Mooloolaba.  It’s a mouthful.  It’s also the name of a town in Australia on the Sunshine coast region of Queensland.  Unofficially – I think it’s also the Australian version of Florida …there are seniors in campers EVERYWHERE!!

This really is going to be a quick update.

I left Melbourne two or three days ago, but the night before had an epic Italian dinner night.  I’ve been trying to write about it…but realized the task was more than I expected and it’s essentially turned into a short story.  I’m trying…but the beach and endless running trails here in Mooloolaba are getting in the way.  Hopefully today when I’m doing my laundry…

I think I mentioned a while back that I left my camera battery charger in…some country.  Malaysia or Singapore – I really can’t figure it out.  Either way, when I was in Melbourne I went to buy a replacement.  I went to two camera stores that wanted $130 for the official Canon one.  Hellllll No.  I found a universal charger for $50 at an electronic store.  As it turns out, I threw away $50 at that electronic store because my battery is apparently from another universe than this universal charger.  I get to try again with another charger today…another $50.  I won’t leave the store until I can see that it works this time around.

Speaking of things lost – I apparently lost/left my $200 headphones at the hostel in Melbourne.  You’d think that there would be some honesty at a place called “The Nunnery”, but alas…nobody turned them in and they are gone.  It’s been three days and they haven’t shown up – so much for miracles.

I’ve decided to join a help exchange organization in an effort to cut costs and still get to see the real Australia.  There are two primary organizations for this in Australia – HelpX and WWoofing.  Wwoofing is primarily farm and organic farm work, while HelpX is a generalized classified type place.  Here’ an example of a help exchange I won’t be applying for:

HAY YA GOOD PEOPLE. FOR THE FIRST 2 WEEKS OF SEPTEMBER WE WOULD LIKE A COUPLE OR 2 WOMEN, WILL CONSIDER A SINGLE WOMAN, TO HELP WITH PUTTING NEW QUEENS IN THE BEE HIVES. NOT HARD WORK BUT GOOD ENGLISH AND GOOD EYES ARE IMPORTANT. WOULD PREFER NUDISTS BUT NUDIST FRIENDLY WILL BE OK

Since I’ve been in Australia I’ve yet to sleep in a hostel room without at least one person who snores.  I had high hopes for last night since it was just one other person in the room…but no.  Pillows don’t leave fingerprints do they?  I swear that sometime later in life I’m going to open a hostel and instead of “Mixed” and “Female Only” rooms it’s going to have “Non-Snorers” and “Mixed” rooms.

Lastly, a few photos from Melbourne I haven’t posted yet.  Three are from the “Little Italy” series I took in Melbourne, and one is just something random.