Perth to Exmouth to Perth

Hey Everyone! I have been very busy this last week. I took a tour from Perth to Exmouth then back to Perth. It was 7 days and jam packed with activities. I even took notes so that I would remember what day I did things so that my blog was accurate. So here goes the story of my week.

I was up bright and early on Saturday morning. Robyn and Kent dropped me off at the tourist coach stand in Perth. I was there about 7am and the bus arrived around 7:20am. There were so many people there I am sure Robyn and Kent were worried I would get lost in the crowd. But I got myself to the right place and got on the right bus. Instantly I met Vanessa who was on my tour. I could tell she was a Canadian because she had Lulu Lemon pants on. She is so fun and we hit it off instantly. Vanessa is from Toronto and has been living in Brisbane the last two and a half years. She has just finished her schooling to become a physio therapist. She is moving back to Canada the beginning of February. Vanessa and I spent most of the morning chatting on the bus. We also met Martin from Germany as well as Vincent from the Netherlands. There was another German guy who didn't speak much as well as two Italian couples who were not your typical backpacker age. They were retired and travelling Australia. Only one of them spoke English. There was also Ben from England who is currently living in Melbourne. Our tour guide/ driver's name is Pete. It was an interesting combination that turned into loads of fun. Our first stop was the Pinnacle Desert. I have never seen anything like it. They are these strange looking rocks out in the middle of the desert. We jumped on the bus again and drove a very long way. It was pretty hot on the bus and it didn't feel like there was any air conditioning. I was hoping we weren't in for a long trip on a hot bus. We decided to skip the sand boarding we were supposed to do in Geraldton but will stop on the way back to do it. We also stopped at the pink lake. The water is pink from the algae in the water. Strange, but true. We stopped for bathroom breaks along the way. At one point I asked Pete if the vents on the roof were just there to tease us. Turns out he didn't put the air on in the back only in the front. He felt pretty bad, I could tell by the way he laughed. lol. For the night we stopped in Kalbarri. Vanessa, Martin, Vincent, Ben and the other German which I now know as T-bone all stayed in a room together every night. The guys, Martin, Vinnie, and T-Bone cooked our diner that night. It was very good! We had rice and teryaki chicken as well as noodles with a stir fry. While the guys were preparing supper Ben, Vanessa and I went and watched the sunset on the water. After supper we went to check out the stars to see if we could spot the Southern Cross which is the constellation on the Australian flag. The stars were awesome, just like at home. I feel bad from people who live in big cities and never end up seeing them. It was a great way to end the day.

Day 2 started pretty early. We were up and bags packed and ate breaky and on the road by 8am. Our first stop was the Kalbarri National Park. We hiked down to this gorge to see the Murchison River. It was a big hike and it was very hot!! The way down was much harder than the way up, but I did just fine. We then stopped at the Billabong roadhouse for lunch. It was so stinking hot it was hard to breath outside. I would have guessed it was about 40 - 45 degrees. In the little roadhouse they had pictures of peoples tattoos on the wall. I asked if I could get my picture taken and be placed on the wall as well. Pete was pretty excited to now be able to say he knows those two tattoos. Next we went to Shark Bay. There I saw two small sharks and a sting ray. The water is so blue and clear it is easy to spot things. It was so beautiful and calm. I wanted to just stand there and take it all in for hours. After Shark Bay we headed to Monkey Mia where we stayed for the night. Monkey Mia is very nice, but not much there. In fact after leave Perth the only city you come across in Geraldton. After Geraldton it is all small towns, but very beautiful. It was a real hot day so we went for a dip in the water as soon as we got in. We have a habit of eating late so after swimming we team commonwealth started on supper. While we were swimming Martin found some beautiful shells and gave me one. I called it the love shell. Unfortunately the guys convinced me to throw it back since there was something living in it. Team commonwealth BBQ'd for our meal. We had sausages and steak which Ben BBQ'd. Vanessa and I cut up veggies to grill on the barbie and made a salad. It was all very delicious. Of course, the boys who cooked the night before said it was almost as good as theirs. After Ben, Vanessa and I cleaned up we grabbed a few drinks and went down to sit on the beach and enjoy the stars and good conversation. Martin, Timo (T-bone), Vinnie, Ben, Vanessa, Pete and I had a great time just laughing and enjoying the moment.

Day 3... Happy Australia Day! We were up at about 6:30am to go see the dolphins of Monkey Mia. Every morning the dolphins come up near the beach to be feed. They also enjoy the human interaction and stick around for a couple hours. We counted about a dozen at one point. We stood out and watched until about 8am, then went into have breaky. After that we went on a catamaran to look for dugongs. They let us go behind the boat on a net and told us it would be like a hot tub. Well it was full on scary. Both Vanessa and I were hanging on to our bottoms so tightly, it was awful. Of course the boys laughed because they weren't having the issues we were having. Once we got outta there the rest of the boat ride was much better. We saw about four dugongs and a couple Germans acting like gay lovers. Martin and T-bone posed for me a few times just to make the trip even more interesting. While on the boat I was goofing off showing Vanessa something and I fell on the boat. I slipped into this net onto the front of the boat and hurt my wrist. It was so funny I could hardly get up from laughing so hard. Once we got back to our hostel we packed up our things and went to Denham for morning coffee. Once there we put on a few Aussie tattoos, to celebrate Australia day. We did this while we drove to see the stromatolites. They are very old rock looking things that create oxygen. It was really interesting to see. We also had a our lunch there, but it was very hot, so it wasn't very enjoyable. After lunch we went to Shell beach. It is a very beautiful white beach with shin deep water for about a kilometer. The beach is made up of little tiny white shells. It was so cool, but very painful to walk on with bare feet. I walked a fair distance out in the water and had some tender feet by the time I got back. While I was walking in the water I lost my toe ring. I have been wearing that ring for 12 years so I was a little sad. We got back on the bus and drove for a couple of hours. One of the Italian men was complaining (in Italian) that he had arthritis in his toe and hurt. It predicted it would rain. Well it did rain so we ended up stopping the bus and dancing in it. It was such a nice relief from the hot weather we had been getting. It was so fun to dance on the side of the road in the red dirt! We got back on the bus for a long trip. We didn't arrive in Coral Bay until about 8:30pm. Vanessa and I had a shower and then went downstairs to join the guys for dinner. The hostel provided the meal for us that night so no one had to cook or do dishes. Martin, T-bone, Vinnie, Ben, Pete, Vanessa and I had a good night just chatting and laughing. Most of the talk was about Borat so as you can imagine it was tons of laughs.

Day 4. I got up early this morning because I was having trouble sleeping. The room was very cold with the air conditioning on. Vanessa also claims she didn't sleep well since Martin was yelling in German throughout the night. I helped out with dishes in the morning and then got myself signed up for a snorkeling tour where we also go see sea turtles on a glass bottom boat. We got our snorkel gear early and headed out to the beach to see what we could find. I was having trouble getting my goggles to fit my face without leaking water so I didn't do well. It was also a very windy day and a bit cold. It turns out there was threat of a cyclone in Exmouth so we were feeling a bit of weather from that. Luckily the cyclone missed Exmouth and we still were able to get there. But Coral Bay was not very nice weather. Once I got on my boat tour you could see how close the Ningaloo reef was to the shore. It was very cool to see it from the glass bottom boat. I was expecting the coral to be a lot more colorful, but the fish were colorful so I wasn't disappointed. We then went looking for turtles and ending up spotting a lot of them. About 10 of them swam under the glass bottom of the boat and they were easy to spot off the boat since the water was such a clear blue. We then stopped and went snorkeling. Since I am not a very good swimmer I asked one of the guides to help me. She helped fit my mask and gave me some great hints. It was so rough out there so I decided to take a noodle just to be safe. They also had a rope off the back of the boat that I hung onto. Everyone else was a great swimmer and didn't seem to need it so I would swim all around with comfort of knowing I could always get back to the boat. I got to see lots of fish and it was really cool. I enjoyed it. As we were getting off the boat it started raining and it was very cold. We got back to the hostel and I went for a swim in the pool instead of taking a shower. The shower water was salt water so I figured it was the same thing. After my swim I got changed and ate a late lunch. We then drove to Exmouth. We got there around 6pm. It was the Italians night to cook, so we were all looking forward to it. They made us spaghetti with tomato sauce with tuna in it. And a chicken mushroom dish with garlic toast. It was wonderful! Not too much talking around the dinner table since we were all enjoying so much. The cyclone had passed Exmouth so it was nice but not too hot.
Day 5. Today we just toured around Exmouth. We had breakfast and headed off around 8:30am. Vanessa and I prepared potato salad for our supper and a pasta salad for our lunch before we ate our breakfast. It was a busy morning, but the pancakes Pete made for breaky made up for it. Our first stop was to the edge of the peninsula to a look out. Then we went to a discovery centre where I bought a few gifts and post cards. Next we went on a hike to see a river in the Yardie Creek Gorge. I was happy it was cooler out since I hate hiking when it is too hot. It was a very pretty and easy hike. We then went to Sandy Bay. We rented some snorkel gear the day before when we first arrived in Exmouth. I also bought an underwater camera. I let Martin take it since I wanted to take my time and get used to this snorkel gear after all the trouble I had had the day before. It was instantly better. I was out snorkeling in no time. Since the reef was a little farther from there I didn't get see much because I was worried my swimming wasn't strong enough. But it was such a beautiful beach I had a great time with what I did see as well as sitting on the beach and taking in the moment. After lunch we went to Turquoise Bay. WOW!! This is the place you see in pictures but don't actually think exists. I got out and went snorkeling right away. I took a few pictures then gave my camera to T-bone to take a few of what he saw. I saw so much and loved that the reef was so close. The fish were so colorful and I really enjoyed myself. I was really excited that I saw a sting ray. I came back in a sat on the beach for awhile. I heard that T-Bone, and Pete saw a turtle so Ben and I decided to go check it out. But while I was sitting on the beach I could see a big sting ray in the very clear water. I watched in swim all along the shore, it was so cool. Ben and I headed out and after about 20 minutes of just floating around and watching I finally spotted a turtle. It was so amazing. I flagged down Ben and we ended up following the turtle for about 15 minutes. It saw us and just kept on doing its thing. It was really special that I saw it. We left the beach around 4pm and went back to see a ship wreck. It was close to the shore and you could see the ship above the water. After that we headed back to the hostel. Martin had a lovely burn from falling asleep on the beach so we all had a good laugh at his expense. Of course shortly after I realized I burnt my bum and back of my legs, although it wasn't nearly as bad as Martin. For dinner Pete hooked us up with some fresh fish. He grilled it up and the Italians made us some french fries. Vanessa and I made a potato salad. The clean up was a little intense since Martin's mom called and he didn't help. He was on the shit list for his laziness. lol. We had planned to watch Borat that night but were unable to find a DVD player. So we ended up just sitting around talking and having a few drinks.

Day 6. The morning was tense. Martin once again refused to help out so we gave up on him. I didn't sleep well since someone in the room was snoring, so I was already a bit grumpy. We all got on the bus and were quiet because of the lack of team work. Today is mostly driving, but we are stopping at Coral Bay to drop off Vinnie and Martin. I was uncomfortable most of the day from my sun burn and my feet were puffy from riding on the bus. I sat near the front and put them up which helped. I eventually ended up sitting in the front since I don't sleep much on the bus and I figured Pete must be bored with no one to talk to. We stopped for lunch at 1 mile Jetty in Carnarvon. We picked some fresh mango's before so we had burritos and mango's. It was delicious. After lunch was just more driving. I enjoyed sitting with Pete and hearing his stories of his travels. We stopped at the Billabong roadhouse again and I checked out my tattoo pictures on the wall. While we were driving I told Pete about Marley and how I was bringing her with me on my trip and what it meant to her family and how she was such a special girl. He must have felt really touched by my story because about an hour later we stopped at this place near Shark Bay. It had piles of rocks with writing on them. He told us to find a rock and grab a marker and write whatever you want to your loved one. I wrote one for Marley and got a picture of her picture with it. I also wrote one for dad. It was so beautiful, I had to go have a tear because it was so special to leave a piece of both of them in such a beautiful place. There were also some shoes in the pile and Pete told us it was for the lost souls. Before we got on the bus we took a group picture with Marley and the whole bus gave me a big hug. It was very special. That night we stayed on a farm for the night. Pete took me into Northampton, his home, and introduced me to the owner of the local pub. He is trying to hook me up with a job if I decide to come back to WA. I think I will be back since I want to go to Broome. Plus living in a place like Northampton, you can work lots and save money easily. Once we got back to the farm, we enjoyed a delicious roast lamb and veggie dinner. We cleaned up and the owner of the farm thanked Vanessa and I by telling us he wanted to bottle us up. It was a strange compliment, but normal saying around these parts. The plan for the rest of the night was to get drunk and play ping pong. We started drinking and there was just Ben, T-Bone, Vanessa and I. We had some drinks and were playing ping pong when we realized how the scene of the whole farm was very much like Texas Chainsaw Massacre. We weren't scared until we started hearing some strange noises coming from the building. They were so weird and the owner Reg said he was going to bed around the same time everyone else did. It was pretty creepy. Then I noticed a tripod out in the middle of the yard and I was convinced it was a video camera watching us. At that moment Vanessa mentioned the comment about Reg wanting to "bottle us up". Well we were freaking out. Then one of the boys farted and we both screamed and jumped. Of course they just laughed at us. We went into the bathroom and as I was coming out I saw two mice. Well anyone who knows me well knows how I feel about mice. I was locked in the stall standing on the toilet crying. Vanessa wasn't sure what was going on so she was also locked in the stall. Once I calmed down we came out and checked for more mice. This put us over the edge and we decided to go to bed. The boys didn't even hear us screaming in the bathroom. They decided to stay up and keep drinking and playing ping pong. We finally got settled int he room and agreed on an escape plan if something should happen. We slept with the lights on until the guys got there. They came into the room about 2am. After that both of us ended up sleeping fairly well. We had threatened to jump into bed with the boys if they tried to scare us. They weren't too keen on the idea.
Day 7. I woke up and looked at Vanessa. The first thing I said was "we are alive!!" we both had a good laugh and got ready to go. Over the coarse of the morning I told Pete about our evening and he couldn't stop laughing. He has now decided to tell Reg, the owner of the farm our story and make it a scary part of the tour. Everyone got a good laugh at Vanessa and I. Pete was actually laughing so hard he missed two turns while he was driving to The Hutt River Province.
This is a principality within Australia. It is its own country so I got my passport checked for authenticity as well as stamped. I got to meet Prince Lenord and Princess Shirley. I also purchased some money from them and a pen and post cards. I was sold on the pen when Prince Lenord told me it had a computer in it which allowed it to write in different languages. This was a really cool place. They have their own licence plates and currency and passports and everything. It was also a very interesting story. Goggle it if your interested in knowing more. I am sure there is alot of info on there. We then made our way back into Australia and headed to Geraldton. We hoped on our sand boards and slid down the sand hill a few time. It was like tobogganing without snow. It was so sandy and I still have sand in my ears. We then went to an animal sactuary. We got to feed kangaroo and camels and horses and emu and donkeys. It was really great. T-bone and Ben also held some snakes. We had our lunch there and then headed back on the bus for the final leg of our journey. I was the first to get dropped off. We pulled over and unloaded all the bags off the top of the bus and I said my goodbyes to everyone. Robyn and Kent picked me up about 10 minutes later. We then went to the markets for their weekly dinner with their friends. I really enjoy thier friends and had a good time telling them about my trip. When we got home I showed Robyn and Kent all my pictures.
Today. I have spend the day doing laundry and I went shopping with Robyn. I didn't get any reception with my phone while on my trip so I switched networks so that I would have a phone that worked while I was living in Southern Cross. I ended up getting a new phone and a new mobile broadband stick. So I am now set for the outback for 6 weeks of work. Tomorrow night Robyn and Kent are having a goodbye bbq for me. I am looking forward, yet sad that I am leaving on Monday.
Sorry this was such a long one, but I didn't get a chance to update while I was on my tour.
Until next time,
Cindy

Sorry

Sorry everyone! I am on a tour from Perth to Exmouth and back to Perth. It is a 7 day tour and I will be back on Friday evening. I will update you on all my adventures... I have lots to tell.
Happy Birthdays to Shawna and Dallas.... sorry if I couldn't speak with you on your big days!
Until next time,
Cindy

Southern Cross

Well I have been having a great time in Perth the last few days. On Sunday Kent, Robyn and I went to a friend of Robyn's to have Kent fix a few things for her. We had coffee and visited while Kent worked, we were such typical women. lol. After that we went to this huge damn that I cannot remember the name of. But it was beautiful view. We then went for lunch at a nice little pub. All in all it was a great day. That night we decided not to eat dinner since we had a later lunch. Their son, Regan came over and I went for a little swim in the pool to work off my huge lunch.

On Monday it was Regan's 25th birthday so we went out for a family supper. It is so nice that Robyn and Kent treat me just like family. I also have met their daughter and son in law as well as 18 month old grandson. He is adorable! We had a very nice evening and I thoroughly enjoy spending time with them all. Earlier in the day Robyn and I went into the city and saw a few sights of the city as well as check out some bulletin boards in the hostels. In the second hostel we went to their was a poster for a hairdressing job in outback Australia. We were in the area of the office of the company that was looking for the employees. I went in and handed in a resume and ended up getting an interview. She also tried to call the salon to give them my number, but was unable to get a hold of them. The woman I talked to was very confident that I would get the job but told me to wait for the phone call from the salon. I was starting to get worried since it was evening and I hadn't heard from anyone. I decided I would call again in the morning.

Today I called in the morning to see what was happening with the job. Turns out the salon is not open on Mondays so they didn't get the message. The woman again said you should be hearing from them soon. Later on today I received a phone call from Lyn in Southern Cross. I got the job and will start on February 3rd. I get a weekly paycheck and my accommodations and some food is covered. Southern Cross is about 3 hours from Perth and is about an hour from a mining area, so there is lots to see there. I look forward to starting work. Since I don't start until February I have decided to take tour to Exmouth and back to Perth. It is a seven day tour and I will get to see the Ningaloo reef, which I am most excited about. It will be seven days of jam packed activities. I will be able to go snorkeling and I am sure a ton of other things. I can't wait. So I leave on Saturday, Robyn will drop me off at the bus station and she has also offered to pick me up on Friday when I get back. I am also going to leave some stuff here so I don't end up carrying around things I won't need. Then once I get back here I will just spend the weekend and then go to Southern Cross on the train on Monday. I look forward to starting work and even more forward to getting to Cairns to see Bobbi, Nick, London, Diane, and Gord. I miss my sister so much I get butterflies every time I think of seeing her. I can't wait!
Until next time,
Cindy

Oceans four

I am feeling very lucky. I am in Perth, Western Australia staying with some very nice people. Helen and Diana's mom's partner, Jim contacted Robyn and Kent to see if they would take me in. They have been so wonderful to me. Robyn picked me up from the airport on Friday. That night her and Kent and their grandson Ethan and I went for Dinner at a market. We met up with their friends there. All their friends were very delightful, I enjoyed every second of it. One of the men, Robert, asked if I was looking for work. I told him yes, and he said he had a job for me. His daughter is the manager of a bar/hotel and when he told her that Robyn and Kent had a Canadian staying she said she would take me. It must be a good thing to be a Canadian. lol. The hotel is far away from here so we are going to go look at hostels and see if I can get a weekly rate. Or maybe someone working at the bar will have an extra room and I can stay near them so it will be closer.
Yesterday Robyn took me for a drive to see Perth. We went to the ocean and walked along the beach. I have now seen 4 different oceans. That one was the Indian, while in Tasmania I saw the Southern (Antarctic). I have also seen the Pacific and Atlantic. But there have been a lot of shark attacks and sightings all over Australia the last few weeks. Robyn said there was one just the other day in Perth. But of course I will still go in the water. They have helicopters that fly over top of the beaches looking for sharks. After we walked along the beach we had lunch at a little canteen. Then we drove along to check out some fancy big houses and other great views. The views were not as nice as normal because there has been some fires in the area and it is smokey outside. On the way we drove past the hotel I will hopefully be working at. It was a nice drive and good to see the city with someone to point things out. When we got home both Robyn and I sat down and read our books. After that I decided to go for a swim in their pool. It was lovely! Robyn and Kent's youngest son showed up and I am sure he was wondering who the hell was swimming. Later Robyn came out and put her feet in and we talked. Then Kent also joined us. For Dinner we had BBQ. Their son Regan stayed for Supper as well. It was so beautiful outside I forgot I was even outside. They have a lovely yard. After that we came into the office and they looked up a few things about Manitoba and Brandon. They are very interested in what my home is like. They also have good advice about what else to see in Western Australia. I feel very lucky to have met them.
Until next time,
Cindy

Aches and bruises.

Yes, I feel like I have been beaten. I took a tour of the great ocean road from Melbourne to Adelaide. We left Monday morning at 7am. The bus had to pick up a few other people so we didn't get out of Melbourne until about 8am. We then hit the great ocean road. The view was amazing! I saw and have many pictures of the Twelve Apostles. There were some spots were there was ocean on one side and cows or sheep on the other. It almost looked like Manitoba until you looked out into the ocean. The first day was pretty easy, just a few walks for pictures and stuff. You could also pay $70 for a helicopter ride over the twelve apostles but I didn't want to pay that much for a 10 minute ride. That night we stayed in a city of about 30,000 people. I can't remember the name of it, but the hostel was nice and our whole group got to stay in one room. A group of us walked down to the water to watch the sunset from the cliffs. It was also amazing, what a great way to end the day.
Day two also started early. We left the hostel at 7:30am. We went to an old volcano site and saw some local wildlife. Then we took 3 different hikes up mountains and in National Parks. It was the hottest day I have ever experienced in Australia. They were saying it might hit 41, but I don't think it got that hot. I would say it was at least 38. Which wouldn't be so bad, except we were hiking all afternoon. I didn't enjoy the day just because of the heat. When we got to the town we were staying we dropped our things off at the hostel and went for a swim in the local pool. It was sort of like the old pool at Curran Park in Brandon. It felt so good to cool off. After swimming the owners of the hostel / tour guides had a BBQ for us. It was so good, but I didn't feel so great so I didn't eat too much. The room we stayed in was so hot and there were 8 beds in there. There were only 7 girls so when one of the other girls went to bed and moved the one and only fan in the room so she could feel it, I was outta luck. At about 1am I decided to change beds for a top bunk that was getting the fan. I still did not sleep well at all. I was now hot, exhausted and couldn't wait to be done this tour.
Day three was still very warm. In the morning we went adventure caving. I was unsure if I would enjoy this since I worry about not having the athletic ability that the 19 year olds who way 100lbs have. Basically they take you into these caves and then you crawl threw little holes and tunnels on your hands and knees or belly or however you can fit. So before we go in we get decked out in overalls and knee pads as well as helmets with lights. Then our guide takes us in and we do a test crawl to see if we liked it. I did fine and wanted to continue. Once we got going and game to the first crawl, I went in first. I am very glad I did so I could take my time and get lots of help from the guide. It was hard but quick so it didn't feel so bad. The second crawl I did not do. It was called the eye of the needle and anyone with big boobs or a big chest struggles to get threw. I didn't want to embarrass myself and get stuck so I didn't go threw. The third one was very difficult. We climbed under these rocks into spaces I wouldn't think a kid would fit. I was right behind the guide because I was worried I wouldn't make it. Just past half way I felt panicked. I was tired and the space was so small. I started breathing heavy and just wanted out of there. The guide told me to just calm down and stop for a minute to catch my breath. I did and I felt better. I was so glad to be outta there, but so proud to have actually done it. The next crawl also included some rock climbing. I decided not to go since it was longer than the last one and I honestly didn't think I could do it. But I wasn't the only one who opted not to go. One girl didn't do any of the crawls at all, so I did feel good with myself. I have lots of pictures of the others going in and coming out of the last crawl. Most enjoyed it but lots were huffing and puffing when they came out. When we were all done and dirty we returned our equipment and then got a certificate saying we completed the crawl. We then went back to the hostel and collected our things. We drove for a few hours to a winery. We got to taste about 7 wines. Yum what a great way to finish the tour. So after trying seven wines you can imagine what the three hour bus ride is like into Adelaide. But we got here and I am staying in the YHA. It is the nicest hostel I have ever stayed in. There is even an elevator. lol.
Until next time,
Cindy

Plans plans and more plans...

I have been busy this week making plans to leave Melbourne. I have booked a tour to see The Great Ocean Road. I leave from Melbourne early Monday morning. I arrive in Adelaide on Wednesday and have booked two nights in the YHA there. Tonight I have booked a plane ticket to go to Perth on Friday the 16th. I was disappointed not to be taking the train from Adelaide to Perth, but it was just too expensive. I am looking forward to Perth because it will be warmer than in Melbourne. But I guess I shouldn't complain, since all of Australia is warmer than home at the moment. I have some contacts in Perth that I have emailed. The girls moms partner, Jim, has friends in Perth and he hooked me up with contact information. I am really excited to see Perth and hopefully find some work there.
I know this is just a short update, but I will post more this week and then even more once I am travelling again.
Until next time,
Cindy

The beach life.

Today Diana and I went to the beach. We left just before noon since it was beautiful outside. The last few days have been a little chilly so it was perfect to have a sunny day before I go back to my week of work. The beach wasn't too busy and the color of the water was amazing. I swear it changes color every time we go. I went swimming a few times, although it felt cool at first it was nice once you were in. Since the beach we were at is sort of a bay there isn't much for waves. I guess that is why the water is so clear and blue. We were there for a few hours and got a little sun kissed. I did put sunscreen on and even reapplied later in the day when I felt hot. But my chest felt burnt on the way home. Also the top of my legs feel a bit sensitive. Helen loves to comment on my red face, but I have assured her it will be gone by tomorrow. I take after Dad and go red but have a nice tan the next day. I actually think my face is a little more wind burnt than sun burnt. I guess she doesn't know my skin the way I do though. While we were at the beach there was a plane writing things in the sky. It said "Call mum!", so I did. Mom just laughed at me because I told her it was a sign, literally. After the beach we headed further down the bay to look at some sand sculptures. We saw the exhibit when we were with the girls Dad, but it wasn't open until Boxing day. I am so glad we went since they were so cool to look at. Then Diana and I went for something to eat and some ice cream. What a great day!
We rented some movies yesterday so once we got home Helen and I walked back to the video store and returned one of the movies. It was hot but I reapplied sunscreen before we left. I am thankful I did since I could tell the sun would have been burning me otherwise. The rest of the evening has been filled with uploading photos on facebook. Check them out if you get the chance. Hope you enjoy.
Until next time,
Cindy

2009

Well 2009 has arrived. For new years eve Helen, Diana, Nicole and I went to a tropical party. We had to arrive before 9pm to receive our free tropical cocktail. I don't actually think there was any booze in it. As we arrived at the party we all had the same thought, we are so young! The party was a 28+ only thing. I think the four of us were the youngest ones there. There was appetizers being passed around by wait staff and a small selection of drinks to order. It was a cool setting, with a big tent as the dance floor and lots of tropical decorations. We decided that you make your own fun and that we would have a blast. I was having a really good time until my wrists/hands started hurting. I am not sure what set it off but it was very painful. I tried not to be a fun wrecker but I was having trouble grasping my drink, so I quit drinking early. We danced the night away and at new years we threw streamers and had those blowy things to make noise. As most of you have seen from my facebook pictures it was obvious Helen was having a great time. She makes me laugh. We arrived back home about 2:30am. I thought it would be miserable to get a taxi on new years eve at that time of the morning but it was actually very easy. We also brought home some decorations in our drunken state. Now the house is decorated with large fish, balloons and 2 sombreros.... proof of our fun!
New years day was sort of a wasted day. No one was feeling well, with exception to myself since I quit drinking earlier than everyone else. We spent the day just lounging around and watching movies. We were going to have a chocolate fondue but our supper was too big and too late in the evening.
Yesterday we decided to go to a movie, we saw Marley & Me. It was good but I would suggest anyone who is sensitive about animals not go see it. We all cried. After that we went for a late lunch / early supper. The meals were huge so we were all just stuffed. We then drove around and looked at big houses in Brighton and then on to St. Kilda. Once we were in St. Kilda we decided to go to Luna Park. It was free admission so we could just wonder around. Luna Park is like a fair that is on all year round. It is sorta an amusement park except it doesn't really have any original rides, just the ones you see at the fairs. We each bought a ticket to go on the roller coaster. It was not scary, but I thought I bruised my knees on it. I guess I was too tall and the first drop down got the worst of it. After that I tried to move my legs so that it didn't hurt so bad. It was fun, but short. After Luna Park we came home and decided to fondue. Since we didn't have a fondue pot we just heated the chocolate on the stove and dipped our fruit and cheesecake in it. It was perfect! Since we were all still feeling over stuffed we played a few games, watched a movie and went to bed.
Today Nicole is going home, but not until this evening. So her, Diana, and I are going to go to the Old Melbourne Gaol and then Lulu Lemon.
I have decided to work one more week before I move on to see the great ocean road. I figure if they want me to work I should since the money is good.
I want to send a shout out to my little niece Hailey, congratulations on crawling baby girl!!!!
Until next time,
Cindy