PENLESS

hello everybody!
i came to the internet with very honourable and studious intentions of finally figuring out what classes i need to register for...
but alas, i didn't bring a pen
so that idea died

and so i am updating my blog! where to begin... ahhh yes....

at the start

so i have been here in perth for about ten days now and it has been pretty crazy. i took over the rez room next door to my brother and it felt really weird to be back in a place like that... but with no studying to do and no laptop on my desk... and considerably less stuff than there has ever been in my room before.

we have done all kinds of things since i got here
we rented a car with some of andrew's friends and drove up north to see "the Pinnacles" which are these hundreds of rock formations that just stick straight up out of the sandy desert. and its pretty neat. but also very not G rated if you know what i mean (imagine 7 foot tall rock cylinders sticking straight up everywhere and looking like... ummm... yeah)

so that was cool. then we went to a fast food place for dinner called "nando's" and holy moly they have the best veggie burgers in the whole universe

then the next day i went with a couple of andrew's friends to a national park and we saw a whole bunch of kangaroos hopping around and some koala bears up high sleeping in trees. holy moly koala bears are cute as they unconciously cling for dear life to swaying trees.

the next day andrew took me around to see all of the beaches that he surfs and hangs out at. the coast line here is just one big huge long white sandy beach and its gorgeous. and we saw this sunset that lasted about an hour and it was cool.

ummm also one day i explored a sortof suburb area just outside of perth on the coast called Freemantle... except that basically i was having a Stupid Alie Day and so instead of exploring i just spent three hours getting lost over and over again. but it was cool anyways.

then another day, andrew and i went exploring around King's Park (this huge awesome park between downtown perth and UWA) and downtown perth.

and another day we went to visit some of our parent's friends who have a summer house place in Mandurah (a town south of Perth) and instead of a backyard, their house has a boat and a river and the river is connected to this entire river circuit thing and then out into the ocean. so we all got on their boat and they drove us (IN THE BOAT!) into town and parked the boat and we went out for lunch... it was pretty neat. i wish i had a boat and a river and an ocean in my back yard.

then another day andrew and i drove south and went camping at Margaret River. it is a super cool surfer town that is very pretty. and we went to a couple wineries and a chocolate factory and a bunch of different Subways.

then another day we took a ferry over to Rottnest Island..... which is a really hard place to explain... it's like a holiday/resort island that is all run by the same company basically (The Rottnest Island Authority) and it is basically its own little universe. there are roads on the island but the only vehicles are official ones (like, a shuttle bus, a tour bus, a police jeep, and a delivery van - you can't take your own car over). and there is a little grocery store, and a little cafe and a little Subway and a little gift shop. and there is a hostel and a couple up scale hotels/lodges and then a million cabins that you can rent out. and andrew was there with his friends back on a weekend in the summer and he said that the entire island was full and totally booked up. but when we were there, there was only like two other people... and it was so creepy and haunted! but also very gorgeous during the day. we rented bikes and rode around the entire island, and went swimming in the Indian Ocean and it was all white sand and turquoisey water and so so pretty. and at night these animals called Quokkas come out and basically take over the entire island. and they look like huge giant rats. except their faces are pretty cute and their tails are like a foot long and an inch thick. and they hop around like mini kangaroos. and they are just so weird. but also kinda cute.
anyways

other than that... i have spent a lot of time on the internet (cause i can log in as andrew, and so it's free!), a lot of time wandering around, and a lot of time planning the rest of my trip.

in answer to sparkle's question: i will be back in canada on July 28th! YEY! so soon! ... shit i can't wait. i know it is silly, but actually i am pretty ready to get home. but these next five weeks will go by quickly i'm sure. so anyways, i'll be in victoria searching for a house/apartment for a couple days, then i get back to ontario on the first of august and i'll go up to the cottage with the cousins, and then i think i get back to kingston around like the 4th or the 6th of august. YAHOO! .... seriously... i'm actually pretty stoked.

but before then, there is much to be done and lots to explore.

tomorrow i fly to melbourne and i'll be there for a few days, then i go to sydney for a couple days, then ANDY COMES!!! YAHOO!!! and we are gonna rent a van and drive to brisbane. and then andy leaves (not so yahoo) and then i will explore from brisbane up to cairns on my own (and hopefully meat up with some friends along the way, including MIM!), then back down to brisbane to fly home!

so anyways
thats basically it
i'm pretty tired... and i still have to go find a pen and figure out all my classes
... so i should go...
blaaah

SEE YOU ALL SOON!

GOODBYE ENN ZED

ok so i am too completely exhausted and jet lagged and a little bit sick and mostly just weak and tired to actually write anything of significance...
but i couldn't let this day go by unmarked

i am in Australia now.
yup
a whole different country
a whole different ocean
a whole different accent to embarass myself with by not being able to understand at all

and i miss NZ
and i miss Mim
and i miss Andy

but right now, mostly i am just happy to be with m' big brother Andrew

nuff said

PEE ESS

i just noticed that my blog was still in Pacific Standard Time

silly me

so i have now changed it to New Zealand Standard Time

so basically, i am blogging to you from the future

lucky you

LOYAL, BROKE, AND HAPPY.

i have a loyal customer card for this internet place
every time that i spend more than three dollars here (over 20mins) i get a stamp
very soon, i will get ONE FREE HOUR OF INTERNET
woot woot
good thing that i am so loyal

travelling alone is not nearly as awful as i thought it would be...

although, apparently nicole was a vital factor in me managing to maintain my daily spending budget. because, somehow, over the past week, i haven't bought ANY groceries (i am surviving of toast - which expired two days ago, but hasn't yet moulded -, plain oatmeal - which is disgusting -, and the generosity of my new friends in christchurch - who i already owe big time), i haven't travelled much (only about six hours in the car - so only a tank and a half of petrol), i've been staying at really cheep places, AND I HAVE BEEN OVER BUDGET EVERY DAY!?!?!?!?!? i can't handle not having nicole here to be like "don't spend money on that,spend money on this", "buy coffee now, make your own lunch today", etc
without her, i don't eat, i just buy funny hats that i don't need.

though... in my defense... it is the coolest hat in the world.

anyways, i'll start from where i left off:
after i left Mim in blenheim, i headed south towards christchurch
and by the time i got to kaikoura, i was pretty tired

so i stopped there for a night
and played some crazy card games with two americans and a kiwi
...it was pretty nice to bust out some serious Napolean Dynamite jokes after four months of completely Pedro-free living (ND is apparently a very north-american thing, since nobody else that we have met here really knows what it is. or they do but they are like "oooh yeeah... that movie.... was it supposed to be funny?")

then, on their suggestion (the americans and the kiwi. not Napolean and Pedro.), i went to Akaroa for two nights (and sortof got lost in christchurch on my way there - HOLY BIG CITY).
and it was pretty much the cutests little town in the world
AND I SAW DOPHINS! YEEEAH!!! for the first time ever not in the West Ed mall! i went a cruising thing and we saw penguins (swimming penguins! not just waddling penguins) and dolphins and sea lions. very cool.
then i went to see a movie at the cinema ALL BY MYSELF! (how mature am i?) and it was weird cause i was actually the only person there... good movie though - called "Notes on a Scandal" very intense

then i came to christchurch on friday. and i didn't get lost at all on my way in to town. and i went about plastering up car posters and chatting with strangers and checking out markets and galleries and museums and just generally being independent and snazzy and wearing my new hat. and i ate a falafel (which my mom has always been trying to peer-pressure me into eating, but i never gave in... until yesterday ... and lo and behold: mom is right again. falafels are yummy... and the only veggie option on the market menu, apparently)
and also, in line for the falafels, i met a canadian girl and her german friend and we went to the botanical gardens to explore, and then to see a movie called "The Lives of Others" which has german subtitles and is therefore extremely confusing but was SO AWESOME. so obviously, mom was double right: falafels aren't just yummy - they also get you new friends, and educational german entertainment.

then this morning i took my car to a car fair and I SOLD IT! woot woot!
i got ripped off in an awful way, BUT I DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT ANYMORE!
...and also i feel very homeless and like my best friend just sailed to japan or something. i miss her. oh me oh my. BUT I AM SO RELIEVED. i am no longer a car owner. i will, however, be spending the next month and a half sitting in a cardboard box somewhere in australia. Cause i didn't get enough money from the car sale to actually really travel around there. oh well. win some, lose some. it was totally worth it. i don't regret buying a car at all (despite the pain in the neck that it all was)... it was, by far, the absolute best way to see this country.

anyways
now i am just bummin around with nothin to do and thoroughly enjoying myself and looking forward to Thursday when ANDY IS COMMIN TO CHRISTCHURCH! hooray!
and i can see buskers out the window, in cathedral square. and they are on tall unicycles. and they have big green juggly things. and there is obviously a HUGE hilarious fall potential factor. so i must go. definetly don't wanna miss this.

ciao