Greetings from Oz

Hey everyone!

I’ve only been in Australia for less than a week, but I have much to share already! I apologize to my blog stalkers who were disappointed that I haven’t updated yet, but I’ve basically been going non-stop since I arrived and trying to adjust to the time difference – plus there wasn’t free internet at the hostel we stayed at for 3 days or any of the many airports I was in.

If you couldn’t already figure out, I survived the plane ride and made it over the Pacific Ocean alive! Thankfully, my 40+ hours of travel went pretty smoothly. As I previously mentioned in my last entry, I was having some major problems trying to keep my suitcases under the 50-pound weight limit. Up until the minute I left my house on Sunday morning, I was still adjusting and taking things in and out but finally decided to give it up and just hope for the best. I was pretty nervous about my big suitcase, and almost sure it would be a few pounds over. However, when we threw it on the scale it read: 50.0 pounds. I’m good huh? When we put my smaller suitcase on the scale, the American Airlines employee made a comment along the lines of “Oh, there’s no way you managed to fit 50 into this small one.” “49.2 pounds. I’m good. After that, I said goodbye to my parents, proceeded through security, and anxiously awaited my first real flying experience.

Cleveland --> Chicago
The flight to Chicago was on a super small, pretty crappy American Eagle plane, but since I was so excited to fly I didn’t really mind so much. After my 8-hour long Megabus rides from Cleveland to Chicago, I found it hard to believe that it was possible to get to Chicago in a short hour (or in no time at all because of the time difference). So once in O’Hare, I found my next gate and prepared for my 5-hour layover. Spending 5 hours in O’Hare made me realize that I absolutely love airports and never knew because I had never been in one before! Airports are like heaven on earth for someone like me who’s favorite hobby is people watching. Luckily around 12:30 I met up with Katherine, another girl also going to Australia with my program who happened to be on the same flight to LA as me. I got a little nervous when they announced that our flight was overbooked, but we got on just fine.

Chicago--> LA
Once I sat down in my seat, the guy sitting next to me mentioned that he overheard me and Katherine talking about Australia and New Zealand and wondered if I had ever been there before. I then explained the whole thing to him and turns out he traveled around Australia and New Zealand for 3 months a few years ago. We then chatted for the next 2 hours and he gave me a list of specific places to go and things to do during my time in Oz as well as other tips and advice for traveling. It turns out that he’s actually a writer for TV shows on ABC. So that was a cool connection I made and definitely made the 4-hour flight go by much faster.

LA -->Sydney
When we arrived at LAX, I was really glad that Katherine was with me. We had to actually leave the airport and walk outside for about 5-10 minutes to get the Tom Bradley International Terminal. It was a little confusing at first, but we found our way. We were starving at this point, but our plan was to first find our gate and then get food nearby. Well that plan failed miserably when we arrived at our gate and realized that there was no food places past security at all. Since we had about 6 hours to spare, we decided to go back out to get food and then had to go through international security a second time…annoying.

I also exchanged money at currency exchange at LAX. Australian money is SO COOL. First off, since the US dollar is actually stronger than the Australian dollar you get more for your money. The exchange rate is about .85 to their dollar (but changes every day). So I gave 100 dollars and received around 110 back (I would have gotten more if it weren’t for the 6 dollar “processing fee” which I later found out that I don’t have to pay if I show my international student ID card). Anyway, Australian money is colorful and has woman on it! The texture is also much different and sorta feels like play/fake money at first. Australian money is also different in that bills or “notes” as they call them and only come in 100, 50, 20, 10, and 5. The bill size also decreases with the amount, so each is a different length. Then coins come in $2, $1, .50, .20, .10 and .5. There aren’t any coins worth 1 cent because they always round to the nearest 5 cents. The coins are actually a bit opposite than the bills in that the 50 cent coin is HUGE (much bigger than the quarter) and the $2 coin is the smallest. This will take some getting use to because you can’t just loosely throw your change around because a handful of coins could actually be worth $10 or $20.

Anyway, after Katherine and I ate, we went through international security AGAIN and went to our gate to wait. We were there for about an hour or so until we found it weird that almost everyone else waiting had British accents. About 10 minutes later a sign came up on the TV screen that read “British Airways.” We were both 100% positive that the departure screen said that our flight left from gate 20 because we both checked it numerous times. So I decided to go check 1 more time, and it turns out that in that hour that we were waiting at gate 20 they decided to move our departure to gate 23A. I guess that’s what we get for being early huh?
Since I decided to take the group flight, LA is where everyone else in my program going to the same university as me was meeting up before flying to Australia. We had previously decided to put our colorful AustraLearn luggage tags on our carryon bags so that we could easily find each other in the airport. So when me and Katherine finally made it to the right gate there were already a few other AustraLearn people waiting. So we started talking with them and gradually more and more of us were arriving at the gate. By around 8:30 p.m. there were about 25 of us waiting so we decided to go downstairs to hangout and get out of the way. It was really cool to finally meet everyone because everyone is from all over the country from California and Washington all the way to Maine and Florida and everywhere in between.

Around 10:00 they announced that we were boarding, so we made our way upstairs to the gate and I couldn’t believe that there were hundreds of people now waiting to board the same plane as us. When I looked out the window the plane we were about to get on was absolutely gigantic. One of the girls said that it was a 700 plane, which is the biggest they make. There were 2 levels on the plane, and the entire upstairs was for first class (which apparently costs between 15-20 grand from LA to Sydney). I actually got really lucky because I got a window seat and the 2 guys sitting next to me were both also AustraLearn so it was cool talking to them and it wasn’t at all awkward. The 15-hour flight was actually surprisingly not as bad as I had anticipated. I spent the first few hours of the flight in a complete state of excitement because I was FINALLY on my way to Australia. Then a few hours into the flight they fed us dinner, which was your typical crappy airplane food. Each person had their own personal TV screen in front of them with tons of free movies, TV shows, games, radio stations, etc. So after watching a movie I fell asleep and woke up about 6 hours later. I checked the flight path on the TV screen and found that we were directly over Fiji and only about 5 hours from Sydney. So I watched 2 more movies, they fed us breakfast, and then spent the last hour in another state of complete excitement.

Sydney --> Cairns
Even though we arrived in Sydney at 6:00 A.M. local time, the place was packed because almost all international flights arrive around the same time in the morning. We were all kinda annoyed that we had a 3 hour layover in Sydney before our flight to Cains; however, we had no idea how what a long and annoying process going through customs would be in Australia. We were all pretty confused because we were told to check our luggage all the way to our final destination at Cairns. I even had the guy in Cleveland triple check this before I left. Well what every airline omitted to tell us is that even though we wanted our luggage checked all the way to our final destination, we had to get our luggage when we entered the country in Sydney because we have to go through customs with it. Since I had answered no to all the questions on the card, I had to wait 30 minutes in line just for the guy to swipe my passport and tell me that I’m good to go. We then waited at the carousel for our luggage where I pessimistically told everyone around me that I was 100% positive my luggage would not be there. Only about 2 minutes later I was in complete shock when I saw both of my suitcases coming around the corner. I have no idea how they made it, but they did. So we all loaded up our suitcases on trolleys, went and stood in a few more long lines, had a few more people look at our passports, and we were finally through. Then we had to make our way to the domestic terminal to check in and re-check our bags.

I have no idea why hundreds of people were flying domestically at 7 in the morning, but the line to check in was about 40 minutes long. When I made it up to the counter I gave the woman my passport and she said “Pitingolo?” (pronounced correctly) and I said “Yes…?” and she said “That’s my best friends surname” (lastname). That’s a really uncommon name, I’ve never met or saw anyone else with your surname before.” As you probably know, my last name is EXTREMELY uncommon and basically everyone with it is related to me in some way or another. I could not believe that I go all the way to Australia and one of the first people I meet is someone whose best friend has the same last name as me. Small world.

Anyway, after checking in and going through security, we then had to take a 10-minute bus ride to get to our gate. This was my very first taste of driving on the left side of the road, which I’m still trying to get use to. By the time we finally made it to our gate, our 3 hour layover turned into only 20 minutes till boarding.

At this point, I had been traveling for over 2 days, and getting on another 3-hour plane ride was the last thing I wanted to do. After getting on the plane and getting situated, they announced that they were going to delay our flight for half an hour because we were waiting on more passengers who were held up in customs. If you ever get the chance, fly Quantas because they give out goody bags and free ice cream, which basically made my day.

Even though the University I’m going to is only a 2 hour drive north of Sydney, we were flying to Cairns (pronounced Cans) because that’s where our 3 day AustraLearn orientation was being held. When we arrived at the Cairns airport we were met by 2 AustraLearn workers who told us that Quantas informed them that all of our luggage was going to be placed on a later flight because they wasn’t enough room on the flight or something. I thought to myself “I KNEW IT! I knew they wouldn’t make it here!” They told us to go check anyway just in case. Well turns out Quantas lied and all of our luggage was there. False alarm. Even though it’s winter in Australia now, since Cairns is far north and closer to the equator it was about 80 degrees when we stepped outside.

Bohemia
We then got bussed to Bohemia, the hostel we were staying at in Cairns. There were 6 people to a room with basically just 6 beds and a sink. With 6 girls, 12 suitcases, and 6 bags, it was a little bit crowded in there. The hostel wasn’t the greatest, but I’ve definitely seen worse. Even though we all wanted nothing more than to sleep for days, they forced us to stay up and eat dinner so that we could adjust to the big time difference.

RainForeStation
Wednesday morning we woke up early to go to a place called the RainForeStation. In only my second day in Australia I was able to check off numerous things on the list of things I wanted to do in Australia such as hold a koala bear, hang out with some kangaroos, have a water python around my neck, ride in an army duck, see a dingo (and make the Seinfeld joke), throw a boomerang, play the didgeridoo, and see an aboriginal tribal dance. Oh yeah, I also got felt up by the koala bear – see picture below. Funny huh?




We had most of the night free, so me and a few other people went exploring the city of Cairns and decided to go to the mall so we could get Australian cell phones. I just got a prepaid Vodaphone plan and the crappiest/cheapest Nokia phone they had. In Australia, all incoming calls and texts are free, so if anyone feels so inclined feel free to call me at: (61) 410-766-051. I was a little bit confused why it was only 5:30 and almost every store at the mall was shutting down. When I asked a mall employee, he explained to me that the mall closes at 5:30 p.m. every day except for Thursdays because that’s payday.

Luckily, the food court was open until 6:00 and I was able to get Subway for dinner. There are definitely no $5 foot longs in Australia. After ordering the exact same sandwich at Subway for the past 10 years, I knew exactly what I wanted. However, when the woman asked me “what kind of cheese would you like?” and I responded “American” and she said “Sweetheart, we’re in Australia, we don’t have American cheese.” I was so embarrassed. Apparently Aussie Subways don’t have oil and vinegar either….weird.

The Great Barrier Reef
On Thursday we woke up around 5:30 a.m. to get ready for our day at the Great Barrier Reef. This was also especially exciting for me since I had never been to an ocean before! We went on a boat with the company Passions of Paradise with a really fun crew. It actually takes about a 2-hour boat ride from Cairns to get to the reef so we got to hang out on the boat and also had a briefing session for those who wanted to scuba dive. In Australia you don’t have to be certified to dive, so even though it put a little bit of a dent in my pocket, that was a once in a lifetime chance I couldn’t pass up. When we got to the reef, we were divided up into different groups to dive, so I was able to snorkel for about an hour until I had to get ready to dive. Me and two other girls split the cost of an underwater camera that we took with us snorkeling and got some really great pictures (she acutally has the pictures on her computer right now, so I'll post those when I get them). I saw some of the coolest corral, fish, and turtles. It was just like on the travel channel. Soon enough it was my turn to dive and I got equipped with the whole getup (weights, oxygen tank, goggles, wetsuit, flippers, etc). Everything was so heavy that I could hardly walk down the stairs to jump off the boat. But once I got into the water, you wait at a rope at water level where your dive master explains a few things. She then dropped us down to the second rope a few feet under to test us to make sure we could do things like clear our water from our goggles, equalize our ears, and clear our mouthpiece if it falls out or if it got water in it. She then dropped us down a little fit farther and we were off. At first we have to link arms and stay together but after a few minutes she let us sorta go off on our own as long as stayed in her sight. I actually had a little bit of a hard time underwater because I have really sensitive ears (as I noticed from the numerous plane rides). Every few feet lower that you go in water, you need to equalize your ears (basically pop them) so that your ears can adjust to the altitude. Usually on a plane the easiest way to do this is by yawning, but obviously you can’t do that underwater with a mouthpiece supplying you oxygen in your mouth. So you equalize by holding your nose and swallowing. Anyway, once my ears were finally popping, I had the time of my life and it was honestly one of the coolest things I've done in my life thus far. I couldn’t believe how close to the reef and the fish I got, and I was actually allowed to touch some of the reef! The 30 minutes flew by and I didn’t want to come up…but I had to.

Mchaelmas Cay
After lunch, the boat moved to a second location where we had the option to snorkel again, do a second dive, or take a boat to a small island called Mchaelmas Cay. I was pretty tired from snorkeling and diving, so I took the option to go the island. Mchaelmas Cay is actually a really interesting island because it is a nationally recognized bird sanctuary. Only a very, very, small portion of the island is roped off by white rope where people are allowed to go. If you cross over the white rope you could be faced with a $7,500 fine. They made that VERY clear to us haha. The island was absolutely beautiful, something you see out of a Sandals brochure. So we played on the island for a little bit, till we had to go back to the boat to head back to Cairns. The water was pretty rough on the way back and we got splashed pretty bad lying on the deck (I felt like I was on one of those water rides at Cedar Point where you don’t know when you’re gonna get drenched). We all spent Thursday night exploring the city of Cairns since it would probably be the last time most of us would ever be there.

Cairns-->Brisbane & Brisbane -->Newcastle
Friday morning we had to wake up around 5:30 again to repack our suitcases, checkout, and catch our bus to the airport. From Cairns we flew to Brisbane (pronounced Bris-bin) where we had a layover. We did not have a very pleasant experience in the Brisbane airport. After arriving and getting our luggage, we all got in line to check in and check our bags again. Let me preface this by noting that between suitcases, carryon luggage, and personal items, each person probably was lugging around about 130 pounds of weight, not one of our favorite things to do.We stood in line for about 10-15 minutes until the first person in our group got up to the front and they told us that we were “too early” and couldn’t check in for another hour. So all 30 of us and 100+ bags, were forced to get out of line. We angrily stood around for only about 5 minutes until an employee came up and told us that they changed their minds and would let us check in now. So then all 30 of us and 100+ bags dragged ourselves back into line. They then told us that our luggage could only weigh 20 kg (40 pounds) without paying extra fees. So then everyone was freaking out about that. However, I think after they realized that all 30 of us had two 50-pound suitcases, they just let us go. So a few more hours of sitting around and we were finally on our way to Newcastle where we’re be staying for the next 5 months. We were greeted at the airport by a Newcastle student worker from the International Office saying “Are you guys American?” haha.

We just arrived on campus last night, so I’m still getting settled in. I’ll update again soon telling you about campus, my dorm, and lots of other things. If you actually read this entire entry, thanks for being interested in my adventures. I’m sure there’s many more to come!