One-third down

So, I'm officially 1/3 of the way done with my semester here! It's a little sad, but also a relief. School isn't hard; it just gets in the way of my travels and adventures. Not sure if I already mentioned this, but me and two other girls purchased out New Zealand tickets for September 22-October 3. This past weekend I bought the Lonely Planet New Zealand travel book so we can start planning out where to go. We are confining ourselves to the South Island, flying into Christchurch and making our way around in a circle. So far I've booked our first three nights in two cities and am about to book nights 4-6. Those nights we will be in Queenstown, for those of you familiar with the area. Nights 1 and 2 will be spend in Christchurch, while night 3 will be in Lake Tekapo (which is a beautiful town and I recommend googling it). I hope to finalize all our hostel bookings by the end of the week, so we can start to reserve activities.

Last Thursday we celebrated a friend's 20th birthday with pizza and milkshakes with Bailey's Irish Cream. Then we headed off to a bar called Perseverance and danced the rest of the night away. Friday I went out to dinner with some friends and then searched the city for a hookah bar. Well, we found one, but we weren't dressed up enough, which is lame. So, that night was a bust. Saturday I went to the Melbourne Aquarium with some friends and I have to say I was a little bit let down. It wasn't as big and grand as they chalked it up to be, but we had fun nonetheless. Saturday night the four girls I hang out with and I went to a bar called Puggs to watch a national Rugby game that was playing on a big screen and even got to listen to a live band. It was a much needed chill night. This upcoming weekend a friend and I are trying to get to one of the snowy mountains around here to do some snowboarding. Seems crazy to do that sport in Australia, but I've heard the conditions and the mountains are perfect. If we don't end up doing that we'll head to Ballarat, a historical gold mining city a couple hours outside Melbourne and stay there for a night. I'm just itching to get away this weekend. The following weekend is the rock climbing trip with my friend Megan through the University's outdoor program. We'll be climbing, hiking, and camping outside the whole time. I'm pretty excited.

I have an essay due Friday on the Melbourne Aquarium for my Animals in Society class, so I'm going to try and get that done tonight,

Cheers!