So I just got in from Aeren's room….my friend Stacey's boyfriend flew in from the US to visit her (awwww!) and she wanted to introduce him to everyone (she even bought a cake!). I peaced out early though because I am exhausted!!! Its about 9:30pm here right now and all I want to do is go to sleep, but I wanted to make sure I get a quick update about my weekend!

I went on my first big trip with Monash Sport to the Great Ocean Road…which is about a 3 hour drive from the Clayton campus.

So lets rewind. Friday night after our AUS field trip, we came back to my res hall to make a BBQ in the courtyard. It was my first authentic Aussie BBQ…and I must say, it turned out well! I was quite the Chef (please refer to my amazing pic!). Friday night I went to sleep fairly early because we had to be up at 7:00am to catch our bus. We settled into our seats and signed our life away on a waiver form for surfing (you know, in case we drowned or encountered a shark or what have you….)

First stop: SURF CAMP!!!! This has been my favorite part about Melbourne so far. We went to Bell's Beach….and I couldn't have asked for better weather! Perfect surfing conditions. So we all gathered around to meet our instructors and got into our wetsuits. My first one was taken away because I was too short! Haha I couldn't fit into an adult wetsuit, so I was given a child's one! Go figure! (With shorter arm and leg lengths…which explains why mine was shorter than everyone else's). I must say, it wasn't the most comfy outfit…it was kind of itchy actually…but once I got in the water, it definitely helped to keep me warm.

So we got suited up and headed down to the beach, surf boards in hand, for our warm-up exercises. The instructors were all really friendly and ensured us that we'd all be safe out on the waves (some of them were quite intimidating!). We eventually broke off into smaller groups for our lesson…which consisted of learning surfing terminology (you know…the tail and nose of the board, the deck, the rails…the different types of waves/currents etc). After that we we're taught how to paddle out ('dig') and the 5 step-process of how to stand up on the board (if anyone is interested in this….please let me know, I will demonstrate this on Skype lol). We practiced on the sand for a while and then got ready to strap the boards to our ankles (this was the most uncomfortable part….as the board drags you down when you flip over!). And I was off…..

The further you swam out, the better the waves got. I'm a pretty confident swimmer so I got pretty far out at the beginning (FYI- the movie Blue Crush kept playing in my mind haha). My first attempt was a disaster. I didn't even make it to the 'digging' part before I tipped my board! Keeping your balance on the board is ridiculously hard! It looks a lot easier in the movies and on TV….but let me tell you, it takes a lot of strength to keep your balance. After a few failed attempts, I got more comfortable on my board and after seeing some of 'surf-mates' get up on their boards…I was determined! After a few tumbles and getting sucked under by a giant wave…I make it up on my board!!!! (so it was literally for like 2 seconds but still!) It was times like this when I wish I had an underwater camera! All in all it was a great day!!! I finished my time just chillin' on my board as if I was an inner-tube and I was riding the waves into the shore…so relaxing! Overall the day was amazing and I am totally up for doing another lesson while I'm here. I truly felt 'Australian' for the first time haha.

We headed back up to the beach to return our boards and wetsuits (but not after taking some memorable pics!) and grabbed some lunch.

Then we headed down the historical Great Ocean Road (stopping along the way to see KOALAS in the wild! They were so cute!!! I wanted to steal one and ship it back to Canada!). Eventually we made our way to Apollo Bay, where we were spending the night. Alyssa, Nicole, Emily, Aeren, and I all shared one room in the hostel. This was first ever Hostel experience and honestly it was better than I thought…kind of like an adult version of summer camp (bunk beds included! Ps- I got top bunk in case you were wondering!). Our group was about 50 students so we split up into two hostels and decided to all meet up for dinner in town. We all took showers….it consisted of 2 shower stalls among 28 students…you do the math haha…lets just say it was one of the quickest showers I have ever taken!

Anyways we walked over to the other hostel to meet up with everyone and stopped in at the bottle shop ('10$ wine, anyone?!'), then headed to get some fish n' chips. Dinner was pretty good…and the ice cream afterwards made it even better! (thanks for giving into the peer pressure Nicole, ur a champ!) Then it was totally a movie-moment when we headed down to have a few drinks on the beach…..by this time it was getting dark and we busted out the 'never-have-I-ever' game…lets just say things got interesting haha

Then lightening rolled in and we all got kind of nervous being near the water so we moved to the local pub and sat out on the patio. Once again, many, many, many interesting conversations took place here! That's all I'm allowed to say, I'm under strict rules ☺ Honestly girls, you were KILLING ME! DA-NA-DA-NA-DA-NA!

Somehow we made it back to the hostel…oh wait, not before encountering a random dog which scared the crap out of me! (God, don't they have rules about leashes in Australia?! - Mom, I know you can appreciate this haha) I have never been so excited to sleep in my life (okay, maybe that was an exaggeration…but still, I was soooo tired). It was a great night sleep, minus my pesky cough….but I'm almost 100% better now!

This morning we got up at 8am…had a shower…and headed back on the bus to do some sightseeing. We went to see the 12 Apostle's, Loch and Gorge, and the London Bridge (not the real one obviously lol). The sights were truly breath taking and we got some amazing pictures!!!

The ride back home was kind of long, but luckily we had movies to help pass the time (Harold and Kumar & Bad Boys II -→ reminded me of home <3)

So ya, that was my weekend in a nutshell…so what did YOU do?!

K, bed time!

Keep in touch!