On Wednesday morning, my mom and Katie arrived in Brisbane, and my aunt Donna went to Melbourne to visit her family. I flew to Brisbane after class. I waited around for a bit at the airport wondering how on earth I was going to find them since they weren't at my baggage claim and didn't have any form of communication. Katie found me eventually. First thing I did was make them try TimTams.
Thursday May 21
We woke up early to drive to Byron Bay. Got there at 10:15 and went right to our 'Black Dog' surfing lessons. Katie and I have been apart for so long we haven't experienced all the "OMG you're twins!" stuff in a while. But I was impressed at how the surf instructors got our names right most of the time. The beach was cloudy and a little rainy but it was ok in the water. After a few instructions, we went out and they just pushed us into waves... they never even mentioned anything about paddling (psh, I'm too advanced for this). However, it was my mom's first time surfing and she stood up! It was fun but the waves were small and the rides weren't that long. Since Katie and I were doing pretty well, the instructors let us paddle out and "catch our own waves"... except for that they still chose our waves and pushed us into them… After surfing, we walked around the quaint town with hippie-ish shops and lots of food and tried to book tours for the next few days. We got Mexican for dinner, and all the waiters were surfer dudes who had just come here to travel around and surf. How cool.
Friday May 22
Unfortunately, it turned out that the snorkeling tour we wanted to do was booked, and then it was too windy so dolphin kayaking was cancelled. So, we did the lighthouse walk. It took us a few hours and was really nice once I warmed up from walking. It was crazy windy. Along the way, we stood on the most easterly point of Australia! Got an 'Australian' lunch- kebab and fish & chips. We sat at the beach for a bit to kill time and watched the sunset. The sun sets so early! (Around 4:50). Then it just gets even colder.
Saturday May 23
Up early again for our mountain bike tour. Drove for an hour into/up a volcano. Of course when we got to the top and got on our bikes it started raining. Went to a lookout over the top of a 104m waterfall. Holy crap it was so high. Then we started our biking. It started pouring as we did our first individual track through the rainforest. After I got over the cold rain, (we always seem to do bike tours in the rain… Amsterdam was worse though) I started really enjoying it. It was fun zooming through the trees. We got very muddy and dirty. The uphills were killer, I was dying. There was even one uphill so steep that everyone walked, even the two dudes who always went fast way out front. Stopped for lunch at a cool waterfall/pools. I would've gone swimming but it was freezing. The two dudes did and they said it was very cold. On the way back we stopped to walk out on the 104m waterfall from before. We rode down the volcano on the road then drove back to Byron. Trying to decide what to bring/wear on this trip was such a struggle, as it was cold in the morning... but we ended up having to lug all of our extra layers around all day. Oh well. We got dinner then froyo with Timtam toppings. They're better without ice cream, actually. Mom and Katie wanted to watch something Australian on tv but there was all European shows for some reason... Then footy came on and they both fell asleep.
Sunday May 24
We had been hoping to squeeze in dolphin kayaking this morning, but it was still really windy and got cancelled. So we walked to the beach and enjoyed our last moments in Byron Bay. Then back to Brisbane. We stopped at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. While we were eating lunch, a lady kept walking by with koalas on her arm. They were so cute!! Then Katie and I went to hold one. Katie went first and it just closed its eyes and put its head down on her. Aww!! His name was Sheldon lol. I wish I could have a pet koala. He was so soft and adorable and I just want to hold a koala forever. Next, we fed the kangaroos. They might have actually been wallabies, not sure. They were so cute too!!! One was really nice, I liked him, but this other one kept trying to take his food from us. Mom pet an emu. They were kinda gross looking up close. Then we had to run to get to the airport on time for their flight. (My flight home was an hour later). They're meeting Aunt Donna in Cairns until Thursday while I go to class, and then they'll come to Wollongong.
I had to stay up late (which was a struggle in itself as we've been going to bed at 9:30/10 the past few days) to finish my part of a group report for Pollution Control. We were supposed to be finished with the report today, but some of my group members haven't done their parts yet!
Monday May 25
My group members are infuriating. We have to do a presentation on Wednesday, and 2 of them still haven't finished their parts of the report. This is why I hate group projects. And I'm the study abroad student, I'm supposed to be the one slacking off...
Tuesday May 26
Met with my group for an hour. I had to leave for class and we still hadn't even started the presentation. This is going to be a mess.
Wednesday May 27
Woke up early hoping to see that my group members had done their parts, nope.
At this point all I could do was practice my part and hope for the best. The report was completed about half an hour before our presentation. We practiced it once. However, there were groups that had some members not even show up for their presentation. That's pretty bad. These Australians… And somehow our presentation actually turned out fine.
Then in geology, we started, worked really hard on, and (amazingly) finished our mapping project. So now I'm almost done all my group projects for the semester!
Thursday May 28
My family arrived in Wollongong at 11:45 and I took them to the lighthouse, where we got fish and chips for lunch. We walked around and I showed them the rock pools. The weather was beautiful, 70 and sunny, which is utterly amazing compared to what it's been recently. They said that pictures don't do it justice here. We went to Fairy Meadow beach after, where it got colder and started drizzling, but we stayed and saw a lot of dolphins playing in the surf, surfing in the waves and actually jumping! It was spectacular. I also showed them around campus. We walked places I've never even seen before. I still get lost here. Their hotel is right down the road from campus east. Katie and I went back for dinner and Katie met some of my friends. We were supposed to go out but everyone had homework so we just watched movies.
Friday May 29
Met mom and AD at the beach for the sunrise. It was pretty pleasant out, except for all the clouds that made for a non-sunrise. We stayed for an hour but never saw the sun. Went to Diggy's for brekkie, then the Nan Tien Buddhist temple. It is the biggest Buddhist temple in the southern hemisphere, right here in Wollongong…who knew??? I liked all the stone baby Buddhas all around. There was something very soothing about the place, lots of repetition, and it was just pleasant. Next, we went down to Kiama to see the blowhole. Mom had a kangaroo pie for lunch. Drove up a very squiggly road up the escarpment. The scenery up there was cool, green mountains all around. We got some good advice from the tourist info people we talked to who told us to go to Fitzroy Falls. We hiked ("bushwalked") around to different lookouts of Fitzroy falls and other little falls. It was an unexpected and enjoyable excursion with great views. On the way back, we saw a lyre bird which aunt Donna says is a lifetime bird. Didn't make it to Mt. Kiera because it got dark, but we were all really happy with what we saw today. Got conveyor belt sushi for dinner.
Saturday May 30
Up early again, to leave for the Blue Mountains, which is about 2 hours away. It was preeeety dern cold. I think it seems colder because we're in Australia so we expect it to be warm. First went to Wentworth Falls, and to a few different lookouts. The misty-ness really did make the mountains look blue. There were several different waterfalls that all just dropped from random little valleys straight down. A couple of the overlooks were perched right on the edge and then the cliff drops straight down. Katie (the weeny) doesn't like standing on the edge. Went to Blackheath and did an Evans lookout drive by, then to a cafe for lunch. My family thought it was the best meal they've had in Australia so far. Went to Govett's Leap falls next and did an hour hike. It drizzled a bit and was muddy and the trail went through cave-y overhangs. We hiked down to the bottom of a small valley with a stream we hopped over, and up the other side, then around on the semi-circular cliff face and could see the V that the stream cut out of the other side of the cliff. That was really cool! We had to take off all of our many layers for the uphill journey back up. The sun even came out for a little bit. We then went to Shipley's lookout on the other side of town because another info center guy told us it has good late afternoon/sunset views. The afternoon views were somewhat compromised due to clouds. But still, Blue Mountains are pretty stunning. It's a huge canyon, I don't know why they call them mountains. It should be Australia's Grand Canyon. Did a few more drive-bys because it was too cold to get out of the car. Went to Katoomba to look for food. Went to a chocolate shop and ate a lot of free samples and got some candy. Almost ate dinner outside at a super crowded Italian place (so we thought it had to be really good), but got moved inside by the time our food came, thank god. My meal was delicious! We made a brief (because of the cold and wind) visit to say hi and bye to the Three Sisters when they lit up at night, and then back to the motel which, to our delight, actually did have heat!
Sunday May 31
Up early yet again to drive to Sydney, another 2-ish hour drive. We've been killing it with restaurant choices recently, and got a very good breakfast by Darling Harbour. Then Mom, Katie and I went to do a Sydney Harbour bridge climb. We suited up in onesies, got all our gear and practiced climbing ladders. Then went out along the bridge for a bit. The actual ladders were so steep. And so high. When we got up on top, the view was pretty good even with clouds. I would love a time-lapse of the harbor. There are so many boats going every which direction, and maybe 100 sailboats were in the distance racing.
Our guide Mike told us a lot of cool history about the bridge:
The guys building the bridge had no safety harnesses or anything, just climbed up on steel beams and held on.
One worker even fell off the bridge, survived, and came back to work 2 weeks later.
It is the world's largest steel arch bridge, and the top is 134m high.
You'd be in freefall for a little more than 5 seconds, so the guy who fell (and survived) had time to appreciate the fact that he was falling feet first (more likely to survive).
The four stone pylons are merely decorative, made to make the bridge look stronger. Not that the steel is weak… You could put another whole bridge on top of it and it would still stand.
Engineers predict that the bridge will last another 75-100 years (and it was opened in 1932).
As expected, it got a bit chilly at the top. Enjoyed the view for a while, then climbed back down. At 5:30, we did a Vivid Sydney Harbour Cruise, and saw all the lights come on at 6. The opera house and the buildings in Circular Quay were really pretty! It was quite enchanting. There was an unbelievable amount of people out and about in the harbour to see the lights. Then I said goodbye to my family and hopped on the train home to Wollongong.
I can't believe it's June tomorrow! Time is flying by.
I've got a quiz and final on Wednesday, then my next adventure begins on Friday in Bali!! After that, it's just studying, finals, and home.