4,600 kilometers in 14 days

Hello!

Well I'm just killing some time at the airport here in Brisbane... my flight from Sydney landed at 7:30pm on Saturday night and the next bus to Roma leaves at 6:40am Sunday morning. Wahoo, all-nighter in the airport!! But that gives me plenty of time to post a blog!

Why am I sitting at the airport all night? Well for those of you that don't know, my good friend Kane LaRose flew all the way from Harrisburg PA to visit myself and our other friend Kali (who is finishing her 10 month excursion here in Australia next week) for two weeks. Kane flew into the Sydney airport so I drove from Roma to Brisbane and flew from there to Sydney to meet him, while Kali and her boyfriend Michael flew in from Melbourne. We didn't have concrete plans other than renting a 5 person caravan for the two weeks, so after looking at the cooler temperatures down south (and yes, they were lower than 57*F...) we decided to journey north. Kane had a friend who recommended visiting this place and because Kali and Michael hadn't been there yet in their travels and it was once of the places I have on my list of places to go while I'm over here we chose the Whitsunday Islands as our northern most destination. Further more we decided to drive north as quick as possible and then take our time driving down the coast back to Sydney - where we had to return the caravan and catch our flights back to our respective "homes".

All these decisions were made on our first day of exploring Sydney. Obviously Kane hadn't been to the harbor yet, so we picked out a walking route around the city that brought us to the Opera House and Bridge and other attractions such as markets, places to eat, and contortionists. It was a beautiful sunny day and it was great to finally be together again and catch up. The following day we picked up our camper van - lovingly nicknamed Oscar - and headed north! Oh, wait, not quite... someone stupidly forgot her cellphone in the hotel room and forced everyone to drive back and get it. (Yes it was me, I was the idiot who forgot her phone...) But it gave jet-lagged Kane a chance to nap and we ended up at the Blue Mountains, our destination for the day, with no problems afterward. Unfortunately it was too dark by the time we got to the Three Sisters (a rock formation that's popular to visit in the Blue Mountains) so we made camp for the first night in Oscar and set our alarms to wake up early for the sunrise over the beautiful landscape the following morning. That was our first disagreement with the weather - because though we were up and at'em bright and early (well it was dark, dark and early) there was a thick and cold layer of fog that prevented the sun to officially rise. However it did enhance the mountains in a certain way, and we all still enjoyed the view.

In front of the Opera House and Sydney Harbor Bridge 

At the Blue Mountains (photo credit: Michael Trigg)

After the Blue Mountains we turned north and just started driving. We wanted to get up to the Whitsunday's in two days, which meant we had a hefty bit of mileage to get under our belts. There weren't too many exciting moments on the drive north - unless you count buying fuel at $5.60 a gallon exciting. But we made use of my iPod and the appropriate number of dance parties were held in the back as we cruised north. We got as far as Miles (only two hours away from Roma!) on the first day and then got up to Airlie Beach, the gateway to the Whitsunday's, the following day. Success! (However this success was dampened by a $200 parking fee we received that first night in the Whitsunday Region, because we were "camping on council property" - which was false - we were resting in a McDonald's parking lot... which had NO signs stating that we weren't allowed to park there overnight. Humpph. We are still contesting it, but it seems the Whitsunday Law Enforcement have better things to do than respond to poor confused tourists.)

But YAY! we were in the Whitsunday's! (You should google how pretty these islands and beaches are... you'll be excited too.) However this is when the weather decided to be a bit difficult again and rain basically the entire two days we allotted to staying in this area. But we made the most of it and went exploring the Airlie Beach, the surrounding beaches, and booked a "sunset" cruise one of the nights. The next day we spent driving again, south this time, past Mackay and Rockhampton and got to a little town called Gin Gin which was just outside of our next destination; Fraser Island.

Rainy day at Conway Beach up near the Whitsunday's (photo credit: Michael Trigg)

We got to Hervey Bay (the town closest to Fraser Island on the mainland) at about midday the next day and just enjoyed chilling out at the ferry dock, looking out at the island, watching some dolphins flip around in the bay, and actually basking in the sun that finally decided to show itself for the first time in three days. However the highlight of this day was our dinner - we all chipped in to buy tacos and beer and had a delicious meal that was something other than plain pasta or PB&Js, which had been our "poor person" diet the previous days. Maybe you can't buy happiness, but purchasing taco seasoning, hamburg, and a few stubbies definitely made us a bit cheerier! The following day continued to raise our spirits as the sun was shining bright and warm as soon as we woke up and we made plans to take the ferry across to Fraser Island and purchase a day package to chill at the Kingfisher Bay Resort, which included a morning tea and coffee, lunch, and use of all of their amenities. We enjoyed the morning lounging by the pools, a lunch that again was not a PB&J, a hike up to a pretty lookout, and then sunbathing on the beach that looked back out towards the mainland. When we got back to Oscar, we packed up again and continued heading south; with our next destination being Noosa Heads on the Sunshine Coast.

Looking from the ferry dock out to Fraser Island

On the ferry back from Fraser - a REAL sunset cruise. (photo credit: Michael Trigg)

The sun decided to join us again on that next day, though the wind was chilly. But that didn't stop Kane from swimming out in the ocean while the rest of us lounged about on the beach. We stayed at Noosa for the first half of the day and then continued down the coast into the outskirts of Brisbane. We stayed at a caravan park in Beachmere which was only a hour's drive away from Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, our next destination. So that following day Kane and I (Kali and Michael had already been here in their earlier travels) went into the park to look at the wildlife Australia is home to. I had seen many of these species of animals already, if not in the wild then at the Sydney Wildlife World when I first landed in Australia. But Kane hadn't even seen a live kangaroo yet, just some dead ones on the side of the road and a lone wallaby up in the Whitsunday's (we told him it was a kangaroo until he saw the live ones at Lone Pine though...) so it was fun for him to have the chance to see and take pictures with all the animals. And interact!! Lone Pine has this cool kangaroo pen that you can go into and actually pet and feed the roos and wallabies! I finally got a picture of a kangaroo with a joey in her pouch (a popular request from many of you back home...) and completely broke the "Do Not Touch the Joeys" rule and actually picked up one of the lil' guys. (Don't judge me! He was super cute and practically hopped into my lap anyway...) So after a couple hundred pictures later we continued driving with our next stop being very close at Surfer's Paradise on the Gold Coast. We only did a quick stop here but had a lucky coincidence being able to meet up with a friend from back home for a few minutes, it's a small small world!

Noosa Heads

Boxing lesson at Lone Pine

Nibbles for Kisses

Joey!

Waves at Surfer's Paradise on the Gold Coast

Our next stop the following day was in Byron Bay, our first official stop back in New South Wales. Unfortunately the weather decided to be lame and cloudy/rainy so after a bit of window shopping and a few pictures of the beach we drove a bit up the coast to the Byron Bay Lighthouse and took a few more pictures of the fabulous landscape. Surfers were still enjoying the day - I suppose it doesn't matter to them if it's raining or not, they are already committed to getting wet anyway. Plus it was cool to walk out to the eastern most part of continental Australia at this spot too. Then it was back in the van and driving down the coast again, stopping at a few beaches and lookout points along the way. Kane decided to treat us all to a delicious meal at Outback Jack's that night (I guess having a real person job in real life pays off, eh?) so again it was nice to eat meat and veggies.

At an overlook up by the Byron Bay lighthouse.

That same lookout minus me plus a rainbow.

East coast! (photo credit: Kane LaRose)

The next day, the last full day, was mostly a driving day. We wanted to be as close to Sydney as possible but also had to find a caravan park (which believe it or not are hard to find in the middle of a city, 'magine that!) so we found an affordable site near Pearl Beach, which was a small little town built around this beautiful beach. We spent that night packing our bags and sharing photos and watching the video clips Kane had took through-out the trip. And the following day (today!) we cleaned out Oscar, drove into the city, dropped Kane off at the International Airport, dropped me and bags off at the Domestic, said goodbye and parted ways.

Which brings me full circle to sitting here in the airport at 12:30am! It was a blur of two weeks with all the driving and site-seeing but it was great to be with friends and see a lot of the coast and areas that I had been told about needing to see while I am here. Plus it gave me something to blog about for you all!

Here's a map with most of the places we stopped at. On our trip north we did as straight a line from Sydney to Rockhampton as possible, which obviously kept us inland for a while. The only place we stopped that's not on here is Byron Bay and that's about as far south of Gold Coast as Gold Coast is of Sunshine Coast. 

Hope all is well with everyone back home. Enjoy your summer!!

xoxo Zee

What the heck is a Campdraft??

So you may (or may not be) wondering what the heck I’ve been talking about when I say that I’m at a campdraft. Well now is the time where I enlighten you to how this Australian sport works.

Actually here's a link to the ACA [Australian Campdraft Association] description of what campdrafting is: http://www.campdraft.com.au/Page/94/Our-sport, it may do a better job than I can!

But of course I want to have a go at explaining it myself, I even have some graphics and pictures to aid me because I’m pretty sure when I just blabber on about it I would confuse you even more. This next picture will be the most helpful, so refer to that for the next bit.

You start of in the “camp” in which there are ten cows (they call them “beasts"). What you do here is pick out which beast you want out of the group – you pick it depending on how attentive it is to you and your horse, how long it’s been in the camp (they rotate a new one in for each rider), or for other reasons like if it looks fast and you have a horse that does well chasing fast cattle, etc. So you and your horse work together to single this beast away from the main group and towards the front of the camp where the gate to the rest of the arena is.  Now this is easier said than done because cattle don’t like being singled out and will always try to get back to the main group - which of course is in the opposite side of the camp than you want it to go. But you don’t just want to single your beast out and go right out the gate, you want to prove to the judge that your horse is good at “cutting” which is turning sharply and blocking the beast as it tries to go back. The highest score you can get in the camp is 26 but I have yet to see anyone get higher than a 24. A good camp score is 20 + but if you let the beast get past you and your horse you get a low score, like a 14 or 13. And if you let the beast get past you twice the judge will crack his whip, signifying that you are done-zo and get a no score for your run. 

Here's Brendan on Snippy in the camp. At this point he's picking a beast out for her and because Snips is a super fast horse he was most likely picking out a beast that was lively and attentive.

Occasionally if you are unable to successfully cut out a beast and the judge cracks his whip, the beast you were attempting to cut out still needs to be removed from the camp so the next rider has a choice of ten fresh cattle. That's a major part of each campdraft actually, having enough cattle donors to make sure there is a fresh beast for each competitor and horse.

Once you have successfully cut your beast out and called for the gate to be opened you are in the main arena. Your objective here is to now chase the beast around two pegs and then through the “gate”, which is just two pegs that are close together. If you look at the above picture you will see the direction you should go (but if it’s a left-hand course you just reverse the direction). You get 4 points for successfully going around the two pegs and gating your beast. But a good number of competitors will only get 3 points because though they went around the first two pegs (the first peg is worth 2 points, the second peg is worth 1) they weren’t able to gate their beast (worth 1 point). But the majority of your score comes from the course work score the judge awards you while you and your horse are chasing the beast around the course. The maximum amount of points you can get here is 70 but the average is anywhere from 55-65. You get judged here on how much control you have over your horse, how well your horse can direct the beast (for example following it really close on its right side to turn it to the left or vice versa), and how well your horse handles the beast you picked out (some are very fast, some are very slow, some just stop and lay down). There are a few ways you don’t get an outside score; your beast runs off course (aka the opposite direction of the first peg), the beast runs into the perimeter fence, you fall off your horse, your horse falls over, etc and you end up with just your camp score. So overall the highest score you can get is 100 (26 + 4 + 70) but most of the time the high scores are from 85-90.

This is Brendan on Hope, he had just called for the gates to be opened and is now chasing the beast out into the arena. 

Here is a competitor chasing a beast round the first peg (this was a left-hand course). You can see the second peg in the background.

Each weekend there are different drafts (events or classes) at the campdraft: maiden, novice, open, restricted open, junior, juvenile, ladies, and encouragement drafts. The junior draft is for kids younger than 13, the juvenile is for 13-17 year olds, and the ladies is for, well, ladies. The encouragement draft is for novice riders (like me; Brendan keeps trying to convince me to let him sign me up for an encouragement draft. HA HA HA.) However the rest of the drafts are dependent on your horse’s skill level and not really on yours. The maiden is for horses that have never won a draft before, but once they have won one they cannot participate in the maiden any more. The novice and open are kind of the same – it’s for horses that are a bit more experienced but the open is more advanced as once your horse has won either three novice drafts or one open they can no longer compete in the novice anymore. And the restricted open is for horses that have won an open draft before. A lot of times there is an initial first round for each draft and if you score well (usually they take 83-85 and up) you go on to either the second round or the final round – it depends on how many competitors there are at that weekend’s campdraft. So you add up each round score to get a total score and the rider with the highest score is the winner. And though first place has the highest prize money, you also get money for placing (usually the first 10 places) and also for highest round score as well. Obviously if you campdraft you are doing it because you enjoy the sport, but because you have to pay for each first round run for each horse, which is about $50, you are also competing to win to make it financially worth it to go each weekend.

A junior draft competitor... the beast was bigger than the pony!

The "dreaded whip crack".

So yeah, that briefly sums up the world of campdrafting. Brendan brings 6-7 horses to each campdraft and he goes practically every weekend. So far the furthest I have gone away from Roma with him is to Tamworth NSW, which was 9 hours away. But typically we go to different towns in QLD that are about 5-6 hours away. We usually end up leaving Friday morning and come home Sunday afternoon though that depends on when the draft starts and finishes. And though it’s the weekend, we have work to do while we are away at the drafts. I’m still responsible for feeding, trotting/warming-up, and cleaning the horses but I also need to be aware of how Brendan is doing because if he gets two horses (or more) close together in a second or final round I need to help him saddle those horses and sometimes even have them waiting for him at the arena so he can hop off one and onto the other. But overall once those little chores are done I have plenty of free time to do stuff on my own, like go online to post blogs! And of course the nightlife at campdrafts is always in full swing as it seems like everyone at the campdraft are old friends and always appreciate a few cold ones to aid them in catching up. It’s pretty fun, especially now that I understand the scoring a bit better than I did and now that I can recognize a few riders and horses that I have seen at previous campdrafts to see how they are doing that weekend. And now that Pascale is working at Brendan’s it’s fun to have a friend to hang out with during the day and go out with at night.

Time to eat!! Rosette, Hope, and Basil are anxiously waiting for their dinner!

Inside the truck; there are two cots for Pascale and I, a bed that folds down for Brendan, a microwave, fridge, shower, and sink and plenty of cupboard space for food and towels, etc.

The horses can be tied up around the truck when we are getting ready to leave either home or the campdraft. 

And this is what the truck looks like when we have packed up the human stuff and are about to load the horses. 

So hopefully you understand a little bit better about what I’m doing each weekend now! If any of that was confusing or you have more questions just let me know!! I hope everyone is doing good wherever they may be!

xoxo Zee

BRRRR!

Hey All!

Well obviously I have been severely slacking with keeping up to date on my blog, sorry! I have been trying to type out an explanation of what campdrafting is, but I really only do that in my spare time and since I basically have no spare time that is coming along rather slowly. But currently I am sitting in a coffee shop, drinking a REAL cappuccino, using the internet, feeling more civilized than I have in the past 4 months so I figured it would be good to post a quick blog letting those of you I haven't talked with on the phone, facebook, or skype that I am alive and doing well and will eventually post a real blog up here.
Before I go here's a quick story for you: as you people in the Northern Hemisphere are beginning to enjoy the start of your warm weather (well, at least that's what should be happening, who knows maybe your non-existant winter will decide to show up in May, that would be pretty typical, eh?), here in the Southern Hemisphere it's starting to get a bit cooler. And by a bit I mean I'm waking up with cold toes and a cold nose and need to wear all the warm clothes I brought some mornings and evenings. People keep exclaiming "It's so cold, it got to 14*C last night!" so naturally I assumed that was really cold. But after I had a quick check at my *C to *F converter I was very surprised to find that I've been freezing my bum off at a very mild 57* F. WHAT?!?! Therefore I am very much not looking forward to coming home next November (yes, it's official I am coming back November 11th!) to actual cold weather. Oh dear.
Alright! Hopefully I will get that campdraft post up soon, keep nagging me if it's not up within the week (for those of you that actually still check this blog despite my lengthy inactivity!)

xoxo Zee

Weird Things in the Land Down Under

The following things aren’t necessarily better or worse than things in America, they’re just… different:

· You drive on the right side of the car and the left side of the road. At least the clutch, brake, and accelerator are in the same order or I’d really be in trouble then!

· The commercials, both television and radio, are really sappy, cheesy, and dramatic. And a lot of time the TV commercials are just video footage of random places all over Australia – accompanied by elevator music. Needless to say you find something else to do during commercial breaks.

· And on that note, TV shows are mostly American shows but they are all re-runs. So my initial excitement when I hear “All new episode of Glee this Friday night!!” disappears when the preview only shows clips from season two.

· A mango only costs $1.00!

· You don’t tip your waitress or waiter – unless they were SUPERB. I’ve been having a really hard time leaving the tip line blank but when servers make $15 an hour I guess they don’t need tips like American servers do.

· There is no such thing as a cup of coffee with cream and sugar. Ordering coffee here is like speaking a different language. Yeah cappuccinos and lattes are basically the same but there are no regular cups of coffee. I had to look it up when I was in Sydney but I think to get a normal cup is just called a “Vienna” though I have heard some people say you should order a “tall white” or a “long black” or whatever, I have yet to try it out. There aren’t any coffee beans around in the grocery store either; each morning I have a nice cup of dry-freeze coffee mixed with hot water… you don’t know what I would do for a cup of pumpkin flavored coffee from Dunkin Donuts! But on the plus side there are really good iced coffee and espresso drinks sold at gas stations and concession stands.

· The school year is a lot different here too – instead of having summers off, the kids have multiple month breaks spread out over the year. Or at least that’s what I have gathered. Actually the kids just got back from their summer vacation (which included the holidays, weird right?) and started school January 23^rd.

· Pant sizes start at size 6.

· Because the name “Burger King” was already trademarked in Australia, you have to decide if you are going to grab a quick burger from McDonalds or Hungry Jacks.

· Here in Roma the movie theatre, oops I mean the “cinema”, only has like 5 movies playing a week. And not five different movies, but two different ones that play once a day each. I’m sure there would be more options and play times at cinemas in more urban areas, but out here in the “bush” you definitely need to have a specific time and plan set out to go see a movie.

· Tim Tams. Are the best things. Ever. Chocolate filling sandwiched between chocolate cookie dipped in chocolate. Served cold because it’s too hot to store them anywhere besides the fridge. Best things. EVER.

· My nickname, Zee, would be “Zed” here. (They also say ‘H’ like “haych” opposed to us saying “aych”.) But not to worry, because I don’t go by that nickname anymore, my new one is “Miss America” or “USA” (I have also been called “Chicago” and “Mexico”).

· And it’s funny how many people start speaking in a southern drawl when they hear I’m from America. And for a while I was wondering why some people would say something to me in a really weird slow uneducated sort of way and then laugh about it, but then I realized they were just trying to sound “American”. Awesome.

· No Netflix, Hulu, or up to date iTunes.

· Going out for breakfast is weird. Only slightly less weird if it’s on a Sunday.

· They have pre-mixed rum/whiskey and cokes sold in cans at the bar. And yes it’s true Aussies drink as much as you would expect, but I have yet to even see a can of Foster’s (come to think of it, is that even Australian or am I making it up?).

· For people like my boss (campdrafters) it’s perfectly normal to buy a horse at an auction for $40,000, as long as it has a good pedigree. And after sitting at the majority of the three day sale at the Tamworth campdraft and sale a few weeks ago I can now tell you which sire and dam you want for your campdraft horse to have in Australia.

· The main sports are rugby and cricket. Which are the only two sports I know hardly anything about.

· You drive around with a big metal bar on your front bumper, called a bull bar but they should call it a roo bar because they have them so when you hit a kangaroo it won’t demolish your front end. I guess roos give moose a run for their money in being dangerous to hit because if you hit them mid-jump it’s bad news for you, your windshield, and the roo.

· Speaking of kangaroos…. They are EVERYWHERE. I guess there are three kangaroos for every person in Australia. They have a really quick reproduction rate too, almost like rabbits, so they are basically around all the time even if you hire someone to come shoot them (it’s illegal to shoot them yourself, you need a license from the government and then you need to tag each roo you shoot and usually you can only shoot a certain number of them). Which probably sounds like a sad story to you, but to farmers they are wicked annoying because they destroy fences and attract wild dogs. And you could (and most likely will) hit them with your car. All of which suck.

· In Roma the only way you can park on the street is if you pull past an open spot and reverse into it on a diagonal.

· There are rotaries everywhere. I’ve still yet to figure out when I need to have my blinker on or not when going through one.

· And here’s the big one, the vocabulary:

o Truck = Ute (sounds like ‘yoot’)

o Cooler (as in what you put stuff in to keep it cold) = Esky

o Beer Bottles = Stubbies

o Porch = Veranda

o Comforter = Doona

o Random tea/snack break in between breakfast and dinner = Smoko

o Dinner = Tea

o Wrench = Spanner

o Pitchfork = Rake

o Pen = Borrow

o Boxed wine = Goon

o French Fries = Chips

o Chips = Crisps

o Lettuce and Tomato on a sandwich = Salad (So if you are ordering a sandwich and they ask you if you want salad with that say yes unless you want just meat and mayo on slices of bread.)

o Pharmacist = Chemist

o “I was just picking on you” = “I was just having a go at you” (And someone who often has a go at you is what you call “cheeky”)

o Drunk = Pissed

o Crazy = Mad

o My room = the room I sleep in

o Hurricane = Cyclone

o “I’m all set” = “I’m alright” or just “I’m right”

o Rain boots = Gum Boots (Funny story about how I learned about this one: I was in the restroom at a campdraft last week washing my hands and a little girl, about 5, walks up to the sink as well and says “I like your earrings” to which I responded “Thank you, I like your rain boots” [they were pink and purple, so naturally that’s what I would say…] to which she looks at me like I’m an idiot and goes “They’re called gum boots” and continues to look at me like I’m an idiot until I’m finished washing my hands and leave the room.)

o Restroom/Bathroom = Toilet

o Thank You = Ta (but only sometimes)

· And there are a whole bunch of words that are used commonly here that you wouldn’t necessarily use back home:

o Righty-o! (as in “hey mate, make sure you don’t run into that kangaroo” “righty-o!”)

o Dear (as in “the beer truck didn’t come in today so the last carton of beer left was very dear”, or “because there were so many buyers at the cattle sale the cattle were very dear”…)

o Keen (as in “I’d be keen to go to town today”)

o Ornery (as in “that road will most likely have a few ornery patches where the mud puddles are” or “when you catch that wild horse it’s going to be pretty ornery, so watch out!”)

o Mongrel (as in “That mongrel Teenie [one of the dogs here] got into your room and starting chewing on your slippers” or “The tractor almost flipped over going down that mongrel hill”).

o Handy (as in “that mare is real handy, she always wins at campdrafts.”)

o And of course the typical “mate”, “cheers”, and “bugger”. Not a lot of “g’day”s though, but a common greeting is “how[’re] ya going?” which is weird to me for some reason and I’ve yet to master answering it without pausing to think about it.

o And apparently when you say “it’s nice out” it doesn’t make sense to Aussies, they would say “it’s a nice morning” or “it’s a nice evening” instead (the reasoning for that being, what if it’s nice inside too, not just nice out?).

There are TONS more, I’m thinking I’ll have to have a part two of this post when I can remember or encounter more.

And on a side note I am doing well! Keeping busy with work and going to campdrafts about every weekend. I’m also realizing that most of you don’t know what a campdraft is and if I’ve tried to explain it to you I’ve most likely confused you more about what they are. So maybe another future blog will explain that more. Who knows I might even throw in a few pictures too.

Hope all is well for anyone reading this! Xoxo Zee