first blah day

Posted By on Apr 8, 2010

So far, Melbourne blows, but I think that’s because my experience with people in Sydney was so incredible. I got spoiled having friends and a nice apartment to come home to at night, with someone looking after me all the time. I took the overnight bus from Canberra, and I’m in a crummy hostel right outside the central business district because I wanted to shower and do laundry, but there’s only one washing machine and you’re only allowed to do laundry from 2pm-11pm! So, so far, my mistakes on this trip have been: -not allotting enough time for Australia -leaving Sydney -taking a freaking overnight bus from Canberra to Melbourne -staying at this hostel? I’ve met a couple of people at the hostel but I haven’t hit it off with anyone. I’m feeling a bit sorry for myself, actually. I’m not homesick at all — I just wish I was still couchsurfing in Sydney, hanging out with Melissa, Raquel, and Jim. My gut told me to stay longer in Sydney, but I felt that I needed to press onward. Plus, I’d already purchased the plane ticket from Melbourne – > NZ ages ago. I guess I need to keep my plans more open-ended on the next trip I go on, in case something similar happens....

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Canberra

Posted By on Apr 7, 2010

I made it to Canberra last night. Sunara and her friend Alec picked me up at the bus station and they were extremely, extremely nice. We ended up going back to another friend of there’s house, where they finished watching “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and Alec explained the concept of “Fairy Bread” to me, which is: -White bread. -Margarine/butter. -“Hundreds and thousands” — or sprinkles, as we call them. They were all shocked that we didn’t have such food in the US, haha. They asked, “What do you eat as a kid, then?!” I had a couple of enlightening discussions with Maria and Jim back in Sydney regarding Barack Obama. They both said that while they were glad it wasn’t Bush any longer, they really didn’t understand the hype and his cult power over so many people. Jim pointed out how he noticed that people who claimed to be “tolerant” and idealists were so rabid against any opposition, thereby making them more intolerant than any of the people who disagree with Obama. I also took a tour of the Parliament House today. It’s amazing — Australia’s government has only been in place since around 1902. They have a House of Represenatives, a Senate, and the Queen (or the Governor General who acts in the Queen’s stead). They also have a Prime Minister, but I don’t fully understand how he fits into the picture. Anyway. I’m running out of minutes on a creepy internet gaming gaming gaming lounge in a basement of a building in Canberra, so that’s all for now! much...

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First entry — finally.

Posted By on Apr 6, 2010

I’ve finally found enough time to sit down and write about the trip thus far as I’m around the corner from Central Station waiting for my bus to Canberra. Every day I always had a lot to share, but was constantly pressed for time and rationalizing against spending my time on the internet as I’m finally in freakin’ Australia. Anyways! From the beginning, I guess? Note: This is a recap and it’s more for me to remember everything, so it may not be all that enjoyable for anyone else to read. Haha. I’ll try to update more than once a week. March 30th I’d be lying if I said I was excited about this trip during the planning stages. The reality of the magnitude of the trip hit me as soon as I bought the airline ticket and I realized I’m finally going. I was scared to death, and questioned myself every morning if traveling really was what I wanted to do, or if it was only what I thought I wanted to do. Everything quickly turned around when I walked through the doors of Nashville’s “international” airport. I approached the counter of American Airlines alongside a band, which isn’t unusual for Nashville. A few minutes later, I realized it was the Newsboys, who were also making their way to Australia and were on my flight to Los Angeles. Undoubtedly, these guys were the ones who piqued my interest in Australia, and out of all the days in a year to fly to Australia, we were journeying on the same day — I viewed it as God’s way of giving my trip the thumbs up. I also ran into Kurt, a good college buddy and now tour manager of Sanctus Real, who was also venturing down to AUS for the same Christian music festival that the Newsboys were heading to. The flight to LA wasn’t bad, I shared a row with Jeff of the Newsboys, but we didn’t converse past the obligatory “excuse me”s and “thank you”s. I then waited around wonderful LAX for three hours, making it my fourth time in that stupid airport. The flight to Sydney wasn’t bad at all — I watched Zombieland and slept from 7:30pm Sydney time till about 3:30am. And a short four hours later, we glided past the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House and landed. April 1st I think the hardest part of going to a new city is figuring out the best way to navigate from the airport to the city itself. At least, that’s always the most challenging part for me! After a little bit of normal confusion,...

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