Home Again

I’m finally home after a very long day of traveling. It has taken me a couple of days to adjust, but I think I’m back on US time! Tomorrow is Christmas and my family is all together, skiing, laughing, and eating till we can’t walk. This is my favorite time of the year. Even though I miss Australia and all of my friends I made there, it is really nice to be home in my own big bed again! It is also very nice to be eating American food! I missed home cooked meals so much. I’m sad to say goodbye to Australia and all my memories I made there but I know that some day I will go back, so it is not good bye, it’s merely see you soon. Thanks for all the good times Australia!! I had the best four months of my life ☺

New Zealand: Expect the unexpected, but even that wont cut it.

Our trip started off with us missing the bus that went to straight to the train station. Instead we took the bus that stops along the way to the train station. We missed the 12:53 train so we had to take the 1:23 train instead. The train was a little longer than anticipated so we didn’t get to the airport until 3 o’clock. Our plane to New Zealand was at 4:15…We waited for 10 mins in line while the one man in front of us was arguing with the Jetstar crew about his visa. Australians are so laid back that there was only one person working. After 15 minutes of worrying that we weren’t going to make our flight we finally went up to the desk and asked two women who looked they weren’t doing anything if they could help us. In a very rude response they said they could not help us and that we just had to wait in line. Finally the guy who was having problems with his papers left and Meghan, Kelly and I were able to check in. I went first because I had a checked bag. I handed the lady my papers with my flight info and my passport and she asked if I was traveling with anyone. I told her I was and waved over Kelly and Meg. The lady then asked Meg and Kelly for their papers and they said oh we don’t have them but we are all on the same trip. Her response was “ Oh, well you can’t go to New Zealand”. That was seriously when we should have just said OK and turned around and went home. HAHA. Not really but still, it was a bad omen of what was to come. After finally getting Meg and Kelly checked in with other people working who were able to print out the correct papers for them we went through immigration and security. While going through security the security guard asked whose bag this was, it was Meg’s. We all knew right away it was about, the food. She had peanut butter and jelly, which apparently are dangerous to New Zealand and are not allowed to be taken out of the country. I should have just packed the pb and j in my checked bag and we would have been fine. We made it through immigration with no problems and then we were off to our gate. We stopped to get food because we wouldn’t be landing in New Zealand until ten. I went to subway, and like the rest of Australia there was only one person working so it took another 20 minutes for him to make two sandwiches. When we got to our gate there was no sign saying when it was going to leave and the person that was working the desk was the same women who told us we couldn’t go to New Zealand without the papers, it’s a very small airport and apparently they don’t have adequate staff.
The plane ride was fine, three hours and I was so tired that I slept most of it. I also had a book that I was reading. Our plane was late getting in so we didn’t arrive in Christchurch until 10:30. By the time we went through customs and got my bag it was past 11. We found a bus that went into the city and we were on our way to the hostel for the night. We had to be back at the airport at 7 the next morning. On the bus I met a nice couple from San Francisco. The women used to live in Aurora, OH!!! No just kidding, she lived in Kalamazoo Michigan, but I still thought that was a little creepy. When we got off the bus and were walking to our hostel we were greeted by a girl dressed as a cat who said “Welcome to Christchurch!!” Tiger and another cat were accompanying her and as we looked around it seemed as if we were the only ones who weren’t dressed up. There was some big dress up Christmas party that was going on in the city and we weren’t invited. We found our hostel in the middle of the town and got all checked in. By the time we were checked in it was already 12, but with the time change it only felt like 9. We asked people around the hostel where was a good place to eat, and if anything was still open. They told us Denny’s was a good place to go. Duh! We are from America we know Denny’s is good! We started walking in the direction that some lady from a convenience store told us to walk in. After 20 minutes in the cold weather and walking down the sidewalk we finally found Denny’s! I had pancakes and a milkshake and it was delicious. We made our back to the hostel and was asleep by 2:30. Our Shuttle for the airport was at 6:50.
Sunday December 6th
We were the first ones to check into the airport, of course. The flight was only 50 minutes or so and I just listened to my ipod the entire way. Most of the flight was cloudy and you couldn’t see anything out of the window. Then out of the clouds a huge mountain popped out. It was so green and the lake below it was crystal clear blue. It was gorgeous! The grass was so green and there were sheep everywhere. It reminded me a lot of Heber, UT. Queenstown is a small little town that is enclosed by mountains and a lake. When we got in there were clouds still hovering over the top of the mountains. It was considerably colder in Queenstown than Australia. It felt nice to breath in mountain fresh air! We found the shuttle to the city and made our way to Nomads, our hostel for the next 5 days. It was brand new and very nice. We were in an all girls 6 person dorm and our roommates were all very nice. One was even from Santa Cruz, Ca! She was really nice and we became good friends! We were so hungry for breakfast so we started walking around and tried to find something good. We found ourselves at Patagonia. I got the most delicious home made croissant and jams and butter I have ever had!! I also got a small piece of chocolate that was yummy. After breakfast we walked around the city and explored. While we were walking around we saw a man who was taking pictures of a stuffed Kiwi next to other real birds! It was probably the strangest thing I have seen in my time abroad! The town in so small that it didn’t take long for us to find all the cool shops and scope out the food. We had Italian for dinner and it was so good. So far the food in New Zealand was absolutely delicious!! After dinner we went to a local bar that people suggested we go to. It was called World Bar and it is famous are there are World Bars all over the world. Their specialty is to serve the drinks in teapots. After we drank a teapot we decided to head back to the hostel. We were scheduled to have an early morning the next day.
Monday December 7th
Today I woke up and was so excited for our scenic flight over Milford Sound. The pictures I have seen of it are breathtaking! We went down stairs to make sure the company knew they were picking us up. I looked outside and realized it was a little cloudy in the distance but didn’t look that bad. We called the company and they didn’t have very good news for us. They said our flight had been cancelled due to weather and that they could try and put us on a later flight that afternoon. As bummed as we were that we couldn’t fly right then we agreed to reschedule. Our friend Kelly had already gone out for the day because she was bungee jumping. We waited around until noonish, had some breakfast and walked around the town some more. At 1215 we called the company again to make sure our flight was on and again they only had bad news. They said the weather at the Sound was too bad for the little plane to fly in. So again we rescheduled for Wednesday afternoon. The rest of the day we spent walking through the hills of the town and admiring all the beautiful houses. The weather outside only got better as the day went on and by 5 o’clock it was beautiful clear sunny blue skies! We were mad we didn’t get to fly to Milford but excited about what we had planned for the night. We got showered and dressed up and made our way to the closet mountain for our Gondola ride, luge, and then dinner. When we got to the Gondola they took a picture of the four of us and off we were up to the top of the mountain. When we got to the top we had to put on helmets and took a chair lift up off we went on our luge ride. It was so much fun! We did it three times! The first one we had to take the scenic track which was cool but the advanced track was even better! The luge was unlike any other luge I have ever been on. It was really fun and went pretty fast. After lugeing and feeling like a 5 year old kid, we went and checked in with the receptionist for our dinner. It was a delicious 6 course buffet dinner that could feed a hundred people. The food was absolutely divine! I had steak, pasta, potatoes, veggies, corn, bread, they had seafood but I didn’t eat any, and they had a dessert plate I could have died for!! I had so much dessert that I couldn’t sleep on my stomach!!
Tuesday December 8th
I woke up with terrible acid reflux from my delicious dinner the night before, but I went to the store around the corner and bought some antacids and popped them all day long. It was raining in the morning but we walked over to our activity of the day but of course, it was canceled. We were supposed to be going on a jet boat safari. It was cancelled for who knows why so we just went to starbucks got some breakfast and hot chocolate and tried to think of something we could do for the day. After we had a quick nap we were got showered and ready and hoped the rain was gone. It wasn’t. So we sat by the fireplace in our hostel and tried to keep our hopes up that the weather would turn for the better. It did of course at 5 or 6 o’clock so we went out for dessert before dinner to celebrate. We had a delicious chocolate brownie with ice cream and hot fudge! We had a late dinner that night at a place right across from our hostel at Monty’s.
Wednesday December 9th
Kelly and Meghan had skydiving scheduled for this morning. But like everything else, it was also cancelled. The weather was once again terrible and it was raining and cloudy outside. After a nice hot shower we were sitting by the fire again playing scrabble. For a late breakfast I had the best Belgium waffles ever with two kinds of gelato! It was by far the best meal I had in New Zealand. We walked around the town some more trying to stay dry from the rain but found ourselves curled up by the fireplace again. After I finished the book I brought with me we decided to find a place for dinner. We asked around and found a cute little restaurant with live music right on the water, called “pub on the Warf” I had a delicious salad with chicken on it and for dessert we walked to a fudge shop and I got a nice piece of the milk chocolate. After dinner we walked around the town some more and walked down by the lake singing Christmas carols and admiring all the Christmas decorations that were in the shop windows. It was the perfect last night in Queenstown. The weather was lovely, clear skies and the stars were starting to come out. It was getting pretty chilly so we tired to find a restaurant with a fire and we ended up walking into Buffalo Bar. We sat in front of the fire until we were warm and then started walking again. We decided to head back to the World Bar and to our surprise a band was playing and they turned out to be pretty good. We stayed until 1130 then went to sleep.
Thursday December 10th
Of course when we woke up it was clear blue skies and sunny and warm out. We had nothing planned except a flight back up to Christchurch at noon. We walked to the local burger joint and had a deliciously huge burger. All the burgers in Australia haven’t been so tasty so we were excited for these. Fergburger is quite popular and at 1115 am they had already served 40 people! After we finished our lunch we walked to the fudge shop and had one last little taste of the fudge. We took our last pictures and then we were off to the airport. We when were on the plane to Christchurch the pilot gave us the weather update and guess what…….rain and cloudy skies. The weather from Queenstown followed us to Christchurch. Regardless of the rain and cold weather we walked around Christchurch bought our last souvenirs and ate Chinese food for dinner. I found a cute little cupcake bakery and bought a passion fruit cupcake for dessert. We had an early flight back to Australia so we went to bed early and had a 3:15 wake up call, and a 3:30 shuttle to the airport.
Friday December 11
We got to the airport early and got some breakfast and then after paying a departure fee and scrambling through security, customs, and immigration we were at the gate waiting for our plane. At this point in time all I wanted to do was be back in warm sunny Australia. On the plane I had a whole row to myself so I got to lie down and tried to get some sleep. We got into Brisbane at 7 am and it took a good hour and half to get through customs, get my bag and go through security again. We had to wait for the train to take us back to Robina and then we would get on a bus and finally be back at Bond. It felt like we would never make it. I slept a little on the train but after that nap I didn’t get any sleep until 10 o’clock that night. I was so exhausted!!

I had a final on Saturday and now its Sunday. I have one week left here in Australia. It seems like forever ago I was waving goodbye to Dad at the airport and I was off, on my own for four months. It has been an amazing experience and I really just cant imagine what life would be like without the memories of Australia and New Zealand. I have two finals Tuesday then it beach, pool, and packing then home sweet home!!

Almost Farewell

Off to New Zealand. By the time I get back I will only have a week left in Australia. This has flown by. Packing last night and this morning it hit me that we are almost done here. I am so excited to go to New Zealand I cant even wait. After an hour and a half train ride, then a three hour flight I will be in Christchurch! We are flying to Queenstown tomorrow morning and then our real adventures begin. I am keeping a journal so that I can remember all the fun things I do and will be sure to write them here when I come home. Classes are done, New Zealand here I Come! I only have three finals and then its beach and pool for four days then back to the USA. I’m going from 85 and sunny to 25 and snowy….ill be sure to bring home some ugg boots to keep me nice and warm!!

Not Your Average Thanksgiving

Today was Thanksgiving. It wasn’t your typical turkey-eating, football-watching, cozy up in a sweater and jeans kind of Thanksgiving we were all used to. In my 20 years of life I have never missed a Thanksgiving with my family. That holds true for this year as well. Although they may not be my real family, they have come to stand in for and act as my family. My study abroad group of friends are the most wonderful people I could have ever imagined meeting. We have truly become a family. As we shared our thanksgiving dinner together at a local restaurant eating chicken, salmon, or veal we all reminisced about family traditions of thanksgiving and our memories we have shared here. I feel like I just got to Australia yesterday and yet I’m leaving in just about three weeks. As Maz’s Dad gave us an inspirational speech this evening it made realize what a wonderful and truly amazing experience this has been. If you would have asked me in high school if I ever thought I could study abroad in Australia, literally on the other side of the world, I would have laughed and said “No way!”. But now, I look back at my time here and I can’t imagine life without this experience and all the incredible people I have met. Maz’s Dad’s speech was all about our journey in life and how this is only the beginning. We have traveled so far away from our families and been through so many different experiences and we are only 20 years old. We sill have the rest of our lives to live and go on more outstanding journeys. Listening to his speech made me teary eyed to think that this time has to come to and end, but it makes me hopeful because I do know, this IS only the beginning. There are so many more journeys I will go on in life. This chapter in my life is soon ending but I can’t wait to see where the new one will take me.

This quote I found is pretty self-explanatory and sums up the past 3 and a half months of my life. “Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard

Lamington National Park & Brisbane

Friday November 13th at 830 we walked over to the bus stop and Maz & Cat, our study abroad coordinators, picked up 16 of us and we headed out to Lamington National park for a hike in the rainforest. It was about an hour and 45 min drive up a curvy road around some very tight switchbacks. The view from the top was so pretty. It reminded me of Northern California and Utah. The lush green mountains and the valleys full of grapes were so pretty. The air was so fresh and crisp and the temperature was just right. When we got to the park we loaded up our backpacks with lunch food and started our 5k hike down to a watering hole. When we hopped off the bus we were swarmed by tons of red parakeets! They came over and landed right on our shoulders and heads, they were definitely not afraid of humans. They were trying to steal our food and we were trying to have a peaceful walk. Even when we started walking they would stay on us and follow us wherever we went. Finally when we got to the entrance the birds left us and we started walking into the thick forest. It was nice and cool so we didn’t get hot, but the entire way down was up hill….which meant that the entire way up would be up hill.
The walk was pretty and we stopped at a waterfall then kept walking and by the time we got down to the watering hole we were all so tired and hungry that we dug into the delicious food Cat and Maz prepared for us. We were all so hesitant to sit by the water because there were leaches everywhere! By the end of the hike I had plucked off 5 leaches. There were tons in the water and some small fish, and oh yeah and a giant eel!! The eel was huge and very friendly so naturally we fed it the food we had which were some tortillas, cheese and some veggies…it didn’t go for the veggies. After lunch we packed up and headed out on the long walk all up hill back to the bus. It took what seemed like forever to walk out of the forest! It had warmed up quite a bit since we arrived so that made it even more difficult. Thankfully the boys were all walking behind me so they kept my spirits high and talked the whole way out which made it go by a little faster. When we reached the top of the hike all we wanted was water and snacks, but no, we had another little hike to go do. It was a tree top hike, basically a swinging bridge 70 ft off the ground, so we were mid-tree level. There was a very sketchy vertical ladder you could walk up and get an even higher view of the actual treetops, but I was too tired and decided I probably wouldn’t see anything anyways. Instead I just walked on the bridge admired the trees and the fresh air. When we finally made it back to the bus Maz had some yummy biscuits (cookies) for us that we all devoured in 2 minutes!
The drive back was just as pretty as the drive in, except we were all so tired that we couldn’t stay awake for the whole thing. We stopped at a winery on the way down and did a wine tasting of O’Reillys wine. I bought some delicious desert wine that is super sweet! I am saving it for Christmas, so hopefully everyone likes it ☺
The rest of the ride home I slept a little and socialized for a while with the remaining people who were awake. We got home around 530 so I jumped in the shower real quick, ate dinner and went to bed by 8! I was sooo worn out from the hike. It was so intense but good!!
Saturday I woke up and made my way to the bus stop to catch the bus to the train station, then took a train up to Brisbane to visit one of my friends I met while I was in Cairns. When I got off the train I called my friend, Katie, who I was supposed to meet around 130 but I took an earlier train so I was an hour early. She was still in her final so I just wandered around and followed the big crowds of people until I found my self on Queens Street. Queens street is a huge street that is dedicated to shopping, whatever you want you could easily find there!! I walked into a mall and went to some stores and found that everything was very expensive, so I just window-shopped for the rest of the day. I met up with Katie and we had lunch a cute café just out of the city and then we walked over to South Bank. There was a man made beach and more little shops filled with trinkets. These shops were cheaper so I bought some good souvenirs to bring home to everyone!!
Saturday night we went to O’Malley’s Irish pub and had some drinks then went out for delicious pancakes at Pancake Manor! I got Belgium waffles that were to die for!! We took the bus back to Katie’s apartment and went to sleep. I woke up at 9 on Sunday and wondered down to the local coffee shop with Katie’s roommate Kelly and we grabbed a quick bite to eat and some coffee. I stayed for a while and watched some TV, oh how much I miss TV!!!! Then decided to trek back down to bond around 1 pm. I almost made it to the train station without any problems, but of course, I took the bus two too many stops and had to get off, and take another one back in the opposite direction. I finally got to the train station and made it back on the train and was down at Bond by 430. I was exhausted but had a very fun weekend! It was so nice to see the city, its small so spending one day is plenty!!
My next big excursion is New Zealand, and shortly after that I am going home…This has gone by way too fast, but has been the time of my life!!

Sydney Weekend!

Sydney November 5th-8th

Thursday 4 pm was the beginning of our journey to Sydney. There were 7 of us traveling; we met the other 8 at Base, our hostel in downtown Darling Harbour. Base was a quick walk away from shops, restaurants and the biggest indoor market I have seen. (I didn't take this picture, I stole if from one of the boys, same with the last one on this page :) ) By the time we made it to our hostel we were so tired from traveling and hungry and didn’t want to wait for dinner so we grabbed McDonalds. It was actually delicious and nice to have American food. Everything in Australian is quite expensive compared to the US so anywhere we wanted to eat would have been between 15-25 dollars a plate, not including a drink. We kept our food on the cheap side all weekend but still some how managed to spend more than wanted. We stopped at the grocery store and bought food for breakfast for the next 3 days and snacks for our hike that we would be doing on Friday. Thursday night we spent exploring the city nightlife. We walked a couple blocks until we were right on the water. It was so beautifully lit up with lights I tried to take pictures and then my camera battery died and I didn’t have extra batteries with me. We walked around stopping in the local bars and stopped to listen to live music and have a drink. We didn’t stay out too late because we had a long day ahead of us.
Friday the girls and I woke up at 715, met the boys around 730 and headed off to Oz touring Experience, which was a 15-minute walk from our hostel. It was chilly and misting rain outside, I was prepared and wore my rain jacket, but some of our group wasn’t so smart and just wore t-shirts and hoped that the weather would clear up, which it didn’t. We met our tour guide for the day, Shrek, then headed off on the “long” bus ride to the Blue Mountains. Shrek told us this was a “long” ride because Australia is so big that long really means driving for 6+ hours. Thankfully we were only going about 2 hours away. After 45 min of driving we found ourselves on a very curvy road at the bottom of the mountains. We stopped to stretch our legs and look for some Kangaroos. We only spotted two but they were very social and didn’t hop away when our big group came stomping into their territory. After the short walk we got back into the bus and made our way to a cute little town for some breakfast and coffee. We were all so cold from the rain that we got some nice hot coffee and a snack. It was only 930 and we were already tired, but the coffee helped to wake us up. Getting back onto the bus to finish the ride up to the mountains I noticed a donkey around the rear view mirror, it was perfectly fitting that Shrek wouldn’t travel without his faithful donkey! The ride up to the mountains was so beautiful. Even though it was foggy, cloudy and still raining it was still one of the most beautiful places. It reminded me so much of home, the crisp fresh air smelled like wintertime in Utah. When we got to the top of the mountain the cold air hit us like a cold wave from the ocean. We were all so antsy to start hiking just to warm up! After a quick group picture we started our hike into what looked like an opening scene of a scary movie. The mist was surrounding the trees and the visibility was very limited. We hiked through the mud and into the rainforest we went! As soon as the canopy of trees covered us the temperature dropped a good 5 degrees. We kept moving briskly to stay warm and avoid getting to wet from the rain dripping off the treetops. We stopped along the way under overhanging cliffs and Shrek told us all about the Blue Mountains. He told us that when the clouds weren’t covering the surrounding mountains that it was the most breath taking view of lush green trees and beautiful red, orange, gray and white rocks. At times it was hard to Shrek because of the wind hollowing and the birds calls echoing through the canyon. We hiked until 1 then stopped to have some lunch. We had sandwiches, pasta salad and fruit. It was a pretty descent meal and even better because it was included in the price of the tour! After chowing down the food we piled back onto the bus and drove to a new hiking spot. We climbed down what seemed like 500 hundred stairs and found ourselves at the bottom of the steepest railroad in the world. It was used for miners back in the day, but it was now turned into a tourist attraction. You sit, or actually half lay down in a cart with a cage all around you and then the cable pulls you up. Riding the train made you feel like you are going to fall forward off the train, but the surrounding cage helped to prevent that. On the way up there is a sign on the canyon wall that says 52-degree incline!! At the top of the railway was the gift shop. We stopped in and bought some trinkets then jumped back into the bus and drove back to the city. We were so exhausted that we all took a nap on the drive home. Shrek was so surprised we were sleeping; he said he thought Americans were supposed to be loud all the time, and since there were 15 of us he thought it would be none stop chatter. We were the biggest group of Americans he had ever had. Shrek dropped us off at our hostel and even arranged for us to have free dinner at a local pub. We were all so excited that we showered right away and made our way to the restaurant. When we arrived we realized why it was free. It was very small, didn’t look to clean, but hey it was free, so we ate it. The pasta sauce tasted like it was watered down to stretch its life span and the salad was a tad wilty. After our dinner we decided to check out another local bar that was suggested to us by people who had traveled to Sydney before us. Little did we know that suits and ridiculously high heels was the popular dress code. I felt like I was inside a prestigious bar in New York or LA, but then was quickly reminded I was in Sydney when I noticed the local dialect of the people around me. We only stayed for an hour or so because it was so crowed and it was still raining and half of the bar was outdoors with a canopy that dripped down with rainwater even now and then.
Saturday the boys decided to get up early again and explore the city without the girls. So we woke up casually and had a nice breakfast, well a muffin and cereal then made our way to the Harbour and market for some shopping and explorations! Paddy’s Market is a huge warehouse that is filled with vendors from all over selling trinkets, clothes, and pretty much anything you could ask for. We weaved in and out of the endless isles for hours. After buying some souvenirs and grabbing a quick bite to eat we tried to find our way over to the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the infamous Opera House. After asking the train ticket salesman, studying a map for way too long, we finally figured out that there was a free bus that took us right where we wanted to go. As soon as we got off the bus and turned the corner there it was in all its beauty, the Sydney Opera house. Across from the Opera House is the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It was cloudy out so the pictures don’t do the two beauties justice! It was weird to be standing next to both massive landmarks. It hit me then that I was really in Australia and seeing something I have only imagined I would ever get to see. After staring in amazement for a while and taking a quick rest from all the walking we had been doing, we headed back to the hostel for a nap. We had to be back down by the bridge in a little over an hour to get ready for the bridge climb. When we arrived at the bridge climb we sat and watched a video about all the things we had to do to prepare us, get in a suit, put on all the gear and practice walking while being connected to the railing. After we were all suited and geared up with rain pants, jackets, hats and gloves if it was cold, and a radio so we could hear our tour guide tell us all the wonders of the city, we made our way out on the bridge and started climbing. There were only four ladders that went straight up, each had about 12 stairs, and then the rest was a gentle incline with wider stairs. We had to climb up the ladder one person at a time because they were so steep and if you fell it would not be good!! The first ladder we climbed up led up to the level of the cars. They were zooming by us with only a small fenced in area to protect us if something were to happen. It was crazy to be next to the cars. I didn’t want to fall so I just kept looking up in order to not get distracted. After the ladders we took a quick rest then started to climb to the top. The bridge is exactly half as high as the opera house, 450 or so feet off the ground. The architect didn’t want to take away from the beauty of the opera house so he tried to make the bridge spectacular but not over the top! We climbed the bridge at dusk and it was completely dark when we reached the top. It wasn’t too cold which was nice and the weather had cleared up so you could see some stars, the city lights were very bright so only a few stars shown through. The climb took 3 hours round trip, so by the time we got off it was 10 pm. We were all so exhausted and hungry so we rushed back to our hostel ate a snack and showered to get the bridge climbing gear smell off of us. We decided to go out and try another local bar. This one was much more laid back and people weren’t dressed to the nines. It was called argyle and it was two stories with a very log cabin-y feel. We stayed for a while and mingled with the locals then headed back to the hostel for a good night sleep.
Sunday morning we had to check out by 10 so I got up early, packed, showered, and then woke the other girls up. They were all moving pretty slow in the morning so another girl and I hung out with the boys for the day. We started walking around and made our way to the botanical gardens, which are right behind the opera house. After that the boys went to the market, and since the weather was iffy and had been on an off raining all morning the girls and I decided to go to see an Imax movie. We watched Dinosaurs Alive in 3D. After the movie we walked around the Darling Harbour and found ourselves in a mall with cute stores and a massive food court. We sat and ate some lunch then decided to head back to the hostel grab our things and head to the airport. Two other girls and I decided to go a different way to the train station than the boys and figure we knew where we were going. I was pretty exhausted from the weekend and when I saw the train about to leave I hurried everyone and got on. As soon as the door closed one of my friends realized we had gotten on the wrong train, going the wrong direction. We had plenty of time so we weren’t too worried. We got off at the next stop, waited for a train to take us back to the station we were just at. Once we got back to the original station we had to take two escalators and a bunch of stairs before we were back on the correct platform. We waited for the train for another 10 mins and dodging calls from the boys asking where we were and why it had taken us so long. We finally made it to the airport and flew through security. We were at the gate just in time to board but it was delayed so we had 10 minutes to sit and relax and laugh like crazy about what we had just did. It was a long weekend and we were all so glad we went but were tired and ready to be back at bond and get some sleep. We got home at 9 and everyone was in bed by 10. My next adventure is this coming Friday. I am spending the day at Lamington National park. I’m not sure what to expect so it should be fun!!

Cairns

October 29th – November 2nd

On Thursday morning we flew out to Cairns. We had to take a cab, train, and airplane to make it up there. I was lucky enough to sit in the window seat and had the view of the ocean the entire way up. It was so beautiful outside. There were a lot of clouds but every now and then the islands would break through. I got bored after an hour of the flight so I got my camera out and took around 20 pictures of the ocean and outer reef. The ocean was an unreal blue color, like nothing I had seen before. When we got close to the airport I peered out my window to see mountains meeting the water. It looked like Jurassic park! It was so pretty, but also very cloudy. It started sprinkling rain when we landed, and we had to walk outside to get off the plane. It was so humid; it was almost difficult to breath. We made our way to the hostel, Gilligan’s Backpackers resort, and got all checked in then laid out at the pool. We walked around the small town and went to the grocery store to stock up on lunches for the next three days.
Friday morning started early. We met downstairs with our whole group at 7:15 and walked to the bay where our boat, Ocean Sprit III, was waiting for us to board. There were around 50-60 people on the boat and a crew of about 10. The weather looked iffy and we all were wondering how bad the ride out to the reef was going to be. Just to be safe, we all took ginger pills to help ease the sea-sickness. The ride was around 2 hours and it was very chopping and windy. We sat on the top deck outside and still got splashed by the waves. Even though the weather wasn’t the best the scenery was still very beautiful. Off in the distance we could see the mountains and on the horizon the ocean continued to rise and fall with current. We jumped right in the water to snorkel as soon as we got to Oyster reef. The water was so warm! It was really rough but we could still see relatively well. We rented an under water camera and snapped a ton of photos while we snorkeled along. Too bad we forgot to charge the battery so the camera pretty much died by the end of the snorkel experience. After swimming as hard as we could against the waves we finally made it back to the boat just in time for lunch. So many people were sick and couldn’t eat lunch. I lucked out and didn’t get sick. Sitting outside on the top deck was really relaxing and a lot easier on the stomach. Our group of 4 was scheduled to scuba at 130. We made our way to the back of the boat around 120 and the crew loaded us up with the scuba gear. After putting on what seemed like 20 lbs of gear we face planted into the water and started to learn how to scuba. Our instructor led us to the side of the boat and told us to hold onto the bar. We had two tests we had to complete before we could go off onto the reef. We had to breathe underwater, take out the regulator and then put it back in and blow out the excess water. When it was mine turn to do this I left the regulator out of my mouth too long and had to go back to the surface to take a breath. The instructor was not too happy with me and asked why I was laughing. I couldn’t help it, it was weird to be breathing underwater! I was able to successfully complete the task the second time and then we were on our way down the ocean floor. We went down a meter at a time and then eventually we were on the sandy bottom. We were in open water and there was nothing to be seen. I was so scared that a shark wasn’t going to come out of the murky blue-ness of the surrounding ocean. Thankfully we started swimming and within a minute we were at the reef. There were so many fish and different types of coral. I felt like I was in a movie, or watching planet earth. It was the coolest thing I have ever done by far! We had to stay linked to our instructor the whole time so we didn’t get lost which was a good thing. He dragged us over the one edge of the reef where we found Nemo! There were three clown fish swaying with the water and moving in and around the sea anemone. After swimming around and seeing giant coral that could snap off your hand and all sorts of colorful fish we made our way back on the surface. Scuba diving was such a fun experience! We managed to get a little more life out of the camera and got some pictures of Nemo and the giant clam. After returning all the gear to the boat crew and having afternoon tea, we started our journey back to land. It took a good 2 hours again to get back. We were all so worn out that we laid out on the top deck again and took a nap. It started raining just as we were about to pull into port so we rummaged all our things together and made it inside just in time for the crew to bid us farewell. It was still raining when we got off the boat so we had to run to get back the hostel. We were all so tried and hungry that we bought whatever we could find, I got subway, and then returned our camera then showered and went to sleep!
Saturday was again another early morning. We met downstairs at 745 and drove off the mountains to have breakfast with the birds. We had a delicious breakfast of fresh fruit, breads, eggs, bacon and hashbrowns. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! I stuffed myself full of the freshest fruit and then went on a tour of the wildlife sanctuary. We saw a bunch of different animals including kangaroos, wallabies, crocodiles and a ton of birds. I got so many pictures of all the animals but we were rushed around so some of them turned out blurry. After hurrying through the wildlife we sat outside and waited for our bus to take us the rest of the way up the mountain and to the rain forest. Along the way we stopped and had a tour of the rain forest with an aboriginal native to the area. We saw all sorts of poisonous plants and tons of other cool green plants. The guide showed us the aboriginal version of soap, which is a plant that you rub together with water and it turns into a soapy mess. We finished walking through the rain forest and saw a snake and a strangler fig tree that was over 500 years old, maybe even older than that! After the tour they gave us a small aboriginal snack and we were off to our place for the night. It was a cute group of cabin like houses. The ones our group stayed in were very basic, 4 beds and a bathroom, but there were nicer ones that were legit cabins. We ate at the only place in the town and it was a small café that was all outdoors. It was on the property were our little cabin like houses were so it was a nice short walk. We got to sit outside and enjoy the scenery and rain forest noises. Again we were all so tired that it was an early night.
Sunday morning wasn’t too early for me, it was just right. I woke up at 9 and had some breakfast and at 1045 was off to jungle surfing (zip-lining through the rain forest). We got harnessed in and walked up a path for about 15 mins to the first plat form. After hooking us onto the wires we swung from one platform to the next. We were 90 feet off the ground, one with nature and swinging through the trees. All you could hear were birds and the ocean in the background. It was so beautiful being up so high. The whole zip lining experience took an hour but there was a lot of waiting around because we had a group of 12 of us and we could only go one at a time. When we finished the tour guides drove us back down to meet up with the rest of our group. We stopped at a watering hole for lunch and a crocodile cruise and then drove back to cairns, about 2 and a half hours away, in time for some people to catch a flight back home. A group of 10 of us were scheduled to fly out on Monday morning at 6 am so we booked a hostel and tried to get some sleep. We were in bed by 930 but I feel like I didn’t even get sleep. I finally woke up at 415 called a cab to come get us from the hostel and take us to the airport. From there we took a flight back to Brisbane and then a train to Robina and then a bus back to Bond. I was so exhausted from the weekend that I showered got a huge coffee and tried to stay awake for the rest of the day. I was thankfully able to get a nap in before my late afternoon class and slept like a baby that night! I had such a fun action packed weekend! It was definitely a unique experience seeing the Great Barrier Reef and the rain forest, two of the most eco-diverse areas in the world. I plan on going back someday and hopefully the weather will be better and I will get a chance to scuba again!!! I’m off to Sydney tomorrow, Thursday, and will have so many more adventures to write about when I get back.

Oktoberfest & Byron Bay

Oktoberfest October 10th
We spent the day going to Brisbane for Australia’s version of Oktoberfest. There was authentic German food which was quite delicious. I had chicken and chips (which are fries here) some bites of the huge pretzels, and a piece of “death by chocolate” cake that was to die for! We got to the park early on Saturday morning. There wasn’t very many people there so we just sat around and got a beer. I tried all the kinds, but just didn’t like any of them, so I just watched everyone drink theirs. After a couple hours of eating and drinking the entertainment started. A young Australian lady talking in a German/Australian accent came over the loud speakers saying “anyone who wants to learn to yodel come to the stage”. No one in my group of friends volunteered, so we just watched and listened to everyone attempting to yodel. Beer and yodeling don’t go very well together, so it made for an entertaining day.Some of the people who attending got all dressed up in the typical German outfit, the boys in very short brown shorts, with suspenders over their white shirts, and wearing a hat. The girls were dressed in dresses that didn’t leave much to the imagination. For a second I thought I was in Europe, but then hearing all the Australian accents around me brought me back to reality.
We didn’t get to look around Brisbane all that much, because by the end of the day everyone was tired and wanted to go home. The train takes about an hour and a half and its only 9 dollars round trip for a student. We are planning to go back up for the day sometime in November on a free weekend. Brisbane is the third largest city is Australia, so it will be easy to navigate around because I have already tackled the second largest city, which is Melbourne.



Bryon Bay Oct 16th-18th
Our adventure to Byron Bay began at 230 pm Friday afternoon. We were all trying to pack frantically and get last minute snacks together. After trekking over to the bus that seemed so far away and with way to much gear, we finally hit the road. Two hours later and an hour time change we made it to our home for the next two days, Lake Ainsworth recreational center. We had little cabins with 4 rooms and a bathroom each. There were only 7 of us in a 12-person room so we all go to spread out. Our first night we ate dinner and then went on a night walk down the beach. The stars were so pretty because we were so far away from the city lights so we were able to pick out some constellations. I saw Scorpio! I had never seen it before so it was really cool. One of the tour guides had a map of the night sky so we looked at it to try and find more constellations, but minutes later we realized the map was for the northern hemisphere, and not the southern hemisphere. Ha. That night while walking back to my room, my friend Monique and I ran into two cane toads!! They were the size of grapefruits. There were so many creepy crawly bugs everywhere, especially at night. We played some tennis and threw around a football before heading to bed. After turning off the lights to try and get some sleep I heard a distinct fluttering noise and new exactly what it was, a moth….or should I say, three HUGE moths. I never actually saw them because I was buried under my blankets while the boys from the cabin next door came to kill them. I was so worked up about the bugs that I didn’t get much sleep. When I woke up in the morning I found that everyone had a restless night and were worried about the bugs too!
Saturday started bright and early. We were up and eating breakfast by 630 Queensland time (730 New South Wales time). After eating some tucker (food) we headed off into Byron. There were over 50 of us so they split us up into three groups. My group went on a hike up the most easterly point of Australia first. We hiked up what seemed to be a million stairs then finally reached the lighthouse. On the way up we spotted a humpback whale jumping around in the water. It was so big and it jumped completely out of the water three or four times, but again, I didn’t get a picture ☹ We all got a picture of the sign saying we were at the most easterly point of Australia and as we turned to walk down the other side a man sternly warned us that there was an extremely poisonous brown snake on the grass and that we should not approach it. So naturally, we stayed far away until it slithered back into the bushes. I felt like I was on the top of the world at the lighthouse, it was so pretty and the water was the prettiest shade of blue. We climbed down around some of the rocks and made sure to take advantage of the pretty scenery.
After the lighthouse we went into the town of Byron and explored the local shops and got some lunch before heading out to surf. Surfing was by far the highlight of my weekend. I don’t mean to brag, but I was really good ☺ It was so amazing. I will be making more surf trips in the near future. We were all geared up in wet suits and rash guards. The surf board was a cheap styrofoam board so it made it easier to get up on and when it came back and hit you it wasn’t that bad. There were three instructors helping us catch the waves. They would yell at us to start paddling and then push us off into the wave and then yelled to stand up and prayed that we wouldn’t get hurt and maybe make it a couple feet before falling. I made it all the way into the shore a couple of times with out falling. I think gymnastics and snowboarding helped me with the balance. The hardest part of the whole experience was trying to get back out to the waves. There was one point where all the waves would break and you were lucky to make it back out to the rest of the group. The waves came in sets so there was a nice lull, which made a nice rest period between attempts. When I was resting waiting for the next set to roll in I spotted some whales off in the distance jumping about in the water. I also saw a huge sea turtle make its way to the surface. There were rumors that a small shark made an appearance at one point during our surf session, but I didn’t see it, thank God! Surfing made me so tired!! I dragged my surfboard up to the beach and just laid on the sand for about ten minutes soaking up some sun to warm up, and reflecting on one of the most amazing activities I have ever done!
After surfing we headed back to Lake Ainsworth and had some down time to play on the rope swing and get showered. I was so worn out from a long day of hiking and surfing that I didn’t attempt the rope swing; I just enjoyed watching everyone do it. After taking a nice hot shower and getting into clean clothes we all met at the bbq pit and had a delicious cook out. They made burgers, sausage, chicken and even kangaroo!! The kangaroo tastes just like steak, it was delicious!! After dinner we rested for another hour or so then made our way into the two of Lennox Head and got some gelato that was to die for. I had chocolate and hokey pokey, which was like creamy vanilla with bits of honeycomb cereal in it. I was so tired that I had to go right to bed when we got back. I fell asleep but then woke up to rain pounding on our roof. It poured for about 20 minutes. Since I was already awake I started wondering about the bugs and if there was another month in my room. So again I didn’t sleep very well on account of a moth…
Sunday was another early day and I so much more tired than Saturday morning. I slept on the bus ride back to Surfers Paradise where we went sea kayaking. When we arrived to the kayaking company two Aboriginal men and an Australian man greeted us. The Aboriginals performed a welcoming dance and gave us a taste of their local language. We then began our journey of sea kayaking in some pretty rough inner coastal waters. We paddled for about 20 minutes before making it to our first stop. We had the chance to snorkel and sit in the sun and enjoy the scenery. There were tons of jelly fish in the water so I decided not to snorkel. They fed us some “morning tea” which consisted of delicious breakfast cakes and fruit all with sand on top. They said it was good for us ☺ After hearing an Aboriginal story about the guides ancestors we got back on our kayaks and made our way to South Stradbroke Island. The island is the 4th largest sand island in the world! We had another Aboriginal ceremony but this time we got mud out on our face, hands and feet. It was a neat experience to see the aboriginals in their native dress and be able to see what their dances were. They showed us their hunting tools and techniques and shared stories throughout our walk on the island. We hiked to the other side of the island and took a swim in the ocean. We rested on one of the most famous surfing beaches of Australia. There weren’t very many waves so there weren’t any surfers. It would have been so cool to see the professionals surfing, but the water just wasn’t right. We then headed back into the woods of the island in search for a wallaby. We spotted a few but they are so quick that they didn’t stay around for too long. We also saw some snakes that were tangled together underneath a tree. The group was so hot and restless so we made our way back to our kayaks and headed back to the main land. The kayak back seemed like an eternity. We were going against both the wind and current, so our arms were burning almost the whole way. Thankfully it was a short bus ride back to Bond Uni! We were all so tired that we just sat for about an hour, and then casually showered and made our way to a yummy Mexican restaurant for dinner. It is nice to be home in my own bed where I know there are no moths or other creepy huge bugs! I am slightly sun burned and incredibly sore! I will be definitely surfing in the near future and in two weeks I am going to the Great Barrier Reef!! I am sooooooo excited for that trip! I have had so much fun in Australia, I would not trade this experience for anything in the world

Fraser Island Weekend Getaway

This past weekend I had the experience of a lifetime and got to see Fraser Island, the world’s largest sand island. The weekend started off early on Friday morning. We got all packed Thursday afternoon and went to bed early to prepare for an early morning. There was a group of 20 friends, and all signed up to go with each other. When we walked down stairs to our meeting point we noticed there was only one small van. A man got out, Hayden, and said that we would have to wait another 30 minutes for the other van to arrive, so me and two other girls decided we had enough time to go get breakfast. We walked over the Café Bond and waited outside for 20 minutes until it opened, then ordered pancakes and fruit! We didn’t know if we had enough time so we just prayed we could get our food in time and make it to the bus, being late after the bus was already late would not have been good. We grabbed our food and hurried back just in time to see that everyone was on the buses and waiting for us. We noticed a small van that was crammed with 9 girls and then our bus had the other 15 of us. I got lucky and had a nice seat in the back with plenty of room to eat my delicious pancakes! Everyone else on the bus was incredibly jealous of our food, they tried to steal it but I wouldn’t let them. We stopped at a rest stop/gas station called Matilda (of course) after 3 hours of driving!I got a milkshake and learned that a milkshake in Australia is just that, milk-shaken with a small amount of chocolate. So essentially I was drinking chocolate milk, no good! After about 20 mins we piled back into the bus and van and made our way to Rainbow beach where we had lunch and walked around the town for about an hour. We had to wait for the tide to go out so we could take our ferry to the island and then be able to drive along the “highway”. Once on the ferry we noticed lots of thick orange and black smoke coming from the Island where we were going. The island had been set on fire for controlled burning about a week prior to our visit. The smoke was so thick, it made the sun and sky bright orange and looked creepy.We had just been in the massive dust storm a two days before this and now we were stuck in the middle of fire smoke. Our tour guides assured us that we would be fine because our resort was all the way on the other side of the island and that we would only be in trouble if the winds switched direction.
We got off the ferry and made our way down Fraser Island highway, which is just hard sand from the beach, and drove for about an hour, keeping our eyes out for whales and dingoes. I told everyone on the bus that I would give them 5$ if they spotted a whale and showed it to me. Sure enough about 10 minutes later we spotted the first whale. It was a humpback whale just breathing and shooting water out of its blowhole. It was the coolest thing seeing whale tale fins coming out of the water and smacking down against the rough seas. This was only the beginning of the whale sighting!
We made it to the resort, or hotel/hostel in little over an hour. We stopped, changed really quickly and made our way to the first fresh water lake of Fraser Island. Lake Wabby is this beautiful lake that is full of fresh water and surrounded by sand. There are dunes on three sides of the lake.We hiked 2.1 km to the lake and were so tired by the time we got there that everyone stripped down and jumped right in. We made a game where we all ran into the water from the top of the dune. It was so much fun to play in the water and be in sand. There were no weeds or anything, just sand, oh and catfish. The only animal in the water was catfish and there were tons of them. You could spot them very easily because they were black and the water was a murky green-brown. We played in the water for what seemed to be hours. Since I am the smallest person out of our group all the boys thought it would be fun to throw me into the water over and over and over again. Haha it was a ton of fun, we got tons of pictures and videos of everyone. After a while when we were all tired out we made our way back to the rooms and got showered and had a buffet dinner of tacos and burritos. They were delicious. Since it was all you can eat we all stuffed ourselves knowing that we wouldn’t eat again until breakfast the next morning.

Saturday started off at 8 am and we all ate breakfast then loaded back onto the bus and made our way to the rainforest and clear water Wanggoolba Creek. The rainforest was beautiful. The birds were chirping so loud I felt like there were millions. The trees were so high and the forest so densely packed that it made it hard to see any wild life or sunshine. I felt like I was walking through Planet Earth, if only I had the calm narration of the British woman in the background. I took some video with my camera of the birds and trees so I could remember how peaceful it was. The guides told us to take our time through the rain forest and that they would meet us at the other end. We walked about 2 km again until we came upon a crystal clear fresh water creek. The water was so clean that we filled our water bottles up with the water and took a rest to enjoy the cool water. At the end of the trail is Central Station, which used to be used for exporting trees. The trees were a huge income for Australia, but sadly today there are only a few left.
After the creek we hopped back into the bus and drove on the sandy and very uneven paths and made our way to Lake Birabeen. It was like paradise, you walk down steps and find yourself on white sandy beaches with the clearest blue water. I felt like I was seriously in paradise. It was beautiful. Again since we were so hot from hiking we jumped right into the water. It was so clear you could see everything! It was beautiful white sand on the bottom, so there were no weeds or animals. We waded out pretty far until the drop off and it turns into a thin layer of mud from the decaying leaves and trees. After playing in the water for a while we laid on the beach in the sand and got some sun. The wind picked up and sand literally went everywhere, in my ears, mouth, nose and hair. After lunch we went back to the beach and played in the sand, since there wasn’t much else to do. We were all so tired from being in the sun all day that we went back early to the rooms and rested and showed and had an early dinner at 615. That night I went to bed at 730, I was so tired and worn out and had caught a cold that was getting progressively worse as the weekend went on.
Sunday morning was the earliest day and started at 530. We got up to watch the sun rise from the beach but the wind shifted and the smoke from the fire was way too thick to see it. We got to the bus at 620 and put all our bags on the big bus, and I managed to snag the front seat with my roommate Meghan. We left the resort at 7 and headed to Indian Head. On our way there we spotted some dingoes running along the beach and more whales. This time we spotted a huge humpback whale jump all the way out of the water and come splashing down into the ocean. I was amazed at how big the splash was and how huge the animal was! Indian Head is the highest point of the island and you can hike up the cliff and look out over the whole island and vast wide open beautiful blue ocean! After admiring the water and seeing a pod of dolphins jumping about we headed back down the island to a famous shipwreck of the Maheno. It was wrecked shortly after being sold to the Japanese right before WWII. Since there wasn’t strong enough machinery back then to move it, it became target practice for the Australian and US air force. After seeing the ship we went to Eil Creek. Another freshwater creek clean enough to drink from! It was so cold but refreshing because it was so clean. We walked down the creek and got splashed by the tour guides and all the boys. The current was so strong you could float! After getting changed into warmer clothes I saw that there was an airplane on the beach. I asked Hayden our guide if I had time to go chat with the pilot and he said you can go ride in it if you want! I got super excited and ran over to the pilot and asked if I could get an air tour of the island. He said I needed at least one more person so come with me so I hurried back to the group of 24 and tried to convince people to come with me! I even offered to pay for their half (but didn’t end up having to mom and dad ☺) I got four others to join me in the 7 passenger air van. I got to rid up front in the right seat of the plane. We took off from the sand and within seconds we were in the air soaring over the island. The smoke made it difficult to see far out in the distance. It was the most amazing experience! I was so happy to be seeing the island from the air. I had the biggest smile on my face the whole flight. We saw more fresh water lakes, sand dunes, and in the ocean some whales and other people saw sharks! When it was time to land we just got real low and waited for the cars to move and landed between some orange cones that had been set up before we landed with a small sign sitting next to it saying “Caution Airplane Landing”!! It was so excited I didn’t stop smiling for hours! Hayden flew with us for the ride and so we talked about airplanes for the first half hour drive back down the highway. I explained that I have basically grown up in planes so how could I come to Australia and Fraser Island and not take a flight!!
We drove down the island and made our way back to the ferry and then off to Rainbow beach for lunch. The bus ride back took about 4 hours but I got in a 30-minute nap! Hayden was very chatty and I got to learn a lot about Australia! I had the best view of everyone because I was sitting in the front seat. We rolled through the hills of coast and made our way back down to sunny Bond Uni. On the ride home we saw wild horses and turkeys, some kangaroos, and lots of parakeets. Australia is beautiful and reminds me of northern California.
We made it back to bond around 5 o’clock Sunday night full of sand and very exhausted! The trip was so much fun and I would recommend to everyone that if you want a low key and beautiful trip to make it to Fraser Island. But be warned that you will come back with heaps of sand in every nook and cranny! Our next adventure is to Byron Bay in two weeks. There we will learn how to surf! It should be fun. Hopefully I will go on some day trips around the Gold Coast and up to Brisbane! There are wineries surrounding the Gold Coast and bus tours that take you to 4 or so in a day. I cant wait to see what the rest of Australia has in store for me!!