Costa Rica.....Pura Vida!

5^th January 2013 - I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to visit Costa Rica for work – which meant of course, SJ the traveller had another opportunity to write a blog! Before I start – Costa Rica is a country in Central America, not one of the “Costas” in Spain – like many of you thought ;). I can’t promise this will be in any way as interesting as the antics we got up to in Oz, NZ, Fiji and Bali – but should give y’all an insight into what Costa Rica is like. Trip started with leaving my apartment a 4.30am minus my house keys, drama from the get go (I never had to worry about house keys when I had no fixed abode travelling!). First flight to New York was scarily Ryanair like, given the lack of space for a long haul flight! This was followed by a far-too-long layover where I visited most of the food court options- so much for the New Year’s resolution to kick start healthy! 

The next flight to Costa Rica was much more spacious, was sitting next to a shiny new honeymooning couple (Costa Rica is seriously popular for honeymoons). Mid-way through the flight, the man in front of me had a coughing fit and collapsed onto to the ground. Very scary indeed – luckily enough there were two doctors, a nurse and a translator on board (comforting to know!) who tried to figure out what was wrong with him and thankfully we recovered after that. I don’t know what it is with me and attracting drama!

28 hours after leaving my apartment I arrive at my hotel – very nice indeed, my new home for the next 2 weeks! Certainly a lot nicer than the basement in St. Kilda – isn’t that right Marie and Annemarie! The hotel staff and all Costa Ricans (Ticos/Ticas) are just the loveliest people, they cannot do enough for people who visit their country.

I was only meant to be in Costa Rica one week – so decided to go adventuring on a tour on Sunday. Up at the crack of dawn – I had two options

 1. A full day of hiking through a rainforest and volcano or

2. A bus pit stop at the volcano for pictures followed by an afternoon at a hot springs and spa. Two guesses which one I picked!

I learned a lot from the tour guide (a personalised one if you will!) – Everyone else on the bus spoke Spanish, so I had a personalised tour guide who spoke English! After a brief stop to Sarchi where all of the handcraft goods are made for all of Costa Rica it was off to the volcano. There are 116 volcanoes in Costa Rica, however only 6 are active. One of the most active is Arenal, which is the one we visited. It was only discovered in 1968, locals thought it was just a big mountain until one day it erupted and caused a massive lava flow down one side. This is why, on one side you can see lava trails, and the other side is just vegetation. As volcanoes go –this one is young – only 5 million years old! It is quite active – however there was no activity the day I visited! Pictures below…

 

 

 

 

Beside this is an amazing man-made lake, this lake was created over a village that was nearly fully destroyed when the volcano first erupted. When the water levels are low – you can see the cross on the church and other parts of the village in the water which is pretty cool. The views in Costa Rica are pretty breath-taking. After all this sight-seeing, there was no better way than to get over jetlag – than to visit Baldi Hot Springs and Spa.

The natural hot springs are from the volcano and its surrounding areas – and as the label would suggest are very hot! There are approximately 20 different pools in the outdoor, Jacuzzis, relaxation pools, swim up bars etc. The higher up you went into the pools the hotter they got – I braved the hottest one for all of 10 seconds. A very relaxing afternoon was had, followed by an amazing dinner looking at the sunset over the volcano. Not a bad way to spend my Sunday! Then it was back to face the music and get ready for a busy week at work!

My work week consisted of well – work. The people I was working with for the week – as I expected from the Costa Ricans I had met were just fabulous. Not much to report from the week – only that one evening I ventured out for ice cream – walking on what was like an M50 with no footpaths (Costa Rica lacks footpaths in general!). That was interesting and was not going to be repeated. My plans changed and I was now going to stay in Costa Rica another week - which is good for this blog. Otherwise it would have ended here J

So myself, Silvia and Tak decided to head to a beach resort for the weekend! I went shopping Friday evening to a massive shopping mall near work. I was under some illusion Costa Rica was going to be cheap, I was very wrong. The only purchase I made was 5 pairs of underwear in Victoria Secrets (too much info? – sorry!) – well they cost 60dollars!!!  Not sure how my boss would feel if I expensed that receipt in! We ate in an amazing sushi restaurant in a very la-di-da Intercontinental Hotel.

Up super early on Saturday morning to set off to Manuel Antonio (the beach). Costa Rica has beaches on both sides of the island – one side is the Pacific and the other the Caribbean. We visited the Pacific side, which is pretty cool – as now I have seen the Pacific ocean from two sides of the world – also in Cape Reinga on our NZ trip!

We Left at 7am and it was roasters already! Stopped at Hermosa Beach, a surfers paradise, for brunch. Then we headed off again to our hotel in Manuel Antonio – Hotel Parador. Probably one of the nicest hotels Ive ever stayed in – would highly recommend it. After a hysterical check-in – where the girls asked me to pretend to be Costa Rican to avoid tourist taxes (Thanks Sil!), Tak took it to a new level speaking full on Spanish to me in front of receptionist, cue my confused face. It is funny looking back- wasn’t at the time!

 

Then for some well-earned pool time – the infinity pool had a serious view! All my hard work that week was paying off – sunbathing by the pool! The hotel is split over a number of levels – we watched the sunset (which was amazing) from the highest level.

 

Later we hit El Avion, which is a restaurant and bar that is made out of a war plane that crashed in Costa Rica years ago. It is famous for its mojitos and they did not disappoint (and there goes the 2^nd NYR – not to drink for Jan!)

Next day we packed up and drove along the coast back to the city stopping at a crocodile bridge. Let’s just say – this sightseeing stop is not for the faint hearted! It’s a very busy bridge with croc infested waters below! If you look closely you can see a couple of crocs with their noses out of the water – we counted about 20 in one little area! The tourists you see in the boat – well they must have a death wish. Below is a gorgeous Sunset picture from that bridge.

 

 

My 2^nd week involved – well mainly hard work and very little play! Ventured out to sample Costa Rican food with friends (yummy food) and one evening we went to Applebee’s where we were served the biggest Mojitos I have ever come across…yes detox is now non-existent. And for all you cluedo fans- this was the last place I remembered having my debit card.

Friday evening – packed up my stuff and went to pay my hotel bill. No debit card. Panic central, wasn’t sure how the lovely Costa Rican reception staff were going to take the news that I couldn’t pay my bill that was …well in the thousands and that would be millions in Costa Rican Colones! Then I had a brain wave - A big shout out to the Australian Tax Office and Westpac for minding my tax back money! I waited with the fear as the reception lady typed in the 000,0000,00000 type figure in CR Colones into the credit card machine. But I am writing this blog from the airport in New York – and not a prison in Costa Rica, so clearly the card handled the heat!

Huge thanks to Sil for getting up at 5am to bring me to the airport on her day off!

Costa Rica is an amazing country- and I would recommend everyone to visit if they ever get the opportunity.

Pura Vida! (means Pure Life – and all the cool people say it over there),

SJ x

The Bali Blog!

Thanks to AirAsia’s fabulous flight times – I didn’t sleep at all on Friday 30^th March! Alan very kindly dropped me to the airport and Brid came along for the spin! We left the hostel at 1am bound for Perth International Airport. On arriving at the airport at about 1.30am I knew it was going to be a long few hours!! The place was dead with very little open – and meant I was probably going to open the stash of chocolate Marie bought me for Easter to keep myself awake!!

Ive decided I could never be a “FIFO”...thats a fly in-fly out person in the mines as I just don’t “do” anti-social hours in the airport! A purchase of a pink travel pillow and lots of chocolate later I was aboard the rather compact flight to Bali. This was my 2^nd time travelling overseas alone – but my first time going on holidays with just me, myself and I....I was both nervous and excited at the thought of my own company for 11 days!!

Flight lift at 4.45 (ungodly hour) and I was at my hotel my 9am in Seminyak. A private driver came to pick me up – for some reason I expected Bali to be very modern and touristy (like a Spanish holiday resort) – em no. We drove from Denpasar Airport to Seminyak and I saw the real side to Bali. The place was just bumper to bumper with moped’s and locals carrying their goods on their shoulders while driving to get to markets to make a living (didn’t look the safest mind you). There was such feeling of poverty in the area it was quite sad – but this is rather well hidden in the resorts like Legian and Seminyak.

I spent the morning chilling by the infinity pool in the hotel I was staying at – Favehotel. This is Seminyaks newest hotel and its fab! Everything is pink – from their massive bean bag sun loungers to the wallpaper in the rooms! I know your thinking – backpacker in a brand new hotel??? Go figure! Well Bali is ridiculously cheap compared to Ireland and most definitely compared to Perth. I was about 40AUD a night – which is only a small bit more expensive than a dorm bed in a hostel in Perth!Once I checked into my room I was even more amazed to find I had American Satellite TV on a plasma screen!! Ive been deprived of TV for months now! After dropping the bags off, I walked to Seminyak Beach. I was a bit taken aback by the colour of the sand. Was expecting Fiji like sparkling sand...but no – sand was black!! Someone explained to me that it was volcanic which is pretty cool! I had dinner on the beach (on a massive pink bean bag again!) and watched the sunset. Seminyak is a really trendy spot and the beach was full from end to end with tourists from all over. I think I might just really like it here!

Day 2

I went down for brekkie first thing in the morning – I didn’t really know what Indonesian breakfast consisted of – but didn’t really expect to be eating fried rice and noodles at 8am! But thats how they roll – and I could eat it or go hungry! After my dinner/breakfast I chilled for the day by the pool and debated whether I would do a tour of the island or not. I decided on the “not” option and just lay out all day by the fab pool. Seminyak is also very well known for its shopping and Spa’s in Bali. So after dinner, I booked myself in for a full body massage. Again- with things being so cheap in Bali, a 1 hour body massage was the equivalent of about 10 Euro or AUD. It was bliss! I came out feeling all refreshed and conked out the minute my head hit the pillow!!

Day 3

After another morning of chilling pool-side (it never got old!) – I took a walk to Seminyak Square. Reception advised me to get a taxi or it was a 10 minute walk. I decided on the latter and was very sorry!!! It was about 36 degrees and insane humidity and I was walking through the locals houses practically to find Seminyak Square (thanks google maps!). Seminyak definitely lived up to its name having lovely boutiques – there were some amazing shops and restaurants! And I know that I do better in shops than haggling...you will see why in a later on!

After taxi-ing it back – I made best use of the free wifi and tv for a few hours, this hotel really was a gem! Then got ready for dinner.. I walked down the street where I was staying around 6pm and all these cars beep constantly..which I first thought was super rude! But thats just taxis asking if you want a taxi! Also – I learned early on in the holiday- wear sunglasses day and night..this is so you don’t have to make eye contact with the 500 locals who want you to see what they are selling on their stalls!

I settled on a nice Indonesian restaurant attached to another brand new hotel. The lady asked would I like to sit poolside , and I said why not. I didn’t realise I would practically be in the pool having my dinner! It was a lovely restaurant and the service was amazing. Tipping is not huge in Bali  - but I had read they were on horrendously low wages – so this night I tipped the waitress  50000 rph – this is about 5 AUD.  She couldn’t really understand why I was tipping that much and explained to me that 50000rph is more than a day’s wages for her. This was a little upsetting – but at least I helped in some way

Day 4

Another morning of tannage by the pool and continuing the detox! After this I got a taxi into Legian/ Kuta to do some shopping. Seminyak is the most up market of the three areas – but Kuta did have a Mac donalds!! Its the small things in life when you are subjected to noodle breakfasts every day!!
Kuta and Legian are very westernised areas – with all fast food chains, big hotel names and shops like Rip Curl in them. Kuta is where I tried my hand at haggling...oh jaysis. I wanted a pair of dodgy D&G Sunglasses – and I innocently said – how much are these? He said – how much you buy for? I was like eh I dunno?? After a long awkard silence he said 100000 (so 10 euro) – I was like no thanks. Then I said – how much for 4 pairs? And he said 100000....done deal! So now I have last seasons, this seasons and next seasons Dolce And Gabbana dodgy sunnies before Dolce or Gabbana even know what they look like!

Feeling like I was a haggling pro – I stopped in another few places but just couldn’t bring myself to buy Nik runners ;) Eventually I stopped at a dodgy DVD place- where the sign said buy 10 get 4 free...and this meant 14 dvds for very cheap! Most of the DVD’s are movies that are still in the cinema or just out of it. On purchasing 14  - and realising I don’t have a DVD player with me in Bali – I thought to myself she has probably sold me 14 blank DVD’s! Not a bad days shopping at all!

Day 5

My last day in Seminyak – so I said I would break a bad habit and decided to sunbathe for the day!!  I went back to the beach for another sunset and some dinner before returning back to my lovely hotel room to pack. Only to find a little lizard..when I say little I mean..tiny. But I roared cos I aint a fan. At which point 3 male staff came running to my room expecting to see a scene from CSI. No just a little lizzie!! They kindly got rid of it...but it was right by my suitcase. I couldn’t but think – what if his brother or sister got left behind and was still in my case!! So I carefully unpacked and re-packed everything just to make sure!!

Day 6 – Seminyak to Lemgongan

Up early to leave Seminyak – I had booked a boat transfer to Nusa Lembongan (an island 30 minutes from Bali) so a driver came to pick me up. We drove for about 40 minutes where I got to see the “real bali” again. Lots of hands flailing in the air and total gridlock moments!! We arrived at Sanur Beach – which is far prettier than Seminyak beach! I boarded the Scoot Cruise speedboat along with a couple of locals! 30 minutes later we arrived at Lembongan – wow. We passed “Devil’s Tears” – which is where waves crash against cliffs and cause natural waterfalls to stream down the walls constantly.

                                             Where I got out of the water (nearly had to swim ashore!)

There are no cars allowed on Lembongan, no supermarkets or shops. This was going to be a strange couple of days! I hopped into the back of a make shift convertible hi-ace type van with all my bags!! We arrived at my hotel – Pondok Jengalla, which was pretty to say the least. All the villas face onto the pool and there is a pool bar J But....no TV in my room!! This bothered me initially – but then I remembered where I was – and that there was lots of things to see and do so I got over it fairly lively! Met a lovely Polish couple – Kasia and Michal – we had a lot of laughs before they jetted off to Kuala Lumpar for the next part of their adventure!

Day7 – Lembongan

Decided that I had enough pool time and rented a bike (of the non motorised variety) to discover what Nusa Lembongan had to offer. I set off about 11am...smart right – about the hottest time in the day!! Turns out – Lembongan is rather hilly!! I saw some beautiful temples and the Balinese people are so welcoming showing you around their villaes. It was well worth the traumatic bike ride when I arrived at Sandy Beach and the view of the beach was wow – the waves were massive hitting the shore! I cycled to the very top of a hill and got a fabulous picture of this small island..See pics below! I arrived back dehydrated and shell-shocked to lie by the pool!

I was lucky enough to meet 4 loverly English girls on their holliers (Thanks Lindsay, Helen, Jo and Helvie!) – and my trip to Lembongan turned into a great girly hol! We met two of their friends – Elise and Phil for dinner on the other side of the island (where the posh people stay!).

Day 8 – Snorkelling Safari

We were up at the crack of dawn to go on a snorkelling safari – was a lot of fun! The two places we snorkelled in had so many colourful fish (I really should invest in an underwater camera!). 

Found nemo again! We went to watch the sunset from Scooby Doos Bar – awesome sunset. And another big get together for dinner in Pondok Baruna (amazing food...although some of us got spicier dishes than we wished for). Bali is just so reasonable – for 9 people for dinner and drinks (Bintang!) and desserts – it was about 8 AUD each!

Day 9 – Trip to Mushroom Beach

We lay by the pool in the morning and then got a little Hiace to drop us over to Mushroom Beach – again the other side of the island – where “the other half” holiday! Some amazing resorts to stay in – just maybe a tad out of the backpacker budget! We chilled by the pool bar that evening and then re-visited the same restaurant as evening before (it was that good!)

Day 10 – The girls gallivanted off to Gili T to party and I headed back to the mainland that afternoon. About an 1hour into a VERY choppy journey I was glad to arrive to Sanur beach – little did I know I would nearly be swimming ashore getting off the boat – lesson – don’t have 4 hand luggage items getting off the boat!

I arrived at my 3^rd and final hotel of the trip – Baleka Beach Resort..again wow (or so I thought)! I have been so lucky with the hotels I have picked-  one has been nicer than the next! Very chilled evening and purchased some more Balinese souvenirs (dodgy sunnies and bintang vests!)

Day 11 – Holiday Over and last minute drama!!

Last day pool side – checked out of my room, all luggage with me by the pool. Decided to take one last dip in the brand new pool....so I tip tioed over to the pool - and ridiculously UNGRACEFULLY fell down 4 steps into the pool. Foot went black and blue up my leg to my knee. DISASTER!!! I managed to hobble to the airport and hide my mangled foot for fear they wouldnt let me fly Air Asia!! Landed in Perth Airport at 2am and had to be up at 6am for work. Night of Mary!

3 days of work and then the rest of the month off! After 2 days of hobbling - the nurses I work with convinced me my "bruised" leg was actually a "broken" leg. So I was forced to visit ED (casualty) in Perth. Well it was an experience to say the least - felt like Galway A&E!! 3 Nurses, a McDreamy look-a-like and 8 X rays later.... no broken bones! Just a bruised left leg - and a bruised ego that I fell into a pool sober!

So my last weekend in Perth was very tame - had the bestest sleepover in Barbaras house and got to spend time with THE cutest 6 month old going...Baby Hannah.....check her out with her yummy mummy Barbara!

Next stop Melbourne and Sydney before I head back to the Emerald Isle!

Hope you all learned a bit about Bali in the blog and that you all see it for yourselves some time! x

Perth City Antics

Hello one and all,

Its been a while - probably about 8 weeks! Lots has been happening - but as I have been in Perth for the last two months I said I wouldnt bore you guys with my daily routine!!

After landing back from the adventure of a lifetime (3 natural disasters in one week and a travel insurance company that now hates me!) - I decided it was time to knuckle down and do some work to get some final funds for the last leg of the trip! We spent a few days hanging around with the West Coast Trip crew before they all jetted off to other parts of Oz or back home...it was sad saying bye to everyone :( But a gang of us headed out for the 1st Six Nations Game! Off to Rosies for Ireland vs Wales! Brilliant night was had - had to be up at the crack of dawn for an interview, not so good!

After about a week on the job hunt (not gonna lie there was also time spent on Perths amazing beaches also!) - I got a job working in HR for a month smack bang in the city centre. So off I pottered to work and first nice surprise - the bank is located in the same building as Rio Tinto. Wink Wink. Lotsa hotties in the mining industry. Really enjoyed my time working with HR - I even got extended for an extra couple of weeks, so I must have done something right!

Whilst in job mode - I said why not get back into gymming it.....wink wink again, SO many people workout after work. A lot of male lookers to oogle over. Sha-wings!! For all you gals wondering where this place is - Murray Street Fitness First!

After my 1st two (tough) days in work...nat...we headed off to Margaret River. This is a place about 3 hours south of Perth and is just filled with winery after winery! Lisa M came over from Sydney and joined myself, Ronan, Leona, Tommy, Emer and Will on a weekend of wine and fun! We set off super early on a Sat morning and visited about 6 (possibly 7!) wineries, it got a bit blurry at the end! Wow...they were amazing. Free wine all around!! We visited a chocoloate factory and a liquer factory to finish off the day! After a lovely dinner in Mgt River, the boys took to the bar to watch some boring footie and us girls went to another Vineyard in the dark. Im sure you are all saying....hmmm...too many vineyards?! But no...we were going to see an outdoor movie (but we did also indulge in wine...when in Margaret River and all that!). The outdoor movie was very american indeed and very enjoyable and different. Definitely not something that could be done at home!

The next day we headed to yet another vineyard for brekkie and hit the beaches in Margaret River while the lads went caving! We hit the road to get back to Perth and our grown up lives (well grown up-ish!) on Sunday evening. We are still living in hostels, there is a huge shortage of rental accommodation in Perth as there is a mining boom at the moment. Most hostels are what are known as "working hostels" where most of the people staying in the hostels are working in the city or on sites. And when I say "most people" - I mean they are 99% Irish aswell! We've made heaps of friends here and feel like we have a Perth family!

Speaking of family - I met up with some family while I was here too! Emily and Rachel (my little sisters) have cousins living out here. So I met up Ronan (the cousin!) and his fiancee for dinner and drinks.. they kindly invited me to their wedding so I will get to experience and Irish Ozzie wedding too!

A week later, I turned another year older (probably not wiser), and we rounded up the troops for a great night out! The gang spoilt me rotten with massive fondue treats, making me dinner, ample amounts of chocolate cake and bubbles! Photos from the night out below!

Week 3 in work - and it was all going really well, my team are so nice. Come Friday evening I was invited to "Boardroom drinks"...very google like indeed! But I wasnt complaining...my boss then thought it would be a nice idea for me to join them on the after work boat cruise (otherwise known as a 4 hour booze cruise).
Rule Number 1 - dont get drunk in front of your boss....well what if its your bosses fault you end up on the other side of tipsy?  It was a fab cruise up to fremantle with copious amounts of corona and a great way to get to know all the work peeps (pity Im leaving :( ). Another Six Nations Game in Rosies - its nearly a tradition now! View from the cruise in the photo below....

Week 4 in Perth and Grown Up Life - More of the same really, more work and less play (decided to take a break from the daily wine consumption this week..it was becoming ridiculous!). We all went out for dinner in Sienas for a family night out during the week, 12 of us I think - all friends from the 1st hostel we stayed in! Marie works in the restaurant, lucky her -the food is yummy and they were really nice to us.
This week we moved to a new hostel ( I use this term lightly - its not new compared to the lovely one we were in, in fact its very old and possibly haunted, but cheaper!). Location is still great and its still only 5 minutes to work! When Alan helped move all our stuff from A to B he reckons no suitcase could be as heavy as mine and Bryony's and that we've possibly cut up ex boyfriends and the likes and are carrying them around with us! Now now Alan....who would do something crazy like that!

Week 4 Weekend - The Woods-Gilmore Wedding
Woke up of a very sunny and super hot Saturday morning and got the glad rags on. Probably not the wisest idea to wear a sight black wooly dress when its near 40 degrees out! The boys kindly agreed to drop me to Caversham House where the wedding was taking place. This place is stunning - everything about it was just perfect - like something out of a fairytale! The bride- Vicki looked just fab and her new hubbie Ronan scrubbed up ok too!! It was an amazing day - made lots of new friends (Barbara and Mike get a special mention ;) ) and  the unlimited bubbly resulted in an almighty hangover the next morning. The photos just speak for themselves here...

Week 5
More work and more play! Really begin to settle into Perth and love life here! Could maybe even see myself living here (Sorry Mammy!) - but of course then everyone could visit. We are stilling living it up in the Britannia Hostel - where Auntie Po follows us around like our mother and us Irish are a major ethnic minority in the kitchen. I shall say no more!
I finished up in HR in the city this week - awhhh....I will miss those guys - yes Suzie I shall! You never know though - our paths may cross again! Great experience of working in the hustle and bustle in Perth that I was very grateful for! Myself and the Gilmores took off to the races - where as usual I lost my shirt! But really fun night was ha!

Week 6
Highlight of this week was visit Rottnest Island. Yes the name aint the nicest - but just 30 minutes from Perth its a very well kept secret! Its an island with white sand and clear blue waters, I know Ive seen a lot of these lately - but its awesome that its so close to the city! Rotto (as its known) has funny looking creatures unique to the island called quokkas - they are like mini kangaroo-esque rodents. Fabulous right. Well I would have taken pictures for ye- but someone (no actually sure who) sat on my camera and the screen smashed one fine night out in Northbridge- and its now a surprise camera cos I cant see the pictures I am taking!! So no quokkas! I did get some snaps on the trusty Iphone though. Thanks Caroline and Phil for putting up with my whinging and dry wit as we cycled around the island for hours!! Lots of fun was had and we finished the day off with a nice glass of Moscato (my new favourite drink!)

Myself and the girls (Marie, Brid, Bryony, Leona and Nicole) had a little BBQ in Kings Park. Very grown up indeed - the facilities in Perth are amazing. Its such a pretty city - I am like a Trip Advisor ad now so I will stop!

Week 7 - Paddies Day!
Although Paddies was the highlight...I was "lucky enough" to land a 2 week temping assignment before I go away again. Mother-a-god. I went from talking all business and dealing with hotties in suits....to screaming down the phone to old people who A) cant hear me as most of them are near deaf or B) cant undertand my "foreign accent". I was working in an aged care office - doing project managementy stuff....very entertaining. They even had the stupidity to put me on reception for a while, well I hung up on more clients than I could count.

2 days of work and I was bloody well delighted it was Paddy's Weekend! The Irish were out in force...lots of proud Irish sporting green white and orange slash gold! We hit Northbridge relatively early in the day -without sounding like we have a drink problem - I can confirm wine was consumed at breakfast time. We stayed in Rosie O Gradys all day and all night - very Irish indeed. Thats all really ;)
This was followed by a Sunday Session in "The Cure" - our local - which didnt let us down either, brilliant Trad Session - sure you couldnt feel homesick.
Only to be followed by a Monday in Work - screaming on the phone again!!!

Week 8
Last week before I jet off on my holidays....we did the usual "out" on a Saturday night. Nearly Died on a Sunday weekend. I said goodbye to my lovely friends Caroline and Philip - who I met on my very first day travelling in New Zealand, when I had never ever stayed in a hostel! Will be seeing them very soon though!

Also - couldnt go without mentioning - this week we had a very momentous occasion....our Brid landed a job in the same hip-happening company I work in, so she gets to shout at old people from an office closer the city. Bitch. Anyway - great day for the Parish when all four of us got up for work in out room!

Packing me bags for travelling to Bali on Friday night - 2 weeks of Sun and Spa's (I mean beauty Spa's :) ).... SJtheTraveller is going solo for the first time - so send out the search parties if I am not back in two weeks!!

One more Blog on Bali....and then guess who is making her way back to the Emerald Isle!

Happy Blogging.....

xxxx

I'm in the Outback....Get me Outttaaaa here!!!!

Day 1 Friday 20th January - Early Start to leave Lorraines lovely house (Thanks Lorraine and the lads for putting me up for my 1st few days!), then I was off to the Barrack Street Jetty to start a 14 day West Coast Adventure. This trip goes from Perth all the way to Broome and back again...5000kms which is like Dublin to Moscow! Anyway - all aboard the "truck" that was to transport us for the two weeks and we quickly started to get to know one another. Ronan has joined me on the west coast adventure too!
1st stop on tour was the Pinnacles..got off the bus to this burst of 45 degree desert heat. Nightmare! If only I knew what was to come after that! The Pinnacles are really cool formations of calcite (I may or may not have made that word up!). Went for a bit of a walk and off again on the road. We stopped at a really nice beach for lunch and then went onto our overnight accomodation in Horrocks. All of our food and accomodation was included...but the downside was that we had to prepare and cook it! Ronan and I were on cooking duty (one would think that would have meant I was off the hook for 2 weeks then...oh no!). No-one really slept cos of the heat - and Lucy informed us all that "wet t-shirts" were to way forward to cool down! Ronan was in his element! Also did I mention there were 13 girls on tour and only 2 lads!

Day 2 - Ryan our tour guide very kindly got us up at 5am for breakfast! Then it was another long day on the road. We arrived at Kilbarrie National Park where we walked to Natures Window (see photos!) - very pretty indeed. We then went on a hike in ridiculously hot weather, which I most definitely did not have the right gear for. My pink runners were definitely a bad idea when nearly everyone else had hiking boots! We hit a very Aussie roadhouse for a BBQ for lunch and then drove a couple more hours to Shell Beach. Name is particularly apt - given that its just a beach covered with shells! We stayed in Denham for the night and had Air-Con Gate 2!!

Day 3 - 6am start today! Off to Monkey Mia - this is a place where you can swim with dolphins and if your very lucky you get to feed them....guess who got picked to feed them! Yep - I sure did!Lovely relaxing morning followed by a 700km drive to Coral Bay! I see a pattern emerging here...super early starts and very long drives with not very much to see but outback!

Day 4 - Staying in Coral Bay - a really nice beach resort with a pool. Flashpacking again! We signed up to a morning snorkelling trip in Coral Bay and off we headed on a glass bottom boat. Note - and I didnt only find this out AFTER the event..but a snorkeller got his arm bitten off my a shark in Coral Bay! The snorkelling was amazing - we did swim with reef sharks in a "shark cleaning station" where little fish clean the sharks teeth and skin. Very cool indeed. There was amazing coral and really cool fish too! Except for the bloody eejit who threw fish food into the water as I got in the water. I nearly lost my life (and by bikini) in the process.
After snorkelling we made our way back to the resort where we met our driver. This is we were about to get news of the 1st natural disaster! Karijini National Park (the reason most of us did the trip) had to be suddently closed due to torrential rain and flooding! We were due to camp there for 3 nights. Which also meant we were homeless for the last few days of the trip! We stayed on in Coral Bay for another night until the tour company could devise another plan for us!

Day 4 - Stranded in Coral Bay! - We went on a guided snorkel in Turquoise Bay. Forgetting the fact that half of us nearly drowned cos our snorkelling gear was faulty, it was actually like swimming in an aquarium - with amazing fish, turtles and sharks! So being stranded in Coral Bay wasnt so bad! Visited the Tropic of Capricorn (a sign really!)

Day 5 to 8! - We drove from Coral Bay two Exmouth. We stopped off at the local "shopping centre" where we heard the locals talking about the cyclone that was coming. So of course we all started panicking and started asking our driver the 21 questions! Cue - the 2nd Natural Disaster coming our way! Cyclone Iggy was fast approaching - the last time a cyclone hit Exmouth it flattened the whole town. So these things arent looked on lightly! We just had to wait and see!
One of the nights in Exmouth - Ryan brought us to a Turtle Beach - January is in the middle of mating season for turtles - so after sunset the huge female turtles drag themselves out of the water onto shore and lay about 100 eggs! Only a very small number survive as they get eaten by crabs and sharks :( We did see two tiny turtles just hatched make their way to the water for the first times. Probably one of the cutest things I have ever witnessed!

Day 3 in Exmouth we found out about the Evacuation Order that was put on all of Exmouth. We decided to ignore it! And we stayed on another night...our tour joined by another Western Xposure trip being the only people on the campsite!!
4.30am - we got a knock on the door to say - get up and get the hell out! So the early mornings were now turning into late nights! We all packed up and had yet another meeting...to tell us that we cant go any further north (so no Broome trip!) due to the cyclone. So we all boarded the bus dismayed and made our way back to Perth

Day 9 - we travelled 700km back down to Carnarvon - the town that everyone was being evactuated too. The place was jammers - and for this reason we got put up in the fawlty towers of hostels! 45 degrees and no air-con - well it was like a flipping refugee camp! We were stuck in Carnarvon due to the Bushfires down south (yes that would be the 3 natural disasters in just over a week!). My insurance company are going to just love me!

We got woken at 5am to see if the road would re-open so we could return to Perth..no joy..hourly checks were in place until 8am...at which point we were rushed onto the bus and took off! We spend from 8am until midnight on the bus....fun times! So lots of times to say goodbye to all the crew on the trip! Although the itinerary didnt go to plan - I made some fantastic friends who I will no doubt stay in touch with...so a big thanks to...Lina, Lucy, Kathrin, Kay, Celine, Elene, Ilana, Maike, Floriane, Diane, Claudia, Lukaz, Ronan and Ryan! No dramas!!!

Im in Perth Now - on the lookout for some work (will be a foreign feeling after Fiji and WA!)...over half way through my travels so you guys will be seeing me soon at home!
SJ xxx