Melbourne

The next few days in Melbourne were mainly spent recovering from Neighbours Night, and for me, job hunting!

We wondered around Melbourne a few times which was nice. Went to Federation Square, went to some markets in Fitzroy, walked along the Southbank, and went to the beach at St. Kilda!

We also went to a Good Charlotte gig! A band who I was obsessed with when I was about 15! They're actually really big over here in Oz. When I was working on the farm and we had the radio on when picking zucchinis, Good Charlotte were always getting played! Don't think they'd be on the radio at home at all!!
But the gig was really fun, the support band, Amy Meredith were also pretty cool, I actually recognised one of their songs from the radio at the farm too, just hadn't known who it was! For some reason the main part of the gig was Good Charlotte playing songs from one Weezers albums, as they're a band who have really influenced them. It was good because they played a song called 'Buddy Holly' which is my favourite Weezer song. But the best part of the gig was obviously when they played their own songs! They played a really cool mix of stuff including some of my favourites, 'Riot Girl', 'Boys and Girls', 'Last Night' and loads more from all their albums! So it was a really fun night!

Another cool thing we did was go to the Penguin Parade on Phillip Island - a treat from Becca as my early Christmas present! It was a really good day out. First we went to a wildlife sanctuary which was ok, nothing special though as I've seen all these animals before, and it wasn't the nicest wildlife place I've been to. We also visited a cool beach, went on a walk to spot some penguins and had a yummy pizza dinner (including a kangaroo and crocodile pizza!!) before seeing the main event - the penguin parade!

We all got a mat to sit on, and sat on the beach to wait for the penguins. Just as it was starting to get dark at about 8.20pm, the penguins started to appear! It was amazing! They appeared from the sea in little groups, and slowly made their way across the beach to their nests on the shore. It was so cool to watch them! And every now and again they'd run back to the sea because they were scared of the seagulls.
Once they'd all gone across the beach, we went to the boardwalk where you could see them running through the sand dunes to get to their nests. It was amazing! I don't have any pictures though as cameras aren't allowed. Here's a picture I've found on the internet though, to give you all an idea of what it was like!

The day after the penguin parade was Becca's last day in Melbourne :( We decided to go out for tea to a really cool restaurant called 'Lentil As Anything'. It only serves vegan food and you pay what you feel the food is worth. So instead of a til they have a big box where you can put your donation, so even the waiters don't know what you pay. It was really cool and the food was yummy! I had a vegetable curry and it's the best curry I've had in Australia!
After the meal we went to a couple of bars for some drinks as Becca's flight wasn't til 3am! We got back to the hostel at about half 11 - 12ish and it was time to say goodbye :(
It was really weird once Becca had gone as I'd got used to having someone else with me. Was so good to see her! 

Now I'm on my own again, I've not done much since Becca left. I moved out of the hostel in St. Kilda to a cheaper one in the CBD. It's a really good location right on Elizabeth Street. And I've managed to find myself a job - in a cupcake shop!! It's pretty good, I get free cupcakes which is a bonus, though I don't want to be putting on weight!

It feels really weird at the moment though as Christmas decorations are starting to be put up around the city, and today it was sunny and 34 degrees. It just doesn't feel right! Christmas is supposed to be a time when you have to wrap up warm etc! Oh well, Christmas in Australia is going to be an experience anyway!

I'm glad I'm finally up to date with my blog now! I'll keep updating every now and again when I do something interesting in Melbourne :) But for now the crazy travelling fun is over and it's back to work!

OzIntro!

My OzIntro week has now come to an end. It's been such a fun week and I'd recommend OzIntro to anyone backpacking Australia on their own. I met lots of nice people and I've done quite a few things I wouldn't have done on my own.

Monday 2nd May

Met the rest of the OzIntro group that morning as they all checked in to the hostel. At about 12pm we all got picked up in the OzIntro bus for a city orientation. We parked up in the Botanic Gardens and took some group photos in front of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. We then walked through the gardens and saw some interesting birds and bats in the trees!

Next was Jet Boating on Sydney Harbour! It was so much fun! The boat did 360 degree turns and we all got soaked! 

After a quick change into some dry clothes back at the hostel we went out for a group meal at Five O's. OzIntro gave us a VIP card so we can get a main meal, side and drink for $10 which is pretty good. 

We also got a voucher for 2 free drinks at the Palace bar so that was our next stop! I had my 2 free glasses of wine, then a few more! After the bar we decided to try the legendary 'goon' (cheap boxed wine) I've heard so much about. Needless to say it wasn't good! It ended up being a pretty drunken night!!

Tuesday 3rd May

The next day I woke up with a bit of a sore head! In the morning we headed into the city to sort out our bank accounts and medicare. After a tasty lunch at Darling Harbour we went to Sydney Aquarium which was actually better than I expected! I found Nemo! Also in the shark section there was a map showing Sydney Harbour and how many sharks are swimming around during the year - it's pretty scary!

Went for a quick drink after the Aquarium then headed back to the hostel to get ready for a night out at The Gaff - a backpacker bar & club. I didn't drink too much because I still felt a bit hungover from the night before! It was still a crazy night though, never been to a bar like it! There were many inappropriate competitions to win trips up the coast, like wet tshirt contests... I didn't enter, but one girl in our group did! It was mad.

Wednesday 4th May

Surf day! Probably my favourite day of OzIntro! We got picked up at about 10am and had an hours drive to Cronulla Beach. It was a nice quiet beach with small waves - perfect for beginners! The two instructers were stereotypical Aussie surfer dudes! 

We started off with a lesson out of the water. We were told how to hold the surfboard and how to catch a wave. To start you have to lie on the board but not put too much weight on the front otherwise you will 'nose dive' (kind of like going over the handlebars on a bike!). We were then told about the 3 steps we should take to stand on the board. First was to lie on the board with our toes tucked round the end of the board to hold us in place, second was to push up and stick our bums in the air and put our toes back onto the board, then third was to put our back foot in place first, then slowly stand up! Easy! Well, on the sand it was!

After a few trys out of the water, it was time to brave the waves!

I couldn't believe how tiring it was! After quite a few tumbles, I eventually managed to stand up and ride a wave! Sweet dude! After a few more attempts we stopped for lunch then quickly got back in the sea for more surfing fun! Managed to stand up a few more times before heading back to the hostel.

Definitely the best day!

Thursday 5th May

After a crazy day of surfing we had an easy morning as it was time for a travel talk! We got to the OzIntro office at about 9.30am and Nicola, our group leader told us all about some of the amazing things we can do here in Australia!

After the talk we got on the bus to Bondi Beach! We lazed around there for an hour or so before starting the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk. It wasn't too far a walk but the scenery was beautiful. 

Then when we got to Clovelly beach we had a BBQ waiting for us! Yum! After food and some games of beach volleyball (I only joined in for the last game as volleyball isn't my strong point!) we went back to the hostel. Had a quiet night in and watched a bit of Despicable Me before falling asleep!

Friday 6th May

Another amazing day! Early start though as we got picked up at 6:45am for our trip to the Blue Mountains! Smokey, our guide picked us up and we began the 2 hour drive where he told us a bit of Australian history. I didn't realise how horrible the Aboriginals were treated! Apparently when Australia was first discovered many aboriginals were killed and driven out of their homes. Our first stop was to find some wild kangaroos! We managed to find a family of 3! It was amazing to see kangaroos in the wild as I've only ever seen them in the zoo. Our guide also found it necessary to fish around in the bark of a tree and showed us a Huntsman Spider. Yuck! It was huge and horrible, but fortunately not one of the deadly ones.

Next we stopped in a small town to get some breakfast before setting off again! It was crazy how beautiful the scenery was when we were so close to the busy city. We set off walking to see a waterfall, our guide seemed to know everything about everything and he told us all about some of the plants. One plant he made us smell, and we had to guess what it was - I correctly guessed tea tree (are you proud of me Mum?!) We also saw some crazy plant that inspired the invention of velcro as the plants hooked together in the same way!

We eventually got to the waterfall after walking down LOADS of steps, it was pretty impressive! 

Then we were told we had to climb all the way back up to have lunch! Our already aching muscles from surfing were exercised even more!

After a nice lunch (ham and cheese salad rolls and pasta) we headed over to the famous Three Sisters. They were a bit smaller than I expected but impressive all the same.

We had to walk down lots of steps again but luckily we didn't have to walk back up as we were going on the Katoomba Scenic Railway - the world's steepest railway! And it was VERY steep! It was fun though, and much better than climbing back up all those steps!

We got back to the hostel at about 7.30. Made some tea then went for a quick drink!

Saturday 7th May

Happy Birthday Becca!!

On Saturday we had a free day apart from our travel appointments with Nicola and the Party Bus in the evening!

A few of us went in to Sydney centre to get our fancy dress for the night ahead. Our theme was ravers! So we got some paints, highlighters, glow sticks and hairspray! I got a white vest top which I decorated with the paint and highlighters!

When I got back from Sydney it was time for my travel appointment where I planned my East Coast adventure! So in the next couple of months I'll be heading up the coast on the OzExperience bus. My first stop is Spot X surf camp where I'll be spending 3 nights and spending the whole time surfing! Next is Byron Bay, Surfers Paradise, then Brisbane where I may stop and work for a while to save some more money! Between Brisbane and Cairns are some very exciting trips like Fraser Island and the Whitsundays! I'll also be doing a skydive over Mission Beach and white water rafting! Once I get to Cairns I'm going to go to Cape Tribulation for a night and do Jungle Surfing! Can't wait!

In the evening was a big night out on the Oz Party Bus! It was the craziest thing ever! Loud music, disco lights and one rule - no sitting down! We got picked up quite early and headed into Sydney! 

Our first stop was a bar in Darling Harbour, it was quite a sophisticated place with people dressed up having a quiet drink, then we arrived in our raver clothes! With the Oz Party Bus we got a free drink in each bar! After Darling Harbour we got back on the bus and danced our way to Scary Canary, another backpacker bar! The other bars we went to were Scubar, Sidebar then finally The Gaff! We were all out til about 5am so it was a pretty mad night!

Sunday 8th May

Woke up at about 11.30 with no hangover thank goodness! Lazed around most of the day then went up the Sydney Tower in the evening for our farewell meal. It was a revolving restaurant with an all you can eat buffet, including crocodile, emu and kangaroo! I tried them all and I think kangaroo is my favourite! Also had lots of prawns and calamari! Nicola our leader made a little farewell speech before we headed back to Coogee for a final drink as a group.

We then went back to the hostel to pack as we were checking out of the hostel the next morning.

Monday 9th May (Today!)

I'm now sitting in the OzIntro office waiting for my vouchers for my East Coast travels, then I'm moving to Base hostel in the city centre for 4 nights before heading up to Spot X!

I'll try and do a quick update on here before I head up the coast.

Had such a good week!