So I really write this as my last blog. I am a week into the start of the semester and its strange. I seem to keep looking for familiar faces from school in Australia, and I find myself saddened by faces in NP that I don’t know.

Adjusting back was strange. I almost didn’t want to talk about my experience, thinking that people would get bored of my endless stories of travels and laughs with my friends. I do truly miss it though. Small things remind me of there and its again hard to believe that I am back home at school again in NY.

If I can give any advice to anyone. Don’t be afraid to go away alone. Its hard but totally worth it. You learn to travel independently and make friends with out the comfort of having someone with you who you already know. It makes those you meet even more great! When is the only time you can go to another country and pay the same tuition you are paying at NP if you find an exchange program? A 1600 dollar plane ticket to Australia for 6months really makes it seem like nothing at the end of the trip. Keep a personal journal, and save everything. I saved everything, and i mean everything! When you see something, a ticket stub, photo, or even a word it sparks up a memory that you would have never remembered without that small thing.
Its been an amazing adventure, and I am happy to say I am keeping in contact with everyone. Two of my best friends are coming for Thanksgiving, one from Toronto and one from Australia. I’m totally excited.

Well lets end this…thanks to all who read this and I hope it has inspired you to go away.
Lauren

So I write this as my last post….I think. Anyway…its so strange how 6 months flys by faster than I could have imagined it. I feel as though I have a sort of reverse homesickness right now. I am gunna miss this place. The laughs, the good times, the stories, the faces, the smiles, the weather, the beautiful beach. It will most likely make a trip back though, when I have the money and the time and when I am not in school. Australia is such a huge place with much to be explored. I am happy with the amount of travelling I did, but in no means am done.

Everyone on exchange and study abroad have pretty much left, except for the ones who are staying 6 more months. I can only reccommend studying abroad with the highest promise of having an amazing experience that you will never forget. I have made some great friends for life, from all over world, which gives me even more reason to travel.

The people you meet. the friends that you make, the places that you see and go, and the experiences are so worth while. While I am sad to say goodbye I know that I am not saying goodbye forever. Home will be nice, different but nice. You become so familiar with this one place, you make it your home and then BAM…you have to leave. It’s a little surreal almost. Anyway…enough with me blabbing…so my main message….DO IT…GO SOMEWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD….its amazing and so rewarding. Thats it…NY here I come!!!

Lauren

Sunrise at the Bay of Fires

Man building a snow bear at Mount Wellington

View from the top of Mt. Wellington

Salamanca Markets

Cradle Mountain

Mole Creek Caves

Just arrived back from Tasmania yesterday. I can honestly say it is one of the greatest places I have been traveling so far. Before I left, I said goodbye to my dear friend Ewa who was now going to be traveling up the coast. Had a nice dinner with her and we said our goodbyes.

My last week was spent in the beautiful and cold Tasmania. It was amazing. I met up with my sister and her friend Erin from Canada. We rented a car and started traveling up the east coast. We decided to go to Freycinet National Park first. The drive there was a spectaculor 2 hours of non-stop beauty. I think we pulled over for “photo-ops” about 15 times. The mountains, the sun(finally after being in rainy sydney), the coastline, was all amazing.

We arrived at the park and did the hike to the famous wineglass bay. It was cloudy but entirely worth it. This is by far the nicest beach I have ever stepped foot onto. The sand was so bright even with it being cloudy. I can imagine being blinded by it when it was nice out. The water was so clear and it was here that I saw my first wallaby in nature. So cute, by the way…a lot cuter than kangaroos. We watched an amazing sunset that radiated off of the cliffs and almost painted them red. Driving off to our stopover for the night we found ourselves in the small town of St Helens, known as one of the busiest fishing ports during the summers. It is a huge vacations spot. Had some dinner and found out from one of the locals about waterfalls that we should check out.

Next day was spent waking up early and heading to Bay Of Fires, where the sunrises are supposed to be some of the best in the world. Well, for us it was a bit cloudy, still beautiful, but not as bright. The landscape was amazing still. Huge waves crashing on boulders and not a single house in sight. Next were the waterfalls, which were so cool. It was nice because it had rained here right before we arrived, so the water was really flowing. Walking though a jungle like forest to get there was so cool. We drove on to the next biggest city called Lauceston. There we walked around and went onto a really cool suspension bridge and walked in this enourmous gorge to a working powerplant. The gorge was so big, to think that it was scraped out thousands of years ago is mind blowing. After that we kept driving closer to our destination for the next day and stayed overnight in Deloraine.

Caving and Cradle Mountain were on the list for the next day. We headed to mole creek to see these caves. The caves were amazing. We learned that they were discovered actually by two young boys aged 13 and 11 back in the 1800’s. Now it is kept running and has been bought to keep preserved by the Australian Gov. We also got to see glow worms, which are just these worms that hang in the ceiling of the cave and look like tiny stars. Driving to Cradle Mtn. was interesting. The roads were so windy and small and when we got there it was cloudy. As soon as we started hiking it cleared and was sunny. We did a hike around a lake and got to see all the landscape and the size of the mountain. We learned that about 20% of Tasmania is made up of National Parks and that some people only go to Tas to see Cradle Mountain. It was so spectacular.

Saturday was spent at the famous Salamanca Market back in Hobart where tons of vendors ranging from jewelry to tacky tassie stuff to a baked potato stand. Yeah and thats definitley what I ate for breakfast. We wandered around and grabbed lunch there then headed down to explore Port Arthur and the history of the island that used to be filled with convicts. It was a really cool place, filled with lots of history about the old buildings, and stories. We got to go into the old cells and walk around the grounds all day and even have a short boat cruise.

We decided to keep the car one extra day and travel up to Mt Wellington because it was snow capped and we heard the views were stunning. Well…if I thought the roads were tiny and windy before these topped them. First off, there were tons of people driving up and down. The roads were barely big enough to fit two cars. We got up really high and realized that there was atually a line of cars we had to wait in. It was like these people had never seen snow before. There was about a foot and a half which is a lot for there. People, families and kids were going nuts, throwing snowballs, digging tunnels, eating it, making snowmen on their cars, and some even shoveling it into the backs of their trucks to take back down the mountain. When we were up there though, the view was incredible. All of Hobart could be seen, not to mention we were looking down on the cloud cover at one point to the left. We headed to grab some seafood afterwards and hang out in the hostel for the night.

Sad goodbyes were said the next day as we parted ways to head home. I would not be seeing Erin again this trip, but she is close enough. My sister comes to Sydney in 3 days and so does her friend. Only a little over 2weeks left….its so strange. Well off to write in my other journal.

Cheers

Lauren

PS sorry no pictures…i broke my camera…pics to come when the sis arrives….

Sorry I haven’t written in a while, things are winding down right now, but will be picking back up in a week.

We finally had our superhero’s and villians party. It was great. The girls(heleen, caitling and I) dressed up as Lara Croft Tomb Raiders, Ricky as Canada man, our friend matt as Flouro Boy and our other friend emma as a ninja turtle, to mention a few. The night started out great, reminiscing about how much fun this semester was, and how we were all planning to meet back up later. We went out after some drinks at our apartment to Bar Broadway, for one last hoorah! Towards the end of the night when everyone was a tad bit rowdy, we all got in circle from our apartment and started yelling ‘Geegal’ so so loud. (thats the name of our apartment). The bartenders and bouncers started gettting pissed off so the kicked us out! HAHA! It was so funny that our last night there we got kicked out! We got back to the apartment and I had to say goodbye to Heleen because I had class in the morning. Well let me tell you the tears started flowing for about an hour. Its amazing to me how close you become to people in such a short amount of time. She is one of my best friends, and now I am going to Amsterdam in December!! She is the first one to leave out of the group, and I think I am the last, but my sister will be here with me for the last 2 weeks, so it won’t be that bad.

Exams have finally started. I had my first one on Saturday, and I am glad to say I think I did amazing on it. I studied as much as a could, but I think it just wasn’t that hard. I’m glad. Two more to go on Tuesday and Wednesday then I am officially done!!! WOO HOO!!

Friday, the Dali Lama is coming to give free talks in the Royal Botanical Gardens, and I am going to go lounge alll day and listen to him speak. Then  my trip for Tasmania starts the next week, with my sister and her friend Erin. 6 cold cold days I am looking forward to. It should be a blast though. We are going to rent a car and drive to National Parks and go hiking pretty much for 5 days. See some whales, seals, and penguins on the coast, because the are all migrating, then head back to Sydney.

The next week my sisters friend flys in then my sister to Sydney, then we are going to head up north towards Cairns, and do some diving and some laying out on the beach, so I can get my tan back before I go home. I am totally excited for the end of this great adventure!!

Well I have to get back to trying to study!!

Cheers, Lauren

So….the semester is almost over. Mixed emotions for me. I am happy to be done with classes and on my way to traveling, but I am sad because I have made some absolutely amazing friends here.

I have 3 exams, which aren’t looking to tough. They are in about 2 weeks, so I am starting to study day by day a little bit. We have a going away party planned for next week when everyone is done with classes. The theme is superheros and villians. Our entire apartment will be dressing up and hanging out for one last time.

I was extremly sick last week. I somehow managed to get strep throat and tonsilitis, over the period of just about one day. Of course it was on a Saturday, so the uni doctor wasn’t open, so I had to go to a health center which cost me about 160 dollars for the visit and medication. It sucked. As soon as I took the meds though, I was feeling 100% better.

I have some plans set in stone for when school ends. I have two art openings to attend. One at the place that I have been volunteering and the other is one of my friends who I have been working with here. The Dali Lama is coming to Australia and giving 2 free public talks in the Royal Botanical Gardens which I am definitley going to. I purchased a ticket to Tasmania for 6 days with my sister. Then after that her friend comes to Sydney and we all go to Cairns, to do some diving and snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef. My sister also surprised me with concert tickets to go see about 7 artists play for the Live Earth Concert. This is a concert with 24 hours of music in every continent, put on by Al Gore to raise money and awareness for global warming. So excited.

I also recently acted in another flatmates movie, that she has to do for her film studies class. I played a druggie who goes to this guys house to steal his money. I make up this crazy dream while he is making me coffee to distract him and keep him talking and interested, and then steal his money. It was so much fun, but so tiring. The filming took all day, and now I am helping her edit it because she is unfamiliar with the program. It should come out awesome though.

This weekend was a blast too. Our flatmate Ricky won a night in a hotel, so we all went and hung out there on Sat. night. We all ended up going out at about 2am to the bars then going back at 5am, going to sleep, waking up to check out at 10am and having free breakfast at the hotel. It was a blast!!

Well time to finish studying.

Cheers!

So this last week and a half has been filled with tons of things going on.

Firstly, Fashion Week was not what I expected on a bad note. The volunteers were very poorly organized and they had way way too many for the amount of jobs they had. The first day I spent sitting around for a few hours and then I decided to just leave. The next day I went I brought my friend Heleen with me and we just walked around into dressing rooms and makeup rooms asking if anyone needed any help. We got plenty of jobs that way, rather than just hanging out all day waiting for the head woman to say “I need 10 people”, and then herds of girls run to try to be those “10″ people. Heleen and I got the job of being the San Pellegrino Guys bottle openers. We pretty much stood behind the runways, opening up bottles and refilling the guys trays so they could go out and give samples to all of the designers and buyers (AKA the people with a whole lot of money!). That job was run because we got to see almost every runway show, so it was a plus. We only ended up going back one more day for about and hour, and then left again, but hey we got a free Lee shirt so its ok!!

So school for me is not really school right now. Everyone in my Faculty is student teaching so we don’t have classes for 4 weeks. Its like another break before exams. So with my free schedule I got given a free Ceramics class by the head of the art center I have been volunteering at. It started this Wed. and was awesome. I was so happy to be back working with clay again. Its so nice.

On Thursday, my friends and I got tickets to go see a show at this place called the Forum, we went and saw Sneaky Sound System. They were so so so good!!! One of the best live shows so far that I have seen. The crowd was great, everybody was dancing and at one point we got pushed so far up we were all almost in the front row!! Then Last night I went to go see another show at the Metro and I went to go see Muscles and Architecture in Helsinki. Muscles is a crazy DJ who jams out on these funky electro keyboards and the sings as well. Very good beats and nice sound. Architecture was a large band who has a funk/electro/reggae feel to them. There is a lead singer then tons of instruments, bongos and a trombone!! At one point in their last song, the crowd jumped on stage and were dancing with them. It was hilarious trying to watch the security guards get them down.

My trip is sadly winding down. I only have about 2months left and it feels like nothing. I am planning some trips with my sister once school ends so that should be awesome. Off to clean my room and go for a run!

Cheers!!

So…the huge arts and culture festival that I have been planning happened last weekend and it was amazing. We had about 10 bands playing on one big stage, and small acoustic jammers and forum speakers on another stage. Mingled through out were food vendors, a wandering youth circus, art activities, demonstrations, and  the art market.

So many people walked through the entire day. Some families, some solos, some with dogs, and all in all I feel it was a great success. There were amazing performers through out the day including a belly dancer who did battle with four breakdancers to the song “Galvanize” by the Chemical Brothers. If you can just picture that in your head it should bring a smile to your face.

The whole day was just filled with community involvement which was so nice to help organize. Even though I am not a permanant resident here, I feel like this is my community for now and I should support it. The head of Pine Street raved about it and Christie who was coordinating the entire thing, thought it turned out great. We talked for a bit the next day when I went in to help her clean up and she had already started thinking of things to do differently and how to do it next year.

For helping out so much on planning it, the head of Pine Street has given me free entry into a ceramics class, so I can use the studio for free and work on the wheels. I hope that I can make some work and then sell it at these art markets that are held every saturday in Glebe. It was so nice though, to be appreciated when I did not expect anything in return for helping out.

The other night I got to meet two of my sisters friends who she lived with in Adelaide. Alex and Alex (better know as German Alex and Oxford Alex) They are so nice and so much fun. The three of us went out in Kings Cross and hung out in their hostel before hand and I met another fabulous girl named Gemma from England. She was so so much fun as well!

Well I have to run…

Lauren

Beautiful Wine Glasses…looking out from our hostel

Heleen and I at the Vineyard

Wharf at St Kilda

Melbourne Aquarium

Mornington Peninsula Beach Houses

Melbourne coffee…MMMmmmmm…

So to continue on my Melbourne Trip….

Thursday….got up and had an amazing breakfast consisting of cappuccino and toast with avocado, egg, cheese and bacon…mmmmm…yum yum yum. Found out about these huge markets, called the Victoria Markets, they are amazing. There are tons and tons of vendors selling everything and anything you could ever need, plus tons of fruit and veggie stands. Its kind of like Paddys market here, but not as busy and rushed. I bought these amazing stones, called Amonite. They are stone on the outside and then when you slice them down the middle it has stone inside that reminds me of a fossil shell. So beautiful. After the market, we decided to go check out the aquarium, which was supposed to be fantastic. Well…it was!!!! So many different types of fish and creatures. The tanks were so big and beautiful, at one point I just sat down on the ground right next to it for about a half hour to gaze at all of the life in the tank. Got some great pictures of the fish and sharks. At the end of the aquarium Heleen and I were both so hungry and walked to get some soup we had seen the days before, we got a big container of soup and then went to a French Bakery and had a ham and brie sandwich made, we split everything and sat down in Federation Square eating and people watching again, for the remainder of the day then headed back to the hostel, because we were planning on going to Phillip Island to see the fairy penguins on Friday.

Friday Morning, got up at 645 to see when the train and ferry went to Phillip Island, well the only ferry went at 830 and the train got to the ferry at 845 so we ended up not being able to go. Went back to sleep for a few hours and headed out to Mornington Peninsula. This was a totally cute place lined with small brightly painted beach houses, funky shops, and restaurants, miles and miles of beach, and a few tiny fishing towns on the way. We took a bus down the peninsula and got off on a random stop and just decided to walk the beach all day until it got dark. As we got off the bus we saw a really funky hippie shop and went in. I got a crazy tie dyed dress and Heleen a skirt!!!! We walked and walked along the beach taking tons of pictures and watching the families play with their kids and their dogs. Totally cool and cute!! The bad thing…I dropped my camera in about an inch of water and now its done for. My pictures are ok, which is good though. Right before sunset we found a little bit of beach to sit down and enjoy our dinner which consisted of bread, cheese, grapes, and passion fruit. Saw the sunset and then headed back to get a bus where we met two sets of people who were so interested in where we were from and why we were here. It was nice to share our stories with them. Got to the hostel and crashed. So tired!!

The last day…we got up and headed into Melbourne for the last day, walked into the “little italy” part of Melbourne and had amazing Gelatto. Then walked and headed to the Melbourne Museum. It was a really cool museum, for one because it was free for us to go because we are students and two because it was more of a history of Australia, which was really nice, along with lots of science and evolution exhibitions and other interesting places. We had to scoot off soon though because we needed to get the tram back to our hostel and then catch the bus back to the airport. Well, just our luck we got on the tran with more than enough time to get to our hostel and the tram in front of ours broke down. We jumped out of the tram and started speed walking/ running to our hostel. Finally getting there we grabbed all of our stuff, ran outside and tried to flag a taxi down, but there were no taxis, so we hopped back on the tram, got to the place where our bus was leaving from and ended up missing it by 2 minutes.(we saw it pulling off as we were running down the street). So had to get a taxi to the airport which was so incredibly expensive, Heleen and I were so upset, but we made it to our plane and slept for the hour or so ride and got off and arrived back in good ol’ Sydney that evening. What a great week!!!

I will post pictures soon…but I have to get them onto my computer…

Cheers—

Lauren