Australia Journal

Aussie Slang:

The Aussie slang is a very interesting subject, so I had to write a few things. The Australians have a British like accent, only it is more fun than British accents. They also have different word phrases than we do. Here are a few:

Restroom: Toilets (There are signs all over the place saying this word instead of restroom like in America.)

Diaper: Nappy (I am pretty sure that is how you spell it, though I have never heard anyone use it.)

Parking lot: Car park (It is quite easy to translate, but it would take a while to get used to seeing signs around saying ‘car park’, but still wondering where the ‘parking lot’ is.)

Slushy: Slurpee (This one is hilarious! You really need to hear an accented Australian saying ‘Slurpee’!)

12/15 Day 1 (Part I): On the Airplane for 22 hours

It was time to go on the long airplane ride to go to Melbourne, Australia. We were taking three different airplanes: the first one was from Boston to Los Angeles (six hours), the second one was from Los Angeles to Sydney (fourteen hours), and the last one was from Sydney to Melbourne (two and a half hours). I really dreaded the airplane flights, because I hated them, and the longer it was on there, the worse. On the airplane, the pressure was really bad on my ears so I had to pop my ears often. I also get headaches for no reason, maybe airsickness?

The first flight left during evening. I had to stay up, so I could peacefully fall asleep on the fourteen hour flight. So I stayed up until midnight, which wasn’t too bad. But the next flight was really bad and long.  I went to sleep, but continuously got woken up by people passing by. Finally, when I woke up after a straight hour of sleep, I got forced to drink lots of water and eat a lot. My stomach didn’t like it; I was eating bad food on Australian time. After sleeping again, I was told that there were ten hours left.  I was devastated. I still had a really long time to sit on the plane feeling uncomfortable. So I went to sleep again, ate something, read a book, and went to sleep again.

Finally we arrived at Melbourne. My parents’ friend came to drive us around for the first couple of days. That was a good thing, because my dad wouldn’t know how to drive in Australia. The driver’s side is on the right, and the cars drive always on the left side! It was really confusing, for even me. Whenever the driver turned and ended up on the right side, I was thinking, wait, that isn’t right, but it was right.

12/17 Day 1 (Part II): In Melbourne Exploring

My family and I settled in our hotel, which was not extraordinary in any way, but it felt like luxury after the airplane. I plopped down onto the bed and felt refreshed. We all took a shower, and went to eat lunch. The lunch was really good; Australia had way better Chinese food than in the states. I filled myself up, and was pretty happy because I had actually eaten lunch in the Australian time zone. Then we went to see some Australian scenery in the forest.

The forest we went to was called the Blue Dandenongs. Australia isn’t much unless you see the forests and all the peculiar animals. The forest had really interesting trees, which included the eucalyptus tree (koala bear tree) and a weird ancient tree. I learned that koala bears were lazy so they stayed on the tree all day, but that the leaves on the tree had stuff in them that kind of “drugged” the koala bears so they wouldn’t leave. Pretty much I learned that eucalyptus leaves were addicting for koala bears. I also heard lots of annoying squawks from the treetops, and when I looked I saw a parrot like bird which was a beautiful red and green. We took a walk through the warm 30 degree- Celsius- weather.  It wasn’t too warm, just a little humid, but shady under the large leaves. Afterwards, we went back and had dinner.

12/18 Day 2: Breakfast, Our First Australian Breakfast!

Breakfast in Australia is something to really look forward to. Actually, I am not sure whether the hotel has a good breakfast or it is just Australia’s general breakfast. Anyway, the fruit is great. I really enjoyed eating watermelon, strawberry, kiwi, cantaloupe, and honeydew in December! They were all extremely sweet. There was also honey, straight from the honeycomb. Literally, there was a honeycomb you could take honey from. The pineapple juice was really amazing too! It is really fun to say I might go picking strawberries in December! But it is kind of hard to process what you hear when someone says it’s 30 degrees, usually I think, Oh, it is below freezing! But everyone is wearing shorts, so then I have to realize that it is 30 degrees Celsius! It is confusing on the highway too, when it says the speed limit is 80. I think that the limit is pretty high, but it is 80 kilometers per hour which is pretty slow. In America, most people speed (or maybe just my parents?) so we usually drive above the 60 miles per hour speed limit. But in Australia if you drive over a little bit then you get fined miserably.

12/18 Day 2: In the Heart of Melbourne

First, I had to point out listening to Christmas music right in front of a Christmas tree in shorts and a t-shirt is quite disorienting.

It was going to be a really busy day. But a highlight of my day was sitting in a little square watching someone perform. The guy was dressed like Indiana Jones and he was doing scary tricks. He was also joking a lot. So there was a tall pole with people supporting it so it wouldn’t fall. He told two people to stand in front of the pole, looking at each other, with arms crossed. Supposedly he was going to jump on them, then jump on the pole.  Then he said he was going to leap on top of the pole like superman! None of us really replied. He frowned at us and said, “You guys are going to say ‘Ooh!’ then ‘Awww’.” So the audience replied back to him saying that. But he wasn’t impressed. So he walked over to a cute little boy and pointed at him saying, “This little boy has superman powers!!”

“Ooh!!” replied the crowd with excitement.

“But he is an orphan boy,” he said with pretended sadness.

“Awww,” the crowd replied back with the same pretended sadness. He clapped his hands and got ready to jump. Everyone ‘oohed’. Then he ran over to the volunteers and climbed on them slowly. The crowd ‘awwwed’, and then he asked us what we expected, an actual superman jump? So then he slowly stood up on the volunteers, taking his time. Finally, he got up onto the pole. On his cue, another volunteer threw him three torches.  He caught them and lighted them on fire. Then he called out, “Who here is from the states? If you are, then check this out!” He posed like the statue of liberty. “But what it can’t do is this!” He switched the hand he was using to hold the torch. Some of the audience laughed, because they got the joke. Then he moved on to saying how much we should tip him at the end of the show. “All of you Americans out there, I know the currency is different! So I just wanted to tell you that this is what one dollar in Australia looks like!” he said enthusiastically, holding out an Australian twenty dollar bill. And then he said, “And the Australians here, I am not saying much, but think deep from your heart, and reach into your pocket like this,” he said, pulling out a twenty dollar bill, “and whatever comes to mind is how much you should pay.” Then he put it to his head, as if saying that was what should come to mind.

Then he lit the torches on fire, and started juggling them. After lots of applause, he blew two of them out and held the third one up. He took out a fire whip and lit it on fire, and swung the whip around. It was extremely deadly, and there were only a dozen in the world. As he whipped it around, it cracked really loudly but wouldn’t go out. Finally, it went out. It was awesome and scary. The audience was happy and so was I!

That day, we also went to Eureka Tower. It is a really tall tower, probably only compared to the other towers in Melbourne, made out of glass like a skyscraper. We went to four floors below the top, the 88^th floor. We walked around and went to a balcony, which was extremely windy. Jasmine and I begged our mom to go to the “EDGE”! It was a glass cube that stuck out, and it was completely glass. That made it scary, because the floor would be glass too! We waited in line, and it was finally our turn. We were in the cube, when slowly it slid out. But the walls were fogged, so you couldn’t see anything. All of a sudden, it all cleared, frightening us all. We were so high! I crouched down very low on the floor, so it was like I could fall really easily. Jasmine copied me, and we were crouching on the floor looking down through the clear glass. Unfortunately, it started sliding back, but Jasmine and I were still on the floor. “Awww!” we whined. But we still had a good time in the heart of Melbourne!

12/19 Day 3: Phillip Island

We were on Phillip Island, and it was time to go see the koalas. We were going to a eucalyptus forest to see them. I was really excited, because it would be the first time ever for me to see a koala! My family and I went the way to the boardwalk to see the koalas. The first one we saw was sleeping! It was so cute, big, and fuzzy! We walked on and saw some more koala bears.

All of a sudden, a group of people crowded around on a single spot on the boardwalk. I heard a ranger shouting to back off, and I looked around. There was a big, fat, fuzzy koala bear on the railing! It was walking along as if it didn’t notice any of us gawking at it. But it did turn around when it heard the cameras. Then it just kept walking along until it got to a tree branch and slowly climbed up while the audience gasped in wonder. Finally, the koala bear stopped, and looked down at us. It seemed to wait for the cameras as it posed on the tree. It was completely adorable! I wanted to hug it; it looked so furry! We took more pictures and walked away to see other koalas.

After seeing the koala bears, we saw other animals. Such as adorable wallabies that looked like miniature kangaroos! We saw about four of them, and they had pointy ears and jumped from one place to another, though I doubt that their leaps were as graceful as kangaroo leaps. But none of them had a joey, so they weren’t actual kangaroos. Phillip Island was a wonderful place, but the next was even better!

12/20 Day 4: The Beginning of the Beginning of the Ride to the Great Ocean Road

We were going on the Great Ocean Road today! But we hadn’t even started. We were going to my parents’ college friend’s house to see their adorable children (2 and 3 years old). So far, I thought the younger one was way cuter! I sat with her, and played with her a bit, and ten minutes later, she was pulling me around everywhere. She even let me pick her up! But when we had to leave, it was tragic. She was still pulling me back to the house as I tried to get into the car. I didn’t want to leave either, but we were going to the Great Ocean Road, which is what I am writing about next!

Today we were going to take a long five hour drive in a new rented car. It was a sleek, shiny, and white Camry. It was pretty from the outside and comfortable on the inside. First, we were going to Bells Beach. When we got there, I splashed around in the water until I was completely wet! The water is way warmer than in Massachusetts, Maine, or any other place in New England. But the next place we went was even more fun.

We were going to a koala conservatory! We already saw koala bears, but I was going to steal one this time to take home. And I immediately knew which one to steal when I saw the first one. It was adorable, hanging from its arms and itching itself! It rocked the tree branch as it hung there itching. It was the smallest one I have seen, but even then it wasn’t small. I wanted to watch it forever, but after fifteen minutes, we left it to its itching (it was still itching).

12/21 Day 5: Second Day of Lots of Beaches on the Great Ocean Road

It was another day of fun, fun, and more fun for Jasmine and I. Today was a day for lots of time at the beaches! My favorite beach was a beach with humongous waves crashing onto the shore. We were jumping around and making “magic circles” around us that would supposedly keep us dry. But of course it didn’t work. Jasmine and I ran around in our circles and screamed whenever a wave came, no matter how big or small. My dad was videotaping, so we have some good videos! It was the most fun part. After a while, when it close to leaving time, Jasmine and I held onto each other since we were cold. We stood there waiting for waves and held onto each other so no one could run! We both turned around so we wouldn’t know what wave would be coming. I heard a wave coming, and whispered to Jasmine. Then as soon as we felt cool water lapping at our feet, we screamed. But then we noticed that it didn’t even cover our whole foot! Jasmine and I started laughing. Then just for fun, I told Jasmine not to turn around. But she did, and pointed at an extremely large wave coming toward us. We screamed simultaneously, and clung to each other even harder. Our eyes widened as the wave got us wet all the way to our hips, and we forgot how to scream. “Run!!!” shouted my dad, and Jasmine ran. But I was too late, and the wave was pulling me back. I wobbled, but made it safely to the sand. “Whew! I thought I was videotaping your last video!!” cried my dad, “I thought it would pull you back too far for you to come back!” Jasmine and I laughed, having so much fun in the water. We ran towards our car to get dry, but meanwhile we both thought it was so worth getting wet.

The next place we went to see was the London Bridge. It was a rock that had been eroded at, so it looked like a bridge! The middle was becoming soft too, so it was predicted that it would fall, just like the London Bridge did. It was quite beautiful, but also very windy, so we couldn’t stay long.

Our last visit for pictures was the Petrified Forest. It was right by the beach, and there were rocks that looked exactly like a forest, made out of rocks, not wood. It was pretty cool, and it looked real although it wasn’t. I took a lot of pictures (some random ones included) of the ocean and the “forest”. I was very happy, although it was the end of our day.

12/22 Day 6: Not Seeing Much/Seeing My New Uncle

Today was a pretty boring day. All we did was drive to a hotel, which wasn’t fun. It was a long drive without any rests or breaks, and the sun beating down on you. The hotel we were staying at was called The Mawson Lake Hotel. It was pretty much a five star hotel to me, but I guess not to critics. It had a kitchen, two beds, and three rooms, basically anything you needed. It was pretty cool. But next we were going to see my future uncle! The reason we came here is pretty much because my aunt, Fion, was getting married to a person who was going to be my uncle! So we were going out to eat dinner with our whole new family (my dad, my mom, my sister-Jasmine, my aunt, my future uncle, my grandparents, my uncle’s parents, and me)!

We got to the Vietnamese restaurant, and filled our stomachs! There were quails, and salad, and stuff that I made rolls out of! My aunt, who is very artistic, made a roll shaped like a bunny, a whale, and a penguin. But the next stop was even more fun!

My family and I arrived at their house. On the way, my grandma had told me that they had a cute, but old, dog named Sookie. When I got to their house, it was like the cutest thing ever! He had two large adorable eyes and a round nose. He was a little cream coloured doggy standing at my feet! When I leaned down, he rolled over, inviting me to scratch his belly! Then his arms just hung their as I scratched him! He was super, super nice and adorable!!

12/23 Day 7: New Beach House, Boring

All we did was kind of drive to our beach house and settle down…and…sleep…boring day pretty much.

12/24 Day 8: Wedding Day!

It was finally the day of the wedding, and I was extremely excited! First, my aunt Fion and the bridesmaid, Stephanie, were coming to our rental house to change into the wedding dresses and all that. Our house was the closest to the beach, only 15-20 minutes away from the beach. I couldn’t wait, because I could stay to watch the bride, my aunt Fion, put on her makeup! She was really good at makeup! Fion and Stephanie got dropped off at our house, and I was extremely anxious to get going! We first went into our living room, Stephanie, Jasmine, and I. It was huge living room with two mirrors (we moved the mirrors in). Fion went to shower and freshen up. When she came back out, we had all the jewelry and makeup out. The beautiful wedding dress was hanging in the closet. It was a really pretty one, simple, but still beautiful. It was quite gorgeous, with ruffles, but it wasn’t too long although it still dragged onto the floor. Stephanie then went to shower, and I watched Fion put on her makeup.

She first put on foundation. I was amazed at her makeup! She had tons and tons of it! But when Stephanie came out, she only had foundation and eye shadow. It was about what I had, I just didn’t even have the foundation. I watched them put on makeup, but Fion kind of messed- never mind. I mean Stephanie accidentally moved when Fion was putting on the eyeliner, so Stephanie had smoky eyes. Fion was the bride for the day, so we all had to be nice to her. I did Stephanie’s hair with a braid, and she liked it. But my braid wasn’t very good, so my grandma redid it. But it was still fine! After I did her hair, I had to change and leave. The bride and bridesmaid were going to be the last ones arriving! I couldn’t wait!

Everyone oohed and ahhhed as the bride stepped out of our car. She was really gorgeous and magnificent! Her dress was perfect on her and she had put on fake eyelashes and did her makeup really good. No one could be compared to her; she stood out over all of them. I couldn’t wait for the wedding ceremony to begin!

We also saw a kangaroo, and we started feeding it watermelon skins! It was quite adorable! But it had nothing in its pouch, no joey at all.

One thing to everyone who may be planning to go to Australia: Bring bug spray and have it ready at all times, especially when outside with food. We had dinner outside at the campground, and there were flies. It is not such a big deal in America when all you have to do is shoo them away when they come near your food. But in Australia, the flies bite! >:( It is really scary, because when you feel a sting, it is already too late. There are also a lot of them, and when you are sitting down eating, they come bite you since you are not moving. Back in the states, it was enough having the mosquitoes after me. But now with the flies and mosquitoes!! Please take my advice if you want to survive! (I just barely survived because I did have bug spray.)

The wedding was beginning! I was nervous because I was doing the music on my flute. Things like: Here Comes the Bride, Felix Mendelssohn’s Wedding March, and Amazing Grace. I knew it wasn’t too much of a deal if I messed up, but these were easy and I should be able to do them easily. I told myself to relax, to just enjoy the wedding. Who knew how soon I could attend another wedding? I saw Stephanie’s cue, and I started playing Amazing Grace. Everyone quieted, and as I finished, Stephanie finished walking the aisle just on time. She stopped before the arch that I helped making (I did a bunch of it). Jasmine, flower girl, stood beside her. Stephanie cued me again, and I played Here Comes the Bride (Bridal Chorus). Fion walked up the aisle with her dad, and got handed over to her not-too-long-later-husband. I waited for the speeches to be over. The funny part was the priest. It was his fake part-time job, and it was pretty much a joke. “So before I start the formal stuff, I just wanted to say that I was asked by these two insane people to get them married. Does anyone have any objections before I start?” he questioned. No one answered. He went along with the procession, but it was twisted to be funny. In the end, the got married, and I played the march. My music turned out fine.

The next thing that happened, were some games. There were Frisbees with our families names on it, and Fion and her husband were going to throw it out far away. Whoever found the one with their name on it would, well, get congratulated. As soon as they were thrown, Jasmine and I ignored everyone else and ran to find it. Unfortunately, some got thrown into the ocean, and one of them happened to be ours. That was alright, because the next game was better! We got to throw water balloons! Actually, we were supposed to toss a balloon back and forth with a partner, but as soon as Hong (Fion’s new husband) blew the whistle, everyone aimed at him and opened fire! Through the screams as people got hit, I asked my mom who I should hit. I got the answer that I should hit the groom, or the bride. So I went after Hong. It was really fun; I hit him a couple of times. Then his friends pulled him into the ocean, as Fion chased after them. So they were all salty with sea water! More and more people got pulled into the ocean, and we decided that if we were going to stay dry, we should leave. So we left, feeling extremely happy! J J J J J

12/25 Day 9: Beaches and Emus

We were going to travel around the beaches today! At one of the beaches though, we saw three emus! There was one big one and two little itty bitty ones. They walked up a hill, all the while pecking through bushes. But the beach of course, was more interesting than the emus.

We stood at the edge of the coastline waiting for the waves to engulf our feet. It was calming, feeling the waves wash over my feet. But the waves were quite humongous, and if one got too close, they would get swept away no matter how well they could swim. I would rate the waves on how big they were. It got boring after a while, but then a quite big one came and it was over my knees. Jasmine screamed and yelled huge and ran out. But it wasn’t close to the biggest wave I had seen. It was still the biggest one at that beach because no one let me go further. My grandma was collecting seashells to make necklaces with, and my grandpa was collecting feathers to make something else with.

We saw two lighthouses, and a bunch of shipwreck sights. I had a pretty good following day after the wedding!

12/26 Day 10: Shopping, Lunch, and Kangaroo Island, Here We Come!

This morning we were going shopping! Not actually fun shopping, just pretty much grocery shopping. It was the day after Christmas anyway, so there would be barely anything open. I liked browsing in clothes stores better. But anyway, it was downtown so there would be a huge Christmas tree! I couldn’t wait for the day to get started!

When we got to the center square, I saw a huge tall Christmas tree, and it was really big. But it wasn’t too big; because I was comparing it to the world’s largest tree (I had seen it in Sequoia National Park, California, USA). It was also a fake, but it still was an impressing feat with the shiny large star on top. There were ornaments and large presents underneath. I wanted those presents, because since we were in Australia, Santa didn’t come so he wouldn’t come to give presents and we wouldn’t get much time celebrate Christmas either.

We went to the Chinese section of the city. My mom shopped around, and most of it was really boring. All of it was boring except for when my mom gave me 10 dollars in a general store. But unfortunately, in Australia, things are super expensive. A liter of Coke is something like 4 dollars. So 10 dollars only got my grandma a new pair of sunglasses, and nothing else. It was quite sad. So it was the end of shopping.

Next we went to eat lunch with my new uncle and aunt! I realized a got a ton more cousins in one day. My uncle had three brothers, and each brother had about two kids. I was going to eat lunch with them, but all my cousins had already headed back to wherever they came from. It was just my mom, dad, Jasmine, grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle, other grandma, other grandpa. I couldn’t wait to see Sookie again!

As soon as we got there, I scooped up Sookie in my arms. Sookie was so soft and fuzzy, and his big brown eyes stared at me with satisfaction. I held Sookie and walked around the house, feeling very satisfied myself. We ate lunch, which was actually pretty good, though very simple. And then it was already time to go. But I was going to Kangaroo Island! There was a lot of wildlife on that island, so I was super happy!

12/27 Day 11: First Day on Island Seeing and Hearing Seals, a Koala Bear, Kangaroos, Wallabies, and Possums!

It was day one on Kangaroo Island, and of course I was super excited! First, we were going to Seal Bay, and then, we were going to Vivonne Bay. I wasn’t very enthusiastic about seeing the seals, because I had seen them before. But this time it was really close range.

All of the sea lions were napping out on the sand in the sun. It actually looked kind of comfortable. Then one walked over to another, and their noses touched! It was cute. I also saw a whale skeleton. It was kind of small, but it was a young whale. It died in a winter storm. I felt bad for the young whale.

It was time for the beach tour, when we got to see the sea lions from up close! When we got down there, I realized that there were a lot of seals. The tour guide said that there were a thousand seals in the group. And to tell males from females: Males have darker coats, and female have paler coats. Males have big, bulkier heads and bodies, and females have slender heads. Males follow females, and the females stick their nose up in the air whenever they walk. The seals waddle whenever they walk around. It is really interesting to see their activities. The young pups like to play in the ocean, and there was one who liked to chase the birds. There was another pup, quite small, who thought that he was bigger than he actually was. He tried to go fight a really large but old seal. Luckily, the older seal viewed it as practice for later actual fights. They were very interesting to watch, and I enjoyed watching them.

Next, we went to the Remarkable Rocks. They were basically just a huge pile of rocks on the ground. All of the rocks were really big, and there were a lot of them. I liked to run around through them, and hide from my parents. It was really fun, because anywhere I ran; there was always a place to hide. Jasmine and I had a lot of fun running around. The rocks were orange and red, which was cool.

We also saw more seals, but this time they were New Zealand fur seals, not the South Australian Sea Lions we saw earlier. There was one baby one hiding under a rock with its mom, which was very adorable. The baby seal just wouldn’t stay still! It was squirming around, and its mother seemed annoyed. But the more interesting was the other baby. It was under a rock the whole time, so I didn’t even notice it. But then it crawled out, and I realized it was smaller than the other baby! It wailed like a baby, and it called for its mom. No one answered but an ignorant male seal that just raised his head a bit, but put it back down after a second. The baby whimpered and started walking in the general direction where some females where hiding in the shade. It slipped and wobbled, and I felt bad. We waited and waited, and finally it crawled under a rock near a female seal. The seal slipped underneath the rocks, and the baby seal stopped whimpering. It had finally found its mom!

The day was almost over, but I wanted to go see the platypus watering hole, so we did. I was hoping to see a platypus, but the chances were slim. It was too late; platypuses were scared animals that feared humans. But still, I might catch a glimpse of a kangaroo, wallaby, or koala. We walked a long, and heard a sound like a pig coming from behind a bush. I was kind of creeped out, and my mom didn’t let me go check out what it was. So I walked along the dirt path, and saw a lot of kangaroos and wallabies. All of them stared at me for a couple seconds, than bounded away nervously. As we neared the watering hole, I got anxious as we saw no platypuses, and I’m not even sure what we heard was a platypus. But when we walked back, we met someone who knew what the pig like sound was. It was a male koala bear calling out to others! It was extremely awesome, because in the sanctuaries, I never heard anything like a wild call. It was really cool!

It was time to head back, and it was almost eleven. I was sleepy and drowsy in the car. But I was alert too, kind of. There were kangaroos and wallabies crossing the road! It was scary; no wonder there was so much road kill! My dad luckily is a good driver, so he didn’t hit any. But often they were waiting in the middle of the road, and my dad had to come to a complete stop before running away to safety. There were even two possums scuttling across the road! My mom saw an owl too! No one exaggerated when they said to watch out for wild animals. There was one extremely fat kangaroo that would have been taller than my dad. It was scary, but I didn’t have any nightmares and I fell asleep quickly.

12/28 Day 12: Second Day on Kangaroo Island in a Wildlife Sanctuary!

Today was a short day; we were heading back on the ferry. But first, we stopped at a wildlife sanctuary, where I could hold a real koala bear! I couldn’t wait!

We started out by feeding the emus and kangaroos. The kangaroos used their sharp claws the hold onto my hand, and licked my hand clean. My hand was all slobbered by the end. The kangaroos had really soft fur though. Next, we went to hug a koala bear! I was afraid that their sharp claws would hurt, and they did. But the koala bear was so big and fuzzy, I didn’t regret holding it! Its fur was so soft, but it kept turning around for some reason. Maybe it was because its baby was clinging to the tree for dear life. The baby koala almost fell off the tree, and someone had to push it back on! It was crying for its mom, and its mom was watching it all the while we were hugging the momma koala bear. When the momma finally got back to the tree, the baby yelped a cry of joy, and climbed onto the momma’s back. The baby clung onto the momma, and they both looked very happy. The two of them were so cute!

Next were the emus. My dad volunteered, and he did a wall sit against the wall. The guide put seeds on his head, and the emus used their sharp beaks to peck at my dad. It was funny, and in the end he said it didn’t hurt. I also held a baby possum. The next activity we did was kind of scary. The guide sheared a sheep for us. The sheep acted like it hurt a lot, and there was a mark that started bleeding, and I felt so bad for it. My dad then threw me into a pile of sheepskin, which felt really soft and fluffy. And then it was time for us to go, time for us to head back. I felt kind of sad leaving Kangaroo Island, but I had a lot of fun memories to take back!

12/29 Day 13: Heading Back To Melbourne and Getting Some Last-Minute Shopping Done

The only interesting thing happening today was shopping. We went to Rundle Mall to shop for anything/everything. First, I wanted a pair of UGGs, so my mom and I went looking. My mom and I are about the same shoe size, so we found a pair that we both liked so we could share. We finally found a pair that was $125, not too bad. We went shopping for souvenirs for my friends too. My mom got herself a koala necklace to match her earrings. We also got boomerangs which were really cool, and they were Aboriginal (Australian native people). After that, I had sushi! I love sushi, and the fish was fresh. We were done shopping, and we had a six hour drive ahead.

The drive was really boring: I took a nap, played Plants vs. Zombies, and watched yet another Harry Potter movie with my sister (she just started reading the series). So it was the end of the interesting part of my day.

12/30 Day 14: Last Day, Saying Goodbye in Melbourne

It was our final day, but while in the car, my mom started playing Christmas songs such as Let it Snow, White Christmas, and Walking in a Winter Wonderland. Then I started feeling a bit homesick. So I am definitely glad to go home!

We were still on the way to Melbourne, but we were passing by Grampians National Park. It was time to see waterfalls and a large lake in the park. I couldn’t wait to see the waterfalls! The first one we went to was called the McKenzie Falls. First we went to the lookout. When we got there, I had the sad realization that the waterfall was very far down. But it was great fun when we got there.

I took off my sneakers and stuck my foot into the water, but immediately taking them back out. Then I sat onto a rock and stuck my feet in again, but held them in there. This time it felt better. I let the current pull my legs downstream. Then I let my feet dry in the sun, and put on my shoes. The walk back was hard, because there were a lot of stairs. As far as I know, the trail was 800 metres (that is what it looks like in Australia). My legs felt really quite like jello. The next place was the Broken Falls. But we were just going to the lookout.

The fall was really broken. There were tiny waterfalls out of place. It was a bit unexciting. The next place was quite unnerving though. We went to the lake, or the Balcony Lookout. There was a rock sticking out really far, and people were climbing on it. It was unsettling because Jasmine and my dad climbed onto the very edge. Below them were mountains, and then a lake. It was really discomforting! We were all tired, so then we left Grampians National Park.


It was another long time before we got home, but we did, and we all had a good night's sleep! (Got back after 2012 started.) 

Requests

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Book Review: The Hunger Games

This book is the first in the series, and I love it. It is written by one of my favorite authors: Suzanne Collins. She writes fantasy books which I love a super duper lot. This book she writes is from a person's point of view, which I also love because I can tell his/her (in this book it is a her) personality and what she is thinking. The main character, Katniss Everdeen is a high tempered girl, which keeps it interesting. She lives in the future, when America got divided into thirteen districts. She lives in one of the worst though, they have barely any food and are treated horribly by the Capitol. Two children are chosen randomly to go into the Hunger Games and fight to death until the last one alive wins. Katniss isn't chosen, but her sister is. She volunteers and goes into the Hunger Games.

The beginning is exciting, and grabbed me into the book. She woke up saying it was the day everyone dreaded, and of course I wanted to know what happened in this day. And then when her sister gets chosen, I would think of how she would survive. But instead Katniss is brave and takes her sister's place. I love the character because she is a nice girl, and she doesn't want to be part of it. I have to keep reading because I need to know what happens to her, if she gets hurt, I'll be sad, and if she wins, I will be happy for her. The character and the events keep my reading throughout the whole book.

If you are reading this, you would probably think like I was thinking while I read. She would win, because she is the main character. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with her winning. Since she is the main character, it would be alright if everyone died as long as she won. But instead of just falling in love with her character, the other innocent kids (not all are innocent) that have to die could be her friends. Like Peeta, the boy coming from her District. She doesn't know him, but when her family was starving, he helped her without knowing her, which cost him to be whipped. A super nice guy didn't deserve to be killed! So I needed to know what happened to him! And a girl she befriends who is the age of her sister and reminds her of her sister is in the games with her. If Katniss is friends with her and she reminds Katniss of the little girl she saved, then how can she kill her? All the characters in the book give it a twist, without a happy ending, but it makes it interesting.

I love how the author writes fantasy which is like entering another world. She makes all the characters that should be loved loved, and makes the things Katniss are thinking sound real and deadly. And it never gets boring, one fast event happens after another. One moment you might be crying and the next your face would be pale as you think of the dangers Katniss faces. One important thing though, is why Katniss will win. She has to win because she loves her sister. Katniss needs to win to go back to her sister. But it isn't easy. The one question: Katniss is not strong, not sly, and not clever. All these people have been training for years just to go in the games. Will she win? Can she win? Does she have the heart to defeat all these people? If she does, how can she stand up to their hating parents?


So hurry up and READ THIS BOOK (and all the rest)!!! :)

2011 Canobie Lake Park Trip

Saturday, August 27, 2011: Canobie Lake Park


Today I was super excited! My family, my friend, and I were going to Canobie Lake Park with all the fun rides!! My friend, Jasmine, woke me up at seven a clock, not that I wanted her to. I rubbed my eyes and asked her why she woke me up so early. But minutes later we were jumping on our beds in excitement for the long day ahead. We read a funny book, and got surprised when my sister, Jasmine barged into my room. “Ha! I caught you talking!” she yelled as she pounced onto the bed Jasmine was on. (It is getting confusing with the two Jasmines’, so my sister will be JJ from now on). Jasmine had been there so she would be our tour guide. We were all very excited!

The car ride was super short, especially since all three of us were stuffed together in the back chatting. When we finally got there, I saw a long wooden roller coaster that looked really fun but wiggly and twisting. We all agreed on going to that one, called Yankee Cannonball first. It went up, and up, and up, then (whee!) it zoomed down. It looked super cool to ride! Since we got there twenty minutes early, the line was still short. When we finally got in, I ended up with my dad. I waved to my mom on my way up and I just couldn’t hold my excitement! But on the way down I almost screamed! It was terrifying, racing down at such a high speed with a loose seatbelt. I squeezed my eyes shut and gripped the bar. The roller coaster zoomed down, and when it went up again I flew up in my seat, the feeling was exhilarating, but scary too! We whooshed around some turns then back up and down as my head flew up and down, and the wind threatened to blow me off. I got dizzy at the end, because I hadn’t been on a rollercoaster for years! I couldn’t say it was fun- I was clutching my stomach when I came off, but it was, well, exhilarating. Luckily there were only two more rollercoasters.

The next one was alright, but uncomfortable. It was called the Caterpillar. At first, it didn’t look quite fun. We sat low near the ground. I ended up sitting next to Jasmine (yay!), and I sat on the inside. Well, that was a mistake, which was why it was uncomfortable. It was tilted while spinning, so I kept sliding into her! I kept squashing her, and she kept screaming. So I held onto the side of the cart and tried not to slide into her. A cool tent thing covered us, so it was dark while spinning. I screamed extra loud a couple of times to check my mom’s reaction to my screams when I got out. But, while spinning, it was boring. So Jasmine and I started talking. Finally it stopped, and I screamed one last time. I climbed out happily. It was alright, but there were many more.

Before lunch we went on a couple more. One of them I liked was called Da Vinci’s Dream. We sat in swings and swung around and around high in the air. Whee, it was fun!

 We saw a really creeping one, called the Ultimate Frisbee. There was a huge Frisbee where people sat, and then it swung, and spun quickly. Just looking at it was scary!! And worse, Jasmine wanted to go on it! There was a really fun one, where we sat in a log and went through the water. We climbed up a hill, and down, which brought up a tiny splash. I wanted a bigger one! But I was going to get one right after lunch.

I was walking with my mom to go change into my bathing suit when a huge splash came from nowhere. I couldn’t see anything, it was that big! I screamed in excitement as I got showered and changed extra quick. I couldn’t wait to go on that ride! When I came out, I raced over with Jasmine and JJ to get on. We climbed into a huge seat that was soaking wet! It was a good sign. The seat moved up, and up, and up, until finally, we started to turn. I was nearly hopping in my seat, what was next? And suddenly, we whooshed down for a while and SPLASH! A huge splash filled our seats and soaked us. We all screamed happily and when we got out, we raced to get back in line. Even better, there was no line! We went on and on forever, it was my favorite! So, the Boston Tea Party was my favorite!!

There was a really scary one that Jasmine went on. It was called the Corkscrew, and it had loops twice in a row. But she went on it. It looked super scary but she said it was “fun”, and went on it twice! Finally, it started raining because of hurricane Irene, and we had to leave. I had a super fun day, and it would be super to go again!

News report for the Day!

I am going to give a news report each day, so you can follow along to my life. Today, I walked outside. I saw a frog, not moving at all. So with my camera, the sensible thing to do is take a picture, so I did. I got real close to it too, and thats when I noticed that something was wrong. First, flies were flying around it, and second, it wasn't moving! My mom would have screamed by now-it was dead! Well, it wasn't disgusting. It wasn't squashed, really. If you don't believe me, take a look at the picture, that is, if you dare to.

All right, moving on. So, I was walking in our driveway. And I am glad to tell you, we planted a garden! We have cucumbers (super super good), peas (super super good), beans (super super good), tomatoes (not ripe but probably super super good), and cutworms (super super bad). If you have a garden and your plants are falling over because something bites them right at the surface, it is definitely a cutworm. They do not look anything like worms, they look like orange slugs. My dad found about thirty of them. He loves the garden. We call it his obsession, which is practically true, you can't blame us. And so let me show you our garden:

 Not too small, huh?

The not ripe tomatoes.

Thanks for reading! See you tomorrow!!

Fashion Flash

I am a contributor to a fashion blog! My friend, Sensiblebunny (just a nickname) is the owner. Her blog site is sbsstylefiles.blogspot.com. Please go there and follow her! You can read my posts there too!

Day Five: Reviews... and the funnest the of all!

Today was the review day. It was also the IM turns, and starts, and cap contest day. We reviewed a whole bunch of drills, and started our IM turns. During the recent days of my turns, Beth said my turns were perfect! And so they were for the IM’s too. I was having difficulty with the back to breast, but after I watched someone and tried how they did it, mine turned out good! Next were the starts. My favorite one is the relay track start. You would get into track position, and the when the relay person in front is at the “T” in the pool, you swing your arms back and around and back up front (my favorite part, basically just swinging your arms back) and that momentum drags you forward and you spring right while you push with your legs, and whee! you go far!! My second favorite is the track start. But I do like the other start, where both feet are on the edge. Oh, they all work for me.

The cap contest was up next. Well, I didn’t do much. I just decorated my cap with the Peanuts, Snoopy, Charlie Brown and all of them. I drew them well, as I always did. That is all I did. And I did not regret it, watching all of the others, like when one person turned it into an octopus, a lady, or a duck. The duck was quite cute, actually. There was only one other person who decorated it, which was sad because I was lonely. When they were handing out the prizes, there were going to be sixteen winners. Eight lanes, eight coaches, eight first places, eight second places, that was it. So when I saw one of the coaches holding my cap- with my Snoopy, my Charlie Brown- I was completely stunned and astonished, and I got a second place! I couldn’t have asked for a first place, no, that would be too much. Even a second place for me would be too much (by the way, I drew them, not trace)! But of course I wanted to keep the ribbon and my cap. A happy end of the day!

Well, the end was the relays. I did my perfect relay start and swam fast, but with technique (swimming with technique does make me faster). And my lane won! The second win! Hooray! This was a good swim camp, especially since I got to go home every day! Home sweet home!

Day Four: Butterfly

Surprisingly, I have to say my butterfly is the best. It is almost as fast as my freestyle, which is weird because barely anyone likes butterfly! But today, I loved it. We did a worm drill, which would rotate our body up and down. I was good at it, and it was fun. My favorite part of the morning was the underwater dolphin contest. This time, I just didn’t have enough air!!! I was only a yard or two away! That wasn’t fair! But I was in a good mood, so I wasn’t too bothered. And when I swam, the coach said I was good! Like, really good! I only had to work on swinging my arms out- I needed to keep the momentum. I was happy, and worked hard the rest of the morning!

Lunch was alright, but it really happened when we went back. Boy, I was tired! Four days, and the last day had to be butterfly? They tired us out. We didn’t video tape, we worked on turns. Push offs after our turn, actually. But we all were relieved when we got to go home. The problem was, we had a cap contest tomorrow…

Day Three: Breaststroke

Today, I was excited! Today I could swim my favorite, and hopefully improve so I could swim it more during meets! But, I want to talk about my favorite drill first. It was called the Ducky Drill. I had to sit on a kickboard and use my arms only. Using breaststroke pulls only. It actually was fun, even though my arms got tired. My legs got to relax, and I could sit in a swimming pool! Our lane liked it so much; our coach let us have a Ducky Drill Relay!! The first person wasn’t too fast. We lost some precious time, and I was second so they of course all counted on me to catch up (with the other lane we were racing against). I was fast. A pretty fast ducky drill person was what they needed, and it was what I was. I not only caught up, but I gave my lane a not bad head start. I was proud! We did win, but it was a tight finish, we touched and then they touched. Still, we did a great job! But when we were videotaping, I found out that my breaststroke could use a couple tips to go faster. Like to not lift but push my head up for air. And I could glide longer.

A nutritionist talked to us during snack time. She said Gatorade would be good after a couple events. She told us what foods to eat before, during, and after a meet, which was useful. But then I started to look at my snack and think that I hadn’t packed the healthiest thing. But I did have fruit, which was good too. It wasn’t very fun but it still taught us.

After snack, we went in the pool. More and more drills, I wanted to do relays! It happened that when I was diving, my goggles fell, and I was having a tough time seeing. So I don’t think I did that good. Oh well, I guess I could still look forward tomorrow, even though I would be so sore after a whole day of butterfly. But I would love it!

Day Two: Backstroke

Backstroke is my least favorite and weakest stroke. Not that I didn’t improve at camp. One of the most useful drills for me was the cup drill. It was when I had to balance a cup on my forehead so it would make me try to keep my head straight and still. It was actually quite difficult. Not really when I was just kicking on my back, but for some people their head was too far back or too far forward which stopped them from gliding. But when we started rotating which we did for backstroke, it was more difficult. My head would tilt with my body, which would slow me. So using the cup helped me keep my head still and in the right position. I also got a lot of help from the coach when I got videotaped and reviewed on how my backstroke was. I turned out better!

Lunch was luckily in the shade. I picked a shady spot to sit under a tree. Sadly, we didn’t play Drip, Drip, Drop. We still got to sit in the shade though. It was nice to jump back in the freezing water, even though it felt way too freezing and I thought I was going to get hypothermia. For snack time, we had a gym teacher come in and give a little pep talk. What we did though was not fun. We exercised. He said that the Manchester United team was in his workout room working out. So we did push-ups, sit ups, and other exercises. Two of the only things I got out of it were, exercise all parts of your body, and…Manchester United was here in the US!!!!!!!! All right, that was a bit exciting, I have to admit.

It was nice to jump back in the freezing water, even though it felt way too freezing and I thought I was going to get hypothermia. We did an underwater dolphin contest, to see who could streamline the farthest. So the first person to go was Kuba. We were waiting for him to set an example to how far we should go. He thought he would go the farthest, so he had wanted to go first. So when he pushed off, we all waited. We waited for a while actually. Actually, no, a long long long while. We started getting scared. Finally he surfaced. But where? It took us a minute to find him, he was so far away. He was at the other end of the pool! Well, no one could beat that! I’m not sure if I could even hold my breath that long! So Olivia promised to beat him for us, so we left her last. When I went, we all ended up two thirds of the way. Not bad actually, that was where the average was. And when Olivia went, we were all screaming for her to go! And guess what? She ended up right next to Kuba! I was proud that Kuba couldn’t brag (he liked to brag)! It was fun, and when we videotaped, I waved to the camera! When I got reviewed, the problem was that underwater my arm wasn't bent enough, so I wasn't exactly catching water to push myself forward. Beth said that after that, I would be much faster.

Backstroke turned out fine, actually. But breaststroke was my favorite!

Backstroke was alright, I guess, but tomorrow was breaststroke, my favorite!

First day: Freestyle

Today I got up early to go to swim camp. Again, just like last year. But this year, it was different. Last year, it was an overnight camp. This year it would be a day camp, which was better because I got to go home, but not so much better on the drive to Harvard every day there and back. So, I got up early in the morning and we were off. My dad had to carpool, so we went to a supermarket parking lot and picked up the other kids. Their names were Allison, Bonita, and Elise. The way to Harvard was not bad. But there still was traffic even though not much. When we got there, I was surprised. Probably because I never thought of it so I was surprised.

We swam at Blodgett Pool. The Harvard University pool was being borrowed by us. And boy, it is huge! You can’t even ask how many lanes there were! I’ll try to explain it. So when you first walk into the door, you see eight lanes going horizontally. Then there was a deep end about the size of half a regular pool, and another eight lanes. Incredible, isn’t it?!

 The water was fine. My coach or counselor was Beth. She was nice, and directed us on the drills. The water was fine. But then came the nervousness came. We were going to get videotaped, then “criticized” on by the coach. So I swam meanwhile thinking of doing the right body positions. When it came to watching me, the coach told me to work on rotating more on my right side, and I would be fine. So when I got back into the water, I worked on it. And in my next video during the afternoon, it did improve! Now, about lunchtime…

We ate our lunch outside in the burning hot sun. I wore flip flops, which wasn’t my fault. I couldn’t join in the Frisbee game they were playing, not that I wanted to. So I went with the other flip floppers and went to play Drip, Drip, and Drop. It does sound a bit like Duck, Duck, Goose, doesn’t it? Well it’s just like it. So someone has a bucket of water. They go to the first person; they can drip it on them. They keep on going around dripping it, until, hmm; this person looks like they should get wet… SPLASH!! They are wet! Ha-ha- wait, you have to run! They are chasing you! Phew! You are safe when you sit down. So it is just like Duck, Duck, Goose. I crossed my fingers that I wouldn’t get dropped on- getting dripped on was enough cold water. Besides, the drips were quite big. So, I was getting dripped on. But then, someone decides to dump water on me! I am furious, I chase them, but water squeaks in my flip flops as I attempt to catch them. It doesn’t work. I dump on someone, and then we have to go. There is water dripping everywhere I walk. It feels nice to get in the pool, instead of being half wet, I am completely wet which is more comfortable. This time, when I got videotaped, I look much better!

At the end, we have relays. They are fun, just too many people. I swam as fast as possible, but the lane next to us seemed to have better technique, so they won. But we still had the rest of the week to try again. I was a bit tired, and definitely ready to head home, feeling satisfied about what I learned. Oh no! Tomorrow’s backstroke, my least favorite!

Day Fifteen: Home sweet home!

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Today is our absolute last day, today is the day when we get on the airplane. Today I am sad, because I will have to say goodbye, but today I am happy because I will see home! I had smores for breakfast to finish up our marshmallows, and we were ready to go. We dropped off our RV at the rental, and we took a shuttle to the airport. About the airplane ride…to make a long and unpleasant story short, I’ll just say that it was long and boring. And when we got off, it was great! But all of my family groaned when we heard it was ninety degrees outside. Yeah, there was not that much warm weather during vacation, but still, I was toasted outside! At first I forgot we were outside so I thought there was something wrong with the air conditioning. Stupid, huh? Well, I’m pretty sure the heat got to my head. I was glad to be somewhere familiar in Boston, with people bustling through the crowded airport and, oh, the noise! The noise was something I was not too fond of, but I was familiar with it in Boston. The ride home was relaxing. But when we got home! I was so happy! I ran in my house, around every room, every hallway, and I got a warm happy fuzzy feeling that I knew this place, but then I didn’t. I finally relaxed on my cozy couch to write this for you all to read. Thank you to all those who have followed my blog every day!

Day Fourteen: Our last day... :(

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

I started out with a little excitement today. My dad was dumping the dump at the dump station. There was a river right next to us, so I went over and sat down on a rock, and Jasmine followed. I stuck my toe into the water, and screamed. It was freezing! Jasmine followed, and she too screamed. So, we took turns, sticking our toes into the water and then screaming. It was actually fun! And when my mom walked over, I had a wonderful idea. “Hey mom! Surprising for a river, this water isn’t cold!” I yelled. Jasmine, who is not that good at tricking people, had to yell, “Yeah! It is really hot!” And then I had to slap her and tell her to be quiet. My mom came over and asked if that was true. I told her that it was true, but she didn’t trust me. So, very painfully, I stuck my foot into the water and held it their while it froze. Luckily, my mom came over and believed me. I took the camera and got ready to catch her face when she felt the water on camera. And, not very surprisingly, she screamed while I got a good picture. Jasmine and I started laughing a lot, and I was happy that I convinced her that the water wasn’t cold. It was a great way to start my day in a good mood!

Pretty flowers and pretty waterfall! We saw lots and lots of pretty flowers on the way to the falls. Red flowers, yellow flowers, white flowers, pink flowers, purple flowers, they were all so cool and beautiful! Right after we got to the falls (which were small, but energetic) it started to rain! Luckily, we had taken all our pictures so we could head back. It didn’t pour which was good; it only started when we started eating lunch back in our RV.

On our way to the campsite, we saw a magpie. He was hopping around on the rock, and squawking. And, believe me, his squawking definitely was not pretty, unlike his beautiful black and white feathers. He was very pretty!

Right now, you should be very sad. This is the last post of vacation. Tomorrow, we will depart on our plane and fly home. No more pictures of really cool things! But, like anyone else should be, I am glad to be home. Bye vacation! You were so nice to us!