Been there, done that....

        As promised, I want to tell and show you how great it is to quite your job, move out of your place and just travel around the country with family and friends :) as if anyone would argue that point right!? Of course not, but here's some details anyway. It's been an awesome time of some "firsts," "bucket list" items, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences that I can now say Yup, check, been there, done that, thank you Lord, how cool! :)

        It began with the arrival of my family mid October which was very special. They were able to stay at my place and see all of my local haunts and meet a lot of my friend which was all neat for me, but also it got me outside of my usual experiences and I saw some parts of Sydney that I hadn't before. And then we ventured off to other states and saw stuff that lots of Australians haven't even done (kinda like I'm an American who's never been to the Grand Canyon)

What a joy to walk out of the water from a surf and have my life's biggest fans watching and waiting 

The joke of the trip was how many pictures mom took of the Opera House (she "had to get all the angles") This is the only one with her in it as well

100+ degree (40c) days had our water bottles near boiling. Most hikes started at 6am. yes- I'm wearing a fly-net

Sleeping under the stars in swags had us all nervous (about bugs and/or critters) but ended up AMAZING

Another once-in-a-lifetime experience. The most fun was doing it with mom because she was yelping and and shrieking and laughing the entire time

After the girls left from northern australia I continued further north with a rental car and a couple random "rideshare" travelers and I saw the rainforest, a crocodile (from a safe distance on a boat) and more beautiful coastlines and beaches. 

All these beautiful beaches and blue water gone to waste (as far as swimming goes) 

My night spent in the middle of the rainforest with all the sounds of the night lulling me to sleep

Amazing root/tree natural "art" in the rainforest

Just another beach.... ;)

Soon after I went up the east coast and met a work mate for a little surf/Roadtrip. Sadly it was more road than surf, but we still had a great time and I had my feet on the "pure white" sands of Whitehaven Beach and saw platypus in their natural habitat among other things. Admittedly, saying goodbye to the fam and then also Gus (while he kept cruising) was sad for me. But alas, I had other places to see, and things to do. And the really sad (and bigger) goodbye is yet to come.

At Hamilton Island (Whitsundays)
(We drove like crazy people to make it up there!)

5am look in the mirror.
Platypus/Platypi/Platipuses (???) are morning creatures

Back on the horse, and on the road again

I'm sorry that my reporting mode shut off for so long. When I first came down here my mind would automatically take my experiences and process them with wit into words to "write home about" that doesn't happen anymore. I'd like to say that your didn't miss much though it probably isn't entirely true. After all I am still in a foreign country where I experience new things everyday still. But quite honestly my life got a bit boring for awhile there. I worked. Two or three jobs and too much maybe. It was winter. Cold, dark, and often windy or raining or both. So after 50 or 60 hours on the clock I filled in the rest with some surfing, church and friends. But now all of that is behind me. I've quite working and moved out of my place to live the life of a traveller. It's bittersweet. Closing those chapters of my life in sydney is premonitious of "the end" (not the "happily ever after" kind either) maybe on one hand, seeing friends less as I'm off gallivanting the continent maybe is good, like a gradual goodbye. Then again, sometimes it's better to just rip the bandaid quick, pain all at once. Oh well. Let's just enjoy the traveling I get to experience ! I wish I could be with all my friends AND travel. With them! But alas, I can't have my cake and eat it too. Or wait.... My mom and sisters coming out together for 2 weeks holiday was pretty special to say the least! And soon after that I road-tripped the coast with a work mate for a week. So that counts. And all my other adventures are filled with new people- Breeding grounds for strangers becoming friends. And I shall fill you in more properly, pics included, on these exploits soon. My Manly (noun not adjective) friends will be there when I get back from my tour, I'll have about a week hang out (pick the scab if you will) then they'll send me off with love to my homeland and back to the reaches of others that I loved and left in Cali, and Michigan. So please! all of you be ready for me, cuz I'm gonna want some big hugs as I settle back in. I'll probably cycle around again with my brain taking life and converting into stories to share with those I care about across the world. And then as time keeps rolling, someday, some of these friends will come to visit me on US soil, at which time I will definately eat some cake and be thankful! Stay tuned... And use your context clues to figure out my new word "premonitious" :)

Life becomes routine... And then a vacation

Let's review the past three months-
I am well settled into working 3 different jobs averaging 40-50+ hours a week over 6, sometimes 7 days a week! Christian surfers group on Tuesday, church on Sunday, maybe a dinner out once a week and the occasional coffee with a friend rounds out the week along with some surfing.
And there you go- that's become my life in Australia. Doesn't sound too glamorous I know, but it's my life in a foreign country and it is actually great! However, winter is upon us and it's sometimes "cold" (Michigan people- you don't understand! Ok!?!) and dark by 5:30 so when things aligned for me to have some time off from work I jumped at the chance for an adventure (and heat!) As a matter of fact, I felt I was so overdue for some travels that I did two trips back to back (Well, not exactly. There was more of a story to it, but I'll spare you the details)
Sorry for my lack of creativity and whit with words, but please enjoy the pictures to follow as a summary of June and July in Manly/Sydney, an up the coast trip to Byron Bay, and a spontaneous flight to Bali, Indonesia :)

Felt like I walked onto the set of Pirates of the Caribbean here. Saw the most amazing
whale 'show' from here! (Byron Bay)

Bean Bags on the sand for nibbles and a cocktail. Well done! (Bali)

Volcano (Bali)

Go figure- cheap markets in Bali carry "made in the USA" products, while in the states everything is "Made in Indonesia"

Freddo's was "Famous" so we stopped
in for a [pot] pie. To honor my upbringing
I chose venison. Other options were
kangaroo, crocodile, duck, curry, you
name it!!! (Road Trip)

When strangers become friends: my "rideshare" people at Byron Bay

Rainy winter day in the City

Food & Wine Festival (with flatmates)
Loved the bands they had and hay bales to sit on

Lights festival- SOO COOL

Flower Market shopping then arranging
for the restaurant

Just a chilled out sunday spot for some quiet time around the
corner from my house

Happenings

Being that this was my FIRST week of full time work in sydney I thought I should document it.
         It started last week with a temp agency placement in North Sydney (which I recently discovered is an actual suburb name-- like Manly-- not a region-- like Northern Beaches) I was so excited to get my first whole week of work that I didn't even care I was also scheduled to work the weekend at my (newish) restaurant job Havana Beach. Let's get busy!! we all know I've had plenty of time to chill!

The view from my Restaurant

So I worked a half day Friday (to begin the full 9-5 thing starting Monday) then got home to change clothes and go straight in to HB. I wasn't quite geared up for what was coming- a full restaurant and I was the only official server on the floor (the owners kinda help out) it's not a big place so it really shouldn't be a problem except that it was only my 3rd shift working off the a la carte menu and 2 of those were "dead" (my other shifts have been private functions where I was tray passing 'canapés' and helping the bar polish glassware) so the reality is I still don't know the menu or the POS system and quite frankly- I'm rusty on my waitressing skills overall (it's only been 7 years since I worked at Joe's Crab Shack in San Diego) yikes!! Surprise, surprise I made a few mistakes that night which I'm still trying to make up to the kitchen crew and my boss :S oh well, everybody was new at some point right?!! The good news is they feed us! (And it's the closest version of Mexican food I get out here.)
          Speaking of feeding- my office this week went beyond having the typical kitchen to provide tea, coffee, and milk. This place had a full bread and cereal line-up complete with all the smears you could want for a morning toast (including the Australian staple vegemite, and my favorite Nutella) My flatmate tells me fruit and toast is a big thing down here for an at-the-office-breakfast. Hmh

         Two days in to my assignment I realized how good God is to have spared me from a role like this long term! I've certainly applied to a million places across a broad spectrum yet nothing has panned out. Even most of my temp agency placements are just a few days at best. And this job made me thankful for it! I think people there had "buns of steel" in a sense.  I had to get up and move around every hour, and if not for the ease of my bottom, just to stay awake.  I've never been in such a quiet office space, with such little interaction.  But that drove me out of the office at lunch seeking sun and fresh air which led to some lovely walks in a new part of town (another bonus of temping- it gets me places I probably wouldn't have otherwise) 

Blues Point Park

        So after another weekend of night work at the restaurant, I'll be back at it monday morning with my next placement lined up for 3 or 4 weeks. I'm returning to the telemarketing gig, which isn't my favorite. But hey- it pays the bills, expands my skill set, and you can't beat the hours and the short commute (at least- these are the things I tell myself to get through) But I'm always thankful!

Rooftop lunch

SawMillers Reserve

Chinese Friendship Garden

Friday night on the ferry ride home- looking back

hitting the phones....

and BONUS since this blog is all about work-
here's a little pic of me in my penguin suit for
catering jobs (which I haven't had much time for as of late)

Make Me Wanna Roll My Windows Down and CRUISE

Over Easter I had the chance to really start to see some of this amazing country with a road trip down NSW's south coast and it was so lovely!! I hired a car with another American gal from church (as a duo we are the Sara(h)s and I call her lil Sarah which makes me big Sara. Ha) we got a tiny Nissan, brand new, (39k off the lot) and put about 500 miles on it over 5 days. So I now consider myself an excellent driver on the left side of the road :)

         Our adventures took us on a tour of all things beautiful (except I saw my first road kill kangaroo) lots of beaches, scenic lookouts, iconic landmarks, some of the bush and also rolling green hills of cattle grazing and vineyards.
         A little town called Mollymook was our Easter destination where we spent two nights with a friend's family (10 years after she spent Christmas with my family in MI. How cool is that?!?) We went to a small-town parade/festival and I was instantly transported back to childhood memories of high schoolers' homemade floats, marching bagpipe corps, and firetrucks running lights and sirens. The only thing missing was the candy tossed to the onlookers and curb-campers. Oh yeah. And 'elephant ears' But nobody has those except Michigan. :( We did manage to find some yummy cinnamon sugar fresh donuts (like an orchard makes back home) from the Lions club or something :) In addition to my time-traveling rendezvous, It was really nice to have home-cooking and be around a family dynamic after being a travel-induced-orphan for the past 3 months.

 

           Monday morning after a beach run and swim we headed into (the next neighboring) town for brunch and a little shopping before we hit the road for more adventure. Compared to the drive down on saturday where we did a lot of quick stops, and brief photo moments (there was so much to see) on the way back to Sydney we wanted to slow down at a few places to enjoy a little bit more. So we took beach walks and beach naps. We hit cafes and shops. It really started to feel like a proper holiday.  Wellllll, one of those budget holidays where you sleep in the car and eat PB&J for lunch. It wasn't all that bad (but you can see why we even more appreciated our 'home stay' for a few days) The second night we were able to get a spot in a campground (called a camper van park) so we were really high rollers that night with a kitchenette and hot showers. 

Sarah representin' well in her cut-up camo shirt
and americana bandana

         I'm convinced that traveling on-the-cheap and without much preplanning can be the best way to get the most laughs, make memories, and really experience a place.  You can bet we had a laugh about airplane-recline-style sleeping arrangements after discovering that our "or similar" rental car's back seats didn't fold flat as we were expecting from the online quoted car (we should write the company and inform them they were NOT that "similar") And microwave S'mores taste that much better when you didn't think you would get any at all once informed that nearly the whole country is 'protected national forest' so NO bonfires allowed. Then we got invited in on a game of darts with some of the local caravan folk (quite possibly genuine bogans) These are experiences that never get booked by any travel agent ;)

caravan park: outnumbering the tent & RV sites were these more
"permanent" "vacation homes"

There were a few downers about the trip however, 1: We didn't see kangaroos at Pebbly Beach like we were expecting. 2: we couldn't find a decent place for night-cap because some of these towns are so small that there may only be one option (and it may be already closed down early, just dead and empty, or the 'geriatric express' as one lady described our options. Come on. Sarah and I were scouting for local talent) 3: My surfboard didn't fit in (or on) the car. 4: The rest area that had signs for 'free coffee' was a total let-down! The place wasn't even a proper bathroom but a dark port-a-potty on a gravel turn-off. They must have to lie to get people to heed all the signs (posted every 5 miles) that say "STOP. REVIVE. SURVIVE." I guess they have a problem with bad drivers...?!?!

And the last (and obvious) disappointment was we woulda loved to have doubled the amount of time we had to see more and stay longer!!

Is it bad if I can't even remember what beach this is?!? Just another
beautiful stop on the coast

Sea Cliff Bridge. Supposedly
one of Australia's most photographed
locations

"Little BlowHole" at Kiama

Jervis Bay: voted Guiness Book World Record white sand beach
(we were the only ones there for hours!)

Beauty

Rolling Hills

A little town called Berry that felt like a step back in time to 1950s Pleasantville :)

ANZAC DAY

Australian New Zealand Army Corps Day was friday
It's a national holiday and it's a BIG deal! Starting out all I knew about it was that everyone gets the day off and that a gambling game called 2-Up is played at all the RSL (return service league) clubs.
It's the only day of the year that it's legal to play so I had to check it out!
So I made my way to the local 'Diggers' (referring to men digging ditches at war) where I queued up to show ID and sign in as a guest. I then proceeded to walk around the place and learn the ropes while trying to look as tho I'm not gawking and/or sticking out like a sore thumb. (aka- American girl with out a clue) all I could figure out was that you got a drink and then joined a crowd of people outside where there was yelling, money being waved around in the air and passed between people while the attention seemed focused at the center of the circle which had some undetermineable action taking place that resulted in cheers or booing and more money passing.

Wha?!?! I had the brilliant idea to scout out a handsome fellow (because there were plenty!) strike up a convo and get the inside scoop ;) But... I didn't! And then my friends showed up and taught me the ropes. This is what I learned:

The holiday is actually quite celebrated by everyone (with more than just a party) there are dawn services everywhere, a big parade in the city, singing, flags and everyone posts "lest we forget" etc. Even most of the servicemen will go to Europe for Anzac Day sometime in their life because it's a big deal. No matter how many times I had it repeated (and even spelled) for the life of me I couldn't understand the name of the place/battle (their equivalent of D-day or Pearl Harbor. It's european) I have found over three months that although Americans and Australians both speak English, it is NOT the same language! Anyways- apparently Mel Gibson is in a movie about it that I will have to watch. (Since then and for this blog I found this site http://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/anzac/anzac-tradition/ and learned is Gallipoli)
So back to 2-up now:
The game is basically a coin toss. In the center of the circle a "spinner" (even I had a go) flips three coins at once and 2 out of 3 showing heads/tails wins it. The spinner always bets on heads and they have to 'hit' three times in a row to make any money. But it is 8 times their initial entry because it doubles on itself with each toss. Basically- I saw some bets get up to $400+ But most people (everyone around the circle) plays with smaller bills and it is toss for toss you either double your money or bust. If you wanna play you just hold your money above your head and holler what you're betting "ten for tails"  or "tweny-ed" (which is Aussie short for "20 head") and then you find someone else around you who is playing with the same bills (it's helpful each denomination is a different color) with the opposite wager. Then the flip happens and there you go. Everyone once and while everyone breaks into a chant "heads, heads, heads" or some song  "Olay, Olay..." I don't know why they did that! Maybe it still sounds confusing. This description and pics really can't capture it at all. Could be one of those things you say "you just had to be there" So may I recommend you experiencing an ANZAC day for yourself some day :) So glad that I did- in the end, it was very enlightening, quite a bit of fun and a very Aussie thing to do

"what's it gonna be....?"

this is a random part of the program where people
throw coins at the bucket (fundraising for the club)

The scene I walked up on, having NO IDEA what was goin on

Baby Steps

So I've settled in a bit down here. I've got my place dialed in. I know the "lay of the land" I have a little routine: Church sunday night, small group on tuesday night (pronounced choose-day) catering friday and/or saturday, and for the last three weeks I've been working M-Th and for the last week- going out for a morning surf at 6:15. YIKES! Hard to believe, but it's true- I'm converting to a morning person.
I've found it's practically a requirement down here because there's no sense being a night owl and starting the day late because nothing is open! Gone are the days of going to a coffee shop at 7pm to do some computer work. Heck, even starting at 2:00 is late because some places start closing at 4:30. There's only one night a week that shops (the mall) are open later. Overall it reminds me of being in Haiti, or a small town (I guess I've fully acclimated to San Diego's way of things) On top of that, my surfing girl friends all rave about the wind here in the arvo (aka- afternoon) and just swear that surfing is better in the mornings and that's why we haul ourselves down to the beach at 7:30 on a Saturday morning for a girls group paddle out. Well. Fine! Be that way! But it's not going to work with my night-owl tendencies, so I told myself I'd better switch over to being the early-bird. I used to do it for the fishing boats, so I know it's possible, and believe me- I have to remind myself of that every morning still when the alarm goes off and it's dark outside. But I must admit, I've enjoyed it.
shhhh
I almost can't believe I'm saying it. But yeah, to have a surf then come home to shower, make breakfast, read my bible, pack a lunch, maybe even start dinner in the crock pot and get out the door in a non-rushed-putting-my-make-up-on-on-the-way sort of manner is quite amazing! Of course, it helped that work didn't start until 10:00, but still. The previous Sara would have slept until 9:00 :S I certainly haven't fully arrived yet, because on saturday and sunday when my body woke up too early for the day's requirements I wasn't happy about it and just rolled over because I couldn't convince myself to get up so early with "nothing to do" (I'm pretty sure that's not how true morning people think!)
I'm not sure how long this trend will last, but I'm gonna keep "having a go" because a friend of mine has committed to 40 Days of Surfing and I've been joining in (except that I'm sick right now so I've allowed extra rest) I did 8 days in a row, which is probably a record (another thing to be proud of!) and I can really feel the difference in my surfing. It's only obvious really. I would have never settled for shooting hoops once a week back in my basketball days. But surfing is weird. One, because it feels more like a hobby than a sport. And two, because you can't really just practice like you would with most other sports. The whole sequence can happen so fast from paddle, take off and ride, to fall and recover that there are times I get back in position to wait for another wave and think "what happened on the last one?!?" and that's another thing- waiting! you can't just pick up the ball and try again. You're waiting for the next 'good' wave which could be awhile, and even then that wave is probably quite different from the last one so it's not just a repeat the exact thing and get the muscle memorization working. Despite all of these drawbacks, I'm still rather "keen" for it (which is a very Australian thing to say and means different variations of "interested" I guess) And my 'stoke' is renewed because just these last two sessions I've started to walk up my board :o I'm not to the point of hanging ten, or even five yet, but someday!! So for now, just as it was with finding my way in Sydney- with circadian rhythms and with surfing- BABY STEPS