Airplane (one of my favourite movies, btw)

An automatic assumption that one must take upon entering an airport is that things will go wrong. It's always good to prepare yourself for inevitable inconvenience and stress. Fortunately, the first part of our flights actually went better than planned. For one, my friend Tiffany and I were on the same flight from Brisbane to L.A., so at least I had a companion for the 12 hour flight.


But it only got better from there. After requesting seats next to one another, we were informed that we were bumped up to economy class, which is a step below first class. Not only that, we had the first row of seats, meaning extra leg room, plus no one was sitting on my right side. As you can tell from the pictures below, we were pretty excited about all of this.

We both did not get any sleep on that flight because there was too much to do. There were tons of movies, music, TV, and documentaries to watch, plus an almost constant influx of food into our mouths. Hard life, eh?

The moment we stepped off that flight, though, things went dramatically downhill. Because of the closure of the JFK airport in NY, there were way too many people frantically wandering aimlessly trying to figure out what to do. The first problem was the line for getting our tickets: the problem was that there was no line, just a huge glob of people. We did see Michael Cera, the main male actor in Juno. Tensions were high, and everyone quieted down when this man was yelling at a worker who was making him test the size of his carry-on luggage. The luggage proceeded to get stuck and he was thrashing around like a madman. Very entertaining.

Once we got our luggage, we then had to get in a line to get in line for security. Seriously? Amidst this line was this man wandering around asking everyone "where is my wife? Where is my wife?" Uhhh. Finally we get into the line for security and realised that we only had 15 minutes until our plane boarded. We asked a worker if we'll be alright on time, which obviously we weren't, and all he kept on repeating was "plenty of time," which got really annoying after the 1000th time. Fortunately, everyone else was in the same boat.

That's when we met the most annoying girl ever in my life. Everything about her was annoying. I can't even describe it. However, she was rather pushy, and it was because of her that we were able to sneak to the front of the line and get through security. We ran to our plane and the door closed behind us. Normally all of this would have stressed me out, but I was too tired to even express any form of emotion.

We then flew from L.A. to Chicago and parted ways as I flew to Columbus. After an ungodly amount of time traveling, I found my sister impatiently waiting for me, with her first words of "I'm over here, you idiot." Welcome back to the states, Kendra. I slept straight for 14 1/2 hours and my sleep schedule is still a bit thrown off.

Oh.. and this weather? Awful.

WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT! Alice Springs, Outback, and Adelaide

BEST TRIP EVER!!! Don't get me wrong, every travel experience has been absolutely wonderful, but the Outback.. well, it was just out of control awesome. With the help of our Aussie friend, Matt, our adventure began when we were dropped off at the Brisbane airport at 5:30 AM to fly to Adelaide and then to Alice Springs. These flights went reasonably smooth, minus the most annoying couple ever sitting next to me who were all touchy-feely and kissing one another the entire time. I wanted to vomit.

We spent the first night in Alice Springs at a great hostel (I know, usually "great" and "hostel" don't go hand-in-hand), and awoke at 5:00 AM to begin our 3 day tour of the Outback. With a group of 20 others, who were all close to our age and similarly filled with too much energy, and our crazy tour guide, Heith, we set out for a 5 hour drive to King's Canyon. Once arriving there, we commenced a 3 hour hike around the canyon which was simply breathtaking. Literally. And hot. And when I say hot, I mean 40-45 C (104-113 F).

The rest of the day was spent driving some more, stopping at the occasional cattle ranch and other picture-worthy sights, until we made it to where we were sleeping, which was in the middle of nowhere... perfect for sleeping under the stars in our swags. The moon was so bright that I almost put on my sunglasses when sleeping to block the light out. This is not an exaggeration. Well, maybe. But it was the brightest I have ever seen the moon.

The next morning we awoke at 4:00 AM to see an Outback sunrise.. beautiful! We then drove to Mount Kata Tjuta, which was my favorite part of the tour. The 3 hour hike felt so surreal, as if I was walking on a different planet. I have never seen anything like it before and the entire time I repeatedly said "am I actually here?!" Only downside to all of this, though, were the flies. They were everywhere and would not leave you alone. They are somewhat tolerable until they swoop into your mouth, nose, ears, or your sunglasses... which happened all the time, making them never tolerable.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in a "resort" area near Uluru (Ayer's Rock). Fortunately, it had a pool, and I'm pretty sure our skin actually sizzled when we first jumped in. That evening we drove to a spot near Uluru to watch a sunset. Seriously? Does it get any better. Yes.


Early next morning we headed to Uluru to do the basewalk. It took us about a good 2 1/2 hours to walk around it, but every moment was spectacular. Besides the flies. And the dry heat. And my hunger level, which as you all know, is a constant high.

The rest of the day was spent driving back to Alice Springs, with a stop at a camel farm. Once arriving back to the hostel, our group spent the rest of the evening together until everyone died of exhaustion.

We spent another day and night at Alice Springs, walking around the area, shopping and attempting to have a normal body temperature by spending the majority of the time in the pool. Both mornings I attempted a run, but I'm pretty sure a turtle would have been able to pass me.

The next day we flew from Alice Spring back to Adelaide to spend the night there. Thanks to our awesomely amazing friend, Kit, who grew up in Adelaide, she arranged for us to spend the night at her house with her parents. I LOVED Adelaide... as in if I ever live in Australia, that's where I would find myself. It's a somewhat small city filled with old buildings and many, many trees. Kit lives in a 150 year-old house which I was pretty much in awe of the entire time. Her mom drove us around, giving us a grand tour of the city, highlights including a Christmas lights display and a stop at a pie floater cart (do not ask). Thankfully, her dad was willing to take us to the airport at 5:30 AM the next morning for our final flight back to the Gold Coast.


That's pretty much the abstract to the entire report I could write on this trip. There's so much I could say but I really don't even know where to begin. However, I am leaving out some details that I at least think are pretty interesting...

• The spot where we slept on the first night of our Outback tour is owned by a man who owns 1,006,000 acres of land. How is that even possible?
• Yes, we did see dead kangaroos on the side of the road.
• During the second night while I was passed out, others saw dingoes walking through the area where we were sleeping.
• I'll try not to go on a lecture right now, but obviously in Alice Springs there were plenty of Aboriginals. Do some research on them, and you'll quickly understand the condition that these people are in. It's a heavy, debatable topic on what to do about it, but either way, seeing the Aboriginal children broke my heart.
• 35 people have died climbing Uluru.
• Props to my friend, Abbey, for putting up with me during the many, many hours we spent on the bus together. I resort to childlike behaviour when confined for such a long time.
• I have never drank so much water in my life. But it barely did anything because the water in your water bottle was basically boiling.
• Speaking of water, it took much coaching for me to pee in the middle of the Outback. I suppose its a good thing, but my body simply does not understand the concept of peeing when I'm not sitting on a toilet. Yes, this may all be too much information, but it's the truth.

Now off to study for exams.