Arriving to Melbourne

Wednesday May 23 2012

Arriving to Melbourne

           Sorry for the delay.  We have had such a hard time getting on Internet as most the places we've been don't have free wifi. Anyways.. on to my blog.

Koala just hanging out

           Well its been a busy couple of days with not having a Tuesday as we lost a day with the time change.  We flew from KCI to DFW, then to LAX for a four hour layover.  And finally our last flight which was 15 hours to Melbourne from LAX.  The last plane we rode was a Airbus which seated around 500 people.  That was the biggest plane and the longest flight I've been on.  I was really worried about how long the flight was at first, but we were fed supper within the first 3 hours. Then I fell asleep for several hours and was up again for a small breakfast. Thank goodness for the personal TV and free drinks! Our mimosas were delicious this morning as we watched the sunrise from our window.

Kangaroo posing for me.

            Once we landed in Australia it was 8:30 a.m. so we headed to the lovely McDonald's for breakfast/lunch. I had a sausage McMuffin, which the sausage definitely tastes different over here. Then we headed for Healesville Sanctuary. Which is where we saw many different animals such as dingoes, wombats, Tasmanian devils, koalas, and of course kangaroos. We watched Spirits of the Sky, which was a bird show. It was interesting to see how well they had the birds trained.

Spirits of the Sky

            Now we are riding the bus back to our hotel as I am typing this. We are all so excited to take a shower finally! Then we have our welcome dinner at La Camera.

Until next time!

Elizabeth

20 Days!

            Well it's May 1st which means only one week and finals left. But more importantly it means we leave in 20 days for Australia!! I'm excited yet kind of nervous. It seems like just the other day Kara and I were talking about applying for the trip. The time has flown this semester as today is our last class before we leave!

The Great Barrier Reef!

In class we have covered all different aspects of Australia. From their agriculture to their culture and geography. Here are some of the interesting points we discussed:

-Only nation to occupy an entire continent.
-Australia has 6 states and 2 territories.
-Sydney is the largest in population with 4.5 million.
-Australia was home to convicts who were transported in 1788 by King George IV.
-The current Prime Minister of Australia is Julia Gillard.
-10% Goods and Services Tax instead of a sales tax.
-"Hotels" are Australian bars due to the strict liquor
license laws during the 19th century.
-Even though the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) can be seen from outer space, Captain James Cook ran into it in 1770.
-The GBR is approximately 500 million years old and the largest Coral Reef in the world.
-We will be touring a JBS facility in Brooklyn. They have 5200 head of cattle and lambs there.

I'm not so much ready for the long plane rides, but I'm so excited for new experiences.  I hope that you enjoy following my blog as I make the trip to Australia!

Until next time! EMAW

~Elizabeth