My OZsome Adventure

Maroochy- who?

aearnest — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:21:00 GMT

I arrived at the Sunshine Coast Airport on Tuesday, October 11th. I was picked up 45 minutes late by Justin, the owner of the YHA Hostel that I have come here to work for. When I get to my room, there is another girl here who has come for the same job. Her name is Kirsten, from Scotland. I like her because she is very positive and even when she doesn't agree she just laughs. She seems like a free spirit. I have also met Tina, from Germany, who is not happy that two new girls have been hired for her job. Interesting. Others I have met are Natalie, from Toronto, Canada. She is a guest at the hostel and we get along great. We have even discussed travelling to Bali together in a few months. There is Glen, an Aussie backpacker who is slightly annoying in his strong opionions. Joe from Ireland, who may have a crush on me but he's only 21. Martin from Germany, funny and cute. And finally, Justin, the hostel owner who is completely neurotic and slightly creeps me out with his live-in Thai girlfriend who looks 12. These are the memebers of my new Maroochydore "family".

My new job at the hostel includes check-in and check-out for guests, bed changing, laundry, cleaning and grounds-keeping. I actually really love cleaning the pool. There is just something so soothing about vacuuming underwater. The work can be hard, especially in the heat. But it gets me free accomodation and a few hundred dollars a week. Shifts are 5 hours and I am promised 30 hours per week. Justin, the owner will be going out of town on Wednesday for the next month. We are all looking forward to that.

Maroochydore reminds me of Hawaii, with high-rise condos on the beach. But it's also very quiet. It's a small town becuase I keep running into the same people. But it's very nice. We get good thunderstorms here and good beach days, too.

On our second night here, Kirsten and I headed to the Duporth Tavern in town for free beer. It's a promotion for guests of the YHA on Thursday nights. It was nice to get away from the hostel after a 10 hour day of training. There was an Aussie Football League party going on at the tavern. Some guys in their 40s came over and invited us to join them at their table. The first question I was asked, "Do you want to see the flaming ass?" Of course I did! Here we are on the patio of this pub and this man takes off all of his clothes and proceeds to shove a long piece of toilet paper up his ass, light it of fire, and take off running. I have photos.

On my first Friday night in town, a group of us from the hostel decide to go out for a night on the town. We called for a taxi to take us 5 miles south to Maloolooba. We had a great night at O'Malleys Irish Pub dancing to a live band and a DJ. The place got packed after a while. After returning to the hostel around 2am, I went straight to bed. Later in the night, a guy comes into my room with a lighter trying to find his way in the dark. I assume it's one of the drunk guys who went ot the pub with us and had come back to my room with Kirsten. I tell him to get out. He tries again a little while later. I yelled "who is it?" He backed off again and slept in the room adjoining mine. I kept thinking this drunk guy is going to burn this place down with that ligher and I have no way out. I also was thinking I am to old to be dealing with drunk backpackers coming into my room at night. The next day, I learn that the guy was, in fact, an intruder. He had come into the hostel after all the drunkies went to bed and robbed them. He tried every door to find and unlocked one. Kirsten had forgotten to lock ours. He took a knife from our kitchen and cut window screens to try to break into some rooms. He slept in our room! It was all caught on video surveillance. I was informed today that the police have identified him and are going to arrest. Scary!

Natalie, Tina and I are spending the day today making plans for what is next. We have all decided to stay in Maroochydore and continute to look for other jobs. More to come!

Good Ole Toukley

aearnest — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 14:07:00 GMT

I arrived in Toukley, 1 1/2 hours north of Sydney, on Tuesday. I caught the 10:15 train out of Central Station, across the street from my hostel. I was supposed to get off at the Warnervale station, where Arch was waiting for me. When I got to the stop I could not get the train doors to open. I was the only one in my car exiting and the doors did not open automatically. A man sitting near the door saw me struggling to open it and got up to help. He could not get it to open either. The train took off again. I called Arch to let him know I would get off at the next stop and catch the next train back. He told me to wait at the next station and he would come there. He hasn't let me forget it yet.

Toukley is a small town on what Arch calls an "ismus". It is surrounded by lakes on two sides and ocean on one. Yesterday I heard it called "God's waiting room" because of the large elderly population. "Country" might be my word to describe it. I saw some people leaving the neighbors house the morning following an all-night raging party walking in the street with no shoes. Nevermind that they had slept in the back of their truck.

I like it here. It is much more quiet and peaceful than Sydney. The beach is undisturbed. My Aussie family lives here. They all work at the same company, too. They are Toukley royalty.

At least 4 days of this last week, Shirley, her mother Gloria, and I have been to one of the local clubs for lunch and/or gambling. These clubs are like mini casinos. Michael Coglan is the CEO of the group of them. His sons, Ben and Danny, their wife and girlfriend, their uncle, and pretty much all of their friends are employed by these clubs. Other than one night out at the bar, this is the only time I get to see them.

The club has good food, slots, sports book, Keno and raffles daily. My parents would be in heaven. But mind you, I am the youngest patron by at least 40 years. It was nice, though.

Arch and Shirley are just as I remember them 18 years ago. Shirley still loves to light candles and drink wine and Arch still likes to pick on me and teach me useless knowledge. They live in the most perfect cottage on the lake. Shirley has it decorated colorfully and comfy. Arch has a slew of Lorakeets that stop by for feeding a few times a day. They like to cook lovely homemade meals. Below are some things I've tried for the first time while in Australia:
Tea with milk
Pumpkin
Curry, eggplant pickle, hot sliced mango chutney
Vegemite
Meat pie and mashie peas
Hahn Lite beer
Beet root and egg on a hamburger
Potato wedges with sweet chili and sour cream
Octopus (Occy)

In the meantime I have been searching for jobs in Queensland. It is just too cold for me here. I haven't packed for the cold and rain. Out of about 15 applications, I heard back from a restaurant in Broadbeach, a hotel position in Roma which is a small mining town in the outback, and a receptionist at YHA hostel in Maroochydore. 2 interviews and a Skype session later, I'm hired for Maroochydore! Hallelujah! I'm moving to the Sunshine Coast!

Arch and Shirley have done everything for me this last week. Meals, laundry, driving lessons, even set up nights out with the young folk. I will miss them! I hope to come back for the holidays.

Day 6: Life's a Beach

aearnest — Sun, 2 Oct 2011 12:18:00 GMT

I woke up feeling a little better. I knew a hot shower would help. The tour group met up at 10 am for a tour to the famous Bondi Beach. Little did we know we would be walking 5-7 miles today.

We started off in Coogee Beach, south if Bondi. We took a bus there from the hostel. It really was a nice walk along the beach and the cliffs. I was still a little under the weather this morning so I popped a Sudafed. This kept me a little hazy most of the day. I'm thankful that of all the days so far, today was the one I would be out of it. I mean I didn't miss much considering I've seen a beach before. The only thing I can say for certain is that two girls in particular seemed to annoy me with just their voices. I suppose when I was 19 I loved the sound of my own voice, too, but if only they had anything to say that wasn't anti-American. Kane refers to them as "thingy and thingy" since they have yet to be friendly enough to introduce themselves to anyone yet. Might I also add, my new nickname with the Brits is "Mindy". I guess Amanda isn't American enough.

After we took a bus back from Bondi, Anna and I went to Woolworth's for some fruit and a hair straightener. Mine had literally exploaded this morning when I plugged it in. Bye bye my T3 Pro. :-( We decided we also deserved gelato milkshakes for all the walking we've been doing. Sadly, their version of a milkshake was a scoop of gelato in a cup of milk. Gross!

We hurried back to the hostel to get ready for our party bus bar crawl. I was told to dress up, finally! We started off at Scubar, then headed to a bar in Coogee Beach, next to a bar in Bondi Junction, and back to Scary Canary on our side of town. The party bus continued on to a bar in Kings Cross, but a few of us jumped off and walked back to the hostel. We were told that we would get one free drink at each bar, but found out we could only get free house wine or beer. It was all a good time but we needed sleep to prepare for tomorrow, and the time change.

Day 5: I'm On a Boat

aearnest — Sat, 1 Oct 2011 20:02:00 GMT

The tour group met up at 10am in the hostel lobby for our Sydney Harbour boat cruise. We were met by Andrew, the boat captain. What is it with me and boat captains? Maybe it's because he is the first real Aussie I've met since I've been here, or maybe it's the boat thing, but I had a little crush on Andrew immediately.

Our first stop was at the liquor store to stock up on booze for the boat. Anna, Emma and I had gone in three ways on two 6 packs of Castaway Australian cider. How appropriate for a boat.

It was very windy on the harbour, so we were all bundled up in our hoodies. I chugged two Castaways quickly hoping to get warm.

Andrew took us past the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. He also pointed out some of the most expensive properties in the world, as well as celebrity homes of Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman.

We stopped for lunch at the Sydney Fish Market where they brought us two huge platters of fish and chips to share. I tried the calamari, scallop, white fish, oyster and even a bite of octopus. I wouldn't eat the legs with the little suction cups. Everything is fried here I've noticed. Not my favorite.

After lunch we went to Manly Beach, which reminded me so much of Huntington Beach. After that we pulled in to a smaller beach that was blocked from the wind so we could swim. No one did because it was so cold, but there was a friendly game of beach soccer.

After 4 Castaways, the boat got more fun. Flo, a German guy on our tour who we refer to as Flo-Rida, plugged in his iPod and we jammed out. He proved to be a true white German rapper when he belted out Tupac, 50 Cent and of course Flo Rida. Hilarious!

After we were dropped off back at the hostel, everyone was ready for a nap. After about an hour, I awoke feverish. Great, and no health insurance. I slept a bit longer, then met up with the usuals for dinner at Scruffy Murphy's. I had invited Sam, the American guy from the airport shuttle, to join us. I had a Caesar salad and headed back to the hostel to sleep off the sickness.

Day 4: Kangaroos, Koalas, and Crocs...oh my!

aearnest — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 19:58:00 GMT

This morning a few of us met up to go to Doonside to the Featherdale Wild Animal Park. We heard you could pet the koalas and kangaroos there. We took a westbound train to Blacktown then took a bus to the park. When we entered the park, we were immediately in a wallaby petting zoo. I just couldn't believe how small and friendly they were.

On this day adventure were me, Anna, Emma, and our Irish friends Ciaran and Paddy. We all took turns posing with a koala that was asleep on a branch. It's called "cuddle a koala". Apparently, in the state of New South Wales you can pet, but not hold the koala. When I asked the zoo keeper if the koala was high, he said no it just sleeps 20 hours a day because the eucalyptus it eats contains no nutrients. I almost felt bad for cuddling it and taking photos while it was sleeping, but then it was just so darn cute! I was also glad it was asleep because koalas are temperamental and will attack you with their claws.

Next were the kangaroos, which honestly didn't look any different than the wallaby to me. They were much smaller than I expected. The babies came right up to us and let us pet them. Anna was brave enough to pick one up, but it scampered away. They were so cute, they ate their food out of ice cream cones. They were so used to people, they would even pose for pictures.

Other animals we saw were wombats, Tasmanian devil, crocodile, bats, snakes, birds, and even some goats and furry chickens. Before we left, I made the group stop by the "cuddle a koala" one last time. It's official, I'm obsessed with koalas!

Day 3: Sydney or Seattle?

aearnest — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 17:29:00 GMT

Yesterday, I had agreed to meet up with Anna from my tour group at 9:30 this morning. We met up and headed to the Traveller's Contact Point office to use the free internet service. We also needed to go by the bank to pick up our bank cards and stop by Woolworth's to buy cheap phones for our prepaid SIM cards.

Anna is from North Whales and is 27 years old, like me. She left her job as a university agriculture teacher to come to Oz.

Also joining us this morning was Kane, a 19 year old insurance salesman from somewhere in the UK with a wicked accent. He is hilarious.

After a while, we were joined by Emma, a 20 year old from London. I like her because she suggested vodka with lunch. What a perfect idea for a rainy, non-eventful day like today!

We went to an Irish pub called Scruffy Murphy's for lunch. I'm sure there are tons of establishments around the world with this name, but it is significant for me because there was a crappy bar in Waco when I was at Baylor called Scruffy Murphy's. I also had my first legal drink at a Scruffy Murphy's in Orlando, Florida.

After lunch, the crappy weather, or the vodka, made me want to cuddle up in my bunk bed at the hostel. It is rainy and cold out. Nothing like how I pictured Australia. I was wearing my Old Navy flip flops that made for dangerous walking in the rain, as the sidewalks are made of stone and are slippery. I also didn't come prepared with a rain jacket or an umbrella. And on top of that, my legs, hips and feet are killing me from all the walking. I am convinced that one of my legs is longer than the other and that is causing all of this discomfort. Yes, that, and not the fact that I have walked at least 10 miles in cheap, plastic flip flops and am just overall lazy from driving everywhere in America.

Back at the hostel in my co-ed room, I meet roommate #2, Frankie. She is from the UK and has been living in this hostel for 6 months.

Since I arrived, it seems that everyone I've met is either from the UK or Germany. Both sound like foreign languages to me. I am getting ancy to see other parts of Sydney that have more locals and less backpackers.

At around 8pm I met up with some of the people on my tour to go out for a drink. We decided to go back to Scruffy Murphy's, as it is a short distance to run in the rain and we had seen an advertisement for Drag Queen Karaoke when we were there for lunch. The clencher for the group was the $7 jugs of beer, equal to a pitcher.

It wasn't long before the girls, Anna, Emma myself and Laura from Scotland, were up on stage singing "Livin on a Prayer". We earned a free jug for that. And the two drag queen hostesses where spot on all night. Of course, I was picked on for being "the American girl". But the brunt of the jokes were on a group of regulars to karaoke night who were mentally handicapped. Good ole politically correct Australia! We had a blast! Photos to follow.

Day 2: What day is it?

aearnest — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:21:00 GMT

I left LA Sunday night, September 27th. I arrived in Sydney Tuesday morning at about 6:45am. I never liked Mondays anyway. Customs and Immigration took 2 hours due to a baggage handler strike. When I got to the meeting point for my shuttle, I met another American out for the adventure. Sam is from Minnesota. For now, we are staying in two different hostels on the same block. I was happy to see another American.

I got to the hostel to check in. It is nice. Contemporary. But then again, I have nothing to compare it to as this is my first hostle experience. My room is a 4 person room that looks like a tornado hit it. It looks like my roommates are long-term guests. I showered immediately and met up with my Ultimate Oz group around 10:30am.

No time for jetlag. We spent the entire day walking. They showed us the bank, Hyde Park which is like the "Central Park" of Sydney, the Opera House, Botanical Gardens and back to the Travellers Contact Point office. Did I mention it is COLD here?

Sydney is cool. But the hustle and bustle reminds me of LA. I am thinking I might look for work up North in Queensland where it is more laid back and WARM!

By dinner time I am fading fast. I get a cup of coffee and a 5 hour energy. I will not be plagued by jetlag! I met up with Clara Enns, a Canadian/Mexican backpacker from TravBuddy.com. After dinner at Scary Canary, we head back to the hostle to go to the underground bar, Side Bar. There were two Aussie cuties playing guitars and singing American Pop songs. I have a glass of wine to try to go to sleep after all that caffeine.

When I get back to my room, I meet roommate number one, Jess. She is from UK and has been here 3 weeks. She just got a job at a Cafe down the street. Her boyfriend, Billy, has been here two years. Great, a co-ed room. I might be too old for this. Nighty night!

Day 1: Heaven or Hell

aearnest — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 12:09:00 GMT

The day started off at 7:30 am when my cell phone alarm clock went off. Out of habit I found the snooze button without opening my eyes. Wait! Today is the day! I rolled off my flattened air mattress onto the hardwood floor.

My day looked like this: drive my loaded car to the storage unit and drop off the stuff, go to church, drop off my spare car keys to the dealership where I had sold my car, lunch with Debbie, store to buy last minute things, mail bills, finish packing, time with neighbors (?), shower, load the car with the last load for storage, drop off at storage, and get to Burbank airport in time for my 8:45 pm flight. Sounds do-able, right?

Well let's just say not a lot about this adventure planning has been easy. And that, my friends, is how I know I was meant to go. After lunch with Deb and shopping is where I go off schedule. "Finish packing" is not a small feat. You see, somehow that tiny apartment held more crap than I could ever imagine. And in the midst of trying to figure out a game plan, "super hot boat neighbor" comes over to say good-bye. While on any other day of my life I would have been ecstatic about this, at this point I couldn't figure out now to make him leave! I mean the clock was ticking and there were plenty of other hot guys with accents waiting in OZ.

By 5:30pm I decided to start loading everything into trash bags. I must have thrown 7 trash bags of once valued possessions into dumpster. No time to care. So now I had two boxes and a few other large items load into the car. I yelled for the neighbor guys and knocked on their doors. No answer. After a frantic call to Mom, I decide I'm going to try to hurl these boxes down the stairs myself. No go. It's 6pm now. I yell at an older man on the sidewalk, "Sir can you PLEASE help me with this box?" The old guy puts out his cigarette and struggles down the stairs with my box. I hug him. Bless you sir! Just then one of my neighbors comes out and asks if I need help. Yes! I'm in tears! I'm going to miss my flight! He and his lovely girlfriend help pack my car in minutes. I hugged them both and dropped my car key into a huge drainage ditch. Only it doesn't fall all the way in. Somehow it balances on the incline. That's a God thing.

I get all the way to PCH and realize I didn't turn in my apartment keys. I turn around and head back to drop off the keys. It's 6:30pm now. Next stop, storage unit. I'm in and out of there in 15 minutes.

By 7:15 I was on the freeway headed north. I call sweet Mom again to have her Google directions to the Burbank airport. She gives me step by step instructions, 605 N to 5N, exit San Fernando. Seems simple enough since most of that route was my daily route to work. Good thing, because my phone battery was dying. I drove for quite a while looking for a San Fernando exit. I noticed I had passed all Burbank exits. I call Mom again. There is no San Fernando exit! It is almost 8pm. I turn around and drive until I see "Bob Hope Airport next 2 exits". I choose one. I call Mom again. Where do I take the rental car? This is my punishment for relying so heavily on GPS navigation all these years. She hangs up and calls Enterprise to find out. While I'm trying to preserve phone battery, I decide to pull into the airport terminal. I see signs for rental car return. Hallelujah! I pull in and see every company name except Enterprise. Just then Mom calls back and I burst into tears again. It is now 8:05pm and I still need to check luggage. She tells me to calm down. The Enterprise lady told her I can drop the car off at Alamo. Bless her! I turn around and park at Alamo. I jump out of the car, gab my bags and yell at the overwhelmed car attendant "Sir, I have to go!" He yells back "leave the key and contract in the car!" Done.

Thank God Burbank airport is dinky! It is a very short distance to the United Airlines counter. I run in and the ticket agent literally rolls her eyes and says "we have ANOTHER late one AND she has luggage" A-holes. She can't promise myself or my luggage will make it. Tears again. She calls someone and tells me she will have to carry my luggage to the plane herself. I feel terrible but thankful. It is 8:20pm. She tells me to run, they have already boarded. I run full speed to security, which winds up being 30 feet away. Man this place is small. I fumble to find my liquids and computer. Security can tell I had been crying. I am the only person in the security line. They tell me to calm down and assure me my flight had not boarded. I calm down and take my time. When I get through security, my gate is 20 feet away. They announce last call for boarding as I notice I am the only person in the airport. I made it! I also stop feeling guilty for the lady who had to carry my bag 50 feet to make it on the flight.

When I get yo my seat I call Mom one last time to tell her I made it. Cell phone battery dies. Then an announcement from the pilot. We need to exit the plane due to at least a one hour delay for takeoff. Bad weather in San Francisco, where I connect for my Sydney flight. Believe it or not, I tear up again. The lady next me has a similar reaction. We both laugh. What else can you do?

We exit the plane and line up at the service desk to figure out connecting flights. It hits me. I am in no hurry. I have nowhere to be. I no longer have a home or car. Cool.

The service agent tells my to try to catch my Sydney flight, if and when we get to San Francisco. There are no other flights to Sydney tonight. We re-board the plane and take-off 45 minutes late. We land at 10:40. My Sydney flight leaves at 10:59. When we land I run like Forest Gump. My whole life in my backpack on my back, holding a koala pillow, and my lungs are burning. It is quite a distance to the international terminal. I find the gate and yell from the top of the escalator, "wait for me!" I made it! A security guard chased me down the jetway with my cosmetic case that had fallen out of my backpack. Bless him, too!

I finally get to my seat, physically and mentally exhausted. I can totally sleep for the next 14 hours. Then the announcement, free booze on this flight! I can sleep when I'm dead!