I'm back! YAY! Back in wonderful Adelaide! I truly love this city eventhough those from Adelaide question my sanity when I say that sometimes...Like yesterday. I don't get it, this city is wonderful! Anyway...
Why all the excitement? Well because I just returned to Adelaide Monday night from another week long trip! This time I went to Western Australia. My friend Blair and I traveled together. We flew into Perth Sunday the 17th and spent the night there then headed off for a three day trip pretty much down the coast of the southwest part of WA. It was gorgeous! A billion nice views to see and wonderful people to travel with. We saw a lot of the Indian ocean, great beaches like Meelup bay and Surfers Point along with some HUGE trees like the Gloucester tree (61m high I believe) which you can actually climb, the Valley of the Giants (lots of big trees) treetop walk (very cool), beautiful Nglili caves, had a bird eat out of my hand, almost got blown away by some blow holes and all the in betweens. Like... the bus rides...the most fun was the one going back to Perth. Alex, a guy from England, gave us more of a taste of his musical talents by playing guitar and singing some songs for us. He had shown us a little our first night in Margaret River when he participated in Karaoke. The second night when we were in Albany we chatted with some people not on our trip. Met a guy from Canada and talked to him about his travels. Most of the people on our three day trip were English, there was another girl from the U.S. and two Australians, who were friends of the bus driver. Blair and I were about the only two who were actually still studying. Most of the people on out trip were taking time off and just traveling for, times ranging from 3 months to almost a year!
After our three day trip Blair and I got back to Perth and had to stay at the Ozi Inn. Not the best place to stay. The place we had stayed at that past sunday was completely full. Just for reference, if you ever travel to Perth and need a hostel, try your best to get into the Underground and not the Ozi Inn. In simplest terms, it was a little dodgy. Blair and I got rooms at the Underground the next day because we had friends staying there that would be gone for the night wanting to get away from the hostel for the whole day and so we get their rooms. We were ultra lazy that day (Thursday, 21st) and finally got going around noon to get lunch and then we shopped. That was about the extent of our day. We stopped in a park and went on the craziest teeter totter I have ever seen, and also had fun on some little spinning contraption. Some of the frisbee girls came in that night and two of our other friends were there too so we just sat around and had a few beers with them. Well everyone else had a few more than me. Friday Blair, Rebecca, Amber and I went on a wine tour. There were 12 of us, all girls that went and it was great. I bought my first bottle of wine while on the trip. It was great overall...we stopped at a chocolate factory too! Yum! This is where we discovered chocolate massage oil. That night (Friday) we went out with frisbee friends along with Amber and Rebecca. It was good fun. I tried my first Long Island Ice Tea...wow! that's some crazy stuff!
After all the fun of seeing sites Saturday morning was frisbee time! YAY! We were playing in Nationals! Our ladies team is called the Leafy Sea Dragons (LSD). We had 12 players and we were ready to get our butts kicked, which happened but we still had fun doing it. Ultimate is still gaining ground in South Australia, it's not really developed yet, and considering that this was the first time all twelve of us girls were together playing was probably another factor. We had never all practiced together at the same time! The tourney went from Saturday to Tuesday, but Blair and I left monday during our second to last game for the tournament. We had three games on Saturday, one of which we won!, 2 on the second day, 3 on the third day (by that time we were so buggered) and then there was the one I missed on Tuesday. We finished 7th out of 8. The mens team from SA did pretty well I think, I'm not quite sure actually but I'm pretty sure they won more than one game. It was a great time getting to hang out with the girls and getting to know some more people through frisbee. It was great to see a team from the Northern Territory. They have one team from there and so it was so cool to see a new team starting out. They are a mens team and are almost all aboriginal teenagers. They just seemed to excited to be there and playing. Some of the boys were actually really small so it was funny to see them up against some of our bigger guys, but they still did well.
Overall my trip was great. I realize there isn't much description about this one, but really I should be doing homework right now before I head to uni for a couple of hours so i've laid off on a ton of description.
cheers!
smuder
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Saturday, April 16, 2005
Tasmania
(This one is long so be prepared!)
Back from the land of Devils (Tasmanian Devils that is)....
The trip to Tasmania was great! First of all it was wonderful getting to see all the IES kids again and getting to touch base with those that I have not seen in a long time and also to learn a little bit more about some of them! The trip started bright and early Saturday morning with a long bus ride to Melbourne. Once in Melbourne we had dinner and then caught a ferry to Tasmania. This was quite an experience...To begin with, before getting onto the Ferry you have to go through security which to me is really not security at all. Compared to lets say the Minneapolis airport or any airport in the U.S. this was like "Easy Mac" (you know the kind you microwave, and how any one can find that difficult or mess is up is beyond me). All they really checked for was fruit. You can't take fruit from Melbourne to Tassie ( you also can't take it from South Australia into Victoria and vice versa). They quick look in your bags and you walk through the metal dector and you're done. Very very simple. The boat was great, and we got rooms which were nice and tiny for four people but we managed. It was much better than having to be one of the people that just had a seat and no room. We arrived in Tasmania the next morning around 7 and got breakfast and headed for Cradle Mountain. Here we took a hike up the mountain to Marion's lookout. It was all very goreous and as we began our walk it was like walking towards Mordor (for those of you who are Lord of the Rings fans.) It was cloudy and chilly and actually began to rain but it was quite an experience nevertheless and it was amazing still! It rained the rest of the night and we all tried to keep warm in our cabins and tried our best to dry out our soaking clothes and shoes.
Monday was again an early morning and had a very long bus ride (about five hours) down to Port Arthur. We basically drove across the state in five hours, which as my friend Blair pointed out to me would barely get you a third of the way down through California. On the way when we stopped for lunch we got to see the Oldest bridge in Australia that was buily in 1823 by convicts. To get to Port Arthur we drove through Eaglehawk Neck which is a small piece of land (I think 100m wide) that connects Port Arthur to the Mainland of Tasmania. Port Arthur was great and is the site of a convict settlement. We started with a museum that gave us an actual convict to follow to find out what happened to them. We then got a ferry tour of the port and saw The Island of the Dead, which is easily explained as a cemetary for the convicts and others that lived at the settlement. All of the stories about the convicts were really interesting to hear. After the ferry we mostly just went from building to building to read about the different parts of convict life. The next morning we headed off for another ferry to take us to Maria Island (pronounced Mariah) which was another convict site. We started off on time, made a stop at "Doo town" (All the houses in this neighborhood had names on their houses that had the word Doo in them. Like "love me doo" and "doo little") and then had some time at the beach by Eaglehawk Neck while our tour guides ran back to the hostel because Susanna ( one of the guides) had forgotten her bag! We finally started off and made a mad rush for the ferry to take us to Maria Island. Luckily we were able to get them to stall and we made it across. Here we took another hike. The day was great, and everything was beautiful! we hiked up to the top of one on the Bishop and Clerk trail. It was hard but it was great. Once we were to the top we all took a break and were sitting in the middle of a cloud so we couldn't see much, but it was still pretty awesome. On our way back down and back to our rooms we saw some wildlife (kangaroos, lizards). The sunset that night was gorgeous and the night was wonderful. We got to try wallaby for dinner! it was really good! It was like a very tender steak! YUM! That night most of us slept outsides instead of in the converted cells. We took an early morning walk the next morning and watched the sunrise which was gorgeous as some really awesome cliffs. We left Maria Island Wednesday morning and were luckily the only ones on the ferry back to the mainland (there were a ton of elementary school kids on the ride to Maria island and so it was packed!) One sad thing that i did see over Tasmania and was even greater of sadness when taking the ferry from Maria island was to see all the tree cutting done. When on the ferry you could see this HUGE pile of wood chips on the shore of Tasmania.
Wednesday was again a wonderful day. We had a stop at a berry farm which was AMAZING! it was a short trip but we all got some ice cream and it was so AMAZING!! I had strawberry and blueberry which was... well words can not describe! it was good though! We then headed to our next destination where we would be hiking and sea kayaking! We split into two groups and my group went hiking to Wineglass bay, which was again gorgeous! When we hiked down to the beach I ended up taking a dip in the ocean with my friends Sam and Sam. It was great and was fun to do as a spur of the moment thing. Walking back all wet was not that great though. The next morning the groups switched and my group got to go sea kayaking. We woke up to rain but we decided that we would still have lots of fun and we did! We got taught what to do and got into the kayaks. Although it was raining the ocean still looked fine. We got out like 30 meters and then it got kind of rough so we didn't get to do the whole trip. We actually never made it that far from the beach. The waves were great, but it was hard trying out best to not capsize! Blair and I were lucky and never did but friends Amber and Jon did twice! After we got back in the girls took a dip in the ocean and then the guys went back out a to mess around near the beach.
We left that afternoon for Devonport again to catch the ferry back to the Australia mainland, but not without a stop in Launceston (Tassie's second biggest city, second to Hobart) where we took a little walk around a park which was home to the longest chair lift of some sort. I'll have to find a picture of it to show. Anyway from there we went back to Devonport where we cooked up hot dogs at a park. Here everyone seemed to be so full of energy and it was great! We also had ice cream with strawberries and different berry sauces that one of our guides bought at the berry farm! Oh it was great, i licked my bowl clean! We got back to Melbourne Friday morning and we headed to a great big breakfast at a place called Greasy Joes. YUM! We then all parted ways. Some people were staying in Melbourne and others were catching flights to Cairns or Brisbane. I took the bus back with Blair and Becky and the guides to Adelaide. Blair and I leave Sunday afternoon for Perth where we are taking a three day tour of Western Australia before we play some ultimate!! It's Saturday afternoon and I've definitely have gotten nothing done like I had planned. Homework needs to be worked on, clothes need to be cleaned, my journal needs to be written in, my body needs a shower and so on... and yet I have gotten none of this done because I went to frisbee and then out to lunch!
I hope you all enjoyed that! I probably won't be on a computer again for the next week so I'll update once I'm back from Perth!
much love,
smuder
Back from the land of Devils (Tasmanian Devils that is)....
The trip to Tasmania was great! First of all it was wonderful getting to see all the IES kids again and getting to touch base with those that I have not seen in a long time and also to learn a little bit more about some of them! The trip started bright and early Saturday morning with a long bus ride to Melbourne. Once in Melbourne we had dinner and then caught a ferry to Tasmania. This was quite an experience...To begin with, before getting onto the Ferry you have to go through security which to me is really not security at all. Compared to lets say the Minneapolis airport or any airport in the U.S. this was like "Easy Mac" (you know the kind you microwave, and how any one can find that difficult or mess is up is beyond me). All they really checked for was fruit. You can't take fruit from Melbourne to Tassie ( you also can't take it from South Australia into Victoria and vice versa). They quick look in your bags and you walk through the metal dector and you're done. Very very simple. The boat was great, and we got rooms which were nice and tiny for four people but we managed. It was much better than having to be one of the people that just had a seat and no room. We arrived in Tasmania the next morning around 7 and got breakfast and headed for Cradle Mountain. Here we took a hike up the mountain to Marion's lookout. It was all very goreous and as we began our walk it was like walking towards Mordor (for those of you who are Lord of the Rings fans.) It was cloudy and chilly and actually began to rain but it was quite an experience nevertheless and it was amazing still! It rained the rest of the night and we all tried to keep warm in our cabins and tried our best to dry out our soaking clothes and shoes.
Monday was again an early morning and had a very long bus ride (about five hours) down to Port Arthur. We basically drove across the state in five hours, which as my friend Blair pointed out to me would barely get you a third of the way down through California. On the way when we stopped for lunch we got to see the Oldest bridge in Australia that was buily in 1823 by convicts. To get to Port Arthur we drove through Eaglehawk Neck which is a small piece of land (I think 100m wide) that connects Port Arthur to the Mainland of Tasmania. Port Arthur was great and is the site of a convict settlement. We started with a museum that gave us an actual convict to follow to find out what happened to them. We then got a ferry tour of the port and saw The Island of the Dead, which is easily explained as a cemetary for the convicts and others that lived at the settlement. All of the stories about the convicts were really interesting to hear. After the ferry we mostly just went from building to building to read about the different parts of convict life. The next morning we headed off for another ferry to take us to Maria Island (pronounced Mariah) which was another convict site. We started off on time, made a stop at "Doo town" (All the houses in this neighborhood had names on their houses that had the word Doo in them. Like "love me doo" and "doo little") and then had some time at the beach by Eaglehawk Neck while our tour guides ran back to the hostel because Susanna ( one of the guides) had forgotten her bag! We finally started off and made a mad rush for the ferry to take us to Maria Island. Luckily we were able to get them to stall and we made it across. Here we took another hike. The day was great, and everything was beautiful! we hiked up to the top of one on the Bishop and Clerk trail. It was hard but it was great. Once we were to the top we all took a break and were sitting in the middle of a cloud so we couldn't see much, but it was still pretty awesome. On our way back down and back to our rooms we saw some wildlife (kangaroos, lizards). The sunset that night was gorgeous and the night was wonderful. We got to try wallaby for dinner! it was really good! It was like a very tender steak! YUM! That night most of us slept outsides instead of in the converted cells. We took an early morning walk the next morning and watched the sunrise which was gorgeous as some really awesome cliffs. We left Maria Island Wednesday morning and were luckily the only ones on the ferry back to the mainland (there were a ton of elementary school kids on the ride to Maria island and so it was packed!) One sad thing that i did see over Tasmania and was even greater of sadness when taking the ferry from Maria island was to see all the tree cutting done. When on the ferry you could see this HUGE pile of wood chips on the shore of Tasmania.
Wednesday was again a wonderful day. We had a stop at a berry farm which was AMAZING! it was a short trip but we all got some ice cream and it was so AMAZING!! I had strawberry and blueberry which was... well words can not describe! it was good though! We then headed to our next destination where we would be hiking and sea kayaking! We split into two groups and my group went hiking to Wineglass bay, which was again gorgeous! When we hiked down to the beach I ended up taking a dip in the ocean with my friends Sam and Sam. It was great and was fun to do as a spur of the moment thing. Walking back all wet was not that great though. The next morning the groups switched and my group got to go sea kayaking. We woke up to rain but we decided that we would still have lots of fun and we did! We got taught what to do and got into the kayaks. Although it was raining the ocean still looked fine. We got out like 30 meters and then it got kind of rough so we didn't get to do the whole trip. We actually never made it that far from the beach. The waves were great, but it was hard trying out best to not capsize! Blair and I were lucky and never did but friends Amber and Jon did twice! After we got back in the girls took a dip in the ocean and then the guys went back out a to mess around near the beach.
We left that afternoon for Devonport again to catch the ferry back to the Australia mainland, but not without a stop in Launceston (Tassie's second biggest city, second to Hobart) where we took a little walk around a park which was home to the longest chair lift of some sort. I'll have to find a picture of it to show. Anyway from there we went back to Devonport where we cooked up hot dogs at a park. Here everyone seemed to be so full of energy and it was great! We also had ice cream with strawberries and different berry sauces that one of our guides bought at the berry farm! Oh it was great, i licked my bowl clean! We got back to Melbourne Friday morning and we headed to a great big breakfast at a place called Greasy Joes. YUM! We then all parted ways. Some people were staying in Melbourne and others were catching flights to Cairns or Brisbane. I took the bus back with Blair and Becky and the guides to Adelaide. Blair and I leave Sunday afternoon for Perth where we are taking a three day tour of Western Australia before we play some ultimate!! It's Saturday afternoon and I've definitely have gotten nothing done like I had planned. Homework needs to be worked on, clothes need to be cleaned, my journal needs to be written in, my body needs a shower and so on... and yet I have gotten none of this done because I went to frisbee and then out to lunch!
I hope you all enjoyed that! I probably won't be on a computer again for the next week so I'll update once I'm back from Perth!
much love,
smuder
Friday, April 08, 2005
Traveling Gal...
Well here I go... I'm off bright and early Saturday morning at about 6am for my first long traveling excursion here in Australia. IES is taking our group to Tasmania for the next week! I'm very excited to go and can't wait to see all the IES kids and hang out in what I have been told, beautiful Tasmania!! We leave Saturday the 9th and will be back on the 16th. I'll be in Adelaide for that Saturday and then after that I take another trip out to Perth with my friend Blair! I'm so excited for the next two weeks! It's going to be crazy not being around Aquinas and Adelaide, I love it here, I'm going to miss all the friends from around here, but I know I'll love the traveling bit!
Tonight is an exciting night before I head off tomorrow morning...I'm going to a Ben Folds concert with some friends and then there is a Frisbee pub crawl that I'm sure I'll make an appearance at before heading to bed at some grossly odd hour in the morning, only to get up to catch the but to Melbourne with the IES folk! That's about all I have for now... I'll try to update while I'm gone in Tasmania but if not, I'll do my best when I get back Saturday! Have a great week everyone!
much love!
Cheers,
emily
Tonight is an exciting night before I head off tomorrow morning...I'm going to a Ben Folds concert with some friends and then there is a Frisbee pub crawl that I'm sure I'll make an appearance at before heading to bed at some grossly odd hour in the morning, only to get up to catch the but to Melbourne with the IES folk! That's about all I have for now... I'll try to update while I'm gone in Tasmania but if not, I'll do my best when I get back Saturday! Have a great week everyone!
much love!
Cheers,
emily
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