Leaving Australia

In just a few hours I'll be packing my stuff into my friend Lex's car and heading for Melbourne Airport, to fly to Tokyo Japan.

Things I loved about Australia:

1. Good People: I've been touched by tremendous generosity and goodwill; I really feel fortunate to have spent a month among great people that were both positive and uplifting.

2. Public Transport: I love public transportation! Having a general metro-link pass, where you can hop from train, to bus, to fairy, to tram, etc. is just downright amazing. I will truly miss this luxury when I return to the states.

3. Great Produce: There was some really good food out here; it was not that different from being home which made the transition pretty easy.

I'M GOING TO JAPAN!!

Still going... Still maintaining...

It's been a bit too long since my last post. I've been moving around quite a bit and haven't really found the time to sit down and write a proper blog.

I'm currently in Melbourne Australia. I've been here since Tuesday and it's been awesome. I've been going to tons of art galleries and museums; I've been loving it! There's tons of rad cafe's, restaurants, and produce stands all over the place. I went out for a little photo walk-about last night which was pretty cool. I don't think I gave myself enough time to get what I really wanted, but I still enjoyed the time that I did have.

My second day out, I went to an exhibit on the behind-the-scenes production processes in film and I've had movie-watching fever ever since. I'm going to watch a film at an IMAX theater today; I'm stoked on it, I haven't been to an IMAX screen since I was at a field trip to Griffith Park in Kindergarten.

I leave for Tokyo in two days and I'm so stoked! My bicycle will be shipped to me, and I can't wait to ride it, I've really missed it. I am so pumped on going to Japan!!

Loving it!

So I got into Sydney yesterday and took public transport out to where I'm staying while here in Bondi Beach. When I arrived my new-friend Corey had to go to work, so I walked with her down to the main area here where all the shops, cafes and restaurants are. This place is unbelievably beautiful; it's got so much going for it. I walked around for hours and got caught in a gnarly thunder/rain-storm. By the time I got home I was soaking wet; it was as if I jumped into a pool with all of my clothes on!! Later in the night, after all three girls got home, we went out with a tone of people that live in their same building. There's a couple of New Zealanders, and tons of kids from Europe; we had a killer night. So far, it's been amazing being here; everyone has been so hospitable and welcoming. I leave on Tuesday, and I can already tell that I'm going to miss it!

Goodbye Queensland

So I'm about three hours away from boarding a plane, headed for Sydney. I spent last night in Brisbane with Mike, Seton, our friend Skippy, and Nikki; it was a blast! I'll admit that the last week has been painfully slow and I've been fairly anxious to leave, but last night really made me realize how much I've missed my friends and how quickly our time together flew by. I had an amazing time and I'm super grateful to have been able to have had the time with them that I did.

I got to go to my first Rugby League game yesterday, which was super exciting. The atmosphere was unreal; 55 thousand (plus) people in attendance. We spent the remainder of the night making our way around the city of Brisbane and didn't end up getting back to where we were staying until after four AM.

I'm really looking forward to spending the next few days in Sydney. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I'm really happy that I was able to squeeze that stop into my holiday.

Wrapping it up...

So I've officially been in Noosa For two full weeks now and it's coming to an end in the next few days. There's been a pretty gnarly tropical cyclone that's disrupted the flow of things here; we have been watching way to much television!!! I've decided to pull stakes and head to a new destination. I'll be traveling to Sydney this coming Saturday to hang out in the city for a few days. I'll be staying with some friends from Seton, who actually grew up where I did; they all went to the local all-girls high school less than five miles from my house. I'm stoked how the traveling network works; I know someone who knows someone so now I've got a place to stay and people to hang out with; it's great! After spending a few days in Sydney I'll be flying to Melbourne to hang out with my friend Lex and tour the city. I'm really excited about adding these extra stops on my trip; Noosa has been great, but I'm naturally drawn to Urban cities and I can't wait to experience these new places.

My flight leaves from Brisbane on Saturday afternoon, so the three of us boys are going to head down to the city on Friday and have a little rager in the Brissy on friday night, to send me off properly. I've missed these guys and it's been incredible spending the last couple of weeks with them but the parting of ways was inevitable.

I'm looking forward to it all!

A Day In The Big City

I've been away from the computer for a few days running now, with the exception of checking facebook. I shot the shoot, that I mentioned in my last blog, on Wednesday night; it went really well and the team that I worked with on the shoot were amazing. I spend the next couple days editing, going to the beach, and cutting loose with the boys and a couple of Swedish backpacker girls that have been staying with us. Today I took advantage of an opportunity to catch a ride down into Brisbane and cruised the city by myself. It was quite a day; I walked all over the place, non-stop, for 6 hours straight. I almost got arrested for trespassing onto police property, which was a little unsettling; I was trying to throw some trash away into a rubish bin that caught my eye and I tripped a motion detecter that tripped an alarm; before I knew it, three cops rush out of the back door of the station and I'm being questioned. It all went over okay but it left me feeling kinda crummy. Within an hour I came up on a free hug in South Bank and I was good.

Being in a remote village has been making me feel like I'm in a distant exotic place and being in a big city, today, made me feel like I was in familiar territory again; it felt a little like being home...

Working on Vacation

So a family friend of Mike, whom I've mentioned previously, is managing a local talent here in Australia and I have just been commissioned to shoot some promotional images for her. I am stoked on getting the job in the first place, I'm stoked that I'm drumming up work on the side during my travels, and I'm stoked to be working with such a good guy. Denis, is the man I speak of and he's an all-around good dude; he's a regular legend! We went out to scout out some locations today and we came up pretty good. Besides that, not too much is new; I'm still trying to get on local time, here in Noosa, and I'm enjoying the weather and scenery!