This will most likely be the last the post on this blog, as the riveting adventures of trans-national travel and ludicrous party injuries have come to end...for the time being.
I won't meander on with all the cool things about being down under, mostly because I haven't experienced them yet. It is a general requirement to show up with your work visa having some funds to carry you through your job search and accommodation. Of course, after some heavy travelling and spending throughout the summer, without even a solid plan to come to this continent, I showed up with zero dollars. A lot of living necessities have been propped up by MasterCard, but any form of secondary luxuries have pretty much been kai-boshed. This includes
Drinking alcohol
Eating anything fancier than a MacDonald's cheeseburger
Touring the city
Buying shirts that don't stink like the jungle
Laundry
Haircuts
etc
My initial plan was to roll into Melbourne, work mornings at a hostel for a free room, and jump behind a sweet bar for the nights. Good in theory, but there are about 2500 other backpackers with the exact same plan, so the positions tend to be grossly over-saturated. Luckily I hit the ground running and signed on with a marketing company within a couple days. The interview, people and pay structure were fantastic, but guess which component was just not going to work out...the WORK. It basically consisted of going door to door asking Australians if they wanted to switch to a specific energy company from the numerous retailers that flood the market. Some answers and reactions to give you a taste of how much I was enjoying this:
Now listen, you people come around here every day, leave me ALONE!
Piss off mate, I'm watching the news!
What do you want?....*4 minute scripted pitch*....No
Don't come any closer, I have a big dog
*4 minute scripted pitch* What are you selling? Vacuums?
Door slam x 100-200
You get the gist. For some reason I stuck with this torture for 5 days, at one point going about 300kms outside the city on a 'road trip' only to quit mid day. Needless to say, it didn't work out.
I figure people always need to be moving or at least doing something so they won't go mental. I am a huge advocate for sitting around watching whole seasons of shows with Doritos and a 2L of coca-cola, but those days should be far and few between. Without motion we tend to stagnate and have too much time for our thoughts to collect and form a giant pile of bullshit. This is what's currently happening to me.
I did manage to latch onto a bar tending gig in a cozy little western/eastern inspired restaurant so all is looking good. The next 3-4 months will hopefully be focused on recouping my massive travelling tab and getting to know Melbourne city, which is a wonderful place. Small town suburbs straddle a bustling inner city, augmented by miles of beach with about 200 million cafes, shops and restaurants. I must say it is difficult looking at summer time photos from back home, as it is 'see your breath weather' here....BUT, as soon as Canada turns back into winter jacket time, it will be kite boarding time here.
So, as you can see the adventures aside from the day to day life have come to a stand still, but join us next time for 'Down and out, Down Under....Life up the Australian Coast'
Thanks for reading everybody!
Josh Purdy
2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
ola earthlings
Hello everyone!
No, I'm am not dead, in a coma or forgotten how to use the internet. In all honesty, not too much exciting has happened in about 2 weeks+. Now I know that sounds crazy being around the other side of the world, and you make your own adventure blah blah blah but here's a quick cap of my last week in Bali.
After returning from the Gili Islands, a night where I proceeded to stay up all night for the sunrise (among other things), I was absolutely knackered out. No worries, says I, as I can nap on the boat ride back. False. There were literally times when I thought the bottom of the hull was going to crack in half off some of these waves. Other than not being able to nap, I found the 4 feet of air pretty exciting. Unfortunately there were a few passengers that didn't share these sentiments, and ended up puking in complimentary paper bags. It was pretty hideous, people retching like they were on the verge of death while everyone around him or her pretends nothing is happening. After getting off the boat, I made my way back to Kuta beach where I rented a surfboard and DVD player and did absolutely NOTHING for one whole week. It was by the far the loneliest, cheapest, soberest, cozy time I have had during this vacation, although I started to forget how to talk to humans and socialize.
The reason for this hermit-esque behaviour was the dwindling funds and overall fatigue from being a deadly party animal for 3 months straight. In a way, it was really nice just to hang out by myself, go over some things in my brain and watch 25 DVDs (i counted at the end). Also I went from a F- surfer to about D+. So there's that.
The last week in Bali was also a bit of a waiting game, as I put in the application for my Australian work visa on a friday, and didn't hear a peep from this certain company until wednesday. (do YOU want to go to Australia!?? Only 2 days processing, call us NOW!!!) So, near the end of my stint on this lovely, touristed island I prepared my flights into Australia, where I have made one of the biggest blunders of the vacation, which is saying a lot read: cracked head, crashed motorbike, smashed toe, budgeting etc
Follow me on this. There is the island Bali, which is in the country of Indonesia. Bali has an airport, a fairly prominent and busy one called Denpasar (code:DPS). Indonesia, the previosuly mentioned country, also has an island called Borneo, and on this island there is a town called Balikpapan, which also has an airport, albeit a much smaller and less used one (code:BPN). In all my wisdom I typed in 'Bali' for the departing flight, quickly selected the first airport that popped up and proceeded with the booking. Of course, when you book from a small, no name airport compared to a fairly moderate sized one, the price jumps astronomically. Picture flying to LA from Fredericton, instead of flying out of Montreal. Same same. So a flight that could have cost 350$ ending up being 730$ from one, tiny, idiotic, mentally challenged, ridiculous typo. Lesson learned? I hope so.
After sorting that out there was a 4 hour wait in the Bali airport, whereupon I received a delicious flight and movie on the way to Singapore. Now, the connecting flight was with Emirates and WOW! These guys know how to fly, I got baked perch in a black olive sauce, mashed potatoes, some excellent wine, a hot towel and 5 hours later, breakfast! Tons of media to get through as well! Worth the 400$ difference made by my booking mistake? Not at all! But it was tasty.
I touched down in Melbourne about three days ago, to a frigid 10 degrees as I can feel my tan running for the hills. It's quite a big city and I don't have my bearings whatsoever, but I know where the McDick's and 7-11 are from the hostel, so enough to survive. Job hunting is one of my least favorite things in the world, because when I apply to a place I know I would be good doing that task, but THEY don't know that. Perhaps a scented cover letter, or a fruitcake sent to the employer? Ughhhhhh.
To be honest, just for one second, lately I've been feeling a little disconnected from this whole 'see the world, be a nomad, get any old job' attitude, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's because I don't have any money and Australia costs about 3 x 10^8 more money than even the priciest places in SE Asia. As soon as a job gets under way, my attitude will be back to the appropriate cloud (#9), and I will meet some friends, get an aussie wife/green card, and figure out how to ride the trams. I know if I was sitting at home resuming my academic pursuits I would say, why the hell aren't I in Australia right now?
Life is a peach, meant to be picked by broke backpackers on Australian farms.
Cheers, mate.
No, I'm am not dead, in a coma or forgotten how to use the internet. In all honesty, not too much exciting has happened in about 2 weeks+. Now I know that sounds crazy being around the other side of the world, and you make your own adventure blah blah blah but here's a quick cap of my last week in Bali.
After returning from the Gili Islands, a night where I proceeded to stay up all night for the sunrise (among other things), I was absolutely knackered out. No worries, says I, as I can nap on the boat ride back. False. There were literally times when I thought the bottom of the hull was going to crack in half off some of these waves. Other than not being able to nap, I found the 4 feet of air pretty exciting. Unfortunately there were a few passengers that didn't share these sentiments, and ended up puking in complimentary paper bags. It was pretty hideous, people retching like they were on the verge of death while everyone around him or her pretends nothing is happening. After getting off the boat, I made my way back to Kuta beach where I rented a surfboard and DVD player and did absolutely NOTHING for one whole week. It was by the far the loneliest, cheapest, soberest, cozy time I have had during this vacation, although I started to forget how to talk to humans and socialize.
The reason for this hermit-esque behaviour was the dwindling funds and overall fatigue from being a deadly party animal for 3 months straight. In a way, it was really nice just to hang out by myself, go over some things in my brain and watch 25 DVDs (i counted at the end). Also I went from a F- surfer to about D+. So there's that.
The last week in Bali was also a bit of a waiting game, as I put in the application for my Australian work visa on a friday, and didn't hear a peep from this certain company until wednesday. (do YOU want to go to Australia!?? Only 2 days processing, call us NOW!!!) So, near the end of my stint on this lovely, touristed island I prepared my flights into Australia, where I have made one of the biggest blunders of the vacation, which is saying a lot read: cracked head, crashed motorbike, smashed toe, budgeting etc
Follow me on this. There is the island Bali, which is in the country of Indonesia. Bali has an airport, a fairly prominent and busy one called Denpasar (code:DPS). Indonesia, the previosuly mentioned country, also has an island called Borneo, and on this island there is a town called Balikpapan, which also has an airport, albeit a much smaller and less used one (code:BPN). In all my wisdom I typed in 'Bali' for the departing flight, quickly selected the first airport that popped up and proceeded with the booking. Of course, when you book from a small, no name airport compared to a fairly moderate sized one, the price jumps astronomically. Picture flying to LA from Fredericton, instead of flying out of Montreal. Same same. So a flight that could have cost 350$ ending up being 730$ from one, tiny, idiotic, mentally challenged, ridiculous typo. Lesson learned? I hope so.
After sorting that out there was a 4 hour wait in the Bali airport, whereupon I received a delicious flight and movie on the way to Singapore. Now, the connecting flight was with Emirates and WOW! These guys know how to fly, I got baked perch in a black olive sauce, mashed potatoes, some excellent wine, a hot towel and 5 hours later, breakfast! Tons of media to get through as well! Worth the 400$ difference made by my booking mistake? Not at all! But it was tasty.
I touched down in Melbourne about three days ago, to a frigid 10 degrees as I can feel my tan running for the hills. It's quite a big city and I don't have my bearings whatsoever, but I know where the McDick's and 7-11 are from the hostel, so enough to survive. Job hunting is one of my least favorite things in the world, because when I apply to a place I know I would be good doing that task, but THEY don't know that. Perhaps a scented cover letter, or a fruitcake sent to the employer? Ughhhhhh.
To be honest, just for one second, lately I've been feeling a little disconnected from this whole 'see the world, be a nomad, get any old job' attitude, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's because I don't have any money and Australia costs about 3 x 10^8 more money than even the priciest places in SE Asia. As soon as a job gets under way, my attitude will be back to the appropriate cloud (#9), and I will meet some friends, get an aussie wife/green card, and figure out how to ride the trams. I know if I was sitting at home resuming my academic pursuits I would say, why the hell aren't I in Australia right now?
Life is a peach, meant to be picked by broke backpackers on Australian farms.
Cheers, mate.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)