'Goofy Feet'

Ok Ok

So I wasn't actually as bad at surfing as I imagined I would be.. In fact I have signed up for another lesson, I fear this will be another expensive hobby... Thankfully not one that I will be able to pursue greatly when I get back, unless I decide to move down to the coast (to surf for one week of the year when the sun shines... lol). (I managed to get some photos too, which should be interesting... will get them up when I get the chance)

Hung out with Dane (friend from Bali) for my last couple of nights in Byron before heading to Nimbin, it was fantastic, really laid back town with more to it than meets the eye.. I managed to get a free tour with a local guide who showed me some of the interesting things going on in and around Nimbin before taking me out to Uki where I spent the night out in the forest, in a TENT!!! It was pretty hair raising.

I woke at 3 am to start my 9k trek up the core of Mt Warning (200 million years old and was the biggest volcano in the Southern Hemisphere) in pitch darkness!!! One of the scariest things I have ever done (considering you can chuck me out of a plane I reckon that's saying something) I was in the Mt Warning rainforest for 5 hrs on my own and only managed to relax when I reached the top (around 1500 meters above sea level) for sunrise. The trek back down wasn't too bad, I saw some awesome views, once again photos just don't do it justice. The 200m sheer rock climb was pretty challenging but rewarding to say the least.

Not sure what I'm doing next so watch this space for an update

xx

Byron Bay Bunkhouse!

Byron is wicked...

I have been a complete waster.... Thanx to the fact that I arrived on the weekend, I can completely write off the last 3 days.
It all started on Friday night when I rocked up here an hour later than expected (thanx to the train) at 9pm, where I thought I wouldn't be able to find a room!!!

As it happened I came upon a place called the 'Bunkhouse' where I met a group of people just getting ready to hit the town, I'm afraid it was all downhill from there. I'm surprised that no one broke their necks dancing on the tables at 'Cheekys'.

Once again I met some great people... Have to give a shout out to Emily, Sham, Colin, Terry, Dave and John! ... You guys are too funny.

Started my Saturday morning with a Vodka / Lemonade Brekkie (Thanx Sham) followed by beers on the beach... Ouch... Not quite sure what happened after that, its a bit of a haze, but woke up round 8 pm to get ready to hit the town again for a bar crawl and collect lots of stamps and watch some live bands.

'Cos I felt soooo guilty about being SUCH a waster over the weekend, I decided that I should actually do something of personal value so, once functionality had resumed I booked myself onto a surf lesson (which is this afternoon... Should be interesting) and also being the 'fly by the seat of my pants' kindda gal that I am, I have decided to go to Nimbin tomorrow (for those of you who have never heard of it, you should look it up, it's kind of obvious what I'm gonna be doing there) and then I am going to spend the night in the jungle and climb up Mt Warning... at 3am... to watch the sunrise!!! God I'm tough on myself...

Watch this space for photos...

One Final shout out to Chris.... 'Go On Son', and keep collecting those stamps... I'm way ahead of you.

;o)

Seductive Sawtell

Sawtell has some of the most amazing beaches I have ever seen... May have something to do with the fact that they are deserted most of the time save for a few surfers and sea hawks.

Spent 4 days at Tony's place polishing off his latest brew and chilling out on the beach with the house mates (Kat, Tim, Tony and Mike). Sawtell is funky and quaint just a stones throw from Choffs Harbor with its swanky shops and cafes.

Have to say a huge thanx to them for making me feel so welcome. I had a great time. (Guys if you ever find yourself in my neck of the woods, be sure to look me up).

Heading to Byron Bay next, where I should be hooking up with Dane from Bali...?!

Till then

Peaceful Port

Port Macquarie is B-A-U-Tiful, as are the people. After an amazing journey further up the East Coast of Australia (Newcastle to Port) with Pete and Narelle, I found myself in the scenic town of Port Macquarie.
Pete and Narelle (Terry’s Auntie and Uncle) have an amazing new apartment right on the Canal running up to main Port. I just wanted to say a MASSIVE THANX to them for their warm Ozzy hospitality… They REALLY took me ‘Off the beaten track’ and showed me some breathtaking outback scenery, as well as putting me up in their great waterfront apartment.

I’ll get some photo’s up when I get the chance.

Heading to Tony’s place tomorrow ‘bout 10mins from Coffs Harbor… I was in two minds as to whether I was gonna stop there originally, but the guy is brewing his own beer… first batch exploded… should be interesting, how could I possibly resist!!! ;o)

Watch this space

xx

Farewell Freinds :o(

So after a rip roaring final night in 'Newy', I say goodbye to all the friends that I have made here, and the McLeod’s... They have been great, and I can't thank them enough.
I should be heading North today with Terry’s Auntie and Uncle to Port Macquarie and hanging out with them for a while, we are stopping off in a few places along the way, including Terry's Nanna in Forster for tea.... should be interesting... so I've been told anyway, a bit like last night.
Went to a Japanese restaurant for dinner with the whole family, then the kidz went out and partied... that includes me to (by the way) it was awesome... you can check out the pics.
That was the second night in a row, after having had dinner with Terry's mum and co the night before, I didn't think that I would be able to handle another night out on the town with 'The Family', but some how I managed to struggle through lol ;o) (you guy's are great)

From Newy

xx

It's My Party.... so there!

Ok so I’m still in Newcastle, and it’s the big day today… yeah that’s right… it my BIRTHDAY!!!

Terry’s dad shares the same Birthday as me, so we’re gonna have a double celebration today, in true Ozzy style we’re gonna have a BBQ before we hit town tonight!!!

Newcastle hasn’t got any less random since I last wrote… yesterday I went to the Nature Reserve here and saw some Koalas.. yes!!! And Wombats, and got attacked by Emus… lol. Then last night Terry, Malcolm (Terry’s brother) and I went to Newcastle Uni. Where Terry studies, to watch the final of the Uni Band Competition, and some how I ended up being a judge!!! That meant free drinks all night… I felt rather smug ‘cos it was another experience that I have been blessed with, that money just can’t buy, and that the Lonely (crappy) Planet just can’t recommend, apologies too all the ‘Planet’ worshippers out there!

One word regarding last night… messy!!! I don’t think that I have been that plastered since I was 15! 10 years ago!!! :o/ Good start to the Birthday celebrations I guess… Wonder what will happen tonight… watch this space for the next instalment.

Missing you all heaps

'Sensible Sity'

xx

Nocturnal Newcastle

Terry picked me up from the train station in Newcastle, and it has been pretty much 'go' since then.

People said that there's not that much to get up to in Newcastle, (and to be honest after Sydney, I was quite looking forward to that), but I think that the locals would disagree, by day it maybe rather chilled out, but by night it's a different story altogether!!!

Terry took me to play Bowls... Lawn Bowls... yeah that’s right... I played Lawn Bowls... something I said that I wouldn't do until I retired, if I made it that far. It was good fun and I net some of Terry’s friends. It was also Annett’s (Terry's mum's) birthday so we met her for a drink and some dinner... I thought it was gonna be a quiet family dinner, only to find that Annett's partner coaches the Newcastle Women’s Rugby Team, and they had just won their cup final that day. So we had a couple of drinks with them... The whole rugby team.. and let me tell you that those girls can drink... 2 words... 'shot off'
I also got invited to the 21st party of AJ and Lucy, where I met loads more of Terry's friends who made me feel really welcome.... so thanx guys.

Yesterday I wondered round Newcastle and took in the sites... Newcastle beach is beautiful, and the waves are awesome, apparently some of the best surfing on the South Coast... maybe I'll have to check it out :o/
I also visited Port Stephens really pretty and chilled out.
Gonna try and see some Koalas today at the Newcastle Nature Reserve... will let you know how it goes.

Must give a MASSIVE shout out to the McLeod's for feeding me, and putting me up.. or do I mean putting up with me... hmmm?!

Also have to say Happy Birthday to Richard (Terry's dad), (an awesome cook by the way), who shares the same Birthday as ME!!!

Should be interesting!

;o)

Catch up

Ok so there’s a bit of catching up to do so bear with me....

My last couple of days in Sydney were awesome...

After Katie and Katie left (mates from Thailand) I hung out with 3 lads from Bristol (UK) (Matt, Luke & Neil)... They were pretty much on the same wavelength as me, so you can imagine what we got up to...!!!

Went to a couple of cool bars and pubs and basically did the usual, drinking and some crazy dancing... saw loads of live bands and hung out with some locals... (Thanx Heath for rescuing me).

On my last day I headed down to Bondi for a surf lesson, and I can safely say that I suck... but I'm gonna keep at it, and try and catch some waves further up the east coast. I also managed to catch a play at the Oprah House ('Honour Bound'), I thought that was pretty cool thing to do.

I managed to do all the touristy things, like I have in all the major city's that I have visited... you know how it is. I won't bore you with all the details (you can check out the photos when I get my lazy ass around to putting them up... within the next couple of days), but I think I like Sydney even more than Melbourne, and that’s saying something...

May favourite thing though has got to be the fact that the weather has been awesome, and when we caught the boat back from Manly we were chased by Dolphins... it's crazy, you can pretty much look out to the sea anywhere along the coast and see whales and dolphins!

Anyway my next update will be from Newcastle where I am staying my good friend from Thailand... One of my trekking buddies... Terry!!! (will be sooo good to see him)

xx

Scintillating Sydney

I love Sydney… (Especially 'Scuba Bar')

It’s awesome, I could stay here for a while, but it’s bloody expensive, so after another couple of days, I’m gonna head north to Newcastle and hang out with my mate form Thailand (who lives in Newcastle) Terry.
Sydney is probably helped by the fact that I have been hanging out with some old friends. When I was checking into my hostel, the lift doors opened and I bumped into 2 friends that I had made in Kho Toa (Thailand), from ‘Master Divers’… One of them even assisted one of my dives… how cool is that.

Anyway I’m hanging out with the 2 Katie’s, a Canadian guy called Andrew, and a Korean girl calls Soom.

We have been to Manly by boat, taking in the tourist sites such as Sydney Harbor Bridge, and the Opera House, and we have spent time hiking around the Blue Mountains. Tomorrow is another day of sightseeing, and getting my act together to head North.
I’m gonna miss Sydney, I have had such a great time here, and I have met some great people too.

I’ll get some photos up when I get he chance

Hope all is well at home

xx

Quiet Canberra

Ok I managed to lift share with a German dude called Peter from Melbourne to Canberra.
We saw some beautiful scenery on the way north and some wildlife too… mainly squashed on the side of the road..?! I can tell you one thing, the bush is scary at night, but we managed to make it Canberra just after dark, and it was beautiful. Saw some awesome sunsets there and hiked around for a couple of days taking in the sites and all that Australia’s Capital has to offer, which to be honest, isn’t very much.
The town was pretty lame, and after a couple of days Pete and I were ready to bust the joint, so we made plans to travel to Sydney together.

Marvelous Melbourne

Melbourne is the kind of place I feel like I could live…

It reminded me a lot of London, very cosmo, but also more spaced out.

I hung out and stayed with my mate Brad (someone I met in Taiwan) for 4 days, and we did some awesome stuff together… The Melbourne film festival was on so we went to watch one of the quirky films that were showing… ‘The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes’, it was pretty good to be honest… very deep… took all my brain power to focus… yeah yeah!
Anyway went to watch ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 2’ as well (nothing to do with the film festival) and did most of the touristy things. It was great ‘cos I had my own personal guide who knows the city well, so I managed to get most things done in a couple of days.
There’s some cool art work going on in Melbourne too, so I tried to get some pics of that.

One night we were walking back to the flat, and were met by a bunch of possums… I think I have a possum sixth sense, ‘cos for some reason they were attracted to me. I’ll get some photos up when I get the chance. Anyway one of the little f’ckers bit me… you’ll be pleased to know that it didn’t draw blood, but it bit me hard enough to realize that I wasn’t a nut…?! :o/ and leave a nice trail of possum saliva on my finger… eeeeewwww

From Melbourne

xx

Phatties

All the traveling that I have been doing in the South West, has meant taking a lot of buses and coaches, resulting in me visiting quite a few 'service station'... I use the word 'service' very loosely.

After doing an extensive survey of these establishments, I am socked and bewildered as to why the Australian population doesn't suffer with the same rate of obesity as the USA??!!

I mean the only things that are readily available (not only in there 'service stations', but in most 'quick eats' food outlets) seems to be junk food... Fish n' Chips and Pies.

I went into one of these so called 'service' stations and asked for some fruit... 'yes... thats right... fresh fruit... you know, like apples...?'
My response from the confused cashier was... 'we don't have any fresh fruit, we don't have any apples, but we have apple cake'.

Kind of defeats the purpose don't you think...?!

Yours a very unhealthy

Sity