Thanksgiving and lots and lots of sand

Alright...rewind to Thursday and that's where this weekend's adventures begin.

Thursday was Thanksgiving for all us Americans and we were determined to celebrate. We decided to do a potluck sort of dinner and everyone made some sort of dish. There was sooo much food! We had dinner at my place and the kitchen was packed with pots, pans, and pumpkin. It was so busy that I ended up going across the street to Bethany's to do my cooking! After a very long and hectic day we had a great dinner with friends and showed some of the Aussies what Thanksgiving is all about! I started dragging though because I had to get up super early the next morning for the next trip on my to-do list.
Friday morning, Shawn, Kendra, Steph, and I took an early early early cab ride to the train station where we jumped on the first train to Brisbane. We then met up with Sunrover tours who were taking us to Moreton Island for a 3-day camping trip! We piled our bags on top of these 4WD truck things and jumped in. Kendra and I sat up front with our guide Troy while Shawn, Steph, and the other 4 people in our group sat on the two benches in the back. These trucks are interesting because the seats in the back face each other instead of the front of the vehicle. More on that later. We drove to a ferry and took the ride over to the island. Then we jumped back in the vehicle, and started our adventure. Apparently people tend to get drunk on the ferry ride over...so all the cars were immediately stopped by police and the drivers took a breath test before we could go any farther. Kind of funny as it was only about 10 in the morning. We then went on the bumpiest ride I've ever been on across the island and climbed Mt. Tempest - the world's tallest dune...or something like that haha. It was quite a climb in the sand and a lot of steps. But we made it and could see both sides of the island. We then went to our campsite for the next 3 days and checked out the Blue Lagoon - a freshwater lake close by where we took a swim. And let me tell you...the 10 minute walk to the Lagoon was the worst 10 minutes of my life. Shortly before, my flip flop broke. I knew this was going to happen soon so I had brought tape in preparation. But in a battle of sand vs. tape....sand definitely wins. And in a battle of scorching hot sand vs. my feet....scorching hot sand wins by far. But, I managed to make it despite blistering my toes a bit. After lunch we went to one of two sets of wrecks on the island. The ships there were purposely sunk to provide better habitats for the marine life. And Shawn can vouch for the marine life...he saw a shark while snorkeling. Yeah...I didn't go out there. We also went to a lookout area with some great views of the island. We then went back to camp for dinner and a campfire.
On Day 2 we started off at the larger set of wrecks after breakfast to wait for another group that would be joining us. And then, it was off to sandboarding! We each grabbed what looked like something that would be used for hardwood floors as our boards and trekked through a ton of sand. When we got to the top of the dune I immediately decided there was no way I was going down that hill face first on my stomach...it looked so STEEP! After watching everyone jump on and just go (Kendra added screams to her sandboarding for added effect), I was finally convinced by everyone to have a go. I thought "I can't believe I'm doing this...with my luck I'll end up eating dirt...literally." Our guide gave me a push and then I was off! And it was so much fun! I am so glad I did it and wish I could have gone one more time...but climbing back up did NOT look fun. After our fun we took a break at camp then went off to see the lighthouse and some of the beaches for a bit. We then had a relaxing evening by the campfire and got to know our group a little better. In addition to the four of us from Bond, we had Olga and Joe - an Italian couple who retired in Spain and are currently circling the globe for 3 months. Then there was Jared - he was a soldier in Iraq and was spending his two weeks off in Australia before he had to go back. And then Eva - a girl from Germany who works as an au pair for a family in Brisbane. We had quite the mix and it was interesting talking to everyone.
On our third day we went to these really neat pools created by big rocks and the ocean and then to an area that made me feel like we were on another planet. There were some trees in the middle of these water pools and water from the higher tides and the freshwater that made a sort of river snaking through the sand. In addition to that, the first thing we see as we get out of the truck is a dark shadow moving slowly across the sand. Then we find out it's not a shadow - it's a gazillion soldier crabs moving together. It was so creepy and cool at the same time. We chased them around for a while and then moved on to check everything else out before lounging and drifting in the "river". After lunch and packing up our stuff we headed back to the wrecks where we were supposed to go snorkeling. However, dark ominous clouds came through and we witnessed one of the best storms I've ever seen! We saw beautiful lightening and then waited out the rain while waiting for the ferry to take us home. The storm brought rain, hail, and wildlife. After Kendra started freaking out about seeing something popping out of the water we realized we were seeing dolphins really close to shore! Shortly after that, we saw sea turtles popping in and out for air. Definitely one of the highlights of the trip. After boarding the ferry, we and our new friends played cards to pass the time and then we spent forever getting home on trains and buses. Moreton was great but I was definitely ready to stay away from sand for a very loooong time.
Well I should definitely be getting to bed soon because Steph, Kendra, and I are getting up super early again in the morning to head off to Alice Springs for our tour of the Outback! I'm so excited to see everything out there, but I'm hoping I'll survive the heat (weather.com informed me of 108 degree weather one day :/ ) and any dangerous Aussie animals that might want to kill me. It'll be a while again before a post because we'll be gone for a week...so until next time!

What's with the spiders?

Ok...I'm sorry. I did it again. I was trying to give you all a weekly update and after telling various people earlier in the week that I'd let you know what happened last weekend and then failed to do it, I'm back. So that just means that this will possibly be a long one for you to enjoy. :)

I unfortunately didn't get an early start to last weekend. I had a big paper due and being the best procrastinator in the world, I didn't finish it until about an hour before it was to be turned in on Friday afternoon. Saturday however, was much better. Steph and Shawn had rented a car for the weekend and I joined them and a couple others on a roadtrip across the border again. We first drove into New South Wales to check out the tiny town of Nimbin. Now Nimbin is known as Australia's Alternate Capital...as in alternate lifestyle. So it was a very hippie town to say the least. We spent a little while checking out the shops and admiring the art painted onto all the buildings, sidewalks, and columns. And when I said in another post about how Byron Bay was a hippie area...it pales in comparison to Nimbin's people, art, and lifestyle.


After we got our fill of Nimbin (which didn't take very long as the town covers an area about the size of my apartment complex back in Virginia), we drove through the mountains on a quest to find a waterfall. After a short-lived attempt we decided to head back onto the main road in order to find some petrol for the car and then head off to Bryon Bay where Steph and Shawn were hoping to have a go at hang gliding. When we got to Byron we browsed the stores and I bought some souvenirs to remind myself of the town I am now obsessed with. After that we made it down to the beach and lounged around for a while where I got my fill of people watching and sunbathing. And although hang gliding never occurred (don't worry - they got to go a couple days later!) we ended the day with a stop at the best gelato place...mmm...

This past week seemed like it went by so fast. I was honestly confused at one point last night and kept asking "Is it Saturday? How did that happen?". The week was fairly boring with class and what not...until Thursday afternoon. Oh man...

I was browsing through my closet deciding on what to wear to go out for the evening when I gave up, sat down, and gazed blankly towards my wardrobe. And that's when I noticed the legs...long, brown, spider legs. As in monstrously long spider legs...sticking out on the wall next to where I had just been standing moments before. I froze and a million ideas as to what to do raced through my mind. I decided the best thing to do was to leave the room immediately while keeping an eye on the monster and call in reinforcements - aka Chris and Steph. They were in disbelief at the size of the thing and I found myself not even able to look at it anymore because I'll be honest...I was scared. Very scared. After the first attempt to kill it after which it escaped across the wall and behind my dresser, the three of us spent the next HOUR devising ways to kill it without it killing us first (at least I thought it was going to attack us because this monster was (no joke) the size of my entire hand). This included moving almost my entire room into the foyer and my bed to the other wall. The plan of attack also implemented multiple phonebooks, a cutting board, and a large frying pan. Oh...and multiple screams and cries...mostly from me. Finally though, Chris and Steph managed to get rid of it by smashing my dresser against the wall a few times. My heart's racing right now just thinking about it again. I'm still scared to sleep in my room and every five minutes I give a thorough glance across everything to make sure there aren't any more hanging out with me.


Thursday night was much better though where we all went to watch Shawn play in the footy game - Victoria vs. the Rest of the World. It was a lot of fun and I felt like I got some more Aussie culture.

Friday however, was one of my favorite days so far. We took a two-and-a-half hour train ride to the Australia Zoo...Steve Irwin's zoo! It was perfect. We had arrived just in time to feed the elephants (that's right! feed them!) and we also got to feed and pet kangaroos and koalas. They had areas where you could just walk around in a park-like area and kangaroos were everywhere and would just let you come up to them and feed and pat them. It was one of the many highlights. We also went to a tiger show where we got to see the trainers play with the beautiful cats and watch them leap into the water to play. Being there made me want to become one of the trainers and work with the animals all day. The only downfall though was that we never got to see Bindi or Robert (Steve Irwin's kids). I was hoping they and Terri would be around in the park.

Saturday I spent the majority of the afternoon on the beach at Burleigh Heads (where I got a little burned, but I think my spandex tanline definitely disappeared) and had the BEST burger I've had in a very long time. And today, I did some more procrastinating on my schoolwork because I'm so good at that and running away from more Australian creatures (because I've become good at that too). Today's menagerie included another large hairy spider in the kitchen which Tiffany helped me take care of, a gecko, and a bee in my room. Lovely. I'm hoping that I will be alone in my room tonight and won't have any surprise visitors. Actually, I'm hoping I won't have any hairy, slimy, or buzzing visitors for the next month.

Waffles, Rhys, high-tech toilets...but no Nemo.

This past weekend truly made me feel like the typical American tourist again. Steph, Kendra, Chris, and I packed our bags and headed to Sydney Thursday evening. After looking like lost students walking the side of the road, feeling like we were back in the States while eating our Subway dinner, and meeting an American dad and his daughter who now live in Australia (I plan on growing up to be just like them), we made it to the Gold Coast airport where we boarded our evening flight to the city. It felt like we had only been on the plane for about 10 minutes when Kendra and I looked out the window for our first taste of Sydney. We had a beautiful view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the famous Opera House all lit up on the edge of the city. Amazing. After grabbing a cab we made it to our hostel. It looked creepy and haunted...and I loved it. It used to be a house and it reminded me of a smaller version of my dorm from my sophomore year of high school. After settling into our room we decided to check out our surroundings...and that's when we met Rhys. Somehow Kendra manages to attract the most interesting characters wherever she goes and on this particular night, she found Rhys. He was drunk as a skunk and after almost getting himself run over by a cab and buying us each a beer we had given him 10 different stories about where we were from and how long we were staying in Sydney...because he had asked us 10 different times in 30 minutes. But at least he makes quite the story for our introduction to the city.

The next day we headed out early for a 2 hour train ride to the Blue Mountains to see the Three Sisters - a beautiful formation that we were only able to catch for about three seconds due to the amount of fog that day. However, we saw some gorgeous views during our walk through the forest including a giant waterfall and a plethroa of cockatoos. We spent a good part of the day walking through the cute little mountain town and walking through the mountains. After making it back to the city we spent forever and a half looking for a place to eat in the rain (finally settling on Japanese where I tried some eel for the first time) and meeting up with some friends who were also in the city for the weekend.

On our second day we had much nicer weather and I felt like I was able to get a taste of fall from back home as it was much cooler in that area of the country than here on the Gold Coast. And with the amount of walking we did that day, I felt like I had walked all the way back home anyway. My feet still hurt four days later! All the walking was worth it though. We started the day at the Tip Jar where after a bit of a wait we had the best waffles ever...for me - strawberries, strawberry sauce, strawberry cream, and strawberry ice cream along with a cup of chai tea. So good. Then we were off to Paddy's Market where the four of us loaded up on touristy things for back home. The amount of tables selling anything and everything was truly overwhelming for me and I had to stop and take a moment to map out my morning so as not to get lost and make sure I saw everything. We then continued on to Hyde Park, the ANZAC memorial, and for me a stop into the Australian Museum. It was mostly your typical Natural History museum but my favorite was the exhibit on all the dangerous things in Australia that could kill you or at the very least make you incredibly sick...including a tiny tiny jellyfish that you would never notice. Now of course I'm scared. On my way to meet back up with the rest of the group I stopped inside the amazing St. Mary's Cathedral where I saw a bride walk down the aisle to meet her fiance...definitely a good place for a wedding. Finally I made it to the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. That bridge is gigantic! So of course there were many photos taken with both. I didn't feel like I was truly there though until I walked up the stairs and placed my hand on the Opera House. I thought it would sound more legitimate and amazing when instead of saying "I saw the Opera House" I can say "I touched the Opera House." We then decided to walk across the bridge where I took about a zillion and one more photos of the Opera House and the city, resulting in enough photos to make a flip-book of the attraction from every angle seen from the bridge. We then took a stroll through Luna Park where shortly afterwards we found ourselves entertained by the public restroom. To get in you had to walk through an automatic door where as it was closed you were given oral instructions on how to use the completely automatic room. There was the typical automatic flush and sink water but also soap, doors, and toilet paper But the best part - the elevator music. Needless to say, we were entertained. After that moment we walked through residential areas so we could find the perfect place to watch the sunset over the city. It was a relief to sit down and rest at this point. 10 hours of straight walking! Finally, we began the trek home and to find some dinner where we again took photos of the Opera House and city every 10 feet but this time all lit up at night. This was definitely my favorite moment of the trip.

Sunday we woke up to an on-and-off-again misty rain as we made our way to Bondi Beach. After perusing the markets there and taking a stroll through the shops to escape the rain (including an adorable second-hand bookstore) we went on to the beach where I photographed some surfers before having a small accident involving my camera and a bottle of water. No worries though...after my heart leapt out of my chest, the camera still worked as if nothing had happened...thank goodness! We then walked along the ocean for the annual Sculpture by the Sea. There were some amazing sculptures and the views of Bondi were amazing. Finally, we ventured back to the city where we happened upon a neat place for dinner where you could buy any drink and get a free meal - no catch at all. So of course, being cheap backpackers like a lot of others wandering the city, we took the deal and had a filling dinner. After a stop at a hole-in-the-wall bar recommended by Rhys earlier that weekend and making friends with a hilariously entertaining Aussie duo of friends we went to bed before catching our 4:45am cab back to the airport on Monday morning to make it home in time for that morning's classes.

Overall, Sydney was amazing despite the not-so-amazing weather and I would love to go back there again.

Mother Earth Hates Me...Sometimes

I officially have less than two months left in Australia. On one hand that sounds like a long time...but on the other, two months can fly by. I've been struggling with it the past few days actually. I look back to two months ago when I first arrived on the other side of the world and Cairns feels like a lifetime away. So in retrospect, two months is a long time. But then I think about how Christmas will be here before we know it, which also means I'll be home. So in that way, two months from now is a hop, jump, and a skip away. But from here on out I plan on continuing my adventure and making the most of my time here.

This past week was slightly unadventurous...you can't expect much I guess when it comes to going to class during the day and trying to accomplish the job of being a student. That gets pretty boring, so as usual, I don't have too much to say about the weekdays. Except for the fact that Mother Nature was against me in almost every way on Wednesday and Thursday. My goal was to make it to the beach after my Wednesday morning class...but that goal was shot down when the weather took a turn for the worse. Queensland is known for 300 days of sunshine a year and it must have filled its quota for the month because it was a dreary day. Thursday then proved to be a windy day and while I got one step farther by making it on the bus and getting off at Broadbeach...huge dark grey clouds hovered over the area and brought tons of wind and some chilly air. So I sat on the small boardwalk and watched surfers and kayakers take advantage of the wind. But Mother Nature made up for it by giving me a wonderful weekend...

The weekend started bright and early on Friday morning when Steph, Kendra, Bethany, Shawn, and I caught a very early bus to the airport where we picked up Red Ginger...our car (a red Hyundai Elantra to be exact) for the day. After calculating that renting a car would be cheaper than the bus, we booked one so that we could drive to one of my new favorite places...the gorgeous Byron Bay. We paid for the rental, found Red Ginger in the parking lot, and loaded our stuff in the boot...and that's when everyone's hearts began to race a little...especially mine. Why did mine race a little more, you ask? Well, I had volunteered to drive. I think the rest of the group became a little nervous when the first words out of my mouth when I sat down in the driver's seat (which is on the right side of the car) were "Is the brake normally on the left side? I think I forgot how to drive..." But don't worry! After a bit of nervous driving trying to get out of the airport without hitting anything (I felt like I was learning how to drive all over again) and getting the windshield wipers to stop moving and the turn signals to start blinking (they were switched on the wheel so you can imagine the frustration with that...I also had to push down for the right turn signal and up for the left turn signal!) we safely made it onto the highway. The whole hour I was concentrating on staying in the lines like I was coloring in a coloring book. I also had to get used to all the exits and merging lanes being on my left and the fact that they pass on the right...and of course the obvious driving on the left side of the road thing. All in all, it was a good experience and I was a little sad to see Red Ginger go the next morning. But on to Byron...

I can't accurately describe Byron Bay until you see it for yourself. But it's a small town with a whole lot of character. It has a very relaxed hippie feel to it. Mosaics were found in the sidewalks with animals painted into the columns in front of the shops and restaurants. While I saw your typical tourist shops with tshirts and hats, I also caught glimpses of stores with beautiful jewelry and other odds and ends. The beaches were amazing where we had a perfect view of Mt. Warning (remember my 2am hike?) to the left and the famous Byron Bay lighthouse to the right. Surfers, hippies, and other tourists were on the beach enjoying the morning (although somewhat cloudy to Kendra's disappointment). We went to the lighthouse where we found the other tourists admiring the view. Then, the best part...we walked down to Cape Byron - "Australia's Most Easterly Point". It was gorgeous! While out there we saw whales and dolphins off in the distance! Needless to say...amazing. We hurried back to the car though because we watched a large rainstorm cross the water towards us. After getting back into the town we went off to our biggest adventure of the day...sea kayaking! Kendra and I tandemed in our kayak and were the first ones to successfully flip before making it past the break...Mother Nature knows I hate water so in the process, she let me get stuck under the kayak before I was able to stand up and look at Kendra with a defeated face. We were successful on our second try though :) Although we didn't see whales or dolphins again, we did see loggerhead turtles...aka GIGANTIC turtles. As in over 300 pounds of turtle! And Ben, our tour guide, said he didn't see them too often, so we got a bit of a treat. After a couple hours we headed back (which was a bit of a relief as we all started to feel a bit sea sick) when Kendra and I successfully rode a wave back into shore and got to have snacks on the beach. After a delicious dinner of Thai food and amazing gelato, we quietly drove home.

Saturday was Halloween and Kendra, Bethany, and I dressed up as the Powerpuff girls! Our costumes came together nicely and while most people still asked who we were, I thought we looked good together. We went with a ton of other Bondies to The Drink, a club in Surfer's where we saw some interesting characters for the night...including Oscar the Grouch, Big Bird, and multiple Michael Jacksons. Although Australia doesn't celebrate Halloween to the extent the US does, it was still a lot of fun. Finally, Sunday was spent relaxing and preparing for the week ahead.
Moral of the story: I will be moving to Byron Bay (maybe even to the 15million dollar home Ben showed us next to one of Australia's best surfing breaks) in the future. And also, although Mother Nature and I had a few battles over the past week, she and I are at peace for now.

Mountains, Sunrises, Sunsets, Chocolate, and Light Sabres

So first off, let me be the first to state that I'm pretty awful at keeping you all updated. But how can I tell you anything without having constant adventures every week? So I hope you guys don't mind the fact that I've gone missing for almost a month and will enjoy this novel of a post.

So let's backtrack to the first weekend of October. I stayed in the Gold Coast area which was good for exploring places a little closer to home. We started off by having brunch at Max Brenner's Chocolate Bar. I didn't need to eat again that weekend due to the large amounts of chocolate spread across my waffles. We ate ourselves silly and then proceeded to walk around the adjacent marina where I started picking out which of the boats I wanted to bring home. Well...my birthday and Christmas will be here before you know it :) After that we went back towards Surfer's Paradise and looked in the tourist shops before spending the rest of the afternoon on the beach. I finally got up close to Q1 (that tall building in the picture at the top of my blog). It's quite impressive and I plan on going in there one day soon to take photos of the city from the observation deck. It boasts the titles of being the World's Tallest Residential Tower and Australia's Tallest Building as well. I noticed the beaches were much busier on that side of the Gold Coast, but it definitely became my favorite spot for people watching.

The following weekend I went on a retreat to Mt. Tamborine with the BCC (Bond Christian Connection). We stayed in a cute (but EXTREMELY cold) sort of hostel overlooking the mountains. That's one thing that I never really expected to see so much of in Australia - the mountains. My images of what the country would look like just had beaches, beaches, and more beaches. But it's amazing being able to look out the window and see beaches in front of you and then mountains behind you. It was a good relaxing weekend seeing a different side of Australia. We went on a small hike and we literally walked through rainforest. The difference between a hike in Virginia and one out here is amazing so you can imagine how many times we stopped to take photos of all the crazy trees and other plants. The part of the weekend that sticks out most in my mind though is how COLD we were the whole time. I never thought I would have to wear so many layers down here. But it was definitely worth it so I can't complain.

Now we've caught up to last weekend. Six of us packed some bags, tents, sleeping bags, and rations for a two-night camping trip to North Stradbroke Island (or Straddie to the locals). We were quite the sight at the bus stops, train stations, and ferry as we carried all our supplies and started our half-day of traveling before finally arriving at our campsite on the island. We quickly set up our tents and admired how close we were to the beach (I fell asleep each night listening to the waves...it was AMAZING). After lightening our load we walked along Cylinder Beach and walked along the rocks and saw beautiful views of the ocean. We stayed out there all afternoon and into the evening before finally seeing the sunset over Cylinder. The six of us ate dinner down the road at a Lawn Bowls Club where we were told there was plenty of food to fill us up. When we arrived though, I had completely forgotten about eating because the only thing I could focus on was why there were so many men dressed up as either Star Wars characters, Gilligan, or women (they later told us they were dressed as netball players). One of the guys informed us that they were AFL players and their season had ended. So needless to say they were enjoying their weekend by goofing off quite a bit. We had a good laugh for the rest of the night after talking to them before leaving. After that a few of us laid out on the beach and watched the stars for an hour or so. Never before had I seen so many shooting stars. It was absolutely breathtaking. And since we still can't recognize any of the constellations down here we began making up our own - including enough Christmas trees to last a lifetime. The next day we woke up early. The six of us split up to do a few different things. I took a walk towards Point Lookout where you could walk along the North Gorge which was another breathtaking sight (but also very scary! I was afraid the winds were going to push me to my death...or the waves that the signs warned us against). My friend Chris and I tried looking for whales but were unlucky in that department. But we did see some dolphins so I was pretty happy. We ended early in the afternoon with some delicious gelato. After that we spent the afternoon on the beach by our camp. I told everyone that I had finally found Australia that weekend. Straddie was exactly how I had imagined Australia before leaving the States. It's now definitely one of my favorite places I've seen in the world! The only downside to the weekend were the ridiculous bogans (the Australian equivalent to rednecks/hillbillies) on the site next to us. They were so loud and obnoxious the last night there that I barely slept. I guess they make for a story though.

This week has been a good long one for me. I was lucky in that my classes ended on Tuesday morning so I've been using this week as a sort of mid-semester break (Bond Uni doesn't have one I think I lucked out). Wednesday I went to the beach for a little while and watched some friends try out the surf. Thursday evening though is when my next adventure started. About 14 of us met up around 10pm to drive to our friend Alex's apartment. From there we hung out for a few hours and then left around 1am to drive to Mt. Warning. This mountain is the first place the sun touches in Australia and we wanted to see the sunrise. So what does that entail? A hike starting around 2am in darkness with light only from the few torches (flashlights) we had. We climbed a lot of stairs and over a lot of rocks before making it to a point where we had to use a chain to pull ourselves up the last bit of the mountain. Although I thought I was going to break my ankles a few times, we all made it to the top safely with enough time to wait for the sunrise. From the top we could look out to our left and see Surfer's Paradise and the rest of the Gold Coast. To the right we could look out towards Byron Bay (where we stopped on our way back from the surf trip about a month ago). The sunrise was gorgeous and the fog along the valleys of the mountains was so surreal looking. The pictures I took don't do the scenery any justice. Here's the best part about it for me though. On our way back from the surf trip a few weeks back I watched the sun set over a gorgeous set of mountains. It was seriously one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my entire life. I couldn't keep my eyes off of them (and especially one of the mountains in particular) and I was then determined to find those mountains again. I then discovered right before we left last night that Mt. Warning is the same thing I looked at that night! I was ecstatic to find out I was going to climb to the top. And now that I know where it is, I want to see the sun set across it again.

Tonight I'm headed out to Surfer's Paradise again to get some photos for my photography class and hang out around there for a bit. Well I hope I've updated you all enough. I'll try to be more conscious about posting more often so that I don't leave you guys hanging!

Time Flies...

Wow...sorry it's been so long since I've updated this! I was just looking at my calendar and it's hard to believe that I've been here for almost a month! These past two weeks have been busy and full of school and traveling. Classes have been pretty good for the most part. I'm still getting used to the way classes work here and I have a feeling I won't get used to it until the end of the semester. And by then, I'll have to reacquaint myself with the system back home. I almost feel as though I'm not really in school because there aren't small assignments to be done but instead the majority of my grades will be based solely on a midterm and a final. I've been keeping up with the readings though and the smaller tutorial sections help in reiterating the notes from lecture. But enough about school, let's talk about the fun stuff!

Two weekends ago I went on the surf trip I signed up for when we were in Cairns. The bus picked us up around 8:30 Friday night and we spent close to 5 hours driving to Mojosurf's "secret" surf location of Spot X. They took us to our 4-person - and what I can only describe as - huts where we had a short night's sleep before waking up at around 6:30 for breakfast and our first surf lesson. One of the instructor's gave us a run down of the area and what to do in an emergency before we suited up and got our boards. Down at the GORGEOUS beach we were given a basic lesson on how to properly stand up on the board. And then finally, we went out into the waves! They were perfect for learning as they weren't super strong and weren't too big either. I got up a few times which was good for me seeing as how most of you know that I have a weird fear about water. So I was pretty proud of myself! After lunch and walking around the beach for a while we had our second lesson where I got to use a board that had a video camera on the front! It would have been great except they realized after taking the board back to camp that the camera had malfunctioned. So unfortunately I didn't get to see the videos of me getting up :( The night was left to hang out in the hammocks and on the beach, and for some of the others to party a bit. Sunday morning we had one more lesson after breakfast and then left the quiet beach for our ride home. On the way, we made a stop at another Mojosurf camp in Byron Bay where we had some time to check out the town and the bay itself. It was so cute and the bay was absolutely beautiful! I definitely plan on spending a weekend in Byron sometime soon.

This past week included more classes, some school-sponsored stuff like a comedy show and a music festival, and a night checking out some of the nightlife. The week before I also signed up for some school clubs like rowing (yay!), horseback riding (we go on a ride on the beach!), photography, and some other things that I was interested in trying, like a surf club and lawn bowling. Rowing is supposed to be tomorrow and the class that I would normally have that conflicts with the time is cancelled so you can guess that I'm super excited to go and see some boats again!

This past weekend a few of us took a day trip to the city of Brisbane (about an hour north of Bond Uni). The city had tons of stuff and we checked out the cathedral and the Museum of Brisbane. We then went across the river and found a HUGE ferris wheel, and man made beach in the middle of everything! There were beautiful little walkways and flowers everywhere. We also went into town while the local Festival was still going on so there was music and food everywhere. They also have vendors selling all kinds of things every weekend so we checked that out too. They were also having a huge concert similar to something like Warped Tour and we saw a group of people try to break in...it was crazy! But after hanging out and taking everything in we met with some other friends for a pizza dinner (it was sooo good!) and then took the train back to school. I will definately be spending another day in Brisbane and this time I'll be sure to take my bathing suit (or togs in Aussie slang)! Yesterday I spent a couple hours on the beach and tried to do some studying...but of course my knack for people watching kicked in and that was much more entertaining than my psychology book. :)

Well I hope I haven't bored you to death and I'm going to try to be better at updating this more often! Enjoy the photos!

Oh and I almost forgot! Wednesday of last week a dust storm from the outback hit Sydney and then blew up the coast to where I am. It was sooo windy that morning and when I left my first class I could see a weird orange haze down the road. I thought it almost looked there could have been a fire. Then when I left my second class the entire sky was covered in it! You could even look up at the sun and not be blinded the dust was so thick! Unfortunately I got a bit of a sore throat and a stuffed nose because of it, but it was still pretty neat looking.

Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi Oi Oi!

So this past week or so has been the longest week of my entire life! I settled into my apartment fairly quickly and finally tidied up a bit as well to get myself into the mood for classes. Last week was our Orientation Week where we set up accounts, got our student ID cards, etc. They also had a few meetings for us to go to which were kind of repetitive, but they had enough social activities to make up for it. There is a tavern on campus where we had a Rumble in the Jungle party and a Tight'n'Bright party (and that's where crazy spandex comes in handy!) They also played a movie (Knocked Up to be exact) outside by the lake one night where I froze my toes off! Although it's fairly warm during the day, it's still winter down here so the mornings and evenings get pretty chilly...and therefore, I finally caught the cold that everyone else is getting over. :/ Oh well...I think the worst of it has hit me, so hopefully I'll be getting better in the next couple days. The school had a barbeque by the pool one afternoon where I got a bit of a sunburn. The Australian sun is much more intense than back home! The o-zone basically doesn't exist down here. I then added to that burn a little bit one day when the school took us to the beach! I've made it to the beach three times in the past week and I hope to make that a regular part of my routine! I've also been meeting people from all over the world. I've met a few Australians and will hopefully be meeting more now that classes have started and I've talked to a couple people from Germany and I have a neighbor from Sweden! I keep running into a lot of other people from the States as well. But it's been great meeting people from so many different places!

Classes started yesterday and the setup seems pretty interesting. I have a photography lecture on Mondays and then we can basically attend any of the smaller tutorials at any of the times they are offered. So that gives me some freedom as to when I want to go for advice or anything else. Today I had two psychology lectures one right after the other. And each of those were two hours...and in the same room. I guess I'm lucky then that lectures are only once a week! Later in the afternoon I had the tutorial for one of the psych classes and there are only five of us in there! So it's a very intimate environment. We're assessed very differently here as well. Instead of having three or four tests throughout the semester with some smaller assignments to turn in, we may have some assignments but only a midterm and a final. For one of my classes, the midterm is worth 40% of my grade while the final is worth 50%. That's 90% of my total grade based on two tests! I haven't had a class like that before so I'm hoping I'll make it out okay!

I'm excited for this upcoming weekend because I'm going on the surf trip I signed up for while in Cairns! We're supposed to leave on Friday evening and have three surf lessons and get to check out some of the surrounding area while we're there for the weekend. I'm excited to learn how to surf! Even though a lot of you know that I'm kind of weird about water sometimes, I'm trying to tell myself that learning is totally worth it and that I most likely won't drown or anything. haha. I'll be sure to give everyone a play-by-play as to how my lessons go. :) We get to check out the clubs we can sign up for on Friday as well, so I'm really excited for that. I'm hoping to row while I'm here and I also want to check out some of the other stuff I can do!

I hope everyone is enjoying their week so far! I'm on Skype now so everyone should try to get a hold of me through that because it's free! My Skype name is apotter10, so download it and make sure you have some kind of microphone, and then find me! Just remember that I'm 14 hours ahead of everyone on the east coast so you'll most likely catch me during your early mornings and most of your evening hours. So until next time, Skype me and we can talk! :)

So Much to Say...

Wow...it's been an eventful week! On Tuesday, Steph and I walked around LA and saw the Chinese Theater and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was pretty neat seeing all the stars with so many names...we never made it to the end of the walk because it was soooo long! After that we went to the airport and started meeting other people from the AustraLearn group. We passed the time waiting for that late night flight by playing Catch Phrase. We must have been quite a sight at the airport. The flight was long but tolerable. After we arrived in Brisbane we had a short flight to Cairns which is absolutely amazing!

In Cairns we met up with our AustraLearn leaders and we went to our rooms in the hostel we stayed in. We had an information meeting and then went to dinner at the local brewery with everyone. The next day we went to Rainforestation where we got to feed and pet animals like kangaroos and wallabies. It was amazing! We also took a tour of the rainforest and watched aboriginal dancers who then taught us how to play the didgeridoo and throw boomerangs! (I wasn't very good at either). We then had the rest of the day free and some of us went to the Esplanade where we were right by the water and had a gorgeous view of the mountains and the boats coming in from tours on the Great Barrier Reef. The whole place was beautiful!

We spent the next day on Passions of Paradise, a boat where two of our leaders work doing scuba dives and snorkeling on the Reef. We all got to snorkel and dive to see all the coral and the fish. Steph even saw a turtle at one point! I was really jealous. I took some photos underwater and hope they turn out well, so those will be put up for everyone to see! After spending the day on the water, we had dinner with the group and one last information session. Then some of us went back to the Esplanade and the lagoon. We got 50cent ice cream from the McDonald's there and watched two guys twirling fire around. It was neat because we got to Cairns at the very end of the festival they were having so there were all kinds of neat things and people around to see.

We left this morning for Brisbane and the flight wasn't bad. Then after some frustration with the bus rides to the Gold Coast and someone accidentally taking my bag to their accomodations on campus and then me having to go get it, I finally made it to my apartment! It is so cute and the whole complex looks so nice. It's bigger than my apartment in Fredericksburg. It's also just a very short walk to campus (which is beautiful from the 10 minutes I've seen).

I'll probably do some more unpacking and then there is a barbeque on campus this evening where other students from the school will be as well. It's such a relief to be in the place where I can settle in for the next four months and stop having to live out of suitcases. I'm excited for this upcoming week of events so I'll let you all know how everything goes! I'll be posting pictures on Facebook and possibly another photo site for everyone to see as well. :)

Sometimes you've just got to look on the bright side

The real adventure began today...and what an adventure Steph and I have had before even leaving the country. Here's how our story begins...

We arrived at Dulles bright and early, checked in, made it through security, ate some breakfast, and boarded the plane - easy as pie. The plane was super cool with purple lights along the ceiling, an extremely entertaining safety video, and some pretty humorous instructions on using the tv screens and remotes. The flight wasn't too bad except that I couldn't fall asleep. I was able to entertain myself with some music, tv, and games though. I also talked to the sweet old man next to me for a bit too. Finally we arrived in LA (and take note we flew in a day early so as not to cut it close with our late morning flight tomorrow for Australia).

After getting our bags we found our way to our hotel for the night on a shuttle, checked in, and dumped our stuff in the room. I was baffled by the time change and couldn't get over the fact that I was ready for lunch seeing as how it was already 1:00pm back home but that it was only 10:00 in the morning in California. Steph and I collected ourselves, stretched out a bit, and then finally decided to find some lunch, a drugstore, and an ATM. After being told there was a Friday's within walking distance we started the trek down the road to get something to eat. After quite a bit of walking we still hadn't found it and stopped to ask for some new directions...we had to do this FOUR times before anyone gave us directions that got us to the restaurant. Finally we get there...AN HOUR AND A HALF after leaving the hotel...we walked so much we could have been back in VA for all I knew. We rejoiced when we saw a CVS nearby as well...so that was two things off our list. We sat and ate for a loooong time to get some energy back and triple-checked directions on how to get back to our street from there. All of our direction-givers assumed we were driving though and didn't inform us that we would have to walk near a busy freeway where the sidewalks suddenly ended. After safely making it to where we could see our hotel again and after a couple fiascos with an ATM we made it back to our room. Besides the slight sunburn (that is still getting darker as I write this) I was able to laugh a bit at our afternoon adventure.

But get ready for the next and even better stress fest of the day...

I was looking over the itinerary for our flights for tomorrow when I noticed a slight typo concerning the departure time for the flight that leaves LA. Instead of saying 11:20am I noticed it said 11:20pm. I thought, "That's not right. We're supposed to leave in the morning. That's why we came into LA a day early." I asked Steph about it and her papers said the same thing. We then went through every email and paper we had to double check...and EVERYTHING said 11:20pm...and then we called to double check. And guess who was wrong? Abbey and Steph: 0, Travel Agency: 1. We were freaking out! How could be BOTH be wrong about a flight time? And each of us confirmed those flight times twice when we made deposits and then paid for them. All I could think of was...we spent all day wandering this crazy town for no reason!!! We could have eaten lunch in VA easy as pie, flew in tomorrow and still had plenty of time to catch our middle-of-the-night (as opposed to middle-of-the-day) flight to Australia. Luckily the manager at the desk said he would allow us to stay after check-out for a couple hours and leave our bags in the office if we wanted to do some stuff tomorrow while waiting around a whole day for our flight.

What have we gotten ourselves into?

So we decided to use tomorrow to go into the city for a bit and see some of LA since we're here. I hope I see a celebrity. That would make up for everything from today. Okay...two celebrities....good-looking male celebrities. Yeah, that sounds good.

Steph and I agreed on just accepting the fact that we can't change what has happened today and that we just need to look at the positives...

Positive #1: I now have one more day to still figure out what to do about a phone plan while in Australia.
Positive #2: We can actually spend some time in Los Angeles.
Positive #3: We have plenty of time to get to the airport in time for our flight.
Positive #4: We got some exercise today.
Positive #5: We get to sleep-in.

So until next time...and hopefully next time, everything goes as planned. :)

Getting Closer

I registered for classes today! It's starting to really feel like I'm going to be a student down there and not feel so much like I've just been dreaming about going. I registered for two psychology classes to put towards my Mary Wash degree, photography (I've been trying to take a photography class since I was in high school so I am VERY excited for this one), and a class about Australian sport (I'm hoping there will be a section on rowing!). And the best part is, I don't have any classes on Fridays. That's something I've been trying to accomplish for quite a few semesters now. Also, they do their classes a little different than here at Mary Wash. For each class I signed up for a lecture that's only once a week and then a smaller and shorter tutorial section that's also only once a week. That'll take some getting used to but I'm thinking I might like it.

I only have three weeks left in Fredericksburg but I still have so much to do before I leave! And whenever I think about packing...well we'll have to see how that goes when I get to it.

25 Days...

25 days seems like a short amount of time going by so slowly. But at the end of those 25 days I will be starting my trip to Bond University on the Gold Coast in Australia! I will be spending my fall semester studying at Bond and living the life of an Aussie for four months. I hope to see as much of Australia as I possibly can, learn how to surf, see the Outback, and do and see everything else in between! And I will be sharing this experience with Steph, one of my best friends and teammates. We are more than excited to get started on our adventure!

I chose Australia after looking through various study abroad booklets and websites. I was drawn to the beautiful photos of the beaches, the Outback, and the wildlife. So I decided that now, while I'm still in school, would be the best and easiest time to make it to the other side of the world! I'm striving to be a world traveler and so after talking about studying abroad with many different people, I chose Australia because I'll never know when I'll get the chance to go that far for this long again.

So I will be using this blog so that you all can follow me through what will hopefully be one of the greatest times of my life! Get excited!