wahoo. finally completely updated.

hey kids hey!
soooo...excitement since semester break:

[[numero uno]] shortly after returning from break...the tuesday after, to be exact...i saw WICKED! coolest thing ever, right? it was at the capital theatre. i have been DYING to see this musical for, oh, a thousand years now and i was NOT let down. sadly, i couldn't take any pictures of the inside...it was immaculate, in a word.

[[numero dos]] --- april 23
I WENT TO THE HORSE RACES! i've always wanted to check them out. they sound classy and all that. it was the last day of the year...at the ranwick race track. i bet on one horse...euphemism...that is his picture below...and he let me down :( he lost...twas sad.

[[numero tres]] --- 25 april
i went to the hunter valley for a wine tour! the area was seriously absolutely beautiful! i love love loved it! first, we went to a national park and looked around and such...and then i saw the most MASSIVE kangaroo of my LIFE. and then after we atarted on the actual wine touring stuff. we went to three wineries...the first one was very i jsut walked into martha stewart's country home (but still lovely)...the second was very beautiful and my favourite (tasted the BEST wine ever...sooo sweet...yes, i bought a bottle)...and the last was cool too. i went with my friend james...we had a blast, acting all classy and wine connoisseur-ish.



but...that is all for now..hopefully i have new adventures soon to update you on.
oh, and school is going well...and i'm not failing. (that was for you daddy ;])

09-10 april - end of semester break

09 April --- 3rd and final day on fraser island
We started the day by hiking 1 km into lake wabby. it was so incredible. there were sand dunes and out of nowhere there was a lake right in the middle.

afterwards, we hiked 2.4 km out of the lake and went to a little resort area for lunch. after lunch we were able to go to another beautiful lake like lake mckenzie. this one was called lake birrabean.
afterward, we had to take the ferry back to hervey bay and say goodbye :( of course the sunset during the ferry ride was beautiful.

when we got back to hervey bay and settled and showered ( i was absolutely COVERED in sand from the sand dunes...i'll probably be finding sand for the rest of my life) one of the girls on my tour, heidi, and the english guy neil went to this bar to have dinner. i must say, this was hands down, the most bizarre place of my life. first, the people were just odd...some crazy old rocker lady, lots of surfer beach bum types, goths, it was an odd assortment. and all the people were incredibly trashed. then there was a guy playing really great live acoustic music but every now and then, the DJ would interrupt him for this random fashion show type thing that was going on with 5 girls.
10 april --- going home
this morning i packed my stuff up and headed to reception where the same girl who shared my taxi when i first got to hervey bay was! so, we went to brekky. afterwards, i sat on the beach for a while waiting for my shuttle. while i was waiting 3 guys parachute landed on the beach.
then it was hasta luego spring break :(

08 April - Fraser Island Day 2

08 April - Day 2 Fraser Island
Before I ramble on about my activities, here is a picture of Hayden. He was our tour guide and was absolutely fantastic. I swear he knows EVERYTHING.and here is a picture of our hard core 4wd that we traveled in the whole trip.
today, we started off by driving to the eastern side of fraser island to 75 mile beach...which is actually only 58 miles...go figure. and why it is measured in miles when australia and the rest of the entire world (besides the US of course) uses the metric system? not the slightest idea.
Our first stop on 74 mile beach was the Pinnacle Colored Sands.
Afterwards, we drove to the champagne pools which are these large tide pools of rock, that, when the tide is high, the ocean crashes over the side and foams and glitters over the rocks like champagne. hayden said it was too dangerous to go when the tide was that high, and we weould have had to wait until the tide went back down so we could get out and drive on the beach.
next, we went out to indian head, which is this lava rock formation that scientist believe formed even before fraser isalnd itself. james cook named it indian head because when he sailed past there were many aboriginals gathered there watching...and of course, the british called every dark skinned native an indian.
after, we checked out the wreck of ship maheno. the wreck happened in the early 1900s. the story is actually really interesting...and i'm too lazy to type it all here...google it, it's interesting.
lastly, we checked out eli creek. this creek is freshwater and runs all the way out on the beach and into the ocean. this water runoff into the ocean is enough to fill an olympic sized pool in 35 minutes.
tonight, everyone who was only doing the 2 day trip left the island :( we had a little goodbye party at the dingo bar.

07 april - day one fraser island

07 april---
today i left for my three day tour on fraser islanddd! i started my day at the beautiful hour of SIX AM! and left hervey bay at 730. first, we met ou tour guide, hayden...who is the typical outdoor loving, hilariously great aussie. we took a ferry ride over to the island then began our while 4WD bus trek.seatbelts were required as it was a bumpy road. i met 3 really great firls, tatiana from brasil...she's was absolutely adorable. then there were 2 danish girls sarah and rikke.

first we went to basin lake. we hiked up a trail to this beautiful lake high up in the sand dunes!
then we hiked down and road to central station to have lunch. from there we began on the rainforest boardwalk. this is the only subtropical rainforest in all sand! on the boardwalk we saw wanggoolba creek. it is absolutely crystal clear! the lcearest creek i have seen in my life.
from here we got picked up at the end of the hike and went to lake mckenzie. it was stunninggg! the girls and i took lots of pictures then sarah and i sat in the water for a while, it was so nice and relaxing.

then we headed back to the camp for the night and a few of us walked up to a look out to watch the sunset! the picture doesn't even do it justice.
tonight we had "australian chinese"...basically normal food with fried rice. then we hung out for a while then hit the dance floor! absolutely fantastic first day on fraser! :]

06 April - Hervey Bay

06 April ---
this morning i left the lovely melbourne. but, i left to head to HERVEYYYY BAY! it is sooo much warmer here! i got in about 3:45 to my hostel and booked a 3 day trip to fraser island! yahooo! i met this really nice girl, heather, she's from england, but she's currently working and living in sydney. we ended up both having to catch a cab from the airport and were both heading to the same hostel and then they put us in the same room as well. when i got here i did some laundry then walked down to the beach which is right across the street from the hostel!
this kind of odd man (his persona screamed child abductor) walked with me a bit...he was from california.

here are a few pics of the hostel i was staying in:::

then i met up with heather at the bar and we had mexican food from the hostel and sat outside and chatted for a couple hours. she was great to chat with and she works with a marketing agency in sydney, which is what my minor ism so that was interesting. there was this little family of some kind of varmint that were sniffing around trying to find food...they were actually really cute. they even would climb on peoples' shoulders to get food!

05 April --- Phillip Island

05 April ---
Today i went to phillip island to see the penguinsss!

first, we got picked up and stopped at a wildlife zoo. i saw wallabys, koalas, and lots of kangaroos! the pictures show how absolutely adorable it was.



after, we spend a bit of time on a beach on phillip island (oh yeah, i forgot to say this before...the wildlife place wasn't actually on phillip island)...
then we went to the nobbies and looked for little penguins...yes, that is there actual name and they are blue...i didn't really see any penguins, but the area was really lovely expecially at the time we were there.
the we made our way to see the penguin parade. the little penguins come in just about half an hour after sunset...waddle up a bit on the beach...then get scared and turn around and run back and repeat this several times until they were brave enough to make it to their burrows.
this was my free penguin i got for going on the tour...i call him fredric.
then our tour guide, ash, bought us all pizza! we got a ton of bizarre flavours too...there was curry, lamb, a bunch of others that i just can't remember.

the people on the tour were really fun. i hung out with this guy jorgis (i couldn't pronounce it so i called him george) he was from the netherlands. it was so crazy though...every summer for the past 4 years he's been going to the sierra mountains to work at this summer camp just outside fresno! whaaaat?! pretty sure i used to live there...small world!

semester break: 03 - 04 April

03.april ---
today was GREAT OCEAN ROAD DAY! i woke up bright and early and began my excursion down the great ocean road.first we had to drive a bit to get there...we drove past Taurquay, which is the birthplace of quicksilver and rip curl as well as board shorts...nifty eh?
i also learned a lovely 'fun fact' that melbourne is equidistant from darwin (the most northern australian city) as it is from antarctica. crazzzyyy

alright site numero uno:there was a rip curl surf competition going on so the beach was closed to tours, but our first on bus site was the famous Bell's Beach. you know that final scene in the film point break? yeah, that was bells beach...and i didn't really get any good pictures since i was on the bus and all...sorry kiddlettes.

site numero dos:
the great ocean road arch...alright! this is where the great ocean road technically starts :]
next we went on to Lorne. we had lovely coffee tea and biscuits (australians love that...the little tea and coffee time...and biscuits are cookies, ps)
this is the home of the famous PIER TO PUB RACEEE! it all started with a few drunks, as most of the best ideas do (kidding mom)...anyway...some aussies were drinking and made a bet. whoever could swim from the edge of the pier back to the beach and run across the street back to the bar would win. the race is still continued each year, celebrities even get involved.
next we went to this koala sighting sanctuary esque place. and i learned a new fact! (imagine that) so i thought that koalas were so sluggish and tired because the eucalyptus leaves made them high...no, no...i thought wrong. the truth is that koalas eat these leaves and nothing else...meaning they don't get any protein ever...so they don't have very much energy. koalas average about 20 hours a day. They also don't have any relationships. the baby has a relationship with the mother until it's old enough to take care of itself and then it is bye bye momy never to associate again. although, sleeping 20 hours a day, i'd imagine, would make relationship development difficult.
after playtime with the koala friends, we went to apollo bay for lunch. this was such an adorable beach side town complete with a little market going on right off the beach and everything. i even saw a rescue helicopter save this guy in the ocean! there was also this MASSIVE dog just chillin at the market. we're actually like best friends now, she left me with a kiss and everything. her name was casper :]
after apollo bay, we went took the Mait Walk through the rainforest. this area was so beautiful. my camera was being lame so the pictures really don't do it any justice. i talked to a really nice couple from mexico and now live in brisbane. i absolutely love all the people i meet while traveling. these people always tend to be more open minded and friendly and great to talk with.

after the rainforest we finally made it out to the 12 apostles. this was incredible...absolutely beautiful. i can't even describe...the pictures and video tell it all.

Loch Ard Gord was nextttt :]
this area was gorgeous...there was a ship called Loch Ard Gord and they all got drunk and crashed into rocks here and everyone died but 2 people...yeah, a bit morbid.London Bridge...There was a bridge that connected land to the island, but, in 1990, the bridge collapsed. There were actually 2 people out on the island when it collapsed, who then became stranded. Helicopters finally came, and they had cameras and the mand and the woman were strangely hiding their faces. they eventually found out that both this man and this woman were married...but not to each other.
04 April ---
Today, i went to the Queen Victoria Market which is this huge fresh produce and meat market. pretend this picture is not sideways...

after looking around a while, i came back to the hostel for a nice nap then went back to the city to the EUREKA! skydeck, which is the tallest building in australia and then i went on "the edge" which is this glass box (walls, ceiling, floor) that pushes out the side of the building so it looks like you're suspended high up (88 stories). afterwards i got a bit lost on the southbank area trying to get back to the train station...but at least it was a really lovely place to get lost :]
and pretend this one isn't sideways either...