Australian CS Newsletter January 2009

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JANUARY

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 Brisbane

Macalla is having a Brissy Summer and getting along well with the local CS mob and the Brissy wildlife. She's had a go at rockclimbing on the Kangaroo Point cliffs, visited Chinchilla, put on an impromptu gig in New Farm Park and is doing the Story Bridge climb with Beni and Marika on the 17th for sunrise! Check out her pics from Brissy and the area here.

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

  • - In case you haven't already heard, Melbourne is planning and hosting a CS festival from 24 Jan - 1 Feb 2009. See the event page or the festival website for all the details.
  • - 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.


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 December -

  • 5th December a few of us got together in New Farm Park for shits and giggles. Beni has taught Macalla a bit of guitar and she entertained us with a song she wrote which seemed to be about Dropbears.
  • Some of us had a go at the weekly trivia night at RG's on the 10th. Adrian and his guests were the instigators (the team names were crap!) and we did kinda alright I guess. Have to go back another Wed night and get some practice in!
    Christmas on the Gold Coast
  • Alice's random gift party on the 20th absolutely rocked. Great turn out and heaps of bizarre and amazing presents including a didgeridoo!! The weather was a bit cooler but the pool was still well used as were the little pool thingys we ripped up and threw at everyone. Threw a couple of people into the pool too but everyone else was soft! Great day.
  • Darren's Christmas Do was huge and brilliant complete with name tags, footy, music, fun, kayaking and those useless park BBQs.
  • Beni's Boxing Day BBQ was the perfect after party - pre-wasted people, an inflatable pool, a real BBQ and no reason to do much but sit around and talk shit. Then Lucy came down from the sky with her diamonds and it got completely random. Here's some pics.
  • Ninja, Beni, Marika and some kiwis went to the Roar v Phoenix game and refrained from beating each other senseless. Besides, that's not fair when kiwis ain't got no sense to start with. Roar won it 3-2. Our season Brissy!! And three Queensland teams next year!! Woo hoo!!
  • Sal's New Years bash was of course absolutely brilliant but this was published before the event so.......you'll have to imagine. It's a themed one - an Hawaiin luau complete with tiki torches and really bad shirts!


Coming up in January -

  • BBQ Beats on New Years Day at the Riverstage
  • Get together at the Eagle Street Pig and Whistle on the 2nd for the Melbourne v Roar game and other fun
  • The often threatened but yet to happen Toowoomba mission (maybe)
  • stuff


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. Let us know if you're planning to attend by joining the meeting page or you can also check out the Melbourne CS Summer Fest website.

We're hoping to get an influx of visitors for the week, so this means they will need hosts, so if you're able to host festival attendees, please let the Organising Team know.


December in Melbourne

  • Free Salsa lessons on a Tuesday night at Section 8 have become increasingly popular, with plenty of people coming down to learn a few moves and have a drink or two as well. Thanks to James for putting these on.
  • A group have been making regular visits to Claypots on Barkly St in St Kilda on a Monday night for cheap drinks and cheaper poetry.
  • Mexican beer and films - what more could you have asked for? The weeklong Hola Mexico Film Festival was enjoyed by many, particularly the opening night after party.
  • Thanks to Michael for putting on a fabulous warehouse party.
  • And for the many travellers celebrating Christmas away from their families, Daniel put on a Christmas barbeque - check out the pictures here.


In amongst the bigger events, there have been plenty of visitors to Melbourne with many small groups touring around the city and surrounds, particularly the Great Ocean Rd as the weather warms up. So 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

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 January

  • Dont forget to check out the newly updated Perth wiki

New South Wales

Sydney has had another busy month - activities included:

The G foodie night organised by Jane held on 27/11/08. The theme was Greek, gelato and goodbye for now. We had dinner at a little Greek restaurant in Marrickville and 20 couchsurfers attended.

An Adventure weekend at Bungonia organised by James and Lisa held on 29-30/11/08. This was a camping, caving and abseiling trip at Bungonia attended by 23 couchsurfers. Activities included a 2 hr caving adventure, abseiling off the cliffs and several bushwalks. Animals seen included a turtle, kangaroos, wallabies, possums, a blue tongue lizard, other lizards and wedge tail eagles. Check out some videos here and here.

Our monthly Hart's pub night organised by Jane, James and Lisa was a success again with about 45 Attendees. The December theme was 'Santa's sausage sizzle' and the event was held on 5/12/08.

Carols by candlelight at the Domain organised by Bryon. This was attended by about 10 couchsurfers.

A Christmas Eve Pot Luck dinner organised by Amy and Ian, held on 24/12/08. The night included great food and a secret Santa as everyone who attended needed to bring a small gift.

A Balmoral beach picnic organised by Natasha and Lynette, held on 27/12/08. This event was attended by about 50 couchsurfers. Natasha, a CS City Ambassador for Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam organised this event to take place during her visit here to Sydney. Check out the photos here.

A New Year's Eve Knowledge Party organised by Jeff and Michael. The event was held on 31/12/08 and was designed for all those last minute arrivals in Sydney with no idea about what to do to hopefully gain a little 'knowledge' about NYE in Sydney and perhaps find a party to tag on to.

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.

Coming in January - Rather than reading about it here, join the Sydney Group and check the Sydney CouchSurf Calendar and the wots on in Sydney wiki!


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

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.


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.

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

Other Helpful Links at a Glance

Other CS areas that might interest:

  • A new overview of Couchsurfing has been provided called the Cheat Sheet

Aussie Newsletter Archive

As you can see below there is a wealth of other Aussie CS Newsletters to look back on if you wish - enjoy!!


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