Friday, June 29, 2012

Sydney - June 29th, 2012

Jeff and I flew into Sydney a day early to meet with the lawyers who executed the deal. I went and bought a stunning dress and shoes for the occasion. Thanks Jeff. Dinner was hilarious. Eight people and 18 shots of tequilla plus four bottles of wine make for an interesting night. I had a wonderful eye filet of steak and Italian ice cream. I swear I eat better when I am with Jeff than I do the rest of the year.

I slept in a wonderfully comfortable bed until noon - the view was of the Sydney Bridge and the Opera House. Upon packing I moved to the hotel that I had booked by Groupon. In reality, I had booked two days of buffets at the Novotel not the actual hotel room. So, I moved to the WakeUp! hostel for the next two days. At $40/night it is not too bad but no where near the 6 star I stayed in last night. I don't have much of a choice though as Sydney is wicked expensive.

I have gotten very used to public transit and cannot wait to have my car back. I took hours of public transit today. Sydney is almost worse than Perth for the public transport system.

I ran into Jenna (who I know from UWA) here in Sydney today when I was on my way to the zoo. We did the Torongo Zoo which is a ferry ride away from the Sydney Opera House. The zoo was awesome and we saw tons of Australian animals. The platapus' were no where to be seen which was a tad depressing.

I booked a ticket for an opera at the Sydney Opera House tonight which should be spectacular. Will update after the opera.

AFN 

Melbourne Round Two

Melbourne was a whirlwind of a trip again but much shorter. The food was incredible of course.

This time I was shopping for Jeff's apartment. I met with a real estate agent who showed me houses that were essentially sterile places. He picked a great choice out in Brighton. I found several designers for him as well. I find Australian people super hard to understand on the phone.

Jeff and myself had dinner with the former CFO of Customers' at a fabulous Italian place. She was quite nice and moving to Geralton out in WA. The waitress was a huge winch. All I wanted was mussels on a bed of pasta and she could not comprehend. Instead, we had mussels to start and then Josie and myself shared a tripe pine nut pasta thing which was revolting. However, there isn't much I could do when she offered to share the plate for dinner. I went to Macca's after dinner cause I was still hungry.

I met up with Claire, Maria, and Leigh (who I know from UWA) and did an afternoon of sightseeing and the aquarium. I have been to the aquarium three times now and it doesn't seem to wane. We did lunch at some back alley restuarant that was called "No Name". I had a turkey and cranberry sandwich.

Melbourne doesn't really change which is nice - the weather was pleasant again.

I went for a couple of runs and a good workout while I was there. Probably a good thing as dinners were rich and loaded with calories. The best dinner was at the Atlantic - we had Morton Bay Bugs, Prawns, Crab, Scallops, and a steak. Literally, I couldn't have eaten any more food. I don't want to know the cost of anything I ate there.  

The Hilton still does deliver warm robes to your room which is fabulous.

AFN 

Dive Trip

Write post here.

Dive Boat - June 20-25 

I landed in Cairns at 10 am after a hell flight from Perth-Brisbane-Cairns. I checked into Mike Ball and found out I was only allowed one bag on the boat. Of course since I packed up my room and flew here, nothing was in any sort of packed order. I unpacked and replaced one bag with all of my dive gear and select clothes. 

I walked around Cairns until 4 when we all met up for dinner. There is a nice boardwalk around the lagoon. Other than that though, there's not much to do. Everything is based around the water. The dive boat has 29 people on it plus eight staff. It is a 100 foot boat called the Spoilsport. I am in cabin 6 on the port side. Nice room with my own bathroom/shower. 

We got on board and I pretty much went to bed after the safety and dive procedure talks. The first day we dove four times - Challenger Bay, Two Towers twice, and Challenger Bay again. We saw crocodile needlefish, sea snakes, squirrel fish, lion fish, anemone fish, clown fish, and minke whales on the first dive. The two towers dive, my buddy and I misused the compass and ended up miles away from the boat. We had to be picked up by the rescue boat cause no air and no snorkel are a great combination when you aren't a mile away from the boat. However, when we got lost we ran into a mum and calf minke whale set which was the first set to be seen in this area ever. The second time here was better and didn't get lost. The night dive was terrifying cause the predatory dish would be behind you and as soon as you flashed the light on a dish it was eaten. My buddy and I did dives of 62-69 minutes every time. 

We ended up snorkeling with 9 minke whales on the first day. They are magnificent. They are maybe 6m long and 7 tons. They are quite inquisitive and thus com within touching distance of you. They stayed with us all day for 9 hours which is rare I guess. We had nose breaches, ballerina spins, belly presentations, and noises. The minke specialist thinks that the GBR is a place where they come to mate. Not much is known about them; they don't know where they migrate, where they eat, why they are in the GBR, and why they don't eat in the GBR. This trip has had a lot of firsts I guess 

The second day we dove four times at Pixie Pinnacle and Lighthouse Bombie. The lighthouse Bombie wasn't fantastic. The visibility was maybe 6 feet. It was also a shallow dive. The current was brutal as well. The first dive, we saw lion fish, nudibreg, coral, barracuda, purple fish, blue fish, giant four foot blue starfish, red flashing file clam, and tons of angel fish. The second dive we saw eels, mantis shrimp, nudibreg, white top sharks, bull rays, coral, clownfish, bullhead parrot fish. The night dive was entertaining. My buddy and I got lost again and missed the site but found the boat again. I honestly didn't see much on that dive. Over the day we averaged a dive length of 66 minutes on 3200 PSI. 

We got extraordinarily lucky and had a pod of 39 whales over the course of the day. The best times to see the whales is the last week of June and the first week of July. The whale specialist told us all about the whales and how little they know about them after 10 years of research. We had whales literally pop up for air a foot away from you. It was incredible. 

The third day we dove the Cod Hole. Swimming was impossible-as the current was intensive and going to wrong way from the reef. I fought the current the entire time. This area is known for its giant potato cod which a five foot monstrous looking cod. There was nothing interesting on this dive that we hadn't seen for the last couple if days. Minke whales showed up in the arvo. I sun tanned and did the required no diving within 24 hours before a flight thing. 

Food has been incredible the entire time. 6 am wake up are not my favorite thing. I tend to go to bed at 9 here. The rocking because of waves didn't bother me. I showered after every dive cause a 3mm wetsuit and 26C water didn't mix too well. The sun shined all weekend. Cold wetsuits are the worst part of the morning. I spent more time in the water than on the boat. it took. Couple of hours to be able to do stairs and walk on a constantly moving boat but I feel like I will have sea legs when I get back on land. 
 
AFN 

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Tropical Storm

It is pretty scary here in Perth right now

There is a severe weather warning out today for: being in the midst of a tropical storm. The wind is blowing at 185 km/hour. I live in a construction site basically. There is a giant crane in the middle of Currie Hall. The windows are shaking its so bad.

It has been alternating between thunder/lightening and hail the size of golf balls. It is ridiculous. I guess some major tropical depression is off the south western coast of Australia right now affecting the Perth area.

The power is about to be cut off for a while because they are worried about the buildings.

AFN 

Saturday, June 09, 2012

Fremantle

This morning started at 515 am when I was woken up by construction. I don't understand why they start so bloomin' early on the weekend but they do. I studied for a couple of hours then Jenna, Caitlin, Christy, Malou, Leigh, and myself meandered down to Fremantle City. It is the artsy town just an hour bus ride south of Perth. It's quite the neat town - old buildings and a giant university. I generally go to Fremantle to get on the dive boat but have never set foot in the town.

Every second Saturday they have a giant market where they sell an assortment of items such as boomerangs, tea and spices, tacky tourist things, opals, local artisan items, and food. I had the most delectable Moroccan coffee whilst the girls bought the tacky tourist things for home. It honestly was heaven in a cup.

We played with boomerangs in the town square and learned how to properly throw one. It is an intricate balance of force and angle. You throw it like a little girl throws a baseball or a good beer pong shot at between a 15-45 degree angle. I still can't throw one that spins around me but I can get it to come back to me.

Lunch was at Ciserello's on the water. It is a hole in the wall fish and chips place. I ordered chicken fingers and fries which came wrapped in newspaper. The girls had fish and chips which looked delicious. I base not eating fish as karma - I don't eat them so they don't eat me.

I picked up more Fantales to ship home in the suitcases that are being shipped home. I figured a taste of Australia would reach me when I get home. It is probably the only way that they won't get eaten.

The best part of my day though was my nap. I am going to miss my afternoon siestas from 2 - 3pm daily. There is something refreshing about an arvo nap. 

The weather held up for the most part today - 18C and cloudy. I am tired of rain. Rain is truly depressing and makes my hair look horrifically poofy. People don't understand that torrential downpour for three solid days is worse than snow. With snow at least the sun shines at some point or you can see the moon at night.

As a perk of studying on a Saturday night, Currie Hall delivered late night pizza to our rooms. I am falling in love with BBQ chicken (pizza dough, BBQ sauce, chicken pieces, and cheese) from Broadway. I need to find somewhere in Calgary that does BBQ sauce instead of tomato sauce.

Tonight will be a late night of power cramming for my Tuesday exam. I have drank five cups of Australian Afternoon Tea and a cup of coffee today.

AFN

Friday, June 08, 2012

Packing Up

This is a very sad day. I finished packing up everything that is going to Canada. My entire life fits into a suitcase and a duffel bag. I also have a backpack for my travels afterwards but my room feels empty and bare. I got rid of 4kg of clothes and one pair of shoes that I am not bringing back. I am pretty sure red dirt never comes out of anything. I am not looking forward to unpacking due to the manner in which I packed - chaotic and no rhyme or reason.

My shelves have only my coffee/tea collection and my showering stuffs. My closet is actually visible to the back now. There was a very large Huntsman spider living at the back with a giant web. Google it - they are big as dinner plates, hairy, black, large, furry creatures. I screamed bloody murder and made campus security remove it promptly. The shoe rack only has flip flops, a pair of sneakers, and Toms. My floor is clean for the first time in four months. Cleaning my floor meant finding a New Zealand $20, $9.05 in change, four Fantales, one sock, and a very cute pair of earrings. There is nothing under my bed besides dive gear. Four out of five drawers are completely empty.

I don't know if I will bring home all of the photos on my wall but I will be bringing my postcards home. I have a collection of 29 postcards from this semester. They range from being sent from Thailand, Calgary, Los Angeles, Canyon Ranch, Belize, to Texas. This is the most amount of mail I have ever gotten in my life.

It just feels strange that in 12 days that I will leave this place forever. As much as I BMW (bitch, moan, and whinge) about this place, it is home. "Take me to the corner of Winthrop and Wallaby" is a staple statement. The influx of South African and Australian accents are going to be the thing I miss most. I honestly loved the South African accent more than the Aussie one.  

I get to root up my entire life again but this time back "home". I will be back in Canada in 50 days or six weeks. I guess it has hit me that I am done my semester abroad besides finals. Australia is not my home any more; it is now a tourist destination.

People are starting to leave here as they don't have finals and its beginning to get strange around here. My three good girlfriends are leaving here in the next eight days. It is just strange to think that I will probably never see anyone from here in a long time or ever even. Chicago, Netherlands, Glasgow, Mississippi, and Johannesburg are all on the list of places to visit.

AFN