Quickie

Just wanted to give you a quick update.

I'm in Dunsborough. Just met my Step-G-pa. And ya know what?

He's awesome. He's so happy to meet me, we have a ton of graphic arts in common, his wife is an amazing painter and they're damn funny.

Old. But funny.

I love them. Srsly.

Moving on.

I'm in a MAJOR dilemma. I can't figure out if I should stick it out here in Dunsborough, get a job and make some cash before blowing it all in Queensland.

OR. Staying here a few days, prolly enough to get my diving certification (yes. I'm serious. It's expensive, but it's forever and they apparently have the best diving here in W.A. Almost better -- if not better -- than the Great Barrier Reef. Whaaa?), then go off to Queensland and find accommodation and a job there. Thinking Surfer's Paradise. It's not glamorous. It's not Aussie. But it's party touwn. So much of a party, the town is spelled with a u to emphasize the party atmosphere.

Your call people. Lemme know.

And. BTW. I haven't forgotten about the douche bag back in Perth who made my heart sink cuz I was stupid enough to bad-mouth her family. Openly. And, no, I haven't heard from her after my apology.

Also. I got a voicemail from my Sydney boyfriend, but I'm thinking about making him wait. I dunno. I'm still kind of wrapped up with him in my mind, I think I need a break. Get him out of my head and then contact him to let him know I'm alive. And over him.

Advice on any of the above is helpful. Really helpful.

Holy Eyebrows.

As you can tell in my earlier posted pictures, my eyebrows are quite darker. It bothers me.

I got them tinted a couple days ago and whoa. Glad I didn't tip her!

Anyway. You're getting three posts today because...I'm still at the Sydney Airport. They delayed, delayed, delayed my flight only to cancel it and then move everyone over to Qantas flights where we had to pick up our bags, walk to another terminal and re-check in.

Oh. Any security here? Totally lax. I even kept my shoes on.

Luckily, I met a nice Irish girl who has no patience for this stuff. We gravitated towards each other and now we're best airport friends. She's going to Melbourne for the week to visit her sister then she's off to Bangkok and South Asia. Or something. She's nice and her name is..Cloude or something odd.

So. I'd tell you about Melbourne...but I don't know a thing about it. Yet. Although I'm reading about it in my Lonely Planet book and, whoa. It sounded awesome. Can't wait to explore!

So. If you're bored and can't sleep (it's 1:30am back in Florida), give me a shout/call. KThxBye.

I's back. With pictures.

Self-explanatory....

Melanie came up for a sit....not a drink.

Nikki & I...a little too close.

This is when things got weirder :-) haha

The Gangsta Ladies -- Conti, Nikki and me

Gab leaving for the night...

Big PIMPING.

Goodbye, Sydney.

Hello Melbourne.

Well. Not quite yet. I'm currently sitting in the Sydney Domestic Airport awaiting my flight. It's wet. It's rainy. It's gross. And my flight has been delayed an hour and half. It's not terrible -- gives me time to talk to you guys, right?

I moved out of my place today, which was not as sad as I thought it would be. But DAYMN. I brought a lot of shit. TOO MUCH. I even packed up a suitcase filled with stuff and stored it at IEP. And I still had to ship a box to my mom.

Guess what? It cost me $85 to ship it via a BOAT that won't arrive for another 2 months. Insanity.

Last night was a beautiful thing. A few girls and I went out for cocktails then to the Brazilian BBQ place that is always fabulous. We laughed LOUD and talked about everything. And when I say everything, I mean everything. Poo mostly. It was fantastic conversation over several slabs of meat.

Afterwards we decided to get a nightcap at CBH where we ran into more Barzura employees.

You guys. I love these people. There's something about working in a restaurant that makes you feel like your co-workers are your family. I don't know if it's the atmosphere, the dealing with customers or just spending too much time together, but people really do get very, very close in a restaurant setting. I love it.

Carrabbas was like that towards the end, but Sydney people, backpacking people are slightly different -- closer, even. I look forward to seeing some of them when I get back to Sydney before I fly out.

I came back to the house where everyone in the house was just gathered together, having a last hurrah before we all move out. I stood around for a bit, but I was ready to hit the hay. Today is a big day.

I still don't have a plan for next week. I just know I'll be in Melbourne for a week and then...either off to Adelaide? Or straight to Perth? Maybe I'll put a note on the board at the YHA that I'm looking for a ride from Melbourne to Adelaide via the Great Ocean Road? Maybe I'll hop a train to Adelaide -- it's supposed to be pretty awesome.

I. JUST. DON'T. KNOW.

Remember how I thought that was the beauty of all of this before I got here? I've kind of learned that it's fun, but scary at the same time.

Here we go again.

I'll make a plan this week. I kind of have to. And money sucks. I need a job.

I'll upload pics from last night in the next post -- my connector is in my backpack which is chillin somewhere in the airport. I'm just glad I'm not carrying it around anymore. That thing is PACKED.

Bittersweet Symphony

It's over.

My summer romance with an English chap has come to an end. It wasn't disastrous, quite the opposite, but it's definitely a bittersweet moment. Bitter cuz we had such a good time together, sweet because we're both moving on to do great things with ourselves.

Sww-heet!


We spent our last night together in Sydney at the Observatory. It was something I had been wanting to do, so we did it.

Here's the breakdown of the night...

I picked up my camera after it got fixed, went to buy a battery charger (not gonna lie. Would've cost me the same to get a brand spankin new camera in the end. I digress.) and then we met up at Ship Inn located at Circular Quay. We had a glass of wine and then moved on to The Rocks where we went to a Bavarian restaurant called Lowenbrau Keller.

I had this mango beer which was...interesting.

We decided...okay, I decided to listen to some music on my ipod while drinking.

The best part of this pic is the menu behind us. Malty, Nutty and Dry. OW!

We were then off to find food -- or so we thought. We both thought the other one was hungry, only to find out we were both...thirsty. We ended up going to a bar called Argyle. Had the perfect atmosphere with tons of couches and sitting areas for two people to have delightful conversation.

After downing our drinks, we visited the Sydney Observatory. We walked around the museum and then entered the amazing planetarium. Okay. Not really. Since it was cloudy and rainy all day, they had to do a presentation of the sky rather than the actual sky. The guy "hosting" the show was so monotone, I literally fall asleep on the beanbags provided. Although, I did learn a lot about the stars by osmosis.

We then saw two HUGE telescopes and got to check out:
A. A clock
B. A flag

Wow.

Moving on. We went into a tiny room where we got to watch two 3-D movies. It was...probably the best part because the guy stopped talking. And I didn't fall asleep this time around.

We left the Observatory and took in the gorgeous sights of the Sydney skyscrapers -- rather cool.
Then we went back to Argyle for another drink. Then, since we were in The Rocks, I took Ross to Pancakes on the Rocks which we savored delicious pancakes. At 1 in the morning. My kind of eating! Haha.

He is drinking house red wine -- similar to drinking at Denny's...not the greatest.

Ross looks like a monkey here.

So that's about it. He left today to do his 10 day meditation in the Blue Mountains and I'm off to Melbourne on Friday. Moving on.

Here are a few phrases I picked up from my adventures with Ross:

"That is totally naff." -- basically meaning cheesy.

"Are you having a giraffe?"

"Excusé?"


Summer Lovin' -- Had me a blast. But. Bring on the next adventure. I. is. ready.

To Those Concerned.

Which is everyone.

I'm still planning on going to Melbourne on Friday -- literally 3 days. Whoa. The fires are bad, but they're not affecting the Metro of Melbourne, which is where I'll be. I have a few friends down there and, guess what, they're just fine. They actually just found a place and are loving it.

I know what I'm doing. I hope. Florida has fires all the time and the media always makes it out to be a huger deal than it is. I read about two girls who stayed at their home to protect their horses and everyone ended up dead. People are concerned about their possessions and families rather than themselves.

I love all of you! Thank you for being concerned!

Love you!!!

The Great 2009 Birthday

Whoa. Holy Birthday.

Where to begin?

First thing first. My camera, yes the third one in two months, is in the shop getting repaired. Remember I spent almost nothing for the camera -- did you think it would work?! So. I apologize about the quality of photos -- I went out and splurged on a disposable camera to capture the memories of my b-day in Oz.

Anyway. One of my co-workers, Gab, asked me to go to dinner with her on Thursday to celebrate the big 2-6. I just literally realized that that's the dates of my b-day too. Awww.

Anyway. I was game for doing anything, plus she's good company so I said YES. Then. One of the cooks, JR, found out about it and decided to tell me that she was planning a surprise party. Gee. Thanks.

Two things.

I'm a girl. I love surprises. LOVE surprises.

The other, I never get surprised. I over-analyze everything and never can get surprised. Thanks for ruining it.

After I found this out, I just pretended like I thought it was just the two of us, no big deal. I didn't know who'd be there anyway -- I just knew that it'd be more then just us.

The big day FINALLY came. And by big day, I mean Thursday night.

Gab and I met up for a drink at CBH, actually two drinks -- one, some guy bought for us because he was too drunk to put his phone back together. Then we talked about ex-boyfriend's and our lives now...without douche bags. Then we were off to a Tapas restaurant called El Bulli.

We hopped a cab and got to the restaurant. Of course, I was wearing some big shoes and fell flat on my face as we walked towards the restaurant. Classy, eh?

But here's the kicker. We walk up to the host and he says, "Oh. Your party's already in there." And Gab gives him this dirty, evil eye that says, "NO. IT'S A TABLE FOR TWO." Awww. Valiant effort on her part. I really appreciate her making it be such a surprise. Of course....it wasn't so much.

But that's the thing. It actually did turn out to be a surprise because of the people that were there. There was Pedro and Lisa, who I had thought would be there, but wasn't sure. JR, of course, was there. And then these two got me good. Nicola, the Scottish girl I work with, who had been telling me all day and week even that her b/f had a gig in Kings Cross and she couldn't go. Well -- she was there. And even Ross showed up.

I freaked. I know my face got super red and I was so happy to be...actually...surprised!!! It was awesome.

We had a fantastic meal, drank too much wine and they even brought out a cake with sparklers as candles. From now on, I'm always doing sparklers as candles. It's just so much cooler.

Afterwards, most of us hopped a cab to Kings Cross to go to a club called Candy's. It was AWESOME. And I don't remember much about the club, just know I danced my ass off. Literally. And my dress too. I exposed my breasts to a lot of Aussie's. Whoops.

The bad thing about all of this was I had to be up at 4am. I think we got home about 2:30 or 3am. And I was WASTED. It was pretty nasty, but I didn't have a hangover -- thank God!

Oh. You're wondering why I needed to be up so early? Welllllll....Ross was taking me on that Hot Air Balloon ride he won back at the OpenAir Cinema. WOO! And. It was just as spectacular as it seems. What an incredible experience. We didn't fly over anything cool, but we watched the sunrise and were flying above Sydney. P.I.M.P.

Afterwards, we had a delightful breakfast at a hotel in Penrith. It was right next to Olympia Park, where the Olympics were held, oh so long ago. Then we just relaxed the rest of the day.

Ross took me out to this amazing dinner at a place called Mezzaluna. It was in Kings Cross, which is a bit dodgy, but turned out to be phenomenal. You walked into the restaurant thinking it's very quaint, but as you descend down the stairs you are staring right into Sydney's Skyline. It was incredible. Not only did I see an amazing sunrise on my birthday, but I saw a spectacular sunset on my birthday as well.

We sat there for four hours just taking in the view and enjoying each other's company. Then we were off to a place called the Piano Bar, which was okay. We didn't do much but sit and talk and do a lot of people watching. There were some annoying drunk girls that kept dancing around us, but I think Ross enjoyed himself there more than me.

The next day, Saturday, I went into the City to buy a suitcase because I've bought too much already. Going to put that bad boy into storage when I leave for Melbourne on Friday (that's, um, 5 days). Met up with Ross and we decided to get some Lebanese Takeaway and have dinner with his flatmates.

That proved to be fairly disastrous. His housemate, Erin, who's a very nice, well-rounded woman, proceeded to get a bit tipsy and started to tell me how much Melbourne sucked and I should stay in Sydney -- since it's the best city IN THE WORLD to live. Of course, I took everything she said with a grain of salt and tried to enjoy the Pinot Noir. Proved to be rather difficult. And the Lebanese...I'm good. Don't need to try that again.

Anyway. My roommate was desperately wanting to go out to a Salsa club and we found one online located in The Rocks. Ross and I hopped a bus (after a petty fight) and were on our way to meet up. It was a lot of fun there. Within the first 2 minutes, a guy asked me to dance. Of course I said yes and made fun of myself for not being a better dancer. He was very nice and showed me all the moves.

We stayed there for a bit too long -- the music started to bore me and, since I can't dance salsa, I was feel a bit out of place. Melanie, my roomie, hopped a bus back to Coogee and Ross & I went to discover a club that'd still be open.

We found Jacksons on George which had a club on the first level (actually the 2nd floor, but they have levels backwards here). It. was. AWESOME. I danced my ass off AGAIN. I couldn't stop moving. It was so nice to feel the beat in my body. There was one point where the bass was so loud and heavy I could literally feel in all throughout my body. It was exactly what I needed.

Didn't get home til 4am and of course spent the entire day in bed. Then it was off to work at 3pm where I didn't get off til 11:30pm. Melanie had gone out to CBH with some co-workers and was on her way back home when I called her to see if she wanted to go swimming. Random. I know.

She convinced me to go to Bondi to meet up with some of the Irish guys in the house. Of course, I hesitated, since I'm not a huge fan, but decided I could use another night out! Why not?! I'm in Sydney, damnit!

We ended up at the Cock and Bull to find out it was closing in 5 minutes. JERKS. So we all hopped a cab to the City and went to Scruffy Murphy's. This is the place the Irish guys went to last time and I left early, homesick because it sucked that bad.

Guys. It all depends on who you're with, let me tell you, cuz I had another amazing night dancing my ass off. What great exercise! James, a Irish floater, danced with me and it was awesome. I'm telling you, American girls are the nasty dancers and guys/girls all over the world just aren't exposed to that. It. was. fun.

Stayed out too late again, but wooo! Had a damn good time, ladies and gents!

Now it's off to work again. I'll probably be getting off a little bit earlier tonight, but I had to work at 6:45am. I got a text message from the guy who taught me salsa dancing on Saturday -- he wants to get salsa dancing tonight in Darling Harbour. If my roommate's in...I'm in. I can sleep when I'm dead!

Thank you to all who wished me happy birthday -- it really was! I love each of you and can't wait to see you guys soon!

Muah! Muah!

Palm Beach Pictures...As Promised.

Enjoy.

Welcome to Palm Beach.

Much quieter than Coogee.

On our way up to the Lighthouse, we sat on a rock and starred out into this...

I'm really enjoying this view, eh?

Yeah. We both did.

About 20 metres below the Lighthouse there was this overlook --

I thoroughly enjoyed this one...

I think. I was trying. To be sexy?

We found this HUGE spider on our way down...

Oh. Ketchup.

Then we went kayaking -- my favorites!

Maybe not Ross'....

This is sunrise in Coogee. Whoa. Spectacular.