Spring Break: New Zealand

Sydney Uni gave us a week off for spring break at the end of September (haha spring break in September... can I just say how lucky I am that I got TWO spring breaks in 2009) and after a lot of debating, my friends and I decided to go to New Zealand's South Island for 10 days. There were five of us on the trip: me, Kate, Kayla, Erin, and Jon (Erin's friend from Bryant). We flew into Christchurch, which is a city at the top of the South Island and ironically the name of my preschool. Flying into NZ was incredible - there were huge white clouds covering the sky and once you got below them, it was farmland with mansions everywhere. New Zealand in the Maori language (which is the natives' language) means "Land of the Long White Cloud" and boy were they spot on with that name. I've never been in a more cloud-covered place, except for maybe Chicago in the winter.

When we landed in Christchurch, we took full advantage of duty free and made our way through Customs which, for any competent adult should be a breeze but we managed to have problems. First problem was that we hadn't printed out our itineraries, so customs didn't believe we had plans to actually leave the country and were worried that we would avoid immigration and stay illegally in the country. Ok, I understand that that's a concern for many nations but honestly, a country with a 10:1 sheep to person ratio really shouldn't be worried about having a few people slip in. Kate, Kayla, and I quickly managed to convince our Customs Officer that we would, in fact, be leaving the country soon, but Erin and Jon faced more trouble. Eventually the stubborn officer let them in. Next we had to get screened with our bags and customs cards. I mistakenly had ticked "No" to the question "Did you pack your bags yourself?" and had to be cross-examined. Then, seeing the sign that says "No fresh fruit or vegetables allowed past this point." Jon went to get rid of his apple, but Erin decided to put it in her bag in case he wanted to eat it later (no one really understood this decision). And, naturally, she got detained for trying to smuggle in fresh fruit across the border. Not only did they confiscate her apple, but they input her into a database of border criminals. Finally, after a whole bunch of turmoil, we were allowed into New Zealand. Oh, did I mention how we almost missed our flight because we couldn't find Kayla at 6:45am when we were supposed to leave for the airport? Yeah. That happened.

But alas we were in Christchurch! And wow was it cold. NZ is a lot more south than Sydney and we had expected it to be cold, but it really was bitter. We walked around Christchurch a bit, realized there wasn't too much going on there, and took naps. At night, we went to the casino, where Kate won $25 and I broke even (not a huge feat on 2 cent machines). The next day, we picked up our rental car and started our drive down the island towards Queenstown, which was our base for the next week. I won the "I-shot-driving-first" war and got to drive on the other side of the road (which is what you're supposed to do in NZ... I wasn't doing anything wrong, promise). It was weird driving on the lefthand side, while being on the right side of the car! I got used to turning (after a few near-misses), but the hardest part was not going off the road on the left side. It was hard to realize how much car you have to the left of you, since I was used to having all the car on the right of me.

We stopped at a few places on the way to Queenstown including a beautiful deserted beach, an old house with this interesting statue, and the city of Dunedin. Dunedin is a small city by the ocean and is home to the Cadbury Chocolate factory, Speights Brewery, and the steepest street in the world. We visited the chocolate factory, but were 10 minutes too late for the last tour so we just explored the store and the fun exhibits. We later found out that the factory doesn't actually make chocolate anymore, only enough for the tours to sample. So basically it was one big lie but that's ok, I still got yummy chocolate. After seeing the factory, we thought about driving up/down the steepest road, but seeing as our car could barely function on normal roads, we decided it was a very bad idea. So instead we just wandered around the city, which had some beautiful buildings and a few gardens. After eating dinner (sushi!), we continued down the road for Queenstown. It took longer than we expected and we found ourself in the middle of sheep pastures late at night with dwindling gas. Luckily, we made it to a gas station and was able to get to Queenstown in one piece (despite my worries that we were going to get attacked by killer sheep... or serial killers... whichever).

Driving down the island was beautiful. I highly recommend this for anyone that goes to New Zealand. It takes some time but it really is a magnificent drive. There are never-ending green rolling hills and you can see sheep for miles. As you get more south, the hills turn into towering mountains and there are flowing rivers and the ocean periodically makes an appearance. Definitely one of the prettier drives I've ever been on.

Our accommodation in Queenstown was in the Marina Apartments which are these really new apartments that are still cheap because no one knows about them yet. But they were great! We had 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a huge kitchen/living room combo, and a balcony. It was pretty luxurious for a group of students on break!

Our first day in Queenstown, we took the gondola up to the top of one of the mountains and saw the most incredible view over Queenstown. Kayla, Jon, and I decided to try hiking the loop path... and we failed miserably. We must not have followed the signs correctly because somehow we ended up on an overnight path. We realized this a bit into the hike and decided to take an alternative path... well at least we thought it was a path. At first it was a little bush-covered but we thought that was just its charm. As we got farther in, the path pretty much ended and we were surrounded by tall pines. We heard movement so I yelled out to see if anyone was there. Turns out we had walked straight into a lumber company knocking down trees. Awesome. We almost became part of Staples' supply of computer paper. The lumberjacks gave us directions out of the forest and half hour later, we were back to the gondola platform! After that adventure, we all went on the luge ride, and I am happy to say I came in first both times. CHAMPION.

Over the next week, we partook in an array of amazing activities. My favorites:

Canyon Swing: Similar to bungee jumping except that after free falling for 200 feet, you go into an arch/swing for 656 feet through the canyon. It's incredible! Not only is the canyon beautiful, the swing is a huge adrenaline rush. Plus, the staff is hysterical... except when you ask "Am I ready?" and they answer "Yeah... I'm not sure I hooked you in right... but yeah you're ready!". First I just jumped off and wow - I had never free fallen before and expected to feel like I was attached to something, but nope. It literally felt like I was plummeting to my death. For my second jump I did what they call the "Elvis Cutaway". Basically, they use a hook to position you laying down face-up over the canyon... and then unhook you and let you fall. I freaked out a little when they told me I couldn't hold onto ANYTHING (before I at least got to hold the strap) but it was awesome!

Jet-boating: We went jetboating in the Shotover River, which runs through the canyon I jumped into. At some parts the canyon is really narrow and I was amazed that our driver didn't run into the canyon walls at all. He did a bunch of 360 degree turns, most of which I was inches away from falling out of the boat. For some reason, I was the only person with this problem - everyone else was perfectly fine. I blame my seat choice.

Bungee Jumping: This was the scariest thing I have ever done in my life. Scarier than getting 8 surgeries. Scarier than having the police question me at that Halloween party in high school. Scarier than jumping out of a plane (that post coming soon). I can't really tell you why it was scarier. Maybe it was the fact I had to jump off this little plank towards a river 141 feet away. Maybe it was that the only thing keeping me from dying was a piece of rope tied around my ankles. Most likely it was the combination... plus when I realized that you end up UPSIDE DOWN, I freaked out a little. For some reason (probably the 3 concussions) I have issues with going headfirst. I almost backed out, but I took a deep breath and just jumped. And I'm so happy I did it - it was a lot of fun!

Paintball: I had never been but always heard that it was fun so we decided to check it out. At this place in Cromwell, there was a huge field with lots of broken down cars, tires, even a small plane! So we played two games in that field, which were fun but for some reason scary. It was like I knew I couldn't actually die and that it was just my friends shooting at me, but still your survival instinct kicks in. The third game we played in a kind of abandoned town setting and I felt like I was in Iraq. It was pretty freaky but a good time. I'm glad I did it - even if I had welts on my legs for weeks. Oh, and I was hit in the head with a paintball. Typical.

Wineries: New Zealand is known (maybe in the Southern Hemisphere only?) for its wine and there are a bunch of wineries around Queenstown. We visited a few, one of which also had a Cheesery that was delicious! I have a new favourite cheese = Balfour cheese! I ate almost an entire wedge of it.. and then got a stomach ache... probably because I'm lactose intolerant. Good one Jackie.

I really loved Queenstown. It was such a cute ski town with surreal scenery. I didn't get to pet a sheep but I later found out (at a petting zoo) that they aren't big fans of humans. So it was probably better I didn't hop the electrical fence and chase them. I had a great time doing all of the EXTREME activities and conquering some fears. The nightlife was also really fun and we had some great nights out on the town. It was everything I could've hoped for in my NZ trip. Well... except for the journey back. That was interesting.

So we were driving back from Queenstown to Christchurch and it started snowing really heavily (it was crazy - it hadnt even been that cold that day) and we were driving through a mountain range. Our car was a tiny sedan without 4WD. And... We got stuck. On a steep incline. And then another car got stuck behind us. A bunch of cars drove by us but none of them could do anything to help us and we tried calling roadside assistance but it wasnt going through. It also didn't help that just 600 meters down the road was a burnt out bus with crime-scene tape around it. Luckily a truck came through and cleared the road and we were able to very carefully do a like 15-point turn to turn around (we were also at a turn in the road over a cliff... great). Thankfully we were able to make it back down to Queenstown safely! We found the rental place and got snow chains in case we needed them again. After that fiasco, we decided to try a different route and luckily the weather cleared up and we were fine for the rest of the trip back to Christchurch.

However, when Kate and I went to return the rental car, we got to the place (which is somewhat close to the airport) but it was closed for the day. That was fine because we could just leave it there but we couldnt find a cab to get back. We were wandering around but there were literally no cars. One taxi came by, and I tried chasing it but it was either off duty or had someone in it. So we walked like 15/20 mins to the airport and followed signs for the taxis in the international terminal but it was deserted. Then we found a courtesy phone with taxi numbers but none of the calls would go through. Luckily we found a lady that worked at the airport and we followed her across the airport to the taxi line at the domestic terminal. Lucky break #2 for the day.

Our flight back to Sydney was fine... until we got to the airport and the bridge from the plane to the terminal was BROKEN. And they wouldnt let us get off onto the tarmac on stairs. So we sat there for an hour and a half just waiting to get out of the plane it was ridiculous. Finally after getting off the plane, we didn't think anything else could happen. But it only got weirder. Our cab driver packed all our stuff into the cab, drove out of the terminal and thentold us "Oh I really have to go to the bathroom so I'm going to drop you off on the side of the road and find you another cab because I have to poop really badly". Uhhh thanks a lot. AND he charged us $10. Although it was pretty entertaining watching him do a little dance in the middle of a busy street. Is that mean? I'm sorry.

But despite that mess of a travel experience coming back, it was an incredible trip. I loved New Zealand. Maybe I'll even move there someday... but probably not.

Where do they come up with things here?

I'm going to be updating on my New Zealand trip soon but I wanted to just share something with you. Guess what I found in a convenience store the other day? Kangaroo, Crocodile, and Emu Jerky... can you say delicious? Seriously, I don't know if it's because they're so far from the rest of the world but where do Aussies come up with this stuff?! I bought a pack of it to share with my family - so Kirk and Dad, get excited (as I'm sure my mom and Nikki will pass).

How I Got To Experience Australian Health Care

My birthday week was going great – I got to celebrate Monday and Tuesday night with all of my friends and was gearing up for my birthday dinner and “Jackie the Pub Crawl” on Thursday. That’s when it struck. Wednesday morning I woke up with a headache but I figured it was just because I was tired and had been out late. However, throughout the day it started getting worse and worse to the point that it was almost unbearable. After dinner, I took what I thought would be a short nap and woke up 3 hours later. I was feeling better so at midnight, my friends and I went to the local pub to celebrate the beginning of my real birthday. After 20 minutes, I started feeling terrible again and couldn’t even enjoy myself. An hour after getting there, we left and went to get Ayden’s (best late night Turkish food EVER… BK is no match for a late night kebab). I felt so sick I couldn’t even eat (that’s when you know I’m sick). So I tried sleeping but around 4am I woke up shaking, with the worst headache I have ever had, and feeling nauseous. I called my mom to see what I should do and she told me to go to the hospital.

When I got to the ER, they gave me some painkillers and told me to wait. Because I had gone out, they figured it was probably just a hangover. So I sat in the waiting room, curled up in a ball for a few hours. Around me was an interesting group of people – a girl with an IV who kept apologizing for last night (I assume she was too drunk), a man with a hand smashed in by a door, and an old man that wasn’t wearing a shirt and had cuts all over his face. After a couple of hours of waiting, I finally got to see the doctor. They decided to do blood tests and an intern came to poke a needle into my veins. I guess she hadn’t had much experience because it took four pokes in different parts of my arms to get it right. One of the times, she even started wiggling the needle in my arm; I could feel it pushing into my muscle. Eventually, she got it right. I was given an IV and a bed to rest in.

A few hours later, the doctor came back and said that, as a precaution, they were going to do a spinal tap. They didn’t expect to find anything but just wanted to make sure. I got changed into a hospital gown, they gave me morphine (that was funny) and some anesthetics, and before I knew it, I was out. I woke up an hour or two later to find my friends and Kat from Arcadia standing by my bedside. A doctor came over and I was informed that they found meningitis in my spinal fluid. Awesome. Meningitis on my birthday. This would happen to me.

I had to spend the night in the hospital, which is probably one of the worst ways to spend a birthday, but my friends were great. They brought the celebration to me by bringing me Japanese food, a cake, and the birthday packages I had received. After they had to leave because visiting hours were over, I tried sleeping but the one of the other patients in the room kept screaming on the phone about how the doctors weren’t listening to her. Apparently, there was some conspiracy against her…. The other two patients were much quieter: one was about to have a major surgery the next day and the other was a very old lady who seemed to be on her deathbed. I finally fell asleep but every hour or so the nurses woke me up to change my IV and take some more blood. When I woke up in the morning, I was feeling better and was able to go back to my apartment! I had to stay in bed for the next week and a half and take painkillers every few hours, but it was nice resting in my own bed and watching lots of movies. The meningitis affected my walking so I wasn’t able to walk or move too much for the next week. My version of walking was more a slow painful shuffle. Leaving the hospital, we flagged a taxi and asked to go to the village, which is only about 2 blocks away. Seeing where we were heading, the taxi driver started laughing and made fun of us for being lazy. You can bet he stopped laughing after I told him I was in the hospital and was unable to walk.

So I left my teenage years as a sickly hospital patient with a yet a longer medical history. But at least it makes a good story. I think the best part of being in the hospital on my birthday was when they doctors would ask when my birthday was to check the charts and medicine. The conversation went a little like this:

Doctor: Just to clarify, when is your birthday?

Me: Today.

Doctor: No, when’s your BIRTHDAY?

Me: TODAY.

Doctor: Ohhhh. Wow. I’m sorry. Well… happy birthday?

Pronunciation "mel bIN"

Sorry for the lack of updates! It’s been a busy month. Here’s what I’ve been up to:

For the first weekend in September, my friends and I went on a trip to Melbourne. We got there late Thursday night and were leaving EARLY Monday morning. We booked a room at a budget hotel in the city centre, but upon arrival, the manager informed us that we could only sleep 3 people in the room, and we had 4 people. We didn’t care about being cramped so we even tried sneaking the fourth person in, but alas there were no secret passageways. So we had to scramble all around the city trying to find another room. We found a hostel down the street so Kayla and Erin stayed there and Kate and I slept in the hotel room.

The next day, we took a free City Circle tram around the city centre to get a feel for Melbourne and see some of the sights. It was a really cute old tram and we enjoyed getting our bearings in a new city. Melbourne is a lot smaller than Sydney and is on a grid system, not Sydney’s messy, rugged, harbour system. After riding around on the tram for an hour, we got off and went shopping in Melbourne’s “funky” district. There were a lot of great little shops. I saw so much I wanted to buy I had to contain myself (something that took me a while to learn haha). A lot of the shops and cafes were in narrow alleyways, and it kind of looked like Diagon Alley. I found one alleyway that didn’t have any shops but was covered in graffiti art and hightops hanging from wires. I like a lot of street art but this was definitely one of the neatest things I’ve seen.

After shopping, we went to the observation deck on top of the Rialto Tower, where we saw all of the city and suburbs from way up high. It was beautiful and interesting to see the city from a different angle. It was also fun using the binoculars to creepily people-watch from the sky. You can see some serious close-ups of people on the street.

That night we tried our hand at the Crown Casino, which reminded me a lot of the Atlantis in the Bahamas. It’s a huge complex with a hotel, restaurants, food court, shops, cinema, and of course a massive casino. We went to dinner at one of the restaurants there and then made our way to the 1cent slots. I was pretty successful there (winning a whole dollar!) so I decided to move on to the big(ger) leagues: 2 cent machines. And there I won another 7 dollars! I WAS Lady Luck. Nothing could stop me. Getting bored of winning 40 cents here and there… I tried my hand at the $2 machines. And that is where my greed got the best of me. I lost it all… well, all $20 I had decided to gamble with. But at least it was a fun experience right? (At least that’s what my Grandma would say… I must have more of her in me than I thought.)

In the morning, we went to brunch in Federation Square. While eating, we kept seeing people in AFL (Australian Football League – a form of rugby) shirts and uniforms. When we asked someone, we found out there was a semifinal game that day between the Cats and the Bulldogs. We ran (well told a cabbie to speed) to the stadium and managed to score tickets! It had been a goal of ours to go to a sports game and luckily we managed to stumble across a big game. It was at the famous Melbourne Cricket Grounds, which holds 100,000 people! Insane. The game was really fun. AFL is such a ridiculous sport. There are so many people on the field and it literally looks like complete chaos. Medics and waterboys would run onto the field to talk to players DURING play. And when a team scored, giant (and I mean massive!) pom poms were swung over the wall by the endzone. We went into the game without any loyalties, but decided to cheer for the Cats (especially after they started winning) and they ended up being the victors! It was very exciting. We worked up an appetite with all our cheering, so we headed to the waterfront. It was beautiful there, with the city of Melbourne lit up behind it and really interesting statutes and fountains lining the boardwalk. Unfortunately, the restaurants were too expensive there so we went back to the city centre where we picked up some handrolls (sushi but in the shape of a wrap). Best handroll ever = sweet chili tuna with avocado.

Sunday we had booked a tour of the Great Ocean Road, one of the most beautiful coasts in the world. It was a whole day tour, starting in Melbourne and stopping at a bunch of coastal towns and Kodak moments. At one stop we got to see wild koalas and bright, colorful birds. I wanted to feed the birds (it was allowed, I promise!) so I took some bread from my Subway sandwich and held the crumbs out in my hand. Two birds landed on my arm, smelled the food, and then flew away. I guess they aren’t fans of Southwest Chipotle. Determined to feed these birds, I picked up some real bird food that other people had dropped on the ground and after chasing the birds around, holding my hand out, they finally ate out of my hand! That’s right, I had big, scary birds with claws on my hands and arms, eating out of my palm.

The best part of the day was seeing the Twelve Apostles. They are these incredible rock formations that are scattered in the ocean randomly. They are majestic and it’s baffling how they were formed. Unfortunately, there aren’t twelve of them anymore. A couple of them have crumbled into the ocean and are lost forever. Another beautiful stop was at the London Bridge, which is this really interesting formation that used to be a rock bridge until it crumbled. Although you can’t cross over to the formation, it still is really amazing. It was a long day but definitely one of the better ones in Australia. We saw a lot of natural beauty and on the drive home, a kangaroo and its baby hopped across the street right in front of our bus!

When we got back to Melbourne, we went to dinner at the food court in the Crown Complex. Our flight wasn’t until the next morning at 6a.m. so we decided to see Inglorious Basterds at the cinema in the complex before heading to the airport. The movie was great and afterwards we took a cab to the airport where we slept on the floor for a few hours until it was time to board the plane. That was an interesting experience. There were some others sleeping in the corners of the airport, and one old man who was wandering around, looking for beer, and videotaping everything. Strange.

The trip was awesome – I’m so glad we were able to get to Melbourne for the weekend. I liked Melbourne, but I like Sydney more so I was happy to get back and start celebrating my birthday week!

Weekend Trip to Melbourne!

Tonight, a few friends and I are heading to Melbourne for a long weekend! As the second largest city in Australia, it should provide some great experiences.

The cab comes in 15 mins... I should probably finish packing now.

Roughing it in the Outback

There are some experiences in your life that you know will forever alter how you think and how you live. It is those moments that make you sit up and contemplate the world and your place in it. And it is those moments that you will never forget. My trip to the Outback was one such experience. I know it sounds corny, but it really was a once-in-a-lifetime trip. It is almost impossible to describe how incredible it was, but I'll give it my best shot.

Six friends and I were on the 6a.m. flight from Sydney to Melbourne (where we connected to a flight to Alice Springs). Since we had to leave at 4a.m. and I hadn't even started packing as of 10p.m., I decided that no sleep was better than 30 mins of sleep. After all, my body has evolved past needing sleep after being a film major for one year. When we got to the airport at 4:30, it was completely empty. Not even an employee in sight. So, we checked in at the automated check-in... and waited. Until 5:40 when security opened. Funny things about Aussie airports: they don't check identification AT ALL - literally you could just say any name and they would give you the boarding pass for that name, they don't make you take your shoes off, and they don't care about liquids. The whole process is just so much easier.

We got to Alice Springs at 11:30 and we had a few hours before we had to meet our group leaders. We were hungry (well, I was hungry) so we took a massive cab into "downtown" Alice Springs, which is basically one street of tiny shops and restaurants, but cute nonetheless. We had our last real meal at a restaurant, and then met up with the Arcadia group leaders. We piled into the "troopies" and said goodbye to civilization.

Our first stop: Alice Springs Desert Park. This was a brief stop to get us situated with the desert. We learned about the different ecosystems and saw a bunch of animals. At the time, it seemed like a pretty unnecessary stop. But now, I realize that I wouldn't have been able to fully appreciate the trip without it. After going to the Desert Park, if someone said "Oh look! A King Brown snake!", I would know what they were talking about. And I would know to run away.

After the Desert Park, we made our way to our campsite at an Aboriginal community near Wallace Rockhole. We set up camp quickly, as the sun was setting rapidly. We made dinner over an open fire and ate it in (almost) complete darkness. One of the sides was roasted potatoes. They were individually wrapped in tinfoil and I went to open mine, and a bunch of grainy stuff fell out. It was dark, though, so I couldn't see what it was. I just assumed it was spices (hah like we would add spices to our food in the Outback - I had much to learn). It was dirt/ashes. And I ate it. Awesome.

Our sleeping arrangement: a circle of swags laid out on tarps. For those non-master explorer Sepos, a swag is basically a body bag with a condensed mattress and sleeping bag inside. It even has a flap that you can put over your face in case the stars get too bright at night. Or, in my mind, in case an animal starts attacking us. See, there was an emu living in its enclosure just feet from where we were sleeping. Emus are basically a terrifying version of Big Bird. I went to take a picture of it and it started charging at me. So, I was convinced it was going to break out of its enclosure and attack me at night. But, alas, the night went well, except for the multiple times I woke up with the creepy crawlies and was convinced I was being eaten alive. That night I also had my first glimpse of the desert night sky. Wow. I have never seen so many stars. I didn't even know that many stars existed! It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

The next day we woke up bright and early, had some breakfast (I never knew PB&J on a tortilla was so good), and headed out for a tour of Wallace Rockhole. A local Aboriginal guide lead us into the Rockhole, where we saw beautiful red rock formations and even a few wild kangaroos! It was here that I finally felt like I was in Australia. Being in Sydney is wonderful but sometimes I think it could just be a city anywhere in the world. But being in the outback, hearing about old Aboriginal customs finally made me realize that I was halfway across the world in this new and incredible place.

Next we drove to Ellery Creek Big Hole for lunch and a "refreshing" swim. Our group leaders had warned us that it might be cold, but growing up by the Jersey Shore, I figured I was a pro at cold water. The water at Ellery Creek wasn't cold - it was paralyzing. Even just having your feet in the water feels like you're getting hypothermia. I made it to my shoulders but then my lungs felt like they were shutting down, so I decided to just sit in the sun.

After lunch, we headed to Ormiston Gorge, which is this huge, beautiful red rock mountain with a swimming hole at the bottom. We took a 2 hour hike up and into the gorge, where we experienced breathtaking views of the outback. You could see for miles all around and it was amazing just how empty it is. To get down from the top of the gorge, we had to walk down a steep pathway of loose rocks. At this point, I started sliding and kept having rocks move out from under my feet. But luckily, my hard-core hiking sneakers could handle it. The bottom of the gorge is covered in huge boulders and it was really fun climbing over them and jumping from one rock to another. I kind of felt like I was in the "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" playground at MGM Studios (oh.. excuse me, Hollywood Studios). Then we saw a wild wallaby! Exciting.

That night was the roughest night. Our campsite wasn't really a campsite at all, with no running water, no toilet, no lights, bulls running around near us. No joke. I went to get firewood (true camper style) and got really close to a wild bull. As I was collecting branches, the bull turned towards me and started to stare me down. I contemplated going closer and staring back, but decided that was probably not the best idea. As for the bathroom, if we needed to go, we had to dig a hole with the designated poop shovel, do our business, and then bury it under sand. Suffice to say, I held it until we went to a rest stop the next morning. Despite the we-really-are-no-where-near-civilization aspect of the "campsite", I actually enjoyed the night. We all sat around the campfire, talking and playing games, and then got to fall asleep under the most incredible night sky. Being so far from towns and artificial lights really allows you to see everything. I felt like I was experiencing the Earth and the universe how it was originally made to be, before industrialization. It was an amazing feeling. I almost didn't want to go to sleep because I just wanted to stare at the beauty.

The next morning, we drove to another swimming hole at Redbank Gorge. It was about a 30 minute hike to this gorgeous watering hole that was part of a huge cave formation. The water looked black because it was so deep, and it was just as cold as the last waterhole. But, I decided to be brave, and swam across it. About halfway through the swim, I didn't think I was going to make it. I could feel my lungs freezing up and my body giving up, but I pushed through and made it to the other side. It was hard climbing out because the rocks were slippery and covered in slimy algae (yes, I touched it... a lot). The people ahead of me had continued across another, smaller waterhole. So I took a deep breath, and swam across that one too. On the other side, I found myself in an unbelievable cave system. Red cliffs shot up all around us and you could see other small waterholes leading further into the caves. Unfortunately, we couldn't continue because they had a thick layer of algae on them, but it was an awesome sight. Totally worth the pain. While warming up in the cave, I started talking to one of our group leaders about the waterhole. I asked if there wasn't any thing living in it because it was so cold. Bad question. Turns out, there are a ton of fish living in the water, along with snakes. Not only do water snakes live in it, but sometimes pythons fall from the cliffs into the waterhole. Awesome. I now had to swim back across it to get to our group knowing that deadly snakes and fish surrounded me. Luckily the temperature of the water pretty much blocks all other thoughts from your mind. Even though I was freaked out, I'm really happy I braved the cold and swam in the waterhole. It was a cool experience that I would have regretted wimping out on.

Our next stop: King's Canyon. But first, we had drive hours on a bumpy, dirt road. Even though it was a really uncomfortable drive, we got to see some pretty neat sights. We saw the Uluru knock-off, camels crossing the road in front of us, and a huge meteor crater. A little over halfway into the drive, we pulled over to the side of the road for a bathroom break. But, being in the middle of nowhere, there were no bathrooms. So, I can now say that I have peed in the outback bush.

We reached King's Canyon in the mid-afternoon and walked the easy, touristy path. It was beautiful, but we wanted to do something more adventurous (I mean, we were so much more hardcore than the other people on the path). We decided to climb this huge rock staircase that leads to the top of the Canyon. Now, I'm not scared of heights but there's something about high staircases that freaks me out. Like I find it hard to sit in the upper levels of sports games because I feel like I'm going to fall. Rock stairs, no handrails, and a steep cliff on either side of you does not help that feeling. But, I made it to the top and the view was spectacular. At the top, there was a pile of huge boulders, so a few friends and I decided to keep climbing. Sitting on top of this massive boulder, overlooking King's Canyon and the rest of the Outback was one of the most incredible moments of the trip. I truly felt like I was at the top of the world.

That night, we stayed at a legit campsite - with a convenience store, restaurant, and bar. Here, I finally got to shower! It was like being born again. Dirt literally streaked off my legs and formed a muddy pool at the bottom of the shower. I wasn't even bothered by the huge bugs all over the shower hut. It was like being back in the real world... except for the dingos running around everywhere. Sidenote: Dingos eat babies. But I made it safely through the night and the next day we drove to Uluru National Park. Finally I got to see Uluru! It was majestic, rising out of the middle of the desert. But before going to Uluru, we hiked Kata Tjuta, which is a very sacred site for the Anangu people. We did the Valley of the Winds walk, which is a 3 hour hike weaving in between huge red hills, cliffs, and mountains. This was my favorite part of the trip. Climbing up the mountain, in between two huge red rock cliffs, and looking out onto a valley dotted by similar red mountains. It was absolutely incredible. It left me breathless and to me, it was more magical than Uluru.

The next day was our last day and as our grand finale, we hiked around Uluru. Unfortunately, it was unseasonably cool but it was still a nice clear day. The juxtaposition of the red rock, blue sky, and green bush was beautiful. The mixture of colors was like nothing I've ever seen before. In the past, people have been able to climb Uluru. But, the Aboriginal people who traditionally own Uluru have been asking people not to climb it anymore. Uluru holds great religious meaning for the Aboriginals, and to them, climbing all over it is disrespectful to their beliefs. Walking around the base of Uluru, we frequently saw Anangu sacred sites. They give no explanation for the spot's sacredness, because only those who are initiated can learn their tribe's secrets. There are also environmental concerns with climbing Uluru - the rock has been worn down from sneakers and since there is nothing when you reach the top, people have done terrible things up there, including pooping and changing their tampons. Absolutely disgusting. A third reason not to climb it is that it's just dangerous. Over 35 people have died climbing Uluru because it is steep, without many footholes, and gets very windy. The climb was closed the day we went, but I wouldn't have climbed it anyway.

The history of Uluru is pretty interesting. Aboriginals have revered it for hundreds of years, but when the British came to Australia, an explorer found it and named it Ayer's Rock, after a politician, Sir Henry Ayers. Since then, Europeans have trekked all over Uluru, without any concern for the Aboriginals that have lived there for hundreds of years. In the past couple of decades, however, there has been a movement to restore Uluru to its traditional owners, the Anangu people. In 1985, it was officially restored to local Aborigines, who then, in turn, leased it back to the Australian government for 99 years. It's now jointly managed between the two groups, with the Aborigines contributing their native knowledge and the government contributing their scientific knowledge and management skills. In 2084, the Aborigines will take over full control of Uluru and its tourism operations. There are even junior guide training programs only available for Aboriginal youth. To me, this set-up and joint management seems really great. Finally, the Australian government is recognizing and respecting the traditional owners' wishes.

We walked around the base of Uluru, which took about an hour and a half. It was pretty incredible. There are tons of little crevices and interesting formations that seem to come out of nowhere. And the rock is so dense and smooth, it's unreal. Uluru definitely lives up to all the hype. Towards the end of the hike, it did what I never thought it would do in the desert. It rained. It rained in the driest part of the driest continent on Earth. I was amazed. At first it was just trickling a little, but on our drive back to Alice Springs that afternoon, it poured for 2 hours straight. It would rain in the desert when I was there. Chicago weather follows me everywhere.

That night we went back to Alice Springs, where we stayed in a hostel (which was surprisingly not too bad). The whole group went for dinner at Bojangles Saloon. It was nice to have restaurant food again - even if the restaurant had bones, bear traps, and stuffed animals corpses everywhere.

The trip was unbelievable. I still can't grasp everything that I saw and experienced. I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to spend five incredible days in the Australian Outback. It's a trip that I will never forget (and I probably will never get the red sand out of my stuff). I feel like I really grew as a person and as a traveler. Not only did I try new things and face my fears, but I learned to appreciate nature in a different way. I only hope that one day I can return and experience the magic once again.

I'm Alive

No need to phone the police (or the Royal Flying Doctor Service - that's the emergency service in the outback)! I am alive, I promise. Sorry for the lack of posts lately! I've been busy with uni work (I know, work?! what?!). And by work, I mean photographing Sydney, analyzing Hitchcock's Psycho, and writing an essay on what I think love is.

In other news, I finally saw the Opera House! I had been shopping at the Rocks and decided that it was time. I was expecting it to be nice, but I've always thought that people probably just talked it up and that it wasn't anything really special. But when you get near it and see it looming out of the harbour waters, it truly is breathtaking.

Coming soon: big post on my outback trip. Get excited - it was quite the adventure.