Pre-New Zealand Travel

My friend Lilly and I left the United States a couple of weeks early to backpack Australia before our semester in New Zealand. We were only acquaintances at our home school until we found out we would both be studying in New Zealand, so it was IES which brought us together. We took a risk and made plans to travel together beforehand even though we had no idea how our personalities would work together. You really get to know a person when you travel because you are with them constantly. I was a little nervous before we left that we might end up getting on each other’s nerves because of temperament differences. However, Lilly and I lucked out. We discovered that we are practically the same person. We both have February birthdays (same sign too), we love Sushi, have the same taste in clothing, music, movies and so many other things that we have been joking about possibly getting married. Whenever we go out together, we comment about how we are enjoying our honeymoon very much. Even though we are staying in hostels and not Hotels, it still feels like a holiday.

We just got to Melbourne this morning after spending an amazing week in Sydney. While we were in Sydney we met really cool people from all over the world. I certainly got into some interesting conversations. There seem to be very few American youth backpackers… at least that we have seen. We have only met one so far. One thing I noticed is that when people find out that you are an American, it is almost a guarantee that they are going to quiz you on something, be it politics, geography, or even just general knowledge. Americans have a terrible reputation for being very unknowledgeable. People get a certain glint in their eye when they are about to try and find out if its true. So far, we have had to sing our national anthem, pick out countries and places on maps, explain the whole 48, 50, 52 states thing, and various other things that the questioner already knows the answer to. Lilly and I actually bought a world map for the purposes of keeping it fresh in our minds. I am also VERY glad that I know all of the words to the National Anthem and that I can sing. It would have been terribly embarrassing if I hadn’t and there was no way of getting out of that situation without looking like a complete nincompoop.

The whole backpacker hostel thing is very exciting. There is never a dull moment. For instance, I talked with some Austrian guy for about two hours who seemed really nice, and then someone told me that it was the same guy who had pulled a knife on one of my friends in a drunken stupor the night before. Ho Hum. I thought it was sort of funny. My taste in guys is superbulous (sarcasm)! He was cute though. I thought his playboy bunny tattoo was pretty stupid. I think he thought so too because he was hesitant to show me. It was probably a drunken mistake. Who wants that on their arm though? Anyway, that same night, I also met a couple of Maori women visiting from New Zealand. They were very nice and made me look even more forward to my time there, which is fast approaching. Exciting! I bet there will be so many great people there to make friends with.

So just the social scene in Sydney was quite an adventure, but we explored the city itself as well. One of the highlights of our trip was going to the Sydney Wildlife World to see all of the animals. Lilly and I skipped around through the maze of tanks and habitats squealing like kids in a candy shop as we checked out all of the cool creatures. The Koalas were so incredibly cute. We got to pet one named Bob and then got our picture taken with a really precious sleeping one. We forgot her name so we dubbed her Lola Donna for the purposes of Facebook. There was also another one we called Scruffy. The Kangaroos were quite strange looking- more so than I had expected. Especially their downstairs area… very absurd and slightly disturbing setup they have going on down there. It is just one of those things you have to see for yourself.

Well, I am really excited to see how the rest of our travels in Australia pan out. Lilly and I are having a blast so far but our adventure has only just begun. New Zealand awaits and I am so excited to delve into the Christchurch scene. NZ here we come!

Here are some pictures from the Wildlife World in Sydney (except the duck)! :)

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