hello from Melbourne!!
I just checked into my lovely, amazing, way-too-nice-for-someone-carrying-backpacks-and-only-$87 hotel and am currently using the free internet (woo hooo!) in their business center.
It's 11 am here (on Friday!!) so my room won't be ready for a couple hours or so. After this I'm going to walk to the grocery store, which I think is only about a half mile away, and try to find some cheap food. When I left on Wednesday night, I believe the US dollar and the Australian dollar were about even ... now $100 US gets me $87.50 AU soooo good times =/ Not sure if that's the actual exchange rate or if the hotel is ripping me off. I should probably check that out before I exchange anymore currency at the hotel ...
The 14-hour flight to Sydney wasn't bad. I slept a lot on the plane and also took advantage of the awesome, free in-flight entertainment. I watched a Letters to Juliet which was super lame and 10 episodes of Modern Family, which was hilarious! There was also an option to build your own music playlist using at least 100 albums so I was able to put together a pretty sweet playlist and listen to it on and off throughout the entire flight. Rad!
Allright well I'm starving so I'm gonna peace out but I just wanted to let everyone know I was alive and happy to be in Melbourne. I'll post another update when I can.
<3
I'm going to Australia today!!!! I seriously can't believe it. I'm almost completely packed but I still have a few things to do before I go. I leave for the airport in about five hours which means my phone will be shut off and the only way to contact me will be e-mail ... and this blog, facebook, couchsurfing, and eventually by phone when I get my Australia phone set up (thanks Calli!) - so I guess I won't be that hard to stay in touch with. I don't know if I'll be able to make or receive international calls/texts but hopefully I'll be able to figure out Skype at some point. Also, I've been thinking maybe I can check voicemails through google voice if people call my google voice number ... does anyone know if this will work if my actual cell phone and main number are shut off? If so, my google voice number is (508) 657-4525.
*that's (508) MKP-4-LAL ;)
I'm fortunate to have lots of friends and family members who are well-traveled and have given me a ton of valuable information and travel tips. I think my favorite bit of advice was from my brother, who was just in Australia a couple months ago on his honeymoon. He called yesterday and said, "have a good time, be safe, and meet some nice Aussie boys, but don't stay there ... because the food is reaallyy expensive." hahaha thanks Johnny Boy =)
My smart little sis suggested that I post my itinerary on here so people can have an idea of what I'm planning to do when I get to Australia, and a lot of people have asked me what my plan is so here goes:
I get into Melbourne on Friday morning (after a quick stop in Sydney) and I'll be livin large for the first three days because my parents got me a hotel room. YAY! Thank you parents!! =) It'll be so nice to rest when I get in and have a safe place to leave my things while I explore the city for a few days. After I leave the hotel, I'm going to couchsurf with someone in Melbourne -- my first couchsurfing experience as a surfer! I plan on visiting my dad's cousin Richard who lives near Melbourne, and then up to Townsville for the Full Noise Music Festival on November 20th. My friend Jenny is studying up there and she's going with me. woo hoooo! I'm super excited about the festival -- and the train I'm taking to get up there (it'll take about three days, with stops in Sydney and Brisbane). I bought a 6-month unlimited rail pass for Australia so I'll be taking the train a lot. After the music festival I'll probably hang out in Townsville for a few days. After that, I don't have a plan. I just know I'm going to be back in Melbourne for the Australian Open at the end of January (I already have my 5-day grounds pass!) and flying to New Zealand (into Auckland, out of Sydney) on February 4th. I'll be in New Zealand for about five weeks, working on organic farms (check out wwoof.co.nz if you haven't already) and probably staying mostly on the south island. So that's my plan. I'm sooooo excited!! I want to explore as much of Australia and New Zealand as I possibly can between now and mid-April. and I promise to do my best to keep you all updated along the way. <3
p.s. I will miss this face soooooo much :(
Hi friends and family!
This is my blog. I plan to update it as often as possible while I’m in Australia and New Zealand. That might turn out to be every couple days or every couple weeks, but I’ll do my best to keep you all informed about what I’ve been doing and where I’ve been. I promise I’ll post pics when I can, too. :)
Right now I’m working my way through a long list of things I have to get done over the next week. Things like buying travel insurance, making copies of my passport and other important documents, making sure my camera batteries and ipod are charged, and of course packing. I’m taking one decent-sized REI backpack (thanks Sarah!!) and a smaller backpack (as soon as I find a good one for <$20 on craigslist … that’s another thing I need to accomplish this week). Needless to say, I won’t be bringing much with me. I’ll have to choose my clothing carefully because I’ll be wearing the same few outfits over and over. Thankfully it’s going to be summer in Australia soon and bathing suits and sarongs don’t take up much space. :) I’m trying to decide if bringing eight books with me is excessive …
Fascinating stuff, eh? Keep checking back and hopefully the blog posts will get more exciting. :)
