Vacation Within a Vacation

So I'm not technically on vacation, but this whole experience has felt like one, so it counts, right??

Holding a koala at the Australia Zoo

I spent the last three weeks touring the Eastern Coast of Queensland, from the Gold Coast all the way to Cairns, with stops at some of the most magical places I've ever been. I'm so grateful for the opportunity, and I'm still trying to process the magnanimity of a trip like this one. In order to not drone on about how wonderful it was, I'll give just a quick snippet of what I did each day. If you have any further questions about my experience, I can probably go on for days talking about it. So go ahead and contact me!

Day 1: First stop was the Australia Zoo, the zoo made famous by Steve Irwin and his family. In addition to seeing Bindi and Robert, I got to lay in the grass with some kangaroos and even hold a koala! I've been waiting 20 years to hold a koala, so this was an excellent start to my trip!

Whitehaven Beach

Day 2: We then went to Fraser Island, which is the largest sand island in the world. We went off-roading down the beach, and then up to Lake McKenzie, which is a freshwater lake made on top of a mountain of sand. The sand here is so clean that you can brush your teeth with it!! This was probably my favorite part of the trip, mostly because I was so surprised by the beauty of the lake.

Day 3: We sped around the Whitsunday Islands, which is a group of 74 islands located about 900 km north of Brisbane. The beautiful Whitehaven Beach is situated in the Whitsundays, with sand as white as sugar. It is usually seen in tourism commercials about Australia, and is one of the most photographed places in the country. It was awesome to see, but due to the tides, we only had a short time there. If we didn't leave quickly, we never would have made it to our private island!

Bungy Jumping

Day 4: We spent the whole next day cruising around the Whitsundays on a much larger, and slower, yacht. It was nice to just relax, but I got sunburned spending that much time on the water! Aloe to the rescue!

Day 5: Another day of relaxing, we got to spend the fifth day shopping and using free Wi-Fi from McDonald's to update everyone about our trip!

Day 6: Now the adventure begins! Day 6 of our trip brought us to the Tully River in the middle of the oldest rainforest in the world. We did some whitewater rafting, which is a lot more work than I was expecting. Between pushing the boat through rocks, sliding down waterfalls, and jumping off cliffs, I was more than happy to get to bed that night.

Day 7: This was the day I plunged 164 feet through the rainforest into a small tropical pool. Thanks to AJ Hackett, it was my first (and probably last!) bungy jumping adventure. We also got to soar on a bungy swing through the forest in the dark, which was a lot less scary after plummeting all that way down!

Great Barrier Reef

Day 8: An Australian icon, we finally got to visit the Great Barrier Reef. We sailed two hours to
the Outer Great Barrier Reef ("the drop-off" as Finding Nemo puts it), and it was incredible. I had the option to scuba dive, but I realized very quickly that it wasn't for me. Snorkeling around, feet from the colorful coral and array of fish, is one experience that I will definitely remember for a lifetime.

Day 9: Our final day was spent relaxing in the Crystal Cascades, which is a freshwater waterfall with a rock pool in the middle of the rainforest. It was a wonderful way to say goodbye to all of the friends I made, and get ready for the next part of vacation.

Story Bridge with the Brisbane skyline

The rest of my trip was spent in Brisbane, staying with a friend from the area. It was great to have a personal tour guide, who showed me everything from City Hall to the Brisbane Eye. We spent a day in South Bank, which is the city's cultural center. We visited the Queensland Museum and the Gallery of Modern Art, got food from a "real American diner", and even took a ferry up the Brisbane River. We also took a day trip to the famous Gold Coast, which was a real treat. Laying on the gorgeous beach definitely prepared me for heading back to school for my final six weeks!!

I've included several pictures in this post, but here's a link for all of the pictures I took on my trip!!

Summer Haze, School Daze

So part of studying abroad is the actual studying. Yes, I am taking three classes, with homework and assessments and grades. I figured while I was here I would take all Australian classes, ones that I can't take while I'm at home. I'm taking Australian Media, Australian Literature, and Introduction to Indigenous Studies. My favorite class so far is Australian Media. It's all about how Australia uses the media and is portrayed through the media. It's nice to be able to apply things I've learned at my home school in a different country. One key theme from all of these classes is "What is Australianness?" and "How do we define Australia?". This is perfect for me; I get to see how Australians see themselves and they get to ask me about how foreigners see them. 

All of my classes have a really large lecture (more than 500 kids!), and smaller tutorials where we really get to engage with the material through discussions. This is different from my classes at home, where we have 25-30 students in a classroom, and the lecture and activities are all in one class. It's nice to feel like I'm in one of those college classes like in the movies. 

Unfortunately, I have to cut this post short. I'm on the bus headed towards my first destination of my Easter Break trip! Today, we're going to Australia Zoo, where I can finally hold a koala!! Pictures to come when I return!