Sydney

Immediately after returning from the Whitsunday's I caught a plane to Sydney for my last bit of traveling in Oz. It was quite a contrast coming from the gorgeous and warm environment of a tropical paradise into a rainy and dreary big city, but nonetheless, I ended up having a great time in Australia's largest city.

I met up with my friend Nicole, whom I met 7 years ago when we both served on the same missions trip in Mexico. She was visiting her brother who lives in Sydney. I had not seen her since that week so long ago, but we picked right back up and thoroughly enjoyed our time together. Her brother and his roommates welcomed me into their place and included me in all they did that weekend. Nicole was a great tour guide and we explored the city all day Friday and some more on Sunday. I saw the opera house, the harbor bridge, Hyde Park, markets, malls, Sky Tower, a beautiful cathedral, and much, much more. We ate out at a delicious German restaurant, went dancing in crazy King's Cross and attended Hillsong church. It was neat to see all the famous things that Sydney is known for.

On Saturday it turned out to be a clear, beautiful day so I went and explored Bondi Beach. The water was so pretty and the houses on the cliff made a nice backdrop for the big waves. I walked from Bondi Beach to Bronte Beach and it was such a nice walk along the rocky cliffs overlooking the ocean and watching all the surfers.

Welp, that was my last adventure down under. These next two weeks will consist of studying and hanging out with peeps. I'll probably post a few more pictures of some things around UQ and Emmanuel, but we'll see. Thanks for checking out my blog. Can't wait to share more details with you all in person!

The Whitsundays aka Paradise

This past week was study week here at uni and so what did all the Americans, including me, go and do? We traveled. I guess you could say that we just chose to emphasize the ABROAD part of "study abroad."

Anyway...I spent Sunday through Thursday with 5 other friends from college up in Airlie Beach and out in the midst of the Whitsunday islands. It was seriously so awesome! We sailed around for 3 days on the Apollo, snorkling, scuba diving, basking in the sun, jumping off rocks, visiting pure white sand beaches, watching sunsets/rises, seeing the most stars we have ever seen in our lives, etc. No joke, it was paradise! We kept asking each other, "Did you know that we're sailing the Whitsunday's right now?" There were about 20 other people on our boat and while it was definitely close quarters, it just seemed to work out. No one got really sea sick and we all just enjoyed the magnificent beauty displayed before us. The pictures don't even do the place justice.

***For my family and the Fullers and anyone else who might appreciate our craziness***

Patrick was meeting the rest of us at the airport Sunday because he was coming straight back from Melbourne and had planned it so he didn't have to come back to school before leaving for the Whitsundays. He had given me the key to his room in case he forgot something and as expected, he forgot a towel. So, the night before we left Tim and I went in his room to get the towel and started trying on his hats and clothes and just messing with his stuff. We then got the brilliant idea to wear his clothes to the airport when we went to meet him. Needless to say, Patrick has a few token clothing items that define him and we decided to sport them. Tim wore Patrick's Redwings jersey and I wore his pimp hat and pink fanny pack. Yes, Patrick does actually wear all of these things in real life and sometimes even together. So...the whole point of the story was to tell you all that I brought the airport dress up tradition all the way to Australia. Be proud! (*check out the first pic of this blog)

Brisbane Weekend

So I know it's been a while since I last blogged, but I guess a lot has been going on. I only have two weeks left down here in Oz and time is flying! Two weekends ago I spent time in Brisbane with friends from college just enjoying what the city has to offer. Went to Chinatown with Allie, had a BBQ with Impact Friday night, went to the horse races all day Saturday, and then an AFL game on Sunday. Super fun weekend just hanging out with friends and doing stuff in my "home town."

At the races, everyone gets really dressed up and all the girls wear those cool hats like in Pretty Woman. Oh and I made my first ever bet on a horse, $2 that it would win, but I lost. It was a good learning experience though.

One interesting thing about AFL is that after the game they let everyone come onto the field and just goof around. A live band plays and everyone just kicks balls around and enjoys the afternoon. Pretty cool to go onto a professional playing field. Can't say I'll ever be able to do that in the states.