G'day from Surfer's Paradise

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That is right I am sitting here updating my blog in a place called Surfer's Paradise...not bad huh!?! I have been in Australia for 5 days now and am absolutly loving it! It is still quite scary to think that I will be gone for the next 5 months but for now things have been amazing. The flights over were not actually too bad excpet for the minor power outage in the Fijian Airport which was a bit scary the 23 hours of travel over here were not to bad. I spent the first 2 days exploring Sydney with Clara Cantor ( a girl from my rugby team) We styed in this great hostel called Wke up sydney! We met some really cool people which was fun. Clara and I walk around the entire city! Which suprisingly wasn't that hard to do..we were still tired by the end though. We saw the opera house, the harbour bridge, the botanical gardens, a bunch of government buildings, and the Sydney Aquarium which was really good. Our last night in Sydney we went to the backpackers bar attached to our hostel where these two guys who were amazing played covers of a bunch of classics. I felt a bit like I was back at school.
I left Clara on the 18th and headed out for my Contiki Tour, which i basically a tour for young people travelling on a budget and often times alone. I have met some great people so far. We started out in Sydney and have travelled up the east coast stopping in Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay ( this amazing beach and the most easterly point of mainland australia) we then went to this really cool park where we held koalas, pet kangaroos, and saw a bunch of other Aussie wildlife. We are now in Surfers Paradise and I have just gotten back from what else but a surf lesson. IT was sooo much fun. The waves and undertow are a lot stronger then back home but I was actually able to stand up 3 times and half stand up a bunch more. I also got rocked by a few waves but it was totally worth it. I can't wait until I can post picures so you can all see how absolutly gorgeous it is here.

I am not sure the next chance I will get internet access but until then know that I love you and miss you all. I have really enjoyed all of you meassages so thanks for writing them. I miss you all!

Em

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