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!