Update time!

Now where to begin…it has been ever so long since my last entry due to nonstop travelling and lack of internet connection for the past several days. So, here I am at the Brisbane airport at 4 am on Thursday ready to go to Cairns, Australia and then continuing to Tokyo, Japan. As I sit here, alone on a new adventure, I can’t help but ponder where the time has gone. I met so many amazing people and had the opportunity to experience and learn amazing, unique things that it all seems surreal to be leaving. However, I suppose I should start from where I left off for all you following:

Day 5:

Today was a late start (1pm) and I am sure many people were relieved due to the festivities of the rugby game the night before. As usual I woke up with the sun, which seems to be a new habit of mine here, and did various tasks while looking over my notes for the Brisbane quiz today. After lunch we all assembled in the auditorium and had two lectures before the quiz. The quiz ended, marking the Brisbane section of the trip over till we returned, and I can’t wait to actually experience Australia. The outback/gorge, the rainforest, and the great barrier reef are all on my list so I can’t help to be buzzing with excitement. Goodbye Brisbane city for now and hello nature! Unfortunately, since this entry is for 19 days ago I am forgetting what we did that particular night but I’m sure it was something fun haha.

Day 6:

Another late morning…got to love the weekends…but my lack in ability to sleep in has become significantly annoying (good thing Rachel has ear plugs right?). Today we met to discuss our modules and quiz. Modules are short essays that we have to turn in after each of our locations (Brisbane, Binna Burra, Carnarvon Gorge, and Lady Elliot Island). They consisted of an average of three essays, each 250 words, with the occasional lab report. I had forgotten how hard it was to write short, concise, and well-developed essays. After the brief discussion about what to expect with work and our first location: Binna Burra, Lamington National Park, we headed to Wickham Park for a Geckoes Wildlife Show. I had the pleasure of seeing various Australian species of snakes, birds, lizards (or goanas) and a wombat. Wombat’s are oddly cute animals that use their big behinds to crush skulls of predators…what a defense…I don’t think my butt is my weapon of choice but to each his own. After ending the show near dinnertime, a group of friends and I went searching for dinner and ecstatically chatted about the upcoming free day (tomorrow). We ended up at a seafood restaurant and I ordered my first “fish and chips” meal. Delicious.

Day 7: FREE DAY

After much consideration of the somewhat cheap options I had to get out of Brisbane, a group of us decided to travel to the Gold Coast. The ride was about 1 ½ hours by train and it was the perfect excuse to sit down and crank out some module answers (which were due the next day). For about $25 one could travel to Surfer’s Paradise, at the Gold Coast, round trip with an included bus ride to the actual beach area…not a bad price for an entire day! With little to no plans we arrived at Surfer’s Paradise with rain filled clouds that we desperately hoped wouldn’t pour down upon us. We found a booth of brochures for activities, and finally one lady mentioned an Adrenaline Park. We figured we would check this park out and hopefully get a good adrenaline punch at this “paradise” place. However, to our surprise we were met with a run down “park” that had about 4 machines to provide mind-blowing entertainment. In addition, we came across an inappropriate sign having to do with the Mona Lisa…that picture will come later I’m sure. Needless to say the prices were too high and we were just plain old afraid of the broken down wood-made machines that would launch us into the sky. Instead, we settled down at the beach and threw the football around. Later with a kebab filled stomach and homemade ice cream/waffle cone in my stomach, we decided to head back to Brisbane. By the end of the train ride I was almost fully done with my modules, which left most of night free for me while many others worked. So, I made sure I was packed and had some snacks (ritz crackers and Pringles shared with Allie and Vanessa) for Binna Burra and got excited to head out in the morning.