Brisbane

My Brother Rick has been here for 6 days now and he's gotten to see a lot of my new life :) On Monday we took the train up to Brisbane. I have never seen the city so it was exciting for both of us to experience it. We got off the train station in South Bank and we walked along the river bank.

Rick and I in front of a Peace Pagoda sanctuary along the scenic Arbour Walk along the river.

Wheel if Briz

Queens Street Mall! Hundreds of shops!

Downtown Brisbane

Old Treasury building that is now a casino!

Man-made public beach in South Bank

We then went to the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) which was awesome! They had the coolest exhibits and art, we both really enjoyed it!

St. Pattys Day!

Wednesday was Saint Patrick's Day. One of my personal favorite (or I guess "favourite" in Aussie) holidays. Everyone always has a great time on St. Patty's Day.

Luckily, I didn't have class and neither did some of my friends. Lauren, Scott, Timmy, Tommy and I and our next door neighbors Morgan and Kelly, went down to Surfers Paradise around noon. Our goal for the day was to hit all of the Irish pubs in Surfers. There are four main ones: Fiddlers, Waxies, Kitty O'Sheas, and O'Malleys. O'Malley's has been a hotspot for our nights out so we knew we wanted to end the day there. We first stopped at Fiddler's Tavern. We danced and had a great time all while celebrating dear ol' St. Pat. Then we walked over to Waxies which was a really fun place and we ate 'chips' (french fries). We checked out Kitty O'Sheas but it was rather boring so we went back to Fiddler's before ending at O'Malleys. I had an amazing time and a bunch of our friends came down around 3 after they were done with classes. It was a really fun time and I enjoyed spending the day with all my new friends!

Lauren, Me, Morgan, Kelly, waiting for the bus to Surfers!

Lauren, Tommy, Timmy, Scott, and me at Waxies

Me, Lauren, Morgan, and Kelly showing off our green!

My brother, Rick, flew in to Brisbane early this morning and took a train and a bus down to the Gold Coast. I showed him around my apartment complex and he saw a little bit of my campus. It was a gorgeous day so we took the bus down to Surfer's Paradise and laid on the beach. I'm so glad that he gets to be a part of a little bit of my entire experience. I know he's going to love this place and I can't wait to show him more!

Rick and I under the Surfers Paradise sign!

Travel Quotes

I once heard a definition of travel that its “to proceed or advance in any way.” I always liked hearing it put that way. I think when you’re young and traveling, you’re holding yourself open to the world and saying to it,

“I’m open to anything.

Define me.”

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes." -Marcel Proust

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do.

So throw off the bowlines,

sail away from the safe harbor.

Catch the trade winds in your sails.

Explore. Dream. Discover."

-Mark Twain

"Life is short and the world is wide." -Simon Raven

"What you've done becomes the judge of what you're going to do -- especially in other people's minds. When you're travelling, you are what you are right there and then. People don't have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road." -William Least Heat Moon, Blue Highways

"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost." -J. R. R. Tolkien

Nimbin, Surfboards & Rugby

Its been about a week and time here is already flying by!

School is officially underway and my teachers are already discussing mid-term papers and projects! But I am enjoying my subjects and I really think I will learn a lot from them.

Last Sunday, Lauren's friend from high school, Tim, who's living here for 2 months, has a car and we decided to take a day trip out to the town of Nimbin. Nimbin is in northern New South Wales and about a 2-hour drive from Gold Coast. Scott, Lauren, Lauren's friend Tim, Sarah, Our friend Tim (from AustraLearn), and I crammed in to a Toyota Somethingorother and headed to Nimbin. I have to say, I've seen my share of weird places and strange people, but this definitely tops anything I've ever seen. The downtown is really small and is known for its 'creative' and unique atmosphere. The locals were dread-lock wearing hippies who hung out on benches downtown. It was a really vibrant and interesting place and I'm glad we went, but I don't think I will ever make the trip to Nimbin again...three hours is more than enough time in the bizarre town. But all of the colorful art made for some great pictures!

So, I've been wanting to learn to surf REALLY bad since I have been here. I've been surfing a few times but I haven't gone enough to actually progress. And what better place than Surfers Paradise?! I didn't want to keep renting a board because if I did that everyday, I'd be able to buy my own board! Last Monday, Lauren and I took the bus from Griffith University down to Surfers, from Surfers to Palm Beach, Miami Beach, Broadbeach, Burleigh Heads, and Coolangatta on a mission to find me a inexpensive used surfboard that I could learn on while I'm in Australia. Even though we were looking in surfboard shops all around the Gold Coast for hours, I unfortunately had no luck in finding what I needed.

On Tuesday, I went to the beach with Sarah and the boys told us about this cheap surf store called Sideways Surf Outlet, a couple blocks down on Surfers Paradise Blvd that had really cheap bathing suits. We decided to check it out. I didn't find any bathing suits but I was telling the employee Cam about what I was looking for in a used surfboard and out of nowhere he pulls out a board that he had just bought off a kid selling his board. Its a 7'2" longboard (which is long enough to learn on but not too long) by Jacks Surfboards. Its thick and buoyant. I took some pictures because I wanted my guy friends, who know a ton about surfboards, to see it before I took the plunge. I told Cam I would be back in the morning to possibly buy it. After I went back, I showed the boys, they said "you'd be an idiot if you didn't buy this board," so I woke up early the next morning and bought my board! I'm so excited to finally have one! Although the weather has been awful the past week so I haven't had an opportunity to ride it yet. But I'm looking forward to learning on the White Rhino.

My friends and I finally booked our Spring Break trip! We bought our flights to New Zealand, where we are staying for 8 nights, 9 days! We fly in to Christchurch and then we are renting a 10-passenger van and roadtripping around the south island of New Zealand, stopping at all the cool places and touristy spots. It should be a great time and its right around the corner!

Today was really fun. Rob, Greg, David, Collin and I took the bus to the train station and then the train to Skilled Park for a Gold Coast Titans rugby game! I have never seen a rugby game so it was a really interesting experience and every fan was decked out head to toe in Titans gear. I guess it was a pretty game because the Titans played the New Zealand Warriors. It took me a while to get my bearings but I finally got the hang of all the rules in rugby. The GC Titans were down for a majority of the game but we came back at the last minute and beat the Warriors 24-18. It was really fun and I'm glad I got to experience it!

My brother is coming out to Australia for his Spring Break and he arrives this Friday!! I can't wait to see him and show him around this beautiful place- I know he's going to love it just as much as I do!

That's all for now, more when the sun hits the Goldie<3

First Week of school!

Although I was really enjoying the 2 1/2 months of vacation, its really nice to be in a routine again. My classes seem interesting and I know people in every class, which is really nice. Hopefully the workload won't be too rough!

A lot of my friends and I don't have classes on Wednesday so we went back down to the Quiksilver Pro Surf Competition in Coolangatta. Unfortunately, it was raining again, but it was one of the final heats and the boys were really excited to see Kelly Slater and Jordy battle it out. I brought both my lenses for my Canon Rebel and I got some really great close-ups of the surfers,which I was really excited about.

After the competition we walked down to Kirra Beach, one of the most famous surf spots in the world. It wasn't crowded because of the weather but it was such a cute small town area with gorgeous beaches. I love Kirra and all of Coolangatta!

Kirra Beach Hotel, right across the street from the beach

Today we went down to the beach to try and keep up our tans but it started drizzling again. I can't wait for the rain to stop!

First Day of School!

Today was my first day of classes. Its weird being back at school after having 2 and a half months off. And of course, its still downpouring rain.

My day started really early as my first lecture was at 8:00am this morning. Fortunately, living at the Village is really convenient because I only have to walk over a bridge to get to campus. My first class was an Imaging Culture lecture. Being a Journalism major, it seems really interesting because its about images and the ways to analyze and create different ideas from images. I love photography so hopefully this will be a beneficial class. The teacher said we have to start a blog to log our work. That means 2 blogs to maintain. Oh well.

After the 50 minute lecture, I had an hour to kill before the tutorial for the same Imaging Culture course. Collin is in almost all my classes since we have the same major and were on the same track so we walked over to check out the library. Very up-to-date but tiny in comparison to CU's Norlin library. It took us less than 10 minutes to experience all that the library has to offer so we went over to the Koala Cafe near the Student Guild and hung out. I Skyped with my friend Molly who is studying abroad in Barcelona. After an hour, we went down to the tutorial part of class. The first part of the 2-hour tutorial is in a black box studio in the Drama Theatre. We did unique introductory exercises with cameras and mimicked each classmates posture and habits while talking. It was rather bizarre. After an hour in the black box studio, we walked across campus (the rain is relentless) and up to a computer lab where we worked on starting our [new] blogs for the class.



To sum it up, I am SOOOO glad my parents got me that waterproof jacket for Christmas this year. I almost didn't pack it but I am so happy I did because its miserable being wet. Collin, on the other hand, was stuck with a cut-off poncho.....we got some looks.

Collin's Poncho that has no sleeves...

Me, Lauren, and Lucy- running errands at Australian Fair with our black rain jackets {lifesavers!}