Kim vs. The World!

Big Day Out is a music festival that travels around Oz. After missing it in pretty much every major city up the coast, we fina lly got to check it out in Adelaide. After hibernating indoors for the most sweltering hours of the 40+ degree day, we arrived at the festival grounds where the local fire department were hosing down the crowd with fire hoses to keep cool! It was a great festival, with performances from The Arctic Monkeys, The Prodigy and our fellow countryman NEIL YOUNG! He looked like he was getting a bit long in the tooth, but he still rocked it out! (see video). Yes, that is correct, we travelled all the way from Canada to see 2 Brit bands and a Canadian perform! All in all a great night! The day before, we beat the heat by hitting up Glenelg, the local Adelaide beach (and home to the saltiest water I have EVER swam in!). The highlight of the beach day was watching a swarm of high school boys (we counted at least 45 of them) go "jetty jumping". A jetty is a mass...

... Literally. Like the surface of the sun. Mars and I (unfortunately for Mars!) are experiencing Adelaide weather history. Headline from today's news: "Adelaide is experiencing its hottest day in 70 years. The mercury reached 45.5 degrees Celsius in the city this afternoon. The Weather Bureau says Adelaide's hottest day on record was 46.1 degrees in January 1939. This week could see Adelaide equal its hottest heatwave on record. The record of six days of 40 degree heat or more was set in January 1908. On Tuesday Adelaide had a top temperature of 43.2 degrees. The Weather Bureau is forecasting a further five days of 40 degrees or more for the city." It's -15 at home or 45.5 in Oz... so much for a happy medium! I've updated posts and added a few more, so scroll down if you're interested (except if you're Ant or his mom.... in which case skip the Australia Day post! hehe). We are camping out indoors in Adelaide for the next week or so, and I'll post ...

Went out to a fantastic Japanese restaruant then to the casino for Glen's bday. We tried "Morton Bay Bugs"... which in this crazy country could have well been actual bugs... but they were a really yummy cray-fish type food that the teppanyaki chef fried up for us on the table. How much does that flame look like a boxing kangaroo??? Too bad it wasn't Jesus, because it would so be going on Ebay! On the ride home, we got to experience "Aussie Air Conditioning" (aka a cube van with no windows!) Good times!

Like every good "wanna-be Aussie", Mars and I got dressed in green and gold and headed out to the Adelaide Oval to take in a Cricket Match! I woke up at 9:00am... with a horrible sinus cold! Yes, I am the only person who can survive a Canadian winter, but get a cold in 40 degree weather! Anyway, I took some meds, then it was stra ight to the breakfast (or "Brekky") drinking. Glen arranged for 10 of us to go to the game in a stretch hummer, and Ant bought us all sombreros! We piled into the hummer, which was stocked with beer, wine, champagne, and Bourbon (anyone who has had an all day drinking event with these ingredients can probably predict where this story is headed...!). Luckily our seats were in the shade, because it was HOT out! (Adelaide is currently in the middle of a record-breaking heat wave!!) We chugged beers as soon as we got them, since if you didn't, they got warm in about 2 minutes! We snacked on Chiko Rolls and hot dogs, too. I le arned just e...

Today we had the privilege of seeing one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World, and I also got to check off an item on my "list of things to do before I die". Took a bus from Cairns to Port Douglas, then got on a boat to explore the outer edges of the Great Barrier Reef!! Our boat took us out to a platform in the middle of the ocean (see pic on right) where from its bridge, we could see flat water and then a sudden change where waves were breaking... that was the edge of the continental shelf! We snorkeled about 400 metres away from the edge of the world! We were once again extremely lucky with the weather conditions. The north of Australia (including Cairns and Port Douglas) has recently been experiencing torrential rain and cyclones. Many reef trips over the last month had been canceled. However, for our journey it was nothing but sunshine and water so calm you could see to the bottom of the reef! As a result of this, another monumental thing happened... Marissa didn't ...

... to frosh week!! Our last night in Airlie Beach, after returning from our Whitsundays boat cruise a bunch of us from the boat met up at our hostel (Magnum's) for an after party. Turns out the hostel was having a foam party! (this is an image from their website... not sure if we're in there!) After many drinks, even more shots, and many mouthfuls of foam, Mars and I basically broke into our old hostel room (we didn't pay for one that night because we had to take a 2am bus) showered fully clothed, then got on our 2am, 11 hour bus ride to Cairns!!! This whole trip we have been surrounded by 22 year olds .... but apparently we are not getting too old for this!

Ahoy! Just returned from a great 3 days at sea aboard the Atlantic Clipper party boat. It was raining and overcast when we boarded, but the next 2 days were amazing weather... amazing because the sun was out and it is currently rainy season! We got really lucky. The first day on the boat we went to Hill Inlet on Whitehaven Beach (one of the 71 islands that comprise the Whitsundays). It is one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. A beautiful white sand crescent beach with crystal clear water. Just as we prepared to head down to this picturesque beach... MY CAMERA BREAKS! Yup, the nice one I got for Xmas just died... lens wouldn't close, and thus no more pictures. (Kristina - I feel your pain when this happened to you on the Inca trail. Tom - Why did we ever buy anything other than our trusty Sonys? Mom - I'm sending it back to you... give the people at the store hell for me!!) But, as the Aussies say, no worries. I used a girls camera that ha...

We spent 3 days and nights in beautiful Noosa. It is a few hours north of Brisbane and, although there are a few hostels there, it appears to be generally overlooked on the every-backpacker-that-travels-up-the-coast-stops-here-here-and-here journey. It is an upscale beach town... a bit like Yorkville meets a really nice beach. So of course, Mars and I loved it! We stayed at Wood's friend Nathan's house. He just moved in and the place was really nice... a very welcome time out from the 8 person hostel rooms! (although, he is still a boy living on his own, which meant essentials like dish soap and light bulbs were still missing... and he was doing his laundry in the jacuzzi tub!) We spent our time there checking out the town, meeting a few of the locals, and surfing (more on that in a sec). We were so relaxed I just realized that I did not take a single picture of us in Noosa! Oops! Hopefully we get to go back. So, about the surfing. We had our first Aussie surf lesson courtesy o...

... Of Oz. Today Mars and I hit the beach once again (this coast gets over 320 days of sunshine per year... can you blame us??) We took some of our hostel's free boogie boards and surfed some of the big waves! A pic of us after taking a pretty good beating in the water... check out how gorgeous the beach is. The night before we had a few drinks with our fellow hostel dwellers... this is just ONE of the tables in the main area! We are in a room tomight, but sleeping in the lounge was actually pretty comfy (until we were rudely awakened by the 2 guys from London, ON, that worked in the hostel who kicked us out!). Tonight we made the hike to the Cape Byron lighthouse... this is the Eastern most point of Australia. We made it just in time to see the end of a brilliant sunset. The views of Byron Bay are great from up there, however the huge owl/lizard/dinousaur/hawk mix of a bird we encountered hunting us in the pitch black was not! There are crazy animals everywhere here! Tomorrow we ...

We finished the vodka AND made our flight. Yee-haw! We are in Byron now... absolutely stunning beach! Pretty cool town. It seems like everybackpacker EVER has landed here and is not going anywhere!! Lots of Brits and Canadians. All of the hostels are so full here that we are sleeping on the couches in the tv room of a hostel tonight! haha. Gotta love the Aussies: "We have no rooms, but you can crash in the tv room for $25." The couches actually look more comfortable than the beds :) Free internet time is running out rapidly... ! Gotta save $$ for later adventures!

Left Sydney this morning to travel to the best known beach in the area: Bondi. We got a good education in the Aussie sense of direction (hint: very similar to their overall "no worries" ways). Since the bus map may as well have been written in Chinese, we asked literally 10 people (most of them actual bus drivers) which bus to take to Bondi, and got 10 different answers. It mostly went like this. "How do we get to Bondi Beach?" Driver #1 "You need the 378". Driver of bus 378 "Nope, I don't go there, take the 370." 2 bus drivers later (not the 370) "Yeah, I can take you to the junction, then you need bus 280." Bus 281 pulls up and we ask if it goes there and he says "yep". I'm amazed they get anywhere! We spent the afternoon in the sun at Bondi Beach doing a whole lotta nothin (except blinding the locals with our pasty Canadian skin), and it was fantastic! Ate lunch a Bungabar... thanks to the MANY friends who recommend...

After a short flight from Adelaide (where we were loudly scolded by the really old German lady next to us for talking during the emergency landing instructions!) we arrived in Sydney... to an overcast and windy 20 degrees! (I know, better than snow, but still a bit chilly... summer is coming a little later than expected here!) We checked into a 6 person hostel room that we are currently sharing with 2 girls from Germany. Yesterday we explored the city at night and got our first views of the amazing Opera House ( Madama Butterfly was playing). I have some great pics to post, but this computer is being very testy... this island is friggin backwards! Stay tuned... (Update.. finally found a good computer cafe... images of us at the Opera House are attached, as well as the creepy bat video!) Today we took the double decker bus around the city and to Bondi Beach. Sydney very much reminds me of Vancouver, and Bondi is like a nicer Wasaga Beach! haha . We visited the huge Botanical Gar...

... because Mars and I are officially living in the future (15.5 hours ahead of TO)! We arrived in Oz with all of our luggage and our flights (mostly) on time. For everyone who knows my travel dramas, that is truly a SHOCK! Total travel time was 26 hours and it is currently 20 degrees in Adelaide tonight (woo-hoo). We are at Glen's house now, and I have already been treated to the Aussie delights of Tim Tams and Milo... lots and lots of sugar to keep me awake. Fortunately I already tried Veggimite (sp?) last time Glen came to visit, so I don't have to endure that "traditional dish" again! (I'd seriously rather more Guinea Pig). I am in desperate need of a shower and dinner, but not necessarily in that order. My body has no idea what time it is right now, but I seem to be in a bit better shape than Mars, who is struggling to keep her eyes open. Unlike Tom, I am trying to get myself on Aussie time ASAP so I'm going to try not to sleep for another few hours. Will...

... and lots of other crazy things in Oz! Our first 3 weeks will consist of lots of long travel legs, mucho backpacking, partying, and exploring. Oh, and don't forget getting tans while you guys brave the snow and cold. Suckas ! haha . I will try to post about our initial Oz wanderings as often as I can, but if the posts are not very frequent, please forgive! In anticipation of this, I have outlined our itinerary. We will let you know which way the toilets flush!... Jan 5 th - Fly to Adelaide via Melbourne AND LAX. We are flying United Ai rlines and have window/middle seating the whole way there... god help us! Jan 7 th - Arrive in Adelaide and visit Glen (Marissa's bf) while we try to adjust to the time difference! Jan 9 th - Fly to Sydney. Explore the city and check out the beaches! Jan 13 th - Fly to Ballina (Byron Bay). We'll take a while to backpack up to Brisbane and see more beaches. Hopefully we'll find some cities that we may want to live in along the wa...

Cannot believe we are leaving tomorrow!! Marissa and I have talked about doing this for years now, but actually packing our stuff up and preparing to head for the airport is MUCH different than planning and talking about it! Eep! We are both really excited and nervous, which is especially wierd for me. Even more weird is that we only have our first 3 weeks planned. Me, formally known in my travels as "Guidebook" doesn't have the whole thing planned!! Extended traveling, or "vagabonding", allows for the opportunity to travel with purpose and explore without having every minute planned... so that's what we're trying. Stay tuned to this blog to see how it goes. I had a lot of obstacles in the last few weeks that almost postponed the trip, but happily everything now seems to be in order for me to leave for a YEAR! My dad was very sick and in the ICU, but is now doing better. Sneakers had some seizures, but the vet is looking into it and I know my rents will ...