Australian CS Newsletter February 2009

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

FEBRUARY

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 helped the Brissy mob celebrate their first CS Zone Meetup on the 22nd of January before jumping on a plane to Austria to discover the 'land with less letters' and try out some snow activities.

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

In case you missed it, Melbourne successfully hosted a huge CS festival from 24 Jan - 1 Feb with plans to do it all again next year. Keep your eye out for next month's newsletter for reports about CS Summer Fest.

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.

Rural Couchsurfing

Have you ever wanted to stay with someone who lives outside of the cities? Have you ever looked at a map of couchsurfers in Australia and seen huge gaps between the cities? Have you wanted to visit these places or know of somewhere else? Maybe you live in a remote location in Australia? Or you may live outside of the urban centers of Australia? Well there is a new idea on CouchSurfing that you may be interested in: Rural Couchsurfing. You can read more about it here. There is a group for Rural Couchsurfing specifically for Australia, and you're all invited to join. While the idea has begun, it has not really spread out around the world yet. It would be great if you wanted to be part of a discussion as to what exactly "Rural" means in Australia.

See the discussion about it here.

Once a definition has been set for Australia, it is hoped that people will be able added to the google map which has now been created. See it here

Thanks everyone!

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 January -

New Years at Sal's was a brilliant success and CSers in the entire region suffered for days! Great way to start the New Year!!

We had a get together at the Eagle Street Pig and Whistle on the 2nd for the Melbourne v Roar game and other fun. The Roar apparently went down 1-2 but Beni won't admit it! Went for a walk along the river and through the gardens before some went to the Valley for a dance. Great night and a possible prelude to finally getting a CS Zone running in Brissy.
A record 29 people turned up to RG's "$2 special" Taco night, and what a good night of feasting and socialising it was! For a list of specials RG's have every night -see their website

Thursday 22nd saw Brisbane make CS history with its FIRST CS Zone meet accomodating 100 locals and travellers throughout the night. The zone meet was held at the Plough Inn in South Bank and will continue to be held there every second Thursday. Check out the Brisbane Group for details!!

Coming up in February -

FEBRUARY 5th will see the second Brisbane CS Zone Meet being held at the Plough Innfrom 6pm onwards. SEE YOU THERE!

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.

January in Melbourne It was a busy month around Melbourne, and that was before CS Summer Fest kicked off.

Twenty20 Cricket - a small group of CouchSurfers headed down to the MCG to watch Australia (or was that just David Warner?) give South Africa a belting
Fire twirling (twice) - This is looking like becoming a regular event at St Kilda or nearby beaches, with a few pyromaniacs...errr fire enthusiasts showing off their skills with poi, fire sticks and juggling tools and plenty of others coming along to enjoy the atmosphere

Sandcastles at Frankston followed by drinks - a big group headed down the coast to spend a day on the beach at Frankston and check out Sandcastles (mostly from outside the exhibition in true CS style!)
Moonlight Cinema - small groups have headed out to the Botanical Gardens to enjoy summer evenings and take in films in the evening air
GLBT Midsumma Festival - Plenty of those who identify as GLBT or even those who don't went along to celebrate midsummer
Australian Open Tennis - the two week party hit town with plenty of CSers making their way to Melbourne Park to soak it all up and even watch a bit of tennis while they're at it
Started a mixed netball team - while success is yet to come, in the true spirit of bringing random people together, the team has been formed through a group post, playing in Sandringham on Tuesday nights. There's always room for more, so if you're interested in playing, get in touch with Stu.
Melbourne CS Summer Fest - from Graffiti party to trips down the Great Ocean Road, Free Hugs, Flash Mob water fights at Fed Square, Lawn Bowls, Australia Day picnics in the Botanical Gardens, days at the beach, the regular CS Zone meet, Scavenger Hunts, Night Markets, launching a book about CS!!!, foodies dinners, international potluck dinner and farewell picnics, the last week of January was absolutely huge in Melbourne with locals and visitors alike coming out in huge numbers to celebrate all that is awesome about Melbourne and CS. Keep your eyes out for more reports in next month's newsletter!

If you're interested in getting out and about, keep an eye on the Melbourne Group or book mark the Melbourne CS Calendar

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 our summer venue - Section 8 (27 Tattersalls Lane, Melbourne) 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.

Happy Surfing !!

Western Australia

January has been a crazy month for the Perth CS crew –

Firstly, we welcome Gabs as our newest Perth ambassador - fittingly the New Year started with Gabs hosting an open house party in North Perth.

On Jan 2nd & 3rd some of the Perth locals and travellers headed down to the Southbound Festival just outside Busselton to enjoy fabulous local and international vibes.

We celebrated the 1st anniversary of our meetups at the Brass Monkey Hotel with a meetup at the Brass Monkey Hotel! Photos here.

Our outgoing ambassador Renae bid us farewell with drinks upstairs at the Scotto on the 10th. Photos here. Luckily for us Renae's travel plans got delayed after this and we managed to see her around town a couple of more times, including her alter ego Polly Pummel at the Masquerade Brawl at the Morley Rollerdrome. We will miss her heaps and many travel plans are being rerouted via Laos as this goes out.

A Full Moon Drumming circle was held at Cottesloe Beach on the 11th with many CSers heading down there to enjoy it.

The 17th saw the bogan in all of us surfaced for the night at Shaz's bogan housewarming party in Bertram aka Bogan Central. All the good flannos, wife beaters, thongs and ugg boots were dusted off as the Dazzas, Maccas, Davos, Waynes, Shazzas, Sheryls, Mels and Mandys partied well into Sunday morning. Photos here.

Cannington was the place to be on the 24th with Dhugal's favourites birthday party. Photos here.

With the season well underway Rocket Rod went bull riding again at El Caballo Blanco on the 25th.

Our fortnightly meetings at the Brass Monkey are still as popular as ever, with many travelers in town enjoying the delicious Perth summer. Keep an eye on the Perth group for all our meetings, parties, hijinks and adventures.

Shaz, Sharon & Gabs are now looking after Perth newsletter content, Renae was such a superwoman it’s taking 3 of us to replace her!

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 February

Big Day Out
Blair's visit from Brissie - our livers hurt already!
Tropfest
Nannup Music Festival

New South Wales

Sydney has had another busy month - activities included:

Wed 31st Dec - New Year's Eve Knowledge Party. Jeff and Michael organised a great picnic and games fest held in Hyde Park to educate the masses (50+) on the various plans for celebrating NYE. The group then split up, with many going to pre-arranged parties, and a big group gathered at Balls Head Reserve (yes the choice of venue was due to the amusing name!) The reserve turned out to be an exceptionally good viewing location with unobstructed views of the Bridge and a fireworks barge directly in front. A fantastic firework display set over Sydney harbour followed, with a few of us sitting perched on top of a 2m high rock!

Sat 17th Jan - Jazz in the Domain: The Gypsy Queens and Kings. Lisa went early to secure a prime spot, and was joined in the late afternoon by over 30 Couchsurfers, family and friends. Everyone enjoyed a marvellous shared picnic then danced the night away under the stars in beautiful weather to the smooth sounds of jazz!

Jazz in the Domain

Bryons birthday cake - thanks Em, this French tart was amazing!

Bryons birthday: a picnic/BBQ & swim at Bronte beach

Jane and Agata @ Hart

Pete/Jen/James @Hart

Sun 18th Jan – Bryon’s birthday picnic & BBQ at Bronte beach. Bryon celebrated his birthday with 31 couchsurfers who turned up for a picnic BBQ and swim at sunny Bronte beach. The highlights included 2 homemade birthdays cakes: a French tart de pommes and an Aussie chocolate extreme delight!

Fri 23rd Jan - Hart's pub school disco. Jane went back to skool at the Hart’s pub in the Rocks for the ever popular sausage sizzle event. Long socks, school ties and short skirts were the order of the night, which included free food, cheap beer, dancing and the usual madness. Who would have thought the headmaster's whip could provide so many hours of entertainment?!?

Sat 24th Jan - Symphony in The Domain. Saturday brought a night of classical music under the stars. Symphony in the Park is one of Sydney's most iconic events and around 30 couchsurfers parked their butts on a blankets and enjoyed a night of good wine, good food, good music and, of course, good company. Fireworks split the sky (awwwwh!) and the would-be conductors amongst us brandished their sparklers as the event reached its crescendo: the 1812 overture. But the night was still young, so many of us continued on to the Spiegeltent. A burlesque-style tent of velvet and brocade, the Hyde Park venue is the temporary home to some eclectic late-night free concerts. CSers spent a madcap hour of frantic toe tapping, thigh slapping and do-si-doing as The Crooked Fiddle Band served up its mash of bluegrass swampstomping and Balkan-flavoured gypsy passion.

Sun & Mon 25th & 26th Jan - Cockatoo Island camping & Australia Day. 26 CSers sailed the high seas - well, harbour - to pitch their tents among history. Cockatoo Island is the largest Sydney Harbour island and was once a industrial school, reformatory, jail and shipyard. Its prison buildings have been nominated for World Heritage listing. We were treated to an exclusive free night tour of the island due to Michael converting the security guard to CS! After a few hiccups with a mass pasta dinner - thanks to John, Di, Sandra et al who overcame great cooking challenges - some CSers went back for some serious late-night crane climbing. A big bbq breakfast greeted the crew on Monday morning and the JJJ countdown provided the soundtrack to a morning of frisbee and general mooching around.

Waiting for the ferry

Camp CS

Getting cozy

Some other news is a few of us have created a Sydney Organising Group. More news to come on this, but basically we aim to host a number of regular CS activities and ensure that the big events happening in Sydney throughout the year have a good CS presence. We also regularly update the Sydney group events calendar and update a new wiki we have created and now trialling called wots on in Sydney.

For all the details on what's happening, keep an eye on the Sydney Group and bookmark the Sydney CouchSurf Calendar and the wots on in Sydney wiki.

South Australia

Don't forget to check out the Adelaide CS group for any upcoming events at http://www.couchsurfing.com/group.html?gid=1326

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.

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

January in Tasmania has been an exceptionally busy month

In Hobart Joanna was receiving far more requests than there are couches to accommodate, at one stage she had six people staying in her house, on the floor, couch and beds. It was a fun time and the bbq got a really good work out.

Steph and Rex hosted a CouchSurfing weekend at their shack in Saltwater River. A good group of CS'ers attended and even had the opportunity to go sailing on Steph and Rex's Balinese fishing boat "jukung". Fish were caught and cooked on an open fire bbq.

Joanna is hoping to start organising a monthly CouchSurfers gathering in Hobart, more news on this in coming months.

On the East coast, many requests have been received and Janet and Rod have hosted many CouchSurfers through January. The popularity of the east coast seems to have boomed since the Bay of Fires won the Lonely Planet Blue List number one placing for best tourist destination in 2008.

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.

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.

Unfortunately we don't have any nominees for this month, but if you would like to nominate someone, just join the Newsletter Production Mob and submit your nomination.

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 Ambassadors

Looking to track down an Ambassador for whatever reason? Your Aussie ambs are listed here.

New Australian Groups

There is now a Great South East Collective for people who want to get the entire region of South East Queensland connected, talking and organised. We hope to use it to plan day trips around the area, camping trips, festivals and raise awareness of CS and CS activity throughout the region. If you live and host anywhere from the Tweed to Noosa to Toowoomba, give the moderators a yell and join in. Representatives from other Aussie CS regions welcome too.

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 Madagascar??

International CouchSurfing News

Couchsurfing in the Media

The call for experienced editors As you may have heard, CS Org have created 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.

To receive news from the official channels just edit your subscription settings.

Website Technical Developments

If you are interested in following the Tech developments you will find what you are looking for 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. At the same time, it will help those looking for a couch so they don't have to spend time messaging people unable to help them!

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