Week 11...

…my week off from classes! I haven’t had any school-related obligations since this past Wednesday (the 23rd), when I went to my last class. I have turned in all of my major projects and completed the dreaded marketing pitch. The pitch went quite well, as it should have, considering we worked on it for FOREVER. I think I met with my group more than I slept the few days leading up to the presentation. Our teacher and the bar owner really seemed to like what we had to say, so hopefully our grade reflects that.

Friday was Anzac Day, a huge public holiday. (Anzac stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps…I think). It’s very similar to a combo of our Memorial Day and Fourth of July. It’s the only day of the entire year a game called Two-Up is legal. Two-up is a gambling game where in all of the pubs, people are gathered in huge circles, with some sort of monetary bill in their hands, either on their forehead or their bum. You find someone with the same bill as you, and a coin is flipped. If it’s heads and you’ve got your money on your forehead, you win! Sounds like a great way to loose money to me…

Anywho, I didn’t play Two-Up. We, the Standard Six, as we’ve been dubbed, (Perri, Kari, Dana, Joanie, Jillian and myself) headed over to the Blue Mountains for the day. We had arranged a 6.30am (yikes!) taxi to pick us up, but it never showed! We started walking down the hill and managed to flag down two taxis to drive us over to Circular Quay to the McDonalds where our tour bus was to pick us up. We got there a little early, so I hightailed it to Starbucks to get a Mocha (my new love). $6 and three sips later, the WonderBus shows up…and Daryl the Driver informs me no coffee on the bus. I was so bummed! We drove around to Central and Museum train stops to pick up the other passengers and were on our way!
The first stop was Featherdale, a wildlife place where you could get up close and personal with koalas and kangaroos! We got a photo with the koalas and then went on to feed and pet the kangaroos. We fed them out of ice cream cones...Random. We spent about an hour playing with the animals, then looked through the souvenir shop, and I got a coffee (this one I got to drink!) We loaded back up on the WonderBus and paid for our trips. We made our way up to Leura, an adorable little town, where we all got lunch. I had the BEST pumpkin soup…for $12. Ouch. Oh well. It really was tasty. Leura was so cute, I wish we would have had time to shop around there. The weather and turning leaves made it feel like a true autumn (not fall…Aussies will laugh) day. We could see our breath!

After lunch, we continued on the bus deeper into the Blue Mountains. It was a little worrisome, because it was still incredibly foggy. We thought we wouldn’t be able to see a thing! We reached a place called Scenic World, and everyone but Perri and myself ventured off on a hike down to the valley. Perri still isn’t feeling that well, and thought it’d be best if she didn’t do the hike, so I went with her on the Big Three: a scenic skyway, cable car and incline railway. We rode the scenic skyway across Jamison Valley, where we were able to see the Katoomba Falls. The waterfall was gorgeous! Then we jumped in the cable car and rode down to the valley. It was crazy. We passed through a level of fog and could see really well! Once down in the valley, we walked through the rain forest to the railway. I made Perri sit right up in the front with me, and the other girls ended up being on the same train. It was crazy, going up backwards at an almost 90 degree angle (okay I don’t know that measurement for sure, but that’s sure what it felt like!). Back up at the top, we met up with Daryl the driver, and I got a good laugh when he lost his coffee…how’s it feel to not get to drink the coffee you wanted!! :)
I’m too mean.

We stopped at another scenic lookout to see the Three Sisters, this cool rock formation which is supposedly the most visited spot in Australia! The next stop was a small family run winery on five acres of grapes where we did a small wine tasting. Then back in the bus to head to Olympic Park, home of the 2000 Olympics. We jumped out for a few minutes to take some photos, then caught a ferry out of the wharf there. Of course, because it is us, we missed the next ferry to Manly…But oh well.

Here are the photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2198584&l=0c98e&id=22414798

Perri and I finally booked our accommodation for the after-trip to New Zealand and Fiji. Hawaii is thankfully being planned and taken care of by Maria G., a fellow GV girl, who is going to be living there this summer! When in New Zealand we’ll be staying in Auckland here: http://www.thequadrant.com And Fiji…we will be proud guests of the Outrigger: http://www.outrigger.com/hotels-resorts/fiji/outrigger-on-the-lagoon-fiji

Now the fun begins. I told myself after I finished this I would start studying…gross! I’ve got one exam this Thursday, one on Saturday, then next Tuesday and Wednesday. At least they are pretty spread out, right?

Hope everyone is well. My time in Australia ends in eleven short days, and I’ll be back in the States in twenty-three!

Cheers!
MJ