Shelly Beach Area/Epic Week.

Hello everyone, I am still currently residing in Shelly Beach with Chris, Ash and Simba. It has been a really amazing time here. The swell that was supposed to hit last weekend ended up showing up a bit later and basically did not leave the beach or the ocean all week. It was great. I look like a little Cuban man right now though. I got to surf a few spots that where super secluded and uncrowded. Even the beach park that is right down the road wasn't actually too crowded either. The water was super warm as well. I had one day where I got home in the late evening from being at the beach all day, Chris was just getting home as I was and wanted me to go for a surf with him. I was literally too exhausted and struggled to even walk down there to watch him. It was a good day. We surfed Crackneck one day and didn't really check it before we went out. The break is quite a far hike away anyway, and when we finally got out to see it, it was firing. Some of the heaviest barrels I have seen and just dredging onto shallow reef. The right was a lot gnarlier than the left, and there were some severe punishments issued that day. When we arrived to the break there were 3 guys in the line up, and they eventually left after about 30 minutes leaving me and the two guys I came with to this amazing peak. Needless to say it was amazing. But the whole time we were out there I had that creepy feeling that there where some very large meat eating fish lurking close by us. When I would end up in the bay or in the inside channel I would paddle as past as I could possibly go just to get back to the line up and avoid being the 'lone straggling creature' in the water. But oh well, I didn't see anything to even lead me to believe there were sharks there, I am just a pansy about sharks. The one time I probably should have been very worried about sharks I really wasn't at all. A friend of mine and I were walking back from the pub and he told me we had to jump off this bridge on the way home. So we did, quite a few times actually, at 330 am. Totally forgot about bull sharks, who live in the fresh water estuaries and are one of the most dangerous sharks. Nobody was hurt though and It was one of the many highlights of this trip. I really love how wild people get here, and aside from the first week, I have not had another bad encounter with any Australians. They have all been super cool and so fun to hang out with. This past weekend was a pretty big weekend as well, a great top to an amazing week actually. Friday night, we decided last second to drive down to Bondi and go out to some clubs down there. Cashman, Sam, Moffit and I got down there around 7 or so, and again, I had one of the best nights of my life. We went to this place called White Revolver and it easily one of the coolest places I been. I showed a few people how to dance, down there as well. It was also really cool because I got to see some friends that I hadn't seen yet. Some friends of mine Dion, Chris and Nate were all out as well and they introduced me to some other funny boys who knew a bunch of friends of mine from home. So that was fun partying with them as well. Oh yea, and a fun cap to the night was winning all the money I had spent that evening back on the poker machines. Gambling is legal here and in every pub pretty much there are poker machines or horse racing gambling areas. I have taken a few beatings, but its so fun. Saterday night I went to my first Rugby League game! So fun to watch, the sport as well as the people in the stands. I was losing it watching some of the people. I sat near an older woman that was so into the game and make the most hilarious facial expressions I have ever seen. She was classic, and her husband was just as classic. They were the funniest couple I have ever seen I think. I took pictures. Their nickname together was Kathryn and the Thumb. Her husband seriously looked like a thumb, as in the appendage. It was classic. After the Rugby game we all went out as well and had another good one. The following day Moffit and I made a mission back to Bondi. Apparently he met some Swedish girl on Friday night when we were in Bondi and they were going to hang out. So he brought me down as a wing-man. Probably wasn't the best wing man, but I saw some of my other friends out again and we all went to this really nice place called Ravisi's, which was this super posh place in Bondi overlooking the beach. We had such an epic view and got to watch the sunset from there. We also went to this place called Bondi Burrito, which was actually really good. Everyone says the mexican food in Aus is horrible, but I have actually enjoyed the two places I have tried. I guess its hard to mess up a quesadilla though... Anyway we ended up going to White Revolver again that night and had another good one. And that pretty much brings you up to speed, basically having an amazing time here and I am looking forward to seeing the Gold Coast soon. I am here for another week and then takin off that way. So it should be glorious. Adios.

Australia, week 4 I think.

Hello, I am still up (or down, or just on, I have no idea) the Central Coast. I am now staying with a friend of mine Chris and his girlfriend Ash and their kitty Simba, still in the same sort of area, but I believe just slightly outside of Terrigal. Everyone is at work right now, I just got home from a nice little walk to check the surf, so Simba and I are just hanging out. The wind is pretty onshore right now, but there is a bit of swell showing. The swell was supposed to hit this weekend but I guess it is now projected to hit during the week. Over the weekend there was supposed to be 5ft+ surf but it ended up only being about 2, it was still amazing though. The water is so clear it is insane. Yesterday we also did a bit of towing with a jet ski, even though it was small it was still a blast. I was pretty much the last up and really didn't think it was going to be that difficult. We were just riding our regular boards, no straps or anything, and I was on my 5'9 with no rocker. Needless to say I took some solid beatings. Getting going and getting up was one major obstacle but once I got that it became a whole other battle to stay going without eating it on the chop. I am not going to go through each beating I took, though I wish I could, but I will just say I mastered the rag-doll-cartwheel to face plant and whiplash. The water certainly gets less forgiving the faster you go as well, I had a nice little physics lesson on that subject yesterday as well. But overall it was so fun. I don't know if my legs and arms where more tired from the towing or if my stomach was from laughing. A couple of the other guys really had it down and made it look way easier than it was, I am sure I made it look hopeless or impossible. Chris and Ash's place is really nice, it is in a great location and super close walk to the beach, and Simba is a amazing little buddy. He is sitting right next to me on the desk right now giving himself a bath. He keeps whipping the keyboard with his tail though and making me to type-os. I had no idea I liked cats. They are so strange, and yet so funny. It is really hard to type with this little tail whacking my knuckles and the keys right now. I am spending half the time typing and half the time playing defence. Anyways though, I don't really have much to report on the food lately. I have been cooking a lot at home. I have had a few pies here and there but no really new ones. I did find some awesome deals on frozen ones at the grocery store though, so that was exciting. Oh yes and I found the Bundaberg Ginger Beer was only a dollar at the grocery store too. I am all about those, not the Bundaberg Rum though. That is basically gasoline and hot trash. One cool thing, food related, that we did this weekend was go out for one of the boy's birthdays at this pizza place that was BYOB, free of charge. So that was awesome, and the pizza was pretty solid too. Though everyone was very hungry by the time pizzas did come out, and the pizzas were about 1000 degrees, some of us tried to be tough guys and just eat the scorching hot food.. I think I have blisters in my mouth still. It is pretty funny too when everyone makes the same mistake at the same time and you all look around wide eyed at each other, sucking in air through your mouth, not wanting to spit it out because you're so hungry so you just chew really uncomfortably. Then you think the next slice must have cooled down in the 2 minutes it took to eat the first slice, and you go through the same pain all over again. I love that. Simba fell asleep and finally stopped whipping me. But yea, Australia is such a fun place, and as much as I am enjoying the Central Coast, I really look forward to seeing the rest of Aus. Actually, I am cancelling my plane tickets to Brisbane and doing a road trip up the coast to the Gold Coast come April. So that will be extremely cool and hopefully I will get to see some cool stuff. I still haven't seen a Kangaroo or a Wombat or any other wild Aussie creatures. I can deal with not seeing a few, like sharks, or spiders. I have seen a lot of bats though! They are pretty gnarly. They are massive and are a total trip when you see them flying around at night. Anyway I am out, I shall update you all again soon. Sayounara.

Australia has a lot of Jellyfish.

Hello all, it has been a very nice and relaxing up here on the Central Coast. Staying at Pascoe's house has been really good, I have been working on my Japanese a lot and there is a huge field across the street that I have been running around. I have been trying to get back into shape a little bit, but not too seriously. I do about 8 laps and I am over it. There's one part of the loop though that gets near some shrubbery and tall grass and I always get really uncomfortable when I run through it. I pick up my pace quite a bit actually when I get there.. Actually the other morning a friend of mine turned on this show called Australia's Deadly Dozen, which was about the 12 deadliest creatures in Australia. I was not happy about it, I wanted to watch Kung Fu Panda, but unfortunately did not have control over the control. I don't really even want to discuss the creatures on the program, because it will only get me thinking about them again, but basically everything here is vicious and angry and ready to kill. I have been stoked I haven't seen any of the "deadly dozen' though and I hope it stays that way. Unless I make it to the Reptile Park, which is right down the road. I really really really want to make it there and look at the huge croc's and snakes, and I want to bring bug spray and kill all the spiders. The one creature in Aus that keeps attacking me is the jellyfish. I have been getting dominated by them. Pascoe and I surfed this beach break that was just ridiculously windy one day and as soon as we were paddling out we realized that there were seriously thousands of jellies in the water. We were both wearing spring suits as well, so out torsos were safe, but our heads, arms and legs were there for the taking. I totalled about 6 stings, and Pascoe had close to 15, including one to the face. I didn't know how many there really were until I caught my first wave and was paddling back out, it was a real surprise. Needless to say we didn't stay out for very long. The good thing was that the stings where not that bad, they hurt for like and hour or two then went away. I don't know what kind of jellyfish they are, but Pascoe called them Purple People Eaters, so that is how I identify them now. The P.P.E.'s are not as bad as the Blue Bottles that they have here too, which they also have in Hawaii. I took a blue bottle to the toes on Saterday and it was brutal. I was not stoked. Even today, we were just surfing, and it was pretty much the first glassy day I have had in Aus and I still got stung! There were a few little People Eaters lurking around and I was laughing about it and just as I went to paddle I got zapped. The waves where pretty silly today, about 2 feet and really clean. It felt like I hadn't surfed in a while though, I still had fun regardless. There really hasn't been that amazing of waves since I have been here, but I really cant complain, there is always something fun to do. I can walk from Pascoe's house to the beach in about 20-30 minutes and just lounge or surf funny little beachy waves. There is a cool little town as well that has some nice bars and lounges. Saterday and Sunday afternoons are pretty much a scene at the beer gardens. Everyone from age 18-80 come out and have beers and relax out on the patios, imbibe and socialize. Australian's are definitely partiers, and always up for a good time. So I really feel like I fit in here, not sure if I could live here though, but I would give it some thought. When the weather is nice it is incredible. The water is clearer than Hawaii and about the same temp. The sun is so hot here you feel like you are tanning as you walk out the door. I have been accused of bleaching my hair while everyone is away, which is false. My beautiful colored locks are natural. That's another thing, my hair is driving me nuts. It's not really long yet, and not quite short, it is in that awkward stage where its close to being long though. I am not going to cut it, I want to see how long I can get it, but it sure is a battle. I bought some pomade so I can at least calm it down a little. All the salt water and sun exposure as made it run wild.. not that it was really tamed before. Anywho, Australia is amazing, I have remained safe this long, and I have about 6 more weeks in Australia total. So pray for me. I need it.

Until later, Ciao!

Ps. If you did not see already, I fixed the pictures from the second part of New Zealand at the end of my last post. Check them out if you haven't!

Australia is wild.

Hola, sorry for the lack of updates, I have been wandering all over Australia and having too good of a time. Money goes very fast here, but it feels worth it. So pretty much after arriving in Melbourne and getting all settled into my hotel, I basically didn't make it out that night, I took a shower and passed out in big comfy bed. The next day I flew into Sydney, one of my friends from home, Shelby, picked me up in his car and too me down to Manly where he is living. I spent all last week down there in Manly with him and had a blast. Sydney definitely has some of the prettiest girls, and the most, out of anywhere I have ever been I think. The first night Shelby, his girlfriend Jess and Shelby's roommate went out for drinks and I was basically giving myself whiplash looking around. Australia has some very nice scenery, to say the least. Shelbs and I had a fun week though, got in the water a bit, the waves aren't too good right now, but the water is extremely warm and clear. The first place we surfed was just kind of a wild beach break, that had some storm surge in it, and there was 1000 blue bottle jellyfish around. Luckily neither of us got a sting, so that was surprising. The other place we surfed was not too good, just a weird little reef break in Bondi called Bronte, we didn't really surf for too long but had a really fun body surfing session in the beach break. The beach was so nice and clear, the water was like glass. So clear and pristine. The little cover there was so pretty. The sun is so hot down here though. Shelby and I went for a little run one day and it really wasn't that sunny and my face got a little crispy. I made sure to sun screen up before going down to the beach though, so no worries everyone. But I'm sure it really doesn't make a difference, considering the number of times I have been sun burnt this trip already (even though I wear my sunscreen!). But yea, the week with Shelby was really fun, we made some awesome meals. I came up with this veggie stir fry recipe in New Zealand staying with Andy and I have been making that a lot. Its mainly, asparagus, green beans, green and red peppers, mushrooms, leek, garlic, cucumber, some brown sugar, little butter and some olive oil and just cooking them till they are a little crispy. It's been a hit with everyone I have made it for, and I like it a lot. Probably going to make it tonight as well actually, along with this peppered ranch & feta chicken I came up with too. It's so much fun to go to the grocery stores in all these different places and looking at all the different things they have. The majority of the food is the same, but there are always different funny things they have. They eat a lot more lamb here, as well as in NZ, than we do at home. I had heard about lamb and mint being mixed together before, but never really had the urge to try and had some mint and lamb sausages not too long ago (in NZ actually) and they were pretty tasty. Shelby and I also made some other good stuff, but none of which compared to the pie shop pies he introduced me too. Potato, beef and cheese pies have to be the best tasting thing I have had so far. So tasty, at any hour of the day. I also got to do some exploring around the city of Sydney. Shelby had some business meetings in the city during the week and I would go with him and just wander around the streets. Big cities are all so similar to me, there are a few cool parts to each one, but nothing that exciting. The Sydney bridge and the Opera House where pretty trippy though. I haven't got a chance to check them out that closely yet, the closest I have gotten was on the ferry going from Manly to the city for Jess' birthday. We took this super ferry which was basically a massive speedy catamaran that just flew through the water.

So now I am up in Terrigal, staying with a friend of mine Adam. He set me up in an epic little basement room with a mini fridge and my own bathroom. A solid set up I must say, I am happy with it. Another friend of mine who lives up here as well, Ryan, had been down in Sydney with us the night before and gave me a ride up here. It had actually been Adam's birthday the week prior so he was having a birthday party the day we arrived up there. Needless to say, the party was a blast, everyone was pretty loose and had a good time. Terrigal seems to be a pretty cool place so far, some what similar to Laguna a little, without the Laguna people. I haven't really gotten to get too into the food here yet, I did have a food tragedy yesterday though. I was feeling a bit fuzzy from Adams party and walked down to grab a meat pie from the gas station (it's miraculous how good gas station pies are) and while walking back drinking my gatorade, my half eaten pie fell out of the wrapper and splattered on the ground. It was beyond recovery, believe me if it was like remotely savable, I would have picked it up, but it exploded on impact. It was pure heart break. I had too much pride to walk back and get a new one, I felt like i just had to live with my mistake.

Australia really isn't as scary as people made it out to be, when I got here I thought there was going to be huge spiders everywhere, being chased by crocodiles and sharks with snakes attacking me everywhere. But I have only seen a few spiders and nothing else really, and I hope it stays that way. An update though on the spider bite; all is well, my face still doesn't have all the feeling, and there is now about a 2 sq. inch area on my cheek/chin where I now cannot grow facial hair. Luckily I can still grow a mustache, but my dreams of ever having a handlebar stache and shot dead. Maybe some day it will grow back, but I am not going to get my hopes up.

Hopefully I will be able to update you guys again soon, but until then, wish me luck on avoiding all the messed up creatures here! Ciao.

ps. Here's the last of the pictures from NZ.. sorry I messed up before, but here is all of them.

Enjoy