After our trip from Melbourne, I had another week/weekend in Sydney. It was mainly filled with doing research, studying for exams, and writing a bunch of papers, but we still managed to squeeze in some fun. Me, Gabi, and her sister went to the Chinese Gardens at Darling Harbour, which were very pretty. A bunch of us also went to the Opera House the night that it was all lit up with different colors and images. I always saw post cards of the Opera House with images and different colors on it and wondered if it was real...apparently it is, so I was glad I got to see it. Other than those events, the week was pretty boring and strenuous trying to get everything finished in time before I left for Fraser. I luckily did finish all of my papers before leaving, though I hated every second of it. Gabi, Mike and I made some pina coladas to celebrate the last week of classes the night before we ventured off to our final vacation in Australia.
We left for Fraser early on Friday morning and stayed there until Wednesday. It was our "Stud Vac" Week, which I always thought meant "student vacation," but as it turns out it actually means "study vacation." It's an easy mix-up. So instead of studying for our week-long vacation, we decided to go be beach bums on the coast of Fraser for five days. We stayed in a resort right on the coast of Hervey Bay, which is just a ferry ride away from Fraser Island. Our resort was very nice, located in a secluded area, with a balcony that overlooked the ocean. We were also very fortunate to have beautiful weather while we were there, so we actually got to experience some warm sunny weather, which was quite a relief since it has been rainy (very rainy) and rather chilly the past couple of weeks in Sydney. We took full advantage off the beautiful weather, the secluded beach, and the crystal clear water to actually relax and forget about schoolwork. It was the first trip I went on while I've been here that I've actually felt like I was on vacation. We didn't have a schedule, there wasn't much to see, and we didn't have any more papers to write. It was glorious.
When we first arrived on Friday, we decided to walk to the grocery store so we could take advantage of our kitchen and actually cook home-made meals instead of going out to eat. Once we bought enough food to last us for five days, we took a walk along the beach, walked into the ocean, and watched the sunset. It was a nice, relaxing day. Saturday, we decided to rent bikes to go explore the entire area. It has been a very long time since I've ridden a bike and it was great. We rode on a trail right next to the ocean for as far as it went. Gabi had a pretty rough time riding the bike. She was so busy looking at the ocean that she didn't realize the path had a slight turn to it and almost ran straight into a tree! I literally screamed and she turned right in time to avoid the tree. Then we were crossing the road and a car decided to take a quick turn and nearly hit Gabi but luckily missed her. And then after all of this, we rode up to a jet-ski rental place to see how much it would be to rent some jet-skis. As we ride up, Gabi runs straight into a giant, metal sign and knocks it to the ground causing it to make a very loud noise and everyone to rush out of the building to see what had happened. Gabi was pretty embarrassed and I was too slow to get off my bike to help her, so I just laughed. I'm a terrible friend. As it turns out, it was $125 an hour to rent jet-skis, so we had to turn them down (after the owner admitted to being hesitant to letting us rent his jet-skis after Gabi ran into a sign while riding her bike). After our all day adventurous (and nearly dangerous) bike ride, we went back to our resort to make some dinner and hang out on our patio for the rest of the evening.
It seemed wrong to go all the way up toward Fraser Island but not actually go on the island, so on Sunday we decided to buy a ticket for the ferry that takes us to the island. It ended up to be cheaper to buy a packaged deal for the ferry combined with an all-day stay at the resort on the island, so we decided to once again take the "glamorous" option. After our short ferry ride across, we got to our new resort for the day and decided to lay by the pool and spa the entire day. We wandered around for a little bit, but realized there really wasn't much to do and we just wanted to lay in the warm sun by the pool, so that's exactly what we did. While we were wondering around, a giant snake slithered right across our path! I'm not really afraid of snakes, so it wasn't too big of a deal for me (even though this snake was HUGE). However, Gabi is absolutely terrified of snakes and was freaking out wishing we could jump on the ferry to go straight home, but I convinced her to stay on the island until our designated 5:00 departure time and to just continue on our way to the pool. We unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) did not see any dingos while we were on the island. I think I would have been slightly freaked out if one would have came our way, but I also think it would have been pretty cool to see one.
On Monday, our good friend Mike came to stay with us at our resort for the last few days of our vacation. He was with a group of our friends who were camping on the island and actually roughing it. We were excited to have him come stay with us...it's always more fun when there's more people on your vacations. We essentially all just continued to be beach bums for our last couple of days - layed on the beach, drank some Coronas, took a walk on the beach, and played in the water.
The three of us decided to go out for lunch at the nearby cafe after a nice nap on the beach. I wasn't too hungry and just wanted to order off the kids menu. For some reason, every restaurant I have been to in Australia is very strict about their 12 year old age limit and deny me when I ask to order off it. I decided it was worth a shot, so I asked our waitress if it was possible for me to order off the kids menu. Our waitress looks at me and says "well, you look young enough." Mike died laughing because he's been making fun of me the entire time for being one of the oldest people here yet looking like I'm the youngest, so he got a real kick out of the waitress thinking I looked like I was 12. After we placed our orders (yes, I ended up ordering off the kids menu), our waitress came back to ask if we wanted any drinks. I decided that I was going to throw our waitress for a loop, so I ordered a mango daiquiri. Our waitress looked at me a little shocked and then asked how old I was, so I informed her that I am 21...she was pretty surprised. So for lunch I had a kids meal with a mango daiquiri. Later on that night we went to Baskin Robins to get a little ice cream treat. Yes, they do have Baskin Robins here but surprisingly no Dunkin Donuts. They even had a street sign pointing to where Baskin Robins was located, and I just realized that I forgot to take a picture of it...oh well. When we got inside the store, I told the man behind the counter that I had no idea what kind I wanted, so he just started giving me samples of nearly every flavor in there while telling me which ones are the most popular, it was pretty great. Apparently Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough is the most popular ice cream flavor in there according to the worker and he kept going on and on about how wonderful it is. I decided to expand beyond the oh so common flavor for the one called "Gold Ribbon Award" which consisted of chocolate and vanilla ice cream swirled in caramel. It was pretty delicious and gave Mike (who ordered the very common Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough) food envy, which we both agreed is the worst kind of envy.
So basically our "student vacation" was filled with laying in the sun on the beach while eating ice cream and drinking Coronas - exactly what a vacation should be. It was my favorite place I went to in Australia and was, naturally, my favorite trip I made. I really wish I was back there right now laying in the warm sun, but instead I'm hanging out in rainy Sydney attempting to get motivated to start studying for my final exams. I have one final on June 19 and another on June 25 and then I am finally done with school for the semester and off to explore the North Island of New Zealand before returning to my beloved home in Minnesota. I have very mixed feelings about leaving. It's going to be very hard to say goodbye to all of the friends I have made here as well as saying goodbye to Sydney and Australia, but I also miss my friends and family back home and will be glad to see them. As for right now, I'm very glad I still have a few weeks left in Australia and am going to make the most of it (while remaining moderately studious, of course). I'll let you know how my finals go...wish me luck!
Much love,
Whit
P.S. I uploaded photos from Melbourne, the Sydney Opera House, and Fraser Island on my Photobucket account, so go ahead and take a look!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Melbourne
I have once again allowed myself to get several weeks behind on my blog. With all the traveling I've been doing combined with finals rapidly approaching, I have found very limited time to sit down and write for fun. Today, I have decided to procrastinate on my studying and researching so I can fill you all in on what I've been doing for the past month.
On May 22-25, I took a weekend vacation to Melbourne. Obviously I traveled with Gabi since she is my little travel buddy and great friend, but we also met her two sisters who came to visit her. We stayed in a hotel near the middle of the city, which was very convenient since we didn't have to spend a ton of money on transportation.
The first day we were in Melbourne was a little bit of a hassle. Our flight left Sydney at 9:00 in the morning, so we had to be at the airport pretty early. Neither Gabi nor I slept very much, we averaged about 3 hours of sleep that night. Gabi had to hand in a paper before we left, so she woke up at 4 am to finish it, print it off, and hand it in. I was a slacker who didn't pack the night before because I was doing a lot of research for a paper, so I had to wake up extra early to make sure I was all packed up. So needless to say, Gabi and I were pretty exhausted before we even left Sydney. Ben was nice and woke up early to give Gabi and I a ride to the airport so that we didn't have to pay for a taxi, but on the way to the airport, Ben took a wrong turn and got lost. I never pay attention to where we're going whenever we take a cab to the airport and so I had no clue where to go and Gabi was passed out in the backseat. Luckily, Ben figured out where he was and we still made it to the airport with plenty of time. We checked in, dropped our luggage off, and headed toward our gate to wait until we boarded. While we were waiting, both Gabi and I fell asleep in the airport chairs and woke up right before our boarding time due to very noisy men sitting directly across from us. We were both a little annoyed and a little thankful that they were there. There were plenty of other seats at the gate that these guys could have sat in, but they chose to sit directly across from us and talk very loudly, which made it a little awkward when we woke up. But if they hadn't sat there, I wonder if we would have even woken up to board the plane, so I suppose we couldn't get too mad at them. Once we were on the plane, Gabi and I fell asleep before the plane even took off. I woke up one time throughout the flight when we hit turbulence, thinking that we were taking off. I was pretty surprised when I looked out the window to see that we were already flying and realized that I had been sleeping for an hour, then fell back asleep (I'm telling you, we were very tired) and finally woke up right when the plane landed.
Gabi and I get off the plane and go into the smallest airport we have ever seen in our entire life. It had one baggage claim area and two booths - one for information and another for car rentals. So we grab our luggage, go up to information and ask them how much it would be to take a taxi to our hotel. They inform us that we are at the airport that is 55 kilometers outside of Melbourne, so it will be a $100 cab ride. Gabi and I were quick to veto this option and asked what other options there were. They told us that we could take a bus for $20 a person, but it would be an hour until the bus got to the airport or we could rent a car for $90. We thought about renting a car, but then realized that neither of us knew how to drive manual, especially on the opposite side of the car. So Gabi and I were stuck at this tiny airport for an hour and we were starving! I walked outside to see if there was many a McDonald's or something nearby and realized that we were quite literally in the middle of nowhere. I saw no buildings, houses, or any other form of civilization and was stuck buying a $3 bag of potato chips from the vending machine. After I bought the world's most expensive mini bag of chips, the lady at information informs us that there is a cafe in the departure section of the airport, which is down the block. So Gabi and I take our luggage with us and head down the block toward the cafe. Once we get there, we see that we are the only two people there and that we have to walk through security to get to the cafe. We tell the security guards that we are just going to get a cup of coffee, but they make us stuff our giant suitcase through the x-ray and walk through the security gate. After we get our bag back (which barely fit through the x-ray), I get pulled aside to be "randomly searched." It was seriously the biggest hassle to get this one cup of coffee, particularly since we were the only two people in the entire airport.
Our bus finally arrives and 45 minutes later we are in the actual city of Melbourne. We asked our driver for directions to get to our hotel and he tells us to jump on the free tram that goes around the city. Gabi and I are unaware that there is more than one tram and that only one of these trams is the free one, so we just jump on the first tram we see. The driver on this tram is very nice, lifts our suitcase on the tram for us, asks us where we are going, and told us that he would let us know when we need to get off. Suddenly, two stops later, security gets on the tram to check everyone's ticket. As it turns out, Gabi and I were not on the free tram nor did we buy a ticket for the one we are on. Gabi and I exchange worried looks, trying to figure out what we should do. The security guy comes up to us and asks us for our ticket. Gabi whips out her Australian tourist book to a map of Melbourne and quickly explains that we were told the tram was free. The officer just looks at us, laughs, and says "obviously you guys are not from here, so I'll let it slide this one time. You're pretty lucky though, because I'm supposed to be charging each of you $175." He then tells us which stop we need to get off at and gives us directions to our hotel. He was a very nice guy and we were pretty lucky that we didn't get charged for not buying a ticket for the tram.
So after being stuck at the airport for an hour, taking an hour long bus ride to the city, and getting on the wrong tram, we finally make it to our beautiful hotel. We had a few hours until Gabi's sisters arrived, so we turned on the TV to see what was on. As we flipped through the channels, we came across the American Idol season finale and were very excited. It was the first time since we've been here that American Idol has been on any of the channels. After we watched the finale (and after I decided that Adam is a much better singer/performer than Kris), Gabi's sisters arrive. We decide to walk around the city to get a feel of the atmosphere and then went out to dinner. We went out for Indian cuisine, which I was a little hesitant about due to my dislike of spicy food. I ordered a very basic meal - chicken in rice - and asked for it to be as mild as possible, which apparently wasn't mild enough for me. I could only eat a quarter of it and then I could no longer eat it because my mouth was on fire and it just wasn't enjoyable anymore. Everyone else was making fun of me because they couldn't even taste the spice, I must just have very sensitive taste buds. So after dinner, I decided that I was going to get some ice cream to cool down my mouth and to fill me up, which was one of the best ideas I had all day. Gabi's sisters were pretty tired from all their traveling, so we just went back to the hotel once we were done eating and watched Sleeping Beauty (it was on the Disney Channel).
The next day we got up relatively early to get a full day of shopping in. Melbourne is a very trendy, artsy city filled with wonderful shopping, cute boutiques, and cute cafes. We essentially just walked around all weekend to soak up the ambiance and to see as much as we could. I sadly could not afford anything in the shops, nor could I imagine to afford anything in the shops. Everything was super expensive, but a lot of fun to try on! We also went to a place called "Little Cupcakes" which had the tastiest and cutest cupcakes I have ever seen! My favorite one was the coconut cupcake, but then again, I love coconut everything.
Saturday night we went to an AFL game. You may remember me telling you about AFL in my last blog post and how confusing it was. This time, however, we were smart enough to ask the guy sitting behind us to explain the rules to us so that we could actually understand what was going on. Once we learned the rules and what the game was all about, it made much more sense and it was much more exciting. We all got pretty into the game - cheering, hollering...just trying to fit in with the crazy Aussie crowd. Melbourne ended up loosing, but we really weren't too concerned; it was still a lot of fun.
Our weekend was filled with shopping, eating at cute cafes, going to the AFL game, and watching random Disney movies late at night in our hotel. I was a little sad we didn't go to Great Ocean Road because it's apparently the thing to see when you go to Melbourne, but we for some reason never made it over there (I can't remember the reason. I actually don't think there was a reason...oh well). But I did really enjoy Melbourne and would definitely like to go back someday when I can actually afford to go on a shopping spree.
Now onto the next adventure!
On May 22-25, I took a weekend vacation to Melbourne. Obviously I traveled with Gabi since she is my little travel buddy and great friend, but we also met her two sisters who came to visit her. We stayed in a hotel near the middle of the city, which was very convenient since we didn't have to spend a ton of money on transportation.
The first day we were in Melbourne was a little bit of a hassle. Our flight left Sydney at 9:00 in the morning, so we had to be at the airport pretty early. Neither Gabi nor I slept very much, we averaged about 3 hours of sleep that night. Gabi had to hand in a paper before we left, so she woke up at 4 am to finish it, print it off, and hand it in. I was a slacker who didn't pack the night before because I was doing a lot of research for a paper, so I had to wake up extra early to make sure I was all packed up. So needless to say, Gabi and I were pretty exhausted before we even left Sydney. Ben was nice and woke up early to give Gabi and I a ride to the airport so that we didn't have to pay for a taxi, but on the way to the airport, Ben took a wrong turn and got lost. I never pay attention to where we're going whenever we take a cab to the airport and so I had no clue where to go and Gabi was passed out in the backseat. Luckily, Ben figured out where he was and we still made it to the airport with plenty of time. We checked in, dropped our luggage off, and headed toward our gate to wait until we boarded. While we were waiting, both Gabi and I fell asleep in the airport chairs and woke up right before our boarding time due to very noisy men sitting directly across from us. We were both a little annoyed and a little thankful that they were there. There were plenty of other seats at the gate that these guys could have sat in, but they chose to sit directly across from us and talk very loudly, which made it a little awkward when we woke up. But if they hadn't sat there, I wonder if we would have even woken up to board the plane, so I suppose we couldn't get too mad at them. Once we were on the plane, Gabi and I fell asleep before the plane even took off. I woke up one time throughout the flight when we hit turbulence, thinking that we were taking off. I was pretty surprised when I looked out the window to see that we were already flying and realized that I had been sleeping for an hour, then fell back asleep (I'm telling you, we were very tired) and finally woke up right when the plane landed.
Gabi and I get off the plane and go into the smallest airport we have ever seen in our entire life. It had one baggage claim area and two booths - one for information and another for car rentals. So we grab our luggage, go up to information and ask them how much it would be to take a taxi to our hotel. They inform us that we are at the airport that is 55 kilometers outside of Melbourne, so it will be a $100 cab ride. Gabi and I were quick to veto this option and asked what other options there were. They told us that we could take a bus for $20 a person, but it would be an hour until the bus got to the airport or we could rent a car for $90. We thought about renting a car, but then realized that neither of us knew how to drive manual, especially on the opposite side of the car. So Gabi and I were stuck at this tiny airport for an hour and we were starving! I walked outside to see if there was many a McDonald's or something nearby and realized that we were quite literally in the middle of nowhere. I saw no buildings, houses, or any other form of civilization and was stuck buying a $3 bag of potato chips from the vending machine. After I bought the world's most expensive mini bag of chips, the lady at information informs us that there is a cafe in the departure section of the airport, which is down the block. So Gabi and I take our luggage with us and head down the block toward the cafe. Once we get there, we see that we are the only two people there and that we have to walk through security to get to the cafe. We tell the security guards that we are just going to get a cup of coffee, but they make us stuff our giant suitcase through the x-ray and walk through the security gate. After we get our bag back (which barely fit through the x-ray), I get pulled aside to be "randomly searched." It was seriously the biggest hassle to get this one cup of coffee, particularly since we were the only two people in the entire airport.
Our bus finally arrives and 45 minutes later we are in the actual city of Melbourne. We asked our driver for directions to get to our hotel and he tells us to jump on the free tram that goes around the city. Gabi and I are unaware that there is more than one tram and that only one of these trams is the free one, so we just jump on the first tram we see. The driver on this tram is very nice, lifts our suitcase on the tram for us, asks us where we are going, and told us that he would let us know when we need to get off. Suddenly, two stops later, security gets on the tram to check everyone's ticket. As it turns out, Gabi and I were not on the free tram nor did we buy a ticket for the one we are on. Gabi and I exchange worried looks, trying to figure out what we should do. The security guy comes up to us and asks us for our ticket. Gabi whips out her Australian tourist book to a map of Melbourne and quickly explains that we were told the tram was free. The officer just looks at us, laughs, and says "obviously you guys are not from here, so I'll let it slide this one time. You're pretty lucky though, because I'm supposed to be charging each of you $175." He then tells us which stop we need to get off at and gives us directions to our hotel. He was a very nice guy and we were pretty lucky that we didn't get charged for not buying a ticket for the tram.
So after being stuck at the airport for an hour, taking an hour long bus ride to the city, and getting on the wrong tram, we finally make it to our beautiful hotel. We had a few hours until Gabi's sisters arrived, so we turned on the TV to see what was on. As we flipped through the channels, we came across the American Idol season finale and were very excited. It was the first time since we've been here that American Idol has been on any of the channels. After we watched the finale (and after I decided that Adam is a much better singer/performer than Kris), Gabi's sisters arrive. We decide to walk around the city to get a feel of the atmosphere and then went out to dinner. We went out for Indian cuisine, which I was a little hesitant about due to my dislike of spicy food. I ordered a very basic meal - chicken in rice - and asked for it to be as mild as possible, which apparently wasn't mild enough for me. I could only eat a quarter of it and then I could no longer eat it because my mouth was on fire and it just wasn't enjoyable anymore. Everyone else was making fun of me because they couldn't even taste the spice, I must just have very sensitive taste buds. So after dinner, I decided that I was going to get some ice cream to cool down my mouth and to fill me up, which was one of the best ideas I had all day. Gabi's sisters were pretty tired from all their traveling, so we just went back to the hotel once we were done eating and watched Sleeping Beauty (it was on the Disney Channel).
The next day we got up relatively early to get a full day of shopping in. Melbourne is a very trendy, artsy city filled with wonderful shopping, cute boutiques, and cute cafes. We essentially just walked around all weekend to soak up the ambiance and to see as much as we could. I sadly could not afford anything in the shops, nor could I imagine to afford anything in the shops. Everything was super expensive, but a lot of fun to try on! We also went to a place called "Little Cupcakes" which had the tastiest and cutest cupcakes I have ever seen! My favorite one was the coconut cupcake, but then again, I love coconut everything.
Saturday night we went to an AFL game. You may remember me telling you about AFL in my last blog post and how confusing it was. This time, however, we were smart enough to ask the guy sitting behind us to explain the rules to us so that we could actually understand what was going on. Once we learned the rules and what the game was all about, it made much more sense and it was much more exciting. We all got pretty into the game - cheering, hollering...just trying to fit in with the crazy Aussie crowd. Melbourne ended up loosing, but we really weren't too concerned; it was still a lot of fun.
Our weekend was filled with shopping, eating at cute cafes, going to the AFL game, and watching random Disney movies late at night in our hotel. I was a little sad we didn't go to Great Ocean Road because it's apparently the thing to see when you go to Melbourne, but we for some reason never made it over there (I can't remember the reason. I actually don't think there was a reason...oh well). But I did really enjoy Melbourne and would definitely like to go back someday when I can actually afford to go on a shopping spree.
Now onto the next adventure!
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