Australian CS Newsletter December 2008

The CouchSurfing Wiki, an informal workspace which anyone can edit.

DECEMBER

Welcome to the monthly Australian CS Newsletter!!

Your one-stop-shop to all things CS in the Australian community. News from around the states, Aussie CS and general CS updates, stats, opinions, hints and tips. READ ALL ABOUT IT!

Done something fun yourself lately with your fellow CS members and guests?? Wanna boast about it and get your photos seen?? Then help in the making of this newsletter each month and let your CS community shine!

We are always looking for people who would like to contribute to the newsletter.

This could be on behalf of your local area, for the State News section - especially in Adelaide, Hobart, Darwin, and outside the capital cities. Or, it could involve writing a Couchsurfing stats summary or an overview of media on CS from the month, etc.

Join the Aussie Newsletter Production Mob if you are interested. Just join up and post something or email the moderators.

News from around the Australian States

The following news is brought to you by your Aussie Newsletter Production Mob

Macalla watch - Our Aussie CS mascot, Macalla is jet-setting the Planet !!!

Macalla in Maroochydore

Macalla has finally made it to Queensland starting with some sun at Maroochydore. She also joined Belinda and Beni on a bushwalk at Kondalilla Falls where she chased off some voracious goannas for us. Since then she's been hanging out in Brissy and wondering where to go next. She's debating Chinchilla or Bundaberg it seems.

And who is Macalla?? - read more here or have a look here.

Queensland

We would be extremely happy to get some CS news from regional Queensland. Please join the Newsletter Production Mob if you are interested in helping out.

Brisbane in November -

Nerang River Party Crew

Trip down to the Gold Coast on the 8th. Beni and a vanload drove down to the Southport Surf Club which is actually in Main Beach (which caused some confusing directions) and then Darren finished work and Amy and others showed up as well so Darren united us with another party on the Nerang river near his place and everyone got messy and took chaotic group photos. BBQ, footy, hack-sack, alcohol, swimming, jenga, alcohol, sun, surf, drinking games (with alcohol) and a river! Oh, and a bit of a downpour in the evening...

Dub Day Afternoon on the 22nd. Supporting the local independent radio station, 4ZzZfm, while bobbing up and down to some great local and interstate dancehall and reggae acts is a beautiful way to spend a Spring Saturday.

Klaus' Birthday/Housewarming Party had a range of Nurses, Construction workers, Pilots, and men dressed as girls...Made for one hell of a stripper paaarty!.Was a good wee shindig, meet heaps of new peeps, as well as catching up with the old faces! As always,Brisbane knows how to party!

Newcomer Jems 21st Birthday Party on the 28th saw a host of old and newbies party hard at Jamie and Romains place in the valley before heading to Birdies where Adrian organised us VIP! Cheers Adrian! Was a super cool night had by all!!!!

See more photos here

Coming up in December

ITS CHRISTMAS TIME!!!

Western Australia

We would love to get some CS news from regional Western Australia. Please join the Newsletter Production Mob if you are interested in helping out.

Coming Up in December

Dont forget to check out the newly updated Perth wiki

New South Wales

Sydney CS Update:

For all the details on what's happening, keep an eye on the Sydney Group. Also bookmark the Sydney CouchSurf Calendar - it's regularly updated with all the latest happenings.

Coming in December - Join the Sydney Group and check the Sydney CouchSurf Calendar to stay in touch!

Regional NSW Update:

We would be extremely happy to get some CS news from regional New South Wales. Please join the Newsletter Production Mob if you are interested in helping out.

Newcastle -

Victoria

We would be extremely happy to get some CS news from rural Victoria. Please join the Newsletter Production Mob if you are interested in helping out.

BIG NEWS !!! Melbourne is hosting an AWESOME CS Summer Fest in the last week of January 2009. This week-long festival is NOT to be missed, with all sorts of events - BBQs, city tours, days at the beach, trips to Puffing Billy, foodies night, bar crawls - Be There Or Be Square. More info coming soon. If you'd like to help out in the organisation of the festival, please join this group. We'd love to have you on board!!

November in Melbourne

The Flinders Street Freeze was a huge success! Flinders St Station has never been so packed - at exactly 7pm the loud roar at the station fell completely silent and people were seen to be frozen in all sorts of weird and wonderful positions.
The monthly (kind of) foodies night turned into fish & chips on St Kilda Beach! The gorgeous group of 20+ CSers chilled out on the beach with fish & chips and watched the sunset. A bunch of new faces were there, which was great :)
Everyone's favourite nerd, Jay, left Melbourne possibly forever (but we really hope not!) A big bunch of CSers turned up to bid him farewell! (If someone, somewhere, could SOMEHOW manage to take a decent photo of Jay where he's not 'flipping the bird' I will most definitely post it, but alas, it does not seem to be so likely)
James started a weekly salsa night at Section 8. Did I mention it's free? Every Tuesday from November 25th. Come and join in!
Some very happy CouchSurfers drowned themselves in sangria at the Hispanic Fiesta on Johnston St.
Greg got older! And a group of dedicated CSers helped him celebrate the momentous occasion! Everyone chilled out in Greg's back yard, listening to some tunes and keeping warm under a communal doona.
Some peeps went camping! And got very very very wet and cold, but had an awesome time anyway :) We hiked 11kms before it started raining, saw some amazing Victorian bush, some wild goats and a lonely kangaroo! For some foreign visitors this was their first live siting of our native Australian wildlife :)
The Melbourne CS Zone grew from strength to strength with over 20 happy CSers joining in on the last one! Come and join us - every second Tuesday at Don Tojo.

Flinders Street Freeze!

Greg's Party & Hispanic Fiesta

Coming up in December:

Gerard is bringing back his awesome graffiti tour. Not to be missed. Check the Melbourne group for more details.
Mark and Julien have organised a camping trip down the Great Ocean Road from Dec 4th - Dec 6th!
Steph wants everyone to don a Santa suit and head around town on a Santarchy Tour
Lena (me) is going to Thailand for a month (big news, right?) Anyone feel like volunteering to do the newsletter for December & January?

Don't forget, the Melbourne CS Zone - Every second Tuesday from 7pm, one or more of Melbourne's City or Nomadic Ambassadors will be on location at Don Tojo (164 Cardigan St, Carlton) to welcome new & old travellers and help out where possible. This is getting to be a bigger and bigger event each fortnight! For more info read this and check the Melbourne CS Google Calendar to see when it's on.

With much going on in Melbourne the only way you can keep up with it is to join the Melbourne Group or book mark the Melbourne CS Calendar - Happy CS'ing !!

South Australia

We would be extremely happy to get some CS news from regional South Australia. Please join the Newsletter Production Mob if you are interested in helping out.

Twenty-five CSers took over the beer-garden at the Exeter pub on Rundle Street for drinks on Sunday evening, October 12th, with a great mix of locals and visitors making up the get-together.

A group of fifteen CouchSurfers soaked up the sun in Botanic Gardens at an afternoon picnic on Sunday 9th November. Locals were joined by CSers from Vietnam, France, UK and Canada, and a friendly bunyip even made an appearance (thanks to Phillip and Hugh). Good conversation, lots of food, lovely weather – a great day.

Other recent events have included a pot luck afternoon tea, and a wine & chocolate evening. If you would like to find out about upcoming events, or want to organise your own, don’t forget to visit the Adelaide CS group at www.couchsurfing.com/group.html?gid=1326

Australian Capital Territory

We would be extremely happy to get some CS news from the Australian Capital Territory. Please join the Newsletter Production Mob if you are interested in helping out.

Tasmania

We would be extremely happy to get some CS news from Tasmania. Please join the Newsletter Production Mob if you are interested in helping out.

Northern Territory

We would be extremely happy to get some CS news from the Northern Territory. Please join the Newsletter Production Mob if you are interested in helping out.

Australian Couchsurfing Org News

- Melbourne is planning and hosting a CS gathering in the last week of January next year. If you live there get involved with organising and helping out your local mob put on an early candidate for CS event of the year.

- Perth has threatened Brissy with an 'invasion' on the Anzac long weekend next year and Melbourne has decided to 'invade the invasion' so if you're warming some oil or polishing your armour around then be in Brissy for utter, utter chaos. They may need to rename the holiday.

The Boxing Kangaroo Awards

Each month, we like to bring attention to the efforts of CS members who have made a decent contribution to the CS community in their area. It's our way of saying thanks and of bringing attention to some of the great work being done around the country.

Don't forget if you want to become an Ambassador for Couchsurfing you can do so easily through applying here - we could use the support and extra hands. Get on board, it's all about participation!

Our newest Ambassadors

To know who your other Australian Ambassadors are have a look at this link.

New Australian Groups

Australian Statistics

If you are interested in how many surfers there are now in Australia and where they all are and what they are all doing go and have a look at the statistics pages - it is all quite fascinating and you get to check out the rest of the world at the same time ..... ever wondered how many Couches there are in Mongolia???

Couchsurfing in the Media

The call for experienced editors As you may have heard, CS Org are creating a CS News Channels page which will allow for communication to members and volunteers on a scale they have not had yet. Some of these channels are member-made, some are created by volunteers, and others are newsletters adapted for the web.

In case you missed the blog entry, click here to get the full rundown on what the proposed news channels will be on the site. There is also additional Info here.

What is the current Status of your Couch?

As you know you can edit the status of your couch.

Did you know that if you have your Couch unavailable the "Request to Couchsurf with" button is removed?

So as not to receive CouchSurfing requests while you are travelling or unable to host, make sure the status of your couch is what you want it to be. It will solve a lot of unwanted emails.

Tips and hints for better CouchSurfing

For more tips and hints to improve your profile or your experience of Couchsurfing go to: Australian Tips Hints and links to better CouchSurfing