Hi Everyone! On February 8th I left Brisbane and flew to Christchurch and then to Auckland. I had paid to check up to 15 kg of luggage so I spent quite a bit of time trying to get my backpack to weigh less than 15 kg. Eventually I put some things in storage in Brisbane (since I am flying back there in March) and I put everything heavy into my day bag to use as a carry on. It is a bit distressing to know that if the airline looses my luggage I wont have any clean underwear or shampoo but I will have my scrapbook, journal, and about 100 postcards. About three months ago I booked a ticket for a travel company called Kiwi Experience. It is this hop on, hop off bus that takes ... read more

Hi Everyone! After parting company with Emma in Canberra I took the bus to Sydney and spent some time with friends there. Then I took the overnight train to Brisbane, since it only cost $69, and I didn't have to pay for accommodation for a night on the train. It was 6am when I got to Brisbane, but I was able to get into my hostel room right away. Brisbane is called the River City, probably because it has a river that runs through the middle of it. You can always trust the Australians to be sensible about names. It rained almost the entire time I was in Brisbane, so it made for a depressing ambiance while I was sightseeing. My favorite thing to do in a city is visit the museums, so I did that ... read more

Welcome back to the road trip with Emma and Jenny. After spending the week in Melbourne Emma and I debated extensively about the price verses value of visiting Phillip Island and the Great Ocean Road on a tour or trying to drive it ourselves. It would cost about half the price of the tour, but it would be more stressful. Finally Emma decided that she was confident enough to drive. We invited our Friend Marcella, from the Fruitshack, to come along since she had just arrived in Melbourne as well. So I studied the map and we trudged our way through the traffic of the Melbourne suburbs and made it to Phillip Island in about two hours We stopped at tourist information and bought a "3 park pass" to see Churchill Island, The Koala Conservation Center, ... read more

Last week was Thanksgiving. I spent two days cooking and baking a proper American Thanksgiving from scratch. Because Australians do not celebrate Thanksgiving they are lacking all the nice short cut products like stove top stuffing and canned pumpkin. I ended up mashing potatoes and drying bread crumbs for stuffing. Boiling pumpkin for pumpkin pie. It was very labor intensive. I am really impressed with my Grandma that she cooks this much every year for my family. I will always remember the first Thanksgiving I was in charge of being in Australia and cooking for 15 Europeans in a tiny little gas oven. I am the only American at the fruitshack now, and there are only two Canadians that have experienced Thanksgiving dinner before. It is interesting to really see your culture from another perspective. Especially ... read more

Hi Everyone, I am sorry that it has been so long since my last update. I am still alive and working in Leeton. In my last blog I talked about the Fruitshack where I am living with other backpackers. Now I am going to talk about the place I am working: Mick's Bakehouse. So far most of the people I have met have been other travelers but working for a small business means I talk to lots of Australian's everyday! Of course that offers challenges in itself. I love the Australian accent but it isn't always easy for an American to understand. Or at least for me to understand. (I also have problems understanding other Americans but I can't blame that on language differences.) I am constantly running into problems at the bakery because people order ... read more