27 March 2012

Yes I Know, I Have Horrible Blogging Skills


    Well this is quite the overdue blog post. Things have been quite a whirlwind since I left Sydney, both good and bad, and every time I sat down to write a post I didn't even know where to begin. 
    Last I left off I was ready to depart for a tour of Kangaroo Island and The Great Ocean Road, so I suppose I will begin there. After spending a day in Adelaide (which was all I really needed there) I was picked up at the crack of dawn to make the long drive and ferry ride over to Kangaroo Island. Over the course of two days our tour guide drove us through basically the entire southern coast of the island. Yes, I saw lots of kangaroos (as well as ate some for lunch one day, which was surprisingly fairly good), as well as koalas, echidnas , lizards and wallabies--but I didn't eat those! I also took a crack at sand boarding and kayaking. The tour group itself was a disappointment, mostly comprised of older Germans who refused to speak English (as I have learned seems to be the unfortunate trend in Australia among the abundance of German travelers), as well as a group of 4 Irish siblings who decided off the bat that they wanted nothing to do with my friend and I. Fortunately I did the tour with a friend I had met in Sydney, and we had a fabulous time together goofing off, enjoying ourselves, and not really being bothered by the other lame tour-goers :) 
     Following the two days on Kangaroo Island, my friend Stacey and I were again picked up at the crack of dawn to make the trip along the Great Ocean Road from Adelaide to Melbourne. Luckily this tour group was filled with many more young travelers, and Stacey and I immediately fell into a group of really amazing people. Ironically enough the 4 Irish siblings were on this tour as well. Their first priority was to inform everyone on the tour group what awful people Stacey and I were (mind you they didn't speak one word to us on Kangaroo Island). But as these things tend to go, people were generally turned off by their harsh cattiness and didn't think twice about befriending Stacey and I. The Great Ocean Road mainly consisted of a lot of driving, a lot of stopping to look at rocks in water, one absolutely amazing hike up the Grampians and a lot of late nights bonding over copious amounts of wine & beer. But minus the little sleep I got, and the 630am wake up calls I painfully struggled through, I had an amazing time. 
    After driving the entirety of the Great Ocean Road I arrived in Melbourne. I was immediately excited for a fresh start in a new city, and a lot of my friends from the Great Ocean Road stuck around in Melbourne for about a week so I got to continue having some fabulous times with them. Unfortunately though, the first hostel I stayed at in the center of the city was awful. The people were so unfriendly, the bathrooms were horribly dirty and it was in a pretty awkward location in relation to the center of the city. Luckily I tried to spend as little time as possible in the hostel, but the negative vibe from the hostel really began to wear me down. It's hard to explain how a hostel could have such a huge impact on your trip to a city, but as a solo traveler hostels are the main source I have for meeting people, especially without a job. And as I began to spend more time staying in the hostel I just got more and more lonely as I tried to figure out what I wanted to do with my time in Australia. Nothing seemed to be falling into place as I wanted it to anymore, and I just started to feel really lost. 
     A few days into my time in Melbourne, I got an email from my program office about hospitality job openings in Perth. I had never even considered going to Perth, but the opportunity seemed like something I should explore so I sent off my resume. I was instantly asked to set up a Skype interview and from there I was offered the job on the spot. The job is a 3-6 month position as a barista at the Rydges Hotel that pays really well and will give me consistent hours. I think the lack of stability combined with the constant confusion of what I really want to do here has started to drag me down, so I am hoping this job will give me some stability and a sense of purpose each day.
      I decided to spend another week in Melbourne before I left for Perth, but at a different hostel a little bit outside of the city in Melbourne's beach town of St Kilda. While the hostel was better then the previous one, I still didn't love it. Part of that may have entirely been me. I think once I decided to go to Perth I just kind of gave up on trying in Melbourne. Which in hindsight I think means I probably spent a little too long in the city. I think another component is my utter exhaustion with living in hostels. I have been staying in them for two months now, living out of a suitcase, and I am honestly sick of it. I just want my own space and my own home and a much more stable life with some stable friends. 
     So here I am, in Perth, crossing my fingers that a new city with a new job will help me get out of this funk I've slipped into. I never came to Australia to be a backpacker jumping from one place to the next on my own, and I am still not sure that that's even what I want to do. But in Perth I won't necessarily be a backpacker anymore and I can try out the living and working thing, which was always my plan from the beginning. I am trying to go there with an open mind and just let whatever comes to me come. But I also know Perth won't necessarily be the answer to the hard times I've been having. And maybe nowhere in Australia will be. But all I can do is give this opportunity a chance, and see what comes from it, and go from there. So stay tuned. At the very least I expect Perth to clear my head a little and give me more a sense of what I want from this trip and from this stage of my life. And I guess I'll just have to wait and see what comes next.

    And of course, a few pictures to add to all the million words I just threw at you :)









04 March 2012

For Those of You Not on Facebook...

Just thought I would post a few more photos of what I have been up to in Sydney. They are all on Facebook, but for those who aren't friends with me on facebook (or don't use facebook) I thought you might enjoy a few visual pieces of entertainment with me and some amazing Aussie animals :D




Not much else to report as of now. Today is my last day in Sydney, and then I am off to start my next adventure tomorrow. I am definitely excited for a change of scenery, a new place to explore and new people to meet! Once I get all settled into Melbourne, and after my trip along the Great Ocean Road, I will update a post with pictures and details about my latest adventure!