Christmas in Geelong

I was having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit this year, but just in the nick of time, with a little shopping, gift wrapping and a gingerbread latte it felt like Christmas. Also, I found my first Australian Christmas song, White Wine in the Sun, and I just love it!

I spent Christmas eve through boxing day down in Geelong (just south of Melbourne) with some lindy hopper friends, Kieran, Loz and Elise. They and their families were so good to me and I really enjoyed their Australian Christmas experience.

Some Aussie traditions include:
-more deserts than you can handle
-bocce in the garden
-visits to the beach
-afternoon naps between meals
-beach cricket

Although technically I have played the game, I still have no idea how to play cricket. The instructions I got were “hit the ball and run”. In any case, it was good fun.

I do miss home a lot this time of year; the cottage, the snow, Mom’s cooking. But I will just have to look forward to next year!

Melbourne

I arrived in Melbourne a few weeks ago and have finally started to settle in. When I first arrived there was a big lindy hop weekend and since then I’ve stayed with a few very generous dancers and had a lovely time.

This week I moved into a house down in St Kilda just off the beach, with a bunch of other backpackers. I share a room but it’s a nice big house and everyone has jobs on slightly different schedules so there is plenty of space. I also managed to get a bike which makes getting to my job quick and easy!
Well, one of my jobs.

One is at a pub over in Port Melbourne, which is about a 20 minute bike ride along the beach. It gets super busy on the weekends but the staff are friendly and this week I get to learn how to make cocktails!
I’m still working on finding a good day job. I just quit one and it felt sooooo good. If you’ve never stormed out on an employer, I highly recommend trying it. It was a hoity toity restaurant where the owners yell at everyone and micromanage until you just can’t take it anymore. And it was far away from where I am living, so now I’m looking for a restaurant in the neighbourhood.

Now that I’ve sort of got the work, housing and bike thing figured out, my next to do is to get a social life! I’ve got a few good friends around the city, some lindy hoppers, some backpackers that I’ve met along the way, but I was so busy trying to get life organized that I forgot about fun!

Speaking of which, it’s a balmy 39 degrees today and even the city buses were warning us yesterday to carry water and keep the blinds down if there is no air conditioning! Such thoughtful public transit personnel. So now I need to decide whether to hit the beach or find a nice air-conditioned museum to spend my afternoon in.

Christmas is a little different down here. For one, it’s hot. And there is no snow. Also, I have only seen one house with Christmas lights and there aren’t nearly enough tacky decorations in the shop windows. But maybe that’s just because I’m not living in suburbia. It is nice to see everyone so relaxed around Christmas time, as opposed to being cold, stuck in traffic, and generally stressed about the holiday season.
So I’ll be sending warm beachy thoughts to you, Merry Christmas!

Road Trip

Roadtrip!

Sunday November 15th, Marie from France, Murph (Jon Murphy) from Ireland and I, headed out to pick up our van and drive across the southern coast of Australia from Perth to Melbourne. (see map)

The van that we affectionately named Bruce (like the Shark from 'Finding Nemo') cost us $5 /day because we did it as a relocation, a favour to the rental company. It was a tight fit for 3 people, I think it was intended for 2 adults and 1 child, but we made it work. The back had a sink, fridge and all the necessary cooking equipment, and 2 beds that fold out.

We camped mostly at free camp areas along side the road with nothing more than a few trees and a toilet. Once in a while we treated ourselves to a caravan site with showers and electricity to recharge the ipods and what not.

For my birthday (day 2) we where right on the Nullarbor, the desert that covers the middle of the country. We celebrated with beer and cookies.

There are so few other cars on the roads that you know just about everyone you end up camping next to and everyone you pass waves, like we were all part of an elite club. We saw heaps of signs telling us to watch out for kangaroos on the road, and we did see plenty, but none that were alive. I’m pretty sure we are the only people to cross the Nullarbor without seeing a single (live) Kangaroo! We did see an emu family, some lizards and lots of eagles.

We passed through lots of nothingness, including the longest stretch of straight road in Australia (146km) but there were a few interesting towns. Balladonia, for example, where the American satellite ‘skylab’ crashed into the desert, the Western Australia/Southern Australia border and Port Augusta which was a balmy 45 degrees! One night we found a campsite actually in the centre of a small town called Mallala. We were camped at the sports ground and were woken up early by bright pink, very noisy birds called Gallahs.

We arrived in Adelaide on day 5, but since it was soooo stinkin’ hot we decided to head down to Victor Harbour just south of there to play on the beach. We went for a swim in the southern ocean and asked the people next to us if there were sharks. They said there are, even some sightings that week, and big ones too, like tiger sharks. But what are you gonna do, not go in the water when it’s nearing 50 degrees outside? So we stayed in the very shallow parks and made sure there were always people further out than us. There is a loud alarm that goes off if the patrol sees any danger. Everyone survived.
Then we went and saw penguins in the middle of an awesome sunset thunder storm!

The next day we dropped off Murph in Adelaide, and found a German guy who wanted to get to Melbourne. The next car, Igor, was much more spacious for the driving but much slower and a little fussy. It had one tent on top of the roof and one regular one to set up on the ground. The drive to Melbourne was so much different than the first part of the trip. There were towns everywhere, we never had to use the second gas tank and it was much greener.

The great ocean road is very deserving of it’s name. We weren’t sure what all the fuss was about at first, but then we turned a corner and saw the ocean, and the cliffs, and the 12 apostles, an it was magnificent. We camped at Mt Gambier, on an old volcano that now has 3 craters, one called blue lake (check out the photos). Later that day we pulled over to take a walk to see Pelicans, but right on the footpath we ran into a Kangaroo! He was quiet but definitely alive!

The second part of the great ocean road was windy and right close to the water and passed through heaps of little surfing and vacation towns build right into the green rolling mountains. And we saw a Koala in a tree!

Driving on the left isn’t so bad, and my standard driving went very well in fact. The last part of the trip had lots of fun hills and corners and more towns so I got lots of good practice in then. I still wouldn’t drive a manual in a city like Melbourne but I feel very accomplished having learned an important life skill. I still prefer being the navigator and being in charge of the maps!

Lancelin Update

So I’ve been here for about a month now and having a great time! At the Tavern, I’m not lost in what I’m doing anymore and I’m even training up some of the new staff. On Saturday nights we have a ‘band’, but not like any I’ve seen before. It’s usually a guy with a guitar and a drum machine singing along to all of the popular tunes from 1970’s and onward. Why not just have a DJ? Or even let the juke box play? But, now that I’ve accepted this definition of a band, it really does liven up a Saturday night and makes the evening way more fun. And now that we’ve got a bit of a rhythm with the team behind the bar we have a pretty good time working.

It’s finally started to warm up and feel like summer time in Australia. We often leave the door open and on hot afternoons we have lizards hanging around the house and birds that fly around. It feels a little like a zoo but the company is good.

It was a busy weekend at work but Sarah and I had a break in the afternoon so we went for a swim out to Lancelin island. Other than my fear of all aquatic life, it was a good swim. And when we got there, it was like a tropical paradise. The island has a few sheltered beaches and there is nobody there, except for the birds. The water is crystal clear and bright blue! It was perfect.

This morning we went for an adventure with two of our work mates down to Ledge Point, an even smaller town just down the road. They have a much better bakery and tastier pie. There was an incredible thunder storm last night and you could see lightning crashing way out over the Indian ocean. It’s still been rainy today but the water looked warm so we decided to go for a body surf. The water wasn’t warm, but the waves were small and not so scary. I managed to catch a few really good waves and not let them knock me down the way they usually do.
I am still quite terrible at surfing, but I’ll have to get out and try again soon now that I’m more comfortable in the water. The wind surfing, on the other hand, is going really well. The wind has been great the past two weeks so I’ve been out lots, going faster and faster. Next lesson is with a smaller board, bigger sail and a harness. Should be fun!

I made it down to Perth last week for the opening of their newest Monday night lindy hop venue. It felt soooo good to swing out again! There is workshop in two weeks with Hanna and Mattias from Sweden and I’m super excited about it. That will be my last weekend out west. I’m hoping to meet up with some other backpackers and take a road trip across the country to Melbourne, just in time for the Melbourne Lindy Exchange.

As you can tell, I really enjoying the life up here in Lancelin, but now that I’m getting a hang of things, it’s time for a change. There is much to see and do in this enormous country! Oh, and I saw a kangaroo. A real live hopping one! That’s one thing to check off of the list.

Lancelin

In my quest to find a job out here in Australia, I looked at a map, found a nice looking town on the coast, not far from Perth, and called the local tavern. The manager was more than happy to receive my call and brought me back up to Lancelin with her a few days later.

Lancelin is about an hour and a half north of Perth. It is famous for it’s wind surfing and hosts the Ocean Classic wind surfing race in January every year, which brings in thousands of racers and spectators from around the world. It is also a great spot for kite surfing, surfing and sand boarding on the dunes to the east. Playing in the water is relatively safe since it is an enclosed bay protected by the reef a bit further out.

I’m working at the Endeavour Tavern, which is a very old place, but it’s lovely. It has huge windows overlooking the Indian Ocean and on Sunday afternoons, they hire a guitarist to play for the people sitting on the grass in the sunshine. When I first arrived it was pretty slow, so I spent a few evenings getting to know how everything works. The biggest challenge apart from memorizing the till, is understanding what they’re asking for! They have 4 difference sizes of glasses (pint, schooner, middy, glass) but everyone has a different name for them. I didn’t know any of the beers, and of course they each go by several names, and on top of the accents and the music, it was a bit tricky. But, I think I’ve got a handle on it now.

Last weekend was the footy (Aussie Rules Football) grand final and a long weekend. Since it’s a cottage town, it was a very busy weekend, but I got through it and I still have a job. Hurrah!
The locals are very nice. I know most of them by name now, and they know me well too. I also know what they all drink and what size glass they prefer.

I’m living at the tavern essentially. There are 2 apartments above an old storage area just across the parking lot where a few of the staff members live. There are 3 cooks living in one, and Sarah and I living in the other. She is from England, but has been living in Australia for a few years now. She is very well travelled and came up here for the summer so that she could spend her afternoons kite surfing. We get along really well and have fun together. The rest of the staff are great too.

It’s been pretty darn cold here. There is no heat in our apartment, so I bundle up under the covers and drink tea when I am at home. It’ll warm up really soon, and we’ve had a few nice warm days, but it’s definitely not summer yet.

For a small town, it’s pretty spread out so I bought a bike off of someone I met at the local grocery store (the “have a chat”) for $50. Now I zoom around town (trying to remember to stick to the left side) and go walking along the beach. Sarah and I are going to take wind surfing lessons next week, hopefully I don’t get blown out to sea.

Perth and Freo

I arrived in Perth late on a Wednesday night and was surprisingly not jet lagged after a weekend of late night lindy hop and blues.
The hostel was in a community called Northbridge, just north of Perth’s downtown core. Although I had heard it described as ‘a young, funky community with lots of pubs, bars and restaurants’ it is more accurately a fairly dodgy community full of bars, strip clubs and several varieties of meat on a stick.

The up side though is that it was just down the road from the weekly swing dance venue, which features a live band. The Perth lindy hoppers are great. Good dancers and generally awesome people. They’ve made me feel right at home.

On the weekend I headed down to Fremantle, or Freo, and much preferred the scenery down there. It’s a smaller community (separate city depending on who you are talking to) right on the harbour and full of really nice pubs and cafés.
The hostel was absolutely wonderful! When I first walked in the manager pointed me in the direction of a few places that are hiring and he even helped me do my online RSA test (Responsible Serving Alcohol). I had a dorm room to myself that had just one double bed and it was lovely. There was also a swimming pool in the backyard. The weather has been pretty dull and cool, but I did enjoy an afternoon with a book and my toes in the pool.

Freo is also home to one of the country’s best micro breweries; Little Creatures. The name is in reference to the yeast that turns malt into beer. I did apply for a job there (along with nearly every restaurant and café in freo) but since I wasn’t successful, I decided I might as well enjoy the beer there. We had a great night out, me and an Irishman, Englishman, Aussie and a Kiwi. As you can imagine, a fair amount of beer was consumed. I also tried Kangaroo and it was delicious, a lot like a nice rare steak.

Even though I really enjoyed hanging out in Fremantle, I decided to take a job up in Lancelin, about an hour and a half north of the city. It’s a small town that hosts the beginner surf camps, and their local pub was hiring. Perth is great, but it is just another nice city, so I thought I’d see what the countryside looks like. Any locals I talk to make it sound like it’s in the middle of nowhere, but I’m really looking forward to it.

SFLX '09

Wednesday night I headed down to the South Bay to stay with some lindy hopper friends, Alex and Katie. This area, also known as Silicon Valley, is essentially where computers as we know them started, and where corporate giants such as Google, Yahoo and Microsoft call home. It feels just like you would expect, a lot of office buildings, suburban homes and no night life whatsoever. We did, however, enjoy a great band at the weekly dance venue, the Wednesday Night hop. And, if you refer to the photos, you will see a wildlife conservation area that entertained us for a sunny afternoon.

*warning: the following paragraph may contain opinions relating to lindy hop that do reflect the views of the writer*
The San Francisco Lindy Exchange was unofficially kicked off with the 920 special on Thursday night, featuring Kim Nalley. She is a phenomenal singer and it was a great night, but this is where I discovered what “groove swing” is all about, and how it somewhat defines the San Fran lindy scene. It essentially means that unlike Seattle, which features Savoy style lindy hop, and lots of swinging out, San Fran tends towards a mix, which includes more soulful music and blues. Friday night I found myself in a lindy hop room that was smaller than the blues/jump blues room. It was a little odd, being at a lindy exchange, not a blues exchange, but it was loads of fun and the separation allowed me to meet more people in a smaller setting. The music throughout the weekend balanced out in the end, and don’t tell anyone, but Sunday night I blues danced till 6am and had a great time.

Although it was a very follow heavy exchange, and the level of dancing overall wasn’t quite what I expected, it was a great weekend. Again, the people I met were definitely a highlight, as were the dances we had and the food! I found myself eating real Mexican in the Mission area, Arabic Fusion (just try to imagine spicy, creamy, mango, mushroom and spinach ravioli) and of course all you can eat sushi.
My host was lovely, but since she lived all the way out in Birkeley and had some non dance commitments, I ended up hanging out with other people during down time to avoid the commute. Sunday I hung out with a group of dancers from SLO (San Luis Obispo, Califiornia) who were super welcoming and great fun to be with. Some of my favorite dances were with Hurley, who is always smiling and makes you feel on top of the world. A jam circle formed late Saturday night, where we somehow managed to do a slow motion pancake, only I was the one flipping him!

Again, it was a fun weekend filled with wonderful people in an absolutely gorgeous city.

San Francisco

I arrived at the Adelaide hostel in the heart of (read: tourist central) San Francisco, Sunday afternoon. The urban exploration began in Castro, the gay-bourhood, probably the nations largest, but definitely the proudest. San Francisco is a beautiful place. Most striking are the brightly painted houses and warm feeling neighbourhoods. And of course, the steep climbing hills that offer magnificent views of the city and the bay. After ascending Buena Vista park and enjoying the evening calm of the city, I headed back to the hostel where I met some really great people, some that were unfortunately leaving that night, but others I ended up hanging out with all week.

Monday was by far my favourite day. Since it was a holiday, I decided to avoid the shopping districts and highly touristy areas and just take a nice long walk through the city. I started by hiking up a hill (before coffee this was quite a challenge) and then back down the other side (it was around this point that I stopped doing exactly what my guide book told me to do). The views were amazing, and unlike the park, it was close up of the streets people somehow drive, bike and walk every day.
It was in this area that I found the cable car museum and the building that makes it all tick (or rumble). I can understand now why they needed the cable cars. It would have been very difficult to populate the city without a means to get up the hills, and horses were becoming more and more expensive.
After eating the largest peach you have ever seen, over looking the city, I headed down Hyde street and ended up at the far end of the painfully touristy ‘fisherman’s wharf’ at the Hyde street peer. Although I try to avoid such places, there was coffee, and a lovely spot called the Aquatic Park, so I stopped to have a rest. Little did I know that this spot would captivate me and I would end up watching the swimmers, children and dogs for over an hour. There is just something about the ocean breeze that makes the rest of the world fall silent, and it the most peaceful feeling.

Further walking took me around the marina and all the way to a beachy spot where I watched about a hundred wind surfers skim across the water and breathtaking speeds as they passed back and forth in front of the Golden Gate bridge. The wind was so strong, that to get up, all the had to do was prop the sail out of the water from underneath, and poof, the wind pulls them up onto the board and they are off!

Another highlight was the Academy of Science at Golden Gate Park. It is San Francisco’s answer to Central Park, but I found it takes a while to get into it and find the really interesting and beautiful places. The academy was great, not only because of the aquarium, filled with some of the largest and smallest fish I have ever seen, but I learned some really cool stuff about real life.
There was an exhibit on climate change featuring a scale. On one side, you mark how much you drive, bike, take the bus and fly, in about a year. It also considers the efficiency in your home. Adding all these factors shows how environmentally friendly you are. As it turn out, even though I don’t drive, and if I were to have a solar powered home with high efficiency appliances and were a model citizen in every other way, the number of times in a year that I fly, still make me worse than the Smoggies! (refer to wikipedia). Note to self, look into Carbon Offsets.

I took public transit around for the week and really enjoy it, as I always do in new cities. It’s a great way to see the real place, and in a city like San Francisco, it ‘s efficient and quite pleasant. I do get frustrated with first time/tourist transit go-ers, who don’t understand, or just don’t listen when they ask you to move to the back, but other than that, it’s quite enjoyable.

Other things on the touring agenda included the famed prison on Alcatraz island, the barking sea lions at Fisherman’s Warf and the Golden Gate Bridge. It is important to know that although we are in California, a heavy fog descends upon the city almost daily, and as a result, I could not in fact see the Bridge. But I do feel that I saw the real San Francisco.