Middleofnowhere, Australia

It’s a hard rock with no café, an aboriginal sacred place, and in the middle of nowhere. After waking up for a 5:20 train to Sydney airport and taking turns playing mom with the security of our bags, we made it to Ayers Rock by 1:30 (Adelaide standard time). Time zones will forever confuse me especially a 30-minute difference; aren’t they usually an hour? Aside from the airport and resort grounds, Ayers Rock the vast Australian outback I had imagined was at my fingertips. The phrase, “where are we?” continually came into question as we spent Thursday to Monday touring Uluru, hiking Kata Tjuta, riding camels, and basking in the warm Australian desert sun.

Our first day was spent relaxing and taking in the adventures our resort had to offer. We walked to the resort centre to look through the gift shops and grabbed some much needed food from the market. We relaxed by the pool for a bit, then ventured to the center lookout for a sunset view of Uluru. This began our quest to see how many pictures you could possibly take of a rock. She, Uluru, changes all the time…that’s a negative. Once the sun went down it was amazing how quickly the scorching dry heat turned to frigid temperatures. We made our way back to the hostel for our first college budget dinner, peanut butter sandwiches! After a few days of peanut butter as a main food group…I was ready for real food. That night, we sat around listening to the live entertainment and chatting with our new Canadian friends. Like old women we made it to bed abnormally early in order to wake up for the sunrise at 6:10. This turned out to be an easier task than anticipated as everyone in our 20-person room got up at four to catch sunrise tours. Don’t worry they were ever so considerate to be my alarm. They even managed to drop their suitcases from the top bunks landing on the cement floor for a nice startling wakeup. Gotta love shoestring traveling.

Uluru at sunset

The sunrise while beautiful to see, wasn’t as spectacular as the sunset. But regardless of its beauty, I still managed to capture about a million photos and track the sun’s progress behind Ulu. You never know, the rock could jump at any moment, got to be ready! Friday we took our APT tour of Uluru. The rock was just as I had imagined it to be. Uluru is the world’s largest monolith and about a third of the rock is visible, and this is enough to make for an intimidating height. I can only imagine the 6km of rock below that I can’t see! Fun fact I learned about the bright red color of Ulu; it is made of sandstone which is typically grey, but because of the oxidation it has a red cast to its outer shell. No picture I took could capture the magnitude of its size or brilliant color.

Aborigines call tourists that travel to the rock “mingas” or ants. Standing next to it, and seeing people climbing to the top I quickly saw the connection. On our tour we stopped at the Culture Center to learn about some aboriginal beliefs, then made our way to the water hole and several caves. The base measures 9.4 km around, so the bus was nice to get to places quickly. But if I were to go back I would hike myself and make a full day out of the rock. Plus, a two day pass on Uluru Express is affordable to travel to Uluru and Kata Tjuta instead of booking tours.

Lion King scenery, KT

That night we decided to spend a little extra to visit Kata Tjuta, given the nickname of KT, for a morning hike. Uluru Express picked us up at 5:45 for an unexpected sunrise lookout session of Uluru. Fortunately for the group that was with Beth and I, we were in rare form. With this being our second sunrise in two days we lost the scenic value of staring at the rock and instead watched as people gawked and took picture upon picture of…the same rock. After Beth made the outburst, “I think it moved!” We lost it. I was in tears crying and she was on the other side of the lookout laughing uncontrollably. The tour guide loved us, but the others probably didn’t appreciate our sarcasm. But don’t worry, we still took more photos of the rock. After this, we made our way to the Valley of the Winds 7.4 km hike. Just as Uluru was immense in size, KT did not disappoint. In fact, the 36 domed features with gorges and valleys were more spectacular than even Uluru in my opinion. Halfway through our hike, we climbed to a peak of a gorge where you could see the vast KT domes and still felt like an ant. It reminded me of the landscape from the Lion King when the stampede comes racing through threatening Simba. My childhood imagination was on overload, but instead of out of control animals we saw a family of kangaroos! Along the hike we found several rock structures manually constructed. Our curiosity had the best of us, KT is one of the most sacred to the aboriginals. The site is so sacred, that only selected aboriginals can know its ancestry. I’m just saying, if I have bad luck…I’m blaming it on taking pictures of the rocks. After our morning cruise through KT we relaxed by the pool, and got ready for our much anticipated self BBQ dinner!

Our starving little selves couldn’t wait for dinner than night. The BBQ area had all the utensils and grill provided, you just had to cook. Easier said than done…I have never cooked a burger in my life. BUT after a little time and hot hot conditions, I made the best burger of my life! It is so gratifying to make your own food. We also had a buffet salad bar which we made the most of for dinner and meals the following days J Standard Gould Vacation Move. After our feast we took full advantage of the live entertainment and pulled a group of jolly fellas up the dance floor for a night of swinging and clapping to the music. I pulled an eager little guy, about 3, to the floor and while he was bashful to start he was cranking out breakdancing moves I had never seen by the end of the night! We had a great night, Beth and Christine met their Australian husbands (late 70s) and I found a child haha.

Chester, the camel

If any days during our trip could be classified as more relaxed than the others, the day we rode camels was the epitome of chill. We went for a cute walk around the resort, than sat around the pool from 10-4. Absolutely ridiculous lazy day. But our unproductive day turned into the best experience ever! While I have never ridden a horse, I took a leap of faith and went for a ride on a camel. My fear of heights was put to the test when we saddled up and the camels jarred to stand. It took a while for my grip to change from white knuckle, but once I was comfortable my mood shifted to a strange sarcasm that can only be described from the multitude of pictures captured by Christine, our third companion for the trip, riding on the camel in front of Beth and I. A photographer was following our steps through the bush walk and kept snapping photos. Beth and I made a goal of it to take the most absurd pictures because we weren’t going to buy the CD. Needless to say, out of the kindness of our photographer’s heart he gave us the CD for free just as we left. Now all of our crazy moments of revising my humps lyrics to Chester’s Humps (our camel) and interpretive dancing will forever be on my computer. Perfect! To top off our amazing day, they caught a wild camel just before we left! Amazing! 

We had a phenomenal trip overall, the weather was beautiful and the sights were exactly what we expected/better. The outback is a part of Australia that needs to be seen by everyone. Now my Australian bucket list is complete! I’ve been to the Great Barrier, to the southern coast of Melbourne, the bustling Sydney cityscape, and now the traditional Australian/Aboriginal Outback. Over study break, my roommates want to take me home to see the true Australian colors, gold and green, so we’re road tripping it home to the country! I can’t wait! My jetsetter lifestyle is in full swing this week, Saturday I am off to New Zealand for 10 days of campervans and adventures! Before I can start my out of comfort zone experience I have a few assignments to finish to set my mind at ease.

 Our Ho(s)tel

It is so great to hear from everyone back home! I think it may have finally set in that they were one person short down there in Btown. I was in complete shock running through my planner this past week looking at the miniscule amount of weeks that I have left before I leave for home. I can’t believe that I have been in school for nine weeks, and after I come ‘home’ from New Zealand, I will only have four weeks of school before exams! Wow time is flying. I will be on American soil in 57 days! Can’t wait to see everyone!

If anyone is bored or needs a good book to read, pick up In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson. Beth was reading it while we were in Uluru and continuously rattled off fun facts and his overall sarcasm the entire trip.

“But that's the glory of foreign travel, as far as I am concerned. I don't want to know what people are talking about. I can't think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything. Suddenly you are five years old again. You can't read anything, you have only the most rudimentary sense of how things work, you can't even reliably cross a street without endangering your life. Your whole existence becomes a series of interesting guesses.” –Bill Bryson

Sperrys Now Have Credentials

My Sperry’s were finally given a proper home after my first official sailing trip. Last Sunday Beth and I had a whirlwind trip to Sydney for a day of sailing on our friend Nick’s family yacht. We started early, strolling up to the Fairy Meadow train station only to realize one of us *cough*beth*cough* had looked at the weekday timetable which threw us into a whole different timeline. At the time our perfect connecting train schedule to catch the 10am Manly Ferry looked grim and poor Nick would be waiting at the wharf for another half hour or hour depending on how long we would be waiting to catch our connections. But after sprinting and catching a few sour looks from others through Sydney Central and Circular Quay stations, WE MADE THE 10am FERRY! That was by far the happiest ferry ride I have ever taken, such an accomplishment we couldn’t believe it!

Nick picked us up and gave a quick car tour of Manly which happened to be way better than the small rainy beach I remembered. Thank goodness he changed my opinion! There was a cute little boardwalk with shops and plenty of eateries much like Bondi.

Sailing was a much needed break from the daily grind of studying abroad. One, it was a wicked activity that I never imagined would happen. And two, being around a family environment and interacting with parents was so refreshing. The whole experience made my homesickness subside slightly. We sailed to the point of having the harbor bridge in our sights, than curled around to a bay for lunch aboard. I would love to us all the fancy lingo I learned…but I don’t have the slightest idea how to spell it. Besides messing with the painters and watching for the boom and maisao, that’s about all I’ve got in my workable vocabulary. After we got a little Australian burn and spiked my blood pressure from the fear of falling overboard, we headed home for a restful train ride to Fairy Meadow.

This week it really hit me how quickly my time here is passing, I have under 65 days left. I am flying to Uluru tomorrow until Monday, then next Saturday I’m off to New Zealand for my much anticipated campervan, spaceship, excursion. Then I come back to three weeks of school until exams! It’s insane, I can see the light. Also, after looking through all my travel documents I discovered I’m actually going to be home November 20^th. Luckily I checked! Okay, I really must get to bed before this 5am train. “Good night you princes of Maine and you queens of New England!” J Miss you all! 

If you were curious what we are camping and touring New Zealand's south island with, please watch this video you'll be amused for days. COMFORT ZONE GONE & LOVIN IT! 

'The thrills and downfalls' come alive

When I created this blog, I quickly created a catchy slogan that I thought would be appropriate for the content, but the meaning behind ‘the thrills and downfalls of studying abroad’ reached a whole new level this week.

As you are sitting browsing all the places you can go to study abroad, the only things running through your mind are the amazing people you will meet and the great experiences you will have in a foreign place. While I have met a lot of Australians here, no one can begin to compare with my friends at home. And as welcome week commences and everyone moves back to the beautiful IU Bloomington campus, I can’t help but think of all the wonderful people I left behind.

Abroad, I have a surface relationship with everyone. No one truly knows who I am, or anything about my life other than my American classification. This has been the hardest thing for me to comprehend. I am lucky to have met two amazing girls that I have become extremely close to from the states. And after a deep tearful conversation with one of them, we came to the realization that studying abroad is not about the social aspect or excitement of traveling. Studying abroad is more about discovering yourself and growing to be the most independent person you could ever comprehend. This trip is about you and you alone, no one is here to always catch you, and you are the only one that determines your happiness. It’s far more intense than words can describe. When I skype with friends back home, they can’t understand why I am homesick. They toss it aside because I’m in the exotic location of Australia. But even in paradise, you can still get lonely and really begin to appreciate all the love you had.

When I go home, I will have so much more appreciation for everything around me. America rocks! The greatest joy to my day came today, I was comatose reading about Aboriginal Australians when I envisioned landing on the runway in Indianapolis. The flight attendant reads the chilly November forecast for the day and wishes everyone a safe trip and welcome home. HOME! Finally walking off the plane to be greeted by the people that love me the most, I started to cry already thinking about what an awesome feeling it will be to see them again, live in person. And be able to hug them! I can’t wait. My new countdown app says I leave in a little over 75 days, but who’s counting? J

As for the other half of my slogan, ‘the thrills’ have been numerous recently. I have been hectically intense in my bucket list completion…

Last weekend my entire dorm went to Sydney for a cruise around the harbor, it was great to see everyone dressed to impress. The Sydney sights illuminated at night are beautiful! The boat reminded me of a mini Titanic with all the wood paneling, it was awesome and oh so classy! We stayed in my first hostel that night which was rather interesting…and made me appreciate hotel living with my mom while she was here. On Sunday Beth and I took the bus to Bondi for a beach day. I love that beach! We strolled the shops, got a well deserved portion of fish and chips to satisfy our hunger for the day (maybe even week), and a little hole in the ozone kind of burn. Then took the dreadful 1.5 hour train back home.

First Australian Spring Sunrise

On Thursday, I woke up with a few others to watch the first Spring sunrise. Leaving the comfort of my warm bed was a struggle, but I am happy to have seen the event and everyone out in their rare form. :)

This week it really hit me that I wasn’t going to see the outback in its glory, and it really made me mad. So I decided to do something about it. Uluru is the standard Australian icon, besides the Opera house. It is a sacred Aboriginal site and full of history. Upon talking with Beth about my discomfort, we had our flights booked two hours later to Ayers Rock leaving September 15th. Call us crazy, because the entire time we were looking up flights and dates…we thought the same thing. You only live once right? Australia is one big adventure, but after this trip my bucket list of exploring is almost complete.

As for our weekend in Wollongong, it was more than a walk on the beach!  A few of us went to the Buddhist temple Friday morning and wondered around the beautiful and peaceful grounds. The temple and all the buildings were incredible with the most exquisite detail. My favorite part were the little statues covering the gardens that resembled traditional happenings of Buddhist. They were so cute! Later that day, I went to my first professional rugby game! We watched the Dragons beat the Panthers! Watching a Rugby game made our American football look a little silly in comparison. Why do we wear pads?

Today has been an ‘assignment day’ as the Australians would call it. I have literally sat in my room and worked on homework all day. My eyes hurt from the mass of reading I completed. Surprisingly, I am more productive here than at IU. Even with a beach and tons of activities I still get everything done and completed early, strange.

Tomorrow we are taking the train up to Sydney at 7am to meet up with one of our friends to sail in Sydney Harbor! I can’t wait!

Australian Slang Lesson:

Heaps good = really good

Keen = you are into the idea

Ending a sentence with but, Instead of placing but in the front of a phrase you place it at the end…grammar appropriate? Absolutely not.