Conservation Volunteer Australia

K


This past week was about the busiest week I have had since the last two weeks of finals Fall semester. I had 3 papers to write, a presentation to give, 4 articles to read and analyze, plus a load of Spanish homework. I was so swamped! I figured I would have a fun weekend ahead of me to be by the ocean and volunteer. But this past Sunday Krissy returned home from her weekend with CVA and prepared me for the hell I was going to go through. She was supposed to have 8 people in her group and 5 showed up, there was only one boy there to help. They had 300 trees to plant and worked for about 14 hours that weekend, had cuts, bruises, and were filthy at the end of each night. The leader of the group apparently tries to make it seem like you are going to have the time of you life and says "YAAAAYY" for everything she slightly accomplishes. Also she just walks around and puts stakes where she wants the trees planted and doesn't even help. Then in the middle of the night Krissy woke up to 5 feet Kangas by her tent which was scary in general! They also had food for 8 and ran out the last day when they only had 5 people so she warned me that I should bring food because I would be hungry.

So as you can see I had a real bad attitude going into it. I showed up to school at 8:30 am Friday morning and this weird van/truck pulls up... I walked over to it and looked inside to see two 5' benches along the sides of window facing each other. So I for sure thought I was going to be car sick driving in this massive vehicle. Next to the van there were three other girls. I assumed that there were more coming but I was the last one to walk to the van and she said well this is it!! And instantly I was tempted to pay the 200$ fine and not go along. She then proceeded to tell us we had to wait at her office for two hours while she waited for another group of students from Sydney to get here to see if any of them would want to join our group since 4 people would be really challenging. We drive to the office which so happens to be about 3 blocks from Keiraview. Well she claimed she had no way of getting a hold of us to tell us we didn't have to meet til 10:30 when we all sent our phone numbers to them... So I went all the way to the train station, a 15 minute walk and took the bus which is 10 minutes long to campus only to be driven right back to where I started...

The group from Sydney showed up and luckily 3 girls decided they would go with us. Instantly things started looking up from what Krissy's experience was. We headed off probably around 11. We drove to a Wolly's grocery store to get some more groceries so we wouldn't go hungry and pick up some snacks. Finally after the long car ride with Jess our leader driving a stick shift like there was no one in it... I was feeling mighty car sick and ready to get out of that retched vehicle. Elise and I set up our tent all by ourselves!! I was so proud of myself- because I have never set up a tent. So now I am a pro if anyone needs to set one up! We look over to see our leaders tent which could fit about 5 people in it and she had an air mattress... I thought no wonder this woman thinks everything in life is so great. Elise is NOT a camper by any means. She considered camping what we had at mojosurf, a bed, and a roof over our head. She said "ughhh I dont do camping, I mean I can camp like at a resort or a cabin, not a nice one!" We all died laughing. She was our entertainment this weekend that's for sure!!

We set up tents then headed to the work site where we could see all the trees the group last weekend planted. The view of the ocean was absolutely beautiful and I was sad that was what we were going to be staring at while we sweat and worked our tails off. All we had to do the first night was de-weed. We weeded for about an hour then headed back to make dinner when we saw huge Kangaroos and a beautiful parrot right next to the kitchen! It was about 730 pm by the time we laid our mats down to go to bed. The mats we were given were about 1 cm thick... they did NOTHING. I knew this going into it so I packed blankets and two towels to try to add a little padding. Unfortunately it didnt help. I think I slept about 3 hours all night... I could hardly move when Jess told us to wake up. We headed to the work site and she said we had to plant only 200 trees. We had 7 girls and I knew we could get it all done on Saturday. Each person had a job, I was hole digger along with Aaryka. We had 2 other girls pounding stakes into the ground with an open ended bag over each tree and 2 girls planting the trees. At one point one of the girls, Amy was attacked by these giant ants that bite and dont let go. It was actually funny because I didnt get bitten so inside I was laughing when we watched her dance around saying "OWW THIS HURTS!! THEY WONT GET OFF ME!" Im sure you all think I am mean for laughing but it was histerical in my eyes. If I would have been bittin it wouldnt have been funny.
Towards the end after we got done with the planted we walked through and had to weed. I found a little plant that hadnt been planted. I was not about to dig another hole after I dug over 100... so I chucked the sticks into a pile of other twigs and branches and hid the tree under some shrub, then walked away like it was nothing.

So we finished at about 3 on Saturday afternoon and got to have free time the rest of the night. We went to the ocean and got to see the HUGE sting rays that were about 5 feet in length and were about 3 feet wide! We were told that we got to feed them so Elise thought we had to bring people food to feed them LOL! Aaryka almost wet herself she was laughing so hard! The sting rays were massive and felt slimy when you touched them. One came toward me and I almost fell trying to get away cause I got scared. Haha. The last night I also struggled to fall asleep and my back was nearly broken when I woke up.

We did not have to do any work today, we just packed up and hit the road to stop at a blowhole in Kiama. The blowhole was pretty cool! The Kiama Blowhole is the town's major tourist attraction. Under certain sea conditions, the blowhole can spray water up to 82 feet in the air, in quantities that thoroughly drench any bystanders. That didnt happen to us, the waves were to small for them to get that big. We walked into the town and got some ice cream and finally when I arrived back home I was so happy to see my bed that I just took a 2 hour nap right when I got back and it was AWESOME. I never want to camp on a dirt hill with roots under my tent again.

I had a pretty fun weekend despite the horror stories I was told. Saw somethings I will never see again and met new people :)

Myka is coming to stay with me this weekend and I cant wait! We are going to rent a car with Kristina, Jolina, and Krissy on Saturday and drive up to Royal National Park which is I hear breath taking in beauty. We also have a going away party for Bjoern, my german friend who is heading home. His internship is over and he is going to go back to school. So this weekend should be fun! Then in 2 weeks I head to Frasure Island and the Wittsunday Islands for spring break!!

I just booked my Trip to New Zealand on Thursday! I am going to be there June 11th until the 27th and then I fly out of Sydney the 28th to head home. I also am thinking I am going to go to Fiji the 4th-10th. So I am going to be traveling my whole last month before I get home. I really wish I could to go Thialand and the Philipeans, but I dont have enough time or money. So maybe I can go another time...

Anyway whats new with everyone?! Shoot me an email! I would love to hear from you!

Love Nikki

A day in the life of a wanna be surfer

Wow where to begin about my weekend at Mojosurf camp in Cresant Head... To begin I packed a huge backpack my cousin Jason gave me with 2 towels, swimsuits, jeans and a sweatshirt for campfires and anything else you could possibly need for a weekend that involves cuts, bruises, mosquito bites, and sunburn. I was prepared! I pack the enormous bag which is about 3/4 my body size and went to strap it on- the clip where the strap loops through to tighten it, had the middle piece missing which meant I was going to tie it around the piece since I had about a 15 minute walk and 14 minutes to get there. I started to run a little and this bag was NOT working out for me, It was coming undone and I was in pain from it being so heavy and the buckle that goes around the waist one of the prongs was no longer there. Where was my handy daddy when I needed him for a new clip and fasten?! So when I got to Sydney we went to a little souvenir shop where I found a new hiking bag for 40AUD which is about 30$ what a steal! I knew that the bag would not last me if it was already broken to begin with...

I got to the train station, sweaty, bruised, and mighty out of breath. I called Elise to see when she was getting there and she had gotten on the wrong bus and was walking trying to find her way to the train station. I for sure thought we would miss it because the train was supposed to be there in 2 minutes from when I called her. She arrived in the same condition I was in just as the train pulled up. We both took about twenty minutes to settle down and before we knew it we were in Sydney. Well I of course in the midst of everything my Nalgene bottle must have sliped out of my bag when we were on the train, because it was no longer with my when we got to Sydney and to the backpackers hostel where we were supposed to meet. I was so bummed, I still am. I know I can get the same one when I get home but they do not have Nalgene bottles here in Wollongong- and I have not seen them anywhere! It goes with me everywhere so losing that I was NOT happy.

Ahead of us was a 6.5 hour bus ride which turned into 8 hours... We watched a few movies stopped at McDonnalds as well as a bottle shop on the way there. Finally we arrived at 1:00 am and the surf instructors are crazy! They lead us to what they call the hubbie to have a fire and drink until the wee hours of the morning. Well I was exhausted from the ride and knew we had a long day ahead of us. I went back to my room after someone spilled their drink on my new shoes which caused them to become full of mud and dirt on the walk home. It gets better, I opened my bag where I stowed my personal belongings and noticed everything was sticky... My hairspray bottle cap opened up and let out all the Aussie aerosol hairspray into my bag. The ONE thing I didn't not put in a plastic bag... Everything of mine was a sticky mess including my toothbrush. AWESOME. I was thrilled to be there and ready to go back to Wollongong in my own bed away from mosquito's.

I get into my top bunk of the bed and get the sheets and bedding they give you. My pillow had maybe 13 cotton balls placed in it with a case around it. I could have folded it 7 times and its width could not have reached an inch. Also I could feel every groove and spring in my mattress. All I could do was somewhat laugh and go to sleep and pray that the next day would be better.

"WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" 7:30 rolls around and after four hours of sleep that is was we were woken up to. Brekky is in 10 minutes, have your suits, suncream, towels, and wet suit ready to go after you are done eating! Then a 25 minute walk down the beach to our surfing spot and some lessons we will be ready to surf! They just threw us out there and I did quite well! There were many-a spills and lots of board to the face. A few times I was drug by my board and swallowed half the sea with it. I ate a wave real bad where I thought I blew my ear drum- the wave again caught my board flipped me off of it, threw me down into the sand, hit my face, then I choked on the water while my ear felt like someone popped it like a balloon. After that spill I sat on the beach for about 20 minutes to recover before my ear stopped throbbing and ringing. When I went back out I saw fins in the water. I started to panic but then saw a beautiful dolphin jump not too far from me! I was SO excited!!!! I love love love dolphins and before I knew it there were about 10 of them swimming together!! It was breathtaking and I will never forget that!

After about 3 hours of being attacked by the waves and concurring few, we headed in for a delicious lunch of real meat sandwiches, pesto pasta, and fruit. Then we headed back down for our afternoon surf. Here the waves were massive and I only caught three in the last 2 hours because they were too strong for me. I had many repeats of being drug by my board.

That night I was falling asleep at dinner, but surfers let me tell you are crazy! They get up about 7-7:30, come in around noon for lunch go back out til dark then drink til the wee hours of the morning and get up and do it all over again. I on the other hand was in bed with a few other roommates around 9:00 the rest stumbled into the room at about 1:30... At about that time I heard a gargling noise and then I could smell it... Someone threw up. We flipped the lights on and it was one of the kids from our program. He threw up all over his bed on the wall and down to the floor. I was not happy nor impressed because the girl sleeping above him wanted to move- I dont blame her. So by being nice I let her sleep in my bunk and I slept with Marissa on the bottom. After that I had a hard time sleeping because you all know my issues with puke. He slept in it all night and had a pleasant surprise to clean and a 200$ fine to pay. Ha. I woke up this morning- and you know how when your back hurts so bad you have trouble breathing? Yes that is how I felt this morning plus the soreness from surfing did not mix well. I was SO sore trying to surf today and am really feeling it now. Many of the people at the camp were sick today which was really too bad, I dont understand why you would pay money to go to the camp then be sick from staying out too late and not even go the second day. What a bunch of losers.

Anyway, the bus ride home was very long and took about seven hours on the way back instead of 8. When we got to the train station we were starving and saw the next train was going to be there in 7 minutes. I told Elise to get the ticket while I sprinted to get food. I got "Hungry Jack" aka Burger King, and diet coke running down my arms as I sprinted to catch the train.... Woofta!! What a weekend. I am thrilled to be back and sleeping in my own bed tonight!

Surfing was so much fun but I would have had a much better time if I could have avoided many of the unavoidable situations that came my way. :) Better luck next time!

Love, Nikki

Commencement Dinner :)

Well yesterday we had our big commencement dinner for Kieraview which is where I live. There were about 40 of us that got all dressed up with the staff of our place to head down to Harbourfront restaurant on the Beach. Before leaving Keiraview we had a group photo taken with everyone we live with! As we were taking this group photo I noticed my purse hanging lower and lower and I was confused as to why until I looked at my hand and I was holding just the bottom of the strap while at the other end hung my purse. I was not too pleased since this was my favorite purse and not to mention the only one I brought with me! I was really bummed and everyone was laughing at how upset I was over my 10$ flee market purse from Arizona. But really! I got use out of it for sure! Just means I have to go on a hunt for a new one.... oh darn! :) Anyway after I got over my broken purse (I really didnt get over it im still mad!) we took another group photo with the ocean and mountains behind us. We all headed into the restaurant and got ready to eat! We brought big appetites! This restaurant is very nice and really expensive- which was great because our place paid for it :) We had a choice of entres (fish, beef, or chicken) I chose the chicken so it wouldnt be mystery meat- chicken is chicken=its universal! After about 40 minutes of waiting we got some bread. Some with tomatos the other with mushrooms. We scarfed that down real fast. Another hour and a half goes by before we get our food. I kid you not I was getting ready to take a bite out of someone from our table. I think anything would have tasted good by the time our food arrived a little after nine. To keep ourselves busy and not thinking about food we played category games at our table for about half an hour- then the topic switched to food and it was miserable so we quit. Our meals were wonderful and I GUESS it was worth the wait... Our desserts were delicious but oh so tiny. They were pretty much bite size if you know how I eat dessert :)

Tomorrow I am heading to Sydney to catch a bus to head to mojosurf camp this weekend! It is a six hour bus ride there which is going to seem like ages but we are going to have heaps of fun! I may come back a pro at surfing- you NEVER know! But most likely I will have a wave take me under and my board hit me in the head multiple times... Ill let you know once I get home what the verdict on that was!

Well time to start my homework of two papers, a presentation, and web simulation homework... JOY. While all of you are enjoying your spring break I am looking outside where I SHOULD be and doing homework...

Ill update my blog in a few days when I return home! I hope everyone has a good weekend!!

Love, Nikki

A night swim

Yesterday was quite an interesting day and an even better night. I got up yesterday to get some homework done and to read this article for my Aboriginal Studies class that is soo boring I want to stick pencils in my eyes... It has taken me 3 days to finish because it is THAT bad. Unfortunately only after I finished it I looked at the syllabus to find my friend copied the wrong article and I never even had to read it. HOW LAME. After that Krissy and I went for a walk to the beach, we stopped to have a smoothie and then headed back home. After I got home I was about to get into the shower. As I entered my 2x4 bathroom I was only in my socks. I took of one sock and as I took off the other I crossed my leg over my other thigh to take it off. Well as I did that my finger acted as a sling shot as I slipped my sock off and up it went- then down right into my toilet... I stood there for a moment knowing I had to get it out but mad at myself I didnt see it coming. I picked it up and squeegied the water out and threw it into a plastic bag to be washed. Then I jumped into the shower and washed my hands for a good 25 minutres. Haha... at least I had not gone to the bathroom before it went into the toilet like what happened to my cell phone a few years ago!!

We had plans to go to the beach for a good time for our friend Phil's 21st birthday. It started raining so they moved the location to Campus East where the majority of our friends live. We went to go get some dinner before hand at Coconut Thai and the whole place was booked I mean there were about 60 spots to sit and they were all set for a huge group... really bummed we stood outside trying to think what else we wanted to eat when we realized we could get take out! So we walked back inside to get our meals to go. Once I finished an amazing pad ce ew guy (NOT A CLUE HOW TO SPELL) we walked to the train station to get to Fairymedow where Campus East is. I am SOO glad that I do not live there. This place is like a crazy freshman dorm where kids are away from their parents for the first time and are wild. There were bottles and garbage all over the place and music was unbelievably loud, I dont know how I would ever sleep. I was really grossed out by the place and was watching my every step. Finally Phil yelled, "LETS GO TO THE BEACH!!!!" So about 30 of us all headed down to the beach in the pitch black.

Once we got to the beach the boys stipped down to their boxers and ran into the ocean doing cannon balls in about a foot of water... I am curious how much that actually hurt at the time. They really wanted everyone to get in the water and me being the cautious one I was thinking to myself... it is dark outside and I cant see what is swimming with me so I was not keen on the idea of getting in water and being A. stung by a blue bottle or B. having a shark find me. But after about 20 minutes all the girls were jumping in too with their undergarments on and no one was being eaten or stung. Finally I came around and joined everyone! We were getting attacked by the waves and the water was soo warm. We had a blast, people who didnt want to get in the water were being drug into the water clothes and all. I would NOT have been happy if that was the case for me so good thing I went in! After a while we were starting to get tired and we had a LONG walk ahead of us down the beach. So Krissy and I started ahead since everyone else was being pokey. Eventually they caught up to us and boy the walk didnt seem to end. By the time we split off from the others going to International house my thighs were chaffing and my calves were burning from trecking in the sand for an hour and a half. The picture you see above is of me putting my dress between my legs to stop the pain of them rubbing together... it wasnt working and at this point we still had a twenty minute walk to get home. Krissy thought this was hilarious because SHE has never experienced the pain of chaffing- so she wanted to take a picture of my misery. So as you can see I was pouting and wishing I was already back. BUT unfortunately for me no matter how many times I closed my eyes and re-opening them hoping that Keiraview was right in front of me-that was not the case. Once we got home I was so happy! I crawled into bed and was sleeping like a baby :)

Mail

If anyone feels like liking a stamp, you should send me a little hello in the mail! I dont get mail here but EVERYONE else does, so I am feeling a little left out!

My address is
Nikki Lee
Keiraview Accommodation
75-79 Keira Street
Wollongong, NSW 2500


So yesterday was fun, Krissy and our floor mates from Canada went to the movie Confessions of a Shopaholic. It was pretty cute, probably not a movie I would have paid to see back home but I would for sure rent it! This morning the same girls Krissy, Kristina, Jolina and I made a big pancake breakfast! We had pancakes obviously, eggs (mom's way :)) lots of fruit, and of course a big glass of milk to wash it all down! We decided to make it a Friday morning tradition to have breakfast together and next week Krissy is making french toast!!

Later this after noon I tried to study and read my articles, I failed miserably and woke up sprawled on my bed with my highlighter open and papers below me an hour and a half later. SO that went well... I decided from my poor eating habits lately I would go for a nice run on the beach, it was really relaxing and I feel soo much better! :)

Tonight I am going to the North Gong to celebrate our friend Phil's 21st Birthday. So that should be fun, tomorrow is a must for being productive...

Love, Nikki :)

The little things from home sweet home

I am feeling a bit guilty so I thought I would write about it. Sooo I just opened a bag of corn ships and made guacamole (2 avocados) I finished the whole bag of chips and the guacamole.... I just thought I should tell you because I have become a hoarder and eat WAY too much over here... there are also these sinful cookies called Tim-tams and they are a party in your mouth. Well they come in packages of 11 and put girl scout cookies to shame... well I opened a pack of those and ate the entire thing not too long ago! I decided to convert the kJ to calories and I found I ate 1100 calories in about 20 minutes. Good huh? I notice that when I am at my computer if there is anything edible within arms reach I am eating it. I have decided to put all my food in the kitchen and only allow myself to eat there. If you didnt know- I am missing food from home hard core! We had a "BBQ" last night and I asked for a hotdog. Well they gave it to me on a peice of bread and offered me some "tomato sauce" aka a form of Catchup. I asked for a burnt one cause I love burnt hotdogs and I took THE biggest bite possible, cheeks puffed and all. I did all I could to choke it down and grabbed some "lemonade" which is Sprite to wash it down. I think I bit into some Kanga... and I was really not okay with that. After that I wasnt too keen on trying any more mystery meat. NO THANK YOU. I would give anything to eat at Applebees, Chipotle, Tereasa's, even a Taco bell... SO if you wouldnt mind eating those things for me and letting me know how amazing it was I would love that.

Miss Piggy

Sydney, Gay Mardi Gras

Well... Where to begin this crazy weekend?! First off I went to class on Thursday afternoon at 1130 and spent an hour and a half in this little room for my Spanish tutorial, all I could d0 was think about NOT being in Spanish since we were learning how to count... Once class finally got over I raced home (meaning I made it home in 35 minutes) threw my bag together and Krissy had called a cab to come get us to the train station so we didn't have to lug our suitcases down the street. We took the train into Sydney and Myka met Krissy, Fran, Elise, Clare and I at the train station. This is where my adventure really began... Prepare yourself because you will not believe our transportation issues/luck this weekend. There were six of us girls and we were all starving so we thought it would be a good idea to go to where the girls hotel was and drop off our luggage, find someplace close to eat and then Myka, Krissy and I would head back to Myka's place for the night. Clare had a print out of the name of her hotel with a supposed address on it. So we split up and got into two cabs. Our cab driver was a small asian man who seemed to not know how to smile. We read him the direction of 141 Essex Street and we were off... First off he tried to go down a one way, then nearly hit a parked car on the side of the street. This was not a fun start, when he yelled at us "SABETY FIRST" to put our seat belts on. Which is quite funny actually since this man was an idiot. Before we even got out of the train station parking lot our cab fare was 7.00- He then made a U-turn in the middle of a highway. I thought Myka sitting in the front seat was going to kill him cause she definitely was with her looks. In the midst of all this Elise called to tell us that we had the wrong directions and that it was 141 Pitt street. Well her cab driver was crazy too because every one was yelling. First I heard 141 BEACH street and the she was laughing yelling no no its BEET street. Then I hear her cab driver yell PEET street but the other china man also did not have great english and it was PITT street. SO a 25.00 cab ride to the other end of town we find she calls again and says that their hotel was right next to the train station. We were on the other end of town and just had the man drop us off. All that for nothing. We decided to forget the hotel and drag our bags. There was a Pizza Hut that I am quite sure was not a Pizza Hut because there was ONE table in the entire place and the pizza came out of a shoot... strange. Once we finished we walked a ways to find a bus station. We took one bus and two trains to get to Myka's place that was about 30 minutes outside the city. This was a very long day! We went out to one of her friends house to hang out that night and went to bed at about 12:00. And by the way the birds at Mykas are nothing compared to the ones where I live. Oh my lord it sounds like monkeys...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SN-DCBxzvoE please check it out- though its quite annoying!! Turn the volume up loud so you can hear what it actually sounds like! The next day was even crazier!


So Friday morning rolls around, Myka had her internship in the city that morning so Krissy and I slept in and decided to make our way around town ourselves until Myka could meet up with us. We figured we would do some shopping and sight seeing! We first started out on the bus to the city. We asked around to figure out how to get to the Opera House, the two of us had no issues getting to the harbor when the girls called saying they were going to the Opera House also. So we met up with them and walked around the harbor. It was breath taking, the skyline is gorgeous and I still can not believe I could see it with my own two eyes something you see on post cards and in magazines. I thought to myself I LOVE THIS CITY! Once we saw eveything we could we went to eat at a little food court that was really odd. We decided to get wraps that instead of putting the sauce on the inside of the wrap, slabbed it on the outside and then wrapped it in Saran wrap then wrapped in tin-foil. Yeah weird I know! Once we finished these odd messy backwards wraps we decided to have a fun day of shopping at the Queen Victoria Building. The mall architecture was beautiful and the shops of course were really expensive on the main two floors, but dont worry we found some great shops in the basement that had really cute things! I found a really cool dress that was all different shades of blues and aquas, a pair of jeans and a fun going out top. We worked up an appetite shopping and stopped for some gilado, yes it is a party in your mouth! Coconut is my favorite!! ( Im sure its yours too dad!! Dont worry I had TWO scoops! One for you and one for me :) ) I called Myka to see where she was and she said she was going to head back because she was really tired. Krissy and I decided to go back to her place to relax, eat some dinner, and get cleaned up before a night in the City. Once we were already it was about 9:20. We headed to the train station to hop on the train to Sydney. As we were walking we were joking about our transportation issues and Myka said, "Wouldn't it be funny if there were like im sorry the last train was at 9:00?" We get to the train station at about 9:40 and there was a few workers standing on ladders and in construction hats and vests. We proceeded to go around them into the doors when one of them said umm the train station is closed. What do you mean its closed??! He was like well didn't you read the timetable? Clearly we didnt... So we thought well we can just take the bus. We walked another five minutes to the bus station and where the Uni Center was (this has a movie theater, restaurants, and bars in it) and saw that there was a bus that would come at 10:20 and the only bus to return was at 11:00. Well it takes about a half hour to even get into the city, so it would be pointless to ride there get off the bus for 6 seconds and get right back on. We figured we could just go see a movie since we were already at the Uni center, to our disappointment the last showing started at 9:40. We thought maybe we could just go to a restaurant and get an appetizer and a drink then head back after that. We walked to the restaurant at the end of the building and they closed the doors as we walked up to it and put their "Were sorry we are CLOSED" sign up. Well, this was fun.... we gave up went home and went to bed at 10:30.



Saturday is Gay Mardi Gras!!!! We started out the morning by heading to the girls hotel to drop our stuff of to get ready for the parade later, and to meet up to get something to eat. So we never had actually been to their hotel so when we got to the train station in Sydney we called them and they had no idea how to tell us how to get their. We asked about 30 people where Pitt and Campbell was and made about 100 phone calls to them to find this non existing hotel from hell. After about an hour looking at addresses on buildings we found their hotel which by the way was not 141 it was 341. The numbers on Pitt street went up from 400-600 then jumped back down to the 300's so as you can see we were very puzzled at where this place was. We get there around one starving, to find they went and ate already... so we decided to go get food and go the the Asian markets for some more shopping!! We ate at some Irish pub that had the strangest food. It was alright but what was funny was that Myka got a Greek salad and there was no salad about it... it was all vegetables and some cheese. Krissy Burger had an egg on it which I found really unappealing, and I got some chicken that was fried and flat and huge that took up my whole plate! We headed over to the Asian markets where we found so many great deals and souvenirs! I found a few things that I liked to bring home to family and friends but not as much as I would have liked. I found a place in there that sold UGG boots... And yes I have ripped on them for years because everyone has them, but I put my foot inside and I think my feet were the happiest they have been in weeks. So I caved and got two pairs that were really cheap compared to what they were in the states which was really exciting for me since I am a bargain shopper :) I also found some other great deals that cannot be revealed! Once we had about 30 pounds worth of things and bags we headed back to the hotel to get ready for Mardi Gras!! We headed to the parade at about 5:30 and the streets were packed! For as far as you could see down the parade the street was lined with about 10 people deep on each side shoulder to shoulder. I have never seen so many people in my life! Let alone the outfits and lack there of were hilarious! I saw enough saggy boobs and old wrinkly butts to last me for the rest of my life I think! The parade was so much fun! People were CRAZY, we got these stools to stand on behind a whole crew of asians who thought they could fit 70 people in a space for 5. We were getting quite annoyed when their little friends would come in front of us. I jabbed my knee into a few backs because I was nearly knocked of my stool several times. In the parade we saw Joan Rivers which I found extremely funny. My favorite were the Gay life savors who are from a beach that all the life guards are gay! Apparently people pretend they are drowning all the time to be saved by these handsome and extremely in shape men. The parade lasted a long 3 hours and my feet and calves were on fire. We trecked to go find something to eat and made a long hall to the hotel to get our bags and make our journey home. Eventually we made it- and fell right to sleep!


Today we didn't go to the zoo- this weekend was enough adventure and getting there itself would probably be a zoo. Next time we will go, plus I have had a cold since last Wednesday and still am fighting it... I am most likely going to the doctor tomorrow or Tuesday because I think I have a sinus infection. YIPPEEE... Now that you have read my novel I'm sure you are exhausted! Anyway, I made it home safely and love Sydney :)

Nikki

A run on the boardwalk

Well back to reality for this little girl! I started school today and it went alright- I am really not looking forward to the education aspect of this "study abroad" experience, but thats what I came here to do right..? I first had Aboriginal studies with a little chubby bald man- at first when he started talking I thought he was speaking in another language but as the class went on his Australian accent was easier to understand. There are about 15 Australearn students in my class so it will be nice to see familiar faces every week at school. Next I had an hour break where Krissy and I met up with our Aussie friend Chelli. He is quite hillarious and knows how to make people laugh!! We took at stroll around campus before I was on my way to Spanish class. I am going to LOVE spanish. My teacher seems so refreshing and so very nice. I am looking forward to it! Thus far the two classes I have had do not have finals so I will be done with school June 5th which gives me about 3 weeks to travel when I get done with school! I think I might go to Figi for spring break with some friends as long as I do get to go to New Zealand at some point. There is just so much to see and I feel like the time here is going to fly and I am not going to know what happened to it all!!

This weekend I have planned a really fun one! Krissy, Fran, Elise, and Clare and I are all going to take the train to Sydney on Thursday. Krissy and I are going to stay with my dear friend Myka who I have known since 6th grade- she is studying in Sydney this semester. We plan to go to the Operah house maybe on Friday. Saturday is the HUGE Mardi Gras Parade which Im sure will be nothing but hilarious. Dont be surprised if I get pelted in the eye with beads... I seem to have a streak of bad luck here when it comes to getting hurt or havin odd things happen to me, which reminds me....

Last night I met up with some friends at Coconut Thia where were we had dinner! On my way home we were walking through the outside mall and I noticed a HUGE cockroach on the ground as I put my foot down next to it. As I yelped its ran across my foot and scurried away. This grossed me out to the max- and as many of you know I can not scream like a girl I yell loudly and sound like a man... So I made a very odd noise while it ran across my foot. Yuck I shiver thinking about it!!

Also the other day I was taking a shower and leaned down to grab a wash cloth in the cupboard next to my shower. As I opened it, I forgot that my cupboard is spring loaded or so I think it is. And as I opened the door it swung open and smacked me in my face. It it my lip which my front tooth went through. I bled all over the shower and felt like an idiot. I had a swollon lip with a cut from my big front tooth. I swear I do not know what the deal is. Why I have become a walking bruise I do not know!

Anyway back to Sydney this weekend- Suday we are going to to go the Sydney zoo which I hear is amazing! So I have a full weekend ahead of me and I cant wait to tell you about it! I just got back home from a run on the beach boardwalk. It was so refreshing- Krissy and I sat and watched the enormous waves crash onto the beach as surfurs ate it trying to get up on them! The waves were massive- Im talking about 6 feet and people were just being swallowed left and right from them. The picture you see is the boardwalk we ran on which is beautiful. The smells as you run are interesting. Some times you get a whiff of stinky sea urchants and I about gag. Other times the air smells so crisp you really dont want to leave where you are standing.

I hope everyone is doing well. I will write about my adventure to Sydney soon!

Lots of love, Nikki :)