Hello there! Well, I'm finally here in Australia at James Cook University at Townsville (Queensland, Australia) and could not be more excited about what the next five months will bring. Stay up-to-date with my travels, studies, and life in Australia here!
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Skype - mwheeler.k
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When I left for Australia I made a promise to myself to be the most authentic person I can be, including my less-than-stellar moments. Today was not an easy one as I realised I'll be returning home in two weeks, leaving this amazing life I've built in Australia behind. While I know I can always return and I will have the friends I've made forever, it's really difficult to leave a place where you truly feel at home against your will. When I got to the top of the Queenstown Hill walk this afternoon, I was so overwhelmed by the beauty of the landscape and also feelings of gratitude, I cried. I cried for a solid twenty minutes on a bench overlooking the town. And it was much needed release. I have have the most phenomenal study abroad experience and I am so, so sad to leave my life in Townsville behind. Getting out of Minnesota and the states for a bit was the best decision I have ever made for myself and I now know that Minnesota is not where I am meant to spend my life, although it will always be my original home. I will cry like a baby the whole way home and that's alright. Processing and letting emotions flow is healthy and healing. I will be ecstatic to see my old friends and take none of those times for granted because nothing lasts forever. This experience has taught me more than I thought possible and I've been extremely blessed and fortunate. Enough with the sappy shit - how awe-some is this view? #NOFILTER #newzealand #queenstown #beauty #nature #neverwanttoleave #soblessed (at Queenstown Hill Walking Track)
(As I write this I am en route to New Zealand, where I’ll spend the next week traveling from Auckland to Wellington and from Wellington to Queenstown with my mom! So fortunate to be able to do this)
In the past month and a half I’ve done a few cool things on the weekends! The first weekend back from Bali I went to Magnetic Island for a night/day and then a music festival called Groovin’ the Moo, which took place in an open field in Townsville on Sunday, May 4th. This was a killer weekend full of great memories.
On Friday the 2nd, my friend Amy (who is Scottish!) and I went to Magnetic Island, but first stopped at the night market at The Strand. The night market is held on the first Friday of every month beginning in May, but it’s basically the same as the Cotter’s Market, which takes place on Sunday mornings at Flinders Street. We were only able to go for a short while, since we needed to catch the ferry to the island at 7:30ish. Luckily, we got there on time and were able to check into our accommodation, Bungalow Bay, which was quite cute! I wish I had taken more pictures, but I didn’t so y’all will have to trust me on this one. After setting our stuff in our little hut we went on a search for food. Unfortunately most places were closed, but we found a place with cheap pizza, which was good enough for us after a long day! Bungalow Bay was very outdoorsy and we could hear all the insects and animals outside our windows, which was actually awesome. There also wasn’t much cell reception on the island, which I had no problem with! The next morning we headed to the beach to get some breakfast and catch some sun. I had an awesome omelette (pictured below).
After the koala walk we made our way to the other side of the island for dinner at a simple pub. Amy and I both just got burgers of some sort, not speaking too much since we were both exhausted from the sun and the day. After dinner we caught the return ferry back, where my friend Anthony was kind enough to pick us up and drop us back at uni. It was a beautiful day, unfortunately I only got to make it to Maggie once, but I will be back to Townsville soon enough to return. It was early to bed that night for Mary as the next day was Groovin’, which was going to be a long day of music, sun, and hanging out with friends.
In a word, Groovin’ the Moo was fantastic. It was only one day long, but in the Townsville heat it was enough. The music was killer, I heard a bunch of new Australian/foreign bands and artists that I hadn’t heard before. A bunch of awesome new music for Mary! I hung out with a lot of friends from Uni Hall and my friend Sonja who lives at Western Courts. Spent a fair bit of time with my friend Anthony as well. It got chilly at night, so Sonja and I headed back earlier than the acts ended, but I was beat from the day and weekend. It was definitely perfect and money well spent! Picture time :P
Uni Hall Ladies! Left to right – Sarah, Natalie, Sarah, April, Me, and our two new Australian friends…
Sonja and I!
Globalinks!
Left to right – April, Monica, Sarah, Me
My friend Richard and I
After Groovin’ the Moo and Maggie Island, I laid low the next weekend to get some assessments done and recuperate. The weekend of the 16th-18th I headed to Mackay/Airlie Beach with Sonja and Alex, which was an awesome weekend! We stayed at Alex’s house and met her family, which was really nice considering she met my mom the other night! We got in around 8 on Friday night and pretty much crashed right away. On Saturday morning we went to Caneland’s Shopping Center where I spent way too much money but it was definitely worth it ;) That night we went out in Mackay, where I proceeded to lose my license (it’s being mailed to me, thank heavens!). It was a great night. The next day we drove back and stopped at Airlie Beach for a couple of hours to shop (well, I shopped and got some souvenirs) and sit by the lagoon. It was very beautiful and relaxing, I wish I could go back before I go home. I’m sure someday I’ll be able to come back and see it again, though. And of course, here are some photos!
Alex's horse!
Beginning of the beach walk at Airlie – so beautiful
The lagoon at Airlie
This past weekend (the 23rd-25th) I laid low to finish the last of my assessments – cross your fingers for me that I did well! Sunday morning we took our college picture, which will be a great keepsake for me when I return home (pictured below). I was able to go to the market afterwards to get the last of my souvenirs for people back home, which was really nice. I went alone and was able to walk at my own speed and enjoy the iced coffee I ordered. I had made friends with a woman named Michelle who made these things called “Devine Energy Bites” (they have a website and Facebook, so get on it and like them!), so I got my final fix of those and said goodbye to her. I was able to get back to campus by about 1pm, then had a very…wonderful and relaxing rest of my day and night!
I can’t believe that my time in Australia is almost over…it’s been truly the greatest experience of my life. I am so proud of myself for taking the initiative to research, apply, and get everything sorted before arriving, then for taking advantage of everything I possibly could while being here! I’m going to enjoy the heck out of the time I have left, but I still can’t help but be sad about the fact that I’m leaving. I’m not ready and it will be incredibly difficult to transition back to my life in the states. I’ve met some amazing people and made some phenomenal friends from all over the world. I have a feeling the rest of my life will consist of some very expensive trips to visit everyone :) but it will be money well spent. Yes, some have touched my heart more than others, but I am thankful I met everyone I have. While this won’t be the last blog post from abroad, I do want to take a moment to thank everyone – my parents, brothers, extended family, friends back home, my home university, James Cook University, and all of the great people here – for the opportunity to make this journey. It wouldn’t have been possible or nearly as enjoyable without all of you and your endless love and support. I love you guys heaps.
Now that the madre has seen it I can post a picture.. My Australia tattoo with a heart over Townsville, Queensland. Studying abroad has really helped me figure out who I am, what I believe in, and what I want from my life. There's no point in wasting time and energy over people who don't care, things that don't matter, and pursuing something you don't truly care about. I have been so fortunate to have had this opportunity and for it to have been such an incredible, life-changing experience. I've met some people who have truly touched my heart so part of it will always be in Townsville. I will not be ready to leave, but believe me I will be back soon ♡ #Australia #townsville #studyabroad #sgg #blessedas (at Townsville, QLD)
In the words of @katep2106 my inner white girl came out today in Auckland.. Starbucks for the first time since December. (at Starbucks @ Queen Street, Auckland)
As I had mentioned in one of my earlier blog posts, I joined social ultimate frisbee this semester! One of my first Australian friends Finny (his real name is Matt) talked me into it even though he left to travel Sydney and the states early on in the semester, but I’m so glad he did! I met so many great friends through the sport, which is actually very physically demanding if you actually play according to rules and with proper techniques/plays.
Social ultimate is basically an intramural sport with heaps of teams that play each other on Wednesday nights, with the goal not to get the wooden spoon… which is basically the loser of the league, haha. My team, the Tiedygers (TIE-DYE TEAM! Thanks to my brilliance…and persistence), did pretty well this semester! I missed a couple of weeks due to some assessments and an ankle injury, but I loved going when I could. Our team had a few Australians, a few Americans, a girl from New Zealand, a kid from London and a kid from Brazil! It was a really cool mix of people and we all got along really well because none of us were too serious about it. As someone who hadn’t played in years and was reluctant to start again, that was really helpful! We ended up being about 9th in the league, which wasn’t great but wasn’t terrible. For me, it was all about the mateship and experience :)
Wednesday the 28th was the last day of the wonderful sport, which basically meant we all were just supposed to drink and have a good time – which was definitely what happened! My team headed to the Tav (closest bar to campus) beforehand and shared jugs of summers and took loads of pictures. It was also the first State of Origin for 2014, which Queensland unfortunately lost, but I was unable to watch the game. It was a great night full of laughs, heaps of fun!
So of course the most interesting part of the blog post – pictures!
The team! Or some of us… From left to right: Bevo, Zoe, Me, Adam, John, John, and Paige
Team captain, Bevo, and me!
My good friend Nora and I
Rene!
Bevo and I post group picture, with Sam photobombing in the background!
Finally, here’s the whole team – a great group of people who made my Wednesday nights something to look forward to this semester!
Left to right back row– John, John, Johannes, Sam and Rene
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