More pictures from Queenstown

I have some time between classes, so I thought I'd do another quick photo-update, this time of some pics from my recent trip to Queenstown.
1. Me in front of the plane I jumped from at 15,000 feet!
2. The gorgeous mountains everywhere...this is from Wanaka, looking out onto the Queenstown mountains.
3. The group I went with...Dan from Massachusetts on the left, Jenn from Auckland, Claire from Germany, me, Patrick from Texas.
4. Me and Dan by the prettiest lake in Wanaka, in the background is the mountain range with Mt. Aspiring, where we hiked.
5. Me driving stickshift on the left side of the road! Note the fact that I'm sitting in the driver's seat, on the right. Trippy.

My classes so far are good... my world music class looks interesting, if not a little tedious with the amount of memorization of songs we have to do. There's tons of opportunities to play cool instruments though, and we get to see a Chinese drumming troupe this upcoming Monday. My child development class also looks really good, but it's the easiest 300-level class I've ever taken...I have a 4 page paper, and I have to spend 3-5 hours with a child and do a project with them. Easy peasy. That's it! It looks interesting though, and I'm excited to see how it'll turn out, especially since at Oxy we don't have anything like this in our ed. department.

I'm off to find some CDs for my music class and to buy some books for my classes. Loves!

Quick random photos

Here's a brief array of photos. I don't know what order they'll be in, but here's what they should be. They're a mix of Oztown and Kiwiland, I'll upload more later.

1. Zorbing in Rotorua--three of us hopped into the big plastic ball with a bit of water in it and rolled over the rest of the group down a giant hill. Wickedas.
2. Me in the Kata Tjutas, doing the Valley of the Winds hike.
3. Uluru at sunset.
4. Me with the boys in my flat: Joe from DC is in the middle, Evan from Eugene at the bottom.
5. A kangaroo with her joey in the pouch (look closely) in the Blue Mountains near Sydney.

Back in Dunedin

So I'm back in good ol' Dunedin, land of the crazy college kids. It's good to be back, and when I got home, my flatties were cooking dinner and I got back in time for a delish meal of falafel and sweet potato fries. It feels like being home, and that's a pleasant feeling. We had a family meeting where we discussed things like cleaning, dishes, cooking, power bills, internet, etc. and it was nice to feel like that's under control.

My last day in Queenstown was fun, if not as exciting as the day before. We went out to Arrowtown for a cute cafe breakfast and wandered around a Chinese village from their goldmine boom in 1890 (by "boom," I mean "wave of people"--only about 20 Chinese men ever were out there at the same time! It's a tiny city) and took a leisurely drive back to Dunedin.

Tomorrow starts classes--I've got a music class and an education class then, so we'll see how those go. I need to find out where those buildings are on campus, a bigger chore than it sounds, since the campus is huge!

I'm so pleased that I have the skydive to check off my list of accomplishments: I decided to do it 2 hours before the trip left, so I barely had time to get nervous! Even as I was putting on the suit, clipping on a bunch of clips and straps and signing the waiver (there was only one page! to skydive! I signed my life away with one quick signature! It's so much more laid-back here than the States, since nobody sues), I didn't really get nervous until we boarded the tiny little plane and took off, and I realized I was jumping out of it. The whole experience was really like three different experiences in one: the first part was like a helicopter ride, since we got gorgeous scenery, could see the whole mountain range, and got a sweeping view of the lake. The second part was just a free fall--you jump out of the plane and flip over about two times, then your arms and legs get pushed into the hawk-position and you just take in the scenery and feel the rushing wind whip around your face. The third part is like a parachute ride, since when he pulls the parachute, you immediately go vertical instead of horizontal, and you can move around a lot more and he can make you swing around a lot with the wind. The landing was way easier than I though, you just pull your feet up and he lands for you and then you kind of jog. So easy! I splurged and went for the full 15,000 feet which is the highest you can dive in NZ since I had heard that people kind of forget the first 30 seconds anyways. This way, I got a full 65 seconds of free-fall instead of just 40, and I really got to enjoy the scenery without being disoriented.

I should go look at a map and try to find my classes, heaps of kiwi love!

New Zealand: like Lord of the Rings, only better!

Saturday, 2/23 8:20 PM.
New Zealand is my favorite place in the whole wide world, end of story.

Queenstown is ridiculous, it's the "adventure capital of the world," and seriously, it lives up to its name. Everywhere you look, there's people falling out of the sky: parachuting, skydiving, bungeeing, they're everywhere! It's ridiculous. Because I'm here and because I had to at some point in my life, I sucked it up and paid about half of my life savings to partake in the adventures, and I can now officially say I have survived skydiving!!! It was the coolest experience of my life and I have absolutely no qualms about the price I paid anymore. It was incredibly thrilling, I got one of the most gorgeous views in the entire world, and it was something I've wanted to do for a long time. I'm out of words to talk about what an awesome experience it was. I'll explain more when I have more time to update and more money to spend on internet.

Today we went out to do the Rob Roy hike, but it was dumping rain and we had to drive on a pebble road for about 20 kms. Still, after driving almost 2 hours to get out there and risking our lives because we switched drivers and the two American guys are a) still learning to drive stick and b) still learning to drive on the left, we decided we had to go out and do the hike. We came back completely drenched and cold and drippy, but it was a gorgeous hike and gorgeous scenery. Cheesy, but true: it looks exactly like the Lord of the Rings scenery! Not kidding! The whole country is full of gorgeous lakes and sweeping landscapes and edgy mountains and it's all just so vibrant and alive everywhere. I can't get enough of it. I'm looking into buying my first car ever with some other people here so we can travel for every second of our lives that we're not in class or writing papers or some other bother like that. Kidding, kind of. I haven't started class, but all I have to say is that they had better be really good to make me want to go to class instead of just travel this entire country top to bottom. I start class on Monday, so we'll see how that goes.

I cannot describe how happy I am here and how much I am in love with this country. I've met such great people, seen such cool things, done such exciting activities... It's exactly what I wanted out of my study abroad experience. It's totally wickedas. Note the use of NZ vernacular: they say "coolas" or "sweetas," as in "cool as..." or "sweet as..." but they don't fill in the sentence with what it's cool as. It doesn't make any sense, but it's totally growing on me, as have the terms "sunnies" and "tongs," sunglasses and bathing suit respectively. Love it.

Hope everybody else is likewise living it up, love love love!

New Zealand: More Than Just Rocks

Yesterday I took a trip out to the Taieri Gorge by train which was pretty cool. We went on this kind of rickety rail and got to hike around once we got out there. We hiked out to these edgy rocks and climbed one and then got a free BBQ meal which is always exciting. Since my house is currently stocked only with muesli bars (granola bars, kiwi-style), olive oil, and some rolls, I'm not one to turn down a free meal. To get out there, we passed through this really forested area, through some tunnels, and over some bridges over some really lovely streams. It was a cool trip and an excellent introduction to New Zealand landscape. When I got back, the two other girls (the kiwis) were sitting out front in the lawn on the couch, which they had dragged out there, and were just having a good time. I love the laid-back environment out here! Some areas of town are just college-crazy, but I lucked out in living in just a really chill area. Jess bought a giant string of garlic cloves so we're best friends already, and Jane says the only food she doesn't like is mushrooms, so I can tell this is going to work out great.

Tonight I might take off for Queenstown with some friends in another flat and I might go bungee jumping out there! I have to look into pricing, but I've finally figured out that even though stuff gets expensive out here, there's nothing I would rather be spending my money on and that this is a great use of my savings. While I'm out in Queenstown, I probably won't get internet, but I'll be sure to update when I get back, hopefully with all the gory details of my adventuresome life and hopefully without a story of how I broke my leg or something tragic like that. Kidding, of course--I'll stay safe and have tons of fun too.

Love!

"This part would be a harmonica solo, if I had my harmonica with me"

2/19
New Zealand: still loving it. Today was filled with important things like setting up wireless on my computer (which had a 29-step process to it...could it BE any more complicated?), going back to the phone store and complaining that my phone didn't work and being sent back home anyways, figuring out how to check out books from the library, opening a New Zealand bank account (I feel like a drug lord, having an overseas bank account), and the like. I discovered an excellent pizza place where I paid $7 for a tiny but delicious veggie pizza, only to discover the Dominos pizza across the street from my flat with the permanent student discount that gets you a large pizza for $6.90. Way to stick it to the man, Rach.

I did some serious unpacking and decorating (meaning I hung up the two free posters we got from Orientation) and made a delicious taco salad with some other international kids. Tons of the others have never cooked on their own before and were shocked at how easy and how you don't actually have to cook anything to make taco salad. I have become the cooking guru, and I'm kind of okay with that.

Later on tonight, Joe (one of my flatmates, the other is Evan) and I wandered around and ended up at this bar downtown where they had an open mic night and two of our friends were playing, so we stuck around to hear them play. It was your traditional open mic night and there was the fair share of people that just kind of screamed and strummed out some incoherent chords on their $20 guitars, but there were some genuinely good people there as well, and I heard some serious talent there. There was no cover charge, tons of kiwis there, and it felt like a serious NZ vibe which I had been craving. It was nice to escape from the constant hanging outage of all Arcadia students (who I totally adore but it's nice to get out some too), and we walked back with one of the performers, who had his guitar out and was playing riffs from Flight of the Conchord. It was a classic NZ experience.

I met my second kiwi host today, and she's great too. My flat is really centrally located and since it's so huge, it's become the giant meeting place for everybody, and we have giant communal dinners here too which is awesome because it means we get to keep the leftovers in the fridge. It's amazing how dinner leftovers make such great breakfasts. My flatmates are all awesome and we've become immediately close which is exactly what I wanted and I feel so lucky that I got such a good group. Everybody else in my Arcadia group lives within a four or five minute walk, and it's easy to just walk around, knock on people's doors, and find out what's up and if they're there. It's such a college town, there's kids walking around everywhere and everyone just hangs out everywhere. It's so totally different from LA, but it's also one of the major reasons I wanted to come here. All the people here, college students included, are totally the nicest people I've ever met. When I told people I was coming to NZ, everybody said that kiwis were really nice, but it's hard to think that it's so true, but it is! Everybody is ridiculously helpful and friendly and positive and upbeat and it's kind of my favorite place ever, slowly edging out Australia. I didn't think I'd notice it so fast, but I haven't met a single unpleasant person, and that includes the waiter that brought out the wrong food two hours late and I demanded some sort of reparations from him. Instead of getting all frustrated right back at me like I was doing to him, he gave us two free meals and free limoncellos! How can you not fall in love with this country?

Hoping that the chill New Zealand vibe hits the States soon, loves!

I am a Scarfie

2/18/08 (I typed up a bunch of updates from the past week or so, they're here in chronological order, but in separate posts)

So as of today, I am officially a Scarfie, a Scarfie being an Otago student because they all wear scarves because it’s so cold at all times. I registered for classes, which was quite complicated and involved queuing up in a bunch of queues (note the use of NZ vernacular…it’s coming along) and getting a bunch of professors to sign off on classes. I ended up with almot nothing that I originally requested, but that’s okay. I’m taking a world music class, a film class on New Zealand film, and two education classes, one on NZ education policy and one on the psychology of education and child development. None of these are anything near what I could take at Oxy, and I’m jazzed to get in these classes. I’m going to a local elementary school tomorrow to check out how I can volunteer and get in a classroom too. The best part? No Friday classes! I figure I’ll want to be traveling the island, and three-day weekends make it so I can do all the tramping I want.

I took care of some boring errands like buying a phone, applying for an 18+ card so that I don’t have to carry my passport everywhere, signing my lease, and got all the signatures I needed for classes and then cooked dinner with a bunch of friends at my flat, which I recently learned is noted as the second best university flat in the town…sweet! We made terrible macaroni and cheese because their cheese sauce is gross, but we’ll figure it out. We also made some salad to redeem it and had our first NZ hummus experience, and it lives up to my absurdly high expectations. Loving it. My flatmates are great, I can tell we’re going to get along handsomely. They even have good music taste! We took family photos on our spiral staircase, and if I ever have time to upload photos, I’ll send on some pics. One of my kiwis came in late tonight, and she seems really cool. She has tons of stuff like kitchen supplies, towels, etc. which is great since I was going to go out and buy some of that stuff, so she had perfect timing! Tomorrow Janey comes in, so we’ll have a family meeting and figure out stuff like food, wireless internet, chores, etc. and make sure we all agree on stuff. It’s quite cute, we feel like a fun family already. Pictures to come soon, I promise--it takes forever to load though, and I keep feeling like there's better, more useful things I can do with my time! I'll put some up when I get the chance.

Love to all--

Orientation with the Arcadia kids

2/17/08
Warning: this is an absurdly long entry...feel free to skim and/or skip the boring parts...

What a whirlwind past few days. New Zealand and I are getting to know each other at a fast pace, and I'm absolutely adoring it. I had a brief stint in Auckland with Sophie's dad (major kudos to him for picking me up from the airport and letting me crash at his place, even if it was only for a couple of hours!) and got taken to the Auckland airport in a private business car, since the shuttle service had overbooked their vans. Despite my in-style arrival to the airport, I still had to wait around for an hour or so, but whatever--those leather seats were worth it. I met up with the rest of my group, and we explored Auckland for the rest of the day. While everyone else was fighting jet lag, lost baggage, and lack of showers for days, I was flying high, totally accustomed to the time and boasting all of my bags. It was great. I'm so glad I did my traveling beforehand. I feel like I'm so much more prepared to get the most out of my time in NZ with that experience behind me, and it really made the transition to NZ so much easier. This orientation has been excellent, because aside from the awkward first day questions (what's your major? where do you go to school? what's your name again?), we haven't had to do any stupid orientation activities like giving your name and a corresponding adjective that starts with the same letter or something. Still, we all had to go the same places, see the same things, do the same activities, and it felt frustrating to be so tied down after being on my own for so long. I also had a hard time walking around with such a huge group of people (26 total), but once we split up into smaller groups, it got better. We did do some things that I wouldn't have done on my own though, including seeing some penguins at this underworld place, climbing this fabulous hill to get a gorgeous lookout on the city and the bay, and checking out the harbor. I also found a Mexican place in Auckland and since I had been craving burritos since about the time I left the States, I was thrilled. They put cabbage in the burritos and their sour cream came out from a squirty bottle, but it hit the spot anyways.

The next day we went out to Rotorura, which is still on the North Island, but a little bit more rural and less urban. We saw a sheep show (not kidding--the sheep here are EVERYWHERE) where this dog jumped all over the sheep and the guy sheared a sheep on stage, hiked around this nature conservancy and saw a kiwi bird and some other native animals (I chatted with our guide who had recently spent $62 on hair products and had every springy curl of his mop-top under control--he was hilarious), soaked in the Polynesian hot spas where all the skin on my back virtually fell off, walked around with plugged noses because the entire city smells like Camas times ten (the sulfur gives it a miserable smell), and the whole time, we got mini-lessons about New Zealand politics, history, culture, etc. We also saw this geyser erupt, but even though it's supposed to blow up every 24 hours, the ranger guy still added soap to it. It was cool, but not nearly as cool as it would have been without the soap. We also went to a Maori cultural show where we got to see the haka (their war dance), eat Maori-cooked food from underground, and learn about their culture and traditions. They're much more interesting than, say, Lewis and Clark, and I really enjoyed it.

The people in my group are amazing people: nobody's here just to see where Lord of the Rings was formed, instead everybody's here to hike around and explore and have an awesome time. There's no cliques, which is always a plus, and I feel comfortable chatting and hanging out with everybody. Jane, our group leader, has been incredible: she's just like a group mom and is doing everything she can to make sure we're all happy and safe and comfortable. Everybody has their quirks, but it's a great group. There's even another American Studies/education student! It's difficult to explain just how odd that is, especially since we just discovered it today. She's awesome, and we're going to take Contemporary American Fiction together.

Today I moved into my flat which is ridiculously cute! I have a giant room to myself with a huge double bed, drawers, a bureau, a fake fireplace which I can't figure out its importance but still looks nice, and some weird shelf system going on in the corner. I've got two huge windows with shades already on, and the overheadlight lights up my room well, which is good because I can't stand dim lights. Unfortunately, my flat is about 30 degrees colder than the temperature outside, which is about twenty degrees colder than I thought it would be, making me a veritable ice cube at all times. I'm wearing two pairs of socks right now, and I'm trying to figure out how lame it would be to wear gloves to bed. My flatmates are quite cool: one is named Joe and he's from DC and is studying music and business, and the other one is Evan from Eugene who's technically studying Physics but is just kind of taking all kinds of classes here. The two kiwi-hosts, Jess and Jane, haven't arrived yet, but I'm sure they're awesome. Joe and Evan and I had fun tonight getting to know each other and exploring our flat, and I'm sure we'll all get along quite nicely. Sadly, they're not veg so there goes my great idea of buying communal food, but that's okay. Evan already shared his ginger cookies and has really good balsamic vinegar (unrelated to the ginger cookies), so he's got bonus points.

Even though I ordered linen ahead of time, it didn't make it to my flat yet, so I'm sleeping on my sleeping bag without a pillow tonight. My bed's huge though, so that's kind of a plus? Also, I found free detergent which means I can wash my clothes for the first time in quite some time, which is good since my socks all stink like wet socks and the rest of my clothes are probably growing mold somewhere on them.

Dunedin itself is the cutest city ever: there's tons of cows and sheep at the perimeter, and at first it looks like a farm town, but when you get to the city center, there's tons of cafes, restaurants, bars, bookstores, and general cool places to be. It's the biggest college town in New Zealand, so students basically run the area and are everywhere. It's weird since LA is about the furthest you can get from a college town, but I think I'm going to like it a lot. This week is orientation week, and apparently Dunedin is famous for people bringing their couches outside and just sitting outside (and occasionally burning their couches--what?!) and hanging out with everybody. I can deal with that.

The past few nights have been late ones (who am I kidding? By "the past few nights," I pretty much mean "the past few weeks"), and since we don't have time to sleep in during the first three days, I have been running on an average of four hours of sleep a night. I feel like I'm back to freshman year of college, where I felt like if I ever went to bed, I was missing out on some amazing adventure or experience. Hopefully this craziness will pass and I'll make it back to regular hours. It's only 12:15 AM now, and I don't have to be anywhere until 10:45 AM tomorrow morning. I'm so jazzed for all this sleep!

I'm so happy and thrilled to be here it's not even funny, and I cannot wait to be completely settled in and ready to go. I'm hardcore loving this new part of my adventure. Lots of love to everyone at home—

The Adventure in Oz Comes to an End

I have been writing up posts, but have been sans internet for quite some time (I must admit, it's almost killed me not checking my email thirty times a day, but I'm a better person for it!), so I figure I'll post them separately and everybody can get a decently chronological idea of my life down here!

2/13/08
So last night I ended up sleeping in a sketchy room called "the Church," a 28-person dump of a room in a hostel in downtown Sydney. It smelled like boy-socks, was slightly humid, and was a hub of activity until about 2 AM. Lesson learned: next time, I'll make sure I have my accommodations booked plenty of time ahead.

My flight out of Uluru yesterday was delayed by about two and a half hours because when the plane initially landed there, it scraped along a tractor (I was the only one that seemed shocked about this and was questioning the pilot's ability to actually fly his plane). To ensure that the plane was okay, they had to fly out a mechanic from Alice Springs, the nearest place around, which is about 4 hours by car. He signed it off right away, but we were still off to a turbulent start, though that was apparently due to the hot air of the desert and not the large gash caused by the tractor. We did get free tea and biscuits (bikkies) while stranded in the airport, and once on the flight, they claimed they were giving us free drinks but who serves lunch without serving drinks, anyways? I got into Sydney about 3 hours later than planned, and therefore missed my plans with a friend that I had made last time I was there. I ended up watching terrible TV and part of a Meryl Streep/Robert DeNiro flick and going to bed early. C'est la vie.

This morning, since I had to check out of the dump at 10 AM, I hauled myself, my backpack, and my duffel over to where my other bag was being stored, where the guys took about twenty minutes to find it. Again, I found myself picturing worse-case scenarios: living in New Zealand and somehow combining all the shorts I brought to Oz to make pants, whacking open all the cases and searching them all myself, making my travel towel into a cape and pushing it as high-fashion, etc. Thankfully, the guy found it (it was behind somebody's TV or something) and I left my bags with the girl working at the travel agency where I use their free internet to go explore Sydney one last time. Because of the Bridge Climb, I had a free ticket to go to the Pylon, this lookout on the Sydney Bridge that lets you climb up pretty high, so I hiked out to the bridge one more time. Despite the occasional rain and layer of clouds, it was still a nice lookout, and I got some good pictures of other people doing the Bridge Climb so I can show other people how it works.

As I was walking back to grab my stuff, I made a discovery that will most likely turn me into a rolling pile of lard by the time I walk back: Hungry Jack (the Aussie version of Burger King) has 30 cent ice cream cones! That has got to beat even Chilean prices!!! Obvio, someone counting pennies cannot turn down ice cream without a dollar sign attached, so I had to stop and get one. It was really good, and I'm banking on New Zealand having the same deal going on.

Now I'm waiting in the Sydney airport (after pulling every muscle in my body from carrying all my luggage--I DEFINITELY overpacked...blerg) to fly to Auckland, and that means school is starting. While I'm totally bummed that my Aussie trip is over, I'm slowly getting more excited for New Zealand adventures as well.

My time in Oz has definitely taught me a few things, not the least of being how to plan, budget, book, navigate, and execute a vacation on my own. I've also finally learned to appreciate time on my own: growing up, I got so used to being with Michelle all the time, it felt like I was always using the word "we" instead of "I." Even through the first few months of college, I found myself having a hard time breaking that habit. It's so easy at Oxy especially to spend time with other people and never really catch a moment to yourself, and here, at times I've been totally overwhelmed with me-time. Still, I've mastered the ability of eating by myself with or without a book, I've figured out where to most easily meet other people at hostels, figured out the best spots to sit on buses, and and learned to enjoy seeing sights without somebody else to talk to about it. That's not to say I've spent this trip walking around all the time by myself by any means, but the fast-paced nature of my trip meant that there was certainly lots of time to spend with just me. It's been a great learning experience, but I'm jazzed to meet up with the other people on my trip and have a solid place to live, a solid group of friends, and a sense of regularity to my life.

Sorry for the freakishly long updates, hope everyone is well! Heaps of love.

New Zealand, what what!

I'm safe and sound in New Zealand! I'm in Rotorura right now, on the North Island, and loving it. It's wonderful to be with people for a solid amount of time, and to not be making all the decisions myself! I'm so glad I got to travel before hand, it's really enhanced my experience and I feel like I'm much more prepared to be out here after being on my own for so long.

I have another update typed out on my computer, but I won't get wireless for a few days. Just thought I'd let everyone know I'm safe and wonderfully happy and am absolutely adoring this country. Hope everyone else is likewise doing well!

I am a Rock

I have returned to the land of Internet! Rather, I have succumbed to the ridiculous prices of Yulara, the name of the resort town I'm staying in. Because Uluru and Kata Tjuta are such tourist attractions but are in the middle of nowhere, this resort town was built to accommodate tourists looking to check out the rocks. It only has an official city name for municipal reasons and to handle the staff that lives on the edge of the town. Also, because we are in the most middle of nowhere I have ever been in my entire life, the prices at Yulara are about thirty times higher than anywhere else I have been. I shared a room with nineteen other people and paid a little less than twice what I paid to stay in a room with two other people. Plus, one of the nineteen others was this crazy lady from Seattle that chatted with me about salmon of all things for about ten minutes and then announced, "Well, you probably want my email address...do you have paper so I can write it down for you?" Perhaps she was lonely, but what was she expecting? Weekly updates? Me to pass on those email chain letters? She was hilarious. Today, check-out time is 10:00 even though nobody's flight leaves before 12:30, so I have time to kill and I figured I'd suck it up and pay $5 an hour for wireless Internet access.

Despite the raging prices (and raging heat--it's been upwards of 100 degrees!), I'm absolutely thankful I made it out here. While I loved the east coast of Australia, this feels truly Australian--these are such iconic pieces of rock out here, and it really does feel different than the rest of the country. There's two major rocks to explore: Uluru or Ayer's Rock, depending on whether you insist on using the white man's name for it or the traditional Aboriginal one, and Kata Tjuta or the Olgas, a series of thirty-six domes which create a mini-mountain range. The first day I was out here, I hiked through a chasm between two of the thirty-six domes (each one has a name and a special significance) and watched the sunset at Uluru, where it is supposed to light up when the sun hits the ground. Sadly, it was cloudy outside and the $104 I paid for the tour in its entirety seemed a bit wasteful. The next day, I decided to book just transportation to Uluru to watch the sunrise and hike around it, since I was disillusioned by the expensive tour. This time, the tour desk staff gave me the wrong time to meet the bus, and I ended up being taken on a bus that went back to Kata Tjuta to see the sunrise over there. The woman also informed me that I owed her $15 extra because this trip cost more. I told her no way was I paying for the tour desk's mistake, so she made a phone call and very nicely said that they would work it out for me. From Kata Tjuta, we could see the sunrise over Uluru and the way the sun changed the color of each of the domes, so it turned out to be a total winner. We also did the biggest hike you can do out here (without climbing Uluru, which they ask you not to do) and it was excellent. It's called the Valley of the Winds, and you are basically climbing through rocks, climbing up cliffs, and since it had just rained, there were gorgeous white flowers dotting the valley. It was absolutely incredible. It's hard to describe just how cool it is to be next to these giant monoliths and how small you feel in comparison. Everything seems a bit more vivid out there: the sky is bright blue, the clouds are solid white and stretched out perfectly, the rocks are gigantic and bright rusty red, the plants are this very clear olive green, the air is arid and hot, and when the sun rose, it was the brightest orange I've ever seen. I buddied up with this delightful gay couple from London and hiked through with them, though often I had to go first since one of them was deathly scared of spiders and the other of snakes. We saw lots of jumping insects and tons of cool birds, but no spiders or snakes.

After that hike, I came back and crashed for about an hour and then went off to Uluru to make sure I got to see everything. Unfortunately, by this time it was sweatingly hot and it made me uncomfortable to be hiking by myself in that heat without a full water bottle. It was weird, nobody else was out there hiking: I hiked for over three hours and didn't see a single other person. Still, I hiked out to two of the Aboriginal sacred water holes, both of which were very peaceful and serene. One had a batch of small birds flying in and out of the water and it was incredibly cool. I hiked halfway around the rock, and then decided to go to the Cultural Center which explains more of the history and culture of the area. The hike was much longer than I thought it would be, and by the time I got there I was exhausted and about ready to pass out from the heat. I even made the executive decision that it was worth paying $4 for a cold Diet Coke, which I have never done in my life because I don't normally drink soda. Still, the center was quite cool and informative, but by that point in the day I was a gross mess of sweat, red dirt, and peeling skin which all combined to make this gross clay kind of substance coating my body. When I cooled off with the air-con of the room (they don't say AC here, they say air-con with their Aussie accents), I just looked like a dirty mess with dried dirt everywhere. I would have been slightly more bothered if I knew anybody within a decent radius, but because I'm in the middle of nowhere, there's literally nobody I know so I didn't care. I stayed at the cultural center waiting for the shuttle to take me to see the sunset at Uluru, but it was about half an hour late. During this time, these really cute Aboriginal kids were playing around the center. All the displays about the significance of the area makes it seem as if the Aboriginals are constantly learning from their elders, doing cultural rites, etc. but these kids were just chasing each other, making footprints in the dirt, stealing each other's food, and yelling like kids in the States. They were quite cute, and were fascinated by the fact that I live in Los Angeles. While waiting eons for the shuttle, I was busy thinking of ways to survive the outback during the night (this included scenarios such as eating leaves, spearing a snake with a stick, and eating my sunscreen). Thankfully, as soon as I reached desperation and started daydreaming about finding a dingo and cooking it over my nonexistant fire for its meat, the shuttle arrived and we made it to the sunset in time.

The sunset was everything it was hyped up to be: as the sun hits the horizon, Uluru literally lights up and turns this magnificent rusty bright red, a huge change from the ordinary red/brown color it is. It was an awe-inspiring sight, and single-handedly made up for the expense of the trip out here. I was chatting with a nice British couple and bemoaning the price of food (I haven't bought a real meal in three days: I can't handle paying $25 for an appetizer-sized bowl of spaghetti, so I've been living off of granola bars and fruit since I got here), and when they left, they said that they had a son who backpacked around Australia counting pennies, and they would have loved it if someone helped him out and bought him a real meal. They refused to take no for an answer and shoved some cash on me, telling me to go out and get a real meal, to tell my parents to do the same thing, and that when I'm old and retired I have to pass on the favor. I hadn't realized how hungry I was till I ate my pizza, which tasted so amazingly delicious it's not even funny. It was a much-needed act of kindness, and it made my night for sure. Also, in Cairns, there was no nearby place to buy a cheap breakfast, so I had been living off of peanut butter and bread for about the previous five days, and would buy a real meal maybe once a day. It was so delightful to have real food.

One last interesting thing about the outback is the flies. They coat EVERYTHING. I consumed three of them yesterday alone: I ate one accidentally when it landed on my apple, I inhaled one through my right nostril, and I sucked in another one when I was taking a breath of air. If it wasn't so disgusting how many flies were out here, I'd think it was almost humorous, but when you're constantly swatting flies out of your face, it gets less than ideal. The resort sells these fly nets that go around your hat, but I still have a shred of dignity left and therefore will not sink to that level, and plus they're about $20 for a piece of mesh. I can't do it.

Now I'm off to Sydney for a night, but I have no place to stay, since in the time since I last checked my email, my hostel emailed me to say they are booked to capacity. Perhaps I'll stay in the airport? Sleep under the Harbour Bridge? Make friends with someone on the street and see if they'll invite me in? Kidding, of course. I'll get there and walk around, there's backpacker places everywhere and I'm sure one of them has space. I hang around in Sydney for about half a day, and then I head off to Auckland where I get ready for orientation! It's crazy how fast it's gone. After traveling on my own, I have very little desire to go to classes. Hopefully I'll have a change of heart once I see the university. My next task is to do some serious exfoliation, because my skin has turned dark brown with patches of lighter brown since I'm peeling like none other, making me have this patchy, kind of scaly look. What a lovely combination. I put on loads of sunscreen today and it created a peely, slightly dry/slightly greasy complexion. Oh, the trials of my Aussie life.

Sorry for the long update--I've been typing this out for the past few days I've been here. Love love love to everybody at home...

Australia: My New Favorite Continent

Australia is quickly taking the title of My Favorite Continent I've Visited, which is quite impressive seeing as I've now technically seen five continents. I'm loving Cairns, it's such a cool part of the world! I've been busy seeing as much of the area as I can, and after about five days of waking up in hours that begin with 6 and 7 and have an AM in their title (and not going to bed until much later than I would like to admit), I decided to take a day easy and hang around my hostel and the city of Cairns. It's been so nice to relax at the hostel, and I recently discovered that they have cheap wireless, so that's made the day much nicer. Plus, the staff are incredibly chill and it's fun to hang out with them--and, Chris keeps making my room price a couple bucks cheaper so that's brilliant as well.

Two days ago, thanks to Julia and Robyn's generosity, I went on a trip called the Billy Tea safari that took us out to Port Douglas, the Mossman Gorge, and Cape Tribulation. We cruised through the river looking for crocs and snakes (it was extremely anti-climactic, though--no crocs, no snakes, just a crab and lots of bats), did a rainforest walk and learned tons about the plants and trees, saw a cassowary in the wild (there's only 1500 left in the world!), learned about some of the Aboriginal culture, tried exotic tropical fruits that were amazingly delicious, ate incredible tropical ice cream (four flavors in one cup: soursop, mango, passionfruit, and some other one I can't remember but was like a tropical coffee), forged through a river on a ferry, and tons more. We had this amazing guy on our trip that was about 65 years old that was tattooed over his entire body, had tons of piercings including two large holes in his ears, and was ridiculously knowledgeable about the rainforest plants. He asked tons of interesting questions and made the trip much more interesting. I met a lot of really fun people on the trip and hung out with them afterwards too.

Yesterday I took a day trip out to the Daintree Forest and saw this awesome fig tree whose trunk was basically comprised of all of its roots, so it looked like a big stringy tree. We swam through waterfalls and in crystal clear lakes, went turtle watching (our guide knew how to say turtle in over 30 languages!), hiked through the rainforest and saw the sixth most poisonous snake in Australia (the red-bellied black snake), hiked down to a crater, saw gorgeous scenery--it was an excellent day. The people on both the tours have been fabulous, and one of my favorite parts about traveling has been learning about other people's cultures, traditions, and their life stories. I've gotten lucky in meeting some great people. We went out where I got ID'd for the very first time (they never asked in Israel or in Chile) and it was quite exciting to be able to get in. I'm so old! Sadly, when I got back, I realized I had locked myself out of my room at a ridiculous hour of the morning and had to rely on my roommate to open the door. Thankfully, she was a very friendly older woman who wore a white nightie that made her look like a ghost, but still, she was very nice in getting up to let me in. I've gotten lucky with roommates at this hostel: while they've all been slightly weird, they're all very friendly and interesting.

A couple lists of interest:
Animals I Have Seen In The Wild So Far (Zoos Don't Count):
red kangaroos, eels, turtles, tons of fish, cassowaries, crabs, dragon lizards, geckos, cockroaches, a red-bellied snake, a zillion poisonous spiders, horses, cows, dogs, tree-climbing kangaroos, sharks, turkeys, kookaburras, and tons more that I'm forgetting.

Afflictions Afflicted Upon Me So Far:
a terrible sunburn on my back that makes it painful to wear clothing, swimsuits and/or be in a moving vehicle because it catches my back off guard, over 20 mosquito bites, a painfully stretched muscle in my knee that lasted for five days but is now gone, a charlie horse in the middle of the night, a brief stint with food poisoning, a cut on my arm from a razor-sharp tree in the rainforest, a rash on my body from jellyfish in the reef, and a bite taken out of my arm from a vicious reef shark.

Aussie Slang That I Am In Love With, But Would Be Weird If I Used Because They Can All Tell I'm American:
mozzie = mosquito, brollie = umbrella, mate (but pronounced "maite"), the phrase "cheers" in every way possible (namely, thank you, you're welcome, hello, goodbye, nice to meet you, let's drink, etc.), good on you, brekkie = breakfast, bikkie = biscuit, Tazzie = Tasmania, rubbish, the use of the phrase "hey?" used like "eh?" at the end of sentences. To be continued.

Pictures to be posted when Photobucket decides to actually upload pictures with a decent speed.

Sending heaps and heaps of love home!

They call it the Great Barrier Reef for a reason

8:02 PM, Wednesday Feb. 6

It's official: the Great Barrier Reef lives up to its name. It's not some marginally cool reef, nor is it some mediocre reef--it is Great. The Barrier Reef isn't as subjective, so I don't need to explain that part.

I went sailing on a sailboat out there (and I still feel the waves, even though I'm on solid ground--I think it has something to do with the water that remains in my ears) and snorkeled in the reef, and it was incredible. The water was super-warm, even Mom would have had no problem just jumping in. The coral was really cool, and we saw lots of different types. I cuddled with a clownfish (though I didn't name it Nemo, that's just tacky) and pet it a little bit, apparently they like it. I also pet a sea cucumber, which was awesome since I have a personal attachment to them, no pun intended since sea cucumbers stay where they're put, har har. I also swam with a shark! A five foot long one! It was hanging out in the murky waters, and kind of snuck by me. Still, I pulled up my feet and my breathing started sounding even more like Darth Vader than it usually does when you snorkel. It was so cool! Apparently there was a manta ray, but I missed it, and only one person saw it so she could have been making it up. We went out on a sailboat, which was rad since I've never been sailing before, and they gave us free lunch, fruit, crackers and cheese, wine, and cake. As a cheap backpacker that tries to avoid spending money on luxuries like food, it was awesome. I met two other girls from England (like most young travelers here), and we're going out later on tonight. We also got to explore an island called Green Island. To imagine it, think of a postcard that says "I'm in Paradise, Wish You Were Here" or something lame and cheesy to that effect. Anyways, the island you're picturing on the postcard is what it looked like. White sand, jungly, and bright. It was excellent.

My hostel is great--I splurged and paid an extra $1 a night to only share my room with two other people, and they're both pretty cool. Julie is from Wisconsin and is learning to dive, and we had a great time going out to dinner last night and scouring Target for alarm clocks, and Julia is from Argentina and is the epitome of a hippie backpacker. She woke up this morning at 4 AM to do yoga and meditate, is a vegan, has dreadlocks, and didn't want to turn on the air conditioning last night because it's bad for your lungs (I wanted to point out that it's also bad for your body if you don't sleep, and without AC, there's no way we would have been sleeping), but didn't end up coming back anyways till 2 or so, and then peaced out at 4 to do her yoga. She's nice though, and didn't outwardly judge me when I made myself a sandwich with cheese on it, though she looked like she was inwardly judging. The guy that works at the travel counter is super-nice and gets bored a lot, so it's nice to hang out with him. He's got tons of good tips of where to go, how to get there, which tours to do and which to avoid, etc. Plus, he occasionally lets me use his internet for free and let me use his phone. He's an excellent connection to have.

Cockroach update: the one in the bathroom is still there, and has grown bigger. It's now moving its legs around with alarming frequency, and I have now vowed not to use that bathroom and to switch to the other one. Apparently there was one on our door last night that was about a foot long (seriously?! they get that big?!) but thankfully I didn't see it, or else I probably would have moved out.

Happy birthday to Brianna, may 21 be the best so far!

Cairns

Flying over the Great Barrier Reef this morning was the coolest flight I've ever taken--all the crazy colors in the Crayola box of 92 colors? They're real! Found in nature! In the reef! I saw every possible shade of blue, the actual sea-green, blue greens, at one point, the reflection of the plane on the water made it look like the water was actually silver. It was gorgeous to the max. This is the one flight I haven't slept through, and it was totally the best one to be awake for.

At baggage claim, they had a dog running all over the conveyor belt, sniffing everybody's bags. She was extremely cute and friendly, but she sniffed something and the police confiscated it! I'm dying to know what it was, but I was too busy having an altercation with a mean lady who wouldn't help me get change to make a phone call. After I finally made it to my hostel (much smaller this time--only about 35 people total, as opposed to like 35,000), I saw my first cockroach in the bathroom. Still, I was mature about it and pretended not to see it.

Today I rented a bicycle (if you say bike, they laugh and make American jokes at you) and rode to the Esplinade, which is this waterfront area of town. I took a quick dip in the lagoon, which is this giant outdoor pool, and then rode out to the Botanical Gardens. The whole area is so pretty, it's surrounded by mountainous jungle, water, and general beauty. Unfortunately, it's disgustingly hot and humid, and I got so sweaty that salt actually crystalized on my body! While slightly gross, I found it immensely cool after I figured out that it wasn't my body reacting to a plant or something. In the gardens, I saw basically every plant known to man (and went to a fernery, and an orchidery--I'm not making up those words), and tons of animals including another kangaroo! On just a regular hike! It was like a rabbit in the Northwest--just kind of shyly crossing the path, and it had a baby joey trailing it! It was the cutest thing ever, and I think I actually gasped out loud, which isn't that embarrassing since I saw only two other people on the trail, so they probably didn't hear me. Apparently nobody else goes out when it's this hot outside. I also saw a neon blue butterfly that looked like someone was shining a blacklight on it, tons of lizards, fish in two lakes, and heard a cookaburra. Oh, and saw a cassowary too, which is like a cross between a turkey and an emu. I also made friends with a homeless Maori man briefly, but when he started asking if I was traveling alone, how old I was, and whether I was a bodybuilder in the States (what?!), I decided to cut our conversation short and return to the jungle path. Everything here is super-loud with buzzing insects everywhere.

I'm off to grab dinner because I'm starving from all the hiking and biking I've done today. Loads of love to everyone in the States. Thanks for the emails I've been getting--I read them, even though I don't have time to respond to them.

I'm going North

(Written last night, posted Tues. 6:25 AM 2/5)

Out of respect for Steve Irwin, I wrestled a giant crocodile at his Australia Zoo, and unfortunately, it's a lot harder than it looks on the Animal Planet. Crikey! Don't worry--my left hand still works really well, and I'm sure I'll get used to only having three toes.

Kidding! Only about the wrestling crocs part, I did get to go to Australia Zoo with Chloe and Robyn and it was about 3.4 trillion times cooler than any zoo I've ever been to. I pet a kangaroo (it was really lazy and lying down as if it was over the whole petting thing), pet a koala (though Aussies only use "pet" as a noun, not a verb...I refuse to give in), watched the elephants get washed down, watched a bird/croc/snake/elephant show in the Croceseum (that's right, you read it correctly), watched sea otters playing, saw wallabies, wombats, emus, camels, giant tortoises, the ten most poisonous snakes in Australia, watched tasmanian devils romping around, and watched a koala jump around from tree to tree and kick another koala out, and tons more. It was incredible! I am officially in love with koalas and have every intention of sneaking one in on my carry-on luggage. After looking at them for a while, though, they're kind of funny-looking, they kind of look like old men. It's hilarious. Driving everywhere in Brisbane is really cool too, because there's murals on the freeways of native Australia flora and animals, and they're gorgeous to look at. The murals, that is. Though the animals are too.

I've had the best time here in Brisbane, a major shout-out going to Julia and Robyn and Chloe and Hannah for letting me crash in their house and take over their weekend! They've been a huge help in orienting me in Australia both before and during my trip, and have been very generously integrating me into their family like another daughter. It's so comforting to know that I have friends on this huge continent as I go off to travel around other areas.

Tomorrow I head out to Cairns, which should be fun since I feel like I'll like the tropics. Hopefully I can avoid any embarrassing frizzy hair debacles (pshaw--yeah right--like my hair will avoid any opportunity to frizz itself) and make it through without turning into a sticky sweaty mess. I had my first encounter with a cockroach last night, and it scared the hell out of me--it was on the floor and hopped out totally harmlessly, and I still sweated under the covers instead of sleeping on top of them out of fear that they would somehow manage to hop onto my bed. I also had to do some acrobatic moves to avoid stepping on the floor for a couple hours, and this morning I spent an embarrassing amount of time making sure it was safe to step around. Long story short, if there's any cockroaches in Cairns, I'm probably going to have a heart attack and will end up awkwardly hiding in my sleeping bag or something. Here's to no cockroaches in Cairns!

"I am a deeply superficial person"

9:45 PM, Sunday 2/3 (except it didn't get posted till today, Mon. 2/4 at 7:30 AM)

I know I'm updating with shocking frequency, but I also know that grandparents enjoy knowing that I'm still safe, and while I have easy access to Internet, I figure I'll update.

Today the weather gods apparently thought I was getting a bit homesick so sent some good ol' Washington rain, but it wasn't just regular rain--it was buckets and buckets of dumping rain that was so loud it wakes me up, and that says a lot--I can sleep through trains, planes, people walking in my room, etc, but I can't sleep through rain? No worries, I went right back to sleep, but still. This rain was weird in that it was freakishly warm outside while it rained, so it was almost pleasant. Still, we were planning on going to the Gold Coast, and it's not fun to be at the beach soaking wet unless you're in the water you planned to visit. Instead, we checked out the Andy Warhol exhibit in downtown Brisbane which I highly enjoyed. Warhol was a weird guy, he saved everything he came into contact with in these "time capsules" and there was some cool stuff in there. He's kind of the epitome of American life, in that he created such commercialism in his art, but some of his later stuff was good, and it was cool to see so many of his famous pieces up close.

After our artistic culture for the day we went to a delightful Italian place where I had delicious pumpkin spice ravioli. By then it had stopped raining, so we headed out to the Gold Coast to Fingal Beach. It was like a beach on the Oregon coast--crashing waves, gorgeous scenery, rocky cliffs, natural climb up to a lighthouse--it was breathtaking. I saw blue jellyfish, trees with leaves that the Aboriginals used for basket-weaving, and a really cute small dog running around. It was delicious to walk around barefoot and soak it in. Our timing couldn't have been better, since as soon as we left a giant storm rolled in. Take that, suckas! Robin and Julia have been really great in showing me around the city, explaining points of interest, and driving in the worst weather so that I can get a better idea of the sights. Plus, I get to sleep in Chloe's old room in a giant, poofy bed with lots of pillows and eat really good food. It's delightful. Robin's been set on getting me to a pub, but settled for me trying ginger beer tonight instead. It's like root beer, but better. I don't know if we have it in the States, but I've never had it before so I'm pretending we don't. Oh, also on my sandwich tonight I had really good cheese with carmelized onions in it and it's my new favorite thing ever. I'm digging Australian cuisine.

I heard something about Superbowl Sunday coming up but I don't even know who's playing (maybe the Patriots?), and something about Guiliani dropping out of the race, and that's about it...it's definitely weird being so disconnected from US news. It's also kind of cool following the election out here, because people are definitely interested and watching what US voters do. It kind of puts into perspective what this election means internationally, though.

B-B-B-Brisbane

10:20 PM, Saturday 2/2.

So yesterday as I was leaving the travel agency from which I’ve been mooching free internet, I asked the guy working there the best way to get to Darling Harbour, this trendy area of Sydney that sounded kind of like 23rd street in Portland—upscale, expensive, but has good food and drink and is pretty to look at at night. He gave me complicated directions, and as he was trying to draw it on the map for me, he says, “have you had dinner?” I said no, so he said we could grab food at this pub across the street and then go to one of the places in Darling that serves The Best Beer in Australia, If Not The World. Obviously, I couldn’t turn down an offer like that, so I joined him and a Canadian girl for dinner and drinks. We had a great time talking about our travels and differences between the States and Canada. Sadly, I was not as impressed with the beer—not only was it expensive, but my sophisticated palette didn’t think it tasted very good either. Still, the Darling Harbour area was very pretty at night, since it’s right along the water and all the lights are glistening and boats and ferries are passing by. After our beers, we walked to the edge of the harbour where we could see the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, both of which were absolutely gorgeous lit up and reflecting on the harbour. After chatting with some Irish tourists along the harbour that seemed confused by the concept of vertical photography, I headed back to the CBD where my hostel is for a (very short) night before I had to take off for Brisbane this morning at the crack of dawn. As I came in last night, the Danish boys in my room were just leaving for what they were loudly referring to as their “Night of Crazy Fun” and when I left to check out this morning, they were stumbling back into bed, still loudly discussing how “crazy-fun” their night had been. I most definitely will not miss their obnoxiously loud presence in my life.

Today was my first day in Brisbane, or Brisvegas as they embarrassingly refer to it. I'm staying with Chloe and her family which is wonderful for a number of reasons.
1. I had a real shower today for the first time since about Thursday, complete with hot water (the hostel's showers were out of hot water) and real towels, not my travel towel which oddly smells like popcorn and is full of sand.
2. They have a car, and it's much easier to see a bigger part of the city by car. In Sydney, I only saw the parts I could walk to, which kind of limited what I saw. Not that I mind missing out on suburban Sydney, but it's nice to have a complete picture of a city.
3. I have people to talk with constantly, and I don't have to seek out strangers for attention.
4. They are incredibly nice and friendly and have been fabulous about making me feel welcome and enjoying my time here.

We saw the Story Bridge, which is kind of a letdown after the Harbour Bridge but still nice, cruised the Brisbane River at twilight and saw all the gorgeous lights reflecting, took in the downtown's skyline, checked out Chinatown, walked along this crazy beach in the middle of the city and through a jungle (also in the middle of the city), saw the Nepalese peace pagoda from the 1998 World's Fair, and saw a bunch of other older, more historical buildings. It was a great toursity day of sights and good food. It's also beyond delightful not to have to make decisions for a short bit. I'm not having to figure out where to feed myself, where to go, how to get there, when I'll leave, etc...someone else has put in the effort to planning the sights, and it's so nice to be able to take the backseat for a bit.

Happy Birthday to Jonathan, hope it's a great day!

Could I have HAD worse weather for the Blue Mountains?

Answer--yes. Only if Sydney had some freak tornado (like Vancouver!) and it was spinning us all around and maybe hailing or something. At least snow would have been pretty, rain was just miserable. I actually had to buy one of those terrible ponchos that middle-aged women buy, and I had to wear it the whole day! Mom, no comments about how you suggested I bring a rain jacket. I hereby renounce any sense of judgement I thought I had about packing.

We went out to the mountains today where we were supposed to see the gorgeous views of the canyons, the countryside, the Three Sisters which I was SO STOKED about, and instead? It spits rain all day and we end up completely soaking. All the viewpoints we got to were completely white with fog, it looked like we were hiking in heaven or something. While that was a kind of cool phenomenon, I wanted mountains! I wanted Three Sisters! I wanted wildlife! Instead, the poisonous snakes were hiding, the poisonous spiders were hiding, and the koalas never were really in the mountains anyways. I did see a billion kangaroos though, which was ridiculously exciting, even though the Aussies seem to regard them about the same level as we regard like cows or something--(actually, that's not true, but I'm trying to think of a similar animal that lots of Americans hit and don't really care about and eat on pizza, and unless you eat rabbit on pizza, we don't really have an equivalent). ANYWAYS, I saw a mother rabbit with her little joey in her pouch which was quite possibly the cutest thing ever, and a mother duck with her ducklings as just kind of an extra. I even fed one kangaroo grass! Then he hopped away, and it was really cool. I kind of want to take one back to the States. I also learned to play the digeridoo, which was easier than I thought it'd be, and hiked up 956 stairs after riding the world's steepest funicular down the canyon. My legs are kind of sore, both from that and from all the walking around I'm doing. There were some lovely waterfalls along the hike, though my pictures are kind of ruined since there's rain falling in the pictures and my poncho really takes away any sort of serene beauty or anything.

Tomorrow I'm off to Brisbane super-early to meet my penpal from when I was ten and her mother! I'm jazzed to finally be with people and not have to seek out attention and explorer mates. Also, people that don't know you here call you "lovie," and I find that kind of weird so it'll be nice to escape that.

My first genuine Aussie culinary experience was yesterday, and I fully enjoyed it. You bite each end off a Tim-Tam (a really creamy, deliciously crispy chocolate cookie) and use it as a straw to suck up hot tea, and then when the tea hits your lips, you shove the melty goodness of the Tim-Tam into your mouth and just die of happiness. I'm lovin it.

Loads of Aussie love being sent home--

(Friday, 1 Feb, 7:42 PM)