Australian Zoo!

I think Gorski is being a little bit hard on himself..given that you can't exactly force people to come into the restaurant to eat..and thats just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes... it doesn't help that his supervisor is a very intimidating low talker egyptian man who is hard to understand at times..but as I have told him, everyone has to gain experience somewhere...and not that lying is the right way to go about doing it, but as others have told us here also, you really should down play your resume..and not even put that you have university ..crazy!  I mean we are educated, enthusiastic and friendly canadians lol...I don't see how we cannot gain work at a restaurant or in retail.  Im sure he will be hearing from them in a few days, especially since they have hired people before that have no experience at all even in customer service..and plus, who wouldn't wanna hire a handsome chap like Brad!?


The Australian Zoo is an absolutely treat!  I'm not going to lie, I really wasn't sure what to expect of it...as we are not really that big into zoo's ..as we had not so good experiences in the past..but this zoo is absolutely amazing!

Our free shuttle bus from our hostel dropped us off at main beach at 8am where we waited for a coach bus (compliments of the zoo) to arrive at 8:30 am.  This service cost us $5.00 / p.p and that included our fare to and from the zoo.  The ride took about an hour to get there, but while your sitting on the bus they are playing episodes of 'Steve Irwin Diaries'.

We get there around 9:45..with 15 minutes until "hold a koala" starts!

So many awesome animals are here in the zoo...and not only are most the area's an 'open concept' confinement ..but they also have many other animals like talking parrots, lizards and possums just hanging around the zoo with staff for people to pet or take pictures with.

The first area we checked out were the Asian small clawed otters!  So adorable..small and very active little guys!  They also did a small Otter show, where a staff member went right into the otter's den and fed them while she told everyone about the species, their lifestyle, diet and other funny facts about them personally.

At one point they were all perched up on this log in front of everyone just posing for pictures.

Afterwards we didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to hold a koala ..so we dashed to the koala area, pumped and ready to hold a little fur ball!  Of course, like most things, this comes at a small cost of $20/p.p...so Brad was sweet enough to let me hold him, but we got a picture of the both of us together with the cute little guy.  Interesting facts about Koala's...
1. They don't drink water (unless they are sick or in danger of survival)
2. They like to eat only selected species of eucalyptus leaves, and eat about 500 g / day
3. There whole diet consist of eucalyptus leaves, and they sleep around 20 hrs/day
4. Koala's are not bears, they are marsupials

The only down fall to this 20$ fee is that you don't get to spend any time with the koala..its literally a line up of people just having the koala cling to one person to the next... I asked the staff member a few questions regarding the koala...so I guess I was lucky enough to hold him for 20 seconds lol.

Afterwards we checked out the croc area...lots of outdoor man made water holes..(open concept again) and you walk along a pathway, about 10-15 ft above ground, and you can look down on the crocs lurking in their water holes..or out bathing in the sun...pretty cool to see...some big crocs for sure, and even some grandma's!

The Zoo had 2 American Alligator pits, a large Freshwater crocodile pit area and 8 Saltwater pits..where they have even named each of them.

There were also many reptiles to see...Rhinoceros Iguana's (about 2 ft long) get their name from the outgrowth on the end of their noses that look like horns.

Lots of smaller australian lizards running around freely in the zoo also which was pretty cool just to see them doing their thing and not being locked up in cages.

The komodo dragon was really awesome. He was about 3 meters long...the body was like a brownish grey colour, but his head had more bright colours like blues & greens.  This is the largest land lizard, and can grow to be 100 kg !
I didn't know that there saliva contains poisonous bacteria ... so it will not bring prey down right away, but after a few days of infection, the prey will die.  They are carnivores who will eat any prey sized from small rodents to large water buffalo's!  (Needless to say, the Komodo was in a more secure surrounding and we could only look from behind glass)

The Perentie was something I had never seen before.  Looked kinda like a cross between a large komodo dragon and a crocodile. They are the biggest monitor lizards in Australia measuring up to 2 meters +

Next stop was Aldabran Tortoises !  Such an amazing reptile! These guys can weigh up to 300kg and about 1 meter tall!  Today they are considered to be a rare species and they are trying to introduce them to other neighbouring islands to enhance the chance of long term survival and these tortoises are protected where they currently inhabit. Im glad they walk so slow...gave us a good chance to check em out!  They also had cute little fresh water turtles swimming around in the water nearby.

Afterwards around 12:30 there was a great croc show in the Crocoseum! The staff had lured out a large croc into the main 'crocoseum'...or theatre where about close to a couple hundred of ppl could sit around and watch the show!  Pretty crazy how close they can get to them..on land that is!  A croc cannot manoeuvre as quickly on land compared to in the water..and one of the staff members proved this by sitting literally about 2 ft away from about a 10-15ft croc...so crazy! They also had a bunch of awesome birds flying around..and even displayed some snakes! Such a difference experience than what you would see back home!

Next, onto the cassowaries !  These birds are crazzzzy! These birds are very endangered and extremely dangerous because they are aggressive! (The females more than the males)  They are quite large...1-2 meters in height and the heaviest bird in Australia, and the second largest in the world after the ostrich...some of their names are 'Stomp' & 'Rocky'.  Says it all folks! You don't want to provoke this bird...which we found out afterwards when Brad thought one was going to peck his sandal.

We also checked out the Dingo's & Camels...when we got to the camel's den, the staff was actually taking them out for walks!  Its so nice to see them taking them out of their dens and giving them exercise and a break from being in a confined area.  The animals here in the zoo are truly spoiled to others than I have been to before, not only are they out walking the animals at certain times, but staff is also observing them, taking measurements of some (like the koala's, they were weighing them and monitoring their size and keeping records of all their data)

The Tasmanian Devil was awesome..he was a small male, 4 years old and already a dad to 3 joeys!  Taz Devils are carnivorous endangered marsupials only located now in Tasmania...hopefully we won't run into any of them when we go on our journey to pick fruit in the new year!  Apparently, they can devour an entire prey item..even the bones!  He kept running around when we were trying to take pictures of him..but Brad snapped this good one of his being curious on his hind feet

Next were the Wombats!  I really like them...they are like large hamsters!  They were pretty active..and then had a nice large den for resting and a huge play area outdoors.  They are actually marsupial mammals, and closest relative to the koala

KANGAROOS!!! I could have spend forever with them...they are sooooooo cute!  There were about...20 maybe all just hanging around the designated area in the zoo...not caged..lying around..some hopping around..others being fed by other zoo comers.. man, this shit was the coolest!  We bought a bag of kangaroo food for 2$ which contained like corn & what looked like deer pellets.  First we started off just petting the cute lil guys, and then I was too anxious so when we bought the food from the info centre, the staff member told us to hold your hand low..and then as they go to eat out of your hand..slowly move your hand upwards and then they will think your taking the food away and want to hold onto our hands while they eat...holy crap it was cool..so the eating began and we were both so happy!  Like little kids really..just giggling and petting them.  Some mind you were rougher eaters than others..and of course, theres always a pig in the group- at one point brad had 2 roe's eating out of his hands at once....they are just too cute!

There were tonnes of cool storks and cranes also, this one was my fav..the Jabiru.

Beautiful colours...so bright and pretty! 

We also got to see the top 10 venomous snakes including the python seen below...this guy was HUGE!

The Bengal Tigers were awesome also...another fav....never seen them interact like this..and the staff crew were right in there with them!  They had 'play toys' for them to chew on and chase into the water...so many times we saw them run and launch into the pool located right in front of our eyes..sooo cool to see these animals run and jump..and she even got one to climb a tree!  It was pretty sweet to see them so up close! 

The main reason they are putting on the 'tiger show' also is to raise awareness & donations for the poaching that goes on for tigers meat, bones, and hides.  They also were selling amazing pictures of them and all proceeds were going to save tigers in other countries.  They are estimating that by 2020 there is a good chance that they will all be extinct :(   Such large beautiful animals- weighting up to 300kg.

This guy kept going over the log to try and move it...He was the male of the group...so he was too much of a 'big man' to be playing with the 'play toys' i guess lol

The two females were extremely playful, jumping in and out of the pool..its not a skit or anything, they just play with the tigers and its up to them on whether they want to play or not..nothings forced

Fetching her play toy in the water...so unreal..this is actually glass...but when she jumped into the water..it was right at the glass wall..so water went spraying everywhere..pretty cool..looked like she was launching right at you

Action shot of the jump from the side...I was so excited..so its a bit blurry..and it just happened to start pouring rain right when the show started so I had to be quick.

Lastly, was feeding the elephants..there were 3 of them..the big man, the momma and the baby.  They were so cute!  The male elephant was actually dancing while he was waiting to be fed...it was really cute actually, and I'm kinda pissed we didn't take a video of him doing it..just putting one foot in front of the other...while standing...waiting patiently to be fed by all of US! 

So they set up like a conveyer belt type of situation to keep the feeding flowing nicely! There's a big white (almost like a fishing pail dad) thats filled with all kinds of goodies...cantaloupe, carrots, squash, bananas etc all cut into halves ready to be fed!  Felt too cool being able to do this...their trunks are rough and after they have been feeding for a while..a bit slimy lol.  But that didn't keep me from going multiple times over and over...they just like suction cup the food right out of your hand..and the little baby one would kinda like shake your hand and grabbed it from you...such a cool experience!  

BEST ZOO EVER!! 

You know, I kinda thought the whole Steve Irwin show and all was fake and just a front...but the truth is that he has set up so many conservation projects and programs for animals, its truly amazing! The Irwin family and staff rescue animals everyday and Steve even made their own koala hospital located right in the zoo.  I have really come to change my whole understanding of Steve Irwin and all his enthusiastic insanity! 

In fact, I'm pretty jealous.  They have the best job ever!  I think it would be such a rewarding job saving, working and helping these animals.  Many of the conservation projects that are going on right now and continuously are for: Cheetahs, Crocs, Elephants, Tigers, Tasmania Devils & Tagging Turtles & Crocs. 

Steve Irwin also has his own Wildlife Reserve dedicated to him, where many petitions are going on to keep mining practices out, and many others!  Sign it today! 

http://savestevesplace.com/

Random Other Thoughts

1. WASTE is ridiculous here...in the restaurant alone, we probably throw out each night after work about 3 big garbage bags of liquor bottles/beer bottles/glass coke bottles etc...3-4 bags of paper & cardboard...its so disgusting! 

2. The Pacific Fair Mall is a mansion castle for shop-a-holics located at Broad beach... Mom & Stace; now theres a place you could easily spend 9-5 shopping! We bought fresh squeezed juice from a smoothie bar there called New Zealands Natural..and it was the bomb!  Mine was watermelon, pineapple and boysenberry; brad had a berry one...unreal!  http://www.newzealandnatural.com/Australia

My first trial at a restaurant

So I have been finding it quite difficult finding a little serving job to hold me for a month so I started lying on my resume saying that I have some experience serving. Not happy about lying but you gotta do what ya gotta do.

So I got a trial at a fancy seafood bistro place which is probably not the best place to try and learn to do this kind of thing especially since they believe I have done it before but who cares, who could I hurt. For all my Bishops friends out there, I put down Sebbys and the Lion for some places I have worked. Hell I figure I was at both places so often it felt like I worked there anyways, in some cases I did at the Lion.

Anyways I thought I would share this story for everyone because it was a bad showing and I know most people would like to hear this fail. So nobody shows up at the restaurant in the first hour I am there. My duties are simple, fill up peoples water and take away plates but this is difficult when no one is in the restaurant. So the manager calls and hears that no one is there so he tells them that someone should be at the front trying to coax people to come and eat at the restaurant. So finally we start getting a couple tables and I am told not to worry about water or anything and to just stay at the front and get schmoozing to get people to come in. Sure enough the manager comes and sits and watches me for about 45 minutes as I stand at the front doing absolutely nothing. No one is even looking at the menu and no one is coming in. So after 45 minutes of literally standing there and doing nothing and bringing in not a person to eat I decide that I need to do something while he was there so I don't look like a complete retard. So I noticed that one of the few tables we had was a friend of the manager so I decided I might as well grab their dessert plates and bring them back so I can say I did something during my 2 hours trial. So I come over and grab their plates and of course I drop some cutlery on the table and smash a glass. They proceed to make fun of me and I scurry away with my tail between my legs. Then I decide to take some dishes out of the dish washer. I fumble that and hit the counter as I am placing it and pour water all over myself and the counter.

So I doubt I will be hearing back from them after that trial and I thought that everyone would enjoy hearing about my failure at serving for the very first time.

Trip to Noosa

Jods and I had about 5 days where we didn't have a place to stay here in Surfers and it just so happened that Jods was able to get the exact days off. So we mulled it over for a little while, trying to figure out what we wanted to do or where we wanted to go. We read some of our Lonely Planet book and asked a few friends their suggestions and decided on visiting Noosa which is north of Brisbane. So we hopped on a bus and after a stop over in Brisbane we arrived in Noosa.

Every place we have been to so far is extremely low stress. Every single hostel we have been to provides shuttles too and from most public transportation areas. We ended up staying with Dolphins Beach House, which was highly recommended by Lonely Planet and had fantastic reviews online and also happens to be in Sunshine Coast. So we got in to Noosa and we were sitting around waiting for the public bus to take us to Sunshine. Sure enough like all the places we have visited, a guy comes running up to us asking us if we knew where we were going. We told him and he told us to wait in another area because our hostel was coming to pick us up. We didn't have to call them or ask for a ride, they just come every hour and know the bus schedule and show up shortly after to pick up all travellers. What a great start to the trip.

After about 5 or 10 minutes a Brit shows up on the Dolphins shuttle bus, asks us where we are from and laughs because we said Canada. "You guys drinking tonight? Monday is the best night to go out around here and there are always lots of Canadians playing beer pong at our place!" So how can we turn that down. We take a quick run up to the bottle shop and have a nice chat with the liquor store guy, (he yells at us for a bit saying that his store is a whistle free zone, we obviously test this, all jokes), and we manage to find a 24 pack of german beers for 33 bucks, (ridiculously cheap for here).

So we get back and scarf down some of the most delicious pizza I have ever had and start boozing with a group of people from all over. A few Brits, some dutch people, a couple americans and some irish folk. A vast majority of them were heading to the zoo in the morning so we can only convince a brit and a texan to come out. They proceed to tell us about how the craziest people they came across during their travels were Canadians so we have big shoes to fill. All in all it was a good time, dancing and making fun of people, met up with a german that we met in the hostel that was super nice and we didn't get home and to bed until around 4 or 5. 

We woke up early, a little too early, to do a walk through the Noosa National Park towards Noosa itself. Since I was going one for one with the 3 girls the night before, pints against small mixed drinks, I woke up very enthusiastic and ready to take on the day. This walk we did was amazing though, Every corner we took had amazing views of cliffs and massive blue waves hitting rocks. Jods and I were saying every 30 seconds how happy we were that we were here. A lot of shitty days working at shitty jobs in Ottawa were making this whole trip really worth it.

These were just a few of the many pictures we took of this amazing hike. It took us about 3 or 4 hours to walk this estimated 2 hour walk because we stopped so many times to take it all in. Nick and Shan if you guys are reading this it was a lot like our hike up the mountain in Poland, so many amazing lookouts that took our breath away (well maybe not Jods with her wows and oohs lol).

We saw our first poisonous snake in the wild on this hike. I don't remember the name of the snake but it was about 4 feet long and zoomed across the path in front of us. We took a quick look at it in the bush but we didn't want to anger it so we let it do its thing. (the reason I know it was a poisonous one was a couple days later I was at the Australian zoo and we referenced it and it was something real nasty). We also saw a bunch of sea turtle in one of the surfs. Those suckers are large but it was really cool to see them in the wild as well.

Along the walk we came across Alexandria bay I think was the name. We had no idea until we got close that it happened to be a nude beach. We came walking down the path going towards the beach when I saw an old man walking around naked. That was the first show of many that we saw along that walk. It was a really nice beach because it was gorgeous white sand with nice crashing waves and the only way you could get there was by a fairly vigorous hour walk on either side, hence the nakedness. So the next day Jody and I had another wonderful sunny day so we decided to pack a cooler full of ice cold beer and snacks and get nice and naked on this beach. Man that was a wonderful afternoon, there is nothing like sitting on a beautiful isolated beach drinking beer in your birthday suit with your beautiful girlfriend doing the same right beside you. Don't worry we clinked beers to all those back home in the cold.

These are the types of houses that one day I will own myself.

Noosa is such a beautiful clean place with a wonderful boardwalk and cafes and restaurants along it. The people there were all so friendly and I had absolutely no complaints about the city. We both said that if we could have moved there and spent a couple months there we would have. Its such nice small town atmosphere but so clean and everything you could want to do and more. There are wonderful hikes around and great places to surf and kayak. One of the best markets in the surrounding area, (but we didn't end up getting there which we were really disappointed about). Just thinking about it now makes me want to go back. Of all the places we have been so far this was definitely my fav. 

We also got to go to the Australian zoo while we were there but I think I'll let Jods talk about that one, animals and Jods are just 2 peas in a pod

All in all go to Noosa if you get the chance. You won't regret it

Nicolini's & Random Thoughts Dec 8th, 2011

So im not going to get into another restaurant rant..Nicolini's is better..but still far from what we are used to back home..and I'll leave it at that!  I also am getting paid for my trial..so thats sweet also...so as you can already guess from that statement, I accepted the job..its a higher paying wage, reasonable hours..and as far as I understand (as again, your pretty much left in the dark about everything..) I'm getting paid in cash (prob under the table) so no tax deductions!

Anyways, since my trial i have worked 3 shifts...and I think I've done a pretty good job at teaching myself so far as clearly thats not what others are going to do.  So overall, I like it s far, its nice, good italian food...spendy...and the other waitstaff there is really nice.  I actually work with this one girl from Brazil who reminds me a lot of Stacy's France exchange student- Lulu!

Anyways, moving on to random thoughts...

Random thoughts in the past 2 days..

1.  Its been pretty overcast here, and raining on and off during the day and for most of the nights...reminds me a lot of Holland lately...but its do-able and more of a mist ..the odd down pour, so if your lucky, you can dash to the nearest shop or resty for shelter ..and in 2 minutes you can get back on your merry way....so unfortunately, for my past 2 days off, we have not even been to the beach

2.  Not sure if its the damp wet weather or if in general its a night time thing...but cockroaches are out..and we've seen many in the last few days walking about on the sidewalks during the night....they are about the size of a toonie...redish brown..long antenna's.... and I'm going to stop there before I give myself the 'ebbie jebbies' loll

3.  Theres a mall close by called Cavil Shopping Center...and at the top floor is a gaming room called "Timezone" - Brad was there prior to me so he took me for a tour today to show me how ridiculous that place actually is....its crazy!!! Its every gaming kids dream!  There must be a good..huem..200 games AT LEAST..between fairway games, token games, pinballs, dance dance revolution...you name it - they got it! Including these ones too:

Back home its.. "whack a mole" but in OZ its "Whack a croc" or "Whack a shark"
Back home its.. "Lazer Tag " but in OZ its "Lazer Skimish" ($10/p.p)
Back home its.. "fooseball" but here its "foose rugby" or "foose 'football' aka soccer"
Back home its .. "ski ball" here its "ice ball"
Back home its .. " air hockey table" - here its "rugby air tables"

Anyways we spent about i'd say close to 30 minutes just walking around this place looking at all the games...the amount of energy that place must accumulate on lighting alone must be mental haha..5000 meters squared

4.  Instead of saying 'lots' of something, ozzies use "Heaps"!
5. No shirt, no shoes no service does not apply here

Thats about all for now folks

Dec 3rd 2011 - My trial experience in a Resty

So, I had my first call back for a serving ..or as they like to called it here, "wait staff" position at "Hogs Breath Cafe" (haha sounds appetizing eh..lol, but its a well known chain restaurant down here, known for their prime rib steak)
http://www.hogsbreath.com.au/

I was hanging around the apartment applying for jobs when I got one of my first incoming calls on my cell (exciting..i know lol) Anyways, the gentleman on the other end invited me to come into his restaurant for a 'trial'.
So I went for 5:45 yesterday, not really knowing what this 'trial' was all about.  Bused to Main Beach (which is about a 5-10 min bus ride up the beach towards the Spit)
They gave me a uniform and then the fun began.

Serving in a restaurant down here is much different than back home...in many many ways.

Brads right, customer service down here is horrible...and now I understand why from my first experience being put right in the middle of it!

How Aus restaurants vary from Canada..

1. Sections - yes, there are sections on when the customer gets seated, but after the order is taken, you may have 4 different people who: bring your drinks, bring your meals, clear your dirty dishes & give you your bill.

This makes it very confusing when your not looking after your own tables...as you have no idea what stage each table may be at...its crazy!

2. The Bar area: they have a person usually allocated to making drinks, and you have to ALWAYS drop off and pick up drinks with a tray..never with your hands. (Thats for plates only) - so even if someone asks for another beverage, you are to leave it there empty in front of them, go order another, and only when you bring out their new drink on a tray, then you can pick up their other empty glass....(ok, every restaurant has their 'ways' of doing things) But its pretty awkward when they are holding it out to give to you to take lol

3. The Garbage /Slop area:  just a counter with a hole in it, where you can scrape off the dirty plates when customers are done eating and stack in a pile for the dishwasher to grab....

Also..most places I have worked before back home, will have a sink nearby, as most the time your hands can get dirty after doing this...nope not here.  There is only ONE sink to wash your hands (which by the way I didn't see ANY servers ever do..so consistently grabbing new food from the kitchen, grabbing dirty ones, and the cycle continues...) and the sink is located on the complete other side of the restaurant, behind the bar...very convenient...i know!

4. Printing Checks/ Cash:  This restaurant had 3 bus stations..however, they call it something else..
You can only print checks out at two places...1 of the bus stations, and at the main greeting desk...not so convenient when your busy...

Wait staff don't carry floats! So any money you are given is taken to the main greeting desk and put into the  computer there...i have no idea how the cash outs will work as I have not been shown that, but I guess it doesn't really matter when your not being tipped.

5. No tips - the odd table may tip you I guess..but generally its a known fact that you pay what you see and no further tip is required.

6. Not everyones meals come out at the same time- I HATE THIS - I think its really bad service. ..but when your here..no one cares so its all good! lol its crazy, so half the table may get there meals, and 5-10 mins later, the rest of them will be served...and no ones ever put up a fuss..and its just accepted I guess..SO DIFFERENT from back home...people back home would be loosing their shit (as, I mean, Im the same way, I will wait for everyone to have their meals before I start eating, so we can eat all together)

I feel like there are a few more things...like no one is allocated to clean the bathrooms...and if your bored and no one is around..you don't really have to make yourself 'look busy'...they don't clean or wipe down menus etc...and little stuff here and there...that I'm leaving out..but this gives you an idea and the just of how different it is here.

So it was very different working in a restaurant environment where you can take someones order, and theres a good chance you won't see them at all after that.  My trial lasted about 2 hours...and I pretty much just acted like a bus girl..running drinks, meals and picking up dirty dishes.  There was also another Canadian guy there doing the same things as me, so we were both pretty shocked on how different it is here...and it takes some getting used to..as everyone is running around...you might clear a table..and before you can get there to re-set it, someone has already beat you to it...so i feel like, yes its good working as a team, but more time is wasted, as I would have already grabbed the cutlery to re-set and now I have to walk back and put them away..just annoying at times I guess as there is NO ORDER at all

The Manager, who by the way.. looked not much older than myself, offered me a position after my trial..and I unofficially accepted....however, I have another trial tonight at another restaurant, right in Surfers, about 3-4 blocks away from the Hotel we are staying at called Nicolini's (Italian restaurant); so I am hoping this one might be a little better..its smaller, more quaint, older crowd, unlike Hogs which is like a Joeys Only, or Boston Pizza type chain...

Hogs only offered me also a wage of $16.44 + super annuity (which I don't care about), which I'm not pleased with as most restaurants here offer $20-$25...so I'm really hoping Nicolini's will offer me something better!

I also spent alllllll afternoon getting the australian RSA (responsible server of alcohol) course, (like our Smart Serve) soooo i spent the money there also, along with all my restaurant experience, I think I deserve at least $20/hr!

I wonder if its going to be as similar as Hog's Breath...I will find out at 6pm tonight!

Brad's Random thoughts

The driver sits on the left side of the car and they drive on the other side of the road. Can get very confusing because I was always told as a child to look both ways, I look right and see nothing and start walking.....not a great idea!!

also.... driving on the other side of the road also means that when walking on the sidewalk you should keep to the left of the sidewalk or you will be walking into very angry looking aussies. I didn't quite understand why they were walking straight at me and giving me evil looks.

Its extremely difficult to find recycling here.... Whats the deal with that!! This can cause some problems when your dating a very recycling conscious person.

Customer service blows!! Not only does it suck getting supper at places and getting any kind of service checks, places like vodaphone lie to you about their services and tell you all these things about your phone to find out later that your phone is not compatible. Right now Jods is over there giving them shit. Hopefully it works out.

While camping in Byron I have never seen stars so bright. I have done some camping in Canada in fairly remote areas but I have never seen stars so friggen bright. It is also harder to find constellations in the southern hemisphere.

The animals and wildlife are awesome here. Its so funny how you look around and every single animal is so much different then Canada, except for the fucking seagulls and pigeons, of course those bastards have to be here too. We don't know the names of the birds so we created names for them. There's yellow face, mohawk, sex bird (makes a noise that kinda sounds like "oh yeah" and it makes the noise louder and louder and in a higher pitch until it, well you know.....makes a climax like sound). The June bugs are massive, the frogs are quite large, the lizards are awesome and we haven't seen any spiders or snakes worth talking about.

Byron Bay was having a drug crack down while we were there. This is because of the schoolies, the growing drug problem and the fact that Nimbin is so close. Nimbin is a wonderful little town full of dopers and crazy people, there are some hippies there too. Its a really neat town worth taking a look at. Expensive and crappy product though. With that being said we were in Byron at a bar and saw a puppy running around. We immediately try to get its attention and pet it (jods loves her puppies), apparently trying to get the attention of a police drug dog is not a smart idea. Once we realized it was a drug dog we decided thats not a dog we want to befriend. Luckily our Nimbin purchase was long gone by that point.

I LOVE BOOGIE BOARDING!!!

I can't wait to get on a surf board!! maybe tomorrow.

Oh yeah..... There is a bird here that sounds exactly like a bunch of laughing monkeys. No shit, it sounds hilarious. You wake up in the morning and it sounds like a whole bunch of monkeys are laughing at you.

Cats here are not friendly.

Thats all for now. Im sure I will have many more random thoughts for ya

Springbrook National Park - Natural Bridge- Best of All Lookout

Mon Nov 21

Our team spent the day basking under the sunny rays.  Brad showed me how to boogie board on 10 ft waves...so much fun!  The ocean floor is sandy and soft - however the waves were quite rough and the current pulls you quickly making it sometimes hard to stand up.

Tues Nov 22

This morning we woke up early and headed out to the rainforest nearby!  

We hit up the Natural Bridge Walk- which lead us to an amazing little waterfall.  

Trees in the National Park were very different than what we are used to back home, and walking through the park had a damp cool feeling that was refreshing.  

Along our walk through, we kept our eyes peeled for any wildlife that we might come across, needless to say, no spiders or snakes were spotted...but this black lizard caught Lindsay off guard as we walked down the walking path.  We snapped a few pictures of it before we slowly wandered off back into the rainforest.

Some of the lookouts that we saw along the way in Springbrook were amazing.  The falls shown below are a plunging 106 meters down- The view was spectacular from so high above and the tree canopy seemed to be never-ending! 

To the left - is the 106m waterfall (not so lush due to a lack of rainfall)

Looking out forward from the railing

Looking at the falls from another lookout point 

More trees :) 

Antarctic Beach Trees

 This tree was actually burnt down in 1911 - and at that point it was already 1,000 years old.  They had to cut and burn the top of it down, as it was too large and close to the school located in the left hand corner of the picture - as was considered to be a risk

 This was looking out from "Best of All" lookout point - the highest peak is Mt Warning which is an inactive volcano

 This was the valley & mountains to the left of Mt Warning

We ended the day with a local stop in a village along the way and chowed down on some delicious meat pies (tomato & onion, bacon & cheese, plain (minced meat) and a sausage roll.

We are taking off tomorrow for Byron Bay!

Hey Everyone!

I created this blog so that family & friends can follow us on our travels in and through Australia for the next year.  Ill try to come on and keep you guys updated as often as we can.  

Where to start...

We left Canada on Nov 16th, 2011 @ 7:30AM

We flew from Ottawa --> Vancouver --> Aukland --> Australia (on Nov 18th, 2011 10:30AM) 

Brad and I are living in Surfers Paradise currently with two of his friends from Bishops Uni.

CHAPTER 1

We have only been here for 3 days, and I'm still not sure yet if its hit me that we are here...the weather has been 28 degrees, bright clear blue skies, an amazing turquoise ocean and white sandy beaches.  Before moving to Aus we had already set up an Australian bank account, and on our second day of being here, we both purchased Android cells - which incase you didn't already know, are hooked up to Skype - so another great way we can text or talk and keep in touch :) 

Brads: Brad.Gorski

Jodys: jodsveauds

Our two lovely hosts have been taking good care of both of us, spoiling us with amazing dinners and great company.  We are both so lucky to have friends here to help us out in our first transition to moving to Australia and its been extremely helpful!

We have been discussing a bit more about what our next plan/step is going to be/take us...

We are hoping to both get low-key jobs for a month or two here in the city, possibly getting a hook up at either a cafe (coffee shop) or possibly working seasonal work... with that being said, were not committing to anything at the moment, and we are still applying for jobs online also. 

We are also looking to do harvesting jobs in the new year maybe - probably in Tasmania (south of Australia- island).  Lots of options such as cherry, mango, almonds and olive picking/harvesting - and theres a great webiste here that we can check to see what work is available at this time of year...so we are hoping that if all goes good, that we will spend 3 months doing that and at the same time, travelling around Tasmania.  There are about 10 National Parks on the island, wine country and lots of other amazing things to do on the  island, so we are thinking it might be a great way to see that part of Australia while working at the same time.

Theres lots to figure out in the next week..

Our hosts will be out travelling with their parents who are coming down to visit for 10 days - so we are thinking of taking the opportunity to check out Byron Bay while they are gone -and do some camping and exploring of our own!  We will be living in a hotel (lease) apartment until Jan...so we are thinking of spending Dec-Jan here in Surfer's...and then we can move to Tasmania  in the new year and start our harvesting, save $ and then possibly move to Melbourne /Victoria and set up shop either there...or Sydney...or..?? again, this will depend on where we find work..but those cities are interests for sure!  

Thats about it for now, just pretty much waking up every morn around 8am - having some brekky, doing some running around to set up cell phones, banking etc and then spending the rest of our afternoon chillin on the beach, relaxing and taking it all in!!

Random Thoughts:

*The next two weeks here in Surfers is "schoolies week" so there are 30,000 students that come here to party and celebrate graduating high school.......so, its been quite interesting as all these students are crowding the beaches, streets and of course are obnoxious drunkies for 2 weeks, not sure how many are staying in our hotel, but Matts sandals have already been stolen and we receive many anonymous knocks on the hotel door, yelling and heckling from balconies...our famous phrase for the next 2 weeks is "fucking schoolies!" as they are so annoying all the time lol..juicers!

*the 'in-style' fashion over here for girls apparently are those high-rise top jean shorts...half of them have their ass cheeks hanging out...others are battling frontal wedgies - its quite the look ..haha - i wouldn't be caught dead in this...its awful looking...especially when paired with a bikini top..talk about brutal tan lines.

*There is a pet store here on the main strip where you can go and actually 'rent'/ take care of puppies and take them home and look after them for the night - including food supplies - so that the puppies don't have to stay in the kennels over night..its free..and no, we have not done this.....yet. lol 

*Grapes cost $18.99 per kilo....!!???

Heres some pictures we have taken in the past few days:) 

Enjoy! 

This is the view from our hotel apartment looking over Surfers Paradise beach from the elevator, 10th floor - about a 5 minute walk to white sand, blue skies & the refreshing ocean!

This is further up the gold coast, about a 10-15 min drive from where we are staying - The Spit-  Lots of ppl fishing here on the side.  This side of the barrier is also been known for spotting sharks- so no swimming unless your crazy enough to hop on your surf board and make your way over to the island thats shown in the back.

This is the other side of the rock barrier at the Spit.  Great waves for surfing, lots of dogs running on the beach and safer for swimming.

Surfers Paradise - where we are staying currently :)