Goodbyes are Harder than Hellos

I've checked out of my room. I'm all packed (and in two suitcases!). I've said goodbye to everyone here. While I'm sad to say goodbye to Perth and the people, the fact that I've moved out of my room means that I have no home here, so I am looking foreward to going home a little bit more. I've had an amazing last few days here. Hanging out with people, cleaning up, and exploring a few last things. I'm sorry I never got pictures up before I left, there will probably be many after I get back to the states. So now I'm off to Sydney to meet my parents. We'll stay until the 4th when we head to New Zealand. They'll stay until the 13th, while I leave on the 10th to meet a friend in Fiji. I'll leave Fiji on the 13th too, and we'll all get back the night of the 13th. Hope all is well and I can't wait to see everyone!

Freedom

I'm done with classes for the semester! I now have three days to pack and finish up whatever I want to do in Perth. I can't believe my time here is coming to a close. It's all getting more real, my flatmate Dave moved out today. I really wish I had more time here and with the amazing people I've met here. It's always been okay saying goodbye to friends in Colorado or Texas when the semester is about to begin or finish because I know I'll see them again within a few months. This time, I have no idea when I will see people, if I will ever see them again. I have no idea if and when I'll see the Americans that I have met here, not to mention all of the international students. That said, I'm really trying to enjoy my last few days in Perth and with everyone, which is harder than you might expect due to studying for exams and many people's families that are in town. While I am sad to be leaving WA soon, I am excited to travel around, see my parents, and eventually see everyone back home.

PS: Sorry I haven't posted pictures, its been a pain to sort through all of them. I'll do my best to get some up in the next few days, but it might have to wait until I'm back in the states in a few weeks.

Two Weeks Notice

Wow. I can't believe I have less than two weeks left in Perth before I go to Sydney, New Zealand, and Fiji. It seems like I just got here, and there is so much more stuff that I want to do and see before I leave here.

The trip down south was amazing. We stopped at the Stirling Range, Albany, Denmark, Augusta, and Margaret River. It was a crazy adventure to say the least. We saw the tallest peak in WA in Stirling Range; the gap, natural bridge, and blowholes in Albany; Elephant Rock, Green Pool, Circle Pool, and the Treetop walk in Denmark; where the Indian Ocean and Southern Ocean meet in Augusta; and we hit up a couple wineries in Margaret River as well as part of the Busselton Jetty. We had to deal with driving on the other side of the road, kangaroos sitting in the road, setting up camp in the dark, and many a thunder and lightning storm. I'm really glad we got to go down south, because its not what you might expect Australia to look like. It was really green and had forests, the one with the treetop walk had trees over 60 meters (almost 200 feet) tall, and those aren't the biggest ones down south.

The weekend before we left, we had the opportunity to go cliff jumping along the Swan River at a place called Blackwall Reach. The cliff was around 35 feet in the air. I ended up jumping, and I'm glad I did, but its definitely something I'm not rushing to do again.

Today, Jeremy and I made it to the Aquarium of Western Australia (AQWA) which was really interesting. The exhibits are set up as if you are traveling up along the coast of WA. Probably one of my favorite exhibits was the DangerZone, where they had some of the poisonous marine animals.

There is so much left that I want to do which I'm trying to fit into the last two weeks in addition to studying for my two final exams as well as spending time with all of the people here that I might never see again. Facebook may finally really be worth something besides a procrastination tool.

3 TAGE WACH

Three days awake. It wasn't exactly that, but its what I felt like this past week as I stayed late each night to finish up assignments. Not the best planning on my part, but now I'm done with classes and assignments! All that remains are two finals. I only have three weeks left here in Perth, and its so hard to believe. I don't think it has really sunk in yet that I'll be leaving soon. Next week is our southwest trip, which I'm really excited about. I get to hang out with a bunch of cool people and see more of Australia. Then its back to study for finals before I pack and head out to Sydney. This semester has gone so fast. It seems like I just got to Perth and started school.

So Much To Do, So Little Time

I know am in my last week of classes. Everything is a bit crazy. Some of the girls we visited in Cairns are here visiting. I have three papers and a project due this week. Trying to figure out classes for next semester and coordinate registration with back home. And we're trying to finalize plans for the southwest trip. As crazy as everything is, I'm really trying to appreciate everything and enjoy the time I have left since it is almost over.

On November 23-25 6 of us went to Rottnest Island, which is just off the coast of Perth. We camped and grilled which helped make it a cheap trip. There are no vehicles allowed over on the island so we had to walk everywhere. We had the option of renting bikes, but the weather on Saturday was not very nice, so we opted to walk around the island instead. Sunday, Justin and I took the bus (yes, they have one bus for the whole island) to the west end. It was so beautiful there and we got to see dolphins and humpback whales.

This past weekend was Halloween, which was an interesting experience here. They don't really celebrate it, but it is slowly getting more popular. We all dressed up and went to the party that the village was having before going out to the clubs.

The weather here is finally really warming up. Its weird to keep hearing about the snow that Colorado keeps getting and seeing Christmas stuff in stores when the weather just keeps getting warmer.

I'll try and post pictures from everything as soon as I have time.