byron bay...and last night

since i only write once every three weeks i've decided that you guys should read the blogs in sections. that way, you'll have something to read every day and i won't feel so bad...plus this one's going to be long and somewhat tedious to read in one chunk anyways.

SECTION 1

was sick last week, so there's nothing to report...except that my throat was dripping with mucous. that was unecessary. but i'm too lazy to go back and delete it. went to byron bay last weekend....it's known for it's surfing and it's brownies...there was a mardi-grass (not a typo) there a few weeks ago. the train took 12 hours, but it was an overnight trip so it was alright. well, almost alright...i coughed myself awake a few times (i managed to bounce myself off the bed last week), and the train sounded like it was trying to rip itself apart...but apart from that it was a lovely trip, filled with laughter and avocado dip. then, we got into byron at 6am, but were too cheap to go the hostel yet (have to pay for the previous night cause check in is at 10), so we went straight to the beach, wrapped ourselves in sleeping bags, and watched the "sun rise". unfortunately the sun was not visible (clouds), though sonia and meike were convinced it hadn't risen yet because they hadn't seen it, despite the fact it was bright as day. crazy american. and german. then, the town drunk/crazy came down to us and offered us some shoes...that she had stolen from the salvation army. i was rather confused because i was tired and i had broken my sandal on the train, and i thought that somehow she knew and wanted to help me out. i was wrong. then the beach started filling up and people were looking at us like we were crazy cause we had all our bags surrounding out makeshift bed.

SECTION 2
later we found ourselves a lovely hostel called the arts factory...it was pretty wicked...we probably could have just spent the whole weekend chilling around there...it had beach vball courts, a pool, you could make your own didgereedoo (cool!), fire spinning, or chilling by the fire inside...etc etc etc. took some naps in our cabin....in our really tall beds. the bunk beds were three beds high, and the top one was about 12 feet up. with no side rail thingies. danger. i snagged the middle one (the kid in me always chooses the top bunk...the adult in me reminded me that i had coughed myself off the bed earlier that week). later that day we walked to the beach, chilled a bit and walked along the main road and checked out the cool stores. unfortunately it started pouring (and it was COLD), so we made our way back to the hostel and chilled there and met some new people. that night was a bit of a mess cause we went out for dinner really late and we were supposed to go to the pizza place that claims to have the best pizza in the world, but it was closed, along with everything else...except for take-out pizza, who's pizza was less than stellar. pizza here in australia generally tends to suck a lot. i haven't had any good pizza yet. i miss toppers. anyways, the next day was gorgeous and was spent chilling at the beach...played frisbee for a while, and we got to swim (it's gotten too cold here in sydney to swim) and i learnt how to catch a wave with my body. it was cool, very dolphin-ish. got out and played some hacky sack...two guys came over to join us, and I, being the very sophistimacated person i am, managed to make a fool of myself...

SECTION 3 (aren't you dying to know how i made a fool of myself?)
we were all standing around in a circle and the hackysack went up in the air behind me, so i decided to turn around and try and kick it back into the circle. i swung my leg really hard at it, cause that's what i do when i start panicking in hacky sack, and unfortunately my other leg got in the way. i kicked the other leg out from under myself and they went flying up in the air and i landed straight on my back, with my head in the middle of the circle looking up at everyone, including these two guys we had just met...it was crazy smooth. then a bird pooed on my bag.

SECTION 4 (i know the last one was short, but it was quality).
that night we ... i can't remember. i think we chilled out at the hostel. oh, yeah, we hung out in a teepee (such a cool hostel) and listened to some irish guys who had guitars sing. it was lovely. oh wait, maybe that was the night before. i think we went out that night to the cheeky monkey despite our guidebook telling us it's grope-city. okay, let's be honest...that's why we went there. the FA finals were on that night, so we danced until 11 (on the tables! that's the dance floor! i thought i was going to break my head!) and then settled in to the watch the game. then this guy came and sat in front of me and he turned, recognized me as that chick he had played hackysack with earlier that day and said, "you fell". that's all. you fell. anyways, the game was fun...especially since we were watching it at a bar full of british, so it was rowdy. well, actually, only one guy was rowdy, everyone else was relatively calm...until the shoot-out of course, at which point i lost my voice. though, i must say, losing your voice is much better than speaking/breathing like darth vader, as i had been earlier that week. which reminds me...who's seen star wars?? was anyone else really really sad afterwards? for like, two days? i think that deep down inside i didn't actually believe that he was going to turn bad...is that stupid?

on that note,
SECTION 5 (this section is somewhat boring. if you happen to miss a day of reading, this is the one i would choose)
sunday....uhhhhh....we ate burritos at some point. they were huge, and the food of the weekend. sooooooo good. oh, and a litre of ice cream. ferrerro rocher ice cream. yeah, THAT was delicious. okay, i'm getting sidetracked. smoothies. that was actually the food of the weekend. oh! we went to a market where i managed to eat my weight in food. actually, i didn't really eat too much...i did have a crepe filled with feta and mushrooms..that was wonderful. i did manage to drink two smoothies in the period of an hour though...along with that smoothie i had had earlier that day. i really love smoothies. wow, i just managed to babble on about food for a paragraph. which reminds me, sonia was looking through my datebook and all it has is food and food related things in it...well, that's a lie, it has some important things in there like due dates and such things. it's ridiculous...there are recipes, and grocery lists, and reminders for dinners, and even the quotes i wrote in there last year are about food. i actually need to take a break now to get some food.

SECTION 6 (i apologize about that last section, it was really boring)
caught the train home that night...i learned that i'm a terrible joke teller. for example:
kim: "What did the fish say when he hit the dam?"...
kim: "Knockknockwho'sthere" *awkward silence while everyone tries to figure out what just happened*
sonia is even worse though: kim: "[on the topic of geniuses] ... lots of geniuses have other problems though" sonia: "yeah, like einstein's hair"...or her stories about half tonne man...she really can't get enough of that story...and won't stop talking about it...kim:"hey, do you know 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape'" sonia: "yeah, half-tonne man" (yes...she actually laughed about this one for an hour)
oh, and word to the wise...don't try and explain knock knock jokes to a german...it's just not going to work. funny how such a simple thing that we all learned from young really isn't funny and really just plain confusing if you didn't grow up with it.
hey, it was only a 20 dollar fine if you pushed the big red button on the train... seems like it's really not enough to deter anyone...in fact, the fact that it was only 20 dollars made me want to push it even more...don't worry mom, i didn't push the big red button.
oh, i forgot to mention that tom got a kiss on the cheek from this beautiful girl cause he said something along the lines of, "hi, i'm trying to get a kiss from a person from each country in order to bring us all together in unity and peace". and it worked...it was awesome. oh man...there were some really good lines from this trip that i can't remember off the top of my head...i will consult with my tripmates and get back to you :)

i'm missing you guys,
kim