (Altogether now, AWWWW). But we heard live music and that means party time. It was coming from a Surf Club (which are all over OZ, like a yacht club, except without just old people). We went upstairs, saw people dancing, ordered two beers...which we got for free.

Hmm.. How odd. Whatever.

Then a lady comes up to us and says, "Are you all right?"

Of course, I nod my head and keep walking and she stops Victor and says, "You know, this is a private function."

OH HELL NO. We just got kicked out again?!?! But this worse -- we got kicked out for trespassing!

What an awesome track record.

We proceeded with our plans, went down to the beach and then called it a night.

On my walk home, this guy approached me from across the street about places to go to. I tell him about East and the like and he said the wait to get in was ridick. So I tell him about Surfers, but advice for him to get a cab. I love how people think I know what I'm doing. That's a good sign.

We talk for a minute and then he asks me to head out to Surfers with them.

*screech* Um. I think not. Besides, I hadn't been home since 3 that afternoon. I was lookin rough in daytime clothes (cute pink skirt with a green tank top). I was flattered, declined and went out separate ways.

GETTING TO SUNDAY -- maybe this is why I don't post....there's just too much to explain!

Victor calls me up asking me if I want to go to Byron.

Why the hell not.

So we head down to Byron, by way of a Jeep (so much fun). We drove along the coast and these are the things we saw:

I was told that that's Surfers Paradise in the background. How awesome.

Told ya we were in a Jeep. Check out that hair!

I didn't notice the writing on the rocks til after the photo was taken. PIMP.

There was a bodysurfing competition going on while we were in Tweed Heads -- the very last town before NSW (We're still in QLD at this point).

Then, we explore the very small, but beautiful town of Byron.

Luckily, we didn't get kicked out of any places, but I did eat a lot of fried food.

Too much fried food.

I'll break it down for you --

In Byron we ate at a place called Fishheads and had a fried seafood platter. Seafood isn't that great fried IMO. But whatevs. I counter balanced it with a nice healthy salad.

Then we had a beer at this really lively place -- but I can't recall the name. It was Sunday Funday for sure there.

We drove back and went to the Surf Club in Broadbeach -- Kurrawa Surf Club. I came here with my roommate on Thursday and the girl made me sign in, but didn't check ID or anything. She could've cared less.

So I start filling out the form with my name is Maria Ketch and she says she must check ID. Ah, well shit. So I rip it off and she, very sternly, asks me for the pass so she can throw it away.

Freak.

So I write on there my details and I put FL, USA. And it went a little like this:

"Put your address there."

"I did."

"No, we need your address."

"Last time I came here, they asked for just where I'm from."

"Well, put USA there."

"I did."

"What does that say, I can't read that..."

"U.S.A."

"Well, put down the state."

"I did."

"What does that say?"

"Florida"

"No. That says FL, I don't know where FL is. If I'm from Australia and I put AU, no one will know what that means."

"But FL is Florida. I'm from Florida. On my license it says FL."

And that's when I thought I was going to get kicked out. But instead, we didn't and had more drinks and more fried food. But we had oysters too. Yum. Now, those were good.

I called it a night -- too much time with fried food, beer and Victor. I needed some me time.

But all in all. A damn good weekend. Damn good.

Funny thing -- I'm going to Byron on Wednesday. But don't tell Victor. I said I was moving on up the Coast on Wednesday.

Why, you ask, why Byron?

I'm meeting my Sydney boyfriend, Mr. Ross. YUP. We're traveling up the coast together.

Who would've thunk it?! Not I!

More to come...pictures included!