New Orleans

After some excellent visiting time in Vancouver, Whistler, Calgary, Canmore and Edmonton, I enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving dinner down on a turkey farm. A visit to western Canada couldn't get any better than that, so it was time to leave.

In the spirit of following summer around the world and dancing along the way, my friend Claudia and I have landed in New Orleans! There is jazz music flooding the streets, day and night, as if it were a festival, but that's just day to day happiness down here. The locals are friendly, the food is delicious and the weather is perfect. It's warm and sunny, perfect weather to cruise around on a bicycle and check out the eclectic, historic and colourful homes of the neighbourhoods.

Home

After a completely chaotic but fantastic summer in the middle of nowhere of Sweden, I've finally found my way back home to Kitchener/Waterloo.

I really enjoyed working at Herrang as the Volunteer Coordinator. I learned all kinds of crazy skills I never thought I could acquire or even need to know. Some days were easy, with lots of dancing, time at the beach or the lake, and bike riding with friends. Most others were full of problems to be solved. In one 24 hour period I heard "Meghan, there is an exploded toilet out at the camping!", "the Sauna is on fire!", "The ceiling is collapsing in the school house!". Lots of crazy problems come up, but there are equally as many crazy solutions and that's what makes it such a unique place.

I really enjoyed being part of building such a magical place that people from all over the world dream about year round.

Since coming back home I've been doing a lot of relaxing and visiting. It's been more than a year and half since I've seen my family, and I haven't spent more than a week at home in a long time. Mom even cooked me a turkey dinner on an otherwise uneventful thursday in September, to make up for all the turkey holidays I've missed over the years. It was really really really good!

Soon I'll be heading out west to catch up with friends in Alberta and BC. Eventually I'll decide where to spent the upcoming months, but I'm not in any great hurry.

Queensland and NSW

The last section of my Australia trip seemed to just fly by!
When we arrived on the eastern coast at Townsville after about a month in the middle of nowhere, we celebrated our new holiday 'civilization day'. It is an event that can happen on any tuesday when necessary (cheap pizza and movie night!). We also took the liberty of having nice, clean, spider-free hot showers, gettting a hair cut and eating fresh food.
We spent a few days sitting on a really nice boat in the Whitsundays on the Great Barrier Reef with a bunch of other backpackers. I did lots of snorkeling and exploring of island beaches, Simon even learned how to Scuba dive. We had proper meals cooked for us each day and there was a hot tub to sit in when we got out of the ocean. It was a real luxury after so much time camping in the outback.

I thought Queensland was absolutely beautiful. It feels like the Australia that you imagine before you get here. The weather is tropical, there are palm trees and sugar plantations, outback roadhouses and cattle stations, country towns and modern cities. A little bit of everything.
People generally think Queenslanders are a bit out there (literally and figuratively) and that Brisbane isn't all that spectacular, but I couldn't disagree more. Maybe it was because I had such low expecations of it, or because I had just come from such rustic places, but I thought it was beautiful. I was even lucky enough to stumble on live music at least once a day for the week I was there, either in funky jazz clubs or free live concerts in the street.

I did stop in and spend a few days in the famous surf town of Byron Bay just south of the border into New South Whales. Unfortunately we were approaching winter and it was mild and rainy (15-20 deg). It's a fun spot and I can see why so many backpackers flock there.
While I was enjoying the beach, Simon decided to head straight down to Sydney to sell the car so that he could get back to Germany. I caught the greyhound bus into the city and met up with him again a few days later.

I didn't have much time to see Sydney but I saw the Opera house, the harbour bridge, the botanical gardens, did a bit of dancing and even got up to the northern beaches (Manly and Dee-why) for a few days.

Winter in Australia is a funny thing. Although it's not actually that cold (15 deg), when the sun falls behind the clouds, the temperature drops rather quickly. The houses don't have proper insulation or heating so most people have a space heater of some sort that takes up a lot of electricity and produces very little warmth. And, everybody lives next to the beach, so when it gets too cold to go swimming , there isn't a lot to do. Mind you, that doesn't appear to stop the surfers, they are in the water all the time with a good wetsuit.

My last week in Australia was spent back in Melbourne for the Swing Dance Festival. It was an exceptionally inspiring event with live music, workshops, competition, dancing until the wee hours of the morning, good food and great company! Here is a clip of the Jack and Jill competition, which is entirely improvistational. Each person signs up individually, then you dance with 3 different people in the preliminaries and if you make it to the finals, you dance with whoever draws your name from a hat. I took 3rd place in this one and had a whole lot of fun!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3FraWV4ALY

After catching up on a bit of sleep and getting my things together I hopped on a plane for the very long flight to Sweden!

The Top End

We arrived in the Northern Territory in late April, just at the end of the wet season when the roads and 4wd tracks are drive-able, the waterfalls are flowing and it is still very hot. For about 3 weeks we didn’t see temperatures drop below 28 deg, even at night time. For us camping in the car, that meant a ritualistic struggle with ourselves deciding whether to open the doors and let the air in, or close them to keep the mosquitoes out. We usually lost this argument in both ways and ended up sweating all night and waking up covered in bites.

Litchfield National Park is full of gorgeous waterfalls and gorges (as if we hadn’t seen enough of those already!) Some were inaccessible because we arrived so early in the season, they hadn’t had a chance to be sure they were clear of crocs. Some however, were declared croc free and we enjoyed the day lounging by the rock pools.

Up in Darwin I decided to go check out the crocodile park in the middle of the city to see this beast that inhabits all of the good swimming spots. I can’t say that I fully agree with the concept of keeping large predatory animals in small glass boxes, but apparently the ones they keep there are those that try to eat fisherman so it’s better for everyone. The nice thing about seeing salt water crocodiles in this setting is a) they are behind a very thick wall of glass b) you can see their sneaky tricks through the clear water c) you get to watch them attack their lunch!
They even have baby crocs who like to float around by their heads and leap the entire length of their bodies out of the water to catch a meal.

Later we visited the museum, which has a large variety of ‘poisonous things that can kill you’ on display. I inspected the snakes to memorize which are poisonous and which will strangle you to death. As it turns out, they all look the same. I also tried without success to identify the friendly spider, Peter we called him, who tried to share my bed the previous night. He was greyish, a bit fuzzy and no smaller than the size of my hand!
The museum has a display of a preserved box jellyfish, one of the deadliest things in the ocean that like to hang around northern beaches from November to May. We had heard that there were Irukanji in the water at Broome, and not knowing what kind of stingers these were, we decided not to swim. Well, I sure am glad for that decision. They are just as deadly as the box, but only the size of my pinky fingernail, and completely transparent.

After learning about all of the painful ways we could be attacked by living creatures in the Top End, we spent the evening at the Mindle Beach Sunset Markets before planning our route south. It would take us 4 days to drive the 2500kms of nothingness from Darwin to Townsville in Northern Queensland.

Western Australia Road Trip

The Coral Coast
I met up with a car load of backpackers, 2 boys and one girl from Germany, and one girl from Holland. We left Lancelin on April 6th and started with the 4wd track to Wedge Island. We camped that night just before the Pinnacles desert on the beach.
The next morning we saw the Pinnacles (or pineapples as the germans called them) at sunrise. This desert is unique because of the giant limestone rocks and towers that rise from the sandy desert. It was nice, but I had faith that this was just the beginning.

We headed up along the coast straight to Geraldton, a surprisingly big town, considering where we were. Then the next few days were spent exploring Kalbarri national Park and hiking around the gorge. We met up with 2 other 4wds, 2 Aussie surfers driving around the country and one other German named Simon who was travelling alone. We all travelled together for the next week or so.

The next big stop was Shark Bay, a world heritage site and home of Mokey Mia, the famous resort where dolphins come right up to the shore to feed everyday. We spent a whole morning at monkey mia, saw a turltle and some camels, but no dolphins. So we took the 4wd track up to Cape Peron National Park, where we did some snorkelling, caught a fish, and celebrated Felix’s Birthday. Then, we did a gorgeous hike to a lookout, where we saw dugongs, turtles, rays and plenty of fish from far above the surface of the water. Back down on the beach on the walk back, a whole family of dolphins came right up to the shore. And we didn’t have to share the event with a hundred other tourists like those at Monkey Mia.

An important stop on the way back to the main highway for me were the Stromatolites! I had to beg a plead for them to make this slightly nerdy stop for me, but I just had to see the living rocks that created the earth’s current oxygen content of 20 percent! They look like rocks, but what they represent is phenomenal. Before these clusters of cyanobacteria started the earliest forms of photosynthesis, there was no oxygen on our planet. Then, over 2 million years, these happy little rocks changed our world as we know it. There aren’t many living colonies left because the very creatures that evolved thanks to their hard work tend to eat them.

At Carnarvon, Simon and I split ways with the rest of the pack and headed straight for Coral Bay. This was the beginning of 5 days spent lounging on white sandy beaches, snorkelling with colourful fish, turtles and rays, swimming in turquoise blue water and having a marvellous time. The Ningaloo reef stretches for 260 km from South of Coral Bay all the way up the cape to Exmouth. It is the longest fringing reef in the world (close to the shore) so unlike the Great Barrier Reef on the east coast, you don’t need a boat to see the wonders under the sea, you can just glide from the sand to the corals. The area is also home to the majestic whale shark, the largest fish in the ocean. Unfortunately, tours to see them are quite expensive, so we decided to hang out with the smaller fish instead. Up in Exmouth I ran into my good buddy Sarah from Lancelin who was on a family road trip of her own. It was nice to catch up and laugh the night away as we usually do.

Karijini National Park
Simon had only intended to take a ‘short’ trip to see Monkey Mia by himself, but his plans changed a little along the way. Around Exmouth, he decided he should see Karijini National Park before returning back to Perth, so I decided to tag along. Somewhere on the long stretch of road into the Pilbra he decided it would be easier to sell his truck in Sydney where he bought it, and so begins a much bigger trip than originally planned. The two of us make excellent travel mates, we get along well, enjoy our quiet nights of reading and we hike at a comparable pace. Let me tell you, it is infinitely more pleasant to travel with one person you get along with, than 4 that you don’t particularly trust.

We did the drive from Exmouth to Tom Price in one very long day. As we went though, it got much, much hotter. We even had the pleasure of stopping at Australia’s ‘dearest’ (most expensive) roadhouse, where we had a quick lunch in the shade (40 deg). The mining town of Tom Price, the capital of the Pilbra, is actually quite big for a town in the middle of nowhere, and they sure do waste a lot of water keeping their front lawns green. After acquiring a fly net and some food we headed out into the park.
There are about a dozen walks to be done and we did most of them. Some are long walks down into the gorges and rock pools, while others feature a waterfall at the bottom of a staircase. Karijini national park is actually quite big, and do get from gorge to gorge we had to do quite a few kms on dusty red dirt roads.
The colours in the area are sensational, especially after a long day of hiking and swimming. It is a perfect view as you drive back to camp on a red dirt road over yellow and green hills, with white gum trees, blue sky and dark grey mountains framing a purple sunset.

My favourite part of Karijini was the Fern pool at the bottom of Dales gorge. The best part (other than how breathtakingly beautiful it is) is that you can swim and enjoy the waterfall without seeing another tourist for hours. This is why I love WA.

Port Hedland and Broome
As I mentioned before, the Pilbra is an extensive mining area and contains one of the world’s largest reserves of Iron Ore. It is mined and put on enormous trains from Tom Price up to Karratha and Port Headland. From there, it is shipped to the ever expanding markets in Asia. The mining industry in WA is not unlike the oil and gas industry in Alberta. Many of the major businesses in Perth cater to it, just as the Calgary offices run the oil sands. The workers run on a similar schedule; a few weeks on in the rough and extreme climates (+50 deg in Oz, -50 deg in Canada) and live in camps and communities built solely for them.
We knew that the Pilbra is a large place, and we saw the exceptionally long trains and the open mines from the top of Mt Bruce, but the extent of it all became apparent when we arrived in Port Hedland (pop: 15 000).
Nearly every second person in the entire town is wearing a fluorescent green or orange shirt (standard safety wear for workers across Australia), and climbing into or out of a white pick up truck (or ute as they call them down here). But that is just the beginning, as you approach the town, the view of the bay is entirely blocked by towering machinery, conveyor belts high into the sky, factories and salt lakes. The iron ore is partly processed in town and then dumped onto huge cargo ships to be sent overseas along with other minearals from the area (i.e. salt). Port Hedland is the largest exporting port in all of Australia, and we were lucky to have dinner at sunset on the bay while the ships were loaded with cargo and staff ready for an adventure across the high seas.

Broome is another 600 or so km up the North West Highway. We suspected it might be equally as involved in the mining industry given the number of Road Trains we passed and the relative size of it (pop: 14 000 ) But, it is in fact not nearly as industrious. It is largely based on the tourism industry, famous for camel rides along Cable beach at sunset, and the pearling industry. Broome has a long history of pearling, involving Aboriginal workers and Asian pearl experts who dove into the ocean depths off the WA coast in the old fashioned hard suits. We learned all about it since we camped at a free area just near the Willie Creek Pearl Farm.
We arrived after dark, and the first sign we saw warned of an Estuarine Crocodile (a salty, the dangerous kind) living in the area. This is why we are not allowed to camp there for more than 3 nights; the croc will study your habits and then pounce after the 3rd day. We were more than prepared to leave after one night though as we had a snake climb up under our car, the same car that we sleep in. With a bit of friendly advice from a local we learned that they like to hang out in and under cars for the added warmth (hard to believe when we are sweating when standing still). Anyhow, apparently they don’t like vibrations, noise or smoke. So what did we do? Well, we played some hard rock music as loud as we could handle, built a smoky fire right next to the car, emptied everything out and bashed at it with sticks. Oh, while stomping around to make ground vibrations and be sure that no other snakes were going to join the party. Now, take a moment to imagine this scene. It is amusing to think about now, but even with the horrible environment we created, we were still afraid to sleep having not seen him (Sly we called him), slither away.
Anyhow, the story ends with a weary morning free of snake bites, and we toured around the pearl farm and learned that the inner surroundings of an oyster, called Mother of Pearl, is primarily used in buttons, hence the expression; Broome was built on Buttons. I have also acquired many other random facts about oyster farming and pearl collection, go ahead, ask me anything! I can even give you a few snake scaring tips while I’m at it.

The Gibb River Road
Our Gibb river road section of the adventure began in a town called Derby, known for the highest tides in the southern hemisphere, 11 meters, and boab trees. We arrived just in time to catch the sunset on the Jetty (as if we hadn’t caught enough sunsets in Broome). Anyhow, we were just leaving as it was getting dark when one couple enjoying the view said “You’re leaving now? You’ll miss the bats!”. To which we obviously replied “what bats?”. Well, just at that very second thousands and thousands of fruit bats flew over our heads. We couldn’t get much info about them, only that they come from an island ‘over there’ just after dark, fly over our heads on the jetty, and go somewhere inland. Needless to say, it was a spectacular display.

If you watched the movie ‘Australia’ you would know that western Australia is full of Cattle Stations, and that those cattle needed to be ‘driven’ (herded by cowboys) to the port where they could be shipped to Asia and other such places. Cattle Droving began in the 1880’s and continued right through the 1960s when an extensive, 700km dirt road was built between Kununarra at the Northern Territory Border and Derby in WA. This dirt road is still used by cattle trucks and road trains today, even though the Great Northern Highway runs between the two towns as well.

The 700km road is primarily a dirt track, but has some rocky bits, some paved, some sandy and many creek crossings. The road is impassable during the wet season (November to April) but the waterfalls and gorges that line the road are best seen just after the wet (April, May). We began the drive from Derby, headed East, on the 28th of April. In the first day we drove about 275km, through 3 creek crossings and visited one gorge (Windjana) that was full of friendly (freshwater) crocodiles.

By the time we got to the Kimberly, we had seen a lot of gorges. We knew to pack a lunch and carry plenty of water on the way down, so we had a backpack with us. The trail down to manning falls showed a swimming short cut and a longer way around. Naturally, with the stuff we were carrying, we took the long way. On the way back though, we thought we’d check out just how deep and far this swim was. Well, as we had seen before, there were about 10 foam esky (cooler) buckets. We took no notice of them before, but then all of a sudden a light bulb lit up over my head! These ingenious little buckets were to float your stuff across the swim. It was the best end to a hike we’ve had so far!

We were spoiled by great camping all along the Gibb River road. There was shade, nice showers and friendly neighbours everywhere we went. At Ellenbrae station, known for their scones and their hospitality, we met two cyclists camping next to us. They were already lighting a fire for the Donkey (it heats the water for the showers) and they told us about how they cycled here. Naturally, we asked where from. It turns out they have been biking around Australia for 3 years now. Three years! And this lovely couple couldn’t have been younger than 50. They were fascinating people to spend the evening with.

Before crossing the border into the northern Territory, we thought we’d check out the town of Wyndham. As it turns out, it’s pretty run down and there is virtually nothing there. But, it has a rich history with the cattle industry and was home to a huge meat processing plant which shipped cows across to Europe for nearly 60 years. Since the plant was shut down in 1985, the cows now board the boats live before heading to Indonesia and such places. The lady at the museum was very happy to have visitors, I think it had been a while since anyone passed through, let alone anyone asking as many questions as I do.

After a bit of grocery shopping in Kununara, we headed for the border into the Northern Territory. It was sad to say goodbye to such a beautiful place after so many happy months, but there is much to see on the road ahead!

Easter in Lancelin

Easter weekend is the last big weekend of the ‘warm’ season in Western Australia, so everyone heads up to Lancelin for one last kite surf, wind surf, boat ride and glorious weekend away. For those of us who work in hospitality, however, it is the busiest weekend of the year.

Fortunately, WA law forbids the sale of liquor on good Friday, so all of the tavern staff head out to Lancelin island for a great big staff party (booze and feast sponsored by the Tavern). We spent a glorious morning in the sun, wading in the water with a beer, sandwiches in the shade and great company. There were no Easter eggs, or turkey, but there was a very merry celebration.
Just as I was thinking I’d soaked up enough sun and beer, Scott called and told me we were going on an adventure!

After being swept up in a boat and a quick change, we headed south toward Perth and I was still in left in the dark as to our secret destination. As we arrived, I found out I was about to experience a true remote aussie tradition; the burnout competition at the speedway. I’ve seen a car race before, and even a demolition derby, but the concept of a burnout competition was very foreign to me. Let me explain:

Imagine sixty or so brightly painted, supped up, turbo charged and exceptionally loud cars roaring into the line up and popping their hoods to show off the goods. Then, one at a time, they enter the ‘snake pit’ and proceed to spin about and burn out their tires causing as much smoke and noise as possible, with of course the signature ‘POP’ of a tire, or two, at the end. I am told no one of these criteria can win a man (or woman) the burnout competition, but it is a combination of style and effect judged by an elite group of tire company sponsors.

You can understand, that the impressiveness of this spectacle was lost on me. That is, until I saw it for my very own eyes. At first I was sceptical, but with the energy of the crowd, I found myself cheering and clapping for the impressive tire explosion that goes along with a burnout competition.
By the end of the evening we smelled like burning rubber, but we’d had a really good time and I walked away with a much more positive understanding of this bizarre Australian tradition.

Cray Fishing in Western Australia

Cray Fishing
Lancelin began as a small cray fishing town, and it is still the primary industry here. Tourism is the second. After being here for a collective 3 months or so, I decided it was time to get out on a boat. Fortunately, my friend Scott is a fisherman, one of the biggest and best boats in the bay, so I went to see what is was all about.
3am: wake up- reluctantly
4am: Meet the skipper and the other deckhands down at the jetty
We jump in the dingy, launch into the water and head out to the big boat, and turn on the lights.
The Skipper has plenty of gear to help him find his already dropped pots and the best places to re set them. Some GPS, some bottom scanning and what not. The pots are made of wood, with steel bottoms and weights, and two compartments near the top for the bait (Mackerel at this time of year).
The Skipper pulls up next to the buoys that are marked with his boat name and number, one guy snatches it with a hook on a rope and attaches it to the winch. Then then the pot speeds out of the water onto at bench at the side of the boat. Then the next guy takes out the bait and throws it into the water, this is when the dolphins start following us. Then he pulls out the crays ( or Western Australian Rock Lobsters), and measures them. If they're too small, they go back. If they are pregnant females, they go back.

Sometimes, more than just crayfish appear in the pots. All different kinds of fish can get trapped, as well as eels and octopi. Important fact: the octopi like to eat crays and are therefore the mortal enemy of the cray fisherman. At one point, we pulled up a pot with an octopus. The Skipper ran down the ladder, picked up the occy (as the aussies call them) and bit it's head off! I am told this is a stunt, just to entertain and frighten the observing tourist, but still, ew! Once the head is off, and they stop sucking and sticking to everything, they use them for bait when they go wetlining. Wet lining, is just like cray fishing, but they set down a line with several hooks on it, to catch large fish, like Dhu Fish. They collect them much faster since their catch insn't protected by a pot, and they stay out for days on end until they have enough fish to sell.

6am: As the sun rises over land, the dolphins are looking for breakfast, and know exactly where to find it. They race along the side of the boat as we travel from pot to pot and wait for the bait to be thrown. They'll jump and do tricks if you hold the fish out. Later on, we had a whole family of them following us!


10am: This process takes many many hours. Just as we were pulling up our last pot though, I spotted a shark! You see, dolphins fins swim up and down, but this one was moving laterally. And sure enough, there it was, a bronze whaler. I haven't been swimming much lately.

The day I went out was a short one, since we didn't have to re-bait the pots and re set them. Normally, the boys don't get back until about 3pm. The Government is placing all sorts of new regulations on the industry, fewer boats, fewer pots, shorter season, and they need to take 10 day breaks 3 times during the season (November to June), all in the name of sustainability (which is not a popular topic around here). Since this particular day was the last one before a break, we were hauling all 148 pots on board and then storing them in the shed.
I say 'we' but I didn't do anything but entertain the dolphins and ask far too many questions.

You should be able to follow the picture story by clicking on the photo link to the right, or here

Lindy Hop in Lancelin

I made it back to Lancelin safe and sound. Work at the Tavern is the same, casual and fun.
The sand is still white, the sea, still crystal blue and I feel at home (well, as much as I can this far away from Canada).

Lindy in Lancelin
Photo by Trevor Hutchinson

So I was thinking to myself one day, "Gee, it's too bad there is no lindy in lancelin, there is a perfectly good community hall right there". And then it hit me like a sack of potatoes ; why not bring lindy hop to Lancelin? So I did.

For the Perth swing dancers, it was a weekend getaway from the city, filled with sun, sand, beers at the tav, a dip in the pool (at the backpackers hostel where they all stayed), good friends and great dancing.
The hall is fairly small, but it was just perfect for us. Car loads of dancers flowed into the small town throughout saturday afternoon, some hit the beach, some went off roading at the dunes, but we all congregated at the hall for dinner together. There was a feast, there was laughter, and then of course, there was dancing.
I did advertise the event to the town, and even promised a beginner lesson! Unfortunately, not one local showed up. Later on that night a few trickled in to see what was going on, but it was not well supported by the townsfolk.
Fortunately, it was very well supported by the Perth swing scene! There were 25 of us dancing the night away, some from as far as Sweden and Canada!

Around midnight, I looked around the room to see my dancing friends, having a ball, feeling totally relaxed to be away from home and I knew it was a success. But then, out of nowhere, a band began to play! Jessie G and her two Phat Cats they called themselves, and they played one heck of a saucy latenight blues set, with no mics, and absolutely no preparation. It was marvelous.

It sounds like Lindy Hop in Lancelin will be a repeat event, with or without the Canadian organizer, and I couldn't be happier.

Feeling Spontaneous

Melbourne part 2

Things that are great about Melbourne
-Market-

-Bicycles-> everyone has one, everyone rides them everywhere. I had one, it was called the 'intimidator' It got me to work at back, and for that, it was loved. To really fit it, you need a crumpler as well, but I wasn't quite that dedicated to the Melbourne image.

-Live Music-> There is great music to be found all over the city, I focused my energy on one particular variety of course. One of my favorites being Virus, who play weekly at a glamorous hole-in-the-wall called Alchemy ( their water glasses are beakers and there are medieval chemistry books lying around on Victorian couches). But there were other great musics events, like Swing in the Park and of course

-Lindy Hop-> The hep cats in this scene really know how to swing it. I think I learned more in 2 months of light social dancing than I have in 2 years of intense workshopping. They are super fun and super awesome.

-Food-> I'm not all that adventurous an eater , and I'm fairly inexperienced when it comes to ethnic foods, but Melbourne is an excellent place to change all of that. My buddies Kieran and Loz definitely got me into the spirit of good asian food and introduced me to a whole new world of dishes to try. mmmmm....

-The Australian Open-> have you ever sat down to watch a game of world class tennis in the scorching summer sun? I highly recommend it, but wear a hat! I put sunscreen on 4 times that day and still got burnt. But it was worth it to watch the Williams sisters play doubles against (and by that I mean demolish) 2 lesser known Australian girls, the crowd went nuts! We also had seats to the epically long and well matched match between James Blake and Juan Del Potro. Again, a very lively crowd and we were sooo close you could practically feel the sweat. I have a whole new appreciation for tennis.

After all this fun, I started to get the itch to get back on the open road, change locations and what not, but I still needed work. Then, through a strange string of events; speaking with my roomate back in Lancelin, finding out they needed barmaids, wanting to attend a big swing event in perth and generally loving Western Australia, I decided to go back. I left my job Friday night, had goodbye drinks with friends saturday night, and booked a flight and flew out sunday.
Have you ever booked a flight and flown in the same day? Again, this is something I highly recommend. AND, on the flight, I saw some lighting but from a whole new perspective!

This all happened at the end of January. I was having so much fun basking in the joy of my spontaneous act, I didn't feel the need to tell anyone, or write about it. Most of the Perth swing dancers didn't even find out I was back until I showed up to a dance one thursday night in February.
That's one other reason I came back, I just felt right at home in Lancelin but especially in the Perth lindy scene. Which is probably why I decided to host a Swing event here, but more on that later.

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.