Surfing, Wildlife Park, and Wine Tour!!!

G'day All!  I know its been a while since I've given an update, so I'll just give you the hilights of the last few weeks...

First off, I went on a trip with my program for a half-day of surfing at 7-Mile Beach and it was so much fun!  The beach is GORGEOUS and perfect for beginning surfers as the waves are big enough to ride in but not big enough that you are hurting every time one rolls over you.  I was a little skeptical of being in the southeast coast ocean, as there have been quite a few shark attacks recently, but it ended up being so fun!  Right off the bat, I was starting to ride the waves in, but standing up on a surf board proved to be more difficult than I thought it would be. :)  After the surf, we all went to a fabulous restaurant at a sort of "yacht club" near the beach...our program always feeds us well!  Here's a pic of the whole group after surfing and one of me attempting (unsuccessfully) to stand up on the board.

Then last weekend, I went on this great trip up to Hunter Valley (which is considered one of the main wine areas of Australia) for a wine tasting and visit to a wildlife park!!  I went with a few friends and we had such a great time.  We got to pet and take pictures with a koala, and then feed kangaroos and emus at the wildlife park.  They were so cute!!  Then, we had a gorgeous drive up through wine country to visit three wineries and taste a multitude of different Aussie wines.  Since I was with a tour group, they set up these fancy tastings for us.  At the second winery, Lindeman's (by far the best, in my opinion!), they had an auditorium-style tasting where we got to sit in the original wine-making site of the whole company (the biggest in Australia) and got to taste all kinds of delicious wines and cheeses.  Being from Wisconsin, I was the first to raise my hand when they needed "cheese connoisseurs" to help bring cheese around and got a free bottle of wine out of it!  It was a blast.  I'll attach a few pics from each place.

Feeding the baby emu- it was crazy!

Me and my buddy, the koala.

Holding the baby crocodile...yikes!

Then...the full grown one...even bigger yikes!!
Feeding the kangaroo...it was getting a little grabby by this point!

Wine country!

A view of the vineyard.

In the mean time, I have been busy going to the beach and enjoying life in the "Gong."  The weather has be beautiful for the last two weeks straight...which is proving to be a burden when I try to get schoolwork done!  However, I've managed to drag my books to the beach on a few of the really nice afternoons. ;)  Next up: I have booked a trip up to the Gold Coast for next weekend with a few girlfriends to visit some of the greatest beaches and nightlife of Australia: Byron Bay and Surfer's Paradise...can't wait!  Then, the week after, I head off to spring break in Hong Kong and Bali!!  My boyfriend, Nick, is studying abroad there so I'm going to visit and we're taking a mini-vacay to Bali!!  Woo-hoo!  So, many new tales ahead!!!

Until next time, 

Caitlin

Pictures from O-Week and Merry Beach

A picture of my program group at the "marriage rock"
The "pregnant woman"- we had to rub her belly for good luck after we passed her!
A view from the top of Mount Galaga!
Siena and I with our face paint
The trail up Mount Gulaga...very rocky and difficult but beautiful!!
The roos!!!
A view from a cliff on the bushwalk
The start to our coastal bushwalk
Crocodile Dundee at Merry Beach
A pic of me at a stop off to Seven Mile Beach
A view of the harbor (in the distance) walking back from the beach...this is the rock garden.
On the way to the beach!
Toga party!!

O-Week and A Trip to Merry Beach

Hey All!  Well, I finally got down to uni and its been a crazy week!  I got to Wollongong during the last few days of "O-week" which is orientation/party-week for all the first-year students.  It was soooo fun!  They had themed parties every night (including a toga party...haha) and then during the days we just went to the beach.  I met tons of fun people from the states and Australia.  

After o-week was officially over, we had the week before school to just chill out and explore the city.  The walk to the beach (and the beach itself) is gorgeous!!  Its about a 20 minute walk away, but worth it.  There is also a really cute little city mall down the street...about a 10 minute walk.  I really like my dorm too- the rooms are decent sized and they have cleaning staff that come and vacuum and wash everything every 2 weeks (or fortnightly as they say here in Aus).  So far, I am really liking the city and am looking forward to doing some more exploring in the next few weeks.

Classes or "uni" start today, but since they don't have tutorials during the first week for most classes, I don't start until 4:30 in the afternoon!  The campus here is beautiful as well.  The whole place is a series of little windy paths filled with trees and cute little duck ponds everywhere.  It is just like walking through Jurassic Park- haha!  I'm a little worried about how Aussie classes are going to differ from home, but I figured I'll just roll with it. :)

Almost forgot: this weekend, I got to go on a trip to Merry Beach (which is about three hours south of Wollongong on the coast) with my program group (CIEE).  The first day we got there, we got to go on a bushwalk with the "real" Crocodile Dundee.  He was seriously like an older version of the guy from the movie- it was so funny.  He took us all along the coast surrounding Merry Beach and a little bit into the "bush."  During the walk, I got to see my first wild kangaroo!!  It was so exciting!  They are so cute and every time they hop, it makes you want to say "boing, boing, boing..."- its hilarious.  Then, after going to dinner at a little restaurant down the road from our resort, we came back to find at least 50 kangaroos hopping around the cabins!  I was actually kind of scared of them at first just because they are not afraid of people at all.  They don't hop away when you walk towards them and eventually, they let you pet them!!

The next day of our trip, we went on a hike up Mount Gulaga, which is another 2 hours south of Merry Beach.  The hike was really difficult and I was literally sweating through my shirt by the time we got to the top (very humid!) but the views from the top were worth it!  We were led by an aboriginal woman at the top to the sacred aboriginal lands.  Before we could go into the area, she painted our faces to remind us to use our "third eye" and listen to the forests.  The sacred lands were so beautiful- they had all of these really beautiful rock formations that were huge!  It was a really cool experience.  Then, after the hike, we went back to Merry Beach to have dinner and play with the kangaroos. :)

Well, that's all for now!  I better do something with my life now!!!  Until next time,

Caitlin