Great Ocean Road

Yesterday I went to visit the Great Ocean Road, the Oz equivalent to PCH. I went on a tourbus with 20 other people. These are a few things I wrote about

11:00am
14 hours on tour! Sitting on the bus now. Pretty awkward. Nobody knows each other. The tourguide, Peter, looks like a cross between a billy goat and Gene Wilder in Charlie and the Chocolate factory.

3:00pm
I always forget that the best parts of traveling are meeting people, getting out of the city, and absorbing the culture. The coast is beautiful. Dark rocks dot the surf. And the trees next to the ocean are almost as beautiful as New Zealand. So glad I got out of the city.

3:55
Koalas!!!!! I saw koalas. They look like furry turds in the trees when they sleep. But one was eating and it was adorable.

5:05
Just went on a rainforest and eucalyptus walk. I was chased through the rainforest by the sound of bugs. The smell of the eucalyptus reminds me of my backyard. There are four people on my bus from San Francisco. It makes me happy. I also made friends with a Dutch girl and an English guy. They are traveling alone too.

7:01
London bridge. A limestone rock formation that is shaped like a bridge. It collapsed a few years ago. Can't seem to get Fergie's song "London bridge" out of my head.

8:25
Twelve Apostles at sunset. I ran up and down the viewing points to get pictures before the sun goes down. I have also taught Mandy and Dan how to take self potraits with only one hand. It's quite a useful skill I picked up in college.

1am
Just got home. Had to take a cab home from the drop off stop. Cab driver was Greek, Canadian, and Aussie. Told me stories about LA in the 80s with drugs and prostitutes. It was kind of weird. Lasted for about 25 minutes. The drive from Fitzroy to my apartment is 10. It took me the extra 15 minutes to get my change while he kept talking.

Pics: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2563875&id=1222862&l=63af73d60d

Sydney tomorrow! Get ready for 50 Finding Nemo quotes

Tram police

Melbourne has a very extensive system of trams. It networks the suburbs to the city and is pretty handy for those carless folks like me. However, the trams are fairly expensive, especially when you take them everywhere at all hours of the day.

Our friend Ping had told us that you can often hop on and off the tram without paying the tram fee. The penalty for getting caught without a ticket is over $100. Do you see where I am going with this story?

Last week Shaun and I were taking a tram home from the city when an Indian gentleman and lady cam over to us and demanded to see our tickets. They separated us and started questioning us about where we lived, if we knew each other etc etc. The tram rent-a-cop was pretty aggressive and wanted to know why my ticket wasn't validated (you're supposed to punch the ticket when you get on the tram).

Now I don't condone lying, especially to a very important foreign tram cop, but I was not about to pay a week's worth of rent to the Aussie government. Sorry. So I played the stupid American card, claiming I had just gotten to Melbourne, was staying in a hostel, and didn't know how to use the tram system. And after doing my best "valley girl" impression and tearing up a bit, he let me off the hook.

I don't exactly feel good about this tactic of playing into American stereotypes. Did it work? Yes. it's just a perk of having a foreign accent.

42 Wallaby Way

I haven't felt like myself in almost two weeks. I haven't been able to pinpoint the problem but it is almost like I'm underwater. Actually, it might be the intense pollen levels in the air. For someone without severe allergies, my itchy eyes and sneezing are pretty bad. But also the amount of stress involved with my consistently changing living situation, job situation, the holidays, and making friends has made me feel like I'm underwater and can't catch my breath. Kind of like those cliche emo songs we all used to sing in middle school. So after much discussion, Shaun and I have decided to switch up our travel plans. We wouldn't be true backpackers if we didn't at some point in the trip and there is no time like the present. So Thailand, here we come. 4 weeks earlier than expected.

To tell you the truth, I'm a little nervous about going. Not only am I not mentally prepared, but I need to go buy tropical strength Deet so I don't attract mosquitos 3 cities away.

I hope this is the right decision. But $5 guesthouse and 80 cent beers can't be all bad, right?

I'm going to the Great Ocean Road and Sydney this week. Sydney will be a 3 day marathon of Finding Nemo quotes. I have a smile on my face just thinking about it :)

I will never again take a potato peeler for granted

Thanksgiving in Australia. Yeah, it's like Halloween in New Zealand. People think we're kinda nutty and our traditions are strange.

Yesterday began with a trip to my new workplace, only to be turned away because someone had forgotten to tell me that they rescheduled orientation. Ordinarily, not a big deal. It became a big deal when I got stuck in a flash thunderstorm in heels in a skirt. Not so good.

Shaun and I decided to cook a Thanksgiving dinner as traditionally as we could, without an oven or proper pots/pans. So we made mashed potatoes, yams with marshmallows, pumpkin pie, and a rotesserie chicken. I peeled potatoes and yams for about an hour and a half. Pretty difficult with a dull IKEA knife. So never again will I take for granted having a potato peeler in my kitchen. But our two British roommates really enjoyed our American concoctions of yams and marshmallows and pies made of pumpkin. Points for us!

One holiday without my family, one to go. The thing I learned from yesterday is that as awesome as Thanksgiving with new friends in a foreign country is, Thanksgiving isn't the same without family.

Modge Podge of Melbourne

The last few days have been a random assortment of events.

Shaun and I found a pub trivia night at a local bar. The trivia was much easier than the Berkeley version at Beckett's. We didn't need 5 other sorority girls on our team to whip out their Blackberries to try to compete with the groups of competing grad students. However, our little team of 2 Americans and 3 Germans were not very good at Australia sports trivia. Go figure.

Yesterday I walked around Melbourne with the goal of finding the coolest Christmas decorations. The Crown Casino was the clear winner with a huge Christmas display complete with a moving statue/elf/Santa show. It was reminiscent of the show at the Forum Shops in Caesar's Palace in Vegas. Except I might not have nightmares about this show for the next 5 years like the Caesar's show.

Today is Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving. Already it seems strange that I'm not at home watching my grandma stuff a turkey at 10am. Today I have orientation for work and for that, I am sad that today is not a national holiday. But mostly sad that I won't be with my family tomorrow to celebrate. Shaun and I are recreating our own version of Thanksgiving with a roasted chicken from the supermarket, a frozen pumpkin pie (because our oven doesn't work), and a new episode of Glee (which is our newest guilty pleasure).

To those back home- I am thankful for each and every one of you. I am thankful for a supportive and loving family. I'm thankful for good health, the opportunity to take this trip and embrace new cultures and people, for my education (Go Bears!), and the best group of friends I could ever have asked for. Love you all!!!!

Do the Math

10 roommates, 1 toilet, 1 shower.

This math doesn't exactly add up, right? Only in the world of backpacking sharehouses.

We've had 6 new roommates move in this week. We're now up to 2 English, 2 Germans, 2 Americans, 1 Irish, and 3 Scots. And there's a rumor that 4 more are moving in soon? Insane....


Today I read that Berkeley won the Big Game! Whooo! We've got the Axe! Reading about the game on the DailyCal website isn't anywhere near as exciting as rooting for my Bears in person, but I do feel an enormous sense of pride for my school. Cal is even on the news here, with the strikes against the UC Regents and fee hikes. And almost everyone I've met here knows about Berkeley. Usually the response is "Oh, I've heard of that school. That's a really good uni". The Chancellor used to always boast that Berkeley is the greatest public university in the world. And I couldn't be more proud to be a Bear this week. Go Bears!!

This article sums up why Cal is better than Stanford. If you didn't know it already :http://www.dailycal.org/article/107541/cannon_fodder

Rain rain, go away. Come again...never

It's raining here. Not an LA, November kind of sprinkle/hazy mist in the morning, but a torrential downpour reminiscent of the fall of 2005 in Berkeley when it rained for 70-odd days straight. For those of you who were there and lived with me in Clark Kerr, you remember the rain. It was a lot.

I don't mind the rain usually but today it makes me homesick. We're going on week 7 and I knew this point would come. It's about the same time that I got really homesick in Europe last summer. But then I got to go home whereas here, I'm barely at the halfway mark.

So I think I'll just go ahead and make the list of all the things that make me homesick and get it out of my system:
Sunday brunches with my family at the beach
Friday lunches with the bulldozing crew
Late night movies with my little brother
Shocktop/margaritas with Jessica and Megan
BTC with Jessie and crew
IM Softball (Go Gold!)
My tivo
Thanksgiving with my family- I don't have an oven in my apartment so Thanksgiving this year is probably going to be very disappointing
Cooking with my mama
My phone- to call all the people I love in Berkeley, San Fran, San Diego (now DC), and Santa Barbara
My Cal clothes/Cal football (Big Game is today....GO BEARS!)

The holidays are going to be especially rough without our friends and family. I've been avoiding most shopping centers because they make me kind of sad. But maybe I'll go get a Charlie Brown christmas tree, rent the original Home Alone movie, and curl up on the couch with my roommates.

Miss you all back home a lot. Send me e-mails, I'd love to hear what you've been up to. xo

:)

Just when you think there is no hope in the job market, something good happens. Today I got hired by Flair Talent. I have a job!!!! I'm going to be working in their promotions department selling fragrances at department stores. I'm super super stoked.

What I was originally going to write about today is about Australian television. The programming in Australia...not so good. Better than New Zealand (but unfortunately without All-Black's games), but it is the commercials that are really...memorable? Here are some examples:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0FULHGwPkw

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfThpHGtDfY

The first clip cracks me up and reminds me of Megan. The second is just kind of scary, but really impactful.

I think I also need to invest in a bug roller. Like a lint roller for your clothes, but one that will take all the bugs off you. Australia has a ridiculous amount of bugs- flies, gnats, tiny brown bugs that fall from the trees. They're everywhere! And it's a bit embarrassing when you show up anywhere with a collection of bugs on your shirt. Like at an interview. Just something to consider as a Christmas present to myself...

Job or bust....or not

Today I came to a conclusion. If I don't find a job in the next week, I'm going to stop trying. Mostly because I feel like I'm wasting my time in this country by roaming the streets with a stack of resumes in my hand instead of soaking everything in. It's not the end of the world, right?

Today we went to the beach with the roommies. It was 95 degrees. I worked my tan a little bit, but not enough to turn into a lobster for my interviews tomorrow. It was definitely no BABC, but more of a Venice. Young people, and a lot of hipsters. When I tried to explain the term "hipster" to my Aussie friends, they said that everyone dresses like that. I live in the land of hipsters.

9 minute pie in a pan

Yesterday, Shaun tried to make a pie. Until we realized that the oven doesn't work. Both Lennart, our roommate, and the next door neighbor tried to get it to work, even sticking their heads into the oven. So the pie was put into the broiler, until it started burning after about 5 minutes. So then the pie was put into a frying pan and onto the stove. It was quite the sight. All things considered- the pie/peach flavored mush actually tasted pretty good. Perhaps when our oven starts working, we'll have a pie that looks like a pie too.


...still unemployed....resorted to a telemarketing interview today. I was asked for a second round interview but I think I'll try my luck elsewhere. Wish me luck!! I need it...

Umemployment isn't limited to one country

I was unemployed in the States post-college. And I'm unemployed now.

Sad? Yes.

But now that I have my own place in Melbourne, I get to cook my own meals, read books from the library, sleep in a bunk bed (much like college) and hang out with my roommates. There are 2 Brits, 3 Germans, and the two Americans. We were joking that we're going to start a war in our apartment but naturally, Shaun and I would win.

And for your enjoyment, another quote of the day from Alan.
-"I once heard a girl fart. It was strange. And it didn't even smell like roses!"

Quote of the Day

"We don't celebrate Thanksgiving...I'm Jewish"- Alan

The holiday season has already begun in Melbourne. With Thanksgiving soon approaching, Shaun and I have begun planning our orphan Thanksgiving. We invited our British roommates and new Aussie friends to partake, but much like Halloween in New Zealand, they didn't quite understand the meaning of Thanksgiving. We had to explain: only Americans would come up with an entire holiday for eating. As you can read, Alan did not understand that Thanksgiving was not a religious holiday. He thought it was just like Christmas.

Shaun and I have been busy arranging our new place, cleaning it from floor to ceiling, and looking for jobs. And trying to make friends. We went to the Myers Christmas Parade, the equivalent of the Macy's Day parade. It was almost 90 today so the Christmas carols about snow and hot chocolate seemed strange.

I don't have internet at my new house so contacting me could get tricky. I'll check my e-mail once a day, at best. But if you need to get a hold of me, call my cell phone. Cheers!

I'm not homeless

I'm not homeless. This is a good thing. You might think this is a strange thing to be thankful for, considering I graduated with a degree from Berkeley and am a fairly resourceful person. But I was one day away from being homeless in a foreign country.

We booked our hostel in Melbourne for 3 days. This gave us 3 days to explore the city, find a suitable neighborhood, and find a place to live. Ideally, Shaun and I were looking for a sharehouse to meet more people and make the smooth adjustment into living in a new city.

In this intense hunt for housing, we found a lot of dumps. I lived in Berkeley for 4 years... I know the definition of a dump. And these were all dumps. There were dirty sharehouses with 20 people, houses at the end of narrow alleys and warehouses, and houses with 35 year old Irish men who didn't seem to like us very much.

And then after 2 hours of being lost in streets and on trams in the blistering 90 degree heat, we found a gem. Our new home is in the suburb of St. Kilda, in a lovely neighborhood of nice houses and schools. It's a tram ride away from the beach and restaurants (who will hopefully hire us). Shaun and I were so excited to finally find a place that we smiled like stupid schoolgirls all night long. We get to move in tomorrow too. Whooo!!!!!!

Job hunting and exploring our new district tomorrow. Happy hour with new friends tomorrow and the Christmas parade on Saturday. I'm so excited to get my new life started in Melbourne!! Cheers!

PS. I also had a baller salad today. I only say this because it is the first awesome salad that I've had since I left. Apparently California is one of the few places in the world to have good salad. In other news, tonight was "Latin night" at our hostel. My margarita....no bueno. To be expected though, right?

I made it to Oz

Last night we slept in the Auckland airport. It wasn't exactly the most glamorous experience that I've had on my trip, but as Shaun likes to put it, "It was an adventure".

One thing that I did notice in my 26 hour stint there was that Kiwis get things done by way of guilt. For instance, before a plane leaves, a voice in the airport will state the names of the passengers who still need to board the plane. The message goes "Attention John Doe, please report to gate 6 immediately. Your plane is ready for departure and all the passengers onboard are waiting. For you". If that doesn't get you running onto an airplane, I don't know what will.

We have made it to Melbourne in one piece. It's pretty warm here. It's 35 degrees C which meant absolutely nothing to me. To put it in California terms, you need your flip flops, a tank top, and shorts. And nothing else. Finally I can stop wearing my black fleece and jeans everyday. It should make for more interesting pictures. As much as I love my black fleece, it's a bit tired. Wearing it everyday for the last 32 days can do that.

We're going househunting tomorrow. Wish me luck, I'm going to need it.

Many thanks to New Zealand

Yesterday we said goodbye to Timaru, our temporary home for the last few weeks. And while I'm sad to be leaving New Zealand, I think I'm more sad to say goodbye to the people we've met. 

If you know me well, you know that I'm not very good with goodbyes. I either get overly emotional or aloof. Sorry. That's just the way I tend to deal with them. I prefer to think of them as "See you later" instead of a "goodbye" because then I'm not so sad. 

So to the people we met while here, thanks. There's Ping- our tourguide, our networker, the man with an endless number of contacts and ideas, who is always so excited to listen to our thoughts and jokes. He also offered a good laugh and a silly nickname for any occassion. And Ata- the former fisher(wo)man and fearless bar manager. Ata doesn't put up with crap from anyone. Then there's Kelly, Amy, and Mel who were always in the bar with a smile. Ruben- our very tall, very goofy bartender. Ruben had some stellar dance moves.  Tom and Andre, the Germans, with their enthusiastic "All RIGHT!". Kieran and Mindy- who took us out to the beach to shoot fireworks, went to the race track, and kept up with us in our drinking games. Adam- who introduced us to the best apple cider ever. Sunny- the head of security, who looked like a tough guy but is really a teddy bear with a mohawk. And all the rugby kids who gave us the best night of dancing in our time in New Zealand. 

We had a blast and it wouldn't have been the same without you. Drop us a line if you're ever in the States. We'll be happy to return the favor. 

In other news, we're spending our last night in New Zealand in the Auckland airport. 25 hours here. We're at...3. Yay us. 

The Kieran Chamberlain/Kiwi Urban Dictionary

Our Kiwi friend Kieran likes to teach us new Kiwi phrases. Half the time, we don't exactly know what he is talking about, but he is gladly willing to teach us new words that help us blend in with the other New Zealanders.

1. Stubby-(n) a beer. Or a pair of shorts.
Ex: Kieran likes to drink stubbies in his stubbies.

2. Buggey smugglers- (n) tightey whiteys.
Ex: Old Kiwi men wear buggey smugglers.

3. Bingo wings- (n) the underarm flab that jiggles when old women win a game of "Bingo"
Ex: If you eat too many chips, you'll grow a pair of bingo wings.

4. Ginger- (n)- Prounounced (g ng er), with a hard "g". A redhead.
Ex: Ali Apple is a ginger.

5. Sweet as- (?)- cool, awesome. Usually used as a response to something.
Ex: Hows' the party? Response: Sweet as.

6. Bogon- (n)a guy who wears acid wash jeans, a 80s mullet, drives a trans am.
Ex: Kieran wants to be a rich bogon when he grows up.

In addition to the phrases that Kieran teaches us, he has also been working on speaking with an American accent. He usually ends up sounding like a flamboyant gay man. I've been working on my Kiwi accent as well. So far, I've almost mastered the term "fish and chips". Kiwis love their fish and chips. But it's pronounced "fush and chups". And if you end most sentences with eh?, you tend to blend in a bit more.

A celebration of failed terrorists

Seriously, Kiwis have the weirdest holidays. Last night, November 5th, our Kiwi friends Kieran, Mindy, and Jamal took us out to the Timaru beach to celebrate Guy Fawkes Night. For those not up on their British history, Guy Fawkes worked with a group of terrorists in the 1600s to blow up the Houses of Parliament. But he failed. So naturally, the Kiwis decided to create an entire unofficial holiday to celebrate this failed attempt. It was like a psuedo 4th of July here.

I can't say that the fireworks display was anything close to a BABC display but it was still fun. We taught the Kiwis how to look dumb while watching fireworks (Mouths open, stare at the sky and do a lot of "oooo"s, and "ahhhh"s). We also ran around with sparklers like small children.

The next few days in Timaru are going to be fairly hectic. We have plans to go skeet shooting, golfing, visit our friend's farm, and go up to Christchurch for a night.

4 days to Australia....

Oh and yesterday I found Mexican-ish food. We gave it a C+. Definitely no Tito's but it'll do for now.

Revenge on Mt. Cook

I'm kind of tired, so apologies for the short post.

Yesterday we hopped on a 12 hour bus-cruise-bus from Queenstown to Milford Sound. That meant a 5 hour bus ride there, a 2 hour cruise, and another 5 hour bus ride home. It was a long day.

We got on the bus and starting driving on the most dangerous road in New Zealand. It took 20 years to build the winding road through the fjordland. Shaun and I had considered driving the road ourselves but we soon found that the $160 bus ride saved us from driving in the rain. 5 hours, some motion sickness and claustrophobia, and a few picture stops later, we arrived at the Milford Sound.

The Sound is the most famous tourist attraction in the world. Our guide told us that recently, it is a finalist for the new "Seven Natural Wonders of the World". We couldn't have gotten any luckier with the weather. Take that Mt. Cook. The rain just stopped as we hopped on our cruise. The waterfalls on the side on the fjord usually run for about 2 hours after it rains. It rains 187 days of the year at the Sound. As we started out into the Sound, the weather cleared and we got some sunshine, some amazing waterfalls (that only lasted for 2 hours before they disappeared), snowcapped mountains, sea lions, and wind. The wind and rain saved us from the notorious sandflies. We had heard horror stories about the sandsflies and despite being armed with my 40% deet, I had been terrified. I always get eaten alive by whatever native bug is within 40 miles of me.

I'm a bit too tired to come up with more descriptive adjectives of the Milford Sound, but it was truly incredible. It makes you feel very insignificant in the midst of a natural wonder that took thousands of years to create. I'd post all 100 pictures that I took yesterday, but honestly, they would probably all look the same to you and doesn't do the place justice.

We're driving back to Timaru today. Working very hard on trying to find a place to live in Melbourne. 5 days. Yay. As much as I have love New Zealand, I am ready to find a job and friends in Aussie.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2542775&id=1222862&l=90a7c57542