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Published: October 5th 2008
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Masters Students!
Some of the students in my program, out in the city: Ramona (Italy), James (Australia), Colin (Canada), and me G'day Everyone!
Hope you are all doing well and heading into a great change of season, whichever it might be 😊 This past week, I've just experienced my very own southern hemisphere "Spring Break '08!" Though it only lasted a week, it was a very busy and exciting time!
We started our Spring Break celebrations a bit early, with our Roberts Hall Ball on Thursday night. The best way to describe this annual event would be to compare it to Prom, but with much less stress. Many of the departments at the university hold their own ball. For instance, during August and September, we saw advertisements for the Medical, Pharmacy, Engineering, and Malaysian Students' Balls. Our ball was for just the residents of my dorm, Roberts Hall. I really liked this idea because I've really gotten to know my stairway mates and my hall buddies a lot more than many of the hundreds of students in my faculty. So, as we anticipated a week off from uni, we traded in our jeans and t-shirts for some snazzy ball gowns and suits...it was so much fun!
We had dinner and the dance at a Reception hall just outside of
Wassup Carolina!
My NC friends!! PK (middle) is from UNC Chapel Hill, and Timur is from NC State! the uni. It was so cool to see many of our friends all dressed up, with makeup and their hair done up just right! We spent the night catching up with each other, taking millions of photos, and introducing some new dance moves on the dance floor 😊 I'm proud to say that in honor of the Americans, we did get to show off the hit "Soulja Boy" dance and we even learned a new Aussie dance known as the "Nut bush." All in all, it was a fantastic and very glitzy evening!!
Friday morning was a great day to sleep in, as many of us boogied the night away at the ball. The dorm society held a free BBQ for us, so we had a chance to get some free food and hang around for the afternoon. As it was a really beautiful spring day, we played some outdoor sports and worked on our long-awaited tans 😉.
Saturday morning, I woke up to a 7:00 start onto the Great Ocean Road. This trip is one that Victoria is most famous for, as the road which runs along the Southern Ocean boundary is said to give some of
Tickets to the Ball
My friend Sarah and I were so proud of our tickets to the ball :) the most amazing views....and it's so true!! I took hundreds of pictures because I was in awe at how breathtakingly beautiful the ocean could be! We traveled to several places along the Great Ocean Road, beginning with the place that two surfing companies (Quicksilver and Ripcurl) got their start. From there, we spent part of the morning at Bells Beach, one of the most famous surf beaches in the world. Then we took a walk up to the Splitsea Lighthouse, which is most famous for its debut on the tv series "Round the Twist." I've personally never seen the show, but my British friend Amy was so happy to hear that, so I thought I'd put in a plug 😊
We then traveled to a very quaint city known as Lorne, which our tour guide told us is a popular vacation spot for Melbournians. Since the Great Ocean Road is so long (so long, in fact, that it will take you from Melbourne to Adelaide!), many people stop at Lorne. We had some lunch there and spent about an hour on the beach. The weather was so perfect that we had a chance to take some crazy pictures and
Bus ride there
AJ and me on the bus on the way to the ball! feel just how cold the ocean water is at the bottom of the world! I still can't believe I can go to a beach here but the water is still so coold!
In the afternoon, we walked off our lunch as we took a bit of a bushwalk through a national rainforest, where we got to see some live vegetation and some of the biggest hollow trees still standing. Because the weather is so unpredictable in Australia, it's very likely to see that over time, two trees have fallen over and then begun to grow together, because of the natural course of growth. It was also noticeable that when we entered into the rainforest, the weather dropped about 5 or 6 degrees!!
The last few stops we made were probably the most beautiful places I've ever seen in natural beauty. First, we went to visit "The Twelve Apostles," which are huge, freestanding limestone rock formations in the middle of the ocean. It was said that there were twelve formations which existed, but a few years ago, some of the apostles actually fell, reducing the number from 12 to 9. It was fun to see if we could guess
Group pic
Some great friends before the ball greatness began :) the number of apostles that were out there because there is much discrepancy over which rocks are the original ones. But wow, what a spectacular view.
Following the Twelve Apostles, we went to see Loch ard Gorge, where we learned the story of a man and a woman who were actually marooned out at the gorge for several hours. The man left the woman hiding in a hidden cave, as he scaled the gorge and eventually traveled to the nearest town to ask for help. After making contact, the man returned to his wife via helicopter and she was rescued safely.
Finally, we traveled to one of my favourite views of the Great Ocean Road, the London Bridge. Much as the familiar nursery song goes, "London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down," that is exactly what the bridge did about ten years ago. As it is also made of limestone rock, for many years, hundreds of people used to walk across the bridge to the end and look down at the crashing waves. But one evening, a couple walked across it to get some fresh air, and when they tried to come back across, part of
College Head
The 'Eric Fisher' of housing here, our College Head Gerry :) the bridge actually COLLAPSED into the ocean, and left them stranded on the other side. Luckily, news crews arrived quickly at the scene to report the monumental event, and the two were rescued.
Oh, this was one of my most favourite trips in Australia!! The Great Ocean Road was fantastic, beautiful, and definitely a place I'd like to explore again, and with more detail!!
And in true Cindy style, I took HUNDREDS of pictures of all these events, but I've picked out the best ones to share with you!! Hope you enjoy them all 😊
This was just the beginning of a wonderful and restful Spring Break. Stay tuned for my next post on what I did during my spring break week: Australian University Games!!
Cheers,
Cindy
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