Wacky Weather and Australia Day

I’m back! Excited to continue reading? I hope so, because I’ll now tell you how the rest of my first week here has been. You don’t have to keep reading though, unless of course you’re my IB teacher…

So where did we leave off? Right, on Friday, my second day here in the land of the Aussies. I slept in till quite late because I was still tired of travelling the day before and I wasn’t really over my jetlag either. 

 

After a yummy first breakfast with eggs and avocado on toast, Craig (Bella’s boyfriend) and his friend Jack came to pick us up to go to Sea World. We saw some shows, went on rides, petted stingrays and saw all kinds of animals like sharks, polar bears, dolphins, etc. Unfortunately, the day remained mainly overcast with a little rain from time to time. EVEN SO (you won’t believe it but it truly happened), I GOT SUNBURNT!!! When we got back from Sea World we went over to Jack’s house for a bit, and afterwards we had dinner with the four of us at Bella’s house.

Saturday was Australia Day! This is a public holiday held each year in Australia on the 26^th of January. They celebrate that the First Fleet arrived at Sydney Cove. Reason enough for a little party, don’t you agree? Dressed up in our shorts, Australia tattoos and other Australia gear, we were dropped off at Craig’s house. He’d invited some people over to chill by the pool. Only one problem: it was raining again. So instead, we just chilled inside, listened to some music, etc. When we got back home around 11 pm, Rory (Bella’s brother) was still partying with some friends, so Bella and I decided to join them and spent the rest of the night with them. All in all I had a great Australia Day!

The following day Bella and I slept in till late, since we were really tired of partying the day before. Also, the gentle rain and overcast sky had turned into a tropical cyclone! This, and the fact that we couldn’t really be bothered to move anyway, resulted into a lazy day in bed, watching series with a cup of tea and Tim Tams. In case you don’t know what Tim Tams are, I assure you your life hasn’t been complete up till now. They are legitimately the BEST cookies ever. I don’t think I’d be able to live without them anymore.

On Monday, more than a metre of rain had fallen in the 24 hours to 9 am, and according to Bella’s parents, out to sea waves with a height of 10 m had been recorded!!! Bella, Rory, Kaia (Bella’s mum) and I went to this place called Burleigh to watch the sea and the waves there, and it was just unbelievable. There was so much foam on the path and the wind was so strong that we were covered in dirt and foam up to our hips by the time we got back in the car. On our way back home we grabbed a coffee and did some grocery shopping. I noticed that the cashier already put all our food in plastic bags for us, which I found funny because back home you usually have to get plastic bags to do it yourself.

Back home we made the most amazing hamburger sandwiches with mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, baked onions and ketchup and they were just SO yummy, I don’t even know how to describe it. Afterwards, Craig came over and drove us to Jess and Kate’s house (they are twins), where we just chilled for a while and played with Kate’s new kitten Benji. Then Craig, Bella and I went to a chocolate bar called Max Brenner’s with Hayden (a friend of Craig) and his girlfriend Remie. We shared a chocolate fondue and banana split waffle sundae, and again, it was so amazing. Ok I take back my words; You haven’t lived yet if you haven’t tasted Tim Tams AND Max Brenner's yet.

(By the way, I’m starting to feel like I’m talking about food all the time. Believe me, I do other things here than eating. The food here is just so delicious that I get really excited talking about it. Haha okay that sounds retarded, but the food here really is amazing.)

Almost done guys, bare with me for a few more minutes. On Tuesday, Do and Nay came over and I actually saw the sun for the first time since I’d been here. We first made strawberries dipped in chocolate. Then we tanned for a while and went canoeing (Bella lives in a house by a canal). For lunch, we had some very tasty sandwiches (there we go again…), and the chocolate strawberries for dessert. The rest of the day we just chilled by the pool and Do and Nay also stayed for dinner.

 

School doesn’t start until Thursday, but tomorrow is Orientation Day. This means all the new girls come to school to get a tour and information and stuff, but since Do and I are exchanges we also have to be there. I’m actually really excited to see the school and how everything works here, but I’ll tell you all about it later!