Goodbye Kessels Road

Today I have been packing up all my things and will be moving into my new house till february. It is sad to see that I can pack up my entire life within two suitcases and a couple of bags. It is very exciting knowing that I will finally have a room with a door on it haha. No more sleeping in the living room for me. Please note that I am not complaining about my current sleeping arrangements as it as a been a great time, but a part of me just can't wait to have some sort of privacy. I'm not moving to far, just the next suburb over which is about a 5 minute drive or a 30 minute walk (as i walked over last night to sign my agreement). I'm actually closer to the mall now and still have the bus route close by for when I have to work and all the poeple that I have met are still close by. I don't have the exact address yet but can email it to those who want to send me christmas gifts, haha, just kiddng. However, if you do want my address, please ask as I don't want to post it online for everyone.

Luv you

Jenn

Nadi - Fiji 2009

I recently returned from an amazing trip to Fiji with six other girls; Kim, Erin, Kaitlin,Carissa, Julie, and Lauren. And what a trip we had. On Saturday, the 14Th, we managed to find our way to the airport, got our duty free, and took the 4 hour flight over to Nadi. Needless to say, I will never complain about 4 hour flights compared to the flight going to Australia. A movie and a couple of chapters later, we arrived. All of us were excited and were looking around to see if we can find our ride to are little resort. We ran into a women who asked as where we were heading, and we all said with great big smiles on our face "smugglers cove." To our astonishment, the women looked at as and said with a weary face, "all 6 nights?" Our smiles kind of wavered as we gave a hesitant,"yes." She then proceeded to tell us that we wouldn't want to stay there every night we made us panic a little. We were not really sure what we got ourselves into. But ready to make our little adventure, we all hopped into the cab and took the 20 minute drive the Smugglers. Given that it was no Five Star Resort, the place was still good and we managed to upgrade to the family room so we wouldn't have to stay in the dorms. It was the best decision we ever made.

For the first two nights, we stayed near smugglers, sun tanning, swimming, eating, drinking and many other activities. The third day we hired a van for the day and drove to the Natadola Beach after stopping for the delicious pineapple on the way. The drive was about 50 minutes, and most of the time we couldn't stop laughing as it was quite the interesting drive through dirt roads and rickety bridges in a ghetto van. However, the drive was completely worth it. This beach had Crystal clear water and nice soft white sand with a brand new five star resort right on the beach. It was breathtaking. While there, I was able to give a go at the new upright paddling on a surfboard trend. It is much harder then it looks but I was finally able to do it after a few mishaps. There was even a stingray hanging around which made the other girls get out of the water very quickly. A couple of days later, we went on the South Sea Island trip that included a boat ride to the Island, free drinks, free lunch (which was amazing and devoured like I haven't eaten in a week), and free water and beach activities. Here I tried once more to find sharks while snorkeling for 2 hours. I even had one of the divers with me to go to all the hot spots at the drop off of the reef but still no luck. I was, however, able to see some Barracuda and stingrays. I even got to see Nemo, haha. Clown fish are curious and will come right up to you opposed from swimming away like all the other fish. After a great day in the sun, we made our way back to the mainland for some more relaxation. All in all, we had a great vacation, we met a lot of the locals who are all very friendly and helpful, met other travellers, tried some Kava (local drink called muddy water), and had a lot of fun.


Until next time,

luv Jenn

Surfer's Paradise

FINALLY.... After being in Australia for over 2 months and living only 45 minutes away, I made it to Surfer's Paradise. It was a spur of the moment trip on the only day of the week that I do not work. The night before my friend Rachelle from work (a Brissy local) and I decided to hit up Surfer's for the day. I actually work up ealier then usual (around 8:30am) and then walked to Garden City to meet Rachelle. With a fun drive with great music and hilarious jokes, we found the beach and enjoyed a few hours of perfect, not a cloud in the sky, hot weather. What always surprises me is how warm the Pacific Ocean is here. It barely even shocks the system. You just walk in and get plummelled by decent side waves. Its comforting knowing that there are shark nets out, it only means that the truely smart sharks are the only ones within biting distance. Just kidding, I have only seen whales in the water. That's it. Although Mark will be disappointed if I don't go home with just a small shark wound. For lunch, Rachelle and I walked down Cahill Avenue, where are the pubs and restaurants are, grabbed some food and just walked around. We saw he famous Surfer's MeterMaids in their old bakinis and high heels. We were going to take a picture with them but the men in line jst wouldn't budge. I wonder why? haha. We decided to head back to the beach after lunch, did some more swimming and took some pictures with the Aussie Lifeguardson he beach. All in all, it was a great day with Fiji looming just over a week away.

Till then,

luv Jenn