WA-ndering solo

Wow, okay so i've been in Perth for almost 24 hours now and i'm having a great time. First success of the trip, I managed to catch all the right buses on the way to my hotel yesterday. I did make the bus driver give me change for a $50 to pay a $3.70 fare, but i think he'll get over it. After weaving through a lot of suburbs the bus finally go into downtown Perth. The street we came in on reminded me of what it's like to drive into Madison. The city is much smaller than Melbourne and very easy to get around it. Loving the free buses that take you pretty much anywhere you need to go (including a stop directly outside my hotel). The worldmark here is nice. They have free internet...but only if you have your own computer (hence i am now at the state state library-->but that's okay the internet here is free too! take that pricey internet cafes!). The room is a standard style hotel room with plenty of space, a small balcony, etc, etc. Oh yeah, and a 2 person sized jacuzzi tub! that comes with a rubber ducky! -->heaven. So yesterday i got to the hotel around 4, cleaned up a bit, got some info about the city and then took the free bus back into downtown to get some food. (The hotel is just on the edge of DT).

This morning i was thinking of heading to rottnest island but realized that i wouldn't be able to make the morning ferry's so i decided to spend the day exploring the city. First stop was the Perth Mint. Got a little historical chat, see an extensive coin and gold bar collection, try to lift a bar worth $2,000,000 and watch a gold bar be made. I also got to measure how much i would be worth in gold, and the verdict is $2,786,312.

After the mint i took a walk to the pier where the bell tower is. Listened to the bells ring while i ate cheese and crackers in the shade and then i sussed out (haha aussie slang) prices and whatnot for a ferry to rottnest island for tomorrow. The weather here is beautiful, i cannot see a single cloud in the sky, so hopefully tomorrow will be equally as nice so i can have a pleasant bike riding, snorkeling and exploring day.

Although i do wish I could share some of these experiences with someone else i'm actually having a great time travelling alone. It also means that i am completely responsible for what I do or do not do.Because i tend to try and make other people happy it's sometimes hard for me to figure out what it is i would really like to be doing, so it's a good challenge and it's kind of fun to see what i end up doing when there's no one else here to influence me. example- I went to an art gallery on my own volition = O. there are suprises around every corner.

Tomorrow i am off to Rottnest Island and friday my student tour starts. I'll try to update again soon : )

Springing into break

After a lengthy decision making process about what i was going to do for spring break (Thailand-Fiji-America...) I finally settled on Western Australia. I'm heading off to Perth on tuesday to start off, where I'll spend three days in the city exploring/sightseeing/or whatever. On friday i'm heading off on a student tour up the western coast to Exmouth. Along the way sandboarding, hiking, feeding dolphins, and other shennanigans. Looking forward to warmer weather (25 degrees C/mid to high 70's F), relaxing, having fun, and meeting new people. Hopefully by the time i get back the cold weather in Melbourne will have ended.

10 weeks left!!! OH MY GOSH!

Life happenings:
-I went to see a theatrical performance of Mary Poppins last week- it was awesome!
-I'm really glad i played IH volleyball. In the inter-collegiate competition girls won the first two games and lost the third, boys lost-won-won-and then lost.
-Melbourne Uni Angels (*dance biscuits*) won the Grand Final softball game against the Red Devils
-I am strengthening friendships this semester and slowly recovering from the sense of abandonment left after Dajah, Becky and Tyler moved back to the US.
-Kat moved back to Hong Kong and now i have to watch True Blood on my own

Other things that are new:
-My knock-off converse
-My jeans
-A few songs in my itunes library
-My drivers license renewal sticker

Get dirty

I've been trying to find time to sit down and write another entry all week.

Summary of what's been up-

Last weekend we had a 3 hour 8 minute softball game that finally ended with us winning by one point in a triple tie breaker. the umpire wanted the game to be over as much as the rest of us, you should have seen the relief on her face when we scored the final run.

I can't even remember what my school week entailed but i can say with 98% certainty that i DID go to class and do all the other stuff that i was supposed to do. In between training for Footy, Softball AND Volleyball. The weather in Melbourne is slowly but surely getting warmer. Even though we have the windy and rainy days still, they are getting less and less cold (or so i tell myself).

On thursday we (some softball girls) went out for dumplings and (as usual) hilarity ensued. (Sorry if you don't get the jokes but i'm going to write them down anyway) Highlights of the night include Cara and her "wank bowl" (supposed to be "mank bowl") and the restarant BLASTING the happy birthday song every 30 minutes. We were going to go to Section 8 (the outdoor bar next door to the dumpling place) afterwards but we were tired so we got dessert instead and then Tina drove us all home : D I appreciate car rides so much more now that i have to walk/ride the tram everywhere.

In Comparative Animal Physiology we got to manipulate toad hearts which had been extracted from the bodies and were beating without any external innervation in an ion solution. SO COOL!

Friday night Tommo came with me to see the IH play "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and Saturday I spent in the mud with the IH girls footy team, went on a failed quest for new shoes, and went out for Kat's farewell party in the evening.

Today (Sunday) we scored another win for the Melbourne Uni Angels (*dance  biscuits*) and we are going to the grand finals next weekend!

I'm sore, happy, and off to bed :)