Hey!
I guess it's been a while since my last update. There hasn't been much to update on, though. Since being home from spring break, I've spent most of my time doing work. In 10 days, I wrote almost 10,000 words worth of papers. It was a bit exhausting. I am now pretty much incapable of carrying on an intelligent conversation- I've run out of academia for the foreseeable future.
The good news from all this is that I'm nearly done! Only one paper stands between me and next weekend, and this is the final week of classes. Also, Australian uni's are weird, because some classes end before the final week: I only have 1 class that's still meeting (the others dropped off a week or even 2 ago, sweetness).
Not to worry though, I've still squeezed in some fun. :) Classes ending has reminded my friends and I how much stuff we want to do before heading to our respective countries, so we've been doing a lot of tourist-y things in Sydney during the weekends. I went to the zoo last weekend, lots of fun. They have a baby elephant, Luk Chai, who is really cute! Also a regular fixture on the nightly news. (Australia's news is not what you would hope. Apparently not much happens here, ergo they put things like the newborn elephant on the news almost weekly.)
For those NCer's out there, I hope you're enjoying the fair. I haven't been in a couple years, so I was really missing it. But we found a solution: Luna Park! Luna Park is this amusement park on the north side of the Sydney Harbor bridge (the opposite side of the city), and a bunch of us decided to check it out Friday night. It was really small by US theme park standards, and also nearly empty. But it was exactly what we wanted. It had many of the standard fair rides (no roller coasters, it was more like the fair than a theme park), cotton candy (which they call fairy floss), random people dressed up walking around(Australian take on clowns? maybe), even an arcade. There were also some things uniquely Australian- the creepy/smiling face you walk through in the entrance, meat pies, and some really random rides. There was one where about 8 people sat with their backs to each other on this big circular thing, almost like a really gently-sloped hill, which spun around pretty fast. The goal was to not get spun off, and it was hilarious. While waiting in line for it, I got to watch a group of kids all under 10 do it, and as they tried not to fall off they would make hysterical faces. Additionally the ride operator would make you do stuff to help the sliding off process (pick up your feet, touch your toes, tickle the person next to you,etc). All in all, a good night. The only thing missing was funnel cake. :)
A couple weeks ago I realized that I only have about 2 weeks left in Sydney. After this next week I'm traveling, coming back for a week to take my exam, then heading off to Melbourne, New Zealand and who knows where else before coming back to the states. With this came lots of conflicting emotions: excitement (both for travel and to see all you lovely people), shock, and the feeling of "Aahh! There's so much more I want to do in Sydney!! How did I put it off until the last minute?!" The latter feeling prompted the aforementioned activities, with more in the works.
That's all I've got for now. I'm sure in the coming weeks I'll have lots of adventures to share. Thanks for everyone's emails and love!
Love from down under,
Emma
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Spring break in October!
Welcome to October everyone!
I can hardly believe it's here already. While I'm sure you all are getting the first tastes of chilly weather, falling leaves, and the state fair, I have spent the past week alternating between the ocean and the rainforest. Yes that's right, I just had spring break.
And let me tell you, spring break was amazing. My friends and I basically packed as much activity into 11 days as possible. If I were to tell you everything we did, this would be a long email indeed. :) But I'll spare you all the details, and give you the highlights.
My favorite thing definitely was the 3 day sailing trip we went on first. We spent the days sailing around the Whitsunday Islands, snorkeling, scuba diving, and playing on the beaches. It was some of the most incredible stuff I've ever seen- I felt like I was in the Little Mermaid or something. Scuba diving was really fun, and very surreal- it feels so unnatural to just breathe normally underwater. It's also strange to look up and realize that there is 25 feet of water between you and the open air. :) We also went to some of the most beautiful beaches, including Whitehaven beach, which is considered one of the top five in the world. It was made of 98% silica, which means that the sand is really soft and white.
After that trip we jumped on an overnight bus to get up to Cairns. Let me back up: my friend Elyse and I planned this spring break trip and a bunch of our friends came with us, so we were traveling with anywhere between 6 and 9 people at any given time. Which was great fun, but also made agreeing on a restaurant difficult at times. :) But seriously, so worth it. It also meant that we were always "that group." Also because we were all of different nationalities (American, Canadian, British, German, Australian).
The first thing we did in Cairns? Shower. The boat didn't have showers, and then we'd spent the night on a Greyhound, so we were going on about 4 days without showering. I'm sure the other bus passengers loved us. :)
Every day in Cairns we did some amazing/crazy activity: whitewater rafting, sea kayaking, hiking/exploring the rainforest, swimming in waterfalls.... it was amazing. Interestingly, I was the only one of our group who had ever been whitewater rafting, which made it that much more exciting for everyone else. Also, when we stopped for lunch we saw a four-foot eel gliding through the water we'd been swimming in 10 minutes ago, which kind of freaked some people out. This trip was definitely geared to our age group- the tour guides did a lot of crashing into each other, encouraging us to pull our friends in other boats into the water, and at times purposefully tipping our boat. We also jumped off a 30 foot tall rock into the water, which was so much fun, except for the guy who bellyflopped.
Two days we drove into the rainforest. Both days our tour guides were awesome, but they were very different types of trips. One was aimed more at the 20something/student crowd- the guide had a decidedly hippie feel to him, the bus we traveled in was named Wally(and was very sensitive about people talking about his A/C), and while driving down winding mountainous roads played Beach Boys' "Surfing Safari" and we all stood in our seats and "surfed." So much fun. The other trip was on a really fancy bus, we had two teatimes during the day, and the tour guide was just as friendly and knowledgeable but maybe not quiet as.... ridiculous. It was funny to contrast the two. We saw all kinds of wildlife- goannas (Australian name for iguana-type things), sharks, water dragons, turtles, all the fish and coral you can imagine (including humuhumunukunukuapua'a!), parrots, and other things that my sleep-deprived brain cannot remember right now. :)
One day we took a ferry out to Fitzroy Island, which is part of the official Great Barrier Reef National Park. We spent the day sea kayaking, playing on a water trampoline (which is fun, and there's not really any danger of falling off, because if you do you land in the water), snorkeling and exploring the island. It was here that we saw a sea turtle right before we left. We also rented an underwater camera for the day, which made the day even more exciting- although of the 650 pictures we took that day, about 150 of them are just gray, or white. (For the record, I did not take all 650. We shared the camera between 8 of us. But yes, I did take most of them.)
The whole week was sunny and beautiful and warm. We all came back much tanner than before, which I have had to cover up because it's been cold and rainy since coming back to. This week has been mostly catching up on sleep (we got about 5-6 hours of sleep each night all week on break), working on my 3 big papers I have due very soon, and editing photos (as a procrastination tool when I'm supposed to be writing my papers). The weekend is looking low key as well- lots of work to do. The great part about it is that once these three papers are done, basically all I have left is one final paper and one final exams, and I'm home free. :) I love the Australian lack of final exams.
I love you all! Enjoy the fall- I'm loving the spring, but I do miss the falling leaves and such. I miss you all and love your emails- they make me smile.
Love from down under,
Emma
I can hardly believe it's here already. While I'm sure you all are getting the first tastes of chilly weather, falling leaves, and the state fair, I have spent the past week alternating between the ocean and the rainforest. Yes that's right, I just had spring break.
And let me tell you, spring break was amazing. My friends and I basically packed as much activity into 11 days as possible. If I were to tell you everything we did, this would be a long email indeed. :) But I'll spare you all the details, and give you the highlights.
My favorite thing definitely was the 3 day sailing trip we went on first. We spent the days sailing around the Whitsunday Islands, snorkeling, scuba diving, and playing on the beaches. It was some of the most incredible stuff I've ever seen- I felt like I was in the Little Mermaid or something. Scuba diving was really fun, and very surreal- it feels so unnatural to just breathe normally underwater. It's also strange to look up and realize that there is 25 feet of water between you and the open air. :) We also went to some of the most beautiful beaches, including Whitehaven beach, which is considered one of the top five in the world. It was made of 98% silica, which means that the sand is really soft and white.
After that trip we jumped on an overnight bus to get up to Cairns. Let me back up: my friend Elyse and I planned this spring break trip and a bunch of our friends came with us, so we were traveling with anywhere between 6 and 9 people at any given time. Which was great fun, but also made agreeing on a restaurant difficult at times. :) But seriously, so worth it. It also meant that we were always "that group." Also because we were all of different nationalities (American, Canadian, British, German, Australian).
The first thing we did in Cairns? Shower. The boat didn't have showers, and then we'd spent the night on a Greyhound, so we were going on about 4 days without showering. I'm sure the other bus passengers loved us. :)
Every day in Cairns we did some amazing/crazy activity: whitewater rafting, sea kayaking, hiking/exploring the rainforest, swimming in waterfalls.... it was amazing. Interestingly, I was the only one of our group who had ever been whitewater rafting, which made it that much more exciting for everyone else. Also, when we stopped for lunch we saw a four-foot eel gliding through the water we'd been swimming in 10 minutes ago, which kind of freaked some people out. This trip was definitely geared to our age group- the tour guides did a lot of crashing into each other, encouraging us to pull our friends in other boats into the water, and at times purposefully tipping our boat. We also jumped off a 30 foot tall rock into the water, which was so much fun, except for the guy who bellyflopped.
Two days we drove into the rainforest. Both days our tour guides were awesome, but they were very different types of trips. One was aimed more at the 20something/student crowd- the guide had a decidedly hippie feel to him, the bus we traveled in was named Wally(and was very sensitive about people talking about his A/C), and while driving down winding mountainous roads played Beach Boys' "Surfing Safari" and we all stood in our seats and "surfed." So much fun. The other trip was on a really fancy bus, we had two teatimes during the day, and the tour guide was just as friendly and knowledgeable but maybe not quiet as.... ridiculous. It was funny to contrast the two. We saw all kinds of wildlife- goannas (Australian name for iguana-type things), sharks, water dragons, turtles, all the fish and coral you can imagine (including humuhumunukunukuapua'a!), parrots, and other things that my sleep-deprived brain cannot remember right now. :)
One day we took a ferry out to Fitzroy Island, which is part of the official Great Barrier Reef National Park. We spent the day sea kayaking, playing on a water trampoline (which is fun, and there's not really any danger of falling off, because if you do you land in the water), snorkeling and exploring the island. It was here that we saw a sea turtle right before we left. We also rented an underwater camera for the day, which made the day even more exciting- although of the 650 pictures we took that day, about 150 of them are just gray, or white. (For the record, I did not take all 650. We shared the camera between 8 of us. But yes, I did take most of them.)
The whole week was sunny and beautiful and warm. We all came back much tanner than before, which I have had to cover up because it's been cold and rainy since coming back to. This week has been mostly catching up on sleep (we got about 5-6 hours of sleep each night all week on break), working on my 3 big papers I have due very soon, and editing photos (as a procrastination tool when I'm supposed to be writing my papers). The weekend is looking low key as well- lots of work to do. The great part about it is that once these three papers are done, basically all I have left is one final paper and one final exams, and I'm home free. :) I love the Australian lack of final exams.
I love you all! Enjoy the fall- I'm loving the spring, but I do miss the falling leaves and such. I miss you all and love your emails- they make me smile.
Love from down under,
Emma
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)