Last week was pretty uneventful. I went to class did some homework and went to the gym. The week became pretty interesting on Thursday because it was Maggie's 20th birthday so a big group of us went out to celebrate. We went out dancing and had dinner together and it was a great night for all. Even though we were all there for Maggie and her birthday, though, we were all also looking forward to the next day because seven of the girls were leaving for a weekend surfing safari.
Friday night Maggie, Kaylyn, Lexy, Jaimie, Jess, Kendall and I were picked up by people from Mojo Surf and we were taking a three hour drive to Arrawarra for the weekend. The ride there was pretty entertaining taking some weird backroads. Jess almost went to the bathroom in some weird looking shack/ bathroom thing on the side of the road that even the guys driving us wouldn't go into to. Also along that same road we found out that when a sign says there's road work ahead, they actually mean it. We drove on a gravel road for about 5km and it definitely woke everyone up. When we arrived in Arrawarra and Spot X (the name of the surf camp) we met Tom, our guide, who showed us around the camp and told us where we were staying. The beds were in glorified cargo containers so it was a new experience. All of us being pretty beat went out by the campfire for a little bit to meet some of the other instructors, academy members and weekend surfers and then took an early night. We did wake up for the sunrise the next morning though and it was a gorgeous start to our surfing weekend. Lessons started at 9 and it was a lot of rules/ information about surfing and rip currents and types of waves. We finally made it out onto the beach at about 9:30 and both Lexy and I noticed that there weren't many "waves" but a lot of chop and white wash. But we didn't really care a whole lot and were just excited to get in the water on a beautiful day. We surfed in the chop for about 2 hours and made our way back up to camp for some lunch and meeting Jules and his camera crew for an Australian travel show. We had seen the cameras down on the beach that morning, but we didn't know what they were for but now everyone was pretty stoked since it was a once in a lifetime thing.  So during lunch everyone was trying to act normal around the cameras and Jules. Around 1:30 was the next "lesson" or just hanging around the beach having fun. A large white water raft was being taken in and out of the surf for some helmet camera shots. Lexy, Kaylyn, Jaimie and I went on a raft with Ross, an instructor from Scotland, and a few other guys from the academy and we were being pummeled by waves. By the time we finally made it out of the impact zone, we chilled looking around for dolphins and watching some other surfers. Then we had to try and ride a wave back in. Yeah that didn't work so well..... We capsized sideways, so I saw Kaylyn and Jaimie start coming toward me and I bailed from the raft as fast as possible. Getting the raft turned back over was impossible, so we all just kinda floated back in. So hopefully there is some good video on this show of our failed attempt at raft surfing. When we were back on shore Kendall and I decided to join in some beach volleyball and we were having a blast until the tide came in and destroyed our court. By the time it was 4:30 everyone was wiped and just wanted to hangout by the fire and eat food. We all stayed by the fire for a long time hanging out and chatting with everyone and went to bed pretty early again since we had another surf session the next morning.  Unlike the day before, nobody got up for the sunrise and we barely had enough time to eat and pack our things before heading to class. Rhys and Nicko, our instructors for the day, informed us that we were going out a lot further that day into the 3-4 ft waves to surf and how to make it past all of the waves. The surfing was amazing that day!!! Lexy, Kendall and I were by far the best in our class and we kinda were doing our own thing for most of the session. We tried to do a party wave but we all ended up not being able to ride a wave at the same time. By the time Rhys and Nicko said we had to go in, all of us wanted to stay. We were wishing we did the 5 day trip and not the 2 day weekend trip.  When we had to leave, Rhys and Nicko came up to say bye to all of us, and they also informed us that we could surf with them next week when they were up in Byron. All seven of us are excited and can't wait until then.

Thursday was a fun day. I had my issues and themes in contemporary writing class in the morning, and even though it was the class I was most worried about I think it will probably be my favorite course while I'm here. The teacher is very energetic and I like that I don't know anyone in the class because I will meet more people this way. Thursday night was trivia night down at the UniBar, so Maggie and I went down with our RA Seamus and his friend Sam, a.k.a. Brownie. We actually didn't play as a team, but only went down to watch the other teams and make fun of some of the stupid answers we heard. We left after about round 4 to head back up to campus and then Brownie and Seamus went out to a bar and club known as Cocktails since they didn't have morning class.

Friday I had class all day. Started off with Digital Photography with some of my other international friends and we're all excited for this class because it seems pretty easy for us. We ended a little early in our photo lab, so all of us went to the plaza for lunch. After lunch Lexy and I went off to our Indigenous world-views class and that was a very different type of class than I'm used to. The teacher isn't actually in the classroom with us in Lismore, she's actually teaching in Coffs Harbor and we have a video feed of her. It was probably the worst class I've ever been in. I was so bored and it was a three hour class! I was so happy when it was over.

Saturday was a really fun day.  During the day, Maggie and I watched chick flicks with Rachel and her friend Alyse. Then around 5 Maggie and I met James, Ben and Caitlin and we headed down into downtown Lismore to watch the Lantern Parade. While Caitlin, Maggie and I were waiting for our coffee to come out, Ben had the brilliant idea to call his friend Lincoln who lived in town. We ended up watching the parade from the best place. The top of Lincoln's house was amazing to watch the parade from and we didn't have to worry about not being able to see anything. The parade went on for about an hour and a half and when it was done we all headed back up to campus.  James invited all of us to his room before we all went out that night, so we went there after dinner and were listening to music and staying away from the out of control party going on at the rec deck. We all went out to cocktails to dance and had fun as a big group.

Sunday was a massive lazy day for our whole room. We watched four movies. We started our Lord of the Rings marathon and made it through two of the movies. Maggie and Rachel never having seen it before were questioned by the boys when the movies were over.

Monday was my first class here at uni, and I already withdrew from it for a new class. I realized about an hour into the class that there was no way that the head of the history department at CLU would accept this class as a history class, so I withdrew and registered into a philosophy class.  So Tuesday morning when I would normally not have class I went to Ethics and Society with Kendall and sat in. The class was very interesting and I'm glad that I've switched into it.  Plus I now have a friend to study with. Tuesday night was fun because there was a party going on, on the rec deck so a few of us checked it out for a while and when everyone else left to go to a pub, we decided to go to James' room and listen to him play guitar and hang with a few other friends. We were up pretty late, so I was quite happy that I didn't have class on Wednesday. 
Wednesday morning James, Caitlin and I went to the gym for an intense workout and I realized that I really am horrible at running. There is a reason I swim, I fall on land. Ok I didn't fall while I was running, but it came close a few times. But it felt good to have an intense workout again, and when we all made it back up to Orion we put on our swimsuits and laid out by the pool with some other people. My goal is to get a tan during Australia's winter because everyone here thinks I'm crazy for wearing shorts and a tank top in this 'cold' weather they are having.

Saturday was probably one of my all time favorite days. We started off sleeping in which was very nice, and then we were informed by our friend James that we were going to a waterfall and the beach that afternoon. I jumped at the chance to go and I'm so glad I did. There were about 20 of us who went out that afternoon to Dalwood falls. It was kind of a hike to get out there through some woods but it was a gorgeous view. There was another group of guys at the falls and we pretty much made a giant group hanging out. A few people jumped off the falls, so Kendall, Lexy, Jaimie and I decided to do it also. It was about a 10m jump. The water was freezing!!!! But there were pictures and videos taken so it was worth the jump, but after we swam to the group of people with our towels Caitlin and Jess wanted to jump also but they wanted someone else to do it with them. So being the nice people we are, Kendall and I jumped again. After we all climbed back up to the top of the waterfall, we all dried off and headed out to Byron Bay. It was a fun drive out there and when we got to Byron we went to the Beach Hotel and ate some nachos and watched some rugby on t.v. After everyone finished eating we all left to head up to the lighthouse. It was almost sunset, so we stayed up there and watched a gorgeous red sunset. It was a fun day with friends and when we all got back we got ready to go out dancing. A small group of us headed out early to see a band that some of the guys knew and it was a lot of fun just listening and playing pool. After the band finished at 11 we headed out to a club known as One because it's only open one night a week. We met some of the other international students there and had a ton of fun dancing. At about 1:30 we all headed back to campus and Maggie and I had a roommate bonding session with our roomie Matt until about 3 am. All three of us slept until about noon the next day. Then we all pretty much lazed around the room and watched movies. Not really wanting to get ready for uni to start the next day.

Friday was technically our last day of O-week, but instead of being around campus we were taken to Gold Coast, I think, to Carrumbin Wildlife Sanctuary and the Surf Museum. It was a pretty early morning, so most everyone was sleeping on the bus. I was sitting next to Caitlin and we were attempting to take pictures of the scenery, it was an EPIC FAIL. We kept getting blury photos and foliage that we didn't want in the photo, it pretty much became a joke for the two of us. When we arrived at Gold Coast, we first stopped at the Surf Museum where we saw the world's largest surfboard ridden by 47 people. We also saw some of the first surfboards created and some amazing surf photos. After the museum we finally made it into Carrumbin and right away Lexy and I went to get our photos taken with the koala. Lexy went first and took her photo, but when it was my turn the photographer had to fix something, so I was left holding the koala for a good couple of minutes. The zookeeper that held the koala in between people told me that it was very rare what I was doing because they generally don't let people hold the koalas for too long and I found out why. It scares them and they will poop on you! So the koala pooped on me and it was luckily not too bad since all they eat is eucalyptus, but seriously now koala poop at the start of my visit not so much fun. After I cleaned up my shirt, Lexy and I went to find the kangaroos and ended up staying there for a long time feeding and petting them. Thus the reason why there are so many kangaroo photos on my facebook. After the kangaroos we walked around some more looking at the animals and we saw a high ropes course. We both had wanted to do something like that while we were here in Australia, so we asked a worker how much it cost to do the course. When we were told that it was included with the ticket we both knew we were going to do it. Luckily we made it into the last group of the day, and set off on our high ropes adventure for about 2 hours. When we were finished, we ran into a bunch of other people and they were quite jealous they didn't do the course, but Lexy and I think we weren't told because it would have taken too long for everyone to participate. We saw a few more animals like the Tasmanian Devil which looks like a giant rat and some Dingoes. And we then left to meet the bus and head back to Lismore and home. When we got back I crashed.  It had been a pretty long day.

Tuesday through Thursday was orientation week for us and it was a major bore. A lot of safety talks and rules about Lismore and SCU. However the fun part of orientation week was Wednesday night when the State of Origins rugby league match was being played. This match is between New South Wales and Queensland and everyone describes it as the Superbowl of rugby but it's a best out of 3 series.  Well a big group of people were watching it down at the UniBar, so I went early with a few friends to watch a band play because they were some new friends. While we were watching them play a guy we knew came up to Caitlin, Jess and I asking if we wanted to get in on a bet. The bet was a dollar to get in and you would draw a name out of a hat and that would be the player you had to see if they scored first. I put in two dollars and got a player from both teams that were apparently really good because the guys were jealous of who I had. The game started at 7:30 and we all sat around watching, pretty much all of the girls found a guy to explain all of the rules to us, I had my roommate Matt help me.  So after almost the full half the New South Wales player Brett Stewart scored a try (a goal) and the guy that got me and my friends in on the bet yelled out "who has Stewart?" Well it was me. So I won 34$ after living in Australia for 5 days at that point. It made for a very fun night since I had no clue what was really happening. After I won a lot of the guys that were also in on the bet came up and congratulated me and kept trying to get me to buy everyone drinks.  I didn't really care for that though since it's expensive and it helps if I want to go out and travel somewhere. All in all though it was a fun night.

Monday after we arrived was a public holiday in Australia as it was the Queen's birthday. Ironically enough her birthday is not in June. We heard from people that it is in February, October and March, but nobody was actually able to tell us when it is. The senior RA in Orion, Hanna, set up a Midday tea for everyone as a celebration. She also made it as a welcome to Australia event for all of the international students. She made a bunch of different Australian foods like meat pies and some deserts, and she also made vegemite the correct way. (Yes mom that is directed at you.) Aussies make vegemite on toast that is slathered in butter with only a small amount of the nasty brown stuff. It didn't taste horrible this time around thankfully. It was still pouring outside, so everyone was huddled around the hot water heater for all the tea and milo (hot chocolate brand here). Overall, the event was fun and it was a good way to get to know people in Orion.