Old and New Mixed Together - Melbourne

This post is going to be a little different than the others. Since I was away from my computer for so long and I did so many things, I wrote a fairly detailed diary of the first and second day. The weekend, however, we did so much that I was completely exhausted and couldn't even think about writing about all the amazing things that we saw. So, the first part of this entry is going to be in journal style while the rest will be like the other blogs. I took so many pictures though that to really see them all please look at my Facebook albums!

Right now, I’m sitting at the airport about to go to Melbourne for a couple of days. Abby, a girl from Campus is coming to join me tonight but today I have Melbourne all to myself. I think this will be the first time that I’ve travelled completely on my own to somewhere where I’m not meeting up with anyone. I’ve flown plenty of times on my own but I think that every time someone has been there to meet me or I’ve taken a taxi or a bus to meet someone. I feel so grown up! It would have been nice to have gone with someone because at 2.30 this morning I REALLY did not want to get up. After hitting snooze for about 20 minutes though, I got up, got ready and made it to the train station with plenty of time to spare. In case I forget and start reading this in the future - *remember to make pear and raspberry bread and/or muffins*.

I just arrived in Melbourne and went to walk past the hostel so I know where it is and I’m now sitting next to what I think (and hope) is the Yarra River. I feel pretty proud of myself for doing all alone, but then again, I haven’t actually done anything yet!

Old and New

Melbourne is a cool city – it’s very interesting because it has some beautiful old buildings mixed in with the new skyscrapers. The city is run on a tram system so there are 2 car lanes and 2 tram lanes right through the middle. The people here also have the weirdest hair styles – I’ve seen so many wacky hair styles around. I found a map at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre and mapped out the places I wanted to go. I figured I’d start by heading to Federation Square because that’s where there are lots of things to see. As I was walking over I spotted a really cool looking building and since I had no real agenda I figured why no go check I tout. To get there I crossed a bridge with these huge metal sculptures and information about Australians living in and who had come from all the countries of the world.

Flinder St Station

Turns out the building was the Flinders Street Train Station. There were lots of eateries and I was getting hungry so I went in search of bread to make sandwiches for lunch. After walking down to the corner of Flinders Street and Swanston Street, I saw that I was at Federation Square and there was a perfect spot to sit and eat. Perfect except for the crazy seagulls. There  were so many of them and they were all yelling at each other and eyeing everyone with even just a tiny bite of food. I really like not having a set plan and just wondering in a general direction – it allows me to notice things that I might not have stopped for.  Federation Square is a weird place. The buildings are all very modern and artistic and the visitors centre is completely underground! I’m going to check it out now and see what there is for me to do!

Well, I am exhausted! I went to every museum on my “Melbourne’s Freebies” list and have made it back to the hostel. It’s really nice and clean here. Anyway, after lunch I headed to the visitors centre which was amazing! It was huge with so many free maps and brochures! I definitely added about 5lbs to my already heavy backpack, but oh well! I got some walking tours of the gardens and postcards. The first place I went to was the Australian Centre for Moving Image. It was so cool; they showed film through the ages, how special effects liked 3D have evolved and highlighted famous Aussie actors, writers and directors among other things. There were interactive boards which connected the history of different things in the world of moving art. All of a sudden though there were heaps of little school kids everywhere. So, I took it as my cue to leave and move on to the next museum. 

My favorite painting from NGV Australia

The Ian Potter Centre of the National Gallery of Victoria; Australia was right next door and it was perfect because they had a bag check which I was so grateful for! The best part about the NGV Australia was the aboriginal painting exhibit; living water. The colours are all just so bright and the pictures are so interesting. My favourite was a drawing of an aboriginal painter – it was huge and so simple, yet so detailed. They had other artists on video talking about him so I just sat and listened. After a while I pulled out my map and figured out my game plan for the afternoon.

Contemporary art

I decided to go to the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art. It looked like a pretty far walk but ended up being much closer than I expected, but it was a weird place.  They just had 2 huge rooms with bean bags and a big screen. The first was all about movement and it was really cool. It was also nice to just sit down and relax. The film was of these 6 people (I’m not sure if it was improve or not) but they were all kind of moving off each other. At first they were copying the same movements while they carried on each other’s sentences, then like they carried on each other’s sentences they began to carry on each other’s movements. It was almost as if you could see the energy from the movements transferring from one person to the next. The other movie I have no idea what it was about other than rising as one in Poland. Finally I moved onto the NGV International.

I can’t believe how big that museum is! I feel like I saw so much, through so many time periods but I still didn’t see it all because I kept coming out at different places so I couldn’t make a proper loop of where I was. I started in Asia and learnt all about the different eras and dynasties – I saw lots of different Buddhas for Mom. Then on my way to Europe I decided to take a little rest and watch a movie on men’s clothing and what they wear to work. I was really confused at first to why they would have a movie about men’s clothing but it made sense when I saw the ManStyle exhibit. On my way through Europe, Mom called. It was so nice to actually talk to someone after having barely spoken all day. But then it was back to Europe. There were a lot of Jesus paintings and a really weird/cool (I can’t decide which) sculpture with the Pope’s face melting away, kind of. One room had drawings and prints which was cool and another all sorts of different chairs. I think it was supposed to be through the ages but there were a lot more modern ones than old ones. The ManStyle exhibit was so weird – it was a continuation from the one in NGV Australia, but I’ve never seen clothes like that before.

Melbourne City Central

After all the exhibits I sat down to collect my thoughts and rest my feet. I pulled out my maps and looked at what I’d done and what I still wanted to do. Then I headed back to Flinders St, where, even though it was cloudy I needed something sweet to eat/snack on so I used my free Magnum stick to get another one. But are you ready for this…I only like the almond ones because I don’t actually like the ice cream, just the chocolate around it. All the different types of Magnums had the “1 in 6 wins” promotion EXCEPT the almond ones! But I’d been thinking about it all afternoon so I got one anyway. I jumped on the tram and headed back to the hostel where I am now. All in all, a very tiring but very successful day!

Kangaroo skin at Queen
Victoria Market

Today was a really nice day. We had a nice breakfast of PB&Js, got changed (Abby wore her heeled boots – she’s nuts!) and headed out. We caught the tram outside the hostel and headed for the Queen Victoria Market. The tram bought us past the Docklands which had the weirdest art. Melbourne seems very artsy which makes the city so interesting. We got off at Flagstaff Gardens and made our way towards the market. It was HUGE – I couldn’t believe how much stuff was in there! It didn’t feel claustrophobic though because although it was covered, it was completely open. We ended up walking around for 2 hours looking at everything there! I got 2 beautiful boomerangs and 2 masks with the traditional aboriginal art dots. I can’t wait to b ring them home – all I need now is a rain maker and didgeridoo – but those can wait for Paddy’s Market in Sydney! I’m going there with an empty backpack.

ANZ Gothic Bank

Anyway we gave up on the ‘stuff’ section and headed towards the fruit and vegetable section. I miss fruit and veggies all so much, but it’s all just so expensive here1 I can’t wait to get home and load up on fruits and veggies! We started to get hungry so we stopped at the food court where I got some chicken tikka before we headed over to the gardens where we sat and ate strawberries that we had bought at the market. It was so good to eat some fruit other than just apples and oranges. As we were sitting Abby was talking about how she really wanted to check out the ANZ bank as it was supposed to be beautiful inside. So, I pulled out my map and before I looked at the map, I looked up and saw a cool looking building right in front of us. It had a sign that said ANZ. I looked at my map with all the tourist destination and guess what…it was the ANZ gothic bank we wanted.

Inside the bank

When we got up and as we started walking in the general direction of the bank it disappeared. We had to pull out the map and figure out where we were and how to get to it, we looked like complete tourists. Eventually we found it. It’s a huge building that’s dark compared to the buildings around it, and since we were tourists we went in and starting taking pictures because the ceiling was really pretty. A guy came up to us and was like “you can’t take pictures in the bank”. Duh! We weren’t in the actual bank area so we didn’t think about the fact that we were in an area that faced right into the bank (we were just focusing on the ceiling). We walked out and realized that we had actually walked through three buildings.

We saw a sign for the Immigration Museum on our way back to Flinders Street so decided to see if it was open. I’m so glad that we went to it. I learnt all about the reasons people migrated to Australia; escaping war and conflict, seeking freedom and a better life and trying to reunite with family. Then it moved on to the history of white people in Australia from back in the 1800s and the convicts. After the convict program was abandoned they needed to recruit single women to migrate to Australia. The best exhibit was the last though and was very eye opening. One thing I wasn’t expecting when I came here was the diversity of the people here. I came here expecting everyone to be Australian but there are people from all over the world here, many of who have only recently moved to Australia. Because of this, there is a fair amount of racism against different cultures. The exhibit was all about people and how we judge each other on every little thing without knowing anything about them. It was eye opening in the sense that recently I feel like I’ve been noticing a lot of differences with people. The exhibit made me realize that it’s about recognizing people’s differences and learning from them and embracing them instead of judging them and stereotyping.

Flinders St Station at night

We finished the day with a quick stop at Federation Square but at this point we were really tired and have an early day tomorrow. I’m so excited for this weekend; the Great Ocean Road, Phillip Island and so many things in between. This is turning out to be a really great trip where I’m seeing plenty but staying for short enough that it’s not boring – I’m just exhausted at night but that makes it a successful day. We were comparing Sydney to Melbourne and decide that if we had to live in one of them it would definitely be Melbourne, but Sydney would be a great place to visit. Melbourne is a smaller city with less people but it’s still interesting with heaps of things to do. Of course, I’d rather live in the country than a city.

After that we did so much and were so busy that at night I was too tired to write everything because there was just so much to write about! So from here on, it’ll be like my normal posts. Sorry that this is so long but I figured that you can skip parts if you want and that it was better to have too much than too little. This trip was amazing though and I have so much to write about and so much that I want to share!

12 Apostles

Saturday we started our tour through the Great Ocean Road. First stop – 12 Apostles. Originally called the swine and her sow, they are rock that have been worn from the strong undercurrent and are no longer attached to the cliff. There were originally only nine, but in 2005 one of them toppled over so there are now only eight. They changed the name to the 12 Apostles to make it sound more appealing to tourists, but I have no clue why it’s not called the 9 Apostles or something more accurate to the actual number of rocks. They are amazing though – huge and beautiful. The waters around there are very dangerous because of the extremely strong undercurrents and have been the cause of over 30 ship wrecks.

Loch Ard Gorge

We moved on, to the site of a famous ship wreck; the Loch Ard, a passenger ship brining English and Irish immigrants to Australia. Their compass had broken so they were navigating purely from the stars. They did extremely well but getting through the strong currents to Melbourne has to be very precise; like threading thread through a needle, and they were slightly off. The night before they were due to arrive in Melbourne the passengers held a party to celebrate their arriving in Australia. However, a low fog rolled in and they couldn’t see where they were going. They crashed. All the passengers drowned except two 18-year olds from Irish, a girl and a guy. They held on to anything they could find that would float and eventually made it to what is now called Loch Ard Gorge. There they rested until the guy was able to scale the huge cave wall to find help. A nearby farmer helped the girl out and helped her recover as she had gotten sick. The boy visited her everyday checking on her and keeping her company as she regained her strength. Everyone in the village wanted them to get married as it would be a very romantic story arising from such a tragic event. But the girl didn’t like the guy and didn’t want to marry him so she returned to Ireland. True story. Anyway, Loch Ard Gorge looks so calm and beautiful, the water is a brilliant green and blue and it’s surrounded by huge caves.

Coiled up fern

After Loch Ard Gorge we made a quick pit stop at Gibson Steps where we could see one of the 12 Apostles from the ground before heading to the Ngatanwarr Rainforest. It was really cool and a nice refresher from all the beaches. It was an easy walk which I was very glad for because all I had were my TOMS! They had these really interesting ferns whose leaves would coil up – I don’t know if it was because they had died or if they just didn’t need the sun, but it was cool looking. The rainforests here are very interesting because most of the trees are fireproof, and some need huge bushfires to come through every 100 years or so because they collect all their seeds at the top of the trees and only the heat from fire can make them release the seeds for new trees to grow. There were a lot of HUGE tree stumps that had fallen over and they had so many different shades of brown that even though they were only tree stumps they were beautiful.

Funny seagulls

We moved on to Apollo Bay which is a cute little seaside town. I don’t know if seagulls always drink like this but there was a little stream and the seagulls looked like they were bending their necks the wrong way to align perfectly with the water and were drinking that way. I was amused for a good 10 minutes by them! A couple minutes drive from the beach we stopped at a place where koalas usually hang out. We only saw one, really high up in the tree, but she had her little baby with her! My first koala sighting! We also saw lots of parrots that were flying all around us. They were so bright and colourful, contrasting against the green leaves all around. And kookaburras!

Our last stop of the day was at the entrance to the Great Ocean Road. It was built after the end of WWI when all the soldiers came back from war to find there were no jobs as the women had taken them over during the war and wanted to keep them. So the government decided to allow all veterans to work on building the Great Ocean Road for something like a shilling a week, plus room and board. The road took almost 30 years to complete because they built it entirely by hand! There is a statue called ‘The Diggers’ which is “in honour of the three thousand Australian returned soldiers and sailors of the First World War who built the Great Ocean Road as a memorial to their fallen comrades”.

The view from where we stayed the night

From there we headed to where we were sleeping for the night. I’m not exactly sure what to call it – it wasn’t a hostel or a hotel, but rather cabins on a farmer’s land. It was just the people from our tour (18 of us) staying there which was really nice. We all got together and prepared my first real Aussie barbie! There was so much food and it was delicious – grilled veggies, veggie patties, chicken sausages and regular sausages, salad and hash browns!!! It’s fascinating how you can spend all day with people, but it’s not until you work together and share a meal together that you actually get to know them. There were people from all over the world on our trip, Abby and me from the US, a girl from Mexico, quite a few Germans, some cousins from Saudi Arabia and a family from China. We ate together, washed up together and then roasted some marshmallows on a bonfire before having to go to sleep from pure exhaustion – Sunday was going to be another big day!

Bells Beach

We woke up early on Sunday to a pancake breakfast – so yummy!! I forgot how good pancakes are! I could have eaten them all day long but we had more exciting things to do and places to see! We started off at Bells Beach where they have amazing surf in the winter. Some local boys discovered how amazing the surf was in the middle of winter, but it was too cold to go in the water. So they took some scuba gear and headed out to the waves, but the material was too thick and heavy and it was hard for them to surf well. So they gathered a bunch of sewing machines and started experimenting with different materials. Eventually, in 1969 they made the first Australian wet suit and Rip Curl was created. Bells Beach is where they hold the annual Rip Curl Pro Surf Competition. The beaches are all really beautiful and although they’re all just beaches there’s something different about each one. Bells Beach had very interesting sand that was all different colours and different grain size.

Feeding kangaroos!

We made a quick stop at Surf City where they have all the surf stores; Rip Curl, Roxy, Quicksilver, etc. Then it was time to take the ferry to Phillip Island (named after a Arthur Phillip, the first governor of NSW) for the rest of the day, where our first stop was Maru Wildlife Park. It was my first time seeing so many Australian animals, and I got to feed kangaroos! First we saw koalas – right up close, they’re so funny, just chilling up a tree eating or sleeping. There were wallabies, kangaroos, Tasmanian devils, wombats, dingos, emus…so many animals!!! Abby fed her first horse – I was laughing so much because she was so scared!

This picture is so funny!

Wine Tasting

Our next stop was wine tasting. I’m starting to get to know my wines better. The selection at Crooked River Winery was more delicious, but this was more interesting. The owner of The Grundies Winery is (or was) a scientist so he makes lots of mixtures and experiments with different combinations for his wines. From there we stopped at a chocolate factory. We didn’t actually see them make any of the chocolate but they had all the handmade chocolates for sale. I told myself that I had to get some because I NEEDED a chocolate wrapper to put in my scrapbook! Very logical.

Chocolate Factory

Woolamai Beach

Before we headed to see the penguins we stopped at Woolamai Beach where they hold the Roxy Surf Competition. It was a quick little pit stop before heading to the Nobbies. The Nobbies are two rocks where thousands of seals call home (we didn’t see any), but it was right as the sun was low in the sky and it beautiful. There were seagulls everywhere! You would look at the grassy hill and there were white dots everywhere – they were seagulls. Abby spotted a hole where she could see something but she didn’t know what it was. At first we thought it was a frog or a large lizard or something, but then we realized it was a penguin!! It was lying on its eggs!!

Nobbies

Finally, it was time for our final destination – the Penguin Parade! I couldn’t take any pictures because the penguins spend days at sea getting food and then come up at night so cameras aren’t allowed because their eyes are very sensitive and the flash can blind them. So Google it! We got there as the sun was setting and found our seats – front row on the sand. We waited and waited and finally saw little heads peeking out through the water. The penguins are the smallest ones in the world! It was really funny the penguins don’t come up until they think it’s safe to do so, so they come up and out of the water, think about trekking across the sand (they don’t have knees so they’re really slow) and then decide against it and run back in the water! They did this so many times! At one point there were two penguins that looked lost! They had come out of the water and kept looking around for the other penguins but there had gone back in the water. So they just hung out until more penguins came up and then started up the beach all together. Finally, a huge crowd of penguins came out the water, of course they came up then went back in the water a couple of times but finally they made a mass effort and headed up the beach. We got up and walked back along the boardwalk and saw all the penguins going off towards their homes. They make really strange loud noises! Penguins don’t have the best memories so they choose a specific route home and they stick to it. It another penguin comes up to one on its way home and then start talking, once they stop, the penguin on its way home will forget how to get home. Because he forgot his way home, he has to go ALL the way back to the water and start the journey all over again! It was amazing though – we saw penguins all the way back to the bus! There were signs everywhere saying to be careful of penguins crossing the road – can you image how horrible you would feel if you ran over a penguin!!! But our tour was finally at an end and we headed back to Melbourne.

Queen Victoria Monument

Floral Clock

Monday was our last day in Melbourne. We started the day with a walking tour. The visitors centre has all these maps of great walking tours that guide you through the whole thing! We did one called Secret Gardens. It started in the Queen Victoria Gardens where we saw the Queen Victoria Monument and many different sculptures. It was kind of funny because a lot of the sculptures are centred around water (such as the Water Children and the Water Nymph), but either because of the drought in Melbourne or because winter just ended, there was no water! The sculptures were still nice to look at though! On our way to the King’s Doman we passed the Floral Clock and the statue of Edward VII. The ‘Tan’ is a 4km track that runs all around the park and where people come to run all day long! It walked along it for a while as we saw the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, a statue of King George V and the Aboriginal Burial Stone. From there we crossed over the Tan to the Shrine of Remembrance. A huge temple built in Greek style honouring Australian military casualties. It was a very impressive buildings which, when you climbed up showed the whole city. It is also where they have the wreath ceremony on November 11^th. Inside the temple there is a crack in the ceiling where at 11.11 on November 11^th the sun shines through and highlights the word love on a marble plaque on the floor.

Shrine of Remembrance

Plant Craft Cottage

From there we crossed over to the Observatory Buildings and passed through the Observatory Gate into the Royal Botanic Gardens. We made lots of stops; at the Camellia Collection, Herb Garden, William Tell Rest House, Long Island, Plant Craft Cottage, Temple of the Winds before finally leaving through Lych Gate. From there we walked towards the Yarra, stopping at the Pioneer Women’s Memorial Garden (again lacking water). We finished back at Federation Square hot and exhausted! It was 28 degrees (86 Fahrenheit)!!!!

Free City Tram

Koorie Heritage Trust

We got on the tram, taking the long way to rest our feet, in search of the Koorie Heritage Trust Cultural Centre. The Koories are aboriginals from Melbourne. While there was once over 50,000 members, there are now only about 50. There were two parts to the centre. The first was about aboriginal women from Tasmania. They used to be famous for their basket weaving but until recently they had stopped making them. Historians and descendants of the Tasmanian aboriginals recently held workshops to teach the current generation how to make the baskets so that the knowledge can continue to be passed down. Some of the baskets looked so intricate; they weren’t big but they had colourful shells weaved onto the outside. The second exhibit was about the history of the Koories. It was very interesting and I learnt a lot about the hardships and changes that they went through as people immigrated to Melbourne. I wish I would have been able to take an Australian history class, but I guess I’ll just have to get books about the history to read once I get home and start missing Australia.

"Cow up a Tree"

After the museum we had one stop to make before heading back to the hostel to get our bags. So we got back on the tram and enjoyed the views from the Docklands again and went around until we saw what we were looking for; the statue, “Cow up a Tree”. We’d seen in on Friday and we were thinking about doing another walking tour along the Docklands where there is a lot of art but we spent too much time doing other things in the day that we didn’t have time. But we NEEDED a picture of this statue. Again, sometimes I really don’t understand art!

We walked along the South Bank to meet my old friend from Wally for dinner. It's funny how even after not seeing someone for so long sometimes it feels like not time has passed. I was to think that even though I was halfway across the world, that I could meet up with someone from the past.

Crown Casino

We had to catch a bus a 3.55am to bring us to the Avalon Airport for our flight. So, while we were waiting, we went to the casino. The Crown Casino is the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere and neither Abby nor I had ever been in one. We looked a little ridiculous because at first we had no idea what to do! Thankfully someone was watching us (laughing with amusement at how ridiculous we looked) and helped us out. Eventually we got the gist of it, but then our one dollar ran out. As we were walking through the casino a lady came up and asked us if we wanted to sign up for their loyalty card. She said it was free, it wasn’t a credit card…and you get $5 free! So of course we signed up and gambled our free $5. I lost every cent but Abby won $10! We must have looked so funny – we only went to the machines with 1 and 2 cent bets and got excited when we’d win 8 cents! But it was fun and we stayed there a while. Before we left for the train station though, we took a quick picture in the bathrooms! You can’t take pictures in the casino itself so we figured the next best thing was the bathrooms INSIDE the casino.

South Bank at night

All in all, an amazing couple of days. Melbourne is an amazing city that I will definitely return to one day. Again, please check out pictures on Facebook to see everything! I have put a lot up here but it's not enough to really show you. 

When in OZ...SURF!

This weekend was by far the best weekend I've had in Australia. I learnt how to surf. When I first got here, there were a lot of orientation trips. One of them was for surf camp. A friend back home told me not to go on them the first week because that's when you meet a lot of people, and they offer the trips all throughout the semester. Plus, it was really cold that first week. So I held off and my roommate and I decided we'd go in September when it would be a bit warmer. She had also heard of another company that does surf camps called MojoSurf. She said they sounded more laid back and how you would picture a typical surfer. So we booked our surf camp for the second weekend in September...hopefully when it would be nice and warm.

By the time we left, we'd recruited three more of our friends. On Friday we headed off to Sydney to meet up with the bus that would take us surfing. None of us really knew where we were going because there wasn't any information on which beach we'd be staying at. On the itinerary it said a 3-4 hour drive, so I was expecting to go a bit north of Sydney, one of my friends thought it was actually in Sydney and the others just didn't know what to expect. Turns out we were all wrong.



We get on this cool looking green mini-bus/van type thing and Jake (our drive, guide, surf guy?) tells us how the night's going to work. It was 5.15pm, we were going to drive 2 hours then stop to eat, drive 2 more hours, stop at a bottleshop and have a toilet break then drive 2 more hours. We wouldn't arrive until midnight...we left Campus East at 2pm. We all looked at each other with an expression that was a little bit like...what have we gotten ourselves into?!

On the bus we met the other guys from our group. First, I'll start off with the friends I came with. Wendy, my roommate from California, John from Idaho, Beth from Indiana and Abby from New Jersey; they all study in Wollongong with me. Onto the rest of the group; Duncan (20) and Adam (22) brothers from England who are on vacation from working in New Zealand and Sydney, respectively. Enrique (age unknown) from Verona, Italy who works as a bartender in Italy, his mother is Chinese and his father is Italian. Charles (19) from the french part of Canada who has been backpacking for the past year and a half. Conrad (21) from Michigan who's studying at UNSW for the semester and was on his last weekend of their spring break. Finally Patrick (30) from Minneapolis who is in Australia for 2 months for work as an engineer. The first part of the bus ride was pretty quiet and we watched a surf movie, but after filling our bellies with Maccas the rest of the way was fun with some great sing-a-longs!

As much as I would like to take credit...
 I did NOT take this

When we finally got to Crescent Head, Jake told us to keep out eyes our for kangaroos - I bolted up and peeled my eyes for kangaroos. There were two, but of course - I missed them! I was convinced this was going to be where I saw my first kangaroo, but that night wasn't the night. When we got to the surf camp, I felt like we were in the middle of the woods. There was a main house with lots of rooms of bunk beds and a fireplace downstairs, a separate building with the toilets and showers and an open kitchen/eating area. We met Ant ("Ant Man") who would be helping us the next day. We were tired, but before we went to bed we found a map showing us where we were...we were half way between Wollongong and Gold Coast!!!!! We had NO idea how far away we were! But it was getting close to 1am and Ant said he was coming to wake us up at 7.45am - so we went to sleep in amazement about how far away from home we were.

The next morning, I woke up before our wake up call; I was so excited! We were going surfing!!!!! It all seemed so surreal, but there we were, in what seemed like the middle of no where eating breakfast and getting the low down on how waves are formed and where abouts we'd be surfing. We then changed into our swimsuits and wetsuits and headed down to the beach. We walked through some trees and there was the beach! It was beautiful...and there was no one there! We got our board - huge green 9 footers and started our lesson!

Looks easy on solid ground... (working on rotating it)

We shimmied our boards into the sand, knelt down next to them and learnt how to move our boards in the water. One had by the tail and the other in the center of the board. Then we learnt how to get on the board; one hand on the rail (side) and jump (from your knees) onto the board with toes on the tail. Then came paddling - it's pretty easy and exactly how it seems, you just have to remember to have your body centered on the board. But then came the hard part - jumping up and standing on the board. I'll try my best to explain it but it might be one of those things that you have to be there for. You put your hands by your chest, drag your back foot to the side up to your front shin (your back knee is on the same level as your body but sticks out to the side). From there, you jump and bring your front foot to the front around the middle of your board and center your weight. Both feet point to the side of the board, not the front. Doesn't seem that hard, does it?

I'M SURFING!!!

When we got into the water it wasn't as cold as I thought it would be and it was pretty dry, until the water slowly trickles into your wetsuit...then it gets a little chilly. We got into the water and although it was a little chilly it was so nice in the sun and you soon forgot about the cold. The water was perfectly sandy underneath and it was amazing. I was a little too chicken to try catching a wave at first so Ant helped me out and although I didn't get up the first (or second time), I did manage to get both feet on the board. It's hard to get your balance right because the board is kind of slippery so even though you can have both feet on the board, it's really easy for one to just slip off. But it was still such a rush and so much fun. My third time was the charm - I got up! It was amazing!! Soon I was catching my own waves and I, along with everyone else, had a smile plastered to my face the whole day (sometimes people had looks of deep concentration on their faces, but those soon turned into smiles).

I think over the weekend I had two big wrecks. The first pulled my pony tail straight out - it didn't last for long and it didn't really shake me up but I surfaced from the water and my hair was all over my face! The second time I was under for a bit longer and I was nervous for a little second (I think 2 waves hit me so I didn't have time to recover), but they taught us well so I covered my head, surfaced and it was all good.

On Saturday we had two surf sessions. The first was fun because it was new and exciting and it was great. But surfing is tiring! So after a couple of hours we went back to the camp and ate some sandwiches because we had built up a nice appetite. We laid out for a while to rest and before we knew it, it was time to go out again. The tide had gotten really strong during lunch so we went to another beach by Goolawah National Park, again, we were the only people on the beach! It was so beautiful! When we got back out we learnt how to turn; lean on your back foot, look and move your arms/body in the direction you want to go. It's definitely not as easy as it sounds. At first I was happy to just catch waves because I knew how to do it at that point, but then it was time to learn something new. I was probably able to turn maybe 1/5 of the time. I would try, but not have my body right so I'd just keep going straight with my weight too far back. When I first got it though, it was the greatest feeling ever! It wasn't a fast turn but slowly I'd be facing across the beach rather than towards it.

We surfed for another couple of house, apparently missed a dolphin that was swimming right next to us, and then headed home. By the time we left I was parched! At first I was drinking and inhaling (through my nose) a lot of salt water, eventually I learnt that whenever a wave was coming to close my mouth and breath out through my nose. But it's still thirsty work! As we were driving back to camp guess what we saw...A KANGAROO!!!!!!!! I was SO excited!!!! They are weird looking animals - with really long, thick tails. But I finally, after 2 months in Australia, saw a kangaroo! Even better than that - we saw two!

Back at camp we showered, changed and sat in the eating area where they were showing a picture slideshow of us surfing. It was so cool to see, even though we don't look as cool as we felt actually on the water. The slideshow kept us entertained for at least an hour...even though they were on repeat and I'm pretty sure we watch it on a loop at least three times. But then it was dinner time and it was delicious!!! Eating caf food everyday makes you really appreciate good food and we ate until we couldn't eat any more! Then we sat around the bonfire and just hung out for the rest of the night. At 10.45pm we were so exhausted and it felt like it was 2am that we all started trickling off to bed, ready for an early start the next day.

On Sunday, our bodies were sore. But we were all loving it so much that even though we had to stop off on the shore every once and a while everyone had a smile constantly plastered to their faces and we just kept going. The waves were bigger on Sunday so at times it was a little nerve-racking and hard to get out far but Nat and Ant helped us out and we caught some nice waves! Eventually though it was time to head in, eat lunch and head back to Sydney.

We said bye to everyone at the camp and loaded the van. Heading back to Sydney was a pretty quiet journey because we were all thinking about what a great time we had...or because we were so tired that we fell fast asleep on the bus. We arrived in Sydney, said bye to everyone, got some Hungry Jacks (aka Burger King) at Central Station and headed back to Fairy Meadow. When we got back, it was raining. We had so much fun and it was such an amazing experience that I want to do it again and again!

I only came home with 4 bruises - there's one really big, cool looking one!

I forgot! So when you get up - it's great, but sometimes you catch waves that are going so fast and instead of getting up on the board, it's just so much fun to stay with your belly on the board and ride it in! You go so fast! It's amazing!

Not getting up, but still having so much fun!

Harbour Cruise and First Day of Spring

Campus East puts on heaps of events throughout the session to get people to meet each other and to get to see Wollongong and surrounding areas. This past weekend they organized a Harbour Cruise in Sydney for us. It was a lot of fun!

Fun train rides with these guys!

The cruise didn't start until 6pm on Saturday, so we decided that if we were going to Sydney why not make the most of it. We left Fairy Meadow around 10.30am and had a fun train ride to Sydney. It's nice to think that you can travel halfway across the world and find friends that will keep you entertained on a two hour train ride from Wollongong to Sydney. The boys were worried that they should have hung their clothes up because that's what all the other guys on the train seemed to be doing while the girls were just like, we just stuffed ours into our bags.



Anyway, after lots of laughs on the train ride we went to Bondi Beach. A couple of us were staying with a friend in Bondi so we figured we'd stay the day and get ready there before heading to the Cruise. When we left Fairy Meadow it was beautiful and sunny with blue skies, when we go to Bondi it was cloudy. So even though we had all our stuff for the beach, we sat with our sweatshirts on and ate lunch while watching the surfers. It was crazy how many surfers there were in the water. They looked like little floating ducks and then a couple would catch a wave. It was a pretty great view. After saying bye to the boys who were staying at a hostel in Kings Cross, we went to the friend's house we were staying in (which is right on Bondi) and got ready. It was funny - three girls invading a house full of guys; we had make up and clothes everywhere! We got all dolled up, hopped on a bus to the train station and then a train to Town Hall. That's where it got fun.

After sprinting across the Harbour

On the train to Town Hall found some other kids from Campus that were heading to the Harbour, but we got separated from them once we got there. We knew the general direction of Darling Harbour, so we started walking. Then time started ticking and we needed to be ON the boat by 6pm. It was about 5.53pm and we still weren't at the Harbour. It was amazing how few people knew where exactly we needed to go to get to the docks at the Harbour. Once we finally made it to the actual Harbour it was about 5.57pm and we still didn't see the boat. Turns out we were on the complete other side of the Harbour, which conveniently, is U shaped. So we quickly took off our shoes and SPRINTED across the Harbour. I can't imagine what we looked like; three girls all dressed up, shoes in hand sprinting across the Harbour. Turns out the boat wasn't even there when we arrived (all sweaty and out of breath).

Most of us

But we had a great time on the boat. We got on, grabbed a glass of champagne and grabbed a seat while we waited for the boat to leave. It was really fun seeing everyone all dressed up and finding people that you hadn't seen in a couple of weeks. There were 3 levels on the boat; the dance floor, a floor with tables to hang around at and the outside deck. It was kind of cold so we stuck more to the indoor level with the tables where we could socialise and just hang out like usual, except all dressed up. We did go outside a couple of times when we passed major landmarks such as the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. It passed really fast and before we knew it, it was time to get off the boat.

We jumped in a taxi and headed to the boys' hostel in Kings Cross. The Funk House (no jokes - that's what the hostel was called) was full of Campus East kids. So we just hung out for a while there before heading to Soho. That's the name of the club - I have no idea if it stands for something or if that's just what it's called. Again, we were handed a card for a free glass of champagne - they like giving college kids champagne it here seems. The main level dance floor was like any dance floor in Australia; with dubstep. But when we discovered the upper level dance floor with non-dubstep music we were so excited. So excited in fact that we stayed there until 3am! At which point we parted ways and headed for bed!

Darling Harbour Bridge

It was so nice to sleep in a real bed, that even after waking up at 8.30am, I felt refreshed. We headed to a nice breakfast where I had real eggs! It's really exciting after you live in a place that never seems to have real eggs, except when they're hard boiled. It was perfect - the sun was shining and warm and we had a great meal! We headed back to get our stuff together and figure out a game plan; go explore Sydney...or since we were already at Bondi just lay on the beach? We chose to stay at Bondi.

Bondi

There were heaps of surfers again, even though there were no waves. I don't quite understand it, but maybe it's a different atmosphere when you're actually out there. It was so nice just laying on the beach though. There's so much sand that you can be far away from the water but still not to the road. It's kind of different from our 50ft of sand at Fairy Meadow - it also was flat! After staying there a couple of hours, I had to head back because I am here to study and I had a midterm on Monday morning. I kept having to remind myself that yes, I do have to do school work while I'm here.



All in all, it was a very fun and successful weekend that I didn't want to leave behind because it meant a whole week of school! I had my first midterms this week...still not sure how I felt about them. The first was in 'business to business marketing' and was 90 questions! The second was in 'strategic management', it was only 50 questions but my brain was fried after taking it. Taking tests here was the same as taking tests back at CU, except for the fact that you get to see how many students are actually enrolled in the subject. In the management class, maybe a 1/4 of the auditorium is fill for lecture. For the test; it was filled!

Dragons vs. Panthers

The test was this morning (Friday), so I rewarded myself with a free Magnum (ice cream) after lunch and the last Dragons home game of the season...which they won! It was another event put on by Campus East, which was great because we got free pizza! And what college kid doesn't love pizza...especially when it's free! So we had a great time at the game, took a picture with their mascot AND got free Dragons beanies (with a Maccas sign on it). It's sad that it was the last home game of the season, but we got to watch a few and that was great!

I almost forgot!!! Thursday was the first day of Spring here, and apparently the thing to do is go down to North Gong Beach and swim at sunrise! I didn't know that until we were actually there so I didn't go in, but it was really fun to watch them all jump in the water and then take a picture doing handstands. It wasn't a great sunrise because it was kind of cloud and it was raining right where the sun was going to come up but it was still a nice experience and it was really nice. I definitely want to go to another one when there aren't any clouds because I'm sure it's breath-taking!

That's it for now. A quick sneak peak on what's coming soon - booked my tickets to Melbourne today!