So this is it.  Tonight was the big hurray before the end.  Although I don't officially leave Australia for another two weeks, I am leaving my friends tomorrow; I am leaving this temporary home.  It's sad.  Very sad.  I don't think I'm ready to leave.  

Tomorrow night Melissa, Jess and I head for brisbane.  We arrive at 10:30 p.m. will be spending the night in a 24 hour pancake house-our reason being: 1) we don't want to spend money on a hostel 2) it will be an adventure!  In the morning we will jet off to Adelaide to start our week long road trip to Sydney.  We've got plenty of things to see along the way.  I am confident it will be a week to remember!

I will then be flying to New Zealand for about 4 days.  Just enough time to see a little bit of the country I have heard SO much about!  After an exhausting couple of days of traveling alone, I will return to Brisbane--catch the bus home to Lismore to say one last farewell gather the rest of my bags and fly out of Brisbane the next day on the 24th.  I'm not sure how much I'll be able to update before I leave, if at all; a "pre-cap" will have to suffice.

Once again, I am so sad to have to say my goodbyes tomorrow.  I've decided once I get home I don't think it will feel like I was actually here.  It's just been such an unbelievable time.  Time has disappeared so quickly and it will take me some time to comprehend what actually just happened. 

Pray that I travel safely.

Current Events At Southern Cross Uni-the Life if Tabitha Blanchard:
While playing ultimate frisbee on Monday night there was a tragic head on collision between one Tabitha Blanchard and teammate Johny Unkown. Miss Blanchard was thrown to the ground by 200 lbs of human flesh, resulting in two sprained toes, one laceration on her next-to-pinky toe, a gargantuan lump/bruise on her left theigh, and abnormal pain in her lower right back. Luckily her injuries were minor and she should be active once the swelling and bruising has gone down in her foot. Until then she has been nicknamed, "Gimp" and endures the jeering names frome her roommates and friends. (Slight exaggeration.)

Other than her current state of health, Tabitha is doing quite well. She recently was seen at the social event of the year, Lismore Race Day. Tabitha reported that her luck was lacking when after betting 4 dollars on the first race her horse came in last, the social extravaganza was worth her loss. Uni students spent the day in their finest attire dancing to the live music, and watching the horse races until the days end.

Another week goes by. Friendships continue to blossom. Experiences come and go and what seems like a boring day at the time leaves an imprint in my mind that will last a much longer time than I could ever imagine. My flatmates here have become my family. We cook together and eat together, we work out together, we slack off together, we chill together, we adventure together, we laugh together...and so on.

Last Monday we had a Unit Dinner. This included all the residence in Unit 14; 24 students total. Each of the four flats, containing six people each, made food from a different culture. We had Mexican, Italian, Indian and Chinese and believe it or not, there was so much food we even came away with leftovers! Amazing. I am hoping to post pictures asap, but until then you will just have to picture it in your minds eye. Think along the lines of the first Thanksgiving dinner with all the Pilgrims. mhmm.

Today, was also good fun, as we went to a friends rugby game. I am finally beginning to understand the rules a little. haha It's a lot more interesting when you know what is going on! But the games are intense and fun to watch even if you're not quite sure what is happening!

Mk...well, to be honest, things have been very uneventful in Lismore for the past week. It rained 5 days in a row which was quite a bummer. The lack of transportation limits us to going many places on a whim, so it takes some planning, and due to our lack of planning in the recent past, we haven't gone too many places. Keep checking though, I will let you know when I go somewhere extroardinary! hehe

As for tonight, it's off to Mary's, our favorite local pub, for live music and dancing!
Cheers,
Tabi

oh my...I'm so bad at updating. I get so lazy and so distracted by other things. Things such as going to the beach, camping in the outback, movie nights, weekends in hostels going out to night clubs and irish pubs and of course the occasional night in, making dinner for masses of people and playing cards for the rest of the evening. There's almost always something to do, and if there isn't I want to find something!

I just got back from the Outback yesterday, after 7 days without a shower, I was ready to be home, but I miss not being able to sleep under the open Australian sky. It is truly magnificent. There were 22 of us on the trip, including leaders, all of which I got to know pretty well. So much laughter, so much hiking, so much mafia...just so much fun. I am really beginning to get attached to this place. I sometimes feel like Wisconsin is on a completely different planet and it was a different lifetime that I lived there.

Today, I went to the beach with 3 friends. My friend Luke has THE cutest convertable, and took us three girls with him so he could go surfing while we played in the waves and tanned on the beach. It was glorious. The beach is brilliant. I wish everyone I know could be there with me and experience the beauty and vastness of the ocean here. It's literally indescribably how beautiful and unending it all is. Not just unending in the sense of how big, but the continuity of the waves and simply the lifelike-ness of the ocean. It's incomprehendable. Ah anyway..
The day was finished with a stop at the local ice cream shop. Unfortunately I gave up chocolate for the time being (I have an ugly addiction/problem), but my strawberry cream and caramel king ice cream cone was TO DIE FOR.

I would also like to say I am very proud of my tan at this point. It has been hard work to get this far; very stressful, let me tell you. But I have been able to withstand the challenge and push through to develop quite a nice skin tone. mhmm

One last note before I run off to bed. I started teaching myself how to play guitar about a week ago, and I promise you, give me a year and I will be the next Missy Higgins. (If you don't know who she is, look her up; she is an AMAZING Australian artist. I'm a big fan.)
Cheers mate,
Aussie Girl-Tabi

So it's been a little while since I've been able to update, but I am finally in Australia and have access to a computer and internet (VERY EXCITING) and I'm ready to update away!

It is currently 5:25 p.m. on Sunday, February 17. We are about 17 hours ahead of Wisconsin here. It's so weird to think I am a day ahead of all of my friends and family! It's like I'm living in the future......weeeeeeeird. haha anyway

We first flew into Fiji on the 12th and took a ferry out to our the Beachcomber Resort which happened to be it's own island. For two days we simply lounged around the beach, snorkeled in the crystal blue ocean, kayaked around the island and soaked up as much sun as possible. We left our little island on the third day and spent the last night on the mainland as to catch our plane in the morning. Note: it was probably in the high 80's or 90's the whole time. I'm not gonna lie, it was almost too much! haha

ps- one not fun thing about swimming in the ocean; there are actually sea lice! They sting you kinda like a little fire ant, or bee sting. Not fun!

Anyway, on Friday morning we flew into Brisbane and took a double decker bus to Lismore. The country is more than beautiful; beyond words. The last couple of days have been spent moving into our rooms, meeting new international students and they shuttle in in a constant stream and making trips into town to explore and make essential purchases.

Today all the international students took a trip to Byron Bay for a visit to the beach. There was a great surf and beach backed by a lovely town! It's described as the "hippie town" but is simply adorable. I unfortunately neglected to apply sunscreen today and now am in quite a bit of pain. However it was still an amazing afternoon. More updates to come.

From down under,
Tabi

Life is a waiting game.
I'm not a big fan of that game, but it's gotta be played from time to time. However, when the wait is over, I think it is worth it. My big wait; to leave for Australia. For weeks people have been asking me if I'm excited. Of course I am, but now I am REALLY truthfully excited. Before it was very surreal and now that I am just a couple of days away it is starting to feel a bit more real. Although I am HARDLY packed at all! (I'm just like that though.) I really am saying my last goodbye's to people and packing my days full of coffee dates and dinner dates and movie dates to get everyone in last time before I leave. For those of you who have gone through this before, I'm sure you know this exact feeling.

Something else just slightly less exciting happened to me yesterday. You may not understand my joy, but I'll try to be as detailedas possible. Okay, so I am a pretty avid rock climber, and excitingly I have improved quite a bit this year. The rating system in rock climbing is a decimal system starting at 5.4 being the easiest climb requiring a belayer. It continues on through a 5.16 I believe being the most difficult. This is professional difficulty however. The higher the number the more strength and technique required. So back to my excitement; Last night I almost completed a 5.12, which is HUGE! This is definitely an expert skill level climb. Well, maybe not quite expert, but it's pretty freakin' awesome! So it is my goal to complete this route by teh end of the week! Wish me luck.

good-day mate

BRRRRRR! It is c-c-c-c-cold outside. But I completely love it. It stopped now, but for the past couple of hours it was crazy snowing outside and was so b-e-a-utiful.

Let's see, these past couple of weeks have been so relaxing. I don't really have a set schedule, I just go a day at a time. I work a couple hours a day, sit at the Raw Deal for a couple of hours, maybe go climbing, make dinner with friends; whatever my little heart desires. I have not started any classes yet because I am leaving for study abroad in just a few days. Everyone else however is back into the swing of things. It's amazing to see familiar faces everywhere again.

Well, we'll leave this one nice and short...
Doei Doei (Dutch) "Goodbye"

Another week has passed. I have been back in Menom due to a lack of activities at home. Today was my first day back at work...I was so EXCITED to be back! It feels good to be doing something, staying busy, being productive, as well as be around people. I don't think I can say this enough, I love my job!

I am anxiously counting the days until I leave for Australia. So, my imagination is very entertaining. I am already imagining myself with an amazing Aussie accent, I'm spread out on a beach somewhere watching all the hot surfers, um...I've already decided I'm never coming back too. (Even though I've never actually been to Australia...YET.) I'm sure I'll own a cute little "flat" in Sydney or something. Finish off my degree in Interior Design and become a famous Aussie chic designer. yeah...that was all straight from my imagination. Entertaining isn't it?!?! hehe

Back to reality however, right now I am counting the days until my good friend gets back from the Netherlands. She will be returning the day after one of my roommates, who is an exchange student from Germany, leaves for home again. The day after Lisa leaves for Germany we will be getting a new roommate to take her place. How exciting! There's going to be so much going on, catching up with Kelly and getting to know my new roomie.

Life is...wonderful
Tab