Sydney, Australia

So on Thursday night Katie and I got on the plane and headed to Sydney, Australia.

  We had booked a hostel, and since we got there at like 9:30, we had to take the train from the airport to downtown sydney then we had like a 10 min walk to our hostel.  So by the time we got there it was 10:30.  Well the screwed up our reservation, and we didnt have a room.  So here we are 2 American girls in the middle of Sydney at 10:30 at night with no where to sleep.  They didnt even help up, they were like well there are some hostels on the road behind us.  Well gee thank!  So we start walking with all of our stuff, having no idea where we are going.  Walk for like a half hour, didnt see one hostel, so we went back and pretty much demanded that since this was their fault that they needed to find us a place to stay tonight.  So they called a place, and they only had 2 beds open, thank god!  We get there, and its HORRIBLE!!!  As soon as we open  door, we almost die, because it smells so bad!  It was a tiny room, and there were two boys in there who I think were long stay, so they had stuff everywhere, and ovbiously they didnt think showering was a good idea....But had a place to sleep, well kind of sleep we didnt do much sleeping, but we werent on the street so we were happy.  The next morning we got up and left, and came back to the first hostel.  We didnt really want to come back, but it was  better than the alternitive.  But since the screwed up our reservation, they gave us a night free, so we only paid for 4 nights instead of 5 which was really nice.  And our room was much nicer, and all girls, so def an upgrade than before!  Friday was a beautiful day!  We decided that it would be a great day for the Opera House.  So we started walking, and the Royal Botanical gradens are night next to it, so we walked through those, which was beautiful!

 Our first sight of hte Opera House!!!

 Katie and I

 Walking around the Opera House getting different angles

 Then on Saturday, we decided to head to Chinatown, because we heard thats where you can get the cheap souvenirs.  Katie and I both had presents to get so we were like hell yes cheap!!  We went to this huge mall like place that had different booths set up.  It was crazy!!  Just booth after booth of souvenirs!  We were pry there for like 4 hours, but we got all our shopping done and didnt really even spend that much money!!  We also wanted to eat Chinese, becuase we were in Chinatown, but all the restaurants we saw were lik real Chinese food, and not the American kind, but we finally found a place that looked like what we were used to!  It was really good!  The next day we headed in the opposite direction, and went to Kings Cross, a village inside hte city.  Not as fun shopping as Chinatown, but still some fun place, and sculptures on the street!

 After Kings Cross we decided to keep walking, and went to the other side of Sydney and did some shopping.  But when we decided to start heading back, we were walking, and walking and walking, but nothing was looking framilar.  Finally after about 40 mintues of walking, we finally decided to ask for directions.  Well we were walking in the complete opposite direction!  So we had about a 50 min walk back to our hostel..awesome huh! But that night we hung out with all the poeple we met.  3 guys from Sweden, 2 guys from England, and a German.  It was alot of fun.  One of hte Swedish guys was trying to teach me Swedish, but i dont remember anything haha it was hard!  But it was alot of fun hanging tou with poeple from all over the world!

 Tuesday, we decided to head to the famous Bondi Beach.  I had never heard of it, but I guess a TV thats in Euproe is flimed here.  So we got up and headed there on the bus.  Well we got there, and it was overcast and windy and cold.  AKA miserable!!  Katie and I wrapped up in our towels and fell asleep on the beach.  When we woke up we were hoping it would be nicer...nope.  So we found somewhere to eat, then walked around for a bit, then headed back.  I wish it was nicer, but it was still an enjoyable day.

 That night, our roomies from England and us went out one last time in Sydeny! I was super fun! and the girls were really cool! I am so glad we had cool roommates!! Otherwise it could have been a lot less fun!  We found out a place served their drinks in tea pots, and since our roomies were English we had to go there!  Here is a picture of all of us with out teapots!!

Overall our trip was amazing! I am so glad I got to go to Sydney before I left for the states!  It was def a trip I will never forget!

Scuba Diving Round 2

This last weekend I went and scuba dived again to finish up my license.  We had to do 4 total dives to get certified.  On Saturday, we got up early again, took the bus to the docks, and met Scott our instructor there.  We rode out to Keppel Island and got all of our stuff together, then headed back out to the reef.  It was another absolutely beautiful day to dive!  Sunny, warm and almost no current or waves, except on the 2nd dive.  On the first dive, we saw a couple small sting rays, and a huge sea snake, that had just had lunch, because you could see the bulge in his stomach from the fish.  I touched it, it was slimy...ick...haha.  What I didnt know until I got to the surface is that sea snakes, that one included, are one of the most poisonous snakes in the world...awesome! haha.  But I guess they are nice, and dont bite.  The second dive, as we were coming down, right below us, was 2 HUGE sting rays.  When I say huge I mean at least 10 feet long, and 5 feet wide.  At least.  It was crazy!  The second dive wasn't quite as enjoyable because of the strong current.  I had to work very hard to stay straight, so I used more air faster, so we didnt get to stay down as long.  But this reef was very cool.  It almost looked at if there were hundreds of spikes coming up.  It was crazy.  I'm sorry I dont have pictures, but the only guy who has an underwater camera is very protective of his pictures, so i havent gotten them.  But here are a few that I took on the boat ride back to the mainland.

My commerical!!

Here it is!!!  I am like 16 or 17 seconds in, then again at like 20 secs, but im hard to see....!!! I am very excited!!

I'M GOING TO SYDNEY!!

So a friend and I who are leaving right after the term, and not traveling after, decided we could not leave Australia without going to Sydney!  The flight was kind of expensive, but I know that I would regret not going if i didnt do it.  So we sucked it up and paid for it!  We leave next Thursday, and will stay 6 nights.  We are both super excited for the trip, and it will be a great way to end my Australia Adventure!  I will keep this updated with the thousands of pictures we take along the way!! So stay tuned!! :)

Scuba Diving!! :)

Well as most of you know I have been taking a PADI scuba course throughout the time I have been here.  We have had the book work done for a couple weeks now, but just havent gotten to actually go diving yet.  Well this weekend I finally got to!

Boat ride out to Great Keppel Island!

 My dive buddy for the day!

The first time, we just went out on to the beach in the shallow water, and practiced skills, like clearing your mask under water, and how to take your regulator out under water, and put it back it.  Stuff like that.

So after we did all those and got good at them, we went out on the reef.  The first dive was about 7 meters deep.  And for all you Americans, who havent had to learn the metric system, becuase when your in another country that is all they use, thats about 25 feet.  There were so many different fish, and coral.  It was very cool to see everything close up!  I also saw a sting ray, and some sea slugs.

Everyone!

 Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!!

 HELLO!!!

After we got up, we saw a dolphin at the surface about 75 meters from us or so.  We were really still in hopes that it would come closer, but it didnt :(.  We headed back to shore to fill up our tanks, to go out again!  This dive was around 12 meters or 40 feet.  I had a little trouble equalizing my ears, but i got it!  It is an entirely different world when you are 40 feet under the water! It is crazy!

Stingray!

 lots and lots of fish!!

 okay :)

 Peek-a-boo :)

But quite an amazing experience!! I cant wait until I get to do 2 more dives next weekend!  I will keep this updated! :)
photos by anders

Pink and Blue Sunsets :)

Just walked out of dinner, and saw a beautiful sunset.  So I thought I would share it with everyone else! It was breathtaking!

Canoeing and Kayaking Trip

For my Outdoor Pursuits class, we had a canoeing and kayaking camping trip this weekend.  Our teacher picked us up Sat morining, and we headed up to a camping resort thing about an hour and a half away.  It was a really pretty place in the woods, with cabins, and a creek.  We stayed in a little cabin.  It was made for only 6 people and we had 12 so we were all kind stuffed in there, but it wasnt so bad.   The first day we canoed.  2 people were in each canoe.  For the first couple hours we practiced some skill , how to steer, turn,stop, etc...  Then we went and ate lunch.  We cooked hot dogs and sausages in our cabin.  Then after we went back and took a trip down the creek in the canoe.  It was about 2km each way.  It was really beautiful, out in the middle of all the trees.

That night, we went to the restaurant that they had on the camping grounds.  There was live music, which was cool, because the guy singing had a iPad, and let us come up there and sing karaoke.  There was also an engagement party going on there, so needless to say we made it fun for them!! 

The only downfall about this trip was we had a little friend in out cabin.  I was laying in bed ready to fall asleep, and I hear something under my bed.  At first i didnt think anything of it, but then i heard it again, i look down, and i see a mouse/rat running into its hole, which is right under my bed.  I freak out to say the least.  I dont think it would have bothered me so much if it wasnt right under my bed.  I tried to forget about it, but i kept hearing it running around under my bed.  So I was paranoid the whole time that it was giong to get on my bed and attack me while i slept.  haha...i know...  So the whole night I held a flashlight in my hand and everytime i heard something i would turn in on a make sure it wasnt on me.  This mouse had some energy, becuase it kept running around hte room! I would hear it in one place then in anohter a second later.  I thought that there were at least like 4 mice!  Finally sometime in the night it was in a bag near someones head, which woke him up.  He found hte bag, and swipped it up, and ran it outside.  Thank goodness! because i dont know if I would have slept at all, if I kept hearing that stupid mouse all night!!  The next morning we got up, made breakfast, then headed to go kayaking.  Kayaking is only one person.  We learning a couple thing but most of the stuff we had learned the day before we used that day too.  We practiced a little bit on how to steer.  The little kayaks that we had were very hard to steer and keep straight, so it was kind of frustrating when you couldnt keep it going the direction that you wanted.  Needless to say i made a lot of circles....haha.  Then we took a trip the other way down the creek.  After a long day of canoeing my arms were very sore, and you had to use a lot of energy to keep the kayaking straight, so it was very tiring.  But after a while, i got the hang of it, and it was easier. 

Overall, the weekend was a blast!!!  I slept like a baby when I got back! It was a fun, but tiring weekend!   I am so glad I got to take this class, becuase I got to do so many things that I would not have gotten to do otherwise!! 

I'm a movie star :)

So on Tuesday one of my friends comes into my room, and asks if I want to be in a commercial and make 20 bucks an hour....my reply....umm YES!! So we go to a meeting, and the University is making a marketing commercial to attract new students, and needed current students to be in it.  So of course, I said yes! They did a little audition, to pick the people who would speak, but even if you didnt get to speak, they needed "students" in the background.  So I went in there, did a couple lines, and the people really seemed to like my accent.  I hear daily how cool my accent is.  It is always fun to hear, because back home, I sound boring lol! Only downfall to this was I had to be there at 8am on a Friday when I didnt have class.  But I guess making 24$ an hour, yes I said 24$, that is minimum wage here! Crazy huh!  I shouldnt complain.  I found out I had a speaking line.  Are you ready for this?......wait for it..... "Or just apply" Yup thats it! I rocked it!  Everyone said I did a great job, and once again got told I have a awesome voice :)  I was also in some pictures, and in a scene where a group of students said "NOW" all together.  I was also in the background of a couple other shots.  We got free lunch, and morning tea, and sat around waiting a majority of the day.  But hey whose complaining...not me!  They said the commercial should be out in September sometime, so I will let everyone know so that they can watch it!   Here are a couple pictures of just me, I loved my hair so much, I just had to take some pictures :)

Pictures, Pictures, and More Pictures! Road Trip to Cairns!

Hostel Night 1

 We found a playground...so of course we had to play! :)

 Hanging out looking at the ocean

 Road Trip to Cairns...Something we will never forget!

 Wallabies on Magnetic Island! How freaking cute!!!

 They came right up to us and ate out of our hands

 Look at the baby!!!

 Pretty much the perfect view...could I ask for more?

 The whole group on top of the mountian!

 Breathtaking!

 Wild Koalas!!!

 White Water Rafting on the Tully River!

 We did the Extreme White Water Rafting, so of course we chanted Extreme constantly throughout the whole day! haha

 Anders and I were the only ones who wanted to go! But totally worth it!

 It was also beautiful, the mountains, trees, and a couple waterfalls!

 We wanted to find something that was relaxing and wouldnt take much energy, but was still fun and we got to see the sites.  We saw this brochure for Aussie Drifterz! It was so much fun! We drifted down a creek on a tube, in the middle of the Australia Rain Forest...I mean what else could you ask for!! If anyone is ever in Cairns, this is one thing that I would totally suggest doing!!!

 Life is rough....

 We also got to make natural body paints, from rocks.  It was very cool, you just have to get a certain rock, and get it wet, and it was almost like a chalk.  As you can see we painted each other.... :)

 There were a couple small rapids along the way, which made it even more fun!

 The hostel we stayed at in Cairns, gave us a free meal at a nearby bar.  Each night we would go there and eat, then they would have an activity going on.  Tuesday night was Trivia Night.  The winner got 100$.  Luckily we had 8 people from around the world, so we worked together (and maybe had a little help from someone back at college googling the answers :)  We were the Extreme Dream Team, and WE WON!!!  It was really exciting!  Most of the people at the bar really hated us because we excessively celebrated after each correct answer, but which made it more fun!!!

 It was also Hawaiian Night

 Outside the sky diving place before we left!

 Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef!

 The fish and coral were SO colorful!! The pictures do not do them justice!!!

 These fish were crazy colorful!!! I couldn't hardly believe all the colors that were on one fish!!

 Crystal Clear Water and White Sand :)

 Did I mention how rough life was? :)