We left Surfer's Paradise at 5:00am and didn't arrive in Bangkok until 11:00pm. It was a long day!! We had a second boost of energy however as we exited a taxi onto Ko San Road. The lights were shining, the music blaring and people were everywhere. We got checked in to the D&D hotel which was nicer and cheaper than any Australian hostel. Our first priority was to find a way out of Bangkok. So the next morning we made our way over to the train station. It turned out to be an epic bus ride, all the while we had no clue where we were really going. Eventually we made it and booked a night train to Surratthani and a boat to Ko Phangan. The rest of our time in Bangkok was spent wandering China town, shopping on Ko San Road, and our first Thai massage. Not a bad way to spend a day!
The night train was pretty crazy. We were both pretty exhausted and had no trouble falling asleep. We woke up in the morning and had a bit of a panic moment as Allie looked at her clock and it was half past 6 - the time when our boat was suppose to leave. Eventually we figured out that her clock was on Australia time and went back to bed.
As we got off the boat at Ko Phangan the sky, which had been blaring sun at us on the boat ride turned dark, the wind picked up, and within minutes we were stuck in the middle of monsoon rain. With no real idea of where we were going we relied on our trusty lonely planet and headed for the recommended cookies bungalow. It was a really quiet place and we were right on the beach, which was stunning. I fell asleep in our hammock and opened my eyes to the perfect view - sun, beach, and palm trees!
The next day we headed to the other side of the island to a beach which we would soon discover as being perfection. Hadd Juan was a much more secluded beach than the bustling area of Hadd Rin (the location of the infamous Full Moon Party. Within a few hours of being there I ran into a friend from back home. She took us up to her bungalow which was on the side of the mountain and the view was stunning! We chilled up there and then headed to Bamboo for diner. Bamboo has the most amazing food. My mouth is watering right now just thinking about it! Then we made the trek over to Eden Garden. The most relaxing bar I have ever been to. Turns out another friend was there as well. What a small world!
After enjoying ourselves too much in this amazing part of the world, we headed back to Hadd Rin and off to the night boat to Krabi. All I will say is that it stunk, it poured and had I not taken gravol I would have been very sea-sick. When we made it to Krabi we were very ecstatic to be off the boat, but it wasn't until after 2 more taxis, 2 buses and a boat that we finally made it to Ko Phi Phi.
It was well worth the trip! The limestone cliffs and lush mountains that jetted up from the turquoise water was the picture-perfect scene of Thailand. This is where the movie the Beach was filmed and although the scenery was recognizable it was by no means a secluded area. Quite the opposite, it was teaming with tour shops, bars, stores and restaurants. All if it was a touch overwhelming especially after over 20 hours of travelling. We were so happy when we finally made it to a bungalow. Although it rained almost the entire afternoon we managed to get ourselves booked on a dive for the next day. We also had diner at one of the many restaurants that play movies while you eat.
Up early the next morning we headed out for our dive. We waited around for ages until we were finally told that our dive instructor was dead to the world, passed out in his room naked. There would be no dive today. Eventually we talked the owner into a complimentary snorkel to amuse ourselves that day. It was quite different from the Great Barrier Reef, and we saw many a cool fish, including a lion fish, and pie fish. Unfortunately my water proof camera gave out whilst diving down perhaps a bit too deep. Luckily it still takes pictures, but without the use of the screen its hard to know what your taking photos of. Before we headed back we stoped at a beach that was filled with monkeys. It was unreal how close we got. One guy was testing the boundaries by letting the monkeys crawl all over him. It looked pretty cool, but I don't think it was worth the massive bite he ended up getting. I freaked out a bit when they came charging at me as I was holding a banana. Our guide thought it was pretty funny though.
Finally we got to do out dive the next day and it was definitely worth it!!!!!! We were much more comfortable on this dive than the last which probably helped, but we saw so much more than on the Whitsundays. Here's a small list of what we saw: black tipped reef shark, sea turtles, moray eels, and a sea snake which is 8 times deadlier than the king cobra - didn't find that out until we were back on dry land. We did two dives and in between had lunch on Ko Phi Lay. For part of the time we were the only people on this little beach with just a run down shack on it. It was pretty unreal to swim off this beach where limestone cliffs rose up so high on either side of you.
Once we returned to Ko Phi Phi we hit up the beach for a bit. Although it was a bit crowded it wasn't a bad way to spend the afternoon. The only complaint was the wind which would blow the sand so hard up against you that it felt like millions of tiny pin pricks. As it was our last night on Ko Phi Phi we did a bit of wandering around the little shops and then treated ourselves to a Manicure and Pedicure.
Diving, Beaching, Shopping, Spa-ing = a day in paradise. We're excited to head north, but it's going to be hard to leave this place!!!
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
My Last Australia Travel
After saying a very sad goodbye to Evatt, Devin, Allie, Jamie and I made way north to Brisbane. We hung out at the train station for quite some time when we got there, but finally boarded a bus to take us to Fraser Island. After almost 12 hours in transit we arrived at Hervey bay, only to be informed that we were heading over to the island that night, something we had not quite been expecting (well if I'm going to be honest about it, due to lack of organisation we really had no clue what we were doing). So onto the ferry we went, our fifth mode of transportation that day, only to encounter a overly friendly skipper who felt the need to dress me up as a pirate. Although this was mildly amusing, the diesel smelling rag that he put over my face and head was not.
Fraser Island is made almost entirely of sand, save for a few rocky headlands. It has gorgeous blue freshwater lakes that are far above sea level, which makes for an interesting geological phenomenon. The island is inhabited by many Dingos, which is a very aggressive and unfriendly dog, likened with the North American wolf. Our guide told us horror stories, one included his grandson being bitten by a dingo, but luckily surviving. The tour was very picturesque and relaxing, a much needed rest after our last week at Evatt. We did head to the bar one night though to watch the State of Origin Footy game, a rugby league 3 series game between New South Wales and Queensland. Unfortunately Queensland won, winning them the title as it was their second win. Surprisingly they still play the third game, but I will be out of the country and I don't think it will be showing in Thailand.
Next stop was a sail through the Whitsunday Islands. Unfortunately our first attempt to get up there from Brisbane was a miserable failure. We hoped on the train to the airport and when we reached the end of the track and had still not come by the domestic terminal, we knew we were in trouble. I made a hectic call to a cab and organized a pick-up to be at a station right when we got there. Of course we were not on the right side of the tracks, so had to lug our bags up and down 2 flights of stairs. In the cab we planned that I would run in as soon as we got there, and attempt to use my persuasive skills to get on a flight that was leaving in 15 minutes. Apparently I need to work on these skills because the lovely customer services agent was NOT going to let us on.
We spent the next 45 minutes figuring out every option and after deciding on 2 or 3 different options, we found another flight to just north of Airley Beach (the port of the Whitsundays). This flight to Mackay of course did not go smoothly. Our first attempt at landing failed and we had to fly back up and try again. Apparently Jet Star doesn't have the proper equipment to deal with heavy fog. Great! Luckily the second time went smoothly and eventually we got ourselves a bus to Airley Beach. Upon our arrival we decided we had recovered from Evatt and it was definitely time for a night out, and it did not disappoint!
The next day we set sail, with our casques of wine in hand, on the Atlantic Clipper. The 3 day trip included fun drinking games by night and snorkeling/scuba diving by day. Allie and I decided to go for a dive and it was an unbelievable experience. The water could have been clearer, but just to be fully underwater for half an hour was amazing in itself!
After our tour, and a plane/train ride later we arrived on the Gold Coast at Surfer's Paradise. Jamie's Mum works for the Marriott, so we got a room there for a very cheap price and lived in style for 3 days. Feeling a bit out of our league at the $57 buffet dinner, we went to the grocery store and ordered up plates and cutlery via room service. Not a normal request I'm sure. We had some very good beach/pool days. A lovely place to relax. Although it is very commercial and touristy, I think because it was the off season it was more enjoyable than it could have been.
Allie and I were then planning on heading down to Port Macquarie (where a lot of our friends from school live) and in a last minute decision Devin and Jamie decided to join us. After an 9 hour bus/train trip, Gen met us at the station and took us back to her place. Her house was lovely and her parents were amazing! We had a lamb roast for dinner over many bottles of wine. Her Dad was even generous enough to give Gen cab money for the night! We headed into town and had a great night. Lots of friends from Newcastle were around and it was cool to see them in their home town.
The next day I had to say goodbye to Devin. It is so hard to believe that I won't see her for so long. It will definitely be a change from spending almost every day with her for the last 5 months. But I was off on a camping trip with Sam and his friend Pete. The car was jam packed with a tiny spot in the back for me (my giant suitcase didn't help the situation). Luckily it absolutely poured rain for the next 3 days! We toughed it out in the tents the first night, but rented cabins the next two. It was a very relaxing trip up the east coast. We stoped in little town - Coffs Harbour, Yamba, Ballina - and then spent a night in the infamous Byron Bay. I really enjoyed it there, but it was much more commercial than I had expected and it was ungodly cold. I honestly don't think I have ever been so cold in my life!
During the days the boys went off Surfing and Spear fishing and i found many relaxing ways to occupy myself - not a bad way to spend my last week! We eventually made it back up to the Gold Coast and stayed at their friends place. It was actually a really nice house that they rented, it even had a pool, although the water was green and had beer cans floating in it! Allie joined us on the Saturday and we had a pretty big night out. Unfortunately Allie somehow lost her visa and ID, which considering we were leaving for Thailand in 2 days was not overly convenient. The next day, as the boys went off spearing, we went into town and did some last minute things before Thailand. For dinner Sam and the boys took us to a Chinese restaurant for dinner.
Then the next morning we were up at 4:30 am to catch a train back to Brisbane to fly out to Bangkok. Saying goodbye to Australia was hard, but hopefully I will be back soon. It was such an amazing time here with unforgettable people!
Fraser Island is made almost entirely of sand, save for a few rocky headlands. It has gorgeous blue freshwater lakes that are far above sea level, which makes for an interesting geological phenomenon. The island is inhabited by many Dingos, which is a very aggressive and unfriendly dog, likened with the North American wolf. Our guide told us horror stories, one included his grandson being bitten by a dingo, but luckily surviving. The tour was very picturesque and relaxing, a much needed rest after our last week at Evatt. We did head to the bar one night though to watch the State of Origin Footy game, a rugby league 3 series game between New South Wales and Queensland. Unfortunately Queensland won, winning them the title as it was their second win. Surprisingly they still play the third game, but I will be out of the country and I don't think it will be showing in Thailand.
Next stop was a sail through the Whitsunday Islands. Unfortunately our first attempt to get up there from Brisbane was a miserable failure. We hoped on the train to the airport and when we reached the end of the track and had still not come by the domestic terminal, we knew we were in trouble. I made a hectic call to a cab and organized a pick-up to be at a station right when we got there. Of course we were not on the right side of the tracks, so had to lug our bags up and down 2 flights of stairs. In the cab we planned that I would run in as soon as we got there, and attempt to use my persuasive skills to get on a flight that was leaving in 15 minutes. Apparently I need to work on these skills because the lovely customer services agent was NOT going to let us on.
We spent the next 45 minutes figuring out every option and after deciding on 2 or 3 different options, we found another flight to just north of Airley Beach (the port of the Whitsundays). This flight to Mackay of course did not go smoothly. Our first attempt at landing failed and we had to fly back up and try again. Apparently Jet Star doesn't have the proper equipment to deal with heavy fog. Great! Luckily the second time went smoothly and eventually we got ourselves a bus to Airley Beach. Upon our arrival we decided we had recovered from Evatt and it was definitely time for a night out, and it did not disappoint!
The next day we set sail, with our casques of wine in hand, on the Atlantic Clipper. The 3 day trip included fun drinking games by night and snorkeling/scuba diving by day. Allie and I decided to go for a dive and it was an unbelievable experience. The water could have been clearer, but just to be fully underwater for half an hour was amazing in itself!
After our tour, and a plane/train ride later we arrived on the Gold Coast at Surfer's Paradise. Jamie's Mum works for the Marriott, so we got a room there for a very cheap price and lived in style for 3 days. Feeling a bit out of our league at the $57 buffet dinner, we went to the grocery store and ordered up plates and cutlery via room service. Not a normal request I'm sure. We had some very good beach/pool days. A lovely place to relax. Although it is very commercial and touristy, I think because it was the off season it was more enjoyable than it could have been.
Allie and I were then planning on heading down to Port Macquarie (where a lot of our friends from school live) and in a last minute decision Devin and Jamie decided to join us. After an 9 hour bus/train trip, Gen met us at the station and took us back to her place. Her house was lovely and her parents were amazing! We had a lamb roast for dinner over many bottles of wine. Her Dad was even generous enough to give Gen cab money for the night! We headed into town and had a great night. Lots of friends from Newcastle were around and it was cool to see them in their home town.
The next day I had to say goodbye to Devin. It is so hard to believe that I won't see her for so long. It will definitely be a change from spending almost every day with her for the last 5 months. But I was off on a camping trip with Sam and his friend Pete. The car was jam packed with a tiny spot in the back for me (my giant suitcase didn't help the situation). Luckily it absolutely poured rain for the next 3 days! We toughed it out in the tents the first night, but rented cabins the next two. It was a very relaxing trip up the east coast. We stoped in little town - Coffs Harbour, Yamba, Ballina - and then spent a night in the infamous Byron Bay. I really enjoyed it there, but it was much more commercial than I had expected and it was ungodly cold. I honestly don't think I have ever been so cold in my life!
During the days the boys went off Surfing and Spear fishing and i found many relaxing ways to occupy myself - not a bad way to spend my last week! We eventually made it back up to the Gold Coast and stayed at their friends place. It was actually a really nice house that they rented, it even had a pool, although the water was green and had beer cans floating in it! Allie joined us on the Saturday and we had a pretty big night out. Unfortunately Allie somehow lost her visa and ID, which considering we were leaving for Thailand in 2 days was not overly convenient. The next day, as the boys went off spearing, we went into town and did some last minute things before Thailand. For dinner Sam and the boys took us to a Chinese restaurant for dinner.
Then the next morning we were up at 4:30 am to catch a train back to Brisbane to fly out to Bangkok. Saying goodbye to Australia was hard, but hopefully I will be back soon. It was such an amazing time here with unforgettable people!
Monday, June 18, 2007
The Last Month and a bit at Evatt
It's hard to remmeber everything that I have done in the past few months, because there has been so much! Evatt is definitly a place unto its own. I couldn't hold back the tears when I left, and I still can't quite believe that I won't be back.
Some of the Events:
Pub Crawl: The theme was rubix cube, which required everyone to wear 6 pieces of clothing of the 6 colours of the rubix cube. On the first bus trip everyone was given a number which corresponded with one colour. In order to discover what colour our number went with we had to exchange clothes and dress in one solid colour and then ask the judges if we had guessed correctly. If you did, you won, but if you didn't you had to go and get into another colour. It was pretty hectic, and made for some good times! We started really early and i was at home in bed, dead to the world by 11:00. Unfortunately, I managed to get myself a train fine, for not purchasing a ticket. It put a bit of a damper on the evening, but knowing me I will manage to get myslef out of it!
Trip to the Blue Mountains: Dev, Allie and I headed down for a weekend with Ainsley in her hometown of Lithgow, and did some sightseeing of the gorgeous blue mountains. It was sooooo amazing to stay at a real house, with a real bed, and someone to cook for you! Some of Ainsleys friends are in a band, but are all heading in different directions to work or travel. They had a massive going away gig, which involved much jumping dancing and singing, which is always a recipe for a good night!
Bar 121: Our sponser pub, which always means a great night of dancing to live music, mostly classic 90s tunes - always a treat!
Canteen Night: In order to raise money for cancer, we headed over to our campus bar to support some of the boys from Evatt who play in a band. They drew quite a crowd, along with Andy who promised to cut off his shoulder length hair if we could raise over $800.00. Amazingly we raised over $2000.00. An unbeleivable effort!
International going away party: This was supose to be a big event, again at our on-campus bar, but Newcastle was hit be a huge storm and this changed things. There was flash flooding, so many people had to abandon their cars, and one of the coal barges was washed up onto the reef only 10 meters off shore. The rain was terential, and basically acted like a shower. Needless to say nobody was overly keen to leave their warm, dry room. However we still made the most of it. A bunch of us girls got together in some old gruby clothes and went mud-sliding. It was an unbeleiable moment that I know I will never experience again. We got absolutely filthy sliding down hills and through puddles and then headed back to Evatt to cause a rucus. After dirtying up the window of the common room (which nobody would let us into) we headed over to Ted's pool (our colloage rivals. We went for a very cleansing swim after using a trash can to hop the fence. On our way back we did run into a few security guards, however they didn't seem to be too upset with us. In fact it was wuite the opposite, they thought it was rather halarious, so instead of getting in trouble, we got a picture with them.
After I had finished my last exam and handed in my last paper, it was so hard to believe that it was all over. On the one hand I feel so close to everyone here that it seems like I have known them forever, but on the other hand time has just flown by and it doesn't seem possible that my time here has come to an end.
Allie, Devin, her friend from Seattle, Jamie, and I are now heading out for a 3 week tour of the east coast. We are looking forward to the sunnier climate further north. Leaving Newcastle was bitter-sweet. I am so sad to leave, but also excited to do some traveling again. This has been the most amazing experience of my life and I am going to miss everyone and the lifestyle desperetly!
Some of the Events:
Pub Crawl: The theme was rubix cube, which required everyone to wear 6 pieces of clothing of the 6 colours of the rubix cube. On the first bus trip everyone was given a number which corresponded with one colour. In order to discover what colour our number went with we had to exchange clothes and dress in one solid colour and then ask the judges if we had guessed correctly. If you did, you won, but if you didn't you had to go and get into another colour. It was pretty hectic, and made for some good times! We started really early and i was at home in bed, dead to the world by 11:00. Unfortunately, I managed to get myself a train fine, for not purchasing a ticket. It put a bit of a damper on the evening, but knowing me I will manage to get myslef out of it!
Trip to the Blue Mountains: Dev, Allie and I headed down for a weekend with Ainsley in her hometown of Lithgow, and did some sightseeing of the gorgeous blue mountains. It was sooooo amazing to stay at a real house, with a real bed, and someone to cook for you! Some of Ainsleys friends are in a band, but are all heading in different directions to work or travel. They had a massive going away gig, which involved much jumping dancing and singing, which is always a recipe for a good night!
Bar 121: Our sponser pub, which always means a great night of dancing to live music, mostly classic 90s tunes - always a treat!
Canteen Night: In order to raise money for cancer, we headed over to our campus bar to support some of the boys from Evatt who play in a band. They drew quite a crowd, along with Andy who promised to cut off his shoulder length hair if we could raise over $800.00. Amazingly we raised over $2000.00. An unbeleivable effort!
International going away party: This was supose to be a big event, again at our on-campus bar, but Newcastle was hit be a huge storm and this changed things. There was flash flooding, so many people had to abandon their cars, and one of the coal barges was washed up onto the reef only 10 meters off shore. The rain was terential, and basically acted like a shower. Needless to say nobody was overly keen to leave their warm, dry room. However we still made the most of it. A bunch of us girls got together in some old gruby clothes and went mud-sliding. It was an unbeleiable moment that I know I will never experience again. We got absolutely filthy sliding down hills and through puddles and then headed back to Evatt to cause a rucus. After dirtying up the window of the common room (which nobody would let us into) we headed over to Ted's pool (our colloage rivals. We went for a very cleansing swim after using a trash can to hop the fence. On our way back we did run into a few security guards, however they didn't seem to be too upset with us. In fact it was wuite the opposite, they thought it was rather halarious, so instead of getting in trouble, we got a picture with them.
After I had finished my last exam and handed in my last paper, it was so hard to believe that it was all over. On the one hand I feel so close to everyone here that it seems like I have known them forever, but on the other hand time has just flown by and it doesn't seem possible that my time here has come to an end.
Allie, Devin, her friend from Seattle, Jamie, and I are now heading out for a 3 week tour of the east coast. We are looking forward to the sunnier climate further north. Leaving Newcastle was bitter-sweet. I am so sad to leave, but also excited to do some traveling again. This has been the most amazing experience of my life and I am going to miss everyone and the lifestyle desperetly!
Easter Holidays
Well I am definitly very far behind in my blogging so I'm going to give a quick overview to try and catch up! Devin and I had an amazing break. After we left Melbourne we drove for 3 days along the Great Ocean Road. The scenery was breathtaking, and we were both vying for the passengers seat the whole trip. We saw the Twelve Apostles which are huge rocks just off the coast. We were lucky enough to have gorgeous weather, which was a real treat. We spent a really fun night in Apollo Bay, a small town along the road. Shockingly Devin ran into a guy that she had met 6 months earlier in Vegas. Just goes to show what a small world it really is. We also went for a beach horseback ride, which I really enjoyed, and Dev would have too, if her horse hadn't been so damn lazy!!
Next we hit up Adelaide, had a bit of trouble checking into the hostel we booked because it's reception was closed, but eventually we sorted it all out. We went out to see a wineary the next day which was really fun, but completely exemplified the terrible drought South Australia is experiencing. After just one day in Adelaide we headed out on a tour of Kangaroo Island, where shockingly we saw tons of kangaroos! We also saw the cute Koala bears, sea lions, possums and some ancient whale bones. A very succesful tour, we had a great guide along with an outgoing group of travellers.
We then bundled up and flew down even further south to the Island of Tasmania. It's the biggest Island just of the South-east coast. We flew into Hobart and did a tour of the Cadbury Chocolate Factory which was unbelievable.We ate tons of chocolate and although it was amazing, I was a little disapointed we didn't see any umpa loompas! From Hobart we rented a car and ptetty much drove around the whole Island. The highlights included a national park where we saw wallabys and a platypus, the cradle mountains which jutted up behind a stunning lake, a cave walk with an underground cathedral and glow worms, and finally the east coast which included wineglass bay and some stunning sun-sets. The lowest point of the whole trip occured here in Tasmania though when we shared a hostel room with a very scary old man. He looked like he hadn't showered in days and furthermore felt the need to test normal social boundaries by waking me up in the morning by poking me in the ribs - very scary!!!
We had an amazing trip, but happily celbrated our return with an amazing night at town in Newcastle. Dev and I were reunited with Allie and we definitly celbrated in a big way. The perfect way to end a fabulous holiday!
Next we hit up Adelaide, had a bit of trouble checking into the hostel we booked because it's reception was closed, but eventually we sorted it all out. We went out to see a wineary the next day which was really fun, but completely exemplified the terrible drought South Australia is experiencing. After just one day in Adelaide we headed out on a tour of Kangaroo Island, where shockingly we saw tons of kangaroos! We also saw the cute Koala bears, sea lions, possums and some ancient whale bones. A very succesful tour, we had a great guide along with an outgoing group of travellers.
We then bundled up and flew down even further south to the Island of Tasmania. It's the biggest Island just of the South-east coast. We flew into Hobart and did a tour of the Cadbury Chocolate Factory which was unbelievable.We ate tons of chocolate and although it was amazing, I was a little disapointed we didn't see any umpa loompas! From Hobart we rented a car and ptetty much drove around the whole Island. The highlights included a national park where we saw wallabys and a platypus, the cradle mountains which jutted up behind a stunning lake, a cave walk with an underground cathedral and glow worms, and finally the east coast which included wineglass bay and some stunning sun-sets. The lowest point of the whole trip occured here in Tasmania though when we shared a hostel room with a very scary old man. He looked like he hadn't showered in days and furthermore felt the need to test normal social boundaries by waking me up in the morning by poking me in the ribs - very scary!!!
We had an amazing trip, but happily celbrated our return with an amazing night at town in Newcastle. Dev and I were reunited with Allie and we definitly celbrated in a big way. The perfect way to end a fabulous holiday!
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Melbourne
Devin and I began out Easter Holidays on the train from Newcastle to Sydney. It was a gorgeous day and we were excited to be off for a few adventures of our own. In hindsight, the train ride was only the beginning of many encounters with some very 'special' and 'unique' people. The two guys sitting next to us were dressed up for the rodeo with cowboy hats, leather boots and some big shiny belts. They had an obvious interest in country music; their favorite song was "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy". We discerned this fact after about half an hour into the 2 1/2 hour trip, at which point we had heard this song over 5 times. Not only were they obnoxiously drinking amongst themselves, but also one of these delightful boys felt the need to show us a picture (which he pulled out of his wallet) of his truck after he crashed it. He was wondering if we could tell if it was a two door or four door cab. He seemed quite delighted by the fact that his truck was so smashed up from his reckless driving that we were unable to tell.
After departing the train, we hopped on a plane to Melbourne. On arrival, Devin's bag promptly arrived on the carousal, however my backpack did not have so much luck. So backpackless I headed into Melbourne and we got a tram to St Kilda. Conveniently, I did not right down the address of our hostel, so after some aimless walking, I remembered that I had the number of the Hostel in my phone, and were henceforth given directions.
St. Kilda is a suburb that is right on the beach with tons of cute shops and bars. Unfortunately, Melbourne is not a good city to spend time in if you have an uncontrollable shopping habit. We spent a lot of time wandering around the city (in and out of many shops), spent an afternoon in the botanical gardens picnicking and reading, and meandered through an amusement park. We even saw a cute little penguin out on the pier!
We also checked out the Crown Casino, apparently the biggest in the world. I had never been in a casino before, so it was all quite exciting. There was a massive amount of slot machines; it would be hard to imagine everyone being in use at once. Not only was it a huge casino, but it also had restaurants, shops, bars, clubs and a movie theatre. After we checked everything out we made our way into the "Las Vegas" room where I decided I needed to play some texas hold'em. Apparently my time playing poker in Helmcken in first year was well spent, because I made myself $50 (which covered one of three dresses I purchased that day).
I found a lot of similarities between Melbourne and Vancouver, so it goes without saying that I loved it. Although there weren’t tons of sites to see, I feel like it would be a very livable city, however it could do with a few more beaches! Oh yes, and my backpack eventually made its way back to me, which I very much appreciated!
After departing the train, we hopped on a plane to Melbourne. On arrival, Devin's bag promptly arrived on the carousal, however my backpack did not have so much luck. So backpackless I headed into Melbourne and we got a tram to St Kilda. Conveniently, I did not right down the address of our hostel, so after some aimless walking, I remembered that I had the number of the Hostel in my phone, and were henceforth given directions.
St. Kilda is a suburb that is right on the beach with tons of cute shops and bars. Unfortunately, Melbourne is not a good city to spend time in if you have an uncontrollable shopping habit. We spent a lot of time wandering around the city (in and out of many shops), spent an afternoon in the botanical gardens picnicking and reading, and meandered through an amusement park. We even saw a cute little penguin out on the pier!
We also checked out the Crown Casino, apparently the biggest in the world. I had never been in a casino before, so it was all quite exciting. There was a massive amount of slot machines; it would be hard to imagine everyone being in use at once. Not only was it a huge casino, but it also had restaurants, shops, bars, clubs and a movie theatre. After we checked everything out we made our way into the "Las Vegas" room where I decided I needed to play some texas hold'em. Apparently my time playing poker in Helmcken in first year was well spent, because I made myself $50 (which covered one of three dresses I purchased that day).
I found a lot of similarities between Melbourne and Vancouver, so it goes without saying that I loved it. Although there weren’t tons of sites to see, I feel like it would be a very livable city, however it could do with a few more beaches! Oh yes, and my backpack eventually made its way back to me, which I very much appreciated!
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Evatt House & Visitors
Life has been unbelievably busy since school started. With the numerous Evatt events, multiple excursions with friends and a visit from my family, there has been little time for my studies. Nevertheless, I am enjoying my classes and managing to get assessments in on time!
My parents and brother flew down for their break in March for two weeks and we got up to so much! We started out in Sydney and went to Mannly Beach, Bondi Beach and the Toronga Zoo, which was massive and so cool. I pretty much fell in love with the koala bears! After a few days back at school, I went back down to Sydney and then we flew to Cairns in Queensland. It was drastically warmer and the humidity was unbelievable. We took an amazing trip out to the reef and luckily the overcast skies didn't matter once we were under the water. It was like a whole new world! The coral and number of fish species was unbelievable. We were even lucky enough to see a sea turtle, which was the highlight for me. We also took a drive up to the rainforest, which was very cool. The giant spiders were great to see, but it was a little disconcerting to look up and see a spider bigger than your hand above your head. We stayed in an area called Palm Cove and on one of my parents nightly walks they witnessed a fisherman reeling in a shark. Actually they said it took a few guys as it was at least an 8 foot shark and was fighting for its freedom. My mum however wasn't interested in staying to watch the whole thing!
After we flew back to Sydney we headed up to Newcastle and after some very poor navigating on my behalf we made it. I gave them the grand tour around Newcastle (which didn't take up too much time) and we spent a good deal of time beaching. We also headed up to Port Stevens for a day where I went for a bit of a surf (I still am very horrible) and then we went on a sand dune adventure. We started off with some sand boarding which was fun, but crazy tiring to climb up after riding down. We also took a drive out to "tin city" which is a little squatters town. It 'surprising' has an all male population and their lives consist of drinking beer, fishing, drinking beer, watching satellite tv and drinking beer. Their houses looked pretty dismal from the outside, however our guide said they were nice inside.
Sadly I had to say by to the Fam, and the headed back on an unpleasantly long trek to Vancouver. That weekend we had a commencement for Evatt House, which was so much fun. Everyone got really dressed up (I of course felt the need to buy a new dress) and we had a formal diner and then a night on the town. At the dinner awards were given out for academic acheivement, community service and more socially oriented awards were given as well. I was the embarrassed recipent of an award (I'm sure most of you can guess under which section my award came at). The night didn't end untill well past sun-up and was overall one of the funner nights thus far.
Other things I have been up to: we went into Sydney or the gay/lesbian mardi gras parade which was a crazy crazy night; took another trip to Sydney to see a footy game which involved beer drinking and eating meat pies, unfortunately our team lost to NZ by 1 point; had a sex trivia night at Evatt, where our block one best costume for our vaginamite costumes!
I have been having an amazing time and miss you all! Next I am off on another travelling expedition for Easter Break!
My parents and brother flew down for their break in March for two weeks and we got up to so much! We started out in Sydney and went to Mannly Beach, Bondi Beach and the Toronga Zoo, which was massive and so cool. I pretty much fell in love with the koala bears! After a few days back at school, I went back down to Sydney and then we flew to Cairns in Queensland. It was drastically warmer and the humidity was unbelievable. We took an amazing trip out to the reef and luckily the overcast skies didn't matter once we were under the water. It was like a whole new world! The coral and number of fish species was unbelievable. We were even lucky enough to see a sea turtle, which was the highlight for me. We also took a drive up to the rainforest, which was very cool. The giant spiders were great to see, but it was a little disconcerting to look up and see a spider bigger than your hand above your head. We stayed in an area called Palm Cove and on one of my parents nightly walks they witnessed a fisherman reeling in a shark. Actually they said it took a few guys as it was at least an 8 foot shark and was fighting for its freedom. My mum however wasn't interested in staying to watch the whole thing!
After we flew back to Sydney we headed up to Newcastle and after some very poor navigating on my behalf we made it. I gave them the grand tour around Newcastle (which didn't take up too much time) and we spent a good deal of time beaching. We also headed up to Port Stevens for a day where I went for a bit of a surf (I still am very horrible) and then we went on a sand dune adventure. We started off with some sand boarding which was fun, but crazy tiring to climb up after riding down. We also took a drive out to "tin city" which is a little squatters town. It 'surprising' has an all male population and their lives consist of drinking beer, fishing, drinking beer, watching satellite tv and drinking beer. Their houses looked pretty dismal from the outside, however our guide said they were nice inside.
Sadly I had to say by to the Fam, and the headed back on an unpleasantly long trek to Vancouver. That weekend we had a commencement for Evatt House, which was so much fun. Everyone got really dressed up (I of course felt the need to buy a new dress) and we had a formal diner and then a night on the town. At the dinner awards were given out for academic acheivement, community service and more socially oriented awards were given as well. I was the embarrassed recipent of an award (I'm sure most of you can guess under which section my award came at). The night didn't end untill well past sun-up and was overall one of the funner nights thus far.
Other things I have been up to: we went into Sydney or the gay/lesbian mardi gras parade which was a crazy crazy night; took another trip to Sydney to see a footy game which involved beer drinking and eating meat pies, unfortunately our team lost to NZ by 1 point; had a sex trivia night at Evatt, where our block one best costume for our vaginamite costumes!
I have been having an amazing time and miss you all! Next I am off on another travelling expedition for Easter Break!
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Newcastle Uni, Australia
My first three weeks in Australia have gone by in an immense blur. I arrived in Sydney, and was picked up at the airport by Sim, who then drove me up to Newcastle, where I was lucky enough to stay at his brother's house for a few days before I could move on to campus. My first day in Newcastle I was able to enjoy a few wonderful swims in the ocean and experience some of the sites of the town.
Moving into Evatt House the next day was very exciting, I unpacked my bags, which, after living out of a car, was more thrilling than can be put into words. Most of the other students hadn't moved in yet, so it was pretty much me, a few Americans and all the Resident Advisers (RAs). I quickly came to realise that the RAs at Evatt, were going to be very different from those in Helmcken (my first year dorm). The RAs had organized a punch bowl for that night, which was made up of Goon (5L box wine) and a variety of juices. We enjoyed this punch bowl in the CAT room (the common room for Evatt Collage) where we played some games, including beer pong, King's Cup, and many others. The CAT room is rather impressive, with a large projector screen, sound system, ping pong table, pool table, fooze ball table and couches. A set up for some very good times.
Then on Sunday O-Week began...
All the first years and the rest of the internationals (who are 99.9% American) moved in and we had a BBQ and a getting-to-know-you evening. The week was jam packed full of events. We had a inter-collegiate day, where we played sports-day games, and then later went out on buses to Customs (a bar in Newcastle). We had a scavenger hunt with our block (aka building) and were forced to walk around Newcastle dressed in embarrassing costumes and take pictures doing some pretty funny things, including jumping off the pier and swimming in some of the dirtiest water ever (it compares to the marina water down at the Point).
For a more detailed and explicit version of O-Week please refer to my note posted on Facebook.
Classes began on Monday, and I was very excited by the fact that my 12 hours of class per week would be scheduled during Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, leaving me with a long 4 day weekend every week. The classes here are really not that different from at home, which was good to learn!
This past weekend, me and some of my fellow exchange students went on a surf trip up to Seal Rocks. It was unbelievably beautiful up there, and the beaches were surprisingly un-crowded, which made it even better. I worked on finessing my surfing skills, while most others had their first experiences on a surf board. We spent most of the day on Saturday surfing, and although we were exhausted that night, that didn't stop us from breaking some sort of record of number of pitchers consumed before diner. I am also happy to announce that my fellow Evatt friend, Cole, won Surf Camp Idol, which was rather exciting.
Now its back to another week of school, and unfortunately I had to make a trip to the doctor today due to an incessant cough. I guess I should have learned by now that my Mother is always right, and lack of sleep is correlated with getting sick!
Moving into Evatt House the next day was very exciting, I unpacked my bags, which, after living out of a car, was more thrilling than can be put into words. Most of the other students hadn't moved in yet, so it was pretty much me, a few Americans and all the Resident Advisers (RAs). I quickly came to realise that the RAs at Evatt, were going to be very different from those in Helmcken (my first year dorm). The RAs had organized a punch bowl for that night, which was made up of Goon (5L box wine) and a variety of juices. We enjoyed this punch bowl in the CAT room (the common room for Evatt Collage) where we played some games, including beer pong, King's Cup, and many others. The CAT room is rather impressive, with a large projector screen, sound system, ping pong table, pool table, fooze ball table and couches. A set up for some very good times.
Then on Sunday O-Week began...
All the first years and the rest of the internationals (who are 99.9% American) moved in and we had a BBQ and a getting-to-know-you evening. The week was jam packed full of events. We had a inter-collegiate day, where we played sports-day games, and then later went out on buses to Customs (a bar in Newcastle). We had a scavenger hunt with our block (aka building) and were forced to walk around Newcastle dressed in embarrassing costumes and take pictures doing some pretty funny things, including jumping off the pier and swimming in some of the dirtiest water ever (it compares to the marina water down at the Point).
For a more detailed and explicit version of O-Week please refer to my note posted on Facebook.
Classes began on Monday, and I was very excited by the fact that my 12 hours of class per week would be scheduled during Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, leaving me with a long 4 day weekend every week. The classes here are really not that different from at home, which was good to learn!
This past weekend, me and some of my fellow exchange students went on a surf trip up to Seal Rocks. It was unbelievably beautiful up there, and the beaches were surprisingly un-crowded, which made it even better. I worked on finessing my surfing skills, while most others had their first experiences on a surf board. We spent most of the day on Saturday surfing, and although we were exhausted that night, that didn't stop us from breaking some sort of record of number of pitchers consumed before diner. I am also happy to announce that my fellow Evatt friend, Cole, won Surf Camp Idol, which was rather exciting.
Now its back to another week of school, and unfortunately I had to make a trip to the doctor today due to an incessant cough. I guess I should have learned by now that my Mother is always right, and lack of sleep is correlated with getting sick!
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