I have literally not been on this thing in an entire month... And coincidently, that would be the month in which a million and a half things have happened that will surely not be as good a story as they would have been if I hadn't been so completely neglectful of this blog. Whoopsie. This could take more than one post to catch up... Here goes...
In March, I went to the Blue Mountains, Featherdale Wildlife Park, Rip Curl Surf Camp at Seven Mile Beach, on a St Patty's Booze Cruise, and learned that passing all my classes at Macqaurie is going to take a miracle. So where do I begin?
Blue Mountains- Gaby, Katie and I started our 6am day trying to get down into the city to catch the bus that would take us up to the Blue Mountains and the Wildlife Park. Gaby and I both had late starts so we practically ran to the train station to meet Katie. In case I haven't mentioned Gaby before, she lives 2 doors down from me, is from Boston, and is pretty much awesomeness. We met our shuttle bus thing, and were introduced to our crazy guide Ronnie, who was one of those people who are probably in their 40's or 50's but still think they are 23, so they use phrases we use and usually wrong. Big talker, but he made random comments that just cracked me up. It was about an hour drive to Featherdale, which was our first stop and we got off to explore the park. There were TONS of tourists there that day, which I suppose happens when it is a beautiful day on a Sunday, but there was a big tour group of elderly Americans and that was just slightly odd. I got to hold a big huge python! I don't remember what kind it was, but it wraps itself around you and it was so mellow I loved it! I've always wanted a snake, too bad mother is terrified of fake ones and the word snake nevermind a real life one. Then we headed towards the Koalas, which are just as adorable and soft in real life as they look in pictures, so we got our pictures taken with them and headed in to feed the kangaroos. Kangaroos I've discovered are the most awkward animal I have ever seen. They are so big and when they aren't hopping and they use their tail and legs and arms to move around it just looks funny. But they, again, are just as soft and adorable as they are in pictures. The nice kangaroo time was interrupted by the 2 or 3 large emu's that were walking around, they are not only scary, they are vicious. We basically threw our cones of animal food at them because if you didn't they would chase you around trying to snatch them from you, I know... mine was ripped from my hand. We walked around some more, saw birds, crocs, dingos, lizards and turtles... everything you would think to see. The Tasmanian devils and the wombats were funny though. The wombats would sleep in the weirdest positions so that they looked dead, and the tasmanian devil just ran around in a circle, the whole time. We passed by there later, still running in that same circle. We got to see little penguins, which were blue instead of black and so small, they were adorable. They were waiting to be fed, they knew it was time for them to be fed, and the sign said it was time for them to be fed... The three of us were standing there for at least a half hour and the penguins were never fed... so on the way out in the guestbook I gave the place a 7/10 with the comment "You didn't feed the penguins! I was there!".
We then headed to the Blue Mountains, which, if you Google them, look EXACTLY like the pictures. That blue haze is not fake, it is not photoshopped, it is dead set what this place looks like, it's beautiful. Sidenote: in my travel writing class I am learning not to use words like beautiful because it is an empty adjective. I feel like if it were empty no one would use it. Screw you Vanessa Barry! ... Anyway... We went to some lookout that has something to do with a Princess and got to see Wentworth Falls, and essentially, the whole valley that is the Blue Mountains, which are more like Plateaus than Mountains, but who really cares? Then we went on the hike through the rainforest that w
as about an hour or so, and learned about the part of the mountains that has the 3 hump things. It's an aboriginal legend that a monster used to live in the valley, so a witchdoctor put his 3 daughters up there so that they would be safe from the monster when he went into the valley to hunt. One day, the monster woke up and headed up to get his daughters so the witchdoctor used his magic bone to turn his daughters into parts of the mountain. Then the monster went after him and he turned himself into a Lyre bird in order to escape, but in the process lost his magic wishbone. So, as the story goes, the Lyre bird is always scratching at the ground as if looking for something, presumably the wish bone, so that it can turn back into the witchdoctor and he can change his daughters back. Apparently it is pretty famous.
as about an hour or so, and learned about the part of the mountains that has the 3 hump things. It's an aboriginal legend that a monster used to live in the valley, so a witchdoctor put his 3 daughters up there so that they would be safe from the monster when he went into the valley to hunt. One day, the monster woke up and headed up to get his daughters so the witchdoctor used his magic bone to turn his daughters into parts of the mountain. Then the monster went after him and he turned himself into a Lyre bird in order to escape, but in the process lost his magic wishbone. So, as the story goes, the Lyre bird is always scratching at the ground as if looking for something, presumably the wish bone, so that it can turn back into the witchdoctor and he can change his daughters back. Apparently it is pretty famous.
Rip Curl Surf Camp -It was a 2 hour drive south of Sydney to get to Seven Mile Beach, and the place where we stayed was a mobile park. The little cabins we stayed in reminded me of Summer Camp and that is not at all off I assure you. The big middle with picnic tables, bugs everywhere, and like 4-
6 beds in each cabin. I got to meet and spend time with some pretty cool people... there was a pub up the road but it was literally up one of the steepest hills ever and there was no way having overpriced drinks there was worth that walk back, no way. The next day (Saturday) we got up for breakfast at 7am (ugh) and were in wetsuits and heading to the beach by 8:30. Definitely not ideal for a Saturday morning. So, then they gave us boards, split us up into groups, and the day began. In my group there were about8 or 9 of us, and thanks to Adam, our team name was the "Notorious Nipples". This was due to the fact that when Owen (our extremely hot instructor) was teaching us what to do he would tell us to put our thumbs to our nipples on the board. So when Owen told us to say the first thing that came to our minds, only Adam spoke and he screamed "Nipples!" ... Awesome. By the way, in case no one ever tells you, surfing, is HARD. The concept is easy, but the actual process sucks, you need to have balance (which I don't) and lots of upper body strength (again, I'm lacking) in order to get the hang of it quickly and be successful. The first day was really hard and after bashing my body into sandbar and swallowing more ocean than is safe I'm sure, I managed to twist my ankle which gave me a gimp the rest of the day. Now surfers only care about 3 things... Surfing, Eating, and Sleeping. They told us that we were going to get hungry and eat a lot while we were there... Anyone who knows me know that it is a big deal when I have more than one meal a day. I just don't really get hungry unless I'm on my period, it's a fact. --- I ate more in that weekend than I eat over a period of two weeks. I was literally starving when it came time for lunch and dinner for those 2 days. Even breakfast seemed more appetizing than usual considering I can't eat breakfast when I first get up normally because it makes me nauseous. Day Two was the day we had to learn to stand. I came close and fell 9345938465983 times before I finally started catching and getting up. But my ankle started to kill again so for the last hour and a half of the camp, I decided to drift with a girl on my team Sarah, because Owen took her board so he could surf since she didn't want to. So we floated on my board until one of the other instructors Mitch came and asked what we were doing, took my board from me and gave me his sunglasses and hat to wear so he could surf. This was fun, until a big wave creeped up on me right after one had just passed and slammed me so hard I swear water went into one of my ears and out the other, taking his sunglasses with it. I kept the hat for him, but I searched for the glasses for like, 20 minutes and felt so awful. When he asked if I lost his "sunny's" he said he went through about 2 pairs a week usually and it wasn't a big deal, but continued to give me shit. When we got back up to the cabins I tried to give him money for them because I felt so bad and he chased me down and shoved the money into my pocket and ran off refusing to take it... So I went to the store and bought the same pair and wear them myself. It was really cool learning to surf, but there isn't really surf in Massachusetts so I don't know when that will happen again, nevermind that my body hasn't been that sore since preseason of field hockey if you added pre season of freshmen basketball to that. SO FUN though, definitely happy I did that.
6 beds in each cabin. I got to meet and spend time with some pretty cool people... there was a pub up the road but it was literally up one of the steepest hills ever and there was no way having overpriced drinks there was worth that walk back, no way. The next day (Saturday) we got up for breakfast at 7am (ugh) and were in wetsuits and heading to the beach by 8:30. Definitely not ideal for a Saturday morning. So, then they gave us boards, split us up into groups, and the day began. In my group there were about8 or 9 of us, and thanks to Adam, our team name was the "Notorious Nipples". This was due to the fact that when Owen (our extremely hot instructor) was teaching us what to do he would tell us to put our thumbs to our nipples on the board. So when Owen told us to say the first thing that came to our minds, only Adam spoke and he screamed "Nipples!" ... Awesome. By the way, in case no one ever tells you, surfing, is HARD. The concept is easy, but the actual process sucks, you need to have balance (which I don't) and lots of upper body strength (again, I'm lacking) in order to get the hang of it quickly and be successful. The first day was really hard and after bashing my body into sandbar and swallowing more ocean than is safe I'm sure, I managed to twist my ankle which gave me a gimp the rest of the day. Now surfers only care about 3 things... Surfing, Eating, and Sleeping. They told us that we were going to get hungry and eat a lot while we were there... Anyone who knows me know that it is a big deal when I have more than one meal a day. I just don't really get hungry unless I'm on my period, it's a fact. --- I ate more in that weekend than I eat over a period of two weeks. I was literally starving when it came time for lunch and dinner for those 2 days. Even breakfast seemed more appetizing than usual considering I can't eat breakfast when I first get up normally because it makes me nauseous. Day Two was the day we had to learn to stand. I came close and fell 9345938465983 times before I finally started catching and getting up. But my ankle started to kill again so for the last hour and a half of the camp, I decided to drift with a girl on my team Sarah, because Owen took her board so he could surf since she didn't want to. So we floated on my board until one of the other instructors Mitch came and asked what we were doing, took my board from me and gave me his sunglasses and hat to wear so he could surf. This was fun, until a big wave creeped up on me right after one had just passed and slammed me so hard I swear water went into one of my ears and out the other, taking his sunglasses with it. I kept the hat for him, but I searched for the glasses for like, 20 minutes and felt so awful. When he asked if I lost his "sunny's" he said he went through about 2 pairs a week usually and it wasn't a big deal, but continued to give me shit. When we got back up to the cabins I tried to give him money for them because I felt so bad and he chased me down and shoved the money into my pocket and ran off refusing to take it... So I went to the store and bought the same pair and wear them myself. It was really cool learning to surf, but there isn't really surf in Massachusetts so I don't know when that will happen again, nevermind that my body hasn't been that sore since preseason of field hockey if you added pre season of freshmen basketball to that. SO FUN though, definitely happy I did that.
There isn't really anything else necessary to blog about right now... I could talk about my birthday but that can wait
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