I know its long overdue...

Like the title says, this post is long past due- and thank you Paul for continuing to remind me :)... nevertheless - here goes with my novel of an update...

I can't even remember all that has happened since I last updated this blog... The reason I haven't updated this is because my computer broke- the motherboard fried... leaving me with no computer for a while. I got by without the computer by using the two computer in the "lab" downstairs- but having my own computer back is very nice. I forgot how nice it is to have it in my room.

As far as what has been going on in the world of OZ...
Classes are going well... the grading system here is really odd- they are more picky with their grading, but and A is a 75%- which means that when i "bomb" a test and get a 70... i have in fact earned a B... I just finished the busiest 2ish weeks of my life. I had two 8 page papers due two weeks ago- followed by lecture recess (Australia's version of spring break) and then I had two more 8 page papers due as soon as lecture recess finished... While I had over a week in between the two sets of papers- I, like every other American here, traveled during lecture recess leaving me very little time to work on these papers.... oops :)
For lecture recess I went with two other guys down to Melbourne where we drove the Great Ocean Road. The road was beautiful- very scenic. The trip was interesting because we rented a Wicked van- which is a van that is painted with crazy art- ours was Matrix themed. This van provides everything needed for the trip- it has a "kitchen" in the back, mattresses to sleep on, and a table that can be erected in the back of the van. I know I won't be winning any sympathy from those of you back in the Midwest- but please understand that sleeping in this van... with no heat at night and the antarctic wind howling in off the ocean... was awful! haha... Lets just put it this way- I think i know charlie and seth more than I ever wanted to as we curled together and spooned for heat... well- almost :). The trip was full of the normal hiccups that accompany any type of travel... and a lot of unusual hiccups that we were forced to deal with. There are more stories than I have time to type up- Mandi if you are reading this- these are the type of stories that i will have to tell you guys- that remind me of "Binder Slam" stories... Lets just say that the trip began with charlie losing his wallet... on the plane flight... followed by his phone later that night... the phone that the airport was supposed to call if they found his wallet... haha. I won't deny the fact that i nearly strangled the kid several times- but we all came out alive in the end :)... While on the great ocean road we toured the first lighthouse built in Australia, walked in the canopy of the rainforest- 47 metres up, saw the 12 apostles, and saw london bridge- the last two are amazing sandstone islands that have been created by the oceans constant beating on the rock walls of the shore... We also spent a day in Melbourne- a great city, and a night on Phillip Island. On Phillip Island we watched as the worlds smallest penguins made their nightly trip from the water- up the beach- to their nests around the island. They are adorable creatures and we made sure to snap a few illegal photos. Although I am a grown (don't argue this point) man- if I had been a little quicker i totally would have tried to touch one of the penguins running by- despite the fact that it was very much against the rules.
After that we caught a flight to Sydney. Sydney might be the greatest city in the world. I loved being there- and it was nice to see tall buildings again. We did all of the basic things that anybody does when they go to Sydney- we went to the harbour and saw and toured the opera house, walked across the bridge, and rode the fairy around. We also went to bondi beach- a famous surfing beach. We stayed at a hostel since we no longer had the van- which is a fun way to travel. You meet some characters when you are sleeping in a room with 7 other random people. To finish the week of travel off- we spent our final three days in Sydney at a surf camp 6 hours north of Sydney. I am no were near saying I am good- but i did definitely get up- and it was easier than i initially thought. While we were out in the water surfing- a pack of 15-20 dolphins came up and were swimming withing 5 feet of us. It was so cool- it was neat to be so close to these completely wild animals... this was no petting zoo...
Basically- lecture recess was a blast- I took 400 some odd photos... and I've posted them on facebook- I might try to post them on here if i can figure it out haha...
I was supposed to go to fraser island later today for the weekend- but those plans fell through. I am however planning a trip to the Whitsunday Islands... it is a sailing trip that takes us to the outer reef and beaches ranked number 1 in the world last year... whose job is it to rank beaches? I don't know- but thats what i've been told... I don't think many people are really doing school anymore haha- we are all just wanting to travel and relax. The end of this semester is in sight- and we are all realizing that we have precious few weekends and weeks left to see as much as we can. Sadly in the end- money will be the deciding factor as to where i go and what i see. But I've stretched my funds out well.

That is enough writing for now- I will do a better job of updating this... I hope you are all doing well back home.

Cheers :)