Day 11:

Today is our last day at Binna Burra and it has flown bye…Woke up early and ate breakfast while studying for our Binna Burra quiz. We had a short module discussion and took our quiz. Before I knew it we were packing up and heading out of the National Park and off to Brisbane once more for one night before heading to Carnarvon Gorge (outback). On the way back from Binna Burra we stopped at the Gold Coast for a few hours to eat lunch and wander, but before I knew it I was back on the bus. However, before we departed, allie, Vanessa and I went into “Crazy Clark’s” for a little cold weather shopping. We ended up with very trendy and cute sweatpants and sweatshirts, along with some knee high black and orange socks. Needless to say, by the time we all got to Carnarvon our entire group was almost matching in colors and clothes. ). When in Brisbane my list of things mainly was LAUNDRY! Our hotel, which had a broken dryer and washer before we left for Binna Burra still had not fixed anything to my dismay. But, as Bianca, Beckie, Stephanie and I checked we saw no sign saying out of order on ONE washer and ONE dryer (in a separate room) so we happily loaded our clothes together. Our victory was shortly lived though as the machine wouldn’t take our money and our clothes sat in this washer with detergent seeping through them. Distraught about the situation, our eyes soon set on the big sink right next to the washer and couldn’t help but laugh about what was going to happen next. So, naturally we quickly loaded the load into the sink and turned on the water and poured on more detergent (which later was one of the best ideas we had). Elbow deep, kneading these clothes, our genius idea become a reality. Stephanie was deemed our “wet-clothes runner” and took piles of dripping wet clothes to the room down the hall to the only working dryer. Finally, with all the clothes “washed” and loaded into the dryer, it was only a matter of time for us to have perfectly clean clothes. Only, as we waited at least an hour the dryer suddenly broke! Our clothes still very very wet and no working dryer at the hotel, we decided to try our best to hairdry or hang all of our clothes. However, even after dinner and before bed, all the clothes were far far from being dry and I was forced to wait out the night. But, done with modules and with a free night in Brisbane, several people met downstairs at the bar and enjoyed some wine. Some people wanted to go out, and I was soon convinced to go to “Down Under” for the first time. This bar was very close to the hotel and was known to be the crazy backpacker, hostel bar that was a “necessary experience.” Most people had been, expect me, so I agreed to go along and dance. The bar was hilarious in itself, but dancing was great. Down Under. Classy classy.

Day 12:

At 7 am we departed for Carnarvon, but I had made sure to wake up extra early to attempt and see if the dryer was fixed (was a rumor the night before). That was definitely a rumor and my clothes were still far from dry, so I simply took out a trash bag and dumped them in, figuring I would lay them out once more when I got to Carnarvon (~9 hrs away?). Looking at the itinerary, the day only had 2 notes: 7 am departure and 7pm dinner…meaning the entire day was bus time! I was able to stay awake for the first two hours, making sure my modules were finished, until (due to the usual unstable conditions) I passed out in the bus. Inside joke of the trip was that I fell asleep in every bus and plane ride because of the unstable conditions that left my body resulting to shutting my body down before sickness…no joke happened every time. With a few hours left, we stopped for lunch in a small town and found none other than KFC. Soon, we were back on the bus with some groceries (PB&J food) and ready for the last stretch. Once we arrived the drive in reminded me so much of Kenya and the views made me so excited for the next few days. My roommates, Ellie and Maggie, and I soon put all of our things in this raised tent looking accommodation and made our way to dinner. Food= good as always (from steve), and we spent the rest of the night, before bed, talking and hanging out in the wilderness of Carnarvon! Can’t wait for the next few days.