Take me back..

Motivation

Motivation comes in many ways. Recently I have been dedicating my days to studying the MCAT. Scratch that, I've hardly been dedicated. Going out during the playoffs basically meant little to no studying. Any studying done probably got erased by the excitement and events associated with playoff hockey. I realised I was not taking the MCAT as seriously as I should have been. Students, on average, spend about 3 good months studying for this test, I am attempting to do it in about 1.5. I know I am not the smartest academically which means I am at an even greater disadvantage.

In light of recent events at home, I have found a new source of motivation: my family. This is too public of a place to write about everything but going out is now going to take a backseat to everything. I am comfortable knowing while everyone is out partying Friday and Saturday, I will be at home with coffee partying with Organic Chemistry and Physics. My future doesn't necessarily depend on this test, but I am not going to half-ass this exam. For the next 5 weeks I don't see myself going out to the extent I have been in the past year. It's time to smarten up and know my priorities. Family is always going to come first and this is the first time in a long time I have actually accepted this with open arms.

There's no place for me to screw around anymore. It's time to get serious Nelson. I may be the youngest in the family but with the backbone of the household breaking down, someone's gotta make up for it.

I can only hope things will return back to some normalcy by summer's end.

...

You know it's finals when you gain weight.

My mother called me fat today.

Excellent.

The Red Centre

I KNOW. 5 months later and I'm FINALLY writing about Uluru. I debated long and hard whether or not to even do it, but instead of 'blogging' about it I've decided to treat this as more of a reflection/journal of my travels in Australia. There hasn't been a day where I didn't think about Australia. It sucks, but it's life.

----------------------------------------------

Wow, to go back all those months it's sort of hard actually.. So ever since I was in grade 4 my teacher had taught me about Uluru (Ayer's Rock is the 'white man' name for it, something I never bothered to adopt since it feels disrespectful) and its iconic symbolism to Australia. For those who don't know what exactly Uluru is it's that big red rock you see in Australia books/postcards/brochures. Money was no longer that big of an issue to me at this point, I was determined to see as much as I could as my time in Australia was drawing to a close.

So I booked a flight with Jess, Xander and Hilary (bro and sis from FL, also living at the Unilodge) for the end of June, right after final exams [funny: it's the end of UBC exams right now..]. It was going to be cold for sure as nighttime temps hovered around freezing. I was just getting used to the low teens that Melbourne was going through too..

We would be there for 5 days. There are only two flights that go in/out of Alice Springs each day. One from Tiger, the other from Qantas. We arrived in the evening and it was pitch black..and chilly. We caught the shuttle bus our hostel provided us with and already, I could feel I was in an entirely different world. Strange, yet exciting. As we got settled in..we decided to see what was going on in the restaurant/pub downstairs. Since it was night, and we were warned to NOT wander the streets then, we planned for a calm night.

Next think you know, jugs were on the table, bottles of wine appeared, and I'll leave it at that.

Next day, we caught up with one of the girls I met on the plane ride over, Steph, as we went into town to explore. It was sort of chilly in the morning but by noon, it got up to about 20ish degrees. Such a nice welcome.. weather in the desert is too weird.

Sightseeing, shopping, and other touristy related activities were completed. We even found a place that sold $6 steak, chips, and a beer to go with it. Can NOT beat that anywhere. Benefits of a small town I suppose. We took a quick pit stop at the bottle shop to pick up some expensive as goon. Classy goon. $15, 2L. Oh boy, Stanley. This is where my eyes truly opened to the very visible disparity that exist in the town.

Many aboriginals of Australia have had a rough past. Similar to Canada and many other countries, when it was first colonized the settlers decided to 'ethnically cleanse the country of any natives for whatever reason they saw fit. The after effects are still seen today as the Aboriginals of Australia are now only in select concentrated areas, Alice Springs (and the Northern Territory) being one of them. Through government handouts, the natives still receive little to no assistance in forms of education or support through their lives. Thus, many fall into the alcoholic world that is so often stereotyped with this group of people. Although not all Aboriginals are like this, the ones we saw around town were just alarming in appearance. They'd sit around the street with a box of wine to themselves and drink themselves till they pass out. The bottle shop even has signs limiting sales of goon to one box/car or group of them in an attempt to control the alcoholism. Sadly, it doesn't really work. Fetal alcohol syndrome is almost a given with many of the kids, some of which I saw first hand. Heart breaking, but also a dark side to Australia. It's not perfect and I can see how it needs to address these serious issues but I digress.. back to the trip.

We went back to our hostel to cook up dinner again, ha. My appetite when travelling more than doubles, it's weird. Pesto pasta with chicken was the meal of choice. Standard backpacker's meal I suppose. I learned from this trip there are meals many backpackers will eat. Pasta, of course, rice, butter chicken (of all things), potatoes, and $10 roast chicken from Woolies..

Anyways. I believe we had a relatively easy night because we had to be up at 6am the next day to start our tour.

So I won't go into too much detail as I feel the pictures alone have enough substance to them. I'll just jot down notes here and there of any significant or interesting events to note.

....okay I'll do that soon. Back to studying.

Still holding on..

I still can't believe it was just two months ago that I was in Australia. Now, I'm dealing with graduation, courses not working out, stresses at home and ..school..

Okay I'll stop bitching.

I still need to complete my final thoughts and reflections from my Alice Springs and East Coast trips.

I'll get on that soon.

All Islands are Good Islands

I don't think I've ever gone to an island which I didn't enjoy.. Vancouver Island, Queen Charlotte Islands, Whitsunday Islands, Australia.. and even Tasmania. Tasmania, according to a friend of mine I met there is, "an island made of inbreds". Many people give Tassie grief because it's sort of like the ugly cousin of Australia. I tried not to let these stereotypes affect my view of Tassie as I had never even considered travelling there until the opportunity arose. Hell, might as well just go to it..and considering I'd be going with 14 others, it had to be fun right?

Day One:
Our trip began at 2:30am as our flight, via Tiger Airways, was at 6am. Tiger is strict on checking in 45 minutes earlier as they will close off all their flights at this point and are rarely accommodating for latecomers.

Flight into Hobart was smooth...until we landed and left the plane. It was FREEZING. I knew it would be cold here, but I was not ready for the frigid blast of winter air on me. Thank god I was camping outside.. We picked up our rental cars and headed into the city for some breakfast. After a brief mix-up, our car (Team Asia) was lost in the parking lot and Mark's car (the Wallabeaters) managed to already hit a fence post not even 5 minutes on the road. Haha, hilarious.

Finally got into town and made a pit stop at Subway. The worker there seemed a bit overwhelmed at so many people invading her store so early but was nice enough to offer us each a free cookie after we asked! Our trip was already starting off on a good note. From there we headed to the Salamanca Market which only ran on Saturdays.

There was a lot of good food, merchandise, and even live performances by street artists there. Here's the hard part about travelling with 15 people, it's impossible to follow a strict timetable as everyone had their own interests. After gathering everyone, we drove off to Freycinet Park, otherwise known as Wineglass Bay. Here's where everyone got separated (as was the norm on this trip). Our car decided to take a small detour into some offroad driving, one car lagged behind, and the other was just too quick for us to follow. We once again bumped into some nice people who gave us their parking pass required to enter the national parks. Australians are just too nice.


Our car saw sunset at some lookout and took various pictures of the natural wonders of Tassie. It was cold, yet calming and serene at the same time. Good people coupled with good talks made for an awesome sunset.

Danny decided to scream like a little girl when he saw wild wallabies, as he's never seen them in real life yet (I don't think). I never thought such a high pitched squeal could come from a man, haha. From there, we drove back into Hobart as we checked into our hostel. It was Michael's birthday so we had a couple of beers ready and planned to eat at a restaurant by the wharf. Following Danny's brilliant idea to bring some travel-beers for the walk there, the police saw us and stopped us. Luuk was the only one who was actually "caught" by the cops for having open liquor as Danny and I stuffed our bottles in bushes. Lucky for us, they let him off with a warning as Taylor (already pretty tipsy) decided to make friends with them. Cops are really friendly in Australia and are NOTHING like the power tripping idiots found in Canada/America. They seriously could be your friend. Taylor even 'pushed' one to demonstrate a point and he just smiled.

Dinner was delicious and well deserved after a long day. We headed back to the hostel and just had fun there. I believe national anthems were sung by the Americans, Canadians and Dutch. I don't think I'll ever get the chance to travel with such a diverse group of people..

Day 2:
Woke up 'early' but the third room decided to have a bit of a sleep in so our day began late again. Today we'd be going to Mountfield where Lake Gordon and Russell Falls were. It was a long drive in, but worth it as the scenery made it worth it. Here was where I had near death experience #1 driving :) I decided to cut in front of the car I was following as it was too slow..little did I know I was going straight onto a truck.

I swear it wasn't THAT close but the people in the car were freaking out. Pfft, they just need to experience a true China man's driving style. Weak.

Got to Russell Falls after a bit of driving.. it wasn't as magnificent as I thought it would be, but still pretty neat.

We drove up some mountain to get to Lake Gordon where there was actually frost! Something I haven't seen since Vancouver..and this was May. Pictorials were taken as we continued on to the dams where we planned to watch sunset. The Wallabeaters once again took off too quickly as they lost us remaining 2 cars. We went to two smaller dams, Scott's Dam and Lake Edgar? to watch sunset. Afterwards, when we compared pictures, the other group's dam was MUCH bigger, but we still had fun. At least the three cars managed to stick together for half the journey today, ha.


Today was also the day where two cars killed a wallaby each. We saw one happen right in front our eyes as we were following car Band of Gold (haha) and one hopped right into their front wheel. But remember people, wallabies and kangaroos are actually considered a pest species in Australia because there's just so many of them. They overgraze the land and damage the ground by travelling/hopping so much. No need to feel guilty for running them over or eating them ;) Kangaroo steaks are delicious, I can attest to that. Plus, it's low in fat and very rich in protein.

At night, some of us decided to go to the casino and attempt to win some money. Most of us (except Paul) managed to come out on top as I made 95? or something to that extent playing blackjack with Min. Team Asian Sensation never loses.

Day 3:
We decided to go to Bruny Island (who knew Tasmania had other islands within it..) to check out some nice lookouts.

Cheese tasting was magnificent as most of us bought some with bread to eat for lunch. Walking up to the lookout to see both sides of the islands (refer to pic) was breath taking. Unfortunately, two of our travelling mates had a flight to catch back to Melbourne, so the trip was cut short on the island. Not to worry though, while waiting for our ferry back the 'toaster' dance broke out as everyone took part in this fad that Rimock and Kim learned in Nzld. Perhaps I'll show it one day in Vancouver.. haha. It's awesome.

We also experienced one of the creepiest things ever. We decided to stop on the side of the road to discuss where to go next and there were sheep in the pastures next to us. Of course, we got out to take pictures of them..next thing you knew, they ALL looked at us, baa-ed in unison and walked towards us. I'm not talking about 20 sheep here, there were at least 150 of them just looking at us and every single one of them just walking towards us. As quickly as they came, they suddenly all ran away. It was definitely creepy as they approached us as I thought they'd attack us like some possessed demonic sheep.

While one car took them to the airport, the rest of us went to Mount Wellington, a mountain located pretty close to Hobart. The drive up was pretty slow as the roads were narrow and little protection against falling off. However, the views were nothing like I've ever seen. We drove into, then above the clouds as we watched sunset from the top of the mountain. The clouds were swirling in and around us as we watched Hobart light up and admired just where the hell we were. I will never forget those views up there. My camera did it no justice as I tried to capture how beautiful it was. We decided to eat some real oven baked pizza for dinner as I scarfed down one with Tanis. Best meal yet, it was so satisfying.


Drinking games followed in the hostel as we played Kings (where I had to put a damn box over my head...) and watched some scary movie to end the night. I passed out for the entire movie with Taylor. So comfortable ;). The final day was quickly approaching as I wasn't ready for it to end so quickly..

Day 4:
Our last day was spent going to Port Arthur, a historical settlement town. The drive in was surreal at one point as the low clouds + water bodies made for an almost psychedelic experience..

We went to choice lookouts including the Tasman Arch as we took many pictures of other random scenic things. Oh right, we also went to some.. beach. I forgot what it was called, but I killed a bird heading out of it. Now all 3 cars have killed some kind of wildlife on this trip. By the end, we realised we've each taken about 200 pictures of rocks, but hey, we have proof we were in Tasmania and that was enough for me to be happy.


Port Arthur was created by ex-convicts or something like that..basically and served as a jail for new convicts. Communities were formed we learned as people were brought here to serve time for the dumbest crimes you could imagine. Bad behaviour would result in inmates going to some dark, windowless, small room for hours as many would go crazy in there. As I went into this room I was creeped out at how DARK it was in there.. I don't think I could handle it. Inmates also had to manually step on a water wheel to keep it moving. Imagine a low intensity stair master workout for 8 hours. If you lagged or stopped, you basically fell to your death. Brutal.

Following the river cruise, we headed back into the city to return the cars and boarded the plane back to Melbourne.

---
This trip was definitely well worth it as I completely underestimated how beautiful and interesting Tassie really is. Many have said it looks like a smaller version of New Zealand which made me sad because I wish I had the time to check out New Zealand during my exchange here. Not to worry though, I'll be back to Australia one day and New Zealand will be conquered as well.

Paradise Found

The last part of my Easter journey concluded on a sailing boat, Habibi. It's more of a backpacker's/budget boat so it was the cheapest option out there. Despite the fact there were no showers on board and the beds gave me literally 9 inches of breathing room, it was the best 3 days of my life.

The days' events are starting to blur already but for the first time in my life (for a long time anyways) I had absolutely nothing on my mind but..well, nothing. Any stress or troubles I had going on in my life were literally left on land as I took myself out of my always-high stress world and started to truly enjoy Australia for what it has to offer. Our first day consisted of the typical mingling and getting to know you small talk with everyone on board. There was about...25? or so of us. Sandy and I lugged some choice bevvies on board and realized it would be a fun couple of days by the amount others also brought. There were plenty of English folk, an Australian (dating a Canadian), Canadian sisters/cousins, a pair of American doctors, a Spanish/Italian couple who communicate in English..sorta cool actually, and a German.

The Whitsundays are basically a collection of islands off the coast from Airlie Beach and our sailboat went around/past many of these. I forgot to mention the heat was stifling. It was easily in the high 20s-low 30s with incredible humidity. Not showering + lathering on sunscreen was a..grimy experience to say the least. I think it took me a good 15 minutes to actually get the gunk off of me when I finally took a shower.

Anyways, we sailed, we talked, we ate, and of course, we drank. Conversations flowed, drinking games ensued and problems forgotten. For some odd reason, I had a relatively early night as I passed out in my bed before midnight (I think).. but we had the option of sleeping out on deck underneath the stars. The morning was definitely rough as we were awoken by the crack of dawn each day for breakfast. However, there was plenty of dead time to just sit back and sleep. We visited the famous Whitehaven Beach.. Even though there was a lot of debris left behind by the cyclone, it was easy to see why it's ranked as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. The sand was remarkably white and the waters crystal clear. By 7am, we were out on the beach exploring and doing typical group photos (pyramid, the steps, making sand genitalia).
Other random memories I suppose from the trip included 3 snorkelling sessions out on the reef again. Since it didn't rain here like it did in Cairns, the sand wasn't as swirled up so everything was bluer and clearer. The fish fauna was definitely different here as there were even these monstrous fish that would let us touch it. I forgot what kind they were called..The last day we had one more snorkelling session and then headed back to Airlie. The after party was great fun even though some had to leave early due to other travel plans, but it was still a night of great memories, many of which I've forgotten or will not divulge publically.

Annnd that was that. Easter. I wish I could take myself back there where I just sat there in complete awe and relaxation.. because life right now is anything but that.
----
The goodbyes have begun and quite frankly, I'm not ready.