Lorne / Great Ocean Road trip

As part of my introduction to Australia I had booked to take part in a 3 day trip to Lorne and then along the Great Ocean Road.

The trip left from the University, and it turned out that my flatmate (and other people I had met during o-week) would also take part in the trip. This was a great bonding activity as we all sat together on the bus. The first stop was the famous "Bells Beach" where we sat and had our lunch. This was absolutely beautiful and was a fantastic place to begin sightseeing in Australia.

 

The next stop was the town of Lorne where we would be staying. We were shown our room (a gorgeous cabin on the hillside)  and then made our way to the beach where we socialised for the evening. We even had a lift back to the chalets from a nice Irish man with a surfer van!

 

This was the view from our balcony. We had an issue with Cockatoos - there were at one point 9 on our balcony!! They proceeded to pick up my towel and swimsuit with their beaks and dropped it over the edge of the balcony! It was really funny.

The next day we had an AFL lesson (which I was terrible at) and a surf lesson (which was great fun). We also had a tour of the bush where we were able to have our first taste of Aussie nature and wildlife. We saw kangaroos and had some fantastic views.

On the final day we travelled back to Melbourne along the great ocean road. We saw some fantastic sites along the way.

 

Above: The twelve apostles and another beach

 

Below: London bridge.

Moving in!

Before embarking on my trip to Australia I have travelled through Thailand and visited Singapore for the last 3 weeks. This was absolutely fantastic and I really enjoyed experiencing these new cultures. Having gotten used to the travelling lifestyle (i.e. living out of a suitcase and going on long journeys every few days) I couldn't wait to finally base myself somewhere more permanently and was so excited to finally be arriving in Melbourne.

My first experience of Australia was a rather questionable journey in a minibus/airport transfer to the Student Village, Marybrynong, where I would be living (along with my friend Alex) for the next five months. The driver did not know where he was going and had an issue with road rage. When we finally reached our destination I was relieved to say the least. We were shown to our bedrooms and were given a brief tour of the complex. It was different to anywhere that I have lived before, and I was excited to meet all of my new peers.

Having attended a welcome meeting at the university I was even more excited to get started. We went back to the student village and the notorious "o-week" commenced (similar to UK "freshers week". This involved an initiation in my college, Dalton. We each recieved a t-shirt and the various activities and festivites began.

I won a competition which meant that I represented my college for "the ultimate rookie" which meant I had to complete various challenges throughout the week (and permanantly sport a fake moustache). I won the first challenge!! (Me and my fellow Dalton Devils above with the prize).

 

The week included activities such as a toga party, a scavinger hunt in the city, a quiz, volleyball,  BBQ's and many more sociable activities. They even put on an international welcome where we were given many "Australian" goodies! It has been a fantastic week and I have made loads of new friends! What a great way to start Aussie life!