Brisbane

Well...another 10 hour bus ride and now I'm back in Brisbane to recharge before the next location. I'll try to keep everything updated! The Gorge was awesome and is going to be tough to top!! We have a free day in Brissie tommorrow, should be able to get some good shopping done!

Boolimba Bluff

Thursday... We climbed up to the bluff today, the sign was at the bottom! It was gorgeous (No pun intended)That's the picture looking off... anyways...I have thouroughly enjoyed everything out here despite the cold!! We star gazed last night and the sky was so clear that you could see the Milky Way with your naked eye! WE saw Jupiter and the rings of Saturn and saw the Southern Cross (it's on the Aussie flag) After that climb a small group of us went and tackled another gorge ( the picture with the water...) Tonight we are having Kangaroo, it should be wonderful. After that we are going spotlighting and watching the flying squirrels because they're nocturnal!! Love ya'll!!

Art Gallery

Wednesday...Today we went on a long hike to the Aboriginal Art Gallery... it was cool to see how they crushed up rock in their mouths and spit it around their hands to stencil these pictures. It was a long walk but worth it. It's freezing here and I'm wearing all the clothes that I brought..under armor and fleeces...hats...gloves...but by the time that noon rolls around you want to be in shorts. That makes the book bag a little heavier! Here's a picture of me and Kevin in the gorge...pretty. And a shot of my best buddy Milner!!

Mickey Creek

Today we met our guide Simon, who knows everything about Carnarvon. We went out to Mickey Creek to explore and I got some first hand training for Dawg Camp. I had to help everyone climb up the rock face without ropes or anything because I was the rabbit ( I went first to carve a trail) I got to the end of the Gorge and had to be the last one out too! Man I'm gonna be sore tommorrow. Anyways, Mickey Creek was beautiful and we got a lecture about teh flora and fauna of the Gorge. Simon also showed us how to make and throw boomerangs ( we made them with only rocks, it took a while!) The campsite is nice but it gets pretty cold. Ready for a long hike tommorrow!

BUSES!!!

Well...a 10 hour busride and we have made it to Carnarvon Gorge. I found out on the way here that this is a big Aboriginal Holy Place and a great place for some scenic views of the Australian bush!! I am excited to explore tommorrow!! By the way...here is a pic from Surfer's

Surfer's

Today we are in Surfer's Paradise, we are done with classes now, so for our two day weekend we are staying in a hostel on the beach about an hour South of Brisbane. The beach is absolutely empty and the sand is white just liek the Gulf. It is so cool because you can see the mountains from the surf. I loved just laying out and enjoying the fact that they have temps in the 80s without any humidity. Relaxation is so wonderful and I am going to try to surf tommorrow I think!! Our hostel is awesome and I have met some cool backpackers from all over...Ireland, England, no Americans yet!

Upcoming Events: We're done with lectures and now we start
our field work. On Monday we will head out to Canarvon
Gorge (you should check it out on some website) It's in the
rainforest and about a 10 hour bus ride (that should be fun)
we'll be out in tents for like 4 days...I'm pumped. I may
not be able to get online until then but I'm gonna try.

FRIDAY

Friday, we had class, but went to this cool restaurant on the wharf and watched boats for a while. We went to the casino and I watched a bunch of people lose alot of money, but you know it was jsut fun to see the hustle and bustle of everything in there. I've had the chance to eat some really good sushi and I'm looking for
some good seafood for later. Love you!

Opera

The post says Sat... but I'll tell you about Thursday...

Today between lectures, we went to another wildlife sanctuary park with the Blue Group (36 students of the 108 on the trip) and we had a guy show us some cool animals...I got to hold a huge python around my neck, but there were some cute and furrys too!! After all that we rode the City Cat back to town and grabbed some gelato (man that stuff is good) There is happy hour from 5-7 everyday so Milner and I go and grab a little treat :-) We went to see Romeo and Juliet the opera tonight and it was really cool. In French but I had subtitles. I am ashamed to admit it's the first time that I have ever heard/seen the actual Romeo and Juliet stories (all the moves kept me from ever having to read it). Hope all is well!!

Lone Pine and More!!

Wow...so much stuff has happened here!! I want to tell you about Lone Pine Sanctuary. We got to see all sorts of cool wildlife. Kangaroos were just running around and you could feed and pet them. And we also saw wombats and cool birds. I saw my first cookabura which was cool. I danced with the Aboriginals last night for one of their ceremonies...fun times!! We've been in class alot of the days, but I'm beginning to learn the bus system and the river cat (a ferry type service) is nice too!! Still hoping to get some really exotic foods for dinner, but I have been falling asleep so early that I haven't totally gotten out at night yet! I love you and hope all is well!!

koala

Hey ya'll I only have a bit but I got to hold a koala today. Look at this website: www.koala.net/photo/1505028910.htm Love you

Brisbane Day 1

After the 4 hour flight to LA and 5 hour layover, we boarded for the 14 jaunt over the Pacific to our destination. We arrived in Brisbane at 6AM and slowly crept off the plane and into customs. The girl in front of me left her purse on the counter accidentally and that is considered a security breach so they shut down things for a few minutes. Another funny airport story. Apparently my mom and I are really good packers, we were able to get 58 pounds of stuff into my bag, but Delta only leets you have 50, so I had to repack my whole bag in the ATL airport. Nice!!

The exchange rate is strong. $1.30 for every US $1.oo, that's good. We'll have the chance to explore and shop more after our classes end during the day. We had an orientation session, but the real welcomes come tommorrow. I've loved talking to the natives, and apparently they love the Southern accent :-) It's amazing the random questions that they will ask just to keep you talking (not that I am innocent of that charge for visitors to the US ;-)!!)

I am rooming with two girls that I've never met before which is great, I'll have the opportunity to get close with some more people on this trip! We did a scavenger hunt around Brisbane today and it was fun to see all sides of the city. There is an outdoor mall area that is really neat with cool little botique stores lining the cobblestone walkway. Everything here is so clean, I really like the city. The wildlife in their parks is unbelieveable, some of the prettiest birds I've ever seen and we aren't even in the jungle or anything. I know it's winter, but weather is wonderful (tank top and skirt!!) Alot like Athens! I miss you all and hope that everything is just wonderful. I'll be using the internet cafe alot to keep you posted!!

Los angeles

hy ya'll i'm on the clock for time but i just thought i would let you know that we made it to la for our 5hour layover!! i love youand everything is great so ar...there are a bunch of cool kids with us!!

Packing

Well...I'm counting down the six hours until I wake up to get in a car and drive to Atlanta for the flight...sorry these first posts will be rambles because I am learning all the cool new little tricks of this site. Anyways, it has been great to set up a list serve for emails that I'll try to send out periodically, I'll try to update this at least every 3 days! I am stoked about Scuba diving and camping out on the Outback. Please keep me posted with what is going on back home! I love to hear the news (even if you think it is the most simple thing) I can barely carry my luggage, but as I eat my rations this will get better. For now, Brittany signing off...Pray for the saftey of my group and for good weather!!!:-) Love ya'll

Departure

Hey Ya'll...I leave on the 12th and fly out to LA, then on to Australia. I'll be travelling with the Fellows plus some other UGA students that signed up for the Maymester too!! Just thought I would put a pic up of the family!!