Well, I'm back from my trip to the Whitsunday Islands. It was fabulous, tiring, and a little scary. We arrived on wednesday night and took a bus from Prosperpine airport to Airlie beach where our hostel was. Now, I've only ever stayed in two hostels, one in Byron Bay and one in Melbourne. The Byron one was fair, but since we were with a group it was better. Melbourne the hostel was fabulous. Quiet, clean rooms, the bathroom was down the hall, but that was no big deal, a little cold, but over all very enjoyable. Airlie Beach hostel was bad. Very, very bad. We get to the room, luckily it is air conditioned, it has a small little kitchen and a bathroom in the room. Those are its only redeeming qualities. Our bunk is right next to the door, we are the only girls with 4 other guys, 3 of which are 20 and from England, studying at Brisbane. We're tired so we just want to go to bed. The 3 guys go out for the night and return at around 3 o'clock in the morning. They then decide it would be a fantastic idea to make heaps of noise. They are taking pictures, and I'm not sure if they actually took a picture of us sleeping, because i saw the flash and then heard them like run and laugh. So, I go on defensive mode. I face the wall but am wide awake to ensure I can kick them in the balls if they try and do anything funny. One of them brought back a girl and proceeded to do dirty things in the bathroom. They continued on like this for a good 45 minutes. I was pretty sure we were going to be raped, but we were not. The second night the room is then joined by 2 other girls from england, but they just got off a boat and were very tired as well. The boys went out again that night, and returned around 1 and again made a boat load of noise. This night, though, no one brought home a girl. They did this again on the third night. Good thing we were only in that room for 3 nights. I feared for my safety a bit. I don't know what it is with these europeans, but they like to sleep in the hot. All the rooms had air conditioning, which i was very content to leave on all night. But they would turn it off! Who does that! So we wake up in the morning and it's beastly hot. Not okay.

After getting over the horrible hostel experience, we did have a good first 3 days. We went jetskiing, which is very fun. The water was a little choppy

which made it very hard to drive it. We got caught in

a boat's wake and i'm pretty sure we got some major air going over those waves. They make it look very easy to drive in the movies, but let me tell you, for a first time jetskiier, it was very not easy to drive. We also got to hold baby sharks and feed barramundi fish. Now when these fish eat it's crazy. You dangle their food right in front of their nose and they just wait. Then when they decide it's the right time to eat, they will pounce and suck in the food and like 2 liters of water in a fraction of a second. It's ridiculous. So of c

ourse we all got a big kick out of it. We also got to feed giant sting rays. Because their mouth is on their stomachs essentially, you have to push the food under them so they are on your arm and they just like suck it up. Strangest feeling ever.

On saturday we went on our boat trip. We were on a maxi yacht called Broomstick. That was awesome. It was all a bunch of other young travelers backpacking through australia. We met up with two other americans and were dubbed team america by a crew member we du

bbed team england. That stuck for the duration of the trip. We sailed around the Whitsundays, slept on the boat, went scuba diving, snorkling, went to Whitehaven beach and had a marvelous time. I went for an optional dive, which was amazing. We went about 7 meters down and saw 2 sting rays and this big fish that is in the process of changing for a female to a male. How

interesting. That morning it was raining when we woke up. But we decided to go to Whitehaven beach anyway. This is like the most beautiful beach in the Whisundays/most of australia. It's actually I think something like a national park, so you can only visit it was a tour group, and you can only stay on it for I believe 4 hours. The sand is so white and soft it's outrageous. I wanted to bottle it up and take it home with me. As soon as we got to the beach the weather cleared up. But of course because it was so gross out when we left none of use were wearing sun screen so we had to stay in our lovely stinger suits (a lighter wet suit to protect you from jelly fish). We frolicked in the water for a few hours before heading back to the boat.

After the boat trip we were back in Airlie for 2 more days. We just hung around mostly. On our last day we were parasailing. Such great fun. Plus the boat driving was a babe. Such a great ending to a great trip. Now it's back to reality for a few more weeks. Only 4 more weeks in the semester here, crazy. We're planning a trip with a bunch of people back to Byron in early october, a trip to sydney in early november, and then hopefully we'll get over to New Zealand before we head back to the states.

Melbourne was AMAZING. I’ve decided that Melbourne is my city. Everything about it was wonderful. It was clean, interesting, artsy, friendly, and fabulous. There is so much to do and see. It was very European. It really didn’t feel like I was in australia, but I don’t think I would be able to place where I was on a map. The city itself is really nice. Much like any other city it has tall buildings and shopping. But it has all these trams that run through it, which is the main form of public transport. Outside the city are all these little towns and such. There is St. Kilda, which has a bunch of shopping and is on the water. Then there is Fitzroy, which has Brunswick St. which is really artsy and alternative. Then there is South Yarra, which is more upscale shopping and such. It was really just a great city, very user friendly.

We flew in on Wednesday with this cheap ass airline Tiger Airways. So we get to the airport and go to find our gate, which is in like the airport’s basement. We have to walk on the runway for like 5 minutes before we get to the actual plane, which is like half empty. BUT first, when we get to the airport we go to get our boarding passes. So we walk up and they are like, you didn’t “web check-in” so that will be $20, plus a $5 service fee, and oh, you’re using a card, we charge another $6.25 for that. WHAT THE HELL I HATE YOU TIGER AIRWAYS. The security in australia is seriously lacking. When we went through the metal detectors we didn’t have to take off our shoes, or jackets/sweatshirts or anything. On the way home we didn’t even have to show ID. Crazy business. But anyway, when we land in Melbourne we don’t even go in the actual airport. We land and walk on the runway, then through this like tin tunnel and into like the freight area. We were treated like cargo. Ok so the flight was really cheap, but seriously, I am a human being. I deserve to go through the airport. But we survived.

We get to the hostel, which is in like the perfect location, right across from Federation Square and Flinders St. Station. Our room is an 8 person room, but luckily the only open beds were in the corner so no one walked by us. But the light above my bed was broken, and the main switch light was on this 1 hour timer, so at night, when the light went off, it was bed time for me. The showers on the floor we were on didn’t get good hot water so we had to go up 2 floors to shower, which was a pain. But it was fine. It was clean and everything, so no worries there.

Thursday was our first full day in the city. We started the morning off by wandering around the streets and stores near the hostel, just to get our bearings and such. Then we walked over to Federation Square, got lunch, and went and saw the Tim Burton exhibit at the Australian Center for the Moving Image. That was really cool, I had no idea he did so much, and that Johnny Depp was in like all his movies. But there were props and such from his various movies and a bunch of his sketches and such. Then we walked around a little more and then went and got dinner. The food in Melbourne is so good. There are a bunch of like lanes and alleys that have little cafes and stuff. We went to this one cafe and I had the best chai latte I have ever had in my life. Literally it was great. So good.

Friday, it was overcast and a little rainy in the morning. But we avoided that well and went to the aquarium. That was pretty cool, got to see some authentic australian fishes. We watched them feed these giant sting rays and sharks and sea turtles. Man, I’ll tell you, those sea turtles are a pain in the ass. They bite the people that feed them and won’t let go. And the sting rays are very greedy. They just like flopped over the divers and kept coming back for more. It was enjoyable. In the afternoon we met up with my cousin, whom I was meeting for the very first time in australia, how weird. But we met him in St. Kilda and walked along the beach to see wild penguins. We saw two of them because most of them were out and about. But they were really small, it was neat. Then he took us for a drive to Arthur’s Seat, which has really good views. We got to see more outside the city, which was nice. We had scones, with jam and cream and tea, which is called something, but it has escaped me at this moment. But it was delicious. Then Ahron and his wife took us out for dinner at this chinese restaurant. It was just a great day.

Saturday in the morning we went and got crepes that were delicious. Then we headed over to the Old Melbourne Gaol (jail) where the infamous Ned Kelly was hanged. He was a notorious killer with like a political agenda. But it was cool to see. That’s where they shipped a lot of the convicts from Tasmania and such to. After that we walked over to Brunswick Street, which is really artsy and has all these shops and cafes and such. It was cool to see. For dinner we got sushi and then went to the Eureka Skydeck. It’s like 92 stories high, but the actual deck part is 88 stories up. We went on the Edge, which is like this glass box thing that moves 3 meters out from the building, it moves while you are in it. They do this like light and sound show while you’re in it as well. It was actually a little scary. I felt like I had to hold on and couldn’t look down. But I did, and it was really cool. After that we walked around Southbank or something like that, which is just on the other side of the Yarra river. It was really pretty.

Sunday we went shopping. All day. We started the day on Ackland Street in St. Kilda. That’s where all the European Jews first settled, but they have long since gone. But they did leave behind all their food. I had a smoked salmon sandwich was spinach and cream cheese. Delicious. Then I got chocolate mousse and it was delicious. The shopping was amazing. After Ackland St. we went to Chapel Street which is more upscale shopping. That was also fabulous. And we all know how much I love shopping, it was just a great day. For dinner we went to China Town and had wonderful chinese food. We were the only white people in the restaurant besides this one guy eating by himself. But I take that as a good thing, meaning the food is probably good, which it was.

All in all Melbourne was everything I wanted it to be. We got to do everything we said we wanted and then some. The city was a perfect fit for australia, a city, yet very relaxed. Everything worked out very well for a trip planned by ourselves. The timing was perfect, we avoided the rain, the weather was wonderful for Melbourne, and it was actually really nice to be in a colder climate.

Coming up we have the British India concert on Thursday and then next Wednesday we take off for the Whitsundays. I think we’re going to spend a few days on a yacht, which will be very nice. Much more relaxing than our trip to Melbourne, but should be just as enjoyable.

So this week was fun. It’s now September, which means it’s spring here. And apparently, when it hits spring it all of a sudden gets really hot. So it’s been really pretty hot here and very humid, needless to say, my hair has not been very happy. And it gets really hot at night in the rooms. You can sleep with the windows open until like 5 o’clock in the morning and then the birds start making their noises so you have to close with windows and then it heats up like no-ones business. So that’s been fun. Good thing I’m not here for the dead of summer.

On Friday we went to the beach for a few hours and then me, meaghan, kate, and simon went to a rugby game. It was the Gold Coast Titans vs. Wests Tigers. The Titans were ranked #4 and the Tigers #2. It was a very good game. The Titans won by like 4 points to secure a home game for the semi-finals. The best part of the game were the hotties sitting in front of us. They were nice to look at. At half time they had little kids come out and play rugby and this little kid, probably no older than 9 completely decked this other little kid. It was nuts. They have no fear.

Saturday was a lazy day. Got some work done. I have to do this presentation in my creative writing class on controversial writers. So I’ve been gathering information for that because I will be gone the weekend before it’s due. I’ve also been writing a short story for that class.

Sunday we went to this vintage market in Burleigh. I found this nice little bag. It was a find. It rained, which was gross. There was this one stand place that had the best 80’s jumpers (sweatshirts). One looked like it was straight out of Saved by the Bell. We came back and had ourselves a nice sleep. It was fabulous. We bought tickets to go see this band from Melbourne, British India on sept. 16th. Exciting.

We’ve got the Melbourne trip coming up. We leave on Wednesday and get in at night. We plan on going to this jail where they kept all the convicts to be executed. This big serial killer, Ned Kelly was executed there and they have his execution mask, should be pretty cool. We also plan to go to the aquarium, see some australian fishes. I’m meeting up with my cousin Friday afternoon, he said he would show us the non-touristy melbourne, should be fun. It’ll be nice to get off the Gold Coast. It’s nice here, but it’s a little tacky. Lots of high rises of various colors, many of them a pink color. Lots of boguns, australian creeps, essentially.

Sunday was fathers day here. Good on me, I texted dear old daddy. Lucky him getting two father’s days this year. Other than that, not much is going on here. Just gearing up for a hectic September.