Surfin’ AUS

This past weekend held one of the things I have been looking forward to since I signed up to come to Australia:  SURF CAMP!!  About 50 of the exchange kids at Canberra went on a trip to Seven Mile Beach in Gerroa (Jur-OH-uh), two hours south of Sydney, for a weekend of surf culture.

Seven Mile Beach... because "11.3 Kilometre Beach" just doesn't have the same ring to it 

We drove three and a half hours from Canberra to arrive at night and were slightly concerned when our bus dropped us off in the middle of what seemed like an RV neighborhood/shanty town, but we were then lead over to the Surf Camp area, which was much more inviting.  We had only arrived with enough time to get acquainted with everyone, be told the schedule and then get ready for bed, so we headed to our summer camp-style bunks and crashed in order to get up for an early breakfast and our first surfing lesson!

Seven a.m. came quickly, welcoming us with a very chilly, drizzly autumn morning… which really makes you want to slip on a bikini and a damp wet suit and run into the ocean!  We all drug ourselves out of bed and onto the beach where we were instructed on the fine art of surfing, then hit the waves!  Much to our delight, the water was actually warmer than the air, so that made all of the very degrading attempts at surfing a little more bearable.

They constantly play surfing videos in the common area of “camp,” which gets you all excited about the awesome things the professionals do that look SO easy, but when you are actually out in the water laying on a skinny piece of plastic, you realize how difficult it really is.  The first morning was a bit slow.  We started with just trying to get the hang of actually catching a wave, adding the whole standing up part later in the morning.  I was able to stand up after a couple trys, which make me feel like a rockstar.  We broke for lunch and went at it again in the afternoon with sunshine, blue skies, friendly waves and heaps of confidence, so I did great!

After a full day of it, we were all feeling stiff and became acquainted with muscles we never knew we had.  The next morning, things were not much better.  It was rainy again and we all had a hard time moving in general, especially moving toward the cold, damp wet suits we had to squeeze into again.  We went over some helpful tips on the beach and went out for one last time, despite the rain. (But even though it was raining, we were excited when our lesson was interrupted by a HUGE double rainbow [Ooooohhhh, a double rainbow!!] which actually ENDED on the beach really close to us!  I had never actually seen the end of a rainbow, but there were no leprechauns or pots of gold… the Irish guys in our group rolled their eyes at us a few times.)

Surfing in the rain is not that bad-- with all of the waves engulfing you constantly, what are a few more drops?  I had troubles that morning, maybe because of being so sore and stiff, maybe because of the cold and rain, maybe because of trying a smaller board, maybe because I got stuck in the rip current for ages or maybe just because I am not a good surfer.  For whatever reason, I had a slow start, but after an instructor helped me to get a decent wave, I was good to go for the rest of the morning! 

I am kind of bummed now that the weekend is over- I was JUST starting to get the hang of surfing, and now it may be a few months/years before I get to try my hand at it again, but at any rate, I will at least be confident enough to try again one day!  It was a WONDERFUL weekend!  We all made the most of every situation, made lots of new friends and memories and everyone came away feeling that the camp was worth every penny.

Now, I get to try to do a bit of school work and then wake up to catch and bus and a plane tomorrow to Cairns, Queensland for a week!  Tropical rainforest and Great Barrier Reef- here we come!!

...and still more fun times!

And the saga continues!  I spent last week away from uni and with family that had come to Sydney to visit, just generally enjoying the tourist lifestyle.  On Thursday my grandparents met up with us and we took a ferry from Circular Quay to Taronga Zoo and made a day of it!

The zoo definitely required a solid day of  touring, fully stocked with animals from all over the world.  We were able to watch a free-flight bird show while we were there, which was really impressive, not to mention the view we had while we watched... at what other zoo do you get such a nice background?

One of the neatest things we saw during the day was this wallaby with her little bundle of joy in tow.  This joey is on the older side, and watching him wiggle around and plop out of his mom's pouch definitely made me happy to not be a marsupial.  

                                                                                                                                                   Afterward, we found a nice little Italian place for dinner and recovered from walking all day, then decided we were game to climb up the Sydney Tower and get a view of the city at night.  It was a genius idea! It was a nice evening so once we got up there, we could see really far out.  Sydney is a huge city, making it an impressive sight at night.

Above, the Sydney Harbor Bridge just beyond the rooftops.

Below, Darling Harbor complete with a couple ships.

Friday was just as packed-- we decided to venture to the Blue Mountains, so we caught a train at 9:30 a.m. to take us to Katoomba, one of the major tourist hot spots.  It was a two-hour train ride, and we got to the platform only to be welcomed by thick fog, not exactly welcomed since we had planned on seeing the spectacular views of the valley from the mountaintop, but we rolled with it.

We set off anyway, deciding to do a hike that followed the ridge, nothing too crazy.  It started to rain as we began and the fog persisted, but it was actually really nice.  The weather added an element that we would have completely missed, otherwise.  The fog made everything a little more interesting.

The scenery up close to us was beautiful- it looked like a garden that had been planted, arranged and cared for, not natural happen-stance.  The ferns covering the ground were huge and vibrant, and everything was SO green!  God did a wonderful job.  It was sad that when we came to lookouts, there was nothing to be seen but white nothingness, but you take what you can get.

 At one point, the fog subsided for a bit and we were able to see out properly, and the view was breathtaking!  We could see all along the valley, far off into the distance.  It was only a short while that we could see, but it made the entire hike worth it.  I plan to make my way back to the mountains again before I leave and see it all on a clear day, and maybe even go see the caves that are in the area.

Saturday had to be a day finally devoted to productivity, but we went out to dinner at Pancakes on the Rocks as suggested by my housemates.  The place is located on The Rocks beside Circular Quay, and serves delicious pancakes, Aussie style- with ice cream :)  I don't think I'll ever look at pancakes the same way again... who knew they could be both breakfast AND dessert!!  I had a breakfast crepe and then both buttermilk and chocolate pancakes with chocolate and vanilla ice cream, and it was to DIE for!  The perfect way to conclude a perfect week.

Sunday I got up early to catch a train to meet some neighbors of mine who were in town and offered to give me a ride home.  On the way we made a pit stop for some Macca's in Goulburn, where I was introduced to The Big Marino... because what small town doesn't have a giant sheep?

And now it's back to reality and all of the work I ignored for the week, that is until my actuall break starts this Friday :)

Who needs school, anyway?

Last Monday was Canberra Day, and with a bit of luck that ended up meaning I had no necessary classes all week, so I went to Sydney!  Charlie's mom and sister were in town for the week and my grandparents also came, so we made a party of it!

After the weekend in Bateman's Bay, I caught a bus to Sydney and a train to Macquarie University to meet up with everyone and stayed through Sunday doing plenty of wonderful touristy things together.

Monday, we went to Sydney Wildlife World which was a lot more interesting than I had anticipated.  It was full of all the essential Aussie fauna, including humongous crocodiles, a cassowary, kangaroos and koalas!

These western red kangaroos are only out west (...Capitan Obvious), the roos I see hopping around campus are eastern grey kangaroos, which are a bit smaller and... grey.  Australians were really creative when it came to naming things.

Below is a Cassowary, a bird from up north in the tropical rain forest.  It is actually the most dangerous bird in the world, and it is very important to the ecosystem since many plants need the bird to help spread seeds.

Thanks to Steve Irwin and Crocodile Dundee, lots of folks like me normally associate Australia with crocodiles, so of course they had a very impressive specimen-- if you look closely, you can see a person standing beyond a window in the top right-hand corner to understand the scale.  This fellow is huge!  He is forty years old, and STILL growing!

Don't forget the platypus!  These guys are actually a lot smaller than I had anticipated-- a bit smaller than an otter.

After going through Wildlife World, we went next door to the Sydney Aquarium!  I had heard that it was a must-see, so I was pretty excited about it!  The place is packed with fascinating animals, including a tank of dugongs, very similar to our manatees.  They really liked to munch lettuce.

Nom nom nom

Of course, I made sure to find Nemo, along with Dory, Bruce, Gill, Mr. Ray, Bloat, Flo and the rest of those guys.

We were also introduced to cuttlefish, which were really exciting!  Along with some sizable rays.

Wildlife World and the Aquarium were HEAPS of fun!  After going through both of them, we were pretty pooped, but it was totally worth it.  That was Monday, Tuesday we took it easy and just did some wandering then Wednesday we took a ferry to Manly to see Ocean World and then hit up Manly Beach! It was a BEAUTIFUL day, made even better by being able to laze around on the shore for hours just soaking up some sun.

Weekend Getaway

WOAH!  What a week!  I've spent the last week or more out and about, so now that I have a bit of time, I'll begin to catch up posting about the adventures now, bit by bit so as to keep from being too boring.

Beginning with Thursday, March 10.
Thursday was a complicated day.  In one of my classes, I realized that I had spent the past five weeks planning for the semester project incorrectly, so I had one weekend to catch up before a progress report was to be submitted.  Of course, the weekend was already filled with plans, making it more like one night of solid working to catch up.

It also happened to be time to apply for on-campus housing for my next year back home, but when I tried to sign up for living in my old apartment with my friends, I came to the gross realization that something had gone terribly wrong.  Despite all of the e-mailing and re-assuring I had gone through to be sure that we had done everything correctly to live with each other again, something had happened to my account and I lost my place in my old apartment, and am unable to even get back in the building because everything has filled up.  I even went to the extent of calling the housing people at Tennessee, but nothing could be done by that point.

Needless to say, I was having a bad night, but then my housemates ran into my room to see if I wanted to go on a very late-night run to Macca's (a.k.a McDonalds), which would involve me driving, since the roads were empty.  This was a perfect distraction-- I had been wanting to try my hand at driving on the left side of the road since I came here!  Macca's is only about a five-minute drive, so nothing major.  I thought that it would be really weird, especially driving a manual car and shifting gears with my left hand, but it was a piece of cake!  Turning was the only kicker, making myself stay on the correct side of the road, but completely manageable!  Upon returning home and eating my small bag of chips, I called it quits for the night and went to bed around 2:30 a.m. in order to wake up and catch a 7:30 a.m. bus to Bateman's Bay for the weekend.

In sitting down to my computer, I have just realized all of my pictures from the beach have mysteriously disappeared, which I find to be very sad/frustrating/annoying/perplexing.  Anyway, a group of 15 of us rented a beach house for the weekend to celebrate a friend's birthday!  Some folks got rides to the coast, but three of us just caught a bus and were going to get there early and check in, then wait for everyone else.  Nikki, Ben and I arrived in Bateman's Bay around 10:30 and waited to find the check in place until 11:45 or so, being able to check in at 12:30.  This is where the story gets embarrassing.

We just sort of showed up without really knowing what we were doing.  Our friends had organized everything and told us that everything was walking distance and really close to the bus station, so we should have no worries.  We had Googled around and sort of had an idea where to go, so we set off.  We walked across the bridge of the bay and down the first road which seemed right.  We knew we were looking for Clyde Road, so we asked a business, and the lady said it would be a "fair walk" further down the road and seemed to feel sorry for us, but we thought nothing of it.  We set off walking, looking for the roundabout and church we were supposed to pass.  We walked what we felt was a pretty "fair walk" and found the roundabout, then stopped in a veterinarian office to ask and see if we were on the right track.

Again, we were told it was yet a "fair walk" to Clyde Road, and we set off apprehensively, beginning to be slightly frustrated with the fact that everyone else was getting a car ride.  Finally we found Clyde Road, but while we walked down the street, we felt very out of place.  There was an entrance to a subdivision and a few nice houses, no real estate agency to get keys for our house.  A nice-looking couple came driving down the road so we flagged them down to ask for directions, only to realize that we were looking for Clyde STREET, the main street in town that the bus had dropped us off on, a thirty-minute walk back.  They took pity on our poor souls and told us to climb in and they drove us back to town, making them my heroes for the entire weekend.

After asking a few more people in town, we did find the office, which was literally where our bus had stopped.  But it only gets worse.  We checked in around 1:30 p.m., got our keys, and were told where to walk to get to the house... back across the bridge spanning the bay, a "fair walk" down the road, past a roundabout, turning at a vet office and at the end of that road is where we should find our house.  We could have cried.  But we did it.  We got to the house, dropped our bags and slept until everyone else showed up, deciding to not tell anyone how dumb we had been.

Moral of the story:  If you do not have a car, never just show up somewhere and expect to figure it out.  It does not always work out as well as it does in your head.  Also, if an Australian refers to something as a "fair walk," it holds a little more weight than back home.  You should really evaluate whether you want/need to embark on such a trek.

That night we had a barbie and chilled out in our house, woke up and make pancakes and scrambled eggs, then hit the beach!  The group consisted of Americans: Macey, Beth, Ruby, Nikki and myself, Canadians: Matt and TL, Brits: Ben and Amanda, Mexicans: Jose and Carlos, Viktor from Bulgaria via Washington D.C., Australians: Ben and John, then Jani, the birthday boy, from Finland. Jani has fallen in love with surfing, so we found a decent beach for him and hired some boards for the day.  I had not gone to a surf camp or had lessons yet, so Jani, Matt, TL and Viktor gave me a crash course and we hit the waves!

Surfing is SOOOOOOO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Granted I was horrible, but I got up a few times, and it is the coolest thing ever!  It mostly requires balance and upper-body strength, both of which I happen to lack, but I like to think I managed nicely.  After a couple hours, I got to where I could not even pull myself up onto the board and when I did catch a wave, my arms were so tired that I could not push myself up, so I was forced to quit for the day-- when I got to shore, my arms were so weak I could hardly peel my wetsuit off.  That night we all cleaned up and went out to eat at the Hog's Breath Cafe, then crashed.

The next morning I left to catch a bus to Sydney for the week, but everyone else stayed until Monday.
I got an e-mail from the organizers telling what everyone owes after rent and groceries were split 15 ways, and I was pleasantly surprised.

6-person house+groceries for a barbie, breakfast x2, snacks and PB&J sandwiches on the beach: $35
Surf board hire: $20
Bus ticket to the coast: $20
Forgetting all your worries, getting completely lost with friends in a small Australian coastal town, celebrating a birthday, having wetsuit tan lines, learning to surf and being so sore the next morning you can hardly move: absolutely priceless.

Tastes of Australia

Since my last post was such a Debbie-Downer, I figured I should come back and introduce you to the things I have been introduced to here that I love so much, I may sacrifice some clothes space in my suitcase in order to bring back with me.

First of all, I think this is just adorable.  Who wouldn't want a tasty caramel-filled koala?!

But back to business.  Before I came over, I had heard rumors of "TimTam" cookies and how they are pretty much Australia's favorite.  I was on a mission once I got here to procure a pack to taste and see if the hype is legit... and wow, they ARE the best cookie!!  Excuse me, *biscuit*  How to explain..... Delicious chocolaty goodness?  Chocolate wafer with chocolate filling covered in chocolate.  There are heaps of variates, too!  I just tried double-dipped, and there is a pack of white chocolate ones on my desk just begging to be opened.  It is a proven fact that you can not eat only one single TimTam.  In fact, they are best eaten in groups of two, three, or even by the pack, although I suggest buying small packs if that is what you prefer.  

A great companion to the chocolaty goodness of TimTams is Milo.  Milo is something akin to NesQuik, but like everything else in Australia, has spent millions of years isolated on the continent evolving further and further from its ancestors elsewhere in the world, becoming something unique unto itself.  It is a form of malted barley and cocoa that you mix into milk or water.  It does not dissolve quite as easily as the chocolate mixes I am used to-- you are meant to stir a bit, but leave some floating around to eat off the top (it's actually crunchy), and then drink the chocolaty milk left over.  Genius!  

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!!

If you think TimTams and Milo both sound good, you would love them combined!

As I mentioned before, there is wafer inside of the TimTam, so if you eat off the chocolate coating on the short ends of the cookie, you can use it as a straw!  This is EVEN better if you are drinking hot Milo, that way the TimTam starts to melt before you drink much, and you then eat the warm, soggy, fudgy amazingness, and you can not help but to be overwhelmingly happy.

(P.S. Dr. Canary, thanks to these guys, I am definitely going to need an appointment with you when I get back... )

Now for the experience everyone wants to know about:  Vegemite.  I knew I had to try it while I am around, but I'm not going to lie, I've been scared.  In talking to different people, even some Australians can not stand it, so I was not at all sure that I could.  

One of my housemates came in last week with the neighbor's toaster, announcing is was the day of reckoning and that the Americans would try Vegemite.  He toasted some bread, applied a good layer of butter and then smeared on a LIGHT layer of Vegemite, one for Nikki, Charlie and myself.

(Never ever just stick your finger in a jar and eat a scoop.  It is an Australian way of killing unsuspecting tourists.)

It was.... different than anything I have ever experienced.  It is extremely salty.  I mean, most all you taste is an oily saltiness, saltiness enough to make even very Southern, sodium-loveing people looking for a glass of water.  If it is mostly butter and the Vegemite is veryvery thin, I can handle it, but then why not just put some salt on buttered toast?  I have a bad picture of the ingredients, but if you look, all it involves is yeast and salt.  

Recap:  Chocolaty things are great!!!!!  Dodgy Australian spreads are still a bit dodgy, but can be chased with CHOCOLATE!!

Reality? Check.

I clicked over to Blogger with nothing in particular to post on, but then I made something up to go on about.... which means only one thing:  I am majorly procrastinating.  

I have been in Australia for a while, now... we are in week five of classes, which means I have been around for... six and a half weeks?  Long enough to start having a decent amount of work to start piling up.  I have no exams while I am here, but plenty of papers and projects to keep me busier than I prefer.  I am currently putting off working on a 500-word paper about the Question Time experience I previously posted about, creating a mock-up of a web site in Photoshop and wrapping my mind around how to attack a 2,000-word paper on the ethics of war.

This all just meshes together to mean that reality is beginning to crash down, and I'm having to learn how to balance being super excited about being in Australia and actually accomplishing great things with my school work, something I am not a pro at even on a good day back home.  

More points about reality:  Being off on an awesome adventure does not mean you have an immune system of steel.  Last Thursday night I came down with what I am going to call the worst fever of my life, made a bit more complicated by being stuck with iffy balance, dreading climbing down a precarious bunk-bed ladder in the middle of the night and all of my medicine being stashed in the back of my closet.  On top of that, Charlie reciprocated last weeks visit by coming to Canberra this weekend.... so sickness had not really been on the itinerary.  Now that it is Tuesday, I am mostly well, just still catching up on sleep and my body is trying to figure out how to be normal again.  

Another thing is that however wonderful the Land Down Under may be, there are plenty comforts of home that have left a gaping hole in my heart... like American cheese.  All I wanted while I was sick was a grilled cheese sandwich, but I would not have been able to bear the disappointment of normal cheese.  A few odd, unquenchable cravings like this are springing up, like red velvet cake, good fake Mexican food, sweet tea, Kool-ade, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and cornbread.  

I've been here long enough that when I watch movies, it takes a minute to figure out what side of the road people should be driving on and I may have started pronouncing "tomato" as "tom-ah-to" much to the joy of my housemates.  I am no longer excited when I see a cockatoo after having them wake me up MANY a morning, but I think kangaroos will always make my heart flutter.  

It's all good, though.  I'm in Australia :)

Exploring Sydney

This past weekend I made my way back to Sydney to see Charlie for his birthday, and we had a blast!!  

Friday evening we went to dinner at The Rocks, an area of Sydney between the Harbor Bridge and Circular Quay where there are heaps of cute little restaurants and shops.  Saturday, the real fun began!  A group of us went to Coogee Beach, just south of Sydney Harbor, to spend the day being generally lazy and soaking up some UV-drenched rays (we even shelled out cash for some sun screen in addition to our super-touristy Australian flag beach towels).

After we tired of battling the waves and the sea continuing to have its way with us (Matthew and myself, in particular, endured some very degrading moments of being mercilessly dragged all the way into shore), we decided to venture a bit further along the coast, for which we were rewarded with some amazing views!

Yucca plants?  Aren't they from the American Southwest?...
We also saw magnolia trees later.  Whatever.

We meandered along the coast for a bit, and saw these little fellows ^^  PENGUINS!!  Just hanging out, minding their own business.  We tried to get closer, but they had moved on by the time we made it, but when we got down to the rocks there were many other neat things, like loads of crabs about the same size as this guy below.

Matthew, Charlie's roommate, acted as our handy-dandy ecologist for the trip, pointing out things we probably would have overlooked without his sharp eyes, like the anemone below.

    

We had a packed in a pretty full day by the time we found a bus stop and got back to Central Station, so we grabbed some greasy goodness from a street vender and caught a train home.

Sunday, we booked a tour with EcoTreasures Sydney Day Tours.  We left Macquarie Uni around 9:30 a.m. heading to the northern tip of Sydney and were taken paddle-boarding, basically standing on what looks like a surf board and paddling around a lagoon-- pretty fun!  After that, we drove to Ku-ring-gai, a nature reserve, and took a short bushwalk to see some Aboriginal cave paintings. 

There was a nearby lookout where we could see all of Broken Bay and got a group picture in front of the Barrenjoey Lighthouse, which was our next stop.

It was probably a twenty-minute hike up the track to the lighthouse, complete with outrageously large palm trees, and the most impressive aloe vera plants I have ever seen (I promise I did not edit the colors, that is exactly how it looked!).

At the top, there was a great view of Palm Beach and, of course, the light house, so we sat around for a while just soaking it all in.  We went to one more beach later to veg out for a bit, and then called it a day after going to a little pub together.  After two days of constant going, we slept rather well that night, and Monday I caught a Greyhound back to Canberra, but only after feeding Leo, the friendly neighborhood cockatoo that lives somewhere around the apartments.

Monday was sort of dreary with rain showers off and on the entire way home, so I slept the majority of the day, but woke up in time to see witness what is probably one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.  There were scattered showers off on the horizon, but the sun was shining on my side, so there were spectacular rainbows dotting the sky.  A wonderful ending to a perfect weekend.  The photo does not even begin to do it justice... God rocks my socks.