On The Road Again

Thursday evening was my last night in Drayton Valley. It was nice, I made dinner for Des and we just hung out because on Friday morning I was leaving for Calgary on the greyhound. I came to Alberta 2 weeks before I was scheduled to start work at the camp so that I could have some time to visit and hang out with family and friends. My first stop was Drayton for a week, and then I planned on spending a week with my cousin Amy in Calgary. So Friday morning I set off from Drayton with all my gear in tow to catch the greyhound. A few days before I went and bought my ticket so that I just had to walk down to the Husky and hop on the bus. I made it to the Husky a few minutes early and took a load off to wait for the bus. When I was sitting there a little white bus pulled up and I payed no attention to it, seeing as it was a tiny bus and it didn't say Greyhound on the side. Then the gas station attendant came out and told me that was the bus I was waiting for. I gathered my stuff and headed over to the bus. When the driver opened the door I asked him if it was the Greyhound to Edmonton, and indeed it was.

It should be noted that Drayton Valley is located southwest of Edmonton and northwest of Calgary. So in order to take the greyhound I actually had to go up to Edmonton first, transfer, and then head back south to Calgary. This entailed a 6 1/2 hour bus travel to my destination, which is actually longer the flight from Halifax across the country!

So I hopped on the bus, gave the driver my ticket and got settled for the first leg up to Edmonton. My first impression of the driver was that he was a bit of a grump, he probably wouldn't talk to me much, and that I could just chill with my headphones in or maybe sleep for the 2 hours it takes to get to Edmonton. Boy was I wrong! The bus driver was actually very chatty, and in the end I felt maybe it was the best choice to stay alert during this leg. I was the only passenger on the bus and the bus driver didn't put me at ease. He started out chatting about general things, the weather, my travel, etc. Then he started to freak me out a bit. You know when you just get a bad feeling about someone? The heebs? This guy gave me a serial killer vibe. We passed a truck that he normally passes on his route and he was talking to me about he sees a lot of the same trucks and things on his route. He also told me about a woman he sees jogging on his route in great detail, and how she probably doesn't even know he sees her everyday. Then he turned his attention to me. He asked "So, is your family going to miss you while you are away?" I told him of course, I talk to my mother regularly, and lots of people know where I am........even right now. Then he said, "So you must not have time for a boyfriend with all that travel? Maybe a few one night stands, but no boyfriend. Haha" This time my hair cut came in handy, I just rubbed my buzz cut and said, "Oh no, I don't do that either." Then we had to make our first stop in a small town. I was already freaked out because of his demeanour and weird conversation up until now so when he turned off the highway I thought for a second that this might be it. I texted both Destiny, here in Alberta, and MC at home the type and number of bus I was on and where I was heading. I was on a small white First Canada bus # 3000 heading toward Edmonton from Drayton Valley. That way I figured if he did kill me, they would be more easily be able to figure out who did it, and when. I also discretely took my pocket knife out of my bag and put it in my pocket. I wouldn't be going down without a fight! We stopped at a sketchbag auto shop and he asked me if I would like to go in and use the bathroom or anything. I didn't care even if my back teeth were floating there was no way I was going to get off that bus. I politely declined and waited for him to get back. The Moreeeny luck was on my side because he got back in and we started off back towards the highway. Yes! Of course it didn't help that I was reminded that a few years ago there was a beheading on a greyhound bus in Alberta!! Some guy freaked out on the bus and killed another passenger. That was in the back of my head, but I tried not to think about it.

As we were driving down the highway to the next stop he was telling me a story about how a gunman in Edmonton took a shotgun into the Workers Comp building and shot some people. This story is understandable, I do know how exasperating these people can be, and this guy clearly had enough. However he then said that when his friends heard about the standoff happening they all started calling his house because they thought it was him. Great! So even your friends think you are a serial killer! The rest of the drive went by, I tried to stay alert and always agreed with what he was talking about as to not enrage him. When we pulled into the Edmonton Greyhound garage I was pretty thankful I made it without seeing the bad end of a gravel road somewhere. He told me to check with the ticket counter to see what time my bus for Calgary (that he wasn't driving) left. I said thanks, good luck and jumped off the bus.

I went to the ticket counter and asked them what time, and I had an hour to wait till the bus left. I sat down in the station and opened my computer to watch some stuff I downloaded to pass the time. I was just unraveling my headphones when the damn bus driver scared the crap out of me! He came up behind me and just said "So what time does it leave?" I thought that guy was gone! I nervously said when my bus left, and hoped to god he didn't sit down! He didn't, he just walked away. I waited the hour and boarded by bus to Calgary. I took the first seat next to the door in case of any beheadings I could make a quick escape, and made it to Calgary in one piece.

So there you have it, a weird and crazy situation, that because of the Moreeeny luck just turns out to be a good story!

Let the Adventure Begin!!

Hello! I am back! Well...back in the sense that I am writing again. I am not back, I am actually away and so let the blogging continue!! First I will tell you a little about my travel plans and what you can expect. I have struck out again in search of adventure and good times around the world, with my first stop being in Alberta for a few months. I will be spending the summer in Alberta working for a camp for kids with special needs that come from under privileged families. Then after the Labour Day weekend I will be taking off to New Zealand. I did bank in 2 weeks before I start work here in Alberta for hanging out with my friends and family. I don't start at the camp until the 25th.

So here is the story of my first couple days in Alberta, and without Moreeeny fail, it was interesting! I have also decided that the Moreeny's aren't actually cursed, as I once thought. We actually are extremely lucky! By this I mean although some crazy fucked up shit happens to our family, it always works out okay in the end. That is lucky! No one has ever died as a result of the weirdo shit that goes on. That is lucky! So it is no longer the Moreeeny curse, but the ass backward Moreeeny luck! My flight in was good. As good as flights can be I guess, and it is only 5 or so hours from Halifax so that isn't too bad. Although I was sitting there with an aching arse thinking, "How on earth did I do this for 16hrs?" I don't know what the answer to that is, but I do know that I have done it before and I can do it again in Sept. I arrived in Edmonton to meet my best friend Destiny at the airport and we made a good scene with a slow motion run and hug by the baggage claim. I was very excited to see her as it has been about 7 years since I saw her last. From the airport we drove to West Edmonton Mall to be mall rats for a bit. We had plans to meet up with a friend of Des' but not until later so we had some time to kill. We wandered around West Ed for a while and grabbed a bite to eat, then hung out under some trees listening to tunes. We had a cooler with some snacks and a bed in the back of the truck when we struck off to meet up with Greg, Destiny's friend.

We were to pick up Greg at his friends house in suburban Edmonton. Des doesn't know Edmonton that great, and well I am from Nova Scotia. However with my uber good navigating skills, and the help from Des' phone we were able to find the place with only one wrong turn. The key to a good navigator is not only being able to give good directions, but if they mess up, being able to get the driver back on track with little to no annoyance. I, am a GREAT navigator! So if I ever get to go on the Amazing Race, I will be taking applications for my partner ;). We picked up Greg and then were to meet some more people on Whyte Ave. for some Indian food, and we were debating going out. The navigation to Whyte Ave was a bit more hairy then trying to pick up Greg, but in the end we made it (thanks to me ;). We found a place to park, and we decided that we would probably end up going out for drinks after, which meant Des couldn't drive. We had made a bed in the back of the truck because we planned on camping out anyway, but I was slightly concerned about leaving my entire life neatly packed into a backpack for someone to run off with. So our great idea was to get a room at a hostel for the night because then I could lock my stuff up in a room for the night. This was a great idea.....in theory.

Lucky for us, right across the road was a hotel/bar. Living in Oz, I have seen these get ups all over and even stayed in them. It always worked out for the best. I mean when you are travelling you can't really expect the Ritz to be above a bar....ya know? So we walked in to inquire about a room. I guess the first warning sign would have been the sign that said "Cash only. Absolutely No Credit" and beside that there was a sign that said, "We are not responsible for lost or stolen items" I guess that is redflag one, et deux as to what kind of establishment this was. Actually I guess we should have been tipped off by the number of street people sitting, around outside before we even talked in. But for $45 how could we say no! We paid the man, got our key, and headed up to see our digs for the night. We walked up the stairs, waved hello to the hooker on the stairs as we passed and found room 28, our home for the night. I had the key, and was first to enter. It was a simple room. Two beds, a table, a sink and two windows. I immediately called dibs on the bed with the least amount of cigarette burns in the sheets, and smirked arrogantly like I won some sort of prize. Indeed I did win a prize because I don't know if that was a general cum stain or hooker spit on Des' bed, all I know is it wasn't on mine! I set my stuff down on the table and we ripped the bed apart looking for bedbugs. Thank god there were none! I guess we have some sort of standard after all! I then wondered if my stuff would be safer in the truck then here??? I went out tried the lock on the door and everything seemed to be up to par in that area. Even still we set up some booby traps with our stuff to see if anyone had been rooting around while we went to dinner. With the traps set, a short prayer, and chugged beer from the cooler we set off to enjoy some Indian food!

The Indian place we were going to was apparently known for having a extremely wide selection of beer. So this East Coast gal was able to enjoy a Keiths with my dinner, boo-ya! The food was great, and we all had enough. After we ate, drank and were merry we headed back to the room to check the booby traps before heading out for a few drinks. Upon arrival back to the room we were pleasantly surprised that none of our stuff had been tampered with. All of the carefully placed items were exactly where we left them. This put our mind at ease a bit, that at the very least our stuff was safe.

Destiny and Greg are more into metal music then I, but we were planning on going to a metal bar called Filthy Mcnasty's. I thought it was pretty fitting, considering the situation. We started off down Whyte Ave to enjoy some nightlife. As we were walking down the road we could hear an infectious sound in the street. As we got closer we noticed a small little band playing under an awning. They had such a great sound, that we stayed and danced in the rain for a bit on the sidewalk. We carried on down the road and came upon where we were going. It was a small bar, smelled of incense and was a sea of leather and long hair. I was extremely tired due to not sleeping for the week before I came coupled with jetlag, so I mainly chilled at a table. Des went out for a smoke and when she came in she showed why others think Canadians know everyone in Canada. This guy she met smoking turned out to be from East Hants and hung out in Canning sometimes! It is a small world afterall! After a few drinks we left and headed back to the room to catch some shut eye. I slept very little, and was sure to pull back all the sheets and not use any of them to cover up, just slept on top.

We were up bright and early and ready to get on the road because we were headed to Stettler to pick up Destiny's mom and then off to Drumheller for the day. We grabbed some coffee for the road and set off. We got to Drumheller around noon, and stopped and had something to eat before our long day of sight seeing. Drumheller is very cool! The landscape was amazing! I got to go to the top of the worlds largest dinosaur, visit the Hoo Doos, go to the museum, and look out over horse thief canyon. It was so good to spend some time with Debbie, it has been 9 years since I saw her and it was a great day! We had a lot of laughs, good food and just all around fun. After we dropped Deb off in Stettler it was a long 3 hour drive back to Drayton Valley. I was so tired it felt like I was drunk, and big props to Destiny for keeping it together and getting us home safely. We arrived home and I passed out in my bed, not waking up until late morning the next day.

The week so far has been pretty slow, but I am enjoying the down time.

I'm Baaaaaaack!!!

It is true! Your eyes do not deceive you, the Mad Moreeeny Woman is back! After taking a long hiatus I have decided to get back to writing my blog. Not that my life here in Halifax is that exciting that I absolutely must share it with the world, but I enjoy writing it and I am sure that I can drum up a few interesting events to share with you. I mean I somehow seem to have interesting things happen to me on a semi regular basis. To quote Papa Moreeeny "97% of my stories are true, the other 3% is artistic flare."

So first things first! Just to clear things up, I am going away again, so trust me this blog will get more interesting in time. It will be a few more months before I leave so until then I will regale you with tales of my exciting life in Halifax.

Happy New Year to all! I know it is a bit tardy, but sincere none the less. To start my new year I rung in 2011 at an awesome house party. It was one of the best house parties I have ever been to. Great decorations, great music, great people, drinks, dancing, costumes, what more could you ask for to ring in the new year. A great big thanks to Rachel for hosting the event, it was a sassy time for sure! Then on new years day I kicked the year off in true Canadian fashion with a good ol fashion Polar Bear Dip! Some of you might have been surprised, and to you I say "Hello, welcome to my blog. Obviously you have never met me before and are just reading this for the first time." It was my first time ever doing the polar bear dip, and it is a experience that I won't soon forget. One of my roommates (I now have 5 of those, for those who didn't know. It keeps things interesting) asked if I wanted to join him and a friend in doing the dip. I said that if I was awake by the time he left then, yes, I would be up for it. So sure enough I was awake and geared up to do the dip.

We headed on down to Herring Cove to hobnob with the likes of Rick Mercer and Ron James and join the crowd for the 17th annual polar bear dip. I posted a link to the clip of this on my facebook. Check it out, it is hilarious! So, we signed up, got our free toque and waited for the piper to lead us to the water. Well one thing that we weren't expecting was that the dip would be done one at a time. We all thought it would be a run in run out type of shoreline thing. However it was not! They gave everyone a number and we were all to go in sequence one by one. Well sir, Tim was number 107 I was number 108 and John was number 109. We calculated an average of about 45 seconds to a minute per person meaning it was going to take waaaaaaaayyy to long for our turn. So we did the next logical thing. Drove down the road to a small body of water and acted like crazy people all on our own! Now, as expected in the life of Moreeeny things didn't go exactly as planned. Thank god I was just a witness to what was to occur. Tim (my roommatee) was the first to jump at our own person polar bear dip. Since we weren't familiar with the body of water he didn't know how deep it was or if there were any rocks were under the dark water, so he decided to do a shallow dive into the water. He went in, jumped out and John jumped in next. I was about to make my way over to the rock to jump when I heard Tim say "Oh man, I think I cut myself." He turned to look at me and I noticed blood was running down the side of his face! His head was bleeding quite a bit, and at that point we weren't sure how bad he had actually cut himself. Turns out there was a sheet of ice on the water, so Tim looked like we threw him through a plate glass window when we were done. After a quick look it was concluded that he hadn't scalped himself (as originally thought) but there were several small cuts all over the top of his head. Then it was my turn! I crept up to the edge of the rock and looked at the ice floating in the water. I tried to jump but my body said, "yea right!" I stepped back, and for a second I didn't think I could do it. Then I just let myself fall into the water. In an instant I felt my whole body constrict, and for a split second I really thought my heart was going to stop. My next immediate thought was to get the hell out of there! I jumped out of the water, we scrambled back to the car and cranked the heat recalling the event all the way back to town and over breakfast. In the end and despite the bloodshed I am glad I did it! For pictures of the carnage check out my new years album on facebook.

Lastly I am going to leave you with a story that happened to me last week. This story has been plaguing my thoughts ever since because it is freakin hilarious! It is one of the funniest things that has happened to me in a while, and if you have talked to me since you have probably heard the story. I have been telling anyone who would listen, so here, for you as well.

After a long day of cooking in the kitchen at work I was walking home down Young Ave. I had decided to take the bus to the end of Quinpool and walk from there. I was almost to end of Young Ave. and I saw the bus coming up over the hill. Like any bus goer I started to run. I was sprinting like I was going for gold. I ran the rest of Young, and crossed the intersection at Inglis st. Just as I got across the road there was a woman standing right on the corner of Inglis and South Park. She was standing right on the edge and if I had of gone around her I would have had to go out on the road. She had a little pomeranian wearing a little tartan coat (the one in the picture is not the actual dog, but it gives you the idea) on one of those damn retracable leashes. The dog was up on the grass on the other side of the sidewalk, stretching the leash all the way across the sidewalk, at about knee height for me. I had seen the woman cross the road as I was running, but assumed she would keep walking and not rope off the sidewalk with her rat, I mean dog. So in mid sprint I came to a hault, standing infront of the outstretched least. I looked up and the bus had pulled up to the stop and the bus driver was about to shut the door. In a split second I looked at the woman, who looked back at me with a look that said "ohhhh that little rascal (refering to the dog)" I returned with a look that said "Get f*@#ed lady, and move your rat!" I looked at the dog frolicking on the snow, I looked at the bus driver and then down at the leash. My quick assesment told me; I can't go on the road in traffic around this nutter, I can run up and around this dog, the leash is too high for me to jump over from a standing position. This left one option. I grabbed the leash and lifted it over my head and flipped it behind me. I did this, not remembering the leash was attached to the dog! As I hauled the leash up over my 5'10" body I saw this pomeranian's front legs lift from the ground, and it's eyes bulge from it's head in complete shock. As I glanced behind me in my final 50m sprint to the bus I saw the pissed woman rush to her recently choked dogs aid. She seemed a little miffed, but I am glad I made that bus. I wouldn't want to be stuck on the street with that woman after I slightly afixiated her precious little pom pom! That lady learned a valuable lesson that day. Never ever come between a public transit user and their transportation!

So there you go, a few stories to kick of the new year! As interesting things happen I will let you know. I am sure with a little artistic flare most anything can be interesting. I wish I could say "No animals were harmed in the making of this blog" but you and I now know that just isn't true. Enjoy the week!

Am I There Yet?????

This is the story of my 35 hour journey home.

So my time in Oz has come to an end, for now ;). First I wanted to say that time differences are just kooky. I left Australia at 2:30pm on May 26, 2010. I flew first to San Fran and after 13 hours in the air I arrived there before I left Oz! Also even thou I left on a Wed at 2:30pm and travel for 35 hours I arrived in Halifax at 1:20pm on Thursday May 27th. Weird!

Anyway, Charli and the boys dropped me off at the airport. We said our goodbyes and hugs all around before I went through customs. Some people enjoy the transit/travel part, but I hate it. Airports have a very hurry up and wait system to them. You have to be early for everything then wait hours to board. So after clearing Australia customs I sat around the airport for 3 hours waiting to board.

After boarding my plane I settled in for a 13 hour flight to San Fran. I thought this was short seeing as it took over 16 hours to get to Sydney from the same place. Still though 13 hours is a decent sized flight. I was lucky because in a row of 3 seats there was only myself by the window and a man on the aisle. It allowed for a little extra room for the sleep I didn't get. I made chit chat with the fellow I was sitting with, but mostly kept to myself. He was nice enough, but definitely American. I asked him a question about my customs form that we had to fill out. Since I wasn't staying in the states I was unsure what to put for the address/US destination. he told me just to put where I was headed in Canada. Then he said "I mean, Canada is America as America is Canada." My instinct is to raise my voice and correct this fellow as to why that statement is more than false, but I was aware that I was currently sitting on a vessel suspended in mid air surrounded by a large percentage of Yanks. Probably not the best idea to start shouting about why Americans suck, even if we all know it is true. However I could not let this comment pass uncorrected. I simply said, in a very controlled tone, "No it is not." I left it at that.

The flight was fine. A few movies, small portions of barely passable food, ya know. So we were approaching land and I knew that the longest flight of my journey was down! Then the aircraft look a left turn away from the land. WTF!? Where are you going!? We are going that way! Then the pilot came over the speakers....... He informed us that we would be entering a holding pattern, no far from the airport because President Obama was currently leaving San Fran, so we were not allowed to land. So we stayed in the holding pattern for almost an hour. This wouldn't normally be a problem because this flight I was on went straight through to New York, where I was headed. Normally being the operative word in that sentence. What I consider normal and what Homeland Security considers normal apparently fall into completely different categories.

They informed us on the plane that all passengers must disembark, clear customs & immigration, pick up checked luggage, clear checked bags through customs, re-check our bags, clear security and then board the same flight to New York. I am no security expert but I do believe that if I wasn't a terrorist when I boarded in Sydney, then chances are that I didn't change in the 13 hours I was on the plane. However according to Homeland Security I may have, and every person must go through this as soon as they touch down in the U.S. Fine, fair enough! You guys enjoy to instill fear into your residents and put on a show that you are prot

ecting the country, I will play along. However! Originally we were scheduled 2 hours to take care of all this crap, but thanks to President Obama we were left with 45 minutes from the time I left the plane. Also they insist on having all these ridiculous security procedures but have no idea how to carry them out in an organized fashion. So I made it back on my flight to New York, but just by the skin of my teeth.

After a little over 5 hours and a nose bleed later we landed in the sprawling city of New York. I know that this would be the tough part. I had to wait a grueling 13 hours in JFK to catch a 2 hour flight home. I had to collect my checked baggage when I got off, but was unable to re-check it until 3 hours before my flight. They had the little carts to wheel your bags around on, but they cost $5.00 and wouldn't unlock unless you paid up. So I grabbed my two large suitcases, threw my backpack on my back and my purse over my shoulder and headed off to make some sense of JFK. I was pushing one bag in front of me and pulling one behind me, I was pretty loaded down and looking for a bathroom. When I found one it had a turn knob on the door. So I was trying to kick open the door and pull all my stuff through the door. While I was struggling with this two women stood behind me waiting for me to get through the door without ever faining an interest in helping me. Welcome to New York!!! I had to ask for directions to my terminal and every employee I encountered was extremely rude. To them I say 'Ya know, stereotypes are made for a reason!!'

After finding my terminal and a payphone I put in a collect call to my mother. Partially to let her know that I was back in the Northern hemisphere safe and sound, but more to just talk to someone friendly and familiar. I had only slept for about 2 hours combined during the 21 hours I had been traveling, I was hungry, missing Oz, and thinking of seeing everyone at home. So the sound of my mothers voice made burst into tears. At first I think she thought something had gone wrong but good ol' Ma soon realized that I was simply over tired, hungry and homesick. Mom and Dad graciously talked to me for a while. It is amazing what a few words from home can do. I am so lucky to have such wonderful parents who are always there without question.

After a good talk with the rents I went to find a bench or piece of floor and hunker down for the

night with the goal of getting a little sleep. I slept a little after finding the one bench without arm rests. It wasn't a restful sleep and it wasn't very long. I was uncomfortable, and half worried about someone stealing my bags. I quickly learned that the people around here would stel your bag and then spit on you because you didn't have any money. I spent time reading, listening to music and writing until I couldn't sit any longer. I check my bags as early as I could and chilled out at my gate waiting 3 hours for my flight number to be called. As the time drew near I went into the bathroom, gave myself a baby wipe bath and changed my clothes. My regular routine when flying is to spend at least the half hour before my flight walking around the gate because I know that soon I will be sitting for an extented period of time. So I was walking around the gate, around the chairs, over by the window just sauntering around. Once when I was walking up one of the aisles a man passed me in the opposite direction. This man looked right at me and gave me the creepiest look I have ever gotten. He automatically gave me the heebs. He gave me the look that made me think he was the unsub. He continued walking back out of the gate towards the bathroom and I a felt more at ease that he wasn't still in the area.

As I continued to walk around more people were arriving at the gate to board this flight to Halifax. I walked around a huge pillar and BAM!! There was the unsub standing right in front of me!! He scared the shit out of me and before I had a chance to respond he said "Where ya going?" In a very unsuby type tone of voice. This man made me increasingly uncomfortable and continued to ask information gathering type questions as I was trying to break raport and get the hell outa there. Then he told me he was from Alaska and was going to visit a friend in Cape Breton. He told me that he raced dog sleds and has for a while. I was not making conversation with this fellow and was trying to find a good opportunity to walk away, but I didn't want to be too abrupt because he might just kill me. So then he pulled a picture of his dog team out of his pocket and showed me. Then he asked for my name. He caught me off gaurd because normally I would have given a fake name but I impulsivly said my real name, and I

immediately kicked myself for doing so. Then he took out a pen and autographed the picture of him and his dog sled. He then said that if I was ever in Alaska and wanted to learn how to mush dogs his e-mail and phone number were on the back. I took the picture, stuffed it in the my bag, said thanks, and walked away. Enough is enough on the crazy scale. So later when I looked at the picture I noticed that this fellow was actually the winner of the 1984 Iditarod! It still doesn't make him any less crazy/creepy and I still think he is the unsub but I now have an autographed photo of the 1984 Iditarod champ. There is more to the story but that is all I will share for now.

Many of you have been wondering what will happen to my blog now that I am back. Well the answer is that I have enjoyed doing it as much as you have enjoyed reading it so I am going to continue to do it for the summer while I am in Nova Scotia. Granted it won't be half as exciting as when I am in Oz but I am sure I can come up with some pretty good tales of adventure while I am in Nova Scotia. Also the other big question that people have been asking is how long am I here for? Well the answer to that is my goal is to be back in Oz by September. I do however look forward to a summer filled with adventure, family and friends. Stayed tuned for the tale of a jet-legged apple blossom festival!

That's a Wrap! My Last Weekend in Oz!

You will have to excuse me if some of this entry and the next don't make sense. You see, for whatever reason I decided that I should write my blog at 4:15am while I couldn't sleep in JFK airport. My brain is a bit fuzzy and I am running on a lack of sleep. I will tell you all about my journey home, but first I will tell you about my last weekend in Oz.

My last weekend was pretty slow compared to some of the adventures I have had. I was basically tapped out, so that left little fundage for me to 'make big party' for my last weekend. The past couple weekend I had left in Oz were mostly spent with Sha

ne. Shane is the fellow I met on the bushwalk gone wrong and he has been a great friend to me ever since. So usually I go to Shane's house, as a weekend base camp away from Gosford, on Saturday and we do something and then I crash there for the night. Since this was my last weekend in Oz I decided I would head down Friday evening after work. I had worked out the train schedule so I caught the two fastest trains there, and it would take a mere 2 hours to get there compared to the regular 3. First train from Gosford was good, and I got to Central as planned. I got the train from Central that I had planned and it would only be another hour before I would meet Shane and we most were going out for drinks with friends. Well my express 3 hour travel turned into a 4 hour nightmare! About halfway thought the trip the conductor came on the speakers, and in the annoying voice said, "Attention passengers. I have just received notice that there is a freight train broken down on the track ahead and we will be waiting here unit it is clear." Her voice reminded me of the woman on Seinfeld that George dated, the daughter of the unemployment worker dealing with his case when Vandelay industries didn't pan out. If any of you watch Seinfeld you know now the sound of the woman's voice. Anyway, I digress. So abo

ut 10 minutes later she came on again, I thought to myself 'Oh that wasn't too long of a wait.' This time she said, " Attention passengers, we will not be going anywhere for a while, so if you would like to get off on the platform and stretch your legs we will make an announcement when it is time to re-board." Crap! Crap diddly ding dong Crap! So we sat and we waited and we waited and we sat. Eventually we got going again but it was slow going the rest of the way. I finally arrived to McArthur station at about 9 or 9:30ish. Needless to say I was looking forward to the drinks we set out to have. Not only that but they put the Habs

vs Fliers game on so like any good Canadian beer+hockey is bonafide to cheer you up!

Saturday and Sunday were pretty low key and we took our time going to different markets. Saturday was raining and cold so we didn't do much else and then Shane took me out for an awesome farewell dinner. We got a little dressed up and went down to the Wests Club for diner and drinks. It was a lovely meal and just a nice realizing way to say god bye to Oz. Shane ordered a steak on a stone grill. it was the first time I had seen this. The steak comes out raw

and you cook it yourself on a hot stone grill. It was pretty cool!

Sunday we spent in the city at markets as well and spent the evening drinking a few liters of beer at the Lowenbrau restaurant and watching the lights of the city before I had to head back to Gosford. I guess I didn't go out with a bang, but that just means I will have to come ;). I really enjoyed the pace of it and I got presents for everyone!

Nature’s Beauty Strikes Again

Some of you may remember that when I wrote about going to the Botanic Gardens in Melbourne I got a little emotional. Well for those of you who think I am made of steel the awe inspiring views and breath taking waterfalls that I took in on Sunday proved you wrong.

Sunday was bush walk day! I had crashed at Shane’s house because we wanted to get an earlyish start to the day. My plan was to cook berry pancakes for breakfast to kick off our day of adventure but thanks to Shane and Darran’s shitacular cookware they sucked the hind tit. Ah well, no worries we ate them anyway and got out the door around 9:30, which was about ½ an hour behind schedule. We drove up to the Blue Mountains and our first stop was the Three Sisters. Here is a tid bit of information for you. Did you know that the Blue Mountains get their name because on a clear day there appears to be a blue haze over the mountains? This haze is caused by the excess of eucalyptus oil in the air from the trees that grow on the mountains. There is your something new that you learned today! Anyhow, the Three Sisters is a rock formation that can be seen from one of the lookouts on the mountain. The rocks are really gorgeous and it was something that I wanted to see since I got here. Of course the place was crowded with tourists but I was able to get some awesome pictures of the three sisters and the Jamieson Valley. The views from this look out are just breath taking and beautiful. It is amazing to see the panoramic views over the valley and all the mountains in the distance. I was so grateful to see that!

After some pictures of the sisters and surrounds we took off to do a bush walk in the Valley of the Waters. What a great day we had for a bush walk too! It was sunny and cool, but not cold. It was the perfect day. However I made Shane take a short detour to the Blue Mountains chocolate making facility. I had wanted to go there since I got here too. We walked in and there was so much chocolate all around. Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head! Behind a large glass bay window was where the magic happened. This place doesn’t mass produce chocolates so it wasn’t a huge factory. We looked/drooled around the place for a while trying to decide what to buy. There was so much to choose from it was next to impossible to make actual decisions about what to get. I wish I could have it all! Not to mention they had free chocolate tastings! So after a acute bout of indecisiveness I bought some chocolate and we continued on our journey to the Valley of the Waters.

The Valley of the Waters has its name because it is peppered with waterfalls. There are many different walking tracks and bush walks to go on it just depends on how many waterfalls you want to see and what you want the difficulty level to be. I think you all know me; I go big or go home. I wanted to see the most waterfalls as possible. We had a look at the map and decided to do the Wentworth Pass walk. Shane later informed me that there is only one other trail up there that is harder then what we did. The rating of this circuit was ‘hard’ and the approximate time to complete was 5 hours. To that I say “Poppycock!” It was a moderate trail (with a lot of stairs) in my opinion, and Shane and I did it in 3.5 hours including stopping for a picnic lunch! We really are awesome bush walkers!

To start this walk you start on the tip top of a mountain, and before we could even start the Wentworth Pass we had to walk all the way down the mountain into the valley. It was nice to see the views from the top. It too looked over the Jamieson Valley, and there were just spectacular views over the ridges. Now I am going to tell you about the walk, but I would like it to be noted that no amount of words, pictures, videos, or any other media would be able to accurately describe the experience I had on Sunday. Again, I know I have said this about a few things since I have been here and this one holds true yet again. I am so lucky to have experienced these things while I am here, and I love to share them with you, but I know there is no way you could ever understand until you have done and seen it yourself.

Going down the mountain was multiple sets of stairs. I thought that these stairs were pretty steep until we got to the other side. As we started our decent into the valley I tried to take it all in. The rock formations, the views over the valley, everything! It wasn’t long before I heard water rushing, and I knew that soon we would be seeing our first waterfall. This waterfall was so nice, and we actually had to cross it on stones sticking up from the water. I thought it was so beautiful, and had no idea of what was about to come. We carried on all the way down the valley on the trail of stone stairs and downhill, knowing full well that at some point we would have to come back up from the valley. We came to waterfall after waterfall and the next one seemed more impressive then the last. The rushing water and fine mist that sprinkled your body as we wound our way down and around all these beautiful sights. My camera was clicking nonstop, and I was glad that Shane didn’t mind taking pictures of me along the way. I can’t remember all the names of the waterfalls I saw but I like to call them all amazing falls! The walk was great too. A real hike! We stopped for lunch by a small little waterfall just off the trail. It was nice and quiet and a beautiful spot to eat lunch. We also heard a rescue chopper come flying over head and then we listened and watched as we walked for the next 1.5-2hours as they tried to rescue whoever it was they were looking for. Shane said that this area often gets stupid tourists trapped somewhere they wouldn’t be and have to get choppered out. Very similar to say, Cape Split at home. It was cool to see the chopper that low, and close too. Shortly after lunch we came around a corner to one of the most beautiful sights I have ever had the pleasure of seeing in my whole life. It was this magnificent and enormously tall waterfall streaming from the top of the mountain down to where we were and into a huge pool at the bottom. The falls were so tall that I was unable to get into a single picture even turning my camera sideways and standing back as far as I could. I was awe struck! It was amazing and just beautiful in every way. It was at these falls that I did get a little emotional because, like in Melbourne, I was overwhelmed with the fact that I was fortunate enough to be able to come to a place like this and see such a thing. I tried to take as many photos as I could, and even took a video but like I said before, no amount of media could ever capture that sight.

It was slightly intimidating to look up and see the cliff faces surrounding you and know that in a few short moments you will have to start making your way up there. After taking it all in and taking heaps of pictures we started our ascend back up the mountain to where we started. It was awesome going back up because we actually crossed that huge waterfall in two places. We crossed half way up the fall and at the top. There was however more stairs then I think were on the bridge, and there were 1400 on the bridge. It may have been less (I really think it was more) but these stairs were steep! At a few places there were steep metal stairs on the side of a cliff. They were so steep and so much on the side of a cliff that there was a cage over the stairs in case you fell backwards you wouldn’t fall to your imminent death. It was great though! Adventure city! I loved every minute of it, even if I did seriously slow down about ¾ of the way up the mountain. In fact the way out was so intense that on the sign marker it says “For experienced walker’s only, steep stairs blah blah blah” Then beside it someone wrote “Chuck Norris Only!” The waterfalls, the views over the valley, the rock faces, the everything made it one of the most wonderful experiences I have had here in Oz. I know my list is getting long, but this one is near the top for sure. As I stood atop the final waterfall with outstretched arms Shane took a picture and then my camera said “Battery Empty” I knew it had been an amazing day!

I dragged my weary self onto a train and came all the way back up here to effing Gosford. Lucky for me, as I write this I only have 5 working days left and 1 weekend before I commence my journey to the homeland.

Friends are Optional Because People Suck

My second to last Saturday in Oz was a mixed bag of a shit load of traveling, last minute planning and dealing with hillbillies at the internet café in Gosford. I had plans all set out but those were dashed when Richard decided to fuck off and leave me in a lurch. So I had to quickly revaluate the day and decided that just because he wanted to be a wanker didn’t mean that I couldn’t go do what we planned on my own.

My first stop was at the internet café here in Gosford. Now, there are two that I have seen since we moved here. The first one that I went to on Friday night was so dodgy and the computers were mega slow and they charged double what anyone else does. So I thought the one by the train station would be better. Wrong! I should have guessed that it would be slightly awful when I called to find out their hours of operation and the woman said, “We are open 24 hours on Fridays and we open at 10am on Saturdays.” Reread that quote and see if YOU can make sense of that. Anyways my intention of Saturday morning was to upload my blog and pictures to the web as well as Skype with Andrea. The only thing I was successfully able to do at this particular internet café was Skype with Andrea. That was great but it still left the dilemma of the pictures and blog to upload. I was pissed that I couldn’t do this because the place was run by a bunch of red necked hillbillies and I am pretty sure the only reason they had the stupid café was so their friends and derelict family members could play WOW with each other. So after a great Skype date with Andrea I headed out on the train, making my way to the city.

I decided to make a quick stop in Hornsby to the very large shopping centre that I had taken the kids to the other day. I had a quick look around and couldn’t find what I was looking for and was going to head out to the city; however I noticed an internet café right before the train station. I popped in there to upload all my photos and blog and stuff. I thought I could do it in 30mins but ended up spending an hour there uploading and junk. This slightly set me back a bit because I was meeting Shane in the late afternoon to hang out, and I still wanted to go into the city. After uploading both my picture and my blog I hurried out of the café and hopped on a train. Well I just sat down on the train and I reached in my pocket. It was at that moment that I had left the key to my life at the internet café. I forgot my USB in the computer at the café!! Can you imagine what my reaction was? I mean anyone that knows me knows how much pictures mean to me, so knowing that almost all the pictures I have taken in Oz are on that stick sitting in the back of that computer was almost enough to send me into cardiac arrest. I flew off the train and ran as fast as I could, up the stairs and to the gates where I frantically shouted something at the commissionaire attending the disabled gate, which caused him to open it for me. I ran down the ramp and to the internet café. I barged in like I was running from the po-lice and scared the shit out the ol feller that had since been assigned the computer I was using. Thank ah-la that it was still there, so I snatched it out of the computer and ran just as fast back toward that train. I reached the locked gate again, and unwilling to buy two tickets to the city I simply snuck through the disabled gate behind, quite possibly the fattest women I have ever seen in real life. Would you believe that I made it back to the train that I was originally sitting on when I realized my err?

After being thrown into mild cardiac arrest then sprinting, like an Olympian going for gold, to and from the train station I sat back and let my transit narcolepsy kick in as I headed into the city. Originally Richard and I were going to meet in the city, walk to The Rocks (an old historic and lovely part of Sydney), and then use the passes Charli and I got at the bridge climb to go to the top of one of the bridge pylons. We had arranged this because Richard is moving up North to do farm work on Wednesday and I am moving home the following Wednesday. Anyhow, after plans being set out, Richard gave me ½ an hour’s notice that he got too drunk the night before and wasn’t coming. I was better off without him and after my stop in Hornsby I got the train into the CBD and was going to go to the pylon myself. On the train I turned on my radio on my mp3 player, and it was all a buzz with the arrival of Jessica Watson to Sydney Harbour. I don’t know if you guys heard about her in Canada but she is the 16 yr old Aussie girl who sailed around the world on her own. This day was her home coming after her 7 month journey. I was lucky to miss the majority of the crowds but when my train went across the bridge it was lined with people shoulder to shoulder. By the time I got to the bridge after working my way through the markets the crowds were virtually nonexistent.

I went to the pylon to do the lookout for one reason. Originally I wasn’t going to use the pass they gave us because I had already been to the tippy top of the bridge, and it is not like the top of the pylon was going to offer a better view of the harbor. Then I remembered that you were allowed to take your camera up to the top of the pylon, where was you are not allowed to take it to the top of the bridge, and I came home an amputee after paying for the photos they took. I figured the 200 stairs to the top of the pylon would be worth the shot of the Opera House I would get on this beautiful day. It was. I went and walked across the bridge to the pylon, and then climbed the 200 stairs to the top. The view of the Opera House was pretty good (obviously not the same as from the top of the bridge, but still nice) and I took a bunch of pictures. I didn’t stay very long because I had to meet Shane and my venture to the top of the pylon was utilitarian, I was there to take pictures. So after a few snaps I walked back across the bridge and had to catch the train to meet Shane in a place called Lidcome.

Lidcome wouldn’t normally be that far of a train ride from Circular Quay, but not on this day. This day they were doing tons and tons of track works on the train tracks. When they do this they replace the trains with buses that go to each station. So I had to get off the train at Strathfield, which is two stops before Lidcome on the train, and catch a track works bus. Track works buses are the bane of my friggin existence! A trip that would have taken a maximum of 10 minutes on the train took an eternity on this stupid bus. With trains there is no traffic or red lights, just track. Not the case with these stupid buses. I ended up sitting in bumper to bumper, curb to curb traffic for way to long behind a ghetto/hillbilly couple whom, if I were on the bus any longer, would have been coming off the bus in a double wide body bag. I don’t think that I need to tell you that when I finally met up with Shane, he may have wished he hadn’t made plans to hang out on the weekend. However after I had some me time and got some food into me I was in a much better mood. Shane and I just hung out at his house and called it an early night because we were going to the mountains the next day and doing an awesome bush walk.