Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Could I possibly have picked a more cliched title for this entry? Possibly, but I didn't. Irregardless, there have been a few interesting things happen in the past few days.

First of all, it's currently Race Week in Airlie Beach. Basically, it means the community (formerly around 3,000 people) swells to about 15,000 as yachties from all over Australia come to compete in single-hull, multi-hull, and presumably infinite-hull races around the bay and to the Whitsunday Islands. It's an exciting time for anyone who knows anything about sailing. Growing up 3500km away from the nearest ocean, however, has dulled my enthusiasm. Nonetheless, there are heaps of interesting people in town now, and the restaurant hasn't been busier. In fact, I even got to run around in the Hog's Breath mascot outfit (just a big pink pig with a giant fork and knife). Huzzah!

In other news, we have a new boarder in the house. He's Korean, and he's attending English school down the street. I don't know his name (despite him being there for 3 days now) simply because when he goes to school, I'm still asleep, and when I get home from work, he's asleep. I'm sure he's a nice guy, but I know he doesn't speak English very well, and has just come to the country. I've been able to Sherlock this fact out by looking at his toothpaste, which has not a word of English on it, but instead is covered with cryptic symbols and devil horns. Just like all Koreans.

Speaking of which, I don't want to perpetuate the stereotype, but it all seems a little too coincidental, if you know what I mean. We had 3 cats in our house last week, Satin, Hobie and Tinhead (because when they found him, his head was stuck in a soup can. How adorable). Anyhow, I came home last night and Billy told me that we are missing a cat. Tinhead seems to have disappeared. He would never miss a meal, but he's been gone for 2 days now. I'm not saying anything, I'm just saying.... *cough*

Anyhow, things are plugging along nicely here in Oz. I have a few days left in which to decide what I'm going to do, saty here for another year, go somewhere else, or just go home (Cue Final Jeopardy music). Wish me luck!

Responses

Instead of responding in the comments section (which would take up a huge amount of space) I'll just reply to peoples queries in the regular text. Sorry to those of you who didn't ask, but it needs to be said.

Or something...

Anyhow, no I don't have any pictures of my new place or really any of Airlie Beach. My first Camera (an HP something-or-other) was broken on Heron Island. My second camera (Nikon S6 I think) is no longer in my possession. I won't get into it, but suffice to say, I'm gutted that I don't have it. My computer is also acting strangely, though I'm sending that to Brisbane in the next few days to get it fixed. Hopefully all will be well in the next couple weeks. Yay!

As for hostels, I've stayed in a number of them in Australia, and the best one in Sydney (in my opinion) is WakeUp! (The exclamation point is in the name, I'm not trying to shout that, I promise). It's right in the CBD close to the train station and Chinatown, it's really clean, and it caters to the backpacker who doesn't mind spending a little extra money to get comfort as opposed to simply a bed. Of course, staying in a hostel means that you're going to have to put up with 18-22 year old people from the UK coming home at all hours of the morning, and generally being stupid.

Keep in mind, of course, that I stayed in dorm rooms all the time, with 4-10 people in them. There are double rooms with ensuites and such, but I don't know how expensive they are. i've been in a handful of them, and they look really nice, but it's really not much different than a regular hotel.

I also stayed in Footprints Westend (now named Legend Has It... Westend, which is quite possibly the most ridiculous name for anything I've ever heard, outside of naming a boy Melvin). It was my favourite hostel, but only because I worked there, and I got to know a lot of my friends through that one. It's much more geared for people to socialize than WakeUp! is I think.

The other option would be the YHA Sydney Central. These 3 hostels are all within a few blocks from each other, so they're all close to everything. I didn't actually stay in the YHA and in fact, have never even set foot inside, but it's apparently really nice, and it's more for the older crowd who doesn't want to pay for a hotel in Sydney (which pretty much starts at $150/night plus a pint of blood), but also doesn't want to slum it in a 10 person dorm with the aforemention drunks from the UK.

One final note, no matter where you go in Australia, cockroaches and big "what-the-hell-was-that" spiders are a way of life. The cockroaches are just a nuisance, but they're all over the place. The spiders, on the other hand, can be dangerous. Funnel web spiders can live anywhere in the city. I've already killed a couple of them in Airlie Beach, and they just keep coming back for more. Not "Arachnaphobia" type infestations, mind you. Still, I wouldn't want one to jump on my back, cuz they've got big sharp pointy teeth and I believe they're immune to poison, radiation, ninja stars and Michael Buble.

Don't mess with them, is what I'm trying to say.