Traveling Around Australia (Whitsunday’s)

For the last 2 weeks, I’ve been experiencing Australia at its’ best with a bunch of my friends from the University of the Sunshine Coast! In a quick summary, I visited the Whitsunday’s and Sydney.  But what you don’t know is how much fun those 2 stops have been!  I’ll break this down into 2 blogs: 1) Whitsunday’s &  2) Sydney.

Whitsunday Islands:

1. My first stop was Airlie Beach, where we stayed at a hostel and partied like crazy! Airlie Beach was a nice small town, but full of life (especially at night) and beautiful women.  My first night was off to a good start.  That was also the first time I’ve ever stayed at a hostel.   It was quite dirty and not my favorite place.  Overall, I would give Airlie Beach a 7 out of 10.
2. The second day we boarded a boat that took us to Long Island, where we spent the entire week. Long Island was built more for families, but we made it a party spot and met a lot of people, including a few old couples who loved us.  Our hostel was located in the back of the resort, but it was perfect for us.  We basically had no food the entire week.  The only thing that filled us was our lovely alcoholic beverages we managed to buy before coming to the island.  I think from this point you should be able to guess how the rest of the week went.  PARTY!! 
3. While in the Whitsunday’s, we had a bunch of fun adventures that we booked with STA before we left.  They were extremely helpful.  The following occurred from April 1st – April 5th:
   1. Rock climbed the small mountain on Pelican Island
   2. Enjoyed a 4.4 kilometer hike to Sandy bay where we drank Goon, played baseball, & ran naked, which led to cutting my foot on rocks! My friend also got stung by a jelly fish!
   3. Sailed the Camira to Whitehaven Beach
   4. Snorkeled at Knuckle Reef
   5. Drunken hot tub adventures 
4. My week came to an end 2 days earlier than our group.  I chose to leave for Sydney and spend a week traveling alone, or so I thought. 

Top 12 Songs Found in Australia

So why did I choose 12? Well 12 is my lucky number so I’m thinking you’re about to listen to 12 awesome songs because you were lucky enough to read this!  Below is a great list of songs ranging from hip-hop to dance/techno.  I found all of these songs while in Australia, mostly by hearing them at the club or on my friend’s computer.  Let me know what you think & please remember to vote on you favorite song at the end! They are in no specific order.

12. Havana Brown – Run the Night

@djhavanabrown

 

Rain, GO AWAY!

It’s been raining here for days.  I’m not talking about a little here and there. I mean straight downpour! The thunderstorms have been pretty cool to watch and I feel like I’m in a tropical storm with all this wind. I’ve basically been stuck in my room watching Alcatraz and reading Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie (owner of TOMS shoes). I rented Alcatraz on my plane ride from Charlotte to LAX and instantly fell in love with it.  It’s entertaining and only $1.99/ episode on iTunes. I have been reading a lot too.  Since December, I’ve picked up 3 books (that’s a lot for me lol) and have been reading about entrepreneurship. As I’m double majoring, my degree in business is only for general business administration so I’m trying to teach myself about entrepreneurship. I’m reading about success stories and starting to gather my thoughts about creating my own business.

I’ve been recognizing lately that I really do like my alone time, but I get a little depressed.  I know I do it to myself, but I find it relaxing to be alone. Of course I’m first in line to do anything with friends, but I’m not really going out to find people.  I think all this rain has just done this to me for the last week, but I need the rain to stop. All of my shoes are wet, I don’t have an umbrella, and to top things off, I’m drenched when I go to class. <— Annoying!

The positives:

1. I booked my flights & accommodations to the Whitsunday Islands & Sydney
2. I’m currently planning a 1 week trip to New Zealand with friends
3. Classes are pretty fun so far
4. I’m stocked up on food!

 

Update on Life

Well today is beautiful once again, but I don’t want to go out.  I need a break from laying in the sun and staying out late.  My sleep pattern is slowly getting better, but it is still off.  I can only sleep until 8am and then I just force myself to get up.  The birds are so loud here it’s almost impossible to fall back asleep.

The last 3 days I’ve gone to the beach twice, visited Kondalilla National Park, and went clubbing twice.  Fun life, but a hell of a lot of walking. I really like how there is more walking in Australia compared to the states. I’m sure the scenery and weather helps make it easier to walk here.  My friends and I walked on Mooloolaba beach for almost 3 miles until we caught a bus in the middle of some small town.  I was exhausted and my ankle was swollen from twisting it on the first day here.  I don’t think I mentioned that, but for a quick FYI, I’ve been limping around in pain..

Kondalilla National Park was so cool.  We hiked down the mountain to the bottom of the waterfall and then hiked to the top.  When we arrived at what seemed to be everyones favorite location, we jumped in the water and swam for an hour.  It was freezing, but it felt good.  I’ve never swam in water that felt so pure.  I do have to admit that I was a litter nervous for some Australian animal to sting or bite me, but I saw absolutely no signs of life in the water.

One of my favorite things about this trip is how unpredictable your daily schedule is.  I’ve planned on staying in, or going to the pool, but end up going to the beach or on a trip.  It seems like nothing really has to be done that very second.  This is a huge difference than the US. Everyone really is laid back here.

One last comment.  I can’t believe how expensive everything is here.  I’m starving because I haven’t purchased enough food and I’m still adjusting to actually cooking my meals, not just microwavable meals.  Do you know of any good recipes that are healthy and quick to make? Let me know.