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.