hours in airports

Got to the airport in Brisbane this morning to find out that my flight is delayed by about 3 hours. Of course I got to the airport 2 hours early, like you're supposed ta, so now I get to sit for 5 hours in BNE. And this airport is shite. They did give me a food voucher though and I bought nachos, which were horrible. What the hell was I thinking?!
Anyway, I'm for sure going to miss my connecting flight in LA, unless by some miracle we arrive early and I can clear customs in like 10 minutes. (yeah right). And the next stupid flight out of LA doesn't leave until 215pm. So that means another almost 5 hours in LAX.
And I should finally get into SFO around 330pm.
My 17 hour travel day just turned into a 25 hour day.
Oh well.
What can you do?
I've been lucky so far with all my flights, so I guess it was bound to happen, right?
I just hope my luggage makes it.
Or not.
whatever.
Doesn't really matter at this point.

Coming home soon!

My 68 day trip is nearing an end and it's a good thing because I'm about to run out of shampoo, conditioner, hair gel, face wash, cotton balls, toothpaste... just about everything really.
I can't believe I made it without getting sick. Well, twice I had cramps so bad that I thought I was on the verge of death. And I have to admit, I did puke once but it wasn't really due to being "sick". I didn't even drink thaaat much, but I woke up feeling horrible so I forced myself to down a bunch of water. And then right after I drank all that water I was like, "uh oh." So when you think about it, it was really the water that made me sick, not all the vodka I drank the night before.
Nothing was stolen and I didn't lose anything on this trip either, which is awesome. I almost got mugged in Laos, but when I screamed and raised my fist, I think the perpetrator was more scared of me than I was of him. And with so many flights I was sure I'd lose some luggage, but I didn't. I did lose some stuff on purpose so that I'd be able to zip up my suitcase. I gave away a few books, pants, shirts, a scarf/shall thing and some left over squashed energy bars.
Turns out I didn't need that bag of emergency snacks after all. Being a picky eater, I was worried about starving, but in reality I can barely fit into my jeans these days. But none of that matters now. I'm sure the gym will be there waiting for me when I get home.
So as this trip draws to a close I'm feeling super lucky that things have gone so well.

Byron Bay and link to Australia pics

I'm in Byron Bay, which is a little hippie beach town. But it has been raining since I got here. Kinda a bummer for me, but all the locals are stoked because Australia is in the middle of a 10 year drought, so any rain is a good thing.

Here is a link to my Australia pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/18446987@N00/sets/72157602971066591/

enjoy!

Fraser Island and Surfers Paradise

I haven’t had the chance to blog much. We were out on Fraser Island, which was more about nature and sort of roughing it accommodations with no internet. Fraser Island is a big sand bar, which they say has more sand than the Sahara Desert. But it’s not just sand, although there are some impressive sand dunes. It has like 40 fresh water lakes, and the best of the best is Lake Mackenzie, which has that white silica sand and the most pure blue fresh water. You can swim in it since it’s a lake, and it’s the perfect temp. and it is really spectacular. And that white silica sand is really good for exfoliating and cleaning your jewelry because the sand grains are perfectly round. I brought all my sliver and cleaned everything in the sand. I could have spent the whole day there! There are no paved roads on Fraser Island, because they are preserving the ecosystem. (It is a world heritage site). So to get around you take these massive 4WD bus things and it is so bumpy and crazy, but also kinda fun.
Then the last few days we were in Surfers Paradise, which is just a little beach town that kinda reminded me of the central coast in California, except there were more night clubs. But just a bunch of little shops and cafes in the few blocks by the beach and a big nice long beach, perfect for strolling. My feet hurt from walking so far in the sand and I wonder if it’s that good kind of hurt, where like after a work out your sore, but you know it’s good for you, or if it’s bad for your feet to walk in the sand…??? Anyway, I didn’t do much in Surfers Paradise other than lounge on the beach, walk on the beach and do a little shopping and eating. We did go out to a night club but it was so lame. Lots of people but lame all the same. I miss my little scene back home. I think I’m spoiled by San Francisco.
Today I had to say goodbye to my mates that I’ve been traveling with for the last 2 weeks or so. It was pretty sad. I met 8 people who were super cool and we all got along really well and shared a lot of good laughs and good times. A lot of times when you are traveling you find your self hanging out with people that you would probably never hang out with at home just because of the circumstance. But these 8 (6 Brits, 1 east coaster and 1 Brazilian) were like the kind of people I would totally hang out with at home although they aren’t necessarily into the same things I’m into or just like me. But they are all down to earth, down for a good time and an adventure. They are all interesting and intelligent with something to contribute and I like that. I would gladly put them up in my house if they came to SF, which they all say they want to after hearing me talk about it and how great the bay area is.
Last night as we were all walking home from our sort of last night out together, one of the blokes (who is barely 26 and spent almost 5000 POUNDS to fly roundtrip to Sydney first class on Emirates because the previous year he had a horrible experience flying back from Africa in economy because he sat next to a guy who brought on a whole roast chicken on the bone and gobbled up the whole thing in the most unsightly manor so he swore off flying economy for life. HA!) Anyway he said, “You’re the coolest person I’ve met in a long time. I really appreciate your views on life. It’s like you’ve got things pretty well figured out.” It was such a sweet yet funny thing for him to say, seeing as how my life in such a disarray right and now and with so much sort of up in the air I feel so far from having everything “figured out”.
But I guess “figured out” doesn’t have to mean that everything is perfectly in place, it just means having some insight and perspective on your situation. Seeing potential in the chaos and having the ambition to get up everyday and make the most of it. And I guess I do have that. It definitely feels like I’m starting down a new path and at this point I feel oh so ready for it. Home in 3 days… yay!

Whitehaven Beach: about as good as it gets

You know that vision of paradise? That thing that you dream about in the middle of Nov. or Feb., when it’s dark when you go to work and dark when you get home and cold and raining every time you step outside. You know that day dream where you’re strolling along a perfect stretch of soft, white sand, or lounging with a book and nothing but the sound of the waves laping the shore? I think we’ve all had a similar day dream, and yesterday I got to visit that place. Whitehaven beach is a 7 mile strip of pure white silica sand on Whitsunday island. There are something like 74 islands that make up the Whitsunday region, including a club med, and a bunch of other islands with little resorts, like Hamilton Island and where we stayed, Long Island. But Whitsunday island and Whitehaven beach are totally undeveloped because it is a protected part of a National Marine Park (so there aren’t even bathrooms). There is nobody selling anything. There are no buildings, which also means no shade. But there also aren’t too many tourists or other people. It really does come about as close to that ideal of paradise, as I’ve ever seen.
A ferry boat makes a daily trip with some tourists and there are other little private boats and yachts docked just off shore. And the people come for just a few hours to walk along the beach or swim or to just lounge in the sun. The sand is absolutely amazing. The best sand I’ve ever seen/felt anywhere. It is pure white silica sand, which means every grain is perfectly round. Someone told me it is what they use to make telescope lenses, but I don’t know if that is actually true. (sounds impressive though). They did say that it is a really good for exfoliating you skin and cleaning your jewelry, which I can vouch for. And it makes your tan look so good against the white sand. It would be the perfect spot for a Victoria’s Secrete photo shoot. The water is also that perfect turquoise blue color and it’s clear and it’s the perfect temperature, not to warm, but not at all cold.
The only downside to it all is that there were some leaves on the beach, but since it’s an uninhabited island in a perfectly natural state, I guess a few leaves here and there aren’t really worth complaining about. There is no seaweed. Haven’t seen any seaweed since I’ve been here. But the other thing that slightly spoils the perfection is that there are stingers in the water. And it used to be that the stingers were only around for a few months a year, but for some reason that the scientists don’t understand the stinger season has recently started getting longer and longer every year. Crappy! Cause those little buggers, basically little tiny jelly fish with long tentacles will sting you if you just brush up against them and it hurts real bad. Like hella bad, for days. There is another rarer jelly fish called the box jelly fish and if that one gets you, your dead in about 30 minutes. But I guess you rarely see that one around. But still they make sure to tell you about it to properly freak you out and then they try to tell you that if your going to go in the water you should wear a stinger suit, which is basically like a full body, thin wet suit that even has mitten things to cover your hands. They come mostly in day glow colors like yellow and pink and as I’m sure you can imagine… it’s a really attractive look. So I was like, “uh yeah… no.” I’m not gonna ruin my vision of paradise with one of those! But at the same time, I’ve been stung by a jelly fish before and it sucks so bad, so I really didn’t want to deal with that either.
So I mostly just walked along the beach enjoying the perfect white sand. But it was really hot and there was no shade so after some other people went in, I went in about half way and it was fine.
So yeah, that was my afternoon in paradise.
Did I tell you about the day snorkeling? We went to a similar island, totally uninhabited just a strip of sand in the middle of that beautiful clear blue water with a reef right off shore. It really is amazing. And it’s nice that they are really trying to protect the reef and the islands, so it’s not like there is development everywhere spoiling everything. Although I have to admit the Great Barrier Reef wasn’t quite what I expected. A lot of it seemed dead and it wasn’t as vibrant and full of fish as I thought it might be. But then again, there were a lot of people on our snorkeling boat and I’m sure we just went to the typical spots, nothing really special or exclusive or anything. But one of the guys I was talking to said that the reef in Egypt was more impressive, which just makes me wish I had spent just a little more time there and had made it up to Alexandria and the red sea. Oh well… gotta save something for next time I guess.
Australia is kind of weird. The people are nice and the focus seems to be on having a laid back good time. But it is expensive as hell! The cocktails I like are either $9 or $14 a pop at the last place we stayed. A 20oz. bottle of soda or a candy bar in the grocery store is like almost $2 each. A fifth of Smirdinof was like $37 in a proper liquor store. Just plain madness! And also it seems so similar to home that even though we are seeing pretty cool stuff, (oh jee, like only the most perfect beach I’ve ever seen, lol) but it still lacks that exoticness, I guess. And then there is also the fact that I’m sharing a room with 3 other girls and we are staying in pretty budget accommodations, which is totally fine but for me it does reduce the wow factor, just a bit. Luckily the girls are really great. They are all from the UK and it has been really fun to hang out with them and talk girl talk and share products and beauty tips and all that kind of stuff. We all get along really well, thank goodness, because the size of the room we are sharing right now is smaller than my college freshmen dorm room, and it’s the 4 of us and all our luggage. Thankfully we are only here for one night.
Tomorrow we head to Frazer island, which is supposed to be pretty amazing. There is a fresh water lake (so no stingers) that also has that pure white sand, and you can actually swim, so I’m excited about that! After that it’s on to the Gold Coast, and then that’s it… my trip is over.
Hard to believe that it’s already almost over. The 2 months went pretty fast, and it doesn’t really seem like I’ve really been gone for that long. But I guess I have. I guess I’m excited about going home to my new life. It’s a little scary, but I’m definitely ready for a change. And I’m excited about the beginning of snowboarding season. I’ve got to say, I’m not super excited about going back to work, just because we have a new computer system that I’m afraid I’ve completely forgot how to use and a new boss I’ve never met and a new insurance/benefits plan that I don’t understand and new staff that I’ve hardly spent any time with. Le sigh. But I’m sure it will all be fine. I actually am excited about helping customers and getting back to the business of helping to plan dream vacations. Doing some traveling of my own makes it so much easier to relate to my customers and it makes the job that much more relevant and fun. Anyway, I’m excited to get home and get back to my life and get back to the gym and eat some decent healthy food!