Bungonia Trip (April 8-10)- This weekend was so amazing because I not only got to go 4 hours south of Newcastle to the small town of Bungonia (which is the furthest I've been from Newy since i've been here) but i also got to do so many new things! we left the mountaineering club gear store friday around 6pm, stopped at a pizza shop for some dinner, then arrived at the camp site around 10:30pm. There were 17 people on the trip and 14/17 were going to a music festival (called Dodgefest). I didn't want to go because it cost $60 and i didn't know any of the bands. so me, dan (a guy from my family group), and an aussie girl named morgan stayed at a camp site on our own right by the caves. it was really fun but since we got to the campsite so late, i had no idea what the place looked like, and this creeped me out. we set up our tent and then basically went to sleep right away. seems perfect right? except that i have a wild imagination and the whole night i thought there were people outside our tent that were trying to kill us. so obviously since i'm writing this, nothing happened... but i didn't get much sleep! on saturday morning we woke up and had brekkie (i made apple cinnamon muffins and morgan made us baked beans on toast) then met up with everyone else and we broke off into two groups. The first group went caving while my group went abseiling (rappelling down a cliff) and prussocking (going back up the cliff with just three ropes). This was SO much fun!!!! then we met up to have some lunch and then my group went caving :) the caves were gorgeous and we actually had to do real outdoor rock climbing and squeezing through small spaces! we saw heaps of bats and could only see with our headlamps, which was really cool because we turned them all off and experienced total darkness for the first time! we held our hands in front of our faces and hallucinated seeing the outline of our hand (our brain knows what our hand looks like and we know how far it is from our face). Then it was filled with 20 meter drop offs and all of that :) then to get out of the cave, we had to climb a wire ladder, which was kind of hard at first! then we went back to our campsite and then packed up our tent and materials and snuck into Dodgefest with the others for the night. On sunday dan, two aussie girls, and i went canyoning in the deepest canyon in the southern hemisphere :D this was so much fun because we climbed over MASSIVE boulders, saw a large eel, and explored.. then climbed up the massive canyon all the way back then left! here are some pictures:
eel!
rock quarry
Sydney Royal Easter Show (April 16)
-train to sydney at 7am
-got a locker for our stuff
-rained ALL day long, which was miserable
-walked around and saw lots of farm animals, large petting zoo, craft barn with a cake decorating competition (amazing cakes!!!!), learned about bilbies, watched horses jump, world market tent where i found a really cool anklet from africa, watched a pig show, and MET THE US AMBASSADOR OF AUSTRALIA!!! (and his family, too!) there were only a few people picked to do this from our group of twenty, and i am SO thankful that i was picked!! we met him and his family at this cafe and they gave us scones with jam and cream and coffee (which when i was opening the sachet (because it was instant coffee) it exploded all over my plate with my scones and i was mortified that this happened in front of the ambassador!) however, it went in my cream and made it taste like coffee and that made my scones taste delicious! talking to him was so amazing because he shared with us about his life and how he made it to this point. he told us that he knew president obama before he entered politics and helped him with the election and that's how he got to this point (but never expected or thought this would happen). but he had a lot of the same feelings we're having when he came here, so he gave us some advice.
-after that, i rode the swings and then went to a rodeo! there was a guy who rode around in the back of a pickup truck singing country songs, then two guys were trying to boogie board in the mud (since it was still raining.. the boogie board was tied to a rope which was attached to the truck), then some toyota hilux trucks did some tricks which were kind of lame.. then some original cobb and co horse and buggies went around the track and that was really interesting! (cobb and co were the people who delivered mail a long time ago). after that we went back to the hostel and went to sleep.
Sunday, April 17- Meeting Amanda (my cousin whom i've never met before)
In the morning, i walked around sydney with some people from my group, then met up with Amanda. She is a junior at OSU and studying psychology (i think). she met me at the bus stop in newtown (a suburb of sydney) and then we chilled at her flat and talked for quite some time. for dinner we walked down the street and got burritos, then watched the movie "burlesque" then hung out with her roomies.
Monday, April 18- MY MOM AND GRANDMA ARRIVE
This morning i woke up and headed into circular quay (where the harbor bridge and opera house are) because i was meeting my mom and grandma for breakfast at Pancakes on the rocks!!!!! we ate breakfast, then walked around the harbor for a little bit, then hopped on the train to Newy. on the train, a little boy and his grandpa (who was a kiwi - from new zealand) talked to us the entire way there. once we got to newy, we made a trek around trying to find their hotel ( i had only been there once before and only knew how to get there from my place.. and we were coming from a different direction). I also taught them how to use the train system.. walked around the Hunter Street shops, went to dinner and then walked back to my place. After that, mom and grandma walked home for the first time by themselves and i made mom message me on facebook so i knew they got home safely :)
Tuesday, April 19- Today we took a bus to Port Stephens/Nelson Bay area with my friend, Kim. Kim and i both thought that sandboarding and the shark and ray adventure were right on the bay (since that is the ONLY place we have ever seen them advertised). but..... they were not there at all. so we decided that we would choose one and go with it and we chose sandboarding! what a great decision!! we had a picnic and then went boarding and it was so much fun!!!! basically, we had a little black board that we sat on and just slid down the sand dune. we used our hands as our breaks by digging them in the sand (which i NEVER did haha). the only hard part was climbing up the massive dune after each slide. they also gave us wax that we could put all over our board and it made us go so fast!! After that, we hung out on Birubi beach for a bit then rode the bus back home. once we got back to newy, we had dinner at Lime (a great pizza place where we had the Cancun pizza, which has corn chips, simmered chilli beef, spanish onions, tasty cheese (tasty is a brand), sweet chilli sauce, and sides of guacamole and sour cream). so we had dinner and then went to sleep!
This is me winning! then grandma is next, followed by kim, and then mom!
@ birubi beach.. love you so much mom!!!!
@ birubi beach.. love you grandma!!
going on a walk at birubi!
O-H-I-O PRIDE
i was victorious :)
Wednesday, April 20 - Today was a pretty relaxed day. we went to uni, grocery shopping (we got heaps of food), i found a new pair of tennis shoes, and we had dinner at the wharf and then went to sleep!
Thursday, April 21 - Today Barb & Trev came to pick us up at mom's hotel and then they drove up by the beach so mom and grandma could see them (newcastle and bar beach). Then we went to their house for some morning coffee and homemade caramel pie. After that, we went to the Hunter Valley Winery where we went to the Smelly Cheese Shop, a chocolate shop, and a few wineries where we went wine tasting. Our favorite wine was the white sparkling moscato and it was delicious! so we bought two bottles. after that, we had a delicious picnic lunch in the hunter valley gardens (bread rolls with lunch meat and cheese, tim tams, coffee or tea, etc). After that, we went to a little town of Morepath for some shopping, then Barb asked me if I wanted to drive so of course i said yes!!!! i was on the opposite side of the car and on the opposite side of the road! then we went roo-watching and saw 3 of them. then we back to newy to see the obelisk at night (you can see the whole city and the beach all lit up). Then we went home to pack and go to sleep.
Friday, April 22 - Today we flew to Cairns, where we had a layover in Brisbane. Once we got to Cairns and checked in, we walked down to the lagoon, got some dinner at Outback Jack's, then went to sleep! (seeing a theme here?)
Saturday, April 23 - Today we had planned to go scuba diving/snorkeling, but they were booked so instead we shopped, went to the lagoon, walked around a little market, had some dinner, and then went to sleep :)
Sunday, April 24 - Since we were diving really early, we unfortunately could not attend an Easter service :( but we did get to enjoy the day in God's creation :) we went an hour and a half on a boat cruise to get to our first spot. when we had 30 minutes left before we got there, i thought i was going to be sick! the waves were really choppy. I went on a dive and mom and grandma snorkeled. i got to see some sharks and that was really cool! then we had some lunch, went to dive spot two where i dove again and mom/grandma snorkeled. once we got back, we left the boat, then came back to get my dive log signed, then ran around to find a cool dive shirt that said cairns, then we got pizza from pizza hut where we saw Calyn, Tori, & Leah (3 girls from my family group), and went to sleep.
mud crabs
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| lagoon |
white tip shark
I FOUND NEMO!!!!
reef shark
our twin boat
Monday, April 25 - Today we had breakfast, took a shuttle, and then arrived at Kuranda. We took a skyrail over the rainforest, which was amazing! it was such an interesting perspective of the trees and you could see for miles! two times we dropped down to the rainforest floor and went on walks. One of those times we saw a snake (in the wild) and the second time we saw a baby cassowary and a peacock! After that, we went and got some lunch and walked around shops where each of us got opal necklaces!! they are so pretty :) Then we went to the animal part where we got to HOLD A KOALA!!!! that was so crazy cool! next we played with kangaroos and wallaby and got to feed them! then grandma and i walked through the reptile house and the bird sanctuary. after that, we went to the scenic railway station and took that all around. this also had two stops where we could see the waterfall and things from different angles! after that was over, we got back on the shuttle, went back, had dinner and went to sleep.
baby cassowary
adult cassowary
Tuesday, April 26 - This morning we hopped on a plane and flew to the outback! When we got there, we went to our hostel and set up our stuff, and then headed out to a sunset camel tour. I asked my mom and grandma if we would get our own camels and they laughed because they thought it was a stupid question (because they thought for sure we would get our own). but when we get there, i was the only person out of anyone who got their own camel!! guess it wasn't such a stupid question :) when we were getting on the camels, they told us to lean back as far as we could while they stood up, and good thing i listened because it was very strange! they push up on the back feet so you go flying forward.. and if you weren't leaning back, you would fall off! then they push up on their front feet. we took a long tour around the lands and watched the sun set on Uluru and the Olgas. it was beautiful!! the only thing is there was a 16-year old boy who was quite flirtatious. apparently he thinks i look australian (whatever that means lol) and that i was 22 or 23! he was very nice though, and very knowledgeable about the outback plants and animals, and camels of course! once the tour was over, we went back to the barn and getting off the camel was just as strange as when it stood up! we went in to the barn and i had a glass of white wine and my mom/grandma had some beer from tasmania. we also indulged in some beer bread with balsamic dipping oil and spices, chips, pretzels, etc. after that, we went back to our hostel and went to sleep.
Wednesday, April 27 - This morning was very early at 4:30am because we had a sunrise tour. We drove out to this viewing platform and it was very cold! when we were at the hostel, i didnt think i needed a jacket because it wasn't that cold, but when we got out to the viewing spot, it was the desert, so there was nothing to keep you warm. so, my mom, being such a great mom that she is, gave me her jacket. after being out there, we got back on the bus and drove around the rock, we stopped at the site where people can climb the rock (i wanted to at first, but it is very disrespectful to the aboriginal people and dangerous(40 ppl have died), so i decided against it). Next, we saw the waterhole and some caves with aboriginal paintings. this was really cool! but, we were starving by this point, so when we got back, we went to a cafe and had massive burgers for lunch. After this, we went back to our hostel and hung out for a bit, then we had an aboriginal dot painting class around 1. this was really cool because we learned a lot from an aboriginal person (through a translator) and then we got to paint our own pictures. afterwards, we went back to our hostel, played some cards, ordered a Hawaiian pizza for dinner, had quite a few drinks (mom and grandma had carlton draught and i had vodka cranberries and then vodka sunrises. we also had many great discussions and reflections :) after that, we went to sleep
waterhole
cheers, mate!
my opal necklace
love you grandma!!
Thursday, April 28 - Today we got back on a plane and flew to sydney. Once we got off the plane, we had a 1.5 hr shuttle bus ride to our hotel with an unhappy old french man, then we had dinner at the Guylian Belgian Chocolate Café where grandma and i had beef pies (a very authentic australian dish) and mom had a quiche. afterwards, we split a piece of tiramisu, which was heavenly! can you guess what comes next? we went back to our hotel and went to sleep!
Friday, April 29 - this morning we went back to the pancakes on the rocks restaurant for breakfast and then we went on the bridge climb. once again, it was pouring rain at first, but luckily, it cleared up when we got to the top! mom was very nervous on the catwalk but when she got to the actual bridge part, she was much more relaxed. after that, we went back to our hotel to drop off the pictures and we went to paddy's market. after that, we had dinner at cute italian restaurant which was outside and just had heated umbrellas but it was windy so it was still very cold, and after we went up to the rooftop of our hotel in rain to see the opera house, bridge, and cityscape all lit up, then we watched the royal wedding while drinking our last bottle of moscato wine, and then mom and grandma packed up their stuff.
Saturday, April 30 - this morning mom and grandma took the shuttle back to the airport and they flew home. i ended up sleeping in at the hotel and then woke up around 930, asked the hotel to hold my suitcase and walked around the city for a bit before i hopped on the train back to newy. once i got back, i had some dinner, unpacked, and then went out for a bit with my friends.
Sunday, May 1 - Today I didn't do much other than laundry. Then that evening, my friend Matt came over and we watched the Longest Yard. Then i went to sleep!
Then the rest of the week was pretty normal, filled with uni.
Wednesday, May 4 - this evening cat and i had a small party in our flat where we had all of the scott street people over and everyone invited basically everyone we met from oz so far and we all hung out. now if you could only see how small our flat is! its the smallest one of all the flats, so it was standing room only but it was pretty relaxed, just played some cards, etc.
One of the days this week I booked my trip to Tasmania! There are 7 of us going and I'm really excited. This brings me up to today. I just finished packing my bag for tassie (only taking a carry-on) because I leave tomorrow very late! (wednesday at 230am we're taking the train to sydney and then at 7am we fly to tassie). it is going to be VERY cold!! that's the other thing that's happened recently, it got REALLY cold!!!! we don't have heat in our flat so it's very chilly. i'm always cold and i wake up many nights shivering. that's such an awful feeling! also, osama bin laden was killed. in oz, many people were happy and supported america when this happened because we're allies.
so the next post will be filled with stories about tasmania! get ready :)
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| government house |
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| our moscato wine! |
Saturday, April 30 - this morning mom and grandma took the shuttle back to the airport and they flew home. i ended up sleeping in at the hotel and then woke up around 930, asked the hotel to hold my suitcase and walked around the city for a bit before i hopped on the train back to newy. once i got back, i had some dinner, unpacked, and then went out for a bit with my friends.
Sunday, May 1 - Today I didn't do much other than laundry. Then that evening, my friend Matt came over and we watched the Longest Yard. Then i went to sleep!
Then the rest of the week was pretty normal, filled with uni.
Wednesday, May 4 - this evening cat and i had a small party in our flat where we had all of the scott street people over and everyone invited basically everyone we met from oz so far and we all hung out. now if you could only see how small our flat is! its the smallest one of all the flats, so it was standing room only but it was pretty relaxed, just played some cards, etc.
One of the days this week I booked my trip to Tasmania! There are 7 of us going and I'm really excited. This brings me up to today. I just finished packing my bag for tassie (only taking a carry-on) because I leave tomorrow very late! (wednesday at 230am we're taking the train to sydney and then at 7am we fly to tassie). it is going to be VERY cold!! that's the other thing that's happened recently, it got REALLY cold!!!! we don't have heat in our flat so it's very chilly. i'm always cold and i wake up many nights shivering. that's such an awful feeling! also, osama bin laden was killed. in oz, many people were happy and supported america when this happened because we're allies.
so the next post will be filled with stories about tasmania! get ready :)
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