G'day!!

Sorry it has been ages since I last wrote, no worries I didn't forget!! Two of my weeks were consumed back sickness, so I didn't think I should bother writing about that. Good news, I recovered and experienced some more crazy oz adventures! The first week in September, Brisbane had this huge street festival called River Fire. I have never seen such a sight! The day started off with me and my mates just hangin out by our pool relaxing in the sun, when all of a sudden 4 fighter jets flew over our heads. They were all synchronized, and were doing all sorts of swoops and loops and that sort of thing. We realised they were putting on a show for us and all of Brisbane, this was the start of River Fire. At about 8:00 fire works started to go off, so we quickly ran down to the city to watch them. Only in Australia: the fire works were being lit off the top of sky scrapers, and the whole bridge was lined with them, don't worry there will be pictures in the near future to fully understand. The show ended with these planes that had a direct stream of fire coming out the back, I have never seen such a thing! Brisbane never seems to disappoint me, and has kept me entertained with events like this from day 1. The following weekend, i finally got to get back on my surf board when we took yet another surfing adventure down southin the van. We were planning on going as far as Coffs Harbour, which is about a 4 hour drive from the goldie, however we only made it half way due to lack of planning and time. Regardless, we had a good time in a place called Yamba! It is about an hour south of Byron Bay, so it was obvious that it would be just as beautiful. The weather was a bit stormy, which means massive swells, which also means too big for me! That's alright though, I was happy to explore on the beach and take photos, I got to go the following day so it was all good. Believe it or not, I have actually been quite busy with school work...I had a presentation, test, and essay all last week, but now i have a week off for holiday or spring break! Julia and Lucas arrived here last Monday; it was so good to see my sister in AUS! I never thought it would happen, but it's awesome to get to experience it with her. I hadn't realised it, but we really have never travelled together that much, so i'm really enjoying it. Hopefully, it won't be the first or last! It's Bree's brother's Travis' 21st birthday party tonight, and their whole family has come to be here. I have just been hangin out at the Kloda's living as aussies do. It should be a good time tonight with over 100 people attending, food platters, and heaps of alcohol! Monday, Jul, Lucas and I are off to the whitsunday islands. We are hiring a camper van and driving up there. It is about a 15 hour drive from Brissy so we are just going to stop at places along the way like Fraser Island. Some of my friends are already at the islands so I am going to go hang out with them for a few days, while Jul and Lucas may drive up to Cairns. Whitsundays are known for sailing, so hopefully we will get a chance to do that and go see some of the other islands. Also it is the very bottom of the Great Barrier Reef, so that's exciting that I will be able to say i have been to the top and bottom of the biggest reef in the world, woo hoo! Alright, that's all for now, pictures will arrive soon, maybe after whitsundays, but soon!

Keep smilin'

Jill