Melbourne Monday-Friday (***Long Post***)

When Monday (6/1) rolled around I was feeling a bit of mixed emotions. I set my alarm for early so that I could make sure I was ready by the time we needed to leave. Elizabeth wasn't ready on time and missed the first train. But that wasn't a big deal because she was able to catch the next one. I on the other hand got some extra time and got to travel up to Wollongong with Aussie. She works up in that area, and it's a little closer to Sydney so I just took the train from there. I was truly petrified when Aussie dropped me off at the Train station. Don't get me wrong, I was excited, but I was more scared than anything else. (When I got back and told Jersey Aussie how scared I was when she dropped me off, she told me that she had absolutely no clue. )

      I must have looked like I had been to the train station a lot because heaps of people came up to me to ask me about the next train, and it's stops. Eh, I'm happy I can pull off looking like I belong in a place I've never been before. Once on the train I found the one row of empty seats, made myself comfy, left room on the seat next to me and sleep for about 45 minutes, only looking up when a women sat next to me.
   After eventually hearing that we were getting close to central I started up a conversation with the women sitting next to me on the train. She was excited by the fact that I've been to New York City. It was one of her dream places to go.

    When we reached Central she pointed out a few different directions that I could go in for some touristy attractions. For a while I stayed in central with WiFi and called my family and a couple friends who had been begging to talk.
 I ended up just walking around the city eventually ending up at Darling Harbor. I stopped and looked in stores as I walked and even ended up buying a really nice $2 swim top.

    My day in Sydney ended up turning into a night in Sydney when my flight was canceled. This actually turned out well because I was able to switch to the airport in Melbourne that was MUCH closer. Jet Star also put me up in a beautiful hotel with a free expensive breakfast.

When I finally reached Melbourne I got a little misdirected when walking to my hostel. But after 20 minutes I found my way to my hostel that was only 3 minutes from the bus station......opps! 

I made friends with some french guy who I ended up making a pasta dinner with after he walked with me to coles. After chilling with him and his friends for a bit they all just started speaking french so I went to make friends with the only 2 other backpackers who were speaking English.  Both from the UK. Later on their friends from Germany joined up and we kicked back with some beers while playing some card games. I was then invited to go out with them, but I was so tired I couldn't keep my eyes open so I headed to my bed. 

   On Wednesday I learned that a few of my friends from surf camp were in Melbourne. So I made plans to meet up with them throughout the day.

I did a walking tour with Andy one of my surf camp friends. He is actually from Florida! While on the tour I made rally good friends with Laura, a girl from Illinois who now lives in San Diego. She was so chill.

 

 

 

After our tour I went with Laura to meet her friend from back in the states. We went to this super chill artsy bar, which was in a ally way. I'm pretty sure that was my favorite bar of our night. Later on we headed to the guys hostel, the space hotel, so that they could shower and show off their roof top common area with a spa!!! We also grabbed a drink at the hostel's bar.
    As 9:30 rolled in we ventured to the queen Victoria market for food. Both Laura and I didn't even have the though of food on our mind until we smelt food on our walk to the guys hostel. At the market I was so hungry I really couldn't tell or know what I wanted to eat. I eventually settled for a dish from Spain. 

  While eating the guys were telling us about a bar they heard of where you walk through the ally with street art. You walk up the stairs and knock on the door and they let you in...maybe....if they do you then choose the east or west side. And yea the rest is pretty much a regular (expensive) bar, but only with table service only.  I had so much fun with Laura and the guys! I really hope to meet up with Laura again eventually, even if it's in San Diego!

Dinner!!

12 Apostels

 Thursday I woke up early to go meet my tour. The guide, Sean, gave me shot gun after I told him the it was my last two days in Melbourne. I basically had the best views of everything, and the ability to charge my phone the entire time for pictures. Our tour started out with introductions of ourselves to the group. Our first stop was made in a  little town park where we enjoyed morning tea. I made friends with  Karyn, a sweet girl from the Uk. We basically became a group of two. We made some breath taking stops along the Great Ocean road and stopped at the 12 apostels, and then another area that I forget the name of, but there was a famous ship wreck there, with a beautiful beach.  

 About an hour later we stopped at a rain forest that reminded me of my childhood adventures with Allie!! I took pictures, but the pictures don't show how beautiful the place really is! The trees are enormous! There was one tree that had fallen but a good amount was still standing. However the part that was standing had a "tunnel" through the bottom that you can walk through. I didn't walk through it because the myth is that if you walk through it (and your a female) you will become pregnant. So I just stuck to doing a handstand at the opening.

   Later on in the day we stopped to see Kolas in their natural habitat. Which I thought was absolutely amazing!! While there I heard a familiar voice. I went to take a picture of a kola in a tree as did another girl. Her phone case looked like I had seen it before along with the blonde hair. As she was taking a picture I asked "Are you Delphine?"  The next thing I heard was "Is my conscious speaking to me?" When she turned around she and I both were so excited to see each other again!!!! I had met her when I was up in Coffs Harbor at Spot X Surf Camp.  She helped plan our trip to Byron Bay. It was a nice reunion with her, and I got to meet her traveling mate as well! I hope to see them again eventually too!!!

  On our way to the Hostel we made a few more stops. One at the end of the great ocean road, a few at beaches and view points, one at a light house, and then the last was at a drive through liquor store.
  We reached Bells Beach Backpackers around 8pm and got started on making dinner right away. Sean made us an Aussie dinner on the barbie. There was heaps of different meats. I had a little bit of everything excepts the lamb.

 

 

 After dinner we all just chilled. Karyn, Catatonia and I were on a mission to find chocolate. We left the hostel to find a 7Eleven, but we found a petrol station with a convince store much closer! We all stocked up on a few pieces  of different chocolate candies and headed back. When we got back I took a shower and hit the hay!


*****This post is wayy to long I'm stopping it here, just like this... READ ABOUT THE PENGUINS on my NEXT post*****

Sunset on the Plane as I write this post

What a Year!!

As 2013 flew by me, I flew through it! It was a crazy year, but one if my favorites so far. 

 The year started off with Annie onBroadway and then Surgery to getmy appendix  removed. 

  February I celebrated my birthday as well as my last swim meet, finally being able to comfortably eat after surgery, and   being able to buy and redeem lottery tickets. I also started working at the day care.

 March I began to weigh options for after graduation. These included Vet tech Institute, Becker or taking a gap year. I took a week off from school and followed  Laura and the WPMB to Disney with my parents and Elizabeth. I loved our time in Sea World, by far my favorite theme park.   I also visited Pittsburg to check out Vet Tech institute . I basically knew that I wasn't going to go there after spending some time with Aussie and hearing all her  backpacking stories. I had also decided that I was going to visit her in OZ during my winter break. Which if I went to vet tech I wouldn't be able to do. 

  April began with acceptance student's day at Becker. And that made my final decision to attend Becker.  I spent my spring break working and dog siting. May   Began to pick up speed with preparation for the end of the school year, graduation and getting accepted into  Loop Abroad's vet service program.  Which Is when i started this blog. I spent most of may fostering and raising money for my trip to thailand. 

 June was a blur. I had a foster puppy who gave birth the night before prom. I had prom and a busy but low key (if that makes sense) prom weekend. I really enjoyed my time with the girls and Ben.  I also graduated Whippany Parkand started   preparing for thailand.

 July was the best month of 2013 withan absolutely     amazing service trip to Chaing mai with some pretty cool people. I ended up getting heat stroke and missing my week at ENP, but my first week was incredible so it made it much worth my trip. 

 I got back from Thailand and it was august. Coming home pretty out of it from a killer migraine made Becker's move in day come up so fast. I started college and began to learn to live away from home. 

  September was all about learning my new routine and making friends. And then spending the night with a friend in the hospital after her surgery. 

  October I landed back in the ER after and ultimate Handstand fail that made my right arm swell up 4xs it's size. My arm had became an attraction for the doctors at UMass general. 

  November Flew by. I couldn't believe that I was almost done with my first semester. I had a great thanks giving home with my family and my Molly girl. Ot made it harder to go back to school for 2 more weeks. 

  December, another fantastic month. I spend most of it in a different hemisphere. I also had many first. 

2013 was a fantastic year, Can't wait to see what 2014 has instore!  

nuff said

Boxing Day

Today is December 26th, also know as Boxing day. At home it is written in on all of the calendars but not widely celebrated. Here in Australia, it's like their black friday.  It's neat how different things are here seen or celebrated here.  I love learning/experiencing it. 

  Today we went to the local pub to meet Jody's parents and enjoyed some chips "aka french fries".  We then went to look at two look at two local surf shops and then headed to Kiama. Kiama is a town along the shore line with 2 blow holes and a natural rock pool. I forgot my camera/phone today to take pictures. But google it. It's a pretty neat town. After our stroll along the shore line we grabbed drinks at the Kiama Inn (a bar). I had a berry cider. I really enjoyed that. I'm not so into apple ciders, but the berry flavored ones I do enjoy! 

Now we are just chilln'

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Merry Christmas from the other side of the world!! 

Above is a a photo of me doing a headstand on the top of a water fall. The space between the rocks and the trees os actually a huge gap. With a very far drop. 

I was on top of that doing the above. That's how I spent my Christmas Eve day! Well, sorta, I actually slept intill about   1pm!!! I guess traveling and surfing wore me out a tad. 

  Aussie made really delicious pancakes that I ate for lunch before heading off to the beautiful place pictured above.  I wasn't so sure I could do A good handstand especially on rocks, with a cliff just beside me. So I thought the best thing was a headstand. 

  Late we went to another look out area where we saw well just look for your self! 

The blue you see is the ocean. It was a bit hazy, so you can't clearly see the beaches in the picture. But I saw them in person. Pretty neat ehy? 

For dinner we headed to the local pub. I had a delectable pasta dish and a 4w something beer. Or 3. It was a good people watch night, as i couldn't believe how many people were out on christmas eve parting at a bar. Maybe it's just because everyone I know always has plans for christmas parties and such, but it threw me off a bit. We also met Aussie's and Jody's neighbors at the bar.  Rachael (i believe her name is) is so sweet and funny!! I enjoyed chatting with her!! 

Today, (well I guess by now, it's yesterday) Aussie, & Axel woke me up around 9am. (Boy, not sure why I'm just so tired, maybe it's catch up from my last 2 weeks at Becker)  but anyways, Elizabeth and I were patiently waiting for present timeuntil  after breakfast, but Luckily Aussie couldn't hold out, so for the first time ever I got to open before breakfast!!!!!!!!!! It was so exciting!! Lol I love the necklace from my mother and the card from my father I'm sure I'll keep forever!! Sometimes, it's what is written in the card that means more than the gift itself. I love heart filled written cards!! (And Nana I know you will be at least the one person who reads this so, I really liked my christmas PJ's again this year!!!! One of my favorite shades of blue, and with penguins, you are a rockstar Nan!) 

 Jody made us bacon eggs and toast. I ate it all like a champ. (Of course with some maple syrup).  I guess Becker's breakfasts have made me a less picker eater. However, it may just be when I travel I eat whatever? I'm not sure. But it's good!  

 

Later on we headed up to Jody's parent's house for christmas lunch. He has 3 young nieces who remind me a little bit of my cousins and I on christmas (or just in general) when we were younger.  Jody's parents welcomed us with open arms in their home on christmas day. I'm so grateful for that, and the chocolates!!!

  Lunch was amazing. I tried Aussie's cranberry sauce which was awesome- it tasted like dessert food!! And I tried prongs,which  are very much like shrimp, but in my option, better. There was also the usual such as turkey, ham, beff, potatoes and such. All amazing! (And you know I enjoyed it because I went back for seconds!! I never even finish my plate for Holiday meals, although that could be from picking all day when it's all made at my home) By the way I love being 18 over here!!! I got to celebrate with some really good wine? Or champagne! 

 Elizabeth and I played with the girls for a bit after lunch while dessert was coming. They were really adorable!  Dessertwas awesome   as well.   Homemade ice cream was served as well as some homemade cream!!! Ahhhh so good on top of my pies!!

After the girls left we relaxed for a bit in the spa and then headed back to Aussie's. i fought my sleep for a while on the ride back and then my sleep one and I woke up when we got back. 

 We ended the night with a movie, and planing our next couple of days.  

Although this christmas wasn't nearly as busy as usual, i really enjoyed it!! I missed my family and friends that I didn't celebrate with, but I enjoyed my Holiday with the people I did spend it with! 

On that note, it's 1:23 am (on Boxing Day) so Goodnight mate!!! And Merry Christmas!!! 

  

Day 3 at Mojo's Day 2 of surfing

Well, as much as I thought I was getting the hang of surfing, I'm really not so sure I am. I did great in my morning session. The waves were "amazing", but then in the afternoon they were a bit more rough.  But I still managed to get up quite a bit.  I still enjoyed and improved a lot. 

 After I was done surfing for the day I shower and then hung out and had Ice cream with Iris, Swiss (aka Remo) & Julie until Iris left and Elizabeth found us.

Elizabeth and I headed to the travel sake to finish planning the rest of out weekend in Byron Bay with Dolphine. (Oh my gosh I love her. She has got the BEST personality, and is just so cool and chill.)

Tonight we played a never ending game of BS while craving chocolate. Julie and I also made some tea, which ended up burning my toung then spilling all over.  (I still can't taste.) 

Tonight was basically a chill night with an early bedtime. 

Oh yea, I also helped the ladies in the santa hats make a christmas "movie" for their family. I was in one of the songs!! 

Day 4 at Mojo's Day 3 of surfing

Well, I can Say I absolutely LOOOOVE IT HERE! Everyone is wicked nice. (Btw  Mass friends  I met some who used the term wicked) 

Today Julie and I woke up at 6am to go on a run on the beach. Honestly It wasn't that hard to get up and ready, it was harder to wake up. But I woke up shortly after a breakfast. Believe it or not but I ran for about 30 minutes. And for those of you who know how I run, I know its hard to believe. (I walked a few times after the first 17 minutes of running, but Julie kept me motivated to keep running) 

I took the next to hours rinsing in the shower, eating more bananas and applying sun cream. 

My morning Surf lesson went well, not so well, I had TONS of nose dives. I think I got up 1 or 2 times. I was getting so frustrated, and my face hurt. Actually my face burnt, stung and was in pain, so badly that I couldn't touch it.  But I sucked it up and kept trying. I ended up getting a fantastic last wave. 

In between my lessons I laid out in the beautiful weather and enjoyed the fire they call sunlight.  I also stretched my body out a great deal. 

For my 2:30 lesson I was ready to go back and surf after a nap on the grass.  Though my enthusiasm was only short lived when I got out in the water and the waves kept dumping on me.  I couldn't even get up on a wave, and my face was bothering  me again. After about 4 mouthfuls of seaweed I just gave up, especially when I saw that Delphine was going in. (Only because I didn't want to carry my board alone.)  

     It turned out to be all good because Delphine and I took some pictures on the beach. Hers came out better but I have a few good ones as well. They'll be on fb soon. 

   After pictures I was catching up on some blogging and found Julie. Who I of course got Ice cream with. 

  When Elizabeth got back from the free surf that turned into body surfing, we showered up and headed to line up for dinner. 

  Again we were all craving chocolate, so we gave Swiss some money to get up TimTams when he went to the bottle shop.

When he got back it was another party night. I started up with water by the fire and ended up with goone at the beach. Don't worry I remember everything. There was just a change in plans.  We played some games and then headed to the beach to join the party. We sang some songs and talked a bit. Elizabeth sat away from me and I near Julie and across from Alex and Lucas and some other guys I knew. 

  Later on a jeep pulled up and after a few minutes Julie was gonna walk with me back up to my container and Elizabeth joined. We left at just the right time because the Drunk guy in the jeep started to pee on everyone. (THANK GOODNSS I LEFT thanks Julie for make us leave then)  

But yea. This will always be a night  I'll remember: :) so much fun!!! 

Two partiers trying to take a picture

I swear I wasn't drunk- the guys above just could 't figure my phone out... And when they did: 

I got these-- which would be good if they weren't blurry!! :( 

48 Hours

My first 48 hours down under have been fantastic. 

We spent a few hours walking around and grabing a bite to eat upon leaving the airport. I even had my first drink!!!! So exciting! I had a stawberry cider drink. The first couple of sips I thought it was absolutly   disgusting. But by the fith or sixth sip I really started to enjoy it. The drink almost tasted like sprite mixed with a rasberry flavoring.  After chilling at the bar, or hotel as they call it here, us girls left Jody & headed to the water to see the opera house and so see the bridge. It was a beautiful site. 

On our walk back Aussie gave us a little bit of a history lesson about the first orginial Aussies, who unfortunately have a simillar history to the Native Americans. 

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After sometime in Sydney, we took the scenic rout back to Jody and  Aussie's house. We drove through the national park. Even though it was mostly all woods I found it so beautiful. Unlike in the states, there are a varity of different trees that look quite differentfrom eachother.  We also stoped along the way at a hang glider take off.(it's simillar to Skydiving).  That was pretty amazing as well. It was a relaxing way to sit and enjoy some ice cream.

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At Aussie's house, I finally got to meet her puppy Axel. Who I absolutly ADORE!! I love her personality, size, and overall breed!! (She is a Staffy!!!!!!) Her and I had a good deal of playtime and then when I went to bed she cuddled up beside me. 

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Elizabeth and I had another early morning of waking up at 4 am, because Aussie got us the BEST  Christmas present EVER!!! A WEEK AT MOJOSURF CAMP!!! We took a train to Sydney and then a bus the mojo's. We stopped a few places along the way. (Which was the last time I had Wifi.) During our second stop around 1pm Elizabeth and I went to lunch at McDonalds with Kristy, Dom, and Lucas-a few of our new friends.  I honestly couldn't tell the difference. I like Thailand's Mcdonald's so much better. haha!

 

When we finally reached surf camp we chilled for a bit and hung out until dinner at 6:30. It was a really good dinner, although it was wayyy to much food. A bit later on there was a bottle run, so we sent some money for a friend to get us ourfirst taste at the famous, but terrible goone.(not sure if that is spelt right) I had a half of a glass but then couldn't take it any more, so I moved on to water as we played card games and sat by the fire. 

So yea. Those where my first 48 hours in Australia. I'll add pictures when My phone syncs to google. 

Have a good one!! 

As I finished writting this (on thursday) This little guy came to join me!!