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!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Finally, a weekend in Sydney
G'day mates!
As you can tell, I've been doing a lot of traveling. I had been gone almost every weekend for a month straight, so as you can imagine, it was very nice to have a weekend at home in Sydney. One of our friend, Justin, who studies at Wollongong (about an hour away) came to visit Gabi and I this weekend. We met him during our bus tour through New Zealand, so we were excited to see him almost a month later! We took him to all the touristy spots that everyone needs to see when they come to Sydney, which was a lot of fun for us since it was so long ago that we saw everything in Sydney.
Saturday night, Justin bought us tickets for the AFL "footie" game: the Sydney Swans. Now let me explain AFL footie. It's the Australian version of football and it's intense. It's played on a field similar to soccer, the football is shaped like our football, and the sport itself is a mixture of football, rugby, and soccer. The men don't wear pads, they run around the field and never stop unless the whistle is blown (which is very rare), and they slam each other into the ground. They can only pass the football by hitting the ball similar to an underhand serve in volleyball, they have to dribble the ball every so often, and the object of the game is to kick the ball between two poles. Sounds confusing, right? Yeah..I thought so too. We all had no idea what was going on and just stared at the field, cheered when someone got slammed into the ground and when they scored. Clearly we were awesome fans.
Other than showing Justin the ins and outs of Sydney's touristy spots and nightlife areas, we hung out and enjoyed are nice weekend at "home." It was great to catch up, relax, and spend time with all of our friends.
Cheers!
Whit
As you can tell, I've been doing a lot of traveling. I had been gone almost every weekend for a month straight, so as you can imagine, it was very nice to have a weekend at home in Sydney. One of our friend, Justin, who studies at Wollongong (about an hour away) came to visit Gabi and I this weekend. We met him during our bus tour through New Zealand, so we were excited to see him almost a month later! We took him to all the touristy spots that everyone needs to see when they come to Sydney, which was a lot of fun for us since it was so long ago that we saw everything in Sydney.
Saturday night, Justin bought us tickets for the AFL "footie" game: the Sydney Swans. Now let me explain AFL footie. It's the Australian version of football and it's intense. It's played on a field similar to soccer, the football is shaped like our football, and the sport itself is a mixture of football, rugby, and soccer. The men don't wear pads, they run around the field and never stop unless the whistle is blown (which is very rare), and they slam each other into the ground. They can only pass the football by hitting the ball similar to an underhand serve in volleyball, they have to dribble the ball every so often, and the object of the game is to kick the ball between two poles. Sounds confusing, right? Yeah..I thought so too. We all had no idea what was going on and just stared at the field, cheered when someone got slammed into the ground and when they scored. Clearly we were awesome fans.
Other than showing Justin the ins and outs of Sydney's touristy spots and nightlife areas, we hung out and enjoyed are nice weekend at "home." It was great to catch up, relax, and spend time with all of our friends.
Cheers!
Whit
Monday, May 18, 2009
Townsville
Hello!
After being gone for a weekend in Canberra and spending a total of 4 days in Sydney, I packed my bags yet again and headed on another weekend getaway. This time, I went to Townsville to visit my dear friend, Emma, with Gabi and Ben. Townsville is located in northern Queensland and is about 1,000 miles away from Sydney (so obviously we choose to fly for 3 hours rather than forcing Ben to drive us 12 hours). Though Emma wouldn't allow us to tell people we went to Townsville since it sounds lame, so Gabi, Ben, and I traveled to "Tropical Queensland."
Once we arrived in Tropical Queensland (and after I jumped on Emma and screamed with excitement to see her), Emma made us a nice little lunch and we all hung out and talked for a little while. Ben was feeling pretty sleepy, so he went to go take a nap while Emma took Gabi and I on a campus tour. I thought the campus was super cute! I'm not sure if I could study there since I'm too much of a city girl, but I really did enjoy it. The buildings and classrooms are sort of hidden in the bush; you have to walk along a path that leads into the forest for a second and then you are suddenly on campus. It's very much "Australia-esque," wild turkeys running around, rainforest all around, pic-nic tables in the grass, and mountains in the background. Emma also took us to see the different on-campus housing. Some of them looked pretty normal and cute, but there was one that I thought was hilarious and would die if I had to live in it. They're called Western Courts...sounds lovely doesn't it? It's actually a trailer park on top of an old outdoor basketball court. When we walked by, there were college kids sitting on their porch playing card games in rocking chairs, it was quite the site.
After we walked around campus, we went back to Emma's (her apartment is very nice...comfy cozy with great neighbors and a nice community kitchen area) to find Ben missing. Apparently he accidentally locked himself out of Emma's room and decided he was going to go on a walk and explore campus. He came back about a half an hour later with no shoes on and no phone. We all made fun of him. Later on that night, Emma took us over to her friend's place to participate in a beer pong tournament. Emma and I were on a team (we named ourselves 1,2,3 Triple D! Mighty Ducks anyone?) going against Gabi and Emma's friend, Norm (their team name was Purple Monkey something...it was weird). Our glorious 1,2,3 Triple D team suffered a terrible defeat by the Purple Monkeys...it was upsetting. After the tourney ended, we all went out to one of the bars called Mad Cow, which was a lot of fun. Gabi started talking to the manager of the bar, who then gave us vouchers for free drinks all night. Hooray for a free night!
On Saturday, we went down to the Strand and walked along the beach. It was a lovely day (despite it being rather cloudy...it was still warm), so it was nice to go walking along the beach, playing on the playgrounds, and running knee deep in the ocean. While we were walking, we came across a little event promoting fire safety. We noticed a fireman passing out bright pink stickers, so naturally, we all ran up to him to get our bright pink sticker promoting the stop, drop, and roll saying. The fireman then gave us a bunch of temporary tattoos, key chains, and balloons. We all immediately blew up our balloons and had a balloon fight; we were all very excited. After our nice little walk, we went back to campus to start preparing food for the International Dinner held by the apartment complex Emma lives in. It was a very nice event and looked like a mini-prom. Everyone got dressed up (luckily Gabi and I packed dresses), there were lights hanging everywhere, balloons and confetti on the tables, and sparkling wine being served (okay, so maybe that isn't so prom-ish..but it's still classy). After the dinner was over, we all decided to enjoy a low-key night and watch a movie. It was 5 girls and 1 guy in the room, so guess what kind of movie we got to watch. That's right, we forced Ben to watch a chick flick - He's Just Not That Into You...surprise surprise. As it turned out, all 5 of the girls fell asleep half way through and Ben was the only one who stayed up to watch it. He claims he didn't enjoy it, but I think he was lying. Why else would he be the only one to stay awake for it?
On Sunday Emma took us on a hike up a mountain. And by hike...I mean hike. It was pretty intense and made me realize that I should probably start working out a little more regularly. Once we got to the top of the mountain, though, it was breathtaking. The ocean shore was right below us, so we could look out over the ocean and see all of Townsville at the same time. After our wonderful hike, we went back to the apartment to prepare dinner - marinated kangaroo, broccoli, and potatoes. I was a little hesitant about eating kangaroo at first, but it was actually very very delicious! I don't really know how to describe it, it was a little tough (but not too tough), juicy, and delicious. Once we were done devouring this scrumptious meal, we decided to crack open a bottle of champagne (we're not as classy as we sound...it was $5. We're poor) and play some cards.
Gabi and Ben left to go back to Sydney on Monday morning while I stayed an extra day to spend more time with Emma. Emma and I had a very typical day for us. We made some oatmeal, sat on the bed, and watched the Sex and the City movie. Once we had our fill of Sex and the City, we went for a walk down by the river and talked nonstop for a couple of hours. We later met up with some of Emma's friends at a restaurant, had some pizza and beer to celebrate my last night/them being done with papers (wish I could say the same). It was a very nice last day with Emma - just hanging out, talking, and watching girlie movies all day. It was perfect. Then I sadly had to say goodbye to Emma and go back to Sydney just in time for my class. I really enjoyed Tropical Queensland. It was warm, it was beautiful, it was remote, and it was just overall nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of Sydney to relax with good friends.
I hope everything is going well with everyone back home!
Whit
After being gone for a weekend in Canberra and spending a total of 4 days in Sydney, I packed my bags yet again and headed on another weekend getaway. This time, I went to Townsville to visit my dear friend, Emma, with Gabi and Ben. Townsville is located in northern Queensland and is about 1,000 miles away from Sydney (so obviously we choose to fly for 3 hours rather than forcing Ben to drive us 12 hours). Though Emma wouldn't allow us to tell people we went to Townsville since it sounds lame, so Gabi, Ben, and I traveled to "Tropical Queensland."
Once we arrived in Tropical Queensland (and after I jumped on Emma and screamed with excitement to see her), Emma made us a nice little lunch and we all hung out and talked for a little while. Ben was feeling pretty sleepy, so he went to go take a nap while Emma took Gabi and I on a campus tour. I thought the campus was super cute! I'm not sure if I could study there since I'm too much of a city girl, but I really did enjoy it. The buildings and classrooms are sort of hidden in the bush; you have to walk along a path that leads into the forest for a second and then you are suddenly on campus. It's very much "Australia-esque," wild turkeys running around, rainforest all around, pic-nic tables in the grass, and mountains in the background. Emma also took us to see the different on-campus housing. Some of them looked pretty normal and cute, but there was one that I thought was hilarious and would die if I had to live in it. They're called Western Courts...sounds lovely doesn't it? It's actually a trailer park on top of an old outdoor basketball court. When we walked by, there were college kids sitting on their porch playing card games in rocking chairs, it was quite the site.
After we walked around campus, we went back to Emma's (her apartment is very nice...comfy cozy with great neighbors and a nice community kitchen area) to find Ben missing. Apparently he accidentally locked himself out of Emma's room and decided he was going to go on a walk and explore campus. He came back about a half an hour later with no shoes on and no phone. We all made fun of him. Later on that night, Emma took us over to her friend's place to participate in a beer pong tournament. Emma and I were on a team (we named ourselves 1,2,3 Triple D! Mighty Ducks anyone?) going against Gabi and Emma's friend, Norm (their team name was Purple Monkey something...it was weird). Our glorious 1,2,3 Triple D team suffered a terrible defeat by the Purple Monkeys...it was upsetting. After the tourney ended, we all went out to one of the bars called Mad Cow, which was a lot of fun. Gabi started talking to the manager of the bar, who then gave us vouchers for free drinks all night. Hooray for a free night!
On Saturday, we went down to the Strand and walked along the beach. It was a lovely day (despite it being rather cloudy...it was still warm), so it was nice to go walking along the beach, playing on the playgrounds, and running knee deep in the ocean. While we were walking, we came across a little event promoting fire safety. We noticed a fireman passing out bright pink stickers, so naturally, we all ran up to him to get our bright pink sticker promoting the stop, drop, and roll saying. The fireman then gave us a bunch of temporary tattoos, key chains, and balloons. We all immediately blew up our balloons and had a balloon fight; we were all very excited. After our nice little walk, we went back to campus to start preparing food for the International Dinner held by the apartment complex Emma lives in. It was a very nice event and looked like a mini-prom. Everyone got dressed up (luckily Gabi and I packed dresses), there were lights hanging everywhere, balloons and confetti on the tables, and sparkling wine being served (okay, so maybe that isn't so prom-ish..but it's still classy). After the dinner was over, we all decided to enjoy a low-key night and watch a movie. It was 5 girls and 1 guy in the room, so guess what kind of movie we got to watch. That's right, we forced Ben to watch a chick flick - He's Just Not That Into You...surprise surprise. As it turned out, all 5 of the girls fell asleep half way through and Ben was the only one who stayed up to watch it. He claims he didn't enjoy it, but I think he was lying. Why else would he be the only one to stay awake for it?
On Sunday Emma took us on a hike up a mountain. And by hike...I mean hike. It was pretty intense and made me realize that I should probably start working out a little more regularly. Once we got to the top of the mountain, though, it was breathtaking. The ocean shore was right below us, so we could look out over the ocean and see all of Townsville at the same time. After our wonderful hike, we went back to the apartment to prepare dinner - marinated kangaroo, broccoli, and potatoes. I was a little hesitant about eating kangaroo at first, but it was actually very very delicious! I don't really know how to describe it, it was a little tough (but not too tough), juicy, and delicious. Once we were done devouring this scrumptious meal, we decided to crack open a bottle of champagne (we're not as classy as we sound...it was $5. We're poor) and play some cards.
Gabi and Ben left to go back to Sydney on Monday morning while I stayed an extra day to spend more time with Emma. Emma and I had a very typical day for us. We made some oatmeal, sat on the bed, and watched the Sex and the City movie. Once we had our fill of Sex and the City, we went for a walk down by the river and talked nonstop for a couple of hours. We later met up with some of Emma's friends at a restaurant, had some pizza and beer to celebrate my last night/them being done with papers (wish I could say the same). It was a very nice last day with Emma - just hanging out, talking, and watching girlie movies all day. It was perfect. Then I sadly had to say goodbye to Emma and go back to Sydney just in time for my class. I really enjoyed Tropical Queensland. It was warm, it was beautiful, it was remote, and it was just overall nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of Sydney to relax with good friends.
I hope everything is going well with everyone back home!
Whit
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Canberra
Greetings,
I'm still rather behind on my adventures, so the catching up continues. My friend, Ben, is originally from Canberra and he asked Gabi and I if we wanted to go home with him for a weekend so we could see the capital of Australia. On May 1 - 3, we made the 3 and a half car ride journey to see the capital.
We didn't get into Canberra until 10:00 Friday night, so we just went straight to Ben's house in the country. On our way through the country, Ben told us that we had to watch for roos to make sure he didn't hit any. Gabi and I were really excited that we were on the lookout for roos and thought we would only see maybe 1 or 2 hopping along. Oh no, there were heaps (over-used Australian word that I love and have adopted)! I couldn't even count how many we saw and had to stop for, and they were all just hanging out at the edge of the road. I think I squealed with excitement every time I saw a roo...pretty sure Ben got a little annoyed by the end. There were even roos hanging out in his front yard. It was pretty great. When we got to his house, Ben suggested that we take a walk to the top of hill so we can see all the lights in Canberra. So Gabi and I get all bundled up (it was pretty cold), Ben grabs the flashlight, and we head off through the forest and up a hill. About 10 minutes into the walk, our flashlight burns out and we can no longer see a thing, which was an issue considering we were in the middle of a forest on a very small path, so we did the whole train thing holding onto eachother's shoulders while Ben led the way. We made it out of the forest perfectly fine and just had a giant hill full of rocks and logs to survive. There were a few trips and stumbles along the way, but nothing too serious...until we were about 2 feet away from the top. Gabi did not see a giant rock on the ground and ended up slicing the bottom of her foot open, causing her to start bleeding all over the place. It was not pretty. So Ben walked back to his house, got his car, and came to pick us up. We did luckily get to see the lights of Canberra and all the stars, so it wasn't all bad. When we got back to Ben's, we were all pretty tired and got ready for bed...by setting up a tent. Yes, we camped out in a tent in Ben's backyard. Gabi is allergic to dogs and since Ben has two dogs, we decided to camp out in a tent. It was pretty hilarious; we were all wearing 3 layers of clothes and had 2 blankets on us to stay warm. I, naturally, slept very well and stayed pretty warm all night.
Saturday morning Ben took us to meet up with a couple of his friends for a breakfast BBQ in a park. However, before we went to the park to eat our breakfast, him and his friends took Gabi and I for a cruise through the windy roads and up a mountain. Gabi and Ben both got a little carsick (yes, Ben made himself carsick with his own driving), though neither of them got seriously sick. I don't get motion sickness so I was good to go and thouroughly enjoyed the nice scenery. After we enjoyed our delicious breakfast BBQ, Ben dropped Gabi and I off near the parliment house so we could see all the tourist attractions. Unlike Washington DC, where there are a never-ending amount of monuments, memorials, museums, and any other sort of historic attraction imaginable, Canberra has about 5. Gabi and I spent quite a bit of tmie in the Old Parliment House, went to the New Parliment House, walked along the river, and then went to the science museum to get a coffee (it was $15 to actually see the museum, and we were too cheap to pay it). Ben came and picked us up a few hours later and then we went to his sister's high school play - Grease. Gabi and I were super excited to see Grease and had a lot of fun watching it. Everyone in the play were trying to speak in an American accent throughout the whole thing, which was pretty hilarious. The play was also filled with American stereotypes. Every scene would end with some comment about going to get a cheeseburger or going home to watch the Mickey Mouse Club. Overall, the play was very entertaining. Later on that night, Gabi and I introduced Ben to the wonderful, delicious, amazing S'mores. He had never had one before, nor ever heard of one, and thought they sounded discusting. So Gabi and I forced Ben to start a bonfire, we went out and bought marshmallows and chocolate (my mom had already sent me graham crackers a while ago...they don't exist in this country), and we forced Ben to eat it. He ended up really liking them, but really...who doesn't love a s'more? They weren't as awesome as they normally are since it wasn't made with Hershey's chocolate (granted Cadbury chocolate is better, but not for S'mores) and it wasn't made with Jet-Puff marshamllows. Actually, the marshmallows we used tasted a little like raspberries, so our s'mores were a little fruity. Oh well, they were still pretty good.
On Sunday, Gabi and I went to the War Memorial, which was really interesting. I really didn't know a whole lot about Australian history, so it was cool to learn about it all. I really liked the World War II section; it was interesting to learn about the war from a different point of view other than the U.S. After we were done with the final tourist attraction (see..I told you there were only about 5 things to see), we packed up our things and made our way back to Sydney. So there was my little adventure to the capital of Australia!
Cheers!
Whit
I'm still rather behind on my adventures, so the catching up continues. My friend, Ben, is originally from Canberra and he asked Gabi and I if we wanted to go home with him for a weekend so we could see the capital of Australia. On May 1 - 3, we made the 3 and a half car ride journey to see the capital.
We didn't get into Canberra until 10:00 Friday night, so we just went straight to Ben's house in the country. On our way through the country, Ben told us that we had to watch for roos to make sure he didn't hit any. Gabi and I were really excited that we were on the lookout for roos and thought we would only see maybe 1 or 2 hopping along. Oh no, there were heaps (over-used Australian word that I love and have adopted)! I couldn't even count how many we saw and had to stop for, and they were all just hanging out at the edge of the road. I think I squealed with excitement every time I saw a roo...pretty sure Ben got a little annoyed by the end. There were even roos hanging out in his front yard. It was pretty great. When we got to his house, Ben suggested that we take a walk to the top of hill so we can see all the lights in Canberra. So Gabi and I get all bundled up (it was pretty cold), Ben grabs the flashlight, and we head off through the forest and up a hill. About 10 minutes into the walk, our flashlight burns out and we can no longer see a thing, which was an issue considering we were in the middle of a forest on a very small path, so we did the whole train thing holding onto eachother's shoulders while Ben led the way. We made it out of the forest perfectly fine and just had a giant hill full of rocks and logs to survive. There were a few trips and stumbles along the way, but nothing too serious...until we were about 2 feet away from the top. Gabi did not see a giant rock on the ground and ended up slicing the bottom of her foot open, causing her to start bleeding all over the place. It was not pretty. So Ben walked back to his house, got his car, and came to pick us up. We did luckily get to see the lights of Canberra and all the stars, so it wasn't all bad. When we got back to Ben's, we were all pretty tired and got ready for bed...by setting up a tent. Yes, we camped out in a tent in Ben's backyard. Gabi is allergic to dogs and since Ben has two dogs, we decided to camp out in a tent. It was pretty hilarious; we were all wearing 3 layers of clothes and had 2 blankets on us to stay warm. I, naturally, slept very well and stayed pretty warm all night.
Saturday morning Ben took us to meet up with a couple of his friends for a breakfast BBQ in a park. However, before we went to the park to eat our breakfast, him and his friends took Gabi and I for a cruise through the windy roads and up a mountain. Gabi and Ben both got a little carsick (yes, Ben made himself carsick with his own driving), though neither of them got seriously sick. I don't get motion sickness so I was good to go and thouroughly enjoyed the nice scenery. After we enjoyed our delicious breakfast BBQ, Ben dropped Gabi and I off near the parliment house so we could see all the tourist attractions. Unlike Washington DC, where there are a never-ending amount of monuments, memorials, museums, and any other sort of historic attraction imaginable, Canberra has about 5. Gabi and I spent quite a bit of tmie in the Old Parliment House, went to the New Parliment House, walked along the river, and then went to the science museum to get a coffee (it was $15 to actually see the museum, and we were too cheap to pay it). Ben came and picked us up a few hours later and then we went to his sister's high school play - Grease. Gabi and I were super excited to see Grease and had a lot of fun watching it. Everyone in the play were trying to speak in an American accent throughout the whole thing, which was pretty hilarious. The play was also filled with American stereotypes. Every scene would end with some comment about going to get a cheeseburger or going home to watch the Mickey Mouse Club. Overall, the play was very entertaining. Later on that night, Gabi and I introduced Ben to the wonderful, delicious, amazing S'mores. He had never had one before, nor ever heard of one, and thought they sounded discusting. So Gabi and I forced Ben to start a bonfire, we went out and bought marshmallows and chocolate (my mom had already sent me graham crackers a while ago...they don't exist in this country), and we forced Ben to eat it. He ended up really liking them, but really...who doesn't love a s'more? They weren't as awesome as they normally are since it wasn't made with Hershey's chocolate (granted Cadbury chocolate is better, but not for S'mores) and it wasn't made with Jet-Puff marshamllows. Actually, the marshmallows we used tasted a little like raspberries, so our s'mores were a little fruity. Oh well, they were still pretty good.
On Sunday, Gabi and I went to the War Memorial, which was really interesting. I really didn't know a whole lot about Australian history, so it was cool to learn about it all. I really liked the World War II section; it was interesting to learn about the war from a different point of view other than the U.S. After we were done with the final tourist attraction (see..I told you there were only about 5 things to see), we packed up our things and made our way back to Sydney. So there was my little adventure to the capital of Australia!
Cheers!
Whit
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
New Zealand
Hello dear friends,
Apparently I suck at updating my blog and staying on track. I have the opposite mentality that should normally occur when I have a lot of stuff to do. Instead of just doing everything and getting it done, I become overwhelmed and just avoid it. Yet, today I decided that I would sit down and tell my tales. It's time to catch you all up!
We had our Spring Break April 11-19, so Gabi and I booked a trip to tour around the South Island of New Zealand. It was one of the best experiences of my life and it really was the most beautiful place I have ever been.
Saturday, April 11:
We arrive in Christchurch and have a free day since it's the day before our tour begins. We decide to check into our hostel (which was really not that great of a hostel...a little disappointing) and then walk around to explore the town. We were so excited to see the mountains to be in New Zealand! After we explored and went out to dinner, we attended a midnight Easter service at a beautiful church. Gabi and I were a little sad we couldn't spend Easter with our families, but were glad we had a good friend to enjoy it with.
Sunday, April 12:
Today is the first day of our tour and I really wasn't sure what to expect. We loaded the bus (which was named Roxy) and set off for our adventure. Our bus ride was similar to the surf camp one - loud music, everyone had to introduce themselves to the bus (all 50 of us), and basically a party. We were on Roxy for a good 6 days (off and on of course), so we all got pretty close to one another and pretty sick of Roxy. Our destination was to Lake Ohau the first day and we made several stop son the way there. We were all really excited - everything was so beautiful and exciting. I took about a million pictures of the Southern Alps. After a while the mountain pictures all start to look alike, so I had to force myself to tone it down a bit. We stopped at Lake Pukaki, which was probably one of my favorite stops. The Southern Alps were in the background with sparkly, turquoise, fresh glacier water; absolutely amazing! We also took a hike (and by hike, I mean uphill walk) through some of the mountains to get closer to Mount Cook. We finally made it to Lake Ohau later on that night and it was peaceful, beautiful, and amazing. We had a very lovely dinner followed shortly by a toga party. I was lame and did not participate in the displaying of a toga (it was really cold and I didn't feel like spilling wine all over my bed sheet), but I still enjoyed myself with everyone and took lots of pictures.
Monday, April 13:
It was an early wake-up call at 6:00 in the morning in order to load the bust at 6:50. The poor people who went all out at the toga party were dragging quite a bit as Roxy made its way to Milford Sound. We made a few stops to have some photo opportunities with the waterfalls, rivers, and beautiful scenery before we drove through the mountain (a literal tunnel that goes through the mountain) on our way to the sound. Once we arrived at Milford Sound, we unloaded the bus, loaded a boat, and began our journey on an overnight cruise. The cruise was a lot of fun and I was able to see amazing waterfalls, seals, and of course the mountains. Before we enjoyed our delicious dinner, we all went kayaking (I even kayaked up to a seal sitting by a waterfall) and then we all went for a swim...bad idea. The water was about 40 degrees and stung the second I hit the water. Gabi decided to swim a lap around the boat (or more so she was easily persuaded by our tour guide who she has a huge crush on) while I just jumped in, screamed in shock, and jumped right out. After our very cold swim, we ate dinner and then played a long game of Monopoly. I was doing really well and winning throughout the entire game, but suffered a defeat when everyone started making shady deals. The game ended a few hours later with one guy owning EVERY property with houses and hotels...there was no hope and I was a little disappointed at my sudden loss. One day I will win a game of Monopoly.
Tuesday, April 14:
After being awoken by the captain's announcement followed by a very loud horn, we cruised a little more around the Tasman sea, saw some more waterfalls and seals, and ported back where we started. Once we were off the boat, we hopped back on our beloved Roxy and set forth to Queenstown - the adrenaline capital of the world. When we first arrived, we walked around the city, went into the little shops and cafes, and just hung out until it was time for our group dinner at an awesome pizza bar called Winnies. After we were done eating, our group went to a bar called 5 below, which is a bar made entirely of ice. There were ice sculptures, the floor was ice, the walls were ice, the bar was ice, even our glasses were ice (I started to eat mine when I was done with my drink). It was really cold in there, but they gave us a giant fur hooded coat, gloves, and boots, so it wasn't too bad. After the half hour rendez-vous in the igloo, we all went next door to a bar called Frasers, where we spent the remainder of our night. The bartenders played our "bus song" and we all got up on the bar to dance while the bartenders made us all flaming shots. It was a small town bar, but a lot of fun.
Wednesday, April 15:
Today is my adventure-packed day. The first half of the day was spent horseback riding through the Southern Alps. It was very relaxing and amazing to be able to see everything. I even got to see where they filmed some of the scenes from Lord of the Rings (which, of course, I was all about). My horse, named Murphy, was a little skiddish and did not like it when any of the other horses came near him. There were a few times that I thought I was going to fall off the mountain when Murphy made sudden movements to get away from the other horses, but I was fine in the end. Murphy also did not understand the concept of picking up his feet when he had to step over an object, so he tripped a lot. There were a lot of gasps and little screams made by me throughout this little adventure. However, these screams were nothing compared to the one I made while bungy jumping. Yes, I bungy jumped off a bridge - the first bungy jumping sight in the world. It was exhilarating, it was exciting, it was amazing, and it was terrifying. I actually was unaware I could make such an atrocious scream, but I managed to accomplish it while I was plummeting toward a beautiful blue river head first. As scary as it was, the fun factor definitely outweighed it; I would definitely do it again. Maybe next time I'll try skydiving...we'll see.
Thursday, April 16:
After an eventful couple of days in Queenstown, it was time to hop back on Roxy and head toward Fox Glacier. We had a 2:00 appointment to go on a 4 hour hike up a glacier, which I was pretty thrilled about. However, our glacier walk got canceled due to all the rain and flooding in the west coast of New Zealand. So we were stuck in this tiny town known as Fox Glacier with nothing there...besides the glacier of course. Well luck would have it that this would be the day that I came down with a fever and a cold, so I just decided to take some medicine and go to bed. Don't worry, I didn't have the swine flu and I have been healthy ever since...besides a minor case of strep throat, but that's all taken care of as well. So this day was relatively uneventful.
Friday, April 17:
I woke up feeling well rested and feverless, so that was a good sign. However, it was still raining and we missed yet another activity on the agenda due to the flooding and a collapsed road. We were scheduled to go to Flock Hill and see all the sheep, cattle, and deer. I was pretty excited to pet a sheep, they look so cuddly (random fact of the day, there are more sheep in New Zealand than there are people). However, we were still stuck in a tiny town at a cafe, so I decided to entertain my friends with a talking teapot. They all thought I was crazy, but it did make the time go a little faster. The road finally cleared up and we were able to go on our re-routed way back to Queenstown. None of us were complaining that we got to go back to Queenstown for a night, even if we had to give up the petting of a sheep. On the bus ride back to Queenstown, our tour guide (who Gabi has a huge crush on and we have both befriended...we are actually going to be staying with him when we go back to New Zealand at the end of the semester) decided to make up some bus games. One bus game was a dating show and he needed volunteers in order to play, so I forced Gabi to participate while I refused. It turned out to be one of those dating shows where the guy has to pick from three contestants without seeing who the contestants are. The questions that were being asked were pretty ridiculous and embarrassing, Gabi was hating me for making her play...I found it quite amusing. But as it turns out, the guy ended up picking Gabi and so she won a date with him that night. Our tour guide set up a separate table for them with flowers, a glass of wine, and a tequila shot (keeping it classy) at the hotel restaurant we were staying at later that night. So thanks to me, Gabi got a free date!
Saturday, April 18:
This was our last day on our bus tour and we were all sad for it to be over. We made our way back to Christchurch where we had our final dinner and night out together. We ate at a fabulous Italian restaurant and then went out to a low-key bar where we could all sit around and talk. It was sad to leave some of the people, but it was overall a great last night. I ended up going to bed fairly early this night since my plane left at 6:10 the next morning and I had to be at the airport at 4:00.
So that was my Spring Break, a wonderful tour around the south island of New Zealand! It was one of the best experiences, I made a lot of friends, and I got to see a lot of amazing things. I'm excited to go back and travel the North Island in just 2 months!
Much love,
Whit
Apparently I suck at updating my blog and staying on track. I have the opposite mentality that should normally occur when I have a lot of stuff to do. Instead of just doing everything and getting it done, I become overwhelmed and just avoid it. Yet, today I decided that I would sit down and tell my tales. It's time to catch you all up!
We had our Spring Break April 11-19, so Gabi and I booked a trip to tour around the South Island of New Zealand. It was one of the best experiences of my life and it really was the most beautiful place I have ever been.
Saturday, April 11:
We arrive in Christchurch and have a free day since it's the day before our tour begins. We decide to check into our hostel (which was really not that great of a hostel...a little disappointing) and then walk around to explore the town. We were so excited to see the mountains to be in New Zealand! After we explored and went out to dinner, we attended a midnight Easter service at a beautiful church. Gabi and I were a little sad we couldn't spend Easter with our families, but were glad we had a good friend to enjoy it with.
Sunday, April 12:
Today is the first day of our tour and I really wasn't sure what to expect. We loaded the bus (which was named Roxy) and set off for our adventure. Our bus ride was similar to the surf camp one - loud music, everyone had to introduce themselves to the bus (all 50 of us), and basically a party. We were on Roxy for a good 6 days (off and on of course), so we all got pretty close to one another and pretty sick of Roxy. Our destination was to Lake Ohau the first day and we made several stop son the way there. We were all really excited - everything was so beautiful and exciting. I took about a million pictures of the Southern Alps. After a while the mountain pictures all start to look alike, so I had to force myself to tone it down a bit. We stopped at Lake Pukaki, which was probably one of my favorite stops. The Southern Alps were in the background with sparkly, turquoise, fresh glacier water; absolutely amazing! We also took a hike (and by hike, I mean uphill walk) through some of the mountains to get closer to Mount Cook. We finally made it to Lake Ohau later on that night and it was peaceful, beautiful, and amazing. We had a very lovely dinner followed shortly by a toga party. I was lame and did not participate in the displaying of a toga (it was really cold and I didn't feel like spilling wine all over my bed sheet), but I still enjoyed myself with everyone and took lots of pictures.
Monday, April 13:
It was an early wake-up call at 6:00 in the morning in order to load the bust at 6:50. The poor people who went all out at the toga party were dragging quite a bit as Roxy made its way to Milford Sound. We made a few stops to have some photo opportunities with the waterfalls, rivers, and beautiful scenery before we drove through the mountain (a literal tunnel that goes through the mountain) on our way to the sound. Once we arrived at Milford Sound, we unloaded the bus, loaded a boat, and began our journey on an overnight cruise. The cruise was a lot of fun and I was able to see amazing waterfalls, seals, and of course the mountains. Before we enjoyed our delicious dinner, we all went kayaking (I even kayaked up to a seal sitting by a waterfall) and then we all went for a swim...bad idea. The water was about 40 degrees and stung the second I hit the water. Gabi decided to swim a lap around the boat (or more so she was easily persuaded by our tour guide who she has a huge crush on) while I just jumped in, screamed in shock, and jumped right out. After our very cold swim, we ate dinner and then played a long game of Monopoly. I was doing really well and winning throughout the entire game, but suffered a defeat when everyone started making shady deals. The game ended a few hours later with one guy owning EVERY property with houses and hotels...there was no hope and I was a little disappointed at my sudden loss. One day I will win a game of Monopoly.
Tuesday, April 14:
After being awoken by the captain's announcement followed by a very loud horn, we cruised a little more around the Tasman sea, saw some more waterfalls and seals, and ported back where we started. Once we were off the boat, we hopped back on our beloved Roxy and set forth to Queenstown - the adrenaline capital of the world. When we first arrived, we walked around the city, went into the little shops and cafes, and just hung out until it was time for our group dinner at an awesome pizza bar called Winnies. After we were done eating, our group went to a bar called 5 below, which is a bar made entirely of ice. There were ice sculptures, the floor was ice, the walls were ice, the bar was ice, even our glasses were ice (I started to eat mine when I was done with my drink). It was really cold in there, but they gave us a giant fur hooded coat, gloves, and boots, so it wasn't too bad. After the half hour rendez-vous in the igloo, we all went next door to a bar called Frasers, where we spent the remainder of our night. The bartenders played our "bus song" and we all got up on the bar to dance while the bartenders made us all flaming shots. It was a small town bar, but a lot of fun.
Wednesday, April 15:
Today is my adventure-packed day. The first half of the day was spent horseback riding through the Southern Alps. It was very relaxing and amazing to be able to see everything. I even got to see where they filmed some of the scenes from Lord of the Rings (which, of course, I was all about). My horse, named Murphy, was a little skiddish and did not like it when any of the other horses came near him. There were a few times that I thought I was going to fall off the mountain when Murphy made sudden movements to get away from the other horses, but I was fine in the end. Murphy also did not understand the concept of picking up his feet when he had to step over an object, so he tripped a lot. There were a lot of gasps and little screams made by me throughout this little adventure. However, these screams were nothing compared to the one I made while bungy jumping. Yes, I bungy jumped off a bridge - the first bungy jumping sight in the world. It was exhilarating, it was exciting, it was amazing, and it was terrifying. I actually was unaware I could make such an atrocious scream, but I managed to accomplish it while I was plummeting toward a beautiful blue river head first. As scary as it was, the fun factor definitely outweighed it; I would definitely do it again. Maybe next time I'll try skydiving...we'll see.
Thursday, April 16:
After an eventful couple of days in Queenstown, it was time to hop back on Roxy and head toward Fox Glacier. We had a 2:00 appointment to go on a 4 hour hike up a glacier, which I was pretty thrilled about. However, our glacier walk got canceled due to all the rain and flooding in the west coast of New Zealand. So we were stuck in this tiny town known as Fox Glacier with nothing there...besides the glacier of course. Well luck would have it that this would be the day that I came down with a fever and a cold, so I just decided to take some medicine and go to bed. Don't worry, I didn't have the swine flu and I have been healthy ever since...besides a minor case of strep throat, but that's all taken care of as well. So this day was relatively uneventful.
Friday, April 17:
I woke up feeling well rested and feverless, so that was a good sign. However, it was still raining and we missed yet another activity on the agenda due to the flooding and a collapsed road. We were scheduled to go to Flock Hill and see all the sheep, cattle, and deer. I was pretty excited to pet a sheep, they look so cuddly (random fact of the day, there are more sheep in New Zealand than there are people). However, we were still stuck in a tiny town at a cafe, so I decided to entertain my friends with a talking teapot. They all thought I was crazy, but it did make the time go a little faster. The road finally cleared up and we were able to go on our re-routed way back to Queenstown. None of us were complaining that we got to go back to Queenstown for a night, even if we had to give up the petting of a sheep. On the bus ride back to Queenstown, our tour guide (who Gabi has a huge crush on and we have both befriended...we are actually going to be staying with him when we go back to New Zealand at the end of the semester) decided to make up some bus games. One bus game was a dating show and he needed volunteers in order to play, so I forced Gabi to participate while I refused. It turned out to be one of those dating shows where the guy has to pick from three contestants without seeing who the contestants are. The questions that were being asked were pretty ridiculous and embarrassing, Gabi was hating me for making her play...I found it quite amusing. But as it turns out, the guy ended up picking Gabi and so she won a date with him that night. Our tour guide set up a separate table for them with flowers, a glass of wine, and a tequila shot (keeping it classy) at the hotel restaurant we were staying at later that night. So thanks to me, Gabi got a free date!
Saturday, April 18:
This was our last day on our bus tour and we were all sad for it to be over. We made our way back to Christchurch where we had our final dinner and night out together. We ate at a fabulous Italian restaurant and then went out to a low-key bar where we could all sit around and talk. It was sad to leave some of the people, but it was overall a great last night. I ended up going to bed fairly early this night since my plane left at 6:10 the next morning and I had to be at the airport at 4:00.
So that was my Spring Break, a wonderful tour around the south island of New Zealand! It was one of the best experiences, I made a lot of friends, and I got to see a lot of amazing things. I'm excited to go back and travel the North Island in just 2 months!
Much love,
Whit
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Gold Coast
Well Hello there!
Do not worry, I didn't get lost or anything. I've just been a little slackertown on my blog. So about a month later, I finally decided that I should post stories of my latest happenings. Besides my trip to the Gold Coast this past weekend, there really isn't much to talk about.
School is boring, but going well nonetheless (well at least as far as I'm aware). I dropped that terrible "Genres in Cultural Context" class, so now I only have 3 classes to worry about, which makes most of my friends pretty jealous. I had my first paper due a couple of weeks ago, I have another one due next week, then I have two debates the week after that. So it's starting to pick up, which is making the time go by way too fast. I can't believe I've already been here for 2 and a half months! So that was my life the past month in a nutshell.
Onto the exciting stuff! This past weekend I went to the Gold Coast for four days with Gabi and it was amazing! It's a really beautiful place and I wish we could have stayed a little longer.
We arrived at our resort on Friday morning and it was a BEAUTIFUL, huge resort. We had our main bedroom, a nice bathroom, a room with a pull out couch, a full kitchen, a large living room/dining room, and 3 balconies. When we first got there, Gabi and I went on a walk on the beach. The waves were huge and there were "danger: no swimming" flags/signs posted everywhere. Gabi and I weren't even walking that close to the shore, but one wave came out of nowhere and was up to our mid-thigh. I wish the weather would have been a little nicer (it was pretty rainy) so we could have hung out on the beach a little more. Friday night we were pretty exhausted since we hardly slept all week trying to get all of our assignments and papers done before we left for our trip, so we decided to watch a movie and lay low. The resort didn't have a DVD player, so we went to Blockbuster and rented one. While we were trying to plug the DVD player into the TV, I pulled the TV out a little too far and the entire cable connector snapped out of the TV and broke. So yeah, we broke our TV the first night we were there. We tried to superglue it back together, but that failed. We finally ended up going down to the front desk a few days later acting like we didn't know what happened and played dumb. They believed our story and we didn't get charged for breaking the TV.
Saturday we went to Dreamworld, which is an amusement park/water park. It was a lot of fun, but it wasn't as large as our theme parks back at home. We went on a few roller coasters, saw a tiger show, got to pet a tiger, saw a Spongebob Squarepants show (I was laughing hysterically the entire time and took a bunch of pictures), and went on the water rides. Then we got back to our hotel room around 6 and decided to lay down for a nap. We fell asleep with our clothes on, laying on top of the covers, with all the lights on and still managed to sleep for 4 and a half hours. We woke up at 10:30 and were still really exhausted, so we decided to just eat a bowl of cereal and go back to bed since we had to wake up at 6:00 the next morning. So Saturday night we just slept for 12 hours. I had no idea I was that tired, but I was caught up on all my sleep since then and haven't felt exhausted at all! It was nice to be refreshed.
Sunday we went on a tour through the mountains where we got to see all the waterfalls and the lookout spots from the mountains. We also got to go to Tropical Fruit World which is the largest growing spot of tropical fruits in the world. It was a lot cooler than it sounds. The tour was amazing! Pretty sure Gabi and I were the only 2 on this tour under the age of 40, but we still enjoyed ourselves. At fruit world, we got to taste a bunch of exotic fruit which was delicious! My favorite one was pineapple (I'm so lame), but I also really enjoyed Dragon Fruit and Champagne Fruit. After our stop at Tropical Fruit World, we went up through the mountains and saw a bunch of waterfalls and got to see the city from the top of the mountain. It was extremely beautiful and amazing. I met a really nice couple from New Zealand who offered me a place to stay when I go and travel the North Island after I'm done with this semester. They gave me their card with their e-mail address and phone number. They were very nice and Gabi and I hung around them most of the day. Sunday night we made dinner and then went out to the Casino. Gabi and I only spent $2 between the two of us, which we were very proud of. Granted neither of us know how to play the card games and we don't really like to gamble all that much, so we stuck with the penny slot machines. We ended up winning our $2 back every time and was able to play with that same coin all night. Then at the end of the night we lost and decided we shouldn't press our luck anymore, so we gave up on gambling.
Monday we went shopping all day at a very large mall that was both indoor and outdoor. Then our plane left in the afternoon and we arrived back in Sydney on Monday night. It was a really great weekend. Tomorrow I leave for New Zealand for the next 9 days. It's our "Midsemester Break" (aka Spring break..though it's technically not Spring here) and Gabi and I are traveling the entire south island of New Zealand. We are very excited! So my next posting will be all about my New Zealand trip!
I hope everyone has a fabulous Easter holiday!
Much Love,
Whit
P.S. I finally posted pictures on my photobucket account. So if you feel so inclined to look at them, they are posted!
Do not worry, I didn't get lost or anything. I've just been a little slackertown on my blog. So about a month later, I finally decided that I should post stories of my latest happenings. Besides my trip to the Gold Coast this past weekend, there really isn't much to talk about.
School is boring, but going well nonetheless (well at least as far as I'm aware). I dropped that terrible "Genres in Cultural Context" class, so now I only have 3 classes to worry about, which makes most of my friends pretty jealous. I had my first paper due a couple of weeks ago, I have another one due next week, then I have two debates the week after that. So it's starting to pick up, which is making the time go by way too fast. I can't believe I've already been here for 2 and a half months! So that was my life the past month in a nutshell.
Onto the exciting stuff! This past weekend I went to the Gold Coast for four days with Gabi and it was amazing! It's a really beautiful place and I wish we could have stayed a little longer.
We arrived at our resort on Friday morning and it was a BEAUTIFUL, huge resort. We had our main bedroom, a nice bathroom, a room with a pull out couch, a full kitchen, a large living room/dining room, and 3 balconies. When we first got there, Gabi and I went on a walk on the beach. The waves were huge and there were "danger: no swimming" flags/signs posted everywhere. Gabi and I weren't even walking that close to the shore, but one wave came out of nowhere and was up to our mid-thigh. I wish the weather would have been a little nicer (it was pretty rainy) so we could have hung out on the beach a little more. Friday night we were pretty exhausted since we hardly slept all week trying to get all of our assignments and papers done before we left for our trip, so we decided to watch a movie and lay low. The resort didn't have a DVD player, so we went to Blockbuster and rented one. While we were trying to plug the DVD player into the TV, I pulled the TV out a little too far and the entire cable connector snapped out of the TV and broke. So yeah, we broke our TV the first night we were there. We tried to superglue it back together, but that failed. We finally ended up going down to the front desk a few days later acting like we didn't know what happened and played dumb. They believed our story and we didn't get charged for breaking the TV.
Saturday we went to Dreamworld, which is an amusement park/water park. It was a lot of fun, but it wasn't as large as our theme parks back at home. We went on a few roller coasters, saw a tiger show, got to pet a tiger, saw a Spongebob Squarepants show (I was laughing hysterically the entire time and took a bunch of pictures), and went on the water rides. Then we got back to our hotel room around 6 and decided to lay down for a nap. We fell asleep with our clothes on, laying on top of the covers, with all the lights on and still managed to sleep for 4 and a half hours. We woke up at 10:30 and were still really exhausted, so we decided to just eat a bowl of cereal and go back to bed since we had to wake up at 6:00 the next morning. So Saturday night we just slept for 12 hours. I had no idea I was that tired, but I was caught up on all my sleep since then and haven't felt exhausted at all! It was nice to be refreshed.
Sunday we went on a tour through the mountains where we got to see all the waterfalls and the lookout spots from the mountains. We also got to go to Tropical Fruit World which is the largest growing spot of tropical fruits in the world. It was a lot cooler than it sounds. The tour was amazing! Pretty sure Gabi and I were the only 2 on this tour under the age of 40, but we still enjoyed ourselves. At fruit world, we got to taste a bunch of exotic fruit which was delicious! My favorite one was pineapple (I'm so lame), but I also really enjoyed Dragon Fruit and Champagne Fruit. After our stop at Tropical Fruit World, we went up through the mountains and saw a bunch of waterfalls and got to see the city from the top of the mountain. It was extremely beautiful and amazing. I met a really nice couple from New Zealand who offered me a place to stay when I go and travel the North Island after I'm done with this semester. They gave me their card with their e-mail address and phone number. They were very nice and Gabi and I hung around them most of the day. Sunday night we made dinner and then went out to the Casino. Gabi and I only spent $2 between the two of us, which we were very proud of. Granted neither of us know how to play the card games and we don't really like to gamble all that much, so we stuck with the penny slot machines. We ended up winning our $2 back every time and was able to play with that same coin all night. Then at the end of the night we lost and decided we shouldn't press our luck anymore, so we gave up on gambling.
Monday we went shopping all day at a very large mall that was both indoor and outdoor. Then our plane left in the afternoon and we arrived back in Sydney on Monday night. It was a really great weekend. Tomorrow I leave for New Zealand for the next 9 days. It's our "Midsemester Break" (aka Spring break..though it's technically not Spring here) and Gabi and I are traveling the entire south island of New Zealand. We are very excited! So my next posting will be all about my New Zealand trip!
I hope everyone has a fabulous Easter holiday!
Much Love,
Whit
P.S. I finally posted pictures on my photobucket account. So if you feel so inclined to look at them, they are posted!
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