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Hey There!!!!
What an intense past couple of days! It's definitely feeling like midterms. I just have to survive another two days before Tassie and then Sydney!!!
This weekend was amazing...the Great Ocean Road was awesome. It was another ISOP trip so it was only international students, and about 11 of us from IES all went together. We met for the bus around 8 on Saturday morning and drove about 2 hours to Torquay where we went surfing! SO, we first get to the beach and all but two of us aren't in our bathing suits since we all figured that there would be bathrooms near the beach...not true. So, we all end of changing on the bus that didn't have tinted windows...oh well, it was a bonding experience. After we changed, we went and got into our much needed wet suits and booties. I think that most of my friends back home think that everywhere in Australia is really warm all the time...not so. Southern Australia isn't all that warm, and the ocean is especially isn't warm, so the wet suits were much appreciated, even though they aren't the most form flattering clothing. After getting all suited up, we had a quick surf lesson. First we learned how to catch a wave, and then we learned how to stand up. Catching the wave is a lot easier than standing up, but I did stand up a couple times. I also nose dived a couple times and swallowed my fair share of sea water, but it was so much fun, and I can't wait to go again in Sydney!!!
After surfing we went and had lunch on the beach in some town along the Great Ocean Road. It was really cute, there was a trampoline park...I had never seen one of those before.
After dinner we drove to Erskine Falls. It was really pretty, but would have been cooler if Australia wasn't in the middle of a drought, so the water part of the waterfall was kind of lacking. Walking to the falls was quite the workout. There were about a million stairs leading to the bottom of the falls, so going down was fine, but going back up was a little challenging. However, the hike was worth the view.
Next, we drove a long way down the Great Ocean Road to a lookout over the ocean and some gorgeous hills. The road is a stretch of about 250 km that follows the coast along the Southern Ocean. The views from the road are spectacular...it's hard to describe. To the left was the ocean and to the right were gorgeous hills and valleys and spectacular houses. We lucked out again and had a gorgeous day which only enhanced the views. However, the windy curves didn't really mix well with my history of car sickness...but don't worry I throw up on anybody...no close calls even. The lookout was amazing. It was kind of on a point that looked out over the ocean and on the behind you were these gorgeous hills. At the bottom was a farm with horses...awesome. We then hiked to the bottom of the hill and found out that two of the people on the trip had gotten lost somehow so we had to wait at the bottom for awhile while they got unlost.
After the hike we drove along the coast more until we got to some koala lookout place. I have become very disenchanted with koalas, they don't do anything for me anymore, however, one of the koalas had a baby on its back which was really cute...I hadn't seen that before. I was more intrigued by the really pretty red and blue birds that were everywhere. They were really pretty.
Next we went to our hostel for the night where I thoroughly checked my bed for bed bugs. I'm not going to risk that again! The hostel was really cool. It was basically right on the beach. The bad thing was that it only had one shower for about 12 people, so six of us girls from IES decided to take a shower together to save water (well, we more or less rotated in about groups of two). After we got all clean we went and had dinner at a pizza place, and then headed back and played some cards. After it got dark we decided to go on a walk on the beach, however, it was pitch black and we got a little lost trying to find the ocean. We almost ended up in a river, but eventually we did find the ocean and gazed at the stars for awhile. It was gorgeous.
The next day we started kind of interesting. Just as we were about to drive away from the hostel, a house (like a mobile home sort of...but different) drove down the road and got a little stuck underneath the phone lines in front of the hostel. It took them about 20 minutes to get unstuck...and then we quickly left the driveway in hopes of beating the house to the corner, but we were a little too slow and they pulled out in front of us. So we had to follow the house for about 1k as it travelled about 20kph slower than the speed limit...that was annoying.
So, after we passed the house, we drove to Maits Rest Rainforest Walk. It was pretty cool...there was some pretty interesting vegetation, but no monkeys. After the forest we went to the Twelve Apostles (the picture at the top is from the Twelve Apostles...not one I took though). They are more stunning in person than they could ever be in pictures. However, in trying to capture them in pictures I took about 100 pics...thank God for digital cameras. We spent about an hour at the Twelve Apostles and then drove down the road to Loch Ard Gorge. Again, it was absolutely stunning. It's crazy how erosion can make such stunning landscapes. After the Gorge we headed back home to Melbourne.
The weekend was great, but I didn't have much time to study for my pathology test, but I still did alright on it...not to brag...but I aced it. Now, I just need to finish my physiology paper before I leave for Tassie!!!
Oh and last night was a blast...8 of us went to the Australia vs Argentina soccer game at the MCG. It was intense. Australia lost 1 to 0, but it was still crazy fun. Soccer fans are intense, it was such a cool experience.
Yeah, since this blog was basically me procrastinating writing my paper, I should really get back to it. I hope that everyone is having a good week!!!
Leah
***And just in case you want to do some extra reading (or procrastinating) here's a link to two of my friends from IES blogs***
Karri: http://karebear25.blogspot.com
Alycia: http://alyciainoz.blogspot.com/
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