Done
Finished my exams, booking all the random stuff for the trip back to the states. Ayer’s Rock, Great Barrier Reef, and New Zealand, here I come!
Rottnest Island is pretty sweet
Gyroscope
Saw these guys live on Thursday in Bunbury, a town about 180km south of Perth. I was invited by my friend Jakeb and his friend Hayden, big time fans of the band, after hearing only one song. Overall, it was a great show, and Gyroscope definitely got the crowd rockin’.
After the show, I got to talk to a few of the band members and their drummer signed my shirt. Great night, and great music.
Bali 3 - The Best of the Rest
It’s been two weeks since I was in Bali, and I’ve been really slow updating this blog about it. Since promptness clearly isn’t one of my strong points, I’m going to try to condense what I haven’t said about Bali yet in this final blog post about it.
After a late night on the town, I woke up Wednesday night just as the last adventure group was leaving for white water rafting. Just my luck, right?
While we weren’t too thrilled that we had to have a local guide get in our raft with us, the second we hit the water none of that mattered anymore. We were in the Indonesian jungle, and it was glorious.
Every hundred meters or so we’d spot a waterfall along the cliffs we were rafting between. The chatter of monkeys and exotic birds filled the air, and every now and then we’d catch glimpses of cute Indonesian children coming down to the water to play or bathe. I hadn’t eaten all day, but the sights and sounds of the jungle were satisfying my every need. A stop at a riverside market for a beer and a cigarette in the middle of the Indonesian jungle helped, too. But the rafting trip had two unforgettable moments:
First, we came to a stop by a large waterfall, and our tour guide gave us the go ahead to give it a climb. Who would refuse that opportunity? Not these guys.
And second, the end of our rafting trip consisted of a 5 meter drop off of a dam. Nothing says intense like the guide hopping out, telling us to lean back and hold on, and then screaming “Good luck!” as the roar of the water began to drown him out. Amazing stuff.
Another series of adventures across the island of Bali took us to a variety of cool places. First, there was the Barong dance, a cultural Balinese dance symbolizing the endless struggle of endless evil.
Oh, and Indonesian dick jokes. Gotta love em.
After the Barong dance we got to see how batiks, a cool type of fabric, are made. It’s a pretty intimate process, but very cool to watch.
We took another temple tour, this time a place that was focused around baths of blessed water. Again, another touristy temple, but with really cool fountains and statues.
After that, we took a trip to a cafe overlooking an active volcano. The food was amazing and the view was unbelievable. If we had come a bit earlier in the morning we could have taken a full-day climb of the volcano, but the view alone was worth the hours of driving.
There were so many little things about Bali that I loved, but it would take too long to actually talk about each and every bit. Here are some more pictures, and if any of them really speak to you ask me about. I’ll definitely be down to relive the experience.
Bali 2 - Temples, Temples, Temples!
When we weren’t kicking it on the beach of Kuta or relaxing in the pool of the Flora, our Perth group went out on tours and adventures through temples, jungles, and even towns overlooking active volcanoes.
The original plan that Kelsey and Jess had in mind for our tour of some of Bali’s temples was to rent mopeds and drive ourselves there. After Connor and I got dropped off in a back alley while trying to haggle for rental mopeds and two scooters crashed after only 30 seconds, we decided maybe we should just hire a driver. And what a good idea that was. After a rough 2 hours, we were off.
Our first stop was the Pura Petitenget Temple. Compared to the other temples we encountered, it was a rather run-of-the-mill place, but that is not to say that it was boring to look at. The craftsmanship of the statues and stone structures was amazing, especially knowing that all of it was done by hand. One requirement of the temple was that we had to wear traditional Balinese religious garb, which was more or less a dress made out of thin fabric. Nothing like a little cross-dressing for the Perth guys.
The next two temples offered up some beautiful sights and unforgettable experiences. The firstwas a temple on a riverside that offered a great little forest walk right behind it. It was a very somber place and one of the most peaceful, tourist-free temples we saw.
The next temple was unforgettable for almost the exact opposite reasons. The temple itself was very small, but the area leading up to it had tons of monkeys roaming wherever they wanted. For 1000 rupiah (or roughly 10 cents American), we could get packets of peanuts to feed the monkeys with. After spending a solid 5 minutes trying to lure monkeys onto my shoulder with the peanuts, a monkey with a baby leapt up onto Mike’s shoulders before he could open his bag of peanuts. I was a little bit insulted. Of course, the biggest surprise of the day came from the ‘big boss’ monkey, as the guide called her. Kelsey, friendly as always, decided to flash her pearly whites at the monkey while sitting down next to her. Bad idea as it turned out, with the monkey showing her own teeth and plunging them into the arm of poor miss Behan. A few rabies shots later, and she’s good as new folks.
The last temple we went to was Tanah Lot, a temple built into a cliff facing the Indian Ocean. I could say a lot of things about just how beautiful it was, but I feel like it’s better to just show pictures of it. While we couldn’t actually go up to the temple itself, the views of the area itself was breathtaking enough.
All in all, the temples of Bali were amazing to behold. If you ever happen to be in Indonesia, don’t hesitate to check them out!
Bali - Part 1 - Kuta
So after writing up a little bit about my Bali vacation I realized I have way too much to say for one post. Expect a bunch of updates about this, because there were simply too many awesome things not to describe.
This past week was the mid-semester break here at UWA. What better way to spend it than by traveling up to Indonesia?
Stepping off of the plane Thursday night was unreal. Immediately we were bombarded with the sounds of Balinese music and the muddled English/Indonesian announcements. With visas paid for and passports stamped we prepared to begin our adventure. But not without a quick stop into a mens’ bathroom that had aquariums.
Getting to the hotel was the first of what would be a series of terrifying drives in Bali. I’d never been to Asia before so I was not used to seeing how little drivers cared for the rules of the road. Utterly ridiculous. After that first scary drive, we got to the Flora in Kuta and decided to call it a night.
The Flora was a nice base camp for us and Kuta was an interesting place to hole up for a week. Venders were everywhere. You could find them selling cheap watches, hats, tank-tops, and more for as low as you could barter literally every two steps. Over the course of the week, we managed to get the hang of talking their prices and down and we were buying clothes and shades at about a dollar per item. Some of us even bought blowguns for 2 bucks. Bartering was just our thing.
Another great thing about Kuta was the beach. Kuta Beach was designed for tourists, and wherever you walked you were sure to get invitations for a nice cold one, surf lessons, or massages. So naturally, we all had to hit the waves every now and then. The swell was better than Margaret River, and I really started to get the hang of it. By the third day, I was standing 60% of the time and even managing to carve every fifth wave or so. And, most surprisingly, I got my first tan. Bali really pulled out all the stops to impress.
Look for more stuff to come, I think I’ve procrastinated enough for one night.
The Beards
On Friday night a few of us decided to go out to the two bars Margaret River has. After a rather disappointing first stop at the Bar Hotel, the gang came across Settler’s Tavern, and it was bumpin’. But nothing could prepare us for what lay behind the small doorway leading to the main room.
Blazing riffs and chords entranced us as we stepped into the main bar. Suddenly, a gruff, commanding voice informed us “Kings of Leon Shaved Their Beards, and Now They Are Shit.” Bewildered, we turned to the stage and then we saw them:
Behold The Beards.
These guys were hilarious. Every song of theirs is about beards, and all of them are amazing. Because of our first bar stop we were only able to hear four songs. But what glorious songs they were. When at last it appeared the show was over, out came the frontman with a saxophone, preparing to serenade us with both lyrically and melodically. And that’s when they played ‘Born With A Beard,’ the new official song of the Perth group.
Skip to 2:40 in this link to understand how ridiculous our night became:
http://vimeo.com/groups/8053/videos/22713607
As they were closing out the song, the crowd started chanting ‘BEARDS BEARDS BEARDS’ and stroking the beards of the frontmen.
Needless to say, we bought their CD and got it signed.
And one for the road: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOXM-GbhpCQ
Margaret River
This weekend we took our third ND-sponsored field trip down to the Margaret River south of Perth. The area, compared to the parts of Australia we’ve seen thus far, is so lush and beautiful it’s ridiculous. Margaret River has become known in the last 40 years for two things: wine and surfing. So naturally, we were all pumped to read in our itinerary that on the last day of the trip we would get to surf and take a tour of a winery. We just had to make it to that last day. Challenge accepted.
Friday morning we set out at around 7 in the morning in a coach bus. Our first stop was a huge natural rock formation on the coast. Martin, one of our advisers, gave us only 20 minutes to explore. We chose to ignore that and scampered around the rocks and crags for almost an hour.
Salt spray from the ocean whipped us and slippery footing battered us, but we didn’t care. More and more people took off the beaten path and climbed the rocks to their top in search of the perfect picture. Simply put, this place was way too cool for the amount of time we were given to “have a think about it.”
I’d say we had a pretty sweet think about it.
It wasn’t all fun and games while we stayed at the Margaret River. We ended up having several long talks with city planners and other locals who discussed the big issues affecting the area. One of the big problems that locals are facing is the possibility of a coal mine springing up in the area. Naturally, we had to listen to 5 different people tell us that this was bad for the environment of the area. Minds were blown. Apparently, getting coal in aquifers is bad news bears.
On Saturday we set out on a canoeing trip up the river as a way to learn a little bit about the town’s heritage.
After several boating accidents and some trading of rowers between boats, we settled in for a couple of stories from our tour guide. The first dealt with some Aborigine myths regarding a grove of paper-bark trees. The Aborigines used to go into this little grove and put their sorrows into them, hoping the wind or the current would carry them away.
We also got to spend some time enjoying some of the early foods European settlers ate when they first arrived at Margaret River. After trying out a few berries and nuts, we settled for good old emu and kangaroo sandwiches with Tasmanian black pepper chutney. Kangaroo has officially moved up to one of my favorite animals, alive or dead. After canoeing back the way we came, we got fitted for wetsuits and went back to the hostel we were staying at for dinner. We went to bed early, knowing that we’d need to be well-rested if we were going to wake up at 7AM for surfing the next day.
Surfing was ridiculous. We were given a 20 minute crash course on what we needed to do to stand up, and needless to say it was a trial by fire once we got on the ocean. I’ve snowboarded and skateboarded, but even that didn’t really prepare me for standing on the surfboard when the wave started taking me. I managed to stand up after about an hour and a half of trying, but afterwards I had so little strength that I couldn’t even get myself out of the tide for another 10 minutes. Everyone had a great time watching me take a step towards the beach, only to eat it when a wave came crashing down on me, drawing me back into the salty sea.
One thing that became very apparent for surfing was that you either had it,
or you didn’t. (He did actually stand up, this was just a great picture)
After a few hours of getting beaten by waves and mediocre weather, we set out for our final destination: the winery.
After a successful day of surfing, I’d say we were all excited to begin our wine tasting tour. Before that though, we had one of the best lunches of any trip we’ve been on while at Perth.
Unfortunately, it turned out that our tour of the winery was just that: a tour. We didn’t end up tasting any more wine than the one glass shown in the picture, but all in all the stop at the winery was a satisfying one. I have one more thing to say about a discovery we made on the trip, but that’s reserved for its own post later. All in all, the Margaret River was a fantastic trip that wouldn’t have been possible if not for our great advisers Martin and Jane that ND had picked out. Love thee, Notre Dame!
Oh, and this happened. Whoops.
Jumpin on the bandwagon
I figured I would start up a blog just to keep up to date on all the goings on of everybody else abroad. Admittedly it’s a little late for me to start getting into things I’ve done while in Perth, since it’s almost the half-way point of our semester, but I’ll try to be as retrospective as I can later. For now I’m just gonna get a hang of all this tumblr stuff.
Just for the sake of having a conversation starter: here’s me chillin’ with an emu. Emus love me.
