i know it's been a while since my last post but i think this one will make up for it....
the past few weeks have been quite busy. i am not officially done with school, i just have exams and papers left. i can't believe how quickly the semester went by. but the end of something like this means lots of celebrations. john's has been having a bunch of parties to celebrate and all the seniors are itching to get out while also trying to have as much fun as they can for their finals days here. there was also fresher initation. basically all the freshers get their academic gowns, the ones we have to wear to formal dinners, cut. that's how you can tell who is in what year. the sleeves of the gown get cut. but unfortunately, being someone who is only here for a semester i wasn't able to get my gown cut because i have to give mine back or pay 200 bucks. so i think my parents would thank me for not getting mine cut! but i was still able to partake in the festivities. it was all very fun. then the best part of the week.... i got to spend the weekend in cairns visiting the great barrier reef and the rainforrest. it was awesome. on friday we spent the day on a boat, traveling into the deep sea, and exploring the gbf. the weather wasn't great. it was cloudy and coldish and very windy so that made for a very choppy ride over (my dad would definitely not have liked the boat ride). after two hours of traveling we made it to the gbf. and i took my first ever scuba dive! it was awesome! i was a little freaked at first but i made it through!! it was awesome. i got to touch a giant clam and hold a sea cucumber (photos of those are making their way to me!) i got to sea nemo in his original habitat and see all the beautiful coral. great stuff! i loved scuba diving!!! then on saturday we had breakfast with the birds at a zoo. then we went on a walk through the rainforest with an aboriginal tourguide who showed us different types of huts they lived in and all sorts of tools and food they used to use when they were living directly in the rainforest. then we took a trip to mossman gorge which was a little river for us to swim in. it had huge beautiful rocks and little waterfalls all over. then on sunday we spent the morning jungle surfing (zip lining) through the rainforest. very cool. i even got to do it upside down! that was very cool. we then spent just a little while at cape tribulation. this is probably the most beautiful site i've seen in the whole world. it's where two world heritage sites come together: the reef and the rainforest. it was absolutely amazing. the water was like a bath ( my mom would even be willing to go swimming in it!). but because it's so warm there are an abundance of jelly fish and crocs so you can't really go swimming. it was magnificent! then we took a cruise ride on the daintree river to try and find crocs. we only saw one but it was cool to see one in the wild. then it was back to sydney. it was a fun filled, very packed weekend. now i'm back at school and getting ready to start my finals. the countdown to home has officially started: 21 days. i can't believe it. i'll be extremely sad to leave but at the same time very happy to see my family. it's been a great experience so far and i know i still have a few tricks up my sleeve!
