technical difficulties

so yesterday we had a mission: go bring my car to the mechanic and then go to supre and buy pants and sweaters. we were both going to drive so that once i dropped my car off, we could just hop in bry's and be on our way to the store. did it work out that way? of course not! lol

we drove to the first mechanic and i was feeling pretty good about driving actually! we parked and they said they had no room to look at my car today. on the way out, one guy came out and told bryanna that her car was leaking coolant. wtf, this definitely did not happen yesterday! so we continued on and found a midas.

i did basically the dumbest thing, i went in and was like omg i bought this heap yesterday, i don't know what i'm doing i know nothing about cars please help me. HAHA dumb. but the guys seem ok and said they would take a look, not do anything yet and we wouldn't have to pay so we left our cars there and walked back into town (40 min walk but it was a beautiful day!) then we got back, ate a wicked lunch of indian food and ended up taking the free cat bus to supre, which is this really cheap clothing store and its amazing. i got some pants and a sweater so thats good cause it's cold!

got back to the hostel and had a nap. bry was woken up by her phone, it was midas. they continued on to give us the shit list of what is wrong with our cars. hers is some sort of belt or something, and mine is a ton of holes/leaks in the exhaust and head engine or something that basically the cops would pull me over for and put a yellow sticker on the car aka not road worthy. COOOOOOOOOL. they said i got ripped off on buying the car and it was definitely not worth the 1100 that i paid for it. ooops. well, good thing we negotiated, she was asking 1600! hahaa no. 

so we basically freaked out for a while, i thought about buying a ticket home, etc etc. lol then we decided to go for a drink with bryanna's friend anthony who lives here in freo. he's super nice and we talked about surfing and how awesome australia is lol he said that he would come with us to the mechanic tomorrow (aka today) take a look at the mechanics report and help us out with deciding what to do. this is a huge relief because i literally know nothing about cars, except for what my step dad emailed me back when i told him about the weird noises lol so that made me feel quite a bit better. and worse comes to worse, i sell the car, lose out on a few hundred dollars and learn a lesson about buying used cars off gumtree lol not the end of the world. DRAMA!

anthony also said he would take us surfing this weekend! i'm seriously super scared slash excited but with bryanna and him in the water with me i think it will make me feel a lot better about it. ahhh sharks, stay away! lol

so that's the update with me. just waiting for anthony to come pick us up to head to the mechanics and see what they say :S taking it one step at a time haha so it looks like we will be staying here at this hostel for at least one or two more nights, which is alright. it will all work out and will be a funny story to tell later on down the road :P

i'll keep you guys updated on the situation! :)
looooove
soph xoxo

bye bye hostel

today feels like it was 5 days in one. i was so busy today it was crazy! i woke up and had two bowls of cereal for breakfast, packed an apple and checked out of the hostel. luckily, they had a locked area where i could leave my bags until 6pm, when i was due to walk over to my couchsurfing host's house. that was so so helpful! sundancers is a great hostel, i enjoyed my stay there and met some very nice people :) i think if i were big into partying it would have been more my style, but it was still awesome and i can see why people live there long term!

i was walking around and realized that it was friday aka the markets were on! so i made my way over there and holyyyy what an awesome place! it reminded me of st lawrence market in TO but more spread out i'd say. the smells of all that yummy food cooking was so hard for me to walk away from lmao! there were so many wicked cool stalls with clothes, shoes, knick knacks and anything you could imagine! fresh squeezed juices, handmade candles, fruits and veg, crystals, jewellery, hair wraps, you name it, you could probably find it there. (including pink sparkly cell phone covers mckenzie!) 

the colours of everything were so awesome and just great energy all around! i bought a few things, some new patches for my backpack and a fremantle beanie! i love it, it's like my version of nick's women's confidence trenchcoat on new girl. i feel so legit wearing it and i never want to take it off! 

ps look how weird the aussie money is! the 50 cent coins are seriously massive its so insane!

then walked around a bit more and saw a koala bear! it was from a petting zoo, and you had to pay money to pat him which reeeeeally sucks because i wanted to cuddle it but im so cheap lol what a little cutie. 

then i headed back down to the harbourfront, deciding to go further to find the maritime museum. i walked by bathers beach and into this cool art house gallery thingie, which had some very interesting art with super high price tags. there was also this installation thing where you had to lay down and look up at projections, but i didn't see it because there were people on the benches already and i didn't want to wait around. 

so i headed onwards to victoria quay. and guess what i stumbled upon? MORE MARKETS! haha it was so funny. so i walked through those and it turns out i had already passed the museum. on my way back i stopped in at a dive shop to inquire about padi courses. we chatted about spearfishing as well, which bryanna wants to try when we are in margs, and it seems like an interesting hobby that lost of australian people do on their spare time. they go out on their boats and then do the spearfishing, and then spend the rest of the afternoon cooking up their catch, chowing down and having a few beers. all in all, sounds pretty sweet to me! 

on the way back, i see this huge submarine which made me think of my dad! these photos are for you dad :)

i head over to the museum, but the admission was 10 dollars, and being the cheapo that i am, i decide to pass on it for now. i head back to bathers beach and sit down for a bit and eat my apple. then i head back to town and see what else i can find. on the way in, i see these two tiny bunnies just chilling in the park. i couldn't even believe it! they were so super cute! i tried to get close to them but they just ran away lol so i kept on movin. at this point, ramen noodles weren't sounding too appealing to me, so i went to this takeout place called ali babas and had a falafel and chips. it was seriously good. then i stumbled into the cutest little hippie shop with all these amazing pairs of harem pants aka sophie onesies (they even had ones that were made from a heavier material that would be so so warm! i was tempted). i ended up talking with the shopkeeper for a while. she was watching her adorable little baby girl who had a bindi on her forehead. omg i wanted to scoop her up she was so cute!

this lady had two girls and two boys and they were all going to tasmania in november to rent a campervan for a while and drive around, and then settle in a house in hobart. she was such a nice person to talk to. we talked about my love for vw vans and how she used to  have a 1977 white vw kombi. i showed her the patch i got for my backpack and she loved it! across the way from that store was this store for kids that was all these amazing beautiful fairy and mermaid tutu dress costumes, and little flower crowns, and roses and sparkles and just every beautiful thing you could imagine! they do kids birthday parties and had some pictures of all these little girls dressed up in the outfits. omg i really wanted to wear some of those dresses haha they were awesome! 

i continued on, and i stumbled into a vintage store. there are so many in freo its crazy! i was looking for another sweater (a jumper its called here) because i was literally SO freezing cold. i didn't quite find anything i wanted (or that was in my price range) so i went next door to salvation army where everything was 50% off. i found a knit sweater but it looked better on the hanger than on me, so i left it. then i walked over to coles (grocery store) because i wanted to try custard. it looks like pudding but i dont even know what it is, it just looks good. but they don't sell it in individual sizes, so i guess i'd settle for ANOTHER BAG OF TIM TAMS! luckily, they make snack size bags which have 5 cookies in them, so i got that. i got honeycomb flavour. i don't know what the heck that is, but a lot of things here are honeycomb flavour. and for good reason, because it is delicious! so i head back to the hostel with my new treat and hit up gumtree looking for jobs/surfboards etc etc. just to kill time until it was time to walk to my host's house. 

around 6 i pack up all of my bags and hit the road. the walk was supposed to take about 25 minutes, but i took more like 35 because i got a teensy bit lost, and my bag was so heavy. like this was the worst walk of my life. i felt like i was going to throw up thats how much my back and shoulders were hurting. so bad. i ended up walking past the side street i was supposed to turn down. then it started to rain. COOL. eventually i made it, and met john. he is a very nice guy who lives in a cute house with a lemon tree. we went over the formalities, had a cuppa tea, and he went on his way to a concert he is going to tonight. by this time, i was/am so knackered that i just went upstairs and set up my bed. since that time, i've been writing this, talked on the phone with my mama and now i might read a bit and go to bed. i did so much today and am so pooped from carrying that darn bag, who knows what time i will sleep until tomorrow! 

don't know what i'll do tomorrow, maybe go see the markets again, or actually visit the maritime museum. either way, i'm going to bundle up for sure! 

that was my day today! missing everyone lots and thinking of you 

XOXO soph

PS jess they have an elizabeth's second hand bookstore here too!

storm chaser

today was my second full day in australia, and i just wanted to say that tim tams are a gift from the heavens. i already knew how delicious they were because i'm pretty sure i ate one once before, but holy jeeze. i am bringing a backpack full of them home with me, it's already been decided. and there are so many flavours i have to try them all! i just got original to start with haha

 

today i woke up around 9 or 930 i believe. everyone in my room was sleeping, so i felt sort of bad rooting around in my bag to get stuff, but i wasn't going to sleep in too long and waste my day! yesterday i had decided that i wanted to try and find a gym that did three day passes, goodlife style, so i could work out! gaaah been missing it a lot! so i went downstairs and had some cereal and did some investigating. 

i found one, on recommendation of a guy i met from the uk called jett fitness, and i checked out the website and they do three day passes yesss! i also could get there on the free Blue CAT bus (which is actually orange what the heck). i know, i know, a bus called CAT and the logo is a cat. this place is made for me!

so i grab all my gym and shower stuff and make my way to the bus stop. sweet, i get off at my stop and promptly forget where i have to walk, so i just make it up as i go. lo and behold i find that i'm on the right road! now i just have to figure out how to cross a roundabout... cool. looked left then right, AHH almost get hit by a car. oops you have to look right then left here, i forgot lol

ok, made it to the gym, pull the door open. doesn't open. a girl comes up beside me and beeps open the door with her access card. so basically, this gym is like snap fitness at home where there are only staff around for a few hours per day, and i had missed them my half an hour! ugggghhhh so mad. so i begin the 2.9km walk home. at this point, there are black clouds around the city, but i'll be darned if i went all this way and didn't get any excercise, so i take off my fleece jacket, put on my windbreaker and cover up my little backpack with the huge raincover that i randomly brought. and i start joggin'. 

sooner than later, i have to stop because not only do i suck at jogging as you all know, but i'm also carrying a 15 or 20lb bag on my back. this sucks! the wind is blowing seriously so hard, and the ocean (i'm right beside south beach) is looking really stormy. it's quite awesome actually! so i make my way over to the path beside the beach and continue my jog.
earlier in the day, the english guy who i had met and i were discussing the various things in australia that could kill you. apparently, his roommate had found a silvery sort of transparent spider in his bed, yes, his bed, the week earlier. SWEET. so now i had creepy crawlies on my mind, and im running on this path beside all of these wicked cool trees and vegetation, but i'm just picturing scary snakes and stuff jumping out at me... so that was freaky! i continue on until i get to the harbourfront. 

i really felt like i was in halifax. all the ships were there, the same smell, and boy was it windy! i was pretty hungry by that time, and honestly, a bowl of cereal was not going to cut it. i really wanted fish and chips. so, being the worst vegetarian everrrrrrr, i caved. i mean, how many times are you going to be in australia eating fish that was caught like 1 hour ago? YOLO. i sent my thanks to mother nature and the beautiful fish i was about to eat for giving me energy and life, and then i dug in. sorry guys, i had to. and omg it was good. like maybe even better than the fish and chips i've had in nova scotia (sorry homeland). i was so full, but i made sure i ate every single fry because that shizz cost me 18 dollars. and i didn't end up having dinner, thats how full i was! 

best garbage can EVER

i wrapped myself back up in all of my layers and was about to trudge home, and i spotted the western australian museum shipwreck galleries. y'all know i cant resist a museum!!! so of course, i head inside. 

this place was seriously SWEET. they had so many artifacts, including a working engine from a ship that had been underwater for over 100 years, called the Xantho. they were working on restoring it, and have been working at it for 20 years, but they were able to restore it, and it even runs! they also had so much cool stuff from ships from the dutch west india trading company who had shipwrecked in western australia in the 1600s! like bits of porcelain, pipes, whole plates, jugs, coins, even some textiles. also, there was a section of the hull of this ship called the Batavia, which was sailing to Indonesia with supplies in the 1600s and was wrecked off the coast of WA. i didn't quite get the whole entire story, but somehow, a lot of the people who survived the wreck ended up being murdered, i'm pretty sure by the captain or something! it was crazy. they had a full skeleton that they found, of one of the very first europeans to land in WA. man, the size of this thing was amazing! it was in it's own separate room, and they had a video playing of the process of salvaging all of the things they found. i must have watched it for 45 minutes and it was still going, but i had to move on because there was so much more to see! in another exhibit, they had some of the native animals that were stuffed to demonstrate what the dutch people would have seen when they landed, including a cutie lil quokka!

that one's for you dad!

part of the recovered hull of the Batavia

some artifacts from a ship from the 1600s

pile of coins and burnt wood

ship's bell. HAHA (billy, nat, chris)

QUOKKA!

all in all, i basically stayed at that museum for at least 3 hours it must have been. i was so happy, i love that kind of stuff! the whole time i was there, i heard the wind and rain howling outside and i wasn't too keen on heading out into that. but i had to get back! so i put on my extra sweater, and tied my hood tight around my head, i obviously looked super cool. it actually wasn't that cold and only rained for a few minutes. the walk back was very quick! by the time i got home, i was so tired i just wanted to sleep, but i didnt because i dont want to mess up my sleeping schedule. i had a shower, because i was pretty sweaty from jogging and wearing all those layers. then i read a lot of my game of thrones book. i attempted to repack my bag, don't know how i'm going to do it without mum! haha tonight is my last night at the hostel, and tomorrow i begin my couchsurfing adventure! check out time is 10am, but i'm not leaving for my host's house until about 6 or 615. luckily they have a room where i can leave my bags locked up until it's time to go. the markets start tomorrow, but i think i'm going to save that and go on saturday. tomorrow i will probably just walk around on the other side of town that i haven't visited yet, maybe go check out the prison tour, who knows? :) also, today i walked past a salvation army, so that made me super stoked for when i have money and can buy clothes! all i need is a value village too and i'd be set haha

so that was my day. i'm pretty boring by hostel standards, but i'm just doin what i do, and i am having a great time! so that was today! and as i time travel forward into friday, while it's still thursday for you guys, just know that i'm thinking about all of you and miss you guys so much! everyone come visit!!! maybe wait until summertime though, it's cold now haha <3

lots of LOVE
soph

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

one month....

yep, i really did have to go there. the hair, that tan, those shorts. . . so majestic. this video is cheesier than a grilled cheese sandwich made on cheese bread, sprinkled with parmesan cheese, but i feel this is the only example i can find of the expression of my feelings of excitement. i mean, that dude is serious about flying off into space! 

as i start this post at 12:07 am on july the 11th (obviously a little eager about the one month mark) i just don't even know what to feel/say anymore. i am sending out an apology to everyone i work with, and all of the members at our gym who come in and hear about my trip on a daily basis, whether they want to or not haha. i just can't stop talking about it. i have almost everything i need now, just waiting for my new laptop case and plug adapter to come in the mail. my uncle gave me a ton of epic survival supplies including 4 bags of glowsticks, so obviously i was delighted. i am now pretty much equipped to camp out in the desert, start a fire in the rain, survive subzero temperatures, signal a plane passing overhead... and open a bottle of beer with my multi tool (gotta keep the priorities in mind LOL) 

i am getting pretty sad about leaving all of you guys though. thankfully, a bunch of my friends from toronto are coming up next weekend and all my friends and fams are getting together for a farewell/birthday bbq. text me for the deets ;) i am very very much looking forward to that. time is going by so fast it is actually crazy! i don't know if it's just because i have this aug 11th date in my head, or if it's normal, but it feels like just a few days ago that i bought my plane ticket! exciting stufffff! 

so far for the rest of my time here, i have some friend time scheduled, my bbq, a cottage weekend, and a few girls days with my momma (thinking about going to le nordique!) i'm going to be working right up until i leave, probably til the 9th, so i can see all of my morning ladies one last friday morning :) other than that, i will just be doing the gym thing, chilling at home and hanging out at the lake with my fam. gotta save as much as i can! my travel insurance ended up costing a bit more than i thought, so it affected my budget a little bit :P gotta have it though!

i also booked my first three nights stay at a hostel in a suburb of perth called fremantle. i will be staying in the sundancer backpackers hostel it looks sooo chill! also this town looks amazing. they have this wicked market on the weekend with tons of local arts and crafts, fresh produce and handmade soaps and stuff. like the carp farmers market x 100 lol! i'm also planning on doing a daytrip to rottnest island. it's a short ferry ride from freo, and the island is small enough that they offer bike rentals so you can bike around! there is also apparently really good snorkeling and surfing there too. and there's these lil guys....

quokkas! they are these adorable little furry animals, about the size of a cat, and they always look like they are smiling!

when i first heard about them, i knew they were in australia, but i didn't know where. imagine my excitement when i found out that they live right on this island super close to where i am going to be!!! i'm definitely not leaving freo before i see one haha so cutee!

our plans are pretty up in the air from there. we might head down to margaret river, or maybe to a little town a bit more south east called denmark. either way, my goal is to get my 88 days of regional work done right away so i am eligible for a second year visa if i want one. then i want to travel around a bit and come back in january for the grape picking season! but really, who the heck knows what will happen? and that's the excitement of it all! 

anyways, i'm going to hit the hay. thanks for reading and supporting me on this crazy journey! love you guys lots! 

peace and good vibes <3
soph