Up to Day 2

Well we finally made it! Everything here is awesome and the weather has been pretty decent. All in all the Air New Zealand flights were all pretty cool. Each seat had their own video screen and a bunch of movies and shows you could watch and games you could play. We also got some pretty good food as far as airplane food goes. I was also sitting by some pretty cool people on both flights, shout outs to Matt Schmalzel and Matt Nichols. Yesterday we got into Brisbane, QLD around 10:00 AM. We then had about a 2 hour drive to Lennox Head where we got to see the country and the how pretty everything is here. Once we arrived we got our cabin assignments and I ended up in cabin 8 which is one of the newer cabins so I was pretty excited about that. We can even hear the waves breaking on the beach from where we are staying.

 

  

 

One of the first things we did was get a good look at the ocean, there is no more picturesque setting than looking out onto Lennox point. At around 6:00 we headed down to a shelter overlooking Lake Ainsworth for a barbecue with our director and the professors we will have for our classes. Once we got into our cabins and started to unpack I thought I would try to set up my surge protector so I could get some of my electronics charged up again. I ended up frying my surge protector and blowing a fuse in the cabin. Thank God I didn't have anything plugged into it yet so all I had to do was flip the breaker. The only problem I had was the HUGE spider who had spun a web right above the breaker box, I am not kidding you folks, this think was probably one of those spiders that eats small animals. Eventually we got everything working again and I took my first trip into town to see everything. By now it was pitch black outside so every little noise or movement was terrifying. I caught a glimpse of my first cane toad and saw about 20 little geckos on the way to town. As most of you can guess I screamed every time I saw anything move.

 

 

This morning we got our water safety talk and went to the surf club/beach where we met a few of the lifeguards. We learned about rip tides and what to do when you get sucked out into one and other safety information. After that we went into Balina, a town a few miles outside where we live, to get some food and other miscellaneous supplies. I ended up buying my water shoes for Marine Biology and got snorkeling equipment to use on the beach outside our camp. We also stocked up on food and cleaning supplies while we were out. We were told before we left that we didn't need to bring sheets but we found out yesterday that we indeed do need to supply our own sheets. I picked some up from the store but they are incredibly uncomfortable so I may need to get some that are higher quality, 180 thread count just isn't cutting it. We made one last stop and then it was back to camp. The bus driver from the camp that took us around today was pretty cool, his name was Box and he knew just about everything you would need to know and took us to a local shop he knew of.

Once we got back from shopping a few of us headed into the beach and spent some time in the ocean. The waves were pretty big because it's been raining a little bit. The water was a little cold but we still got in up to our chests. I am a little burnt but not visibly, so I am better off than a few of the people here who are burnt to a crisp. Right now I am just hanging out with some really awesome people listening to music. Not sure what we are doing tonight but it's bound to be awesome.

Needless to say I am having a really good time. Everyone on the trip is pretty awesome and I get along with them really well. I can tell it is going to be a GREAT three months. And I promise, school starts next week so we will eventually start getting to the study portion of the study abroad.