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G’day Everyone,

My sincerest apologies on the title. That was what came out when I tried to type against my tears. I can truly say I have never experienced mixed emotions the way I have while on my flight back to the states. I cry off and on constantly. Why? I couldn’t tell ya. It’s some feeling inbetween complete chaotic depression and extreme excitement to see my family and friends again.
The last week I was in OZ was filled with friends, memories, and exams. I had an exercise physiology exam on Monday, and a biomechanics exam on Wednesday. On Thursday though, Kayne, Meg, Maddy, and I celebrated by laying around at the beach. The best celebration of the end of a uni semester ever! Friday was spent lounging in the sun. Saturday was spent at a BBQ birthday party for some close mates of Kayne and I…I’m going to assume by now you are all realizing a theme. Yes, I am aware of the disgusting amount of snow we have been getting for November. So, as my rebel against the weather, I just soaked up as much sun as I possibly could before leaving. The last day was spent with my fabulous boyfriend, I was being a little selfish that day and just wanted to go to the beach and watch movies haha.

Now, there are an extreme amount of emotions crowding my head right now. I am thinking of all of the incredible people I became friends with, from the states and from all over the world. Everyone I met while in OZ has made a major impact on my life. Each one has helped me grow as a person in some shape or form, and I could not thank you all enough. To Iain and Jamie, my offer stands if you want to come to America for your first Thanksgiving feast, my house is always open. To Otter, I don’t even need to say anything. I will welcome you with intense cuddles, tears, smiles, and everything inbetween whenever you can come visit me. And the sexy 6, I can’t wait to see you guys taking on America. You will all do great things. THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!

I cannot express to you how much I have grown as a person. I can see it already just sitting in an LAX airport, which people here are rude as! But, anyway, I cannot wait to bring my new intake on life into my everyday experiences. You guys won’t even recognize me…mainly because I’ll be so tan. Just kidding, safety first, I wore plenty sunscreen so I’m not that bad. I look forward to seeing everyone back in the states, and I especially look forward to seeing everyone I have met while on my 4 ½ month adventure again, whether in the states or when I go back to Straya. I will be seeing you all again. Until next time everyone.

Peace and Love,

Rach

Plethora of Topics

Hello Everyone,

I'm glad you have all gathered around your computer to read my blog post this evening. To start this post off, I just want to say, it is going to be a long one. So, if you have prior engagements I would recommend attending them first. Unless you speed read, then in that case welcome! Topics that will be discussed in the blog post: roast, Halloween, Study break part 2, and attending a 2 year old's birthday part. Lets get started!!

Topic #1: Roast. Yes, I made a roast!! I have had the fortunate opportunity to become close enough to Kayne's family that they have taken pity on my lack of ability to cook things. (My family, do not take it personally. I have not had the desire to learn, until about 2 months ago.) To change this, his father taught me how to prepare and cook a roast, along with roasting some veggies. The veggies included pumpkin, potatoes, carrots, zucchini, broccoli, and (what I don't eat) peas and green beans. I must say I did a pretty fantastic job! No got food poisoning so A+ for me :). Also, you did read that right, I eat roasted carrots, potatoes, zucchini (kind of), and pumpkin!! It's soooo good. And no mother, I am not eating gizzards when I get home....ick.

Topic #2: Halloween. Is Halloween a big deal in the States? Yes. Especially at Uni. Is Halloween a big deal in OZ? No. Not at all. Was that a disappointment/stop me from celebrating? Um, No. I got Kayne in the spirit of dressing up, and we went as ninjas/chinese people. I must say we looked pretty good. Minus the fact that my head was slightly too small for the straw hat hahah. Kayne lived in China for a year before coming back to Straya to start Uni, so he has some authentic Chinese outfits. Basically, we were quite official. Were people jealous of our outfits? Oh yes!

Topic #3: Study Break Part 2. Why do I say part 2 you ask? The "Spring Break 2014" that Meg, Kayne, Mel, and I went on was technically a study break for mid-semester exams. Amount of studying done= approximately 5 hours over the course of 7 days. This study break's amount of studying done= approximately 1 hour...but! In my defense, my first exam is not for 2 more days...then not till the following Monday and Wednesday. So I have plenty of time. For this study break I am going/have went on 2 trips. The first trip was to Montville. Located in Montville is this beautiful bush walk which leads to a place called Kondalilla Falls. Once there, we went to this mini water fall at the top of the big Kondalilla Water Fall. At the mini water fall, there was a rock pool (which is exactly what is sounds like...a pool of water at the bottom of the water fall that just so happens to have injurious rocks at the bottom which form it). Kayne and I went on the walk later in the day so the water was a little too chilly to completely jump in, but we still splashed around a little bit. Once we left the rock pool, we went on what felt like lasted an eternity of a walk. However, the walk was much worth it!! Once at the bottom, we had to monkey climb around spider infested rocks to reach the very bottom of the giant Kondalilla Falls Waterfall. Talk about breathtaking. Once we left the bottom of the falls though, we decided to cut out heaps of walking distance by climbing straight up the cliff instead of looping around like crazy. This was a fantastic idea! Except I forgot I had the sweetest boyfriend ever that was trying to help me up, and when I looked up, got swiped in the eye from a helping hand. I had a black eye for a couple of days lol. Still completely worth it. Now the best part of vacation so far was we did not stay in a hotel...or a hostel...we stayed...in a TREEHOUSE!! This was soooo relaxing and fun and exciting. We had a jacuzzi bathtub (which we naturally filled with as many bottles of bubbles as possible and then put the jacuzzi jets on to play in the bubble madness!! There was a sign that said to watch children at all times around the jacuzzi tub...they never mentioned 20 year olds). I also got to feed a possum apricots! No I am not missing the "O", the varmants are called Possums and are much cuter than our hideous opossums. The second trip I am going on for break is to Melbourne!! I am going to do a Great Ocean Tour which is exciting and whatever Meg, Maddie, Josh, and I decide to do the rest of the two days there!! Very excited for the trip with these lovely souls :)

Topic #4: 2 Year Old Birthday Party. This past Saturday was Kayne's Nephew's second birthday. We went to Brisbane to celebrate the dollbaby's special day. This kid, and his sister, are seriously adorable!!!! You're probably thinking that's great and all, but why is it in here? Because I had to say goodbye to Kayne's sisters, brother-in-laws, and niecie and nepho...that was the first time it hit me fully that I am going home soon. That was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. Kayne cheered me up by buying me some Ben and Jerry's though, so no worries everyone I am ok. Current Emotional Status: Very depressed, Very Excited, Heartbroken, and still never been happier in my life. *Insert emotional breakdown* Until next time everyone.

Peace and Love,

Bugs

Forgot to mention the big horse races!! MELBOURNE CUP!

Georgia, Maddie, Meg, Mel and I at the Melbourne Cup

A little dried out, but the giant Kondalilla Falls!

Last night in the Tree House :(

Bonus Post!

G'day Mates,

You have hit the jack pot this week! I feel awful about missing blog posts lately, so I got my butt up and went to the zoo in order to have something to write about for you guys. Thank you for motivating me because....I WENT TO THE ZOO!!! After weeks of anticipation, I finally got to go to the zoo, and I must say it was well worth the wait.

The day started off on a wonderfully sunny Wednesday morning. Meg and I were on the bus straight for the zoo! When we reached our destination, we quickly realized we, being 20 year olds, were in the minority. In line in front of us were tons of moms with bags packed for the whole day and a minimum of  2 kids; and yet, Meg and I were the most excited to be there I think.

The day was a typical zoo day really. Except we saw plenty of animals native to Straya, which I must say was pretty cool. We went through an exhibit that was FILLED with snakes and where there lived on the continent....lets just say I should be more cautious about them apparently. Moving on. This zoo was amazing! There were lizards just running around everywhere. At first, Meg and I were kind of panicking that maybe some of the animals were let out of their exhibits, but alas we were fine :)

We went with the flow for the whole day. The sun was beautiful, the walks were relaxing, and we got plenty of shopping in. Along with all of the typical zoo activities, we did other things to make this zoo trip stand out. For starters, we made friends with some kangaroos. We got to pet them, sit with them, and even feed them! Now, we were still a little frightened. At one point, I had a kangaroo jump at me while I was sitting down...scariest situation of my life. We also got to see one kangaroo get jealous of another one for still having food left and push it...very forcefully. Lets just say if I was to get pushed my a kangaroo, I would get broken in half. After seeing the kangaroos, we went and did the cutest most touristy thing ever, we held koalas!!! The little guy cuddled up with me and everything, and had really sharp claws. Yikes, but it was definitely worth it. To end our fantastic day, Meg and I watched a tiger show, saw some African animals, and watched a crocodile show (which was kind of suspenseful...I feared for the zookeeper's life...and so did he) while eating ice cream and slushies. We also went by the birds of prey cage, and to our disappointment, magpies weren't in there. I think they made a mistake in leaving them out.

I can truly say these two crazy cats enjoyed the relaxing day at the zoo. It was very needed before these next couple of hectic weeks before finals. I hope you all enjoyed the post and pictures at the bottom. Have a lovely day!

Peace and Love,
Bugs

 Male turkeys were making nests to impress the females

 Skeleton of the largest snake in Australia...

 Warming up to the roos

 Best friends now!

 So naturally that means selfie time :)

 Meet the 15 month year old girl camel Gypsie! I think she's very photogenic

 Cute baby Koala...my my was blown from cuteness!

Me holding the Koala!! If you look closely you can see the claws piercing into my arm...so you know it's real. It was kind of painful, but a million times worth it!! Such a cuddler

Frolicking through Straya

Why Hello Everyone!

My goodness it has been way too long since we have last encountered each other, and I take full blame for that because....I WAS ON SPRING BREAK 2014!

Now, when I left you last I mentioned I was headed to Whitsundays/Airlie Beach and Fraser Island. Did you Google these places?? Of course not! That's what I'm here for. I have put pictures at the bottom of this post for you all to enjoy. However there is a catch....when you look at these pictures and think "oh mylanta, these are gorgeous!", remember that I cannot capture even half of the true beauty that these places hold. Broken record, I know, so moving on.

Yes, my trip was beautiful; yes my trip was relaxing (and truly all of that relaxing wore me out!); yes, I would go back in a heartbeat to these places...however! Getting to Airlie Beach and Whitsundays and the Great Barrier Reef was quite the little hassle. We had a travel agent book all of our accommodations and cruises (We went on a sailboat cruise the second day to Whitsundays and a Yacht ride out to the Great Barrier Reef pontoon the first day). Thinking everything was fine and dandy, we head to the Brisbane airport. On the way to the airport at 9 am, we decided we didn't have a transfer from the airport that's in the middle of this little town (Proserpine) 45 minutes away from our actual destination. So, thank god we had Kayne. We found out where were staying once we reached Airlie AND got a bus transfer there and back. Hooray for Kayne!!!! Now once we got to the place we were staying, no one told us we had to walk a mile down the road...and hills...to this other place to receive a voucher saying we paid. Goodness gracious. But, after everything was said and done, we had an amazing time! Although, there needed to be a hassle at the end of course... I mean Meg and Kayne are on a trip with me...things have to go wrong. So the bus to the airport was supposed to pick us up at one certain location and, what do ya know, it isn't there! It is down the street....and hills....at our accommodation. So naturally we ran all the way there to catch it on time. We made it though and can laugh about it now...kind of.

Fraser Island was not as complicated. It was beautiful, full of different scenery, and I did more with nature there than I have in my life. When we first arrived there, the bus (which looks like a garbage truck) drove on sand the whole time. We looked out on the ocean at 9 am....We had to get up for Fraser Island at 5:45 am, I found out I'm not a morning person...and the first thing that woke me up and changed my mood were whales!!!!! We got to see whales that morning, which was incredible. Right before that, we got to see wild dolphins get fed. On our way back home, we saw the dolphins again doing flips in the distance. We walked through a Rainforest and saw the clearest water I have ever seen, along with a goanna (spelling error I'm sure), visited the most beautiful lake I have ever seen (Lake Mackenzie), visited Indian Rock head and got shaky knees from the height and wind pushing you over, looked at the pinnacle sands and peed in the bushes (which was apparently filled with snakes...I'd rather not talk about it), and finished with wading in Eli Creek. 

This spring break was by far the best, most adventurous thing I have ever done...and I would do it all again tomorrow if I had to. I'm definitely incredibly fortunate for the experience...now the Habitat for Humanity trip this spring has some big shoes to fill. Thank you guys for being patient with the blog post, I hope you enjoyed! If you have any questions about anything, message me on Facebook, ask my mom and she will gladly get in touch with me, or ask me when I'm home!

Peace and Love,

Bugs

 This is how reflective the sands of Whitsundays are!

 We did come in contact with a dingo....and we are fine :)

 Goanna!...still spelling error

 Lake Mackenzie

 Indian Head Rock

 Eli Creek

I was brave and picked up a massive jellyfish. They were EVERYWHERE!

Spring Break 2014?!

G'day Mates!

Yes this title is correct, I am going on Spring Break 2014!! I know you're thinking "but Rach, that has already happened you silly goose!" And you are right!! For America. For Straya, Spring is just beginning, and I plan on taking advantage of every minute of it :)

I will be leaving on my Saturday at 12:45 pm from Brisbane and will be on the go for a week and half. I am going to the Great Barrier reef where I will snorkel my life away, get nice and tan, go on a sailboat cruise, and just bask in all of Australia's glory.

From Airlie, Meg, Kayne, (hopefully) Melanie, and I will be going to Fraser Island for 2 days and 1 night. We will be arriving there at 6 am.....yay.....no, I'm actually very excited for this trip! We have many things on the itinerary including going to see the famous Pinnacle sands, renting a 4x4 vehicle to get around the largest sand area in the world, visit Lake Makenzie, go on a Rainforest hike, visit a ship wreck and whatever else we decide to do!! If you are confused what all of this means, just Google Whitsundays Great Barrier Reef and Fraser Island (insert any name of the above) and you will be jealous.

I am very excited for this incredible opportunity, and I couldn't be more happy to get to experience everything with these incredible people :) Get ready lovelies, we are about to go nonstop!! To everyone on the other side of the world, I will be writing in about two weeks. I will post pictures, of course, but I will be limited to the amount I can put on. I will try to work out a way to put as many as I can on, otherwise, look for them on Facebook! Have a great couple of weeks everyone!!

P.S. Shout out to my beautiful mother for going through her second hip surgery and coming out of the hospital today!! I love you oh so much Momma Bear and can't wait for you to be able to go run on the beach with me one day....and by run I mean lay on the beach of course, we don't run....I love you little prodigy!! AND....CONGRATULATIONS FAVORITE FAMILY!!!! I cannot wait for the return of fat days and baby screams again...well maybe the baby screams can be reduced to a tolerable decibel this time hahaha

Peace and Love Everyone,
Bugs

The Festivities are Endless

G'day Mates,

Hold onto your seats, the past couple of weekends have actually been filled with festivities!! I have been shown around Caloundra, taken 2 exams, wrote a 5 page paper and been to the beach multiple times. Basically livin' the dream!

The sun is finally out more than it is away, and it is here with a vengeance. I broke my love heart sunnies...long live the heart sunnies. So I will be needing to purchase a new pair because my eyes cannot handle this bright sunshine! I've never seen a sky bluer than it is here, and of course the sunsets still amaze me.

I know I said I would be going to the zoo this weekend...well, I lied. But, I will be going this weekend I believe! I also think I am keen to climb another mountain this week and go to the beach on Wednesday maybe. (Please hold the jealousy eyes!) As you can see, the festivities are beginning to become endless and it's not even "spring break" yet! Which I am planning on going to Fraser Island with some friends for a couple of days and the Great Barrier Reef! So there will be a blog following that, but maybe not for a week after, which you are all used to by now. I apologize for my inconsistency.

School is starting to wind down a little before spring break and then finals. Yikes, I cant believe I only have a few more weeks till it's all over...

I can truly say this has been one giant life changing experience for me though. I do  not regret anything, and absolutely love it here. I have some pictures at the bottom for everyone to enjoy this time, yay! Hope everyone enjoyed, until next time friends :)

Peace and Love,
Rach

 these next pictures are some I've taken for my Digital Photography Class. Not too shabby I  must say