I'm Baaackk! Stop, It's iPhone-Recap Time!

Hey friends! Thanks so much to all the lovely ladies who have been filling in for me for the past week, seriously, if I could give you an e-round of applause I would! All of those lovely ladies are actually sponsors of mine, and you should check their blogs out, along with all the other incredible ladies on my side bar now! If you're interested in seeing your face there, check out my sponsorship options here!

This past week has been a million kinds of crazy. Last Monday we packed all of our stuff into the car, and skipped town. I said goodbye to everything I had grown to love about Coffs Harbour (and the only place Trent has ever lived!) which was hard in so many ways. It's easy to get comfortable with such amazing people and places around you, but we both knew it was time for an adventure!

We drove for about 5 hours (through the pouring rain) before we stopped in Newcastle to see Trent's sister. We had a pretty excellent day, even though it was pouring down. They showed me the sights and we drove all around the city, checking out all the headlands. We stopped for tapas at The Depot, which I  highly recommend  they were delicious! After that we headed to Harry's Pies for dinner, not quite as delicious as the tapas. Actually, I was really disappointed. I definitely think these pies are more of a drunk food than a sober dinner! We ended up getting some really decadent chocolate desserts and settling in for the night watching bad tv and having a laugh! Breakfast the next morning was good - not great - but the company was awesome! I don't know what I was doing, but the only photo I have from the entire day we spent with her is this one of my Tiger Pie:

After Newcastle, we drove about 7.5 hours south past Sydney over to Albury. Albury is literally RIGHT on the border of NSW and Victoria, which was super exciting and nerve wrecking for both of us. We stayed the night in a cute little caravan park, and even got our groceries from Victoria (Trent wasn't very happy with me when he say the Welcome to Victoria sign). I felt pretty trailor-trashy, having my Budweiser and my steak with my ripped jeans in the trailer. It was fun! By the time we left, the rain had stopped but it was still crazy flooded everywhere!

Finally it was time for the last leg of our journey! The home stretch! We got in the car for one more long haul. We drove another 6ish hours even further south to get to Apollo Bay. Thing got pretty dicey, but then we saw the sign for the Great Ocean Road! It was so exciting to know that we were so close, and even in the pouring rain know that we were in a place so beautiful! (All of those photos are on my camera, coming tomorrow, I promise!) We finally made it into town and met up with our new boss. She was super nice, and even let us park our car in her driveway so all of our worldly possessions didn't get wet! Turns out, I was scheduled to start work the next day... yikes! We found a backpackers to spend the night in, and took a tour of the town. The next morning, I woke up bright and early to start work. 

After a couple of days of staying in the backpackers we were getting restless. All of our stuff in boxes? No thank you! We were also starting to run out of clothes... We went apartment hunting and finally settled on this little one bedroom unit in what we now know is "the Apollo Bay ghetto." Let me just tell you, this "ghetto" is the nicest ghetto I've ever seen. It's cheap and cheerful, furnished, and power is included. Wham bam thank you ma'am we have a new place to live!

I guess we were just going with the ghetto theme, because we bought a box of goon and had nachoes as our first meal in our new house! We're still getting things out of boxes and trying to find homes for everything (with very very little storage I might add) but for the most part we've settled in!

Being in Apollo Bay is completely different than Coffs Harbour, in so many different ways. I'm so so beyond excited to keep exploring this amazing place, AND everything in Victoria around me!

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Off to the Races: The Coffs Cup!

Every year in Coffs Harbour, the ladies brush off their fancy fascinators, and their misters pull that one suit and tie from the back of their closets. That's right, it's race day. In Coffs Harbour, the races are the first week of August (yes, I'm a bit behind on updating everyone with my life.. I'm working on it!) and it is the social event of the winter. It's the time to put your best foot forward and show off what you've been hiding all winter! Think the Melbourne Cup.. but smaller. And a bit more ghetto (sorry ladies but leather knee highs are not race day classy). 

Zana (in case you don't know Zana - what rock have you been living under? - she's this awesome chick who I adventured from Canada to Australia with) and I were super excited for the races, what girl doesn't love any excuse to dress to impress?

We spent the morning getting ready, gossiping, and generally having an amazing time. When it came to taking pictures the boys were a little more reluctant to get in their proper attire and stay in it! After a couple of beers both of them were itching to get out of their ties and jackets! 

It was so much fun getting ready and seeing everyone dressed to the nines. There were more than a few faux pas, but who am I to judge, my shoes were from Big W! 

I'm so lucky to have such an amazing couple of friends, they've made Australia feel so much more like home than I would have ever imagined! And to anyone who might wonder how the actual races were... I have no idea. Note to Trent: Drinking an entire bottle of Southern Comfort before any occasion is never a good idea #whitegirlwasted. The whole fun is getting ready anyways, right?!

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A Day at the Beach

One of the most incredible things about living in Australia is the beach. Duh. Since I've been in Australia, it has been "winter" which essentially means I wear jeans and tshirts, and occasionally a sweater (or jumper). In the last couple of weeks it has warmed up heaps! We've been able to go out to the beach and do a little sunbathing and swimming which is so so exciting! It still gets chilly once the sun goes down, but being able to go to the beach is so much better than sitting indoors all day. Last week, Trent and I took his red border collie Jagger to the beach. Jaggy is such a sweetheart, and he loves to play fetch!

I've been having all these weird... "woman feelings" lately. I'm not sure if it's just because I'm growing up or my internal clock is ticking or whatever, but lately I've been thinking about babies. Now don't freak out mom, I'm not rushing to get pregnant and pop out a couple sets of twins (although maybe I could get a sweet tv show deal out of it...) but I've been feeling super motherly. I'd love to get a puppy, something to take care of. I love imagining what my life will be like in 10 years... I hope I have a house and a baby and a white picket fence and all of that.

Playing with Jagger is always fun, he's such an energetic dog, and he loves it when we take him to the beach. He's a bit scared of the water and after a while of playing he likes to cuddle. Whenever I watch movies or tv shows I find myself relating with the parental figure, as opposed to the child. I'm at a junction in my life. I've crossed the threshold of adulthood (in some ways, in others I'm still a big kid!) and although I'm not prepared in any other way for a child, maybe I'm emotionally ready. 

I want to be married when I have a baby. I want to be in a stable job, in a safe environment. I want to have travelled the world. I'm not saying that my life will be over after having a baby, but while I'm young and selfish and life is about me and my needs I'm going to fully take advantage of that!

For now I'm happy with my selfish amazing life, but it's funny how time changes your perspective!

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Dreamworld: The Happiest Place in Australia

Did you know there's no Disney Australia? Seems kinda weird, right? Apparently - according to Google - one was supposed to open in 2013 but helllooo, it's 2013 and there is no Disney... or flying cars. What a disappointment. No need to fret, Disney lovers, for I have found a nearly suitable replacement. Dun dun duuuuuuun: Dreamworld.

^^Hey look! That's me!! Out front of Dreamworld!! PS, I'm totally aware those shorts are extremely unflattering. They were a panic-y "omg I just went to Splendour in the Grass and now all of my clothes are covered in mud except for a dress but I can't wear a dress on a roller coaster" purchase.^^

Dreamworld is one of those great places where there are a million things for kids, and just as many roller coasters. Both of which are my faves! Seriously, the most exciting thing ever happened to me at Dreamworld, but I'll get to that in a second.

^^ First stop, Tiger island. We literally saw a big cat stuck in a tree. It was AWESOME. These two tigers did trick and jumped things and drank a lot of frozen milk.... I could totally keep a pet tiger, right?^^

^^And of course the obligatory stick your face in these and I'll take your photo shots! The wanted picture was me trying to look like an insane criminal... did it work?^^

^^ That awkward moment when you got to Dreamworld and get eaten by a shark... (That awkward moment when you're still saying "that awkward moment" Whatevs.)^^

^^ Our new BFFS, Kung Fu Panda (What's his name? I've never seen the movie), Donkey, Shrek, Fiona, and Puss in Boots. We exchanged emails so we can be pen pals. These new age theme park characters!^^

^^See, best pals! Okay, this one is a fake panda. It wasn't until later we realized we could get our picture with the REAL panda!!^^

^^These rides were super fun, it started raining so we decided we didn't really care if we got too wet or not. Trent made me sit in the front of the log, what a bully. Tower of Terror was SO MUCH FUN!! We went on once at the beginning of the day, and then decided later in the day we'd go on it again, just for kicks. Turns out they needed 7 people to run the ride so we kept getting to go over and over and over again! We went 4 times in a row before we finally decided to call it quits!^^

Ooh, okay now we're getting to the really exciting bit! There's a whole section of Dreamworld that has a whole bunch of animals native to Australia. We saw the endangered bilby, my first wombat, and heaps more! It was by far my favourite part of the whole park!

 ^^Check it out, that's me with a dingo pup and a real live croc, mate!^^

^^KANGAROOS! THAT YOU CAN TOUCH! AND FEED! I.was.in.heaven. Trent thought that I was such a goofball for being so excited (I guess this is like a regular Australian thing?) but after seeing kangaroos hop around everywhere and not being able to touch them this was a magical experience! You can see it on my face, I couldn't believe it!^^

Ok, ok, are you ready for this? Guess what I did?!

^^I HELD A KOALA!! It pooed on me a little bit which was gross but LOOK, there's me (looking sickly pale in that lighting, yuck) with a KOALA. In MY arms!!! He was so soft and cuddley, and someone must have been heavily sedating him with eucalyptus because he was literally like a teddy bear. What a lovely little fella, I never wanted to let him go!! Whenever anyone asked me how my weekend was, my response was always "AWESOME, I held a koala!" Apparently this makes me weird. No one in Australia is actually jealous of that... so that's why I had to put it on my blog. Look everyone, be jealous (or not, but just look because I think it's incredibly cool!)^^

Holding a koala also happens to be number 21 on my 21 Before 22 List, so check that one off!

^^On our way out we ran into Kenny Koala and Belinda Brown, who are sort of like the Mickey and Minnie of Dreamworld. They're sort of more awesome because they're koalas and not mice, but they're also less awesome because Kenny and Belinda are awkward names (no offense). None the less, Trent was about as excited as I was seeing a real koala to see these two. He insisted we take a picture and you can tell by his grin he was happy about it. It's all about the little things, right!^^

Farewell Dreamworld, you really are the happiest place in Australia. Until we meet again, my fine furry friends. 

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The Gold Coast aka Sun, Sand, and Sizzler

After our lovely amazing time at Splendour in the Grass and jumping out of a plane on my 21st birthday, we decided to not end the fun right away and head up to The Gold Coast for a couple of days!

^^Queensland is pretty awesome because they don't have a sign saying welcome they just have this big red thing (which I googled, and I still have absolutely no clue why it's there. But, it's cool)^^

^^In case anyone was wondering what our trip looked like, it was something like this! Except that's all highway driving which means it was probably less straight and more out of the way round-about-y!^^

^^ After 4 days with nothing but rain boots and mud it was SO nice to be able to take my shoes off and dig my toes into the sand. PS, can anyone recommend a good self-tanner? Look at those white feet!^^

 ^^ We stayed at Vibe Hotel in Surfer's Paradise. It was a nice-ish budget hotel, pretty much all we wanted was a nice shower and a comfy bed. It was walking distance from everything in Surfer's Paradise, aka party central! Our room even had a great view of the river!^^

 ^^One afternoon we went to TimeZone which was AWESOME. 4 hours of non-stop fun for just over $50. We even walked away with prizes! We got one of the packages which included bumper cars, a bagillion games, and laser tag which I kicked ass at! I ended up getting first place at laser tag (against Trent and 4 strangers) which surprised all of us! Unfortunately the only picture we got was of me awkwardly busting out my DDR moves!^^

^^Another World's Largest Thing!! Yay! I can't believe there are so many giant things in Australia! Watch out Texas, I'm pretty sure everything is bigger down under! (he he he)^^

^^Blah, soo full after the yummiest dinner at Sizzler! Not gourmet by any means, but they have this gigantic all you can eat salad bar. YUM. That's the most excited face I could muster because holy moly was I full!!^^ 

^^This is on the way back home to Coffs Harbour! They actually burn the fields of sugar cane to make it easier to harvest! It looks so cool to see all of the smoke and the big field on fire, and it smells like candy too!!^^

We stayed in Surfer's Paradise for 2 nights, the first day was mainly spent exploring and at TimeZone, the second day we went to Dreamworld (!! I'll post about that next yay!), and the last day we went and did some outlet shopping on our way home! 

One of the most memorable (and the scariest!) things that happened during our trip was on the way to Sizzler. We got into a car accident!!! We were driving along and a lady pulled out to our left. She proceeded to drive diagonally across 3 lanes of traffic straight towards us! I was on the left side of the car (remember, this is Australia where things are backwards) and I started to freak out because she wasn't stopping! Trent laid into the horn but she obviously did not get the message and her car intersected with the aluminium tray of Trent's truck! Luckily, that tray is virtually indestructible and neither of us were hurt. We pulled off at the next turn and the lady took off! I was so shaken after that, but neither of us were hurt!

The Gold Coast was super fun, and I'm sad we didn't get to see more of it, hopefully our next trip will be a bit longer (and include a pub crawl or two!)

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