Cuppa

"Cuppa": slang for "cup of tea." I believe it's also used in England, I think.

"Tea's in the kitchen, if you want to make yourself a cuppa."

Today Saturday, which means I have two more days in Australia before I leave. Two! AHHHH! Originally I thought that I would have Tuesday to mill around a bit, but then I discovered that my bus for the airport leaves at 4 a.m. on Tuesday (for my 6 a.m. flight). Which reminds me, I need to find a way to actually get to the bus station at 4 a.m. Hmm...

I know I've been saying this continuously, but time sure flies! Before I know it, it'll be Monday night and I'll be furiously packing to go home. Even though I don't want to leave Melbourne, a part of me is ready for the sunny So Cal weather, cheaper food and frustrating roommates (well, mainly the two girls; Bobby's alright). Speaking of girl roommates, I really don't know how to act towards them. The day Christine and I returned from our travels, we discovered that:
a) someone had left my door open, even though I had left a note right ON my door asking to keep it closed. The reason was to keep Yuri out. Well, Yuri obviously got in and wreaked havoc in my room and I ended up with a chewed-beyond-repair umbrella.
b) someone had slept in my bed and tossed one of the blankets on my desk.
c) someone had left their shirt at the foot of my bed. I refuse to consider the implications.
d) someone had eaten one of Christine's packets of timtams. No, not just one timtam, or even two or five, but the ENTIRE PACKET. What's even more aggravating was that the packets were enclosed in a plastic bag and set on top of my chest of drawers, which is off in the far corner of my room. It's not like the cookies were sitting on my bed or desk in plain view, not that the action would have been more excusable if it were.
To add insult to injury, the girls denied ownership of the shirt (and feigned ignorance as to why it was in my room). Zoe then had the gall to ask me to pay for repairs to the internet. The cost was $87.50, which was unbelievable. What? I was gone for three weeks and will be in the house for only five more days, why should I help repair for the internet? In response to my query, Zoe simply stared at me and then implied that it was a house problem and I was still part of the house. -_- I paid.

Given this list of grievances against my lesbian roommates, I was all set to hate them forever and write them off as horrible people. However, last night Zoe came up to me and asked if I was free Monday night. I said I was.
"Good, because I would like to do a house dinner type of thing to see you off. I'll see if everyone else is free. Would that be okay?"
I was so astonished that all I could do was smile and then hurry off to my room. What on Earth? I was a bit confused. Why the nice gesture when you've barged into my room and shamelessly used my things? Is this supposed to be a I'm-sorry-for-being-a-bitch-now-that-you're-leaving gesture, or are you actually doing this out of the goodness of your heart? 0_0

Wow, this entire post was me griping about my roommates, which is terrible because I intended to write about what my adventures in the Whitsundays, Darwin and the train ride to Adelaide was like. -_- Damnit, this is a travel diary, not a bitching blog! ARGGH! I apologize, dear readers. I'll write a much better entry later on tonight then. For now, I'm going to hit up some museums.

Sunnies

"Sunnies": Australian slang for "sunglasses."

"Don't forget to bring your sunnies when you hit the beach!"

Highlight of today: finding out that I did well in all my classes. Yeeeea-yuh!!

Indigenous Culture and Learning - 78% H2A
Education in Natural Landscapes - 95% H1
Sport & Education in Australian Society -80% H1
Australian Wildlife Biology - 79% H2A

I know these percentages look really crappy (I bet you're thinking "why is she celebrating even though she has Cs?!") but Melbourne Uni does grades differently. Basically, H1 is the highest grade you can get in a class, and H2A is the next level down (basically a B+ or an A-). Ureshii! XD I'm especially surprised with my Wildlife Biology class, because I thought I totally flunked that final. What a relief.

I'm currently listening to Bob Marley and getting free internet from Peterpan, which is an international internet cafe. I might get kicked off any minute though, so I'll type fast. Weather is warm in the Whitsundays, but not boiling hot (it's really cool at night though). I accomplished one of the things on my Bucket List today - snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef and see Heart Reef. It was an absolutely amazing experience and I can't believe it's over already. I had been dreaming about seeing the Great Barrier Reef ever since I was old enough to watch the Discovery Channel, so looking down from the plane and seeing the famous azure and emerald-colored waters was a very surreal feeling. I wish all of you guys were there with me, it really is a gorgeous place. I took many pictures and some video clips on the video camera, so I'll post those up when I return to Melbourne. The snorkeling itself was a bit of a downer but still very cool. I took around 27 underwater photos of brightly-colored corals, fish, and clams (strangely enough, the lips of the giant clam are probably one of the prettiest objects in the ocean!) I didn't see as many tropical fish as I would have liked though, and you could tell that some of the reef was suffering from pollution and global warming. There were many areas in which coral-bleaching was really prominent and it was pretty depressing. =( The water, though warmer than Melbourne's beaches, was still chilly enough to make me uncomfortably cold after a hour. Fortunately (or unfortunately?) the tour group only allowed one hour of snorkeling in the Reef, so I made the most of my experience.

I have decided that I will now visit tropical places during spring/summer, which are the seasons in which they should be visited in. It is unsatisfying to be walking around in a jacket and long jeans on a tropical island, even if it is only during nighttime. That should never happen. I have also decided that my honeymoon HAS to be in a warm, sunny, tropical place, where I can roll around in white sand and snorkel all day long. There is no other option.

Tomorrow Christine and I will be embarking on a 3 day, 2 night sailing tour around Whitehaven beach and some other Whitsunday Islands. Woo hoo for more turquoise seas and snorkeling! I have decided (I know, I decided many things on this trip) that I will smuggle some of the famous silica sand back home. I brought some ziploc bags just for the occassion and have been planning different strategies for the collecting and smuggling process. It's going to be a very tricky operation, since I will be surrounded by fellow sailors/backpackers/enforcerers-of-the-morally-right. Everyone will be treated as a potential spy and obstacle to the fulfillment of my happiness [eyes dart around suspiciously].

Christine has been suffering from a very bad case of coughs/congestion lately, which is horrible because it prevents her from fully enjoying herself. I feel bad, because I think I gave my cold to her (I myself have been recovering relatively well). Hopefully she gets well soon!

Youse

"Youse": a slang term mainly used in Western Australia. Equivalent to the American term, "y'all," it means just that - "you all."

Brad, Rob's 6 year old brother: "Can I watch a movie with youse?"

Wow, my lack of updating is just getting worse and worse. It just hit me today that it's July. It's freaking July, you guys! It's my last month in Australia! I still remember my post in March, when I was saying how time is short and I knew my stay in Melbourne would be over before it knew it. Well, here I am. Even though I predicted that time would whizz by, its speed still caught me by surprise. Some things you just can't slow down, no matter how hard you try. I dread returning home and to my studies. Sure, the weather is nicer in So Cal and most of my friends are there, but I can't help but feel suffocated whenever I'm in Arcadia. It's kind of strange, really, because I never got homesick while I was in Australia. Of course I would feel a bit sad whenever I saw photos of my friends together hanging out and having fun, but it wasn't a crushing, debilitating oh-my-god-i-miss-everyone-and-must-return-home feeling. I blame it on all the fantasy and sci-fi books I read when I was little (I still do, in fact). It has confused my sense of reality and instilled a fervent hope that one day, I'll become a heroine who hacks down monsters and saves damsels (dudes?) in distress, or stumble into a hidden world and experience many adventures. Of course, this kind of thing doesn't happen in Arcadia, so the next best thing is to travel to a foreign country half-way across the world. See Camille run from reality. (I guess I can see why some of my friends said I resemble the main girl character from "The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi.")

Anyway, enough of that sad stuff, I must type about Perth before my fingers fall off from the cold (it feels like it's 55 F in here!) Christine and I spent the past week crashing at her friend's house. Even though it rained most of the time and the weather wasn't as warm as I would have liked, the company made it the trip totally worth it. Rob is one of the wittiest guys I have ever met and kept Christine and I laughing everyday. I don't know how many stupid arguments I've had with this guy over mushrooms, orange Eclipses (the best mints ever), and the correct way to pronounce the letter "H" (it's ay-ch! not hey-ch!) but it definitely kept me in high spirits when the cold weather brought it down. Thanks, Robbie. XD

What I did in Perth:
-Freemantle: explored the Little Creatures Brewery, wandered around town, bought Jaffle's pie.
-watched anime in Rob's room, played video games with Brad (he would wander around looking for my company XD), scare Rob when he was absorbed in his WoW, play with his mom's doggies
-walked to the cemetery near Rob's house with Melissa and Christine to look for kangaroos and got attacked by a wild duck
-drove around Swan Valley with Christine and pigged out on the free chocolate in the Chocolate Factory
-ran in pouring rain to retrieve our dinner (Domino's take-out pizza)
-went to the Aquarium of Western Australia
-clubbed with Rob's older sister, Jess, in ugly clothing and borrowed shoes (my Asics were deemed bar-inappropriate, so I borrowed Jess's pink Converses)
-biked around in Rottnest Island, which was unbelievably fun and would have been even better if the water was actually warm and not numbingly cold

Brrr! Alright, my tolerance for the cold is fraying. Before I go, I must say one more thing. I was supposed to leave for Hamilton Island this morning with Christine, but we missed our flight. Yea, that's right, we missed it. All I can say is that tram inspectors are stupid, I hate Jetstar, and timing really is everything. Anyway, Christine and I paid $70 each for the stupid missing-our-flight fee and another $40 for the shuttle to take us back to the city from the airport. -_- Today was a sad day. Anyway, I'm going to hole up in my room, curl up in bed and just spend my whole day watching anime (Christine's conked out from the cold medicine anyway). Toodles!