Cheers Australia, It was Grand!

So this will be my last post for this blog. Good thing Bad thing? i don't know
After 37hrs of traveling in a 24hr time period, i was needless to say Extremely tired once i got home. However, i couldn't bring myself to fall asleep immediately. I ended up sleeping for 13hrs and because of that i couldn't fall asleep till really late the next night, but i took advantage and caught up on some tv shows.
All the flights were good, and our luggage followed us all the way except for the last flight... which i think was ironic because of how far we traveled. Luckily we got our luggage the next morning so it just delayed the laundry and giving out of gifts for a little while.
Being home, well its great to sleep in my bed again, i had forgotten how comfortable it was. Today i switched out all my summer clothes for my winter clothes,which was a very long process of sorting and organizing as well as folding and going up and down the stairs. But thankfully it has been completely accomplished.
I like being home, but its hard to figure out where my place is in the household again. My brother was very clear in the fact that he enjoyed that there wasn't any of my hair in the bathroom for 5months. but i think he should just get used to it if he ever plans on getting married.
I miss everyone in Cairns, and the sunshine and warm weather. Winter has given me a strong greeting with it almost looking like it is going to snow.


So i suppose in conclusion for the past 5months, i have gone on this big adventure that was successful. I have grown up in so many ways, and most importantly i think i have grown significantly in my faith. It was such a great experience and such a blessing that i am thankful for. I'm excited for next semester and living off campus should be another interesting experience, But until then, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

"Kiwi Land"

So,i've been in Christ Church, New Zealand for the past few days before returning completely home to good ol North Carolina of the US of A, and though id like to report that New Zealand is amazing, we have had some crap weather which really dampered the experience here. It was just so cold and rainy that i didn't even feel like taking pictures which is saying alot for me. Also because of the rain we didn't get to take part in some of the things that we would have if the weather would have been nicer such as a hot air balloon ride and going "punting" on the Avon river. (think of a gondola like they have in Venice). Instead we walked alot and went to a few museums but over all didn't really do a whole lot. The main highlight of the time in New Zealand was where we stayed.It was called the Windsor Hotel Bed and Breakfast. It was such a nice big house with about 40 rooms for rent, a really nice lounge room and cute breakfast room.



The people that ran the hotel were so nice and one man who is a co-owner offered us a ride around the city in his refurbished 1928 studabaker. so that was really fun and completely spontaneous.

I'm sure i would have liked NZ more given that it was sunny, but not seeing the sun for 4 days really depresses the mood...especially when i hadn't been without sun for the past 5 months. it was almost like being in England really, so i suppose i got a taste for what that would have been like if i would have decided to study there instead. (thank goodness i choose Sunny Cairns!)
Tomorrow we leave for the long journey home! which means getting up at 4am... plane leaves christ church at 6:45am and then we have a 7hr layover in auckland and then we leave auckland at 3:40pm for the 12hr flight to LA and have another 6hrs of lay over time then off to Dallas then finally to Greensboro where we will arrive at 11:30pm Dec.3, which after 30 some odd hrs of traveling will be the same day that we left on. Insane!

So i suppose i will do a final post for this blog once i make it home since i will sadly no longer be livin like an aussie down under....
so im trying to see if i liked blogging enough to start another one just for random things that i can't get off my mind or what not. But ya, that decision can be made later.
As far as the 70 or so posts that i have made on this blog, i think i am going to print them all off and make them into a little book/journal thing. i don't know how do able that will be or how much it will cost to print it all off but i think i would like to try and play around with it. i see it as an alternative way of scrap-booking.

Well, until i post again from the States, "Cheers"- from this side of the world.

Sydney was "Wicked"

Getting on the plane to leave for sydney from cairns was really hard, it wasn't like i was going to come back there after i was finished in sydney like i had previously done 2 months before. Once i left, i was officially gone for awhile but hopefully not forever, you never know where God will lead you in Life....so i'm leaving the door open to possibly going back for a visit sometime later.

The Flight to sydney was pretty quick, they showed the movie 500 days of summer, which i had already seen in Sydney ironically enough. Movies always make a flight go quicker especially if they are any good. Luckily, we have been flying on Qantas for every flight and they by far are the best airline that australia has. even their meals are really good.
Once we got to sydney, we didn't have to mess with customs or security because it was a domestic flight so we just got our luggage and instead of taking the train into the city and walking a few blocks to our hotel for 30$ we opted to get in line for a taxi ( btw, i had never used a taxi before and prob wouldn't like to again if i can help it). we got a taxi and a driver who was from who-know's where but he did know were our hotel was and thats all that mattered. it was a little bit more expensive than taking the train in but a lot less hassle.... Unfortunately, less hassle almost always means more money! o well. Thank God for the blessing of having a little extra.

Our Hotel was the Travel Lodge which sounds kinda dodgy, but it was REALLY nice with a flat screen tv and a fridge and sink. to use the elevators you had to swipe your room card to activate the floor you want to go to....pretty high tech if you ask me.


Sydney was so different to cairns, people were still mostly friendly, but everyone was in so much of a hurry and there were just heaps more people bustling around. and i still get a kick out of crossing the street diagonally. We saw all the known sites and walked 11 miles the first full day...my feet did hurt in case you were wondering.
we went to the Aquarium which was cool, but not as impressive as i thought it'd be. we then made our way over to capital theater because i knew that Wicked the musical was showing and we happen to get box seat tickets for a matinee on saturday. That was probably the highlight of sydney, Wicked was so great and thats saying alot because i don't normally like musicals. We of course saw the bridge, and the Opera House. We took a ferry across that harbour to Luna Park which i really liked and we rode the ferris wheel which overlooked the harbor as well. Did some shopping of course, but by saturday night i was ready to move on to New Zealand,....
I've decided that i don't really enjoy big cities, i like the suburbs, and i don't really like feeling like im risking my life everytime i try crossing the road.


On an Interesting note, the Rocks is the historic part of sydney which is the part right near the bridge and opera house,and while walking through this portion, we came across a christmas tree that was rather oddly constructed. After closer investigation, we discovered that the christmas tree was made comepletely out of empty soda bottles....now thats some mixing of christmas cheer with and underlying goal of raising recycling awareness...

Australia is pretty "green" something i'll try to impart in my daily life back in the states.

Looking back while moving onward...

So seeing as my semester in cairns has ended, i've been traveling and that equals no constant source of internet, which entails little blog posting. So There is much to tell but i will break them up into separate posts.
This post will focus on Leaving Cairns...

After i stayed up all night waiting with steph until she had to leave for the airport, i was able to catch about 4hrs sleep until i had to get up and eat my last breakfast at the lodge, that may not seem like much, but i consistently had the same breakfast all semester and it never got old. after brekkie Tabby picked me up and we went to Port douglas to meet joel and others to hangout and celebrate his birthday. on our way back to cairns we just barely missed being hit by a rock slide. it was scary and i had never witnessed one let alone almost been crumbled beneath one.

That night we all celebrated at Joel's parents house which happened to be where i was staying the night before my mom came the next morning so it was really convenient.
I picked my mom up the next day and we checked into our hotel which happened to be located on the Esplanade which made it extra special. we went to church that night after an afternoon nap and she got to meet all my friends from church. On monday i took her to my favorite beach and let her soak up some aussie sun. we used the bus so she could see what i had to do during my time there, it was actually a good plan because she got to see the university as it was a stop on the way to the beach. Tuesday we went on the sky rail up to Keranda where she got to hold a koala and feed the kangaroos. It was a nice little trip because i had won a gift voucher for a free lift on the sky rail and had saved it all semester to use with her so it worked out perfectly. that night i went to my last nexus meeting which was kinda sad. everyone signed a card for me and they prayed for my safe journey home. I'm really blessed to have become apart of their group so easily. I'm definitely thankful this thanksgiving for that group and the spiritual growth i encountered.
Kevin gave us one last taxi ride to the airport which was prob the best way to end it. I'm anticipating keeping in touch with them as best i can, especially since becs and karl got engaged just before i left. i was glad i got to be there to hear the news and see the ring.

Last night with Steph and at the Lodge

so last night marked the last night at the lodge and the last night to hangout with Steph. We decided that it would be fun to go to the beach at night and have a few drinks with a friend from church. It was so cool to look at the stars and not be able to recognize any of the constellations because they are all backwards. It was fun just to chill and talk while reminiscing about the time we have had in australia. Then we came back and i still had to do laundry and pack which i did till 4am seeing as the was when steph was leaving for the airport. So today i am operating on 3hrs of sleep. Fun Stuff especially since it's Joel's 21st bday party tonight.

my mom is currently in transit to come to cairns and i am really looking forward to traveling with her and sharing some of this experience with someone else. i'm excited to show her where i have been living for the past 5months and im excited to explore sydney and NZ with her!

It was kinda sad saying goodbye to steph eventhough i will actually get to see her in Dec. we have become really great friends and i thank God for such a blessing,...not only did i make some really great christian aussie friends, but i also made a good christian american friend who so happens to have ties to Greensboro eventhough she lives in MAine, who knows maybe one day i will to go visit up there.


this picture sums up our friendship quite nicely~ we have had so many laugh, i will really miss our random moments of hysterical laughter in which neither of us know what we are laughing about! Good Times!

Pancakes Among a Sunrise

So today steph, her roommate, and I got up at 5 am and went to the beach to watch the sunrise. it was so beautiful eventhough it was extremely hard to wake up that early and it really affected me the rest of the day. we brought along some pancake mix and maple syrup and made pancakes on the bbq's at the park next to the beach. It was quite lovely and very scrumptious!


Watching the sunrise is such a remarkable thing, from the colors illuminated throughout the sky, to the quickness of its rising as well as, the power of heat that is felt as it ascends to trade spots with the moon. The australian sun is nothing to mess with. It will fry you if you are not careful and are amongst its powerful rays for too long, yes, i have had a few of these experiences. But nonetheless, it is still breathtaking to watch something that happens everyday and that most people are not up to witness. It just made we want to lift my hands and praise God for his remarkable creation and his unfailing Grace.


Also, at nexus this week, they through us a going away mini party. they gave steph and i a little package with some australian goodies which was so thoughtful. But best of all they made us the best "Australian Cake" EVER...it consisted of a tower of lemmingtons, with chocolate koalas, and timtams. So Creative and extremely yummy!
i was very much impressed but really sad to leave such caring people!

Maggie Island

So this past week i had my ecology exam which was actually really difficult but i made it through and im pretty sure i passed. On Wed. i left for maggie island which is 4hrs south of cairns. Unfortunately i was under the impression that it was going to be very luscious and tropical island like, but instead it was really dry and rocky. However, it was still really beautiful and really nice to just get away, especially after studying for that ecology exam. I can honestly say we didn't do much on the island which was the way i wanted it. i was perfectly content not having to do anything and just being lazy. we did find this cool trail that led up to this great peak on top of a boulder. so we trekked up that at sunset.

On Friday we went back into Townsville by ferry and spent the day walking around and we went to see 2012, which was an interesting movie. it was actually more graphic than i had anticipated, but nonetheless it was still entertaining and a good 3hrs spent out of the sun. That night we met up with some friends for dinner and they took us up to Castle Hill which is really more like a mountain that overlooks all of townsville (city on one side and all the suburbs on the other side)


Then we were able to meet up with another friend who had been in Cairns for several weeks earlier but had to finish her classes in Townsville, so it was really great to see her again. we had to get up at 5am to catch a 6:30flight back to cairns which was really quick thankfully. i did more on saturday by lunch than i had done in the past 3 days. Today (Sunday) Steph and i went to the beach and got a little toasted...which showed up later and people at church kept giving us a hard time about. The pastor surprised us when we arrived to church by telling us that he was going to call us up to the front so we can say something about our time in cairns and at the church and then he would pray for our return travels home. As sweet that was we were both not too excited to speak in front of everyone, But in my defense and as a surprise to myself, i didn't freak out like i would have thought i would, i more or less excepted it immediately and started preparing for what i was going to say. Steph on the other hand was really freaking out as she does not like public speaking either and i would probably classify it as more than me, since i can do it, i just dont like it. anyways, it went well and it gave me a chance to publicly thank Kevin and Krys for all the rides they had graciously given us throughout the whole semester. IT really wasn't that big of a deal and im wondering if i thought that because it was kinda sprung on us and i didn't have enough time to worry about it.
in other news, i have this last week left, my mom comes next sunday, and my last exam is friday! Its insane how this semester has come to an end so quickly! i am truly going to miss my cairns family!
I started listening to christmas music today which made me really want to bake cookies but alas i do not yet have the resources to do so yet! but soon enough!