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

Australia Road Trip Part 1

The start of the road trip began on December 19th at 9am when Kirsten and I took a bus out to Surfer Paradise to pick up what we thought was a sedan like a Toyota Corolla instead we ended up with a Holden Astra hatchback, I guess when you ask for a sedan they think a hatchback is the same kinda funny but we made it work!!

Now to all my readers please google a detailed map of Australia so you can follow along to all the cities and states that I talk about!!

Day 1 Robina (Queensland) to Coffs Harbour (New South Wales)

Kirsten was the driver of choice for the entire road trip, she wanted to drive and I didn't plus it cost an extra $5 a day for another driver and I couldn't see myself driving on the left side of the road from the right side of the car, way to confusing for me!!

Our first official stop was only about 15-20 mins from Robina in a surfer town called Coolangatta which is right on the Queensland/NSW border. We stopped there so I could go to Mick Fannings Rip Curl Surf Shop, if you don't know anything about Mick Fanning then google his name because he won the 2009 World Championship for surfing. I also got a chance to read his book which was pretty darn good for someone who is only 28 years old!!

Back on the road we drove a lot and stopped a lot so Kirsten could drink cups and more cups of coffee to keep her awake which also means she had to stop to use the washroom as she calls it. After about 6 or 7 hours on the road with a lot of detours and false hopes we made it to our first stop of the journey in Coffs Harbour. The plan was to camp for a couple days to save with cost but after being on the road for so long we just wanted to take a nice hot shower and sleep in a bed not in a sleeping bag, we ended up at the Banana Hotel, Coffs Harbour is know for the Big Banana. The next morning we got up toured around the great town of Coffs Harbour saw the Big Banana bought myself a new camera since mine decided it didn't want to work and we head off to Port Macquarie.

Day 2 Coffs Harbour to Port Macquarie (NSW) and Day 3 stayed in Port Macquarie

Day 2 was unlike day 1 because we didn't drive as much. We settled into Port Macquarie and decided we should get some use out of our handy dandy camping equipment, so we found a camping place, put up our tent and settled on two nights in good old Port Mac!! In Port Mac we got a chance to visit the Billabong Kola Wildlife Park, the first of many wildlife park/zoos we visited on this road trip. We got a chance to touch a Kola, a Dingo, feed the Albino Kangaroos and get chased by a crazy swan, with that all said touching a Dingo was the highlight of my day!! After the zoo we stopped by a Kola hospital that helps injured/sick Kolas, they either are rescued from being hit by a car, attacked by dogs or admitted for health reasons, If you know anything about Australia Kolas are an icon and to see such cute cuddly animals under those circumstances was pretty sad, but to know they are in good hands make it all better!! We also found a little local brewery called Little Brewing Company and got a chance to sample 4 different types of beer, this company was ran by a husband and wife team in a little warehouse. After two night of camping and checking out what Port Mac has to offer we decided to hit to road as we were picking up our third member of the road trip in Sydney Therese.

Day 4 Port Mac to Sydney

We left Port Mac pretty early in the morning since we had to another 5 hours of driving which ended up more like 6 or 7 since we took several tourist route that didn't seem so tourist like when all we did was drive through small city after city seeing the ocean a couple times in New Castle, next time you see a brown sign that says Tourist Drive think twice before taking that route because it might not be worth it!! We finally found a hotel right outside of Sydney because we really didn't want to drive in the city with all of that traffic. Picking up Therese in the morning!!

Day 5 Sydney to Wollongong

We visited Sydney Olympic Park in the morning and Therese took a train from the city center to meet use since it was much easier then having to deal with traffic. Since it was close to Christmas pretty much everything was closed but we did get a chance to see all the stadiums and just imagine what it was like during the 2000 Summer games, pretty cool place more to come on my return trip back to Sydney. Therese arrived we picked her up and that was the first time we got to test the space of the Holden Astra, everything fit and we were on our way to the Featherdale Wildlife Park outside of Sydney. Therese who had been in Sydney for a week had already visited there but was a good sport about it and let use go and see all the wonderful animals!! Once again we fed the Kangaroos, touched a Kola saw a HUGE Croc and took heaps and heaps of Kolas!! After several hours hanging out with Australia's finest we hit the road for our destination of Wollongong. Wollongong was only about 2 hours from Sydney so it made for a pretty easy day of driving!! When we arrived in Wollengong we stayed at our first hostel of many on our road trip, we stayed at the Wollongong Youth Hostel, it was part of The University of Wollongong, we met a very friendly staff member who convinced us all we needed to become members of the YHA of Australia, it actually turned out to be a great idea as we stayed in several YHA's throughout Australia, we get a discount on rooms as well as other things, pretty sweet deal!! That night was we out as our first time as a trio to this Irish Pub where we didn't drink Guinness because I don't like it we instead went for what was on tap, which was an Australian beer called Hahn Super Dry...Low carb :)

Day 6 Wollongong to Narooma (Christmas Eve and Day)

The next part of the trip was suppose to be where I said it was super hot and nice and that I was hanging out on the beach for Christmas but those plans were ruined thanks to a lot of rain. We stayed two night at the Narooma YHA in a family room which was nice because we didn't have to share a space with anyone and we got our own bathroom and shower!! Got lucky as it was the last room they had. We decided that it would be a good thing to go shopping since mostly everything on Christmas was going to be closed, we cooked ourselves some lasagna with some salad and garlic bread, it sure wasn't Christmas Eve at Lolo and Lola's house but it was a pretty nice home cooked meal. That night I played Santa to Kirsten and Therese without them even knowing what was going on in the same room, it was pretty cool to see their faces on Christmas morning when they had their own stocking filled and a present to open up, it was nice having friends around on a Holiday when you are usually around family. Kirsten loves hot food so I got her a cook book on cooking with chili and then I got Therese a wine topper with a Kola on it since she likes to drink wine. Even though it was suppose to be a day filled with a lot of sunshine, the beach and ocean it turned out pretty cool when we went for a Aussie Bar B Que put on by the manager of the YHA Darren and Karli. At the Bar B Que we got a chance to eat some amazing food, drink lots of Toohey Extra Dry beer and chat with fellow travelers. There were a group of 3 boys from Sydney on their way to Melbourne, as Irish girl from Melbourne on her way to Sydney and a British couple who has decided to travel and work around Australia for the next year on their way to Sydney as well!! There was also Willis the Cat and MoMo the Dog who hung out with us as well. I really couldn't have ask for a better Christmas, speaking of Christmas I hope everyone received my Christmas card!!

Day 7 Narooma (NSW) to Lake Entrance (Victoria)

The plan for Day 7 was to travel to Philip Island but decided that was going to be a lot of driving for one day not to mentation we stopped at the greatest place on Earth or Australia in the Potoroo Palace. Just another wildlife park we saw on the drive we decided to stop by and check out. When I mean check out I mean hang out with the Dingo for about an hour inside their fenced off area with their handler!! If you don't know much about the Dingo please google it because they are the most loving "wild" animal in Australia but they get a bad rap because they are a wild animal and people think they are just normal dogs but in most cases they are not. The three dingos we got to see were Shylow, Djingo and Dja. They were only pups so they were very playful and loving, we got to feed them rabbits feet (which we think brought us good luck later in the trip) pet them and learn all about their history. It was really amazing to learn so much about them and I swear that Auntie Lourdes has a Dingo named Ichiro!! Oh yeah we did other things at the Potoroo Palace too like pet a Echidna, get attacked for food by Kangaroos and see baby peacocks. Overall Potoroo Palace has a special place in my heart!! After severals hours with the animals we hit the road and made it to Lake Entrance where we stayed at the Riviera Backpackers YHA, had someone cancel so once again we got beds for the night, much have been the lucky rabbits feet we fed the Dingos? In case you are actually following we have traveled through Queensland, then New South Wales and now we are in Victoria. Lake Entrance didn't have much to offer us so we just walked across the ped bridge grab some dinner and planned out our next destination of Phillip Island to see the Penguins.

Day 8 Lakes Entrance to Phillip Island

Phillip Island is know for the Penguin Parade at night so of course we had to go check it out since we were going to be in town. The Penguin Parade is where you get to watch the Penguin come in from the ocean on to land and they breed. It is one of the most amazing thing I got to see that could not be captured on film. That is what the rules stated and I obeyed the rules!! Before we arrived to Phillip Island we got a chance to watch the Pelicans get fed on the beach. Also on Phillip Island we visited another wildlife park though I didn't take as many pictures or enjoy it as much since flies are super annoying in Victoria during this time of the year. Phillip Island also gave us a chance to visit a chocolate factory where we got to create something out of chocolate and watch it go down the conveyor belt, I created my name in chocolate!! It was yummy to eat as well!!

The next morning we headed to Melbourne where my cousin Lisa arrived from Washington State to visit me and join the rest of the road trip. More to come in the second part of blog!! Enjoy this one so far and look for the rest of it in the next couple days!!

Cheers,

Theresa

End of the semester 093

First off I want to say that I am sorry I haven't done an update on my blog until now. If you keep reading you will see why I was not able to update until now.

As I stated in my last blog I was about to enjoy a day at Wet & Wild water park, it ended up just being me, Kristen and Erica going but we sure made the most of it and had a blast. Not sure why we didn't go a lot earlier and often but I guess I will try and attend a lot more this semester.

The end of my semester actually was not as bad as I figured it to be. I only had one final which was for Sports Law and that was not until the Thursday of finals week, at 8am!! I did however have two group project within my Sports Public Relations class, one I did with a mix of undergrads and postgrads and another one which was just postgrads (5 total including myself). I ended up doing very well on both presentations. I had to turn in a "fake" website for a business adventure I was interested in starting so since I decided to go skydiving in October I did it all about skydiving. I have attached a link to check out the "fake" website. http://freefallingvegas.weebly.com/ I hope you enjoy all my hard work!! :) Overall I would say my first semester of grad school here in Australia was AMAZING and a SUCCESS!!!

Road Trip all over Australia started on December 19th...Read my next blog to see what I got a chance to discover with my mates!!

Cheers,

Theresa

Sydney and more

I spent Halloween, one of my favorite holidays by far in Sydney. I will say that Halloweens is sure not celebrated like is it in the USA not to mention it was super hot instead of cold and rainy!! Got to see some really cool site in Sydney but it is such a huge city that I can't wait to go back and see it again at my own pace. I dressed up as a Seattle Seahawk fan and ended up meeting some girls from the Seattle area, talk about a small world!! I will say though it wasn't best halloween outfit but it worked. One of my favorite things in Sydney wasn't really in Sydney just outside, were the Blue Mountains and the 3 Sister of course I named them Kris, Erin and Theresa!! The last days in Sydney were spent visiting several beaches including Manly, Bronte and the world famous Bondi.

School is going well for me this semester I think I have surprise myself in how well I have been able to juggle school, traveling and the sun. I officially end December 17th with my Sports Law final, my only final of the semester. Once again I lucked out and only have to do group projects as my final. These next couple of weeks will be spent working on group project, final papers and studying for my Sports Law final but I will leave some time for the beach and other things because it is to nice not going this wonderful weather I have.

Me, Kristen, Erica, Marianne and Therese are going to hit up the water park Wet & Wild finally!! I am super excited because they have my favorite ride called the Tornado!!

I just want to say that I am thankful for this wonderful opportunity and the wonderful friends and family I have in my life!! For everyone who wants to know Thanksgiving is not celebrated here in Australia but I will sure miss the wonderful food!!

Erin good luck in hosting Thanksgiving this year, I am sure you will go great and I can't wait to Skype with you and all the family!! Mom have fun in Cali with Kris, Mike, Andrew and Clara..

To everyone else have a Happy Thanksgiving and be thankful that you are alive!!

Cheers,

Theresa

The last couple of weeks

Hey everyone!! Sorry I have been a slacker on updating my blog the past couple of weeks. Here is a quick update of what you have missed. Two weekends ago Kirsten, Erica, Marianne, Therese, Marc and I went to Surfers Paradise to celebrate EUROFEST 09 where they had various foods and music from Germany, Italy, France and other European countries. After spending the day there Marc, Kirsten, I went to Brisbane for Oktoberfest. Let's just say there was a lot of people, beer, pretzels and bratwurst...not to mention 14 plastic jugs that I collected throughout the night..It was a fun night to spend with friends.

My roomie Marianne and her friend Therese (neighbor in Apt.6) cooked me, Erica and Kirsten a traditional Norwegian meal with meatballs, gravy, potatoes and blueberry muffins. It was nice to have a home cooked meal not to mention it was amazing too. The funniest part of the night was we all had to say the name of the meal in Norwegian, maybe I will upload the video on day so everyone can see. It is pretty funny watching Americans and a Canadian try to speak in Norwegian.

This past weekend Kirsten, Erica, Marc and I went an hour south of Robina to Byron Bay in NSW (New South Wales) to camp for the weekend. Byron Bay is Australia most Easterly point, we drove up to the lighthouse view point that had breathtaking views of the water and beaches. Sunday Erica and Marc left for home while Kirsten and I said an extra day to walk around do a little shopping and hang out. I got a chance to stay in my first hostel called the Arts Factory, pretty neat place not to mention we got to stay in a tee pee too. Monday came around bright an early as we had a 7:15am departure time for our skydiving with Byron Bay skydiving company. Kirsten and I jumped 14,000 feet with a 60 second free fall through the clouds. I will say it was the most amazing unreal experience one could ever have. I never thought I would jump out of an airplane since I am scared of heights. I guess there is a first for everything.

I look forward to a weekend to catch up on sleep and homework before spending Halloween in Sydney.

I want to say Happy 1st Birthday to my niece Clara Van Houten. I miss you and love you lots. Also I want to say congrats to the Martinez Family (Mel, Eddie and Gael) on their newest addition to the family!!

Peace, Love and 60 seconds of free fall!!

Love,

Theresa

Renting a car and road trip to Australia Zoo

This weekend was all about Kirsten, Therese, Erica, Marianne and me. We decided that we should rent a car and drive to Brisbane to explore the world famous Australia Zoo, home of Steven Irwin. Since the stirring wheel in on the right of the car they decided that they should drive on the left side of the road..We left the driving up to Kirsten since she really wanted to drive and the navigating up to me since I was the oldest..ha ha pretty funny..We left Robina at 6am on Saturday morning with plans to stop by a little market before the zoo but by the time we got into Brisbane we only had about 30 minutes so we went to see the Glass House Mountain and take a short trail to get ourselves warmed up for the all day trek around the zoo. I have been to several zoo in my life but I will say this by far is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life. The place that Steve Irwin build is all about the animals as well as giving people a once in a life opportunity as well. For example Kirsten got a chance to hold a snake and alligator (have her picture taken with them), Therese got to hold a snake and Kola (have her picture taken with them), Marianna got a chance to hold a Kola (take a picture with it) and of course myself I got a chance to hold a Kola (have my picture taken with it as well.) That is something I will alway remember in my life. We got to feed an elephant, kangaroos roamed freely in a gated area where we could walk up pet them as well as feed them, at first I was really scared because they have major claws but after seeing them a couple times later in the day I was able to feed a mama along with her Joey. They put on an amazing Croc show as well as a Bengal Tiger show. We tried our best to see everything but it is so BIG you can't do everything in one day. I shall return at another time I promise you, it is AMAZING!!. Sunday was our last day with the car so we took it pretty easy and just drove about 20 minutes south to Coolangatta to relax on the beach and enjoy the freedom of having a car. (Don't get me wrong the bus system is great but it takes twice as long to get anywhere). Next up is a trip to the outlet mall as well as a camping trip to Byron Bay sometime in November where I am thinking about Skydiving with Kristen...well shall see!!

PS school isn't as bad as I first thought, of course there is work but my professors are amazing and being a Post Grad student has its benefits. For example in my Journalism class for our tutorial we are getting one on one time with another journalism professor and he bought me a milkshake and another fellow Post Grad a coffee. I sure don't expect this every week but it was sure nice of him, Bond Uni does pride itself on knowing its students. I have a couple BIG assignments due this week so I shall spend the nights working on those.

Once again check here for more updates next week.

To all my friends and family I miss you lots and just think you too get to experience Australia through this blog. KET 4 life.

Cheers,

Theresa

First two weeks

Hey everyone!! Sorry it have been awhile since I have updated my blog. Here is what you have missed. I left Washington on September 4th and arrived in Brisbane, Australia on September 6th, yes that would be a day and half of traveling around the world.

I currently live with two roommates, Erica a 20 year old from Jersey and Marianne a 23 year old from Norway. It have been great having other people around to do things with. The first week I was in Australia I attend orientation called Bond Week, during this week they gave you chance to get to know the campus, enroll in class, set up your email account etc, they also had planned events like a campus bar b que, trivia night and a couple of parties on campus. Even though it has been busy with all this activities I have had a chance to set out and see other parts of the gold coast. I have been to Surfer Paradise, Broad Beach, Currumbin Beach and Sea World. I have upcoming trips to the world famous Australian Zoo as well as a trip to Sydney for a Halloween Harbor Cruise. I look forward to see a much of Australia as I can as well as the several countries located around Australia.

Oh no minor detail I left out...I also am here for school, ha ha. There is what I am taking for classes, Sport Law, Sport Business Innovation, Sport Public Relation and Specialized Journalism about travel and sports writing. So far all my classes have been pretty interesting but I will say going back to school after a 5 year break has been pretty hard, I forgot how much information they provided you as well as all the assignments and reading you much do. I will say it is very hard with all the distraction such as the wonderful weather, the beaches and all the social activities but I will say I came to Australia to do all those wonderful things but I also came to get a Masters degree in Sports Management and I plan in doing so.

Now that I have given you an update please check back here next week and the following weeks as I will update this each weekend.

Cheers from Australia!!

Theresa