Melbourne, Mono, Strep, Sydney, & Skydiving!

Hi guys! I hope all is well in the States and that everyone's having a good summer! A lot has happened in the past month, which explains why the title of this post is so detailed. 

A week and a half after we got back from spring break, 6 of us went to Melbourne for a weekend. Melbourne is a really cool artsy city, and is the second largest city in Australia (Brisbane's the third largest). Melbourne is famous for the Great Ocean Road, a really long road along the coast a few hours outside of the city. We did a day long bus tour of the Great Ocean Road and the 12 Apostles. The 12 Apostles are these really cool rock formations in the ocean. We got to see the 12 Apostles as sunsets, and as you know, I'm obsessed with sunsets so I was on cloud nine. 

The Loch Ard Gorge on the Great Ocean Road

12 Apostles at sunset

One of the other days, we took the train to Brighton Beach, which is famous for its bath houses. They're these really little colorful houses that are right on the beach. I have no idea if they're actually used for anything, but it's another Australian landmark that I got to check off my bucket list!

When we were in Melbourne, I actually started to get really sick, so I didn't get to enjoy the trip as much as I would have liked to. At my internship that next week, I was really sick, so one of the ladies I work with brought me to the doctor. I then found out that I had both mononucleosis and strep throat! I think it's been the same reoccurring thing, since this was my third time getting sick since I've been in Australia. I spend like 6 straight days in my bed just sleeping it off. Being sick while abroad is definitely not fun, especially because Australia's medical system is nowhere near as advanced as we are at home. Last week, I finally started to feel better, which was the biggest relief in the world since I went to Sydney over the weekend and wasn't sure if I'd be able to go.

Nicole, Kat and I went to Sydney this past weekend and it was an absolute blast. The city itself was decent, but for some reason the three of us just had so much fun. We had absolutely no plans and no idea what we were going to do when we got there, which made it that much more adventurous. We did the typical trip to Circular Quay, which is where the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House are. This was really cool because it made me feel like I was actually in Australia, since their Aussie's most famous symbols. There was also a festival going on called Vivid, which only happens once a year. They have a projector that puts all these colorful lights, patterns, and pictures on the opera house at night, it was really cool! 

The next day we went to Bondi Beach, one of Australia's most famous tourist beaches. There's actually a popular show here called Bondi Rescue, which I watched on the plane ride to Brisbane in February. The waves were massive, and it's almost winter here now so we got to lay out but didn't go swimming.

I got back from Sydney Monday night and woke up at 4:30 Tuesday morning to go skydiving!!! I've been planning on skydiving since I knew I was coming to Australia, but had only told a few people because I didn't want to jinx it. Believe it or not, this was my fifth time attempting to skydive in the past month and a half. We were originally supposed to go in Cairns over spring break, but couldn't because of the weather. We rescheduled to do it in Byron Bay the next week, but that was cancelled then and again two days later because of the weather. We rescheduled AGAIN, and when we finally got to do it, I was literally dying in my bed with mono. The other girls got to go and they absolutely loved it, and I was devastated that I couldn't do it with them. I rescheduled by myself for Tuesday, and was astounded when I actually got on the bus to Byron and they hadn't already cancelled due to clouds or wind or whatever else. Since it would have been terrifying to spend the day by myself, Shannon was literally a saint and volunteered to come with me. She didn't jump again, but she did get to watch me parachute down to the ground. It's a two and a half hour ride to Byron, so it was an all day thing. The closer we got to Byron Bay, the cloudier it got, so I was convinced that I'd have to reschedule yet again. I was shocked when people started getting in the plane and going. I was in the third plane to go up, so I got to see two groups of people land before I went. My tandem instructor's name was Adam and he was so nice. Similarly to when I bungy jumped, I wasn't nervous. I'm not really sure what's wrong with me and why I don't get nervous for these life threatening things that I'm doing...

I was the last one to get in the plane which meant I was the first one out, which I actually really liked. It's a tiny plane and you sit on the floor with your instructor behind you, and they attach their harness to yours on the ride up. The plane ride was probably 15 minutes long, and it was absolutely gorgeous. Byron Bay is one of my favorite places in the world, so to see it from that perspective was incredible. When we got to the drop zone, Adam opened the door, I tucked my legs under the plane, grabbed onto my harness, tucked my head back, and all of a sudden I was no longer in the plane. I guess it was my instinct to shut my eyes, because after a couple of seconds I had to yell at myself in my head saying WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING YOU DID NOT PAY ALL THIS MONEY TO FALL THROUGH THE SKY WITH YOUR EYES CLOSED and then I opened them. Adam tapped my shoulder, and I got to open my arms, which was one of my favorite parts. This company is Australia's highest skydive, so I fell from 14,000 feet and got up to 120 miles an hour with a 60 second free fall. It was so awesome, I didn't even feel like I was falling. It was more like flying. The cool thing about it being cloudy was that I got to go through a cloud and was literally inside of it for a couple of seconds. After that, I could see beautiful Byron Bay, and before I knew it Adam pulled the parachute. It was another few minutes before I was back on the ground again.

Also I was the only non-asian person jumping so that made things very entertaining

We flipped upside down but I didn't even know because I forgot to open my eyes

Inside a cloud!

You can see the most easterly point of Australia in the background

Steering the parachute

Skydiving is definitely by far the most amazing thing I've ever done, and I would totally do it again. I'm so happy I got to come back to my favorite place to do my new favorite activity!

As of right now, classes are over, I finish my internship tomorrow, and need to work on writing all my final papers that are due next week. We leave in less than four weeks, so we're all having the time of our lives and trying to enjoy the last few weeks of Aussie life. I leave for New Zealand in a couple of weeks, so I'll probably post again after that. Cheers!

Spraaaang Breaaaaakkkk

Hi everyone! I got back from the 1fish2fish spring break trip a few days ago, and have been getting back into the routine of Brizzy life while simultaneously trying to recover from the best 9 days of my life.

We left for spring break on Saturday and got back this past Monday. There were around 60 people on the trip from all over- the US, Canada, Italy, England, and so many more countries. The Fairfield group was also the only group living in Brisbane- everyone else is staying in either Sydney or Melbourne.

These people that were complete strangers at the beginning of the nine days quickly became our friends. We spent essentially every second together- it would have been difficult not to become friends. Our “tour guides” were these really chill guys named Scotty and Noorty and they were anything but tour guides. They got us from place to place but were partying with us the entire time, which made for a really laid back feeling for the week.

Fairfield with Scotty and Noorty

We started on Saturday at the Australia Zoo, home of Steve Irwin, on the first day and got to see the whole Irwin family! Bindi performed a song about her dad, and at first I felt like I was at a Hannah Montana concert but then I almost cried. I loved the croc hunter! I also held a four-year-old alligator at the zoo, which felt really strange. That night, we stayed at Rainbow Beach and watched the sunset. I always watch the sunsets when I’m at the Cape, and in Australia I haven’t seen any sunsets yet, so I was thrilled.

Holding an alligator at the Steve Irwin zoo

Rainbow Beach sunset

The next day, we went to Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world. It was really similar to Moreton Island where I had my field trip a few weeks ago. We went on the same off-roaders and swam in a really beautiful lake. That night, we had a twelve-hour bus ride to Airlie Beach. It was MISERABLE. Definitely more difficult to get through than the plane ride to Australia, but at least it didn’t come with the weeklong jetlag.

Chelsea sniped this pic of me at Fraser

We finally got to Airlie Beach on Monday morning, and got on these high-speed boats. As we drove around the Whitsundays on our boats, the water became increasingly turquoise. We snorkeled for a bit and then arrived at Whitehaven Beach- the third most beautiful beach in the world. I’m not sure who ranks the most beautiful beaches in the world, but I’d really like to have that as a job. It was incredible. The water was stunningly blue and the sand was literally white. We hung out on the beach for a while before heading to our hostel on South Molle Island for the night.

The boats we took literally flew through the air

Whitehaven Beach

The next day, we took a massive yacht around the Whitsundays. It was amazing to spend the day relaxing on a yacht… just saying I was on a yacht makes me feel like I was a princess. That night, we stayed at Airlie Beach, which is the mainland area of the Whitsundays. The Down Under Bar (or the Dunder as we call it) is my favorite bar in Brisbane and it happened to be the bar at Airlie Beach where we went that night! I definitely felt a little at home being at a Dunder.

On Wednesday, we had the day to ourselves but unfortunately it was raining, so we just shopped around. Later that day, we had a six-hour bus ride to Mission Beach, where we stayed that night in a nicer motel. We woke up at 6:30 the next morning to go white water rafting on the Tully River. It was incredible. I’ve never done anything like white water rafting before, so I was terrified. We almost fell out several times and our guide purposely flipped the raft over at one point. It was exhilarating. It was also raining a lot, too, which made the experience even cooler. We spent about four hours rafting, and traveled 9 miles in the rafts. I was covered in bruises for the rest of the trip, but it was so worth it.

After that, we had another two-hour bus ride up to Cairns, where we stayed for the rest of the trip. We went out Thursday night and then Friday afternoon we went bungee jumping! I didn’t think I was even going to do it, since bungee jumping is not something I’ve ever had a desire to do. It was also raining this day, so that made the idea of hurling myself off of a bungee tower even more terrifying. At the last minute, however, I decided to just do it. I’m in the rainforest in Australia, why not jump 164 feet off a tower dangling by only a string?! Surprisingly, I wasn’t even scared before, and when the time came to jump, I just did it. It was so exhilarating and I could feel myself becoming an adrenaline junkie immediately afterwards. Shannon, Kat, and I did a tequila shot right after I jumped and then the three of us went on a bungee swing together, which is actually a lot scarier than it sounds. I still can’t even believe that I bungee jumped, but I’m so glad that I did.

On Saturday, we went on a boat to the Great Barrier Reef! There was the option to do a beginner scuba dive, but I was feeling a little sick, so the idea of having to pop my ears and equalize with the pressure freaked me out a little too much. I wish I had done it, but I also got to snorkel the reef for an hour! I saw some amazingly huge rainbow fish, and I even found Nemo! I couldn’t even let myself be homesick for Fairfield and Clam Jam that day because I was at the Great Barrier Reef- a place I’ve always dreamed of going. That night we did a pub-crawl led by our tour guide from Byron Bay! It was so nice to see him again, and this crawl definitely changed my thoughts of pub-crawls from the Gold Coast.

Great Barrier Reef

Sunday we went to a cool little hippy town near Cairns and then went to look at a waterfall. That night we had our last party with all of our new 1fish2fish friends! On Monday we had a two hour flight back to Brisbane. I am so glad I did the 1fish2fish trip. I got to experience so many things that I wouldn’t have been able to on an unguided trip. I am so excited to have seen so many of the natural beauties of Australia, and am looking forward to the last two months of my semester abroad!

1fish2fish group

Halfway there!

It’s been way too long since my last post! This is because we sort of had a lull in late March/early April and really didn’t do too much. I switched my internship so I am now at a company called Musica Viva. I’ve been doing a lot more there in terms of marketing than I was at my first internship, so that’s been good. Other than that it’s just been a whirlwind of school, bars, beach, and booking trips! I’m also just about halfway through my semester abroad, so that’s exciting and terrifying and I’m really just not trying to think about it. Also I've barely gotten any mail since I've been in Australia, so if you want to send me a note saying how much you love me, or food (I love chocolate) here's my address:

Elizabeth Slattery

60 Tribune Street Apartment 110C

South Brisbane, Queensland 4101

Australia

A few weekends ago we went on a day trip to the Glass House Mountains and Bribie Island. This trip was organized by ACU’s student association. We “hiked” up one of the Glass House Mountains, but it really wasn’t much of a hike. It was a 20-minute uphill walk and that was about it. The views were really cool, though, so I’m definitely glad we did it. We then went to a beach at Bribie Island. Since the beach near our apartment is man-made, it’s always great to have the opportunity to go to a real beach.

Glass House Mountains

8 of the 10 Fairfield girls at Glass House Mtns

This past weekend, I had an overnight field trip on Moreton Island for my environmental studies class. There are five of us from Fairfield, one other American girl, one Australian girl, and three Australian guys in the class. Our professor has no idea what is going on, so we really were not looking forward to the trip. We also went out on Friday night, which was a big mistake. I went to sleep at 5:45 in the morning and woke up at 6:30 to leave for Moreton. So I got 45 minutes of sleep before my adventures began- not really an ideal situation.

We had to drive a half hour on a bus and then take an hour and a half ferry ride to Moreton. Moreton Island is the third largest sand island in the world, so there are no roads and no running water on the entire island. This meant that our bus had to four-wheel drive through tons of sand dunes, which made me feel quite carsick at times. The island was a lot bigger than we were expecting too, so it took a while to get from one place to another.

Saturday was a whirlwind of observing sciency things and collecting tons of data. I’m really not a scientific person, so I have no idea what any of the data means. We climbed through rocks and swam in a lagoon before we got to our campsite. Our campsite was quite interesting. Essentially, it was several tents set up with a few cots in each of them. We had to borrow sleeping bags from ACU’s international office. There were also bugs EVERYWHERE. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to sleep that night, which really sucked due to my lack of sleep the night before. It was also only like 2:00 in the afternoon, so it really felt like this was going to be the longest day of my life.

After we dropped our stuff off, we had to go through all of these plants and collect even more data. In order to get to this bush land, we had to walk through the lagoon. Wearing workout pants and sneakers, we all had to walk about half a mile through the lagoon with water that was up to my hips. If you picture a swamp where crocodiles live, that’s essentially what we had to walk through. Some of the other girls were freaking out and having a lot of anxiety, but I was just laughing during most of it and trying to take it for what it was. There were many foreign objects that I felt brushing up against my legs, but I just tried not to think about it. We then walked through a bunch of plants and returned back to our campsite where we had to write an essay on the spot. We wrote the essays in pairs and all ten of us sat at a big table together and goofed around while we wrote them, so it didn’t really seem like work.

When we finally finished around 11 at night, we all decided to go stargazing on the beach. Since Moreton Island is basically deserted, there are never any people on the beaches. It was absolutely amazing. We all laid on our backs and stared up at the stars… they have different constellations than we do at home, so it was really cool to see them, and to have local Australians point them out to us. Since the tents were infested with ants and mosquitoes (or “muzzies” as they’re called here), all of the Americans decided to get our sleeping bags and sleep on the beach. This was one of the coolest experiences I’ve had, and has always been something I’d wanted to do. Obviously I didn’t get that much actual sleep (probably just an hour and a half), but I’m so glad I did it. We got to see the sunrise too, so now I can say I’ve seen two Australian sunrises on the beach, and I’m hoping to see more before I leave!

Sleeping on the beach

That green blob to the left is me in my sleeping bag

Moreton Island sunrise

Deserted Moreton Island beach

On Sunday, we had an early breakfast and then took the bus to go sand tobogganing. We walked from the beach through a foresty part of the island, and then into the middle where there were MASSIVE sand dunes everywhere. I’ve never seen anything like it. We climbed up a bunch of huge sand hills and used these wooden slabs to go sledding down. I may have gotten a few mouths full of sand, but it was so worth it! Definitely a really cool experience.

Tons of sand

Those little wooden slabs were our toboggans 

Even more sand!

After we packed up our things, we headed back towards where the ferry dropped us off for our one last activity- snorkeling! It was really cold out so we didn’t feel like it, but I’m glad we did. I had never been snorkeling before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. We had to wear wetsuits that made us float, so that was really fun. We also had flippers, gloves, goggles, and the snorkel. We saw so many fish! We got to feed bread to some of them, so they came right up to us and grabbed the bread for our hands. After snorkeling, we took the ferry and the bus back to good old Urbanest, where I took the longest shower of my life. Although parts of the trip were a little questionable (like peeing right outside my tent and almost getting run over by a car while sleeping on the beach), I’m so glad we got to go. My professor was a constant form of entertainment as she was completely clueless, and we really got to bond with the Australians in my class. I also did a whole bunch of things that would have been so out of my comfort zone before coming to Australia.

Testing out our wetsuits while getting ready to snorkel

Tons of fish! Nicole took this with her GoPro

Speaking of going out of my comfort zone, I’m leaving for Spring Break this Saturday! 9 out of the 10 Fairfield girls are going on the 1fish2fish extreme adventures tour. It’s a 9-day/9-night trip that includes a ton of activities. We will be going to Fraser Island, the Whitsundays, and Cairns. Here’s the itinerary in case you’re interested in what I’ll be doing: http://www.extremeadventures.com.au/itinerary.jsp?tripId=72

I will have either extremely limited or no wifi while I’m gone, so don’t worry if you don’t hear from me! Hopefully I’m alive and will be able to blog when I get back to Brisbane in a few weeks!