Kinda Bummed Out

So, we just found out today that the Whitsundays trip has been cancelled. I guess I just have a bad luck streak going on right now. First the shitty trip to Melbourne and now this trip is cancelled. I do have mixed feelings about this though because now I have more time to finish up things like my statistics report and study for finals. It's just really upsetting though because everyone else is planning on going after the New Zealand trip and Rob and I will be in the Outback for that weekend. Still trying to figure out how to use the credit we have with Virgin Blue, and Rob suggested just forgetting about it and going to Byron Bay and Nimbin, but I think I'd rather go to Sydney or someplace else and use the flight credit. Plus, if we get to go to Sydney, I could call up those really cool girls that Rob and I met while on the Great Ocean Road. Hmm... I'm still thinking about it. We'll see what happens.

Worse than the time I got lost in Canada

May I just begin this by saying that my trip to Melbourne this past weekend was the worst trip that I've ever been on. This is including the trip to Canada to get fake ids where we got in a car accident and then got lost for four hours in Niagra Falls, the time I drove 16 hours from Ohio to Long Beach Island on New Years Eve only to get lost in Jersey for 7 of those hours aaaaand it includes the time I went to Florida and sprained my ankle playing tennis in Orlando and had to be carted around the theme parks in a wheelchair.

The trip started off at 4 am. We called a taxi, got to the aiport on time and saw that there was no one at the counter. So we waited about a half hour for everyone to actually arrive to work and then checked in, okay no problem. Caught some breakfast and then got on the plane. Nice plane ride, Rob and I slept most of the way. We arrived at the Melbourne airport and saw that, yikes we were so far away from the city. We caught a shuttle bus to the city and were on our way. At the first stop, I look to the right and thought to myself that what I saw was an innercity school. Run down looking and there were little kids everywhere. Oops, but guess what, the driver announced that this was the stop for Hotel Bakpak. Yikes, the inner city school was our hostel. Alright, I can deal with this, can't be too bad, they just don't take care of the outside of the hostel, whatever. So we get into the hostel, looks a bit like Wake Up in Sydney, no problem. There was a long line because it was St. Patty's Day and the Commonwealth Games. People were actually being told that there were no rooms available (and, in retrospect, I wish I had been one of those people). We get to the counter, they take our ids (as a key deposit I guess, but the sign above the checkin girl said replacement keys were only $1, so I don't get how that merits her keeping our ids. I brought an extra id but Rob had to turn in his key to get his id everytime we left) and then proceed to our room. The elevator was ghetto as hell. Twice I thought it was just going to plummet to the ground, and that was just in the first ride. We entered our room and the first thing we noticed was the pungent smell of sweaty gym clothes. I'm guessing that it was the carpet because later, when we left our door open, a girl from across the hall came over and offered us some of her room spray (kind of ineffectual-- sort of like spraying perfume on a decaying corpse). There were no linens on the bed and we wanted to take a nap. Rob went downstairs and grabbed some sheets, but they had no pillows for us. But we napped anyways.

I knew that this hostel was bad news when I woke up from my nap. Within three hours of being there, I had already had a nightmare about this place. It wasn't just a monster nightmare... it was 'a strange man was in bed with me and drugged me and then carted me off to Istanbul and sold me into slavery' kind of nightmare. The cleaning lady came and gave us, actually me but not Rob, pillows and a comforter. While making my bed, she threw my luggage off of it and said "fucking idiots." Um, lady, I'm sitting right here. Whatever though, we continued our nap after she left. When we woke up, we showered (first encounter with the gross as hell bathroom... see previous post) and got ready. We walked around the city for a bit, had lunch at this cute italian place, and did a little bit of shopping.

When we got back to the hostel, we got ready to go out and began the night from hell. We were going to meet up with Danielle, someone everyone met on the Sydney trip, and Lily. We stood in line outside of this bar Pugg something or other for, no joke, an hour and a half. We met three nice Australian girls, I can only remember the one girls name Narelle cause it was so odd, and continued to wait and wait. As we got closer to the front these three asshole guys cut us and about six other people, so I told them off a bit and asked them to move. Fucking idiots looked at me like I had two heads and didn't move. Then they had some stupid fight about someone's mother and started running into Rob. I was so pissed off. They finally left, I applauded, and then we got in the bar. Literally two seconds after we actually got in, Lily came and we had to leave. We went outside to get her, went to the ATM, and then Danielle arrived. She was already in line and we joined her. The line wasn't too long this time, and we went in to get our first beer at 11:30. Two car bombs was all Rob and I drank all night. The bar was way too crowded, the bartenders were retarded and it was just awful. We collectively decided to leave and go somewhere else. The girl at the hostel (same one who later directed us to the wrong fucking airport) told us about another bar that was popular. After a 5 dollar cabride (we didn't know it was around the corner) we walked up to the bar. There was fencing all around it, making it look like a county fair. There was a 10 dollar cover, which we were prepared to pay, but they weren't even letting anyone in.

So we tried to find a cab home. What a fucking ordeal that was. We walked down the street the opposite way that we had come and tried to hail a cab-- No go. We walked up another street and still tried, still no luck. We walked and walked and walked and still no cab. We even made it back to where we had started (it was like 2 am by this time) and still no cab. We walked to a main intersection, near the University of Melbourne campus, and even called a cab. We waited at the intersection for 20 more minutes and Lily called the cap company again. They hadn't even called a taxi yet for us. They gave her a hard time about not knowing what address we were at and hung up on her. Fucking douchebags. So we walked back to an intersection closer to the bar we had been at in the beginning of the night. We got a cab for Lily straight off the bat. After seeing three cabs basically taken from us, Rob and I finally got a cab ride how. This cab driver tried to take us for a ride by going to wrong direction, but Rob made him turn around. He couldn't turn down the street that the hostel was on (I don't know why, there were no signs and it wasn't a one way) and dropped us off in front of 7/11. We went in to get breakfast for the morning and a snack. Then, at about 3 am, we got back to our hostel and the both double doors were wide open. Also, there was no one at the front desk. We waited for about 10 minutes so that Rob could get his door key in exchange for his id, but no one was there. Real safe.

We ate our snacks in the hall and laughed about how awful the hostel was and what a shitty night it had been. We were in hell!! (didn't even know that it got worse over the course of the weekend too). We went to bed and prepared to be up in 4 hours for the Great Ocean Road.

The Great Ocean Road was the only redeeming factor from this past weekend. We met some really awesome girls, Sybil, Brittany, Laura, and their friends, a scottish family, and two scottish women, Lilian and Marian. The bus ride was so fun, just talking about everything. The scenery was amazing (see pictures) and we got to take a helicopter ride. We got back from the trip at about 10 pm and I just crashed. I called Lily to tell her that I couldn't make it out that night and just passed out while spooning my Sensation and Perception book (what was I thinking, there's no studying in hell). Rob went out, and oops, when I woke up he wasn't home. The first thought that ran through my mind was that he had gotten arrested. At 7 am, I was positive that Rob had been arrested in Melbourne.

Our checkout time was 10 am and by 9:30, Rob was still no where to be found. I checked out and waited in the cafe for him. And waited and waited and waited. Finally, after I had finished the review that I put on the previous blog and had breakfast, Rob strolls in. Forty five minutes later we're outta the hostel. Because that hostel had no free lockers to put our baggage in, we went to a different one. Then, we went exploring a bit.

There wasn't really much to do, even when you looked at the map. Mostly, it was just pretty buildings (combined with hundreds of people down in federation square because of the commonwealth games) and a few museums. I wish we had gotten the chance to go to an art museum, but we made it to the aquarium and the Immigration Museum. The Immigration Museum was pretty cool. I didn't want to go in it at first, didn't really know what it was about, but I'm glad that we did. It was interesting and very impressively put together. That and the Great Ocean Road were the highlights of the trip.

It was almost time to go so Rob and I made our way back to pick up our luggage and wait for the shuttle. We stopped to buy postcards and I bought a shirt for my cousin and then we stopped again so I could buy an external hard drive (random) and a cd.

So, here's where the real fun began. This was the icing on the fucking cake. More like the icing on the fucking shit cake. We waited for the shuttle that the girl at the front desk had given me a flyer for. I asked her earlier if they had a shuttle timetable and she went to grab for a pamphlet and then asked what airline we were flying. I told her jetstar and she put the pamplet down and then handed me another one and said, oh that's a different one. So, fast forward to Rob and I getting on this shuttle. Wasn't really a shuttle actually, more like a tour bus, but there were a lot of people on it. Both of us passed out and waited till we got to the airport.

Fastforward about an hour or so. I wake up and freak out. I finally realized that we were on a shuttle to the airport, but then freaked again when I looked outside. We were in the bush. Scratch that, we were in the outback. There was no Melbourne to be seen at all, just fields and a large mountain. I tapped Rob on the head and say "I don't think this is right." I didn't even see a real airport anywhere. I finally located the airport, which was a shed. I kid you not, it was a shed in the middle of the outback. And I had thought that this weekend could not have gotten worse.

But, I reasoned to myself, this might be right, I saw a jetstar sign. It doesn't feel right, but look, that's the airline we're flying. So, Rob and I queue and wait to check in. When we get to the desk, I immediately say "I don't think we're in the right place," as I handed the guy my paper. He promptly responded with "nope, you're not." I started crying as I explained what had happened. I was fuming mad and tired and frustrated and the only way I could express it was by balling my eyes out. The guy went to talk to his manager and we finally got switched to an 8 o'clock flight to Brisbane (2 hours after our flight was supposed to leave for Coolangata plus an hour and a half train time). We checked into that flight and I got on the phone with the hostel. The manager was not in, so there was not much that the guy at the desk could do for me, but I will be calling the manager soon. I'm still so pissed about it, and there's an even better reason for me to be so that I found when we landed. But first, the flight was terrible. There were two screaming, no sorry, howling babies and the lady behind me was a bitch. Also, one of the flight attendants was kind of rude to us and I paid 4 dollars for ramen noodles, which I then proceeded to spill in my lap. But we landed and got our baggage. Then we went to go catch a train. As we climb up to the train, we see the sign indicating that we were shit out of luck for getting back to the Gold Coast that way. We had three options a. get a cab into Brisbane and stay the night b. get a cab to the Gold Coast for 150 bucks or c. rent a car. Since neither of us wanted to test our luck with Brisbane, thinking that this weekend could only get worse with another hostel, we rented a car. We got to the car, got situated and Rob discovered that it was a stick shift. Although I can drive stick, it's been a few years since I have, and Rob doesn't know how at all. He ran back inside and barely caught the guy as he was leaving and finally, we had another car.

The trip back wasn't too bad. We made it back in one piece and Rob got the chance to drive for the first time. I got back to my room, tried for 2 hours to set up my external hard drive, got it to work finally and passed out. I slept until about 1 in the afternoon and am still trying to forget the trip to Melbourne. It may not sound so bad as I'm recounting it, but it was the fact that it was one shitty thing after another and it just made for a totally unenjoyable weekend.

To remember:
"We know that you have many options when flying to hell, thank you for choosing virgin airlines. Thank you, come again, buhbye."

"-Anybody going to the ninth circle? - No, sorry buddy, we're in the eighth"

"We are officially in HELLLLL"

"I hate this hostel"

"Condoleeza Rice, you are a war criminal"

For lack of better words-- a thin film of grossness

Comments:
The ground level looks much like other hostels I've stayed in: clean, welcoming, and busy. This hostel boasts of many convenient features-- internet, movie theater, cute cafe, bar area, and travel services-- but lacks in many of the more important things I hope to find in a hostel. The service is amazing, probably the best of any hostel, that I can't deny. The whole staff was friendly and polite and very helpful. That can only get you so far though. The room, when we arrived, had no linens and showed a quite ugly discoloration of the mattress. The whole room smells like sweaty gym clothes and the ceiling fan was thickly coated with dust. The paint on the walls is cracking and looks like it's covered with a thin film of grossness. There was a semblance of a locker, but it didn't close nor did it serve any practical purpose other than falling on me. There wasn't even a place to put a lock on it. Also, there is a creepy little windomw in the room which was always open everytime I entered the room-- yea there are signs, but nobody paid attention to them, which is scary considering that there's no place to lock up your things.

I especially enjoyed the bathrooms. Not only is there no hand soap to be found anywhere, the shower stall reminds me of something you can only find in strip joints. I find it discomforting to see others' shadows (not to mention them seeing mine) while I shower. Combined with the appearance of red light (from the red walls), the shower had a creepy feel. Also, the black mold on the ceiling can't be healthy. The ceiling above the second stall from the left has a bit of a dangerous feel to it-- the ceiling above it is separating from the rest of the ceiling. Additionally, there's a continual sound of dripping water coming from the ceiling. Lastly, the shower heads are far too short. Being tall, I had to do a backbend to wash my hair. Very finallly, the chair that I am sitting in in the cafe is broken, there are no lockers left to put my extra belongings in, and the front doors were wide open when I came in at 3 am on Friday night. With the excepetion of the recepetion people and staff, I can honestly say this is the worst hostel that I've ever stayed in and you can believe that I will never stay here again nor will I recommend it to anyone else.

Ps.- I just saw the comforter and pillow removed from their cases- gross... please tell me you wash them, but you probably don't!!

Slash, I mean, Ryan is Frodo

So this past weekend was the Rainforest trip. I absolutely loved this trip. It was nice to get away from the beach and go hiking for awhile. I was in such a chill mood and just took in the whole atmosphere of the place. The views were so breathtaking. I can't believe how much we walked and how much fun I had.

While there we saw some Fire Trees (have spines, that attach to your skin and when you itch, embed themselves in the skin and the burning sensation lasts for oh, only 3-4 months), leeches (I had one attached to me and didn't even know it until Ryan pointed it out... I bled quite a bit and still have a mark), some paddy melons (sounds edible, but not really-- looks like a cross between a kangaroo and a mouse), some mullet things (lizards, but I didn't really pay attention to the name past the word mullet), more lizards, great flora, and some possums (late at night).

The first day we started off our hike and ended up walking through caves and such until we came to this huge waterfall, and guess what, we got to swim in it. The water was nausiatingly cold but it was so worth it. After drying off, we continued our hike and then headed back to the 4WD truck thing. After that, we went to feed some birds (red something or others) which was pretty neat (check out the pictures) slash scary because they would freak out and then the hundreds around you would fly away. At one point they all flew off and scared me so bad I ducked in tornado drill position. Only Joel, our tour guide, saw me but he got a kick out of it. Then, directly after the bird feeding, we went to see the glow worms. For all we know it could have been a cave made out of a Lite Bright set with the only really glow worm in a little display case on the side. But hey, I'll take the old dude's word on it and appreciate how pretty the "glow worms" were. Btw, did anyone else have a glow worm doll? That thing was so cool. By far my favorite toy, you squeezed it and it's face lit up: hours of entertainment as a child--- may I remind you, I was also the child who's favorite game was "toilet," where I spun around in my grandmother's living room and looked at the floor like I was going down the toilet and then fell down. But I digress...

After all the hiking and exploring and leech picking off, we set up camp and ate dinner (and by set up camp, I mean made our beds and started a fire). We drank a bit and played some games. It was nice to have such an intimate setting with such a small group on a trip like this.

The next day we went hiking again... sounds monotonous, but I can't even explain how gorgeous it was. Plus, Ryan kept grabbing walking sticks and goofing around like he was a hobbit or something (must see photos) which kept me entertained. We climbed onto volcanic rock and ash and then continued on our hike. On the way back, I ran ahead so that I could just get a silent experience of the rainforest. When you're walking with so many people, it's so easy to get caught up in a conversation and forget to fully appreciate what is going on around you. It was also hard to take in everything because there were so many roots in the path, but I got in as much as possible. After that, we headed back for lunch and then one more hike. At the end of this hike was the fly fox. I was a bit skeptical about doing this for two reasons a. I probably would have found it more thrilling if I had not already gone skydiving and b. before I even got into my harness, I stabbed myself with a waterbottle... yes a waterbottle... if I could make myself bleed from a waterbottle, how was I supposed to be trusted to set up my own harness and then attach it to a line and go head first into a clearing?? But I did it, it was alot more fun then I expected, I would totally do it again... if it were free.

Oh, lest I not mention, Kurt and I saw this hot man while we were waiting for our turn and thought up some pickup lines (mind you we're in some goofy ass helmets and a harness):
1. I can get a lot rougher with this helmet on
2. Got anything I can harness myself up to?
3. This harness looks good on me now, imagine how it'll look on your floor
4. Wanna see if this harness is built for two?
And my favorite...
5. My harness is crotchless

After all of that we hiked back and then drove back to Bond. It really was such a short trip but it felt like we were gone quite a long time. Definitely worth every penny!! Can't wait to see everyone else's pictures!

ps- Johanna, I don't think you read this, but I had to include that in the title. Love ya mean it. haha.

M'am, M'am, That's My Suitcase

Alright, so last week was Erin's visit to Australia. We had such a blast, and I was so sorry to see her leave. Here are the events of the week...

I started off her trip in traditional Candice Fashion-like a dumbass-- I got off on the wrong stop of the train. Because she was flying from Sydney, I figured the plane would land in the domestic terminal. But of course, as fifty fifty chances often go for me, I landed on the wrong toe of the tiger (think innie meenie miney mo, keep up with me people) and she had landed in international flights. So I had been wandering around the wrong terminal for a half hour and she was waiting for me at the other terminal for about 40 minutes. Finally, I asked someone at Qantas and headed in the right direction.

Then, when I get there, they're checking tickets and the dude told me that I had not paid enough, which is okay but he wasn't very clear about what he was trying to explain and looked at me like I was personally trying to rip him off and I was so excited when I saw Erin that it was a bit aggrevating. I mean, buddy, I wasn't going anywhere with the 2.50 difference, hold your horses so I can hug my friend. But anyways, we're got on the train to head to Brisbane for the night.

The first train we were on apparently on makes two stops, who knows why, and we had to stop and wait for the other train to come. I wasn't quite clear on what stop to get off on, so when we finally got on the train I probably should have paid more attention. I was dozing off (mind you, I pulled an all nighter the night before so I could get my work done) when we pulled into Central (??) and realized, hey, we need to get off here. So in my sleep deprived state, I rushed off behind Erin to get off the train. I looked at the bag in front of me and thought that Erin had forgotten her back and assumed I would grab it. So I drag the bag towards the exit when I hear, M'am, M'am, and I'm just going, oops sorry, I'm running over toes. Then finally, this woman taps me on the shoulder and I look back. The guy that I had been sitting across from was standing up, looked at me and said, "M'am that's my suitcase." I said sorry and rushed off and collapsed with Erin into a laughing fit. As the doors to the train closed, I could still hear the train car laughing about it.

So that was the event for the morning. We exited the train station to find our hostel. The last time I stayed in Brisbane, we spent the night almost down town in this kind of shady hostel with a really cool basement bar, so I was excited to stay in a hostel that was a bit nicer and, yay!!, airconditioned. The only problem was that we were smack dab in the middle of Chinatown, kind of out of the way of everywhere I wanted to be.

We got settled, got dressed and went out. It was a bit colder in Brisbane, and it was also 1 in the afternoon so we felt weird being in mini skirts and club clothes but it was better than having to spend extra time in the hostel before going out (which, actually we ended up doing to grab a free van ride downtown). We ate at this okay little place with these really hot bartenders and some really sketchy men and headed back to the hostel because Erin was cold. She changed and then we grabbed the van downtown.

After grabbing a coffee at Starbucks (where there was this woman who told me I couldn't use my discount there and was otherwise fucking obnoxious) we shopped a bit. And by a bit, I mean that I spent far too much money, but found some cute clothes that I really liked. After that we went to the Irish Pub that I had been to the last time I was in Brisbane for a drink. They basically had no shot glasses and didn't know how to make any drinks, so that was a bit of a let down, but we decided to eat there. The service was horrible, we waiting 20 minutes to be seated (sign said wait to be seated) until finally Erin went to the bartender to get a waitress. The food was good but the service really really blew, and the place wasn't even busy. They even forgot to put the bottle of champagne on the bill and overcharged us when we told them about it. We both wanted to get out of there so we just said to hell with it and left.

After that place, we went to Embassy and had a few drinks. We went up to the bartender and he made us this awful thing (we just asked for a surprise, so I guess you take what you can get... Erin actually liked it though) that tasted like I was licking a car freshener. As we were sitting by the window we saw this hysterical guy dancing in the street with this silly little fur coat. I really wish I had gotten better pictures because it was so funny. He would cross the street and start humping the bus or car that was waiting at the light. One of the bus drivers even got out to yell at him. He was our entertainment for awhile.

I soon was bored with Embassy and wanted to head out to Victory Bar but Erin wasn't quite ready to leave. I bought another drinking, increasing my already high BAC, and waited. So finally, we headed to Victory Bar, which may I say was not all too impressive. There was a long line, an uninviting room to the left (cool benches though, but probably the hardest thing in the world to sit on when your drunk), and an overpacked karooke room to the right. We got out of there as soon as I downed another smirnoff ice and headed to the Down Under Bar.

Let me just say that this bar has been my favourite on both trips to Brisbane. It sits underneath the Palace hostel and it is such a dive bar. I, in typical Candice in a Dive Bar fashion, ordered a whole jug of beer to myself. Such a great time drinking and talking to guys. It was nice to see Erin having a good time and being able to dance. The one down side was that this creepy little fro haired midget kept trying to rub his chest on my bum, which I guess he thought was dancing and we kept telling him to go away. He finally got off my ass, literally, when I turned around, bent down and told him I didn't want to fucking dance with him. (for the record he wasn't really a midget, but he was short and creepy). Erin had had the sense to quit drinking before she got really knockered, but I was fully 100% in the bag. So pissed that my knees stopped working. I would be standing and whoops, they'd give out. I kept going to sit down and smoke and then I'd get up to go join Erin dancing and whoops, rubber knees. It was quite a sight. I finally told Erin that I had to go back to the hostel and we called it a night.

Back at the hostel, again in typical drunk candice fashion, I decided clothes were just not my thing. If I had actually slept alone, I would have been bare ass naked, but Erin wanted me to sleep in her bed (get your mind out of the gutter). So I put a shirt back on and passed the fuck out. We must have really freaked out the other girls in the morning though if they saw us sleeping in the same bed, me in my thong.... lol, whatever I don't care. Oh, and as Erin just reminded me, I also woke up with a swedish coin stuck to my ass. After checking out of the hostel, we hopped on the train again and were off to the Gold Coast.

To be continued... this bitch is hungry.

What's an Earwig?

I just realized that I have not written about Fraser Island, so here goes...

The Thursday before we leave, we all decided it would be a fabulous idea to stay up all night and then go on the Fraser Island trip the next day. We stayed up drinking and not packing and not doing anything entirely important, when like 4 am roles around and, shit I haven't packed. Whoops. So Ryan and I go back to my room and I shower and get ready and pack, and I hope that I have packed stuff that makes sense. I was so tired that I am very surprised that I remembered to pack a toothbrush and swimmers and such. Then we went to Ryan's room, I passed out intermittenly between Johanna talking about her use of the word slash or something like that. Then, we walked to wait for the 'buses.'

Alright, rewind to Keppel Island where we were on these big coach buses and we spent all that time in them. This is what we were all expected, except this time we'd all have plenty of room to stretch out because there were only like 20 of us going on this trip. Hmm, we were so wrong. We got these 4WD van things which were only supposed to fit like 6 people, but we squeezed in 22 of us in 2 of them. Brad and Ellie had to share the front seat.

So we get going and right off the bat, Hayden, our tour guide shows us how friggin nuts he is. The radio doesn't work so he asks if anyone has speakers. Ryan says that he does, but they're back in his room. So Hayden promptly does a U-turn and we're back heading towards Bond again. So, Ryan gets his speakers and we're on our way again. Except now we're in a roundabout and we're not turning off of it. I'm like, hey did I mention I have motion sickness (I don't really, but I was getting dizzy). This was his way apparently of waiting for our other car to catch up. Still not sure why he didn't just pull off to the side, but he did this multiple times.

So we're on our way finally. Rob has a pretty amazing picture of how excited I was to be crammed into that vehicle (I'm flippin off the camera). We amused ourselves with making signs to show to the other van out of the back window that said "help" and "I want to have your babies" out of my course syllabus and pages from my sensation and perception book. We got some brekkie, some lunch that the guides had brought, and made an alcohol run on the way and then were headed out again. The whole ride wasn't that bad until we got to the 4WD part.

We started into the sand without much warning and everyone started to put on their seatbelts except whoops, mine won't work. I flew, yes flew into the front seat. As I tried to regain my seat, I desperately tried to work my seatbelt. Finally, we stopped to let some air out of the tires so we would have more control and I got a chance to get strapped in.

And we're off again. It was about an hour's drive of bumps and hitting your head and knocking into people, but it was a pretty good time. We drove alone rainbow beach and everything was gorgeous. We stopped to see some iron oxide formations and took pictures. We even saw some jellies along the beach. We got to the ferry, I got a quick nap in the van and we were along the beach again. The whole weekend I think we spent a majority of our time in the van playing human pinball.

After a drive along the beach, seeing more jellies, and having Hayden stop to catch and eat pippies (related to clams) we arrived at the resort. We got to our room (ahem, closet) and unpacked, changed, and then, oh hey, we're back in the van again. We went to see Eli Creek, with water so clean that you could drink it (tasted like bottled water). We played some frisbee and soccer and then were off again. We then saw the ?Mahena ship wreck, and I got some amazing pictures of it. Oh, and we saw a dingo. Then, we headed back from dinner.

That night we played fingers in and drank ourselves silly. We also saw a really great moon rise off of the ocean. Ryan and I headed to bed early because we were so tired from staying up the night before. Apparently, we didn't miss much at the bar.

So the next day we had homemade brekkie and headed out in the vans to the rainforest and Lake Birrabean. We got some history of the area and some names of trees and such and then were allowed to explore on our own. The rainforest was gorgeous, even though I got eaten alive by bugs (mind you also, I was the only one with bug bites and I had at least 17) We didn't see any animals, but the flora was breathtaking. We got to the end of the trail, and headed up to Lake Birrabean for swimming and lunch.

I was in some sort of mood and got in a fight with Rob at the lake. I think I was just being overly sensitive. I didn't spend much time in the lake because everytime I was in there, there were little fish all up in my business. We had lunch that the tour guides had packed and I spent most of the time just taking in the scenery and laying out.

On the way to Lake Birrabean, the subject was brought up that Hayden found out that one of the guys had killed a toad the previous night. That toad was a Cane Toad, and Hayden totally supported the fact that he had killed it. Apparently, this toad was introduced to get rid of some pest that was destroying the cane crop. But, the government did not heed the fact that the pest they were trying to get rid of flew and was biurnal and the cane toad hopped on the ground and is nocturnal. So, now the pest that they had tried to get rid of is gone, but the cane toad is being a menace. Therefore, Hayden condones killing these toads because they are taking away resources from the native animals of Australia. Also, a fun fact is that the toads that you see characters lick in one of the episodes of the Simpsons are the cane toads. They secrete toxins from the anterior part of their back that can make you hallucinate.

Alright, so we had dinner and Ryan and I are ready to make up for the lost drinking time from last night. We pregamed and played some fingers in (and saw a dingo up close), killed some Cane toads, and then went to see the moon rise again. After that, we headed to the Bar that was about a hot second from where we were staying. There was a rather interesting contest involving a mars bar and some ridiculously bad tasting whip cream that Tara and Ryan won a 30 dollar bar tab from, and then a nasty whip cream fight. Then, I again had a pitcher of beer all to myself, finished it, stripped and decided to join Jackie in the pool. Why I only put on my bathing suit top and then decided to wear a thong is beyond me, but then again, why I decided to back flip, excuse me, back flop into the pool is also beyond me. So, while we were in the pool there was a contest or something going on in the bar that Jackie and I just ignored. After that, we continued to drink, I got the most obnoxious hickups and we headed back to our huts.

Ryan and I continued to drink, everyone else did some other thing that I won't mention here. We continued the night until waaaayyyy past my bedtime and then I for some reason that I can't explain (add it to the list) got naked and went to bed.

So in the morning, I woke up to far too much noise for my liking and Johanna covering up my bare ass. We had missed breakfast, so Katie kindly gave me her cereal and I think I may have actually gotten some into my mouth. All the rest was scattered all over my bed. We had a hot second to pack and then we were headed out. I stumbled out of bed, packed everything that was mine and a few things that weren't, left all the rest of our beer and trash and stumbled back to the vehicle. I bought some food and drink at the convenience store (doritos, gatorade, and water) and got into the van.

I was in rough shape. Imagine a really wicked hangover and then imagine being shoved into a concrete mixer. That's what I felt like. I think I scared the hell out of Brad a couple of times because I was turning green in the face and he was sitting directly across from me. He even ducked for cover once. So everyone decided it would be best if I sat in the front where there was less turbulence. I sat next to Ellie and just kept repeating "don't throw up don't throw up." But, and I blame it on the combination of Wallaby juice and doritos (or the hundred beers I drank the previous night, whichever you prefer), I threw up. I stopped the car in time and just vomited on Fraser Island. Yes, I vomited in paradise, lucky me. I gotta admit though, I felt a million times better afterwards.

We headed on our way off of the island. We stopped to go swimming, and by we, I mean everyone but me because I was passed out in the van. Along the way we saw a dolpins jumping out of the water and a huge school of fish ( a dark mass in the water) which was probably accompanied by very large sharks. Hayden also stopped to show us a large sea snake that was on the beach. We also learned about the very very long earth worms that you can find along the beach here. We actually saw people bringing them up out of the sand too.

After the ferry ride and quick lunch, we headed to Noosa. I don't think this was supposed to be part of the trip, but I'm glad that it was. Noosa was gorgeous. We didn't see any koalas, but we did see a large guana. We went for a short hike and then went swimming in gorgeous water and went back to the vans. It was a really nice way to end the weekend.

Lastly, we stopped again at the airfield on the way back and saw two kangaroos. They let us get surprisingly close to take pictures and it was so cool to see them like that.

Oh, and I forgot to mention the huge flies. They were bigger than the biggest horse flies I've ever seen, and pack a nasty bite. They're vigilant too, they'll keep following you and one even hung out on our spare tire as we were driving.

Aaaand (I swear this is the blog that goes on forever) I want to remember Ryan saying: "If Fraser Island is the biggest island in the world, does that mean it has the most sand per square inch? I don't get it, how do they know?"
and
Hayden's continual use of the phrase "fair dinkum" and then when I asked what it meant he said "are you serious" and I go "yeah, I want to know" and he says, "no, that's what it means"
and
Hayden's story about the girl who said that the island were all one large island and they were just separated by water
and
I think I made Hayden's stupid American stories list when I asked him about a bug I had seen crawling on my bag on the beach at Lake Birrabean. I described it and he goes, "that was probably an earwig" and I go, oh, "what's an earwig" um, dumbass, it's what you just described. I felt so dumb, but at least my stupidity will live on for Hayden to tell others.

Pictures of my Pitchers

So, I've spent the last two nights stealing everyone's pictures from over the past two months, a process that has taken me far too long because of my slow computer. I've noticed that in about half of the pictures where we're all drinking, I've got my face in a pitcher of beer. What goes through my mind when we go out? I don't need to share beer? I don't need no stinkin cup? I'm not sure. It's just a funny little observation, and most surely something that my mom with get a kick out of when she checks my pictures.

But, there are two other things that I've noticed. A) I need to take more pictures of people, I have so many of landscape and stuff but hardly any of people and B) I tend to disappear. In pictures from the beginning and ends of nights, I'm just no where to be found. Often, I probably just miss the beginning of the night because I'm walking over from South Tower, but where am I in some of the end of the night pictures? It's like one minute, I'm there and the next, where the hell did I go? I don't even remember.

Also, right after I wrote my blog about my computer, I went back to AC to finish my LSR paper with Rob. Right in the middle of writing a paragraph, the whole damn thing shuts off. Then, when I turn it back on I get a new blue screen of death. OOOOh new problems with my computer. This screen in turn tells me, and I quote "the volume is dirty." WhatthewhotheWHATTHEFUCKDOESTHATMEAN???!!! What volume are we talking about and how did it get dirty? What kind of dirt is on my volume??!!

Oh, and the other day I was studying for my midterm and I put in my sensation and perception cd into the rom. It made the wierdest sound. Seriously, it sounded like a nascar race car at the beginning of a race. I thought the noise was coming from a car outside. No, it's just my computer.

So many people have offered me possible explanations of why my computer is on the fritz. Like, maybe I got a virus from downloading music. I'm like, honey, my computer eats viruses for lunch. I don't think that's it. Maybe I just need to defragment. Hmm, I think that fragmented files are just the beginning of my problems with that machine. My explanation is that my computer is just possessed. It would not entirely surprise me if it spurted out green goo and started talking floating. I have on occasion said to it "the power of Christ compels you" but I think I need an old priest and a young priest to get my computer running straight again.

Lastly, Erin is coming tomorrow!! We're going to spend the night in Brisbane and then hopefully go into Byron Bay on Sunday. Shannon rented a van for her friends and for me and Erin so that should be a good time. And yay, I get to drive. I'm excited. I just have to get my work done so that I don't have anything to worry about when she's here. I have: a sensation and perception essay to do, my LSR reflection paper, a french presentation, and a french midterm. Hmm, no worries??

on a serious note...

Alright, I know that my blogs are usually pretty joking or amusing, but this is a kinda serious subject.

I just found out that another person from my graduation class from high school has died. It's so weird that there have now been three people from our class that have passed away. That's three people our own age. It's so scary to think of how one day you could be here and the next you're not. I'm just pretty shaken by this again. I mean, I wasn't close with him or anything, but he's definitely someone that I knew and have talked to before. I remember being in 8th grade when Lauren died and she was in my ensemble group and some of my classes. At such a young age, it's especially upsetting because it's when you feel the most like you're unbeatable and death is the furtherest thing from your thoughts. Then, in high school when Pat died, it hit a bit closer to home because he was the locker right next to mine. It was someone that although I never spoke to much, that I saw everyday and he had soooo many close friends that were hit so hard by his death. One of the saddest parts too was that the people who had been friends with lauren had also been friends with pat. It's so sad to think how many people are going through that sadness right now. My heart just really goes out to them right now.