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Feed a Traveler

Monday, April 5th, 2004

Hi everyone,

I’m about to do something really annoying, but I also thought it would be fun. I’m adding a Donation button so if you have tons of extra cash just sitting around (I know you do) and you spend hours each day reading my blog (I know you do!) you can just click and send me a few bucks. You have to have a PayPal account though. Here is a sample of what your generous donation might fund:

$1.50 – A delicious, mouthwatering chocolate bar. (Yes, they cost that much!)
$3.00 – A greasy and artery-clogging Aussie meat pie to fill my belly for lunch
$4.00 – One hour internet
$5.00 – Wash and dry my stinky clothes so I don’t look homeless
$12.00 – The first bottle of wine
$6.00 – The second bottle of wine
$10.00 – Random museum/gallery/park/zoo entry fee
$18.00 – I really need a haircut
$19.00 – A new swimsuit since my old one had mildew
$20.00 – One night in a dorm bed in a hostel shared with like 10 people
$25.00 – New Zealand guidebook
$28.00 – The wine tour of the Hunter Valley (hiccup)
$40.00 – A pair of shoes and shirt to wear so I can set foot outside the hostel without wearing a dirty t-shirt and grimy sports sandals
$80.00 – Hiking boots for New Zealand
$100.00 – A trip to the largest sand island in the world, Fraser Island
$200 – My bus trip from Sydney all the way to Cairns
$1,000 – All of Thailand. For both of us. Ha.
$10,000 – Another trip around the world!
$100,000 – Enough to start my own hostel.
$10,000,000 – A small island country.

If anyone DOES send me any money (which I obviously don’t expect) I will send you a postcard (granted you send MORE than the cost of a postcard… about $2) and you can ask me for other stuff if you want. (Vegemite anyone? I forgot to mention I tried some on toast at our friend’s house. It was super salty and had a NASTY aftertaste!)

Anyway, don’t think I’m a butthead for doing this, I just thought it would be fun. I don’t expect anything! I just love reading any comments. That makes my day.

Did I mention I saw a koala in the wild today? Jim spotted it right outside the national park in Noosa. He was WAY up high in the trees!
koala.jpg
Thank goodness Jim’s camera is super awesome because I was able to zoom in on the picture. *We* couldn’t even see the koala as well as this picture shows!

Hosteling

Sunday, April 4th, 2004

I forgot how great hosteling was. It’s like a whole different way of living. Like a commune, ha ha. But every single day there is a new person or 2 or 8 in your room from Germany, Ireland, England, Canada, etc (those are the most common). You talk to them, sometimes you hit it off and go to the pub with them or something. You see the same people over and over while you travel too– we saw the same German guy in Sydney, Byron and Brisbane!

You share rooms, kitchens, TVs, bathrooms. It’s cheesy, but you know you are all sharing roughly the same experience. You know these people all wanted to see more of the world and learn new things, just like you. You know they are spending most of their hard-earned money for a chance to take a trip that most people only dream of taking.

Currently the most common question you ask a new acquaintance is, “Are you going north or south?” because everyone around here in Oz is pretty much going up or down the East Coast.

But after that, the most common questions are: “Where are you from?” “How long have you been here?” “How long do you have left?” and “Where else are you going/have you gone?” I guess those are pretty obvious questions, though.

But obviously not everything about hosteling is great. You have to deal with dirty bathrooms and dorm rooms and kitchens, inconsiderate dorm mates, rude workers, foam beds (my back is killing me today!) and other annoying things.

Ok, that’s it for now.

Movin’ on Up

Sunday, April 4th, 2004
We are now in Noosa, about 2 hours north of Brisbane. We ended up staying two nights at our friends' house, and we had a great time. They were the best hosts EVER and their hospitality was great. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Hangin with the locals

Thursday, April 1st, 2004
Jim knows two people who live in Brisbane. If it wasn't for that, we probably would have left already. Yesterday we spent most of the day with a guy named Dan that Jim met briefly in Argentina years ago. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Birthday in Brisbane

Wednesday, March 31st, 2004
We got to Brisbane today and are staying at a huge 500-bed hostel called The Palace. We are only staying because Jim knows someone who works there. It is supposed to be a huge party hostel with a ... [Continue reading this entry]

Bye Byron Bay

Wednesday, March 31st, 2004
Hi y'all... currently Jim and I are in Brisbane, so I am about one location behind... The last two days we spent in Byron Bay, which is a very laid-back town on the beach. There are tons of surfers and ... [Continue reading this entry]

Wine Tasting in the Hunter Valley

Monday, March 29th, 2004
So two days ago, in Newcastle, we signed up for a wine tasting through the hostel. Most of the tastings were very expensive but this was much cheaper, and it was something we both thought would be interesting, so ... [Continue reading this entry]

Pics Added

Saturday, March 27th, 2004
Hi all, I FINALLY found a place where I could put pictures on from CD. I swear, it was easier in Thailand! So look at the main Sydney entry for several pics and I added ones to the ... [Continue reading this entry]

Surfin’ to Newcastle

Friday, March 26th, 2004
Hi all! So we are now in Newcastle... we arrived yesterday morning and broke down and bought a YHA card. (We're staying at a YHA) We found out that there was a big surfing competition that day ("Surfest"), with the main event ... [Continue reading this entry]

Finally-details on Sydney

Wednesday, March 24th, 2004
Anyway, we bought a big Greyhound bus pass for the east coast and tomorrow we leave for a town 2 1/2 hrs away called Newcastle. I figure I've been in Sydney about NINE days!! The first few days we stayed ... [Continue reading this entry]