Hello everyone!

I'm back in Sydney, home of the cheapest internet in Austrlia, so I thought I'd do an update.

Last week Krista and I did our second Surfaris trip, and it was amazing. The weather was gorgeous the whole time, the waves were fantastic, AND I could actually surf this time. Yes, that's right, I can actually surf!

Our group this time was a bit bigger, but super fun. I got to meet all sorts of cool people from all over the world (including someone who goes to Duke University! Duke is Duke!).

Friday night we got into Byron, and everyone enjoyed a hot shower and an early night. Saturday was just doing some errands and sweating, because its freaking hot. Saturday night we all got together and watched the video of our week, and had some drinks. And then we had a few more drinks, and somehow I ended up sleeping in a car in a field. But it's all good! Or at least it was until the 12 hour bus ride to Sydney started at 8am on Sunday morning. Urgh, is all I can say about that.

Anyways, because Krista is flying home super early Tuesday morning, we decided to splurge and stay in a hotel near the airport. Can I just say, that having your own shower is freaking awesome?! Hoohah to that!

We slept until a ridiculous hour this morning, and have done very little. I bought some chapstick. That's about it.

It looks like I will be heading up to Rainbow Beach tomorrow, and will meet up with this guy Jon I met on the surf trip. Despite being from Toronto, he's a pretty cool guy, and we're going to do Fraser Island together. For those not in the know, its the largest sand island in the world, and you can rent a 4x4 and drive around and camp and stuff. Its supposed to be a lot of fun.

Hopefully I will soon end up somewhere where I can load up my pictures! Cross your fingers!

Hello everyone!

Okay, I'd first like to address the lack of pictures going on. Here is the problem: most public internet stations do not allow you to plug in USB cords. Which means that I have a ton of pictures on my camera, but cannot get them onto the website. So stop your bitching! There is nothing I can do about this! As soon as I get to a computer where this is possible, I will post them. I promise.

Now for the update. On Monday Krista, Anna (German) and I went to check out the Art Gallery of Queensland. Rumoured to be free. Sadly, its closed till early December. So instead we hit up the Queensland Museum. Also free. While we were there, we saw the Ashes. For those of you not in the know, the Ashes are the ashes of some cricket wickets. From a game that was played many many years ago between England and Australia. Apparently, the Aussies won, and the English were so upset they burned the ashes of the losing wickets. Now the Ashes are the trophy of a big cricket game that's played every now and then. And they're currently in Brisbane, as the big game will be played there shortly. Wow, that was almost as boring as the game of cricket itself!

Anyways, the museum was cool.

On Tuesday we went shopping. Yes, I am weak. What can I say. I did manage to avoid buying a lot of stuff, though. Yay me!

Wednesday we took the train to the Australia Zoo, home of Steve Irwin, Crocodile Hunter. Or it was anyways, before he died. There were a lot of cool animals, and they do a pretty good job of having animals in appropriate habitats, and educating about habitat preservation and such.

Thursday I took it easy, and then we went out at night and met up with some friends. Which meant that I also took Friday pretty easy.

Today (Saturday), Krista and I took the longest bus ever to Byron Bay, and we'll leave tomorrow morning on our second Surfaris trip. Consequently, no internet access till Friday night, so be keeping that in mind!

Hello from sweaty Brisbane!

I got here last night after an amazing day at Wet 'n Wild waterpark. Lucky for me the hostel is air conditioned, because its crazy hot here. Last night, Krista, her friend Dave and I went out for some very tasty Chinese food, and then we hit up a pub called the Elephant and Wheelbarrow. It was unlike any pub I've ever been to, as they were playing all the same music you would hear at a club. What? But then a cover band went on, and they were pretty good.

After a bit of confusion with room arrangements this morning, I walked down to the grocery store. Its really far away. A really sweaty far awayness.

Once I got back to the hostel, I went for a swim in the hostel pool, and met up with my friend Ben. He's American, and we met in Sydney. Together with another Canadian and a couple of Germans, we hit up the last day of the Brisbane Food & Drink show.

The Food & Drink show is a smorgasboard of free samples, so we definitely took advantage of that. And then when the show ended everything got crazy cheap. So dinner tonight is a million different kinds of dip and crackers, as well as some wine.

On that note, I'm off to get that set up!

Since it is pouring rain out today, I thought writing a post would be a good way to pass the time. I've been pretty busy this week, and here's the downlow:

Tuesday was Melbourne Cup day. Krista and I got all gussied up (photos to follow, when I get somewhere that will let me uploat them) and took a taxi down to the Turf Club, the local racetrack. The place was packed with really nicely dressed people getting really drunk. So we decided to join in. Eventually met a couple of Australian guys who bought us champagne (score!) and showed us how to place bets. Sadly, I lost the only bet I placed, but it was only $5. I don't think I have much of a career in horse racing, but whatever.

On Wednesday we booked in with a company for really cool day trip. They picked us up at the hostel, and drove us to Moreton Bay (about an hour and a half away). Then we hoped on a boat, and the took us to the Moreton Islands. Once we go there, we snorkelled around some sunken ships for a while. Then we got back on the boat and had some lunch (best lunch, EVER) and some free time. After lunch we went searching for various animals and found some sea turtles, a manatee-like creature (I can't remember what its called) and an eagle ray. Which is some kind of sting ray. Anyways, after that, they threw a net out the back of the boat, and we all hoped on and they went really fast. Everyone lost their bathing suit bottoms, which was pretty hilarious, and other than the rope burn it was a good time.

Wednesday night is also a really big night to go out here in Surfer's, so after we got back and showered, we got started on the goon (Australian for wine in a box). There is a whole contingent of people from Lloydminister here, and they are mostly pretty hilarious, so we went out with them. There was a pub crawl, so everyone got pretty drunk, but we made it home eventually.

Today the weather is pretty crappy, so I don't think we're gonna get up to a whole lot. I foresee some movie watching, and maybe some book reading in my near future, but you never know.

Okay, this is a super speedy update, because the internet here is crazy expensive!

I'm now in Surfer's Paradise. Ironically named because apparently it is home of some of the worst surf on the East coast. There's lots of other stuff here. Its a big party town, and I will admit to getting pretty drunk on $10 jugs of beer last night. We've also done some pretty serious beach lying, and some shopping. The shopping is totally justifiable though, because tomorrow is Melbourne Cup day!

Melbourne Cup is like a huge horse racing thing here. All over the country people get dressed up and go out and drink all day and watch horse racing. Hats are de rigeur. So I got myself a nice little polka dotted dress and today I bought my first lady hat. Apparently about 15, 000 people are expected at the racing track tomorrow (just imagine what its like in Melbourne!)

There's lots of other stuff going on here, too. This week we're going to try and hit up Sea World, Wet n' Wild water park, some islands with dolphins and snorkeling, and a wildlife reserve. I'm getting tired just thinking about it!

In other news, my skin is peeling like nobody's business. Its super gross, and weird because its not peeling in the places where I've gotten burned!

Wish me luck pretending to be a fancy grown-up type tomorrow!

Didya notice the pictures? I have a bunch more on my ipod, but getting them onto a public computer is a huge pain in the ass.

So I'll just have to tell you what I've been up to for the last week! We stayed in Byron Bay for the weekend and had a pretty fun time. Its SO busy! I did a little shopping, which resulted in some editing from my backpack. New bathing suit, new dress, new sweatshirt thing and a rashie, for surfing.

On Monday I headed to Evan's Head. Its about an hour south of Byron, and one of my surf instructors from Surfaris lives there and rents out rooms. I went with a couple of girls I met on the trip: Krista from New Brunswick, and Christine from Germany. We managed to get in a bit of surfing, as well as some serious relaxing. We also did a bit of exploring, including a hike over some gorgeous headlands. Its an amazing area. Evan's Head is also home to an air force base, and while we were having a picnic lunch on Thursday a bunch of jets flew right over us. So loud!

Anyways, Krista and I came back to Byron today, but only briefly. She has a friend who works in a hostel in Surfer's Paradise, so we're headed there tomorrow. We're thinking a week there, and then a week in Brisbane. After that we are thinking of maybe doing another Surfaris.

Right now its pouring out (tropical rain style), so I'm not sure if our plans to hit up the tourist bar, the Cheeky Monkey are going to pan out. Sadly, I am an ill-prepared backpacker with no rain coat.

For now I'm going to go dig up some dinner. Hope everyone's well!