cape trib.

i don't feel like backtracking.
so i don't have to, cuz i'm on holidays. yah baby.
this is HANDS DOWN the most stunningly beautiful place i have seen in my 22 short years.
i am in absolute heaven.
we're in a national park.
it is rainforest mania.it's pouring rain, but it's a different, rainforesty misty rain.
we drove for hours with a couple we met a couple days ago....a german dude and a thai girl...such a good experience.
driving in the smallest car imaginable...
pushing thru vines and ferns...
on the most winding road in the mountains imaginable....
trying so hard not to faint. or vomit in the tiny car.
stopping at lookouts, looking at mini waterfalls and plants i've never seen before.
i love love love this place.
it's called cape tribulation.
captain james cook discovered it. for real.
he crashed his boat here on the coral reef i think...hence the tribulation.
cape trib. i love you.
i don't even wanna bother taking pictures because
A.they won't remotely do it justice.
B. you probably won't believe me that it's real.
i am speechless.
that's all.
let's all move here and have dance parties in the rainforst with giant tree frogs.

e.

happy curtains...

i guess i skipped a couple of blog entries...whoops.
right now i am in brisbane.
we got here this afternoon after a quick busride from Surfers Paradise.
let me backtrack a bit.
back to the lovely newcastle.
we left that dump and headed off to bigger and better things...
Byron Bay!
we stayed at an awesome hostel called "Arts Factory Lodge" aka Art City.
we were surrounded by didge-making hippies, fluorescent colored paintings and the like.
we had a pool right outside our "cube" and we spent many hours roasting underneath mango trees.
the weather has been beautiful, we've been really lucky. we had a couple minutes of rain, but nothing too crazy.
we met a bunch of really cool kids from all over the map, mostly from the UK, Germany and Sweden.
Art City had a really cool restaurant and bar "Buddah Bar" and a lounge theatre where we took in "hot fuzz" while lying on cow-printed pillows. it was pretty neat.
Byron Bay is such a chilled little beachtown, it was exactly what the doctor had ordered.

we got on a bus to Surfers Paradise after 4 days in Byron Bay, and it was exactly what the name said it would be.
derek and i both took our first surfing lessons and it was a riot.
we had a 2 hour class for $35 and it kicked my butt.
i woke up this morning and couldn't get out of bed. i am a giant noodle.
the ocean definitely got the best of me many times, but i managed to get up quite a few times but never for very long.
i had a smile plastered on my face for the entire time, even as i swallowed half of the ocean and filled every knook and cranny with salt.
(it's always entertaining showering after the beach and checking out your invisible swimsuit tan and finding out how much sand you actually took home with you.)
we stayed at a tiny hostel close to town...close to the outdoor shopping mall...
(finally broke down and bought some dresses...shocking i know)
we met a really cool couple...Jack and Jess from London, England.
we hung out with them a bit, and hopefully we will meet up with them again...possibly in Bali cuz they are heading that way too!
the girl that runs the hostel...a CRAZY german named suzy...aka SOOOOZE!!!!
she was a riot. it was her birthday today. she made herself cake.
she made me lick the beater.
i thought it was mashed potatoes.
negative.
RUM CAKE.
ha.
our hostel had the happiest curtains in the world.
i will post a picture soon.
i woke up and had an instant smile on my face.
shoot.
my time is up.
we are in brisbane now like i said, just till tomorrow when it's off to Rainbow Beach!
cheers lovelies!

love
e

newcastle in it's glory...

this place...
this place!
let's just say if i was hanging out in morris, manitoba i could probably have more fun.
even if the stampede and the mcc sale were nowhere in sight, and the mcc store was shut down!
we are in newcastle.
the name makes it sound new and refreshing.
but what's in a name?
we got here 2 nights ago. 2 nights too many.
we checked out of our hostel this morning, and we don't leave until 9:10 pm tonight.
we called today "boss day"
we take turns each hour being the boss.
i had the first hour, i got to decide how we are gonna kill the first of 11 hours.
i chose a stroll to marketown. (approximately a mile away)
again, what's in a name?
i had visions of markets and quaint little shops and cafes, dancing in my head.
i was wrong. horribly wrong.
turns out after walking about 18 million blocks in ghetto-ville u.s.a, we should have got a clue what we were getting ourselves into.
i swear this is the dirtiest town ever.
and marketown?
it's smaller than the steinbach mall. and not even HALF as awesome.
every building from here to there was either pee'd on, had a broken window, or was boarded up.
i'm not even exaggerating!
derek and i have been purposefully debbie downers all day.
all we have done is complain, and drag our feet and count down the minutes till we can leave this dump....8 hours exactly.
the coolest thing about this town so far was the noodlebox restaraunt that we had dinner at last night...our meals actually came in a little chinese box. wow.
and then i found a really cool leaf the size of my head. (i have a big head)
i picked it up and threw it down almost immediately...it was covered in pee and bird poo.
newcastle also blows because d and i had our first semi-fight.
we both got over it fairly quickly once i stopped with the silent treatment.
ok i have successfully killed an hour online. woot woot. byron bay here we come!!!!
love love love.
e.

80% milk and topless ladies...

yesterday i went to the beach for the first time.
i love love love the ocean more than life itself.
the 5 foot high waves tried to take me deep into their sea-crustied home...i wouldn't let them.
last night i talked to "lasagna man"...
i had a full on conversation with this guy eating lasagne...turns out he doesn't speak english. it took me 5 minutes to discover this fact...weird.
we are staying at Bondi Backpackers...apparently people think it's cool to sing at the top of their drunken lungs at 2:30 in the morning...it's not actually THAT cool.
i woke up, pumped for our FREE breakfast.
i walked back up to our room to get an apple instead.
the options were:
rice krispies.
corn flakes.
milk.
no toast.
no nothing.
i hate cereal. blah blah BLEH.
apparently australian folk only drink milk that is about 80% rather than 2 or 1%...boo. i would rather have cereal with water.
oh well, it is another gorgeous day out today and we are gonna go and take advantage...and possible surf lessons!
ok i'm off for now...love love love you all.

love.
the bird.