The year is almost over and its hard to believe that one year ago I was setting up camp with Stewy and Dad in Sydney, Australia. I have to admit, I am extremely happy to be sitting by the fire this year with a Christmas tree, goodies baking in the oven and about to watch Bing Crosby's White Christmas. I love my traditions especially around the holiday season.
Mom and Steven picked me up yesterday from my bridal job and we drove back to London. I was so happy to get home for the holidays and see my puppy Ollie! I spent my first night with my boys Stewy and Little celebrating Little's new house and Stewy's recent birthday. We had a great time with friends and made our way to Cowboys where Little and I tore up the dance floor as per usual. Today I hit the gym and have been spending quality time with my family.
This year has been absolutely amazing and I feel so lucky to have accomplished so much. I've traveled, met some amazing people, made a big move to a big city and have two jobs that I love. I've been thinking about what I want my new years resolution to be and have some ideas brewing but want to keep them a secret for now. I have a feeling 2013 is going to be a really great year for me and I can't wait!
Since September I've had a lot of great things going on in my life. For one, my running has been at an all time high and I set a new personal best just this week breaking an average pace of 4:25! I've been loving my Nike job and all the free swag I get from the company. My run group has been amazing too and continues to impress me with their improvements and winning our winter challenges. I've become really close with people I've met through Nike and the best part is my roommate and bestie Kristen works with me! Bridal has been great and I've been loving my staff and helping brides find their dresses. There's been a lot of engagements popping up on my newsfeed and I've been using it to my advantage to try and get brides to come in and have me as their consultant!
I went to my best friend caity and dan's wedding in November and was so happy to see her marry her best friend and man of her dreams. I bawled like a baby the second I saw her walk out in her beautiful dress looking absolutely breath taking. I still remember playing barbies with Caity in my basement talking about when we thought we'd get married and I could not be happier for her and dan's life together.
I've kept in great communication with some friends in Australia and have seriously considered going back for a visit. Anyone willing to donate to my vacation to Aus fund is more than welcome. Somehow I just don't have $2000 laying around these days to take off again but if I did you know where I'd be. I am still pursuing my goal of becoming a flight attendant and hoping that if I can land that gig that I can continue to travel.
This holiday season I want to wish all my friends and family a very merry christmas and happy new year. I hope everyone is surrounded by loved ones this year and has the chance to reflect on thier past year and appreciate all the good things in their lives. While the holidays can be a little sad for some I hope everyone enjoys the company of loved ones and sees the good in the coming year. My best wishes to all of you this holiday! I hope everyone has a nice cocktail in hand and a Christmas movie on the tv! Love you all, Merry Christmas
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Life in the City
It has been far too long since my last blog update! I was going to end this blog upon returning to Canada but realized my journey is never really over so why not keep the blog anyways?
Since Calgary I moved back to London to spend some time with my mother, Lois and work and see my amazing friends. I had a fantastic time catching up with everyone, going to barneys, running through my old turf in Springbank, reuniting with people I haven't seen in literally a year and just getting back to my old life. Rick was kind enough to give me some training at Fit Gym and kicked my ass multple times in strength training and German volume training workouts. If anyone wants a recommendation for a trainer in London to get fit, msg me immediately. My beautiful sister Elyse and her boyfriend Alex had their baby Liam in July and he is a gem! So happy for them!!
I worked hard at finding some kind of opportunity in Toronto and though I am not teaching yet, have found two phenomenal jobs that I am SO happy with. I am a Nike Run Leader for the runner's lounge. I lead runs once a week from north Toronto on a 3-6km route through the streets of Toronto and usually followed by a social or some kind of Nike sponsored treat like frozen yogurt, free protein bar samples, yoga, etc. I've met some incredible people and best part is, I get to run as a living! I am also working at Ritche's Bridal as a Bridal Consultant--aka the show "Say Yes to the Dress" in real life. I absolutely love my job and all the people I work with. Just yesterday I had 3 brides cry because they found their dress and I felt so happy for them I nearly cried myself. The owners are fantastic people who encouraged me to try on some of the dresses and I truly felt like a princess getting to wear Maggie Sotterro, Paloma Blanca, Pronovias and Kittychien dresses. One day :)
I am living in Kristen's place right now while she rides across Canada for Sick Kids Foundation. I am living with her cousin and the 3 of us will get a place once Kris returns. It has taken me some time to get used to the busy life of living in a big city; taking street cars and subways and always on the go-go-go but I absolutely love it. I am still working on trying to get a job as a flight attendant for any airline out there and welcome all connections and suggestions with open arms. For now I am more than happy with my jobs and am excited about this new chapter in my life. I am learning French through Rosetta Stone which has turned out to be a great program and fun too!
Upcoming events in my life include my two besties birthdays Amanda and Caity in Sept as well as my mother Lois, LJ's wedding with Kyle Little, Caity and Dan's wedding in November, of course Halloween and Thanksgiving in canada this year and soon enough CHRISTMAS. I know its well away and most Canadians want to avoid thinking of the winter weather but I am so excited for Christmas in Canada this year and have already been planning the baked goodies for mom and I to make :)
I still think about my travels every single day and can't deny that I've been thinking about the next places I want to travel including South America, Dubai, Egypt, and more of the tropical islands. I still am in contact with my friends in Australia and the family that i became so close with is already trying to plan my next visit to Australia on their bill! How could I not love Aussies. Mick, our friend from Mooloolaba was able to visit back in July and we showed him a good time in London taking him to kools, jacks, barneys and getting him traditional canadian food like poutine!
Anyways, I think I am going to keep this blog going a little longer whether people read it or not. I know there is another journey out there for me its just a matter of when and where :)
Since Calgary I moved back to London to spend some time with my mother, Lois and work and see my amazing friends. I had a fantastic time catching up with everyone, going to barneys, running through my old turf in Springbank, reuniting with people I haven't seen in literally a year and just getting back to my old life. Rick was kind enough to give me some training at Fit Gym and kicked my ass multple times in strength training and German volume training workouts. If anyone wants a recommendation for a trainer in London to get fit, msg me immediately. My beautiful sister Elyse and her boyfriend Alex had their baby Liam in July and he is a gem! So happy for them!!
I worked hard at finding some kind of opportunity in Toronto and though I am not teaching yet, have found two phenomenal jobs that I am SO happy with. I am a Nike Run Leader for the runner's lounge. I lead runs once a week from north Toronto on a 3-6km route through the streets of Toronto and usually followed by a social or some kind of Nike sponsored treat like frozen yogurt, free protein bar samples, yoga, etc. I've met some incredible people and best part is, I get to run as a living! I am also working at Ritche's Bridal as a Bridal Consultant--aka the show "Say Yes to the Dress" in real life. I absolutely love my job and all the people I work with. Just yesterday I had 3 brides cry because they found their dress and I felt so happy for them I nearly cried myself. The owners are fantastic people who encouraged me to try on some of the dresses and I truly felt like a princess getting to wear Maggie Sotterro, Paloma Blanca, Pronovias and Kittychien dresses. One day :)
I am living in Kristen's place right now while she rides across Canada for Sick Kids Foundation. I am living with her cousin and the 3 of us will get a place once Kris returns. It has taken me some time to get used to the busy life of living in a big city; taking street cars and subways and always on the go-go-go but I absolutely love it. I am still working on trying to get a job as a flight attendant for any airline out there and welcome all connections and suggestions with open arms. For now I am more than happy with my jobs and am excited about this new chapter in my life. I am learning French through Rosetta Stone which has turned out to be a great program and fun too!
Upcoming events in my life include my two besties birthdays Amanda and Caity in Sept as well as my mother Lois, LJ's wedding with Kyle Little, Caity and Dan's wedding in November, of course Halloween and Thanksgiving in canada this year and soon enough CHRISTMAS. I know its well away and most Canadians want to avoid thinking of the winter weather but I am so excited for Christmas in Canada this year and have already been planning the baked goodies for mom and I to make :)
I still think about my travels every single day and can't deny that I've been thinking about the next places I want to travel including South America, Dubai, Egypt, and more of the tropical islands. I still am in contact with my friends in Australia and the family that i became so close with is already trying to plan my next visit to Australia on their bill! How could I not love Aussies. Mick, our friend from Mooloolaba was able to visit back in July and we showed him a good time in London taking him to kools, jacks, barneys and getting him traditional canadian food like poutine!
Anyways, I think I am going to keep this blog going a little longer whether people read it or not. I know there is another journey out there for me its just a matter of when and where :)
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Back in Cow Town
I've been back in Calgary now for a couple weeks and while still adjusting slightly to the changes of being back in Canada, enjoying the luxuries of having everything at my disposal again. My first driving experience required a lot of reminding myself to stay on the right side and not be nervous about the Calgary tailgating. I still get a bit nervous in cars and buses from our experience in Asia with traffic--oh, and the fact that our bus crashed in Cambodia, that may have been the kicker.
Since returning to Calgary (cow town) I've been searching for jobs in London and Toronto, running up a storm and got a new tattoo of a hibiscus flower. I've been keeping myself busy with goals for my future, getting in touch with people and readapting to reality. The 100th Calgary Stampede starts tomorrow and the city is bursting with excitement for its arrival. We plan to go to the grand opening parade in the morning and then dad and I will be heading to Lethbridge, just a couple hours outside of Calgary as I will be doing my first race of this summer there, a 10km on Saturday morning. After, we'll be returning to Calgary where I will be meeting up with the lovely Emily Strybosch for the stampede events! Looking forward to seeing her again and my mom will be arriving on the Monday after, very exciting! I haven't seen my mother in a year so needless to say it will be quite the reunion. Going to need a few bottles of wine at least :) Then we'll have lots of stampede events, the Brad Paisley concert, chuck and rodeo finals tickets and then I'll be back to London in no time!
Let me back track a little here with FIJI....it was absolutely amazing and such a life changing experience. I stayed at Amunuca Island Resort which was about an hour to hour and a half boat ride from the mainland Nadi. I stayed on the mainland the first night as my flight got me in in the afternoon when the boats had already left. I got up early the next morning and headed to my oasis. Most people my age were staying on Beachcomber Island--known for its wild parties and drinking. I was happy to not be par-taking as Fiji was my time to relax, let loose and do solely what I wanted to do. My resort was stunning with an infinity pool, white sand, crystal clear blue water--the works--basically most people's screen savers. Most of the people on my resort were coulpes or families but I met two guys Dave and Jay who worked together back in Melbourne who were there to dive. Jay had been to Amunuca many times previously with his wife and kids. I got chatting with Dave and Jay on the first day over our tattoos and became quick friends. We made friends with a lot of the couples that came and went so we had a nice little crew.
The dive shop owners Shane and Rachel basically adopted me as one of their own and treated me like gold. I loved them and miss them so much. I had the opportunity to go to cloudbreak the day after Kelly Slater won the Volcom Fiji Pro Surf competition and got so close to him that it was awkward to take pictures at one point. Such a beautiful man and such a great experience. The waves were 10ft at least and like nothing I had ever seen in my life. Absolutely breathtaking, like watching an avalanche.
Dave and Jay caught a giant mackeral the one day so I got to try fresh cooked fish literally straight from the ocean in front of us--so good! We played water volleyball a few times and I was able to use the gym a couple times before the gutted it for renovations. I still managed to run where I could around the island to keep in shape. Lots of happy hour beverages and tanning and most importantly, relaxing. It was the perfect vacation I needed. We met a wonderful couple named Chelsea and Carol and I ended up being Chelsea's only bridesmaid and witness at their beachfront wedding on the Saturday before I left. It was a beautiful ceremony and I was so happy to be a part of it. I never thought I would be in a wedding in Fiji!
We met a great family from the gold coast as well who I still keep in touch with that were so much fun. We also met some Brits, more aussies and kiwis too. Such great people! Sometimes I felt like Jason Segel in forgetting sarah marshall when the servers would continually ask when my husband was arriving to dinner or breakfast and I had to reiterate repeatedly that no, I was there on my own. "No boyfriend?" "no...just me" "oh...sorry maam" "no its quite okay actually." I found it funny but I think the Fijians felt a bit sorry for me at times. However, it didn't stop miss Rachel from living vicariously through me and trying to marry me off to one of the Fijian boys that worked on the resort. Sorry Rach, not going to happen! haha.
Fiji opened my eyes to a lot and I really felt like I learned a lot about myself in the time I had to reflect on the past 10 months. I felt like I finally accepted the person I am and grew up a bit. It may sound cliche but I really had my eye opening to life experience. I was able to write a lot in Fiji and geuinely felt great the entire time I was there. Some of my best writing yet. I felt confident, happy and loved the conversations I was having with fellow travelers about their experiences and what htey wanted in life as well. I shed a few tears on my bus to the airport to leave but was happy to end my 10 month vacation on such a high note. I spent a couple nights at Rachel McKay's before heading back to Calgary on the 21st.
Dad and Steven were there to greet me and I could not have been happier to get home after 13 hours of flying brisbane to LA and then an 8-10 hour layover in LA suffering from jetlag and then another 2 hour flight to Calgary. Dad and I shared some drinks that night and caught up as much as we could and damn it was good to be back. The family came over on the Saturday for my return and we had a great time catching up, sharing stories and just enjoying each others company.
Now, when I think about it, I just feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to travel to so many wonderful places. I met so many incredible people and lapped up luxury in many places. I would definitely go back to Fiji, Thailand and Australia again one day! I got tim hortons the day after I got back and it was gloriousssssss. I've also had swiss chalet which was incredible. It''s the little things like that that you miss when you're traveling. Now, I will be flying back to London soon and could not be more excited to see all the wonderful friends in my life. I lose sleep some nights just thinking about seeing everyone and finding out what everyone has been up to since I've been gone. I am also excited to get a job and get my career going finally.
I have missed everyone tremendously and while I would love to tell more stories, there just isn't enough space so if I ever decide to try and publish my writing...stay tuned! I have uploaded most if not all of my pictures to my facebook page so feel free to take a look! I will see everyone very soon, it is so good to be back, I am truly and utterly happy :)
Since returning to Calgary (cow town) I've been searching for jobs in London and Toronto, running up a storm and got a new tattoo of a hibiscus flower. I've been keeping myself busy with goals for my future, getting in touch with people and readapting to reality. The 100th Calgary Stampede starts tomorrow and the city is bursting with excitement for its arrival. We plan to go to the grand opening parade in the morning and then dad and I will be heading to Lethbridge, just a couple hours outside of Calgary as I will be doing my first race of this summer there, a 10km on Saturday morning. After, we'll be returning to Calgary where I will be meeting up with the lovely Emily Strybosch for the stampede events! Looking forward to seeing her again and my mom will be arriving on the Monday after, very exciting! I haven't seen my mother in a year so needless to say it will be quite the reunion. Going to need a few bottles of wine at least :) Then we'll have lots of stampede events, the Brad Paisley concert, chuck and rodeo finals tickets and then I'll be back to London in no time!
Let me back track a little here with FIJI....it was absolutely amazing and such a life changing experience. I stayed at Amunuca Island Resort which was about an hour to hour and a half boat ride from the mainland Nadi. I stayed on the mainland the first night as my flight got me in in the afternoon when the boats had already left. I got up early the next morning and headed to my oasis. Most people my age were staying on Beachcomber Island--known for its wild parties and drinking. I was happy to not be par-taking as Fiji was my time to relax, let loose and do solely what I wanted to do. My resort was stunning with an infinity pool, white sand, crystal clear blue water--the works--basically most people's screen savers. Most of the people on my resort were coulpes or families but I met two guys Dave and Jay who worked together back in Melbourne who were there to dive. Jay had been to Amunuca many times previously with his wife and kids. I got chatting with Dave and Jay on the first day over our tattoos and became quick friends. We made friends with a lot of the couples that came and went so we had a nice little crew.
The dive shop owners Shane and Rachel basically adopted me as one of their own and treated me like gold. I loved them and miss them so much. I had the opportunity to go to cloudbreak the day after Kelly Slater won the Volcom Fiji Pro Surf competition and got so close to him that it was awkward to take pictures at one point. Such a beautiful man and such a great experience. The waves were 10ft at least and like nothing I had ever seen in my life. Absolutely breathtaking, like watching an avalanche.
Dave and Jay caught a giant mackeral the one day so I got to try fresh cooked fish literally straight from the ocean in front of us--so good! We played water volleyball a few times and I was able to use the gym a couple times before the gutted it for renovations. I still managed to run where I could around the island to keep in shape. Lots of happy hour beverages and tanning and most importantly, relaxing. It was the perfect vacation I needed. We met a wonderful couple named Chelsea and Carol and I ended up being Chelsea's only bridesmaid and witness at their beachfront wedding on the Saturday before I left. It was a beautiful ceremony and I was so happy to be a part of it. I never thought I would be in a wedding in Fiji!
We met a great family from the gold coast as well who I still keep in touch with that were so much fun. We also met some Brits, more aussies and kiwis too. Such great people! Sometimes I felt like Jason Segel in forgetting sarah marshall when the servers would continually ask when my husband was arriving to dinner or breakfast and I had to reiterate repeatedly that no, I was there on my own. "No boyfriend?" "no...just me" "oh...sorry maam" "no its quite okay actually." I found it funny but I think the Fijians felt a bit sorry for me at times. However, it didn't stop miss Rachel from living vicariously through me and trying to marry me off to one of the Fijian boys that worked on the resort. Sorry Rach, not going to happen! haha.
Fiji opened my eyes to a lot and I really felt like I learned a lot about myself in the time I had to reflect on the past 10 months. I felt like I finally accepted the person I am and grew up a bit. It may sound cliche but I really had my eye opening to life experience. I was able to write a lot in Fiji and geuinely felt great the entire time I was there. Some of my best writing yet. I felt confident, happy and loved the conversations I was having with fellow travelers about their experiences and what htey wanted in life as well. I shed a few tears on my bus to the airport to leave but was happy to end my 10 month vacation on such a high note. I spent a couple nights at Rachel McKay's before heading back to Calgary on the 21st.
Dad and Steven were there to greet me and I could not have been happier to get home after 13 hours of flying brisbane to LA and then an 8-10 hour layover in LA suffering from jetlag and then another 2 hour flight to Calgary. Dad and I shared some drinks that night and caught up as much as we could and damn it was good to be back. The family came over on the Saturday for my return and we had a great time catching up, sharing stories and just enjoying each others company.
Now, when I think about it, I just feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to travel to so many wonderful places. I met so many incredible people and lapped up luxury in many places. I would definitely go back to Fiji, Thailand and Australia again one day! I got tim hortons the day after I got back and it was gloriousssssss. I've also had swiss chalet which was incredible. It''s the little things like that that you miss when you're traveling. Now, I will be flying back to London soon and could not be more excited to see all the wonderful friends in my life. I lose sleep some nights just thinking about seeing everyone and finding out what everyone has been up to since I've been gone. I am also excited to get a job and get my career going finally.
I have missed everyone tremendously and while I would love to tell more stories, there just isn't enough space so if I ever decide to try and publish my writing...stay tuned! I have uploaded most if not all of my pictures to my facebook page so feel free to take a look! I will see everyone very soon, it is so good to be back, I am truly and utterly happy :)
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
The last journey...here comes Fiji
My endless summer is feeling a little more like winter the past 48 hours being in Brisbane. I feel like that spoiled brat in Australia who is complaining about the cold but I just went from southeast asia with temperatures at nearly 40 degrees and Bris is currently sitting at 14-16 so I feel like the Jamaican bobsled team arriving in a Calgary winter (yes, thats a cool runnings reference).
I spent about a month traveling with the boys and we had an amazing trip covering thailand, cambodia and vietnam. Vietnam was really different from what we expected and a bit more expensive. We stayed in Saigon in a popular area where there were many shops and high fashion designer brands. We made the trek to the coast to the beach of Mui Ne for a couple nights but sadly the weather did not comply so we didn't get to experience the beach as intended and since it was low season there were not many people around but Phipps, Stewy and I managed to have a good time going out and meeting a Dj who took us to a couple after parties.
The boys got custom made suits from a place called hanh's who absolutely adored the boys and the fact that they got 6 suits between the two of them. It was a cool experience watching the Vietnamese people run around measuring and talking about cuts, material, etc. but the planning process wasn't as exciting so I took a break and checked out the local mall. Saigon was a cool city and one strip of the street was much like Ko San road in Bangkok where people all sit out on chairs in the street and drink for cheap. The guys got their suits finalized and I played dress up with some of the gorgeous dresses in the shop. For those of you who know me well know i love a man in a suit so seeing the final products was exciting for me! I sadly had to say goodbye to Stew on our last morning and joined him in the airport to say our goodbyes after 8 months of living together, traveling together and basically being together 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Airport goodbyes are awful and I spent most of the time crying and continued it on my cab ride back to the hotel.
I'm sure some of you saw the drama on my facebook about the Vietnam airport and trying to get into Indonesia. Basically what happened was that to fly into Indonesia you need a ticket saying you are exciting. I didn't have a ticket booked out of Indonesia as I wasn't sure how long I was going to stay in Bali. The Vietnam air asia team was extremely rude about this and were not going to let me on the plane. I had to negotiate through tears and confusion and eventually they made me buy a random ticket to Singapore on the spot for $400. I found out later that in most cases they should have just let me go if they wanted to be nice. Anyways, got to Jakarta and had to buy my temporary visa and they wouldn't accept my remaining Vietnamese dong and I was having issues with my bank card as per usual so the drama continued in trying to pay for the visa to get into the country. I was the only white person in the entire airport and I mean that quite literally so it was very overwhelming. I ended up hanging out with the immigration police in a private room discussing the issues and eventually having them cheer me up. They confirmed that if the vietnamese air people wanted to be nice they could have not charged me for that stupid singapore ticket..grrr...
I ended up getting on my flight to Bali after havin to explain why I wasn't going to Singapore repeatedly as neither of us could understand each other well. Lots of hand gestures and "NO SINGAPORE!" involved lol.
Met up with Brittny and Sophie who I met in Byron Bay for our adventures in Bali. Arrived and took a cab up to Ubud where Eat Pray Love was filmed. We had a beautiful bungalow on Monkey Forest road. I spent the first few hours in Ubud just looking at shops and wandering around. I had a beautiful dinner with the girls at a place called Bridges that was a little pricier but extremely cheap for the five star fine dining we received. We were treated like absolute princesses and had one of the best meals I've literally ever eaten, barramundi :) mmmm. Later we went to a really cool shisha bar and met up with some crazy aussie ladies that the girls had met the night before who were absolutely outrageous and so funny. I was nearly crying of laughter at them and their antics. They had their balinese driver with them who they paid off for the day to drive them anywhere and took him out for dinner and drinks and spoiled him.
Brittny wasn't feeling well the next day so she spent most if not all of the day in bed trying to recover. Sophie and I toured around and went to the Monkey Forest which was really cool to see all the monkeys running around and coming right up to people. We went for dinner at a place called Cintra and had another low key night. We met a guy named Dave from the UK who gave us tips on the Gili islands so the next morning we took the fast boat aka worst boat ride of our lives to Tarawanga island. Soph got sick :( and I came very close it was a very rough ride but we made it and checked into the place Dave suggested where the locals adored us and had many good things to say about Dave and his buddies. We hit the beach and I had one of my first jaw dropping experiences when I saw the beach. crystal clear blue water, beautiful sand and moutainous islands across the water. Absolutely breathtaking. Later I ran the entire perimeter of the island which was about 8km and went a bit further after for an even 10. It was so cool to see the entire island and saw some really beautiful resorts. We only had a couple nights on the island due to time so the girls decided to go for a scuba dive the next day while I embraced the beach hard, laying out, writing and just relaxing. We met up later and went partying on the island as the entire island parties mon, wed, and fri. We played beer pong with the locals on our resort (Soph and I won harddddd second round) We met some Canadians and had drinks, dinner and then partied the night away.
The next day we took the boat back to Kuta, Bali and spent one night in Kuta on the town. We got a gorgeous resort with huge pool and beautiful room for fairly cheap and then hit the town hard. Kuta is very comparable to Bangkok on the level of craziness. A lot of people don't like Kuta because of that reason it does not look or feel like the "bali" you imagine but it is outrageous. We partied the night away checking out some of the biggest clubs and dodging the many Australian guys that take over Kuta on vacation. the night was insane and involved lots of drinks, dancing like crazy, sophie jumping a 6ft gap from one stage to the next, people scaling the ceilings like monkeys and more things that are better saved for in person conversations.
We all flew out the next day at different times and we had some of our best shopping in Kuta. After having to barter for the past month my skills were prime in Kuta and managed to get some incredible deals. the girls also got really good at it and were getting deals left right and centre. In Bali they are so much easier to barter with and actually do chase you down the street to make deals which is awesome. My best purchase was probably Dr. Dre's headphones the ibeats for $5 which took a good half hour of negotiating after the guy started at a ridiculous price.
I flew out of Bali at midnight and arrived in Brisbane around 8am yesterday. Didn't have the greatest sleep on the plane obviously but powered through the tiredness to get my hostel and hit the streets to plan Fiji. Found a great travel agent and spent a while with her working everything out and finding out my best option. I then went to some shops but resisted purchases as I'm now back to Australian prices. Since its so cold I made my way back and went for a 6km run down by the river in the evening and came back early to warm up with soup, hot shower and movie before bed. I was out by around 9pm after not having much sleep in the past 48 hours and didn't wake up til 11am today! I did another 8km run this morning and then went to book Fiji. I will be staying in a resort called Amunuca Island resort on a little island called Tokorwiki or something similar cant remember! I will be leaving on friday for 10 days in the sun. My criteria to the travel agent was send me somewhere where the beach is beautiful, the resort is beautiful, i have a gym, pool and the peacefulness, where i dont even have to talk to anyone if i dont want to haha. She found me my oasis and I will be there in a few days. So excited!
In the meantime I am staying at City Backpackers on Roma street in Brisbane, met a few girls from my hostel but have little to no desire to go anywhere as I only have my south east asia clothes and will freeze if i leave haha. Stewy flies home tomorrow so theres a chance I could run into him somewhere but if not hope he has a good flight home--I know he is SO excited to see everyone and I am very jealous that he gets to so soon. I miss everyone like crazy and am getting ready to come home. I know after Fiji I will be ready to get back to Canada as it has been an amazing journey. I can't even begin to describe the crazy amazing experiences I've had but feel like a different person who has learned a lot, experienced a lot and will never forget the things I've done and seen and the people I have met.
I apologize for the extremely lengthy post but I am not sure if I will be writing or using internet in Fiji. I will have many many stories for everyone about Asia when I get back but they will be far better shared over some drinks than on a blog! To those who weren't sure or can't remember or maybe I just never told i will be flying back to Calgary on June 21 and spending a month in Calgary to go to the stampede. I have tickets to the Rodeo Finals, Chuckwagon Finals with my family as well as Brad Paisley/The Band Perry and Paul Brandt!! I could not be more excited! I will be looking to move back to London around July 20th-ish and will be living at Barney's patio for the remainder of hte summer lol. I can't wait to see everyone and think about all of you all the time :)
Lots of love hugs and kisses from here in Brisbane!!
xo
Court
I spent about a month traveling with the boys and we had an amazing trip covering thailand, cambodia and vietnam. Vietnam was really different from what we expected and a bit more expensive. We stayed in Saigon in a popular area where there were many shops and high fashion designer brands. We made the trek to the coast to the beach of Mui Ne for a couple nights but sadly the weather did not comply so we didn't get to experience the beach as intended and since it was low season there were not many people around but Phipps, Stewy and I managed to have a good time going out and meeting a Dj who took us to a couple after parties.
The boys got custom made suits from a place called hanh's who absolutely adored the boys and the fact that they got 6 suits between the two of them. It was a cool experience watching the Vietnamese people run around measuring and talking about cuts, material, etc. but the planning process wasn't as exciting so I took a break and checked out the local mall. Saigon was a cool city and one strip of the street was much like Ko San road in Bangkok where people all sit out on chairs in the street and drink for cheap. The guys got their suits finalized and I played dress up with some of the gorgeous dresses in the shop. For those of you who know me well know i love a man in a suit so seeing the final products was exciting for me! I sadly had to say goodbye to Stew on our last morning and joined him in the airport to say our goodbyes after 8 months of living together, traveling together and basically being together 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Airport goodbyes are awful and I spent most of the time crying and continued it on my cab ride back to the hotel.
I'm sure some of you saw the drama on my facebook about the Vietnam airport and trying to get into Indonesia. Basically what happened was that to fly into Indonesia you need a ticket saying you are exciting. I didn't have a ticket booked out of Indonesia as I wasn't sure how long I was going to stay in Bali. The Vietnam air asia team was extremely rude about this and were not going to let me on the plane. I had to negotiate through tears and confusion and eventually they made me buy a random ticket to Singapore on the spot for $400. I found out later that in most cases they should have just let me go if they wanted to be nice. Anyways, got to Jakarta and had to buy my temporary visa and they wouldn't accept my remaining Vietnamese dong and I was having issues with my bank card as per usual so the drama continued in trying to pay for the visa to get into the country. I was the only white person in the entire airport and I mean that quite literally so it was very overwhelming. I ended up hanging out with the immigration police in a private room discussing the issues and eventually having them cheer me up. They confirmed that if the vietnamese air people wanted to be nice they could have not charged me for that stupid singapore ticket..grrr...
I ended up getting on my flight to Bali after havin to explain why I wasn't going to Singapore repeatedly as neither of us could understand each other well. Lots of hand gestures and "NO SINGAPORE!" involved lol.
Met up with Brittny and Sophie who I met in Byron Bay for our adventures in Bali. Arrived and took a cab up to Ubud where Eat Pray Love was filmed. We had a beautiful bungalow on Monkey Forest road. I spent the first few hours in Ubud just looking at shops and wandering around. I had a beautiful dinner with the girls at a place called Bridges that was a little pricier but extremely cheap for the five star fine dining we received. We were treated like absolute princesses and had one of the best meals I've literally ever eaten, barramundi :) mmmm. Later we went to a really cool shisha bar and met up with some crazy aussie ladies that the girls had met the night before who were absolutely outrageous and so funny. I was nearly crying of laughter at them and their antics. They had their balinese driver with them who they paid off for the day to drive them anywhere and took him out for dinner and drinks and spoiled him.
Brittny wasn't feeling well the next day so she spent most if not all of the day in bed trying to recover. Sophie and I toured around and went to the Monkey Forest which was really cool to see all the monkeys running around and coming right up to people. We went for dinner at a place called Cintra and had another low key night. We met a guy named Dave from the UK who gave us tips on the Gili islands so the next morning we took the fast boat aka worst boat ride of our lives to Tarawanga island. Soph got sick :( and I came very close it was a very rough ride but we made it and checked into the place Dave suggested where the locals adored us and had many good things to say about Dave and his buddies. We hit the beach and I had one of my first jaw dropping experiences when I saw the beach. crystal clear blue water, beautiful sand and moutainous islands across the water. Absolutely breathtaking. Later I ran the entire perimeter of the island which was about 8km and went a bit further after for an even 10. It was so cool to see the entire island and saw some really beautiful resorts. We only had a couple nights on the island due to time so the girls decided to go for a scuba dive the next day while I embraced the beach hard, laying out, writing and just relaxing. We met up later and went partying on the island as the entire island parties mon, wed, and fri. We played beer pong with the locals on our resort (Soph and I won harddddd second round) We met some Canadians and had drinks, dinner and then partied the night away.
The next day we took the boat back to Kuta, Bali and spent one night in Kuta on the town. We got a gorgeous resort with huge pool and beautiful room for fairly cheap and then hit the town hard. Kuta is very comparable to Bangkok on the level of craziness. A lot of people don't like Kuta because of that reason it does not look or feel like the "bali" you imagine but it is outrageous. We partied the night away checking out some of the biggest clubs and dodging the many Australian guys that take over Kuta on vacation. the night was insane and involved lots of drinks, dancing like crazy, sophie jumping a 6ft gap from one stage to the next, people scaling the ceilings like monkeys and more things that are better saved for in person conversations.
We all flew out the next day at different times and we had some of our best shopping in Kuta. After having to barter for the past month my skills were prime in Kuta and managed to get some incredible deals. the girls also got really good at it and were getting deals left right and centre. In Bali they are so much easier to barter with and actually do chase you down the street to make deals which is awesome. My best purchase was probably Dr. Dre's headphones the ibeats for $5 which took a good half hour of negotiating after the guy started at a ridiculous price.
I flew out of Bali at midnight and arrived in Brisbane around 8am yesterday. Didn't have the greatest sleep on the plane obviously but powered through the tiredness to get my hostel and hit the streets to plan Fiji. Found a great travel agent and spent a while with her working everything out and finding out my best option. I then went to some shops but resisted purchases as I'm now back to Australian prices. Since its so cold I made my way back and went for a 6km run down by the river in the evening and came back early to warm up with soup, hot shower and movie before bed. I was out by around 9pm after not having much sleep in the past 48 hours and didn't wake up til 11am today! I did another 8km run this morning and then went to book Fiji. I will be staying in a resort called Amunuca Island resort on a little island called Tokorwiki or something similar cant remember! I will be leaving on friday for 10 days in the sun. My criteria to the travel agent was send me somewhere where the beach is beautiful, the resort is beautiful, i have a gym, pool and the peacefulness, where i dont even have to talk to anyone if i dont want to haha. She found me my oasis and I will be there in a few days. So excited!
In the meantime I am staying at City Backpackers on Roma street in Brisbane, met a few girls from my hostel but have little to no desire to go anywhere as I only have my south east asia clothes and will freeze if i leave haha. Stewy flies home tomorrow so theres a chance I could run into him somewhere but if not hope he has a good flight home--I know he is SO excited to see everyone and I am very jealous that he gets to so soon. I miss everyone like crazy and am getting ready to come home. I know after Fiji I will be ready to get back to Canada as it has been an amazing journey. I can't even begin to describe the crazy amazing experiences I've had but feel like a different person who has learned a lot, experienced a lot and will never forget the things I've done and seen and the people I have met.
I apologize for the extremely lengthy post but I am not sure if I will be writing or using internet in Fiji. I will have many many stories for everyone about Asia when I get back but they will be far better shared over some drinks than on a blog! To those who weren't sure or can't remember or maybe I just never told i will be flying back to Calgary on June 21 and spending a month in Calgary to go to the stampede. I have tickets to the Rodeo Finals, Chuckwagon Finals with my family as well as Brad Paisley/The Band Perry and Paul Brandt!! I could not be more excited! I will be looking to move back to London around July 20th-ish and will be living at Barney's patio for the remainder of hte summer lol. I can't wait to see everyone and think about all of you all the time :)
Lots of love hugs and kisses from here in Brisbane!!
xo
Court
Friday, May 25, 2012
A Taste of Thailand
The Full Moon Party flaming skipping rope!
Stewy and I riding an elephant on Koh Phangan
The Full Moon Party sunrise on Haad Rin Nok beach
The Grand Palace in Bangkok, absolutely breathtaking
Muay Tai boxing match! Posing with the winner of the night!
Stewy and Curtis before the hair cuts in the jungle
Stew's new do...no more bradley cooper locks
Surathani first night's accommodation for $11
Soi Cowboy road, famous for ladyboys, hookers and bad decisions
Stewy, Rory, Curt, Travis and i with some fellow travelers in Bangkok
Hanging out on the beach on Koh Tao :)
Jasmine Gardens--Koh Tao where we scuba dived
Sunset on Koh Tao, absolute paradise
The night ferry aka refugee boat, horrible!
Happy hour drinks on Ko San road in Bangkok
Our accommodation in Bangkok for 400baht
Some of the bugs we ate in Bangkok
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
This is Thailand mannnn you can do whatever you want!
Greetings from Thailand!! I am writing from an island called Ko Chang where we are staying on Lonely Beach, a small beach with bungalows shacks to stay in for 100baht/night. We got here yesterday and spent our first night here with a gigantic rain storm I thought was going to destroy our shack since it was physically shaking.
We've been in Thailand for a couple weeks nearly now and I am officially in love with this place. People were not kidding about the heat and humidity and we experienced this to the extreme while in Bangkok where the city somehow traps all heat in and you really just never stop sweating. Its at the point where you want accommodation with no hot water--even the option makes me sweat haha. We were in Surathani for a night and got a true taste of Thailand walking around the markets and seeing locals slice and dice fish on big planks right before our eyes. A lot of the food we werent sure exactly what it was but the smells and looks of many things were quite interesting. We headed to Ko Phangan the next day for a bunch of days to experience the full moon party. We rented a scooter to get around the island and ended up staying in EasyLife Bungalows in the northern part of the island. The full moon party was pretty wild but so were the days before and after which included beach parties, music, fire twirling, skipping ropes dipped in kerosine and lit on fire to skip, foam baths, body paint and even a waterslide from a roof. Our friends were right when they said you can do anything you want on the islands which means if the place your at charges too much for booze, you just go to 7eleven and buy some and bring it back into the bar. you can also leave bars with your booze and roam the streets. We got to try these infamous buckets which consist of a mickey of booze, illegal rebull and one can of pop. Strong and lethal needless to say. the redbull was the danger which had us all feeling shakey and sick the next day so we are off the redbull for good. The party was awesome and we made it right through to sunrise. These beach parties are not doing well for my sandal situation as we've been in Thailand for 2 weeks and I've gone through about 5 pairs of flip flops. Lucky for me flip flops are like 80baht or $2 so its not too devastating.
We spent a good time on Ko Phangan and got to ride an elephant which was awesome. I ran a couple times there but have to watch timing as when the mosquitoes come out its like a death sentence for me. We headed to Ko Tao after which was an even more amazing island where we got beautiful accommodation just steps from teh beach. We all went for a scuba dive the one day and saw so many beautiful fish, coral and even some black tipped sharks! I am travelling with Stew, Curt and 2 guys from Canada that Curt picked up in Europe named Rory and Travis.Curt's brother has goen home early after a mo-ped accident that cost him 4 stitches and the inability to walk comfortably. We were sad to see him go but know that he's better off. We had a grea time on Ko Tao and fell in love with the beach front restaurants. We got to see a real muay tai boxing match and even meet the champion of the night.
After Ko Tao we spent a couple nights in Bangkok which was amazing. The journey there was a little rough which required a night boat aka refugee boat that was filthy with bunk beds and caused me to get a little sea sick followed by an 8 hour bus ride where the ac stopped workng and took everything in me not to projectile vommit in but was so thankful to get to the city. The city is booming with street vendors, shops and lights everywhere. It is very much lik ehow you see in the movies and we had to be cautious of pick pocketing and ruthless tuk tuk drivers who will take you almost anywhere but where you actually ask to go. We stayed on Ko San Road, a famous street for vendors and tourism. We checked out Soi Cowboy known for the scenes in teh hangover 2 and the ladyboys/hookers that are everywhere and not shy to come up and grab the boys. A sight you definitely will never forget. We went to the bars and 1 strip club and tried fried bugs on the street one night which consisted of grubs, crickets, cockroaches and grasshoppers. Disgusting yes but not AS bad as I anticipated. The food is generally amazing and we got pad thai for 50 cents on teh street. The people are outrageous in Bangkok and the city attracts some interesting characters. I stuck close to the boys and felt safe most of the time but realized how true it was that if you were to go missing in Bangkok you would then belong to the city. We saw the grand palace temple and Sucumvit (sp?) another hustle bustle places with bars and shops which can also be seen in the movie the beach.
We are now on Ko Chang after leaving bangkok. We plan to go back to bangkok eventually as the boys want to get some custom made suits and i just want to experience bangkok's madness again. We are heading to Cambodia after Ko Chang and then up to Laos. We have been doing well and despite getting a really bad case of what I am confident was bed bugs I am surviving well! I found a local shop with herbal cream for my bites and haven't gotten into any dangerous scenerios ha. I was able to get a new camera after mine died for under $100 with Stew's salesy help at a camera store and will post pictures when I can. LOVING the cheap thai food but realized I've met my match when it comes to spice and that when they say its spicy, they really mean expect to spend your meal nearly in tears and sweating. Beer and drinks are dirt cheap and we've done enough drinking for the rest of our lives ad have been on a detox the past couple days. The boys are shaving their heads today for a friend at home and though I will be sad to say goodbye to Stew's bradley Cooper hair that i love I know its for a good cause :)
Miss everyone and think of you all often! Will update more when I can and look forward to telling you stories in person that are undescribeable online.
Love you all and cant explain enough how much I am in love with thailand!
xoxoxox
We've been in Thailand for a couple weeks nearly now and I am officially in love with this place. People were not kidding about the heat and humidity and we experienced this to the extreme while in Bangkok where the city somehow traps all heat in and you really just never stop sweating. Its at the point where you want accommodation with no hot water--even the option makes me sweat haha. We were in Surathani for a night and got a true taste of Thailand walking around the markets and seeing locals slice and dice fish on big planks right before our eyes. A lot of the food we werent sure exactly what it was but the smells and looks of many things were quite interesting. We headed to Ko Phangan the next day for a bunch of days to experience the full moon party. We rented a scooter to get around the island and ended up staying in EasyLife Bungalows in the northern part of the island. The full moon party was pretty wild but so were the days before and after which included beach parties, music, fire twirling, skipping ropes dipped in kerosine and lit on fire to skip, foam baths, body paint and even a waterslide from a roof. Our friends were right when they said you can do anything you want on the islands which means if the place your at charges too much for booze, you just go to 7eleven and buy some and bring it back into the bar. you can also leave bars with your booze and roam the streets. We got to try these infamous buckets which consist of a mickey of booze, illegal rebull and one can of pop. Strong and lethal needless to say. the redbull was the danger which had us all feeling shakey and sick the next day so we are off the redbull for good. The party was awesome and we made it right through to sunrise. These beach parties are not doing well for my sandal situation as we've been in Thailand for 2 weeks and I've gone through about 5 pairs of flip flops. Lucky for me flip flops are like 80baht or $2 so its not too devastating.
We spent a good time on Ko Phangan and got to ride an elephant which was awesome. I ran a couple times there but have to watch timing as when the mosquitoes come out its like a death sentence for me. We headed to Ko Tao after which was an even more amazing island where we got beautiful accommodation just steps from teh beach. We all went for a scuba dive the one day and saw so many beautiful fish, coral and even some black tipped sharks! I am travelling with Stew, Curt and 2 guys from Canada that Curt picked up in Europe named Rory and Travis.Curt's brother has goen home early after a mo-ped accident that cost him 4 stitches and the inability to walk comfortably. We were sad to see him go but know that he's better off. We had a grea time on Ko Tao and fell in love with the beach front restaurants. We got to see a real muay tai boxing match and even meet the champion of the night.
After Ko Tao we spent a couple nights in Bangkok which was amazing. The journey there was a little rough which required a night boat aka refugee boat that was filthy with bunk beds and caused me to get a little sea sick followed by an 8 hour bus ride where the ac stopped workng and took everything in me not to projectile vommit in but was so thankful to get to the city. The city is booming with street vendors, shops and lights everywhere. It is very much lik ehow you see in the movies and we had to be cautious of pick pocketing and ruthless tuk tuk drivers who will take you almost anywhere but where you actually ask to go. We stayed on Ko San Road, a famous street for vendors and tourism. We checked out Soi Cowboy known for the scenes in teh hangover 2 and the ladyboys/hookers that are everywhere and not shy to come up and grab the boys. A sight you definitely will never forget. We went to the bars and 1 strip club and tried fried bugs on the street one night which consisted of grubs, crickets, cockroaches and grasshoppers. Disgusting yes but not AS bad as I anticipated. The food is generally amazing and we got pad thai for 50 cents on teh street. The people are outrageous in Bangkok and the city attracts some interesting characters. I stuck close to the boys and felt safe most of the time but realized how true it was that if you were to go missing in Bangkok you would then belong to the city. We saw the grand palace temple and Sucumvit (sp?) another hustle bustle places with bars and shops which can also be seen in the movie the beach.
We are now on Ko Chang after leaving bangkok. We plan to go back to bangkok eventually as the boys want to get some custom made suits and i just want to experience bangkok's madness again. We are heading to Cambodia after Ko Chang and then up to Laos. We have been doing well and despite getting a really bad case of what I am confident was bed bugs I am surviving well! I found a local shop with herbal cream for my bites and haven't gotten into any dangerous scenerios ha. I was able to get a new camera after mine died for under $100 with Stew's salesy help at a camera store and will post pictures when I can. LOVING the cheap thai food but realized I've met my match when it comes to spice and that when they say its spicy, they really mean expect to spend your meal nearly in tears and sweating. Beer and drinks are dirt cheap and we've done enough drinking for the rest of our lives ad have been on a detox the past couple days. The boys are shaving their heads today for a friend at home and though I will be sad to say goodbye to Stew's bradley Cooper hair that i love I know its for a good cause :)
Miss everyone and think of you all often! Will update more when I can and look forward to telling you stories in person that are undescribeable online.
Love you all and cant explain enough how much I am in love with thailand!
xoxoxox
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
I am currently sitting in the Coolangatta airport with Stewy waiting to board our long anticipated flight to Kuala Lumpur. We have been waiting for this flight for what seems like ages but it's finally here! We left Byron Bay this past friday and took an 8 hour journey of travelling by bus and train and bus again to make our way to Mooloolaba to stay with Mick for a couple days on the Sunshine Coast. Sunshine was lacking there as we got rained on nonstop while visiting but were able to grab a few hours of dry weather thankfully. We had a great visit and Stewy was able to get out for one more surf at our old stompin grounds Alex Beach before we headed out towards Redcliffe to meet up with Rachel McKay and her boyfriend Curtis who were so kind to let us store some of our belongings are their place while we travel South East Asia.
Rachel picked us up from the train station and spoiled us with home made minestrone soup and the comfort of their gigantic home and couch and flat screen tv. ahhhh the simple luxuries of life. We had a relaxing night with Rach and Curtis and then were off with much less luggage towards the Gold Coast in the morning. We spent a night in Surfer's Paradise at the Gold Coast International Hostel which we got for only $20/night/pp. It was a deal considering its a low season now with the cooler weather. We had dinner with Stew's friend Cale at The Avenue and spent a relaxing night in watching movies. We got up early the next day and I had my run around surfers before we packed up to move on. Got to skype both mom and dad to say goodbye before Asia and then had breakfast with Stew at Pancakes in Paradise where we had the most expensive pancakes I've ever experienced. For $17 we got 3 pancakes and a coffee....between 2 of us. ridiculous!
After Surfer's we headed to Coolangatta and stayed at Sands Hostel which was a little pricier at $29/night/pp but we got our own room like we had in Surfer's due to the lack of backpackers lately. It's been hella cold here in Australia (for australia) so we've been in hoodies and pants almost every night. Needless to say, no beach days lately. We went out for dinner last night to a sushi place where we were able to get a huge platter of various sushi pieces for $30 which was a steal. It was delicious! We had a low key night in again in the hostel and watched movies, made popcorn and had a good sleep. This morning we got free cereal at the hostel and then headed to the library to kill some time in Coolangatta before having to head to the airport. We made our way here to the airport around 6pm, had dinner, browsed the bookstore and checked in. I ended up having to pay an additional $30 to check my backpack as it was 4kg over and being as I already have packed the bare minimum there was no way to on the spot get rid of 4kg! Come on ladies, you know its not that easy!
Anyways, we fly out here in a matter of minutes and will be arriving at 4am in Kuala Lumpur. Originally we would have been taking a solid 18+ hour bus up towards Ko Phangang for the full moon party but opted to fly up to Surat Thani which is only half an hour on the plane and was a measely $70/pp. Not bad and really we can't put a price on the comfort level. This way we will make it to Ko Phangang in time for the party and to meet Curt and his brother well rested and ready to party on the 5th.
To answer your questions you may be wondering, no we will likely not have cell phone access but will update our families and friends online when possible, yes we will be careful and are aware of the dangers of the full moon party, we will be traveling from the islands to Bangkok then potentially on to Cambodia, Laos and vietnam. Nothing is set in stone yet as we will be making our arrangements once we meet up with Curt and his brother. We will be staying at Green Peace Bungalows on Ko Phangang for a few days for the full moon party and you can check it out by googling!!
I am so excited to get to Asia yet a little nervous about what to expect once we land. It will be quite the experience for both of us and likely the most foreign place we've ever landed into. Stew has his eppy pen so we're hoping for no allergy attacks while in asia and will be doing our best to say NO NUTS when ordering meals for him lol. We will update everyone as soon as we can and of course pictures to follow. Love you all and miss you tons! Can't wait to update our next big adventure :)
xxo
Rachel picked us up from the train station and spoiled us with home made minestrone soup and the comfort of their gigantic home and couch and flat screen tv. ahhhh the simple luxuries of life. We had a relaxing night with Rach and Curtis and then were off with much less luggage towards the Gold Coast in the morning. We spent a night in Surfer's Paradise at the Gold Coast International Hostel which we got for only $20/night/pp. It was a deal considering its a low season now with the cooler weather. We had dinner with Stew's friend Cale at The Avenue and spent a relaxing night in watching movies. We got up early the next day and I had my run around surfers before we packed up to move on. Got to skype both mom and dad to say goodbye before Asia and then had breakfast with Stew at Pancakes in Paradise where we had the most expensive pancakes I've ever experienced. For $17 we got 3 pancakes and a coffee....between 2 of us. ridiculous!
After Surfer's we headed to Coolangatta and stayed at Sands Hostel which was a little pricier at $29/night/pp but we got our own room like we had in Surfer's due to the lack of backpackers lately. It's been hella cold here in Australia (for australia) so we've been in hoodies and pants almost every night. Needless to say, no beach days lately. We went out for dinner last night to a sushi place where we were able to get a huge platter of various sushi pieces for $30 which was a steal. It was delicious! We had a low key night in again in the hostel and watched movies, made popcorn and had a good sleep. This morning we got free cereal at the hostel and then headed to the library to kill some time in Coolangatta before having to head to the airport. We made our way here to the airport around 6pm, had dinner, browsed the bookstore and checked in. I ended up having to pay an additional $30 to check my backpack as it was 4kg over and being as I already have packed the bare minimum there was no way to on the spot get rid of 4kg! Come on ladies, you know its not that easy!
Anyways, we fly out here in a matter of minutes and will be arriving at 4am in Kuala Lumpur. Originally we would have been taking a solid 18+ hour bus up towards Ko Phangang for the full moon party but opted to fly up to Surat Thani which is only half an hour on the plane and was a measely $70/pp. Not bad and really we can't put a price on the comfort level. This way we will make it to Ko Phangang in time for the party and to meet Curt and his brother well rested and ready to party on the 5th.
To answer your questions you may be wondering, no we will likely not have cell phone access but will update our families and friends online when possible, yes we will be careful and are aware of the dangers of the full moon party, we will be traveling from the islands to Bangkok then potentially on to Cambodia, Laos and vietnam. Nothing is set in stone yet as we will be making our arrangements once we meet up with Curt and his brother. We will be staying at Green Peace Bungalows on Ko Phangang for a few days for the full moon party and you can check it out by googling!!
I am so excited to get to Asia yet a little nervous about what to expect once we land. It will be quite the experience for both of us and likely the most foreign place we've ever landed into. Stew has his eppy pen so we're hoping for no allergy attacks while in asia and will be doing our best to say NO NUTS when ordering meals for him lol. We will update everyone as soon as we can and of course pictures to follow. Love you all and miss you tons! Can't wait to update our next big adventure :)
xxo
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
The Week of Birthdays
This week is the week of birthdays here in Byron. Sunday was Sophie's, Monday was Noah's and mine is tomorrow! Well a couple days away for those of you reading this from Canada. It has been a very fun week so far and I am definitely looking forward to tomorrow.
On Sunday Stew and I got up early and drove to Surfer's Paradise to meet a guy who was buying our van for commercial use. We sold it to him for $3200 and then took the greyhound back to Byron. It was a sad day having to say goodbye to the currymobile and all the memories that it had. It was nice, however, to get some cash to put towards our future Asia trip. We told the guy about the van and the curry story of course so he knew her background! Never going to forget the miles we've been on that van, learning to drive stick shift on the opposite side of the road and car, living out of it for months on end and having our 2-man pre drinks in the parking lot of local grocery stores. Our time with the van was great and I can only hope she's as good to this new guy as she was to us :)
Sunday evening we went over to the girls' place for Sophie's 25th birthday where we had jello shooters, cupcakes and drinks before heading to the Beach Hotel. It was a fun night and Sophie had a great birthday. Monday was Noah's birthday and we were both working so we didn't get the chance to wish our roommate a happy birthday until the evening but it was a really fun day. After working at Subway I went out for an 8km run that felt terrific as have most of my runs lately with the new Nike Lunar Flys. After the run we got ready for the party and it wasn't long before our house was filled with people who live in Byron and work at the local businesses on Jonson Street. I had baked cookies on Saturday for Sophie and Noah so I put them out at the party and then vanished quite quickly--peanut butter chocolate chip, delicious! I literally had over 85 cookies as I decided to double the recipe as per Noah's recommendation....I was baking for over 3 hours on Saturday haha. Fishmongers, Asia Joes, Fresh and other places were supposed to be having a big beach party with music and fire but since it has been pouring the party needed a new location. Noah volunteered our house so we had a big party of people for his birthday/work party. Lots of fun!
Tuesday was a lazy day of sleeping in and movie watching until Stew had to go to work at Fishmongers. I watched movies and hung out with no intention of doing anything until Stew called me to tell me Maseo from De La Soul was going to be DJ-ing at Woody's that night. Being as we are both huge underground hip hop fans of groups like Tribe, Ghost Face Killers, Jurassic 5, Guru, Pharcyde etc. we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see De La LIVE! It was $10 to get in and he put on a great show. I even got a shout out from him before the night was done! Needless to say I felt pretty cool and was a minute away from asking him to DJ my birthday party haha.
Tomorrow is my birthday and I'm pretty excited about turning 25. I don't feel much older and am not un-happy about getting older...but ask me again on my 30th and I might have a different story. So far I don't have any real big plans, maybe go to a yoga class in the morning, have dinner with Stew and then our friends are going to come over for drinks before going out. I bought a new dress so I'm excited to wear it finally!
We have booked our flights for Asia and will be flying to Kuala Lumpur on May 2 out of Coolangatta. We're going to bus up towards the island of Ko Samui where we will be meeting Curt and his brother to take a boat over to Ko Pengang where the full moon party will be held. The full moon party is May 5 and attracts literally thousands of travelers to party on the beach, paint their bodies, have bonfires and listen to live music. After the party we'll be heading north towards Bangkok and then on to Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos depending on where we feel like going and how much we want to travel around. We'll be touring South East Asia for a couple weeks and then I'll be heading to Bali for a week on my own to relax, do yoga, and just chill out. Then I'll be flying back into Perth (WA) and spending the first weekend in June there. Then I'll fly back to Brisbane for a couple days before spending 7-10 days in Fiji. From there you'll have to stay tuned but for now there are lots of flights coming up in the next couple months and surprisingly not too expensive! My flight from Kuala Lumpur to Bali is barely $60 and the flight from Perth to Brisbane is only about $100. All in all our trip to Asia isn't going to cost much as the flights are cheap and everything in Thailand is dirt cheap once we're there apparently. After researching, we've found that you can buy dinners there for under $4 and beers for 50 cents!!! holy moly!! We're going to feel like ballers, so excited.
So we have a couple weeks left here in Byron and its been great so far. Mick was able to come visit us last week for a day which was great because we hadn't seen him since November! We're going to spend a few days on the Sunshine Coast again before we head to Asia so that we can see Mick and Rachel, our Canadian friend! We're also going to be visiting Rachel McKay in Redcliffe as she has so kindly offered to let us keep our stuff there while we're backpacking through Asia.
Anyways, hope everyone had a great Easter Weekend. While we didn't really celebrate here it was fun having the town so busy and being able to go out with friends. We're definitely looking forward to bein able to celebrate occasions when we get home as Aussies don't really celebrate anything here besides Australia day. Either way, Canada day celebrations will be a must with or without Aussie support haha.
Have a great one everybody and will update again soon!! xo
On Sunday Stew and I got up early and drove to Surfer's Paradise to meet a guy who was buying our van for commercial use. We sold it to him for $3200 and then took the greyhound back to Byron. It was a sad day having to say goodbye to the currymobile and all the memories that it had. It was nice, however, to get some cash to put towards our future Asia trip. We told the guy about the van and the curry story of course so he knew her background! Never going to forget the miles we've been on that van, learning to drive stick shift on the opposite side of the road and car, living out of it for months on end and having our 2-man pre drinks in the parking lot of local grocery stores. Our time with the van was great and I can only hope she's as good to this new guy as she was to us :)
Sunday evening we went over to the girls' place for Sophie's 25th birthday where we had jello shooters, cupcakes and drinks before heading to the Beach Hotel. It was a fun night and Sophie had a great birthday. Monday was Noah's birthday and we were both working so we didn't get the chance to wish our roommate a happy birthday until the evening but it was a really fun day. After working at Subway I went out for an 8km run that felt terrific as have most of my runs lately with the new Nike Lunar Flys. After the run we got ready for the party and it wasn't long before our house was filled with people who live in Byron and work at the local businesses on Jonson Street. I had baked cookies on Saturday for Sophie and Noah so I put them out at the party and then vanished quite quickly--peanut butter chocolate chip, delicious! I literally had over 85 cookies as I decided to double the recipe as per Noah's recommendation....I was baking for over 3 hours on Saturday haha. Fishmongers, Asia Joes, Fresh and other places were supposed to be having a big beach party with music and fire but since it has been pouring the party needed a new location. Noah volunteered our house so we had a big party of people for his birthday/work party. Lots of fun!
Tuesday was a lazy day of sleeping in and movie watching until Stew had to go to work at Fishmongers. I watched movies and hung out with no intention of doing anything until Stew called me to tell me Maseo from De La Soul was going to be DJ-ing at Woody's that night. Being as we are both huge underground hip hop fans of groups like Tribe, Ghost Face Killers, Jurassic 5, Guru, Pharcyde etc. we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see De La LIVE! It was $10 to get in and he put on a great show. I even got a shout out from him before the night was done! Needless to say I felt pretty cool and was a minute away from asking him to DJ my birthday party haha.
Tomorrow is my birthday and I'm pretty excited about turning 25. I don't feel much older and am not un-happy about getting older...but ask me again on my 30th and I might have a different story. So far I don't have any real big plans, maybe go to a yoga class in the morning, have dinner with Stew and then our friends are going to come over for drinks before going out. I bought a new dress so I'm excited to wear it finally!
We have booked our flights for Asia and will be flying to Kuala Lumpur on May 2 out of Coolangatta. We're going to bus up towards the island of Ko Samui where we will be meeting Curt and his brother to take a boat over to Ko Pengang where the full moon party will be held. The full moon party is May 5 and attracts literally thousands of travelers to party on the beach, paint their bodies, have bonfires and listen to live music. After the party we'll be heading north towards Bangkok and then on to Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos depending on where we feel like going and how much we want to travel around. We'll be touring South East Asia for a couple weeks and then I'll be heading to Bali for a week on my own to relax, do yoga, and just chill out. Then I'll be flying back into Perth (WA) and spending the first weekend in June there. Then I'll fly back to Brisbane for a couple days before spending 7-10 days in Fiji. From there you'll have to stay tuned but for now there are lots of flights coming up in the next couple months and surprisingly not too expensive! My flight from Kuala Lumpur to Bali is barely $60 and the flight from Perth to Brisbane is only about $100. All in all our trip to Asia isn't going to cost much as the flights are cheap and everything in Thailand is dirt cheap once we're there apparently. After researching, we've found that you can buy dinners there for under $4 and beers for 50 cents!!! holy moly!! We're going to feel like ballers, so excited.
So we have a couple weeks left here in Byron and its been great so far. Mick was able to come visit us last week for a day which was great because we hadn't seen him since November! We're going to spend a few days on the Sunshine Coast again before we head to Asia so that we can see Mick and Rachel, our Canadian friend! We're also going to be visiting Rachel McKay in Redcliffe as she has so kindly offered to let us keep our stuff there while we're backpacking through Asia.
Anyways, hope everyone had a great Easter Weekend. While we didn't really celebrate here it was fun having the town so busy and being able to go out with friends. We're definitely looking forward to bein able to celebrate occasions when we get home as Aussies don't really celebrate anything here besides Australia day. Either way, Canada day celebrations will be a must with or without Aussie support haha.
Have a great one everybody and will update again soon!! xo
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Hoppy Eat-ster
Another rainy Saturday here in Byron Bay. I have the day off today so it would have been nice to spend the day at the beach with the Canadian girls, Brittny, Sophie and Amy while Stew was at work for 3 shifts between his two new jobs. Stew is working the deep fryer at Fishmongers, a fish and chip place and as a bus boy at Asia Joes, a little cafe next to Fishmongers. Sometimes Stew has to clean the octopus at Fishmongers which has been described as squeezing a milky sac out of their little heads....yum...but most days he's the potatoe boy making fries. People don't work much in Byron Bay--full time here is working about 25 hours. Stew might be able to get around 25 hours between his two jobs but I myself am lucky to be getting 12 hours a week at my new job at Subway--yes thats right, I am officially a sandwich artist!!. I was thrilled to get hired at Subway after eating so much of it since arriving in Australia and absolutely loving sandwiches. I haven't be able to get many hours but the pay is $19/hour during the week and $22/hour on weekends so luckily I don't have to work many hours to pay rent. I also get a free sub when I work 5 hours, woo hoo! Our weather was much better the past week and we were able to have a couple beach days. Stew was surfing a few times and may have had one of his first in-water shark encounters. I was laying on the beach reading a Sophie Kinsella novel when Stew arrived back on the beach with a bewildered look on his face. He said while he was out in the water he saw a fin that was different from a dolphin and there were seagulls circling (which is usually a sign there are sharks according to locals). When I looked out I couldn't see a fin but definitely saw the seagulls and surfers pointing out at the water. These surfers are crazy though and sharks to them do not mean ending a surf session but merely just dodging the shark. Insanity. We talked to our roommate Noah about sharks around here and he said there are lots of sharks from the pass on to tallows and further on to Lennoxhead. The locals don't seem to be phased by sharks here but we still cringe at the thought of entering the water where a great white might be. Our friend's landlord said a 15 foot great white was spotted at tallows last week which is just around the corner from the pass.
I've been having a really good time here in Byron so far. I received some good news from home about my tax return money coming in which will help tremendously with our plans to go to Asia. We've made good friends with the Canadian girls and our roommates and have had some fun nights out on the town. We saw a reggae/dubstep concert the one night at the Great Northern Hotel and when in doubt always end up at the Beach Hotel for live music and beers. I've made some friends at work and been keeping up with my running so all is well currently. However, my Nike irun has decided to crap out on me which has thrown off a couple of my runs and made me run a lot further than intended because it was skipping. Last weekend I went out at 6:30am for a 12km run and my gps seemed to be taking a long time to clock a single kilometer. I knew something was up when I had been running forever and not even hit 6km yet but went along with it for an out and back run that took over an hour--not my usual time. I had a huge feeling something was up with my gps and tested it again another day on a route I knew was exactly 3km and sure enough the gps registered 2.34km. When I checked my 12km route from before online it proved to be that that awful run was closer to 14 or 15km! Either way, I have established that the gps is skipping and am looking into purchasing a new one for efficient pace tracking in the future.
Our plans have been changing slightly and we may consider going to Asia earlier but we need to sell the van first and find out more information. We just put the van up on gumtree for sale after cleaning her out and taking pictures for her advertisements. She looks great and we're hoping to get at least $4,000 for her. Once we sell the van we'll have some money to plan for Asia, head up north towards Cairns and figure out the remainder of our trip. After Asia, I am looking into a trip to Fiji for a week or so before returning to Australia. I haven't made any final decisions but have been dabbling with the idea of heading back to Canada in the summer rather than September. It will be Australia's winter here so the weather will only be really beautiful up north and I have been thinking about having a nice summer back home with friends and family. While it's just an idea for now, Barney's patio has been calling my name and i would love to be able to have summer with friends before the colder weather comes back. I must see Asia and Fiji first though!
My 25th Birthday is coming up and we are planning to have a party at our beach condo with our roommates and friends. Noah is going to be 33 in April (old man!) and our friend Sophie is also turning 25 like myself so we are going to have a 3-way birthday party one day during the week of all our birthdays. We have a great sound system and we're in the heart of Byron so it should be a prime party location as it has been in the past. I am SO excited because my birthday was fairly quiet last year though very enjoyable but this year I will be able to celebrate in a new country with a bigger group of people. I can't believe I'm going to be 25, but then again, I can't believe Noah is going to be 33 when he doesn't look a day over 26. Most of our new friends are travelers working in Byron as well whom we've met through Noah or nights out. Our house is always busy with people coming and going and it is very rare to be the only one home, which makes it a nice social atmosphere. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and have recently posted pictures of our apartment on facebook.
Looking forward to Easter weekend and Bluesfest coming to Byron as it will mean more working hours for both of us! Happy Easter to everyone and hope you all enjoy the mini-eggs that we don't have here! I will be dreaming about them. Last year I was in Calgary for dad and my birthdays and Easter weekend. We got to dye Easter eggs with Nana, go to Aussie Rules and visit the family for a delicious feast at Aunty Janes. I will miss Aunty Jane's delicious apple pie this year and will especially miss dying eggs with Nana. I'm not sure if Aussies dye Easter eggs but it would be worth finding out! either way, I love easter because of the chocolate, being able to wear pretty sundresses and it being socially acceptable to eat hard boiled eggs all day--oh and of course being an easter baby. Happy "Eat-ster" to all (thats for you mom!) and miss you! xox
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Byron Bay Beach Bums
We have made it to Byron Bay--our favourite place in Australia so far where we are planning to live for a few months! We have been here a little over a week now and just moved into our beachside condo that we are sharing with a French couple and an English guy named Noah. It is the ultimate beachside pad decked out in surf boards, shells and beach decorations. It's also steps from the main strip and beach. We spent a week in First Sun caravan park and met some awesome Americans named Sander and Karolina who we've been spending a lot of time with. We got a chance to drive up to Coolangatta to see the Quiksilver and Roxy Pro Surf Competition taking place at Snapper Rocks. It was such a cool experience as we got to see Kelly Slater, Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson and many more pro surfers up close and personal. The finals are on now after a few days off since the swell was low but we'll just be watching on TV. We watched Kelly Slater (11 time world champ) compete on day 4 of the competition and his press conference after which we were so close for we could nearly touch him! That's kelly there!
The surfers were really impressive and you could stand in the water to get an even closer look at their ride for each heat. We've been handing out resumes and desperately trying to get jobs in Byron Bay which we have heard can be quite difficult as it is such a popular place for tourists. We've called some places and found out they may be hiring in a couple weeks when Easter rolls around. We're hoping our money from Cessnock can last until then! We're remaining hopeful as we'll need jobs to start saving for our future adventures to Thailand and South East Asia in June.
The surfers were really impressive and you could stand in the water to get an even closer look at their ride for each heat. We've been handing out resumes and desperately trying to get jobs in Byron Bay which we have heard can be quite difficult as it is such a popular place for tourists. We've called some places and found out they may be hiring in a couple weeks when Easter rolls around. We're hoping our money from Cessnock can last until then! We're remaining hopeful as we'll need jobs to start saving for our future adventures to Thailand and South East Asia in June.Since we've been in Byron we've had some visitors including some of the Germans from Hunter Valley and Jeff and Matt from Surfer's Paradise. We also had our American friends so we've had lots of company and people to party with. Now that everyone has left its time to save money and really focus on getting jobs. Byron is a really cool place with a very laid back attitude and hippie lifestyle. On any given night you can easily find live music and there are always street entertainers that are no amatures. Byron has a lot of organic cafes and groceries, bead shops and of course surf. The girls aren't shy here either and its not uncommon to see topless women on the main beaches--though I will not be partaking in that! I've been able to get back out running and explored some cool little areas around town and found some nice paths to jog down. SO happy to be running again.
Our plans as of now are to work in Byron for a few months and then head up north to Cairns in June. We will likely sell our currymobile up in Cairns before heading to Thailand for mid to late June. We'll be meeting Curt in Asia and a couple other friends have considered joining us for our Thai experience. We'll spend about a month traveling southeast asia and then Stew will either spend time with Curt, come back to Australia or go home. I plan to consider flying from asia to Perth and then back to the coast for the remainder of my journey before flying home in September. It's crazy to think that we've been here over 5 months already and time is flying by. Though I would love to still visit Fiji and New Zealand before going home I've realized just how fast money goes here and may have to wait to see these places in the future. We'll see how things go once I start making more money.
I want to give a big congrats to Kristen Kuzemko on her first road bike purchase! Kristen will be biking across Canada in September while raising money for Pediatric Oncology Centres including Sick Kids. This is going to be an incredible journey for Kris and I can't wait to follow her journey! You can donate to Kristen's ride at http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=1344629&langPref=en-CA&Referrer=http%3a%2f%2fwww.searsnationalkidscancerride.com%2fen%2fdonate%2findex.php
Thanks for reading and I will keep you all updated on our job hunt in Byron Bay. Pictures of our new pad to come soon :) It's Sunday here in Australia so it's time to relax on the beach and catch some sun before my long run later today. Check out the Quiksilver and Roxy Pro Surf competition on the Quiksilver website where you can view results and even stream the competition live. Until next time folks...
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
End of the Grape Life
I'm sure you've heard people say at one point in your life, "well if you saw the kitchen of that place you'd probably never eat there again" in reference to your favourite restaurants or even just fast food in general with the idea that we only eat at these places because we don't know what happens to our food before we get it to the table. I thought this may be like grape picking and wine when we began this job--that maybe after seeing the effort that goes into producing a bottle of wine that I would be turned off wine forever. This is definitely not the case, but I do a finer appreciation for the effort involved when picking out wines now; I also tend to think, "wow, this bottle is $5 and they were paying me $19/hour to pick some lousy grapes for it?"
Our grape picking is coming to an end as the season hasn't been that great for the farmers and the work is getting less and less for us as the days go by. The past few days when we were told we would be working "full" days of up to 8 hours we were finished in barely 3 or 4 hours. This was ok with me because grape picking is SO BORING but it would have been nice to be guaranteed some sweet money. Money, that is another thing we have yet to see a lot of coming out of this job. While we were supposed to get paid on friday, our sorry excuse for a boss Camelia said the money didn't clear from the farmers and everyone would have to wait until Monday but she would give us $200 for now. We took our $200, waited out the weekend and with many other backpackers were waiting at the campsite early Monday morning for the rest of our money. Camelia and her boyfriend Yemaz said they were going to get everyone's money and would be back in an hour. We waited around, swam in the caravan park's pool and hung out with friends until we realized there was no way they were coming back that fast like they said. We decided not to ruin our own day and went to a few wineries for some wine tasting to pass the time.
We went to Sobel's, Tempus Two and McGuigan wineries where we tasted various chardonnays, sparkling, shiraz, merlot, pinot gris and many more. We told the wineries that we were the ones picking their grapes so it was neat to see where our hard work was going. Stew and I grabbed some sushi dinner that we had been craving for a long time at the Tempus Two winery and then headed back to the caravan park. Camelia and Yemaz showed up at 5:30pm and screwed around putting up the tarp on their tent while about 20 backpackers started gathering waiting for answers. I gave them 5-10min to avoid us before I walked up and asked them when they were planning on telling us what was going on. I found out that they STILL were not able to pay us because the money hadn't cleared yet and that tomorrow. This was starting to sound like the biggest scam of life. Everyone was pissed and some backpackers have been depending on this money for life to the point they don't have anything, so the camp was buzzing with angry travelers. Many people are planning on leaving because the work is minimal now and questionable if there even IS more work and most people are sick of Camelia's crap.
Stew and I went to talk to Camelia and Yemaz privately as they often give us the real answers that they withhold from the other travelers. We're pretttttty sure it's because we're Canadians, good pickers and masterminds at getting the real answers out of them haha. We told them we were planning on taking off as well and they suggested giving our account numbers so that they could direct deposit the rest of our money on Friday--ya right. I told them I was not comfortable with this as if they screwed up any digits or anything went wrong, I wouldn't get paid and we would be all the way up in Byron with no way of getting our money and only having contact with them through phone which they already ignore. Camelia asked, "what you think we wont pay you?" ummmmm yes, thats pretty much EXACTLY my point. I passive aggressively suggested that no, it's just we want to settle everything before we leave when really I meant 'I want my money, you can't be trusted, we want to get out of here leaving nothing behind and never want to hear from you again.' We were able to talk them into paying us the rest of our money while the rest of the backpackers will have to wait until friday now. Such a crock for most as they admitted there is not going to be much work if any after wednesday and most people have paid to stay until friday for nothing now.
Anyways, our plans are that we are going to call places in Byron and find out who if anyone is hiring and how soon we can get out of here though not before we get every penny we are owed from Camelia and Yemaz. The running joke on the campsite was that if they try to run with everyone's money, the backpackers will use their cars to baracade them in until we get our pay. haha. A funny thought, but it is not being ruled out just yet, these people are unpredictable and never follow their word. As we went around talking to the backpackers and finding out various stories and how people were fighting to get on the lists for work while we just relaxed in the hotel and were automatically on the list and how people have to wait now to get their money and how we managed to work our way to getting ours sooner that we would be really great on survivor--we just know how to get what we want haha.
So, the grape picking experience has been interesting; aside from the money scandals, we've met some really great people from Germany, France, Canada, England and Ireland, some of who we got to surf with in Newcastle on a beach day. I've learned that I hate farmwork and would never survive the 88 days of fruit picking to obtain a second year visa because it is just too damn boring and repetitive--I much prefer customer service jobs where you can interact with people and not have to break your back all day. I'll miss the constant yelling "Bucket!" from everyone--the standard when you have filled yours and need a new one but has become hilarious as the different accents make the "bucket" call sound more like a chicken clucking. Oh, and can't forget the farmers day in and day out telling us how to pick and no rotten and speed up, etc. etc.
We've acquired dirty fingernails, bugbites, scrapes and knicks in our fingers from the vines and cutters, seen some crazy spiders and walked into their webs unintentionally, touched some of the most rotten grapes and trapsed through muddy trenches to pick the perfect grapes. It may sound like a nightmare but we've actually had a pretty good time with the backpackers and definitely will never forget this job. While we were in the McGuigan winery yesterday, Stew pointed out a painting on the wall of the vineyard at sunrise; rows and rows of vines with the mountains in the background and a warm sunrise lighting up the field. Stew asked me what I thought of the painting and I said, "It makes me want to kill myself" and laughed. I think from now on, I'll stick to drinking the wine and never want to be in those vineyards again. Going back to the idea of seeing the kitchen--let's just say, what you don't know can't hurt you...so stay in the restaurant and you'll always enjoy your meal!
Our grape picking is coming to an end as the season hasn't been that great for the farmers and the work is getting less and less for us as the days go by. The past few days when we were told we would be working "full" days of up to 8 hours we were finished in barely 3 or 4 hours. This was ok with me because grape picking is SO BORING but it would have been nice to be guaranteed some sweet money. Money, that is another thing we have yet to see a lot of coming out of this job. While we were supposed to get paid on friday, our sorry excuse for a boss Camelia said the money didn't clear from the farmers and everyone would have to wait until Monday but she would give us $200 for now. We took our $200, waited out the weekend and with many other backpackers were waiting at the campsite early Monday morning for the rest of our money. Camelia and her boyfriend Yemaz said they were going to get everyone's money and would be back in an hour. We waited around, swam in the caravan park's pool and hung out with friends until we realized there was no way they were coming back that fast like they said. We decided not to ruin our own day and went to a few wineries for some wine tasting to pass the time.
We went to Sobel's, Tempus Two and McGuigan wineries where we tasted various chardonnays, sparkling, shiraz, merlot, pinot gris and many more. We told the wineries that we were the ones picking their grapes so it was neat to see where our hard work was going. Stew and I grabbed some sushi dinner that we had been craving for a long time at the Tempus Two winery and then headed back to the caravan park. Camelia and Yemaz showed up at 5:30pm and screwed around putting up the tarp on their tent while about 20 backpackers started gathering waiting for answers. I gave them 5-10min to avoid us before I walked up and asked them when they were planning on telling us what was going on. I found out that they STILL were not able to pay us because the money hadn't cleared yet and that tomorrow. This was starting to sound like the biggest scam of life. Everyone was pissed and some backpackers have been depending on this money for life to the point they don't have anything, so the camp was buzzing with angry travelers. Many people are planning on leaving because the work is minimal now and questionable if there even IS more work and most people are sick of Camelia's crap.
Stew and I went to talk to Camelia and Yemaz privately as they often give us the real answers that they withhold from the other travelers. We're pretttttty sure it's because we're Canadians, good pickers and masterminds at getting the real answers out of them haha. We told them we were planning on taking off as well and they suggested giving our account numbers so that they could direct deposit the rest of our money on Friday--ya right. I told them I was not comfortable with this as if they screwed up any digits or anything went wrong, I wouldn't get paid and we would be all the way up in Byron with no way of getting our money and only having contact with them through phone which they already ignore. Camelia asked, "what you think we wont pay you?" ummmmm yes, thats pretty much EXACTLY my point. I passive aggressively suggested that no, it's just we want to settle everything before we leave when really I meant 'I want my money, you can't be trusted, we want to get out of here leaving nothing behind and never want to hear from you again.' We were able to talk them into paying us the rest of our money while the rest of the backpackers will have to wait until friday now. Such a crock for most as they admitted there is not going to be much work if any after wednesday and most people have paid to stay until friday for nothing now.
Anyways, our plans are that we are going to call places in Byron and find out who if anyone is hiring and how soon we can get out of here though not before we get every penny we are owed from Camelia and Yemaz. The running joke on the campsite was that if they try to run with everyone's money, the backpackers will use their cars to baracade them in until we get our pay. haha. A funny thought, but it is not being ruled out just yet, these people are unpredictable and never follow their word. As we went around talking to the backpackers and finding out various stories and how people were fighting to get on the lists for work while we just relaxed in the hotel and were automatically on the list and how people have to wait now to get their money and how we managed to work our way to getting ours sooner that we would be really great on survivor--we just know how to get what we want haha.
We've acquired dirty fingernails, bugbites, scrapes and knicks in our fingers from the vines and cutters, seen some crazy spiders and walked into their webs unintentionally, touched some of the most rotten grapes and trapsed through muddy trenches to pick the perfect grapes. It may sound like a nightmare but we've actually had a pretty good time with the backpackers and definitely will never forget this job. While we were in the McGuigan winery yesterday, Stew pointed out a painting on the wall of the vineyard at sunrise; rows and rows of vines with the mountains in the background and a warm sunrise lighting up the field. Stew asked me what I thought of the painting and I said, "It makes me want to kill myself" and laughed. I think from now on, I'll stick to drinking the wine and never want to be in those vineyards again. Going back to the idea of seeing the kitchen--let's just say, what you don't know can't hurt you...so stay in the restaurant and you'll always enjoy your meal!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Small Towns and Big Dreams
Work has officially commenced and we have survived 3 days of grape picking so
far. After over 2 weeks of solid rain in Cessnock we were more than ready to
start work this past Saturday morning. We had moved into the Cessnock Hotel out
of the caravan park when we found out that its only $25/night to stay at the
hotel and we were paying $20 for our mere parking space in the mud of the
caravan park anyways so we packed up and moved into our cozy little room above
the pub. While its loud on weekends and sleeping can be tough we have a dry,
warm bed and we no longer have to trek through the muddy campsite to get to the
washroom nor do we have to share filthy cooking facilities with a tonne of other
backpackers. We were up at 5am to get to our meeting place for work on Saturday
morning and within the first 2 hours of work were approached by our (useless)
boss Camelia asking if one of us would like to be team leader since we're
obviously pro-grape pickers right off the get go haha. She said she needed
someone who wasn't afraid to yell at people or tell them to pick faster so I
nominated Stew as I would be more likely to say "um can you please pick faster"
rather than yell at 20 german boys. eek, no thanks. Stew has done a terrific job
so far and we've become natural pickers.
remaining...after chatting with these people I want to say thank you to my parents for raising me in a city with a population over 1000 otherwise I could have 3 kids by now, corn rows in my hair and work at woolworths until im 50.
far. After over 2 weeks of solid rain in Cessnock we were more than ready to
start work this past Saturday morning. We had moved into the Cessnock Hotel out
of the caravan park when we found out that its only $25/night to stay at the
hotel and we were paying $20 for our mere parking space in the mud of the
caravan park anyways so we packed up and moved into our cozy little room above
the pub. While its loud on weekends and sleeping can be tough we have a dry,
warm bed and we no longer have to trek through the muddy campsite to get to the
washroom nor do we have to share filthy cooking facilities with a tonne of other
backpackers. We were up at 5am to get to our meeting place for work on Saturday
morning and within the first 2 hours of work were approached by our (useless)
boss Camelia asking if one of us would like to be team leader since we're
obviously pro-grape pickers right off the get go haha. She said she needed
someone who wasn't afraid to yell at people or tell them to pick faster so I
nominated Stew as I would be more likely to say "um can you please pick faster"
rather than yell at 20 german boys. eek, no thanks. Stew has done a terrific job
so far and we've become natural pickers.
The days are long, as our first day was 10 hours in the hot sun and the repetitive cutting vines and bending over really gets to you after a while but the money will be good. By day 2 evening my wrist was completely swollen from the picking and my entire body ached. Day 3 wasn't too bad as we finished by 1:30pm and I found my rhythm in picking so that I wasn't dying through the shift. We have only got one lunch break out of the 3 days but when we do have brief breaks we guzzle water, eat snacks and mentally prepare ourselves for the next filling of a vat. They try to encourage us by saying "only one more tub to fill guys!" which does nothing for motivation being as it takes over 2 hours to fill one of these tubs even with about 26 backpackers picking their hearts out. I keep my mind on the money while we pick and listening to some sweet music helps. We've made a few friends with some people our age which was hard to find because a lot of the Germans are here fresh out of highschool or so before they go on to University so many people are a lot younger than us. We're hoping some of our new friends will join us when there is an upcoming rodeo march 10 if we're still here. We saw a poster for it and got sooooo excited!!
We had a day off unexpectedly as camelia failed to inform us of this and we had to drag her out of bed at 6am to find out we weren't working after having been up at 5:15, eaten breakfast and myself already having a coffee in preparation for a full day's work. She was shocked that we didn't know we had the day off because she "told some people and told them to spread the word" I almost laughed in her face and couldn't believe she thought this was a legitimate way to pass on information, especially to Stew our team leader who is supposed to always know whats going on. ridiculous I tell ya! Either way we are surviving despite the heat and tedious work it really isn't THAT difficult and really, what else are we going to do in the bumping town of Cessnock.
We got a taste of real small town folk on Sunday evening when we decided to listen to the band playing below us and have a few beers. An ineresting crowd of locals was outside on the patio getting wasted and looked like they could be a riot to talk to. Looking back we both wish we hadn't wondered as they invited us over and then proceeded to make us uncomfortable with their stories and request or us to live in one of the gal's flats. She said she has an empty apartment we could live in; she gave me her number and told me about 39042032 times to call her tomorrow, she was also proud of the fact that she was the biggest drug dealer in Cessnock and also asked us if we wanted drugs to which we declined lol. She had scraggly hair, a tattoo around her neck and about 5 teeth remaining...after chatting with these people I want to say thank you to my parents for raising me in a city with a population over 1000 otherwise I could have 3 kids by now, corn rows in my hair and work at woolworths until im 50.
On another note, I just finished an incredible book by Dean Karnazes who is an ultramarathon runner and author of RUN! which documents his insane races, some over 100 miles at a time. Though I have no desire to be an ultramarathon runner his stories were very inspiring as I am getting into my running full on these days. He divided the book into 26.2 chapters just like a marathon is 26.2 miles and writes about numerous races, experiences and funny stories about his running career. I know many people are not runners but he is worth checking out if not for curiousity. His website is:
I found his book in the library on one of our internet days and decided to check it out. In 2 library visits I completed the book and was inspired to look into more races for 2012. While I have already planned to go for a half marathon in May or June here in Australia, I've lately been pondering bigger things for when I return to Canada. A new year of running and its time to set the bar a bit higher. Nothing set in stone, just browsing races for now... :)This past weekend I injured my foot while running in the rain down the road in Cessnock here. I ran along the shoulder of the road and I think the angle of the road tweaked my foot but it has been very painful ever since. Being a stubbourn runner I've ran on it a couple times with regret after but am waiting patiently now for it to heal and resisting the urge to lace up for a run. When I wake up in the morning I can barely walk on my foot and it gets better as the day progresses, my only fear is that it is something bigger than I think. Fingers crossed that this heals, I can't imagine not getting back into running this year.
This weekend we have to leave the hotel for a couple nights as Rod Stewart is doing a concert in Cessnock and apparently its going to be a HUGE weekend for this town haha. The hotel is booked solid so we have to leave for Friday and Saturday but can come back on Sunday. The campsite has dried up a bit but a slight rainfall will turn it into a mud pit again so its best if we just stick with the hotel anyways to be sure.
Our van has been holding up ok but as of the past month when we start her in the morning or after a long period of being parked its difficult to get started and requires a lot of revving on Stews part to get her moving. I cross my fingers every time now hoping to god we won't be stuck at 5am trying to get to work stranded in a parking lot or a field. We may have to take our currymobile in for a check up soon just to make sure we're goood to go when we move on to Byron Bay. Anyways, all is well in our little smalltown and one thing is for sure, I don't think either of us will be buying grapes for a long time. I'd be happy to never see a grape again for at least a couple months after this job.
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