I work on a dive boat!

that's right. the princess is forming calluses galore whilst working on a dive boat in the middle of the great barrier reef. I moore up the boat, i fill dive tanks, i set up dive decks, i pull ropes, i tie knots, and every now and then i dive. i'm so tough!

yesterday i dove with this guy Buggy, and we had the most amazing dive of life. well, i did. he was off poisoning crown-of-thorn sea stars so they'd die (they eat the reef, they kind of suck, so we kill them) but i just dove and it was a beautiful reef. I got pretty close to a White Tip Reef Shark before he swam off. People keep seeing a manta ray, but i'm never in the water for that. always on guard. oh well.

diving here is amazing. so different than florida and hawaii. unfortunately i can't dive as much as i'd like to because there's too much work to be done. oh well.

i'm hosting a Halloween party on friday on the liveaboard boat, the Kangaroo Explorer. Everyone's getting costumes and we're going to have a dance party on the sun deck! I love halloween. all the girls (all 3 of us) are going to be pirates! argh!

There are two boats that i switch back and forth between, the KE, and the Sunkist. Sunkist is a day-trip boat and it's back and forth every day. The trip out from cairns to the reef is literally a 2 hour ride. and i always feel vomitous for 3/4 of the trip. Why on earth would someone who gets seasick decide to work on a boat? got me.

Yesterday we had a rescue drill. this guy dennis jumped overboard and we had to go rescue him. it was a terrible attempt. There were three of us they were testing, and they said i did the best, but that's not saying much. it took us 4 1/2 minutes to get kitted up, save him, and bring him back to the boat. it should take less than two. the saddest part was the other two rescuers just finished their rescue course two days ago. everything is fresh in their minds. i haven't done any rescuing in at least two months. ha. i hope noone actually falls off; they're screwed.

what else....

the parmesan cheese here tastes different, in a not good way. and everyone makes fun of me because i'm american and i say aluminum, instead of aluminium. it's not my fault we took an i out of there.

i'm having a great time. but my hours suck and i'm usually exhausted by 8pm. i will be going out tomorrow night before i have to get back on the boat, and then it's back to 9pm bedtimes. well, except the halloween party. but after that for sure. until the next thing. :)

i miss my kira. sorry the internet sucks and i keep getting kicked offline in the middle of conversations. i love you!

i head back out on the liveaboard on friday, for 13 days this time. barf. no contact with the outside world. talk to me before then!

who lets me do these things???

yes. skydiving today. in about 3 hours. i'm petrified.

tomorrow i move onto a dive boat! then the real fun begins. my new friend alex, who is apprently going to be my boss, told me he's going to make me clean up poop. i can't wait.

oh goodness.

update!

i'm gonna work on a dive boat! i'm gonna work on a dive boat! yayayay!

also, there are bats in cairns. i love it.

i need the next 3 days to fly by....

you know when it's that time of the month and you get really depressed? well that's where i am. like clockwork. no matter where i am or what i'm doing.

i question myself and what i'm here for. i think about everything i'm doing wrong. i realize i'm finally off on my own and it scares me a little. in my right mind i'm fine and excited about it. but my crazy-time mind wants me to sit in my room all day and be sad.

i think i'm going to dive tomorrow. hopefully that will get my mind off of depression. although diving means spending more money. ugh. i hate spending money. one day i'm going to have a hell of a credit card debt to pay off.

you know where diving is super cheap? samoa. yep. super cheap. and the dollar is like 2.65 samoan tana. i should maybe plant my feet somewhere for a little while though. all of a sudden i wish i were somewhere else.

i need to go lay in the sun for a while. maybe that will cheer my mood. stupid period. i hate being a girl.

In Cairns...

It's humid. ick.

my hostel is pretty shitty. oh well.

i'm meeting up with Hannah Dowling of all people for drinks and possibly diving. I can't wait to dive.....

Your next mission, should you choose to accept it....

"On arrival, go to the Sun Palm Shuttle Bus service counter in arrivals and ask them to take you to the Caravella, free transfer. Get a ticket from them and hand in to the hostel on checkin. On arrival at the hostel you will see two buildings. In between the two buildings you will see a security gate. The code to get in the gate is c149. This will grant you access to the hostel. Walk around to reception and you will see a lightbox with a map of australia. Underneath the lightbox you will find a key safe. The code for this safe is 14459x. Inside there will be a key and a map to your room. We will see you in the morning. Good Luck Agent."

This was the actual confirmation message I received for my hostel in Cairns (with only minor adjustments).

ROAD TRIP!!!!

Zac and I headed to the Healsville Sanctuary for some Aussie Animal Action. And just for Nato, I jumped with a kangaroo... We saw lots of cool animals: platypus (much smaller than i originally thought), tasmanian devils, dingos (totally eating peoples babies), wallabies, and koalas. Pretty neat. And echidnas hurt. pet only in the direction of their spikes.




Then Mark, James, Zac and i ventured forth on an amazing journey through the south of victoria. First stop: Tuki Trout Farm!

There are no pictures of us fishing. Only playing with puppies and lambs....

and shearing sheep...

We were also fed the most amazing roast ever cooked. So delicious. Nice and juicy and flavorful. And they gave me so much brie! god i love cheese. mmmmm.... food..... We also explored a gold mine (we found none) and had a powerhour where james died early on.


Then we drove to the coast and saw the 12 (6) apostles. We drove along the Great Ocean Road and saw the beautiful coastline Australia has to offer. Please note: the waves will crash you on the rocks and kill you if the freezing water doesnt do it first. We stopped for an AWESOME skywalk through the forest. there were fake dinosaurs, which the boys humped, and amazing exhibits, like the Big Tree, and the Stump. $20 well spent. We ended at James' beach house for a night where we saw kangaroos on the golf course. So neat!

Sydney!

Zac and I went to Sydney for a few days. We stayed in a hostel who's main goal was to get everyone completely knackered. $5 pub crawl anyone?! Not to mention it was in the red light district and there were all sorts of hookers walking about. This is also where we met a handful of brits that we really could not understand. at all (see Rob to the right) . We climbed up the Sydney Harbour bridge and got to see the Opera House from the sky.


Then we went to Bondi Beach and walked along the shore to Bronte Beach. Nice little walk. The water was freezing. I'm not so sure i want to be somewhere where i can barely stick a toe in.

I'm heading north on saturday. The water will be significantly warmer, although apparently it will also be significantly more full of jellyfish that will kill me in four minutes flat.

well, we'll see i guess.