Bogie River Bush House: Mango Picking

I sit here writing the entry while covered in itchy itchy mango rash (same as poison oak/ivy). Its spreads while you sweat so we're basically bedridden in the AC trying to get rid of it. Mango picking was quite the ordeal, a ton of work for not really that much money - though we managed to make $1800 in 6 days work. But - it was WORK. Ilia worked out in the fields picking the mangos. When you pick the mangos off the tree and the steam breaks, this clear sap squirts out of the mango and BURNS your face/skin/eyes whatever it touches. And the sap is what causes the mango rash. Almost everyone who works with the mangos gets it. I worked in the factory processing the mangos during the day time. Which basically means cutting mangos for 9.5 hours a day. Anyways - good experience w/e :P The place we stayed was the Bogie River Bush House (70 km from the nearest town). We had little internet, no cell service, no cable, and no way to get anywhere. Besides the evil owners - the people were pretty cool. There were 6 other people staying with us in the house who also worked at the farm. It was a lot of fun. There were also horses and lots of kangaroos and wallabies who actually let you pet them. Here are some pictures.























































<3

Brisbane

Hey All,

So after our day in Sydney we hoped on a plane (only 1.5 hour flight) up to Brisbane. It is a very beautiful city, just as Sydney is. It is smaller, but we really prefer it. It has been raining the 2 days we have been here so far which kind of sucks, but we still managed to get out and explore a bit. Again, we stayed at the Brisbane City YHA, which was WAY nicer than the one in Sydney. It has a very Bali-ish vibe and has an awesome indoor/outdoor cafe/bar hangout place called Drifters. Also, on the 5th floor is an AMAZING rooftop terrace with a pool and tables and everything. We spent a lot of time up there enjoying views of the beautiful Brisbane river. There is an amazing outdoor mall at King Georges Square that is full of people walking around and having fun. There is a choir that is there everyday and sings christmas songs. Here are some pictures.











































<3

First Day in OZ: Sydney

Hello Mates :P

So we left the US on Sunday December 4th at 530pm EST & landed in Sydney, Australia on Tuesday December 6th at 730am Aussie time. Somewhere during the terribllleeeee 21 hour flight Ilia and I managed to get sick. Of course I got worse than Ilia and have had a fever for the past 2 days :( Nonetheless - we managed to spend our 1 day in Sydney well. We wandered the city for about 4 hours on foot and checked out Chinatown, Darling Harbor, Circular Quay, the botanic gardens, CBD, and a lot more. We stayed in the Sydney Central YHA. It was nice as always, and reasonably priced for the city (only $123/night vs $300+/night). Here are some photos from our trip.




































Excuse our looks, we had just got off a 21 hour plane flight and are terribly ill.

<3