Sunday, January 30, 2011

On the magic bus to Nimbin...

Hi everyone! I have to debrief here after another awesome weekend on the gold coast and in Nimbin which is in New South Wales (a different state, the one Sydney is in). New South Wales is actually really really close to the gold coast, it only took us 2 hours to get to Nimbin on a magic bus that didn't roll too fast.. here is a pic
So yeah... we travelled on this bus for two hours, getting a honk about every 5 minutes. I wish I could have taken a video of inside the bus. The music was playing so loud, but it was reggae (obviously) it was really relaxing and an awesome ride. I also went with people who I haven't had the chance to hang out with too much here so that was really cool to be with them. As we were coming up to the town of Nimbin our bus driver Tim (so cute) pulled over and gave us the deal about Nimbin. Apparently, in the 1970s there was some kind of festival that was similar to the United State's Woodstock, except with wayyyy less people. After that, there was a large group of youths who decided that they didn't want to go back to their normal lives, so they decided to stay in Nimbin forever. Ever since then Nimbin hasn't changed, and you can definitely tell, it feels like you are walking into the hippie era as you go through the haze of people smoking on the streets and the offering of "cookie" every block. Now you might be all thinking "oh my god! Sammy is doing illegal and bad things!" but I promise nothing bad was done or happened. Also,  although weed is obviously readily available in Nimbin, it is not legal. So every May (when weed is harvested apparently) they have a huge festival/ reform rally called Nimbin "Mardi Grass". haha I think the name is pretty clever, but yeah so Nimbin was definitely an interesting place. After being there for almost two hours we got back on the magic bus and went to a little cafe for a quick lunch. Then, we headed to a little swimming hole in the rainforest where there was a rope swing for us to go on...

The first picture is just a little glimpse of the swimming hole and the picture just above is of my friend Taylor getting ready to do the rope swing! It was a really awesome trip, I had so much fun... it is getting me so excited for the other trips I am about to take! I fell asleep really early last night, so I got up early and headed to the Cannebara (spelling?) market by myself. My friend Maya got sick last night so she didn't end up coming with me. I kind of had fun wandering around by myself and trying to figure out the bus system on my own. I met this older man who was also waiting around for the bus at pacific fair (the main bus hub near us) and he was really nice and chatty, after a while he started creeping me out so I kind of made an excuse to get away for a little. I know he was just being friendly, but I was alone so I couldn't take any chances. Anyways the market was alright, I kind of expected things to be more genuine, but there was a lot of junk you would expect to find at a flee market. I did however find something really cool to buy my mom- can't tell you what it is bc she reads this! And, I bought myself a didgeridoo! For anyone who doesn't know what they are... here is a pic of mine
You can't see the bottom part but it looks exactly the same at the top.. its basically an open ended pole type thing, but made out of wood. You are supposed to blow in it some special way- I haven't figure out how that works yet- and it makes the coolest low, vibrating noise. A lot of people play them on the streets here and I think they are sooo cool sounding so I figured I would buy one!

One last thing before this ends- sorry for how long these posts are, I just have a lot to say- tonight I went with some of my friends on my floor to this sushi place where you can buy an all you can eat buffet of fresh sushi for $16. The deal is, if someone can finish 60 pieces they get their picture taken and put on the wall at the entrance of the restaurant. So, of course 2 of my friends John and Justin decided they had to do it... they were close! Justin got to 50 and John did 55, it was pretty hilarious, Justin looked so worried the whole time like he was about to explode and when john hit like 30 sushi pieces he started staring each one down ready to take it on... it was probably one of the funniest nights I have had here. Pretty simple, but I am learning that is really all it takes here. I am so unbelievably happy that nothing really has been phasing me, the homesickness is gone and now I am just ready to have a good time and embrace where I am to the fullest. Next on the list for travels is this weekend in Adelaide. Jackie and I will be leaving on Thursday afternoon and coming back Saturday night, just in time for our friend Maya's 21st birthday! In Adelaide we are going to the big day out....http://www.bigdayout.com/adelaide.php... check it out! it is going to be insane, but more on that next time. Here are some more pictures of Nimbin- most from the museum there, which actually was a thrift shop, but the hippies didn't end up wanting to sell anything, so they turned it into a museum. Pretty Cool. Again, sorry if this post was a little too "drug infested" for you, but it is apart of the town and culture so I really couldn't give Nimbin justice without writing about it. Again, nothing bad happened to me there, so everyone relax haha. Until my next adventure see ya later!
My Favorite sign/ quote

"Land of the rainbow gold"- Australia
Love

Ang and I before the bus take off!


Back of the bus: "No Cookie Monsters"
The "garden" in the Nimbin Museum


Nimbin thought process? haha

The streets of Nimbin

1 comment:

  1. IT IS 0 DEGREES HERE AND I AM JEAL.

    looks like you are having a great time. let's skype when you have time.. maybe a three way between you, rach, and i? connecting from all parts of the worlddddddd.

    love the stop sign and that sweet bus you went on.i appreciated the "drug infested" blog post.

    miss ya chica xo!

    ReplyDelete