Sydney Stories

greetings all. i am currently in singapore and will regale you all of the tales of this place once our stay is through but i wanted to be up to date and give you a taste of our time in sydney.

first of all, i would like to announce that this blog is becoming more and more popular each day. i was officially reunited after what seems like years with my loverly cousin, lauren and she made my blog follower list go up to 7 whole people! i suggest all who read it daily (LRH) while at work or surfing the net, should become one as well. you get updates when i update and honestly, it just makes me feel much cooler than i already am.

after a very long overnight bus with one nice and one grumpy bus driver, we arrived in sydney mid morning to find dark clouds and very grey sky. we unloaded our stuff at our hostel, wake up! (exclamation point included, obviously) and then headed to what seemed like the perfect rainy day activity, the sydney aquarium, australias number 1 tourist attraction.

im not sure i agree with the number 1 status, but it was very very cool. you can walk through underwater tunnels and watch as massive sharks of all shapes, sizes and species swim over your head along with sting rays, and various other aquatic life. we also saw two dugongs, which i believe to look like manatees, which are very rare apparently. people often refer to them as the "original mermaids," im not sure why but thought it was an interesting factoid to mention.

we headed home and got ready for a lovely dinner in the spanish quarter which of course led us to some good wine and delicious tapas. a bit of dancing later (without cyclone) it was off to bed with our wonderful roommates, one of whom snored like his life depended on it.

the next day we were greeted by a bit of a gloomy sky so we decided to check out yet another indoor activity, the powerhouse museum. i could have spent 3 days in this place. they had an incredible exhibit about design and how its changed over the years full with architecture, textiles, furniture, etc. while that part was amazing, the best was the ecology exhibit. of course australia would have one of these in their museum, because they are so green! neither sarah nor i could save sydney from a huge trash dump being placed on their land, and we learned that our carbon footprints are not up to snuff either (sarahs was 5 and mine 8 ONLY because i misread a question so the game thought that i rode a subway for 2 hours a day in addition to driving a car two hours a day. had i been smart, i would have answered correctly and therefore lowered my carbon footprint. so if sarah wrote that i am an energy waster in her blog at least you have the reason why).

upon leaving the musuem we were greeted by glorious sunshine which was perfect because we were headed to tropfest, the worlds smallest film festival which we had read about and lucked out by being in sydney at the perfect time! we headed to the botanic gardens and set up shop full in tow with our picnic, blankets, etc. australians know how to picnic. some people even had stands for their wine glasses to ensure zero spillage. we were joined by 30,000 aussies who also came to enjoy the sun, films, bands and overall merriment of the day. the films were incredible and it really made me feel like a local. i like that sarah and i do more than just touristy stuff, it pays off to research what is actually going on.

the next day the sun was shining just as bright so we got our tourist fix and needed pictures in the perfect setting. we gazed adoringly at the bridge but nixed walking across it, our imaginations are so good that we didnt need to do it for real. we saw the opera house in perfect conditions and seriously, it is incredible. the way the light reflects off of the roof is just amazing. then we headed over to the rocks which is a cute "london-esque" town with cute shops and cafes in and out of little alleyways. i bought a wonderful aboriginal painting with the apartment i dont have in the city i dont yet live in in mind (liz, im becoming you).

we headed home just in time to change and head to the sydney tower, sydneys version of the empire state building. you get incredible views of the city (we were lucky to see it in daylight then go down for the oz trek and then headed back up to see the city lights in all their glory which was breathtaking). an interesting fact from the oz trek, 80% of australias population lives on only 1% of its land!! as bill bryson told me, there is a whole lot of nothing in this country. we headed back home for dinner and had do it yourself korean bbq which was loads of fun.

another day and the sun was still shining. we decided to get our obligatory beach fix in and head to the not so secretly famous, bondi. sarah and i stayed on sand while thousands of people splashed in the surf against the lifeguards warnings (that day, actually within the 3 hours we were there, 150 people were stung by blue bottle jellyfish! as i continue to say, the ocean is a scary place). as the sun started to go down we did the hour and a half coastal walk from bondi to coogee beach. the walk was incredible and gave you the most gorgeous views of the coast line and blue green waters. we ended in the beach town of coogee, had dinner and headed back home.

upon rachels australian suggestions, we decided to take scruffy murphys on. this bar was amazing. no matter who you are, what mood youre in, its there - locals, backpackers and kids abroad alike will find what theyre looking for. upstairs is just chill bar scene, downstairs is a live cover band, and in the basement is a dj full of fun dance songs. we had a blast, i taught some more people the jess fridstein dance, and then we headed to the famed 5 star kebab from which our mouths are still burnt!

the following day we decided to get some sydney shopping in. we headed to the famed paddington neighborhood, home to oxford street. there were tons of nice shops - i had to be pulled away from sass and bide and zimmerman, and we just walked around and tried on things and had genuine fun. our day sadly ended with nothing in hand and we decided what better way to end our time in sydney than how we began it. we had so much fun at the moonlight cinema in melbourne we did it again this time seeing breakfast at tiffanys which was lovely.

our last day in sydney was spent researching the next leg of our trip and enjoying the last bit of cuisine that does not include rice, dumplings or noodles. we headed to sydney airport and were off to singapore.

a little sneak peak into the singapore files - i did not sleep one wink on this flight. (shock falls upon the crowd, my dad especially) what you say? i, ruthie kasnett, am famously known to sleep on every moving vehicle i step foot in. well, the entertainment on this flight was just too good. qantas kept giving us things to stay awake for: meals, drinks, tea, popsicles, etc. and the movie selection was wonderful. i couldnt resist watching 2.5 movies (dont ruin HSM3, ill just have to finish it when we get home). 7 hours later we were in singapore and trust me, you could feel the humidity from the plane. more to come...

apologies again dear followers. i am trying to work on pictures from life after melbourne and the computer is not cooperating. hopefully i can get them up soon, youre in for a treat!

I'm Too Tired to be Witty: Hervey Bay, Rainbow Beach, Fraser Island, Byron Bay

to my dearest and most loyal fans, again, i am so sorry to have kept you all waiting for this next post. im sure you all have been on the seat of your pants with anticipation and if not, im still going to pretend that you have been.

when i last left you i had just avoided a cyclone and monsoon and by the skin of my teeth made a bus out of airlie beach. as the overnight bus headed into hervey bay i have never been more excited to have been woken up by the bright bright sunshine. direct quote: "i have never been happier to put sunglasses on". seeing the sun immediately brightened my spirits and the nasty and irritable ruthie from airlie beach was gone. we headed for our hostel, woolshed backpackers and i could tell it was going to be a good day.

woolshed was quaint with lots of personality and was just what we needed to recharge our drained batteries. not wanting to miss out on sacred sunshine, we headed to the beach to explore our new stomping ground. hervey bay is very cute and is truly just a simple beach town with little shops and restaurants and beach houses. i wonder who vacations in hervey bay because pretty much all of australia is sun soaked at one time or another. i suppose when its cold in melbourne people need a place to retreat to? hervey bay reminded me a lot of northshore which is where we used to be beach bums in rehoboth. clearly, rehoboth has nothing to worry about but just a comparison for those of you out there who know what im talking about. the beach was very pretty and gave sarah and i a bit of a workout as we walked in the heat to continue exploring and walk the expanse of the sand. clearly after such a long day we needed a nap and amazingly we woke up 3 hours later just in time for, you guessed it, dinner!

our second day in hervey bay pretty much mimicked the first - beach, sun, strolling. i had a great session with my ipod on shuffle songs and i felt an ease which i hadnt felt in days. an interesting fact about hervey bay: while walking along the running path, yes walked, we encountered various circuit training stops along the way. people here must really take fitness seriously because it was quite the genius idea. sarah and i scoffed a bit at first because it would appear to be ineffective for particular people (a 200 lb man versus a 120 lb woman) but these people are smart - the machines are all weight based so you gotta do the work! we had quite a bit of fun and believed that if we had known about this little path and circuit stations we would have taken a nice long run in the morning (believe what you wish).

side note: i write these blogs as i follow my journal entries (i am behind in blogging because clearly i was behind in keeping up with my journal). be thankful for these things because writing in the journal, while worth it in the end, is such a chore. so here is my side note of thought about internal australian flights - they are asking to be bombed. shoes stay on, liquids are fine and do not need to be under 3 ounces or removed for screening, passports are barely looked at and your boarding pass is not checked at security. reassuring? not really, but then again heathrow, jfk, and lax missed sarahs mysterious scissors in her carry on. it would be the fijians who have airport security down.

we left hervey bay and headed for rainbow beach which is where we were to depart for our fraser island camping trip. sad to see rain clouds and not sun (sunshine coast really needs to live up to its name) we checked into pippies. we then had our info session on fraser island and got acquainted with our fellow group members. we watched an informational video about camping safety. i learned that if a dingo (australian wild dog) approaches you, you will be safe if you cross your arms over your chest and back away with caution. the video, however, does not inform you of what to do if while backing away you happen to bump into another dingo! similar to moose procedure at camp, if i see a dingo i am getting the heck out of wherever i am and running like hell.

our group seemed to mesh very nicely and sarah and i used our tripp lake camping skills to discuss food purchasing and of course initiated the idea of making smores while on our trip. clearly, only the canadians knew what we were talking about but everyone was a smore supporter by the trips end. sarah and i went grocery shopping with a few other girls from the group and as we checked out and received our $50 in change (started with $220) the check out woman told us that we were being so frugal and smart with our purchasing decisions. apparently, a group came before us and for the same amount of people and before buying hamburger meat, they had already spent $500!!! i was so happy, never in my life have i been told that i make good purchasing decisions!! a good walk in the pouring rain later we were back and ready to leave the next morning.

we woke up to rain and turmoil. that night, two girls had their passports stolen. of course, it was the night before they were meant to fly home to belgium. the police were on their way and it was being debated whether or not we were going to get out on time. luckilly we were fine and we packed up the car, went over our itinerary and were off. the 4wd is a massive vehicle with 3 people in the front and 8 people on bench seats facing each other in the back. lets just say as the driving became bumpy, which is often did, our group became quite close haha. just looking at the car made my stomach turn.

fraser island is basically a sand island full of dunes, beach, freshwater lakes, rainforests and multitudes of vegetation. its amazing that such lush plant life can grow right out of sand. besides from being gorgeous vegetation wise, fraser island, and australia in general is a dangerous place. more things in australia than anywhere else in the world can kill you. so in addition to being on dingo watch you must also be aware of strong currents, rapidly crashing waves, sharks, jellyfish, spiders and snakes (the spiders and snakes are usually undetectable which makes life even more fun and exciting). basically - safety first!

the freshwater lakes were gorgeous and the water was so clear that you could barely tell you werent on dry land. in addition to being gorgeous it was so nice not to feel salty for once. we set up camp and were ready for our bbq (sarah and i were of course in charge of trash bag salad, caro would have been so proud) which was really fun and gave us all a chance to know one another better. sarah and i taught everyone the infamous slap bag and game of 21 which is always a hit. but the biggest hit of all was mad libs - which of course, sarah and i had zero doubt about.

we packed up and headed to the site of a shipwreck which is basically just stuck in the wide expanse of beach. i wish i could have seen the wreck years ago because the rust and erosion only continues to get worse but regardless, it was amazing to see and illegally touch for the sake of pictures. then we set out for our second campsite, the aboriginal camp, but stopped first at the pinnacles which are mountains and peaks formed from colored sand, and then went to indian head which is a gorgeous little hike up to the top of a huge hill where the views of the ocean and beyond are incredible. usually, shark and sting ray sitings occur but of course not when we went! we went back to camp, made dinner and a fire and got to know daniel, the aboriginal as he taught us the didgeridoo and regaled us of stories about aboriginal life.

one of the biggest disappointments is that we learned of the fact that women are not allowed to touch the didge. they may ask permission to touch it only if they are going to be domestic and decorate it. if they play it, they are speared. sarah and i instantly reverted back to our fijian knowledge of cannibalism and asked daniel if the aboriginals and fijian villagers were at all friends in the past. of course they were. so while the boys got to play the real thing, sarah and i were blowing unsuccesfully into a rubber pipe.

we woke up and were up at out of the camp by 7 am in order to make it on the beach before the tide came up too far and do a rainforest walk. well god had other plans for us. of course it was friday the 13th and that did not go unnoticed. we were on our way when the car began to slide and eventually, we got stuck as the tide continued to come higher and higher. after zero luck using our own man power, some nice guys came and helped tow us out before the tide could wash our car away. of course it was too late for the rainforest walk and we had to change plans a bit. did i mention this was all before 9 am? we went to another lake and after the worst drive of my life i had never been so happy to be outside in the rain as the world stopped spinning and my stomach slowed its churning down. then we were back home to pippies where our exhaustion and lack of sleep and goon hangovers took us to bed quite early.

we headed out the next morning and made our way to noosa. we checked into koalas and made our way to what has been the most disgusting room of the entire trip. we met our roommates who all worked at the hostel for accommodation and after a few months of living there, the room showed and smelled it. we explored the town as the rain drizzles came down. noosa is full of cute stores and restaurants and the beach is gorgeous. after a bit of exploring we headed back to rest before getting ready for our valentines evening. we enjoyed koalas happy hour and made our way to a great dinner in town before heading to rolling rock for a night of fun and dancing. slight problem, we were turned away for improper dress code. apparently shoes matter in australia and rubber thongs are not permitted regardless of how nice your apparel is. we had to run back up a huge hill to koalas to change and then ran back down. hey, we burned off dinner! we got our dance on before treading back up the hill to hit the bed.

our second day in noosa pretty much mimicked the first. we walked around, got some sun and then decided to see hes just not that into you over a dinner of popcorn. i think we stayed the perfect amount of time in noosa. i think any longer and boredom would have kicked in.

we ate an early breakfast and prepared for our long day of bus travel to byron bay. unfortunately, there was no night bus so our journey took up most of this day. a long nap later we were in byron bay and guess what? the rain followed us yet again. we got to our hostel, the arts factory lodge, which has been by far my favorite place to stay thus far. the arts factory used to be a place where musicians and bands would congregate and just play together and put on ridiculous shows. the place now maintains that original vibe and is very chill and inviting. everyone sits outside together and just hangs out, listens to music and lays in hammocks all day long. byron bay is a great town as well. more than just another beach town, it possesses the artsy and funky vibe of a surfer town combined with hippie music appreciation. its a great place. our first night we hung around the factory, ate dinner and watched our fellow hostel goers play in a talent show. we hung out that night and for the first time all trip, i met a fellow american!!! even more exciting, more than just being american, i found a jew! after a month of missing it, it was quite fun to be able to play jewish geography. laugh if you wish.

our days in byron bay have basically all consisted of strolling around, hanging on the beach, reading and making iced green teas. i cannot wait until sydney when i can walk into a starbucks and have a venti iced green tea just handed to me instead of dealing with tea pots, melting ice and spilling everywhere. for those of you who remember my hat finding issue at the beginning of this trip, my hat ripped. the seams just fell apart while we were at pippies. luckilly, i found the byron bay hat company and have replaced the original with a much cooler and cheaper hat.

our one day of zero beach was our third day in byron when we put ourselves into the hands of alternative jim and took a day trip to nimbin which is basically the amsterdam of australia. think of hippies, tye dye, and lush rain forest type roads to travel on. i was quite pleased with my purchase of a tye dyed headband which looks phenomenal.

tonight we head to sydney where i will be reconnecting with the world when i get my new phone. while i have loved not being in contact with any of you (just kidding, kind of) it will be nice to know that i can if i want to. be on the lookout for bbm requests left and right. hope this post did my lack of timeliness justice.

Nemo: Found, Cyclone: Avoided, Sunshine: Back

since i last posted it feels as if i have been in a whirlwind. when we last spoke, it was superbowl monday and i was flying to cairns.

we arrived in cairns very late monday night and arrived at our hostel, gilligans. gilligans is very cool and seems to be one of the "it" places for cairns flashpackers. we checked into our room which came equiped with a lovely balcony and went to sleep.

february 3: we woke up to the clouds. after heading downstairs, we decided to book our day tours to the great barrier reef. i made sarah go in hopes that she would overcome her fear of fish. and how can you come to cairns and not see the reef?!? we ate lunch at a little place opposite to gilligans and decided to explore.

cairns reminded me a bit of ft. lauderdale (from what i can remember from visiting my grandma in years past). everything was basically in strip malls, with the exception of the real mall, and seemed a bit seedy. it was tourist shop after tourist shop with some jewelry, dive and travel shops in between. to escape the humidity we made our way to the mall just as the rain began to pour. we opted for a movie, which is basically how i filled my days in cairns (the rain just kept on coming). after the 3 hour curious case of benjamin button, the rain was still waiting for us and we arrived back at gilligans fully soaked. too tired to do anything, we ate dinner at gilligans, had a drink and went to bed before our 6 am wake up call for the reef.

february 4: guess what? we woke up to the rain! sarah and i put on our rain jackets and trodded down to the marina in hopes that as we sailed away from cairns the sunshine would appear. we got on our boat, and met our passions of paradise crew along with our fellow boat mates. the crew was so nice and very entertaining. about 2 hours of rainy skies, we arrived at michelmas cay where i would go as far to say it was sunny but there were zero raindrops which was perfect to me.

first, sarah and i went on the glass bottom boat which was basically a boat ride around the reef while looking into a boat with, a glass bottom! it was very cool and we got to learn things about the reef that we wouldnt have otherwise. i am a huge fan of the giant clams. our boat guide taught us quite a bit of great barrier reef sexual education included how flatworms mate and some things that finding nemo decided to leave out. for more information, email me or look it up on the internet; i dont find it blog worthy.

the boat then dropped us off at the "beach" where we had a designated snorkel area. well, something that was left out was that this "beach" really doubled as a bird sanctuary. a girl who is afraid of fish and one who is afraid of birds - these people must have thought we were such dummies to be going on this tour. i snorkeled a bit and saw some great fish but we were waiting for the next stop to see the big stuff.

we returned to our main boat and had a delicious lunch and actually laid out a bit in the sun! we made it to our second stop and in attempts to get over sarahs fear, one crew mate, simon offered to take her on a guided tour of the reef. basically, all she had to do was hold on to a life tube and let him guide the way. being the great (and lazy) friend that i am, i came along for moral support and who better to show me the cool things of the reef than a man who has been diving in it for years? simon tugged us along and pointed out great things and even dove down and brought us a sea cucumber and some mushroom coral to hold. the colors of the fish were incredible and we found nemo and dory! sarah only freaked out once but then we miscommunicated. she kept hitting me and i couldnt see what was wrong but it was just her excitement that more nemo were nearby. i am so proud of her for doing this and she even said she would do it again and is so glad this isnt going to be on her list of things she always wished she had done.

we headed back in and were again greeted by the rain. around 6 we returned to gilligans, yes you guessed it, drenched from head to toe. we met charlotte at gilligans to learn that the roads from cairns to airlie beach (our next stop) were flooded and we were basically going to be stranded if we didnt make a plan. buses were out so we were lucky enough to find a cheapish flight and ferry that would take us to airlie beach after a few extra and unnecessary days in cairns. after sorting our lives out, and a much needed shower later, we went to the greek place next door for dinner and an even much more needed glass or two of wine, hung out then headed for home...in the rain.

february 5: sarah and i slept it and were greeted by a tad bit of sunshine. we walked around and headed to the lagoon while we were dry. the lagoon is amazing. it is basically a pool of salt water (translation: a clean ocean). we hung out there a bit and cooled off before the rain came. we decided our time would be best spent at yet another movie. cant go wrong with role models. we decided to pick up dinner in the food court and buy some wine and enjoy a nice dinner on our balcony.

february 6: basically the same as the 5 - more rain, and another movie. i saw milk while sarah and charlotte saw slumdog millionaire. a bit more of indoor activity and a nice tea and coffee break, we were back on our balcony for dinner and wine before an early wake up call to head to the cairns airport.

february 7: we arrived in airlie beach early in the morning, the ferry took us to the marina and it poured the entire time. we checked into beaches, our hostel, then decided to sort out and check in for our whitsunday islands tour. the whitsundays are meant to be amazing but not when there are thunderstorms looming and the words monsoon and cyclone are being thrown around. sarah and i are not boat fans to begin with. after a long decision making process we decided that a. it would not be fun to be on a boat for 2 days in the rain and b. that when we arrived most likely floods will have closed down the roads. we got on a 8 pm bus that luckilly came and headed to hervey bay, the sunshine coast (we were right, according to the news, more flooding in airlie beach has occured and buses are not traveling north or south - we have good gut instinct!)

thats all for now. stay tuned for hervey bay, rainbow beach and our four wheel drive fraser island camping trip!

Moving to Melbourne

g'day mates! since i last posted i have fallen in love with my future city of residence: melbourne.

january 28: after the easy 5 hour flight from fiji (sarah and i barely remained awake long enough to be fed and down a glass of wine) we arrived in melbourne around 11 pm. exhausted and unsure of how to maneuver public transportation, we opted for a cab to our hostel. well, the cabs here are not cheap. instead of gas, they must feed these cars and their meters with speed or some other stimulant because every second, literally, we were 10 cents poorer. we finally arrived at our hostel, base.

base cannot be missed. using an excellent marketing and advertising tools (just for you sarah b) such as their unmistakable red building and signature "x" symbol base has become a brand name in the world of "flashpacking" (translation: backpacking with style). we walked in to find the place hopping. unlike every hostel we stayed at in fiji, there were actually people here! we were excited to learn that there was an elevator that would take us up to our third floor room and then shot in the heart when the man at checkin next told us it was broken. after a winded climb up 3 flights of stairs i stayed awake long enough to brush up, get pjs on and open my book but not read it.

january 29: after a hefty nights sleep our internal alarm clocks went off from waking up so early in fiji. we found ourselves starving and ready to brave the outdoor oven that is st. kilda (the area where base is). as i have already stated above, i would move here in a hot second, literally, a hot second. the second you go outside it is sweat central. although the heat is not humid, it doesnt matter. of course we arrived in the largest heat wave since 1908 (temperatures rose to about 103 farenheit!). even when the wind blows, it blows hot air, much like a blowdryer or opening an oven after doing some heavy cooking. basically, its not pleasant. but no complaints, the sun was out and despite my glistening face it was a beautiful day.

we left base and turned onto acland st. which is where the party begins. this street and those neighboring it are filled with shop after shop, and restaurant after restaurant. every place we passed we either wanted to eat something at or buy something from. bad news bears. it is also so eclectic. sarah and i have not yet been to sydney but we decided that from what we have heard we could make this comparison. if australia were new york, sydney would be fifth avenue and st. kilda soho. acland street is so eclectic as are the people in it. the fashion is "urban outfitters meets the oc meets wear whatever you want" as sarah says and the overall look and feel is even more laid back than la mixed with british terminology. we picked a cute little cafe and sat outside as we enjoyed the massive amounts of water brought to us in previously used wine bottles (melbourne is all about being green). sarah was stoked for her first iced coffee to be even more pleasantly surprised that instead of ice she received ice cream! as i continued to unstick my legs from one another we enjoyed a great breakfast.

we walked around a bit more and then went back to base to be greeted by sarahs friend charlotte who will be traveling part of australia with us in the coming weeks. she has been in melbourne for a while and helped me sort my phone issues out and got me to a post office to send my phone back to dad. another instance of how melbourne promotes the green life is through its children books. while in the post office, we were met by titles such as "turn off the water" and "dont leave the lights on". while a good message, sounded like crap books.

we then caught the tram to the city to do a bit more exploring. we decided it was too hot and went into a cafe for lunch. sarah and i finally had the salad we were deprived of in fiji (if you cant drink the water then you certainly cant eat the raw vegetables that have been washed in it or as sarah and ive been told "if you cant peel it, you cant eat it"). a little walking later we headed home to shower and enjoy our free champagne from 6-7 that came as a perk with our room. (i dont hate it!) sarah and i have learned that we have perfect australian hair. we have come to grips that we probably will not meet a good hairdryer or flat iron until beijing but here it works to our advantage. the messier and wavier and matted your hair is the better. if your hair is in your face and strewn about in every direction you look amazing by melbourne standards. well, lucky for us, our hair does just that, we dont even have to try!

we then went to a restaurant on acland for some tapas and margaritas that again, didnt seem to really exist in fiji. then we went back to base for "ladies night" which again gave us free bubbly from 9-11. they tried to sell this free champagne as mimosas or as we were told orange juice with maybe a drop of champagne. sarah and i asked for the real deal and were given flutes of just champagne without any arguments. charlotte met us and as it got too crowded we went to another bar in st. kilda then attempted to make it home. we hopped in a cab and gave the driver our address and he had no clue that a street by the name of carlisle existed. we immediately got out and hopped in a knowledgable taxi and went to bed.

january 30: we woke up and headed down the street to a cute cafe called galleon (sarah and i have eaten breafast there every morning since and now dont call it galleon, but "our place" because "we so live here") it is a funky little place that is hopping with locals and organic fare. i then treated myself to a mani/pedi. after fiji i couldnt bear to even look at my poor excuses for nails. the bright orange not only goes well with my tan but bodes very well in melbourne. im totally a local. then i met sarah and charlotte and had an iced green tea at a cafe. unfortunately, no one has caught on with the iced unsweetened green tea. i may have to go to starbucks to get my fix.

the next few hours were the longest of my life so ill make it short. we went to tribal travel to map out our next few weeks of traveling down the coast. the route we have planned sounds great but i wont spoil it for you so youll just have to read about it as it comes.

after a light lunch to regain our strength, we headed to safeway to prepare for our twilight picnic at the botanical gardens. we picked up some nibbles and i carried out sushi. i have never been happier in my life. this place was like mixing sushi sushi and raku together so for those of you from home, obviously this was heaven. a tako salad, few pieces of spicy tuna and two seaweed salad handrolls comprised my meal. the handrolls here are genius. they are not cone shaped but actually are just a smaller version of an uncut roll. this is quite bright because then you can actually take away and walk with it and only use one hand. when i come home im going to spread the word to raku that they should take their seaweed salad to the next level and create a hand roll with it. of course it would be named after me. the ruthie roll at raku has got a very nice ring to it dont you think?

after shopping we got back in time for a flute of champagne, and then headed to the botanical gardens. they were gorgeous. we were going as the sun was going down which brought all of the amazing foliage to life. almost every day the garden sets up a twilight movie on a huge screen. luckilly we ordered our tickets because it was sold out and thousands of people filled this huge lawn with beds, food, and drinks. sarah and i set up our spread, ate, drank and waited for the sun to set so twilight, the movie, could start at twilight! clever, huh? the movie was amazing, the setting great and edward cullen and i will be getting married in the spring. we got home late and went to bed.

january 31: after a bit of a lie in (see, im turning british) we went to our place and were greeted by a swarm of hungry australians. we got seats at the bar, read our books and realized that our waitress had forgotten to put our order in. the situation was rectified, our stomachs were full and we were off to the australian open. the heat was just right and we strolled around the grounds and the rod laver arena area. we even got to go inside and watch some of the junior mens finals. of course we did not have access to see serena play in the finals but it was cool to say that we were there. we took the tram and walked around federation square and had a drink by the river to refuel. hungry and tired we had a quick dinner and just strolled around before going home.

a sidenote: before i left, gary (my dad) gave me a great book called comfortable with uncertainty. i read a bit each day and i stumbled upon a quote that really struck me and i thought was suitable for this trip because while some is planned we are also in new areas all the time and partially flying by the seats of our pants. "sticking with uncertainty is how we learn to relax in the midst of chaos, how we learn to be cool when the ground beneath us suddenly disappears. we can bring ourselves back to the spiritual path countless times every day by simply exercising our willingness to rest in the uncertainty of the present moment - over and over again."

february 1: we woke up early and started our day at our place. we dropped our laundry off at a cheap place next door and walked on acland. every store we pass is having a sale. to me, this is like giving an alcoholic a drink - clearly a bad idea. i could easily toss everything in my suitcase and purchase a whole australian woredrobe. but i didnt. i actually abstained from shopping until the devil on my shoulder aka sarah suggested it. shame on us but we did have control. we wound up not spending a lot and purchasing things that will get their moneys worth.

we headed to the beach to walk around and checked out the sunday market. nothing impressed us so we went back to acland to prepare for our evening. we went to safeway again and bought things for our second twilight picnic that would take place at melbourne zoo! there is nighttime music that you can go to after checking out the zoo and we were all for that. we did our shopping and came home to repack and shower before seeing fiona, another tripp counselor who is in melbourne from sydney. she met us and we headed to the zoo. the melbourne zoo is crazy. there are soo many animals, including ones that are not actually part of the zoo. what you say? yes, waltzing around the zoo is a peacock. just chilling and flying and walking about. this does not surprise fiona or sarah but scares the crap out of me. i dont do well with birds, even pretty ones. especially ones that can sense my fear like this peacock. luckilly, i made it out to find many more surprises along the way. again, what surprises you ask? well, the fact that when you see the kangaroos, wombats and koalas, you are actually walking with them. people were petting kangaroos as if they were dogs!! on the way to the koalas i had a heart attack as we were greeted by two emu. again, i luckilly made it out. we then set up our picnic and waited for the music to start. our concert was amazing. it was a tribute to motown and the blues brothers. every song we were dancing and or singing to. sarah and i decided that when we live here we will be the hip parents and grandparents who come to such events. i thought about my mom while there because she and my dad would have loved this. listening to hits from the four tops and temptations and dancing outside would have been up her alley in particular. after all, they were voted best dancing parents at every bar/batmitzvah! dad, sadly, they did not play my girl but i thought of you anyway!

we headed back and found a wine shop and just sat on the hill near the beach and caught up like old times. i have concluded that although tripp lake helps introduce a friendship to you, the friendship speaks volumes when you can talk of other things than camp. if you had seen the three of us you would have thought we had known each other for years and years since little kids. of course we always revert back to camp because it is just amazing but it was like old friends never skipping a beat. i thank tripp lake for bringing such wonderful people in my life.

february 2: today i woke to my stomach and a pounding headache. i packed up and had to checkout of base by 10 even though our flight to cairns isnt until 9:30 tonight. we all had breakfast at our place and then i came back to base to watch the superbowl. great game. sarah and fiona left do go to some street where a crazy soap opera is filmed that they life. they have yet to return and im getting bored. unfortunately we say goodbye to fiona today but will hopefully see her in thailand and we meet charlotte at the airport to head to cairns. thats all for now, i know i just spat a lot out at you but dont be overwhelmed, read it bit by bit.

here is the link to the melbourne pictures: http://www.kodakgallery.com/ViewSlideshow.action?&collidparam=98091857905.624250214705.1233549395733