...it's WHO you know.

Hey all. It's been awhile. A week or so if I'm correct? One week much longer than the previous. Well...let's get started.

My attempts at stifling my slight technology addiction have been somewhat successful, but I wouldn't deem this success a complete one. One night I caved and watched Rugby highlights, along with  a variety of other various videos, on Youtube. I have talked on the phone with my family and even started texting a little bit two days ago. One thing I have maintained is my abstinence of Facebook, which I strongly intend to continue. This has been, by far, my biggest challenge, but made much easier with the help of Marissa changing the password on my account. But once again, I have been somewhat successful in my eradication of less-than-productive technology in my life and I have since replaced the constant cacophony of clanging keys and cursor clicks with the persistent, paced turning of paperback pages sided with the soothing act of scrawling in my journal. I'm only a week into this, but I'm already feeling like my time is being spent more wisely.


Before I go on about how our adventure has unfolded, I've been thinking this thought, and I figure it's time to just write it all down. I'm seriously contemplating a tattoo. I know this isn't a big deal to many, but I've never dealt with any kind of body modification of my own so it is to me. I've always had an affinity for tattoos, but I've never really thought of anything that I would like permanently imprinted on my body, as many ideas are just fleeting. This changed a few weeks ago. I was just writing in my journal, as usual, one night, and this idea popped into my head and has just stuck. So here it is: I want a tree covering pretty much my whole right side from the hip up to my armpit. I want a vast network of branches and roots sprawling across my chest/back and hip, respectively. No other flora or fauna will be present. I want the branches to have leaves, but not all; somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 would be ideal. The roots will spread out over my hip, so the only people that see them are those I want to, not just anybody at the beach. These roots will all be interconnected, but there will be 4 main roots than stand out from the others. Each of these will have a single word inked into them. The four words are: Family, Friendship, Knowledge, Love. I'm sure it will take quite a bit of research to find an artist who would be able to give me the level of detail that I'm looking for, but I'm sure there are people out there with more than enough talent. I have found a few pictures that show the basic idea of what I'm looking for, but I'll save those for another time. I feel like pictures always dominate blogs. There are a few apparent meanings implied with this tattoo design, but there are more significant meanings that aren't so obvious. I'll let you figure them out for yourself =). Please tell me what you think of the concept. I've told a few people already and the feedback has been resoundingly positive, but I could always go for more.  It isn't really significant what other people think about it, as it won't change my mind about getting it, but I like to know what people think.


So. Down to business. I think Marissa left off with us going to sleep for our first night in Port Macquarie...And the sun came up. Since I've arrived in Australia my sleep schedule has changed dramatically. I now go to bed around 9 or 10 o'clock every night and get out of bed between 8 and 9 in the morning. I actually wake up around 6, and continue doing so about every half hour, but don't get up and going until I have to. This morning started like any other, but turned out to be one of my favorite thus far. We woke up around our usual time and grabbed a quick free breakfast before heading down to the beach, escorted by a really nice, friendly older gentleman. He drove us there in his tiny, fuel-efficient car all the while telling us about his life and giving us advice on how to live ours to the fullest. He was very sincere in telling me that the one thing I should take away from his ranting was that I should go to school and get an education if I want to go anywhere in life. Duly noted. Once we got to the beach we were instantly gratified with the sight of five dromedary (one hump) camels kneeling in the sand. After short introductions with the handlers and the quick installation of the proper safety gear (a helmet) on our persons, we were fully prepared to mount our Arabian steeds. They were saddled similarly to a horse, for the exception of the two-seated saddle which had metal bars to hold on to for balance, as opposed to the horn on a regular saddle. Now if you remember, these camels were all kneeling down in the sand while we got on them. I didn't really think about the getting up process. As soon as the trainer said the magic word, my new companion shot up from this position and I nearly fell off because I wasn't expecting it. Since camels really have a mind of their own, they were all tethered together to form one long line, I was 4th and Marissa 5th. Before we started walking I had to deal with #5's grill right next to my head for a bit, which wasn't too comfortable. Once we started our short trot up the coast it was pretty surreal. Riding on a camel is unique enough, but to top it off we were also treated to the sights of multiple whales about .5 km away and then a school(?) of dolphins right next to shore. I really had to focus on drowning out the predictable attempts at comedy by the handlers and just soak everything else in. It was absolutely wonderful. The 'ride' only lasted for about 30 minutes, but it was well worth the $1/minute price.


Our earlier chauffeur was primed and ready to go when we got back to the car, but he apparently had better plans for us than just returning us to the hostel. He took us all around, showing us the highlights of this quaint town and giving insight about what we should see and what isn't worth a second glance. This was really helpful, because it helped us orient ourselves for our later excursions, and I will never turn down a free ride around town. I thought that this was going to be everything but he headed back to the coast and took us up to the highest point in Port Macquarie: the lighthouse. For a chauffeur, this veteran was quite the tour guide. We had a much better view of the coast than anywhere else we had seen so far and once again we saw a school of dolphins playing at the base of the cliffs, and another whale making its way down south. This was possibly the best morning to date.


As soon as we actually returned to home base we rented bikes so we could see everything we wanted to see since we would really only have this once full day here. Our first destination: the art gallery. So far in every city, we have been to the art gallery and the library. This particular exhibit was my favourite thus far. They had a contest recently, which was open to anybody, to see who could take the best photograph of an invertebrate. There were walls lined with National Geographic-caliber photos, which were absolutely stunning. I had a hard time pulling myself away to continue ticking away the bullets on our daily to-do list. Next up was kebabs. Traditionally in the states when we hear kebab we think of shish kebabs, but these are entirely different animals. Basically it is your choice of meat, in this case chicken or lamb, wrapped in a tortilla along with sauce, cheese, lettuce, tomato, carrot, and whatever else you want. Put these all together and then grill it for a minute just to warm everything up. Props to Persia for propagating this particularly palatable dish.

After we sufficiently stuffed ourselves, we headed over to the city library. The Newcastle library was a little disappointing, so I wasn't expecting much from this one. I was actually pleasantly surprised by the size of this literary safe-house. I meandered through a few aisles before finding one with something worth reading. I usually end up looking through the religion section and this instance was no different. The religion section was actually merged with psychology so I got distracted by a book called 'Human Interactions' and for some reason a book by Bill Gates was right by that one, so I grabbed that as well. I read each for about 45 minutes. The Bill Gates one was interesting, because it was outlining how any business can be successful if they follow the guidelines in the book; it convinced me. I wish I had chosen Human Interactions earlier because once I started reading it I was completely engrossed. There haven't been too many subjects in school that interested me, but psychology was one of them. I read about shyness, jealousy, and love and I think it helped me understand my feelings and actions a little more comprehensively... well as much as a quick read of a book can help, anyway. Marissa had to rip me away from my new paper toy because it was time for a visit to the Koala Hospital.

I don't know why, but as Marissa explained earlier, every time I read or hear the phrase "Koala Hospital" I giggle a little bit. I think it's just the thought of those cute lil guys with cute little casts on their legs. But it's not just that. Imagine a full blown hospital... The interior of the building whitewashed from head to toe. Nurses assisting doctors holding important looking clipboards, even assistants wheeling discharged patients back out to their trees. Rooms fully equipped with the most modern lifesaving equipment available. And this...all for koalas!

The Koala Hospital is nothing like this. It's basically multiple pens of imitation forests for rehabilitating injured koalas. Yes, they had an ICU, but it wasn't in use and in reality they only employed one veterinarian, whom was on call, not actually on the premises. It was nice seeing them at such close proximity, but they really aren't a lively bunch; surprisingly the koala that moved the most was the one with only three legs. She climbed up to the very top of one of the tallest trees. Quite impressive. So overall the hospital was lackluster, but still a nice experience; nearly all of the people who work there are volunteers and just from a quick conversation you could tell how passionate they were about helping the local wildlife. I was nearly convinced that I should volunteer there until I  reminded myself that I was leaving the next day. Sad face. We had to return our bikes before sundown because they didn't have lights on them, but after visiting the koalas we had about an hour left of sunlight. We wisely decided to spend the remainder of our time bumming around the beach before heading back for the final time.

And the sun comes up again. We started this day just like any other moving day. We quickly packed all of our things after we had our free breakfast and after we made sure everything was in order, we returned our keys to the front desk and officially checked out. The nice thing about this hostel is that they let us leave our luggage in a back room for a few hours until the ride we had arranged earlier arrived. Most other hostels charge for this service, but luckily these people aren't in the ripping off business. So we had a few hours to burn before we were scheduled to head out, and I decided that we should spend them doing something productive, so we went back to the library. I, of course, found the book I had read the previous day and delved right into another chapter that seemed interesting: Communication. Marissa read poetry. We got to read for about two hours before we had to head back. I'm usually not so intent on learning about one subject, but now that I seemingly am, I'm contemplating pursuing an academic career in psychology? Just a thought, really.

Our ride arrived just as we did, so we grabbed our luggage and were on our way. This was the son of a couple that drove us to church last week and he was more than happy to help us out. All we asked for was a ride to the Pacific Highway so we could continue our hitchhiking trend, but he seemed to have other plans for us. He works in the penal system and, on a daily basis, associates with some of the worst criminals in the country. He figured hitchhiking wasn't the safest option for us and he vied for us taking the train instead. He insisted actually. He took us straight to the station and even bought our tickets for us. Mormons are so nice...seriously though. As luck would have it, a torrential downpour started as soon as we got onto the train and throughout the next two hours we overtook the storm and came out on the other side greeted by the pleasant, unhindered rays of the sun. We called our contact in Coff's Harbour and now here we are.

We are about a 3 minute walk from the beach but the landscape directly beyond their fence line is heavily wooded. Woodland jogs in the morning, surfing in the afternoon? Why not? Well that's where we are and where we will be for the next 5 days or so. If more stuff happens, we'll blog.

Back in the game,
Rob.

PS. As always, I apologize for any typos, fragments, or incomplete thoughts in this post. I was writing this in between finding new music to listen to on Youtube so I was switching back and forth a lot.

Masters of the road.

So I'm back. I being Marissa. I'm sorry if you're sick of hearing from me. I know how wonderful Robert is at writing. But he's being strict about his technology fast. And I'm really proud of him for it, so I'll be filling you in on our ruckusing for awhile.

We checked out of our hostel on Monday morning. Wait, let me backtrack. Quick summary.


I'd been to church the previous week in Newcastle, and got Robert to agree to go with me this week. Since I'd been before, I did some finagling, and found us a ride. I was glad, because it would save us time, and keep us from having to wait and walk in the pouring rain. And no one likes taking the bus. So a nice older couple picked us up and took us to church. The was a great meeting. I actually played the organ in sacrament, but that's another story. Robert came to Relief Society with me, which was great. The ladies were very kind, and it was nice to hear a low voice now and again. But after the meeting, Robert and I were talking about how we should get someone to take us home for Sunday dinner. It sounded awesome, but I didn't think it would happen. Then I was talking to this girl who served her mission in Utah, and we'd met the previous week. We ended up with an invitation to her sister's house for dinner that night. The missionaries were already coming over, so we might as well. It was a great night. It was the first time we'd been in a real house in over a month. I've never appreciated a home cooked meal so much. It was a good time.

Then the home teachers came over, one of whom is a guy named Paul Vowel. He told us about how he came from the UK to Australia years ago to do what we're doing now, and met the woman he married, and still hasn't seen Australia. We had a wonderful chat. He said he wished we were staying another day, because he'd love to have us over for dinner too. That offer just sounded too good...so Robert and I decided to try and find a way to stay an extra day. The problem was that our gig at the hostel was up, and they had new cleaners. So we either had to pay for another night, or leave. Neither of those suited our fancy. Luckily, Paul called later that night. He offered to let us spend the night at their house! It was too perfect.

So Monday rolled around, and we checked out as planned. His lovely wife, Deeann, and their 2 boys came and picked us up. We did some shopping, and Robert and Keegan (he's 4) became best friends. We had crumpets for lunch, and played with the kids. We made schnitzel for dinner, and had a lovely evening of good conversations and trying Australian sweets. Tim-Tam Slams are a new favorite, and I'm going to personally make sure they catch on back in the states.

We had an absolutely lovely time. We discussed our families, traveling, the gospel, and cooking. Deeann and I attempted to make macaroons, and failed. When I get home, anyone that wants to help me perfect them is welcome to. I'm going to master the macaroon, and I'll need taste testers. Applications will be available in early December.

So here's the best part: Despite my best efforts, I couldn't come up with a good way for us to get out of Newcastle. And these Novacastrians, as they call themselves, were just so nice. We were tempted to just stay longer! But one place for more than 2 weeks on a trip like this is unheard of. So we needed to leave, but didn't know how. So we decided we'd hitchhike.

After a great breakfast and a solid episode of Yo Gabba Gabba, we were ready to hit the road. We piled in the car, and headed toward the Pacific Highway to find a good place to begin. None of us had ever done this before, so we weren't really sure what we were looking for. We found a place on a long stretch with a wide shoulder, and had her drop us off. Getting a ride to hitch hike was a strange experience. But now here we were. We had a sign, and a few snacks, and our thumbs were fresh.

It took us about 40 minutes for someone to stop for us. He was a nice guy that stopped and told us he'd take us to a place where we'd have more luck. He drove us about ten minutes to a place where the highway split, and joined up with another. It only took about 20 minutes from there to get another ride. This time, we made it a lot farther. The couple that picked us up were very talkative. We discussed everything from weather to polygamists to Obama. They took us as far as they could, and let us go after about an hour. We got a fantastic lunch, and headed off to find another good spot.

Wait, side note. So in Australia, getting "the works" on a burger or sandwich is so much cooler than in the states. It includes: cheese, barbeque sauce, lettuce, tomato, onion, beet root, pineapple, avacado, cubumber, and sometimes egg. It's incredible.

Ok, back to the story. So we start walking, and realize that this is a terrible stretch of highway. We had to walk forever just to actually get to the highway, because there was on-ramp after on-ramp, so we were a few lanes away from the actual traffic. There were also a lot of curves, and some construction. So we walked forever. Then, a camper stopped! It was a younger pair, friends from the UK. One lived in Sydney, so the other was here on holiday to visit. Apparently you can find deals where you pay practically nothing for an RV, and you take it where the company needs it, if that makes any sense. So these friends were driving the camper to Brisbane within 5 days, and only had to pay $5 a day because they were helping out the company. It's something I'll look into when I'm over 25. But it was the best. We could walk around, and lay down. And they listened to great music. A new band that they had just discovered at a festival is called Kenny and the Giants. Now, it was really loud in the camper, so I didn't get a very good listen, but I'd recommend them from what I did hear. So in the lap of luxury, as far as hitch hiking goes, we made it 10 km from our destination, Port Macquarie. That's 6.2 miles for those of you who suck at the metric system. We could walk that, but we didn't want to. But we had a similar problem as last time. This highway was curvy, with a narrow shoulder. But we just started walking. We didn't even get the sign out or bust out our thumbs because there wasn't a good place for a car to stop. Yet, one did. There was a nice older gentleman that said he could tell we weren't from around here, pulling luggage along the freeway and all. So we put our stuff in the back of his truck, and fit into the one extra seat he had. And the truck was a manual, so my knees were all sorts of in the way. It was pretty awkward, but it was better than walking.

Another side note, that only a few of you that know me particularly well will get. I caved and bought flip-flops. Here, they call them thongs. But I haven't worn a pair in 4 or 5 years. I don't like them. But they're so practical for the beach, and my leather old lady shoes are literally falling apart. (Don't worry, I invested in some super glue, and they're whole again.) So I got some good ones. I paid $18 for them! What a travesty. They're pieces of plastic. But they're the cheapest ones I could find. I already have a sore on one foot because I'm not used to them. And being so smart, I wore them today. So the walking wasn't the most pleasant.

So, back to Port Macquarie, which we were finally in. We had to stop and get our map out of the back of the truck, because I couldn't actually remember where we were going. After a few U-turns, we found our hostel. We actually paid for accommodation for the first time since we left Sydney. Man, it's nice to stay for free. We paid for 2 nights, and went to relax. This place has a pool, hammocks, and a small theatre. Yeah, theatre. I've started adding extra vowels to some words, too: colour, harbour, favourite. It's silly, but it's what they do here. When it Rome, right?

This evening, we walked down to the shore and got the best fish n' chips I've ever had. Then we stopped at Cole's, the cheapest grocery store, and got OJ and kiwis. I'm addicted to kiwis for breakfast. They're incredible. I don't know if I just never noticed how good they are, or if they're significantly better here. But either way, Robert and I are both junkies. It's really hard to do grocery shopping, because we only have 2 days here, you know? So we get free breakfast, and we might just eat out for the other meals tomorrow. I discovered kebabs with some boys I hung out with in Sydney, and Robert still hasn't had one. The United States REALLY needs to have kebabs. They're Lebanese or something, and so delicious. It's like...the equivalent of middle eastern Cafe Rio or something. By the way, I want to get good mexican food ASAP when I get back if anyone wants to join me. Either Rio, or a taco stand in downtown SLC.

So I'm sorry, it's late, and tangents are inevitable. We came home, and watched Patch Adams. On VHS. Yeah, they don't have a single DVD. I haven't seen anything like it since...I lived at home. Haha. I think my parents still have more VHS than DVDs.

Wow, the paragraph apologizing for the tangents even turned into a tangent. I think that means I've been typing for too long. So the point is that we're alive. A lot of walking, 4 good Samaritans, and a thumb workout later, we're in a new city. Tomorrow, we're going on a camel ride along the beach, and visiting a koala hospital. (Every time I say the phrase "koala hospital," Robert giggles.) We might do a whale watching cruise, and feed some kangaroos while we're here, too. But there will definitely be some good quality beach time. We have 9 beaches to choose from here.

So enjoy your snow back home. It's about 30 degrees in both places, but it's in Celsius here. It's lovely, and my tan is coming along very nicely.

Love you all. Expect pictures from Newcastle on Facebook tomorrow maybe.

Marissa, the master of the road.