Because I'm forgetful...

Some things are always going to bring you back.

Goodbye St Kilda, hello Fitzroy!

So we finally made the move from our black hole of a hostel (not to say it wasn't really nice, it was, but it induced lazy lounging days and party fever nights).  We packed our bags, hopped on the tram and crossed town to our new flat just off Brunswick St. in the trendy trendy neighborhood of Fitzroy.  What a feeling to unpack my bag into proper drawers that didn't have to be padlocked because you were sharing the room with 9 other people, or leaving my shampoo in the shower...it really is the little things.  Not only are we in prime location, in a beautiful flat, but we also managed to land a bomb ass flatmate, Maria, a super sweet Spanish chica from Madrid.

Here's a quick little peak at our new pad.

Look how excited we are about our new place! ;-)

Our living room.  Paintings by Matteo, our future Italian roommate, who will be moving in in a month in place of Maria, who is going back to Spain to continue her studies.

The Hallway: this little place is full of adorable little chandeliers.

Our room, where all the magic happens.

Our adorable, non-functional fire place.  Katy finally got to break out her lucky cat.

The view from the front.

We also have a really cute back porch, but being winter it's cold and the back gate was locked so I let laziness get the best of me and I didn't get a shot of the yard.  I think you'll all survive the loss.

Other than that, here are a few shots of our last days in St Kilda, our trek to see the penguins (sorry, my camera died before the sun went down and they started coming out of their nests in the rocks), and a little  wine and cheese night at the hostel.

We are undeniably tourists.

Taking pictures of strangers.  I think I scared this girl when I asked to take a picture of her.

Beautiful as always.

The harbor.

Apparently they're aggressive little suckers.

There are tons of really adorable old buildings here, case in point.

Now there are two classy ladies.

It's Goon-o'clock

This hostel life sucks you in.  It's far to easy to sleep 'til noon, spend the afternoon chilling out on the bean bags, barely making it out for the last few hours of sunlight for a bit of exploring, only to return to get did up and get your goon on.  That has been my cycle, a day on, a day off for the past week or so, and I must say it's wearing on me.  This week I'm putting my foot down.  I'll stay in, I'll send out resumes,  I'll look for a room for Katy and I to rent.  I can't wait for the moment when I can discard my toiletry bag and just leave my shampoo in the shower.  This is day one of getting serious and getting my shit together.  Katy and me both.  All in all, it won't be hard, we just have to resist the urge of the goon.  If I haven't already explained goon, it's this cheap drink of choice...essentially franzia or any other box wine, it's not bad, but it's definitely NOT good.  What it is, is cheap and pervading amongst the thrifty backpackers rubbing two pennies together to try and make it on the Aussie dollar (which is worth more than the USD at the moment so I need to get start making those Aussie bucks and fast).

Anyway, as our official first act of our getting serious will be to finally make it down to the peer to see the penguins at sundown, something that our supreme lack of planning and organization hasn't allowed us to do, even though it's a short 10 minute walk from our hostel.  

And now here are some photos of exploring and goon at it's finest.

the trusty tram, god bless places with good public transit

Melbourne is full of kick ass architecture

And on to the photos of the warehouse party last night...

getting her groove on

Nice face

Punkin head and Rebeccah getting their groove on

Melbourne Mayhem

So I've been here in Melbourne for about a week now, trying not to get lost in the mayhem.  I must say, this is one hip city.  It makes you want to consume consume consume after a few months of minimal living from a bag.  For the time being I've got to resist those urges (and those to go out every night) and find myself a job so I can cope with the ridiculously expensive cost of living here in Melbourne.  It stings especially bad after travelling SE Asia for two months where an hour long massage that costs $10 is considered a rip off and you'd be hard pressed to spend $5 on dinner.  Ho hum, such is life in the fast lane.

In any respect, before I get really serious about finding a job I'm trying to explore the far reaches of this fine city and decide on where I'd want to take up root.  We've explored the city center, St. Kilda (where our hostel is) and the trendy trendy Brunswick St of Fitzroy.  Today we're planning on heading off to a neighborhood called Brunswick for beers and a cheap tapas with a friendly country boy named Hunter from Oklahoma who we've befriended at our hostel.  There's a strange sense of comfort in spending time with fellow North Americans (folks from the states and Canada alike).  There is common cultural dialect and sense of humor that is easy to love.  That's not to say I don't dig all the other nationalities I run into here, but people from the good 'ole USA aren't exactly common in Australia.  We're still a bit of a novelty here because it would seem that not many people back home have heard about this amazing working holiday visa that Australia offers.  Just a tip to all those looking for their next move and feel the itch of the travel bug, it's an incredibly easy visa to obtain.  I think mine came through in 3 days, no questions asked.

Well, on to the photos.

I'm in Australia?!?!?

There are tons of government commissioned street art lining the alleys of Melbourne

Cody, a friendly Canadian that we met at our hostel, explored downtown with us

This is just perfect

Katy didn't have a coat so she had to borrow one from the Canadian.  Look at that Canada pride.

The best piece of playground equipment EVER!

ha...ha

Fat and friendly cat

Down Undah: The Aussie Adventure Begins

I arrived in Darwin on Friday, June 3rd to be greeted by my extremely friendly and generous couch surfing host, Frank.

Just in case you're not up do date on your Australian geography :-)

Darwin is a beautiful place and as it is the dry season/winter here the weather is absolutely perfect.  It's like Florida in January...dry, sunny, clear skies, and always flip flop weather.  Frank showed us some of that famed Aussie hospitality and took me and the other two girls who are surfing at this place out on his fishing boat.  We cruised around the harbor, took a dip in the chilly seas with a chilly beer, checked out the croc traps (which are GIGANTIC and terrifying ), did a bit of wakeboarding, and watched the sunset  just off the shore of Mendel Beach.

Controlled burns viewed from Darwin Harbor

Breaking out the polo eggbeater skills to sip beers in the salty waters of the Northern Australia...Thanks Gaffey and Damon 

Anne and Bernadette, my German couch surfing mates 

Frank went for a quick ride as the sun fell low in the sky

Me and Captain Frank, heading to the Mendel Beach Markets for dinner

Anne taking a dip at sunset

Now it's off to Melbourne to look for work and settle in for a few weeks/months.

Bye Bye Bali

After a fabulous 30 day stay, I am catching my plane and heading to the land down under, but not without tying up all the loose ends with one final Bali blog post.

We spent 6 fabulously relaxing nights on Gili Trawangan, the biggest of a small island chain of the coast of the island of Lombok.  In Gili T there are no cars or motorbikes, only bicycles and horse drawn carriages.  It took us about 45 minutes to ride our bikes around the entire island (and it probably wouldn't have taken so long if we didn't have to walk our bikes half the time on the back half of the island because the road became loose sand that was impossible to ride on).  Most of our days on Gili T were spend sunbathing witha good book, eating and snorkeling.  It was a good life.

After Gili T it was back to Kuta for a few nights of craziness and swagin', off to Uluwatu for a night to see the sights and now we're back in Kuta, waiting to fly out this evening.  Life is hard sometimes.

Heading to Gili T

you can't eat a meal on Gili T without being harassed by cats

we're party animals

Marcelle lounging in the Cat's Cradle

Sunset Beach

the view from my lunch table

Gili T is all about magic mushroom, guys coming up to you on the beaches with bags full of them and trying to hawk you shroomy shakes

Lunch during our glass bottom boat/snorkeling day

A little Bintang with dinner

Katy, overlooking Uluwatu beach and the surf mania below

Watching the surfers with a nice cold one

The view from Uluwatu Temple

We had to wear sarongs in the temple.  Beware of knees.

Uluwatu Temple proper

Just sweeping up the bougainvillea petals

And back to Kuta for two nights before flying out for a little partying at Sky Garden

I don't even know what this is, but it's too good not to add it in.