Jan 2007

Monica, Debbie, and Rose were on their way up to Brisbane to spend a few days up here. There are three major islands that are right of the coast of Brisbane. They are Fraiser Island, Moreton Island, and Stradbroke Island. I decided to book a day tour to Moreton Island.
Monica, Debbie, and Rose showed up and I showed them around the house. Then we decided to go find them a hotel. We looked around and I thought that the Story bridge hotel would be a good one because it's right on the river and it was a cute little place. Well come to find out, it is not really a hotel, just a pub. However, the guy at the pub recommended a place around the corner. The place was absolutely beautiful and Debbie and Rose got a great price on the place. It overlooked the whole city, bridge, botanical gardens, and everything. It was up on the 11th floor and it was just amazing.
monica stayed at my house with me and Debbie and Rose met us at 6:30 in the morning at my house. From my house we walked to the train and made our way to the transit center where we were going to get picked up by our tour guide.
We found Gate 15 and sat down to wait for the tour guide. he was a few minutes late but he finally found us. There was the 4 of us, one couple from New Zealand, one girl from Sweden, and one girl from Germany. Our guide picked us all up in a 4 wd car and we all piled into the back like it was a police van. the seats faced each other on the sides of the suv so you can pile in as many people as you can. There were 8 of us in the back.
We now had to go find 2 others that were joining us and they were being picked up at their hostel.
Our driver was a 21 year old kid and he usually did trips to a different island that left at a different port. So naturally we got totally lost. WE drove around the city for about 45 minutes bouncing around and running into each other in the back of this 4wd car. It was a pretty interesting ride.
We finally found the couple we were supposed to pick up. WE were on our way! Until we got lost again... We drove around for about 20 minutes trying to find the port. The boss that worked for the company we did the trip with went down to the port to convince the ferry to wait for us. So everybody on the ferry had to wait for our one car to make it. We drove in and drove right on the ferry and it took off right away. The guys working the ferry weren't too excited to be waiting for us.
So we unloaded out of the car and headed up to the ferry. It was going to be about an hour and a half ferry ride. The ferry was very comfortable. There was a snack bar in the center of it with very comfortable seating all the way around. There was outdoor seating as well. We went outside to the see the view. The surrounding areas were pretty ugly. It was bare with some oil rig looking contraptions and other construction equipment. So we watched the water and we looked down and there were thousands of huge blue dots in the water. They were jellyfish. They were everywhere just floating along with the current. Giant neon blue bodies bobbing through the water. It was amazing. it reminded me of the jellyfish in Finding Nemo.
We got to the island and by now we were running late because we held up the ferry. So we got going right away and dove along the beach to the main highway of the island. The main highway of the island is a sand road that is used so much that erosion has caused a pathway between the trees and shrubbery. The only way to drive on that island is with a 4wd vehicle. Most of these roads are one way paths and cars are driving from both directions. We almost hit head on with two or three cars. It's pretty scary. Even if your driver stops, it doesn't guarantee the other driver will. We managed to make it through and our first stop was up to the sand dunes for some sand tobagganing. We grabbed some sled looking things and made our way up to the top of the dune. The tourguide made us wear these awful hats while we went down the hill in case we fell off and hit our head. To be honest the helmet would have done nothing because it was this small soft thing, and it was really soft sand we were falling on. But it was a funny picture anyway.
It was really fun sledding down the sand dune, and you move pretty fast. After we finished we had to walk the board back up so someone else could go. What hike that was! If I walked up that hill 2 times everyday I would easily lose 20lbs. It was so hard. I felt like I just finised a marathon by the time I got up to the top. I had to rest 2 or 3 times. It was really hot walking up and the dune was pretty much straight up. IT was tough. Monica and Debbie also went down, Rose decided she didn't want to do it and she just took pictures.
Once we were finished we loaded up the car and headed out again. It was a fun drive. It was a very bumpy road so it was a pretty exciting drive. The drive was long and we were headed up to the light house which was the highest point on the island. It was the main land of the island and the only part of the island that wasn't sand. We finally got there and the views were beautiful. There were miles of beach below that you could see. Up over the cliff you were supposed to be able to see dolphins, turtles, or maybe even whales, but we did not see any of that. I think the day was too overcast to be able to see them. monica swears she saw something in the water but I'm not really sure. We only stayed a few minutes there and then we headed down to the beach for some lunch.
It was a beautiful beach and we just drove right onto the beach. There were a lot of people around eating lunch and enjoying the beach. The tour provided lunch so we ate chicken sandwhiches. Turkey is rarely ever used. After that we walked over to some rocks and I gave Monica my camera for her to take pictures of me. I walked over and stood on the rocks, and Monica yelled look out and a small wave of water came over half the rock so I quickly made my way over to the far side of the rocks and was posing for another picture and a huge wave came over the top of the rocks, so I ran for dear life so I didn't get soaked by the wave. Monica got a picture of me fleeing the rocks which was not quite the picture I was hoping for. oh well...
We left quickly so we could make our way over to the blue lagoon. The blue lagoon is a freshwater lake in the center of the island. There were tea oils or something like that in the water which makes it good for your skin. We were all sweaty from sitting like sardines in the back of the 4wd. So we couldn't wait to jump in. The water was so refreshing and the surroundings of the lake were beautiful. Apparently, there were no animals or anything in the water but I still didn't feel that safe in it. The ground was mushy and there were plants on the ground so it was not a nice feeling between the toes!
We swam for about a half an hour and then it was time to get back to the ferry. We left a few minutes early because we wanted to be sure we werent the people the ferry had to wait for on the way back.
We sat in line to board the ferry for about 10 minutes and I'm not even sure how but we were the second to last car on the ferry so it was a very tight squeeze. The ferry ride on the way back was very relaxing and much needed because we were pretty exhausted after running around all day.
We got back and the tourguide managed to find everything on the first try on the way back. We made our way to Debbie's hotel and ordered take out and sat and watched the few. We hung out for a while and ended up turning in pretty early because we were all exhausted. It was a great trip.

This is just a short one but I had to share something that happened the other day.
So I have gotten pretty lazy here in Australia. Honestly, it's bad, I have a hard time getting up in the morning and I can't for the live of me, get myself to run everyday. So I've turned over a new leaf. I am waking up at least by 8 everyday no matter what. I am making myself run everyday.
We have beautiful areas to run around here so there are no excuses. I want to run another marathon when I get home so I need to start running again. I'm shooting for the San Jose half marathon in April and the San Fransisco women's marathon in October.
Anyhow, I went for a run down by the river the other day. It had just poured down rain that morning, so there were lots of creatures out and about. There must have been about 20 lizards hanging out on the side of the path that day. These are pretty big lizards. They are about the size of iguanas you see in cages and pet stores over there.
Well I first saw one and I'm not sure why but it scared the hell out of me. I swerved over and screamed. haha. I don't even know why, they are just normal to see now. So I kept running and a few feet later a lizard ran straight into me. I think I must have kicked it because it ran right between my feet. These are pretty big suckers too. I couldn't believe it. I hope it's okay because I had to have kicked it. Poor guy!
I continue my run down by the river, which is just an absolutely amazing view, I can't even describe it. As I'm running I see these guys painted from head to toe in what looks like war paint. They have red sheets on the lower half of their bodies just to cover up and that's pretty much it. They were making a fire in the middle of the park! That can't be legal . They must have been aborginals, and it looked like they were making lunch in the park. haha there you go dad. I should have married one huh?
Anyways, the river is amazing. you run right along the river, and there are botanical gardens on the other side. People are running, biking, and rollerblading all over the place. There are bridges going across. There are all kinds of boats and ferries going through the middle. I am going to take my video camera down tehre soon so I will have video. I can definitely see how people fall in love with this place!

Last night I went to a cricket game down at the Gabba. The Gabba is their stadium for cricket and AFL (Australian Football league). It is about a mile from my house so we walked down to watch the game. It was Meribeth, me, Luke, and Lukes brother in law, which I forgot his name. Luke is one of our cop friends we met through Brewster. He pre-ordered tickets so we walked down to go pick them up. Well I guess they didn't expect so many people to show up so they just opened the gates and let everyone in for free! So we felt pretty stupid being the ones that bought tickets. Could you imagine in America, the stadium say oh tehre's too many people here we'll just let them all in for free. haha crazy world over here.
Anyway, the game we went to was called a 20/20 game. Which means 20 turnovers. It gets kind of tricky but I'll do my best to explain. A turnover is 6 pitches. So when a bowler pitches six pitches then the turnover is over. There are two hitters one on each side and they take turns hitting. There are 2 innings, and an inning counts as one team batting. So in baseball terms one of their innings = half of a baseball inning. They either get 20 turnovers or 11 outs. It's pretty hard to get an out so usually the turnovers come first. The score of the game was 174 to 143. Queensland won. There are a lot more rules but I only learned them last night so I won't be able to explain them very well.
It was pretty fun to watch. A lot more exciting then I thought it would be. They have cricket games that are 20/20 games that last about 3 hours, 50/50 games which last like 8 hours, and then they have test matches that last 5 days! The games that last 5 days are like watching paint dry! It's awful.
All in all it was a fun time, there were lots of people and the 20/20 games are pretty fast paced.

Most of you know what Meribeth and I spent New Years in Sydney this year.
We headed down there at 6 in the morning on December 3oth. Our friend Brewster was kind enough (as always) to take us to the airport at 4:30 in the morning so we could jump on a plane. The airport in Australia is super easy. They barely check you at all. I had change and all kinds of stuff in my pocket and I went right through the metal detector. I think they might be just for show. But hey they don't carry guns like they think every person in America does so maybe fake metal detectors is all they need. Anybody can go up to the gate like the good ol' days and wait for their family members to get off the plane.
We arrived in Sydney at the domestic terminal and we had to make are way over to the international terminal to meet up with Debbie, Monica, and Rose. We decided the train would be the easiest way. by train I mean an underground BART type transportation. The train turned out to be $5.00 to go from terminal to terminal. What a rip off!! We couldnt believe it but hey what can you do?
Once we got to the international terminal we had to wait about an hour for them to get off their plane. We sat by the exit and decided to people watch. What a crazy mix of people you get in an international airport where people from all over the world are coming in to celebrate New Years. We decided to play pick the American and we called out when we saw one. And oh can you tell who is American. Haha! They are usually the ones that are all dressed up for the flight and have 3 bags each. There were tons of Asians everywhere, and a lot of people from Europe but we couldn't quite figure out who was from what country in Europe.
We finally met up with them and headed to the hotel. Rose and Debbie were worried about having a few extra people in the hotel so Meribeth and I decided to go to the 3rd floor and just wait for them. We got into the elevator and picked floor 3 and nothing happened. Well apparently you need a key to use the elevator. We couldn't get out and we couldn't go anywhere, so we had to sit and wait until someone used the elevator. We got to about the 10th floor and all we could do was get out. Now what? Well we got back in the elevator and waited for someone else to use the elevator. We got to floor 12 and a cleaning lady was there. We just stayed in the elevator and she didn't get in. So we waited agian. She pressed the button and the door opened again to the cleaning lady. We looked al ittle suspicious and we felt pretty stupid so we just said hi. She said where are you trying to go. She swiped her card and we were finally on our way to the 3rd floor. We got out and weren't quite sure where to go. A lady with a clip board was walking around so we got a little nervous. Guess they are pretty strict on only certain people being in the hallways, so we hid in a corner. We decided well lets try the elevator and get to the ground floor. We were waiting for the elevator and Monica popped out. Turns out the shuttle driver took us to the wrong hotel. Well that was a fun little elevator ride...
Debbie, Monica, and Rose took a taxi to the right one and Meribeth and I walked becausee we weren't going to fit in the taxi and we could use the walk.
Once we got to the hotel we settled into the room and walked down to the harbour. We decided to have a few drinks down at the Opera bar which is the bar right below the opera house. WE sat in the sun and talked to surrounding tourists. We met two girls from San Fransisco that were sitting right next to us so we talked with them for a while.
After that we went to the hotel to get cleaned up and we headed out to dinner. WE got lucky and ended up at a nice Italian restaraunt overlooking the harbour. It was beautiful. We were very lucky to get a reservation in and I think they messed up and gave us someone elses. The dinner was great! Monica, Meribeth and I decided to walk around for a little bit after that but Monica was exhausted from the flight and she kept getting mad that everyone was commenting on her horrible tan lines that she received earlier that day. One bouncer form a bar said wow you got burnt! Another bouncer said something else a few minutes later. I found it hilarious, but she did not... So we decided to turn in at about 11 p.m.
New Years Eve came around and Debbie and Rose got an early start out. Us girls decided to sleep a little longer and get ready later.
We finally decided to get up and get going around 10 and we got up and started drinking beer. We got dressed and ready and then Debbie and Rose came back and said we would be okay as long as we got to the harbour by about 3 p.m. So we kept drinking in the room.
We left the room at about noon and we headed next door to a little japanese restaraunt. Monica and I shared a chicken teriyaki (sp?) meal. We had to wait a ridiculously long time to get our meal and Rose got her meal like 10 minutes after we got there. She was almost finished with her meal before we got ours so she was pretty upset.
After lunch we walked down to the harbour to see what was going on. There were already thousands of people picking their spots and laying out their blankets for the long haul. Nobody was drinking, there were families out and man what a bunch of boring people. We were getting alittle worried because people were looking at us like we were nuts because we were having fun. We weren't drunk or anything, just excited to be there and nobody else was. Rose had bought us all horns to blow so we kept blowing the horns like crazy. Okay, so I could see how that could get a little annoying, but it's New Years Eve!
We decided to go to another bar and have a few more drinks. We went to a bar called the Oyster bar and had some drinks and some chips (french fries). Meribeth decided it was getting cold and she wanted to put some pants on so her and I went back to the room to put some pants on.
While we were there we decided to get out the camera and have a little photo shoot in the hotel. haha we got some funny pictures. We decided to walk back to where they were and start planning where we were going to be. Meribeth and I decided to take a little detour before we got back and we walked over to a different part of the harbour. Everyone was drinking outside and having a great time! We even got in a few horn fights with some of the other people around. Meribeth and I lost because we went up against like 10 people at a time. Man, I loved those horns.
Anyways, we stopped for some ice cream and headed back to the bar. We convinced them that the place we found was definitely the place to be. So we all headed over and picked a spot. It ended up being one of the best spots we could have found.
There were people everywhere! People were already pretty much standing shoulder to shoulder at around 4 p.m.
Meribeth, Mnonica, and I decided we would walk around for a bit and Debbie and Rose held our spot. We walked 15 feet and ran into 3 guys from New Zealand that were travelling around Australia in a Camper van for a year. We talked to them for awhile and then decided to walk around some more. We met people from everywhere. We returned to our spot and talked to the people around us. I mostly talked to a guy from Chicago that was there travelling. His next destination was Bangkok. We met three German guys that were working two hours west of Brisbane. I forgot what they were doing, but they were fun! We hung out with them for most of the night along with the New Zealand guys from earlier in the night.
The toilet lines were three miles long so it took us like 20 minutes to go to the bathroom.I think Meribeth cut the line a few times, and a couple of times we went to the guys bathroom, because everyone knows they have shorter lines.
From here the night gets a little fuzzy. We spent most of the night drinking in our spot, with the German guys, the New Zealand guys, and the guy from Chicago. The first set of fireworks came on at 9:00 and I can't really remember the particulars about those ones. We took picures, drank, and talked to the boys. Then at midnight the big fireworks came on.
The fireworks were coming from everywhere. They were over the opera house, over the bridge, over the buildings on the other side. There were about 5 different areas the fireworks were being shot off from. The bridge would light up with fireworks and then they would shoot fireworks to go up over the top of the bridge. It was absolutely amazing! Best fire work show I will probabably ever seen in my life and I probably missed a lot of it. Beer will do that to you. After the fireworks we talked to the New Zealand boys a little more and then I decided to walk away. I walked straight down over a 3ft wall and I soooo did not make the landing. There I was a million people clearing out of the harbour on a 4 ft wide sidewalk and I fall right in the middle of it. Then to "not draw attention" I just stay there and sit down for a minute. I remember really thinking that if I just sit down and play it off people will think I did it on purpose. haha what stupid thoughts go through your head when you're drinking.
Anyway, one of the German guys came to my rescue and helped me up. I decided it was time to lay down and have a little rest on the wall that I just fell off from.
After my rest we went to walk around the streets. Apparently, that is what the rest of the million people that were there did too because the streets were filled. The whole city was just one massive party. We walked over to a bunch of guys that were jumping around singing and chanting. I believe they were chanting the England national anthem or something. They were all English guys. One guy explained to me that they were all from Engalnd over here watching the Ashes match and they came down for New Years. I proceeded to tell them that they should stop doing what they are doing because England lost. haha good idea! The guy I was talking to didn't really appreciate that but he told me that England still has pride and they will still shout their anthem in the middle of the street on New years eve in Australia. Alright man whatever floats your boat.
At this point we are wandering the streets with the German guys, but I raced off to find a bathroom and we lost them. One of the New Zealand guys that Meribeth was hanging out with managed to keep up so it was Monica, Meribeth, um I think his name was James, and me. We were walking the streets altogether, and me thinking they were behind me keeps walking. Well they either stopped or weren't walking as fast because a couple minutes later I was all by myself.
And let me tell you I met every person on the street when I was walking by myself. Everyone wants to talk to the random American lost on the streets at 2 in the morning. Haha I know mom, not that smart, but it's over now so I can tell you.
I caught up with the girls and we sat on a curb and talked to a few more people before turning in.
The next morning we weren't feeling our best so it took us a few hours to get ready to go again. We finally got out of the room about noon and we took a ferry over to Manly beach. We did a little shopping, ate lunch, sat by the beach, and then headed back. It was time for Meribeth and I to head back and go to the airport.
We made it back to Brisbane in one peice, with the weekend of our lives now over.
It was so amazing and worth every penny!

In order to be here for 6 months I had to have some type of job. So after walking around with resumes to every store and restaraunt I could find, I landed a job at Tanja's cafe in Garden City. Garden City is a huge shopping mall, and in an outside courtyard there are some cafes, bars, and a movie theatre.
I am a waitress there and I work about 20-25 hours a week. I have to wear all black and little apron that goes from my waist to somewhere below my knees. The restaraunt serves all kinds of typical Australian/American food. They serve lots of seafood and typical things such as steaks, burgers, ,pastas, and gourmet pizzas. The place dodesn't look that great from the outside but man the food is good. To be honest I haven't found too many restaraunts where I like the food better.
A couple owns the place and they pretty much work 24 hours a day. They are an asian couple and they have lived everywhere. She is from China and he is from Singapore. He has travelled all over the world being a chef. They have lived in Sydney, New York, China, and I think maybe a few other places. That got to be too hard for them so about 2 years ago they bought this place called Tanja's.
The place is pretty well ran. It is always clean and well taken care of. there have been no horror stories of people spitting in food or dropping it on the floor and picking it back up. Even if the cake falls over on top of the cream next to it on the same plate they clean it up and usually replace the cake. So it's a nice clean place to eat.
The only annoying thing about it is you always always have to be doiing somthing. Sometimes when tehre is not one person in the restaraunt, there is just nothing to do. I can't tell you how many times I have swept around the outside tables. The people are awesome to work with. We have a few chefs. Julian, he is awesome, always nice and talkative. He was working my first night and he was so helpful when I kept making mistakes. Then there's Jason the owner. Damien-he is a 17 year old kid that is doing an apprenticeship with the place. That is what they do here when a kid gets out of school they can do apprenticeships with businesses. Sounds like it's as good as going to school. He is funny and keeps me entertained while we're working. He loves to give high fives. There are two new chefs Gary and um I can't remember the other guys name. Gary is fun, he is entertaining and always making jokes. The other guy doesn't talk much, I'm not sure how well he knows english. He is a super quick chef though. I can't believe how fast he gets food out.
We have a few people that are behind the bar making drinks. Monique-she is 19 and pretty much second in charge under the owners. She runs the place very well and does a great job. She's awesome to work with and someone I would definitely be friends with. There's Kate-she is 26 and going to school. She got back from travelling through England and Europe for a few years. She is finishing up school and working there. She is great. She's fun to work with and she understands that we're only tehre to make some extra cash and not there for a career. Meribeth, Monique, Kate and I have a great time when we work together. There's LB- he is leaving in a few days to go to another job. he is fun and very random. he will just start talking about something and you're like what? Where did that come from. He's great though. There are a lot more people we work with but those are just some favorites that I have. The rest are pretty much just waitresses and somewhat new.
A lot of people just come in and order coffee and geez is coffee complicated. There are Flat Whites, lattes, Iced Coffees, caramal lattes, Cappucinos, machiattos, and the list goes on. I just love the orders that are skinny decaff flat white in a mug. Give me a break people, just order water. there is no fat and no caffiene in that, have a glass of milk.
People are so nice and for the most part patient here. There have been times when the whole restaraunt is full and there have only been like 2 waitresses and people are polite and understanding. It's really nice.
I would have to say the most popular thing people order here is a bowl of chips (french fries) or potato wedges.
They have all kinds of drinks that I have never heard of so at first it was a little tough because people would say do you have such and such? and I would have to say I have never heard of that before. haha.
Of course I have an accent here, and I wonder how many tables wait until I leave the table and then guess where I'm from. Sadly, most people guess Canada. I don't think too many Americans come over here and work, because it's so hard to get a visa. There is a girl from Sweden that works there, a girl from New Zealand, there was about 3 guys from Canada, and then us Americans.
I have even had a few people guess that I was from Ireland? Ireland?! What? Now there's two accents I wouldn't mix up. Everyone asks where I'm from and what part. I never know whether to just say California or United Stats. Obviously people know where California is. Hello, they so watch the OC on t.v. Haha I actually had a girl say that to me. I guess we just have to thank L.A. and Hollywood for putting us on the international maps.
Mostly the older people just love to talk about California and what I'm doing here and what I've seen. I just love it. I could sit down and talk all day with these people.
Probably the nicest thing I'll remember is a guy around my age eating with his family. I think I messed up there order or brought it out late or something and he really didn't look that happy. Oh actually I think I might have just said something really stupid. I do'nt remember. Anyway, so he was leaving and I was all the way on the other side of the restaraunt and he made his way through the tables to come up to me. I couldn't figure out why he was coming over and he comes up and says I really hope you have a great stay over here. I was shocked, for some guy to go way out of his way to say that. It was really nice.
Everyone just loves the accent and loves to talk about it. Sometimes I am a little self concious though, because I'll say a word that they say completely different than us. Or sometimes I'll walk away and I can hear the table laughing and I always wonder if they're laughing at the way I talk. haha. so FYI don't start laughing right after your waitress leaves. Even if it's nothing about her they think it is. lol.
some pet peeves I now have about a restaraunt.
1. If the table is dirty, find another one. don't make the waitress that is very busy come wipe off that one freaking table you want when tehre are 20 others open and clean right around it.
2. If the waitress asks you if you want to start out with drinks or take a second to look at the menu...If you need a second tell her. Don't make her stand there for 10 minutes while you decide.
3. If there are 4 of you at the table, just because you have decided doesn't mean the other three have. Make sure everyone has decided before you tell the waitress you're ready to order.
4. The menu is there for a reason, look through it, pick what you want, then talk. Trust me you will have plenty of time to talk after you pick your food.
5. Read the menu! If it says breakfast stops at 11, then it really does stop at 11. No I won't go ask the chef if he can make an omelette at 3 in the afternoon when breakfast stops at 11.
Okay I guess that's enough for now.
Restaraunts here are a lot different than restaraunts in the states. Most of them are not table service. You come in order your food and then get a number. Some restaraunts bring out your food, and others you wait for your number to be called and you go up and get the food. I went to dinner with a friend and the waitress brought out our food and he said can I get some tomato sauce please and she said oh there some up at the front by the register. She wouldn't even bring him some tomato sauce. That is kind of annoying to me. I'm trying to figure out whether, Australia is lazy, for not making their employees serve the food, or Americans are lazy for not wanting to get the food themselves. I look at it as if I wanted to get the food myself I would have ate at home. So bring me my food! haha.
Our restaraunt is table service and we will bring the customers tomato sauce. They are in good hands. =)