that time you travelled and everything went right...

you know how you read travel blog posts of horrible flights, difficult customs officers, delays and lost baggage? well, you will be reading none of that today. my 30+ hour trip halfway around the world went off without any major glitches. also, my jet lag isn't so bad as i write this (knock on wood) at 6:45pm australian time, which is 6:45am in my head. 

this adventure starts off at the ottawa airport. the guy at the check in put my bag in a big plastic bag, added the bag tags and then it was time to say goodbye to my mum and wayne. obviously it was going to be hard. i definitely balled pretty much from the time i woke up that morning, almost to the time i boarded my flight. but then it hit me that i was going to australia and i was stoked! flight to toronto was simple. tried to skype with ness and victoria when i got there, as i had a 2.5 hour layover, but it was all  blurry. iMessaged with a lot of people nonetheless, so that was great! i bought a yummy kale salad and had a cliff bar while i waited to fly to lax.

that flight sort of sucked because all i ate for 5 hours was a bag of pretzels lol as we were getting ready to land, all you could see was this city, it just went on and on and on! i'm 99% sure i saw the hollywood sign in the far distance, but i couldn't be positive. this airport was seriously massive. i walked over to to the international terminal. there were palm trees! i walked right through an animal rights protest that was in front of the entrance doors to the check in area of south china airlines. it was protesting testing on primates in china. i pretty much wanted to join in, but i didn't want to be late! it was super weird because you could just sense the american-ness. i don't know if that sounds rude, i'm really not trying to be. basically what i mean is that you really realize those stereotypes of canadians are true when you go to america! 

i went through the security, bought a 14 dollar sandwich and went to hang out at my gate and use the wifi. my stupid soap container leaked in my carry on, so i spent a good 20 minutes cleaning that sucker out! haha then it was time to board the flight to melbourne. uggggh 16 hours. by this time it was 1130 so it was dark which was nice. this is when i started hearing people with australian accents! not going to lie, i love it :) i plopped down in my seat right near the massive wing (the captain said you can park 70 cars on each one!) there was an empty seat beside me, and then another girl. we ended up talking a bit, she was super nice! she lived in canada a bit before on a working visa, so it was neat that she knew some stuff i was talking about. the seat in between us stayed empty which was nice to have that extra space. that plane was seriously huge. i was in row 70 of 88! 3 on one side, 4 in the middle, and 3 on the other side. whoa. pretty soon after we took off, they served dinner. they remembered my veggie meal which was nice! pasta with sauce, a small salad and a roll. after i finished, i put my eye mask on, snuggled in a blanket and went to sleep! i woke up about 6 or 7 hours later and watched some episodes of new girl! lots more sleeping, some brekkie and then we got there! not going to lie, i only stood up and walked around once haha so lazy. i did a lot of those sitting exercises though so it was fine. went through customs there, they brought around a cute black lab drug dog haha then i went to double check that since i already had my boarding pass i would be good to go, and the lady said there was an earlier flight and did i want to switch? yes please! that cut my layover down from 4 hours to 1. i just had to recheck my bag. thank god for that plastic bag or i'm pretty sure my bag would have been toast! it was ripped to shreds. ah well, thanks air canada! 

this flight from melbourne to perth was 4 hours, but i think it was actually the hardest one. by that point i just wanted to get there, knowing that i was already in australia, but not really "in" it ya know? haha. so, this is where qantas kicks air canadas ASS. 4 hour domestic flight = full meal, 2 rounds of drinks and a snack before landing. take that sucky air canada 5 hour flight across the US. ihatechu. so yes, if anyone ever has the chance to fly qantas, do it! they didn't get my veg meal here, but obviously that's because i switched flights. i reached perth, grabbed my backpack and headed to the freo shuttle which would take me right to the front door of my hostel.

i find the shuttle stop, and ask the guy directing traffic for info. apparently, the freo shuttle didn't operate anymore. they need to change that on the website! lol basically, what i did was take the perth shuttle to the train station ($15) and then take the train ($4.20) which was basically like an aboveground subway. i saw the ocean! but sadly, no kangaroos. that will be my mission for tomorrow. i found the hostel easily enough from the freo train station. it was a nice walk, and i can already tell that i enjoy this town. there were palm trees too! it was a breezy 15 degree winters day, sun shining and crows cawing as i walked towards my hostel. i head in and look for the reception counter... "it's behind the bar!" one guy yells towards me. hmm... okay... so i head back to the bar counter and check in. i pay 81 dollars for 3 nights and a 10 key deposit. i head up the stairs to my room. the door is open, with the key in the lock... 

i walk in and there are 3 bunk beds. stuff is EVERYWHERE. like people have been living here for weeks. and i'm sure that's the story actually. of course im on the top bunk, so i throw all of my bags up there and clamber up the railings to have a seat. it is everything you imagine a typical hostel to be. dirty, loud and not seeming too organized. i'm not super stoked on the situation, generally overwhelmed, very very tired, and feeling pretty alone. not long after, two of my new roomies show up. i meet cara and julia from italy. they have been here for one week and are trying to get better at english. we chat and decide to go grab some food. this hostel has a communal kitchen, and as i have no food yet, the girls offer to share their toast and nutella with me. this is starting to feel better. i need to buy food though! so i head out..

i find a woolworths grocery store and stock up on things that dont need to be refrigerated. i bought a few cans of beans, some apples, some soups and a box of cereal. i spent about 20 which isn't too bad. i have a feeling i'm going to get skinny here because i'll only be eating like twice a day haha i walk back from the grocery store, stopping in at rip curl and a few surf stores along the way and chatting with some people. i get back and spot a guy giving another guy a tattoo in the common area. casual. college rez flashback, eh guys? haha! then i am ready to shower (can't go to bed yet, it's only 530pm!) surprisingly, the showers are clean and have nice warm water :) of course, as soon as i start to unpack my things to find my pajamas, i can't fit it all back in. my mum is a packing wizard. so now i have 3 full bags and no space to put them. i'm really really ready to go to sleep, but im going to try to push it until 9pm. luckily i have my GoT books to finish, so i'll do that as i am serenaded by beyonce at eardrum shattering levels, and the sounds of drinking games being played in multiple languages in the bar below. tonight's sleep will be brought to you by melatonin pills and earplugs. even as i write this, new girls come in and see if the two empty beds are taken. and with that, i don't feel so new anymore.

tomorrow, i'm not going to set any alarms, partly because i don't know how to use my watch, and partly because i want to see what time i wake up naturally. i may go for a run, but i'm definitely going to check out the beach, and see about setting up a bank account and getting a SIM card for my phone :) 

life's good so far down unda! now just waiting for bryanna to come join me... 6 days! i feel like when i have a good night's sleep under my belt, i'll be able to embrace the hostel experience with a new outlook, it was just a lot to take in after travelling for 30 hours! i've already met some lovely people and i'm sure there are plenty more for me to meet in my next two days here! after that... it's time to couchsurf! 

miss everyone a ton! love you lots and once i get adjusted to the time change, we can set up skype times with everyone :) 
peace love and KANGAROOS!
soph