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To think that this experience is coming to an end is breaking my heart. It's been an amazing four and a half months, and I wouldn't have wanted to spend it with anyone else. We've made some of the best memories together and I feel so lucky to have shared them all with you. Forever my travel companions, can't wait to do it all over again in twenty years

The Whitsundays

Our final trip of the semester was to a group of islands off the Northeast Coast of Australia, the Whitsundays. It’s a beautiful place filled with some of the best beaches and snorkelling spots, but because of all the rain Mother Nature brought we didn’t get to fully enjoy all the beauty it had to offer. What we had expected to be a beach vacation turned out to be the total opposite. It rained the entire time, and when I say the entire time, I mean the entire time.

The first two days and nights we spent on the boat “Spank Me”, a pre-chartered racing sailboat designed for backpackers like us (even though we’re not true backpackers we can pretend). There were 25 of us on board, all from different countries-the US, Sweden, England, France, etc., and all around the same age. Each night we would play games all together and joke about how we should be laying in the sun instead of sitting in our soaked clothes in the pouring rain. Having a fun group on board really made the experience that much more enjoyable.

Sailing through the Whitsundays was a great time; I can only imagine what it would have been like during nice weather. Each day we would stop at two to three different places, some to snorkel and some to spend the night. When we stopped for snorkelling we would all put our stinger suits on then wait at the edge of the boat until we got the courage to jump into the water. With the rain and the wind it was so miserably cold that I almost passed up some snorkelling opportunities, but I am so glad I didn’t because we saw so many cool things. The best part was the fish; not only were they beautifully colored but there were so many! And these fish were not afraid of people so we would be swimming in huge schools of fish. It was the coolest!

On our cruise we visited Whitehaven Beach which is very famous to the islands for its unique sand and remarkable beauty. The funny part of the visit was that we were there in the pouring rain, but even then the beach was so beautiful. I know that if I was there when it was sunny it would be incredible. Tiff, Alexis and I had funny running around in our stinger suits and playing in the sand.

After 48 hours of being damp and cold, we were so relieved when we got back to Airlie Beach, where were able to have a hot shower and put on dry clothes. We spent the night at a hostel which turned out to be better than most hostels we had stayed at. That night we met up with the group from our boat and had one last hoorah before we had to leave. The next day we were back on a plane to Brisbane, only to begin our last few weeks of studying for finals. Despite the rain and the cold, the Whitsundays was a great trip filled with wonderful people and so many beautiful sights. However I do have to say that I will be back, so see you in the future Whitsundays!

Here are some pictures from my weekend in Sydney. We hit all the tourist spots like the Opera House, Manley beach, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and Bondi beach. While we were there the Vivid Festival was going on, which is a series of light shows on famous Sydney buildings. We were so lucky to have conveniently timed our trip because seeing the light shows was so cool, especially the one on the opera house! Oh and we also visited the mansion where Great Gatsby was filmed!

This weekend we went to the zoo! Its the Australia Zoo, run by Steve Irwin's family...so cool!

This weekend I went to Byron Bay, a small hippie surf town two hours south of Brisbane. It was so cute and so laid back! Most people there were your stereotypical Australian: blonde, tanned, surfer. Thankfully the weather was nice so we got to spend time at the beach, swimming and laying in the sun!

Queenstown, New Zealand

Sweet As

Having just gotten back from New Zealand, I want to tell you guys all about it! Let me start by saying it was absolutely INCREDIBLE! There is just something about that country with its combination of mountains and lakes that makes it so stunningly beautiful. I spent five days in Queenstown, New Zealand with my friends Alexis and Danielle. The best way to describe it is “ski town”. Even though we visited in the fall, you could tell that the town revolved around skiing with its cute ski town feel and all the mountains surrounding it. I was in love.

We stayed in two different hostels there to mix up the scenery; one was called Nomads and the other was Haka Lodge. They were both nice, cozy places, right in the heart of the town. The entire trip was very relaxing. We didn’t have anything planned except for a day trip, so we took our time exploring and finding things to do. The first day there we hiked up the mountain the gondola was on. It wasn’t a long hike, but with us girls it obviously took us a while. Along the way we met cool people from all over the world, and when we got to the top the views were spectacular. You could see all of Queenstown and beyond. At the summit there were many attractions such as the gondola, the luge course and a café, so we got cappuccinos to warm up before the hike back down. The way back was a lot shorter, but it was past lunch and we were hungry so we went to the famous burger place “Fergburger” to see what all the hype was about. The burgers were as big as my face, and SO good. I don’t think I’ve ever had a better one.

That night we went to another popular tourist spot, the Ice Bar. Because we’re not legal in the US we’re never been to one so we were excited to see what it was like. First of all, it’s really cold. Even though they give you heavy parkas and gloves to wear, it still doesn’t prepare you for the -5 degree celsius tundra. Inside everything, and I mean everything, was made of ice. From the decorations, to the furniture, even the cups, were all ice. Even though we were wearing double layers of clothes we got cold fast and didn’t stay as long as expected. It was very fun, (cold), and cool to see but I don’t think I’ll need to do it again anytime soon!

The next day we were up early for our trip to Milford Sound. We took a coach bus all the way from Queenstown to Milford, making many stops along the way at different tourist sites. The first stop was Mirror Lakes which was really cool because the lake perfectly reflected the mountains and trees around it. The reflection comes from the clarity of the water and the lack of wind so when you combine the two it looks the a mirror.

Later on we stopped at a river where we were able to drink the water because it was so clean! It was very cold, but still delicious. Most water in New Zealand is similar to the river’s in the sense that it’s so clean. The bodies of water were so clear you could see the bottom and so blue in color. Some are even a beautiful, bright turqoise because they’re formed from glacial fields. Another stop we made was to walk through a Beech Forest, which essentially was just lots of green vegetation with a cool waterfall to see.

The closer we got to Milford Sound the cooler the drive became. We went up and down mountains, through tunnels, over cliffs, just to get there. It took us almost six hours to reach our destination, mostly because we made so many stops but also because it’s pretty far away. When we got there we jumped on a boat for our 2-hour cruise of the sound. Milford Sound was beautiful. It was completely surrounded by tall mountains with waterfalls streaming down and lots of green brush. Even though we went on a cloudy day the water was still so blue. We also saw a lot of dolphins and at one point they followed right with the boat for a good five minutes. It was the coolest thing ever!

Although New Zealand might be called the “adventure capital of the world”, we were too scared to do anything crazy so instead we found other fun things to do that wouldn't stop our hearts. One morning we walked through the botanical gardens, which were really pretty. We took the path next to lake and got great views of the mountains, then took the garden path, which led us to a cute bridge over the pond.

We had already hiked to the top of the gondola but we wanted to actually ride up the gondola so one night we did that. We went up just before sunset in an attempt to see it but the colors were very dull and minimal. It was still beautiful to see though, and since we hadn’t seen the view of Queenstown at night, we waited up there until it got dark. It was so pretty we wanted to take pictures of it, but with the darkness they didn’t come out very good. The rest of the time in New Zealand we spent wandering downtown and by the lake. Our favourite thing to do was get hot chocolates and sit lakeside. With the cold weather hot drinks were perfect.

Even though my New Zealand trip wasn’t as long as other ones, it was still a perfect amount of time there. I got to see everything I wanted to and had so much fun seeing it all. I didn’t think it would be so beautiful, but Queenstown proved me wrong. I am so glad I visited this country before leaving Australia, and here is no doubt in my mind that I will be back. Hopefully next time to ski!

Cheers xo

Just a side note: "sweet as" is a New Zealand saying meaning "that's really cool". Also New Zealand people are referred to as "kiwis".

Things that happened in Australia: Tiffy turned 20! Happy birthday my beautiful friend, may your 20's be the best years of your life!

Last week my closest friends and I celebrated our "3 month Aussie anniversary". We had a picnic dinner in the same park we went the first day we got to Brisbane. Can't believe I only have about a month left here!

Differences in Aussie

Just a list of some of the differences I've picked up on in Australia!

There are turkeys everywhere. They might as well be the American version of squirrels

Sausage sizzles. If you don't like sausage you better learn to like it before coming to Australia because they love them here. A sausage sizzle is essentially a hot dog but instead of using a roll they put the sausage on a slice of bread

Half and half is non-existent. Sorry coffee lovers

So are canned black beans

Eggs are sold on shelves and rarely refrigerated

No grocery stores sell boxed cookie dough mix. Looks like its time to bake from scratch (or just be lazy and buy rolls of cookie dough)

Ketchup is really called tomato sauce

Their "original" iced coffee is made with ice cream

Sushi is so popular here, you can find it almost anywhere. It's also sold as one long roll instead of small slices (and it's super cheap!)

Australian girls don't wear baseball caps, that's only a thing on the East Coast

Bacon looks identical to ham (it's also not as good as bacon in America

Coffee is not the same. Ground coffee beans aren't really popular, instead they use drink freeze dried coffee beans. It's actually really sad

There's no tipping!! Probably my favorite thing about Australia

Left side always. Walking, driving, cars...it's all backwards

Australians don't believe in shoes

"Lemonade" is not the type of lemonade you're thinking of. It's really just lemonade flavored seltzer water

Australians also don't know what the word seltzer is, they call it soda water instead

Instead of calling it a bachelor or bachelorette party it's a Bucks and Hens night

A parking lot is called a car park

The guys shorts are shorter than my own, not kidding

Baby carrots aren't a thing here

Australians LOVE their baked beans and tuna (there are whole aisles in grocery stores devoted to these two items)

It's an aircon, not AC; a jumper, not a sweatshirt; a playsuit, not a romper; a holiday, not vacation

Goon: the American version of boxed wine

Grocery stores don't sell buffalo sauce or blue cheese dressing. And bagels aren't popular! I guess those are American things too

There are no 1 cent coins here. Instead retailers round the price up so that all totals end in 5 or 0

Students attend uni, not college. A college is an on campus dorm. And if you say you go to school, you're saying that you're in high school

That's all I have for you for now :)

Our friends Christina and Zef from the Gold Coast were in Brisbane this weekend so we all went out to breakfast together!

The beautiful city of Brisbane where I have been living for the past two and a half months. There is a public lagoon about five minutes from my apartment, and the city is fifteen minutes. I love having everything so close to me, it's so different from what I'm used to. These pictures were taken from when it was warm out, too bad it's starting to get cold now!

Savor Every Second

I cannot believe that I am more than halfway through my semester here in Australia. It feels like just last week that I was packing my bags, still unsure about what this semester would bring me. And now here I am with less than two months until I return home. It's so hard to judge time in the moment. We live each day by the things we're obligated to do, letting ourselves get so wrapped up in our to do lists that when you turn around a month has gone by without you even realizing it. Until now I haven't thought of my time here as limited. Of course I knew that I would have a semester, or about 4.5 months here, but I never thought time would pass as fast as it has. I've realized now more than ever how important it is to appreciate everyday we have here because soon there won't be anymore left. Australia is a blessing. Sometimes it's hard to see that when the chores of school and everyday life get you stuck in repetitive motions, but really this experience is like no other. Most of us will never do something like this again, so take the time and enjoy it. Miss a lecture to travel the world; try something you didn't think you ever would; and spend more time doing what you love, because in the end it will be the memories that matter most.

Freedom At Last

For the past week and a half I have been a prisoner of anatomy. Studying long hours, not sleeping, eating our stress in junk food, that was basically my life leading up to our big mid semester exam. It was awful, but now I can finally close the textbooks and celebrate because my anatomy exam is over! I have never been more excited to take an exam or be done studying. Life is so much better now! Besides not being a real person for the past week I didn't do anything else, but now in the days to come there is lots to look forward to. Our break starts next week (but really this week because I don't have much class), and on Sunday we leave for Fiji until the next Monday! I have a lot to do before I leave but am so excited to go away, especially to such an exotic place. It doesn't feel real because going to Fiji for "spring break" is actually unheard of, but I'm going! So that's what I'll be up to for the next two weeks. Can't wait to tell you all about FIJI! Bula!

Every week I look forward to Wednesdays because that is the day of the farmer's market. It's right across the river in the city so we usually walk there to buy all of our fruits and vegetables. Everything there is so fresh and the prices are much better than the grocery store. In addition to fruits and vegetables they also have local vendors selling other food items like bread and gelato. Today I bought this delicious organic yogurt that is coffee walnut flavored, it's really more like a dessert than a food. The farmers market will be one of the things I miss most about Australia.

Feeding the dolphins at Tangalooma Island this past weekend!

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