So even though it's Independence Day back home, no one in Australia really cares. Surprise surprise. Today, everyone is thinking about the final State of Origin game, but more on that later.
This work week was fairly uneventful. Today (Wednesday) is essentially my Friday because I'm not going in to work tomorrow so that I can go to New Zealand!! So I'm a pretty happy camper. Missing out on a shoot over at Moreton tomorrow but I think I can sacrifice that to go to NZ. This weekend should be huge - keep your eyes posted!
Monday, July 9, 2012
7/1: BrisVegas
Okay getting sick and being sick is the reason for me not being current with this blog...kind of. Also, I kind of forget about it. But mostly, it's because I'm sick.
Friday: Finally, we slept in. Until like 10, but still. That's way later than we normally sleep in. So we got up, lazed around Minto for a while, and decided to figure out our plans for the weekend, mostly dealing with trying to go dolphin kayaking in Byron Bay (spoiler alert: we finally figured it out and went on Sunday). So after finally getting dressed and moving around 12, we decided to go grab lunch and walk around until 5, which we had booked to go rock climbing on the Kangaroo Point Cliffs, right off the Brisbane River. Of course, by 5, the sun had set. They had lights on the rocks but still. Rock climbing is difficult by itself without also being in the dark. Now, I've never been rock climbing before. Not even on like a climbing wall. And now, I know that for the most part, I don't really want to do it again. Our "instructor's" name was Proud and he looked like Crocodile Dundee. He had the hair, the hat, and I'm pretty sure he had a knife. He kept showing me "handholds" which were really just cracks in the rock. I was like, "Are you serious? A crack in the rock which I can barely fit a finger into is not a handhold, it's a hazard!!" So I didn't make it up too high, but high enough that I feel proud of myself. After that, we were all pretty tired and beat up but after a refreshing dinner of pizza and fries, we decided to man up and go out. We eventually found ourselves at this really nice bar that overlooked the river and had awesome music, including a Grease medley and Thriller. So we're definitely going back there again.
Saturday: So we decided to sleep in again. What a surprise!! We then decided to get up, grab lunch, and go see a movie. Rock of Ages to be exact. It was pretty good actually. Tom Cruise was perfect in that role and the cast was pretty flawless. Plus it reminded me of some great songs. Then it was time to get ready for the Carrie Underwood concert. We got back, showered, got dressed, and grabbed dinner at an Asian restaurant on South Bank before me, Kristi, and Taylor went to the concert. It was actually really good. The opening act was this Irish guy who had a great voice and funny dance moves and Carrie was really good because she's actually a singer. After the concert, we were all pretty tired and we knew we had to get up early tomorrow so we just went back and went to sleep.
Sunday: The big day. Got up at 5:30 to catch the bus at 6 to get the Greyhound at 7. Yeah you read that right. We didn't realise Byron Bay was so far away - 4 hours by Greyhound. Whatever. After a nice nap on the bus, we got into Byron and it was beautiful. Total beach town but not as crazy and touristy as Cairns. We got lunch and ate it on the beach - amazing. After laying on the beach for a while, we lazily walked over to where we would go kayaking with the dolphins. After debating the merits of wetsuit vs. no wetsuit (went without - cold water doesn't bother me so much) and Kristi almost freaking out when the guides started joking about shark repellent, we grabbed our kayaks and headed for the ocean. Now, in these kayaks, you're in pairs and naturally, I drew the short straw when deciding pairs and ended up going with one of the guides. Which was fine actually. Didn't have to do much and he was super nice. Until some lady, who had flipped her kayak trying to get out past the breaking point, freaked out and decided she didn't want to be there anymore. So the guide I was with had to take her in and I got stuck paired with her daughter. Who couldn't really speak English and was a horrible kayaker. So essentially, I kayaked by myself. She would try to help, really, but she just kept messing up my steering. Even with all her "help" though, I managed to keep us heading in the right direction and I didn't flip us coming in, one of the only kayaks to stay upright. And the dolphins we saw were well worth the trouble. They were jumping and swimming right by the kayaks, it was really cool. After we got done with that, we caught our 4 hr Greyhound back to Brisbane and quickly went to sleep.
All in all, good weekend.
Friday: Finally, we slept in. Until like 10, but still. That's way later than we normally sleep in. So we got up, lazed around Minto for a while, and decided to figure out our plans for the weekend, mostly dealing with trying to go dolphin kayaking in Byron Bay (spoiler alert: we finally figured it out and went on Sunday). So after finally getting dressed and moving around 12, we decided to go grab lunch and walk around until 5, which we had booked to go rock climbing on the Kangaroo Point Cliffs, right off the Brisbane River. Of course, by 5, the sun had set. They had lights on the rocks but still. Rock climbing is difficult by itself without also being in the dark. Now, I've never been rock climbing before. Not even on like a climbing wall. And now, I know that for the most part, I don't really want to do it again. Our "instructor's" name was Proud and he looked like Crocodile Dundee. He had the hair, the hat, and I'm pretty sure he had a knife. He kept showing me "handholds" which were really just cracks in the rock. I was like, "Are you serious? A crack in the rock which I can barely fit a finger into is not a handhold, it's a hazard!!" So I didn't make it up too high, but high enough that I feel proud of myself. After that, we were all pretty tired and beat up but after a refreshing dinner of pizza and fries, we decided to man up and go out. We eventually found ourselves at this really nice bar that overlooked the river and had awesome music, including a Grease medley and Thriller. So we're definitely going back there again.
Saturday: So we decided to sleep in again. What a surprise!! We then decided to get up, grab lunch, and go see a movie. Rock of Ages to be exact. It was pretty good actually. Tom Cruise was perfect in that role and the cast was pretty flawless. Plus it reminded me of some great songs. Then it was time to get ready for the Carrie Underwood concert. We got back, showered, got dressed, and grabbed dinner at an Asian restaurant on South Bank before me, Kristi, and Taylor went to the concert. It was actually really good. The opening act was this Irish guy who had a great voice and funny dance moves and Carrie was really good because she's actually a singer. After the concert, we were all pretty tired and we knew we had to get up early tomorrow so we just went back and went to sleep.
Sunday: The big day. Got up at 5:30 to catch the bus at 6 to get the Greyhound at 7. Yeah you read that right. We didn't realise Byron Bay was so far away - 4 hours by Greyhound. Whatever. After a nice nap on the bus, we got into Byron and it was beautiful. Total beach town but not as crazy and touristy as Cairns. We got lunch and ate it on the beach - amazing. After laying on the beach for a while, we lazily walked over to where we would go kayaking with the dolphins. After debating the merits of wetsuit vs. no wetsuit (went without - cold water doesn't bother me so much) and Kristi almost freaking out when the guides started joking about shark repellent, we grabbed our kayaks and headed for the ocean. Now, in these kayaks, you're in pairs and naturally, I drew the short straw when deciding pairs and ended up going with one of the guides. Which was fine actually. Didn't have to do much and he was super nice. Until some lady, who had flipped her kayak trying to get out past the breaking point, freaked out and decided she didn't want to be there anymore. So the guide I was with had to take her in and I got stuck paired with her daughter. Who couldn't really speak English and was a horrible kayaker. So essentially, I kayaked by myself. She would try to help, really, but she just kept messing up my steering. Even with all her "help" though, I managed to keep us heading in the right direction and I didn't flip us coming in, one of the only kayaks to stay upright. And the dolphins we saw were well worth the trouble. They were jumping and swimming right by the kayaks, it was really cool. After we got done with that, we caught our 4 hr Greyhound back to Brisbane and quickly went to sleep.
All in all, good weekend.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
6/28: Queen of the Timeline
This week, I passed the the 4th Wednesday I've been in Oz. Usually, a month is defined as 4 weeks. That means, that even though the dates aren't exactly right, I've been in Oz for a month. Where has the time gone? I feel like I just got here yesterday. Like yesterday, I was dragging myself off the flight at Sydney and struggling with my super-heavy luggage. And even though I've been here for so long and have a fair bit of time left, I feel like I have no time left at all! NZ soon, then Kristi leaves, and then we leave. It's crazy.
This work week was fairly average. I did get put in charge of the timeline for a new client though - that's pretty exciting. Well, the work itself is not that exciting - it's more the fact that I'm in charge that's cool. And Andre, the creative director, has said that at some point in July, he'll sit down and have a chat with me about the creative side of the agency and give me some advice in choosing between the two. So that'll be nice. I've got a routine at work now - that's the most important part for me. I don't mind being spontaneous some of the time, evidenced by my insane weekends, but I need a routine, even if it's just for half the week.
This work week was fairly average. I did get put in charge of the timeline for a new client though - that's pretty exciting. Well, the work itself is not that exciting - it's more the fact that I'm in charge that's cool. And Andre, the creative director, has said that at some point in July, he'll sit down and have a chat with me about the creative side of the agency and give me some advice in choosing between the two. So that'll be nice. I've got a routine at work now - that's the most important part for me. I don't mind being spontaneous some of the time, evidenced by my insane weekends, but I need a routine, even if it's just for half the week.
Monday, July 2, 2012
6/24: Steve Irwin says What??
One of these days I am going to get this thing completely caught up. Unfortunately, it will probably be right as I am about to leave. Oh well. Again, let's take this day by day.
Friday: After going out particularly hard Thursday night, we decided we needed a beach day and headed down to the Gold Coast, specifically Surfer's Paradise. Essentially, it is the tourist destination for the Gold Coast, so nothing too spectacular. But it was nice just to laze around on the beach for a little bit. We also got asked to be in a photograph for a news article on how the male-female ratio is way off on the Gold Coast. We did it. It was super awkward (how is pointing at a guy that you don't know not awkward??) and now our picture is up online somewhere for everyone to see. Still pretty fun. Stayed in Friday night and had some nice girl time.
Saturday: Saturday morning, we decided to climb Mt. Coot-tha. Okay, climb is probably not the right word. What I actually mean is hike about 3000m to the top of the mountain, where you can see almost all of BrisVegas (my new favourite abbreviation for Brisbane). The hike would have been fine, except that I woke up that morning with a horrid cold that I'm still battling more than 10 days later. But we made it to the top, got an incredible view, and made it home without anything horrid happening. Then, we had been invited over for dinner by Kristi's boss. We met her at a shopping mall and she drove us over to her house. She made us roast beef, potatoes, peas and carrots. It was awesome. Nothing really beats a true home-cooked meal. Plus, her, her husband, and their three-year-old were super nice. Also, she made us chocolate pavlova for dessert. Mmmmmm. Mouth waters just thinking about it. After we got home from dinner, the rest of the girls went out dancing, while I (with a fever of probably 101) decided to stay in and have a resting night.
Sunday: Felt a lot better in the morning. We decided to go ahead and get up and go the Australian Zoo, home of Steve Irwin. Unfortunately for us, it decided to rain. So we went to the zoo. In the rain. While I was sick. Still had a good time though. After finally getting there around 11, we walked around a little and grabbed lunch (first hot dog in Oz - surprisingly not too bad) and went to go watch the main show of the day, which included the Irwin family. It was really neat to see them all live. And they fed this huge crocodile - definitely something I'm not sure I could have done. After that, we walked around a bit more and eventually ended up being able to feed the elephants!! It was so cool, their trunks are so muscly and cool. I love elephants. I officially want an elephant, a platypus, and a basset hound puppy for pets. Sounds good right?
Friday: After going out particularly hard Thursday night, we decided we needed a beach day and headed down to the Gold Coast, specifically Surfer's Paradise. Essentially, it is the tourist destination for the Gold Coast, so nothing too spectacular. But it was nice just to laze around on the beach for a little bit. We also got asked to be in a photograph for a news article on how the male-female ratio is way off on the Gold Coast. We did it. It was super awkward (how is pointing at a guy that you don't know not awkward??) and now our picture is up online somewhere for everyone to see. Still pretty fun. Stayed in Friday night and had some nice girl time.
Saturday: Saturday morning, we decided to climb Mt. Coot-tha. Okay, climb is probably not the right word. What I actually mean is hike about 3000m to the top of the mountain, where you can see almost all of BrisVegas (my new favourite abbreviation for Brisbane). The hike would have been fine, except that I woke up that morning with a horrid cold that I'm still battling more than 10 days later. But we made it to the top, got an incredible view, and made it home without anything horrid happening. Then, we had been invited over for dinner by Kristi's boss. We met her at a shopping mall and she drove us over to her house. She made us roast beef, potatoes, peas and carrots. It was awesome. Nothing really beats a true home-cooked meal. Plus, her, her husband, and their three-year-old were super nice. Also, she made us chocolate pavlova for dessert. Mmmmmm. Mouth waters just thinking about it. After we got home from dinner, the rest of the girls went out dancing, while I (with a fever of probably 101) decided to stay in and have a resting night.
Sunday: Felt a lot better in the morning. We decided to go ahead and get up and go the Australian Zoo, home of Steve Irwin. Unfortunately for us, it decided to rain. So we went to the zoo. In the rain. While I was sick. Still had a good time though. After finally getting there around 11, we walked around a little and grabbed lunch (first hot dog in Oz - surprisingly not too bad) and went to go watch the main show of the day, which included the Irwin family. It was really neat to see them all live. And they fed this huge crocodile - definitely something I'm not sure I could have done. After that, we walked around a bit more and eventually ended up being able to feed the elephants!! It was so cool, their trunks are so muscly and cool. I love elephants. I officially want an elephant, a platypus, and a basset hound puppy for pets. Sounds good right?
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