AUS13- Give it a Geaux!

I hate that I haven't been blogging. Where did all the fun go?

I guess I'll start with the bad news and then head on over to the good for the rest of the post. My little sister's fight with cancer is not yet over. Last Thurday was the official appointment. I had stayed up most of the night as to make sure I did not sleep through the appointment (Texas in the day is Aussie the next night). Here is the official update

I was able to be at the appointment via skype and am willing to share an update to you all who are waiting. Kayla's scan came back positive again. It seems to be smaller yet more intense on the initial viewing. Kayla's team of doctors are looking into some immunotherapy techniques. As she is officially of adult status now, the number of clinical trials available to her are vast. The hope is to find success via routes other than chemo. Her doctors will now start conducting research into what will be the best treatment option. Some days you just have to create your own sunshine. #teamkayla

I passed this in the sky on the day we got the news. "Trust Jesus"

It is definitely a hard pill for one's family to swallow. I found it extra difficult being so far away from everyone. Luckily, I have the most thoughtful and caring friends over here. After a solo weeping session and a nap, Natascha had an iced coffee waiting for me. You'd swear she had known me for ages, huh? #coffeeaddict #aintnoshame #waytomyheart

Now for the happy things! hmm where to begin. I guess I'll do some organizing with titles and such in this post. YAYY ORGANIZATION. HOLY CRAP. **throws confetti

Royal National Park

This hike was the bees knees. Plus, I received lecture hours for completing it. Am I the luckiest girl in the world? Yes. The weather was beautiful, despite a nasty forecast, and the fresh air made my respiratory system do a happy dance. At the beginning of the trail, our guide (Jake) informed us that each person in the group will be taking turns leading us through the trail. Fear set in. This is the worst idea. I don't have a compass. I don't know if having a compass would even help. Do you have flares? I guess I could write "help" out of sticks.

When he asked for a volunteer to start us off, the group was silent. As I am trying to live more by the aussie motto of "just give it a go", I succumbed. I figured this would be the safest way to try it out since I have a hiking master with me and just went for it. I requested Jake keep a keen eye as I would most likely have us all lost within 5 minutes if left to my own devices. I was assured it would be fine as it was "practically a single path with directional arrows" the whole way there. I still managed an attempt to lead the group into the abyss, but luckily, Jake corrected me. The fact that I only made one wrong turn makes me want to pat myself on the back. The fact that I did so on a marked path makes me want to take back those pats. Whatever, I'm still proud of myself.

Ri doing what she does best

Wedding Cake Rock!

Still can't believe I saw this with my eyes

the group!

The views were absolutely breathtaking. The most difficult part of the hike was trying to look around at all the beauty while not tripping on the ground underneath you. The walkways are not paved, more so foot paths or make-shift steps out of rock formations, so you really had to be on your game. I only had two or three minor tripping moments. A couple of people really ate dirt. Sorry bout that.

We crossed some red colored sandstone along the way

We stopped for lunch at a beach called Little Marley. I sat there with my ham and cheese sandwich as Natascha pulls out a baguette with lettuce and all the fixings. Stop being so good at life, Nat. ;) The finale to the hike was small creek you could swim in. The water was freezinggggg. I was the only girl who braved it-- REPRESENT. The fact that I survived the temperatures at surf camp has really altered the way I view a thermostat. Ri took some great pictures of this part but her camera is, unfortunately, not cooperating with getting the pictures onto a computer. wahhhh. I shall add them later on. Did I mention I saw a whale?! :)

What a great fam photo <3

Phone death

This one ends up not being as dramatic as the title seems. I was walking home from class the other night and it was raining. I had my phone in a life proof case inside my raincoat. You'd think it would be safe right? WRONG! When I got back to QMB (Queen Mary Building) my phone was off and would not turn on. This is so my life. I am used to technology dying in my presence quite frequently but that doesn't make it less frustrating. I borrowed some rice from Ingrid (thanks guh) and left my phone in a bag of it over night. I woke up three times with dreams of my phone magically coming back to life, only to find it still dead. In class the next day, I made an appointment with the apple store which couldn't be scheduled any earlier than three days away. I was so tired and stressed by the end of this day that when I came home I just laid on my floor for a bit. All of a sudden there was that fateful "bloop" noise. My phone had arisen! Thank you Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

House of Crabs

I got a job. woop woop. Yes, I did. I wasn't originally planning to work while in Aus, but with a minimum wage of $18, who can say no? I feel so much better having a job. It is just part of me, i think. I can't not be working. I would loose my sanity. It is only two or three shifts a week. So just enough to keep me normal but not going cray-cray. Ready for the cool part? It is a Louisiana inspired crab shack. I mean they basicallyyyy had to hire me, right? Well they did! I am pretty sure it was solely on my accent (that I may have enhanced a bit) bc lord knows I have zero waitressing/restaurant experience. The best way I can describe it is a more expensive version of a Joe's crab shack. Where the crabs come in plastic bags and they serve things like "barramundi" and "balmain bugs". It is all-in-all rather inaccurate of a menu, but you have to give them credit for trying, eh? I told my manager about how we'd catch them off of the side of the boat with baited strings and she thought that was just the best thing she had ever heard.

dis is mah work uniform

Holy Sneakers

I've legitimately walked holes in my new-ish asics. It is a little alarming. Australia has put some miles on these shoes, y'all. I checked my health app and I am averaging 7.5 miles a day just walking to get from one place to another. That isn't including gym time, either! Needless to say, I've ordered some new shoes and am counting down the days until they arrive! Before my shoes got so hole-y, I managed one scenic city route on them.

I was scared of 1)the hills and 2) getting lost. I studied the map before hand and carried with me money, my bus card, and my phone in my arm band. I am so glad that I "gave it a go" because look how pretty it was!

wifi woes

Let me tell y'all something. You'd think a wifi signal was the tears of Jesus how they hoard it over here. It really is ridiculous. It really hit home for me when I couldn't even enjoy unlimited wifi at Starbucks. Really now? Since I didn't have classes last Friday, I opted to take the bus into the CBD to find this elusive starbucks. I was looking for a place to sit and study since the cafes over here are more of a "drink your coffee and leave" types of places. A sense of normalcy is all I really wanted. Good news: my coffee was amazing. Bad news: access to wifi comes as a personal code which you can only get after purchasing a beverage -- and it only lasts for one hour. Guess I'll just have to get use to studying in my room...where my wifi is also limited. Or just study less. I am in Australia, after all!

PS. they do the starbucks app here except for the free coffee part. I was up for a free coffee. This made me sad. Yo, Australia, you can't just choose which parts of the program you'd like to adhere to.

what is this sorcery?!?

Well would ya looky there. It is already 2:30 in the morning. Guess I'll go catch some Z's before class tomorrow. Until next time. :)

8/26/15

#AustraliaTrip