The Northwest trip! (and other highlights)

I know I know its been a while since I posted... My bad! But here I am to tell you about one of the most amazing trips ever: The Northwest trip!! And I have also realized that my day to day life has become less blog worthy so I am just going to post the highlights and more interesting things I do on here! haha But I do have a lot of interesting things coming up so I will have things to post about soon anyway :)
Anyway here goes my attempt to try and describe this awesome trip!
Day1 (April 3rd) : Dongara, Geraldton, Northbrook Farmstay
We had to be up and ready to go by 6:45am and then soon after that we boarded the buses

This is what the inside of one of the buses looked like :)

Photo credit: Malcolm Farrell Mitchell

We made a couple of stops along the way including a beach in Dongara and a war memorial in Geraldton

This is the HMAS II Sydney Memorial in Geraldton (Photo cred: Jenny Oetzell)

Then me made our way to our first campsite: Northbrook Farmstay

Frank at Northbrook Farm stay (sorry this is the only photo I ended up taking of Frank... Oh well!)

Day 2 (April 4th): Kalbarri, Murchison River Gorge, Kalbarri National Park, Shark Bay Heritage area, Nanga Bay
We got up at 6am (Like we would eventually do everyday!) and packed up our tents and were on the road by 7!  We did a fair amount of driving again but again stopped at some nice places along the way!

This is the view from the other bus

Photo cred: Jenny Oetzell (She's a photo journalism major.  So her pictures are pretty and numerous :) )

The flys also become quite annoying so we all bought fly nets and sported them for most of the rest of the trip!

Kalbarri (I think?) A beautiful lookout we went to

Then we had a small hike down a gorge (There's that beauty of a fly net :) )

We then traveled some more and had a very fly filled lunch and eventually made our way to Nanga Bay!

Day 3 (April 5th): Moneky Mia, Aristocat 2 Sailing Boat Trip, Shark Bay, Denham, Eagle Bluff, Shell Beach
This was a very different way to spend easter for me but we did some amazing things.  We started the morning off with getting to see some wild dolphins be fed which was pretty cool!  Then we had some brekkie and made our way to the Aristocat 2 boat for a really nice boat ride! We went to a pearl farm and got to see a presentation on how they make the pearls and it was a really nice and fun boat ride seeing some wild life as well :) 

Us on the boat :) 

Photo cred: Kerstin Yanku

After the boat ride we got some lunch and then drove around for the afternoon seeing many other great sites before returning to Nanga bay for a second night!

Picture from shell beach.  Someone had enough time on their hands to spell it out :) it wasn't us though!

Day 4: ( April 6th) Hamelin Pool, Carnarvon, Coral Bay, Ningaloo Reef 
We left Nanga bay to make our way up to Coral Bay! There wasn't too much excitement but we stopped at some towns and things.  When we got to coral bay we got to sign up for the trips we picked and then spent the night at the beach which was literally a 2 minute walk from our campsite :) It was amazing

Day 5 (April 7th): Coral Bay, Ningaloo Reef
THIS WAS SUCH AN AMAZING DAY!!! Alright a little back story about me if you don't know me that well.  I don't swim much.  I can't tread water and therefore I don't go in water I can't stand in.  It terrifies me. But I signed up for this 3 hour turtle tour on a glass bottom boat.  This included 2 snorkel stops.  From what I have said I obviously hadn't snorkeled before.  I thought I could do it with just a noodle to keep me from drowning but I freaked out a little bit so the awesome tour guide John offered to tow me around on the lifeguard thing (I know it sounds lame but I really needed it) So even though I cheated a little bit I STILL WENT SNORKELING AND IT WAS SO COOL! I got to see the amazing coral and the amazing fish and we even got to see a reef shark! I really can't explain it but it was one of the coolest things ever and I had so much fun! We also went to the turtle sanctuary and got to see all of these turtles.  It was truly a great experience! After our tour was over we went back and then I relaxed by the beach for the rest of the day.  It was a good day

Just a small slice of what I saw on the snorkel trip!

Photo cred: Alida Lehman

Day 6 (April 8th):  Hamersley Range, Tom Price, Karijini National Park
We had to leave Coral bay (sad :( ) But we made our way to Karijini National park! We raced the sun to make it and set up our tents in time to go down into one of the gorges for a quick swim but we made it and it was just a taste of what we would see the next day! We went into Fortescue falls.
After the sun was down but the moon hadn't risen yet we turned off the light and looked up at the sky and oh my goodness it was beautiful!

Isn't that amazing?! 

Photo cred: Jenny Oetzell

Day 7 (April 9th): Karijini National Park, Weano Gorge, Hancock Gorge, Handrail Pool, Joffre Falls
This was also a really fantastic day!! I don't exercise much but I am proud to say that I did some class 5 hiking! :) We spent the day doing some different hikes to different parts of the park! Our tour guide Craig (  why havn't I mentioned our tour guides yet? Craig and Al were absolutely phenomenal! ) took us to a lot of different places and even some we technically weren't supposed to go... :p It was so great! We got to go to some beautiful gorges and see some beautiful sites :) 

Just some pictures from Karijini :)

Photo cred: Jenny Oetzell again :)

Day 8: (April 10th) Fern Pool, Newman, Kumarina, 
After a quick morning hike down to fern pool we left Karijini to head back down to perth. We stopped and found some aboriginal art along the way and then made our way to a truck stop in Kumarina for the night.  We had some much needed showers (There were none at Karijini) and only had a few little critters accompanying us (frogs and grasshoppers to be exact). 

Just some of the aboriginal art we saw

Photo cred: Jenny Oetzell

Day 9:  (April 11th) Meekatharra, Cue, Wogarno Sheep Station
We left Kumarina and did a whole lot of driving.  We did stop at the Tropic of Capricorn and had a water fight so that was fun :) 

Photo cred: Jenny Oetzell

We also stayed in a sheep shearing shed.  So theres that.

Day 10 (April 12th): Driving back to Perth
On the last day we just drove back to Murdoch.  It was such an amazing trip and it was so sad that it was over but we all needed to come back and shower properly and sleep in a bed. The end :) 

Us after a great 10 days :) 

Photo cred: Jenny Oetzell

Since the trip I spent a week procrastinating on an assignment and then this week I am catching up on other things.  Nothing too special but this weekend is fun filled so stay tuned! 

Week 7 (ish)

Here I am again! This will be a short one since it hasn't been too long but I wanted to post before I head off for 10 days in the outback! Ahhh its so exciting! I leave in about 13 hours and it really should be a fun time.  This also means I will be pretty much off the grid for 10 days.  So no instagram photos or updates but I promise to take lots of pictures and I will post them when I get back! Anyway The last couple of days haven't been too exciting but I will tell you about them anyway:

Day 44 (March 29th)- I worked most of the day on this history essay and got most of it done.  I feel like I am procrastinating even more here than at home.  And thats pretty hard.  It still doesn't really feel like school is a real thing :p I think going to church in the evening was the one time I left the apartment that day.

Day 45 (March 30th)- Got up early to finish my essay and got it done before I had to go to class.  Then I went through all the monday usuals: class and class and class.  Then I made it to our Northwest pre-departure meeting.  That got me really excited to go! It's going to be a little out of my comfort zone but I am ready to embrace it! Then the rest of the night was pretty uneventful

Day 46 (March 31st)- I had class and then I came home and made some lamb tacos.  That was yummy and then I went to the final cooking class that was pretty good.  We actually cooked food which was good.  Then I got things on my to do list done and stayed in for the rest of the evening.

Day 47 (April 1st)- I had bible study which was good.  Then in the afternoon I went down to Kardy to do a little shopping for the trip.  I got everything I needed and lots of snacks for the trip :) Then I spent the rest of the day relaxing and watching a lot of Netflix.

Day 48 (April 2nd)- Today I got up and did some things before I skyped with my parents.  Then I got some other things done before I went to MCU.  That was fun and then I had class and then I printed a lot of articles so I ca read them on the trip so I don't get behind.  Then I came home and did some things and here I am.  Just finishing up everything I have to do before I leave. yay!

Weeks 5 and 6!!!

I am so sorry for the lack of a post last week! I promise this doesn't mean I'm eventually just going to stop posting, which is what happens to a lot of blogs. I'm determined to keep this going! haha. Anyway I had a project last tuesday that I spent a lot of time working on (read: procrastinating from) and therefore the blog got pushed aside momentarily.  So I am combining the last two weeks so this is going to be long....
ANYWAY!

Day 31 (March 16th): Monday's always just involve me going from class to class all day.  So nothing too interesting.  The forensics class I'm in covers a lot of stuff I already am familiar with, especially the chem part.  It's good to have a class like that though.  I went to yoga which was good.  I attempted to make roast lamb for dinner! It turned out pretty good I'd say :)

Day 32 (March 17th): St. Patricks day! yay!! I wore the greenest shirt I could find.  I apparently didn't pack much green... haha but it worked.  I went to my one class and then later in the day I went to the first in a series of cooking classes.  That was good.  We talked about lunch and snack ideas and got some free snack foods.  Then I went to the tav and it was pretty busy so trivia was a little different and plus I didn't get there until halfway there.  I decided to not go out to an irish pub to celebrate but instead decided to relax in my room.  Then the registration newspaper for SU came out and anyone that knows me would know how incredibly excited that made me! Within the first hour of it coming out, I had planned my final 2 semesters of college! How crazy is that?!?

Day 33 (March 18th): I had MCU bible study in the morning and then the rest of the day I spent in my apartment doing a combination of work and Netflix.  I know I'm super exciting sometimes.

Day 34 (March 19th): Another pretty typical day.  I had my weekly skype session with my parents which was good.  Then I went to MCU common time and class.  Then I went to Zumba for the first time!! That was really fun! Thats really it.

Day 35 (March 20th): I met up with Molly for some brekkie in the morning and then I made a Drs appt for that afternoon for my ear.  In case you don't know I have been having issues with my ear for almost 10 years... its real annoying and ends up getting infected a lot.  Then I planned some meals so I could make a shopping list to go to the store. Then I went to the Dr. and my ear was indeed infected.  Apparently it was supposed to be hurting a lot more than it was.  I guess I'm an anomaly.  Then I went to the store and got lots of food and things.  When I came home I found out I had a new flatmate! haha I haven't interacted with him much but he seems nice.  Then a bunch of us went to perth to the night noodle festival and that was great! I had fried banana.  Then we ended up going to this club Air.  That was pretty chill but fun.

Day 36 (March 21st): I just spent the day working on my presentation and procrastinating from working on my presentation.  But I did accomplish a little bit!

Day 37 (March 22nd): I went into perth to meet up with Molly to go to this festival where there was a rubber duck race for charity.  You bought a duck for $5 and if it won than you would get a car! There was also some good food (I had a mango lassi for the first time in forever and it was soooo good!) and Molly took me on a little tour of East Perth.  We ended up having to leave before they released the ducks but it was still fun.  I came home and did some stuff and got AMAZING NEWS.  Basically my sorority (ZTA ftw :) ) is recruiting next semester and that means I get a little!! It was truly so exciting.  Anyway then I went to church and did some of my presentation.

Day 38 (March 23rd): Again Mondays are busy with class and things.  I didn't go to yoga because 1 my class didn't get out in time and 2 I needed to finish my presentation.  And I did! Seeing as it was the next day its good I did haha

Day 39 (March 24th): I had my presentation! It's over!! It wasn't too bad.  I relaxed for a while after that and then went to round 2 of the cooking class.  There were only 2 of us but it was alright.  Then I went to Tav quiz night and WE WON! It was really great and so much fun! Then we all got together and had a family dinner which was so tasty! We just hung out and played cards after that.  It was so fun!

Day 40 (March 25th): Well I had the usual MCU bible study in the morning.  Then I ate some food and went to the store with my friends Hana and Alyssa.  We were shopping for the toga party!! Then We came back and I chilled until it was time to get ready for the TOGA PARTY! It was a lot of fun and we went to Metro after the party at Newport.  It was really fun.

Day 41 (March 26th): Day started like any Thursday: skyping with my parents.  Then was freaking out a little bit about my workload and decided to get things done instead of going to common time or my one lecture.  I went to my tutorial and then I got home and went into perth with my friend.  It was raining so that was fun... We went to the noodle festival again and then we went to play pool.  That was really fun.  I'm still terrible at playing pool...

Day 42 (March 27th): I went to free pancakes which was delicious.  Then I came back to my room and did my forensics quiz which was due at 5pm.  It wasn't too hard but I just needed to get it done.  Then I did other work and then we had a girls night and we dressed up and went out to dinner at Little creatures.  That was really super fun! Then I came home and relaxed.

Day 43 (March 28th): Today I literally did work all day.  I was very productive though! I even cleaned my room! I also made some homemade Indian food, Dahl, which is curried chickpeas.  I think I did alright.  I followed the recipe and everything.  I just need to finish this History essay that I have due Monday and then I am home free until break! Its hard to believe our first study break starts on Friday!

I will try and post again before I leave for my Northwest trip (!!!!!!!!) on Friday!

Week 4!!

Wow I have been in Australia for a whole month now! Its crazy!
Here we go!

Day 23 (March 8th)
I went to south perth with Molly and Jara.  I used public transport and got to Perth by myself which was awesome.  We went to the Angelo Street Festival first.  That was cool but it was very hot and quite crowded so we didn't stay long.  Then we took a drive up to Matilda Bay for some lunch.  That was really nice and beautiful.  We also explored a little bit of the University of Western Australia's (UWA) campus.  That was really beautiful and there was this nice outdoor theater.  We finally went over to Cottlesloe beach to see sculptures by the sea.  There were a lot of people there so we didn't venture too much into the beach but the sculptures were pretty cool.  Then after I got back to campus I went to a church that meets on campus called Three Crosses.  That was cool and I'm glad I went.  The people were nice and I had a good time.  After that I just came home and read for class and watched some TV.

Day 24 (March 9th)

Mondays are always my long days since I have so much class... But I made it through.  I inquired about a job at the Aroma cafe on campus but I wasn't available at the right times to work there but thats alright I'll keep trying to find a job.  I also had a predeparture meeting for one of my trips: the Southwest trip! The first two were this past weekend and this upcoming weekend but the one I'm going on is not until May so I have a while until I go on that one but I got pretty excited for it! After that I just came home and made some dinner and read and slept.

Day 25 (March 10th)

I got back into my groove of being in class and participated in class which felt good and productive.  I also watched more criminal minds and went to the Tav quiz night.  Our team was pretty thin so we didn't do as well but it was still fun.  Then that night there was a Karaoke night through the student village which was fun! I was pretty tired so I left a little early.

Day 26 (March 11th)

I started going to a bible study through the Murdoch Christians United (MCU) club.  That was good I knew some of the people but its been good getting to meet more Australians :).  Then Amanda (one of the people I met through the church) gave me a little touristy gift which was sweet.  Then the rest of the day I alternating reading with TV. I also did some stuff in my room but thats about it

Day 27 (March 12th)

I got up and skyped with my parents and then I went to MCU common time which is just a little weekly meeting/get together.  Then I had class which was good.  Its been cool seeing the guest lecturers from WA police in Forensics class.  After class I did some relaxing and dinner before I went to a bible study with the people from the church.  That was also good.  I got home and watched some more tv (by this time I had started How to get away with murder).

Day 28 (March 13th )

Friday was a really lazy day for me.  I feel so lame and lazy but basically the only time I even left my flat was to go to the pool lounge for free pancakes... Ya I know.  Super lame.  I finished How to get away with murder and did a little work and just stayed in.  I was watching the weather because there was this cyclone that hit northern WA and was making its way south.  Spoiler alert: it didn't really affect us at all.

Day 29 (March 14th)

So they must not celebrate pi day here since the date would be 14/03 instead of 3/14.  It was a very sad realization for me.  Anyway I got to see my teammate Mark for the first time since team!!!! That was super exciting! Since the weather was supposed to be bad, he and Sam changed the plans a little bit but it was sill a lot of fun.  We went into Freo to see the markets and for lunch and walked up to the round jail at the top of a hill.  We were going to go to the Fremantle jail but we decided against it.  They took me on a drive around and we went to Hilarys to see where their wedding reception was and to walk around a bit.  Then we made our way to the only Krispy Kreme in all of WA.  It just opened recently and we went through the drive thru so the line was pretty long but it was worth it! Then after I came home and had some food we got ready for our friend Drew's 21st birthday party! That was a fun night with friends.  There's a lot going on in the states that I am missing at the moment but I am trying to remember that I am here and I need to be focused on being here rather than all of the things happening at home.

Day 30 (March 15th)

Yesterday was a pretty productive day! I got up and got ready and put my laundry in and did some reading and then I switched my laundry and made my way to the store.  This was the first time I went by myself and it was pretty exhilarating.  haha. I felt really independent and it was great.  I got most of the things on my list so that was good and I took the bus home.  I ate and watched some of my next show: Chuck.  Then I read and napped and read and had a little freak out because some of my first assignments are due soon and so I have a lot of reading and such to do for them.  I went to church again and I came back and read a little more and went to sleep early so I could get up and be even more productive!

So here I am getting ready to go to the library to print things out before class.

Til next time!!

Week 3!

Its that time of the week again! It's blog time! yay! Lets get started with the retelling of my wonderful THIRD week in OZ.  I can't believe I have been here for three weeks, but I am also so comfortable that it feels like I have been here forever! Anyway here come the daily recaps!

Day 15 (Feb. 28th) I woke up early and was productive in the morning.  Then a couple of us went into the city (Perth) to go to some of the shops.  I didn't get much but it was fun wandering around and such.  Perth is pretty great! Then we got back and I then quickly switched gears to go to the beach with some other people.  We went to South beach again but it was much cooler and much windier this time.  Everyone else went into the water and I tried to lay down on the sand but I literally just got covered in sand.  It was pretty bad but it was comfy when I wasn't thinking about getting covered in sand.  We then moved to the grassy part behind the beach for a while before going to Joe's Fish Shack for dinner.  That was tasty.  Then we walked around and saw the sunset and I came back and had some major binding time with two of my flatmates (Min and Priscilla) over Taylor swift.  It was magical.

Day 16 (March 1st): That day was pretty awesome.  I went onto campus and wandered around a bit trying to find my classes and did some other stuff.  Then I came back and watched some tv and did some other productive things.  Then some of my friends and I had a BBQ by the pool.  This was instead of going to this pretty big but also expensive music festival that was that day.  We had a really great time.  I made some lamb that was delicious! My friend got some kangaroo and I tried it and it was pretty good.  Nothing too different from other meat.  Then after the BBQ I watched some more TV (I know... I'm lame) then I watched a church service online and it was great! It made me miss my Captive Free team though.  But it was a really good service. Anyway then I went to sleep

Day 17 (March 2nd): Aka: THE FIRST DAY OF CLASS! So ya I finally started classes this week.  It seems so long ago since I went to a class (To be exact the last time I went to class was December 5th...) I had almost forgotten that that was what I was doing here.  haha.  But my classes seem pretty cool.  First I had my intro to forensic science class.  That was good and I am excited for it but it does seem pretty easy.  Then I had a little break for lunch before my Australian Environmental History class.  That one was a little slow but it still seems interesting and I have two of my friends in that class! After that I had a little break again and I napped a bit before my intro to criminology class.  That was good.  The professor seems good and she's pretty entertaining too.  Then I had time to go to yoga! I have never really done yoga before but it was really good.  I will try to do that every week.  Then I came back and tried to do some reading but fell asleep...

Day 18 (March 3rd):  I had my Tutorial (or tut) for Criminology at 12:30 and that was my only class for the day.  It was pretty easy since I had heard all of the stuff before.  I napped after that.  I've been a little sick lately so I blame the excessive laziness and sleep on that.  haha.  But I did go to the Tav for quiz night! I'm excited to do that every week! It was a lot of fun and my team isn't half bad! We tied with the other team from our group for second place.  Then I met my 3rd flatmate: Jesse! He hasn't fully moved in yet and he actually doesn't go to Murdoch, he goes to Curtin University, which is a 25 min drive.  But he seemed nice.  Then I just hung out with Min and Pris

Day 19 (March 4th): I didn't have class so I slept in.  I got some things and then went shopping with Hana.  We walked down to the Kardinya shops and went to Kmart and Coles.  After that I got some reading done and then got ready to go to Newport again.  That's something that almost everyone does on Wednesday nights.  I had a fun time doing that and hanging out with people.  I didn't stay out too late since I was getting a cold.

Day 20 (March 5th) That day started with a skype session with my parents.  After some technical difficulties we got it to work and that was good.  After that I did some reading and ate some lunch.  Then I tried to find my classroom for the class I had later that day but couldn't find it so I just went to my forensics lecture.  That was good.  There was a guest lecturer from the WA police.  Then I hurried to find the classroom where I had my religion tut.  I had to ask someone but then I found it and it was all good.  And then I was done with class for the week just like that! haha I had a pretty uneventful night (again... ).

Day 21 (March 6th): Yesterday, I was so incredibly lazy.  I'm sorry... I have retreated into my binge watching shell.  I did venture out in the morning to get free pancakes.  They were chocolate chip and tasty.  Then I binged watched all day.  Except for the short 45 min period where I went onto campus to get my picture taken for an international students brochure.  That was pretty fun actually.  They took me to a lab and I took pictures in front of the Scanning Electron Microscope.  I got to wear a lab  coat and safety glasses and everything! haha it felt good to be in a lab again.  Even though it was just pretend.  I also finally made plans to see my teammate Mark next weekend so that will be fun!

Day 22 (March 7th):  I think the most productive thing I did today was clean my room... I feel terrible for not doing anything but I didn't really have anything to do so I spent the day catching up on tv (some more...) man do I watch a lot of tv... and I have to be careful that I don't use too much of my data I bought with my wifi... But ya I did nothing again today... But I am exploring south Perth tomorrow so that should be fun!

So that was my third week here down under.  I think my biggest struggle is becoming complacent and not making the most of my time here.  I just need to get out and do more things!

Thanks for reading! Until next week!

Week 2!

So here I am again!!! So it's crazy but classes start on Monday! I have almost forgotten about that whole school thing... I mean I guess thats why I'm here. Anyway here's my recap of the week!

Day 10 (Feb 23): I started the fun part of my day by having one of the token Australian foods: The sausage roll! Mine was lamb and cheese and it was pretty tasty! I haven't had a meat pie yet but I hope to soon! Then some of my friends and I went shopping and I got real food! yay cooking! I still haven't cooked that much but soon! Then a bunch of us went exploring Perth! It was really fun but we ended up just wandering around a lot.  Eventually we did find a restaurant to eat at that wasn't outrageously expensive (it was still pretty expensive... but you just have to expect that).  After dinner we got some frozen yogurt that was tasty.  Then we eventually got back to campus

Day 11 (Feb 24): This was one of the hottest days that we have had here.  We went to South Beach in Fremantle in the morning.  The water felt so nice! It was so hot though that some of us left before noon.  My friends Hana and Alyssa and I then explored Fremantle a little bit.  Alyssa got a camera which was exciting and then we ate lunch at this cafe and I had a delicious burger! After that we came back and I took a nice nap before trivia night at the Tav! That was a lot of fun and we will be going back probably every Tuesday! My team actually didn't do too badly and even one the round that got us a free round of drinks! That I had a pretty chill night hanging out with some people.

Day 12 (Feb 25): So a couple of days a week the Village gives us free food and its great.  So I started out with some free brekkie.  After that we hung out at Bush court (basically the Quad) for a while and then I met with my SSC Molly and discussed some of the other trips we are doing this semester! Then some of us went shopping for a few things and then we went to the pool! It was still incredibly hot so that was so great! Then we spent the night at Newport and had some fun.

Day 13 (Feb 26): I was pretty tired all day so I really didn't do much until dinner time.  There was an International Student welcome dinner that was really good.  There was some really great food! I also met a few other international students as well.   Then I watched people play some volleyball after the dinner.  That was nice.

Day 14 (Feb 27): Yesterday I got up really early because we had to sign up for our trips!! The Study Abroad and Exchange office does some really cool trips for us and we had to sign up and pay for them this morning.  It was nerve-wracking trying to get the ones we wanted with the people we wanted but it all worked out in the end.  After that we partook in another one of the village's weekly free food events: free pancakes! I had some nice chocolate chip pancakes with a bit of Nutella on them,  they were very sweet but quite delicious.  Then for the afternoon was the trip to Caversham wildlife park! That was a lot of fun and I got to see the awesome Australian animals again, like at the Featherdale park in Sydney.  It was a lot of fun! Afterwards everyone was exhausted so a lot of people fell asleep on the bus ride home.  I however didn't sleep til we got back.  After the nap I finally cooked a real (ish) meal.  I made some ground beef stuff with corn, peas and tomatoes in it.  Some of the other girls made some pasta and so I took my food over there and ate with them.  And then I just stayed in for the night and went to bed early.

There it is my second week in Australia!! I hope to have many more Aussie Adventures as my time here continues!!

Week One!!!!

Hey Everyone! So I arrived in Australia a week from yesterday! So much has happened in the last week so I will try and recap everything I have done:
I got to Sydney on Saturday the 14th at around 8am. I was there for a 3 day orientation with IFSA-Butler (the program I'm going through).  The orientation was a mix of IFSA students going to Macquarie University, University of New South Wales (both in Sydney), Monash University (in Melbourne) and me, going to Murdoch here in Perth.  I made it through the longest plane ride ever! Yay! Then we got going pretty much right away.  We went on a walking tour of Sydney, which was super cool and fun! It was a lot of walking but we got to see a lot of cool places in Sydney.  After that it was a pretty chill night, we just ate dinner and went to bed basically.   I actually was never too jet-lagged which was super awesome

Day 2 (Feb 15th)- We went to Featherdale wildlife park first.  That was SO much fun! We got to see all sorts of Australian animals which was so amazing! I got to take a picture with a Koala, feed some kangaroos and I even got a selfie with one! haha.  Then we saw a presentation about some other animals like some snakes and other reptiles.  Ill be posting pictures to facebook pretty soon.  Thats the next thing on my social media To-do list! Then we continued on our bus ride up to the Blue Mountains! That was breathtaking! The views were amazing and everything was so cool! We learned about them and took a tour of some of the great spots.  After that we made our way back and had pub food for dinner.  I had some delicious steak.  Finally, some of us finished the night at a German pub.

Day 3 (Feb 16th)- We got up and had some brekkie (breakfast in Australia :) ) then we had a morning full of information sessions.  For the afternoon we were given free time to roam around.  Most of the group ended up at a beach that is a short ferry away from Sydney.  Its called Manly beach.  It was so nice to be able to relax by the beach.  We had to be back then in time for dinner and dinner was a wonderful cruise in Sydney.  It was so cool to see the city from the water and also at night.  Then I had to say goodbye to the friends I made in the 3 short days we had together.  That was pretty sad.

Day 4 (Feb 17th) Me and the two girls going to Monash had to go to the airport pretty early in the morning.  But we made it and I got on my flight to Perth! Everything was fine with that and Molly, my student services coordinator, picked me up at the airport.  She took me to Murdoch and helped get me settled in.  She showed me around campus and we had lunch and she showed me some useful information.  Then after she left I had a little free time before the Study Abroad dinner we had.  There I met most of the group of friends that I know hang out with a lot.  In our group we have some Americans but also a girl from England, Canada, Japan, Denmark and some other places too.  They are pretty great and I'm glad I made some great friends pretty quickly!So I spent that night with them before heading to bed.

Day 5 (Feb 18th) We had some orientation for living in the student village in the morning which was pretty long but useful.  That afternoon a couple of us got some grocery and other shopping done which was good.  We then spent a little time at the village pool which was nice after a hot day of walking.  That night a bunch of us went into Fremantle (or Freo) to a place called the Newport Hotel.  That was a lot of fun as well.

Day 6 ( Feb 19th) That day we had a long day of International student orientation.  There was a lot of information thrown at us and it was pretty overwhelming.  It ended with an aboriginal presentation which was pretty cool.  We had actually had one in Sydney when we were in the Blue Mountains but it was still cool.  After the orientation was over there was a little thing at the Murdoch Tavern, which is a little place on campus.  Then that night the village put on a "speed meet" event.  Basically we ended up meeting a lot of people and it was done in a little bit of a speed dating setting but that was cool.  I have met so many people the last couple of days that there is no way I can remember them all.  After that I did my first Tim Tam slams with my friend Sam! We did them with chai tea lattes and they were delicious.  If you don't know what a Tim Tam Slam is, look it up!

Day 7 (Feb 20th) In the morning I finally had time to finish unpacking my stuff which was good to have done.  Then we had yet another orientation.  This time it was just for the Study Abroad and Exchange students.  They told us about these amazing trips that they put on and I am excited for them! After that we went on a great day trip.  They took us to Kings park and Cottlesloe beach.  Both were amazing.  King's park is this huge park that overlooks Perth.  Its bigger than Central park and has so many parts to it.  We definitely didn't have time to go through even a fraction of it.  Then the beach was also beautiful! Then after we got back from that I called an early night and went to bed after taking care of a lot of things because I had to get up early yesterday for: ROTTNEST!

Day 8 (Feb 21st) So like I said I had to get up pretty early in order to get a start on the day.  As part of my study abroad program we get to go on some trips.  Well yesterday was the first one.  So Molly, her daughter Jara and I caught the 715 ferry out to Rottnest Island.  Rottnest is a beautiful holiday island about a 30 minute Ferry ride from Freo.  Yesterday was also special because there was an event called the Rottnest Island Channel Swim, where there was a race to swim all the way across from Freo to Rottnest.  This is actually apparently the biggest open water race in the world.  So there were a lot of people in the main part of the island.  But we didn't actually get to see any of the swimmers.  We just explored the island and its amazing views.  Like I said earlier, pictures are forthcoming! After I got back from that, I took a much needed nap and then spent the night in Freo with friends.

Day 9 (Feb 22nd) Today was a kinda eventful day.  There was a carnival that happened for the village residents.  They had a lot of pretty cool stuff there.  But my friend was doing this surfboard thing.  It was basically a mechanical bull but a surfboard.  It was in an inflatable thing but she got thrown off of the surfboard and ended up hitting her head on the hard ground.  I stayed with her the entire day and went with her to the hospital and she is doing much better now but it was pretty scary for a little while there.  Then we had a nice chill night with a bunch of our friends and watched Mean Girls :)

So that is about all I have done in the last 9 days.  I absolutely love it here! I do miss some things about home, but I am trying to soak up everything Australia has to offer! Thanks for reading this massively long post!
Until Next Time!
Jean