Byron Bay

It was after merely an hour in this hippy beach town, that we realize we would need more time here. The small-town, laid-back aura of Byron was exactly what we were looking for after a bustling, fast-paced Sydney. The streets were lined with adorable café's, surf shops, funky hippy stores, and expensive boutiques, and the parking lot along the beach is lined with converted vans and even some station wagons in which travelers and vagabonds live.
The hostel was unlike anything we've stayed at prior. It had a very clean-cut, modern 'Alice in Wonderland' kind of feel, with its neon stripes and geometric shapes painted on the walls. I'd almost get dizzy walking down the tunnel-like hallways if I stared at one pattern for too long.

After unpacking our luggage and picking up a few things at the grocery store, we headed back to the hostel to meet up with Katherine, our friend from SIT whom we planned to cross paths with during our post-program tour de Australia. The four of us cooked dinner and made plans for our next few days, starting by adding an extra day in Byron.

Some people might tell you about the Surfer's Paradise in the Gold Coast, but what most locals will tell you is that Byron Bay is the real surfing capital of Australia. We tried our hand at surfing one sunny day and had an absolute blast. Feeling the wave take you as it crests and rolls to shore is invigorating and almost addictive; you'll want to keep catching waves, "maybe even a bigger one next time!" you'll say to yourself. Standing up on the board is actually quite hard and takes a lot of balance; I found it fun and much easier to sit on my knees or squat on the board while riding a wave. After our surfing excursion we had a lovely picnic lunch by the beach. While enjoying some pita and hummus, a man in old clothes with a messenger bag slung across his chest and a recorder in his right hand walked up to us and asked if he could play us a song on his "flute". While the other girls hesitated at the sketchiness of the situation, I immediately blurted, "YES!" Who wouldn't want to enjoy a flute/recorder serenade while picnicking at the beach? The man proceeded to play a very repetitive song that he'd probably made up just then. Nevertheless, his music thoroughly enhanced our picnic experience and was fifty cents well spent.

Sydney

It takes a certain balance between organized and "go-with-the-flow" to be an efficient backpacker. Although we each have our personal strengths as travelers, the three of us are still tweeking that balance.
We got off the plane in Sydney, collected our bags and hopped into a taxicab. "To the Blue Parrot hostel!" we announced to the driver.
"There's heaps of hostels in Sydney, what's the address?" he answered, slightly annoyed at the cliché.
The three of us looked at each other hoping that the other would blurt out the specifics of our destination. After a 5 second pause, our eyes widened as we realized that none of us has any idea where we were going. Erin told the driver that it was in Potts Point on a street that started with an 'M'.
"Maceay Street is the only 'M' street in Potts Point; it's gotta be that," the driver said with confidence. Hesitantly, Erin agreed and we allowed the cabbie to take us to Macleay Street, all the while watching the numbers on the dashboard climb steadily. We got to the "M" street and the driver pointed toward an area with "heaps" of hostels so we decided to get out and take our chances before our fare got any higher.
As we were unloading our bags on the sidewalk, a scruffy blond hair, blue-eyed surfer dude stopped and asked us if we were going to the Blue Parrot. Amazed at this boy's psychic capabilities, we followed him to the hostel about a block away. We arrived, finally, at the hostel in one piece, but the fiascos were not over. Erin and I went to the ATM to get cash, but for some reason neither our PIN's would work. After (stupidly) typing in my PIN incorrectly three times, I was locked out of the system, when I remembered that my number was changed after my card was stolen. Erin and I both only had enough cash to pay for one night at the hostel so we paid and vowed that we would sort out our money issues in the morning. With Erin and I fresh out of cash, and Julie down to her last $10, we were in a serious pickle. Luckily, we were able to straighten things out at the bank the next morning while Julie went to the US embassy to apply for a new passport (that’s actually why we were in Sydney).
For the rest of the day, the three of us trolled around the city and then had a picnic lunch in the Botanic Gardens overlooking the opera house and Sydney Harbour Bridge.
On Saturday we went to Bondi Beach, which is easily the coolest, most beautiful part of Sydney. Enormous waves, stunning cliffs, and a cute beach town make Bondi a must-see for anyone traveling to the Sydney area.
Sunday was basically the same drill: wake up, get coffee and do some people-watching, walk around, picnic at the gardens.
Although the weather was slightly on the freezing side (we had no appropriate clothes in this unexpectedly chilly and overly trendy city), we had a spectacular time and can't wait to go back!

Spelunking!

Yesterday we went on our final little group trip and traveled to Chillagoe to do some caving. We saw some pretty spectacular stalactites!
For some reason, yesterday was just such a happy, blissful day. It had something to do with the combination of fantastic weather, perfect sunlight, sitting next to Julie and sharing music on the bus ride, having the giant window open the whole time, and smelling all the fresh scents of the Tablelands (leaves, cows, asphalt?, grass). It just felt like a beautiful carefree summer day. Bliss.

After getting back to the hostel, we had about 20 minutes to shower and get ready for a fancy dinner with the whole group. We all put on our bathing suits and hopped in the shower in pairs to save time (and water!!). Jack took us to a restaurant in Holloways beach and since SIT was paying for the meal, we all ordered a ton of food! He also gave us our T-shirts that we designed, Lizard Island coozies, and a mystery poster that is rolled up in a package and we're not allowed to open it until we get home.
I cannot believe this semester is coming to a close!...I'm not ready for that.

Done with "School"!

I'm officially done with schoolwork! I wrote my 29 page paper and gave my presentation on my ISP and now its time to relax and enjoy Australia backpacker style! For about 5 days none of us saw daylight because we were in Reef Teach all day writing our papers. But alas, my paper is printed and bound and turned in. No more work to worry about!

Groovin' The Moo

On Sunday night we went to the Groovin' The Moo concert in Townsville. It was an all day concert that featured about 15 bands and traveled to 3 other towns in Australia. Basically, Townsville was flooded with twenty-something year olds for this concert.
At around noon, we headed to our friend's house to meet up with some people and have a feed and drinks before walking over to the concert ground. The line to get into the concert was enormous. It took us about 40 minutes to get through the line and into the concert. The weather was perfect-- warm with blue skies and some clouds to give us just enough respite from the sun. Three stages were set up for the event-- one was under a huge tent where a DJ played mostly techno music and the crowd jumped up and down in a mosh and threw water bottles. The other two stages were for the main acts and were right next to each other about 100 meters away from the tent. They alternated the stages so that when one band was playing on the first stage, the crew was setting up the second stage for the next band. This made the concert run extremely smoothly and eliminated any excessive down time.
Empire of the Sun put on quite an interesting show with extremely odd costumes and choreography. At many points during his show, I wondered if he was serious…like, is this real?? It was just bizarre, but the music was good and overall it was very entertaining. Vampire Weekend played a phenomenal set. I think they should have headlined the concert, but I guess everyone there was pretty obsessed with the Aussie band, Silverchair. The lead singer of Silverchair had a good voice, but it was just not my kind of music. Overall it was a great concert with fun people and good music.
Another fun experience in Australia…check.

Dinner with Ian and Russell

On Saturday night we had dinner at our friend Ian's house. He and Russell were our Aboriginal guide during the camping trip. Russell picked us up and when we pulled up to Ian's house there were about 8 cars parked in the driveway and on the front lawn. We asked if he invited other people over for dinner. He just laughed and said they were all his family's cars. A majority of his extended family was there, including his daughters, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, and father-in law.
His wife made several dishes, all of which included some form of pork. Ian made an elaborate fruit salad and a bread pudding for dessert. He made a point to tell us that the apples in the fruit salad were "Pink Lady." He had asked the person at the grocery store which apple would go best in a fruit salad and they recommended pink ladies. I thought it was cute that he wanted to pick the right apples.