I am still alive!!!!

Hello Everyone!

So, updating my blog twice a week was definitely a promise I broke.... sorry about that! On a positive note, it is only because I have been having so much fun and have been way to busy! I will start from the beginning and hopefully, I will be able to remember everything.

I flew out of Calgary on Dec 24th. It was hard to leave as I really had not had much time to think about the fact that I was leaving for 8 months and it hit me the day I left. My flight over was very long! I flew Calgary to LA and then had an 8 hour stop-over in LA airport. It turned out that the lady sitting next to me on my first flight was going to New Zealand and we had the same flights all the way to Fiji together, so I was happy to have company on my stop-over. I arrived in Sydney at about noon on Dec 26. Surprisingly, I was not jet-laged or tired at all! My two Aussie friends, Robbie and Matt and my Canadian friend, Caroline were at the airport to pick me up! I was happy to be greeted by my much missed friends! They had even made me a big sign that said- Welcome to Oz Elice. Robbie thought it would be funny to spell my name wrong.

I spent my first couple days in Sydney. After meeting me at the airport, Matt, Caroline, Robbie and I went back to Matt's appartment. The boys were wonderful and made an Aussie BBQ. A proper Aussie BBQ is only complete with the cricket turned on the TV and lots and lots of cold beer! Raigen, my other Aussie friend also stopped by for a visit which was nice! That night we went to a couple pubs, played some pool, had some drinks- a great first night! The next day, Robbie left for Phillip Island, where the Pyramid Rock Festival was being held. Matt had to get some work done, so Caroline and I went downtown and did some shopping. That night, we all went to Matt's parents place and had another BBQ. The next day, Caroline, Matt and I went to Manly- a very touristy beach suburb. We spent a couple hours on the beach, had some dinner and went out to a nightclub! It was a good day and I would like to go back to that area to spend more time. The next morning, my Aussie friend, Elise picked me up from where we had stayed in Manly and we drove to Phillip Island. I was also planning to meet Lucy and Claire there for the festival. The drive down was pretty long but very nice. I got to see a lot of the landscape and we stopped in a few of the towns along the way.

Elise dropped me off in Melbourne and continued on to Phillip Island. I met Lucy in Melbourne that night and the next morning, Claire, Lucy, a bunch of their friends and I drove to Phillip Island. When we got on the Island, the weather was really gross... windy and rainy. The whole first day was really cold. I met all of Lucy and Claire's friends, who are all great! The first day, we ended up just sitting around the campsite, drinking and really did not make it to see much of the music. The next day, the weather was warmer, so we actually went to the stage, sat on the grass and listened to some music. That night was New Years Eve. I somehow ended up loosing the girls in the crowd after I went to go find Robbie. The grounds were pretty big and there were so many people, so finding friends was not an easy task. I ended up spending New Years Eve with Robbie, Elise and some of their friends. It was probably one of the best New Years' of my life! I had so much fun partying and dancing all night. The next morning, I left Phillip Island- dirty, slightly hung-over and ready for my next adventure!

For the last couple weeks, I have been hanging out in Melbourne and on the Mornington Peninsula. Both Claire and Lucy's parents live on the Peninusla and Lucy has an appartment in Melbourne, so I have been hopping between different places and hanging out with the girls! I will go into more detail about the last couple weeks when I have some free internet.... hopefully in the next week! Tomorrow morning, I am flying to Sydney.

Miss you all and I hope you are all staying warm in the cold weather back home!!!
xoxox

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