Base/The Scary Canary

There are so many things to be said about my trip to Oz……I think the last 6 months really made the difference in the trip. So much happened in this time frame that it’s been tough for me to pick it apart to comment and share it all but I will try my best to give a good solid gist. Let’s see…..I worked as a housekeeper in Base Backpackers Hostel with all of these amazing people to pay for my accommodation so my first nick name was the Base Stripper, I also earned fame and glory as the serial lift-cuddler, .  And absolutely this pic could have been taken on a typical Monday morning......ha

I then worked in The Scary Canary as the very first female glassy ever!

I also worked on the Route 69 party bus:

where I could do what I do best….drink and party for free and make new friends…on a bus! I created fun yet highly interactive and competitive games such as “Boobie-Grabbing Olympics” and “Tit-Cricket”, I drank from buckets and navels, I played trivia for free pasta and beer, I squeegeed the stage during Wet Wednesdays, I started and ended many a bar fight, I participated in “Gay Staffies”, I sang “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” in the back of a taxi, I went shopping in the kitchen after hours at the “free food shelf” with the English collecting food for our multi-cultural family dinners because we are traditionalists, I stayed up all night roughly sipping confiscated goon while singing behind the reception desk with famous Kiwis, I woke up in beds that were not mine, I woke up on floors that were also not mine, some nights I don’t have any recollection of altogether, I wrestled my Dutch bff in hallways at 5 a.m. because I could, I held down the stoop smoking hand rolled cigarettes with the French, Italians, Portuguese and Brazilians, I peed in a bush at someone’s house party next to a boy, I planked, I cuddled with the Danish, Swiss-Germans and Big Ben, I laughed and cried with the Canadians and the Swedes, I embarrassed myself with the Irish and Scottish, my laptop bears the markings of the Welsh, I was even called a racist, a phony, and was told that I’d changed, I celebrated the life and death of a stranger with my Maori friend, I had a pint of cider in a bar in a train station with topless waitresses with a man wearing a sailor uniform, I met the tallest Puerto Rican in the world, I was even on an episode of Geordie Shore, I ate sausages on the beach while looking for whales, oh and I MINGLED……Twice, I limboed and played naked musical dots with the Aussies, I finally saw “THE VIRGIN NIPPLE” featuring everyone’s favorite Aussie farm girl, I spent my 32nd birthday with a chocolate cupcake the size of my head and a hot fresh plate of kangaroo, I kissed 1 boy, I had a 6 day long weekend that included an orgy, church, and somehow managing to play the Amazing Race around Sydney, I drank with Bogans…..I grabbed, groped and fondled for an entire 6 months and I fell in love with every single minute of it. Although I’d love to go back to pick up where I left off, I know that I wouldn’t be able to capture the exact same moments in exactly the same way;...genuine laughs with genuine good people and doing genuine legendary things haha great combination…..I met some of my very best friends and laughed and cried as hard as I possibly could……Excited to see you all again……on to the next adventure…….

I couldn’t put 1,000 pictures in a slideshow even though I would have loved to and I’m sure you would have too. You have to appreciate the craziness and wildness of this 6 month adventure to realize why I would put up as many pics as I have…..enjoy…

MS (Part III)

Yes, all of this sounds super cool and yes for awhile it was.  Truth is, verbal abuse on top of intense physical labor for at least 16 hours a day just about every day can take its toll on a person.  Especially if I wanted to be subjected to that I could have easily stayed in the states.  On top of that, the only thing I was able to experience in these great cities, well….you’ve already seen everything I saw.  Come to think of it, it rained every day of each of these events.  I should have paid more attention to the signs.  They were really nice people but because these events could make or break them, their creed and what they yelled at me every day was “do or die”.  I loved the work ethic but because I was breaking even with the pay (always starting at $0 if I was lucky) instead of actually making any profit on top of the fact that I was more ill in the short time I worked with them than in my entire life meant I had to go.  My last straw was when I cut my hand really badly and was bleeding all over everything.  I don’t have insurance to be getting hurt so frequently.  I’d put pics up of my injuries but I don’t think anyone should be subjected to looking at my disfigured body parts involuntarily.  So, either I learned a very valuable lesson while putting myself in a position where I could find something better or screwed myself entirely.  Ha I guess we’ll find out the answer together. 

Although…..the coup de grâce (big phrase for me considering my feelings about the French) was being in Adelaide and meeting in person, face to face with a big hug and a kiss, yet another of my top 5 writers.  Robert Rankin autographed a flyer for me and was surprised that an American my age would know who he was let alone be one of his biggest fans.  In fact I don’t think he believed me until I said, “I had to get going in order to work out the transperambulation of cosmic pseudo anti-matter”.  Thanks Lee Fester for putting me onto him and thanks Melinda Hatcher for helping me to continue his legacy.

MS (Part II)

Supanova took us to Brisbane and then Melbourne:

MS

It was around this time I found a job working for a company that was supposed to be a good thing for our travels.  It was going to mean good money to get me out of debt, lots of traveling for free, with a bonus of working at different shows/conventions that people come from all over the globe to attend and spend heaps of money on all sorts of crap.  My job was to drive a van full of merchandise and equipment to different cities around Australia, build a humongous store, stock it full of all the merchandise that filled the van, sell all of it, break down the store and then drive either back to Sydney where we were based or to another city.  You can click the images of the event logos/flyers to find out more about the events.

My first event with them was Armageddon in Sydney and here are some pics of the road trip we took to Adelaide to cover the same event there:

My next event was Animania back in Sydney:

After that was the Tattoo convention in Sydney:

Tropfest - February 20th, 2011

Me and Niara headed down to watch Tropfest in the Domain to witness yet another great event.  This short film festival was broadcast world wide with amazing talent competing as well as hosting the event.  To be fair once again I had no idea who anyone was except for Olivia Newton John but it was still an all day long treat.  And once again raccoon eyes from the blazing sun!  You can click on the top image to find out more info about it and who won.  We watched Tropfest and Tropfest Jr. for the kiddies.  See if you can find a celeb!