Sydney and the Gold Coast

Hey guys,

     AJ coming at you from paradise. No, I'm not really in paradise but it sure feels like it! Today's forecast; beautiful, with a chance of gorgeous. This last week in Varsity Lakes has been great, the weather is beautiful, the beaches are covered in white sand and the guys are HOT... I'll let you fill in the rest ;)
     Anyway, two days after I arrived in the GC, Sarah and I took off to Sydney for 4 days. She had to write an entrance exam to get into med school's in the UK and I went off to meet the new family that I will be nannying for. They live in the suburb of Cremorne, which is just on the North side of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and only 15 minutes to Manly Beach! The family is truly wonderful. They have 4 great kids... 13, 11, 7 and 3 and I will manly be taking care of the 2 youngest. It really is going to be a one of a kind experience and it all starts this weekend! I fly out of the GC Domestic airport tomorrow (Friday the 5th) and will most likely start my duties on Monday. This way I'll have the weekend to get to know the family and the routine better before jumping right in.
       During our time in Sydney, Sarah and I went down to see Circular Quay (pronounced key) and from there we saw the Sydney Opera House and the Bridge but of course the weather was not the best  (raining and a bit chilly) and so we didn't last long before marching back up to the hotel. The other days we passed the time by shopping (but buying nothing) at the QVB (Queen Victoria Building) and eating. The restaurants in Australia are so good! No matter where we went or what ethnic food we ate everything was great. We ate everything from Chinese Dim sum to fries to pub food and sushi, and of course frozen yogurt with all the toppings you could imagine.
       On the Friday, we met up with Sarah's friend from school Sree who took us to this really cool local bar called the Scary Canary. I was very happy cause they had my Stella on tap! The next day we went down to Darling Harbour where I met a Koala, which was very cool. Apparently in NSW you can't hold them or touch them but in QLD it is perfectly ok... weird right?
       After we got back to Varsity, I crashed hard, still suffering from jet lag. Which I still am almost 2 weeks later. I wake up between 6-7 in the morning and I'm usually fast asleep between 8:30-9:30 at night, but it's fine by me. It'll be good training for when I have to get up early with the kids.
        I've spent my last few days on the GC going to the different towns and beaches. On Tuesday I went to Surfers Paradise and spent the whole day swimming and going in and out of shops and of course eating :) I did get a bit of lesson on swimming in Australia though. They lifeguards set up at different intervals along the beach and you are only supposed to swim between the flags. Stupid me I found this out by being called out of the water by a lifeguard because I wasn't swimming between the flags. According to him, they aren't allowed to save me if I get pulled out while not swimming in a designated area! Let's just say I was quick to move to a flagged area and swam right in front of the lifeguards.
      The next day (Wednesday) I went to Burleigh Beach where my Aunt Liz, Uncle Ross and my cousin Isaac lived while they were in Australia. I can't believe they ever left. It was very beautiful and the people were all very friendly. I met up with a my friend Steven and he showed me around. He took me over to the Burleigh Heads National Park Hiking Trail where we went to the very top. Again... GORGEOUS. I honestly don't know how to describe it any other way. After that we walked back to the beach where there was a surf comp going on. People keep telling me they are boring to watch if you're aren't the one competing but it still looked pretty decent to me. While that was going on I went for another swim (between the flags) and then Steven bought me an ice cream (see ladies chivalry isn't dead) from the Cold Rock Ice Creamery where my Uncle Ross told me I had to go. He was right, it was such a cool little place and they mix all your toppings together with the ice cream before putting in the cone. After we walked around a bit more we said goodbye and I caught the next bus back to Varsity.
       For the last week since we've been back in the GC, I've been waking up earlier than Sarah, so every morning I've been going to the Hub, a wonderful cafe/restaurant that serves really amazing breakfasts and dinners. I've been there so often in the last few days the staff already knows me. The Hub has couches to sit on and live music at night and free wifi which is always a bonus! I hope I can find a place a cool and delicious when I move to Sydney.

     Well that's all for now,
      xoxo AJ

The Sydney Harbour Bridge between the rain falls

A man playing a didgeridoo at Circular Quay

Sarah and I at Scary Canary in Sydney

The Koala I met at Darling Harbour

How Sarah and I spent my 20th Birthday. Subway, Champaign and Gossip Girl 

Açai Berry Bowl from the Hub

Blueberry Pancakes from the Hub

Surfers Paradise Beach

Me and Steven at the Burleigh Heads National Parks Track

The view from Burleigh Look Out 

Burleigh Heads National Park Track

Met this little guy while hiking

The Ice Cream Shop with the coolest ice cream 

The 26 Hour Journey

Hey guys! AJ here, writing to you from the beautifully stunning Gold Coast. It is now Tuesday morning and thanks a little in part to jet lag and a lot in part to these very very annoying birds I'm up bright and early!

    So I'm sure you're all going to ask how the the 26 hours of flying went and honestly it was actually not bad. My flight to LA from Pearson was a bit turbulent but we got there only 30 minutes late. I was lucky my gate was just down the way from where we disembarked the last flight so I waited there and chatted with a very nice British famy who were heading back to London after their holiday in Los Angeles. The flight to Auckland was the longest flight I had been on in my life but it was also the nicest! It was a total of 11 hrs but they gave us dinner when we got on the plane, a choice of chicken or beef, I had the beef and it was excellent! Seriously! I'm not kidding the food was excellent!! Maybe I was just starving from hardly eating at all the past 15 hours but I really think it was that good! GO Air New Zealand!! 

     After having that awesome dinner I slept like a baby until about 3:00 Am local Auckland time, so about 8 hours into the flight. An hour later we got breakfast, and again we had a choice this time between hot and cold. I went for the hot breakfast, a cheesy omelette and again it was very good! My layover in Auckland was about 3 hours and then I was underway again! But it was only a short 3 hour flight to Brisbane. We even arrived 15 minutes early... Oh! And they gave us breakfast...AGAIN! Air Canada never does that unless it's like at 4+hour flight. Another reason to love Air New Zealand.        

     When I got to Brisbane it was a short stint through customs and then while I waited for my bag I met Diana from Oshawa! She's here doing a working holiday as well! She even offered me a ride but I had already book the Con-X-Ion shuttle and I didn't want to lose my money. We parted ways with a see you in the GC (Gold Coast) and I headed for the shuttle. I was the last stop for the Con-X-Ion bus and so just after 2:00pm on Monday I  finally arrived at my destination! 

    After all the hugging and " OMG I missed you's" we went inside and Sarah showed me her place! It's awesome in case you were wondering! The view is spectacular!! We ate some noodles cause I was starving and she had been waiting for me all day and then she showed me around campus. This place is so beautiful I can see why she's not ready to leave it yet! After that we walked to the IGA which is like a mini grocery store/convenience store so I could get a new SIM card. My new Australian number +610401376748! For all of you back home though please only people with iMessage text me or it's going to cost both of us a lot of money. 

    When I got back to Sarah's and I could finally get my messages I saw a video from My friend Greg Scarbrough. It was him doing the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and guess who he nominated? That's right me! So before Sarah and I got all cosy in our pjs we did the Ice bucket challenge and because I didn't want to do it alone I nominated Sarah to do it after me! Aren't I a nice friend! We both donated and if you would like to as well you can go to www.alsa.org!
    Anyway that's all for now!
     Xoxo AJ

Sunrise over the Pacific Ocean Coming into Auckland

The flight board at the Auckland Airport told me to RELAX :)

My ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

The view from Sarah's apartment! 

The To Do List

Starting a new adventure requires a lot of prep work. Renewing documents, booking flights, making living arrangements; it takes more time and effort then I ever realized now that I am doing it on my own. The first thing I did, renewed my passport because there is nothing worse then not being allowed into a foreign country because your passport is 6 months away from expiring. However, I couldn't just renew my passport, no, I had to apply for entire new one since my last one was issued before I turned 16, so that was even more work then anticipated. Travel tip #1: when applying for a new passport always go with the 10 year, it'll cost less in the long run and you won't have to worry about expiration dates while you're away.

I got my new passport a week ago, so for anyone wondering that was approximately 4 weeks. As soon as I got my passport I applied for my Working Holiday Visa for Australia. I applied online using the website http://www.immi.gov.au/Pages/Welcome.aspx. It was very easy and it only took 30 minutes to apply. An hour after I had submitted my application I received an email telling me that my application had been accepted!!! Such an easy process Leave it to the Australians to make life easier :D

Last thursday my mom and I went to Barrie so I could get a backpack. We went to MEC "Mountain Equipment Co-op", it is an excellent store with lots of options and the staff are very knowledgable and friendly! Shout out to Matt who helped me pick out my new 65L MEC Travel Backpack!

So now the only thing really left to do is save up my money :D I have bought by ticket, I will be flying out of T.O on August 23 and after a layover in LA and Auckland I will arrive in Brisbane on August 25! I have booked a bus to pick me up at the airport and take me to my friend Sarah's apartment whom Ill be staying with for the beginning of my adventure!

After every post I would like to end with an inspirational traveller quote. Todays post will end with one of my favourites, I'm not sure who said it but he or she was dead on!

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

Cheers,
AJ