I'm in Miami b*tch

The last few days have been a whirlwind!! We rolled into surfers paradise and I couldn't believe it, there were massive skyscraper right on the beach and it reminded me of Miami! We drove through the main downtown area before getting dropped off at our hotel. There were clubs everywhere, tons of shops and restaurants and sooo many people! 

We checked into our hotel and the room was SO nice! It was like a little apartment and it was huge and we had a balcony! I was with Rebecca, Gretchen, and Bianca. We called it our bahelorette pad haha! We got ready and walked into town to have dinner. We went to this place called noodle box which was like stir fry and stuff (kind of like Thai express from home) they had this little machine like an ATM where you choose what veggies and noodles and sauce you want then it prints out a receipt that you take to the counter! Too cool. We walked back to the hotel and ate dinner. 

We had free entry into this nightclub that night so we got all dressed up and had some drinks. I don't own any fancy clothes so I was wearing other girls clothes from head to toe haha we had some predrinks and hopped in a cab to the club. You have to be really fancy to go out in Gold Coast (no rubber thongs aka flip flops) so I really thought I would be so out of my zone but I ended up having a really good time! The club was insaaaaane! So many lights I felt like I was in that usher music video lmao! We danced so much and had drinks because they were on special for 4.50 lol 

Made it home at about 2am and hopped into bed! I had such a great sleep and rolled out of bed at 10am bahaha I was a bit "under the weather" as I put my bathers on and headed to brekkie. My friend will had rented a surfboard and we were going for a surf whooo! 

The beach was awesome but the waves were not so haha it was super windy and messy so I only went out for a bit. I did a massive nosedive epic wipeout and it was a bit too much for my sore tummy to handle lol so I just went for a dip instead haha 

That night we stayed in and ordered pizza and hung out because it was Carly's last night boooo! It was so fun though, we laughed so much! 

This morning we packed up and headed to currumbin wildlife sanctuary. It's a not for profit wildlife centre and animal hospital and it was absolutely amazing. We got our pictures taken holding koalas, and went into the kangaroo area and fed them and pet them and got tons of pics! I actually cried I was so so happy! We also saw tree kangaroos, crocodiles, an echidna, cassowaries and lots of birds and lizards! I have a few pics on my phone but tons on my camera so I'll post those when I get home! 

Now we are on our way to Byron bay and I CANT WAIT to get there!!!! It's a hippie beach surf town that I've been wanting to go to for a really long time and I think we're going to have so much fun!!! 

Missing everyone lots hope all is well! Lots of love xoxo

a bumpy ride

So I know I say that every day is amazing and epic, but Fraser Island was actually unreal! we stopped in this tiny town for lunch on the way and got a ton of beachy  accessories for the beach party that night! Headed over to Fraser on a ferry and took these buses up a massive hill to our Eco lodge. Bunk beds again whoo! 

We met everyone down at the beach to watch the sunset and have a few ciders. There was this guy playing guitar and singing and he was seriously good. The sunset was so beautiful! Then we went to  dinner at the restaurant by the beach and went back to our room to get ready. 

It was a beach party so we all wore floral and sandals and all kinds of beachy stuff. The bar was a stones throw from our room and it's called the dingo bar (since there are lots of dingoes on fraser island) there was also another contiki group there too so it was full of us haha! They were serving drinks in pitchers for $12 sooo we all got those and it was really yummy! We had so much fun dancing and having a few drinks with everyone. They played our day song which is the song they play everyday when we get on the bus. It's timber by Kesha, so catchy! We made up a little dance on the ferry over so that when they played the song we would all dance in unison haha it was so funny! We had such a fun night :) 

the next day we woke up and had brekkie and got on these maaaaassive 4x4 trucks to go driving around the sand dunes. Fraser is the worlds largest sand island it's basically a giant sand dune! It was seriously a bumpy ride!!! We stopped at a lake for a swim which was so nice and then had lunch. After lunch we drove to a rainforest walk. It was a 2km trail through the most epic rainforest with this cool freshwater creek running beside the trail. My mind was blown lol I took lots of pics on my camera so I'll post those when I get home! Some of the group saw a dingo but I missed him booo! 

After the rainforest, we drove along 75 mile beach. The waves were so beautiful and when we stopped for tea, the sand was so fine that it squeaked beneath your feet! How cool! The driver told us we couldn't swim because of the rips, there was no lifeguard and there are lots of sharks. So I was like hmmm margaret river basically? Lol I didn't go in but walked up to my knees so that was refreshing :) 

Then we took a ferry back to the mainland and headed for noosa! The hotel we stayed in was sooo nice! It was like little apartments and they had a laundry machine so that was great to be able to wash some of my clothes. I packed very lightly compared to most people, only a school bag that weighed 5 kilos so about 12 pounds and most people brought massive rolly suitcases haha it's pretty funny. 

After we checked in we went for dinner at the surf club which was so yummmyyyy and I had some sorbet for dessert. I'm definitely going to have to do a cleanse when I get home haha I've been eating so bad here! Hehe then the girls came over to our room and we had a pajama party and just hung out and chatted which was fun. 

This morning we checked out and headed into the town of noosa for some free time. We only had two hours so I didn't really have enough time to rent a board but I really wanted to, the beach was beautiful and there were some really good beginner waves especially for longboards! 

we walked around and looked at some shops and got a smoothie. It was super chilled out and reminded me of margaret river but bigger. I think noosa is definitely a candidate for where I might live on my second year visa I really enjoyed the few hours I had there! 

After noosa we got back on the bus and I realized that I had lost tallulah :( she's the coconut I found on that first day in cairns and I was carrying her around as a mascot for the trip. I had a sharpie and got everyone to sign but I don't know what happened to her waaaaah 

A tribute to tallulah... 

...more photos to come on Facebook lol 

We headed to Brisbane for a lunch stop and got some drinks for our night out tonight in surfers paradise! I'm writing this on the bus now and we are almost in surfers! Were here for two days and tomorrow and the next day I'm going to rent a surf board and give it a go! So excited!! 

Anyways we are hopping off the bus in a sec so gotta go! Missing everyone everywhere! Xoxoxo 

Beach bum to cow girl

Yesterday was amazingggg! We drove from airlie beach to rockhampton and a cattle farm in the bush! We were on the bus for about six hours so by the time we got there we were all ready to stretch our legs :) 

We all put on hilarious cow boy hats and went for a tractor ride. I got to pet a cow named sausage hahaha they raise Brahman cows on that farm and they have these weird bumps on their backs and huge ears! I think they look like the type of cows I see in pictures in India but I don't remember for sure. Either way they are sooo cute and I saw a few babies too! After the ride we climbed up this hill with the most amazing views and took tons of pics which are all on my camera so I don't have any to post here 

We had a big roast dinner in this hall they have with a bar and everything it was so nice! I obviously didn't eat meat lol but everyone said it was so good. I had lots of veggies and roast potatoes and stuff it was yummy! After dinner, we went outside to learn how to crack a whip!!! It was so hard and my wrist really hurt after and I didn't even make it crack lol a ton of people got it though, and some people even hit themselves and they have huge welts on their legs today! 

Then we went in and started karaoke! Oh my god it was hilarious. People were getting so into it, especially as the beers kept flowing pahaha a bunch of us sang the glee version of don't stop believin which was so fun and then I sang Jolene by Dolly Parton hehehe it was a blast! Went to bed at about 12:20 and fell asleep instantly I was so tired! 

Woke up bright and early this morning, ate brekkie and hopped on the bus. Now we are watching hangover 2 and cruising down the highway to our next stop which is Fraser Island! Ahhh I'm so excited! There is a beach party in the only bar on the island tonight and I'm already wearing my tie dye haha we are also doing a 4x4 tour of the island complete with stops at the lakes and lunch! 

So far this trip has been sooo fun! I've met some awesome people from all over the world (even Zimbabwe!) and done some really cool stuff I don't want it to end! Hope everything is good with everyone at home in canada and in Margs! Love you allll xoxoxox 

 

daydream believer

I am having so much fun on this trip! Yesterday we left cairns at 630am on our way to the whitsundays and daydream island. We were on the bus for about eight or nine hours so that was a solid road trip. We passed through Townsville and a few other random towns before we got to airlie beach. We also passed by some banana farms and it was really cool to see the trees with the bags over the bunches of bananas! On the bus they revealed our tour theme song which is Timber by Kesha haha I hadn't heard that song before until the night at the pub crawl, but it's pretty catchy actually! 

We waited for a ferry to daydream island. It was about a twenty minute ride there. It's such a small island with the resort being basically the only thing on it. I had no idea what to expect, but it ended up being AMAZING! 

The resort is so beautiful and they have these living reef pools with small sharks, corals, sting rays and a ton of colourful fish! 

We can see the pools from our room window, and also this other lovely view... It's not so bad haha

Then we went for dinner, this huge pizza and pasta buffet but they also had lots of salads (beet root YUMMM!) and they made me my own little gluten free vegan pizza so that was lovely! After dinner, we went for a walk and saw a wallaby! There are so many on this island and they are the cutest dang things I've ever seen. They are kangaroos' cousins and they basically look like small baby kangies! The ones on the island are so used to people they are just not phased when you walk up to them! He was just eatin grass and we patted him and tried to follow him and take selfies with him LOL

Like how cute is he?!?!?

Attempted selfie with me and that cutie lol

After that we went to the other side of the island and they had a huge movie screen that they play movies on every night on the beach! Kind of like cape mentelle movies in the vines, but on the beach :) we are going tonight! There is also another lagoon with fish corals stingrays and sharks! Tonight we are going to a fish feeding where you get to pick up a starfish and a sea cucumber! 

Went to sleep after that, we have bunk beds! I'm on the top bunk haha so fun! This morning we did a yoga class at 730 and had breakfast right after. Then we went to sit by the pool, went swimming and tanning. The pool was so nice and the water was amazing! You can't really swim in the ocean here at this time of year because of the box jellyfish so we stuck to the pool.

We went back to the room and had some snacks for lunch and then went to the beach for some water activities. They had catamarans, sea kayaks and stand up paddle boards but you had to book the catamarans in the morning so we ony did the other two. Both myself and Bianca (my roomie from Melbourne) were able to stand up on the boards! 

Another amazing thing happened to me... I SAW TURTLES!!!! I'd been hoping to see a turtle on the Great Barrier Reef but I didn't, so I made it my mission to see one here. I was just paddling along and then I noticed people gathered and pointing in the water. I asked if they saw a turtle and they said yes!!! I paddled so freakin fast over to where they were, I'm surprised I didn't fall off my paddle pad hahahaha 

Over the course of the next half hour, I'd seen sea turtles pop their heads out of the water to breathe at least five times, seen one swim underwater right in front of my board, and seen one surface and flap it's little flippers in the air (like he just don't care!) I literally cried when I saw it for the first time I couldn't have been any happier in that moment, it was so beautiful! I wish the photos did this place justice, it is so fantastic and I'm really sad to be leaving tomorrow. We are headed out to a cattle farm so while everyone is lassoing cows and learning how to crack whips, hopefully I'll be cuddling baby cows lol apparently someone said there is an option to sleep in a swag out there under the stars so I will most definitely be doing that if I can! 

Early start to the day tomorrow, it's going to be a good one! Much love to you all!! :) xoxo 

Welcome to the jungle!

soooo I'm here in cairns!!! It is fantastic. I got off the plane at 4am Friday morning, and the humidity hit me like a brick wall. I got the shuttle bus to my hostel and waited to check in. It ended up being a really nice hostel so clean and the rooms had epic air conditioning and a bathroom in the room! Very nice. I spent the day walking around and buying toiletries and stuff because I couldn't bring them on the plane since I didn't check a bag just brought my carry on. I also had to buy some new thongs (flip flops!) because I had worn a hole in my other ones haha besides my work boots those were the only shoes I've worn for almost five months lol

Cairns is a pretty big city and I was so overwhelmed because I'm so used to little Margs! I went into a shopping mall and was like whoa man, this is weird! There were so many clothes shops it was really hard not to buy anything haha I ended up finding this epic high waisted bikini with PINEAPPLES all over it! So naturally, I bought it haha so excited!

It's so different here, it's literally the rainforest it is so incredible the trees and flowers that are right in the city! You can't go in the ocean here because of box jelly fish and crocodiles eek! So that's also really weird for me because I pretty much go to the beach everyday in Margs. 

That night we had our pre trip meeting with the group. There were about 20 people which I thought was a good size, until the next day when another group joine us and now we have about 80 people!

I also got a call from Sarah that someone had put my car up on a jack and stolen one of the tires off it lol so random! I slightly freaked out and called my insurance to see if they could help but I don't have anything to cover that. I figured this was the universe helping me try to go with the flow so instead of stressing I said man, I'm on vacation on the other side of Australia right now. Shit happens but it's all going to work out! It helped me calm down, and I told my friends back in Margs about the situation and was overwhelmed with everyone's offers to help me. I am so lucky for all of my friends' kindness and a huge thank you to bry, Sarah and Emma for helping me! You guys gave me great peace of mind! And with that... I truly got into vacation mode :)

Saturday we went to the Great Barrier Reef!!! It is pretty much the only extra activity I'm doing since I don't have a huge budget to spend but I mean you obviously have to do the reef! We got on this huge boat at about 8am and it took 1.5 hours to get out to the reef. There were about 100 people altogether. When we got there they had this big covered platform set up with tables and a section with all the scuba and snorkel equipment and everything. I rented this Lycra stinger suit thing because of the jellyfish and I didn't want to get a sunburn as well. I looked pretty cool. Then I got my snorkel gear and hopped in the water. 

Seriously it was such an awesome experience! I've never seen anything more amazing in my whole life. The corals were so cool like all these different shapes and some were massive! The fish were so epic too like amazing colours and there was this huge one that came around. He is a Maori wrasse that lives in that area and the staff named him Wally. He is so friendly and swims right up to everyone. He is 1.5m long and about 60kilos according to the staff. I touched him!! 

Obviously that isn't me but it is Wally! They also did a fish feeding where this guy chucked little pieces of fish into the water and Wally and these really fast fish called trevelly came right onto the swimming platform where we were all sitting like they were right there! It was so cool! I took so many photos underwater but they are all on my camera and I'm writing this on my phone so I'll be sure to post them when I get home! But basically the reef looks like all the pictures you've seen. It is amazing!  We also got to take a glass bottom boat trip and a trip on a boat where the whole bottom is glass and you're sitting in the keel basically. It's called a semi submersible. It was very coooool! They also had guides during these trips to give you lots of information about the different types of corals and fish. I really wanted to see a turtle but I didn't see one.. That's ok I'm sure I'll see one before I leave australia! The day was amazing and it was great to get to know some of the people I'm on the trip with :) already made some friends! 

When we got back, I checked into the hotel and myself and the girls I'm sharing a room with all got ready for dinner. I also got peer pressured into going on a pub crawl hahaaaaa! It actually ended up being pretty fun. I was walking back from the bar with my friend Carly because we wanted to go home early while everyone went to one more bar, and we got really lost! I got home later than all the other girls haha everyone had to get up early today to go to activities but I didn't whooo! So I slept in, skyped with ness for a bit and now I'm going to get some snacks for our 12 hour bus ride to the whitsundays tomorrow! We're leaving at 5:45am! 

That's been it so far! I'm already having a lot of fun and meeting some really cool people. So great! Cairns is so beautiful and I'm sad to go but hopefully I'll be back one day!

Apparently our bus has wifi so I'll be able to update frequently :) missing everyone wish you could all be here!!! Xoxo

Happy new year!

In sticking with my grandmotherly ways, I have decided to stay in tonight on New Year's Eve and have a movie fest and a glass of bubbly :) I spent the last day of 2013 working at Cullen winery doing leaf plucking which was a great way to work on my tan and earn a few extra bucks for my trip! So excited! I leave on Thursday so I'm spending my day tomorrow packing my backpack (just bringing a small one) and organizing all my stuff. Hopefully I'll fit in a surf during the day as well! 

Since I had a lot of time to think today while I was clearing away leaves from the grapes up and down the rows, I had a good reflection about this past year. Conclusion = it was one of my best yet.

In fact, I think I kicked 2013's ass! I'm pretty proud of myself because I knew what I wanted, and worked my tail off to make it happen. I had a lot of firsts this year. I travelled further from home than I ever have in my whole life, bought a car off the internet (learning experience!) stayed in a hostel for the first time, learned how to go underwater without plugging my nose, got up on a surfboard, got smashed by waves and drove on the other side of the road without running anything over. I have met so many amazing people so far from all over the world and I've learned more about myself and the world in these last four months then I have in years. 

I am so thankful for all of these amazing experiences I've had so far and for all of the ones I know will be coming up in 2014! I love my life, I'm obsessed with this epic country and am so blessed to be able to go home for a visit and then come back for another year. 

This year wouldn't have been the same if it were not for getting back together with my long lost friend bryanna. Girl without you this trip wouldn't have been the same and probably wouldn't have happened in the first place! You're a huge inspiration to me to spread my wings, be independent and see where life takes me! Love you very much and I can't wait for the rest of our oz adventure together :)

This trip also wouldn't be the same without all of the support from my beautiful family and friends back home. All of your encouraging words helped me face my worries about leaving, and now that I'm here it's what keeps me going most days! Even though we are a world apart, to know that you guys are just a text message away when I need you (despite the 13 hr time difference!) makes me feel so lucky! I love you guys a lot and even if we don't talk very often, know that I think of everyone all the time! 

Just writing this fills me with so much gratitude for everything that has happened in the past year. I think it is so important to reflect on your experiences, goals and memories, not just at the end of the year, and send out some thankful vibes for everything we have been blessed with! We don't do that enough and I think that such a big part of being happy is reflecting and being thankful for what you have. 

So THANK YOU UNIVERSE for all that you have given me, this beautiful family, friends and experiences I am so lucky to have in my life. 

As for 2014, I am hoping to work on my surfing a lot, being less lazy aka start running, and try to make meditation and journaling a part of my everyday routine. Should be good. 

Much love to you all and a clean slate for 2014! Infinite X's and O's 

Soph 

Merry Christmas!!

Another year another Christmas gone by. This was definitely one of the most unique Christmas holidays I've ever experienced! First of all it was my first Christmas away from my family so that was weird and it was also my first Christmas on the beach!!!! I could get used to that haha ;) 

On Christmas Eve, I opened the presents that my mom had sent me. It was so fun to open gifts and I felt like my mom was right there with me! I got some cute crafts to do some chocolate, some drink mixes and a hello kitty watch haha my aunt and uncle also sent me a hello kitty tshirt which I love! It was pretty rainy and yucky out that day so I just stayed home and read books and chilled out. That night Sarah and I were going to go to cape mentelle to watch wizard of oz but it was a bit cold so we drove down to the beach with a blanket and watched the sunset 

Then we went to the store and bought ice cream (they have so good soy ice cream here it's amazing!) we went home, pushed our beds together, ate ice cream and watched home alone haha it made it seem more Christmasey for sure. I felt a bit like I was pretending because there was no snow, fireplaces, scarves or snowballs!!

Christmas morning I woke up and had ice cream and stollen for breakfast. Stollen is a German fruit cake traditionally eaten in the holiday season. I know it's not gluten free but it was vegan and it had marzipan in the middle how could I say no?! It also made me feel like home because we always have it at Christmas :)

We were packing up our esky (cooler) full of champagne and oj to go to the beach and our friend nat comes knocking with a huge present for me that bryanna sneakily wrapped and stashed before she left!! Wrapped in hello kitty wrapping paper (sense a trend? Haha) I was so excited oh mannn! She phoned me earlier in the morning to say merry Christmas and didn't even say anything about it! Sneaky Santa. She got me all kinds of cool stuff, a mask and snorkel, surf wax, candies, palmers cocoa butter lotion that I love!! It was so awesome and sweet of her to do that it made me smileeee! Sarah and I also exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve. I got her a cheese platter sort of as a joke because one day she said she hadn't had cheese in a long time because I don't eat it and she just doesn't really buy it much haha and she got me a disposable underwater camera which is so cool I'm taking it on my trip for sure!

Then we headed to redgate beach with nat and rick. I brought my board and rick brought a few of his. We had mimosas and crackers and dip and it was a perfect beachy day! We were hanging out and who showed up but another group of our friends! Maria Nathan Mel and Antoine joined us and we all went surfing and swimming and it was just so nice! There were a lot of people at the beach and some guys were surfin in Santa hats haha

After the beach nat, rick, Sarah and I had a BBQ for late lunch. There was so much food it was delish!! I ate so much I pretty much just rolled into bed after and chilled out for the rest of the night. All in all I had a really great Christmas! Although it was very different because of the climate and that I wasn't with my family, it was very special nonetheless! 

On Boxing Day I drove to busselton to get a new digital camera because my "waterproof" one wasn't so waterproof after all haha I got another waterproof digital one but the sales guy told me he has only heard good things about that model. Since I'll be snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef in less than one week, I figured it would be a good choice! I'm so used to living in a small town now, I got a bit anxious being in busselton! I forget what it's like driving on multi lane roads and paying attention to streetlights since Margs doesn't have that stuff haha the store was absolutely packed as well! I got in and got out as fast as I could! Then I headed to smiths to meet the girls for a surf. It was massive and we kept getting smashed by these huge waves! I kept jumping under but the wave would pull my board (and therefore me) back in to shore. By the tenth wave I was so tired I had to take a break! 

Friday I had a full day of work in the vineyard at devils lair which was great for some extra money. Friday night Sarah and I drove to busselton to see anchorman 2 (Margs doesn't have a movie theatre) it was so funny omg they had a part with a "Canadian news team" and they were so full of stereotypes always saying sorry and eh and carrying around hockey sticks. Sarah and I laughed so hard and we were the only ones laughing hahahaaa it was hilarious! 

So that's been my last little while. Everything's great, leaving in 5 days yahoo! Don't really know what I'm doing for New Year's Eve but it's all good. Probably not too much because I'm trying to save moneyyy! 

Hope everyone had an amazing Christmas spent with family friends and loved ones! Have an amazing New Year's Eve, hope you all get to kiss someone cute! ;) 

Missing everyone a lot, I'll be sure to update lots here and on Facebook while I'm on the east coast! 

Lots of looovvvveeeee!!! 

Xo

Soph