Saturday, February 24, 2007

Pictures...finally















Newcastle Beach
















Knobby's Beach, Lighthouse, and Pier



















Hangliders are all over Newcastle. This is one flying over some appartments near the beach.
















Our apartment




















Shipwreck Walk in Stockton across the Hunter River, with a view of Newcastle in the background.



Cliffs between Newcastle beach and Bar Beach...probably my favorite picture since I've been here.



Either me or Andrew surfing...I'm not sure

Monday, February 19, 2007

Classes Starting

Alright, so the reality of school is starting to set in. I had class at 9 am this morning and it wasn't fun. One good thing is that the classes I'm taking are fairly easy, so they won't be too stressful. My roomates and I are starting to plan out some trips, including the ocean highway to melbourne, the gold coast and frasier island, and spring break in new zealand and/or fiji. Just thinking about these trips is making me really excited about the next 5 months...I can't wait to get on the road.

I joined the mountaineering club at the University today, and it sounds like a great opportunity to take some great hikes/climbs/paddles/etc.

One crazy thing about Australia is they basically speak a different language...half the time I can't even understand what they're saying and its really frustrating. Some slang that I've heard...

torch - flashlight
no worries - your welcome
blower - phone
parro - really drunk
Uni - university
breakie - breakfast
mackers - mcdonalds
sunnies - sunglasses
mate - friend (in just about every sentence)

The list is pretty much endless, and they don't just use these words some of the time, they say 'em every time...its crazy.

Life is good, and I'm loving this beautiful place, but I'm missing home, and everyone there and I can't wait to see y'all!

I keep forgetting to bring my camera to campus...but pictures are coming, I promise.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Week One

After about a week in Australia, I finally have an opportunity to spend some time on the internet. Apparently cheap high-speed internet hasn't become too common around here.

The trip over here was as good as it could be, but it was by far the most tiring traveling I have ever done. I left my house in Beaufort at 7:30 am on Tuesday, and got to Newcastle at 4:30 on Thursday. Needless to say, the jet lag was pretty rough.

When I got to Newcastle I stayed at the YHA youth hostel, which had to be one of the best hostels around. The hostel is literally about 100 steps from Newcastle beach, and has great accommodations, not to mention I met a ton of great people living there. The hunt for a place to live was much more difficult than I expected it to be, but I got really lucky and ran into a friend of a friend who I knew was going to be here (Chris Holder) and they were looking for two more people to live in their apartment. We ended up getting a place right around the corner from the hostel that is really nice and right by the beach. We only have 2 bedrooms for 4 people, but with less rent than I pay in Clemson, I think I'll live.

The beaches here are completely different than home. The waves are huge and perfect for surfing and body boarding, and the water is pretty chilly. I'm hoping to learn how to surf while I'm over here, because its a lot harder with the bigger waves. The bar scene here is a lot of fun, but they love to play rave dance music, which isn't quite my favorite. Also, there isn't any cheap liquor or beer around. A handle of Jack is about $125au and a case of beer is about $35au, so I guess I'll have to quit drinking if I want to make it home, haha.