The Lands of Legolas and Aragorn.....aka New Zealand

     So I was forced to leave my humble abode at 172 on November 17th and forced to say goodbye to the lovely people that have become my dear friends.  Alex and I caught a taxi running out the door through the rain (of course its raining as goodbyes always seem more fitting in the rain) to the airport because our goodbyes took too long to catch the bus costing us a $50 taxi.  With the great expense, it was still worth it because parting was too hard to do too quickly.  The last night we stayed up all night long and went down the beach to share our last sunrise together ever.   We also had a "yearbook signing party" in which the girls got t-shirts that said "I <3 Coogee"  on then and everyone signed around it; the guys just made little notebooks.  It was a good way to remember everyone and have a little piece of Coogee to keep with us as we head our separate ways.  Also, the guys in my house went kangaroo hunting and came back with 5 kangaroos and cleaned and cut the meat on our table.  However, they promised they would make me some before the time expired because you can't leave Australia without trying kangaroo.  And yes, even though I am a vegetarian, the entire time in Australia I craved meat and would be 2 seconds from eating it on numerous occasion.  Therefore, I gathered the courage to try it and actually had two bites on my last night in 172.  It tasted like a steak to me and I actually quite enjoyed it.  Read on to find out how this  fared for the next few weeks…..

     But as (NZ 9 or 11) mentioned, Alex and  I got the airport sad and somber flew to New Zealand.  As mentioned before, I lost my wallet which included my driver's license and upon arriving in New Zealand all the car rental companies said that I could not use a fax from the Virginia DMV with a copy of my driver's license and all my information so we were stuck in the airport with no way of going anywhere.  As we sat in the airport tired and discouraged, I looked over and saw a sign for a car company that caters to a younger crowd like ourselves that said we accepted 18+ and over- the only company in Australia that does this.  Regaining hope, we called the company, Jucy Rentals, and they told us that they had a car that would be ready the next afternoon.  We found a hostel, slept 15 hours, and then picked up our very crappy looking car with the words "Jucy 'El Cheapo'" written on the side of the car.  We began our completely unplanned road trip driving while doing research of things to do as we went along.  We started in Christchurch and headed to Mount Cook for the first night.   We stopped at Lake Tekapo on the way which was the most serene lake I've ever been to.  The water was a murky, in a good way, light blue and the sky and mountain tops filled the background.  We stopped, took pictures in beautiful flower meadows, and skipped rocks on the lake.  We then continued on to Mount Cook where we witnessed one of the prettiest sunsets I've ever seen in my life.  To explain in the best words I can find to describe the beauty: the sun beamed off of a wheat-like grass field and illuminated it to literally glow gold  with dark silhouettes of the mountains in the background; the sun filled the sky with a pink color so rich that opposite the side of the sunset, the snow-covered mountain tops gleamed pink and the clouds above also shared this glorious pink shade.  Unfortunately, my camera was completely dead of battery and I was only able to get one picture.  However, Alex did have her camera and captured as much of it as she could so I will get those pictures from her and hopefully be able to show them to you in person very soon!  As we drove through the night, we arrived at Mount Cook and decided to sleep right away.  Unbeknownst to us, we had parked literally right in front of the mountain allowing us to wake up to quite the scenic sight.  Although the night sleep was very cold, we endured and drudged up the energy to hike up a path for three hours crossing over swinging bridges that lead to stunning views of Mount Cook.  We then traveled up another cliff to view glaciers on a lake that was obviously very, very cold.  At this point, I declared quite easily that New Zealand was by far the most beautiful place I have EVER been.  And although I made this same statement about Tasmania, I retracted that statement upon seeing the sights I saw that day.

     From there we headed to  Queenstown which is the biggest city on the south island.  Very rarely did Alex get service in New Zealand and I never got any at all so upon arrival we decided to call a guy from our house to see where in New Zealand he was at the time.  Little did we know, that he was in Queenstown and in a hostel only five minutes away from where we had parked our car in the city.  We met up with him for dinner and had showers in his hostel.  In the hostel lobby we also ran into another girl from our house who we didn't even know was going to New Zealand and six other Americans who we met through study abroad.  We explored the city and left for Milford Sound.  Basically we took a little cruise boat that made its way through the fjords which were covered with huge waterfalls that we actually put our boat over and soaked us.  No words or pictures can explain the sites but it was unbelievably beautiful.  I really can't say more than that because my vocabulary isn't developed enough to have words for the majestic feel of this place.  We then drove to Te Anau, a very small town with one little pub and one gas station.  We got there pretty late and decided to enter the pub for coffee and tea and some live music.  As we are sitting there enjoying our hot drinks, in walk another one of our housemates, Karen (I went with her to Tasmania), and her brother with whom she was traveling with.  We knew they were in New Zealand but had no idea of their whereabouts.  We were elated and stunned at the chances especially with the amount of people we had already run in to in Queenstown.  We were forced to say our goodbyes again at the end of the night but it was nice seeing a friendly face in such a random location. 

     After this wonderful reunion surprise, we got in our car which we named CHEAPOlita, and traveled the distance to Franz Joseph, a huge glacier that has been there for "millions and millions of years."  Although we decided to forgo the expensive glacial climb, we walked down to it and stood at its base ending up being grateful of our decision since it ended up raining and ice and rain seem way too dangerous. 

     Our next stop was Nelson which had the Abel Tasman National Park.  The first day we arrived there, we just napped on the beach only to wake up to an extra 500 meters of sand due to the low tide.  We saw over 100 starfish just sitting the shallow water on the sand.   The next day we wanted to see these splendid beaches that we had heard about but when we asked the information center how to reach them with just one day left in the town, they said the only way was to take a $72 ferry.  We asked if there were ANY other ways and were told that it was 11.6 km to the nearest beach.  Very unsure, I said we could just walk a little down the rainforesty path and just experience that but Alex was convinced that we could walk to the beach.  Deciding to see how far I thought we could make it, we walked and walked until we ended up 11.6 km in at the closest beach.  Amazed at our walking distance, we relaxed on the beach and rested our feet.  Unfortunately, on the last few nights in Coogee at 172, I stubbed my toe reallllllyyyy badly and with the 11.6 km of walking, it began to become painful.  I wrapped my toe in my blueberry granola bar wrapper to keep it from rubbing against my shoe.  Then on the way back to our car, I stubbed my toe on a stump and boy did it hurt.  Then later on, I ran into a branch that ended up breaking off in my leg right near my knee and bled after having to pull it from my skin.  Upon arriving at the car after a total of 6 hours and 23.2 km, I took off my sock to reveal two bleeding big toes and a bleeding knee.  Wow, am I a good walker or what?

    We concluded the trip back in the Christchurch and flew back to Sydney on the 25th only after having taken over 1000 pictures each.  I spent the next week in Sydney staying with a few friends and enjoy the last few days with a few other housemates who were still in Sydney.  Because I was relatively homeless, I had no internet and could not update my blog so this is all coming in really late.  I promise to write one or two more blogs telling of my last few weeks traveling up the east coast in a campervan and then I will be home at last on the 17th.  I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving and again a Happy Birthday to my beloved Father Carlson on December 2.  I wished I could have shared in the festivities.

(I will add more photos to this when I get the chance but as for now, I'm using internet cafe and don't have the photos on this computer.  Check back soon, maybe even later today!)

More Traveling Adventures.....Ayers Rock/Uluru and Darwin

So I just recently returned from my travels throughout much of Australia.  I traveled to one of the most iconic Australian sights- Uluru, also called Ayers Rock.  Basically it is a huge rock that is in the middle of the outback.  It is owned by the Aboriginal people and they insistently ask everyone not to climb it or even take pictures of it because they believe it is a sacred place.  Because of this, the climb is often closed "due to too much wind" but the entire time we were there it was never that windy and still never open.  It was pretty sweet because at sunset the sun makes the rock change from a brown during the day to a orange to a deep deep red.  Since we were not allowed to climb the rock, we walked the 7 km around the perimeter (to give you an idea of how huge this rock is).  I went with my friend Katie and we had a fabulous time just camping and looking at the massive expanse of sky and stars.  It seriously looked like were were in a domed room with stars on the ceiling because the outback has no city or lights so its pure black.  It was insanely beautiful!  From here we traveled to Alice Springs to catch The Ghan, a train that takes you to Darwin and is a complete 24 hours long.  However, problems occurred along the way.  There is only one gas station, or should I say petrol station as the Aussies call it, for every 300 km.  We left Ayers Rock with more than half a tank and about 40 km from the nearest gas station, the car ran out of gas and we slowed to a quick stop.  Having not seen a car for two hours, we tried calling 000 (911 basically) and we had no service so when a road train (a truck carrying two whole gas tanks behind it) came along, we had to hitchhike with him and have no fear, he was quite the gentleman.  We got a jerry can filled with gas and proceeded to hitchhike bake to our car.  Hours later, we arrived in Alice Springs in time for the train.  I was quite excited about The Ghan because from what I recall in life, I don't think I've ever taken a train (not counting subways).  This could be wrong but since I don't remember it if it did happen, I was anticipating my journey across the outback to Darwin. 

     Darwin is full of national parks and so Katie and I camped for a few days traveling through Litchfield National Park and Kakadu National Park.  We met two German girls in our hostel the first night we arrived and they joined us for this adventure which not only provided great company but also lessened the cost of the car which was helpful.  The girls taught me my sixth and seventh language of counting to ten, German and Italian.  Litchfield National Park is pretty much all waterfalls and swimming holes.  The first night, we made a fire, had dinner over it and then woke up in the morning to soak in the natural hot springs which range from 104 degrees to 140 degrees.  From there we went to waterfalls that were huge and small waterfalls that connected more than ten swimming holes.  To say the least, it was BEAUTIFUL and oh so relaxing!  We then came back to the hostel for one night where we met two guys who decided to join us for our trip to Kakadu National Park.  One of the guys was from Scotland and he was absolutely delightful to have on our trip.  The other kid ended up trying to avoid paying us so that tainted our view of him.  Other than that though, the trip was fabulous company but not so good for sightseeing.  Because it is the start of the wet season (meaning summertime and lots of rain), many of the roads are completely closed off preventing us from reaching some of the main huge waterfalls in Kakadu.  We planned

on 3 nights camping there but ended up leaving after just one.  Yet I did get to see quite an amazing sunset.  I have quickly learned that sunsets are one of my absolute favorite things in life.  I can't take my eyes away from them and I just sit there saying "oh my gosh" continually because I'm just so awed by how spectacular they are.  I did get made fun of pretty frequently dude to my overexcitment of sunsets, yet I'm not ashamed.  We spent the extra few days that we had planned on spending in the national parks in Darwin instead and just walked around the city.  Darwin is extremely hot though and we had to hike about 10 km in the sweltering sun of 96 degrees.  It was a great trip and was fun to be able to see parts of Australia that many people don't ever see since it is in the middle of no where. 
     I must say though that 172 Coogee Bay Road was immensely missed.  I freaking love my house and my housemates and they have made my time in Australia what it is.  I knew this all along but as tonight is our last night in our house and many people's last night in Australia, everyone is getting sentimental.  These people have become some of my best friends and I quickly began to trust them so much.  We are already planning reunions and visits and merry times reuniting.  I can't believe my time here is coming to an end.  I leave in exactly one month and one day and can say that it will not be enough time.  Australia has become a dear dear place in my life and the thought of saying goodbye with no precise time of our future adventures is way to hard to handle.  To all the 172ers, you are some of the best people I've ever met and I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! (to those of you who know me, I only say this when I truly mean it) and I do mean it.  I have had so many experiences with you all, so many phenomenal days just hanging as a house, and a cornucopia of memories that will stick with me for a lifetime.  We look baller in flannel and rule at ruling the beach and everywhere else we go, traveling as a pack of 25.  I cannot express the joy you all have brought to my life as this is one of the happiest periods of my life.  Again, I love you and EXPECT to see you again soon.  And as promised, anytime I see you, I'll make the best cake you'll ever have as to make up for the lack of cakes during our time in 172. 

Goodbye dear 172 Coogee Bay Road and all its occupants!  You will be remembered FOREVER!

Tasmania!

     So I have been gone from Sydney for the last week but before I began traveling, I had a few things going on.  I was able to use a sweet coupon from this company called Jump On It which is the same as GroupOn back in Virginia at least. My dear friend who I am actually going with to Ayers Rock and Darwin with, Katie, and I were able to get a coupon for $29 for an hour scenic horseback ride along the beaches surrounding Sydney.  It was really awesome and I was able to go somewhat fast at least for me..  It was so much fun and I absolutely loved it!!! This past week I was also able to rally up eight of my housemates to head out to downtown Sydney to do some of the things we have yet to do.  We headed through Chinatown and got 4 fresh-out-of-the-oven-and-into-your-hands-in-three-seconds cream puffs for $1 and I was able to try dumplings for the first time.  Charlottesville has a great dumpling place but no vegetarian dumplings so this was my opportunity and I "capitalized" (as Sally likes to say during sports games).  I must say that they weren't bad but I probably wouldn't go back for seconds.   We also went to the Powerhouse Museum which had a "Back to the 80s" section, a "Tribute to ACDC" section, a chemistry section in which experiments were performed with liquid nitrogen- very exciting for me because I love that stuff; it is sad to say  but I honestly miss chemistry.  Basically the place was amazing.  In the 80s section, they had the real glove and jacket that Michael Jackson (rest in peace) wore to the Grammys when he won one one year.  They also had a party box which played music and flashed movies and beams of light onto the wall making it an awesome dance party.  We were planning on going to Luna Park but it was raining so we had to postpone (if you have seen Our Lips Are Sealed you will know what park I am talking about).  That week I was finishing up some school work and prepared for my journey to Tasmania.

     I flew into Tasmania to meet up with two girls from my house, Anat and Karen.  We picked up our campervan and proceeded to drive all throughout Tasmania, eventually driving 1315 km.  I had to drive the whole time since I was the only one over 21 with a license. We named the campervan Star and she really did become a guiding, shining light during our trip.  Basically Tasmania is a land of rolling green hills.  We got cell phone service about three times throughout the whole country and we passed through probably six or so cities which shows you just how small of a place this is.  All the roads were surrounded by sheep and cows and we drove up and over mountains, curving in and out as we made our way up to the east coast and then inward.  We went to Wineglass Bay which can only be accessed by a 6 km hike up a very very very steep mountain.  Of course I still have the whooping cough which made hiking a bit more difficult than it would have been and Karen had just gotten strep throat two days before and was taking antibiotics making it challenging as well.  But the beach was worth it.  The sand was a perfect white and very fine and the beach was a clear turquoise.  But that is not enough to say it was one of the prettiest beaches I've ever seen.  In the background there are huge mountains that cover the landscape giving such a variety of scenery for one look.  We were also the only ones on the beach and I was able to pet a wild wallaby (which is similar to a kangaroo kind of).  Since there is not much light after the sun goes down, we would head to bed around 10:30 each night and the first night we camped near the beach and woke up to the sunrise over the ocean and the sand.  It was spectacular! 

     We then proceeded to head up to what is called Bay of Fires.  It has be given this name because there is some chemical mixture either from the ocean water or from the air that causes the rocks to be speckled in redish orangish dots.  It is considered the number one prettiest beach in Australia and I think it deserves the title but decide for yourself.  This night we were able to camp literally on the beach pretty much.  We were about 20 feet from the ocean water.  It was incredible to be so close and fall asleep to the sound of the ocean and we could see Bay of Fires from our campervan. 
     Our next destination was Cradle Mountain which is labeled as a World Heritage site which from what I hear is very prestigious.  We did a 6 km hike around the main lake which is next to the Cradle Mountain.  It was quite stunning because the mountains had snow on the tops and the clouds and mountain reflected so beautifully off the water.  After the hike we headed back toward Hobart where the airport is and where we would spend our last and very uneventful day in Tasmania.  We arrived back in Sydney and back at the house around 10:30 and I had to plan for Ayers Rock and Darwin with Katie before completely beginning my paper that I had due the next day at 5 pm.  I had to write 8 pages but conquered knowing that it was my final assignment of the semester.  I am officially done and only have one more semester of my career as a student.  Crazy stuff, huh? 
    You will not be hearing from me for two weeks because in about 5 hours I leave to go to Ayers Rock (Uluru) which is the dead center of the Outback and very very famous and most iconic part of Australia.  I will also be traveling to Darwin which is top north of Australia but dead center between east and west.  Katie and I will be camping it "Into the Wild" style with a tent, sleeping bags, fires, lakes for showers, etc.  It will be life at it simplest just as Thoreau encourages people to do in Walden.  I began reading Walden a few months ago but forgot about it when school work began picking up but recently started it again and recommended it to Katie who also began reading it.  We basically want to live like Christoper McCandless by experiencing nature fully.  Pray for safety as we are two girls traveling through national parks on our own.  There is a lot of documentation that the park requires in order to keep safe but you can never be too careful.  Also pray that my cough subsides once and for all as I stayed up for an hour coughing so hard that I threw up about fifteen times.  So it seems that the cough will never be gone.  But I will tell of my adventures in the Outback and in Darwin when I return.  That's all folks!!

It's Been Way Way Way Too Long!!!

I'm so sorry I haven't posted in so long which means that this might be a long post.  And unfortunately I have done a ton since the last post which is why I also haven't posted in so long because I have been so busy.  So lets start with my time since September 19th- my last post.  That week my camera broke completely which really was unfortunate because I had one week to use a pass I bought three months ago that let me go to the Aquarium, Manly Oceanworld, Sydney Wildlife Park, and the Sydney Tower.  I was able to borrow a camera from a friend but I still don't have all the pictures I would have liked.  I really enjoyed all those places and got some amazing photos from the top of the Sydney Tower which offers a 360 degree view of all of Sydney. The other amusement places were also pretty sweet and I'm really glad I did them even though they are very touristy.
     The next weekend (last weekend) I went to Melbourne which is in another state, Victoria with two girls Ellena and Alex. We flew down there for only $90 round-trip and instead of paying for accommodation, we did couchsurfing.  Basically it is like a facebook page of sorts in which people have profiles that say that they have a couch available for people to sleep on while traveling.  So we found these two guys and one girl who were 19 and who lived in a really lively part of town. Don't worry it isn't as sketchy as it sounds.  They have people who have stayed with them and written reviews and it's a pretty legit thing because there are couches literally all over the world which allows students who can't even afford hostels to travel on a decent budget.  Now to be very gracious, the house was a wreck with holes in the walls and floors (a possum even fell through the ceiling wall and was running around the house).  But they were seriously the most amazing hosts ever and I seriously want to be best friends with them.  We saw a lot of the city, went to the Tim Burton Exhibit (which had the actual clothes that Johnny Depp wore in a lot of the movies), went to an aerial circus show, saw alleyways full of professional graffiti artists, and went on a road trip down the Great Ocean Road.
     The Great Ocean Road is a really long road that literally leads right along the ocean.  This was scary for the fact that we rented a car and I had to drive being the only one over 21.  Yes I had to drive on the left side of the road and yes I was on the right side of the car making it a little more tricky but overall not too hard.  The views were spectacular and since we were on our own, we were able to stop at all the places we wanted to to take pictures.  Literally we saw everything from flower fields, farms, grassy hills, ocean views, and rain forests (with wild koalas!).  After six hours of driving, we finally reached the Twelve Apostles which started out as a huge rock formation that eventually crumbled apart leaving 12 rocks out on the ocean shore.  Currently, only seven or eight are left standing due to weather corrosion.  But these rocks were INSANELY beautiful and truly spectacular.  The picture at the very very bottom is of the Twelve Apostles but the one to the left/above is just a picture that was taken along the road.
     As my facebook status says right now: "What causes one to get dirty looks at the Sydney Opera House Symphony performance, asked to move seats or leave entirely, and not sleep for hours until given Codeine? Oh that's right, my COUGH!!!!!"  So last week my cough was so so so much better and I only coughed about 50 times a day which is really really little compared to the last few months.  However, this past week I got a cough and this time it is a different kind where it is more my throat than my lungs.  So I went to a Beethoven music performance by the Sydney Symphony at the Sydney Opera House.  It was fabulous and only $25 for students if there are seats remaining the day of.  So we got amazing seats and I was literally in the dead center of the row.  I started coughing but only a few coughs every few minutes.  People around me started glaring at me, a random woman gave me her already half drunk water (which I drank because it was better than having people attempt to kill me during the performance- Sally I know you disapprove), and during intermission was told to "get my cough under control" and to "leave the concert completely and go home."  Then the man who told me to leave went up to my friends and said "if you were good mates, you would send her home."  Then the usher came up to me and said that "we have had a lot of complaints, even the stage manager said something."  Now I realize my cough was kind of loud but I was not the only one continually coughing.  He told me to go home basically and when I refused he said he would put me by a seat near the door and give my throat lozenges.  The whole second half I only coughed about twice and made sure to do it only during the really loud parts of the song as to not bother anyone.  Then two rows in front of me a fight broke out during the clapping at the end of the performance between two men until finally the man said "let's take this outside" and they left together.  I didn't even know that phrase "let's take this outside" was actually used; I always thought it was a joke saying, but clearly not.  Also, I never knew that symphonies and Beethoven drew such a rough crowd.  I mean these people are listening to classical music so I thought they would be classy people.  Clearly I was mislead by this word "classical."  Then last night I laid awake for five hours until 7 am due to coughing and finally watched a movie and was given cough syrup with codeine in it (which is served over the counter in Australia so don't worry I'm not some drug fiend) and slept til 3:30 pm.  So basically, the cough is back.  Although during my whooping cough research they said lot of people get it back for about two weeks or so and then it goes away completely.  In other words, my entire time in Australia will be infused with the whooping cough.  Awesome!

     This last week and this upcoming week will and have been all about school work. Basically my last class is on Thursday and I'll be done with work completely by November 1.  I have an exam coming up on Thursday for my International Relations class and I'm really really really really worried about it so if you think of it, send up a prayer for me and yes, I do mean this in all seriousness.  I have two 10 page papers to do as well but fortunately I'm half way done with one of them.  I leave October 24 for Tasmania and get back the 28th.  Then on the 30th I leave for Ayer's Rock and Darwin and get back the 11th.  So again, I will not be able to write much because I'll be gone for so long but I'll a post in in between my two trips so that it won't be as long as this one.

Half Way Point :(

     Today marks the midpoint of my time here in Australia.  I arrived just under 3 months ago and am leaving in just under 3 months.  It is a sad moment thinking about leaving.  Yes, I miss home and I miss my family (I stalked my own pictures looking at our great fam vacations and times just to enjoy those good family moments), of course I do.  Yet my time here has been fabulous and I can't imagine leaving.  Sydney has become a place of comfort for me and I'm doing things frequently enough that I'm known as a loyal customer in some places- mainly just the place I play pool twice a week.  A lot of the people here are taking next semester off and staying in Sydney because they love it here so much.  If I didn't have to graduate in May, I definitely would stay on longer.  Anyone who ever gets a chance to go to Sydney, take up the offer because its one of the best cities in the world.  I've met some great great people in my house and friends of people in my house.  Even with 27 people, we have never even had more than five minutes of drama in the last 2.5 months.  I can't even say that about my house the last few years with 10 girls for even a weeks time let alone a few months.  The people are stellar here and everyone in the city is nice as well.  I would move back here any day fo sho (fo sho= for sure for those of you who are trying to learn the lingo and be hip again **cough**Dad**cough**).
     Now had I actually said that out loud, most likely the coughs would have been in there unintentionally because unfortunately I still have this dreadful cough.  It's been two months now since I got it and it hasn't really gotten better.  I cough less but when I do cough it is worse.  I still wake up due to coughing, the kid in the room below me hears me coughing through the night (sorry Daniel!!).  I cough so much sometimes that I can't breathe and sometimes I even throw up because I'm coughing so hard.  I know my classmates and housemates are completely sick of hearing me cough.  In fact, I'm even sick of hearing me cough and I'm even more tired of people saying "You should probably get that cough checked out."  You think?!  I only go on to inform them that I've taken two antibiotics, one lab test, one steroid, and had one chest x-ray.  With everything including cough medicines and such this stupid cough has cost me about $250.  The good slash bad news is that I think I know what it is.  I got tested for whooping cough and was negative but after doing some of my own research after seeing that whooping cough is the most active its been in 55 years, I learned that the tests normally only work within the first three weeks of getting it.  My test was done in week five which would explain it.  Also, the antibiotics I took for the whooping cough actually don't do anything for the cough itself or any other symptoms it only just makes you not contagious.  The uplifting but again tragic part is that it seems that I am in stage two out of the tree stages.  Each stage is three to four weeks long which means that hopefully I only have about a month left.  Maybe I'll be better by the time Christmas roles around!  Oh dear.  Well please pray that it goes away quickly.
     Since I've been so coughy (yes I did make up that word) lately, I haven't been able to really go to church because I have coughing fits that sometimes last five minutes and end in me ralphing (a much cooler word for vomiting).  However today I woke up and felt much better than I normally do so I went to Hillsong Church which is associated with the big Christian band Hillsong United.  I've seen them play twice- once at Wave Church and a few times at the Passion Conference that I went to in Atlanta in January of last year.  The church is huge but I was able to stay afterward and talk to some people and I signed up to be in a Bible study that actually meets on my uni (what everyone here calls university) campus.  It meets on Tuesdays so I plan on going to that; I also want to attend the college-aged group that meets on Wednesdays in attempts to meet more Christians my age.  It was great to be in community with other Christians today and have worship again in addition to my own daily devotions.

     I was so caught up in all my Fiji stuff that last week I forgot to mention one of my favorite things I've done so far here in Sydney.  I went and saw a man/group named Bare Soundz (Savion Glover) which is the best tap dancer in the world.  It was literally one of the most amazing things I've ever seen.  This man could move his feet so so so very fast.  At one point, one of the guys did what I call "quick feet" like the drill in basketball that you do where you squat a little and move back and forth on your toes as quickly as you can.  This is basically what it looked like but it also looked like he was being electrocuted.  His whole body moved and his feet were moving so fast it sounded like someone was rolling Rs on their tongue.  This sounds cliche but I found my jaw dropped so many times and I got goosebumps throughout the whole 1.5 hour of straight tap dancing.  Also it was a fun night because it was a nice chance to get dressed up and be out at the Harbour at nighttime (picture above) with one of my dear friends from England, Katie (best friends with the English girl Ellena in my house who I have mentioned before).  I encourage you all to watch a short portion of this video (watch from 30 seconds to 2:40 seconds).  Trust me when I say it was even better in person if that is even possible.
      Well I hope all of you are enjoying your time back at school with a whole semester left ahead of you.  Ha I am five weeks away from SUMMER BREAK!!!!! Be jealous.  And then its almost two months of me traveling through Australia and New Zealand.  And so the saga continues.....

My Fijian Experience

     So it has been forever since I've posted anything but it was really crazy the week before I left for spring break and then I was gone for a week and couldn't post anything.  However, since it was so busy, there wasn't much I did before I left for spring break so I'm going to begin with my time in Fiji.  Yes, I went to Fiji for Spring Break and yes, it is spring break because our seasons are opposite and Spring started on September 1st.  I went with 9 other housemates.  We left 4 September (the Australian way to write dates or rather just the non-American way) through 11 September.  It was a 4-5 hour flight (view from my seat in picture to the right) and although we left our  house at 10 am in Australia, we did not get to our hotel til 10 pm that night.  Our hotel was a 3 hour drive away from the airport but it was worth it because where we went- Pacific Harbour- is the adventure capital of Fiji.  Our hotel was a four star hotel and it was absolutely beautiful.  We could see two other islands from the hotel and they have a swimming pool and a beach right there (picture at the very top is from the deck of the hotel). 

     On Monday we went Ziplining which was really cool because you could do tricks and stuff on the ropes.  I went completely upside down and also did a few spins on the ropes.  It consisted of 7 different ropes that led over rivers, rain forest, tree canopies, etc.  It was a spectacular view.  The other days were really cloudy so we couldn't do any of the water sports really but we were able to go kayaking.  We kayaked down the river on which the movie Anaconda was filmed.  I learned that I am a beast kayaker.  We raced everyone and we beat even the guys.  Being a very friendly and fun group, we met many of the hotel staff and other guests.  One of the hotel guys Ratu really liked me and so helped us plan some cool things.  Ratu showed us how to climb a coconut tree (picture to the left), husk a coconut to drink from, and took us on a boat ride to another island.  We climbed the coconut tree kind of like Mulan climbs that pole in the movie.  Ratu climbed all the way to the top of the coconut tree which was probably 30 ft high and got coconuts for us.  He took a machete and started slicing the coconut and we drank directly from it.  Another cool thing we learned how to do was to make a fan out of the leaves from a coconut tree (picture below to the right).  We weren't able to take it home with us since it is a plant but it was really really cool and hopefully I can find a way to make one again. 

     Another awesome adventure that Ratu set up for us was a bike ride to a waterfall.  Ellena (the one girl in m house that is not from America and is from England and one of my closest friends here) and I really wanted to ride bikes and we really wanted to see a waterfall so we asked him if someone could take us.  Apparently the hotel used to do trips to this waterfall  but hadn't done it in 4 months.  We were the first to do it so that was really exciting.  We biked 5 miles just to get there on an all rock road.  Also it poured the day before so some parts of the road were knee deep in water.  We took off our shoes and just had to walk through the mud with the bike.  Pretty nasty because then we had to bike the rest of the 2 miles barefoot and muddy.  But we then hiked up a hill to a huge huge huge waterfall.  We passed that and went on to 7 more waterfalls that were all connected by swimming holes.  We sat under the waterfalls, climbed through the waterfalls, and swam.  It was so so so pretty and the water felt amazing after biking for so long.  The ride home was much less enjoyable because I was so sore from the first 5 miles and the rocks did not make my butt feel very good so getting back on the bike was less than comfortable to say the least.  But we made it back and it was some of the prettiest sights I had seen yet.  That is until.....

     Ellena and I went white water rafting.  No one else wanted to come because it was kind of expensive and they had already spent $700 USD each on drinks and food that week but since Ellena and I did not spend that much, we had enough for the adventure.  And yes Dad, to prove how well I am doing at spending money, I only spent $30 the entire week at the hotel not counting adventure trips.  So we had to be ready by 6:45 in the morning and we drove 2 hours to get to the river.  The rapids were very small, only class 2 and 3 but seemed more like 1 and 2, nothing compared to what my family did in West Virginia.  But, it was the most amazing views I have ever seen.  To describe how low key the rapids were, I took my non-waterproof camera on the trip and had no problems with it getting wet.  So fortunately I have tons and tons of pictures and they are all amazing.  There was one waterfall that was called the Massage Waterfall and we got to stand under it as it massaged our backs.  All the guides were from the local village in which they have no cars, no electricity, eat wild boar, bathe in the river, etc.  We were able to  hear many stories about village life.  Our guide also taught us how to count to ten in Fiji.  So now I know to count to ten in 5 languages (English, Spanish, French, Bambara- the language spoken in Mali, Africa, and Fiji).  For my own purposes of remembering them they are or at least sound like dua, rua, tolu, va, lima, oro, vatu, walu, viuwa, tinni.
     Now I'm back at 172 Coogee Bay Road with all my housemates and its back to reality and school work.  It was a fabulous week but Sydney feels like home and I missed it.  I had so many new experiences in Fiji and it was the greenest place I've ever seen in my life.

Sickness and Happy Two Months!

Honestly, I have very little to talk about but since it was my two month on the 21st, I felt the need to write.  I have been deathly ill for 5 weeks now.  I have this terrible cough that I have had for 5 weeks now.  Since about five other people in my house had bronchitis, they gave me amoxicillin which had no positive effect on me.  Then they tested me for whooping cough which fortunately I do not have  and am now on another antibiotic.  Then I got hives all over my body which sucked big time and I looked like a leper and couldn't do much. 
     However, aside from my awful health in which right now I am taking 10 pills a day, Australia has been pretty good.  I think my house is getting lazy about going out and doing stuff so I haven't really done a whole lot.  I'm trying to motivate my house to take trips with me but I'm coming up short on partakers since people didn't really bring enough money to travel really.  I have this awesome trip planned to go to Tasmania and another trip to Ayers Rock and then take a train to Darwin called "The Ghan" which sounds so epic and so Darjeeling Limited.  But tours cost so much money so I'm trying to rent cars and do things on our own yet I need like four people to split the cost of the renting or else it would be mad expensive.  It is very frustrating but hopefully I'll find time to do all these things. 

     This past weekend I went to an AFL game, Australian Football League, which is also called Footie or Aussie Rules.  Basically it is played with a rugby ball and is on a circle field.  There are four posts on each end (see picture) and a goal through the middle is six points and a goal through the two outside posts are one point.  The players can run a few steps with the ball but then they must either bounce the ball or throw, punch, or kick the ball to another player.  The other player can tackle them, wrestle the ball out of their hands even when they are tackled and down.  Its a really fast paced game and these guys have to be in shape because it looks like a game of tag out there.  It was the last game of the season so I decided to man up through the hives and go.  It was a great game and the Sydney Swans won 114-70!
     This week is pretty hectic for me because I have two papers, one test, and one project this week alone.  I've been busy so I haven't done much more.  My posts keep getting further apart but it is because I've been sick and haven't really done much to write about as you cans see with this blog.  Summer back home is over and my spring is on its way!

City2Surf and New Skills

Last weekend I participated in City2Surf, a walk from downtown Sydney to Bondi Beach.  This walk is 14 km or 8.7 miles.  It is the largest timed race in the world with over 80,000 registered participants.  Since it was $60 to partake, a few of my housemates and I decided just to jump into the insanely large crowd.  Most people who started early in the race ran and the winning time was 41 minutes and of course I decided to run the whole thing.  Just kidding.  I think I ran about 0.5 km and only because the people I was with started running.  The people I was with said they were going to tell their friends that they ran the whole thing and I said no one who knows me well would believe me if I said I even ran 2 of the 14 km.  Sad, I know.  But honestly, it was a great morning.  One of my classes, Sociology of Relationships, is more of a self-help class and last week we learned about how you have to slow down in life to really notice what is going on around you.  This was exactly the story for the City2Surf.  One of my housemates ran the whole thing and only saw the path that the run was on.  Since no one I was with really cared about getting a certain time, we really slowed down our pace and saw the beautiful surroundings.  We saw a beautiful private beach (picture above on the left) that allowed you to see both the city skyline and the Habour Bridge.  It was spectacular.  Then we climbed this hill only to gaze again on the same things (picture below to the right of two of my housemates and I doing yoga's tree pose on the hill).  Later on in the race, we passed cliffs that we hung

our heads over to reveal a 100 ft drop to water crashing on the rocks (two pictures below, again with the yoga- dancer's pose).  It was so so so beautiful and you could see quite a few beaches along the shore.  I was so glad that we didn't care about how long it took because those sights really made the race what it was.  I also did it with a few of my housemates that I hadn't gotten very close to so it was a great opportunity to get more time to hang out with them.  We finished the whole thing in 2 hours 41 minutes.  Everyone wearing race tags got medals but I covered my stomach with my jacket and pretended to be a racer so ended up being the only one in my group to get a medal, something I will cherish my whole life because it is the only form of race I ever intend to be in.

     That weekend was also pretty exciting because we found this cave on one of the beaches that is really really awesome.  We went there and built a fire and just hung out for the night.  It was so beautiful and it is a very very very small beach so it is pretty secluded which allowed us to see the stars really well.  I then became quite the explorer and climbed all over the rocks finding more caves.  It is definitely going to be the new hangout for my house as it was the coolest cave ever.  We fit about 20 people in the cave at once and even more could fit.  I feel like a local now because I know of these hidden gems of Sydney.  

     I am also finally meeting more Australians!!!  One of the girls in my house, Alex, is really into pool and we both are pretty darn good.  There is a bar with pool tables that has free pool all night long on Mondays and Thursdays.  Since finding out about this awesome deal, we have been every Monday and Thursday.  While there, we met these two awesome Australian guys who pretended to be our boyfriends so we could escape from two really old creepy men trying to hit on us.  One of them is a pool guru, as I like to call to him, and has promised to teach me a few tricks.  I can already see improvement in my game and I plan on being a professional pool player once I get back.  You all better be ready for some games.  Oh and the guys are teaching me how to have an Australian accent which is actually harder than it seems since I live with Americans and don't know many

Australians.  It's definitely something I need to pick up so I sound so sweet when I get back.

     Another skill I am getting is very very interesting.  Last year, Caleb Jones let me cut his hair which I had never done before.  It was a pretty sweet experience and somehow it came up in conversation with my housemates.  One of the guys whose hair is as beautiful as Justin Bieber's, let Alex and me cut his hair.  We did layers and everything.  It was so sweet and it turned out really well.  We now have about five other guys and three other girls scheduling hair cuts with us.  Yes, this is very dangerous as I really don't want to mess up anyone's hair but I mean I have to get experience somehow, right?  It has been helpful going to the Rudy and Kelly School for haircuts because they talk through the whole thing allowing me to pick up on a few tips.  So since I can't bake here because we have no pans and mixers or anything, I decided to pick up a new skill.  Haircuts anyone when I return?

     Well it is finally starting to get really nice outside.  It has been upper 60s (upper teens in Celsius) and this weekend its supposed to reach 74.  It's weird because it is still winter here and the Aussies still think it is kind of cold.  Crazy I tell you!  The sunsets have been the prettiest things I have EVER seen in my entire life!  The water turns pink with the sky reflecting off of it and the colors are spectacular.  Pictures (to the left) don't do it justice but it is still pretty sweet.  We have been relaxing on the beach playing frisbee, rugby, volleyball, soccer, and just chillaxing all day long.  I'm so glad I only have three days of class but it is going to get dangerously hard to do school work as it gets warmer and warmer.  And then before I know it, I will be back in Virginia all tan from an Australian summer.

Aroma Festival and Camels!! Foundation Day!! Wine Tasting!!

     Last week there was an Aroma Festival in The Rocks in Sydney.  The Rocks are one of the oldest areas of Sydney and are located right under the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  The Aroma Festival is a coffee festival in which there are hundreds of tents all around with everything from about 50 different coffee shops to Turkish crepe things, camel rides, coffee cup paintings (picture to the right- made out of over 5000 coffee cups filled with milk and coffee and a combination of the two to make different tones.  It is the world's largest coffee painting or whatever you want to call it), cupcakes stands, gelato, and everything you could ever want in a festival.  There were some awesome things that I definitely just have to put pictures up of because it was the coolest ever.  For starters, I got to ride a camel along the edge of the harbor (picture below).  Yes, most of the riders were about 5 years old, but how could I turn down a ride on a camel for only $5?  What a steal!!!!!  It was a fabulous day and it was great to see the first of many festivals I plan on going to during my time here in Sydney.

     This past Thursday, 29 August, was Foundation day at my university.  Basically it is a day for the students to get wasted and attend classes drunk.  Everyone wore weird outfits including boys who dressed up like girls which was strange.  They had music playing all day, clubs performing, free gelato, pancake eating contest (which I sucked at but beat the guy I was racing against), and many other random things.  Then at night it is a big dance party both inside and outside.  I got to my uni at 9 am for class, got to the place on campus where Foundation Day was at at 4pm after class and didn't leave the uni til 1:30 am.  It was an extremely long day but an awesome day.  I've become quite the pool player and played for 5 hours that night.  I also was able to meet Australians for the first time really.  Since I live with 24 other Americans, I really don't get the chance to hang with Australians.  That night I met a ton of people and they said they would show us around town, teach us how to surf, and other things as well.  I also officially saw and talked to the second most beautiful guy I've ever seen in my life (only second to John).  Hopefully with these new connections, I can learn the Aussie things to do and places to go.  I'm tired of going out only to find other people from America there. 

     This Saturday I went to Hunter Valley to go wine tasting.  We stopped at three wineries and tried some really awesome wines.  I hated wine, except Moscato, before I left America but since wine is the only cheap drinks here, I have grown a liking for it.  The views were spectacular and the air was so clean and fresh being athe higher altitude.  It was a fabulous day being with all the girls from my house and being sophisticated trying all these really expensive, awesome wines.  My time here is still as amazing as it always is and I'm currently planning my trip to Fiji for Spring Break.  Enjoy the last weeks of summer break for me!

Happy One Month!

Yesterday was officially my one month here in Australia.  It's crazy to think that I've been gone for so long but at the same time it still feels like it was yesterday that I arrived.  I absolutely love it here and in some ways its like I never want to leave.  As it becomes one month since I've been here, it only reminds me that I only have 5 more months left until I'm back in America and back to UVa.  Looking back reflectively on my time here, I feel that I've already learned so much.  Just this week I was talking to a friend of mine that I met at the hostel and I was saying how Australia really makes me feel comfortable and so at peace.  I thought for a moment about why I felt so myself even within days of arriving.  I soon realized that this is the first time in my life that I have gone off and done something completely on my own.  When I moved when I was younger and got a fresh start, my family was always alongside of me.  When I went off to college, Sally was there as well.  I am so grateful that all those experiences were shared with someone I love, but at the same time, I never went anywhere where no one had any idea of who I was.  They say when you go off to college you really find who you are because you are finally on your own.  For me, I still felt like everyone had the same expectations of me and so I stuck with what I knew my whole life.  But now, I am completely on my own and it has been really awesome for me to challenge what I've been told my whole life and put it into practice.  I have had to look for churches on my own.  At UVa I went to the church Sally went to because I had a ride there; I went to the same Christian group and it was easier knowing that I would know someone there.  But here, I have had to be really intentional about finding a church knowing that no one is going to do it for me.  It's been a great experience just learning what things I put my time into and what things I truly enjoy for myself. 
     This past Monday classes officially started and my summer or I guess winter break here is finally over.  All my classes seem pretty interesting and I'm really looking forward to this more relaxed style of class.  Each class is only once a week for two hours and then a discussion which is often lead by the professor.  Also, most classes only have one test if that and it is only worth about 10-20% of your grade.  I'm taking almost all intro level classes and we have 12 page papers we have to write that are worth 50%.  What happened to a chill intro level class?  The class I'm most nervous about is International Relations.  The professor said that he assumes we all have a basic level of history knowledge.  Anyone who knows me knows that history is clearly not one of my strengths.  In fact, I relate my knowledge to that of a kindergartner; and yes, I do mean that literally.  I might be calling some of you up to tell me who someone is or what happened in which wars just to make sure that I'm not an idiot when writing a paper or something.  Normally I love discussion sessions because talking has never been a problem for me and it's an easy A for about 20% of my grade.  I've never understood how people just don't speak up and get that easy A.  Now I am starting to realize why some people never talk during them.  I'm so freaking nervous to say anything in this International Relations class knowing that I'll probably mess something up and sound stupid and ignorant.  My other classes seem really awesome though and very intriguing. 

    Other than that, life has been exceptionally good.  With 29 people in my house, it feels like I'm back in first-year dorms or something and its awesome because there is always someone doing something.  I'm learning how to balance my own personal time with social time.  The people in my house are awesome and I'm having some awesome experiences.  Even tonight we saw Inception on the world's largest IMAX screen.  Definitely see the movie- IT'S AWESOME!!!!!  The weather this week has been fantastic, about 62 everyday- yes it is the dead of winter, so I have been going to the beach a lot to play volleyball or toss a frisbee.  There is also this walk that connects 5 beaches and is 4.5 miles long so I walked that the other day and it was absolutely beautiful.  We walked it around sunset and the colors in the sky were the most amazing thing I've ever seen.  So even after one month, I can still say that life is good and I'm still gaining new experiences and making new friends.  Hope everyone is enjoying the warm weather back home!  Check out all my pictures on facebook or if you don't have facebook, you can look at them at them here on my Australia Album. 

At the After the Honeymoon Phase

     So this past week I've had orientation sessions which I completely slept through because there was really no important information whatsoever.  However, the speaker did talk about how right now is the honeymoon phase but soon something was going to happen that would make us hit rock bottom.  And yes, that indeed did come, albeit a little earlier than predicted.  There are 29 people in my house, 13 girls, 16 boys.  Everyone is really really awesome and all but two are from America.  I was a little disappointed that it really isn't very international but at least when I get back to the states, I will be able to see everyone still.  One girl even goes to ODU and two others go to Virginia Tech and others go to Duke, UNC, Michigan State,

Purdue, University of Illinois, Syracuse, and other random places.  One other girl lives in England which means I'm definitely going to have to make a trip out there.  With so many people, this definitely makes for a lot of noise and a lot of fun times.  However, last night we had some people over and this boy from Austria broke our front door glass and another window downstairs.  He was arrested within 10 minutes but it definitely caused a lot of drama having to deal with the police and the university because it is owned by them. But other than that little speed bump, everything has been going really well.  We have been having a really good time and are finding our way around the city.  The other night I even did karaoke for the first time ever and sang Genie in a Bottle.  I even sang two songs by the end with my new housemates and we all won a free night stay at a local beach resort.  Who knew I could sing so well- ha! just kidding.

     This week we signed up for classes which was a huge headache but I think I've finally figured everything out and hopefully my classes will be interesting.  I'm taking quite a medley of classes including Sociology of Relationships, International Relations, Society and Desire, and Intro to Women and Gender Studies.
Fortunately, I only have class on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday meaning I can travel Friday through Monday.  Because of this hopefully I'll be able to see way more of Australia.  I'm really looking forward to my time here especially now that I am in my new house and making some really awesome friends.  It has already been so amazing and I am anxious to see how the semester will play out.  Please add my on skype- Anyagirl10- so we can all keep in contact.  I miss you all!

My Long Week and New Home!

     So internet is really hard to get and so I haven't updated this in a while so I've done quite a bit since my last post.  I have been doing more things around the city including going to a plethora of museums and parks.  One of the girls that I hang out with the most in my hostel is from Canada so we obviously had to celebrate Canada Day.  I soon learned that I am exceptional at face painting maple leaves on people.  I never knew that my 2 years in Canada when I was 3 and 4 really would have helped me so much.  And we started singing the national anthem and I actually remembered quite a bit more than I imagined.  Sadly I was too tired to do anything on Independence Day and they don't sell fireworks so it wouldn't have been the same anyway.  This week has probably been my favorite week so far because I am starting to become good friends with the

people in my hostel.  I can comfortably go into the main lobby and know that I will have someone to talk to and sit with.  Most everyone is from England and have beautiful accents.  I'm also picking up some really sweet words- I'm saying "reckon" and "mates/lads" and many other really awesome phrases that you all better be ready for when I return.  There are four English guys who remind me a lot of my guy friends from home and so it has been so natural hanging out with them and having fun.  The English boys and the girl from Canada and I went to the Aquarium a few days ago and it was really good.  They have shark and sting ray tanks that have clear walking tubes underneath the tank so you can see sharks swim right over you.  They had some really awesome exhibits and I took a million pictures.  I also went and saw the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge at night and it was even better than what I imagined.  It literally always looks like a postcard picture even with the small camera I have.  Oh goodness it was beautiful.
     Today has also been very exciting because I moved into my new apartment.  It was very bitter-sweet as I have gotten used to being in the hostel and I genuinely like the people that are there and it is in such a great location.  I was within walking distance to every major landmark and museum.  But my new apartment is better than I imagined; It's pretty much like a huge huge house where 29 people live, half boys, half girls.  The kitchen is so nice which hopefully means I can bake and we have pretty decent amount of room for clothes which I needed since I brought 150 lbs worth of stuff with me...oops.  We have satellite tv on a big screen and free internet and free washer and dryer.  Oh so beautiful it is.  There are only 5 people here right now but people should be arriving shortly as orientation starts on the 12th.  I had my registration session this week where I am working on setting up my classes.   Hopefully I'll get a good schedule.  One of the girls I'm now living with has the same amount of classes as me and only has class on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday leaving the rest of the week for traveling.  This would be ideal.  Now that I have internet all day, I will be able to skype.

The Beautiful Blue Mountains and Familiar Faces of Family

The Corleys (my cousins and aunt and uncle) just happened to be coming to Sydney for Drew's graduation trip conveniently just a week after I arrived here myself.  It was great to see a familiar face in this big city.  I couldn't get in contact with them but I knew which hotel they were at and as I was randomly strolling through the city having no idea where I was, I passed there hotel and was able to go in and see them.  The next day we went to the Blue Mountains which is about an hour away and we had an amazing tour guide who told us the history of the city, of the mountains, and about any random questions we asked her.  It was really fabulous and the sites to see were absolutely splendid.  I took almost 200 pictures the whole day so I'll definitely be showing you all just how amazing the mountains were.  We saw some really tall waterfalls and walked through the rain forest after riding the steepest railway in the world at 52 degrees incline.  We road a sky rail that had a glass bottom and which passed through the mountains and valleys giving a direct view to the rain forest.  We saw some of the brightest colored birds imaginable right out in the wild.  We also went to a field and saw kangaroos in the wild.  From here, we went to an animal farm/zoo where kangaroos, emus, peacocks, birds, etc. were just roaming around with us out in the open.  We got to feed them right out of our hands.  We saw a tasmanian devil being fed and you could hear the cracking of the rabbit's bones that he was eating.  It was possibly one of the most disturbing sounds as he easily tore through bone and as I was thinking what would happen if a human fell in there.  It was a ten hour adventure but definitely worthwhile and who better to spend the day with than family.