Fraser Island Weekend Trip

My first weekend trip of the 101 semester was to the world largest sand island at 75 miles called Fraser Island. It has no roads and you have to drive via 4wd in order to get around the island, you access it via a ferry from Rainbow Beach which is 200 miles north of Brisbane. Its home to various wildlife including Dingos (my new favorite animal) and several lakes and creeks. I went with a small group of students from Bond Uni including my friend Nina from Finland (she is also in the Sports Management Program). We stayed on the only "resort" on Fraser Island for 2 nights, we got a chance to explore the whole island from the inside out including a hike to Lake Wabby, a swim at Lake Birrabeen and Eli Creek. We also took a hike through a tropical rain forest, got to see the stars at night and free roaming dingoes. The only downside to the whole trip was it was super humid and there were so many horse flies ( I bought a fly swatter). I really got a chance to appreciate one of the most amazing things nature has to offer. As they say in Australia is was EPIC :)

Cheers,

Theresa

Adventure to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane

First big adventure for the 101 semester called for a trip to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane. We had a new girl join the Sports Management program in January named Christine( she is from LA but did her undergrad at Cal, so she was good company since it was the Pac-10) and she wanted to do something Australian so what could be more Australian then holding a koala and feeding kangaroos? So after a bus to the train station and then another bus from the train station we arrived at Lone Pine, its first and largest Koala sanctuary in the world. Beside koalas they also have dingos, emus, wombats and various other animals. The koalas are kept in different area depending on age and sex so we got a chance to see very old koalas and very young koala even a baby one with its mother. Even though I already held a koala once, I had to do it again and of course get my picture with it as well. We got to feed kangaroos and see a sheep dog show too. At the end of the day I am pretty sure I took about 250 pictures of koalas, what can I say they are so cute!! Be jealous that I got to hold one again :)

Cheers,

Theresa

Change..

If you read my posts from last semester then you wouldn't have seen the great people that were in my life and all the wonderful things I got a chance to experience but this semester couldn't have been the complete opposite if you ask me.

First off I moved to a different apartment and much bigger room (thanks you for having my own bathroom and a walk-in closet) and of course new roommates or should I say roommate, yeah I was suppose to have two but I ended up with one. Lets just say she is nothing like my roommate from last semester or my two other friends I hung out with but what can you do you can't chose them so you just have to go with the flow and hope for the best, well Its March and the best sure hasn't came but with that being sad I got a chance to hang out with some fellow american who were here last semester as well as meet some pretty cool people who joined the Sports Management program this semester. Also my class schedule was a lot different then it was last semester, 3 hours classes do not suit me very well but I just think to myself that I only have class twice a week and its over before it really starts, I have made it through week 9 so I guess I am doing pretty well!! I will say that I miss my friends from last semester but good thing I get a chance to keep in touch with them a little bit. This semester was a lot of exploring who I am as a person more then ever. I didn't have the support of my four favorite people (Kirsten, Therese, Erica and Marianne) but it showed my that I am a strong person and no matter what the situation is I can handle it even if that means doing it alone. I have to remind myself that I am here to get a Master's degree and everything else is just a bonus. With that being said I did get a chance to experience something semester...read on and see what they are!!

Cheers,

Theresa

2nd semester of grad school

After being on Holiday break for about a month it was time to start up my second semester of grad school. This semester I am taking 4 subjects, Sport & Contemporary Issues, Communication, Leadership & Negotiation in Sport, Behaviour in Organisation and Evidence Based Project in Sport Management (its not a class but a 10,000 paper on a subject of choice, Title IX is my choice). I only have class twice a week but for 3 hours each time, Tuesday 12-3 & 5-8 and then Wednesday 5-8 along with meeting my program leader Shayne once a week to discuss my progress on my paper. Since its is already the end of week 9 and we only have 5 more weeks left, those meeting sometime didn't happen which is why I am might be a little off track on my paper. So for the next 5 weeks it will be a focus of school and thats all!!

Up next, new apartment, new roommate and new weather and one semester to forget.

Theresa

Sydney with Cousin Lisa

The road trip might have ended but I was still on holiday. Lisa and I flew from Adelaide to Sydney for a couple days. It was nice having the chance to spend some good quality time with family, not to mention staying in one place for more then two days was nice as well. We stayed in an area of Sydney called Kings Cross, after staying there I would say find a different place closer to the heart of the city. Our Sydney trip started off pretty crappy thanks to the weather but it ended much better. I had already been to Sydney at two different times so I left it up to Lisa to where she wanted to go, lucky she was pretty simple and we stayed close to the main attractions. We got to see the Harbour Bridge (can't really miss it), Sydney Opera House, Taronga Zoo, Sydney Aquarium, Sydney Wildlife World and ANZ Stadium over by the Olympic Site. I will say my favorite place was the behind the scene tour of ANZ Stadium, we even got a chance to stand on the medal stand and have our picture taken. The history of the stadium and all the changes that they have made to it since 2000 was pretty cool as well. The end of the trip ended with us leaving on a jet plane back to the Gold Coast. It may have been a quick trip for Lisa but she sure got to see a lot more of Australia then most people. We arrived at the Gold Coast airport took a bus back to my place where I gave her a quick tour of my campus before taking the train the next morning up to Brisbane to send Lisa back home to Washington State. I just want to thank Lisa for coming out and visiting me, I had so much fun with you and I hope to see you again before I leave Australia. On a sad note my Lolo (dad's father) passed away on January 2nd after making it to the ripe age of 99 years old. I was to say to my Lola that I wish I could have been home to attend Lolo's funeral but flying halfway around the world at the last minute was sort of expensive. Having lost my own father at the end of 2008 and then my Lolo makes me appreciate this opportunity even more and not only that but I just want to say that I love my family so much and thanks for all the wonderful support you have give me throughout this journey. Until next time, Much love Theresa

Road Trip Part 2

First off I just want to say that I am sorry I haven't kept this up as well as I did last semester. It has been a lot different experience this semester compared to last semester but you can read all about it in the next couple of blogs.

To cont. the road trip, Lisa flew into Australia via Washington after several stops along the way she was able to meet us in Melbourne at our hostel Urban City December 28-29.

The first day in Melbourne we got a chance to get out of the car walk around and do a little site seeing. That evening we ate at the hostel where the offered a good old Aussie Bar-B-Que and me and girls competed in a trivia contest at the hostel bar. First round was a success but after that our luck ran out. I will say it was fun and entertaining evening. The next morning Lisa and I explored all around Melbourne including stops at the Aquarium, train station and several other landmark. We even got a chance to sit downtown and watch the cricket match out huge big screen TV's as it was going on live at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). The next morning we head off toward our next destination which was the Great Ocean Road! Our first stop along the Great Ocean Road was a town called Torquay home to great surfing. We spent part of the day chilling on the beach enjoying the sun. The called it good for the night in a town called Lourne where we stayed at the Great Ocean Road Backpackers YHA. Lets just say the place was sort of like a treehouse with very steep stairs to climb up, but oh well we got our own room for the night. In the morning, Kirsten and Therese participated in a surf lesson while Lisa and I walked around town and watch them try and surf, they sure were brave but there was no was I was doing that! After the surf lesson we made our way to this little beach town called Warrnambool where we got there in time to celebrate 2010. I will say it was a very long day of driving in the car so a whole lot wasn't going on. We were able to sit atop a hill and watch some fireworks and then we proceeded back to the hostel where we played the game Catch Phrase and drank some beers, after we rang in the new year we all crashed out for the evening. The next morning was a lot of driving and not a whole lot of anything else, well besides a lot dried up lakes and dead animals along the road. Oh yeah and of course the world famous 12 Apostles, to bad there aren't 12 of them anymore but it was epic! We stayed about hour outside of Adelaide for the night where we had a nice dinner and celebrate our last night together as a group. The next day we got up to make our trip to the car rental place in Adelaide, Therese was on her way to Alice Spring for a couple day, Kirsten was sticking around to meet up with a friend and Lisa and I were on our way to Sydney for a couple days. We had some time before our flight so Lisa and I met up with Kirsten at the Adelaide Zoo where we got to see the newest edition to the zoo the Giant Pandas. After the zoo Lisa and I had to get back to the airport to catch our flight to Sydney. It was great trip with some great friends and I am so happy I got a chance to share it with them.

Well 3 days in Sydney with Lisa is up next enjoy!!

Theresa