07 November 2007

7 November 2007: Packing up & flying home

HELLO!!! Well its been a busy week trying to get ready to come home. I am completely done my semester with folios and exams done as well.. and its soo nice to have a few weeks to relax before I go. I have done most of my packing and I will be ready to take off on FRIDAYYY!!! It's been a GREAT semester, and I would do it all over again if I ever got the chance its a great experience and I am 110% glad that I did it. Thanks mom & dad.

So, what am I doing now?? Well I am just relaxing and enjoying the nice warm weather while I have it, because I know its not so warm at home in the states. Today, a few friends and I packed a lunch and went to the park for a picnic it was very nice and it was soo hott which made it even better. Tonight for dinna there is a barbie so we will get a chance to grill out and chill out with everyone tonight. Tomorrow most people living at halls are packing up and leaving to go home so it will be a quiet day I am sure. So, things are going to be pretty relaxing until I leave. I just need to go up to uni tomorrow to pick up a essay and exam from my teacher so I can get credit for it at Western. I also need to make sure that they have the correct address for them to send over my grades. But, tomorrow is my LAST DAY. Its soo crazy how time flies by.. I can just remember arriving here and now I am leaving. Sounds a bit crazy- its been an aweome adventure, one I will remember for years to come.

So, Friday I leave. I have to catch a taxi at about 7:15 to get to the train station and catch a train. Then I will get to the Melbourne train station by 9:30, and will have to catch the skybus which is the bus that goes to and from the airport every day.. I will have to catch this bus at 10 to get to the airport at 10:30 in time for my flight from Melbourne to LA at 12:20. Will be strange because I leave Melbourne at 12:20 pm and arrive in LA at 7:30 am... so I will a rrive before I leave. Will be LONG day.. but will be nice to see my family by the end of it at 9:30 pm. Then Saturday morning I will be flying to North Carolina to see Ryan for a few weeks & spend thankgiving with him and his family and won't return home until Dec 1st. Then Christmas time will be great seeing all my wonderful family, and Ryan is coming to spend christmas with me this year! So excited!! Anyways.. just wanted to update you on my plans. I still have alot to look forward to. I think I will go take a nanny nap before the barbie tonight.

Love you all & will be looking forward to seeing everyone!!

27 October 2007

Halls Ball '07: 25 October '07

Well, classes are offically over!! That went by sooo fast & quickly. Thursday we had what is called the Halls ball. It's a end of the year formal dinner & award ceromony-then dancing. It was alot of fun. We got to get real dressed up as a last night out with everyone from Halls. I wore my friend Hilary's dress, and Brit's shoes. It was a good time. Each hall, there are 3 of them, had a designed time to go over and get group photos taken of the hall. Our time was 5:20...we headed over to get some photos taken and had some chamagne and finger food while we were waiting (the formal didnt start until 6 pm). After a while, everyone decided to go back and hang out at their hall before the formal began. The formal began with a dinner, we headed over to our desigend dinner and had dinner and awards. It was good fun, and there was of course dancing after wards. It was a good time. I've added some pictures so you should take a look.










So I am in the last 2 weeks of my stay here in Australia! Its been such a great experience and I can not believe that it is over already, I feel like I just arrived. Most of my friends have gone home this week which is SWOVTAC--- its the week between the end of classes and the beginning of exams. Its a week where everyone goes home to study. But I have a pretty busy week as I will be working on getting my ceramic projects ready for assessment and doing a website to submit by next friday. So, things are going well on my side and I am pretty ready to come home and attend to my needs and wants in the states!

LOve you all,
Mandi

19 October 2007

Realizing more about Australia: 19 Oct 2007

Sorry it's been so long since my last post, I was in a rough spot with only days without sleep and nightmares to come...thoughts of Jess. I think its safe to say, I'm back on my feet again. It was a hard couple weeks. This week didnt really consist of much just work and more work. Today, I gave blood for the last time while I'm here and got the 2nd needle of my cervical cancer vacine. I offically have 3 days left of classes and I am super excited about it, but not excited that I have SOOO much work to get done before friday so I will be busy busy until then. I can't believe its all coming to an end, I have 3 weeks left in this wonderful country of Australia. The time flew by soo incredibly fast as everyone told me it would. I'm amazed by the friendships I have gained and the things I have learned while here. I have a new vision of things and see everything in a whole new way. I encourage anyone even just thinking of studying abroad to take the oppurtunity and go.. its a great experience.

It's so funny and true how once you are ready leave is the very moment where you feel commfortable with your surroundings. Everything is all becoming much more ordinary for me- and I know it took me a while but i finally understand what the "tall puppy syndrome" is, which I was told about at orientation in July. Basically this means taht australians dont brag about how well they are doing or how much sucess they have, they refer to everything as good. No one here talks about how they have been working hard or are doing well in their classes. No one gets excited after an exam before they know they aced it. All anyone says about such matter is, "yeah, it was good." This saying is used for alot. When I ask how people's weekends were I usually get the same response. So really, us americans cant tell how things REALLY are because the same response is given for something awesome and something soso- its just that the person doesnt want to brag about it. Really, its kinda annoying because the only way to find out if something awesome happened or didnt happen is to ask a million questions to finally get it out of them. I think its a pretty big shame because you should be allowed to be excited, life is worth it. Its even hard to keep conversations going after responses like, "yeah good".

Anyways that my speech for today! Haha.. I've really been noticing more and more about australia as the days lessen for the time I will be here. But for now, I have got to get started on some more work. But I miss everyone and will see you all soon.

Tons of love,
Mandi

09 October 2007

4-8 Oct 07: Sydney, Cresent Head

I finally made it to Sydney. We got there around lunch time on thursday. We took a taxi, shuttle bus to our Hostel, Wake up! We were able to shower and get settled before I met up with my distant family who lives in Sydney that I have never met before. Nicki and terry (Nicki's father) come to pick up Hannah and I around 2 pm. They showed us around the city of Sydney. We drove around as they ponited out different things, we went to Bondi Beach and took some pictures and then we went back to where they lived and got to meet Sylvia, terry's wife. We were back just in time for dinner. It was a good time. I am glad I met them, it was cool to meet someone related to you. Nicki seemed excited to meet me as well. She is a teacher at a primary school, and her mother is as well. Terry reminded me alot of Pop Pop.




We were exhausted when we got back, we both fell asleep at 8pm and didnt wake up until the morning and didnt even realize it. We checked out by 10 am, and put our stuff in the lockers until the Mojo surf bus came.

After we checked out, Hannah decided that she wanted to sit and do some work for about an hour before we went out into the city. So, while she was doing work I got online. But, I guess I shouldnt of done that because I got some terrible news that I still can't believe. One of my sisters in my sorority, Jess Hadden, passed away friday morning. I think I read the email about 20 times hoping it would change, I just couldn't believe it. I don't even know how to react about it all i could do was bust into tears hoping to see her one day again. I had to hear it from someone that it was true, and that what I was reading was true. I immediately called Ryan and the first thing he said to me when he picked up the phone was.. "Are you ok". He obviously knew what happened, and definatly knew jess and I were close. I wish it wasnt true, this world will never be the same again. Jess was one of those people who was always happy, seeing her smile would make you smile. Her personality was so bubbly and I guess thats why I'm so hurt. I don't understand why she didnt want to be on this planet, she committed sucide. I wish so badly that i could be home with my sisters so we could deal with the loss of Jess together. Its hard dealing with something this tough alone, and on the other side of the world. The wake was on sunday and the funeral was Monday and I hate that I wasnt there. I just wish i could be there, if not for anything else for closure. I loved her so much, and always will. I just don't really know what to think aas of now I guess. She was a good friend, a great sister and I will never forget her. I am glad I will be going to see my sisters the day after I get home, we all need to be together in a time in need. For now I just trying to stay as positive as I can, until I can be with my friends about the situation.



Anyways after I got the news Hannah made me go for a walk with her, and we just chatted. I am glad I have a friend like her here. We went and walked around Darling Hourbour and had some lunch and did some shopping until it was time for us to get on the bus at 5 pm. When we got onto the bus it ended up half the people signed up decided not to come, so we had a very light bus. Once everything was ready and we were set, the driver told us it was a 7 hour bus ride. We kind of flipped out because when we signed up for the trip Ian told us it was a 2 hour drive.

Our first stop was the bottle shop, we were told about a beach party that we were having saturday night and so we stopped if anyone wanted any booze. Everyone got off to make their purchases. Hannah and I split a 24 pack of Carlton. The next and last stop was dinner at Maccas and we headed down to Cresent Head, we arrived at 12 midnight and headed straight to bed. They had 4 rooms of bunk beds, but our group only filled 2. We went straight to bed, because we were meant to be woken up at 7 am to begin our surfing adventures. Kimbo, one of the surf instructors woke us all up at 7 am.. we had brekkie and a lesson and headed down to the beach. The walk down to the beach was quite a long one. Once we got down there, we put on our wetsuits and did some popping up practices before heading into the water. It really isnt as easy as they made it look but it was fun. I fell ALOT but I did make it up about 3 or 4 times which was awesome. I got some scrapes and bruises but it was from all good fun.

We headed back up to camp for lunch and had a seista, and they had a yoga class as well. Then at about 3 pm we headed back down for some surfing. It was hard surfing later in the day, we stayed out until 5 pm and then headed back up for showers and a Barbie (BBQ). After dinner we had a game of Jenga and what ever team lost had to do all the dishes, thank goodness it wasnt me! haha.. then we headed down to the Humpy which was the bonfire area so people at the camp can sleep. I went to bed after a few beers because I was just annoyed. There were some girls from Cali that were only about 17 and just got to Australia.. they were just very immature and annoying the crap out of me, they were so pissed and I couldnt be bothered with it. So I went to bed before I said something I regreted. I'm glad I went to bed early because the night turned into a big mess, and uncomfortable conversations and situations arose.

Sunday we were woke up at 7 am again. We had brekkie and had a surf until about 11 am. Then we come back and showered, packed and had lunch before we got on the bus for our 7 hour bus ride back. When we got back to Wake up! We stayed sunday night. When we got back we basically just passed out because we had to be up at 430 to catch a taxi to the airport. We got to the airport at 5 am, for our flight at 6 am and then arrived at Avaolon airport at 730 and took the sunbus to teh train station, and took the 9:15 train to Bendigo and finally a taxi to my hall. It was a long busy day!

Another good trip! Enjoyed it, and now its back to work. I have 3 more weeks of class and will be flying out of Melbourne on Nov 9th... But for now, I'm off to bed. Hope everyone is doing well and everything is well back in the states!!

Mandi

Back from Holiday: Recap of Fiji

Hello, hello my friends. Well I am finally back from Holiday (they call vacation holiday here). Fiji, Sydney and Cresent Head were all amazing...but I must admit Fiji was the best of 'em all. I don't even know where to start, it was all just so awesome. I left Bendigo on Wednesday afternoon, and got to Melbourne that night. I ended up crashing on Kim's floor that night since Nicola and Hannah were trying to get some work done before we left for our early flight in the morning. My flight was an hour later than theirs because I booked at a different time then the girls, but it all worked out well. Hannah and Nicola didnt sleep that night because they were doing work until we had to catch a taxi at 6 am to the airport (their flight was at 8, and mine was at 9). Thank goodness all my work was due BEFORE holiday so i didn't have anything to worry about until I got back. Anyways we flew from Melbourne to Sydney and then Sydney to Nadi which is the main town or city in Fiji. When we got off the plane in Nadi it was blistering hot and we were all wearing jumpers and trousers because it was cold back in Melbourne. When we got inside we were to go through customs and immagration, and while we waited in these lines there were 4 figians that had the same guitars and played for us as we waited, it was awesome. They had tropical shirts on and blue sulus it was awesome to see when we got off the airplane.

Wow, at first sight fiji was even amazing. Fiji was 2 hours ahead of Australia, so we had to change our clocks forward two hours to make sure things ran smoothly. Once we went through customs, we were to check in at the travel centre where we could get all of our vochers and things for the trip. Then we waited for our transfer bus that would take us to Sky Lodge, our free night of accomadation that came with our package. When we checked in, they ended up havinng me staying in a totally different place than the rest of my group. So since it was a free accomadation I was able to switch to wherever I needed to be. So, all four of us ended up in the same dorm which was good. We took showers, and passed out for the night- we were to be up by 7 am and ready to jump on the awesome adventures bus that would take us to the boat to begin our trip.

At 7:15 we were all set and packed and on the big yellow bus called Awesome Adventures. Our program was through Awesome advantures, our particular package was called Ultimate Lei- Full Monty. When we got to the mainnland, where everything was set and organized for our trip to start the first thinng we neeeded to do was to check in. Since I booked seperately, I had my own vouchers and things and the girls had one. They gave us vouchers for every place we would be staying at and every activitity and event we would be doing, that came with our package. After we were all checked in, they put tags on our bags and told us to jump onto the Yellow Awesome Adventures Boat. This boat was huge, it had three levels and a bar inside. It was like a bus on water. It stopped on every island and if you had the voucher for that island you were to get off. We had a five hour boat ride, until we got to our first island so I pretty much stayed on the top deck and got some sun and took a nap.

DAY ONE- Coral view

At 1pm we got off the Awesome Adventures Boat and arrived at our first Island, Tavewa Island. We arrived at our accomadation, Coral View, at lunch time. We got off the awesome adventures boat onto a small fisherman type boat that would take us to our accomadation. When we arrived there were Figians coming out to greet us and giving us a welcoming glass of juice. It was very nice, and beautiful. When we came inside we all took a seat at the tables, and listened as they explained what was around and where things were and what the plans were for the next few days. Then we were served lunch- it was vegetable curry..very good meal. They seem to really love curry in Australia...and Fiji. I don't think I ever had it in the United States. We then checked in, I was in the dorm because I paid late and the girls were in a 3 person house called a Bula it was quite cute. But it was fun, I met some cool people in there and was able to be more social hah. Then we had the rest of the day to do what we wanted until dinner which was served at 7:30 pm.

Hannah, Nicola, Kim and I got situated in our rooms and then changed, getting ready for the beach. We decided to check out the beach. As we were taking pictures of the Bula and looking around, an old man came to talk to us. He was telling us that his wife was in the original Blue Lagoon movie, and that he's lived on this island for 20 years. I looked around and as peaceful and gorgeous as it is, I dont think I would be able to live on an island for 20 years.. much less 1 year. But, I guess its what you make of it. He also told us about this place, about a 15 minute walk around the island that sells homemade ice cream and cake. Nicola, being the sweet tooth that she is, was excited about this and thoughts maybe we would go find it later today.

We headed down through the trail to the beach, and on our way we saw some random cows it was quite interesting the thinngs you see on the island. The water was like bath water, it was crystal clear and sooo warm. I love it here!! We layed there and played in the water for a while...and then decided to go for a search for homemade ice cream. We finally found it, after walking 15 minutes around the beach! It was well worth it. $1 figian dollar for a big bowl of homemade ice cream! After ice cream we walked back, showered and got ready for dinner. There are NO hott showers on the island, but with the hot humidity really you didnt need a hot one. Dinner was at 7:30 followed by some Figian dancing and games. Then some drinks and a bonfire later.

DAY TWO- Coral View

Today we woke up at 8 am sharp for breakfast. We all had breakfast together for an hour. Then today we had an underwater cave trip to go to as part of our package. I was very excited about this trip. It was at 9:30 am, we all headed down by the beach and got into one of the fisherman's boats. The figian tour guides jumped in as well and took us to the island where Blue Lagoon was shoot. I think i would of enjoyed it more if I have seen that movie, but thats one I never got around to watching. When we arrived we all jumped out and followed the guides up some stairs that led down to the caves. One by one, we jumped into the water. After everyone was in, we swam around for a while in this cave watching the guides jump off the rocks and then proceeded to the first cavern which we had to swim through an underwater tunnel to get to. It was really awesome, very dark but awesome. We swam around for a bit, then the guide had us all sit in the corner so he could tell the stories of the caves. He explained the stories, trying to scare us but then saying all of these things can only be seen with Figian eyes. So basically he made up a bunch of stuff to try and scare us.. it was quite funny though. After the stories, we swam back to the first cave and he explained that one of the rocks was the very rock the lady was sitting on when she had her first monthly period, I'm assuming thats a big part of the movie. I wouldnt know, I never actually have seen the movie. After that we were all ready to get out, sea lice was getting us pretty bad so we all jumped on out and swam at the beach until it was time to go. While we were there, we managed to find a real blue startfish. It was real, I have never seen one in real life. It didnt really do anything at all, so it was no dofferent than a fake one to me, but it was still pretty cool.

We got back just in time for lunch, it was a good lunch. I can't exactly remember what it was that we had but I know it was good. The portions were tiny, but good. After lunch, Nicola decided to go scuba Diving. She was trying to get certified while in Fiji so she had a bunch of courses to do while at each place. Scuba Diving was extra, and i didnt want to pay for it. I was just fine with Snorkeling and such. So while she was diving, the rest of us went and relaxed on the beach. It was so relaxing it wasnt too hot, and definatly not too cold. It was good weather, I actually fell asleep on the beach and of couorse getting so very sunburnt because of it. I did put sunscreen on, but of course not enough. In Fiji you cant use anything lower than 30+, the sun is sooo strong and will burn you within 20 minutes. We were out on the beach for most of the day, I went in the water for some of it because again bath water it was. Gorgeous, and nice. I loved it. After the beach, we took our cold showers (although it felt so good because I was soo burnt) and go ready for dinner and games. After dinner Nicola went back to the room to try and get some work done for a paper she had to get done for when we returned. Kim was very burnt as well- she has pale skin and doesnt like to use sunscreen so she wasnt in the mood of doing anything but sleeping. Hannah and I stayed and played some games. One of the games we played was limbo and we won free cocktails because we won, it was pretty sweet! While playing Limbo, I broke my thongs (flip fllops=thongs in Australia) and they were the only ones I brought to Australia/Fiji so I had to use an extra pair Kim brought for the rest of the trip. Goodness, they were only $2 and from old Navy so it wasnt that big a deal. After the games, we had a bonfire down by the beach but it ended bad. By 11:30 it was over because it started pouring and we ALL RAN to our dorms for the night. It wasn't a good end to a night.

DAY THREE- Coral View/WannaTaxi Cruise

Day three, we didnt do much. Woke up for breakfast at 8 am and had to check out by 9 am and put out bags out by the front. Then we got to lay by the beach and such until we left at lunch time. We took the fisherman boat out to the "Big yellow Boat". About ten minutes after we got on the big boat, we had to switch to a smaller white boat because the yellow one was having engine problems. We all switched on and had some time sitting on this boat. Our next destination was Wannataxi cruise. It was cruise, but it actually didn't move at all which I thought was strange. This boat looked just like the big Yellow Boat from the outside, but inside it was different. It had an inside that was air conditioned with twenty four beds all bunked. Also, inside was a few couches and a TV to lounge around in if you didnt want to be outside. Down the VERY steep stairs, there was ONE shower ( WITH HOT WATER) and stalls for bathroom. Then upstairs from the beds was the upper deck. It wasnt much, there was a bar with a few tables and then a small area where the snorkle gear was located. We got on the boat at about 2 pm and had the rest of the day until dinner to do whatever we wanted. They had a bunch of watersports that were included we were able to use. Dinner was at around 7ish. During the day I didnt really do much. I took advantage of the snorkels and did some snorkeling under the boat which was pretty cool. The boat was pretty high from the water, so a bunch of us decided to jump from the top. It was a thrill for sure, it was real fun. Most of us spendt the rest of the day doing that and snorkeling. Its so fun, most of the people that were at Coral view traveled with us to the wannataxi cruise so it was great to have such a bbig group to travel with through the islands.

Everyone showered and got ready for dinner at 7 pm. We had dancing and games after dinner which were really fun. We had a quiz on Figian facts, and I actually found out alot of things I had no idea about. Alot of films were taped and filmed in fiji that i didnt know about. There are actually 360 islands in Fiji but only 41 of them are reachable and are inhabited. The two big towns in Fiji are Nadi and Suva. The $5 figian bill has the Wannataxi on the back. Bula (how people greet you) means hello and good by. There is no word for Cheers. The next game we played was "The balloon game". This game you blow up a balloon and for each round you put the balloon between you and your partner in a different place each time and the first group to pop their balloon loses. We were the first to get out, guess I'm not so good at that game haha. But it was good fun. Afterwards, we chilled out and had some drinks then headed to bed. It was a good night.

The next day, was good but not as good as the last few days. It rained for most of the day! We woke up for breakfast and then had the rest of the day to do what we wanted. Hannah and I did some Kayaking which was kool, hard work but was good. Although, I got eaten up by some coral after we fell over. It was heaps of fun. Then we did some snorkeling but that didnt last long because there was sooo much sea lice in the water. I think they only come out when its dark and bad weather. For the rest of the afternoon, I sat and played cards with Nora and David. At 3 pm, they sang their goodby song and thanked us for coming and we were off to our next destination.

DAY FOUR/FIVE- Waya Lailai

Next Island was Waya LaiLai Island. This was a nice Island. When we arrived we were took into this room and this lady with a very soft voice explained the details and things around the Island. Here I bought a T-shirt and looked around the Island. After lunch, Sanita and I went on a village visit...everyone else couldnt fit it in with diving and such. Nicola decided to do her diving and get certified, she had a bunch of chapters to read and tests to take and hopefully within two days she will be certified but it costs ALOT of money for all of that. Sanita and I left on the fisherman boat and they took us over to their village and showed us around. We were able to look into te schools and see what the village was like. We saw the teachers, the markets and I saw a Rooster haha. It was interestinng. Then we sat on the beach for a while. It was neat to see their village. Its alot different then a normal life. Then after lunch we went on a summit walk. This walk was a walk from hell. We were to walk to the very top of the moutain, which took an hour and half to walk there, and another hour and half to walk back. I asked the guide if it was ok just to walk in Flip flops and he said it would be fine and I ended up having to take them off and walk barefoot the whole time. My feet were completely cut up and by the time we got back I couldnt even walk. I guess the figians are all use to never wearing shoes thats its ok for them. My feet sure couldnt take it. So if you ever come and think it might be a good idea.. THINK AGAIN. It was horriable and everyone thought it was so funny about how I looked when I came back I looked like I had just been attacked. It was a good view, we saw the sunset and it was gorgeous! I also went on a reef snorkeling trip where I saw sharks, it was real neat.


DAY SIX- Bounty

Our next Island was Mamanuca Island, home of Bounty Resort. This is the resort where Survivor was filmed as well as an Australian show by the name of Love Match- I think thats what it is called. We didnt have much time on this Island. We arrived at about 6:30pm and of course it was still raining. We were given room assignments and I got lucky because I was put in the only air conditioned dorm. The other girls were in the smaller dorm, which was not air conditioned. This was our last night with some of the group so we sat out and hung out drinking and such. I didnt want to spend so much money so I didnt stay out as late as the others. We were meant to leave by 9 am for our last day!

DAY SEVEN- Sea Spray

We took a fishermans boat to the big boat that took us the the sea spray boat. But, Hannah and Nicola never made it onto the fisherman boat so I was pretty worried the whole time wondering when they are going to meet up with us. this was one bad time with having cell phones not working. I couldnt figure out where they were or anything. But eventually they made it to the sea spray boat so I was happy. Here we went on another village visit, and saw the Kava ceromony and browsed around the market that the figian women had set up. Basically they just buy these things from Jack's and sell them for cheaper so earn money. We also got to lay on the beach where Castaway was filmed. It was fun, we tryed to find Wilson but had no luck. Afterwards we setted off back to the white bus- and we were off to our last Island

DAY EIGHT- Beachcomber Island

This was definatly the party Island. I haven't seen more Americans at any other Island. It was quite crazy. But too bad I wasnt feeling well when we were here, but thats good because I didnt want to spend money anyways. I feel asleep at 9 pm but woke up when the girls came back-they were all sick but it seemed like they had good time. But it was good and our last day was sooo hot it was even hot in the shade. People were getting sick and over heated. We caught the boat back at 5 pm and were able to lay out on the beach all day for our last day!


We got back to mainland, and stayed one last night in Nadi and flew out saturday mmorning! It was a great trip!! I loved not having technology for a week. No cell service and no one could get a hold of me, it was just great. I didnt have any worried except about where we wanted to lay on the beach! It was amazing, if you get the chance you should definatly go! It was soooo awesome and so worth the trip. If I had the chance I would definatly go again! I know this is the place mom would absolutely love. Anyways I hope all else is well back in the states. Sorry it took so long for an update on Fiji!! I'll add some pictures soon.

Love you all,
Mandi

01 October 2007

20-29 September '07: Fiji was amazing

Oh my lord, may I just say Fiji was absolutely amazing. I couldn't of even imagined a better trip. I dont have much time now, so this is going to be a short blog. But I Just got back saturday night from Fiji and am leaving thursday morning for Sydney until Monday. I am staying in Melbourne with some friends until Hannah and I leave on thursday for our sydney trip. I just wanted to write a short blog letting you know I am alive, hhaa. I will write a more detailed blog when I have more time when I arrive back in Bendigo on Monday.

Anyways, my trip was awesome it was a tour of the different islands and by the end of the trip I felt gross and smelly but it was all well worth it. We got on the "Big yellow bus" which transported us to the islands and activities that came with our package. We would go to one island stay for a night and then get back on the big yellow bus and go to the next island and stay there and so on. It was good fun and a well worth it trip. The sun was VERY hot and strong that you had to where 30+ or you would get touched. I got pretty tan and I am happy.

Anyways I'm off with Hannah, I will write more when I have time next week! Love you all tons.

Mandi

16 September 2007

15 Sep '07: Silverchair & Powderfinger Concert!!!

So last night I went to the Silverchair and Poderfinger concert and it was sooooo good!!! Silverchair is pretty well known in the US, but powderfinger I had never heard of until last night...both bof these Australian bands were awesome!

I picked up Kim, Hannah and Nicola from the train station at about 5, and we had about an hour to get ready until Laurs was gonna drive us to the concert since its way downtown. It started at 6, so we got there at quarter past and collected our tickets from the box office and headed in. It was held at the Bendigo Showgrounds which was quite small compared to the size of places concerts at home would of been held. But this is a sold out concert and every hotel is completely booked in bendigo because of it. Anyways we headed in and looked around a while to see what was around. Our first stop was the Tshirt and merchandise tent. Hannah and Nicola decided to purchasing tshirts- I decided against it because I didnt want to spend $40 for a tshirt that I wold probably never wear again. Since the band hadnt started yet, we decided to go to the bar and get a beer before they came on. As expensive as it was, we stopped at one and didnt get anymore. Plus, you were not allowed any alcohol in the actually concert...they had a seperate tent for the bar and you were not allowed to leave with alcohol into the concert. Alot different that something as Merriweather. Also, here in the concert there was only standing and no seats or anythinng which I also thought was different.

After we finished our VB's we headed into the concert. Silverchair came on first and they were amazing. They sang some old ones, some new ones and some famous ones. It was good. They were on for about an hour and while they were on, one of the singers proposed to his girlfriend Natalie on stage.. It was the cutest thing ever!!! Lucky girl she is. Another thing the guitarist played the guiatar with his tongue, and did it pretty well. It was pretty kool. During Silverchair we lost Nicola somewhere so during the break between bands Kim and I headed to the toliets and eventually found her at the burger stand so we decided to get some burgers as well...which actually werent that great afterall but I guess it kept us from being hungry.



We headed back in, Hannah still in where we were but we didnt end up finding her again so we all decided to meet at the "meeting place" which was the burger stand at the end. Powderfinger came on at about 8:45 and they were on for about an hour. Their songs were actually pretty awesome, i really enjoyed their music. I really got into them. They told us that because they didnt have anything cool to do like propose on stage, they were going to swim naked in the fountain in the centre of town which is not running because of the water restictions... haha. Who knows if they actually did. Anyways they were kool. At the end both bands came on and played together! It was freaking Sweet!!!!







After the concert we were going to this one love after party which ended up being pretty awesome. They had all kinds of Dj's, free drinks and cheap spirits. It was a good night. Trying to get there was a mess. After the concert we called for a taxi but it ended up that there was no taxi's for teh concert and we had to jump on this bus that was going to drop us off into town. Well, it ended up that this bus only stopped at the train station and went back and forth from the concert to the train station so we all had to get off there. Luckily, we met some guys who were on the bus with us that was confused as well as to why they werent going into town. We walked with them and found our way to the pubs. After our 20 minute walk to Black Swan, we showed our tickets and got in.

The night was awesome, to much to explain in detail... but we didnt leave until 5, and then we stopped at Zoo Cafe for some Poatato gems... the best drunk food made to man, it was awesome. Then of course we had to wait in the taxi line that always takes forever.. so we didnt get home until 6 am. But- man it was a good time, we met so many people and I do believe the girls had a good time as well...It was definatly a night to remember. So many memories and good times.. take a look at the photos!!!







Next: FIJI ON THURSDAY!

Oh and I wanted to add this tid bit: I got an internship for next semester. I will be working for a publishing company in Waynesville! :) I'm VERY excited.

12 September 2007

12 September '07: Still having a Blast!

HELLO HELLO!! Sorry it's been so long since my last post! Things are moving right along, smooth and fun. I really cant believe its already the middle of semtember, that means I only have 2 more months here. The time is really flying on by its crazy. Mom- I got another card from you last week! Thanks, i love it and so do all my friends. All 4 are taped to my closet door :).

Lets last week I met some new friends who are actually quite nice. We played singstar and it was absolutely fun, we spendt 4 hours doing that haha. For those of you who dont know.. its like guiarhero on playstation except instead of playing the guitar you sing. Its like a competetion. Its awesome!! Not sure if they have it in the US or not, im not big on video games to start with but its fun.

This past weekend I went to Melbourne again. Nicola and Kim headed over to Sydney for the weekend so I went and kept Hannah company. We didnt do much because everyone seemed to be gone for the weekend but we still had a very good time. I cought the 4:25 train and then caught to tram and met Hannah at Coles Market which was just a few stops from La trobe. We had an easy, quiet night friday night because everyone seemed to be tired. We ended up playing poker, I finally learned how to play. it took forever.. and I was 3rd winner which was cool considering it was the 1st time I have ever played. Lets see... then we went on down to Steffens room and watched Mr and Mrs Smith. It was a good one.. and always is when I watch it haha. then saturday we went to Maccas for lunch and just made it a lazy kind of day. Didnt do much really until it was time to decide what we were going to do tonight. Since no one was around it was quiet so it was just a few of us who just drank and had some fun. It turned out to be a good, very random night.



On sunday Hannah and Steffen didnt wake up until 4 pm so we didnt really do much today either.. haha. We played beer pong on sunday night and I ended up meeting some kid from Alaska which I thought was really kool. Its really interesting to learn and understand things from different places. I kept asking Steffen after Germany and dofferences just to get a grasp on how it would be if i ever went there. Its just intriguing to me I guess. Anyways I ended up taking the 10:15 am train out of Melbourne to Bendigo and slept the whole two hours- i was soo exhausted and made it to class by 2.

Tuesday night (last night) we all went out for Ashlynn's 20th birthday and Lauren's 23rd birthday! It was heaps of fun!! I took wayyy too many pictures and gained wayyy too many memories it was soo fun. It was good to see everyone out and have a good time. We went to the Broughie first which is just a small little pre drinking bar basically. Its nice there to just socialize and have a good time. Then we ended up at Scubar and just danced (yes, I danced... ) and sang and had a good night. Laurs and I grabbed a taxi back at about 2:30 am... and it was probably the best bit of the night. She told the taxi driver that I was from America and that we had been friends since preschool... and that he wasnt being nice enough. HAHA.. it was soo funny and on top of all that she was convinved he was African with Islamic language so she told me she had to translate for me. It was soo funny- it would be easier to explain this in person but trust me it was HILARIOUS!! It was such a great night.






I have soo much to look forward to in these next few weeks. I'm going to some local australian band play on thursday and then Hannah and Nicola are coming and we are going to the SILVERCHAIR concert on saturday nigth and then out with the rest afterwards. Then Thursday morning I leave for FIJI!!!!! YAY!!! SOOOOO EXCITEDD!! Then teh weekend after that is SYDNEY!! YAY!!

Hope all is well, sorry this was a vague post! I'll post again soon. Love you all and miss you tons

Mandi

02 September 2007

1 September '07: Figuring out the bus!

This weekend was a quiet but good one. Its one I think I needed. Lets see.. Friday i went to class, and keep in mind this is class that I thought I was falling behind in. Come to find out I was ahead of everyone and my project graphically was all completed. I changed a few things with the help and suggestions of my teacher. I was glad to be on top and ahead of things here. I decided to plan out my weekend to try to get my 3d projects donne. Since everyone had gone home for father's day there wasnt many people around so I was left with no choice but to try and figure out the bus system- although i hear its not a great one.

Saturday morning I woke up and was out the door by 11 only to find out that the next bus to Bendigo doesnt come until 12:50. So, I went back inside and dilly dallied until I could catch the bus. The bus only comes once every hour to bendigo from Spring Gully.. which is where I am. From here I found out that I had to get off the bus at Mitchell street and get on another bus that would take me to Eaglehawk Rd which is where Spotlight is. Spotlight is a craft store that i planned on getting the materials for my project at. At this point I wasnt sure how I was going to get back, but thought id just worry about that when it came time to. Of course me, being my, I missed the stop for spotlight so when we got to a red light I asked the bus driver to let me off here, because I missed my stop. I had to walk aways, but finally made it up the hill into a store called Spotlight. When I walked in, I just kinda walked around trying to find where things were and get ideas of what I needed to make the creature logo that I created in photoshop 3D. I took a picture of the printed piece just so i didnt forget anything to make him. I got some paint, some cardboard letters, some black string, moveable eyes, and a medium sized strofoam ball, some paint brushes, some luggage tags and some tacky glue. After getting all I needed, and spending too much money at a craft store and for an assignment I started thinking how unfair it is that we have to provide all our own materials for projects such as these. Art is such an expensive course!

After getting all I needed from spotlight, I made it down to the bus stop about 20 minutes before the bus came. I paid my $1.80 for the bus and hoped off at Mitchel street. From here, I had to walk home because the last bus came at 1:30 to go back to Spring Gully. It was alright, I found my way to Big W and got some pasta and water for tonight's meal and headed back past the train station and cemetary to get to the halls.

Once I got back to the halls, I realized my light was burnt out. I was going to have to wait until Monday to put in a maintence request for them to come change it out. But for now, I was going to have to work quick if I wanted to get my project done before it got dark and I wouldnt be able to see anything because the sun would no longer give light to my room. So, I painted the ball and made the eyes and let it dry until the morning when I'd be able to see better. For the rest of the night, I got some rest and watched some Family guy until I made it to sleep for the night.

Sunday, today, I woke up at about 8 am and called Ryan. He is up at Cullowhee this weekend because he had a job interview in Waynesville on Friday. HE GOT THE JOB!! So happy and proud for him. He starts in 2 weeks and will be making $30,000 a year. Now finally he's got a real job and he's so much happier. I think he's ready to make the change in his life. Hes moving to Waynesville next week staying with one of his brothers until he finds a place of his own...

Anyways, after I got off the phone with him I decided to do some more work on my project. HAH.. I stuck the eyes on and added the letters. Now, all thats left is the staple the mouth on. Not a hard project once I got the materials. Now I just have to find a ride to the hardware store- there is no bus that takes you out that way unfortunately! I have to get a piece of timber (wood) to paint my sign that I made in Illustrator onto. I'm going to find someone to take me this week and i'll be completely up to date with everything done.. and I can go along with my plans and go to Melbourne on friday to see the girls. and boys :) hhaa..

Well I'm going to make some dinna and get some work done.. but I love you all and miss you tons!

30 August 2007

I'm going to F I J I in 21 dayyyyssss!!!!

Not much has happened this week... but its week 6 of the semester that means there is only 6 more weeks of class! Can you believe it? I sure cant...this trip is going by wayyyy too fast! Anyways its already thursday and most of the uni has already headed home for the weekend. This saturday is father's day...I know strange, you would think that it would be teh same day every where but nope. So most of the uni had headed home to be with their dad's for father's day. I am going to use this weekend as a catch up weekend. Try and get as much work done as I can so I can continue with my awesome trips I have planned.

Oh did I tell you the best news of all?? I'M GOING TO F I J I in 21 DAYS!!!! I'm sooooo excited... hannah, Kim, Nicola and I are going on a 7 day, 6 night trip to FIJI which also includes a cruise to 4 of the Islands in FIJI! How awesome.. I cant even begin to tell you how excited I am!! 21 DAYYYYSSS!! Then a week after we get back Hannah and I are going to Sydney for a surf trip!! We also talked about going to New Zealand in November.. but we'll see how that one works out! Ahhh I'm soo excited! So much to look forward to!!

This week I also got 2 pieces of mail. Another lovely essay from mom with a crazy picture of a dog on the front.. I love hearing all the where abouts and events going on at home. Makes me feel less out of the loop. To answer your question, I never got the cards to work.. ill just have to use them when I get home. I think I get more letters than most of the other girls that live here.. haha.. mail is a huge deal here and its awesome when I get a letter. Thanks for the letter, I love it and all 3 of them are taped to my closet door :).. so I can see them when I wake up every morning.. I need some color or something to my room. It adds something haha. I also got a package, my first package yet. It was from Mr. Wessner, Kry's dad.. thank you so much. It was a stuffed whale, he included a letter saying now I can always see the whales!! Haha.. when I went "whale watching" at the great ocean road we werent able to see any whales. Thanks for that d2!

Ryan and I are doing well... just in a hard spot right now. But, I KNOW without a doubt in my mind we will make it through. We just miss each other, and its causing anger because we want something we cant have for some time. But hes been the best support through my travels here and I wouldnt want to do it with anyone else.

As far as classes are going they are going well.. Ceramics just TRYING to make things and progressing on the wheel everyday. Its my most favorite class, and relaxing one. Its a good one. I turned in my 1st assignment for my webdesign class. I had to design a website about Mariah Carey. It was really interesting and fun- but frustrating at the same time. I really enjoy this class. Renassiance Art is only as fun as any lecture.. my least favorite class. Lastly, my graphic design class. I'm really overwhelmed with this one. It's just project after project. But I'm getting through and doing my best!

Lastly, because I was passing out ALOT lately I decided to go to the doctors because I wasnt sure what was going on...they did 2 blood tests on me and found that I had hemocromatosis...which dad has, and is a disease you get when you have too much iron in your body and your not releasing it properly. Right now they have me coming in 2 times a month to give blood for the rest of the time I am here. They said it should help release the iron efficiently and maybe when I get home I will have to go have a chat with dad's doctor to get treated at home.

Not much else happened this week, so I dont have much to report! Hope you all are having a good semester!! Can't wait to be back at WCU... I never thought I would say this but...I miss cullowhee and I miss those mountains we live in.

Hope all is well!!

Mandi

28 August 2007

24-17 August '07: La Trobe Uni Bundoora

This weekend I had planned on going to Melbourne to meet up with Hannah, who is doing the same program as me but she goes to La trobe in Bundoora. I wanted to see what it was like there, and I wanted to see her and hang out with her. Hadnt seen her for a while, and we kept talking about getting together so we finally did.

Laurs took me to the train station on the way to the supermarket, and I caught the 5:20 train to Southern Cross station which would mean I would get to Southern cross by 7:20. I met her on the corner of Bourke and Spencer street. It was great to see her, she jumped and gave me a huge hug.. and I was glad to be there!! She told me it was about an hour tram ride back to the uni from there- but that was fine with me. I just felt bad that she was on the tram for basically 2 striaght hours coming to meet me, but at least i will know for next time when I come. Hannah and I just chatted and caught up a bit on the tram and talkked about what was going on, what we have done and what we want to do etc. Hannah said she was going to Fiji with some friends for the spring break and invited me to go! OMG how amazing would that be!!?? At this point I wasnt sure, but i really wanted to go. So I thought her I would let her know when I get back on Monday- so i could talk to my parents. We finally got off the tram and it was about a 10 minute walk to her dorm, or as they call it here, college. She lives in Menzies college. When we got back her friend, Nicola (shes from Scotland), had gotten us 2 meals from the dining Cafe so we sat in the common room and enjoyed some food. We went out that night- to a bar in the city called Perserverence. It was 90's night, so they were playing 90's music all night long. It was pretty awesome. But Hannah and I agreed that next time we would have to pre drink for a place like that (we had to hurry and get ready since we got back to late!). It was still fun though, but by the time we finally left I was ready for bed. They didnt close until 3 am and we stayed until the end. When we got back Nicola, Hannah and I went to the common room and hung out with Steffen who is from germany. We just sat and drank some of his homemade brews. Pretty good if I do say so myself. By the time we actually got to bed it was 5:30 am. WHAT A GREAT NIGHT!!

Saturday was a late start for everyone!! haha.. we got up around noon and Steffen, Nicola, Hannah, Connar and I all walked to Macca's for some lunch. It was exactly what I needed after a night of drinking! YUM! After that we walked back and sat at some picnic tables that were near where Hannah lived. It was gorgeous out so we decided to soak up the great weather. It was 23 degrees today... which is 76 degrees at home. I am soo happy its finally getting warm out! I LOVE IT!! We decided to have a Barbie (BBQ) tonight because it was so nice. So then Steffen went to get some work done at the Library and Connar, Hannah, Nicola and I went to the bottle shop and to Coles to pick up some stuff for tonight. We got a case of German beer for Steffen and got what we wanted and headed next door and picked up some sausages, hamburgers and some bread. We agreed to meet around 7 for the events! Hannah and I went back and took showers and then went and hung out with Nicola in her room until the boys were ready. It was the perfect time for Hannah and I to figure out our flights and plans for Sydney for our surf trip that we signed up for during the program introduction. We got it all planned and booked. I am planning on taking teh train in wednesday night, oct 3rd so we could travel to sydney together. I'm really excited for this trip!! Its about 6 weeks away... :).

Finally everyone was ready for our BBQ. We took some drinks and some food and sat outside and chatted and hung out. It was definatly a good night for it. After eating and having a few drinks we decided to venture over to the hot plates because I didnt know what they were and I should know...and must I say... HOT PLATES ARE AMAZING!!! They are just these cement plates that well are hot. They have some sort of piping and ventilation under them that makes they hot all the time. It was really cool. So we just hung out and sat on them and goofed off and socialized with each other. We told stories from our home countries and just talked... and I was talked into staying an extra night bbecause there was some sort of beer pong tournament on sunday night. It was a low key night, but a great one at that.
The highlight of the night was when Hannah accidently gave Steffen a bloody nose. It was sooo funny and now we all say he got beat up by a girl. HAHA.. it was awesome. Because we started drinking around 8 pm, we all were tired and went to bed early.. well early as in 1 am.

Sunday Hannah and I hung out in the city all day! It was a great day. I went to my first ( and probably last for this trip, because next weekend is the last one) footy game. I saw the Bulldogs and the Hawks...the Hawks completely killed the bulldogs!! This game really is a totally different sport than anything that I am use to seeing at all. Its really nothing like US football at all. If I had to compare it to something it would probably be a mixture of rugby and soccer. The layout is set up like soccer and when you score its called a goal. Its 6 ponits if you get it through the middle gap, but only 1 ponit if you get it through the other 2 gaps. Each team has this group of people who are in charge of "cheerleading" but not real cheerleading. They just use these giant pom poms to get teh attention of the crowd and get the crowd involed in the game. Its really cool to see them move from the other side. Anyways, there are 4 quarters but they are very short ones. I think the whole game took about 1 hour and a half from start to finish. Its much shorter than US football. The refs bring water to the players while they are on the feild playing.. I thought that was very interesting. They also can push and throw each other around in anyway you want. It was funny to watch opposing teams pushing each other away. But all in all it was an interesting game to watch. After that Hannah and I walked around the city for a while and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon. While we were there we saw a horse in carriage.. I thought it was sooo cool. I dont think I have ever seen one in real life!!! We ended up taking the 6:30 tram back to uni and got in about 7:30. It was a good day!!

When we got back we got to have some free BBQ because it was Open Day and they were cooking all sorts of food.. and it was all going to go to waste if it wasnt eaten!! So, it was nice to get a free meal out of the weekend. Tonight was beer pong...you signed up as teams and played against others. This was an annual event that some study abroad students from America started.. who would of thought. It was alot harder to play though because they werent solo cups, they were much smaller...and alot of the Australians didnt know how to play or thoght they did but didnt. So there were all types of rules goinng on.. but it was a good time. Hannah and I each bought a jug of Carlton Drought and played two games. By the end of the night we were getting free beer which was awesome. I played one on one beer pong with Steffen... and we played germany vs US. So we were bashing each other for everything. It was quite funny. Then we came back and all ended up in Nicola's room. We were just talking and hanging out. I learned one thing.. THEY DONT SPEAK SCOTTISH IN SCOTLAND.. ahha. But I wasnt the 1st person to ask her that! It was another great night.. and it ended somewhat early. I'm so happy I stayed the extra night.

Monday morning I woke up at 9, and left by 9:30. I wanted to be on the tram by 10... to catch the 11:15 train back to Bendigo. I planned it really well. I got to Southern Cross train station about 20 minutes early. So I bought a water and a meat pie and headed to platform 5 to wait to board the train. It was a good train ride, and I basically slept the whole time. What a great trip it was!!!

When I got off the train... as we were all walking through I saw Di..It was so funny we were both on the same train and had no idea. I wish we would of known and saved someone the trip. Ash picked up Di and Sarah was here picking up me. Sarah wanted a frozen Youguart from the marketplace so we stopped in there before heading back to the halls. I got home at about 1:30 with a half hour to spare before ceramics class. I got in and saw I had 6 messages from Ryan who was soo very worried about where I was. I told him I was going to be home sunday so when I didnt call he got worried that something happened.. but really I was having too much fun and stayed an extra day!! I called him and headed off to class.

I must say, this was definatly the best weekend yet!! I had sooo much fun!! I will probably end up going back alot! I love it there...


well I hope all is well at home...things here are going by way too fast!! Miss you all.

Hemocromotosis?

Hello, Hello. Sorry its been so long since my last post. I have been busy.. can you believe this semester is already half over? I sure can't- and I have soo much to look forward still!

okay, so last week was another tough week. I started passing out again so I went to see the doctor. It's been happening alot and I am not really sure whats happeninng. Some days I am perfectly fine and others I am so weak I can't even move. So, I made an apponitment with the medical center. They asked a million questions and eventually did a blood test on me- passing out doing that as well. I went and got my results today from the blood test. Everything was fine but my iron. I have an EXTREME amount of iron and the nurse said I probably have hemocromotis (however you spell it). She explained what it is and that it is genetic and the only way to get rid of it is to give blood. Then I thought about it, I think this is what Dad has. He gives blood every 2 weeks and has high iron. I have an apponitment with the doctor tomorrow to discuss what the plan is from here. While I was at the doctors I made an apponitment to get the first shot of the cervical cancer vacine. I will be able to get 2 of the 3 here so i thought it would be a good idea to get done- and its free. I'll just have to catch up with my doctor at home with all my records to be able to get the last shot of the vacine.

On friday I also met with my advisor...I'm having trouble in one of my classes and was hoping to get some help! I just feel totallyy overwelmed with the amount of work, and not enough time to get it done. So she sat down with me and we figured out some things and talked about what needed to be done...I have so much work in this class that even when I go away I think about what needs to be done and how I am going to get it done. I am going to meet with her again to try and work things out.


....time to get back to the books...hope all is well..

19 August 2007

The Great Ocean Road: 18-19 August '07

Hello, Hello from A-U-S-T-R-A-L-I-A!!!! I hope everyone is doing well back home as alot of you are getting ready to begin school this week...it's so strange not being there at wcu to start school with everyone else tomorrow. I hope summer was good and you enjoy the semester!

This past weekend I went on an AWESOME trip down to the Great Ocean Road. This trip is done through BSA, and it usually ends up being all international kids on these trips. We took a bus and went to a bunch of different sites. It really was great. To tell you the truth, I didnt really want to go to begin with because I wasnt going to be with people who I even remotely care to share a weekend with especially since 90% of them cant even speak english...but I always think back to when my advisor told me before I left "If you see a bus, jump on it and experience the most you can!"...so I went, because that is a main goal of mine.. to experience as much as I can. In the end, I had a great time!!!!

Anyways, the trip began by meeting over at Rob & Andrea's house at 7:30 am. Since they live right near me, near the dining hall they offered to meet up that way I didnt have to walk up to uni early in the morning for the 8 am departure. It worked out really well. [Andrea is the head of the BSA- and Rob is her Fiance and in charge of the halls.] We got to carpark 4 where we were picking the rest of the crew up at about 8 am. Andrea made sure everyone was counted for, and handed out some information about the trip and we were on our way. There were 18 students on this trip including myself, most were from India, China and singapore. It was basically all of the international students from the orientations that i attended at the start of the semester, along with a few new faces that I soon got to know better. By 8:15 we were checked in and on the road.

9:30am marked our first stop of the trip. We stopped at a town called Daylesford, but only for about 15 minutes. This stop was for the toliets and to grab some goods at a local bakery called "Modern Bakery". We were told it was going to be our last stop until we get to the 12 Apostles for our helicopter flights at 1:00 pm. I grabbed a hot chocalate and a sandwhich and headed for the bus. The hot chocalate was very watered down and really wasnt tasty at all, so after taking a few sips to warm me up I ate the rest of my breakfast sandwhich and decided to take a bit of a nap for the next 3 hours. We stopped a few times for toliet breaks, and another time because of a girl from India who had naseauaand forgot her meds who started getting sick and had to "let it out" if you will...but eventually we got to our destination.

We arrived at the 12 Apostles heliport at around 1:30pm.

Here we were put in groups of 3 to be put on the helicopters to see all of the 12 Apostles by air.
We saw the Shipwreck Coast and the Port Campbell National Park from the air. This included the 12 Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, London Bridge, and the towering limestone cliffs. As we were in the helicopter, the piolet also gave commentary on the history of the Coast. It was sooo amazing!!



This was my 1st time in a helicopter, and it was amazing!! SO smooth and relaxed. It was great and everything looks soo amazing from up there, I was in awe and amazement the whole time. I had such low expectations that I was in total amazement when this actually was how it was. If you ever get the chance- dont pass it up!

Anyways, at about 2:30 we left and went on to our next destination which was Loch Ard Gorge. At this spot there is an interesting story that goes along with how it got it's name. I won't tell you the whole story, you will have to come see it yourself one day. But basically 52 people died after the sailing ship, the iron clipper Loch Ard, rammed into the sheer cliffs of muttonbird Island in stormy weather just days from completing a 3 month voyage from England to Melbourne. The Island is near the entrance to the long, narrow gorge. This gorge and its tiny beach saved apprentice crewman, Tom Pearce and young passenger, Eva Carmicheal who were both 18 years old. The stories are all sooo neat and interesting!!! I wish I could tell them all but it would take hours to type it all and im sure not all of you would be so interested in them...so I'll leave it at that and include some pictuers that will hopefully interest you more.

It was now 4 pm, and next on our agenda was a 2 hour drive to our accomadation but not before we stopped at the whale watching to see if by chance we could see any whales. Of course we didnt, not that that is all that interesting to me anyways. What you see of them isnt that interesting and you only see them for a minute or even a second so I didnt really care. My enjoyment was watching the beach, I could be there for hours just watching the waves (although it would be better if someone I know was here with me). I spendt my time writing in the sand and hanging out by the beach.

So, now we were 5 minutes away from our accomadation. We stayed in a place called Warrnambool Beach Backpacker it was on Stanley Street. This was a really nice hostel. We had 2 rooms for the 18 of us, so luckily enough we had a room for the boys and a room for the ladies. We unpacked our stuff and made our beds (in a hostel they just give you sheets and you are required to make your bed). Since we had an hour and half until we had to meet for dinner we just hang around. In the common room there was all sorts of different board games, there was computers (for 10 cents a min you could use the internet...but i decided to stay away from the computer), a pool table, a bar... they had alot to offer. It kept us entertained until we had to go. I walked around a bit and found a map... it showed the relationship of size of Australia compared to other countries. I took a few pictures of it. A few weeks ago, Ryan and I had this argument. I was trying to tell him that After being here I realize Australia ia just as big as the US, but he didnt agree and said it was much smaller...well babe, I hate to say this but I TOLD YOU SO. haha. The green is Australia, yellow is the other country.



Anyways after taking a look at this, I sat down and played the Simpsons board game with a girl from France, and 2 Australians to waste the time. It was a little confusing at first but we figured it out- if you ever played the game Trouble it is EXACTLY like that haha. So, we sat there drinking our hot tea and playing board games until 7:30 rolled around and it was time to move on to dinna.

For dinner we went to a place called "BoJangles". I thought this was so funny because at school my favorite place to eat is BoJangles except there it is a fast food chain in the south...haha. Here is was a semi-fancy sit down pizza resturant.


Dinner took us 3 hours to get through. I guess its under standing considering there were 20 of us, and most of us ordered pizza's...and Large ones at that. I, of course, ordered my normal Hawaiian pizza. But on this pizza, the ham was sheeded.. like you would shreed cheese.. so I didnt eat much of the ham. But, I was starving as we all were by this ponit. Most of us ordered large pizza's and thought we would bring the rest back for a midnight snake or something. But in the end most of us finished our large pizza's.

I think what took the most time at dinner was Caitlyn and her bets with the French boys. She had a bet that she wouldnt be able to finish her whole pizza plus some. And I guess the type of person she is, she wasnt going to brake that beat. So she ate her whole pizza (same size as mine) and then ate 5 pieces from someone else's pizza. She actually did all that and licked her plate clean. The boys were amazed and awarded her $5 for her work. crazy. I couldnt do it. I was full enough with my pizza and felt like a total pig- I'm glad we had to walk a bit to get to the bus.

When we got back to the hostel, we had the rest of the night to ourselves to do whatever we pleased. We had breakfast at 9 am, and were to be on the bus by 10am. So we all changed and washed up for bed, and then decided to play some more games because it wasnt quite bed time yet. I played upwords with Caitlin and a few others who were from Canada and we actually did very well until we decided to not go back ANY of the rules.. haha. Bbut it was a good game, and I decided to call it a night by midnight. Most of us did, but some stayed up playing until 1 am.

The next morning, we had breakfast at 9 and had an hour before we had to be on the bus again. I sat around and talked to some people and asked them where they planned on going and about what Bill Byson talks about what is good and bad in the book I'm reading. We all kept asking each other things about each other's countries it was a very informative conversation and I enjoyed learning different things about different countries. Then someone asked Caitlin if she could name all the states in the US (which people either think there are 48 of them or 52)... so we informed them about the FIFTY states. caitlin wanting to waste time grabbed paper and pen for us both and we tryed to see if we could name all 50 states. It was really interesting because she is from the other side of the country so conbined im sure we would of gotten it quicker. After combining our lists, we both ended up missing the same state...oddly enough UTAH. It was quite thrilling and entertaining to start off the day.

We arrived on the bus at 10, and headed to the whale watching centre to see if we could see any more whales this morning. Sadly, we didnt see any tonight either. We were staying here for 45 minutes so I played on the beach some, but mostly just watched the waves and thought about summertime on the beach. Sadly, I didnt have much of it this year. I took some beach photos and just listened to the waves. It was just very relaxing and calming, something I could do all day if I wanted to.




From here, we took a few more stops to take mmore pictures and look at some more limestone rocks.. I was tired of it, but tryed not to act it. I'm sure Ryan would appreciate these rocks way more than I ever would, probably a big part of why I took so many pictures. By the end it all looked the same to me. Anyways we stopped at about 3 more places and stopped in a town for lunch and then continued on our journey back to Bendigo.



It was a great trip... tiring and exhausting! But I learned alot and enjoyed it alot. I met alot of awesome people from different places and intriguied my mind by talking to them about their hometown instead of it being the other way around. Its really interestinng to hear things from other places that i am not really that use to or know anything aboout. All in all the trip was awesome and for $85 I got my money's worth plus some. These trips are awesome and I am glad that i took advantage of this one. I took a mizillion pictures that im sure you all want to see... so if you want to see more pictures from this trip here is the site:

http://wcu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2040210&l=f07aa&id=44100664


http://wcu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2040211&l=1b3aa&id=44100664

ENJOY!

It's also really interesting because at the time of going to the Great Ocean Road, I am reading thsi part of my Bill Byson book of when he travels here so its interesting to see what he thinks when im here. But anyways.. its been a long day!!! I hope everyone has had a good weekend and I hope to hear from you soon!!

Love always
Mandi