watch your back kangaroos

almost done with school!

2009-05-29T22:23:00.000-07:00

Hello! I am getting worse and worse at updating this so I finally told myself I needed to sit down and write some things out (especially because that is so much more interesting than writing an 8 page paper!) A few things have happened since I last blogged. Last weekend was international food fair on campus! Campus East itself has students from 43 different countries which is amazing in itself. So for one day they shut down the kitchen and teams of different countries prepare food from their home country and all students come out and go around to each stall to try some different food out. I was on team Italy (yes, I am quite aware that I am not from Italy it's just team U.S.A. was headed by another group of people and my roommate was the head of Italy so she kind of recruited me to help out) We made a dessert and a pasta dish - the dessert was so good! A dense chocolate cake with a middle filling nutella and marscapone and then the pasta was just fresh tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and italian spices. Our food stall was the first to run out of food so I deemed that meaning Italy won haha but every country put forth such amazing dishes that I had never tasted before. I was so full for the rest of the day but it was a great event that I'm so glad campus puts on for us.

Another night my friends here and I decided to do was a Wine and Cheese night. I was in charge of getting all the cheese and everyone would bring a couple dollars and a bottle of wine. I went a little overboard with the varieties of cheese but hey, if it looked good, I got it! and it was delicious! Here is the spread:

From Right all the way around clockwise is homemade guacamole, then a plate with laughing cow variety pack cheeses. The next plate had four different types - Danish blue cheese, gouda, a swiss cheese, and a sundried tomato cheese that was SO GOOD! Then a plate of hard salami with different types of crackers. The next plate had a cream cheese spread that was flavored with sweet thai chili sauce - another fan favorite. A tin of feta cheese and semi-sundried tomatoes in seasoned oil. A chunk of Norwegian cheese - jarlsberg and cambert. A dish of green olives with those fun tooth picks with the tassles. Cut up Dipping bread with Extra Virgin Olive Oil I got in the hunter valley and this balsamic glaze that goes down the bottom and makes a delicious dip. And then a whole plate of cheddar cheese slices with apples and crackers. The finishing plate was a three creamed brie and a salt-washed rind cheese that is like brie but a little more punch to it - mmmm...Altogether it was delectable!

Then comes the wine part!! Above is Matt, Amanda and Myself with our delicious wines and below is the whole spread of the different wines we all brought and shared! I also broke out my little bottle of chili schnapps which we all took shots of at the end of the night to top it off. I actually passed mine to someone else because I tried it on my wine tour (I also didn't want to have my mouth be on fire for the rest of the evening). It was a great night just to get away from tests and assignments and attempt to be sophisticated together.

So I've figured out I only have one more week on Monday left in school which is so bittersweet. I got to talk with Jean Marie yesterday and it made me miss home quite a bit but at the same time I really do not want to leave lovely Australia! Also talking to Jean Marie I've realized there are some avid readers of my blog - thanks for reading!! I do have a shout out for one particular reader - Joy Agule! Joy, I have to give you props because Jean Marie informs me not "Brenna, I was reading your blog" but instead "Joy was telling me that you have in your blog that you did...." haha so Thank you for updating my mom because she wouldn't know half the things if it weren't for you :) also I hope you're doing well and I can't wait to see you when I get back!!

Also about five minutes ago I was a little bored and realized that my sort of bangs were quite long. Nikolai my roommate was just floating around in my room and I told him I think I should cut my hair. My friend Taylor did my bangs one random night and they came out really good so I decided I could do it too. My being the idiot I am just cut them SO SHORT - haha I look like a little boy who was attacked by his mother with a bowl to get his bangs trimmed up. Nikolai also photographed the whole event because he knew I would mess it up somehow - well pat yourself on the back Nikolai, I messed up. Whatever, hair grows back but now there's this big clump on my desk and it makes me a bit depressed that I just did that haha. So word of advice, if you're a little nervous to cut your own hair don't do it ha.

my, my, my

2009-05-21T17:13:00.001-07:00

HOLY SMOKES! it was been far too long since I have updated my blog...my sincere apologies!! The end of school is winding down so the work is increasingly piling up. Last weekend, our campus had a harbor cruise right in Sydney Harbor! It was supposed to be an open bar and fancy dress so I was quite excited! It ended up being a good time but the people manning the boat were big mean faces. As soon as I walked on I saw they were serving coronas and I thought to myself, wow, this is a nicer beer than I thought they would give us. Turns out, they were from 2006 and way overdated. I didn't drink any, but all the boys were complaining how they tasted a little "off". They also didn't explain to us you couldn't double fist (have two drinks at once) and one of the random staff members would pace around just ripping drinks from peoples' hands. He wouldn't even give them warning, just walk around grabbing them. I found it hilarious to watch peoples' faces because he was crazy! They also yelled at random people for no reason (well, I'm sure there was a reason but n the story, there was no reason). The boat also docked early so no one was pleased about that.

But before the harbor cruise started, I went into Sydney with a whole big group of Norwegians from campus for Norwegian day! It's like their 4th of July, so there was a big parade through the city and ice cream and rolls at the end. So many little kids and adults were dressed in traditional clothes which I happily stalked with my camera and took stalker pictures. There was one boy who was just going to town on his ice cream getting it eeeeverywhere, so he was a must kodak moment!

I also called home to have big dave transfer money from my accounts because I have three weeks off and who knew that travelling cost quite a bit of money! So I guess I asked for a bit more than he was expecting and was like "Brenna!! This is your money so I want to ask you a question - when are you going to pay yourself back for this!!" Um, eat ramon noodles for the rest of my life?? He also wanted to know my plans for the three weeks and where I would be going. I went through the places (Melbourne, Fraser Island, Whitsundays and Fiji) and when I got to Fiji he goes "FIJI! What! You're going to Fiji!! Jean, did you know she was going to FIJI!....fiji!" I kind of wish I had recorded it. But after talking with him, I did realize how much money I was actually going to spend so my travel buddies and myself went through some things so we could cut some corners on money. For example, in Melbourne we were going to do a tour of the great ocean road that looked pretty reasonable. Instead we decided to get a camper van so we could travel and sleep (that way we wouldn't have to worry about hostels) and it turns out that renting the van for the whole time there between the three people going will be half as much as just that one tour. The van also comes with a stove which is good because that way we can get cup-o-noodle (for like $.50 each) and eat that the whole time instead of spending huge amounts of money on food.

I did however splurge on one thing that I am SO EXCITED ABOUT!! So I saw Cirque Du Soilel in Florida when I was like 15 and it was so good! Well, turns out it is touring in Melbourne! So I checked out tickets and turns out the two I'm going with wanted the nose bleed section but the ones one section up where only $20 more. But I figured out in one section there was a front row single seat open!! SNAG!! I got so excited! I will be seeing Cirque Du Soilel front row! I've never seen anything front row...freaaaaking out!! so excitied! I do however need to get through a ridiculous amount of school work before all of these adventures start :(
Hopefully everyone is enjoying there beginning of summer...soak it in for me because it's starting to get cold here :( But I'll be home almost a month - that is ridiculous.

007 Ball

2009-05-11T22:33:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, University of Wollongong had a ball that was titled the Casino Royal Ball - themed James Bond style. A bunch of my friends and I decided to buy tickets and go! I didn't have a nice gown so I decided to do some Op shopping (thrift stores) and I found this great brown long dress for only $12! I was pumped about this but when I tried it on, it really looked like a pregnant woman wore it before me. Everything was fit fine until it got to my rib line and then it just bubbled out. So I decided to buy some ribbon and pray that I could salvage the dress. It ended up looking fine so I just was like - hey, it didn't cost that much so if it looks semi-decent it was worth it. It was so much fun and we got three drink vouchers when entering the function hall. There were also dressed up people coming around with appetizers - holy smokes were they fantastic! It was like gourmet appetizers. I kept on yelling to Rolf that we needed to find the people with the appetizers. After stalking down several of them and getting a ridiculous amount of food, our group decided to go find our table after getting our drinks. When we got to our table, there provided for us were a bottle of white and red wine, a pitcher of beer as well as two juice pitchers. It was fabulous! Dinner came soon after and honestly, I would have paid to just eat the dinner - marinated salmon in this amazing vegetable sauce with asparagus or the most tender, rarest steak with pureed potatoes and a gravy sauce. Rolf and I both had half of our dishes and then switched so we got the best of both worlds. Then to top that off the desserts were uh- so good. I got the berry one that was a blend of all different berries with a whipped cream on top - I was in heaven. The then had all different kinds of gambling games set up but I forgot my money voucher at home so I just watched everyone else play the games happy just to sip my wine and enjoy! It was such a fun evening just to get all fancy and feel like you're going someplace more adventurous than your unit room. Here are some pictures from the evening:

my date Rolf and I before we left

The girls all dressed up (r-l) Yvonne, me, Sophie and Amanda (I have no idea why this is underlined in blue...I tried to get rid of it, beats me!)

All the boys - I don't if they were going for a James Bond pose or what but they are wearing nice clothes so that's all that matters - Braidon(Amanda's date), Jesse, Nikolai, Rolf and Rob.

My berry dessert! mmm....sooooo good

Myself, Edwin (Rolf's roommate first semester) and Rolf - this is personally one of my favorite shots of the evening. As you can see, it was quite a fun time.

Jumping out of a plane is highly advised

2009-05-06T01:12:00.000-07:00

So I went skydiving. It was awesome.

I always wanted to skydive here in Australia and I finally just grabbed a couple people and booked it. It's with a company called Skydive the Beach Sydney and it drops you at 14,000 feet which is the highest a person can skydive. Jeff Crimmin who was a good friend from my high school was studying abroad in Scotland and decided during his reading week for finals to make a stop over in Australia - random but great! So he got in touch with me to say he wanted to visit Sydney and see if we could get together. I asked if he wanted to go skydiving while here, he said yes - perfect opportunity to fulfill one of my dreams. I only booked it one day in advance so the only time slot they had open was 6:30 am but I was too excited to turn it down. We woke up groggy and took a taxi (turns out the place was a lot closer than we thought). I decided to upgrade my dive to include photos and DVD and t-shirt (a lot of money extra but SO worth it). I met my guy Dan who I was going to be jumping tandem with. He had a video camera attached to his wrist so he could film the whole experience. He pulled me aside so could do the intro to the video which was pretty cheesy and he also asked me questions that I didn't know the answer to!? He was like "Brenna, what are we doing today?" and I said "doing what my Dad says - jumping out of a perfectly good airplane" and he said "oh you must be crazy girl"...all I could answer back laughing was "um......no not really" It's so awkward on the video and it makes me laugh everytime cause I was just like speechless and he was all up in my face with the camera. I forget what else he said that was awkward...oh I remember now. I was like "sorry Jean Marie and Big Dave, you don't know I'm doing this so my apologies" and he was like "don't apologize, you're gonna love it!"....It just was awkward...I think you need to see the video...but besides that I was pretty calm getting my harness on and boarding the bus to the airport. We boarded the airplane and my nerves surprisingly weren't an issue. I think I was too busy laughing at Jeff. He got assigned to jump with "the veteran" - this old man who had been working for the company for 36 years. Jeff also didn't purchase a video but the guy decided he was going to film him anyways so throughout the whole process the guy was up in Jeff's face, filming him and asking all these questions. Jeff's face was priceless because there was no reason why this guy was filming him, but for some reason he kept on doing it. (Jeff ended up buying the video at the end so, I guess it worked out in his favor). When Dan started strapping us together and the green light that said "1 mile to go" flicked on, that's when I got nervous. I was the third one to jump out so I got to see the door open up, and two people jump out. I think that was the sacriest thing - knowing that I was going to be doing the exact same thing that they did. So scary. But finally we jumped out and it was such a speechless moment - literally. As soon as my mouth was open, air filled in and the whole thing was dry. But free-falling didn't even feel like you were free falling, it just felt like you were above the ground soaring because the earth didn't look like it was rushing towards you. When you pulled the chute, that was really cool too. Dan let me steer the parachute and he pointed out all the little places. I also didn't tell my parents about this little adventure because like the good daughter I am, I didn't want to worry them. But I uploaded pictures and I changed my facebook picture so through the grapevine they found out sooner then I could tell them - whoops! But hey, Jean Marie, I'm alive - no worries!

Dan and I on the plane getting ready to take off!

Worst moment right here, knowing that you have to jump out of that plane.

Self - explanatory

Being able to steer the parachute, so cool.

All done and back on solid ground. So so so so cool. Two thumbs up.

These are also some randoms from Tasmania. I forgot I never posted photos and those are so much more interesting than my words so here are a few.

This was the group that went a couple days early so we took a drive down to the Southern most tip - this is the first stop we took for scenic pictures. Nikolai, myself, Amanda, Adam and Matt.

The view at Fisher's Point.

We were late enough to see the sunset as well.

The whole group at Cadbury Chocolate Factory. We had just picked Mali up from the airport so now the whole gang is together!

This was our first view on the hike so I thought this was Cradle Mountain, but that was a mistake because Cradle Mountain is so much cooler.

We finally found it! Cradle Mountain - yeaaaa

This is what we hiked. You can see the path on the right hand side, it looks like somebody just traced a tan pen on the mountain. If you see that bump on the right, the heighest peak - that would be the summit. It took a long time to get there but it was probably the best hike that I've done.

Mitz the wonder mobile

2009-04-29T22:20:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been a while since I have updated this!! I just got back from a trip to Tasmania - amazing! I had three days of school and then left on Wednesday from class to the airport to meet the other four who were going - Adam, Matt, Amanda and my roommate Nikolai. Mali came as well but she had a test that she needed to stay for so she met us on Friday. So we flew out of Sydney and arrived in Hobart around 8:00pm. We checked into our hostel and then got a recommended place to go out and have a couple beers. We ended up being super hungry afterwards so we took a walk down to the Salamanca markets to find a 24 hour bakehouse which served up hot meat pies and rolls. So tasty! We then woke up the next morning with one mission - to rent a car. We asked the woman at the hostel and she recommended a place. We called up and figured out that we could get an eight passenger van for a week for $500. We were sold so we walked over there, filled out some paperwork and were introduced to our new friend (who we named Mitz) - a blue Mitsubishi van that looked about 20 years old but at the same time awesome! She was a standard and they also drive on the opposite side of the road so this was a huge adventure waiting to happen. After getting some maps and directions we decided to go to the southern most tip of Tasmania and I guess the whole country of Australia and see the sunset. It took a little bit longer to get there than we thought because one of the roads was all dirt and rocks so we took it slow with Mitz. The whole drive there was unbelievabley gorgeous with rolling mountains and fresh green everywhere. The two hour walk we took around Fisherman's Point when we got there was also breathtaking. Adam kept on saying how he couldn't believe this was real - everything was just too pretty. We got to see an amazing sunset over the water with deep reds and oranges about mountains that looked like someone had a file folder of them which they just like stacked all together. It was a great first day in Tasmania.

The next day, Friday was day to pick up Mali. We had to figure out our accomodation situation for Cradle Mountain - tenting or cabin and then rent whatever we needed. We decided on a cabin and cheated the system a little bit. A cabin came with two sets of bunk beds and a double bed for $150 a night for two people and then it was $20 for every extra person. I didn't understand this because the room came equipped with six beds? So we just booked it for two people and then split that six ways. We then decided to get some sleeping bags so we rented those and then picked up Mali from the airport. We then treked out to the Cadbury chocolate factory where we got a presentation on the factory and then got released into their "discount chocolate shop" - um I was in heaven. I think my bag at check out weighed about seven pounds but we were good to go in the chocolate department for our trip. We then drove five more hours to our cabin up in Cradle Mountain stopping occasionally for food and scenic spots etc. The roads were super winedy and very mountainous. In one of my travel books it said that if you flattened all of Tasmania out, it would be almost as large as the mainland Australia. After a great night sleep in our cabin (which was clutch for the weekend, it was so good equipped with stove, bathroom, beds and a dinner table) we woke up to hike Cradle Mountain.

Cradle Mountain was a total 6-8 hike which we all geared up for. It was pouring when we woke up but turns out the visitor center didn't open for another hour when we got there so by the time we got our map and were situated on where to hike, the sun started shining. The hike was absolutely breath taking. It was one of the most scenic hikes I've ever been on - since the trees aren't very tall, you can see everything around you as you hike. It definitely combined some of the best hikes I've done all together - it had the tundra like Alaska, the beautiful lakes and rocks like Glacier and the scenic route like Mt. Katahdin in Maine. There was a point in the hike where you climbed up an edge to see Bam! Cradle Mountain. It looked like something from Lord of the Rings. It was so cool and the fact that we got to climb to the summit was that much better. My camera however did die right before we got to the trail leading up to the actual mountain so I was a little bit bummed about that but life goes on. But getting to the summit was kind of ridiculous because you would follow these markers as you were boulder climbing and you would see one in the distance that you were like "oh yea, that must be the end" and then you would get there and see another seven markers ahead. There was also this grey haired man who we deemed mountain goat because he passed us hiking at a ridiculous speed and then passed us again on his way back down. I commented that he was a mover and he just smiled and said he was pressed for time that day so he needed to do it fast - aka lapping 20 year olds making us look so out of shape. We finally got to the summit though which was awesome. For three of the six, this was there first successful mountain that they had reached the summit to which kind of boggled my mind because I guess normal people don't live with big dave's whose idea of a vacation is cross country driving to all different mountains. The way back down was pretty but so long. This is what I've figured out about hiking...getting there is awesome but very kind of a pain because normally it's uphill and stairlike so you're quads hate you. The summit is awesome but you can only stay there a little while before your sweat dries on you from the wind up there. And going down is great at first cause it's a lot easier than going up but after like an hour, you just want to get down the mountain and to your car. So we hiked down for a good four hours because I guess we took the longer trial back. It was almost 6 when we spotted the car and by that time the sun had gone down and it had started to rain. We were so excited to get back to Mitz and go back to our cabin, take hot showers and then go out to eat at the only restaurant around. I got into the drivers seat and attempted to start up the car and it started sputtering and then shut down. Then I tried again and it did the same thing. Matt switched, turned the ignition and nothing happened. Awesome, the battery was done. So we all got out and started to push the car to attempt a jump start. Nothing worked. Finally, other hikers saw us and offered to jump our car. The only problem was we had no idea where the battery was located cause Mitz didn't have a hood. It took us about a half hour to figure out that you had to unhinge to hooks next to the passenger seat up lift the whole middle consol up to find the engine and battery. We hooked up the cars and the car still wouldn't start. Finally, Matt decided to check the oil to find the tank completely dry. By this time it was almost seven and everyone was closed because it was a National holiday and there was no cell phone service in that part of Tasmania. Matt hitched a ride up to try and find help at...somewhere while the rest of us tried to stay warm in the car. Matt ended up flagging down a tour bus for "Night with the Animals" and convinced the driver to take us back up to our cabin. Thank goodness because our cabin was 10km. away and we were absolutely freezing and cold and exhausted. Once we got to our cabin, we took hot showers and rationed our food because we couldn't drive out to the restaurant. Mali and I ended up having peanut butter and jelly pasta (which was actually quite tasty!...try it)
The next morning, Matt and I woke up early to go try and figure out the Mitz situation. We bought oil and get a lift down to our car by a shuttle bus. We filled up the car and attempted to start to it but our battery had again died. We caught the shuttle bus back up to notify the ranger so he could come and jump our car. We again rode the shuttle bus back down to our car and pushed Mitz into place. A couple women saw us and asked if we needed a jump. We decided it wouldn't hurt to try it out because the ranger was going to be another half hour. We hooked the cars up and again, the car wouldn't start. The woman was like "mmm, it's not your battery. It could be your alternator" so I was like "oh brother, what the heck Mitz!!". But then the ranger came and hooked us up with a generator and the car started after the second try - thank you jesus! Matt said it was probably because the oil needed to get back into the engine so it needed a couple times to turn over. After that we picked up the other guys and started our scenic drive back to Hobart. We stopped off here and there for photo opportunities and ended up in Hobart around 9pm. We parked and grabbed a quick bite to eat at a pizza shop. To save money for the night, we were just going to sleep in the car so we were going to move the car to a better location. I got back in the car to start it up and discover that yet again, Mitz died on us. AHHHH!! so we were standed again and our flight was in 10 hours in the morning. Someone had the geneous idea to call the phone number on the van and people came within ten minutes to give us a jump. Although Mitz was unreliable, it was one of the best trips ever - so gorgeous. And you know what, it makes for better stories when you get back - count it.

computers are stupid

2009-04-21T15:33:00.000-07:00

So, I got all excited to come back from spring break and upload photos and update my blog and my computer decided he wanted to ruin my dreams. Apparently my screen lights have slowly gone out to the point where my screen is now all black with little visuals of what i'm supposed to be seeing. So this whole week (aka two days) has been me mooching off of people's computers and being in the computer lab constantly. But the girls got back fine and dandy...we went to the Aquarium our last day to find nemo and see sharks. We were successful on both so that was a plus and then went and got meat pies (which are a big thing here). But I got an email from Becca saying they got in safely which was great!

I am actually flying out to Tasmania today which is ridiculous and I can't believe I just got back from an adventure and I'm going right back to another one but I can't wait! The cadbury chocolate factory is there so that was a big starred item on my list haha. But I will update you on all the adventures once I get back!! Hope you're having a great week!

So many leash kids...

2009-04-15T01:10:00.000-07:00

ADVENTURES CONTINUED!! whew...I know you were waiting for this...no worries...I am back to update! so where did we leave off? The bridge climb? sure...

So the bridge climb went superb! After that we went to the Glebe markets which were like a boutique store and a vintage store combined in these outdoor vendor booths. Becca picked up a really cute shirt and I found a steal of two shirts for $5 from this woman. I also made my sisters get kebabs for lunch which were huge and delicious. We then headed back to the hostel to take a quick nap, change and head out to St. Mary's Cathedral for Easter Vigil Mass. It started at 8 and the church was absolutely massive with beautiful stained glass windows and a stunning alter. We were pleased to get candles at the beginning just like St. Elizabeth's does back home at the Easter Vigil. The mass was done by the Cardinal so that was pretty cool but all three of us walked out at the end (finished up around 11 so not too bad) singing the songs from back home because there really is no beating Easter Vigil back at St.E's. The music was all choral and monotone one note if not in latin and the homily started off with the Cardinal giving bullet points for something - the best part was the actual size of the mass and building. We then went back to the hostel to call big dave because it was his birthday still in the U.S. After that we all crashed to wake up the next morning to our Easter baskets that the Easter Bunny had shipped all the way from Acton (jean marie, weigh the packages before you send them, that was a little excessive but well appreciated and loved - thank you!) Becca ate my peeps and I devoured Reese's cups because of the lack of those here in Australia. We had a lazy morning and then went out to go get brunch at a place called Pancakes on the Rocks - SO GOOD! Becca and I split two meals - one was a crepe filled with bacon, potato, onion, chives and cheese with a garden salad on the side and the other meal was a "black and white" which was one chocolate pancake and one buttermilk with a scoop of chocolate and vanilla ice cream. We decided to get strawberries to go with them. We ate the whole meal ridiculously fast and were fully satisfied with our delicatable choices. Afterwards, we went to the Scenic Wildlife World to get our Australian animal fix in. Becca found a new obsession which was koala's. She kept on running around with all the six year olds shouting "this one's awake!! come here! this one's awake"...she would even get excited about the sleeping ones. Every half hour they do "koala talks" where a ranger talks about fun facts about the animals and so forth. Afterwards she took one out of it's tree and brought it around to be touched - I thought Becca was going to pass out. At the one stop, she apparently took around 100 photos solely of koala's - it's an issue. I also found a new obsession though - spotting kids on leashes. The first day we were in Sydney I found two (hilarious) but the best one so far was at the Wildlife World. He looked just like the little kid from Jerry McGuire but screamed all the time. I don't mean scream like high pitched but more like shouting at all the animals. He was harnessed in a fancy navy blue leash and unlike the other longer straps that they other ones spotted had, this one was only about two feet in length. I was shocked at this but after creepily watching him for several minutes I realized why it was so short - he was a tornado of energy - always going, never stopping and causing as much destruction as possible. At the kangaroo exhibit, I really thought he was going to hop the barrier and get in there with them - he came pretty close, I mean the ranger had to come over and scold but him and the parents. They did let him go at some point in the day (no, I didn't stalk him that heavily, we were just in the same area again...okay maybe just a little stalking) so he could eat an ice cream. He ended up climbing up on the table, slipping off and banging his head on not just the table but the bench also. After he calmed down he was off and running - maybe that's what big dave was like as a small child? who knows? All I know is that leash kids are ridiculous and once you get over the fact that they are actually on a leash you figure out the reasons why. This kid needed to be leashed.

After Scenic World, we had some gelato at darling harbor and then went back to our hostel to check out and head to the airport - Cairns here we come!! Our flight was wonderful and we touched down in misting rain but very tropical tempatures. We found our hostel no problem and met up with Dawn (she owns and runs the hostel - crazy but super nice woman). We got all the info on our reef dive and headed to bed because we were getting picked up at 7:00am for our next adventure. We first got an underwater camera dropped off so we could take photos and videos of the reef and then were on our way down to the pier. We boarded a huge ship and got our snorkels and fins and headed to the roof top to get a nice spot in the sun. I was an idiot and didn't find out my certification information to go on a "certified dive" but they did have the option for an "intro" dive on the reef so we all did that. We first were able to snorkel right out to the reef before getting called in for our dive. My ears have such trouble "equalizing" which means as you descend in the water, you're supposed to push air back into your ears to stop them from hurting. Mine were being a pain so I dove a little bit above the group until finally they got settled. Our guide picked up a couple sea cucumbers and let us touch them. We also were able to go around a big piece of reef and take in all the fish. You could really see the difference in the color of reef from a couple years ago. It was quite faded and greying but the wildlife were still pretty cool. We then boarded back on the bus to have some lunch and go to our second diving spot. We opted to not pay the additional fee to dive again and just snorkel out to the reef. The fish were again super cool and we took numerous photos with the camera so that was awesome. At the end of the day they gave us a glass of wine and cheese and we all fell asleep on the way back. Forgetting how strong the sun is out in the water we all got very badly burned. Because I have been here for almost two months mine blended in pretty well but Mollie looked like Zorro took a few swipes to her back and Becca just looks like she has a really bad disease. She is really splotchy and the majority is only on one side haha But at least they'll look a little tan when going home.

After the reef we went out to dinner where we hunted down a place that sold kangaroo. I got the game meat plate which had both crocodile tail and kangaroo filets while Mollie got kangaroo and Becca got a kangaroo burger. Enjoyed by everyone! The next day we were up early again to trek out to the rainforest of Kuranda. We took a Scenic Railway tour first which was a rickedy old train that took you up and into the mountains. There were some really pretty views of waterfalls and valleys. In our cabin was an adorable Chinese couple about mid 50's. The wife (Lena) was the asian version of the old lady on Wedding Singer who did the rendition of rappers delite. No joke. She was that cute. They were both from New York City and it turns out the husband (John) worked right by where Mollie used to live. They were a little bit obsessed with us but I was a total fan (especially cause they thought I was the oldest - point for Brenna!) After two hours of train travel, we got up to Kuranda where we looked around the Aboriginal arts and crafts market and had the most scrumptious sandwhich lunch! There was also a walk through the rainforest which we all decided would be super (and it was free so we were all keen on that). We ended up getting the full rainforest experience because it poured on us - and we got absolutely soaked but we had fun while doing it!

Ah! I only have two minutes left....this will be another to be continued...but we fly out tomorrow to Sydney and then the girls are out the next morning :( But I'll upload pictures for the full story :)

The stupids hit up Sydney

2009-04-13T05:31:00.000-07:00

I am sitting in my hostel right now, in Cairns :) so exciting!! It's still quite early, but that's because Mollie was a little tired (dun dun duuuuunnn) so we headed back a little early but that's okay because now it's gives me time to update this (Kelsie Bouchard this is for you)! Our adventure started in Sydney where we had a day to tour around first before Holy Thursday mass. We decided to walk places and figured out maps in Australia show everything in a much larger scale so we could get everywhere on foot pretty easily. We walked around Darling Harbour as well as Circular Quay. We then went to the Botanic Gardens to tour around. They had the most beautiful rose garden that just smelled out of this world. It was almost too much, like it was fake or they had secret little sprayers in the trees to omit the smell but no - it was natural...crazy! We were then able to walk through to the Opera House and tour around! obviously kodak moments were a must. We then stopped at a restaurant called macchiato and had homemade pizza that was delicious and italian and our waitress had the most adorable accent! We then trekked out to a town a little ways away to meet my chaplain at UoW who was having a Easter retreat and we celebrated Holy Thursday mass there. It was very good although I will say the priest spoke at quite a shouting level...I almost broke down at one point during mass with giggles because he was speaking so loudly but I luckily locked it up!
On Friday we did a Hunter Valley wine tour which was AWESOME! the last time I went we did big, commercial vinyards but this tour was called "Boutique wine tours" so all the ones we went to had were little tiny places that only sold their bottles from their specific stores. They were so tasty and our tour guide was absolutely hilarious which made the day that much more great! We got back and had a cheese picnic on our hostel beds (I know that sound gross and you're thinking of those lights from CSI being shown on the covers but it was in a plastic box...nothing spilled on the bed...even if it did, let's be honest - when it comes to food my family is gross and will eat anything and everything no matter what non-sanitary surface it touches). We then went to bed to wake up on the early side to do the Sydney Harbour bridge climb. We stopped at a little french place in the morning to grab some pastries for breakfast and then walked over to the bridge. Again we had another great tour guide named Chris who was a little appalled by our "funny" pictures which primarly were instigated by me. In one I think I actually reached out at Becca and after he took it he was like "is that an eye gouge!? you are poking her directly in the eye but that's okay because it looks like she's strangling you. You do realize these go up on a big screen where people can see them?"...yea about that...haha but the views were amazing and we did the discovery climb where you got to learn about all the fun facts having to do with the actual structure of the bridge which was right up Mollie's alley! it was spectacular and we then bought several pictures at the end of us doing it!

okay I only have six minutes left and I don't have any more dollar coins so this is going to be a to be continued post...so to be continued........

ooo i felt like I was an episode of friends or something where you're just WAITING for the next one and it says that and you're like nooooooo...I hope that's what just happened with you! actually I don't...cause that's kind of sad...that you just got upset about my blog...flattering...but really...find a hobby...or come and visit me! good see you next week!

hellloooo Easter Break!

2009-04-08T18:00:00.000-07:00

So I am right now in an internet Cafe in Sydney with BECCA AND MOLLIE!! :) so exciting!! So I finished my 12 page presentation on Weds in my P.E. class to triumphantly head to Sydney to get the girls at the airport at 7:25am. I stayed at my friend Janie's apartment because she's right by the train station and that way I wouldn't have to wake up at 4:00 am to get a train to Sydney. Bec and Mollie arrived safely rambling about this and that...well more Becca because let's be honest, she talks more than any person and Mollie is just the side-cart girl (no offense Mollie...it's just a fact). We had a lovely breakfast and got phone cards so we could call Jean Marie and Big Dave - I didn't even try for Nana because she only spoke to me for maybe 30 seconds the last time I attempted and promptly said "Oh, that sounds important! Jean Marie, Brenna needs to tell you something important"...I knew I had lost her haha. But we're planning on doing some site seeings before Holy Thursday mass and then going to bed because the girls probably will hit a wall because of jet lag and we have an early morning wake-up to go off to the Hunter Valley for some wine tasting!! So this is just a quick update but hopefully I'll be able to post some more as we go abouts our travels! Happy Easter to everyone!

The Other Part to the Story

2009-04-05T17:39:00.000-07:00

I've realized that every time I post a blog, about an hour later I remember something that I'm like "shoot, I meant to put that in!" So, I'm here to update you on the forgotten stories from Adelaide. The first one I thought of was our Kangaroo Island catastrophe. So Kangaroo island is known for obviously kangaroos and I guess they aren't really the smartest of animals. On our way back to our "farm" where we were staying, our tour guide actually hit one on the road after it hopped out and then right back into traffic. Now I was unaware if you hit a kangaroo, you actually have to kill it. So here comes this cute little petite tour guide to the back of the bus where we were and I thought she was going to get out a gun. No, no...she reaches down and gets a hollow, metal pipe and was like "I'm sorry guys. I can't believe I have to do this, but I love animals way to much to let it suffer." So of course everyone on our tour bus stood up trying to get a good view. I however, turned around and got to watch everyone else's expressions which was actually kind of hilarious. Rolf next to me decided to get out his high tech camera and take continuous photos of it. But after several hits I guess, our guide moved it to the side of the road and we were on our way again. It definitely was a different kind of encounter with a kangaroo.
The second story I forgot to tell was how much I hate JetStar. JetStar is an airline that sells super cheap tickets but is also horrible at the same time. So all of us brought carry on lugguge so we didn't have to deal with checking anything and when I checked in to go back, I had to weigh my carry on items (this is something we didn't have to do on the plane ride there flying with Qantas) and it turns out I was 5kg over their limit (which is about 10 pounds). My carry on luggage was far smaller in width and length than several other peoples but because of the weight (I had bought a bottle of olive oil and tomato sauce at this delicious vendor in Central Market which together weighed about 5 pounds) I had to check a bag. Now, if I signed up to check a bag online with JetStar it's only $10. But if on the day of you find yourself in the pickle I was were you had to unexpectedly check a bag it costs you $80. WHAT!? How is that even reasonable. The woman wouldn't even let us take things out. Ah, it was so frustrating! So I got my nice little receipt and sent my bag off to the world of $80 checked bags. I don't think the total contents of my bag equaled $80 - but whatever, you roll with the punches and you deem JetStar the worst ever. I also found out yesterday that Becca, Mollie and my JetStar flight back to Sydney from Cairns decided to change it's schedule. We are now leaving 9 hours earlier!? I called them because in the email there was only an agree button - not a disagree one, and the man said he could only give me a refund - there were no other flights that day. I made up a story and said that we had a booked dive and weren't getting back until the afternoon and he apologized and said he couldn't do anything about the airline but give me a refund. By this time though, flight prices on other airlines are around $700 one way so it would be a waste of money to try and switch airlines to get a later flight out. Ah! They probably have in fine print somewhere that they're allowed to do that but I think that's a little meany-head of them. Honestly, they are not high in my books right now. But on a lighter note - Becca and Mollie arrive in two days - OH MAN TWO DAYS!! I'm super excited!!

Food is so yummy in my tummy!

2009-03-31T03:28:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, a group of four of us (Nikolai my roommate, Nicole, and Rolf and myself) traveled to Adelaide which is the capital city of South Australia. It is also technically the food capital of Australia yum! Our travels to the airport however were ridiculous. We missed our train by just a minute and figured out that the next train was in an hour and a half. But we scanned down and figured out the stop next to us had a train going out in 10 minutes. So I stupidly said that we should buy our tickets because I read the sign wrong and figured we were picking the train up from the station we were already at. Once we had all bought our $20 dollar tickets, we read the sign again and figured out I was an idiot and we needed to get to the next station by walk/car in five minutes. We sprinted and caught a taxi which got us there ten minutes past the train. We then discovered that the next train would put us at the airport with 15 minutes to catch our plane - not so good. So we called a taxi because the one who brought us from the first to the next said he would drive us straight there for $25 each. We had already bought our train tickets so we thought that was ridiculous but now that was our only option. We called his company back and got a taxi. We asked the driver how much is was to the airport and it turned out that it's a flat rate of $180 because they can't work in Sydney so it would pay for their drive there and back. We were quite reluctant but it was our only option. But we got to the airport fine and started our adventure! We caught a bus from the airport and took it into the city. We ended up not knowing where to get off and took a little side trip into the suburban area of Adelaide before Rolf asked someone. Once we got turned around and found the right stop, it was a short walk to the hostel. We stayed at Cannon St. Backpackers which was almost like a college dorm. It had ping pong, a lively crowd, a bar and free apple pie at 8pm. We were able to book a four person room for $2 more a night so that worked out perfect. We grabbed some essentials and then were off to tour around and find dinner!

This was us on the bus from the Airport to the City - finally arrived!! Our trek to dinner was hilarious as Nicole and I were oogling over cute little cafes and restaurants with clean linen table clothes and little T-lights. The boys were totally fine going to McDonald's - ridiculous! So I told them that if we couldn't find anything, Nicole and I would go on a cute date of our own and leave the boys to their four dollar meal. We ended up finding this cool place call Woodshed that was rustic and most of all had kangaroo on the menu. Then the owner of the place next door convinced the boys that they served the best pasta in Adelaide - they were hooked and Nicole and I were left to eat at Pasta Palace - honestly, Pasta Palace!? haha but the gnocchi was actually pretty good and we got a decent sized house wine. But it was hard convincing Nikolai that Pasta Palace might not be your ideal spot to take a girl on a first date - although I will say the plaques on the wall were pretty spiffy! We went to bed on the early side because we had to be up at the crack of dawn for our Central Market tour with Adelaide food and wine tours. The Central Market was this big place with vendors and fresh produce, meat, bread, and cheeses. This is one of the pictures detailing the inside:

We met Helen our tour guide at 7:15am to have a delicious breakfast of fresh fruit, warm croissants and fresh coffee (because I hate coffee I got a hot chocolate - it was amazing!). We then toured around and got to meet all different vendors and get samples of their food at most of the places. Helen was quite a chatter so she kept us super late. Rolf got a new camera lense so he was camera boy for the morning. Helen repeatedly asked him to send them to their company so they could add them to the website - so fun! I also had the best yogurt I have ever had at one of the vendors. It was 98% fat free and made with no sugar but instead sweetened with honey. We had the mixed berry kind and it was absolutley fabulous. It tasted like cheesecake but fresh and glorious and out of this world. This is us with Helen:
Afterwards, Helen realized she was really late for her second tour and she hadn't moved her car yet. She asked if any of us could move her car around the corner and up to the parking at the central market. I volunteered (I don't know what I was thinking because they drive on the other side of the road) so she gave me instructions we were off to hi-jack a car! We found it fine:
...But me being the idiot that I am started opening up the passenger side of the car because I was all excited to get in and drive I forgot it's reversed. Everyone else knew so they made me pose and take a picture and then decided to tell me I was stupid and needed to get on the other side. Oh goodness, I prayed I woulnd't do the same while driving. We parked the car however fine and now I can check off my list "drove an Australian car"! I still don't know what Helen was thinking but I'm totally okay with her trusting us and fulfilling one of my goals. We then walked around the city until our 1pm tour at Haigh's Chocolate Factory. The chocolate was so good and everything is hand made and the factory looks just like willy wonka's - so cool to watch. This is us in front of the sign:
We then decided to do some shopping. Nikolai and I tried on some sweet Akubra hots. I'm still a little upset I didn't buy this one - it was beautiful. I also would look ridiculous any other time then at like a rodeo or hunting crocodiles but hey, that happens on a frequent basis...
We then decided for dinner we would go back to the central market and get all the fixings for a picnic on Victoria Square which is this beautiful grass plaza in the city. We bought bread and then I got feta, sun dried tomatoes, hard salami, kalmata olives, brie, avocado, grapes and a big bucket of mixed berry yogurt! It was unbelievable. Everything was so fresh and delicious. I would break my bread into chunks and have different combinations of everything. One of my favorites was brie, sundried tomatoes, avocado and a little feta. Uh, my mouth is watering just thinking how glorious that event was. This was our lay out:
Our next adventure started the next day at 6:15 am when we were picked up from our hostel to tour Kangaroo Island. It took 2 hours to get to the ferry and then a 40 minute ferry over. Our first stop was Pennington Bay which was absolutley breath-taking. The water was so clear and turquoise with perfect surf. We only had time to walk around a bit but the sand was so fine and soft and the rocks were awesome as well. Nicole and Nikolai made it all the way up the top:

This was the view of Pennington Bay:

We then went to the farm where we were staying, grabbed some lunch and went on to the next stop - a bird show. Nicole got to get up and hold some Kookaburras on her arm:

We then bee-bopped over to see some fur seals. You can't see the seals in the background but this is us in the caves with seals in the background haha:

We then went to the Remarkable Rocks which I don't actually know why they are remarkable but they were pretty fun to jump around. We didn't know what to do with just looking at rocks for 45 minutes so we started taking random photos. We have one with self-timer and ones looking like someone is getting pushed off the rocks. Jumping pictures as well peekaboo shots were taken - it was fun to play photographer. This is one of our more creative ones - can you find all four of us?:
We then went to the beach for the rest of the day and snorkeled a little bit. At night we trekked out to go see the little penguins come back from fishing all day. Because they have very sensitive eyes, we weren't allowed to take pictures but we did get to see several of them which were super cute. The stars were actually one of the most amazing sites - you could see the milky way and everything. The next day we went to see the Sea Lions down at a Conservatory where only guided tours can go and see the seals. We got to be about ten feet from them and watch them interact in the wild - this one kept on following us - looks just like a little puppy!:

We then were off to sand board - this is Rolf on the way to the dunes. It was one of my more creative photos I took so I wanted to add it to the blog:

The Dunes:

So you get this sled like sandboard and go right down these huge dunes. I bit it hard my first go and have it on video. Five dollars to see it...just kidding...but really it was bad. The good part is, it doesn't hurt, you just get sand everywhere. All of us did a couple runs but lagging up and down the dune was quite a difficult and by the time you get to the top you're exhausted. This was all of us on the top:
We then packed up and went to the beach for a couple hours. The boogie boarding was great and the sun was beautiful. We had gorgeous weather and it was absolutley fabulous. I was glad to get back and get some rest but traveling I've decided is awesome.

2009-03-23T19:33:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I just wanted to give you an update on things! School is going well - I'm in the middle of my five hour break at Uni and I have just gotten done three assignments in the library so this was my break for being so deligent! I guess I haven't really shared my class schedule so this is what I do on a weekly basis:

Monday: 8:30-9:30 Aboriginal Studies Lecture (super boring and basically pointless, I still go to it though so I can do homework in the library after)
12:30-1:30 - Scripture and Prayer (this is at the Catholic Society chaplaincy. It's a great way for me to take a break out of my day and we pick one scripture from the Bible and go into it a little ending in prayer

Tuesday: 8:30-9:30 Learner's With Exceptional Needs Tutorial (Just like a recitation at home except this one is broken up into all P.E. students which is awesome because then we can do things that are specifically applicable to P.E.)
2:30-3:30: PASS class for Australian Studies (this is basically like extra help but I think you secretly get extra credit for going to this. It's with students who have taken the class before and statistically those that attend this get 15 points higher a semester - banging!)
3:30-5:30 Australian Studies Lecture
5:30-6:30 Australian Studies Tutorial (This ends my streak of Australian studies ridiculousness. I would probably space out in this tutorial but my tutor is the lecturer so it's a little more intense but she is actually really nice and super interesting so I'm okay with it)

Wednesday: 10:30-11:30 Net/Court Games (this is one part to my Skill Analysis class but it's awesome because he goes over how you modify the class while still challenging students. Very hands on in-depth P.E. class)
12:30-1:30 Daily Mass with Catholic Society
1:30-2:30 Target Games (Part two of skill analysis, another awesome class of application with education)
3:30-5:30 Aboriginal Studies Tutorial (this class is "Death Class". It's two hours with a ridiculous tutorial woman who nervously laughs all the time and doesn't really answer questions. We also have a 68 year old man named "Marve" in class who has hearing aids so he talks in an outdoor voice and always interrupts the tutor. We also have a girl that asks questions at the very end of class keeping us after for a good five minutes when we didn't think 2 hours could ever go slower. I cringe thinking about this class)

Thursday: 1:30-3:30 Learner's with Exceptional Needs Lecture (this would be bad because it's my only class on thursday but the professor is super awesome and I really enjoy the lecture)

Friday: 1:30-3:30 Aquatics - I haven't had this one yet but I'm excited to see except our big assignment in this class seems impossible so that will be interesting to do haha

I also was quite a risk taker this week and myself and three others just decided to book flights to the Adelaide which is the food capital of Australia - we leave thursday haha. I still can't believe I'm going so soon - man that's in two days! But I'm quite excited because we are doing a two day tour on Kangaroo Island so that should be outstanding! We are also doing a Haigh's Chocolate factory tour and a tour of central market with food and wine tours of adelaide so I'm excited to eat...yessss! I just now have to play catch up so I can get work done prior to leaving because I know I won't do it there and I dont' want it all in my face when I get back so I am being very studious! But I am really excited and can't wait to Blog about it once I get back! Also Becca and Mollie come in two weeks - DYING!! soooo crazy!!

kangaroos plus wine equals a VERY good day!

2009-03-22T22:13:00.000-07:00

This past Friday, my friend Amanda (from Pennsylvania, lives on Campus East with me!) and I attended a Hunter Valley wine tour. We had to catch the train to Sydney and be at the University of New South Wales at 8:00 so that meant a very early morning. We woke up at 4:30am to walk to the train to catch the 5:30. Once we were in Sydney we scrambled to get a taxi and make it to the Uni which we did with one minute to spare. Our first stop was the reptile park where we got to see koalas and feed kangaroos in the open park. Amanda and I had contests to see who could get the best kangaroo picture - she won...it was ridiculous. We then ventured out to the Hunter Valley which is about two hours north of Sydney where we visited four wineries and had a grand time! The first was golden grape where we tried six different wines - one being something called "dragon's breath". It was butterscotch schnapps with rosemary and chili peppers. The shot was so firey but so good!! I decided to buy a whole bottle for a family occasion because this will blow limoncello out of the water! The next winery was a bigger, more proper wine taste with a cheese sample in between glasses - delicious. Amanda and I decided to get a "break" wine so we could drink on the bus while going from one place to another. The third winery was McGuigan's where we had a whole range of different wines in a very fun little wine glass (which I hid in my purse and now is displayed on my dresser) Our last stop was at Dr.Jurd's jungle juice where we got to sample it at this very hick bar. There happened to be a wedding reception at the same time so it was interesting when 50 quite tipsy/drunk wine tourers got off the bus and basically crashed this ridiculous wedding. They left pretty soon after we got there -whoops! But it was a great day to go and explore one of the wine capitals of Australia!

This is me with a koala!! They are suuuper cute!

I got a little up close and personal with this guy - we're totally pals now

Feeding kangaroos - AMAZING

This was the rack of the smaller bottles of dragon's breath - ooo spicy!

This was at the Lindamen's wine tasting. These were all the samples we tried with lovely cheese and crackers - put food in front of people who have been drinking and they become ravenous

Amanda and I at the last wine tasting - how great are those cute little cups!

A whole day of wine tasting + a camera = self explanatory. haha but there actually was a story behind this...we were doing a photo shoot with different "themed" faces and for one of them I shouted - "Face just after white water rafting!" And this was the after photo when we processed the actual theme and figured out it was ridiculous. Whatever...I thought it was good.

Picture Upload!

2009-03-18T01:36:00.000-07:00

So I decided to upload some more pictures because it is frustrating me so much that facebook won't let me upload any of them online. These are some pictures of the Bateman's Bay adventure! Also new fun fact update - one of the fashion trends here is Aladdin Pants. No joke, they are sequined or flowy colors and big and baggy and then end at your ankle in a tight elastic. Very interesting. I was not a fan at first but now I see them everywhere and I think it would be kind of fun to have Aladdin pants - I can just hear Michaela's comments already!

These were the wild kangaroos we came across in the wild. My friend Amanda got surprisingly close before they all noticed her and hopped off on their merry way!

Another kangaroo but this one had a JOEY! ahhh!! so cute! I couldn't get over it!

This was the beach before we went down and had a beach walk. It was such beautiful sand with awesome little coves to find little creatures in.

This was the sign on the framed picture of Princess Diana in the room I slept in - I know - unreal.

The boys - Adam and Pat with their weapons and wetsuits before going out on their epic fisherman adventure.

The boys and the fish they "speared"...We all got to watch them gut and clean them and then we got to eat them...mmm so tasty!! I should hire boys to hunt for my food all the time!

Kangaroos are both adorable and delicious!

2009-03-15T20:29:00.000-07:00

This weekend, a group of eight of us took a trip down to Bateman's Bay which is about three hours south of where we live in Wollongong. One of the Australians I have met here is lovely and her name is Sophie. She's originally from Perth which is all the way across the country but her family has a vacation house in Bateman's Bay so she kindly enough invited some of us up for the weekend to get away for a bit. We arrived Friday night to the most beautiful house. As soon as you walk in, you take in the huge space of the living area/kitchen which is wide open and magnificently decorated. There was a long dinner table that faces out to the house wide glass windows facing the beach. The bedrooms were gorgeous and I actually got to sleep in the bedroom where it is said Princess Diana slept right before she announced her engagement! (There were about seven different tiaras in the room - it was awesome!)
The next morning, we leisurely got up and made a delicious breakfast of egg in a hole - you take a piece of bread and cut a circle into it. Then put it on the grill and crack on egg in the hole. Flip it both sides until cooked - egg-in-a-hole! Two of the boys went out snorkeling and the rest of us took a drive to McKenzie beach. We walked out to the water and I felt like I was in a movie or somewhere in the Caribbean. The water was glass clear and turquoise with pristine waves and the softest sand ever. The boogie boarding was so good and I had a great time teaching one of my friends Amanda how to do it. I felt like Big Dave a little bit yelling out - "okay get on your board, here's a good one" and then launching her off in front of the wave. We then regrouped and went on a kangaroo adventure. Sophie knew of a place where we could go see kangaroos in the wild and possibly feed them. Like idiots we forgot the apples so we didn't end up feeding them but they were EVERYWHERE! There were so many and you could get a good few feet near them before they all hopped away. And oh man were there legs looking powerful - it's almost like they have permanent crutches built in for legs. Afterwards we walked a little farther from where we were and had a beautiful scenic beach walk in and around rocks and beach.
That night - we were determined to try something a little adventurous - kangaroo meat. I know it sounds cynical to have just seen amazing kangaroo in the wild and then eat them but oh my goodness, kangaroo meat is so good. It's a very dark meat, almost like a flank steak but it's 98% fat free so it's a very lean meat. The boys came home with $90 worth of meat so we kind of had a feast. My roommate Pat fired up the grill and did a master job - it was so delicious! The next morning we even had kangaroo omelets with the left overs. My friend Adam from Indiana and Pat decided to go spear fishing for our meal on Sunday so they got all decked out in wet suits and weapons (not a fan - the spear gun freaks me out!). While they went spear fishing, we sunbathed and boogie boarded while watching them hunt hundreds of meters away. They came back with two huge fish and so we fired that up and ate it as a treat before our journey back to campus. Fresh fish is unbelievable. We also made friends at night with possums that we gave them apples and they let us pet them. It was unbelievable. All in all, it was a touch of heaven and the perfect get-away weekend!

2009-03-11T21:32:00.000-07:00

I tried to upload photos yesterday but it was not letting me so today I decided to dedicate my blog to some pictures of this past weekend! enjoy!

My roommates Pat and Nikolai came and met us at the zoo to join us in our fun-filled day! This is Pat and myself at the parade!

This was just after we (Amanda, Myself and Mali) bartered a deal for those boas but oh man we're they fabulous!

This was the view from the Ferry boad on our way over to Taronga Zoo. I got to see the magnificent Sydney Opera House as well as the beautiful skyline in the background.

This was on our scenic walk in Coogee Bay - we got to see some of the coolest rocks and have a little expedition exploring them.

Fat Tuesday!

2009-03-11T01:45:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I took a journey to Sydney to go to the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade! I first went down Thursday because I didn't have anything to do on Friday and my friend Carter from S.U. is studying at University of New South Wales in Sydney so I decided to stay for an extra night. My friend Matt didn't have Friday classes either so he took the hike down with me. The train was only $4.80 to Sydney but Carter lives about two miles from the city so we had to take a bus which stopped a gazillion times (yes, I know, gazillion is a lot exaggerated but that's what if felt like) and we got there in good time. We grabbed some food and went to a neighborhood cookout where we cooked our own burgers which I don't know why, but tasted amazing.
The next day was beautiful so Matt and I stayed at Coogee beach and soaked up some amazing rays. We decided to take a scenic walk to a different beach which ended up being a really cool walk where we saw all these awesome rocks and plants. We ended up taking a lot of kodak moment photos so the walk there took about an hour and a half and then we had to walk all the way back once we got there. When we got back, our other three friends from UoW had arrived at Coogee so we checked into our hostel and went out for dinner and drinks.
Saturday morning we woke up super early (my friend Amanda and I were the drill sergeants getting the other three out of bed) to catch the earliest ferry to Taronga Zoo. We ended up catching the ferry - miracle of miracles - and got to the zoo where it was basically empty. We got to see such awesome animals and attend a seal penguin, elephant and koala show! The chimpanzees were quite addictive to watch because they were all riled up playing with each other and the baby one even got a piggy back ride - I think we stayed in front of them a solid half hour. But I got to see my first koala and kangaroo which was so cool (but it will be even better if I get to see them in the wild so we'll see about that). Koalas eat leaves that have eucalyptus in them which is basically like a drug so the reason why koalas don't move a lot is because they are in a natural drunken state. Pretty awesome. After the zoo, we caught the ferry back and got some dinner before the parade. Already there were huge amounts of people but in the most ridiculous costumes ever. Rainbows galore were everyone and the floats were decorated and lining up. Apparently people got there at the crack of dawn to line up on the street corners so where we were was about 12 people deep so I didn't get to see most of the parade which is a bummer (but rumor has it I guess a lot of the floats were nude - hilarious...so I missed out on all the nakies...oh well!) But when we first got there and saw all the outfits we decided we needed to get decked out so I bought this ridiculous headdress of pink feathers and my friends bought boas. We felt a little bad ass but just enough to fit in. But it was a lot of fun to just be around the environment where everyone was just united in a free and open response of togetherness. Some woman who took our group photo yelled out "everyone say penis!" I mean honestly, how much better can it get!? haha But it was also really great to go back to a hostel and fall asleep for the night.

Time is Flying!

2009-03-08T05:50:00.000-07:00

So I just noticed that I have not posted in almost a week - slap me in the face and call me Susan, I am so sorry! This weekend, I visited Sydney and a friend in Coogee beach in right outside the city but that is a whole big adventure that I need some serious sit down writing to describe so I might wait until tomorrow to fill you in on the details! I'll just tell you about some new happenings that are pretty boring but hey, I think they're fun.

So I got a new camera. I had one at the blue mountains trip but it decided to be a jerk and not function. So the lens got stuck out and wouldn't go back in and refused to take pictures so I aggressively shut it and it worked sporadically from there. The lens however was messed up in some other way, so the only time it would clearly focus was on a magnification of 3x or more - stupid. I figured since one of my orientation trips got canceled, I would just use the money to scope it out and buy one. Within minutes, I was able to find a camera with a sweet deal on an 8 mega pixel camera and without question I purchased it and have been playing with all the fun options! One of my roommates opened his eyes super wide so we could examine the red eye effect. There's also a feature where even if your hand is being very shaky or your for some reason bouncing up and down (aka pogo stick and taking a picture) the camera will straighten the shot out - wicked cool! It also has a feature that can magnify just one color on a picture and put everything else as black and white so that one object pops out beautifully - so moral of the story I'm completely in love with my new camera!

I started school last week which was interesting. I also discovered Syracuse is stupid and didn't tell me I didn't have enough credits until enrollment was over. So I got an email saying I needed to take another class to stay valid as a student at Syracuse. So my perfect little schedule of three classes was shattered and I had to go on a wild goose egg hunt to try and fit something together. It turns out the only class that could potentially transfer over to credits is an analysis of skill themes (target games, striking games and aquatics) which lucky for me conflicted with one of my tutorials. But with a little coaxing, I was able to get in so now I won't be deported. The only really terrible thing is that I now have a friday class - thank you Syracuse University. My dreams of having a three day weekend to travel are ruined and I am not a fan. The good part is, the class actually looks really fantastic so at least I'm giving my Friday's up for an awesome class.

I have discovered the coolest toy ever that for some reason the United States or just massachusetts or maybe just me didn't know existed. They are called "Kinder Surprises" and they are the sweetest thing since sliced bread. It is a chocolate egg with the outside being milk chocolate and the inside as white. You crack it open and it the shell and inside is another "yellow" plastic roundish can that is supposed to be the yoke but instead holds a prize inside! So far I have a collection with two musical creatures, a robot that shoots arrows from his hands and a plastic flower that when the button attached is pushed becomes a spinning top - unreal! Needless to say, my five year old mind thinks these are the coolest things ever and I will keep up the tradition to trying to get as many different toys as possible. Also to introduce them to the united states because let's be honest, if POGs were a big hit, these would have been even bigger that's how cool they are.

I have booked my flight to Cairns for when Becca and M0llie visit - yay!! So I am super excited to go up and explore the reef. I also called the woman at the hostel where were staying and she was an absolute peach, telling me all the newest tours we could do and giving me outlined directions to our room because we'll be landing kind of late. I can't wait for break to begin but I just started classes - whew, I've got to buckle down because I still feel like I'm here on such a vacation-y adventure instead of it being real life. But so far I really like all my classes and I'm quite excited for the upcoming week :)

2009-03-02T00:26:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! I decided because I started school today and don't really have any fun stories to post some pictures up instead! The internet is really slow here so I attempted to post all of my pictures up on facebook and it malfunctioned a bit so I will just have to upload my whole lot on another day! But here are a couple from this weekend and earlier! I hope everyone back in Massachusetts is loving the snow - I just got back from the beach with some pretty crazy waves!

This was getting pulled up the hill from grass carting...I think already have some killer grass stains on my clothes from going down.

This is a view of the skyway cart going across the blue mountains and if you look really closely on the right hand side you can see three bumps which are actually the famous three sister rocks!

This was a group of us from the blue mountains tour after abseiling...I don't know why it won't let me flip it so my apologies if you have to turn your head!

This is me getting ready to abseil all decked out in my gear!

My roommate Nikolai and I went on a lighthouse walk -
look we're so creative with cameras!

These are my three roommates!
Nikolai, Pat and Amy!

Blue Mountains of Amazingness

2009-03-01T02:52:00.000-08:00

So I traveled to the Blue Mountains this weekend for an orientation trip for University of Wollongong students run by Extreme Adventures Company. Wow, what a weekend! There was a group of 40 from all over the university (aka from all 4 different living campuses). We left on Friday evening to make the three hour drive to get to our Blue Mountains hostel for dinner time. We all hung out and had some drinks while playing cards and getting to know each other. In the morning, we woke up to take a trek in and abseil the mountains (they call repelling abseiling). We got our safety procedure and then went on a ten foot boulder to practice. I'm not gonna lie, I almost panicked going down on the rocks because I felt like I was so unprepared and just didn't know what I was doing. The woman leader said I was fine and I smiled and nodded but inside my head I was freaking out. I watched one of the Norwegian girls on the trip have her feet swing up over her head so she was almost upside down against the "test" rock and I just pictured myself doing the same thing. What you are supposed to do is keep your legs straight - which is quite hard to do going backwards down a rock because your instinct is to bend them into an athletic pose - then sit your bottom and almost make your body into an "L" shape as you move down the cliff. The scariest part was getting harnessed into the real drop line and just looking over the edge of what you need to potentially get down without freaking out. As I started my descent, I thought my heart was going to explode. My guide Patty noticed I was very jerky with the rope and he told me to just loosen my grip while I went down. Holy Smokes! That was so much easier! It turns out, we instinctively hold the rope tighter when we are scared so the rope gets pulled only a couple of inches instead of smoothly dropping you. I just imagined if my hand was loose on the ropes that I was just going to zip down and crash and burn at the bottom. But the ropes are tied in such a way that it causes enough friction to slowly release and let you gently soar down the cliff while building confidence. By the end of my first abseil down, I was dying to do it again because I had finally solved why I was so awkward before. I got to do the same mountain edge again before they moved us on to the largest cliff face - a 35-40 meter drop. This had more gaps and was a straight edge cut off which just makes for a scarier start haha. But it was awesome to zip down such a ridiculous mountain while bouncing off the face of the cliff and zig zagging here and there. So so cool.

After we did that, we had a quick lunch and packed up to go visit the three sisters. These are three amazing rock formations that aboriginal legend has it used to be three sisters whose tribe was about to be attacked. The witch doctor turned them all into stone - preserving them from any harm to be turned back when it was over. The witch doctor however was killed in the battle, leaving the three rocks to stay forever in this state. The views from the lookout were absolutely breathtaking - very similar to the grand canyon but with gum trees covering the whole valley. The eucalyptus inside the leaves of the gum trees produces an oil that in the humidity and sunshine of Australia makes a blue haze - hence the blue mountains. We then hiked a ten minute climb to cross a ladder and go inside one of the three sister formations. That was awesome because from the first lookout you could see the tiny people going through on the ladder on the mountain and then to actually be that speck for someone else was awesome. After site seeing obviously hitting up the gift shop (man, that craving for cheap souvenir things never goes away even when you get older) we boarded the bus and headed back to our hostel for dinner. We had a great steak dinner and while we were eating, a woman came over to our group. She was part of an irish dancing team that was doing a fundraiser for the Victoria Bush Fires so for $10 donation we could stay and learn how to do traditional Irish group dances. About 20 of us decided to stay and participate and man, I'm so glad I did. This was probably the highlight of my weekend and it was completely unintentional. We were so bad that it was just hilarious. We would attempt to learn the dances and after a bit got the flow to confidently dance around like we were straight from the heart land. We danced, drank and laughed all night. Our tour guide Pete was apparently being "too" loud for the leading dancer so after being scolded, the dancing was that much more hilarious. She then pointed him out later saying that his dancing was 'perfect' - I think she was trying to win brownie points. I was able to get our 60 year old bus driver up and dancing and we all just had a marvelous time messing up the dances but not caring because it was just so fun!

The next day we had an early morning wake up so we could start our hike down the blue mountains to see the Katoomba Falls. It was a beautiful hike down with rushing waterfalls, cockatoos flying everywhere and the most bizarre rock formations that were unbelievable. Once we got down to the bottom, we had our "kodak" moment sessions and headed back up the mountain on the steepest railway in the world - a 52 degree angle. My friends and I got the first and second row facing down which was pretty scary but excellent at the same time. Before we got on the train though, me being the idiot that I am decided to dismount the "display" horse they had for tourists and swing around the neck to the pathway. I didn't notice however that there was a big iron sign inbetween me and the path. I swung hip first into the sharp edge of the sign haha. It took my breath away for a moment and no one actually noticed that I did this stellar act until I was doubled over and trying to concentrate on something other than the pain. I have a pretty good pain tolerance so I just shook it off and kept on moving. I could feel my hip trying desperately to try and stop the internal bleeding that I had just inflicted in my body. I decided to show one of my friends on the trip to just make sure it didn't look to bad - the faces were not good haha. They both gasped and were like "oh my gosh Brenna, you need to get that checked out". I apparently had a big gash on my hip which was bleeding and a bruise of violet was already forming. I luckily got a tissue and plastered it on so I could get up the mountain. In the gift shop I was kindly helped by a man named Robert who took me in to the first aid "lounge" to fix me up. I forgot that alcohol wipes stung so that was another hit to the brain when I swabbed that on. Worst of all, after I was bandaged Robert wanted me to help him fill out an incident form so they could remove the hazardous sign. I didn't exactly know how to tell him that it was me that should be removed and not the sign as I swung into it (I just told him I wasn't looking and ran into the sign and not I guess the "whooole" truth) Oh goodness - but I'm totally fine - best of all it's going to be a sweet battle wound in a couple of days!

After the hike we packed up and went out to go grass carting. I was thinking in my head we would be in those caged little go carts going down a grass track. Yep, not the case. They were the most rickety metal contraptions with a tire attached for a seat and your steers were your feet on the front bar. A bunch of us missed the tutorial where they apparently went through how to break. A whole group of us launched off and when we got close to the stopping point, I suddenly realized I didn't know how to stop my careening cart. Flashbacks of me trying to ski and going straight down the mountain started filling my head. I ended up slowing down and then ramming into some poor girl on our trip - needless to say I was classified as a "people hitter" that people should watch out for. This was almost like back alley grass carting where at any moment I felt like I could flip over with a swerve of my feet or a loose bump in the grass. The carts also didn't look like they were going fast but ooo man, you could move! I ended up clipping another person on a different run but I slowly started getting the hang of slowing down. There were many spills and the numbers of participants dwindled with every go. Myself and five others were still going strong as we were told one more run. My friend Adam took some sweet videos which I got to upload on my computer to have. All in all it was a wicked jam packed with amazing experiences and a great way to start my adventure here! Oh yea speaking of, first class - tomorrow at 8:30 am...let's hope this goes well.

Op-shopping is my new favorite thing!

2009-02-26T13:22:00.000-08:00

So yesterday was Wednesday and it was super busy! Campus east sets up all these activities that the RA's on duty plan and run which is great so the line up was "op-shopping" at 11-2 and then "a walk to the lighthouse" at 3:30. Now you might be thinking in your head what the heck is "op-shopping". Well, we have salvation army at home and they have that times a million here. There are soo many thrift stores all over the place and it's common for uni students to use their resources to grab an inexpensive new outfit or props for themed parties. Any thrift store is called an "op-shop" here hence "op-shopping". One of the RA's here loves Op shopping so she decided to compile a tour of all different ones to hit up a series of all different ones - I was in heaven! I got this awesome dress for $2 and I found at one all these vintage University of Wollongong shirts that are sweet! It's also an awesome place to find furniture - I was very tempted to snag an $18 futon because it was probably one of the most comfortable couches I have ever sat on.
When we got back, my roommate Nikolai (he's an exchange student from Canada so another non-native like me to do touristy things with!) and I went and joined the tour to the lighthouse. It was a beautiful probably 2 mile walk and it's right on the coastline where the famed town beach is. It was really beautiful! All of the postcards I have been seeing has the town center with the lighthouse pictured on it and now I can successfully buy them and say that I did the walk around there. Also on the walk, the amount of pelicans on the ocean is crazy! They are like seagulls here (they have seagulls also so don't think I escaped those little buggers) and they just swim around the water being cool. When they eat things - man that is so fun to watch, it's almost like they have a tickle in their throat and they need to shake it out.

I also finished my enrollment sign up online so I know my class schedule! It actually turned out really awesome because I am a tutorial sign up champ! So how it works is each student has the lecture they have to go to at a set time but then they break that down into smaller groups called tutorials. Sign-ups for tutorials are at random times and once that time has passed - you are eligible to sign-up for one of time choices available. My roommate Amy who's the RA said that it's best to sit and just wait for the clock to reach your time and quickly enroll because apparently last year she was 10 seconds late and everything but one tutorial was left. Most of the classes I'm taking are with international students so I was praying they weren't that fast at this game. So for both of my sign ups I was anxiously waiting for the clock to tick to my time, click the menu, the class I wanted, and enroll! I am proud to say I got every one I wanted and like my roommate back home Brittany says - "Slam, bam, thank you ma'am!" My class lineup is a lecture on Monday morning, a tutorial Tues morning and a lecture Tuesday afternoon (3:30), two tutorial Weds but not until 1:30 and then one lecture Thursday! This is great because the lectures are not compulsory (don't worry jean marie, I will be attending them) but if I decide to travel someplace far away and I really would like a longer stay, I could fly out Weds, stay through Monday and technically have a 6 day stay there! Saaaaweeet!

My Door List

2009-02-25T04:25:00.000-08:00

So I just read the last blog I posted and there were way too many exclamation points to count - wow I sounded like I was hopped up on sugar and disney videos. Hopefully this one is a little less suzy sunshine (not that Australia isn't awesome!...it was just over the top...needs to be taken down a notch)

Today was a lovely morning - I had my orientation for Education which started at 9. The program here has around 85 students in each year for physical education which is enormous compared to the 20 of us over four years at Syracuse. But I got to meet the director of the program and we're going to set up a meeting to discuss things so that will be great.

But I wanted to share about my door list. So about a week ago, I just got so overwhelmed with little things here and there that I "must do!" in and around where I live and Australia that I compiled a list. I stuck it on my door and put a pen next to it. If anyone thinks of something that they recommend or I just shouldn't pass up - they add it to the list. Once I have accomplished something that's on the list, I redraw it with a vibrant marker so as progress on in the list - my sheet gets more colorful! So far I have accomplished quite a few things - (most of them involving food - what can I say - I live to eat)
1) Eaten a Meat Pie - this is quite similar to a chicken pot pie but instead it is filled with meat and usually has potato and cheese on the top or whatever thing they want to add to jazz it up. It's almost like Shepard's pie meets pot pie. And we have just discovered that at rugby games and things similar, you can get a "traveler's pie" which is like a hot pocket meat pie...tasty!
2) Saw a Rugby game of sorts - Bulldogs vs. Dragons - it was a great game to watch!
3) "Munched on a Lemington" - Lemington's are a classic Australian dessert that is sponge cake with a chocolate coating (lighter than frosting but similar), then covered in coconut shavings. Almost like jean marie's favorite the snow ball but less twinkie-ish to it. Apparently some have a cream or jam filling. It was good with a cup of hot chocolate.
4) Eat a Kebab - We had this the other night - oh.my.goodness. was it tasty! I decided to go all out and I got "the whole lot" on a lamb kebab wrap - lettuce, tomato, tabbouleh, hummus, cheese, onions, olives and then I asked for sun dried tomatoes on it - my mouth's watering right now - after it, I felt like I could go a week without eating but I was a total fan.
There is still much more on my list to do and I will keep updating you on accomplishments - hopefully there will be some more "scenic" accomplishments instead of all food ones - but hey, I am not complaining, food is just too good!

I also found some American girls who wanted to go to Ash Weds. today so we walked about 15 minutes to the local church which was great. The little boy in front of us decided after we got our ashes to proclaim in his best outdoor voice "We all got paint on our face!! I love it when we paint faces!" The mom was shushing him as his 5 year old sister was licking her fingers and then giving her doll the sign of the cross on it's forehead. I found it hilarious and a pretty gross at the same time but hey, they're learning in their own ways.

I bought a boomerang today!

2009-02-23T19:53:00.000-08:00

So it's been a while since I have blogged...my apologies!

What have I been doing!? Well I went to my first official rugby game! Man - that sport is awesome! I'm a fan of high paced sports like hockey and lacrosse and this was like American football in fast forward. I liked it soo much! The team moving forward has six tries to get to the end zone and anytime a man gets tackled they get back up, kick the ball backwards, and play is on again! It goes so rapidly and since the players don't where pads of any sorts - the contact of man to man is such a cringing but awesome sound!

It's also "orientation week" which is basically like a week long party with orientation things thrown in. All the abroad/exchange students had orientation yesterday morning - we just got the basic overview of campus and such. The place I'm living - Campus East - has had events all day and night for us this whole week. There are six sections of Campus East that basically are split up depending on where you live. And we have been doing a lot of activities to bond those specific sections together. We've had themed parties everynight and Campus East basically invades a local pub and has a get together there. Last night was one of my roommates birthday where he turned 18 (the legal drinking age in australia!) so we took him out and celebrated. Tonight is the pub crawl where we'll bounce from four different pubs wearing our pub crawl t-shirts! It should be a lot of fun! I also have been reading travel books religiously and came across so many things I want to do so I'm anxious to get classes started to see where my big exams are and what are the best weekends to travel! So far, flight research shows that they aren't that bad of prices to fly right now so that's good. Can't wait to explore!

For All Those Snail Mailers

2009-02-20T07:03:00.000-08:00

I forgot to mention if you want to send me a letter (which I am quite a fan of! - tell me about your day, throw a random 3x5 card in, knit me a scarf ha and pop it in! I promise I'll send something back!)
This is mostly for Jean Marie if she can't find my address:

Brenna Sacra
Campus East
P.O. Box 219
Fairy Meadow, NSW 2519

some ideas -
- reese's are not available in Australia except for random stores so reese's cups, pieces, and much more are deliciously appreciated not just by me but by the aussie's too!
-Fluff, apparently fluff does not exist past new england ha. I tried to explain to some people what a fluffernutter was - they mainly thought I was joking.
-Along the same lines, S'MORES are not a common thing - they don't have graham crackers and their marshmellows are weeeeird so another one of those explanations gone wrong occurred trying to explain s'mores amazingness.
-Granola bars. They have very different granola bars if that's what you want to call them.

Send me mail and I'll send you back love!! muah!

Unintentional Adventure!

2009-02-20T00:12:00.000-08:00

So Campus East had a "walk up Mt. Kiera" today and I was so excited to get out and be active for once! Plus it was a great way to explore some Australian vegetation and maybe critters. Our two guides turned out to be a little "under the weather" due to some alcoholic beverages from the night before haha so we were ushered up the mountain with volunteer RA's (one being my roommate, yay!) The first 400 meters was a straight incline which makes you think that you got into something a lot more difficult than you expected but then it thinned out and was a great little hike. We got up what seemed 3/4 of the way when we hit a point in the trail where there was a slight beaten path upwards or a more defined one that sloped downwards. As a group we voted to either go upwards or attempt downwards. We decided since the path went down, it probably would take us to the bottom and the up trail looked a little muddy but not bad. So we started climbing up, winding through trees and deciphering the best way to get to the top. We zig zagged through about a half hour of bushwhacking but felt like we had done no progress because the top seemed like meters away. My encountering of creatures also occurred but they weren't the kind you cuddle up and take pictures with - they were leeches. Yes, who knew leeches were in mountains!? They were in the moist mud we were hiking and the suckers would cling to your shoes and work their way up to your ankles. They could also be on tree leaves and end up on your arm or backpack. Every hiker pulled about six or seven leeches off by the end of the hike. It also turned out that the path we decided not to take because it went downwards only does that for a bit and then loops you around the mountain to the top. Bushwhacking, although it was an adventure, led us to a wall of straight up rock about 20 feet tall. We then had to proceed to go back from the path we had just attempted to make going up. I actually really liked this better than a beaten trial because we were able truly "hike" an australian mountain even if we didn't get to the top.

Later on this evening, a group of us decided to have a bonfire on the beach (which apparently is illegal) We roasted some marshmellows - which were the flavors of vanilla and cherry - very different. My roommate Pat is quite the outdoors man and was able to get a great fire going with just one match (we had put wagers on this attempt prior). The fire lasted a good several hours and was fabulous. A couple of us decided to go for a night swim which probably isn't the best idea but hey, you're in Australia and you only live once. The waves were great and the water was quite refreshing - probably in the 60's temperature wise. I have yet to buy a boogey board like the cool kid that I am, so I have been attempting body surfing - it is not going well haha. The waves just take me up in their whirling motion and I almost feel like a rock in a rock polisher getting jumbled all over the place. But the bonfire was great and now I am quite tired from the whole series of events and there's always tomorrow!

Random Things that I've noticed

2009-02-17T18:59:00.000-08:00

1) Australia birds sound like dying cats. Their "crow" is this low growly call that sounds just like a cat in an alley

2) Vegemite is really not that bad. The first day I was here, I was bombarded with three australians and a packet of Vegemite. I put some on my grilled cheese and I actually really liked it - It's very salty, almost like soy sauce in a spread.

3) Spaghetti and Baked Beans are a common breakfast food - ooo different!

4) Bagels are few and far between, they don't really get the whole concept of a bagel - "it's just a like toast...so why is it different?"

5) The sun looks timid but is quite fierce. My face looks the shade of a tomato and is so sore just from a couple hours out in the sun.

6) Bell Peppers do not exist - they are called capsicums.

7) Colleges are "uni's" and dorms are "colleges"

8) So many australians have light eyes...the amount of blue eyes is ridiculous.

9) There is no Taco Bell here which I am fine with but I can't even imagine my Syracuse roommates surviving without it haha

10) Tipping does not occur here which is actually awesome when you go out to eat and you don't have to figure in how much everyone has to pay extra for a tip.

11) Franzia is called "Goon" here and they don't slap the bag they "scull"

12) Australian accents are pretty much my favorite thing...ever.

G'day Mate!!

2009-02-17T04:43:00.000-08:00

Australia!

So I arrived Friday, February 13th at Sydney airport after my 24 hour flight. Everything went quite well besides the little girl who had a seat next to me freaking out because she didn't want to sit next to a "grown up" girl and wanted to sit next to her sister Jenna. So apparently I scare small children - I'm glad I'm not going into a profession where I deal with kids - oh wait...
But my Qantas flight was fabulous - two delicious gourmet-looking meals (dinner had a chocolate lava cake for dessert...um hi! fabulous!) and each seat got their own personal T.V. screens where you could watch countless movies (around 180 to choose from). I ended up watching Four Christmases, Australia (how fitting!), The Duchess, and of course High School Musical 3 was thrown in last. The University of Wollongong has a complimentary pick up service that drives you from the airport to the "uni" which was wonderful. I arrived, a little jet lag and in need of a shower, but there none the less. I am living in Campus East which is a grouping of little "units" in four different sections that all share resources and is very community centered. In total there will be 615 UoW students living here so it will be quite busy.
My room is great and I have three roommates - two boys, one girl. One of the boys has still not moved in yet so we are waiting with baited breath for his arrival. My other two aussie roommates are just wonderful and super nice. Each day there is a new activity that Campus East sets up to get you meeting and greeting more students and familiar with the area. So far we have done "speed mateing" where we got thirty seconds to introduce ourselves and tell a little bit about one another before moving on to the next person, a walk to the beach (which is only about 1/4 mile away), movie night, and a tour around Campus East. It's awesome to have that kind of resource because coming as an international student not knowing anyone, it was a great way to meet some people.
Today I skyped with Jean Marie and Big Dave this morning - it went well! It was a little static-y and the picture was kind of pixelated but it was worth seeing them even just for a bit. Big Dave managed to give me a lecture about GPS' even from across the country leaving Jean Marie and I just laughing because he still could scold me through skype even across the world. Later on, a group of us went out for Tacos which are quite different than in America. They are just the taco shell with a soupy tomato sauce, field greens, your choice of meat - beans, chicken or beef, and then shredded cold cheese. It was so different - but still tasty! We split some strawberry sangria that was just a lovely end to the meal and walked about a half hour home from the city. I can't wait for the adventures to start and really dive into my time abroad in this awesome country!! I feel like there's so much to tell that I don't know where to start so I will take it bit by bit for the next couple days!