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Published: June 24th 2007
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Hello everyone!
We’ve been getting swarms of emails from everyone wondering where we are and what we’ve been doing. So, we sat down, had a big sigh and here we are writing this blog for YOU! So enjoy!
We left off at Bali, where we had just come back to Kuta from paradising out on the Gili Islands. We spent the last days of Bali touring the quaint art town of Ubud, that comes with an adventure at a monkey sanctuary. Funny story, Bella got molested by a monkey and Kris got peed on. The boys (Kris and Adam) also tried their skills out on the surfs in Dreamland—which is beautiful, while Izabela and Jenna caught some rays on the white sandy beach. We also gave Waterbom (the waterslide park) another go, this time with a crew of about 20. It was far better with the group because it gave Kris some guys to race down the slides with, and a set team for some water volleyball. Good laughs.
Saying good bye to Bali was hard enough especially with all the friends we had to leave behind, but we were excited for the big land down under
and the adventure yet to come.
However, NOTHING prepared us for Melbourne! In a matter of 12 hours, we went from humid, 30 degree sun , weather fit for board shorts and sun dresses, to an almost freezing, drizzly, rainy city that forced the both of us to put on all the warm clothes we had. Sadly, Izabela only had a pair of flip flops which proved to make her first days in Australia a challenge. However, Melbourne was a cool funky city with cafes galore, cake shops, lots of waterways, and an all around Montreal vibe. The rain dampened our time there, no lies, but we made the most of our 2 days with Karaoke Sundays at the hostel we stayed at where Kris easily proved to the crowd that he’s the king of James Brown’s “I feel good” and Madonna’s “Like a Virgin”—you had see it to believe it! The hostel also had fantastic “Canadian cakes with real maple syrup,” and our dorm room boasted the best roommates we could ask for (1 guy who sounded like he was dying as he snored. We chucked pillows at him, tried suffocating him with a spare blanket and shook
Looks good out there!
Last day surfing for Kris during sunset. him repeatedly, yet still the room continued to violently quake.) And then, we went to the casino, pulled out a $50, and tried our luck. Well, our luck was obvious after the first 10 minutes—our pockets had holes in them when we left.
We flew to seek warmer weather in Brisbane, and found ourselves sleeping at the airport once we arrived because we had missed our last bus to the city and no taxis were in sight. Yes, it was uncomfortable, but we made a new friend—an 80 year old man who would fall asleep mid-sentence while standing up. We laughed for hours while he tried to explain his travel plans, falling asleep every 5 minutes, and then rapidly waking up yelling “I’m still here…..I’m still here.” We found out later, that he was bi-polar and epileptic. At 7am, we decided it was a good time to leave the airport and went straight to the Wicked Camper depot to rent ourselves a home on wheels.
This van that’s no bigger than a caravan, is fully equipped with a comfy bed fit for Kris, a small kitchenette with a sink, a propane tank stove, some dishes, a cooler and
a wicked paint job (skull flowers—see picture). We like our home, apart from the exterior, it’s got everything we need—other than a shower.
So you may be wondering where we shower, go pee pee and do our other business. Well, on our second day in Brisbane we went to the university and used the showers at the pool. Kris dried himself with toilet paper and the hand drier.
We met up with two of Kris’ old friends from home, Sabrina and Susie for some pizza and coffee, roamed around the city and called it a night. We got a knock on our campervan the next day from the police because some lady that we were parked beside was convinced that we had stolen her wallet while we went to the bathroom. The police didn’t take her seriously, but as soon as she found out that they hadn’t done a follow up on us, she made a complaint and thus the officers were forced to ask us some questions. We thought it was more ironic than anything, because we both found her odd as we walked past her that morning and we were convinced that the cops had come
monkey see monkey do
I guess Kris' new hairy friend saw a monkey pee on somebody else's shoulder. My initiation into the sanctuary. to tell us we weren’t allowed to sleep on the side of the road.
The next day we headed up north to Noosa Heads to meet up with Katie and Breno, friends we made in Bangkok 4 months ago. Katie, the amazing chef cooked up some delicious meals for us, gave us a place to chill, and introduced us to her great Aussie family and friends.
Katie and Breno showed us a great time in the quiet yet beautiful town. We got to see Koalas and Kangaroos in the wild, along with a massive stick insect, as well as sweeping views of the beach and headlands. We tried the best ice cream we’ve ever had and spent a sunny Sunday afternoon playing lawn bowling and drinking scooners of beer. Good times!
After a few days, we went up to Fraser Island with a group of 7 others we had never met before. We rented a 4x4 together, and headed off to the Island of pristine lakes, beautiful headlands where we saw groups of dolphins, sharks and sting rays, and never ending sand dunes (Fraser Island is the biggest sand island out there). We experienced very cold nights
monkey see monkey two
Bella gets molested as the monkey gropes her all over. So not funny. in our tent, but all around good fun with our group of Scotts, Brits and Americans. We vowed that we would go back during the summer when taking a dip in the island's pristine clear lakes would be much warmer.
Right now, we’re on the Gold Coast. On the way back down we went to Steve Irwin’s Zoo which was a wopping $50 each to get in, but, it held some of the most fantastic animals we both had ever seen and it gave us a chance to get close to the Roos to feed and pet them.
We spent the last 2 nights with one of Kris’ friends from back home, Ryan Lee, in Surfer’s Paradise at his resort of a home. They were blurry if you know what I mean, but we do remember Ryan pulling out an identical pair of leopard print speedos after Kris had asked him if he could lend him some clothes wearing nothing but his own speedos. Ryan was convinced Kris had gone into his underwear drawer and stolen his. The speedos live on!
We’re back chilling out with Katie and Brendan in Palm Beach with $300 left in our
bank account and we just had a gorgeous meal prepared by the two of them. We've become addicted to the national favorite food: the meat pie. If anyone comes down to the coast, "Humble Pies" is supposedly where its at--we tried them and we have to agree! Also, because of Breno, we can't get enough of "Breaka" which is an iced coffee drink you can buy at any convenience store here. Next, we’ll be driving off to Byron Bay and then a few more days and we begin our long journey back home.
We arrive July 8th at 6:30pm for anyone who wants to say “heyo!”
Have to say we are excited about our return cause it’s been a while and we miss you all back home. Thanks for reading our blog, and see you soon.
Kris and Izabela
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