Free Falling :)

On Friday May 28th I went skydiving for the first time!! My time was scheduled for 12:00, so I headed with my support group (Amy, Jason, Heather, and Tarrah) to Stuart Park in Wollongong. The jumps were running a bit late, so I didn't end up leaving for about an hour. Right before we left, I got geared up in a full-body blue and yellow outfit and got strapped into my harness. We then had a briefing session where we were taught how to "fall" out of the plane properly. The correct form was to put your head back, cross you arms, and arch your back like a banana. After a couple practices on land we hopped in the bus to the airport. The bus ride took about 15mins to the Wollongong airport.

Once at the plane we all piled in. There were 7 of us skydiving and we each had our own guide. I had a woman who was half the size of me...ahh! So all 14 of us crammed into this really tiny plane. I sat in front of my woman, and another guide sat in front of me, practically in my lap. We pulled out onto the runway and took off. We were in the plane for about 10-15mins as we made our way to 14,000ft! The views were amazing! I saw a large part of the southern coast line, Lake Illawarra, and even a couple of the islands that I can see from my apartment.

When we finally made it to 14,000ft the door of the plane was opened. I was the 5th person to jump out of the plane so I got to watch a bunch of people first. When it was my turn, my guide and I skooched to the edge of the plane. My legs were hanging out of the plane being blown in the wind. I crossed my arms and put my head back, and all of a sudden I was falling out of the sky! We dropped 9,000ft in 60secs, it was wild! At first I was screaming, and then began cheering. It was an amazing feeling only soaring through the sky! Once she pulled the shoot the ride was much slower. She loosened up some of my harness to make it more comfortable and gave me the chance to steer. It made me a bit dizzy so we only did a couple of turns. I was the last one left in the air because we were the lightest group. I liked it that way because I got the most time in the air. The sights were BEAUTIFUL!!

To land I had to grab beneath my knees and hold my legs out straight. We came in pretty fast and landed on our butts. Thankfully, the grass was nice and soft! I am so happy that I went sky diving. It was an amazing expereince and is something that everyone should do!

Cabbage, Bulli, Kitchen Sink

Thursday night we all took it easy because we had a wild Weds night. On Friday Amy, Jason and I went to Cabbage for the first time. It was an interesting mix of old people an uni students. There was a back room where everyone was dancing, which was pretty fun. Amy left part way through the night to go to the beach. Jason and I met up with her on the side of the road, to begin our walk back to the apartment. We had already made it to innovation campus when Amy realized that she had lost her wristlet on the beach. So, the 3 of us end up running all the way back to fairy meadow beach. It must have looked like Jason and I were chasing after her because she was a fair distance ahead. We made it the the beach and she couldn't remember which entrance she had gone through. So, we picked one and began searching the sand using the lights from our cell phones. Amazingly, Amy found her wristlet! During this whole process Amy somehow took a chunk out of her big toe. She now had a bloody, sandy toe that looked like cherry fun-dip. Jason gave her a piggy back ride, back to the main street where we caught a taxi. Once back at the apartment I sat with Amy in the bathroom as we attempted to clean the sand out of her wound..yuck! When her toe was clean we decided to mess with Jason and take all his pillows and comforters and hide them from him. We hide them in Kelly and Katie's room and then once he found them, we re-hid them on the balcony outside our room. So funny!

Saturday Amy and I wanted to do something outside because it was nice out. We looked at the train schedule online and chose a random town to go to . We picked Bulli, hopped on the train, and checked out the town. Once there we walked to the beach and had a picnic beachside. It was really fun and we both got some sun on our faces! That night we went out to Hotel Illawarra and had a blast dancing until super late. Tim came and ended up buying us a bunch of drinks. One was very yummy (Vodka Lemon-Lime Bitter)! I stayed till about 2 and Jason and Amy stayed out until 4!

On Sunday we all went to the Dragon's last home game. We went there early and got Chicko's for lunch. I got Chicken nuggets and chips yumm! The game was fun, I don't really understand footy so I just payed more attention to what the players looked like. They all wear super short shorts, and are really muscular!! After the game Amy, Jason, Des, and I went to Crust to get pizza for dinner. We ended up hanging out there for awhile while we waited for Heather and Tim to show up. The six of us went to the Ice Creamery and ordered the Kitchen Sink. It was a massive ice cream sundae with 16 scoops of ice cream and 8 different flavors. It was served in a kitchen sink! We finished the whole thing in probably less than 20minutes. It was awesome!

What another great weekend!

PJ party, Garie Beach

On Friday May 14th Amy and I went for a run. This was my second run of the semester aka I am really out of shape. At night Heather and her friend Amy came over and we made dirt pudding. Australia doesn't sell cool whip so we had to use whip cream. It still came out really well and it was super yummy!

On Friday May 15th we had a PJ party at the penthouse. Amy, Jason and I had bought pajamas at a second hand shop for $4. Mine were pink with puppies all over them and Amy's were white with multi-colored polka dots. Jason bought a robe so he could be like Hugh Hefner. We put 5 mattresses up in our living room so that people could hang out on them. A bunch of people showed up and we had a great time.

On Sunday Jason, Amy, Heather, Tim and I went to Garie beach which is located about 30-45min north of Wollongong. Tim forgot to mention that there was a mountain on the beach that we were going to climb so we had on the wrong footwear. One our climb Amy stubbed her toe and took a big gash out of the big toe. She was bleeding all over, but we had nothing to clean it, or bandage it with so just walked around for the rest of the trip with a bloody flip-flop (thong) and foot. The hike was a bit more than I thought it would be, but we all made it to the top. It was a gorgeous view from the top (we could see all the way to Sydney)!

Beach Walk, Ice Bar, Camping!!

Friday May 7th Amy, Jason and I headed up to Bondi Junction. Our plan for the day was to do the beach walk from Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach. The walk/weather was beautiful! It was more hilly than I thought it was going to be, but good for the ole’ legs. We past many different beaches along the way, all with that awesome blueish green water.

At night we met up with Jen Reaves and the four of us headed to the Ice Bar in Circular Quay. This was a bar that was made entirely out of ice. For a $20 entrance fee we got knee length parkas, ugg boots, gloves, and a free drink. It was good that they supplied us with proper attire because we showed up to the bar in shirts and dresses. It was so neat inside the bar, we took tons of pictures! After the ice bar we went to a German restaurant where we had planned to eat until we realized how expensive the food was. Everyone decided to just get beer and I got a pretzel. We finished up at the German restaurant and headed to Pancakes on the Rocks for a real meal. Just to find out that there was a huge line. The three of them ended up getting pies at Pie Face, I waited until we got to the Gaff to get food. There was a Extreme Adventures reunion being held at the Gaff and by buying a drink you could get a free meal (I got spaghetti bolognaise), and then later on in the night we were given 2 free drinks.

On Saturday we hopped on a bus and headed back to Wollongong (the trains were under construction). We got back to the apartment, had to quickly jump in the showers and pack bags to go camping that night. Heather and her boyfriend Tim picked us up around 1:20 and we began our journey. Tim was so awesome that he brought us 30mins into the middle of nowhere to a camp ground Coolendel in Nowra. He gave us a tent and as esky (cooler) to hold our food. He help us set up and then left for the night. The four of us made dinner (cheeseburgers) and then started a fire. Heather’s mom had sent her marshmallows, Hershey’s chocolate and graham crackers so that we could make smores! They were delicious! We sat by the fire for about 5 hours chatting about life and looking up at the stars. The stars were absolutely amazing. There was a band of stars that looked like a rainbow of stars across the sky. So beautiful! We went to bed around 11:30, when it started to get really cold. I slept in my comforter and wrapped it around me like a burrito. At one point in the night I got so hot I woke up sweating. We all woke up after 10:30 which was later than we had planned, but once we had eaten we headed out to explore the area. We hiked along the river and then hung out on some rocks. Tim picked us up around 3! What another amazing weekend!!

Nan Tien Temple

On Sunday, we all headed to the Nan Tien Temple in Unanderra. It was gorgeous! We explored for a couple hours, took some funny pictures, and got some lunch. I ordered wonton soup..expecting wontons filled with meat and got something totally different. I was pretty disappointed by my meal, but everything else was good.

For dinner, we went over to our neighbors to have Kabsah. It was very good!Such a great culture filled day!

Wollongong Dragons vs. Cronulla Sharks

On Sat night we all went to the Rugby game at the Win Stadium. We went to the 5 islands brewery first to get drinks (around 4:30). I got my new favorite drink, vodka raspberry...yum! We hung out there until about 6, before we entered the stadium. It was super cold, my toes were frozen the entire game! Matt (from Study Australia) did buy us all meat pies for dinner. I had never really watched a rugby game, but by the end I understood the general rules and point of the game. The Dragons beat the Sharks 38-0.

Manly Beach

On Thursday Jason, Amy and I headed up to Sydney for the night. We left i the morning and took the train to Bondi Junction where we met up with Chelsea (who also goes to UND). We lucked out an were able to by a "transportation" ticket, that covered all trains, buses, and ferry's for the entire day for only $20!

We met up with Chelsea around noon, and took a bus to the harbor, where we jumped on a ferry to Manly beach. The ferry was about 30mins, and we got awesome views of the opera house, harbor bridge and the city of Sydney. The weather was gorgeous!! We got some food at one of the restaurants along the strip (i got the chicken schnitzel), and then took a walk up and down the sand of Manly beach. The water was pretty cold so we didn't go for a swim. After our walk we got some gelato and hopped back on the ferry to Sydney.

The three of us decided to explore the Opera house. We had been by it before, but it had been raining so we were unable to get up close and really check it out. It was awesome just to hang out at the Opera house admiring its beauty. We then headed to Pancakes on the Rocks for dinner, which was delicious. I got the Hot Tropo which was two pancakes with chocolate sauce and ice cream on top..yumm!! I was able to meet up with Diana for dinner, it was awesome to see her again!

After dinner, we headed back to Bondi to shower up to go out. Once ready we headed back to the city to go to the Argyle Club. It was so neat. The DJ was in a floating glass box, and they had a large beer garden with really cool lamps. I got a delicious drink called Strawberry Bubbles! After hanging out at the Argyle, we headed back to Pancakes on the Rocks for a late night snack. Yet again, a really good choice!

On Friday there was supposed to be a Study Australia BBQ (the original reason why we went up to Sydney), but it ended up raining the entire day so it was canceled. We got some lunch at the mall (super fancy and huge mall...over 5 stories) and then headed back to the gong.

Marshall showed up in the gong late that night and we just hung out and got Kebabs.