HOLY MOLY I WENT SKYDIVING!

Well, I thought for sure the Great Barrier Reef was the best day of my life, but I think I was wrong. Jumping out of a plane 14,000 feet up, might be. I cannot believe I went skydiving! Siena, Sara and myself decided to go last minute. We planned it all out, and we were skydiving in Byron Bay. I wish I had the words to explain how amazing it was, but I just cannot do it. We got picked up from the Skydiving bus around 6:45 Saturday, November 8th, and arrived in Byron Bay around 8:15. The three of us waited around for a little over 3 hours, until it was finally our time to skydive. I really wasn't that nervous, and it still didn't hit me even when we were all geared up. Sara's mom knew about it, and her dad recommended it, both of my parents were supportive and excited for me, but this is one thing that Siena's family did not want her to do. But as a 21 year old, she made the choice to do it anyway, and ask for forgiveness afterwards. Luckily, they were so excited for her and were just happy she was safe! After over 3 hours of waiting, we were finally boarding the plane. Siena went first, and I was the last one to board. It was us 3 girls, and then two other girls jumping. Because I was the last one to get on, this meant that I was the first one to jump.. oh boy. We got a brief lesson about what positions to do at which time, how to jump out, and how to land. We were actually doing this. There was no turning back now. Once we got to 14,000 feet, the camera men jumped first. I couldn't believe it. They actually just free fall and jump out of a plane. It looked crazy. At this point, I still wasn't too nervous, just very excited. I let my instructor control everything, and he pushed both of us to the edge of the plane. He rocked back, forward, back and forward again and we were out of the plane. Now this was when my emotions kicked in. Free falling 14,000 feet up is one of the scariest feelings ever, but man, it was incredible. The view was breathtaking, spectacular, words cannot describe it. To my one side was Byron Bay, and to my other side was Gold Coast. It was just amazing. After free falling for 60 seconds, the parachute opened up. I couldn't believe I actually just did that. Once the instructor had the parachute opened and was all set up, he handed me the straps, and I was able to direct us. I could pull all the way down on the right side, and we did a 360, then switched and did it on the left side. It was amazing. While we were still so high up in the air, he kept pointing out different locations on the ground, one of them being the place we land. I still couldn't believe that just happened. My mind was going crazy. I instantly fell in love with skydiving. As we were coming to the ground and preparing to land, I was so sad that it was already over. Skydiving alone is amazing, but being offered the chance to skydive in Australia was even better. When we landed, I asked my instructor how many times he has skydived, and he said over 8,000!!! I couldn't believe it.

We then were dropped off at Byron Bay for about two hours. We had some free time, so we just walked around the town, saw the beach, and went into a few different shops!

Today was the best day ever.

Gold Coast!

In Gold Coast, us four girls were staying in Matt's childhood friend's apartment. So once we got off the train, we had to take a bus, and then catch a tram to their apartment. We walked for a few minutes and then found the apartment. It is such a nice place. They were studying for finals, so we didn't want to distract them too much, so we dropped our bags off and then went to the beach. Oh my, it was such a nice day. Gold Coast is gorgeous. I really like it here.

At night, for dinner, we all decided to go to Hooters together to get to know each other. Us girls wanted to go because they had buffalo chicken, and you can all guess why the boys wanted to go! Although the one roommate Jack was at the library, Ian, Will, and us four girls all went out to dinner. It was so delicious. I had a buffalo chicken sandwich with curly cheese fries. Oh my it was so good. Also, Will and I shared fried pickles as an appetiser!

The next two days, us girls decided to go to Surfers Paradise beach and spend the day there. It has been such nice weather, especially for the beach. Besides just laying out at the beach, we walked around town and went into the different shops. We found a mall, and walked around there, and one thing that caught our eye was Build A Bear. They had a koala that you could stuff! It was so cute!

To end our relaxing break in Gold Coast, we ended the weekend with a bar crawl. It was called The Hangover Bar Crawl, and was based off of the movies The Hangover. We paid $40 for free VIP entrance to four clubs, and received a drink at each bar. Our first stop was Strikers, which was a bowling alley. We didn't get the chance to bowl, because all of the lanes were full, but we enjoyed ourselves there. We then went to Cocktails Nightclub. At this club, there were many different games and activities that the bar crawl ran. There were also two bridal showers, and one 18th birthday party (legal drinking age in Australia), so it was a fun night! After that was Sin City. This was my favourite of the three so far. It was really nice, and played great music. Our next and final stop was Vanity. Oh my goodness. I do not even have words for this bar. It was incredible. They just redid the women's bathroom and spent $2 million on it. They have hair dressers and make up artists that will do your hair and makeup. Theres chandeliers in the bathroom, couches, many mirrors, and so much more. It was amazing.

Will, Sara, Becca, Jack, Me, Ian, and Siena!

Altogether, it was an amazing couple of days in Gold Coast. We had perfect weather, met great friends, and enjoyed our time.