Semester Break Adventures!!!

We had a break from school last week, some people went to Bali, some to Melbourne, and others stayed to study. Jessica and I had our own plans! But first- NFIH put together a camping trip to Kakadu National Park! I had been planning on trying to rent a camper van and try and make the trip on my own (with a few friends) but when NFIH put the trip together, it only cost $100 and included most of the food, all of the transportation, and a boat tour of the Yellow and Alligator Rivers! The boat trip alone was $80/person, so it was a really good deal. So, 2 nights in Kakadu! 

KAKADU NATIONAL PARK

I was surprised to see the state of our campsite, I don't even know if I could call it camping if I hadn't slept on the ground in a tent with tons of bugs eating me alive. There were 3 pools all connected, one really shallow for kids, one normal pool, and one that had a small waterfall gently pouring into it with bubbles! So yeah...life was rough!

They also had a bar/restaurant next to the pool and we were able to have wine while relaxing! It was pretty amazing to watch the sunset from here...def didn't feel like camping. Plus the bar had a huge flat screen TV playing Australian Football...so yeah...really not how I'm used to camping. 

 We had to get up SO early the first morning...which was awful because it was amazingly hot all night and Jessica and I kind of went bonkers. We tried everything except medication to fall asleep! We ended up having to take the fly off our tent (which was kind of cool, cause then we could see the stars) and ended up in our underwear on top of our sleeping bags still sweating...ALL NIGHT! But once we got on the boat and got to see the sun rising over the river, it was all worth it!

 This is one of the first crocs (of oh-so-many) we saw on the cruise that morning. The boat captain got us really close to some big crocodiles, it was pretty scary. The crocs were really used to seeing people though, so they weren't worried that we would try and touch them or anything, they just chilled. That does not mean, however, that any of us were under the illusion that we could get out and pet them!

My favorite part of the cruise was when he started talking about the crocodile hasn't evolved since the days of the dinosaur. He described them as, "pretty happy with themselves" totally cracked me up...and was kind of frightening. Can't think of another animal that can boast that!

Next was Ubirr Rock!!!

 It was a bit of a climb to the top, but totally worth it!! It was really beautiful up there. Plus, with that work out I didn't feel so guilty about being fed sausages every night for dinner, haha!

We stayed for sunset, as it's a famous spot to see it from. It's pretty obvious why; it was absolutely beautiful! There was about 50 or more people at the top of Ubirr Rock that evening, but there was plenty of space to spread out so we weren't too cramped. It was fabulous! I also realized that it's not often that (outside of Alaska) I see the sunrise and sunset of the same day! Kind of cool!

The next night was not as hot, though I still didn't really need my sleeping bag...but we did wake up soaking wet from all the dew, so that was fun! Ha! This day was about Rock Art! We had seen some at Ubirr Rock, but there were much more famous sites in Kakadu and we got to visit one!

On our walking tour of Rock Art we found a wallaby with a baby in it's pouch!! It was pretty much the most adorable thing I'd ever seen. The mother wallaby seemed pretty tuckered out, I would bet she was resting in the shade because it was midday and really, really hot. She was up on this rock which was only about 8 ft or so from the walking path. Nobody seemed to bother her, which was really nice.

These are just some of the examples of Rock Art we found, there were tons more!!! I'm taking a class on Aboriginal Art at CDU, so it was really interesting to see all the pictures from my text book in person! That def doesn't happen too often! It was pretty surreal to stand in front of the rock and realize that these paintings were done decades and centuries ago! It's like they were created in a whole nother world!

Then we were back on the bus and headed back to NFIH!! We were all thoroughly exhausted and most people slept on the way back, including me! We got back to our rooms at about 6pm, I think and immediately started packing! Why?- you might ask; because Jessica and my plane to Sydney was leaving in 7 hours!

SYDNEY (Again)

After fruitlessly begging our friend Mo to give us a ride to the airport, we took a taxi (which was only $15 anyways...) to the airport and waited. We were so excited!!! We were going to arrive in Sydney at about 9am and head to our hostel, where we would freshen up and find something to do for the rest of the day! Waste no time! Sleep? Why?

We arrived at our hostel after a long shuttle ride and found that, unlike the pictures online showed, it really matched the price we paid...which was only $15/night. So, we weren't really surprised...and kept in mind that we would only be sleeping there and not really spending much time there otherwise. By he time we were settled, had our valuables in a locker and ate some lunch it was already about noon! Where had the day gone? We had wanted to go to the zoo that day, but the receptionist at the hostel advised us that it would probably not be worth it this late in the day since it closed at 5 and we would have to take a ferry to get there. So she suggested we do the Coastal Walk that started at the famous Bondi Beach and ended at Coogee Beach with tons of small beaches in between! 

It wasn't warm enough to actually stay and sunbathe anywhere, but it beautiful, and felt awesome to have so much fresh air and wind after the long plane ride! We were completely exhausted by the end of the walk, which took about 2.5 hrs! and managed to find a bus (eventually) back to the side of town our hostel was on. We stumbled back to our rooms (up 5 flights of stairs) and were pretty much ready to crash for a bit until we had enough energy for dinner.

Just when I was getting all settled, Jessica discovered that her friend from Sweden, who was studying in Melbourne, was also visiting Sydney with another friend! So we decided to meet them for dinner. We went to a pizza place and, surprisingly, only one of us ended up having pizza! All the food was amazing, and we were stuffed! But not too stuffed for some coffee/cocktails and chocolate down the street! That's one things I love about big cities- you can just walk around and find amazing food/sweets/drinks...or really, whatever you are craving!

After  that we stumbled back to our room and decided we wanted to tackle the zoo the next day. And if that meant nothing else, it was an early morning! We set the alarm for 8am (or something ridiculously early) and passed out.

Taronga Zoo is actually on it's own island! I was glad that we forced ourselves to wake up so early, because we ended up being there until 4:30! The zoo was huge and had tons of different types of animals. My fav part, of course, was seeing the giraffes; but my amazing experience didn't end there! I found out that we could feed them if we signed up, for a small fee of course. Surprisingly, it actually was a very small fee and Jessica and I were able to split it!

It was fricken awesome!!!!! I actually got to pet one of them on the head while I fed it too! Plus, the zoo keeper in charge of the giraffes, who was the one helping us feed them and things, was so cute! Just like icing on the fantastic giraffe cake! I was pretty much in heaven!

We also got to see kangaroos, a tree wallaby (who knew!), and a Tasmanian devil- just to name a few! We were, again, completely exhausted by the time we were done. Not that it stopped us from going out for a few drinks at a bar right next to our hostel! OH!!!! and for dinner we had Mexican!!! We actually found a Mexican restaurant! Needless to say, between the giraffes and Mexican food...it was a really good day!

The next day we were going to the Sydney Aquarium and decided to stop in the museum that was along the way. It aptly named the Australian Museum. They had lots of information on Aboriginal culture and the past of Australia, even back to the dinosaurs. Speaking of dinosaurs...they had the best dino exhibit I've ever been to! It was really cool!

It was so amazing to be standing under those fossils! I've taken a class at UAF called Life in the Age of Dinosaurs, and I learned so much about them...but there's no way I could have understood just how it would feel to be standing next to an animal that big!

We went to the Aquarium too, but I've already posted pictures of that last time I was there, and on our way home be got really hungry so we decided to check out a restaurant that, from the street, was just a glass door opening to stairs going down. We were a bit suspicious, but ventured down anyways and were very pleasantly surprised! It was a really nice restaurant that didn't have nice restaurant prices! Yay! We ended up making friends with some locals and stayed talking for hours! They were a couple in thier late 40's-ish and were lovely to talk to. Plus, they bought us desert and wine! Score!!

The next day we wandered around town...and it seems like we didn't get anything done...except wear ourselves out again! But, it was nice to walk around the city...I think we saw almost every corner of that place with all the walk we did!

Our last day was the earliest start of all! We had to get up a 6am so we could take the ferry to Manly Beach and have surf lessons!!!

Since it had been raining and quite chillly the last two days, we were ecstatic to see sunshine!! Our first lesson was at 9am and then we had another at 11:30. It was definitely the most strenuous thing we did the whole time, even more than the hiking in Kakadu! It reminded me of yoga, where muscles are sore that you didn't even know you had...except the ones I knew about were sore too!

When we were done, we found a restaurant with $10 steak that came with fries and salad! It was sooooo good! Especially since we had to resort to McDonald's for breakfast, ugh! It was the perfect end to our little holiday, I just wish we could have had a better shower before getting on the plane! I brushing salt and sand off my skin all night!

Now I'm back and I have tons of school work to do! Had a mid-term and now I have to write two papers for next week! It's like they want me to study while I'm here or something...wierd!

Other exciting news: I have an interview today at a restaurant called Fasta Pasta that's really close to school! Wish me luck!!!