Back to Sydney from the outback

I had a crazy and long vacation from school in the outback. Honestly, it was really hard at times, but now that I am outside of my experience waiting in the Alice Springs airport, I learned a lot from my experience. I traveled with 3 classmates on 3 three day tours (do 9 days on touring plus 2 days of travel). We started with 3 days in Kakadu from Darwin, continued from Darwin to Alice springs for 3 days, and then traveled to Uluru from Alice Springs for the last 3 days. I am exhausted, but the following are highlights of why I did:

Day 1:
- swam in rock pool
- Swam in waterfall park (Florence falls)
- went on crocodile cruise on a billabong
- saw termite hill cemetery
- swam in a real pool

Day 2:
- visited aboriginal cultural center
- aboriginal rock art/ 360 degree views
- cave swimming and cliff jumping

Day 3:
- Jim Jim falls swim and hike
- twin falls swim and hike

Day 4:
- saw famous dead buffalo on the road and witnessed an incredible sunset
- 4 hours kayaking

Day 5:
- thermal pool under a bat colony
- pub with zoo and museum
- 1st pub in northern territory
- witnessed baby kangaroo rescue and held it in a blanket by campfire to stay warm without its mother

Day 6:
- devil's marbles
- 1st telegraph station in the northern territory
- kangaroos!!!

Day 7:
- camel ride
- hike kjata tjuta
- saw sunset at Uluru
- slept under the stars (the brightest I have ever seen!)

Day 8:
- sunrise at Uluru
- walked around Uluru (5k), as well as with aboriginal guided tour
- Uluru cultural center
- salt lakes!
- swimming!

Day 9:
- hiked king's canyon (3.5 hour creek walk)

As for wild animals, I spotted:
- kangaroos
- horses
- dingoes
- eagles
- crocodiles
- cockatoos
- water snakes
- various lizards and birds
- emus and camels (not in the wild, but I thought they were really cool to see at rest stops)

I feel like I have a lot to do when I get back to Sydney and I am very happy to have both phone an Internet access again now that I am getting out of the middle of the desert! This week, I have 4 field trips coming up including a weekend trip to Canberra.

A domani!

Tuesdays are Beachdays

I went to the beach today since I didn't have class or any concrete plans. I started at Coogee Beach and did the walk for the second time to Bondi Beach. It was a really nice day and it was really nice to go outside. I spent a lot of time just sunbathing after the walk. I also saw dolphins jumping and a seal chilling in the water at Bondi. Other creatures were eels captured by a fisherman on the rocks, crabs scurrying, and a lizard on a rock. It was exciting to have so many sightings. I also liked taking the time for myself to really just relax. I actually wasn't stressed at all and got a bit of reading done. When I got back to my room, I ate a ton and watched Cider House Rules. I feel obligated to do some homework, but I really don't want to. I kind of just want to spend time at the beach drinking smoothies and tea and watching really amazing movies/ reading a really great book. This is what I consider an ideal day. I also wish I had some dogs to play with (like my own). That would be nice.

Also, my zoo article got published (the thing where I fed a giraffe and pet a quokka and seal, and touched some other weird Australian critters): http://nyunews.com/index.php/2012/09/24/zoo/.

Lazy Sunday

I think it is in my nature to worry and think I am never doing enough- I could always be doing more of something. I bought a few groceries before my trip to the outback (very excited! and I leave Thursday), did my laundry, and cleaned my room a bit. I also finished quite a bit of homework, so I felt that it was a well deserved trip to Bondi Beach after skyping with the parents this morning. The beach was really nice- but then again, it seems like every day's weather is nice in Sydney compared to the 4 seasons of New England, USA. For the rest of the weekend besides chores and reading for class, it was lots of tv and relaxing- the way I like to spend my time. I feel like I should be trying to get ahead in my work all the time, but the saner part of me tells myself to chill out and live a little. I have been thinking a lot about what I want to do my last week in Sydney. I was thinking about either volunteering or traveling some more, but I think volunteering won't work out. I need to look into it more, but it seems like positions are either for events or long-term commitments. I will look a bit harder, but I am not seeing anything promising so far. In terms of travel ideas, I am thinking Nadi, Fiji or Christchruch, New Zealand. I still really want to go to Phuket or Bali, but I keep telling myself I can go when I am older because the flight prices are so much more expensive than to Nadi or Christchurch from Sydney. I am also thinking about staying in Australia and doing either Gold Coast or Brisbane. I also want to go to Melbourne, but I think that it is something that I might do for a weekend rather than a few days time. I could also stay in Sydney and chill at the beach all day, but I am trying to really take advantage of my time here and consider many possibilities.

Free food, art, laser tag, and working out

Thursday morning, NYU Sydney gave me free food because we met the new director of our program and the food was sooooooo good. Omg. Yes, all I am focusing on is the food. Then, I went on a field trip to the New South Wales Art Gallery. I liked the art, but I felt tired and walked back immediately after the end of our tour to go to sleep, but ended up finishing The United States of Tara on Netflix. Clearly, I have my priorities straight.

Friday, I slept in really late, did a bit of reading, and then played laser tag and pool (and even sang a little karaoke). It was fun, but I was a fan of the free food- pizza. Mmmmm. I went to sleep immediately after that, too. I have been very tired lately.

Saturday, I found out I will probably get to go to Israel on Birthright (but I still have an interview to do- which I am not sure if it is a 'get to know me' or 'are you the best candidate' type thing). It has been a long process, but I am trying to be positive. Speaking of positive, I need to start drinking more water and tea again. Anyways, after answering some emails, I joined 'Running Club,' which is a group that meets once a week to run and do other work out activities. I was a little scared, but I knew that there was free (healthy!) food involved and I knew that it was good for me, so I committed. It reminded me that I need to step up my regular workouts a bit. After, I played pool and actually won a game. For the rest of the day, I just want to get some chores like laundry done and get some reading done.

A domani!

A Night at the Zoo

I just spent last night and this morning at Taronga Zoo. I am actually writing an article on the experience, which I will post once it gets published. It was pretty fun :)

Fireworks and Snorkeling

After quitting my internship Friday, I went out with friends to a gay club called Arq. Even though I was supposed to be a wing lady for my gay friend, all of the gay guys loved me and were meh about him. One hot gay man called me beautiful, which made my night. In other shallow news about myself, Saturday I didn't do much besides read during the day. Later, I saw fireworks at Darling Harbor and played at the playground there- the best playground I have ever encountered in my life. There was a zip line, giant tire swing, a circley spinny thing, net/ climby thing, swings, slides, and everything else in the name of epic childhood-ness. Today, I went snorkeling at Balmoral Beach and learned rugby throws (though I am still truly terrible). I also got fish and chips, gave up on reading for my class that hasn't started yet for the day, and went to the gym. And now, I can't sleep. Mer. Other things are in the works like me writing for my school paper again. Again, major tbc. Arg. Love from this side of the world.

A domani!

The latest in my life

The last few days I have been pretty stressed because there have been quite a few changes regarding my academics. For example, I was supposed to go on a week long trip to Armidale starting tomorrow, but the trip got cancelled. I wasn't too heart broken, but I did want to go. Also, I found out one of my 14 week classes is being condensed into 10 weeks. As a result, my classes are getting flipped around all over the place and even I (who is pretty organized) am confused as to exactly what my homework is...

I also quit my internship this afternoon because I felt I was not learning anything. This decision was very stressful and hard for me to make, but I definitely feel like I made the right decision for myself. I still would like to gain international work experience, though I feel that I should be a certain caliber of work and treated  with respect. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders and now I can really focus on school (and some fun).

I am planning on going to the beach and going back to the Museum of Contemporary Art for my Aboriginal Art class.

The rest is in the future.

A domani!