My friends and I arrived in London and toured the city for a few days. Some of the highlights were: Westminster Abby, The London Eye, The Tower Bridge, Camden Lock, The Tate Modern, and the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace (yawn)...but my favorite by far was Big Ben! As soon as I stepped off the tube, it was right there, standing tall. It was breathtaking, really. Incredibly beautiful. One of my favorite parts of the whole trip!

My friends and I took a weekend trip over the border to Canada. Of course, we made a trip to Ikea, mainly because things are cheaper over there for us :P Then we went to this kinda sketchy amusement park called Playland. There were a few good rides, like the wooden coaster and this one freefall ride, but altogether, it wasn't that great :P Unfortunately, we didn't get to explore downtown Vancouver because some international fireworks competition was going on...

The definite highlight of Cairns was snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef. It was so beautiful! Even the boat ride out to the reef was amazing. I would love to go back here someday and learn how to scuba dive so I can experience it even further!

We stayed in college dorms when we were in Brisbane and played against a couple of adult volleyball teams. We also made a trip to Surfer's Paradise, which is a huge indoor/outdoor mall right on the beach.

I went to Eastern Australia for a week and a half with a summer volleyball team that I was on after my sophomore year of high school. We flew into Sydney and did a little bit of sight seeing, and also played against a high school team there. It was really fun! We also stayed with members of the high school team in their homes, and at the end of our stay in Sydney, we traded jerseys.