Skating!! On Thursday the 22nd I woke up at 5 AM (hurts, doesn't it) to go skating! That's right, I found ice here in the desert (or is it dessert?) Apparently there are only 2 rinks in all of Perth. And wouldn't you know it, one of them has a synchro team. So I'm now a member of Infusion, and I look forward to August when we get to represent Western Australia at Nationals in Newcastle, NSW (near Sydney). As for the level of skating, I wasn't really sure what to expect. But it's pretty good! For the skaters out there - they're doing level 3 footwork, like choctaws and double-three's and one and a half twizzels. So it's pretty good! And the girls are all really nice, so I'm fitting in well. I spent the ... read more

Orientation and House-hunting On Monday morning, Trista and I headed back to Murdoch for our first Orientation activity - a welcoming and some important info. We then headed to the housing office, where I had made an appointment to get help finding off-campus housing. We soon learned there were about 100 international students without a place to stay in Perth, and only 1 lady helping them all. She took 5 of us on a trip to visit one place, and told us to come back at 4:30 to see 2 more. Clearly this was a seller’s market, and we were told to take the first place that looked liveable. Trista and I decided to check the campus bulletin boards, and we found loads of places for rent. We called and made 2 appointments. One of the ... read more

Pro Dive Cairns The next two days were spent doing the in-class portion of my scuba diving class. We began with watching movies, discussing, and doing some quizzes. Then we went in the pool and tried things out first hand. Scuba diving is a lot more intense than you’d think. A lot of companies will take beginners out for the day without any training. However, there is a lot of stuff that could go wrong, and a course really prepares you for EVERYTHING. The Reef I woke up bright and early on the 5th to be picked up for the boat out to the reef. As advised, I popped 2 seasickness tablets. There was a delicious breakfast served when we arrived, and I was excited (albeit a little tired) to begin my 3-day reef adventure! Unfortunately, ... read more

The Departure So I left Toronto on Monday, January 29th and arrived in Hong Kong early on Wednesday. I actually had a really good flight. I managed to get the emergency exit door seat (best seat in the house!) so I had leg room for the 18 hour flight. Plus we actually had to leave the plane in Anchorage, Alaska while they were refuelling, so I got to walk around the terminal and even buy some Alaska smoked salmon (which stunk up my fridge for the next week). I met two new friends on the flight - Dana and Blair - both on their way to Australia and New Zealand respectively for teacher’s college. We all had some time to kill in Hong Kong, so we decided to explore together. I had the longest stopover - ... read more