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.
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.
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.
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.
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