Finally, a keyboard!!!

Although this computer (basically the first version of IBM) has a keyboard, it does not have a spot for me to load any pictures, so if you have come only to see how awesome Australia looks, might as well wait till the next one.  Saw that my last update was late June, so much has happened since then.  Arrival of Mom and sister, 19 hr road trip back up the east coast.  Way better in a car than a campervan, way worse when you are doing all the driving.  ALL.  Departure of Jess Plowman, and an unexpected stop back at the amazing hell hole that is Airlie Beach.  Whitsunday tour round two scheduled for tomorrow.  Since it is the easiest way for me to update on everything that has been happening, I will revert back to mass bullet points along with commentary.

- Arrived back in Sydney, celebrated a birthday, played some hoops, made friends, watched footy (3 different versions of the same sport), waited for the girls to arrive, rented a car, tried to get out of the city, crapped my pants, drove on the wrong side of the road (in both America and Australia), finally found the freeway, rejoiced!

- Candy Crush has now taken over my life.  For those that are unfamiliar, it is an app on the Iphone where you try to beat levels that get harder and harder.  I am not sure how many there are, but the more they make, the longer I will play.  They should ban this game as it is more addicting and time wasting than just about any illegal activity we have in the US. 

- That new Avicci song has just hit AU.  I am obsessed with it, although the lyrics don't seem to match up with the theme of the song.  Either way, its passed Blurred Lines as jam of the month.

- No experience will ready you for getting drunk at trivia night with your mom and younger sister and then stopping in a dive diner for late night drunk snacks.  We did quite well on the trivia, and quite poorly on the questions like "What is on channel 6 at 7:30 on Tuesday nights?"  Sadly there were more questions like the latter than the former.  BS!

- In addition to hanging out with "the kids" she has developed some of the ling as well.  When discussion a potential stop to get food, Kim could be quoted saying "I'm down with that."  In addition a song came on in the car and she asked if the artist was a "rappa" extra thug accent.

- While hooping in Sydney I was guarding a 6'7 monster and when I checked the ball up, I noticed we were wearing the same shorts.  He went to Jackson and we had a good laugh and then I whipped his ass 11-8 in a game of three on three.

- A German in the hostel got naked, tried to pee on Jess' bed, was drawn on all over, pulled the fire alarm, passed out, and peed himself.  Just stating all this so you can get the picture of hostel life.  How many people are jealous of me now??

- I almost got in a bar fight, turned out to be nothing just like most fights.  I was kind of disappointed, if it was a real fight, this post we be a lot more exciting!

- The weather has been crap up until now.  Another note to make you all feel good about your amazing summer weather.

- My British buddy Danny:  50k in debt from University, has biked from Europe to Asia, donated to a Sydney sperm bank 5 times, probably is a father, is 23 years old, went on a blind date with a 51 year old, has not had a job last over a week, and might be one of the most fun/interesting people I have met on this trip.

- My mom started the trip off by listing all the things she was doing for the first time.  After about 50 of these and "my first time in a car in Australia", we finally got her to stop. We might not have been nice about it.

- Here are my notes on the famous Fraser Island (our big group 2 day trip)
They show you the brochure and tell you all the things you will see.  I tried very hard, even took a plane ride over the island, saw 0 animals.  Karly saw the only dingos out of everyone on our tour.  Should be a $50 refund if you actually spend 2 days on the island and dont see one animal.  COME ON.

The food was fantastic, maybe I think that just because it was not fried, but even the bowl of chocolatey cereal goodness in the morning made the trip worth it.  I miss good cereal.

Making her an official Hall traveler, Kim went down in the tide pools and gave us a little scare.  I got cut up rushing to her aid and her camera got a bit soaked.  She has recovered nicely, except for the monster bruises on her arm.

The water was cold, the weather was wet with flashes of sun, and there was a solo Asian tourist in our group named Pinky Wu, and she only wore a pink jacket.  All of those statements are true.

It was a pretty amazing place and you could go from sand dunes, to lakes, to rainforest, to ocean in the matter of minutes.  I guess its one of two places in the world where you can take off and land on the beach in a plane.  That was a cool experience indeed. 

I am convinced Karly didn't see the dingos and there are in fact 0 animals on the island.  I was pretty upset I didn't see anything.  If you can't tell.

- Advantages and disadvantages in traveling with three women (I should have done this with the Brits too, maybe I will)

A: They make almost everything clean and are very helpful around the house/hotel
D: Last in the bathroom and sometimes lapped every morning, night, afternoon, back from the beach, pretty much anytime
A: There always seems to be a smorgasbord of snacks.  Where they get them all, no clue.
D: They don't drive anywhere
D: They walk slow
D: They move slow (Mom's the biggest offender, but she gets a pass most of the time)
A: Almost always in a good mood, way better than me
A: Prepared for a natural disaster if we are headed to the beach or WW3.  I am moving the car with my mom and asked if she had fingernail clippers, well of course she did.
A: Very accomodating, and rarely ever bitch
D: And this one is new and I never knew was weird.  The sound of girls peeing is like nails on a chalkboard to me.  And you combine that with three women constantly peeing in small quarters and I have heard it enough this trip for the rest of my life.  Guys, listen up next time, its actually pretty gross.  To be fair gross noises 1-1000 on the list is all men, but this one really creeps me out.
D:  They do not instill confidence in a new driver.  Several shrieks, breath holds, hands in the air.  It's like we were on a roller coaster where the track just ends.  I could have used some males in the front seat with me.
D: Bathroom stops while driving.  To their credit they all went at the same time, but too often!
A: Let me control the radio the WHOLE time.  Big A


That's it for now, another update coming soon when Kim, Karly and I reach Cairns and set up home base.

Scott