Tassie Baby!

The peaks of Cradle Mountain!

Just got back from a fun-filled time in Tasmania! It was a trip planned through Arcadia, but a few of us flew out a day early. We flew into the sleepy little town of Launceston and stayed in Battman hostel on Thursday night. We were all excited to be in some cooler weather, as it had not been feeling very much like fall back in the Gold Coast. After all it was Halloween weekend! We bought some goodies at the grocery store and had a big family dinner at the hostel.  Our group had a room together to sleep in and it felt like a slumber party!

Cataract Gorge

On Friday we went to Cataract Gorge. It was a big long walk up all these steps up the side of the gorge with a little garden area at the top. There were peacocks running all over and displaying their feathers. They were so beautiful! After that we walked back into town and got picked up by the Arcadia coordinators. We drove up to Cradle Mountain. We stayed in a little cozy cabin. On Saturday morning we left super early (7 a.m!) to head over to hike around Cradle Mountain. It was absolutely stunning! I felt like I was in a fairytale. That evening we had a BBQ and then went to a Tasmanian Devil show. It was really interesting learning about them. The devils being isolated on an island has lead to a lack of genetic diversity. Because of this, a type of cancer specific to the tassie devils (Facial Tumour Disease) is able to be passed from devil to devil from physical contact without eliciting an immune response.

The view from Cradle Mountain

Petting a Tasmanian Devil

Feeding Time!

Sunday morning we hiked around the area some more. It's amazing the types of animals you see around. Just driving down the road we'd see wallabies and wombats. We even saw a few echidnas! We then drove back down to Launceston and hung out in town for a while before catching our flight back to Gold Coast.

Wombat mother and baby

Echidna!

I don't really know what this is...

Mount Tamborine

Today I went on a day trip to Mount Tamborine with Arcadia (Oct. 14th)! Mazz picked us up super early and drove us there. When we got up the mountain we could see a view of the whole Gold Coast. We started off with a hike through the national park. I had rented out one of the nice cameras from Bond and was trying to snap some nice shots, but it was hard because I didn’t really know how to work all the settings yet and I was trying to keep up with the group at the same time. But I’m learning! 

After the hike we went to the glow worm cave. They only live in a few spots in Australia so we were really lucky to get to see them! They’re so beautiful. It looks like you’re looking at a starry sky. Which is apparently what they try to do. Flying bugs think that they can fly straight up into the sky, but end up getting trapped in the glow worm’s trap. We learned that the worms can turn off their glow when they’re not hungry to save energy and they grow extra bright when they’re really hungry.

Didn't take this picture....

....or this one.

After the glow worm’s we did some wine, cheese, and olive oil tasting at a little vineyard and then had a picnic lunch outside.

After lunch we had some free time to explore the town. In October, the town has a scarecrow festival so there were scarecrows all over. There were a bunch of different themes and some really cool ones. It’s so cute, everybody gets really into it! 

Next we went to a little swimming hole. I didn’t swim because I was a bit chilly, but the scenery was amazing and there was a beautiful waterfall! 

Sydney

The view of the harbour from the Botanical Gardens.

Just got back from a crazy and fun-filled few days in Sydney (Sept 28^th-Oct 2)! I stayed with my friend Roxy. She goes to school in SF, but lives in Sydney. She has a cute house in Leichhardt, which is one of the suburbs of Sydney. I arrived late Wednesday night and Roxy took me to her friend Elliot’s house and we hung out with some of her friends.

Thursday morning we went out to breakfast in Newtown. Roxy had work for a few hours (she works at a pub close to her house called Gladstone Park Hotel). So while she was working I explored the city a bit on my own. I caught a bus to Chinatown and then walked through Cockle Bay all the way up to the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. It caught me off-guard. I just turned a corned and it was right there! Thursday evening I met up with Chelsea. She’s my friend from Santa Clara. She graduated last year and is working in Sydney for a while. We strolled around for a bit and checked out the University of Sydney.We got dinner at this cute little café called Badde Manors. It's one of the top places to eat in Glebe and was so delicious! That night me and Roxy went out to a pub for a few hours. Pubs are really big in Sydney. They’re just a nice casual meeting place to get food or a couple drinks.

The University of Sydney... Basically Hogwarts.

On Friday Roxy took me to Manly beach and we got lunch at a pub. That night I hung out at Chelsea’s place with some of her housemates. She’s living in a little flat with a bunch of really fun international people from New Zealand and England and all over. We brought in pizza and made sangria, and just hung out and had a lot of fun. 

Roxy and me at Manly Beach.

Saturday I went to the horseraces at Randwick with Chelsea! They’re really big in Sydney and everybody gets super dressed up. All the guys wear suits and all the girls wear fancy dresses with fascinators (the little decorated hats with feathers, bow, and lace). I only got a little flower to put in my hair because I didn’t really know what to expect. I wish I would’ve gone all out though, because I feel like that’s one of the only times in my life I would’ve been able to do that. I bet on two races and lost both times, but I didn’t mind. I just wanted to bet to say I had bet at the horseraces!

At the races!

After the horseraces I met up with Roxy for her going away BBQ. After the BBQ we all went out to a pub in Annandale. After a few hours Roxy and I went to a bar called Cargo right in Darling Harbour. It was definitely the fanciest bar I’ve ever been to. All the guys were wearing suits! Roxy new a guy that was working so she got us into the VIP lounge. We danced and hung out...It was so fun!

On Sunday morning I got breakfast with Bec. She went to Sonora High for a year on an exchange and is now just finishing up her studies at University of Sydney. After breakfast Bec took Chelsea and I to the Botanical Gardens. The three of us strolled around and got some nice shots of the harbour. After that it was time for me to head to the airport and return home. 

Bec and me at the Botanical Gardens.

P.S. 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney doesn't really exist! 

 P.P.S. While Sydney observed daylight savings time on Sunday, Gold Coast did not. Figured that one out when I tried to show up to class an hour early today....oops!

Byron Bay

We just got back from a weekend at Byron Bay (September 23-25)! Basically it's the Santa Cruz of Australia. This also happened to be my first experience with a hostel and I have to say it was so much fun! We stayed at a funky little place called the Arts Factory. They had free music performances at night and there were hammocks scattered all over to lounge around in. The room I was sharing with a few friends as well as some other random people was called Wagon Wheel.

The inside of the Wagon Wheel room.

The main hangout area for the hostel.

Drum-circle that was performing when we first arrived.

We basically chilled on the beach a lot or wandered around town doing some window shopping during the day, and then at night we would walk out to the town (about a 10 minute walk from the hostel). We went to a bar called the Cheeky Monkey, which was a lot of fun and we hung out with people we met at the hostel.

See the skateboards?

 On Sunday morning I woke up at 5 A.M. to watch the 5:30 sunrise. Byron Bay has the most easterly point of the Australian mainland, and therefore is the first place the sunrises in Australia. There's a famous lighthouse at this point and the hostel had a van that drove us up to it. It was so tranquil and beautiful out there! Definitely worth the early morning. We got back to the hostel around 6:30 and I fell right back asleep. Our timing was perfect because just as I was falling back asleep it started pouring outside. The rain sounded so pretty on the roof of our hostel!

 

Byron Bay was definitely an experience and I can't wait to see what else Australia has in store for me!

Straddie

This weekend we had a trip through Arcadia to North Stradbroke Island (September 16-18). It was the most amazing experience! I could go on and on about it, but I think I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking. We took a ferry to the island on Friday and that evening heard an aboriginal, Shane Coghill, talk about his experience growing up in Stradbroke Island. He talked about some of the indigenous history of the island and it was really interesting to hear his perspective. 

North Stradbroke is the second largest sand island in the world.

On Saturday morning we painted boomerangs and had a lesson on how to throw them, and yes, they actually come back! We then went kayaking through mangroves and did a bit of snorkeling.  

My boomerang! The middle top is the symbol for a campsite, surrounded by kangaroo tracks, then the symbol for river. And then spirits at either edge.

On Sunday we woke up super early and went sandboarding. Surprisingly it’s not that similar to snowboarding. You have very little control over where the board goes! After sandboarding we went to the beach for some surfing! Next we headed to Brown Lake. The water looked brownish-red (kind of like iced tea) because material from the Ti-trees surrounding the lake seep into it. It is supposed to have special healing powers according to the natives. It actually made my skin feel super moisturized after sitting in it for a while.

Beach time with Emily and Kristina!

We could see a whale jumping and playing out in the distance at this lookout point!

The tea-coloured water at Brown Lake.

Overall the whole weekend was an amazing experience!