Oh HURROOO!!!

A big "Good Morning!" to all my Mom's friends who apparently read my blog every morning! Holy moly, I'm honoured! I hope you all are enjoying it so far.. especially the parts about my Foxy Mom.. lol!

So I'm just taking a break from studying. I feel good about my exam tomorrow. This is for my Campaign Strategies class where we're having a political campaign simulation. The next 2 Saturdays I'll be at the school for this class.

The 1st Saturday will be the campaign launch speech in the a.m. (done by me - Koral Luck haha) and the Advertising Pitch in the p.m. (done by the rest of my team). The 2nd Saturday will be the community event in the a.m. (every party will have a "booth" outside G23) and the candidates debate in the p.m.

Those days are worth 40% of my mark in total.

The exam tomorrow is worth another 40%, but is it bad that I'm not really worried about it? I mean, I've been to every class, listened in lectures, read the notes, etc. Of course I'm studying, but it's not as if I don't know the material.. You know what I mean? Blah.. lol

After the exam tomorrow, which should be done by 5 p.m., there's a Canadian Boat Cruise, It's $20 and you get 3 drinks, pizza, 3 hours partying on a boat and lots of fun. It's just that it leaves the dock at 6:45 p.m. .. I'd be kind of rushed.. I'm still debating.. ARGH!!!



On top of that, I have to buy a new camera. I went to Southport on Wednesday to the repair shop that everyone recommends, the lady said it would be $45 to take it apart and inspect it and then $120 to actually do the repairs. Um, no thanks. I love my camera, but let's be serious. I need a tech friend that can fix it for me.. So, if anyone knows any good camera deals (I need to buy another Sony camera) let a sister know!!!

On a happy note, MY BROTHER IS COMING TO VISIT. Yes, I'm excited. Yes, I will probably want to kill him when he's here.. but that's not the point! I'm excited to have family coming down. It's going to be so good. I've got quite a few things planned for us.. I'm sure everyone here will love him. GAH! So excited.. hurry up July!

I've ran 3 days in a row now, how about that? I'll be going again today.. It feels good to run along the beach. Where else can you do that? It makes me a happy, yet sweaty, girl!

I never heard back from that lady that interviewed me last Friday, even after I called her for a follow-up. Poop. OMG.. I seriously smell cookies.. JESS.. she is NOT helping my "eat healthy/run everyday" plan.. but then again, those cupcakes yesterday didn't help the cause either.. hahahahaha!

Okay, back to studying - Mom & Robert: Better study my list of words on the right so when you come down you'll be up-to-date on how to talk like an Aussie. xox

I have a huge exam on Friday..

BUT, I choose not to study.. I choose to cupcake.

Alysha & I went to Surfers Beachfront Market tonight. It runs every Wednesday & Friday from 5:30 - 10:00 p.m. It's such a great market. Basically arts & crafts and handmade souvenirs. Such beautiful stuff. They also have like handmade soaps, candles, foods, etc. I'm in love.

Now, there is a cupcake stand. Oh boy. These cupcakes. There are 8 different kinds from Strawberry Shortcake, Ferrero Rochier, Rocky Road, etc.

I bought a cupcake for Jess & I (I know, I'm an awesome roomie.. lol) and now we're happy girls. We ate these creations:


Yep, Cookie Monster. I'll leave it at that!


xox

Holiday Monday

*had dippin' eggs for brekky
*went to the beach with Nat & Jess
*laughed out loud
*had an indoor bbq
*watched Pirates of the Caribbean
*napped on my couch
*went for a run
*made fruit smoothies

Perfect day. I'm sad the weekend is over. I <3 you all. xox

Anzac Day

Today is Anzac Day. It's Australia's version (that sounds bad, I don't mean it to) of Canada's Rememberance Day. Everything is closed and tomorrow (Monday) is a holiday. I'm a proud Canadian and I always acknowledge our troops on Rememberance Day - Now that I'm an honourary Australian, I'll do the same today.

So, here I am! My week from Hell is over. I only have an exam this Friday and then my "mid-terms" are done. I still can't believe my first semester is almost over. I really hope I do well. I haven't received any assignments back with my marks.. I'm getting antsy.

My interview went really well! The lady seemed really impressed about my Starbucks background (I mean, why wouldn't she be?) and said she'd call within the next few days. I really hope I get this job!!!!

I have decided to run every morning. All my friends back home are becoming ano and I want to be too! This is actually the biggest I've been in my life.. which isn't bad, but, when clothes I wore back home are tight here, we have a problem. I'm going to run every morning and stop drinking so much. Seriously. I hope I can keep with it!

Last night, Jess & I had a get together at our place. About 30 people showed and we all just partied until 3 a.m. It was good times. I love the people here. Here's a photobooth picture I took hahaha Plus some pictures some other people took!


Chris, Rory, Myself, Jess & Alysha. We're ridiculous.

Again!!!

Francis & Myself. "We give peace siiiiigns!"

LADIES! Trish, Alysha, Me, Francis, Jess, Robyn, Kara, Hira

Next weekend is Labour Day. We get another long weekend! So awesome. I'm hoping to honestly just lay on the beach all day. I feel like should be doing more, but frankly, I don't have the funds to do much until I get a job. Ugh. A lot of my American friends from school are only here for one semester and they're doing so much. Like, every weekend they go on an adventure somewhere in Australia. I'm jealous, but then I think I have way more time than them.. then I lay on the beach and forget about it. Hahaha.

Mother's Day is coming up. I miss my Mom. She's so cool. The boys here think she's "foxy". Hahahaha. She is!!! I wish I was home so I could take her out for breakfast on Mother's Day.

Okay, so I should be better with keeping up with my blog after last week. It was just so intense! I'll do better from now on!

I love you all. xox

INTERVIEW

Sweet lovin' the time has come!

After submitting over 287468376 resumes throughout the Gold Coast, I have an interview at Jamaica Blue Cafe in Pacific Fair!!! WEEE! It's on Friday at 9 a.m. .. I'm SO stoked. Pac Fair is like a 5 minute bus ride and is in the same mall as LUSH.

I'M SO HAPPY! Even for an interview!!! To celebrate, I'm going out for coffee with Alysha when she gets home from work. Until then, I'm going on a walk up to Main Beach. xox

University Blows.

I'm kidding. It's just a lot of work.

I decided to take a break from trying to update you all on my Sydney roadtrip/upload photos/etc., to actually tell you what I've been up to.

Ever since we got back from Sydney it's been intense. Both Jess & I have had quizzes/assignments/presentations, etc. Speaking of which, tomorrow morning I have ANOTHER presentation.. ugh.. this one is for Producing Culture. My tutor is a quack. I seriously think he's nuts. He never breathes when he talks.. that man could talk for 5 hours straight about postmodernism without taking a seconds break. Anyway, my presentation for that class is tomorrow.

The one upside of having so much due this week is that I can concentrate on final assignments after this. I accident chose to present in 2 of my classes this week. Whatever, it's all good. I'm a champion.

OMG Jess just brought me cut up pineapple in bed. I think I might propose to this girl.

What else is new? Oh right, MY CAMERA IS BROKEN. I don't even know what happened. It turns on, so I'm able to upload/view pictures on my camera.. but I can't TAKE any pictures. Ugh. I'm going to this camera repair shop in Southport this week to see if they can do anything. UGH x 398739

My girlfriend Natalia's birthday was this past week. On Friday she rented out a party room in the fancy-schmancy Chevron Renessaince. It was so fun. Everyone got dressed up and had a blast. A few fights and a bit of drama also happened.. but, it's Surfers Paradise.. lol

Okay, back to my presentation, I'll leave you with a few pictures from Friday and I'll get to posting the remainder of the Sydney ones a.s.a.p. xox







P.S. Hi Bia. I'm glad this makes your life. <3

Road Trip: Day Five - Friday

I'm back. I'm sorry!!!

Jess & I woke up for our 10 a.m. check out. We were feeling kind of rough.. the night before was a LOT of fun. We checked out and headed out for Bondi Beach - a beach just North of Sydney. We were really excited because we always watch the show "Bondi Rescue" here and it shows all the stunningly gorgeous lifeguards saving people everyday.

Not going to lie, we contemplated getting stuck in the water so we could be rescued. We didn't. But we seriously thought about it.

So we drove out of Sydney into Bondi. We found a parking spot a couple blocks away from the beach. It's so big!!! We didn't pay for parking because we're bad.. no ticket at the end of the day though! Bad girls.

Bondi is beautiful. We had a perfect sunny day too. We didn't have our "free breakfast" at the hostel so we decided to go to a cafe along the beach. It was called Lush and we had AMAZING chicken burgers and sundaes. We ordered banana and mango smoothies, and while we were enjoying them in the sun, the waitress brought us out 2 more because she didn't know they had already been made! LOL We were so full it was ridiculous!!!

After we ate we decided to lie on the beach.. hahahaha I'm telling Jess I'm writing about our lunch and she just said "I will NEVER be that full again in my life!!!" hahahaha! Sorry, I had to share that.

We actually passed out on the beach. Not dozed out.. we passed out.. and got sunburned. We're amazing.

We woke up and saw that it was getting later (it was around 3ish by now) and we decided to start driving to Hunter Valley. It's about a 2 hour drive to Hunter Valley and such a beautiful drive. Jess drove there and I would drive home after H.V.

We stunk. We stunk like beach, fruit smoothies, sweat, alcohol, and amazing-ness. We laughed a lot this day.

We got to our favourite winery, Lindemans, right before 5 p.m. .. and what time does the place close? 5 p.m. Wonderful. We drove around the valley looking for wineries that were open, but no such luck. We went to an info station and picked up a Hunter Valley guide and saw that a winery was still open to purchase wine and have dinner. We went there and bought some white wine that said Hunter Valley on it so we would always remember. We're hilarious.

The drive home was long. Our arrival time back home was 3:30 a.m. and we had to have the car back at the rental place by 8 a.m. .. I was SO tired.

It was such an amazing trip though. Ups & downs, laughs & tears, I had a blast. I love Sydney!

Road Trip: Day Four - Thursday

Did I mention we got free breakfast at our hostel everyday? Yeah. It wasn't anything glamourous, but it held us over! You had to wash your own dishes, and if you didn't you lost your $20 key deposit!!!

So we woke up early today to head off to the Blue Mountains. Larry & Alysha were going to fly back to the Gold Coast that night at around 7. So they checked out and Jess & I paid for one more night in the hostel. We went and got our car and I drove 1.5 hours West to the Blue Mountains.

It is so unbelievably beautiful there. I can't even put it in words. I wish you could all have seen how lush & green the mountains are. We arrived in Katoombah and found a perfect parking spot. We walked to a storefront that advertised bus tours like they did in Sydney. We got another hop-on hop-off bus tour.







The tour took us to a place called Scenic World. Within this "world" there were 3 rides we did:
1. RAILWAY - This took you down a mountain at a 52 degree angle. It was a short ride, but so fun. Gorgeous views too.
From the railway, we did a rainforest walk through an old miner's community. It reminded me of a forest in Vancouver I walked through with super-tall trees and tons of plants & wildlife.
2. CABLEWAY - This took us back up to the top of the mountain again where we could go back into Scenic World. I bought some postcards & stamps in the shop there.
3. SKYWAY - This was the best for last. It took you over the valley in front of the stunning Katoombah Falls. This still gives me goosebumps thinking about the view. There was a glass floor on it that you could look down as well. Ugh, so amazing.

From the Skyway we walked to the base of Katoombah Falls. Is this seriously my life? I'm jealous of my life just typing this!!! Anyway, the waterfall was stunning.. I don't think I can use any more descriptive words. It was just a perfect sunny day to see the most gorgeous views.







From the waterfall, we walked to Echo Point. This is the most famous point as it's the best view of the 3 Sisters. The 3 Sisters are 3 mountains that stand within the valley. They are so cool. Just beautiful. UGH, I wish you could have all seen these mountains.. really, it does no justice for me to tell you or even post pictures!!!












We went for lunch near the 3 Sisters at the (get ready for it..) The Three Sisters Cafe. It was such good food. I wrote a postcard to my Nanny from here. Eating lunch, writing postcards and looking out into the valley.

We then took the trek to the Great Stairway. 900 steps. We went all the way down and then all the way up. Beautiful, but hard. But hey, I climbed Mount Concepcion!!! I can do ANYTHING!!! ;)

We then had to drive back in order to get Alysha & Larry back to the airport. Jess drove. I navigated.. alongside our stupid GPS.

It started raining. After we dropped of those 2 I spoke to Mother Nature and told her to stop raining for our last night out. I am the Weather Whisperer.. the rain stopped.

We arrived back at our hostel and got ready to go out. Tonight was free entry + free drinks into 2 bars: World Bar and Candys. Before we went out we went to Coles (our grocery store) and bought some fruit and dinner. So, during our dinner in the "common room" of our hostel, we met some Norwegian girls and had some drinks.

Afterwards we went to World Bar. I LOVE this bar. So cool. We bought a teapot. Yes, a teapot. Within this teapot you receive massive amounts of alcohol and 2 shot glasses. You then pour your own shots and feel dainty. It was awesome.

We went next door and met a German backpacker named Christian (figures.. lol) and danced with him at Candys. Such a great night.

We then bought a happy meal and called our friends back home. We're not cool. Okay seriously, Greys Anatomy just started.. Day Five will have to wait! xox

Road Trip: Day Three - Wednesday

Oh boy.

We all woke up hurting. We had originally planned to go to the Blue Mountains today. Unfortunately, it was raining and we all felt like garbage. We all made an executive decision to stay in Sydney and do some indoor tourist stuff.

We got ready and caught our hop-on hop-off bus again and took it to the Sydney Aquarium located on the harbour. Almost all tourist attractions are located near this area.

Students get great deals at most attractions. Like almost $10 off most things. It's great. Being a backpacker/student is epic when you travel here!

We went into the Aquarium which is basically aquatic life from Australia and places nearby. There were 3 underwater tunnels you could go through. We saw sharks, sting rays, dugongs (manatee/mermaid things lol) and tons of exotic fish. We also saw penguins, seahorses, crocs, reptiles, etc. It was a nice way to spend a rainy morning!












We then went for lunch at Subway because it had stopped raining. We sat on the docks and enjoyed the views. The seagulls here are so funny. They actually aren't considered dirty like they are back home. There was this one who kept squaking.. I know it sounds stupid but it was so hilarious. Alysha nearly killed it. hahahaha! Good times!



After this we decided to take a sunset boat cruise around the harbour. I can't tell you how great this was. For $28 you got an hour tour and a glass of wine/beer/whatever. Such amazing views. We just relaxed and enjoyed the view. It was really nice.







Afterwards, we bought a pizza and went right to bed. We were absolutely spent and had a big day ahead of us!!! xox

Road Trip: Day Two - Tuesday

Hey Everyone,

I'm really sorry for being so slow on posting more about our road trip. This week and next is going to be intense with school. I just finished an assignment so I thought I would take some time to post more.

So we woke up early on Tuesday to get a start on our day. The night before we parked our car on the street a couple blocks away from our hostel which was very sketchy. We moved our car to the secure parking lot near our hostel. We were lucky nothing happened/no ticket was given when we left it on the street.

Our hostel gives $10 off secure parking each day you park it there. It was really cheap at the end of the trip.

Our hostel "welcome package" included a 1-hour internet card, a pre-paid international calling card, a phone sim card, a condom and a drink voucher. Not bad!!! hahahaha! Anyway, it was $27 a night and each night had a different event (like, free entry + 2 free drinks at local bar, etc) it was pretty cool.




So we decided to do the "hop-on hop-off" tourist bus that had about 30 stops all within the city. It cost $30 for 24 hours. It was so worth it. The bus came with an automated voice tour which was cool. We decided to not do the whole bus tour until later because we wanted to see the Sydney Opera house and Harbour Bridge so badly!


Our bus!

It was amazing. Completely surreal. The opera house is stunning up close. It's made of millions of little ceramic tiles. I took a picture of them!



We got some great photos of the bridge and opera house. I still can't believe we saw them. So crazy!!!







After we took 34875 photos, we took a walk through Sydney's Botanic Gardens. I'm really glad we did that. There were plants/flowers/trees from all over the world. It was really neat. Fruit trees, flowers, coffee plants, etc. There were also THOUSANDS of fruit bats in the trees. So funny!







After our garden walk we hopped back on our bus and did the whole tour. It took about 1.5 hours to do the whole thing. It was so cool. I love Sydney. So much culture.. and such a beautiful harbour front!

We decided to get off at Harbourtown Shopping Centre to look around. Very posh restaurants are located around the harbour along with tons of yachts and tour boats. I could just sit and look out there for a long time! So beautiful.






We then walked over to George Street, the main shopping street. We did a bit if tourist-y shopping and found a lululemon! It reminded me a lot of Queen Street in Toronto. Us girls bought the same Sydney keychain. I don't know why we're so uncool.. lol I like the keychain we bought.

After we did some shopping, we hopped back on the bus to drop us off back at our hostel. We bought some wine and got ready to go out. That night the hostel had a party bus going to The Gaff (a bar/dance club) with 2 free drinks and a FREE MEAL!!! Yes, I said it! So we got ready and waited on the rooftop until the bus was there. We also took some great photos of the walls in our hostel.







I.had.so.much.fun.

We had a choice of meals, but I got bangers & mash. This, in English, means Sausage & Mashed Potatoes. HAHAHA! Then we danced the night away. There are some incriminating photos of everyone from that night. We sure know how to have fun!!! xox