what leaves?

In our pool area, an area which is relatively protected from storms!


Poor palm tree!! a lot of the palm's around the area look like this now....

Nasty Katrina

One of the largest trees on campus was destroyed by the hurricane, notice the size of the people checking it out.....


Early on in the hurricane, from the front door of the hotel

Ow! stupid coconut!

Hey there!

We have just surfaced after our first Hurricane in Miami.... I think it was a cat 1 or just a tropical storm but it has done a fair bit of damage and now we don't have power! It's been a couple of days without power or internet or phones so we're getting over it!

A couple of massive trees have been uprooted and there are palm fronds and coconuts on the ground everywhere. We stocked up on beer for a 'hurricane party' but after having a few we were told by our RA's (supervisors) that we couldn't drink anymore cos they didn't want any stupid Australians running around in the hurricane. Fair enough I say.

The fire alarm started going off around 10pm because of flooding!?!?! and didn't go off until about 2am, also with no lights except emergency strobes in the corridors which gave an eerie movie style effect. I took video with my camera

I had complaints about not posting my numbers..... (I thought I did)
My mobile is 17863256928
My home number is 3056675611 then ask for room 316

Mobile is still working after the hurricane but the home number might take a little while longer.

Lots of love!

p.s. Check out the video of the alarms going off!! it is really wierd! it's like we were on a sinking submarine!
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~mrbomber/1.avi

You're a Whiffle!

First day of classes today! I had an 8am class for ECO212 Macroeconomics.... Hard to get up that early after many late sleep-in's!! Classes here are completely different to home. Instead of having 2 lectures a week with hundred's of people in them and then smaller tute's to re-inforce. Here they deliver the material to small groups (tute size of 10-25) which gives us a good opportunity to ask questions and get adequate attention from the lecturers...
I had a large break in the middle of the day so I caught the Metro a couple of stop's down to Target and Best Buy to check out toasted sandwhich makers.... I wanted to get one that I can also cook vegie burgers on... yay!! I am going to give that a shot now.
Then I had my class on Internal Combustion Engines and Public Finance. They both look like pretty good subjects and probably relevant to my career if I decide to apply to go back to Holden when I graduate.
The reality of waking up early and going to class has made me realise that going to uni in another country will not necessarily be any more exciting in the classroom! Although the class we had for public finance had massive director style reclining chairs for all the students!!! wow!
But the out-of class stuff will be really cool. At the canefest (where clubs and societies try to sign up new members) I signed up for Scuba, Racquetball, Democrats, Triathlon as well as Whiffle Ball!?!?! (I don't know either, I will learn what this sport is about when I go to the first meeting next week!)

Go Canes!

More pics!

UM! Tonight we are going to the President of the Uni's house to have a BBQ in her backyard! Apparently it is a big backyard because there is approximately 3000 people going!


My dorm!!! My roomate hasn't arrived yet, he should be here tonight.

Sebastian, our school mascot, in harder times.... notice the cigar and angry expression. Do not mess with this bird.

Wow! Wish we had a massive lake surrounded by Palm trees and inhabited by alligators!! Our school mascot should be an alligator instead of an Ibis! Just kidding Sebastian!

What a magnificent campus! Shame Monash, Shame.... although UM's water bill to keep this grass so green must be astronomical!

The brit's and the aussies have been sticking together at the Holiday Inn! We have been going to incredibly boring orientation activities during the day and having parties in peoples rooms at night... School starts on wednesday but everyone is waiting for football and basketball to start!

K-9 unit!! PUPPY!!!

Hostel

Simon (NZ), Me, Julia (Germany), Derek (Holland), Felix (Dominican Republic), Adam (Buffalo, NY), Taiwanese and Spanish guys

Holland

Me and Holland (Derek) at the Baltimore Golf Course (After swimming in their pool!)

We had just been to the Venetian pool, Derek had heard of the Baltimore hotel being a good place to visit and it was just down the street, so we went there. It was an amazing hotel, 5 stars at least. We snuck into the pool area and confidently walked up to a lounge chair. Derek got straight in the pool but I took longer to take a souveneir photo of him lazing in the pool with his camera. As I was getting ready to jump in the pool I saw a white shirt out of the corner of my eye coming towards me. He asked me if I was a hotel guest, I said yes. He asked me for a room number, I said I couldn't remember. He asked for my keycard and I said that my parents had it with them and they had gone out. He asked for my last name, I said Williams...

I decided we would be in the pool for about 5 seconds before we would get kicked out, I swam over to Derek and told him to enjoy the swim while it lasts. We mucked around in the pool and then swam back to our lounge, when we got back there was fresh towels on our lounges!!!!! hehehehehehehehhhee, Williams must have checked out as a guest!!

Bring me my towel

Coles-Myer selling Myer???!?!?!?!?!?

WTF?

Been to see my university! so cool.... football tickets are $45 each!!! for college football!! That's like AFL final's prices!

Lot's of Budweiser and Millers being consumed at the hostel. Lot's of british empire countries represented!

Pictures of our trip to the Venetian pool and us sneaking into the most expensive hotel in the city and swimming in their pool to follow..... (we managed to convince them that we were guests and they brought us towels!!!!) hehehehehheheehhehehehe lol

Lot's of fun and humidity to be had in this town.

Art Deco along South Beach

See the hurricane modified palm tree's??

Alley outside Clay Hostel where I stay... lots of Mexican, Italian restaurants. No-one eats here though - too expensive

Welcome to Miami!

Welcome to Miami!

The first thing I noticed when I got off the plane was the stifling heat! After a few days I am starting to get used to it… it is certainly beach weather all the time. The only problem is that the sand is burning hot and the water is so warm that you want to stay in it all day! I haven’t gone for a run yet… by the time that it is cool enough to run I have already been enticed to have a couple of beers by fellow hosteller’s…. also when you can buy 12 stubbies of Millers for $5.99 it’s always tempting.

Miami is the city of humidity, the Spanish language, provocative t-shirts like ‘you know you want me’ (you can buy them EVERYWHERE! although I have seen no-one wearing them!), Palm trees, South Americans and Australian tourists.

‘The Clay Hostel’ is cool, I have met nice people from Holland, Germany, France, Australia and the U.S. we have been swimming at night the last couple of days and have been sharing beers in our courtyard. The Dutch people have been teasing the Germans but they are in agreement over their dislike of the French! Hehe

I have to be at uni on the 18^th to get our room…. I’m looking forward to that. I think I will buy a bike from a thrift store and get around that way.

Miami!

Hey everyone from humid and hot Miami!! the beach here is great with very hot sand and warm water.... people in the backpackers are cool, I have met people from Germany and Holland as well as New York and Boston...... better go but I will write more this afternoon I hope!!
I'll go take some photo's today too...

Tech website!

Check out my 'special' website with stuff from what I did at the Tech Museum!!

http://my.thetech.org/wps/?rfid=000007ECED8E01FE

use the code: 000007ECED8E01FE if it asks you for a Techtag number!

Pic's galore!

I am at SFO airport waiting for my flight to Miami.... it's 2:20am and I have another few hours before I can check in and head towards the gate. Here are a couple of choice pics for you to have a look at!


Apologies to 'pak 'n' save' in NZ, this is my new favourite store.... and why wouldn't it be when I can buy a slab of Stella Artois for $21!!!


Mayo anyone? Becc's got 4 litres if you need any!! I want to know how anyone can eat 4 litres of Mayo before it goes off!?!??!?!?


OK!


Irish coffee in Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco.... (warm whiskey with cream on top) good for warming you up in the freezing winds.


Otter at Monterey Bay Aquarium!!


Starbucks for breakfast.... you gotta be kidding me... there was so much sugar in it, it was more dessert than it was breaky!


THANK YOU! I ALMOST FORGOT TO TAKE OXYGEN WITH ME TO SPACE! It's only hazardous.... you might not die.


Riding a Segway at Tech museum! very fun thing to ride after you get the hang of it!


Here's me at the Tech museum in San Jose being a big fat nerd implanting a glowing gene into bacteria!! ooooh

more pics!

Costco chips, $3.29 for 5lbs (2.5kg approx)


Golden gate bridge!


Cara and I at UC Berkeley, clocktower in background... We went up the top of it later in the week.

Onto San Jose

Cara, Clay and my time together has ended :( We spent the last couple of days in Santa Rosa working on Clay's house... sanding and oiling posts and visiting 'yard sale's' in the area. We also watched a few movies and played Donkey Kong Country on super nintendo. I had a great time there and once again found myself saying "I wish I had more time to stay here longer!" seems like a recurring theme. I didn't want to leave LA and Jill, Danny, Kaylen, Jason, Kay and Chuck, I didn't want to leave Cara and Clay and I can see myself not wanting to leave San Jose.

After spending the day in Berkeley visiting the campus and climbing the massive clocktower landmark, Becc and I went shopping in the 'Cal Store' which was like a department store for 'Cal' merchandise! (University of California - Berkeley) Then we went down the street to a cheaper shop selling similar merchandise and Becc bought up big for her friends and family. My friends and family better enjoy the Miami stuff I get them!!!! hehe

In the afternoon we caught the BART to Fremont where Andy and Michelle picked us up to go back to their house in San Jose. BART=Bay Area Rail Transit.... All I can think of when I see the BART signs is that Simpsons episode where Homer forgets to pick up Bart from soccer practice and Santa's little helper says BART, BART.. BART BART BART!!!

After getting to Andy's place we went out to Sweet Tomatoe's for dinner. This was fantastic, one of the best meals I've had in the US. It was a buffet, but not a dodgy one like Smorgy's or Sizzler. They had good quality food and it was clean. You could make your own salad from almost any ingredients you could think of, they had soups, breads and dessert!!!!! Becc used her Macca's skill from 6 years ago to make a tower of ice-cream!! ehhe

Tomorrow is the Aquarium! yay fishies!

Foggy Town!

Today we went to the Exploratorium: the museum of science, art and human perception Today was their free-day.... it was like Scienceworks for Melbournites. But more of the exhibits were hands-on and in spite of the little kids it was fun!! Highlights were a virtual desert with a fan blowing on sand dunes, you could see the effects of erosion.... it was very nerdy and sciencey!!

The we went down to Fishermans Wharf/Pier 39 to see the tourist area and the Sea Lions arguing and lazing about as only they can do!! Those animals are so fun, they are always talking to one another and barking at seals that walk over them to get the best sun! It was foggy again today so no good photo's of the bridge! :( maybe next time. Hopefully I'll be back on Saturday to go to Alcatraz.... I'll try then.

Cara found this link to a webcam if you want to see Lions lazying on barges in front of tourists!! hehe Sea Lion Cam on PIER 39 in San Francisco

San Francisco

I’m officially moved on from the size of the cars! I’m now all about how cheap everything is here! Especially alcohol!!! 24pack of Corona stubbies=$22, petrol=66c/L (This is expensive for petrol and apparently everyone is kicking up a stink about it!, Gatorade=50c a bottle!! Massive bag of corn chips (good quality) $3, Subway $4.29 for a foot-long, 12 Croissants for $4.99, 36 pack of Pepsi cans were $4.99! It is absolutely crazy!! It’s not just these things I’ve listed, it’s everything! A battery charger I could get in Australia for $70 I picked up in Wal-Mart for $24.

I’ve been in San Francisco for a few days and I already like it a little better than LA, it is a bit cooler here which is nice. Although today we went downtown and it was freezing! Much colder than Clay’s house in Santa Rosa… but we got to see the steep up-and-down roads of San Francisco just like in the car-chase in ‘Bullit’ we also went to Chinatown and had tea at a very popular restaurant with a line out the door!! The Chef took our menu’s out of our hands and told us he would look after us! He brought us some amazing food which I don’t remember being on the menu! No wonder they are popular, you get special meals created just for you!! Also in Chinatown t-shirts were 5 for $10.99, like I said….Cheap!
I saw the Golden Gate Bridge which was cool!! San Francisco has quite a bit of fog though so hopefully it is clearer tomorrow!
Hi and thank you for all your comments! I’m sorry I haven’t had access to the net for a few days but I should be better from now on and should be great when I get to Miami!!