Kicking In

So since the 13th of February, 2013, I've pretty much just goofed around. I've had a few readings here and there, but things have been a breeze academically. Well, now that we're into the second half of the semester, school is somewhat kicking in. I have big papers due soon, and the standards here are much different. We pretty much just have two or three assignments that make up the entire grade for the semester, so I've decided to get a head start on these papers, for the most part. I know I'll be fine, grade wise, but forcing myself to do homework when it is finally cooling down and beautiful outside is a challenge! Oh well, I'm sure I'll find it in myself to crank out these aimless assignments.

To my Witt friends, good luck on finals! You've all worked so hard all semester and I am sure your hard work will pay off in the final stretch. Miss you all!

Xoxo
SZ

Semester Break: Fraser Island and Byron Bay!

For the week long lecture recess, my friend Thea and I went to Fraser Island and Byron Bay! Fraser Island is an island off the coast of Rainbow Beach, consisting of 98% sand and 2% rock. All of the hikes we went on were sand paths, as opposed to the mud/dirt ones I'm used to! So that added a little resistance to all of our hikes. The first day was crap, weather wise, but it was nice to see the island. Days two and three was  phenomenal. We saw so much natural beauty!

Byron Bay was really fun, but much slower than our Fraser Island trip. We went to the beach a lot and looked in all the cute shops. Nothing was a chain, so that gave the town a nice edge. Friday, I went SKYDIVING! It was unreal. Nothing like I've ever experienced before, words can't even describe it! Hope you all like the pictures.
XOXO
SZ

BEAUTIFUL day...

Day two...much better!

Fun group!

Indian Head lookout

So much sand! WITT!

Ship wreck

waterfall lookout

Matilda, our kanga' friend

 

Hanging with Stu

I DID IT

Beauty as far as the eye can see

This weekend was definitely a highlight of my semester Down Under. We spent Friday to Sunday on a Catamaran out on the Great Barrier Reef. We left Cairns to head to Port Douglas on Friday afternoon and set sail in the evening around six o'clock. The water was a little rough and we got splashed heaps of times. After getting to a calm area, we dropped anchor for the night. The spot we ended up for the night was right next to the island where Steve Irwin was pronounced dead, so that was interesting. Scary because we were VERY near the area where he was stung, but also special because he was such an iconic person. After playing some games, well all went to bed. It was so nice sleeping on the boat! We had some rain on and off all evening and into the night, but it was so wonderful to sleep with an ocean breeze! Nothing beats an ocean breeze!

Saturday we woke up and immediately put on our suits, sunscreen, and sat out on the nets. Great way to start the day! We spent all of Saturday going out further in the ocean to see more and more reef. We stopped to cook breakfast and continued to lay around in the sun and swim/snorkel. Before my Australia trip, I had never snorkeled before. There is seriously a whole other world below the surface of this massive body of water. You never see the same scene twice while you're underwater. For dinner that night, Ryan, the guy who owns the boat, cooked fish that he caught literally 30 mins. prior to dinner time. Talk about free range and fresh! We had a great dinner then laid out on the nets to watch the stars. It was so clear out that you could see millions of stars. I even saw my first shooting star...it was BEAUTIFUL. I was sure to make a big, special wish. We were all pretty tired after a long day of fun in the sun, so we went to bed early.

Sunday morning, we were all up and awake by eight. Again, we just put our suits and sunscreen on and started our day! The water was pretty rough all day, so swimming and snorkeling was pretty though. Strong currents and big waves lead to some hard conditions. Two girls got taken out pretty far and had to be brought back by the little dingy boat. They were fine, but it was kind of scary. I also had the chance to do an introductory scuba dive which was really cool. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it, but I thought it was amazing. We got up close and personal with so many different kinds of fish, coral, etc. After we were all done with swimming, snorkeling, diving, etc., it was time to head back into shore. We were told it we had a six hour journey ahead of us to get back to Port Douglas, where the boat is docked. Didn't seem like too bad of a ride especially with the pretty sky...well, it got dark....and rainy...and EXTREMELY rough. I didn't time it, but it took us ages to get back. Really, really big waves and lots of wind going in all different directions made for an interesting ride. Many people felt sick, and understandably so. Once we finally made it back, we were all really relieved and drenched.

Such a great, great weekend.
Hope everyone is starting to enjoy SPRING weather!
XOXO
SZ

Lookout point en route to Port Douglas

Quite the view

Fresh air, the ocean, and the REEF!

:)

Dinner!

Prettiest sunset I've ever seen.

Swimming with Elyse!

You're Not You When You're Homesick

What a weekend it was! Friday morning, I left Cairns at 7 AM to head to Townsville to catch the ferry to Magnetic Island. I was really excited to get going and see this island! We got there and got settled and did some looking around. Where we stayed was very close to the beach, so that was nice. We then saw a bird feeding which I found kind of gross, but that is probably because I'm not the biggest fan of birds. Then we had a BBQ on the beach for dinner which was really fun. Because it was a holiday weekend, the beach/park was PACKED, so we had to wait for a while to grill, but it was okay. Then we sat on the beach and watched the stars for a while, which was really nice.

Saturday was a rough day for me. We started off by having this amazing breakfast and had some animals join us, and I FINALLY held a Koala Bear! He was only about a year old, so still pretty tiny and soft. It was such a cool experience. But back to way Saturday was rough. I didn't really know anyone on the trip this weekend, and for the first time, it hit me that I am 10,000 miles away from home. It's not possible to drive home for the weekend. I'm not going home anytime soon, and no one is going to be visiting me from home. No matter where you are, even in a place as cool as Australia, you can't help but miss your family! After that settled in, I just started crying. A wet, slobbery, not cute, SOB FEST. It was pathetic. I let that go on for about 30 seconds before talking myself out of it, then walked to the beach. And started sobbing as I walked to the beach. I would have called home, but having zero service and no wifi on this island got in the way of that. Then I started crying again, and decided it was necessary to pay for some wifi. So I sat in a SUPER BUSY public park PACKED WITH FAMILIES on a public holiday and called home SOBBING. I'm sure everyone was looking at me, but no one asked if I was okay....my leg could have broken and no one would have known...anyways, after I cried for a while to my mom, I walked around a little more and went back to take a nap. I slept for three hours. After my sob fest and marathon nap, the group climbed to The Forts, which is a lookout point at the island. It was refreshing and beautiful! The views were absolutely spectacular. We even saw a few wild Koala Bears which was super cooooool. That night, we went out to dinner and had ass hole waiters, but that's a whole different story. Got a free meal out of it.

Sunday, we spent the day at Alma Bay. We had lunch, played lots of cards, and went swimming. It was a really fun day. At night, we bought the BBQ at the hostel and met some people from AMERICA, England, Germany, and of course, some Aussies!

We left Magnetic Island today and got back to Cairns at around 5. Back to reality tomorrow...sort of. Another four day week!

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter Weekend back home.
XOXO

SZ

PS: I got a grip and am no longer homesick. 

My new friend, Pebbles!

Horseshoe Bay

On the way up to The Forts

Getting higher! 

Alma Bay

Sunday at Moore Reef

Had an early start today and headed out to the Outer Reef of the Great Barrier Reef with Ashleigh. The Sunbus was really late picking up this morning...how shocking. We still made it with plenty of time to catch the 2 hr and some odd minute ferry. NOTHING is more fun than a 2 hr boat ride with people puking all around ya!!!!!!!! Because of yesterday's heavy heavy rains, the ocean was really choppy, causing lots and lots of sea sickness. The crew on the boat was really helpful to those ill individuals, providing barf bags and all! Once we got the our location, the boat docked to a pantoon. It was a big covered area with tables and benches, and all of the gear for snorkeling and scuba diving. Ashleigh knew a girl working on the boat who gave us a free tour of the reef! We went outside of the designated boundaries, learned about different species, and saved $35! Great way to start off the morning. Unfortunately, the choppy waves threw us around quite a bit so it was really tiring to stay out for a long time. We saw thousands of beautiful fish and a GIANT clam. We touched the clam and it closed up and made a noise! It was so cool. Luckily, we pulled our flippers out fast enough :) At the end of the day, when we were SO close to going in for the day, we saw a really big sea turtle! Biggest one we've seen yet.

All in all, it was a fun day out at the reef. Before coming to Australia, I had heard a lot about how the reef isn't what it used to be due to Global Warming and the lack of ozone over Oz. All of it was true. The coral is mostly brown and dried up looking. It's definitely still interesting to see all of the different kinds, but the colors are all pretty much gone. There are still a few small corals that are more hidden and protect which still have their color. But for the most part, things are pretty brown.

Week 5 of classes starts tomorrow! It's only a 4 day week because of Good Friday. I've just been working so hard academically that a 4 day week will be great. We also have Easter Monday off, so two four day weeks! What a relief!

As many of you probably know, Ellen Degeneres is here in Australia. I'm hoping she'll come up to Cairns to see the Great Barrier Reef! Who does the voice of Dori then just doesn't come up here!?!!??!Nuts. My friends and I are guessing she's making Melbourne and Sydney her public outings then coming up here as a secret. I don't know what I'd do if I ran into her! The possibility is just too exciting to think about.

Stay well, everyone!
XOXO
SZ

:/

The past few days have been kind of tough for me. A few days ago, I learned that my ex-brother in-law was dying from the effects of Alcoholism. It never occurred to me that David would die from this, I always thought he would hit rock bottom and make a comeback, being there for Brendan, my nephew, down the road. He passed away a few days ago from liver failure. This news was just shocking. I wasn't sad for me, but sad for the emotional trauma on my sister and nephew are going through, and thinking what is to come down the road for them. Even though they were no longer together, this has been really hard for Lisa. I feel awful that I'm not home to be of some comfort for my sister. I know there's not much I can do, but it's just hard being 10,000 miles away from home during this time. The rainy weather we've been having lately here in Cairns has not been much help. Hard to stay distracted when you're stuck inside.

Today, I went to breakfast with my friends and Jacqueline's parents who are visiting from out of town. I was supposed to later go to the Cairns Tropical Zoo, but the continuing Monsoons are not letting that happen. I've done some shopping (bough 1 litre of sunscreen for $9) and cleaned my room a bit, but that's about it so far. I'll probably do some pleasure reading soon, get off this computer!

Tomorrow, I am going snorkeling at the Outer Reef, which is supposed to be beautiful! Hopefully, this rain won't mess things up too much out there. I'm also considering getting certified to scuba dive down here. Definitely have to do more research, a lot of companies here all offering different packages.
XOXO
SZ

please send lots and lots of love to Lisa and Brendan <3

My Apologies!

Sorry, everyone. I haven't been writing lately because Blogger hasn't been letting me put up pictures! Blogs are no fun without pictures! Since I last wrote, I went up to Kuranda with my IFSA Butler group. We took the Skyrail up which was really cool! It was a gondola through the rainforest. Once we got up to Kuranda, we did a little shopping and had lunch in the rainforest! Kuranda is a cool little town with shops and souvenirs ranging from opals to didgeridoos. It was really fun to look around at some authentic Australian goods. After we spent the night in a cabin/lodge type place, we went down the mountain and went white water rafting which was so fun!

This week has been pretty typical, class and the beach :) Rough, I know. I also am in the process of planning my semester break trip! My friend Thea and I are going to Byron Bay and Fraser Island. We've heard nothing but great things about it, so we're really excited to head down to Brisbane.

I hope everyone has a great weekend celebrating St. Patrick's Day! I met some Irish guys out last night and of course we talked about the holiday, and how it's a MUCH bigger deal in the states. It's not really a big deal down under, either. Hope everyone on Siesta Key has a great time celebrating! Feeling left out on this one, no doubt. Can't wait to hear all of the great jokes that are shared  :)
XOXO
SZ