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Published: August 1st 2006
Rainbow Beach
The weather was a bit pantsOk, so I got to the hotel in Rainbow Beach called Pippies. There were these two mad Dutch girls at the bus stop who worked for Pippies and they showed me the 50 metre straight walk to the hostel. In the front part as soon as you walk in there’s a little lawn with some hammocks and a couple of people were milling around enjoying the sunshine. Everyone was so friendly and within no time one of the Dutch girls was cutting my hair for $5.00 and I was totally immersed in chat and giggles. Then, just as I thought the day couldn’t possibly get any better, six half naked, well built, brown Brummie lads walked in, returning from Fraser Island, and suddenly the day was complete! Aah! Feeling completely content and with all traces of the ‘crap period’ erased, I was able to go to the bottle shop and purchase wine with a light heart!
The next day I got up, went to the beach and tried to work out my ever increasingly worrying money situation. I was drastically running out as it was taking longer than I had anticipated to receive my tax back from England, and also
The Outside Bit At Rainbow Beach
Not the best picture, but there you go! to organise lodging my tax claim with the Australian government. Dad had kindly agreed to give me some money to cover a few more loan repayments and that was due to hit my bank soon, and the tax office had written to say that my claim would be dealt with by the 26th July. So, I checked my English bank account that day, only to find that there was no money in there. When I rang the English tax office that night, they said that they didn’t have my pay details on there from O2, and as I can’t remember where I put my P45, it was going to take up to another two months for me to receive the money! Aaah!!! I wasn’t due to get my Australian tax back for another week, and then it would take another week to transfer it into my English bank account, as I would be in New Zealand then and wouldn’t be able to access it! Aah! I’d just withdrawn the last $50.00 in my Australian bank account and needed money for accommodation etc, with my English credit card getting worryingly close to its limit!
So, after a tearful conversation with
Us Girls
Outside the Doplphin Hostel in Noosa mum, we agreed that she would put some cash straight into my account by paying it into the bank over the counter, and then I would transfer some money from my ISA (that’s to pay my loan repayments when I get back) and then once I get the money back from the English tax office, I’d pay that back! How stupid was I to think that would go smoothly, forgetting of course the crucial factor that its my life and so inevitably it wasn’t going to be easy!
That night, after all that stress, we played scrabble in the hostel and I didn’t do too badly surprisingly and I caught the bus the next morning to Dolphin Hostel in Noosa. It was raining and this irritating Irish girl kept going on and on and on, so by the time we got to Noosa, I was feeling a little unsettled, plus with the added stress of a dwindling money supply, and then I got to the hostel! The hostel is about a 5minute walk away from Sunshine Beach in Noosa but is miles away from the rest of town, well a short bus journey. When you walk in the front
The Inside/Outside Bathroom
Was very nice, but a bit weird as if you'd been tall enough, you could have seen me having a shower! Not pretty!! its all open with chairs and tables and hammocks etc. There are units with two bedrooms with bunks in, sharing a kitchen, bathroom and living area. All was going well until I walked into my tv bit, and one of the guys in there was playing this film called the Irreversible, or something like that, and I walked in right in the middle of the 15 minute rape scene. It was horrible, so violent and even though I shut the bedroom door I could still hear everything and that, coupled with the rain and everything else made me feel really awful and very alone.
And it doesn’t end there. I went into town to get some money out, buy some moisturiser and face wash and also pick up a replacement toothbrush head for my electric toothbrush. My other one had badly needed replacing and I’d stupidly thought that you would be able to pick them up easily like in England. No. I had to order one from an internet site. At the time, I put the invoice address as where the card is registered in England, and the delivery address as a post office in Noosa, as I wouldn’t
have a fixed address for them to deliver it to. They called me up to confirm this as it was obviously quite confusing, and I thought all would be fine. So, I get to the post office and its not there. After ringing the company, they first of all tell me that they informed me at the time that it would be delivered in August. When I explained that no, it was definitely being delivered now, she remembered that her friend had posted it, it was definitely on the way, but after my insistence, she would chase it up with the post office on Monday. Fine. However, that whole sage was heightened by my phone battery running out, even though it had been half full when I left the hostel, and also me not having a lot of money to use the phone as I’d just paid cash for the moisturiser and face wash and had about $5 left in my purse. But I managed to breathe deeply, hold back the tears and sort it out, and told my self that soon I would have more money and I could go back to the hostel and chill for a bit.
Wrong. I then tried to get some money out and low and behold, the bank have deactivated my bank card. Well done them. I’m with the Royal Bank of Scotland and for anyone thinking about opening a bank account, please don’t bother with them. I’ve had more problems with them, than is humanly possible, all revolving around such issues as where I try to get my money and they’ve done something, anything to stop that, conveniently at a time when I have either nothing in my purse, or about to pay for petrol, etc etc.
So, I then have to wait for 1 hour and 15 minutes for the courtesy bus back to the hostel as I couldn’t afford the local bus. What a nightmare. That night, I wasn’t going to go out, but I arranged with some girls in the hostel that I would pay for their drinks on my card and they’d give me the cash, and I preceded to get really really drunk! Had a fab night, saw some naked men in one of the bars who were trying to win a prize and woke up the next day, feeling very sick, but calm in a
weird sort of way. I managed to withdraw some money from my credit card (I had forgotten the pin number but someone let me sign for it) and I’ve just had an email from mum asking if I knew anything about a toothbrush head that had been posted in my name from Australia. I give up!
Anyway, Saturday was a great day. The sun was shining, Ketrina and Ray came up to Noosa to see me which was great, and a guy from the Whitsunday’s Stefan arrived in Noosa so that was cool as well. Sunday, my old boss Geoff from Mission Australia picked me up and took me to see his beautiful horses. That was really good. They were going to the farrier who lives off the beaten track in the country and I saw my first wild wallaby, yey! I’d had a few drinks the night before though and Geoff picked me up at 6.30am, so was a little bleary eyed but still was really good!
That afternoon I spent some time on the beach and then we headed back to Brisbane, just in time for bed!!! What a perfect way to spend my last weekend in Australia. I managed to get a one last dip in the sea as well which was good.
Yesterday, Monday, I mooched in the morning, purchased another toothbrush head from David Jones (it’s a relief to use it, I’ve been using the crap one that Singapore Airlines gave us for about three weeks!) and went to Mission Australia where I used to work in Brisbane to see everyone. That was lovely, it was really good to see everyone there again and we had lunch and some chats and stuff. Then today, I’m posting stuff home, looking at walking boots, buying pj’s (warm ones for NZ), having lunch and painting my own boomerang! I got a voucher to do it for free from Pippies so that should be cool!!
And thus concludes my time in Australia. I’ve had a really good time here, and even though I’m completely ready to leave, I also feel like there’s so much for me yet to do. So I reckon I’ll come back on a three month visa and do some more of the things that I’ve missed out on this time around. I’ve been here for seven months now so its going to be a bit of a shock to use different money and see different landscapes etc, but I’m so excited, it can only be good!!!
See you in New Zealand!
Love me
xxx
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Pat Temiz
non-member comment
You hit the money wall!
It had to happen Jules, money is the big one and you seemed to have coped well, although I know it didn't feel like it at the time. Using your card for the drinks and getting the cash was a good one - in my day it was getting people to cash cheques as there weren't cards! Plus selling belongings which I'm sure you could still do. Anyway, yet again, you came through and as I write must be en route to NZ if not already there. Have a good time, I haven't been but have lots of friends who've travelled there and it is very very beautiful. Can't wait to hear your opinions. Love Pat