Saying Goodbye

The morning of the 28th, Mikey and I left around 8am for the airport. I had my bags weighed (23 kilos -- the maximum, and 32 kilos). I had to pay $50 extra to get the 32 kilo bag sent home. After my bags were checked, Mikey had to hurry up and get to a lab at Uni, so we had to say goodbye. I don't think I have ever, in my life, had to do something so difficult. It was like a flip was switched the moment he said he had to leave, and I started bawling. Bah, it was not a fun day. I finally let go and watched him walk away. I went to the gate to find Brendan, one of my friends from Canada who lived in SBCA with me. It was nice to have a friend to sit at the gate with when I wasn't in the best mood.

The flight from Australia to LA went fine. I slept for the most part, and watched three movies. Going through customs and picking up/checking back in my bags at LAX was absolutely horrible. I had too many layers on and my bags were so heavy, I was pretty much drenched in sweat by the time I made it through security! NOT fun! My flight from LA to Dallas and Dallas to MN were pretty uneventful. The fact that I was going to be home didn't really hit me until the pilot announced we were going to be landing in Minneapolis, and my stomach just sank. I really wasn't ready to go home. As I was walking out of the international gate in MSP, all I wanted to do was turn around and go back. When I came out and saw my parents, I started crying. My dad kept saying 'Don't cry, you'll get tears on the baby'-- I kept saying DAD! I am not even going to see the baby until tomorrow. Just a second after that, Alecia and Justin came around the corner with my little nephew in his stroller. I started to get really emotional, not only because I was away from everyone and everything I loved in Australia, but I was finally meeting my baby nephew.

My sleeping pattern was screwed up for almost two weeks. I couldn't sleep until 4 am and would sleep until 2 in the afternoon. It was really rough, because after being with people all the time, it was really lonely to be awake in the middle of the night all alone and not be able to sleep. I spent most of the few weeks I was living with my parents with my sister and Jackson. It has been so amazing to watch him learn new things everyday, and I am so thankful for the few weeks I was able to spend almost every day with him!

I moved back onto campus on August 21st. It was so great to get back into Alpha Chi and see all of my friends. I started up school again on September 3, and I continue to notice how HUGE the change is between the Australian and American school system. I miss only having a few big assignments each semester!

I miss Australia so much, so I am planning a trip back this January! I called my travel agent (a good friend from HS mom) to book my flight (which was originally $1500) and it went up to $1800! I was pretty upset, but I am determined to make this work and go back for three weeks over Christmas vacation! I will keep everyone posted, and wish me luck on the price of flights going back down!

For all of you who have followed my blog, THANK YOU, and I hope you enjoyed reading a bit about my experience!

My Last Week in Australia =[

I wrote this post during my last week in Australia, and thought it might be nice to complete my blog. Better late than never, right?

I can't believe it has actually come time to write this post. I fly out at 11 am on Wednesday, July 28th, and arrive in Minnesota at 8:25 pm on the 28th. It seems like a short trip, but because of a 15 hour time difference, my travel time is actually closer to 30 hours.

There were so many things that I kept telling myself I wanted to do while I was in Brisbane, but I kept telling myself I would do it all 'after finals'. Well, after finals, I spent my last few days with the rest of my study abroad group before everyone headed out. Of the 12 'AustraLearn' study abroad students, everyone was out of Australia by the 30th of June except for me. I initially was supposed to fly home June 26th, but decided to extend my trip a month, and I am SO glad I did!
These last couple of weeks since getting back from Melbourne, I have been trying to get as much done as I can before I have to leave.

After Mikey, Vince and I flew back from Melbourne, we were home for a few days before Mikey and I drove up to Gladstone, his hometown, and we spent a week there. Mikey had to do a two day first aid course and wanted to spend a bit of time with his family, so it was a really chill week. We left Gladstone on a Friday, and Mikey's little brother Scott and his best friend Sam rode back to Brisbane with us to spend the weekend. The three boys had tickets to see the Everton vs Brisbane Roar soccer game on Saturday, and Vince had a 'Meet and Greet' for the new study abroad students who moved into the apartments, so I was able to meet some of them.


The next few days, Mikey and I were able to get a few of things done that I really wanted to do. The Queensland Museum is located right around the corner from our apartment, and although I have walked past it a million times, I never really knew what it consisted of. The whole museum was filled with a bunch of different exhibits, it was really cool!
Another day, we went to the Ron Mueck exhibit at the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA). Ron Mueck is an artist who creates really incredible life-like sculptures. Everything is exactly spot on, except for their size. The sculptures are either really small or really big. The same day, we went to the Sciencentre as well. The Sciencentre is part of the Queensland Museum, and is a really interactive museum, so Mikey and I had a lot of fun playing around. Mikey and I spent a night in Gold Coast, walked around the city and relaxed. On my last night in Australia, Mikey had an evening lecture, so I decided to sit in it with him and his Uni friends.






That night, after getting home from class, Mikey and I went up to Mount Coot-tha, an overlook onto Brisbane, and sat and hung out for a while.

I spent hours getting the rest of my things together. My stupid suitcase split open because I stuffed it too full, so I had to sew it back together and make sure all of the things I bought would fit! Packing was not my ideal way to spend my last night, but after finally getting that done, I hung out in 603 until late in the morning, and finally went to bed for my last time in Australia!

Holiday in Melbourne

My little friend Aliey Cheah and Vince, her brother, are studying in Brisbane, but are from Melbourne. Melbourne is the second largest city in Australia, located in the state of Victoria, and is on the south-eastern coast of the country. Mikey, Vince, Aliey, Geoff and I flew out late on the 25th of June, and Aliey's parents, who flew in from Hong Kong, met us at the airport and drove us to their house.
Because we were there for 12 days, I can't remember when we did everything and in what order, but I will tell you about a few of the things we did.

1. Went to Temple with the Cheah Family. Aliey and Vince's family follows Buddism, so we went with them to pay their respect to lost family members. It was something I have never experienced before, so it was so interesting to take an inside look at the way their family celebrates their faith. I am not entirely sure about all of the details as to the meanings behind some of the things they did, but there was a lot of incense sticks being waved in front of photographs and other statues, and then we went out behind the temple and tossed a bunch of fake paper money and paper clothing into a fire as offerings.





2. Went to Phillip Island. Phillip Island is an island located off the coast of Victoria, and it was absolutely beautiful! The grass was so green and the water was so blue. It is a pretty big tourist destination because of the Phillip Island Nature Park, which holds nightly 'penguin parades'. The penguin parade is when the Little Penguins come ashore in groups, making their way to their burrows. Another attraction is Seal Rocks, which holds the largest colony of seals in Australia. We were unlucky to find that while we were there, we didn't see ANY seals! On our way in to the island, we stopped at the Phillip Island Chocolate Factory-- YUM!

Penguin hiding under the walking deck

Aliey at the Chocolate Factory- can you tell what caused us to stop?

Penguin Parade! It's hard to see, but it was 'no photography' and we snuck a few flash-free pics!

3. Did the Great Ocean Road drive. The Great Ocean Road is a stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia. It winds down the coast, with lots of sites to see on the way. One of the most famous sites is the 'Twelve Apostles' which are a collection of limestone stacks jutting up from the water. The waves continue to erode away the stacks, leaving only 8 of the 12 stacks left.

The stone stack behind us is one of the 12 Apostles.

4. Saw a wild koala. We were driving off the Great Ocean Road, trying to make our way to one of the lighthouses, when we spotted a KOALA! He/she was soaking wet from the rain and just chillin on the ground, and one koala was up in the tree. I was able to get so close, and it was such an awesome thing to see!




5. ATE. We seriously ate SO much food. Aliey's parents spend most of their time living in Hong Kong, so when they come back, they only come back for a week or so, and tend to eat out almost every meal. I had so much asian food, but it was such a good experience! We did lots of family dinners with Aliey's extended family, and through that I learned that in their culture, when you invite people to dinner, it's an unspoken rule that you will be paying for dinner. It was insane to see someone walk up to the counter and pay for 20+ people to eat dinner and dessert! Geoff, Mikey and I were very unfamiliar with the food. Geoff did all of the taste testing, whereas I just stuck with my pork, beef and chicken. Some of the things that were eaten included: jellyfish, fish cheeks, duck webbing and chicken feet! We ate Thai, Chinese, Malaysian and Indonesian food!

Geoff eating Chicken Feet...

6. Shopped. There are SO many shopping centres around where Aliey lives, so we probably spent more than our fair share of time shopping.


7. Went to the city. The day we went to the city, we, of course, did all of the really touristy things. We saw Federation Square, which is a centrally located area that includes museums, an art gallery, restaurants, bars and other shops. we met up with Chelsea (friend from Brisbane whose from New Jersey) and her friend from high school, had some Indian food for lunch and then did a tour of the Old Melbourne Gaol (the old spelling for JAIL) and the Watchhouse. We went back to Aliey's cousins house, and she made us a delicious Mexican dinner!

Geoff. Vince. Mikey. Aliey. Standing in Federation Square

Melbourne at night

8. Played LOTS of WII. Geoff is a little rusty at Guitar Hero, so he was trying to get back into practice.

Aliey fails on beginner. Mikey and I are supporting her failure in the background.

9. WENT TO SEE TOY STORY 3! Aliey's best friend Natalie works at the cinemas, and we were able to get into a staff screening for free! Nat won't ever see this, but anyway THANKS NAT! =]


10. Celebrated the Fourth of July!! Well, obviously the fourth of July has zero significance in Australia, but I wasn't about to miss out on the celebrating! Aliey, Mikey and I went to the grocery store and picked up some ingredients, and then Aliey and I baked some banana bread covered in cream cheese frosting with strawberries and bananas to look like an American Flag! Blueberries were obviously our first choice for the upper corner, but when they rang up as $9 for 250 grams, we opted for bananas instead. We also made cupcakes, sausages and roasted veggies for the four of us to eat!



Geoff left a week into our trip, as did Aliey's parents shortly thereafter. It was incredibly sad to say goodbye to him, and it was so weird continuing on with this experience without him!
SHOUTOUT to GEOFF: I MISS YOU and I HOPE TO SEE YOU IN DECEMBER!


After he left, Aliey started back at work as a dental assistant at a dentist in the city. This is when we started just hanging out and were a bit done with the touristy things. Mikey, Vince and I flew back to Brisbane on the 7th, and Aliey stayed to enjoy a few more weeks in Melbourne with her Nana and her friends.

At this point, I had about three weeks left in Australia.

xx

Back to Byron Bay

At this point, I am just trying to let everyone know WHAT I have been doing in Australia, rather than WHEN I have been doing it, because at the end of June....
Jen, Geoff, Lisa, Lauren and I rented a car and drove down to Byron Bay, a coastal town in New South Wales, the state below Queensland (where I live).
We drove up to the Cape Byron Lighthouse, which is Australia's most easterly light (being situated on the most easterly point of the mainland). It is also Australia's most powerful lighthouse.




We spent a while walking around, taking pictures, and we were so lucky enough to have spotted some whales in the distance! It is common for humpback whales to be near Byron Bay between the months of June and November each year. It was so incredible to see huge splashes in the distance, and Geoff got some really incredible pictures!


After a bit of whale watching, we walked down to the beach for Lauren, Lisa and Jen's last trip to an Australian beach. From there, we headed into the town, had some lunch and amazing ice cream, and then headed out of Byron.
On the way home we decided to try and find our way to Mount Tambourine. We made it most of the way, but because we were tired, we decided not to hike any of the trails, but instead stopped to take a few photos of the sunset. While we were on a back road, I had my first Australian driving experience AND we saw wild wallabies! It was so strange to be driving on the opposite side of the road and the opposite side of the car, but it was definitely something I wanted to do before I left.

Chrissy's Trip to Australia -- Part Three

We got back from Whitsundays on Wednesday, and left Friday to head up to Gladstone, which is 6 hours north of Brisbane. Mikey’s mom was having a 50^th birthday party on Saturday, and he invited Vince, Chrissy and I to go with him. We left Friday afternoon and didn’t arrive until late Friday evening. Mikey’s mom had made us dinner and then we just hung around his house. His house is really cool, because it’s off the ground, and is two houses connected… nothing like any houses in the states. His younger brother had just bought a husky puppy who only a few weeks old, which was a big source of our entertainment all weekend. The next morning we helped set up for the party and ran a few errands. We stopped at Mikey’s older brothers house to see his little nieces, Ella and Charlotte. People started showing up for the party around 4. They were doing finger food rather than a big meal, so people came around all evening with platters of food for us to eat. The party turned out to be really great, quite a few people showed up, we ate a lot, drank a lot and had a really fun time. We all slept pretty late Sunday, and then had bacon and eggs for brunch before heading back to Brisbane.

On Monday, Chrissy and I went to a night tour at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary in Gold Coast. We took a train and then a bus, which dropped us off right outside of the Sanctuary. When we arrived, there were only about 17 of us doing the tour, so it was a smaller group. There was an amazing buffet dinner waiting for us, with steak and pasta and a bunch of great food. We started out by the koalas and took a train around the sanctuary, stopping off at different animals. We were able to feed and pet the kangaroos, see one of the world’s largest breed of crocodiles, and I saw my first ever wombat. We took pictures with a baby crocodile and a snake, and saw Tasmanian devils. We spent a majority of our time outside and it was absolutely freezing, but it was definitely a good thing to do while Chrissy was here!

On Tuesday, Geoff, Mikey, Aliey, Chrissy and I went to Dreamworld which is a theme park in Gold Coast. Dreamworld is supposedly Australia’s biggest theme park, but it was actually really small. I was surprised after hearing so many people suggest that I go there at how small it really was. We were able to go on a week day, so the lines were pretty non existent, which was really nice. We spent the day going on rides, and then ate our packed lunches. Dreamworld is home to quite a few tigers as well, so we watched a tiger show in the afternoon. The tigers were trained to jump, stand on two legs, and climb a pole. Animal behavior is something I am really interested in, so it was definitely my favorite part of Dreamworld. Although the park was small and aliey went on a whole THREE rides (she is afraid of rides that go upside down, spin, or basically rides that move in general :-P), it was a really great day! After Dreamworld, Mikey’s cousin Bec picked up Chrissy from the park. I had final exams coming up and really needed to study and Chrissy wanted to go out, so Bec offered to have Chrissy stay the night in Gold Coast and go out with her, which gave me the opportunity to study the rest of Tuesday night.

Wednesday I spent the day studying, and Chrissy arrived back at the apartments in the late afternoon. She worked on packing up her stuff while I did some more studying, and Thursday morning, Mikey and I dropped her off at the airport.

My trip with Chrissy went incredibly fast, but I saw some of the most amazing things while she was here.

Christina Rae- it means the world to me that you spent your own money to come visit me J I am so glad I was able to share some of my experiences with you, and you were able to meet all of my friends! I love you!