G’day everyone!
The 26th marks my first week here in Australia. Monday night I moved into my residence at Deakin University’s Burwood campus, and things have been in full swing since! I spent a day or so getting moved in and situated, figuring out how to get around and use public transport, and adjusting to this new lifestyle. Since moving in, I’ve met some great friends from all over the world and embarked on a few adventures.
I spent a day with some friends heading down to Torquay Beach, home of the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach surf competition. After a few hours of travel through trams, buses, and trains, we arrived at the beach where we rented surf boards and wet suits. Then we went out into the water and taught ourselves how to surf! It was so much fun, but also so hard. We spent a couple hours out in the water, and I was able to stand up on the board only twice. Definitely will be going back and doing this again.
On Saturday we had our international student orientation event hosted by a company called Real Australia. We loaded up two buses full of international students and headed towards the historic Phillip Island. Our first stop along the way was at Maru Koala and Animal Park in Grantville, Victoria. Here we were given a lecture from experts on koalas, dingoes, and snakes (all animals of which were present during the lecture). After, we were given time to walk the park and see all the animals in their enclosures. However, throughout the park there were multiple kangaroos roaming unenclosed. We were allowed to walk up and feed and pet the kangaroos all throughout the park.
Our next stop was a hike at Cape Woolamai on Phillip Island. We took a walk down the beach and up along a trail to a lookout point. It was beautiful. Along the way we encountered some various wildlife such as wallabies and an echidna.
We then headed into town for dinner at a local pub. I felt the need to order an Australian classic meal, the chicken parma. The chicken parma is a typical Australian meal that consists of a breaded chicken breast topped with a sliced of ham, tomato sauce, and parmesan. It was really good.
Our final stop of the day was on the coast of Philip Island to a reserve known as the Nobbies. The Nobbies is a rock formation off the coast that is home to Philip Island’s little penguins. We walked the pier to the Nobbies as we waited for the little penguin parade to begin at sunset. Every night when the sun sets, thousands of the little penguins come to shore and make the trek across the beach and back to their homes. Philip Island’s little penguin parade allows for people to come each night and watch the penguins return home after feeding, while maintaining a safe environment to protect the penguins. It was a really cool experience and the penguins were so tiny and adorable.
from Taryn Dance