We've had a bumpy ride getting to Australia. We were told we would be in a hotel and that a car would pick us up at the airport and drop us off at the hotel. In reality, we caught the shuttle and it dropped us off three blocks away from the hostel... in the rain no less. We didn't originally see ourselves as backpackers, so we packed our lives into the biggest suitcases we could find. I had two 50lb suitcases, my travel partner Jaima had three maxed out suitcases, for a total of 250lb between us. Not to mention, we both had carry on luggage as well, so add another 100lbs. OK, no more complaining about that. Its boring for anyone other than us and i don't want this blog to be boring and whiny. SO lets make the rest of this post a positive one and I'll share some dislikes next time.
I have a love/hate relationship with the $1 and $2 coins. At first it was all hate. Annoying!!! There are so many coins here! In descending order: $2, $1, 50c, 20c, 10c, 5c (no pennies, I'll talk about that in a moment). The $1 and $2 dollar coins are gold and the $2 is smaller than the $1. The first week I was carrying around so much change it was ridiculous! On a side note, I also had a handful of American coins as well, which banks will not convert. I jingled everywhere I walked. And I held up lines with a fist full of coins, examining every coin for its amount and counting slowly as to not mess up and have to start over. Oh the annoyance on the cashier's faces! I can only imagine what curses they were saying about us in their heads. Bloody Americans!!!
My new love of the coins have come in the form of a tin can piggy bank. My first deposit was $13 in coins! It can only be opened with a can opener. Once full I shall open it and deposit all this money. Lets just hope nothing comes up that needs me to open it before its full. Fingers crossed!
The penny... As I mentioned earlier, there is no Australian penny. Which I love! So when something is advertised $14.99, at the register it comes up as $15. Its a rounding system, it rounds to the nearest 5 cents. It can occasionally be a rip off because you round up more than down, but you are paying literally pennies to not have to deal with pennies. Not to mention that in America, the number one nuisance is the penny. That's a documented fact.
The best thing about traveling is the people you meet along the way. The Original hostel we stayed at, in Perth, didn't really have internet. Well, they did, on one computer that you had to pay $10 for 2 and a half hours or pay $10 to use your own computer for 2 and half hours. But it was a $10 minimum so you pay $10 bucks for 2.5 hours or 20 minutes or whatever, you get the idea. Well because I was so jet lagged, the second day we were in Australia, in Perth, I went to bed at 7pm. And woke up at 4am wanting to use the computer for just a little bit. There was one lone person in the lobby on his own computer with one of those wireless jacks that you get from your phone provider. There was no one at reception to take my money for a few hours. I huffed and was about to walk back to the room when that traveler, from India, asked what I was upset about. I told him I wanted to use the internet but was going to have to wait a while. He asked if I wanted to use his computer. What? He said he was waiting for a friend to pick him up and still had to get ready and that i could use his computer while he was getting ready. I asked if he was sure if he wanted to leave such a valuable item with a complete stranger who could potentially steal it. He said he liked accent and that I seemed trust worthy and he didn't mind leaving it with me. I assured him I wouldn't steal it and that i was about to pay $10 for 10 minutes of internet anyway. So he left the lobby and I got to set my crappy phone service and send a little email. He came back a few minutes later looking for his ride and i gave him his computer back and wished him happy travels.
We moved from that hostel to one in Fremantle. We were put in a room with 10 beds. We now had eight new roommates, seven guys and one girl from California. The guys were from all over, three from England, one Scott, two Irishmen and one Aussie. Roommates have come and gone. One Irish was replaced with another, he was replaced with an Aussie girl. The second Irish, one of favorite people in the room, was replaced with another Irishman, and he is quickly replacing the first as my favorite. The Scott has a Canadian girlfriend who had moved into the room as well, and that's now eleven people for ten beds. These are some of the most interesting I've ever met. One of the English guys is from Jersey Island, right off the coast of France. Another is from Essex and is the easiest person to talk to and has such a great laugh that he's nickname is Tickles.
The most important thing in traveling, and in life, is to have an open mind. We are meeting new people everyday and trying new food, more on the food later.
We're decided to stay at the hostel for our duration in Fremantle.
More to come!!
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