My Dad's Dream House!

Hi guys!
It's going on two weeks that I've been gone now, and I bet you all have forgotten what I look like, well, worry not... I'm still a pink wearing, blond bimbo!

Besides that, though, yesterday was a very sad day. My new friends and I left Byron Bay together, but most of us went our seperate ways. Matt went right passed Brisbane to Mooloolaba, Sophie stopped in Surfer's Paradise, while Dave and Tom went to meet some friends in Brisbane. Laura and I are also in Brisbane, oddly enough, still together, but we'll get to that later. It was really sad, because, although I've only known these people for 5 days, it was like leaving all my friends back home all over again... in the infamous words of Kristina, life out here is like life times ten, everything you feel is just magnified to that extent. 5 days of friendship, and it seemed like forever... strange...

Anyways, as for me and Laura... I was going to go stay at a youth hostel in downtown Brisbane, and Laura was coming to live with some friends she met in Antarctica, a couple in the mid-60s. Well, as I was hugging Laura goodbye, Pat (the lady of the house) came and asked me if I wouldn't like to come and stay with them for a little while, instead of staying at the hostel. I was reluctant at first, but decided, hey... two nights free accomodation and some home cooked food.. why not? So I hopped into the car with them and Pat and Ron took us on a tour of the Brisbane outdoor market and of a National Park, whose name I forget. But I hand fed some birds (big step for me, considering how much birds frighten me...) and we climbed a huge tree all the way to the top... very cool. The point is, when we got back to their house, I was in shock. This place is like a palace... it is absolutely enormous and stunningly beautiful. Also, it is in the middle of the bush... surrounded by tress.... the road is not even visible, it is sooo private. We had dinner outside, where it was only 30 degrees, and we were interupted by a wallabee, a possum, a toad and various bugs. Not bad for dinner in the yard.... So I've decided that it is officially Rob's dream house!!

Today we went to a theme park, but those are the same the world over, so I'll spare the details. Except maybe the one where i got to pet a kangaroo and a koala.... cute cute cute!

Okay, that's it for now!

Steph :)

P.S. Mark, j'ai oublie de t'ecrire en francais, je m'excuse, mais je t'aime pareil!

Surfer Chicks

Hey guys!!

I went surfing today... that's right, I went surfing today! Matt wants to tell you how wonderful I was, so here he is:

Matt: Steph was great and amazing at the surf board... stop twisting my arm!!!... ow..... let go! thats not supposed to move that way!!
... sorry! where was I? Oh yeah... shes really great and amazing... ow... and she went on this huge wave!

K.. is that enough?... ok ...

MAtty

Thanks, Matt, he wasn't as wonderful as I was... No that's not true, he was pretty good. Actually, we had loads of fun and we got some pretty good pictures of it, so as soon as I get a hold of a computer with an actual tower, I'll be sending those home. I'm thinking of sending some postcards soon, so you should all be very excited.

Anywho, that's all for now, just letting you know how adventurous I really am, even though I have still not had the courage to try vegemite. Keep the responses coming, I think you are all fabulous, and I can't wait to see you again, though that won't be for quite a while!

Steph :)

P.S. Chrsity and Kristelle, my hair is just fine, thank you very much for you concern... I'll be able to handle it.

Koalas and Kangaroos and Spiders, Oh My!

Hey guys!!

As the title of this latest post may suggest, I have seen quite a lot of interesting wildlife lately... I hopped on the Oz bus on Monday and am now working my way up the east coast. It's cool cuz the driver knows everything anput anything and he stops everywhere we ask him to. So the other day we were driving through a National Park and we spotted a Koala in the wild. They really are as cute as in the pictures! I could not get a picture of it, because it kept moving, but trust me, it was really cool!

Later that night, we stopped at our hostel, which was really just some shack in the middle of nowehere, but anyway... I met some Canadian boys that are also on the bus and one of them came for a walk with me through the forest and what do we see, just lying there in our way? A Kangaroo... Too Cool! It was so funny, it saw us coming and it started hopping away, but it was giving us cut eye the whole time. It's so funny how they hop. I got pictures of those, though, so don't worry.

Finally, this weird shelter thing was not exactly bug free. We had to perform the standard roach/spider check before going to bed and, just my luck, there was spider the size of my fist (not even kidding) in my bed... gross gross gross. Roaches didn't show up till the next day, but they were gross too.

Other than that, I'm in Byron bay right now, pretty much living on the ocean, but it's RAINING again! Blah... but at least it's warm, right? Right.

Anyways, I'm being challenged to a surf lesson by my new Canadian buddies, so I'm gonna go see that they get their asses kicked by a girl!

Love you lots! Miss you more!

When it Rains, it Pours...

... and by that I don't mean that bad things keep happening to me. No, I've been in Sydney for four days now, and I've come to the realization that the weather here is a little crazy. It's always beautiful and sunny during the day (27+), and then at night it cools down to just the right temperature for pants and a tank top. However, mother nature seems rather moody in this country. Today, for insatnce, was a gorgeous day, until about 4:00, when it started to pour... and we're talking crazy rain here, non of this drizzling crap. Thunder, Lightning, the works, and then, to top things off, the rain turns to (get this!) hail! What? It's 25 degress outside and there is hail falling from the sky... nasty ice pellets the size of small gyumballs. It was quite a sight to see. And this isn't the first time this has happened. 4 beautiful days, 3 stormy nights... weird as all hell.

Anyways, today we went to the Blue Mountains. It was pretty cool. We got to walk through rainforests, over and under waterfalls and through the valleys. It was really pretty, like all the picutres lead you to believe about australia as a whole. Once again, I took loads of pictures... I'm addicted to the camera, I can't be helped.

Anyways, I'm going for dinner now... talk to you all soon!

Steph :)

Kris: I don't care what time it is on Saturday morning, I'm calling you in a few hours and I want to know about your situation... I'm slightly confused...

Val: Merci de m'ecrire en Francais, ca fait du bien de savoir que je suis toujours capable de parler deux langues... Je m'excuse de ne pas etre venue te voir, mais je ne me suis meme pas rendue compte que vous aviez recommencer l'ecole avant que je ne partes!

Christy: I'm glad you would go to such lengths as to set up an account for me! I love you to death! By the way, our shoes aren't so different, you know... in fact, you are the proud buyer of the shoes I have worn most often these past few days! Say hi to Steph and Julie for me!

Flip Flops

Hi Everyone!

Ok, so I'm not so unhappy anymore... yesterday really sucked. I spent a good part of the day crying cuz i thought i was a complete idiot for coming here alone.

Anyways, I'm going to the aquarium today and back down to Darling Harbour later on with a Canadian girl i met this morning named Lenya. It's kinda strange down here cuz everything is very slow. At home, everyone's always in a hurry for everything... but it's not like that here. No one really walks fast, people aren't rude in stores... it's weird. I've decided, though, that flip flops are to blame. It's completely impossible to do anything quickly in those things, and sice that's all anybody here ever wears on their feet, it's only normal that things are slown down.

Ok, so that's my two cents for today, that and I love FREE internet cuz I can talk to you all whenever I want (which is ALWAYS!)

Talk to you soon, and keep the messages coming!

Steph :)

P.S. Mummy, I bought a battery charger today and I fought the guy down from 89$ to 49$... aren't you proud of me? I thought so....

Boo Toronto!!

Hi Everyone!

Ok, so I'm still alive, and finally here in Sydney after 24 grueling flights hours... Most of which I spent worrying that I was going to have to walk around Australia naked cuz the stupid Torontonians losyt my luggage (sorry Natalie).

I got pretty lucky in L.A., though, and met some girls from here, so we got to hang out for the 8 HOURS we had to wait. I'm about ready to go to bed, but it's not even noon here.
I think today I'm gonna go walk around like an idiot alone in downtown Sydney, so that should be fun and I'm also gonna try to figure out all these calling cards I have and try to give you guys a call!

Love you, miss you

Steph :)

P.S. Don't get upset that this message is short... I'll write back real soon and actually have something good to say... I promise

T minus 2 days.

Steph leaves in two days and her fabulously generous and handsome brother has set up this blog for her.