See ya later Straya!

This is my very last blogpost from down under. Tomorrow morning I take off to Holland again. Time has gone so fast! But I guess that's a good thing, because "time flies when you are having fun". And fun doesn't even start describing how amazing this exchange has been. The Great Barrier Reef, Currumbin, Australia Day, beaches, Surfers Paradise, lots of shopping, St. Hilda's school, Mt. Warning, and so many other experiences and places have made this journey more than worthwhile. However, the one thing that has definitely made this so great, are the many inspiring people I have met over the past two months. I have made friends for life, and I have made unforgettable memories.

As my departure has been coming closer and closer, people have started asking me: 'What did you learn from your exchange?' Well, I have become an independent student and my English has improved in so many ways (I have an Aussie accent too). I feel a lot more mature since I have left the Netherlands, and I "reckon" (did everyone get that link to my newly developed accent?! ;) I could easily make it out here in the world on my own. Most of all, though, I learned that it's not only the things you do that make these experiences so special, but the people you share these memories with make every second count!

Thank you Australia! And, as cheesy as this may sound: 'this is not a goodbye, but a see you later.' I will definitely come back for a reunion with everyone I met, especially my host family.

So, see you later and I will miss every single one of you!

Million-dollar views

                                                      

Surfers Paradise

This was the day I really had been looking forward to all week. It was Thursday and Imogen and I had taken the day off to go to Surfers Paradise. We had agreed to meet there, and then we went straight for a coffee and breakfast. We sat along the boulevard, and when we finished we went to the beach and from there you could see the Q1 (a building which we would climb later on). It was 9 o'clock and the shops had opened so we decided to have a look around there too. When we saw that it was 11 am we headed for the Q1. The Q1 is the highest residential building on the Gold Coast and represents the Olympic Flame from the Sydney Olympics.

 

When we came there, we signed in, and we would prepare for the climb in 30 minutes. We got a hat, a suit and a harness. The lift took us to the 77th level of the building in 44 seconds! When we got up there, we secured our harnesses to a rails. The doors to the outside of the building opened, and one by one we (our group consisting of Imogen, I and 7 other people) walked up the stairs. The sky was so clear, and we couldn't have chosen a better day to go up there. The view was stunning! On one side you could see as far as Brisbane, and on the other side you could see Mt Warning and Point Danger. While we walked up the stairs, the guide took some photos of us since we weren't allowed to bring our own camaras. All the way at the top, you could actually hang over the edge of the building while he took a picture. This was definitely the most memorable thing I have done up until now.

When we got back downstairs and had taken our gear off, we bought a sandwich and had lunch on the boulevard. After our lunch, Yuki (Kona's mother) brought us back to St. Hilda's and I caught the bus back to Burleigh Heads.

Mt. Warning

Imogen stayed over because Saturday morning we were going to climb Mt. Warning. We woke up at 7 am NSW time which is 6 am QLD time (I am not sure if I told you, but there are different time zones between Queensland and New South Wales). While we were having breakfast, it started pouring! I got scared we might have to hike in the rain, but luckily it wasn't raining anymore when we got there. All prepared with backpacks filled with food, water,and extra clothes, we started the track. It took us about two hours to get to the start of the "rope part". That was the last bit of the hike up to the top, where you had to hold on to a chain in order not to fall down. Also, because it had rained before, the track was all slippery so a couple of times I was quite scared a would trip and fall. We got to the top safely though. It was a little bit of a disappointment, because it was all cloudy and all we could see was white. We rested for a while and ate something because we were pretty exhausted from the hike up the mountain and quite hungry. When we were ready to go down again, we realized that that was probably going to be harder than the way up. We did manage to get down again and even took a couple of action photos while climbing down the rope part. When we walked down the normal path, the weather started to clear up, and it was beautiful! We couldn't see up the coast because the track was on the other side of the mountain, but we did get to see an amazing view of the countryside. When we got down, we drove back to Naoka's house, quickly changed because we were really dirty, and dropped Imogen off.

 

Relaxing

The rest of the weekend was really relaxing. A friend of Naoka (Tully) stayed over and we just watched movies and relaxed. Sunday I just did some homework and started a new book. I have read so many books already since I've been here!

I am counting down the days until my departure now. 48 down, 10 to go. I am quite sad that it is almost over, but at the same time so keen to see my friends and family.

See you in 10 days,

Loulotte

QGSSSA Swimming

It was finally Wednesday afternoon, and everyone headed for their house teachers. We got our names ticked off and got on the school bus. It took about an hour to get to the Brisbane Aquatic Centre. When we got there, the first thing I thought was: "I am so grateful for the St. Hilda's school uniform!" The other girl schools had even worse uniforms! One school had lemon green tunics, while some other girls were walking around with black skirts all the way down to their ankles.

Brisbane Aquatic Centre

When we went inside the building, I was absolutely amazed by the amount of people who were there. There were about 3000 people already cheering for their swimmers. There were eight other private all-girl schools and one co-ed state school. When the events started, they played music and everybody danced and sang along. In-between the events you could go outside and grab a drink or buy something to eat. 

Near the end of the contest, a couple of St. Hilda's swimmers and the school mascot went to the other side of the pool so all the girls of our school could see them. Then, they started dancing and we all copied them. It looked just like we had studied in a dance and a couple of other schools even tried to do the same as us. I had such a good time!

St. Hilda's swam surprisingly well and became overall sixth out of ten schools (last year they came 8th overall).

I'll miss you Luli!

This was the last night of a close friend of mine, Luli, who was an exchange from Argentina. So even though this evening was amazing, it was a little sad too. We said our good-byes (not completely tear-less) and we promised to meet each other another time, somewhere else.

Australia's New York

 

It was Friday morning 5:00 AM and the four of us (Naoka, Walter, Nerida and I) were checking if we had everything we needed, because we would leave for the Gold Coast Airport at 6:15 AM. The flight to Sydney took about an hour, and when we got in the taxi on our way into the city, the road was packed because that weekend was the 'Mardi Gras'. The Mardi Gras is a parade especially organized for people who are homosexual, trans-gender, lesbian, etc. Unfortunately we didn't get to go there because of another party.

Reunited with the Sydney exchanges

The Sydney Tower Eye

Anyway, when we finally got to the hotel where the parents would stay, we dropped off our bags and went sight seeing in Sydney. We first went to Paddy's, which is a big market with lots of souvenir shops and cheap things. After Paddy's walked through the city, had something to drink (a chocolate macchiato!), we went to the Queen Victoria Building, and then walked to the Sydney Tower Eye. When we went up the tower, the view was just stunning. You could see all of Sydney, and wow that is a big city! I think that if you add the area of Brisbane to the area of Sydney, you have the whole area of the Netherlands.
When we had seen the beautiful 360 degrees view and had taken a million pictures, we walked back and passed the famous Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. This was amazing too. From the Sydney Tower Eye you could see it, but its size wasn't really clear, but when we walked underneath it, it was so big.

 

The Opera House was incredible too. We didn't get to actually go inside (Nerida said that the inside isn't even that nice), but the outside was great. In total the building cost 40 million dollars (which is a lot more than it was meant to be), and it was built especially for the Olympic Games.
When we had seen the Opera House from up close, we raced back to the hotel, got ready, and caught a cab to Vapiano's. We waited for a little while, and then we heard people call our names... It was the other exchanges!! Jo, Jas, Alex, and Tash were the first of the Sydney exchanges to arrive at Vapiano's, where we had agreed to meet and have dinner. After half an hour, the boys finally arrived too. It was really good to see them, and catch up with them. It literally was like we had never been apart, it was really nice (the food too ;) and I had a great time!

The amazing pool!

After we had said our good-byes, Naoka and I caught the bus to Circular Quay, the ferry station. We took the ferry to another part of Sydney, because Naoka's sister had hired a house there, where we would stay the next two days. Her other sisters and their partners and children stayed there as well. The house was A-MA-ZING. It was huge and on the top floor, there was the greatest pool you will ever see. It was heated and one side was made of glass where the water ran over the side like an infinity pool. We didn't go for a swim though, and we went to bed quite early, because the next day would be very busy.
When I woke up, everyone was already up 'n running. I had breakfast and then got straight to work. Nimm's birthday was nautical themed so we had to decorate everything, get all the food and drinks ready, etc. Everyone was dressed up and they looked very nice. I did go for a swim at night, and it was so good! The party was about 8 hours long, so when everyone had finally left I was pretty exhausted and went straight to bed.

 

The next morning I was the last to wake up again. The whole morning I relaxed in the pool, but unfortunately we had to leave around 12:30 PM, to meet Walter and Nerida at Circular Quay. We had lunch at a small bakery, and we caught cab back to Sydney airport…

My weekend was amazing, and one to never forget! I especially like Sydney because every part of the city is different; one area might look like some tropical town, while another place looks like a harbour, and again somewhere else in Sydney it might seem as if you are in a big city like New York. I loved it, and really would like to come back there sometime.