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Published: February 24th 2008
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kissing the kangaroo
i was totally denied Hey guys!!! This past week has been quite eventful~ I gave my presentation and turned in my paper for my developmental disabilities class, so I am basically done with that class.
Friday was my birthday and we made plans to go to Currumbin, a wildlife sanctuary. It was a pretty big park; we saw this huge croc that weighed 1 ton! There was also this area to pet, feed, and take pictures with kangaroos. They were so tame, you could just lie there on the ground with them. We also saw a bird show, emus, pelicans, and other things. After that, we walked into the small little town on the oceanfront. We ate at the surf club that had a restaurant right on the water- my favorite. The beach was so pretty and we would have stayed longer if we hadn’t had the bus to catch.
Speaking of buses, I really don’t think Australians are as nice as everyone lets on. For example, the public transport system: We were riding the bus just minding our own business, when this old bald man’s phone rang. He literally turned around and said to us, “Shut your hole!” We were so
flabbergasted; we didn’t even know how to respond. Naturally, I could barely contain myself and was hunched over in fits of laughter. Then later when we were trying to get the bus home, we were all standing at the bus stop when the bus just sped right by us without stopping. You would think that if the bus driver saw 6 girls standing at the bus-stop, he might just think that we maybe wanted to get on, but no. Then we saw a sign depicting a person flagging down a bus (as if it was a taxi). The sign read, “To stop bus, Hail driver”!!!!! So I guess that’s why we missed it. Who knew? We eventually got on a bus. I was searching for my ticket, but of course I couldn’t find it. I said to the driver, “sorry sir, I know I have a ticket. I was holding it a minute ago.” He grumbles back, “just get on!” JEEEEZZZ, relax people, please!
After Currumbin, some more people were going to meet us later to go to this ice bar in Surfer’s Paradise, but I ended up getting the biggest migraine of my entire life. There was no
way I could go; I could barely see straight. So we ended up not going and I felt really bad that I had to cancel for my own birthday, but of course everyone understood. When we got back to campus I said goodnight, but they made me come up to one of their rooms. They had this cute little birthday cake for me and sang Happy Birthday to me! It was so sweet and I just started crying because I just felt so sick, not to mention it was weird not being with my usual family and friends for my birthday in a different country.
The next morning the van picked us up for our trip to Moreton Island at 5:45 am. I was SO thankful that I no longer had that migraine. 12 of us crammed into this tiny van and drove about an hour to a town called Manly. It was funny because everything was labeled with Manly. Like “Manly Toilets”. Haha. We got on this sail boat and rode for about 2 hours to our destination. The sky was SO clear- not one single cloud in the sky, so we all got quite a bit of
sun. First, we snorkeled over these ship-wrecks for about 10 minutes before they summoned us back to the boat. They said the tide was coming in, but I think they must’ve been on something, because I have never seen calmer water and it was only like 11am. Then we got on the boat again and went to these dunes to go sand-boarding. I did not even know there was such a thing but apparently it’s like snowboarding. We hiked about 1 km to get there and finally when we reached the clearing all you could see was this huge mass of desert. I have never seen anything like it. We trekked to the bottom and across the desert only to trek right back up another practically vertical hill where we went sand boarding. We were so hot and out of breath and dehydrated, that we joked that this was our Lenten sacrifice. We also concluded that we now had a better appreciation for the Jews that had wondered in the desert for all of those days. People told us to wear socks so we wouldn’t burn our feet on the sand, but my feet burned right through my socks anyways.
I finally got back to the ocean and just ran for the water and swam back to the boat to cool off. Quite the experience, but hang on it gets even better.
THEN we got back on the boat again. We were supposed to go tubing, but the wind really picked up and the ocean got really choppy. The skipper put up the sail and the wind was so strong that the boat was tipped onto one side and water was spilling over the boat Titanic-style. It was fun for a while, but then I was just cold and wet and started to get sea-sick. The skipper-man wasn’t of any help, he just kept being obnoxious and winking at me…ew, what a creeper. Around 6ish we got back into the harbour and drove home to Bond. Everyone was SO tired from being out in the sun and being on a boat all day. When we got back to Bond, we ate dinner and everything seemed a lot funnier that usual because we were so slap-happy and sleep deprived.
Later, I was getting ready for bed and getting some things done, but I just had to go give up
and go to bed, because I felt like I was still on the boat- swaying back and forth! I almost tipped over in the shower. Haha, what a day.
Today, I just got some rest and did some homework. I think next week I am probably going to a rugby game and to the Quicksilver surf championship!!! Woo-hoo!!!
Talk to ya’ll later,
Love,
Kelly
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Amber
non-member comment
WOW!
hey girl! sounds like you are having a blast! wish i was there soaking up the sun...it's been around ummm...20-30 degrees here for the past month! ughhh...haha. miss you tons! and the kangaroo picture is adorable!!! :)