Dandenongs

This weekend was another amazing weekend in Australia! It's sad to think that I'm going to be leaving in three weeks. But I miss my family and friends at home. I want to go home and I don't want to leave all at the same time! This weekend was definitely another fun weekend. Friday night I went with some enviro club friends to go see the movie Prince of Persia. It was actually better than I thought it was going to be. I also had some japanese crepes, which were interesting. It was pretty much desert in a crepe. I got the cheesecake deluxe crepe, which was a piece of cheesecake, blueberries, strawberries, and whipped cream all wrapped up in a crepe. It was delicious, and I'm sure unhealthy too. Haha. That was a fun night. I always enjoy trying new things too.

Saturday was also another fun day. I worked on some homework at the beginning of the day. That afternoon I went to Amy's house. I met Amy through Christian Union on campus, and I've really enjoyed hanging out with her when we've gotten the chance. That night we went out to an Ethiopian restaurant. Another new food to try! It was really good too. I don't remember the name of the dish, but it was good. It had bread like a crepe, except it was thicker and a bit spongy. It also had a sourdough taste to it. In the middle of the bread was some cooked meat. It had been cooked in a sauce, so it had some flavor to it. There was also some curry powder on the side you could sprinkle on top to add some spice to it. You would then rip off the bread and pick up the meat with it. No cutlery required! I also had some mango nectar juice, which was also tasty. That night I hanged out at Amy's house, where we watched Marley and Me. That is such a sad movie! There was some crying involved. It was a sad movie, but still good.

The next day I went with Amy to her church, which was nice since I haven't had the chance to go to church since I've been here. I've been really busy and it is hard to figure out where to go to church when you only have public transportation to rely on. After church we headed to the Dandenongs, which is a mountain range nearby. Not very tall, but still pretty. We did some scenic driving before stopping at a picnic spot. Amy's dad grilled some sausages on one of the public barbecues they had there. That is one thing I've noticed about Australia. They seem to have public barbecues everywhere that people can use. There were some on the beach in Cairns. There were also some at this picnic spot. After we had lunch they had a spot where you could feed wild birds, which included cockatoos and rosellas. The rosellas were so pretty! All you had to do was hold your hand out with some bird seed in it, and a cockatoo would land on your arm. They were pretty heavy too! It took the rosellas a little convincing to get on your arm. They were a bit shy. One of the cockatoos also stole our bag of bird seed! I thought it was kind of funny though. It was a lot of fun feeding the birds. We then took a bit of a scenic drive heading back to Amy's house. I had a lot of fun feeding the birds and hanging out with Amy and her family. It was definitely another fun weekend in Australia.

Otways

This past weekend I went to the Otways, which is a national park in Australia. It was a very pretty area. I really liked it. I headed down there with Anthony and Megan from the enviro club on Friday night. We headed to Cathy's house and got there around 10 p.m. We made pretty good time, especially since we took a wrong turn at one point. I also got to meet Cathy's bird Krumpet, who was pretty cool. He was very friendly and would sit on your shoulder.

Saturday was definitely a long day, but a fun one. Our first stop when we headed out that morning was Mait's Rest. It's a patch of rainforest in the Otways. Apparently Australia used to be covered in rainforest and forest areas before European settlement. Now there are only patches of these areas left. It was definitely very pretty. I always thought of rainforests being in hot, tropical climates, but at the moment it was cool, not hot and humid. There were lots of tall trees with underbrush, especially ferns. There were some tall ferns too, some taller than me. After Mait's Rest we drove a little ways and then stopped on the side of the road to do some koala searching. We found quite a few in the area where we stopped. I was also able to see a baby koala with its mom! So adorable. The baby was definitely cute. After looking at the koalas we headed to the Cape Otway Lighthouse, known as Lightstation in Australia. We had lunch at the cafe there and wandered around. We went into the lighthouse too. The lighthouse itself wasn't very big, but it was on a tall cliff. After the lighthouse we went over to the Otway Fly. The Otway Fly is a walkway that allows you to walk among the canopy of the trees. It was pretty cool. Not many people can say they've been among the canopy of a forest. The forest at this spot was very pretty too. The highest point in the walk was about 154 feet off of the ground. It was very cool. After the Otway Fly we headed over to Triplet Falls to do a short hike and look at the waterfalls. The waterfalls were pretty. The walk was also nice, since we were walking in the forest. There was definitely a lot of underbrush compared to forests at home. Later that night we went to go see some glow worms. That was another hike in the woods. It was worth it though. They glow worms were pretty though. It was like lots of small blue lights. It was something very cool to see. That night we hanged out at Cathy's house, and I got the chance to try to play a didgeridoo.

The next day we headed back to Melbourne, but we did stop along the way. We stopped at a small town called Lara for some lunch. I got to try some pancakes with ice cream on top, which is apparently how they eat pancakes in Australia. After lunch we headed to the Serendip Wildlife Sanctuary. This one was free, which was nice. The main focus of this sanctuary was wetlands, even though they also had animals such as the kangaroo and emu. Seeing the wetlands though was seeing something different. I thought it was cool. There were a lot of birds there. They had one interesting bird called a musk duck. I also saw a cute tiny bird called a fairy wren. After walking around the sanctuary we headed back to Melbourne. I definitely had a great time at the Otways. It was a fun trip.

Phillip Island

This past weekend was another fun weekend. On Saturday I got to hang out with Christina and Jamie. We went to Chadstone mall to go see the Robin Hood movie that just came out. First we had some lunch at the pancake parlour. I got the jamaican pancakes, which were really good. They had fried bananas, with cinnamon and maple syrup. It reminded me of bananas foster on top of pancakes. This place was not cheap though. It cost $18 for some strawberry pancakes. But those jamaican pancakes were really good. We also went to a pet store before the movies and looked at some kittens and puppies they had for sale. They were so adorable! We then went and saw Robin Hood, which was good. I liked it. All in all it was a fun day.

Sunday I went on a day trip to Phillip Island! I went with Rachel, who I've met through Christian Union. The first thing we did was head to the wildlife park. It was another fun place to go to. They had some pretty hungry kangaroos there too. If they saw that you had some food they would come right up to you and they would use their paws to try to grab your hand and eat the food. The emus were pretty hungry too. But the wallabies were laid back. I finally saw some dingoes too. We then headed over to the nobbies, which was a rocky area where there are supposed to be seals. We didn't see any seals, but the area was really pretty. After that we went to go see the penguin parade. Even though it was cold it was definitely worth it. We had a pretty good view in the stands. There were tons of people there. And Rachel brought her binoculars, which helped to see them, even though they weren't too hard to see. The penguins were so adorable! They were really cute and small, with a white belly and blue feathers. We could also hear them making noises. And they were so adorable when they would waddle! It was weird just seeing them pop out of the ocean. A group of them would then move up the beach. They was a rock pile they liked too. A group of them would come out of the ocean and then head to the rock pile. They would then pause at the rock pile for a few minutes before all of them would waddle into the grassy area. And when we were heading back along the boardwalk we were able to see some in the grass. They were pretty close to the boardwalk too. We then got some dinner before heading back to Melbourne. I had a great time and I'm really glad Rachel was able to go with me.

One Busy Weekend

The weekend of May 8th has been a very busy weekend, but it has also been a lot of fun. Friday I went to the BBQ club lunch and ate some lunch with Christina. It was good to catch up with her because I hadn't seen her in awhile. That night I went out to a club with Amy. We went to a place called the Night Cat. She said that they normally play jazz music, even though Friday night they had more of a latin band playing, but the music was really good. I also liked the vibe of the place. They had couches and tables and a place to dance. We had some drinks and talked and watched people dance. It was pretty entertaining. I had a good time.

Saturday was a really fun day. I went to Ballarat with Megan, who I've met through the Enviro club. Ballarat is a city about an hour and a half outside of Melbourne. It reminds me a bit of Rock Hill, but I think Rock Hill is probably bigger. We went driving down mainstreet and then Megan showed me the dried up lake. The state of Victoria has been in a drought for several years. There was a little bit of water in it though, since it had rained recently. But it looked more like a marsh than a lake. We headed over to the gardens and they had a little market going on. We walked around and got some food from one of the stands. We then headed over to the gardens and ate there. It was a nice day. After lunch we headed over to the wildlife sanctuary. When we headed in there were kangaroos everywhere, which I wasn't quite expecting. But it was awesome. I got to walk around and pet them. Megan showed me around and then we went and watched a snake show. I was able to pet a boa constrictor. After the snakes they brought out a koala, and I was able to pet him and get a picture with him. After that there was an alligator feeding. Then a tasmanian devil feeding and a spotted quoll feeding. I was able to see a lot of wildlife there. I was also able to see emus, wombats, snakes, crocodiles, wallabies, an eagle, and an echidna. At the end of the day Megan's friend Glen was able to take us into the back where they kept some of the snakes and I was able to see a snapping turtle, and we walked into the crocodile enclosure, even though we were on a bridge above the crocodiles. It was definitely an amazing day.

Sunday was another busy day. I headed into the city with Sarah. We went to the Queen Victoria Market, which I hadn't seen yet. They had so much stuff there. There was produce, meats, coffee, flowers, retail. There was also a lot of yelling going on around the produce, people yelling out prices to try to sell their stuff. If I were closer I would do my shopping there. The prices were really good. I was able to buy some souvenirs while I was there. It was fun because we just walked around and looked at stuff. After that we walked around the city so Sarah was able to take some pictures for a project. I also went out that night for Hayley's birthday, who is another girl I've met through the Enviro club and Megan's housemate. First we all met at the Hawthorn hotel and got some drinks and dinner. They had $5 pizzas there, which was a good price. After dinner we headed over to the Geebung, which is a club. There we got some drinks and danced. It was a lot of fun. They had a band playing too. I knew some of the songs, but they also played some Australian songs that I didn't know. It was definitely a great night and I had a lot of fun.

ANZAC weekend

Well it has been quite a busy week related to school work, so I'm trying to catch up on my blogging. Again. Last weekend (April 24th-25th) was ANZAC weekend in Australia (I'll explain what it stands for in a moment.) The first thing I did that weekend was go on a Christian Union girls retreat Friday night and Saturday. It was so much fun! We went down to Mornington Peninsula and stayed in a holiday house, which was really pretty. I rode down to Mornington with Amy, who I had previously met at the Christian Union fish and chips dinner, and we became friends after that, so it was fun to drive down there with someone I knew. We also had some fun conversations in the car :-). I was able to meet many girls from Deakin and Monash University, which is another University in Melbourne. The message for the weekend was about true beauty, which I thought was a really good message since so many girls struggle with their body image. Friday night we spent some time doing face masks and then playing sing star (karaoke) on the playstation. It was in the morning that the talks started to begin. In the morning we talked about the media/culture's view on beauty. Then we later talked about what the bible says about beauty, and how to incorporate that into our lives. Then in the afternoon we had some free time, and Amy, Alex, Bri, and I went into the town and got some coffee and shared a vanilla slice (yum!). Then we walked over to the beach area, where I took some pictures. It was pretty, but not really warm that day. That evening we had dinner before heading back to Deakin. It was definitely a fun retreat.

The next day I decided to go to the ANZAC ceremonies with Sarah. ANZAC stand for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corp. ANZAC Day for Australians is pretty much like Memorial Day for Americans, but for Australians here it is a big deal, not just a reason to get together and BBQ. I got up at 4 a.m. so Sarah and I could make it to the 6 a.m. Dawn Service at the Shrine of Remembrance. It was a very touching ceremony, even if we didn't get to see any of it because there were so many people there. There were thousands of people! But we were able to hear everything. They definitely honor their war veterans. After the service was over he headed into the city to go get breakfast. So many places were busy! Apparently that was what everyone else from the service was doing. We ended up at McDonalds because the food there was cheap and we were actually able to find a seat. After breakfast we stuck around for the parade, which started around 9 a.m. It was a pretty big parade. They had sections feeding in from three different streets. It was an interesting parade to watch. They had lots of old cars and veterans and bands marching. Even though it was a very early morning, I'm glad I went. It was an interesting experience and a very fun weekend.

Another City Adventure

I'm a little bit behind on my blogs, so I need to catch up. On the 19th I went on another city adventure, this time with Sarah (from the house in front of me) and Lena, who is from Germany and Kelsey (from the house in front of me) met her in Alice Springs. The three of us had a good day in the city. We walked along the Yarra River and had some coffee by the river. After sitting on a bench talking and enjoying a view of the river we headed over to the information center. Even though I have been here for a couple of months I hadn't even been there yet! I didn't realize how big it was and how much stuff it had. It was pretty cool. After that we walked over to the church across the street and had a look inside. The church was St. Paul's Anglican Cathedral. It was very pretty inside. Then we ended up wandering into the state library. It was very big. There was also an exhibit called "shop til you drop". We walked around and looked at that, which was interesting. We also walked around and looked at a couple of the art galleries. I thought they were interesting because I felt like I was looking at a history of Melbourne through paintings. We then walked through Chinatown. We had lunch in a Greek restaurant. It was really good. I liked it because it tasted like authentic Greek food. It wasn't Americanized, which happens to food in America. We walked over towards the Melbourne Baths, which is a gym. It looked really nice from the outside. We also went to the Royal Arcade, which was a bunch of shops. After that we walked down an alley and looked at some graffiti art. I thought it was very interesting to look at. It was very creative. We then went into an opal store and learned a good amount about opals. One new thing I learned is that the majority of opals come from Australia. We also watched the guy shape, smooth, and shine a very small opal. It was a fun store to go into. I definitely enjoyed my day in the city.

Enviro Trip #2: Nest Box Monitoring

Over the weekend I went to Benella with the Enviro club to do nest box monitoring. I had a great time hanging out with some of my Australian friends. The whole point of the nest box monitoring was to go around and look into nest boxes that had been put up around the area to see if animals such as squirrel gliders or sugar gliders were living in them. We headed down there Friday night. We stayed in a boy scouts hall, which reminded me a bit of the Homeworks experience at home. There was a lot of people there. There were two other groups from different universities. I found out later that there were supposed to be over 100 people helping out that weekend. We were split up into different groups to go and look at the boxes. I was in a group with a few other Deakin Uni students. The first day definitely felt long. It wasn't until the 10th box before we found any animals. It was definitely a lot of walking and climbing ladders. And then it was frustrating when it was hard to find the nest boxes. But when we finally did see a sugar or squirrel glider they were really adorable! I got some good pictures. There also was a BBQ Saturday night, which was good. It was definitely a good experience to see some native Australian wildlife. I'm glad I went. I had a fun time.