mom! perth!

picking up mom from the airport was somewhat of an adventure.. i didnt bother to get her flight information or anything. all i knew was she was coming in from north america "around 6am". thinking to myself on the way to the airport "how many flights could possibly be coming from north america at this time of day"?

well.. quite a lot...

14 to be exact. after 35 minutes of running back and forth between 2 gates i finally called Brett and got her flight number, and eventually we found each other. We stayed in Sydney for the night and the next day we jumped on the Indian Pacific railway to perth! Its a 3 1/2 day journey from coast to coast (hence the name), and we were lucky enough to have a sleeper car. Its pretty expensive, but sitting in a seat with no bed or shower for 3 days did not appeal to either of us. Our room was somewhat different than we expected. It was quite small, and the bathroom was *just big enough for me to have a shower in. The toilet and sink both folded down from the wall, thats a whole different story there.. The scenery was amazing, but after a while we realized that mostly old people take senic railways, and there wasnt much to do besides eat and read. Now normally im fine with this but by the 2nd day i was starting to get a bit antsy. It was really amazing though, and we're both glad we went... but we'll probably never go again

We had a car rental set up, and mom was (understandably) nervous about driving on the opposite side. Since im too young and "misplaced" my licence several months ago, i was the navigator. After a couple minor incidences (mom turning into the wrong lane, hitting the curb, me getting us lost a couple times) she was totally rocking the bizzaro driving and my sense of direction has improved. We're at my cousins house right now, he's in the National Police, and is away 4 months at a time so we dont get to see him, but his wife Deb and their daughter Taylor have made us completly at home, and perth is a really beautiful place. I wish i could stay on the west coast longer but its really expensive to get over here, so not many backpackers venture this way.

Tomorrow we're off to Margaret River, which is the wine region. Theres all sort of nature walks and caves to be explored.. and of course the wineries!

Coober Pedy, Adelaide, Sydney. whew

Well it's been a busy couple of days.. i left Alice at 7 on tuesday morning for Coober Pedy. We got in around 6pm which gave us just enough time to take a tour of an underground home and for me to rush out and take as many pictures as i could. its a pretty crazy place. The lady giving the tour said that 50% of the population lives underground. No one is really sure what the population is. According to the tax office, its 100. The post office says 4000... Im fairly enraptured with the whole lifestyle. getting and underground home dug costs about 70 000$, and take about 3 days. Housing is SO expensive here, so thats as much a bargin as youll ever find. The tempurature is an almost constant 24C, even when its 50+ outside. theres no need for heating or air conditioning. the only downside is the dust, and the its musty smelling. Im sold. Opal mining is illegal in the town, so the people who have underground homes do a lot of "renovating" and if they just happen to find opal in the process its theirs to keep! Apparently theres a house in town with 21 bedrooms..

Wednesday we left Coober Pedy at 6am. our first stop was a giant salt lake, called Lake Hart. its about 120km, and from far away it looks a bit like snow... then we went for a walk on it, and its about half an inch layer of salt on top of the lake bottom. If anyones ever seen the movie "Nothing", thats sort of what it reminded me of. There was an old dock with pillars still stuck in the ground.. kind of eerie actually.. We got into Adelaide at dinner time, which was perfect, because the hostel i stayed at just happens to have free BBQ night on wednesdays!

This morning i was up just before 5 (yes.. AM) to catch my flight to sydney, and now here i am.. impatiently waiting for my room to be cleaned so i can have a nap. Tomorrow morning im picking mom up from the airport and then we're off to perth the next day! Im so excited, i cant even sit still.

(just in case anyone was keeping track, thats 4 days in a row ill have been up before 6am)

Productivity is WAY up

I am sad to report that i am working my shift at global gossip! truely a sad day for me. ill have to actually start paying for internet again! blasphemy! one of my friends threw me a going away party last night, which was awesome. she even made me lasagne!

despite my sadness over leaving im really excited to be on the road again. I leave Alice on tuesday and take a bus to Coober Pedy, which is where opal was first discovered. it can get as hot as 50C through the summer, so most of the houses and hostels are underground! Im completly excited, even though im only there overnight. the next morning i take a bus to Adelaide, which is in South Australia and from there i fly to Sydney to meet mom! This is a pretty runaround way of getting to sydney, considering theres an airport in alice, but believe it or not all this was cheaper and ive been itching for a good road trip for a while now. Mom and i take the Indian Pacific railway to perth, which is a 3 day journey through the desert and im SO psyched for it. its like the ultimate australian experience. its also quite expensive, so thank god for moms!

in other news ive found a new way to amuse myself at work, and its called google earth. ive been really busy visiting the eiffel tower, the vatican. i had some trouble with the great wall of china though.. ive also been creepily looking at peoples houses, so next time your in your yard look up and wave!

Gadzooks!

Just when i thought i was starting to adjust to the weather...


Weather for Alice Springs NT
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39°C
ClearWind: W at 27 km/hHumidity: 4%
Sun39°C 22°C
Mon38°C 21°C
Tue37°C 21°C
Wed31°C 16°C

i mean this is just WAY too hot. my store has 2 air conditioners, but they might as well be off as far as i can tell. Gaz (my co worker) and i actually put a floor fan in the drinks cooler today, until the fridge started overheating (oops!). Last night, at around 930, it was still 30C. I had to drink a lot of beer to cool off, let me tell you

my job is going really well. with the exception of a few creeps, its one of the most painless customer service jobs ive had. the free internet is a nice perk as well...