Up the coast we go...

In Brisbane we hung around with some locals:

Met up with God:

Caffeinated ourselves:

Harassed lizards:

And, lived like royalty (ie. this is the view from our hostel):

Then I got to Magnetic Island:

Made out with some birds:

Hunted a wombat:

Cuddled a lizard:

Wrestled a crocodile:

More to come...

Love,

Michaela

Hello, from Sydney (again).

Sydney is the base from where people start. Most people fly directly to Sydney, groggy and light-headed, to start their Australian adventure. All the conversation in Sydney hostels goes something like this:

"Hi, where are you from?"
"I'm from [insert country here], what about you?"
"Sweet! I'm from [insert country here]. Did you just arrive?"
"Yea, yesterday. Have any idea what to do here?"
"Not sure, I arrived this morning. Want to go get drinks at the bar?"
"Yea, sounds good."

And, so they frolick off together to enjoy $3 beers in the hostel's bar. I may have improvised a bit on the conversation, but you catch my drift.

On the complete opposite of this are the people that are going home. Sydney comes full circle in this aspect, because usually from where you fly in, you fly out.

So, being back in a hostel in Sydney (after many, many months of calling this home in my own little comfy apartment), I find I run into people who are just coming or going. Obviously, I fit in neither of these categories, but I am the minority. Sydney is just the stop over for the moment, but soon I will be going home from Sydney and get to fall into the majority. Yay!

Anyways, I arrived in Sydney on Thursday to see Lizzo off back to America. We met up with Arron and his co worker Tobias and had delicious Roti (Malaysian). Then, the next morning we had proper Dim Sum... where I ate some tripe, dumplings, egg tart, and even a green bean for good measure. That night, a bunch of us went out to the Ivy for drinks. The Ivy is an open air club, complete with old men lurking in the corners and young, scantily clad women grinding on each other on the dance floor, drunk off over priced beers and Tequila shots ($8 for one beer. They don't lie when they say Sydney will suck your wallet dry).

There were three older gentlemen (50/60 perhaps) that we walked past and I heard one say "Here's to being too old for this shit," in which he proceeded to lift his full glass of beer, his two friends following in suit, and they all chugged their beers. I wanted to be their friends.

Saturday (ie. Today), I waved good bye to Lizzo. Ryan, Diego and I stood on the corner sending our (very hungover) friend off in a taxi to the airport. We will meet again in America, I am sure, but it's weird to know I have one less friend on this continent with me. First Annie, now Lizzo... oh well, it just gives me more excuses to travel in the future.

"But, Moooommmm, I have to borrow a thousand dollars to go to Ireland to visit my friend. Oh, we might go to Germany and Amsterdam as well. Possibly England. It's, like, required."

I joke... but, seriously. I need a job STAT to start paying for myself again. I'm still living off the CityMove funds, but they're draining quickly. Especially if I stay in Sydney much longer!

But, alas, I am flying to Melbourne on Tuesday to try and find another job. It will be cold and dreary (I imagine it as such, I have no idea if this is true).

I miss Maggie Island and the beach. The sun, the warm, sticky afternoons. I miss the food. I miss the people.

But, it's amazing to be back in Sydney, visiting my old haunts and getting up to no good in a town I once called home. Sometimes, I still do.

Alright, I'm off to catch some fireworks to celebrate Anzac Day, or some other holiday that produces an excuse to shoot fire into the sky and people to get Monday off and spend the day lazily on the beach, getting paid to do absolutely nothing. Wow, it sounds a bit American. :P

Love,

Michaela

Facebook won't let me add all my photos, so here you go:

View of Byron Bay, New South Wales:


Byron beach:












Then we went to Surfer's Paradise. First time in Queensland. We partied like rockstars (in cowboy hats):







Then we went to Brisbane (Brizzy):





Swam in the city lagoon/beach (many of times):



They like their crazy bridges:

*PHOTOS COURTESY OF MY FRIEND SARAH. SHE'S AWESOME.*

Love,

Michaela

'Nuff Said.

Maggie Island.

Also, here is an interesting PDF that shows the history behind the suburbs of Townsville/Magnetic Island. A lot of them are Aboriginal, since they inhabited these areas first.

Click Me!

Also, there is this bird on the island that is rumored, based on Aboriginal tales, to be the host of souls of the dead Aboriginals. This is the reason Aboriginals don't live here, they live in Townsville or neighbouring Palm Island.

The haunting, eerie, mournful sounds heard at night on Magnetic Island are the cries of the Bush Stone-curlew. Stone-curlews belong to family Burhinidae represented throughout the world by nine species in two genera. Two species are found in Australia, one from each genus: the Bush Stone-curlew (Burhinus grallarius) and the Beach Stone-curlew (Esacus neclectus).The Bush Stone-curlew, also known as Bush Thick-knee, Southern Stone-curlew, Southern Stone-plover, Weeloo, Willaroo, Angelbird and Scrub curlew, was once found across much of Australia, except for very arid regions and heavily forested areas. It is now rare to totally extinct in closely settled parts of Australia and dwindling in numbers elsewhere. In some states it is listed as vulnerable or threatened. Ground-feeding, ground-nesting woodland birds that are larger than 500 grams are the bird species most endangered in Australia and the Bush Stone-curlew fits every one of these criteria. This bird is the emblem of Moorabool Shire in Victoria because Moorabool is local Aboriginal for 'the place of the curlew' or 'the voice of the curlew'. But for the last 50 years curlews have not been seen there. SOURCE

"I'm gonna call you Dorthy, cause I like your shoes."

Just when I thought Super Cockroaches were the worst, I have now discovered Super Crickets. Now, I don't mind crickets normally. They are one of the bugs that you love to catch as a kid. Plus, they're musical. But, here... they're MASSIVE and they FLY! Crickets back home jump, with a little bit of forward motion that could possibly be considered temporary flight. The things here, they take off and flap their wings and go for a considerable distance. They aim for areas, such as you, and can't be bothered to be shooed away. Super Crickets... who woulda thought?

Sitting on my bed tonight (Thursday Night) I was attacked by one of these Super Crickets. One of the girls I work with/livve in the same room with squealed as I squealed, and we then spent the next ten minutes of our lives shooing it away, curled up in the corners of our top bunks, afraid for our lives.

Australia has Super Ants, Super Frogs and Super Oppossums. This is already added to the list of the spiders, bats and cockroaches that inhabit this continent.

The ants here are ridiculous. Magnetic Island (Maggie Island, as the locals say) has these brown ants that grow to be like 2 cm long. A little excessive, don't you think? I see them crawling in the kitchen that I have to clean, on my bedroom walls and even in my bed. Hot water kills them... it's the ONLY thing that kills them. I think even an atomic bomb wouldn't do the trick. They don't really hurt you, they sometimes bite, but they won't kill you. Although, I'm sure they are really staging a massive takeover. I imagine that scene in the third Mummy film where those killer ant-bug-mammoth sized things eat those bad guys from the inside out. There are enough of them for that, that's for sure.

The first day that I arrived here, I began working. This was after a 23 hour bus ride. No, that is not a miss type. I actually rode on a bus for 23 hours of my life. It's not something I plan on repeating any time soon, nor do I recommend it.

Anyways, I sat down my bags and go to the kitchen to begin my work. As I'm elbow deep in a mountain of dishes, from the dinner rush, I look to my left and see the most beautiful scenery. The hostel sits straight on the ocean, just south of Picnic Bay on the island. Literally, I'm about 30 feet from the ocean when I'm working in the restaurant. There are mountains and greenery and the most pristine blue-green ocean I have ever seen. It looked like glass, rippling only so slightly on the smooth sand. There aren't big waves up in Northern Queensland due to the Great Barrier Reef blocking the tide. The water sits on a flat plane and seems to fall off the edge of the earth at an unknown point miles off the coast. Big, green mountains reside to the right and left of the glassy water. When I looked at that moment, the sun was setting at the point where the sky was a mixture of pale blues, oranges, pinks and whites. The sun was low in the sky, somewhere behind me. It was breathtaking.

I'm calling this place home for about 2.5 weeks, then I head back to Sydney for a few days. No idea where to next...

I fall asleep with my friends around me

Only place I know I feel safe

I'm going to call this home

With the way that I live, you have to find a little piece of home in every place you go, especially if you're staying for more than a week, otherwise you'll lose your sanity. You have to appreciate your top bunk, super creaky bed. Your roommates (anywhere from 3 to 30 other people, depending on the room you bought) might snore or have sex in the room or not speak English. Your pillow is pater thin and your mattress caves in the center. The bathrooms are lined with lots of toilets and showers with only two sinks at the front. You push and shove to to get to the front to spit your toothpaste out. The kitchens are crowded and you keep all your food in one tiny bag shoved in the back right right corver of the industrial sized fridges. You have to do a five minute hunt every time you want to eat. You may be situated in a big city or a tiny little island. There might be air conditioning or there might not. If there is, you embrace it and try to curl up under the one little thin sheet they give you for warmth. Or, you don't have it, and you become very good friends with all your roommates very quickly as you sleep, sprawled out in your underwear on top of your bedding in an attempt to not die of heat stroke.

It's a funny way to live, but as I lay up in my top bunk, where it creaks any time I slightly move, I remember back to when I was a kid and everyone fought for the top bunk. It's like a fort.

I'm so cool... I'm 23 and I live in a bunk bed-fort. All that is missing are my stuffed animals and footy pjs.

Also, there are A LOT of Canadians that travel here. Americans and Canadians have this friendly rivalry... more it's like Canadians think all Americans are idiots. Which, is probably true in SOME sense... but, most Canadians I've met aren't the brightest out there, either. They are known for being pot heads. Every Canadian I meet smokes pot, knows where to get it and is most likely a dealer. They tend to offer this information up without even being prompted.

But, I have found I gain a little respect from my friends from the Northern Country because I like hockey. Now, I don't claim to be an expert. I don't know most players and can't talke incessantly about it or have any real argument. But, I like the Blackhawks, I watch the games and was truly upset at the USA vs CANADA game for Gold. We were SOOO close! Canadians like... no, love... hockey, and they really get excited when they meet an American... or, anyone really... who likes it too.

I never used to be a hockey fan. Growing up in Kansas, no one plays it and we don't have a team. When I was thirteen, my boyfriend Kevin and his dad took me to a KC Blades game, the minor league team. They were only around for a few years. But, when Kipp and I started dating, it's all he talked about, so I somehow soaked up the knowledge. I didn't really enjoy it or particularly care. I just listened and nodded a lot. But, we went and saw a game last March and it was awesome! I'm a sucker for any sports arena, with rabid fans. There is a particular energy that you can't get anywhere else. It's magnetic.

We broke up shortly after, but I started following the team myself. I knew when were doing well and when we sucked. I love talking hockey.

Two good things came out of that relationship: hockey appreciation and Australia.

On a side note, I'm also thankful for Mars bars, Cadbury chocolate bars, Caesar Salad flavored potato chips, sweet chili sauce, and Tooheys.

****

Fast forward to Sunday morning...

On Friday, I worked the morning shift, got off at 12 and went back and some how fell asleep reading my book. I was awoken to the receptionist in my room telling me to hurry up and wake up cause she had a surprise for me. Being half-asleep and a bit weary, I made my way to the receptionist desk, questioning this surprise. She kept trying to make me go around the corner, but I was afraid of what might be there. So, Aiden grabbed me and pushed me around the corner, and out popped Sarah and Will (from Sydney)!

They had come to surprise me!

After Sarah was here for an hour, she loved it so much she decided to get a job here as well and will be here for the next two weeks with me!

On Saturday we rented a car (although I couldn't drive it sense it was stick...) and drove all around the island. We went to a tiny zoo here and I got to pet a wombat and a turtle, I held birds, lizards, a crocodile, a python, and a koala!

I also learned that koalas aren't actually drugged from the plants they eat, this is a myth. The reason they always look so sloth-like is because they're diet consists of about 5 grams of leaves a day, which only has about 10% of energy in them. So, if that's how much energy you were getting from your diet, you'd sleep 16 hours a day as well.

And, I held a large python for a good five minutes, letting him slither all over my body! Amazing.

God Bless Australia.

Love,

Michaela

p.s. I was wearing bright pink shoes one night, and a guy I work with thought they were red and he called me Dorthy. I proceeded to tell him how funny that is sense I'm from Kansas, so now my coworkers ask me how Toto is on a regular basis.