My flight is in 10 hours. I've barely started packing. I don't even know how I will fit everything into my suitcases, because they were full (SO full) when I got here, and since then I've bought more things. I'm going to have to leave a ton of stuff behind, which is fine I guess. I've bought at least 10 books here, and I've only read half of one. That's pretty typical for me though. I also bought souvenirs and gifts for people, which is tricky because I can't just cram them in for fear of breaking them. Even assuming I can fit everything in, I'm still nervous about weight limits. We'll see how things go.
My flights tomorrow are pretty terrible. It was bad enough when my direct flight to LAX had a 10 hour layover before I could fly home, but about a week ago Quantas changed my flight so I stop in two cities in Australia before I make it to LA. At least now the LAX layover is only 7 hours, so that's some consolation right?
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Someone stole my camera
right out of my pocket, while I was dancing at a bar here. I turned around immediately and it could have been anyone, and there was just no way to tell. The worst part is that I had 140 pictures on it, which hadn't been loaded onto my computer or Facebook. Or, is the worst part that I have to spend the second half of my trip without a camera to capture any of it? Or maybe it's that I feel like I could have done something to prevent it, although I don't really know what. I hadn't even been drinking. Fuck.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
A List of Things Our House Has Passionately Argued About
-which girl on Joe's wall is the hottest
-whether or not soulmates exist
-whether or not derogatory comments about women are "just jokes," and if they are, whether or not they are still crossing the line
-is it necessary to rinse the soap off of dishes after you've washed them
-whether we missed the bus or it's late, or whether one of us read the time tables incorrectly
-which groceries should be communal and which should be individual
-if a novelty beer can labeled "50000 mL" could hold that much, more, or less
-is it more sanitary to wash dishes once a day or immediately after eating
-who has priority for the hot water usage: the person taking a shower, the person doing dishes, the person doing laundry, or the person washing his hands after going to the bathroom
-is it overall better to risk further traffic accidents by stopping to help people in one that has already happened
-whether or not it is fair to blame Bush for the bad economy now but not give credit to Clinton for the booming economy earlier
-whether or not two of our housemates were hooking up (P.S. they were and still are)
-whether the printing press is the greatest invention or not
-whether or not soulmates exist
-whether or not derogatory comments about women are "just jokes," and if they are, whether or not they are still crossing the line
-is it necessary to rinse the soap off of dishes after you've washed them
-whether we missed the bus or it's late, or whether one of us read the time tables incorrectly
-which groceries should be communal and which should be individual
-if a novelty beer can labeled "50000 mL" could hold that much, more, or less
-is it more sanitary to wash dishes once a day or immediately after eating
-who has priority for the hot water usage: the person taking a shower, the person doing dishes, the person doing laundry, or the person washing his hands after going to the bathroom
-is it overall better to risk further traffic accidents by stopping to help people in one that has already happened
-whether or not it is fair to blame Bush for the bad economy now but not give credit to Clinton for the booming economy earlier
-whether or not two of our housemates were hooking up (P.S. they were and still are)
-whether the printing press is the greatest invention or not
Travel and First Day in Australia: 9-11 July
Like everything I do, I got ready for Australia at the last possible minute. I turned in the applications past deadline, I only knew for sure I could come to Australia about a month before I had to leave, I booked my plane less than 2 weeks in advance (which made it quite expensive, in case you were wondering), my apartment was still full of furniture and other items when I left Kirksville for St. Louis (and still would be if not for the help of Shaun, Kent, Lisette, and possibly others so thanks if you are reading!), I didn't buy a camera until the day of my flight, and I didn't start packing until 2 hours before I had to leave for the airport. I packed about half dirty clothes, because I intended to wash them before I left but of course I didn't get around to it.
When I got to the airport I did not have a visa of any kind, which I found out was required for travel. Oops? I hadn't gotten my visa yet because the website wouldn't recognize any of my passport information, and all the contact numbers were Australian, so I figured it would just be easier to apply for one once I was in Australia. The guy at check in said I would need to reschedule my flight until I had gotten my visa, and I almost started to cry because I was already so stressed from doing everything at the last minute, but then! He said "let me ask one more person just to see" and it turns out there is a way to apply for an electronic visa at the airport and it was only $25 and everything worked out okay. Fuck, I am lucky.
My first flight was to LAX. I left at 7pm on 9 July. The in-flight movie was Flawless which I had never even heard of, but it stars Demi Moore and is about diamonds and it looked pretty boring, so I think not purchasing a crappy pair of headphones ("yours to keep after the flight!") for $2 was the right choice. The flight took about 4 hours and I was starving and quite thirsty afterwards, so I ordered a quesadilla and ice water once we landed for about $10 (!), but it was delicious. Then I looked in one of those Newsagency type shops for an Australian plug adapter for my laptop, but they didn't have one so I bought a Cosmo in Spanish instead.
I boarded my flight out of LAX and discovered my seat was on the aisle right by the exit and bathroom. It was one of those Snakes on a Plane style planes, with stairs to an upper cabin and everything. AND the plane had exactly 69 rows. The girl sitting next to me on the plane told me some things I could do during my 10 hour layover in LA on my return flight. She asked me about scuba diving and I suddenly realized that I hadn't packed any of my scuba gear or my certification card or dive log so I probably wouldn't be able to dive at all. I guess that's what I get for putting everything off to the last minute.
The in-flight dinner was a main course of cheese ravioli or chicken sandwich, with cheese and crackers, grapes, and a cup of orange juice. The girl next to me was vegetarian, so her meal was a vegetable medley with strawberries for dessert. Then the flight attendants came around with tea or coffee, even though it was after midnight LA time. There were like 15 different in-flight shows (which we got to choose because we each had a tiny monitor on the back of the seat in front of us), including a GPS view of our plane flight with local time and temperature, a travel show about Fiji (where the plane was headed), Fool's Gold, 21, and The Spiderwick Chronicles. The flight attendants handed out these giftbags which had a toothbrush, toothpaste, eyemask, and long pair of socks in them. I was exhausted so I slept for a few hours.
About two hours from Fiji, they handed out "Refreshing Moist Towels" which were rather large and most people used them to wipe off their faces and bodies. We were served breakfast, which was a cheese omlette with salsa and mushrooms, sausage, tator tots, a roll with butter, a cup of fruit, and more orange juice and tea and coffee. The vegetarian sitting next to me got only fruit and a roll, and that's when I decided they must be feeding her vegan meals instead because she didn't even get butter or cheese or eggs.
I arrived in Fiji at 5 am on 11 July, local time. It was still the 10th in America, but we skipped it when crossing the International Date Line. They announced that a boy on the plane had a birthday on the 10th that he missed, and everyone clapped for him. The Fijian airport was filled with duty-free shops, but I would have had to exchange my money for Fijian dollars to buy anything so I didn't. All the signs were in English, but all the staff said hola instead of "hello" and spoke some non-English language amongst themselves, but it wasn't Spanish.
On my flight from Fiji to Brisbane, I sat next to this Australian in a cowboy hat who had clearly been drinking. I found out his name was Pete and that he had been living in America working at rodeos for the last seven years. The in-flight movie was Fool's Gold which I had already watched, and the meal was the same omlette with salsa and mushrooms. When we landed in Brisbane Pete offered to help me figure out where I needed to go and what I needed to do (baggage claim, money exchange, transferring to the other airport, etc.) but he got distracted by cheap liquor at a duty free shop, and then he had an issue with his baggage, and ultimately I realized that his level of intoxication made him a hindrance despite his helpful nature.
Apparently in Brisbane the domestic airport is not connected to the international airport, which I had to figure out on my own and then find transportation to on my own. Once I got into the domestic airport, I wasn't allowed to check in for my flight because it was too early, so I had to sit around and wait about an hour. I was very hungry, but all the restaurants were past security where I wasn't allowed to go yet, so I bought a candybar and some juice at the only store outside of security. Finally once I was able to check in I ordered a ham and cheese croissant which was about $8 (the exchange rate was $.97 Australian to $1.00 American when I arrived).
I don't remember much about my flight from Brisbane to Newcastle because I was completely exhausted by this point. Once I got to Newcastle, the airport was confusing and frustrating. I had just flown for 21 hours (31, with layover time), I had no reservations for where to stay, I had no local contacts (and no way of contacting them, even if I did), and I realized I had no idea what I was doing. When I left America, my dad had thought that Newcastle airport would be like an American airport in most cities: I could step off the plane, grab my bags, find a kiosk of local hotels, and call one up to make a reservation and get a free shuttle there. There was nothing like that at Newcastle. The best I could find was an "information" desk which was clearly just a cover for this shuttle service which cost $35 (or more, depending on where you needed to go), but I didn't really have any other options. I made a week long reservation at a hostel and shelled out the $35 for a shuttle there. Then I finally found the baggage carousels, but it had taken so long that the luggage wasn't going around anymore. I asked everyone where my luggage might be, and I was ultimately led to the check in desk where they told me my luggage had been lost. I filled out the paperwork, then bought a converter ($13) and a meal (Hungry Jack's, the same as Burger King--they even have Whoppers--this also cost me $13) while I waited for the shuttle. My order was messed up but I was so hungry I didn't care. Before I got on the shuttle I decided to check at the office for my luggage, and luckily it was there! They said it was taken by security since it was "abandoned" on the carousel for so long.
The shuttle ride took about an hour, and it was a cold miserable ride. I was so dizzy from dehydration and exhaustion that driving on the left side made me feel a little sick, and every time I saw headlights I thought they were coming straight at us because we were on the wrong side. When I finally got to the hostel, the office was impossible to find and I wondered around for about 10 minutes. Then, it turned out there wasn't an open bed in the room I was supposed to stay in, so I was put in a room all by myself. It was freezing because the window was propped open with a piece of wood nailed into the frame, and I was incredibly lonely and depressed and exhausted and miserable. I realized that from the moment I had arrived in Australia everything had gone wrong and everything had been so hard to figure out, and I wondered if I had made a horrible mistake coming here. I spent $2 for 20 minutes of internet at the hostel kiosk so I could email my dad and use Facebook for a bit. Then I decided that in the battle between exhaustion and dehydration, dehydration won so I walked to the gas station (about a block away) to spend $3 on a bottle of water. That was when I realized that everything here costs 2-3 times more than it would in America, even though the exchange rate is about 1:1. Then I walked back to the hostel and went to bed.
When I got to the airport I did not have a visa of any kind, which I found out was required for travel. Oops? I hadn't gotten my visa yet because the website wouldn't recognize any of my passport information, and all the contact numbers were Australian, so I figured it would just be easier to apply for one once I was in Australia. The guy at check in said I would need to reschedule my flight until I had gotten my visa, and I almost started to cry because I was already so stressed from doing everything at the last minute, but then! He said "let me ask one more person just to see" and it turns out there is a way to apply for an electronic visa at the airport and it was only $25 and everything worked out okay. Fuck, I am lucky.
My first flight was to LAX. I left at 7pm on 9 July. The in-flight movie was Flawless which I had never even heard of, but it stars Demi Moore and is about diamonds and it looked pretty boring, so I think not purchasing a crappy pair of headphones ("yours to keep after the flight!") for $2 was the right choice. The flight took about 4 hours and I was starving and quite thirsty afterwards, so I ordered a quesadilla and ice water once we landed for about $10 (!), but it was delicious. Then I looked in one of those Newsagency type shops for an Australian plug adapter for my laptop, but they didn't have one so I bought a Cosmo in Spanish instead.
I boarded my flight out of LAX and discovered my seat was on the aisle right by the exit and bathroom. It was one of those Snakes on a Plane style planes, with stairs to an upper cabin and everything. AND the plane had exactly 69 rows. The girl sitting next to me on the plane told me some things I could do during my 10 hour layover in LA on my return flight. She asked me about scuba diving and I suddenly realized that I hadn't packed any of my scuba gear or my certification card or dive log so I probably wouldn't be able to dive at all. I guess that's what I get for putting everything off to the last minute.
The in-flight dinner was a main course of cheese ravioli or chicken sandwich, with cheese and crackers, grapes, and a cup of orange juice. The girl next to me was vegetarian, so her meal was a vegetable medley with strawberries for dessert. Then the flight attendants came around with tea or coffee, even though it was after midnight LA time. There were like 15 different in-flight shows (which we got to choose because we each had a tiny monitor on the back of the seat in front of us), including a GPS view of our plane flight with local time and temperature, a travel show about Fiji (where the plane was headed), Fool's Gold, 21, and The Spiderwick Chronicles. The flight attendants handed out these giftbags which had a toothbrush, toothpaste, eyemask, and long pair of socks in them. I was exhausted so I slept for a few hours.
About two hours from Fiji, they handed out "Refreshing Moist Towels" which were rather large and most people used them to wipe off their faces and bodies. We were served breakfast, which was a cheese omlette with salsa and mushrooms, sausage, tator tots, a roll with butter, a cup of fruit, and more orange juice and tea and coffee. The vegetarian sitting next to me got only fruit and a roll, and that's when I decided they must be feeding her vegan meals instead because she didn't even get butter or cheese or eggs.
I arrived in Fiji at 5 am on 11 July, local time. It was still the 10th in America, but we skipped it when crossing the International Date Line. They announced that a boy on the plane had a birthday on the 10th that he missed, and everyone clapped for him. The Fijian airport was filled with duty-free shops, but I would have had to exchange my money for Fijian dollars to buy anything so I didn't. All the signs were in English, but all the staff said hola instead of "hello" and spoke some non-English language amongst themselves, but it wasn't Spanish.
On my flight from Fiji to Brisbane, I sat next to this Australian in a cowboy hat who had clearly been drinking. I found out his name was Pete and that he had been living in America working at rodeos for the last seven years. The in-flight movie was Fool's Gold which I had already watched, and the meal was the same omlette with salsa and mushrooms. When we landed in Brisbane Pete offered to help me figure out where I needed to go and what I needed to do (baggage claim, money exchange, transferring to the other airport, etc.) but he got distracted by cheap liquor at a duty free shop, and then he had an issue with his baggage, and ultimately I realized that his level of intoxication made him a hindrance despite his helpful nature.
Apparently in Brisbane the domestic airport is not connected to the international airport, which I had to figure out on my own and then find transportation to on my own. Once I got into the domestic airport, I wasn't allowed to check in for my flight because it was too early, so I had to sit around and wait about an hour. I was very hungry, but all the restaurants were past security where I wasn't allowed to go yet, so I bought a candybar and some juice at the only store outside of security. Finally once I was able to check in I ordered a ham and cheese croissant which was about $8 (the exchange rate was $.97 Australian to $1.00 American when I arrived).
I don't remember much about my flight from Brisbane to Newcastle because I was completely exhausted by this point. Once I got to Newcastle, the airport was confusing and frustrating. I had just flown for 21 hours (31, with layover time), I had no reservations for where to stay, I had no local contacts (and no way of contacting them, even if I did), and I realized I had no idea what I was doing. When I left America, my dad had thought that Newcastle airport would be like an American airport in most cities: I could step off the plane, grab my bags, find a kiosk of local hotels, and call one up to make a reservation and get a free shuttle there. There was nothing like that at Newcastle. The best I could find was an "information" desk which was clearly just a cover for this shuttle service which cost $35 (or more, depending on where you needed to go), but I didn't really have any other options. I made a week long reservation at a hostel and shelled out the $35 for a shuttle there. Then I finally found the baggage carousels, but it had taken so long that the luggage wasn't going around anymore. I asked everyone where my luggage might be, and I was ultimately led to the check in desk where they told me my luggage had been lost. I filled out the paperwork, then bought a converter ($13) and a meal (Hungry Jack's, the same as Burger King--they even have Whoppers--this also cost me $13) while I waited for the shuttle. My order was messed up but I was so hungry I didn't care. Before I got on the shuttle I decided to check at the office for my luggage, and luckily it was there! They said it was taken by security since it was "abandoned" on the carousel for so long.
The shuttle ride took about an hour, and it was a cold miserable ride. I was so dizzy from dehydration and exhaustion that driving on the left side made me feel a little sick, and every time I saw headlights I thought they were coming straight at us because we were on the wrong side. When I finally got to the hostel, the office was impossible to find and I wondered around for about 10 minutes. Then, it turned out there wasn't an open bed in the room I was supposed to stay in, so I was put in a room all by myself. It was freezing because the window was propped open with a piece of wood nailed into the frame, and I was incredibly lonely and depressed and exhausted and miserable. I realized that from the moment I had arrived in Australia everything had gone wrong and everything had been so hard to figure out, and I wondered if I had made a horrible mistake coming here. I spent $2 for 20 minutes of internet at the hostel kiosk so I could email my dad and use Facebook for a bit. Then I decided that in the battle between exhaustion and dehydration, dehydration won so I walked to the gas station (about a block away) to spend $3 on a bottle of water. That was when I realized that everything here costs 2-3 times more than it would in America, even though the exchange rate is about 1:1. Then I walked back to the hostel and went to bed.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
List of things I miss in Australia
lemonade
soft solid deodorant
Reese's
Butterfinger
grape jelly
pounds, miles, Fahrenheit
Drinkin' with Lincoln =(
my car
large pizzas which are actually large ("large" here is the same size as small in America)
gallons of skim milk (closest is 3 litres of "lite" milk)
butter without chemical taste and color
biscuits!
the non-proper way of spelling words like colour, honour, behaviour, gaol (aka "jail"--are you fucking kidding me with this one? What the hell, Australia and Great Britain)
driving on the right side of the road
baggy jeans
clothes dryers!
soft solid deodorant
Reese's
Butterfinger
grape jelly
pounds, miles, Fahrenheit
Drinkin' with Lincoln =(
my car
large pizzas which are actually large ("large" here is the same size as small in America)
gallons of skim milk (closest is 3 litres of "lite" milk)
butter without chemical taste and color
biscuits!
the non-proper way of spelling words like colour, honour, behaviour, gaol (aka "jail"--are you fucking kidding me with this one? What the hell, Australia and Great Britain)
driving on the right side of the road
baggy jeans
clothes dryers!
List of (good) music I've heard here
Pussycat Dolls -- When I Grow Up
Sneaky Sound System -- UFO
Sneaky Sound System -- Pictures (Tonite Only Remix)
Estelle feat. Kanye West -- American Boy
The Presets -- Are You The One
Alex Gaudino feat. Crystal Waters -- Destination Calabria
The Presets -- My People
Muscles -- Jerk
Savage -- Swing
Bloc Party -- Banquet (I can't find the remix that they play here)
Metro Station -- Shake It
The Presets -- Talk Like That
Rihanna -- Disturbia
Lady GaGa feat. Colby O'Donis -- Just Dance
Ne-Yo -- Closer
Pnau -- Baby
Sam Sparro -- Black and Gold
The Potbelleez -- Don't Hold Back
MGMT -- Electric Feel
The Veronicas -- Take Me On The Floor
Bodyrox feat. Luciana -- Yeah Yeah (D. Ramirez Radio Edit)
MGMT -- Kids
MIKA -- Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)
The Veronicas -- Untouched
September -- Cry For You
Kate Miller-Heidke -- Can't Shake It
Ida Corr vs Fedde Le Grande -- Let Me Think About It
Empire Of The Sun -- Walking On A Dream
Britney Spears -- Womanizer
Eskimo Joe -- Black Fingernails Red Wine
The Ting Tings -- That's Not My Name
The Potbelleez -- Are You With Me
T.I. feat. Rihanna -- Live Your Life
Fatman Scoop -- Be Faithful
bluejuice -- Vitriol (music starts ~1:08)
Carolina Liar -- I'm Not Over
Axle Whitehead -- I Don't Do Surprises
TV Rock vs Dukes Of Windsor -- The Others
Fragma feat. Coco Star -- Toca's Miracle
The Hilltop Hoods -- The Nosebleed Section
Dukes of Windsor -- It's A War
Kevin Rudolf feat. Lil Wayne -- Let It Rock
The Presets -- This Boy's In Love
Natalie Bassingthwaighte -- Alive
Sneaky Sound System -- UFO
Sneaky Sound System -- Pictures (Tonite Only Remix)
Estelle feat. Kanye West -- American Boy
The Presets -- Are You The One
Alex Gaudino feat. Crystal Waters -- Destination Calabria
The Presets -- My People
Muscles -- Jerk
Savage -- Swing
Bloc Party -- Banquet (I can't find the remix that they play here)
Metro Station -- Shake It
The Presets -- Talk Like That
Rihanna -- Disturbia
Lady GaGa feat. Colby O'Donis -- Just Dance
Ne-Yo -- Closer
Pnau -- Baby
Sam Sparro -- Black and Gold
The Potbelleez -- Don't Hold Back
MGMT -- Electric Feel
The Veronicas -- Take Me On The Floor
Bodyrox feat. Luciana -- Yeah Yeah (D. Ramirez Radio Edit)
MGMT -- Kids
MIKA -- Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)
The Veronicas -- Untouched
September -- Cry For You
Kate Miller-Heidke -- Can't Shake It
Ida Corr vs Fedde Le Grande -- Let Me Think About It
Empire Of The Sun -- Walking On A Dream
Britney Spears -- Womanizer
Eskimo Joe -- Black Fingernails Red Wine
The Ting Tings -- That's Not My Name
The Potbelleez -- Are You With Me
T.I. feat. Rihanna -- Live Your Life
Fatman Scoop -- Be Faithful
bluejuice -- Vitriol (music starts ~1:08)
Carolina Liar -- I'm Not Over
Axle Whitehead -- I Don't Do Surprises
TV Rock vs Dukes Of Windsor -- The Others
Fragma feat. Coco Star -- Toca's Miracle
The Hilltop Hoods -- The Nosebleed Section
Dukes of Windsor -- It's A War
Kevin Rudolf feat. Lil Wayne -- Let It Rock
The Presets -- This Boy's In Love
Natalie Bassingthwaighte -- Alive
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
No Secret Enties?
What the fuck? Blogger, you're killing me here. I guess if you kids want juicy details you'll have to interact with me in some way other than passively reading my online travel log.
I promise pictures will happen soon. Probably not today.
P.S. It's possible to leave comments with your name without creating an account. Under the comment box where it says "Choose an identity" click on "Name/URL" and then just type in your name. So easy! Or you could choose "Anonymous" and leave me in mystery. Or I suppose you could choose "Name" and write in a name that isn't yours! But these are only a few suggestions on how to have fun with my blog. The sky is the limit, really.
I promise pictures will happen soon. Probably not today.
P.S. It's possible to leave comments with your name without creating an account. Under the comment box where it says "Choose an identity" click on "Name/URL" and then just type in your name. So easy! Or you could choose "Anonymous" and leave me in mystery. Or I suppose you could choose "Name" and write in a name that isn't yours! But these are only a few suggestions on how to have fun with my blog. The sky is the limit, really.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Welcomes and Introductions
Welcome to my super public Australian blog! Hopefully you're reading this because you know me and you want to hear about my Australian travels, because that's all I'm going to talk about. If you don't know me but you're reading this I guess that's allowed, but keep in mind that you're weird and probably creepy. Just so you know, this is the start of my fourth week in Australia, so I'm probably going to do some amount of filling in what has happened so far, while at the same time talking about what is currently happening, and I imagine it could get quite confusing. I'll do my best to keep things orderly enough that I'm not confusing myself, but anything beyond that is your responsibility. You can ask questions and stuff. Also, there may or may not be actual secret entries that you're probably only allowed to see if you create an account and subscribe and I figure out how to do that kind of thing. But also I am lazy, so we'll see. Still, it'd be nice to know who's reading up on me.
Cool, that was fun to read, right? Usually I expect to be more interesting but no promises.
Cool, that was fun to read, right? Usually I expect to be more interesting but no promises.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)