5/26 - 6/1 Updated w/ story and pics!

Hello everyone! Sorry, but this is going to be a long entry... there is so much to tell! I decided it was time to sit down and reflect on what I have been doing the past couple of weeks. Amy, Kelly, and myself just got back from a fabulous break away from school, and used the time to visit Whitsundays which was amazing!!!!  First off let me rewind back to the past couple of weeks. We left for the islands on May 26th and just got back. The week prior to that was my last week of school until finals which is in two more weeks. I pretty much have a three week break until it all comes down to the final tests. Last was pretty much focused on getting my last projects and presentations handed in. It was super stressful, because like always I procrastinated until the very last second. It really wasnt that bad I just feel that there should be something here I should complain about. Anywho... we normally go out on Thursday and Saturday nights to drink, but this past week there was a change and instead it was Wednesday and Friday. Wednesday there was a huge gathering in all the apartments because their was a footie game on called "State of Origin." The best way I can describe it to everyone back home is that it is like our superbowl. We all get decked out in New South Wales colours and rooted on the team while drinking some beers... or in our case the cheaper alternative... goone (box wine). Thursday then instead of going down to the unibar we just chilled and enjoyed the time off. Me and Amy walked down to the square and sat down there for a couple of hours eating lunch and just reflecting on our lives here. I have noticed that we tend to do that lately. There is a cute little coffee shop in the mall that has the best food, and we go down there and just walk around and relax. We spent most of the nights last week relaxing and watching movies. Everyone has been in work mode so it was nice to just focus on what needed to be done, so that there was a lot less stress. Then Friday night the night before we left there was a theme party at one of the pubs in town for all of campus. The theme was "What do you want to be when you grow up. Because we are always last minute and hate to plan things we ended up raiding Dylans closet for Rugby jerseys. We decided that the best costume we could come up with in 5 minutes was Rugby players, and it just happened to be convenient that we still had blue paint to put on.

Theme night was crazy fun, and it was nice to be able to mingle with everyone. We initially set out that night heading to the Pirates of the Carribean 3 first, but instead got side tracked and skipped the movie entirely and went straight to the pub. Because of that we all had goone sacks to drink, and didnt want to waste perfectly good alcohol. Once we got into the bar me and the girls made quite a few trips to the bathroom to skull the goone sack. I am posting quite a few pics on here from that so you will see what I mean. We spent a lot of time in the bathroom that night, and suprisingly it became a big social scene. We danced our butts off like rock stars to the oldies rock and techno and had the craziest time. We always go out in need of foolish dancing and never fail to succeed. The next day was recovery day and the day of rest and packing.

We ended up booking our bus tickets that day for the trip we were taking the following day. We ended up having to take a 27 hour bus ride, which I thought would be hell, but actually ended up being ok. The night before that all the guys left to go to the Gold Coast, and since we were leaving the next day we had to stay behind. Because of that we ended up renting 5 movies and stayed up all night watching them. I figured since we had a long bus ride I would just pull an all nigther so that I was super tired for the ride there... and yes it did work! We got up that morning for a 6 o'clock bus pick up, and started our way up Aussie to the north. We literally lost an entire day, because we were on a bus for it. Once we got to Airlie Beach we saw how beautiful it was and we knew we were in for a blast.

Once we arrived at our destination we all got our snorkelling gear and hoped on the boat that took us out to the island we were staying at. It was about a 2 and a half hour boat ride, which gave us time to reflect and take in the gorgeous scenery. I have never in my life seen such blue and clear water. It was amazing and probably the prettiest place I have ever been to in my life. Once we arrived at the island/resort we got our places to stay and dropped up all of our stuff. Before we went Kelly, Amy, and myself decided that this was going to be a detoxification vacation, and decided not to really drink. We had dinner that night, and like old women went to bed early. The next day we woke up and hoped on the boat for a long day. We went to this beach called White Haven beach which is supposed to be one of the best beaches in the world, and let me tell you it was! We layed out all day and had lunch and later took the boat back to the island. That night the three of us went to the bar and had one drink each and just sat by the pool and relaxed. Once again we made it an early night and went to bed. The next day we woke up and went out to the Great Barrier Reaf to go snorkeling. The weather was on and off that day, but for the most part we were able to see lots of fish and enjoy the sea creatures. After we spent all day out in the water we took the nice long boat ride back to Airlie Beach where we initially were picked up. That night we stayed in a hostel in the city and had a great time.

We found a place to stay and dropped off our stuff, and went shopping. After shopping the three of us met up and went to a mexican restaraunt. It was incredible! I havent had mexican since being here and it really hit the spot. We just chowed down and at the end ordered desert twice. That is how hungry we were! They told us that they were proud of us probably because of the amount of food we consumed! It was quite funny. That night once again we went to bed early only to wake up early for check out. We got up the morning and went and bought dye for Kelly's hair. We sat right outside our room and went to work. After we were done with her hair we went and had coffee and ran around the town for the day. Amy decided that she wanted her nose pierced, so with her I got my belly button done... again! When will I learn!?!?! It was all in fun and it was probably the best vacation we have been on since being here. We layed out next to the man made lagoons that were right off of the beach and soakced up some rays. Once 1 came around we hoped a shuttle to the airport and back to Lismore we flew. The only bad thing that happened was that I blew my eardrum when we were landing. I got off the plane and didnt have any hearing in my right ear for the rest of the night. We still went out last night so that we could see everyone that we havent seen in forever, but I felt like an old man. I kept having to tell people to repeat themselves, or I would shift my head so that they would talk to my good ear. This morning I woke up and more of it came back but it still wasnt there so I had to make my first trip to the doctor. On top of that I am on my 5 cold since being here and can barely talk now either. I dont think that I have ever got sick as many times as I have since being here. The worst part is that I have to leave again tomorrow on another week long trip out to Fraser Islands. I am really excited for it, but I cant hear or speak very well. Today I spent the majority of it doing cleaning and laundry. I figured that I should pull my life back together so that when I get back next week I can focus on finals.

Anyway I think that was the majority of what has happened. There have been quite a few funny moments these past couple weeks, but I dont want to make this to long (even though it already is) so I will have to share those when I get back. To sum up the past couple of weeks I would just have to say that the end of my trip here is proving to me more and more why I just dont want to leave.

I love you all tons and I hope that life back in the states is treating you great as well! You are all special people to me and I cant wait to see each of you!

4 weeks to go!