Bundaberg (i.e. RUM City)

Arrived off the bus around 7:30 last night and went in look of my hostel. Cellblock. Cozy sounding name isn't it? lol. Well i got a little lost, i followed the directions, but i was off by one block, and missed it. So starting wondering back the way i came and followed a map to what i thought was key street. Well, i was walking out of town, and soon would have made it to the cane fields. Ugh. Luckily i came across another hostel where the couple that owned it where kind enough to give me a ride to Cellblock when they closed for the night. I must say, a lot of the aussies are really laid back and friendly. As a side note, they all think i'm canadian. I truly don't have much of a Kentucky accent, or any accent at all. Maybe I'll pick up some of their accent, the girls will think it's hot.
Grabbed a drink and some pizza and hung out at the backpackers bar. Chit chatted a little, but i was bushed and crashed early. Oh man was i surprised to find that my room was coed though. When i walked in it was just johnny (from wales) in the 4 bed room. (Ya, an old cell room, it had white paint, but that was about the only change i think lol). Most of the backpackers in Bundy come here to work and make some money so they can continue on. They work on the farms, and they get up around 5am. I feel for them.
Agh, anyway, early this morning (about 7) i was up to get some breakfast and start exploring. As i was crawling out of the top bunk the german girl below me said hey. Ya, me in nothing but boxers. Defenitly a surprise.
Breakfast was good, and then i started my WALK to the distillery. I had time, and tours didn't start till 10am. It's about a 45 minute walk, however far that is in Km. I sorta knew where i was going, but i sorta just follwed the huge semi's caring sugar cane, i figured we'd end up near the same place. But the tour was ok, i was a little sad the musuem was closed as they were rebuilding it an upgrading. But we did get free samples after the tour at the bar. The chocolate rum they make is the best i think. More like a syrup than rum. They say it contains the five major food groups: Rum, Chocolate, Coffee, Mollasses, Sugar. lol
There was a cooperage on the way back into the "city" of Bundy. (barrel makers). I was able to watch them take American Oak and turn them into barrels. It was interesting to see done, I haven't seen something like that since a festival in Harrodsburg when I was very little. They also had a woman doing the art of glass blowing, which was a treat to watch her shape the glass. She did a piece that turned into a type of bird, but one of the pieces on display was a glass replica of the Alien. From the movie Aliens. lol, talent that is.
Spent the rest of the morning seeing some of the historical sights of Bundy, the museums and walking along the river. Stopped in at a few shops just to have a look around, even had time to swing by the post office and pick up some more postage stamps, as my first set got left at James' place.
One of the more interesting things was the sugar cane plantation house that had been moved from the fields and set up in the botanical gardens. the thing is huge! I can only imagine living there, the grandeur. But as a museum it taught me about the sugar cane and the industry as a whole. Hard to believe that up until 50 years ago it was all cut by hand. TONS of the stuff. Ugly work.
On the bus ride in, it was after dusk, and you could see a red glow from time to time. The farmers burn the cane fields to burn off the dead cane leaves and rid the fields of vermin. Some of these fires can be 1/2 acre or larger! And i thought i had big bonfires at home. lol
Everywhere I went today, I walked. I'm so glad I bought a new pair of boots before this trip. They've made it bearable.
Some of the best fun though has to be just talking to the various people. They're from all over the world, most of them on working visa's, making their way up or down the coast. I've met people from Wales, Sweden, Germany, England and there was even a Turkish man. I can see how staying at the hostels here and working in the fields with other members from the same and differeing hostels gives one an opportunity to build friendships and learn about each others culture and life experiences. I wish I had more time to spend here. Perhaps I'll come back.

Bus out to Mackay at 10pm, arrives around 7:20am. Figure i'll just sleep on the bus. Otherwise i would of had to catch a bus out around 7 and get there around 4:20am. so ya, i bought a book to tide me over for the ride. A new Wilbur Smith (dad will be jealous)

Nest stop: http://www.stoneycreekfarmstay.com/

another note, i finally figured out i have a timer on my camera, so i hope from now on to have pics of me as well as the places i visit, not just one or the other. lol

Caught on Camera - Jordan's first AFL game

Go Greyhound

WHY YOU SHOULD NOT DO THIS LAST MINUTE!

Ok, so trying to figure the bus schedule out at the moment. I'm going to have to talk to the people at greyhound about it. basically, my first stop is bundaburg, but i think that unless i leave at like 7:45am, then the next bus that goes from brisbane to bundaburg isn't till noon. Their are buses on the route.. they just don't stop at bundaburg. Maybe. It's unclear. I thought this would be the easy part.

ok, so sorta the schedule. I've got an extra day (more or less) built into it as a safeguard or in case something comes up and want to hang out an extra day.

Brisbane -- Bundaburg
arrive in Bundy 12th @ 6:50pm
depart 13th @ 4:40pm

Mackay
arrive 13th @ 6:30pm
Depart (probably) 17th @ 9:30am ( i may leave late on the 16th)


Airlie Beach
arrive 17th @ 11:20am
depart 18th @ 9:20am

Townsville
arrive 18th @ 1:30pm
depart 20th @ 11:15am

Cairns
Arrive 20th @ 5:10pm
Depart 25th @ 6:15am (virgin blue flt DJ770)

I was expecting only three days in cairns, but i'd love to have 4. I anticipate my biggest issue being getting started out of brisbane and figuring out the bus system, how to pick one up, reading the timetables etc. I think i've figured it out, but i'll ask lots of questions in the morning at the bus terminal.

i'll try and keep up with the blog using the libraries, hostels and internet cafe's where available. i'll also keep up with emails.

make suggestions if you like, these aren't any hard or fast places, just the ones i thought best based on the tour book etc

i'll be in touch
Jordan

Surfer's Paradise

Not long after 6am James and I were both up getting ready for the day. It was early, and it was cold. We swung by to pick up Russel and then headed towards the beach, Surfer's Paradise to be more accurate.
It was a beautifull day, 3-4 foot waves, a few bigger ones thrown in for fun every now and then.
I pretty much had to re-learn everything about surfing from my trip to California. So I had a hard time getting past the breakers and then even catching a wave. Getting my balance back under me also took some time. After about 20 minutes I was pretty much bushed and had to hit the beach for a break. My arms felt like stumps of lead paddling around! Better that than actual stumps, i had my eyes peeled for strange moving shadows in the water. They've got nets set up about a kilomter (1/2 mile) of shore, but there are some massive holes in those nets....
Anyway, James and i switched back and forth most of the morning between the surf board and body board. Not too many waves in kentucky (HAH!) but I was able to hold my own by the end of the day. It was interesting to watch some of the others surf. they were often farther out, ergo, bigger waves... i.e. awsome wipeouts! lol
(here's James heading to the surf)
We both had a good time out in the surf, but by about noon I was pretty well done in. My shoulders are still achy. So Russel, James and I headed inland to the tourist mecca to score some icecream. I got some cookies and cream with a scoop of chocolate, which really hit the spot after the hot sun. And as luck would have it, we bumped into one of the famous meter maids! Now these girls go around helping non-queenslander's keep their cars from beign towed. Apparently a parking ticket here can set you back a few hundred bucks. So I made a donation for their more than worthy cause and was able to get a few pictures with the beautiful maid.
We then headed up to Point Danger. Where we were able to look out on some beautiful surf and just kick back. We were in Twin Towns--a town that is cut in half by the state border of Queensland and New South Wales. Which leads to two different but somewhat similar sets of laws. On one side of the street, is different from the other side.
And new years is fun, there's an hour time difference, so you get to walk across the street and celebrate all over again!
We had to drop James off soon after so he could take care of some pressing business, so Russel and I headed off to the local winery to check it out. I got to learn a lot about wines, mostly that i don't like red wines at all, and very few white wines. Perhaps it's an acquired taste. It was still an interesting and fun experience. But we hightailed it out of there soon after the wine tasting was over down into Brisbane. Just kind of passing the time till Crystal got off work. We got a little lost trying to take a "short cut" to bypass the rush hour traffic, and got lost. We drove into a few dead ends, but slowly made our way back to "over the bridge". (Basically, two sides of Brisbane, one on either side of the bridge) We made it back to southbank where we grabbed some coffee and chatted it up for a while, and Russel had a great idea of letting this Yank drive his car around the city a bit and then to Crystals place!
Let me tell you, My eyes were moving so much, trying to absorb it all, i didn't miss anything. Reading the road signs was a bit tricky, but with Russel interpreting it wasn't too difficult. The easiest part was when he would say "just follow that car in front of you". That i could do. But there was one incident when i was in a merge/yield lane where we almost got down right chummy with a taxi cab. lol
We survived and made it to crystals place where we switched cars and headed out to dinner. Hitachi (well, it started with an H for sure) sushi bar was amazing. they chefs were right in front of us making the meals, and then the food was set on little covered dishes, put on a fancy converyer system and would travel just inches in front of you.
Whenever you saw something you liked, you grabbed it. Whatever color plate it was, that's what you payed. It was fun grabbing sushi and trying to determine what it was while eating it. I think my favorite was the soft shell crab, though the tuna belly was very good as well. I probably had 6 or 7 different dishes.
We topped off the night with a game of bowling just next door. We all started off pretty rough, but Russel's style of bowling almost one out on the evening.
His method of tossing the ball in a short arc through the air to land with a resounding CRASH on the lane intimidated the hell out of the bowling pins and I believe many fell over out of fright! lol. Crystal put up a determined game, but didn't start to get the hang of it till near the end. I showed a moment of greatness with a strike in the 4th or 5th frame, then pettered off. But i rallied in the 8th,9th and 10th frames to throw three strikes (a turkey) and beat russel for the game.
With time pressing we only had time for one game, but i hope to do another on my return trip to brisbane. We all seemed to warm up towards the end, so a second game, and with the rest of the family, would be a lot of fun.
But i've got my itenerary to finish up, and packing to do for my little backpacking excursion. So adios. I'll post my itenerary here as well when it's done.

Boomerangs and Emus

I would just like to make a retraction to my last blog concerning the brain power of the Emu's. Apparently an "Emu will swallow large pebbles--up to 1.6 ounces--to help their gizzards grind up food. They also often eat charcoal. (Perrin and Middleton, 1985). www.pueblozoo.org/archives/jun02/feature.htm" So i have learned something new thanks to an anonymous post. And rightly so.
On the way back from the koala sanctuary we decided to pick up an "authentic" boomerang from one of the shopping centers. It was time for this Yank to learn how the original australians got their food. And let me tell you, me and my family would be living off of grubs and beetles for a very long time. lol
Though james didn't fair much better, i might even say he was a bit worse. Kylie even didn't do so well, and apparently her name means boomerang. It was a lot of fun trying though. We didn't ever get it to fly back to us exactly...but it did come close a few times. Once a little tooo close! I need to learn how to post videos to the blog because we taped a few of these throws and there's one where I guarantee you to be in stitches with laughter as we hurl ourselves out of the way of the incoming projectile. It was also fun to watch passing pedestrians and bicyclist keep a warry eye on us. We had enough smarts to hold our throws till they were out of danger. Yet James did let loose with a monster throw, and the bloody thing took off right towards the little leauge afl team that was practicing some 40 or 50 yards from us. No one got hurt, but we decided that was enough fun for the evening and jumped back in the car. (Kylie getting ready to terrorize all those out on the field)
Temperatures drop pretty fast when the sun goes down, probably in the 40's or low 50's. (I still haven't learned to convernt Celsius into Fahrenheit properly, so I mostly guess) But it was dusk and the perfect time to see wallabees in their natural habitat. Australian suburbia. lol
Think of it as spotlighting deer at night, but the down under version.
It was fun to see the wallabees out in the open, munching on people's lawns, not so much herds, more like little gangs of 'em all over neighborhoods. Again I've got some good video worth uploading, so I'll try and get that figured out.

A day with the Koala's

Look! I'm being felt up by a Koala! lol, almost like holding a young child, except these things have claws that can tear ya a part! Warm and fuzzy though, it was fun to do.
So James and i went and checked out the Lone Pine's Koala Sanctuary. Oldest koala sactuary in the world. It's also been visited by American Presidents, the Dolly Lama, a Pope and various music artist from around the world--and now, ME!
There was a lot to see, and i have to say, just watching the koala's was fun. Some of the little baby ones were very playfull, active and climbing around the trees. Though the majority of them were sleeping. I mean they sleep somewhere around 19hrs a day, really only waking up to eat. I think the Koala's are defenitely my kinda animal.
They also had a petting zoo type area, called the Kangaroo reserve, they had the Big Reds in there, but they were fenced in. There were a lot of wallabees and some grey kangaroos. Think about the American white tail dear, that's kinda how the wallabee is in Australia. They're about as prevalent, and every bit as much a danger at dawn and dusk to road traffic. I've seen more than a few along the side of the road, even went with james and kylie tonight spotlighting them along some of the neighborhoods.
Back to the sanctuary though. Saw a lot of the native wildlife, the wombats, the many different birds, the echinada (like a hedgehog) and more than a few snakes. Australia has something like 37 venomous species of snakes, and the ones not venomous can still get big enough to be a problem.
They had presentations at the sanctuary where you could learn about the koala and how it is faring in the wild today, as well as learn about the various reptiles and birds. They even had a sheep dog demonstration where the dogs would herd the sheep towards pens and through obstacles.
I also have to say, i got to wrestle with one of the most dangerous of Australia's animals. The fierce, ferocious, man-eating salt water crocodile! It was a horrific experience, but one i think i am a better man for. For i will fear nothing after this!

Ok, so i hope you'll remember i said they get to be 6-8 meters long, so this one is only a year old. He is STILL one of the fiercest animals on the face of this earth. And one day he will be rather a bit bigger. lol, it was interesting to feel his skin and the muscles and strength even at that young age.
It was fun to see the Koala's. Most of them were nothing more than little grey balls of fur up in the trees, but some where busy eating and a few others were getting into tiffs over the more succulent of the leaves, or maybe one was talking down about the other ones lady love. Either way i wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of those claws they have.
In the states, we have ostriches on farms and in our zoo's, well the second largest bird is the Emu, and i believe them to be the DUMBEST of the birds, except possibly, the dodo. James and i witnessed two emu's fighting over a rock, for what reason i don't know, but in an effort to keep the other from having the rock, the first emu swallowed the rock. Ok, not a rock, more like a large pebble. Wow. ya.

ya, these were the two birds fighting over the pebble.

Going surfing tomorrow! So wish me luck, it's been a few years.

The Sunday Drive

Aight, so about ten till 7 this morning the most annoying buzzing sounds intrudes on my slumber. UGH! But draggin' my butt out of bed that early was well worth it.
Now i don't have a bike license, so i was riding as the Pillion (again all Aussie words spelled phonetically) with my Cousin Russel, while Crystal was going for a ride on her new bike.
It was a beautiful day for a ride. Our route would take us out of the city, across the highway and onto the scenic route into Tumblegum for lunch at the tavern.
The name of Russels' biker gang is the ULYSSES CLUB, one of the largest clubs in Australia.








Well there were about two dozen bikes that met up at Maccer's (McD's) and after a quick bite we headed out. I learned a lot about traveling in a group, how they use markers (single bikers) to mark the turns and exits, proper etiquete (also spelled phonetically) and the variances in some of the bikes. Now i should stop here and say that, i hadn't been on a bike since i was 6 or 7 when i rode on the back of a family friends bike and got burned on the exhaust.
leavign my cousins house, on the back of the bike, i didn't find any handles so i was holding no with my fingernails pretty much. And our first road was pretty windy and i thought we were zoooming (not really though) and my heart was pounding. I figured i was a dead man. After that scary episode we get to Russels house were as we stop he leans back and informs me "Oh ya Jordan, if you want, there are some hand rails next to your seat you can hang on to". ARGH! were was that 15 minutes ago when i was sure i was going to die?!?!?!?! lol
But by the end of the day i was comfortable on the bike and didn't have any fear of falling off or the bike exploding on me. Now what the other crazy ute's and car drivers would do....
But the trip was superb. Got to see a lot of the bush country. The mountains the fields and just got a taste of what it was like to be a biker in a gang. (the good kinda gang) Even got to stop for Tea! which i kinda liked, not the tea mind you, but stopping to stretch the legs and grab a bite to eat before lunch. Also a chance to talk to the other riders in the group. Seems it's a national sport here to pick on us Yanks, but i hold my own. No worries there.


At the tavern they sat us outside way in the back. Guess they didn't want us to scare of the regulars. It was still a lot of fun.
After lunch we went cruising, just Crystal Russel and I, down to the Gold Coast, or maybe it was up? I'm not sure. To check out the waves and just puts around. It was too nice a day to let the ride end so soon. So we checked out surfers paradise, walked around the shops some to stretch our legs, and just enjoy being off the bikes and in the fresh air. Traffic was horrible though, it's hard to go from the open road, cruisin along, to bumper to bumper traffic. But after a coffee and a few pictures, we were back on the bikes trying to beat the sunset home. As long as the sun was up, we were all right, but once it starts to go down, it get's downright cold.
This pic is of me and crystal under the Surfers Paradise sign. Sometime in the future James and I are going to be coming back to do some actual surfing. It'll be the first time on a board since my trip to California.
The ride, the people, the views-it was a defenite good time. And I was smart. I went, and got back before I ever told my mom I was going. You know how mothers are, they worry. So mom, I'm going biking! I went! It was a blast! And I got home safe and sound! No worries! :-)

Aussies Think Jordan Rules!

More Pics From The Footy

Jordan flies the flag


"I can see my house from here!"


The players engage in a heated discussion on who called whose mum what


Lidy - Crystal - Jordan - Kylie - James - Russell


Little AFL league


Engrossed - the scores were close for most of the match


James finds his flag and flies it


Happy campers


After game stacks-on


Last time I did this to James I was a lot younger (and smaller)