Fashion and Food

So! This post marks the last of my roommate vacations with the lovely, and always adventurous, Miss Elisabet Osk Gudmundsdottir. Our last trek was to Melbourne, Victoria. The city itself is know for its food, coffee, obscure night life, and fashion. And, it did not disappoint!!

The trip started with a very early wake up call! Our flight left Gold Coast at 6:00am, and our coach to the airport was coming to pick us up at 3:50am. The day beforehand we had planned to go to bed early, but instead saw a Masters of Hollywood showing of The Great Escape. Some things you can't say no to. The airport was pretty uneventful, and we made it through security by about 4:45. By this time we were STARVING, but I guess the food stores don't open until 5. It was a very long 15 minutes. Once we were on the flight, we settled in for a long nap. Elisabet and I were assigned seats across the aisle from each other, but Elisabet ended up getting an entire row of seats to herself!! By the time I had figured this out, I was half asleep, so I decided to just stay where I was. 2 hours later, and plenty of open mouthed napping, we landed at the

Melbourne Airport.

We are clearly not destined for the amazing race, as we walked around the entire departures area of the airport before we realized that shuttles and cabs are located an entire floor below. Whoops! A short bus ride into the city and then we were there! We only had backpacks for luggage, because we're low maintenance like that, so we decided to just wander around the city, eyeing the sights, things to do our following days, and scope out some delicious eateries. Our first stop was Chinatown, then over to Federation Square. Close to there, we found an amazing cupcake store, and had our first taste of Melbourne. Melbourne is famous for its little alleyway restaurants. We wandered in and out of alley after alley trying to find a place that really spoke to us. We were looking to be inspired... by lunch. Finally, we went to a really great little Thai Place, where we could sit out in the sun, enjoy a nice vacation beer, and eat some really excellent food. Seriously, I will talk about how good the food was in Melbourne multiple times. Prepare for it.

After lunch, it was finally time for us to check into the hotel!! This was pretty exciting for us. People who follow my blog know that I have stayed with Elisabet in: a camper van, a hostel, a boat, a friend's home, the village, BUT we had not yet stayed in a nice hotel. We found this great deal online that included our flights and a stay in a 4.5 star hotel. We were so excited when we discovered we got free robes, a rain shower, Elisabet's name on the TV thanking us for our stay, the option of room service (which we didn't use, but still!). We settled into our robes and rested our weary feet for a bit.

We had a really great dinner at a pop up bar, Babushka. This is a marketing ploy to advertise a new vodka, and the restaurant will only exist for 6 months, as long as the vodka promotion goes on. Their menu is potato based (to match the vodka, which is also potato based). Our food was really great, we each had some of their famous chips, and burgers. I had mini burgers with the most buttery, delicious buns, and homemade aioli, and Elisabet got chicken parm burgers. We also tried their goat cheese, potato, and rosemary pizza. Delicious!

Friday was our big tour of the Carlton Brewery. Beforehand, we headed out to the Bridge Street shopping distract, which was just up from our hotel. This was mostly so I could purchase a pair of closed toed shoes, because I needed some for the tour! Whoops! Once we got the shoes, we headed into the CBD to get some lunch! Delicious again, panini's from a sidewalk cafe. The brewery tour was pretty informative, and watching the bottles on the line was a little hypnotic. At the end of the tour, we each got to pick 4 beers to try. I tried Carlton Dry, Carlton Black, Fosters (my first taste of this iconic Australian Beer!) and Cascade Light. After the

tasting, the tour guides wheeled out a bunch of costumes, and Elisabet and I went to town. They also said we could pull our own beers. So I asked "Can I pour my own beer wearing the beer costume?" And, as you can see, that is exactly what happened (and the beer was Victoria Bitter, in case anyone is wondering). Elisabet got to pour her own cider, and like many things we undertake, proved to be much more adept at it than I am. We headed back into the CBD for a little snack, and then back to the hotel to relax a little before the night.

We decided to go to Mamasita's for dinner, and this was the best decision we made all trip. Seriously, I cannot stop singing the praises of this restaurant! The staff was amazing. So friendly, and funny! We got this waiter named Eddie, who promptly told us we HAD to try the street corn, because it was the best corn in the world. I can tell you that he was not kidding! This corn was one of the most amazing things I have ever eaten in my life. I will dream about this corn. This is the corn they serve in heaven. The rest of the food did not disappoint as well. Quesadillas with the freshest ingredients I have ever tasted, handmade salsa and guacamole, and the most delicious take on an apple fritter! It was fantastic. Our excellent waiter also provided us some guidance to tackle the maze of Melbourne nightlife. His first stop on our list? Madame Brussels.

Madame Brussels is a lounge that is set up like an English garden party. The floor is artificial grass, the furniture is antique and cosy, and the drinks are tea based. We had an earl grey peach iced tea drink that was "splendid." After that we headed to the Carlton Club, an indie-ish bar that plays more 90's or alternative music (think Phoenix) than top 40. The place is full of quirky charm, included a huge giraffe, and ostrich wearing multiple pearl necklaces. We ended up sitting on the rooftop patio, and had a really great night.

We were up and out of the hotel by 10:45, not wanting to squander any of our last day in Melbourne. We took the tram (such better public transportation than Gold Coast) to the train station and got a locker for our backpacks.

Then we had a small breakfast, and met up with our next tour: a Chocolate Walking tour of Melbourne. I'm not lying when I say we only take tours about food and drinks... The guide was so adorable, and a true chocoholic (maybe a future career Steph?). We got to see a lot of older, art deco Melbourne buildings and eat some truly delicious treats. We had truffles, macaroons, liquid chocolate, hazelnut chocolate, pralines, ice cream, muffins, and at one of our last stops we got the ever popular Lindt chocolate balls. The funny thing about this Lindt staple? In Canada we only have around 4 flavours, but here they had 16. Flavours I hadn't seen before? Peanut Butter, Raspberry, Orange, Peppermint, and a whole handful of others! After the tour, we headed into the shopping area to look around a little more before we had to hit the airport.

So, now I'm home, and very tired from our whirlwind weekend away. I can't believe my last trip before the family comes has passed by now! There are still plenty of things Elisabet and I want to do in Gold Coast before she heads back to Iceland for Christmas, but I just can't believe how quickly time is going by!

Holidays?

I know it's been forever since I posted, and for that I am sorry! I have been really under it lately with assignments. For the most part, I have been just living regular day to day life, a few trips to the beach here and there, doing homework, practicing some experimental cooking, you know, the usual.

Time is starting to wind down, and as of right now I have 6 more weeks of school, and 9 more assignments and tests left to go. This semester has been a lot more assignment heavy than the last, which means less adventuring for me. Not to worry though, I'm heading to Melbourne in 10 days, and will hopefully have plenty to say about that. Very excited for that little excursion!

We were on break from Uni for the last week, and it was needed. I did relax a little, enjoyed a

friend's birthday, and went to Brisbane last Friday for Santos City of Lights. It was a pretty cool laser light show over the river, and afterwards we had dinner in South Bank, and then rode on the Brisbane wheel. I've spent a lot of this break working on homework, getting a bit ahead on my assignments to make sure I'm in a good position moving forward.

I'm sorry I haven't written much, for those of you who have been reading. Things have been pretty regular and mundane lately, which makes for subpar blog posts. I'll try to do better next time!

Back to work!

So, it's the end of week 3 of school, and I have been pretty busy so far! I am trying to really tackle this semester with everything I have, because I think after this, I may be done with school for good. We'll see though, I said that last time.

I am busy with lots of projects, including an extracurricular project, the Griffith Innovation Challenge. I work with a group of 3 other people to create a business plan. If we win, we'll get to split $15,000. My group is a lot of fun, and I think we actually have a shot.

My other projects are coming along nicely, although I am avoiding doing schoolwork right now to write this blog post. Even though it may be the most boring post in the history of the internet, I just want to let my 2 followers know that I am doing alright.

Canada is calling, and I'll be in its freezing grasp in less than 5 months. Time is flying by! 10 more weeks of classes left, then 3 weeks in the exam period, and 4 months till my family is here for a blistering hot Christmas! Life is good.

First Day of Classes

So, first day of classes was today. I woke up on time, got to class a few minutes early to find out that class is cancelled. What kind of university am I going to? Oh well, will try again tonight with my 6:00pm class. Instead, I went to bu y my textbooks. Everyone was super helpful, and the bookstore ladies did all the leg work for me, and all I had to do was pay.

Oh yeah, I forgot that is the painful part. $576 dollars later I had a brand new canvas bag full of knowledge. Let's hope it's worth it!

The land of the Kiwis

My roommate, Elisabet, and I ventured out of Gold Coast for an excursion to the land of Lord of the Rings, New Zealand. We decided to stay on the south island, as that is a little less populated, and housed 2 very exciting things: a Cadbury Factory,and Bungy Jumping.

We landed late in Christchurch, and took a shuttle to stay at our first exciting locale: Jailhouse Hostel. The entire hostel is built into an old prison, and is rumoured to be haunted. If there were any ghosts, I missed them, as I passed out quickly after our arrival, I was pretty tired.

Early the next morning we were off to pick up our camper van, our hotel and transportation for the trip. We affectionately named her "Dolly," taking into consideration the copious amounts of sheep we would see on our travels. We spent the first day stocking Dolly with groceries, and treated ourselves to a great brunch at an "American Style" breakfast place. My pancakes were amazing, and Elisabet's breakfast burrito was a sight to behold. Because Christchurch has been hit by so many earthquakes, driving through it was a tedious task, and a lot of the city itself has been closed down. We checked into our campground for the evening and had a quiet night, settling into the camper, and learning how everything inside of it works.

We decided next to drive to Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park. My mentor, who is from New Zealand, told me this is a must see, so we added it to our itinerary. The problem, however, was that through the pouring rain, there wasn't much we could see. What we did see was plenty of cows, sheep, and a pig farm, and an inkling of great scenery, beyond the fog we were surrounded by. There is a lake similar to lake Louise that we stopped at, Lake Tekapo, although the rain was falling so hard, it was difficult to appreciate its beauty. On the road there were 3 cars including us, and the 2 that were in front of us ended up getting into an accident when one car missed its turn and decided to slam on its brakes, on a highway, getting rear-ended by the camper van behind it. Due to some quick thinking, and excellent evasive driving skills, Elisabet quickly swerved the cars, narrowly avoiding a 3 car pile up. It was then we knew we had made the right decision purchasing the extra insurance. Insurance is NOT compulsory in New Zealand, and had we got in an accident, we would've had to pay it all. Not good.

When we reached Aoraki, it was clear that the New Zealanders can't handle a little rain; the entire town was deserted! We found a self serve gas pump that were were in dire need of, only to discover it did not take any of our cards. We had to climb the slushy hill up to the hotel that ran the gas pump to finally get a bit of gas in our car. We had originally planned to camp at Mount Cook, and look around a little, as it was only 1pm when we arrived, however, due to the sleet that was now falling, there was little to see. We decided to soldier on, and after eating lunch in a grocery store parking lot, like the classy ladies we are, we drove to Omarama for the night, and both marveled at how much the snow made us feel like we were at home.

After a freezing cold shower in the campground bathrooms, we packed up and headed to Oamaru. We were first delayed by mass of sheep crossing the road, and then a quick stop on the highway to do an homage to Lord of the Rings ("You Shall Not Pass!"). We spent the afternoon touring the Victorian Prescient of Oamaru, and then bought tickets to see the Blue Penguin Colony return from sea at dusk. The Penguins have light sensitive eyes, so they spend most of their day underwater, and come back to land in the evenings, when they can see clearly. These adorable little creatures only get to be about 1.5kg maximum, and their waddle was so cute. Because this was a wildlife sanctuary, and the animals are light sensitive, I was unable to take pictures, but seeing those little penguins fight the tide, climb up the rocks, and get into the burrows for a long nights rest was really adorable, and something I am so glad I got to do.

We woke up bright and early, and drove 1 and a half hours to Dunedin, arriving right on time for our 9:00am tour of the Cadbury Chocolate factory. We got plenty of free chocolate, Elisabet especially, since the guide had never met anyone from Iceland before. We saw how a variety of different chocolates were made, and 1 ton of chocolate being poured through a waterfall. I was terrified during the waterfall, because, like an idiot, I decided to wear a white sweater that day. I, thankfully, did not end up covered in liquid chocolate. Relief!

After the tour, Elisabet and I drove to see New Zealand's only castle, Larnach Castle. William Larnach made it for his wife, after they settled in New Zealand, and after some very tumultuous family drama, he ended up killing himself. The Castle is now owned by another family, who restored it to its previous glory. It was breathtaking, with unbelievable detail work, especially in the ceilings. The tour had a great, 360 degree view of the cliff face and surrounding Ocean. We then did some walking down to Pilot beach, to see some more wild penguins and seals, then headed into the center of town, known as the Octagon, which is the hub of Dunedin.

Our Sunday itinerary had us heading to Invercargill, near the bottom of the south island. We did have a little car trouble, hit a patch of ice and slipped into the ditch, but some pushing from myself, and 2 helpful guys who stopped, had us out in no time. I did end up a little muddy from the knee down. Upon arriving, we found the majority of shops closed, and the town a little sleepy. We did find a Starbucks, the only open cafe around, and after enjoying some warm drinks found out this was the southern-most Starbucks in the world. Kind of neat! I found out afterwards that it is assumed the northern-most Starbucks is in Alaska. After that we checked into a quiet little campground and had a lazy night, watching hilarious episodes of New Zealand Cops.

This was it, we had made it to "B Day." Being afraid of heights, I think Elisabet was dreading it a bit more than I was. We packed up,and drove from Invercargill straight to the Kawarau Bridge, outside of Queenstown, to prepare to jump 43 meters from the first professional bungy jump in the world. It was excellent, and the free fall felt like flying. The scenery was idyllic, and the snow just added to the excitement. Even better, the guy operating the boat that picks you up at the bottom was from Edmonton. As I hung there upside down, him and I had a nice chat about where we lived in the city, and how he used to work at the West Ed Bungy. Queenstown is very similar to Banff, and the little ski town was busy, as all the recent snow had brought the hills to prime condition.

The next day, following our Bungy adventure, Elisabet and I had planned a Canyon swing from a ledge that overlooks the entire city. We talked to the main office at the bottom of the hill and they told us we were good to go. Upon arriving at the top, however, we found out the Ledge was closed, due to too much snow (what's that?). We found out a lot of local attractions were closed because of the snow, including the ski hills, which blew my mind. The main office apologized for the blunder, and after a refund, the girl pointed us in the direction of Patagonia, an amazing hot chocolate place that has cups of real chocolate, and the spectacular lava cake you see in the picture. After eating all the desert, I realized I was hungry for lunch (whoops!), so we went to Les Alps where I had the bowl of French Onion Soup I had been craving since we entered the chillier temperatures of New Zealand.

After entering a food coma for a few hours, I emerged, and Elisabet and I decided to hit up the town for the evening. We were walking to a bar when we were offered spots on a pub crawl, and figured this would be the best way to see the town, as it pub crawl was run by locals. We ended up at 6 different bars, danced a lot, and overall had a lot of fun!

The next day we relaxed, recovered from the night before, and prepared to wake up early the next morning, as we had to begin making our journey home.

The trip home was massive. We were up at 6:00 am, to clean up the camper, pack up the last of our things, and hit the road. We drove 5 and a half hours, with a few stops, from Queenstown back to Christchurch, and arrived at the rental return station at 1:00 pm. Our flight was set to leave at 3:20 pm, and we got to the airport around 1:30, to discover it had been delayed until 3:50, and the check in wasn't open until 1:50. We sat around, and went back to the line at 1:50 to discover a load of people. The line was around 50 minutes long, and when we got to the front, we discovered the flight had been delayed AGAIN, and wouldn't be leaving until 4:20 pm. We were already exhausted at this point, from our morning of driving, and were not impressed with the news. When we finally got on the plane, we figured we could relax a little. Not likely! We sat in front of 2 of the most out of control children I have ever seen on a plane, and I've been on vacations with Jeff and James ;). I swear, I think my tubes tied themselves while sitting there. They argued for the entire 5 hour flight, and their dad did little to stop this, not even separating the two by sitting in the middle. I usually love kids, and have been on a plane with my sister and newborn niece, who flew like a champ. This was an unfortunate situation.

Once we finally got through customs, it was around 8:00 pm, Gold Coast Time (which is 10:00 pm, New Zealand time.) After 1 and a half hours on the train, and a 10 minute drive in our friend Alana's car, courtesy of Joe (thanks again!), we were finally home.

I've been back for a few days now, and am so glad I got to see everything I did. The drive was beautiful, with great scenery and views Elisabet and I got along great regardless of being in cramped quarters for 10 days. I'll miss Dolly, and the comfort of her heater blowing on my feet all night long, but I am exhausted from the busy days we had on the trip, and excited for some deserved sleep in my own bed. Below is a map outlining our driving routes.

Break Time Adventures

So, I am 2 weeks into my 5 week break, and have been pretty busy. Last Saturday, Elisabet and I went whale watching. It was an early morning for us, and we piled onto the boat, excited to see some of the humpback whales that migrate from Antarctica to have their babies. Apparently they cannot have babies in the cold Antarctica waters as the calves do not have the protective coating of blubber and would freeze instantly. Talk about a shock to the system! Elisabet and I picked someseats on the right side of the boat, and had a feeling we were in prime whale viewing spots. Boy were we wrong! As we pulled away from the docks, the captain announced that while we werefree to move around the boat, they would ensure the boat would be constantly turning, to allow everyone to see the whales from every seat. This turned out to be a lie! Every time we would see a whale on our side of the boat, they would turn it so the people on the left could see. Eventually, most of the people on the boat migrated to sit on the left side to see the whales as wecouldn't from our side. We, however, stupidly stayed in our seats, assuming the boat would be eventually turned. The captain came out to tell us finally that they "weren't going to turn the boat for just 2 people." We had to make our way through the throng of people on the front of the ship, but did finally get some prime spots. We got to see some whales breaching, and a few great tail shots.

Sunday we went to stay with a friend of ours, the beautiful Alana Maxwell. Her family is from a small town in the Sunshine Coast, called Maleny. It is picturesque, and was the perfect break from the day to day hassles of dorm life. The town was gorgeous, and the Maxwell family was so welcoming. We got some amazing meals (pumpkin soup, pork roast, lasagna) and comfy beds to sleep in, and a tour guide who was game for anything. We walked the main streets of Maleny, had a great cup of coffee in Monica's, and relaxed heartily for our first day there. The second day we decided to be a little more adventurous. First we went to the mountainview road lookout to see the Glass House Mountains, then it was off to the big kart track. Although it was her first time, Elisabet was a natural, and I showed just how little I've driven since I've been here, spinning out a total of 4 times... Next we had lunch in

Landsbourough and then drove to Mount Ngungun. The hike was very scenic and entertaining, and at some points a little treacherous. It was all worth it when we go to the top, and saw the mountains much closer, and the rolling valley of Maleny. For our last day, we drove to the Eumundi markets, did some shopping, and had lunch with a few Maleny locals. We had a leisurely drive home, stopping frequently, and finally visiting the local IKEA. I can't wait to go back, to visit the Australian Zoo, and see what else the great little town has to offer.

Finally, yesterday I convinced an Icelandic Viking, an Australian Kangaroo, a Slovenia Sheila, and an American Bro to become honourary Canadians and celebrate my great nation's 144th birthday. We listened to Canadian tunes, I sang the national anthem, we all sang Celine Dion, then we went down to a local bar that had imported a bunch of Canadian specials, including Clamato juice to make caesers. Have you ever tried to explain to someone what Clamato juice is?! Don't, it only results in horrified faces. But, I got them to try it anyways, and according to Ziva, "it tastes like pizza." We also ended up running into a few players of the Gold Coast Blue Tongues hockey team, making Joe and I more excited than we care to admit. The night was lots of fun, I got to meet a bunch of local Canadians, and everyone got home safely.

Now, the next few days will include a lot of relaxing, as I leave for New Zealand on the 5th. I've already booked my bunjy jump, canyon swing, chocolate factory tour, and other fun little adventures. Talk to you soon blog!

Winter Break!

Well, after spending most of the month of June in my room, partially due to studying, and partially due to a self imposed quarantine to save the world from catching my cold, I can happily say that Semester 1 - Masters of Marketing is in the can!

I finished exams on the 17th of June, and have mostly been kicking back, and planning the next step in my journey, with the help of my game for anything (except heights, but we're working on that in New Zealand) roomie Elisabet! Exams went well, for anyone who is wondering, marks should be up July 6th, but I'm not concerned, I feel like things went well! Winter break lasts until July 25th, hopefully I'll have some great posts for you up ahead. Here is a little list of the things I will be doing over the next 8 weeks:

• Trip to small town Australia (Maleny) to stay in a REAL HOUSE! (very excited!)
• AFL Game
• Cabaret!! (In Brisbane)
• Rugby Game (Australia Wallabies vs. New Zealand All Blacks)
• Whale Watching
• Road Trip across New Zealand's South Island
• Exploring Gold Coast's smaller suburbs
• Dinner at Dracula's
• and whatever else comes along!

Hopefully I'll have lots of time to blog, to fill anyone who is interested in hearing what I've been up too! Time is flying by! Less than 6 months until my family is here, and home in less than 7!

Daily Excursions

So I'm back again. I have been busy since I last checked in, and no, not just with assignments (however, those have also went well). All my classes are done, and now I have a week to study and exams start June 11th until June 17th, then freedom until July 27th! I'll keep you posted on what I do with that time.

Over the last couple of weeks I have been taking in the sights and sounds of Gold Coast. I've explored some new suburbs (and frequented an AMAZING Sushi restaurant), visited a local theme park, and stepped out to see some of the surrounding scenery.

My first little excursion was to O'Reilly's Treetop Walk at Tamborine Mountain, in the Gold Coast Hinterlands. They are a beautiful stretch of mountains and rainforest, with a variety of different walking trails, including the Treetop Walk. We made quick work of the drive, or so the GPS told us, until we stopped a little old lady to ask her for directions and found out we were on the wrong mountain range! Doh. After some more driving up precarious mountain roads (think tiny, twisty, and barely room for 2 cars to comfortably pass each other) we made it to the Tree Top Walk. It is an approximately 30 minutes stretch of walking on suspension bridges high above the rainforest, and it is completely free (bonus!). It was a little rainy that day, so the forest was all misty and really quiet sounding, and I saw a bird digging a hole (weirdest bird thing I've ever seen? Yes). Our group enjoyed jumping on the bridges, to freak Ingvild (a glorious Norwegian gal) out. We found they have a 'tree top' patio, which requires climbing up 2 ladders. Straight up. I never thought ladder climbing could feel like an extreme sport, but the combination of a straight up angle, with a slippery ladder (remember, it was a bit rainy), was enough to get that little excited/nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach.

After the treetop walk, we heading to a gorgeous botanical garden, with a variety of global plants (mainly from the Asia-Pacific region, but there were some from South America, and the States). The entire time we wandered around the rainforest, I kept expecting a T-Rex to come barreling out of the forest, or one of those weird dinosaurs that shoots poison at you, like what happened to Newman (the big guy). Alas, the only wildlife we saw were odd birds, and fake snakes, another tactic to scare the glorious Norwegian. There are plenty of different mountain ranges in the hinterland, and a variety of walking trails, and I am excited to go back and do amore difficult hike.

Last weekend, I headed to South Stradbroke Island on a tourist voucher I got online from Scoopon (Australian Groupon). It was one of the most fun days out I've had since I got here. We got to ride on a huge catamaran for 45 minutes to the island. Seeing the size of the houses that are ocean front is amazing, and I'm glad I sat on the port (left) side of the boat! Once we go to the island, a huge lunch buffet was prepared for us, which is very exciting for any students. We got to feed some wallabies (tiny kangaroos), and played some competitive badminton. One of the best, and most unexpectedly fun, parts of the excursions was this hilarious rope swing we found. Everyone took a turn getting pushed, swung, and spun, much to the delight of all of us watching, and the local firemen who were amazed 20+ year old adults could find so much joy in a rope tied to a tree.

Then, the main event, a 4WD Tractor ride to a deserted beach, since the island is only accessible by boat, we were the only people there. At the beach, everyone was given a boogie board and we got to go Sand Surfing! It is the exact same as sledding, but on sand! So much fun!! Climbing the dunes was exhausting, but totally worth it. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my friend Alan for capturing an amazing action shot of me sand surfing. I bow down to his photo taking skills, and wish I could be as talented!

Finally, this Wednesday was Elisabet's birthday, so I wanted to make sure she had a great day! We started out going to the gym (ok, not the best start) and then relaxed around the apartment until she had to go to class at 2pm. It was then I made my trek to the local cupcake store to get some celebratory birthday cupcakes!

The cupcake craze has yet to hit Iceland, so this was an educational cupcakery experience for Elisabet. We got: Chocolate Mint, Peanut Butter Chocolate, Mocha Mudcake and Vanilla Springtime. I am happy to say all the cupcakes were thoroughly enjoyed. We spent the night at the theatre, engaging in their 'Master's of Hollywood' series. It was Fiddler on the Roof night, and Elisabet and I picked up some sweet new dance moves to take to the clubs. On Friday a group of us went out for dinner at Vapiano to celebrate Elisabet, then decided to go bowling in our fancy duds. Elisabet had birthday luck on her side, and won the night with 2 strikes (honourable mention goes to Joe, who only lost by 1

point).

With that said, I am going to sign off for now. I've been told by a few that I am not updating this blog enough, because inquiring minds want to know (who knew!?). So, with that said, I will try to amp up my bloggings, and will tell you about the mundane activities of my day to day life. Strap yourselves in folks, its going to be a mediocre ride.

Whitsunday Islands

Hello family and friends, apologies its been so long. Don't worry though, I haven't been doing anything interesting. Just plugging away at school. So far I am about 5 assignments in, and I'll have you know I've got marks of distinction (honours) on all of them. Just need to keep it up for about 7 more months, and I'm well on my way to graduating with honours again.

So now that you know why you haven't been hearing from me, I'm going to regale you a little with my mid semester break vacation. I decided to go to Whitsunday Islands, after hearing them described as 'Paradise on Earth.'

They were truly gorgeous! Lush green landscapes, cool teal water, and white sandy beaches. The rain I had for the majority of the trip wasn't enough to put a damper on my experience. I knew this would probably be the only time I would get to explore this place, so I put on my yellow raincoat and went crazy.

I was on a sailboat tour for 2 days and 2 nights, which took me to a variety of beaches, snorkel spots, and quiet bays for the evening. I got to snorkel in the ever attractive stinger suit, a bathing suit the boat provided that was like a thin wet suit, to protect me from the very deadly jellyfish they get in the area. I didn't see a single one, but the suit was a comfort when given the knowledge of stingers in the area. Snorkeling was fun, but I only lasted about 20-30 minutes. I take after my mother and prefer to swim a little bit away from the reef and fish, looking from a distance, and since the tide was low the reef was RIGHT THERE, and the fish were very curious. I was happily done when one swam into my face.

The boat was great, I've always loved the rocking motion, and I slept like a baby in the tiny cabin they stuffed my party of 3. We were in very close proximity of each other for the whole trip.

We got home Friday around 5, and were able to enjoy the Royal wedding along with the rest of the world. All in all it was a great experience and I enjoyed the sailboat thoroughly. My only disappointment was that I didn't get to see a sea turtle, but I have a trip to Cairns (the Great Barrier Reef) with the family over Christmas to do a little sea turtle finding on. I'll be back sometime near the end of the month to let you know about my day trip to Stradbroke Island, its booked for the 29th. I can't wait to go sand surfing!!

I'm Alive

Just checking in blog, don't worry, I'm still here. Things are a little busy lately with school, so once things let up, and I start experiencing the things I have in the hopper here, more posts will follow

Byron Beautiful!

This weekend marked my first getaway to Byron Bay. Just an hour south, it is a gorgeous little beach town, also known as the most easterly point of Australia. Italso has a great lighthouse that still runs at night, filling the town with light.

We got there around 4:30, checked into our hostel, and heading to Aztec for a DELICIOUS, but very long mexican meal. I recommend the cheese dip, it was amazing, but apparently the guacamole was delicious as well. Then we decided to head to a local home, a friend of a friend, to get the details on the nightlife in Byron Bay. But, to get there we had to drive, and since I had opted for just water at dinner, while everyone else had margharitas, I got to drive a car on the Aussie streets (and navigate driving on the wrong side of the road) for the first time. The Outcome: Not as terrifying as I thought it would be, and something I'm looking forward to doing again.

It was a pretty tame night out, I had 1 beer overall, some of my friends had a little more, but we went to Aquarius Backpackers Lodge for a few minutes, then everyone migrated to the Beach Hotel, but, having a few people lagging behind, I waited for them, and by the time we arrived at the Beach, they were no longer letting people in, as they close down at midnight. So, the three of us who missed out stopped by a Dominos for a little pizza, and then after 15 minutes caught up with our crew again. Everyone else was hungry, so we went to the most hilarious kebab shop: Abrakebabra. After that, most of us were pretty exhausted, so we walked back to the hostel for a little shut eye.

Sunday was our day to explore. We had a disappointing breakfast at Fix Coffee, and then looked at all the great shops for a few hours. My friend Alan who was with us confided in us that he is scared of the 'artsy types' that frequent Byron Bay, because they 'creep him out.' That

provided the rest of us with plenty of cannon fodder to make fun of him for the rest of the day. For lunch we stopped in at a little sushi place. It was delicious, and sushi here is so cheap! Must be the proximity, I guess! We spent an hour on the beach relaxing, and then headed to the Lighthouse to check it out.

It was so beautiful, and on the walkway to the most easterly point in Australia, we got the extra special treat of seeing a whole school of wild dolphins swimming in the break.

It was a great weekend getaway, and fantastic to relax as I will be going pretty heavy on the school work for the next couple of weeks.

Let the Learning Begin!

First week of classes done! Only 15 more to go until I am halfway done the school part of this adventure!

This is where the blogs are probably going to get pretty uninteresting, as the exciting things I do become less, and the learning becomes more. But, I'm excited for the learning!

My week was pretty productive, if I do say so myself. I spent Monday reading the first chapters of my textbooks, except for one, as it didn't even arrive in the bookstore until Thursday the 3rd. I don't have any lectures Monday or Wednesday, so I get a 3 day weekend every weekend! And, a whole lot of time to do readings. I have lectures from 1-4 and 6-9 on Tuesdays, 4-7 on Thursday, and 3-6 on Friday. Most of the classes in my program are offered at night, because a lot of people take their Masters part time, so I too will be a night owl.

So far, I am pretty excited by 3 out of 4 of my classes. Branding seems really exciting, and the professor is so passionate! Advanced Consumer Decision Making is right up my alley, as it is a bit of a mix between the psychology and marketing, and I am a huge fan of my professor in that class too. She is the head of the entire Masters of Marketing Program, and already in the first lecture I could tell she has some hilarious stories to tell. My Internal Marketing Professor was also really funny, and had us do a pretty original ice breaker activity that I hadn't seen before. The course material seems a little more dry than the other 2 I've spoken about, but I think if anyone can make it interesting, its this guy. And finally, Strategic Marketing. I hate to say it, but dull! It was just the first class, so I'm sure it will get better once we get into the meat and potatoes of the thing, but I have never had a lecturer in my life who spoke with such a monotone. He seemed like a very nice man, but there was no life to his voice. But, for the next 2 weeks, 3 of my professors, including Strategic Marketing, are gone at worldwide conventions presenting their work, so I will have 3 completely different lecturers for the next 2 weeks, so who knows!?

I have some pretty good groups so far for group projects, a few Canadians, some Finnish people, a girl from China, some Danish people, and a couple people from Germany make up the groups for most of my classes. It'll be great to get some diversity and see how marketing is interpreted through other cultures.

It's been a quiet week here for me. I hurt my knee last Saturday, after making a poor choice to climb my balcony when I was locked out rather than calling security to unlock it. My knee ended up getting infected, so I've pretty much been laid up since then. Now I'm on antibiotics, and the knee is looking, and feeling, much better.

I had a pretty quiet weekend as well. On Friday, a few of the Aussie girls I've met took some of us foreigners to the 'Hogs Breath Cafe' for the 'Best Steak in Australia.' I had the calamari steak, and it was pretty damn good. Now, since I've had so few steaks in Australia, I'm not sure I can claim it was the best YET, but look for this common theme on the blog as the months go by, and by the end of my trip, I will crown a 'Best Steak.'

Saturday was rainy, so I spent to day reading textbooks and setting up formats for my many papers this semester, as did most of my roommates. I think most people around here were feeling the need for relaxation, as the Village itself was pretty quiet all weekend. On Saturday night, a few friends and I went out for some yummy pizza, and saw a movie at the local cinema. Big props to Alana, who has driven me around a few times now, and my car-less self would be lost without her. After the movie, we went back to a friend's apartment and played N64 Mario Kart till 2am. The little things in life!

On Sunday, we went to one of the local themeparks, Dreamworld, and I forgot to bring my camera! So, no pictures of that, BUT, it is cheaper, as a resident, to get an unlimited pass ($60) instead of a day pass ($79), so I can go to Dreamworld, and White Water World as many times as I want until June, so I am sure we will go again, and I will try to remember my camera. It was a great day out, and a nice break from my solitary confinement of Saturday. Had a quiet Sunday night in, and here we are at Monday, another week, and more school to do.

I'm going to Byron Bay this weekend, which we were actually supposed to do this last weekend, but the delightful new friends I've made put it off for a week so I could heal up and be in fine form for beaching (no one wants sand in a cut!) So, I will hopefully have some beautiful pictures and fun stories to tell.

Now, it's been a pleasure, but please excuse me while I get back to studying!

Skydiving and Village Life

Today I went skydiving, and it was amazing! They made us fill out a bunch of paperwork and sign our lives away. Elisabeth was a little nervous, because she has some issues with height, so we decided to get her to jump first, so there would be no time for hesitation. Our instructors were awesome, so friendly, and Elisabeth's kept making cracks about us dying on the way down. Ha?

We got in the bus to the airport, and when we got there, both Elisabeth and I tried to get out of our seats without undoing or seatbelt. Safe to say, our minds were probably elsewhere. Once in, we all started making fun of the pilot, which is probably not the smartest thing to do. Elisabeth was really happy when I pointed out all the duct tape 'holding' the plane together.

Usually you are only in the air for about 10 minutes, but we had to circle around for about 30 minutes because planes kept flying underneath us, and apparently you aren't supposed to free fall past other planes; freaks them out a bit. It was an awkward 30 minutes since I was all strapped up to my dive instructor. We had to keep shifting around to sit comfortably, which meant I was sitting on his lap for about half the time.

Once we got the go ahead, Elizabeth and Steve moved into position. Her scream when she jumped was epic, and got me really excited to go! Then it was time for Muttely and I to take the plunge. With one last parting insult to Nick the pilot (your driving's crap, mate!) we were out the door and free falling.

The free fall lasted about 45 seconds, and included some funny faces at the camera, then he pulled the parachute and we drifted slowly for about 5 minutes. During this time we watched Elisabeth fall, Muttely pointed out the scenery to me, I drove the chute for a bit, and we talked about how Muttely dropped our of business school to be a parachute instructor. Sorry, Mom and Dad, maybe I'll do that instead!

We came in quick on the X and were able to do a standing landing, which was rad because then I didn't have to land on my butt.

The experience was exhilarating, exciting, and completely fantastic! I am so happy to check that off my bucket list! Plus, it was a great way to bond with my roomie Elisabeth

Besides throwing myself from planes, things have been busy adjusting to live here in the village. I've met a multitude of people from all around the world, including (but not limited to): Iceland, Paris, South Carolina, Australia (duh), Norway, Denmark, South Africa, and so on. I have yet to meet a person I haven't liked, everyone here is so happy. We'll see if that lasts once the exams roll in.

My days have been spent finding my way around campus, going to orientation sessions, searching out the local banks, supermarkets, restaurants, looking for a job, prepping for school, and meeting as many people as I possibly can. I've been to the beach a few times, into Surfer's Paradise with the Village on Tuesdays, because they have a bus that takes us there and back that night, and had a few movie nights in, because Elisabeth is a master movie downloader. I am having a great time, and I hope that everyone back home is having just as good a time as I am! If not, you should get here ASAP, because its great!

All my roommates have moved in now. I've got 2 roommates from Sydney (originally India), one from South Carolina, and Elisabeth from Iceland. And, since Elisabeth and I are the only girls, we get our own bathroom! Fantastic.

Real life starts on Monday, so I am going to spend tonight (Saturday) with a few of friends I've met here, before I have a 10 am wake up call tomorrow to have another Skype session with the whole family, Grandparents included this time.

Once I get into school I am still going to try to keep busy exploring this new city around me. The Hinterlands were amazing from that one tour I've done, and I've had a couple people express an interest in going back to Springbrook Park to do the 4 hour hike that takes you behind a waterfall. I will let you all know when I do anything exciting, until then, no worries!

Here is a link to some of the skydiving photos.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=623403&id=570255133&l=0114fd0479

First 2 weeks

I'm here! Get ready for my pasty body, Australia! We landed at 7:30am, February 2nd, Brisbane time, around 3:30pm, February 1, Edmonton time, after about 26 hours traveling, 18 hours flying, but I felt great! I probably slept for about 2/3 of the 13 and a half hour flight from LAX to Brisbane.

The weather here is very warm, around 30 Celsius, and very humid. The cyclone in North Queensland is the cause of the humidity. Don't worry, I am in South Queensland! A lot of the Aussies I have talked to are actually complaining about the weather, but I'm soaking it all in (literally!) My skin feels great, and it's nice to see some sunshine.

Karen and I had a busy day Wednesday. We picked up some things that were too big to pack, set up a bank account, set up a cellphone plan, got me a cookbook of local Aussie cooking so I can feed myself with some of the food they eat here, and found where we will take the train to Gold Coast tomorrow, and its only 4pm!

I read my wonderful book that so many great people took the time to write in. Every entry was so much fun, and I love how creative everyone got! I haven't had a lot of time to pour over it, as I have found myself very busy, but I can't wait to read it again and again! Thank you so much, everyone, you have really made my day, week, maybe even year (I'll let you know!)

Karen is determined to find a koala and a kangaroo before I bid her adieu... This may be an interesting quest!

Things didn't really slow down once we got to Gold Coast. We caught the express train down, went straight to my dorm and dropped off most of the luggage. Then it was off to the hotel/apartment. We're staying at the Breakers, and we are right on the beach. Once we settled in, we headed south to 'The Oasis' at Broadbeach Mall for some lunch, it was around 2pm and we were dying. Then we did a little shopping, and went for a nice walk down the beach. We spent the evening exploring our local neighbourhood, which included the Italian restaurant, the bar in the lawn bowling club, and the BWS (Beer Wine and Spirits) before settling in for the night. On our way back to the hotel, however, I pointed out a bat to Karen, it was huge! She did not believe me, saying it was probably a crow. 2 minutes down the road, another HUGE bat flew low over our heads, and lets just say Karen was a little more than freaked out.

Friday was our big accomplishment day. Got all my bedding, crockery, and odds and ends for the dorm room, then spent about 2 and a half hours unpacking, futzing, and just generally getting everything set up. It was soooo hot in there, because it had pretty much been closed up since beginning of December. It was nice to get most of our work done, only groceries left to do there, so we probably won't be back in the dorm until Friday the 11th.

On Friday night we went for dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe in Surfer's Paradise, and we were up on the 2nd floor patio. It was full of kids running around, hanging over the balcony ledge, and Karen started to get nervous, saying she doesn't want to see the kids fall. Once we ordered our food, we were told to move out of the smoking area (didn't even know we were in there!), to another air, right in the middle of the playing children. This made Karen even more nervous, until we looked over the edge and saw that about 3 feet down there was a plexi glass roof separating the balcony and the ground, which reassured Karen that no children would die on her watch. She must be oddly psychic, or just a super observant mom, because about 5 minutes later and kid ran straight into the balcony, a piece of glass in the rail popped out, and he fell straight onto the plexi glass! The whole restaurant exploded into chaos, as most people thought the kid had died. Karen and I just sat there in shock, and then once we all saw the kid was ok, we could not stop laughing. Not very nice, but hey, she called it!

Saturday was a day just for us. We spent the day in Surfers Paradise, checking out the shops, the food, eating TONS of gelati and just relaxing. Sunday was more of the same. We both were up early, so while Karen checked her e-mails, I went for a run. It was so humid I didn't need to bring a bottle of water. On the way into the hotel I ran into 2 massive iguanas sunning themselves on the patio. I WISH I had my camera. We spent the rest of the day checking out the outdoor mall to the south, Pacific Fair, and then spent the afternoon lounging on the beach. We found Stephanie's doppelganger, and Karen, being the creep she is, took a picture of the girl, so we could prove it to everyone. Sunday night was low key, tacos in the room while we did Laundry and packed our stuff to move further down the beach, closer to Surfers Paradise.

We decided to head to one of the 6 theme parks in Gold Coast on Monday, and hung around at Movie World. Karen was a trooper and rode all the roller coasters with me. Unfortunately, the Superman Roller Coaster (known as the best roller coaster in the southern hemisphere) was closed, so I guess that is for another time.

Got groceries on Tuesday for the dorm, all the non perishables so that was done, and I met my first roommate. Her name is Elisabeth, she is from Iceland, no she is not the trainer for the Iceland team from Mighty Ducks 2 (sorry Mike), and she is getting her Bachelors in Event Management. That night we saw a dinner show called 'The Australian Outback Spectacular," which Karen and I figured was our crash course in all things Australian.

Wednesday we took a tour through the hinterlands, and it was amazing. First we went to Tropical Fruit World, and I tried a custard apple for the very first time. It is AMAZING, and described as the closing thing to ice cream growing on a tree. Yum. Then, we went to the Natural Bridge, which was formed by a waterfall eroding away rocks, creating (duh) a Natural Bridge). Next we went to the Best of All Lookouts, where you can see the entire valley (created by a volcano 20 million years ago) and Mount Warring, which is the 'plug' for that Volcano. We stopped at a couple other lookouts and did a few short hikes through Springbrook Park, and then went to Springbrook Manor for a great lunch and a look around the grounds. We also saw a Pademelon (small kangaroo) on our way up the mountain, which was super exciting for Karen and I!

Thursday we took an Aquaduck tour through the Nerang River, and saw some celebrities fancy houses, including Jackie Chan's vacation spot, and Kylie Minouge old penthouse. Very exciting!

Mom and I spent our last weekend together back in Brisbane, we saw Wicked, visited the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, and just hung out for our last couple of days. On Sunday, I took the train back to Gold Coast, and now I'm here!

Here is a link to the pictures Karen and I took on our mini trek through Gold Coast and Brisbane! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=612141&id=570255133&l=61802d43e5

Sorry this post is so long, the Internet was iffy on the trek, but I'll keep them shorter from now on! Orientation Week starts next Monday, so hopefully I will have some fun tales for everyone!

Last Week Countdown

It's almost time!! I mailed my application in January 2010, got accepted April 2010, moved up my departure date from July 2011 to January 2011 in September 2010, and now I am sitting here, 7 days left to before I head off on my Australian adventure.

For the parents who are so supportive of this endeavour, I've included books in the title of this blog, as that is the primary reason I am going to Australia (Three cheers for school!). For myself, and my wonderful friends, don't worry, I also plan on having a few beers while I'm there.

I have a feeling that this week is going to fly by with everything I have to get done before I go, but since I am still chained to a desk from 8-4:30 for the next day and a half, I might as well take advantage of the fact I am sitting in front of a computer.

This blog will be my ramblings of what I am up to, so my many admirers (all 2 of you, hey mom and dad!) can follow my comings and goings. I can't say how often I will be blogging, because it depends on how busy I am with school! I hope to have some fascinating tales to regale you all with, but if I don't, lets pretend I do anyways!