From Melbourne to Sydney

Ok, after a few days here I have realized how frantic this blog is going to seem. There is just so much to say and I am not a fluent enough writer to make it happen with style. That said allow me to dive into the incredible journey I’m having here in Australia.

Our night on the town in Melbourne revealed a quite few things. First, I will be broke by next Tuesday (pregaming here is a MUST, for the drinks are weak and expensive). Secondly, go out late, because these crazy Australians are out almost every night of the week until nearly 5 a.m. Lastly, Australian guys make me feel like I could be in Step Up 5…they’re a mix of dancing and seizing on the dance floor.  We cut the party off early, though, in order to make our flight the next morning.  While it was sad to say goodbye to some of our friends that would be studying at other Universities around Australia, we were beyond excited to be able to finally settle into our digs in Sydney.

Upon arrival we were just excited to settle down and decided to take it easy for most of the day. We briefly scouted out the beautiful University of Sydney campus, but left our real city work until the following day.

The next day we decided to wake up early and get a start on exploring our bustling city. The plan was to check out the harbor and take a ferry to Cockatoo Island, where a local art festival was occurring.   On ferry ride out of Circular Quay, the harbor we decided to discover first, we noticed the beautiful Sydney skyline and the Sydney Opera House, to which photos do no justice. It sits out on a peninsula in the harbor as the major beacon of the fantastic skyline.  We spent the day wining and dining on the island, whilst exploring the fantastic art exhibits that the ex-ship building, Alcatrazesqu Island had to offer before our aching legs forced us to call it a day. 

We realized, then, why studying abroad was such a better idea then a simple trip to Sydney; we had spent an entire day walking and only explored a fraction of the majestic city, much less the rest of this massive continent. I can already tell many more adventures are to come and cannot wait to discover the secrets of this incredible land by the sea.

July 15-18th Sorrento

July 15-18^th Sorrento

Upon arriving in Melbourne we met with a few of the Arcadia staff members that would be running our Orientation. They piled the roughly 30 US students present onto a bus with a small bag that we could live out of for the Orientation and set off for the actual city of Melbourne.  The bus let us of in a cute little area where we were given a couple of hours to find something to eat, explore, and call our parents if we so desired(sorry guys, I got to it the next day at least!). After breaking off with a few friends to walk the area we decided grab lunch at a local coffee-shop-looking café. Upon the request of the Arcadia staff we resisted the urge to grab a pint and simply tried the local food. Being as culturally diverse as my home on the west coast, most of Australia boasts foods of all cultures. We each enjoyed a wrap and some ‘hot chips’(fries). Afterwards we were all loaded back onto the bus for a short drive to a national wildlife reserve on the way to our Orientation accommodations in Sorrento. When we disembarked at the park our leader Kendal told us to keep our fingers crossed in hopes of seeing one of the smaller breeds of kangaroo that lived there. No more then 50 yards into the park we heard a rustling from ten feet away followed by two roo heads peaking up over the brush. We all jumped at the opportunity to snap pictures from such a phenomenal distance before continuing along the trail.  Thinking ourselves lucky for seeing the famed creatures we were entirely caught off guard by the mob of roos that we encountered next, complete with a mother roo, joey in pouch. They were some of the strangest acting animals I have ever seen as they scratched at themselves with their little forearms and contemplated us with bewildered gazes. Needless to say, the natural beauty of this gorgeous country already shocked me. After the park we loaded back onto the bus for the last half hour of the drive into Sorrento.

Sorrento is a small ocean town located on a peninsula of the Port Philip Bay. It boasts wonderful food and astounding views of the ocean from its towering bluffs. After a short walk around the bluffs and beaches we all were ready to crash and cure our jetlag.

The next two days were filled with orientation programs and interesting presentations on local vocabulary and culture, supplemented with some free time to discover the town and surrounding sights. We were even given a taste of bush-music Tuesday night when Bushwazee came to put on a middle school level show of traditional music and dances.  It wasn’t until Wednesday morning that we took off for another day in Melbourne (pronounced Melbin) and were allowed a night on the town, before flying out to Sydney the next morning.

July 14-15th Over the Pacific

July 14-15^th Over the Pacific

Wow! What a flight! I thought that a 16 hour flight from LAX to Melbourne was going to equate to a 16 hour torture session but man was I wrong. Not only were the seats half-way decent but they each came with a personal entertainment system complete with an astoundingly large movie, TV, videogame, and music library. I spent the first 4 hours of the flight watching The Hunger Games and  Man on a Ledge, before popping some knockout drugs and passing out for a solid 8 hour nap.  Also, I need to clarify that the two meals we received were leaps and bounds better than I expected. Upon waking from my little snooze I chose to waste some time listening to music and screwing around with the videogame collection before turning on 21 Jump Street (not quite so funny without the group laughter effect) and finishing up the flight with a brilliant English Premier League season summary.  To say the least this was travelling in style.

A bit of housekeeping to follow:

I am composing this blog against my better judgement, being a student that avoids writing at all costs (I think I wrote one paper all of last year). I can’t promise anything from it either…for all I know this idea might end with this first entry but I promise to at least try to keep up with it in the beginning. This blog will have spelling and grammar mistakes, so if they make your reading experience to painful then tough luck go read a newspaper…no one is making you keep track of me (Dollister!). Great, now with all disclaimers aside let me explain that I am doing this so that someday I can hopefully, when they’re old enough, have enough memories to tell my kids or nieces and nephews or whatever the case may be about the incredible journey that I can already tell this is going to be. Feel free to  request information on any aspects of my journey and I will try to fit them in later posts. AH! Finally done with the boring housekeeping and on to the journey that has already broadened my world view and shocked my cultural awareness (If you’ve gotten this far I expect your either truly bored at work, or my mother is standing over your shoulder, and in either case I thank you for caring).