Friday, a group of about 18 friends (including me) went paintballing. This is the first time I have ever been paintballing, so I wasn't sure of what to expect. After getting lost (the place is about 45 minutes away from Curtin), we arrived at the course. The instuctor had us all fill out a waiver and get into some jumpsuites and masks. He then proceeded to inform us on how to use a gun and about the different areas we were going to be gaming in. I was scared out of my mind by the time he was done explaining everything to us. Then it was time go onto the first course. For the majority of the course, I hid behind a tree, terrified to get hit. I saw alot of people from the other team surrendering and walking off, so I thought I might be able to move away from my hiding spot. As soon as I moved, I was getting shot at!! Terrified, I began shooting all the people I saw around me. I got a few people to surrender, but eventually got shot as well...right on the tibia (shin) bone. OUCH! BUT the paintball did not explode, therefore I was not out yet!! I made it through the first game alive!
In the next game that we played, I had to surrender because I ran out of ammo. As I was surrendering (raising the gun up so people know NOT to shoot at you), I got shot 3 times...once in the thumb, once on the left thigh and once on the right knee. It was painful!! These hits yielded HUGE welts which eventually turned into nasty ringed bruises...blue/purple/red/white rings...literally!!
By the end of the day, I was ready to quit!! We played many different games on different courses. It's fun, but terrifying!! I suppose I will never ACTUALLY shoot guns because holding a weapon was scary enough...not to mention the 50 other people on the courses holding guns and shooting at me!!
Other news: I finally got a grade!! Only halfway through the semester..ya know. Anyway, it was on my Cell biology test that I took before the 2-week break. I got an A! Yay!! Told you I studied..
<3 me
Monday, April 20, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Albany
For the second week of April break, my friend Kelsey and I went down to southern WA to Albany to visit my friend Rhys and his family. We had to take the bus from Perth, which took about 7 hours. Once we arrived, Rhys and another friend, Nathan (who had been there all week - also from Curtin) picked us up and we went to Rhys' house to settle in. We went to Rhys' friends house that night to hang out and were going to go to a nightclub in town but decided that the line was too long and just went back to Rhys' house to hang out for the rest of the night.
The second day, we did some touristy things such as see the Natural Bridge formed by rocks and the Gap...a huge gap between rocks. The pictures are a better explanation. That night we had an awesome BBQ for dinner and some of Rhys and Nathans friends from Curtin stopped by the house while on a road trip through SWA. We hung out with them for a bit, then they left
The next day, one of Rhys' friends' brothers took us to the TV set for a TV show that plays in Australia. I have never heard of it before and can't remember the name at the moment. The cast and crew were on holiday for the week, and Matt (who took us there) works there as set design crew. We got to see the entire set and help bring props in to be set up!! I have pictures of this, but I am not allowed to post them online, so if you want to see ask and I can email you.
Afterwards, we stopped for some lunch and went to eat on the beach. It was really windy, and there were tons of seagulls, so we ran to the car. As we left, we put all the food we didnt eat in the paper box it came in, stuck it under the car and drove away to see if the gulls would eat it. We drove approximately 15 meters one way, went around a driving circle and drove back. It took us about 30 seconds...by the time we came back the food was gone...even the box was missing!
The next day was really great weather, so we decided to go to a nice beach which the locals called the Waterfalls. On the way, Rhys decided I needed to learn how to drive. This proved very interesting because a) they drive on the opposite side of the road, b) Rhys drives a large pickup and c) its stick-shift. SOOO he pulled into a parking lot, turned the car around and I got into the drivers seat. I turned on the car (always always always remember to keep the clutch and brake in!) and Rhys put the car into gear. I stalled within seconds and had to restart! I eventually got out onto the road and drove (a very rocky) 20K or so to the beach.
The beach itself was soooo nice!! It was tucked away amongst huge boulders. We hiked through some woods and over some boulders to get to a more secluded beach. There were about 8 of in total...Kelsey and I were the only girls AND the only ones who had never done this treck before! We climbed some HUGE boulders (I thought I was going to die) over to sit on a sloping rock, then slid down to stand on a rock that was out in the water a bit. The water around this rock was at least 10 ft deep, but CRYSTAL clear and with very little current. I wish we had beaches like this at home...nothing at all compares! Anyway, after sitting there for about 30 or so minutes, we decided to go back to shore. The only way back was to dive in and swim back...so that is what we did. 2 of the boys went first, then Kels, then me. I dove in and as soon as I looked up I was like..'where's Kelsey!?'. She dove in maybe 10 seconds before me and already she was jetting ahead of everyone to get back to shore!!! (She is TINY too!). It was probably about a 3-400 meter swim back to shore, but it was very refreshing!!
The next day, Rhys had a dentist appointment so his mom decided that the three of us (me kels and nath) should go to Whaleworld..where they used to hunt, capture, and kill whales. We sat around for a bit at the house waiting for another friend, Jamee, to get to the house from Denmark, a town about 45 minutes from Albany. She got there, and Rhys got home before we left the house, so we went with him instead of his mom. It was a pretty neat exhibit...we enjoyed playing on the large ship they had at the museum. Nathan and Jamee then headed back to Perth while the three of us went to go see some natural Blowholes (which we didnt actually get to see, even after a 1.5 K or so walk down a hill...and back up again). We also saw Salmon holes, where salmon fishing and surfing are both popular.
The last day we spent in Albany was fairly relaxing. The three of us went to another tourist atrraction where they had alot of war remnants. The price was 6$ each, but I think the woman taking our money thought Kelsey was a child and let her in for free!! Quite funny because she is actually the oldest of the three of us!! (She is 21, I am 20, Rhys is 19). We saw lots of canons and Rhys got a kick out of being able to spin some around and act like he was shooting me. Typical boy.
Afterwards, we just hung around Albany for a bit and chatted with Rhys' parents, who are very interested about our lives in the US and how everything is so different from here!! It was fun telling them about some of the things that are different and things that we like to do around PA and NC.
That is all for now!!
<3 me
The second day, we did some touristy things such as see the Natural Bridge formed by rocks and the Gap...a huge gap between rocks. The pictures are a better explanation. That night we had an awesome BBQ for dinner and some of Rhys and Nathans friends from Curtin stopped by the house while on a road trip through SWA. We hung out with them for a bit, then they left
The next day, one of Rhys' friends' brothers took us to the TV set for a TV show that plays in Australia. I have never heard of it before and can't remember the name at the moment. The cast and crew were on holiday for the week, and Matt (who took us there) works there as set design crew. We got to see the entire set and help bring props in to be set up!! I have pictures of this, but I am not allowed to post them online, so if you want to see ask and I can email you.
Afterwards, we stopped for some lunch and went to eat on the beach. It was really windy, and there were tons of seagulls, so we ran to the car. As we left, we put all the food we didnt eat in the paper box it came in, stuck it under the car and drove away to see if the gulls would eat it. We drove approximately 15 meters one way, went around a driving circle and drove back. It took us about 30 seconds...by the time we came back the food was gone...even the box was missing!
The next day was really great weather, so we decided to go to a nice beach which the locals called the Waterfalls. On the way, Rhys decided I needed to learn how to drive. This proved very interesting because a) they drive on the opposite side of the road, b) Rhys drives a large pickup and c) its stick-shift. SOOO he pulled into a parking lot, turned the car around and I got into the drivers seat. I turned on the car (always always always remember to keep the clutch and brake in!) and Rhys put the car into gear. I stalled within seconds and had to restart! I eventually got out onto the road and drove (a very rocky) 20K or so to the beach.
The beach itself was soooo nice!! It was tucked away amongst huge boulders. We hiked through some woods and over some boulders to get to a more secluded beach. There were about 8 of in total...Kelsey and I were the only girls AND the only ones who had never done this treck before! We climbed some HUGE boulders (I thought I was going to die) over to sit on a sloping rock, then slid down to stand on a rock that was out in the water a bit. The water around this rock was at least 10 ft deep, but CRYSTAL clear and with very little current. I wish we had beaches like this at home...nothing at all compares! Anyway, after sitting there for about 30 or so minutes, we decided to go back to shore. The only way back was to dive in and swim back...so that is what we did. 2 of the boys went first, then Kels, then me. I dove in and as soon as I looked up I was like..'where's Kelsey!?'. She dove in maybe 10 seconds before me and already she was jetting ahead of everyone to get back to shore!!! (She is TINY too!). It was probably about a 3-400 meter swim back to shore, but it was very refreshing!!
The next day, Rhys had a dentist appointment so his mom decided that the three of us (me kels and nath) should go to Whaleworld..where they used to hunt, capture, and kill whales. We sat around for a bit at the house waiting for another friend, Jamee, to get to the house from Denmark, a town about 45 minutes from Albany. She got there, and Rhys got home before we left the house, so we went with him instead of his mom. It was a pretty neat exhibit...we enjoyed playing on the large ship they had at the museum. Nathan and Jamee then headed back to Perth while the three of us went to go see some natural Blowholes (which we didnt actually get to see, even after a 1.5 K or so walk down a hill...and back up again). We also saw Salmon holes, where salmon fishing and surfing are both popular.
The last day we spent in Albany was fairly relaxing. The three of us went to another tourist atrraction where they had alot of war remnants. The price was 6$ each, but I think the woman taking our money thought Kelsey was a child and let her in for free!! Quite funny because she is actually the oldest of the three of us!! (She is 21, I am 20, Rhys is 19). We saw lots of canons and Rhys got a kick out of being able to spin some around and act like he was shooting me. Typical boy.
Afterwards, we just hung around Albany for a bit and chatted with Rhys' parents, who are very interested about our lives in the US and how everything is so different from here!! It was fun telling them about some of the things that are different and things that we like to do around PA and NC.
That is all for now!!
<3 me
Friday, April 10, 2009
Ningaloo Trip!!
So this trip started out very interestingly. I had my alarm set for 7am, bags packed (sans toiletries) and everything ready. 7:32am rolls around and I get a text from my friend Kelsey asking if I was ready to head out to meet the group. This also happened to be my wake up call, unfortunately!! I forgot to set my alarm for Saturday, so it didn't go off!! I had to scramble to get all my toiletries in order and run out the door...without brushing teeth/hair or changing out of pjs. We made it to meet the group a few minutes early, so I went in to the bathroom to change into regular clothes and freshen up. This is when I realized that I forgot my hairbrush AND toothpaste. I did, however, remember the essentials such as mascara..go figure.
SOO then the bus pulls up. It's this old VW-looking blue bus with the MOST uncomfortable seats EVER! 13 of us pile in. It's about 8:05 and we are missing some people - we had strict instuction to be prompt. Nathan, our tour guide, calls the missing members...who happen to be in the middle of breakfast. Let me get this straight...I hopped out of bed, forgot a ton of necessities, made it to the bus AND changed in under 30 minutes while these girls are having breaky?? I didn't even get breaky!!
ANYWAY...we eventually take off!! First stop was the Pinnacles Dessert...about a 4 hour drive from Perth. It was a neat dessert with eroded sand/soil forming large rock-like protrusions from the ground. After the Pinnacles, we drove for a few minutes until realizing we had blown a few tires on good 'ol Oliver, our van. We had to pit stop for about 3 hours at a gas station that was unable to help us. We continued our travels towards Northampton Farmstay. It was literally a farm!! It was a fun place, though, and I bunked with 5 others.
Day two consisted of a drive up the Kalbarri National Park. The scenery here was soo pretty!! Red rock cliffs on the ocean..very nice! Then we took a hike around Mushroom rock for some more pretty scenery. We stopped at Shell Beach, which was made completely of tiny shells and was completely infested with annoying flys. My friend Toni and I had a fly-killing contest. We both won.
After, we went to the beach at Kalbarri and walked around the town a bit. The water was way too cold to swim in, but the town was a good alternative. Then, we loaded up the bus for a few hour drive to Monkey Mia. This was a pretty neat place...it was a backpackers resort (every place we stayed was a hostel/backpackers resort). Resort is a very loose term, but it worked for us! Nice beach with sting rays and dolphins right on the shore!! We all woke up relatively early to watch a dolphin feeding on the beach (7am), then took a power nap until about 945am when we departed for Coral Bay.
It took a few hours to get to Coral Bay, but it was well worth it!! We arrived fairly early and had breakfast at a small shop on the beach. A few of us decided to lay out on the beach for a while. It was ridiculously hot out (north = HOT!), so Kelsey and I got in the (shallow) water. We walked out probably 300 meters and the water was only hip deep. HUGE (1/2 meter long) fish were swimming all around us, so we decided to rent snorkeling gear and check out the reef that was just a few more meters out. It was SOO neat!! We saw marine life such as tropical fish, octapus, jelly fish, sting rays, coral, eels, etc. I would definintely do that again!!
After a few more hours on the beach, the group headed to our over night accommodations at another backpackers resort. We had dinner and decided to go to the beach lookout for the sunset, and the hang out at the beach hotel bar, which sits right on the beach. We all went to bed at about 9pm because we had to be on the bus and ready to depart before 550am!!
Once on the bus, I took nice pictures of the sunrise and the Australian Outback. You do not realize how barren Western Australia is until you drive through it. There is literally NOTHING here!! It's crazy. We drove over 7 hours and saw nothing more than bush.
We drove up to Exmouth, our final destination. Some people went scuba diving/snorkeling on a guided tour, but I wanted to see the Ningaloo Reef, so I stayed with the group and went on to Turquoise Bay. It was really nice to just relax on the beach!! The Reef was not as impressive as it was in Coral Bay, but it was still fun to snorkel over for a few minutes. I fell asleep on the beach and got about 5 shades darker!! I was very excited!! Once we left the beach, we toured the visitor center and the light house. I got some really pretty pictures of the Bay area/reef. Then we headed to the backpackers resort and hung out by the pool for a few hours. 3 of us decided to go sandboarding. We never actually found where we were supposed to sandboard, so we settled for a sand dune on the beach. It wasn't as fun as we though because the dune was short and not that steep, but we had a good time nevertheless!
This is about the end of the trip, unfortunately. It was a really good time and I highly recommend a trip up the Western coast of Australia to anyone!! The next day, we had a 12 hour drive back down to Northampton, back to the Farmstay for the evening. We had a good time that night catching up with each other and some of the other tour groups staying there for the evening. The next day, we had about 7 hours drive back to Perth!
Thats all!!!!
<3 me
SOO then the bus pulls up. It's this old VW-looking blue bus with the MOST uncomfortable seats EVER! 13 of us pile in. It's about 8:05 and we are missing some people - we had strict instuction to be prompt. Nathan, our tour guide, calls the missing members...who happen to be in the middle of breakfast. Let me get this straight...I hopped out of bed, forgot a ton of necessities, made it to the bus AND changed in under 30 minutes while these girls are having breaky?? I didn't even get breaky!!
ANYWAY...we eventually take off!! First stop was the Pinnacles Dessert...about a 4 hour drive from Perth. It was a neat dessert with eroded sand/soil forming large rock-like protrusions from the ground. After the Pinnacles, we drove for a few minutes until realizing we had blown a few tires on good 'ol Oliver, our van. We had to pit stop for about 3 hours at a gas station that was unable to help us. We continued our travels towards Northampton Farmstay. It was literally a farm!! It was a fun place, though, and I bunked with 5 others.
Day two consisted of a drive up the Kalbarri National Park. The scenery here was soo pretty!! Red rock cliffs on the ocean..very nice! Then we took a hike around Mushroom rock for some more pretty scenery. We stopped at Shell Beach, which was made completely of tiny shells and was completely infested with annoying flys. My friend Toni and I had a fly-killing contest. We both won.
After, we went to the beach at Kalbarri and walked around the town a bit. The water was way too cold to swim in, but the town was a good alternative. Then, we loaded up the bus for a few hour drive to Monkey Mia. This was a pretty neat place...it was a backpackers resort (every place we stayed was a hostel/backpackers resort). Resort is a very loose term, but it worked for us! Nice beach with sting rays and dolphins right on the shore!! We all woke up relatively early to watch a dolphin feeding on the beach (7am), then took a power nap until about 945am when we departed for Coral Bay.
It took a few hours to get to Coral Bay, but it was well worth it!! We arrived fairly early and had breakfast at a small shop on the beach. A few of us decided to lay out on the beach for a while. It was ridiculously hot out (north = HOT!), so Kelsey and I got in the (shallow) water. We walked out probably 300 meters and the water was only hip deep. HUGE (1/2 meter long) fish were swimming all around us, so we decided to rent snorkeling gear and check out the reef that was just a few more meters out. It was SOO neat!! We saw marine life such as tropical fish, octapus, jelly fish, sting rays, coral, eels, etc. I would definintely do that again!!
After a few more hours on the beach, the group headed to our over night accommodations at another backpackers resort. We had dinner and decided to go to the beach lookout for the sunset, and the hang out at the beach hotel bar, which sits right on the beach. We all went to bed at about 9pm because we had to be on the bus and ready to depart before 550am!!
Once on the bus, I took nice pictures of the sunrise and the Australian Outback. You do not realize how barren Western Australia is until you drive through it. There is literally NOTHING here!! It's crazy. We drove over 7 hours and saw nothing more than bush.
We drove up to Exmouth, our final destination. Some people went scuba diving/snorkeling on a guided tour, but I wanted to see the Ningaloo Reef, so I stayed with the group and went on to Turquoise Bay. It was really nice to just relax on the beach!! The Reef was not as impressive as it was in Coral Bay, but it was still fun to snorkel over for a few minutes. I fell asleep on the beach and got about 5 shades darker!! I was very excited!! Once we left the beach, we toured the visitor center and the light house. I got some really pretty pictures of the Bay area/reef. Then we headed to the backpackers resort and hung out by the pool for a few hours. 3 of us decided to go sandboarding. We never actually found where we were supposed to sandboard, so we settled for a sand dune on the beach. It wasn't as fun as we though because the dune was short and not that steep, but we had a good time nevertheless!
This is about the end of the trip, unfortunately. It was a really good time and I highly recommend a trip up the Western coast of Australia to anyone!! The next day, we had a 12 hour drive back down to Northampton, back to the Farmstay for the evening. We had a good time that night catching up with each other and some of the other tour groups staying there for the evening. The next day, we had about 7 hours drive back to Perth!
Thats all!!!!
<3 me
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