Conception Day!

Yesterday was probably the most anticipated event of the entire semester...CONCEPTION DAY! It's a huge event put on by the school to basically celebrate the day the school was founded. This year happened to be the 40th anniversary so it was big! My aussie roommate and friends have been talking about it for awhile. I was so excited the night before it almost felt like Christmas! I was woken up at 5:55am with pounding on my door (again, my aussie roommate), then at 6am the chaos started. They drove throughout the village, music blasting, honking horns, waking everyone up bright and early. By 7am everyone was out on the grass field with a drink in hand! My friend Kristen and I started out the morning with mamosas! The Village put on a breakfast bbq and gave out free t-shirts that said "If found, please return to Macquarie Uni Village." I met heaps of new aussies that came out for the event (notice my use of aussie lingo). It was such a fun day! Later on we walked over the lake where the main event was held...bbq, drinks, ferris wheel and concert stages where we got to see Wolfmother play...it was a great concert! I was so exhausted by the end of the day but probably one of the best days yet, meeting new people and having fun...not to mention it was a beautiful 85 degrees out!

Oh, and did I mention that it is SPRING BREAK!? Tomorrow morning I am flying to Adelaide to see some really great friends (Heather & Daniel's fam). I'll be there for about a week and am looking forward to Kathy's wedding on Saturday! Then flying out to the Gold Coast and Brisbane where I get to meet some of my buddy Jay's friends and family. Should be a relaxing two weeks with alot of time spent at the beach. Cannot wait!

Sunday Expedition

Last weekend, my friend Ryan & I visited Watson's Bay and the Gap...both are located just north of Bondi Beach, at the end of the peninsula and entrance to the harbor. I had researched the area before we went and knew it was a small little boat town with shops and restaurants lining the shore. It was such a cute little town! Being that it was the weekend, there were lots of families and kids out and about having Sunday brunch. We started out at Robertson Park and walked along the coast, heading towards Dover Heights and the Raleigh Reserve Lighthouse. It was beautiful! You can see all of downtown Sydney on the horizon. I actually learned a little bit of history too...the lighthouse was built in the mid-1800's to guard the entrance to the harbor. The story goes that 6 American battle ships had snuck into the harbor overnight and the Aussies didn't realize it until the next morning! The lighthouse was really cool, although we couldn't go inside of it. All around the area there are remains of old bunkers and canons too. Next, we walked to the Gap Park...not sure how it got its name, but they are REALLY big shelf-like cliffs on the coast. Because its at the entrance to the harbor, I could see the Pacific all the way to the horizon...and knew home was only 10,000 or so miles away! Thinking of you all.