Last couple of days were interesting ...
Sunny, hot, turning to cloudy and warm.
Went dancing the last couple of nights. Fun, but I do miss the scene back home. On the bright side, I get compliments on my dance skills even though I'm out of shape, and I even got a request on youtube asking if I can post more :).
This, and a nice chat with a friend on the internet certainly helped to raise my mood.
here's a nice movie I found on youtube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFuitd30vH4 .
It's nice to find life's irony surprises and complications popping up, but as we all know, this is how life is.
And thus, with a mista! mista! baloon! , I will finish for today :) (all rights are reserved to Zmi & the umbilical brothers :) ).
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Thursday, February 21, 2008
The last days
Well ... as you know, I've been staying in Noosa for the last days.
I can easily say it was a fun stay, in a oh_so_very_relaxed town, and mind you please, that Australia is a very relaxed place to begin with :)
I spent my time walking in the national parks, and meeting new people in the backpackers place, who might not be cheap, but at least it was just next to the bus stop, and they had a vacancy.
One of the things i liked is the free ping pong table they had there. First night i lost to the French. The second, we both lost to the Swiss. The third i managed to loose again to the French, but i had come a long way from the previous nights at least :)
Here are some pics:
Here you can see Siril (or is it Ciril?) and me, playing English ping pong. I'll leave it as an exercise to the reader to figure out what the difference is :)
Next, still playing the English version of the game, is your humble servant. Looking good, but still not winning.
I guess having fun will have to be enough until I'll improve my ping pong l337 5kIllz.
The 21st:
The 21st. It all started way to early. 6am in the morning I'm awakened by a sms from the Swiss guy that worked with me in the farm, wondering where I am. An annoyed grunt, and back to sleep, or at least trying to. Between everybody else waking and coming and going, i managed to sleep maybe 20 minutes until 8am.
I got up, hopped to the showers/bath, hand washed my jeans, packed my stuff, got the linen from my bed, and headed to reception to check out. I left my bags in the storage room, and headed back to the reception.
I was supposed to get a free 2 hour kayak trip from the company with whom I did the surf lesson the day before, and at the reception they said they will pass and pick me, so I waited. Eventually i realized they wont come, so i just went there by foot, hearing music and enjoying the good weather on my way.
When i got there, the instructor, a 40 y/o I'd guess, called Max, told me the waves are amazing, and i should go surfing. I told him i would love to, but i had a bus to catch, and i have no swimmers with me (i was wearing my Thai fishing pants, a t-shirt and my lovely hat).
Max got me a pair of trunks he had in his van, i managed to get some sunblock from a girl on the beach, and instead of kayaking, i went surfing again :).
It was nice, better weather, and i just went in and tried to catch the waves. I did better than the previous day, and i still ended up cursing the paddling parts in between waves.
After an hour and a half, my ankle leash broke, so i got out of the water and lay on the board on the beach for some minutes until the rest finished their class. I took the board back, quick shower, thanked Max, and headed toward the hostel again.
The jeans were still wet, so i played ping pong with Tom, an English bloke, who didn't know how to play, so i just gave him whatever help and tips i could. Then, a quick shower, went to the bus stop, got in, and once it started moving, fell asleep for 2 hours.
Brisbane, 1530. Backpacks on, head out of the bus station, and realizing how hungry i am, went and bought myself a kebab. Now, a kebab here is what we'll call a "lafa" back home, but it's not the massive fat dripping one, it's the more civilized, less filling version of it.
From there i headed to the backpacker i stayed at the last time, waited for my turn, and when i asked for a room, they told me "sorry, we're full".
Hmm ... mkay ... there's always a first time i guessed, i asked them where i can find someplace to stay, and the girl gave me a map and circled a couple of places.
I headed toward the center of the city, stopped for some minutes to send a quick mail, and out again to the next one. Only ... it was full !
They gave me a map, with some 13 places, so i went to the next nearest one, which wasn't where it was supposed to be (later i understood my mistake, something to do with the color of the numbers on the map). Anyways, an old couple saw me looking, and came to the rescue, offering their help. They pointed me to the nearest places, and then called to see if there's a vacancy. There wasn't. In the next place, they had a place only for girls, and the next try was full too.
I didn't want to slow them, so i thank them, and headed to the information point to try and get some help.
They gave me a number, but the office was closed, so i went and called all the backpackers from the map and the list they gave me.
I tried at least 13 or 14, all full. At last, one said they have a bed for tonight. i had to walk all the way back from where i came, and then some 10 minutes more, with all my stuff, until i got there, all sweating, tired, and extremely happy i got rid of some weight before i came.
The good side is i got a single room for the price of a dorm, since those were full too ! (crazy, i know, but i can't complain).
6pm, quick shower, and i ran out, since i had to be in the powerhouse theatre by 7pm for the Umbilical Brothers show, which i booked a couple of days before, getting one of the 2 last tickets :) .
1815 still trying to figure out how I'm getting there. Asked a couple of people what would be the best way, and taxi was the answer. Decided to get the bus, and when i got to the bus station, at 1830, i managed to get on the right bus (which was behind the one i tried to board) without having to wait.
I got to the theatre at 1900 sharp (that's 7pm, for the non militar readers). Got my ticket, waited a bit, and at 1930 the show started. The theatre was full. And the show was great :).
They did repeat some of their stuff, but it was great nevertheless. An experience.
After the show, they went down to say hello and sign stuff for the people, so i got a picture with them, and got my passport signed :)
From there, it was a long walk back to the backpackers. Listened to my music, bought an almond magnum, a chocolate milk which turned to be too thick for my taste, and when i got to the center of the city, i ended up at hungry jacks (a.k.a. burger king). I don't really know why, since all the times I ate in fast food places here i got disappointed. I order the Ausie Burger, which has egg and ham and cheese, and realized yet again that it's junk food, and promise myself not to eat there again :).
Once i got back to my room, i stared at the TV for half an hour, and went to sleep.
Today I had to move again, since they were fully booked, and I didn't plan on paying full price for the room, but it seems that luck is on my side again, and I payed for 3 nights at the place I originally stayed at.
Hope to get some salsa this weekend, but in the meanwhile, I'm out to buy some groceries and have a nice dinner.
Take care all :)
I can easily say it was a fun stay, in a oh_so_very_relaxed town, and mind you please, that Australia is a very relaxed place to begin with :)
I spent my time walking in the national parks, and meeting new people in the backpackers place, who might not be cheap, but at least it was just next to the bus stop, and they had a vacancy.
One of the things i liked is the free ping pong table they had there. First night i lost to the French. The second, we both lost to the Swiss. The third i managed to loose again to the French, but i had come a long way from the previous nights at least :)
Here are some pics:
Here you can see Siril (or is it Ciril?) and me, playing English ping pong. I'll leave it as an exercise to the reader to figure out what the difference is :)
Next, still playing the English version of the game, is your humble servant. Looking good, but still not winning.
I guess having fun will have to be enough until I'll improve my ping pong l337 5kIllz.
The 21st:
The 21st. It all started way to early. 6am in the morning I'm awakened by a sms from the Swiss guy that worked with me in the farm, wondering where I am. An annoyed grunt, and back to sleep, or at least trying to. Between everybody else waking and coming and going, i managed to sleep maybe 20 minutes until 8am.
I got up, hopped to the showers/bath, hand washed my jeans, packed my stuff, got the linen from my bed, and headed to reception to check out. I left my bags in the storage room, and headed back to the reception.
I was supposed to get a free 2 hour kayak trip from the company with whom I did the surf lesson the day before, and at the reception they said they will pass and pick me, so I waited. Eventually i realized they wont come, so i just went there by foot, hearing music and enjoying the good weather on my way.
When i got there, the instructor, a 40 y/o I'd guess, called Max, told me the waves are amazing, and i should go surfing. I told him i would love to, but i had a bus to catch, and i have no swimmers with me (i was wearing my Thai fishing pants, a t-shirt and my lovely hat).
Max got me a pair of trunks he had in his van, i managed to get some sunblock from a girl on the beach, and instead of kayaking, i went surfing again :).
It was nice, better weather, and i just went in and tried to catch the waves. I did better than the previous day, and i still ended up cursing the paddling parts in between waves.
After an hour and a half, my ankle leash broke, so i got out of the water and lay on the board on the beach for some minutes until the rest finished their class. I took the board back, quick shower, thanked Max, and headed toward the hostel again.
The jeans were still wet, so i played ping pong with Tom, an English bloke, who didn't know how to play, so i just gave him whatever help and tips i could. Then, a quick shower, went to the bus stop, got in, and once it started moving, fell asleep for 2 hours.
Brisbane, 1530. Backpacks on, head out of the bus station, and realizing how hungry i am, went and bought myself a kebab. Now, a kebab here is what we'll call a "lafa" back home, but it's not the massive fat dripping one, it's the more civilized, less filling version of it.
From there i headed to the backpacker i stayed at the last time, waited for my turn, and when i asked for a room, they told me "sorry, we're full".
Hmm ... mkay ... there's always a first time i guessed, i asked them where i can find someplace to stay, and the girl gave me a map and circled a couple of places.
I headed toward the center of the city, stopped for some minutes to send a quick mail, and out again to the next one. Only ... it was full !
They gave me a map, with some 13 places, so i went to the next nearest one, which wasn't where it was supposed to be (later i understood my mistake, something to do with the color of the numbers on the map). Anyways, an old couple saw me looking, and came to the rescue, offering their help. They pointed me to the nearest places, and then called to see if there's a vacancy. There wasn't. In the next place, they had a place only for girls, and the next try was full too.
I didn't want to slow them, so i thank them, and headed to the information point to try and get some help.
They gave me a number, but the office was closed, so i went and called all the backpackers from the map and the list they gave me.
I tried at least 13 or 14, all full. At last, one said they have a bed for tonight. i had to walk all the way back from where i came, and then some 10 minutes more, with all my stuff, until i got there, all sweating, tired, and extremely happy i got rid of some weight before i came.
The good side is i got a single room for the price of a dorm, since those were full too ! (crazy, i know, but i can't complain).
6pm, quick shower, and i ran out, since i had to be in the powerhouse theatre by 7pm for the Umbilical Brothers show, which i booked a couple of days before, getting one of the 2 last tickets :) .
1815 still trying to figure out how I'm getting there. Asked a couple of people what would be the best way, and taxi was the answer. Decided to get the bus, and when i got to the bus station, at 1830, i managed to get on the right bus (which was behind the one i tried to board) without having to wait.
I got to the theatre at 1900 sharp (that's 7pm, for the non militar readers). Got my ticket, waited a bit, and at 1930 the show started. The theatre was full. And the show was great :).They did repeat some of their stuff, but it was great nevertheless. An experience.
After the show, they went down to say hello and sign stuff for the people, so i got a picture with them, and got my passport signed :)
From there, it was a long walk back to the backpackers. Listened to my music, bought an almond magnum, a chocolate milk which turned to be too thick for my taste, and when i got to the center of the city, i ended up at hungry jacks (a.k.a. burger king). I don't really know why, since all the times I ate in fast food places here i got disappointed. I order the Ausie Burger, which has egg and ham and cheese, and realized yet again that it's junk food, and promise myself not to eat there again :).
Once i got back to my room, i stared at the TV for half an hour, and went to sleep.
Today I had to move again, since they were fully booked, and I didn't plan on paying full price for the room, but it seems that luck is on my side again, and I payed for 3 nights at the place I originally stayed at.
Hope to get some salsa this weekend, but in the meanwhile, I'm out to buy some groceries and have a nice dinner.
Take care all :)
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Surfing
OZ. The land of surfing ...
Today i tried to wake early to get to the 9am lesson, but failed miserably at getting up.
so, i tried to book the later one, but they told me they are not going.
A long walk to the post office, buying some food, delivering messages, and when i got back to the backpackers, they told me that they are indeed having the lesson.
So, i hit the beach for an hour, and back to the backpacker to be picked up, and taken to the very same spot i've been at the beech at :).
Some talks about water, boards, what you want to do, and what you don't want to do, and off into the water.
I was standing since the second wave, and it wasn't as hard as i thought, but after 2 hours, it does get you tired :) .
So, maybe i'm not the best surfer in the world yet, but i got the basics, and i guess that with a little bit of practice, i'll be able to start getting the bigger nicer waves (avoiding getting killed in the meanwhile hopefully :) ).
Today i tried to wake early to get to the 9am lesson, but failed miserably at getting up.
so, i tried to book the later one, but they told me they are not going.
A long walk to the post office, buying some food, delivering messages, and when i got back to the backpackers, they told me that they are indeed having the lesson.
So, i hit the beach for an hour, and back to the backpacker to be picked up, and taken to the very same spot i've been at the beech at :).
Some talks about water, boards, what you want to do, and what you don't want to do, and off into the water.
I was standing since the second wave, and it wasn't as hard as i thought, but after 2 hours, it does get you tired :) .
So, maybe i'm not the best surfer in the world yet, but i got the basics, and i guess that with a little bit of practice, i'll be able to start getting the bigger nicer waves (avoiding getting killed in the meanwhile hopefully :) ).
Monday, February 18, 2008
Argh
Well ... still in Noosa.
3rd day now.
The first was quite a lazy one, sleeping, internet, exercising, running, eating, sleeping.
The second was sunny, and i went for a long walk in the national park, and then up to the lookout point (Head my words, first do lookouts, then long walks) and managed not to get sunburned ....
Today, was cloudy, and rainy ... and i fell for the oldest trick in the world :( . didn't used my sunblock, and now i'm turning lobster red :( .... AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH
It's especially annoying, because i know this is what happens when the clouds are out ... and yet ... I fell for it ...
This is the first and last time though ... hell ... i'm gonna use the sunblock even when i'm going out at night, just to be on the safe side i think.
Trying to figure out when to hit Brisbane again, since i wanna go to see the Umbilical Brothers, and they're showing until saturday.
Besides that, all good i suppose. Finished my 2nd book in the trilogy, and need to decide which will be my next book (one is 1300 pages, and the other only 1200).
Well, gonna head back to the backpackers, exercise, and try to find a girl with some alovera to put on the sunburns :)
3rd day now.
The first was quite a lazy one, sleeping, internet, exercising, running, eating, sleeping.
The second was sunny, and i went for a long walk in the national park, and then up to the lookout point (Head my words, first do lookouts, then long walks) and managed not to get sunburned ....
Today, was cloudy, and rainy ... and i fell for the oldest trick in the world :( . didn't used my sunblock, and now i'm turning lobster red :( .... AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH
It's especially annoying, because i know this is what happens when the clouds are out ... and yet ... I fell for it ...
This is the first and last time though ... hell ... i'm gonna use the sunblock even when i'm going out at night, just to be on the safe side i think.
Trying to figure out when to hit Brisbane again, since i wanna go to see the Umbilical Brothers, and they're showing until saturday.
Besides that, all good i suppose. Finished my 2nd book in the trilogy, and need to decide which will be my next book (one is 1300 pages, and the other only 1200).
Well, gonna head back to the backpackers, exercise, and try to find a girl with some alovera to put on the sunburns :)
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Fraser
Well, eventually, i left Brisbane, and headed towards Rainbow beach, in order to get my fraser trip on its way.
This meant waking up at 6am to get a bus, which as you might understand, ain't one of my favorite things to do, but as you see, i'm willing to sacrifice my well being and my sleeping hours so you'll be able to have something to read :)
Once i reached Rainbow beach i was happy to discover that the backpacker place is about 26 steps from the bus station (and if it isn't, just shoot me). Checked in, saw a movie about Fraser island, some basic security things (don't feed the dingos, don't sleep with the fishes, don't get the 4x4 in deep sea water ... you get the point), and then they split us to groups of 10-11 people per group.
Our group consisted of: 7 swedish (4 girls, 3 guys), an english couple and your humble servant. This is where some dark foreboding sensation began to creep in on me. I know what you'll say. 4 Swedish chicks, you can't complain. Well ... unfortunately, i can, i am, and i was right, as you'll see.
Once we got together, we gave them our credit cards, "just in case" something happens to the cars, and then we headed to the bottle shop to get some beers, wine and supplies for the trip.
We had a 5$ dinner, and headed to sleep rather early, since the next day started at 7 am.
Day 1:
7 am wakeup & breakfast. Now, let me tell you about breakfast. It consisted of pancakes. I had one with sugar, and one with peanut butter. Then i discovered another weird and interesting thing about different cultures. It seems they eat their pancakes with lemon juice and sugar!. I was shocked at first, but after eating crickets, maggots, kangaroo and crocodile, some lemon and sugar would not stop me. It is good :) .
The weather was shitty. It was overcast and raining, and this is how we got our briefing near the cars, and packed them. At least the weather isn't cold.
Once we were done, we headed out towards the island. Since karma tends to throw me in the line of fire, i was the first to drive. The drive to the island wasn't much of a story, besides the fact it was on the wrong side, according to the best down under tradition of driving. Then we got to the ferry. 7 minutes on the ferry, and we're on fraser.
We had to drive some 20km on quite a bumpy road since the tide was high, but eventually we recahed the beach.
Driving north, on a narrow strip of sand that disappears in the rainy horizon, a sand wall on our left, and a choppy sea, grey and green and white, on our right.
It's quite the experience.
Our first stop was Lake McKenzie. We're speaking of an amazing sweet water lake, deep blue in the center, turquoise near the shore, surrounded by white sandy shores, and a grin forest around it.
The water was amazingly clear, and we ran into the lake oblivious of the rain. The only thing i regret, is not having my scubadiving mask with me.
Once we finished, we had something to eat, and then headed north again, in order to find the aboriginal camp. A couple of hours later, and after running in circles over and over because it wasn't were it was marked on our map, we managed to find someone who knew where it was, and discovered it was some mere 500 meters to the south from the place we seached.
It was getting dark, still raining a bit, so we got there, late, and got a lousy camping place since all the good ones were busy, and everybody else was already preparing dinner in the good spots.
We set camp, and went to prepare dinner. This is when the dark foreboding feeling from the previous day started to manifest. The swedish were to busy speaking swedish between themselves, and some the girls were acting like true jewish princesses. So, i took charge, cut the salad, prepared the potatoe salad, and they managed to get the steaks done.
Dinner was quite nice but rather noise, since all the other groups were drinking and chatting and playing the aboriginal instruments (well, they were actually just making loud annoying noises).
The next few hours passed drinking beer, wine, finding a poisonous snake which was killed by the aboriginals, and chatting to random people in the camp. I planned to go to sleep early, and ended up staying late, drinking and learning yet another useless phrase in German, but it was quite a funny night all in all.
When i got back to the tent, i was informed by my english partners, that even though we paid for sleeping bags, it seems one of the swedish said he paid for one and didn't get one, so he just came in, took mine, and went to sleep. I was too tired to fight about it, so i told him he can have it tonight, but i'm having it tomorrow, and just crashed on the tent's floor and fell asleep eventually.
Day 2:
Late start, the swedish were busy being slow and unuseful, so i ended up doing the the dishes, helped by 2 nice english girls that wondered where the rest of my group was. I told them there is no "group" in "I", and then helped them do their dishes.
In the meanwhile, the rest of the group managed to get a start on breakfast, and this and the fact that some blue patches appeared in the sky, warmed us a bit.
We left camp around 10am, instead of 8 as planned, and headed north, toward Indian Head. The swedish continued speaking swedish, so i just plugged my mp3 player, and started ignoring them.
On the way up to Indian head, my hat flew off, and i had to heroically perform a rugby jump and tackle to save it.
Then my flip flop broke up, so i had to continue barefoot. On the way back, my hat flew off again, this time over the edge of the cliff. Yes, i know, some of you are jumping up and down, filled with joy, thanking some gods, and throwing candy in every direction. I was even admiting that karma was dealing me a tough handw and made peace with the fact it's gone. But then, since we learned that we can't leave the injured in the battlefield, i went on a brave rescue mission, and got it back :).
In case you think this is where the bad luck ended, you're wrong, since i managed to loose one of the headphones tops on the way down too.
So, even thought the sun was out, and the day was better than the previous one, my mood was as foul as the wind that blew that day.
We headed toward Wabbi lake next. Once we reached the parking, we decided to have something quick to eat, and got the wrappes and the cold meat out. For a moment, i saw the girls in the car chopping up vegies, and thought that finally they got the team spirit right, and started helping, just to realize that it was every man to himself, and they got their food, and proceeded to eat, instead of preparing more for the rest.
The english couple and myself had enough, so we got some food, told them we'll meet them later, and headed up leaving them to waste their time as they saw fit. The funny thing is that they got to the lake the same time as us. I'm still trying to figure out how that happened.
Lake wabbi. Another amazing lake, totally different from the previous. This one was nested between yellow sand dunes, and it was green instead of blue. We hanged around for an hour or so, untill the setting sun and the need to find someplace to camp at night drove us out. We - and here it was the english and me, being fed up with the slow decisions of the swedish, and the waste of time - decided where we'll camp, and sat in the front and drove there.
When we got there, it was dark. Pitch black, like a half moon clouded night in the middle of a forest can be. We set camp, cooked dinner, had to hear the swedish chatting in swedish again, and headed to sleep early, since we had no lights, and no mood. This night, i had my sleeping bag, and a whole tent to myself, since two swedish decided to sleep in the car. Thank god for small mercies.
Day 3:
Some assertive help, and we left camp early for a change. We headed back to Lake McKenzi, had a quick breakfast, and hit the water again. This time, the sky was mainly blue, and the sun was out most of the time. We gave up on the swedish, and hanged out by ourselves, not caring anymore.
We left the lake late, since the swedish said we can be 40 minutes late anyways. I had to get them moving so we'll be on time even with those 40 minutes, and we ended getting there on the last moment, after getting into rather deep sea water since the tide was up by the time we got there.
The rest of the day was used for washing my clothes, dinner, speaking with the english couple and packing my stuff.
All of the sudden, around 9, one of the swedish girls came into the room, saying they were looking for us for ages, and if we don't mind giving them our cameras, so they can have our pictures, especially my pictures (i showed them some good pictures of their group i took on the lake on the way back).
Interesting i thought to myself. You don't have the decency of speaking english most of the travel, nor trying to make us feel part of the group, but suddenly you want our pictures?
I took their emails, and sent them some of the pictures today, along with a mail about what i thought about their behavior (I wonder if they'll answer).
Gladly, i got rid of some of my stuff i was carrying around, and ended up sitting with them once i finished packing. They still spoke swedish, up until the last half hour, in which we spoke about movies.
Went to sleep around 2am, to wake at 7am again to head south to Noosa.
So, as you can see, i'm quite short on sleeping hours, but, like the french will say "C'est la vie".
Well, i'm sure most of you died during the reading of this post, but for the few who managed to get this far, you can see some pictures from the Fraser trip here .
Also, you can have a look at this link, for some funny stuff about the english language :)
I'm out, need to get some food, and finish my book. I hope to have good weather tomorrow so i can go hiking in the parks in the area.
This meant waking up at 6am to get a bus, which as you might understand, ain't one of my favorite things to do, but as you see, i'm willing to sacrifice my well being and my sleeping hours so you'll be able to have something to read :)
Once i reached Rainbow beach i was happy to discover that the backpacker place is about 26 steps from the bus station (and if it isn't, just shoot me). Checked in, saw a movie about Fraser island, some basic security things (don't feed the dingos, don't sleep with the fishes, don't get the 4x4 in deep sea water ... you get the point), and then they split us to groups of 10-11 people per group.
Our group consisted of: 7 swedish (4 girls, 3 guys), an english couple and your humble servant. This is where some dark foreboding sensation began to creep in on me. I know what you'll say. 4 Swedish chicks, you can't complain. Well ... unfortunately, i can, i am, and i was right, as you'll see.
Once we got together, we gave them our credit cards, "just in case" something happens to the cars, and then we headed to the bottle shop to get some beers, wine and supplies for the trip.
We had a 5$ dinner, and headed to sleep rather early, since the next day started at 7 am.
Day 1:
7 am wakeup & breakfast. Now, let me tell you about breakfast. It consisted of pancakes. I had one with sugar, and one with peanut butter. Then i discovered another weird and interesting thing about different cultures. It seems they eat their pancakes with lemon juice and sugar!. I was shocked at first, but after eating crickets, maggots, kangaroo and crocodile, some lemon and sugar would not stop me. It is good :) .
The weather was shitty. It was overcast and raining, and this is how we got our briefing near the cars, and packed them. At least the weather isn't cold.
Once we were done, we headed out towards the island. Since karma tends to throw me in the line of fire, i was the first to drive. The drive to the island wasn't much of a story, besides the fact it was on the wrong side, according to the best down under tradition of driving. Then we got to the ferry. 7 minutes on the ferry, and we're on fraser.
We had to drive some 20km on quite a bumpy road since the tide was high, but eventually we recahed the beach.
Driving north, on a narrow strip of sand that disappears in the rainy horizon, a sand wall on our left, and a choppy sea, grey and green and white, on our right.
It's quite the experience.
Our first stop was Lake McKenzie. We're speaking of an amazing sweet water lake, deep blue in the center, turquoise near the shore, surrounded by white sandy shores, and a grin forest around it.
The water was amazingly clear, and we ran into the lake oblivious of the rain. The only thing i regret, is not having my scubadiving mask with me.
Once we finished, we had something to eat, and then headed north again, in order to find the aboriginal camp. A couple of hours later, and after running in circles over and over because it wasn't were it was marked on our map, we managed to find someone who knew where it was, and discovered it was some mere 500 meters to the south from the place we seached.
It was getting dark, still raining a bit, so we got there, late, and got a lousy camping place since all the good ones were busy, and everybody else was already preparing dinner in the good spots.
We set camp, and went to prepare dinner. This is when the dark foreboding feeling from the previous day started to manifest. The swedish were to busy speaking swedish between themselves, and some the girls were acting like true jewish princesses. So, i took charge, cut the salad, prepared the potatoe salad, and they managed to get the steaks done.
Dinner was quite nice but rather noise, since all the other groups were drinking and chatting and playing the aboriginal instruments (well, they were actually just making loud annoying noises).
The next few hours passed drinking beer, wine, finding a poisonous snake which was killed by the aboriginals, and chatting to random people in the camp. I planned to go to sleep early, and ended up staying late, drinking and learning yet another useless phrase in German, but it was quite a funny night all in all.
When i got back to the tent, i was informed by my english partners, that even though we paid for sleeping bags, it seems one of the swedish said he paid for one and didn't get one, so he just came in, took mine, and went to sleep. I was too tired to fight about it, so i told him he can have it tonight, but i'm having it tomorrow, and just crashed on the tent's floor and fell asleep eventually.
Day 2:
Late start, the swedish were busy being slow and unuseful, so i ended up doing the the dishes, helped by 2 nice english girls that wondered where the rest of my group was. I told them there is no "group" in "I", and then helped them do their dishes.
In the meanwhile, the rest of the group managed to get a start on breakfast, and this and the fact that some blue patches appeared in the sky, warmed us a bit.
We left camp around 10am, instead of 8 as planned, and headed north, toward Indian Head. The swedish continued speaking swedish, so i just plugged my mp3 player, and started ignoring them.
On the way up to Indian head, my hat flew off, and i had to heroically perform a rugby jump and tackle to save it.
Then my flip flop broke up, so i had to continue barefoot. On the way back, my hat flew off again, this time over the edge of the cliff. Yes, i know, some of you are jumping up and down, filled with joy, thanking some gods, and throwing candy in every direction. I was even admiting that karma was dealing me a tough handw and made peace with the fact it's gone. But then, since we learned that we can't leave the injured in the battlefield, i went on a brave rescue mission, and got it back :).
In case you think this is where the bad luck ended, you're wrong, since i managed to loose one of the headphones tops on the way down too.
So, even thought the sun was out, and the day was better than the previous one, my mood was as foul as the wind that blew that day.
We headed toward Wabbi lake next. Once we reached the parking, we decided to have something quick to eat, and got the wrappes and the cold meat out. For a moment, i saw the girls in the car chopping up vegies, and thought that finally they got the team spirit right, and started helping, just to realize that it was every man to himself, and they got their food, and proceeded to eat, instead of preparing more for the rest.
The english couple and myself had enough, so we got some food, told them we'll meet them later, and headed up leaving them to waste their time as they saw fit. The funny thing is that they got to the lake the same time as us. I'm still trying to figure out how that happened.
Lake wabbi. Another amazing lake, totally different from the previous. This one was nested between yellow sand dunes, and it was green instead of blue. We hanged around for an hour or so, untill the setting sun and the need to find someplace to camp at night drove us out. We - and here it was the english and me, being fed up with the slow decisions of the swedish, and the waste of time - decided where we'll camp, and sat in the front and drove there.
When we got there, it was dark. Pitch black, like a half moon clouded night in the middle of a forest can be. We set camp, cooked dinner, had to hear the swedish chatting in swedish again, and headed to sleep early, since we had no lights, and no mood. This night, i had my sleeping bag, and a whole tent to myself, since two swedish decided to sleep in the car. Thank god for small mercies.
Day 3:
Some assertive help, and we left camp early for a change. We headed back to Lake McKenzi, had a quick breakfast, and hit the water again. This time, the sky was mainly blue, and the sun was out most of the time. We gave up on the swedish, and hanged out by ourselves, not caring anymore.
We left the lake late, since the swedish said we can be 40 minutes late anyways. I had to get them moving so we'll be on time even with those 40 minutes, and we ended getting there on the last moment, after getting into rather deep sea water since the tide was up by the time we got there.
The rest of the day was used for washing my clothes, dinner, speaking with the english couple and packing my stuff.
All of the sudden, around 9, one of the swedish girls came into the room, saying they were looking for us for ages, and if we don't mind giving them our cameras, so they can have our pictures, especially my pictures (i showed them some good pictures of their group i took on the lake on the way back).
Interesting i thought to myself. You don't have the decency of speaking english most of the travel, nor trying to make us feel part of the group, but suddenly you want our pictures?
I took their emails, and sent them some of the pictures today, along with a mail about what i thought about their behavior (I wonder if they'll answer).
Gladly, i got rid of some of my stuff i was carrying around, and ended up sitting with them once i finished packing. They still spoke swedish, up until the last half hour, in which we spoke about movies.
Went to sleep around 2am, to wake at 7am again to head south to Noosa.
So, as you can see, i'm quite short on sleeping hours, but, like the french will say "C'est la vie".
Well, i'm sure most of you died during the reading of this post, but for the few who managed to get this far, you can see some pictures from the Fraser trip here .
Also, you can have a look at this link, for some funny stuff about the english language :)
I'm out, need to get some food, and finish my book. I hope to have good weather tomorrow so i can go hiking in the parks in the area.
I have some more things to write about fraser, but i'll do it in the future, if i'll have the time and be in the right mood :) .
Monday, February 11, 2008
Bday
Air rushing up my face ...
Everything is turning around ...
Up is down ... down is up ... looking to all directions at once , cold air filling my mouth ...
maybe i should begin at the beginning ...
Sunday, 10.2.08.
0920 am. The alarm goes off. i open 1 eye, remembering i need to go down and extend my stay @ the backpackers before 10am. I turn the alarm of, and go back to sleep.
0950 am, jump out of bed, throw some clothes on, head down, extend my stay, and think about all the things i need to do before noon. Get back to the room, crash on the bed, back to sleep.
1100 am, alarm goes off again. I turn it off, and snooze for half an hour or so.
1130 am, get out of bed, start preparing my backpack, and around 1200 head out, towards Queen st. in search of Coles.
1220 pm, get to Coles, find a muffin, some candles, and a lighter. Total damage: 5$.
1230 pm, start running towards the train, cursing the moment i turned the alarm off.
1250 pm, return train ticket to Redcliffe, 4.40$, 1255 pm i'm on the train.
1330 pm, reaching Redcliffe, getting picked up and driven to the beach.
1400 pm, strapped in, getting in the van again, heading to the airport.
1415 pm, short briefing done, crawl into a dubious looking 2 motor airplane, lacking the back door.
1440 pm, reaching 14000 feet, heading towards the exit.
Air rushing up my face ...
Everything is turning around ...
Up is down ... down is up ... looking to all directions at once , cold air filling my mouth ...
Parachute opens, the position changes from free fall to hanging down. The sea bellow is greenish instead of the normal blue you would expect, but i guess you can't have it all.
I can see the other 4 sky divers bellow me, preparing to land. The skydive instructor pulls the cords, and the parachute starts to turn around and around, i smile and enjoy the turns.
The land is closer now, and i wonder when will we start heading towards the big "X" on the beach. On the last second, we do another turn, go above the trees, missing their tops by some meters, and head to the landing. 5 seconds later, i'm sitting on the beach. It's over.
Everything is turning around ...
Up is down ... down is up ... looking to all directions at once , cold air filling my mouth ...
maybe i should begin at the beginning ...
Sunday, 10.2.08.
0920 am. The alarm goes off. i open 1 eye, remembering i need to go down and extend my stay @ the backpackers before 10am. I turn the alarm of, and go back to sleep.
0950 am, jump out of bed, throw some clothes on, head down, extend my stay, and think about all the things i need to do before noon. Get back to the room, crash on the bed, back to sleep.
1100 am, alarm goes off again. I turn it off, and snooze for half an hour or so.
1130 am, get out of bed, start preparing my backpack, and around 1200 head out, towards Queen st. in search of Coles.
1220 pm, get to Coles, find a muffin, some candles, and a lighter. Total damage: 5$.
1230 pm, start running towards the train, cursing the moment i turned the alarm off.
1250 pm, return train ticket to Redcliffe, 4.40$, 1255 pm i'm on the train.
1330 pm, reaching Redcliffe, getting picked up and driven to the beach.
1400 pm, strapped in, getting in the van again, heading to the airport.
1415 pm, short briefing done, crawl into a dubious looking 2 motor airplane, lacking the back door.
1440 pm, reaching 14000 feet, heading towards the exit.
Air rushing up my face ...
Everything is turning around ...
Up is down ... down is up ... looking to all directions at once , cold air filling my mouth ...
1 minute of free falling. Enjoying the view, feeling the cold air rushing past me, enjoying every moment, yet knowing it will end soon.
Parachute opens, the position changes from free fall to hanging down. The sea bellow is greenish instead of the normal blue you would expect, but i guess you can't have it all.
I can see the other 4 sky divers bellow me, preparing to land. The skydive instructor pulls the cords, and the parachute starts to turn around and around, i smile and enjoy the turns.
The land is closer now, and i wonder when will we start heading towards the big "X" on the beach. On the last second, we do another turn, go above the trees, missing their tops by some meters, and head to the landing. 5 seconds later, i'm sitting on the beach. It's over.
I get up, go back to the van, get a beer, stick the candles in the muffin, and try to light them. Seems like the wind will not cooperate, so i get the shots with the unlit candles, and then head to the video room to see the jump, and eat my muffin.
Ended up buying the video, and then i was taken back to the train, having finished half my plans for today, and smiling at the sheer luck i had, since it didn't rain, and since i was able to book the last place on the last jump for today, on the last minute yesterday.
Got back, slept a bit, got up, and headed to the bar to get a nice steak for dinner. The french couple showed up some minutes afterwards, and they and the kiwi that stays in our room joined me.
A quick shower, and off we go to the Casablanca hotel, to get some salsa :) .
Some insights about the salsa scene there. It's not what we're used to back home.
Where back home salsa nights will be 90% salsa, and 10% other things, here it's an equal mix of salsa, bachata and zouk. Zouk is a sensual dance, but i have no idea how to dance it yet, i can hold my ground in the bachata, and the salsa ... well ... i'm still trying to figure out what they dance. It seems it's mainly on1, LA oriented, but it lacks the familiarity of salsa back home.
Oh, and it seems they don't really dance cuban for some reason, even though some of the music is cuban.
It was a fun night. Met some nice people, including a girl that had her birthday on the same day too :).
Late into the night, when the floor was quite empty, i danced a great fast dance when they put the "la pelota", amazed that i can keep up. Seems i'm not as out of shape as i thought :).
And thats about it.
Skydiving & Salsa. Quite a nice bday, where the only thing missing was my family and friends, but checking the mail and getting all the happy-bday mails made up for it.
Thanks all for remembering, and excuse me if i'm too senile or caught up in my trips and i miss your own bday.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Tomato & Donkey salad
Once, when i was much younger, and the teacher taught us about fractions, she told us we can't have a tomatoes and donkies salad, in order to clarify the mistery behind different types of fractions and what can be or can't be done with them.
I really try to hang to this teaching, but today it won't be possible, so you'll get a mixed post :).
A couple of days ago, i finished exercising in my backpacker room, and was about to go running, when a guy (later i'll learn his name is antonio, and that he's french) asked me if he can join. I was reluctant at first, since i didn't want to slow down, but for good manners, and since he asked, i said "sure" and waited for him.
Well ... the skinny bastard made me run behind him all the way, and left me well behind on the sprint parts. Of course, being a mature adult, i didn't mind that fact, and even was happy for him pulling me to my limits, but, and there's a big but here, i couldn't let him get out of this so easily :) .
So, on the way back, i did the jesus running. Basically, all you do is stretch both arms at shoulder level, and leave them there. At first, you will wonder why. After a couple of minutes, the burning in your shoulders will be self explanatory enough (feel free to try it at home, you can post the maximum amount of time you were able to hold them up. And please, no cheating. Arms straight, at shoulder level). At first, he was fine ... and then, after a couple of minutes, he broke, and lowered them. He looked back, and saw me still running like this, and started again ... I waited for him to break again, then kept for some 30 seconds (not because i'm petty, just to show him who's da boss).
Afterwards, we went and had a nice dinner @ the backpackers bar. Nice guy.
On the last days, i spent quite a lot of time at the Brisbane cinema. First watching "3:10 to Yuma", which was nice. Then watching "Fool's gold", which was quite funny and very enjoyable, and today was "The Mist". Based on Stephen King novel. Good, disturbing movie. Liked it.
I have an idea for a post called "Why is it ...", But i need to venture more into it.
In the meanwhile, using basic statistics and simle math, i reached the very sad conclusion that less than 6% of the people who were on my updates mailing list, are actually keeping in touch. Another 10% take the time to write here and there, in the case I wonder where did they disappear to, and the rest ... well ... i hope they are well.
I would like to thank those 6-16% :).
And last, but not least, maybe i'll be going to dance tonight. I'll let you know how was it if i'll go.
I really try to hang to this teaching, but today it won't be possible, so you'll get a mixed post :).
A couple of days ago, i finished exercising in my backpacker room, and was about to go running, when a guy (later i'll learn his name is antonio, and that he's french) asked me if he can join. I was reluctant at first, since i didn't want to slow down, but for good manners, and since he asked, i said "sure" and waited for him.
Well ... the skinny bastard made me run behind him all the way, and left me well behind on the sprint parts. Of course, being a mature adult, i didn't mind that fact, and even was happy for him pulling me to my limits, but, and there's a big but here, i couldn't let him get out of this so easily :) .
So, on the way back, i did the jesus running. Basically, all you do is stretch both arms at shoulder level, and leave them there. At first, you will wonder why. After a couple of minutes, the burning in your shoulders will be self explanatory enough (feel free to try it at home, you can post the maximum amount of time you were able to hold them up. And please, no cheating. Arms straight, at shoulder level). At first, he was fine ... and then, after a couple of minutes, he broke, and lowered them. He looked back, and saw me still running like this, and started again ... I waited for him to break again, then kept for some 30 seconds (not because i'm petty, just to show him who's da boss).
Afterwards, we went and had a nice dinner @ the backpackers bar. Nice guy.
On the last days, i spent quite a lot of time at the Brisbane cinema. First watching "3:10 to Yuma", which was nice. Then watching "Fool's gold", which was quite funny and very enjoyable, and today was "The Mist". Based on Stephen King novel. Good, disturbing movie. Liked it.
I have an idea for a post called "Why is it ...", But i need to venture more into it.
In the meanwhile, using basic statistics and simle math, i reached the very sad conclusion that less than 6% of the people who were on my updates mailing list, are actually keeping in touch. Another 10% take the time to write here and there, in the case I wonder where did they disappear to, and the rest ... well ... i hope they are well.
I would like to thank those 6-16% :).
And last, but not least, maybe i'll be going to dance tonight. I'll let you know how was it if i'll go.
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