Last but not least...

OK, a couple more things to tie up the loose ends of our trip...first of all, you can look here to view additional pics from our trip. There are just too many to post! Erin is still updating captions on the photos. Go here: http://picasaweb.google.com/erinbrown5

If you're a first or 2nd time reader...please note that our blog is listed from newest to oldest...so you'll have to read it from the last blog to the most recent posted!

View the pics we've posted on the blog at: http://traveloutback.blogspot.com

We're sure you all have questions about our trip...so hopefully this blog will answer some of them!

In our silly, giddyness we've come up with our own personal soundtrack...it's just a list of songs that we heard frequently, songs that reminded us of something, songs that were stuck in our heads...or just songs that just fit the moment!

Our Soundtrack:
- Cyclone….da da da da
- Sandstorm (Darude)
- Les Poissons! (Little Mermaid)
- Wild Strawberries!
- Jurassic Park
- Pictures (Sneaky Sound System)
- Land Down Under (Men at Work)
- Gimmie Gimmie More (Brittany Spears)
- Part of your world (Little Mermaid)
- Hakunna Matata (Lion King)
- Can you feel the love tonight (Lion King)
- Leaving on a Jet Plane
- I would walk 500 miles
- Kookaburra Song
- Indiana Jones Theme
- Like the Deserts Miss the Rain (Like the deserts Listerine...)

There were so many things different about Oz...good and bad! Here's a list we created (while sitting in the rain at the train station on the Gold Coast) of things we loved and hated!

Things We Love:
- Coopers Beer
- Aussie coffee made with a plunger
- Aunt Debie and Uncle Michael
- Aussie boys
- The “tomato sauce” and bbq packets
- Aussie Chocolate
- Aussie Bread
- Mars Bars
- Getting plenty of Avocado!
- Kangaroos and Koalas
- Hot zoo keepers with pretty eyes
- Asian massages
- Playing in the rain
- Foot petals
- OUR BLOG!
- Crab Sticks!
- Dave's Cooking
- Kebabs
- Alicia & Dave
- Adding theme songs to our trip.
- Iced coffees (made with ice cream!)
- Chips and dip
- Eating “bugs”

Things we DON’T Love:
- crazy Aussie cab drivers
- Car Sick, Sea Sick…etc
- Round abouts that go the wrong way
- Driving on the wrong side of the road
- Cockroaches
- Spiders
- Cold showers
- Rain
- Coins instead of dollar bills
- Not knowing what money we have (coins)
- Aussie adaptors that don’t work
- High HEELS!
- Flies!!
- Sunburn
- Flat Sodas
- Sore calves

Things we have learned in the land of OZ:
- “How ya goin’?” = how are you doing
- “Toilet” = restroom
- "Prawns" = Shrimp
- "Tomato Sauce" = Ketchup
- The "lift" = Elevator
- “Rubbish” =trash
- “Don’t DRINK Driving”
- That is “cool as”
- "Pissed" = drunk
- "Wobbley boot" = drunk
- "Rubber" = wet suit
- "Chemist" = pharmacy
- "Chewy" = gum
- "Budgy smugglers" = speedos
- Very easy ice in drinks
- “Notes” = bills
- Harbour, Centre etc.
- "Flat white" = coffee with milk
- "Capsicum" = peppers
- Light beer = less alcohol
- No such thing as just a “cheese pizza”
- Smallest pizza EVER! Lrg=sml
- Everyone here is BEAUTIFUL
- Chicken flavored chips.
- “Heeps” = a lot
- "Twisties" = cheetos
- "Kebabs" = wraps
- "Bogans" = white trash

We believe this is the final blog...as Alicia is back in New York already and Melissa will be back in North Carolina by morning.

We Heart Australia....

Back to the real world...UGH!

And the little piggies went "wee...wee...wee..." all the way home...

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful trip
That started from this tropic port
Aboard this tiny ship.

The mate was a mighty sailing man,
The skipper brave and sure.
Five passengers set sail that day
For a three hour tour, a three hour tour.

The weather started getting rough,
The tiny ship was tossed,
If not for the courage of the fearless crew
The Cape Cruiser would be lost, the Cape Cruiser would be lost.

The ship set ground on the shore of this uncharted desert isle
With Alicia
The Skipper too,
Melissa… and Jeni…
Some Asian Dude
AJ and Erin,
Here on Rottnest Island!

 On Thursday we woke up early, crawled into our "bathers", and jumped in the car to drive to Freo. We met the dive boat at the jetty; off to Rottnest Island/"Rotto". Because of a crosswind the boat ride was exceptionally rocky and all of us turned very green...ugh...except for Alicia who somehow managed to fall asleep. On the island we checked in at the dive shop. A.J., Erin, and Melissa were to SCUBA dive and Alicia and Jeni would be snorkeling. Alicia and Jeni were snorkeling virgins and so were a little nervous about their first foray into the deep.
Jeni, looking for comfort, approached the divemaster for advice, "You will be in thigh-deep water, all you do is put your face in and if you get scared, stand up." Hahahahahaha!
A.J., Erin, and Melissa departed on the boat for their morning dive, the snorkelers would join them for the afternoon. Alicia and Jeni got lost on the island, what was supposed to be a 10 minute walk to Pinkie Beach turned into a 40 minute walk. They were laughing as they practiced their newly learned snorkeling techniques. On the boat, still in very rocky waters, A.J., Erin, and Melissa prepared their gear. A.J. got seasick and hightailed it off the end of the boat, "Adrian, I'm sick, gotta get in!" leaving Erin and Melissa to hand in his equipment. Once in the water, and with their gear on they made their descent. They cruised through caves, examined the reef, and played with the fishes. United on the island, the 5 of us met up for lunch and then headed back out for the afternoon dive/snorkel. In calmer waters, the divers were exploring the reefs below and they looked up to see Alicia and Jeni snapping photos and video...in the water!! On the way back the skipper nestled up to Alicia and even let her drive the boat. She stalled it out. She's fired.  The ride back from Rotto to Freo we once again encountered very choppy seas...ugh again. 

Back at the house, Alicia, Jeni, and Melissa rushed to desalinate and pretty themselves up for a night on the town. Erin, having not equalized after the dive, had to stay home (boo, sad for her) but got to spend some time with A.J. Dave and Luke picked up the 3 and headed to The Brighton for apps and a drink. The Brighton was not busy and so they walked down the street to the Slug and Hare, a local pub. More drinks, more dancing, they closed at midnight, boo. So off to the Players night club. A bittersweet night - our last night with our newly found friends.

After only a few hours sleep we woke up and once again packed our suitcases and after lunch in Perth City, headed to the airport...again. We stood in the wrong line, you'd think we'd be pros at this by now, and made our way through security with A.J. As we reached the top of the escalator to our surprise Dave was there! He had come to the airport for one last goodbye (aww!). After the sappy goodbyes (Jeni and Melissa had to hug each other) we boarded the plane and had to all sit separately.

We arrived in Melbourne, pronounced "Melbn", at 9p, made our way to the hotel (no hostel this time!) and hurried to freshen up for our night out. We met up with Jeni's friends and they took us to a few local bars. We don't remember the names of the bars, we just remember that they had very sticky floors. 3:45a we grabbed a bite at Hungry Jacks (=Burger King), burgers at 4a, not our best idea yet, but oddly satisfying. A couple of hours later we were awake again and going to the airport. Originally we were to have a 2 hour layover in Auckland, New Zealand but were able to change to a direct flight to L.A. We all agreed that if we deplaned in New Zealand we might not ever get back on another plane. We had to sit separately - Erin and Melissa together, they got barely any sleep because of the screaming, kicking children all around. Together they watched at total of 10 movies (Erin 4, Melissa 6). Conversely, Alicia and Jeni, sitting together, enjoyed their flight without the obnoxious distractions.

We arrived in L.A. at 7:30a, which was weird because we left at 12:30p that same day, we traveled into the past. We met the dads at baggage claim and had to say goodbye to Jeni. So sad!!!

Tummies full of breakfast burritos, Alicia, Erin and Melissa crashed on the couch for a 3 hour nap. In a separate home, Jeni napped as well. Jet lag sucks.

All-in-all, our trip was AMAZING!!! after 2 and 1/2 weeks and 24 hours a day together we are all still friends :-)

p.s. Alicia has decided to move to Sydney, which is good because we will have another reason to go back.

Thank you so much for following our adventures in the land down under, we enjoyed sharing it with you! Keep your eyes open for newly added pictures and one more blog post.

G'day mates,
Alicier, Jeni, Erin, and Melisser

Note: All four of us contributed to the creative writing of this blog.

Ah...Sunny lil' Perth

(Since we've posted 2 blogs in a day...please read previous post first: http://traveloutback.blogspot.com/)

Yummy, yummy, yummy...we got Fish 'n Chips in our tummies! Ok where were we? Oh yes, our flight to Perth...

We finally arrived in Western Australia! We bounded through the airport with excitement for the sunny skies! As we approached baggage claim, Erin spotted A.J. and leaped into his arms. Both A.J. and Luke picked all of us up...including the Beast, which was marked with a "Heavy" tag. A.J. and Luke were impressed with the shiny, silver rims on the Beast. As the sliding doors opened, we were greeted by a rush of warm dry air, followed by flies buzzing around our heads! Jeni immediately expressed here severe hatred for flies in her bubble. We took a driving tour through Perth City then jumped on the only freeway in Perth to head down to Mandurah, where we were all staying at A.J.'s....little did we know, there was a wedding reception waiting for us at his house! Let us remind you of the sketchtastic hostel we stayed in the night before and the fact that we didn't wanna shower in the vagrant's domain! So we walked into the reception, unwashed, dressed down, and tired! Yikes, we all met A.J.'s WHOLE family as dirt balls...ew.

Showered, refreshed and looking cute we rejoined the party. We ate lunch and socialized with the fam. After the party, we headed to the Hogs Breath Saloon for dinner. What a disaster! They pretty much got all of our orders wrong...except Melissa's and she only ordered a burger...can't screw that up. Then, our server disappeared for long stretches...we think she was scared of us! And then...Jeni was suddenly bombed by salad dressing...Erin did what her dad said and protected her because "she's little". Erin stood up and told them they were ridiculous and had no table manners and A.J. quickly retaliated by throwing a left over french fry! For the mishaps, we were treated to a round of drinks on the house...we hadn't even finished our bottle of wine yet! After Hogs Breath, we headed back to the house to relax in the spa.

Our second day in Perth was again sunny....yay, no more rain! In preparation for our "Sunday Sesh", we drove to Fremantle/"Freo" to experience the "real" Fish 'n Chips. We ate at Cicerello's on the harbour. There we discovered the most fantastically, brilliant, decadent, delightful creation known to man...this creation makes a filet minon look like ground chuck...the clouds parted and the angels sang as CRAB STICKS arrived on our table! As we all bit into this newly found delight...our mouths salivated and a tear rolled down our cheeks...which is nice because tears are a little salty and complemented the lightly battered scrumptious crab filled sticks! Ok really...they were pretty awesome!

Back to our Sunday...we headed to the Cott, for the best Sunday Sesh in Australia! A.J. introduced us to his fellow mates, Dave and Jibba (Dylan) and we met up with Paul and his friend Larissa. We sat in the sun...had some beer, daiquiris and danced. We also satisfied our hunger with a "kebab"...by the way, these are not Kebobs...there's no stick and it's in a wrap! Not too bad...not as phenomenal as a crab stick, but it was ok. We all went down to the beach to enjoy our kebabs and feed the seagulls the onions from our kebabs. Dave and Luke went for a swim before we headed back into the Cott to watch the sunset...at 8:30pm! There's about 18 hours of sunlight in Oz...

Monday, we decided to soak in some rays...since we were soaked by the cyclone on the Gold Coast. Jeni just couldn't hang with the flies buzzing about her head...and after exclaiming, "Do I look like a landing strip?...get outta my bubble"...she threw a towel over her body and hung out in her fly free tent! Alicia burned to a crisp on the towel next to her! Didn't anyone tell her its better to be medium rare than well done? She had her own Aussie Barbie on the beach...we were serving Alicia-Kebabs. Melissa, Erin and A.J. played on the kayaks...the kayaks were built for one so Erin and A.J. started to sink a little. When Melissa and A.J. paddled the kayaks in, a tsunami type crashed over them and threw them onto the rocks from their kayaks...ouch! They came out laughing...hee hee.

Monday night, A.J.'s mates Dave, Ernie, Owen and Woodsy came down to Mandurah to watch the sunset with all of us (yes, the pic at the top is us...we had our very own photo sesh with a brilliant photographer, A.J.). We all came back to the house and managed to squeeze 8 adults and one little Jeni in a hot tub! Suddenly, Jeni pointed out to Alicia a ginormous spider on the wall just over our heads, BIG mistake...creating a whirlpool in the tub, Alicia darted across the hot tub screaming. Dave came to the rescue and heroically squashed the spider....SPLAT!...KABAMM!...while the 4 of us broke out in unison to the most appropriate song that came to mind..."Indiana Jones" (dun da dun daaaa...dun da daaaa....dun da da daaaa...da da dun da dun daaaaaa...)...the Aussies immediately recognized our rendition and shouted, "INDIANA JONES!!"....Our Hero...

Tuesday, A.J. drove us to Perth City for some shopping...don't you wish you knew what we bought... :o) After a long day of shopping, we went to King's Park. Melissa took pictures of wild Kookaburra as we sang the Kookaburra song...she also snapped some pics of flowers, plants, trees and parrots. We decided to wander over to the tree top walk...to our dismay it was closed. Sad for us...but hey, we're in Australia for crying out loud...we'll tree top walk if we want. In sandals and skirts we climbed over the plexi-glass gate and onto the bridge. As we walked over the bridge and admired the scenery...we noticed that 2 "bogans" (Aussie rednecks) followed our lead and jumped the gate throwing their mountain bikes over as well, announcing their plan to have their sesh on the bridge. Taking pictures from among the foliage, we heard a squealing of tires..."eeeeeeeeeeee.....POW!" We all turned just in time to see that silly bogan crash face first into the wall! BAAAA HAAA HAA HAAAA....we all laughed so hard we had to run away! As we neared the end of the bridge, where we were scoping out our escape route we triggered the alarm! YIKES!!! The bogans shouted, "We're busted...let's get outta here!" We bolted back to our entry point, smoothly escaping...leaving the bogans to take the fall...silly bogans! Dave invited us over to his house for a barbie. He had barbie, a back up barbie, and a spare barbie (just in case), a built in trampoline (over a hole in the ground), a backyard beach and a little spa with a waterfall...a typical Aussie backyard as A.J. explained. Dave made us home made potato salad, YUM and a veggie salad...A.J. grilled kebobs on a stick, like we know them.

Today, we slept in and blogged all...day, only stopping for Fish 'n Chips and crab sticks!!!

You're welcome, g'nite!

Rowing away from the Cylone...

Hi everyone...we apologize for the length of time in between posts...we've been on the go since we left the Gold Coast! First of all...PICTURES PICTURES PICTURES! Take a look at our past blogs for new pics: http://traveloutback.blogspot.com/. Don't miss the video!

Last Day in Gold Coast:

We were updating our last blog, you'll never guess who called us! Aunt Debie phoned to let us know she and Uncle Michael were flying up to Surfer's for the weekend! We decided to stick around and meet them for a few cocktails at the Sheraton Mirage. We rushed back to the apartment to pack and make ourselves as presentable as possible...remember, it was still raining. It was nice to be spoiled 5-star style, once again by Aunt Debie and Uncle Michael. They departed for their anniversary dinner and we departed for the train station...

Waiting for the train:

As we sat in the train station...we waited for an hour in the rain. We happily wrote in our journals and listened to music...happy until the rain decided to blow sideways in our faces...there was no escape. We were wet again. Alas, the train arrived and we lugged our suitcases aboard...the beast couldn't jump the gap from the platform to the train...Alicia received some help from a man with no hands...she exclaimed, "How sweet, he lent me a hand and he didn't have any!" We laughed hysterically over that one! We did mention that people are incredibly nice here, right? Finally, we arrived in Brisbane back at Bunk Hostel, expecting the familiar accommodation...

A Hostel Experience:

As we opened the door, an aroma like no other smacked us in the face. We slowly crept in...only to find...rubber gloves and Vaseline littering the floor! Ew...yucky boys live here. There were dirty boxers hanging in the bathroom, a toothbrush face down on the floor under the bed...and did we mention the stench? Apparently, there was a vagrant occupying the room. How are we ever going to sleep here? Tip toeing about, we were hoping to meet these stinky boys before closing our eyes! As were changing, Alicia announced that she was "Dressed for an effing Fire Drill!", she was planning to sleep with shoes on! We deemed our preparation as "Operation Get the F out!" As Alicia was using the toilet, too scared to close the door...the "Pom" (English guy) walked in...as he opened the door, Erin slammed Alicia's door and turned to the guy and said, "You guys are pigs!" Finally, we jumped in our bunks and tried to get some rest before our 530a wake up! The pom kept talking....and talking and talking. After he left the room, we slept lightly and didn't move in our shady beds. 530a, up we get and off to the train. It was so early, we got off at the international terminal and had to take a cab to the domestic terminal...oops. Ugh...back at the airport, again. This time for a 5 hour flight to Perth! As we boarded the plane, the very hot Queensland Bulls Cricket Team were just in front of us in line! Yowsa, too bad they weren't sitting next to us on the plane. Off to Perth we go! We need to take a lunch break...we'll continue our blog on Perth when we have full bellies.

She's moves her body like a cyclone...

In reference to our previous blog, we were planning on hitting the sack early and having a mellow night. Apparently, there's no such thing as a "mellow" night in Oz! After lugging our luggage up a couple flights of stairs (the Beast was particularly cumbersome), we attempted to nap in our crib like bunks. We awoke to the pulsating rhythms of the techno DJ spinning just outside our window. Who knew there were clubs INSIDE hostels! Surrendering to the beats...and Alicia falling out of her bunk...as we dressed we invented new dance moves: The "blue jean dance" and the "make up smear"...we decided to head down to Club Birdee num num in the Bunk Hostel. At first, we were sticking to being "mellow"...after a few beers and some apps, we decided to teach these Aussies to dance. Let us tell you...the vending machine was a big hit. Thanks Skip! We were definitely the most popular group in the joint...maybe we just looked like idiots. Around 2a, we finally made it back to our room...stumbling through the dark trying not to awake our fellow bunk mates.

Extreme Bushwalking:

We greeted the sunrise, grabbed some grub, hopped in our backwards car and were on our way to see what kind of trouble we could get into. Since it was a cyclonic down pour we wanted to play in the rain...who doesn't? Heading to the Glass Mountains we pulled over, grabbed our gear and headed into the bush, it was just like heading into Jurassic Park (doo-do-doo-do-do, doo-do-doo-do-do...). We pushed through the thick foliage and came upon a lizard...keep in mind everything is BIGGER in Australia. Melissa pulled out her field guide and Alicia thought kissing it would turn him into her own Aussie Prince..."silly Americans". The lizard didn't like Alicia much and ran away, she screamed. We came upon a babbling brook, where we found a GIANT monitor lizard sunning on the rocks...no kissing this lizard Alicia. As we stumbled over logs and other bush like debris, we heard the not so distance echos of laughter. We peered to through the trees to see a small feathered creature peering back at us...a laughing Kookaburra! We were wondering why they were laughing at us...we quickly turned around to find a pack of Dingos up on the rocks! Yikes, a Dingo got my baby! We took off running, every "silly American" for themselves. Whew, that was close. We stopped to photo some beautiful native flowers. Rustling in the gum trees above there were Koalas having a nap and munching some leaves. Erin climbed the tree to pull one from the branches to take home, are those legal? Her mind quickly changed when she got a whiff of the herbal stench radiating off the cuddly Koala. Suddenly, a Cassowary sprinted by! Whoa, what was that? A Cassowary is a flightless Ostrich-like bird. On the move again through the bush, we came upon a group of Echidnas rooting around in the soil...not wanting to disturb them too, we moved on. As we broke through the trees into an open field (doo-do-doo-do-do, doo-do-doo-do-do...) filled with Kangaroos and Wallabies. At first, we were reluctant to approach them...but soon mustered the courage to kick it with the roos. We stretched out on the grass among them...they welcomed us with open paws. I think they've been wanting a good scratch on their backs for awhile!
After lunch and chillin with the Kangaroos we decided to head back to the car. On our way back, we came across a watering hole...it looked pretty clean, so we took a quick a drink. All of a sudden, a "Freshy" (crocodile) launched out of the water at us! CRIKEY! Out of no where, Bindi Irwin appeared to save us from the bloody croc, wrestling it just like her dad. She rocks! Bindi took a quick photo of us on the croc (we'll post pics soon, we promise). Whew, what a day.



Gold Coast:

We returned the car to the airport in Brisbane and caught the next train to the Gold Coast. Over an hour on the train, we arrived at the Rubina stop. We were scheduled to be picked up by Erin's client's assistant's friend, Dave. Hmmm, we had no idea what to expect. Stepped out of the station and were pleasantly surprised by our 3 new Aussie friends, Dave, Adam and Damo. Our first night on the "Goldie", we just had a couple beers and went to bed. The next morning we awoke to a beautiful sunny day...nope, it was still raining! Dave the lifeguard drove us up to Surfer's Paradise, where we shopped and complained about the rain all day. Oh, we FINALLY found our pizza we were looking for. We waited in line for a taxi in the rain to head to the North Burleigh Surf Club to meet up with Adam. 4p...the beginning of a long night! Adam promised a barbie, that never happened. Starving, we made our way to a Casino back up in Surfer's. Boo, they closed at midnight. Just before closing, Jeni and Erin snuck off to find food. Sshh...don't tell. Because of the early close, we had to find an alternative location to party. The boys took us to Melbas in Surfer's, a dance hall and bar. There, we had a few more than a few drinks and danced the night away. Somehow Alicia and Erin ended up with graffiti all over them, Melissa was covered from head to toe in someone's drink, and Jeni took pictures of it all. The bar cleared out and we piled into a taxi to head back and catch some zzzz's at sunrise. We heart Australia.

Blogging from the future...

If you would like to view the actual blog go to http://traveloutback.blogspot.com/ and we would love to hear your comments (post comments directly on the blog) on our adventures!!

We began our New Year's Eve with an outing to Coogee Beach...boy were the waves ginormous!! We only made it into our knees, since the waves were rising FAR above our heads...a surfer's dream. We soaked up some more sun...all of you will be jealous of our tans, or sunburns when we return. With rumbling tummies...again, we went on a hunt for pizza...who knew it'd be so difficult to find a slice of pizza beach side. Our search ended in failure with only a bottle of coke and a phone call to Debie for a pick up.

Back at the house, Debie cooked us a phenomenal prawn and pasta dinner. Skip and Nathan joined us for dinner and pre-NYE drinks. We were off to Bondi Junction to catch the train into the city. After a surprisingly easy train ride, we arrived at Luna Park in Sydney Harbour. Decked out and lookin HOT in our New Year's dresses and cute heels! As we followed the carnival entertainment into the park...we headed directly to the bar, of course. We rode some rides, watched the 9p family fireworks, had some more drinks, rode more rides...then caught a concert under the "Big Top"! Just before midnight we found a prime spot on the boardwalk with a great view of the Bridge. At the stroke of midnight the sky lit up with a magnificent fireworks display over the bridge and from various barges in the harbour. HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008.After a few more hours and a few more drinks and many many more blisters on our feet we headed back to Debie's for some sleep.

We rose only 4 hours later to make our way to the airport to catch our flight to Brisbane. We landed and went to get our "hired car". What were we thinking? Driving on the wrong side of the road? Oh nooo! After several wrong turns and driving past our hostel about 6 times we finally made it safe and sound. Pretty mellow night. Heading to the Australia Zoo (home of the Crocodile Hunter!!) tomorrow. Crikey! Stay tuned :-)