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.
