Brisbane

I don't think I mentioned that it rained everyday for the first week in Brisbane.
 This is the rainbow we saw after the scavenger hunt.

Paige, Eric, and I arrived at 6:30am on a train into Brisbane.  Tired and hungry we dragged our bags from the train station to the hostel we would be staying in for the night.  But the reception desk didn't open until 8am and we couldn't check in until 11am, so we waited and waited until we finally were able to check in. We spent the rest of the day lounging around and went to bed early.  The next day we met up with the group again where we spent one night the the Brisbane YHA before heading to North Stradbroke Island for a few days of field work. When we returned from Straddie we were passed off to our host families where we would spend the next 2 weeks.

Scavenger hunt: this is a BBQ

My host family is very nice.  They have free wifi (which I am using right now), TV, and are located not too far from a bus stop.  I have enjoyed my time here with them and for the first time since I've been in the country I have been able to unpack my clothes! I was also able to do laundry and make sure that everything actually got clean.  The only bummer has been that it is hard to get together with people because everyone is living somewhere different and they may not live very close to a bus stop.  So we mostly see each other in class. These 2 weeks have been mostly lecture weeks with quite a few days off.

My room for 2 weeks! Yes it is a but messy but I took this towards
 the end of my stay and I was running around so much my room
started to show that all I had time for was sleeping in there.

And with our time off we have all figured out how to plan get togethers in the CBD including a scavenger hunt and a group outing to a rugby game.  Paul and Ann Marie also hosted a potluck BBQ where they were staying.  We had enough food to feed probably 40 people and there where only 28 of us.

The little gecko that lives in my room :)

When we are not doing things in a group most of us do things with our host families.  On my first day with my family I went to one of their daughter's houses and met a bunch of the family (including 6 dogs!).  On another day off my host parents took me out into the country where we saw a bunch of Wallabies and Kangaroos.  And then last night they took me and the French girl that is also staying with them to a Footy match.  And today (my last day here) they took me, Marion (French girl), and Grace (Chinese girl also staying with them) out for a fish and chips picnic.  And the rest of the day has been mostly spent packing or  writing this post.

Picnic on the last day with the host family.
From left Marion, me, Helen (host mom), and Grace

Bustin' a move for the photo scavenger hunt