One month to go!

So, today I officially leave in a month. As I prepare I have been coming up with a list of things that I want to get done while I am down there.

1. Own my own surfboard and know how to use it. I plan on surfing and visiting the beach as much as possible.
   
2. Go scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef. It is likely I will move somewhere near Carins to get this done. I will need to learn how to scuba dive properly and if a license is needed I shall obtain one.
3. Work on a ranch for awhile. I want to know what life is like in the Outback; maybe fight off some Dingos and get some Crocodile Dundee in me.
4. Visit Ayers Rock. Not really sure why, but apparently everybody does it so I shall too.
5. Be on one of Swellnet.com.au's live surfcam and wave to everybody.
   
6. Go surfing on Christmas day. Just wow that would be an experience...

I shall come up with more in due time.

Wtf is Wollongong?

I have a tentative plan! It is tentative because I realize when traveling things can change on a whim, you meet someone who says 'hey lets go here and do this' and then you're gone. But nevertheless, my plan is as such.


View Larger Map

I am going to head to Wollongong. It is a town about and hour's drive south of Sydney. This is where I plan to go shortly after arriving and get set up there with a place to stay and a job.

Why Wollongong?

I chose it because it met the following criteria.

1. A university town
2. Neer da beach
3. Cheaper living

I am afraid that it might be too expensive to stay in Sydney when I first get there so I looked around and found Wollongong. It has a freaking mountain in the town, for serious. Check out this view of Mt. Keira from the town.



Basically: Guelph + Beaches + Surfing + Mountain + Summertime = Awesome Win

So that's my plan for now. Once I get there, chill in Sydney for a few nights and orient myself. Then take the train to Wollongong and set up shop there for a few months. After that... who knows...

I do. It's called going to Carins and scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef. Or to the Northwest provinces and working on a ranch. I shall make a mighty to do list for while I am there.

Anyways, peace for now.

Skype, a webcam and a tentative plan.

I have found the answer to communicating with everyone whilst I am down in Australia. There is this program called Skype (http://www.skype.com/) which you can download and use to call people around the world. Any Skype to Skype call is free and you can use it to call regular phones cheaply. I plan on using this while I am down there and encourage all of you to download it, add me, and give me a call whenever you desire. You can even have a voice mail so if you are away people can leave you messages.

Add me: Andrew Meades, skype name = ameades

I have also purchased a webcam as can be seen in the above banner. It's the Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000 which I got from bestbuy on sale for $79 bucks. It is kickass. It has Carl Zeiss Optics. I don't have a clue what that is, but I am sure Wikipedia could tell me though (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Zeiss_Optics)? Why don't you do that and give me a call and let me know.

Anyways, just to show you the webcam quality and because I know you want it, here are some pictures of me.

















Me eating a popart and waving.



Me with da guns drawn.



I have a bunch of cool special effects as well. This is the speedy blurry one. Macs ain't got nothing on me.



This is just a funny picture I saw on reddit the other day.


On to bigger news. Hmm. I think I am going to make a separate post for this actually...

The birth of a travel blog.

Today is the day it all starts. This blog is intended to help keep family and friends updated on my adventure down under. I shall keep this blog up to date and will do my best to take and post plenty of pictures. I hope you enjoy :)

So today it is official. I have received an electronic copy of my plane ticket. There is no turning back now, fortunately hehe. I will be flying on Qantas airline which I found out today is an Australian airline. I fly from Toronto to LAX, and then from LAX to Sydney. Total travel time is estimated to be about 24 hours. Toronto to LAX = 5 hours 30 mins, 2 and a half hour layover, and then a 15 and a half hour flight to Sydney. I leave Toronto at 6:50pm on the 25th and I shall arrive in Sydney at 9:20am on the 27th. Thats the flight I have booked right now. I shall write another post when I actually take it :)