Hey, You're Part Of It.

So Dave and I had some delicious dinner With Toby, Joe, Andreas and Kobe.

It seems that a lot of restaurants in Australia are different in 2 ways from the US:
1. No Tipping. This goes for bars too. Their minimum wage is far higher than ANYWHERE in the States, and they don't get paid any less because they can make tips ( I saw this in Arizona- $5.15/h was the minimum wage, but if you made tips, it was $2.15/h!) They'll look at you funny and you'll obviously be a tourist. That being said, I've noticed not too many waiters go above & beyond to make people happy.
2. A lot of restaurants are BYOB. I don't know why this is at all.

After dinner, we followed Toby and Andreas to a bar and hung out.
 


Andreas ended up disappearing and Toby kept buying us drinks...Let me just say, the Aussies can DRINK. They are also some of the most hospitable people I have ever met. We took a taxi back to Uncle Reno's place and went to sleep.

Sydney was great fun!

The 13 hour drive back was...well, 13 hours. I wanted to check out Big Banana, but it was closed by the time we got there.
 
I really like their pride of native Aussie things ( Big Pineapple, Big Prawn, Big Banana, etc...).
Here's a photo of Big Prawn (their way of saying "Shrimp")

We decided instead of staying the night in a hotel (we weren't impressed by the ones we were looking at) that we'd just stick it out and drive all the way back to the Sunny Coast. That afternoon, we drove past the sugar cane fields again.

The air smelled sweet and it felt like we were being kissed by the sun with the windows down, our arms in the wind and smiles on our faces.
 
Road trips are my favorite. I looking forward to exploring more of Australia with my honey =]

One day, Dave took me to a hidden treasure: Gardener's Falls.

It's a local secret. I was beyond excited to discover this waterfall, with a rope swing! But of course, the big sissy that I am, I couldn't jump. But Dave did!

You can also jump off the rocks, but I couldn't do that either. Hopefully one day I'll be able to muster up the courage to do it!
On the drive back home that day, we stopped to take a photo together with the nice scenery in the background.

Then, we noticed a lady pull over. She got out of her car and offered to take our picture! Wasn't that the nicest thing?

Then I took a funny picture of Dave next to his car. He thought it was lame. Sorry honey! haha =]


I forgot to mention, one of the best parts of my trip! Dave took me to BIG PINEAPPLE! If you know me (::cough:: Rachael ::cough::) you know that I love pineapples!

Did you know Pineapples grow from the bottom up?

They also have animals there!


They serve the yummiest ice cream there! This country has the most exotic flavours too! ( Macadamia is my favorite, it's just plain HEAVENLY!).
While in Australia, I also had my very first snorkeling experience.
It was kind of scary, learning how breathe through a tube. I thoroughly enjoyed using my flippers though! Noosa National park is so beautiful! We saw a silver eel, a couple of jellyfish, a baby stingray, and some pretty fish. I need to get a waterproof camera! I'll admit that I am nt totally used to sea life, so when I saw the eel and the stingray, I jumped out of the water and latched onto Dave's legs, and of course he made fun of me...meanie!



    Lastly, but certainly not least, I had the tremendous joy of going to Australia Zoo. It is the Zoo that Steve Irwin took over years ago and made it into what I believe is the biggest Zoo in Australia, and it's just wonderful. They have a huge area where you can feed and pet Kangaroos! This one was my favorite. It's an Albino. It hopped several feet to come see me. It is as soft as a bunny!


Look at all the sleepy Koalas!

Like the nerd That I am, We stayed until the park closed. on the walk out, I made a new friend, who was being taken out for her evening walk.

Wombats are AWESOME! I wish I could have one as a pet!

Unfortunately the dreaded time came...I was leaving. We got together with Dave's parents and friends for a goodbye dinner at a yummy Thai Place.
This is me and Therese, David's Mother <3


   Of course, we were both very upset. When I was packing, I cried. Dave had to leave the room and watch TV because he said he couldn't bear to watch. We cried at the table while eating breakfast the morning I was leaving. We left each other crying at the airport ( David swears he just had something in his eye). The people at customs asked me if I was okay, and a quickly explained our situation, and of course, I lost it and tears came down my face again...It never gets easier to say goodbye.

I got on that plane against my will. The steward got me buzzed on champagne and checked up on me frequently. By the time I landed in Auckland, I felt somewhat better. Not happy, but not crying. A sort of numbness, Almost the way you feel when you just got dumped. I didn't know when I was going to see David again. All I knew was that I missed him, and I didn't want to go back to LA.

On the second flight, I sat next to a newlywed couple. I swear, They were so odd! Leather vests, leather hats, the Man was a giant ( tall AND large) and she was large but not as tall. They had gold rings on, which, get this, had the same writing as the ring in "Lord of the Rings" and I couldn't help but giggle to myself...And then The man pulled his leather satchel from under the seat in front of him. Hilarious!

I landed in LA, and my dear friend Aubrie came to pick me up. She is one of the best friends anyone could ever ask for.

I couldn't bear to go back to my apartment for a few days, so instead of dealing with my crappy roommates, I grabbed some clothes and stayed with my friends Shelley and Sabrina for a few days. The Rucker sisters are really sweet young ladies. They cheered me up with food, movies, and company. Sometimes you just need your friends to remind you that life isn't so bad.

When I finally went back to my apartment, I found out that my roommates were moving out! After working a couple of days, I went home one night and all their stuff was gone. Just what I needed! After a few days of panic, I put in the 30 day notice and started to pack. I moved everything into storage with the help of my friend Rick and my mother, and all I lost was my right pinky fingernail! It was the grossest and most painful experience I have ever had to date. I'll have to find a picture and put it up.

Simply put: Don't get fake nails! ( Back to Australia, it's much more expensive to get your nails done there!)

I moved into my mom's place for the month of April, and looked for a new place to live. Dave and I decided he was going to come out in May for 6 months, and we'd go from there.

He was coming back on May 5th!

But for now, we are young, let us soak in the sun...

    After the Kangaroos, we went to Dave's parents' house. I was lucky, because They have a lake in their back yard and there were some ducklings hanging out, so to break the ice Therese gave me some bread to feed to them!




John and Therese are the nicest people. Therese is a fantastic cook, and I enjoyed talking about movies with John tremendously. I kept my sweater sleeves covering my arms, because no matter how nice they were, I was sure it would all change if they saw my tattoos. I think it might be because of a few years ago when my mother had said that I would have a hard time finding a man that would accept me with my tattoos, and I had replied that I didn't want the kind of man who wouldn't accept me for who I was or what I looked like. Several times John and Therese asked me if a wasn't too hot with my sweater on, and I said I was fine, but in reality I was perspiring profusely!! You certainly never wear long pants in summer out there ( Yes, it was January, but in Australia the seasons are switched around. Never a white Christmas there, that's for sure!), but a sweater, only if it's raining. It's hot ( around 100F daily), and very very humid! I only went swimming in the pool once it got dark too...Hey, sue me for fearing that my potential future in-laws would hate me! I loved them so much, and although that fear wasn't completely gone by the time we left, I looked forward to seeing them again.

    So the hard part was over, or so We thought. But we'll get back to that later.

    During my trip, Dave took me to do a whole mess of cool stuff. We went to the beach pretty often, the area we went to was called "Mooloolaba Spit", which is protected from incoming wind via the waves, so jellyfish, mainly Blue Bottles, weren't a problem there.


    One day, Dave took me to Underwater World!

It's the local aquarium of the Sunshine Coast. It's really nice, even though it's smaller than what most Angelenos are used to, since we're spoiled with the Aquarium of the Pacific. The native fish were awesome! Pineapple Fish

different sorts of Seahorses (they're BEAUTIFUL, they look like faeries!)

the Seal/ Sea Lion show was really cool, and our personal favorites, the Sea Otters. Sneaky little buggers, aren't they? I also loved this Sea Turtle. He was missing a fin.

    Since Dave is a very active person, every few days he needed to get back into his element. Many Significant others don't seem to take interest in their other half's hobbies and passions, or better yet they discourage them to continue. I've always said that I wanted to end up with someone that had a passion. So I went with Dave to the skate park on the beach to watch him and his buddies ride BMX.



It's awesome, but no wonder there are so few girls in this sport, these boys go into a session KNOWING they're going to fall off their bike and get hurt! Now, that takes passion (and guts!)! Most times, it's just a scrape or a bruise, but sometimes it gets ugly...Broken bones mean no riding until it's healed, which could take weeks or even months!
    It's such a nice thing, watching the person you care about in their element. You can see their mind go blank, and nothing else matters in the world. There's just you and your bike. Don't you wish that everything that makes you happy could be this simple? Dave and his friends are so dedicated to their sport, and I love it.
     For a week of my trip, Dave wanted to take me down to Sydney for some sight seeing and to meet some more members of his family ( as well as get interviewed for his 6-month visa application at the US consulate). It was a long, 13 hour drive, but I spent most of the time playing music for Dave to discover, and reading. Somehow, I can read while being in a car. Not for too long, I have to rest my eyes every half hour or so, but I don't recall ever feeling sick to my stomach like most people seem to.
     We stayed at his Uncle Reno's place. Uncle Reno is a very sweet man. He is also a talented photographer. (I'll eventually put up a link to the family tree on here, so you can know who is who, but Reno is Dave's Mom's Brother). We got in late so after a quick bite to eat we went to bed. Uncle Reno had to work the next day, so Dave and I went to his old neighborhood. He showed me the house where he used to live.

  Later on, we met up with his childhood best friend Tobias. Toby is so much fun! His mommy is a nice lady too. They went for a ride.






    The following day, Dave had his appointment with the US consulate, so I went exploring in the shopping center nearby. I discovered an AWESOME store! It's called Dangerfield. It's like Hot Topic, when it was darker (back in the day), and Urban Outfitters hybrid! I was a bad girl and bought a few things, a dress, a skirt, and a nice halter top. It's all pretty good quality, they cater to their small Rockabilly/Psychobilly community, but also some scenester stuff too, some pretty cool novelty tees, etc...I wish they sold online, because the Sydney location is the closest one to us! =[
    We walked around, had some lunch, and took the ferry to Manly, which is (I THINK) some sort of island or peninsula with a street with shops and a delicious ice cream parlour. It started to rain, so we took the ferry back to the main part of Sydney, where you can see the Sydney Opera House! On the boat, I had an interesting experience with 3 young Aboriginal males. It obviously was not what I assume is a good representation of their culture, but these boys were VERY aggressive, walking around the seats, going up to random people (most other men) and trying to start fights, verbally abusing complete strangers who hadn't so much as glanced at them until they saw or heard them disturbing other passengers. They were also making inappropriate advances at women on board. This is the first time I really saw Dave get protective of me. He looked so angry...Ready to burst if they came towards us and tried to start a fight. Thank GOODNESS it didn't come to that. I think that if we had been on board any longer, it would have ended up ugly. We waited until they were off the boat and out of eyesight, and we left. Unfortunately, they were headed in the same direction as us, to the Metro. We decided to just wait and take the next train. I had an Iced Tea ( in Australia, they are lucky enough to have delicious bottled teas made by Lipton and Nestea), and we got on the metro to meet up with Dave's childhood friends, whom we were meeting for drinks and dinner. Funny enough, a stop or two on our trip, they got into the same car as us! Easy meet up! I'd like to say that Sydney reminds me quite a bit of San Francisco, in all the good ways ( I can't think of any bad, anyway). Sydney is also a very clean place, which is nice, because most big cities certainly are not. I can't wait to go back and see more of what this amazing city has to offer!

More later, and pictures too! About to get picked up to have dinner with friends!

Friday I'm in love with you

    After the climb up Mount Coolum, we had a pretty casual day together, even though it was Dave's birthday. We were saving our energy for the party that weekend, for his birthday. His birthday party was a costume party, but in Australia they call it a "Fancy Dress Party"...so weird. Anyway, since Australia isn't all that big on Halloween (which is SO depressing because it's my favorite holiday), the boys in the house (and some of the guests) RENTED their costumes!! I was shocked...I had my Beatrix Kiddo (from Kill Bill) costume ready, Dave was Raphael the Ninja Turtle ( no offense to my honey, but this looked handmade, and his shell looked more like an egg, haha!)
,
Heath was Chewbacca

, Rocket was the Joker, Squiggy was Super Mario, and Frenchie was Duff Man!

All in all, it was a great time. Instead of cake, I baked Banana and Strawberry cupcakes!

They were really good I guess, because I didn't even get to try one!


 
    One thing I noticed though, was that the few girls that were there ( they were some Dave's friends' girlfriends), I tried to introduce myself, but I got nothing but dirty looks...For those of you that know me, I'm not stuck up in the slightest...I try to be friendly, and I though making some lady friends in Australia would be good for me, since there was a possibility I would end up living there one day. Hey now, don't think I was being too presumtuous, we WERE considering marriage, we just didn't have any specifics decided yet. I was just a bit shocked that I was basically ignored when trying to make friends! I still to this day have no idea if it's because I'm American and they're a bit prejudiced, or if it's just because they're bitches!
   A few days later was the day I met the parents. I had been dreading this day since my arrival because you just never know how they're going to be. I decided to keep my hoodie on with the sleeve all the way down, because even though Dave told me his parent's wouldn't care about my tattoos, I didn't believe him. I was getting really really nervous on the way to their house for dinner, so Dave was so very sweet and took a slight detour so that I could see some Kangaroos in the wild!

    Let me tell you, it was the coolest thing ever! It was actually at the University that Dave went to, the University of the Sunshine Coast. Really, the only college within an hour's drive. The wildlife in Australia must be unbeatable! The Roos are just lounging on the lawn, so during your walk from class to class, you my step on one or get boxed! Just kidding about getting boxed, as long as you don't corner them! They were incredible to observe.

We spotted a couple of young ones play-fighting next to the playing field.

One thing that I did find funny, is that they call the "elevator" a "lift", and the "restrooms" are called "toilets"!
 
There were also quite a few Rainbow Lorikeets in the trees, they are so beautiful!


More later, pictures and such, talking to my honey on skype =P

And so it goes...

    Basically the next day, I got another message from Dave telling me that he had landed safely, and over the course of a few days, we decided we had to see each other again. I asked him when his birthday was, and he said it was January 7th. At that point it was July, which was far away. But considering the fact that I worked a retail job and had rent, a car payment, etc..., any sooner wasn't realistic. So, it was decided I would go to Australia to see him for a month in January. And, I started saving...boy was it tough.
    We talked everyday, at first via text and internet, and a phone call once a week, and the phone bill was HUGE..(sorry mom!!), I eventually got a second phone with a really good international texting plan so that we could keep in contact (and I would be the one picking up the bill, not my mom). We stayed up for hours talking about our hopes and dreams, what we saw ourselves going in the future, and we realized we wanted each other to be IN our future. We decided that once I had gone to Australia, that he would apply for an extended holiday Visa and stay in LA for 6 months or so, and see where we wanted to live permanently. We knew that we wanted to travel, ( I once got an email from him with a slideshow of photographs of Malta entitled: "Come here with me"). Even Dave's friends approved of me, the only one that seemed to have anything to say was Tristan, who said " Diane's cool and all, but don't you hate smokers??" and Heath so very sweetly responded "That's love". Dave told them they were exactly right. I have decided to make an effort to quit, even though Dave wasn't trying to force me to ( but I knew he secretly hoped for the day that I didn't smoke).
    We knew that we didn't want the typical "White Picket Fence, kids, etc..." right away. We weren't ready for that just yet. At the time we didn't even really want to get married. Not specifically NOT to each other, but to anyone at all!
    My birthday was in August, and I went to Disneyland, My friend Shelley took me to the Paradise Pier hotel! It was amazing, except that I missed Dave so very much...But I was lucky enough to get a package in the mail! He got me a stuffed Emu ( which was funny because of 2 reasons: 1, I have gotten 2 stuffed animals from boys in my past, and both times I was so completely turned off by them and 2, we have a discussion at the airport about the proper pronunciation of "Emu", which then became an inside joke of ours, therefore, refuting my distate for stuff animals and turning into LOVE for it!)

    I still have him to this day. He was named Bobby Slayton, after all the ads in the hotel in vegas for his comedy gig (Funny enough, Heath actually ran into Bobby Slayton himself in the hotel bathroom one night). Then Halloween, I don't even remember, except that I went to Disneyland one weekend with my friends Sancho and Moose From Arizona that I had missed tremendously. Then Thanksgiving, I went to Vegas to spend it with my bestie Graham because it was also his birthday, and for Christmas my honey got me a bumblebee bead made of glass, from Tasmania, on a necklace ( If you know me, you know my love for bumblebees!)! Another thoughtful gift from my sweet man!
    So January was getting closer and I didn't have my plane ticket, and we were both worrying, especially since the ticket prices were going up.  Dave was nice enough to help me ut with the rest of what I needed for my ticket. We were both thrilled! It was only a matter of time before we got to see each other face to face again...Would it all be the same? Would it be awkward? To be honest, I was most worried about the fact that I was going to meet his parents during my trip! The last thing you want is for your significant other's parents to loathe you! After much reassuring on his part, my fear slightly subsided.

    The day finally came for me to get on the plane.

    I forgot I was afraid of flying! Not quite screaming and crying, but enough to think we were doomed every time there was a bit of turbulence, nothing a few drinks couldn't help. I was sitting next to 2 lovely young British girls. We talked quite a bit on the plane. I love making new friends and getting to know some of the people I'm flying with! My layover was in Auckland New Zealand. By the way, I'd like to say that Air New Zealand is by far the best airline I've ever been on. The food is DELISH, the options last even if you're at the back of the plane, and the employees are extremely friendly! Upon landing, I asked the flight attendant what to do about taking a smoke break while on my 4 hour layover, she took my customs card, and gave me a cup full of candy! She was really sweet about it, and I must say I do owe her a little bit, because I haven't had a full cigarette since then! I exchanged email addresses with the British girls and headed to the terminal with the plane that was taking me to my final destination.
    My soundtrack for this trip consisted of :
Bloc Party-Signs
City and Colour- Bring me your love
Air- Playground Love
Radiohead- Idiotheque
    I think I may have been so terrified of crashing on this plane that I wanted to make my own soundtrack to make my death epic. I was convinced that our story would be so tragic that I'd never see him again because I'd die before I saw him again. Reminder: I did warn you that I'm afraid of flying. AND that I hoped for some of my life to be like in a movie ( even if it HAD to be a tragic part).

    Yes, I know I'm crazy, but just accept it and we'll move on. Ready? Good.

    On the next leg of the flight, I was in the middle part of the plane, where there are 4 seats to a row. Well, my designated seat was an aisle seat. No problem! Except for the fact that I had a 6 year old seated next to me, and she kept spilling her drink on me and pushing on my tv screen. After a few minutes of observation, I'm afraid she may have had some sort of disability. What I did NOT understand, is her mother did not apologize or perhaps explain why this was occuring, and she DID have an empty seat to her left, so she could have had SOME common decency and either scooted over a seat with her daughter, or traded so that she was sitting next to me. But instead, I spent five hours with a wet left leg and not being able to watch my movie.
    We finally landed. Face check: hideous. I spent 10 minutes in the bathroom trying to make myself look even half-way decent. Oh come on, don't tell me YOU haven't done that before! I hadn't seen Dave in 5 months, I didn't want the new first impression to be that I looked like death!

   Then I was walking down the walkway in arrivals, and I was so nervous I bet I was beet-red in the face.

    There he was, waiting for me...I almost for a second pretended I didn't see him ( He was EVEN CUTER that I remembered!!!) Nervous...And there he was in front of me. I gave him a big hug and we shared a really awkward passionate kiss, I thought I was going to pee my pants. Look for a distraction...He brought Heath with him! Thank Goodness! Not that I was afraid to be alone with Dave, but I think he may have had the same thought that I did, to relieve all possible awkward silences while on the hour-long car ride back to the Sunshine Coast. Turns out, he wasn't really needed as such. We had a grand old time talking on the drive, and I looked out the window mesmerized by all the greenery along the side of the highway.

    It was almost noon by then, so the boys took me to a nice place by the beach called the Lime Grill. I was too nervous to eat...
    We got to the house he was sharing with Glenn (aka Rocket), Brendon (aka Squiggy), and Heath.

My stuff was taken into Dave's room, and instead of taking a nap, of course we had to have ourselves a little makeout session, didn't we? I took a nice long hot shower, we hung around the house, I met Dave's Oscar fish "Fifty"

I played with Rocket's dog "Callie"

, and it was eventually time for dinner at Montyzuma's, where we met up with Tristan, another one of Dave's friends that I met that past summer.
 
    We had some sangria, and by the time my food came I was falling asleep into my plate. I was so incredibly exhausted, I couldn't wait to be in bed. The food was good, but still no comparison to the Mexican food I'm used to, coming from LA. I will say, however, that as Aztec food, it IS indeed delicious. When we got back to the house, I had about half a cigarette and felt disgusting, lightheaded, sweaty, just plain gross. I decided I would only smoke if I really felt I needed it...The last time I had a cigarette was the following day.
    During my stay, David took me to explore all of what the Sunshine Coast had to offer. On his birthday, We climbed up to the top of Mount Coolum. This was particularly difficult because I'm not a very sporty person, and keep in mind I hadn't exactly quit smoking yet. (He recently told me that he was TESTING me to see if I was a quitter...I was shocked because it wasn't fair that I was a smoker and I had bad knees...what a meanie, right??) But I was tough and didn't complain one bit, and we made it to the top! We took a few photos up there.




Another skype date, sorry, i'll write more tomorrow!