AUS: Fri Feb 25th 5:25am / T.O: Thurs Feb 24th 2:25pm
Back in Australia for round 2. Cannot quite believe I'm here yet, Christmas/winter holidays went by so quickly; the next thing I knew I was standing at the airport with 2 suitcases larger than me, unsuccessfully holding back tears and kissing Darren goodbye.
It was easier and harder to leave this time around - plus side: I've got great friends and school to look forward to when I arrived - and amazing roommates, Sara and Leyla - no more living with boys in first year uni who don't know how to tidy up!!!
the down side: leaving everyone at home :( BUT, I know how quickly it went by last time and that everyone will be there when I get back. I also realized that this time around I'm not missing out on any big life changing events, ie: weddings, babies being born, which makes it that much easier.
To update...
The flights:
went as well as possible I suppose ... I still hate flying. we departed Toronto an hour late b/c the plane we were leaving on did not arrive on time. We hit what I thought was the worst turbulence I've ever experienced. Due to our late departure I only had an hour at LAX to catch my next flight. by the time we taxied around and everyone got off the plane (I was at the very back of each flight) I had 10 mins to get from terminal 2 to terminal 7 and through security before my flight to Sydney started boarding... bit of a panic at this point. I found the terminal, the nicest security man in the world let me jump in line at the security check point and once I was cleared through I ran, and I mean I ran - all my belongings in my arms - including my shoes b/c they make you take them off in the US - and I ran through the airport to my gate in my socks. I boarded my plane to Australia with 5 mins to spare before they pulled away from the gate.
I sat beside a really nice woman on the way to Sydney, and her two young kids; and despite the fact that her 1 1/2 year old was screaming his head off when we were taking off her finally settled down and actually slept for most of the 15hr trip. I will never again complain about the length of my trip - she had come from Halifax with these two small kids, starting with a 4 hour drive to the airport, a connection in Chicago which got cancelled and re-booked for the next day, the flight to Sydney as well as Brisbane that I was on and then she was driving them 5 hours north, so they could attend her sisters wedding. I don't know how she did it.
I had thought the turbulence on the way to L.A. was bad, that was nothing compared to what we went through on the way to Sydney, I thought the plane was going to bottom out, we were swinging back and forth and up and down and it would last for 20 mins at a time and I was slightly terrified.
The flight from Sydney to Brisbane was only an hour and we litterally took off and then 10 mins. later had begun our descent - best flight I've ever been on.
The Apartment:
When I arrived at the apartment, I'd forgotten how Amzing it is!!! It's clean and spacious with laundry and a dishwasher. We have potted plants on our balcony and the huge selling feature: I can see the ocean from where I'm sitting!!!
As I was up so early this morning I thought about walking over to the beach and taking some pictures of the sun rising but settled on doing that tomorrow insead and thankfully I did b/c a couple of minutes ago it started pouring rain.
Later today once the sun is fully up I plan on taking pics of the apartment to post for everyone to see, and lets be honest, a little jealous of as well :D Yesterday afternoon I went swimming in the pool and it was awesome; nice and warm but very refreshing.
The Weather:
Hasn't been as hot as I'd thought - though it's in the 20s each day - and it's been cloudy, raining on and off since I arrived but everyone keeps saying it's a nice release from the heat - just as I'd suspected last year, I just missed the hottest two weeks in the country where it's impossible to sleep and you sweat just from the energy you use breathing. Looking forward to many sunny days at the beach and by the pool.
The Floods:
There isn't much evidence of flooding where I am; on the way up from the airport you could see some marshy/swamp lands that looked full but from what I could see there isn't much damage. Aparantly the Sunny Coast is positioned in such a way that any and all flood waters flow right into the ocean. I also found out that Brisbane never flooded; all that footage on the news about an inland tsunami sweeping cars away - was in a town 40 mins. outside of the big city, so imagine Oshawa actually getting hit and the whole world hears that it's Toronto. There is still a lot of relief work being done in areas where the flooding was really bad, but most of the water has receeded at this point.
School:
I went to campus yesterday to pick up some things ... an agenda, a buss pass (this year they gave out $70 free - which is about 5 weeks of back and forth to classes - horray) and my textbooks. As far as I could tell I've only got two textbooks, one of which I'm buying used from my old roommate for a cheaper price; my other two classes just require us to download readings each week. Classes start Monday; we already have assignments due the week after - I've got thursdays and fridays off, in which time I may either get a job or try to catch up to Sara who's got the most amazing tan from staying here all summer.
I saw my first kangaroo since arriving back on campus; it never gets old!!!
Will post some pictures later today; the internet's as slow as ever so we'll see how the uploading goes - fingers crossed!
As always I'm excited to hear from home so let me know how you're doing,
xoxo
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