Catch-up and PLAAAANS

[dendritejungle]

Good grief, where the effin' hell has the last week gone?!?! Oh yeah:

• Thursday: origami society meeting


• Friday: Harry Potter with eboniorchid, which was loads of fun but oy, people, learn from my pain: DON'T see the 3D IMAX version while sitting two rows from the front, particularly after a "dinner" of Spinach-and-artichoke-cheese dip (hey, there wasn't time for a proper meal before the movie). The nausea was kind of insane, and let's just say at least I (barely) made it to a garbage can the SECOND time I threw up on the way home... *winces*


• Saturday: housecleaning, ActionGrrrlz, and the entirely awesome Fringe play GeekGasm with jaefru, thegreenavenger, fairylane, the_great_waka, ecchs, and others. I got a resounding verbal cheek-pinch-of-cuteness "awwww" when I revealed that the last time I had been in that theatre was when I had been on the stage in a grade school production of Pinocchio. (The humour of this is more evident when you know that most of them DO theatre/acting in some sort of professional capacity and are the better part of a decade younger than me.)


• Sunday: a ridiculous amount of laundry and a lovely afternoon/evening with neeuqdrazil *goofy grin*


• Monday: Summerlicious dinner with my mom


• Tuesday: I cooked (!!!) for my evening hanging out with memethief and Jake. Wonderful to see them both, though I am feeling abashed having been a tad stressed over my unfinished to-do list. :P Sorry guys!

So I am relieved to be back and posting (though quietly dreading the skip=3,587,624 I'm going to have to do on my flist - lord, you lot are a prolific bunch, aren't ya? ;P).

AND, with no further ado: YES, I am going to be flying my merry self to Australia. Thank you to everyone for your input! You may be amused to know that the responses fell largely into two camps: "Hell yeah, come visit!!" or "Hell yeah, go visit - but I hate you/am jealous/want you to bring something/body back!!". *grins, loves you all* My favourite (email) response was from Manifestudio, with whom I did an awesome road trip a couple of years ago: "Australia! When? Why? And what should I pack?" Hee! :D

The plan thus far - and input request from the wonderful Aussies on my list...

So! *rubs hands* The most urgent thing I need to figure out is what three weeks between August 27th and September 28th I should be coming so I can book my plane ticket. My #1 priority is seeing you lot, so if you have any dates you know you aren't going to be around, please do let me know and I'll work around that. My distant second priority is finding out if there are specific neat things going on that I should make sure not to miss, and I'll try to book my ticket so I catch 'em.

My vague, tentative plan is to spend four or five days each in Melbourne and Sydney, and then spend the rest of the time going up the interior and down the Gold Coast? Y/N? I was toying with the idea of starting in Sydney since I know merihn may be leaving imminently, and ending in Melbourne as close to the end of the month as I can manage (maybe flying out on the 28th or 29th?) since I gather that the Melbourne Fringe starts on the 26th. missyjack, any idea if you'll be in it this year? The 2007 NSW Whipcracking Championships are being held on the 29th so I think I will juuust be missing those, dammit. :P But I'm crazy flexible (heh), so do let me know if you have other suggestions.

nixwilliams had requested that I post a bit about the sorts of things I enjoy doing, so as to get better feedback on what sort of events and such y'all might recommend.

Stuff to know about me re. travel:

While I'm happy to swing by requisite Tourist Spots if they're actually worth visiting (and let's face it, lots of them become famous because they are really worth seeing), I much prefer to see the unusual and local and neat. I'm a bit of a sucker for museums and gardens/parks. But if I have limited time somewhere, I would always rather see something different and local than mainstream and touristy. I kind of love everything: museums, galleries, restaurants, random cool corners in neighbourhoods, gardens, parks, countryside, scrappy ugly little corners with nothing but weeds and awesome graffiti, heights and views, window shopping of unusual shops, and a lot of wandering. I love just getting random feels for a place: wandering around neighbourhoods and peering down alleys, examining strange products in corner stores, surreptitious people-watching in cafes, staring in fascination out of the window of public buses...I can happily spend hours doing this stuff and consider it time well-spent. I LOVE really good food, and really gorgeous or interesting views. ("Sunsets and long walks on beaches..." *snerk*)

I love hanging out - particularly since such a major part of this trip for me is seeing people. While travelling I am usually happier hanging out while being out somewhere: e.g. in a cafe or wandering or sitting in a park. Not constantly, mind you, but certainly for a decent proportion of the time.... (This is the opposite of when I'm home, where I am a total couch potato. I recently got ice cream on my pillow while sitting on my couch - because I'd been eating AND sleeping on my couch. *facepalm*)

I've been told I'm easygoing and enjoyable to travel around with, but I am also perfectly happy doing stuff on my own if folks are busy. But I do hope to see lots of you! *bounces*

I...er...don't really drink much (my body doesn't react well to the taste - which kinda sucks - rather than for any high-falutin' reasons. SO HELP ME I am trying purple nurples, though. :)=) ) and large crowds exhaust me over time because while I'm a pretty darn social introvert, I am still an introvert. So while I enjoy going to clubs and dances and such, I can usually only handle a few hours. My other problem is that my hearing kinda sucks, so places where lots of people are talking loudly I find frustrating if I'm trying to have a conversation with someone (e.g. bars, really loud restaurants). Having said that, I do enjoy shows - music or stage or cabarets or what-have-you - because then everyone is usually focusing on one thing so I can hear. And, of course, they tend to be really neat and/or worthwhile. :D

Inexpensive is generally better, but I'll be damned if I'll let money get in the way of doing some really neat thing.

My idea of heaven on earth is the participatory art festival Burning Man. (Though I'd hope heaven proper would be a little cooler and have showers. :D) BEST. EVENT. ON EARTH.

Other random things I really enjoyed on recent trips include

• the Studio Ghibli musem in Tokyo, the shrine on earth to Hayao Miyazaki's genius
• travelling three days of my trip just so I could spend a day in the ancient World Heritage forests of Yakushima (SO WORTH IT),
• A visit to Arcosanti and Biosphere 2 in addition to Vegas (heh) and antelope canyon
• World Treehouse Association Conference! \o/

Er...does that help? Feel free to ask me clarification questions...

What about you lot? Are there specific things you do or don't like to do? What is your availability for hanging out e.g. weekends only, or are folks free during weekdays?

Tonight: Ratatouille, posting the spn_bakeoff results *guilt* and Pride pics to the Gay Geeks list *more guilt* and catching up with ALL OF YOU! :D

Comments

[missyjack.livejournal.com]

Yay *tidies up country for you*

I can't think of any "big" events on in Melbourne during that time.(except our Football finals!!!) Fringe starts on the 26th Sept (and no not in it this year). Always lots on in Melb though. Make sure you inc a Friday night here so we can do Drag Kings.

I think you said you were interested in going to Uluru. I'd recommend thinking about either/and going up to the Barrier Reef and Daintree Rainforest. You can fly up to Cairns and go from there and see heaps in a three or four days. And its cheaper than flying to the Centre (where accom is also quite expensive).

[dendritejungle.livejournal.com]

*giggles* See, now I have an image of you as Tina Turner in her post-apocalyptic-punk best shouting instructions to everyone in Bartertown to tidy up, dammit! *loves*

Thanks very much for the advice. I was thinking of taking the train from Melbourne to Alice Springs (or possibly all the way to Darwin) and then flying to Cairns and coming back down along the coast to Sydney, or in reverse. But I hadn't realized about the Daintree Rainforest, so thank you! And I'll be sure to include a Friday night in Melbourne. :D

[neeuqdrazil.livejournal.com]

*grins goofily back at you*

[dendritejungle.livejournal.com]

*smishes*

[w1ldc47.livejournal.com]

I don't usually do this, because I usuall figure that people go on vacation to, you know, have a vacation, not to buy me stuff.

But if you don't bring me back some Tim Tams I will have to cry like a little baby.

I'm crazy jealous that you're going to Australia! I wanna come!

[dendritejungle.livejournal.com]

Hey, I'm sure I can shoehorn some Tim Tams in next to the kangaroo, two people and Great Barrier Reef I've been asked to bring back. :D I'll just try to remember to bring a ziploc bag for them so they don't get wet from the sea water. Or maybe I can put them in an outside pocket? *considers*

And I wish you guys were coming too!

[nixwilliams.livejournal.com]

MELBOURNE: museums and galleries CHECK, gardens and parks CHECK, restaurants CHECK CHECK CHECK, random cool corners CHECK, awesome graffiti CHECK CHECK, heights and views CHECKish, window shopping of unusual shops CHECK, and a lot of wandering CHECK.

my favourite food-time is breakfast/brunch, and melbourne does really good ones. so i bags some mornings with you! :)

[dendritejungle.livejournal.com]

*glee* Dude, I am SO PSYCHED. (And I kind of loved your "CHECKish" a lot. :D) So, you don't have any dates you're out of town that I should take into consideration? I'd hate to miss you after flying around the world to meet you!

I think that brunch is one of the most civilized institutions ever, so I would be honoured to partake in food with you! One day we will get you to Montreal and you can revel in the foodly awesomeness that is brunchtime in that city. Guh...

[nixwilliams.livejournal.com]

dude, what're your dates again? i must pencil things in!

[everly.livejournal.com]

Yay Australia!!! *goes and pouts jealously in corner*

[dendritejungle.livejournal.com]

Aw, hun. *pats you sympathetically* You're totally allowed to sneak in my luggage, if you want! :D

[audreyovisual.livejournal.com]

Dayyyummm, girl, you go to the best places!

Gotta get me to Burning Man one day too.

I already told you I was jealous but I'll get over it.

:P

[dendritejungle.livejournal.com]

See, but you'll have your coursework under your belt and will move on to get some high-paying job and I'm sure will be jet-setting all around the world INCLUDING Australia, and I'll still be here. So really, it all evens out in the end. (Also? You got to go to Folsom Fair North. *pouts*)

And SO MUCH YES to Burning Man. *nods emphatically*

[merihn.livejournal.com]

I'm not going to be much help to you, am I? I have the worst sense of direction ever. I got lost in Wollongong when Amy was here. *blushes*

I know a little bit more about Sydney now, cos auxetoiles23 has shown me around a couple of times.

Hee! We're a bit alike, I have really bad hearing too and like to just wander around. I'd rather chat and like, eat rather than go *see* something... plus, I don't really know my way around... but! I do know how to get to the Sydney Opera House and the Bridge and stuff. *grins* I'm sure we'd have fun anyway. You gotta come see me.

I dunno, you should just ask Amy and auxetoiles23 what I'm like. lol. *passes off duty*
♥

[dendritejungle.livejournal.com]

Aw! It will be great! You're going to be YOU and we're going to have an awesome time whatever we do or however badly we get lost. :D My sense of direction is actually pretty good - I usually travel on my own - and even when if we get lost, I'm quite fond of random wanderings. I'm not worried. :D (And is Wollongong worth swinging by? I'm quite happy to come to you.)

So...just to check, though, do you know which dates you won't be available i.e. will be in England? Cuz I want to make sure I can see you if possible. I want to order my tickets in the next week or so, and I won't be able to change them after that, and I'd HATE to discover I'd just missed you.

[merihn.livejournal.com]

I don't know when I'm going... or even if anymore. But I want you to come at the EARLIEST POSSIBLE TIME... just cos I really wanna see you. *grins*

Well... I dunno if the Gong really is... but... it'll give you a place to stay if you'd like and we can hang out and stuff... but I don't mind coming to see you in Sydney. I guess as I said you should really ask Amy if she thinks it's worth it.

♥