G'day family and friends!

So I have been so busy these past two weeks but boy do I have a lot to fill you in on. So in this blog I'm gonna talk about:

1. My blue mountains trip
2. Earthdance music festival in Sydney
3. My school Harbour Cruise Dance
4. Opera House Show

Blue Mountains:

The first weekend in September I went to the Blue Mountains with the Aussie abroad program I came with. It was an amazing experience. The Blue Mountains are about 2 hours from Wollongong, but I felt like it had to be farther away then that because when we got there it was magically. (fyi:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Mountains_(Australia))

First when we got there we all settled in. Since it was a group made up of about 100 Americans we all chattered on about our experiences. It seems silly but it was just really nice to chat with Americans and have the same jokes and complain about the same things. The food in this place was awesome as well. It was really quite delicious. We got there quite late on Friday so the activities really didn't start till Saturday morning. But on Saturday morning we got to go indoor rock climbing. I really think I have discovered a new skill. I loved going rock climbing, and I was pretty good at it if I do say so myself. Later on that day we went on a four hour hike. Hiking is definitely my new favorite activity. We went on the Grand Canyon hike. This was the Grand Canyon of the blue mountains. The guide told us that this was a canyon while our "Grand Canyon" was still a river. It was a great hike because he had been pouring the days before.This was an awesome thing because all the rivers were full and the water was flowing. What was usually a small flowing waterfall was now a huge one. It made for an interesting hike because we had to cross and jump through these rivers. It was definitely breathtaking, even though I fell in some rivers. Like FELL in. There were these huge waterfalls and massive rivers. All four hours my jaw was dropped. After we got back and warmed up from nearly swimming in all that water we played Aussie Trivia. As you all know I am Miss competitive and HAD to win. Because I live with all aussies I won the translate trivia. Try this one: (ill give the answer at the end): Put the eski in the boot, obviously not the bonnet, for fortnight. And name that famous Aussie. However, I lost by two points. Those two points were when I had to eat a cracker caked in vegemite. Defiantly could NOT do it. For those familiar with vegemite will understand. According to Wikipedia: "Vegemite is made from leftover brewers' yeast extract, a by-product of beer manufacturing, and various vegetable and spice additives. The taste may be described as salty, slightly bitter, and malty - somewhat similar to the taste of beef bouillon."The next day we went on another hike. This time to see the three sisters. It's the most famous sight in the blue mountains. It's these three gigantic land formations right next to each other. My pictures don't even do them justice. They were really overwhelming, breathtaking and beautiful. We went on another hike to the side. We went on a skyrail too. The views were just massive. What really made the canyons so beautiful was the fact that it was so green and lush and full of trees. It wasn't just a canyon it was a huge forest. The waterfalls we saw were stunning too. Unbelievable things. We would see them from all these different angles and then would walk down and see them up-close. It was really a tremendous trip. In a nerdy way it made me really want to protect the environment more, something as amazing as that needs to be saved.

The next weekend after that I went to Earthdance music festival in Sydney. This was quite a noteworthy experience. My friends from school went to a park in Sydney and I just sat on the grass and listening to music. It was a very "aussie" experience because the weather was beautiful and we just chilled and eat great food and relaxed and listened to music. The festival did bring some VERY interesting people out though. People dressed up in costumes and funny attire. One lady was dressed as a princess and others were dressed in like a modpodge of clothes. We got our faces painted. There were artists drawing and painting everywhere and street performers. It was really fun and even better since it was free. Plus all the profits did promote saving the environment and world peace (being in aussie has made me such a hippie J)

The next night the dorm I am living in sponsored a Harbour Cruise around Sydney. We all left on the trains in the afternoon. Everyone got dressed up to the 9's. The girls wore pretty dresses and the boys wore nice shirts and ties. It was so much fun. It was all my friends all in one place at night partying around Sydney Harbour. We saw all the sights at night like the Opera house and The Sydney Harbour Bridge. The sun was setting and it was the most beautiful sight. Even more beautiful was the fact over the opera house was a rainbow. Seeing a rainbow over Sydney Opera House was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my entire life. On my picture webpage I have pictures of the rainbow and from the boat.

Later that week I went to the Opera house again. I went to the Opera House with the aussie abroad program I came with. We got to see a really funny show in the Drama Theater. It was a really funny show, even most of it was aussie humor. Some I didn't pick up on, but most of it was really good. We even got front row seats. Talk about a great hookup! It was exciting to be able to see a show in the most well known building in the world

As I am writing and posting this I am pleased to announce I am in a hotel room with my dad in Sydney! YES stevey b is in aussie with me. The jet lag is getting to him, but I am still up and figured this would be a perfect opportunity to catch up on the blog. When I get home I will write ALL about the spring break trip. So far we have spent two days in Sydney and we are headed to Cairns (the Great Barrier Reef) for 5 days tomorrow. Then after that daddy goes home and I go to Darwin. The weather is perfect here now. Nice and warm. A great hot temperature with a wonderful cool breeze. It's absolutely spring time here!!

Check back in another two weeks or so for my novel of a blog about spring break!

* ALSO when I get home that's when ill put the pictures up for this blog, I forgot I am on daddy's computer and the pictures are on mine at school.

Cheers! -Nikki

p.s. translation answer: Put the cooler in the trunk of the car, definitetly not the hood for two weeks.p.s.s the image for this blog is the three sisters