8/25/2014-8/26/2014

I'm on placement at a private practice. Back to early mornings, long days, and no chairs. It's taken me a few days but I'm enjoying it. Both days I came home and went immediately to sleep. But I'm getting used to it so hopefully I'll be back at it by tomorrow. 

8/24/2014

Grand final day. Our footy team one the championship today. I started by getting a bagel. This time from glick's because I had a coupon. I got a large coffee and a bagel with cream cheese for only $3 which is absolutely unheard of around here. We played a close game but in the end we won by 2 goals. I was going to go back to the club to support the team but instead decided to go home and be productive. In 5 hours all I managed to do was clean my room and make lunch for tomorrow. I am disappointed that I didn't make more of an effort to support the team just to go home and waste the evening. Tomorrow is my first day in the private practice. How exciting!

8/23/2014

I had grand plans of ring productive today. I was only a little productive. I have done about 1/3 of the table that I need to do for the capstone project. Other than that I ran 36kms. It was gentle and slow but somehow I my legs still hurt. Very strangely they hurt at rest but not on movement. Oh well it's what I can expect from not keeping up with my training program. 

8/22/2014

There were not enough hours in the day between Thursday evening and Friday at 5. I finished reviewing all 15 articles, then I had a meeting for a project that I haven't started yet. Class for 2 hours. They showed us the put yourself in someone else's shoes video. https://youtube.com/watch?v=cDDWvj_q-o8

Somehow it seemed longer than it did last time I watched it. 

Then I did a psychology study. I was the control for something to do with autism. At 2:30 I met with my group and we went through the articles and compared/standardised our analyzes. We were working so late that we got kicked out of the building. 

Shortly after I got home Ange dropped by on her way to work. Somewhere in conversation I mentioned that I had never seen Bridget Jones' diary. So we scheduled an impromptu movie night once Ange finished work at 10:30. Lovely end to a stressful day. 

8/19/2014-8/21/2014

For the past 3 days I have been writing a paper and reviewing articles. I am actually blogging right now because I so brain dead from reviewing articles that i needed a break. 14 articles to review in 3 days. I'm only half done. On a more exciting note we had mock interviews today. Mine went fairly well. It amazes me the difference between the US and Australia it also amazes me how many of my classmates are still putting information from high school on their resume. I also submitted a job application this week. It's part time work in rural victoria. I really hope that I get it. It looks like a great job. 

8/18/2014

Oh man what a long day. I keep trying to skip the date ahead to tomorrow or next week but no luck it's still today and I have so many projects to do! I have a complex case that is due Friday. I thought that I was doing well but I re-read the criteria and now I'm way off again. I also had a full day of class with a capstone meeting at lunch. There is so much work to do. I came home and filled out a job application for a once monthly clinic in rural Victoria. I would absolutely love that position. Then I was right back to trying to finish this paper. I'm hoping to have it done by tomorrow evening so that I can focus on the remainder of the projects that I need to do this week. 

8/14/2014-8/17/2014

Before my sisters left on Thursday morning we went out to breakfast at a place called pepper that I have been meaning to try. I have been meaning to try it because the front window reads, "Hygienic Library" I was very intrigued what type of restaurant would have that painted on the front window.

It turns out to be a very delicious and very friendly place. I still don't know what it means though. After breakfast we rushed back and I took my sisters to the airport. As they speed through security, I ran the 15 home. Since they have left I have been trying to catch up on everything that I have been putting off over the past 3 weeks or so. Assignments, cleaning, buying groceries, cooking….Additionally, I have been talked into selling health care products with a friend for a few months. If you are interested or know anyone else who might be interested send them my way. http://maddiewellness.myitworks.com/

August 12

It was the best day ever! Ever! EVERRRRER. I (Abbie) met my soulmate! But we'll get to that in a minute. We woke up sorta late and, after some lazing about, left our delightful, beeping apartment for breakfast! We went to a nice little cafe called d'bar, located somewhere. There was a beach nearby! Rachel got a Tim Tam milkshake in order to cement her transformation into a Tim Tam. We shopped a little bit in an adjacent gallery/store, and then we went to an animal sanctuary! I was not super enthused because there wasn't a place to snuggle with birdies. But! When I was there, I met the best birdie in the whole hemisphere and my best friend in the universe (tied with Sammy bird). It was a male red tailed black cockatoo! I named him danger because he was black and red and handsome all over. As soon as I walked up to his aviary, he flew over to me and sidled up a branch to be right next to my face. Then we talked for hours, and I looked into his deep brown eyes and I knew things would never be the same again! Maddie and Rachel probably did some stuff, I don't know. Eventually I had to tear myself away from my new love because otherwise I would die in front of his enclosure. He followed me down the road for as long as he could! Our bodies parted but not our souls. Danger bird, I love you. 

8/11/2014

Today started off early because we were heading up to Tree Top Challenge and the Gold Coast. After about an hour drive and about twenty minutes of getting lost we arrived at the Tree Top Challenge. When then had to be put into harnesses, for insurance reasons, before we could get climbing. The first track, the green track, was full of lots of super slow people and was not nearly enough of a hallenge for iron Maddie. We eventually made it through to the red course, which had significantly less people but was sill super easy. Then came the black path. It was awesome! It was the challenge I had been dreaming of as I went through the first two snoozefests. Meanwhile Abbie went on a walk and literally ran face first into a snake. By the time we were all back together it was already 1 o'clock, and I was much desirous of our lunch picnic. It was wonderfully delicious except there was a gross caterpillar that made us change venues to the trunk of he car. After the picnic we headed down to the Gold Coast and the beach! The water was pretty cold but I am told it got better the longer you were in it. I(Rachel) was just as cold when I left as when I got in, but Abbie and Maddie spent lots of time in the water and waves. After we got told there were strong currents and

we got out because the shallow parts aren't as fun, we went back to our 21st floor serviced apartment to wash the sand off. That night we headed to a small "vegetarian" restaurant that was really a Chinese restaurant. The food was good and the cheapest meal we've had while in Australia. After dinner we returned to our home for the night and there was a mysterious beeping. We never figured out where from, but it didn't keep us that night. 

8/10/2014

Today we flew up to Sunny Queensland. It was about a 3 hour flight, but Maddie and I(Rachel) played sandwich stacker and scoops to pass the time before taking a short nap near the end of the flight. Once we arrived we took a short train ride and had a short walk to get to our living arrangements. It is a decently sized apartment in a building with an upper and lower apartment that the owner seems to be using as a mini hotel. After dropping our baggage off we went in search for lunch and wound up at a cute cafe called spoons. We all got milkshakes and decided it would be a great place for breakfast tomorrow. After lunch we stopped at a small grocery for fruits, bread, and some jams for a car picnic. We then headed back to the apartment until we decided to head into the city proper for dinner. We walked around the city a bit then along the river where we had dinner. By this point it was decently late, so we headed back to go to bed since we have to get up decently early tomorrow to head down to the Gold Coast. 

8/09/2014

Today we all had to get up bright and early(5:00am) so we could make it to the airport for our flight to Hobart. The flight was fairly short, but I(Rachel) was super tired and slept from take off to landing. Once we got to Hobart we took the MONA Roma into town. The driver was very kind and let us stop off at our hotel to drop off our luggage before driving us to the pier to pick up more potential customers. While we waited Maddie ran over to the Salamanca Market and bought a lovely skirt. After Maddie's incredibly short trip to the Market and the driver found out that he did not have any other passengers, we drove over to MONA or the Museum of Old and New Art. The museum was built bunker-style into the ground and the largest floor was the on the bottom. There was, as the name suggests, a lot of interesting old and new art and some not so interesting new art. After exploring the bottom floor of the museum, we stopped by the cafe and had some hot beverages and a delicious giant palmier. My hot chocolate was adorable and came with one marshmallow on a spoon. After our little snack we explored  the rest of the museum, except for the death gallery, then headed up to the surface for lunch at the wine bar beside MONA. When lunch was over we headed back into MONA to stand in line to get into the death gallery, but as we were waiting the fire alarm went off and everyone had to file outside. We spent a while outside watching quails, ducks, and chickens until we could go back inside to see the last part of the museum we missed. The death gallery looked a lot like a part of a Zelda dungeon and held a sarcophagus along with a short animation of what the different layers of the man in the sarcophagus looked like. We then left the museum and took the ferry back to Hobart proper. We walked around a bit before stopping at a wonderful cafe, Daci and Daci, for some sweet treats and returning to our hotel. When we got back to the hotel Maddie did homework, Abbie read her book, and I felt like my face was on fire. I'm not entirely sure what caused it, but that didn't stop me from having way too much food at dinner. We went to The Duke for dinner. The food, though we probably got too much for three people, was very good; however, the service was very slow. I did not really mind the slow service though because I was having wonderful conversation with the two lovely ladies I was dining with.  

8/4/2014-8/8/2014

Sorry we've been so bad about getting blog posts up this week. We have been running around Melbourne seeing sights and by the time we get back in the evening we just fall into bed. The week started off with a trip to the National Gallery of Victoria. There was a lot of beautiful pottery and china, but otherwise the most interesting part of the museum was a special samurai exhibit. After the gallery we had a quick sushi lunch then strolled around Melbourne Central and other surrounding shops before heading off to Chin Chin for dinner. Once we were finally seated, after a one and a half hour wait, we got some lovely tea a lot of spicy, delicious food. While we were waiting for Chin Chin we stopped by the Croft Institute where I ordered my first drink that tasted vaguely like robitussin, but the bar was old-school chemistry lab themed so I enjoyed the atmosphere. Tuesday started off with a trip to the Queen Victoria Market. We spent a few hours walking around looking at the various stalls and what they had to offer before walking down to D.O.C. for a lovely Italian lunch. After we were full of delicious pasta we stopped at Koko Black for some delicious chocolate. That night we took a short drive down to a hot spring where we soaked in the hot water, steamed in a Turkish steam room, and had $2 messages in the relaxation room. It was a wonderfully relaxing evening even though the hot spring was fairly crowded for winter. Even though we got back late from the hot springs we were up again bright and early to go to the Hillsville Animal Sanctuary. There were lots of big and little birdies along with koalas, kangaroos, and dingo puppies. That night while Maddie was at work we(Rachel and Abbie) went to the Eureka Skydeck in the Eureka Tower which offered some beautiful views and the highest publicly available toilet in the Southern Hemisphere. After the tower we met up with Maddie for a wonderful dinner of dumplings and bao at Supernova. Thursday was a big travel day again. We had to travel quite a bit because we wanted to go to the beach. It was about an hours worth of traveling by a combination of train and tram, but we eventually made it there. The beach was shockingly warm and surprisingly crowded for winter. That night was rock climbing at Hard Rock, an indoor rock climbing gym. It was super fun, but made my(Rachel) arms super tired. After we were all climbed-out we went to a wonderful Korean restaurant for bimimbab and hotpot. Friday was a bit of a lazy day. We got up late and did not really get around to doing anything until we played Ticket to Ride with Kat. That night we headed over to the Glenferrie Tea House to watch a tea ceremony. We arrived about an hour too early for the ceremony, so we stopped by a tapas restaurant just down the street for dinner before tea. The food was pretty good, but the service was a bit lacking. The tea ceremony was short and sweet and not entirely what we were expecting, but we got to sample a lovely red tea. After tea we made a quick stop at Dessert Story for fruity

shaved ice before heading home and packing for Hobart.  

Sunday, August 3rd

Today started out pretty bad. We got up super early(before sunrise) to see sunrise at the twelve apostles. It was very beautiful but very cold. After sunrise we went back to our cottage to pack up but we mostly layed in bed for a while. Then it was back to the twelve apostles to take pictures since our phone died earlier. The apostles were still lovely, but unfortunately I(Rachel) didn't feel so good and had my breakfast revisit me. After that I wasn't super up to doing much else  . We saw a few more sights then stopped at a small cafe for breakfast. We all got variations on toast and hot comforting beverages(tea and hot chocolate). We then drove to the Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve. I was feeling much better at this point, and we spent an hour walking around looking at the scenery and searching for bird friends. We saw a superb fairy wren and emu! After our walk we piled back in the car for the journey to Melbourne and Laksa King. Once we were inside and seated we got some delicious drinks and vegetarian and duck laksa. It was glorious! For those not familiar with laksa it is a coconut based noodle soup with Malaysian and Chinese flavourings. After eating laksa until we were human shaped laksa vessels, we made a quick stop at the grocery store before heading home and promptly falling asleep. 

8/2/2014

Guest bloggers Abbie and Rachel here! Taking over for Maddie who has been a little slow on updating. Before starting our adventure down the great ocean road today, we stopped in Geelong at Winter's  cafe. We had lamington(?) waffles which was coconut flavored with cherries, hazelnut pancakes with chocolate ice cream, and duck roti with chips. We also tried to go in a dress store down the street from the cafe, but everything was super fancy and expensive. Afterwards we set off down the great ocean road. We stopped at a lot of beautiful vistas to take pictures, a lighthouse, and a short trail that lead to Sheoak falls. Along the way we also saw a flock of cockatoos, so of course we had to pull over and take a few pictures. The falls were quite beautiful when we got there, but we had to wade through a rather large puddle to get there. The hike otherwise was pretty dry except for some mist by the falls. After the falls the road got very curvy, and we got very carsick, which ruined Maddie's wonderful dinner plans. We instead got take-out pizza and watched Frozen. All in all today was a pretty great second day in Australia. I can't wait for our adventures tomorrow!