I finally made it to Lismore. I got all moved in on Friday. One of my flatmates is Canadian and the other 2 are Aussie guys. but they haven't moved in yet. The nights here are pretty cold. I've been eskimoing-up in the mummy bag to keep warm. :) Lismore kind of reminds me of Winona and Eau Claire, which is weird. What are the chances? It is a smaller city built in the hills with lots of trees. I was expecting it to be more like the outback, but here by the coast it is very fertile. There's even a rainforest not to far away. The people at Southern Cross had a BBQ for all the international students last night, and pizza for us the night before. YAY for free food! My friend Val and I went to the grocery store yesterday and spent over 2 hours shopping. We don't really know how to cook and plan for meals very well yet, one more thing I will get to learn. We had to ask other grocery shoppers lots of questions, but they are SO friendly! Today a bus took us to Byron Bay, (about a 30 minute drive). We spent the day on the beach and I learned about rip tides, but didn't get caught in one (yet). Apparently it's common for tourists to get caught in rip tides and drown from time to time. (scared mom?). But really, they do. Byron Bay is a really cool surfer town, and I'm sure I'll be going back every other weekend or so. We didn't have enough time to learn to surf today, but hopefully I'll be an expert before too long. Besides that, things have been pretty laid back. Orientation starts tomorrow and school starts next Monday.