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Published: December 21st 2008
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Firstly apologies for the lack of blogging and communications recently, as we have been moving about a lot we havent found campsite with free wireless and havent had time to really sit down and document anything up until now!
Our first 3 weeks of work have been pretty uneventful.. we made weekly target on 2 of the 3 weeks, bit of a struggle but we got there eventually and the bonus was nice to see in the bank. Our 3rd week was in a very quiet shopping centre and although we had no competition from santa or a rival photographhy company as we had before, we struggled to make even daily targets..but still we got paid a chunk which is better than a kick in the teeth. We are getting to know all the girls on our set, they are a great bunch of girls and they teach us all the ins and outs and the carryings on..
We are gradually getting used to random english-sounding names popping up on signs, and we are coming across many people from england-in particular the Birmingham area believe it or not- matt nearly collapsed on sight when he saw someone in a villa
shirt walking through a shopping centre! I have almost stopped looking at my feet the entire time for spiders and other creepy crawlies, but i still check under the toilet seat at the campsites just in case- i KNOW i read somewhere that they like to hide out under there so am determined not to get a nip on the bum!
We have spent our days off relaxing around our campsite on the site at 'residential living for the over 50s', chilling in the pool and stuff.Only its not really a campsite anymore, the guide book was out of date but the woman let us have a little spot right next to the pool and a nice bit little eccentric man named John who shouts at the TV a lot!
We have also explored the local shopping, ventured into Brisbane and spent a lovely if not a little cloudy day at wet and wild water park with Jo and Kat from the Intrepid group and we took them for their maiden all-you-can-eat sizzler meal.. (our second by this point)
We have been seeing highwsy signs for kangaroos and koalas and other typically australian animals beware of crossing
Jo and Kats van
not as big as ours!! etc etc but were yet to see and sign or tail until we were putting some rubbish out at the top of our campsite and matt spotted several fairly large wild kangaroos just in the field a small way away..one of the largest was with quite a young joey and it seemed to be sizing us up a little so we didnt hang around much longer after that! A few days earlier in the same field Matt had also discovered another funnel-web but decided against poking it with a stick this time!!
In the week leading to the christmas party we decided not to stray too far from the gold coast as that was our venue for the party..so we spent a couple of days at Byron Bay and a couple at Surfers Paradise taking in the sights and soaking up the sunshine.
Byron Bay is breathtaking, the pictures don't do it justice. town itself is quite small and full of touristy crowds and local surfers but the beach itself is truly stunning! We spent a good half an hour up a rickety viewpoint just looking out over it..the colours of the sea are soo blue..just as sea
Fun at work
Marida and her glasses is supposed to look.. i know im spouting a load of fluffy love but it really is that amazing.
Our second day we ventured up to cape byron and WALKED (yes shock horror) the 2.2 km to the lighthouse and australia's most easterly mainland point. We were lucky enough to be next to a group at the top who spotted some wild bottle-nosed dolphins so of course i was thrilled even if they were quite a distance away!! On the way down we stopped to watch some children learning to surf and were alerted to the presence of a large sea turtle by their squeals and shouts to each other- again quite a distance away so it looked pretty small but we imagine up close it was huge!
Our afternoon was spent on the beach relaxing and topping up the tans- occasional dips in the sea naturally but the water was pretty cold so i took a bit of encouragement to move anywhere but oncce you were in the waves were really fun to mess around in!!
The following day we were heading back to the Gold Coast, nearer the christmas party venue, but after a chat with
Joe from Aldridge..(and grumpy girlfriend from Lichfield) we decided to drive back via a little town called Nimbin and avoid the highways for a bit more of a scenic route.
Nimbin is an old hippy town, literally there are 60 year old women dress like hippies, kids walking around in tie-dyed smocks and wellies, all the houses and shops are painted a multitude of colours. They clearly aren't fans of washing themselves though-we encountered many people who really smelt bad!!
Up until a couple of months ago smoking marijuana in some of their bars was accepted and by the looks of it-encouraged, but apparently the police had a crackdown and closed the main bar.. it is still around though, you can smell occasional wafts and we were offered some 'special' cookies which we politely declined and opted instead for fresh juice and milkshakes before making a swift exit-very bizarre place indeed!!
Back in surfers we stayed at a campsite near Miami and Nobbys beaches, nice site with a pool and stuff for relaxing. Our first day we had to take a brief detour to a garage to have a brake pad changed (gone is the horrible grinding noise whenever
wild joeys!!
Kangaroos..up close and personal! we slam on the brakes..i mean.. brake gently at each stop!)
Then the afternoon we went to collect our personal order of Uggz..beautifully made and netither of us can wait to wear them!! and then headed to the beach.
Nobbys beach was again very beautiful-the water wasnt as pretty a colour and the sand was very very fine..which we soon realised was not a good combination with the sea-breezes and soon we were covered in a nice even thin layer of sand.. we soon headed back to try and wash it off!!
Last night was the long-awaited staff party..we plotted some shennanigans with the girls from the sets for the staff christmas party too-teaching them some pommie ways of drinking!! we varied the masquerade theme by doing some fancy dress-style outfits that include masks-we are almost certain our boss was amused but she was totally drunk anyway so no one really cared what was going on. Had a nice sit down buffet and then a band playing loads of covers and things which was pretty good. We went as Gotcha man and Gotcha girl..matt wore pink leggings and ran around swishing his cape a lot. 4 of the others went
The green..poolside views
over 50s living not so bad!! as KISS which was Very amusing and Mel and her boyfriend went as batman and catwoman..all very entertaining!
Tomorrow we head for Australia Zoo and then continue up to spend Christmas at Hervey Bay, we are doing a one day trip to Fraser Island on Christmas Eve which will be our little christmas extravegance. Following that we are spending a night in mackay further North to break up the drive to Airlie beach where we are spending new years, a day trip to the Whitsundays slotted in there somewhere too so all in all probably spending too much money but having a great time doing so!!
Merry Christmas to you all..hopefully will get to speak to some of you on the phone over the festive period!
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