The Great Ocean Road Trip

Sydney ended my travels for the time being before school. I arrived back in Melbourne ready to move into my new place and get settled in. Well, this place was not at all what I thought it would be. I went through a program called Semester in Australia. The school sent me a link to hook up with them to get some off campus housing with other exchange students. I was told I would be in a dorm style house with 2 other roommates. Well when I got there I noticed I had 6 other roommates. Apparently all the Semester in Australia houses were full so I got the shaft and placed in a Burwood Student living house. Not my idea of a good thing. I met my roommates, who are all pretty nice. That's the thing, even if you are living in a dodgy house, the roommates really make it what it is. Plus there are loads of students living in this area and we are all pretty much in the same boat. So as much as the whole set up sucks, it wont be too bad in the end cause I have already made a hand full of new friends.

The majority of the people I've met have been exchange students and they were all going on the road trip planned by the university for all exchange students. Get this, the trip was a three day trip down the Great Ocean Road. We got to do surfing, kayaking, hiking, biking and yoga. Our meals were set for us and we had nightly accommodation. ALL FOR FREAKIN FREE! YAY! How could you say no to that? I got to go on this great trip with all the new friends I've met. So awesome.

So away we went, on a Monday morning. The drive was 3 hours to get to our accommodations in Lorne. Once we got there we were given orientation packages and lunch and put through a little seminar and ice breaking. I met up with Natasha, the other girl from VIU. It was great to see all the new faces and potential friends in the group. On our orientation packages it told us where we would be sleeping and mine said "tent". I foolishly thought this was a name for a hostel or something. NOPE. Legit tents. Hahaha, I seriously could not stop laughing when I saw. The funniest part was that other exchangies were staying in double bed hotel rooms down the road. Definitely got the shaft on that one. But it was kind of expected because the trip was free so hey, I wasn't complaining. Other girls were though. One went home and a couple others paid for a hotel to sleep in. LAME-O'S! I loved the tent. That night we took to dinner and socializing with little games for all of us to do. We danced and had a great time.

The next day was our activity day. We started the day off bright and early with surf kayaking. This was superbly fun! I was teamed up with a girl from Sweden named Michaela. We were pros at it. Catching all the big waves in and paddling hard out. The instructor had to keep telling us not to go out too far, the crazy dare devils we were. After the kayaking was our hike which was nice but I was hoping to see some cool waterfalls or something. I should have gone on the biking tour instead. After that we breaked for lunch with burgers and yumminess. Then we jetted off to do yoga which of course I fell asleep in as did everyone else. Then it was our turn for surfing. I was super excited to get out there considering the last time I went, my shoulders didn't hold up too well. We took a quick lesson then headed out into the water. Once I got out there I was terrified, and I mean TERRIFIED! One of the instructors came up to me and asked me how I was going and he laughed when I told him how scared I was. So he gave a little nudge and pushed me into the giantest wave there was. I took it, rode it, and even stood up on it! Yay! After that it was a piece of cake. So much surfing fun. Natasha and I joked about doing a routine on our boards and jumping back and forth. We decided to save that stunt for next time.

Dinner came and went and we were all left there feeling exhausted. Some stayed out partying but Michaela and I took the role of grannies and fell asleep at 9pm. We had an early morning. No judging.

We hopped on a bus on our last day of adventure to start the long journey to the 12 Apostles. After taking a few stops, and having parrots visit my shoulder, we finally got to the 12 Apostles. They were unbelievable. There is only about 6 of them left but man was it such a gorgeous sight! We were all entranced by the beauty and managed to snag a giant group shot at the gorge.

I managed to make some really good friends along this trip. It was so much fun and such a great way to start the semester at Deakin. I am all enrolled in my classes and I managed to snag a time table where I have Thursdays and Fridays off for adventuring! I love it! It is going to be so much fun! I can't wait for the rest of the semester to be amazing as.

Sydney

This is what I was waiting for. After Finding Nemo making the city of Sydney famous, I knew I had to visit P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney. Not actually though cause it isn't an actual place and there is no actual Wallaby Way-- Disappointed. But no matter how many bad spells, nothing could have stopped me from falling in love with the wonderful city of Sydney, Australia.

My first excitement was that I got to catch up with my lovely friend Emily Laura Hall. Emily, Emily, Emily. I love this girl so much. She is such a fun, awesome, lovely person. She picked me up from the airport just after 6 in the evening and took me to her place 20 minutes outside the city. I got my own room and her amazing boyfriend, Adam, made us meat pies FROM SCRATCH that were so delictable and delicious! Such a nice change to sleep in a double bed instead of a little hostel mattress and have a beautifully cooked homemade meal instead of instant noodles in my tummy. Needless to say, I slept like an angel that night.

My parents stuck around in Sydney for an extra day so I got to see them before they left for Singapore.

It was so so good to see them again and I enjoyed every minute of it. We went out to Watson's Bay for a little day trip. Hiked up to the Gap Bluff and got some beautiful views of both the city and the pacific ocean. We escaped the huge rain storm in the city and had beautiful sunny weather at Watson's Bay. We had some lunch and hiked around a bit more but their departure time came all too quickly.

We went back to the city and they boarded their train to the airport. But once they left, the sad feeling, the missing feeling and the homesick feeling all seemed to go with them and I felt really good about my staying.

I took the rest of the day to myself- it was Valentines day by the way- went up to the Observatory and got some great pictures over looking the Sydney Harbor Bridge. It was fantastic. On my way back to meet Emily to head home, I was sitting in a little place in the city waiting for her and a young man came up to me selling flowers. He asked me if I wanted one and I said no cause I didn't want to pay the 5 dollars he was asking. Plus who was I going to give it to? Instead of walking away he just gave me a rose instead and sat down with me and we had a nice chat. He was such a nice guy and by the time I had to leave to meet Emily he asked me out to coffee. I so wanted to go, but I felt really weird about it so I ended up calling it off. It would have been nice to make a quick friend but God had a different plan for me.

The next day was my trip to Manly beach where I met up with my friend Teni again. We did the whole Manly hike which is a 10km hike over looking the ocean and beaches and beautifulness. Man was it ever GORGEOUS! Got some good exercise in and by the time we got back we were both pooped. It was so good seeing Teni again. We had such a good chat and again I am pleased to say I have another good friend from travels.

My trip to Sydney was short and sweet. Emily took me around at night to Bondi beach and around the city a bit. We had wonderful meals of Thai and Mexican food. My last day was really relaxing, I hit the city for a bit of shopping, caught up with Emily for lunch and then spent the rest of the day in the Goverment Gardens just overlooking the famous Opera House. I spent the rest of the afternoon just laying in the grass and reading my book. All very nice and peaceful. The weather was beautiful the whole time I was there. Which was great for Sydney because they were getting nothing but rain before I arrived.

I loved Sydney so much and I can't wait to get back there! The bridge, the opera house, the beautiful parks were all worthwhile. They were all beautiful. They were all what I expected. They were all amazing as.

Mooloolaba

It was hard leaving the Whitsundays knowing the beauty they posses. Although I had sadness in my heart, I knew I still had such an amazing adventure ahead of me. Next stop: Mooloolaba.

It's a funny name, Mooloolaba. This little surfer town is about two hours out of Brisbane on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. When I first landed in Brisbane it was pouring rain. And I don't mean pouring like "oh grab your umbrella so you don't get wet" I mean like pouring rain. Like raining great danes and felines. Like start your underground shelter before you get over turned by a tidal wave and swept off to Timbuktu.It was POURING! I first felt relief because I just about gave myself melanoma with all the sun I was getting. But then again, I still wanted nice weather to tour around in. Just my luck once I reached Mooloolaba-- after a long, dreadfully awkward shuttle bus ride with only the driver and me-- the sun began to show it's face once again. I was seriously chasing sun the whole entire time. It would be unbelievably gorgeous during the day and then cool down at night and rain so we weren't scorching at night. Best of both worlds.

The first day in Mooloolba was my lazy day. After meeting my two increadibly nice roommates, Caro and Linette, Caro and I hit the beach. We stayed out all day, worked on a bit more of a tan (like I needed it) and swam in the beautiful waters of the Sunshine Coast. It was such a nice day. There was something weird in the water that prevented us from staying in too long. It almost felt like millions of little critters were nipping at us the whole time we were in the water. It wasn't very comfortable. So we just laid on the beach chatting about life.

Now, I couldn't go to the Sunshine Coast without taking my very dear friend, Steve Irwin, back to his home zoo. I packed up with my friend Pedro and his girlfriend and we treked off to the zoo. My goodness it was such a beautiful day. So hot and lovely. The zoo was amazing. I got to pet a kangaroo and a koala and even feed an elephant. The crocodile show was also amazing. I can't believe people would put themselves that close to such a dangerous animal. It was more than spectacular. I managed to see the whole zoo and all
the animals. All with skipping the snakes of course.

I absolutely loved staying at the hostel. Mooloolaba Backpackers is where it is at. There were so many nice loving people and there was always something to do. Like BBQ's, pong nights (beer and goon), swim, watch movies, chat. It was spectacular. I got to learn how to paddle board FOR FREEE!! It was so much fun! One night Linette and I went out with some of her really good friends and we just had such a good time! Her friends were so nice and kind and fun to be around, minus the crying 18 year old drunk girls, but we managed to lose them eventually. Whoops!

After a couple more lazy days, my friend Spencer met up with me again and we had such a good time catching up. We went to the beach, without the nipping critters this time, and spent a few hours just jumping and playing in the waves. Afterwards we went for a long walk and chatted for a good three hours. I am honored to say now that he is one of my good friends and I will never forget the short time we got to spend together on our travels. Plus now I have a place to stay in England -- right Spencer?

Mooloolaba was such a great place filled with gems. Full of bike rides and beach bums. Full of rain storms and sunny skies. Full of social nights and chatting strangers. I loved every minute. I loved every person. I can say it was definitely and totally amazing as.

Whtisunday islands

Hawaii, Fiji, the west coast. These are all place in the world with beautiful islands. Now time to add one more to the list, The Whitsundays. Something amazing was cooked up in God's kitchen then placed right on the coast of Queensland, Australia.

After leaving my parents in Melbourne, I headed off for a 3 day adventure on Long Island. It didn't start off as well as I hoped. I had just spend 5 amazing days with my parents and brother in Melbourne and I had to say goodbye to them all over again thinking that was the last time I'd see them in 6 whole months. I started getting pretty emotional and it finally hit me that I was completely alone. All I wanted to do was curl up in my room and do nothing. Don't get me wrong the place was gorgeous and the weather was superb, but I couldn't seem to shake the loneliness out of my mind. It didn't help that the hostel was awful, the staff was very unfriendly and the place was way overpriced. The hostel was part of a resort on Long Island- one of the Whitsunday Islands- so every thing was mad expensive. Let's just say I didn't eat very well for the three days I was there. Not to mention internet was 6 dollars for HALF AN HOUR! Talk about not fitting the budget. To give you an example of how shawty this hostel was, one night my roommates and I locked ourselves out at 9pm and when we went to go find someone to help us get back in, NO ONE was around. So me being my ninja self, took a spoon, yes a spoon, from the kitchen and jammed it into the key latch and pushed the latch over and opened the door. WITH A SPOON! Yeah. I know what you're thinking, I'm a genius.

Despite my sorrows and lonesome, I forced myself to go sit on the beach and hang out by the pool, hoping I'd meet someone. Eventually I was able to meet my roommates, Gabi and Adri and my loneliness started to dwindle away. Gabi and I set out on an adventure hike on a trail that was very obviously not used in a long time. Each step taken was interupted by a spider web. I can't tell you how many spiders went down my shirt. It wasn't very pleasant. But we made it through and had a very nice chat along the way. Nearing the end of our two hour trek, we managed to catch a glimpse of a miniature shark, a kangaroo and the ever grotesque, bush turkey. We managed to make it back just in time to escape the rain.

The next day was just amazing. It had been the day I was waiting for. It was the day I finally got to go check out the Great Barrier Reef. I signed up for a cruise with the Cruise Whitsundays company. They own their own pontoon in the middle of Knuckle Reef which is part of the Great Barrier Reef. On the way out, I was lucky enough to meet a wonderful companion, Spencer. We became good friends quite quickly and it was very nice to have someone there to experience the amazement with. I put on my adventure pants and got to go scuba diving for the very first time. Not only did I get to experience breathing underwater, but I also got to experience first hand the amazing Great Barrier Reef. There is a reason it is one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. I can't begin to describe how spectacular it was to be that close. To experience all the amazing colours and life in the sea. It was for sure one of the coolest things I have ever done. There was a giant blue fish that swam right next to my head and I got to reach out and touch it. Oh man was it ever fantastic. No feeling like it. I just wish I could have gotten better pictures because the ones I have don't even come close to doing it justice.

For the rest of the pontoon adventure, Spencer and I just chilled out, ate some lunch (which we ended up stealing to feed ourselves for the night), went snorkling and slid down the slide. It was unbelievably fun and I just had the most amazing time of my life!

The next day was another beautiful day. I was a bit sad because Gabi, Adri and Spencer all left that day to go to Airlie Beach and I was left alone. I booked a catamaran cruise that day to Whitehaven beach so I wouldn't be so board. I was feeling really uneasy about it cause I had no one to go with and I was worried I wouldn't meet anyone. But to my luck right before we boarded I met a wonderful girl named Teni, who I was fortunate enough to become good friends with as well. Teni and I spend the day relaxing on the catamaran sail boat and enjoying the beautiful, beautiful weather and sights. We stopped over on Whitehaven beach for about an hour and a half. It is this increadible beach with amazing white silica sand. One of the top ten beaches in the world! So gorgeous. We walked along the beach, took some pictures and laughed at the asian mother and daughter. They spent the whole hour and a half taking racy pictures of the daughter on the beach and in the water.
It seriously looked like she was posing for sports illustrated, but the real disturbing part was her mom was the photographer. It cracked the two of us up so much. After the beach we enjoyed a lovely bbq which I again stole food from to feed myself that night. Then it was another snorkling adventure which just turned into floating on noodles for Teni and I. It was just such and amazingly relaxing day.

Sailing on the seas of the Whitsunday Islands. Basking in the everlasting beauty of the Great Barrier Reef. Soaking up the sun and enjoying the beautiful weather of Australia. All these things make me sit back, take it in and say: Amazing as...