The Fun Stuff

Alot of fun stuff has being going on recently and now that school is over its great. We have a week off right now from finals and I am going to visit my friend Katee in Mackay, but more on that next week when I've actually been. So first off was George Roberts Homeball, which reminded me alot of prom. Everybody gets dressed up, we catch buses to a private room at a club and we drink and dance. It was great night and I loved getting dressed up. There was free wine and kegs while they lasted and GR people sure know how to represent. We got there around 7 and I was home and asleep by midnight. The night was great and my friends and I had a blast. My roomie got sick so we were escorted out by security but no biggie. Overall it was a really great night a ton of fun. The boys also recently had our final party. It was a night of gorging at pizza hut and then back to GR to have our final drinks together. It was a great time and I am really going to miss everyone here. Next came Relay for life which was great. Team RAMROD had 16 people and helped to raise over $800. I walked at least 8 miles in the name of cancer research and had a blast. There was karaeoke and trivia as well as face painting and live performances. It was exhausting but still fun and it made me feel good. The most exhaustion I've felt though is right now. I just got done climbing Castle Hill. It is Townsville landmark and the top gives a view of the eniter city. We deciede to go and see the sunset which made that hike worth-while. I almost didn't make it to the top, but with support I did, and I am really glad I did. Now that my time here is ending I wish I would have climbed Castle Hill 10 times and gone to the strand every weekend, but I know that I will always remeber Townsville. It is such an amazing and diverse city with many things to see and do. I love it here and I know I will be back someday.

<3

I miss everyone at home though and can't wait to see my family and friends.

It's been a while

I'm a bad blogger, I know. It has been way to long and so many things have happened since my last post. When I last left I was on lecture recess in the Gold Coast with Ashley. We finished our trip with a day at the beach and then we went to the Australia zoo for a day. That was my favorite day of break. I loved being at the zoo and seeing all the crocs that were made famous by Steve Irwin. It was great being where his heart constantly was and although I didn't see any of his family or Wez (his best mate) I was constantly on the look-out. Ask Ashley, she hated me for it. While at the zoo we took in a show or two and held a snake (so proud of Ashley for that) and petted a croc. Overall break was a really good time. The week after break was no fun since I was sick. Thought it was swine flu and things got crazy. I got better by the time my 21st birthday party rolled around however. Sara and I decided to celebrate our birthdays together and it was a BLAST. We had dinner at Cactus Jacks (our fav. mexican place) and then went back to party at GR. It was my goal to have 21 drinks in order to celebrate my birthday and I succeeded. I was already at number 13 by the time we left dinner thanks to all my friends. Sara got me some NZ vodka for my present and I put it to good use. All of my other friends here were really great on my birthday and it showed how much they care and know me (Caitlyn and Katee both got me jewelry either having to do with marine science or 'Oz and I love them). After celebrating and then recovering from birthday celebrations I knew it was time to get down to business.
Since being back in Townsville school had weighed me down. That didnt stop me from going to UniClub and town on various occasions. Todd turned 21 and we celebrated with some Tavern Trivia and then his GF Jen came to visit. It was nice to have another American around and it didn't hurt that she goes to Coastal as well. Getting news from home was great and we had a blast while she was here. So school got intense and it did involve me reconstructing a fish skull, not pleasant but in the end he turned out awesome. Alot of Rugby also happened. GR had its finals and although both the boys and girls lost, it was still a ton of fun to go and support them. The Queensland Cowboys also had there last home game recently. My Aussie friends Matt, Shaun and Frosty decided to make a banner for a contest at the game. They won for that night and are entered to win a car, its a 1 in 20 chance of winning, so thats pretty awesome. The game that night was also great becasue the Cowboys WON :)

Lecture reccess, part 1

Lecture reccess has begun. Friday night Ashley and I decided to treat ourselves to dinner and the casino. Little did we know that Ashley has an addiction and lost 180 dollars. F her L. Rohan was also sighted that night, FML. Saturday was relaxing and shopping. Sunday was an early wake-up for my field trip. After travelling to Orpheous Island it was all work. We were in the water for up to 8 hours a day, surveying fish. I never though I would be so happy to be on land again. Tuesday was my 21st birthday and I got a candle on my pie on the island. Wednesday was another early moring and the drive back to JCU. After unpacking an re-packing it was time to head to the airport for my flight to Brisbane. Ashley and I didn't exactly plan ahead so we had to sleep for 5 hours in the Brisbane airpoirt while waiting for the first train. It was sketch and people stared. Once arriving in Gold Coast we saw our sketch hostel and booked it to Dreamworld. It was alot of fun in that the rides were thrilling, if nothing but short. We did alot of stuff and then headed back to the Islander Resort Backpackers. Its not as shady as previously thought and our roomie Doug is pretty awesome. Him and Ashley are engaged actually. Friday was our eXtrmeme Jet boating ride that was tons of fun. You fly on the water doing spins and turns and all sorts of crazy tricks. It was really, really fun. Friday night has been the best night ever in Australia. Ashley and I went to Draculas. Now I was expecting something Mideval Times style, but this beat it by a thousand times. People in costumes everywhere, crazy men calling you lesbians and awesome decorations. You take the Ghost train, which is Haunted Mansion in WDW to your seat. You get scared by the one live person jumping out at you along the ride. Then theres the three-course meal, which was really good. Entertainment ensues the whole night, with the drinks a flowing. After eating the real show, Beats Of Burlesque begins. All-in-all the whole night took 5 and half hours, so well worth the money. Ashley and I were laughing the whole night, except when she looked at me and said "Hell NO" when asked if we were lesbians. No homo though haha. Once back to the hostel Doug propsed to Ashley and luckily I was there to get the moment on film. Saturday was thrilling. We had amazing pancakes in the morning before heading off to Jetski and go parasailing. It was alot of fun, driving a jetski is totally wicked. The night was fun too even though we never made it out of ouyr hostel room until now. Update you on the rest of the trip next week.

<3 to the United States of Oprah

And so the travelling begins

Last update I was getting ready to go rafting. Since then I have done some travelling so let me update. Rafting was AWESOME. We arrived in Mission Beach late Friday night and slept for a few hours. Macca (aka FRANK) picked us up in the bus and took us to Tully for rafting. Frank liked our American group so much he decided to be our guide. The rafting was an amazing time. I luckily did not fall out even though I was pused out on multiple occasions by Chad. Both Jenn and Todd fell in, once with Jenn being trapped under the raft. That was scary. So on this rafting trip they flip you on purpose. No worries mate, or so you think. The boat in front of us flipped completely over so it needed to be righted. Unfortunatley Ashley, Sara and I were under it when they flipped. Per the video you see Sara and Ashley's heads pop right out, yet you only see my arms flaining as I try to get air. A good time all in all however. We got back to our lovely accomodations of Scotty's Beachhouse for some dinner and rest. We did however find a stripper pole in the bar, and you know that the boys put it to good use. The next week went by fast and then it was our 4-day Easter break. We left early Friday morning for Airlie Beach. We got there and it was raining, as it continued to do all weekend long, but oh well. We did some shopping before dinner and then out to Mama Africas for some dancing. Saturday we had some free time but due to the rain it was boring. Once we got to the marina we boarded our sailing ship, the Broomstick. It was a cute little sailboat and I really had a good time that weekend. Once aboard we settled into our spacious accomodation (psych) and went snorkeling. The reef is such a gorgeous place and I still can't seem to get used to it. Saturday night was an early night and Sunday was an early wakeup. This Easter Sunday was by far the best ever. We sailed to Whitehaven beach early in the morning, which by the way was vote the best beach in the WORLD for 2008. The sand is 99% silica, making it a pure white color. The views from the lookout were amazing and the beach is even better up-close. Britt-britt and I took lots of photos and did some swimming. After lunch on the boat we went snorkeling agian, which was again, amazing. For sunset we went to a little island where we were the only ones. Our time was made better by a rain storm in which I did a happy little dance, yay me. After dinner however was when the real fun began. Goon sacks all around the ship made the night way more interesting. Not to mention our gorgeous crew man, dubbed Orlando by his amazing looks.We were real pirates after he went to other ships, stealing their goon sacks. Monday morning was some more sailing before heading into the marina. BBQ lunch and then back to JCU it was. A shower was nice, considereing there none on the boat, kinda gross I know. The next week sucked with papers being due and everything, but I survived. Uni club this week was amazing since Katee ventured out with us. Next up, Lecture reccess aka SPRING BREAK!

After O-week

Hello all, I know its been quite a while since my last post. I always forget about my blog haha. So last I wrote to you all about was O-week which was over 3 weeks ago. Since then class has started and they are hard. I am taking Austrlian Cinema (all I do is watch movies), Advanced Genetics and Genomics (this class will be the death of me), Conserving Marine Wildlife (awesome class) and Evolution of Reef Fishes (for this I get to prepare a skull, which includes boiling my fish head, whose name is Gerald by the way). So since classes have started nothing too exciting. Uni club is still a popular place to be and I still go on occassion. Weekends here are still crazy, but I love them. I have also gotten my nose pierced, which I love :). St. Patty's day was a fun and drunken night as expected. We drank in the dorms and then went to Flynn's Irish Pub. I had beer there but did not enjoy it. I prefer my goon (best ever, I might have to mail some to the USA) and I have discovered Bundaberg run (an Aussie specialty). Last weekend my friends Ashley, Brittney and I went over to Magnetic Island for a 2 day adventure. We got to our hostle on Friday night and chilled at the bar. I'm just going to say that we had an amazingly hott British roomate. Saturday we went to Picnic Bay on Maggie and just layed out by the beach. Saturday night was a mess. Drank too much and we all know what that means when I do that. But Sunday was amazing too. We ventured to the other side of the island and layed out on Alma beach. The water around Maggie is clear and beautiful. I plan on going back soon (its only a 20 minute ferry ride away) and renting a car to adventure around and also go horseback riding over there which is supposed to be awesome. This upcoming weekend I am going whitewater rafting on the Tully River. We are going Level 4 rapids, which is pretty intense. I am just hoping that I don't injure myself when I fall out of the raft. I also have plans for Easter break. I am going to be sailing around the Whitsunday Islands for 4 days so thats pretty sweet. I also have made spring break plans. My friend Ashley and I are going to the gold coast and doing some adventure parks and some reef diving. I am really, really excited to start travelling more. I am hopefully getting to Sydney soon too, seeing as how its such a beautiful city. Well I'm off to my river adventure and I'll hopefully get better at this whole blogging thing.

Missing all my loves in the states

Townsville and O-week

So when I arrived in Townsville, I was very excited. My housing assignment was set to be George Roberts Hall and thats where 2 of my good friends were living. So I'm all set with my 120 plus pounds of luggage when I find out I'm going to be in the last possbile building. Perfect. Even more perfect is that my room is on the 3rd floor and there are no elevators. Luckily my RA helped with my stuff. So I get into my room only to discover that I have a pet, I named my gecko Lizzy and he keeps my room spider free :). After getting settled all in we went into town. The shopping center around here, Stockland, commonly referred to as Stockies by the locals is somewhat different than the typical American mall. Not only are there clothing stores, but also "Wal-mart" aka the Big W and the food store (woolworths or Woolies). Theres also butcher shops in the mall which I find a bit disturbing. Malls are also only open untill 5 pm on weekdays and then 3 pm on weekends. Thursdays is late night shopping where malls are open until 9. That takes some getting used to. No 24-hour anything. The first few days were fun getting settled in even though my roomates werent here yet. So along comes O-week, which is fresher (freshman) orientation. Its bascially a week long party where the fossils make you drink till your sick (like we minded lol). My two roomates moved in, Kieran and Caitlyn. Both are from Australia and are extremely nice, we get along greatly. So O-week begins. Tuesday night was Toga Party and I've never experinced anything quite like it. We all got dressed up in our togas and over 3,000 freshers made it out to the Uni-Club/bar (yeah thats right, we have a club and bar on campus--awesome). Wedenesday was sponsors night in town, meaning free and reduced drinks at the clubs. Thursday was Fresher kegger in which you drank from 2:30 until 8 pm and bascially just skulled goon (chugged cheap wine). Thursday nights is also uni-club night which is a weekly occurence and a ton of fun. We all have a party in somebodys room and then go to the club to dance all night. Too bad I have an 8 am on Friday, but it has yet to stop me. Friday night was the Op-shop formal and Fresher Graduation. Your supposed to wear something old and hideous and then party it up outside. It was a ton of fun. Really good community and alcoholic sense, haha. After op-shop my friends and I went to the uni-club again and had a blast.

Traveling and the beginning

On February 7th I prepared to say goodbye to everyone and everything familiar; my family, my friends, my cell phone and good ol' American food would be absent from my life for the next 5 months. It was a whirlwind of a day. I started out at Newark International Airport and had flight to LA. It was a pretty good flight, considering the nice old man next to me bought me champagne, yum. Once I got to LA I had a bit of trouble in that they made me check my carry-on becasue it was too big, although flying from NJ to LA I had no problems with its size. Once I was all checked in I ventured to the gate where my flight was destined to leave from, only to find out that the flight was delayed another 2 hours. I soon met this girl named Ashley, who is from Kentucky and wierd. We bonded however as we saw Daisy from Rock of Love and her lips that looked like they were sucked down a drain hahahaha. The rest of the night consisted of meeting a ton of new people and playing UNO. The flight to Brisbane from LA was pretty uneventful considering I took some SleepMD and don't remember the plane even taking off. So since our flight was delayed in LA we were going to miss our connecting flight in Brisbane to Cairns. They instead held the plane for 107 of us trying to catch that flight. This would have been fine and dandy however we had to get our luggage and go through customs. We all know that my luck made me one of the last to actually get on the next flight. I thought it was all good until I realized my luggage was still in Brisbane when I got to Cairns, which roughly meant I was in the same cltohs for around 35 hours, gross. We got to our backpackers accomodation (Gilligans), went to dinner and had an early night in. The next day I fianlly got my luggage and showered. It was then that I met Sara, another crazy girl whom I have since become very close with. Day 2 in Cairns consited of going to Rainforestation in which we held a koala, played with roos and went on an army duck tour (we almost died due to the incompetence of our driver, damn you TINA). By the way, we all call ourselves and everybody Tina, its wierd and we know it. After Rainforestation we were on our own, so Ashley, Sara and I were like, well lets go skydiving. Thats right everyone, I jumped form a plane crusing at 14,000 feet and I was the first one out of the plane. 60 seconds plus of free fall and it was AMAZING. I loved every second of it and can't wait to go by myself (I was tandem with and old guy instructor whom I thought might have a heart attack). The next day was our reef adventure day. I went snorkeling over the GBR and saw a sea turtle and a blue-spotted ray, both of which were beautful. I also got to test out my new camera and took a ton of pictures of all the little fishes. This day however I also got second degree sunburn and that is no lie. The pharamacist actually told me I should have gone to the ER, it was that bad. But PawPaw's ointment saved my face, even though most of it fell off. Gross, I know. The next day we headed to Townsville, which is where my next post will tell you about.