Aussie Land

Hey guys, I'm back from Australia! It was amazing. The beach was beautiful and the weather was perfect - hot and sunny every day I was there.

Of course, not everything was perfect. Once I finally got to the hostel I was staying at, I realized that it wasn't going to be the nice relaxing week I had envisioned. There were people everywhere and music was blaring all day every day, not to mention the fact that the "hot and sunny" weather made the un-airconditioned rooms nearly unbearable- not really my cup o tea...at least not when I'm by myself. So the first couple of days weren't too fun to be honest. I mean the mornings were great - I would go down to the beach (which was right across the street) and lay out for about 3 hours and then I would walk around town, get some lunch, and maybe do some reading. But then I would run out of things to do and have to go back to the room I was sharing with 3 crazy guys.

So I ended up leaving the hostel and going to a place that rented out one bedroom apartments - my own full size bed, bathroom, kitchen, and living room. Good stuff. I felt so much better from then on out. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the beach and walking around and then coming back to a nice quiet place with an amazing view.

My fourth day there I went to the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. Definately the highlight of my stay. I walked around that place for hours looking at the exotic birds, dingoes, tasmanian devils, echidnas, wombats, crocodiles, and, of course, the koala bears and kangaroos. Such amazing creatures. The best part was that they had the kangaroos free to roam around ( within a certain boundary) so you could walk right up to them and pet them or sit with them. It was so awesome. There was a big group of them lying around and I just walked right into the middle of them and took pictures and pet them. They were almost like dogs, rolling around on their backs so that you could scratch their bellies. I was all smiles.

And then if that weren't enough, I got to cuddle with a koala. Oh yes, thats right, we cuddled. Ok so I had to pay $15 to be able to, but I'd say it was worth it. And I got a professional picture. We were so cute. He had his little arms around me and his little head was on my shoulder. I thought I was going to cry.

But, alas, now I am back in New Zealand. Well, to be honest, I'm glad to be back. I was craving some social contact. Not that there aren't people in Australia - there are actually too many of them - but I wanted my friends. Also, I can finally say that I am truly glad I came to NZ instead of Australia (which you may or may not remember I was having an extrememly difficult time deciding between the two). I mean I liked it, but I think I would have gotten bored because I would only have the city and the outback would be really hard to get to without a car...Australia is just too big to be able to do as much travelling as I have been able to do here.

So there it is...my last big adventure for a while. I'll be back in the States in 9 days! Woo hoo!!