After 38 hours of traveling I made it to Australia! I seriously don't think I could ever make that trip again unless I was moving here! It was just sooo long! I'm so glad to finally be here..it doesn't even feel real! It's like a vacation and it still hasn't hit me that I'm half way across the world!
 We flew over a lot of cool things but this was definitely the best view..the Rocky Mountains! We flew right over them and we could see them so perfectly! |  Landing in Australia..FINALLY!!!!!! |
 Driving into Melbourne for the first time! The city is gorgeous! Very very clean and modern looking. There are lights (like white christmas lights) in all the trees so at night it is so pretty! And the sidewalks are like granite or something..everything is very nice. |  My room! Not quite set up yet but it's nice! Every one here gets their own room but two of my best friends are in my building so it worked out perfectly! |
 Australian Money! It's so much cooler than American money..They're all different colors and have little clear spots that are all different shapes. And they have no one dollar bills..they have one and two dollar coins. |  Activities fair on the quad! This was sooo awesome! It ran for four straights days and you could visit different tents and sign up for clubs and things. I signed up for several and most of them host beach parties and fun things like that! At this fair there were live bands, free barbecues, moon bounces, rides, etc. It was a blast! |
 Every time I see a kangaroo I attempt to catch it and have it as a pet..no luck YET! |  We've also seen a few koalas! They are so cute! they sleep 23 out of the 24 hours in a day so everyone here says I'm like a koala since I can fall asleep anywhere anytime haha. |
So this is the beach right by my school! We just hop on the bus and go to the beach..often..such a great life. The water is so clear! I can see my feet no matter how deep in I go! And what's funny is when we tell Australians that this is the beach we go to they say "Oh that's one of the worst ones!" That shocks us all so much because we think it's gorgeous..guess that means there's more good things to come!
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 View of the river from our table at a very nice restaurant! |  Another night we went to this cool restaurant! This was the ceiling! Lots of cool places to eat here! |
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In the middle of Melbourne there is a place called the sky deck. They take you in an elevator up to the 88th floor and its all windows (floor to ceiling) and you can see forever! I have never experienced such a thing! You can literally see everything! Then you can go into what's called the "sky box" So My friend Allison and I went into it (below). You have to put covers over your shoes because you're literally in a glass box...floor, ceiling, and walls! So you stand in the box and then it protrudes out of the building and then all the lights go off and you can see EVERYTHING! I was so scared! I didn't even want to open my eyes! But I did and I loved it! We stayed out there for seven or nine minutes (I forget) but I would not have wanted any longer! It felt like we could fall any second! But after we got out of the box they gave us bracelets that said "I survived the edge!"
 These are from the bar on campus! It's called Sir Johns..very nice and great food! Unfortunately, to the right there is me eating..kangaroo. I can't believe I did that! I thought it was steak and then they told me what it really was AFTER I ate it! I hate to admit that it was actually good but I'll never eat it again because I am so disgusted! |  |
 The walk down to the beach! |  This house is right on the beach..it overlooks the most gorgeous view ever! We always pass it and just realized that those blue holes up on the porch are little windows in the POOL that is up there!!! We saw people swimming and you can see them through those little circular windows! SO COOL. |
 PELICAN! |  |
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Brighton Beach!!! This beach is in Melbourne..you can see the city from it! It has all of these cute little cabanas lining it and they are all painted differently! Adorable!
 |  When we were swimming in the ocean (which by the way felt like BATH WATER) I came across this purple star fish! It was alive! SO COOL! It kept suctioning to my hand. |
 |  Sadly, at the end of the day we had to let him go :( This beach had such awesome things though like lots of cool fish swimming around, starfish, and gorgeous spirally shells! |
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Pretty river we passed AND casually just saw an EMU walking around!
 Kathy's 21st Birthday at a Mexican restaurant in Melbourne! |  |
These birds are all around campus! I always see them flying outside my dorm window. They're so colorful and cute. I saw this one on my walk to class one day and got so close to it!
