Toowoomba, Toowoomba

Trust the Aussies to name something Toowoomba (Bullfrog? What a stupid name. I would have called them chazzlewuzzers).

So yeah, I'm staying in Toowomba right now with a friend I met on Heron Island. It's a nice little town sort of situated on the top of a mountain range (mountains.... ha! It's only, like, 700m above sea level) and it actually snows here on rare occasions. I haven't seen any yet, but it's still technically autumn right now. I should just walk around with a parka and snowshoes one of these days to freak these outbacks out.

Fact! Toowoomba is the birthplace of noted thespian Geoffery Rush.

Other than me hanging out and doing nothing, I have no other news. I'm seriously looking for work right now, as I'm hitting E on my bank account's fuel guage. Not to worry though. In the next few weeks I'm going to be heading to Airlie Beach, further up the coast near the Whitsundays to meet up with my friend Shawna again, and there's a lot more work up there, so I'm just sort of coasting right now. Get it? Coasting? Up the coast? Man, I should be on stage somewhere.

Toowomba isn't very 'tourist friendly' in that their internet cafes cost a ton, and the library won't let people without library cards use their terminals, and they charge non-residents $60 just to get a card. Also, there are no hostels in town. I'm currently living above a pub in a little room that, thankfully, has its own sink (Yippee).

And one final note. For those of you who have never done this, it may seem a little worrisome, but I'm planning on hitchhiking up the coast to save me some cash. Luckily, Australia is actually more tolerant and less scary than Canada in that regard, as I know some people who have done it without any problems. It's something new, so we'll see how it goes.

Take care everyone, and I'll be sure to let you know if I get brutally murdered while thumbing it. (And no, I *still* haven't seen Wolf Creek, so stop asking me) :)

Byron Bay Birthday Bash

Mmmmm.... alliteration....

So this past weekend was spent up in Byron Bay again. I can't get enough of this place, and we partied like crazy this past weekend.

Ash and I got here on Friday morning, and we pretty much spent it just hanging out and preparing for the weekend that lay ahead. Went out, and got really drunk at Cocomangas with a bunch of random people from the hostel. Oh, the hostel we're staying at, Aquarius, is amazing. Right on the beach, a pool table, swimming pool, in-hostel bar, and the rooms are really nice.

Anyhow, that was just Friday night. Saturday, on the other hand, was a night of epic (some would say biblical) proportions. As we were getting ready to go out, some friends from Sydney decided to take the train up and surprise us for the night, then head home the next. So that made it even worse! I'm not gonna lie to you, I don't recall most of the night, but I do have some pictures, so I'll let them speak for themselves (despite the fact that I will probably still have a little comment at the bottom explaining them). Here goes:

(20 minutes of fiddling later...)

Ok, this internet cafe sucks the balls. It's taking me forever just to get some pictures uploaded, so I'll work on it in the next few days, and get some up for everyone to see. Seriously, it's taken 15 minutes just to open a web page with a story about a woman giving birth to her own grandson. Bah!

So in conclusion: Byron = Awesome, Sydney = Yesterday's News, Global Gossip Internet Cafe = Teh Suck