Spin me right round.

I learned in class a long time ago that in the southern hemisphere the water rotates clockwise. Apparently, it does.

The Good Life

We have been attending classes for some time now, which meant that spring break was on its way! I booked a tour with STA travel that took about 30 students down the east coast of Australia. The trip lasted a total of 2 weeks. I can positively say without any hesitation that this trip was the most incredible experience of my life!

First stop was the Tully River for some white water rafting! They served us lunch half way down. It was a wonderful time.

Second stop was Cape Tribulation and Port Douglas. One of the most beautiful beaches ever! I found a long piece of bamboo and used it to entertain myself as a pole vault for a while. The crabs roll up little balls of sand all the way up and down the beach creating some great photo oppertunities. I convinced a few of my friends to wake up at 5AM that morning and catch the sunrise from the beach! It was awesome!

Third stop was Carins to see the Great barrier reef! The water looked exactly (if not better) like the pictures. It was warm and had all sorts of awesome critters swimming around. I got to do some Scuba diving. It was great! Underwater the visibility is as far as your eye can see! I couldn't believe how perfect it was. Magnificent fish and huge sea turtles swam beside us! We also saw a blue whale on the way out to the reef (Which is actually not on the beach. You need a 40 min boat ride to 'the outer reef'). There is a great the picture of the whale at (www.philippmasur.blogspot.com). Philipp got the shot just as the tail was raised going into the water. Perfect timing!

After that we went to a zoo called "The Rainforest". There was a little confusion on my part. I felt a bit mislead by the title. I though we were going to the actual rainforest! hahah. Although it wasn't exactly what I was expecting, it was pretty cool to see some native Australian animals. Plus, I got to see Kangaroo's doing the dirty...

Then it was off for a 3 day sail boat cruise in the Whitsunday Islands. Snorkeling, eating, drinking, lounging, and visiting pristine white sand beaches pretty much sums it up. The picture with the 3 guys doing ninja moves is one of my favorites. Those are my 2 good friends Philipp (Germany(www.philippmasur.blogspot.com)) and Matty (New Jersey). There is a little video to go along with this one! The video is touring around the boat saying hello to everyone on the way to our first's night destination. We listened to tunes and hung out on the deck. It was PRIME.

CLICK FOR VIDEO:

Then came Fraser Island. BEST camping trip ever. We were given 4X4 trucks and set free from the ferry we took from the mainland. We were all excited to go and explore and camp anywhere we wanted on the island. We spent 2 nights on the beach and woke up to the sound of crashing waves. I have to give a shout out to the DELICIOUS DINNER that we made. Matt, Philipp(www.philippmasur.blogspot.com) and I all decided to treat ourselves to steak, mashed potatoes, and corn on the cobb. It took about 3 hours to prepare on our single tiny flame (no campfires allowed :(.)and tiny pot. However, I would be lying if I said if it wasn't the most delicious dish ever! Worth every second! With each bite was a few grains of sand that will forever remind of us of Fraser Island. The beach there is actually concreted a highway as well so we were able to drive down the beach at 80 KPH! The Moheno ship wreck was a hi light of the camping trip. A friendly Aussie offered to drive us down the beach at night so Phillip (www.philippmasur.blogspot.com) and I could take some photos of the Moheno Shipwreck. We did a 7min exposure painting the ship with light and Philipp (www.philippmasur.blogspot.com) spelled Australia with a flashlight.

You can see a VIDEO clip of Fraser Island on my Facebook Page.

After camping we headed to Brisbane. Everyone was a bit tired and grumpy beacuse of the 12 hour bus ride through the night. We arrived at 6AM, after a long walk to the hostel with our luggage we found out that we couldn't check into or hostel untill 2PM. We decided to make the best of our time and adventured around the city. I was getting a bit tired of taking "Typical" pictures, so i decided to get artsy by doing some zoom blur shots (you spin/zoom the camera as you take the photo). I also experimented with some blurry photography.

(SIDE NOTE: Forgot my wallet on that Greyhound Bus. By the time I realized the bus was long gone. I went to the front desk to see if there was a wallet that was found. He rang the bus driver and asked him to check to see if my wallet was still there! It WAS! Luckily the bus driver was coming back later that day. He brought it back to me! With everything intact! I love Australia, I feel like anywhere else and it would have been long gone.) So these are pictures taken in the City of Brisbane.

Then we went to the "Steve Irwin Crocodile Zoo!". We saw his whole family host the main crock show. It was a great show. I wish Steve Irwin could have been there himself :( . It was really sad how much the Irwin family are surrounded by videos and things to constantly remind them of their father. It must be hard to loose your dad and still see him everyday on the screen. The kids, Bindi and Robert are awesome though. They are crazy about wild life! Apparently Steve Irwin dedicated a lot of himself to the conservation of wildlife here in Australia and around the world. He is one Aussie celebrity that the people love! Unlike others such Russell Crow. Who was actually born in New Zealand (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000128/bio). AmericanIZED Australian actors are not looked well upon here.

We ended in my favorite little town of the trip "Byron Bay". We walked up to the lighthouse and took some beautiful photographs at sunset. On the way we met some backpackers and did some "slack roping".

I have had the opportunity to meet some great people and share wonderful experiences with all of them. There seems to be a special bond that forms amongst a group of friends that is experiencing such magnificent things. Long lasting friendships are built within a short amount of time. Our Pictures are a reminder of an experience that changed us forever.

-Jeff

Sailing!

Today Mike's (My Aussie friend) dad took me to his yaught club. He helps crew a 44 ft. sail boat named "Toy Box". Without knowing I was actually showing up on a race day! So I got to race the boat around the Sydney harbor with the crew! It was amazing. I did my best to do waht everyone yelled at me and not fall overboard. We ended up getting first place! Afterwards we went to the club and had a few drinks and basked in our victory. It was the best day ever.

Sean Being Sean

I have dedicated this post to my roommate Sean O'Sullivan. Any pose he attempts to make quickly becomes his "bitch". I knew from the moment I saw his face he was destined for greatness in the modeling world. At times Sean becomes confused as to wither he is being filmed or photographed. Either way it makes for an AMAZING photograph, or a hilarious

video.

NIght Shots!

I finally got a tripod in the mail that I ordered of eBay! I was so excited to go out and snap some photos down at the harbor. Hope you enjoy!

The Toilet

The "Toilet's" here are a bit different. They have two flush buttons. The LEFT is a half flush (to conserve water), and the RIGHT is a full flush (for the larger items). Watching the water spin the opposite way is pretty cool too!

I went to Bondi Market with Jill and Dehanne, my new friends from International Communications 201. We decided to take a Sunday and tour around some of the tide pools on N. Bondi Beach. The pictures of them are taken on the beach, the other picture is a bowl of jelly beans I came across in the market.

Melbourne Trip

This weekend our CEA Travel Group got to go to Melbourne! WE all flew there from sydney and rented a van to do a bit of touring around. The first day wen went to the 12 Apostles. I have never seen such a beautiful coastline in all my life. We found a few cool spots to take some group shots as well. We stayed in a place called Apollo Bay. I woke up with the sunrise that morning and was rewarded by a magnificent rainbow that stretched across the entire sky! Apollo Bay has been my favorite place in Australia thus far. It is a quaint little beach town filled with local shops and bakeries. Everyone was very nice there. I will definitely own a house there one day. Let me know if you want to visit!

Melbourne Graffiti Tour

Gettin' Round Town

Since I have arrive I have found that buying a "Travel 10" pass is by far the easiest way to get around. The travel tell lets you ride the bus 10 times. It cost $15, and then I buy train tickets separately. The money here is great. It's seems to fly out of your wallet. It is almost like Monopoly money, but turns out it is ACTUAL money. On the days that I am lucky Mike will pick me up and drive me around. Driving on the other side of the road is crazy! I always walk to the wrong side of the car to get in. I am not sure if i will ever get used to seeing cars coming at me from the other side of the road. I flinch every time.

The Tim Tam Slam

Tim Tam's are a hugely popular treat here in Australia. They consist of 2 chocolate covered wafers with caramel/chocolate between them. They are possibly the best treat I have ever tried. Someone recently told me how to do a "Tim Tam Slam". I am not 100% sure if this is actually an Aussie thing to do, but it's good fun anyway. I have created this tutorial video for anyone who is looking to take a walk on the wild side, Australian style.

Jump It!

This weekend was the first time that I have ever seen a bridge that lifted up so boats could go under it. Traffic stops for about 10 minutes and everyone gets out of their car and relaxes. I took some shots with the bridge at its maximum height.

Awkward Judgments

Yesterday I was walking through the mall near campus to withdraw some money from the bank. On the way I passed a dollar store called the "REJECT SHOP". Since everything is so expensive here I couldn't resist. After wandering around for a bit, I found a kit to make balloon hats and dogs ect. I was excited! I dint have much to do so I bought the kit for $2 and walked to a large grassy area by a lake on campus.

I found a friend and we began to attempt to fold the balloons into little animals. My first attempt was a failure but it kind of looked like a guy with a big Penis. So I drew a face on him, giggled and set it down next to me on the grass. I began to blow up another balloon as a big gust of wind came and carried my Penis Balloon Man swiftly across the lawn. It was too fast to chase. I watched as the Penis Man floated into a girls arms that was talking to her friend about 100 yards away. Her initial look was one of uncertainty. She glanced up to se my friend and I laughing hysterically while giving her the "neighbor wave". I yelled "You can keep it!" Pretty sure the didn't think it was funny. She was one ungrateful Aussie.

Moral of the story is: Don't make Penis puppets on windy lawns.

Above is a recreation of the Penis Balloon. I also attached a picture of the grass lawn in front of the lake.

The Different Lingo

This weekend was great. My Aussie Friend Mike picked me up from Bondi and we went to his house with an awesome view of the bay. We hung out with some of mikes good Aussie friends and discussed cultural differences in a collegiate manner. Over a brew or 6. I have begun to pick on most of the lingo/slang they use here. At first I felt like it was almost a second language. I have made a little list of words that are different here than in America.

WORDS:

Drunk = Pissed

Watch your step = Mind The Gap

Had a meal = Had a feed

Sketchy = Dodgy

Pharmacy = Chemist

Cooler - Esky

Flashlight = Torch

Right? - Ehhy?

Beer = Brew

Friends = Mates

Most of the words I have picked up casually in conversations. Some I have to stop and say "WHAT???"

THIS IS MY STORY USING ALL MY LINGO: I was pissed at the pub last night and didn't mind the gap to the train. I had just had a feed with my mates. We got onto a dodgey train. My friend Mike, a Chemest luckily brought his torch because the lights on the train went out. Luckily my mates were all there. I don't know what I would have done if I were solo.

Video Entertainment!

Trips

It's hard to believe that I have only been here 2 weeks. I feel as though events from the beginning of the trip happened ages ago. My first week of classes were a breeze. The teachers only went over the syllabus for the course. On friday most of the other American students don't have class so we decided to go to Manly Beach. A group of about 20 of us all made our way down and had a great time (even though the weather is still a little bit cool). I was able to take some great photos while I was there.

There were no plans for the weekend and none of us had much school work we decided to take a 2 hour bus ride to the Blue Mountains. They are called the Blue Mountains because of the acidic haze given off by the trees that cover all of the landscape. We were able to get a group of 12 mostly American students to go. When we arrived at Katoomba station we found a hostel and checked in before we went hiking. The room we rented in the hostel had 12 spaces exactly! Everything worked out perfect on this trip. No missed trains or busses or people. We couldn't have had a better time if we had a tour guide. It was perfect the way it was. We hiked from the tops of cliffs to the bottom of waterfalls snapping pictures the entire way. I took some great waterfall shots that I was really anxious to post. We also went to see the 3 Sisters. It was a great look out point and a great place to buy some ice cream and sit on the dining porch and take in the scenery.

*I made sure to take a roommate picture as well.

Hope all is well at home. Cheers!