Sydney Week 1

From Heron Island, we returned to Gladstone via ferry and had the misfortune of spending the night there. Half of the group stayed in a VERY small little hostel and the other half stayed in a motel. Food in the town was expensive and most of the people in town are coal miners or other industry workers. Needless to say, we stood out.

The next morning we took a flight to Brisbane and then another from Brisbane to Sydney.  Arriving in Sydney, we took a bus to our accommodation, the YHotel. Here are some pictures from my first week in Sydney.

Street performer guy.

Me at the Blue Mountains as part of a day field-trip.

Me sitting on a log in the Blue Gum Forest (Blue Mountains field-trip as well)

Heron Island

From Brisbane we took a 8 hour overnight bus up to Gladstone. In Gladstone ( a dinky little town), we took a ferry over to Heron Island. Heron Island, in few words, is paradise.

We spent the week snorkeling, diving, laying out on the beach, and watching little baby sea turtles burst from their sand dune clutches and sprint to the beach.

Me riding the ferry to the island. And yea, there's a shipwreck here too.

 Little tiny blue fish hiding in some branching coral.

 A giant crayfish. This thing was probably 18 inches long.

 Me on North Beach. The water out behind me is the lagoon of the island which stretches more than 12km.

 Two baby sea turtles running to the sea. Unfortunately, most of them get eaten by seagulls or sharks when they reach the water. The words "feeding frenzy" don't even do it justice.

 An adult sea turtle in the boat channel. I had the pleasure of swimming with this one for about 2-3 minutes.

 A black-tipped reef shark. This guy was probably 8ft. long.

Zorbing in Gold Coast on Last Day in Brisbane

I ended up going zorbing at the Gold Coast in between two classes. The Gold Coast is just south of Brisbane and is home to several theme parks and what they call a "party beach". I never actually made it to the beach but I heard it's like Panama City Beach.

Me and my buddy Cole who went with me. This first picture is called the "Harness Ball". They pushed us down a zig-zag course for this one. VERY disorienting.

 Me in front of the harness ball before we gave it a go.

 Me and Cole after doing the "Water ball". They pushed us down a straight course for this one. We both tried stand up and run but just ended up flipping over each other about a dozen times. We both bruised our shins in this attempt. Worth it.

P.S. I had to wear those wet shorts to class afterwards. Haha.

Moreton Island

I spent the weekend between my two school weeks in Brisbane at Moreton Island. Moreton island is a large sand island located 40km off of the coast of the port of brisbane. Two other guys and myself went on a 2-day 4WD tour of the island with our incredibly aussie tour guide, jason, and 6 other foreign university students hailing from Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, and Germany.

My view of the "The Wrecks" from the ferry boat which took us out to the island.

 Waves crashing over the Cape of Moreton "North Point". These rocks and waves reminded me of the final fight scene between Locke and Jack in LOST. haha.

 Honeymoon bay. They didn't have a bed and breakfast.

 My footprints in honeymoon bay. Rockin the chacos as usual. Some of those prints are my butt sitting in the sand actually...

 The eastern beach as sunrise.

 The Cape Moreton Lighthouse. Apparently haunted. Very windy up there.

 Me at "The Desert". After Sandboarding to the bottom of the gigantic sand dune, I traced out this symbol. GO JACKETS! That little person at the top of the T is me.

 Me and "the frenchies", the foreign university students we spent the weekend with. I snagged a picture with them on the way back to Brisbane on the ferry. From L to R: German, German, Italian, AMERICAN (me), Swiss, Belgian, Swiss.

Concert in Brisbane- "The Secret Whisper"

Alex, Allison, Elana, and I went to a concert of "The Secret Whisper" in "The Valley" of downtown Brisbane. Here's a few pictures of the earlier bands and "The Secret Whisper".

Note: I didn't even take a picture of the first band, that's how bad they were.

The second band. By far the best band of the night. I wish I could remember what their name was.

 "The Secret Whisper"

Brisbane- Week 1

Leaving Wellington we flew to Brisbane with a short layover in Sydney. We're now staying in a student housing complex on the South side of the city called Urbannest. Here are a few pictures from our first week in Brisbane.

A view of the city on our very first expedition downtown.

Me in front of the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, essentially a zoo of Australian animals.

 Me and a Kangaroo.

 Me and an emu. I was very afraid to touch these guys. They have these little beady eyes and look terribly evil.

 Koalas. They move really slow. These ones just get to sit around and eat eucalyptus all day. Wait, that's what the ones in the wild do too...

 Me petting a Koala. This one oddly enough only had one eye because of a genetic defect. Maybe it keeps him calm when people are petting him cause he doesn't know when the petting is coming.

 The Southbank beach pool. It was REALLY crowded on our first sunday in the city. This is 4-5 blocks from where we live.

 I sneaked into a Merivane "Blaze" Australian Pro basketball game with a friend. He took a picture of me with the kinda slasher-flick looking mascot. His move apparently is the Jersey fist bump.

 Me rock climbing at Kangaroo point one of two nights I've been climbing. One of the guys on the trip, Chip, is a pro climber and bought some gear for us all to use here in Australia.

 We visited Lamington National Park and hiked a 14 km track to the ridge of an ancient shield volcano. They have these giant blue crayfish. We picked one up and all ended up pinched in various spots.

Saying Goodbye to New Zealand

6 whole weeks have now gone bye. It's hard to believe I've actually been here in the Southern Hemisphere for that long of a period. I remember the first day of driving on the left side of the road for the first time, hearing the word "cheers" added to the end of every conversation, and using one and two dollar coins. Remembering that first moment of stepping off of the plane in Wellington is not very much of a distant memory. These last few days have been consumed with finals for the first half of the semester and some actual studying. Who knew you had to study on a Study Abroad?

But onward we go. To Australia!!! And first to Brisbane!!