I'm Baaaaack - Part 1

So, is everyone enjoying Autumn? Is it getting a bit chilly? Hmm, it is about 90 degrees here. October, a warm month, that is a first for me. I am loving the sun back at the village, and I practically lived under the sun on our 17 day holiday. Speaking of, I have a lot to catch you up on, and I apologize for not doing so earlier; when we returned I should have updated it straight away.

We began our quest down the East Coast by flying into Cairns, and spending 4 nights/5 days there. Whitewater rafting down the Tully River was a blast! The difficulty of the rapids were grades 3 and 4 on a grade 6 scale. It was hard work, and we even fell in the water after some of the grade 4 rapids- part of the raft would tip or bounce people out if they didn't hold on! The next day was even more intense! I went skydiving from 11,000 feet over the Great Barrier Reef and landed on the beach! It was a SPECTACULAR view. We took this really tiny plane, that fit 4 people plus the certified divers strapped to us! I was the first one to go- this is how the conversation went leading up to the dive:
Man attached to me to keep me alive: we're at 11,000 feet! are you ready for this? (the side door slowly opens and he scoots us over to face out the door)
Me: ...
Man: ok swing your feet outside!
Me: wooooaaaah
Man: good job! ready, ONE
Me: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!
(there was no 2 or 3!)
It was such a rush, so exhilarating! My face was flapping in the wind, but only until the parachute got opened, and then we slowed down to a drift. I was actually able to stop screaming, too! As soon as I landed I was ready to go back up... hahaha, not really. It took me a while to realize that I really just jumped out of a plane- I wanted someone to pinch me ;-D

We followed that by getting in a Jungle Minjin Swing, the next day. Richie and I were strapped in side by side and hoisted up, practically into the rain forest, and looking out over the outskirts of Cairns. I had control of the string which would released us; when I pulled it we went plummeting down and swung like a pendulum amongst the trees! (Can you see us way up in there??) We also had the option to bungee jump there, but I was way too frightened I'd snap all my bones or something extreme like that. Richie, on the other hand, faced his fears and ended up loving it!

Our last two days in Cairns: One day, we went snorkeling at three different parts of the Outer Great Barrier Reef. The weather was perfect and the sun was beating down, so the water was so much warmer than the first time we went out there. We also saw a lot of different kinds of fish and got to tough a sea cucumber - slimy and squishy creatures. The other day we spent at a northern Cairns beach. The water was clear and so refreshing. That night we took a 13 hour coach bus ride & arrived at our next destination, Airlie Beach.

Mid-semester "Holiday"

It is Spring here and that means Spring Break! Well, as they refer to it, mid-semester "holiday" :) Richie and I are leaving Saturday, September 15th and returning Monday, October 1st. (Yes, that is a really long time!) We are traveling down the East Coast of Australia and stopping at several cities along the way to do some awesome things, including skydiving! I can't wait to tell you more about our adventures when we return! There will probably be heaps of photos, too! I hope everyone is doing well. Take care :-D

Random News

Did you know??

• The construction of the Opera House began in 1959.
• It took until 1973 to finish building it and for it to finally open.
• It cost about $100 million!
• The final show of Australian Idol takes place inside!

Justin & I:

Check this out!
We rearranged out living room from the front of the apartment to the back for more space and a cozier feel: (view entering from the left side)

(from the right side)



Have you heard??

*For the past two weeks it seems like all I have heard about on the news is how the equine influenza (EI) has spread through Aussie's racehorse population....
*No worries though! Today the horses are back to the tracks!

They're everywhere!!

That is, students in uniforms... from primary to secondary school grades, any person wearing a backpack (not at my uni) has been in a uniform. These small children on a field trip to the Queen Victoria Building have been my favorite so far! I mean, just look at their hats!

Backtracking

Heaps of things have happened since I last wrote....

The biggest news is that Justin came to visit! It was really awesome to have company from home here! Him and his friend, Saim, came from August 21st (a Tuesday) until the 31st (the following Friday). Upon arrival I would not allow for any sleeping -after all they had to adjust timezones and had to do so quickly to allow for maximum site seeing. To start off, Richie and I took them to Wildlife World in Darling Harbor. There we observed:
a variety of Aussie's insects
including this nasty thing: ,
reptiles (including my favorite, the frilled neck lizard:
& the largest of the lizards down under, the Perentie, which is also the 3rd largest lizard in the world), lots of wallabies & koalas, the Cassowary, (the third largest flightless bird & Aussie's largest land animal) and much more. That night we stayed in Darling Harbor for dinner, and ate at a place called Blue Fish. It was located right next to the water, with a spectacular view of the city lights.

We spent the next day walking around the Queen Victoria Building and
going up into Sydney's Sky Tower . It was really to watch the boats cruise around from above and to see how far the city extended. That day Justin and Saim also surprised us with a dart board apartment-warming-gift. We definitely had fun with it while they were here & it has been getting a lot of use since!

My favorite day, while they were here, was when we went on an adventure tour of The Eldest Cave, the oldest cave of the Jenolan Caves in the Blue Mountains. To prepare, we had to gear up in jumpsuits and helmets with torches (aka flashlights). Then each of us got to repel down to the opening of the cave . Once in, it was no walk through of the cave! It took us about two hours and we had two guides who took us through holes I didn't imagine I could fit through! Sometimes we had to go head first with darkness ahead! Sometimes we went feet first and had to hope we would put our foot down in the right place, and sometimes we crawled through on our side surrounded by cave walls only inches away from our sides... like this picture!> Here I am about to go down a hole and then coming through it>

The four of us about half way through

and then feeling like we mastered the cave

by the end!

Weekend of **10/8 to 12/8

**In case I have confused you, the dates here are written with the day first and then the month ;-)

Two weekends ago, I went on a volunteer weekend to Chakola, in the South Coast of New South Wales. On Friday morning, myself and 8 other international students, who also attend Macquarie, were picked up by a group leader from the Conservation Volunteers of Australia. It was about a 3 1/2 hour trip to the site, which is basically forested preserved property.

I had been expecting to do some hard-core work since work boots & gloves were highly recommended... yet there was more site seeing than physical work! On Friday, our group stayed on the property to pull weeds in a open area of the forest, where lots of wombats live. The rest of the night, we watched wild kangaroo in the field next to the camp, talked around the fire pit, and were in awe of the stars (including the Milky Way!)

Saturday, we drove about 30 minutes away to a National Park to do about 1 & 1/2 hours of work- putting up stakes & plastic around baby trees so they would be protected from the wind & animals eating them. Then we got to walk around Seven Mile Beach, climb around the rocks at a blow hole, and walk around a quaint town called Berry.
That night around the camp fire, we had both a possum (which are actually cute, unlike the ones in the States), and a wombat come wander around by us!

Sunday, our last day, we stayed at our camp site to work; for about two hours we raked & cleared a walking trail through the forest. That afternoon, on the way home, we stopped at another national park to take in the view of an awesome waterfall:

Richie is also going on a volunteer weekend trip with the same program from August 24th- 26th. He's been taking pictures on our adventures, too. So you can check them out at this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/Richard.Kuebler

We have gotten better at grocery shopping which means better meals! We've enjoyed making some awesome dinners, including stir fry, pasta, tacos, and chicken & potatoes! Woo-hoo no more peanut butter & jelly for dinner :-D