From Mikey to Melbourne

Apologies to everyone, I know I promised to be a more frequent blogger in my last entry but it just didn't come to pass. I, personally, would blame Mike for taking up too much of my time. Yes, that's right, I went and got me a boyfriend (but he's a Kiwi, not Ozian). So this brief entry is going to be snippets of the adventures of Myers and McKay for the past four months.

• Getting scared to death of zombie freaks in the mazes at Fright Night (and getting a shave from Sweeney Todd)
• Dressing up all fancy to go to the casino with just $20 and coming home with $25 (SCORE!)
• Stroking manta rays and sea cucumbers at Sea World
• Learning to bake yummy beer bread
• Cooking our very first Christmas dinners for ourselves and not ruining them (neither of us cooked or ate veggies but lots of stuffing and Yorkshire puds)
• Going to a "Dive-in" movie (Kung Fu Panda 2) at the swimming pool at Wet and Wild
• Spending New Years Eve watching the fireworks on the very crowded beach in Surfers Paradise and being forced to walk home afterwards
• Celebrating my birthday with mini golf, laser tag, Hard Rock Cafe and a chocolate dinosaur cake (homemade by Mike)
• Walking to the Spit (very end of the Gold Coast main stretch of beach) only to be rewarded with yucky sunburn
• Meeting the Justice League at Movie World
• Showing Mike's sister, Ashley, all the sights during her little visit to Oz
• Stuffing our faces with American pancakes for Valentines Day before taking a stroll to see the epic creations in the pirate-themed sandcastle competition
• Grilling burgers (homemade by Mike again) on the free BBQs in the park
• Trying my first ever Subway sandwich (obviously not including cheese, salad or sauces)
• Teaching Mike that Pancake Day is not a fake celebration, in fact it's the best one of them all
• Taking the free train to Noosa for the weekend intending to snorkel and not realising it would be over 35C when we got there
• Discovering that chicken salt is not grind up chicken bones as previously assumed but salt mixed with chicken stock (and actually quite nice on your chips)
• Cruising the Brisbane river on catamarans
• Eating some scrummy little $2 steaks in an Irish bar to celebrate our last night on the Gold Coast

That's about all I can think of. There was obviously lots of work in between and job hunting at the end (Jo will be happy to know lots of going to the park/beach and reading a book). There really were no jobs going in the Gold Coast so I decided o take the leap and move to Melbourne. Mike decided not to come with me and go home to New Zealand instead. He was sick of Australia and his Mum really wanted him home (plus he really missed his dog and cat) so it was for the best.
And as for Melbourne, I've only been here four days but I have to say it is definitely the best city so far. Sydney was a little soulless, Brisbane was a big town with delusions of grandeur and the Gold Coast was an overgrown tourist resort. Melbourne is practically hipster heaven. It's full of all the book shops, gardens and theatres you could ever desire. All the little lane ways are covered in awesome street art/graffiti. The sun shines down fiercely every afternoon and for the chillier mornings there's half a dozen free art galleries and about a million cafes to shelter in. Best of all, it's the home of the Neighbours set! I haven't been there yet but it is top of my to do list for when I get a job.
As well as finding out where Jet live and stalking them.
OK, well that's all for now. I guess now I don't have Mike here as a distraction I'll remember to update this more.
No promises though...

Ozian Highlights

I'm very sorry for not updating my blog for a little while but life has been pretty hectic. I spent most of my remaining time in Brisbane working at the hotel I mentioned. It was an okay job. The people there were really nice and the pay was awesome but some of the guests were kinda crazy and way high maintenance. If I was a permanent Brissy resident it would've been a good job but I hated Brisbane so much that I'm glad not to be working there any more. The only really memorable thing about that last month in Brisbane was River Fire. It's a huge firework show held throughout the entire city to the cheesiest music medley imaginable. Of course Katy Perry featured in it which was rather unoriginal but I think my favourite part was the Black Eyed Peas remixed with The Simpsons. It was hilarious!
Other than that there wasn't really anything remarkable to report, just the usual; going out, watching movies, going to the park etc. I did decide that my favourite Cold Rocks ice cream creation so far was chocolate gelato with cookie dough. That was super tasty. I have yet to go to the local Cold Rocks in Surfers Paradise but I'm certain I'll discover some more yummy creations before my Oz time is over.
Life is better on the Gold Coast. For one thing I have a nice tan going on, although in my first week I was definitely more lobster coloured than sun-kissed. I also love my job at Dreamworld. I still only work two rides so it's a bit frustrating but it's so much fun and I love the perks!
Other than working I've been having a good time. Apart from the time spent sun-bathing I've been to the Hard Rock Cafe with Kate a bunch of times, Byron Bay with the guys from my hostel twice (the first time I was dumb enough to hike through the rainforest up to the lighthouse in flip-flops; the second time I went in the van) and then there was my favourite excursion to go see the glow worms!  We went to the Natural Bridge National Park (and again had to trek through a rainforest but this time in Converse) to a dark cave full of glow worms. They were so pretty. Like stars but closer. I think we should build a glow worm cave in the back garden for when I get home!
Well, I hope you're all feeling caught up now. I'll try to be a more frequent blogger in the future for you all. Ciao!

Fuzzy Friends

For consistency's sake I'll fill you in on Saturday quickly before hopping on to Sunday (the main attraction methinks). I pretty much went on a bit of a lap of the city, heading from the CBD to Fortitude Valley and Chinatown (and the only Maccy's in town with free wifi), down to Story Bridge, walked by the river to the Botanic Gardens, across the pedestrian bridge to South Bank (detoured to Cold Rocks Ice Creamery of course - I went for White Chocolate and Malteaser this time), wandered through the random market they had on, passed QPAC and back across the river to the CBD, down Queen Street and home. Not very interesting but I figure I need to include every ice cream flavour I create here so I can judge which is the best!

And so, on to the main event...

Look at that! That's Kat the Koala and me cuddling! How cute is she?! I wanted to take her home with me. Her fur was so fuzzy and soft, I could've spent all day snuggling with her but she's only allowed to cuddle for 30 minutes a day so I would've had to trade her for another koala every so often but I could live with that.

Koala Kat, my new BFF (sorry J), lives at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, just outside of Brisbane. Kate and I visited her on Sunday. I was rather proud of us because we found the magical underground bus station and figured out the confusing ticketing system without any assistance whatsoever. Go us!

There are koalas everywhere (as one would expect in a koala sanctuary) and we even got to see little baby koalas in their mummys' pouches. Plus there were loads of other awesome animals like fruit bats and Tasmanian devils and I saw my first ever wombat! Have you ever seen a wombat? They are so weird. I thought they were going to be like overgrown guinea pigs, like maybe the size of an otter but they're huge! More like proper pigs than guinea pigs but hairy and tail-less. Kate and I couldn't believe them. I've never seen anything like them. They were like cartoon characters. You could totally pop one on a lead and take it for a walk. I would quite like a pet wombat.

We also got to play with the kangaroos. Two sheilas generously gave us some of their kangaroo feed so we had kangaroos licking our hands whilst we stroked them although the red ones didn't seem to like people very much. Understandable when you see parents letting their kids run riot and grabbing the poor roos' tails and chasing them around the park. I would've loved to see the kangaroos kick the little gets in the face. Then their parents' might learn to keep them under control.

You could hold snakes and baby crocs as well but Kate isn't keen on reptiles so we didn't do that and I voted to miss out the scary ass birds of prey so we headed back to Brissy (our plans of kidnapping a koala were foiled by the smallness of our bags) where there was a kind of jumble sale outside the library where people were selling off their stuff super cheap (Kate got five tops for five bucks) which I guess is a good back up plan for if I get low on money!

We'd had a pretty long day so I headed back to the hostel for a nap and didn't wake up until four hours later and that was only because Laura was prodding me, saying "Sarah. Sarah. Sarah..." I think I probably Dinosaur RARred at her in reply. Sarah doesn't like her sleep disturbed. She was inviting me out to the Victory again with everyone which was very nice of her - and very brave to wake me up! I figured since I was up I might as well go and had a good night, although the band this week wasn't as good as the band last week.

The next day I had to head to the Gold Coast for more job interviews and not knowing whether I was coming back to Brisbane or not at the stage I sat in the square by the clock tower, sipping a raspberry slurpee and munching on chocolate Hello Panda biscuits reading my book in the sun as a little farewell Brissy moment. The city's kind of grown on me a little and I think it would be an alright place to live if you had something to keep you occupied most of the time.

The train journey to the Gold Coast was rather uneventful although I think I got on the wrong bus to Southport because it was one of those that goes down every single little street and takes forever. It didn't however go down the street where my hostel was so I got a tiny bit lost looking for it. I even went in the library to see if they had a map or at least an Internet connection I could use. I normally have a pretty good sense of direction but in the end I had to admit defeat and grab a taxi. He literally took me around the corner from the library! I couldn't believe it. Oh well. At least the driver carried my case right up to the door for me.

I got checked in and almost instantly headed back out to find the location of my interview the next day. The streets around here are quite confusing and I didn't want to get lost again and end up being late for the interview. Luckily I knew it was near the police station and I'd passed that on my earlier wanderings so I found it no probs. Afterwards I went to Oportos for some Bondi bites (aka fancy chicken nuggets) and then home to the hostel for a quiet night in.

Interview day went swimmingly because of my earlier preparation. I was at the first one in plenty of time and I think it went well. It was a group interview so it sort of took the pressure off quite a bit.

After that I walked into the centre with the intentions of catching the bus to the second interview but on the way I saw a pub with a sign for steak and chips for $6.95! SOLD! I'd paid six dollars at Oportos for chicken nuggets and Happy Meals are almost five so it was a bargain, and super nice. It was good to eat something that was on a plate for a change not in a paper bag or cardboard box. Feeling nice and full I went to the bus stop and headed over to Harbour Town shopping centre where the second interview was. Again I think it went really well and it was another group interview so I've had a lot of practice with them now.

Speaking of jobs, I've been offered the receptionist job back in Brisbane so I'm heading back there tomorrow. I'm a bit reluctant to be leaving the Gold Coast. I really like it here and maybe it's the difference in lifestyle but everyone here is so much friendlier and more laid back than in Brissy. It will be good to see the girls in the hostel again though and at least I'll have money coming in until I hear back from these other interviews.

In other news, I just found a shop selling "American Candy" so I've just bought Dr Pepper and Cookie Dough Bites and if I end up back here I'll be spending a lot more money there! Yum!

Surfers Lost

Surfers Paradise was only an hour away from Brisbane on the train but felt like a whole new country. It's a proper purpose built holiday resort area with the corporate feel of International Drive mixed with the tackiness of Magaluf and a little Bohemian chic thrown in for good measure. Just my kind of place!

I spent the early part of my day at an interview for a job that I don't think I got because there were lots of people there for the same position so I think they're more likely to hire someone local who can work for longer than six months at a time.

For lunch I went to the Hard Rock Cafe, of course! It's only tiny in there and there was hardly anyone in it but the food was really good as per usual so I left a happy bunny. Afterwards I wandered around the streets and shops a little until I ended up at the beach. It is so different to Bondi; the sand is whiter, the beach is way bigger and the waves are a lot smaller...which unfortunately meant less surfers (they should really change the name of the town!) but better paddling conditions. I was on the wrong coast to be able to watch the sun set behind the ocean but it still cast a really pretty pink and purple pattern over the sky. I wish I had a decent camera to show everyone how beautiful it was. After sun down there was a little night market on the promenade filled with the weirdest mix of souvenirs imaginable (koala shaped air fresheners next to graffitied trucker hats). There was even a massage stall where the first minute of your massage was free; very tempting!

Leaving Surfers was a lot harder than arriving. I figured that to leave I'd just go back to where the bus dropped me off but on the opposite side of the road, which is sensible, right? Wrong! Even though they're not one way streets, the buses operate on their own one way route so after ten minutes of wandering down the street wondering where all the bus stops were I had to turn back and follow the route around down a completely different street to find a bus stop. They should really warn people when they get off the bus about that. At least from my time wandering aimlessly around the streets I made an amazing discovery - Surfers has it's own Cold Rocks Ice Creamery so if I move there I wouldn't be missing out on my ice cream fix.

The next morning the manager made everyone in my room change rooms because there was a big group coming in that needed the room. One of the lads, Nicky, was going home that day after only a week because he was homesick and his mate, Dan, was moving hostels rather than bother with the hassle of moving rooms so it felt like our little group was breaking up which was quite sad. Luckily I had showtunes to cheer me up! Cabaret was showing at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre and I had a ticket for the front row of the circle. It was opening night so I think the nerves were showing in the lead but the dancers and the choreography were amazing. The story was quite different to the movie but still had the same basic theme but the ending was so much more powerful than in the film. It was incredible, I just wish there had been a better Sally.

I had another job interview the next day, this time for a hotel here in Brissy. I think this one went a lot better so hopefully I'll soon be employed. Keep your fingers crossed for me! After the interview I popped into the office to do a little more job hunting and use the free wifi and I bumped into Bev. She was killing time until she had to go to the airport to meet her parents in Sydney who were visiting. I hadn't seen her since she'd left Sydney two weeks ago so we went to a cafe for a catch up over a muffin and a hot chocolate. She has meeting her friend, Ellen, for tea and invited me to go with them. We went to a place called Tinbilly's which is like a pub attached to a hostel with an awesome atmosphere. The place was heaving and there was gent with a guitar singing a medley of really good song on stage. I had the chciken schnitzel (mainly because I love saying the word schnitzel) and it was really, really nice and not expensive at all. Coincidentally I found out that Ellen is actually staying in my hostel so it's nice to know someone else staying here. We went on a little Woolies trip together to get dessert and I discovered that they sell gingerbread men there for 79 cents so I think I know what I'm going to be living off from now on! Mmmmmm gingerbread...

Pretending to be clever

I was a proper culture vulture yesterday. After dutifully spending the morning in the office job hunting I popped to McDonald's for lunch. On the floor above Maccy's there's a cake shop where the chocolate mud cake had been giving me the eye for a few days so I treated myself to a slice. I should've saved my money. I make nicer cakes than that and I can't even cook!

I decided to head over to Southbank again for the afternoon because it's the only place I actually like in Brisbane. On the way over the bridge I had a moment of genius. The little ferry boats are called City Cats and it's kind of perplexed me as to why because cats don't like water, right? LIGHT BULB! It's short for catamaran! It's only my favorite word and I didn't even frickin' notice. Silly Sarah! Whether it was because I was feeling particularly intelligent after that or if it was the recommendation from Nicky, one of the guys in my dorm, I'll never know, but I decided to head to the Queensland Museum. It was an alright museum. There was an aboriginal section and an exhibit dedicated to all things Queensland but the best bits were the airplanes and the dinosaur skeleton. Everyone loves a good dinosaur skeleton! This one was a muttaburrasaurus. I've never heard of it before but it was pretty cool. Upstairs was the "zoo" full of loads of taxidermy animals which kind of freakedme out, especially the collection of dead beetles. They just look like they're about to come to life and start crawling all over you!

I must have been feeling quite clever after that because I decided to visit the art galleries as well whilst I was in the area and accidentally stumbled on the coolest place in Brisbane! It's called Whale Mall and it's a hall between the museum and art gallery, which are both really ugly grey box buildings so the hall would be really ugly too if it wasn't for the giant humpback whales hanging from the ceiling! Whale song music was pumped through the sound system and it was just really surreal to be outside, not expecting anything and all of a sudden a whale appears! I loved it!

The art galleries were pretty cool too. The modern one had some really pretty Aboriginal paintings in it from the Torres Straits and the other one (non-modern?) had loads of random water features around the place. All in all a good day. I felt well clever afterwards and even used my brain power to resist going over to Cold Rocks again for more ice cream. Go me!