Guess what? I made friends! I know, I know. You were all very worried about my social abilities but worry no more! About two weeks ago I was invited to go on a trip to the East Coast of Tasmania and I suggested that perhaps we make it a surf safari. Good thing there is another girl from California here, because a surf safari the trip became!
Last weekend, 8 friends and I piled into a mini van and began on an epic journey to Bicheno and Wineglass Bay. There were 8 Americans and one Swede (Victor/ambitious, fearless surfer). The only two people who knew how to surf were Mattie (fellow Cali girl) and I. We rented 3 boards and strapped them to the top of the car. Two and a half hours of driving on the left side of the road later, we arrived in Bicheno. It is a very small but breath taking beach town. The beaches were deserted except for some mini waves and bleached white sands. That afternoon, the newly befriended 9 UTAS students went surfing for 4 hours. The newbies to surfing all caught waves along with the veterans.
The next day, Mattie, Carmen and I woke up at 7 to check out the waves (or lack there of) and decided a bush walk around Bicheno would be a great idea. The rocks by the sea were painted orange with algae. Lush brush surrounded the sea only to open up and expose secluded bays of transparent waves. Muscles and barnacles decorated the edges of boulders closest to the breaking water. Because it was early, the reflection of the sun shattered into a million pieces atop of the waves like broken glass on a tile floor.
Mattie, Carmen and I finally mozied our way to the beach where we surfed the day before only to find no waves. We found some local surfers and asked where was another good spot and they pointed eastwards towards the Bay of Fires. As we were loading our boards, those locals came by and started to load boards of their own. They were blasting Bob Marley so everyone in the car park could hear it. Little did we dumb, ignorant, Americans realize that we had left our volume on super high before shutting off the car. As we were all buckling up and shutting the doors of the trusty van to leave, Tim turned the on the ignition. BLASTING out our windows were the lyrics of Enrique Inglesias: "YOU CAN RUN, YOU CAN HIDE, BUT YOU CAN'T ESCAPE MY LOVE". Yea. The American stereotype was furthered when we tried to change the song to redeem ourselves and it was the vulgar "Do it like we do it on the discovery channel".
So, we took their directions and ended up in a national park. We took our boards off from the van and walked to the water and found mega waves. Though these were not surfable waves, the gang decided to test out the waters anyways. We first asked a local fisherman how bad the great whites were in the area and he assured us that we wouldn't get eaten.
I have never laughed so hard in my life. Mary, a girl from UPS, jumped on a board, paddled out, saw the size of the waves and decided to give up and try to come back to shore. As she was letting herself be pulled in by the tide, a massive wave picked up her and her board and she managed to do the most ungraceful nose dive onto the beach known in modern history.
Wait, Im sorry. I am going to dedicate this paragraph to the one true love of my life: tuna fish in a can. I am so sorry for the change in the topic, but I am currently eating dinner while typing, and can I just say how much I love Australia?? They have hundreds of differently flavored tuna in cans. They are small enough for snacks and you can have two mini cans and make it a meal. My goal is to try every flavor before leaving. This is my heaven. My first can for dinner was a Spanish-styled tuna (with tomatoes, olives and some lemon) and right this second I am munching on the sweet-seeded mustard flavor. My favorite thus far is the onion and tomato tuna. Tuna melts are in a whole other ballpark of taste-budded bliss. My aussie friends think I am the weirdest person on the planet for two reasons: I love their possums (they are adorable and fuzzy...way different than the American possums), AND I am an avid tuna enthusiast.
Following the wipe out brigades and my sunburning (typical), the gang and I hopped into the car and went to "NATUREWORLD!" home of the Tassie Devils and much more! In this animal park, Mattie and I decided to sit and play with the kangaroos while everyone else wandered about the vicinity. I think the animal kingdom had a biff with me that day or something because in one sitting, Mattie and I were attacked by a white elk (what was that doing in Australia?) and a male goose. That goose straight up charged us. Then, as we were walking away, a kangaroo about the size of Sam hopped over to us, (probably wanting food) but we decided to carefully walk away as quickly as possible. When we made it to the kiddie farm, I started playing with baby goats while Mattie went to pet the mother. Okay, the mother got mad and head butted her horns into Mattie's left knee. We ran out of there and into a man who worked there. He asked us if we wanted to see some Devils close up and of course we nodded yes! We got to pet a Tasmanian Devil! They are so cute!
So back into the van for another hour drive and off we were to Wineglass Bay, the most photogenic beach in the world. We repacked our packs and trekked up the 300 stairs and the hour hike on the sand to our unbelievable camp site. Though we were attacked by adorable fuzzy possums, camping out there was definitely worth it. The sunset was something that rivaled Hawaii. There was no one on the beach or at our campsite. Mattie, Tess, Bobby and I walked out onto the shoreline and laid on our backs. We watched the stars for hours. You could see the Milky Way. You could see planets. There were so many shooting stars we just lost count. While listening to the subtle crashes of the waves, we watched the stars in awe. That was when we decided, well, I decided to invent my own Southern Hemisphere constellations. We laughed and talked for a while and then headed back reluctantly to our tents and passed out.
That very next morning was gorgeous. We woke up to watch the sunrise and then explored the beach. At around 10am, we started our trek back up and around the mountains to where we parked the van. Before heading directly home to Hobart, we stopped at Friendly beach to see what the fuss was all about and trust me, there should always be fuss about that place. It was as if god read my mind about how I wanted my heaven to look like and made it appear before me. There was no one on the beach. It was our own private, white sand, crystal blue water, beach.
We then made it home, returned our rentals and slept.
That was my epic weekend. It involved various near deaths with Americans trying to drive on the left side of the road, some dancing on some beaches at midnight, and some singing of Garth Brook's "Friends in low Places". Apparently, Garth Brooks is a well known country artist loved by many college students. I had no idea. I thought it was just Steve.
For more current updates on my life: this week was hard. I had a lot of class and had to celebrate my friend Corey's birthday and St. Patty's day. (Okay, I didn't HAVE to do anything. But I felt it would be against my youth hood to not partake in the celebrations). Tess and I baked Corey cupcakes for his birthday and Carmen and Mattie helped make home made pizzas. So good. There was a fair amount of drinking on St. Patty's day around the city and everything was green. I had no idea that there was even an Irish community in Australia. Apparently it's pretty big.
The morning after St Patty's, I had the pleasure of attending class at 9am to draw a naked yoga instructor for 3 hours. God, Thursday's are hard. After that 3 hour session, I get an hour break and then head off to metal shop. I started making my chair! It's going to be a chair for midgets because it's super short, but at least now I wont have to use more metal. Friday I had my e-media class and it's so hard. I want to cry after leaving that class everytime. We learned how to edit our movies and I am in so much trouble if he wants me to construct a decent film about myself. Oy VEY!
Alrighty. I am off to begin preparing for a very familiar party being hosted by my rival dorm John Fisher. It is an 80's themed boogey down and I am so ready. Really, an 80's party? Could it GET more original? I mean, I am pretty sure the 80's only hit the States and Europe and no other country. Who are these people going to dress as? The girl from Pretty in Pink? A guy from Night at the Roxbury? or perhaps a Europop sensation...I rest my case: the 80's only happened in two areas. As if a koala would look good with crimped hair.
Until next time,
-Alie
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