The End

Last week I finished my finals. Taking exams here was a completely different process than I'm used to at Grinnell. For exams, all students went to this massive building off campus, the Royal Exhibition Hall. If you look back all the way at my first post, it's the building behind the fountain in Carlton Gardens. The Hall was set up with about 2500 desks, and each time I went for a final, there were probably at least four different classes taking exams at the same time. It was incredibly overwhelming just trying to find my seat and focus on my exams.The best thing I can compare it to is when in Harry Potter they take their OWLs. Just masses of students at desks in rows scribbling furiously for hours. Also, the building is pretty old and there wasn't any heat, so that just added to the fun. Both exams I took were definitely an interesting experience, but one I'm glad I won't have to repeat any time soon.

I was glad to finish so early and have a chance to enjoy my last week in Melbourne. Saturday was an Australian friend's birthday, so it was nice to celebrate that and also being done with the school year. On Sunday, I made my last trip to the market, which I commemorated with the American style donuts they sell, so delicious! The market is one of the things I'm going to miss most when I'm home, especially since it was so close. Getting the hang of shopping at the market definitely made me feel like a true Melburnian.

While I spent a lot of the week packing and getting my things organized, I made time to walk around parts of the city and really soak it in. Wednesday I wandered through Melbourne's laneways and ate breakfast at a cafe, a very typical Melbourne thing to do, and yesterday I returned to Fitzroy for lunch and a little window shopping. Today Maddie and I are going for one last Tropicana Juice together, another place I'll seriously miss.

It's just impossible for me to wrap my mind around the fact that I'm leaving. I've had friends leave, but until I actually move out and fly to Sydney tomorrow, I don't think it will hit me. My semester has been truly wonderful, I have loved living in Melbourne and experiencing Australia. I'm thrilled to have more time to see other parts of the country with my parents, but I'm also very excited to return to Melbourne at the end of our trip and show them around. And at the end of it all, I'm very ready to come home to the States. Let's be honest, I am seriously craving some Chipotle.

I'll potentially post some while I'm traveling over the next two weeks, but this is really my last post as a study abroad student. I've enjoyed sharing my experiences on this blog and I hope you enjoyed hearing about them. Thanks for reading!

The Beginning of the End

Beautiful Crown Casino

It's hard to believe I only have two more weeks in Melbourne before I meet my parents in Sydney. Time seriously flew! I've been in Australia for a little more than four months, but I can hardly believe it's all coming to an end. I feel really lucky that I get to travel a little more with my parents before I have to come home. Even though I only have two weeks left in Melbourne, I still have another month in Australia! What is especially strange is that, as people are finishing finals, they're starting to head home, both kids going back to America and Australians moving home for their winter break. The village I live in will be pretty deserted by the time I head out.

At the slots

One of my closest friends here, Rachel, left on Thursday to start her internship at home. Of course that meant Wednesday night we had to celebrate her last night in Australia. So what do you do for your last night in Melbourne? Go to the casino, of course! The giant Crown Casino complex is on the south side of the Yarra, and the flashing logo is visible from most places in the CBD. None of us had ventured in, so we decided we must go before Rachel left. The casino is in the Vegas line of casino/entertainment complexes, with restaurants, clubs, a movie theater, along with plenty of opportunities to blow your money. Maddie, Rachel, and I all played the slots once, and I was the big winner, taking home 90 cents in winnings. Afterward we went to one of the clubs, where the most fabulous 80s cover band, Stand and Deliver, was performing. They were seriously amazing, and they had the most fabulous outfits on. It was an appropriate send off.

Esplanade at St. Kilda Beach

It is finals time here, and I've already handed in two essays. I have two more exams and then I'm finished! But it also means that I have tons of free time to go anywhere/see anything I still want to see. And Melbourne has been quite obliging, providing beautiful sunny day after beautiful sunny day. Thursday I met a friend for lunch at a restaurant I've been meaning to try all semester across the street from Uni, and we got to eat outside. And Friday Maddie and I went to St. Kilda, the beach suburb of Melbourne. The last time I went was all the way back in February during orientation, and I had meant to go again. It was a beautiful afternoon to window shop, enjoy the bakeries St. Kilda is known for (I had a slice of apricot cheesecake, yum), and watch the sun go down over the beach.

Although the end is drawing near, it's been quite a motivator to get out and do stuff while I still have time. I might even be going on another trip, potentially to the west coast to Perth. I'll keep you all posted!

Kiwis, Campervans, and 2288 Kilometers: A Week in New Zealand

The blue balloons are all the places we stopped for the night

One of the things I knew I wanted to do while I was studying in Australia was get to New Zealand. The flight between Melbourne and Christchurch is so short, when would I ever have such an opportunity? Ever since watching the Lord of the Rings movies, I’ve wanted to visit New Zealand, and last week I finally made it.

New Zealand is one of the most geographically and ecologically diverse countries I have ever been to. Even considering all the territory we covered in our six days, we barely scratched the surface of what New Zealand has to offer. But we did see a lot. I went with two friends, Maddie and Colin, and we rented a campervan (the way to travel easily and on the cheap) to drive around the South Island. Driving was the best option for us to make the most of our time there, and luckily New Zealand is campervan-friendly. Besides the first night, we were able to plug in to a power site, allowing us to turn on a space heater (it got pretty chilly at night), make our dinner in our tiny kitchen, and convert the van into bunked beds to sleep at night. It was cramped quarters, but an interesting way to see the country. Driving in New Zealand is pretty straightforward; there are few roads so directions were simple, though some drives were less direct than they could be. Those yellow lines on the map? Literally the only paved roads we could take. At least we never got lost!

First chilly dinner in the van

View in Arthur's Pass National Park

We flew into Christchurch last Saturday and immediately drove west to Arthur’s Pass National Park. Unfortunately the whole drive was at night (my baptism by fire), because we were driving through mountain ranges. After a chilly night (no power in the park, so no heater), we woke up Sunday morning and were immediately confronted with the beauty of our surroundings. That day we went on a long hike that gave us beautiful views of the Southern Alps. The terrain was very reminiscent of scenes of Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli running across Middle Earth. I think we all felt a little transported. That night we drove out of the park and slept in Hokitika, en route to glaciers!

Near the top of the hike

Our van parked in front of some beautiful mountains

On the Western coast of New Zealand are two of the most accessible glaciers, Fox and Franz Josef. We booked half-day hikes on Fox and walking on a glacier was honestly one of the most amazing experiences. We went in the afternoon and so had beautiful views of the sun setting through the glacial valley. The tour was very cool; our guide was an ex-pat from Texas and spent most of the walk carving out our path.

Terminal face of Fox Glacier

In an ice cave at Fox Glacier

The sunset in the glacial valley

Queenstown Harbor

Tuesday we left the holiday park in Haast and drove through Mount Aspiring National Park, stopping for short walks off the road. Our end goal for the day was Queenstown, the adventure capital of New Zealand and home to bungy jumping. I briefly considered doing something wild and crazy, but ended up cheaping out (and just not having enough time). Maddie and I treated ourselves to dinner in town, as we were both getting sick of pasta. Queenstown is pretty but very touristy, it reminded me a lot of Jackson Hole and similar towns like that in the states. It was a bit odd being there in the off season, as the streets were pretty empty.

Blue glacial pools in Mt. Aspiring Park

Me and Maddie at Haast Pass in Mt. Aspiring Park

A herd of cows on the road, passing our van

The next day, we drove into Fiordland National Park (misspelled by accident, but the name stuck), heading towards Milford Sound. Fiordland is the Yellowstone of the South Island and can get crazy in summer, but being there in the off season definitely paid off. The drive into the settlement of Milford was a little treacherous and the road is often closed, but we had good luck with weather and luckily our little van managed to chug over the mountains.

Tunnel in the mountain

Maddie and I at a lookout in Fiordland

To fully experience Milford Sound (actually a fjord, clearly New Zealand really struggled with names in this park), Maddie and I went on a kayak trip. It was truly breathtaking. Our guide had to keep putting things in the sound to scale, as everything is so massive you can easily lose perspective. We got amazingly lucky and saw dolphins, though they were too far away to photograph. Another amazing experience.

View of the sound at the start of the trip

The sound, with kayakers

Very old church in Dunedin

We left Milford that evening and began the journey up the east coast to Christchurch. We stopped that night in Dunedin and spent the next morning walking around the city. You can really feel the Scottish traces left over from the settlement. And then we made haste back to Christchurch to return the van before 4pm on Friday. Unfortunately the city is still rebuilding itself and the city center, the most affected area, had significant areas blocked off due to the earthquake damage. As it was our last night, we had a low key dinner and slept in a hotel (having a bed was a beautiful thing).

And then this morning we hauled ourselves out of bed at 3:30am for a 6am flight back to Melbourne. I’m sitting here exhausted but completely content. The trip could not have gone smoother. We had perfect weather, though a little chilly, no travel trouble, and I got to see a part of the world I had never been to before.

Unfortunately I’ve come back to the mountain of finals work I neglected last week (technically a study week, oops). I’m nearing the end of my stay in Melbourne, but am excited to meet my parents in Sydney in three weeks. More updates as they come!