Only 36 days left. . .where does the time go?

So after my adventure to Numinbah Valley where I experienced farm life, I went to the top of Mount Tamborine and experienced mountain life. Karina and Izzy’s grandparents live up there so we left early in the morning on Thursday and stopped at several scenic look outs on the drive up and even stopped and hiked to another waterfall (Curtis Falls). . .it was gorgeous! From the top of the mountain you can see the skyline of the gold coast with a back drop of the ocean. I wish I could describe the views! There is a great little town there that is known for their homemade fudge, so of course we got some and sampled even more! What a great day we had, eating homemade scones and bread made by Karina’s grandmother and playing cards and even learning cricket in the backyard.

On Friday I played in a hockey game that Bruce asked me last minute to play in. There is a boy’s team touring from New Zealand and they asked if they could play a game so Bruce gathered who he could. I played with mostly 16 year old boys and a few 17 year olds. . .i ended up being the only girl who showed and the oldest one out there. Haha, boy did I stick out. The New Zealand team was VERY good. . .they sorta kicked our butt, we lost 5-1. . .but I have never been so tired after a game so I got a good workout and it was fun to watch them (though I guess I shouldn’t really be watching while I’m playing huh?) and to play against them. So although the outcome wasn’t so good, it was still nice to meet them and now I can say I played against a New Zealand boy’s team. Oh, and they also did the Haka dance before the game, which is a traditional New Zealand dance that the men’s hockey teams do before the start of each game. I wanted to take a video of them doing it but I didn’t think that would be appropriate.

On Easter Bruce, Karina and I went to a place called Sanctuary Cove where there are some nice shops and cafes and it’s a marina. There were some enormous yachts, so we took a walk around the docks and checked out all the boats and picked out the one’s we would want if we could afford one. After exploring around there for a bit we went and got fish and chips at a little shop and got some grilled swordfish that was reeeeally yummy. To be honest I really missed being home for Easter but I guess being in Australia makes up for missing a little family time over the holiday.

Today we drove down to New South Whales on the coast where Izzy and her family are camping for the week. It ended up raining so we didn’t do much but walk along the beach, cook some food and play some games. It was nice to get a change of scenery for a bit and now I can say I drove over the border of Queensland into New South Whales! Woooo.

So this week I am heading to Sydney. . .we are leaving Thursday and returning Sunday.




Part of the Curtis Falls waterfall on Mount Tamborine and Izzy at the top of Mount Tamborine.

Farming in Numinbah Valley

For sightseeing this week I went to the top of the Q1 tower (the tallest residential building in the world). . .what an amazing view! It was pretty rainy for most of the week so I didn’t go any where too exciting. . .just up to Surfer’s one day and to some of the shopping centers.

On Friday I spent the day in Brisbane at the footy (aka rugby game). We got there around 3:30 and watch the U21 Brisbane broncos play the St George dragons and following that game was the pro Broncos vs Dragons game. It was soooo fun. . .we were sititng in the 2nd row right behind the end zone. The players were literally 10 feet away from us and we were going crazy. We had a couple of beers and did our best to get on the big screen. . . it didn’t happen though. Haha. The stadium was huge and there were apparently 45,000 people there. It was such an exciting game and I am absolutely going to try and go to another one before I leave.

On Saturday I spent the day at the field watching our Div 3, 2, and 1 men’s teams play. It’s great being able to watch men’s hockey since obviously we don’t have that back home. After the game some of us went out to a pub and had a couple of drinks. . .i guess there is no “72 hour no drinking” rule down here. Haha. I have found my favorite beer down here, its called a blonde. Perfect name for me. Apparently its low carb too.

So Sunday we won our game, 2-0. It was the most intense game yet. . .it was very feisty and there was lots of trash talking from the other team. In the end it just backfired for them because we still won even though they were trying to get under our skin. One girl even slide tackled one of my teamies and took her out! It was absolutely terrible and there was only a verbal warning given by the ref. Anyways, we won so that was good. After the game all the div 2 and div 3 men and women’s teams were there and there was a bbq and lots of drinking. The older men and women can drink heaps! I’ve never seen such a thing. And beers at the club house are only $2.50 which is pretty darn cheap! I only had a couple of beers but we had a real good time and it was fun meeting some new people and spending time with the girls on the team.

Monday morning we were planning on going to a friends, Charlotte’s, farm, but it was raining all day Sunday so we figured we were gonna make it. Last minute 8am Monday morning she called us and said we could go so we got ready and left by 8:30. This trip was so far the highlight of my time here. The farm is in Numinbah valley,about an hour from here and the hills around it are beautiful! There were hundreds of cows and bulls and I learned how to feed them and how to round them up. . .there were some baby calves which were born last week and were so adorable and I even saw some kangaroos! I also learned how to stack and unload hay bails. . .between Charlotte, Karina and I we unloaded 150 hay bails off of a flat bed truck. It was hard work but we made it fun. There was a gorgeous sunset Monday night and we bbq and just had a really relaxing evening. This morning we woke up and it was sorta raining so we hung inside after feeding the animals and then left early in the afternoon but stopped by this gorgeous waterfall on the way home! Also, a glowworm cave was next to the waterfall but since it was day time we couldn’t see them. The hike to the falls was about 30 mins and the scenery was absolutely gorgeous! I took tons of pictures and am so glad we were able to go. I have never really been to a real farm like this, they raise cattle for eating (i know, very sad) and they have cows for dairy. It was so peaceful out there but being a farmer is clearly a lot of hard work and seems very time consuming.

Anyways, on Thursday we are going to head up to Karina's gradparent's house up on Mount Tamborine. . .apparently the views and scenery up there is even better than at the farm. :) We will see.



Me, Izzy and Karina before the rugby game.




Me unloading hay at the farm, and the Natural Bridge waterfall.

Gnarly Surfer Girl.

I took my first surf lesson this week! It was only 2 hours long and it was all on shore stuff. . . so now I'm going to need to go back so I can get in the water and really see what I have learned. My surf instructor told me when I signed up that I looked like a surfer and then we I was in the lesson he said that I wasn’t a natural like he thought I was going to be. Hahaha. . .oh well, I just have more motivation now to go back and show him that I CAN do it. haha. But really, it was a lot of fun and there were only 3 other people in the lesson with me. We all seemed to be at the same skill level so that was good.

I also took a nice walk from the southern point of Broadbeach up to Surfer’s. It was about a 40 min walk along the beach and it was so gorgeous! I honestly will never get sick of the views. . .I cant even describe how beautiful everything is. I did a lot of people watching and have really learned my way around. The bus system is quite simple now and the bus drivers are even starting to remember me.

My parents booked their flight and will arrive May 1st. . .Woooo I am really excited!!!

I went to the Oasis Shopping center this week, its not as good as Pacific Fair or Australia Fair but it was still nice to walk around. It is located right in the heart of broadbeach.

Our game this weekend was the best yet. We played really well and it was nice afterward to finally feel great about a game. We won 8-0, and they were 1st in our league and beat the team we lost to the other week. We really just came out so strong that the other team didn’t know what to do. Seriously though, they seemed stunned. I scored a couple of goals while playing the center mid position. Nikki Hudson is due to join or squad right after Easter. . .right now she is taking a little time off since she just retired and all. So I really look forward to playing with her and learning a lot.

I had a great week of walking around and exploring the coast. This coming week I plan to go to Brisbane again and then on Friday I am going to my first pro rugby game!! Izzy’s dad got us tickets so we will head up on Friday afternoon to Brisbane where the game will be held. I can’t wait to see how it compares to pro sports back home.

Oh, also this week, I saw my FIRST Starbucks since I have been here!! Oh it was so exciting. . .haha I got a drink and then went back a couple hours later and got another just in case I don’t find another while I’m here. For those of you who don’t know, I am a pretty big Starbucks addict. . .not as big as my dad but I’m still pretty addicted. Haha

Well that’s just a quick overview of some of the things I did this week. Hopefully I will have more exciting things to report next week.

Week Overview

So during this past week I took a trip to Brisbane, went out to the bars down at surfers, coached a little kids team, umpired my first game, had a game, and booked a flight!

My trip to Brisbane on Wed occurred because I have been having trouble with my bank card and the closest bank branch is in Brisbane. All I am going to say is that I spent 2 hours at the bank and it was not a pleasant experience. In the end, although it seemed like everything was all set, I found out 2 days later that it wasn’t. . .so I still cant access my money but should be able to shortly (crossing my fingers). But with that aside, Brisbane was a great city, very old architecture but to be honest I didn’t get to spend as much time there as I would have liked because I had training that night so I was a bit stresses out about getting back. There is GREAT shopping there and some museums that I will have to check out next time for sure. Needless to say, I will need to make another trip back. And on my way back I saw my first kangaroos but since I was on the bus I couldn’t get a picture!! 

Thursday night I went out with some people to surfers and again, didn’t get home until 5am! I was pretty tired on Friday but it was all worth while because a company was having a promo night and I got a free baby blue backpack (my favorite color!) that had 2 t-shirts, a lanyard, 3 cds, wrist bands, a small bottle of Alize liqueur and a hat. It’s always nice to get free stuff. . . but as a friend of mine always says “its not about the stuff.” Hahaha. I beg to differ. . . haha just kidding.

On Saturday morning, Bruce called me around 9:30am because he was up at the field for practice, and he asked if I could come coach a team because one of the other coaches called up last minute saying he couldn’t make it to the 10am training session. Karina drove me over and I coached 7-9 year old boys and girls. They were very cute and quite good for their age! The Labrador Club has 500 kids (ages 3-10) participating in junior hockey teams. . .its incredible that 3 year olds play!!!! Seriously, kids ages 3-10 actually play hockey! That’s something we don’t have back home that’s for sure.

Saturday night I umpired my first game (division 3)! I got $20 so it was completely worth it. It was a good experience and I didn’t do all that bad for my first time. I truly have even more respect for umps after that.

Today we played a division 2 team, so since we are division 1 the game starts with them up 5-0. After the first half we had only scored 2 goals, and luckily in the 2nd half we played really well and made it 10-5. Since we lost last week scoring so many goals was good for our record so we are now in 2nd place! We played a lot better this week and I think it helped get our confidence up for future games. I scored the first 3 goals and I played center mid/center striker.

After our game we went to Izzy’s house and her mom made this delicious Phillipino pasta with chicken and it was soooo good. She cooks great food and since we live pretty close to them we tend to get the leftovers delivered over here!

Tonight Bruce and I booked a trip to Sydney for the 16-19 of April. His son lives there and is in the theater and music business so we are going to see one of his shows and then do a bunch of toursity stuff. I am reeeeally excited. Oh and also tonight, a BIG huntsman spider, a little bigger than the size of the back on my hand, was in the house and Karina and I were standing on the furniture while Bruce saved it and brought it outside. Even though that kind of spider cant hurt you. . . I still don’t want it in the house!

Alrighty that will be it for now, I am very tired and am hoping to do a lot of exploring this week, back in Brisbane and further down the coast.

These are some pics from the beach when the hurricane was off the coast.

Lots to tell.

Quite a bit has happened over the last week. . .

First of all, there was a cyclone (AKA a hurricane) off the coast at the beginning of last week so there was a fair amount of rain and wind which kept me from venturing out too far from the house. On Wednesday I headed up to Surfers Paradise and walked up to Broad Beach to check things out and the waves were HUGE! Oh man the beach was closed to swimmers and surfers and I could see why. The waves were insane. I am sure this sounds so lame but it was cool to see the ocean so ruff since the last time I was there the water was relatively calm. Also, there are some great shopping centers at Broad Beach that I walked passed but will have to head back and really check them out. We all know, I LOVE to shop. . . don’t worry mom, I wont buy any jeans (well, unless they are on sale)! Haha.

On Thursday night I went out to the bars and clubs for the first time since I’ve been here. We went out in Surfers and little did I know the night was going to be pretty long. . the bars don’t close until 5am, so a little different from the 2am close back in boston! It was a real good time though. . . there were a lot of ‘Uni Kids’ out. . .so it was pretty crowded every where we went. I felt pretty old to be honest since the drinking age is 18 here. . .i know 22 isn’t that old but everyone looked so young!

On Friday night I went to the casino! I didn’t gamble but we ate at a delicious Chinese restaurant and then sat in the lounge and had a couple of drinks and listened to the live band while watching people dance and make fools of themselves. Haha. The casino was pretty nice though, it was a good size and it was pretty crowded. There were tons of restaurants and bars there so I am sure I will head back. . .maybe I will gamble a little next time I’m there. . .just maybe though.

Saturday night was Izzy’s senior year formal. . .it was at a golf course and family and friends go to watch everyone get out of their car and walk up a red carpet into the venue. It was pretty interesting, a lot different from the way our proms were back home. After being entertained with that, some of the family and I went out to dinner to a great restaurant that was on a pier overlooking the water!

So today we had a game and we actually lost 1-0. . .apparently my team hasn’t lost for 2 years so it was pretty upsetting. It was a rough game for us but we will put it in the past and take what we can from it. There were plenty of teaching points that’s for sure! I found out today that Nikki Hudson, the recently retired captain of the Australian national team (recent as in a week or so ago), is going to be playing with my team!!!! Very, very cool! She is outstanding so I look forward to having the opportunity to play with her and learn a lot from her. For those of you who don’t really understand, this is kind of a big deal. . . I mean, she is kind of a big deal! Haha.

Overall the week was pretty darn good (minus the loss). This coming weekend I will umpire my first couple of games to make some money and I might be coaching some little kids (6 and 7 year olds) once a week as well. Life is pretty good here in Australia and I cant believe a month has gone by! I am really trying to do everything possible so I don’t have any regrets when I get home. It’s been a little hard since all the people I have met either go to school or work during the week so all the touring I’ve done has been on my own. But, I have learned the bus system very well and am proud of myself for doing so many things on my own. 

Alrighty, well that is all for now.

So far so good.

Another successful game. We won 3-0 against Mudgee who is apparently our team’s biggest rival! So the game was intense and a little rougher then the last couple. Today I played center mid and left mid. I scored the first goal off of the same corner that we did yesterday. And then one of our other goals was also off of a corner, while the other was a slam from outside of the circle and tipped in.

We were more pleased with our play today then we were in the last 2 games so that is a step in the right direction. Our team has many individually skilled players so it’s all about playing together and getting used to each other. Today was our last trial/pre-season game, so next weekend’s game is actually going to count towards or record. Hopefully we will be able to keep the winning streak alive. I think we will have a promising season if we all work on learning each other's playing styles. We are off to a good start so far, but as I've said before, it can certainly get better.

I'm real tired so that is all for now. Hopefully I will do some exciting sightseeing this week so I’ll have some good stuff to tell you all and maybe some new photos as well.