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!
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