Yay I have internet again!! :-)
I've fallen a bit behind in the blogging but will be catching up a bit today - in short I can say that Aerlie Beach was incredible, I went snorkeling and fishing on the Great Barrier Reef just off of Hayman Island. Getting blind drunk pretty much every night as we're couch surfing visiting the boys' old friends.
Currently I'm chilling out in the kids playroom at Tommo's house, Ryan and Gamble are swimming in the inlet just in front of the house. We'll be driving around to check out Brisbane at some point today, then headed down to Byron Bay in a few before finally getting back to Wollongong on the 18th.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Life on Mars (From Feb 4th)
Arriving in Darwin was like landing on another planet...
Flying up here was one of the best times I've had on an airplane - Ryan and I got fairly smashed during the flight and enjoyed some beers while reading a Zoo magazine together. He happened to know two dudes from his hometown on the plane who were a couple of male strippers going to a gig. One of the boys made good friends with a stewardess and helped out on the plane collecting empties and garbage. I think I saw them sneak to the back together.... and then later she was passed out in the seat behind us snoring loudly bent over with her sleeping mask falling off her face. o.O
Flying over Australia was so beautiful, hands down the most scenic flight I've ever had. Before we knew it the 4 hour flight was over and when we touched down, it was literally like I'd landed on Mars - the earth is red, and the plane cabin was full of this David Bowie-music video-esque smokey steam. Apparently this is condensation going through the air conditioning unit and is completely normal... apparently.
Gamble was waiting for us at the airport and we painlessly picked our luggage off the conveyor belt and loaded it into the troopee, including our swags (mattresses with a little tarp over them like a tent). Had a few beers while driving around and grabbed some groceries to make spag bol (spaghetti bolognese).
We ended up getting completely smashed with Star and Fav, the owners of the house Gamble is staying at. They have twin twelve year old boys who are really into reptiles and they were more than happy to show me their pythons and blue tongue lizards. They're such amazingly well-mannered boys and Star is a total free spirit, such a sweet heart. Her and I like to swim around in the pool in the evening drinking while the boys all have their man time together wrestling like idiots. She's chatting with Ryan and I as I'm writing this and just said how last Christmas she "chucked some roo on the barbie, it was lovely."
Meanwhile the news was on the whole time and we watched cyclone Yasi hit land, category 6 cyclone, the biggest in Australian history. Yes, I've whitnessed the largest flood AND the largest cyclone during my time here.
While Cairns and Mission Beach got totally fucked over, thankfully no one was killed. It's also good news that the roads aren't too terrible so we can drive down the coast through Aerlie Beach and the Gold Coast - for a minute there we were thinking we would have to drive through the interior the whole way, aka days and days and days of red Aussie desert Mad Max style.
Yesterday we drove around Darwin, grabbed a bite to eat to nurse the hangover. Gamble later ended up puking this up at the servo (gas station) and then when we were driving out in the bush he took a terrible emergency shit. That was the first time I saw Gamble naked yesterday...
Later in the afternoon we went to the Leaping Croc park. Half pissed (yes, we got more beers again) we loaded into a boat with ten other tourists to cruise up the river. The guides tie a chunk of buffalo meat to a long string attached to a stick and dangle it over the face of the crocs who swim up to the boat. They tease them into jumping out of the water so you can take pics, then after a few jumps they feed them and you hear this epic CHOMP as the glup it down. We saw four crocs, one was just little at 2 meters and two were fucking massive males, over 4 meters. :-/
We then headed to the Humpty Doo pub for a beer... which turned into a lot of beers. Being at this pub was like being in the Crocodile Dundee movie to the extreme - Gamble and Ryan in their croc hats, shirtless and chilling out in a sweaty red-dusted pub with dozens of terrifying-looking good old Aussie boys. Me, feeling a lot like Sue trying to keep a low profile in my aviators, everyone staring at me because I`m sticking out like a sore thumb. We ended up getting totally BLIND, chilling out on the patio barefoot in a singlet (tank top) while watching the lightning and pouring rain.
Headed back to the house, I switched to water at this point as I was so messed up but the boys got into it pretty hard... Gamble and Fav naked wrestling two separate times (the 2nd and 3rd time I saw Gamble naked). Then they cracked into the home brew beer, a few days early apparently, and shit got mental. The boys went hunting around the yard and found a tree frog, which was the 3rd species of reptile encounter I`d had in 24 hours haha.
Also saw a video the boys made when they were like 20, so so funny. Ryan wakeboarding, duct taped to the floor getting tomato sauce (ketchup) poured all over his face and being taunted with a fan, talking to the cops totally hammered. Gamble catching enormous fish. Fav falling out of the tinny (aluminum boat) totally hammered, setting off fire crackers, cracking an egg on Star`s face when she`s passed out... funny shit. :-P
Today we`re going to get organized for the big road trip, gather supplies and make sure the boat and troopee is good to go. Probably going to grab a kangaroo burger in a bit...
Straight up - Darwin is the most bizarre place ever. It`s so hot here and so so humid, just moist and sweating and thirsty all the time. Like Hawaii times a million. People make fun of how Australians drink all the time but up here it`s like a necessity. And this is the wet season, I can`t imagine how batshit hot it is here during the dry.
Flying up here was one of the best times I've had on an airplane - Ryan and I got fairly smashed during the flight and enjoyed some beers while reading a Zoo magazine together. He happened to know two dudes from his hometown on the plane who were a couple of male strippers going to a gig. One of the boys made good friends with a stewardess and helped out on the plane collecting empties and garbage. I think I saw them sneak to the back together.... and then later she was passed out in the seat behind us snoring loudly bent over with her sleeping mask falling off her face. o.O
Flying over Australia was so beautiful, hands down the most scenic flight I've ever had. Before we knew it the 4 hour flight was over and when we touched down, it was literally like I'd landed on Mars - the earth is red, and the plane cabin was full of this David Bowie-music video-esque smokey steam. Apparently this is condensation going through the air conditioning unit and is completely normal... apparently.
Gamble was waiting for us at the airport and we painlessly picked our luggage off the conveyor belt and loaded it into the troopee, including our swags (mattresses with a little tarp over them like a tent). Had a few beers while driving around and grabbed some groceries to make spag bol (spaghetti bolognese).
We ended up getting completely smashed with Star and Fav, the owners of the house Gamble is staying at. They have twin twelve year old boys who are really into reptiles and they were more than happy to show me their pythons and blue tongue lizards. They're such amazingly well-mannered boys and Star is a total free spirit, such a sweet heart. Her and I like to swim around in the pool in the evening drinking while the boys all have their man time together wrestling like idiots. She's chatting with Ryan and I as I'm writing this and just said how last Christmas she "chucked some roo on the barbie, it was lovely."
Meanwhile the news was on the whole time and we watched cyclone Yasi hit land, category 6 cyclone, the biggest in Australian history. Yes, I've whitnessed the largest flood AND the largest cyclone during my time here.
While Cairns and Mission Beach got totally fucked over, thankfully no one was killed. It's also good news that the roads aren't too terrible so we can drive down the coast through Aerlie Beach and the Gold Coast - for a minute there we were thinking we would have to drive through the interior the whole way, aka days and days and days of red Aussie desert Mad Max style.
Yesterday we drove around Darwin, grabbed a bite to eat to nurse the hangover. Gamble later ended up puking this up at the servo (gas station) and then when we were driving out in the bush he took a terrible emergency shit. That was the first time I saw Gamble naked yesterday...
Later in the afternoon we went to the Leaping Croc park. Half pissed (yes, we got more beers again) we loaded into a boat with ten other tourists to cruise up the river. The guides tie a chunk of buffalo meat to a long string attached to a stick and dangle it over the face of the crocs who swim up to the boat. They tease them into jumping out of the water so you can take pics, then after a few jumps they feed them and you hear this epic CHOMP as the glup it down. We saw four crocs, one was just little at 2 meters and two were fucking massive males, over 4 meters. :-/
We then headed to the Humpty Doo pub for a beer... which turned into a lot of beers. Being at this pub was like being in the Crocodile Dundee movie to the extreme - Gamble and Ryan in their croc hats, shirtless and chilling out in a sweaty red-dusted pub with dozens of terrifying-looking good old Aussie boys. Me, feeling a lot like Sue trying to keep a low profile in my aviators, everyone staring at me because I`m sticking out like a sore thumb. We ended up getting totally BLIND, chilling out on the patio barefoot in a singlet (tank top) while watching the lightning and pouring rain.
Headed back to the house, I switched to water at this point as I was so messed up but the boys got into it pretty hard... Gamble and Fav naked wrestling two separate times (the 2nd and 3rd time I saw Gamble naked). Then they cracked into the home brew beer, a few days early apparently, and shit got mental. The boys went hunting around the yard and found a tree frog, which was the 3rd species of reptile encounter I`d had in 24 hours haha.
Also saw a video the boys made when they were like 20, so so funny. Ryan wakeboarding, duct taped to the floor getting tomato sauce (ketchup) poured all over his face and being taunted with a fan, talking to the cops totally hammered. Gamble catching enormous fish. Fav falling out of the tinny (aluminum boat) totally hammered, setting off fire crackers, cracking an egg on Star`s face when she`s passed out... funny shit. :-P
Today we`re going to get organized for the big road trip, gather supplies and make sure the boat and troopee is good to go. Probably going to grab a kangaroo burger in a bit...
Straight up - Darwin is the most bizarre place ever. It`s so hot here and so so humid, just moist and sweating and thirsty all the time. Like Hawaii times a million. People make fun of how Australians drink all the time but up here it`s like a necessity. And this is the wet season, I can`t imagine how batshit hot it is here during the dry.
Monday, February 7, 2011
I've survived the outback!!
Greetings from Aerlie Beach!!!
I typed up a few blog entries while cruising across the outback but they're saved on my laptop... which is out of juice. :-(
So I'll quickly say hi from this internet cafe, still alive and not in jail, and I'll toss up more detailed posts later. :-)
I typed up a few blog entries while cruising across the outback but they're saved on my laptop... which is out of juice. :-(
So I'll quickly say hi from this internet cafe, still alive and not in jail, and I'll toss up more detailed posts later. :-)
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Highway to Hell
I'm back on the road!!!
Ryan's best friend Gamble is coming back to Wollongong and he's bringing his ute and boat back with him. So he asked if Ryan and I want to fly up to Darwin to meet him and do the road trip back south with him. Something like 6,000 miles, through the red Australian outback, over to Northern Queensland (home of the Great Barrier Reef) and then alllllll the way down to Wollongong.
I've done epic road trips before - when I was 18 I drove from Vancouver to San Francisco in 22 hours in a '67 Impala with a boyfriend and his best friend on the 4th of July. This road trip is going to have a few more variables, and it will also be way way way longer.
Potential obstacles that could be considered "cons":
- The first two or three days will be in the red Australian desert, where temperatures can reach 45 or more
- I'm driving with a fairly new boyfriend known as Ryan Behavesalot Scott and his best mate Gamble, who has a mullet and an earring
- We're driving straight into a category 4 cyclone aka Australian for big ass hurricane. This thing is going to be massive but we should miss it by at least a couple days...
- And if it looks like we're going to drive straight into it, we'll be driving through Walkabout Creek. That's right Crocodile Dundee fans, home of Mick Dundee.
Awesome trip highlights will include:
- Swimming at Aerlie Beach, apparently some of the most beautiful blue water in Australia
- Checking out the Great Barrier Reef and possibly FISHING there :-P
- Checking out Surfer's Paradise, Brisbane and other amazing Gold Coast spots I wanted to check out earlier but couldn't because of the floods.
So yes, this trip will be awesome, but it will be treacherous. For much of the journey we'll be sleeping in swags, an Australian mini-tent which is like a tarp over a mattress. Did I mention that Australia is home to 8/10 of the worlds deadliest snakes and pretty much all the spiders in the world that want to fuck people up?
But as my wise kung fu instructor told me, the other side of fear is fearlessness. So I'm flying out to Darwin tomorrow, chilling there for a couple days, then getting down on this road trip with the boys and bracing myself to see some beautiful Australian scenery.
Wish me luck!!! :-)
Darwin Weather
Ryan's best friend Gamble is coming back to Wollongong and he's bringing his ute and boat back with him. So he asked if Ryan and I want to fly up to Darwin to meet him and do the road trip back south with him. Something like 6,000 miles, through the red Australian outback, over to Northern Queensland (home of the Great Barrier Reef) and then alllllll the way down to Wollongong.
I've done epic road trips before - when I was 18 I drove from Vancouver to San Francisco in 22 hours in a '67 Impala with a boyfriend and his best friend on the 4th of July. This road trip is going to have a few more variables, and it will also be way way way longer.
Potential obstacles that could be considered "cons":
- The first two or three days will be in the red Australian desert, where temperatures can reach 45 or more
- I'm driving with a fairly new boyfriend known as Ryan Behavesalot Scott and his best mate Gamble, who has a mullet and an earring
- We're driving straight into a category 4 cyclone aka Australian for big ass hurricane. This thing is going to be massive but we should miss it by at least a couple days...
- And if it looks like we're going to drive straight into it, we'll be driving through Walkabout Creek. That's right Crocodile Dundee fans, home of Mick Dundee.
Awesome trip highlights will include:
- Swimming at Aerlie Beach, apparently some of the most beautiful blue water in Australia
- Checking out the Great Barrier Reef and possibly FISHING there :-P
- Checking out Surfer's Paradise, Brisbane and other amazing Gold Coast spots I wanted to check out earlier but couldn't because of the floods.
So yes, this trip will be awesome, but it will be treacherous. For much of the journey we'll be sleeping in swags, an Australian mini-tent which is like a tarp over a mattress. Did I mention that Australia is home to 8/10 of the worlds deadliest snakes and pretty much all the spiders in the world that want to fuck people up?
But as my wise kung fu instructor told me, the other side of fear is fearlessness. So I'm flying out to Darwin tomorrow, chilling there for a couple days, then getting down on this road trip with the boys and bracing myself to see some beautiful Australian scenery.
Wish me luck!!! :-)
Darwin Weather
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