Okay! Boy oh boy, where do I begin??

First off, I am now in Brisbane! I have been for about a week now. Brisbane is not my favourite place so far. It is very city like and there is not a whole lot to do, it's kinda sketchy where we are staying so I don't go out much.....so I (kinda) organized a trip to the one.....the only....Australia Zoo!!!!!! Home of the crocodile hunter Steve Irwin! By far the BEST day ever. And when I say ever, I don't mean like on the trip, I mean....like....EVER! The trip to the zoo was absolutely life changing. There is no doubt about it now...I'm moving to Australia, having a career in some kind of animal science, and I'm living the the mountains in the bush. No question.

 Not even joking, I saw every. Single. Animal. We started with the Cassowaries, Tasmanian Devils, American Alligators, and Giant 40 year old tortoises. Out of those 4 animals....all four were my favourite! Words can't explain how awesome they all were! If I had to pick a favourite though, the Cassowaries were spectacular, absolutely amazing! A total dinosaur! After those animals we went to see.....the.....CROCODILES!! (Don't tell anybody but I actually memorized all of their names....Weipa, Casper Agro, Bluey, and Bosco) Bosco was Amazing! He was massive, easily twice the size of dad. Spectacular!! After wandering around the alligators and crocodiles (I reluctantly left because my friends wanted to move on...) We went to see the Wombats which were little lumps of fluff and fat which were a lot cuter than I made that sound! After a whole lot of convincing....I got my squeamish friends to go through the Australian snake exhibit...they didn't have as much fun as I did...out of the snakes the Inland Taipan was my favourite....A snake I have always wanted to see! He lived up to his expectations.....Beautiful! As much as I loved my beloved reptiles...The next part was one of the best
parts of the day! We got to walk through the Red Kangaroo enclosure! Domesticated kangaroos were just chilling out. They were so soft! It was insane! I was expecting them to be rough or coarse but no! They were super, super soft. And (for the most part) very friendly! There was this one kangaroo who was not having a very good day and decided as I was taking a video with him, that he was not in the mood at all for a picture....so he punched me in the nose....I have the video...it is very funny...send me and email and I will send it to you... After violently getting put in my place, we got to walk
through the Koala enclosure. That was amazing as well! They were very sleepy and didn't do much but none the less! Adorable. Just as I started to get a little bored with the fuzzy little fellas, I feel something brush against my leg...a little Koala was running across the walkway....it was hilarious. After the roo's and the koalas, we found ourselves in the heart of Africa where we got to see Rhino's, giraffes, and zebras!

  Look at me! I'm so cute being all excited and stuff

We got a ride back to the dingo diner...and thats when I realised....it was 12:04....I had missed 4 minutes of the live croc show!! In a panic I gathered the others and (not even joking) sprinted 1/4 of the zoo's length and got to the show at 12:09. We went to get seats but it was closed because the show had already started....freaking out i booked it upstairs to see if there was a viewing area and to my greatest relief, there was. Practically dying of heat, I took a seat and watched the magic. You know how I said that the kangaroo's was ONE of the best parts of my day....ya, the croc show trumped all other moments. IT WAS AMAZING!! Ahh! I can't explain it typing...it's something I gotta tell ya in person....all you gotta know is....AMAZING. After the mind blowing, life changing event that was the croc show, we trecked on to see the Komodo dragon and Australian lizards! Also loved doing that....Another super cool thing I got to do was have my picture taken with a Ball Python!! Siiiiiiiiiiiick. Theres a ton more stuff that happened at the zoo but I still have to tell you about where I got my idea to live in the outback on a mountain....So, after officially deciding that I 100% now know for a fact that I am going to do something with animals and that I am moving to Australia..I of coarse need somewhere to live! So...after the zoo, my friend's grandparents had the whole school over to dinner at their house and as you might assume, their house was in the outback on a mountain. It was a small house with only 1 floor but OMG this place was like heaven. Trees everywhere, birds flying, totally wild (and by wild I don't mean like crazy, I mean like it was very treeish with lots of animals) At 5:00 a wild Kookaburra came to be fed...Denis, Bonnie's grandpa, gave me a bag of raw ground beef and said, "Here, just hold it between your fingers and he'll eat it....I have to cook." So there I was, holding a roundish piece of raw meat, about to feed this massive bird and he just hopped up close....and ate it. Cookie (That was the Kookaburra's name) totally knew where my fingers where and that the meat was the only thing to snatch. He did this multiple times and every time I was super excited. Denis kept laughing at me from the kitchen :) After dinner the cicada's starting chirping and they drowned out all other sounds...you couldn't even talk over them they were so loud!! There is so much to say but not enough time to say it!!

Okay, that is all I will say for now...It is 10:30 here and I am very tired! I probably won't put up another blog until I am in New Zealand just because we don't really do anything here in Brisbane! Miss you all oh so very much! Update you soon!!

I have discovered something horrifying....Australia does not have *chocking up a little bit* Once Upon A Time. Like.......what?? Obviously Australia doesn't know greatness when they see it. This could be a deal breaker guys..I don't know if I can ever see a future for myself here without Once....

Any ways! The Great Barrier Reef!! Absolutely insane! It was so beautiful!! We had to get up at 5:30 (yikes) and get ready to leave the motel at 6:45. We took a bus down to the harbour and got on a rather large pontoon boat that took us in and around the Whitsunday Islands. It was like something out of a movie, I felt like I was in LOST! It was spectacular. After a three and a half hour boat ride we arrived at The Great Barrier Reef! Most of you have seen the famous snorkelling picture of me....but here it is again! I have a crap ton of videos from the reef but the files won't open on the blog so its just this pic for now!

At the reef there was this massive fish. A Humphead Wrasse to be specific! This fish was, not even kidding, as big as me. So imagine little ol' me puttsin along and then BAM, Wallie the wrasse swims up beside me. Naturally I wanted to stay around Wallie, so I did! The real fun began when one of the scuba diver instructors that had been on this trip many times before swam up to me and signalled for me to surface. I totally thought I was in trouble for something but no! He told me that the fish's name was Wallie and that he was very friendly! Mr. Scuba instructor proceeded to dive below the surface and starting petting, and better yet, playing with Wallie the Wrasse. Of coarse without a doubt, I joined in. SO COOL! Wallie was very slimy and his beak was kinda scary but it was so cool to play with a fish the size of me on the Great Barrier Reef!! The only draw back of the trip was that we had to wear stinger suits, because it is currently jellyfish season and they were worried about Box Jellyfish and irukandji....

On Saturday we had an optional excursion to White Haven beach, the #1 most beautiful beach in the world! (Actual stats, not just my opinion) It was AMAZING!

So, we had to climb this mountainy thing to get up to the lookout point where this picture was taken and not even kidding it was 43 degrees celsius plus humidity....I actually thought I was going to pass out once we got to the beach. The guide guy thought it would be a good idea to stand on the beach 100m or so from the water and give us this massive speech about the beach. I am totally not kidding, I didn't think I was going to make it to the water it was so hot! THEN, after his speech, he pulled out this massive bag of stinger suits and told us it was mandatory to wear them...hence the caption on my most recent instagram post! So, not only did we have to wait for the guide to stop talking, but also, we had to put on a solid black full body suit.....yay. It sounds terrible but I'm glad I was somewhat protected from the Jellyfish! After the guide was done talking, I booked it for the water! And you wanna know what I saw in the crystal clear water?? OK fine, I'll tell you. I saw....a dolphin, 2 sea turtles, 3 lemon sharks, over 10 snotties (which are massive, and I mean MASSIVE jellyfish) and 4, yes 4, stingrays!! Ms. Jess and Ms. Phillipa have officially nicknamed me Dora....as in Dora the explorer...

Ugh....so cool! So, I'm a little crispy today, despite lathering myself in multiple layers and brands of sunscreen....the sun here is tre unforgiving! 

Ok, until next time! Tomorrow is a travel day so we're headed to Brisbane!! Woot woot! Trying to convice Ms. Jess to let me go to the Australia zoo so cross your fingers for me!!

Koodos to you guys who can write a blog, not every day and still remember what you did! I am currently sitting on my super comfy bed in Colonial Palms motel in Whitsunday! Its a lot nicer than it sounds!! The flight here was by far the most amazing flight ever...see the pics at the bottom!

Alrighty, lets see if I can recap what I’ve done. On friday we went to the aquarium for my biology class, that was siiiiiick. They had a Dougong, and to everyone's surprise (but mine of coarse) was not a Manatee, but in fact an entirely different animal. I do have to say that the Dubai aquarium did trump this one 1000 times over but it was filled with awesome animals so obviously I loved it!

Then later that day for physics, we walked across the famous bridge over to the other side and had to time a ferris wheel for a project we have to do. In total I think I walked a solid 20km so basically…..I was dead.

On Saturday some people and I took a train outside the city to a little town and got the BEST milkshakes ever, they are like super famous there so like, we had to get one. These monsters were in mason jars and then the lid was a donut filled with whatever flavour your milkshake was. So, I got a nutella milkshake and the donut on top was filled with pure nutella…..and mom, before you roll your eyes and say oh brother under your breath, I totally earned it and loved every second of it!

Of coarse the rest of the day it felt like I was carrying a nutella baby around but like, who cares, it was amazing. Later that day, there was an optional surfing lesson at Manly beach but I wasn’t signed up for that one so I didn’t go. Instead me and a group of people rode a train for an hour and then switched trains and rode for another 15 minutes, then bussed up to the Royal National Park! The bus driver was quick to warn us about the poisonous snakes in the bush, the bull sharks in the river, and the paralysis ticks in the trees. We thanked the driver and continued on our way, slightly less confident than we were at the beginning. And so we hiked! I wasn’t actively seeking out the poisonous snakes, bull sharks, and paralysis ticks, but also, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that I was avidly looking for them. To my dismay (but to moms relief) there was no wildlife to be seen :( never the less! The hike was gorgeous and it felt very outback like. I was totally in my element!

That evening, me and a couple of teachers went to the Opera House to get some pictures. I stood in the exact same spot as Dad did in a picture he took when he flew there. Some tears were shed but I got some really great photos.

We then went to Manly beach on Sunday and just chilled out. I was so pumped to go swimming again in the ocean because it was like a billion degrees out and of coarse the second my feet touched the water, a speaker boomed a very intimidating Blue Bottle jellyfish warning telling people to swim at their own risk. Hot and bothered, I kept swimming and I didn't get stung! I got slightly sunburnt on my shoulder and neck which sucks cause its right where my bra, shirt, purse, and backpack rest so it rubs like crazy!!


All in all, this has been an amazing week!! On Thursday we are going to the Great Barrier Reef to snorkel which I am so insanely excited for! And as promised, pics of the flight. Absolutely gorgeous!!


The pictures don't do it justice....it was such an amazing flight!

So, today was day 3 of livin down under!

Today was by far, without a doubt, the best school day ever. Yesterday the teachers gathered us in the hostel's cinema and went over a bunch of rules and blah blah blah, I kinda dosed off a little.....But then, they surprised us with a trip to Bondi beach for the start of classes!

We walked from our hotel to a little convenience store and bought an Opal card which is used for different  types of  transportation. Then we took a train to Bondi Junction, which was as cool as it sounds! We walked from the train station about half and hour and finally got to the beach....it was absolutely gorgeous! As we got to the beach, we all wanted to go swimming like right away and we did! It wasn't until a bunch of people got stung did we realize the water was riddled with jellyfish! I didn't get stung......right away. Hundreds of jellyfish were washed up on shore so obviously I wanted to look at them closer. Then me being silly ol' me decided it would be a great idea to pick one up....this ended a lot better than expected because still, I hadn't been stung. After our half hour swim, period 1 started which was biology and our first unit is the diversity of living things which is siiiiiick. Tomorrow we have a trip to the aquarium! 

Second period was physics and let me tall ya, the view could't have been better, we sat and talked kinetics and all that fun math stuff :) After physics we were dismissed and could literally do whatever. All the teachers went back to the hotel but most of us stayed at the beach. A bunch of boys rented surf boards and it was so funny to hear them try and be so macho but them watch them wipe out so bad once they actually got onto the water. I went swimming and that was where the fun began. I went back up to the beach to grab my gopro and there it was, wrapped around my ankle multiple times, just chillin, a blue bottle jellyfish. 

Have you ever had a spider on you and you totally freak out and start doing a little dance trying to get it off of you? Ya, that was me with this thing. At first I didn't feel anything, but after about 5 minutes it began to sting like crazy, red welts poppin up everywhere. It felt like getting whipped with like gimp or getting smacked by a ruler super hard but like x10 worse and for about an hour....it was great. 

Basically I love it here!! I didn't get any pictures of the jellyfish but they were super cool so I suggest looking up pictures on the world wide web (blue bottle jellyfish) The welts have gone away and so has the pain which was a relief for all of us who got stung! Also I bought some meds from the local pharmacy and am feelin good as new! I will keep you posted and I am super pumped to go to the aquarium tomorrow because, to my disappointment, I really haven't seen all that many animals yet! 

Alright guys! Toots until next time!

Well hello everybody!

This will be my first entry in this blog thing! What a trip man! It was crazyyyy, the sights, the people, the…...smells….

I think in total I travelled for 3 days straight, which is insane cause who actually does that?? I left the house on Sunday at 9 o'clock to head to the Pearson International Airport with my sis and mom. I said my goodbyes and surprisingly I wasn't nervous at all. We all went through customs and waited by the gate, which was weird because we were allowed to go off and do whatever by ourselves as long as we were back at the gate in time for our flight! A lot of people already knew each other from before because they had done the full year trip so it was kind of hard meeting people at first! The flight from Toronto to Huston was around 3 hours and 45 minutes or something, but boy oh boy did my ass hurt after that flight!!

From Huston we were going to Auckland, New Zealand which was the flight I was dreading the most! We were able to hang around in the airport for a while before the flight so a bought a couple snacks, a neck pillow, and naturally a cup of fro yo :) We boarded the plane and it was beautiful! It was a 777 i think, like the ones my dad used to fly and we were at the gate that emirates flew out of so I think he was definitely watching over me! The ride was a little rough, there was a lot of turbulence and the food was super gross, but i did get to watch a ton of movies and only slept for about 2 hours…….Word to wise guys, Mad Max Fury Road is by far THE weirdest, strangest movie ever (even worse than Coroline for those who know it). I also watched the new Pan movie, the one with Hugh Jackman ;) ;) ;) naa totally joking, that movie was messed as well. We landed in Auckland 15 hours later which was great because who doesn't love sitting on a plane for 15 hours and sleeping for only 2, am I right!?!

The Auckland airport was really nice too… we only had an hour until our flight to Sydney so I went and got some little hash browns from Burger King, ate them, and then went to the gate. The flight was 3 hours and wasnt bad..the guy beside me smelled like B.O and he ordered eggs which is never a good idea when you aren’t the one cooking them. All in all, he smelled terrible.

Then finally after 2 days of non stop travelling we landed in Sydney and guys…..I LOVE IT HERE!!!! This place is amazing, it is a complete combination of Dubai and Toronto! Words can’t describe how cool this place is! The people have THE coolest accents and walk around in bare feet…….what? The city is very hustle bustle, and honky! I wouldn't want to live in the city part of Sydney but for right now this place is SICK! The teachers wouldn't let us sleep and we were’t aloud to wander around so I met a lot of people and made some new friends, we stayed up until about 9 wich was crazy because that was day 3 of surviving on 2 hours of sleep! I woke up at 6 today! Breakfast is at 8 and our walking tour is at 9:40 so I’m pumped. I will keep you updated and write often...ish.

I don’t know how to end a blog, can’t say I’m experienced in that field of...whatever.

Peace out?