In Wollongong!!

Wow, it has been so long since I have updated! I believe I left off with the Cricket…

The day after the cricket, Caroline and I did a little tour of Sydney’s tourist sights. We went down to the Circular Quay and saw the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. We went into the Contemporary Art Gallery, which was really good! After that, we took a bus to Bondi beach and suntanned and swam. Just as we were going to get dinner at Bondi, this huge storm hit. Caroline and I quickly found a little restaurant and stayed there until the storm passed.

The next day, Caroline and I took the train from the city centre to Robbie’s parent’s house. We went to a birthday BBQ and party for one of Robbie’s friends. After that we went back into the city centre to go to a bar called Spectrum. Everyone wanted to go there because a really good DJ was supposed to play but the DJ never seemed to turn up so we listened to reggae music all night.

The next day was Australia day. My friend Raigen was having a BBQ, so Robbie and I stopped by for that before we headed back to Newcastle. On the way back, Robbie and I listened to the top 100 songs for 2008 on the JJJ radio station. This is a tradition on Australia day. The number one song was “Sex is on Fire” by Kings of Leon- really good song!

I hung out in Newcastle for a couple days and then flew to Byron Bay to visit some friends I made while in Europe, Polly and Jamie. The first night in Byron, the girls and I went to a performance by the Sydney Hotshots - Australia’s version of Chippendale Dancers! It was pretty fun and everyone got pretty rowdy! For the rest of the week, the girls showed me around Byron Bay, Brunswick Heads (town they work in) and South Golden Beach (town they live in). I went snorkelling which was really cool. I even saw a turtle eating a jellyfish! We went to the Byron Markets where I got a good dose of the Byron hippie culture. We did a lot of swimming in the ocean and also in the Brunswick Heads River. There is a rope swing into the river that I tried to use. I ended up dropping off the rope too early and my one foot landed on a rock covered with oysters which cut my foot up pretty bad. I walked with a bit of a limp for a few days but I was able to get all the oyster shells out of my skin which is a relief because they can easily get infected if you don’t get them all out!

After my week in Byron Bay, I spent another week in Newcastle. I really didn’t do much in Newcastle except swim. After my week in Newcastle, I moved all my stuff to Wollongong and got set up there. Immediately after moving, I took a bus to Canberra, the capital of Australia, to visit Claire. I was only in Canberra for a weekend but managed to fit a lot into that weekend! I saw the National Film and Sound Archive, the National Gallery of Australia, the War Memorial and Parliament.

I spent three days in Wollongong before heading back to Newcastle to go camping with Robbie and all of his friends! The five hour train ride to Newcastle was a bit long but was worth it. I left Wollongong on Friday morning and returned Sunday night. I had my international student orientation bright and early on Monday morning. The rest of the week was full of orientation week events.

Last weekend, I went on a trip to the Blue Mountains. It was very beautiful and I would of really enjoyed the trip but I got really sick. I enjoyed the first activity in the morning which was abseiling or rappelling. The afternoon activity was going to a lookout point where you could see the “Three Sisters” and walk around different paths to different lookouts. I was pretty sick by this point so I didn’t really enjoy that activity although it was beautiful. The next morning, the activity was a big hike. I didn’t go because I was not feeling well at all. In the afternoon, we went grass-carting which was fun but a little dangerous. I still wasn’t feel well but managed to participate in that activity as it required little effort. After that, we headed back to Wollongong to start classes on Monday! I am now into my second day of classes. So far all my professors seem like they will be good and I think I will like all my classes!

My blog is up to date! Finally! It will be easier to update now since I have my laptop. I hope everyone is well at home! Miss you all!

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