Ozi

I got up at 645 am on Sunday morning + got ready to go to Australia! I took the metro to the bus station + then an hour long bus to the airport. Luckily I left by 7 am, because I didn't even get to the airport until 9ish. The metro took forever to get to the station + the bus didn't leave for a while.

As I was checking in, I got an email that my debit card was suspended for unusual activity. My mom got on the phone with them + they told her my account would be closed. Great. Luckily I have lots of credit cards with me, but Bank of America is not cool. I told them my entire travel route + then they do this. Really inconvenient. It worked out in the end, as my mom will give Lindsays mom money to wire her, which I can get. Still, BOA stinks.

I got an egg + croissant for breakfast from Dunkin Donuts, which turned out to be an egg on a donut + a croissant on the side (weird). But I ate it because I knew my Air Asia flight would not be providing food. On the flight, I ended up buying a malaysian meal which was pretty delish.

Veggie Nasi Lemak...it was actually really good

I was sitting next to an Iranian man (30ish) who was working as a civil engineer in Gold Coast. He was really nice, showing me lots of pictures of Iran + Australia + telling me all about what to do on my visit. We talked a good amount + then I finished reading my book while listening to Dido (bought the tv package!) Next up was E true hollywood story: jennifer anniston, then an episode of House, E true hollywood story: Reese Witherspoon, + some other un-notable movies/tv shows. I played some games (solitare, kids games), talked more to Atnib (the engineer) + 8 hours later I was in Gold Coast. It was 820pm, so I exchanged my ringits, even though the exchange desk had just closed the nice lady let me exchange (thank goodness) + then took a bus to our hostel. I met this really funny, nice chinese woman (a reporter who was 33) traveling alone, going to the same hostel as me. She had pretty broken English, but was so enthusiastic + so interested in practicing her English.

My bus-friend

When we got to the hostel, I was SO excited to see Laura + Lindsay. We were sharing an apartment type thing with 2 boys from Melbourne (probably 19) who were really nice. I immediately took a shower + enjoyed a delicious meal they had cooked for dinner ( so nice!!). It was couscous with tomatoe, onion, chicken, + delicious roast pumpkin. The pumpkin was from the farm they had been wwoofing on (willing workers on organic farms). Basically for free lodging + food, backpackers work on a farm for a good number of hours a day. Check out Laura's blog if you want to learn more (laurastreitinaustralia.blogspot.com).

Our hostel

So after being shower + fed, we went out. Surfer's Paradise is pretty dead on a Sunday night. But, we managed to have a lot of fun considering. We ended the night with chicken kebob + falafel at Ozi Kebab + since we got one of each, alternated the sandwiches in line. Pretty funny. We walked on home, enjoyed honey (from the farm) on toast (whole wheat!!!!) with peanut butter + went to bed.

We woke up very rested + set out for the beach, where we are currently enjoying the sun (well I'm of curse covered by clothes + sunscreen). It is a pretty hot day here, with a nice breeze. The beach was pretty destroyed by a cyclone a while ago, so there isn't too much sand not touched by the water, but we found a good area. Enjoying the life...