Long time, no see.

So, it's definitely been a long, long, loooong time since I've updated. I'll admit I have missed blogging a little bit. It was nice to get my thoughts out on something physical so that they're no longer floating about in my head.

I have, since my last post, experienced the shortest summer of my life, worked pretty much during all of it, and moved back to school.

Things haven't changed much since I got home. I love being home. It wasn't that difficult for me to adjust to being stateside again. I didn't have much culture shock at all, aside from the fact that I was shocked at how cheap cereal is here. (Australia- $8 for Fruit Loops. USA- $3). Ohhh yeah.

Things I really miss about Australia:

-The beach. I love the ocean so much. It's a peaceful and intensely fascinating thing to me. My life kind of revolves around it. I don't like being surrounded by so much land. Plus, I just like the way it smells.

-Tim Tams. Ahhh someone said they found them at Target. I keep forgetting to look. I will find Tim Tams!!! I hope they have caramel. Yum.

-Surfing. I want to surf again so badly.

-Of course, the friends I made there. I honestly don't know how these friendships would have played out if it wasn't for Facebook. Most of the time I curse Facebook because it consumes so much of my time. I wish I wasn't dependent on it because it really doesn't need as much usage as it gets. Ridiculous. But, it comes in handy when you miss friends that are 9,000 miles away from you.

Anyways. Since I've been home, I've turned 21. Worked in a doctor's office doing filing. And moved back to Ames for my senior year of college. I can't believe it's happening. I will admit I'm a bit terrified because I don't have a plan for after school yet. I've always had a plan up until this point and now that it's reached it's end, I'm beyond clueless as to what I'm going to do. I want to do one more internship, but then what. A job? I don't feel qualified! Scary thoughts. But I know things will work out how they're supposed to. Just gotta trust fate, eh?

Anyways, it's late, and I should try to sleep. Who knows if I'll update again? I'll try, I think.

Love love.

Kels

Home.

So after something like 34 hours of straight-up traveling, I am home.

Home. What an amazing word and an amazing place. I will update later when I have the stamina and words. :)

I love home. I miss Australia. But life is good, regardless.

The Last Song.

Well, here it is.

The last day. I leave tomorrow morning on the train to Sydney, and from there I fly to Fiji, then LA, then Phoenix, and then finally, Minneapolis. It's been quite a run. I've experienced more here than I ever thought possible. At first, I didn't think I changed much. But looking back on it, I think I'm a very different person now than I was.

I feel like I'm more confident in who I am. I know who I want to be and I think that's the first step in getting there. I tried new foods and I met new people and was involved in new experiences. I tested myself and found my limits.

Australia will always hold a major part of my heart. I will be coming back. I know a lot of people say that and never do, but watch out world. Never get in my way and tell me I can't. There were people who told me I wouldn't even get to Australia. Who's laughing now eh?! Hahaha that would be me!

Anyways, I want to say thank you to everyone who visited me, everyone I met, and everyone back home. I love you all and I'm so happy that you're a part of my life. This has been the most incredible thing I've done, and I love that you were a part of it. :) To those I'm leaving here, I really hope I see you soon. To those I'm going home with, let's come back. To those I'm going home to, let's get out and go see more of this world eh?

Thanks again to everybody, and don't be a stranger. Life's too short for that!

Love love.

We found Nemo.

Have I got stories for you!!

Lindsey visited. Twas amazing. We did a loooot of stuff. So she got here, and we went to Sydney the next day. Toured around and went to all sorts of cool markets and whatnot. She got to be the ultimate tourist and take pictures in front of the Opera House and all that good stuff. We also went to Pancakes on the Rocks (YUM) and stuffed our faces.

In front of the Opera House

Then, the next day, Lindsey, Lauren, Maria and myself rented a car and drove around the Hunter Wine Valley. We went to Tempus Two, which is my favorite winery, and bought some wine. Excellent moscato. :) Then we drove to Nelson Bay and toured around there for a little while. It was a fun adventure, and I even got to drive the car a little! I drove on the opposite side of the road and car! Whaaaat. Needless to say when I hit my turn signal the wipers ended up going instead.

Hunter Wine Valley

THEN the next day, I had my Developmental and Cognitive Psych final in the morning. I'd been strategically studying for that the whole week. It was an okay exam. The format was not something I was used to. I had a scantron and then two separate answer booklets, and they had 'reading time' before you can even start the exam. You have to read it. Strange.

Anyways, after that, Linds and I walked down Hunter Street and looked at the shops and stuff, then we caught the bus to the Newcastle Airport. Tiny little airport, but it's a long ways away! From there, we flew to Brisbane, had a fairly boring layover, and then onward to Cairns. Our hostel in Cairns was an adventure in and of itself. We shared a room with about 5 guys and a girl from Belgium, they all spoke French, really really quickly. And one guy from England. The room was a MESS because they'd all been living there for like a week at least. Plus they decided to party that night so Linds and I didn't get a lot of sleep before our excursion. It was funny though.

THEN we woke up early the next day and headed out ready to see the Great Barrier Reef. Keep in mind, seeing it and diving it has been one of my life goals for an extremely long time. And the plan was that I wasn't going to dive because there wasn't enough time for the nitrogen to get out of my system before we flew again. But we were going to snorkel and I was super happy I was even going to get to see the Reef. So we got on our boat, and had about an hour long ride or so out to our station in the reef. We had gorgeous weather, and both Linds and I took Dramamine so neither of us got seasick at all. Then we geared up for some snorkeling. It was SO cool. We got our picture taken with a Maori Wrasse named Wally, who was one of my favorites. There's just so much reef. It's HUGE. And beautiful.

Us in our BEAUTIFUL stinger suits. Hot stuff.

After our first snorkel we ate lunch, and then I just couldn't take it and decided to ask if I could dive. They told me I could get TWO dives in and still be okay to fly the next day. I jumped at the chance. I'm super grateful to Lindsey for being okay with me diving. She knew how much it meant to me and was happy to let me go dive. (Thanks girl!) On my first dive, I had a really hard time getting my right ear to equalize, but my dive leader helped me and we got down after a little while. On the boat ride out to the site he asked me, 'Do you like sharks?' and I said, 'YES' so I was super excited. He brought down an empty water bottle with him, and once we hit the bottom and started touring around, he filled it halfway with air from his regulator and started cracking it. After about 10 seconds of doing this, I looked up and saw a black tip reef shark above me. It was one of about 5 or 6 I saw on that dive. It was AMAZING! I wasn't scared at all too, which made me really happy. It just looked peaceful swimming around. We also got to see sea cucumbers and we found Nemo! We also swam through these two coral formations and the current was really strong. When I was swimming through it all I could think was, 'I'm swimming through the EAC!!' from Finding Nemo. Just a fantastic dive. Me, one other girl and our dive leader, Kieran went. It was nice to have a little group.

Me getting ready to go diving! Clearly excited!

The second dive was just Kieran and myself. He showed me a giant clam and we saw more sharks! :) We also went down into this little coral cave area and then swam straight up through the top of it. Incredible stuff. He also showed me this really cool plant/animal thing that if you wave your hand in front of it, it disappears really quickly into the coral. It was so much fun. That was just a peaceful dive. It was a truly amazing experience, and I won't forget it ever. One of the best things I've ever done, hands down.

Linds and I snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef.

After we got back to Cairns from our trip, Linds and I went and cleaned up and then went to dinner and went to the night markets. That was a fun experience. I bought a boomerang from a really nice Aboriginal guy who made all his own didjeridoos. He played a little for us. It was sweet.

Then the next morning we got up and walked around Cairns for a little while and hung out before heading back to the Airport to go back to Newwy. It was an awesome trip. Then back in Newcastle, we packed up all Lindsey's stuff, slept for a couple hours, and then she got on the train to Sydney to go home. Crazy.

I'm so happy that I'm blessed enough to have friends who are able to come visit me. You guys have made my experience in Australia one of the best parts of my life. (Ashlee, Stef, Casey, Troy, and Linds). I had an incredible time with all of you- we got to do and see so many cool things and have amazing adventures. Thank you so much for sharing it with me. :) I'll see you all very soon.

LOVE from Down Under,
Kels

Brief. Longer post later.

Update coming soon- Lindsey's here and I've been really busy with her and studying for my final. I'll update after we return from Cairns! Love love! :)

Chocolate and Coffee=Bliss

Today I went to the Coffee and Chocolate Festival on Darby Street. It was pretty sweeeeet. Basically like a street market. Not as big as some of the markets I've been to stateside but it was still really fun to go. I miss doing things like that.

As usual, there were lots of jewelry booths, and food. But there was also a lot of t-shirts and clothing booths. Darby street is kind of an artsy area. There's a lot of designer boutiques that are pretty pricey, and the restaurants are known for being expensive too. It's a super cool area, but if you really want to have a good time you have to have a bit of money. Kara and I just walked around, and we got dark chocolate-covered strawberries-on-a-stick. Kind of like the state fair! I was really excited about that. Kara took a picture, but I didn't have my camera with me so I'll have to steal it from her when she puts it up. There were a lot of dogs there. I've noticed that people in Australia don't really have a lot of big dogs. I saw a few labs, which I freaked out about, but mostly it was those little poofy yappy things. Oh well. I get to go home to a dog-filled house. Pretty sweet.

Anyways, after the festival we went to Hamilton and went walking around there for awhile. We stopped at Cibo (chee-boh) and had lunch. It was so delicious. Risotto balls with cheese and a tomato chutney-like sauce. Then I had fish and chips for the main course. Yummy. Oh, and they also RARELY do free refills here. Another thing I miss about the states haha.

Anywho, the rest of my day and week will be devoted to hammering out some serious schoolwork and studying before Lindsey arrives on the 4th! Hooray! I can't wait.

Cheers!

Jibberjabbering.

Random thoughts about Australia:

I never really thought of Australia as being a potentially cold place. But it does get cold here! Sometimes at night it dips into the 40s! I told my Australian classmates in art that I was not expecting that. They thought it was pretty funny. But I also told them about how people in MN do the 'polar plunge' and jump through holes in the ice on lakes in the winter. Needless to say they were appalled. :)

Things I don't like about Australia:
-Their internet. I hate how it's in GB and you have to pay for it. It's not like at home where you pay so much a month and you get unlimited in that time. Here you pay for like 2 GB and when it runs out, you have to pay to get more. Whaaa...?
-The fact that it gets cold. It's Australia. There's a hole in the ozone over the continent. Not supposed to be cold!
-How much people smoke here. It's really shocking. They have a lot of hard-hitting commercials out now to entice people not to smoke. Like the kind that show people with throat and lung cancer. Crazy stuff.


Things I love about Australia:
-The accent. Let's face it, it's awesome.
-Tim Tams. They're amazing. I will go through withdrawal.
-Everyone's usually really nice.
-Harry's. Where we go at night for meat pies. Amaaaaazing. We love Dave- he runs the place.
-The beaches. Beautiful beautiful beautiful.
-How easy it is to surf here. You don't look out of place, even if you are terrible at it.
-The trees. They have these crazy awesome trees.
-Kangaroos, Wallabies, and Koalas. Yesssssss.
-The crazy variation of environment. They have desert, rainforest, beaches, everything.
-The Great Barrier Reef. Whaaaaat?!


So, obviously. The pros wayyy outweigh the cons. :)

Anyways, on to more random jabberings.

The crosswalks here beep quietly until the light turns and you're able to cross, at which point they beep really loudly. It's in order to get your attention, which is nice, but most of the time it just freaks me out. Especially when I'm crossing at this one intersection near the train station, where the 'beep' noise is broken, and it's just one loud 'boooooop'. Odd.

There's a harbor a short ways away from my place. The coal freighters that sit out in the ocean for 2 weeks waiting for their turn go in there, and when they're right in front of my place they sound their horns. Their FOGHORNS. Seriously. I think I'm desensitized to it now but when I first got here I was being woken up by it constantly. There was one just the other day that sounded theirs for a solid 2 minutes. I was like really? We know you're here. But then they fill up and ship on out.

Newcastle used to be a really industrial area, and you can still see that when you look at the harbor. It's got a lot of machinery.

I finally saw a pod of wild dolphins here about 3 weeks ago. Amazing. I was so happy to see them for myself, especially after everyone else had seen them. They were chuffing and playing, and that made my day.


Things I miss about home:
-The people- family, friends, you know. :)
-Chipotle, Panera, Noodles, Applebees, and all that good food. :)
-The internet
-Driving
-The fact that it's summer there and winter here. Ha.
-That I don't have to use an adapter to plug something in there.

Needless to say I'm getting really excited to come home, but I know I'm going to miss Australia a lot too. But I'll be pretty busy once I get home because I leave a day later to go to Washington for my cousin's wedding! Crazy busy!

Anyways, enough of my ramblings. Catcha lataaa!

Casey's Visit

Well I guess I'm due for another update yet again!

Casey came to visit me this past week, which was awesome! It was so nice to see someone from home. She flew in on Saturday and I had gotten on the 3AM train to go to Sydney to meet her. Her flight got in at 6-ish in the morning, and then we went and checked into our hostel. We met up with Maria and Lauren for breakfast before heading out to the market. We did the classic sightseeing- Circular Quay and the Opera House and all that. Then that night, we went to see Iron Man 2 at the world's biggest Imax! It was sweeeeet! Then Casey went to bed, and I went to the hostel bar with Maria and Lauren for a little while.

Casey and I at the Opera House

The next day, Casey and I set out for the Taronga Zoo. We had to catch the ferry over to the zoo, and it was really cool! They have some awesome animals. The zoo is kind of confusing though. It's set on a big hill, so you're walking up and down everything. It's a little weird. But really cool. After that, we headed back to Circular Quay to get lunch, and then went to Manly Beach. I love Manly Beach- one of my favorite places. After that, we headed back to our hostel and passed out pretty much. It'd been a busy day.

Our All-Day Passes that got us EVERYWHERE.

Us in front of the Taronga Zoo! :)

Me at Manly Beach
Baskin Robbins!!

The next day we woke up bright and early and caught the train back to Newcastle, seeing as I had class that day. Goodness. After class, we just hung out for awhile and did nothing really. The next day we went shopping and to the beach, which was super nice. Then that night we went to trivia. Trivia is a big deal among us here at Brown Street. It's really hard, and we usually don't do well, but it's still really fun. Wednesday we took it fairly easy, and the same with Thursday. Thursday I managed to lose Casey on campus though. With a fair amount of freaking out and running around searching (actually 5 hours' worth) I had my friend call campus security and they found her. Finally. It was scary. A whole big ordeal.

Friday night we went over to our friends' house for a party, and had a good night on the town. Saturday we went out for a short while, and then got a couple hours of sleep before she had to leave on the train to catch her flight home. Good to see her, sad to see her go.

Other than that, I've been hanging out around Newcastle, trying to get things done and preparing for Lindsey's arrival in a few weeks. I think we'll be going to Cairns to go diving, so that'll be really fun!!! :)

That's about all I have for now, but stay tuned!

I fail, time and time again.

Hello hello!

As usual, I'm far overdue for an update! Today has been a really good day so far because I've gotten to talk to two friends from home, as well as my parents! :) Plus plus!

Well, last weekend I took the train to Sydney for the day with 3 of my friends, and we went to Manly and Bondi Beach. It was awesome! We got the really early train, like 5AM, so we got to Sydney at 8 right when everything was opening. We got pancakes at this amazing place called Pancakes on the Rocks. Super good. I hadn't had pancakes in awhile so I was really happy about that.

Then we caught the ferry to Manly, and made our way to Manly Beach. (It's world famous it is.) There we rented surfboards and ended up surfing for 3 hours. All for about $12. It was amazing. The waves were perfect height for me- being a beginner. I did fall a lot though. (The song 'Wipeout' plays here).

After Manly, we got some food and made our way to Bondi Beach. Bondi is also world famous, and was beautiful. It was getting later in the day by this time though so we didn't spend very long there. Just hung out. Then we made our way back to Sydney to catch the train home. Needless to say I was exhausted. The next day my arms were really sore from paddling my surfboard. Ouch. Worth it, though.

Not much else has been going on. I've been trying to focus a lot more on my studies and get stuff done, because Casey is coming to visit me on Saturday! I'm taking the early morning train down to Sydney to meet up with her and hang out there for the weekend, and then we're coming back to Newcastle for the week. It's going to be so much fun!!! :) I can't wait.

Then I also have plans in the works to go to Cairns and then when Lindsey gets here in June, to go to Port Lincoln and go cage diving! Fun stuff!

Few random facts about life with the Aussies:
-They have crosswalks, and if you're standing waiting to cross, they WILL stop for you. If there is no crosswalk and you decide to cross the road, it seems like they'll just speed up towards you just to freak you out. Creepy.
-Tim Tam slams are amazing. You take a Tim Tam cookie, bite the ends off, use it as a straw to drink hot chocolate, and then eat the cookie- which is now all melted on the inside from the hot chocolate. Truly delicious.
-The sand at the beach squeaks when you stomp on it.
-It seems that mullets and rattails are making a comeback as hairstyles here- and I am NOT okay with this.
-The mosquitos on campus are virtually nonexistent now- PLUS!

I seem to have run out of things to say, so off with me! :)

My friend Jake and I at the horse races with our 'chips' They put sweet chili sauce on them here and it's AMAZING.
Newest addition to our family- Lucky!

Short and sweet eh?

Hello all!
I've got some free time on my hands, so I thought I'd do a short(er) and sweet update.

Since we don't have another break to look forward to, it's back to planning my little vacations with friends and anticipating visits from home! :)

Casey is coming to visit me in May- I'm super excited! We're going to chill in Sydney for a couple days, and then head up to Newcastle so I can show her around my newfound life. I'm really happy I get visitors- it'll be so much fun.

After Casey leaves, I'm planning a trip up to Cairns in later May to dive the reef. I'm really excited for that- seeing as that is the main reason I came to Australia. It's on my bucket list, and I can't wait!

THEN, Lindsey comes to visit in June! My classes are done at the end of May, and then practically the whole month of June is 'exam period'. Their final exams are spread out throughout a whole month! It's crazy. I think I only have one though, so that'll be good.

Lindsey and I will be hanging out in Sydney, then flying down to Adelaide and Port Lincoln to go cage diving with the Great White Sharks! :) Eep! It's going to be crazy. Then we'll be headed back to Syd and up to Newcastle to chill for awhile. I think she'll be going to see Ashlee at some point too! :) :)

After that, I think I'm just chilling out until it's time to go home. Going home will be bittersweet. I miss home a lot, but I know it's going to be difficult in getting back here to Australia. It's got a big part of my heart though, so I know I'll make it a priority.

I actually got to Skype-chat with Lindsey a little bit yesterday and we decided that for our post-graduation trip we're going to go to Thailand. There's a place there that you can work with elephants, and we both really want to do it-plus it's cheap! :) So I'm really happy about that.

All in all, life's treating me pretty well. Let me know how you're all doing!

Whitsundays, Fraser Island, and Byron Bay!

Alright folks, I finally have time to update this beast, so here we go.

SPRING BREAK.
(Or as the Aussies call it: Easter Break)

This was a trip booked through STA, aimed at international students, and was an excursion down the east coast of Australia. We went to the Whitsunday Islands, Fraser Island, and Byron Bay.

To start at the beginning:
We flew from the Newcastle airport up to Proserpine. When we got to their tiny airport, they didn't have a baggage claim. They literally drove up one of the trailers that they normally use to haul bags from A to B at large airports and said, 'here ya go!' Yea. So there was a mad rush to grab bags- fortunately mine was on top, and I'm speedy. Haha!

Then we took a shuttle to Airlie Beach, where we spent the night at a hostel there. We met up with the rest of our group- 2 more people. Wasn't as big of a group as we thought, but it's okay. We spent the evening getting to know each other a bit, and I had my first Baskin Robbins ice cream in about 10 years. :)

The next day we shopped around a bit before having to head to the marina to board our sailboat! There were about 23 people on our excursion aboard the S.V. Whitehaven. It was really cool. I couldn't believe they could fit that many people on a sailboat for 3 days. We had a captain, host, and a skipper. They seemed like pretty cool guys.

Sailing in the Whitsundays was really cool- except it rained a decent amount of time. We still got to see beautiful views of the islands and had a good sailing experience. I actually slept on deck for both of the nights, because the first night when I tried sleeping down below in my bunk I began to feel a little nauseous, so I slept in open air! :) We did a lot of snorkeling, and yes- I saw Nemo and family! I got so excited. The reefs were really cool, still a bit foggy though from the cyclone that passed through a week before. We went to Whitehaven Beach, which was AWESOME. We anchored in this bay that our skipper called 'turtle paradise', and we literally saw probably about 10 turtles. They were everywhere! Then we hiked through the rainforest a bit and got to this incredible beach. You can actually shine your jewelry with the sand on the beach. COOL. We saw a stingray and just hung out there for a couple hours before heading back to the boat. The people we met on the boat were awesome! I think the only other 'North Americans' on there were Canadian. So it was really cool meeting people from all over the world.

Once we got back to Airlie Beach, we hung out for the rest of the day, and then got on our Greyhound bus for a 15 or so hour bus ride down to Hervey Bay. It wasn't actually terrible since it was overnight, but it was the most uncomfortable sleep I've had in awhile. I cannot sleep sitting up I tell you. But once we got to Hervey Bay, we were kind of thrown into this excursion on Fraser Island- which is the world's largest sand island. We just got all this information and directions thrown at us, and none of us really understood what was going on or what we were doing. Before we knew it, we were on the ferry and headed over to Fraser Island to rough it for 3 days, driving in 4WD vehicles and sleeping in tents. Yea, you heard me. No showers, and we had to dig holes for our bathrooms. They gave us a shovel, though.

I was really skeptical about Fraser Island, but it turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip. We met amazing people- there were 5 vehicles in our caravan. They were from all over the world. Two of the girls in my group weren't American- one was from Holland and the other was from Northern Ireland, and they were so cool! Just amazing people. And I loved the camping aspect once we got used to it.

We saw amazing things on the island too- the Maheno shipwreck, which was really cool. We hiked up to Indian Head (a point) in the rain, and saw really pretty views of the island, and then went to the Champagne Pools. These are natural swimming pools filled with ocean water that constantly spills into them- so they're fizzy. Like champagne! We also went to Eli Creek, which is this awesome freshwater creek flowing through the island. I walked up it, which was awesome. Plus, since the whole island is sand, it was a really pleasant experience. We went to Lake McKenzie the next day, and it was GORGEOUS. Most beautiful lake I've seen. It had that beautiful turquoise water like the ocean, but it was freshwater, and all sand! Amazing. I was sad to leave it. If you get the chance- go to Fraser Island. Unless you hate camping.

Also, on Fraser Island, they constantly warn you about the Dingos. They have the last pure wild strains of Dingos on Fraser Island, and they pretty much tell you that the Dingos will eat your children. People who camp on the island with kids are recommended to stay in fenced-in campgrouds because the Dingos apparently like to attack kids. Crazy!! I saw 2 Dingos when I was there, but we saw evidence of them everywhere. OH and you can't swim in the ocean on the island because it's surrounded by sharks and jellyfish. Welcoming eh?

ANYWAYS. After Fraser Island, we headed back to Hervey Bay and cleaned up. Then we caught the 1:25 AM Greyhound down to Byron Bay. When we got there, we had a surf lesson! I LOVE SURFING. I got up on my first try, and it was difficult to stop me after that. Then we hung out and shopped the rest of the day, and went out on the town that night. I love Byron Bay. It's totally a surf town- everyone surfs there, and are all really chill. I could see myself living there.
The next day, we had a second surf lesson, and just relaxed the rest of the time. We went out again, but I called it an early night, because I was tired and sore from all the surfing. We did go see our surf instructors' band though. They were really good! I'm figuring out I love live music. It's just that much more atmospheric. :)

Sadly, the next day, it was time to leave. We got on the 11 AM bus bound for Newcastle. This bus ride was a lot harder to tolerate because it was during the day and we were all awake. I did manage to sleep a little bit, but it still wasn't very fun. Needless to say I was just glad to be home at the end of it.

It was definitely one of the most amazing trips I've been on, and I'll have those memories for a long time to come. Coming back to class was a bit of a letdown- as I had a 2500 word paper due this week (like 5-6 pages). But it's one of my friend's birthdays this weekend, so we'll be celebrating with her.

Being back at school makes me miss home a bit, because it's easier to think of home when you're not off traveling a country. I miss you guys- please keep me updated!! :)

I'll try to update this more often, but I say that everytime. This was allowed though because I was absent for 10 days and had a massive paper. Love you all!

Okay so I've just had the most amazing spring break of my LIFE.
I'll try to update with pics soon- it's going to be a busy week but I'll try to find time!
:)
Just letting you all know I'm back in Newwy safe and sound!

Pictures- at long last!

So I finally got my internet to upload some pictures for you guys. Man that was an effort. I'll write a caption under each one. These are from my two weekend trips- to Sydney and Adelaide/Kangaroo Island! I hope you guys enjoy!! :)

My mom feeding a Wallaby!

Me feeding Wallabies!

My parents at the Remarkable Rocks on Kangaroo Island

Me at Pennington Bay- Kangaroo Island

Us climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge on its 78th birthday!

My dedication to my friends and family back home! Pennington Bay- Kangaroo Island

My parents at Pennington Bay- Kangaroo Island

Me at the Sydney Aquarium!

The parents and myself at the Sydney Opera House! :)

Koalas, Wallabies, and Roos, oh MY!

Hello! Trying again to update more frequently.
Just returned to Newwy early early this morning from Sydney. My parents and I had a really good time on Kangaroo Island this weekend! I feel like that is an experience not a lot of people get to have when they come to Australia- particularly when a local on the island said 90% of South Australians don't get to the island. Crazy! I have never seen so many Kangaroos, Wallabies, Koalas, and Possums in my life!

Well I'll start from the top. On Thursday I got on the train down to Sydney to meet up with my parents. The trip down was anticlimactic, so no big deal. I got there just after they did so my timing was perfect. Then I got settled into the hotel and we went out to a little pub for dinner. I had schnitzel. Pretty dang good. The next morning we got up bright and early for our flight to Adelaide. I'm really not a pro at sleeping on planes. I wish I was. Anyways, once we got there, we got our bags and rented our car! Now that was an experience. Dad driving on the right-hand side of the car, on the left-hand side of the road. What? He did really well though, except for a couple mishaps with the wipers instead of the turn signal, made it through!

So we drove about an hour and a half down to where the ferry would take us across the channel to Kangaroo Island. It was pretty cool to see that. They have a really simple method for getting all the cars onto the ferry easily and quickly. The crossing was pretty simple, no big waves, and we were talking to these really nice Aussie couples who told us where to go and what to see. Super nice people.

Once we got there, we went to a couple places like Pennington Bay- beautiful beach. If it was nice out at the time I would have spent all day on that beach. Fun place to take pictures too. We toured around quite a bit and then made our way across the island to check into our wilderness retreat. That was cool, because they have 'resident' wallabies and a kangaroo- Beanie, that you can feed. Fun stuff. Well we had dinner at the hotel and Mom had Kangaroo. Tasted very normal, and it's very lean so apparently very good for you. The waitress justified it too, because there are 3 roos for every 1 human in Australia. That's a lot of roos.

Anyways the next day we set out exploring. We went to Admirals Arch and saw seals, and then we went on to Remarkable Rocks. Both were really cool to see. I felt like a major tourist. Snapping pictures left and right.

We also walked around a caravan park where we saw a koala- passed out in a tree. It was so cool.

Then we went on this nocturnal walk, which was really really cool. These two girls worked at this place and just led us around so we could see the active animals. We saw a LOT of adolescent male kangaroos feeding together- that's how they learn their social skills. We also saw a TON of Wallabies. I have never seen so many in my life. I think she said there are 300,000 on the island. Crazy! We also got to meet the resident roo there- Amy. She's tame enough that she let us see her baby joey in her pouch. Sooooo sweet! Probably one of my favorite parts- apart from seeing a koala on the road up close and personal- it was super chill. Just walked to the side and climbed a tree. No big.

Anyways, the next morning, we left early to make our way across the island- and avoid the wallabies and roos that are out and about. I think we saw 48 on the way home. Crazy. Then we took the ferry back to the mainland and took a detour on the way to Adelaide. We went to this small German town called Hahndorf. We had lunch there and got some souvenirs. It was a pretty cool place- except it was raining.

Then after we shopped a bit, we got back in the car and headed back to Adelaide to get on our flight back to Sydney. Then we stayed in the hotel and woke up SUPER early (3:45) to catch the train- my parents to the airport, and me to Newcastle. It was hard to say goodbye when I know I won't see them again until I'm home- with the exception of Skype. But I'll just have to get into a routine and know I'll be better off for it. And now, here I am, 9:18 PM, about to write my paper, and I still haven't slept since 3:45 this morning. I. am. tired. But alas, I figure better to sleep normally than mess myself up by napping.

Anyways, after this busy week of working on lots of papers and getting schoolwork done, I get to go on Spring Break! Yay! Sailing in the Whitsundays, chilling on Fraser Island, and learning to surf in Byron Bay will be so much fun! Plus I found out Casey is visiting me and Lindsey and I are going shark diving! Woo! :)

I hope everything is lovely back home. I miss home a lot. Take care of it for me, and don't be shy to drop a line! Or your address. I need addresses so I can send postcards folks! :)

I fail. :(

Apparently I'm only good at blogging frequently when I have nothing to say- versus when I do have lots to talk about, I rarely find the time.

First things first, my parents are down under! True, they are currently in New Zealand, but I did get to see them this past weekend, which was fantastic. Plus, I'll get to see them this upcoming weekend when we travel to Adelaide and Kangaroo Island. I'm super excited. :)

But I should probably back up.
Ashlee and Stef came to visit me from Lismore, and made an 8 hour trek via train all the way to Newcastle. It was a sweeeeet weekend. I had so much fun. (I miss you guys already- come back!) They loved Newcastle, and kept saying they wanted to transfer. I wish they would. We did tons of stuff. We went shopping, we went out on the town, and we had a good solid couple of beach days. The weather was gorgeous, and there were lots of laughs and adventures (and mishaps) involved. We went to Hotel Delany, which was super fun. It had a live band, and they played pop music- American of course- so it was really fun to sing along and dance to. The next night we went to CDP, which was a little more interesting scene. Much more for the artist/hippie types. Seemed like everyone was on something.

Then, I did the normal week at class. Class is so different here. I walk about 5 minutes to the train station, ride the train for about 10 minutes, walk a solid 10 minutes to get onto campus from the train station, and then another 5-10 minutes to get to my actual building. Talk about a commute. STORY: this week, in art, I had to draw a nude girl. Like, for real. We went into this room and this girl was sitting in there, and I was like oh we're just doing figure drawing, like she'll keep her clothes on, because she was wearing a simple outfit. Oh no, she was completely nude. I didn't know what to do. I think I kept my composure really well. It was super awkward for me though. Fortunately noone was immature about it, since we're all 'artists'. I knew there was a reason I'm not super into art haha!

But yea, so there was a normal week of class, and then I took the train to go see my parents in Sydney! I was so excited, I felt like I couldn't move fast enough. Sydney is a crazy city, but it's really beautiful. Our hotel had fantastic views of the harbor (we could see the bridge and the opera house) and was right across the street from a Maserati and Ferrari dealership. Clean living eh? My parents and I went out to dinner and had fun catching up, while I filled them in on Aussie lifestyle. Like, for instance, everyone walks on the left side of the sidewalk. As well as when you hit the button for the crosswalk, it beeps slowly, and then when it's your turn to cross, it like trills at you- so if you're not paying attention, it gets your attention! :) Little things like that.

The next day, we woke up early and climbed the Sydney Harbor Bridge! Sweeeet! It was so so so cool. We got to wear these ever-so-attractive jumpsuits, and got hooked into these harnesses. My calves still hurt really bad from climbing all those stairs. We would stop every so often to have our picture taken. I'll include one here. We actually got to climb it on the 78th birthday of it opening! How sweet is that! Heaps awesome I tell you. :)

Then we spent the rest of the day touring around. I got to see the Opera House (they had done that the day before while I was in school), and then we went to the aquarium, where I got to see real live Dugongs! (Relatives of Manatees guys...) It was awesome. Then we went to the hotel and chilled a little bit before dinner again. The next day we walked around a bit and then hopped on the bus to head home. The trains were unfortunately shut down due to track work so we had to take a coach bus- which wasn't terrible, just hot. Then we got to spend the day touring Newcastle. It was fun to have them see where I live and the town I live in. They really liked the beach, and the fact that the sand squeaks. Yea, it squeaks. :) All in all, it was a pretty chill weekend, but we got to see and do a lot.

Now, I'm just keeping busy trying to get a lot of schoolwork done so I can have fun and relax at Kangaroo Island this weekend. It'll be awesome- I can't wait. Then, the weekend after, SPRING BREAK. It's going to be so cool! A 10 day trip down the east coast of Australia. Oh yes. It's going to be awesome. We're going sailing in the Whitsundays, spending a couple days on Fraser Island, and then learning to surf in Byron Bay. Woohoo!

I'll try to do a better job to keep you guys updated on stuff in the future. It's just been crazy busy lately! I'm sorry!

Let me know how you're all doing!! :) :)

((Okay so pictures are going to have to wait- my internet is not liking me right now!))

I fail.

Oh. My. Goodness.
I haven't updated in so long! I'm terribly sorry about that one!

So I'm currently out of internet at my apartment, so I'm here at the City Hub using their free internet (I really should be here much more often). I currently have two friends who attend school at the University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire back home (But are studying in Lismore, Australia) visiting me here! They're currently napping- We've had a busy couple of days. It's been really fun though- I like playing tour guide. :)

I promise I'll work on getting some more pictures up. I just get so caught up in actually doing things that I forget to stop and take pictures of them, and then it's much harder for me to take time to sit down and upload them. Golly.

As far as school is going, I finished my second week, and I can sense a routine starting to form, which is a promising thing. :) I think it'll be a pretty interesting semester. I have a feeling I'll really like my Psych course, even though I feel like I know everything already. Hm...

My plan for this week is to work really hard to get ahead on everything so when my parents come to visit (YAY!) I can focus on having a good time with them. I'm super excited about it. I have many adventures coming up!

Spring break will soon be upon us, and I cannot wait. It'll be such an awesome experience! Traveling down the east coast of AUS! WOO!

But for now, I'm currently enjoying my city of Newcastle with some friends. :) I'll try to give you guys a longer post with pictures soon! :) :)

Word up!

Beachhhh.

I'm going to the beach tomorrow morning for the sunrise!
Yessss.
Pictures to follow.
:)
Also, art was cool today. I drew a carrot.

I miss the fam.
And the friends.
I've been having a really really good time so far, and I'm finding out a lot about myself and what I like and don't like and what I'll tolerate. I know I'll probably come back as a different person, but I still miss home regardless of how awesome it is here.

And yes, I know I'll have my bouts of homesickness now and then. This is the longest I've been away from home- ever. (And the furthest- 8,953 miles.) But then I think about it again, and I'm really proud of myself for coming this far. A lot of the time I feel like I'm the only one who misses home, or the only one who struggles with it. I have to be reminded that not everyone has the life I do back home, or that they just don't showcase it as willingly as I do.

So I just wanted to say thank you to everyone back home- you guys have made my life everything that it is, and for that I am forever grateful. (This includes everyone I've ever met mind you- good or bad- so if you're reading this, it's for you.)

I'll try to bust out a post that tells stories here soon.

I love love love love you all.

This post is huge.
Okay, I guess I'm overdue for a nice-sized post.

So O-week is over, and classes have officially started. (Wow I'm behind!) I am taking Art (Printmaking and Drawing), Australian Experiences History, and Advanced Developmental Psychology. I think it'll do a good job of keeping me busy, even though I do only have class three days a week. I had my art class yesterday, and I think it'll be pretty cool. I hope I don't run out of creative juice though. :) The only thing I really didn't like about yesterday was that it rained hardcore for the first time since I've been in Australia. My friends and I decided the weather was sad we had to go back to school. I wasn't dressed for it to be rainy and 'cold' (65 degrees) so I was a little uncomfortable for the day. I only have class Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, so it's nice to have a little break in there, and then a long weekend. It'll make it easier for me to travel in the long run.

Speaking of travel, my parents will be visiting in about 3 weeks! And before that, my friend(s) are coming down from Lismore to visit for a weekend! I'm so excited to have visitors. It'll make me really happy. I'm excited to see people from home. (Even though I live with people from home, it'll be nice to have a little change of pace- plus I can show them around!) My parents will fly into Sydney, and then I'll train it down to see them for a weekend (and we'll visit Newcastle in there somewhere so they can see my place.) Then they fly to New Zealand for 4 days while I attend class, and then when they return, we all fly to Adelaide to see Kangaroo Island, which will be really cool! I'm excited. Then- it's back to Sydney, where I depart for school again and they jet off to Cairns. Then again, back to Sydney, and from there, they head home and I return yet again to school- just in time for Spring Break. Not sure what I'm doing for that yet but I might have some ideas. :)

Anyways, I'll get back to talking about the past week. We went on our excursion on Saturday which was really really fun. We started off the morning with a dolphin cruise- which I loved of course. We got to see dolphins surfing in the wake of our boat- just having a grand old time.

Surfing away!

We also saw a sea turtle, which was something else. Really majestic.

Turtle! Greatest picture ever!

I'm still trying to figure out what type is was. Then after our animal spectating portion of the cruise, the boat crew let down a boom net at the back of the boat, and let us sit in it while they cruised along. Really cool. I want to live life like that everyday. :)

Boom Net!

Then, after all our adventures on the water, we docked back at Port Stephens and had lunch. Then we all boarded our large coach buses (I was on the only awesome double decker, and yea, I sat in the front on the top- felt like flying!) and headed to the Oakvale Farm and Fauna World. There, we got to see all sorts of native Australian species, among other things. I pet a Koala, and fed a Kangaroo. Needless to say, it was a really good day, albeit exhausting.

Happy Moment!

I think it looks like I'm going to Homecoming or Prom with a Koala. :)

OH and I almost forgot, due to the earthquake in Chile, we were under tsunami warning. Talk about exciting. When you're used to living in the Midwest of the United States, not many people can say they've been under a tsunami warning at any point in their life. Yea, we're used to tornado warnings and thunderstorm warnings. Whoop-dee-doo. It was really exciting, needless to say, and I wasn't ever really scared of it. You remember that giant hill I live at the bottom of? Yea, pretty sure I can run up that to save my life if any giant waves come my way. Plus I'm also a ten minute walk from the beach, so I think I'd have time to get away. It was nice to know that everyone back home was concerned though. I'm glad you guys still think of me. :) But alas, nothing happened. We saw no tsunami. I think the only thing we ever got was a one or two-meter high wave... which is barely anything at all. Thanks be to New Zealand, who was conveniently in our way. :) It was really cool nonetheless. It's a story I'll tell for awhile to come.

Now, I'm currently sitting at the student hub, where internet is free, and I'm never NOT surrounded by people. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the rest of my day, but I think I'll clean my room up and try to get organized for class tomorrow. I slept in really late today. I think I went to bed at around 1 or 1:30 (a bunch of us were watching a movie) and woke up at noon. That never happens, so I guess I need to consistently get my 8 hours- my body is sending me a message.

Tim Tam update: I have worked my way through 3 flavors of Tim Tams now: Double-coated, Dark Chocolate, and Caramel. So far, Caramel is the front-runner, followed by Dark, and then Double-coated. Next up is Cookies and Cream. Looking forward to that one.

Anyways, I miss everyone from home, and I'm trying to do a good job of keeping in touch with everyone. Since I don't have classes on Tuesdays, around dinnertime on Monday your time would be a good time to Skype me, as I probably won't be doing much. :) I love hearing updates from home, and I'm really sad I have to miss birthdays and family gatherings and such. (Bailey Boo, I know your birthday is coming up- I'm sorry I can't be there!) :(

I hope all is well at home. If you see my dog, hug him.
And for Pete's sakes, keep me updated! :)
Love you guys.

Tired.

Hello hello hello!

So here's a brief update, since not much has happened since my last massive post. We have started O-week (orientation week). It's a big deal. There are all these events going on to help new students adjust to life here. We went to what we thought was international student day yesterday (Tuesday) but it turns out it was on Monday and we missed it. Bravo eh? But we met with someone anyway and he asked us all these questions and it turns out we managed to have everything done on our own that people would have helped us with anyway! Nice! :)

But we did sign up for an excursion on Saturday which will be really really fun. We're going on a dolphin watching cruise, and then to a fauna farm where we can feed kangaroos and pet koalas. I'm so so so excited. I need to charge my cameras for that one! :)

I should probably mention that there are cockroaches here like you wouldn't believe. It is kind of difficult walking at night because I always keep an eye out for them- they're constantly underfoot. Gross.

And there are also these huge ships that go into the harbor that's kind of near my place, and they ALWAYS honk their super loud horns, and it scares me every time. This morning they jolted me out of sleep at 7 AM. Thanks ship guys. Thanks. I always manage to think it's my phone vibrating for some reason. Stupid... haha! I'm really tired today for some reason, even though I got a good, normal amount of sleep. I think it's because it's cloudy today. We might be going to the beach anyway though.

We went grocery shopping yesterday and I found some comforts of home- ketchup that actually looks like ketchup, along with cheese (yes!) and grapes. Really yummy grapes. So I'm getting used to stuff. Life has been so much better now that I have a fan. I feel like I'll be forever grateful for that!

I'm still missing everyone from home a lot, and I'll be on Skype tomorrow (your Wednesday) probably around 5 or 6PM your time so if you want to chat, let me know!! :)

Love you all.

TimTams!!!!

AUSTRALIA

Okay, I'm thinking it's time for a bigger update. I'll try to fill in the gaps from my last couple of entries.

I'll start first with my apartment. I live in what I call a boarding house. Everyone has their own bedroom and bathroom, but we all share a large kitchen and community area. The kitchen looks like a kitchen from a restaurant. We have this huge walk-in fridge and freezer, and we all have our own pantry cupboard with our room number on it. In the fridge and freezer we have our own bins with our number on them so we can keep our stuff separate from everyone elses'. There aren't any issues with people borrowing food from others, so it's nice that I don't have to worry about that.

Me after I got a little settled in to my room- not used to the heat!

Our community area has tables and chairs, as well as microwaves and toasters with all the dishes below them. Beyond that is two big rooms with couches and chairs and TVs. Our landlord-manager dude ordered the Olympics on TV so we can watch them. It's really cool to watch that in a different country, especially when you live with Canadians, Germans, and Aussies. I think the USA-Canada hockey game is on today, so I definitely want to try to watch that.

The building I live in is on this INSANE hill. Yes folks from Eau-Claire, it is WORSE than your hill at school. In all seriousness. I'll take a picture to prove it. Plus, there are trees growing out of the road... strangeness.

I'm not very far from the beach(es) so it's nice to be able to walk to them and just hang out all day. It's still a bit of a trek though. The waves are really intense here. It's cool to see all the surfers and body-boarders though. I think I'd like to try body-boarding one of these days. Maybe surfing when I feel I have balance. :) I've been to Newcastle beach and Nobby (Nobbie?) beach. I like Newcastle best so far. Nobby is on a point and the waves are a little rougher. Newcastle is a little more sheltered, plus has ocean baths nearby so you can swim in a calmer, enclosed area with ocean water if you'd like. They have lifeguards on duty sometimes, which is nice because it gets really intense and it's good to have someone watching. They usually have flags put up, and the best spot to swim is between them, because that's where they're watching. Plus they make announcements if anyone is outside the flags, caught in a rip, or just too far out. It's kind of cool.

You can see the flags here!

So there's this absolutely amazing ice cream place near Newcastle beach- I've gotten ice cream there twice. It's called Kiwi, and they make their own waffle cones. Plus they have the option of getting a hot waffle with ice cream on top. Sounds really good, but super filling, so I might have to make that one of my meals for a day. :)

Kiwi Ice Cream! SO GOOD.

Here's a picture of the beach!

Newcastle Beach- beautiful!

You can see in the picture that the waves are really intense. My plan is to make it to Bar Beach, where apparently the water is GORGEOUS and it's really nice to swim in. It's a little further away- like a 20 minute walk, so maybe I'll save that for a day excursion.

I'm registered for classes, though I'm still trying to figure out how exactly my schedule works. I know I only have class three days a week- Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, but I think the lecture times aren't assigned, which is strange to me. I'm going to talk to someone about it when I get the chance.

I have had the chance to experience some of the nightlife here, and I think it's definitely a big part of the culture. My favorite place so far is the Brewery, which is a bar that's right on the water. They play a lot of techno though, which isn't really my thing. But I love that it's on the water, and there are always people there- plus it's free to get in, which is nice. Wednesday nights are 'Uni Night' so that's the big night that students go out on the town. The prices are cheaper apparently so that's what draws them out.

As far as food goes, it's relatively the same. There are things that I miss- ketchup for one. They call it tomato sauce, and that's pretty much what it is. I miss ketchup. And popcorn. I need to find some popcorn. One of the guys from ISU had some, and now I crave it a lot! But other than that, I've developed a love for Tim Tams. They're these incredible chocolate cookie things that are just unbelievable. The caramel ones taste like Twix. So good. I'll try to bring a pack back to the US, though I heard they sell them there. :)

I can't think of much else to add at this time, except that I miss everyone from home, and that it's still weird to me to think that I live in a foreign country. There are a lot of similarities between here and America, but a lot of differences too. Feel free to drop me a line guys- I miss you all!

Shoutout to my sister who says I need longer and more frequent blog updates- this one is for you! :) :)

Me on my balcony- you can see the freckles! :) :) (Gotta love self-timer eh?)

Blueys!

So, you'll all be happy to know I am sitting in my room... with a fan! HUZZAH! I can't even begin to describe the difference. Happy happy happy. :D

I went to the beach today. It was glorious. The waves were super intense though, so I only went in the water once. Then later on they announced the detection of 'blueys' or bluebottle jellyfish. If I recall correctly they said, 'If you don't want to get stung, get out of the water.' Or something like that. And then, 'If you get stung, please see a lifeguard.' They're very casual about it. But I continued working on my tan today, and got some amazing ice cream. (Lemon and Mango... yum!) I don't know if we're going out tonight or not, it is a Saturday, so we'll see.

I did take some pictures at the beach, and finally managed to get my Fiji photos up on Facebook- some of them at least. It's a start! I'm going to go to the hub tomorrow for sure and update everything I think. Try to get alllllll of my pictures up.

Send me some emails or something peoples... I love hearing from all y'all. I'm meeting lots of cool people here! Aussies and Germans and Canadians and all of that! :) Love youuuuuuuu.

Why hello, I've been in Australia a week!

Oh my goodness.
My brilliant friend Kara (care-uh) found a fan for me. Bless her heart! I don't have it yet, I'm getting it tomorrow, but I've never been more excited!! :)

I finally got the flowers my parents 'sent' to me, though the service fell through and I had to take a bus to a scarier part of town to pick them up (delivery service claims my room doesn't exist... though I'm sitting in it). They're beautiful and brighten my day. I might get flowers every so often just to have something earthy to lighten up life.

Got all my bank accounts figured out, and registered for classes! I only have class 3 days a week! (By my calculations anyway- still trying to understand their scheduling, it's very different!) Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, so I get three day weekends every week! Awesome!

I've honestly been trying to post pictures but facebook has not cooperated with me. I'm going to the student hub here in the city (5 minute walk+free internet=frequent use by Kelsey!) tomorrow I think to try again. I'm so annoyed with it- they're on my computer, I just can't get them up where anyone can see them!

I do still miss home a lot, but I am slowly acclimating to life here. I think once school starts that'll give me a good focus, and it'll be nice to get a routine. I don't have a routine now and I'm really really used to having one.

Overall things are good. I'm trying to cook little by little- it's harder when you don't have a cookbook! Work in progress I'll tell you that much! I think I'll be taking pictures at the beach tomorrow so people can see that too- once I finally upload everything!

I miss everyone at home, and have gotten to talk to some fantastic people on Skype lately, including: My parents, grandparents, Lindsey, Katie, Brenna, Vanessa. It's awesome to see your guys' faces. Really makes my day. If I haven't Skyped you yet, get on it! I want to see you!

I hope life is lovely for all of you, and I'm still trying to figure out how to pack some of this sunshine and warmth in an envelope and ship it your way!

Love love love love.

Here's Ashlee and myself in Fiji at our resort- a little morsel to hold you over!

Beachhhhhh.

Heyooo.

I found my camera cable. Heh. It was in my camera bag. Ironic isn't it? So now, after the one my mom mailed to me gets here, I'll have two. Yesssss.

Anyways, today I got my phone, finally! It's a lot different from American cell phones, so it's taken some getting used to. Still working on that. I also went to campus today and got my student ID card, and figured out some class stuff. I think I'll try to register tomorrow. Incidentally, the mosquitos on campus are UNBELIEVABLE. Really ridiculous. They swarm. NOT kidding. Who builds a Uni on a swamp?!?! Honestly?! I will most definitely be investing in bug spray. Hardcore. But I was traveling around there with a bunch of kids from Iowa State, so it was nice to have some Americans around. Got my picture taken for my ID after I had sweated out what seemed like my whole body weight. Sorry for being gross, but it's that hot here. And the train was really easy to take, which is nice.

After we got back, we went to the grocery store (still no luck on the fan) and then we went to the beach. (YAY) It was awesome. By the time we got there it was late afternoon-evening, and the waves were huge, so we went body surfing in them. They can take you out I tell ya, but once you get out to a certain point it's just really nice to float in the swells. I'm going again tomorrow morning to watch the surfers. :) Anyways, it's only 10:15, and I'm exhausted, again. I went to bed at 10:10 PM last night... haha! This time it's allowed though because I was in the ocean for awhile. I talked to an Aussie today and she told me where to get a fan, so I'm going to try tomorrow. I'm sooo so determined. Today was better temperature-wise, but still bad.

Plus I itch like crazy from those darn bugs. Hate 'em.

Anyways, I think it's bedtime!!

ARGGGAHHHH

You want to know what's really frustrating?

Finally having time to upload pictures and realizing that the only thing you forgot was the USB cable for your cameras.

Sorry folks, you'll have to wait awhile for my pics. Creep my facebook for tags until then!

I'm so annoyed!!!!

It's still really really hot.

You Right!

So today went better.
I woke up at like 7-ish and Skyped my mom right away. I love that I can talk to my 'rents whenever I want. We talked for a little while and then I went and had breakfast, and set out into the world that is Newcastle. I set up my bank account, and went shopping for necessities. GOOD NEWS: FOUND A PILLOW! And sheets that fit my bed! HOORAY! I'll never take that for granted ever again. Plus I found towels, and a really cheap store that has like all the essential stuff I need- minus a fan. I really really need a fan, but the only one I found was in a department store and it was $250!!! Like what?! I will not justify spending $250 on a fan. I'm going to keep looking.

But I did find a really cute part of town with good shopping- a place with scarves Linds!! :) And I hung out there for a little while. I really do need friends though haha. I'll work on that. I have to be overly friendly and outgoing. Hm..

But I got my credit card to work- thank GOD. I was so scared about that, and then the pillow shop lady helped me figure it out, and when I said thanks, she said 'you right!' (which means like you're all right, or you're welcome.) It was so Aussie! :)

I'd totally love to Skype with everyone back home, so you should let me know if you can or not. I'm still working on getting a phone, and stocking up on basic groceries. I got Nutella though, so life is good right now. Awhile ago I watched the Olympic opening ceremony with my parents through Skype. I watched it on my TV at home and got to see my fuzzy blonde doggie. :) It was good to do that.

Anywhoooo, keep in touch with me you guys, I love love love hearing from you.

Send me some of that Minnesota/Iowa windchill... I need it!! (Who would have thought I'd EVER say that!?)

Love youuuuuuuu.

It's really hot here.

Oh man, I don't know if you guys are ready for this post. I'm not even ready for it. I may cut it short because I'm really tired and have had one of the longest days of my life today... bear with me.

Okay, so I am now in Australia, but prior to my arrival here, I was in Nadi, Fiji! (Pronounced 'nahn dee') Fiji is i n c r e d i b l e! When you fly in it's just gorgeous. All green and these beautiful mountains and rainforest-y looking farmland below. Plus the fact that Fiji is composed of about 332 separate islands! Holy cow. Nadi is on the main island of Viti Levu. We stayed at the Nadi Bay Resort Hotel, which was lovely. The pool was probably my favorite thing there. It was always the absolute perfect temperature. I think I was in the pool more than I was out of it. Anyways, back to my activities...

So, I fly out of MPLS to LAX, which was an alright flight. To be honest I don't remember much about it except that I cried when I said goodbye to my parents, and it was probably one of the hardest things I've done. So I get to LAX and meet up with the group of girls from UWEC that I traveled with. 12 of us total. The whole thing was madness by the way. If you plan to travel, go in small groups. Our layover in LA was 9 hours. NINE. Terrible. Fortunately we had a little bit of internet so I could skype with my parents one last time before I left the states. We basically hung out all day, because we couldn't check in until a certain time (like 4:30 PM, and our flight was at 9:30 PM or something like that). Then we made it through security, and I called my parents and of course cried some more... I'm really emotional I'm finding out. Then we boarded our gigantic 747 double-decker (we were third row from the back of course..) bound for Fiji. Only we didn't leave for another 2 hours because of technical difficulties. Yea you heard me... stuck on that darn plane for a grand total of 12 hours. It was terrible. I was so uncomfortable. But it was totally worth it for the view we got when we disembarked. Mountains of green I tell ya. GO TO FIJI.

So we got to the resort and pretty much hung out at the pool all day, chilling and getting used to our surroundings. It was a nice first day. The next day we went to the market, which was an experience in itself- shopping and culture! And then to a different resort and used their beach, which was pretty cool. Really nice resort too- I'd love to stay there someday. Ashlee got pooped on by a bird, which was pretty funny, but my favorite part was that the ocean water felt like bathwater. Sooo warm. :)

On our 3rd day, we trekked out to South Sea Island, which was really really cool. We went to a harbor and boarded this big boat which took a ton of people out to their respectful islands for the day. It was the kind of blue water that you only see on TV and in magazines. That magical blue water that just gives you peace when you look at it. That was a good day. I saw a baby shark, and an adolescent- black tip reef sharks I think they were. Plus several sea stars (and a spiny star? Active little bugger..) We went on a semi-submersible and got a tour of the reef which was pretty sweet, and I went sea kayaking- very difficult when tide is coming in and the waves threaten to take you down constantly. :) I'll post my panoramic video soon.

Our last full day (yesterday) we hung out by the pool- in the shade mostly because we got kind of burnt from the island- and just relaxed. It was wonderful. At night the resort has this guy who sits in the corner of the restaurant/bar area and plays guitar and sings. It's all American songs which was funny, but they were good ones. The resort put together a nice big table for all of us because it was our last night, and we all got dressed up for it. Then they had a show that basically showcased all the dance styles of the native Fijians. Plus a fire dance. Intense. We just hung out the rest of that night.

Then we woke up early for our flights to Australia. Since all the UWEC girls were headed to Brisbane and I to Sydney, we were obviously on separate flights. That wasn't very fun. I mean the flight was fine, but afterwards when I landed and started freaking out because I'm by myself in a foreign country I could have used some fellow people around me. Plus the airline almost lost my bag, and I had a 3 hour cab ride to look forward to. In a cab that had no air conditioning. In 97 degree weather. Needless to say, by the time I finally got moved into my apartment and got internet set up, I Skyped my parents and cried about it. Yes, I cried again. Told you I was emotional. Looking back on it, it probably wasn't that bad, but at the time it didn't feel like anything was solvable. I'm still not very keen on my whole situation right now. I'm pretty homesick, so I know this post sounds a bit morbid and all. I don't know if I have air conditioning in my room or not, and I do not have a pillow. Interesting huh? I'm trying to figure out how to get a pillow, and I gotta get my phone figured out too. Urggggg so much to do. I'm tired of running around. Plus I don't know anyone, so I really gotta work on that.

Anyways, here are my updates to people.
Steph- This time I did say 'whew, made it!' when I landed, just for you!
Megan- I have yet to see a toilet down here that does any sort of spinning. They just kind of gush, but I'll keep you updated.
Linds- I had a whole row to myself on the flight from Fiji to Sydney, so that's my equivalent of business class!
Ashlee- I finally downloaded that Who I Am song. Alas!

Shoutouts to all the beautiful people in my life. I miss you guys so much, please keep in touch with me. I need you! :)