Sorry loyal followers. I have had a dry spell- not for adventure- just for story telling! Been very busy with Uni and life. Will Blog as soon as. Will have more time coming. I will be making a few changes though. I will not go through every day- but only the adventurous ones! Hope to fill your eyes with many story's soon.
-ArbyXX
Magic Mushrooms
Jumping ants attack when High on Magic Mushrooms
Monday, November 2, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Caboolture Placement- Mangina- Phone Trauma
Monday August 17th
I was up early for my first placement. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get there, but luckily I spent quite a bit of time on google last night and got a real life visual of how to walk there from the train station. I was lucky also, that Janice, one of our teachers, offered us a ride. She drops her son off at uni in the morning and it was convenient for her to grab us as well. Adog and Rachel go to Nambour- where Janice just happens to be working as well, but she lives by Woombye. She drops me off at Woombye train station where I got the train for an hour ride to Caboolture. After dropping me off, she takes the girls to her home for a bit since they are a bit early. After Janice and her daughter eat breaky, they go to Nambour Hospital.
The trains here are interesting. They have a variety of different kinds. Some are more subway style, whereas some are long journey style. This one in particular, was the comfort long journey style. It was hard to find a seat as it was pretty full up. This hippy girl- who I assumed was from a far away distant land, had her big pack on a seat. I asked her if she could store it away so I could sit. She did, and I sat contently. If it is one habit I am bad for, its people watching! I put my sunny’s on and hoped she could not tell I was looking at her. I even turned my head but kept my eyes in her direction- so she would be fooled with the direction of my gaze! Haha Sneaky or creepy?? Hmmm… don’t answer! She was writing some stuff down in a journal kind of thing. Looked like some finances and reminders, and then some journaling. She had dread rolls in her hair, and wore a long skirt with a scarf around her neck in a warm way, not fashionable. She wore no make up and looked low maintenance. She eventually closed her eyes. I wish I would have had the guts to strike up a conversation, but it was too early! Everyone was sleeping and chatter didn’t seem to be favoured at this early hour. She must have been back packing across Australia. I sat and thought about the different experiences her and I were getting from our adventures, mine as a uni student, and her’s as a drifter- getting money from odd jobs here and there. I think both ways are incredible. I wish I had the time and freedom to see the world that way, but I also value the friendships I am making this way. I also think I get to see Australia in a way that many Aussies do, where as a back packer lives it through the eyes of a tourist. One day I will travel abroad like this! Maybe it will be the second volume of my future book! Who knows?
My very first day of placement. Yay! This should be interesting. Its only one day a week. Already I was feeling the impact of such a long trip to the Hospital. I left my house at 630am and didn’t arrive at the hospital until 815am. The google directions didn’t help too much, but I did find it ok by asking students where to go, plus I had written down the names of the streets. I was told by my preceptor to meet at the front of the main doors. I wasn’t sure if I was to meet at 0800 or 0830. I was smack in the middle. I knew I was doing community and thought maybe I had missed her, and that everyone had gone out already for home visits. I waited for a couple of minutes until the main admin desk was free. I wondered over and asked where HBACS was. ( Home Based Acute Care Services). The lady phoned someone and she directed me to where it was, or so I thought. I ended up getting lost in this tiny little hospital. Then I asked a janitorial maintenance man where it was and he told me it was the building through this door. So I listened, being naive and all. I went through the door and walked into this building. I asked a lady using a microwave if this was indeed HBACS. It was mental health, and she was rude! I went to retreat through the same door I had entered in. I needed a little fob or whatever they are called. No good. I tried wondering out around the buildings, as I was outside. I was trapped. There was no way out! It was a little prison, and I was starting to worry because I wasn’t sure what time I was suppose to meet my preceptor! Finally, some people came through the evil door and I caught it just in time. I came back through the hallway and the maintenance man was there. He saw me and told me that he realized he had sent me the wrong way. Thanks guy! He then redirected me in the right direction and I soon found myself ringing the doorbell of a little building that said HBACS! SIGH!
Once in, I was informed that it didn’t really matter what time I arrived as it was a pretty laid back environment. The preceptor assigned to me was off on sick leave. I was taken in by pretty much everyone else. In this HBACS team, were physio’s occupationals, nurses, personal carers, social workers, and more. It is quite a multy disciplinary team. I don’t want to go too much into it because it is one of my assignments this semester, and it is too repetitive to have to it twice! Lol
I was soon taken up to the third floor and paired with an RN Julie, who was a CHIP nurse. We spent the day going around to different patients assessing what kind of home care they would need if any. We breaked in the HBACS room for tea and lunch. It was a good day, but there was not much for me to do. I wanted to try an assessment, and Julie thought this was a good idea, but the patient refused. Not very compliant. Boo!
At the end of the day, my facilitator came in to see if I was doing alright. They come to visit every day we are on placement. I was the only one to visit in Caboolture on this day, as I was the only Monday student. The others were on Tuesdays. Mt Facilitator is Elizabeth. She is an Irish lady. She went over some stuff with me concerning my project and other course content. I informed her that I had sent her an email a couple of days before asking if she knew of any students who I would be able to car pool with, as it is quite tedious getting to prac. We discussed options and she offered me a ride home since it was close to hers. Yay! On the way home, we talked about her family and mine, and of course, some school orientated work.
When I got home, I was way too tired to go to the gym. Also my calf was still hurting. I made some dinner and sat on the couch watching Gilmore Girls. I checked FB and email and went to bed soon after! Tomorrow I would be getting a lot of things done! Soo much to do!
Tuesday August 18th
I woke up and realized my mobile was not working!!! This is not good! How am I suppose to talk to Justin! I haven’t had the best mood lately- still a bit emo. I got up and ready slowly. I spent a lot of time on the computer emailing Justin messages back and forth. Finally he was going to sleep. I wasn’t able to talk to him, and so this motivated me to get off my butt and go to the plaza to fix my phone!! I bused it all the way there wishing I would have left a lot sooner. I hadn’t gotten anything done! What a waste. As soon as I got to the plaza, I went to Optus to look at new phones. It was time! I was looking when a man came to assist me. I told him of my phone and gave it too him to see what he could do. He called Optus help line, and it didn’t work. Then he tried calling the store, and suddenly, just like that- BAM- it worked! He wasn’t sure as to why it wasn’t working. He said it could have been the network, but that that wasn’t likely. I told him of the previous problems I have had with the phone and how old it was- as it was Shonleighs for a couple years before it was mine- and that I had also given it a rain bath one night- all night. He agreed that maybe it was time for a new phone. Haha.
I looked over all the ones on the wall for pre-paid. I started asking a bunch of questions and was pretty interested in a white one, until he of course told me that they no longer came in white. I guess I would have to settle for a boring black phone. He kept saying that this other phone that I wasn’t really looking at had all of the features that I was interested in. I started to ask about this one. He informed me that it was very hard to get as it was priced in a non accurate way. It was a $100 phone but should have actually been about $200. There was no list I could put my name on for the phone, but since I am soo persistent and sweet and kind, this nice man filled out an order form for me. This was something he was not suppose to do, as it was in high demand. Teehee
After looking for this prize phone at a couple of different stores, and having no luck- except for one little kiosk that I also talked the lady into putting my name on a non existent list, I went home. I was happy and hopeful that I would get this phone, but also that mine would work in the meantime while waiting! Fingers crossed!
When I got home, I readied myself for the gym. The bunch of us Canadian girls did RPM- or spin class, and our other day to day regimes, then went home. At the gym, we are regulars. The staff is getting to know us and vice versa. One manager type guy calls Adog and I the water bottle girls because we both have these neat water bottles from Canada- thank you Mandy. It is getting a lot of use and is a tad lumpy from excessive use! The one girl at the front counter eve knows who’s keys belong to who. ( we give them our keys in exchange for a locker key). I enjoy the gym.
When I got home, Benny, Brock, and Yates were over. I made myself some fish, with green beans and zucchini steamed on the side. It was delicious. It was cheap Tuesday and everyone else was eating pizza! Haha
We sat around and talked after watching Taken. It was a lot of fun too. Those boys are pretty funny. Benny let us draw on his chin – two eyes and a mouth! We covered his face except his chin and took pictures and a video!! Sooo funny! Hahaha I also got my ipod out, the one I got in Canada, and tricked people into thinking it was broken and needed fixing. Im soo sneaky. I shocked at least 3 people in the same room with it! HA! Eventually, Joel was over, as well as Wooley and her cousin who we had never met before. He must have thought we were pretty weird, especially when Benny came around the corner with his pants down- full on Mangina!! No he was not drunk! It was just a random Tuesday!! For those of you who are not familiar with Mangina’s, it is when the guy places his man bits away between his legs, making it appear like he has girls bits!! It was unexpected and we all laughed in disgust!!! He did it very well. Just from the stretching, it actually looked like he had a landing strip! Hahaha GROSS!
They were all still downstairs, but it was getting late and so I snuck off to email my man. I washed up and went into bed!
Wednesday August 19th
Today was not quite as eventful as yesterday! I woke up for lecture and texted Justin the entire time. It is a class that I am well familiar with, so I was still able to listen at the same time. After class I caught up with some friends from school. Everyone seemed to have a good holiday. It was nice to see them as well.
When I got home I spent the main part of the day- blogging. Its no walk in the park you know. It takes an incredible amount of effort!! ( This is why I like to know who reads it…). I had my window open as it was a nice day out. I saw Kirstenne walking outside. I said hello and she came around for a quick visit. She has never seen our place, although similar to hers, it was different. She had lots of stuff to do and so she went on her way.
I went to second lecture. Came home and got ready for the gym. We were all going to go to circuit, but I got the time wrong and we missed it. Instead we did RPM with Katie! She is the drill sergeant of the gym! She is not afraid to yell and scream at you and tell you that you are cheating yourself. Once in a body attack class- her class, she said that if anyone fell out of this one exercise, she would make everyone start over. My arms gave away just as we were almost done. She pointed me out and the whole class had to start over from the beginning! It was brutal! The RPM class was not soo bad since you can fake the amount of resistance you put on. The problem is, if you put too much on, there is not taking it off! She can tell! I never will make that mistake again!
I went home and made some food after a well needed shower. We sweat soo much in our workouts- and then twice as much afterwards in the sauna. I walk home drenched most of the time! Haha I ate dinner and made some apple crisp from scratch. Im still learning and there are improvements to be implemented, but it was still pretty good. ( especially the next day when I ate it as cereal and added soy milk to it!!! ) I watched Gilmore girls and did my usual FB and email check on the computer. Bed!
I was up early for my first placement. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get there, but luckily I spent quite a bit of time on google last night and got a real life visual of how to walk there from the train station. I was lucky also, that Janice, one of our teachers, offered us a ride. She drops her son off at uni in the morning and it was convenient for her to grab us as well. Adog and Rachel go to Nambour- where Janice just happens to be working as well, but she lives by Woombye. She drops me off at Woombye train station where I got the train for an hour ride to Caboolture. After dropping me off, she takes the girls to her home for a bit since they are a bit early. After Janice and her daughter eat breaky, they go to Nambour Hospital.
The trains here are interesting. They have a variety of different kinds. Some are more subway style, whereas some are long journey style. This one in particular, was the comfort long journey style. It was hard to find a seat as it was pretty full up. This hippy girl- who I assumed was from a far away distant land, had her big pack on a seat. I asked her if she could store it away so I could sit. She did, and I sat contently. If it is one habit I am bad for, its people watching! I put my sunny’s on and hoped she could not tell I was looking at her. I even turned my head but kept my eyes in her direction- so she would be fooled with the direction of my gaze! Haha Sneaky or creepy?? Hmmm… don’t answer! She was writing some stuff down in a journal kind of thing. Looked like some finances and reminders, and then some journaling. She had dread rolls in her hair, and wore a long skirt with a scarf around her neck in a warm way, not fashionable. She wore no make up and looked low maintenance. She eventually closed her eyes. I wish I would have had the guts to strike up a conversation, but it was too early! Everyone was sleeping and chatter didn’t seem to be favoured at this early hour. She must have been back packing across Australia. I sat and thought about the different experiences her and I were getting from our adventures, mine as a uni student, and her’s as a drifter- getting money from odd jobs here and there. I think both ways are incredible. I wish I had the time and freedom to see the world that way, but I also value the friendships I am making this way. I also think I get to see Australia in a way that many Aussies do, where as a back packer lives it through the eyes of a tourist. One day I will travel abroad like this! Maybe it will be the second volume of my future book! Who knows?
My very first day of placement. Yay! This should be interesting. Its only one day a week. Already I was feeling the impact of such a long trip to the Hospital. I left my house at 630am and didn’t arrive at the hospital until 815am. The google directions didn’t help too much, but I did find it ok by asking students where to go, plus I had written down the names of the streets. I was told by my preceptor to meet at the front of the main doors. I wasn’t sure if I was to meet at 0800 or 0830. I was smack in the middle. I knew I was doing community and thought maybe I had missed her, and that everyone had gone out already for home visits. I waited for a couple of minutes until the main admin desk was free. I wondered over and asked where HBACS was. ( Home Based Acute Care Services). The lady phoned someone and she directed me to where it was, or so I thought. I ended up getting lost in this tiny little hospital. Then I asked a janitorial maintenance man where it was and he told me it was the building through this door. So I listened, being naive and all. I went through the door and walked into this building. I asked a lady using a microwave if this was indeed HBACS. It was mental health, and she was rude! I went to retreat through the same door I had entered in. I needed a little fob or whatever they are called. No good. I tried wondering out around the buildings, as I was outside. I was trapped. There was no way out! It was a little prison, and I was starting to worry because I wasn’t sure what time I was suppose to meet my preceptor! Finally, some people came through the evil door and I caught it just in time. I came back through the hallway and the maintenance man was there. He saw me and told me that he realized he had sent me the wrong way. Thanks guy! He then redirected me in the right direction and I soon found myself ringing the doorbell of a little building that said HBACS! SIGH!
Once in, I was informed that it didn’t really matter what time I arrived as it was a pretty laid back environment. The preceptor assigned to me was off on sick leave. I was taken in by pretty much everyone else. In this HBACS team, were physio’s occupationals, nurses, personal carers, social workers, and more. It is quite a multy disciplinary team. I don’t want to go too much into it because it is one of my assignments this semester, and it is too repetitive to have to it twice! Lol
I was soon taken up to the third floor and paired with an RN Julie, who was a CHIP nurse. We spent the day going around to different patients assessing what kind of home care they would need if any. We breaked in the HBACS room for tea and lunch. It was a good day, but there was not much for me to do. I wanted to try an assessment, and Julie thought this was a good idea, but the patient refused. Not very compliant. Boo!
At the end of the day, my facilitator came in to see if I was doing alright. They come to visit every day we are on placement. I was the only one to visit in Caboolture on this day, as I was the only Monday student. The others were on Tuesdays. Mt Facilitator is Elizabeth. She is an Irish lady. She went over some stuff with me concerning my project and other course content. I informed her that I had sent her an email a couple of days before asking if she knew of any students who I would be able to car pool with, as it is quite tedious getting to prac. We discussed options and she offered me a ride home since it was close to hers. Yay! On the way home, we talked about her family and mine, and of course, some school orientated work.
When I got home, I was way too tired to go to the gym. Also my calf was still hurting. I made some dinner and sat on the couch watching Gilmore Girls. I checked FB and email and went to bed soon after! Tomorrow I would be getting a lot of things done! Soo much to do!
Tuesday August 18th
I woke up and realized my mobile was not working!!! This is not good! How am I suppose to talk to Justin! I haven’t had the best mood lately- still a bit emo. I got up and ready slowly. I spent a lot of time on the computer emailing Justin messages back and forth. Finally he was going to sleep. I wasn’t able to talk to him, and so this motivated me to get off my butt and go to the plaza to fix my phone!! I bused it all the way there wishing I would have left a lot sooner. I hadn’t gotten anything done! What a waste. As soon as I got to the plaza, I went to Optus to look at new phones. It was time! I was looking when a man came to assist me. I told him of my phone and gave it too him to see what he could do. He called Optus help line, and it didn’t work. Then he tried calling the store, and suddenly, just like that- BAM- it worked! He wasn’t sure as to why it wasn’t working. He said it could have been the network, but that that wasn’t likely. I told him of the previous problems I have had with the phone and how old it was- as it was Shonleighs for a couple years before it was mine- and that I had also given it a rain bath one night- all night. He agreed that maybe it was time for a new phone. Haha.
I looked over all the ones on the wall for pre-paid. I started asking a bunch of questions and was pretty interested in a white one, until he of course told me that they no longer came in white. I guess I would have to settle for a boring black phone. He kept saying that this other phone that I wasn’t really looking at had all of the features that I was interested in. I started to ask about this one. He informed me that it was very hard to get as it was priced in a non accurate way. It was a $100 phone but should have actually been about $200. There was no list I could put my name on for the phone, but since I am soo persistent and sweet and kind, this nice man filled out an order form for me. This was something he was not suppose to do, as it was in high demand. Teehee
After looking for this prize phone at a couple of different stores, and having no luck- except for one little kiosk that I also talked the lady into putting my name on a non existent list, I went home. I was happy and hopeful that I would get this phone, but also that mine would work in the meantime while waiting! Fingers crossed!
When I got home, I readied myself for the gym. The bunch of us Canadian girls did RPM- or spin class, and our other day to day regimes, then went home. At the gym, we are regulars. The staff is getting to know us and vice versa. One manager type guy calls Adog and I the water bottle girls because we both have these neat water bottles from Canada- thank you Mandy. It is getting a lot of use and is a tad lumpy from excessive use! The one girl at the front counter eve knows who’s keys belong to who. ( we give them our keys in exchange for a locker key). I enjoy the gym.
When I got home, Benny, Brock, and Yates were over. I made myself some fish, with green beans and zucchini steamed on the side. It was delicious. It was cheap Tuesday and everyone else was eating pizza! Haha
We sat around and talked after watching Taken. It was a lot of fun too. Those boys are pretty funny. Benny let us draw on his chin – two eyes and a mouth! We covered his face except his chin and took pictures and a video!! Sooo funny! Hahaha I also got my ipod out, the one I got in Canada, and tricked people into thinking it was broken and needed fixing. Im soo sneaky. I shocked at least 3 people in the same room with it! HA! Eventually, Joel was over, as well as Wooley and her cousin who we had never met before. He must have thought we were pretty weird, especially when Benny came around the corner with his pants down- full on Mangina!! No he was not drunk! It was just a random Tuesday!! For those of you who are not familiar with Mangina’s, it is when the guy places his man bits away between his legs, making it appear like he has girls bits!! It was unexpected and we all laughed in disgust!!! He did it very well. Just from the stretching, it actually looked like he had a landing strip! Hahaha GROSS!
They were all still downstairs, but it was getting late and so I snuck off to email my man. I washed up and went into bed!
Wednesday August 19th
Today was not quite as eventful as yesterday! I woke up for lecture and texted Justin the entire time. It is a class that I am well familiar with, so I was still able to listen at the same time. After class I caught up with some friends from school. Everyone seemed to have a good holiday. It was nice to see them as well.
When I got home I spent the main part of the day- blogging. Its no walk in the park you know. It takes an incredible amount of effort!! ( This is why I like to know who reads it…). I had my window open as it was a nice day out. I saw Kirstenne walking outside. I said hello and she came around for a quick visit. She has never seen our place, although similar to hers, it was different. She had lots of stuff to do and so she went on her way.
I went to second lecture. Came home and got ready for the gym. We were all going to go to circuit, but I got the time wrong and we missed it. Instead we did RPM with Katie! She is the drill sergeant of the gym! She is not afraid to yell and scream at you and tell you that you are cheating yourself. Once in a body attack class- her class, she said that if anyone fell out of this one exercise, she would make everyone start over. My arms gave away just as we were almost done. She pointed me out and the whole class had to start over from the beginning! It was brutal! The RPM class was not soo bad since you can fake the amount of resistance you put on. The problem is, if you put too much on, there is not taking it off! She can tell! I never will make that mistake again!
I went home and made some food after a well needed shower. We sweat soo much in our workouts- and then twice as much afterwards in the sauna. I walk home drenched most of the time! Haha I ate dinner and made some apple crisp from scratch. Im still learning and there are improvements to be implemented, but it was still pretty good. ( especially the next day when I ate it as cereal and added soy milk to it!!! ) I watched Gilmore girls and did my usual FB and email check on the computer. Bed!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Lock Me Up- My Room Is Clean!
Saturday August 15th
Woke up at 0800 to go work out. We wanted to go to the beach and the gym closes early on weekends. Boo! Lately my calf and shin on the left leg has been hurting quite alot. its a dull throbbing sort of pain. It hurts more when I am running and afterwards. I have been usuing A535. No help. im thinking it is a shin splint, but never have I had one bother me soo long and like this. We will see what happens. I was going to do an easy run today. Maybe just 20 min instead of 30. maybe just run at a speed of 9.5 instead of switching between 11.5 and 10 for two minutes each. I was running, approaching 10 minutes, when all the sudden- BOOIIING!!!! My bra had worked its way undone. It is a bra that has a zipper down the front middle, and so you can see- or imagine just what would happen if it came undone! COMPLETLY!! I pulled the stop rope on the tread mill and ran to the washroom. I zipped up concealing the ladies. I lectured them on how it wasnt time for them to come out and play yet, and made my way back to my machine. By time I got there- 3 seconds- my leg was pretty sore. I hopped up anyways and kept on truckin! I only went for another 20 mins. made me a bit sad. :(
I forgot to mention, at 0700 in the morning, I recieved a phone call from Mark. He wanted us to go to Brissy with him to see the Dr. again for this "business" meeting thingy. I wasnt interested and we had our day planned as it was. While walking to the gym, he called again. He was very persistant and kept saying that Jamie- the doc- doesnt invite just anyone out and that we should feel privaledged. Jamie has a good radar on people and thinks we are good people. I spent most of the walk trying to explain to him how we were not interested in the business side of the health seminar. I ended up giving him a verbal rain cheque.
After the gym, we did a quick shop. Its Vegan time! We bought lots of stuff with protein. We are back on meat. We are label reading machines! Oi! Its hard trying to challenge thy diet and be super healthy! Food isnt just good ol' fresh healthy food in this modern world! Things are added- and not for the good- most things your body does not need. The best thing for you is the- right out of the garden, off the romp of the cow- fresh! Then you dont have to worry about salts. Plus, there are a bunch of things found in natural foods that doo wonders for your body- but we dont know what they are and we cannot copy them ... yet. One day I am sure it will all be worked out. There, I just made you, my viewer, smarter!
We went home and showered and ate. The Amanda's met me at mine, and off we were to catch the bus. We finally reached Coloundra. Made our way to King's beach and set up camp- Amanda and my own towels, and Adog brought the surf board- but forgot her towel... hahhaa. I read text books all day just listening to the ocean and the happy sounds of family- and the cinese over sea's students who were playing games by hopping on one foot trying to knock each other down, which took forever because there were 30 of them. I also snacked on strawberry's, cherry tomato's, and nuts. It was a good day. A little breezy, and so I covered up with my light coat. Not really a tanning kind of day. Adog went in for a surf. When she came back, she just lyed in the sand! She is a trooper! :)
Amanda Long went home earlier than us. We wanted to keep on keep oning. After a while, we got hungry and decided to go home. On our journey home, we had to stop at Kawana Waters shopping centre- because the bus went that far. We needed to make a connection. It was going to be a little while and so we ventured into the mall- surf board and all. It was funny- but not different considering its normalcy! We happened upon Jess who worked here. We talked for a bit and I recieved a phone call from my over seas hunk a man! We talked for a bit and he let me go. Sounded like he was having a pretty good Friday night- but missed me! I guess he was out with all his friends for a dinner, and everyone was with their girlfriend and he was the only "single" because I was not present! :( Our bus came, and home we went.
I got home and made some healthy grub, and Adog and I watched a movie. Kirtenne was going to watch with us, but was called in for a night shift. Then my man called me again and we spent a while talking. I eventually went to bed.
Sunday August 16th
We slept in. In our seperate beds if that was a confusing sentence. Hmm sounds like I am starting to write like Adog and I are always together! lol I dont even know what time she woke up. Awesome! Anyways. When I finally dragged my butt out of my flat and stiff bed, I put barley anything on and went out for a tan. ( a bikini- but really, do they leave much for the imagination these days?) While we were by the pool, we tried to study, but it was hot! Sooo hot that there were some people out having a BBQ by the pool. So hot that Adog and I even jumped in the pool. I must be becoming a whimp if I am admitting that I dont jump in the pool during the "winter" in Australia! I know, I am sorry!
The guys having the BBQ began talking to us. Small chit chat. We met the two- Joel and Mat. We began talking and they asked us if we had ever been to Mt. Coolum. We have not. I saw an opportunity. They said that we should all go one of these days. I said " well what are you boys doing today??" hahahaha I want to see Australia, and I want peronal tours from locals! None of this touristy non sense! They were harmless! They agreed and said they would be back in 20 to pick us up.
We drove to Mt. Coolum. It was a pretty good hike. I purposly skipped out on the gym today to rest my leg, but climbed a mountain anyways! Good on me! hahaha It was a non stop hike and we were a bit out of breath, but we kept on going. It was the kind of hike that you thought the top was just right there- but it kept going. Once we got to the top, we went and looked out over the view. We could see Noosa, Double Island, Mooloolaba, Maroochydore, and more. It was pretty awesome. We did some chatting and came upon the topic of root beer. One of the guys said that he had had it before and that he thinks it tastes just like this drink called sasperilla. This intrigued us and so we ventured down the mountain in hopes of finding some of this root beer wanna be drink.
We drove into the small town of Coolum I believe it was, and what did I see? A bunch of lonely milk crates- calling my name! The boys werent soo into the idea of "borrowing" the milk crates. We wondered into the IGA - yes they have those here- and search for the sasperilla. ( here is a thought Kelsey- Maybe you can do some kind of work exchange- work at an over seas IGA for some experience... haha). After the wonderful and refreshing purchasing of this fine imitation, we hopped in the car. We poped the top and took a swig. That is surprisingly alot like root beer- but with this weird after taste that is not soo desired by moi! Adog seemed to really like it. I prefer the A&Dub brand!
As we were leaving, Mat stopped the car right in front of the crates. He asked if I was going to do it. Adog helped me. We jumped out and she grabbed ONE!!! A red one to boot. I was right behind her and swiped THREE- black ones. They go with my room decor more. As I was coming towards the car in a mad criminal rush type of dance holding these three crates, my door shut!! my hands were too full to open it, luckily Mat opened it up for me! I threw the crates in and yelled "HIT IT!!" I expected a tire screeching take off, instead I got a blank stare and a haulted vehicle! They were soo overwhlmed with the crates flying every which way, that they needed to sort it out before going. We finally found a spot for all four of them, and then we slowly took off.
On the way home, we stopped in a little town just on the coast. I dont remember what it was called, but the whale island is straight out from the beach. The whale island can be seen from the Mooloolaba beach. The boys informed me that it was not wise to swim near here as it was a hang out spot for sharks! That is certainly good information to retain!
When we got home, we fixed up dinner and ate. Then Kirstenne invited us over for a movie. We went over and Adog left early because she fell asleep. Kirstenne and I eventually gave up on the movie too- lets just say it wasnt Miss Jolie's best work. We talked for a bit and then I went home to hit the hay, but not before googling directions and realizing how far Caboolture reall was!! I did after all have my first day of placement in the morning and was unsure of how to get there.
Woke up at 0800 to go work out. We wanted to go to the beach and the gym closes early on weekends. Boo! Lately my calf and shin on the left leg has been hurting quite alot. its a dull throbbing sort of pain. It hurts more when I am running and afterwards. I have been usuing A535. No help. im thinking it is a shin splint, but never have I had one bother me soo long and like this. We will see what happens. I was going to do an easy run today. Maybe just 20 min instead of 30. maybe just run at a speed of 9.5 instead of switching between 11.5 and 10 for two minutes each. I was running, approaching 10 minutes, when all the sudden- BOOIIING!!!! My bra had worked its way undone. It is a bra that has a zipper down the front middle, and so you can see- or imagine just what would happen if it came undone! COMPLETLY!! I pulled the stop rope on the tread mill and ran to the washroom. I zipped up concealing the ladies. I lectured them on how it wasnt time for them to come out and play yet, and made my way back to my machine. By time I got there- 3 seconds- my leg was pretty sore. I hopped up anyways and kept on truckin! I only went for another 20 mins. made me a bit sad. :(
I forgot to mention, at 0700 in the morning, I recieved a phone call from Mark. He wanted us to go to Brissy with him to see the Dr. again for this "business" meeting thingy. I wasnt interested and we had our day planned as it was. While walking to the gym, he called again. He was very persistant and kept saying that Jamie- the doc- doesnt invite just anyone out and that we should feel privaledged. Jamie has a good radar on people and thinks we are good people. I spent most of the walk trying to explain to him how we were not interested in the business side of the health seminar. I ended up giving him a verbal rain cheque.
After the gym, we did a quick shop. Its Vegan time! We bought lots of stuff with protein. We are back on meat. We are label reading machines! Oi! Its hard trying to challenge thy diet and be super healthy! Food isnt just good ol' fresh healthy food in this modern world! Things are added- and not for the good- most things your body does not need. The best thing for you is the- right out of the garden, off the romp of the cow- fresh! Then you dont have to worry about salts. Plus, there are a bunch of things found in natural foods that doo wonders for your body- but we dont know what they are and we cannot copy them ... yet. One day I am sure it will all be worked out. There, I just made you, my viewer, smarter!
We went home and showered and ate. The Amanda's met me at mine, and off we were to catch the bus. We finally reached Coloundra. Made our way to King's beach and set up camp- Amanda and my own towels, and Adog brought the surf board- but forgot her towel... hahhaa. I read text books all day just listening to the ocean and the happy sounds of family- and the cinese over sea's students who were playing games by hopping on one foot trying to knock each other down, which took forever because there were 30 of them. I also snacked on strawberry's, cherry tomato's, and nuts. It was a good day. A little breezy, and so I covered up with my light coat. Not really a tanning kind of day. Adog went in for a surf. When she came back, she just lyed in the sand! She is a trooper! :)
Amanda Long went home earlier than us. We wanted to keep on keep oning. After a while, we got hungry and decided to go home. On our journey home, we had to stop at Kawana Waters shopping centre- because the bus went that far. We needed to make a connection. It was going to be a little while and so we ventured into the mall- surf board and all. It was funny- but not different considering its normalcy! We happened upon Jess who worked here. We talked for a bit and I recieved a phone call from my over seas hunk a man! We talked for a bit and he let me go. Sounded like he was having a pretty good Friday night- but missed me! I guess he was out with all his friends for a dinner, and everyone was with their girlfriend and he was the only "single" because I was not present! :( Our bus came, and home we went.
I got home and made some healthy grub, and Adog and I watched a movie. Kirtenne was going to watch with us, but was called in for a night shift. Then my man called me again and we spent a while talking. I eventually went to bed.
Sunday August 16th
We slept in. In our seperate beds if that was a confusing sentence. Hmm sounds like I am starting to write like Adog and I are always together! lol I dont even know what time she woke up. Awesome! Anyways. When I finally dragged my butt out of my flat and stiff bed, I put barley anything on and went out for a tan. ( a bikini- but really, do they leave much for the imagination these days?) While we were by the pool, we tried to study, but it was hot! Sooo hot that there were some people out having a BBQ by the pool. So hot that Adog and I even jumped in the pool. I must be becoming a whimp if I am admitting that I dont jump in the pool during the "winter" in Australia! I know, I am sorry!
The guys having the BBQ began talking to us. Small chit chat. We met the two- Joel and Mat. We began talking and they asked us if we had ever been to Mt. Coolum. We have not. I saw an opportunity. They said that we should all go one of these days. I said " well what are you boys doing today??" hahahaha I want to see Australia, and I want peronal tours from locals! None of this touristy non sense! They were harmless! They agreed and said they would be back in 20 to pick us up.
We drove to Mt. Coolum. It was a pretty good hike. I purposly skipped out on the gym today to rest my leg, but climbed a mountain anyways! Good on me! hahaha It was a non stop hike and we were a bit out of breath, but we kept on going. It was the kind of hike that you thought the top was just right there- but it kept going. Once we got to the top, we went and looked out over the view. We could see Noosa, Double Island, Mooloolaba, Maroochydore, and more. It was pretty awesome. We did some chatting and came upon the topic of root beer. One of the guys said that he had had it before and that he thinks it tastes just like this drink called sasperilla. This intrigued us and so we ventured down the mountain in hopes of finding some of this root beer wanna be drink.
We drove into the small town of Coolum I believe it was, and what did I see? A bunch of lonely milk crates- calling my name! The boys werent soo into the idea of "borrowing" the milk crates. We wondered into the IGA - yes they have those here- and search for the sasperilla. ( here is a thought Kelsey- Maybe you can do some kind of work exchange- work at an over seas IGA for some experience... haha). After the wonderful and refreshing purchasing of this fine imitation, we hopped in the car. We poped the top and took a swig. That is surprisingly alot like root beer- but with this weird after taste that is not soo desired by moi! Adog seemed to really like it. I prefer the A&Dub brand!
As we were leaving, Mat stopped the car right in front of the crates. He asked if I was going to do it. Adog helped me. We jumped out and she grabbed ONE!!! A red one to boot. I was right behind her and swiped THREE- black ones. They go with my room decor more. As I was coming towards the car in a mad criminal rush type of dance holding these three crates, my door shut!! my hands were too full to open it, luckily Mat opened it up for me! I threw the crates in and yelled "HIT IT!!" I expected a tire screeching take off, instead I got a blank stare and a haulted vehicle! They were soo overwhlmed with the crates flying every which way, that they needed to sort it out before going. We finally found a spot for all four of them, and then we slowly took off.
On the way home, we stopped in a little town just on the coast. I dont remember what it was called, but the whale island is straight out from the beach. The whale island can be seen from the Mooloolaba beach. The boys informed me that it was not wise to swim near here as it was a hang out spot for sharks! That is certainly good information to retain!
When we got home, we fixed up dinner and ate. Then Kirstenne invited us over for a movie. We went over and Adog left early because she fell asleep. Kirstenne and I eventually gave up on the movie too- lets just say it wasnt Miss Jolie's best work. We talked for a bit and then I went home to hit the hay, but not before googling directions and realizing how far Caboolture reall was!! I did after all have my first day of placement in the morning and was unsure of how to get there.
Health Talk With Adog and Arby
Thursday August 13th
Up and to school. It was group picking day. This was trouble since us Canadians were all in the same class. Nothing against them, but I just did not want to be in a group with them. The three of them were in a group altogether last semester, and I had the opportunity to meet other people. Because they have all been in the same classes, they have not met a whole heap of new people. I have been lucky that I have not had any classes with them, giving me the opportunity to meet many fabulous people. Luckily, I was grouped with some newbies- and they seem pretty good. Thank god for that!
Later on after doing not much, I went to the gym with Adog, Amanda, and Kirstenne. We did body balance- the yoga, tai chi, and pilates class. Afterwards, Adog and I stayed for some cardio. We walked home, I ate some din din, and then talked to Justin via email once again. Bed.
Friday August 14th
Justin called at 230am! This was magnificent! This also means his phone is finally fixed! We only talked for a couple of minutes because he had to get back to work, but I think it was also the first good ( as good as it could have been) sleep I have had yet.
I went to class. Then home. Adog and I went to the gym. We had it all worked out. Mark wanted us to meet him at Chancellor Park Tavern for this health talk seminar. The Tevern was conviently placed next to the gym, and so we packed our stuff up and showered there- at the gym, not the tavern. We even did our makeup and looked a little nice. We got there and were one of the first to show. We met some of Mark's friends and soon were seated for the presentation. The presentation consisted of a Doctor- a retired veternarian who spoke about this deit. Although it was not so much a diet as it was a change in life style. Mostly eating. He reckons that if you eat three days of complete portein and no carbs or fat- you will lose a heap of weight. Ont the forth day, you slowly introduce carbs back in the diet, in the forms of fruit and veggies. He went on and on and on. It was a very good presentation. My nursing background gave me an advantage for understanding the content, which we then deciphered for mark afterwards. The presentation was good, but then after, he had people stand up and explain how it changed theirs lives and how fast they lost weight. It was sounding super corny and almost ruined it for us, and then Mark stood up too. He explained how he lost a bunch of weight and this and that. It didnt sell the system for us, but we were intrigued by it. He even made a comment about vegitarians, and how it doesnt make sense to be one. This is because we have sharp teeth made for cutting meat! ahahah So the seminar didnt get us to buy their products, but it did make us quit our veganism. It lasted about a week and was a good challenge. Fun too.
Mark drove us home. Adog was over after dinner to watch a movie. We watched FUBAR. Justin lent it to me so I can show the Aussie's. I worked on a gift for Justin and went to bed.
Up and to school. It was group picking day. This was trouble since us Canadians were all in the same class. Nothing against them, but I just did not want to be in a group with them. The three of them were in a group altogether last semester, and I had the opportunity to meet other people. Because they have all been in the same classes, they have not met a whole heap of new people. I have been lucky that I have not had any classes with them, giving me the opportunity to meet many fabulous people. Luckily, I was grouped with some newbies- and they seem pretty good. Thank god for that!
Later on after doing not much, I went to the gym with Adog, Amanda, and Kirstenne. We did body balance- the yoga, tai chi, and pilates class. Afterwards, Adog and I stayed for some cardio. We walked home, I ate some din din, and then talked to Justin via email once again. Bed.
Friday August 14th
Justin called at 230am! This was magnificent! This also means his phone is finally fixed! We only talked for a couple of minutes because he had to get back to work, but I think it was also the first good ( as good as it could have been) sleep I have had yet.
I went to class. Then home. Adog and I went to the gym. We had it all worked out. Mark wanted us to meet him at Chancellor Park Tavern for this health talk seminar. The Tevern was conviently placed next to the gym, and so we packed our stuff up and showered there- at the gym, not the tavern. We even did our makeup and looked a little nice. We got there and were one of the first to show. We met some of Mark's friends and soon were seated for the presentation. The presentation consisted of a Doctor- a retired veternarian who spoke about this deit. Although it was not so much a diet as it was a change in life style. Mostly eating. He reckons that if you eat three days of complete portein and no carbs or fat- you will lose a heap of weight. Ont the forth day, you slowly introduce carbs back in the diet, in the forms of fruit and veggies. He went on and on and on. It was a very good presentation. My nursing background gave me an advantage for understanding the content, which we then deciphered for mark afterwards. The presentation was good, but then after, he had people stand up and explain how it changed theirs lives and how fast they lost weight. It was sounding super corny and almost ruined it for us, and then Mark stood up too. He explained how he lost a bunch of weight and this and that. It didnt sell the system for us, but we were intrigued by it. He even made a comment about vegitarians, and how it doesnt make sense to be one. This is because we have sharp teeth made for cutting meat! ahahah So the seminar didnt get us to buy their products, but it did make us quit our veganism. It lasted about a week and was a good challenge. Fun too.
Mark drove us home. Adog was over after dinner to watch a movie. We watched FUBAR. Justin lent it to me so I can show the Aussie's. I worked on a gift for Justin and went to bed.
First Aid Fever
Wednesday August 12th
Up early for first aid. We had to go to Coloundra for it. Coloundra is one place I have been wanting to go to since I first arrived. I saw some very nice beaches on a post card, and this is where it said it was. I was very keen to explore.
Rachel told us that Bec got a new job that just so conviently happened to be in this little city. She quit subway, and now makes sandwhiches and such at a bakery. We were looking for our first aid building when we found her bakery. It was a cute little place and she seemed really happy. We stayed for a quick chat and then headed to our course.
Carl, a moderatly attractive Aussie paramedic was teaching our class for the day. His accent was one of the aussie accents that I felt was one of the better ones. It added to his moderate attractivness! We spent the class going over the usual CPR regime and then went over various other modules for first aid. This was probably the best first aid class I had ever participated in. Since we are currently in a counry where EVERYTHING can kill you at any moment, we went over what to do for snake and spider bites, as well as stings. It was very interesting. I now want to be ready at all times- I need to buy guaze- you never know what bush a funnel web spider will be hiding in!
When we finished up with our class, we were all hungry and so we dropped by to see bec again. Adog and I were temporarily vegans, and so this lead to my veggie wrap. I couldnt get away with a gluten free wrap- but was hungry enough not to care! The wrap was delicious. We went on to go catch the bus. We didnt have much time and so we were walking fast. I have been looking for a good shelf for my room for a little while, and as we passed a shop, I noticed some cheap ones. I told the girls that I was going to just catch the next one. We all decided to stop for a look and all catch the next one. This was a good plan since I dont think we would have made it anyways. On further examination of the shelf, I decided it was not what I was looking for. We hit up a few more shops but did not find anything special. It was time to catch the next bus. We would have to come back to beach explore another day.
When I got home, I was soo tired. I didnt sleep much last night- as per usual, and so I had a nap. When I woke up, we went to the gym. It was pretty late by time I got home. I showered and ate and then talked to Justin for a bit via email. We dont talk on the phone as much now that I am back from Canada. It was getting too expensive. It is not easy dating someone over seas and not being able to hear their voice at least once a day. I dont know how people did it way back when the technology was insufficient!
Up early for first aid. We had to go to Coloundra for it. Coloundra is one place I have been wanting to go to since I first arrived. I saw some very nice beaches on a post card, and this is where it said it was. I was very keen to explore.
Rachel told us that Bec got a new job that just so conviently happened to be in this little city. She quit subway, and now makes sandwhiches and such at a bakery. We were looking for our first aid building when we found her bakery. It was a cute little place and she seemed really happy. We stayed for a quick chat and then headed to our course.
Carl, a moderatly attractive Aussie paramedic was teaching our class for the day. His accent was one of the aussie accents that I felt was one of the better ones. It added to his moderate attractivness! We spent the class going over the usual CPR regime and then went over various other modules for first aid. This was probably the best first aid class I had ever participated in. Since we are currently in a counry where EVERYTHING can kill you at any moment, we went over what to do for snake and spider bites, as well as stings. It was very interesting. I now want to be ready at all times- I need to buy guaze- you never know what bush a funnel web spider will be hiding in!
When we finished up with our class, we were all hungry and so we dropped by to see bec again. Adog and I were temporarily vegans, and so this lead to my veggie wrap. I couldnt get away with a gluten free wrap- but was hungry enough not to care! The wrap was delicious. We went on to go catch the bus. We didnt have much time and so we were walking fast. I have been looking for a good shelf for my room for a little while, and as we passed a shop, I noticed some cheap ones. I told the girls that I was going to just catch the next one. We all decided to stop for a look and all catch the next one. This was a good plan since I dont think we would have made it anyways. On further examination of the shelf, I decided it was not what I was looking for. We hit up a few more shops but did not find anything special. It was time to catch the next bus. We would have to come back to beach explore another day.
When I got home, I was soo tired. I didnt sleep much last night- as per usual, and so I had a nap. When I woke up, we went to the gym. It was pretty late by time I got home. I showered and ate and then talked to Justin for a bit via email. We dont talk on the phone as much now that I am back from Canada. It was getting too expensive. It is not easy dating someone over seas and not being able to hear their voice at least once a day. I dont know how people did it way back when the technology was insufficient!
Dinner With The McGill's
Monday August 10th
I was up very early to drive Adog to work. Well, actually it was placement that I was driving her to. It was all the way in Nambour and to take the bus, she would have had to get up extremely early! I forgot that I lost my license and was not suppose to drive. Thank god I never got pulled over! Once I dropped her off, I had to find my way back. I did get lost going the wrong way on the motorway. I could not just turn around as there were no turn offs. I waited until there was one and made my way back. Somehow I managed to find my way home. I think more by luck then skill!
I hopped into bed. I was still pretty gloomy and cramped up. I slept for a while. When I woke up, I read my book, an actual novel. The one that Mark McGill from Airlie beach lent me. Its all about Australia and has taught me quite a bit about this country. I didn’t have placement today, because I am placed at Caboolture. For some reason, there is a public holiday on Monday August 10th. So I will have to make the time missed up. This is ok though. Lots of time. I only need ten days of actual placement. Its weird. On Mondays. But I chose to do some Tuesdays with it as well.
I finally got my ass out of bed and washed up. I then spent the day cleaning my room. It was well needed. I spent some time on the computer as well. Amanda came over and we met up with Adog too. Went to the gym. We had to speed walk to make it in time! I also almost lost $20 on the way and had to retrace my tracks to find it- then sprint to catch up! Oi! Its such a workout to go and workout! We were sweaty by time we arrived!
When I got home, I made a super good stirfry. I am pretty good! Not bragging or anything, but DAMN! I went up to my room to see if I could catch Justin when he was at work. Luckily I was able to. I told him about how I had been blue and everything about Grams. I didn’t know what to do. He pretty much told me that I would be coming back to Canada to see my Grams! As soon as he made my decision, I felt relieved. I felt soo much better knowing that I would see my grams. It doesn’t hurt that I would see my family and Justin in the process! I cried again out of relief! PMS sucks! Or whatever you want to call it when you are menstruating, rather than the Pre menstral time!
I went to bed and slept well!
Tuesday August 11th
I slept in until 1130! I hate sleeping in late like this. Adog and I went out to try and study by the pool. We were both a little emo. Didn’t get much done. We messaged Mark to see if maybe he could cheer us up. He invited us over for dinner later. His parents were going to be over and he said it would be fine. We said we would bring a salad.
This made us get up off our butts and hit the gym early! We hit up Woollys after for supplies and then home to shower and prepare. When I got home, Shonleigh and Jarrah were there studying. We discussed briefly the differences between tampons in Aus compared to what you find in Canada. In Canada, ladies will tell you that there is really only about one brand that does not come with an applicator. We have had it easy being raised with such smoooooth inserting methods! Here in Aus, it’s the opposite. Like everything is, OppOsite! They only have one brand with an applicator, and its Tampax, the cardboard type! Boo! Anyways, to make things clear again, I decided to give the Aussie ones a go. There are soo many different types! They all also come in the cutest little packages and are better for the environment as they do not have soo much garbage- the applicator! I bought some that come in these cute little tins. I may have to bring those for gifts next time! Maybe even for the boys since they come in blue!!! :P Evaluation of product: they work just as well for absorbtion, but the insertion can be messy if you are of heavy flow. I don’t know what a girl would do in a public washroom! I like my smmoooooth upbringing ways!
We quickly made the salad and Shon- best roomie ever, offered to drive us. We got to Marks house and Entered. His parents were really nice. We did some chit chat and then ate. His mom had made some sausage stew on rice. It was good, but we were trying to be vegans. I guess we could start a later day. Better to do that then to be rude. His mom actually critiqued our salad saying that we should have done this rather then this. That was just fine. I agreed, but Adog wanted it that way. Its all good. Taste fabulous anyways!
His dad is quiet and shakes slightly. I had a few conversations with him and he was pleasant. His mom is non stop- typical mom! I guess whenever she comes over to visit, she reorganizes and he cannot find anything. She knows his house inside and out! That would drive me nuts! Haahh Boys! At one point, Mark mentioned that his Fart machines remote was missing. She spent 20 minutes going through his cupboards. She didn’t find it and then next thing I notice was that she was on the floor in a Homer Simpson kind of pose. The one where he is on his side and his feet are walking in air and he is spinning in circles, screaming woop woop woop woop! Hahah that is what she looked like, but the I realized she was looking for the remote under the couch! Hahah
We chit chatted some more over a glass of wine. His mom gave me some very good tips on what I could build a shelf out of in my room. I was very excited to find ways to gain more storage! She had some very good ideas!
Shonleigh came to grab us and we drove home after saying our good byes. I talked to Justin on the computer about RUGS. We actually talked for quite awhile. Finally bed time!
I was up very early to drive Adog to work. Well, actually it was placement that I was driving her to. It was all the way in Nambour and to take the bus, she would have had to get up extremely early! I forgot that I lost my license and was not suppose to drive. Thank god I never got pulled over! Once I dropped her off, I had to find my way back. I did get lost going the wrong way on the motorway. I could not just turn around as there were no turn offs. I waited until there was one and made my way back. Somehow I managed to find my way home. I think more by luck then skill!
I hopped into bed. I was still pretty gloomy and cramped up. I slept for a while. When I woke up, I read my book, an actual novel. The one that Mark McGill from Airlie beach lent me. Its all about Australia and has taught me quite a bit about this country. I didn’t have placement today, because I am placed at Caboolture. For some reason, there is a public holiday on Monday August 10th. So I will have to make the time missed up. This is ok though. Lots of time. I only need ten days of actual placement. Its weird. On Mondays. But I chose to do some Tuesdays with it as well.
I finally got my ass out of bed and washed up. I then spent the day cleaning my room. It was well needed. I spent some time on the computer as well. Amanda came over and we met up with Adog too. Went to the gym. We had to speed walk to make it in time! I also almost lost $20 on the way and had to retrace my tracks to find it- then sprint to catch up! Oi! Its such a workout to go and workout! We were sweaty by time we arrived!
When I got home, I made a super good stirfry. I am pretty good! Not bragging or anything, but DAMN! I went up to my room to see if I could catch Justin when he was at work. Luckily I was able to. I told him about how I had been blue and everything about Grams. I didn’t know what to do. He pretty much told me that I would be coming back to Canada to see my Grams! As soon as he made my decision, I felt relieved. I felt soo much better knowing that I would see my grams. It doesn’t hurt that I would see my family and Justin in the process! I cried again out of relief! PMS sucks! Or whatever you want to call it when you are menstruating, rather than the Pre menstral time!
I went to bed and slept well!
Tuesday August 11th
I slept in until 1130! I hate sleeping in late like this. Adog and I went out to try and study by the pool. We were both a little emo. Didn’t get much done. We messaged Mark to see if maybe he could cheer us up. He invited us over for dinner later. His parents were going to be over and he said it would be fine. We said we would bring a salad.
This made us get up off our butts and hit the gym early! We hit up Woollys after for supplies and then home to shower and prepare. When I got home, Shonleigh and Jarrah were there studying. We discussed briefly the differences between tampons in Aus compared to what you find in Canada. In Canada, ladies will tell you that there is really only about one brand that does not come with an applicator. We have had it easy being raised with such smoooooth inserting methods! Here in Aus, it’s the opposite. Like everything is, OppOsite! They only have one brand with an applicator, and its Tampax, the cardboard type! Boo! Anyways, to make things clear again, I decided to give the Aussie ones a go. There are soo many different types! They all also come in the cutest little packages and are better for the environment as they do not have soo much garbage- the applicator! I bought some that come in these cute little tins. I may have to bring those for gifts next time! Maybe even for the boys since they come in blue!!! :P Evaluation of product: they work just as well for absorbtion, but the insertion can be messy if you are of heavy flow. I don’t know what a girl would do in a public washroom! I like my smmoooooth upbringing ways!
We quickly made the salad and Shon- best roomie ever, offered to drive us. We got to Marks house and Entered. His parents were really nice. We did some chit chat and then ate. His mom had made some sausage stew on rice. It was good, but we were trying to be vegans. I guess we could start a later day. Better to do that then to be rude. His mom actually critiqued our salad saying that we should have done this rather then this. That was just fine. I agreed, but Adog wanted it that way. Its all good. Taste fabulous anyways!
His dad is quiet and shakes slightly. I had a few conversations with him and he was pleasant. His mom is non stop- typical mom! I guess whenever she comes over to visit, she reorganizes and he cannot find anything. She knows his house inside and out! That would drive me nuts! Haahh Boys! At one point, Mark mentioned that his Fart machines remote was missing. She spent 20 minutes going through his cupboards. She didn’t find it and then next thing I notice was that she was on the floor in a Homer Simpson kind of pose. The one where he is on his side and his feet are walking in air and he is spinning in circles, screaming woop woop woop woop! Hahah that is what she looked like, but the I realized she was looking for the remote under the couch! Hahah
We chit chatted some more over a glass of wine. His mom gave me some very good tips on what I could build a shelf out of in my room. I was very excited to find ways to gain more storage! She had some very good ideas!
Shonleigh came to grab us and we drove home after saying our good byes. I talked to Justin on the computer about RUGS. We actually talked for quite awhile. Finally bed time!
Noosa Night
Saturday August 8th
I woke up at 1100. I made some breaky and found out that we were going to go to the spit to eat some fish. I made some food before leaving because I was slowly intergrating my new vegan diet. I also had to go to the plaza to buy some stuff for placement.
Also, I received a text from Scotty. He informed me that Ron called him and told him that I Arby Campbell was uninvited to his cartoon character going away party. I wasn’t going anyways- didn’t even think about what I would dress up as if I were to go, but it didn’t feel right that I would be “uninvited”!! I went and talked to Rachel. I guess he had said that Adog and I were speakin gill of him, and that he was upset that we went to the Gold Coast to see HIS friends and didn’t invite him. What a drama queen! When we were in the Gold Coast with Ron the first time, he ditched out, or so he led us to believe. He left us with his friend- who we then became good friends with! This friend- Scotty, was the one who invited us. If Ron were to go, that would be on his own invitation- nothing to do with us. He is such a retard. Its more like a good ridden party then a going away! Have fun in the Navy!
We got to the spit and everyone ordered food. Adog and I met up with Brock and went for a walk to the light house. I collected shells alone while Brock and Adog talked and walked ahead. Finally I met up with them and we sat for some minutes. While sitting here, we had the pleasure of seeing a dolphin jump out of the water just a few metres in front of us. I named him Delphinium! Like the flower! Lol
We walked back to the group who was sitting on the grass and eating their prawns and fries. We sat for a bit talking, and then I got everyone to go to the plaza. Adog and I went with Chakley. He had forgotten his flip flops at my house and so we stopped so he could buy a new pair. Haha How someone forgets there foot wear is beyond me! Something that only happens to Aussies I am certain! We stopped at a store and Adog bought a dress, and Mat some flippy floppy’s.
We met with everyone else at the plaza where I began the hunt for black pants, a name tage, and black shoes. I have the worse time finding black pants in Canada! It was not much better here. I went in store after store trying on dress pants. Too short or too expensive! Even the pricey ones were borderline too short! I eventually found some dance pants that were a very good price- cheapest I had seen all day! They were comfortable and made me feel good because they were a SMALL! That’s my usual! This means they will still fit when I lose this excess in the rear and fit all my old clothes! haha After this I found some cheap black shoes- not per standard, but the best I could find, and a name tag.
Mat drove us home and we quickly all got ready. The plan was to go to Noosa for a friends 21st party. I wasn’t planning on going, but was feeling a tad better after finding pants! Kurtis wanted to use my computer and so I let him. I walked into the room a bit later when he told he that he liked my ipod! I looked over to see, and there was my black ipod. It was a fake who shocked ppl when they pressed the button! Hahaha I love it! He was the first person I really got, and I wasn’t even in the room to see it. I then grabbed it to see if Chakley could “fix” it for me too. Chakley, being the handy man that he is, grabbed it because he would never say no to a girl who needed a mans help! He pressed the button and fell to the ground! Hahahaha Always too funny! It looks pretty fake and so I had unscrewed the back and put rocks in it. It stil looks and feels a bit fake, but its better then it was. Soo fun!
We all loaded into Chakleys Land Cruiser. It was Tessa, Chakley, And Shonleigh in the back. Kurtis, Adog and I in the front. Adog and I grabbed some Goon sac wine to drink- its cheap! Yum Yum fruity Lexia! On the way down, Kurtis pulled over suddenly onto the side of the road. We looked around expecting to see a copper or something. We all gave him our blank stares, and in exchange he announced, “ did somebody ring the bell, this is your stop!” hahahahha Kurty the bus driver!! Ahha
We got to our hotel room and it was super nice! It was a mini apartment. I could easily live in a place like that! We all started drinking and talking. Ordered pizza- good bye diet for tonight- like I said, it’s a slow easing process! Afterwards, we all walked to the bar. We were only there for about 15 minutes when we left. We went back and went to bed. I don’t think anyone was in the mood to be at the bar. It was pretty late when we got there too. In the morning, I discovered that I had lost my phone and drivers license. ( Chakley eventually found my phone two days later in his car, this is still a mystery to me as I had it after being in the car, and did not go back in til the morning- when I had already discovered it missing!! The license I got about a week and a half later when Adog was looking for something in her purse and found it in the side pocket! Crazy! I don’t know why my stuff likes to run away from me soo much!
Sunday August 9th
I woke up and was in immense pain! I got my period and the cramps were not delicate! Sorry boys- but man up, it’s a natural part of life! We quickly went to see if my phone was at the bar. They let me out so I could go ask. The bar wasn’t open, so I bought a kebab. No phone! Haha I went home and I slept after popping some ibuprofen! I watched some movies and got a message from Justin on the computer.
I stayed up late listening to the party next door. Rons party. I heard him give a speech and it was all too familiar! I half expected him to start throwing bottles and steel a boat- Raging Roger if you do remember the camping trip from Boramba damn! The party did not end til about 8 am!!!!! Adog even called security when she heard a bottle being smashed in the common area! I also heard this. Crazy! Finally went to sleep!
I woke up at 1100. I made some breaky and found out that we were going to go to the spit to eat some fish. I made some food before leaving because I was slowly intergrating my new vegan diet. I also had to go to the plaza to buy some stuff for placement.
Also, I received a text from Scotty. He informed me that Ron called him and told him that I Arby Campbell was uninvited to his cartoon character going away party. I wasn’t going anyways- didn’t even think about what I would dress up as if I were to go, but it didn’t feel right that I would be “uninvited”!! I went and talked to Rachel. I guess he had said that Adog and I were speakin gill of him, and that he was upset that we went to the Gold Coast to see HIS friends and didn’t invite him. What a drama queen! When we were in the Gold Coast with Ron the first time, he ditched out, or so he led us to believe. He left us with his friend- who we then became good friends with! This friend- Scotty, was the one who invited us. If Ron were to go, that would be on his own invitation- nothing to do with us. He is such a retard. Its more like a good ridden party then a going away! Have fun in the Navy!
We got to the spit and everyone ordered food. Adog and I met up with Brock and went for a walk to the light house. I collected shells alone while Brock and Adog talked and walked ahead. Finally I met up with them and we sat for some minutes. While sitting here, we had the pleasure of seeing a dolphin jump out of the water just a few metres in front of us. I named him Delphinium! Like the flower! Lol
We walked back to the group who was sitting on the grass and eating their prawns and fries. We sat for a bit talking, and then I got everyone to go to the plaza. Adog and I went with Chakley. He had forgotten his flip flops at my house and so we stopped so he could buy a new pair. Haha How someone forgets there foot wear is beyond me! Something that only happens to Aussies I am certain! We stopped at a store and Adog bought a dress, and Mat some flippy floppy’s.
We met with everyone else at the plaza where I began the hunt for black pants, a name tage, and black shoes. I have the worse time finding black pants in Canada! It was not much better here. I went in store after store trying on dress pants. Too short or too expensive! Even the pricey ones were borderline too short! I eventually found some dance pants that were a very good price- cheapest I had seen all day! They were comfortable and made me feel good because they were a SMALL! That’s my usual! This means they will still fit when I lose this excess in the rear and fit all my old clothes! haha After this I found some cheap black shoes- not per standard, but the best I could find, and a name tag.
Mat drove us home and we quickly all got ready. The plan was to go to Noosa for a friends 21st party. I wasn’t planning on going, but was feeling a tad better after finding pants! Kurtis wanted to use my computer and so I let him. I walked into the room a bit later when he told he that he liked my ipod! I looked over to see, and there was my black ipod. It was a fake who shocked ppl when they pressed the button! Hahaha I love it! He was the first person I really got, and I wasn’t even in the room to see it. I then grabbed it to see if Chakley could “fix” it for me too. Chakley, being the handy man that he is, grabbed it because he would never say no to a girl who needed a mans help! He pressed the button and fell to the ground! Hahahaha Always too funny! It looks pretty fake and so I had unscrewed the back and put rocks in it. It stil looks and feels a bit fake, but its better then it was. Soo fun!
We all loaded into Chakleys Land Cruiser. It was Tessa, Chakley, And Shonleigh in the back. Kurtis, Adog and I in the front. Adog and I grabbed some Goon sac wine to drink- its cheap! Yum Yum fruity Lexia! On the way down, Kurtis pulled over suddenly onto the side of the road. We looked around expecting to see a copper or something. We all gave him our blank stares, and in exchange he announced, “ did somebody ring the bell, this is your stop!” hahahahha Kurty the bus driver!! Ahha
We got to our hotel room and it was super nice! It was a mini apartment. I could easily live in a place like that! We all started drinking and talking. Ordered pizza- good bye diet for tonight- like I said, it’s a slow easing process! Afterwards, we all walked to the bar. We were only there for about 15 minutes when we left. We went back and went to bed. I don’t think anyone was in the mood to be at the bar. It was pretty late when we got there too. In the morning, I discovered that I had lost my phone and drivers license. ( Chakley eventually found my phone two days later in his car, this is still a mystery to me as I had it after being in the car, and did not go back in til the morning- when I had already discovered it missing!! The license I got about a week and a half later when Adog was looking for something in her purse and found it in the side pocket! Crazy! I don’t know why my stuff likes to run away from me soo much!
Sunday August 9th
I woke up and was in immense pain! I got my period and the cramps were not delicate! Sorry boys- but man up, it’s a natural part of life! We quickly went to see if my phone was at the bar. They let me out so I could go ask. The bar wasn’t open, so I bought a kebab. No phone! Haha I went home and I slept after popping some ibuprofen! I watched some movies and got a message from Justin on the computer.
I stayed up late listening to the party next door. Rons party. I heard him give a speech and it was all too familiar! I half expected him to start throwing bottles and steel a boat- Raging Roger if you do remember the camping trip from Boramba damn! The party did not end til about 8 am!!!!! Adog even called security when she heard a bottle being smashed in the common area! I also heard this. Crazy! Finally went to sleep!
Home Sickness and Bad News!
Tuesday August 4th
I woke up when I received some texts from Justin. I felt soo much better! I knew he had been in Saskatchewan all weekend with his boys, and that he didn’t have very much reception. What I didn’t remember, was that it was August long weekend there!! This would explain why he wasn’t at work when I was trying to contact him!! I knew there had to be a reason! He told me a story about how he showed his boys a picture of me and asked them who I was. They replied by saying “ that’s your pretty friend Dad!” hahaha very cute! For those who don’t know, his little men are 4 and 3.
I spent the day cleaning my room- finally unpacked a bunch, and I also went to uni with Rachel and Adog to buy text books. Soo freaking expensive! Im glad the three of us are sharing texts! We also had to buy shirts for our placements! Ugly red shirts! Boo! I also went over to the post office and mailed Justin the pictures from the Jim Beam girls! He doesn’t know they are coming, so I cannot wait until he gets them!
I went to the gym with Adog. We missed the spin class and made it for abs class, then did our own thing. We are starting off slow and working our way up again. I was doing about 40 min of cardio before I left, and now it is about 15-20. I need to build it up! Yikes! Went home and showered.
After I showered, I spent some time catching up with Shonleigh. We talked about the diet I was going to do, and how she and Pom were un-officially dating and how her and Brock had a major tif! I made a stirfry and went on the computer for a bit. I then watched a movie with Adog, talked to Justin briefly and hit the hay.
Wednesday August 5th
I went to my first lecture. It was boring. It was good to catch up with some friends though. After class, I saw Amy who had been to Thailand over the break. She was telling us about a ping pong show where they have things like birds come out! I never knew it was that crazy, I knew they could smoke… but birds??? Wowza! Talk about disease! Now we know where the bird flu came from!
Adog and I went to the gym. We did the circuit training which was really good. We go around to different stations doing a repetitive exercise for about 5 minutes and then switch. After class we were pretty shaky, but we wanted to also try the body pump class. This was a weight lifting class. At times during this class, my arms were sooo shaky, that I didn’t know if I was going to be able to lift the bar at all! At one point, I took off even more weight- even though I had less then everyone in the class! Hahah Adog was in the same boat! No more double classes like these!!! :P We sat in the sauna for a while after. It feels good to sweat balls, after sweating balls! Hahahaha
It was pretty late when I got home and showered. I made some din din, talked briefly to Justin via email, and went to bed!
Thursday August 6th
Woke up early to go and exchange my red shirt for placement as I had been rushed the first time and bought two sizes too big. Shon came with me as we both had class. I went to my tutorial. It was… a class. Yay. I ate a sandwhich quickly and went to my next class. It was in the room right beside my last one. I didn’t know anyone and so I sat with two girls I had just met outside. Adog, Rachel, and Amanda all came in also. Wow! All four of us Canadians in one class! Amanda sat next to me, and the other two in the front in the only two spots left.
After class I came home and Yates was watching Gilmore girls with Shonleigh. He was also reading the Twilight series, but was on book two. I gave him book one, which he was very happy about. I didn’t really like the book at all, and the movie was not much better. Shon and I talked about flights to Airlie beach for September break. We were going to go to her Grammas farm up there and then the Whitsunday Islands for our September break. We were getting anxious to plan it as well. Adog was going to join us as well.
Adog was called into work. Amanda and I went to the gym. We sat in the sauna for a while talking. Her and I don’t know much about each other and it was good to get to know her a little bit. I learned that she too has a man back in Canada. His name is Royce. We walked home and I quickly got ready. Kurtis was here. He wanted to meet all of Shonleighs good guy friends because she is always talking them up. We had a BBQ outside by the pool. Then we all ate inside our place. I did the dishes, and everyone went out for Uni night. I was disinterested. I think I actually might be growing up! What a weird feeling!
I eventually snuk off and went to bed. I heard some of them come back late, but they didn’t stay up. Thank god! J It was an alright night, but I was feeling a bit blue.
Firday August 7th
I woke up and went to class. Firdays are good because I don’t have class til noon and I can sleep in. In class we did injectables. Very boring for me, who has done them a million times. I helped Sarah, who is my un-official lab partner. After class, we went to our last class. Adog showed up! It was nice that the two of us are in a class together with out the others. Not that I don’t like them, it is just nice to have Adog- who I have grown close to, in a class to myself! Hahaha
On the way home, Adog was talking about how she missed John. I wasn’t much in the mood for talking and so I just listened. When I got home, Yates and Shon were on the couches. I made some quick grub and went upstairs. I finished eating and logged onto facebook. I had a message from mom. I wa already feeling quite blue. Just home sick. I read the first couple lines of her message- it had to do with my Gramma who is not doing well. I didn’t even finish a third of the message when I burst into tears and balled like a 6 yr old girl! I locked my door and had a good cry for about two hours. I eventually read the rest of the message, and then saw another one from Mom. I read that one too- bad news saying I still owe a bunch of money for having my taxes done late. Great! Owing money always cheers me up! L I cried more! I was missing my family, I hadn’t talked to Justin all day yesterday or today, I was getting my period, feeling fat- not fitting my clothes, and now this! It was the first time I had actually been homesick since being here in Australia!
Yates came upstairs to see me, but I didn’t let him in. He later told everyone that I was pleasuring myself! Thanks Yates! :P Adog called asking when we were going to the gym. Informed her I was not going to go. Instead, her and I went over to Kirstennes house. She just moved into the village. I met her in lab class last semester. She is friends with Zach who also lives here and is in nursing. We went over there and they were drinking. Amy was also there with a couple others. It was actually a good time. We talked non stop pretty much and then after a while, they left to go see a band play. Adog and I went back to my place.
Shonleigh and her tiny little friend Abby were over. They had made chilli con carne and accidently burned rice on the bottom of Miss Cloes new pot. I had some food and we all watched a movie together. It was pretty good. I was feeling a tad better, but only because I was distracted.
I went upstairs and was relieved to hear from Justin online. Unfortunately he was busy at work and could not talk for long. I found out that his phone was still not working and it was broken for good. This is why he had not been texting me. I felt slightly better, but was still very blue. I went to bed being emo.
I woke up when I received some texts from Justin. I felt soo much better! I knew he had been in Saskatchewan all weekend with his boys, and that he didn’t have very much reception. What I didn’t remember, was that it was August long weekend there!! This would explain why he wasn’t at work when I was trying to contact him!! I knew there had to be a reason! He told me a story about how he showed his boys a picture of me and asked them who I was. They replied by saying “ that’s your pretty friend Dad!” hahaha very cute! For those who don’t know, his little men are 4 and 3.
I spent the day cleaning my room- finally unpacked a bunch, and I also went to uni with Rachel and Adog to buy text books. Soo freaking expensive! Im glad the three of us are sharing texts! We also had to buy shirts for our placements! Ugly red shirts! Boo! I also went over to the post office and mailed Justin the pictures from the Jim Beam girls! He doesn’t know they are coming, so I cannot wait until he gets them!
I went to the gym with Adog. We missed the spin class and made it for abs class, then did our own thing. We are starting off slow and working our way up again. I was doing about 40 min of cardio before I left, and now it is about 15-20. I need to build it up! Yikes! Went home and showered.
After I showered, I spent some time catching up with Shonleigh. We talked about the diet I was going to do, and how she and Pom were un-officially dating and how her and Brock had a major tif! I made a stirfry and went on the computer for a bit. I then watched a movie with Adog, talked to Justin briefly and hit the hay.
Wednesday August 5th
I went to my first lecture. It was boring. It was good to catch up with some friends though. After class, I saw Amy who had been to Thailand over the break. She was telling us about a ping pong show where they have things like birds come out! I never knew it was that crazy, I knew they could smoke… but birds??? Wowza! Talk about disease! Now we know where the bird flu came from!
Adog and I went to the gym. We did the circuit training which was really good. We go around to different stations doing a repetitive exercise for about 5 minutes and then switch. After class we were pretty shaky, but we wanted to also try the body pump class. This was a weight lifting class. At times during this class, my arms were sooo shaky, that I didn’t know if I was going to be able to lift the bar at all! At one point, I took off even more weight- even though I had less then everyone in the class! Hahah Adog was in the same boat! No more double classes like these!!! :P We sat in the sauna for a while after. It feels good to sweat balls, after sweating balls! Hahahaha
It was pretty late when I got home and showered. I made some din din, talked briefly to Justin via email, and went to bed!
Thursday August 6th
Woke up early to go and exchange my red shirt for placement as I had been rushed the first time and bought two sizes too big. Shon came with me as we both had class. I went to my tutorial. It was… a class. Yay. I ate a sandwhich quickly and went to my next class. It was in the room right beside my last one. I didn’t know anyone and so I sat with two girls I had just met outside. Adog, Rachel, and Amanda all came in also. Wow! All four of us Canadians in one class! Amanda sat next to me, and the other two in the front in the only two spots left.
After class I came home and Yates was watching Gilmore girls with Shonleigh. He was also reading the Twilight series, but was on book two. I gave him book one, which he was very happy about. I didn’t really like the book at all, and the movie was not much better. Shon and I talked about flights to Airlie beach for September break. We were going to go to her Grammas farm up there and then the Whitsunday Islands for our September break. We were getting anxious to plan it as well. Adog was going to join us as well.
Adog was called into work. Amanda and I went to the gym. We sat in the sauna for a while talking. Her and I don’t know much about each other and it was good to get to know her a little bit. I learned that she too has a man back in Canada. His name is Royce. We walked home and I quickly got ready. Kurtis was here. He wanted to meet all of Shonleighs good guy friends because she is always talking them up. We had a BBQ outside by the pool. Then we all ate inside our place. I did the dishes, and everyone went out for Uni night. I was disinterested. I think I actually might be growing up! What a weird feeling!
I eventually snuk off and went to bed. I heard some of them come back late, but they didn’t stay up. Thank god! J It was an alright night, but I was feeling a bit blue.
Firday August 7th
I woke up and went to class. Firdays are good because I don’t have class til noon and I can sleep in. In class we did injectables. Very boring for me, who has done them a million times. I helped Sarah, who is my un-official lab partner. After class, we went to our last class. Adog showed up! It was nice that the two of us are in a class together with out the others. Not that I don’t like them, it is just nice to have Adog- who I have grown close to, in a class to myself! Hahaha
On the way home, Adog was talking about how she missed John. I wasn’t much in the mood for talking and so I just listened. When I got home, Yates and Shon were on the couches. I made some quick grub and went upstairs. I finished eating and logged onto facebook. I had a message from mom. I wa already feeling quite blue. Just home sick. I read the first couple lines of her message- it had to do with my Gramma who is not doing well. I didn’t even finish a third of the message when I burst into tears and balled like a 6 yr old girl! I locked my door and had a good cry for about two hours. I eventually read the rest of the message, and then saw another one from Mom. I read that one too- bad news saying I still owe a bunch of money for having my taxes done late. Great! Owing money always cheers me up! L I cried more! I was missing my family, I hadn’t talked to Justin all day yesterday or today, I was getting my period, feeling fat- not fitting my clothes, and now this! It was the first time I had actually been homesick since being here in Australia!
Yates came upstairs to see me, but I didn’t let him in. He later told everyone that I was pleasuring myself! Thanks Yates! :P Adog called asking when we were going to the gym. Informed her I was not going to go. Instead, her and I went over to Kirstennes house. She just moved into the village. I met her in lab class last semester. She is friends with Zach who also lives here and is in nursing. We went over there and they were drinking. Amy was also there with a couple others. It was actually a good time. We talked non stop pretty much and then after a while, they left to go see a band play. Adog and I went back to my place.
Shonleigh and her tiny little friend Abby were over. They had made chilli con carne and accidently burned rice on the bottom of Miss Cloes new pot. I had some food and we all watched a movie together. It was pretty good. I was feeling a tad better, but only because I was distracted.
I went upstairs and was relieved to hear from Justin online. Unfortunately he was busy at work and could not talk for long. I found out that his phone was still not working and it was broken for good. This is why he had not been texting me. I felt slightly better, but was still very blue. I went to bed being emo.
Gold Coast Getaway Goodbye's
Friday July 31st
Up for my lab class. I got a call from Scotty on the Gold Coast. He wanted to know if we wanted to go down there this weekend instead of the next. Turns out he is moving to Canada for 18 months. He is absolutely in love with Canada. I asked him if he would ever move there permanently, and he considered it, but said Australia was home. I know the feeling.
Adog and I hopped on a bus after packing my bags from my still packed bags. We bused it to the train station at Landsborough and caught the next one. We were to get off at Bowen hills. It took about an hour and a half and we almost missed our stop. Eventually we made it to Beenleigh where Scotty had asked us to get off. He called asking when we were going tobe there and was shocked we were there already. He said he would be 15 mintues and told us to be safe since it was a shady area! Haha Great! We found a Woolworths and went inside before it closed. Bought some carrot cake and ate the whole thing between the two of us- scraping off most of the icing first since it was heaps sweet!
Finally they arrived. First thing I noticed was that Scotty chopped off all of his fro! He used to have a full thick blonde curly surfer dude due! It wasn’t too short now, but definitely different. The four of us cramped into his tiny ute. I was the smallest and had to sit on John Micheal. This did not feel good with my neck, but I made it work. My legs across everyone else. They took us to a drive in movie. We had missed the first showing, and it was still going. We decided to go grab a drink at a pub near by and come back for the second movie.
The food area was closed already. Adog and I were hungry and this made us sad. We all had a quick drink and piled back in the ute. This time, I was laying upside down like on a pillow, with my legs wrapped around Adogs head. Don’t worry, this is not habbit. We were only in the next lot over from the drive in.
As we entered the lot, there was no worker in the booth. We drove right through. As we drove looking for our friends, we ( they- I was upside down), saw a flash light chasing us. Scotty kept dodging it and we parked by our friends. Then the flashlight found us. She came to the window and was not happy she had to chase us. She informed us that we had to go pay. I thought that we would go and pay, however, Scotty blurted out that we had already paid. Obviously we all knew that we had not. She then did the obvious and asked to see our tickets. Scotty said “sure!” and looked at all of us. We were a bit puzzled and began to search our purses and pockets. Really Scotty?? Haha Geez! She told us that if we didn’t find our tickets, we would have to leave. So we left.
We drove out of the lot, and looped right back in again! Haha Oh dear god! We then drove around again, and then again were chased by a flash light. We stopped at the Candy bar. The flash light caught up with us again. This time we had piled out. She was furious. I don’t blame her. She asked to see our tickets. Amanda even pretended to have found one in her purse- oh but it was a bus transfer. Darn, she really thought that was it. It was in there some where! Aahhaha Scotty paid the lady, and I am sure she charged us more then the actual price. Scotty paid. He wouldn’t let us pay! He said it was his treat and we were his guests. I would have charged us more too!
We watched Ice Age 3? in the back of the ute on a mattress with pillows and a blanket. How cozy! Adog seen about 6 shooting stars. I hadn’t seen any. I was getting pretty jealous and then- sigh- there was one. What!?!?! No one saw that one? They all thought I lied because I wanted to see one so badly! I promise you, I saw it!
After the movie, we went back to John Micheals parents house. We went to sleep after talking for a couple of hours-all four of us in two rooms.
Saturday August 1st
We woke up and readied. Went to the Harbor mall and bought some Boost Juice and banana bread for breaky. At about noon, we went for some drinks with Scotty to meet his friend Justin, who goes by Robo, and his other friend Jayden. Robo is who Scotty is coming to Canada with. We must have spent hours there. We went back to JM’s place so the boys could book their tickets. Us girls got ready for the night. When I was ready, we were waiting for the boys. This took some time and I began to read a book. It was about all these fruits and vegetables and theirs nutritious values. It was soo interesting.
After getting Mr. Add himself finally showered and in the car, we made our way to a small town that I cannot recall the name of. We ate at this restaurant and had some drinks. Scotty was passing me a coaster and when he tossed it, it hit me square in the eye. Then Adog was applying ketchup on her fries and it squirted on my jacket! Hmmm great start to the night! :P
We made our way to this bogen bar where a tribute band was playing. We only had three tickets as we didn’t know the other two boys were going to come with us. We couldn’t get in at first. Then all the sudden, the female butch bouncer recognized Scotty from somewhere. He made it seem like he knew her and she let the other guys in after paying some fee. When we got it, he informed us that he had no idea who she was! Hahaha
As we made our way in, we realized we were in a bogen bar. There were all sorts of people here. I took some pictures of them secretly with Adogs camera. I had her pretend to take a picture of me, but really take a picture of some bogens behind me. A guy was on to us and gave us the finger- its actually a pretty funny picture! Lol
We joined the crowd just in time for the end of the Doors. The lead singer of the tribute band started freaking out and yelling “ Now is for the time of the show, the moment I know you guys have all been waiting for! “ and he started to undo his tight leather pants! I couldn’t believe it! I was shocked. I turned to Adog and asked if that was real, then the man on stage informed us not to believe everything as these performers were merely acting the way the real band had. Very exciting and thrilling! Too bad he was dragged off stage!! Lol JK! EWW!
There was an intermission. The next band to come on was Guns and Roses. While they were starting, I noticed some promotion girls going around and taking pictures of people who were drinking Jim Beams and giving them a prize and the Polaroid. I sneaked Scotty’s Jim Beam and wondered over to them. They were dressed in little out fits. I asked them to take a naughty picture with me so I could send it to my bf back home. They thought this was the sweetest thing and even signed the Polaroid for me. Actually, there were two Polaroid pictures that I had gotten! They also gave me a couple prizes. Adog got a ipod speaker the size of a piece of large lego! It works really well too! It is the coolest thing.
We went back to enjoy the show. It was pretty good. Adog and I were not drinking. I think the night was just getting to Adog. Everything was catching up to her and she was missing home. She too had gone to Canada over the break. I kept asking if she was ok, and at one point she went into the bathroom. I followed. Here she broke down and cried. She was homesick and missed her family and John. She was having an alright time, but could not snap out of it. I think she was PMSing. I tried comforting her and we went back out. We danced a little and finally, some time after Deep Purple and ACDC we left.
Robo drove us there and was driving us back. We had the music going and were having a pretty good time when all the sudden there were flashing lights behind us. We thought we would be fine as Robo had not been drinking much- and he is a big big boy, so the amount he did drink would not have affected him at all. Robo was panicked for some reason. We found out soon that he did not have any registration on his car because he barely drove it and didn’t renew it since he was leaving in two weeks for Canada.
The police came to the window and gave him a breath test. It was fine. They still had to take his plates from him. They wouldn’t let us drive anywhere. Robo got his court date placed early the next week so as to not conflict with his moving to Canada. While all this was going on, I got outside to stretch my legs. I went over to the cop car and started chatting with the other cop. He seemed to be a really nice cop, and the other seemed to be more stern. We talked about snowboarding, how cold it is in Canada, and this and that. I think he would have come around to letting me sit in the back of the cruiser, but I think the other cop would have given him sh*t!
Eventually, the cops left. We were waiting on a cab and a toe truck. The toe truck came first. He was a super nice guy. The toe truck was not like the ones we have back home. It was a huge truck that lowered its back side and we drove up. Then it lifted even. He took some pics of us inside too! We were pretty high off the ground. He let Adog, Robo and I stay inside while all this happened. He even let us stay inside until we got to the convience store where we were to wait for a cab. I had Robo listening to some country music on the way. No body likes country music in Aus. This is disappointing. I told Robo that this is what he would become used to in Edmonton. Haha he didn’t seem to mind it too much.
We got to our stop and we got out thanking the driver. Robo went with the toe man all the way to Brisbane. This was not before he took off the socks on his feet and the shoes and passed them to Scotty. They belonged to John Micheal’s dad and he had promised to give them back! He wouldn’t have had to borrow them, but no flip flops allowed to the clubs! Hahaha How brutal!
We then went into the store to get some snacks. He kicked us out because he had to do some work in the back room. It was cold and I was not pleased by this. We then watched Scotty running after taxi’s in the near by intersection. It was kind of funny ! lol They were not stopping for him, so I went with him. Two were coming. One of them stopped and we got in. Then we picked up the other two. We got back to JM’s and went to bed! What a crazy night!
Sunday August 2nd
I was very sleepy. We got up and ready and met some of Scott’s new friends who were also Canadian. Graham and Cheryl, who just moved here for Uni. They are from Toronto. We went for lunch at a near by country club sort of thing. There were sharks swimming in the tank. They were the size of a two year old! How cool! The place was actually called Sharks.
After breaky or lunch, we went back and grabbed some snorkel gear and surf boards. We all met up at the spit and us girls went snorkeling accompanied by Scotty. The boys all went down to the beach to teach Graham how to surf. We were parked along the rock bed and went in from there. The water was a bit chilly, and it was hard to sneak across all the rocks as they were half submerged and slippery. Finally we got into the water, and I was the only one who was injured from the sharp spots on the rocks. I had cut my fingers in three places. Its funny how I always seem to forget how salty the ocean really is! Gross!!! While we were in the water, Adog had her camera with her. It is one of those water proof cameras. Unfortunatly, for some reason, it was not working. Uh oh! So no pictures were taken. L We were in the water for about 30 minutes or so. It was kind of neat watching the blood flow into the water from my finger. It made me imagine a shark getting a sniff and coming to see more. Luckily, this did not happen! haha Cheryl and Scotty went in a little bit earlier then Adog and I. When we were down there, we saw a school of squid ( yum), and soo many many different kinds of fish. At one point Scotty had even picked up and sea cucumber and made it… spew its white fluid substance all over. Scotty told us a story of how when he was younger, his mate made one … spew all over Scotty’s hair and it had turned into some kind of concrete like mixture. He had to cut his hair off to fix it! How crazy is that?? While we were down there, we also found a lot of hooks. There are many fisher man around. Adog and I have been wanting to go fishing for some time. One of these days we will. Adog was getting cold, and so we decided to head in. While I was getting out, the waves were pushing and pulling me. This made it difficult to climb onto the rocks. I was trying to hover above them when a wave pulled me back and the water level decreased. This brought me right hard into a rock where I cut my hand, and a spot on my knee. I was alright, but it was messy. Im not sure whos towel I was using, and I tried not to get my DNA on it, but could not help it. Sorry! J When I got back up on shore, there was a group of guys walking by. Alex! We stopped them and chatted with them for a bit. Then the other boys came back. I guess Graham did ok, but it was his first time. This probably meant he was not very good at all. Haha It is tough!
Alex and his friends left, and we all went to another part of the spit. We were just by a spot where they happened to be filming a Narnia movie!!! Too bad the camera was not working. The boys took the canoe into the water and they were spear fishing. There was a sign right above where us girls were sitting that said no spear fishing, but Scotty assured us that was for when there were lots of swimmers in the area, which there was not. Besides, we were right across from his island… it was his jurisdiction. As we were sitting and watching, Alex and his friends came by. We chatted for a while and they left. Eventually, the boys came back with one pueny little fish! This I had lots of fun with. Graham took some pictures on his phone of me pretending to kiss it, eat it, and so forth! Its what I do. I find some kind of creature.. I get a a photo pretending to kiss it! It was the same for a crab in Meixco, a frog in Canada, a crae fish in Aus, and much much more! After I was done playing with the fish, I found out the boys were not going to keep it. It was dead, and I felt bad for it. I gave it a new home up on the NO SPEAR FISHING sign! Haha
After this, we went back to Cheryl and Grahams place. It’s a very nice place. We went down and sat in the hot tub for a while, and the sauna as well. It got too hot for me, and so I swam a couple of laps.After some time, we went upstairs. We had showers and Scotty went home to fetch our stuff so we could wear some dry and clean clothes. He returned with pizza and beer. We spent the evening trying to learn how to play yukur and then asshole. It was a pretty fun night, but there were too many of us. Once some of the group went home, Cheryl, Graham, Scotty, Adog and I were left. We put a movie on that no body finished. Adog and I went into the spare bedroom, Cheryl and Graham into their room, and Scotty went home. He said he would be back for us in the morning. It was team Canada left in the apartment. J
Monday August 3rd
Woke up thinking we were the only ones home. We tidied the place up and Scotty came over. He woke up Cheryl and Graham, who we thought had gone to uni. Haha I had even written them a good bye thank you note! We said our thanks and good byes in person and then made our way out for some grub. It was a little later in the day since we were soo tired and slept in a bit. We ate at a sushi train since Adog had never been to one. I apyed for Scotty’s meal to thank him for all his hospitality, but afterwards at the petrol station, he wouldn’t let me not take his money! He said he was old enough to take care of his own bill! He is a very nice and generous guy! Usually he wont even let us pay for our meals!!
After our meals, we went for a short surf. The water was alright when you were in it, but the waves were pretty scary. It has been awhile since I was in waves like this. ( listen to me sounding like a wimp- its only been a month and a half!!! ) I think what was scaring me soo much, was the fact that this beach looked empty and the ocean appeared to be bigger then Mooloolaba- where I was used to going. It felt like you could just be taken soo easily. I was in no mood to gamble in this unknown territory. Scotty said there was no current or and rip tides, and that I would be safe, but I decided to play it safe my way anyways. I sat on the beach and watched. My two attempts were enough.
We went back to JM’s place to collect the rest of our stuff. Scotty also said we could borrow the snorkel gear and a surf board while he was in Canada, this was awesome! This means we have a surf board for the remainder time we are here pretty much! Now we have to make sure we are good by the time he returns in 18 months!
He dropped us off at the train station and said he was going to actually really miss us. We gave hugs and he left. We bought our tickets and waited for our train. While we sat and waited, Adog and I decided that we wanted to become vegans. This meant we would have to finish all the meat and animal products that we just bought on our last grocery shopping trip! This allowed us to ease into it. We wanted to learn all the benefits of other foods, learning the nutritious value of fruits, veggies, nuts, and all sorts of other foods. It was a challenge and exciting. This would also be a good healthy diet for me, since I don’t fit some of my clothes anymore. My trip to Canada made me depart with some excess cargo on my rear! ( I know I don’t look big, but when you get to the point where you cannot wear some- most of your pants- you need to do something about it!!!)
On the way home, we stopped at central station in Brissy. What a cool place. I had never been to a “main” station like this before. It had a Mcdicks and everything. It was a pretty neat place.On our way we continues. We even had had a nap on one of the trains, leaning over the surf board that was on our laps. A girl took a pic on her phone and said she would email it to me.. but I never did receive it. By the time we made it to Landsborough, it had been about 3.5 hours of travel. Before getting off the train, we noticed a smell. It was horrible. The unkempt man besides us moved to the back of the train, where a girl sat alone. She looked young vulnerable and innocent. He was creeping on her in a bad way. Everyone on the train was noticing. She looked extremely uncomfortable. A man from the other side casually moved closer, I think, just in case something happened. After a while, the man stopped talking, and she used the opportunity to move closer to Adog and I. I began chatting with her. She was on her way to her aunties house. Moving away from home. I guess her mom was non compliant with her daughters choice of boyfriend. He was an aboriginal. They decided to move to Perth together to start new. They had been dating for 6 months and she was 17. I’m curious to know how this all turns out for her… hmm.
We got off the train and there were two buses waiting. Neither was our bus. We checked the schedule to see when it came. It said it would be there in 5 minutes. Perfect- it is also the last bus of the day!!! One of the bus drivers saw us and asked what we were doing. I replied and said we were waiting for the 615. He said it was right behind us. I informed him that that bus said 618! He said it was wrong and we had better catch it as it was about to leave. We were shocked and hurried to our bus. When we got on, the driver saw that the other bus driver had noticed something, which made him realize he had the wrong number on. He changed it with a no big deal expression! We could have easily missed our LAST bus, and it was no biggy! Ugh! Sometimes the laid back style of Aussies cause problems. I was on the bus the other day, and he drove straight on by a girl at a bus stop. It was like he forgot entirely that there was a stop there. How does that happen?? Anyways, we got home and it was a nice feeling! I have barely been home since my return from Canada, and my suit cases needed a good un-packing! Haha
I also had not talked to Justin for the last couple of days. I was waiting for tonight, when he would be at work, and we could talk via email. I stay up late for his early morning at work. I wrote an email and got no response. I was a little upset about it and went to bed. I wasn’t sure why he wasn’t responding.
Sleep!
Up for my lab class. I got a call from Scotty on the Gold Coast. He wanted to know if we wanted to go down there this weekend instead of the next. Turns out he is moving to Canada for 18 months. He is absolutely in love with Canada. I asked him if he would ever move there permanently, and he considered it, but said Australia was home. I know the feeling.
Adog and I hopped on a bus after packing my bags from my still packed bags. We bused it to the train station at Landsborough and caught the next one. We were to get off at Bowen hills. It took about an hour and a half and we almost missed our stop. Eventually we made it to Beenleigh where Scotty had asked us to get off. He called asking when we were going tobe there and was shocked we were there already. He said he would be 15 mintues and told us to be safe since it was a shady area! Haha Great! We found a Woolworths and went inside before it closed. Bought some carrot cake and ate the whole thing between the two of us- scraping off most of the icing first since it was heaps sweet!
Finally they arrived. First thing I noticed was that Scotty chopped off all of his fro! He used to have a full thick blonde curly surfer dude due! It wasn’t too short now, but definitely different. The four of us cramped into his tiny ute. I was the smallest and had to sit on John Micheal. This did not feel good with my neck, but I made it work. My legs across everyone else. They took us to a drive in movie. We had missed the first showing, and it was still going. We decided to go grab a drink at a pub near by and come back for the second movie.
The food area was closed already. Adog and I were hungry and this made us sad. We all had a quick drink and piled back in the ute. This time, I was laying upside down like on a pillow, with my legs wrapped around Adogs head. Don’t worry, this is not habbit. We were only in the next lot over from the drive in.
As we entered the lot, there was no worker in the booth. We drove right through. As we drove looking for our friends, we ( they- I was upside down), saw a flash light chasing us. Scotty kept dodging it and we parked by our friends. Then the flashlight found us. She came to the window and was not happy she had to chase us. She informed us that we had to go pay. I thought that we would go and pay, however, Scotty blurted out that we had already paid. Obviously we all knew that we had not. She then did the obvious and asked to see our tickets. Scotty said “sure!” and looked at all of us. We were a bit puzzled and began to search our purses and pockets. Really Scotty?? Haha Geez! She told us that if we didn’t find our tickets, we would have to leave. So we left.
We drove out of the lot, and looped right back in again! Haha Oh dear god! We then drove around again, and then again were chased by a flash light. We stopped at the Candy bar. The flash light caught up with us again. This time we had piled out. She was furious. I don’t blame her. She asked to see our tickets. Amanda even pretended to have found one in her purse- oh but it was a bus transfer. Darn, she really thought that was it. It was in there some where! Aahhaha Scotty paid the lady, and I am sure she charged us more then the actual price. Scotty paid. He wouldn’t let us pay! He said it was his treat and we were his guests. I would have charged us more too!
We watched Ice Age 3? in the back of the ute on a mattress with pillows and a blanket. How cozy! Adog seen about 6 shooting stars. I hadn’t seen any. I was getting pretty jealous and then- sigh- there was one. What!?!?! No one saw that one? They all thought I lied because I wanted to see one so badly! I promise you, I saw it!
After the movie, we went back to John Micheals parents house. We went to sleep after talking for a couple of hours-all four of us in two rooms.
Saturday August 1st
We woke up and readied. Went to the Harbor mall and bought some Boost Juice and banana bread for breaky. At about noon, we went for some drinks with Scotty to meet his friend Justin, who goes by Robo, and his other friend Jayden. Robo is who Scotty is coming to Canada with. We must have spent hours there. We went back to JM’s place so the boys could book their tickets. Us girls got ready for the night. When I was ready, we were waiting for the boys. This took some time and I began to read a book. It was about all these fruits and vegetables and theirs nutritious values. It was soo interesting.
After getting Mr. Add himself finally showered and in the car, we made our way to a small town that I cannot recall the name of. We ate at this restaurant and had some drinks. Scotty was passing me a coaster and when he tossed it, it hit me square in the eye. Then Adog was applying ketchup on her fries and it squirted on my jacket! Hmmm great start to the night! :P
We made our way to this bogen bar where a tribute band was playing. We only had three tickets as we didn’t know the other two boys were going to come with us. We couldn’t get in at first. Then all the sudden, the female butch bouncer recognized Scotty from somewhere. He made it seem like he knew her and she let the other guys in after paying some fee. When we got it, he informed us that he had no idea who she was! Hahaha
As we made our way in, we realized we were in a bogen bar. There were all sorts of people here. I took some pictures of them secretly with Adogs camera. I had her pretend to take a picture of me, but really take a picture of some bogens behind me. A guy was on to us and gave us the finger- its actually a pretty funny picture! Lol
We joined the crowd just in time for the end of the Doors. The lead singer of the tribute band started freaking out and yelling “ Now is for the time of the show, the moment I know you guys have all been waiting for! “ and he started to undo his tight leather pants! I couldn’t believe it! I was shocked. I turned to Adog and asked if that was real, then the man on stage informed us not to believe everything as these performers were merely acting the way the real band had. Very exciting and thrilling! Too bad he was dragged off stage!! Lol JK! EWW!
There was an intermission. The next band to come on was Guns and Roses. While they were starting, I noticed some promotion girls going around and taking pictures of people who were drinking Jim Beams and giving them a prize and the Polaroid. I sneaked Scotty’s Jim Beam and wondered over to them. They were dressed in little out fits. I asked them to take a naughty picture with me so I could send it to my bf back home. They thought this was the sweetest thing and even signed the Polaroid for me. Actually, there were two Polaroid pictures that I had gotten! They also gave me a couple prizes. Adog got a ipod speaker the size of a piece of large lego! It works really well too! It is the coolest thing.
We went back to enjoy the show. It was pretty good. Adog and I were not drinking. I think the night was just getting to Adog. Everything was catching up to her and she was missing home. She too had gone to Canada over the break. I kept asking if she was ok, and at one point she went into the bathroom. I followed. Here she broke down and cried. She was homesick and missed her family and John. She was having an alright time, but could not snap out of it. I think she was PMSing. I tried comforting her and we went back out. We danced a little and finally, some time after Deep Purple and ACDC we left.
Robo drove us there and was driving us back. We had the music going and were having a pretty good time when all the sudden there were flashing lights behind us. We thought we would be fine as Robo had not been drinking much- and he is a big big boy, so the amount he did drink would not have affected him at all. Robo was panicked for some reason. We found out soon that he did not have any registration on his car because he barely drove it and didn’t renew it since he was leaving in two weeks for Canada.
The police came to the window and gave him a breath test. It was fine. They still had to take his plates from him. They wouldn’t let us drive anywhere. Robo got his court date placed early the next week so as to not conflict with his moving to Canada. While all this was going on, I got outside to stretch my legs. I went over to the cop car and started chatting with the other cop. He seemed to be a really nice cop, and the other seemed to be more stern. We talked about snowboarding, how cold it is in Canada, and this and that. I think he would have come around to letting me sit in the back of the cruiser, but I think the other cop would have given him sh*t!
Eventually, the cops left. We were waiting on a cab and a toe truck. The toe truck came first. He was a super nice guy. The toe truck was not like the ones we have back home. It was a huge truck that lowered its back side and we drove up. Then it lifted even. He took some pics of us inside too! We were pretty high off the ground. He let Adog, Robo and I stay inside while all this happened. He even let us stay inside until we got to the convience store where we were to wait for a cab. I had Robo listening to some country music on the way. No body likes country music in Aus. This is disappointing. I told Robo that this is what he would become used to in Edmonton. Haha he didn’t seem to mind it too much.
We got to our stop and we got out thanking the driver. Robo went with the toe man all the way to Brisbane. This was not before he took off the socks on his feet and the shoes and passed them to Scotty. They belonged to John Micheal’s dad and he had promised to give them back! He wouldn’t have had to borrow them, but no flip flops allowed to the clubs! Hahaha How brutal!
We then went into the store to get some snacks. He kicked us out because he had to do some work in the back room. It was cold and I was not pleased by this. We then watched Scotty running after taxi’s in the near by intersection. It was kind of funny ! lol They were not stopping for him, so I went with him. Two were coming. One of them stopped and we got in. Then we picked up the other two. We got back to JM’s and went to bed! What a crazy night!
Sunday August 2nd
I was very sleepy. We got up and ready and met some of Scott’s new friends who were also Canadian. Graham and Cheryl, who just moved here for Uni. They are from Toronto. We went for lunch at a near by country club sort of thing. There were sharks swimming in the tank. They were the size of a two year old! How cool! The place was actually called Sharks.
After breaky or lunch, we went back and grabbed some snorkel gear and surf boards. We all met up at the spit and us girls went snorkeling accompanied by Scotty. The boys all went down to the beach to teach Graham how to surf. We were parked along the rock bed and went in from there. The water was a bit chilly, and it was hard to sneak across all the rocks as they were half submerged and slippery. Finally we got into the water, and I was the only one who was injured from the sharp spots on the rocks. I had cut my fingers in three places. Its funny how I always seem to forget how salty the ocean really is! Gross!!! While we were in the water, Adog had her camera with her. It is one of those water proof cameras. Unfortunatly, for some reason, it was not working. Uh oh! So no pictures were taken. L We were in the water for about 30 minutes or so. It was kind of neat watching the blood flow into the water from my finger. It made me imagine a shark getting a sniff and coming to see more. Luckily, this did not happen! haha Cheryl and Scotty went in a little bit earlier then Adog and I. When we were down there, we saw a school of squid ( yum), and soo many many different kinds of fish. At one point Scotty had even picked up and sea cucumber and made it… spew its white fluid substance all over. Scotty told us a story of how when he was younger, his mate made one … spew all over Scotty’s hair and it had turned into some kind of concrete like mixture. He had to cut his hair off to fix it! How crazy is that?? While we were down there, we also found a lot of hooks. There are many fisher man around. Adog and I have been wanting to go fishing for some time. One of these days we will. Adog was getting cold, and so we decided to head in. While I was getting out, the waves were pushing and pulling me. This made it difficult to climb onto the rocks. I was trying to hover above them when a wave pulled me back and the water level decreased. This brought me right hard into a rock where I cut my hand, and a spot on my knee. I was alright, but it was messy. Im not sure whos towel I was using, and I tried not to get my DNA on it, but could not help it. Sorry! J When I got back up on shore, there was a group of guys walking by. Alex! We stopped them and chatted with them for a bit. Then the other boys came back. I guess Graham did ok, but it was his first time. This probably meant he was not very good at all. Haha It is tough!
Alex and his friends left, and we all went to another part of the spit. We were just by a spot where they happened to be filming a Narnia movie!!! Too bad the camera was not working. The boys took the canoe into the water and they were spear fishing. There was a sign right above where us girls were sitting that said no spear fishing, but Scotty assured us that was for when there were lots of swimmers in the area, which there was not. Besides, we were right across from his island… it was his jurisdiction. As we were sitting and watching, Alex and his friends came by. We chatted for a while and they left. Eventually, the boys came back with one pueny little fish! This I had lots of fun with. Graham took some pictures on his phone of me pretending to kiss it, eat it, and so forth! Its what I do. I find some kind of creature.. I get a a photo pretending to kiss it! It was the same for a crab in Meixco, a frog in Canada, a crae fish in Aus, and much much more! After I was done playing with the fish, I found out the boys were not going to keep it. It was dead, and I felt bad for it. I gave it a new home up on the NO SPEAR FISHING sign! Haha
After this, we went back to Cheryl and Grahams place. It’s a very nice place. We went down and sat in the hot tub for a while, and the sauna as well. It got too hot for me, and so I swam a couple of laps.After some time, we went upstairs. We had showers and Scotty went home to fetch our stuff so we could wear some dry and clean clothes. He returned with pizza and beer. We spent the evening trying to learn how to play yukur and then asshole. It was a pretty fun night, but there were too many of us. Once some of the group went home, Cheryl, Graham, Scotty, Adog and I were left. We put a movie on that no body finished. Adog and I went into the spare bedroom, Cheryl and Graham into their room, and Scotty went home. He said he would be back for us in the morning. It was team Canada left in the apartment. J
Monday August 3rd
Woke up thinking we were the only ones home. We tidied the place up and Scotty came over. He woke up Cheryl and Graham, who we thought had gone to uni. Haha I had even written them a good bye thank you note! We said our thanks and good byes in person and then made our way out for some grub. It was a little later in the day since we were soo tired and slept in a bit. We ate at a sushi train since Adog had never been to one. I apyed for Scotty’s meal to thank him for all his hospitality, but afterwards at the petrol station, he wouldn’t let me not take his money! He said he was old enough to take care of his own bill! He is a very nice and generous guy! Usually he wont even let us pay for our meals!!
After our meals, we went for a short surf. The water was alright when you were in it, but the waves were pretty scary. It has been awhile since I was in waves like this. ( listen to me sounding like a wimp- its only been a month and a half!!! ) I think what was scaring me soo much, was the fact that this beach looked empty and the ocean appeared to be bigger then Mooloolaba- where I was used to going. It felt like you could just be taken soo easily. I was in no mood to gamble in this unknown territory. Scotty said there was no current or and rip tides, and that I would be safe, but I decided to play it safe my way anyways. I sat on the beach and watched. My two attempts were enough.
We went back to JM’s place to collect the rest of our stuff. Scotty also said we could borrow the snorkel gear and a surf board while he was in Canada, this was awesome! This means we have a surf board for the remainder time we are here pretty much! Now we have to make sure we are good by the time he returns in 18 months!
He dropped us off at the train station and said he was going to actually really miss us. We gave hugs and he left. We bought our tickets and waited for our train. While we sat and waited, Adog and I decided that we wanted to become vegans. This meant we would have to finish all the meat and animal products that we just bought on our last grocery shopping trip! This allowed us to ease into it. We wanted to learn all the benefits of other foods, learning the nutritious value of fruits, veggies, nuts, and all sorts of other foods. It was a challenge and exciting. This would also be a good healthy diet for me, since I don’t fit some of my clothes anymore. My trip to Canada made me depart with some excess cargo on my rear! ( I know I don’t look big, but when you get to the point where you cannot wear some- most of your pants- you need to do something about it!!!)
On the way home, we stopped at central station in Brissy. What a cool place. I had never been to a “main” station like this before. It had a Mcdicks and everything. It was a pretty neat place.On our way we continues. We even had had a nap on one of the trains, leaning over the surf board that was on our laps. A girl took a pic on her phone and said she would email it to me.. but I never did receive it. By the time we made it to Landsborough, it had been about 3.5 hours of travel. Before getting off the train, we noticed a smell. It was horrible. The unkempt man besides us moved to the back of the train, where a girl sat alone. She looked young vulnerable and innocent. He was creeping on her in a bad way. Everyone on the train was noticing. She looked extremely uncomfortable. A man from the other side casually moved closer, I think, just in case something happened. After a while, the man stopped talking, and she used the opportunity to move closer to Adog and I. I began chatting with her. She was on her way to her aunties house. Moving away from home. I guess her mom was non compliant with her daughters choice of boyfriend. He was an aboriginal. They decided to move to Perth together to start new. They had been dating for 6 months and she was 17. I’m curious to know how this all turns out for her… hmm.
We got off the train and there were two buses waiting. Neither was our bus. We checked the schedule to see when it came. It said it would be there in 5 minutes. Perfect- it is also the last bus of the day!!! One of the bus drivers saw us and asked what we were doing. I replied and said we were waiting for the 615. He said it was right behind us. I informed him that that bus said 618! He said it was wrong and we had better catch it as it was about to leave. We were shocked and hurried to our bus. When we got on, the driver saw that the other bus driver had noticed something, which made him realize he had the wrong number on. He changed it with a no big deal expression! We could have easily missed our LAST bus, and it was no biggy! Ugh! Sometimes the laid back style of Aussies cause problems. I was on the bus the other day, and he drove straight on by a girl at a bus stop. It was like he forgot entirely that there was a stop there. How does that happen?? Anyways, we got home and it was a nice feeling! I have barely been home since my return from Canada, and my suit cases needed a good un-packing! Haha
I also had not talked to Justin for the last couple of days. I was waiting for tonight, when he would be at work, and we could talk via email. I stay up late for his early morning at work. I wrote an email and got no response. I was a little upset about it and went to bed. I wasn’t sure why he wasn’t responding.
Sleep!
Back To The Grind
Thursday July 30th
I woke up with the stiffest neck I have ever had. I could not turn my head to the left at all, and barley look down at my breasts, or even up in the sky! I think it was a combination of sleeping wrong on my first night without my Justin pillow, and sleeping on the flight. Good grief! I went to my tutorial. Only one today. The other ones do not start til week two. When I got home, Shonleigh and I went to the Chancellor to eat some steak. It was a special for $12! Not very good actually! I came home and had a nap. I was still very tired!
By the time I woke up, I only had enough time to go grocery shopping. Then I had to shower and get ready. The boys wanted to see us Canadian girls. We went over to brocks house. I carefully hugged them trying not to strain my neck. I had Poms hot water bottle on it. It looked awkward. We were hungry and so Yates took Adog and I to grab some food. We made a stop off at Yates house. He had a shower while we chit chatted with his mom. We talked about how Laura was liking Scotland. She Gave us a glass of red wine each. She even let me use her heated rice bag for my neck. I wrapped my scarf around it to hide it. Much better then the water bottle! We went back to Brocks house for a little while.
It was uni night! Great! I did not want to stay out late! We went to a near by pub. Adog, Shon and I stayed sober while the boys drank. At one point, we somehow managed to convince Pom that I had a daughter back in Canada. This happened after he saw my wallet picture of Julie. Hahaha I even asked him if he had ever noticed my C-section scar! Haha Eventually, after he started asking questions about how she took it when I left, Chakley felt bad for him and let him in on it. He couldn’t believe he was fooled! Hahaha
We drove the boys to the bar and Pom home after making a million paper airplanes. Yay it was about 11pm- time for us to go home! Bed time!
I woke up with the stiffest neck I have ever had. I could not turn my head to the left at all, and barley look down at my breasts, or even up in the sky! I think it was a combination of sleeping wrong on my first night without my Justin pillow, and sleeping on the flight. Good grief! I went to my tutorial. Only one today. The other ones do not start til week two. When I got home, Shonleigh and I went to the Chancellor to eat some steak. It was a special for $12! Not very good actually! I came home and had a nap. I was still very tired!
By the time I woke up, I only had enough time to go grocery shopping. Then I had to shower and get ready. The boys wanted to see us Canadian girls. We went over to brocks house. I carefully hugged them trying not to strain my neck. I had Poms hot water bottle on it. It looked awkward. We were hungry and so Yates took Adog and I to grab some food. We made a stop off at Yates house. He had a shower while we chit chatted with his mom. We talked about how Laura was liking Scotland. She Gave us a glass of red wine each. She even let me use her heated rice bag for my neck. I wrapped my scarf around it to hide it. Much better then the water bottle! We went back to Brocks house for a little while.
It was uni night! Great! I did not want to stay out late! We went to a near by pub. Adog, Shon and I stayed sober while the boys drank. At one point, we somehow managed to convince Pom that I had a daughter back in Canada. This happened after he saw my wallet picture of Julie. Hahaha I even asked him if he had ever noticed my C-section scar! Haha Eventually, after he started asking questions about how she took it when I left, Chakley felt bad for him and let him in on it. He couldn’t believe he was fooled! Hahaha
We drove the boys to the bar and Pom home after making a million paper airplanes. Yay it was about 11pm- time for us to go home! Bed time!
Home Sweet Home Good Bye
Monday July 27th
Back to Australia! I slept most of the day as Justin and I were up late. When we did finally get up, I packed up my mostly packed stuff- again! We did some quick last minute running around. I didnt get everything done, so Justin was left with a list of things to do after I was gone. Poor guy! One thing I had to get was some red plastic drinking cups. They do not sell these small treasures in Australia. I call them treasures because in Aus, everyone is sooo jealous when they see me holding the cups in pictures. They see them on movies all the time. A bit of a novelty I suppose. Shonleigh was going to love them.
When we got to the airport we lined up to check me in. Uh oh the lady said. When did you purchase your ticket? Last night, why is there a problem? Oh No, its just that it takes some time to get into our system and its not here yet. She sent us to the purchasing line just over. We waited in line and were soon standing in front of a very sweet Lady named Kory. Justin mentioned to us that she was the one who Justin purchased my ticket from in the first place for my journey here. She smiled at us and was very helpful. We chit chatted and unexpectedly she gave Justin a gate pass so that he could walk me right to the airplane basically! He was my "translator", as I was having problems with my english! *wink wink*. Kory is the best! I wanted to kiss her!
After this, we went through security and found a place to eat some wings. We were both a little emo ( for you old farts, this means EMOtional...), because I was leaving. Not too much of an appetite. We just picked at them. It was nearing the time I had to leave, and so we crept to a bench and sat at my gate for a little bit. Before we knew it, a lady came on the intercom. "We will be seating passengers at the back of the plane first, rows ( so on and so on) can now board the plane". We couldnt believe it! Of course they want to seat me first! UGH! We let the line go first and gave eachother lots of little kisses and hugs. After there was no line, I slipped a little note in his pocket, gave him a big kiss and hug, and started walking towards the plane. I turned back to see him waiting til he could not see me anymore. My eyes filled with tears. It was 100times harded to leave this time. I knew what to expect in Australia, I knew how much I was going to miss my family, and Justin- things with him and I are getting more serious. Long distance relationships are hard, and the good byes are definitly the most difficult part of them. The count down was started for the next time we would meet.
As I neared the plane, the flight attendant asked how I was- my face ready to explode with stress fluid yet again! Airport workers must experience alot of emotions from people saying good bye. I found my seat and felt soo alone. I was seated next to no one, and was extremely upset. It was not a very good flight. I tried to sleep, but could not help thinking about everything I left.
When I got to Vancouver, I found my gate and had a seat. I was still quite upset. The pay phones were busy. I had about two hours to wait. I began to read my book but could not concentrate on it. Finally, a payphone was free. I called Justin. ( I know, boo for sappiness!!!) We talked for a few minutes about how retarded our situation was and how we both were pretty well full of tears when I walked away from him a couple hours earlier! I was on a payphone and did not talk for long. I felt a bit better, but still sadened. I did some reading and people watching. Then I boarded my plane.
Tuesday July 28th/ 29th
I got on my plane and searched for my seat. I was window seat as I some how manage to usually be. I was next to an older couple who must have been in their mid 60's. Robin and her Husband Peter who moved to Canada from Australia when they were young for work and school. They did not know how long they would stay but ended up living there permanently in Prince George. They recently had moved to Nanaimo to be closer to their grown up offspring and so on. It was pleasant talking with them. I watched a movie and slept most of the way. I was going to look at pictures on my lap top as Justin had lent me his SD cards to upload pictures to my computer. I had not seen all of them yet and was very excited. I went to plug it in and- it didnt work. There is no way my battery would have lasted long enough to upload pictures. I was disapionted and decided to drift off to sleep while I somehow left the hour I had been in July 28th, and flew into July 29th!
As I neared Sydney, I readied myself for the transfer. I realized I did not have a new boarding pass and would have to grab one. I was also informed that I had to “identify” my bags and not have to retrieve them before getting on my next flight. When I got off the plane, this was not the case. Sydney ended up being a night mare- super unorganized! I followed the crowd trying to find where to go. I went through customs no problem- they make me nervous now! Then it was to baggage claim. My bags were there, and I didn’t see anywhere to “identify” them. I grabbed them and tried to figure out which line, from the many to choose from, was my line. I spotted a line that wrapped around the whole baggage area. This was a very long line. I did not want to have to be in that one, so I asked a lady who worked there where I needed to be. Unfortunatly, she pointed me to that line! I walked all the way back with my luggage and slowly made my way to the front.
As I got closer to the front, I realized there was another lady looking at boarding passes and directing people to other lines.I was the next person, when a guy from the middle of my line behind me came up to her and asked her a question. She walked with him to where his family was. She was gone. Where do I go from here?? UGH! I don’t go in the express line- so I must have to go into that other mess of lines that are going every which way! ^*%^#$@$@#$$%&^*- not good! I made my way through some how after some effort. A man was slowly checking passes which I did not have. I passed him my baggage claim passes and what I had. He directed me to the left. I went through security with no checks. It seemed to have been mostly asian people getting checked. I think they usually pack fruits and parishable items like that. Their lack of English does not help.
I finally go to another room, and guess what! MORE LINES! I went into the line that seemed to fit my situation. I did not have over sized luggage, and I was not an express. I lined up. I waited. After some time, I began to get nervous. I didn’t have much time until I was suppose to board my flight. I asked the girl behind me how long she thought the line would take. She said I should go ask what to do, as my flight was more urgent. She watched my luggage and I snuk through to ask a lady. Lucky thing that I did. Turns out that I had to grab my bags and go to the front of the line. I got through and went though some more security. It was go go go until- I had to stop and wait for the bus to take me to domestics. Sun of a gun!
I got on the bus. It was packed full of people and so I was left to stand. Not a big deal since I did not have much carry one and my big bag was checked. Then there was the smell. It was gross. BO mixed with curry! I couldnt breathe through my nose at all. I made a face trying to figure out where it was coming from. Meanwhile, it was taking the driver about 10 minutes to figure out how to close the door. I felt really safe being on a bus that the driver did not understand how to use… what??
Finally we started up. We were on our way. The bus took a corner and a young pretty blonde girl kind of fell into me. She apologized. Then she said sorry for the body oder- she has been traveling for so long and not able to shower. I felt bad immediately. She must have seen me make the face and cover my nose. I replied with, “oh I know. I think everyone smells bad!” I hope she felt better, but really, she smelled like death! OI! I had seen her earlier. She had a huge drum like bag of luggage. I think maybe she was a drummer in a band. How cool is that. Maybe she is on tour!!
I got off the plane and into the next building. I looked at the screen- at my gate- LAST CALL!! OMG! Seriously?? I looked down the corridor. Really? Like REALLY? My gate was the very last one at the very end of the long hall?? Really?
I started to book it! I wasn’t alone. There were two people in front of me also running. After a couple minutes of sprinting, we finally made it. The young girl went in before me, and as they glanced at her passport, they asked why she was late. She shrugged and walked through. It was my turn and his question annoyed me! I stated that this was the most unorganized airport ever- but in a calm and collected way. He replied by saying that it was completely organized. I wondered what drugs he was taking. Definitely not a smart pill! Moron!
I was on my last flight. Right snug in the very middle of the plane between two ladies. I was soo tired! I used the head pillow to squeeze my head in and keep it from moving. I was out like a light! I did not wake until we began our decent. They were picking up garbage. I realized that I had missed out on snack! BOO! I was hungry too. When the flight attendant came by, I asked for some food. She gave me a package of two cookies, and a bottle of juice that was too sweet. Gross!
I got off the plane and grabbed my luggage. I was going to use a trolley, but in Brisbane, you have to pay for them. Forget that! I made my way to a train station ticket purchaser. Bought a ticket to get me to Woombye as that is where Shonleigh said she would pick me up. Although, she doesn’t know I am coming today. I inquired about getting credit for my phone. They said something about going all the way upstairs and across and blah blah blah. By that time I would miss my train.
I used the escalator with all my bags. I heard some people waiting for the elevator say “ she took the escalator!!” Why yes I did, because I had a very long travel and did not feel like WAITING for the elevator! Escalator worked great! I went to the train purchaser by the station to ask a question about my route. She looked puzzled and told me to go a different, more direct and faster route. Thank god I asked a question! UGH! I sat down on the train.
The train took me to Bowen Hills in Brisbane. I got off and switched trains to another one that went to Sunny Coast. I eventually got off at Woombye after an hour and a half! What a journey! So here I was at my destination. How to get a hold of Shon. I looked around the tain station. No pay phone. I looked up the street. Hmm theres one at the top of the hill. How nice. I hauled all my luggage to the pay phone up the street. I plugged a 50 cent piece in and tried to work it. No luck. It was not right. I had never used a payphone in Aus before. I cannot seem to work them. I walked into a near by coffee shop with my luggage. There was an asian lady working. I asked her where I could buy credit. She was confused, and eventually I asked if I could use her phone to call a local number. I gave her Shonleighs mobile number and the lady claimed it was weird. She began to dial and I informed her it was a mobile and that is why it didn’t start with 54. Then she hung up stating she cannot call mobiles with her phone. I didn’t believe her but was too exhausted to argue. She said she would watch my bags for my while I ran up the street some more to buy some credit.
I bought some credit and immediately, Chakley texted me asking how my trip was. I called him asking where he was as he lived close by. He said he had to pick his little brother Jake up, and would see if Shonleigh could grab me. My phone was dying! He called back saying Shon was unable to grab me and that he would but I would have to wait 25 minutes. I was relieved. While I was waiting, Justin texted me asking if I had arrived alright. Then he called. We chatted until Chakley arrived. I guess my phone had enough juice in it. J Mat and his brother helped me with my luggage. They are both soo adorable. Mat has a baby face and his brother is a mini him! I said my good byes to them as they had to leave. Miss Cloe was home- but Shonleigh was not. I took my bags upstairs.
I went on the internet right away. I had to pay my rent, as the money did not transfer quick enough and my rent did not go through. Banking is stressful when living in two different countries!
Shon came home, and Adog came over. It was sooo good to see them. We caught up on all of our stories. Adog did not have any problems with her Roo Poo either. YAY!! Shon went to work and Adog and I spent the night chatting. I was sleepy and so I went to bed early! SIGH!!!!
Back to Australia! I slept most of the day as Justin and I were up late. When we did finally get up, I packed up my mostly packed stuff- again! We did some quick last minute running around. I didnt get everything done, so Justin was left with a list of things to do after I was gone. Poor guy! One thing I had to get was some red plastic drinking cups. They do not sell these small treasures in Australia. I call them treasures because in Aus, everyone is sooo jealous when they see me holding the cups in pictures. They see them on movies all the time. A bit of a novelty I suppose. Shonleigh was going to love them.
When we got to the airport we lined up to check me in. Uh oh the lady said. When did you purchase your ticket? Last night, why is there a problem? Oh No, its just that it takes some time to get into our system and its not here yet. She sent us to the purchasing line just over. We waited in line and were soon standing in front of a very sweet Lady named Kory. Justin mentioned to us that she was the one who Justin purchased my ticket from in the first place for my journey here. She smiled at us and was very helpful. We chit chatted and unexpectedly she gave Justin a gate pass so that he could walk me right to the airplane basically! He was my "translator", as I was having problems with my english! *wink wink*. Kory is the best! I wanted to kiss her!
After this, we went through security and found a place to eat some wings. We were both a little emo ( for you old farts, this means EMOtional...), because I was leaving. Not too much of an appetite. We just picked at them. It was nearing the time I had to leave, and so we crept to a bench and sat at my gate for a little bit. Before we knew it, a lady came on the intercom. "We will be seating passengers at the back of the plane first, rows ( so on and so on) can now board the plane". We couldnt believe it! Of course they want to seat me first! UGH! We let the line go first and gave eachother lots of little kisses and hugs. After there was no line, I slipped a little note in his pocket, gave him a big kiss and hug, and started walking towards the plane. I turned back to see him waiting til he could not see me anymore. My eyes filled with tears. It was 100times harded to leave this time. I knew what to expect in Australia, I knew how much I was going to miss my family, and Justin- things with him and I are getting more serious. Long distance relationships are hard, and the good byes are definitly the most difficult part of them. The count down was started for the next time we would meet.
As I neared the plane, the flight attendant asked how I was- my face ready to explode with stress fluid yet again! Airport workers must experience alot of emotions from people saying good bye. I found my seat and felt soo alone. I was seated next to no one, and was extremely upset. It was not a very good flight. I tried to sleep, but could not help thinking about everything I left.
When I got to Vancouver, I found my gate and had a seat. I was still quite upset. The pay phones were busy. I had about two hours to wait. I began to read my book but could not concentrate on it. Finally, a payphone was free. I called Justin. ( I know, boo for sappiness!!!) We talked for a few minutes about how retarded our situation was and how we both were pretty well full of tears when I walked away from him a couple hours earlier! I was on a payphone and did not talk for long. I felt a bit better, but still sadened. I did some reading and people watching. Then I boarded my plane.
Tuesday July 28th/ 29th
I got on my plane and searched for my seat. I was window seat as I some how manage to usually be. I was next to an older couple who must have been in their mid 60's. Robin and her Husband Peter who moved to Canada from Australia when they were young for work and school. They did not know how long they would stay but ended up living there permanently in Prince George. They recently had moved to Nanaimo to be closer to their grown up offspring and so on. It was pleasant talking with them. I watched a movie and slept most of the way. I was going to look at pictures on my lap top as Justin had lent me his SD cards to upload pictures to my computer. I had not seen all of them yet and was very excited. I went to plug it in and- it didnt work. There is no way my battery would have lasted long enough to upload pictures. I was disapionted and decided to drift off to sleep while I somehow left the hour I had been in July 28th, and flew into July 29th!
As I neared Sydney, I readied myself for the transfer. I realized I did not have a new boarding pass and would have to grab one. I was also informed that I had to “identify” my bags and not have to retrieve them before getting on my next flight. When I got off the plane, this was not the case. Sydney ended up being a night mare- super unorganized! I followed the crowd trying to find where to go. I went through customs no problem- they make me nervous now! Then it was to baggage claim. My bags were there, and I didn’t see anywhere to “identify” them. I grabbed them and tried to figure out which line, from the many to choose from, was my line. I spotted a line that wrapped around the whole baggage area. This was a very long line. I did not want to have to be in that one, so I asked a lady who worked there where I needed to be. Unfortunatly, she pointed me to that line! I walked all the way back with my luggage and slowly made my way to the front.
As I got closer to the front, I realized there was another lady looking at boarding passes and directing people to other lines.I was the next person, when a guy from the middle of my line behind me came up to her and asked her a question. She walked with him to where his family was. She was gone. Where do I go from here?? UGH! I don’t go in the express line- so I must have to go into that other mess of lines that are going every which way! ^*%^#$@$@#$$%&^*- not good! I made my way through some how after some effort. A man was slowly checking passes which I did not have. I passed him my baggage claim passes and what I had. He directed me to the left. I went through security with no checks. It seemed to have been mostly asian people getting checked. I think they usually pack fruits and parishable items like that. Their lack of English does not help.
I finally go to another room, and guess what! MORE LINES! I went into the line that seemed to fit my situation. I did not have over sized luggage, and I was not an express. I lined up. I waited. After some time, I began to get nervous. I didn’t have much time until I was suppose to board my flight. I asked the girl behind me how long she thought the line would take. She said I should go ask what to do, as my flight was more urgent. She watched my luggage and I snuk through to ask a lady. Lucky thing that I did. Turns out that I had to grab my bags and go to the front of the line. I got through and went though some more security. It was go go go until- I had to stop and wait for the bus to take me to domestics. Sun of a gun!
I got on the bus. It was packed full of people and so I was left to stand. Not a big deal since I did not have much carry one and my big bag was checked. Then there was the smell. It was gross. BO mixed with curry! I couldnt breathe through my nose at all. I made a face trying to figure out where it was coming from. Meanwhile, it was taking the driver about 10 minutes to figure out how to close the door. I felt really safe being on a bus that the driver did not understand how to use… what??
Finally we started up. We were on our way. The bus took a corner and a young pretty blonde girl kind of fell into me. She apologized. Then she said sorry for the body oder- she has been traveling for so long and not able to shower. I felt bad immediately. She must have seen me make the face and cover my nose. I replied with, “oh I know. I think everyone smells bad!” I hope she felt better, but really, she smelled like death! OI! I had seen her earlier. She had a huge drum like bag of luggage. I think maybe she was a drummer in a band. How cool is that. Maybe she is on tour!!
I got off the plane and into the next building. I looked at the screen- at my gate- LAST CALL!! OMG! Seriously?? I looked down the corridor. Really? Like REALLY? My gate was the very last one at the very end of the long hall?? Really?
I started to book it! I wasn’t alone. There were two people in front of me also running. After a couple minutes of sprinting, we finally made it. The young girl went in before me, and as they glanced at her passport, they asked why she was late. She shrugged and walked through. It was my turn and his question annoyed me! I stated that this was the most unorganized airport ever- but in a calm and collected way. He replied by saying that it was completely organized. I wondered what drugs he was taking. Definitely not a smart pill! Moron!
I was on my last flight. Right snug in the very middle of the plane between two ladies. I was soo tired! I used the head pillow to squeeze my head in and keep it from moving. I was out like a light! I did not wake until we began our decent. They were picking up garbage. I realized that I had missed out on snack! BOO! I was hungry too. When the flight attendant came by, I asked for some food. She gave me a package of two cookies, and a bottle of juice that was too sweet. Gross!
I got off the plane and grabbed my luggage. I was going to use a trolley, but in Brisbane, you have to pay for them. Forget that! I made my way to a train station ticket purchaser. Bought a ticket to get me to Woombye as that is where Shonleigh said she would pick me up. Although, she doesn’t know I am coming today. I inquired about getting credit for my phone. They said something about going all the way upstairs and across and blah blah blah. By that time I would miss my train.
I used the escalator with all my bags. I heard some people waiting for the elevator say “ she took the escalator!!” Why yes I did, because I had a very long travel and did not feel like WAITING for the elevator! Escalator worked great! I went to the train purchaser by the station to ask a question about my route. She looked puzzled and told me to go a different, more direct and faster route. Thank god I asked a question! UGH! I sat down on the train.
The train took me to Bowen Hills in Brisbane. I got off and switched trains to another one that went to Sunny Coast. I eventually got off at Woombye after an hour and a half! What a journey! So here I was at my destination. How to get a hold of Shon. I looked around the tain station. No pay phone. I looked up the street. Hmm theres one at the top of the hill. How nice. I hauled all my luggage to the pay phone up the street. I plugged a 50 cent piece in and tried to work it. No luck. It was not right. I had never used a payphone in Aus before. I cannot seem to work them. I walked into a near by coffee shop with my luggage. There was an asian lady working. I asked her where I could buy credit. She was confused, and eventually I asked if I could use her phone to call a local number. I gave her Shonleighs mobile number and the lady claimed it was weird. She began to dial and I informed her it was a mobile and that is why it didn’t start with 54. Then she hung up stating she cannot call mobiles with her phone. I didn’t believe her but was too exhausted to argue. She said she would watch my bags for my while I ran up the street some more to buy some credit.
I bought some credit and immediately, Chakley texted me asking how my trip was. I called him asking where he was as he lived close by. He said he had to pick his little brother Jake up, and would see if Shonleigh could grab me. My phone was dying! He called back saying Shon was unable to grab me and that he would but I would have to wait 25 minutes. I was relieved. While I was waiting, Justin texted me asking if I had arrived alright. Then he called. We chatted until Chakley arrived. I guess my phone had enough juice in it. J Mat and his brother helped me with my luggage. They are both soo adorable. Mat has a baby face and his brother is a mini him! I said my good byes to them as they had to leave. Miss Cloe was home- but Shonleigh was not. I took my bags upstairs.
I went on the internet right away. I had to pay my rent, as the money did not transfer quick enough and my rent did not go through. Banking is stressful when living in two different countries!
Shon came home, and Adog came over. It was sooo good to see them. We caught up on all of our stories. Adog did not have any problems with her Roo Poo either. YAY!! Shon went to work and Adog and I spent the night chatting. I was sleepy and so I went to bed early! SIGH!!!!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Canada- Winter/Summer Getaway!
June 20th- July 25th
I have decided not to write about my adventures in Canada during my semester break. I will dedicate this blog completely to my Aus adventure… and what ever foreign land I leave my footprints on. Canada is home, and therefore a whole book in itself.
Canada consisted of many things. Some highlights included surprising my Nieces on Kelsey’s 15th birthday. I dropped Justin off at work and continued to drive to Lamont where I met Kelsey and Julie on Mandy’s bus. I was talking with Mandy on my mobile walking towards the bus when they ran off and hugged me with tears in their eyes.
I also had the pleasure of getting to hang out with Julie quite a lot. This 10yr old escorted me to the Kenny Chesney- Taylor Swift concert where she told off a 24 yr old guy. He was cocky and deserved it, leaving him confused and silent. Young Julie also accompanied me to Capital X. It was Justin, Mark Kremzar, Julie and I. We ate caramel apples, climbed rock walls, had virgin margaritas, watched a horse race, went crazy on rides, and ate CORN DOGS!! Julie was also introduced to mini doughnuts which I am sad to admit, she is now addicted to. Thanks Kremzar!! We watched the boys play some games, and lose. Julie even turned out to be braver then I on the drop of fear! There are even pictures to prove it. Justin was shocked at how much I was screaming on the way up! Julie just laughed at me. We concluded the night by riding home in the car with all the windows down, blasting country music. We would pull up to other cars with their windows down, and the people would look at us and chuckle. All four of us were singing all the words- screaming all the words, all the way home! Then we played cards, Julie showing us that we are assholes- while she is president. Julie made us laugh at how good she was at drawing bumholes when we lost. The Julie fun didn’t end then. In the morning, we had a steam shower and went go carting! She had never been go carting before and loved it! She was let out first and was quite a bit ahead of me. I had to catch up. This wasn’t hard. What was hard was getting past all the cars that were held up by my mini race car driver! There were probably about 6 of them between us. I made my way to her and we raced along together. At one point she even hit the pile of tires on the side because she was looking at me! It was sad to take her back to Mark at the end of our fun.
I enjoyed a spontaneous Thursday night trip out to Jasper with my man, and all because he just had to go and buy this jacket he had seen there a while back. We had been in West Edmonton Mall shopping for a jacket, not able to find the perfect one, when he offered the idea. Instead of going home- 5 minutes away- Justin bought us clothes for the next day and off we went. We spent the night in a hotel and the next day walked in the town of Jasper. After doing a bit more shopping, buying a beach towel, shorts, jackets, and playing cards, we enjoyed some bud light limes on the balcony at Earls. Then we packed up and drove to a small beach on the side of the highway. We played cards, listened to music, ate spitz, and had some beer. Just so you know, I kicked his butt at rummy, as per usual! On the way home, we stopped here and there to explore and take pictures. We even went under the Pembina bridge which was super cool and scary! Very high up! We finished the night out at a friends parents place, swimming in the pool and playing cards.
I was able to visit the girls at work which was a treat. I was very excited to see everyone and tell them of our adventures. I showed them my smuggled products- roo poo excepted. I showed up bearing gifts of tiny koala’s and pictures. It was nice to see familiar faces and to be in my former place of work. I do miss my job. Unit 42 is kick ass! Pegasus and I are enjoying Aus- but cannot wait to come back and pick up where we left off- with some minor changes.
The Saskatchewan camping trip was poorly planned but ended up being loads of fun. Justin and I borrowed Mark and Mandy’s motor home and stayed on Cody’s familys lake lot on Jack Fish Lake. I met a lot of Justin’s boys family; really good group of people who know how to party. I drank Pilsner. When in Rome.,, We spent a lot of time on the boat. Justin attempted to wake surf, but was failing miserably. I was laughing- and trying to be supportive- but it was just too funny. He was a mess! He must have tried for about half an hour, then I gave it a go! I was up on the first try, and the second, third, and fourth time and so on. Justin immediately thought it was a silly sport. Ahah I showed up my bf!! It was fantastic! For those of you who don’t know, wake surfing is surfing behind the boat. There are no boots for your feet. You don’t need to hold the rope if you are in the right spot, unfortunately, every time I attempted this spot, I would fall. I could get up, but not be rope less. The next day, Keagan was wake surfing, and holding a beer. He was hilarious. He was using the rope to whip the pretend bull he was riding. If only you could have seen it! This big baheamith of a guy- soo silly on the water. Even when he fell it was comedy. During the nights, we would drink by the fire. Drinking margaritas from the specialized high end margarita maker! We also enjoyed fireworks. I met the infamous Uncle Archie. When I finally went to bed, he called me back to the fire. I was unsure what he wanted. I stood there waiting. Then he said “I just wanted to see you walk that way again!” and everyone chuckled. Uncle Archie! A short cowboy who’s hat is oddly tall. He wears a country dress shirt with the sleeves ripped off. Cowboys to finish ‘er off. Always seen with at least two drinks in his hand and a smoke out of his mouth. He is old school, but wont use anything that doesn’t have a motor! A show can be made featuring this man alone! He is country like I have never seen before. His wife Lana, this small little tough chick! Archie is a trucker. One night, he went on for almost an hour chanting all these old trucker tunes! They are amazing! I hope one day to learn them all! I would love a recording at least! I was very impressed. It was a very eventful and fun weekend. It brought Justin and I closer together as I met a new side of him. J
A nature hike with Mandy and Julie. One day, we decided to go for a hike in Elk Island Park. Kelsey was going to come with, but ditched out to see her bf! UGH! Teenagers! I only live on the exact opposite side of the country! What ever happened to my sweet little girl?? At least I still have two other nieces to enslave! We walked a loop on our hike, pointing out the various different poo’s we found, and being goofy, changing shirts, finding frogs, sword fighting with sticks, slicing plants in half, and slapping flies away like crazy! Yes changing shirts. For some reason, Julie and I changed shirts- realized it was a bad idea- and traded back! We continued on until we reached a fork in the road. I suggested right- Mandy insisted left. She said her Indian instincts were telling her to go in that direction. Not having these senses myself, I followed. We were starting to get a bit tired, and Julie’s feet were hurting when I noticed a sign. I asked Mandy to search her camera as I was sure we had already passed it, and sure enough we had! It was the sign that I made the joke “the beach is dat way”, in my best German accent I could muster. We had been looping around in circles. Julies was completely disappointed. We doubled our desired length of track! I thought it was a lot of fun. We were able to see all of the poo’s one more time!! YAY for us!
Justin came out to the farm for the weekend, No one planned it, but it ended up being a mini reunion. Melissa, Adam and the kids. Mandy, Mark and the kids- when Kelsey wasn’t ignoring us for her two bf’s. Other appearances were made by Kevin, Mim, Janice, Doug, Debbie, and even David- who I hadn’t seen in years. I also found out that he was a Arby blog follower some of the time. This made me smile! We spent the weekend playing with the kids, eating good food, playing cards, and drinking… of course! I was even there for Kelsey’s first tequila shot! ( that we know of…) Ethan clobbered my boyfriend, repeating over and over again “boy with a neck o lace, boy with a neck o lace” while picking at his necklace. It was soo funny! I was also the lucky Auntie. I was chosen to give our little barbarian baby Ryleigh her very first haircut. She now looked like a sweet little angel once again. Don’t let it fool you! She is still a little silly monster! Our weekend at the farm was cut short when I had the opportunity to meet my Dad’s wife Palm. Melissa, Adam, Justin, the kids and I hopped into our cars and made our way to the acreage. It had been years since I had been here, and was a little excited to show it to Justin! I even showed him the clawed foot bath tub which I was conceived in! Maybe one day I will inherit it…. *wink wink*. Once at the acreage, we- I mean I, made dinner. Dad bought a big roast. Justin helped Adam with some gardening. After, we all chit chatted and then I played ninja’s with Ethan swinging sticks around. Justin and I also wrestled chasing eachother around like sappy little love birds. It was like a triple date. We got to talk to Palm a bit, and I was happy to hear how well she spoke English. She was very pleasant and Dad seemed very happy. We spent the whole evening there and eventually dragged our butts home.
Spending the day with Stacey is always a good time. Going for breaky and then grabbing a blanket and some rockstars before hitting up a movie- My Sister’s Keeper- which made us cry like babies! Doing all my girly stuff with Stacey, like getting our makeup done for free and wearing fake eyelashes. We also had Julie who also had her makeup done- tastefully. I saw Stacey a couple times, and was able to briefly meet her bf too. He seems like a pretty good guy, and he makes her really happy. Hopefully he can continue to fill the void I left while I am gone. ;)
The Stampede. Justin and I hit up Calgary. We stayed in a hotel right across from the restaurant that we randomly met up at in September, before we were an item. Our plan was to go floating down the Bow River, but the weather was not permitting. Just a bit too chilly. We headed down to the grounds with Scott and Alisha after having dinner with a couple of friends who’s names escape me. While at the Stampede, Justin treated me to the skyscreamer ride. I was soo scared and the worst part was sitting at the top waiting for them to load people at the bottom. We went and had some drinks with some new friends that I met and eventually retired back to our room. It was a fun and quick trip.
I spent the summer catching up with good friends- Stacey, Dalida, Wade, Melissa, all the Spruce crew, including Marty, and many more. I was able to get to know Justin’s family a bit more as well, and celebrate Kelti’s birthday. I got to see my sisters and family a whole lot too, having many days hanging out at the farm with Mandy. It was good to see my mom and Kevin, Dad and Palm. It was incredibly sad to have to leave them all as well. I wish I would have had time to see my grand parents and many other friends. I had soo many other things that I wish I had tome to mention. As the end of my trip grew closer, my heart sunk lower and lower. It was a hundred times harder to say good bye this time around. As awesome as Australia is, Canada is home, where my heart is.
If you remember anything that seemed to be an adventure while I was there, please remind me and I can always update my footprints to include it. I know there are many many more times, but perhaps they have slipped my mind for the time being.
I have decided not to write about my adventures in Canada during my semester break. I will dedicate this blog completely to my Aus adventure… and what ever foreign land I leave my footprints on. Canada is home, and therefore a whole book in itself.
Canada consisted of many things. Some highlights included surprising my Nieces on Kelsey’s 15th birthday. I dropped Justin off at work and continued to drive to Lamont where I met Kelsey and Julie on Mandy’s bus. I was talking with Mandy on my mobile walking towards the bus when they ran off and hugged me with tears in their eyes.
I also had the pleasure of getting to hang out with Julie quite a lot. This 10yr old escorted me to the Kenny Chesney- Taylor Swift concert where she told off a 24 yr old guy. He was cocky and deserved it, leaving him confused and silent. Young Julie also accompanied me to Capital X. It was Justin, Mark Kremzar, Julie and I. We ate caramel apples, climbed rock walls, had virgin margaritas, watched a horse race, went crazy on rides, and ate CORN DOGS!! Julie was also introduced to mini doughnuts which I am sad to admit, she is now addicted to. Thanks Kremzar!! We watched the boys play some games, and lose. Julie even turned out to be braver then I on the drop of fear! There are even pictures to prove it. Justin was shocked at how much I was screaming on the way up! Julie just laughed at me. We concluded the night by riding home in the car with all the windows down, blasting country music. We would pull up to other cars with their windows down, and the people would look at us and chuckle. All four of us were singing all the words- screaming all the words, all the way home! Then we played cards, Julie showing us that we are assholes- while she is president. Julie made us laugh at how good she was at drawing bumholes when we lost. The Julie fun didn’t end then. In the morning, we had a steam shower and went go carting! She had never been go carting before and loved it! She was let out first and was quite a bit ahead of me. I had to catch up. This wasn’t hard. What was hard was getting past all the cars that were held up by my mini race car driver! There were probably about 6 of them between us. I made my way to her and we raced along together. At one point she even hit the pile of tires on the side because she was looking at me! It was sad to take her back to Mark at the end of our fun.
I enjoyed a spontaneous Thursday night trip out to Jasper with my man, and all because he just had to go and buy this jacket he had seen there a while back. We had been in West Edmonton Mall shopping for a jacket, not able to find the perfect one, when he offered the idea. Instead of going home- 5 minutes away- Justin bought us clothes for the next day and off we went. We spent the night in a hotel and the next day walked in the town of Jasper. After doing a bit more shopping, buying a beach towel, shorts, jackets, and playing cards, we enjoyed some bud light limes on the balcony at Earls. Then we packed up and drove to a small beach on the side of the highway. We played cards, listened to music, ate spitz, and had some beer. Just so you know, I kicked his butt at rummy, as per usual! On the way home, we stopped here and there to explore and take pictures. We even went under the Pembina bridge which was super cool and scary! Very high up! We finished the night out at a friends parents place, swimming in the pool and playing cards.
I was able to visit the girls at work which was a treat. I was very excited to see everyone and tell them of our adventures. I showed them my smuggled products- roo poo excepted. I showed up bearing gifts of tiny koala’s and pictures. It was nice to see familiar faces and to be in my former place of work. I do miss my job. Unit 42 is kick ass! Pegasus and I are enjoying Aus- but cannot wait to come back and pick up where we left off- with some minor changes.
The Saskatchewan camping trip was poorly planned but ended up being loads of fun. Justin and I borrowed Mark and Mandy’s motor home and stayed on Cody’s familys lake lot on Jack Fish Lake. I met a lot of Justin’s boys family; really good group of people who know how to party. I drank Pilsner. When in Rome.,, We spent a lot of time on the boat. Justin attempted to wake surf, but was failing miserably. I was laughing- and trying to be supportive- but it was just too funny. He was a mess! He must have tried for about half an hour, then I gave it a go! I was up on the first try, and the second, third, and fourth time and so on. Justin immediately thought it was a silly sport. Ahah I showed up my bf!! It was fantastic! For those of you who don’t know, wake surfing is surfing behind the boat. There are no boots for your feet. You don’t need to hold the rope if you are in the right spot, unfortunately, every time I attempted this spot, I would fall. I could get up, but not be rope less. The next day, Keagan was wake surfing, and holding a beer. He was hilarious. He was using the rope to whip the pretend bull he was riding. If only you could have seen it! This big baheamith of a guy- soo silly on the water. Even when he fell it was comedy. During the nights, we would drink by the fire. Drinking margaritas from the specialized high end margarita maker! We also enjoyed fireworks. I met the infamous Uncle Archie. When I finally went to bed, he called me back to the fire. I was unsure what he wanted. I stood there waiting. Then he said “I just wanted to see you walk that way again!” and everyone chuckled. Uncle Archie! A short cowboy who’s hat is oddly tall. He wears a country dress shirt with the sleeves ripped off. Cowboys to finish ‘er off. Always seen with at least two drinks in his hand and a smoke out of his mouth. He is old school, but wont use anything that doesn’t have a motor! A show can be made featuring this man alone! He is country like I have never seen before. His wife Lana, this small little tough chick! Archie is a trucker. One night, he went on for almost an hour chanting all these old trucker tunes! They are amazing! I hope one day to learn them all! I would love a recording at least! I was very impressed. It was a very eventful and fun weekend. It brought Justin and I closer together as I met a new side of him. J
A nature hike with Mandy and Julie. One day, we decided to go for a hike in Elk Island Park. Kelsey was going to come with, but ditched out to see her bf! UGH! Teenagers! I only live on the exact opposite side of the country! What ever happened to my sweet little girl?? At least I still have two other nieces to enslave! We walked a loop on our hike, pointing out the various different poo’s we found, and being goofy, changing shirts, finding frogs, sword fighting with sticks, slicing plants in half, and slapping flies away like crazy! Yes changing shirts. For some reason, Julie and I changed shirts- realized it was a bad idea- and traded back! We continued on until we reached a fork in the road. I suggested right- Mandy insisted left. She said her Indian instincts were telling her to go in that direction. Not having these senses myself, I followed. We were starting to get a bit tired, and Julie’s feet were hurting when I noticed a sign. I asked Mandy to search her camera as I was sure we had already passed it, and sure enough we had! It was the sign that I made the joke “the beach is dat way”, in my best German accent I could muster. We had been looping around in circles. Julies was completely disappointed. We doubled our desired length of track! I thought it was a lot of fun. We were able to see all of the poo’s one more time!! YAY for us!
Justin came out to the farm for the weekend, No one planned it, but it ended up being a mini reunion. Melissa, Adam and the kids. Mandy, Mark and the kids- when Kelsey wasn’t ignoring us for her two bf’s. Other appearances were made by Kevin, Mim, Janice, Doug, Debbie, and even David- who I hadn’t seen in years. I also found out that he was a Arby blog follower some of the time. This made me smile! We spent the weekend playing with the kids, eating good food, playing cards, and drinking… of course! I was even there for Kelsey’s first tequila shot! ( that we know of…) Ethan clobbered my boyfriend, repeating over and over again “boy with a neck o lace, boy with a neck o lace” while picking at his necklace. It was soo funny! I was also the lucky Auntie. I was chosen to give our little barbarian baby Ryleigh her very first haircut. She now looked like a sweet little angel once again. Don’t let it fool you! She is still a little silly monster! Our weekend at the farm was cut short when I had the opportunity to meet my Dad’s wife Palm. Melissa, Adam, Justin, the kids and I hopped into our cars and made our way to the acreage. It had been years since I had been here, and was a little excited to show it to Justin! I even showed him the clawed foot bath tub which I was conceived in! Maybe one day I will inherit it…. *wink wink*. Once at the acreage, we- I mean I, made dinner. Dad bought a big roast. Justin helped Adam with some gardening. After, we all chit chatted and then I played ninja’s with Ethan swinging sticks around. Justin and I also wrestled chasing eachother around like sappy little love birds. It was like a triple date. We got to talk to Palm a bit, and I was happy to hear how well she spoke English. She was very pleasant and Dad seemed very happy. We spent the whole evening there and eventually dragged our butts home.
Spending the day with Stacey is always a good time. Going for breaky and then grabbing a blanket and some rockstars before hitting up a movie- My Sister’s Keeper- which made us cry like babies! Doing all my girly stuff with Stacey, like getting our makeup done for free and wearing fake eyelashes. We also had Julie who also had her makeup done- tastefully. I saw Stacey a couple times, and was able to briefly meet her bf too. He seems like a pretty good guy, and he makes her really happy. Hopefully he can continue to fill the void I left while I am gone. ;)
The Stampede. Justin and I hit up Calgary. We stayed in a hotel right across from the restaurant that we randomly met up at in September, before we were an item. Our plan was to go floating down the Bow River, but the weather was not permitting. Just a bit too chilly. We headed down to the grounds with Scott and Alisha after having dinner with a couple of friends who’s names escape me. While at the Stampede, Justin treated me to the skyscreamer ride. I was soo scared and the worst part was sitting at the top waiting for them to load people at the bottom. We went and had some drinks with some new friends that I met and eventually retired back to our room. It was a fun and quick trip.
I spent the summer catching up with good friends- Stacey, Dalida, Wade, Melissa, all the Spruce crew, including Marty, and many more. I was able to get to know Justin’s family a bit more as well, and celebrate Kelti’s birthday. I got to see my sisters and family a whole lot too, having many days hanging out at the farm with Mandy. It was good to see my mom and Kevin, Dad and Palm. It was incredibly sad to have to leave them all as well. I wish I would have had time to see my grand parents and many other friends. I had soo many other things that I wish I had tome to mention. As the end of my trip grew closer, my heart sunk lower and lower. It was a hundred times harder to say good bye this time around. As awesome as Australia is, Canada is home, where my heart is.
If you remember anything that seemed to be an adventure while I was there, please remind me and I can always update my footprints to include it. I know there are many many more times, but perhaps they have slipped my mind for the time being.
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