Week 4, Melbourne, Week 5

The days before we left for Melbourne went by pretty fast. We left Wednesday afternoon so we had a very short week. Sunday I was able to catch up on school work so I wouldn't be thinking about homework I had to finish while on vacation. I was excited to continue my traveling.

Wednesday afternoon Jenna and I left for the airport. Hannah met us in Melbourne the following day. At the airport the security was a joke. We were laughing about how our expectations on the security far exceeded the actual security. We got there and we both started chugging our water bottles before security. While doing that a TSA came over and said we didn't have to do that and that there was no restrictions on liquids with carry ons. Then we notice no one is taking off their rain coats or shoes or anything to go through the metal detector. Rather, people are at their own will just walking through it. I was waiting for someone on the opposite side to tell me I was allowed to walk through but then I realized it was more of a you just walk through. Once I walked past I grabbed my bags and we were done. It was all in all less than a 10 minute process. Then once boarding the flight they just looked at our boarding pass that we printed from online to tell us where our seat was! Never asked for ID's or anything.

We got to our hostel around 1am so we just went to bed. It was an 8 bed room we were staying in so it was weird at first going to bed with all these random people around you.

We decided that every day we would wake up early so we could experience Melbourne as much as possible while there. Melbourne is really known for its art and culture and food/coffee. So of course we were going to try and eat at as many places as possible!

Thursday morning we tried to learn the streets of the city and just figure out where things were. We had breakfast in a restaurant alleyway which was cute.

I ordered a mocha and received a very sugary coffee drink with ice cream in it. I was pretty disappointed because it was not what I wanted at all. After breakfast I ended up just getting a coffee at a different coffee place which was really good. Ordering coffee is very difficult in Australia because their coffee names are much different than back home. Even ordering a regular "coffee" is called something different. I'm still trying to learn.

We met Hannah at the hostel and we got a late lunch/dinner at an italian place in an alleyway. Turns out that this alleyway all the hosts compete with others to get customers into their restaurant. They almost attack you and start offering you deals and once you show hesitation they stack on an additional offer! We were first offered free appetizers and then when we were considering it he was like okay okay and your first drinks free. All the places in the alleyway did that. (picture shown is a typical alleyway in the CBD downtown)

 There were cool alleyways like this but more to just walk down.

We then went to a happy hour which was buy one cocktail get the second free... so for two cocktails it was only $18!! It's basically like they were giving them away for free! (hah). 

Friday morning we had to wake up early to get on our tour bus to the Great Ocean Road and to see the 12 apostles. We left around 7am. The tour was a bus of 25 people. It felt like we were a part of an Asian tour group haha. It was my two friends and I and then one girl from the UK that we met and the rest were from different parts of Asia.

The tour guide was chatty. He likes biking. Loves cycling. He's 28. Born in Melbourne. Traveled and biked around Asia for a year. His best friend was getting married the next day and the following day he had a short bike competition he was in. haha learned too much. He would say he was going to stop talking for a bit.. and then 5 minutes later he would start talking about something in the microphone. Did I say he liked to cycle yet?

 Jenna (left), Hannah (middle), and myself at the start of the Great Ocean Road.













Anyway,  the ride on the great ocean road was beautiful. Although it was long, we had amazing views. We stopped a few times on the road to take pictures and to look around but for the most part we were just driving.

 We arrived at the 12 apostles around 2pm. It was so neat to see. It's something that you think you will never actually see in person. The 12 apostles are so well known and photographed and it was weird that I was actually there witnessing it with my own eyes!

We were able to walk around different parts of the 12 apostles for a few hours. That way we got to see so many different angles and views of the formations.

At around 5:30pm we left to head back and just stop quickly for dinner. We got back to the hostel around 10pm and we were pretty tired. It was a very long day with a lot of driving but well worth it.

I'm so glad that I experienced this tour. It is a must if you are in Melbourne. I'm pretty sure it is on a top 10 list of must see's or must drives. Either way, it is absolutely beautiful and I would recommend it to anyone if they have the opportunity.





On Saturday we woke up early to go to the Queen Victoria market that is everyday. It was cute and had a variety of things but we weren't there for too long. I could have probably spent a couple additional hours there but most of the shops were similar. So then we went to get breakfast. We were recommend to go the Melbourne's first tea shop. It was tough to find and it was nothing that any of us were expecting. I originally thought it was Melbourne's first cafe but it was a first teashop. It was very cute! I really enjoyed this morning. It felt like a place that people would go back in the day and share their gossip with one another. The food was very good and the ambiance was spot on. (The ambiance is really what it's all about).

 Then we again were just going to explore the city because it was raining in the morning but it quickly turned into a beautiful day. We saw a good amount of people wearing Australia jerseys or green and gold.  We realized that there was a cricket going on that day but we didn't know when or where. We asked someone wearing a jersey about the game and they gave us details and that there was a first round game in Melbourne at 2:30pm. I was super excited and really wanted to go. I bought a jersey which was actually only $15! We were going to walk back to the hostel, change, get lunch, and then head to the game.

For lunch we went to Chin Chins which is Melbourne's 2nd best restaurant. It was pretty good. Very different from anything I've ever really had. I had a breaded fish and caramelized pork salad which had a zing to it but very good.

Then off we went to the game. It was the first match of the cricket World Cup and it was a big rivalry between England and Australia.
People don't really scalp tickets like they do in WI. However, there were people selling 3 tickets because they accidentally bought too many tickets. So we got those and went in.

We were sitting in our seats for about 10 minutes just watching this game where we had no clue what the rules were. Suddenly, something happened and the crowd went wild. On the big screen the word "wicket" was flashing big. This is a moment I will never forget. The crowd is so excited and yelling and I am just confused looking at the crowd. Then I look over to my two friends and they too have just a look of confusion on their face and are looking at the rest of the crowd. We all started laughing because we had no clue what was going on and we felt so out of place. It was such a weird/funny moment to be a part of.

I ended up asking a couple that was sitting next to us for the rules. They were from England and it was one of their first games too. But of course they knew the rules because their country plays the game. I started to catch on to the game and found it pretty interesting. It could be compared to our MLB. It's pretty long, not too exciting, but still has a huge fan base and people get excited for it.

However, I think I like cricket more than baseball. I'm going to try and watch the games during the world cup. It's a 6 week tournament. Australia is favored. I already put a bet on New Zealand winning against England this Friday... I should win!

Anyway, the games are typically very long. The allotted time was 2:30pm-10:30pm! We only stayed for about 2 hours. I am so glad we went to that. I hope to be able to go to another game while I am here but how neat that I went to a World Cup match!

For dinner we went to Lygons street which is known for fancy Italian. Since it was Valentines Day we decided to treat ourselves. The food was really good and I love Italian food so it hit the spot.

At night we wanted to go to a funky/different bar and asked for recommendations. We were told to go to the Croft Institute. It was difficult to find. You had to go down an alley way and you will run into garbage cans and you think there is nothing further but you had to keep walking past them and then turn down another alley way and then finally you were there.

 It is themed after a creep hospital/mental institution. The drinks you drank with syringes. It was a cool bar. We weren't there for long but we were glad we tried something different!

 On Sunday we signed up for a Sweets tour where we would walk around the city with a tour guide and taste test different sweets etc. It was something different and since Melbourne is known for it's food it was the place to do it!

Initially I wasn't going to do it because I'm not a huge sweets fan... but it was fun and there were so many options that you could find something you liked.

The people on the tour were all from different parts of Australia and it was neat meeting them and hearing about where they are from/suggestions they had.







A lot of the places we went to were owned by famous chefs. The guy on the right was our tour guide. He was on MasterChef Australia! He gave us all the inside information on the show and his experience. The guy on the left is a famous chef and he went on the show as a guest.

Overall, another good experience in Melbourne.

After the sweets tour we wanted to head to the beach just to see what it was like. It was a very hot day out. I thought the beach was absolutely beautiful. People say that you don't go to Melbourne for the beach which made me think it would be a crappy beach. But it was great. I think that saying means more that there is so much to do in the city you don't want to waste your days at the beach. But we walked around and were only there for a couple of hours but I loved all the boats and the skyline in the background.

For dinner we heard that this place called Movidas was good. The menu was very confusing and we didn't understand really any of it.

It's not that it was bad... but again our expectations for the food were much different. In the picture was my dinner. I ordered trout and was told that it was a more "substantial" dish. I was expecting a huge fried fish that would be very filling. This was very airy and light. Jenna and I were laughing at the food because of how different it was. Our waitress I think was getting a little annoyed. Then Jenna ordered this cheese dish that was $9 in addition to the trout. The waitress told us it was similar to a cheese platter.. because we didn't understand what it said on the menu. I wish I would have taken a photo of it because we were laughing so hard. It was literally 5 of the thinnest pieces of cheese ever! After the dinner I ordered more bread which I'm sure is politically incorrect but I was still hungry after my substantial dinner. The waitress charged us an extra $1.

Overall Melbourne was a great experience. I don't think I will make it back there during my time abroad so I am very glad I got to go. It was a different experience going to a real city rather than being in a beach city.

When we got back Monday morning a few people asked "how was Melbourne?" That is such a tough question.... I usually responded in "it was good" or it was fun. Unless they asked for more details then I would give them. How do you sum up such a diverse weekend into a short enough response that the listener actually wants to hear?

It made me realize that when I get back home and people ask "how was Australia" I am going to struggle in responding haha. Again, a whole semester abroad and a life changing experience can't be described in a few adjectives. But people also don't want to spend more than a few minutes listening. (Besides the few people that actually read my blog - you are the minority. Thank you).

Anyway, back at school on Monday was a little hectic. I had a project/presentation due on Wednesday that I was planning on completing Monday. But then a bunch of unexpected things came up. I had no money. The bank back home wasn't sending the correct bills. My iphone wasn't receiving or sending messages. My credit card balance was messed up. It was and it is tough to deal with these kinds of things being here.

Tuesday was a great day. I had class and got to see a bunch of friends throughout the day. Then at night the casino nearby has Tuesday night drinks $3. Which is an AMAZING deal. One of my friends asked if I wanted to go with her and some of her friends. Its crazy how such a small gesture can really influence my day.
I went to volleyball in the afternoon and then came back to my room to get ready. The bar was fun but then we went into the casino for a bit. I always knew I loved gambling... but I love gambling. haha. I played roulette once and lost my money. I decided I don't like that game that much since it is mostly based on luck. Then I moved to the blackjack table which I really enjoyed. I played that for a bit and my friends were just hanging out and watching since they didn't know how to play. I was trying to teach them a bit. I wanted to just keep playing. I honestly could have stayed there for another few hours/days. (hahaha). I ended up winning $20!

Wednesday (today) I did my presentation in my Drugs, Alcohol and Crime class. I chose my topic on money laundering with drug trafficking. I chose a pretty difficult topic compared to what others did. Overall I think it went well but I definitely made the presentation more difficult for myself because of my topic choice.

I also had the free lunch which is the BBQ on campus. At dinner they changed the menu.... and they took off chicken parm!! I was/am so disappointed! Literally my favorite food just not offered anymore!
Then at night was the Res Wars and it was basketball. It was fun and something to do.

There is suppose to be a huge rain storm coming to the Gold Coast in the next couple of days. I think it might be a cyclone and there are warnings for floodings. I am pretty excited for it. The few days when the lake on campus was flooding and the benches were completely under water... there were no warnings. I can't even imagine how much rain is to come! It will be interesting. I have big expectations for this. Pictures to come!

Aunt Lori flys in on Saturday afternoon. The heavy rain should be done by then. I am excited to see her! I feel as if I have really settled into my life here. I expected to be homesick at this point. I thought that by mid February I would really be wanting to see a family face.

I knew I would make friends abroad, but I thought I would be making temporary friends. Friends that would be my friends for the time being. I didn't really consider that I would make new friends here and that they would become the people I would go to. Friends that I would talk to about anything I would talk to my friends from home about. They aren't just people I will forget about the day I get back home.

With Aunt Lori coming I am excited. I am excited to see her in a way that I am excited to have a family member visit and experience this with me. I am glad that it is not an excitement based on homesickness and the desperate need to see my family. I look forward to her visit and my families visit and my friends visit. I continue to look forward to experiencing Australia with a range of people whether it be family, old friends, or new.

Byron Bay & Week 3

 Byron Bay was absolutely beautiful and the best weekend I've had so far. The common denominator to all my favorite days I've had so far abroad were when it was sunny and beautiful out. Byron Bay was no exception.

This was the bus that we took. We left early Friday morning and we first went to Nimbin, Australia's hippie capital. We were there for under two hours because although the shops and town were neat, it is very small and you don't actually need that much time there. The people live in their own world there and it was not a normal city. People were dressed from a different decade and definitely not people or things you see everyday!






This was the view we had the entire ride to Byron Bay. Gorgeous!

Byron Bay had such a relaxed feeling to it. A lot of the shops and restaurants were open windowed and had an open layout. I loved that. The top picture was a breakfast place we ate at two mornings. I ate the exact same thing both times. I just loved the ambiance and the food the first time, I wanted to replicate it the next day. Amazing. I didn't want to leave breakfast.














Then one day for lunch, as you can see in the photo, we ate at this place where there was a live musician playing. Again, I was so content just sitting there.    









 So on this trip we were signed up to go kayaking on Saturday at 12:30pm. Four of us got picked up and drove to the place. When we got there, it turned out that we were actually Sunday at 12:30pm. We were told to just walk down the beach and we could get to our hostel from there. Our hostel was right on the ocean so that was really neat to be able to walk out to.

Four of us were walking back and we were going to get lunch. Two of the other girls had their wallets so they said they were just going to go into the town and shop and then text us where they went to eat for us to meet them. My friend and I had nothing besides our key to the room so we were just going to run back to the hostel and then meet up with them. On our walk we were just chatting and walking. We weren't sure how far down the beach we had to go to get to the hostel entrance. We were trying to use this huge rock in the ocean as a reference point but we were really unsure. We figured that we would see the entrance from the beach to the hostel easily and that we didn't pass it yet because we would know. After awhile we thought we may have walked too far. But again, we drove to the kayaks so we figured walking back would take much longer. Finally, we are walking and there are naked people all around us. We were so shocked because we definitely knew we had gone too far at this point! Haha. We kept walking and found a man clothed and asked him if he knew where our hostel was... he didn't even know where Byron Bay was! So we started walking back down the beach and decided to go onto the land and maybe ask someone for directions. We came out into a little suburban looking area. We asked a man who was outside if he could give directions. He literally gave us 20 minutes of directions. I'm not joking. He could have condensed what he said to us into 2 minutes.



At the nude beach there was this stream of water that led into the ocean. It looked very pretty.








The funny thing about directions here is that it ALWAYS includes "when you get to the roundabout." There are so many here. But he told us to head to the round about and then turn left and then go about 200 meters and then half a kilometer.... its tough to get directions here! Where's the minutes and miles and blocks??

Anyway, we tried to follow his directions but ended up back on the beach walking back. When we finally got back to our hostel entrance... we realized how close we actually were to it from the kayak place. We walked over an hour too far and then had to walk that hour back! We saw our friends that were going to meet us for lunch. They shopped for 20 minutes, went to lunch, waited for us to order, ordered, ate, and came back to the hostel all in the time we were gone!

Even though it was very hot, we had nothing with us, and we were lost, it was an experience.. to say the least.

 Sunday morning we went to the Byron Bay market and just strolled around. It was sooo hot out but it was something new to do and I enjoyed it!
















On Sunday we got to go kayaking. We were told we would see dolphins but we really didn't. We saw turtles and dolphin fins in the distance but none right under us. They said if we come back we could get another free kayak ride.

But the ocean waves were intense to get over. We tipped twice. I also was a little sea sick from all the waves! But beside that, it was gorgeous. I absolutely love the color contrast of kayak boats and the ocean water.

At Byron Bay there is this lighthouse in the distance that is really common for people to hike up to. We were going to do it on Saturday afternoon but it started down pouring before we left. Then we were going to do it after kayaking on Sunday but we didn't have enough time. But we were talking about it infront of the kayak tour guides and one of them offered to give us a quick ride up to see the lighthouse. He took his big van with 10 of us in it and drove us to the top. It was absolutely amazing. We couldn't stay there too long because he wasn't suppose to take us up there in the first place. But I'm so glad I got to go up. I hope to go back to Byron Bay and be able to just observe from the top. There was a cafe up there too which I would want to eat at.




On Sunday night when we got back to campus it felt like we were gone for so long. I was so glad that we got away that weekend. It was the first "trip" I had since being in school. We were all so tired that night. A bunch of us got dinner on campus and then just went to bed early.

Monday morning was the Superbowl. I had class for an hour but after that I went to the bar on campus where they had it playing throughout and a lot of people were there to watch. I'm glad I got to watch it even in Australia! Though they didn't have any commercials... it was the same three reoccurring ESPN commercials.

On Monday afternoon my friend and I were going to go to the mall and get dinner there. We got there a little after 5pm and although you could go into the mall... nothing was open. Only the big department stores were open but nothing else. A lot of places in Australia open and close during normal business hours. It was weird walking through an empty shopping mall though.

A lot of my classes have one project or presentation that you can choose when you want to present or have it due by. I chose to have all of mine relatively early so I could just get them out of the way. So this week I was really trying to work ahead and figure out what I wanted to do for the projects.

I also was trying to work ahead because my friend and I booked flights to go to Melbourne this upcoming Wednesday-Sunday! I knew I wanted to go to Melbourne but I'm so much like my mother that just... booking a flight that was less than one week away was a huge decision! I am super excited though! So many of my weekends are filled with traveling that this was one of the few weekends that would work.

Aunt Lori and I also booked our flights to Sydney when she is here too! I am excited to have certain plans on visiting the two cities I for sure wanted to see.

On Thursday my friend and I don't have class so we decided to go to the beach even though it was slightly overcast. When we got to the beach though it was so windy and there was no one there! The sand was blowing around a ton too so it would have hurt to lay down on the sand. We went and got food at this vegetarian place that she really likes but I've never tried. It ended up actually being sooo good! I brought my own coke for the beach but it went well with the food... haha it was definitely a place that didn't sell soda because they were all about the organic, healthy food.








On a side note, I have slightly begun to eat things not one at a time. Progress mother, progress. I order chicken Parmesan a lot at the dining center for dinner and it comes with fries too. One day I was eating my fries before I ate the meat and I stopped and was shocked at myself for eating my fries before the main course! So then I stopped and went to the chicken and then after that back to the fries. Then today I got the chicken parm too ( I could eat it everyday) and you know what... I just wanted to eat the fries first... so that's what I did. It was a decision I had to make.

On Friday, ISA had a day planned to take us to the rock pools with free transportation and lunch. It was great! We jumped off the rocks into the water and just hiked around and spent the whole day there.







So I took this picture first when we walked into this area... and then again took another when we were leaving. I said to my friend, it's weird that when I took this picture when I first walked into the park I thought 'wow this looks amazing - the idea of it looks so cool.' But when I was leaving I wanted to take another picture... even though I knew they would look essentially the exact same I wanted to take another one. Because when leaving my thought process was completely different. It was, 'Wow, that was great. I just experienced THAT. I partook in the idea I had when I first walked in.' And the two different pictures of the exact same thing had such different meanings to me in my mind. My friend told me I should journal that... so here I am.

Today, Saturday, I got my hash browns and iced coffee breakfast. Then a few of us went to the beach. It was such a relaxing day.


A few random comments.
1. They talk so much about staying hydrated and drinking water... but for some reason there is never a water fountain to fill your water bottle up and employees and fast food restaurants find it really weird to give you tap water.
2. Australians don't really liter and are very against it. However, there is never a garbage around!! Literally, there is less than half the amount of garbage bins as there is in the states.



I miss my friends and family but I am also having a great time here. Being here I realize how great of family of friends I really do have at home! However, I know after being home for a little bit all I will want to do is come back to Australia.

I have been here for over a month! It feels like I just got here.. but at the same time I feel like I have been here for awhile. This whole experience is just crazy to think of how short it is in consideration of my whole life... and the fact that it will soon just be a memory of my past. It's been making me think a lot about where I want to live in the future and what I actually want to do as a career. The answers are both unknown.. but the questions are out there. Like, do I want to live in Wisconsin where 8/12 months are cold? Even though I absolutely love being warm? (I mean honestly I don't even use my air conditioning in my room because it makes me cold). And how important is location if you're not near your family and friends? If I live in Wisconsin I will have to travel a lot. If I live elsewhere, I will have to travel back home. Food for thought.