Living Young, Wild, and Free In Australia

Well it has been a month since I have been in Australia and I could not have asked for a better experience.  I am meeting so many cool people and have started traveling outside the city of Melbourne, seeing a lot of cool sights. 

My birthday was on March 7^th and I had a lot of fun.  My friends at University College and I all went out to a local pug and had an enjoyable night.  Although I am a little sad that I did not have my 21^st in the US I am so thrilled that I am here in Australia so that made up for it.  Although, I cannot wait to celebrate my birthday when I get back to the states. 

Last weekend a group of four American girls, including myself, went on a guided tour of the Great Ocean Road and Grampians.  The first day we had to be ready by 7am to head out on this fabulous adventure.  Our first stop was Bells Beach, which is known for its great waves and currently serves as one of the stop on the Pro Surfing Tour.  When we arrived at Bells Beach we had morning tea and then where off again.  After Bells Beach we stopped at several look out points all along the Great Ocean Road, such as Memorial Arch, Lorne, and Anglesea.  Although the weather was a bit overcast that day the views were still amazing.  The ocean was a prefect blue and the landscape a prefect green.  My camera just doesn’t do it justice.  The second stop was a Koala reserve called Kennett River, where we got to see six Koalas in ten trees.  They are so curt but really do not do anything all day beside sleep and eat, because of the lack of energy they receive from Eucalyptus leaves.  After had we headed to lunch at Apollo Bay.  The third stop was Otway’s Rainforest.  The four stop was at the Twelve Apostles.  There my friend Kathleen and I took a helicopter ride around the Twelve Apostles from the air taking amazing pictures.  The next stop was London Bridge, which is actually not a bridge anymore, because the part connecting it to the main land has fallen down so now it is just an arch.  After that were visited shipwreck cove and look amazing pictures of the water coming into the cove.  Although the day was really long we got to sleep between stops so we were able to catch up on sleep that way.  That night we stayed at Ned’s Other Bed, which was basically a shack in the middle of the Grampians’ National Park.  Although the accommodations were not the best it was a good experience.

The next day was an early one since we had to wake up at 6:00am.  Our first stop was right next door where we could see kangaroos in the wild, whenever we got close though they would hop away.  After the kangaroos viewing we climbed Mt. Stapylton.  The views at the very top were beautiful because we climbed up during sunrise.  At the very top there was nothing but rocks so we rocked climbed up to the peak of the mountain, another first for me on this trip.  After the climb we traveled Brambuk Aboriginal Cultural Center, where we learned about the Aboriginal people in Australia.  Then we traveled to the largest waterfall in Victoria, called McKenzie Falls.  It was so pretty.  One our way back to Melbourne we enjoyed some Sparking Wine testing for which Australia is known for.  We arrived back at Melbourne around 7:00pm and grabbed some Chinese dinner at a really cool whole in the place that we are all dying to go back to since it was good and cheap.

It is a little hard getting used to how expensive things are here especially with the AUS dollar being stronger than the American dollar right now but I have put myself onto a budget so hopefully I can stick to it. 

The first event at University College was held last Wednesday and it was trivia night.  It was a lot of fun.  Everyone divided into teams of ten and dressed up to a theme of their choosing.  I was part of the “nerd” team.  The night was the first of many good college wide sponsored events.     

This weekend was also a good time.  For St. Patrick’s Day I went to my friend’s college, Internal House where they had a variety of watermelon games.  In the first game someone had to spin around on a field hockey stick and then try to find the watermelon placed a few yards away.  Once the watermelon was located they had to smash it into pieces while being blindfolded.  The next event was Watermelon Skiing; someone had to place to watermelons below their feet and then was taken across a trap covered in watermelon juice and water.  This event was pretty funny to watch.  The last event was a watermelon eating contest which an American won so we were pretty happy out that.     

   

Yesterday was the first event that we went on for part of the program I am on.  The whole group of us went to Phillip Island.  We first took an old steam train ride the Mountains.  That that we headed toward Phillip Island where our first stop was a Chocolate factory.  After filling up on some tasty chocolate we headed to a Koala Reserve where we took a lot of picture of cute little Koala’s in trees.  Then we headed for the Penguin Parade.  This is where hundreds of Little Penguins come back on the land for the sea where they have been fishing all day.  It was so cute to see a bunch of Little Penguins walking about to go home.  Phillip Island was definitely a success. 

There have been some key difference that I have notice between things in the US and Australia, the biggest of which is terminology.  A few examples are:

·         Tomato Sauce instead of Ketchup

·         Pasta/Pizza Sauce instead of Tomato Sauce

·         Jam instead of Jelly

·         Jelly instead of Jell-O

·         Biscuits instead of Cookies

·         Clicking instead of Snapping

Some sayings that are different are:

·         What did you wake up to today? Which means “What have you been doing today?”

·         Have a chat or Have a look

Well that is all I have for now.  Hope everything is going well in the US and I miss you all.

~MAI~ 

Let the Traveling Begin

School has finally started in Australia although it still feels like I am on vacation.  I only have school three days a week which is really nice.  I can’t wait for my traveling to begin. 

Last Sunday I had a very cultural day in Melbourne.  My friend Kathleen and I went to the Melbourne Museum and had a really great time.  They had a variety of different exhibits from The Mind, Dinosaurs, Animals, Australian History, and Melbourne.  I could not believe how long we stayed there.  A good three hours went by so fast.  Before the museum we went to the Rose Street Arts Market, which is made up of a lot of different local artists selling a variety of different things from jewelry to pottery to glasswork.  I wanted to buy everything I saw. 

On Wednesday we had our Commencement Dinner at University College to kick off the new school year.  We all dressed in our formal attire and gowns to celebrate the start of the new year.  It was a wonderful event that lead to the first turn of the year.  Here turns are basically college sponsored parties.  Everyone had a really fun night; however I had to end my night early for my 8am class the next morning.        

I have begun to start planning a lot of different adventures throughout my stay here in Melbourne.  This coming weekend a group of three other Americans and I will be going on a Great Ocean Road Tour and seeing everything the Great Ocean Road has to offer.  It is a two day tour that takes us to a lot of different sights including Bells Beach, the Twelve Apostles, and Grampians National Park.  So I am excited because it should be a really good weekend.

The next trips that we have planned are to Phillip Island which is though my program, IFSA-Butler.  I cannot wait to see the penguins coming up the beach at nighttime.  The weekend after Phillip Island the same group of girls, who will go on the Great Ocean Road trip, plus two more are headed down to Tasmania for the weekend.  We have already signed up for a tour that takes us all around Tasmania and are planning outings for the other two days. 

With all of my travel expenses I have decided to apply for a job here at University College working in the kitchen serving food and washing dishes.  I start Sunday working University College’s Garden Party to celebrate our 75^th years as a college.  Although it won’t be the most glamorous work I really cannot complain when I am earning $20 an hour.  This should surly cover some of my travel expenses.

The next trip to book is for Spring Break and I believe we are headed to the Great Barrier Reef and to the city of Cairns but I will update you later if this happens.  Hope everyone is good and things are going well.

Congratulation to my cousin Andy on getting married this week!!! I am so jealous that my family is in Hawaii having a fabulous time.  Best of luck to you!!!  

~MAI~