Day 28: Settling in

Slept. In. Ahhhh...

Had coffee & The Scot made me delicious eggs & I sat in my pajamas watching TV. Funny that something so normal & boring can be so delightful.

They have skype, so I talked my mom (sorry dad, by the time we were done talking it was too late your time to call you; I'll call later) and chick - so nice to hear their voices!

After a good bit of lying around, we headed out for a nice driving tour of the city. We saw some pretty beachfront towns & rocky, sandy coastline that reminds me of California.

They took me to some lakes & parks to look at the funny birds, and we went to Kings Park & checked out the beautiful view of the city.  AB and I talked about the wedding (they're getting married in 2011) and the Awesome job I'm about to start.

Went to the grocery store - I love groceries in foreign places, there are always such strange things to check out - then came home for AB's famous bloody marys (the secret is old bay seasoning!), spring roll appetizers, and a peking duck dinner, which I've never had & they've never made before, so it was an adventure.  An adventure in deliciousness.

Cleaned up, watched TV and read a beauty-full Aussie magazine, Frankie, and then to bed.  First day of work tomorrow!

Today I am so happy & grateful for:
~ a lazy day
~ comfort
~ Skype

xo! n.

Day 27: Perth Parties

I feel terribly terribly late.

Everyone else in my room woke up at 4:30am & were out, luggage & all, by 5. And that is, of course, what I'm used to doing from this past week, so I felt completely disoriented. Add to that the fear I might miss my flight AGAIN - I was waking up every 30 minutes panicked. I even stepped out into the lobby to ask if it was really 6:30am bc I thought my phone was wrong. Sheesh.

But it all worked out; I caught my taxi, I caught my flight & I caught up on my blogging in the air. And AB & The Scot caught me in the airport! I'm SO happy to see them!

On first impression, Perth is a beautiful city; its very green & oh that blue ocean is just gorgeous! Especially after being in the desert. They live in Cottesloe Beach, which reminds me of the coast of the northwest US - big trees, houses on hills - its so pretty. Their apartment is FAB - right on the beach! You can see the ocean from their living room & bedroom!

And I have a room of my own, with drawers & a closet AND an ocean view. Le sigh. I cannot tell you how good it felt to unpack. I won't have to repack my backpack every morning!!

I'm so happy to be here with people I know, love & trust.

It is pretty weird to go from independent dirty backpacker lifestyle to this very adult, sophisticated world.  Quite a difference.  And I start work on Monday!

The Scot put together a spreadsheet of things for me to do while I'm here, which AB made fun of but I truly think it's great.  This way hopefully we won't fall into the trap of "oh we never got to do..." and we'll take advantage of any free time we have. It is pretty dang funny that it's a spreadsheet though - Todd, i think The Scot may be your long-lost brother.  ;)

We went down to the bar across the street from their apartment at 3 for their engagement party, where we drank bubbles & I got to meet a ton of their friends.  Everyone was soooo very nice and a few of them work for the Awesome Festival & gave me an idea of what to expect.  Yikes!!  They said it's really full-on work, long hours in the heat & it can be pretty stressful.  But they also said it's a great group of people (which i can already tell) and they have fun parties & it's really a pretty good job.  I'll be doing production work & met a very cool girl who'll apparently be the only other girl on the production side - I think we'll get along great.  She said we'll be building sets & painting & such, which is exactly what i was hoping, so I'm pretty excited.  Even if it's stressful, it's a new experience & it's only for a month anyway.

I had a fun time meeting everyone and by midnight was exhausted.  Time for bed in my own quiet, ocean breeze room.

Today I am so grateful & happy for:

~ a safe plane ride

~ being with my friends!!

~ a new place, new people, new things to experience

xo! n.

Outback Gratitude

I'm kind of sad to be leaving the outback; it was a singular experience, sometimes quite trying & taxing but completely worth it.

I learned a lot from it, and have a new found gratitude for...
~ private showers
~ soap & towels in restrooms
~ pillows (especially more than one)
~ mirrors
~ not knowing or caring what I look like
~ mattresses
~ sleeping past sunrise
~ seeing sunrise :)
~ the night sky
~ peanut butter toast
~ WATER, lots of water

It's weird to think the independent part of my trip is coming to an end.  It'll be lovely to see AB & The Scot, but I've been having such a great time on my own!  But it's all good.  Here's to the next stage in my adventure... 

xo! n.

Day 26: Friday the 13th strikes!

Bad morning. Got up on time, early even, feeling good, all packed & ready to catch the taxi to the airport, and when I got to the front desk of the hostel at 9:45am I realized my flight was actually at 10am - not noon, like I'd thought.

*x@!!@??@*#!!!! GRRRR!

I called Quantas but bc I'd bought the cheapest ticket to begin with, I simply lost what I paid for it & had to buy a new ticket. And there's only one flight a day so I have to go tomorrow. Believe me, a lot of expletives were used & a few tears were shed, but in the end, it could be much much worse. In fact, James pointed out that there could be some greater reason I shouldn't be on that flight. So I'm making the best of it & having a lovely, unrushed, lazy day at the pool in the sun with the guys from the bus trip, doing "la bomba"s & getting some sun.

Relaxed at the pool for a good 4 hours; it was so nice to have nothing to do. I really enjoyed the company of those silly boys & I'm really grateful that they were still around to hang out with.

Had an uncomfortable moment with one of the guys (won't name names); he told me he has feelings for me. Although I've really enjoyed his company, I don't return the feelings & it really took me by surprise. That conversation is always tough. But we were both honest & by that night, we were totally cool again, friends, no hard feelings. But that plus missing my flight & being out of the past weeks routine made for a pretty weird day.

When the day cooled down a bit, Stephen, James & I went into town to look for a new camera for me but everything was already closed. Shops close so early here; I can't get used to it! So instead, we found a little outdoor bar with live music & had a drink & talked (pictured). It was lovely.

We met Dennis, Carstan, Sandeep, Michelle (Swiss, met at the pool earlier), Erich and Verena at Bojangles Saloon for dinner. This place is great with crazy aussie stuff all over the walls - signs & shotguns & dead animals. All but two of us had the mixed grill: kangaroo, emu, camel, buffalo, and crocodile. It was good; croc looks really weird but it tastes fine, a lot like chicken (of course).

We noticed the bar had live webcams so I emailed a few of you & chick happened to be online! We ran to the emptiest part of the bar to wave at her, Stephen, Sandeep, James & I danced crazy crazy, and I walked to right beneath the camera & cheers'd her. How very cool that I'm across the world & I could cheers my roomie back home?! We looked like total idiots to anyone else watching but it was so fun.

She also gave me a new challenge: get a non-American boys number on a coaster & I did one better - I got 6! Ha ha! I made all the boys put their numbers on a napkin; I know its cheating bc I know them, and I will do the challenge properly, but I couldn't resist. :)

Then just drinking & more silliness. Another good night and another sad goodbye, this time for real.

Today I'm so happy & grateful for:
~ handling things maturely
~ making the best out of a less than perfect situation
~ a day of relaxation
~ meeting such a great group of solo travellers from all over the world
~ seeing AB & The Scot tomorrow!

Xo! n.

Day 25: the final hike

Although I still enjoyed waking up to the night sky and there were even more stars visible at 4:30am than there had been at 10pm, I was tiiiired this morning.

We piled our drowsy selves (our guide Jen calls us her little sleepy koalas) onto the bus & headed to Kings Canyon for our last hike in the outback. Started the hike at 6am up what's called Heart Attack Hill. Seriously.

My body was so mad at me.
But it ended up being a beautiful walk through the canyon - again, those bright orange rocks against the blue sky are just brilliant. Walked through what they call the lost city, which is an area of domed rocks that do look like strange desert buildings. They're sheets of sandstone, stacked up like dishes in a cupboard, each a bit smaller than the last to form a rugged dome. All together, they sort of looked like something out of a star wars movie; a futuristic ghost town.

Went down into an area that used to be underwater & you can still see fossilized ripples in the rock. (our guide Jen is pictured telling us about it). I put my hand on the rock & thought, I'm connecting with something millions of years old. Amazing.

Hiked through that to the Garden of Eden, an area of lush vegetation & springs coming up unexpectedly out of the rock & sand. Apparently its bc the canyon is made of sandstone which is full of air pockets, making it absorb rainfall like a sponge. We took a snack & water break by a large pool of water in the shade of canyon walls & a canopy of trees. It was beautiful.

It ended up being a really lovely, enjoyable 3hr hike & I'm glad we ended on a high note. :)

After the hike, Jen took us to the kings canyon resort and - oh what a treat! - we got to lounge in the pool for an hour & a half while she got lunch ready. We did "la bomba" (the boys made it up; you yell LA BOMBA as you cannonball into the pool - the objective is to make the biggest splash) and laughed & sunbathed. Then lunch & time for our last bus ride.

I sat in the back with the original crew - Erich (who's been on every bus trip with me), Sandeep, and Verena; we've been travelling together since Melbs, about 2 weeks. (pictured, left to right: Erich, Sandeep, me, Verena) Its amazing how well you can get to know people in that time; I'm going to miss them. we talked & laughed the whole 5 hrs & the couple from the UK, Dan & Sian, joined in. Talked about our different cultures, compared passports, learned words & phrases in other languages (teeter, I learned "I love you" in Welsch & Hindi for you!), and the time flew by.

Before we knew it we'd reached Alice Springs. Checked into the hostel & changed - I finally put on a dress & makeup, and everyone was like, whoa you look nice! James said I'd gone from being one of the lads to a proper lady and Sammy, who only speaks French, said oh la la & gave me a thumbs up. :)

We all went out, pretty much the entire group besides the oldies, to Annies, a funky bar with live music. We had a good time; Sandeep taught Stephen some Bollywood dancing (hilarious) and I taught everyone our (me teeter & chick's) "cheeahs" eye-contact cheer.

Sandeep & I kept butting heads a bit, miscommunicating in these continual serious conversations about our cultures & finally I told him I'm just exhausted. I'm not the representative of my country, I'm just one person out of millions & my perspective is only that. He agreed & we agreed to just enjoy each others company as people, not as cultures, and then it was much nicer.
Went to bed at a decent time, being responsible bc I knew I had to catch my flight to perth the next day. It was sad saying goodbye to everyone - its weird to make these connections with people & then know you may never see them again. But at least we have facebook. :)

Today I am so grateful & happy for:
~ internet
~ honesty
~ friendship

Xo! n.

Apologies

I am really behind on posting. I've had internet since we arrived in Alice Springs on thursday night, but I've been distracted & its a little daunting to catch up. Of course the longer I wait, the worse it gets & the dimmer my memory gets, so I will try to catch yall up today... :)

Day 24: hot rocks

Woke up to the still-night sky at 4am, tired, arms covered in bug bites, but supremely happy.

We watched the sun rise over Uluru & I actually found it liberating to not have a camera. Instead of trying to find the best spot for a photo, I just sat, admired the rock, and wrote in my journal. It was nice to have a little solitary time.

Then we did the base walk around the rock, which took 3 hours (at a leisurely pace). Sorry to dissapoint, AB & Ron, but I decided not to climb the rock - even at 6:30am, it was just too hot & I didn't feel up to the straight vertical climb. But I did really enjoy the base walk; the rock has so many faces, intriguing caves & honeycomb crevices. I put my hand to the rock & felt its heat and power.

Also saw some more cave art; apparently, these parts of Uluru were where stories were passed down & the art depicts thousands of years of stories. Really cool.

After the walk, we all seem to be exhausted; I think the early mornings have caught up to us. Also, its 10am & 39 degrees - vicious heat.

Headed to Kata Tjuta, fka "the Olgas", which from a distance, our guide pointed out, looks like Homer Simpson lying down! (not so much in the pic attached tho) Its a group of 39 domes of sandstone. We did a short hot hike into it & surprisingly, in the middle of hiking this bright red, dry stone, you suddenly come across a lush green oasis, complete with little pools of water rife with tadpoles. Really beautiful.

The colors here are vibrant - deep blue sky, olive green trees, silver saltbush, bright orange sand. And the moon! The moon is always present here, peeking milky white from the cloudless sky.

On the bus back to camp for lunch we passed a camel just hanging out, snacking on some brush. Funny.

Had lunch, packed, & headed back to the bus for another long drive out to Kings Canyon. I sat in the back with Sandeep, Stephan, & Ines (German), talking & laughing & singing, and the time flew by.

Side note to all you "combination pizza hut & taco bell" fans, there is a Euro-pop song about Kentucky fried chicken & a pizza hut!! Brilliant!

This campsite is awesome. Much more remote than last night, so when the sun sets (and the fire, which I love tho its way too hot for it, goes out) it will be pitch black. Its only 8pm & I can already see more stars than at home. And I'm in the southern hemisphere so its a completely different night sky than I've ever seen before.

I love this.

Sandeep tried to teach us some Bollywood dance moves & we discussed the possibility of snakes & dingoes in our swags as we sat around the campfire. When our guide Jen told us breakfast is at 4:30 and everyone was like "oh ok that's not bad" it suddenly struck us how strange a reaction that is & we all had a laugh.

After dinner, doing the dishes, a huge lizard came out of nowhere to climb the kitchen wall! We really are in the outback.

Another starry night under this endless sky, and if I thought last night was amazing, tonight is overwhelming. There are stars upon stars upon stars. I can see Venus. I counted 5 shooting stars before I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

Today I am so happy & grateful for:
~ the outback night sky
~ possibility & options
~ feeling exhausted in a good, complete way
~ no snakes or spiders or dingoes got me!

Xo! n.