Cha-Cha-Cha Changes!

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Well well well look who it is.....

Now before you get all huffy (I think thats a word) I have been meaning to send out a blog for some time but life seems to get in the way. Alot has happened over the last month and a bit so this could be quite a long blog....though for those of you who dont like to read, just read every second word and that should save some time.

So the last few weeks of the ski season were....lets just say pitiful... I had no idea that ski hills could remain open for so long in those conditions.... We actually had small lakes dotting most of the beginner runs. Despite this inconvenience, this did make falls by the guests, that much more hilarious for the staff... But in the end the balmy weather wasn't all bad, as it did allow us to wear t shirst while we worked and skied...giving our pasty white skin that nice lobster red shine. Finally on Oct 1st, as the hill turned mocha brown, those higher up decided that the ski season was over... making light of one of the worst decisions I have ever been present to. Know why? because 3 days later....YES 3 DAYS LATER it snowed every day for more then a week...adding a meter of fresh pow pow to Coronet peak and the surrounding mountains. Now i hear you saying "but Ryan how were they supposed to know that was going to happen?" Well folks because the same thing happened the year before and the year before that...yes this seemed to be quite a little trend that failed to catch their attention. I even heard the predictions that it was going to happen 2 months before the ski slopes closed... but such is life...and anyways I had sent my ski stuff home by that point...so all i could do was cry as my friends told me stories of the best snow fall of the year.


October 1st/ 2007
As i mentioned before this was the day we closed Coronet peak, so you could imagine I was pretty happy.... So there I was minding my own business when our boss told us that we could help the bar staff finish off a keg of beer and all the food they had in the fridges. Now...I am not one to take a free hand out..but this was impossible to pass up (though in retrospect I wish i had). Several drinks and a mountain of food later we were on the bus down from the mountain.
Now I wanted to go home and start packing for Oz but others on the bus had better ideas such as a huge house party, where all would be invited... now i should have said no...but it seemed like a good idea at the time. After a few dozen rounds of goon a fortune, (take the bags out of boxes of wine and place them on a spinning clothes line and spin them around, if it lands in front of you, you drink.) lets just say i was very...very...very drunk.. So drunk in fact that I couldn't stand and fell against my friends door while trying to go to the bathroom....2 bad the door was made of glass. Now I have never done serious damage to any part of my body...until now, but I guess someone has to give doctors and nurses something to do. So i figured I would give them a task that would take them a few hours to complete... and 17 stitches later my arm... which had gone completely through the glass, was repaired... though these scares could take some time.

October 8th/ 2007 Aka last night in Queenstown...i think
As a send off my friends (who were still in the country) and I decided to hold a pub golf competition to truly say goodbye to this awesome little town. After a little stop over at the local family salvo (Salvation army) we where ready to paint the town red in our finest golf attire. For those of you unfamiliar with pub golf the rules are simple. Each bar you go to you have a drink, and each sip from that drink is a stroke...so if one where to drink a whole pint of beer in one go then they would get a hole in one....if one where so inclined. After 9 holes we decide to leave the back nine for my next visit to this beautiful country. I then said my goodbyes to all those who where not heading my way to Oz and that....sadly... was that.

An Ode to New Zealand.
Few countries on this planet, in my mind, have been as amazing as this we' little place. The friends I have made here over these last 10 months will never be forgotten, and have given me a million fond memories. I hope one day to return to your untouched shores and bask in views which no postcard could match..... New Zealand, you will be missed.

October 9th/2007
My arrival in Sydney was immediately met with confusion.... for some reason I started to sweat... it was strange, it was as if this country actually received warmth from the suns rays...but that couldn't be, could it? (a stark contrast to NZ)
Unlike my time in NZ, I had done zero planning and frankly was a little confused as where I should go, or what I should be doing....work and making some money immediately came to mind...but where to go? I had friends up the entire East coast, but who deserved any of my precious time?... well that question was easy... my mate chris, who had graciously offered up his home in surfers paradise... with that settled, I first I had some exploring to do in this little town called sydney.
Sydney it turned out was had a lot to offer, and I tried to see everything I could in the few days I had available.... Luckily most of the attractions where reasonably priced and where readily accessibly by bus or in walking distance from my hostel. Though most of my time was spent in museums and marine parks... I was able to book a few hour boat tour out on the harbour with my friend Rochelle from Nz.... quite an experience when you cruised down the water come dusk, as the lights from the opera house and sky scrapers were incredible.

October 15/26 the Chris Porree experience
Luckily many of my friends who I had made during my time in New Zealand had made the right choice in their lives and had decided to travel to the same countries I had chosen on my little journey...making final goodbyes a rarity. Upon my arrival in surfers paradise, near brisbane, I felt like I was right back in NZ as I met up with Laura, Emily, Chris, Jared and Dylan as we partied the night away.
Being the gracious host chris was, he then took me and the girls on an tour of everything surfers had to offer... and by god did it have a lot to offer. Known by some (me) as the miami of Oz, this place is packed with wall to wall things to see and do...from theme parks to a ton of surf spots and endless pubs and clubs. This place was crazy busy... so I originally thought it would be a great place to settle down and enjoy the show... so after a couple of weeks of relaxing at chris' place I printed out the resumes and put my feet to the pavement and went to every bar and club in town looking for work.... and 2 days later I was given 2 offers for employment. The first was a glassy at the busiest club/pub in all of surfers called melbas... the second was as a bartender at an irish pub. Now I had wanted to be a bartender for years so I gave it my all at the irish pub...but sadly I didnt have what they wanted... and even more sadly what they wanted was for me to be irish... I tried telling them that I have been known to drink like an irishman, but sadly they would have non of it... aww well.
So of course I took the job at melbas. This was a huge mistake... as it turns out the position of a glassy...especially at melbas is one of the worst jobs you can have in the world...i would imagine. We (glassys) do everything and took S*&$ from everyone...seriously...we stock shelves with beer, stock bars with ice and fruit. We pick up all the glasses in the bar (you would not believe how much people drink in these places), we clean the floors and the toilets... we clean up puke and blood.... surprisingly there is quite alot of blood to clean up... and we take all the tables and chairs out of the club after people stop eating dinner, and then put it all back in the morning.... and unlike anyone else that works there, we do 12 hour shifts on a regular basis and I often finished at 5:30 in the morning... and we also get paid the least to boot (and i get taxed 46% of my pay).... It was utterly insane..... so after more then 3 weeks i was dead tired and finally quit......
ahhh that was good to get off my chest....

November 14
So I guess your wondering what I am doing now eh? well I have teamed up with my friend michael from back home in toronto and we are causing trouble up north until one of us runs out of money, and i find a new home in Oz. We are currently in Noosa and have been surfing for the last few days and talking it up with our fellow backpackers.... so its been a real treat....

Well thats all for now...as I am sure you dont want to read another word

So i will catch ya on the flip side....
- Ryan

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Photos

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mike and i playing laser tag... funny thing was it was against 8-10 year olds.... I could not stop laughing