Just a thought

I wish I could not just record an entire experience, not just a picture or a film.  Being able to document exactly how you feel and express that to others would be just the best thing ever.  

Just a thought.  

I'm on a boat!

So I have left Magnetic Island an made my way to Arlie Beach where I then stayed and went on my Witsundays Islands tour.  The tour was so relaxing.  The people on my boat were incredibly chill.  We did a lot of sun tanning and snorkeling.  On the second day out we went to a beautiful beach.  The sand was almost as white as paper and squeaked under each step.  I saw a sting ray and a shark that was later identified to me as a lemon shark.  The views were breathtaking.  On the second day I paid $60 for a 40 minute dive. There we saw a giant fish witch had an am ward lump on its head and giant blue lips.  The fish were swimming all around the scuba instructor.  It was a colorful vortex of fish just going around and around.  The rest of the scuba diving was cool but that was the highlight of the dive.  

Now that I am on land everything seems like I'm still on the boat.  I was reading earlier and the book seemed to move even while nothing around me was.  I guess being on a boat for two days and two nights will do that to someone.  

Reception

Booking my stay at Magnetic Island I was told that there was a full moon festival in the middle of the nights I had booked.  In other words there was no room and I would have to book another hostel in town after staying on the island for one day and stay at the new place for 3 days.  This was troubling because I had a voucher that I would not be able to use unless I spent about $100.  The lady on the phone at Magnetic Island wasn't sympathetic either.  My plan was to got from the island to shore and spend the 3 nights off the island so I could use my voucher.  

When I arrived at the hostel I was greeted my a very kind lady with huge hair.  I was exhausted from the bus ride and I told her my situation.  She listened very patiently and when I was finished she decided to find room for me. I would have to pay a little extra for the room and I would have to pay for the festival (let's call it the Full Moon Party 2013).  I ended up paying $80 for the extra night, the Full Moon Party and my room upgrade.  This was great because it meant I wouldn't have to go though moving hostel (moving hostel is the worst), I would have to buy a ferry ticket and I wouldn't have to miss this giant party.  

I felt on top of the world and that's when I saw the crew.  The crew was setting up the stage for the upcoming party.  Eager to pass on the good deed, I explained that I had previous experience with stage crew and I offered to help.  The man who I later learned is named Tim's face lit up.  He had been down two guys and he wouldn't be able to get all of the work that he had to do done.  He introduced me to AJ the DJ/ apprentice stage hand.  The work was hot and unforgiving but it didn't last long.  I was thanked profusely for my help.  I also met much of the hostels grateful staff in the process.  

Later that night after I dressed in all black and had my face pained skeleton style by a roommate. His is because it was Halloween themed.  The music was cool the lights were awesome but best of all were the costumes. I saw a really good Chuckie, I saw Sockum Boppers, I saw 3 Sailer Moons, I saw 2 Gokus, 4 Pikachus, I saw a Bender. Just amazing consumes and pretty much everyone was dressed up. It was like a mini drunken ACen with really loud music and lots of dancing.  

At one point on the dance floor I was stopped by a... friendly fellow and he pointed at me and yelled to his friend over the music "This guy! He's Like between a nerd and a lad" (lad=bro).  My skeleton self stood there and thought for a second and I kind of agreed.  Though still call myself a nerd I guess my awesome dancing makes me sort of a lad.  

Later that night I bumped into AJ and a photographer I had previously met.  They invited me backstage.  I happy accepted.  I was equipped with a special wristband and i proceeded backstage.  Nobody was really dancing back there but from back stage you could see everything.  The audience was goin hard putting there hands up an it mad me glad that I could participate in making something that so many people could enjoy.  The night ended for me at 3 am.  I didn't want to stay up much more.  I was tired and so was the party.  The DJ had started repeating tracks, which to me signals that I have already stayed up to late.  

This was all yesterday.  I'm just weighting all this after I went up to the bar and asked for a glass of OJ to combat the heat.  The guy behind the bar gave it to me for free and said it was for helping out with the stage.  

So a lot has happened since my last update.  I still don't have pictures from the Atherton Tablelands but I have gone scuba diving and snorkeling over the Great Barrier Reef.  I also stayed at a place called PK's Jungle Village overnight.
I went scuba diving 3 days ago and it was something magical.  They had us first do an introductory dive which I thought was fine.  On my introductory dive I was in one of the only groups that saw a turtle! Yea we swam with him for a bit and I also got two killer photos.  One with me in it and one of just the turtle.  These were taken by a professional photographer but I do have my own photos.  Most of my own photos are when I was snorkeling solo.
After the intro dive I was given the option to do a second dive.  We would stay under for longer and swim around a lot more... but after I got all geared up I learned that it costed $55 dollars.  I really hate spending money impulsively but this was one of those things that I just had to do.  I signed my money away and went down under down under.  It was far better than the introductory dive and I had plenty of time to do stuff like somersaults and barrel rolls under water.  I can only describe scuba diving as flying but really slow.  I saw a lot of fist and some interesting plant life.  The one tiny blue plant lived in the pores of another much bigger piece of corral.  When you pushed water at it, it would retract into the bigger corral.  And there was this giant clam that if you ran your hand through it,  it would close.  Just some amazing sights.  I'll be uploading my pictures to Facebook and I'll send a link to the page once it's done.

https://www.facebook.com/alex.gill.355/media_set?set=a.682723498412508.1073741827.100000245929693&type=3

The Great Barrier Reef was renowned but PK's Jungle Village was... not.  The day trip out to PK's was nice. We stopped at a lot of great overlooks and there was an ice cream stand that had the stuff of dreams in little tubs.  We also went to a zoo where we could take pictures of ourselves with a baby crock, a koala, or a snake, but the price was a little too much for me so I refrained from hugging a tiny sleepy bear.  When we got to PK's we first did a mini Jungle tour and a quick beach trip which were both okay.  When my group and I arrived at the hostel I quickly realized that there was almost nothing to do.  I went and checked out another beach and it was just filthy.  It was then that I realized I had forgotten my book.  In the end it wasn't really worth it.

Week of fun #2

At the beginning of the week before jumping out of a plain I book everything that was near Cairns.  The only problem I realized was that I booked everything so close together.  This all said I did leave a day out to rejuvenate and take some time off to do stuff like wright on this blog and get a better camera.

2 days ago (after skydiving) I went white water rafting. And it was the most fun I have had in water since ever.  Don't get me wrong I love doing a lazy day of kayaking but rafting was adrenalin packed fun.  That said the tour did have some relaxing bits.  There were a few times where they would have us jump out and just drift down the stream.

After receiving a brief but thorough crash corse on what to do in the raft as well as what to do when you fall out (when, NOT if).  We were equipped with helmets shoes life jackets and fashionable neon yellow thermal pants and shirts.  We looked like Peeps on water.  

We flipped a few times and I unintentionally was pulled off the raft once. The way that went down was the instructor decided to stop the boat in front of a Giant rock.  The rushing water kept us on the rock, but when my paddle was sucked away by the current, the T grip on the paddle that I was holding on to took me with if downstream.  I hit my left elbow and got a cut on my finger, the most curious thing though was that I had a nosebleed afterwards.  

I know that I held my nose when I went under and I didn't hit my face on anything.  I think that the rush I got from going under sped my heart up to the point where I got a bleed.  Either way it was just an awesome time despite still being sore two days later.  

Yesterday I hiked the table lands but I'm going to save this story for later, because I don't yet have pictures yet.  

Falling

So even though the Internet is scarce, I had to find some today to say "I just went skydiving". That's right, I jumped out of a perfectly good plain just for the thrill of it.  

We were just waiting to go up and my heart was thumping.  Getting on the plain I was fine but then we got up in the air and I got scared again.  The plain ride to the 1000 meter drop was enough to calm me.  We were instructed to put our goggles on and hold on to our harness.  The light turned on and people started literally dropping like flies.  My thought went like this; 

"I'm on a plain.  That's a door.  That door is open.  Why am I moving towards the door?  I should stop moving towards the door.  Why are my legs dangling OUTSIDE this door? In falling out the... Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit! Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

The feeling was something like a roller coster but without the rails.  The initial falling also takes all the water out of my face.  Totally dried me out. Just an overall adrenalin filled experience.  After the parachute was deployed the instructor attached to my back told me to do a bit of steering with the parachute.  Just ahhhh. I mean wow. Great great experience.  Just wow. 

I just arrived in Cairns today. I didn't entirely enjoy my first day.  Maybe because I stayed up all last night so that I could catch a bus at 4 in the morning so I could make a flight at 6:45.  I missed the bus that was going to pick me up from the airport and then after that the bus itself was late.  By the time  got to Calypso (the new hostel) I was starving.  The man at the front desk told me I could wait for a bus in to town or walk 20 minutes.  EVERYWHERE WAS CLOSED.  The only thing I could find was a pie and a bag of chips in a gas station.  The pie was much too hot for me to eat only furthering my hunger.
The wifi here is more expensive than it was in Sydney which vexes me. Aren't things supposed to be cheaper out of the city?  The hostel itself is luxurious compared to the Bondi Shores I was staying in.  Bondi shores was just... disgusting and decrepit.  Another thing about my room which is bittersweet is it is filled with people from my OzIntro program.  It's nice that I can spend so much time with them after we all part ways next weekend but at the same time I'm still hunting for a person to travel with.  It is not as easy as it sounds.  People don't just go traveling with a random other person.

Tourist at Bondi Shores

I've been trying to see all the beaches in the area as much as possible in the time that I have here in Bondi.  And the beaches are amazing, and the parks are beautiful, but everywhere else has a certain grunge to it.  I mean this place is a tourist trap of sorts.  I have found myself paying too much for meals and enjoying the scenery but the town seems like it's not fit to be a tourist spot.  The streets are clean but the pavement is cracked, the advertisements are new but the billboards are old, the shops are bright with paint but the structures are crumbling.
Complaints aside the people in my room are great.  They saw I was nodding off last night and so they noticed, turned off the light and sat in front of the TV.  Boy does that room stink though.  I think that's the consequence of assigning boy only and girls only rooms.
I depart from this hostel in two days, which has me worrying because the OzIntro program has still not sent me an email saying that they have finished my summarized itinerary and I don't know if my laptop (which was newly fixed and sent here by my dad (thank you dad)) has arrived yet.  Whatever the case may be I really should stop worrying because I'm in a beautiful place and I should enjoy it.

Moving hostel

I recently book a stay in a hostel on Bondi Beach and I just moved today.  The place is called Bondi Shores and it is... Not pleasant.  The beds don't feel sturdy, the room smells and there is a certain kind of grunge to it.  

That all said the room does have a tv which is something that I haven't seen in a while.    

Itinerary

This past week we have been showed the best things to do while traveling the coast.  My current plan is to start in a place called Cairns (pronounced "Cans") an work my way down the coast.  This is called "Chasing the Sun" because the temperature will stay the same the whole way down if I do this.  Today I purchased my flight from Sydney to Cairns and booked a stay in a shabby hostel on Bondi Beach for the week.  

I've divided that I will be traveling before I work.  That said, I have filled out a résumé (it's called a "CV" here) so I will be ready for work should I need/ be offered it.  I feel like my odds are pretty good because the unemployment rate here is below 4%.  

I'm also thinking of transferring my money in America to the bank account I have here because the interest rate is all the way to 4%.

Rotating tower of awesome

Today was the final day of OzIntro and it ended in a grand way.  We went to the top of a tower in the middle of Sydney that rotated (kind of like the needle tower in Seattle). The first course of food was a little obscure, but the main course was amazing along with the desert.  Just renowned food with a great view.  

  PS, I need a better camera. 

FIRE

So last night someone's great idea of a prank was to pull the fire alarm. Everyone files outside and we wait half an hour till they start letting us back in. Here's a picture of the event

Some minor league rugby players blasted their entire room with a fire extinguisher and then pulled the alarm.  

Things I've seen so far

As I said previously, my laptop broke before my trip so I have been having to post on my tiny iPod touch.  It's not easy to type on and I have to manually upload one picture a t a time.  

That said here are some pics of things that I've seen.  

Nothing special

EXCEPT FOR SURFING.  That right I shredded some waves. Sure I fell a lot, got hit in the head twice and inhaled a bit of saltwater, but boy did I have a great time.  I never really realized how tiring surfing is.  While out in the waves everything is very relaxed even though your all tired and cold and wet.  And I know it's cheesy but I kept thinking of analogies about how the waves and the tide were like life.  It's truly a different experience from any other activity that I have tried (like jogging or swimming). The waves just clear your mind.  There really is no other feeling like it.  

Walking About.

Just walking around town may be tiring but it is also a very fun activity.  Looking up at tall buildings, finding alcoves and shady alleyways, and just seeing people about.  There is a whole different kind of... Zen? I'm not sure what it is but walking about in a foreign land has a nice feel to it.