Holy Cow! I'm addicted to Internet...

A week on the beautiful North Keppel Island at their Environmental Ed Center and I realize I'm addicted to internet. We didn't have it there, but yes, I survived.

So much to catch up on!
On North Keppel, we were staying at the Environmental Ed Center with another group... of 5th graders. They.were.awesome. Really, the day they left us, it was so sad! They were a funny bunch and definitely kept things lively. Next picture update, they're SO making the blog. They loved playing frisbee too- they even ALL signed my frisbee before they left. :)

A few things.

1. Saw a leashed child on our way to Emu Park (which is where we stayed before and after staying on N. Keppel Island). This cute little girl was just fidgeting with her leash (on her wrist), and I swear on all the lives of the endangered koalas here, her mom said, "Don't you DARE take that off, or I'll make sure it'll never come off." Shut the front door. I'm serious. I'M RALLYING FOR THE LEASHED CHILDREN FOR A REASON! And learning, unfortunately, children-leashers know no boundaries.

2. Saw an Australian crow here in a parking lot- and it was literally the size of a cat. So huge and scary. Just wanted to share that.

3. Automatic doors. The ones I've experienced here are not as fast as in the states. I always try to rush through them before they close and definitely cut it a little too close at a convenience store I stopped at. Almost lost my nose. Had terrible flashbacks to my first day of Freshman year at Creighton, getting stuck in the double doors to my residence hall. True story- backpack on one side of the doors, body on the other.

4. Flashlights. They call them "torches" here. It makes SO much more sense! If you're in the scary dark, going on a bushwalk, you don't want a light that flashes, you want something that's going to give you continuous illumination. Andddd a flashlight is just a newer version of actual torches they used like, a long long time ago, right? Why not just call it a torch? Just a thought.

5. The 5th graders from Thangool, Australia at North Keppel with us. SO cute and so much fun. Before dinner one night, a few of us were playing a game of - what we thought was American football - and of course when they joined in, they immediately started playing rugby, haha. So we were playing a mix of "gridiron" as they call it, and rugby- pretty funny & pretty cool seeing as how no one really set rules, but we were out running around with them. They also liked to laugh at how Ro- one of the guys on our trip- said, "Water bottle." Hearing them impersonate American accents was pretty funny.

6. Next picture update: look for pictures from N. Keppel. It's also a national park, so at nights, we'd be the only ones on the island- just about 20 or so of us. Beautiful beaches, beautiful water, beautiful coral (we went snorkeling!), beautiful WEATHER and we were a select few who got to enjoy it. Pretty cool.

7. The other night- had a dream about driving. Only... I was driving on the wrong side of the road! (The right one here in Australia.) Let's just hope I don't do this back in the states. I'm sure I'll be a little mixed up!

Only one more week with the group! :( I can't believe it's gone so fast!

Last thought- they DON'T HAVE S'MORES HERE. Well, they don't have graham crackers. Trying to explain this to the 5th graders was a hoot.

Okay, last thought- really. Everyone in our group has taken a liking to, "Shut the front door." See? I AM making an impact. :) Muaahhahaha one step closer to world domination...

-Fanny

Fraser "More awesome than a lazer" Island

Woo hoo, Fraser Island!

Another Picture Update- just spent the last two nights on Fraser Island (we're in Hervey Bay right now) & it.was.beautiful.

The only place in the world where the rainforest grows completely on sand. ALSO a lot of freshwater lakes/streams on the island, pouring out into the ocean. Dingos, whales, Aboriginees (3), & planet Earth at its prettiest! :)

Check it out:
Right when we got to Fraser Island- took a 4x4 badass vehicle around the island & stopped to float down a freshwater creek. HI, I'M ON A BEAUTIFUL BEACH & THE WATER'S CLEAR AS GLASS!!

At a beautiful lookout point where we watched Humpback whales migrate up the coast. FREE THE LEASHED KIDS OR I'M JUMPING, I SWEAR!

CRIKEY! Dingo tracks! I think my mom has more to worry about than snakes & sharks- Dingos roam this island like pigeons. P.S. Morning sunrise? Yes, please!

Better picture of the sunrise right on the beach! (Yes, I woke up in time for it.)

HUGE sand dunes at Lake Wabby (well, everywhere) on Fraser Island. Makes you feel like you're in a desert! Imagine rolling down a sand dune into a lake... pretty cool, hey?

Beautiful crystal clear lakes on Fraser Island.

This sand at the lakes we visited is supposed to exfoliate/soften hair/shiney-up coins, jewelry and TEETH. (Yes, I tried it- been crunchin on sand for a few hours now.) My skin feels softer, my hair is silkier & my jewelry.looks.good. I'm livin' like Luda on this island.

Also:
1. I have a new theory I might try concerning the halitosis in the morning- brushing my teeth with Invisilign AGAIN before I go to bed, yeah? We'll see.

2. Playing frisbee on quite possibly one of the most beautiful islands in the world? Awesome. :)

3. We have "Target" in the states, right? They have "Target." Like a period makes a difference? Same place, but with a period. But I'm convinced that tiny punctuation mark has a hidden meaning. I'm on it- I'll let you know what I find.

Just gonna go eat some sangas in my ute with my new friends!
-Rory-cakes

Crikey!

At our next destination: Fraser Island!

We'll be out of touch for a few days, exploring and stuff, but everything keeps getting more and more beautiful as we head up north. Check back for some pictures from Fraser Island that I'm sure will be crazy-beautiful.

A few things:

1. I haven't gotten to really experience the toilet flushing in the opposite [wrong] direction because all the toilets here are "eco-friendly" and are just powerful flushing-machines that happen so fast that you can't tell. I'm serious, I've looked many times. Yesterday, I got a small hint of what might be toilet water flushing clockwise (USA=counter-clockwise) but I have yet to experience it in its entirety.

2. THERE WAS A LEASHED CHILD AT THE AUSTRALIA ZOO! Of course. I told you in my post preceding the Zoo trip, that if I didn't see a leashed child, I was going to tattoo an outline of Australia on my forehead. Towards the end of the day, I was happy, but starting to sweat a little and lo and behold... a poor tot with - yup, you guessed it - a koala "backpack." Terrible, I know.

3. CRIKEY! They don't have hula dancers here, they have STEVE IRWINs!

That's it for now, I made a video at the beautiful Tea Tree Beach this morning but I'll have to figure out how to post it :) [shared computers aren't always the most obedient].

G'day until after Fraser Island!

-Rora

Pikcha Opdate!

Well hi.
I have so many pictures I wish I could post them all but I'll wait for a Facebook album :)

Since surf-camp we went to Byron Bay which was a pretty sweet little beach/surf town about 7 hours north of Crescent Head (Surf-camp). I'm starting to think in Australian, but alas, my accent has not caught up yet.

Byron had a lot of sightseeing and hanging out for us to do- we also went ocean kaYAKing. And by kaYAKing I mean I almost ralphed-spewed-threw up-yacked.
I wasn't going to say anything but Alaina & Rachel (two of the girls in our group) said, "Dude I think I'm gonna yak" and WE ALL RAISED OUR HANDS IN AGREEMENT.

Luckily, I did not grace the ocean blue with my breakfast, so YOUR WELCOME beautiful dolphins that we passed on our way out to sea.

I've got a few pictures I want to share so check it out!

One of my faves --> From when we went to the Blue Mountains to see the Three Sisters!
["BLAHHH I'M IN AUSTRALIAAAAAA"]

Here we have our international friends that we met at surf-camp- the Icelandic girls, Adda & Julia & Mr. Germany- Justus! (They're the ones that I was teaching some frisbee to.)


Check out Damo, our surf-instructor. Definitely taught us some life lessons :) And also constructively criticized my accent-practicing. [Also the one to deem me "Pocket Rocket"]

Another surf-instructor, Davey, who just happened to be in Byron Bay as well. Helped me sing a song about Maddee. (Maddee=girl traveling in my group. Asked her 50 questions consecutively about her life & sang a song back to her. My goal= to weird her out. It worked.)

I caught some waves! I look cool in mi wetties, right? Hey, I tandem-surfed too- way fun I wish I had a picture of it!

Beautiful sights at Plomer Point near Crescent Head (Surf-camp!)

More beautiful sights- this time at Byron Bay. Walking up to the lighthouse where we watched the sun set. Called dibs on my getaway house- built into the side of the mountain, overlooking the beach. Thennn broke a sweat climbing the stairs- watched the sunset- & I think I got ants in my pants. Literally. We'll never know- I couldn't check right away so hopefully if ants made it inside my pants, they died.

Just wanted to creep on this family. Just kidding- thought it was a cool view :)

The view from the lighthouse! (Approximately where I [may have gotten] ants in my pants.)



A few more things:

-Bunked right next to our fearless leader Holly when we stayed at Byron Beach. Asked her if she wanted to watch me put my retainer in. No worries, she humored me.

-Yes, I AM pissed that I'm missing the Bachelorette, thank you for asking. But fear not, I AM keeping up. (Chels/SOMEONE: DVR it for me!!!!)

-Devastating news: "Doodle" here does not mean... well "to doodle." Our surf-instructors explained that a doodle is a male bodily organ- yup you guessed it. I was flabberghasted. These Aussies have it all wrong! CMON I have a DOODLE BOOK at home. What do you do when you're in class? You DOODLE. Nope, not here. Crazies.

-Also: I told you these Aussies don't leash their children (or not yet at least) and I'm believing they don't leash their children either- they don't even leash their dogs! But we're going to the zoo tomorrow, so we'll see if this holds true. If it is, and I don't see any leashed children, I'm getting a tattoo of Australia on my forehead.

G'DAY!
-Ror

I got mi head stuck on mi wetties!

Wetsuits.
Five things I'm learning about them, from personal experience. By: Aurora

5. They're called wetties.

4. They're hard to pull off my big noggin. (No one else seems to have this problem- thanks Grampa for passing down your huge hat size to me.)

3. You can still get terrible tanlines.

2. It's not a good idea to *ahem*.... pass gas in them.

1. It's still possible to nip-out with that thick-ass fabric.

Anyways.
I TANDEM SURFED TODAY! It was awesome, I actually got up, and rode a wave with one of the instructors!
Anddddd I learned how to catch a wave by myself (and did successfully so). Baby waves, but still- give me some credit.

Beautiful sights, and amazing people (not just from Australia, but all over!) and I can't wait to post pictures soon... free internet here means sharing the computer so check back for some BEAUTIFUL pictures! (And I'm not just talking about the waves I caught) :)

P.S. When I told them I got, "Mi head got stuck on mi wetties," the Aussies enjoyed my poor imitation of them (I end up sounding English)... I'm WORKING ON IT.

I'm a "Pocket Rocket"??

YAY SURF CAMP!

So much fun!
My goal was just to stand up on the board, and *ahem* yes, I did it a few times and rode a few baby waves- really exciting!

I kept wanting to go at it- Liz & I (at times) were the only ones out there trying to get some waves. (So badass, I know.)
Our funny Aussie surf coach (or one of them at least), Dame-o (Damien?), called me his little American pocket rocket. (??) Haha I think he was impressed at my ability to get smashed in the face by water and still want more! YEAHHHHHH

He then went on to explain to me that I'm like a box of Hot Tamales. (Just imagine it in an Aussie accent.)

Also: threw the frisbee around with a German (who looks EXACTLY like Taylor Hershberger), an Englishman, a couple Icelandic girls, and Aussies of course!! Ultimate INTERNATIONAL frisbee.

That's it for today- my skin turned black (not really, I just got REAAALL tan real fast) and I'm learning that the German (Justus) and the Englishman (Tom) really like Corona, which seems funny to me. Justus is also the first to tell you if you're funny. "You so fun-nyyyy."

Out for another day tomorrow!

P.S. Just hung my wet laundry out to dry (I'm talkin clothesline style) and it started pouring.

Surf-camp, brah!

Woo hoo! Free internet here at Surf-camp!

A few things!

1. The Aussies are totally not offended that I keep imitating them to practice my accent. Apparently I'm more English than I intend but I'm getting there. (Kind of)

2. These goofs walk on the wrong side of the stairs, too. We all know stairs are an awkward place to run into someone and do the "Which way are you going?" dance, but I've had to do it a few times because I can't learn to walk on the left.

3. I swear I have the worst morning breath down here. I'm not kidding, it's elevated to an extreme new halitosis classification, and I can't do anything about it except brush my teeth of course. I'll keep you updated on ways I find to avoid it.

4. Bean-o. Knew I was going to have beans for dinner the other night (and I don't usually have bad gas problems) but I thought I'd take a bean-o tablet before to be considerate. (We ARE staying in hostels aka group bunking.) I never ate weird things as a child but that shit tasted like straight up CHALK. The worst part is you have to CHEW them not swallow them. You're welcome roommates, for eating something probably not edible in order to combat gas.

5. Another language lesson: Fanny pack does not mean the same thing in Australia. Fanny = Vagina. I learned this the hard way when asking our group leader (Holly, who is Australian) if I should take my Fanny out now or later. After realizing my mistake, I promised her I'd keep my Fanny away for the rest of the trip.

THAT'S ALL! I'm getting used to sleeping out of my swag (sleeping bag) [[Got my swag onnnnn]] and not cringing when I'm walking on wet tile (good thing I brought my flip flops for shower shoes).

Talk to you soon! Hopefully I'll have some pictures from surfing tomorrow WOO HOO.

Pit Slits are the SHIT.

(Say that five times fast.)

Okay no really. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to read back to an earlier post. Let me just say. We did a small hike in the Blue Mountains yesterday... got a little steamy in under my jacket (which has been an awesome purchase otherwise)...did a little *zip zip* and I really felt the wind beneath my wings. Thank you, Eddie Bauer!

Today we went canyoning in the Blue Mountains and I thanked the Lord Jesus that I was in shape for this trip. There was a few times when I pretended I wasn't scared, but HI! I'M CLIMBING A ROCK AND THERE ARE PEOPLE/ROCKS/DARK ABYSSES RIGHT UNDER ME. Phew.

Also- thank you mom for letting Chelsea & me do those stupid rock climbing things at Dick's Sporting Goods because when we climbed today, I knew to use my legs and when we repelled, I knew I could jump right off the side and kick off the rocks! I felt like I was entering a show from right above the stage, the way I was lowering myself onto the ground. Beautiful.

Check it out! Yeah, I look like I'm meditating, but I totally asked a new friend, Liz, to take it of me, I'm not gonna lie.


ANDDDD this is from seeing the "Three Sisters" in the Blue Mountains yesterday:

NOM NOM NOM I'M HUNGRY!


Okay, Internet is way expensive here! (along with everything else!) Be back soon after surf camp where I hear our internet will be free YIPEE!

G'day!

P.S. Words of the day:
Eskee=cooler, Sunnies=Sunglasses

Hello Mr. Sydney Australia!

Highlights thus far:

-(Darklight) --as in yes... this was a bad moment: not one but TWO leashed children in the LAX airport. THEY'RE NOT PETS PEOPLE! Giving your child a furry backpack with a leash doesn't make it cute. And get real- we know you can't carry anything in those so-called "backpacks." Terrible...

-LAX waiting for 7 hours for my flight to Australia: Met a new friend named Kim... MALE friend that is! Told me everything I needed to know...

-VAustralia plane trip: watching 3 [good] movies, listening to [good] music (all provided by the touch-screen in front of me!) and playing an unlimited amount of tetris and bejeweled. The new friend next to me (also on the same trip/with the same group as me) tried to challenge me and say he was going to bejewel the shit out of me (take it for face value) and alas, I still beat him by a couple thousand points.

P.S. The plane looked like the inside of a club.

-Telling the Australian customs man that I didn't know what I was doing. He called me a "blog." Unfortunately, that's what you are, Mr. Blog. So, I come to this conclusion: were blogs invented by Australians in an attempt to make Americans look silly? ("Oh, look at that ole bloke, bloggin away"---"Yes, I'm a blogger") Think about it.

Blog = someone who doesn't know what they're doing.

Other words that I'm learning:

Cuddle = hug
Notes = bills
Brekke = breakfast (they abbreviate everything!)
Jumper = sweatshirt

I am on to continue conquering.

P.P.S. Thank you, Mr. Duffel Bag for not losing anything and for making your way back into my arms in Sydney!! If only you had wheels...

Dear Mr. Duffel Bag...

I know we just met today, the day before my trip. Even though we haven't known each other for that long, please... PLEASE. Don't lose my shit, don't talk to strangers, and don't find yourself lost.

Just remember what Eddie Murphy says in Bowfinger... "K.I.T.... Keep it together man." KIT KIT KIT KIT

I spent a lot of time buying stuff to fill you with, and I'm hoping you'll be kind enough to bring those things to Australia for me. That would be great, thanks.

If you help me carry my stuff to Aussie-town, I promise I'll use you again in the future.

Thanks for understanding. I'll see you in Sydney.

Aurora

P.S. You're about to get on a really long plane ride. Don't be alarmed at the unfamiliar accents you hear.