The New

Melbourne is unlike any city I’ve ever been into in my life; not only Australia. Half of this city is straight Aussie- a Pieface on every corner, every other block has a shopping mall area,

and there are pubs and Asian restaurants everywhere. But, the other half of the city is more like Europe. The city is broken down into sections and precincts. There is an arts district that has museums for every kind of art buff out there, sculpturesalong the river walk, and historical churches and buildings to tour. It’s an amazing city with so much to offer and with only a limited amount of time, I’m not sure mom and I aregoing to get a chance to see it all, but we’re trying our best.

We arrived late Sunday night and decided it was a good idea to rent the car right away instead of waiting until Tuesday. We didn’t instantly regret the decision, but we definitely didn’t fully think it out. Mom freaked out a little while driving throughthe city especially since every intersection has a right turn from the left lane… figure that out. We managed to find our way and only got lost twice! Our hotel is basically located in Chinatown, which is really cool if you’re in the mood for any form of Asian cuisine, but on Sunday we were just hungry. We found an Italian restaurant a few blocks down from the hotel and ate amazing food. Thenwe looked across the street and there was a James Squire Brewhouse, so we headed that way for a sampler of their signature brews. It was a lot of fun. We knew we were in the right place for us when we could order spicy peanuts, a paddle of 6 different kinds of beer, and Adele came on the radio.

Monday we woke up with absolutely no idea what to do. We read some of our tourism books and figured out where the most popular places in the city were, so we headed those ways. We walked about 5 miles around the city, down the river, around the sports stadiums that line the city, and then took a free tourist shuttle back to find something to eat. Like I said, Melbourne possesses many similar qualities to European cities. When we hopped off the Tram, we walked a little ways and found this small alleyway that was bustling with cafes and people. There were tables all along the side of the alley and there were people sitting outside drinking coffee and talking. It was adorable! We walked around the city more to see some sites and then headed to the infamous Young and Jackson Pub located right in the middle of Federation Square, the busiest spot in the city. We heard that Melbourne was home of Australia’s largest casino, so we decided to go there for dinner and a look around the place and man they weren’t kidding, the place was huge! We had a lot of fun walking around the casino and testing one of two of the roulette tables, but we didn’t play too much as Tuesday held a busy schedule.

Although it was raining, mom and I made the most of our experience down in the southern part of the country. Victoria is a lucky state because it has the coast, rainforest, and outback areas all in small vicinity. We took the car out of the carpark and made started our five-hour journey toward the Twelve Apostles, one of Australia’s numerous nature-made marvels. The Twelve Apostles are limestone rocks that have broken off of the cliffs from the ocean and are now standing free in the water. They truly are a sight to see and even though we risked our

lives going out onto the viewing platforms in 100km/h winds, we wouldn’t have wanted to miss it. To get to the rocks you have to drive along the Great Ocean Road, another famous landmark in Victoria. The road was built by WWI veterans as Australia’s tribute to their hard work in the war. It was a seriously curvy road and the high winds certainly did not help the car’s stability, but the view along the cliffs towards the ocean were incredible. Mom let me drive on the way home, which was probably not in our best interest as I took an American right turn into oncoming traffic while pulling out of a gas station. I must say, once I got over my nervousness, I was much better.

The highlights of Wednesday were going to St. Paul’s Cathedral in Federation Square- an absolutely exquisite Anglican church in the middle of a metropolitan city. Another highlight was finding a pub to watch the third deciding game of the State of Origin. State of Origin is a three game series between all star rugby teams from Queensland and New South Wales. Noticeably, people in Victoria don’t care too much considering their state isn’t involved, but I’m a true Queensland fan, so the game was a big deal to me. (The Queensland Maroons won again, obviously.) Thursday morning mom and I woke up slightly hungover and before the sun even rose to start our trek to the capital of Canberra. First though, we had to visit the largest outdoor markets in Australia. The Queen Victoria Markets in Melbourne stretch for about four or five blocks in both directions. We shopped for souvenirs, fresh fruit, cheeses, olives, basically anything you wanted. Although Thursday was the first day we had seen the sun and the first day it hadn’t rained, but that doesn’t mean it was warm. It was so cold that mom and I had to get fresh hot doughnuts from a little stand (they were SO GOOD) to stay warm. After getting some great stuff for cheap, we hopped back in the warm car for our drive. The drive was pretty and there were mountains and hills that reminded me slightly of New Zealand. There were even sheep, but who are we kidding, there will never be as many sheep farms as NZ anywhere in the world! Tomorrow we are touring the Parliament building and then driving to Sydney for our last week. I cannot believe that it’s been two weeks since my mom left home and almost two weeks since she’s been here. I must admit, I’m getting eager to go home at this point, but we have a lot planned for Sydney and if Cairns and Melbourne were a precursor to anything, we are going to have a lot of fun.

The Re(ef)peat... See what I did there?

It’s now June 30^th and I’m in Cairns again. This time, however, I’m not nervous or a stranger. I’m in a familiar land showing my mom the ropes of the Australian way of life. Day 1 in northern Queensland it rained. The first day of rain in June and we had just stepped off the plane. We took a shuttle to our apartment, set our stuff down, and proceeded to find a way back into the city. I remembered Cairns as being a small city with a lot of different shops, bars, and restaurants with not many people. Cairns is set up in very square blocks that reach all the way to the water. Mom and I walked towards the water first and admired the little man-made lagoon along the waters edge. Surprisingly, I could not get a grasp of how the blocks were located, most likely because I’m used to Boston where the city streets have little order and are narrow and winding. We poked around the shops before deciding it was time to eat and have a drink. We stopped in a restaurant called Rattle and Hum to have some lunch. We continued walking around the city a little more, still exploring the mostly unknown territory, had a few
drinks and then headed back to the apartment for the night. We decided that it would be better to plan some activities for the upcoming days, as the weather did not seem to be cooperating.Day two we awoke to a cloudless sky! We threw on our bathing suits as fast as we could and literally ran down to the beach. Unfortunately, the sky stayed nice for alittle over an hour and soon enough we were soaking wet with rain yet again. Instead of going back to Cairns right away, we walked around Palm Cove and I finally got a Bali Bintang singlet I’ve been wanting forever! When we were fairly hungry, we took the bus into the city again and had a snack. Then, we channeled our inner Australian and had a few drinks before inhaling the most delicious Thai food ever. It was still quite early after dinner so mom and I decided to do what we do best (kind of): we gambled a little at the casinoin Cairns. We played roulette and won almost $5! We had planned a big day for Thursday so we headed back to bed. We awoke bright and early on Thursday morning, boarded a shuttle bus, and were off to the small rainforest town of Kuranda.

Before we came up to the rainforest area, mom had said that she really wanted to hold a koala and pet kangaroos, so we found a trip that allowed us to do both while also admiring the town

of Kuranda. We took a scenic, historic train ride up the mountains before arriving in the village. We shopped around in the famous Heritage Markets of Kuranda. They literally had everything in the markets! Then we went to the koala gardens to hug, feed, and pet all the native Australian animals. Mom and I made friends with the cutest wallaby! Leave it to us to find the most amazing scones in all of Kuranda, served with cream and jam and then have delicious hot pies for lunch. Finally, we escaped the rain by taking the Skyrail down the mountains. The ride was unreasonably cloudy and at one point we couldn’t see anything in front or behind- kind of scary! The Skyrail stopped at two different lookout points, though the second there was little visibility. Overall, we had a really fun day.

Tanya had hooked us up big time for a reef trip on Friday morning, so we woke up around 6:30am to board a bus into Port Douglas. The weather was still not cooperating, but we risked the trip anyway. After overdosing on motion sickness meds and eating our weight in ginger snaps, mom and I boarded the Quicksilver SilverSonic along with 45 high schoolers, who clearly had not taken any medication. The water was rough and, I’m not joking, about half of the people on the boat had to utilize the white paper bags offered by the staff. We quite possibly experienced the most unique trip to the reef. Not only was the water choppy, but at our first stop it started down pouring while we were snorkeling. We had a lot of fun and saw some amazing fish, coral, and shells. At one point, one of the crew members were feeding an enormous fish they nicknamed Old Greg and everyone got to pet him! On the way home, the captain stopped the ship because a humpback whale had breached right in front of our ship. The funniest part of it all was that the other Quicksilver boat showed up right next to us and it turns out Tanya was working there! After finally getting our feet on solid ground, mom and I headed into Port Douglas to have some dinner. And then the most exciting thing happened- TANYA SHOWED UP. Ok, we had kind of planned it, but it was still so awesome. I realize that the last time I had seen her was about 7 days previous, but it was still great to hang out for a little while.

Saturday morning mom and I went to a little café in Palm Cove for brekky and then took a small shuttle back up to Port Douglas for the day. We had a really fun day shopping, walking on the beach, and watching some footy games. Tanya met us for a quick second for our final goodbyes (which I’m still sad over, btw) and we boarded our shuttle around 9:15pm to get back to the apartment for last minute repacking. Now, it’s Sunday afternoon and I’m on a plane to Melbourne for the real adventure to begin. Cairns was an amazing five days and despite the weather, mom and I had a lot of fun. It’s a very bittersweet feeling for me. I am excited to go home in eleven days, but I don’t want to leave this amazing place. Not only that, but leaving Cairns means actually leaving Tanya and the warm weather, but I am on my way to Melbourne; the iconic city of Australia and somewhere I’ve never been. Mom and I had a conversation earlier that made me realize how much this place has become my mom. She asked, “how long do you think it takes people to not notice the Australian accent? A few years?” and I answered “Only a few months. I hardly notice it anymore.” And it’s true. I also find myself using Australian expressions like reckon, heaps, keen, and so many more.

The Beginning of the End

My mom arrived at the Gold Coast Airport bright and early on June 25^th slightly jetlagged, but excited to finally be in Australia. I’ve been anticipating my trip around the east coast of the country for a while and I was excited for it to begin. We began out journey on the Gold Coast for a few days. On Saturday night, mom, Julia, and I headed into Surfer’s so we could finally get to the top of Q1. Q1 is the tallest building in Surfer’s Paradise, but it is also the tallest residential building in the Southern Hemisphere. Looking at it, the building doesn’t seem that tall and I can think of at least 5 skyscrapers off the top lf my head that easily would dominate it, however, the fact is that Q1 is the tallest residential so every floor contains apartments, not offices and cubicles. From the 77^th floor of Q1 it is easy to see over 20km on either side. It was a lot of fun for me and Julia to spot all the places we have visited in the past four and a half months; shopping plazas we’ve been to, the rugby stadium where we cheered like mad for the Titans even though we had no idea what was going on, and the airport wherein a few short hours she would be headed to go back home to Rhode Island. After admiring the view for a little while longer, we headed back down the fastest elevator I’ve
ever been on and met my mom. The three of us went out to dinner and then headed back to the Village. Mom was pretty tired after two days of traveling so while she was in bed, the girls and I played some games while remembering all the fun times we’ve had in Australia. I sent them off at 3:00 in the morning, not as sad as I was when saying goodbye to Tanya, but slightly emotional nonetheless.

The next day, mom and I got some breakfast and then I showed her around the area of the Gold Coast I knew best. We did a little shopping in Harbour Town and then headed into Surfer’s for the night. I took her to two Irish pubs (Waxy’s and Fiddlers, obviously) and introduced her to my favorites of Australian beer. She prefers Pure Blonde whereas I’m still partial to Toohey’s New. On Monday, our last day on the Goldie, I thought it would be fun to show her Brisbane. I’ll be honest, I’m not too familiar with Brizzy, but we managed to get a walking map and find our way around to all the places I had seen before and thought she would enjoy. We walked probably four miles altogether from one side of the river, over a pedestrian bridge, down the river, back over another bridge, and then all over shopping area in the city. We stopped at a little outdoor restaurant, had a beer and some nachos while we people watched and discussed how Australian people are quite the attractive race. After we took the bus to the train and back on the bus to school, we had to pack up five months of my stuff into two suitcases under 20kg. Needless to say, we were up late and didn’t even accomplish our goals, but it was time to move on from the Gold Coast- the place that had become home to me. I’ll always have a spot in my heart for that area of Australia. It served me well and I don’t think there is another time in my life that I’ll be able to appreciate all the Goldie has to offer than I did at the young age of 21.

Tuesday at 1:45am, mom and I woke up to a fire alarm, which I guess was the Village’s final goodbye to me. Three hours later, my alarm went off and we had to get up to catch the bus to the airport. Anyone who has used Translink will understand that the bus ride at 5:42am to the Gold Coast Airport was the most miserable ride of my life. I don’t understand why there were so many people awake at that hour taking public transit to the airport, but it was terrible in my opinion. If the bus ride wasn’t enough to put me on edge, it turned out that our flight to Cairns was an international flight so we were supposed to have been there over two hours in advance, not the 45 minutes we had allotted ourselves. We, along with a dozen other passengers, were rushed through one set of security and then the international security and customs and finally boarded the plane with five minutes to spare. The flight was luckily short and the process to go through customs once we arrived in Cairns was shorter. We finally arrived in our apartment. The apartment is in a suburb called Palm Cove and is about forty minutes outside of Cairns. It’s a cute little place, but it gives the Florida resort type feel with families of children ages 10 and under everywhere. Since it’s the dry season up in Northeast Queensland it should be beautifully sunny with a temperature of 25C everyday and not a cloud in the sky, but alas it is not. It has rained every day we have been here. I talked to Tanya yesterday and she said there had not been a rainy day in June until the 28^th. We had all of an hour on the beach and then it started down pouring, but mom and I have been making the most of it… More on that later.

The Lasts

The week after all my finals and before my mom arrived on the Gold Coast became solemnly the week of lasts. Our last Shooters BBQ and bus ride, our last beach day, our last trip to Brisbane, our last goodbyes. It was an adventurous time for me and Julia (because everyone else still had finals), but it was an emotional time for us all.

My finals ended on June 16^th, which meant that I had free time between then and the 25^th to do things I didn’t have a chance to do while during the school year. Julia and I decided to take advantage of the amazing winter weather the Gold Coast has to offer. Almost every day we woke up there was not a cloud in the sky and we could find no reason to spend any time inside. One day we played mini golf and then went for our final trip to Sumo Salad and our last trip to Broadbeach. It was one of our “adventures” that we created for ourselves. We tried to go hiking, but it turns out the Goldie is a fairly flat area of Australia. Another day, we headed to the beach and on that Thursday we just laid by the pool all day. Cathy’s mom was in town for two weeks, so we decided it was necessary she act like an authentic Australian. Me, Cathy, Julia, and Cathy’s mom headed to Brisbane for the day and then went to an Australian Rules Football League game that night. We watched the Brisbane Lions play even though we didn’t understand one rule of the game. For our last trip to Brisbane, Julia and I stayed at her friend Elyana’s house because we were in the mood for another fun adventure.

Elyana lives in an area of Brisbane called St. Lucia, which Julia and I decided was one of the cutest suburbs ever and if we come back to Australia for good we would seriously consider living there. That night Elyana took us to a bar called the Stock Exchange, which was unlike any other bar I’ve been to. There was dance floor on the bottom floor, but once you headed up stairs the whole bar was outside. Granted it was a little cold, but I had to take in the view. From the top floor you could see the entire Brisbane skyline. It was really amazing. We decided to have some fun in the bar so Julia, Elyana, and me ran around telling anyone who would listen that it was Elyana’s 21^st birthday. The funny thing is that it was anywhere near the time of her birthday, but everyone believed us and bought her drinks. We had so much fun on Saturday night that we couldn’t help staying another night; considering it was an “adventure” and all. Sunday night Elyana took us to a hotel bar called the RE. This place was also unique. Almost the whole bar was like an outdoor patio and there was a band playing. In Surfer’s Paradise we sometimes go to a bar called Beergarden to watch a band called Venus Envy and while in Brisbane the craziest thing happened: Venus Envy was playing at the RE. It was a really fun and relaxing environment, but it was a Sunday so the bar closed fairly early. Regardless, we had a lot of fun and it’ll be a weekend I never forget.

The Tuesday after our amazing weekend in Brisbane was one of the most fun, yet most sad nights we’ve ever had. Every Tuesday the housing complex I live in drives us to Surfer’s Paradise for a night at a club called Shooters. Our little group has had some of the most fun times at this club and Tuesday was one to not forget. It was all of our last Tuesday night and Tanya’s last night at Griffith, so we needed to make it amazing and I’m willing to say that we certainly did. During my study abroad, I have made friendships with many people, but most of them are just fellow Americans studying the same way I am. Tanya, on the other hand, is from Port Douglas and is the best Australian friend I will ever have. She left Griffith on Wednesday morning at 4:45am. Cathy, Julia, Jenna, and myself decided to stay up all night and send off Tanya because we don’t know when is the next time we’ll ever see her again. The five of us have become so close these past five months and I know my experience down here would not be even close to as fun or the same without Tanya. It was an emotional goodbye to say the least. It was an odd feeling, especially for me. I knew that I would see the other four girls again, almost all the time once I get home because we all live so close together, but Tanya lives in Australia. However, I knew that I was coming back up to Cairns and would most likely make plans to see her again. Nonetheless, it was sad.

Cathy and her mom went to Sydney for the 22^nd to the 24^th so it was the Three Amigos for a little while. Since my friends were moving out soon there was really no food left in any of our houses. On Friday night, Jenna, Julia, and me cooked up broccoli with garlic and mushrooms, cut up carrots, celery, tomatoes, and cucumbers and considered it dinner. Honestly, it was the least filling dinner of my life, but the fun we had making it was enough. After Tanya left, the next exciting event was having my mom come. She arrived on the Saturday before all my friends left for home. I was excited for her to meet them, but I was sad to see them all go. It was nearly as emotional as sending Tanya off at 4:30am, but I did watch them leave around 3am on Sunday morning. Like I said in the blog from Byron Bay, I can’t imagine my time in Australia without these friends and I realize now more than ever that it’s true. Without them here it’s like something is missing. My mom and I are having an absolute blast and I am not sad or eager to go home yet. I want to enjoy my time in this amazing country as much as I can, but I definitely wish that my friends could be around to experience it with me. If you guys are reading this know three things: 1. I’ve been listening to “Fast Car” on repeat while writing this, 2. you’re the best, and 3. July 15^th is going to be a reuniting we never forget.

p.s. Tanya…. You’re coming to the states ASAP- no excuses, play like a champion.