Spring Break Part 2: Melbourne

So after a long day of traveling, I made it to Melbourne late Sunday evening. There was just enough time to catch up with everyone before heading off to bed. We stayed at Urban Central hostel, which was pretty nice. Kate and I woke up early to get some free Corn Flakes and toast. MMM. But after that, we headed into town. Basically, we just spent the whole day walking around the city center. We went through these little alleyways. They were nice. Some were full of wonderful looking cafes, some were full of graffiti, and some had wonderful boutiques. Lets just say I would be so fat if I lived in Melbourne. Unfortunately, it was really cold that day. We spent the rest of the afternoon looking for a car rental place, and ended up with Thrifty. That night, we went out with Soufyan's friend Floor to a place called Turf. The music was awesome. The next day, we hopped in the car to drive the Great Ocean Road. It is a pretty famous coastal drive. It was beautiful. We drove through fields and along the coast and through a rainforest area. Through lots of national parks. I eventually got behind the wheel for my first experience driving on the left hand side. It wasn't too bad. I just couldn't get the whole blinker being on the opposite side of the wheel. The trip ended at the 12 apostles, which is this famous rock formation. Then we headed home to Melbourne, where we ate and grabbed drinks before heading to bed. The next morning we went to the Tim Burton exhibition. It was really cool. It showed his progress through school and all his sketches and his inspiration for his films. Some clips and costumes. Then we headed for lunch at a cafe. That afternoon we went to the art museum. It was really nice. The rest of the afternoon we hung out by the river drinking Lindtt hot chocolate before flying home. I am about to do some homework before heading off to the Blue Mountains tomorrow. Hope all is well in Texas despite Hurricane Hermine.

Paradise

So, I am currently in Airlie Beach writing this blog. On Wednesday, I flew to Hamilton Island with Oliver (German) and Jack (American) and met up with Jochan and Hans(Germans). We hung around the rich beautiful resort island for a few hours, basically just driving around on the golf cart. It was fun, until security pulled us over for apparently driving the cart too fast. Then the guard couldn't read the German driver's license. It turned into a pretty funny story. Basically, I think the mall cop type guard was bored with dealing with old rich people all day, so he wanted to mess with us. Shortly after this, we left on a ferry for Airlie Beach, checking into a hostel. We just explored the one street town for a little bit, checking in for our sailing trip the next day. We added the optional dive in which Jochan made a huge fiasco because his transaction did not go through apparently. German bankers, don't fight with them and their credit cards. We had a good night's rest and woke up the next day ready for our trip. Unfortunately, it did not leave until 2. So we ran some errands around town getting sunscreen and food and sunglasses. We then boarded the British Defender that afternoon with a crew named Ritchie, Lachy, and Alex. They were all very nice people. Basically, everyone on the boat was either English or German. It was fun though, hearing everyone's stories and where they had been. I have a whole new apprecation for backpacking. One guy has even been traveling for 7 months now, he plans to see the whole world. Such an amazing opportunity. The sun set early on as usual. Dinner was delicious grilled chicken and rice. After dinner, we hung out under the stars. Oh the stars. The most amazing and beautiful stars I have ever seen. It was definitely cool seeing the Southern Hemisphere's constellations. The next morning, we were up bright and early to see this spectacular sunrise. A sunrise that was actually hidden behind and island, and slightly less than spectacular. Oh well. It got everyone up and early to go to Whitehaven beach, aka Paradise. Honestly, I can say, out of all the places in the world I have been to. This has by far been the best. It is on Whitsunday Island and it is a national park, so it is untouched. Literally, not a building, road, or car in sight. Amazing. And the sand. The sand was like flour on your feet. It was so pure and white. No rocks, no seaweed. Nothing. Pure Bliss. Pure blue water. Not a soul in sight except the few people you went there with. I have never experienced anything like it. No picture can capture it. After that, we headed to Luncheon bay for some snorkeling and diving. Now, I am not much into coral and such, but it was beautiful. So colorful. The fish were huge and colorful and came right up in your face. So much fun. Then the weather turned a bit for the worse, and we spent the rest of the day on the boat just hanging out and hearing stories. The next morning we were up early to snorkel around Hook Island. Nice, but not nearly as nice as the other site. Then we headed back for shore, and here I am writing this blog. It is amazing how we keep running into the same people. I would like to backpack around some day. Anyways, I will post pictures and stuff on Melbourne next time.

This picture was taken from the cable car at the zoo. But anyways, let me fill you in on Brisbane. I got in on Wednesday night. Erin and I split some delicious Mexican food (oh how I have missed it). She is the only other person I have found who dislikes vegetables in food as much as me. Onions are gross. But our dish came full of onions, so we ended up getting a free taco and a 10% discount. Not bad. That night we went out to this place called the Regatta and the RE. Both very fun and very Australian places. The next morning Erin and I explored the city. It was beautiful. We watched some rock climbers, crossed bridges, played in fountains, walked around gardens. We were everywhere. That night though, we decided to stay in and get a pizza and rent sex and the city. We got up early the next morning to meet the rest of the housemates at the gold coast. It was beautifully tacky. The sun felt so nice though. We headed back to town and got ready for the night. We did a little bit of bar hopping, and the night was successful to say the least. The next morning we awoke to Souf joining the crew. We packed up and headed to Lone Pine. It is a koala sanctuary, and I definitely have a new found love for koalas. They are such interesting and funny creatures. I even got to hold one. We saw a sheep dog show, and fed kangaroos. We also saw a platypus (my favorite animal now) attacking a shrimp to eat. Later that day, we headed back out to enjoy the city, and eventually ended up eating in Chinatown. We went out again that night to a place called the Valley. It was an interesting night to say the least, between the people and the places we went. There was this really beautiful bar we went into it. Very magical feeling with swings and such in the bar. We got up the next morning to head to Brisbane National Forest Park. The exhausted crew took a hike around the reservoir. Note to self: next time take a car to the park. That afternoon we headed to Coles and grabbed stuff for grilling in the park. We came unprepared, and this nice couple let us use their grilling tools. The food was delicious though. We stayed in the rest of the night to catch our early flight the next morning. Brisbane was a good weekend. Thank you Erin for letting us come and hang out! Next time: Whitsundays and Melbourne.

So I had an exciting week this past week. On Wednesday, the horse races were free! So a couple of the housemates and I headed over there. We went to 3 races, betting a dollar on 2 horses a race. I picked the winning horse twice, walking away $15 dollars richer (I know its not much but it is still more than expected). Then on Thursday, I headed to the beach with Lieke and Anna and my surfboard, only to find there were no waves :( Literally, no waves, flat ocean. It was pretty sad. Friday night, I went to Lieke's place to cook and hang out. Saturday night, the gang headed out to an Australian Football League game (AFL). No, it is not football as in soccer. Basically it is a bunch of men with shaved legs and short shorts running around with a smaller version of a rugby ball. They can run with it, kick it, pass it, bounce it. They can get tackled. It is a circular ring, and at each end there are 4 posts. If the player kicks it in between the middle posts (whether in the air or by rolling), they get 6 points. If it goes between the outer posts, it is 1 point. It was alot of fun, but not nearly as much fun or enthusiastic as a Texas football game. Sunday was a lazy day, just doing homework and laundry. I have got class on Monday and Tuesday and then I head out to Brisbane on Wenesday. So next time I post, I will fill you in on all the fun I had in Brisbane. See you then :)

I have had a great but busy week. Wednesday night Erin came into town with all of her friends. We went to Bondi Junction to a place called Eastern. It was fun. The next day was unfortunately spent all day working on a group project for Marketing, but we finally finished it. Thursday night we went out to Darling Harbour to this place called Unipackers. It was fun but the views of the city at night were amazing. On Friday I went to the observation deck of the Sydney Tower and took some amazing pics. Unfortunately my camera died :(. On Friday night we went to the Empire Hotel for $10 bottle champagne to celebrate our housemates Anna's birthday. She had a very good time as did the rest of us. On Saturday, we went to the Taronga Zoo. It was amazing. I felt like a little kid again. The weather was so nice too. Not too hot but not too cold. A perfect spring day. You have to take a ferry to get to the zoo. It is so cool looking out at the animals and seeing the Sydney skyline, and opera house, and bridge in the background. I went to the beach with Erin on Sunday until it started raining. That night I booked my flight to New Zealand. I leave on Sept. 29 and come back Oct. 11. I am so excited. So many fun things ahead in the future.

Hey guys! So I have officially booked a weekend trip to Brisbane at the end of August. Now everyone is coming. I am really excited. It will be good to get out of Sydney and do some exploring. Unfortunately for this week I have been bogged down with nasty school work. No fun. But it was an English exchange student's birthday last night. He turned 21 last night. Conveniently it was on $5 dollar steak night. Everyone convened at our place after to hang out which was a pretty good way to break up this busy week. Everyone that comes into our house is so jealous. That's because our house is made up of the best people. I am really excited about all of the opportunities ahead of me. I am planning a week in New Zealand the first week of October with some friends. Spring Break is still undecided. Now its between a week in Melbourne and the Blue Mountains (a famous bushland area with hiking and kangaroos and such). This will probably be the better option because it is cheaper for everyone. Cairns is still an option, and I would love to spend a week on the Great Barrier Reef, but thankfully I will be able to see it with my parents (as long as my exams work out the way I want them too). Happy 30th anniversary to my parents. Have fun in Georgia!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I will probably be posting only once a week now unless I go traveling in which I will post more then. Life has been good in Australia. I have made some amazing friends. The picture to the left is when we went to the aquarium. Mostly I have just been hanging out, surfing or shopping. We went to this market this weekend in Paddington. It was really cool but once again, it was pretty expensive. On Monday, a couple of us went to this little Irish bar that had a live Reggae band in the back room. Then on Friday we went to this place called the Gaff. On Saturday, our friends from the Netherlands through a house party. Yesterday, Aug. 1, (I can't believe it is already August and that I've been here a month!), was my french housemate, July's, birthday. She is vegetarian and gluten free, so we cooked her a delicious dinner and ate together as a house. My friend from Texas is coming to Sydney in 2 weeks. She is studying in Brisbane so hopefully I will be able to visit her there soon. Right now, everyone is worried about where to go for Spring Break. Possibly Fiji or New Zealand or Bali or the Gold Coast. Who knows! I want to go everywhere and unfortunately thats not possible. I have got class the next 2 days, but it is supposed to be a beautiful sunny week this week. Anyways, hope all is well in the U.S.