Of Rain (again) and Travelling Alone in the Gold Coast

Okay people, this is Eleana reporting to you from Surfers Paradise in the Gold Coast. I am currently surrounded by people in an internet cafe and trying not to feel too self-conscious about how the people next to me can just glance out the corner of their eyes and see past the flimsy dividers and read as I type. But anyway.

What is the Gold Coast like? Well, if you asked me on the day I arrived I would have been saying things like "this is just like Pensacola, Florida, where I went on Spring Break," "I love the stretch of beach, it looks fab," "So many restaurants, can't wait to eat!"

It is now my second full day here and now I'm like "Will this rain never STOOOOOOOOP!!!!! ARGHHHHH!!"

Yeah.

Actually the rain has stopped, but apparently only for a couple of hours, and tomorrow it might rain, and the next day it will rain, and the next day it will rain, and the next day I leave so.... oh.

Despite this I am actually having a nice time. I am sleeping a LOT which is nice because I had an average of 7 hours back in Sydney which is so not enough for me. And at the backpackers place I am staying at (Gold Coast International Backpackers for anyone who wants to know) I have a room for 4 all to myself mwahahaha. I didn't chase them out or anything, it's just off season right now. Not sure why. Such lovely weather. Oh wait.

The Gold Coast would be a great place for a Spring Break (that is if you Americans can afford the flight... if you can and you're a pretty male then call me!) because there is so much party stuff going on, and fairground rides, and the beach, and shopping, and theme parks, and Condom Kingdom. Yeah, they are totally prepared for Spring Breakers.

But I am not on Spring Break and also travelling alone, which presents its own problems. As a mild introvert travelling alone, while I would love to have a chat with somebody, I will not be the first to approach them, and if they come and talk to me, my first reaction will be to put them off. Crazy personality. And the number of times I've had to say "Just me" is unreal. If I go to a restaurant, they will say "For two?" and I reply, "Nope, just me." If I book a tour, they say "for two people?" And I reply, "Nope, just me." Nobody seems to expect that I could be on my own. People naturally travel in pairs or groups, it seems. And I do seem to be the only lone person staying at my hostel.

Anyway, tonight I will be going for a steak dinner and a show at the Australian Outback Spectacular (poster above) which I am very much looking forward to, and tomorrow I am off to Movie World theme park which also looks amazing. Plus I'm on my own so I can go through the single rider lines and get on the rides faster. Haha! There are bonuses.

Well, I have 6 minutes left of my dollar of internet. Man, I miss my computer and wi-fi! Definitely experiencing those withdrawal symptoms I talked about. All I ask now is for you, dear reader, to do a Sun Dance for me so that I can get some Vitamin D please.

TTFN!

Of Blue Mountains, Karaoke, and Bon Voyage

My, my, time does fly. You don't know, but I know that i was supposed to write the Blue Mountains entry the next next day, and it's now Tuesday. My excuses are good though, promise. More on that later.

So last Wednesday I spent a leisurely morning in bed, and then just before lunch headed for Central station. My housemates thought I was barmy going so late but I really wanted to see the Blue Mountains nearer the sunset. The train ride was 2 hours long but some of the views were fantastic as we climbed up into the mountains. Oh by the way, $11.40 return, for a, in total, 4 hour train trip. What's that England? Is that you spluttering in the background?

If you stay in the Blue Mountains overnight, then the hop-on-hop-off buses are probably a good deal, but if you just want to do Scenic World in a day like I did, just get a taxi. It's $10 and you don't have to wait, but make sure you get the taxi phone number because they don't sit and wait outside Scenic World as I discovered. Anyway, it's $28 for the steepest railway in the world (says Guinness Book Of Records, and Scenic World Staff over and over and over and... *repeats somewhere in the background*), the cable car, the walk through the forest, and 2 trips on the Skyway (just another big cable car really). I loved the railway, although when I was little I apparently felt very differently about the experience, and walking through the forest was cold this time of year but I was on my own the entire way round so I ran around quite a bit while squealing (I honestly did this. It was awesome).

No one to the left of me, no one to the right, here I am, running round like a lunatic, LaLaLaaaa

The views are really quite stunning, even for someone like me who looks at scenery and says, to quote Flynn Rider (Tangled), "I could get used to a view like this..... yep, I'm used to it." I have about 100 photos of the same view, just from slightly different angles. After the first Skyway trip I made my way along the walk to the Three Sisters and just about died going up the stairs on the way back. I'd passed an older couple coming the other way on the way down and they were absolutely fine. Me? Thought I was going to pass out. Honest to god. I had a sit down just to make sure I didn't faint.

The sunset over the Blue Mountains will be different for different times of the year, so the spectacular colours I'd seen in some photos online must be at a different time of year to now. But what I can say for May is that, at sunset, the Blue Mountains are very very blue. During the day I could not see what the people were talking about. Everything was clearly green and brown. But just before the sun hit the horizon the views went kind of misty and then turned blue. Happy I am to see that I saw blue Blue Mountains.

Also, here is my video of my 2 days off so you can see my experience in moving picture form:

Those Sunny Days In Sydney <-- Click Here

On Sunday I experienced something that I've wanted to try for aaaaaaaaages.

ASIAN KARAOKE!!!

If you haven't a clue, Asian karaoke is where you book a room in a karaoke... place, and you go with a group of friends and sing endless songs and drink a lot. I LOVE IT! It is absolutely hilarious to sing Japanese/Korean songs when you can't speak Japanese/Korean. Luckily I do know some of the dance moves so I provided the back up dances until they sang a line in English. And I introduced My Asian roommates to the musical masterpiece that is The Fast Food Song.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaa Pizza Hut, a Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut!

Oh Yeah!

So, in terms of my excuses for posting this 4 days late, well, I am leaving Sydney *wells up, fans eyes*. I cannot believe it has come so quickly, but I have now saved up my monies (and spent them again on flights and accommodation) and I am travelling for the next month and a bit around Australia. I'm feeling rather nervous about going into the unknown, although you'd think I'd be used to it by now. Once I'm away, I'll be absolutely fine, which has always been the case. No backwards glances for me. The hardest bit has always been the actual motions of leaving. I am leaving behind some awesome people and great colleagues and a city I have come to adore (and I haven't eaten at all the restaurants I wanted to yet! Damn).

BUT.

I am off tomorrow (Wednesday) at 2.30pm on a plane to the Gold Coast. After a week I shall get a coach to Brisbane and stay with some friends I haven't seen since Hong Kong (when I lived there, not when I holidayed there which wasn't that long ago), and then I shall fly to Cairns for a week of beaches and the Great Barrier Reef. Then it's a longer flight down to Melbourne (and probably a goodbye to any warm weather) where I shall see another old friend and my DAD IS COMING TO SEE ME! He misses me that much. Oh yeah! ...... or rather he misses Australia and is using me as an excuse to participate in a mini gap year. Either way, my accommodation gets a little better halfway through the trip, haha! Excellent.... only joking Dad (he reads this).

From Melbourne we get The Overland train to Adelaide, and after Adelaide we get the overnight Ghan train to Alice Springs where we get to feed wild wallabies *EEEEEE-contain yourself, Eleana*, and then a shuttle trip (plus optional camel ride, although dad opted out straight away) to Ayers Rock. After a few days there it'll be back to Sydney for a few days and then back to England and onto a whole new adventure. I guess I'll have to change the name of this blog then, as I'll no longer be a pommie. What is a British person in America called? Hmmm.

So there you have it. I will be trying to update this blog while on my trip because I'm addicted to the internet and will be suffering withdrawal symptoms when I can't just google something. Here's to brave new adventures!

TTFN!

Of Tall Towers, Seas, and Cities

So my planning is impeccable. I googled the weather in advance, saw it was going to rain on the days when I planned to do some last Sydney sightseeing, and so took the days off work when it promised to be sunny instead. And it was glorious. And warm. And I was severely overdressed. My bedroom is cold, as is work, so each day I have been wearing leggings under my trousers, a tank top under a long sleeved top under a jumper, and my scarf. Right now I'm at work (shhh don't tell anyone I'm blogging) and am sitting in a rather fetching yellow fleece (work colours of course).

Sex-ay >_<

But anyway, Tuesday morning I was off work and arrived at Sydney Central Tower at 11am. There I got lost in the food court for about 10 minutes trying to find the entrance to the Sydney Tower Eye, but eventually found it and collected my ticket and 3D glasses and made my way to the 4D cinema. 4D cinemas are always overhyped, and this one was really no different as we followed a brightly coloured and very fake looking bird from a boy and his father flying a kite (aw) over the Sydney Opera House towards Central Tower (very quick trip). There were, however, some pretty good bubbles that floated down during the shark scene (where did that come from?) and one thing I did really like was the coastal scenes where they blew wind at your face. That bit was good.

There was then just a short trip up in the elevator and I arrived at the Observation Deck. It may be uber touristy, but the Ob Deck is not overrated. The views are fantastic. If you've spent some time in the city it's even more interesting because you can recongnise buildings and streets and find out things you weren't aware of. Like how the Botanical Garden is massive when you're in it, but it looks much smaller than you'd expect from on high. And buildings that I pass all the time actually have playgrounds and small football fields on the roofs. And the University of Sydney seems quite close but it looks very far away from central tower.
 

Darling Harbour

The beautiful city

Botanical Gardens

The University of Sydney, and I live just in front of the massive square yellow building.

 It's definitely a must do, and I bet the night view is fantastic as well. Tempted to go back and see...

Anyway, next I went to Circular Quay and met up with my roommate Olina for a trip on the ferry to Watsons Bay, which my parents have asked me every few weeks if I've done yet. Well yes, now I have. The ferry does not cost a lot, and you can get some great photos of the other side of the Sydney Opera House.

And Watsons Bay is absolutely lovely. A must do (which my parents did with me when I was a wee thing) is go to Doyle's for fish'n'chips. It is the most expensive meal I have every bought for myself, but it looks beautiful and it tastes great, with a fantastic view of the bay and the city in the distance.

If you walk through Robertson Park, you will reach the cliffs and the Tasman Sea. Leave enough time to walk along to the end of the peninsula; unfortunately the last ferry was at 4pm and we didn't have enough time to do the whole walk, but we did some of it, and the views on a sunny day are great. And you can see the actual sea, not a river or a harbour. It was very beautiful and blue. And sea-like...

Okay, so yeah, my favourite views are of the cities, I am truly a city girl, but I can appreciate a good sea when I see one (strange phrase).

But then we got on the ferry and I arrived back at my beloved city. *Sigh* Isn't it pretty?

N.B. As this blog is photo heavy I will be continuing with Wednesday's trip in a new post.

Of Goodbyes, Crazy People, and a Lack of Squirrels

So I’m both thrilled and saddened by the fact that my job has extended their ownership of my time for an extra week. Thrilled, because there’s now a heap more money I can take out in cash, spread over my bed, and roll in (I won’t, but I could), and saddened because I was sooooo looking forward to sleeping in till the afternoon everyday. And going to Chinese bakeries and Nandos for lunch. And staying up till 3am just cuz. Past my bedtime, ooooh yeah. Smash regularized sleeping patterns like a Hulk!

Ahem.

But no, I shall sit at a computer for 35 more hours renaming files so that the share drive looks pretty. Yes, that is in fact what I’m doing. 7 hours a day renaming “DS45823-Compass16.jpg” to “110924 Prettyful Event Title (Dreams Are Made Of This High School)”.

IT’S ENDLEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

AHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Still, the end is in sight and I am compiling a list of things I want to see and do (it is quite extensive - hello budget, how are you today?). I still have things left here in Sydney that I haven't completed. A lot of it is to do with food (isn't it always) but I also have yet to go to the Blue Mountains, or go and see the view from the Central Tower Observatory. I'm saving the zoo for Brisbane, having been completely unable to convince anyone here to go with me. Sometimes I think the surrealism around my actually being in Australia is partly to do with the fact I have yet to see a koala or a kangaroo. I saw a possum! .... but that didn't feel very Australian for some reason. Maybe it was a European exchange student possum trying to learn about it's Australian heritage.

Anyway, I have now said goodbye to a good few housemates who have gone on to bigger and better things (I hope). This time is was Roberta's turn, my Italian housemate, and we had another goodbye party. You have no hope of guessing how many donuts I consumed. They were each cut into 4 pieces to become bitesize party snacks but in the end I gave up pretending and just took the regular sized ones straight from the packets.


It also turns out that I have found people as crazy as me. As seen here:

And here:

And here:

I find these kinds of people wherever I go. I obviously draw them to me.


In other news:

ALL HAIL THE VOUCHER QUEEN

I don't know where it came from or where any more are (must find must find) but Jee Eun found a voucher book in our house for the Harbourside mall in Darling Harbour and it is possible the bestest thing in the world ever. Period. Yesterday I went to Darling Harbour for dinner with Jee Eun and we had chicken noodles in peanut sauce, 2 scoops of gelato and a fudge block all for $10. See? You can do Sydney on a budget, so long as you have vouchers.

When I arrived in the country I was told about various voucher websites like Ouffer and another-one-it'll-come-to-me-no-it-hasn't which you sign up to and they send you offers by email. Now everyday I am inundated with vouchers I hardly ever find useful because it's packed full of Sydney suburb offers (where the money you save actually gets spent on getting you there) and spa memberships for $100. I am not finding them useful at all, but this LITTLE BOOK OF DREAMS holds the key to my dinner over the next few weeks.

If you go to New York you are told you have to get a bus from Manhattan over the Brooklyn Bridge to the other side to see the New York skyline (I did this and I agree, you do have to do this). Well, everyone who visits Sydney needs to have a takeaway meal sitting on a bench in Darling Harbour. What I love about cities is how alive they look after dark. The lights are still on in the skyscrapers where people are at home, or still slogging away at work or have left the lights on and are wasting electricity. And I love it. That there is my favourite part of a city.

Also, a word of warning. Whatever country you are from, if you come to Australia and find something from your native country, don't expect it to be the same. At all. Like fudge, for example. Whatever The Fudge Shop is selling, it's not fudge. Curse them. I have also been told that food in Korean restaurants does not taste as good as food in Korea, even though they are all run by Koreans (so says my Korean roommate, so I'm going to accept her judgement on this one - I said Korea a lot in this sentence....)


As a side note, I have literally just realised from glancing out the window that I haven't seen a squirrel for almost 3 months.....


Just thought I'd share the moment.


TTFN!

Of Wanders, Fake Numbers, and More

Last weekend I reminded myself that I was in one of the most interesting cities in the world, and instead of being my usual lazy-bum self and staying in watching movies, I went on a walk. I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but back in my living-in-England days (sigh, nostalgia) I would be asked by my parents to go on a walk on particularly nice days. This always meant walking in fields, so I said no.

Nature and I do not get along.

But going on a walk in a city is much more bearable, and much more my kind of thing. Much like a house, if I am thirsty I can walk a few steps and grab a drink (do not bring up drinking from streams, you unhygienic person!). There are many more benefits to going on a walk in the city than this, which cover all kinds of things from hunger to tiredness to less mud and less fresh air..... where am I going with this?

Back to the point.

I went for a walk in Sydney on the weekend with the objective to take pictures of interesting things. My photos ranged from a chandelier made of bottles to a rainbow to a clock depicting the history of Australia to flowers. "I am photographer extraordinaire." Ahem. What is nice about going for a walk in a city with no destination is that you notice more. If you have a destination it is too easy to simply focus on that and not stop to look around. In a city, you can't just look straight ahead, you have to look up, down, and to the sides as well. If you don't, you will miss monkey statues and hundreds of suspended bird cages and plaques that show the point of measurement for the construction of the Sydney Opera House.

And that would be a shame.

"Oh my god!" "I can't look" "Lalalala I can't hear you!"

Hey Sydneysiders, did you know that in the QVB there is a letter written by the Queen of England that cannot be opened until 2085? Treasure hunt!!! Off you go.

Anyway, on my walk I was asked out on a date. By a man in his late 30s, who uses his marathon running as a way to impress, and who wants to come to my hometown to visit me when I leave the country. Yeah. In these kinds of scenarios, when it comes to people that I know I definitely won't see ever again, I make things up. Is that bad? Oh well. So in our discussion which I tried to end repeatedly to no avail, I told him I was a waitress and I was trying to bring the skill of spinning trays to restaurants in Australia but so far the idea hadn't taken hold and I'd been fired 4 times. I probably shouldn't have said this as I only seemed to impress him with my ingenuity rather than freak him out with my strangeness, and he asked for my number. Many times, despite my excuses. And so I gave him my very special fake number which I found last year. To the Rejection Hotline. Google it, it's a real thing. So on Tuesday when he called me to confirm the date he tried to bully me into going to last Wednesday, he would have been greeted with a voice saying "Hello, this is not the person you were trying to call....."

Excellent.

Sorry mate, next time, actually listen to what the girl is saying! Persistence is futile.

In other news, I've started tutoring someone in English, and it has come to my attention that the English language is hard. The simplest of words, like 'had,' 'would,' 'be' are actually very difficult to explain in terms of the rules for when they apply, especially to a person whose own language does not use the same rules. It's something that I've never really given much thought to, seeing as I can only speak one language, but I can now confirm that the English language is confusing and weird. And the word that a teacher must always dread hearing, or at least I do: "Why?"

Because.... it just is... that way. Hmm? What?

However, we were both able to commiserate over the Australian accent, which is particularly difficult over the phone. Also, if you know an Australian, get them to say "SRU" and "SIU." It sounds the same! So confusing (these acronyms come up in my work all the time, so it's not a totally random example).

Next week is my last week working in Australia. How time flies! I've been here 2 and a half months now, which seems both a long time and a very short time. And the most exciting part of my trip is yet to come! It's also yet to be planned. I am setting the challenge to see more of Australia than an actual Australian would see. Send me any suggestions of things to do/places to see/places to eat at, I'm open to all things (except weird things. And dangerous things. And scary things. So not all things. But most things).

TTFN!