Two Month Update

It’s been two months! Here’s a list of random thoughts/things I’ve noticed over the past few weeks that I’ve been keeping on the notes section of my iPhone for your reading entertainment.

1. Two months later and I think I’ve only just gotten over the dehydration from the flight out here. Not being dramatic.

2. I would give my first born child for a Dunkin iced coffee. I never knew how dependent on iced coffee I was until I had to live without it for two months. They just. Can’t. Figure. It. Out. Here. I ordered an iced coffee a few weeks ago only to be proudly presented with… three scoops of vanilla ice cream with piping hot coffee drizzled like syrup on top. At 8am. Ugh. Why is iced coffee such a wild concept to non-Americans?! The only possible way to come close to getting an iced coffee out here is ordering a long black (unclear on what that even actually is I just know it tastes the closest to “coffee” in America) and a cup of ice, then wait for the coffee to cool and mix it together. Way too much effort. Its really not that groundbreaking but other countries just cannot figure it out. I don’t get it.

3. DROP BEARS ARE REAL. Lewis and I went on a walk tonight, heard a rustling in the trees, thought it was just another giant bat until THUMP literally right in front of us falls a possum. Just falls straight out of the tree. Lands awkwardly on his back and nearly misses our shoulders just like a drop bear would’ve. They’re real.

4. Schnitzel is everywhere. Especially in Sydney. It’s basically just a gigantic chicken nugget so I liked it but don’t get the hype.

5. Drive-through liquor stores (or bottle shops) are also everywhere(……………..?)

6. Also never expected there to be so many wild Turkeys around.

7. Saw a koala in the wild! At the Noosa National Park. Keep calling it a panda accidentally. Oops.

1. Finally sorted the ketchup problem out and bought a thing of Heinz during our first grocery shop.

2. Despite the ketchup problem, they’ve nailed chocolate over here:

1. Also, there’s a place down the street from our apartment that does $3 pizzas. Like full pizzas. And they’re actually not bad. So that’s a win.

1. Made a vow to go swimming in the ocean “most days” of the next six months. Everyday wasn’t really realistic because the good swimming spot is walkable but it’s a long walk and I’m not sure I’d bother to ride the bus in everyday just to fill my swim quota. So at least 4/7 days a week seemed probable. But how can you not take advantage of that water:

1. TV out here is very behind. It’s still weird to me that American movies and celebrities and TV shows dominate every country I’ve been to… but like five years later. Not that big of a deal, as long as AU Netflix still gets Gilmore Girls: A Year In the Life next week. I do miss the Kardashians though and Below Deck.

2. Another thing I love about this town: I took the below photo of a super cool sand castle ten days ago… walked past it yesterday and NO ONE HAD TOUCHED IT. Not one single kid had stomped it or anything like that. #When you know you’re living in a retirement community…

1. School kids here have to wear bucket hats as part of their school uniform. That’s right: mandatory bucket hats. Got me laughing because kids at home are banned from wearing hats at school. So what if an Australian kid moves to Boston and whips out his trusty bucket hat during recess because he wants to be sun-smart. What’s the teacher gonna say then?

2. Finally, I still can’t get over how stunning Noosa is. Today Lewis and I went down to Little Cove beach which is just a little past Noosa Main Beach closer to the outskirts of Noosa National Park. It was crystal clear and totally flat and probably the prettiest it’s looked since we’ve discovered it. Cove has made it onto my top three favorite beaches of all time. Still in awe that I am lucky enough to live so near to it for the next 6 months.

What we’re up to now:

1. We’ve fully moved into our *fantastic* *amazing* *beautiful* apartment and spent the weekend just relishing in the fact that we FINALLY have a permanent roof over our head. Highlights: hanging clothes on hangers, fully unpacking 70L backpack, COOKING in an OVEN (first meal: homemade meatballs and homemade banana bread, so so so soooooo good), and sitting on a COUCH watching TV with our very own high speed wifi

2. Monday and Tuesday I think we collectively applied to about 30 jobs? I had a group interview last night with a bunch of Australian high school girls so….we’ll see?

3. Today we are just looking for any new listings, checking our emails repeatedly and hoping we’ll have some income real soon.

4. Plans for the upcoming months? My family visits VERY SOON, can’t believe how quickly it came around, but then again these last 2 months have that weird flew by/but also feels like it’s been 2 years kind of feeling. It’ll be great to see them. We are planning on flying to Sydney to meet them on New Year’s Eve (morning) and being there for 5 nights. Also CANNOT WAIT to see our friends who have pretty much all ended up in Sydney after the tour ended, we miss them so much!!

1. We don’t have any other travel planned because after paying 6 months rent upfront and not having worked or had any income in the last two months my bank account is….. lets just say barely in the 3-digit realm (trying not to think about it….). We are starting to look at Thailand/Vietnam and Bali tours for after our six months are up here just so we know how much money we will need to save for that. Brisbane would be an easy weekend trip from here at some point and we also still have the last 16 days of our East Coast tour which we are planning to continue the day our lease ends.

Things on my Noosa Bucket List:

1. Apparently there’s a banana drive through somewhere in the Noosa Hinterland. Sounds suspicious. Also not clear on what Hinterland is. Either way, I want to go.

2. Catalina sunset cruises go most nights just down the road from our apartment for around $10.

3. Stand up paddle boarding is a hugeeeee business here. On flat days (like today at the beach) it looks like so much fun.

4. Eat at Noosa Surf Club.

5. See The Big Pineapple.

6. Noosa everglades.

#explore #koala #movingin #EXPLORING #katieinaustralia #swimming #packing #wander #featured #workingholiday #oz #BACKPACKING #wanderlust #firstapartment #updates #cooking #food #unpacking #AUSTRALIA