Tumble Cycle

Every morning of everyday, I wake up at about 8, and eat the same breakfast I've eaten for the last 6 years. Peanut butter on whole grain toast, a banana, washed down by a good amount of orange juice. I prefer smoothies, but hostel kitchens don't have blenders. Can't win 'em all..

Start work by 9. I take all the dirty sheets and blankets from everyone checking out that day, separate them, and bring them to my "office" out back. That's the hardest part of my day.

I usually pass the time by reading "The Beach" while I wait for the laundry to finish so I can fold the dry shit, throw the wet shit in the dryer, and the dirty shit in the wash. But today, I didn't bother bringing my book.

You'd be surprised how peaceful it is to stare into the window of the side-load industrial washing machine. I get a lot of good thinking done just staring at the predictable motions of my 500kg stainless-steel friend.

This job definitely keeps me modest, though. One story comes to mind.

As I was winding down my second semester of senior year at Iowa, two of my good friends Mike and Marty, who I got to know pretty well from having all the same finance classes together, joined me in ditching Principals of Risk Management lecture and instead indulging on $2.50 steins of Guinness (don't worry ma, I got an A in the class anyways.)

They shared their post-graduation plans, both of which involved starting their careers in the financial industry. Keep in mind Mike was born in Iowa City, went to grade school in Iowa City, went to high school in Iowa City, went to college in Iowa City, and then got a job and is working in Iowa City.

It came as a shock to them when I told them about what waited on my horizon. A memorable quote Mike said to me was, "So you just studied for 4 years to get your degree, just so you can carry golf bags this summer?" I tried explaining it was just a means to an end, but was abrubtly shrugged off.

After a good laugh, I confirmed my plans to save up cash the best way I knew possible, and to head overseas for a "self-taught post graduate degree in life."

So not only did I carry golf bags, but now I'm following orders from an inbred 25 year old with no more than a 6th-grade education, all while getting my hands dirty separating backbackers raunchy ass sheets.

It gives you perspective. And a free nights stay in a really expensive country (even Londonites have mentioned how expensive it is).

I have red/blue parrots singing above me, the ocean a 5-minute walk away, a surfboard that I use everyday, and a rainforest with "heaps" of koalas about 10 minutes away.

Glad I'm not in Iowa City.

"home" for the holidays

Looks like I'll be sticking around Noosa until around January 6th. Had my first day of work today. Easiest thing I've ever done.

All I do is read/listen to music while I'm waiting to switch laundry loads. Doesn't even feel like work. 3 hours a day earns me a bed to sleep in and a free dinner. Sweet deal.

I could have gone somewhere else for the holidays, but Byron Bay was really the only place I wanted to go. The thing is, it's much more populated during the holidays so it would have been a hastle getting accommodation squared away.

Working at Nomads Noosa let's me enjoy my time here, relaxing my brain during the holiday season- the way it should be.

We rented a surf board yesterday and killed it. Ange and I both were standing on the surfboard within 15 minutes.

Had lunch with Dip today. Was great to catch up. We talked a lot about life over here and possible work opportunities. So far he's been a fountain of knowledge.

And that's about it! Tough life.

Noosa!

After a 2 hour flight to Brisbane, and a 2 hour bus transfer to Noosa Heads, we made it.

The driver from Brizzy airport to Noosa just kept going on and on about how if we didn't drown in the riptide, the spiders would kill us, and if they didn't get us, the king brown snake would kill us, oh yeah and don't forget the mosquitos all have malaria and dengue... Dude sucked.

Anyways we shrugged that off, checked into this palace of a hostel, and headed straight to the beach. An easy 10 minute walk (see pic below) brought us to the beach, and we hopped right in.

It just stopped raining and wasn't sunny, but we didn't care. Water was amazing. Huge waves made body boarding really, really, good... Definitely going to get a surfboard tomorrow or something.

I paid for my accommodation through wednesday, but have made friends with a few other people who are working here for a few hours a day and as a result staying for free. Another guy is working 6 hours a day as a handyman getting $300/week and free accommodation. Not bad I guess. We'll see in the next few days here what I decide to do.

Apparently this hostel is the only one in the area with a bar inside of it, so at night all the backpackers swarm this place. Met tons of people last night, mostly english, german, and irish. A few dutch, a few french. To my delight, no other americans.

Definitely will get up to Fraser Island.

I guess the popular plan of action is to rent a 4x4 for 2 nights and 3 days, tents and camping equipment included. Camping on the beach. Sounds unreal. Theres a stretch of continuous beach on Fraser Island that goes for 75 miles! Guess there are tons of tiger sharks on that coast for whatever reason, and swimming there is pretty risky. Don't worry ma, I'll stick to the freshwater lakes on Fraser.

The stone keeps on a rollin'

Just bought a plane ticket to Brisbane for tomorrow. Tell you the truth, wasn't impressed with Melbourne or the surrounding area. Maybe my expectations were too high. I made the mistake of thinking it would be paradise here. Yeah the Pacific is right there, it's just not as picturesque as I thought. Couldn't imagine staying here for much more time than I already have.

Ange and Brett are on the same boat, and are comin with. We got a cheap flight ($112 all said and done) for tomorrow which is nice, don't have to worry about where I'm sleeping tomorrow night since there's no available dorms in Melbourne. Checked out hostels up north, tons of available space there.

So, best to cut my losses and head to Brizzy. Brett, Ange, and I are heading up there on the same flight, and have a few beach towns in mind that we will get to tomorrow not terribly far from the airport. From what I gather, there's great beaches and surf both North and South of Brisbane, so it's a good spot to get started. We were looking at maybe Rainbow Beach, Noosa, Gold Coast. We settled on Noosa, which is a huge national park and located near Fraser Island. Beaches look awesome.

Feeling a lot better now that we have the flight squared away. Brizvegas and Noosa next!!