Weeks Twenty-two and Twenty-three: Too many Goodbyes.

Aloha, oh blog readers of the world. It's another fortnightly blog entry this time, as I have spent so many days at work that I have very little of note to report...

In between long days on Greenpeace Patrol, I've spent several days chilling on the beach, on the odd day that the weather has been nice - Sort it out, Australia! There have been far too many cold and cloudy days for my liking, it's like an English summer!

Several Churchies have departed Newy for distant shores, in Australia and elsewhere. We've had to say goodbye to Steph, Dom, Toni, Lars and several others, which has been incredibly sad. I cannot believe how fast the time has passed - a whole semester gone! A whole group of friends departing for home, already.

Last weekend, we threw a fake 'Aussie Christmas' for Anna, as she'll be home for the real thing. We made a full Christmas roast dinner, with apple-berry crumble for pudding. There were decorations and Santa hats aplenty, and $40-worth of confectionery stuffed into a stocking for the inevitable post-food baby sugar binge. It was SO fun and yummy! Afterwards we went around Newcastle on a 'zitch-tour'...

This week has been back to the Greenpeace-y grind, with a few breaks for Pedi-Cab tours of the harbour courtesy of Tai and his remarkable calf muscles; trips to a deserted Francis Beach in Swansea (complete with a very Blue Crush-esque sign stating 'Locals Only'... Sorry bogans of Swansea); and BBQs in King Edwards Park.

Work has been fairly full-on, but it has otherwise been a pretty chilled couple of weeks here in Newy. I am currently contemplating the large pile of clothes on my bed, which require sorting and packing before I leave tonight for Sydney, where I will finally meet up with Hugo for our East Coast backpacking adventure :) I'm so excited!

I am now officially half way through my year abroad, as I have just now changed my flight home to the 19th June 2012 - six months from tomorrow. This actually scares me a little.. I have had the most incredible, exhilarating six months of my life down under. I have met so, so many amazing people, from all corners of the globe. Moving to the opposite side of the world and jumping head first into this, together, has forged some amazing friendships. I have spent six wonderful months laughing, lying on the sand, sleeping under the stars and making incredible memories with incredible people. Seeing so many close friends leave is heartbreaking, and the idea that I myself will be doing the same in just six months is equally so. I miss home and my friends and family... but I have never had as much fun as I have these past six months here in Newcastle.

'We will never again be together so young'

And I am forced to say goodbye to some amazing people... This has been an amazing six months with you all, and there is no chance I'm letting you all escape me that easily. Goodbye, not farewell. You get a six-month head start to find a good hiding place: I'M COMING TO GET YOU!

Weeks Twenty and Twenty-one: Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road.

Once again, I'm doubling up my blog entries. The past fortnight has been very busy - I've worked (a lot), moved off campus and into the Church Street house, gone to Melbourne with the girls, and worked some more.

Last week was fairly dull - I worked Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday. I spent Friday in a mad rush to pack up my room and move out, in the space of about three hours. Fun.

Saturday was finally time to head to Melbourne, after what seems like months and months of waiting. I had heard so much about the city and was so excited to finally see it! When Kirsty and I got there, at about 5pm, it was pouring with rain and unsettlingly reminiscent of the UK. We got to the hostel and sorted out yet another dorm mess-up. I am starting to believe that we are literally jinxed when it comes to hostels - not once has a booking gone smoothly! Liz and Roseanna had a later flight and met us at the hostel.

Sunday dawned chilly and grey, but dry, at least. We had a (free!) breakfast before heading down Elizabeth street for an explore of the Queen Victoria markets and the city. The markets were enormous and sprawling. We found a little doughnut van jam-packed (like the doughnuts, haaaa) with about 15 people, serving up gorgeous fresh jam doughnuts, yum. The food market was surprisingly cheap and sold so much yummy looking food. Trust me to ignore the clothes and go straight to the food section...

Christmas at the Queen Victoria market.

After the markets, we headed to the city and Federation Square. It's architecturally incredible and had a great little boutique market inside, but I didn't really get it... There didn't seem to be much purpose to any of the buildings. Maybe it's better when there is an event on...

Federation Square

The sun came out in the afternoon, so we headed to St Kilda. We browsed the markets and lazed in the sunshine outside Luna Park, before heading for dinner at a vegan restaurant where you pay by donation! Not our usual scene but it was fun and the food was good. In the evening we headed back to the hostel before having a drink in town.

Luna Park, St Kilda

One of the things I most wanted to see whilst in Victoria was the Great Ocean Road. Everyone I know whom has seen it says that it is stunning. The tours out of Melbourne run at around $100, which is a fair chunk of money for a day trip. I'm not a fan of tours anyways, I don't like how regimented they are. I like to be freeee. With the girls in agreement on the issue, we decided to look into renting a car for the day and driving along part of the road. It's a long way, and the tour agent tried her best to discourage us, but we went for it anyway and booked the car for Tuesday. We spent the rest of the day strolling around St Kilda and eating our own weights in sandwiches and cakes, mmmm :)

Standard St Kilda rooftop!

In the evening we headed to Brunswick Street and found this really cool little bar with an amazing band playing and lots of cheap wine. Kirsty and Roseanna headed back early and Liz and I stayed out and bought another bottle of wine...

It was an early start in the morning, and I felt R.O.U.G.H. After a shower and some breakfast I felt fine,  but the same could not be said for Liz! We picked up the car and headed out of Melbourne, with surprising ease considering the city's notoriously complicated street layouts. It took about 3 hours to reach the Great Ocean Road, stopping at Bells Beach on the way. The road itself was unbelievable - I have never seen sea that blue before! We had frequent stops to take in the view and paddle in the (freeeezing cold) Southern Ocean. It's so strange to think that the next landmass must be Antarctica!

Road trip!

Bells Beach, the home of surfing in Australia.

Start of the Great Ocean Road!

Our car :)

Scenic stop #98768432

SO beautiful!

We made it to the Twelve Apostles by 1pm, which was pretty much bang on target! The Apostles themselves were stunning, if a little over-touristed. We stopped for a picnic feast and lots of photos before heading back to Melbourne, and getting back in record time :)

The Twelve Apostles!

:)

Our epic 500km road trip.

Liz had an early flight to Sydney on Wednesday morning, to connect with her flight to Thailand. Roseanna caught a lunchtime train to Albury on the NSW/VIC border for a few days. Kirsty and I spent the morning perusing the shops and delighting in the discovery of a pick'n'mix shop selling ACTUAL galaxy chocolate! At $2.40 for a "fun size" (I fail to see what is fun about a bag containing approximately 3 chocolates) a bag of Minstrels, though, it was not to be. :(

We flew back to Newcastle and met up with our new roomies! A night out at the Brewery was definitely in order, and so my first night with my own room in Church Street culminated in another group sleepover!

I was working again on Thursday and Friday, siiiigh. The money is urgently needed though!

Saturday was possibly the most active day I've had in ages! I got up for a morning run along my new happy place - Nobby's breakwater.After a shower I headed for a walk with Kirst, Josh, Anna and Steph along the 4 miles of Bathers Way to Glenrock Lagoon, where we chilled in the sun. The novelty of sunbathing in December has still not worn off! We walked back mid-afternoon to get wedges at The Grand - which are, fyi, the best wedges in the Southern Hemisphere. Or maybe even the world. They are seriously that good. Yes, I'm going on about food again. No, I don't care.

We had a BBQ in the evening (there she goes again!) by the foreshore, before having a few drinks back at the house for Steph's last night in Newie.

My alarm went off at 5.30am today, when I stumbled in a daze to Bogey Hole to watch the sunrise with everyone. We headed back to 62 for a pancake breakfast before a day on the (insanely windy) beach. This evening, Anna has kicked our arses leading a kickboxing class in King Edwards Park - it was so good but I will definitely feel it in the morning!

The next two weeks will probably be fairly uneventful, with lots of work and hopefully even more beach time! Two weeks tomorrow, Hugo gets into Sydney and we start our travels up the East Coast. I'm so excited to get travelling again!

Week nineteen: Oh HEYYY summer!

Aaaah freedom! Last week signalled the end of textbooks, library days and essay stresses; this week signalled the start of three whole months of trash literature, beach days and stresses no greater than the choice between a maxibon and a lemon icy pole.

The Aussie weather decided, therefore, to kick off the summer with less of a bang, and more of a damp whimper. The first half of the week was decidedly morose, weather-wise, with a dazzling array of shades of grey. And a fair bit of rain. Oh, the joys!

Actually, I tell a lie. Monday was a beautiful day for the beach, but I'm pretty sure I covered that in last week's late blog post, so I'll skip to Tuesday.

Tuesday was my first proper day at work, and it started off suitably chaotically, with last-minute relocations and cancellations. I was working in Toronto, which - as Kirsty usefully pointed out - is in France. Erm, not. This was Toronto, NSW - not the rather better-known Toronto, Ontario, nor the (presumably fictional) Toronto, France... It was a gorgeous day, but the average age of a Torontan (Tonrontee?) hovered around the seventy-five mark - meaning that four hours passed without a single sign-up. Luckily, the magical power of milkybar cookies and cream gave Anna and I a boost, and we both managed to find some last minute sign-ups before the day ended. Unfortunately, this silver lining came with a cloud in the form of the demise of my favourite Vietnamese Ray Bans. Heartbreak. Kirsty catered for my inevitable comfort eating (I really, really liked those sunglasses!) with a harbourside BBQ, before we succumbed to our obese destinies and headed to Coco Monde for hazelnut hot chocolates, mmm!

Wednesday was a day off, and the weather was suitably crappy. Roseanna came round and we spent most of the day watching Frozen Planet and Wonders of the Solar System, discussing the acceptability of crushes on keyboard-playing lancastrian astrophysicists, and eating GO-LO frosting. Oh maaaaan we're classy. In the evening we continued the week nineteen theme of Eating Everything That Stands Still Long Enough with a Thanksgiving Dinner at 62 Church St. The food was incredible and plentiful - honey-roast carrots, numerous salads, nutmeg mash, home-made bread, stuffing, apple sauce, sweet potato souffle... Yum. The puddings were perhaps even better - pumpkin pie, spiced apple oatmeal cake, berries and yoghurt, mars bar rice crispy cakes... It has been brought to my attention that most of my posts (and photos) revolve around food. To this boy (whom shall remain nameless), I have one thing to say: SHUSH YOU (you would do the exact same thing if your friends suddenly revealed their Jamie Oliver-esque culinary talents!)

Honey-roast carrots, which were AMAZING.

Home-made bread.

Spiced Apple-Oatmeal cake.

The inevitable bacon strips & bacon strips & bacon strips...

Thursday was another ridiculously disorganised work day, which involved last minute relocations to Lake Haven, a good 90 minutes away. Eurgh. It was quite fun though, and we were posted outside a pet shop with the cutest puppies EVER EVER EVER. I got back quite late and had a quick shower and change at Liz's before going out for dinner with the girls and Lawrence on his last night in Newy. We went to Sticky Rice Thai and the food was so good! Afterwards, it was party tiiiiime at Church Street, in typically ridiculous fashion. Whilst I had been at work, the girls had nipped to Dan Murphys and procured a bag of goon and a bottle of blue curacao and vodka... It made for a repulsively coloured - but not quite so horrifically tasting - drink, and the night got pretty messy. It culminated in a 2am swim in the ocean, which was so warm and so fun! Some of the boys - who shall, to their relief I'm sure, remain nameless - decided to go skinny dipping haha! We eventually all crashed out in Josh's room, and somehow he got the short straw and ended up on the floor, whilst the five other inhabitants managed to procure sleeping space. Sorry Josh!

On the way to dinner :)

Drunken Church St lovin'

Ohhhh dear!

HIDEOUS coloured drink.

Friday morning carried with it a twist of fate. I had a 9am meeting for work, followed by a day of sign-ups. The office is only a 5 minute walk from Church St so I rolled out of bed at 8.45am and headed down. In a strange coincidence, my boss' housemate surfs with some of the boys, meaning that my boss had turned up at the party. The morning after, he was clearly suffering worse than I, and allowed us most of the day off with full pay! Win. I spent the rest of the day in my PJs back at Church St watching Aladdin :)

In the evening, we all carpooled to Joey's parents' house out in the country. It was such a pretty area, and he had an Alpaca farm! We collected up some firewood and spent the evening making smores and sitting around the bonfire. It was a nice, chilled evening :)

So pretty!

Look! I'm being useful! (Not pictured: me breaking the axe...)

:)

Sunset over the Alpaca farm!

Bonfire skillz.

Saturday morning was weirdly foggy, so I went for a run and then spent until lunchtime lazing around. When it cleared, it was gorgeous, and I headed to the beach with Kirst for an afternoon of sunbathing. In the evening, we walked slowly along to Glenrock again, via Bar Beach and Merewether, for a night of sleeping under the stars.

We watched the sun rise at 5.45am, had another quick doze, then went our separate ways. The mountaineers went, well - mountaineering, whilst Kirst and I headed off for a beautiful breakfast of muesli, yoghurt and berry compote; overlooking the early morniung mist over Merewether Beach. Afterwards, we slowly walked back to Newy, via King Edwards Park, and spent the morning lazing on the beach and trying to avoid the mini swarm of bugs which were continuously homing in on us. Apparently Poms taste particularly yummy. When the heat got too much, we went to the Ocean Baths for a swim and an ice lolly, before heading home for a chilled out evening.

Merewether Ocean Baths by night.

BEAUTIFUL sunrise!

Mmmm best breakfast!

Misty Mereweather.

Newy in the fog.

Lone morning trumpeter on the beach!

This week has been so chilled and relaxing, the perfect way to kick off the summer! Next week will be a little more full-on, with more shifts at work, moving house and saying goodbye to some really close friends; but it will also be amazing, as we're going to Melbourne! Ahhh I love my life right now!

Week eighteen: BLEUUUURGHHHH.

When I signed up for a year abroad, I knew this week would come. Right from the beginning, it has been sitting there on the horizon, close enough for me to see but far enough to ignore. As it has approached, I've rapidly adjusted the blinkers, keeping it out of my line of sight. Last week I was forced to acknowledge it. This week I've had to live it.

EXAM WEEK.

'Study abroad'... The clue's in the name, right? Yet somehow I have managed to pass this semester having the most incredible time of my life, with - despite my many library rants - minimal work and maximum beach time. This week I was forced to make up for that. The white sands and turquoise waters of the south pacific were replaced with the fluorescent lights and overenthusiastic air-con of the library.

Bleurgh.

Monday was, perhaps rather unhelpfully, spent away from the library. I recently got a job as a Greenpeace frontliner: I harass people on the street to give us money to save the whales. There was a lot of paperwork to get through, but it went okay and got me well on my way to earning some much-needed dollar. Afterwards, I headed back to campus and spent the evening snuggled up with my notes and sheltering from the Day After Tomorrow-esque storm outside.

Lightning lit up the whole sky!

Tuesday was E-day. I went for a quick run before gathering up my notes and heading to my first exam of the day: Aboriginal Studies. It went okay, it definitely won't get me a HD but hopefully I passed :)

For everyone at home,the grading system here is weird. 50% is a pass - rather than 40% - but the marking is easier. 50-59% is a pass (P), 60-69% is a credit (C), 70-79% is a distinction (D), and 80% upwards is a high distinction (HD). I got really confused on my first few weeks when people seemed happy to get Ds...

In the afternoon, I hit the books again in preparation for my second exam: Organisms to Ecosystems. It's a bizarre module: an introduction to the whole of biology. From the name and course outline, I presumed the main focus was on ecology, hence why I took it. I was wrong. The course covers - in surprising detail - plant biology, plant chemistry, cell biology, physiology, animal biology, ecology, evolution, human sex biology.... EVERYTHING. So, so much to learn. The exam itself could have been worse, I struggled with some questions but hopefully it went okay. Fingers crossed!

Once E-day was over, I still had a take-home exam to complete for The Sustainable Society. I put that off til Thursday, as I had more training at work on Wednesday, followed by a nice swim in the Ocean Baths with Liz. I spent Thursday and Friday working on my paper, which is unbelievably dull. 

On Friday night we decided ENOUGH WAS ENOUGH. Despite our looming deadlines and mini-breakdowns, it was time to have some fun! We got dressed up, I learnt how truly atrocious I was at '63', and we all got embarrassingly drunk. We went to Finnegans and I decided it would be hilarious to pull the gremlin face a la Lou in every photo... Yeah. Regret that now. It was SUCH a fun night though, despite the embarrassing glut of photos still to come...

Saturday meant library time again, and I was determined to finish my exam. I sped through the questions and submitted it, meaning that I was DONE. Finished. Finito. Fin. No more. Nada. YAAAAY!

The end of exams meant the end of my first semester in Australia! I cannot believe how quickly the time has passed! I am four months in, and I now have three long months of summer stretching ahead of me. I'm so happy!

Saturday night was Lawrence's early 21st birthday party. Despite our tired and hungover states, we went along and had a good night, watching his steady descent into inebriation, accompanied by numerous "I love you guys sooo much"-style speeches! Hahaha.

Sunday was BEACH TIME! I headed along with Kirsty, who was working at the National Beach Volleyball Championships on Nobbys Beach. We watched a couple of matches with Anna and Josh, and got a little burnt...  

New South Wales vs Queensland

Anna had a go!

In the evening, we got showered and headed to the Brewery for the Sunday Sessions. It was so fun! We sat on the jetty, had a couple of glasses of vino and had a little boogie. Despite the relatively little amount of alcohol consumed, vino + dehydration - dinner = drunky. We ended up on a food search at 8pm (I know, that's what you get for starting early!), and found a pie van (classyyyyyy!) which served the most INCREDIBLE pies! Veggie pie topped with mash, mushy peas and gravy, and ACTUAL HP SAUCE!! It was so good!

Sunday sessions :)

Champers by the harbour :)

Pielove.

 Afterwards we headed to Anna's for a sleepover on her balcony. We watched Love Actually, ate lots of GO-LO crap and had a laugh, before having a surprisingly good nights sleep, considering the numerous bats and cockatoos squawking at us.

Balcony slumber party!

This morning I had to sort out some paperwork at Greenpeace, before heading to Newcastle Beach with Kirsty to relaaaaax in the 35 degree heat. It was such a beautiful day, and so hot! The waves weren't huge, so we climbed the rocks and jumped off into the sea. which seems to be getting clearer and more turquoise by the hour. At one point whilst standing atop a rock, surrounded on three sides by crystal-clear ocean, I said aloud 'I want to live here!' before realising I do! 

:)

I live in Australia, in a gorgeous city with three incredible white-sand beaches right in the city centre. I wake up to the sound of cockatoos and parrots. The skies are bright blue, the breeze is warm and the sea is gorgeous. I have finished exams and don't start Uni again for three months. I'm living the dream! I have so much to look forwards to in the next few months! A week and a half until Melbourne, then two and a half weeks back in Newy before Hugo comes over for a month. Afterwards, I'm going to New Zealand with the girls, and in between are countless day of lazing on the beach, swimming in the sea and soaking up the sun. I literally cannot put into words how lucky I am to be living this life right now. 

mmmm fake-mini milk!

Beachlove.

I cut my leg on the rocks :(

PS. I just lost an epic staring contest to a cockatoo on my windowsill.

My nemesis.

Week seventeen: Hallowe'en and library crazies.

This week has been the polar opposite of last week. It started off with a bang in the form of a Hallowe'en party at the house on the hill. Being hosted by Americans, the theme was general fancy dress, rather than exclusively scary outfits. Liz, Kirst, Roseanna and I went as the four seasons (not the hotel chain) - we were Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, respectively. The costumes were fun: as Spring, Liz wore a floral dress, with a giant, fluorescent green butterfly on her back and flowers in her hair; Kirsty went as a Summer strawberry; Roseanna stuck homemade autumnal leaves in her hair, and wore a dress patterned with leaves. I drew snowflakes onto a white top with glitter glue, and wore a white broderie anglais skirt. I covered myself in white glitter and turned a silver tree decoration into a headband... It worked fairly well, though a week later, I am still finding glitter everywhere... There were some pretty impressive themes at the party. The full cast of the Incredibles turned out; they were joined by a Rainbow fish, a discoball, a censored nudist, Robin Hood, a Zombie prostitute.... I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

Spring-Summer-Autumn-Winter

She's purdy.

Rainbow fish! Such a good costume!

Strawberry eating a pear...

Human disco ball and a Robin Hood Mummy

Oh golly gosh.

Snow White, you're so pretty!

Tuesday began the trend for the week to come. Far removed from the antics of the night before, the day was spent trying to work in quiet despair.In the afternoon, a group of us escaped campus for Church Street, where Dom cooked some amazing Leek soup, we sweet-talked our way into a free box of german cookies from the soon-to-open restaurant down the street, and Anna, James and Nathan sang at the Great Northern open mic night. It was a pretty nice, chilled way to end a stressful day.

Wednesday was - quelle surprise - a library day.
Thursday was - can you guess? - a library day.
Friday was... well, you get the gist of it.

Friday evening was the date of the Beach Party, which we had planned in a fit of coursework-induced library rage several weeks prior. Though the initials invitations extended to some 40 people, word spread and by the evening, over 100 people had clicked 'attending' on the facebook event - with another 50 or so yet to commit. 7pm came and went, and there less than 10 people there. It seemed to be doomed to fail. However, at some point the crowds descended and by midnight there must have been close to 100 people sat on Newcastle Beach. It wasn't particularly rowdy, it was just a really nice way to chill after the hellishly repetitive library days preceding.

Happy beachy times!

Saturday was spent, once again, in the library. One thing I have noticed about Newcastle is the lack of library users during exam season. When coursework deadlines were looming, the libraries - whilst not as full as UEA library gets - were packed with a reasonable amount of people. Any UEA-ers reading this will, I'm sure, have experienced the frantic hunt for a spare desk/computer/carrel/patch of floor which ensues if you arrive at the library during revision time, after about 9am. The libraries here are deserted. On Saturday, Liz and I were each able to take up an entire booth, and the desks were all but empty. It was a ghost town.

In the evening, Nathan cooked fried rice, and Liz and I walked to MarketTown to buy chocolate and cider (ever the classy girls) for our camping trip. Ten of us piled into cars and headed for Glenrock state conservation reserve. There, we found a clifftop with panoramic views over a deserted beach. It was gorgeous! We lit up a bonfire and some incense, baked some potatoes and Nathan played the guitar. It was fun! We all snuggled down in sleeping bags under the stars, and slept surprisingly well, considering we were on a slope... In the morning, Liz poked me awake as the sun rose. It was so pretty! We all looked a little dazed, but the sky was every shade of pink and orange and blue. At 7am, Liz and I walked the 6km back to Church Street, as she had work and I had revision. Siiiigh.

Hahaha oh Lizzie...

6am sunrise over the South Pacific :)

So pretty!

Wakey wakey

Today has been, yet again, a library day. I am currently counting down the days - something I hate doing, but it is the only way to keep myself in the library, reading up on platyhelminthes and lophotrochozoa, when the mercury is hitting 32 degrees and the sky is a cloudless blue... 3 days until I finish exams. One week til I hand in my last paper. Three weeks til Melbourne.

The summer is so close I can almost taste it. Three days-One week-Three weeks-43 days.