Had a really good night sleep. Like the day before, I spent most of the day at the beach. I ran into a couple of girls from 1770 at the Internet place. So we all did dinner later on. In the mean time I finally got a haircut. Hurray!
That's pretty much it for the day..
Tomorrow, I'm going on a 3-day cruise in Whitsundays, which are a bunch of island. It's supposed to be loads of fun...
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Thursday, June 28: Airle Beach
I arrived into town around 9:30 after a night on the bus. Strangely, it seems like a long bus ride is easier than a long flight. I checked into a hostel called beaches, but probably they should call it bitches.
Airle Beach is a one-street town mostly. The beach here is teh worst I've seen thus far. Still, with little to do I ended up at the beach reading and playing "matkot". Other than that the bad weather is gone and it's finely sunny.
In the evening Nir and I did a bit of bar hopping, but I retired early as I've been too tired from the bus ride..
Airle Beach is a one-street town mostly. The beach here is teh worst I've seen thus far. Still, with little to do I ended up at the beach reading and playing "matkot". Other than that the bad weather is gone and it's finely sunny.
In the evening Nir and I did a bit of bar hopping, but I retired early as I've been too tired from the bus ride..
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Wenesday, June 27: Town of 1770 - Airle Beach
The weather has picked up and it was a really nice day. I continued on readin my new book. Nir went to do one of them acrobatic flights, and I would have done so as well, but my bad experiences with small aircrafts, prevented from joining.
The plan for the evening was to cook Nyokis (How the hell is that spelled??). We got all the stuff for the feast, but then the lights went out in the whole town! Since the water is pumped via pumps that use electricity, we barely had any water too. So under battlefield conditions, we still got our feast done (took a good 2 hours and three quarters), and it turned out pretty good (though could have been better).
At 12:50am we got on the bus that heads north to Airle Beach. The ride took eight and a half hours...
The plan for the evening was to cook Nyokis (How the hell is that spelled??). We got all the stuff for the feast, but then the lights went out in the whole town! Since the water is pumped via pumps that use electricity, we barely had any water too. So under battlefield conditions, we still got our feast done (took a good 2 hours and three quarters), and it turned out pretty good (though could have been better).
At 12:50am we got on the bus that heads north to Airle Beach. The ride took eight and a half hours...
Tuesday, June 26: Town of 1770
I did nearly nothing today as it was raining the whole day. The weather is playing tricks on the entire eastern sea board. Anyway, I did start a new book called "Gone for Good", which is pretty good, but unfortunately, I'm reading the Hebrew translation - and it shows...
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Monday, June 25: Town of 1770
The weather has warsen, but it still has not started to rain. The highlight of the day was "Scooterootour". Basically, these are Harley-Davidson look alike bikes that run on petrol and do attain a speed of 80km/h. A whole bunch of us rode these scooters (for about 2 hours), which was quite a bit of fun. We also got to see loads of Kangaroos.
In the afternoon I did some juggling at the backpacker (which by the way is a really nice new baclkpacker called Southern Retreat), and the backpacker's dog ate one of my juggling balls! This is by no means any minor thing, as I had to go to a special place in Melbourne to get these balls. Quite upsetting. Now I only have 5 balls which means I can no longer juggle six with Nir :(
In the evening I picked up a new card game called "Shithead", which was a refereshing change.
In the afternoon I did some juggling at the backpacker (which by the way is a really nice new baclkpacker called Southern Retreat), and the backpacker's dog ate one of my juggling balls! This is by no means any minor thing, as I had to go to a special place in Melbourne to get these balls. Quite upsetting. Now I only have 5 balls which means I can no longer juggle six with Nir :(
In the evening I picked up a new card game called "Shithead", which was a refereshing change.
Sunday, June 24: Town of 1770
After yestreday's crap weather, today the sun was shining in all of it's glory. In the morning I went on a free tour of the area. Of course the reason it's free is because they tell you about all the attractions you can do in town, which are not free. However, surprisingly, they are rather cheap. The free tour consisted of two Jeeps and a van. Apparently, there were too many people, so they needed someone to drive the van. I volunteered and it was quite fun actually. At the tour I met an Israeli girl (Sharon), who's been traveling by herself.
After the tour I ended up at the beach. Finally, the day was concluded with another one of them cooked dinners. Nir and I invited Sharon to join us.
After the tour I ended up at the beach. Finally, the day was concluded with another one of them cooked dinners. Nir and I invited Sharon to join us.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Saturday, June 23: Town of 1770
1770 is supposed to be a sunny and beautiful place. Unfortunately, it had been raining the whole day, which is not very typical. The backpacker I'm staying at is very nice, with outside open spaces. Clearly, a good design for a warm place. So I didn't get to do much today. Just checked out the town and the beach. There was a group of Israelis here, one of whom I met at my first backpacker in NZ.
Friday, June 22: Rainbow Beach - Town of 1770
We returned from Fraser Island around 15:00 to the same backpackers we had been before. There we met Nadav, who did all of NZ with Nir. He's been traveling the opposite direction (i.e. south). At 19:00 we got on the bus up to a town called "1770" (Captain Cook landed there on 24 May, 1770 - hence the name). The bus was supposed to arrive at 12:20, but it broke down and eventually we made it at 1:50. Since 1770 is a very small place, the bus drop is in fact some 30 km from town. So another bus was supposed to pick us up, but due to our delay, we had to stay with this other bus until 2:15, waiting for another arivee. Anyway, by 3:30 I was finally in bed..
Wednesday - Friday, June 20-22: Fraser Island
Fraser Island is a sandy island that supposedly has more sand than the Sahara desert. Anyway, I went on a 3-day Jeep tour of the island. The way it works is that we were 11 people in one 4WD Jeep and we drove on the beach up and down the island. At night we camped using tents and sleeping bags. There is no guide and so we decide to do whatever we want. Typically, there are several such groups at any one time on the island and they randomly meet and party at night. In our case we were 4 Jeeps that left together.
This is normally a great experience, however in my case there were two reasons why it was not as good as it could/should have been:
1. It was the coldest days in years (+rain)
2. I had a shit group (more about that in a moment).
So we were 5 guys and 6 gals: 4 Irish girls that were quite abnoxious (2 of whom I've actually shared a room with at Bondi Beach, and recalled that as a pretty bad experience), one extremely annoying Canadian girl, and one English girl that was ok. There were two Swiss dudes, a German, Nir and myself.
Driving: 5 people chose to drive, and myself among them. The girls were all on top of the driving at first. But eventually, it so happened that Nir and I were the only ones who drove the second and thirs day (and me doing most of the driving)...
Wednesday: We drove up to the end of the island where there was some very nice views. That was also the point where we lost the three other groups. So we camped on our own. The weather was crap (rained continuously) and for whatever reason there were 7 steaks for 10 people (thank gog the English was vegeterian..). Anyway, it wasn't too interesting to enagage the drunken Irish, English and Candian.
Thursday: The morning started nicely, as it turned out that 2 out of the 4 tents were not water proof. It so happened that those were the tents the girls used, so they were soked and had a crap night. In the morning we checked out some beautiful sand dunes. After that we tried to make it to lake MacKenzie but it was too late so we camped near the beach, and near some other groups (not the original ones that started the tour with us). This night the guys got the crappy tents, but Nir and I made sure that even if it rained we'd be fine. We had a pretty good setup where we used the tarp as both a wind and a rain shield. Ultimately, it never rained... The new we camped near were so much nicer than my group and hence I ended up hanging out with them, which was quite a bit of fun.
Friday: In the morning we went to lake MacKenzie, which was really nice with some whit beach sand. The weather had finally picked up and it was a sunny day! Still, too cold for me to have gone into the water.
In summary, Fraser Island was quite a bit of fun, despite the drunken Irish and annoying Canadian.
This is normally a great experience, however in my case there were two reasons why it was not as good as it could/should have been:
1. It was the coldest days in years (+rain)
2. I had a shit group (more about that in a moment).
So we were 5 guys and 6 gals: 4 Irish girls that were quite abnoxious (2 of whom I've actually shared a room with at Bondi Beach, and recalled that as a pretty bad experience), one extremely annoying Canadian girl, and one English girl that was ok. There were two Swiss dudes, a German, Nir and myself.
Driving: 5 people chose to drive, and myself among them. The girls were all on top of the driving at first. But eventually, it so happened that Nir and I were the only ones who drove the second and thirs day (and me doing most of the driving)...
Wednesday: We drove up to the end of the island where there was some very nice views. That was also the point where we lost the three other groups. So we camped on our own. The weather was crap (rained continuously) and for whatever reason there were 7 steaks for 10 people (thank gog the English was vegeterian..). Anyway, it wasn't too interesting to enagage the drunken Irish, English and Candian.
Thursday: The morning started nicely, as it turned out that 2 out of the 4 tents were not water proof. It so happened that those were the tents the girls used, so they were soked and had a crap night. In the morning we checked out some beautiful sand dunes. After that we tried to make it to lake MacKenzie but it was too late so we camped near the beach, and near some other groups (not the original ones that started the tour with us). This night the guys got the crappy tents, but Nir and I made sure that even if it rained we'd be fine. We had a pretty good setup where we used the tarp as both a wind and a rain shield. Ultimately, it never rained... The new we camped near were so much nicer than my group and hence I ended up hanging out with them, which was quite a bit of fun.
Friday: In the morning we went to lake MacKenzie, which was really nice with some whit beach sand. The weather had finally picked up and it was a sunny day! Still, too cold for me to have gone into the water.
In summary, Fraser Island was quite a bit of fun, despite the drunken Irish and annoying Canadian.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Tuesday, June 19: Rainbow Beach
Another day at the beach mostly. Tomorrow I'm off to Fraser Island (was supposed to go today). It's a 3-day trip, with 11 people in one car/Jeep driving on the beach and seeing a bunch of stuff. (Frankly, I'm not sure what to expect).
Monday, June 18: Rainbow Beach
Rainbow Beach is a very small place aparently. It's population is about 900. This means there's basically nothing to do around. My backpacker is the only party place in town.
I had a bit of a mishap today - My "head & shoulders" shampoo spilled in my large pack. After wrestling wiith it for a while it became aparent that I would need to put it in the washing machine. But, I have no energy to dill with it now..
Other than that, I've done the only thing there is to do around - i.e. went to the beach. Also, I got to play some table tennis at the neighbouring (notice the incorrect spelling..) backpacker.
I had a bit of a mishap today - My "head & shoulders" shampoo spilled in my large pack. After wrestling wiith it for a while it became aparent that I would need to put it in the washing machine. But, I have no energy to dill with it now..
Other than that, I've done the only thing there is to do around - i.e. went to the beach. Also, I got to play some table tennis at the neighbouring (notice the incorrect spelling..) backpacker.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Sunday, June 17: Brisbane - Rainbow Beach
Today was as dull as a day can get really. I left Brisbane at 14:00 and arrived to Rainbow Beach at 19:00. So the bulk of the day was a bus drive. Rainbow Beach is the place from where I'm off to Fraser Island on a 3-day Jeep tour. It begins on Tuesday.
Saturday, June 16: Brisbane
Around 13:00 Nir showed up at the Backpacker (I guess he was done with Surfers Paradise). As the day before, I mostly walked around. We checked out an "All you can eat" sushi place, which was not very high quality. Nonetheless, it was my first sushi in 4 months!
Other than that I met up with Anna for a little while (there are so many of them "Anna's". This one I met first time at Te Anau, NZ, and then a few days ago at Byron).
The evening entailed the usual going to clubs, yada yada. I guess it's best to be in a big city during the weekends.
Other than that I met up with Anna for a little while (there are so many of them "Anna's". This one I met first time at Te Anau, NZ, and then a few days ago at Byron).
The evening entailed the usual going to clubs, yada yada. I guess it's best to be in a big city during the weekends.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Friday, June 15: Surfers Paradise - Brisbane
Surfers Paradise is a decent place (despite the criticism from pretty much everyone), and yet I've decided to leave and keep heading north. Next stop: Brisbane. Nir decided last minute to stay longer, and so we'll probably meet up at the next stop, which is Rainbow beach.
I got to Brisbane around noon. This is pretty much the only major city between Sydney and Cairns. It seems rather nice.' Oh yes, I got myself Jeans, so now I'm just short of shoes to actually look normal...
I got to Brisbane around noon. This is pretty much the only major city between Sydney and Cairns. It seems rather nice.' Oh yes, I got myself Jeans, so now I'm just short of shoes to actually look normal...
Thursday, June 14: Surfers Paradise
Beach day. Off we went to the beach to play some Matkot, except it's gotten cold! So it was indeed most bizzare to be on the beach in shorts and wearing a jacket. Other than that I checked, as always, the local Gelatto places and , as always, they were really good.
That's about all for today...
That's about all for today...
Wednesday, June 13: Byron Bay - Surfers Paradise
After a week in Byron, we've finally taken off. Heading north about 2 hours (on the bus - much less if I were driving) to Surfers Paradise. One would expect this place to be the ultimate beach. While there are a few beaches, it's far more city-like than Byron Bay.
I spent a bulk portion of the day (some 2.5 hours) actually doing work! Yeap, there's this conference I'm suppose to attend at the end of June in France, but being down under and all, My advisor was kind enough to agree to give it instead. But that does not go without work on my part...
Other than that I chose to stay in and not go out tonight.
I spent a bulk portion of the day (some 2.5 hours) actually doing work! Yeap, there's this conference I'm suppose to attend at the end of June in France, but being down under and all, My advisor was kind enough to agree to give it instead. But that does not go without work on my part...
Other than that I chose to stay in and not go out tonight.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Tuesday, June 12: Byron Bay
Yeap, still in Byron. I spent most of the day at the beach. It has finally become hot enough that I dared go into the water to cool down. Of course, the evenings are still cold.
It seems that Tuesdays are discounted days at the movie theatres in Australia (or so it was in Sydney and here). So of we went for a "double feature": Shrek 3, and Pirated of the Caribbean. Shrek was ok, the second movie was, as I had suspected, boring so I simply left (it's so not me)...
It seems that Tuesdays are discounted days at the movie theatres in Australia (or so it was in Sydney and here). So of we went for a "double feature": Shrek 3, and Pirated of the Caribbean. Shrek was ok, the second movie was, as I had suspected, boring so I simply left (it's so not me)...
Monday, June 11: Byron Bay (Nimbin)
I spent most of the day on the "Nimbin Tour". Nimbin is a small town about an hour away from Byron, which is known for its hash... It was most amusing to have the bus driver iterate to everyone how hash is illegal, and right afterwards tell us some funny stories about people overdosing...
I returned to town at around 17:00 and didn't do much for the rest of the day really.
I returned to town at around 17:00 and didn't do much for the rest of the day really.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Sunday, June 10: Byron Bay
Woke up early to go for a surf lesson. Finally, the good weather has arrived, and I can use shorts during the day. So the surf lesson was quite a bit of fun. It's basically a couple of hours in a different beach some 20 min away. There were pretty good waves, and I managed to stand on the surf board, which is not as great an acheivement one might think. Mostly, because the boards for beginners are rather large.
After the surf lesson I went off to the beach for a long session of "matkot". Since these new rackets are rather heavy, the arms get tired quickly, and so we decided to give the right arm a rest by training the left arm. My left is getting quite a bit better. Other than that I met on the beach this girl who goes to U of M. It was most amusing. She thinks "Ten Burritto" is best in town, which as a notorious Panchero's fan, I found to be both offsenive and wrong!
After the beach we did some juggling using also the ball from the circus people, which made things a lot smoother.
Evening: Went to Cheeky Monkeys again. No I don't particularly like the place, but we told UM girl and her friends we'd show up. Surprisingly, I ran into Anna, who is a girl I met in Te Anau (NZ) about 2 months back right before the Milford track, and who lives in Brisbane for a couple of more weeks.
Lastly, at 23:00 I went to the beach hotel to watch the game of the year: Federer vs. Nadal (French open). The latter guy won...
After the surf lesson I went off to the beach for a long session of "matkot". Since these new rackets are rather heavy, the arms get tired quickly, and so we decided to give the right arm a rest by training the left arm. My left is getting quite a bit better. Other than that I met on the beach this girl who goes to U of M. It was most amusing. She thinks "Ten Burritto" is best in town, which as a notorious Panchero's fan, I found to be both offsenive and wrong!
After the beach we did some juggling using also the ball from the circus people, which made things a lot smoother.
Evening: Went to Cheeky Monkeys again. No I don't particularly like the place, but we told UM girl and her friends we'd show up. Surprisingly, I ran into Anna, who is a girl I met in Te Anau (NZ) about 2 months back right before the Milford track, and who lives in Brisbane for a couple of more weeks.
Lastly, at 23:00 I went to the beach hotel to watch the game of the year: Federer vs. Nadal (French open). The latter guy won...
Saturday, June 9: Byron Bay
Today I found out (as I've been disconnected from the world) that there have been some massive storms around Sydney. I guess that was the reason for the slightly cold weather around here.
Anyway, it warmed up a bit and we decided for the second time to buy rackets for the beach ('matkot"). This time, we invested some more into them in the hope that they would last for more than 20 min.
Nir does a little juggling and so I figured we could juggle together (passing 6 balls). Unfortunately, I only have 5 good ones so we used the squash one as well. It worked ok.
In the evening I went again to this "Cheeky Monkey" place, which had a circus show going. It was nice but most certainly not too impressive. The good thing was that I bought from them one juggling ball, so now I have 6! Other than that, I ran into Ben at the pub. It's funny how the same people keep popping up.
Anyway, it warmed up a bit and we decided for the second time to buy rackets for the beach ('matkot"). This time, we invested some more into them in the hope that they would last for more than 20 min.
Nir does a little juggling and so I figured we could juggle together (passing 6 balls). Unfortunately, I only have 5 good ones so we used the squash one as well. It worked ok.
In the evening I went again to this "Cheeky Monkey" place, which had a circus show going. It was nice but most certainly not too impressive. The good thing was that I bought from them one juggling ball, so now I have 6! Other than that, I ran into Ben at the pub. It's funny how the same people keep popping up.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Friday, June 8: Byron Bay
Today was somewhat productive. There's a few hour walk (round trip) along the beach that gets to a lighthouse, and has some beautiful views. We went ahead and did that. One of the points of interest along the walk was the easterly most point in mainland Australia. Also, I got to see some dolphines that were swimming around, although they were a bit far and the view was not as clear as one would hope.
In the evening we hang out with the folks upstairs and then went to this "beach hotel" that had some party going on. Anyway, it was remarkably dull with some bad loud music, so I ended up endulging myself by watching the Federer vs. Davydenko tennis match. The russian lost and is probably on his way to the gulag by now.
In the evening we hang out with the folks upstairs and then went to this "beach hotel" that had some party going on. Anyway, it was remarkably dull with some bad loud music, so I ended up endulging myself by watching the Federer vs. Davydenko tennis match. The russian lost and is probably on his way to the gulag by now.
Thursday, June 7: Byron Bay
A rather slow day. I woke up around noon, not surprisingly after the bus ride. I checked out the beach and spent some more time reading.
Above us there's another set of rooms, so we socialized with the folks upstairs. One of whom mentioned a place called "Cheeky Monkey's" and said it was very sleezy. Well, I told him those place rarely stand up to their reputation. Anyway, this one didn't either...
Above us there's another set of rooms, so we socialized with the folks upstairs. One of whom mentioned a place called "Cheeky Monkey's" and said it was very sleezy. Well, I told him those place rarely stand up to their reputation. Anyway, this one didn't either...
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Wednesday, June 6: Byron Bay
It's been a Long night. The bus took so long to drive because it stopped so many times. I could have done it in half the time...
So we got to to Byron Bay which is sort of a beach resort place. Unfortunately, this place that always has sunshine happened to be raining.. But it wasn't that bad, since I was too tired to do anything anyway. As we got off the bus, there were these people from the local backpackers trying to persuade people to go to their backpackers. One of those folks was Israeli, and well, we went to the one he works at, which actually turned out quite nicely.
I spent most of the day reading my "Digital Fortress" book, which although has a faulty premis, was nonetheless very interesting to read, mainly because the amount of bullshit descriptions is kept to an exceptional minimum. So I've got some 200 pages done.
Other than that I met at the backpacker a girl named Lee, whom I've met back in NZ up at the Muller Hut at Mt. Cook. Coincidently, she knows Nir as they served in the same place in the army. What a small world.
So we got to to Byron Bay which is sort of a beach resort place. Unfortunately, this place that always has sunshine happened to be raining.. But it wasn't that bad, since I was too tired to do anything anyway. As we got off the bus, there were these people from the local backpackers trying to persuade people to go to their backpackers. One of those folks was Israeli, and well, we went to the one he works at, which actually turned out quite nicely.
I spent most of the day reading my "Digital Fortress" book, which although has a faulty premis, was nonetheless very interesting to read, mainly because the amount of bullshit descriptions is kept to an exceptional minimum. So I've got some 200 pages done.
Other than that I met at the backpacker a girl named Lee, whom I've met back in NZ up at the Muller Hut at Mt. Cook. Coincidently, she knows Nir as they served in the same place in the army. What a small world.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Tuesday, June 5: Downtown Sydney
I woke up in one piece. No bites. So that was good. We took of at 11:00. The plan now was to start heading north. The only problem was that my passport was at the Vietnam Consulate and those assholes were very difficult to deal with. Specifically, they didn't understand what it meant that I needed it before the due date, which is Wednesday. Anyway, they eventually got it done today, and so I picked it up. Strangely, the date of issue was June first, which indicates even more how stupid they are - namely, it's been ready since the day I dropped it off...
Next, I got one of them attraction packages along the east coast. Specifically: Frazer iland (3 days of 4x4 on a sandy island), Whitsundays (2 day sailing), Great Barrier Reef (snorkling and a scuba diving intro dive), a couple of nights in Cairns, and a bunch of other small stuff. Also, I got one of those bus passes that allows you to hop on and off the bus as long as you keep heading in your direction (Cairns in my case).
So we reserved a bus for Byron Bay - a little over 600km north. The departure time is 22:30 and the ride time is 12 hours! I've never been on a bus so long...
Before the bus, I checked out china town for some food (we've been doing that for two days in a row). One basically gets the typical Asian food for about $7. Also, I managed to see Zodia right before the bus. It wasn't bad, but a little on the long side.
Next, I got one of them attraction packages along the east coast. Specifically: Frazer iland (3 days of 4x4 on a sandy island), Whitsundays (2 day sailing), Great Barrier Reef (snorkling and a scuba diving intro dive), a couple of nights in Cairns, and a bunch of other small stuff. Also, I got one of those bus passes that allows you to hop on and off the bus as long as you keep heading in your direction (Cairns in my case).
So we reserved a bus for Byron Bay - a little over 600km north. The departure time is 22:30 and the ride time is 12 hours! I've never been on a bus so long...
Before the bus, I checked out china town for some food (we've been doing that for two days in a row). One basically gets the typical Asian food for about $7. Also, I managed to see Zodia right before the bus. It wasn't bad, but a little on the long side.
Monday, June 4: Downtown Sydney
We decided to leave the "Asian smoking party" hostel and move up in the world (or so we thought). So off we got to this new backpacker that advertised itself as being close to everywhere. Well, as it turned out, it was in fact far from everywhere... But, this wasn't the major problem as I learned later.
In the mean time after settling in, we went downtown to get some things done. Neer wanted to mail a DVD back home, and has been unable to do so for a while as post offices kept being closed or when they weren't he didn't have the DVD. It was most amusing when we finally got to a post office it closed right in our face due to a "Terrorist/Bomb" threat of some sort...
Before leaving to Bondi Beach, I found this really good Gelatto icecream near thw Wharf. So of course, I had to go back there and get some. As it turns out they have a much closer branch, which is very useful..
Back at the backpacker we found out from those who have been staying there that some of the rooms were infested with bed bugs. These are nasty creatures that give serious bites and are hard to get rid of. They get into the cloths and backpacks and sleeping bags etc. So this night was probably the worst night ever - even worse than the night with the rats back dutring my Nina Valley Track experience in NZ. I did not use the sheets provided, and instead used my sleeping bag. I got bug rippelant all over me from head to toe, and hoped to wake up the same way I went to bed.
In the mean time after settling in, we went downtown to get some things done. Neer wanted to mail a DVD back home, and has been unable to do so for a while as post offices kept being closed or when they weren't he didn't have the DVD. It was most amusing when we finally got to a post office it closed right in our face due to a "Terrorist/Bomb" threat of some sort...
Before leaving to Bondi Beach, I found this really good Gelatto icecream near thw Wharf. So of course, I had to go back there and get some. As it turns out they have a much closer branch, which is very useful..
Back at the backpacker we found out from those who have been staying there that some of the rooms were infested with bed bugs. These are nasty creatures that give serious bites and are hard to get rid of. They get into the cloths and backpacks and sleeping bags etc. So this night was probably the worst night ever - even worse than the night with the rats back dutring my Nina Valley Track experience in NZ. I did not use the sheets provided, and instead used my sleeping bag. I got bug rippelant all over me from head to toe, and hoped to wake up the same way I went to bed.
Sunday, June 3: Bondi Beach - Downtown Sydney
We decided to leave Bondi as it got a little old. Ben chose to stay longer - perhaps we'd run into him again (quite possibly). After taking a quick walk on some cliffs along the ocean, we headed to the city.
We got to this backpacker that was quite early on, but when we got back there later it was full of Asians smoking right outside our dorm room, right beneath the No Smoking sign. The cute German girl at the reception was just that - cute. She was completely anemic and did nothing about the smoking. I had no energy to deal with it. However, when the "party" entered its 8th hour or so, around 1:00am I silenced those folks so at least I could get some sleep (of course the brazilian person underneath was snoring like a bloody chainsaw, which didn't help).
During the day we stopped at a marked that runs from Thursday till Sunday, so we only had 2 hours until it closed. Since I'm no longer in NZ doing tracks, it is time to enhance my wordrobe, i.e. get shoes, pants, and a nice shirt. I only managed to get the latter. So one down two to go...
We got to this backpacker that was quite early on, but when we got back there later it was full of Asians smoking right outside our dorm room, right beneath the No Smoking sign. The cute German girl at the reception was just that - cute. She was completely anemic and did nothing about the smoking. I had no energy to deal with it. However, when the "party" entered its 8th hour or so, around 1:00am I silenced those folks so at least I could get some sleep (of course the brazilian person underneath was snoring like a bloody chainsaw, which didn't help).
During the day we stopped at a marked that runs from Thursday till Sunday, so we only had 2 hours until it closed. Since I'm no longer in NZ doing tracks, it is time to enhance my wordrobe, i.e. get shoes, pants, and a nice shirt. I only managed to get the latter. So one down two to go...
Saturday, June 2: Bondi Beach
A rather relaxed day. Nir and I went to the Beach. It was too cold to go into the water but warm enough to hang out there. We got these cheap beach ball rackets, one of which broke within less than 30 minutes...
In the evening we met up with Ben and hung out, but the area was rather dead, and we were too lazy to go to Kings Cromss where most of the action is (it would have required taking a bus...). Anyway, I retired early (~midnight) and went back to the backpacker where I saw this rather silly movie called "The Beach"...
In the evening we met up with Ben and hung out, but the area was rather dead, and we were too lazy to go to Kings Cromss where most of the action is (it would have required taking a bus...). Anyway, I retired early (~midnight) and went back to the backpacker where I saw this rather silly movie called "The Beach"...
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Friday, June 1: Sydney (Bondi Beach)
We decided to move to another part of the city called "Bondi Beach", which is rather famous. We stopped at the Vietnam consulate along the way, as I've applied for a VISA.
Bondi Beach is a pretty cool place. Very nice beach indeed, unfortunately, we're a little out of season and the water is too cold for normal mortals to swim in. Still, it's warm enough outside that I've been able to resume my juggling practices.
Other than that I picked up a new book called "Digital Fortress", which is a fictional story about NSA, encryption, and the such. While it's pretty nice so far, I'm afraid the actual science behind it is far more dodgy than the "Time" book. But to make sure I'll have to confer with professionals (Elad?).
The kitchen in the new backpacker is aweful, so there will be absolutely no cooking there (maybe a toast...).
In the evening we met with a friend of Ben called Alon, and he was completely unaware of Nir's phenomenal ability to trip people. So it was beyond funny when we all went out and Nir tripped him a couple of times, and he didn't even realize it was him and thought it was Ben (one would need to be there to see how funny that was).
Bondi Beach is a pretty cool place. Very nice beach indeed, unfortunately, we're a little out of season and the water is too cold for normal mortals to swim in. Still, it's warm enough outside that I've been able to resume my juggling practices.
Other than that I picked up a new book called "Digital Fortress", which is a fictional story about NSA, encryption, and the such. While it's pretty nice so far, I'm afraid the actual science behind it is far more dodgy than the "Time" book. But to make sure I'll have to confer with professionals (Elad?).
The kitchen in the new backpacker is aweful, so there will be absolutely no cooking there (maybe a toast...).
In the evening we met with a friend of Ben called Alon, and he was completely unaware of Nir's phenomenal ability to trip people. So it was beyond funny when we all went out and Nir tripped him a couple of times, and he didn't even realize it was him and thought it was Ben (one would need to be there to see how funny that was).
Thursday, May 31: Sydney (King's Cross)
Today was finally productive. Nir and I went to the Opera House, through via one of the harbors. it was quite nice. We checked out George St (this is the main st. in the center) and also Darling Harbor. At Darling Harbor there was this Head/Neck/Shoulder massage place, that offers so many minutes for so many dollars. Anyway, instead of $10 for 10 minutes of head massage, we talked them into $5 for 10 minutes for a shoulder massage...
Later we got to this Domino's Pizza place that messed up our reservation, so we offered to buy the extra pizza for half price. They conferred amongst themselves, and for $3.70 we got an extra whole pizza. So all in all, it was a rather productive day...
Ben got in touch with us, as he arrived in Sydney, and we met up at our backpackers. In the evening we did the usual bar hopping thing...
Later we got to this Domino's Pizza place that messed up our reservation, so we offered to buy the extra pizza for half price. They conferred amongst themselves, and for $3.70 we got an extra whole pizza. So all in all, it was a rather productive day...
Ben got in touch with us, as he arrived in Sydney, and we met up at our backpackers. In the evening we did the usual bar hopping thing...
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