Am I in Camden yet?

What can I say, Byron bay was a blast. The first two days was certainly NOT an indicator of what was to come. I had an awesome time and was sort of reluctantly heading to the Gold coast airport on Saturday for a short flight down to Melbourne.
At the bus stop I met Chris, of course a Canadian dude, who was also heading up to the Gold coast, but not the airport.
My phone had earlier been manhandled by yours truly and it was just sheer luck that I checked it (my vibrator had given up) because there had been a misscommunication as the shuttle was sent to the hostel and the person who booked the shuttle sent me to the bus stop.
So after a short goodbye, I was on my way. The female driver was very inquisitive about life in Sweden, why I was in Oz and where I was headed. It was quite a pleasant conversation and it made the 1 hour trip to the airport a very nice one.

Once there, surprise surprise, the flight was delayed. The usual routine was performed, check in, chuck your water bottles, wait for the flight. The only difference is the fact that I was in a waiting hall with a ton of bogans! Up until that day, I had never really understood the full meaning of this word, but right then, it became so clear.
To put it laymans terms, it was a commercial for birth control.
Once on the plane, I get seated at my emergency exit seat as I had requested because of the leg room. Shortly after, I get to enjoy Tiger airways. A budget airline, yes, but there was nothing budget about the two very nice, and good looking, flight attendants take turn in instructing me on what to do in case of an emergency.
I had the urge to make an emergency exit remark, but refrained, and just listened.
The flight took off, I read some, my head tilted down the isle a few times and I went to sleep. A few hours later I'm on the road again with my backpack in the hot blazing Melbourne sun.

A bus ride and some direction confusion later, I'm sitting at a bar in Melbourne, beer in hand, plate of fish and chips in front of me and my very good friend Megan on my side with her friend Ali as well.
The food was decent, the beer cheap and we finished it with only a few spills by "someone".
Being from Stockholm, I am no stranger to public transport and although the tram isn't really my normal way travel on the ground, we hopped on one and were soon up north of the city on Sydney road.
I have to be honest and say that I was a bit knackered from the trip, but thanks to the good people of Coca cola and Jim Beam, this problem was soon but a memory.

Of course we had to relive the good ol' times of Venice beach, so a game of "fuck the bus" was the only right thing to do.
After that we had just an awesome time out at a very cool place called "The retreat" (if I'm not mistaking)
The one thing that remained the same whether you are in Sweden or Australia is the late night kebab. I still haven't taken a liking to the sweat and sour sauce that they use here. Spicty tomato and garlic is still my brand.
Funny thing was paying $10 dollars for a kebab with chips(fries) that only should cost $9,50 and then receiving the news that there were no chips.
After a short argument, I got a bottle of water as consolation. Side bar to this is that the kebab stand later became my landmark on Sydney road.
After that, cab home, crash and.....stay with me and you'll find out.

To be continued....

....and a maple leaf fell from the tree

It would seem that my luck is still with me. As I left Brisbane on a cloudy monday morning, little would I know that parts of the city that I had visited only a few days earlier would be under water the next day.
Since my host had to work, I used my own 2 feet to get to Wynnum station and from there to Roma street station.
It was a smooth, Joey-filled trip, with no hickups.
The only concern was that my stomach was playing tricks on me because of a dodgy pizza from sunday. I didn't have a single bite until I arrived at the hostel and the bus ride to Byron bay was, to say the least, touch and go. (I did strategicly place myself right next to the dunny just in case)
As I arrive a cute blond greets me and points me to a parkinglot where a van will take me to the hostel - very nice service.

What then transpired might seem trivial, but it was my first encounter with a canadian person. Connor had just arrived as well and was going to stay at the same hostel.
We exchanged pleasantries and war stories before we arrived at the hostel.
After checking in, getting some info from the reception about the free meals the hostel supplied every night and getting set up I promptly went to bed. Still feeling bad that was my holiday for the first two days.
I did eat the free meal, a pasta dish and my first impression was:
-Holy crap, I'm gonna stay here for 5 days??
The first day I got to know one of my room mates, Teemu, a little bit. As the name suggests, he was from Finland and having met a few finns in my days, he lived up to the stigma when he, in what I felt was in the middle of a conversation, promptly said "Ok, goodybye". In his defence I will say that he is a really cool dude and we had a lot of fun, but that action really stood out and was in my opinion, very finish.
So, after two days of little food, lots of pills and lots of water, I was finally back in the game. And sure enough, two of my roommates, the very cool surfer dudes Evan and Michael, were also from Canada.
I just realized that if I have to add, "they/he/she was also from Canada" that will be every other sentence. So I will summarize and say that it felt like every other person I met was from Canada.
I will mention the U.S, Finland, England, Israel, Norway and a few other countries were represented, but if I didn't know better, I'd say there was a silent invasion going on.
A few cliff notes from the trip:
*sitting in another room with friends and a german chick chating on her computer, guess who uttered the words "Don't mention the war"?
*Skinny dip on both sides of the pacific - check
*Killing in the name of on the dance floor - check
*Most eastern point of Australias mainland - check

Yesterday, friday, was the last night out and we finally went through with our postponed barbeque.
My contribution to the beginning of the event was sending the Canadian boys to buy food and wine, not carry a single thing there and then sit down, drink wine and play some awesome music. Cook? Then who will teach these cretins the wonders of Swedish music? Hoffmaestro, Adam Tensta, Timbuktu and September were played and all in all, it was a very nice time out.
After the meal, we moved the party down to the beach and there something amazing happened. The once lively group became a bit more quiet and I think the scenery with the ocean, setting sun and Mike playing the guitar really got to us.
It was a very nice moment and one of those that you want to bottle up and save so you can use it on a bleek day back home.
For me it was especially perfect as an ending since it was my last night in Byron bay.
Now I'm up with the rooster (swedish expression) and waiting for the bus to arrive.

It's the second uprooting and even though I would kill for just a few more nights here, I'm really looking forward to Melbourne. A friend that I haven't seen in a while, Australian open tennis, a new city and new people.
So on that note, I'll leave you by saying that Byron bay was awesome!
Simple words they are, but that doesn't diminish how truthful they are.
Next stop, Canada!

Like all good things, this also has to end

It has been an awesome first 10 days in Australia. Sure, weather wise, it would've been nice with a few more days of sun, but all in all, I've gotten to see a lot of Brisbane, and not just the tourist sites.
This weekend for instance, we went to the hills west of town, to a place called Mount Glorious and the view was just spectacular.
Those are the little things that make it all worth wile.
That is also the reason that I decided to skip Sydney. Sure, I could go there for 2 days or so, but that would just be surface, not depth.
I've also had the chance to get to know some really cool people as well. So it feels like I'm nipping it in the bud, but to be honest, I'd have to stay a lot longer for it all to sink in, so let's leave after a chill out sunday with delivery pizza, Mountain dew and a few movies.

Next stop - Byron bay.

Singing in the rain

It's hard to get a tan when it's raining and it sure is raining. The last 2,5 days have been wet indeed.
Yesterday we tried our luck with the weather, and in all fairness, we came out ahead.
We packed our stuff and headed out fairly early to a place called Morten island, which is a beautiful sand island about an hour off the coast of Brisbane.
Upon arrival the weather cleared up a bit (no rain and glimpses of sunshine) and we went out snorkeling, a thing I had never done before.
Lo and behold, there were tons of fish of all colors and we even saw a turtle which the guide said, no one had seen for 6 months. The turtle was a big one as well, I reccon a little under a meter in length.

After ditching our wetsuits, it was time for lunch, some chilling on the beach and a swim without the wetsuit which made you feel light as a feather. Good stuff.
We then hopped on a bus and went to a place called the desert for some sandboarding.
It was fairly simple, a plastic board, lie on it a swoosh down a hill.
A very cool experience, but being from a land of snow and being a daredevil on the slopes as a kid, I would've liked a little more speed.
As we were finishing up the rain started POURING!! So we scurry onto the bus again, everything is wet, we've got sand everywhere and it's just a bizarre scene.
We get back to our point of origin, the beach and pop back into the water since it's warmer than the air.
Finally back on the boat, we switch into dry gear, have a feed and it's all gravy from there.

We arrive at the house a little bit cold actually, but thanks to the wonderful people of Santa Maria spices in Sweden, we make some Gluhwein(glogg) to heat up with. And to top it off, dinner consists of a nice Indian meal.
All in all, a very good day. Today though, will most likely be spent in a movie theater or a bar with a pool table.
Let it rain!

Surfin' time!

Sticky, sticky, sticky.
I've never been in a place with a 100% humidity. It sure is something else. You shower, feel fresh and then start sweating again after 5 minutes. I've found that cool beverages of all kinds helps a lot.
My first day here I found this a bit annoying (not the beverage part) but I soon got over it by remembering the alternative, a snowy -15 degree day.
Since my host had to work the first two days I was here, his father graciously offered to show me the city, which was a real treat.
The first day by car, the second by boat. And there were sights on that ferry ride were very nice. Very cool mix between old and new architecture.

New years was heaps of fun. We did some house party jumping, meeting lots of people and or course I was spreading the good name of Sweden to all and any willing to listen.
Apart from one not so hospitable host, everyone was very friendly and welcomed the traveler from the other side of the planet very gracefully.
New years day was the exact opposite. This due to the fact that it rained the whole day. Perfect day for chilling, pizza delivery and movies.

Next stop, Surfer's paradise. To be continued.

(Off topic)
I'm starting to question that Australians originate from England. Don't tell anyone, but I think it's an alien conspiracy.