Camille’s Big Adventure

The heat wave has come to Queensland, and it’s getting hot outside, in the mid 90s. The humidity isn’t nearly as bad as Florida though, yet, fingers crossed it stays that way.   After a morning of work, I spent the afternoon walking the golf course with Dean, playing caddy. It was nice, we wandered around looking at the wildlife while he did 9 holes. The golf course has lots of good animal life like wallabies, 2 types of cockatoos (Black and sulfur crested), magpie geese, plovers, cuckoos, etc. as well as lots of plants like mango trees (soon to be ripe), orchids, palms, and lots of interesting native trees. It was a good afternoon of wandering.  In the evening we had burgers, of the traditional Aussie style I guess. Firstly, Aussies put butter on everything, if you have a sandwich you put butter on both sides of the bread before anything else like mayo/mustard/ketchup/vegemite/etc. it’s very odd.    Not bad at all, but odd and they comment on me not doing it. Second...

I went to the yacht club in the afternoon and joined the social hour. For $15 (which I got away with not paying cause my skipper said he doesn’t get the money so he doesn’t care if I pay), I got to be a crew member on a sail boat. It’s a race, but my boat was not very competitive. There was the skipper, a pair of people a bit older than me who really knew what they were doing, a pair of older people who were there for the good vibes but clearly had been a number of times, and me and another guy who were new to sailing.  It was a beautiful run out to the reef during sunset and it was cool to get to hang and listen to everyone’s stories. They go every Wednesday, so if I’m around I’ll have to go again. 

Today we got up early and went to Billabong animal sanctuary. Dean and Jenny said they hadn’t been since the last time the American families came to visit. So it had been a while, but I think they enjoyed it.  All the animals at billabong are rescues animals that can’t be released back into the wild   We got in and went and saw the cute wombats, the bulldozers of the forest, as they are called. These little cannonballs are so stinking cute. There were two types, one with silky fur and one with coarse fur. It was hot so most of them were sleeping, but one came out to say hi. The keeper was telling us that wombats are super friendly for the first 2 years, and then as they grow up they want nothing to do with people after. He also said that they are very bitey, they bite when they are happy, when they are mad, when they are playful, when they are amorous. Basically, he said wombats are a good way to loose a finger. But look at that face, I’d feed my finger to him if he asked. The...

Another relaxed day I spent the morning getting some work done. I’m getting quite used to having an espresso machine in the house and I’m not sure how I’m going to survive once I leave here. Or at least, I’m not sure how my wallet is going to care after I leave here having gotten quite used to drinking a double espresso every morning.  Something I find quite funny is Australian often complain about American coffee. I’ve been asked multiple times about if I think the coffee is here better, and listened to many complain about how they visited America and we have the worst coffee. I find this very odd. Firstly, cause I personally don’t find the coffee here any different tasting….. if you know what to order and where to get it. Their first issue seems to be that they buy their coffee from Starbucks or a different big chain, which is known for being quick not for being good. I’m like “do you go to McDonald’s for a good burger and get mad it’s not high quality? Cause that’s what seems to...

Today really wasn’t very eventful, after the big day yesterday I think we were all content to just hang around the house and not do much. At least I was.  I got some work in, which was good, and started working on some future plans and just generally took a mental load off. 

  We celebrated our thanksgiving today. Jennie made a huge, delicious feast of prime rib (she didn’t want turkey and who a’ I to complain about prime rib), yorkshire pudding, Brussels and bacons, asparagus, potatoes, and roast carrots.   A group of their friends came over, 9 of us in total, in the afternoon and we had some drinks and apps. We had margaritas and a cheeseball and pastries with caramelized onion and feta. Earlier in the day Dean and I made a quiz on thanksgiving facts we tested them on, and gave them a way too difficult word scramble. It was fun though, had good chats and it was nice hanging with them all. Once of the couples had a daughter closer to my age doing the same thing is Canada right now as a lifty at a ski resort.  After apps and drinks we feasted on the delicious dinner Jenny made, and followed it up with a dessert of meringue, cranberry lime pie, and dulche de leche cake.  After everyone left we all dissolved into a food coma with happy bel...

  Today was a preparation day for our thanksgiving holiday. I made a cranberry lime pie, and Jenny cooked away making and entire feast for tomorrow.   In the afternoon Dean and I got out of her way and went for a drive about, practicing driving through round-a-bouts the wrong way (going to the left) and looking at used cars. I find few things more overwhelming than looking at used cars…. But it has to be done unless I want to take the bus everywhere (which I don’t).  We prepped for our Saturday Aussie thanksgiving most of the day. 

  Today began with a nice long walk. Dean dropped me on the strand (the paved walkway that goes along the ocean) and I wandered along the shore for a few kilometers, people watching and just enjoying the scenery. It was such a good walk on a really beautiful breezy day.   I made my way to the Queensland Museum where there were exhibits on the coral reefs and wildlife of the region. It was definitely a museum aimed for kids, lots of interactive stuff, but I’m basically a large child so I had a lot of fun playing around.  I walked back towards the house wandering in and out of little shops of the way.

  Today I went to the Australian DMV and got myself an Aussie drivers license. I don’t get the actual one in the mail for a few weeks, but I’m officially an Aussie driver.  🎉  It was pretty easy, go to the Department of Transportation and show them my license and proof of identification, and give them an address, and there I go. Looking like a real Aussie. The workers were real nice. There was a security guard who gave you your line ticket, and he was Jamaican and chatty telling us all about Cubans trying to make it to Jamaica and all involved with that. He was a character. The DMV guy was nice too, we chatted away while he got my paperwork settled. Now I just need to find a car, and I’ll be all settled. 

  I’m getting slower and slower about posting these, partially cause I have less to say, and partially cause I’m just getting lazy. I’m going to try to keep it up though.   In the morning we went and got tea and wandered around the palmatum. It was really cool. A palmatum is a botanical garden dedicated to palm species. They are from all over the world and it was cool to see all the different palm, even a few I recognized from Florida like the Sabal palm and the Royal palm.  High up in the trees there were hundreds on chattering fruit bats. They are incredible to see. You forget how big they are, but even far away, they are bigger than most birds. It’s so cool to watch them fight and stretch. I’ll have to go back one evening to see them all take off for the night. 

  Apparently my ear plugs and eye mask are working well, cause Dean and Jenny were shocked this morning that I slept through 2 hours of the fencing company putting up poles and cutting trees with my windows open. I’m not surprised though, hostel sleeping is far from quiet or dark so I’ve been working on my skills of sleeping through noise and light.   I got up and they dropped me at the pool on their way to the gym. It was nice to get some laps in and stretch out a bit. Afterwords I wandered down the strand a bit before heading back home to get some work done.  I spent a few hours working and in the evening I wandered around the garden looking at all their cool flowers. Then I did a bit of planning for the next few weeks, coming up with some ideas to check out the surrounding area!

  While Dean and Jenny ran errands they dropped me off at the farmers market. It was small and cute, but there were musicians and lots of artsy booths that I meandered around. I had some fresh sugar cane juice and slowly meandered my way back to their house. On the walk back I saw a family of plovers, and got dive bombed by the parents as I took a picture of this tiny little chick just a few inches long. So cute and tiny.   Of course, we had to feed the magpies, when they came in the house to let us know it was feeding time.  In the afternoon Dean and I went on a driving tour of the city, with me driving, so I could get used to driving on the left side of the road. I wandered up to the top of Mt Stuart which looks over the entire town. It was a stunning view and a stunning drive meandering among the eucalyptus trees and the beautiful yellow grasses of the day season.  At the top of the hill I saw my second species of wallaby, a rock wallaby! It was smaller than the o...

  My impression of Japan is both what I expected and not at all what I expected. It feels really safe here, and from what I’ve heard there aren’t really “bad parts”. I jump on and off the train at random stops and wander and they are all quite nice.   Sarah and I were talking about it, and she put it really well. It feels like you are in the future or present, but in a different time line. Some things are super high tech and efficient and others are really old tech or feel old. For example, most restaurants are cash only. You would think in such a technology hub, cash would be out of style like it is in the US, but cash is truly king here. One of my biggest regrets is not having a coin purse, I’ve been on the look out for one I like, because right now I am keeping my coins in a plastic bag. At home I never have more than a quarter or two. Every time I got to ALDIs it’s a frantic search for a single quarter or I’m carrying everything in my arms. To go to Shiba Onsen, a hot spri...

  Today was another nice and slow day. I mostly spent the day getting work and life sorted. I’m starting to look at part-time/temp jobs in the area. I think it would be nice to have a job partially just to get to be part of the community and see how things work. Of course, the extra money would be handy as well, particularly in local currency, but I’m interested in trying to find an ecology job to do for a few months in addition to my remote position in order to understand how things work here. I also was able to settle in and get some of my actual job done in a larger amount of time, instead of just a few hours here and there which was nice. I was able to focus on finishing up a few bigger projects which was good, finally in a place where I am not distracted by fellow travelers while I try to write. In the evening we all hung out and had a delicious dinner of pork belly and tofu salad, and started a Norwegian tv show. Overall, it was a really nice and relaxing day. I think I...