Voor de verandering slapen we eens een keer uit. Wanneer we klaar zijn met douchen, de afwas en de camper gereed hebben gemaakt, zitten we zo rond 10 uur op de weg. Het doel van vandaag is Mission Beach. Op het moment dat we vertrekken begin het te regenen dus we hebben er geen probleem mee om in de auto te moeten zitten.

Onderweg maken we een stop in het zonnige Townsville, een rustige badplaats dat er erg verzorgd uitziet. We kregen deze plaats ook als ‘tip’ van reizigers op de camping in Airlie Beach. Langs het strand loopt een lange boulevard. We zien hier ook de eerste warschuwingsborden voor ‘jelly fish‘, dit zijn dodelijke kwallen met tentakels. Er vallen jaarlijks meer doden door deze diertjes dan bijvoorbeeld door haaien.

Het is daarom niet mogelijk om ‘vrij’ in de oceaan te zwemmen gedurende de periode november-mei. Maar men heeft bij badplaatsen grote ‘vakken’ met netten in het water geplaatst. Hier kan je dan nog wel in de oceaan. Een alternatief is natuurlijk een ’stinger’-pak, die we ook tijdens het snorkelen in The Great Barrier Reef droegen. We nemen echter een verkoelende duik in ‘The Rockpool’ een aangelegde ‘lagoon’ direkt aan het strand. In de lagoon zit gewoon zeewater, maar dan gefilterd en vrij van diertjes.

We vervolgen onze tocht en rijden langzaam de ‘wet-tropics’ binnen. Het is hier erg groen, tropisch en vochtig. Het regent hier dan ook regelmatig. In de rivieren die we passeren zien we ook de eerste waarschuwingsborden om niet in het water te gaan. Dit vanwege gevaar voor krokodillen.

Laat in de namiddag/avond naderen we Mission Beach. Het is ondertussen donker geworden en het laatste stukje van de tocht hebben we zachtjes moeten rijden om geen ‘cassowary‘ omver te rijden. Dit is een pre-historische vogel, een soort struisvogel maar dan met een grote hoorn op zijn kop. Gelukkig hebben we er geen gezien dus ook niets geraakt.

We besluiten om ‘illegaal’ te gaan camperen op de parkeerplaats bij het informatiebureau. Buiten zitten we nog even, om te ontspannen met wat bier, wijn en hapjes. En natuurlijk het geluid van de oceaan op de achtergrond.

Ideaal om verstoppertje in te spelen.

Lekker belangrijk. Wij willen zwemmen.

Watermeloen Myra.

Pino (Sesamstraat) komt oorspronkelijk uit Australie.

It’s that time of year again. Stinger season. Up here we don’t mean your average bluebottle (Portuguese Man O’ War) that can give you substantial pain. We mean jellyfish that kill you. So, be safe and swim in the stinger net or better still in the pool.

To find out more information please click the following link: Marine Stingers

Die kleine Asha

… hier mal wieder das Neueste von uns Zwei aus Down Under. Nachdem wir am Sonntag unsere Reise gen Süden fortgesetzt haben, war unser erster Stop in Mission Beach, einem kleinen Ort zwischen Cairns und Townsville, was, wie der Name schon sagt, viel Strand zu bieten hat – leider war´s das dann aber auch so ziehmlich. Da es aber auch im Reiseführer als recht schön und sehenswert beschrieben wurde, planten wir eine Nacht dort zu bleiben. Um möglichst viel Geld zu sparen, übernachteten wir auf einem Campinplatz, der ca. 100 m vom fast-menschenleeren Strand entfernt lag und p.p. nur 10 $ kostete…. so konnten wir gleich mal unsere brandneue Campingausrüstung inkl. dem 40 $ Mini-Zelt vom Woolworths (Australische Supermarktkette) ausprobieren. Das Zelt war definitiv das lustigste des ganzen Tages der arme Thomas konnte sich kaum ausstrecken, so klein ist es – und die bereits aufgepumpte Matratze durch den Minieingang zu hiefen…. naja, ihr könnt´s euch vorstellen… Sonst war echt nix los in Mission Beach, weshalb wir dann am nächsten Morgen auch keine Zeit verloren, unseren Kram zu packen und weiterzufahren.

Nach ca. 2 stündiger Fahrt durchs Nichts kamen wir dann mittags in Townsville an. Nach kurzer Orientierung haben wir gleich Andy angerufen – einen netten Kerl, dem wir bei Couchsurfing eine Übernachtungsanfrage geschrieben hatten und der glücklicherweise Zeit für uns hatte. Er erklärte mir wo sein Haus liegt und wir fuhren direkt hin.

Andy lebt zusammen mit seiner Frau und deren 3-jähriger Tochter, die wir gleich ins Herz geschlossen haben (und die uns gleich als Ersatz-Mummy und -Daddy erklärt hatte…) in einem super schönen Haus mit Pool im Garten. Wir haben sogar ein eigenes Zimmer (was bei Couchsurfing, wie der Name schon sagt, nicht an der Tagesordnung ist – normalerweise schläft man auf der Couch). Nachdem wir Mittags ankamen, ging es schon los mit dem ersten Bier auf der Veranda – welchem unzählige weitere folgten (sogar zum Spaziergang mit dem Hund am nahe gelegenen Strand nahm Andy Bier für alle mit!) da soll noch mal einer sagen die Australier trinken nicht gern/viel. ;-D

Hyperaktiv? War ne lange Fahrt...

Abends gings in ein schönes Pub mit nettem Biergarten, wo Thomas dann sein 2. Schnitzel hatte (separater Eintrag folgt *g*)

Heute Morgen (die zwei arbeiten Schicht und haben momentan frei) waren wir erst mal im Kino (Inglorious Bastards) sehr empfehlenswert!

Gleich gibts Australisches BBQ im Garten … hmm

Townsville ist zweifelsohne eine schöne Stadt an der Ostküste, aber da wir hier nicht surfen können (absolut 0 Wellen), werden wir wohl eher in Brisbane nach einem Job schauen um uns dort für ein paar Wochen niederzulassen und unserem Hobby nachgehen Es wird also in 1-2 Tagen Bye-Bye Townsville heißen und weiter geht´s nach Airlie Beach und dann noch nach Frasier Island bevor es dann nach Brisbane geht.

Short Facts:
- Es gibt nur salziges Popcorn im Kino :.-(
- Dafür haben wir gestern Ritter Sport Schokolade in nem kleinen Shop gefunden!
- Aussies trinken bis zum abwinken

Ort: Mission Beach – Wongaling (AUS)
Zeitunterschied: +8 Std. MEZ
Wetter: Heiter bis irisch

Die Beschreibung vom Absolute Backpackers Hostel in Mission Beach las sich eigentlich ganz entspannt. Kein Partyhostel, chill-out, einfach ein paar Tage abschimmeln (Jugendsprache, etwa: sich ausruhen, dem süßen Nichtstun frönen, Anm. d. Red.). Das hatten die 15 Iren aber wohl übersehen und erfreuten uns mit schlaflosen Nächten, da bis 5 Uhr morgens irische Volkslieder zum besten gegeben wurden. Das ganze quasi direkt vor unserer Tür, an Schlaf war nicht zu denken. Nebenbei hatte sich der Pöbel auch schön einen reingetan und unter Alkoholeinfluß kann es ja bekanntlich schon mal zu einem etwas erhöhten Geräuschpegel kommen. Am schlimmsten aber waren die anwesenden irischen Damen. Billiges Outfit, billiges Make-up und scheinbar bei Amy Winehouse in der Benimmschule gewesen. Nett. Aber vielleicht ist es ja in Irland gute Sitte, sich kontinuierlich anzuschreien und sämtliche unangenehme Stimmlagen des Kehlkopfes zur Kommunikation zu nutzen. Ach, was waren wir relaxed und chilled out!

Nicht unbedingt förderlich war natürlich der Schnapsladen auf der gegenüberliegenden Straßenseite. Obwohl der recht bemerkenswert war. Man konnte nämlich mit dem Auto in den Bottleshop namens “Thirsty Camel” (Das durstige Kamel, Anm. d. Red.) auf der einen Seite reinfahren und auf der anderen wieder raus, ein Drive-Through also. Eigentlich ganz cool. Direkt mit dem Auto rein, aus dem Fenster ordern und ab geht’s mit der Kiste Bier. Diese Australier haben es echt raus.

Ja und sonst so? Wir haben unsere erste Begegnung mit einem Kasuaren gehabt. Klingt zwar vielleicht nach einem schwertschwingenden Mongolenkrieger, ist aber ein großer vom Aussterben bedrohter Laufvogel, der mit einem helmartigen Horn auf dem Kopf, blauem Hals und roten Halslappen ausgestattet ist. Leider war die Begegnung nur kurz auf dem Weg zu einem der schönsten Wanderungen in der Gegend. Wir konnten schön entspannt auf dem Edmund Kennedy Walk entlang der Küste wandern, während die Iren ihren Rausch ausschliefen oder sich mit Restrausch beim Skydiving aus dem Flugzeug stürzten. Einsame Strände mit Mangroven, wilde Wallabies und ein schönes Wattleben gab es zu bestaunen. Zumindest das war ziemlich relaxed.

Nächste Station Cairns.

I ended up getting to try out a GoPro Hero Wide camera, and I’m very impressed with the thing. Check out the video below.

Yes, yes, it’s not on the Sunshine Coast, it’s in Cairns I hear you say. But I don’t care I thought you should know about the place anyway.

Pandanus Gallery, Palm Cove, up near Cairns deal in authentic aboriginal art. The reason I’m mentioning them is that the gallery deals direct with the aboriginal artists to ensure that the funds from sales remain within the indigenous communities.

Yesterday was lots of fun.  I arrived in Mission Beach early in the morning for a day out with Coral Sea Kayaking.  After I had paid for my room at Absolute Backpackers I drove down to South Mission Beach to meet Atty who was taking the group out that day.  At the beach front I met the rest of the group going out that day including Stuart who I was paired with for the double kayak.  Atty took us through the equipment we would be using and assigned us our places in the kayaks.  I was given the back seat with the rudder controls – a first for me.  Once we were all ready we took the kayaks down to the waters edge, got in and paddled away from shore.  Atty followed us onto the water and then guided us out towards Dunk Island.  The water was perfect and much calmer than Thursday when Stuarts’ first trip out had been cancelled.  There were a couple of showers before we got onto the water but as the day progressed the clouds disappeared to leave a wonderful blue sky.

The trip over to Dunk Island took about an hour.  We landed on a sandbar to have a quick rest and some home made muesli bars before carrying on around the north edge of the island for a while.  Sooner than I expected it was lunchtime and we stopped at a beach where Atty gave us time to go snorkelling while she prepared lunch.  After lunch we went on a walk through the rain forest of Dunk Island and Atty talked about the plants and animals that we could see.  High up on the list of topics was Cyclone Larry which decimated the rainforest on Dunk Island and around the Mission Beach area.  Three years later there are still huge holes in the rainforest canopy and clear evidence of the damage that was done.  Luckily, Dunk Island is one of the areas of rainforest that is managing to regenerate.

When we got back to the beach we had another rest to recover from our walk and then got back in to the kayaks and headed back for the mainland.  With the trip over we said our thank yous and goodbyes to Atty and I went back to the hostel for the free BBQ and a rest.  I didn’t feel fatigued straight away, but three hours later my arms were feeling the work that they had done that day.

Today I went for a walk just north of Mission Beach.  It was a good walk out but I didn’t see any cassawaries which was a shame.  I might stop again next time I go past Mission Beach for another search of the elusive birds.  Right now I am back in Townsville getting ready to start a job tomorrow.  For the next two weeks I’m going to be working on a farm doing who knows what.  It will be good to finally earn a bit of money again after spending so much of it.

The week in San Diego went by all too fast. I swear I blinked and it was over. I guess going back to a one-week stop after two two-month stops made it seem like a split second.

We played the Civic Theater in San Diego, which is a big performing arts center downtown. I remember going to see shows there while I was in school, including the band Pearl Jam, who I saw from the seventh row! It was really cool being on the other side of the footlights this time. The theater is big and spacious and we had plenty of room for everything backstage. Opening night went without incident and our audiences all week were raucous and appreciative. We had a little opening night party following the first performance at an Irish bar out behind the theater. Casey Nicolaw, our choreographer, was in town – it was nice to see him one more time before we close.

On Wednesday I took advantage of my close proximity to Mission Bay and got up early and went for a run on the path around the bay. After lunch I spent a couple of hours wandering up Mission Street to Garnet Street and browsed the shops of Pacific Beach. I stopped for a coffee at Zanzibar, which is a cafe that I spent a lot of time studying in during college. My friends’ bands used to play there, too. Its not as grungy as it used to be, and now functions as a full restaurant, but it still has the same charm. After that, I walked over to the beach, and walked along the beach back down to my apartment.

Pacific Beach

A surfer on Pacific Beach

On Thursday I drove over to Balboa Park and went to the Museum of Photographic Art to see the Ansel Adams exhibit on display. I spent some time walking around the park, revisiting all my favorite places – Spreckels Organ Pavilion (where I performed with the UCSD gospel choir while in college), the international houses, and the promenade with all the museums. After that I drove over to Old Town and walked around for a bit (I stopped into a gallery there with lots of famous prints from Life magazine for sale – very cool), then went to Shakespeare’s Pub for dinner before the show.

Balboa Park

Spreckels Organ Pavilion

Museum of Man

Old Town

On Friday I went to UCSD. I love going back to campus and walking around.  It just brings back so many great memories. I didn’t have a very good time in high school, but I LOVED college so much. I feel like that’s when I started to really figure out who I am. And I had some great friends there – from the girls who I lived with in the dorms freshman year (some of who I am still close to) to my theater friends. I just loved, loved, loved those years. The campus has grown so much since I went there – I think it now has seven colleges (it had five when I was there), and there are so many new buildings. The theater department has been renovated and there is a beautiful new dance building. Some of my old favorite places are still there, though, from the Grove Cafe, to my freshman year dorm, Cabrillo Hall. I spent some time in the bookstore, buying some sweatshirts and a t-shirt, and then just spent a couple of hours walking around. It made me very happy.

The theater department at UCSD

The student center

My dorm, Cabrillo Hall

My friend Mark, who I went to high school and college with, came to see the show on Friday night with his wife Molly. Mark and I did a bit of theater together in high school, but we really got to know each other in college, when I stage-managed a production of “Sweeney Todd” that Mark directed. It was so nice to see him again – it had been at least ten years since we last saw each other, and I loved meeting Molly. She and Mark seem like a great couple. One of the best things about this tour has been being able to reconnect with friends in other cities who I haven’t seen in forever. Hopefully it won’t be another ten years before I see Mark again!

On Saturday we had two shows, and the presenters at the theater threw us a BBQ between shows out in the theater courtyard. It was a really fun way to finish out our stay in town.

On Sunday we played our last two shows, and then it was home to pack. I left early Monday morning and drove to Sunnyvale, where I am staying at my parents’ house for the week while we play San Jose.

It was a fantastic week in San Diego, albeit too short. I hope I get to go back really soon. I miss it a lot. In a way, I like it that way though – San Diego remains for me a fairytale place of simple, happy times. That’s how I like to remember it.

On the way to San Jose, somewhere off highway 5

TRC POSSE in the place.

ROOTS COVENANT crew in the place.

My trip to Far North Queensland was fantastic!

Why, you may ask, did I take a week’s leave in the middle of term? Well my neice decided to get married at South Mission Beach, which is south of Cairns, near Tully.

The wedding was beautiful. We assembled on the beach on Saturday afternoon. The weather was warm, with a lovely breeze. The view across to Dunk Island was amazing! The groom waited nervously, wearing black trousers, a white shirt and bare feet! When the bride arrived, all heads turned as my lovely neice walked up the beach.

The wedding ceremony was touching and quite a few tears were shed. We only had to walk 20 paces to the reception, which was also on the beachfront!

Sunday was a recovery day and then 19 of us were off to the Tully river to go white water rafting. If you have never been wwr just do it. It is the most exhilirating thing I have ever done. Vinny, our guide, had massive arms, and when I started to fly out of the raft he just grabbed my life jacket and pulled me back in – one handed!

Leaving from Cairns, our next destination was the Sunshine coast, above Brisbane. A visit to Australia Zoo was amazing. The animals have a lot more freedom than at some zoos as the picture below will show (I was only 3 metres away taking this picture!).

Finally, to show that I have not completely forgotten mathematics:

I noticed this mirror in our hotel room and wondered how many different rectangles it had? What is your answer? (the reflection is from a painting on the wall)

I also bought a great puzzle book called “Building Left-Brain Power” by Gamon & Bragdon (1999). It has good number puzzles such as Digi-Clues, Addlocks, Number Lockers and Algebra Games. Image from Amazon.

This week the family & I headed to San Diego to visit Shamu and the beach for a couple of days. Our summer has been real busy so we had just enough time to take a mini vacation before Julian and Caila go back to school. Although it was only a few days, the time we spent together will always be great memories for all of us. San Diego is near and dear to our hearts and we always have a great time when we are down there!

We hit Sea World, the beach and Old Town San Diego!

Caught this guy right as we walked into Sea World.

Around Sea World…

The Beach & Old Town San Diego…

I took about 600 photos so I have alot more to go through. If you’d like to see more photos and full size images of the photos posted here just go to my Flickr page. Link is on the right. Thanks for looking!

Nachdem wir also einen Tag laenger in Townsville bleiben mussten, habe ich es schliesslich doch mit dem Bus nach Mission Beach geschafft.

Vom Bus drop-off waren es gerade einmal 200m bis zum Hostel.Aber natuerlich habe ich es geschafft mich zu verlaufen. Gut, eigentlich haette ich nur den Schildern folgen muessen, aber warum soll man sich es einfach machen, wenn es auch kompliziert geht. Es macht ja auch eine Menge Spass mehr als 20kg Gepaeck durch die Gegend zu tragen

Meine Freundin war mit dem Greyhound natuerlich schon wieder eher da – wie eigentlich jedes mal. Ich wurde also mehr als herzlich empfangen. Das Hostel (“Absolute Backpackers”) war einfach ein Traum. Eine riesige Kueche, sehr sauber und super ausgestattet. Wir haben eigentlich jeden Tag sehr opulent gekocht – angefangen bei leckeren Kloesen, ueber Nudeln, Huehnchen mit Feta-Kaese uvm. Ichdenke, dass ich alleine in den paar Tagen Mission Beach 3kg zugenommen habe Das lag vielleicht auch daran, dass sowohl Woolworth als auch der Bottleshop keine 5 Minuten zu Fuss entfernt war. Zudem gab es einen tollen Essbereich und Geschirr was viele wahrscheinlich noch nicht mal zu Hause haben. Ein Traum.

Das Personal ist super freundlich und hilfsbereit. Nicht nur, dass sie sich den Namen der Gaeste merken, sondern sie helfen einem auch bei saemtlichen Problemen und Fragen voellig unkompliziert. Als wir den Edmund Kennendy Walk machen wollten und gerade kein Bus kommen wollte, haben uns die Hostelmitarbeiter sogar eben mal schnell im Shuttle mitgenommen.  Der Bottleshop war eigentlich sogar nur 1 Minute entfernt – Paradies! Der Kennedy Walk war aber eher enttaeuschend. Wir haben uns mit Flip Flops auf den Weg gemacht, eine teilweise halsbrecherische Erfahrung. Aber wir haben es ueberlebt. Den Walk kann man sich aber sparen. Wer Angst vor Krokodilen hat, sollte ihn ohnehin meiden. Wir fanden die Aussichtspunkte und markanten Stellen nicht wirklich aufregend und es nervt auch  ein wenig, wenn man sich nach jedem zweiten Schritt umdrehen muss um sicherzugehen, dass einem kein Krokodil folgt.

Die Zimmer im Hostel wuerde ich als no frills accomodation bezeichnen. Sie sind wirklich klein und haben bis auf ein Waschbecken keinerlei Ausstattung. Zum schlafen aber mehr als ok. Den ganzen Tag lief tolle Musik und ich habe dort das erste mal “ernsthaft” von der eigenen Hosteleroeffnung getraeumt.

LG,
Carsten

Our journey up the coast took us to the little town of Mission Beach, most famously known for it’s Cassowaries and long golden sand.  On our way into town we were surprised by all the signs to slow down and be aware of the Cassowary (big birds like Emus – except more close to extinction) and we weren’t disappointed.  Like most animals in Australia, en-cue a Cassowary came wondering out of the bush and across the road in front of us.  (in case you’re wondering we did miss hitting it as we were going at a snails pace – speed limits in Australia are quite slow).

The next day we took a little water taxi that picked us up off the beach and over to Dunk Island.  Carly started off the trip well by getting soaked by a wave before managing to get in the taxi – but at least the weather was warm enough to dry her off when we reached the island.  Dunk is a small isle, mainly being a holiday resort and a national park – we did the circuit loop round the island and up to the top of the hill before going for a spot of lunch overlooking the beach and mainland.

After Mission Beach we were off to the Atherton Tablelands – a large highish altitude area to the west of Cairns.  We were going to visit my Mums ex-workmate who moved over to Australia about 14 years ago.  Before we got there we saw a few beautiful waterfalls in the rain forest.  We were actually a bit worried at one point as it was raining a fine drizzle up on the hills and the countryside was becoming more green… it looked like an Autumn rainy day in Derbyshire for a while!  In Atherton we went to see where the China town used to be in the height of the gold rush, all that is left now is a Chinese Temple.

Anyway, later that evening we met up with Elaine, Warren, their three kids, dog, cat and chooks.  They threw on a bit of tucker and a few cold ones and we chatted away the evening til the wee hours.  All much fun.

Next installment to come from Carly tomorrow about Cape Tribulation and the Great Barrier Reef… unbelievable stuff!!!

]]> http://gunnshow.wordpress.com/2009/08/10/wallaman-falls-broadwater-np-and-mission-beach-australia/ Mon, 10 Aug 2009 12:49:08 +0000 Josh http://gunnshow.wordpress.com/2009/08/10/wallaman-falls-broadwater-np-and-mission-beach-australia/

Day 91

Woke up from the rest stop at dawn and continued heading north. Our first stop was Jouroma Falls.

A little bit further down the road was Wallaman Falls:

Back in the car, we drove to Broadwater NP. We did a short walk which included a really large fig tree along the walk.

We drove on to Mission Beach so that we would have less driving to do tomorrow (our last day with the campervan).

This will go down in the books as one of the best 4th of July extravaganzas San Diego has ever experienced! With the estimated 750,000 people who attended, it was none other than a show of lifetime. As the skies began to darken and the anticipation heightened, at exactly 9 p.m. last Saturday night, the “Big Bay Boom” 2009 started.

The skies lit up with over 8,000 fireworks in perfect unison to live broadcasted music by 105.7 the Walrus. With the four barges that were strategically placed around the North Bay area of the San Diego Bay, there wasn’t a bad seat in the house. However, if you were lucky enough to get to either Shelter Island, Harbor Island, the north embarcadero, Seaport Village, or the Coronado Ferry Landing you definitely were able fully experience what this show had to offer.
For those of you who weren’t able to make it, or just wanted to stay in for the night, it was being televised live on San Diego FOX 5 HD and Cox 4 HD.

Taco Tuesday's in San Diego-provided by www.yelp.com

If you ever go out for Taco’s on a Tuesday, no matter where you are, it’s safe to say that “Taco Tuesday” in San Diego, CA is one of the worlds best…if not “the” best.  No matter if you are at the ever popular hang-outs, like Moondoggies, PB Bar and Grill, or World Famous all located in Pacific Beach, or maybe Ocean Beach’s famous “South Beach Bar and Grill“, or possibly at Jack’s of La Jolla,  you are going to find yourself in Happy Hour Heaven.  Two things you are bound to find; 1) Incredible deals on amazingly tasty taco’s,  and 2) a wide variety of cheerful patrons eager to meet each other and to enjoy the large selection of drink specials.  A staple tradition for most San Diegans, this time tested, and tasty affair will always keep you happy and full… so don’t miss out.

Happy Hour Margarita's from Gringo's Cantina

Here is a list of some of the more popular “Happy Hour” hang out’s.

1. Pacific Beach Bar and Grill
2. Moondoggies
3. World Famous
4. South Beach Bar and Grill
5. Gringo’s Cantina
6. RT’s Long Board Grill
7. Jack’s La Jolla – Grille
8. Nick’s in Pacific Beach
9. Nick’s in Ocean Beach
10. Lahaina Beach Club
11. Guava Beach Bar and Grill
12. Bub’s Dive Bar and Grill
13. Sneak Joint
14. Cabo Cantina
15. Johnny V

The neighborhood hot spot on a cool Wednesday night in Mission Beach is Saska’s Sushi. Showcasing great rolls, service, and music, Mission Beach’s senior restaurant statesman shows all others how to “wow” a mellow Wednesday night crowd. All of this for half of what it costs every other day of the week. Scene…

Strong surf session, whether you’re a beginner or pro, to get the appetite built and to bring a strong story to the table. After the salt washing shower, “don” the sweatshirt, surf shorts, and sandals. Bike or hike (if you’re driving they have valet service, “KEY”) down Mission Boulevard to the classic rock playing, old school lounge set, fish market known as Saska’s. The sushi pros along with beach local service show you how “sushi night” is done with friends and family. After a good laugh and good eats, check the sunset and head to Sneak or Guava for a nightcap…

A letter from Anna and California Community Service.

The Westcoast Blogger

Hello to California Community Service Parents!

We are here in sunny San Diego and have started our Californian adventure! After arriving at the airport, we headed to check out our amazing dorms and settle in. We played an intense game of ultimate Frisbee, showcasing Jake’s talents of long-distance Frisbee throwing. You should see this guy! We got to know each other throughout the evening and got so excited about the days to come.

Our first full day started at Mission Beach, biking on some of the most comfortable bikes ever! Kyle K. showed us how to bunny hop and we checked out all of the sights. Matt and Katie were super-keen on playing beach volleyball, so after we were done biking, they started up a game. Some of the brave ones to head into the ocean were Alyssa, Marci, Jordyn, and Leah, and they surfed the waves with Jake, Alex, and Matt. We also got to explore La Jolla Beach as the tide was coming in and spotted seals lazing on the rocks and beach.

Tuesday was our day of surfing on Moonlight Beach, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed – everyone managed to get up on their board!  Mark caught some amazing waves and was definitely “hanging ten.”  We also took advantage of the perfect sand when architects Kyle C., Bryan, and Skylar headed up three teams to build the most creative sandcastle.  Many tactics were involved, such as vast mounts of kelp, enlisting the help of families, and building sea walls to prevent mass castle destruction as the tide rolled in!  In the evening we played a huge game of laser tag, which Kyle K. won twice . . . but our tour director, Anna, came in second in both games!  We have also been playing a lot of basketball on the courts at our dorm each evening, as well as intense games of Knock-out!

The most exciting thing yet, though, has been our community service day with Habitat for Humanity on Wednesday.  We were at two build sites where earth-moving shovel and pick-wielding Miles showed us how it was done. James and Anna spent the morning hammering up the walls of one of the houses and Jordyn, Alyssa, and Leah learned how to put up siding and did a whole wall!  Julie and Nicole spent their day painting a bedroom with a mother whose 14-year-old daughter will be moving into the house! Craig and Natalie tiled the floor of an entire condo and the entire group learned so much about the projects. 

We’re all looking forward to more adventures in the days to come.  Stay tuned for more updates!

From the California Community Service Community Service Gang!

I finally had to head back to NYC from sunny SoCal on Monday afternoon, but suffice it to say I had an absolutely wonderful time in L.A. and San Diego. As chance would have it, one of my best friends from college, who now lives in DC, was in San Diego beginning on Saturday; another friend from school, who lives in NYC but whose family lives in San Diego, was also in town; a third friend from Boston was out visiting; a fourth was having a birthday party on Saturday… The posse was in full effect.

The trip got off to a rather inauspicious start when I showed up to the American ticket counter at JFK at around 9:30am to check my bag — a scant few minutes after checking the status of my flight — and finding that my direct to LAX had been unceremoniously canceled. Rather than sit seven hours at the airport and hope for the best on the 4:30pm, I had them stick me in a car service up to LGA and grab an 11:20am through DFW (one of my least favorite airports, not the least reason for which being that it’s near impossible to find much more than junk food in the terminal). It ended up working out, but seriously… No fun.

I’d never really spent much time in downtown Los Angeles to speak of, and, in fact, the last time I’d even passed through I got a distinctly ghetto impression of it. Admittedly, I’d flown out for a job interview from NC (on a flight that I believe was delayed that time, rather than outright canceled) a day after interviewing in NYC for the job I have now, arriving somewhere around midnight rather tired only to realize there’d been some sort of mix-up with the friend I’d planned on staying with and was, therefore,  sitting at LAX around 11:30 the night before the meeting with nowhere to stay. I ended up on some weird shuttle thing to civilization and landed a room not too far from the office I was supposed to head to in the morning, but only after driving up what felt like the total tailpipe of the city… Garbage in the streets, riff-raff and hooligans out on every street corner, everything looking rather run down. Not an area I wanted to be wandering with my garment bag late at night seeking accommodation.

Anyway, things seem to have changed quite a bit. The friend whose loft I stayed at near 6th and Main is, as chance would have it, a mere stone’s throw from a total of four other friends’ two respective lofts and a smattering of bars and restaurants that folks  have informed me is only increasing in size.  Based on some of the ones I saw and how crowded, it seemed like the influx of both residents and cool bars/restaurants/etc.  may have reached enough of a critical mass to tip the development scales, so to speak, and keep up the momentum for building things up around there. Sweet.

When we weren’t out and about in the neighborhood, though, I had the chance to see a some friends I hadn’t seen in a while; bum around Hollywood and Beverly Hills munching; hit the beach in Santa Monica; etc. Another friend was having a birthday party in Cardiff by the Sea on Saturday night, so we made the (three hours with traffic) drive down to San Diego that evening and, not having thought to try booking a room for the Saturday night over Memorial Day weekend until that afternoon — stayed at he spa /resort my buddy in town from DC had arranged a room at across the street from Mission Beach. Good times.

I’m glad to have gone back.  Despite having grown up in San Diego until I was around 12, I hadn’t actually been  in 18 years or so, and was mildly surprised to see a lot of things — signs, buildings — that I still felt like I recognized.  Sense memory, perhaps.  And certain features — physical landmarks and the like, distances between places I recalled — definitely seemed smaller and shorter than I’d remembered… A function of being, well, bigger and older now, I suppose.

We ended up dragging out our San Diego stint an extra night after a morning of imbibing on Sunday and deciding to rent a boat for the afternoon. I never thought I’d be on a boat.

But now? Back to work…

Local singer-songwriter Rhythm Turner was assaulted on Thursday, May 14, outside of ’Canes Bar & Grill in what she called a hate crime. Turner, a lesbian, was playing a show with her band, Dropjoy, at the Mission Beach club, and, according to her and witnesses at the scene, she was attacked by a man after hugging her girlfriend.

“It was early, around 10 o’clock,” Turner tells CityBeat, “We were all hanging out and chatting, and I went to walk my girlfriend to her car and I was giving her a hug goodbye. Then this guy came up right in our face and asked if we were lesbians. I was really put off by it, and I said, ‘Hey, man, you need to get away.’” Turner says the man, accompanied by another male, kept insisting that they wanted to see Turner and her girlfriend kiss.

“I started getting really stern with him, and I started cussing at him like, ‘Hey, man, get the fuck away,’” she says. “And then he said, ‘Don’t talk to me like that or I’m going to slap you.’ I said, ‘No, you’re not going to slap me.’ And then he proceeded to slap me with an open palm.”

Turner says the man turned around at first as if to run away but then seemed to change his mind and turned around again and punched her in the eye. She says she tried to defend herself when the man punched her once more in the nose. At that point, Turner’s girlfriend managed to get the attention of Turner’s brother, who tackled the guy and pinned him.

“At one point, I was face-to-face with him after my brother apprehended him,” Turner says. “I was standing there, looking at him, and I told him, ‘Look what you did to my face,’ and it seemed like he didn’t even know what he had done until that moment and he looked at me and had a look on his face like, Oh, shit.”

The suspect escaped, but security at ’Canes helped grab him, and he was handcuffed until police arrived, which, Turner says, was two hours after the assault. She says that while the man was handcuffed and sitting in front of the club, he was saying things like, “God’s the only one that judges.”

“I don’t know if it was supposed to be a justification for what he did or if he was talking about himself,” Turner says. “I just thought it was interesting to invoke the name of God after he just did something that horrible. I’m sure God wouldn’t approve of what you just did.”

Turner has posted a video on YouTube, under the title “Rhythm Turner: Hate Crime Survivor,” in which she recounts the experience. Turner says the police have told her that the man is in custody on felony battery charges. Neither Detective Garrick Nugent, nor police spokesperson Monica Muñoz, returned CityBeat’s calls as of press time.

Turner suffered two facial fractures, one on her nose and underneath her eye, the latter she believes will require corrective surgery. A full-time student at Grossmont College, she doesn’t have health insurance. An account has been set up to take donations: www.myspace.com/rhythm
andthemethod.

“It’s a whole new set of hoops that I’m jumping through to get this surgery scheduled,” she says. “It’s been really difficult.”