Black Swan Lake

I took these pictures on the ferry over to Fremantle. Black Swan Lake is located between UWA and the main city. There are dolphins and even sharks occasionally in this lake so its not a good idea to go swimming. On the way to Fremantle we actually saw a few dolphins catching fish..but I didn't grab my camera quick enough to get pictures.

This is a picture of the UWA clock tower located in the center of campus. I will post more pictures of the campus soon.

This is a pic of a few houses located in Fremantle that look over the river. Some of the most expensive houses in Perth are located in Fremantle. 

Jaime and Alaina on the Ferry

Alaina and I

So Excited!

Fremantle

Today we met our study abroad group and advisor from IFSA-Butler and took the ferry from Perth to Fremantle, a city across Swan River. Fremantle is a small "old town" city. It reminded me of downtown Redlands with the old buildings and boutique shops. It rained really hard yesterday so we were happy for the decent weather today. All in all it was a good day...We ate at local fish and chips diner so I actually finished my lunch (the food in Currie Hall is terrible..even I have a hard time eating). 

My Address in Australia

If anybody wants to write me a letter my address is:

Currie Hall

Winthrop Ave.

Crawley, WA 6009

I would love to hear from everyone and get mail (: 

Heath's Favorite Beach

Yesterday a few of us went to Cottesloe Beach, Heath Ledger's favorite beach in Australia. We didn't get there until about 3:30 so it was already starting to get cold. The beach was beautiful minus all the seaweed. The water was extremely clear and was about the same temperature as the air which was approx. in the 50's. I was the only one who went swimming..I decided that I am only in Australia for 5 months so I better experience everything as much as I can.. Here are some photos. 

Location of Heath Ledger's memorial..Behind was his favorite cafe in Perth.

Just me making my way though the seaweed looking for seashells, etc. 

Jaime, Alaina, I....and our friend from Germany, Wolfgang.

Just a few differences

Yield signs in Australia. 

Instead of saying "where's the restroom" or "bathroom" people here say "toilet". In my opinion, this is a much cruder way to say restroom but even the signs say "toilet". It's hard not to say bathroom but people still know what I mean. 
Most exit signs here look like somebody is sprinting out of the building... In case of a fire, I guess this is how I'm suppose to look..

Sydney, Day 2

So because of the time difference between Sydney and California, I was in bed at 8pm on Wednesday night. I woke up at 6am on Thursday and could not go back to sleep. This was basically my sleeping schedule during orientation. What a pain! Thursday was our big day out. We went to the Toronga Zoo and then took a ferry through the Sydney harbour. The zoo was much different than at home.  They call it a "no boundaries" zoo. I have never been so close to animals at a zoo. For every exhibit, the only thing separating you from the animals was a wall. We were even able to go inside the kangaroo exhibit. Of course they had a huge variety of Australian animals, but they also other exhibits as well. 

I had to take a picture of my breakfast on Thursday morning. A lot of people make fun of me because I love grilled tomatoes...I guess in Australia its not weird. I was a little surprised to see tomatoes for breakfast but that didn't stop me from enjoying them!

I really like this photo! I think I should sell it as a post card.

Don't you just want to hug him??

Mr. Emu was jealous of all the kangaroos getting all the attention. He decided to take over the picture. Look at the kangaroos face

The ferry ride was absolutely beautiful. The weather was perfect and we were able to see the entire city....even some of the special beaches. Unfortuneatly, this was all of the city we were able to see. I would have loved to spend a day in the city walking around. Still, we got to see some spectacular sights. 

Finally!!

I have internet! I have been in Australia for 5 days now and this is the first time I have been able to use my computer. I left for Sydney on Monday at around 11:45. At the airport we met about 20 other Americans in our program. We had a 13 hour flight to Auckland, New Zealand. Luckily I was able to sleep most of the way because of the red eye flight. We landed in New Zealand on Wednesday which was crazy because we skipped Tuesday completely. We then flew directly to Sydney where we were greeted by our group leaders. We were all pretty delirious by then especially after going through customs and luggage claim. We then hopped on a bus and drove about 40 minutes to our living accommodations. On the way, we drove through the city and went over the Sydney Harbour Bridge where we had a direct view of the Sydney Opera House. This was a spectacular sight. Never in a million years would I think I would be able to see this landmark in person. It looks exactly like it does in photos or in the movies. We arrived to the Sydney Academy of Sport and Recreation, which is where we stayed for orientation, at around 11:30. This is the training camp for one of the rugby teams in Sydney. It is located out the outskirts of the city and looks like its in the middle of the rain forest. Everything was green, trees everywhere, and loud birds that woke us all up at 6:30 every morning. At this point, we didn't know what to expect of orientation. We didn't have anything planned for the remaining of the day except shower and get settled. 

Me and Jaime in front of the lake at the Sydney Academy of Sport and Recreation.
Pretty flower on site of our orientation. 


Training field for the rugby team