My Aussie Adventures: Chapter 6: Perth & The End

CHAPTER 6: PERTH & THE END

November 27, 2012. Flying from Sydney to Perth is like flying from New York to LA. It's a LONG 5 HOUR flight and I was nervous about traveling alone. Traveling to Perth felt a bit like the first time I came to Sydney, as I was going to an unknown place all by myself. However, and luckily, greeting me at the airport was a friendly familiar face...an old roommate from Jacks Place who had moved to Perth with his girlfriend after doing some traveling. The three of us grabbed dinner and caught up and then I was on my own.

I was once told to never book a huge block of time at a hostel because you never really know till you get there if you'll like it or not. So I only booked three days at the Emperor's Crown Hostel, which turned out to be really clean, quiet, and exactly what I was looking for. I checked into my room and eventually met my three male roommates...a Brit, a Frenchie, and an Italian. All three guys were in Perth hoping to find mining work (a common male labor job around these parts because of the high pay and chance to qualify for a second-year visa). They were all really nice and kept to ourselves, which was perfect because I'd come to Perth to keep to MYSELF, explore the city, eat good food, and read my 50 Shades of Grey in peace!

My first two days in Perth, I walked and walked and walked! I explored the Esplanade and St. George's Terrace, a Diagon Alley-like street with little shops and cool architecture. I strolled down King Street, Perth's own Rodeo Drive, and gave stank eyes to all the rich folks. I also spent a lot of time in Perth's Cultural Center, an area filled with free museums and art galleries. On my second night, as I walked through the city, I came across Tony Roma's, a ribs, seafood, and steaks restaurant. Anyone who knows me knows I CANNOT refuse ribs! I must say, eating dinner alone is a bit depressing and awkward; I was constantly wondering about my waiter judging me thinking "who's this freak black girl in the middle of Perth eating by herself?" Anyways, $55 and about 100 pages of Fifty Shades later, I left the restaurant and headed to His Majesty's Theatre to catch the Western Australia Ballet Company perform a bizarre and awkward modern day version of The Nutcracker. I hated it, to say the very least, which is sad because I LOVE The Nutcracker!

Unfortunately, early the next day I had to check out of the Emperor's Crown because they were fully booked and I couldn't extend :( As I walked up to my new hostel just down the road, a large group of hungover (or, I suspect, still drunk) Irish guys were seated in the courtyard making a ruckus. I'm clearly not in Kansas anymore. Plain and simple, this hostel was an absolute dump. It was HUGE! It had about 4 floors each with at least 80 rooms...the hallways just kept going and going. The carpeting was old and moldy and there was always some background noise going on. I dragged my stuff into my new room littered with guys stuff everywhere, including an opened porno magazine on the desk. Awesome!

Fortunately, I had a great day ahead, starting with McDonalds breakfast and some more 50 Shades of Grey! Then I spent the entire day at the beautiful Kings Park, which is apparently the largest urban park in the world even larger than NYC's Central Park. The weather was beautiful and the park offered breathtaking views of the ocean and the city. For dinner, I went to...you guessed it! Tony Roma's yet again! Afterwards I walked through the CBD and happened upon a large food festival. I sat in a cafe, sipped on some hot cocoa and did some people watching. I then walked through Northbridge, Perth's nightlife district, on what was a booming Friday night. But being the happy little loser that I am, I strolled into a little movie theatre and bought a ticket to see Celeste and Jesse, a funny little indie rom-com staring Rashida Jones.

Now this is when the night took a turn for the worse... 

I got back to the hostel and that's when I meet one of my roommates--Rory, the sweaty, drunken, horny Irish man. Rory seemed nice enough at first...he asked the same usual questions...where you from, how long you been traveling, etc. and then he went out to smoke. When he came back Rory was HIGH and subsequently VERY creepy. As I was under the covers in bed and watching YouTube videos on my phone, he began to ask me all kinds of inappropriate questions too racy for this blog. He then declared he was into "colored girls," mumbled some more incoherent stuff his thick accent couldn't deliver, and then passed out asleep. Being alone in a room with a huge creep who was HIGH wasn't a pleasant experience and reminded me that hostels aren't all hunky dory and that traveling alone as a female does pose some risks.

The next morning, I lied in bed awake on my phone. I heard Rory ask our fellow roommate who was awake getting dressed, "Is princess awake?" I gave the guy a death glare and like a clueless idiot he replied to Rory, "Yup she's awake!" I continued to lie in bed facing the wall until I heard Rory get up and leave the room presumably to go eat breakfast. That's when I hopped out of bed, quickly dressed, and ran out of the room like a bat out of hell! 

That day, I took the train to Fremantle, a picturesque port city south of the CBD. The city was so cute, filled with little shops, restaurants, and markets. I walked along the boardwalk and read my book in a little park. I then went on a tour of the Fremantle Prison--a former prison with ALOT of history to spare about Australia's convict past. Afterwards, I went to a little restaurant along the water called Sweet Lips, serving the best fish and chips I'd eaten in Australia. I then hopped on the train back to the city and went back to the same little movie theatre to see a French film called The Intouchables. As I arrived at the theatre... 

Ticket guy: You again? I think it's time you got a life!

After the film, I made the dreaded walk back to the hostel and am greeted in the room by none other than Rory (where the hell are my other roommates always hiding?!). He was creepy YET again, but I did a better job deflecting him this time, even at one time telling him to go brush his teeth and take a shower because he stunk (which he did...the whole room smelled)!

The next morning, my two days in the hostel were up so I booked it out of there as fast as possible and ran to my new hostel--a small, clean hostel up the road where I FINALLY shared a room with 2 girls. After checking in, I met up with my friend (her boyfriend returned to work on the mines) and she and I made plans to go to Sets on the Beach Music Festival at Scarsborough Beach. The weather was perfect and I was so excited! The problem was....we had no tickets. However, we heard through the grapevine that if we got to the festival early enough, we could still buy last minute tickets. Being us, of course, by the time we got there, all the tickets were gone. The two of us walked up and down the line looking for scalpers but there were more people like us trying to BUY tickets then people actually selling tickets. Desperate, we start asking the security guards about sneaking us in. Nope, that didn't work either. 

But just as we were getting restless, head of security, a large Maori-looking guy, coyly walks by us and whispers "Still looking for tickets?" YES! "Ok, $70 each." Seeing as the tickets were being sold for $60, he was offering us a pretty good deal. YES! Minutes later, he returned with 2 wristbands, we slid $150 in his hand, and we were in! The festival was so much fun! We got amazing views of the beach, danced to great music, and there was even a silent disco...a dance party where everyone wears headphones blasting different music!

On my last day in Perth, I booked a ferry ticket to Rottnest Island, a beautiful island right off the coast of the city. While there, I booked a bus ticket and traveled around the quiet little island, exploring its different bays, laying out, and doing some swimming. At Stark Bay, I was the only person on the beach and I seriously felt like I was in paradise. Then things got weird again...

At Parakeet Bay, I met this friendly, older German man who was also traveling alone. He was nice and friendly at first, but then HE WOULDN'T LEAVE ME ALONE! On the ferry ride back to Fremantle, he sat next to me. I pretended to sleep, as to avoid speaking. He then asked me what I was up to next. I had already planned in my head to go to the fish and chips shop; he asked me if he could tag along. Urgggh! We went to the restaurant and he paid, which was REALLY nice (I'll admit). We chit chatted for a bit and then he wondered "What should WE do next?" That's when I had to bring an end to this. I thanked him for dinner and wished him well on his journey, but told him I ALONE would be going to catch a movie and enjoy my last day ALONE. Thanks but no thanks buddy! He wasn't creepy like the sweaty Irish man, but I'd spent my entire week in Perth enjoying my alone time, and that was only going to change if he was a male model of some sort....which he wasn't. So sorry! 

I went to my THIRD movie alone (ahhhh living the life!) and saw The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which was actually better than the book. I then rushed on the train back to the city, where I quickly grabbed my things and then my friend took me to the airport. A sad goodbye and another 5 hour flight later and I was back in good ol' room 3 of Jack's Place and this time it was MY turn to sleep on the air mattress on the floor.

----- 

I had just 10 days left in Sydney and I was freaking out! It was finally becoming real that in just mere days I'd be back in Jersey, back to the life I escaped, and oh, that's right! I STILL have to get my life together and figure out my future. My last weekend in Sydney, just so happened to also be my 23rd birthday weekend! 

On my birthday, some friends and I took the ferry to Manly and ate at Manly Grill where I had one of the BEST rack of ribs EVER! Afterwards, we had some drinks at Manly Wharf Bar accompanied by some gnarly people watching (the men at Manly Wharf are pretty scrumptious, if I must say so). Then most of my friends left (work in the morning), but a few of us continued the party at the Steyne Hotel for reggae night where we got our dance on! That night we also met some rather interesting characters...

There was a really nice guy from Belgium who made us laugh... 

Belgian: How long have you been in Sydney?
Me: About 10 months, since February.
Friend: Since April. And how about you?
Belgian: Uhh...since Thursday.

Then there were these two hippie Aussies we spent the better part of the night with talking about EVERYTHING! These guys were hilarious! The blonde guy was in a band and was OBSESSED with America (which I never thought could be possible) and talked endlessly about moving there. We talked about religion and God and blondie declared how he couldn't wait to go to America and go to a Baptist church to see all the people singing and clapping and the, and I quote, "black mamas wiping their sweat." He then also gave us an in depth look into his greater life plan...

He would play music and record exactly one album. He would then "die tragically" at a young age and subsequently the sales of that album would go crazy because he would have died a legend. However, he wouldn't actually be dead! He'd actually be off in Costa Rica raising baby sloths. But if that didn't work out, he'd sell oranges. And if that ALSO didn't work, he'd move to India and become a personal musician to a prince.

After a pretty random, but epic, birthday, for my last few days in Sydney, I just wanted to soak up as much of the city as I could. My room 3 bestie and I ate Burgerlicious for the last time, went to Pancakes on the Rocks for our 1,000th time, and sat by the Opera House watching the sunset beneath the bridge and the ferries coming and going into the harbor. I also met up with the nice Belgian guy from my birthday, as it was his first days in Sydney and my last and we both just wanted to explore, explore, explore! I walked the CBD for the last time, got Dominos and ate it down in Rushcutters Bay for the last time, and did the Coogee Beach to Bondi Beach coastal walk for the very last time.

On my last night in Sydney, some friends and I went to the ever-classy Ivy Bar for one last dance. As much as I tried to smile and have a good time, it was quite hard to mask the SEVERE DEPRESSION I was feeling knowing that in just hours I would be leaving.

----- 

That night, I barely got any sleep and the next morning, as my roomie left for work, I gave an embarrassingly tearful goodbye to a girl I shared the smallest room in Jacks Place with for an entire month...a girl who also happens to be one of the most beautiful and sweetest girls in the world and one of my new best friends :)

Later, as my taxicab pulled up, a friend helped me load my bags into the car. I turned to give her a hug and just then, two brand new Jack's Place people I'd never even met were coming out through the front door.

New girl: "Oh no, you're leaving?! Well have a safe flight!"

And then she and her friend turned up the road and went on their merry way. As the new girl embarked on her exciting new life in a new city, I looked up at Jack's Place, the place I'd called home all year, and it was almost completely unrecognizable now. The hoards of new people and the ghosts of friends past were letting me know my time had run out and it was time to go.

In the cab ride on my way to the airport, I posted this Facebook status which couldn't better describe the greatest 10 months of my life... 

As I leave Australia, I'm thinking how proud of myself I am for deciding to put a career aside in order to spend a year traveling and living the life I wanted to live.

I failed twice to get a job at an ice cream shop, I somehow afforded $1000+/month rent all on my own, I lived in a van with 2 people for 6 weeks, I got cursed out my a crackhead prostitute, I cleaned toilets and filthy rooms at a hostel, I got and lost 2 jobs in the span of a month, I developed a jewelry business out of my bedroom, I made lifelong friends from all over the world... I had a dreamlike experience I could not have gained anywhere else. If I had to do it all over again, I'd choose Burgerlicious over corporate America anyday.

I encourage everyone to work to live, don't live to work. Life is an amazing journey and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. YOLO!

My Aussie Adventures: Chapter 5: Sydney Round Two

CHAPTER 5: SYDNEY ROUND TWO

August 9, 2012. When I returned to Sydney, it finally hit me that it was the end of an era. My two best friends I'd made in Sydney were now returning home to England, my other best friend returned to France a few weeks earlier, the Canadian had gone back, two other good friends just started their travels around Australia....basically everyone was gone so it was back to ground zero. I moved back into Jacks Place because it offers the easiest way to meet people, but Jacks just wasn't the same...not without my Jacks family here. I went through a 2-week depression where I just simply didn't have the energy to talk to new people and make new friends. On top of all this, after traveling for the last almost 3 months, my jewelry business's momentum had fallen and I definitely needed to find an additional part-time job!

Luckily, on the friends front, things fell into place pretty quickly. Two really good friends I made while housekeeping in Cairns ended up moving down to Sydney! Also, a friend from my semester abroad 2 years ago had just gotten a working-holiday visa and moved to Sydney as well! And, amidst all the new people in Jack's Place, I quickly became really close to two Dutch girls who were in Sydney studying law for a semester at the University of Sydney. They were both super friendly, genuine, and I clicked with them immediately.

One night (before I had become really good friends with the Dutch girls) I was downstairs in the lounge watching TV and being a loner. One of the Dutch girls came downstairs and saw me and invited me out to a Uni house party she was going to. I was super hesitant (just being lazy mainly) but she gave me her number and really encouraged I came to the party later. It WAS a Friday night and I HADN'T been out in ages since my old Jack's Place friends left. I wouldn't really know ANYONE at the house party and I would have to take TWO BUSES to get there. I weighed the pros and cons and then eventually just decided, why not?! Just go Tasha! I showered, journeyed all the way to the house party by myself, and ended up having an AMAZING time!

Making the decision to go to that party made me realize just how much I had evolved! For the vast majority of my life (up until my semester abroad in Sydney), I was this shy awkward girl with some serious social anxiety. And now, I was a girl showing up to parties alone, where I knew basically no one there, and, by the end of it, I'm exchanging phone numbers and Facebook info with people! This became the first of many Uni house parties I'd crash with my friends, as it was refreshing to finally create a social circle for myself OUTSIDE of Jack's Place. While the culture at Jack's started to become more about partying every weekend at the same ol' clubs and incestual hooking up (the days of family dinners and movie nights were long gone), it was good to have some other friends, just in case, outside of the house.

While my social life was doing great, the job hunt was definitely a struggle! I did a trial at a gelato shop and let me tell you, it was hard work! The gelato was so frickin hard, I had such a struggle simply scooping it into cones. Despite my lack of gelato scooping skills, I thought I really clicked with the manager. He was a filmmaker, I studied film...match made in heaven! We chatted all about our interests and favorite shows and this and that and I thought I had the job in the bag for sure! Yup, that was a no. Never heard back.

Then there was a trial I did at a Mexican restaurant. I proved to chop lettuce like a champ and I was making burritos and chit chatting to customers like I owned the place. Again, the manager and I really clicked. He had just traveled America, I'm American...match made in heaven! Nope, didn't get that job either.

Then finally, I got a job! I went for an interview at a children's clothing store in Bondi Beach, nailed it, and got the job! The job was boring as all hell...STANDING 8 hours/day alone in a DEAD boutique attempting to sell expensive children's clothing to beachside mothers, many of whom were simply window shopping...but it was a relief to finally have a job! Well, naturally that didn't last too long, as after 2 weeks I got a call from the manager saying "Sorry, we no longer have any shifts for you." Huhhhh??????? Within days, I received payment into my account and saw the job paid $25/hour! Welcome to Australia, the home of $15/hour minimum wage. But FML for losing the job! My theory: the store was completely dead and they decided they simply couldn't afford to pay another worker.

So I was back to the job hunt again and within days I luckily landed a new job: part-time receptionist at a massage therapy/hair transplant clinic. Again, the job was easy...answering phones, welcoming guests, doing some busy work. The downside...the owner was a nutcase! Think: a 6'5'', 30 year old, neurotic-Woody Allen type who honestly just made me feel really uncomfortable. Welp, no worries there because I ended up losing that job too! After just one week, I got called in by the boss to tell me they had trialed someone else and were gonna go with them instead. To this day, I'm still confused whether I ever even had the job and got fired or was just on a week-trial...no one ever told me.

So I was unemployed YET again and ready to punch someone. But then God sent me to Burgerlicious! It was a gourmet burger restaurant just 5 minutes walk from my house and located underneath the famous Coca-Cola sign in the heart of Kings Cross. I walked in there one day with my resume, did a trial the next day, and was hired right then and there. And finally I managed to hold onto this job until the very end. Burgerlicious was actually a fun place to work!

My typical day: Arrive at 11am and meet the kitchenhand (amazingly nice guy from Nepal) who'd been there since 10:30 setting up the back. Then I'd bring down all the chairs, wipe down the tables, turn on the TV and radio, restock the sodas, and fill up some containers with ketchup. Then I'd fry up some french fries and sit in the back with the kitchenhand chatting about life (the first customer almost ALWAYS never came until 12pm). At around 11:50am he and I returned to "work" because we knew the head chef would be there any minute. During the lunch hours from about 12-2pm, things would finally get busy. My responsibilities: take people's orders and punch it into the computer, if they dined in I would bring them out their food when it was ready, or if it was takeaway, I'd package up their food and give it to them. If things got really busy on a day where the kitchenhand wasn't there or had to leave early for whatever reason, I had to go in the back and help the chef prep the burgers and juggle customers in the front. Was quite exciting actually! When things would slow down, I'd walk around and wipe down already clean tables just to make it look like I'm doing something.

The biggest PERK of working at Burgerlicious: FREE FOOD! I ate a bowl of fries every morning. And then on my way out, I'd have the chef or kitchenhand fry me up a burger or chicken wrap to go. I also enjoyed the "regulars" I became buddy-buddy with....there was Gio, a black guy from Cali who lived in Sydney 6 months out of the year; he always ordered the Voodoo Veg Wrap. And there was the young couple who came in once a week with Burgerlicious Groupons. After Hurricane Sandy hit NJ, they came in one week expressing genuine concern over my family's well-being and said they had thought about me when they watched it on the news; I thought it was sweet they even remembered where I was from!

The downsides...well there's the infamous crackhead prostitute story. My Facebook status from that memorable day: 

"Tales from Burgerlicious...So a crackhead prostitute (seriously) walks in and orders a burger with "no tomato". I accidentally hit "no lettuce." BIG mistake! 10 minutes later she returns screaming and calls me every dirty name under the sun before demanding a refund. My boss gives her back her measly $7. As she stomps out she snatches the tip jar off the ledge and runs. One month of fake smiles and banter with American tourists and all my tip money is gone in an instant. The other customers watching the drama unfold are left scared and in shock. Meanwhile I am left shaking my head and laughing. Welcome to Kings Cross."

There was also the time I got hit on by a little Italian man. He and his friend came in and ordered and sat down. He kept giving me oogly eyes the whole time, but I tried my best to ignore! Then he came back to the front and asked to borrow a pen. I lent it to him and went back to work. He returned the pen with a little wink; I awkwardly smiled and again went back to work. He kept staring at me the whole time he ate and then as they got up to leave and I went to say bye and clear their table he said: "Check the pen I gave back to you. I left a little something for you." Ummmmmmm....ok. Sure enough I go back and look at the pen and there's a lil bit of paper rolled around it saying: "Hey cutie. My name is Rafael. Call me. [His number]."

So my Sydney: Round Two life was going well. My best friend from home came to visit for two weeks, which was a breath of fresh air. And a friend and I bought tickets to Stereosonic--Australia's largest house/dance music festival--and had the time of our lives. At this time, I also moved into room 3--the tiniest room in Jack's Place. The good thing was my 2 best Dutch girlfriends were in rooms 1 and 2. Before you know it, a friend of mine--German girl who's lease ran out at Jack's Place and we didn't wanna see her move into a hostel--instead moved in with her air mattress onto my floor for 2 whole weeks! The 4 of us became even closer, since we were practically living on top of each other, and we even turned the first floor common room into our own personal living room!

But naturally, just as life starts to get comfortable, it was nearing the end of November and my December 14th flight home was just weeks away. On top of that, my 2 Dutch girlfriends would be leaving Sydney soon to go travel the East Coast. My dreams of traveling Asia had gone out the window when I couldn't find anyone to travel with and I didn't have enough money so I settled on quitting Burgerlicious and booking a flight to Perth for a week.

The four of us girls had our last girls night out...pizza, ice cream, and dancing at Marquee...and then within days I said bye to the Dutch girls and set my sights on a week in Western Australia.

My Aussie Adventures: Chapter 4: So I Was a Housekeeper at a Hostel in Cairns...

Chapter 4: SO I WAS A HOUSEKEEPER IN CAIRNS...

July 10, 2012. After six-weeks on the road, I returned to Sydney and received a much needed visit from my mom, aunt, and uncle in Sydney. I spent 10 days with them touring them around the city and basking in the luxury of living in a hotel! I also started to plan my next move...do I stay in Sydney while it's wintertime (summer in USA is winter in AUS) meaning a bit chilly and thus miserable or do I move somewhere else? A really good friend of mine and former Jack's Place housemate was up in Cairns and strongly encouraged I come back. I thought, what the heck! And booked a one-way ticket to Cairns!

So how exactly do I put this? I was kinda sorta working as a housekeeper at a hostel in Cairns! That's right….."knock, knock, HOUSEKEEPING!" (or CAT FISHING as one of my coworkers started to say when we realized it didn't matter what we said). Yup, that was me!

Cairns is a huge backpacker city...it is filled with dozens of hostels, many of which have this thing called "work for accommodation." For the common broke backpacker, this arrangement is a dream come true. You put in time doing housekeeping or promotional work for a hostel and the hostel provides you with a free bed in exchange. Before I arrived in Cairns, I had not a clue what I was gonna do or how long I was gonna stay. However, my friend told me she got a "work for accommodation" job at a hostel so I decided to try my luck at the same thing. On day 2 of Cairns, I sat on the Esplanade and called a couple of hostels. I heard a lot of "no, sorry" until one nice receptionist put me on hold for a minute and then came back on the line to tell me: "See you tomorrow at 10am sharp. You can move in and get to work!"

From 10am to 1:30pm, 5 days a week, I, along with a team of about 8 or 9 other travelers, (mostly Italians at my hostel) knocked on the doors of every room in our 60 room hostel to change beds, clean garbages, scrub toilets, the usual. The work was easy peasy with a few perks…i found $20 once while changing a bed! And in a room that's considered a "checkout," anything in the fridge or bathroom that we find, we get to keep…that means free shampoos and conditioners, beer, and random jars of unopened pasta sauce. I'd happily do housekeeping for the rest of my life if it meant free rent! But let me tell you, the job comes with a price... I have stories for days!

Let's see… 

There's nothing like wiping down a kitchen counter covered with nail clippings, stepping over a dead cockroach getting devoured by ants in the bathroom, or walking into a bedroom where shreds of paper and cheese balls are scattered all over the floor leading me to wonder, what the hell went down last night?!

The greatest story of all…there was the time we walked in on a couple having sex. That's right….knock knock, HOUSEKEEPING! Enter room, see people doing the nasty, exit room!
 
There was the crazy lady from New Zealand. She was in her mid-50s and she'd been living at the hostel for over a month. On my very first day on the job, when i came in to clean she was energetic and bubbly and so smily and friendly that she actually made me feel a tad bit uncomfortable. As I changed the sheets on one of the beds, I noticed her in the corner undressing her robe and putting on her bra and underwear. I quickly looked away as it was too early in the morning to see fat rolls and saggy boobs. She insisted on helping me spread the sheets, which was kind, but then she randomly asked to touch my hair (casualty of being a black girl) and shit just got weird again. To top things off, as i scrubbed the mold in her shower she informed me that there was a new moon this solstice and asked if i would burn candles and incense. Smile and nod. Smile and nod.

Then there was crazy Desmond in room 117. He'd been living at the hostel for ages and had seemed to have lost so many screws in his head that management didn't even place anyone else in his room anymore. Yup, lucky Desmond had a 6 bed room all to himself. Why? Well when I first met him he was rambling on and on about only God knows what. I assumed he was just hungover or still drunk from the night before. But no, turns out that was Desmond in his "NORMAL" state. He's a bit off his rocker and his "evil laugh," as some described it, tended to scare off other roommates. He'd previously discussed how his name spelled backwards is (apparently) Demon (followed by his evil laugh) and he once "pulled a knife"…well to be fair, he showed off his collector's knife…to a fellow roommate, but if it was followed by that infamous evil laugh, I'm sure he freaked the guy out.
 
Then there's the ONLY time I ever felt degraded working as a housekeeper...I was cleaning the room of this stern, skinny Euro waif who sat on the couch eating her breakfast and watched us as we changed the garbage and swept AROUND her. She only spoke to give a quick thanks when we left the room and then later she apparently went down to reception to complain about this and that.

But then there was the sweet guy from Canada who was so genuinely nice and struck up a conversation every time we came in to clean. You can just tell he's THAT guy who chats up his taxi driver or personally knows the guys who cleans his car at the car wash. He makes you realize how important "thank you's" are because I would appreciate and cherish his thank you's so much even when they just came after changing his garbage or giving him a fresh roll of toilet paper.

Moving along…There was the time I walked into a room and it reeked like someone freshly took a dump and the only guy in the room was this hot Swedish guy staring guiltily back at me.

There was the getting hit on by the hungover/still drunk random British traveler while I was changing a bed in his room:

Drunk dude: "How long have you been here in the hostel? I haven't seen you around much..." 

Me: "Oh, I just started housekeeping on Wednesday." 

Drunk dude: "Well, you're definitely the prettiest housekeeper I've ever seen *wink*" 

Me: "Haha thanks, umm can you pass me that pillow?" 

Or the guy that came out of the bathroom in his towel and asked: "Does housekeeping include rubbing suncream on my back? haha"

There was also the time I walked in the room to find a half-naked pornstar lookalike sprawled across a mattress laid out in living room. 

Me: "Are you or anyone checking out today?"

Girl: "Umm, I don't live here…

And the stories go on and on... Anyways, after housekeeping in the mornings, I would then quickly change into my swimsuit and spend my afternoons down by The Lagoon. Cairns doesn't have a beach but instead has a big manmade pool called "The Lagoon." While there, my friend, her co-workers (who actually became great friends of mine), and I would lay out and people watch, spot hot guys, talk shit, eat McDonalds, not read our books, and just simply enjoy the current state of our lives where we didn't have a single care in the world! 

Cairns also became the home of reunions! Remember the British couple we met while traveling the East Coast? Met up with them in Cairns and they stayed at my hostel! Also, two good guys friends from Jacks Place began their East Coast trip in Cairns, so it was good to catch up with them as well.

And then there were Cairns nights. Did I mention Cairns is a big party town?? Let's just say, many good nights were had drinking free champagne at ladies night every Tuesday at PJ O'Brien's, dancing on the tables at The Woolshed, and trying to keep it classy at good ol' Gilligans. Then we'd ALWAYS top off the night at McDonalds or Pie Face.

I ended up booking a ticket back to Sydney after one month. My two best friends were leaving to go back to England and I wanted to be back in Sydney to wish them off. Plus a month of housekeeping and partying in Cairns was enough for me! I would say this was definitely my most memorable month of my entire Aussie adventure.

My Aussie Adventures: Chapter 3: East Coast Road Trip

Chapter 3: EAST COAST AUSTRALIA

May 22, 2012. When we picked up our campervan, I couldn't believe my eyes. Our van looked like it just came off an episode of Pimp My Ride. It came complete with 2 double beds, 2 TVs with DVD players, a GPS system, a kitchen in the trunk with stoves, running water, and a fridge! This was our home for the next 6 weeks and I was SO excited to finally fulfill my backpacker dreams!

In our first day of driving, we got into 2 minor accidents! Not only were we driving on the opposite side of the road, but we were driving a massive van! The Canadian drove a little too close to the left once and knicked the bumper on a highway rail. On our first night, I was attempting to drive the van into an underground supermarket garage totally forgetting to check the clearance; I ended up scrapping the whole top of the van on a metal bar. Thank God for insurance!

Our first night was in Port Macquaire, a small beach town 3 hours outside of Sydney. We parked in a Coles Supermarket parking lot and set up shop! (Parking in Coles and McDonalds parking lots became a staple on this trip). For our first meal we ate rather heartily....a rotisserie chicken and white rice cooked on our stove. At night the three of us cuddled together on the bottom bed to watch a movie when suddenly the Canadian bursted out laughing and declared "WE'RE IN A VAN!" It finally hit us. We were curled in bed...in a van...in a supermarket parking lot. This was actually the state of our lives right now.

Our first major stop on the roadtrip was in Byron Bay, easily the most hyped-about place

Right before jumping in!

along the East Coast. I had heard stories of people going to Byron Bay and never leaving, so to say I was excited was an understatement. Too bad our week in Bryon Bay was completely marred by shitty, cold and rainy weather.  On the ONE DAY with good weather, we went to the beach and the sun unexpectedly started to shine. Not one of us had on our swimsuits and we couldn't stand to miss the one day of good weather. So what did we do? Stripped down to our skivvies on a public beach filled with children and surfers and jumped in the water!

Despite the sucky weather, we parked at an amazing hostel called The Arts Factory--it was basically a hippie commune stuck in 1970s and filled with all sorts of characters. I'd never met more white people with dreads wearing colorful harem pants in my entire

Arts Factory parking lot!

life. I remember there was this one guy I constantly admired from afar...he was dark and mysterious and lived in the van parked next to us all by himself. Inside the hostel, he'd always sit at one of the booths along the windowsill drawing. One day, I saw he put up a sign saying "Will Draw for Food, Alcohol, Money, Whatever." So I sat at his table with him and started looking through his portfolio. His name was Sam (pronounced "Some") from Holland. He had run out of money and couldn't find a job in Byron. Drawing is the only thing he knew how to do so he decided to try to make money off of it. He said he drew a portrait for a girl once and she gave him a bag of cookies. He also said the hostel was thinking of hiring him to do some artwork on their walls. I wonder where Sam is now...

In Byron, we also made friends with a young British couple who had come to travel the East Coast by van for the summer (well Aussie winter). They became amazing friends of ours and we traveled much of the east coast together, filling each other in on good places to park, doing activities, going out at night together, etc.

Our next major stop was in Surfers Paradise/Gold Coast. A cousin of mine had just recently moved to Gold Coast to get his masters at Bond University so I looked forward to a familiar face. The entire week there, we somehow got away with parking our obnoxious purple and green van on his campus. Parking at my cousin's dorm also meant a break from sleeping in the van (I crashed in the public common room the entire week), free wifi, free laundry, and warmth! On the downside, Surfers was the location of the first of many expected arguments over the course of six weeks. Long story short: before parking at my cousin's dorm we parked one night illegally (in front of a big sign that actually said "No overnight parking") and patrol came knocking on our window as we slept to ask us to move. It was raining, we were all stressed, words were exchanged, and the next morning problem was (seemingly) solved. But the reality of driving 6 weeks with 2 (basically) strangers began to sink in.

Our next major stop was a 3 day/2 night camping trip on Fraser Island..the world's biggest sand island with the largest population of wild dingoes. We were BEYOND excited for our camping trip because we were finally going on a tour that gave us the opportunity to meet loads of other people (mainly boys, let's be honest). Plain and simple, Fraser Island became the clear highlight of our trip. Not only was the island beautiful...one morning a group of us woke up to wild dingos casually walking around our campsite-- a truly special sight to be seen...and we lucked out with beautiful weather, but the group of people on our tour was amazing. Everyone was young, fun, and ready for a good time! Our days on the island were spent divided into groups and driving around to different spots in our 4WDs.  Our nights were spent camped out beside the beach getting drunk and being young and dumb.

From Fraser Island there was LOTS more driving and then our next big stop was in Airlie Beach--the gateway to the Whitsundays Islands where we went on a 3 day/2 night sailing trip. Our Whitsundays tour group couldn't at all compare with our Fraser Island family, but we met some cool people nonetheless. Also a downer during our trip was the horrible weather. Sailing was an interesting and really fun experience, but after 2 days of sailing in the rain and living on a cramped boat, I was over it. We did, however, touchdown at Whitehaven Beach, voted one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, which was quite breathtaking.

After the Whitsundays, there was whitewater rafting down the Tully River in Mission Beach (one of my most fun days) and then we finally reached our final destination: Cairns--a small city completely infested with young, hot backpackers. Our week in Cairns was completely dominated by partying it up at Gilligans-- Cairns' biggest party hostel that was more like a beach resort for the young and horny. You don't come to Gilligans is you want to sleep. Our 10-bed dorm room had a predrinks party virtually every night and at the wee hours of the morning when it WAS time for some shut eye, the music booming from the nightclub downstairs vibrated our beds. While in Cairns, we also reunited with some friends from Fraser Island, making for a pretty epic week. From Cairns we went on several small day trips, including a trip up to the Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation to go hiking and horseback riding. Unarguably one of our most fun day trips was Uncle Brian's Atherton Tablelands and Waterfalls tour where our tour guide took us to all these famous natural waterfalls to swim and frolick, including Millaa Millaa Falls-- home of a famous Herbal Essence commercial.

This road trip was probably one of the best and most challenging trips of my life. Lemme tell you, there were some lowwwww days when it came to living in a van…us arguing over foolishness, the weather being cold and/or rainy and having to be trapped in the van, paying for expensive gas, the smell of damp towels scattered through the van, wanting desperately to just lay in a proper bed, fearing our van getting moved by police, my travel mates talking constantly about their boyfriends/ex-boyfriends. But there were some HIGH moments too…cooking dinner out the back of our van while parked in a supermarket parking lot, brushing out teeth and doing our hair in several McDonalds bathrooms, cuddled together watching movies.

While the drive from Sydney to Cairns was a LONG one and driving a massive van with terrible rear view vision AND on the opposite side of the road was definitely a challenge, two VERY minor accidents and one speeding ticket later, we somehow survived.

My Aussie Adventures: Chapter 2: Jack's Place Life

Chapter 2: JACK'S PLACE LIFE

March 13, 2012. I signed up for a 3 month lease at Jack's Place before I had ever stepped foot in the place. I figured my friend couldn't have recommended a shithole, right?
 
As I lugged my 3 suitcases (I never called myself a backpacker...) up the stairs to the second floor, I was jittering with anticipation to see what my new room would look like. I turned the key in the lock, pushed open the door, and.... well.... it was quaint. Clean, so I couldn't complain. New furniture, bay windows (facing a noisy street), and a decent sized wardrobe to fit all my stuff. For $265/week for a room, I must admit I was expecting a heck of a lot more, but there was no turning back now!

After grocery shopping, I came back to my room, put on a movie on my laptop, and started to unpack, I could hear doors opening and closing in the hallways, people talking and laughing, basically my future friends going about their lives without a single clue about the new girl in room 12. And that's when the "making new friends" anxiety kicked in. Do I go out and say hi? How should I introduce myself? I wonder where they're all from... Will people be friendly? Knowing how I am...naturally shy, semi-content loner...I knew I could easily go out and buy some dinner and rush quietly back to my room and eat it before anyone ever saw me. But, the good angel said "get your ass downstairs and make some friends!"

At around 7 o'clock, I could no longer ignore the hunger pains. I fixed my hair, checked my outfit, and started to descend the stairs of doom down to the kitchen. As I walked down I could hear what sounded like a 100 people talking and laughing with each other and my heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest and run back up the stairs. I finally walked in the room and saw a big group of strangers sitting at the table talking and laughing. They all turned and looked at me with bright faces and like a bubbly fool I gave a big wave and a big bright smile and proclaimed "Hey, I'm Natasha!" Everyone immediately started to hurl tomatoes at me, yell racial slurs, and told me to get out. Just kidding! Everyone smiled back, gave me friendly welcomes, and went around the table and said their names. It was a HUGE relief to meet such friendly people and I knew from then, everything would be okay. My housemates were from all over the world and came to Sydney for different reasons…many to study English, some to work and travel like me, some for a semester abroad. I met people from Brazil, all over England, Portugal, France, South America, Germany, Belgium, and much more. Throughout my first week, many people came up to me and said "Hey! Oh you're the black girl from New Jersey?!" It was nice to know my legend preceded me. Although it wasn't at all hard to meet and talk to people in the house, I also had a wonderful tactic and natural conversation piece: my jewelry.

On day 2 in Jack's I made a conscious and strategic move. I woke up bright and early, gathered my jewelry supplies, and went and sat downstairs by the TV in the common area. All day people came and went but FIRST stopped to say hi and ask what I was doing. I ended up explaining myself and my jewelry 100 times over, but one by one I knew virtually everyone in the house and everyone knew me. Before you know it, I was the black chick from New Jersey who ALSO made jewelry. On another note, this move also proved to be a great marketing strategy! I paid my rent one week solely using money I had collected from housemates who placed orders ;)

As much as I was making the jewelry business work for me, I still very much wanted to find a job! So back to the job hunt I went! I even started to have a few successful leads. Once, I went for a trial at a frozen yogurt place (my ultimate dream job) but ended up not getting the job. I even spent exactly 4 hours temping for the head receptionist at Intel Sydney. I also went on another interview at a pizzeria, which also ended unsuccessfully. I was nailing interviews but not getting the job which grew increasingly more frustrating and there's absolutely nothing worse on the planet than looking for work! As I continued looking for a job, my jewelry store continued to do well and I continued to get wholesale offers one after another. So eventually one day I said screw it! I'm just going to commit to making jewelry full time and that is that!

 It's funny how your life turns out. I went from a confused college grad jetting off to Sydney to occupation: jewelry maker who, by the grace of God, managed to pay $265/week rent AND save money. I was hesitant at first to commit to making jewelry full-time because that meant having to develop some strong will power to get my ass up at a decent hour every day like a real job. It also meant I had to be inside all day making jewelry and wouldn't have the opportunity to go out into Sydney and make co-worker friends. However, those "cons" soon proved to be nonsense. I basically turned the common room into Natasha's Jewelry Station...I became a staple on that couch and I got alot of GREAT TV watching done. Working from home also allowed me to become friends with basically everyone in the house. It also meant I could prey on the new people, and thus the unemployed, who would often sit with me in the TV room on their laptops looking for work. Before you know it, I was putting people to work! To help fill some of my big orders, I had friends pitching in to cut thread and I even taught a friend of mine how to make my signature woven chain bracelet so she could help me complete some orders.

While jewelry making was a huge focus of my life in Jacks Place, it was the friends I made and the fun times I had during this time that truly defined my first 3 months in Sydney. Living at Jack's Place was very similar to my study abroad experience that made me fall in love with Sydney…we all worked hard during the week, but partied harder during the weekends. Jacks Place was like a family....we had movie nights multiple nights out of the week, rooftop BBQs featuring goon (cheap boxed wine) sangria, family dinners where one person cooked and we all pitched in money, and every weekend was someone's birthday or some big celebration which meant predrinks/dance party before heading out together in a massive group to a night club---one night out even ended with a housemate cracking a bottle over a sleazy clubgoer's head after he inappropriately touched his girlfriend. Basically there was NEVER a dull moment with my Jacks Place family! Living there, I made some amazing friends and even became an honorary Brit (my closest friends winded up all being British). I learned so much about different cultures and languages and made friendships with people that have already lasted beyond my Australian adventure.

However, come May, as my lease in Jack's was coming to an end I started to think about what my next plan of action might be. My couchsurfing friend mentioned she wanted to travel the East Coast by campervan. Seeing as I was going to be homeless on May 15, I decided why not travel the East Coast together?! Soon a third girlfriend--a 19 year old Brit on a gap year between high school and college--jumped along and after a few weeks of planning, I looked forward to my new future: 6 weeks driving 1,500 miles from Sydney up the coast to Cairns and living in a campervan with 2 friends, a Canadian and a Brit, who I'd actually only known for the past 3 months. We said our goodbyes to everyone (because many of our friends would not be in Sydney when we returned after our trip) hopped in our camper and embarked on our new adventure!

My Aussie Adventures: Chapter 1: The Inevitable Return

So the last time I blogged, I had just arrived in Sydney, Australia. I wrote about being nervous, scared, and seriously jetlagged. And I concluded my last post by saying, and I quote, "I'll continue to keep yal up to speed on my life in Sydney." Well it's now 11 months later, Sydney has come and gone, I'm back home in New Jersey and I never wrote a single blog post since then. All I can say is....my bad!

But I'm back now! Better late than never right?! These next few posts, I'll update you guys on EVERYTHING that went down this past year in Australia. I've divided my time in Australia into 6 distinct chapters, basically determined by where I was living at the time.

BUT before I get into everything, first thing's first...one of the most common questions I get about my time in Australia is: "How did you support yourself?" So a little background first...
As some of you may know, one day in November 2011 (2.5 months before I went to Sydney), I randomly started making jewelry and selling it online. I started my own little handmade jewelry business called the World of Tashii (www.worldoftashii.etsy.com). One week before going to Australia, I received a really big wholesale order from a major online store in Australia (ironically) for 100 bracelets! I shipped off the order right before boarding my plane to Sydney. By the time I touched down in Sydney and for those first few weeks, my email was FLOODED with messages from other stores around Australia inquiring about placing a wholesale order. So that one wholesale order expanded into SEVEN other wholesale opportunities and as of today, I run a surprisingly successful online jewelry store! (You'll understand later why I had to give you that little history first). Ok....

CHAPTER 1: THE INEVITABLE RETURN

February 21, 2012. The first thing I did when I got off the plane was run to the nearest Vodafone store in the airport and bought a cheap little cell phone and a pocket wifi.

It had been 15 hours since I texted, Facebooked, or did anything technological and I was itching! I then hopped in a taxi and $85 later I was at my new home. For my first three weeks in Australia, I lived with friends of the family near Manly (North Sydney). They were my family away from home and living with them made settling into a brand new life in Australia much easier! I was living the dream in their guest house where I had my own bedroom, bathroom, kitchenette, and living room. It was pretty damn sweet!

To avoid homesickness and the fact that I had no friends and was feeling quite lonely, I threw myself into job hunting. I came to Australia on what is called a "Working Holiday Visa." Basically every year the Australian government grants around 120,000 18-30 year olds from around the world a one year visa allowing you to travel their country and work to subsidize your travels. The Working Holiday program is so intertwined in the Australian employment system that many job posts might even specify "No Working Holiday Visas" or "Backpackers welcome to apply." The easiest fields for working holiday visa holders to get jobs in are usually hospitality, administrative work, food service, etc. because such fields are used to the turnover. The British, the Germans, the French, the Canadians...they've been taking advantage of the Working Holiday program for forever! Americans were just recently allowed to get this visa and, to be honest, over the course of the year, I only met a handful of Americans...doesn't seem like we like to travel too much or are even aware that a program even exists! Anyways, that's another story....

Lots of jewelry orders!

So for 3 weeks, I spent every waking moment online on Gumtree.com (Australia's answer to Craigslist) looking for and applying for jobs. I applied for all kinds of jobs from a bathroom attendant in a nightclub (my dad would be proud) to a sales position at a bikini shop on Bondi Beach. But I was wholly unsuccessful...the manager at the bikini shop needed someone with "experience fitting swimsuits" (really lady??) As I unsuccessfully looked for work, my jewelry business successfully was on the up and up. I came to Australia with only a couple of rolls of chains and a few strands of thread but my mom quickly had to ship me more supplies to meet the demand of all the wholesale orders and shop orders flooding in.

As much as I was enjoying my time living in my own little bachelorette pad in North Sydney, I couldn't kill my desire to live closer to the city and to meet people my age. At this point, my only "friends" were an Australian friend of a friend...awesome girl who took me out around Manly...and a Canadian girl who also just arrived in Sydney who I met online on Couchsurfing.com (yes I became that desperate for friends that I resorted to the Internet).

I started to think of possible places to move when I remembered a place a friend recommended to me where he had lived when he came to Sydney to do an internship. The place was called Jack's Place and it was a share house/student dormitory/glorified hostel kind of place. Located in Elizabeth Bay, an affluent area of Sydney and just down the street from Kings Cross, Sydney's vibrant red-light/nightclub district, Jacks Place offered housing for 40 people where everyone has their own bedroom, but residents share bathrooms on each floor, a common room, and a kitchen. The building was newly renovated, there was even a huge rooftop for sunbathing, BBQs, and views of the bay, wireless internet, and everyone living there was either a student, intern, backpacker, basically my future friends! And did I mention the perfect location?? 10 minute bus ride/30 minute stroll into Sydney's CBD, 30 minute bus ride to the world famous Bondi Beach, stone's throw from some of the city's greatest nightclubs. Sounds great to me...sign me up!