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.