Preparing for Melbourne!

I have less than a week until I get to escape to Melbourne for the week! Thank goodness homework is really starting to pile up and I have to get it almost all done before I go because it's all due when I get back. I have two 3,000 word business reports due with 10 minute presentations due in week 9 when I get back as well as about a 1,000 words due for my Journal Article and a test. Ahhhh! So much work. I most defiantly will not be doing anything but homework this weekend. So I'll be in hibernation until it's all done and I won't be bringing my computer with me to Melbourne so I'll have to update everyone when I get back!

Blue Mountains!

So, this past Sunday I got to go with a group form my school to the Blue Mountains. These are mountain ranges about two hour out side of Sydney. They are absolutely beautiful. We all had to be ready to go at 7:30 a.m. as we were supposed to leave at 7:45 but the bus had some problems and was 30 minutes late so at about 8:15 we took a tour bus to the Blue Mountains.

We drove an hour and a half we drove to a place called Featherdale Wildlife Park, here we got to play with Kangaroo's, Koala's, snakes and see even more animals than we did when we first arrived. This place had a Tasmanian Devil, who the entire time we were there ran in circles around his home. The had Dingos and bats and all sorts of birds but my favorite was the albino wallaby. Which is basically a smaller version of the kangaroo. He was so cool! He was beautiful. We left here by about 11:30 a.m.

Then we headed to a small town where we grabbed lunch, and by this time we were hungry because we hadn't gotten any breakfast, as the school doesn't serve brunch on the weekend until 10:30. My friend Ashley and I got fish and chips from a small take away store. It was cooked fresh in front of us and was really good. The French Fries reminded me of Eastwood's during the summer. :)

After lunch we headed out to Echo Point Look out where we got our first glimpse of the the Blue Mountains. The reason they're called the Blue Mountains is due to the eucalyptus plants which grow on the mountains they give off a bluish vapor and from a distance it looks as if the mountains are blue. While we were there we met an older man that was full of stories about the mountains and most importantly about the Three Sister's which is a rock formation at Echo Point.

The tale of the three sister's in one version is that three women of one aboriginal tribe wanted to marry three men from another tribe. But the tribes leader did not like this and in order to stop them from marrying the men he turned them to stone. In the pictures I'll post you'll be able to see them.

After going here we headed off to Scenic World where we all scaled down the mountain it took about 45 minutes to walk down. It was terrifying because all we had to keep our selves from going down the side of the mountain was our feet and a railing. The walk down is really hard on you knees due to the steep angle of the mountain and the repetitiveness of going down the side. Going down we got to see multiple water falls and get to be with in ten feet of one. once we got to the end of the trail our tour guide talked to us about the mining that used to take place in the Blue Mountains and then we hopped on the steepest train in the world. And by 'train' I use the word loosely as it was a seat that was sat at about an 45 degree angle and we were caged in by metal on two sides with no set belts. In other word it was terrifying. It was probably one of the scariest things I done in a while!

After we got to the top we got back on the bus and headed to Princess Rock which is a beautiful sandstone rock where we got to see yet another water fall and chill out there for a while.After this we had a 2 1/2 hour drive back to Manly and we were all really tired by the end of the trip. My roommate and I were both in bed by 10:00 that night.

The Blue Mountains were beautiful and there are no words or pictures that will ever do them justice. You'll just have to come see them for yourself.

School

So far school is going well I like a lot of my classes and really dislike one. I have Globalization in the Hospitality Industry which is taught by an American teacher, he is really awesome and the class is interesting the only drawback is that in two week I have to turn in a paper and do a presentation on it in class as long as a group project that will be 4,000 words long. I'm not looking forward to either of these two classes.

The next class I have in Management 116 which is a Facilities management class. I really like this teacher too! He is from Australia and about 55 years old he has worked in many industries and he has a lot of experience in many fields. This class also has a large project that is due in about 5 weeks that is 3,000 words.

Another class I'm taking is Contemporary Issues in the Hospitality Industry, which is essentially an English class where I get to write another 3,000 word paper all by my self! YEY! Unfortunately, I have already taken this class so I get to do it again. the teacher is a typical English teacher and a bit crazy, but I really like her.

My last class I do not like very much it is really similar to a class I've already had and all I can do is hope that we start learning something I don't already know. We are doing an interesting project where you track the prices of hotels to watch the prices change. What I've learned so far is that expedia.com has better prices! This project is due in about 6 weeks.

So as you can I have al ot of work to do and I hope to get it all done before Spring break. The weather has turned cooler so it is only about 70 degrees and it's been cloudy and rainy as of late. Hopefully, this clears up and I get to go to the beach tomorrow!

Sydney Mardi Gras

So after a long week of learning I headed into Sydney on Friday night with some friends to celebrate the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. This is the largest celebration of Mardi Gras in the world and I got to witness it.

On Friday eight of us took the ferry into Sydney and then the bus to inner Sydney to meet up with one of my friends Mary. Friend from the States who are studying abroad at the university of Sydney. After a while of being on the bus we started to wonder if we missed our stop because we were looking for a bar. One of the girls suggested pushing the stop button for every stop...jokingly.The bus driver overheard this and offered to tell us when to get off at our stop so that we wouldn't hit the button every time. While we were on the bus we talked with a lady who lives in Sydney and thought that we were all beautiful and young and was really excited to talk with us, as she was leaving she remarked to her husband that she wished she was young again. We didn't this lady was awesome and we invited her to go out with us but she had plans with her husband that night so she declined.

That night was a lot of fun we all bought real hard alcohol for the first time in a month which proceeded to but most of us in the bathroom by the end of the night or hungover the next morning. one of my friend even lost her pants. We could not find them the next morning, at all. The reason we do not drink hard alcohol is because it is so expensive! It's at it's cheapest about $35.00 a fifth. I went dancing, had fun the went to bed to be ready for Mardi Gras.

The next morning, or should I say 3 hours later we got up and went to breakfast and the started to get ready for Mardi Gras. Most of us got sparely sequined dresses or very colorful ones. We ate McDonald's for lunch in Darling harbor and then caught our 'booze cruise' for the afternoon. had I been feeling better I'm sure I would have enjoyed the harbor cruise, however I did not and felt as if I were trapped on the boat for 3 and a half hours with a bunch of drunk people. Finally, at 6 p.m. we got off the boat and they bussed us near the parade so that we could watch. However, because we got there so late we really couldn't see the parade. Luckily after being there for about 15 minutes a really nice older woman let me stand up on her stool so that I could see some of the parade. It was really interesting. Mostly there was a lot of nakedness and people running around in rainbows or cross dressing. I have never seen anything like this before.

The parade last for a long time but by about 9:30 p.m. I was completely wiped out and wanted to leave luckily so did some other girls and we walked back to the ferry's. The only bad thing about Mardi Gras is that there were no beads. It isn't a big thing over here like it is in the U.S. So that defiantly means I'm going to have to take a trip to Mardi Gras in new Orleans! I got back to my room at about 11:00 p.m. got on the internet then passed out in bed and slept the hardest I have ever slept. Then woke up on Sunday morning and went to breakfast.

Overall, Mardi gras was an experience that I will never forget and I'm thankful to be able to have gone.

New Zealand!

So today I booked my flight from Sydney to Auckland! Me and at least two other girls will go to Auckland for a couple of days, one of which we will swim with dolphins! Pretty exciting stuff. However, this means that I won't be back in the states until May the 10th. But I'm really excited right now! Now off to class..... :(

The Sydney Aquarium

So today another group of us ventured into the city to visit the aquarium. With our discount the price is only $22.50 which is pretty reasonable for Sydney. But first we went to The Rocks which is the oldest part of Sydney where they have markets every weekend with handmade crafts, candies and novelty Australian souvenirs. There were many things I would like to purchase but as usual most of the items were expensive, I mean it was a craft sale.

But there was one thing that was absolutely out of this world. It was corn on the cob. It was piping hot and they put butter salt and pepper on it for you. You also got to choose a coke, diet coke or a water all for 5 bucks. Probably the greatest deal all day long. I most of us got one and enjoyed it.

Soon after we decided to go to the aquarium because at 3:00 the feed the mini penguins but some of us got sidetracked in a super cute and cheap store for a while so our group split up. While some of us were waiting we went into Krispy Kream for a donut. One original glazed donut was $2.50! I know right absolutely atrocious. But I got one anyways after smelling them what else could I do.

So here we are again back on track to see the aquarium we met up with the rest of the group and walked through it. Of course there is always the one bratty kid you want to spank for the parents and today was no exception. She was a complete brat. Thankfully we escaped her when we left the sharks to go to the coral reef. Then on the other hand there was an adorable little girl who was posing for her picture when just behind her a huge shark came up right over her head. She screamed and took off like a bullet. It was probably one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

After the aquarium we ate at a place called Blackbird which had fantastic fish & chips, then we walked back to the harbor and caught the next ferry to Manly. It was a good day of walking an site seeing and I was tired when we got back so I crashed as usual.

First Trip to the City!

It was Saturday the 13th when a group of us took our first trip in to the City for the first time. We took the Ferry from Manly harbor which was amazing because it gave us a time to take great pictures of the Sydney Harbor and the Opera House, and The Sydney Harbor Bridge. We got off the ferry at Circular Quay and the first thing we did was hit Starbucks. Yup, we are defiantly tourists but you just can't find iced coffee here like you can at home.

After indulging in the rich coffee of Starbucks we headed to George Street. The main thoroughfare in Sydney strait to China Town and the markets under the mall. Every thing was extremely cheap compared to Cairns and Manly's prices. I got a cute top for only 5 bucks!

After Exploring China town we walked to Hyde Park where we sat down and took a load off our feet. While we were siting there we were approached by two young people and they talked to us about a deal the Hilton is putting on for a hair cut and pampering day. Most of us decided to do it and we are going to schedule a day to go to the salon have our hair done by the head professionals and get a cut color and style for our face shape. All the while being served unlimited champagne, this night we're going to stay in the City at a hotel and go out that night for dinner and dancing. It should be a great time.

After this we decided to go to dinner in Darling Harbor. I have little to say about dinned other than the food was amazing but the service was awful. I can defiantly tell the difference between American serving and Australian service. We left dinner and headed back to the ferry and it started to down pour like you could not believe. It was crazy. Luckily by the time we got back to the ferry it stopped raining and we had a great view of the city at night. It was a good day. Even though my feet hurt like hell after all the walking we did. I couldn't wait to go back to the city!