Sydney and a Little Bit of Paradise.

I'm guessing a lot of you are wondering if I have or plan on seeing Ryan as he is back home in Australia.  The answer is yes!  He was actually the reason I was stopping in Sydney for two days.  After spending the night in the terminal I wasn't sure how fresh I would feel by the time he met me at the airport but,  the flight was pretty much empty with a middle isle of 4 seats that were empty so I got to stretch out with my new stolen doona cover and sleep the whole way.

He laughed at me when he saw the size of my backpack - no other backpacker I have met has one like mine - but unlike Dallas did help me carry my things on the bus and train till we got to the hotel.  Yup thats right, HOTEL!  No noisy roommates or bunk beds, thin pillows, small doonas and cold showers for two whole days.  Nice big bed, balcony that had a perfect view of Hyde Park and the Anzac Memorial, a kitchenette, nice bathroom and breakfast in our fridge,  for a backpacker this is living like royalty!!!  The only thing Ryan was upset about was that there was no pool.  We were gonna fill up the sink in the kitchenette and put on our swimmers but we thought it could end up dangerously.

We dropped our stuff off and then headed out into Sydney.

What a city!  Probably my favourite city so far...it's so beautiful.  Its bigger then Melbourne but it's got this cozy warmth to it with a really nice vibe.  Our first stop...was Sydney Harbour.  So beautiful.  We walked all the way around it until we were smack dab infront of the Opera House!!! Exciting, I had told Ryan I really wanted to go see it.  We grabbed a drink at the bar/restaurant right out the front of the Opera House on the Harbour where we had a perfect view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  There were tons of seagulls and all I could think of was Finding Nemo...mine mine mine.  "They are saying it" Ryan told me "no they are not it doesnt even sound the same"  "thats because they are saying it in Australian"...dork! "you know I sang at the Opera House, on the stage" "you did not"  "Yes I did" "Ryan you can't sing I dont think they would let you on the stage" " I so did, in a choir"  I couldve hit him, he made it sound like it was all just him up there on that big stage singing, he wants me to ask his mom about it. After that hewanted to take me to his favourite place in Sydney, Darling Harbour, but I of course couldn't miss the chance for a photo opp so I made Ryan take pictures of me in front of the Opera House - just like every other tourist in the world lol.

Darling Harbour is beautiful. Massive boats covered the water, beautiful boats that barly looked like they were used they were more like show pieces.   The Harbour is surrounded by big buildings and expensive apartment buildings lined the walkway.  I was trying to take pictures but it started to rain so we ran for cover hoping the rain would let up but it didn't so we ducked into a store, bought an umbrella and walked along the bridge to the other side of the Harbour.  We went to a cigar lounge called Cohibar and sat with some drinks on their patio that over looked Darling Harbour.  What a sight.  By now the sun had set and the lights of the buildings twinkled and reflected off the water and some of the boats were lit up as they bobbed in the water.  I could've stayed and looked at it all night but we had other plans.  We were going to grab a bottle of Bacardi  (for old time sake) and head back to the room, listen to music and just chill and catch up.  So we grabbed a bottle and then some hangover pills "do you have anything for a hangover?"  the woman looked at Ryan really confused "not for right now but we are gonna have a wild night and are gonna need the pills for tomorrow"   Man did we ever need them the next day.  We drank almost the whole bottle of Bacardi plus all th drinks we had had before we even got back to the room.  We had so much fun though, acting like dorks and just catching up and making phone calls to friends.  We ended up passing out at midnight. 

We felt like shit in the morning.  The pills didn't work they just made our stomach upset so we decided to go back to bed for a nap and get back up in an hour.   We went and grabbed some Asian food for lunch...Sydney is all about the Asian food even more so then Melbourne, it is everywhere!   I could barly eat I was so hung over and we had a lot of food.  We packed it up and dropped it off back in the room and went for another nap.  We got up about an hour later and walked through Hyde Park and looked at the Anzac Memorial where it is actually against the law to sit on the steps.  Then he wanted to take me to his favourite store.  It was the Lambourghini dealership.  "I thought he was at least going to take me somehwere that he could buy me something" I told the salesmen.  Ryan sat in a couple of the cars and told me how good they felt and talked about the beauty of the cars.  He is so passionate about cars like really passionate, the way they are made, the way their curves go, how they are built and its just incredible really how much he loves cars, its really beautiful how passionate he is about them.  Me on the other hand I liked the yellow one!  After my car lesson we headed  over to Kings Cross to see the famous Coke sign and walk through the streets of the Cross.

The Cross is a great area, dodgy but great.  The streets are really small with  clubs and nudey bars at every second door and some not so nice looking people sitting outside smoking their cigarettes.  Almost kind of like the St. Kilda of Sydney except once again like Sydney a warm coziness to it and a different vibe.   After walking around for an hour we went and searched for Boost Juice (kind of like our Booster Juice)  I was so dehydrated and wanted something fruity.  After about 45 minutes and a 10 minute wait I finally got my Boost only to leave more then half of it in the cup because we fell back asleep when we got back to our room.  I know so much sleeping but man that rum killed us...I'm not used to drinking the nice stuff anymore and Ryan, well surprisingly he could keep up with me but usually he is a light weight lol.

We got up around 530 because we were suppossed to meet up with his friend for drinks, but had to cancel because he was sick.  Still wanting to have a night out on the town we dressed up and went to the Sushi Train for dinner.

It was sooooooooooo good, I had never been to one before.  The chefs are in the centre of the restaurant and around them is a kind of like a bar where everyone sits and all the sushi is put on conveyer belt type of thing and you take off what you want as it goes by.   We had tuna sashimi, fried oysters which were amazing,  Ryan had eel,  crab balls oh man it was soo good, definatly not a backpacker meal.  We were stuffed but satisfied.  We hopped into a cab and we were off to some of the most riztiest and high class clubs in Sydney.  We went to the Establishment for a drink and then made our way to the Ivy.  I dont even go to places like this back home.  Both clubs are not over done at all, almost plane but so classy.  We stayed at the Ivy for quite a while and just drank and got into deep conversations about life and a bunch of other deep stuff.  We hit one more bar and then got back to the room and fell asleep.

It was soo good go see Ryan, I had missed him so much. It had been 8 months since we had last seen eachother, a little too long for me but we are both doing our own thing.  We werent even suppossed to see eachother while I was over here because he was suppossed to be back in LA so it was really nice that we got to do this. He was a great tour guide, he knows so much about Sydney and the history of the buildings and who owns the buildings, pointed out where he used to work and live.  It was really great, I couldnt of asked for a better guide, I am so glad he was the one to show me around Sydney.  I really hope I get to go back and spend more time there.

 Talking was so easy, almost like no time had passed. Its wierd to think that a year ago I said goodbye to him in Cali and a year later almost to the day we were sitting in a classy club in Sydney.  We both went out of our budgets but we never got to splurge and go out when we were in Cali we were always so broke so it was so nice to be able to go out and see and do things.  Of course when Wednesday morning hit I was my upset self like I usually am when I have to say goodbye to him.  He came to the airport with me, had some lunch and then he had to hop on a train back to New Castle.  As usual we had or should I say I had my teary goodbye and we parted ways.   We are maybe going to see eachother in the summer but plans can change, keep your fingers crossed though.

Now I am in Cairns.  It is so nice up here.  Its so tropical up here and the weather is beautiful and I love the locals up here they are so friendly.  The hostel I am staying at is awesome. It's got this beachy feel to it with a nice pool with rocks to jump off of, picnic tables, pool table, a bar, couches, music playing all day, the rooms are clean, the toilets and showers, though kind of out door concept are impecable.  They have free shuttles to and from the airport as well as a shuttle every hour to pick up and drop off in Cairns Central.  The staff is great.  They have giveaways, happy hours twice a day, they can book any day trip you want, brand new computers and it is so chilled out.  You cant hear the music from your room, well it depends on which house you are in.  The houses almost look like beach houses with lower and upper levels, there is really no inside (except your rooms) everything is pretty much open concept,  the bar and pool table area is just a covered area that have big wicker lights hanging down.  It is it's own little paradise.  We are not to far from town.  You can walk to the foreshore strip in about twenty minutes.  The forshore is right on the water, its a strip of restaurants, cafe's and shops. Across the street is the grassed area where people just lay out in their bathing suits tanning and beyond that is the lagoon, a saltwater pool surrounded by sand and kind of concrete decks that is free and it overlooks right onto the beach.  HEAVENNNNNNNN!!!! It's great here and I have met some really nice people.  I even met up with Matthew my first night, remember my dormmate from Fiji who was with me in Auckland?  He is living up the street from here so he came by for drinkks.   I think Cairns is exactly what I needed,  I have had an emotional few weeks and haven't felt the greatest and this I feel will be the perfect remedy.

New Pets, Falical History and a Big Butt!!!

Perth;  located in Western Australia, is the most isolated capital city in the world.   WA  takes up 1/3 of the Australian map, Germany can fit into it 7 times and Texas (which is a pretty big state) can fit into it about 3 times.  They say the wet season -which is now-is the greenest time and even still its not the luscious greens that we are used to during our wet season its differen shades of green that look like they have been faded in the sun yet some of the country side had the greenest grass with a back drop of a light blue that rolled into a darker blue with white fluffy clouds.  Some areas were just sand with green grass sprouting randomly in spots like a young guys chest who is going through puberty.  The roads were exactly how I have alwasy pictured Australia,  straight, one lane going each way and dark clay like sand on either side, blue skies, white clouds and yup even kangaroos!

The day trip was 12 hours, a lot of driving and great sights.  Our first stop was Caversham Wildlife Park.  The first thing we got to see was roos.  Even though I had some one on one time with roo's a few days earlier I was still excited.  There were tons of them.  They came to great us as soon as we walked in the gates.  We were the first visitors of the day and they wanted to be fed.  The hopped right up to us and followed us through the roo area over to the feeding area.  They surrounded us eating right out of our hands.  We even got to pet them.  The Kangaroos at this park are the Red Kangaroos though there were white ones as well.  These were also Red Kangaroos but had been genically (I know that is the wrong word) made to be white not albino.  We only got about 5 minutes with them before we had to move on.  Most of them stayed where they were to watch us leave, it kind of looked sad like they were saying "goodbye new friends its been a slice" while other hopped there way right to the gate.  I can't explain the way they look when they hop but it is so cute!  Our next animal encounter was a wombat.  Now I know a lot of people have an image of a flying squirrel like thing but they are far from that.  These things are huge, and heavy and fat and the one we met was Big Bubs which means Big Baby and boy was she ever.  She literally sat in the park workers arms on her back and did nothing she was so cute and I wanted to keep her but after a quick pat and picture we were on our last encounter.  Koalas.  These Koalas were curled up sleeping in their eucalyptus but we still got to pet them.  They are so soft, soft like a teddy bear.  I am definatly going to get one as a pet and bring it home,  I love them!!!  Mom we are gonna have so many pets, I'm sending them all home via airmail! It was really amazing to be so close to these amazing animals,  it was hard to say goodbye but it was time to go to the lobster factory.  On our way to the lobsters we stopped at this roadhouse.  This road house was literally in the middle of nowhere.  They have this huge windmill called the Southern Cross Windmill ( I cant remember the history of it).  There is a fence around the bottom and across some of the property because they have 3 emus that live there (the fence is for protection for them and us)  these things are massive and kind of creepy.  The one we saw mustve been over 6 feet with the redest eyes that were so intimidating and the feet were gross.  It has three toes and the middle being the longest and biggest looked like an abnormal big toe.    We could feed it fruit scraps, me not being an overly huge fan of birds - especially ones this size - I just watched one of the guys feed it!

The lobster factory wasn't the most exciting.  We learned the history of the factory and then we got to walk through the factory where they were sorted in to their grades, packed and shipped off.  It smelled kind of funky but I did buy a lobster tail and enjoy it for lunch. Yum, Yum.

We then had about a two hour drive out to the Pinnacles Dessert.  This was awesome!  The sand was yellow, like yellow yellow and there are these massive things jutting out of the sand.  Some small and some towering over your head.  The dessert is about 850 acres.  You are told to stick with your guide as you can get lost in them.  E|very which way you look it was just yellow sand and Pinnacles sprouting from everywhere.  When we first got there the sun was at a perfect spot and it was litterally like walking into a desert of gold.  It's one of my favourite places -so far- in Oz.  I just, I don't know I found it really amazing and that scientists still don't know 100% how they were formed make it that much more incredibly.  An unexplainable natural beauty.  The following is from wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pinnacles_(Western_Australia) The raw material for the limestone of the Pinnacles came from seashells in an earlier epoch rich in marine life. These shells were broken down into lime rich sands which were blown inland to form high mobile dunes.

The mechanisms through which the Pinnacles were formed from this raw material are the subject of some controversy, with three mechanisms having been proposed:they were formed from lime leaching from the aeolian sand (wind-blown sand) and by rain cementing the lower levels of the dune into a soft limestone. Vegetation forms an acidic layer of soil and humus. A hard cap of calcrete develops above the softer limestone. Cracks in the calcrete are exploited by plant roots. The softer limestone continues to dissolve and quartz sand fills the channels that form. Vegetation dies and winds blow away the sand covering the eroded limestone, thus revealing the Pinnacles.

• they were formed through the preservation of casts of trees buried in coastal aeolianites where roots became groundwater conduits, resulting in precipitation of indurated (hard) calcrete. Subsequent wind erosion of the aeolianite would then expose the calcrete pillars.^[1]
• on the basis of the mechanism of formation of smaller “root casts” occurring in other parts of the world, it has been proposed that plants played an active role in the creation of the Pinnacles, rather than the rather passive role detailed above. The proposal is that as transpiration draws water through the soil to the roots, nutrients and other dissolved minerals flow toward the root. This process is termed "mass-flow" and can result in the accumulation of nutrients at the surface of the root, if the nutrients arrive in quantities greater than needed for plant growth. In coastal aeolian sands which have large amounts of calcium (derived from marine shells) the movement of water to the roots would drive the flow of calcium to the root surface. This calcium accumulates at high concentrations around the roots and over time is converted into a calcrete. When the roots die, the space occupied by the root is subsequently also filled with a carbonate material derived from the calcium in the former tissue of the roots and possibly also from water leaching through the structures. Although evidence has been provided for this mechanism in the formation of root casts in South Africa, evidence is still required for its role in the formation of the Pinnacles.^[2]

^{Though the aboriginals have their own beliefs.  It is said thousands of years ago a young boy came to a point in his life where he had to go off into the wilderness and become a man.  The elders would say "don't go into the dessert as you will be swallowed by the quicksand"  The young men thinking the elders didn't know what they were talking about went into the dessert and were - as told - swallowed by the quicksand.  It is said that the Pinnacles are the young mens fingers reaching up to the world.  Though to be honest it looked more falical (is that spelled right) then anything, either way it looked awesome!}

^{Our last stop was the sanddunes in Lancelin.  That was fun.  We got to ride boards on our but and go down these big sanddunes.  I didn't have so much luck though.  My board didn't move to fast or much at all, this upset me.  I have put on some weight maybe about 10 lbs but I didn't think my ass got that big and heavy to make a sandboard non-mobile.  Even after I waxed it - not my butt, the board - I didn't move to well.  I was actually just riding on a tire track and not a soft spot which made me finally get down the hill but I was a little jaded at this point so I put the board away.  I got some pictures of me on the board, they look great, to bad I was stuck in one spot and not actually moving - though you can't tell in the pictures :)  After the sandboarding we hopped in our big bus/truck and wend 4x4ing through the dunes.  Now that was fun.  There were points where it felt like we were at a 90 degree angle and going face first into the sand the whole bus would go "ahh, oooooh" it was so funny.  My my stomach and heart switched places a couple of times.  The dunes themselves were a site.  White, white, white sand and the sand was so soft and it was just massive white hills of sand with the Indian Ocean off in the distance and behind the white dunes was a periwinkle blue sky as the sun started setting.}

^{Western Australia has been great.  I wish I had more time here as there is so much I want to do so I am hoping to get back here at some point before I leave Oz.  I am now spending another long night in an airport terminal.  I am at the Perth airport waiting for an early morning flight to Sydney.  Nights in airport terminals by yourself are long and boring and I am so exhausted as I haven't slept much in the past two nights.  The hostel I was staying at just outside was nuts.  It was really nice and small which is always nice but the front lobby turns into a nightclub Friday and Saturday nights and our rooms are just down the hall.  Friday night I went to bed early - or tried anyways - because I had to be up early for my day trip, I only got 2 hours sleep.  Then last night due to a long day and barly and sleep I passed out at 10pm with my earbuds in on full blast to drowned out the sound of the music.  Then my roommate comes in and talks loudly on her phone.  Then at some time in the wee hours of the night/morning some drunk cunt decides to run up and down the hallway banging on all the doors and screaming!!!  Then to top it off everyone decieds to stand outside my door and talk loud, ughhh. I have stayed at party hostels before but WOW! this was too much,  no night time security sucks.  Though the manager did let me steal? a doona cover slip so I would have a blanket for the airport, "you were a good guest just put it in your bag and don't tell me"  :)  I'm hoping I catch some zzz's on the plane to Sydney.}

Beaches and Kangaroos!

The worst thing about travelling by yourself is the long nights in airport terminals.  I was so bored.  I finally dozed off only to have the voices of the 3 German (I think they were German) backpackers enter my dreams making everyone in my dreams speak German...it was really confusing.  I woke up with the terminal busy and everyone lining up to check in.  I was on my plane within an hour and on my way.  The flight was really good.  We flew over the Great Australian Bight - the bottom part of Australia that looks like a bite has been taken out of it -  it was massive, you don't see land for hours,  food on the flight was expensive as always and they charged $4 for a tea so I made sure to ask for seconds on hot water.
Western Australia, I love it out here! My first stop was Cottesloe Beach for two days.  The hostel was right on the beach.  The front common room was floor to ceiling windows with the Ocean right in perfect view.  There was a courtyard through the back and surrounding it was a tv room, movie room and some other sort of lounge.  You had to take a set of stairs up to the rooms.  The hallways were a bright yellow with high cathedral like ceilings and wooden floors.  The rooms were beautiful.  I was put in a girls dorm (and usually the girls dorms are super nice)  I walk into this room with high ceilings, wooden floors, four bunks a toilet and there is so much space.  I then see that there is another part to the room.  I walk to the back and step into another room that has one bunk, lockers and a wall that has massive windows with an almost perfect view of the ocean and the sunlight just pouring in.  Do I want dark and cozy or bright and sunny? At this point I really didn't care  I wasn't the happiest person.  I had only gotten maybe 2 hours sleep on in the terminal and could not get any sleep on the plane.  I could barley keep my eyes open when I got to my hostel.  After deciding on the bed in the sunlight and calling Sue (a friend from the hostel in Melbourne who was now in Perth) I literally climbed up to my top bunk and just passed out on top of the linen.

After about a 2 hour nap I freshened up with a nice shower got ready and went to meet up with Sue and some of her friends.  The weather was nice enough to wear a sundress and flipflops!  OMG!  I felt so free, I had been so confined by layers for the past couple of months in Melbourne I almost felt naked...it was great!
The front desk didn't tell me there were two trains stations so I went to one and Sue went to the other.  I ended up just having to walk back down near my hostel and meeting her there.  We bought some beers and took them down to the beach.  We sat down there, talked, ran around on the beach and took pictures and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.  It was a perfect day.  I'm so glad I got to see Sue again, it was really nice to catch up and Amy took a long trek from Rockingham to come and meet up with us on the beach for an hour.
The next day I went into Perth CBD with two of my roommates Sarah and Jen (from Ireland).  I originally wasn't going to go.  After spending 3 months in Melbourne I am really sick of shops and cafes, but Jen had come upstairs from the bus stop and said the bus hadn't come yet and I should go with them.  Why not!  I'm here I might as well. 
I quite enjoyed myself.  The city is small, it kind of reminded me of Auckland.  Smaller streets lined with buildings where the sidewalks are covered by overhangs on the the buildings so not to get wet when raining (and it was raining).  It's not all fashion like Melbourne and people are way friendlier!  We looked in some shops, grabbed some lunch, tried going for a drink at this bar that was completely busy.  We finally found one table against a wall that we moved to suit our comforts better, only to leave 2 minutes later because we looked at the menu and the drinks were definately not for a backpackers budget.  Sarah had to get her flight home changed so we went to get that done.  The building had the smallest lift I have ever been in.  It was so small we were almost kissing in it so when we left I asked if there were any stairs we could use - the stairway is key access only - "I am claustrophobic" I told the ladies behind the desk.  "wussy" one of the ladies replied.  I just looked at her.  I couldn't believe she actually had the odacity to acknowledge someones phobia that way - though I am not claustrophobic,  I actually have a fear of lifts and Sara isn't overly keen on them either so I was trying to get out of us having to go on it again.  Well, after a full day in the city we headed back to have a couple drinks. 
We had a drink at the pub next door.  We didn't want to spend bar prices so we went to the bottle shop next to the hostel or rather attached to the hostel and had some drinks in the courtyard of the hostel.  For a hostel that is meant to be alcohol free I did a pretty good job of getting wasted.  I drank a little too much but managed to get myself up in time to check out and head to Rockingham to go see Amy.
I hoped on a train to Fremantle and then grabbed a bus to Rockingham.  I wasn't exactly sure where to go from the train station so I asked one of the personelle.  When I showed her my ticket she basically laughted in my face and said "you really think you are going to get from here to Rockingham on that fair?"  "Well I didn't know!"  "You should always ask for help"  haha ya that would've been nice if there had been someone working there.  I payed more money and hoped on the bus for an hour long journey.  To be honest, when I have on my iPod and my backpack and I am heading somewhere I have never been, those are my happiest moments.  Looking out the windows and my surroundings, heading to a place I have never been before and everything I own on my back...I love it!!  Those are my favourite moments.
Just to rewind a little bit, Amy had stayed at the hostel in Melbourne my first month and her and I had been planning a visit in Perth (which is where she is living with her boyfriend) so we were pretty excited to spend some time together.  We grabbed some drinks and went down to the beach and then came back to their place for some drinks, played some drinking games and in bed before midnight.
Amy had to work for the next few days but luckily enough her boyfriend Chris had just finished his six months at his job and decided to show me around.  We went down to Peron Point and took pictures of the water and the rocks.  It feels so good to be out of the city and near water and nature again, its so refreshing.

We took a drive out to Serpentine.  When we got to the park there were kangroos right under the trees.  I got really excited so Chris pulled over.  We hoped out, grabbed our bag of Doritos and I got my camera ready.  Chris walked up to them but I was a little hesitant.  It was a mother and her baby and didn't know how the mum would react but as soon as she saw Chris with the bag of Doritos she slowly put her front paws down to the ground, leaned on them and hoped forward and did this until she was really close to Chris.  She ate the chips right out of his hands.  So I stuck my hand into the bag and pulled some out.  They came right towards me and started eating the chips.  They were so gentle and they licked my hands clean and just kept wanting more.  It was amazing, I couldnt believe I had these wild kangaroos eating right out of my hands, I couldn't stop smiling.  Chris still had the bag in his hands and the mother stood right up on her hind legs to look in the bag.  She almost towered over Chris it was almost intimidating.  After our little snack with the Roo's we walked up a path to a swimming area.  A water fall came down this rock wall and into a pool of water.  The pool was surrounded by a massive rock wall almost making it look private.  Apparantly in the summer its busy with swimmers and people jumping off the rock wall into the pool.  "It's really nice from up there its pretty easy to climb"  yes well of course with my vertigo and slippery shoes I struggled up and down the rocks but it was definatly awesome sitting at the top and looking down.
Yesterday Chris, Dave and I went to the Botanical Gardens in West Perth.  It was really pretty and we could see the whole city from up there.  We even climbed up the DNA tower which is a tower of stairs in the gardens so you can look out at everything.  Half way up my vertigo -again-kicked in but of course I made it to the top.
The guys cook dinner every night so I have been spoiled.  I even had kangaroo for my first time last night it was so yummy - I definately tried not to think of the roo's from the previous day. 
Tomorrow we are getting up at the crack of dawn for a day trip that I am really looking forward to, Wave Rock.  You are gonna have to wait for the next blog to find out what it is.  xox

A Grandma is Perfection

I don’t know how to write this.  I am struggling for words and we both know that I never run out of things to say.  I have words in my head but I’m struggling putting them down on paper and this is like nothing I have ever written.   I want this to be written right, whatever that means.  I guess I would consider myself a bit of a writer, and it’s the easiest thing for me when it comes to releasing emotions but I don’t know if the way I write is going to be good enough for my last words to you. I just really want this to be written right, whatever that means; if there even is a right way for a eulogy its not like there is a template to writing them.  I just want it be heartfelt, sincere and get down into your heart.   I want it to be perfect.  But what is perfect ? Is perfect  how you always let me play in the kitchen sink with water up to my elbows and  flood the kitchen. Is it when you always made my favourite snack- celery and cheese wiz-so I could sit in the big chair and watch the Mini Pops and the Ewoks.  Or is it how you let me get away with anything, even when I hid in the closet for an hour and you couldn’t find me, or how no matter how tacky and gaudy they were you always wore the broaches I gave you with pride – I’m sure you have one from every single year since I was born.  Is perfect how we go out shopping and you would by me my “Christmas present” and then when Christmas morning came there were still five presents under the tree for me. What about how you always had ice cream in the freezer, how you would sit and tickle my back for hours without  ever stopping or saying  you were too tired, how you cut up my toast into little soldiers and how your breakfast eggs were soo much better then Mom’s and didn’t tell her so we wouldn’t hurt her feelings.  What about how every Birthday and Christmas we all knew that there would be a small paper that would fall out with a cash amount on it, how you loved Michael Buble, you could sing –a-long to all the old classics, and how every time I wore my ripped jeans you asked me why I couldn’t afford a good pair.  The stories of when you were young about how you and Grandpa met or school girl tales and you could remember everyone name but you couldn’t remember  the day before,  how for years you wouldn’t get a hearingade because you didn’t believe you were going deaf and we had to almost yell for the past 10 years. You always looked good and ready to go but no matter what you would always end up with food down the front of your shirts – we could dress you up but couldn’t take you out.  Your wet kisses,  your pea soup, how you would always move your foot when you listened to music or rocked yourself in your chair, scrabble, how you always had ice in your wine, your love for pizza and of course your love for all of us.  I don’t know if I could write anything perfect enough for all of the perfect things you have given me.  There are no amount of words in this world that could even come to close to what a Grandma means to a grandchild.  I’m sorry that I am not there today, you did promise me you would still be here when I got back, you were supposed to stick around forever, you were my last one left but I guess promises are meant to be broken. Your with Grandpa now and I’m ok with that.  I can just picture you up there with all of them, Grandpa, Uncle Bud, Uncle Al, Aunty Doe.  The men must be going crazy having two of you up there now.  I can see the poker table and the drinks flowing…you better keep them in line. 

As I said before I am sorry I am not there today and please don’t think it means I love you any less because that’s not the case,  I just couldn’t get back so I have written this hopefully perfect enough eulogy but I guess if it comes the heart then its perfect enough right?  I know you didn’t always get me, 30 (almost an old maid as you would call me) and no serious relationship, not a career girl and not settled down with a house and really no plans for the future and hated me traveling and backpacking the world (especially by myself).  I want you to know that I don’t have any regrets and I  am really happy with all the decisions I have made.  I just really hope that you are proud of me.  I guess  that’s it…I don’t really know what else to say  I don’t really know how to finish one of these off so I’m guessing the best way would be to way the way you signed off on everything.  LOVE YA!!!

Trammies With a Little Bit of Ginger the House Cat and a Smoke Show!

My means of transportation in St Kilda and Melbourne is the trams - they are like our trollies in Toronto - and way faster then the buses.  St Kilda is a very interesting area with lots of prostitutes, trannies and drunks who like me use the trams for transportation.  These interesting people are what I like to call Trammies.  There is the Sensation - he just says sensational very loudly the whole time he is on the bus. There is the DrunkTart - obviously drunk, she swears the whole time, yells at the driver and pulls the maps out of their holders and throws them everywhere. We have Cloak and Dagger - one day on my way to work this couple got on the tram and the woman had a neck brace on so I adjusted myself so she could sit down.  . Then she rips the neck brace off puts it in a plastice bag and started talking to her husband like everything was ok.  I think they had just come from the chemist or a lawyer or something.  I was blown away, I actually almost wanted to start laughing.  They are definately screwing the system for something.  We have Twiggy - now I have never seen her on the tram but she lives in the area.  She looks about 50 years old and she is maybe 5'7" and probably weighs less then 70lbs.  She is so skinny.  She always where leggings and her hip bones jut out horribly.  Its actually kind of sad.  One day walking to the tram I saw her bent over the concrete (waist high) wall out the front of what must've been her house and all I saw where these skinny little legs and what was left of her but and I thought she was dead, I didnt know if I should check on her and call an ambulance...turns out she was weeding her garden.  Then there is Tweek.  I have seen Tweek quite a few times in the 3 months I have lived in St Kilda.  The first time was on the tram.  He was ranting away (to a stranger) about drugs and the government, his legs wouldnt stop twitching and you could just tell her was flying off something.  The other passengers were trying to ignore him, he was making everyone feel uncomfortable.   Then he gets up and holds on to the hand holders and starts swinging himself and smiling.  The next time I saw him was on the tram again.  I was sitting on one of the benches facing the front and he sat on the one infront of me but this one faced out the adjacent window.  Beside me on the bench was a small plastic bag from a store.  He reaches over and picks it up and starts rummaging through it,  seeing if they had left anything interesting in it and checked the bill to see what they had bought.  There was a girl on the other side beside me and she was watching him and she would just look at me and smile.  When he reached over I so thought he was going to touch me or grab me, kind of freaked me out.  Another time I saw him sitting on the street in the city.  Tweek makes me sad.   I dont think he is much older then me, he is tall, dresses pretty good, looks clean and is not bad looking but the drugs have done some damage to his skin.  You've got people who pass out slouched over their knees showing their ass crack, the drunks who talk loud and shout out racist comments,  a man that asks everyone for change and when you say no he gives you an evil stare.  I have to say my tram rides are always interesting, there is never a dull moment.
As you all know I have been living in a shared house for the past month now which has been pretty good.  About the 2nd day I moved in I noticed this orange cat that used to hang out on our front wall and sometimes took it upon herself to come in and check the place out.  Lately she has gotten so comfortable she has been spending the night.  She curls up infront of our fireplace all day and sleeps and I mean all day.  The other morning I walked out into the living room and there she is sprawled out in front of the warmth completely happy.   She loves tuna and milk and she is so polite.  Barly comes up on the couches, doesn't go into the rooms, but follows Kesi around especially when she is in the kitchen hoping she can get her to pour her some milk.  It's been so nice having Ginger around - no I didnt name her that,it's the name on her tag - I've really missed my Rea so having a little house cat for a few weeks was really nice.
So remember my housemate - Ray Brower?  So wierd.  He got his friends to come over at like 3am last week and I guess he sold them some pot or something.  He looks at them and says "alright guys I am going to bed" and just leaves them there in the livingroom with me and Kesi. He is so random. Anyways we haven't seen him for like the last week.  I was wondering if he got himeself involved with some people and something happened to him.  We were all wondering if maybe he died in his room, but there was no smell, well his room had a smell but it was normal.  Our landlord comes over Monday night to pick up rent and goes in Ray's room - FUCKING GONE!  THE KID DID A SMOKE SHOW!!! Haha OMG way to funny!  Thats why they take a deposit, smart guys.
Now,  I am sitting in Tullamarine -Melbourne Airport - waiting for my flight to Perth.  My flight is in about 5.5 hours.  There were no shuttles that ran earlier then 5:15am and my flight is at 6:15am so after work I came straight here and am spending a long boring night by myself sitting on the carpet in Terminal 3 with no cigarettes and a long night ahead of me.  I am sad to be leaving Melbourne, its time away from Dallas, and also I became comfortable here so I am having that fear of the unknown which I haven't had in months.  I worked my last shift at Drax tonight.  I was so gutted...I almost wanted to cry when I was saying goodbye to people.  Drax has been such a major part of Melbourne for me.  I have been so excited to go to Perth that I really didn't realize how much I will miss it.   It was weird, leaving the house today, knowing I wouldnt be home tonight watching movies, or I can't see Dallas everyweek, and knowing I will never work at another place like Drax.  I lugged everything to work with me today.  My backpack is massive and I know have another bag filled with stuff.  I even got rid of stuff.  But you replace one big thing with a few small things and it's the same amount of space.  I'm definatley going to have to really cut back on some stuff.  I was suppossed to grab the train to SouthernCross Station but the train I needed wasn't running.  So I walked up to the next tram stop where  nice couple told me where to get off.  When I got on the tram I asked the driver how many stops till the street I needed and he just sat there giving me a rude look.  When I didn't move he said -i'm guessing repeated - very rudley "4"  So sitting down, which is next to impossible with my backpack.  I am looking out trying to count the stops.  Then this guy says to me.  You have two more stops.  We got off at the same stop and he says "are you getting SkyBus" "ya are you?" he wasn't but he was telling me where it was.  I was wondering how he knew where I was going "I guess my backpack gave it away" but he didnt really answer, doesn't matter, he was my Angel today!!!
Anyways I am off to a new spot, Perth.  I am really excited, as much as I am sad to leave Melbourne I will be back in the summer.  Thanks to everyone I have met,  the last three months were awesome and you all have played an important roll of my time here, you wont be forgotten.  See you in the summer!!!

Breaking and Entering

So a few nights ago I grabbed a bottle of vodka and got drunk with my housemate Corey.  We started drinking pretty early so we ran out of alcohol before midnight.   I called my neighbour Dan and he said he was out for his mates Birthday but to just go in the backdoor and take the goone in the fridge and he would come over when he got back.  I run next door but the door was locked...damn!  I text Dan and he replies..."go in through the window into the living room."  "Are you sure" "yes thats how I get it when I lock myself out."  Ok boys a little BnE is going to be taking place, but it should be easy.  I slip on Stewy's shoes (Corey's friend) because it was wet out the back (now poor Stewy only has his socks to wear) and the three of us go into the backyard trying to be as quiet as possible but being drunk we couldn't stop laughing and ended up knocking over the big planter in the back.  We get to the side of the house where the window is and there are so many plants (and most likely spiders) we we decided that going around the front and opening the side gate would be better.

There we are at the front of the house with Corey halfway over the gate when I hear a window open up and a womans voice.  Shit we woke up the neighbours in the house next door.  "hi" I hear Corey say.  "It's ok we live here, we aren't breaking in or anything"  "oh no worries, it's ok" she says.  "We lost our key, we are just trying to get back in" laughing and not able to get the gate open we head back through our part of the house and into the backyard once again to make our way through the plants.  "Corey I think you should go,  I'm not taking the chance of spiders."  He makes his way through the plants and stops at a window.  "Is this it?"  "I think so, try and open it"  and without any effort the window jus slid open.  "ok now crawl through, turn on the light and come and open the back door.  All I see is Corey stealthly slide through the window and then a few seconds later the lights come on and he is unlocking the back door.

At this point we are pissing ourselves laughing.  I am not to sure who is home and want to be in and out before we wake everyone up.  We were trying so hard not to laugh and be quiet while I went in the fridge and grabbed the goone but as we turned to leave one of the housemates Damien was standing in the living room looking at us!  SHIT! "hi"  I say with a big smile and waving. "Dan told us too, it's okay" we turn around turn off the light and walk out the door.

I can't believe we broke in next door just for goone!  Goone makes you steal I swear, but usually only when you are gooned up not before the fact.  Haha anyways, we drank some goone and Dan showed up a little while later and enjoyed some of the goone with us.  Oh the fun times!

Ask and You Shall Receive, Unless They Don't Want to Serve You!!! Why Do We Smell Burning Hair?!?

Things have not been overly exciting though I did have an issue with a curling iron last week.  I wanted to curl my hair for something different the other day, I plug in my curling iron and wait for it to heat up.  Now one thing you must know before I continue is that Australia has a different wattage then us so when I use things like my hairdryer I have to have it on low - not high - because it over heats and shuts off and leaves the smell of something burnt behind.  So knowing this and of course having a blonde moment which we all know when it comes to me happens more frequently then it should, I plug in my curling iron and set it at high.  I come back a few minutes later, check it - it was hot - take a piece of hair and wrap it around the curler.  I take it out and notice that my hair didn't curl? Thats wierd.  I look at the curler...where did that big wad of hair come from?  I don't remember it being there before.  Then I look to the piece of hair I had just attempted to curl, or should I say the piece of hair that was left!!! Yup!!! Burnt right off, it had a brownish yellow tint to it and was shorter then it should've been.  "I'm such a dumbass!" So I turn it off and wait for it to cool down.  When i went to take the hair off it literally just went to dust, I just had to rub it off and it just fell off into tiny pieces.  I even had it all over my neck - it was like the little pieces of hair you get on you when you get your hair cut.  My housemates come out of their room...did you burn your hair? thats all we can smell in our room!  After it cooled down I plugged it back in ON LOW this time! A little worried this time but ended up with nice curls.  I'm really debating whether or not to use my electric razor?
 I'm working lots, though, now that I am not living in the hostel I am more willing to go out and Monday night was one of those nights where I just wanted to get wasted and have a good time...I haven't really done it in months and figured it was about time.  
Bonnie came over for some pre-drinks with my housemate Corey and I.   Corey and his BFF Kesi moved in about 2 weeks ago.  They are pretty cool and we get along really well and I love having them around and they are definately fun to go out with...well Corey is, Kesi hasn't come out with us.  Anyways, back to Monday night.  We had some drinks at our place and listened to some music.  Of course because I don't get out too much I wanted to dress up but I really dont have much - when your clothes are in a backpack you don't notice how much you DON"T have because things get pushed to the bottom and when you find them it's almost like something new;but now that all my stuff is in drawers my wardrobe seems really sad, 3 shirts, 3 tank tops, jeans, 4 pairs of leggings 2 pairs which have holes in them lol it's so sad.  I put on a pair of leggings and just couldn't get along with any of my shirts so Corey - who is a model and completely into fashion - dressed me - yup his clothes - did my hair and my makeup and off we went to Prince of Wales for gay Monday!!! Gotta love gay Mondays.  Drag show with Paris - love her.  Beautiful men all around me - all gay, I always try and find a straight one but no such luck and the ones who are straight a far from goodlooking so I just stick to the gay ones and flirt, look good and get free drinks lol - they buy me drinks and dont expect to get in my pants its great!!!  We met this older guy outside - we were trying to scam drinks as we don't have a ton of money-  and started chatting himm up  we introduced ourselves Bonnie = Sarah, Corey = Dave, Me = Veronica.  We said we were all backpackers (Corey is a local) and we all met travelling.  Corey and I said we met on a stop over in Moscow.  I said that my mom was a Neuropsychologist and that my dad was a big time Criminal and that they were assholes and wouldn't give me any money to travel so I had to do it on my own. We kept telling him stories (which he seemed to believe) and then I told him that my parents were rich and I was living off their money and travelling the world after I just finished telling him they were jerks and wouldnt help me out lol...ahhh its fun playing someone else sometimes.  Anyways Corey asked him if he liked shots so we all went inside.  Corey ordered the shots.  The guy wouldn't pay for them so the bartender took them back and Corey took the mans beer and drank it and then we never saw him again...I know it sounds like we are horrible people but you really had to be there it was so much fun.  We watched the show and danced  the time warp, drank out of jugs and got completely smashed.  We must've left sometime after 2am, Bonnie had already gone home at this point but Corey and  I were still going strong and had two more people with us now.   We walked back towards are place and for some reason walked past our place to Acland Street - the main street with shops on it just around the corner.  I have absolutely no idea why we went to Acland but all I know is we ended up finding a shopping cart...I'm guessing you know where this is going?!?  I ended up in it with Corey pushing me up and down the street.  Corey got hungry and decided "lets go through the Mackers Drive Thru"  Off we go to Mackers, me in the buggy with his friend Matt and Corey pushing us at a really fast running pace almost running us into a few poles and cars but we did make it there safe.  So there we are drunk,  at the drive thru in a buggy...ya that didn't go over to well.  All I hear over the speaker is "Don't serve them!" The manager refused to serve us...said we had to go in...Corey tried giving him mmoney for the order but the man wouldn't take it and refused to serve us.  Apparantly here in Oz they won't serve you like that...they do back home lol.   Anyways drunk and hungry due to the lack of food service we went home and stayed up till about 6 am.  "OMG last night was soo much fun can we do it again?!?" says Corey the next morning when we both woke up on the couches in our living room.  Good times!!!

I finally went down to the St Kilda Pier.  It's literally a five minute walk from my house and I never went to check it out.  I took an hour to myself and went all the way down the pier, looked out at the water, looked back at St Kilda with the CBD buildings in the background.  There is a marina for boats at the pier.  There are tons of sailboats with their masts going straight up with the background of straight edged city buildings in the back and a blue blue sky.  It was a really awesome view.  I have been trying to get up early in the morning - well Corey and I have been trying to get up early - to do morning walk/runs on the beach, but it hasn't been working to well.  Our one roommate - the Ray Brower guy - smokes pot, in the house, the the windows closed and I swear its been making me sleep hardcore and making me groggy in the morning...thats the excuse I am using anyways.
Bonnie and some of my little chicks left on a road trip up to Cairns.  I miss not having her around and she has only been gone for two days.  She's been with me pretty much my whole time in Oz and has had such an impact on my experience, its kind of lonely now.  I have one little chick left and she leaves in two weeks for Thailand so soon it is just gonna be me.  Though I am leaving Melbourne within the next 3-5 weeks!!! As much as I am spending most of my nights working it's all paying off.  Everything I have asked for I have recieved.  The universe really has worked for me the past week.  I'm getting my tax money back, VISA increased my limit - don't worry mom I will be careful - and I got a second job, actually, I got three job offers!  I can't really complain about much,  it's all coming together.  Ask and you shall receive.
xox