Byron Bay, Mutant Spider, and Powerpuff Girls. Oi.

Remember when you were a little kid and you used to cover your eyes with your blankets when scared, as if that would be some form of protection against the monsters that were going to attack you? I used that strategy twice this weekend and it still works. Case in point uno: Five of us Americans rented a car on Friday to drive to Byron Bay. Keep in mind, everything is opposite of what we are used to, such as driving on the other side of the street. Therefore, I thought we were going to die. It wasn't my lack of trust in the driver (although her first lines were "Wait. Is the break still on the left side. I forget how to drive.").. just my lack of trust in humanity, I suppose. This resulted in me cowering in the backseat with my eyes closed until we made it onto the highway.

Nevertheless, we arrived safely and spent the morning walking around the area. Byron Bay is the quintessential hippie town and is extremely laid back. We went up to a lookout that is the most Easterly point in Australia where we saw dolphins and whales before a storm out at sea rolled in (see picture below. Pretty cool, egh?).
The entire afternoon was spent sea kayaking, which was a lot of fun. As in, I wouldn't have wanted to be doing anything else in this world than that. We went tandem, and it was quite a rough start for Abbey and I when our kayak flipped as we attempted to get through the break in the waves. Abbey getting pinned under the kayak wasn't as funny for her as it was for me, yet we did eventually make it out to sea with the guide who was with us. Probably the highlight of our adventure, besides everything, was the SEA TURTLES we saw. And by sea turtles I mean loggerhead sea turtles. As in 250 lbs of a sea turtle. Coffee-size table. The only thing bigger than the sea turtles were my eyes. We kayaked around for a long time and it wasn't before long when sea sickness overcame the majority of us. No one got it as bad as Bethany who vomitted, but she did it with a smile and was fine afterwards. Yet another highlight was riding the waves once we got back to shore. Abbey and I were determined not to flip, and maticulously following the directions of paddling as fast as you can, it was quite a scene to see our kayak soaring above the waves, our paddles not even touching the water, yet us frantically paddling in the air as fast as we could. The guide gave us Tim Tams afterwards which made me really happy.

Then comes the worst spider experience of my life. Once we got back home that night, I innocently walked into my bathroom. There, before my eyes, was the most atrocious looking spider I have ever seen outside a cage.. creeping in my shower. This was not acceptable. Keep in mind, I was a camp counselor this summer. I slept with spiders. I squished them with my bare hands. But this is a whole new level of spiderness. I quickly recruited a force of 6 people (making sure males were involved) to see this creature. The worst part is that it was.. mutant, I suppose. It only had 5 legs. I wish it had none. I wish it didn't exist. Shawn killed it. I had goosebumps and chills for the next hour. We (as in Shawn) did a thorough examination of my room to make sure there weren't anymore. That night when I went to sleep I laid there as still as possible with my eyes covered because then spiders wouldn't attack me. It worked. For now.

Speaking of creepy things, Halloween was quite eventful. Some of my friends and I went out to Surfers Paradise to a nightclub where Bond was having a Halloween party. Abbey, Bethany, and I were the Powerpuff Girls (I was Bubbles... which in my opinion is the worst because her only power is speaking in Spanish. Lame). I must admit, I was quite impressed with the creativity of some of the costumes that we saw. Although you did have a good handful of the girls who use Halloween as a prime opportunity to dress as sluts, there were a few costumes that I was quite jealous of. For example, the guy who dressed like the main character from the movie Up, carrying a miniature house attached to a bouquet of balloons. Or Oscar from Sesame Street, walking around in a trashcan.

It is November. Time is going wayyyy tooooo fast. Peace.