September 27th 2010

The countdown is on.I officially am only in Perth for one more week!Time passes so quickly; it feels like I was preparing for my year abroad just yesterday... and here I am beginning to pack up what has been known as "home" for the last 8 months!It's a very bittersweet feeling.As much as I love Australia with its gorgeous weather, beaches and footy, I am missing some much-loved faces and familiarities of home.

In a weeks time I will be reuniting with my parents and Simon in the middle of nowhere... aka Alice Springs.We will be travelling together for just over a week before they head home and I truly become a wandering gypsy!My plan is to stay with friends of the family for a couple weeks volunteering at a koala rehabilitation center until Allie flies out.Then we have an epic adventure ahead of us!Three weeks to explore the east coast of Oz, Cairns to Sydney with stops along the Great Barrier Reef, Airlie Beach, Fraser Island, Whitsundays, Byron Bay and a couple days surf camp.I doubt we will have much internet access so stories may have to wait until our return to Canada (hopefully November 17th!)

It's been awhile since my last blog, so I will attempt to get caught up here. I have had the privilege of getting tonsillitis for the second time in Australia.Apparently, Australia hates my throat because I have never had strep throat or tonsillitis in Canada!But a trip to the afterhours clinic at the hospital, some antibiotics and $165 bill later I am all better!

I've been plugging away at my two co-ops that I am completing simultaneously.I'm wrapping up my work with the wetland professor.I've been developing educational posters and brochures about the wetland on campus based on some previous honours students' work. It has actually been a pretty sweet job.I get to work from home and meet up once in awhile to review my progress and go over any questions I may have.I'm still having a blast working on the boat.On Friday, I got to help monitor the Wellard Wetlands which is a system of man-made wetlands rehabilitated by Alcoa (a mining company). It was a full-on day of canoeing around testing for dissolved oxygen, temperature and collecting samples for nutrient testing.We had perfect weather for sampling, with no wind and beaming sunshine!

Saturday was the Australian Footy League Grand Final with St. Kilda facing Collingwood.I spent the afternoon watching the game with all the footy boys who live in the village with me.The game was amazingly close all throughout and actually ended up in a draw (this was the second time in 153 years!)Unlike NHL, the AFL does not believe in overtime and have actually scheduled a Grand Grand Final for next Saturday!Now all the people who went to the game have to buy ANOTHER Grand Final ticket!