The Great Ocean Road to Adelaide

The 12 Apostles on the Great Ocean Road

Surprise surprise, I’m posting less than a week since my previous post. I’ve spent more time at McDonald’s in the past three days than my entire life. More on that later.

I left Melbourne a day earlier than I had planned when the two French guys I am currently traveling with asked if I wanted to explore Phillip Island, which is home to thousands of penguins. Due to their budget they decided to scrap the plans to the island as they were picking me up which left a sour taste in my mouth since I was leaving Melbourne earlier than I had wanted. I was already packed and mentally ready to go so I decided to join them for the day. As an alternative we ended up driving outside of the city to Mt.Dandenong that had distant views of the city and the surrounding towns.

The French guys and I left for Adelaide Monday morning and stopped just before the Great Ocean Road, where I picked up the driver’s seat in the ’88 Peugeot Executive. This specific stretch of road holds some of the greatest views from the car anywhere in Australia. From high rising cliffs overlooking the ocean one minute, and rolling hills filled with dozens of livestock the next, to thousands of towering trees. This is just one select reason why countless backpackers and tourists alike are making their roundabouts through this large yet secluded country. The highlight of the Great Ocean Road was the 12 Apostles, which are huge limestone formations in the middle of the ocean that were created by erosion caused by the water. We stopped by this landmark early in the day and decided to come back during the sunset. Since we had a few hours to kill we went to locate some free facilities. We ended up in a small cozy town just 10 km away, which had a beach with outdoor showers. The showers were freezing, but it was enough to make us feel like a million bucks for the remainder of the day. After throwing the Frisbee around and drying out our clothes/towels spread out all along the car, we headed back to the 12 Apostles just after 17:00 hours. It was both beautiful and peaceful to sit out by the lookout area for the next hour just looking at this natural formation in the middle of the water. Since we were all opposed to driving at night, we headed for the next big town for some sleep.

Instead of sleeping at your normal backpackers or hotel we have spent the last three nights sleeping in a car outside of various McDonald’s. The corporate chain has turned into our Australian hub. We go there for bathroom breaks, to cook, use free Wi-Fi, brush our teeth, hold movie screenings, and to sleep. Movie screenings? Yes. Each night around midnight (after charging our computers inside), we pick a movie and watch it in the car before going to sleep. Last night we saw a movie called Spread with Ashton Kutcher. Wow. First off, the acting was some of the worst I have ever seen, and two, the screenplay was completely ridiculous. I’d put this movie up there with any of the M.Night Shamasucks movies(except The Sixth Sense). We also use McDonalds as our kitchen. Since the guys have a single portable stove, we use it to cook dinner. Nothing fancy of course. Just your standard college living instant noodles found at your local Coles supermarket for $1.09. Silverware Plasticware, condiments and just about anything else are found inside the fast-food restaurant, which has made for a better than homeless experience.

Am I the only person in the world who thought Iron Man 2 sucked?

Since I arrived in Australia I have refused to shell out the $20-$30 to see kangaroos and koalas in the zoo, instead hoping to see them in their natural habitat. It finally paid off as I saw my first koala eating eucalyptus leaves on the GOR.

Why do people “like” their own status messages on Facebook?

Since I’ve recently scraped plans to do Western Australia due to time constraints and the mass driving distances involved, I’ve been searching for drivers to Uluru. I’ve been fortunate to find a group leaving this Friday to Alice Springs with a stop over to Uluru aka the Red Center. The total drive is over 2000 km with a estimated driving time of 24 hours. The trip will roughly run 9 days until May 30th and sleeping will be upgraded to camping.

With all the photos I’ve been taking, an idea has been brewing inside me for a fundraiser which is currently on my Bucket List. My goal is to raise $1000 for Doctors Without Borders. The current plan is to enlarge a select number of photos I have taken on this trip and place them in nice professional looking frames for anyone to purchase, with 100% of the proceeds going toward the charity. I would make it available for people to purchase online, but an event would take place too so people can see and purchase them in person. To encourage people to come out I’d provide light appetizers and refreshments. The date, location and other details are in the early stages, but I thought I would share this with everyone hoping that people could offer up some suggestions on locations or additional ideas. I’m also hoping that you can suggest photos that you think should be used for this upcoming project of mine. Please email me at bizou311@gmail.com with any input. Thanks.

A new set of pictures from Melbourne and the road trips are up on the Photos page.

Up Next: Roadtrip from Adelaide to Alice Springs via Uluru on May 21st (Distance: 2,023 km) (Time: 24 hours)
Listening to: Kings Go Forth, The Outsiders Are Back

Riding the Milky Way to Melbourne

 Business Section at North Bondi Beach

The new mixtape has finally been digitally released by DJ Kingaling and Massid Acid (Ryguy and Me)!  The new album called “Foreign Exchange” can be downloaded for free on the Mixtape II page.  Nothing says the weekend like a fresh batch of music for your ears.  Enjoy.

These last few days have been some of the coolest yet some of the most drama-filled since I left home.  Unfortunately I don’t feel too comfortable writing about it just yet, that is until after I leave Australia. *DUN DUN DUNNNN*

Remember the $160 I invested in the Talent Agency so I could get some work?  Talk about a shady business.  Since I didn’t get any work that I was “guaranteed” during the first month, I wanted my money back before I left Sydney.  Instead of calling, I went to the office and told the lady I had to leave Sydney since I was running out of money.  She knew I was always on her case about not getting any work so instead of listening to my comment she went on about how they needed a soccer player for a commercial and that she would call me tomorrow with more information if I got the gig.  I said “Sweet, that sounds good…wait a minute, did you just hear what I just said?”  She was hoping I would leave the office after her tentative job pitch.  I wasn’t falling for it and explained to her again that I was leaving next week.  After listening to me this time she explained that there were no refunds in which case it was time to break out an on-the-spot plan B.  I gave her some make believe story about how I’m a backpacker and needed the money to get out west to do some fruit-picking.  I accompanied the story with a sad face, which isn’t an easy thing for me to do.  It was Tuesday so she said come back Thursday at 3pm.  As soon as I was leaving the apartment on Thursday to catch the train to the office I got a call from her saying she didn’t have the money and instead to come on Friday. I went in on Friday and she only had $50.  She explained that she couldn’t get the remaining money because her “bank card wasn’t working” and so she had to get the rest of it on Monday. I felt like a drug dealer asking an addict for my money.  Thankfully I ended up getting all but $10 that Monday afternoon. 

Instead of adding a sales tax to anything you buy at the store in Australia, the cash register will round up the cents to the closest five cent incriment.

Instead of leaving for Melbourne on Thursday the 13th as previously stated, I left on Tuesday the 11th with another pair of people.  The reason for the change was because I didn’t want to be crammed in a small car with four others for 11+ hours.  I did some research and was happy to find a group of two leaving a few days earlier.  My new choice ended up working out pretty well.  I ended up traveling in a sweet campervan (similar to this) with an Australia/American girl named Nerissa and a Swedish guy, Lars.  The route that most people take from Sydney to Melbourne goes through the Australian capital, Canberra (most people think it’s Sydney) and takes 11 hours, but the three of us decided to take a detour and cruise along the coast, which takes 13 hours.  Nerissa and Lars both drove a few hours each on the first night before we pulled over to a parking lot to get some rest.  We were planning on camping outside, but the back of the campervan was converted into a huge bed so the three of us decided to save some time setting up the tents and instead sleep inside the van.  Before going to bed I went outside to go to the bathroom and during mid-piss I experienced true bliss.  I looked up in the sky to see a blanket of millions of stars and  the beloved Milky Way.  While I did see a similar scene back in Margaret River, this was a moment unlike any other.  This will easily go down as the greatest bathroom break in Massoud history.

The campervan was a manual, which meant I couldn’t drive, but Nerissa was keen on me learning so they could take a break.  We pulled off to the side of the road and switched seats.  The manual-shifter isn’t located to the left of you by your legs as it normally would be in the US, but instead it hangs to the left of the steering wheel, where the windshield wiper controls would normally be located.  I was fortunate enough not to stall out on my first shot and quickly got the hang of it.  Within 10 km there were flashing lights telling us to slow down.  It was a police checkpoint.  I started to panic not because the police were there, but because I could hear the van getting ready to stall out, in which case it did.  I rolled 5 meters short of where the police were.  Nerissa wanted to switch seats with me since she was owner of the van, but as we were trying to make a quick switch, the cops walked over asking for my license.  Funny enough, the cop ended up giving me a breathalyzer, which I passed with flying colors.  Needless to say it was noon.  All in all, the first leg of my roadtrip was full of firsts: driving manual (a bucket list goal achieved!), driving on the left side of the road, and my first breathalyzer test.

Don’t you hate it when you throw out food from a restaurant and then an hour later you’re hungry again and you crave what you threw out? Not cool.

I’ve been in Melbourne for three days and the one thing that stands out here more than anything else is the incredible architechture.  They have some very modern and funky designs all over town, which makes for some cool eye-candy. Though it is Fall/Winter here, I’m not the biggest fan of the depressing weather, which is a mix of grey skies and random rainfall.  I have a few more days here before I head to Adelaide with the French guys I was originally going to travel with from Sydney to Melbourne.  I’ve been fortunate to have internet over the last few days since I’m staying with my mom’s friend, but from here on out it’ll be hit or miss as I will once again have to start paying for internet usage.  Until next time, stay thirsty my friends. 

My last group of  pictures from Sydney have been uploaded into the photo album.  The bat attack has been uploaded to the video page.

Up Next: Roadtrip to Adelaide via the Great Ocean Road on May 17th
Listening to: Lykke Li, Youth Novels