Home is Where the Heart Is.

My last week in Sydney seemed to fly by.  I noticed there were quite a few things that I wanted to get around to and there wasn't enough time left.  I guess when I realized I'll be there for five months at the beginning, things could be put off, but then it seemed to be a rush at the end.  Almost everything that happened in the last week had that ringing sensation in my head as the "last time."  I couldn't shake the feeling of finality.


My first very upsetting goodbye came with an incredible sunset.  This may sound crazy, but saying goodbye to Bondi Beach was one of the saddest parts about leaving Sydney.  I loved the city-life, but Bondi was always there when I needed an escape.  It always seemed to be beautiful and the perfect spot to relax.  I am most happy when I'm at the beach, so I was most thankful that my apartment in Sydney was only ten minutes away.  One of my favorite quotes, that will always help me remember my time at Bondi is "no matter how far you go, you can never shake the sand from your flip-flops or the ocean from your soul."

After my Bondi Farewell, I knew my next stop the following day would be Sydney Harbour.  I don't think it hit any of us, while we walked around by the bridge and the Opera House, that we were actually in a spot recognizable to the world.  It almost seemed like we took advantage of the accessibility of everything that some dream about seeing.  One thing I can say is that every time I was there, I reminded myself of how lucky I actually am.  I couldn't help but pinch myself; everywhere I looked was beautiful.

The following two days were spent packing and studying for an exam that happened to be a day before I left.  I figured I'd try and get a jump start on that because I knew I'd be saying goodbye to everyone leaving and wanting to actually enjoy my time.  Packing ended up going surprisingly well, considering how much I don't like doing it; I also ended up realizing I had WAY more stuff than I came with, which would be an issue at the airport.  Oops!  On the other hand, studying didn't go as well as planned, and I ended up cramming the night before; don't worry, I'm pretty sure I did fine. :)

After the exam, it definitely hit me that I was closing in on my last 16 hours of being in Sydney.  I kept looking out the window, which I'm now positive will be the best view I will ever have, anywhere in the world.  My roommate, who lives in New York, and I were just hanging around while I packed and enjoying each other's company.  In order to celebrate, that night we went to one of our favorite bars in Sydney and had a cocktail.  Considering how broke we both were, we still really wanted to buy a $15 drink to top off the semester; lucky for us, the bartender had fun making them and talking to us about my last night, so we scored them for free.  I love how nice everyone in Sydney is!


The next morning I grabbed a cab to the airport to finally leave the city I came to adore.  I had about 200 lbs. of baggage and I knew I'd have an issue there at check-in, so I got to the airport very early.  I think the worst part of this whole trip was sitting and waiting to board the plane; at this point, I was so sad to leave, but I was really excited to get it over with and come home to my family and friends.  As we flew out of the city, I took a shot of my home for the last few months.  As it faded into the distance, I couldn't help but smile because there is absolutely nothing I would have changed about my time in Sydney; I loved it.

Now, no one has experienced what it means to time travel except for me on this flight.  I was set to leave Sydney at 10:45am on Friday morning and arrive into LAX at 7:20am that same Friday morning.  Talk about a crazy feeling.  One of the weirdest parts of the flight was that we were flying opposite of the sun, so it was light out, then it was dark out almost immediately.  We also flew right into the sunrise in L.A. before we landed.  I had no idea what day or time it felt like because I had seen way too many changes in a matter of 14 hours.  I can say that the stars were beautiful and so was the sunrise, but in all actuality, I was just happy to be back on U.S. soil.

After arriving in LAX, I had a four hour layover, which seemed to take forever.  I was really excited because I have a friend living in L.A. for the summer so she picked me up and we went around the block for coffee to kill some time.  It was so nice to see a familiar face after 5 months, even though it seemed to me like a couple of weeks.  She took me back to the airport and I experienced my first bout of jet lag.  On the plane, which took off at 11:25am, made me realize that it's 2:25pm in Ohio, and 4:25am in Sydney.  Hello, confusion; what is going on? I slept almost the entire flight, which happened to be nice because it made it go really fast.  Once we arrived in Cincinnati, I couldn't wait to get off the plane.  I knew my parents and sister were there to pick me up and I couldn't wait to see them.  I was so surprised and happy to see their faces and the faces of my two best friends who came, as well.  They had made shirts: "I'm broke," "How bout that flight in?," "Mum," "Hoosier Sister?," and "Ohio."  It was the perfect entrance back to real life.  I was so glad to be home.  Even more shock came when we went to my friend's house and they all surprised me with a "Welcome Home/ our annual Catalina Wine Mixer" party.  I thought I would be exhausted, but like the sign they hung up that said "It is 10am in Sydney, Mate!," I was very much awake and excited.  So far, it's been great being home.  I love being with my family and friends and I can't wait to catch up with all of them.

With all of the last week activities and enjoying my final few moments in Sydney, I know I'll go back.  It's impossible to have such an amazing experience in a place that now feels like a second home and never return.  I'm so thankful to be back with my family and friends, and to my favorite city in the entire world: "until next time."

Minor Speed Bump in Studying.

School has been winding down in Australia for the semester, meaning Stuvac just passed; it happens to be my favorite week in Australia because classes are cancelled for "student vacation," which is supposed to mean: study for your exams.  Considering my exams didn't start until about two weeks after the end of classes, I took the opportunity to go to Whitsundays and Brisbane for a week instead of studying.  I'd have to say it was the best week of NOT studying of my entire life.


I went to Whitsundays with two friends from Brisbane so we could sail across the islands.  Basically, Whitsundays is a cluster of islands that is off the northeast coast of Australia, somewhere between Cairns and Brisbane; I'd also like to now refer to it as "Tropical Paradise."  Our trip was three days and two nights, living on a sailboat with 10 people and 2 crew.  It was a pretty small boat, but we all had so much fun.

When we first boarded the boat, it was pretty overcast and looked like it was about to rain.  We were a little upset about the weather because it's supposed to be dry season up north because it's winter; did I mention that the temperature in this so-called winter was in the 70s?  It lightly rained as we headed for our first snorkeling spot, but as luck would have it, it stopped right when we got there.  Our first spot was called Caves Cove and it was right over a beautiful spot in the Great Barrier Reef.  I've already snorkeled and scuba-dived out in the reef when I was in Cairns, but I can honestly say it is impossible to get sick of exploring one of the most mesmerizing creations in the world.


In these instances, I'm really thankful of all of those painful years of ridiculous breath training for swimming; I was able to dive down about 15 to 20 feet along the edges of the reef and see some of the most vivid colors of reef and fish.  There was one fish that was as big as half of my body; it was about two and a half feet long and shaped like a circle.  It swam right by me when I was pretty deep so it originally scared me because I thought "of course I'll be the one person that actually runs into a shark."  When the freaking out subsided, I was relieved and pretty excited that such a cool thing swam so close to me.  I'm convinced that some of the fish are so used to people snorkeling around them that they follow us to see if we have food.


After snorkeling for a while, we got back onboard and raised the sails.  We were pretty far out from our destination in the morning, which was Whitehaven Beach, so the Skipper wanted to sail for a while before anchoring for dinner and bed.  I don't know if it was just in the moment or not, but I think nothing can beat relaxing on a sailboat, cruising around tropical paradise.  I love being on a boat.  Whenever I'm on the water, I'm always at peace; maybe I should have been born a fish.  The just such a serene and calming place to be; I definitely could have sailed on that boat forever and never come back.

It was still a little cloudy throughout our first night, so it was hard to see the stars.  It also made it almost eerily dark; I don't know if I've ever been on a boat that late that hasn't been docked.  I thought that falling asleep to the world in pure silence except for the sound of the water, while rocking away to the waves would have led to a great night sleep, but we tried to fit all three of us in our little, tiny cabin like sardines.  If I could find a way to make a boat really spacious below deck, I would; it was a tight squeeze for all of us.


In the morning, we woke up on our way to Whitehaven and we were SO excited because it was sunny and hot.  The day before I thought the water was blue, but nothing compared to the sun shining off of it.  The water was a combination of turquoise and emerald blues that literally just sparkled.  We had all morning at the beach and took a ton of pictures, while every single person got fried.  Sunscreen seemed to be at the back of everyone's mind and it definitely showed that night when we were all glowing pink.


After the beach we sailed away to another fantastic snorkeling spot and spent the afternoon playing around in the water.  Whether underwater or out of it, everywhere I turned was beautiful.  As we were traveling around another island, the sun was setting, which was unbelievable.  Everyone onboard just kept saying "it doesn't get much better than this." 

The next morning, we woke up bright and early and sailed into Nara Inlet.  There was a short hike up one of the islands that led to an Aboriginal cave.  We got to see some paintings that had been there for hundreds of years and look at some of the territory which old tribes lived in.  Our Skipper told us that the reason people came to Nara was for the protection from storms.  It's almost surrounded by islands which causes a shelter from bad weather and hurricanes. Whether someone went for protection or just to see the caves, the place was incredible; it looked like a painting.

After exploring the inlet, we headed back out to our ship.  There was about a three hour sail back to Airlie Beach and we had absolutely perfect conditions.  We all had a blast on this trip and I would have carried it out for a few weeks if I could have.  If I ever get the chance, I'd go back to Whitsundays in a heartbeat; it's definitely my kind of paradise.

That same afternoon, we took a flight back to Brisbane and I stayed with one of my friends for three days to explore the city.  It's a lot smaller than Sydney, but we definitely had a lot of fun.  A river wraps around the city, so it's still by water, which in my opinion makes it awesome.  The weather wasn't great, but I still had fun exploring, shopping, and taking pictures.

 One of my favorite things that we got to do in Brisbane was visit the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, where we got to hold koalas!  Most animal sanctuaries in Australia don't let anyone hold the koalas, just pet them, so we were SO excited to cuddle with them.  After walking around and playing with kangaroos, we finally got our chance.  It took all of my control to not take the koala and run; it was so adorable!!! The fur was soft and really thick, and the cuties just curl up around you.  One thing that the guides made sure for us to do was stand completely still, almost like a tree; apparently, koalas aren't that big into people, so as long as you stay stable enough they'll hug you.

I had such a fun week on this trip and I'm so glad I didn't sit home and study.  I'm sure all of my professors would have made the same decision I did and enjoyed the week.  It was my last vacation from vacation in Australia and I had a blast.  I can't believe my time here is winding down.  I only have a week left until I'm on a plane and I'm not sure how I feel about it.  Obviously, I can't wait to see my family and friends, but how do I leave the perfect city?  One thing is for sure, I will come back; I've only been here for 124 days, but it's become a second home.

Living Life and Loving It.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have had quite a few awesome opportunities thanks to my internship and my competitive nature.  All of us can't believe that we are leaving here in a couple of weeks, so we are trying to do everything we haven't had the chance to and take advantage of this awesome country.

I'm interning at International Goalkeepers Academy and I was lucky enough to be invited to the Johnny Warren Football Foundation Gala Dinner.  I was excited for the invite because I thought I would be able to learn a lot from the experience; I'm planning an event for The Academy so I was hoping to get a few tips on the evening.  However, with as much as I learned, I also happened to have a blast throughout the night; we were down in Darling Harbour so the restaurant over-looked the water and it was incredible.  When we first arrived, there was a cocktail hour and everyone was able to socialize and talk.  There were quite a few big names in soccer that I was able to meet, including the men's Socceroo's coach, Holger Osieck, and Marcos Flores, one of the best players in Australia.  Everyone was really friendly, and we were luckily able to snap a few pictures with them.  One of my favorite parts of the evening was the actual dinner; considering I am a college student in a city with a VERY high cost of living, I haven't exactly been eating anything spectacular, but we actually enjoyed a fantastic three-course meal.  We had a great night and it was nice change to feel like an adult in the business world instead of just a student!

A few days after my first gala, I had my first-ever business trip.  One of my bosses had a colleague of mine and me take a train up to Newcastle for a couple days.  It's about three hours north of Sydney and the whole place is gorgeous.  When we first arrived we were shown around the city, which is right on the water.  There are stretches of some of the most beautiful beaches for miles up the coast and fantastic views from every hilltop.  One of my favorite parts about Australia is the terrain; there is a combination of either hills, cliffs, ocean, or water inlets visible in almost any city.  Every time I think I've seen an unbelievable view, I turn around and there is something that tops it.


After a tour of Newcastle, we went to dinner at a fantastic Thai restaurant.  I never really ate Thai back in the States, but I've come to appreciate it a lot more and it will most likely become one of my take-out usuals when I get back.  We called it an early night and went back to our hotel rooms in preparation for an early morning.  The next day, we had a meeting all morning in order to get us all better acquainted with a new marketing website that has recently been launched.  It was incredibly interesting to hear about the business ideas and concepts from the people that developed the site.  There was another college student besides myself, and we were there to give our opinions and hopefully some new insight into the business; it was exciting to be able to contribute ideas and have them valued and incorporated into an actual project.  I learned so much throughout my trip that I'll actually be able to use in real situations; I'd say my first business trip was a success.


When I first got to Sydney, my program had an orientation and we participated in Study Australia's Amazing Race in order to get better acquainted with the city.  The prize of winning was a dinner at the Opera House, and my team happened to get the dinner.  With all of our busy schedules, we hadn't gotten the chance to go yet, but this past week we finally made the reservation.  The restaurant is one of the best in the city. Just the atmosphere of the place is phenomenal because of the location; it is in one of the "sails" right up the front steps, directly over-looking the skyline.  It was so incredible to be able to eat in one of the most recognizable buildings in the world.  As a group, we wanted to play the part, so we all got really dressed up and enjoyed an unbelievable meal; I had scallops for the entree and snapper for the main.  This evening will definitely go down as one of the top nights in all of my time here.  

We were really fortunate that we had to wait so long to go to dinner because our timing was perfect with Sydney's light show: Vivid.  The city has a spectacular display of lights throughout the harbour and they are designed as a show over the city buildings and the Opera House.  The lights create designs on all of the buildings which are so cool; across the Opera House sails there were rainbow effects, jellyfish swimming, and bright colors splashed all over.  Tons of people were there to see the show, listening to live music and enjoying the beautiful weather.  Seeing all of the people and the environment made me realize that I'm really going to miss Sydney.  I've loved my time here so far and all I can hope is that I'll be able to make it back here someday!

Work. Work. Work. Play?

The two weeks after I got back from New Zealand were the most hectic weeks I've had in Sydney so far.  Everything at school seemed to be due right around the same time, and with all the fun I was having, I hadn't exactly gotten a jump start on anything.


Most of the assignments at uni are essays and there aren't very many of them.  For almost all of my classes, I only have two major assignments, a paper and a final exam, which is also written.  As a business student, I'm not exactly positive as to why I'm doing research papers, but I guess it can't hurt.  I don't really have a problem with writing papers, I just wasn't in the studying mood; it's hard being in a place where I'm supposed to be at school, but there are so many other things going on as well.  Coming back from vacation was a kick back into reality and a very frustrating two weeks. I couldn't seem to get into the swing of things; I've been here for so long without really having to do work yet.  With two major papers and few short ones, I felt as if I stared at the computer for hours on end.  All in all, I wrote about 10,000 words but it felt like 100,000. 


With all of the things due, almost all of us haven't had time for going out or having a great time.  Everyone has had papers due throughout the weeks, so when it finally ended it was nice to relax.  I'm so glad the majority of the work is complete and all I have left to worry about is finals.


Because we are running out of time in Sydney, my roommate and I decided we needed to take more advantage of the city.  We had a "date" day and planned to do a few things we haven't yet had the chance to.  First, we went into the heart of Sydney and walked around to see what we could find.  We stumbled upon a cute place for lunch and just relaxed, enjoying the atmosphere around us.  Afterwards, without an exact clue to where we were going, we wandered around looking for markets.  Finally, we explored Paddy's market.  It's right past Chinatown, down near Darling Harbour. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was a lot bigger than I thought.  Inside a huge building there are stalls and stalls of everything you could imagine.  There were so many people there that the people-watching was just as much fun as the shopping.


After shopping all day, we found our way back to the area we stayed for our orientation in February.  We stopped by Three Wise Monkeys and had a cocktail before taking the train out to ANZ Stadium to see a Rugby League game.  After having been to quite a few league and union games, I'm starting to become a big fan of rugby.  We went to a Rabbitohs game, which is a South Sydney team and they destroyed the Tigers, from the West.  The fans are completely crazy at these games; it reminded me of NFL games but everyone is much more wild (and by that I mean more drunk), loud, and dressed up.  


After wandering around all day, I realized just how much I love Sydney.  It's gorgeous and there is always something to do.  I love being in a place that's surrounded by water but still has the activities and adventures of a city.  Considering our time is dwindling, we are trying to explore and do everything we can in the last few weeks.  We want to take advantage of all the things Sydney has to offer, even if it means coming home completely broke at the end!

AHHHHHdrenaline. I Love Queenstown.

After our time in Franz Josef, we drove another eight hours to Queenstown.  I would like to say that it is quite possibly the coolest place I have ever been to.  In my opinion, it seems like a ski town, but the town surrounds a lake with mountains surrounding the town.  Once again, everywhere I turned I saw something beautiful.

The whole point of our Queenstown visit in New Zealand was to do anything and everything crazy we could think of.  Our first adventure, of course, was bungee jumping.  I had already jumped in Cairns at the beginning of the semester, but I was not prepared for how high this jump would be.  It was 440ft tall, in the middle of two mountains.  In order to get to the cable car suspended by wires over the drop, we had to take a mini cable car across the big ravine.  Very safe to say that we were all A LOT more scared this time.  In the car, the guys that work there were playing some crazy, loud music; we're pretty sure it was to block out our thoughts.  Being the brilliant person that I am, I decided to look down the whole time I walked out to the ledge.  I started breathing heavily and had that panicking sensation when your body knows your crazy but your mind tells you to do it anyway.  The guy counted down from three, and the next thing I knew, I flung myself off the edge; I screamed the whole way down.  Did I mention this jump had 8 seconds of free fall before the cord catches?  That's a lot of time to think about the tiny river below you and how fast it seems to be coming at you.  As scary as it was to take the leap, I had so much fun doing the jump; I think I've mastered the swan dive and I'm pretty impressed with myself!

After bungee jumping, we had a Shotover Jet Boat activity.  I had no idea what this was originally, but it happened to be a really fast boat with a flat bottom that is great for tricks.  We went to one of the rivers that flows into the lake in the middle of town and looked at the boat driver like he was insane when he told 14 people to climb into a boat that was sitting on 4 inches of water.  Apparently, the boats are unique because of the flat bottoms and unique engine system that pumps water through it for speed, so 4 inches is all that's necessary to go.  On the river, we got up to speeds of about 70kph while traveling through tiny little spaces between rock cliffs; if I stuck my hand out past the boats edge, it would have been taken off.  Not only was the gutsy driving a little nerve-wracking, but the boats are designed to do 360 degree spins while traveling at the fast speeds.  All of us were soaked at the end and a little freezing, but I've never gotten such an adrenaline rush from being on a boat!


The second day we were in Queenstown consisted of Zip-lining and Luging.  In the morning we took the gondola up the mountain to start at the top for our zip-trek.  I've always wanted to try zip-lining so I was very excited to get going.  We were able to do six trails down the side of the mountain, dropping about 30 stories in height while flying through the trees.  The guides were awesome and taught us how to go upside-down, and do some pretty cool tricks.  Again, there were some of the most beautiful, picturesque scenes I've ever witnessed peeking out between the trees.  It took a few hours to travel all the way down, but it was something I would definitely do again if I had the chance; how often do you get to jump off ledges and zoom through the trees upside-down and backward? It was awesome!!


After zipping down the mountain, we took the gondola back up to try our hand at luging.  None of us expected what we actually going to do; we thought it would be down ice, kind of like what is seen in the Winter Olympics.  To be honest, the set-up was a lot more fun than that would have been.  There were two cement tracks that started at the top of the mountain and curved all the way down the side to a finish line.  Instead of real luges, we were in carts that we could steer and break all the way down.  After this realization hit, we immediately turned our five fun luges into a competitive assortment of races.  Now, I won't lie when I say that I was HORRIBLE at this.  When traveling at ridiculously fast speeds, in a cart that I'm controlling, with curves that are on the side of a mountain, let's just say.. I almost wiped out quite a few times.  The only time I won the race was when I "accidentally" forgot to stop at the starting line and got a couple of seconds head-start.  This was another activity that we had SO much fun with!

On our final, full-day in Queenstown, two friends and I decided to do the Shotover Canyon Swing.  We loved bungee so much that we thought we should try and catch that adrenaline rush again.  A canyon swing is essentially a bungee, but at the end of the free-fall, instead of bouncing back up, you swing across the canyon.  The two guys that worked there knew that we had already done bungee, so they wanted us to try something "different" (which in their vocabulary means more terrifying) and they suggested we go backwards.  As I'm sure everyone is aware, the feeling of falling backwards out of your chair, or on your back, while sleeping, is one of the most jolting experiences ever.  I agreed to this little stunt with full knowledge that I would be terrified the entire time.  To top off the scariness of the jump, the guys working think it is hilarious to mess with people.  While they hung me backwards over the edge, they jokingly asked each other "Oh wait, did you connect her to the cord?"  This little comment started me in a giggling fit.  All of the terror I was feeling erupted into laughter, which they both thought was hilarious because I physically could not control it.  While continuing to laugh hysterically, they told me to jump backwards and go; ignoring my instincts, I went... and I screamed REALLY loud the whole way down.  Once the cord caught me in the swing, I immediately went back to laughing out of relief.  It may have been crazy, but it was definitely a blast!!  After this experience, I still can't decide, between bungee and swing, which was more terrifying and exhilarating; they are both so different with their own unique rushes.  No matter what, I loved them both!!

Overall, I could not have asked for a better trip.  New Zealand is unbelievable and I would recommend it to anyone; there is something for everyone, no matter what the age.  I hope that I will get the chance to come back.  It is unlike anyplace in the world and I'm so thankful I was able to experience it!!

Chillin' on a Glacier in New Zealand.

For our Fall mid-semester break, I had the opportunity to go to New Zealand for nine days and it was a fantastic experience!!  There was a group of 27 of us and we flew in to Christchurch and spent the night because it was much cheaper than flying into anywhere else.  The next morning we drove about eight hours to Franz Josef on a bus; the ride was kind of long, but none of us wanted to take the time to sleep because of the amazing scenery outside of the window.

I never imagined that it was possible for a place to have as many unbelievable sights as New Zealand does.  There are not only mountains and rivers everywhere but every time you turn your head a beautiful waterfall or lake is off in the distance.  I find it incredibly hard to describe what it felt like to be in a place that seemed magical.  I was in awe at everything around me.  My friends and I kept looking out the window and saying "Wow!" or "How unbelievable is this?"  We tried to soak up as much of it as we could because there is a very good chance we will never see anything as spectacular as this country ever again.

Once we arrived in Franz Josef, which by the way is about a 3x5 block town, we checked into the hostel and decided to walk around.  It is completely possible to walk around the whole place in 15 minutes tops.  Even though it was small, we loved the place.  There were two main restaurants and a cafe which we all ate at because we didn't really have any other options.  There was also one bar that was above one of the restaurants; we had a blast at the bar and had a great time getting to know the bartender.  He loved the fact that we came both nights so he would give us "challenges" for a few free drinks such as: run around the pool table twice, climb the pole in the bar, and take a straw full of chili sauce.  I think we made him laugh more than he cared about the money for the drinks, so we obviously thought he was a cool guy.

The only day we had in Franz Josef was spent climbing the glacier.  It was one of those experiences I will never forget due to the weather conditions, the magnitude and beauty of the piece of ice we were on, and the ability of all of us to overcome the fact that we were cold and miserable by acting like five year-olds.

The surroundings of the glacier were huge mountains and because the weather was horrible, there was fog everywhere; it looked like we were in the movie King Kong.  While we were climbing up, it rained about 85% of the time and the equipment we had on did not happen to be waterproof.  When we stopped once, out of the many, to fill in the trail that "dropped out"(which we took to mean that the crevice that was there now became big enough for us to fall into) I happened to ask our guide if we were about halfway.  Her response was "If I say yes will that make everyone feel better?"  I think the combination of being entirely soaked and hanging out on top of one of the world's biggest ice cubes started to make us a little loopy.  Many of us began singing songs, telling jokes, taking funny pictures, and pretending, with all our might, that we were on the beach; we wanted to do anything to keep our minds off the shaking and shivering.

Despite the fact that the conditions were miserable, the climb was an experience I'm so glad I did not miss.  I was very nervous at the beginning because, everyone that knows me well, knows that I fall ALL the time on ice.  I was tempted to bring a sled and just slide down on our way back; it was a great idea until we realized there were big holes we could fall into.

Even though we were only in Franz Josef for one day, the glacier was 100% worth the trip.  It is mind-blowing to see what the earth is capable of creating.  I had so much fun and couldn't wait for Queenstown.

And... I'm Going to Face Plant.

This past weekend I got out of Sydney and headed up north for Mojo Surf Camp.  My roommate, another friend, and I took a six-hour bus ride north to Crescent Head, which is about halfway between Sydney and Brisbane.  We had no idea where the bus was taking us and when we realized, with a little over two hours left that we didn't have phone service, it was going to be an interesting weekend.  Luckily, it turned out to be one of the best I've had here, even though it rained the whole time; I guess it turns out that surfing in the rain is pretty fun!


When we first arrived a camp, we were in awe at how there was nothing around us; we were in the middle of the bush.  We also couldn't see or hear the beach; that worried me just a little bit.  Now, I will be the first to admit that I like nice things and the fact that I was in the middle of the woods, with lots of spiders, other bugs, and possibly large snakes could have freaked me out, but it didn't.  Even when I saw a giant spider in the bathroom late at night, I managed to ignore it and run away.  I think the reason I loved it so much was how the camp was set-up.  There was a main house, where the instructors live, an outdoor kitchen, a bunk-house for us, and bathrooms.  It was the perfect place for a surf retreat.

In order to get to the beach, we had to take a path back through the woods for about five minutes.  I've never felt so secluded.  There seemed to be no other form of civilization for miles.  It was very peaceful and very very green.

Once we walked out of the jungle, one of the prettiest beaches I've ever seen was right in front of us and we had it all to ourselves.  The instructors called the beach Big Hill Beach, because of the big hill on the right; we thought that was really creative. :)


Throughout the weekend, we surfed three times.  We woke up early Saturday morning for the first go and we were out on the water for about two hours.  We were all so exhausted after it that we thought we had been out there all day; it was only eleven.  I struggled a little bit standing up in the morning because I kept grabbing the rails which really messed with my balance on the board.  We went back for lunch and hit the waves again in the afternoon.  Despite the fact that my lats were killing me from paddling, I actually surfed all afternoon; it was so much fun!! All of us really started to get the hang of it and didn't have a problem catching the waves and riding them in.  The waves, by the way, were way bigger than we thought they were going to be.  Considering it was a camp, where a lot of people haven't surfed before, we thought we'd be at a beach where the waves were little and easy; apparently not.

That night we had a great barbeque in the kitchen and then we went back towards the beach and took another remote path to this awesome clearing with a fire pit.  We all hung out all night and had a blast getting to know each other around the fire, with the stars finally coming out behind the clouds.


The next morning, it was raining again but we still headed out for our last chance to catch a few waves.  The winds apparently changed because our instructors had to warn us to be careful with the undertow and that the waves were much more powerful.  Now, I'm not a very good judge of size, but let's just say the new waves were HUGE.  First of all, it was almost impossible to get past the breakers.  Second of all, it's a little intimidating when you try and drop into a wave and end up vertical with the ocean.  Quite a few times I fell face-first into a wave and accidently ended up body surfing with my board somewhere behind me until the wave smashed me into the sand.  In fact, probably half of the morning was spent watching person after person face plant and wipe-out with boards flying.  I was definitely nervous after quite a few disaster dumps; good thing I can hold my breath for a while.  I'm not sure any of us quite got the hang of the waves that morning, but we still had fun attempting the monsters!!  We had been planning this trip for a while and I'm so glad we finally got our act together and went!!!