1770 Adventure

So yesterday I actually made it out to Southern Great Barrier Reef; woohoo, actual diving!!!  Boat days are a bit of an endurance trial.  I dragged myself out of bed a little after 5:30am, and the bus dropped us off at the house at 6:30pm.  Let's just say I had no trouble falling asleep.

Sadly, I forgot to bring my camera yesterday, but I am headed back to the boat tomorrow, so I will bring back plenty of photos to post.  Hopefully the underwater visibility will be somewhat improved so I can introduce you to George, the resident giant estuary cod at the place we dive, who's at least 4 feet long & about 300 pounds.

I managed to get my rescue diver certification wrapped up, which is a huge relief.  It resulted in a lot of REALLY perplexed Japanese tourists, I must say.  There was a small crowd gathered at the railing looking very concerned as I performed a simulated rescue on my "drowning" fellow DM trainee.  I was especially entertained by one woman who showed up for a day of sun and water adventure dressed in a long black velvet  skirt, black & gold brocade jacket, and loads of pearls.  We speculated that perhaps she had gotten her tours mixed up and would show up for a dinner theater engagement that night wearing her bikini...

Goooooooooonnnn!!!!

So I had quite the eventful day!  First off, I spent the entire day battling the after-effects of waaayyyy too much goon last night (Aussie slang term of the day!  Goon:  wine in 4L boxes that cost around $10).  One of the other DM trainees who’s staying in the house had friends in town, so we had an epic drunken poker tournament.  The guys couldn’t find a full deck of cards, so I volunteered my brand new, oh-so-fancy pink & green Lilly Pulitzer deck, not knowing that the lack of black suits would ultimately be my downfall.  Evidently when you’re drunk, it’s difficult to differentiate between a green club and a green spade.  Needless to say, much mocking ensued.  Fortunately, the buy-in was a grand total of $6 each.

Queasiness aside, I finally found a reasonably priced (for Oz!) hair salon and banished the appalling 2” roots I’ve been walking around with for weeks.  Even more exciting, I visited the doctor for my dive medical and got a clean bill of health!!!  I had a nasty case of otitis media with effusion, so I was reluctant to dive until it cleared up, but it looks like I’m in good shape now. 

I also had my first encounter with the Law down under – suffice it to say that they take their seatbelt laws rather seriously.  Not to worry, I lied my ass off & managed to escape with just a warning.  J

Life in Bundy

Intersection of the main st and the st we live on

So the main street in this town is called Bourbong St, but most of the signs have the G scratched off.  It’s especially funny when you consider the size of the “city” of Bundaberg.  Compared to the cities where I’ve lived, this place has very much of a small-town feel to it.  It’s been really nice so far since I don’t have a car; it’s a quick walk to the grocery stores and the dive shop.  The owners of the place where I’ll be doing my Divemaster internship have a house where the students all stay together for the low, low price of $90 AUS per week.  This is a comparative bargain, as the hostels in town run about $150; however, the quality of accommodation is reflected in the reduced rate, mostly notably in the lack of any internet service.  Fortunately, the local public library is only a short walk.  

I have managed to accomplish quite a bit so far – we started my Rescue Diver course and completed the pool training and the textbook & exam, and finished the Emergency First Response course and CPR training.  Sadly, the weather has been less than cooperative since my arrival – first we had heavy rains and flooding up north, and now we’ve moved on to high winds.  Hopefully things will quiet down soon so we I can finish up my courses and move on to my DM training!

God's Waiting Room

Ah, home sweet...hostel.  This is a portion of the garden area at my temporary home, the lovely Woolshed Backpackers in Hervey (pronounced Harvey - don't ask me) Bay, Queensland.  As you may have guessed from the title of this post, lifted directly from my guide book, the area is a little on the quiet side.  It's actually been a pretty nice change to just sit around and do nothing - well, almost nothing - for a little while.  I do have to work for two hours every morning for free accommodation.  Rough life, right?  Did you notice the hammocks?  :-)  My Kindle has definitely come in handy!

Aside from lounging, I have in fact been doing some waiting of my own.  My next move up the coast will be to either Bundaberg or Airlie Beach.  My destination will be decided by the dive shops where I have applied for internships.  Some shops offer a program, referred to as a traineeship, which involves unpaid work in exchange for "free" Divemaster training and work experience.  I have my fingers crossed for Airlie - I'll update as soon as I have any news!

Bridge to staff housing

Sydneyside - the Aussie Adventure begins!

Australian currency - much more colorful and interesting than we have at home.  How can you not love a currency that has a platypus on the 20 cent coin???

Sadly, this may have been one of the highlights of my unscheduled 2 day stopover in Sydney.  After a 15 hour flight and a week of partying like a rockstar in LA, I spent a large portion of my visit sleeping.  I did manage to drag myself out of bed long enough to notice that Sydney was about as appallingly expensive as NYC.  A cheap "schooner" of beer (less than a pint!!!) averaged about $5.  My hostel in King's Cross, one of the more *colorful* areas of the city, was $32 a night - obviously a much better deal than your average hotel room, but definitely on the high end in the world of backpackers.

I was disappointed to discover that Bad Religion had a show scheduled for the evening of the day I was due to depart.  They were playing as part of the Soundwave festival which ran over a few days.  I met some British & American guys who worked with some of the bands at the closest bar with A/C.  Did I mention it's bloody hot here???

I did accomplish two important things, despite my hours spent snoozing - I managed to open my Australian bank account, and of far greater importance, set up my local phone number!  Hooray!  If anyone feels like running up the long distance bill, just email me for my new #.  I'm also typically on Skype at least once a day.

Review of Jackaroo Hostel :
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g255060-d1950653-r125919075-Jackaroo_Hostel-Sydney_New_South_Wales.html#UR125919075

Life in LA LA Land...

So it seems there is a reason they call it Hollyweird.  This week was a whirlwind of the outrageous and bizarre, and gave new meaning to the phrase 'party like a rock star.'  I'll spare you the details, but the high points included:

-checking out Steel Panther at the House of Blues (and hearing them announce that they're off to tour Australia!)
-going to see Gilby Clarke at the Whisky (complete with new!improved!70s porn star stache!) with a stop-off at the Rainbow afterward (is any trip to LA complete without a drink at the Rainbow?  I THINK NOT.)

-possibly the best plate of homemade tagliatelle I have ever eaten at a restaurant not in NYC named after a street in NYC (thanks, Delancey)
-seeing my awesome LA friends!!!!!!  Love you girls!

This is Heather.  Her hat is fabulous.

NYC To Do List

So this is all the stuff I can think of that I want to do before I leave - please to be noting that 95% of the list is bars...BIG SHOCK!!!

Coyote(?)
Doc’s
Turkey’s Nest
Shake Shack
Holiday  RIP Stefan, all over again :-(
Grassroots
Trivia - Pete’s or Big Quiz Thing
Duff’s
Subway
Call Box
Temple