It's my birthday! (...yesterday...)

SO I'm going to try and update more often but in all likelihood it will happen about once. But anyways, I'll try.

I hung out in Canberra for about five days. On Thursday I went to the War memorial and the Museum which were pretty cool. But see the problem with Canberra is that once you do all the National museums and monuments and what not, there isn't much else to do. Nut anyways, that night Jules and Devin and I all met up and went for drinks and had a jolly old time. Devin's roommate Rhiannon was also kind enough to lend me her mountain bike and so for the rest of the time I was there I was able to use it. Canberra could be the flattest city in the world, so it was really easy to ride all around town. Friday I rode around town and generally just hung out, due to the aforementioned lack of things to do once you've done the big things. Jules and I met up at about 5 and went to Uni Bar, and then PJ O'Reilley's where they had 2 for 1 drinks and free peanuts. That was dinner! Then we hit up Muddle Bar and had a couple more drinks, and Devin met us later. So yeah the next day wasn't so fun...
Saturday Jules' sister Sarah flew in from Melbourne and we went to the National Library as well as Questacon. Questacon is this really cool science center that is over-run with little kids, but is actually really interesting for adults too. It refreshes the Physics you forgot from High School as well as really messing with your mind. That night we ended up watching a whole bunch of Grey's Anatomy from the second season which was pretty damn exciting! Oh well, sometimes it's nice to have normal nights!
Sunday was an alright day. Basically I just wandered around town again before going over to Devin's at night for a Barbecue. His roommate Rhiannon is in Med School and had a bunch of her Med School friends over so I talked a lot with them about what it was like in Australia. They were all really cool and really friendly, and encouraged me to apply in Australia. I think it is more expensive than Canada, but Aus is a pretty sweet country, so we'll have to see how things go.
On Monday I ended up hitching out of Canberra. While I was walking down the main street some random guy pulled over and offered me a lift, and so I was able to get about 15 km out of town. Unfortunately he dropped me off on the side of the highway where everyone was going 110 km/hr so it was a little hard to get a lift (probably because people were wondering why the hell I would be out in the middle of nowhere on a major highway) but eventually a nice old man pulled over and picked me up. He ended up driving me all the way to Sydney, and we also had some very interesting conversations. His main plan is to make 20 million dollars by the end of the year through shrewd stock investments, and explained his entire strategy out to me. It involves about four different oil companies, but he seemed to know all about their inner workings, so I guess only time will tell. I think one of them was named Cooper and is drilling in Indonesia...
He dropped me off on one side of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, but I decided to train back over and walk around the downtown area. Sydney is truly in a beautiful location, but their infrastructure isn't quite comparable to Melbourne's. They don't have any bus zones, and neither their trains, buses or ferries are consolidated, so you can end up spending quite a lot trying to get somewhere. Incidentally, I've been walking everywhere. That evening I explored the Botanical Gardens, had a look at the Opera House, and generally meandered around the place. Then Jules' friend's boyfriend returned my call, and we set up to meet at pretty much the other side of the city center, so I hustled across town and met up with him. He offered me a spot to stay at his house, and after meeting his roommates we went for some Thai food and hot chocolate before calling it a night. They are all really friendly and have basically offered me their place as their own, so that's why I've been able to make some updates without breaking the bank!
Tuesday was my birthday and after checking out the Rocks and Chinatown, I had a wonderful steak lunch and cold beer as a little treat. It ended up costing me only 15 dollars, due to some random deal they had on at the restaurant which nicely turned in my favour. After lunch I caught the very to Manly, which is at the entrance to Sydney Harbour, and so was able to basically have the Harbour tour which all the tourists pay 25 dollars for, for 20 dollars less. Manly is a pretty cool little beach town, and I also had some amazing Royal Copenhagen ice cream which was delicious! Then I caught the ferry back and walked back to the place, at which time it was already 7. Rebecca and I then went out to the bar across the street for their trivia night, and as we ended up winning, I was able to get free drinks all night. Pretty good deal for my birthday! I also met a couple of Rebecca's friends who were really nice and told me some great sea stories about sharks and half eaten fish and all the sort of stuff a traveler wants to hear. It ended up being a pretty sweet birthday, considering I didn't know anyone in Sydney only 24 hours before!
Today I went to Bondi Beach, which was probably nice about 2o years ago, but now it covered with fat ugly tourists and bright ugly houses. Europeans really seem to have an issue with personal space, as evident from the creepy Italian guy in a speedo deciding to put towel about 7 feet from me, when there was all sorts of open space all around. Aussies by the way have a certain relish for going topless, and it's pretty much considered the norm here. Some things are just a little different from back home. Oh well, at least it wasn't like Wreck Beach where half the population is naked 65 year old men...
The last thing of note today was waiting for 25 minutes on hold with Singapore Airlines, only for the network to decide to restart itself or cancel my call or whatever and cut me off just as I was confirming with the lady to switch my Indian departure place from Madras to Delhi. Deciding that I didn't want to wait another 25 minutes on hold (which probably took up like 10 dollars off my pre-pay account... cellphone rates here are ridiculous by the way) I've decided I will go in to the office tomorrow and deal with a real person. They're just so novel these days!
And that's today! Ellie and I had tacos which were really good for dinner, and then we've pretty much been hanging out for the evening. In other news, this computer connection here is so fast I was able to watch the Canucks highlights from beating Colorado and claiming a play-off spot! That's the first moving hockey I've seen in 5 months! Take care everyone!

Finally an update

Okay well I've been waiting to do an update so I could do it on a free computer, as I knew it would take about two hours to do, but as it's already been over a month I guess I'll have to just bite the bullet.
So I guess where I left off I was waiting for a plane to Fiji! The flight was pretty uneventful, and teh full humid heat hit as soon as I got off the plane. I was planning on waiting at the airport for a couple of hours to meet Erin's plane, but right before I left Auckland I found out that because a bird had flown into the engine on her plane, the would have to delay her flight for 40 hours while they fixed it. You would think in LA they would have some extra seats to Fiji or something like that, but they had absolutely nothing. Well, I guess there are risks flying with Pacific Air (Fiji's National Carrier) in the middle of a coup.
So I chilled out for a night in the outskirts of Nadi, then hopped on the bus that took me to Robinson Crusoe Island, which Erin and I were supposed to go to together. They were pretty good about changing all the details from two to one person, but it was obviously a little disappointing. I drank kava that night, which is the Fiji national drink which numbs your body completely if you drink too much of it. The staff there were really cool and totally get involved and have a good time, and did the whole coal walking and fire dancing and traditional Fiji dancing. It was a beautiful island and I wish I could have stayed longer there, but went back the next day to Nadi where I met Erin at teh airport. Happy Dance!
The next day we caught the bus down to the coral coast to go to The Pearl, which is a really beautiful resort. The wierdest thing in Fiji is that they just let all their farm animals graze on the side of the road, so the entire time we were giggling at horses running alongside goats chilling with cows right beside the road. It took about 3 and a half hours to get down there, but we were entertained the whole way!
We ended up staying a week at the Pearl as Erin's mum got us a really good deal. Erin's highlight was probably the Fijitini but mine was going shark-diving off Beqa Reef. I saw seven different types of sharks, with the biggest being the Bull Shark at 5 meters. I also ended up diving to 32 meters and had to do a decompression dive, which is something that is supposed to be beyond my expertise, but it went off really well and the dive was just incredible. It's a beautiful coral reef, and the water was really warm with pretty good visibility, but not so good that the sharks didn't look like huge shadows coming towards you. At one time, one of the sharks brushed my shoulder, and then like two minutes later, another one came swimming directly at me, pre-occupied with the fish head in it's mouth. I also saw a moray eel and more fish then I could count. I don't know if anything could really top that dive (although I might do a great white dive in Adelaide).
We were lucky to have a village right by the resort, so we were able to keep costs down by eating there and having a lookaround too. The Fijian people are so friendly, and they are always eager to help. Everything is so cheap there too, and with the Canadian dollar worth about 1.50, I was able to get some pretty cool souvenirs too. And a Bula shirt!
A couple of days before we left, Erin and I made the hour long trip to Suva, which is still on the places recommended to not travel list of all the western countries. We met up with William and Sufi, who were really nice and showed us around their radio station. They own six of the main radio stations in Fiji, and thus do pretty well for themselves, but they have the really nice fiji mentality too, so took us out for lunch and showed us around. Then we shopped for a bit in Suva, where the prices are all really cheap to try and bring the tourists back and where they do their best to take all your money. We managed to get swindled (but not too badly) by this wood carver guy, who first carves your name on a sword and acts like he is going to give it to you, then asks for 30 dollars.
Overall Fiji was such a wicked time. Spending time with Erin was awesome and we never got bored of wandering around and just hanging out. It was a nice break from hitchhicking and the stress of really not knowing what you are going to be doing or where you will end up. Not that that's bad, but constantly it gets a little over the top! I flew out on the 25th of Feb, a couple of hours before Erin, and into Melbourne just before midnight.
Melbourne is a really beautiful city, but expensive! All the hostels seem to be at least 25 bucks a night, and when compared to New Zealand that's like 12 dollars more per night. I checked into this big hostel and met up with a Welsh girl and we hung out together over the first couple days. My original plan was to get a job, but it's pretty hard to do here and although I did end up getting one, it was only for like two shifts over two weeks. Not exactly what I wanted...
Anyways, I met up with Trish on the 27th and she supplied me with a SIM card, and then I met up with Penny, my Mum's childhood friend right afterwards, and she gave me a cellphone! So i really lucked out there and if anyone wants to call me it's 0416842744. I hung out in Melbourne for basically two and a half weeks, with trips in between out to the surrounding areas.
On monday, March 5th I decided to go out to the Grampians, which are a mountain range that over the last couple of years have been ravaged by bush fires. I caught a train out to Ballarat, and after walking around there for a while (it's an old gold mining town) decided to try hitching to the Grampians. It went really well, despite reports from New Zealanders that it's impossible in Australia ( a little rivalry there) and I ended up camping in the middle of the bush with some kangaroos hopping around me all night. Luckily they were Grey Kangaroos, so they didn't take out my tent, but it was my first experience of Australia bush camping!
Australia's landscape is just so different from Canada's. Everything here is brown (due to like the worst drought ever) as opposed to Canada and New Zealand's greenery. In Ballarat they have a lake in the middle of town that is completely dried up, and down a little north of Melbourne there are waterfalls that are just falls (oh i'm so witty!). At another place between Melbourne and Canberra (called Hume Lake) the lake is 20 meters below it's normal level. They had to add extra concrete to the boat ramp, and tree trunks from about 80 years ago from when they flooded teh valley are poking above the surface.
Anyways, I did some hiking in the Grampians, and then hitched a ride with some Dutch guys. We went down to Mt Eccles volcano park, and ended up camping there underneath the koalas! They were really cool guys and had just driven like 22000 kilometers up the center and down teh east coast, so recommended a lot of places for me to go. We managed to make a huge campfire (in the middle of a drought we were allowed fires which was pretty sweet) and then bugged the koala in the tree above us who retaliated by crapping and doing his best to aerial bombard us. The next day we went down to the Great Ocean Road, which is one of the most scenic drives I've ever been on. I probably took way too many photos, but there are some truly amazing rock formations and cool little walks too. We camped another night on Cape Otway underneath the koalas again and then they dropped me off in Geelong and I hitched back to Melbourne with a Russian guy in a BMW, who was a clothing shop owner. He was pretty cool, and drove me right back to the backpackers which was a fair bit out of his way.
The next day I picked up my passport from the Indian Embassy and was happy to see that they granted me a visa. Then I went to work that night only to find out they had cancelled my shift so resolved that after my next shift I would pick up my money and leave Melbourne. I hung out in Melbourne the nexy couple of days and worked one more night at the restaurant ( a lovely 8 til 4 in the morning shift) and then travelled a bit around the country with Penny and her friend and cousins. We went to a really nice winery but I was pretty tired the entire day, due to the aforementioned 8-4 shift.
On monday I decided to hitch to Wilson's Prom, which is the southernmost tip of mainland Australia and is a really nice National Park. I forgot my fuel for my stove, so I ended up drinking untreated water, but nothing has happened yet, so I think I'll be okay. I spent two nights there and hiked about 40 kilometers with a bag that I'm sure had stones in it. On my second day there I managed to see a brown snake (responsible for a bunch of deaths) slash... i almost stepped on the brown snake before jumping back. There are so many nice views in the Prom that words can't describe it, so I'll leave it at that. I hitched back with a really nice guy named Cam all the way to Melbourne, and I might meet up with him in a couple days when he starts driving up to Townsville.
On Thursday I managed to switch a couple of the dates on my airline tickets, then went to the National Gallery Victoria, which has the largest collection of International art in Australia (and it's free!).
Last Friday I hitched up to Albury and it took forever. I caught a train out to the outer suburbs to Melbourne, but then ended up hitching about 30 kilometers in 3 hours and coming back towards Melbourne towards the main freeway. I was then dropped off in pretty much the middle of nowhere, on an onramp that had about 10 cars go by in an hour and a half, and a big sign saying no pedestrians past this point. Just before I was ready to start walking, an army guy saw the desperate look on my face and picked up. He ended up giving me the name of a guy in Sydney who I might be able to stay with, and then dropped me off at a truck stop where I was able to get a ride really quickly and got into Albury about 7. After finding out that Albury didn't have any backpackers, I started wandering around town, before meeting up with a Scottish guy who took me back to the pub and a really nice guy by the name of Craig said I could sleep on his couch. We then spent the entire rest of the night hitting the bar and then going to his friend's night club.
I ended up staying in Albury for four nights, and met up with my friend Jules from third year on exchange on the saturday. St Patties day was a blast and then we did teh traditional Aussi sunday drinks thing, which was interesting with the hangover. I hitched up to Canberra yesterday which went really smoothly, and then today have been hanging out in Canberra and visiting al the "National" sites. I'm staying with Devin, the American guy I met back in November in New Zealand and he's going to school at the Uni here in some international relations course. I'm planning on hitching to Sydney in a couple of days, and then up to Newcastle to meet up with Patsy, probably around my birthday. I hope this post satisfies everyone!