Australia, Christmas Weekend!

Merry Christmas!

Its been a good christmas in australia dispite not feeling like christmas! We had hot weather, good food and plenty of beer!
For christmas eve i cooked a beautiful bbq consisting of steak, burgers, sausage and onion (you've got to have some veg!) It went down a storm and was a good start to the christmas weekend. After the bbq we went to the local irish pub and stayed there untill the early hours of christmas day!

On christmas morning (around 1pm) we discovered that santa had infact come to the volunteer house!

If you are reading this grandma, you will be very proud of me; on Christmas day i decided to take on the monster task of christmas dinner. We had a couple of roast chickens (already stuffed) and all the usual veggies apart from brussel sprouts. I cooked it all myself and got nothing but praise. I even went above and beyond my own expectations by making a trifle from scratch and decorating a pavolova!

We spent the rest of the day in 30 degree heat on the beach with a cool box full of beer, left overs and sparkling wine (we cannot afford champaign, we're only volunteers). Boxing day was spent the same way minus the big meal!

It was a great weekend on the whole, even though i missed out on a white christmas. Next weekend is 4 days long and includes New Year and my Birthday so the partys will continue!

Australia, Newcastle Work, Week 2

Last week was christmas week and believe it or not i had to work, dispite being hot and not feeling like christmas at all, i still sported a santa hat all week. We were working in an area of wetlands in Newcastle planting native trees to try and increase biodiversity in the wetlands and increase the population of some of the native wildlife. I think we planted around 200 trees and did a bit of weeding too. I also managed to get my face in the local paper, although i was a little dissapointed that they used the team leaders quote instead of mine!
On the thursday before christmas eve we finished work at 12 because conservation volunteers were providing us with a christmas bbq. We turned up expecting to be smothered with burgers and sausages only to find out that we had to cook the barbie ourselves. It was a good bbq though non the less apart for a goose stealing my hot dog from my hand.
After work we spent most evenings on the beach, we'd go for a swim before the shark came out to play and relax on the beach for a while. Every beach here has a swimming pool (filled with sea water) at the edge of the beach so if there a rips or the waves are too strong we can swim in them. We finished early another day that week and our team leader took us to a wild life reserve where i got to see my first Koala and for $3.50 i got to pet it.

One of the night (i cannot remember which) we hear that there was a luner eclipse, so we went to memorial hill (a high hill near our house) via the liqour store and spent the night having a few beers and watching the stars.

It was a good week on the whole, and we had high hopes for christmas! One more thing, i also bought a micro scooter this week from aldi, it cost the equivilant of 12 pounds. Its my early christmas present to myself!

Back to Work, Week 1

I'm now living in Newcastle for my last 6 weeks of conservation work. I arrived last weekend but we spent the week in a very small town about 3 hours drive inland from Newcastle. It was the best accomodation i've stayed in so far on all my trip! We were in the biggest house in the town which had around 8 bedrooms, this meant we all had a room to ourselves and my room had a 4 poster bed in it, so i was happy. The house also had a plunge pool and the owners had bought a 63inch 3d tv the day before we arrived!
We spent most of the week weeding some ivy type plants called morning glory along river banks which grows around native trees and smothers them, it wasn't very interesting the weather was good so we didn't complain too much. One of the days we planted about 400 trees which was good fun, and one afternoon our team leader took us to some caves which we explored for a few hours, they went for miles and parts of them were unexplored.

For the weekend we were back in Newcastle, and on saturday we went up the coast to a place called port stevens, which has loads of sand dunes, you can go sandboarding and camel riding on the so i plan to do that at somepoint. We also went to a backpackers hostel that look after injured animals, it was quite interesting and we go to see a Walliby that was about 2 months old.

If you look closely there is a dolphin!

One the sunday we had a chill out day and went to the beach, took a few beers and had a bit of a swim! Santa even came to the beach on a speed boat and was throwing around sweets to little kids, apparently i'm not a kid anymore so didn't get any!

Last days of week off, Sydney/Newcastle

After chilling in Byron bay for the first 4 days of my week off, i headed to Sydney for a few days. I was staying with my second cousin Jacqui, who lives in an apartment 10 minutes from the city centre. For the first night she was away in China so i had the apartment to myself, which was a change from living in a room with 10 people and having to sleep in a bunk bed.
When she got back the next day she showed me around and i spent the day being a tourist and wandering around sydney, going to the harbour bridge, the opera house and sky tower. We also checked out a couple of the many beaches and i went for my first swim in australia in 29 degree heat. It was amazing untill she reminded me about sharks when we were about 300 metres away from the shore.
That evening she showed me round some of the good touristy bars in Sydney the good thing about family is that i didn't have to buy a single drink! (Don't worry mum, i did offer to pay).
The next day was Jacquis works christmas party which was a bbq on on of the beaches. We went with her friend Lizzy who gave me a lift up to Newcastle where i'm staying now. But not before taking a detour to one of sydneys most famous beaches, Bondi beach. The christmas party was really good although it didn't feel christmassy at all and i have learnt that it is not a good idea to go swimming when you are full of free burgers and beer! However, i don't think i have learnt my lesson and will probably be doing the same again at one of the beaches in Newcastle.
Newcastle here is quite similar to the newcastle back home, by that i mean they drink about the same amount. I even found out that this is the only city in OZ where you can't by a shot of spirits because alcohol related violence used to be really high.
Apart from that though its a pretty cool place and the house i'm staying in now is by far the best house i've stayed in so far and we have the choice of 3 different beaches which are about 10 minutes walk away.

First fews days of my week off!

I have spent most of my week off in Byron Bay, a small town about an hours drive from the Gold Coast. The towns right on the beach and has a really good vibe. There is good surf and a lot of hippies!
The weathers not been too great this week, we're still getting light rain and thunderstorms but its really humid.
Yesterday i did a 14,000ft skydive which was amazing and i'll definatly be doing again when i get the chance. I never thought throwing yourself from plane could feel so good. That was the only real activity i've done this week, the rest of the time i've just been chilling on the beach and exploring. I should have booked a surf lesson but never got round to it. I think i'll give surfing a try when i get to Newcastle.



Tomorrow i'm flying to sydney and staying there for a few days before i start my conservation work again. Dads second cousin Jacqui has offered to let me stay at here house dispite the fact that she is away in China. She has an apartment about 20mins from the centre of sydney so i've struck lucky i think. Its save me some money which is good because OZ is continuing to bleed me dry!