Australia Day (Jan 26th)

Okay so two days ago was Australia Day. And if you ask me I have no idea what this meant. To start of the day , My roommate Jarek and myself went walking around Broadbeach right outside our apartment which is beachside. We saw many, many bar bq's and plenty of people enjoying the beach and sun along with guitar playing and football playing. (thats soccer not NFL) After walking around for sometime eating Kebabs, we decided to test our luck with drinking in public. After being stopped by a few police on golf carts, we were told that drinking in public is illegal and can carry a $100 fine. they let us go and told us to 'tip out out beers'. They were pretty nice about it and we were told later that usually long the beach and in tourist areas, they don't allow it but will turn a blind eye in other places. Soon after nightfall came in and we headed to a house party in Navies Beach (sp) where our good Australian friend Will was to meet us. Once arriving we were greeted with a 2 story high "beer" bong which tasted a lot like jager (which is ended up being). We stayed there for awhile bonding with the locals and asking around what the idea behind Australia Day was. No one could really tell us why except for the fact that Captain Cook arrived here on that day or something or the other. Either way, we got drunk and bitten by bull ants (which is a nasty big ant that stings like a bee) Even two days later i still have a bruise on my foot from it. Now its Friday 630pm and I am going to get ready for a long weekend at Byron Bay for a Surf trip. Until next post...

Arrived in Broadbeach Gold Coast

After much delay again, I've decided to blog more about my time here in Gold Coast. After luckily booking a ticket with the Study Australia group from Sydney to Gold Coast, I was able to finally join the others on our final flight to our destination. Was interesting to be traveling on my own thus far and meeting the others in sydney on my own while luckily finding them file off a bus at the Vibe. Hulling around two backbacks (one in front and one in back) I was greeted by my to-be roomates and definitely was an intersting first impression im sure ha. Back to the Gold Coast.

Arriving here, we had a week to ourselves to get used to our new homes and surroundings for the next 4 months. Right accross the street, i noticed right away that there was a casino called Jupiters, this could be bad, however so far, hasn't been as evil as i thought. We situated ourselves in our rooms which were about 2 blocks from the beach. First couple days were rainy but it has cleared up nicely (around 80 degress each day and sunny most of the time). Arriving finally at Bond University, which is one of the most beautiful campuses ever, (again ill post pics soon) i was hurded through lines grabbing classes left and right, taking pics and printing ID's. I blinked my eyes and i was enrolled as a full-time student at a college i barely knew anyone or anything about. This is how life has been the past month. Miles from anything recognizable and making friends with people who i don't know at all. This is the beginning of something that'll be with me for the rest of my life. We then were encouraged by locals to buy what is called a party pack that the school provides. yes the school provides social events revolved around partying. So this was a week long orientation that the school sponsors. The first night was a toga party at the ON CAMPUS bar called Don's. Following that were a Bright and Tight Party which was bright clothes and tight pants or whatever. They had bar b q's in between and they ended it all with a beach day right near my apartment. I dont think i heard once about academics in the orientation at all (although i am doing that part mom and dad!) So much has happened in such a short time that I am already forgetting so much. I recently began trying to surf. All these famous places like Snapper and Kirra are stone throws from my living quarters and I only keep telling myself to surf for those who can't and only wish they could experience the waves that my rookie-legs will. Fast forward to Jan 26, today, is Australia Day. This should be good as there are parties down the road at Surfer's Paradise and also Burleigh Heads, just the opposite direction. Ill try and remember as much as I can and to try and make my blogs shorter and more organized . But my life is so sporadic right now and so is my writing so we'll see.

Sydney, Australia. Dec. 30th-Jan. 5th

Been meaning to write this post for sometime, however, just after 16 days of being here, finally decided to. First I arrived in Sydney after a long ride from LAX (15 hours). Met a really nice elderly man from California on the flight who talked to me about how he is a snowboard instructor and has a grandson who also studied in Oz as well. After landing in Kingsford Airport on December 30th, i took a train from there to Central Station where i was to stay at Bounce Hostel on Chalmers St. Didn't know what to expect since I came earlier then the group flight for my program. After settling in the hostel i made friends with a few locals and plenty of British people. Traveled around the city a bit , going to check out a few gardens and of course the opera house and harbour. For New Years Eve, I went and checked out the fireworks from the botanical gardens i think it was called? and watched the fireworks at the harbour bridge. Didn't have the best spot but it was good enough for spending NYE in one of the best cities in the world. After that day, however, i was to spend the night at the hostel Jan 2nd but for some reason it wasn't booked for me. So one of the guys working at the front desk said he wouldn't mind if i just slept in the lounge area. I was perfectly fine with this and was very appreciative. Around 3am though, another shift came in for work and this fucking prick tried kicking me out. I explained my situation and he wasn't willing to listen AT ALL. so i basically told him how bad of a person he was and left. Turned out for the better however, the bars are open til 6am or so in Sydney so I went and met some locals and enjoyed my time. One of the last days that I was in Sydney i met 3 dutch girls in my hostel who were really cool and showed me around. We went to a bar down the road called 3 wise monkeys. They had a theme there which is Speak no evil, See no evil, Hear no evil. And each floor was themed to each saying. hear no evil was the dance floor area with bands that played (one hit wonders played there and they covered every possibly 90s song, pretty cool) see no evil was the top floor where they had cheap drinks (apparently u get real drunk to where u cant see) and speak no evil was the chill,lounge part of the bar. After that day the dutch girls departed for the south of australia in their newly bought car for a road trip.

Jan 5th finally came around when i would meet all the other Americans for my trip. Met my roomates Andrew, Jerek, and Derek whom i connected with quickly. It was pretty good how we got set up. So we had our orientation in Sydney where they treated us to dinner most of the nights (first time i had Kangaroo...realllllyyyy tender and good) Also the beer they serve here is good for the most part, just expensive. So far Carlton Draught is my favorite. Victoria Bitter and XXXX Gold are the cheapest and this box wine they have here (nicknamed Goon) is $10 for 4 Liters. Not bad. So the next day we went on a walking tour of sydney where i took many pictures that i'll post soon. After that day we went to the Blue Mountains (which i will post pictures of soon as well) we hiked around a bit and went abseiling (or repelling) down a cliff that was roughly 200 feet!!! and of course of all people that went down, i ended up flipping upside down, hanging 200 feet above the ground. Needless to say, i was freaking out but tried to keep my cool since freaking out would only make it worse. I corrected myself and continued to enjoy a magnificent view of the valley below hanging that far off the ground. Crazy experience. The last day we ended it with a cruise around the sydney harbour bridge and said our farwells to the city.


oh and i almost forgot that i met some local skateboarders at the Anzac Memorial in Sydney. They were nice guys , ended up skating back to their place nearby, had a drink and a smoke with them. Later the next day I went and checked out Bondi Beach too which was crystal clear, not too crowded, and plenty of surf.


Off to the Gold Coast for 4 months....