Dorroughby, 10th of February

Friday we have a field trip to Dorroughby, which is a subtropical rainforest area. Lyn Lockery, who is our Australian Life & Culture class professor organized it for us. When we arrived we were first greeted by a goanna living in the area. It was sweet to be so close to this giant lizard. It was very calm for all the people being around and so close. Anyway, we were served lunch and it was amazing. We had a small salad (nothing special) but the protein they gave us. One for everyone and it was marlin, giant prawn and KANGAROO!!! Yes, I can say I have eaten kangaroo. It essentially tasted like beer. They gave us two dipping sauces which were very good as well. They had fresh bread that you put honey on, real Australian honey mind you. For dessert they gave us choc. chip and macadamia nut muffins. The lunch they put on was awesome and I was very thankful for it.

After lunch we were split in two groups. The group I was in went with the native Aborigine woman to tell us some history and a few dreamtime stories. It was fascinating. I could have listened to her for hours. They have nations of their own, rules, ceremonies, it was just so cool. She told us how the Europeans came and there were 7 massacres (in the area I was staying) from 1853-1863 or so. It really hurt to hear here saying that. Especially because it was so close to her family. Her family lied on the coast so they were affected by it. Her great grandmother traveled up the coast running from the massacres. She managed to escape 5 of them but was eventually killed. Before that though she wrapped her baby up and pushed her across the river to a man with the last name Cook. He was actually Captain Cooks cousin. It was all very interesting to learn the history. Her totem is the pelican because she is inquisitive and asked a lot of questions. She told us stories from when she was little (about the dolphins and fishing)...but I won't bore you with it. She told us the history of her tribe and how they first got there, and of the snake and the goanna and how the snake still waits for the goanna to return but never does and the freak waves at the point is the snakes bite (hopefully I remember the story since I won't write out everything). She told us that they believed there were giant animals thousands of years ago. Not dinosaurs, just animals. The strange thing was is that I think she truly believed it too. I remember her saying "You have your dinosaurs, well, we had giant animals" and it is so odd to me because I think she really does believe that. She said they had to live in caves to protect themselves from it. It was all fascinating. My roommate got to play the didgeridoo which was so freaking cool. And that was about it. That night we had a taco night with everyone in the camp and that was a ton of fun. I will have to figure out an effective way to post pictures on here...

The Past Few Days

From Wednesday -  Thursday not a lot has been going on. Wednesday was my marine biology class and it was actually incredibly cool. We learned about mangroves and estuaries and how they form and what they are all about. We saw some wildlife and two different kinds of crabs. One was the red fingered marsh crab and the other was the soldier crab. The soldier crab was one of the coolest things I have seen in awhile. Not only did they have a peculiar shape and walked forward rather than sideways, there were hundreds of them. It was quite a site to see. After that not much else happened, just hung around the cabin as usual.

Thurday we woke up at 7:45am...well only some of us, to go to the store and buy food. For some damn reason we had to go to two other department style stores and wasted sooo much time it was a pain in the ass. We then went to a mall that had a Woolworths (owned by Wal-mart but its only food), target, and other small stores. It is a really cool place. THEN we went to the liquor store Dan Murphy's. Now, I'm not 21 yet so I have never been in a liquor store in the State. But from any knowledge I have of liquor stores back one. This place is sooo nice, and it's HUGE. The people have uniforms they wear, the place is well lit and the interior just looks nice. I finally bought some alcohol too! (aside from at the bar where my favorite beer is the dark beer!!) I bought some AUS$13 box wine that is 5L. Which on the box says it translates to 5 1/2 bottles, so it's a great deal. Finally we went to Aldis and bough our food and went home. We left around 8:30am and go back at 12:30pm. It sucked and not to mention I have class at 1pm. So I hurried to make a sandwich and went to my events management class. That class is going to be a lot of fun. We have to make a blog which is where we answer questions he gives us as homework at. And this week we also have to organize sports with the group. Jami and I volunteered to organize soccer. So we will see how that goes. After that class I had the rest of my SCUBA certification class. We took a final exam (got a 49/50) and I can say now that I am a certified at SCUBA through Padi!! It's international so I will be able to do it anywhere. The Gulf would be a lot of fun. Once again the rest of the night was....uneventful.

Weekend 1 (Fri, Sat, Sun)

Friday was a pretty chill day. Woke up 8am (which was freaking amazing!!) felt like i was able to sleep in. At 10 we all met to sign up for a library card and then head out on a scavenger hunt around town to locate important buildings. Sounded like a lot of fun but it was a TON of walking. I was exhausted walking around town and we quit after the first page of the hunt. We ended at a very cool place downtown where there are food shops and all sorts of cool places. I definitely want to ride my bike back in town and explore more. I got food at this sweet little shop that had burgers and sandwiches. They do in fact put beets on their burgers! i didnt even ask for it!!. After lunch we walked all the way up to Lennox point. It was a breath taking hike up there and being up top. we went around and got some very cool pictures of the cliffs. Although....it was also very exhausting to walk up and back down. took about 2 hours total if not longer. My feet HURT SO BAD. I did get awesome pictures though. Not much else happened the rest of the evening. just the usual stuff. We went to the Lennox Head Hotel....which is actually a pub. The same band that played the night before played again officially as part of their international tour. We plan to go see them again and many others at the Byron Bay Blues fest. Its going to be a blast.

Saturday we went to Byron Bay. It is a freaking awesome city. there were a TON of little shops and what not and places to eat. We got in and I ate at this place called Wahoos and they claimed the worlds best fish tacos. I must fucking say....they were pretty damn good. The sauce they had had a nice little kick to it. I want to try their burritos next time. We were planning on walking around and checking out places but when we got to the beach.....we just had to stay. It was a great time. Lennox is awesome but there were so many people here and that made it just so much better. People had their dogs and one lady had us babysit hers while she went and had a smoke! We had a nice shaded place on the beach and it was an awesome way to spend the day. Can't wait to go back for longer and see the nightlife. The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful

Sunday was a pretty chill day. We began our SCUBA lessons and it was just the theory portion, watching videos, doing a study guide and taking quizzes. It took about five hours today but it actually flew by. We also had to tread water for 10 minutes and then swim 200 meters. it was a chore. The 200 meters was the worst part. My muscles were sore by the time I was back to shore. I would love to be able to swim long distance and be fit. After SCUBA i went and laid on the beach and went in the ocean. The rest of the evening just hung out until bed and excited for class in the morning!!

I could get used to this...

Day 3

I think day 3 might have been the best damn day of my life. it was absolutely beautiful. I woke up at around 7am and took at walk to the beach and took some amazing pictures. today i also took a fucking breath taking panoramic picture of our beach. it is unbelievable how amazing this place is. it has finally hit me that I LIVE HERE. i never wanna leave. later we took a walk around the camp with a guide. he knew his biology in and out and it was incredibly impressive. I ate some wild berries and leaves and learned all sorts of species of animals. Best day ever.

At night nearly the entire troop went out to the pub. I must say. I cant leave this place. it was incredible. two of the people here sing and play guitar and they went onstage at a local bar in AUSTRALIA and sang. and we listen to a woman named Beth play and she sang a song by Nora Jones and did an amazing job. we listened to some other songs. One about sex which was funny and another that really hit home. Went something along the lines of "....you came over as...and left as friends" it felt like the song for Australia. I wish i could remember the actual line. it was beautiful. drank three different kind of beers. Tiger, Toohey's New, and Toohey's Old. They were pretty good. Old was a very dark beer and tasted somewhat of coffee and a hint of chocolate. The pub was amazing. All the americans were up near the stage dancing and having an awesome time. It has finally hit me that i love it here. i never want to leave. I can't wait to make some more posts. Its amazing here. We walked on the beach at night and it was just amazing. I ended up having to pee so I got a little distance between me and the others and just walking along the beach in Australia under the stars with your own thoughts after a good night...it was quite the experience. God I love it here....

First two days!

We are finally beginning to settle into our cabins! But first, the flights

It was a long ass day. 4 flights. I still have to do the math for time spend traveling. Began at 4:30am and took off at 7am. Took an hour for the flight and waited an hour in Chicago. The Chicago flight was 4 1/2 hours and spent EIGHT HOURS IN SAN FRANCISCO. The flight from America to New Zealand was 12 hours. thankfully right after dinner i fell asleep and woke up occasionally but slept pretty well. I woke up 2 hour before landing and in time for breakfast. So the flight was not bad at all and the sleep helped the jet lag. Spent another 5 hours in New zealand. It was a very cool airport (will be back there). And then had a three hour flight to Brisbane. So looks like total flying time was.....i dont know. i will do it later.

Upon arrival and driving (2 1/2 hours) the country side is beautiful. it is amazing. cant wait to take even more pictures. lake ainsworth is a very interesting lake. it is stained a coca cola kind of color. The community is a very tight nit and warm place. I am very excited to get involved. We had a cook out and met the professors. We went to a pub that night, one that i imagine we will frequent quite a lot. Went to the beach and walked along it and my winter paleness got burned after about 30 minutes total on the beach (not even all at the same time!!). Definitely putting sun screen on a lot. My upper back and forehead are a little burned :( oh well! Sleeping was easier than i figured. It was humid and a little warm but it was surprising easier to sleep though.

The next day (2nd day here), we got a little lesson on water safety. mainly rip tides and then we went to a town south of us called Ballina.and we were at a mall and got food at Aldis. The mall was a cool place and would like to go back. i got back to the cabins and just hung out and eventually went to the beach and went for a swim! Rain clouds are rolling in and it was VERY choppy. the waves were huge! it was a workout but a lot of fun. The ocean is much cooler than i expected. difficult to get used to at first. Can't wait to get even more settled in. It's going to be a great three months