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Published: April 25th 2009
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rainbow over the casina- view from my balconyWow, it's overwhelming to think that in a mere 72 hours I will be claiming my baggage in the airport in Ohio!
It seems like this last month or so has been a whirlwind and I must say I haven't done that well on journaling all the things I have been up to. Since my last post I have been pretty busy, going on adventures, even if small ones, pretty much weekly.
The jist: climbed Mt. Warning and Mt. Tibrogargan of the Glasshouse Mountains, spent a UD wknd in Brisbane, ventured to Pt. Lookout at Stradbroke Island, went to Toowoomba and stayed with Alex's family for Easter, went to Easterfest, and spent a day in Byron Bay. And I had a fantabulous time at all but am excited to be coming home.
Now the longer version for all you brave/bored enough to read it:
I have decided that I thoroughly enjoy hiking/rockclimbing now. I have always been an outdoors-type girl, but the hiking adventures I have been on here have been sweet as! The first was Mt. Warning. There was a group of perhaps 15 of us that left the Gold Coast at 1 am and climbed
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hot chips=french fries at Easterfest the mountain to see the sunrise. We got to the top with ample time, so we had time to stargaze. I saw my first two shooting stars. 😊 It was super cold up there, so all of us were huddling together but it was worth it. The view of the sunrise was amazing. Mt. Warning is the first place the sun hits in Australia and the colors were magnificent. All to soon, the clouds moved in and took over so we had to head back down before the sun was fully up. The way down was breathtaking in itself. The views are what I imagine New Zealand to look like. The whole trip was approximately 9 km, so needless to say, I was whipped the next day!
The other hiking trip was a little more "spontaneous" I suppose you could say. haha. Unlike Mt Warning, we didn't have a car so we had to take a 3 hr trainride to get to the Sunshine Coast in order to climb one of the Glasshouse Mountains--a group of mts originally formed by volcanos. Upon stepping off the train and then taking a bus, we realized that we weren't in walking distance
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the stage at easterfest from any of the mountains. So, like true foreigners, we hitch-hiked. It was safe though, I promise (mom). 😊 The woman that drove us there told us all about her son, her grandson, showed us her house, took us to the lookout point of the mountains, and even got Brittany's number to call us on the mountain to be sure we were ok! She was amazing. As was the climb--and most of it was just that. We were rockclimbing most of the way up at about a 70-80 degree angle. It was pretty nuts and we had a blast. I think that is the best picnik lunch I've had, purely because of the view. After successfully climbing and descending the mountain we began the extremely long walk back to the train station and decide to try to "thumb it" once more. And it worked. This time it was a man that we actually passed on the mountain. He ran it, taking him a mere 32 minutes against our 3-4 hours (with photo/lunch break, mind you). He told us that he runs it for exercise at least twice a week! Crazy aussies...haha!
One weekend I went to visit
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Alex helping her bros roast "aus'mores" Billy (from UD) in Brisbane with Brit (also from UD). We had an unofficial UD reunioun complete with the GO DAYTON FLYERS chant. haha. The weekend was fabulous...Brit and I walked around Brisbane for a while, went to church, then went to Billy's to pregame for the night. The boys set up beer pong, which I hadn't played since leaving the states and it showed! I didn't make one cup! haha. The rest of the night was so much fun- we went to a couple of bars that played live music. The second bar we went to had a sweet DJ and luckily one of Billy's roomates was a pretty good dancer. We ended up dancing the rest of the time there--people actually began to stop and watch us! haha. It was hilarious but it was so fun to really dance with non-techno music! 😊
The next day, Billy, Brit, and I ventured early to Stradbroke Island. It was amazing as well. It was raining when we first go there but it made it better. We went to Point Lookout where there were massive rocks jutting up from the water. The massive waves crashing with the terrential downpour was
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"Aus'mores"= Arnott sandwich cookies, nutella, and "aussie" marshmellows! yum. really impressive. The weather ended up clearing, proving the coastline to be even more beautiful! It was a long weekend though, and I was happy to be going home.
Moving on...Easter weekend was full of family fun, something I was in dire need of. I went with three other girls to our friend Alex's place. She is one of 5 kids so I felt at home in the utter commotion straight away! haha. We went to a christian music festival called Easterfest all weekend. It was cool to see all the different ppl/musicians there. I even knew some of the performers from the good ole' days of riding to school with mom! AudioAdrenaline or Rebecca St. James, anyone? Needless to say, Easterfest gave me a nice refreshing boost. And just hanging out with Alex and her fam was awesome. All weekend we sat comparing cultures with Alex's family. Her little brothers even made a "Welcome Americans" sign complete with the McDonald's M! Go figure. We tried-on cricket gear, attempted to crack the famous aussie whip, had more tea times than I can count, gave her brothers their first "fake" s'more experience (aus doesn't have graham crackers, hershey's chocolate, or
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the amazing welcome sign the Mathewson family made us! "American" marshmellows. haha. Easter Sunday was not what I expected though- nothing fancy at church, no egg hunts, and no big family get-togethers. Apparently all that jazz only happens for Christmas. The whole weekend was amazing and made me want to see my crazy family so much! haha.
My final trip was a drive down to Byron Bay- infamous for its laidback/hippy lifestyle. It was refreshing to see the little shops, etc, but I was a bit dissapointed that it didn't live up to its hype. Other than that, I have been enjoying the beach, running along the shore while the sun sets, reading heaps of good books/journaling, going to campus for Pancake nights and other fun food events with my "campus" friends, shadowing a "physiotherapist" aka physical therapist, hanging out with everyone living out here in the Meriton, studying and finishing finals, playing my final vball games, going to local markets, swimming/boogie boarding, and just trying to soak everything in!!
Now, if you please, I will now reflect on my experience here. =) Here it goes...
Looking back on my Australia experience, I truly have had the "time of my life" no matter how cliche
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instead of easterbaskets, the easter bunny puts chocolate eggs in "nests" made from beach towells! :) that is. But I didn't always feel this way. It seems forever ago when I first got here- I was overwhelmed and didn't know where or how I fit in. I had times when I doubted my decision to come here; a decision that originally caused so much headache and sometimes heated discussions. I actually cried because of these things when I first got to the Gold Coast. At first, I was not sure how to be "me" in Australia. I suppose I didn't realize how much of myself I found in my support systems--my family and friends who form my foundation. I didn't realize this until I was no longer standing on such a strong base and was left to build my own. And slowly I have. I believe I have discovered myself-- that I can still be "me" without all these amazing people holding me up that were doing so back home. This isn't to say that I don't need anyone, because I do. It just means that I am confident in the type of person I am becoming and I see that I can thrive in any place. I have actually had much time here to pray
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found a new talent: didgeridoo music and reflect--on my life, my future, what I will do, who I want to be. And I think I am comfortable with where I am heading. Coming here has made me realize how truly blessed I am. I may not have all the answers as to where I will go, what I will do, or where I will be in 10 years but I am ready for the adventure. I know wherever I am at I will have God, family, and friends to love and support me and I am here to do the same for you. Last week I honestly did not want to leave but now I honestly cannot wait to get home- which I think is good. The goodbyes are definitely hard to make and leaving this country in general is depressing but the memories I have overcome both.
Finally, thank you to all that have supported me in my decision to come here, for those who have sent me emails or read my blog, helped me financially/emotionally etc, and to those who have been praying for me. I love you and will see your amazingly beautiful faces back in the STATES!! =D
CHEERS, MATES!
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learning the proper cricket stance, obviously in appropriate cricket attire! haha Ang
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