Marcella's Blog

Hello everyone! We are now enjoying the cold in the center part of the north island of NZ. It rained, snowed, hailed, winded, iced, and became sunny all in one day ...we are on top of active volcanoes! it is exciting maybe one will explode and we can see it! we also saw a geothermal station from the hot springs. we are heading to auckland on thursday! and i come home sat. night!!!

I am now in New Zealand, for the last week of our trip! Today we had two lectures on plate tectonics and the human geography of this land. Wellington is a crazy busy place and its fun but really windy. We also visited a sanctuary and saw a lizard thing and a kiwi as well as some other cool birds! Tomorrow we leave to head north for some more tours!

Yesterday was our free day so we went to the lagoon and tried to get a tan but it was very cloudy....so we went to the mall! The malls are great in any country! :) Last night we went out to a farewell dinner at a aborginal restaurant. They served kangroo, emu, croc, barramundi. I had the barramundi fish and it was delish. Today we are flying to New Zealand to complete our last week aborad. We are going to be very busy, even more then here! It is rainy here in Cairns so it is a good day to leave. Some of the group who was not going on left at 5am this morning. Hopefully I will be able to fill you in while in NZ but if not I can show you all pics when I get home!

Today we spent the whole day on the Reef and it was soo amazing! We snorkled in two places and saw tons of fish. Angel and Butterfly were the two most common types! We did not see any sharks or sea snakes so I was happy. On the way out to the reef it took 90 minutes and and bunch of us sat on the bow of the boat and got toally soaked. I think the skipper was trying to throw us over! We got a really cool picture of us underwater also! I even got to wear this awesome wet suit! haha not really but it was fun and kept me warm. It was a bit cloudy but still very very fun!

Howdy! Sorry it has been a long while. We left melbourne and went on to Kangaroobie farm. we got to help herd some cattle and then feed them. we also sat around an campfire. We then drove to the 12 apostles and down the great ocean road! From there we flew off to the top of Aus. To Cairns (pronounced canes). IT is like 85 degrees here so we went to the beach and i got burnt! but its all good becuase it is an australia burn haha. We have been touring the rainforest and we are going to the great barrier reef to go diving on thursday!. Then on saturday we are flying to New Zealand! I dont know much ill have the net but i will do my best! I hope you all are having fun working ...haha and ill be back in like 2 weeks!!

Hello! I am in Melbourne now, pronounced with a soft r sound so more like Mel-ben. Anyways Yesterday we were in Canberra (Kan-Bra), the state capital, It was really interesting. A guy from Chicago, Mr Griffen, won a contest to design the city and he did it on a triangle basis. We saw parliment and their two houses of senate and representatives. Then we drove around all the embassies and found the of couse the US had the biggest one! The second largest was the chinese...go figure Later that afternoon we went to the smallest airport ever to fly from Canberra to Melbourne. It was only an hour long flight. Amanda allmost threw up in my lap but its all good! Then we unpacked in our HUGE hotel room and headed out for a night on the town. We figured that a sat. night would be hopping but we were sooo tired we made it to one bar and then went to bed. (Mom i finally wore my scarf!) Today A and I ran for a bit in a sketchy part of town and then we went on a day long visit to the Yarra river va

Hello again Yesterday we went to the Blue Mountains! It was awesome we saw kangrooos! we were like 3 feet from them! then we ate lunch at a lounge and then we saw the mountains from the cliffs! we went on a old mining trip and then we saw the olympic site! we had a funny tour guide Les, who has done everything and seen everything in Aus. We went out last night so some bars it was really different but also fun. They had a live rock band playing greenday and semisonic!!! Today is our free day so we went to Paddy's Market and bought cheap stuff and then we went to the Tower. the 2nd highest point in the southern hemisphere. we had chinese for lunch and then we are heading out to walk across the Harbor Bridge! The Aussies abbreviate everything so sometimes it is hard to understandwhat they are explaining but it is nice to hear their accents! Tomorrow we are going to Canberra, the capital, for the day then flying to Melborne tomorrow night! Hope everyone is doing well! G'day Mate!

Hello from Down Under! The flight from LAX to Sydney was liek 14 hours. We actually slept like 6 hours straight so that was nice. we got two meals a dinner two hours into the flight and a breakfast two hours before we landed. The plane had two floors but only the business class could use the lounge upstairs. Also we got free alcohol while on the plane. Customs was odd I was freaking out but amanda told me that i would be ok..i checked yes in the box because i had prepackaged food like pretzels and stuff they just looked at it and told me i was gonig to be ok haha. then we went on our first bus tour to our hotel and then we went on a lunch cruise of the harbor it was fantasitc. we all took some great pictures. I would not mind living here but its like 10-30 million dollars a house. Then we took a bus tour of all the suburbs which was cool to see the different areas. One area has a legal heroine injection store. how odddd! then we were on our own for dinner. the whole crew decided to go

Hey people! I am in LA and I am heading to Sydney tonight. Friday we went around Simi Valley and I saw someone famous but I dont know who it was. Then we went to Malibu - Gladstones for dinner it was totaly yummy and on the beach!!! Yesterday Amanda and I went to Beverly Hills and walked around Rodeo Drive. My Cousin Consuelo works with the stars and has clients like jennifer aniston and justin timberlake ...she took us to lunch and we got FAMOUS CUPCAKES!! its a place calledSprinkles and they are famous for selling 3$ cupcakes its awesome.. Ok we are going to citywalk today for dinner see y ou in sydney

Hey people! I am in LA and I am heading to Sydney tonight. Friday we went around Simi Valley and I saw someone famous but I dont know who it was. Then we went to Malibu - Gladstones for dinner it was totaly yummy and on the beach!!! Yesterday Amanda and I went to Beverly Hills and walked around Rodeo Drive. My Cousin Consuelo works with the stars and has clients like jennifer aniston and justin timberlake ...she took us to lunch and we got FAMOUS CUPCAKES!! its a place calledSprinkles and they are famous for selling 3$ cupcakes its awesome.. Ok we are going to citywalk today for dinner see y ou in sydney

Call me crazy but I think that I want a pet rat. I have had pets growing up and I think it would be fun to have a pet at my house. I never had a caged animal, but rats are just so cute! My cousin and friend both have rats and I have even housesat for a rat. They seem like very even tempered and quiet but playful animals. I have been reading up on them and learning more about the rat society. I don't really know when I would get one, but it seams to me that the safest way to purchase one is through a rat breeder not a pet store. I guess in their early life they need special care and throwing them in a bin at the pet store is not wise. Any thoughts on the whole pet rat thing?