Picture this. A bunch of (admittedly generally fairly good-looking) Aussie boys in rather short shorts running around a big oval field doing whatever they feel like with a strangly shaped yellow ball. That is Aussie rules footie for you. There are however, no rules (the name is quite deceptive...very misleading) it seems.
Yet, despite not being able to understand the game, off we went after work last monday night to the big Etihad Stadium in the city to join forty-one thousand fans to watch two big Melbourne teams, St Kilda and Carlton play the most loved game of AFL. And, it was awesome!
Heaps of fun guessing what was going on (we eventually worked out that getting the ball in the middle two poles gets you 6 points and getting it in the outside poles gets you 1..ooh I think...I may have forgotten already...
Anyway, the team we chose- St Kilda lost :( which we pretended to be very upset about, haha. I'll definately try get to another game! the vibe was awesome and a bit scary (some people get way too intense and emotionally involved with this game).
I still love rugby more though, don't panic. Can't wait to rock out in my Springboks top during the world cup :)
Monday, May 16, 2011
The Greatest Gig of All Time
You know that feeling where you know that if the world ended, you wouldn't actually mind 'cos you would die happy?
I had that feeling on Sunday the 8th of May.
This is the day I made my way out to the awesome Melbourne suburb of St Kilda and found myself at the Prince Bandroom. This awesome music venue (in an old hotel- the Prince of Wales, similar feel to the Assembly in Cape Town) is where I enjoyed an Aussie cider and a dance to the up-and-coming Melbourne "party band" Eagle and the Worm (http://www.eagleandtheworm.com/) and a good chat with a really awesome Aussie girl who also happened to be at the gig on her own (I spotted her in the queue on the way in and decided to make friends :) always more fun sharing life-changing moments with someone else, even if you don't know them at all!).
After a long wait in excited anticipation, the Cat Empire opened the set of their final 10 year anniversary gig in their home city with one of my favourite songs- Two Shoes. I can't even describe how brilliant they are live! Each and every one of them are so ridiculously talented and together they just create the most awesome vibe. It is impossible not to move to their music and there was nothing that could wipe the massive grin off my face. Harry was buzzing the whole time- he said "it may be sunday for you guys, but we're partying like its friday!!"
I danced so hard the entire time, my feet actually hurt afterwards! was insane! They did a massive encore, including 'hello hello'- to which the crowd went wild! Felix (the one singer) is so very sexy and told us how that song was "born" at that venue...pretty cool. The two-hour long set ended with The Chariot which was amaaaazing. And with that, ended one of the greatest nights of my life.
Thanks mum and dad for the ticket- wish all the Neville's could've been there to enjoy it with me!!
I had that feeling on Sunday the 8th of May.
This is the day I made my way out to the awesome Melbourne suburb of St Kilda and found myself at the Prince Bandroom. This awesome music venue (in an old hotel- the Prince of Wales, similar feel to the Assembly in Cape Town) is where I enjoyed an Aussie cider and a dance to the up-and-coming Melbourne "party band" Eagle and the Worm (http://www.eagleandtheworm.com/) and a good chat with a really awesome Aussie girl who also happened to be at the gig on her own (I spotted her in the queue on the way in and decided to make friends :) always more fun sharing life-changing moments with someone else, even if you don't know them at all!).
After a long wait in excited anticipation, the Cat Empire opened the set of their final 10 year anniversary gig in their home city with one of my favourite songs- Two Shoes. I can't even describe how brilliant they are live! Each and every one of them are so ridiculously talented and together they just create the most awesome vibe. It is impossible not to move to their music and there was nothing that could wipe the massive grin off my face. Harry was buzzing the whole time- he said "it may be sunday for you guys, but we're partying like its friday!!"
I danced so hard the entire time, my feet actually hurt afterwards! was insane! They did a massive encore, including 'hello hello'- to which the crowd went wild! Felix (the one singer) is so very sexy and told us how that song was "born" at that venue...pretty cool. The two-hour long set ended with The Chariot which was amaaaazing. And with that, ended one of the greatest nights of my life.
Thanks mum and dad for the ticket- wish all the Neville's could've been there to enjoy it with me!!
Monday, May 2, 2011
My boys.
These are two of my favourite people. I live with them, and although they are boys so they smell, aren't terribly good at cooking (although I shouldn't talk...) and don't mind living in a state of filth- they are so much fun and I would not be as happy as I am here without them.
Presenting.....Andy and Chris.
Andy and I have been good friends for a couple of years now, but its been awesome living in the same country as him :) He thinks he's all gangsta and it makes me laugh. We watch lots of movies (he makes us watch ski movies all the time). Andy thinks he's the boss of every drinking game, but we let him and it always makes for an extreme and epic night! He's lots of fun to be around, even though he sometimes beats me up (I think he forgets that I'm a girl). It's random how we met, stayed in contact and now live in the same house, but its pretty awesome and I know we'll be good friends forever :)
Meet Chris.My other half here in Melbourne. We've only known eachother for three months but it feels like yeeeaaahs (thats how I say 'years' apparently.I get teased all the time cos my accent is so totally awesome and they're all jealous). Everyone at work thought we were 'together' cos, well, we're never apart! We live together, work together and socialise together. Chris keeps me sane and reminds me to chill out and just let things happen. We blance eachother out I rate, without me he would forget to pay rent, take his washing off the line and have no-one to carry his lunch to work for him. Without him I would never know where I am (his iphone's gps is the greatest and most useful thing ever), I would stress way too much and smile a lot less. He calls me 'squishy' and sings this song to me every morning "oh Emma, you came and you bought me a turkey. On my vacation away from worky". Don't try to understand it. Most of what we say makes no sense to anyone else. I'm on a train.
Andy and I have been good friends for a couple of years now, but its been awesome living in the same country as him :) He thinks he's all gangsta and it makes me laugh. We watch lots of movies (he makes us watch ski movies all the time). Andy thinks he's the boss of every drinking game, but we let him and it always makes for an extreme and epic night! He's lots of fun to be around, even though he sometimes beats me up (I think he forgets that I'm a girl). It's random how we met, stayed in contact and now live in the same house, but its pretty awesome and I know we'll be good friends forever :)
Meet Chris.My other half here in Melbourne. We've only known eachother for three months but it feels like yeeeaaahs (thats how I say 'years' apparently.I get teased all the time cos my accent is so totally awesome and they're all jealous). Everyone at work thought we were 'together' cos, well, we're never apart! We live together, work together and socialise together. Chris keeps me sane and reminds me to chill out and just let things happen. We blance eachother out I rate, without me he would forget to pay rent, take his washing off the line and have no-one to carry his lunch to work for him. Without him I would never know where I am (his iphone's gps is the greatest and most useful thing ever), I would stress way too much and smile a lot less. He calls me 'squishy' and sings this song to me every morning "oh Emma, you came and you bought me a turkey. On my vacation away from worky". Don't try to understand it. Most of what we say makes no sense to anyone else. I'm on a train.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Melbourne Comedy Festival
Melbourne Comedy Festival is one the more famous international comedy festivals. On Dylan's recommendation, I dragged Andy, Sophie and Chris to see the Irish comedy rock band -Dead Cat Bounce. They were absolutely brilliant! We were all in stitches the entire show! I bought a cd at the end and mentioned to them that I was friends with the Brother's Streep (Dyl and Simon) - who had met them at the Edinburgh comedy festival- they were like "oh yeah, those guys are awesome".
They played at the famous Spiegeltent in Melbourne (awesomely cool venue)
Road trippin'
So over the long Easter weekend (we got 5 days off cos of Anzac day plus the Easter days) eight of us piled into to cars and began our road trip along the Great Ocean Road.
This road is pretty famous in Australia- it runs along the coast from Melbourne towards Adelaide and is reeeeaaally windy but very beautiful. We stayed in a little house in Apollo Bay- one of the little beach/surf towns along the coast. We bonded over drinking games and food (obviously). On Easter Sunday, Jenna and I got up before everyone else and hid chocolate eggs all over the garden. Later on Luke supervised the cooking of a delicious pork roast - yum.
We drove a bit further inland off the road to the Otway National Park where we did the famous Otway Fly walk in the tree-tops. It was absolutely stunning walking up in the trees looking down on the ferns and little rivers.
We also did a forest walk where there were these awesome dinosaurs everywhere (apparently this is where these dinosaurs used to roam). I bonded with the velociraptors :)
Another day was spent driving further up the Great Ocean road to see the Twelve Apostles
Loch Ard Gorge
and London Bridge
It was an awesome awesome weekend away with some really great people :) great success!
Jenna, Alex, Gavin, Andy, Mel, Luke and Chris
We drove a bit further inland off the road to the Otway National Park where we did the famous Otway Fly walk in the tree-tops. It was absolutely stunning walking up in the trees looking down on the ferns and little rivers.
It was an awesome awesome weekend away with some really great people :) great success!
Random Swiss guys and suprise house parties!
So living with three kiwi's is pretty awesome. This has resulted in me meeting heaps of these awesome people :) These kids sure do know how to party though- I often find myself coming home to a house full of people drinking goon (box wine- very classy) and playing some epic (said in kiwi accent please) drinking games! Always fun and pretty much unavoidable.
We had a guest not long ago, Sean for Switzerland. The boys met him at the hostel they stayed at when we first arrived in Melbs. I met him once at that point too- he's pretty awesome and crazy as anything. He was away travelling for a bit but came back to Melbs and stayed with us for a week. He ended up staying in the lounge...which happens to be my room...so I found myself sharing a sofa bed with Sean the Swiss guy, good times :) one way to make new friends!
We had a guest not long ago, Sean for Switzerland. The boys met him at the hostel they stayed at when we first arrived in Melbs. I met him once at that point too- he's pretty awesome and crazy as anything. He was away travelling for a bit but came back to Melbs and stayed with us for a week. He ended up staying in the lounge...which happens to be my room...so I found myself sharing a sofa bed with Sean the Swiss guy, good times :) one way to make new friends!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Healesville Animal Sanctuary
Being in Australia I figured I should really see some of the strange animals the Aussies go on about...so Alex, Jenna and I drove out to the Healesville Animal Sanctuary out in the country and spent the day there wandering around learning about wombats, echidna, Tasmanian devils, kangaroo's, wallabies, koala's and platypus. It was pretty awesome. Florence the wombat was my favourite, although the platypus put on a great show, doing backflips and stuff. The tassy devil was a bit crazy and just ran around this tree for like 20mins...scary creature. I have yet to see these animals in the wild- although I have seen some cool birds flying around.
Sydney Slickers
Alex and I embarked on an epic weekend away to Sydney a couplde of weekends ago. It was a truly fantastic weekend and we managed to fit so much in just a couple of days!
We stayed with my dear friend and husband, Lars Garo, is just so much fun and a super host :) (thanks Larsy). So we stayed in his little room in Glebe- the uni student suburb, all artsy and vibey.
Al and I arrived early Saturday morning to be picked up by Lars at the airport. We enjoyed some delicious breakfast in the Sydney sun (SO hot) and then made our way to the famous Bondi Beach. Beautiful beach, full of tourists! I had a swim in the lovely blue water and then Ally and I bought bikini's (they were on special ok! $10!! thats pretty awesome).
We spent Saturday afternoon wondering aroung the Glebe markets looking at vintage clothes, stunning jewellry and artwork and tasty food.
Saturday night involved some thai for dinner and happy hour cocktails at the Different Drummer then more drinks at the Opera Bar at the Sydney Opera House. After hours of ridiculous but very entertaining conversation and changing tables about 300 times we made our way to a club called the Chinese Laundry- although we were convinced it was in fact called the Japanese Washingmachine! What a fantastic night drinking fancy cocktails, frangelico and plenty of tequila, getting lost in a club, playing the slapping game with random dreaded boys and meeting a Morroccan on the way home :)
Sunday included a walk around the city, a ferry ride around the harbour and lunch at Darling Harbour. Sight-seeing involved the Sydney Opera house, the Harbour bridge and the many great walls of China (personal joke...). Lars and I had some wedding photo's which was nice :)
Monday morning meant a walk down St George Street (where, much to lars's shock and horror, ally bought some Ugg boots) and a stroll through the Botanical Gardens, folloed by brunch in a little cafe where the guy working there thought Alex and I were bunking school! haha do we really look that young?!
We then took a road trip to the Blue Mountains where the mountains actually look blue.We stopped in the town of Katoomba for a pie (or three if you're Lars) and then made our way to see the Three Sisters - some rocks that have "great spiritual significance"
We did an awesome hike down the Wentworth Falls- absolutely stunning! Was a pretty steep walk up some hectic stairs and ladders- made very amusing by good old gramps (aka Alex).
So came to an end the Sydney experience! Thanks Ally and Lars for such a fantastic time :)
We stayed with my dear friend and husband, Lars Garo, is just so much fun and a super host :) (thanks Larsy). So we stayed in his little room in Glebe- the uni student suburb, all artsy and vibey.
Al and I arrived early Saturday morning to be picked up by Lars at the airport. We enjoyed some delicious breakfast in the Sydney sun (SO hot) and then made our way to the famous Bondi Beach. Beautiful beach, full of tourists! I had a swim in the lovely blue water and then Ally and I bought bikini's (they were on special ok! $10!! thats pretty awesome).
We spent Saturday afternoon wondering aroung the Glebe markets looking at vintage clothes, stunning jewellry and artwork and tasty food.
Saturday night involved some thai for dinner and happy hour cocktails at the Different Drummer then more drinks at the Opera Bar at the Sydney Opera House. After hours of ridiculous but very entertaining conversation and changing tables about 300 times we made our way to a club called the Chinese Laundry- although we were convinced it was in fact called the Japanese Washingmachine! What a fantastic night drinking fancy cocktails, frangelico and plenty of tequila, getting lost in a club, playing the slapping game with random dreaded boys and meeting a Morroccan on the way home :)
Sunday included a walk around the city, a ferry ride around the harbour and lunch at Darling Harbour. Sight-seeing involved the Sydney Opera house, the Harbour bridge and the many great walls of China (personal joke...). Lars and I had some wedding photo's which was nice :)
Monday morning meant a walk down St George Street (where, much to lars's shock and horror, ally bought some Ugg boots) and a stroll through the Botanical Gardens, folloed by brunch in a little cafe where the guy working there thought Alex and I were bunking school! haha do we really look that young?!
We then took a road trip to the Blue Mountains where the mountains actually look blue.We stopped in the town of Katoomba for a pie (or three if you're Lars) and then made our way to see the Three Sisters - some rocks that have "great spiritual significance"
We did an awesome hike down the Wentworth Falls- absolutely stunning! Was a pretty steep walk up some hectic stairs and ladders- made very amusing by good old gramps (aka Alex).
So came to an end the Sydney experience! Thanks Ally and Lars for such a fantastic time :)
Family Outing :)
One lovely Sunday I was invited to go on a family outing with Alex, Jenna, their mum and Tony. We drove along the Mornington peninsula through all the really nice little seaside/beach holiday towns. We stopped for lunch and a walk at Portsea and made sure that we stopped in Sorrento for a famous vanilla slice. delicious :)
Frankston
This is where Alex and her family live. It's at the end of the train line and has a bit of a bad rep amongst Melbournians (is that the right term?!). They're all like "aaaah you're from FRANKSton...oooh..." and "ooh I wouldn't catch a train there by myself", its rather amusing.
The boys and I ventured there for a night out with Alex and Jenna- to their local, Davey's. The boys didn't get in cos they didn't have their passports (epic fail) which is silly cos in the city their kiwi drivers licence's always get them in...so they run off into the night together.The girls make me all worried about them getting beaten up so I follow them only to be told that "Emma, I'm rom Ashburton..I'll be fine.I know how to fight". Bearing in mind that Ashburton is one of the smallest little towns in New Zealand and i could probably beat Chris up if I wanted too...anyway, I left them and went to enjoy my night drinking cheap vodka rasberry's thanks to Jenna's friend who works at the bar and dancing to Katy Perry.
We eventually met up with the boys in McDonalds for a late night feed where we discover that they managed to get into this other bar and somehow get free drinks all night. Oh and Andy got punched in the face. By a girl. Hahahaha.
The boys and I ventured there for a night out with Alex and Jenna- to their local, Davey's. The boys didn't get in cos they didn't have their passports (epic fail) which is silly cos in the city their kiwi drivers licence's always get them in...so they run off into the night together.The girls make me all worried about them getting beaten up so I follow them only to be told that "Emma, I'm rom Ashburton..I'll be fine.I know how to fight". Bearing in mind that Ashburton is one of the smallest little towns in New Zealand and i could probably beat Chris up if I wanted too...anyway, I left them and went to enjoy my night drinking cheap vodka rasberry's thanks to Jenna's friend who works at the bar and dancing to Katy Perry.
We eventually met up with the boys in McDonalds for a late night feed where we discover that they managed to get into this other bar and somehow get free drinks all night. Oh and Andy got punched in the face. By a girl. Hahahaha.
Heaven.
So Ben&Jerry's is now available in Australia.
Alex and I indulged in this guilty pleasure.
And it was amazing.
Alex and I indulged in this guilty pleasure.
And it was amazing.
FUTURE
Alex, Andy, Chris and I went to the Future Music Festival on the 11th March. Best day everrrrrrr.
We made an epic punch (with LOTS of red bull in it) and started drinking that around 9am...got to the festival round 11 I think. We saw heaps of acts- lots of Aussie dj's at the beginning, one was playing at a foam party place so we got covered in foam and we danced around knee deep in the stuff- fun.
Alex and I rocked out to Ke$sha in a big way (she was shocking live, as expected- but nonetheless we enjoyed singing to every song).
Dizzee rascal was pretty freaking awesome and MGMT were truly amazing- I think they sound better live than recorded...if thats possble.
The highlight act was by far Pendulum. They were mind-blowingly amazing and we had the most insane time partying to them in the biggest crowd I have ever been a part of.
We finished the night off in the slient disco. This may be the coolest party I have ever been too- you enter this tent and its queit but everyone has a pair of headphones on. There were two channels on the headphones with two dj's, one on each channel. So everyone is going crazy to different tunes but all together! It was so so much fun!
Dizzee rascal was pretty freaking awesome and MGMT were truly amazing- I think they sound better live than recorded...if thats possble.
The highlight act was by far Pendulum. They were mind-blowingly amazing and we had the most insane time partying to them in the biggest crowd I have ever been a part of.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
New Job.
Its been about a month now that I have been working for The Smart Group doing customer service calls for an energy company called Simply Energy.
I loved my other job and found it hard to leave but working solely on commission was pretty stressful and made it hard to budget so I moved on to a less exciting but way more stable job.
I work in a call centre doing courtesy calls for new Simply Energy customers. In Australia they have loads of energy providers and so there is heaps of competition which means that we always have specials offers on and are constantly trying to win other providers customers. Its an easy job, rather repitive and mind numbingly boring most of the time but its awesome to have a guarunteed paycheck at the end of every week :)
Chris works with me and keeps me sane...sort of. So yeah, I'll be there for a while until I've saved enough to do some epic travelling around this massive country!
I loved my other job and found it hard to leave but working solely on commission was pretty stressful and made it hard to budget so I moved on to a less exciting but way more stable job.
I work in a call centre doing courtesy calls for new Simply Energy customers. In Australia they have loads of energy providers and so there is heaps of competition which means that we always have specials offers on and are constantly trying to win other providers customers. Its an easy job, rather repitive and mind numbingly boring most of the time but its awesome to have a guarunteed paycheck at the end of every week :)
Chris works with me and keeps me sane...sort of. So yeah, I'll be there for a while until I've saved enough to do some epic travelling around this massive country!
Best Coffee in the World.
Apparently Melbourne is the place to get good coffee, it has a reputation for being a coffee-drinking city and thus for producing some great coffee drinks. This is true...BUT the best coffee I have ever had the pleasure of drinking, I found in Tasmania.
It was a cold day and Katie and I needed to warm up and get some energy- lucky we were working right next to the coffee shop where, we learned, the oldest coffee roaster (this lady is 102 years old) in the Southern hemisphere was at work creating the most delicious coffee known to humankind.
By the end of the day Katie and I were shaking rather a lot....but its hard not to overdose on latte's from this place!
It was a cold day and Katie and I needed to warm up and get some energy- lucky we were working right next to the coffee shop where, we learned, the oldest coffee roaster (this lady is 102 years old) in the Southern hemisphere was at work creating the most delicious coffee known to humankind.
By the end of the day Katie and I were shaking rather a lot....but its hard not to overdose on latte's from this place!
Tasmania
I went on a trip to Tasmania with work (Taipan). A bunch of us were selected to go there for a week to work for the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) in order to raise support, awareness and of course money for them. They're a really great organisation committed to conserving the amazing Australian environment. We were particularly campaigning against the logging of Tassy's ancient forests.
It was an awesome week of bonding with some great people (we had some Aussies, a Canadian, a Russian, a pom, a Scot and me) in a small house in Hobart - the biggest city in Tassy.
We didn't see much of Tasmania as we worked the whole time but from what I did see I decided I have to go back- its so so stunning! Just super cold brrrrrr it even snowed on the mountains while we were there!
So the week was fun and ended with a bit of excitement- aka a wee party and me ending up in hospital after attempting to climb the fence to get home...ouch.
The crew. Rosie, Gav, me, Trav, Katie, Ellie, Shaun, Ksenia and Faith.
I love these girls- Katie (from Canada) and Faith (Aussie)
Shaun and Katie at work!
My leg! 21 stitches....fun times!
It was an awesome week of bonding with some great people (we had some Aussies, a Canadian, a Russian, a pom, a Scot and me) in a small house in Hobart - the biggest city in Tassy.
We didn't see much of Tasmania as we worked the whole time but from what I did see I decided I have to go back- its so so stunning! Just super cold brrrrrr it even snowed on the mountains while we were there!
So the week was fun and ended with a bit of excitement- aka a wee party and me ending up in hospital after attempting to climb the fence to get home...ouch.
So...
I've been pretty bad at this blog thing...oops. Not really sure what to write about now, it feels like there's just too much! So I think I'll just post random things that I remember as I go....
I went to a rugby game with Alex at the AAMI Stadium in Melbourne. We watched the Sharks beat the Melbourne Rebels- it felt good. I was rpoudly wearing my SA rugby jersey and loved spotting all the other Saffer's in their Sharks tops!
I went to a rugby game with Alex at the AAMI Stadium in Melbourne. We watched the Sharks beat the Melbourne Rebels- it felt good. I was rpoudly wearing my SA rugby jersey and loved spotting all the other Saffer's in their Sharks tops!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
bogans!
So I was in a place called Narre Warren, at a shopping centre called Casey Central. I was there cos I was working outside the Coles (like Pick n Pay). That day I got to work with a really awesome Aussie girl- Flick (Felicity) and it was going really really well!
Then we were witness to a proper bogan family fight. girls punching eachother so hard i honestly thought someone was going to die! there was blood everywhere, they were messing up the stands in the shops- was pretty intense! i was in total shock, it happened right next to us and Flick had been talking to the one chick just before she got decked in the face. was crazy! more of the family came in and joined in the fight- they were all swearing at eachother and the brother grapped the one ladies hair and started smashing her head into the ground. was so scary. this family was proper bogan- the one woman looked like a man, had siff teeth and a mullet.
yeah so that ended our day at work! we were both shaking afterwards! the police took statements from us and Flick will be a witness in court if the charges go through.
just another day in Melbourne!
Then we were witness to a proper bogan family fight. girls punching eachother so hard i honestly thought someone was going to die! there was blood everywhere, they were messing up the stands in the shops- was pretty intense! i was in total shock, it happened right next to us and Flick had been talking to the one chick just before she got decked in the face. was crazy! more of the family came in and joined in the fight- they were all swearing at eachother and the brother grapped the one ladies hair and started smashing her head into the ground. was so scary. this family was proper bogan- the one woman looked like a man, had siff teeth and a mullet.
yeah so that ended our day at work! we were both shaking afterwards! the police took statements from us and Flick will be a witness in court if the charges go through.
just another day in Melbourne!
2 observations
1. a lot of Aussie guys have mullets or rat tails of some sort. it doesn't look great.
2. too many old men wear ridiculously short shorts. its gross.
2. too many old men wear ridiculously short shorts. its gross.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
this is where I live...
Moreland Road, Brunswick West, Melbourne.
This is where I live.
My flatties are Andy, Chris and Jay. They're awesome and if I come home with a Kiwi accent, its their fault.
This is where I live.
My flatties are Andy, Chris and Jay. They're awesome and if I come home with a Kiwi accent, its their fault.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
work...
Work was tough in the first week i'm not gunna lie...but i was always learning and getting tips from the others. The people at work are awesome- they're all super friendly and funny so its a good time. Travi (another aussie guy i spent a few days with at work) started call me Miss South Africa...its stuck, i won't complain haha. Ellie actually believed i was Miss SA for 3years running...so great.
We spent a few days out in Seymour- a town about 2hours drive from the city. this is an interesting place...full of bogans/nuffies/ferals (this is what other aussies call people like chavs in england...best way to describe them i guess).its in this town that i spoke to a girl that had 6 kids and was only 20 years old....clearly birth control is something they don't use too much here...
i also spoke to this guy that was super interested in South Africa and wanted to know if we still had black slaves...yeah, a lot of people seem to think apartheid is still happening.sigh.
Went out for drinks with some people from work on friday night. got all my drinks bought for me which was pretty sweet! went to this cool bar called the post office then a place called precinct (similar to neighbourhood in long street). was a good night! aussie boys (ok, the few i've met now) seem to be pretty confident and forward, and they seem to like the fact that they've "never kissed a south african girl before"...and that i've never kissed an aussie boy before- apparently, according to them, we can fix this "problem".good try boys... :P
We spent a few days out in Seymour- a town about 2hours drive from the city. this is an interesting place...full of bogans/nuffies/ferals (this is what other aussies call people like chavs in england...best way to describe them i guess).its in this town that i spoke to a girl that had 6 kids and was only 20 years old....clearly birth control is something they don't use too much here...
i also spoke to this guy that was super interested in South Africa and wanted to know if we still had black slaves...yeah, a lot of people seem to think apartheid is still happening.sigh.
Went out for drinks with some people from work on friday night. got all my drinks bought for me which was pretty sweet! went to this cool bar called the post office then a place called precinct (similar to neighbourhood in long street). was a good night! aussie boys (ok, the few i've met now) seem to be pretty confident and forward, and they seem to like the fact that they've "never kissed a south african girl before"...and that i've never kissed an aussie boy before- apparently, according to them, we can fix this "problem".good try boys... :P
getting life sorted!
8 Feb....
this day was a big one. my first day at work. had to wake up at 5:30 to catch an early train to the city to get to the office for work, which starts at 7:30 everyday. so i managed to get there bang on time. i was assigned a 'leader' for the day- Eamon: an aussie guy from the gold coast originally who looks about 25 (he's 19) and has intense eyes. off we go into "the field"- today its a suburb calld hawksburn- super nice area full of rich people. was a tough day-this whole topping people who don't want to be stopped and then getting them to sign up to give money to a charity every month thing is hard. I learnt a lot though and figure my days can't get any worse than this!
as i said- today was a big day as we found out we got the flat in brunswick! epic!
this day was a big one. my first day at work. had to wake up at 5:30 to catch an early train to the city to get to the office for work, which starts at 7:30 everyday. so i managed to get there bang on time. i was assigned a 'leader' for the day- Eamon: an aussie guy from the gold coast originally who looks about 25 (he's 19) and has intense eyes. off we go into "the field"- today its a suburb calld hawksburn- super nice area full of rich people. was a tough day-this whole topping people who don't want to be stopped and then getting them to sign up to give money to a charity every month thing is hard. I learnt a lot though and figure my days can't get any worse than this!
as i said- today was a big day as we found out we got the flat in brunswick! epic!
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
A weekend with Ally my Pally!
We just chilled out on Friday night and watched some series...woke up late on Saturday and made our way to Chadstone- the biggest shopping mall in the southern hemisphere! Sooo many shops! and too much I wanted to buy...sigh. They even had really larny shops like Jimmy Choo, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and stuff- you have to stand in a queue to get in and there's a bouncer at the door!
Alex and I then went to the 'bottle shop' to buy some Passion Pop- its like a really cheap sparkling wine, its super sweet and bubbly! We got all dressed up (once again I borrowed a dress from Al!) and hung out with some of Jenna's friends before we went out to Cruze. There I met some of Ally's friends- Emma, Daniel and Amy then later I met Courtney. Was fun night!
Sunday was chilled- watched some TV and a movie then went out for Indian food with Ally's girlfriends :) yum.
week 1 in Melbourne!!!
MONDAY:
Today I learnt how to use public transport! woohoo go me! I caught the train from Frankston into inte city (hour long train trip) and met the kiwi boys (Andy and Chris) at Flinders Street station. We walked around the city a bit and found an internet cafe where we spent the next couple of hours checking out flats/apartments/houses to rent.
We walked around a bit looking like tourists but trying to act cool until we finally gave in and asked an info guy where we could find a supermarket. Had a good time walking around their version of Woolworths deciding on the cheapest lunch...eventually decided on some rolls and ham. This was hilarious as you have to get a ticket with a number on it if u want to be served, then they call out the number and u go up to the counter and order. We didn't realise that...for quite a while...so we stood around like idiots wondering why everyone else was just standing around! finally we clicked and tried pulling out a ticket each, in my case that meant somehow pulling like 10 tickets out at once.fail. so yeah that was amusing. While we were in the shops i got a phonecall from this sales and marketing company asking me to come in for an interview!! I honestly couldn't remember which one out of the 500million job ads this one was related to but luckily the lady e-mailed me and i realised it was from the ad for a promo's job. I was stoked with life :)
The boys and i had lunch and took turns calling estate agents. We had a look at some amazing apartments in these massive buildings over in the Southbank area of the city and got all excited imagining ourselves living there...although we all knew they were waaay to expensive.
TUESDAY:
I got ready for my job interview in Richmond (like one station out of the main city loop), tried to look as business-like and professional as I could and pretended like I knew what I was doing! Found the office ok and got the fright of my life when I saw how smart everyone looked- this was not a normal promo job like the ones we do in Cape Town...the interview went super well (the guy who interview me was suuuper hot too, it helped!) and I was told to come back the next day for round two! yay!
Met the boys in the city again and hung out at their hostel- the Melbourne Connection- and looked for more apartments. We then had to find our way to Kew East, a suburb on the outskirts of the city, to check out a townhouse. After aimlessly wondering around the big train station we agreed that once again we should stop pretending to be locals and ask for directions. So we hopped on a tram and after a long and extremely hot (it was like 40 degrees!) ride we met Tony the agent and a very average townhouse. Managed to catch a bus back to the city where I hopped off and made the long trek home.
I stayed at Alex's flat where we made stir-fry and possibly the worst rice I have ever eaten.
WEDNESDAY:
I woke up at 5:30am to catch an early train to Richmond for my second interview! Got there in time for the group interview which was so chilled. Then had an individual one with the owner of the company and got offerred a job! Woohoo! Had to be back there for the afternoon training session but some hours to kill so met the boys in town again to fill out a million application forms for flats.
The job: this company uses face-to-face marketing to raise money for charities. We stand in the streets or outside shops or at events and convince people to sign up for monthly donations.
Training was cool- was mostly Aussies then a girl from Liverpool (Ellie) and an Irish girl and me :)
THURSDAY:
Second afternoon of training. Only three of the nine were asked to come back! So it was Ellie, Lily (a local) and I.
Finished training round 4ish so got the boys to meet me so we could get to Brunswick to check out another house. Took us forever to get there, mainly cos we had no idea what we were doing!Turns out we took the longest way possible and in fact we could've caught the train literally to the road the house is in! sigh. Anyway, this place is awesome!
So we were in good spirits and the lads convinced me to stay in town and hang out with them. This involved buying 2 bottles each of this $3 wine they'd found and getting $5 pizzas. We hung out at the hostel with this Swiss guy Sean (he's massive, was in the army for two years) and his Russian friend Olla (they met on gumtree....ya, i know). So we played all these drinking games, me trying to keep up with two kiwi boys fresh out of dunedin and this huge swiss dude....yeah. Fun night! Stayed at the hostel with the guys. Woke up the next day feeling..um..fantastic! So we just chilled out and watched some skiing videos...until I managed to get up and go home.
Alex, Jenna (Ally's sister) and I hung out in the evening and watched a movie. It honestly felt like the cyclone had hit us it was so stormy outside!
Today I learnt how to use public transport! woohoo go me! I caught the train from Frankston into inte city (hour long train trip) and met the kiwi boys (Andy and Chris) at Flinders Street station. We walked around the city a bit and found an internet cafe where we spent the next couple of hours checking out flats/apartments/houses to rent.
We walked around a bit looking like tourists but trying to act cool until we finally gave in and asked an info guy where we could find a supermarket. Had a good time walking around their version of Woolworths deciding on the cheapest lunch...eventually decided on some rolls and ham. This was hilarious as you have to get a ticket with a number on it if u want to be served, then they call out the number and u go up to the counter and order. We didn't realise that...for quite a while...so we stood around like idiots wondering why everyone else was just standing around! finally we clicked and tried pulling out a ticket each, in my case that meant somehow pulling like 10 tickets out at once.fail. so yeah that was amusing. While we were in the shops i got a phonecall from this sales and marketing company asking me to come in for an interview!! I honestly couldn't remember which one out of the 500million job ads this one was related to but luckily the lady e-mailed me and i realised it was from the ad for a promo's job. I was stoked with life :)
The boys and i had lunch and took turns calling estate agents. We had a look at some amazing apartments in these massive buildings over in the Southbank area of the city and got all excited imagining ourselves living there...although we all knew they were waaay to expensive.
TUESDAY:
I got ready for my job interview in Richmond (like one station out of the main city loop), tried to look as business-like and professional as I could and pretended like I knew what I was doing! Found the office ok and got the fright of my life when I saw how smart everyone looked- this was not a normal promo job like the ones we do in Cape Town...the interview went super well (the guy who interview me was suuuper hot too, it helped!) and I was told to come back the next day for round two! yay!
Met the boys in the city again and hung out at their hostel- the Melbourne Connection- and looked for more apartments. We then had to find our way to Kew East, a suburb on the outskirts of the city, to check out a townhouse. After aimlessly wondering around the big train station we agreed that once again we should stop pretending to be locals and ask for directions. So we hopped on a tram and after a long and extremely hot (it was like 40 degrees!) ride we met Tony the agent and a very average townhouse. Managed to catch a bus back to the city where I hopped off and made the long trek home.
I stayed at Alex's flat where we made stir-fry and possibly the worst rice I have ever eaten.
WEDNESDAY:
I woke up at 5:30am to catch an early train to Richmond for my second interview! Got there in time for the group interview which was so chilled. Then had an individual one with the owner of the company and got offerred a job! Woohoo! Had to be back there for the afternoon training session but some hours to kill so met the boys in town again to fill out a million application forms for flats.
The job: this company uses face-to-face marketing to raise money for charities. We stand in the streets or outside shops or at events and convince people to sign up for monthly donations.
Training was cool- was mostly Aussies then a girl from Liverpool (Ellie) and an Irish girl and me :)
THURSDAY:
Second afternoon of training. Only three of the nine were asked to come back! So it was Ellie, Lily (a local) and I.
Finished training round 4ish so got the boys to meet me so we could get to Brunswick to check out another house. Took us forever to get there, mainly cos we had no idea what we were doing!Turns out we took the longest way possible and in fact we could've caught the train literally to the road the house is in! sigh. Anyway, this place is awesome!
So we were in good spirits and the lads convinced me to stay in town and hang out with them. This involved buying 2 bottles each of this $3 wine they'd found and getting $5 pizzas. We hung out at the hostel with this Swiss guy Sean (he's massive, was in the army for two years) and his Russian friend Olla (they met on gumtree....ya, i know). So we played all these drinking games, me trying to keep up with two kiwi boys fresh out of dunedin and this huge swiss dude....yeah. Fun night! Stayed at the hostel with the guys. Woke up the next day feeling..um..fantastic! So we just chilled out and watched some skiing videos...until I managed to get up and go home.
Alex, Jenna (Ally's sister) and I hung out in the evening and watched a movie. It honestly felt like the cyclone had hit us it was so stormy outside!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Australia
I have arrived in Melbourne! yay! Had a good flight and got through all the airport admin quickly to find Alex standing there waiting for me :) Great to see her again, feels like we haven't been apart! Stuck around for a bit to say hi to Andy and meet Chris...funny to see Andy in real life after 2 years of a virtual friendship!
Alex showed me her awesome little flat (which she shares with Hannah- a British girl that moved here after meeting her boyfriend in England 2 years ago, she started here on the same visa I'm on) where we picked out some party dresses from her massive collection. We then went to her parents house where I found a whole room all made up for me :) We had a good dinner and got dressed up ready to catch a taxi to The Bay- a club about two suburbs away- Alex's Tiger/Tin Roof combo. Was cool to see where Ally hangs out and to judge all the Aussie girls in their verrrry short dresses or maxi-dresses (in a club?! strange). The boys all looked about twelve to me and seem super fashion concsious- most of them a lot prettier than me (i hate that..). We danced and drank yummy vodka, orange and rasberry drinks until I realised that for my body clock it was like 3am and got super tired.
Woke up today round 9 and it was already very hot outside. Ally took me to get a sim card so I have an Aussie number (+61406862922). I met Hannah - really cool girl and we all hung out in the pool for the afternoon- definately the best place to be when its 40 degrees outside!
Some of Alex's parents friends came over and we had a BBQ (nothing like our good old South African braai's...) The family friends moved out here from SA 2years ago and had nothing good to say about SA- makes me feel all patriotic when people talk badly of home...! At least we know how to have a good braai :) Anyway, I will probably have to get used to ex-South Africans speaking like that and just ignore it. I learnt a lot about the people in Melbourne and all the odd people (lots of crazy people around cos they don't have the facilities (I find this funny) to lock them away so there are psycho's wandering the streets...cool....) that you can find on the train (apparently) and got told how to be street wise- quite frankly they made Melbourne sound terrifying and I kept thinking I'd rather be home catching our train down to Kalk Bay!!! Anyway, Tony (Alex's step-dad) reassured me that I would be fine- and I know I will be.
So tomorrow I will brave the train into the big city and meet up with Andy and Chris to explore and find a house :) I have applied for my tax file number and am in the process of booking to do my RSA (responsible service of alcohol) course so I can work in a bar maybe. I have found heaps of job ad's for cafe's and restuarants in the city- which I have emailed and will call tomorrow, so hold thumbs!!
Yup, thats about it for now...
Alex showed me her awesome little flat (which she shares with Hannah- a British girl that moved here after meeting her boyfriend in England 2 years ago, she started here on the same visa I'm on) where we picked out some party dresses from her massive collection. We then went to her parents house where I found a whole room all made up for me :) We had a good dinner and got dressed up ready to catch a taxi to The Bay- a club about two suburbs away- Alex's Tiger/Tin Roof combo. Was cool to see where Ally hangs out and to judge all the Aussie girls in their verrrry short dresses or maxi-dresses (in a club?! strange). The boys all looked about twelve to me and seem super fashion concsious- most of them a lot prettier than me (i hate that..). We danced and drank yummy vodka, orange and rasberry drinks until I realised that for my body clock it was like 3am and got super tired.
Woke up today round 9 and it was already very hot outside. Ally took me to get a sim card so I have an Aussie number (+61406862922). I met Hannah - really cool girl and we all hung out in the pool for the afternoon- definately the best place to be when its 40 degrees outside!
Some of Alex's parents friends came over and we had a BBQ (nothing like our good old South African braai's...) The family friends moved out here from SA 2years ago and had nothing good to say about SA- makes me feel all patriotic when people talk badly of home...! At least we know how to have a good braai :) Anyway, I will probably have to get used to ex-South Africans speaking like that and just ignore it. I learnt a lot about the people in Melbourne and all the odd people (lots of crazy people around cos they don't have the facilities (I find this funny) to lock them away so there are psycho's wandering the streets...cool....) that you can find on the train (apparently) and got told how to be street wise- quite frankly they made Melbourne sound terrifying and I kept thinking I'd rather be home catching our train down to Kalk Bay!!! Anyway, Tony (Alex's step-dad) reassured me that I would be fine- and I know I will be.
So tomorrow I will brave the train into the big city and meet up with Andy and Chris to explore and find a house :) I have applied for my tax file number and am in the process of booking to do my RSA (responsible service of alcohol) course so I can work in a bar maybe. I have found heaps of job ad's for cafe's and restuarants in the city- which I have emailed and will call tomorrow, so hold thumbs!!
Yup, thats about it for now...
Friday, January 28, 2011
an outrageously naaawty 2 days!
Started off at Mels massive house on the North Shore with the most amazing view of the city. Then we went to Muriwai beach- stunning beach with black sand and these awesome cliffs. We just sort of arbed around, walked to the tops of the cliffs and marvelled at the view. New Zealand is so beautiful. We then braved the water (which was so nice and warm) and had a good swim, trying hard to keep our bikini's on. The lifegaurd got all concerned about our safety (strong tides or something- we were like knee deep. paranoid kiwi). So we left Muriwai and luckily made it up out of the valley despite having NO petrol whatsoever.
Next we headed to this really quaint little suburb called Devonport- nice little shops and a small beach. The navy base is there and you can get a ferry across to the city. We wandered around and got some ice-cream, tried out hokey pokey which is NZ's best ice-cream...deeeeeeeee..wait for it...vine :) We met up with Amy's uncle (who is in the navy) for a drink then headed back to Mel's for a swim in her infinity pool and a barbie (haha thats a braai).
Next we headed to the bottle store- King Dicks- where we found some cider called 'sweet as'- pretty cool. I got rejected when trying to pay tho- massive lol. Apparently a South African ID means I'm not 18....lessoned learnt, I shall now carry my passport with me. Anyway, we had enough ciders to get happy while watching "love and other drugs" (don't bother). Mels sister then drove us into the city where we found some more wine and popped into Burger King for a pee- Mel decided to be a boy and I nearly knocked this girl out (totally not my fault!). We then went tranny and prossi hunting, very amusing although Amy was convinced we were all going to die. Fun times.
Woke up the next day feeling goooooooooood.ha. Drove to Waiwere- stunning little town with amazing views. Spent the day in the hot pools, chilling, going down the most epic water slides and perving over THE hot dad.
Awesome times with two awesome girls :) thanks ladies!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)