1st Week Down Under

The 13 hour plane ride was not as dreadful as I had expected. After a day in Beverly Hills and LA living the high life, I was much rested and ready for the long journey ahead. I met the group at the airport and before we knew it we were Auckland bound. Most people slept the entire way over, yet I was restless and entertained myself with magazines and movies. We finally arrived in Brisbane at 11am local time. A tasty lunch awaited us at the Women's College, part of the University of Queensland. This is where we spend most of our time on campus.

The next few days were filled with orientation activities and introductions. Our host families showed us the ropes of public transportation and how to get around the city. It takes about 20 minutes to get from my house to school. The most annoying of all tasks was getting cell phones; however, we are all able to communicate with each other now. It is crazy to think about how life was like back before we had cell phones. Aside from experimenting with city nightlife in Australia, one highlight of our first few days was visiting the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary which is home to about 130 koalas and numerous other native Australian animals. The roos were expecially fascinating.
The jet lag is finally starting to wear off. There were a few days when I kept waking up at 5:30 despite what time I went to sleep. By now we are all starting to get into our routines. With that said, our first field trip to North Straddie (Stradbroke Island) is on Friday where we will spend the week learning about local flora and fauna of marine environments. Until next time, enjoy the pictures.