G'Day! Sorry it has taken so long to post up a new blog! I have been so busy with traveling and trying to keep up with school work that I haven't had much time to write. Anyway this is about my North Stradbroke Island excursion. I went March 19th until March 22nd. On the 19th, I flew into Brisbane and stayed with my friend Pia (who I met during my orientation in Melbourne). She is studying abroad like me but she is studying at the University of Queensland (UQ). My friend Liz and I crashed at Pia's place that night so we didn't have to catch a really early flight the next day. Friday morning Pia had a few classes so Liz and I got up early and had breakie (breakfast) with Pia and while she was in class we took the city cat (like a water ferry) down the Brisbane River to downtown Brissy (Brisbane). We explored the city for about 3 or 4 hours just going into little shops and taking pictures of everything! Then Liz and I returned back to UQ to meet Pia and a few other friends that go to UQ that were going on the trip to North Stradbroke Island with us! We took a bus to meet our orientation advisors then we had to get on another bus to drive to the ferry terminal which would then take us to North Stradbroke Island. Just a bit of background before I tell you all the fun stuff I did: Straddie (as it is affectionately known) is the 2nd largest sand island in the world, it is located off the coast of Queensland. When we got there it was sunset, so we got out of the vans and sat and watched the sunset for about an hour. Then we went to this lovely little restaurant for dinner. A native Straddie aboriginal came to talk to us about Straddie and the history. That night we checked into our hotel (villa-style, 10 people to an apartment) and went star gazing on the beach. The next morning we had to wake up early to go boomerang throwing and painting and swimming in Brown Lake (ancient legend states that it can make you look and feel younger). While at Brown Lake we spotted a koala in the wild! It was just chilling out in a tree right near where all of us were splashing around in the water! it was so cool! We went snorkeling and sea kayaking later in the day! We also planted mangroves which are important in the growth of other native plants and native marine animals (in order for them to survive). That night we stayed in because we had to get up early to go surfing! So we watched an Australian comedy and went to sleep. The next morning we had to get up so early! We had a pancake breakie on the beach and then chilled out in order to digest. Then we had about 2 hours of surf lessons! The waves were so strong that it was difficult to get out there to catch a lot of waves but i got up a few times and rode in which was SO AWESOME! After surfing, we went sandboarding which is quite similiar to snowboarding in that you are boarding down a hill or mountain. The differences are the terrain and the board! It was so much fun! We had to sit down the first time we went down but then after that we could stand or lay down. After sandboarding, we went on a scenic nature walk which was absolutely beautiful! We then had lunch in this little outdoor park area right outside of the parking lot before we said our goodbyes to all of our new friends. Then we drove to the airport to fly back to Sydney! Overall it has been my favorite weekend so far because it was so full of activity and new adventures! miss all of you! xoxo hill <3

Pictures

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