van life

If you haven't guessed why there might be a lack of posts, it's because I've finally gotten to Mardee!

Mard picked me up from the Gold Cost airport last Thursday night and we began van life! I found her all tanned and long blond hair standing in the airport holding a sign with my name on it. I took a crash course on van camping as we stayed that night in Springbrook National Park. We woke up in the morning and went for a bit of a hike, then headed north to Brisbane.

I'm going to apologize in advance: I've been trying to take pictures with my phone alongside my camera so that I have pictures to post here, but since my phone is otherwise useless I've become rather unattached. I'm working in it, so you'll get better pictures in the future.

On Friday afternoon on our drive north we drove past many of the beautiful beaches along the Gold Coast and stopped at a beach called Surfers Paradise. Once we arrived in Brisbane we spent Friday evening through Monday morning at the house Mard had been staying at. We spent Friday evening in and then headed into the city Saturday for the day/evening.

The problem I have here (and will have from this point forward) is I'd like to describe every single detail of what we've done, but that will take forever and quite honestly I'd rather be out living it. Saturday we:
- took the city cat (boat) down to the city
- walked through the Central Business District, Queen Street Mall, hired (rented) two pedal bikes and risked our lives trying to negotiate traffic
- drank a few (debatable) jugs of beer and ate some delicious food at a pub in South Bank
- met some new friends (English and one Aussie)
- taught our new friends how to properly play and lose at beer pong

Sunday we spent the day hanging it and getting things ready for the van, buying last minute items. I transferred my clothes and things from my suitcase into an easily accessible plastic tub. All just in time for a Monday morning departure!

a nice girl named Sydney

I arrived in Sydney at 8:30ish am on Wednesday their time, so I kind of had night on the flight over the ocean and then it was morning. I again navigated buses and after a long ride with an overly hormonal couple touching and groping each other, made it to the hostel. Luckily since it is 'winter' here (not fair), I was able to get into my room early. After a long debate with myself I decided it would be in everyone's best interest if I showered before I ventured or for the day.

So fresh and so clean I got directions and wandered down to Bondi Beach (bond-eye) and observed. A nice man named Craig sat down beside me and made casual conversation and I ended up spending the afternoon sitting on the beach chatting. He gave me tips on what to see and where to go. Aren't friendly strangers awesome? After the afternoon I ventured along the beach walk back to the hostel in hopes I'd find my suite mates and they would speak English and want to party with me. I ended up rooming with an English girl named Emma and three Scottish girls all with awesome accents. They were all doing their own things so I got dressed for the evening and wandered back down to the main road in front of the beach in search of cheap food and beer.

I found both cheap food and beer AND free wifi at a bar/restaurant called the canteen and settled down for some solid people watching. Had a chat with another nice man that was working the door later that night and, again, recommended some stuff I do the next day. Afterward I strolled back to my hostel and went to bed for an early evening.

I woke up nice and early for my second day in Sydney and went for a run along the beach walk. Running along the ocean seems to be a lot more motivating a lot than on a dreary treadmill. It was Anzac Day, which is kind of like our Canadian Remembrance Day or American Veterans Day, so they were a LOT of people touring around for the day. I then went back to the hostel and had my oatmeal, packed up my stuff, and got directions on how to get to the city center or circle.

On my itinerary for the day was to see the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Opera House, and perhaps the Botanical Gardens, which luckily were all located in the same (tourist trap of an) area. Once off the bus I spotted a man with a Starbucks bag and sent charging in the direction that he was coming from (Enrollment Ladies, those gift cards are a lifesaver!! You get 30 minutes of wifi with a coffee). I then spent the rest of the day observing and taking pictures and generally just wandering around and appreciating where I was and the fact that I'd gotten the opportunity to be there. Wandering while hauling 50+ pounds of luggage, but wandering nonetheless - I just thought of it as strength training :).

At the end of my afternoon I took an overpriced train to the airport and waiting in anticipation to land and see Mard!

- Sabrina, Bina, Wood

PS all of my photos from the second day in Sydney are on my camera and not my phone, so those will have to come later.

a day in la

I began my day in LA sitting in the Air New Zealand terminal on the floor by a plug-in with all my luggage. The check in desk didn't open until 1:30pm, so I was just taking my time talking to friends and forming my plan of attack for the day. After a while a girl with a large backpack walked it to the deserted terminal and up to me. I can't remember exactly how the conversation started, but she was from Australia (Adelaide), had backpacked through South America and spent the past four days in LA. She was heading to London on a flight leaving at 5pm but could only catch a ride early, so we were both stuck in the same situation. She really wanted to try In 'N' Out Burger as the friend she was staying with had highly recommended it and told her all the fancy secret codes to ask for when ordering, and asked if I was interested as well. I said sure, what the heck, I've never had it before and YOLO right? (hahah) She said if I watched her pack she'd find her way to the In 'N' Out and bring us both back food.

Seemed like a better than great deal - and it was! So, what you see below is a picture of me with my Double Double Animal Style burger and It. Was. Delicious!

We hung out and chatted until the check in desk opened at 1:30. We both checked our bags, and even though I would have loved to continue to hang out I figured I should venture out of the airport while I had the chance. After a lot of asking people and finding an information desk I figured out how to navigate the bus situation and found my way down to Venice Beach. I basically wandered along Venice Beach for a couple of hours, watched some kids skateboarding, stopped in the little shops, smelled the green air, and people watched. At the end of my wandering I picked up THE MOST AMAZING SANDWICH I HAVE EVER EATEN with an equally delicious little salad and dressing from a little cafe to go and ate it on the beach. I then navigated my way back to the airport and actually helped a couple find their way as well. The man actually said to his wife, "don't worry, she'll tell us what stop to get off at". Proud moment right there. I also met another couple with two little girls who told me where to go see platypuses in Australia, so that's kind of neat. One little girl held my hand and the other one kept wanted to touch my phone, reminded me of Abby and Ali :).

I'm just in the New Zealand airport, waiting to board my flight to Sydney. Wish me luck figuring out how to get from the airport to my hostel! Thank goodness English is the predominant language!

Au revoir!

- Sabrina, Bina, Wood

disclaimer!

For everyone that knows me and my love of design and my need to do things the right way you will understand my need for a disclaimer.

I hastily created this blog last night, without time to edit layout, colours, fonts, and design a proper background. Currently my means of posting and editing is through the app on my iPhone. It is torturing me as I type that it may be numerous days until it looks nice and you may have to read content on an unappealing screen (and a tiled background for goodness sake!). Sorry to you, sorry to my pride, but it had to get done so also sorry, not sorry.

Also a disclaimer that I will do my best to update and post, but I'm more of a get out and do than a sit in and write about it type of person. We'll see how this goes!

Cheers!

PS: If you see grammar mistakes, ignore them. If you see spelling mistakes, please feel free to let me know. If you question my high volume use of commas, well there's nothing I can do about that and you'll just have to deal with it.

- Sabrina, Bina, Wood

left and leaving

The past week has been a bit of a whirlwind, spent eating and drinking with a lot of great people. The ladies in my office threw me an amazing going away party, complete with a gift of everything essential for a flight to Australia (I've already played a couple of games of sudoku). Friday the 19th was my last day of work and of course it's all bittersweet. I'm excited to move on to new adventures in my life, but I'm leaving some amazing people behind. Valley City State University has played a very great and positive role in my life and I'm so thankful that coincidence or fate or whoever makes the master plans led me to end up there six years ago.

I am currently sitting in the Air New Zealand terminal at LAX after using my problem solving skills to figure out how the heck to get here. Walking seemed logical, but when I asked a gate agent how to walk to Terminal 2 he said, "you want to walk to Terminal 2 *surprised face*?". I said yes, he gave me directions and now I sit pondering my next move. It doesn't look like you can check into a flight 11 hours early since no one is here, so I may try to tackle getting out to see something.

I had two seats to myself the first flight from Fargo to Salt Lake City and the exit row to LAX, so far so good *knock on wood*. Mom and Dad / Lorraine and Wray drove down to see me off and I'm glad they did, it was great to get to hang out with them and see them again before I left. I swear they (yes, you guys) are more awesome every time I see them. I'd also like to give an extra special shout out to Alecia and David (and Abigail and Ali) for giving me a home for the last two months and holding on to my belongings and to Jerry and Kelly Bennefeld for watching over my vehicle while I'm away.

I leave LAX at 9pm tonight and arrive in Sydney, Australia at 8:30am on Wednesday, April 24, 2013. I will sight see by myself the first day and stay in a Hostel on Bondi Beach that night, I will sight see some more on the 25th, then catch a flight in the late afternoon to Gold Coast where Miss Mardee Lander will (hopefully) pick me up in her sweet ride/our new home. From there the adventure begins!!

The pictures below are:
Me in my empty office with my box of belongings.
The going away party my office threw.
The scholarship auction "Get Wild in the VCSU Jungle" Friday night (I know, I know, mirror picture but I had to!)
Mom and Dad from a distance as I waited in line to I through security.
Mard's van and our new home.

- Sabrina, Bina, Wood