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January 27, 2005
Mooloolaba (try and pronounce it i dare you?)
Mooloolaba is a nice place on the east coast.
We were luckey enough to stay at a contact that I recieved from my Godmother back in Canada. We litteraly just called up and asked a complete stranger if we could stay at there house. Drew was possably one of the best hosts one could ask for. Really in the end we were like his addopted children. Not only did he give us his son's car to drive around town but when we went out he gave us his boat! Exact words were something like "its safer to drive a boat drunk then a car", so we didnt argue. And over dinner that MJ and I cooked as a thankyou for letting us stay, we got threw a bottle of wine each(a little tipsy). But the house itself was fantastic, looking out over the bay, with huge sliding door windows(it was a house of MJ's dream world). Then after dinner and more wine, MJ and Ileft this house to go find a bar and more alcohol.
So apon cruzing accross the bay, climbing up a very sketchy ladder, and around a fence in witch we had to climb rocks that hung over the water...and yes we had to do this same proccess backwards on the way home when we were very intoxicated....dont worrie we survived!
anyway....we found a bar, met some locals, hung out at some locals house(sketchy, but what else could it be?) were offerd surfing lessons, but when we woke up the next morning there was no way we were going, so we ditched them(sorry guys).
So we ditched surfing and went to the Austrailian Zoo, we missed the Crock Hunter by like an hour....yes we got very, very lost on the way to the zoo, dont ask. And since we missed him we stocked his house on the bay! Once at the zoo we saw all the animals, pet a kangaroo and a koala i want one as a pet now). Oh and it pissed rain the entire time we were there only to stop when we got home. Makes scence.
Other then that Mooloolaba was a fantastic little beah town with surfers, and not alot of roundabouts!
Posted by Jen at 09:38 AM | Comments (0)
Canoeing the everglades....
In the span of 24 hours and on one canoe trip we saw: Rainforest, everglades, salt water, fresh water (lakes and rivers), and dessert........
After being picked-up from the caravan park, which we had been staying at, Pixie and I joined the 9 other people heading out on the adventure!
First we took a water taxi across a larger body of water, there we were given a brief info session.... which in the end was actually really not worth much.... meh
We then did a small side trip up a river into the rainforrest, the fish were crazy!!!!
It didn't take long for the rest of the group to realize that Pixie and I actually knew what were were doing, was that annoying... well maybe a little, we spent alot of time trying to do our own thing, but always answering questions and being looked to for direction (even though this was suppose to be a self guided trip).
It was awesome to get paddling again!!! As we made our way through the everglades we saw our first kangaroo in the wild, yay!!
ON the second day we got up around 6am and paddled up stream to do an 11km (return) hike up a mountain to this HUGE dessert patch. It was the craziest thing, completely surrounded by forrest!!! It was sooo beautiful, you could even see the ocean from one side... you will love the pics!!
The water was sooo warm, it was like getting into a warm bath, which was not the refreshing dip we were looking for after that long hike in crazy heat (rarely have I sweat that much), but we took what we could get!!!
Actually the water looked like tea, we were told it was because of the gum trees that populated the area.
So in the end, the trip was a great time! As far as the parts that were paddling, and adventuring... but the equipment and sites were sub-par, at best! A trip that would have gone better if we had done it ourselves...but this is not us being bitter, I swear ;-)....
In conclusion: Tripping in Canada, far far supperior!!! Long live Algonquin!!!!!!
Posted by Meegan at 09:31 AM | Comments (0)
January 21, 2005
And so the road trip begins!!!
After hitting a few snags in the road trip planning, Pixie and I have started out down the East Coast....
So PIxie has managed to master the sketchy driving on the wrong side of the road in a giant ass vehicle..Props to her for not killing us yet!! One question still remains.. The roundabouts... evil or good?!?!?! We'll let you know....
Night one ended in Townsville, where it was SOOOO humid, sleeping really was not an option! And as soon as it got dark, oh MAN, the bugs came out in swarms... I have never seen anything like it! We booked it out of there super early in the morning!
Since then days have been generally hot but the evening have cooled significantly!!
We have had many run in with birds at the sites..including crazy peacocks, and swarms of birds in tree above the van (causing us to have to hide from the shit storms)!!!
We have had truckers trying to pick us up, and lots of sketchy trailor parks boyz....... (sorry dave W, not interested)
We are now in NOosa, and tomorrow we embarck on our canoe trip through the everglades!!!
Stayed tunned (our internet time runs out in 2 mins, which is why this is rushed.....)
Posted by Meegan at 06:14 PM | Comments (3)
And so that was Cairns eh?!?!....
We came, we saw, we drank... and well we lived the life of the rich and famous.... sorta.
So we arrived in Cairns, eventaully makig our way to the hostel we had booked... We arrived with little hope of anything beyond sketchy, well we were very surprised that we had managed to book ourselves into the royal plaza of hostels.. Infact I don't think we can even call it a hostel... Truelly it was a resort, basically there were a handful of actual backpackers there. The swimming pool was actually clean, and even had a little waterfall thingy, there was a "bubble" pool, a bar, a fridge in our room and a sink (now that was us being spoiled), airconditioning that WE controlled... We didn't know what to do withourselves.
On our second night we managed to hook-up with a couple people and headed towards a local bar called the Woolshed...before hitting the bar the group of us hit the bottle shop and pre-drank in a park on the way there... always a good sign...on to the bar... Well jesus, it was quite the bar... dancing up a storm, 5 tequilla sunrises each for $12... Now that is not safe... (don't be fooled that is not all we drank)... and generally good times all round. We managed to make our way home sometime after..ummmm... 3ish... (times a little sketchy).
We liked it so much we made our way back again the next night, although we did manage to leave alittle earlier...
On the Sat. Pixie and I joined a bunch of people and boated out to the great barrier reef for some snorkelling fun. It was awesome, the water was a nice 27 degrees... yes that is the OCEAN temprature... the reef was beautiful, and we tok tons of pics with an underwater camera. It was quite the natural wonder for sure!
We spent the majority of the week lounging around the pool area, getting some sun.. well that is until we got too much sun, and burnt the shit out of ourselves... which led to both of us getting colds..BOOOO....
In the end we exited Cairns via our Camper Van on the monday..
We just want to put a quick shout out and a HUGE thanks to Nejla... You rock girl.. you had better make it to Canada, you know we'll hook you up!!!
Posted by Meegan at 06:03 PM | Comments (0)
January 16, 2005
Date Night
Well M.J. and I have noticed that Saterday night has become "Date night". Yes we do spend all of our time together but inorder to keep things from falling appart we need a moral booster every once in a while. And that is where "date night" comes in.
Last Saterday, we went to play pool and have a couple of beers. After this we headed to anohter bar and danced untill the sun came up. It was really unforgetable.
Last night M.J. and I headed down the street to The Figtree for dinner. It was a wonderful dinner with dessert to top it off. After we got back to the resort and played a couple games of pool, weather or not we are getting better really depends on how much we drink.
The plan for next week is a box of wine in the everglades, as we have booked a canoe, a Canadian canoe trip just outside of Noosa.
Now don't get the wrong idea, just because it is date night does not mean that we are "together" (no we are NOT rubbing aloe over eachother contrary to what Chad and Jordan may think!).
Untill another date night...
Posted by Jen at 12:56 PM | Comments (1)
And onto the van...
Tomorrow Pixie and I pick-up a van and begin our two week adventure down the east caost... where this will take us, well we have no idea. Really we haven't even looked at a map. We have made a few contacts along the way, and there will be a canoe trip in the NOosa Evergaldes next Sat (Fri Canada time). Keep looking for random postings from this section.
tick-tick-tick to March 1st!
Posted by Meegan at 12:54 PM | Comments (0)
January 14, 2005
Sketchy sketchy Darwin
First impressions.... rude rude people, too hot, and scary sketchy as all hell!!!
Arriving in Darwin (late in the evening as per usual), Pixie and I really had no idea what to expect. The people at the airport were really quite rude, not a good start! We arrived at the end of the wet season, and boy when it rains there is rains, but the best part is your don't wear anything to stop yourself from getting wet. INfact you welcome it! Apon our arrival to the hostel we discovered that we had the wrong pin number to get our key to our room. HOwever a nice man there offered us a chill out session, and eventually we managed to work everything out.
Very quickly Pixie and I decided it was best not to go walking around at night in Darwin, the attmosphere was not pleasant or safe, and the aboriginals have a real dislike for the white man. It is a crazy cultural story (ask me about it when I get back, I have been looking into it quite abit).
The humidity was unbelievable, we spent many hour laying in shaded areas spread out completely because if anything on your boy touch anything else you were dripping in sweat there (literally!!). To escape the heat we actually went to two movies, the incredibles and finding neverland. Both excellent movies in their own way.
We did manage the one tour of Litchfield park (see earlier update), and on another day we went for a walk to the botantical gardens and one of the beaches (which we could not swim at because of the deadly box jellyfish thingy's). Other than that we basically spent most of our time in Darwin chilling out... playing cards in the pool with our waterproof cards... reading... and generally doing as little physically as possible (us Canandian girls were in way over our heads with that heat!).
The hostel was halarious, the people were the most wide selection we had seen yet. The kitchen was without walls (a roof though), and looked out on the pool (don't be fooled by the pool talk, still sketchy!!). We had to go outside to get to..well anywhere, including bathroom and showers. THe airconditioners in the rooms only came on around 8pm and turned off around 8am... so even our rooms were no escpae during the hot days. I swear we have never sweat so much in our lives (mmmmm, highly attractive I know, but was it too much info...)
We did manage to make it out to a bar on our second last night in town... THere was pool, there was alot of dancing, drinking, and a shit load of Australian and American army boys... so in general a crazy time (The sun was defiantly up when I made it to bed).
We were up at 3:30am to catch our flight to Cairns...
So Darwin, you may be alittle scary, and alot hot, but you will always have a place in both our hearts...
Posted by Meegan at 11:50 AM | Comments (1)
January 11, 2005
Tour of Litchfield National Park
6 people, one day, waterfalls and leeches....
So one very rainy morning (6am) Pixie and I joined 3 Swedish guys and our tour guide for a day of fun in Litchfield. We started the day by going to see the giant termite mounds, HUGE... Next we did a trek up a "mountain" to see some beauty waterfalls... I got 6 leeches on me in total. Our tour guide said that if I would just stay on the path it wouldn't be such a problem.. but really where is the fun in that? Next lunch... The real fun started in the afternoon apon our arrival at the second set of Waterfalls (beautiful). We went in swimming, and if you were able to fight the current, you could swim under the water to right infront of the falls and pop-up, so as getting caught in the fast moving water for a free ride...
The next set of falls were the most fun by far!!! After making it to a tree next to the falls you drag yourself under the falls feeling along until you grab a root a few feet along. You then press your back un agains the wall so you have just enough room to catch your breath before letting go... next you are sucked staright down into a deep pool and shot straight back up... AWESOME!! I did it 15 or so times, and even when back after we had gone to another water hole to do it a few more times!!
Our tour guide Tim was wicked, he basically just hung out with us all day. It was like having a friend who knew the area, he even bought us some drinks at the end.
Posted by Meegan at 02:26 PM | Comments (1)
January 10, 2005
The day that never ends!!!
We have done it. We have booked our tickets to head back to Canada.
After dealing with a very rude travel agent in Darwin(you would think they would have to be nice, as that is what they are paid to do!), getting fax's from Sydney(thanks Sarah), and making many phone calls from payphones that eat your change we finnally just phoned Air Canada. Well after about 4 times. Anyway the nice person at Air Canada changed our tickets for us. So on March 1st Meegan and I hope on a plane at 11:15am in Sydney we arrive at 3:45pm in Toronto. Just in time to get out of the airport for 4:20...I think its a sign! Now dont be fooled by the times, yes it seems to be only a couple of hours but when one factors in the 16 hour time difference, we are on a plane for much too long.
We will be stopping in Vancouver for Timmies and well if the bar is open we are gonna stop for a beer aswell....Nothing we have had so far beats a good Canadian beer.
So to Chris and Chad...3:45pm March 1. Toronto Airport, a couple of tired, tanned, and jet leg grils(who will be ready to party) will be waiting to get picked up...its close to 4:20(hint, hint, hehe).
And for everyone else if you are around and could make it to Waterloo at some point, it would be fantastic to see you, and oh the stories that we will have...the web site just starts to discribe our adventures.
cheers
Pixie
Posted by Jen at 11:17 AM | Comments (2)
Updated Calendar
Jan 9th- Jan 17th: Cairns
Jan 17th - Feb 7th(ish): Van trip down East Coast
(including a canoe trip through the Everglades in Noosa)
Feb 9th - Feb 25th: New Zelland
Feb 25th - March 1st: Sydney (ya Sarah)
March 1st: 3:35pm Toronto
Posted by Meegan at 11:15 AM | Comments (0)
January 03, 2005
home in March!!!
Yes everyone after M.J. and I have had some time here in Austrailia we have decided to come home in March. Why....
Well there are many reasons for the decision to come home in March. It comes down to about the 3rd day of apple thinning that we deicded that this is our vacation and well we dont wanna work. Who wants to work when on vacation?
Anyway this wasnt really a good thing as we needed some funds and so we were gonna work, but it turns out that its been crazy weather here and so fruit picking is all messed up and therefor are no jobs. So to the great dissapointment of M.J. and I we decided it was not worth it to find a job.
And on that note we are doing a mad adventure around Austrailia in the next couple of months while blowing all of our money so we can come home and work. Cuz home is not a vacation and well it just makes scence.
So we will see you in March!(haha...don't ask when in march yet...remember "November"!!!)
Posted by Jen at 02:28 PM | Comments (2)
And so that was Melbourne
What can Pixie and I possibley put down about Melbourne?!?! Is it possible to even try to sum what our time there?!?! No, but here's a quick snip-it of our time there.
With-in being in Melbourne for 24 hours we already new we LOVED it. The atmosphere, the people, the things to do, the list goes on.
We managed to spend more money in Melbourne than anywhere else!
We managed to drink more in Melbourne than anywhere else (so lots of good drinking/bar/partying in general stories... So ask us when we get back)
So of course lots of trips to the bottle shop very late at night (we love this 24 hours liquor store idea!)
We spent 2 hours wandering lost through new parts of Melbourne on a crazy KFC mission, and yes, we did find it!
There was Victoria market, the craziest open market of everything imaginable... meats, fruits, produce, veggies... Pixie and I made the tastiest stir-fry from the veggies! And the Mangos are UNBELIEVAVLE here, they litteraly melt in your mouth!
We spent a quieter New Years drinking boxed wined and smoking on the roof of our hostel! Brilliant (with a phone call back to Waterloo at Midnight here, so 8am there..Bwahahahaha)
And our final memories of Melbourne you ask... we time spent in a new park we found after a morning at the Aquarium... followed by dance music in the airport..hmmmmm
This is really just the tip of the iceburg.. but you get he picture
2 thumbs up!!
Tally-Ho Darwin!
Posted by Meegan at 02:27 PM | Comments (2)
A birthday wish
The lovely boy who has so nicely lent this site out for PIxie and I to use has a birthday coming up...
So we wrote him a poem...
There once was a boy named Chris
Whom, one might say we truelly miss...
ON large joints we did toke
For the birthday boys a great bloke
While sitting in the hot sun
Having so much Ozzy fun
So happy birthday to our mate
We love you 420 time 1 point 8
And remember that the Canadian are only in Oz on loan
So when we get home you'd better have a big fucking cone!
We love ya Chris
Happy birthday
Meegz and PIxie
Posted by Meegan at 02:16 PM | Comments (1)