Back home

I was going to write this a bit earlier, but I ended up a bit busier than I thought I would be over the past 2.5 weeks that I have been home for.
When I first got home after the 15 hour plane ride back to Vancouver it was quite depressing to be honest. Not that I didn't like it here or anything, its just that you kind of build a new life there and once you get settled in there, so to say, you are forced to leave again and go back to "the routine." Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but is a bit of a transition. It's also that after being used to seeing new things, trying new things, meeting new people, and more, its somewhat difficult to adjust back to being at home and seeing the same people again, the same scenery etc.
So for my first week back I just did as much as I could seeing friends, going to Vancouver and just driving around (nice to have a car again after taking public transport for 6 months!!). In one sense its more freedom having my own vehicle again and now having a job which gives me money to do more stuff. But on the other hand, living on my own for 6 months gave me the ability to do whatever I want whenever I wanted without anybody saying anything about it.
Now that I am back I managed to get a job within a week of being back as an IT guy for an engineering firm in the area, which has been going pretty good so far. I almost can't believe my fortune in getting that job, as it really worked out perfectly in terms of being able to work full time till school and then part time when I am back at uni.

Overall my trip to Australia and New Zealand was something that I will never forget and the people that I met along the way are people that I will never forget and I hope to remain in contact with for a long time yet. I really want to go back in the next few years once I graduate and maybe work there for a while. The life skills that I learned there are going to help me wherever I go and the experience is something that nobody can ever take away from me. I am so glad that I did it and I really want to say to anybody considering doing an exchange/travel is Just do it!! Its something you will never forget and is worth every penny. Just the people you meet and the things you experience are amazing.
I think that this experience has opened by eyes and opened me up a bit more. Now I am far more willing to try new things, meet new people and just take every opportunity that I can. I feel so blessed to have been given this opportunity and am looking forward to meeting some of the people heading this way on exchange and showing them around this area, just like people did for me there.

Last bit of time in Australia (At least for now)

Over the last two weeks I have spent a good amount of time at the CSU, just hanging out and going out with friends before I fly back to Canada on Wednesday (tomorrow as I write this). Unlike last time when I said good-bye (before I changed my flight), I had a lot more time and it was nice being able to wrap-up the trip so to say. Last time I only had about an hour to say good-bye and a lot of people were already gone due to exams already being over for some. So it was really good to see everyone and say goodbye and make a few last memories before I go back home. Hopefully I was able to convince a few of them to come and visit me back in Canada, as I know they have convinced me to come back as soon as I get the chance!

Anyways I gotta get up early tomorrow morning so I will post a trip wrap-up when I am home in the next few days!

Abseiling in the Blue Mountains

This last week I mainly spent at CSU hanging out and going out with friends before I fly out on Wednesday. One of the things that I did during that time was Abseiling (Rapelling in Canada) with the same friend that I went to Newcastle with. Abseiling was quite a cool experience and I definitly want to do it again sometime. We did this trip in the Blue Mountains and the largest cliff that we did was 60 meters, which is quite a ways up when your looking down! Once I got the hang of it, I even did a bit of it upside down at one point. We were very lucky that our group that day only had 4 people in total, compared to the usual 10 people, so we were actually able to do the 60m cliff 3 times, rather than just once.

Going down the 30m

Reuben getting ready for the 60m

Looking up the 60m cliff

Newcastle

A few days after I came back to Bathurst a friend mentioned that he was going to Newcastle for his practicum as he is working on becoming a paramedic. Since he would be there for a few days, he said I could come and take a look around the area and maybe even get a flight on his dad's ultralight plane. I actually drove his car there the entire way from Bathurst to Newcastle which is about 4.5 hours or so, and managed to do alright considering the fact I am on the opposite side of the road.
On the first night there, we just went for dinner with his family and then played at an APL (Australian Poker League) game for fun, and I actually managed to do pretty well despite my lack of experience.
The next day my friend had to work, and he lent me his car so I went off to some of the beaches in the area and some of the sand dunes.

Met some other Dutch people at this beach

You can get camel tours through the dunes

The next day my friends dad offered to take my on the ultralight plane over Newcastle which was a very cool experience and something that I have been wanting to do for ages. It wasn't quite the warmest of the nicest day for it, but it was good enough to go and it was really cool flying low over the beach and having the people below wave at us.

Newcastle is a coal town, and there a a few large coal yards

Great end to a great day!

I spent another night there before making my way back to Bathurst for my last week there.

Melbourne!

Once I was done in Canberra, I made my way to Melbourne which I would consider one of the more beautiful cities I have been in. On my first day in Melbourne I spent a good chunk of it sleeping as sleeping on a full bus without leg room doesn't make for the nicest sleep, but it did get me there.
That evening I did go out a bit to see a bit of the city and saw a bit more of the area around Southern Cross Station before heading back to the hostel and catching some of the views of the city by night.

The next day I went to the Queen Victoria Markets where I bought some souveniers and gifts for the family as well as meeting up with the Irish girls I met on the Fraser Island and Whitsundays Trip (Small world).

Just one of the like at least 10 sheds

Later on in that day I did a bus tour around the city seeing some of the major areas as well as making the city a little less disorienting for me. After that I made my way towards the AFL game that was on that night at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Grounds) between Essendon and Richmond. This is an Aussie Rules Football game rather than the one I went to in Brisbane which was a rugby league game. It was quite interesting watching this game as it is quite different than anything I have seen before and it was pretty cheap as well. I figure there were probably at least 70,000 people there as that stadium can hold over 100,000 people. Also thanks to Emma I actually understood a bit of how the game works.

War Memorial

You can still get horse buggy rides in the city

After the game I met a few other Canadians and then I made my way back to the hostel. The next day I moved to the Melbourne Metro YHA which is in downtown Melbourne. Since it was raining that day I made my way to the Melbourne Museum to check out the King Tut exhibit that was there at the time. This was one of the last stops before the exhibit before heading back to Cairo, and I don't think I have ever seen so much gold in my life. Unfortunately I could not take pictures in that exhibit.

The Melbourne Mueseum

The Australian Coat of Arms

Now if I could only trade in some of that weight for actual gold

The for the next and last day in Melbourne me and the Irish girls rented a car and did a trip along the Great Ocean Road. To be honest it wasn't quite as spectacular as I imagined but we also didn't quite make it to the great apostles before we had to head back to the city.

That night I went to the Eureka 88 Skydeck which is the highest viewpoint in the Southern Hemisphere. The elevator to get up 88 stories takes just 38 seconds! And once you get up, everyone is like "Oh, Wow"

Later on that evening I met up with another friend that I met along the way in Airlie beach where we had a bit to eat at Bertha Brown's, which has some of the best pizza's you can get (and if you stay at the YHA they are only $5 each!)
The next day I got a train back to Sydney so that I could make my way to Bathurst the day after so that I could meet up with my friends from there again before I fly back to Canada.