Dad's Visit!

---

So, AH! I can't believe this has gone by so quickly. I feel like I just got off the plane and saw my little room for the first time. Now it looks like it did before I put stuff on the walls, pretty bare and pretty boring.

Anyways, Dad was here! He had a rough trip here, but we got to Uluru without any problems and had a really relaxing time. We both got hot stone massages (heaven!), watched the sunset over Uluru and had a tasty dinner, then the next morning we watched the sunrise and toured the rock. It was so much bigger than I thought it would be. I was amazed by all the stories surrounding the rock. It seems every nook and cranny has an Aboriginal story to it. They believe their gods live in the rock, so it's a very spiritual place for them. The weather was great, sunny and cool. We ate lots of good food and bought many t-shirts 😊, right dad? In the cultural center, there was a binder full of letters from people who had taken a piece of the rock home with them and then sent it back and apologized, asking for it to be put back in its original spot. Apparently taking bits of Uluru away from where it is is very bad luck and people learn to regret it. We had a very relaxing time there and it's something I'm so glad I got to experience with Dad.

In Melbourne, we did a couple things each day. First day dad met Brenna, Nichole and Miranda and we went to Queen Victoria Market. We stocked up on souvenirs (like my new opal ring and blue uggs!) and ate lunch there as well. Dad was amazed at how big the place is. We also did stuff like go to the Melbourne Zoo (so dad could see kangaroos and koalas 😊 ), the Melbourne Museum, and of course an ESSENDON GAME! What an amazing game it was. Brenna, Nichole and Smidie came with us. Essendon was in good form and then Carlton, the opposing team, got ahead and made about 6 goals in the 3rd quarter. We were freaking out because Essendon seems to lose it towards the end and run out of energy. BUT...they came back! They won 101-136. It was amazing. I'm glad Dad got to see that game, it was awesome.

I finished my exams and I've just been packing up and slowing saying goodbyes, which seem to get harder and harder. I said goodbye to Brenna, Nichole and all the Wisconsin kids because they went to Fiji. I've been saying goodbye to a few people a day as they've been going home and I'll tell you, it's not fun. Monday morning is going to be so emotional. I'm excited to come home, but this is going to be really rough. I've made a life here and I've been really quite happy. I love the friends I've made and it's going to be really hard to not be able to see them everyday. I'm so lucky to have gotten the chance to meet them though, and to come here. I know I'll see some of them again, so that's comforting. But, this sucks haha. I knew it was going to be hard, but I have a really restless feeling in my stomach, especially when I think about Monday and being at the airport saying goodbye to everyone. I hate goodbyes and I'm really bad at them. Look at all I've gotten to do here! It's been amazing. I'm glad I got to share it with everyone on here. It's made me feel like a bit of me is still home and some of you all are here experiencing these things with me. Will probably blog one more time when I get home.

xoxo,
Amanda

---

Photos

giraffee
he reached over to eat the yellow flowers. it was so cute.