kajsa goes travelling the world

Decided to have a weekend getaway. A romantic holiday ahead of us and what could be a better place than good 'ol Melbourne where those first official dates took place nearly 11 months ago.

We left Adelaide with a busy schedule in a car packed with stuff. No sleep allowed for the next few days. So many things to do!

lunch stop
Day 1:
We stopped in a city called Ballarat where Jason lived in his early childhood. We were greeted by former war heroes along the main avenue which seemed a bit drastic. But as soon as we reached the lake an idyllic town bloomed up from behind the big old 'Harry Potter alike castle'. It was like a picture from an old story-book. Our main destination though was the 'snickers' factory which we never found due to some navigation difficulties. I was in charge of the phone GPS and having years of experience in orienteering we still managed to get lost. Though we did get back on track somehow and and the navigation was taken over by the captain himself.
So an hour later we arrived at Andy's place and then drove up to meet Amanda and Sam where we were forced to skull down some of their tequila. Ben and Shelley also happened to be in town so it was dinner in the European restaurant and drinks at your choice of pub if you won the rock-paper-scissors competition;-)

me and Amanda

Andy and Jase

Day 2:
Eureka tower was one thing on our 'things to do list'. Finally arrived I dont know what part was more annoying; The fact that I am a former resident of this sky high tower and now have to spend 16$ to get up to the observation deck that was under construction while living here. Or the fact that I'm not living here anymore!?!


24 carat glass covered windows. On the 88th floor!!

After losing Andy who was in charge of the driving and phones were being left home we headed off on our own. I was gonna show Jason the one part of the whole place where you cross a bit of Nimbin with Byron Bay in an outstanding part of Melbourne: St. Kilda. clothing stores, retro, funk and modern style pubs with an amazing range of restaurants and not to mention, this is where they have cakes. Now thank someone I dont live here!!!
"Lentil as anything"; An organic vegan restaurant with the spiritual message karma. But also... Now sharpen your ears everybody: Pay as you want!!! Meaning you pay as much as you think the food is worth. Now how 'bout that?
Jason sighing in the background. He is convincing me that anything without meat is strictly not a proper meal keeping a man satisfied! I still insisted on walking by the place trying really hard to work on that 'puppy eye look'. For some reason it worked and we ended up ordering the vegetarian hot pot and the Indian curry. And who would have thought: the food was bloody excellent and having said that; feeling the goodness of karma after that wonderful taste experience (no meat), the meal was worth a fortune! ;-)

We met up Andy in South Melbourne Markets where we had difficulties walking around cause we literally rolled around like balls. (forgot to mention there was cake involved too) So we went to Smith Street to work off that enormous amount of kilojoules that would have been a normal daily dose for Elvis.
Then after all the factory outlet shopping we drove home, drove to Frankston: engagement party!

karaoke!!!

miss Finland and Sweden dancing around the 'heat pole' (we were extremely cold)

Sunday morning we woke up... Oh man. We got one redbull - fight!! Didnt take long and we were already gone and packed and clean and fresh and Great Ocean Road it is!!! :-D

On my right I see Quiksilver, Roxy, Billabong, Element and all signs of shops I absolutely adore!! Torquay it was and that was our stop where Jason found a pair of new cool shoes and where I found lots of 'could have been new cool stuff'. Try shopping with a guy! :-( hmpf.
Then it was time for the beach. Killer waves! totally awesome dude
(pictures will come later)

Australians arent finicky when it comes to the making of meatpies. Check out the size of that thing!

And the 12 apostles. Well, 7 actually. They seem to fall down every second year. They were originally named the 'Sow and Piglets'. Located near Loch Ard Gorge, the Sow was Muttonbird Island, with the piglets being the smaller surrounding rocks.
They were formed by erosion of the original coastline. The constant action of the sea on the limestone slowly wore down the rocky cliff, gradually leaving individual rocks. The cliff is still being eroded at a rate of about 2cm each year, and in the future is likely to form more 'Apostles' from the other rocky headlands that line the Victorian coastline.
<< ps. Didnt really write that




cold and windy

Racing speed heading towards Worrnambool where Jason had a surprise for me. Well, i knew we were gonna spend the night there so guessed it must have been the accommodation choice of his that was the amazing part. Which it certainly was! We stopped outside a grey little cute house and that's it. A whole house to share for the night!!! So after seeing the sunset and playing in the park (we are a weird couple). We ordered a pizza and got a bottle of red and sat in that 'vogue magazine design living room' and enjoyed watching kath and Kim. Then it was time for a spa with bubbles, red wine and strawberry cheesecake. A delightful evening in Worrnambool :-)

Check out time 11 am and we are on the road again and stopped in Port Fairy for brunch. I loved this place, not only was it next to the sea but this was like sitting in "cafe de fyra vindarnas hus" on a windy late summer morning... Mys!!! And how good was the food?!!


you're beautiful
A long drive before stopping again in a town I cant remember the name of but it had a blue lake. It was a unique attraction because the lake has formed in the vent of a recent volcano. And the limestone in it make it look blue certain times of the year. Unfortunately it wasn't high beam blue when we went (sorry Jase)

Heading towards the light in the tunnel

Another attraction ahead of us. Probably the one I've most looked forward to: The BIG RED LOBSTAH!

Another event for me in Australia :-) Jason decided to take me to see some real happenings - and believe me it certainly was! Called the Royal Adelaide Show - cows, pigs, sheep, hens, ducks, dogs (puppieees), emu babies, wombats, cats, "Dagwood dogs", camels, rides, fairy floss and you name it. My Finnish beloved ones; compare 'vuoden maatalousmessut'... erm, you see where Im getting. This is the real sheit. And as we had a relative friend working here we got even closer to all these cuddly creatures ;-)




Me at the show

couldnt stay away from the lager (you look good baby)

summer is really on its way (yuppie!)

oh we met up Corey and Helen as well.

So Dagwood dog = fried hot dog (Å död o pine)

step 1

step 2

step 3

dedicated to mom

se de lapp arbetet

och haer var det virkning

Cake judging - must be a hell of a job. these people don't even get to taste the cakes!! talk about inner beauty, pfft

caaaakes...

Didnt really know what to do with myself seeing all these cakes behind glass. that's torture!!

the reason because there are so many cows here is because all the horses, (ALL of them) are sick... might be the horse flue

saw the wood-chopping

don't even want to imagine the smell in here

wonder if the plants are thirstier than me? have that weird feeling someone is watching me.

piggy pop

pick-a-boo

jase and our friend. From now on there will be no more bacon! I love this pig!

or lean beef

end of the evening - the fireworks

I bet many of you out there have no idea how Im living or what Im actually doing these days. It's been a while since a proper update actually so cant blame ya. Now lets give it a go and I will try to keep this short and sweet.

When coming to Adelaide in early April I crashed in at Corey's and Jason's townhouse in the city. Me and the hospitality friendly boys got along great and there were late night cardgames, pubbing and lots (lots) of tv included. But as time flew we had to leave the awesome neighbourhood just a block away from the busy streets with shops, restaurants and cozy cafes and market places where I loved to hang out (buhuu).
So now it is all about commuting between Darlington and central Adelaide (Darlington is a suburb in Adelaide but also the name of a man who couldnt decide any other names when naming Australian streets, villages, harbours. You name it. Take Sydney as an example

OMG! This was taken outside our townhouse! And yes, that is a redback spider! Common throughout Australia. How close am I?!! They can even kill you. shit! Lets run, FAST!

New house - new location... Al and Claire are the new flatmates and the owners of the pretty house we are staying in. Al is out of work and thought it'd be good with the extra cash and we can stay short term, pay no bonds or contracts so it is beneficial for all of us + it's great fun to hang out with this lovely married couple. We've done lots of Ikea exploring by this stage so the Scandinavian is pleased.

yay, making tacos in our kitchen, well, Jase is ;-)

yummy

Jack Sparrow?

When it comes to work, I am no longer a slave. I got a new proper job. Yes, I am an office lady and proud of it ;-) It was lucky though, friend of a friend situation actually. So now Im doing computer work on Sir Donald Bradman Drive (can never say it right) people think it's a shame because I dont know a former Australian cricketer. So what about Mika Myllylä... or Valentin Kononen - THAT, you must know! hehe...
Now that I have a new job, it leaves me to that same confusing feeling I always get; what is it that i really want to do?? And that's when I dream away listening to John Lennon's lyrics; "working class hero" and my troubles fade away. Instead I find myself in the mornings re-living Dolly's written words and thats how my days look like here in Australia;
Tumble outta bed
And I stumble to the kitchen
Pour myself a cup of ambition
And yawn and stretch
And try to come to life
Jump in the shower
And the blood starts pumpin'
Out on the street
The traffic starts jumpin'
The folks like me on the job from 9 to 5...//

After all that rush of country tunes I better put an ending to this entry. (bet you know the rest of the song anyway, well, you who hang out with me ;-)

finally we are going after months of planning this ski trip. And Mt.Hotham it is. Ben, Shelley, Corey, Ryan, Jason and me head off on Saturday 21st on a bus up towards the slopes in Victoria. We are all very excited and all set to go with a big esky packed with food, beer and spirits. everyone has their suitcase packed with essential needs and we are all covered up in our ski jackets and mittens. yay! im gonna see snow again!

the snowboarding lesson

Shelley in the lightblue jacket... this is the summit. easy green run connected to the sun run which is a fun blue run.

looks like a good day for the boys here

we like this bit

again?

our great apartment. we are all a bit tired here.. first day i think this was taken.

until they started serving the drinks... dunno if its too much red bull or vodka in this one. cant really tell by the face :-P

and off we go

steady

oops, on my bum again

getting late

so off to the bar of course

get in there Jase

On with the boots

the pez dispenser

up we go

schweeps



lovely thoughts

someone really loves the snow

we're reaching the clouds here

this breakfast kept us going for a week

god bless bacon and eggs, toast and beans! yummi!

Hot!!




I got ya, Im keeping ya and I love ya

Shelley and Ben


the guys


couldnt choose which one, theyre both so good



a typical evening. table surrounded with full bellies of five and five empty beer jugs

ladylike drinking


boys just wanna have fun




the only picture with all of us in it, last nite so this is where it is getting a bit tipsy

they serve the best vodka at least







hehaay camera still going





looks like youre gonna spank something baby...


this is where it all ends. Had a great time here in the snow and we already miss it! so will see where to next. will just have to keep you updated.

wow. cant believe im wasting a whole entry on this crappy job that i had. but im gonna keep it short and sweet and let you guys know what I've been thru here in Adelaide. So. Here I go... Imagine a creature being a mix between saddam and that german moustache fellow. Then add some terrorists and a couple of cruel psychopats and all the insanely mean people in the world. Last but not least mix in the devil. its impossible to imagine a person like that right? Well guess what, that was my last boss. Someone I didnt even know excisted.. And I had to work for him. Running around with coffees and carrying heavy plates with food for absolutely nothing. And I had to stick up with the yelling and the swearing and the throwing away my favourite umbrellas and all that sizzle and dizzle and dazzle and even hazzle! What a job! I still have nightmares and its been over a month since a quit. im not gonna mention any names or even the slightest idea of where this place is located. the name of the cafe starts with a Z... but thats all im saying. Simply due to safety reasons and some humanity respect. But anyway. The good thing is I met 2 lovely girls that im friends with and thats about it. Oh, and free hot chockies and half price off anything. and unfortunately no piccies will come up here. didnt really feel like bringing in a camera while I was working... but maybe a face of me expressing the true feelings I have towards this place will come up later but im not promising anything