Living out of a bag

Here you go Nelster. A new post. I've been travelling up the east coast of this country for about a week now. I took a plane from Sydney and landed in Byron Bay. A surfers and pothead's paradise. I wish I could put up photos here but it's too complicated since I'm in an internet cafe at the moment. I'll wait till I get back to Sydney. From there I went on a day trip to a small town called Nimbin. I've heard a lot about Nimbin from a friend of mine, Jesse. He grew up there. It's more extreme than Byron Bay with it's drug culture. Most people go there to buy really good weed for dirt cheap. I didn't really go there for that at all. I don't do drugs.

Say no to drugs.

But I just went there to see what it was all about. And I actually really liked it. A very relaxed little town (of 500 people!) and it's not all touristy like Byron. It hasn't sold itself out to tourism. Nimbin in a place with a lot of culture. From there I took the Oz Experience bus to Surfers Paradise. I'm doing my travel with a company called "Oz Experience." I didn't really like Surfers. I stayed there for only an hour before I decided I was going to just continue onto the next destination. Surfers Paradise is basically a place to just party. It has a few nice beaches but when I went all the grade 12 kids had just graduated and had gone there for a week of partying. The whole fiasco is called "schoolies" in Australia. So it was like spring break in Floria. I didn't really want to be surrounded by 18 year old drunken hooligans. So I jumped on the Oz Ex bus and on the way we stopped to do a bit of 'Zorbing.' Zorbing was invented in New Zealand, as are all outdoor extreme sports. Basically there's a big see through ball with a little see through ball inside it. You put in a few buckets of water in the little ball. You jump in with a friend or two. Then the little ball is put inside the big ball and THEN someone comes up and pushes you and your friends (you're all inside the balls)...down a hill. It's great fun.

After zorbing we hopped on the bus and headed for Brisbane. We had crossed the border of the state of New South Wales and had entered the state of Queensland. The first night I stayed at a backpackers hostel and went out partying with the locals. The huge cricket series (called The Ashes) where Australia plays England every year was taking place in Brisbane so I was surrounded by drunken english guys that night. They were pretty upset because Australia was fully kicking their ass in cricket. The next morning Rita Ringma came and picked me up and I spent the next four days at her house. She had her guest room all ready for me and lunch cooked and ready on the table. It was so nice to sleep on a good bed, eat healthy homemade meals, and NOT use public bathrooms and showers. Backpacking is fun and all but it gets to be a bit much at times. Charles was in the Philippines teaching so I didn't get to see him. But I hung out with Rita's daughter Marina, her husband, Zelman, and their adorable three chilren, Patrick, Lachlan, and Bronte. Again really cute photos that I will have to show you all later. I went to The Australia Zoo (Steve Irwin's Zoo) when I was in Brisbane. That was amazing. A really hot day though. Easily 36-38 degrees. Zelman dropped me off in front of the Oz Ex bus this past Tuesday morning and off I went for my next destination.

We were heading for a small town called Noosa. Rita told me a lot about this place. It's her and Charles' favorite place to go and relax. On the way here we climbed "The Wild Horse Mountain." Now don't be fooled British Columbians. It was not a mountain but a hill. It's called that because wild horses used to roam the area. When we got to the very top we had a beautiful view of the Glass House Mountains. Our tour guide/driver told us the Aboriginal story behind how the mountians came to be. Then we got back onto the bus and drove up to Noosa. I've been in Noosa for two days now. It is absolutely beautiful here. Rita was right. Very very relaxed small town. I'm staying in a backpackers hostel called "Koala backpackers." Cheesy name I know. But it's a great hostel. Cheap good dinners and drink specials, a nice pool, good central location, and the staff are super friendly. And I found out why. Because 80% of them are Canadians. They are all Canadians who are working here temporarily while travelling around the southern hemisphere. I met a guy here from Yukon! YUKON! There are only 20000 of them and I meet one in Noosa, Australia...go figure. Ya so they organize fun games and have live bands or good DJs at night. Backpackers from other hostels come to ours to hang out in the evenings. I've just been relaxing here. Though today I went on a gruelling 8 km hike at the Noosa National Park at noon in the crazy heat. It was an amazing experience though. I really wish I could put up a few photos here. Oh well. I'll just have to wait until I get back to Sydney. Tomorrow I leave Noosa and head for Hervey Bay and Rainbow Beach. In Rainbow beach the sand in multicolored, as one would gather from its name. Well I think I've blabbed on for long enough. I should sign off of this internet cafe computer and go find myself some dinner. This one was for you Chanelle! You better have read the whole darn thing!

Ciao for now!

Goodbye dear uni

You are so pretty amidst the spring blossoms...

You have scary psychology buildings that don't quite fit among the other gothic castle-like buildings.

You have Australia's oldest running theatre company. Oh the countless hours that have been spent there rehearsing, dancing, watching others rehearsing, and watching the shows put on after the hours of rehearsing.

Like I said before, you have über gothic architecture. Look at those gargoyles leaning out of those towers!

You have overpriced uni clothing. Which I will buy because I want to strut a "Sydney Uni" hoodie around my hometown and act all pompous like Sydney uni students do here...