Thursday 12 November 2009

Cheeky Monkeys, Muffins and Friends



We have acquired some places in town where we are regular costumers. I already mentioned Bohemia, a café where we get free wireless, an excellent cup of latte (or chai tea latte if you’re like me) and on Saturday we indulge in one of their succulent muffins.

Mars and caramel muffin. Let me say no more. Words cannot describe them.

We are also quite frequently to be found in the backpacker pub/nightclub, which is called Cheeky Monkeys (pictured above). This is where all backpackers come on their travels through Byron Bay, mostly due to the cheap food and alcohol. We often come here and have dinner, which we can sometimes get for $2 (£1, 10NOK), or burger and beer for $5 (£2.50, 25NOK), which is way cheaper than making it yourself and it actually is a decent size meal. Downside is that we get tempted to stay and dance on their tables, which were especially made to be danced on (it is essentially their dance floor). Another reason to come here is their themed evenings (they have a new theme every day). Our favorite is Saturday which is ladies night (a glass of free champagne to the ladies) which includes an Amateur Male Strip Show (pictured below) , which can be quite entertaining (if you can see anything behind all the guys cheering their mates on).




A couple of weeks ago we spent the weekend partying with some lovely Swedish girls (Camilla pictured with me below, Jessica in mustache) who were traveling around the world in 3 months. Henriette was very excited about speaking Norwegian again and they were quite good at understanding us (Swedish people can sometimes be a bit stupid when it comes to understanding Norwegian) although they were surprised that we had absolutely no problems understanding what they said cause they had to pay strict attention to catch everything we said. They have now moved on to New Zealand where they are complaining about the cold and longing back to the warmth of Byron ;).




Our token “out-on-the-town” buddies are Christina (22 year-old actress/creative writer born in Fiji, raised in UK and Australia) and Emily (21 year-old Brit from near Nottingham). They are both absolutely crazy (pictured below, Emily is the blond, Christina the strapless one), which of course is a lot of fun. They both work here in Byron in a coffee shop and pub respectively. We have also started to hang out with one of our fellow Travel Bug, Teri from Chicago, who is perhaps the most American girl we have ever met in our lives, but she is very sweet.



Both of us are currently saving as much money as we possibly can without being completely confined to the house watching films (cause is TV reception) and eating noodles (we need to have SOME fun), and Australia is proving quite cheap food wise so thus far it is looking good. The only thing which is straining on us is the cost of sun lotion (they hardly sell below SPF 30 here, so it is important that we use lotion, especially Henriette ;) and also the fact that the two weeks worth of clothing we brought with us is now starting to get on our nerves. We can honestly say that we hate every single item we brought with us because we wear them ALL the time. And clothes is not something we feel we can spend our hard earned dollars on. The one thing we have purchased ourselves is a pair each of thongs (also known as slippers/sandaler, pictured below). Because we walk so much we felt it was an appropriate “waste” of money. The big thing within the Australian thong market is Havaianas, an extremely popular brand, which only costs a whooping $30 (£15/150 NOK) compared to Europe where they go for £40/399 NOK. Down here everyone seams to be sporting a pair of Havaianas in one shape or form, even little kids.

Henriette requests that it is pointed out that she has indeed new Havaianas, although the picture shows her old slippers currently on their forth year. It is just, like so many things, that the new ones (which are black with slim straps) aren’t quite as perfect on the foot. They will get there ;)

That’s it for now. Unless something remarkable happens, this is what we’ll be doing till Fredrik (my cousin) comes to visit us for Christmas and New Year. Our plans for then are not set yet, but we will be going to the outback at that point. Hopefully the traveling will make for more frequently updated blog.

PS: If anyone are wondering why there are so few pictures of Henriette, it is because she has had some annoying allergies on her eyelids which makes them itchy and red and she doesn't feel like posing for photos at the moment.

Professional Sanitary Personnel and Promotional Staff


Both Henriette and me are sporting two jobs at the moment, and we both work for the same people mostly at the same time. How we are not already sick of each other I don’t know, but it is working remarkably well sharing bed, food, house and jobs.

We have started calling each other “Vikram” from the “Friends” episode where Phoebe creates a fake boyfriend called Vikram to fake that she has had a long-term relationship so that her new boyfriend isn’t scared off. The idea is that after a year together we will practically have been in a long term relationship, although a fake one, so we can be each other’s Vikram if it is ever needed (since none of us has had a long term relationship before). Explaining this has just made me realize how much information there can be in one piece of internal humor between two people.

Never mind.



Our main job is cleaning holiday apartments for a cleaning company called Jelly Beans. They are starting up a department here in Byron Bay after becoming relatively successful along the Gold Coast. Currently they have only hired the two of us, and Amy (pictured above) who is a lovely 21 year-old from Tasmania who moved over here with her sister. The three of us have become quite the little team of super cleaners going through an entire house with tremendous speed. The apartments or houses we clean are mostly gorgeous which makes it just the more satisfying to clean them. A perk of the job is that we are allowed to take any food left behind (obviously we only take unopened stuff but that has so far included a pack of 12 eggs, a bottle of wine and a packet of cone ice cream so we’re doing quite well from that privilege).

Our boss is called Hamish and is a recently separated man with two children. He has lately gotten into the habit of texting us in the morning changing the time of our cleanings right before we do them, which has gotten a bit tedious, but he is otherwise a good boss, always smiling. We do wish the job would require us for more hours a week then we are currently getting, but with the summer coming up we are assured that we will get busier and more money will be rolling in.



www.travelbugstore.com.au

Our second job is for a traveling company called Travel Bugs who cater mostly for backpackers such as ourselves. The job involves standing outside the shop and give out flyers that allow backpackers and students 30 minutes free internet access. We are also encouraged to chat to people about their travels and we are given an extra hour pay if we help them make a sale. They mostly sell skydiving, surfing lessons and trips to Fraser Island and the Whitsunday islands. These two places are where most backpackers seem to be heading. Fraser Island is the world’s largest sand island and has loads of fresh water lakes on it where you can swim. Most backpackers hire a four-wheel drive and spend two days driving around the island. You can’t however swim in the sea off the island, as it is a nesting place for tiger sharks. The Whitsundays is a cluster of islands off Great Barrier Reef. The most common thing to do is sail from island to island because staying on one of the islands themselves can cost you about $2000 (£1000, 10 000NOK) a night. Hopefully we will get the opportunity to experience these places, but currently they are not on our to-do list.



The job at Travel Bugs isn’t lucrative as we only get paid $10 an hour and HAVE TO spend it in Travel Bugs. This might sound like a bad thing, but we have found that it forces us to save for travels, which essentially is what we are here for. The shifts are also short, only 3 hours long, but believe us both when we tell you we couldn’t have lasted a second longer than 3 hours as Byron Bay isn’t a big town and you find yourself constantly asking the same people over and over again. The job is however a good way to meet new travelers and locals. Walking down the street we practically recognize everyone we walk past or at least they are all vaguely familiar, which can be a little frustrating since we never remember if we actually spoke to them or if they have just passed us.

Living it up in Lilli Pilli


Our apologies for the late update. We have been settling into our daily routine and believed our landlord when he said he would get broadband set up soon. Now we have come to realize that this will more than likely not happen anytime soon (and we’re not sure we want it to because currently he only stays at the house for a night or two a week which means we have a whole house to ourselves which is nice, if he suddenly were to get internet it would probably mean he would stay here a lot more). So we have come to the conclusion that we will just have to drag our laptops into town and use the free internet we have discovered at the local pub, The Beach Hotel, and our favorite café, Bohemia. Now make sure you have done all the washing up and that you have a steaming cup of hot coffee or tea and some yummy chocolate biscuits in front of you cause this is bound to be an entry of vast length (Again I will divide it up so that it is easier to read and there will be loads of pictures).

We are currently sharing a bed in 41 Lilli Pilli Drive, a one story, lodge looking kind of house.


Here we share kitchen, living room and bathroom with Toby (the bald one in the picture below), a 29 year-old Aussie who works in an old people home and trains to become a fighter (?).



Toby is a weird specimen of a man. He is very clean (cleans the house before we can manage to get to it), folds our clothing on the line, talks in one syllable words and he worked for 7 years as a cook, and has so far made us four delicious dinners. Most notably among them was when he came home on a Sunday and made us a full on Sunday roast with potatoes, onions, carrots and chili with gravy and a delicious cut of meat which neither me or Henriette could pin point what was. It looked like beef, but tasted more of pork. Toby had the biggest grin on his face when he revealed, after we finished eating, that we had indeed eaten a kangaroo. Henriette was slightly troubled by the experience, and sad that she had eaten a cute little Skippy. Carnivorous me wanted to know where I could get some more of that meat cause that was the most tender and succulent cut I have had in ages! Mmmmmmm! :D


Toby also has a car, which can be useful as the walk into town is 27-45 min (on 27 minutes we practically ran), a walk we generally do back and forth at least once a day. The bad location is worth it in the end as our rent is next to nothing and because we in essence have a whole house to ourselves. The only problem is that we get spoiled by the space, which means whenever our landlord actually comes here (which sometimes includes girlfriend, his 3 year-old son, two daughters and eldest daughter’s boyfriend) it can get really crowded and we get really annoyed. Especially because we never know, until we see their cars in the driveway, if they are coming or not, and if you’ve had a long day doing two different jobs and walking back and forth into town, you don’t want a hyperactive 3 year-old dragging you into the spider (pictured below) and snake infested woods to hunt for Captain Hook (although at times it’s quite fun).




We had another incident in the house worth mentioning. One day we came home to an empty house (yay!) and I started preparing dinner while Henriette went to the bathroom. Suddenly I hear a piercing scream and Henriette comes running out of the bathroom in a panic. I immediately jump to the conclusion that there is some form of innocent bug in the bathroom and bounce to the rescue (by Henriette’s tremor and wide-eyed look of fear, it was bound to be a big one, pictured above).

Looking into the bathroom I can’t see a bug at all but an absolutely massive Iguana snuggling on the floor (pictured below). He generally wanders around outside, we’ve named him Sigurd and his female counterpart Gudrun. Henriette hadn’t seen it at first when she came into the bathroom and had turned around after washing her hands to face the big, green monster. That would have startled me too. We were hungry so we just left it in the bathroom and while we ate Gary, our landlord, came home and dragged it out by its tail. By the way, a running iguana is one of the funniest images I have ever seen in my life, especially when it runs into glass doors as well.

Later Toby revealed that he had spent 20 minutes ushering the iguana into the bathroom to scare us. Henriette was not so amused, and I can’t believe he LEFT the house and missed the uproar!?! I am surprised he wasn’t sitting there with a tub of popcorn and a beer grinning his face off when we came home urging us into the bathroom.