Much has happened since I last wrote from Airlie Beach. Last weekend was spent sailing upon the glorious British Defender through the crystal blue waters of the Whitsunday Islands. The group on board was an amazing bunch, comparable in gloriousness to the first group we met in Byron. Among my favourites were Wilfried and Kris, the adorable Germans, Ernesto, Lindsay my Canadian homeslice, Ciska, Peter, Priscille, Richard, and many, many others. The Germans though were absolutely tops. Along with adorably shy Wilfried and flamboyantly gay Kris was Wil's sister, Nicole. The three of them are currently in Alice Springs, where I will be flying to even hotter weather tomorrow. Living on a boat for three days in paradise drinking gin and tonics and hanging out with Germans was pretty much amazing. Wearing a stinger suit to protect myself from the extremely tiny and deadly iruganji was not. As a result of the suit, not showering for three days, and a bit too much sun, I developed a really love rash on my neck. A week later it's completely gone, but it really was pretty ugly. Overall the Whitsundays are at the top of my travel experiences. I went snorkeling, scuba diving for the first time, and walked on the whitest sands in Australia.
Upon arriving back at Airlie Beach, we ran into Kate, a girl who had roomed with us the night before. She is also amongst my favourite people I've met so far, absolutely lovely British girl. Monday was spent primarily lounging by the lagoon and showering at other people's hostels. Monday night Antonio and I took our final night bus up to Cairns, where arrived Tuesday at about 6:30 in the morning.
Of course, being the active travelers we are, approximately an hour after checking into our hostel, Antonio and I got onto another boat to go snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef. I initially refrained from discussing my first primary scuba diving experience from the Whitsundays to discuss it here. I am addicted to scuba diving. It is by far the coolest thing I have ever done. While I had not intended on going diving off of Cairns, I am SO glad I did. Even though I was on cloud 9 after my Whitsundays dive, my GBR dive was amazing. I fed sea turtles. I saw cuttlefish. I saw Nemo. I saw stingrays. It was awesome. I want to be under water all of the time. I can't wait to go to Caymen and dive with Paul/get certified. Seriously, best experience of my life. Oh, not to mention after the dive we went boomnetting. Boomnetting consists of you being dragged behind a speeding boat while holding on to a net for dear life. Probably won't do it again anytime soon, but it was really fun.
After our time at the reef we came back to the hostel and had a barbecue. I will miss Australian barbecues terribly. My food consumption this week has been somewhat varied, ranging from steaks to crocodile and kangaroo to hummus and fruit.
We left Wednesday to go on a three day tour to the Daintree River and Cape Tribulation. Prior to leaving I checked my mail only to discover my dirt cheap Tiger airways flight had been cancelled. In the midst of my panicking on the bus while driving out to the oldest rainforest in the world, I lose phone reception. Cue my Tasmania crisis all over again. Luckily there was reception at the mosquito infested beach, of all places.
Our time in the rainforest was really good. It is really humid but very beautiful in northern Queensland, and we had a nice time just relaxing at our luxury hostel. We met a pair from England who were also on the tour and have been spending a good bit of time with them. After a few days of croc spotting, walking through croc inhabited creeks, getting attacked by geckos and mosquitoes, and finishing my novel, we headed up to Cape Tribulation, where we had the pleasure of meeting Matt Lynch. Matt is pretty much the funniest guy I've ever met. Following a night of drinks and sing alongs (Matt pulled out of his bag a harmonica for all eight people at our table), Matt and I went Jungle Surfing. Jungle Surfing basically consists of you being harnessed to a rope and flung through the rainforest canopy. I did it upside down. Somewhere in Australia I became a thrill seeker.
Our last afternoon Antonio and I went on an exotic fruit tasting. It was pretty cool. I'm in love with soursop.
Last night we went to see Beowulf with the Brits, Lauren and Steven. I liked it overall, but it was definitely a guy movie. Although I guess considering the "epic" quality of Beowulf anyway, it's a guys story to begin with.
Today was spent at the lagoon, then hiding inside due to the extreme heat. Antonio left me about an hour ago for the airport to fly back to Melbourne. I fly to Alice Springs tomorrow morning, where I will be greeted by even more extreme heat. I am, however, pretty pumped to see the Rock.
I am not, however, all that excited to go back to Melbourne. With Antonio's absence I've realized that there isn't really going to be anyone there when I get back, making my last few days in Australia pretty lonely ones. Hopefully a few people will be around, but honestly, at this point I've come to the realization that I'd be okay with going home now. I am tired, my clothes are dirty, and I'm basically out of money. I'm ready to sleep in my bed, to hang out with Joe and Alicia, to play with Lily, and to obtain a new drivers license. I'm ready to work again. I'm to do acapella. I'm ready for Bryn Mawr again. I didn't think I'd be saying it so soon, but I really do want to come home. As much as I love this country, I'm ready to be with my family and friends again and share my experiences with them, face to face.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Turkey Day in Paradise
Since my last entry I have been to the Australian equivalent of any small North Carolina town, Hervey Bay. Antonio and I arrive on Wednesday night around 8:30 and had to walk through the town to our hostel, about half an hour away. Seriously, this place looked, sounded like, and felt like North Carolina. There were people getting drunk on their front porches and the streets were dead. The hostel itself was okay, not the nicest (there was a huge rat in the kitchen) but we were only there for the night so it wasn't really a big issue. The people staying with us were nice enough and gave us free Coronas so we really couldn't complain.
Yesterday we went to Fraser Island. Fraser Island is one of the biggest sand islands in the world and is known for its various beautiful natural sites. Initially I had wanted to do Fraser on a self-drive safari, but since I lost my license in September that wasn't really an option. The tour was okay, not really that exciting, but the last bit, Lake McKenzie, was completely worth it. Lake McKenzie is a huge, turquoise blue, fresh water lake in the middle of the island. The weather was gorgeous so we took obnoxious sports illustrated-esque swim suit photos. I have enough to make my own calendar. Last night was my Thanksgiving, which was probably the saddest Thanksgiving I've ever had. Since we were catching the night bus to Airlie Beach, we were pressed for time and forced to eat at places close to the bus station. I had a chicken wrap and some roast potatoes from a KFC-like joint called Red Rooster. Really upsetting.
Today we are lounging around Airlie Bay prepping for our sailing trip this weekend. I decided at the last minute that I was going to go scuba diving instead of just snorkeling. I'm pretty pumped- hopefully I can find a water camera so I can take all sorts of pictures of the Great Barrier Reef and Nemo. So yeah, that's about it for what's going on with me. Will write again soon because we managed to get an hour of free internet at the hostel we'll be staying at for the next week! Love you and miss you all!
Yesterday we went to Fraser Island. Fraser Island is one of the biggest sand islands in the world and is known for its various beautiful natural sites. Initially I had wanted to do Fraser on a self-drive safari, but since I lost my license in September that wasn't really an option. The tour was okay, not really that exciting, but the last bit, Lake McKenzie, was completely worth it. Lake McKenzie is a huge, turquoise blue, fresh water lake in the middle of the island. The weather was gorgeous so we took obnoxious sports illustrated-esque swim suit photos. I have enough to make my own calendar. Last night was my Thanksgiving, which was probably the saddest Thanksgiving I've ever had. Since we were catching the night bus to Airlie Beach, we were pressed for time and forced to eat at places close to the bus station. I had a chicken wrap and some roast potatoes from a KFC-like joint called Red Rooster. Really upsetting.
Today we are lounging around Airlie Bay prepping for our sailing trip this weekend. I decided at the last minute that I was going to go scuba diving instead of just snorkeling. I'm pretty pumped- hopefully I can find a water camera so I can take all sorts of pictures of the Great Barrier Reef and Nemo. So yeah, that's about it for what's going on with me. Will write again soon because we managed to get an hour of free internet at the hostel we'll be staying at for the next week! Love you and miss you all!
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Moderately Burnt and Extraordinarily Happy
I've been away from Whitley/Melbourne for just over a week now. Since then I am been traveling all over the place. My time in Sydney with Rafal/the Polish Aussies was really wonderful. I was essentially spoiled for the week, living in a gorgeous house with my own room and bathroom about 500 meters from the ocean and eating amazing food/cocktails and not being allowed to pay for any of it. I actually spent most of my time with my great aunt and uncle. My great aunt looks exactly like Babcia and acts like her too. They are really terrific people and I hope that my visit with them will help to bridge the gap that has been crated by our family living on three very distant continents. I also managed to see Shilton while I was there, which resulted in a crazy night on the town where I met a nice Irish boy.
Speaking of which, there are Irish people EVERYWHERE. Which doesn't make a whole lot of sense, since it's crazy sunburn weather here and it's not as if Irish people do too well in the sun. But I am now obsessed with Irish people and am trying to figure out how to fit Irish into my ideal combination of the blonde haired, blue eyed, Greek Australian Jew. Yeah, not quite sure how that's going to work.
So far on our journeys Antonio and I have been to Sydney, Byron Bay, Brisbane, and now we are in the Noosa Heads. Byron Bay was absolutely wonderful- we met some really wonderful people about thirty seconds after checking in (including an Irish boy). The two days in Byron were not nearly long enough, and were filled by long days on the beach, volleyball, sunset adventures to the lighthouse, hummus, and my first sunburn of our voyage. It was hard to leave the great people and wonderful accommodation in Byron, especially when Brisbane turned out to be a major disappointment. The hostel was in a good location, but there is NOTHING to do in Brisbane. At all. We went to museums. And after being by beaches, we couldn't wait to get back.
Which brings me to Noosa. I want to live here. It's gorgeous. I've picked out my beach view house. The hostel has a spa and beautiful flowers that creep into the bedrooms in the morning. They're fuchsia. We went on a hike today around Noosa National Park and walked through a nudist beach filled with old men. Alicia would have loved it. In about an hour we are leaving to go to Hervey Bay, where we will stay the night awaiting our trip to the white sands of Fraser Island in the morning. Here is the itinerary for the rest of my trip:
Nov. 21- leave Noosa, head to Hervey Bay for the evening
Nov. 22- Spend the day in Fraser Island, head to Airlie Beach over night on Greyhound
Nov. 23- Arrive in Airlie Beach, spend the day lounging around, stay the night in Airlie Beach
Nov. 24- Depart for sailing in the Whitsundays. Stay on boat overnight
Nov. 25- Still sailing in the Whitsundays. Still sleeping on the boat.
Nov. 26- Arrive back in Airlie Beach around noon. Hang around for a bit. Depart for Cairns overnight on Greyhound.
Nov. 27- Arrive in Cairns early in the morning. Going snorkeling. Stay the night in Cairns.
Nov. 28- Cape Tribulation= Reef and Rainforest. Staying in Cape Trib
Nov. 29- More Cape Trib.
Nov. 30- More Cape Trib
Dec. 1- Head back to Cairns or may stay in Cape Trib for one more night. Not sure yet.
Dec. 2- Fly out from Cairns in the morning, arrive in Alice Springs in afternoon. Hang around in the desert for the day.
Dec. 3- Wandering around in the desert, riding camels. Sleeping under the stars.
Dec. 4- Going to Ayers Rock. Sleeping under the stars. Getting eaten by spiders.
Dec. 5- Rock part II. Returning to Alice Springs, spending the night in the city.
Dec. 6- Flying out of Alice Springs back to Melbourne. Accommodation to be determined. Probably staying with Emma or going back to Whiltey for a few days. We shall see.
Dec. 6-10- Doing last minute gift buying in Melbourne/saying goodbye to Australia.
Dec. 11- I fly back home!!
So that's it. That is the rest of my stay in Australia with roughly what I will be doing. I hope you all have a lovely Thanksgiving and will think of me sailing in pristine Australian waters while you eat your turkey and fall asleep on the couch. Love you! Hopefully will write again once I get to Alice Springs!!
Speaking of which, there are Irish people EVERYWHERE. Which doesn't make a whole lot of sense, since it's crazy sunburn weather here and it's not as if Irish people do too well in the sun. But I am now obsessed with Irish people and am trying to figure out how to fit Irish into my ideal combination of the blonde haired, blue eyed, Greek Australian Jew. Yeah, not quite sure how that's going to work.
So far on our journeys Antonio and I have been to Sydney, Byron Bay, Brisbane, and now we are in the Noosa Heads. Byron Bay was absolutely wonderful- we met some really wonderful people about thirty seconds after checking in (including an Irish boy). The two days in Byron were not nearly long enough, and were filled by long days on the beach, volleyball, sunset adventures to the lighthouse, hummus, and my first sunburn of our voyage. It was hard to leave the great people and wonderful accommodation in Byron, especially when Brisbane turned out to be a major disappointment. The hostel was in a good location, but there is NOTHING to do in Brisbane. At all. We went to museums. And after being by beaches, we couldn't wait to get back.
Which brings me to Noosa. I want to live here. It's gorgeous. I've picked out my beach view house. The hostel has a spa and beautiful flowers that creep into the bedrooms in the morning. They're fuchsia. We went on a hike today around Noosa National Park and walked through a nudist beach filled with old men. Alicia would have loved it. In about an hour we are leaving to go to Hervey Bay, where we will stay the night awaiting our trip to the white sands of Fraser Island in the morning. Here is the itinerary for the rest of my trip:
Nov. 21- leave Noosa, head to Hervey Bay for the evening
Nov. 22- Spend the day in Fraser Island, head to Airlie Beach over night on Greyhound
Nov. 23- Arrive in Airlie Beach, spend the day lounging around, stay the night in Airlie Beach
Nov. 24- Depart for sailing in the Whitsundays. Stay on boat overnight
Nov. 25- Still sailing in the Whitsundays. Still sleeping on the boat.
Nov. 26- Arrive back in Airlie Beach around noon. Hang around for a bit. Depart for Cairns overnight on Greyhound.
Nov. 27- Arrive in Cairns early in the morning. Going snorkeling. Stay the night in Cairns.
Nov. 28- Cape Tribulation= Reef and Rainforest. Staying in Cape Trib
Nov. 29- More Cape Trib.
Nov. 30- More Cape Trib
Dec. 1- Head back to Cairns or may stay in Cape Trib for one more night. Not sure yet.
Dec. 2- Fly out from Cairns in the morning, arrive in Alice Springs in afternoon. Hang around in the desert for the day.
Dec. 3- Wandering around in the desert, riding camels. Sleeping under the stars.
Dec. 4- Going to Ayers Rock. Sleeping under the stars. Getting eaten by spiders.
Dec. 5- Rock part II. Returning to Alice Springs, spending the night in the city.
Dec. 6- Flying out of Alice Springs back to Melbourne. Accommodation to be determined. Probably staying with Emma or going back to Whiltey for a few days. We shall see.
Dec. 6-10- Doing last minute gift buying in Melbourne/saying goodbye to Australia.
Dec. 11- I fly back home!!
So that's it. That is the rest of my stay in Australia with roughly what I will be doing. I hope you all have a lovely Thanksgiving and will think of me sailing in pristine Australian waters while you eat your turkey and fall asleep on the couch. Love you! Hopefully will write again once I get to Alice Springs!!
Monday, November 12, 2007
Parting Thoughts
Tonight is my last night at Whitley. I am sitting in the computer lab entirely ready to go out, and am fully disappointed that no one was up for it tonight. I fly out tomorrow for Sydney to stay with Rafal and re-connect with the Polish side of the family I've never met. I'm really excited to be traveling again, but I have mixed feelings about leaving Whitley and Melbourne in general. I wish people weren't studying/going home now because I will very likely not see most of them again after tomorrow morning and I want to spend time with them and I can't. Despite having multiple "meal" dates today, I actually feel ridiculously lonely. I know I'll be fine tomorrow, but I am having serious issues getting through this night. I don't want to go to sleep because my room is bare and prison-like with half-packed bags, and I have several unresolved issues that I have to figure out before I can even fall asleep. I definitely should have waited until tomorrow morning to leave notes for some people....
I really have enjoyed it here, despite some bullshit and some personal drama, I'm definitely glad I got to stay in a residential college. I'm excited to come back after Alice Springs and see Emma and Anna and all again- they've been my life support here. But I am going miss some people terribly. I decided today that I hate saying goodbyes. It never was a problem for me before because I always figured that if people cared that much to stay in touch they would, and it's not like you're that far away. But I know that there are people here that if I was here for longer would become even better friends than they already are, and its the kind of thing that you can't really duplicate solely over facebook. Much of my time here has been about the experiences. Next semester there will be new freshers, new Americans, a new start. When I first came to Whitley I remember how jealous I was of Marty because everyone talked about how much they loved him. Feeling the way I do now, I'll be really sad if they don't talk about me in the same way.
I know that I'm not leaving Australia tomorrow. I know that there are going to be many more stories and experiences. But I also know that when I leave tomorrow it will be back to living out of my suitcase until I get home. I guess in that respect I'll be really happy to get back to a "stable" living environment.
Right, I can't deal with this right now so I'm going to go sob in my room.
I really have enjoyed it here, despite some bullshit and some personal drama, I'm definitely glad I got to stay in a residential college. I'm excited to come back after Alice Springs and see Emma and Anna and all again- they've been my life support here. But I am going miss some people terribly. I decided today that I hate saying goodbyes. It never was a problem for me before because I always figured that if people cared that much to stay in touch they would, and it's not like you're that far away. But I know that there are people here that if I was here for longer would become even better friends than they already are, and its the kind of thing that you can't really duplicate solely over facebook. Much of my time here has been about the experiences. Next semester there will be new freshers, new Americans, a new start. When I first came to Whitley I remember how jealous I was of Marty because everyone talked about how much they loved him. Feeling the way I do now, I'll be really sad if they don't talk about me in the same way.
I know that I'm not leaving Australia tomorrow. I know that there are going to be many more stories and experiences. But I also know that when I leave tomorrow it will be back to living out of my suitcase until I get home. I guess in that respect I'll be really happy to get back to a "stable" living environment.
Right, I can't deal with this right now so I'm going to go sob in my room.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Nostalgia Setting In
How do you say goodbye to people you've really only just started saying hello to? And worse, how do you say goodbye fully knowing that the likelihood of you actually seeing them again is practically non existent? These are my thoughts this weekend as one by one, my friends from Whitley are leaving for home. I've made friends in short periods of time and been sad to lose them, for example when I went to Europe junior year, but Australians are different- they're irreplaceable. Yes, I am looking forward to going home and seeing Hannah, Alicia, Joey, Mike, Rachel, Kevin, etc, again, but I also knew from the beginning that I would see them again when I left. I have had such a good experience in Australia, and a lot of it has been because of how wonderful these people have been to me. Considering I was brought into "the family" after about a week of being at Whitley, my home away from home became cemented fairly quickly. What's more lamentable, however, are the people I've become really good friends with in the last two months or so, and I wish I just had more time for all of us, without exams and extraneous stresses, to just do things and enjoy each other's company.
I am currently avoiding packing up my room, even though I really need to because it makes it real. It means I really am going home, that I really am leaving this country that has showed me so much about myself and the person I want to be. I know I have another month of travel yet to go, and that there will be many more adventures and many more stories, but the fact that I am going to have to pack my suitcases means that from now on, there will be no set, stable place to call home. I'm leaving for good now. I will never again be a student at Melbourne University, never again have class with Conall Cash's dad, never again randomly crash barbecues on the lawn, never again arbitrarily borrow books from the greatest library on earth, never again dress up for a CRD, never again have a Cafe, never again go for a Puggs Thursday. I feel like I've taken so much for granted, that I should have done more, seen more, gone out more. But then again, one has to sleep too.
I don't know what I'm going to do in a few weeks when Antonio will leave me in Cairns for New Zealand. Seriously, I've made so many good friends I just can't stomach the idea of leaving them as solely part of my experience in Australia. I want to take them with me, I want to have crazy nights in Philly. I know for some of them this is a reality- Sneha and I are already plotting things. But when again will I be able to hang out with Germans, Swedes, Italians, Australians, Irish, English all with the common experience of studying in Australia? Never. It's like graduating from high school, except I like the people.
I don't think I can write anymore right now because I'm starting to cry, and it's embarrassing crying in the computer lab. I'll write more later.
I am currently avoiding packing up my room, even though I really need to because it makes it real. It means I really am going home, that I really am leaving this country that has showed me so much about myself and the person I want to be. I know I have another month of travel yet to go, and that there will be many more adventures and many more stories, but the fact that I am going to have to pack my suitcases means that from now on, there will be no set, stable place to call home. I'm leaving for good now. I will never again be a student at Melbourne University, never again have class with Conall Cash's dad, never again randomly crash barbecues on the lawn, never again arbitrarily borrow books from the greatest library on earth, never again dress up for a CRD, never again have a Cafe, never again go for a Puggs Thursday. I feel like I've taken so much for granted, that I should have done more, seen more, gone out more. But then again, one has to sleep too.
I don't know what I'm going to do in a few weeks when Antonio will leave me in Cairns for New Zealand. Seriously, I've made so many good friends I just can't stomach the idea of leaving them as solely part of my experience in Australia. I want to take them with me, I want to have crazy nights in Philly. I know for some of them this is a reality- Sneha and I are already plotting things. But when again will I be able to hang out with Germans, Swedes, Italians, Australians, Irish, English all with the common experience of studying in Australia? Never. It's like graduating from high school, except I like the people.
I don't think I can write anymore right now because I'm starting to cry, and it's embarrassing crying in the computer lab. I'll write more later.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Procrastination, Part II
So this weekend I had my crazy 21st. It definitely lived up to be a (not) memorable night. Yeah. My room looked really good though! Pictures soon, I hope!
In a further effort of procrastination, I've decided to make a list of things I miss about home and things I don't miss. This will probably be followed within a month of things I will miss about Australia and things I will not miss.
I Miss
- Bryn Mawr
- Long Showers
- Driving
- Reese's Peanut butter cups
- Real Sushi
- Alicia
- Hannah
- Lily
- Having money
- Nip/Tuck
- Having things work correctly
- My computer
- Acapella/Theater/Extra Curriculars
- Philly
- The Castle
- Home cooked/healthy food
- Buying books
- Movies being released in the States nowish!!
Don't Miss
- Extensive amounts of reading/work
- Cinnaminson and all of its BS
- Boredom
- Cleaning up after Lily
- Peter Pan Bakery
- the mess that is likely my room right now
- Did I already mention Cinnaminson?
I suppose my "miss" list is bigger than my "don'ts"- which is probably a good thing because it may mean I come home after all. Although if we can move out of Cinnaminson before I get back I might be more inclined to do so.
In a further effort of procrastination, I've decided to make a list of things I miss about home and things I don't miss. This will probably be followed within a month of things I will miss about Australia and things I will not miss.
I Miss
- Bryn Mawr
- Long Showers
- Driving
- Reese's Peanut butter cups
- Real Sushi
- Alicia
- Hannah
- Lily
- Having money
- Nip/Tuck
- Having things work correctly
- My computer
- Acapella/Theater/Extra Curriculars
- Philly
- The Castle
- Home cooked/healthy food
- Buying books
- Movies being released in the States nowish!!
Don't Miss
- Extensive amounts of reading/work
- Cinnaminson and all of its BS
- Boredom
- Cleaning up after Lily
- Peter Pan Bakery
- the mess that is likely my room right now
- Did I already mention Cinnaminson?
I suppose my "miss" list is bigger than my "don'ts"- which is probably a good thing because it may mean I come home after all. Although if we can move out of Cinnaminson before I get back I might be more inclined to do so.
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