Hello Everyone!
LAST MONTH! How crazy is that?? I feel like I just left home! This last month is going to fly by so quickly, too! I have lots of plans!
Right now, I’m a bit busy with school…kind of. My final for my Australian History course is tomorrow. It is a take-home exam that we’ve had like 3 weeks to complete. All we have to do is write 800 words on what we’ve learned through this course…REALLY??? It is a history class! Not that I’m complaining…but usually I’m sitting there cramming in names and dates like it’s nobody’s business for a history final!
My final for World Religions isn’t much different…it is on June 10. It is also a take-home exam that we have 24 hours to complete. We basically have to answer three short essay questions using our opinions and all the wonderful knowledge we gained this semester on all major religions. Again…REALLY??? Thankfully I’m getting credit for all these classes!
For Creative Writing, which is my favorite class, we don’t have an exam! That is NOT the reason it is my favorite class, DAD (don’t even say a word…I know you were thinking it, Pa!) We have to turn in a 2,500 word writing portfolio, full of short stories or poems that we’ve written throughout the semester. I already have 3 short stories totaling 2,000 words, so that is basically done. All my stories are based on activities I’ve done during my time here. I’ve written about skydiving, snorkeling, and the lovely 14-hour flight over here. I should probably include my camping fiasco. It is also due tomorrow.
Well…as you can tell, school has just bombarded all my time this semester. Pshh! I’m just going to put it out there… I’m screwed come fall. School 5 days a week and taking classes I actually have to study for is when the culture shock is going to punch me…and it is going to hit me like a wall – no pun intended! I know I’ve already had plenty of experiences with walls…but I can definitely see it happening this fall. Hopefully, this time I don’t break both my arms when it hits me! [Wink]
So, my life is going to be pretty boring until June 11. That is the day I’m officially done with school and it is also the day my roommate, Lisa, and I are taking off for our big road trip! I’m super excited for this. All the plans are official and everything is booked! We are renting a campervan and driving through 4 major cities, 3 states, and all along the Victoria coast, covering about 1,400 miles in 10 days! We are starting in Sydney and driving through Canberra, Melbourne, the Great Ocean Road, and up to Adelaide and Kangaroo Island. We’ll get to see lots of wild kangaroos and koala bears, along with doing some whale watching and lots of shopping. We also get to see the 12 Apostles, which you will probably recognize from the picture below. I’m really excited for this trip.
We get back from our road trip on June 20. Basically, I’ll rush back to Newcastle, throw in a few loads of laundry, repack, and head back to Sydney to catch my 7:00 AM flight on June 21 to Townsville. I had a little (and I do mean ‘little’) money left over, so I decided to do one more tropical trip while in Australia. Ideally, I would have liked to travel up to Darwin for a few days, but it was just too expensive. I dug deep and couldn’t find anything in my price range. So, I’m doing a cheap, 5 day trip to Townsville, which is a city up north. It is pretty close to Cairns, where Sarah and I spent our Holiday vacation. I’m going through a student travel agency, so there are others going too, but I’m going to probably be a bit of a loaner. I’m going for 1 reason and 1 reason only…5 quality beach days. I don’t plan on doing much else besides lying out in the sun, ha! I’ve already done the Great Barrier Reef, so I don’t want to spend the money on that and there isn’t much else to do in the area, so beach it is! Plus, I need to come back with some sort of a tan!
I leave Townsville early morning on the 25th. I’ll land in Sydney around 1:00, hop on a train, and get back to Newcastle just in time for my 6:00 hair appointment. It’s happening…Mindy is finally cutting off her hair. A shiver just flew up my spine…scary thought! I’ve decided to donate my hair. It’s way too long, especially right now, and it’s time for a change! So, I’m going to be coming home looking a tad different.
I’ll spend all day on the 26th packing everything up and then head down to Sydney June 27 in the morning. I’ll spend all Saturday (the 27th) doing some last minute shopping and site seeing, and then spend all night trying to fit everything into my suitcases. I’ll stay in a hostel in Sydney that night, and then I leave Australia at 2:30 on Sunday. *tear
I’m going to be really sad when I leave, but I’ll also be really excited to get home and see everybody again. This experience has been the best thing I’ve ever done and probably will ever do. It was definitely worth every penny and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. My one regret is not having enough money to travel to all the places I still really wanted to go: Perth, Ayer’s Rock (Uluru), Alice Springs, Darwin, Brisbane, Tasmania, New Zealand…but there wasn’t much I could do there. I did get to visit a lot of places and do a lot of things that I never dreamed: Newcastle, Sydney, Wollongong, Glenworth Valley, Katoomba, Cairns, Cape Tribulation, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide, the Great Ocean Road, and Townsville. I jumped out of a plane, camped in the Australian Bush, rode some Bush Brumby horses, snorkeled in the Great Barrier Reef, swam with a sea turtle, explored the Daintree Rainforest, tackled the Blue Mountains, climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge (twice), and seen some of the most beautiful places in the world…not to mention all that I have in store for me within the next month! I’ve made some lifelong friends and created enduring memories that I’ll remember for the rest of my life. I’ve learned a great deal about Australia as a country; its history, its people, and its culture. I’ve had the opportunity to make Aussie friends and live their true lifestyle. There isn’t an experience that could get much better than this.
But, as they say…all good things must come to an end. Yes, Green Day…I’ve definitely had the time of my life. The pictures below are of some of the things I’m going to be seeing while on the road. There is also another map of Australia. You can see most places I’ve been, places I’m going to go to, and places I still would love to go to. You can also see the path we are taking on our road trip.
Well…that’s it for now! I probably won’t have time to write until right before I leave, so don’t expect anything within the next few weeks! I miss you all very much!! Take care!
Mindy
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