My last exam is tomorrow. I can not wait to be able to relax, do fun things and not feel guilty for it. It's at 5.45pm tomorrow, I have the whole day to revise but really I just want it to be out of the way. We're having a party tomorrow. Really it's about time, I don't know how we haven't got round to it. But it's good to have something to look forward to! Hopefully will be a good, good night.
Today is my Mum's birthday...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM
It's also 4 months today since I arrived in Australia. One third of the year gone already. I think once I start traveling time is going to fly by. I'm really not looking forward to next semester though. I imagine it'll be a bit of a let down having to go back to work after such a long break of doing anything I want to. Hopefully I'll be able to worry a bit less about money though as I can go back to my job and not have to save everything I earn. And it'll be nice to live in a different part of the city.
I've been thinking alot about what I'm going to do in the life scheme of things (Massive procrastination). And my current plan is to volunteer at a hospital next semester -this will hopefully help me figure out if I actually want to be a doctor. And then when I get home do some voluntary work/ shadowing so I have something to write on my UCAS form and apply to graduate medicine. And then if I don't get in, I will most likely apply to do a PGCE. But I also like the idea of working for the World Health Organisation -I'm not sure in exactly what capacity but I like the idea of being involved in health promotion. I was also sort of considering trying to get some placement work next summer but I've come to the conclusion that it would be pretty pointless as I really cannot imagine myself working in a lab. I'm hoping that next semester I'll earn enough money to be able to buy a car when I get back and maybe enough money to not have to get a proper job over the summer -maybe just babysitting or something. Although I think this is going to be massively dependant on whatever the exchange rate is. But atm it looks like it'll work out well that way (although I am so poor while I'm here). But only if I don't end up spending all my money. Perhaps I should transfer it as I get it.
The weather is getting really hot lately. I even had to sleep with the fan on. I've resorted to revising on my bed as well. When I first moved in I really liked it that I had my own mini office, but the fan has hardly any effect in there so it is so sticky. It's strange though as the internet weather forecast only classes this weather as "mild". Warm appears to begin at 28 degrees so I dread to think what hot is. At least I won't be stuck inside for it and will hopefully be able to jump in the sea :D.
Sorry this post is a little mopey, exam time seems to do that to me -but only one more day. In happier news on Saturday it was Graham's birthday so I made him a VEGAN birthday cake which was surprisingly nice and cake-like. Although not quite as good as normal cake- perhaps because I'm used to the baking of my mum and Tess though. Hmmm.
LOTS OF LOVE
Claire
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Monday, 15 November 2010
Saturday, 6 November 2010
Exams :(
I am feeling so bored of revision already and I still have 9 more days to go until it's all over! I had my first exam yesterday. It was 3 hours long with 8 essay questions on Microbes and Human Health. I think it went okay as half of the questions were exactly the same as the ones in past papers. 3 hours is a long time for an exam though -especially on a saturday! My other exams are this tuesday and the tuesday after and are only 1h30. But they are at 5.45pm -what a weird time. It seems so strange that firstly I had an exam on a Saturday and now I have evening exams to do. Very odd. We also get 10mins perusal time here which is different from at home.
So lately I havn't really been doing anything fun. I even forgot to go to the RSPCA on friday. I felt so awful but I was only really thinking about revision. I seem to have no idea what day it is now either -an exam on a Saturday has confused me! On wednesday it was Louisa's birthday though so we had drinks at home and then went to South Bank for some night swimming. It was really fun -not sure why we don't do that all the time really. I hid Guy's clothes in the bushes and he started to think that he hadn't actually brought any -rather amusing. We made her a chocolate cola cake which was yummy -didn't really taste like coke but was extremely moist.
Other than that I went to a few halloween parties last weekend. It was fun to dress up. Although the Australian's don't seem to really go for it as much. Me and Guy were getting the bus to a party and he had fake blood dripping from his head and I had a bloody bolt in my chest and the bus driver didn't want Guy to get on because he was bleeding and she thought he was going to be trouble! She didn't even know it was halloween. She let us on when she saw that mine was obviously fake though. We got to the party though and noone else was dressed up scarily. They were all dressed up randomly like people from Jersey Shore, "Canada", christmas etc... It was mostly American's there and really contrasted a party we'd been to a couple of nights before where it was mostly English people and everyone was dressed up scary. That was a fun night although it got shut down by the place. We ended up going back to some of the other girls house and jumping in the pool. But then had a long, cold walk home.
Ooh and I went to the zoo again but this time with my Biol2001 class. It was pretty good as we had talks from some of the keepers which they brought the animals along too. There was a koala, baby Tasmanian devils, a macaw (which was flying right over my head between the keepers -I felt like he was going to crash into me so kept on having to duck!), 2 baby Tasmanian devils and a baby alligator which I held! I've got some pics but havn't uploaded any later so will update these last 2 blogs with those at some point. I also stroked an echidna and saw a baby wombat! I fed the kangaroos and the elephants again as well. I really love this zoo!
Anyway, I suppose I really should do some revison. I have absolutely nothing exciting planned until after exams so it's going to be a boring 10 days! When I'm done will hopefully be going to Noosa for a few days and working a bit to try and make some money for travels before leaving on the 26th! Only 19 days to go before Cairns!!
Lots of love
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So lately I havn't really been doing anything fun. I even forgot to go to the RSPCA on friday. I felt so awful but I was only really thinking about revision. I seem to have no idea what day it is now either -an exam on a Saturday has confused me! On wednesday it was Louisa's birthday though so we had drinks at home and then went to South Bank for some night swimming. It was really fun -not sure why we don't do that all the time really. I hid Guy's clothes in the bushes and he started to think that he hadn't actually brought any -rather amusing. We made her a chocolate cola cake which was yummy -didn't really taste like coke but was extremely moist.
Other than that I went to a few halloween parties last weekend. It was fun to dress up. Although the Australian's don't seem to really go for it as much. Me and Guy were getting the bus to a party and he had fake blood dripping from his head and I had a bloody bolt in my chest and the bus driver didn't want Guy to get on because he was bleeding and she thought he was going to be trouble! She didn't even know it was halloween. She let us on when she saw that mine was obviously fake though. We got to the party though and noone else was dressed up scarily. They were all dressed up randomly like people from Jersey Shore, "Canada", christmas etc... It was mostly American's there and really contrasted a party we'd been to a couple of nights before where it was mostly English people and everyone was dressed up scary. That was a fun night although it got shut down by the place. We ended up going back to some of the other girls house and jumping in the pool. But then had a long, cold walk home.
Ooh and I went to the zoo again but this time with my Biol2001 class. It was pretty good as we had talks from some of the keepers which they brought the animals along too. There was a koala, baby Tasmanian devils, a macaw (which was flying right over my head between the keepers -I felt like he was going to crash into me so kept on having to duck!), 2 baby Tasmanian devils and a baby alligator which I held! I've got some pics but havn't uploaded any later so will update these last 2 blogs with those at some point. I also stroked an echidna and saw a baby wombat! I fed the kangaroos and the elephants again as well. I really love this zoo!
Anyway, I suppose I really should do some revison. I have absolutely nothing exciting planned until after exams so it's going to be a boring 10 days! When I'm done will hopefully be going to Noosa for a few days and working a bit to try and make some money for travels before leaving on the 26th! Only 19 days to go before Cairns!!
Lots of love
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Monday, 25 October 2010
Stradbroke Island and the Sunshine Coast
Last weekend I went on the day trip to Stradbroke Island I was talking about. I really enjoyed it and felt like I was seeing the real Australia for once, rather than city life. We had an aboriginal guide for the day, who was genuinely one of the most interesting people I've ever met. He had so many stories to tell. He told us not only about the dreamtime stories and beliefs of his tribe but about the persecution the aboriginals underwent right up until recently. Up until the 1970s they were still considered to be animals. It seems so ridiculous it's hard to understand how that could happen. He told us stories of how he ended up in a young offenders institute and his teeth would be pulled out, basically as a punishment, and how the police have attempted to murder him on multiple occasions. He told a story of how they were holding the gun to his head but then they saw a small white child therefore could not go through with it in front of her. His story's were so shocking, it's difficult to comprehend how these things went on. He told us stories of aboriginals lining up to be shot, and the mass murders that occurred in the 'Secret War'. For a long time they were forbidden to practise their culture and had to do it in secret. At least now they are starting to receive equal rights. Although a lot of their land has been taken from them.
On a lighter note, I painted my own boomerang and at the lookout point saw dolphins and a mother and baby whale! Stradbroke Island is very beautiful, not quite Fraser Island standard but a really nice place.
This weekend was lovely weather so we spent Saturday going to West End Market in the morning and then heading to South Bank for a swim and some sunbathing. On Saturday we went to Sunshine Coast for the day with our friend George. We started out at Coolum beach where me and Louisa sunbathed while George surfed and Guy attempted. A couple of George's friends were there one of whom had a 4WD. We all piled in and headed up to north beach past Noosa where you can drive along the beach and climb up the sand dunes. It was very beautiful there but oddly there were hundreds of dead birds along the shore. We were thinking they were probably migratory birds that died during their journey and have been washed up as they were all in a line parallel to the shore. We climbed up a sandbank to a lookout point. My legs thought they were going to die! Every step you take you fall halfway back down. Not lovely. The view was pretty though. And going down was a lot more fun. We tried sliding down on a lid we had but it didn't go so well and I just ended up covered in sand. It's fun to jump down the dune though.
We then drove along the beach a bit more to get to a 4WD track that took us across to Rainbow Beach. This was a lot of fun but Rainbow beach is a long way from home. We then had to spend 3 or 4 hours getting back. The worst thing was we drove into the most horrible storm I have ever experienced. The lightening was coming every couple of seconds and the rain was torrential. We could not see the road only feel our way along by driving on the catseyes. I was very scared but obviously it all turned out alright and we all got back safely. Apparently storms get much worse than that though and every summer they have a couple of megastorms. Not looking forward to that- especially if we're in a campervan!!
So that's what I've been up to lately. I don't have much planned because exams are looming. But in a month today I will be on a flight to Cairns to start my adventures!!
Miss you all,
Claire
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On a lighter note, I painted my own boomerang and at the lookout point saw dolphins and a mother and baby whale! Stradbroke Island is very beautiful, not quite Fraser Island standard but a really nice place.
This weekend was lovely weather so we spent Saturday going to West End Market in the morning and then heading to South Bank for a swim and some sunbathing. On Saturday we went to Sunshine Coast for the day with our friend George. We started out at Coolum beach where me and Louisa sunbathed while George surfed and Guy attempted. A couple of George's friends were there one of whom had a 4WD. We all piled in and headed up to north beach past Noosa where you can drive along the beach and climb up the sand dunes. It was very beautiful there but oddly there were hundreds of dead birds along the shore. We were thinking they were probably migratory birds that died during their journey and have been washed up as they were all in a line parallel to the shore. We climbed up a sandbank to a lookout point. My legs thought they were going to die! Every step you take you fall halfway back down. Not lovely. The view was pretty though. And going down was a lot more fun. We tried sliding down on a lid we had but it didn't go so well and I just ended up covered in sand. It's fun to jump down the dune though.
We then drove along the beach a bit more to get to a 4WD track that took us across to Rainbow Beach. This was a lot of fun but Rainbow beach is a long way from home. We then had to spend 3 or 4 hours getting back. The worst thing was we drove into the most horrible storm I have ever experienced. The lightening was coming every couple of seconds and the rain was torrential. We could not see the road only feel our way along by driving on the catseyes. I was very scared but obviously it all turned out alright and we all got back safely. Apparently storms get much worse than that though and every summer they have a couple of megastorms. Not looking forward to that- especially if we're in a campervan!!
So that's what I've been up to lately. I don't have much planned because exams are looming. But in a month today I will be on a flight to Cairns to start my adventures!!
Miss you all,
Claire
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Thursday, 14 October 2010
RSPCA, Fraser Island and Whale Watching
I just got back from walking Hercules the husky. He is so, so nice! I don't understand why he would ever be at the RSPCA. Actually all of the dogs I've met there have been so lovely, it's hard to understand why anyone would give them away. I'm really enjoying my voluntary work but I keep finding dogs to take home. Hercules would be ideal for you Laurie! I ended up just walking him for about 45mins as he was so amazing. He was moulting ridiculously though, bits of fur were flying off as he ran along. I brushed him a bit and ended up with a huge ball of hair but he was still all tufty looking where he was losing his coat. I walked some some other lovely dogs as well but Hercules was definately my favourite.
So lately I havn't got up to that much as I've had loads of deadlines. But in midsemester break I did go to Fraser Island on a field trip. It is really, really beautiful there. The lakes are amazing and wierdly all have different coloured water -red, green and clear. My favourite part was definately sand dune jumping. We had been trekking for what seemed like hours and then we're told to climb up a huge sandy bank. When we got to the top you could see huge sand dunes it was so beautiful. We walked along to the edge of the dune, where it suddenly drops off steeply. The idea here is to just run and jump off the dune. Scary, huh. So I was feeling pretty nervous as it looked like it was gonna hurt when you thudded down on the sand. But me and Louisa conquered the fear and jumped together. I think I was the one of the only ones that screamed. Flying through the air is pretty scary to be fair though. It was so much fun though, and did not hurt at all. Everyone had a few more turns and then the whole class jumped together! I'm not sure if the photos are up yet but I'll try to put one in when I find it! From there we trekked on a couple of km to the first lake we went to. It was a huge red lake in the middle of a forest. The swimming was so good there because it was so humid and after trekking you just feel disgusting.
I really enjoyed Fraser Island. We spent the mornings doing field work but then in the afternoons we would go to a lake or creek for swimming. One morning I even got up at 5.45am to go tracking. This is where you look for, and try to identify animal tracks in the sand. We saw loads, including snake tracks, dingo tracks and even tiny millipede tracks.
There were so many dingoes there! One of them came right up to us on the beach and was only a couple of metres away! There pretty tame because tourists feed them. But this is bad because then if the dingoes attack people they get put down. When it is really the peoples fault for trying to play with wild animals! There were the cutest dingo pups on our campsite though. The campsite was fenced to stop the dingoes getting in but the puppies are small enough to fir through. They are so sweet! We also saw a couple of snakes, a huge spider, a little scorpion and many, many bugs.
Another really fun thing about Fraser Island is driving on the sand! I would love to drive there but I'm sure I would nearly definately get stuck. You get bounced around like crazy in the back of the 4WDs. It was v.v. funny.
Everyone was really nice on the trip, and we all ended up going to Down Under on the tuesday after we got back :).
So, the weekend before Fraser I went Whale Watching down at the Gold Coast. It was AMAZING, literally the best thing I've done here. The whales were actually really close and we saw loads of them, like maybe 20+!! And they were jumping out of the water, slapping their fins and blowing through their blow holes. It was amazing to see, and something I think everyone should do if they ever have the chance.
While we were at Surfer's Paradise I somehow managed to lose a shoe in the sea. I'm not really sure how this happened but it was nowhere to be found. So if you go to the beach, please look out for my shoe. It is a grey lace up dap in size 4.
I think that is all of my news....On Sunday I am going to Stradbroke island though, which should be exciting :D.
Lots of love xxx
So lately I havn't got up to that much as I've had loads of deadlines. But in midsemester break I did go to Fraser Island on a field trip. It is really, really beautiful there. The lakes are amazing and wierdly all have different coloured water -red, green and clear. My favourite part was definately sand dune jumping. We had been trekking for what seemed like hours and then we're told to climb up a huge sandy bank. When we got to the top you could see huge sand dunes it was so beautiful. We walked along to the edge of the dune, where it suddenly drops off steeply. The idea here is to just run and jump off the dune. Scary, huh. So I was feeling pretty nervous as it looked like it was gonna hurt when you thudded down on the sand. But me and Louisa conquered the fear and jumped together. I think I was the one of the only ones that screamed. Flying through the air is pretty scary to be fair though. It was so much fun though, and did not hurt at all. Everyone had a few more turns and then the whole class jumped together! I'm not sure if the photos are up yet but I'll try to put one in when I find it! From there we trekked on a couple of km to the first lake we went to. It was a huge red lake in the middle of a forest. The swimming was so good there because it was so humid and after trekking you just feel disgusting.
I really enjoyed Fraser Island. We spent the mornings doing field work but then in the afternoons we would go to a lake or creek for swimming. One morning I even got up at 5.45am to go tracking. This is where you look for, and try to identify animal tracks in the sand. We saw loads, including snake tracks, dingo tracks and even tiny millipede tracks.
There were so many dingoes there! One of them came right up to us on the beach and was only a couple of metres away! There pretty tame because tourists feed them. But this is bad because then if the dingoes attack people they get put down. When it is really the peoples fault for trying to play with wild animals! There were the cutest dingo pups on our campsite though. The campsite was fenced to stop the dingoes getting in but the puppies are small enough to fir through. They are so sweet! We also saw a couple of snakes, a huge spider, a little scorpion and many, many bugs.
Another really fun thing about Fraser Island is driving on the sand! I would love to drive there but I'm sure I would nearly definately get stuck. You get bounced around like crazy in the back of the 4WDs. It was v.v. funny.
Everyone was really nice on the trip, and we all ended up going to Down Under on the tuesday after we got back :).
So, the weekend before Fraser I went Whale Watching down at the Gold Coast. It was AMAZING, literally the best thing I've done here. The whales were actually really close and we saw loads of them, like maybe 20+!! And they were jumping out of the water, slapping their fins and blowing through their blow holes. It was amazing to see, and something I think everyone should do if they ever have the chance.
While we were at Surfer's Paradise I somehow managed to lose a shoe in the sea. I'm not really sure how this happened but it was nowhere to be found. So if you go to the beach, please look out for my shoe. It is a grey lace up dap in size 4.
I think that is all of my news....On Sunday I am going to Stradbroke island though, which should be exciting :D.
Lots of love xxx
Wednesday, 22 September 2010
This and that
So I haven't blogged for a while but I'm also not really sure what I've been doing. One thing that I am very excited about is that I'm going to start volunteering at the RSPCA. I'm going for training on saturday and then will start going every friday. I have to do a couple of hours of admin work, but then I got to do dog walking and animal enrichment activities. I really miss Lexie and Moss so it will be good to work with the dogs :D
Other than that I have been mostly working these last few weeks. My job is getting pretty tedious but at least I should be doing some fun things with the money over summer. I will hopefully be going whale watching in Surfer's Paradise this weekend. And then on monday I'll be going on my field trip to Fraser Island with my Australia's Terrestrial Environment course. It's crazy that it's midsemester already though! I don't feel like I've been here all that long, but at the same time when I think about arriving here that seems like a world away.
Ryan has moved into his own place and got a job where I'm working now. He's going training for it today so should be starting pretty soon. We've been vaguely starting to make travel plans. So far we are thinking that we will go straight to Ayre's rock when exams are over, then possibly visit Alice Springs as well. Then we're going to fly up to either Darwin or Cairns where Ryan will buy a campervan and then we're going to travel all the way down the East Coast. We've heard it may not be worth going to Darwin and I can't seem to find any flights to there from Ayre's rock either so it's looking like we might be starting in Cairns. Which is meant to be amazing for backpackers and it's right by the Great Barrier Reef -so I think I'm going to get my scuba diving certificate there. You can do courses where you live in on the boats which sounds like so much fun! I've always wanted to go on a boat holiday :).
Anyways, things that I have actually been doing...
At the beginning of September the Brisbane festival started. This is not at all like the Edinburgh festival. Everything is expensive so I haven't actually been to any of the events. The opening was pretty amazing though. It's called Riverfire and it starts with a fighter jet zooming between along the river with a glowing ball of fire shooting out the back of it. It was really cool -looked a bit like the sun. Then the river lit up with fire along it (this wasn't actually on the water, there were platforms along the river) and the fireworks started it. But they didn't just come off the river, they were coming off the tops of all the skyscrapers on the other side of the river (we were at South Bank). Then the bridge lit up with a waterfall of sparks. It was all really pretty. It finished with the jet coming back through. I am a big fan of fireworks so this was pretty amazing, especially with the jet. And it was free :).
So the next week I had my fieldtrip to Lamington Park. This involved a 12km trek in the rain. It wasn't a great day. It was pretty much the same as Brisbane Forest Park, except we got to see some heathland as well. There's supposed to be really good views from there but it was so misty that you couldn't actually see anything at all.
Me at Lamington with a big uprooted tree.
The next day I was going on a trip with QUEST to Springbrook -which is pretty much right by Lamington so I was feeling pretty concerned. This actually turned out to be really good though. The sun was out and everyone was much happier. We went to 'best of all lookout' where you can see all the way to Byron Bay. Then we headed to the 'Forest of dreams' where we saw glow worms and fed parrots.
Feeding a parrot!!
Other than that I have been mostly working these last few weeks. My job is getting pretty tedious but at least I should be doing some fun things with the money over summer. I will hopefully be going whale watching in Surfer's Paradise this weekend. And then on monday I'll be going on my field trip to Fraser Island with my Australia's Terrestrial Environment course. It's crazy that it's midsemester already though! I don't feel like I've been here all that long, but at the same time when I think about arriving here that seems like a world away.
Ryan has moved into his own place and got a job where I'm working now. He's going training for it today so should be starting pretty soon. We've been vaguely starting to make travel plans. So far we are thinking that we will go straight to Ayre's rock when exams are over, then possibly visit Alice Springs as well. Then we're going to fly up to either Darwin or Cairns where Ryan will buy a campervan and then we're going to travel all the way down the East Coast. We've heard it may not be worth going to Darwin and I can't seem to find any flights to there from Ayre's rock either so it's looking like we might be starting in Cairns. Which is meant to be amazing for backpackers and it's right by the Great Barrier Reef -so I think I'm going to get my scuba diving certificate there. You can do courses where you live in on the boats which sounds like so much fun! I've always wanted to go on a boat holiday :).
Anyways, things that I have actually been doing...
At the beginning of September the Brisbane festival started. This is not at all like the Edinburgh festival. Everything is expensive so I haven't actually been to any of the events. The opening was pretty amazing though. It's called Riverfire and it starts with a fighter jet zooming between along the river with a glowing ball of fire shooting out the back of it. It was really cool -looked a bit like the sun. Then the river lit up with fire along it (this wasn't actually on the water, there were platforms along the river) and the fireworks started it. But they didn't just come off the river, they were coming off the tops of all the skyscrapers on the other side of the river (we were at South Bank). Then the bridge lit up with a waterfall of sparks. It was all really pretty. It finished with the jet coming back through. I am a big fan of fireworks so this was pretty amazing, especially with the jet. And it was free :).
So the next week I had my fieldtrip to Lamington Park. This involved a 12km trek in the rain. It wasn't a great day. It was pretty much the same as Brisbane Forest Park, except we got to see some heathland as well. There's supposed to be really good views from there but it was so misty that you couldn't actually see anything at all.
Me at Lamington with a big uprooted tree.
The next day I was going on a trip with QUEST to Springbrook -which is pretty much right by Lamington so I was feeling pretty concerned. This actually turned out to be really good though. The sun was out and everyone was much happier. We went to 'best of all lookout' where you can see all the way to Byron Bay. Then we headed to the 'Forest of dreams' where we saw glow worms and fed parrots.
Feeding a parrot!!
We then went to a waterfall where some crazy people went swimming. I was considering it until I heard the horrible screaming noises everyone was making when they got in.
Me from behind the waterfall -slightly damp!
Me from behind the waterfall -slightly damp!After spending some time there we headed over to this place called Natural Bridge. It's hard to explain but is basically water going through a hole into a cave and somehow this is a bridge... It was pretty too and we even saw some glow worms in there natural habitat. After that we headed home.
Me and Louisa them met up with Guy and Ryan for dinner at a Turkish restaurant. I discovered that I do not like Turkish food. For some reason I thought it would taste like Moroccan food so was massively disappointed. There was a belly dancer though, although she did not roll her belly which we found odd.
Last week we went to QUEST's film night where we saw a pretty odd Australian film called Priscilla Queen of the Desert. It was about transvestites travelling to Alice Springs to put on some shows. Was surprisingly good. We then headed to RE which is a pretty cool bar in Toowong with live music. Was pretty dead by 11.30pm though -people seem to head out and go home earlier in Australia.
This weekend me and Ryan went to Wet and Wild -a water park at the Gold Coast. I bought my first rash vest for it! It's very nice -blue, stripey roxy tee :). However ended up not wearing it as wasn't allowed it on some of the ride. Ryan, Guy and Rich had been the week before but I had been working. But Ryan loved it so made me go even though it was cloudy. It was fun though although they have a ridiculously scary water slide. You go up to the top where the slide is unlocked for you to get in. You get in and are standing up with your back against the vertical slide. You are locked in and then there is a countdown before the floor drops out from beneath you and you fall down at ridiculous speeds. It was so scary that I couldn't even scream! Horrible ride. After falling down you do a loop the loop which you can't even notice due to going so fast. At least it was over quickly. The other rides were much nicer. I especially enjoyed the Kamikaze which involves a 2 seater rubber ring, which you sit in facing each other. It's a bit like a half tube or something. You drop off one side and then go up the other and then again until you slow to a stop. I got straight back on this one it was so good. The rest of the slides were all pretty mellow. It seemed that most of the rides there were either too scary or not scary enough.
So that's about all I've been up to -it seems that I may have done more than I thought.
Love you and miss you xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Me and Louisa them met up with Guy and Ryan for dinner at a Turkish restaurant. I discovered that I do not like Turkish food. For some reason I thought it would taste like Moroccan food so was massively disappointed. There was a belly dancer though, although she did not roll her belly which we found odd.
Last week we went to QUEST's film night where we saw a pretty odd Australian film called Priscilla Queen of the Desert. It was about transvestites travelling to Alice Springs to put on some shows. Was surprisingly good. We then headed to RE which is a pretty cool bar in Toowong with live music. Was pretty dead by 11.30pm though -people seem to head out and go home earlier in Australia.
This weekend me and Ryan went to Wet and Wild -a water park at the Gold Coast. I bought my first rash vest for it! It's very nice -blue, stripey roxy tee :). However ended up not wearing it as wasn't allowed it on some of the ride. Ryan, Guy and Rich had been the week before but I had been working. But Ryan loved it so made me go even though it was cloudy. It was fun though although they have a ridiculously scary water slide. You go up to the top where the slide is unlocked for you to get in. You get in and are standing up with your back against the vertical slide. You are locked in and then there is a countdown before the floor drops out from beneath you and you fall down at ridiculous speeds. It was so scary that I couldn't even scream! Horrible ride. After falling down you do a loop the loop which you can't even notice due to going so fast. At least it was over quickly. The other rides were much nicer. I especially enjoyed the Kamikaze which involves a 2 seater rubber ring, which you sit in facing each other. It's a bit like a half tube or something. You drop off one side and then go up the other and then again until you slow to a stop. I got straight back on this one it was so good. The rest of the slides were all pretty mellow. It seemed that most of the rides there were either too scary or not scary enough.
So that's about all I've been up to -it seems that I may have done more than I thought.
Love you and miss you xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Monday, 6 September 2010
Byron Bay
So last weekend I went to Byron Bay with QUEST (exchange students society). So far it's my fave place in Australia -had such a good weekend there! Unfortunately my camera was being ridiculous so I don't actually have any pics though.
The journey there was pretty weird. Our driver seemed to have no idea what he was doing. First he forgot his log book -whatever that is -so we had to wait around for like an hour before we could even leave and then he got us lost and going round in circles! On the way we stopped off at Mount Warning, for a trek in the jungle. But we didn't have time to go all the way up so it did seem a little pointless. Saw a HUGE snake though, literally a few metres long. It was a tree python hanging down in one of the trees right by the path. A couple of people tried to touch it and it got a wee bit annoyed and they screamed. We also stopped off at Nimbin which is a hippy drugs town. I didn't like it there though, it was just a bit wierd and old looking.
So we finally arrived at our hostel after getting lost a couple more times. We were in an 8 bed room with a few people we knew and their friends. It was such a nice hostel -really clean and modern and big, there's even a hot tub. I think it was called Nomads -in case anyone finds themselves in Byron Bay. We then had a BBQ on the hostel terrace and I've realised that I may actually like steak! So we went out that night, started at a bar that the hostel had given us wristbands bands for but left pretty quickly and ended up in a place called Cheeky Monkeys. I was a big fan of cheeky monkeys. The dance floor was actually tables during the evening, then at
night everyone just climbs up on them to dance! And they were playing some incredibly cheesie music -I think 5ive was the highlight!
The next day was spent chilling on the beach and eating the best burrito you could imagine - Best burritos in Swindon has nothing on it! Also spent some time in the hostel hot tub and then headed back to the beach to watch the sunset by a hippy drum circle! That night everyone was heading out for a meal at the other hostel where the rest of our group was staying. It was in an actually brewery where they only sell their own beer. Took so long for some of our table to get served though, it was pretty ridiculous! Met some very nice people that night, then heading on out from the meal to Cheeky monkeys once again. That night there was a male stripping competition, it was pretty weird, especially when a drunk girl jumped up on the stage and pulled her dress off. Good night though, had some yummy alcohol slushies. At the end of the night me and Louisa embarked on the longest search for pizza. I thought it would be a good idea to ask someone so asked a guy on a bench where I could get pizza. He didn't know. Then as we were going past him he asked Louisa if she knew where he could get pizza. Very funny! He was very nice though and then insisted on proving that he was from Chile by showing us his id before he wandered off beachwards. We eventually found pizza and it was delicious!
Next day we decided we'd better go to the lighthouse at Cape Byron. It's the most Easterly point of mainland Australia. Had to go up so, so many steps to get there though. That wasn't lovely. The view was though. We even think we saw some whale splashes!!
Up by the lighthouse.
I really, really loved it there and the 2 days we spent there was not enough at all. It's so chilled there and so much prettier than the Gold Coast or Brisbane! I will definately be going back. Hopefully this month, while it's still whale season, as I want to go on a kayak tour to see whales and BABY DOLPHINS!
This week hasn't been so fun as I worked most of this weekend and have had an exam today so had to revise for that. Saturday night was riverfire though. It was really cool. It's a big firework display on the river. It started off with fighter jets with huge flame tails flying along the river. They were amazing! The ball of fire looked like the sun was out at night! The fireworks were really good, they had them coming off the river and all the skyscrapers as well! The bridge was made into a sort of waterfall of sparks as well and there was fire on the river. It was all so pretty! It marks the begining of the Brisbane festival. Most things that are on seem pretty expensive though, but at least riverfire was free :).
This week I've got a fieldtrip to Lamington National Park and then a QUEST trip to the Gold Coast Hinterland -so I should have more to tell you about soon.
Lots of love
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Wednesday, 1 September 2010
Things I forgot to tell you about.
Hello
I have realised that there are loads of things that I havn't got round to writing about. A few weeks ago I went to Brisbane raceday where I won $10 on a horse! I spent $15 though so didn't actually come off any better, but it's always good to feel like a winner. Races are pretty different here, only the young people go -I don't think I saw anyone older than late 20s. V. different from the UK. Also everyone is only really there to dress up and get drunk. It's a public holiday here for showday so noone had uni and a lot of people go. We ended up getting there really late though, and weren't all that dressed up. Guy and Rich were pretty much the only guys not to be wearing a shirt or a suit and I think I could have done with a posher dress.
Also that week was Ekka which is a 10 day long country show. Me and Ryan went and loved it! We saw the cutest baby goat, I wanted to steal him!
I also found the type of cow I want when I was older.
She was so pretty and so soft and not too big.
I have realised that there are loads of things that I havn't got round to writing about. A few weeks ago I went to Brisbane raceday where I won $10 on a horse! I spent $15 though so didn't actually come off any better, but it's always good to feel like a winner. Races are pretty different here, only the young people go -I don't think I saw anyone older than late 20s. V. different from the UK. Also everyone is only really there to dress up and get drunk. It's a public holiday here for showday so noone had uni and a lot of people go. We ended up getting there really late though, and weren't all that dressed up. Guy and Rich were pretty much the only guys not to be wearing a shirt or a suit and I think I could have done with a posher dress.
Also that week was Ekka which is a 10 day long country show. Me and Ryan went and loved it! We saw the cutest baby goat, I wanted to steal him!
I also found the type of cow I want when I was older.
She was so pretty and so soft and not too big.There was also a petting area which was an enclosure filled with lambs and calfs and baby goats and you could get food to feed them.
The goats were greedy and tried to push me over.
The goats were greedy and tried to push me over.
There were also some strange competitions going on. We saw people racing to chop logs and racing to build a railway.
A couple of weekends ago it was my housemates birthday so we all went to Movieworld. There was the best sccoby doo ride, I could have gone on it all day. It was a bit like Pirates of the Carribean at Disneyland but not on water. Well it was the same level of scariness (unless you're Mel and then it would be less scary) and not at all like it really. But reaallly good.
I have also found the best cupcake shop:
And Ryan found his street:
I went on a field trip to Brisbane forest park as well. It was a horrible day though so wasn't all that enjoyable. I did see a platypus though! (at the wildlife centre, not the wild).
Last weekend I went to Byron Bay but that deserves its own post so I will try to do that soon.
Today Ryan fed a bird a piece of pepperoni and he didn't like it because it was too spicy. So he had to go and wipe his beak on a tree. It was the funniest/cutest thing I have ever seen a bird too (not including penguins).
Lots of love
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
A couple of weekends ago it was my housemates birthday so we all went to Movieworld. There was the best sccoby doo ride, I could have gone on it all day. It was a bit like Pirates of the Carribean at Disneyland but not on water. Well it was the same level of scariness (unless you're Mel and then it would be less scary) and not at all like it really. But reaallly good.
I have also found the best cupcake shop:
And Ryan found his street:
I went on a field trip to Brisbane forest park as well. It was a horrible day though so wasn't all that enjoyable. I did see a platypus though! (at the wildlife centre, not the wild).
Last weekend I went to Byron Bay but that deserves its own post so I will try to do that soon.
Today Ryan fed a bird a piece of pepperoni and he didn't like it because it was too spicy. So he had to go and wipe his beak on a tree. It was the funniest/cutest thing I have ever seen a bird too (not including penguins).
Lots of love
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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