Functional Alcoholics.

At 27 years old, I would think that I've grown past teen dramas. Damn you, Megan and Marty, and Dave and Mendy. And anyone else who's fallen under their influence.

I've stumbled into the end of the first season of Felicity, and I sit here wondering why, and how, the trials and tribulations of a television college freshman girl can still apply to a 27 year-old guy. Damn you Londoners. Or ites. Whichever you prefer.

But at least I've got the next few weeks of my nights planned out.

Revision.

Due to popular demand, I am revising the photo of my morning routine. Apparently, it is not entirely historically accurate. I have been told that some details have been misrepresented, especially in the striking looks of my roomates.

The following photo is how they usually look in the rough and just-awoken morning. Enjoy.

Home again.

It's been a few days of falling back into routine. Morning coffee, walks in the neighborhood, lots of beer at night, and seeing friendly faces.

Had a great night with Colin, Brian, and Liz the other night, and Brian rehashed memories of his own trip to Australia. Brian and Liz cooked a fantastic dinner, and I visited their new apartment for the first time. It's really nice, and Liz did a good job disguising the fact that Brian lives there.

Yesterday I went to the zoo with Simone, and later at the apartment we hosted a small birthday party on the back patio for Jess. I manned the grill, desperately trying to fill Ryan's shoes, and pulled off cooking various meats fairly well.

Going home today for a short visit, and I have to figure out what's going on for the rest of the week. Ratatouille, Bourne Ultimatum, and Transformers are all playing at the Logan, so I think that's on the list.

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go.

So I leave Australia tomorrow for home. It's strange, I think I'm more nervous coming back than I was leaving. I actually can't wait to get home. It's strange, I leave here at 10:20am and fly to L.A. 13 1/2 hours later I arrive the same day at 6:30am. I have a 6 hour layover and get back to Chicago at 6:15pm. Sweet.

The last couple days I've been sick. It's a little frustrating since it's my last night here. I went to bed at 5pm yesterday and got up at 3pm today. And the hot water heater broke today.

On the plus side, Manly is really beautiful. The coastline is full of high cliffs with small villas nested away in them. They're all different colors, so it looks really cool.

Heading back to bed. I'll see you all soon!

I'm at an internet cafe in Cairns. Flying back to Sydney at 5:30 in the am, and spending the last couple days there. Things are winding down, and this morning I parted ways with the two German girls I was travelling with. We were running late getting to the bus, and I just caught it as it was pulling out. Grabbed my bags and left.

It wasn't til I got a message 3 hours later that I realized I had left my shoes and my jacket in the car. Crap.

I feel like I've been posting much more than I actually have. I'm really looking forward to coming home, seeing friends, and getting things straightened out. Been feeling really disconnected lately, and a little cloudy. I've had a good time here, and it's been a great experience, but I'm looking forward to being able to actually work toward something when I get back. Also looking forward to:

-My big bed
-Chicago style hot dogs
-Knowing where the next shower is
-More consistent temperatures (half the time it was just below freezing in the morning and 78 during the day.)
-No more metric or Celcius.
-A nice kitchen!

These are some more photos that I liked.

Australia dollars are way cooler than U.S. dollars. And they're plastic.

The remains of a campfire at the hostel Cool Bananas in 1770.

I was the only American, so the guy gave me this chopper to ride. Way fun.

The view from the small plane with the side window open!

Me looking pretty rough on the last day of sailing.

Snorkelling at Maureen's Cove off the Whitsundays.

Intoxicating with adventure.

No pictures right now, because the internets are crummy.

In Airlie Beach right now, leaving for a sailing trip in a couple hours. Going snorkeling in the Whitsundays! The past couple days were spent in Agnes Water and the Town of 1770. It's really cheap to do lots of things there, and the towns are pretty nice. And tiny.

1770 is named after Captain Cook's discovery of Queensland in the year 1770. There's 110 houses and 80 full time residents. Agnes Water has about 2000 residents, but the place is fairly up to date, although my cell carrier had no reception there either.

I rode a small-engine chopper for an afternoon, which was really fun! We stayed at a place called Cool Bananas that had a fire pit, hammocks, and a sweet kitchen. The next day I got surf lessons in the morning, and in the afternoon went up in a 4-seater plane for the afternoon! We did some rollercoaster-style tricks and corkscrews, and I even got to fly for about twenty minutes. It's actually pretty easy. It was really cool, and then we landed on a beach and shucked some oysters to eat because it was low tide. Crazy!

Two days jam packed full of exclamation points. Wow!

4 minute post

I'm in Gayndah. It's small. They have a grocery store, a petrol station, one school, two bars, and a bottle shop. And maybe a thousand residents. And lots of farms.

Picking mandarins is better than picking strawberries, and I can say that I haven't forgotten how to climb trees. We have big ladders, and one huge ladder for the tallest trees. Worked a long day the other day, and watched the sun set over the orchard from the top of one of the tall trees. That was kind of cool. I also get to drive the tractor and feed the cows some mandarins when we're done for the day.

There's no cell phone reception within 100 miles of here. Weird.