Oct 2008

Sus- 1. adjective- gay. 2. verb- to "feel it out", or try. "sus it out."
Sweet as- That is, "sweet." It's a simile...minus the second half. It really works with any adjective, such as "boring as" or "tired as".
Reckon- verb this is a big one. Used conventionally: to think or supposed.
Thank you- used interchangeably with "please": "that'll be $3.70 thanks."
Daggy- Trashy or dressed down.
Diary- Planner.
Fouro- Florescent.
Torch- Flashlight
Rubbish/rubbish bin- Trash/trashcan
Buggard- bired or perhaps just relaxed.
Mobile- pronounced MO-byle; used instead of "cell phone."
Jumper- jacket.
Singlet- tank top, camisole.
Hey- used as "huh" ("nice day today, hey?"), "what?", or "right?"
Capsicum- Red pepper
Rock melon- canteloupe
Thongs- flip-flops BAAAAAA
Sunnies- sunglasses.
Pash- french kiss wooo

I know, it has been wayyy too long. SO much has happened since I last updated you. For starters, I went with 8 other girls from the ASC program on a vacation for Spring Break to the Great Barrier Reef! It was so amazing. We stayed off the coast of Queensland (northeastern Australia) on Magnetic Island. Somehow we managed to get this INCREDIBLE beach house literally a block from (in our opinion) the best beach on Magnetic Island. We flew from Sydney at the crack of dawn on a Sunday morning into Townsville airport on the warm, sunny coast of Queensland. From there, we took a 20-minute ferry to the island. Most of the people vacationing there that week were families and such, but we met a couple of Canadian backpackers on the ferry, and there turned out to be lots of backpackers there staying at the only 2 hostels on the island. Magnetic Island, by the way, is probably not what you're imagining. I say that because it was not at all what I was expecting, but it was actually perfect. It was very small with surprisingly few tourists (considering it was Spring break) and even fewer residents, so much so that we actually ran into our Canadian friends again randomly on one of the beaches even though we were staying on opposite sides of the island. Since our amazing beach house had a kitchen, we had planned on buying food to cook, and maybe eating out a couple of the nights. However, we soon realized when we got on the island that there weren't really any good restaurants, which is pretty unusual for a tourist spot, right?! So the only thing to do on the island was to go to the beach all the time. Fortunately, that's exactly what we wanted to do the whole time. A couple of days after arriving on Magnetic Island, we took a day trip on a boat to go snorkelling on the Reef! It was about 2 hours out, and we spent it (of course) sunbathing on the boat. We could hardly wait to arrive, and when we did, we couldn't believe our eyes. It was SO beautiful! Even before going in the water, it was incredible. Next came the snorkelling part, which I had never done before. I was kind of freaking out for a second in the water, but it only took me a second to get used to breathing through it. HAHA It was pretty funny though. We snorkelled for 2 or 3 hours; I was endlessly intrigued. The coral was amazing. It was so crazy to think that it is so huge, and it's living. It's all different colors. I'm not usually a nature person (to say the least, haha), but this was...supernatural. The fish were every color you can possibly think of: yellow, turquiose, pink and purple, neon blue and green...it was insane. It's exactly like the pictures that you see, or what you might see in the Sydney Aquarium, but they are right there in front of you, so close you can touch them. In addition, I saw a stingray, a sea turtle, and starfish. I even saw Nemo and Doree! Seeing this amazing wonder of the world made me think of our beautiful God, and how this is just one of the thousands of pieces of art He created for us to enjoy, perhaps just to show just how big and incredible He is. I felt so privilaged to have the opportunity to snorkel on the Reef.