Friday, October 4, 2013

Over a year

I'm surprised that I actually remembered I had a blog, considering it's been about 7 months since I published anything. I guess I decided today would be a good day to write about where I've been and what I've done. Depending on how long this post is might depend on how mug you find out.

Now I don't know where I ended, but I'll start with leaving Melbourne.

After 4 months, and 3 months of work, I headed out to Byron Bay for their famous Bluesfest. This year's headliners included Paul Simon, Robert Plante, Rufus Wainwright and smaller acts were Xavier Rudd, The Dropkick Murphys and VT's own Grace Potter and the Nocturnals.

Needless to say it was an amazing 5 days and money couldn't have been spent better. I was with my old co-worker Stevie and we slept in his van for 5 days; ate and cooked from his camping stove, and washed ourselves in the ocean and sometimes the showers at the beach. For those of you who don't know, Byron Bay is a magical place, honestly! The Aboriginals used to go there for healing ceremonies. There's something about the place that makes you feel amazing.

After spending an extra week there, I moved up to Surfers Paradise on my own. I spent a few nights and lots of money. I met some amazing Brits, including two gals who I would meet again at my next stop.

And then I made it to Brisbane. After the British lads in Surfers told me to stay at Brisbane City Backpackers, well, my 4 night stay became a 10 week stay. For the first 2 weeks, I tried to find a job, dropping off over 30 applications to different restaurants. In the end, I got a job at the hostel working as their cook. It was me and another English lad working there- 50 hours a week at 371$ plus free accommodation. I wouldn't call it slave labor, but it was pretty close. In the six bed dorm I lived in, there was me, the other English cook, two English night managers, and a Canadian bartender named Kayla. We had two bartenders flow through, but the second one was a Irish gal named Sarah Jane. Kayla, Sarah Jane and I got on really well, and would always try to hang out when possible. Sarah Jane traveled with a few other girls, including one who would replace me. I also made friends in my original 14 bed all girls en-suite room- Patricia, Janie, Lindsey, Claire and Amy. Patty and Janie ended up moving into a house which we would go to when we needed to get away, Amy and Claire moved and worked in the outback and lindsey stayed at the hostel. She also helped me find my other job at a place called Riverbar and Kitchen. I found it ironic since my first job was at Riverland Bar and Cafe. Brisbane was good to me, but like always, I was getting bored. Sarah Jane, Kayla and I decided to do an east coast tour, starting in Noosa and working our way up to Cairns. Unfortunately, Sarah Jane could only join us to Rainbow beach as she had succeeded in getting a social work job in Sydney!

But we had a good time anyways, and we got to go to Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo- where I got to hold a koala and see all sort of cool and unique animals. And then we went to Rainbow Beach and Fraser Island. Fraser Island is the largest sand only island in the world and is a world heritage site. I got to drive on the sand and in the woods, but in our group of 8, we mainly let the boys drive. It was a fun time and the site had the best showers I've used in a long time (including other hostels and where I am now). Rainbow Beach's Pippies Hostel was fabulous and we met one of my now good friends Jess there. She manages the place and gave us good deals for staying. We also hung out with her outside of the hostel and she and her friend Lisa showed us around! It was a really great time and it was sad when Kayla and I had to leave. But Kayla and I had our next adventure- a few days stranded on a desert island (kinda).

Well it's lunch time. Maybe I'll post some more soon, we shall see! Joya