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[mollyelena23]

Great Barrier Reef pictures

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Rapids and Reefs

After Bungee we went back, still on our adrenaline high, and I went with Rina to an Aboriginal artifacts shop I had found earlier. I went to get the digereedoo I had been contemplating buying. The German shopkeep also fixed the kinks in Rina's neck. 

After that we went down to the Gilligan's bar/restaurant area to eat. We hung out and then went to bed in preparation for white water rafting the next day. It was an all day trip so we had to get up early again. We drove about 2 hours into the mountains and split our group into three boats. The Kings of the North (there was a bit of a Game of Thrones obsession going on at this point) was my boat and the line up was: Dillon and I in the front. Lindley and Eric behind us, and PT and Sin (an instructor in training) behind them with John in the back.

John was awesome. He was your typical Crocodile Dundee Aussie with the hair, the accent, and missing teeth. He pulled out some of his teeth and showed us and said "this is what happens when you don't hold on to your t-grip." The t-grip is the end of the paddle and it's very hard so if you let you of it and your are on rapids there is a good chance of it hitting you or your partner in the face. John seemed to be the lead instructor so we would always go down first and wait for everyone to come out. It was SO FUN. I completely underestimated white water rafting. I was too busy freaking out about bungee and skydiving that anything in comparison seemed so small. 

My boat was seriously awesome. At one point John pinned our boat between two rocks that were at the bottom of this gushing waterfall. Water was pouring in the boat and dominating Dillon. The river completely rocked him. We had all thought that it was to help the other boats get down but when we asked John what that was for he said: "For shits." It was hilarious. We got to watch all the boats come down the waterfalls too so it was hysterical. One time Garrett and Harton had their arms around each other in the front row, on the way down a waterfall. Precious. The boys had good reaction time too. I was in the air and out of the boat on the first part of the "three rapids" and Dillon caught be by my ankle. I was actually hanging out of the boat by my ankle. Eric picked my up by my lifejacket and got me back in the boat. Lindley was in the air at one point and PT snatched him. At another point in the river John told all of us to go sit on the back end of the boat and hold on to each other. What he should of said is kiss our butts goodbye because we all went overboard. It was funny with a Y. We floated down the river until we got to our boat again. Dillon pulled me into the boat so hard that I almost went out the other side. We stopped and had lunch at this campsite in the woods. If you were wondering, shrimp on the 'barby' is not a typical Aussie barbecue. It is actually sausage and hamburgers. Sorry to ruin that picture for you..     

After that Sin took over for the second part of the river because we assumed it was part of his training. That was when we really had to WORK. Holy cow it was so hard. My muscles were screaming and I really didn't think I could keep up anymore but it made me feel better that my fellow boat crew also felt the burn. We got stuck sideways on the top of the waterfall with a whirlpool known as "double Ds falls" at the bottom. We all thought we were capsizing. I dont know how we made it out but we didn't fall in. But next thing I know I was in the air and somehow on the floor of the front of the boat. Then we got to the "crocodile zone." There were potentially crocodiles so we were told not to fall out... We got back on the bus and saw all of the ridiculous pictures that were taken by the guides that day. Typical, my mouth was wide open in every single on of them. I LOVED LOVED LOVED being in the front of the boat. Dillon and I got to see everything first and also got the most wet. It was so fun and I am definitely going again. Hopefully in the Grand Canyon at some point in my life :) 

Next we were rushing home so we could shower and eat before the Ultimate Party. Which was a bar crawl we went on with different games and specials. There was a party bus to bring us to bars that were essentially just a few blocks from each other. But we still had such a good time on it. This was also Karissa's 21st birthday! It was perfect, we got her a crown and made her participate in games. She made friends with a guy dressed as a Native American during the first game. The bar line up was Gilligan's, .......... the Mad Cow, Jacks, Gilligan's. Danny and I won a prize because our nut and bolt fit together. It was a free ultimate party package good for a year. So I guess we are going back! Just for that though. Come to Cairns for one night just for that event and then leaving. Eric and Harton were partners at the second bar for the game. The got to the finals and lost by a hair tie. The vertical sixty nine will live on in our memories forever. Very impressive boys. Then Ryan and Kara competed in a dance competition and Ryan actually won. Though I'm pretty sure it had something to do with the fact we screamed our heads off for him. And as you know I can be pretty loud and Lindley is even louder. At the next bar Steph and Danny were partners in the game and they failed. We finally called it a night. What a night it was too. Good thing it started early because we got to bed around 1am and we had to be at the marina at 7am for our snorkeling trip. 

Snorkeling was a lot harder than I imagined. I now know what it is like to be in a washing machine. The water was really rough the day we were out there and high winds. The water was warm though so as long as you could handle salt water in your mouth you were good. The salt water was hard to get used to though. All of the east coasters had no problem but the fresh water midwesterns, we had issues. It was amazing though. An entire world under the water! The reef was huge. Every direction you looked there were fish and different parts of the reef. I split a camera with Garrett, Eric, and Lindley. Lindley and Eric were cool with letting Garrett and I take most of the pictures, which was good because we wanted to. I would say the best part of the day by far was seeing the sea turtle. It was AMAZING! And I almost missed it. The camera battery died so I went back into the boat to change it out. When I went back out to where people were everyone was like did you see the turtle!? And I was like NO I DIDN'T. Eric and Lindley felt bad so they went to look for it with me. We found it :D 

It was awesome. Highlight with out a doubt. Also I got almost every Finding Nemo fish on camera. We went to 2 different sections of the Reef and then head back to shore. Most of us were in the bottom main cabin. But there were a few on the top deck in the layout portion. We started hitting huge waves on the way back. Then comes in a couple of our people from the top deck lead by Danny who looked like he survived some sort of event. It was hysterical. Until we found out Celine almost fell off the boat and hit the railing instead. Ok it was still pretty funny but with more bruises. The waves were so nuts though. There were a lot of people getting sick and crying. And one of the boat crew guys was playing the guitar. And he wouldn't stop. He just kept going like nothing was happening and I dont know if that was a good thing or just made it worse. We finally got to land. 

Rina, Steph, Karissa, Alana and I splurged on gelato. Alana and I shared a Tim Tam and Cookie Dough gelato. The gelato dude actually gave us a whole tim tam in ours and Alana and I both audibly gasped when he did that. Yeah it was that awesome. Most of us crashed hard when we got home and didn't wake up until we had to check out in the morning. We had about 5 hours or so before the bus was coming to get us for our flight back to Sydney. We were so lazy. We were lying around and sleeping in public. By the pool, on benches, in the middle of a touristy area, if you could sleep on it, we were. If you don't have something planned it is hard to find something to do in Cairns, especially when you are exhausted. We would have shopped but we were all so broke at that point. It was finally time to go to the airport and we got on a plane back to Sydney. 

[mollyelena23]

Bungee Jump video in the Daintree Rainforest on Friday July 13, 2012.

[mollyelena23]

Friday the 13th, July 2012

Friday, July 13, 2012  

I will never think of Friday the 13th in the same way ever again. I will forever remember it as the day I jumped from an airplane at 14,000ft and bungeed 164ft in the Daintree Rainforest. And I am so glad I had the guts to do it because it was the best day of my life. I will accept the term 'badass' to be said about me in this context because I felt like one at the end of the day. So let me hear it. I am a badass. Or I was.. that day :)

We got up very early on Friday morning. Steve's alarm is Katy Perry's song "Wide Awake" and believe me we all were very wide awake. We all got dressed and packed for the day and many of us shaking as we did it. We all went across the street and crossing the Ts and dotting the Is. Because it looked like rain we were delayed a couple hours but we finally got to go. In the first plane: Stephanie, Alana, Ryan, PT, Garret, Kyle, Eric, and Lindley. In the second plane: Random girl, Rina, Molly, Weston, Dillon, Karissa, Celine, and Harton and honorary team captain Danny. So the first plane went up and the second plane just kind of hung around until they got back because it was just one bus at a time. Some of us when back to the room to hang out until  our turn. Harton was talking about how our friends were jumping out of the plane as we speak and Karissa yelled and pointed out the window "Oh my god there they are!" Completely had all of us fooled as we all freaked out and turned to look out the window. Very good joke Karissa. Anyway so the other group came back and I refused to talk to any of them because I did not want to hear any of it. I wanted to experience it myself. Man did I. We got up in the plane and I was very close to the huge window we all jump out of. Matt (the dude strapped to my back) was very cool and chill. He didn't give me too much instruction and kind of told me what I needed to know when I needed to know it. He also made sure I didn't want a video or pictures. When I said no he said 'good because then I can do whatever I want.' And yes we did flips. In the air. At 14,000ft. But I am jumping ahead!

Half the fun of skydiving is the loooooooong plane ride up. It is this rickety plane that you feel like you can poke holes in with your pinky finger. The guy strapped to Dillons back started making jokes about how Matt's parachute didn't pull the previous day. I looked back at Matt and he was like "I had a reserve." These guys jump out of planes all day long, every day of the week. They like to mess and joke around with the costumers to make it more fun for them. And the pilot likes to 'create turbulence' when he is bored to freak everyone out. Any way so I was up third right after Rina. It is really funny to see people go before you because they actually get SUCKED out of the plane. We jumped out of the plane and flip around so we were looking at the plane and then flipped around again (so two whole flips) and started free falling so we were facing the ground. We were free falling for 60 seconds. Most of the free fall was above the clouds. We fell through the clouds and pulled the chute. It was really cool because we actually got a better feel for how fast we were falling. I got to steer a little bit and see everyone else who was parachuting. We landed (on our butts) and it was over just like that. It was amazing. The views, the feeling, everything. It is so hard to put into words. It was an unbelievable experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat. 

Oh hey Alana Im going to borrow you for a second. 

I didn't get any pictures or anything but to give you a taste of what it was like I borrowed my friend Alana's picture.

Now on to bungee jumping! We got picked up for the ride into the Daintree Rainforest. AJ Hackett apparently was a cool dude. He put bungee on the map in the 80s by jumping off the Eiffel Tower. Anyway we were bungeeing at his business. Stephen, Danny, and I decided we would stay back and take pictures and videos and we would go last. We were all pretty cocky about the jump. We had just jumped from 14,000ft out of an airplane, Of course this minuscule jump of a merely 164ft would be no problem. Man were we wrong. It is WAY different when you have someone strapped to your back vs having to jump yourself. I wasn't focused on the jump because I was too busy making sure to get everyone good pictures. [Which I loved doing by the way. Photography is becoming something that I am seriously interested in and hope to get better at. Rina and Garret are two people on this trip that also like photography and I have learned things from them and hope to expand on that]. Anyway, after what seemed like a billion flights of stairs I got up there and it was Steph, Karissa, Lindley, and Danny left. I could actually see how high it was and I started to freak out. We were over the trees and could see all the way out to the ocean. Lindley went and then it was my turn. I was visibly freaking out and thank the lord for Danny because I don't know if I could have jumped if there was no one up there with me. I feel bad because I know he was worried about his jaw and I was absolutely no help to him at all. I told the bungee dudes that I wanted to be dunked in the water and they said they would see what they could do. I got to the edge of the platform and refused to look down. I also refused to let go of the railing. The guy had to tell me three times to let go by saying: 'You can't jump if you are still hanging on." There aren't any truer words. I looked and jumped to the ocean and once in the air I finally looked down. What a RUSH! It was so unreal. 

There is nothing like this feeling either. Completely different rush from skydiving. It was quicker and a lot more adrenaline. I couldn't make a sound until I touched the water. Then came the holy shits. I didn't get completely dunked but they guys knew I wanted to so they lowered me into the pool. I loved it!

And then it was over. The day we were all nervous and freaking out about went so fast. It was the coolest, most badass day of my life. I still can't believe it was real. I also couldn't tell you which was better because skydiving and bungee jumping are on two completely different levels. Bungee jumping was a lot harder mentally because you have to make yourself jump. With skydiving if you set foot on that plane you are going out the door because the person that is strapped to you is going to take you with them ready or not. I am so glad I did it because there was nothing like it. Forever in my mind any time Friday the 13th comes, I will remember this day.

[mollyelena23]

View from the airplane of Sydney as we leave for Cairns. Sunset above the clouds of Cairns. 

[mollyelena23]

Aircraft Noise

This next week is known as "we only have 3 days to finish our paper before we go to Cairns." HERE WE GO! 

Monday: we didn't have class so Alana, Rina, and I took advantage and went to the library. We worked on our papers for most of the day and then we called it and went home for dinner. We decided to try scubar as it was our last monday night scubar. We waited in line for a long time. So long that we went to the convenient store and got Tim Tams and ate then in line. Scubar turned out to be terrible. It was way to crowded to be any fun at all. We decided to go next door to sidebar and we lost a couple on the way (but actually we did because we lost Eric and Alana HAHAHAHAHHA sorry I'm not sorry because that was funny). The night dwindled down and only Steph, Harton, Garrett and I survived. It turned out to be a really fun night! We were a good crowd :) In fact I think that night was dubbed "rote" night (or one of the nights this week was I dont remember when). Rote is Garrett's nickname, its the last part of his name I am guessing in the Lindley accent. As in GarROOOOOOOTE. 

Tuesday: I was finishing up my paper at work. I was tracking down a lot of sources that day and verifying all my information. After work, Richard and I went to get a beer at a pub close by the office. Richard is a Sydney Uni student who was working on a Refugee project for Jamie's office. Later that night our group went to a bar that I dont remember the name of haha. It had the word 'wood' in it Stephanie was suggesting we go there since the beginning of the trip. We obviously ignored her until Ryan and his friend Stapo suggested it. :P sorry steph you were right! It was really fun. They had an outside area with a DJ and an inside bar with different music. So whenever you got bored with one room you went to the other! It was perfect for Rina with her short attention span. 

Wednesday: I finished my paper at work and sent it to my Sam and Meghan for editing. They are WONDERFUL people for taking the time to read my boring report about aircraft noise. I really needed other people to read it thought because it had to be good for my workplace and I didn't think it was because I was very unfocused in Australia. WEIRD I know. That night I tried to Skype with Stephen but the world of technology was working against us. First it was my internet, then his, then Skype wouldn't work and then google chat wouldn't work. WHY!? After miserably failing at chatting with him we went to the ho-down at Scary Canary. Where apparently it was wet t-shirt contest night. I was not a fan. But now I guess I can say I have witnessed a wet t-shirt contest. 

Thursday: I went a half day into work and then met up with everyone for our flight to CAIRNS. I guess you could call this the 'Spring Break' of the trip. If the spring break was a very packed and intense four days. We got to Cairns where it was significantly warmer! The humidity hit me and I was not prepared for it. I then thought how hard it would be when I got back to the midwest where the humidity was ridiculous and the temperatures were 100 degrees. We checked in the Gilligan's the hostel we would be staying at and it was insane! It was made for college students. There were 8 people to our room so it was the six girls and two boys. ICKYYY COOTIES!! Harton and Garrett turned out to be the guys assigned to our room which worked out because we would have picked them anyway. The girls checked out the 'Ladies Night' that was going on at Gilligans. It was really just two shirtless guys serving free champagne to a looong line of females. So we decided to stay in because the next day, Friday the 13th of July 2012, we were skydiving and bungee jumping starting early in the morning. However the boys decided to go to Jack's where there was a beer pong competition. Two of our guys actually won the whole tournament! And then it was an open mic night where Danny played the drums and Eric played the guitar. Needless to say I was extremely sad I missed out when they told me the next morning. Now on to the most adrenaline filled day I have every had and probably ever WILL have in my entire life. 

[mollyelena23]

Bondi Beach Getaway

I dont know how many times Nikki was quoted when we talked about this trip. "Let's go to the beach beach let's go get away..." Anyway so we took a bus from Central Station to get to Bondi Junction. We picked the wrong bus. It still got us there but instead of the express we took the bus that makes ALL the stops. Then our bus broke down and they were trying to fix the doors for the longest time. After about what seemed like 5 hours (but realistically more like 2-3), we finally get there. We checked into our hostel and hit the beach just in time for sunset. It was absolutely beautiful! We ran around the beach, climbed rocks, pretended we were in the lion king and titanic, you know normal beach stuff.

We decided to stay in a hostel because we knew that we would never get to Bondi early enough in the morning to actually spend a full day here. We were definitely right so it was a good decision to spend the $25 for the one night. We found Moo Gourmet Burgers curtsey of Dillon and Weston and had one of the best burgers EVER. Some of these burgers had ridiculous amounts of food on them! Then we went out to some of the local bars and man were they dead. But we made it fun like always, with a pit stop for $0.30 McDonalds ice cream cones on the way.  Danny and Harton kept Rina and I up and every time I would finally dose off Danny would yell at me so I would wake up. We finally kicked them out so we could sleep. Some people may have fell down huge grass hills on the excited run towards the beach. They figured that out when they saw the grass stains the next day and I was more than happy to laugh at them. 

We woke up early the next morning to go to breakfast and check out the local market. It was very cool and some people got some souvenirs and presents. After that we went to "Dripping Wet" surf shop and rented boards and wet suits and went to the beach. Eric was a veteran surfer and gave us a few tips. We didn't get a lesson because we are so TOUGH (actually just broke and confident). But the ocean took me in, kicked me around, and tossed me back out. But I was determined to stand up on a wave. I was too chicken to stand up the first few times so I rode a couple waves on my knees but it was awesome. The last wave before I came on shore I finally stood up!! It was for less than 15 seconds BUT I STOOD UP! Life is grand and my goal was accomplished. I felt awesome. 

After we surfed we went to an ice cream parlor that is similar to Cold Stone. I got vinilla and chocolate with Tim Tam and Cookie Dough mixed in. Man did I wish that lasted longer because I ate it in about five seconds. We took the bus home and just hung out and worked on our projects for class. 

Bondi Beach is probably the most 'Aussie' place near Sydney. When you think of the typical Australian, you probably think of carefree, barefoot, surfer, with wave hair, cool accents, and very chill. This was Bondi. It was the most Australian place we have been to yet. It was beautiful and if I lived in Sydney I think I would live in Bondi during the Summer months. Which is actually our winter. I was a beautiful beach town and a great way to spend our last free weekend in Sydney. 

[mollyelena23]

"He/She cracked the shits" means He/She is angry

Richard the guy I work with

[mollyelena23]

Bondi Beach at sunset.

[mollyelena23]

God Bless America. And Carrie Underwood..

So I have A LOT to catch up on because I have been so lazy over the past two weeks.

I believe I left off with the Blue Mountains so we are on to Carrie Underwood. I think I mentioned before but I will say it again, my roommate Celine scored two tickets to see Carrie Underwood at the Sydney Opera House. FOR FREE. She decided to take ME :D Apparently Carrie Underwood isn't super huge here because Celine's boss gave them away and didn't really know what precious gold he had in his hands to American Country fans or any boy really. Most every guy on this trip was envious and Garrett and Cory had purchased tickets.

The concert was amazing Opera House was beautiful on the inside. Except it had bright purple carpet. Who would have thought? It actually kind of threw me off but it was interesting. Carrie Underwood was absolutely fantastic live. I knew all but three of her songs and she KILLED every single one of them. She is an unbelievable artist and I still cannot believe I got to see her live. One fun part of that evening too was that I snuck Garrett up to our box in the second half of the concert because our row was empty (assuming they were comp tickets for the media that weren't being used like ours were). And it actually WORKED! So he got to be closer and not by himself. It was definitely an experience. 

The FOURTH OF JULY!!

During the day I had an interview with Paul Fitzgerald. He wrote the book I was reading from for my research paper on aircraft noise. It was an honor to talk to him and he really is a lovely person. He gave me a copy of his book (so now I don't have to go to the Sydney Uni library every time I need to read something from it). He gave me many insights to the issue and how long it has been going on. He met me in a neighborhood where aircraft noise was very prevalent. I had never been to one of these neighborhoods before and it was a rude awakening. It gave me perspective and a reason why I was doing all this work. I was in a fairly loud coffee shop but the planes thundering constantly overhead drowns out any noise making it seemingly impossible to even think. I can't even imagine living though it everyday. 

After the interview I went home and put my awesome Fourth of July outfit together. Bright blue pants, rolling stones t-shirt, and my red plaid shirt. Talk about obnoxious American :) You don't really think about it until it happens to you but it is SO WEIRD celebrating the 4th in a different country. It is also a moment when you realize the world doesn't revolve around your country. The 4th was also the only time on this trip that I became homesick. It was the first time in my almost 21 years of existence that I didn't not spend the fourth of July in Prophetstown, IL where the streets are paved in gold. We have a family reunion at my grandma's house every year on the fourth and it is also my Aunt's birthday. So we always have a good time and I just love being around my humongous family. It has some AWESOME fireworks too which Australia was severely lacking in. The best we could find was sparklers. Though some people did wear red, white, and blue face paint.

After eating some of Joe's homemade freedom fries and singing God Bless America about 15 times at the top of our lungs we made it to a pub called Lansdowne. Ironically on the 4th of July there was something called the Series of Origin. The Series of Origin is an annual best of three rugby football games and NSW hadn't won in a looong time. So Aussies were all fired up that night as well so we weren't the loudest in the place. After NSW lost again we BECAME the loudest so we left for Sidebar where a live band was playing. The band was definitely local Australians but they were catering to the American holiday and it was awesome. I got pulled up on stage to sing one song with them and it was fantastic. They were a great band and the electric guitarist was sick (so the guy behind me not the one on the mic). I look very confused and trust me half the time I was but it was still awesome.

It was a great night for us Americans even though we were in Australia celebrating our countries birth. 

On Friday I caught up on some things and started the actual writing of my research paper. Then I helped Stephen (Lindley) with his girlfriends gift. Did you know that 90% of the worlds opals are from Australia? They are beautiful and apparently a great souvenir because they are native to here. Stephen did a good job and I didn't even have to help him that much so bravo sir your girlfriend will love it and she should be very proud.

That night we went to the Argyle and there was this awesome girl who was singing a cappella with a DJ and a saxophonist. It was crazy and I would have never thought to put all of those things together. They were all free styling and it was great. There was also a man there who was dancing like no one was watching and it was very entertaining. Good for him for dancing for himself because his head jerks and high kicks is something I couldn't even do. We ended the night with a 24 hour pancake place called Pancakes on the Rocks which I mentioned before. The pancakes are still great at 2am. 

The next day we went to Bondi Beach for the weekend! It was like a tiny getaway to the most typical Australian place you can think of besides the Outback. Bondi is the place people picture when they think of Aussies. And it is beautiful there. But we shall save that for next time.

[mollyelena23]

I like to climb trees, buildings, and now MOUNTAINS

Starting early on Saturday morning we head up to Katoomba, New South Wales which is where the Blue Mountains are. We went to a wildlife park first and got to pet, feed, hold, (etc) koala bears and kangaroos. It was so much fun and there were adorable and cuddly. Apparently they smelled terrible but because I have little to no sense of smell I was perfectly content with the smell of things. Saturday was also the day I had the coolest camera ever at my disposal. Rina couldn't do anything on Saturday with technology (it's not kosher) so she gave me her sick camera to take pictures with. I will be getting one of those cameras at some point in the future. It turned out unbelievable pictures and made me realize even more how much I love photography. 

After we were done watching the Wambats be adorably fuzzy (who are my new favorite animal by the way) we had lunch by a park. On a beautiful day with swings and playgrounds all around, those kids didn't have a chance. We completely took over one side of the park and it was awesome. Monkey bars, swing contests, laying in the grass, the works.

After that we went to the Blue Mountains and hiked around. There were some beautiful views. Views that you cannot capture in a picture or even describe to someone. You just have to experience it. I think I did my father and uncles proud during the hike. All those years when I was younger hiking at Starved Rock or other places have given me a leg up on other people (more in particular females..) in the outdoors department. We found a waterfall and some of us climbed up to the 2nd platform. It was actually pretty dangerous in hindsight but it was very fun! We went back to the hostel extremely exhausted because there were a lot of stairs and places to climb. We ate dinner, watched the Little Mermaid (I forgot how many good songs are in that movie), played hearts, and went to bed early as some of us were getting up at 5:30 to hike to the Three Sisters at sunrise.

There are the Three Sisters (and that little nub next to them can be my brother Joseph). It was beautiful and a great hike. I miss the outdoors, hiking and camping. I haven't done it in a long long time. There were just so many stairs on the Giant Staircase - shoulda guessed right? Danny, Cory and I decided to see where they went and we didn't make it there were so many stairs. On the walk home to the hostel for breakfast there were some pretty steep hills. Steve's iPod got me through that walk. Thank you Jessie J for making the song "Domino" because I wouldn't have gotten up that hill otherwise. My legs and ankle are still burned almost a week later from that day because later we did abseiling.

We started out on a 15 meter cliff (which I still don't get. American really needs to get with the rest of the world as far as the metric system goes) to get used to the equipment. Then we went to a 50 meter cliff which was significantly bigger but the views were indescribably beautiful. Then came the big drop. 100 meter cliff. There is a picture that shows my face in complete terror. Rina (it was Sunday at this point so she could use her camera) was trying to take pictures of me and she kept saying look up and smile. And I couldn't. I was actually that scared that I couldn't even fake a smile for that picture. But once I got over the edge and down the cliff some it was much better and I actually smiled for a picture. The next time I went down the big cliff, I decided to try it UPSIDE DOWN. I was spinning like a top about half way down and got very dizzy but my world was turned upside down. Literally. And it AWESOME. 

  After the long day of physical activity we all slept on the 2 hour bus ride home. It was nice to just relax a big but then we decided to go to Darling Harbour to SALSA. I don't know how I physically survived Sunday but I did. Got up for sunrise hike at 5:30am and came back from salsa around 2am, with about an hour nap in there. 

Salsa dancing was so much fun. I learned from short, older men who were completely sweet and I danced with about 10 of them. They would never dance with me longer then 1 or 2 songs which was good for me and them (because i was still learning). They were always patient and I had TONS of fun being twirled around. We also meet a group of boys that were from all different parts of the world. There was one from Canada, Chile, Germany, and North Africa. They had very interesting stories and backgrounds and it was fun to talk to them and learn about their experiences. Then I made it home and passed out from exhaustion.

It was one of the best weekends I have ever had. I am so grateful for this trip and all the new experiences it is giving me. It is going way to fast but I am having the time of my life. 

[mollyelena23]

Feeding to hungry kangaroos!

[mollyelena23]

kosher dinners and liquid diets

The next couple days were more relaxed then action packed. Tuesday through Thursday at work were essentially all the same. I went to the Sydney University library to read a book on aircraft noise. I researched the politics of the issue more and scheduled interviews with a Federal Senator and the man who wrote the book I read on aircraft noise. 

We had a fun night in on tuesday listening to disney, oldies, 90s, you name it and just hanging out with each other. Wednesday we went to Kings Cross and saw a dance competition. Some of the dancers were so boss. Others not so much.. an example of these people would be a couple girls in skimpy outfits just shaking their butts around. Not impressive. In fact annoying, do not enter into a dance competition unless you can REALLY dance. But this other group of girls kicked some serious behind with their choreographed dance.

We eventually made it back to our neighborhood and went to Sidebar when the music is always fun. Probably because it is known as a gay bar which are also always fun. Steve and I met some new friends there and these girls were American. Unfortunately all the people I have been meeting are American. The people are awesome but I still have yet to make a great Australian friend. I have about 3 weeks to do it too.. challenge accepted. Also I had a Superbad (the movie) moment that night on the way home and it was awesome. Australian cops are just as nice as the australian people and the two that I met kept telling me how much I looked and sounded like Emma Stone. I am always flattered when I hear that but I really really can't see it.

The next day I went with Danny and Steve to Coles (the grocery store) to find stuff for Danny's new liquid diet. It was kind of fun figuring out what stuff might work together and what combinations we could do. We got tim tams and a cake to make shakes, fruit and veggies for smoothies, eggs and different soups. While a liquid diet will get old for him, we are going to have fun with the new blender.

Thursday was also the day I found out that my roommate Celine got free Carrie Underwood tickets from her internship at a Marketing firm. Oh and did I mention that the concert is in the SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE. If you don't remember what it looks like from all my other pictures..... here I am holding it up.

  But more on that later. Friday was an eventful day! We went and got brunch at a restaurant in the Rocks. I had some of the best pancakes that I have ever had. (Sorry Dad and Thea, you are close seconds) Bonus: it is open 24 hours a day. We spent the rest of the afternoon looking around shops and comparing prices for our soon to be bought souvenirs. Did you know that Australia has a lot of opals? Apparently there are some that you can only find here and they are a huge part of the opal distribution throughout the world. We then took a walk through the Botanical Gardens and found an amazing spot to watch the sunset over the Bridge and the Opera House. Needless to say, pictures were taken and I now have probably close to 75 pictures in total of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Friday night we had another Kosher dinner and it was amazing. Challah, mashed potatoes, pasta, veggies, salad, and Sangria. I had another food baby. Is it acceptable to love a food baby? I don't know but I did. 

It was another mellow night as we were getting ready for our big weekend trip into the Blue Mountains! Which I am going to need a separate blog post for... 

but here is a little taste: 

and that does not even come CLOSE to doing the views justice. 

[mollyelena23]

Alana was a shell of the Opera House and I was the Bridge!

[mollyelena23]

The middle of the road is just fine..

The next day (Monday June 25th) for class we went to two different museums. First to the Sydney Museum which is down in Circular Quay. We walked through the museum and looked at the different displays they had. It was actually curious what they chose to display or make some of their bigger displays. There was an entire room dedicated to the World War eras. It displayed the lifestyle at the time, different propaganda, and over all Australia's efforts in the war. It was interesting to think about Australia being affected by those two wars. Usually when you think of the big wars you think of Europe nations and USA, and some Asian nations. But of course Australia was involved because Great Britain was. You often forget the little guys when it comes to efforts involving bigger nations but in fact Australia and many other lesser voiced countries are involved in just as much as we are. But a lot of what was displayed in the room was catering towards women. All of the propaganda posters were to get women to do their part for the war. There was a section on long distance love or love/marriage during war time. I am not quite sure what to make of that but it was interesting enough to look at. It could be because the women were the ones at home in Australia and the battles were lead by the bigger powers involved. Another fun part of the War room was the paper planes. We could make paper plans and mine was awesome. It stayed together so well and I won a "let's see how fast we can put the plan together race" against Harton. Mine lasted almost all day until Harton and I decided we should destroy each others planes so we wouldn't have to carry them around all day and we wouldn't feel guilty about throwing them away.  We were pretty excited about our planes and rather attached... 

Another observation I had was that in the Sydney museum there was only a little corner room that was dedicated to Aboriginal culture and history. In discussion with our teacher after class, he said that a couple years ago a student assessed that Sydney has two Holocaust museums. This is implying that the little room is all the culture we know and understand about the Aboriginals because of the early days when they were killed off. This is sad to think about but very sobering. To think that someone's culture can be so unknown because of something that our ancestors have done. What could we be doing right now in modern society that in 100 years generations to come will not be able to understand why?

We then walked to the Holocaust Museum. This was a very powerful afternoon. You could learn about Jewish culture and history in the main floor. The 2nd and third floors had stories of real Jewish families going through World War II all over the walls. The Children's Monument really got to me. There was a sort of sculpture (I can't think of anything else to call it) of all little children's shoes. Just a pile of tiny worn out shoes. Then there was a wall of pictures and names of children who died. There was another display of a simple, clear basin catching drops of water. The drops of water represent all of the tears the children who died cried. It was unbelievably moving.

Next I had the chance to sit and listen to an elderly Jewish gentleman's story of surviving a concentration camp during World War II. It was eye opening. To hear what it was like first hand from a physical person puts it into so much more perspective then reading about it. He told us of how he survived the camp and escaped towards the end of the war. How American soldiers helped him and he moved from place to place. He lost all of his family except for one Aunt whom he found after the war. He couldn't stay in one place for long because as his stated, "it was time to move on." That he did. He moved to many different places before deciding to come to Australia. He told us the heartwarming story of how he met and married his wife. His story was amazing and I am so grateful to have heard it.  He is a tiny, strong elderly gentleman who is in his 90s. He walks everywhere and he claims he was trained well during war time because of all the marches they had to endure. His key to surviving was do the work they told him to do and stay in the front of the line when they had to march.  His mind is sharp as a whip. I am thankful to have met him.

The most interesting part of his story was near the end. He stated that the middle of the road is just fine. He was talking about politics. Hitler was one man. While a very influential man, the people who followed him did so by choice. To be so very right or left winged or even passionate about a single issue is good most of the time. But also to think of the times when these issues result in genocide. Sometimes we get so caught up in issues or politics that we don't realize the people we hurt. World War II was definitely an extreme when it comes to people getting hurt and killed, but we can apply that principle to everyday issues or smaller issues. How would you feel to be on the other side of that? I am not saying to completely be passive on any issues. It is great to be opinionated. But it is always good to be opinionated and passionate while remembering that their are other view points. It is all about perception and what side of the table you are sitting on. 

[mollyelena23]

apparently i like toast here..

I eat toast way to much here. Seriously like four times a day. I have no idea why seeing as I never ever have toast back home. It may be because I eat a lot of cereal back home and cereal here is weird and the kind I like is EXPENSIVE. Soooo toast it is :) 

The days are starting to blur together because time is flying by here. I cannot believe I have less then a month left. Technically I only have one more free weekend! This weekend we are going to the Blue Mountains, then I have a free weekend (which will probably be taken up), and then we are going to the Great Barrier Reef for four days. Then we LEAVE :O  Spoiler alert: for the GBR weekend we are skydiving over the reef, bungee jumping in the rain forest, white water rafting, and snorkeling. We are going out with a bang. 

Friday night we went to this insane place called the ivy. It was different levels of awesomeness. There was a pool rooftop bar, a dance floor, a chill - conversation type - floor, and it was all mostly outside. It was unbelievable. I also met these two Melbourne Aussie girls that were extremely nice. They wanted me to teach them how to talk like me. I mean come on their accent is WAY cooler. That was a very long interesting night because we have to leave before 10pm in order to not pay the $30 cover because ivy is cool but its not worth $30 to me. That is at least 8 boxes of Tim Tams. I CANNOT BELIEVE I HAVEN'T MENTIONED TIM TAMS. (in order to keep on track i will talk about these Aussie delicacies at the end). The Ivy is a place were you go if you are successful. It was fun to pretend my life was like that for one night. This was also the night the Danny the Glover came to be known.

The next day on Saturday, Alana, Rina, Stephanie, Karissa, Celine and I went to a really cool flea market by the place I work. There were a bunch of tents set up with food booths and a lot of bargaining going on. There was this awesome eagle shirt that I wanted to get so I can be THAT obnoxious American on the 4th of July, but it was ridiculously priced. We walked to the Rocks and across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We were planning on going to the Museum of Contemporary Art but we walked so much that day we all went home and napped. I took a lot of good Opera House pictures because I know you all are not sick of them yet ;) I also got to talk to a street performer about this really cool instrument he was playing called digeridoo. 

That night we went to a karaoke bar. The same one I mentioned but we stayed almost the whole time and there were a lot more of us. It was tons of fun and apparently all of us are really really attractive when we sing. (See facebook album for more details). We will probably be making more appearances there. I called it an early night so I could have a Skype date at midnight which is around 9am back in Illinois if you havent figured out the time difference yet.

Sunday was Chicken & Broccoli and Paper Procrastination day. We all had a reflection paper due the next day for class and we all waited until Sunday to do it. It should have taken me MAYBE 45 minutes in retrospect but I did everything possible to put it off. I uploaded the 200 photos I managed to take in just a couple days, I stalked on Facebook, I chatted with people, I emailed, I did everything possible except write a blog post... I finished it just in time to share dinner with my roommates and some friends. Kelley and Joe are AMAZING cooks. I learned how to make chicken and broccoli stir fry. We also had almost two chocolate cakes. They are way too good for store bought cakes that cost only $4. It will be the death of me. Sunday was actually a very good day. I could relax and clearly catch up on things. Steve, Danny and I went to one of the oldest churches I have ever been to for Sunday night mass. The kneelers had no covering on it so it was just wood and the way the benches were made you absolutely had to have great posture to sit in them. I think we might be trying a different church next week... I really want to go to St. Mary's which is the ginormous beautiful church we passed on a walk. I ended the night watching movies. We watched Safe House in which Denzel Washington and Ryan Renolds kick some serious butt, and the Avengers which gets better every time I watch it.

Back to Tim Tams. I am so very much addicted to these cookie snacks. There are nine 'biscuits' in a box and there are endless flavors. Its essentially chocolate cookies with chocolate filling in between, covered in chocolate. I wish I could ship a couple cases home because they are amazing. I am going to try very hard to bring a couple boxes home for you mom but they might not survive the plane ride.. The mint ones taste like Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies, and there is also the Caramel filled one. The Caramel is my undoing. SO GOOD. We are all hooked on this addictive treat. I have not tried this yet but my sweet tooth soulmate on this trip aka Garret told me that you can bit off the edges and drink through the cookie. He said that in hot chocolate it is unbelievable. I will be going through some serious with drawl when I get back to the States. America needs to get on this issue of no Tim Tams. We of ALL nations I would think would have something like this delectable cookie. 

[mollyelena23]

We walked the bridge! This is a picture of the middle of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.