It’s also been a fun and eventful week! Last Friday I went into the city and visited a few travel agencies with Krista, another American I met here, to start organizing a trip to Uluru. It’s an Aboriginal sacred site pretty much in the middle of the country, basically a huge red rock (it’s 9.4 km, or 5.8 mi in circumference!) sitting in the Outback. Hopefully that will be happening right after classes end in late October! After that we started our journey out to a suburb called Carina, with only a little difficulty finding the right bus. Our destination in Carina was Our Lady of Graces Church, where first- and second-class relics of St. Padre Pio were being housed for the day. They have been on a tour of Australia and New Zealand, and this past weekend was their stop in Brisbane! There was Eucharistic Adoration (basically prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament, or the consecrated host), praying of the rosary, Mass, and veneration of the relics. We also got to hear Father Ermelindo DiCapua, Padre Pio’s translator for the last few years that he was alive, speak about the saint’s life. It was a really cool experience, one I’ve never had before!
That night a group of us headed to Toowong (the next suburb over) to have dinner for Amanda’s 22nd birthday at A Night in India. I’d never had Indian food before, and it was fantastic! It was so much fun to hang out with some of the Australians I’ve met at St. John’s, as well as to meet some new friends!
(My butter chicken, fabulous!)
On Saturday morning I got to tag along with Frances, another St. John’s student, on her weekend trip to Stradbroke Island. After an hour train ride and 45 minutes on the ferry, we arrived on the island in a town called Dunwich. We had some time to kill before the next bus came (gotta love chill little beachy islands where the bus only comes once every hour!), so we walked to the cemetery up the street. Maybe that sounds creepy, but it was so cool! It’s the second oldest cemetery in Queensland, and it contains both marked and unmarked graves of inmates, employees, and doctors of the Dunwich Benevolent Asylum, as well as quite a few newer graves. It was definitely a different and interesting way to pass the time!
Once we caught the bus and got settled into our hostel, we hit the beach (which, by the way, was literally outside our back door. Glorious.)! It was my first real swim in the Pacific Ocean, and it made me understand why they warned us so many times about the currents – I felt myself getting pulled sideways even when I was only knee-deep! After playing in the waves we climbed around some nearby rocks and found some incredible views of the ocean. Frances explained that she likes the fact that you can climb over rocks between beaches and the beach you just left looks completely different from the one you’re at now; I agree. We went for a walk a little later and the beaches we visited in Point Lookout (the town in which we stayed) featured totally different landscapes, from trees to grass to boulders.
During this walk we also stumbled upon some jellyfish washed up on the beach…the same beach we had gone swimming at earlier! Some of the “stingers” here can do some real damage if they get you, so I was really thankful we ran into these on the sand and not in the waves!
That night we walked to a beautiful little pub down the street and listened to a live band called “The Chunes,” because Aussies pronounce “tunes” like “chunes.” They would also say “chumor” for “tumor,” and I’ve noticed that “stupid” sounds like “shtupid” and “assume” is “ashume.” Love that accent!
Sunday morning we were greeted by cloudy skies, but we made the most of it by hiking a walk that took us through the woods and onto rocky cliffs that featured some exquisite views of the ocean and the waves below.
It was a little scary, though, looking down into the churning water as it hurled itself against the sharp rocks. There were even explicit signs warning about drowning, and a bright orange buoy to throw into the water in case someone fell in. It’s amazing how the ocean can be so soothing and beautiful but at the same time so powerful and violent.
After our walk we did enjoy a little sit on the beach, but it was starting to rain so we headed home earlier than expected. We were beat, though, as an older couple on the ferry apparently pointed out while we dozed in our chairs, so an early day was probably best.
One more little side note from yesterday: I was sitting on a bench reading by the lake on campus, and this iguana-looking lizard comes walking down the sidewalk! He was probably about a foot long and made his way through some bushes before disappearing into the woods. Not gonna lie, it was much cooler than being harassed by the Vandy squirrels!
Last time I apologized for a long post Tala yelled at me ;], so this time I'll just say thanks for reading! This weekend some of us are heading north to sail in the Whitsunday Islands (Google it, they're incredible!), then there is one more weekend before mid-semester break road trip epicness! I will keep you posted!
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