Here I am in Noosa! Its supposed to be an absolutely amazing place to surf, unfortunately its been pouring since I got here. And I mean pouring, like one second outside and you get completely soaked. But I did go for a nice walk anyway since the girls didnt get into the same hostel as me. We just chilled out at their hostel then did some grocery shopping. I have so much food, I dont know why I keep grocery shopping, i need to eat what i already have!
we also went to see a movie in the theatre, it was such a treat! cost 14$, but we went to the store and got treats. I took some pics of us in the theatre before the movie started and the staff came out and yelled at me. i didnt even think about the fact that you cant have a camera in theatres, oops! anyway we saw "Its complicated" and it was great.
I walked home alone in the dark to my hostel and got slightly lost. definitely will not do that again!
I met some girls in my room and we went out to Koala, it was a 45 min speedwalk! we met some crazy norwegian boys. the pub closed at midnight so we took a cab home. turns out the girls i was with knew some of my friends from oz experience, the east coast is amazing, everyone seems to know everyone! in the backpacker world anyway. can't say ive met many aussies!
Im leaving for Brisbane tomorrow, I'm so excited.
Going to see the National Park in a few minutes.
Love!
Hannah
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Hervey Bay boredom
So this morning I woke up way too early, I was very annoyed with myself. 6 am! for no reason. I went down to have some brekky but my bananas were rotten. I waited for Rox to get up and we walked to wooly's to get some food. we found this awesome shop called the reject shop where i got trail mix, sunglasses (they acll them sunnies here), a re-useable bag with the australian flag on it, rice cakes and a toothbrush all for just 13$! bargain. also awesome name for a store in my opinion. very understated but honest as well.
then i went to the tattoo shop (don't freak out mom!) to get a new nosering because the one rachel bought me snapped in two. after i got it, rox decided she would get her nose pierced! so she booked an appointment and we set off back to the hostel to eat some lunch. we got about 2 thirds of the way home when we realized it was already 11 and her appointment was at 1130, so we turned around and went back. my bags were so heavy it was killing me. good workout though i suppose.
i have spent the rest of the day hanging out in the tv room. started out watching a german movie with english subtitles called the stranger in me. super weird. a guy who works here came in and was like "there are about a thousand channels here, why are you watching this rubbish?" so he put it on MTV. i ended up falling asleep for a couple of hours anyway. Our bus to Rainbow leaves at 430, so we will be leaving soon. I'm excited to move on. Mooloolaba is our stop the day after rainbow and then Noosa.
I can't wait to learn to surf! I think Mooloolaba will be good for that.
love!
Hannah
then i went to the tattoo shop (don't freak out mom!) to get a new nosering because the one rachel bought me snapped in two. after i got it, rox decided she would get her nose pierced! so she booked an appointment and we set off back to the hostel to eat some lunch. we got about 2 thirds of the way home when we realized it was already 11 and her appointment was at 1130, so we turned around and went back. my bags were so heavy it was killing me. good workout though i suppose.
i have spent the rest of the day hanging out in the tv room. started out watching a german movie with english subtitles called the stranger in me. super weird. a guy who works here came in and was like "there are about a thousand channels here, why are you watching this rubbish?" so he put it on MTV. i ended up falling asleep for a couple of hours anyway. Our bus to Rainbow leaves at 430, so we will be leaving soon. I'm excited to move on. Mooloolaba is our stop the day after rainbow and then Noosa.
I can't wait to learn to surf! I think Mooloolaba will be good for that.
love!
Hannah
Defeated by Fraser Island
Rox and I just got back from fraser tonight. Feeling like crap. I will try and remember every detail, but it was pretty rough!
Australia Day:
we got up super early to prepare ourselves for the day! headed down to the beach with nicole, robyn and rox. we just chilled out in the sand and laughed at the locals. they were so wild! they were drunk by 10am! they were doing this crazy dance on the beach that involved the flailing of arms and kicking of feet. so funny, i will try and perfect it by the time i get home! later we went to woolworths and bought 2 litres of ice cream (neopolitan) and demolished it. we felt so ill after. but it was fantastic for a bit. then i napped for a while. next we put together a nice meal of rice and kanga bangers all with sweet chili sauce of course. so delish i loved it. we went out to look for some real live aussies and ran into a guy who works at our hostel. he invited us back to his friends place so we went. turns out there were only guys there and they just stared at us. not a very warm welcome so we peaced out right away. literally turned and ran. so funny. we then went to an irish pub, but it closed at 10pm, crazy early. the streets were dead. i guess the locals were tired from drinking at 10am. fair play! we ran into these guys who said they were professional skateboarders. i didnt believe them so one guy did a kickflip, i laughed at him, so then he did some wicked trick. maybe they weren't lying...but they were going on about how they own a 3 million dollar house so we left. couldnt be bothered to listen to their ramblings.
so that was our somewhat lame australia day....
Fraser Island trip!
We got up bright and early at 6am the next day. had to check out by 7am. then we got our briefing on how to drive the 4 wheel drive trucks. they told us that we were one of the last self drive groups ever because so many ppl had died doing it... got us good and scared. we had to watch a ridiculous video on how to avoid dingo attacks! they say you can either walked backwards with your arms crossed, or option 2 was to attack them aggressively! those are 2 very different approaches!
next we packed the trucks with the coolers, dishes, mats, tents, etc. took ages. plus the gear went ina compartment over the top of the trucks, seemed like a terrible idea to me, definitely increases the weight of the top of the truck, which would increase chances of rolling...seemed like a bad idea to me. also 9 ppl in each truck, very squished!
we also had to buy out own food. took ages. 9 ppl in our group, it was so hard to get ppl to decide what to we should eat for each meal. in the end we got way too much food and it cost about 200$. got loads and loads of meat, sausages, steaks, burgers and mince. no expense was spared... that annoyed me, but what can you do.
we headed to the ferry around 1230, nice ride over. then we got to the incredibly sandy roads. honestly i had no idea the roads we be 2 feet of soft sand! one lane too. and for most ppl it was their first time driving 4WD trucks, not to mention in sand with 8 backseat drivers screaming. it took us 3 hrs to drive 15km. we didnt get stuck, but most other trucks did, we helped dig them out. so annoying and it was so hot. flies everywhere too, giant march flies that are basically giant horseflies that bite so hard and cause way too much pain.
we got to the beach just as low tide was coming in, just made it to our campsite on time. if you are driving on the beach there is only a 6 hr period where its safe to drive each day. crazy!
anyway we had a great supper but got eaten alive by flies. we were all sandy and gross, but couldnt swim in the sea because of sharks and jelly fish. the jelly fish washed up all over the beach so you couldnt really walk much either. but the beach was gorgeous to look at!
no one had a good sleep because you could hear the dingos walking around, i was too scared to go to the bathroom even!
we woke up in the morning to thousands of flies swarming around you as soon as you left the tent. so brutal! everyone was swatting each other and screaming at each painful bug bite, the bites would swell like mad as well. we got out of there before we were supposed to and had to drive a bit in the sea. oops! didnt get bogged though, lucky us. we saw a cool shipwreck, the pinnacles, indian heads and took a walk to the champagne pools. we didnt realize how hot the sand would be it would melt out flip flops and i got blisters on my feet. so so so painful. the pools were amazing though, little fish around swimming with us. the waves would crash over the rocks sometimes. just amazing.
i drove us onto eli creek later, it was so fun driving on the sand! at eli creek we would just walk up the creek then drift back down. it was essentially a natural lazy river. it was freshwater too so we could wash the salt off. loved it. we got to our campsite just in time and set up camp and ate another great dinner. salad, spaghetti bolognaise, garlic bread...so good.
this morning we got up early because our tents were scorching at 7am. the heat was unreal. we drove off early again and ended up getting stuck in the sand roads. took us an hour to dig out of the sand. so annoying. our truck was so smelly, you arent allowed soap on the island and some ppl took this to mean no deodorant as well. so rank. and we never bothered to take our garbage to the dump site so it absolutely reeked. we made it to lake mckenzie early enough to attempt to swim across. the lake was quite a bit larger then we thought so after a 1/2 hr of swimming we turned back. nice workout though! the lake was breathtaking, pure white sand that was so fine it creaked under our feet. the water was so blue and still and clear. we made a giant pyramid and had chicken fights. we headed back to the ferry way too early so we chilled out for about an hour and half. was nice to just relax.
now we are back in hervey bay, ready for a shower and a long sleep before i bus it to rainbow tomorrow to meet up with robyn and nicole again!
Love!
Hannah
Australia Day:
we got up super early to prepare ourselves for the day! headed down to the beach with nicole, robyn and rox. we just chilled out in the sand and laughed at the locals. they were so wild! they were drunk by 10am! they were doing this crazy dance on the beach that involved the flailing of arms and kicking of feet. so funny, i will try and perfect it by the time i get home! later we went to woolworths and bought 2 litres of ice cream (neopolitan) and demolished it. we felt so ill after. but it was fantastic for a bit. then i napped for a while. next we put together a nice meal of rice and kanga bangers all with sweet chili sauce of course. so delish i loved it. we went out to look for some real live aussies and ran into a guy who works at our hostel. he invited us back to his friends place so we went. turns out there were only guys there and they just stared at us. not a very warm welcome so we peaced out right away. literally turned and ran. so funny. we then went to an irish pub, but it closed at 10pm, crazy early. the streets were dead. i guess the locals were tired from drinking at 10am. fair play! we ran into these guys who said they were professional skateboarders. i didnt believe them so one guy did a kickflip, i laughed at him, so then he did some wicked trick. maybe they weren't lying...but they were going on about how they own a 3 million dollar house so we left. couldnt be bothered to listen to their ramblings.
so that was our somewhat lame australia day....
Fraser Island trip!
We got up bright and early at 6am the next day. had to check out by 7am. then we got our briefing on how to drive the 4 wheel drive trucks. they told us that we were one of the last self drive groups ever because so many ppl had died doing it... got us good and scared. we had to watch a ridiculous video on how to avoid dingo attacks! they say you can either walked backwards with your arms crossed, or option 2 was to attack them aggressively! those are 2 very different approaches!
next we packed the trucks with the coolers, dishes, mats, tents, etc. took ages. plus the gear went ina compartment over the top of the trucks, seemed like a terrible idea to me, definitely increases the weight of the top of the truck, which would increase chances of rolling...seemed like a bad idea to me. also 9 ppl in each truck, very squished!
we also had to buy out own food. took ages. 9 ppl in our group, it was so hard to get ppl to decide what to we should eat for each meal. in the end we got way too much food and it cost about 200$. got loads and loads of meat, sausages, steaks, burgers and mince. no expense was spared... that annoyed me, but what can you do.
we headed to the ferry around 1230, nice ride over. then we got to the incredibly sandy roads. honestly i had no idea the roads we be 2 feet of soft sand! one lane too. and for most ppl it was their first time driving 4WD trucks, not to mention in sand with 8 backseat drivers screaming. it took us 3 hrs to drive 15km. we didnt get stuck, but most other trucks did, we helped dig them out. so annoying and it was so hot. flies everywhere too, giant march flies that are basically giant horseflies that bite so hard and cause way too much pain.
we got to the beach just as low tide was coming in, just made it to our campsite on time. if you are driving on the beach there is only a 6 hr period where its safe to drive each day. crazy!
anyway we had a great supper but got eaten alive by flies. we were all sandy and gross, but couldnt swim in the sea because of sharks and jelly fish. the jelly fish washed up all over the beach so you couldnt really walk much either. but the beach was gorgeous to look at!
no one had a good sleep because you could hear the dingos walking around, i was too scared to go to the bathroom even!
we woke up in the morning to thousands of flies swarming around you as soon as you left the tent. so brutal! everyone was swatting each other and screaming at each painful bug bite, the bites would swell like mad as well. we got out of there before we were supposed to and had to drive a bit in the sea. oops! didnt get bogged though, lucky us. we saw a cool shipwreck, the pinnacles, indian heads and took a walk to the champagne pools. we didnt realize how hot the sand would be it would melt out flip flops and i got blisters on my feet. so so so painful. the pools were amazing though, little fish around swimming with us. the waves would crash over the rocks sometimes. just amazing.
i drove us onto eli creek later, it was so fun driving on the sand! at eli creek we would just walk up the creek then drift back down. it was essentially a natural lazy river. it was freshwater too so we could wash the salt off. loved it. we got to our campsite just in time and set up camp and ate another great dinner. salad, spaghetti bolognaise, garlic bread...so good.
this morning we got up early because our tents were scorching at 7am. the heat was unreal. we drove off early again and ended up getting stuck in the sand roads. took us an hour to dig out of the sand. so annoying. our truck was so smelly, you arent allowed soap on the island and some ppl took this to mean no deodorant as well. so rank. and we never bothered to take our garbage to the dump site so it absolutely reeked. we made it to lake mckenzie early enough to attempt to swim across. the lake was quite a bit larger then we thought so after a 1/2 hr of swimming we turned back. nice workout though! the lake was breathtaking, pure white sand that was so fine it creaked under our feet. the water was so blue and still and clear. we made a giant pyramid and had chicken fights. we headed back to the ferry way too early so we chilled out for about an hour and half. was nice to just relax.
now we are back in hervey bay, ready for a shower and a long sleep before i bus it to rainbow tomorrow to meet up with robyn and nicole again!
Love!
Hannah
Monday, January 25, 2010
Another day, another $
Sooo I just got back to my hostel after a very long walk to Mcdonald's/Woolworths. We had a 10hr bus ride yesterday. so brutal, but we got to the cattle station in time for a shower and pot roast with gravy, potatoes, carrots and green beans. we rode the mechanical bull all night and dressed up like cowgirls, yee-haw! and you thought guelph was country...nothing compared to kroombit cattle station!
it was fun though, i tried XXXX Bitter, decent beer i must say. also learned to crack a whip, faster than the speed of sound. its harder than it looks, actually. but fun.
The next morning we had to wake up at 6 am (that was this am actually, long as day!) we had beans on toast for brekky, pretty bland but ok. im so sick of instant coffee, i just want real coffee one time. anyway, then we went to the rodeo where my team (called the goat-nads, we had to have a name that involved the word goat...) came in 2nd place for the goat branding competition. it was my job to wrestle the goat to the ground. i was mighty good at it too! the other team beat us by 2 secs. we also learned to lassoe goats and shoot shotguns. then the bus left at 1030am and we stopped in miriam vale for lunch. we got chips to share and i had a gross spring roll, never again. we learned about james cook and his wild travels. thats the only good thing about the Oz Experience bus, the drivers talk a lot about history and random facts. for example, the reason there is a kangaroo and an emu on the 50 cent piece is that both of those animals cant walk backwards so it signifies that aussie is always moving forward. quite cool i think.
oh i also learned how to lawn bowl! its actually quite an extreme sport, each year more ppl die lawn bowling than surfing and skateboarding combined. guess why?
because old ppl play! sooo funny.
Anyway I am so excited for Australia day tomorrow! we are all going down to the beach here in hervey bay to drink goon and hang around. Then to the irish pub i think, should be lovely. barbie on the beach again!
then Fraser island self guided tour the next day. should be good. but a guy just suffered massive barin damage as he choked on a piece of steak and the heli didnt come for 3 hrs. very isolated place. also 3 girls died a few years ago because stupid boys were racing on the sand roads and flipped their cars. eeek. pray for me!
Love!
Hannah
it was fun though, i tried XXXX Bitter, decent beer i must say. also learned to crack a whip, faster than the speed of sound. its harder than it looks, actually. but fun.
The next morning we had to wake up at 6 am (that was this am actually, long as day!) we had beans on toast for brekky, pretty bland but ok. im so sick of instant coffee, i just want real coffee one time. anyway, then we went to the rodeo where my team (called the goat-nads, we had to have a name that involved the word goat...) came in 2nd place for the goat branding competition. it was my job to wrestle the goat to the ground. i was mighty good at it too! the other team beat us by 2 secs. we also learned to lassoe goats and shoot shotguns. then the bus left at 1030am and we stopped in miriam vale for lunch. we got chips to share and i had a gross spring roll, never again. we learned about james cook and his wild travels. thats the only good thing about the Oz Experience bus, the drivers talk a lot about history and random facts. for example, the reason there is a kangaroo and an emu on the 50 cent piece is that both of those animals cant walk backwards so it signifies that aussie is always moving forward. quite cool i think.
oh i also learned how to lawn bowl! its actually quite an extreme sport, each year more ppl die lawn bowling than surfing and skateboarding combined. guess why?
because old ppl play! sooo funny.
Anyway I am so excited for Australia day tomorrow! we are all going down to the beach here in hervey bay to drink goon and hang around. Then to the irish pub i think, should be lovely. barbie on the beach again!
then Fraser island self guided tour the next day. should be good. but a guy just suffered massive barin damage as he choked on a piece of steak and the heli didnt come for 3 hrs. very isolated place. also 3 girls died a few years ago because stupid boys were racing on the sand roads and flipped their cars. eeek. pray for me!
Love!
Hannah
Friday, January 22, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Some pictures
This is our boat: Emperor WingsThe whitsunday islands
Sunset
Me in my sexy wetsuit at Whitehaven Beach
Me in my sexy wetsuit at Whitehaven Beach
Pour me a heavy dose of atmosphere
Oh my gosh. Whitsunday's sailing trip was epic. Our travel agent was not kidding when she said Emperor Wings was the nicest ship in the harbour. It was totally worth the ridiculous amount of money I spent on it! It had a hot tub on the deck. The food was amazing, I swear I gained like 10lbs! our boat even had a slushy machine. sooo yum. There were 3 meals a day and like 8 snack times.
The people on the boat were pretty great. A few oddballs as per usual, but what can you do about that? One seriously crazy quebequois man. Super old and creepy. Oh well.
So the first day we got on the ship and went straight to Whitehaven beach because its wet season (who knew? I thought summer would be a great time to be in Oz but its definitely really wet). So since it was sunny and glorious the crew took advantage and took us to the beach. The sand was like talcum powder, in texture and colour! we played cricket, made a giant human pyriamid and walked around. i saw 3 little sting rays. it turns out there was only one other boatload of ppl that day on the beach and it happened to be Fran and Alice's boat! what are the odds? so it was lovely to see them again! we took some cheeky pictures. then we had a snack of veggies, crackers, sausage, cheese and dip. so good. we then got sparklers and watched the sunset. class.
we sailed for a a bit and then parked for the night. everyone got out their bevvies and we sat around the hot tub.
when Rox and I were shown our room, our mouths dropped. we paid 10$ extra each to get our own room, but we were in a double bed within a teeny tiny room that slept 7 ppl. it was like being in a coffin. horrible. stupid travel agent lied to us. but it gets worse, after 2 days on the ship someone in our room had left something wet in their bag and it started to smell like the worst mix of sweat, piss and dog. Awful.
But we pretty much spent no time in our room, just lay out on the deck or in the dining room.
day two we got up early to see a look-out, apparently its famous but I had never heard of it. beautiful for sure. we also sailed out to the outer great barrier reef to do some diving. It was amazing, there were only 4 certified divers so our group was nice and small. I saw so many cool things! turtles, barracudas, dolphins, reef sharks, sea cukes, clown fish, i could go on for ages.
the next morning there was a sunset dive but i decided to sleep and dive later.
My second dive was a bit brutal. I think I am getting a cold, so your aren't meant to dive. I decided to go anyway. Got massive sinus squeeze. it feels like your head is about to explode. I basically just went to 16.7 metres and was like i can't do this and went up to 8 metres . it was still cool and i got to stay under 47minutes because you use less compressed air when you are higher, but i like to go down further, you see bigger stuff. I saw a bunch of giant travelli though, they were sweet.
we sailed back to the whitsundays yesterday. that was wild. the waves were so huge they were soaking everyone on deck. it was awesome for a while. until people started getting massively seasick. Terry was on the nets and getting slaughtered by the waves, we were laughing hysterically until he started rolling over towards the ropes. we were like what is he doing? turns out he was puking his guts out. the captain had to come out and haul him to the back deck. one by one people were getting seasick and trying to walk to the back deck to vom. unfortunately as soon as you stood up you would be thrown to the floor of the boat. so people were crawling/puking along the side of the boat. its hilarious to look back on it, but at the time filthy. Roxy actually fell so hard she lost her top and gave the boys a bit of an eyeful!
It ended up me and 5 boys were the only ones to avoid seasickness. we sat in the spa and enjoyed the ride! eventually someone decided to go get a case of beer, but everytime a wave smacked us we got instant refills of saltwater! eww. eventually we got back to the whitsunday islands and the waves calmed down. we had delicous snacks. i got to eat a lot since like 20 people were seasick.
we were so lucky, our entire trip it was sunny and gorgeous. apparently the last 3 trips had only rain and ppl just stayed inside and got wasted. how lame is that?
So I woke us this morning with mad burned lips. my lips are so swollen it reeeally hurts. i can't smile or eat or speak without pain! Another guy burnt his lips as well, so at least its not just me!
I am staying in Airlie for another 2 nights and then off to the Kroombit Cattle station, should be fun! Then Fraser island 4X4 trip. I can't wait!
Love!
The people on the boat were pretty great. A few oddballs as per usual, but what can you do about that? One seriously crazy quebequois man. Super old and creepy. Oh well.
So the first day we got on the ship and went straight to Whitehaven beach because its wet season (who knew? I thought summer would be a great time to be in Oz but its definitely really wet). So since it was sunny and glorious the crew took advantage and took us to the beach. The sand was like talcum powder, in texture and colour! we played cricket, made a giant human pyriamid and walked around. i saw 3 little sting rays. it turns out there was only one other boatload of ppl that day on the beach and it happened to be Fran and Alice's boat! what are the odds? so it was lovely to see them again! we took some cheeky pictures. then we had a snack of veggies, crackers, sausage, cheese and dip. so good. we then got sparklers and watched the sunset. class.
we sailed for a a bit and then parked for the night. everyone got out their bevvies and we sat around the hot tub.
when Rox and I were shown our room, our mouths dropped. we paid 10$ extra each to get our own room, but we were in a double bed within a teeny tiny room that slept 7 ppl. it was like being in a coffin. horrible. stupid travel agent lied to us. but it gets worse, after 2 days on the ship someone in our room had left something wet in their bag and it started to smell like the worst mix of sweat, piss and dog. Awful.
But we pretty much spent no time in our room, just lay out on the deck or in the dining room.
day two we got up early to see a look-out, apparently its famous but I had never heard of it. beautiful for sure. we also sailed out to the outer great barrier reef to do some diving. It was amazing, there were only 4 certified divers so our group was nice and small. I saw so many cool things! turtles, barracudas, dolphins, reef sharks, sea cukes, clown fish, i could go on for ages.
the next morning there was a sunset dive but i decided to sleep and dive later.
My second dive was a bit brutal. I think I am getting a cold, so your aren't meant to dive. I decided to go anyway. Got massive sinus squeeze. it feels like your head is about to explode. I basically just went to 16.7 metres and was like i can't do this and went up to 8 metres . it was still cool and i got to stay under 47minutes because you use less compressed air when you are higher, but i like to go down further, you see bigger stuff. I saw a bunch of giant travelli though, they were sweet.
we sailed back to the whitsundays yesterday. that was wild. the waves were so huge they were soaking everyone on deck. it was awesome for a while. until people started getting massively seasick. Terry was on the nets and getting slaughtered by the waves, we were laughing hysterically until he started rolling over towards the ropes. we were like what is he doing? turns out he was puking his guts out. the captain had to come out and haul him to the back deck. one by one people were getting seasick and trying to walk to the back deck to vom. unfortunately as soon as you stood up you would be thrown to the floor of the boat. so people were crawling/puking along the side of the boat. its hilarious to look back on it, but at the time filthy. Roxy actually fell so hard she lost her top and gave the boys a bit of an eyeful!
It ended up me and 5 boys were the only ones to avoid seasickness. we sat in the spa and enjoyed the ride! eventually someone decided to go get a case of beer, but everytime a wave smacked us we got instant refills of saltwater! eww. eventually we got back to the whitsunday islands and the waves calmed down. we had delicous snacks. i got to eat a lot since like 20 people were seasick.
we were so lucky, our entire trip it was sunny and gorgeous. apparently the last 3 trips had only rain and ppl just stayed inside and got wasted. how lame is that?
So I woke us this morning with mad burned lips. my lips are so swollen it reeeally hurts. i can't smile or eat or speak without pain! Another guy burnt his lips as well, so at least its not just me!
I am staying in Airlie for another 2 nights and then off to the Kroombit Cattle station, should be fun! Then Fraser island 4X4 trip. I can't wait!
Love!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Whitsunday's today!
I am sitting in Makkie's drinking a most delicious babycino. Its just a tiny cup of steamed milk, only cost 65 cents, the price is right! I seriously need my calcium. I think I am getting sick. Probably because no bathrooms here have soap and sometimes purell just is not enough.
i am listening to a sweet playlist i made at 4am this morning. I hate dorms, i tried to go to bed at like 1130 and there were 2 girls drinking and carrying on with their friends from other rooms. and the other 6 ppl were trying to sleep as well. finally the guy on the top bunk was like could you guys take this elsewhere and the guy who wasnt even sleeping in our room flipped out. i hate drunk irish, so annoying.
On the upside my dive buddy photocopied his book for me! so lovely.
I am chatting to Rachel right now, I miss you!!!!!
I plan to head to the lagoon for a quick swim before we sail.
Last night Rox and I walked to Cole's the food was soooo cheap. I got black forest chocolate for 3$! and brie and cracker for 4$ and coke for 1$! I am the worst dietitian ever.
I really need to post some pictures, but it takes way too long!
I'm off, miss you family!
i am listening to a sweet playlist i made at 4am this morning. I hate dorms, i tried to go to bed at like 1130 and there were 2 girls drinking and carrying on with their friends from other rooms. and the other 6 ppl were trying to sleep as well. finally the guy on the top bunk was like could you guys take this elsewhere and the guy who wasnt even sleeping in our room flipped out. i hate drunk irish, so annoying.
On the upside my dive buddy photocopied his book for me! so lovely.
I am chatting to Rachel right now, I miss you!!!!!
I plan to head to the lagoon for a quick swim before we sail.
Last night Rox and I walked to Cole's the food was soooo cheap. I got black forest chocolate for 3$! and brie and cracker for 4$ and coke for 1$! I am the worst dietitian ever.
I really need to post some pictures, but it takes way too long!
I'm off, miss you family!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
No pants, no problem!
I looove Airlie Beach. I just went shopping at Cotton On. Such a wicked store. my debit card didnt work though, no drama. I have absolutely no room in my bag for these clothes, i really need to get a new day pack.
I ran into my diving course buddy here, such a small world of backpackers! I also ran into like 8 other people who i had previously met in hostels. I love it. Luckily my buddy said i can copy his log book, so i will just need to run out and buy a little log book and i will be all set.
I'm so glad i met a great group of girls here, we are all staying in Airlie for the week as well, since waited too long to book our whitsunday's sailing trips. it will be lovely to just chill out today at the lagoon and then tomorrow Rox and I leave. We managed to get a room with most of us together. i haate hate hate mixed dorms. they are so lame, but Magnum's is cool beacuse it has ensuite bathroom's. unfortunately our dorm is 10 ppl so its hard when everyone wants to shower in the am. luckily i usually shower at night.
I just realized i will we on fraser island for Australia day, which is kind of lame, but it will still be lovely im sure.
Well, off to the lagoon for a swim, love!
Hannah
I ran into my diving course buddy here, such a small world of backpackers! I also ran into like 8 other people who i had previously met in hostels. I love it. Luckily my buddy said i can copy his log book, so i will just need to run out and buy a little log book and i will be all set.
I'm so glad i met a great group of girls here, we are all staying in Airlie for the week as well, since waited too long to book our whitsunday's sailing trips. it will be lovely to just chill out today at the lagoon and then tomorrow Rox and I leave. We managed to get a room with most of us together. i haate hate hate mixed dorms. they are so lame, but Magnum's is cool beacuse it has ensuite bathroom's. unfortunately our dorm is 10 ppl so its hard when everyone wants to shower in the am. luckily i usually shower at night.
I just realized i will we on fraser island for Australia day, which is kind of lame, but it will still be lovely im sure.
Well, off to the lagoon for a swim, love!
Hannah
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Airlie Beach
Mission beach ended up being lovely! I met 5 great girls and we went out to Coconuts our last night there. I ran into a raft guide who i met in Cairns earlier! So cool to see familiar faces already.
The bus ride to magnetic island was good, only a few people on the bus and we all slept loads.
We rented a moke on the island and went to secluded beaches and went on a koala hike! it was so so hot and we saw only 2 koalas. super cuter though. we went out to the hostel bar both nights and ended up swimming in the ocean (during stinger season...oops!). really funny though.
I am so tired, I lost my key in the ocean so i woke up at 7am this to look for it. but i couldnt find it to i had to pay 20$ for it. oh well. i also still havent gotten my credit card. i give up! thanks for trying mum!
Today we all bussed to Airlie Beach. Its gorgeous here. Rox and I will be going on a sailing trip for 3 nights starting tuesday, it should be amazing! The boat has a hot tub. I lost my log book though so i might not be able to dive. i will have to sort that out! I guess i am losing a lot of things... I also had to change all my hostel bookings because the oz bus only runs like 3-4 times per week. oh well.
I also have massive heat rash and its reallt nasty. im not sure what to do about it! I cant stay out of the sun, im in australia!
I have decided to go to thailand while im here and also try and hit up the west coast of oz. people here travel so much im inspired!
Well, back to real life.
Love you and miss you!
The bus ride to magnetic island was good, only a few people on the bus and we all slept loads.
We rented a moke on the island and went to secluded beaches and went on a koala hike! it was so so hot and we saw only 2 koalas. super cuter though. we went out to the hostel bar both nights and ended up swimming in the ocean (during stinger season...oops!). really funny though.
I am so tired, I lost my key in the ocean so i woke up at 7am this to look for it. but i couldnt find it to i had to pay 20$ for it. oh well. i also still havent gotten my credit card. i give up! thanks for trying mum!
Today we all bussed to Airlie Beach. Its gorgeous here. Rox and I will be going on a sailing trip for 3 nights starting tuesday, it should be amazing! The boat has a hot tub. I lost my log book though so i might not be able to dive. i will have to sort that out! I guess i am losing a lot of things... I also had to change all my hostel bookings because the oz bus only runs like 3-4 times per week. oh well.
I also have massive heat rash and its reallt nasty. im not sure what to do about it! I cant stay out of the sun, im in australia!
I have decided to go to thailand while im here and also try and hit up the west coast of oz. people here travel so much im inspired!
Well, back to real life.
Love you and miss you!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Mission Beach is lame
So yesterday morning i left cairns at 7 am! i got up at 5am to pack, it was rough. just as i woke up one of my roomies came home from the bar. pretty funny actually.
We stopped at a croc farm and at the rainforest on teh bus ride. I didnt want to pay 18$ to visit a croc farm so me and a few other passengers just stayed out front. teh bus ride should have taken only 2 hrs but with all teh stops it look 6 hours. lame.
i met a lovely girl from teh UK on the bus. shes rachel's age and she has a sister my age, so we ended up booking a room together at the hostel. teh hostel is really great. although our room was co-ed, and a super old man was there, which made everything really awkward. i was changing in the dark and thought he was asleep and he wa slike "you can turn on the light if you want". ewwww, not too sure if he knew i was changing, but i was pleased to see he had left early this morning.
I really, really miss cairns. i know it was time to get moving down the coast but i met so many lovely people. also, the hostel was cheaper there. haha. we had a BBQ for lunch yesterday, so tasty.
Actually, my last night in cairns we had a big BBQ on the beach and made chips and roo. i love all the free BBQs that are around in Aussie, such a great idea. we need some in Canada. we went to the woolshed after the BBQ, just for a change...
Well, I am off to the rainforest for a look around. Hoping my credit card comes today or else I will be in trouble...
Love!
Hannah
We stopped at a croc farm and at the rainforest on teh bus ride. I didnt want to pay 18$ to visit a croc farm so me and a few other passengers just stayed out front. teh bus ride should have taken only 2 hrs but with all teh stops it look 6 hours. lame.
i met a lovely girl from teh UK on the bus. shes rachel's age and she has a sister my age, so we ended up booking a room together at the hostel. teh hostel is really great. although our room was co-ed, and a super old man was there, which made everything really awkward. i was changing in the dark and thought he was asleep and he wa slike "you can turn on the light if you want". ewwww, not too sure if he knew i was changing, but i was pleased to see he had left early this morning.
I really, really miss cairns. i know it was time to get moving down the coast but i met so many lovely people. also, the hostel was cheaper there. haha. we had a BBQ for lunch yesterday, so tasty.
Actually, my last night in cairns we had a big BBQ on the beach and made chips and roo. i love all the free BBQs that are around in Aussie, such a great idea. we need some in Canada. we went to the woolshed after the BBQ, just for a change...
Well, I am off to the rainforest for a look around. Hoping my credit card comes today or else I will be in trouble...
Love!
Hannah
Monday, January 11, 2010
Open water certified!
Just got back from the boat! It was such an adventure. water was so rough on the way to the reef that heaps of people were spewing. soo filthy. but not me! close though. we got off the boat after 90 minutes and boarded the live-aboard boat. we had a greasy lunch and jumped into the water! i saw so many cool things! parrot fish, clown fish, 90 yr old clams, pineapple sea cucumber. i could go on and on! we dove 2 times and did some skills too. Today we got up at 5 to do a 6am dive, glorious. barrel rolled into the water and down we went! Our instructor was ben, really lovely guy. My classmates all got along sensationally. Thiago, Timo, NJ, Arin and I. Timo was my buddy for diving and it was great because we were both fast swimmers and good on air. if you breath too heavily you use all your air too fast and have to end your dive early. daphne the heavy breather would be out in minutes! also shes a baby so diving probably wouldn't be her style anyway. Im back at the hostel in Cairns and Im set to leave wednesday. honestly, i dont even want to leave. i love it here. the people are amazing, and im just not ready, might extend by a day or two, we'll see!
off to the woolshed for pints and pizza!
Love,
Hannah
off to the woolshed for pints and pizza!
Love,
Hannah
Friday, January 8, 2010
I can make the scuba!
I can't believe I have only been here 3 nights, i feel like its my home already! I have made so many lovely friends. I am loving the fact that so many ppl travel alone. Ironically I seem to be the only girl who is alone but I'm ok with that. Most of the people I have met are German, Belgian and Swiss.
I started my training to scuba dive yesterday and it was fab, though the homework last night was lame. luckily 2 boys from my hostel were doing the same course so we got pitchers and did our work together. I must say the last few answers I wrote were a bit off, but whatever, I passed! Today was another scuba in pool day so I feel like i am really ready to go to the great barrier reef tomorrow! I'm super excited, i will be sleeping on the boat as well. and all my meals are taken care of. but for what im paying the meals better be flippin amazing.
I switched hostels today. My other one was alright, but I found one that includes dinner! I wanted to switch last night but I had to cancel 24 hrs in advance. My buddy switched so I'm super excited to see him again tonight. I met a guy whose brother played for the AllBlacks, I was impressed!
My MasterCard should be coming in the mail soon, although my mom paid 51$ to send it. outrageous. PC is crap.
Its pouring rain here right now, soo humid too. I'm still enjoying Owl City, such happy tunes. thanks Bex!
I am sitting at McD's using the free interweb again, but its so unbelievably slow! yesterday my friend let me use his compy at the hostel to check FB and everything was German, even the keyboard was different. It took me ages to figure it out. But its crazy how you can remember where you usually click on the screen, even when its in another language.
Last night I went out for sushi for dinner, i had an avocado and salmon roll. fantastic.
Thats all Ive got. Love!
Hannah
I started my training to scuba dive yesterday and it was fab, though the homework last night was lame. luckily 2 boys from my hostel were doing the same course so we got pitchers and did our work together. I must say the last few answers I wrote were a bit off, but whatever, I passed! Today was another scuba in pool day so I feel like i am really ready to go to the great barrier reef tomorrow! I'm super excited, i will be sleeping on the boat as well. and all my meals are taken care of. but for what im paying the meals better be flippin amazing.
I switched hostels today. My other one was alright, but I found one that includes dinner! I wanted to switch last night but I had to cancel 24 hrs in advance. My buddy switched so I'm super excited to see him again tonight. I met a guy whose brother played for the AllBlacks, I was impressed!
My MasterCard should be coming in the mail soon, although my mom paid 51$ to send it. outrageous. PC is crap.
Its pouring rain here right now, soo humid too. I'm still enjoying Owl City, such happy tunes. thanks Bex!
I am sitting at McD's using the free interweb again, but its so unbelievably slow! yesterday my friend let me use his compy at the hostel to check FB and everything was German, even the keyboard was different. It took me ages to figure it out. But its crazy how you can remember where you usually click on the screen, even when its in another language.
Last night I went out for sushi for dinner, i had an avocado and salmon roll. fantastic.
Thats all Ive got. Love!
Hannah
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
The Adventure Begins...Finally
I am finally in Aussie! Cairns, actually. I have been waiting for this since last June when I decided to backpack through Oz and NZ. The plane rides were decent on the way here. Can't say the same for the time I spent in the airports. All in all took about 50 hours to get here. I wrote quite a bit while waiting around, and yet I can't seem to move the document onto my blog, some HTML errors, apparently.
Arrived here yesterday am and luckily met some people who kept me up until late enough to sleep so my jet lag isn't too bad. I am taking scuba lessons tomorrow to get certified I'm pretty excited.
A friend made me some delish roo last night for dinner. Tastes a lot like game meat but more tender. I was impressed. Its about the same price as chicken. So I am set!
There isn't a lot to do here in Cairns. There's the Daintree rainforest, Great Barrier Reef, skydiving, bungee jumping... the usual Queensland stuff. Along the boardwalk is great through. Massive skate park, kiddy water park, outdoor gym equipement (the exercise addict in me is excited!).
Anyway this blog will hopefully get more exciting, I'm just exhausted right now and have no cool ideas yet. If anyone has an idea let me know!
Love
Arrived here yesterday am and luckily met some people who kept me up until late enough to sleep so my jet lag isn't too bad. I am taking scuba lessons tomorrow to get certified I'm pretty excited.
A friend made me some delish roo last night for dinner. Tastes a lot like game meat but more tender. I was impressed. Its about the same price as chicken. So I am set!
There isn't a lot to do here in Cairns. There's the Daintree rainforest, Great Barrier Reef, skydiving, bungee jumping... the usual Queensland stuff. Along the boardwalk is great through. Massive skate park, kiddy water park, outdoor gym equipement (the exercise addict in me is excited!).
Anyway this blog will hopefully get more exciting, I'm just exhausted right now and have no cool ideas yet. If anyone has an idea let me know!
Love
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