The Adventures Never Cease

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, so I naturally have a lot to say. It’s been an awesome few weeks, and there’s so much I could talk about! I’ve cut the list in half for the sake of anyone reading this and will just recount some of my favorite moments. 

Mystery Gang

Halloween in Australia was nothing short of awesome. Not because Halloween is big in Australia, but because my housemates made it big. We threw a house party at our place and to say it was awesome doesn’t even do that night justice. So many people were at my apartment, including people from all over the world and some who had never celebrated Halloween before! I was Scooby-Doo, and some of my other exchange friends were the rest of the Mystery Gang! The party was unfortunately shut down when the electricity to our apartment was cut off by the RA because we were too loud. Whoops. But, I would say it was successful if they had to turn our power off to make the party stop...Just saying. 

One random day me and two of my Aussie friends decided to go on an adventure to the Botanic Gardens located in Canberra. It was a nice chill day with friends and gorgeous scenery. We mostly explored the rainforest section of the gardens, and while it was awesome, having the Daintree Rainforest to compare it to made it seem not near as real. That night, I went with a group of my exchange friends for Mexican food and margaritas. This was the first time I’ve had Mexican while in Oz, and to say I’ve been craving it for over 2 months is probably putting it lightly. Most of you probably know I pretty much visit Soccer Taco weekly, so going 3 months without Mexican and margaritas was just hard. The food and margaritas were great, and I enjoyed hanging out with friends all night!

Blue Bottle Jellyfish from Beach Day

The next morning (Saturday, November 3), I got up early to travel to the coast for Beach Day! We went to Broulee Beach. This was an event that the exchange coordinator planned, and it was definitely a good day! There’s not much to say except I spent the entire day laying on a beach hanging out with friends. It was a nice day getaway from Canberra, and I’m glad I decided to go! That Sunday, several of the exchange students had a picnic lunch on a dock by the lake near campus. It was such a perfect day for a picnic!

I’m not really sure that I’ve mentioned International Dinners, so just in case I haven’t...Throughout the semester, exchange students from different countries have made a traditional dinner that represents their country or State. So, this past Thursday, my Tennessee friend and I hosted Tennessee night! It was super successful, and we introduced fried chicken and sweet tea to multiple countries. I’ve never made so much fried chicken in my life...We bought two HUGE family packs of chicken from Aldi, and I think it took us around 2 and a half hours to get it all cooked, but we did it, and the food turned out yummy and it was fun! It was just an awesome night.

McKenzie Beach

This weekend, me and 3 of my exchange friends headed to Bateman’s Bay for a beach weekend! Saturday we went back to Pebbly Beach, which was where we went last time we were at the coast (It’s the one with all the kangaroos). That night, we went over to an Aussie friends’ house and went out in Bateman’s Bay. It was cool to see an Aussie house, as lame as that might sound. Haha It was a fun night out, and we met up with those friends the next day at McKenzie Beach. I am currently super sunburned, but it’s all good. Also, I drove in Australia for the first time while we were on this trip!! I have missed driving SOOO much and driving on the left side of the road isn’t as hard as I thought it would be. Sure, it takes more concentration than it does back at home, but I am so glad I finally got to drive here! 

So, basically, I needed to write this blog because pretty soon, I’m going to be doing A LOT of traveling, and I wanted to go ahead and say all those things before I have other adventures to talk about. I also got my cartilage pierced in the last couple weeks, and I am so glad I can say I got a piercing in Australia. It just makes the piercing that much cooler. I only have a little over a month left here, which just is not ok. My goodbyes to some of the coolest people I’ve ever met will begin all too soon. I was a mess leaving TN knowing I would be back in 6 months, so I dread what it’s going to be like not being able to say “See you in a few months.” While I have no doubt that it won’t be goodbye forever, it might be a few years before I see some of the friends I’ve made here. Luckily, I will have my TN friend to go visit, so I have someone nearby who I can see! And we can miss Australia together...Anna, get ready...

It’s weird that it’s November, and I can wear shorts all the time. It’s weird to think that Christmas is actually pretty near and it’s not getting colder, but hotter. A Christmas song came on while we were playing my iPod at the beach, and the fact that it is actually Christmas music season was so weird because it was so hot out. Everything is just backwards. Driving, seasons, Christmas...It’s a reversed life down here. 

While I wish I could spend longer writing this and making it sound better, I have a huge assignment due this week that I’ve yet to start, so I just wanted to quickly write since it has been quite some time since I posted.  This is the last week of classes, which is just insane. I feel like they just started! I have to make it through this week, and on Thursday, I’m heading to Melbourne! Just because I can, I’ll give you an idea of what the rest of my time in Australia will be spent doing! 

November 15th-20th: Melbourne

November 23rd: One of my two finals I have

November 27th-30th: Uluru

December 4th: Last final

December 5th-12th: New Zealand

December 13th-14th (or close to these dates): Hopefully a trip to the coast to spend my last few days in Australia with my Aussie friends

December 17: Back to the States

I have a packed month, but it’s going to be awesome! I’m excited to visit all these places and live it up my last month here!