Thusha and I did a day trip to the capital of Havana which is about 2 hours from Varadero. Although I hate guided tours, this one wasn't bad because our guide was a cute lil Cuban who was quite witty. We spent half the day in old Havana which is very European and colonial. We went to a museum where we got to see the moose that Castro shot in Canada and shipped back to Cuba just so it could be hung. It's annoying how greedy all the workers are here; you have to PAY to get toilet paper! I know [View Full Entry]

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I'm off to an all inclusive resort in the party town of Varadero in Cuba. Although I'm not the one to go to touristy places, this doesn't seem too bad since I will be with 3 of my girlfriends. I've also made them promise that they will come to Havana, the capital, with me at least for a day trip. The exciting part: all you can drink alcohol 24/7! We checked into our hotel tonight around 10pm and it is much bigger and better than we imagined. Our hotel (Playa Caleta) is also known to be the #1 spot for singles [View Full Entry]

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We've had some times I wouldn't change for the world!! As always, all good things come to an end. I have accomplished what I came to Australia for: my education degree. Along the way I have acquired not just a piece of paper that will allow me to manipulate the minds of young ones, but also the friendships of many from across the globe and crazy adventures and priceless memories that I will hold in my heart. Australia was definetly the time of my life! I came here with no expectations, and this year has exceeded my wildest dreams. Life here [View Full Entry]

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The Melbourne Cup is a massive horse racing event for which the state of Victoria actually has a holiday for. It's unbelievable how huge this is, it lasts one week and 3-4 massive races. My friends and I decided to go for Ladies Day which was today. It was held at the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne and was a complete gong show! Hot Aussie men in suits, girls in classy dresses.. all getting shitfaced and betting on horses. It was so Pretty Womanish! Pretty much the biggest outdoor wedding reception ever! We got there around noon and found a place on [View Full Entry]

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The You Yangs are located just ouside of Geelong but can be seen from the city, especially the bay. They look like mountains but they are really just huge hills where you can go mountain climbing. Mathew Flinders (the man that mapped the waters of Australia) climbed up this mountain (or hill) and saw the land that surrounded it, and saw Corio Bay for the first time. John Batman (founder of Melbourne) climbed up there and saw Geelong for the first time, and then he bought it from the aboriginees. You Yangs is actually an aboriginal name for the place meaning [View Full Entry]

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We headed back to the Great Ocean Road because you can never get sick of it! The Road is filled with heaps of rainforests and pretty sights, and our main goal was to make it to Erskine Falls which is near Lorne. It's almost impossible to get there without a car, and with a car it was pretty scary getting there. But the falls was totally worth it!! After the falls we went to Teddy's Lookout from where you can see the area of Lorne as well as the bit of the Road. It was awesome! And it was a beautiful [View Full Entry]

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I got a bit sick of flying.. and staying in hostels. I think the novelty has worn off. So my friends and I decided to rent a car for this week which we have off, to just drive around the local places which we haven't had a chance to explore. We rented an 88 yellow Corolla which was super cheap from the Rent a Bomb.. and yes, you can rent bombs here! I finally got to drive on the other side of the road and it was a little confusing at first. I kept turning to my right to change gears, [View Full Entry]

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We had to wake up bright and early today to go PARASAILING!! I was really really nervous because of my crazy fear of heights. But Carly has the same fear, plus Emma has a fear of sharks.. put us all together with a parachute attached to a boat in the Pacific... it was actually a pretty awesome time! Before they harnassed us in we got to see a father and his 2 young kids do it, so that made me a bit more confident. Going up was really cool, everything just kept getting smaller and smaller. Once we were high in [View Full Entry]

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Today was our day trip into the Pacific ocean to discover the many islands which create the are of the Whitsundays. The boat we were on was pretty fun, the crew members loved to pick on us cuz of our Canadian accents, a normal thing in Australia I find. The entire are of the Whitsundays is classified as marine park so it is protected which is pretty awesome because it is absolutly beautiful!! We first hit the Whitsunday Island and hiked up to a viewing point from which you can see Whitehaven beach. The water looked amaizingly torquise and I was [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday was spent wandering the town of Airlie Beach. That didn't take very long; like all small towns it consists of one main street which holds all the shops and tourist stores where you can book the tours to go sailing and other crazy stuff like diving, snorkelling and parasailing.. all of which we are going to be doing this week (well I'm not diving, only Tracy is). We're not doing the sailing trips because they are mostly overnight and being at sea in a boat for so long makes me scared. I'm caustraphobic and just thinking about it makes me [View Full Entry]

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