3/25/10
Last day of Noosa (3/22/10) was pretty great. We got up, went to get some iced coffee (iced coffee here is two shots of espresso, ice, and a scoop of ice cream) and then Anna, Emily, Kelsey and I hiked up to the nude beach. It was the most liberating feeling I have experienced since dropping chemistry and becoming an English major. It felt much better though. We set up camp and I stripped in .05 seconds and sprinted to the ocean. It was cold but it felt great. The girls soon followed. We laughed and talked and I made sure to stare down any creepy old men that came by (and there were certainly a few). We walked back on a sandy path barefoot, had a late lunch and then we went to go see Men Who Stare at Goats. Hilarious. I've never had any sort of inclination to do acid before, but after watching an incredibly entertaining scene where they spike a military base's eggs with LSD, the whole thing doesn't seem quite so serious.
We went out for a couple of drinks afterward and Kelsey and I headed home and fell asleep at 9:30. Anna and Caitlin came home smashed and woke me up. Like..literally poked me awake. I was needless to say, fucking furious. I left for a few hours to go to the beach, and I didn't talk with them until I had to the next morning. Their version of events was slightly different then mine, but seeing as how I was not drunk off my ass, I ended up winning the argument.
We headed back to Brizzy the next day (3/23/10), hung out with my host family one more time. Then headed to Rocky (Rockhampton) the next day (3/24/10).
In Rocky we met Robby, our delightful host at the hostel where we were all staying. She showed us some phenomenal "Northern Hospitality". I loved the town (about the size of Marysville in Washington, with even more hicks), I spoke with a local bloke @ this restaurant called Nando's. He had learned about beer pong from his American mate. He loved it. We talked with him for a long time. He was cool. He worked in the meat processing plant in town (as well as Nando's) and he met all sorts of international people there. We talked a lot about different cultures and such before his boss came over and made him actually work. Lame.
Passed out early again and now we are headed to Rubyvale!
p.s.
trying to pee standing up on a bus is probably one of the most difficult feats I have ever attempted. I was impressed with my abilities.
(found scribbled on a loose piece of paper from my journal. Think is it about this bus ride):
Driving into a setting sun which takes up the entire windshield. A deep, fiery, orange ball 20 square feet in size, is where we are headed. Rolling bushland on all sides, tall grasses, sparse trees sprinkled like dandelions across the wide open fields.
Listening to pop-country on Kelsey's ipod and missing home. Loving where I am now.
A dusty orange sphere falling behind distant hills, brushing the high clouds with a soft pink blush. It ignites the low hanging clouds and I watch the embers smolder.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
3/21/10
Last night we were planning to go out but after a day @ the beach/in the sun we were too pooped out to go anywhere so we bought a bottle of rum, a bottle of tequila, and 2 1.5 liters of passion/mango/orange/pear juice, watched finding nemo, and drank.
Our German hostel suitmates asked if were were Irish, we said no but asked why she would ask.
"Well," said the tall blond with a sly smile, "it is just...you are drinkeeeng so mauch. We just assumed..."
Moment of pride for us. Emily came into town while we were watching the movie and after we went over to the apartment peeps to ask if she could sleep there, we went to the beach again and the girls drunkenly chased the waves in and out by the light of a restaurant a block behind us.
Now, I hadn't had THAT much tequila...but I was feeling the need to relieve myself, bladder-wise. so I took a little jaunt over to the ant-bushes and (making sure I was facing sideways so as to not pee into the strong winds and risk self-splatter) peed freely into the night air. There is nothing quite like a cold sea breeze sweeping by your bait and tackle as you relieve yourself. What with the 2 liters of beverages I had to exhume coupled with the gale force winds coming at me, I felt as if I may just float away with the breeze.
Then I stopped peeing and felt how fucking cold it was. zipped that shit up in a heartbeat and ran back to the group to tell them to go in because it was cold out.
Since the request for Emily to sleep on the couch was met with....begrudging indifference, she decided to sleep w/ us in our concrete box.
Anna woke me up at 7:15 by putting her face about...1/2 inch away from mine, and staring at me. Since I didn't wake up she blew on my face and I woke up to Anna's eyeballs consuming my entire vision.
I wasn't pleased.
I had planned to go on a run with Kelsey early in the morning anyway, and we had gone to bed around 11:30 because we were still tired from last week, AND most of us were still on the 9pm-5:30am sleep schedule...but Anna was not my friend this morning and left after about 30 min later after some repeated tiffs.
Apparently she made a friend in the National Park and hasn't been back since 8 am. (it is now 7:30pm).
The run with Kelsey was good. She kicked my butt by about 5 min (on a 30 min run) we did abs later and it felt great to finally be tired. Haven't felt that way in 2.5 months. Caitlin, Kelsey, Emily and I went for a hike in the National Park after that. It was really pretty and the coastline path we walked took us through a nude beach.
It was a lot of old man dangle. It's funny how similar nude beaches resemble gym locker rooms. A bunch of 60-90 year old (looking) men wandering around buck naked without any apparent goal or purpose, looking like they own the place.
Emily wants to go back tomorrow. We'll see if the sun comes out or if it rains again. I guess the naked men will probably be there either way. Might have some stories to tell tomorrow.
Last night we were planning to go out but after a day @ the beach/in the sun we were too pooped out to go anywhere so we bought a bottle of rum, a bottle of tequila, and 2 1.5 liters of passion/mango/orange/pear juice, watched finding nemo, and drank.
Our German hostel suitmates asked if were were Irish, we said no but asked why she would ask.
"Well," said the tall blond with a sly smile, "it is just...you are drinkeeeng so mauch. We just assumed..."
Moment of pride for us. Emily came into town while we were watching the movie and after we went over to the apartment peeps to ask if she could sleep there, we went to the beach again and the girls drunkenly chased the waves in and out by the light of a restaurant a block behind us.
Now, I hadn't had THAT much tequila...but I was feeling the need to relieve myself, bladder-wise. so I took a little jaunt over to the ant-bushes and (making sure I was facing sideways so as to not pee into the strong winds and risk self-splatter) peed freely into the night air. There is nothing quite like a cold sea breeze sweeping by your bait and tackle as you relieve yourself. What with the 2 liters of beverages I had to exhume coupled with the gale force winds coming at me, I felt as if I may just float away with the breeze.
Then I stopped peeing and felt how fucking cold it was. zipped that shit up in a heartbeat and ran back to the group to tell them to go in because it was cold out.
Since the request for Emily to sleep on the couch was met with....begrudging indifference, she decided to sleep w/ us in our concrete box.
Anna woke me up at 7:15 by putting her face about...1/2 inch away from mine, and staring at me. Since I didn't wake up she blew on my face and I woke up to Anna's eyeballs consuming my entire vision.
I wasn't pleased.
I had planned to go on a run with Kelsey early in the morning anyway, and we had gone to bed around 11:30 because we were still tired from last week, AND most of us were still on the 9pm-5:30am sleep schedule...but Anna was not my friend this morning and left after about 30 min later after some repeated tiffs.
Apparently she made a friend in the National Park and hasn't been back since 8 am. (it is now 7:30pm).
The run with Kelsey was good. She kicked my butt by about 5 min (on a 30 min run) we did abs later and it felt great to finally be tired. Haven't felt that way in 2.5 months. Caitlin, Kelsey, Emily and I went for a hike in the National Park after that. It was really pretty and the coastline path we walked took us through a nude beach.
It was a lot of old man dangle. It's funny how similar nude beaches resemble gym locker rooms. A bunch of 60-90 year old (looking) men wandering around buck naked without any apparent goal or purpose, looking like they own the place.
Emily wants to go back tomorrow. We'll see if the sun comes out or if it rains again. I guess the naked men will probably be there either way. Might have some stories to tell tomorrow.
3/20/10
We packed up camp today. It was a lot more work then unpacking it. But the bus Driver came about 1.5 hours early so we actually headed out a little before we had to. We unpacked again @ the storage facility, and then the bus dropped most of us off at the Roma street station. Kelsey, Anna, Caitlin, and myself took a 6 hour Greyhound to Noosa (Peter and Lilia were on the same bus) and we finally made it to our hostel in time for dinner (12 hours of more or less straight traveling).
We share a kitchen/living room with 4 other people. We live in a concrete box but the town is amazing so it's more than bearable. The other 6 kids here (from the trip) cut a deal with the resort to fit 6 people in a 4 person "apartment" for a discounted rate. The rate we four in the concrete box are paying. And the apartment is fucking sweet. Like...Giant leather couch and full kitchen, 1.5 bath, two double beds in separate rooms upstairs with their own balconies...sweet.
Stupid Kat and negotiating skills. We got to see their apartment because their train broke down so they had to take a public bus through the mountains and didn't know if they were gonna get there in time to check in, so we did it for them, before the office closed @ 8.
Sat on the beach last night and drank "wine" (is boxed wine "wine" if it tastes like over sweetened grape juice?) and watched the giant waves crash in. There is a class 4 hurricane that is supposed to hit the coast up North so we may see some rain and showers in the next week.
Had the best brekky of my life this morning: bagel with salmon and cream cheese, eggs with pesto, tomato, and some other greens all sandwiched together. Monstrous, but delicious. The cafe was super cute too.
off to the town/beach
The apartment crew - robin and + Zoe
We packed up camp today. It was a lot more work then unpacking it. But the bus Driver came about 1.5 hours early so we actually headed out a little before we had to. We unpacked again @ the storage facility, and then the bus dropped most of us off at the Roma street station. Kelsey, Anna, Caitlin, and myself took a 6 hour Greyhound to Noosa (Peter and Lilia were on the same bus) and we finally made it to our hostel in time for dinner (12 hours of more or less straight traveling).
We share a kitchen/living room with 4 other people. We live in a concrete box but the town is amazing so it's more than bearable. The other 6 kids here (from the trip) cut a deal with the resort to fit 6 people in a 4 person "apartment" for a discounted rate. The rate we four in the concrete box are paying. And the apartment is fucking sweet. Like...Giant leather couch and full kitchen, 1.5 bath, two double beds in separate rooms upstairs with their own balconies...sweet.
Stupid Kat and negotiating skills. We got to see their apartment because their train broke down so they had to take a public bus through the mountains and didn't know if they were gonna get there in time to check in, so we did it for them, before the office closed @ 8.
Sat on the beach last night and drank "wine" (is boxed wine "wine" if it tastes like over sweetened grape juice?) and watched the giant waves crash in. There is a class 4 hurricane that is supposed to hit the coast up North so we may see some rain and showers in the next week.
Had the best brekky of my life this morning: bagel with salmon and cream cheese, eggs with pesto, tomato, and some other greens all sandwiched together. Monstrous, but delicious. The cafe was super cute too.
off to the town/beach
The apartment crew - robin and + Zoe
Friday, April 23, 2010
Back in the U.S. of A.
Hey all, I got back to Portland a week ago, and have been staying at my girlfriend's house sleeping, eating, and taking care of a number of key issues that need to be taken care of. I have a job (most likely) and a house for the summer now, and I'm working on writing up all of the stuff from the last third of the trip. I have about half of it written in longhand and about half in bullet-point form. I'm heading back to Seattle on Sunday, where I will type it all up and get my pictures posted. They are pretty damn good.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Farting
The camp food was delicious and filling. It was also camp food. Every time I farted anywhere withing 10 meters of Tali she would ask who farted within 30 seconds then get mad at people for farting. I didn't own up to it because they were--as I am half-selke--fucking terrible. Impressive and worth congratulations around my male friends...worth excommunication from the dining area amoung our group.
The camp food caught up with everyone else eventually though.
People kept complaining about people farting (50 percent of the time it was me) until they realized everyone (or at least all the boys) were letting them rip whenever and wherever they wanted. At the dinner table, in the tents, while hiking.
Now it was a competition. We got so much closer and (as a group of about 15) had a hour long discussion about bodily functions in the tent after dinner one night. It is these type of things that really bring a group together.
New idea for pre-trip retreats: Everyone camps in one giant tent after Burrito night.
Ben, Kat, and Caitlin responding to either a Joke by Spencer or my flatulence.
The camp food caught up with everyone else eventually though.
People kept complaining about people farting (50 percent of the time it was me) until they realized everyone (or at least all the boys) were letting them rip whenever and wherever they wanted. At the dinner table, in the tents, while hiking.
Now it was a competition. We got so much closer and (as a group of about 15) had a hour long discussion about bodily functions in the tent after dinner one night. It is these type of things that really bring a group together.
New idea for pre-trip retreats: Everyone camps in one giant tent after Burrito night.
Ben, Kat, and Caitlin responding to either a Joke by Spencer or my flatulence.
3/17/10 continued:
OH MY GOD. Today was so fucking amazing. After dinner, which was plentiful and delicious, (curry chicken w/ rice. better than the indian take-out AND dine-in we had in sydney. It was made on a camp stove. Ulla our cook is amazing) We went on a hunt for bugs again, this time for glow-worms. We took the same path we've been using for every field study, the wishing tree track. (named fot the giant strangler fig you can walk though because the tree it strangled has decomposed completely).
We stopped to look at a huntsman spider (Claire was not a fan) and saw some GIANT snails along the way. Went through the huge wishing tree (over 30 m tall and hollow almost all the way up) and down a path that went to the creek running @ the bottom of the hillside. There was a suspension bridge along with way, and since I was lagging behind I turned off my headlamp and did it in the pitch-black (and I mean PITCH-BLACK). Could cover/ no stars and in the middle of a dense, sub-tropical rainforest). It was awesome. I bounced up and down with each step and it was so fun. I told Claire to do the same when she came after me, but i turned on my light when she was 1/2 of the way across because she had started to hyperventilate.
Then I got up to a vine that KT and Annie were swinging on (u-shaped but about 6-8 cm thick) so I did THAT in the pitch-dark and that was fucking freaky/AMAZING. I was swinging back and fourth until Claire came down (about 2 min) and I waited until she was fairly close before I let out a loud cackle of "MWAH HAHAHAHAHAHA" and scared the shit out of her.
When we got down to the bottom of the creek we could see little green lights everywhere along the rocky protrusions from the track above. It was like a night sky full of green constellations. Our entire trip into the woods was a Nocturnal Disneyland.
We learned about how the worms live in mucus hammocks that they make, and catch prey in the mucus w/ their lights. The extra mucus looked like hanging icicles. So beautiful. Travis got some great shots of them but I can't put his photos up because i can't download anything on this computer.
Everyone headed back but Emily, Kelsey, Anna, myself, Rob, and Susan (our entomologist). We made out way back very slowly, stopping at all the bio-luminescing things, giant snails (baseball-sized), and critters. When Emily and I got to the suspension bridge we turned off out lights and we could see the stars up above us, and the green bio-luminescing constellations below.
THEN on our way back Susan saw a reflection off of her headlamp on a tree and pointed it out to Kelsey and myself. We thought she was insane. She kept describing where it was (on a tree 25 m away) we couldn't see anything on the tree. We walked off the trail to the tree and after a couple of minutes we spotted a gecko in the side of the tree. Impossible to see apart from the "eye reflection" (which I still couldn't see) and a very faint white line on its underbelly.
Rob caught up and got the spotlight on it and we moved around to see it from the front, but we lost it in its camouflage. we eventually saw it, though we still couldn't see the tail (it was a leaf-tailed gecko). Rob scampered up 8 m on the tree holing on to nothing but vines and grabbed the gecko. An amazing feat as he is aged-looking (65+?) and there were no branched low enough to grab on to.
We passed it around and IT WAS SO AMAZING. It loved me the most. It stayed still in everyone else's hands, but he licked me twice and then scaled my chest up to my neck.
What a night. When we got back i finally broke down and showered, (as my foot-funk was reaching biohazard levels) and I put on my old spice deodorant because it is cool enough to use it here without it melting.
Inside the wishing tree
Jack
Jack
Travis
Jack
We stopped to look at a huntsman spider (Claire was not a fan) and saw some GIANT snails along the way. Went through the huge wishing tree (over 30 m tall and hollow almost all the way up) and down a path that went to the creek running @ the bottom of the hillside. There was a suspension bridge along with way, and since I was lagging behind I turned off my headlamp and did it in the pitch-black (and I mean PITCH-BLACK). Could cover/ no stars and in the middle of a dense, sub-tropical rainforest). It was awesome. I bounced up and down with each step and it was so fun. I told Claire to do the same when she came after me, but i turned on my light when she was 1/2 of the way across because she had started to hyperventilate.
Then I got up to a vine that KT and Annie were swinging on (u-shaped but about 6-8 cm thick) so I did THAT in the pitch-dark and that was fucking freaky/AMAZING. I was swinging back and fourth until Claire came down (about 2 min) and I waited until she was fairly close before I let out a loud cackle of "MWAH HAHAHAHAHAHA" and scared the shit out of her.
When we got down to the bottom of the creek we could see little green lights everywhere along the rocky protrusions from the track above. It was like a night sky full of green constellations. Our entire trip into the woods was a Nocturnal Disneyland.
We learned about how the worms live in mucus hammocks that they make, and catch prey in the mucus w/ their lights. The extra mucus looked like hanging icicles. So beautiful. Travis got some great shots of them but I can't put his photos up because i can't download anything on this computer.
Everyone headed back but Emily, Kelsey, Anna, myself, Rob, and Susan (our entomologist). We made out way back very slowly, stopping at all the bio-luminescing things, giant snails (baseball-sized), and critters. When Emily and I got to the suspension bridge we turned off out lights and we could see the stars up above us, and the green bio-luminescing constellations below.
THEN on our way back Susan saw a reflection off of her headlamp on a tree and pointed it out to Kelsey and myself. We thought she was insane. She kept describing where it was (on a tree 25 m away) we couldn't see anything on the tree. We walked off the trail to the tree and after a couple of minutes we spotted a gecko in the side of the tree. Impossible to see apart from the "eye reflection" (which I still couldn't see) and a very faint white line on its underbelly.
Rob caught up and got the spotlight on it and we moved around to see it from the front, but we lost it in its camouflage. we eventually saw it, though we still couldn't see the tail (it was a leaf-tailed gecko). Rob scampered up 8 m on the tree holing on to nothing but vines and grabbed the gecko. An amazing feat as he is aged-looking (65+?) and there were no branched low enough to grab on to.
We passed it around and IT WAS SO AMAZING. It loved me the most. It stayed still in everyone else's hands, but he licked me twice and then scaled my chest up to my neck.
What a night. When we got back i finally broke down and showered, (as my foot-funk was reaching biohazard levels) and I put on my old spice deodorant because it is cool enough to use it here without it melting.
Inside the wishing tree
Jack
Jack
Travis
Jack
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