Creepy Catherine

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

different from where I come from, Halloween is pretty big over here (although it's actually an american thing) and people tend to go out and dress up for the occasion. So that's what we did!

Rather than spending an awful lot of money on costumes I decided to only use makeup to create a scary version of me, and so I bought some black and white paint from pacfair and looked in my closet for a black and white outfit and tadaa my look was finished: skull face. To my amazement the "painting" worked out quite well as I've never tried it before but see for yourselves:

 we went to our bar on campus, Don's, which they decorated and turned into a fright night so it all seemed promising... Unfortunately it wasn't a very fun night after all but hey at least we got cool pictures! After a while you just get fed up by going to that same small bar and meeting the same people over and over again...but I won't complain, at least we are still able to go out and not be stressed out 'cause of uni every day of the week (the time will come very soon).

...and yes that's a real snake!

Enjoy your weekend everyone! xxx

beach babe

Palm trees, ocean breeze,salty air and sunkissed hair...endless summer take me there!

Living close to the beach was always one of my dreams, with moving to Australia and studying at Gold Coast this wish came true. As I only have three months to spend here I've got to enjoy every minute, so no wonder that I spend a lot of my time at the beach.In the beginning this was easier, people were still excited and had time so we went to the beach whenever we didn't have anything else to do. Now that midterms have begun and everybody's got so much stuff to do for uni, the days where one can do nothing but relax at the beach are over... It is not like we completely stopped going to the seaside, it's just that it became limited and we only go there every second weekend. At first I was like 'yeah sure I'm just going to study at the beach'...that did not work out! I mean you can't tell me that studying at the beach is possible, there are so many distractions, too much noise, the beautiful view, it's too hot and your books get all sandy and wet! I found out studying at the pool is actually much easier, doesn't always work but for english literature as it's mostly about reading I often go to the pool to not get trapped in my room all day and feel like I'm wasting my time here.

Anyways living near to the beach is something I never experienced before, sure whenever we were on vacation our hotel was always located quite close to the beach but it's not the same because in a hotel you're always the guest, over here it really feels like your home after a while. I know that it's only 3-4 months but it's my room, my belongings and most of all there are no servants and it turns into routine due to uni, which never really happens when being on vacation.

The picture above was taken at Surfer's Paradise around 5am.
After clubbing and having missed the bus back to uni, we decided to go to the beach
and watch the sunrise up close. While waiting we had some fun taking pictures and
running around in the sand. Even though the party wasn't that good, it was worth going out
because of that moment at the beach.

Australia hasn't got many things to offer when it comes to culture, but they definitely own the beach culture! 80% of its population live within 50 km of the coast and for them the beach is not just a beautiful place to relax, it is a real part of their lives. Everything revolves around the beach: lifestyle, fashion, food, music and sports.

                                                                                            

A must do for me when living this close to the beach is spending time there doing different things. It is not only about sunbathing and going for a swim like most tourists would say, it is also about meeting friends, having a bbq there or a simple picnic, enjoying the view and silence (do it on your own, it is truly relaxing!) or having drinks with friends in the evening...take it all in!

Barbeque at Burleigh Heads with a bunch of Bondies

         

         Best
         Escape
         Anyone
         Can
         Have

The beach comes with a sense of freedom, a place where we can let ourselves go and be like kids.
Here at the Gold Coast people tend to be quite superficial, girls are always styled, very fit and conscious about their looks. At first this stressed me out and I've got to admit I'm often annoyed by how skinny and fit everybody is around here...I felt bad about myself and sometimes still do. But then I remind myself that I'm lucky to be here and that I should be glad for this opportunity and not worrying about how I look in a bikini! As long as I'm happy and healthy, everything's fine, more than that...it's great!

I dig my toes into the sand
The ocean looks like a thousand diamonds
Strewn across a blue blanket
I lean against the wind
Pretend that I am weightless
And in this moment I am happy...and free

I wish I could experience this with all of you...but as this is not possible I'll just keep on making you jealous by posting beautiful landscape pictures. Hope you're enjoying winter time back home ;-)

xxx

Cuteness overload in Currumbin

Currumbin Sanctuary

alle einsteigen und los geht's! Auf zu den Kangaroos, Koalas, Crocodiles...

An einem wunderschönen sonnigen Tag hier an der Gold Coast haben Sarah, Armin, Dino und ich uns überlegt die Flora und Fauna Australien's etwas besser kennenzulernen und sind zum Currumbin Sanctuary gefahren. Ich muss zugeben dass der Hauptgrund dahin zu fahren die Koalas und Kangaroos waren, die man dort hautnah erleben kann...primär sind wir halt doch Touristen!

tasmanian devil...looks cute but can actually be really dangerous!
Man hat ihn wohl nicht umsonst den Tasmanischen "Teufel" genannt

I fell in love with a kangaroo...




Die Kangaroos waren alle sehr zutraulich, kuschelig und so süß! Wir haben Stunden bei ihnen verbracht und hunderte von Fotos gemacht, von denen ich hier (leider) nur ein par hochladen kann. Ich denke es wird trotzdem reichen damit ihr euch ein Bild von dieser unglaublich Erfahrung machen könnt...

hanging out with my new mate

so fluffy and so cute that you cannot help the constant smile on your face!

 rumalbern gehört dazu

However the kangaroos were not the only animals we spend hours looking at
there's this other animal which is really layed back and always sleepy...No I'm not talking about me! I'm talking about Koalas, in this case about Lily, the koala we were allowed to pick up and cuddle...

 ohne Worte... Lily und ich posen für die Kamera!

Baby Koalas die sich ganz doll lieb haben

tree kangaroos

Emu, Krokodile und Uhrzeitvögel... im Currumbin Sanctuary gibt es jegliche spannende und vor allem für uns Europäer exotische Tierarten die Australien zu bieten hat.


Nach der ganzen Wildnis mussten wir uns erstmal erholen und ein bisschen Zivilisation in Form von Burger and Fries genießen:

direkt gegenüber vom Currumbin Beach haben wir uns in einem schönen Strandcafé ein leckeres Abendessen mit Blick auf den Strand gegönnt und den Tag ausklingen lassen.
Somit geht ein gelungener Tag, wenn nicht sogar einer der schönsten die ich hier bisher erleben durfte, zu Ende.

For more exciting stories and amazing pictures don't forget to keep on reading my blog!
I'll keep you posted. xxx
Cathy

Byron Bay

what started with lots of stress, ended in happiness...well let's just say more or less

(holy moly noticed that rhyme right there! I should make a song out of it and I assure you I could totally become the next Phoebe Buffay...to all of you philistines out there Phoebe is this crazy but lovely character from 'friends' which likes singing her own really badly written songs )

Anyways! Back to the trip...the first one we went on as a bunch of Bondies

It was all very exciting and fun even though I cannot deny that there were some tensions we had to deal with within the group. However I'll not go into detail, first of all it would take me way too long and most of all you couldn't relate to it as you don't know the people, hence, I would bore you to death! And that's what I definitely wasn't on planning when talking about the amazing landscape Byron Bay has to offer.

Our Hostel

We stayed in the Arts Factory Backpackers Lodge and as the name indicates, it is a very artsy and  relaxed place to stay at. People of all sorts come together and get along really well because the atmosphere is just so layed back and attracts mostly hippies, surfers and backpackers or simply young travellers wanting to explore Australia. So people are all on the same level, they are there for a few days, to meet new people, enjoy Byron and have a good time.

For two nights we stayed there, in a dorm with three other girls from different countries, challenging me to practice my french once more. The hostel was clean (as clean as hostels can be), the kitchen, the eating area and lounge were quite big and walking around just felt like being in a summer camp with friends, discovering this new way of living and interacting.

Lighthouse

 on the way to the lighthouse

enjoying the look-out on the platform

most easterly point of Australia!

beautiful beach and an amazing look-out

when the way down is easy...walking back to the top is almost always hard!

 this quiet beach is worth the walking!

 not a soul to be seen...nice change from surfers or rather tourists paradise

 natürlich mussten wir unser Revier verteidigen und haben erst mal unsere Piratenflagge gehisst...Arrr!

happy and relaxed on top of the cliffs
btw wearing shoes when climbing up is definitely an advantage in this case...

ZEN

Party in Byron Bay (students...)

pre-drinks in the dorms

 part of the crew ready to hit the clubs

Nimbim

Nimbim is a very little village (really just a street!) famous for its hippie style and most of all for its attitude towards smoking weed. As lonely planet and every other tourist guide advises people to go there because it is said to be a relaxing and layed back city painted in the colours of reggae, a must see for all tourists...

It is true that it is quite something else...everything's colorful and handwritten, the shops look cute and the sayings on walls tell you what kind of people live there. Not too bad really...but not at all what I expected! Maybe it was because we arrived there in late afternoon and most of the shops were closed already (lucky for my wallet as I'm obsessed with those slouchy pants...) but I expected something more special, maybe a little market or at least a nice bar or restaurant to chill at. 

The people we met were all nice, don't get me wrong, but didn't seem all that free and happy as you might expect them to. Every five meters somebody asked you if you wanted to buy drugs, which was kinda scary as you could so obviously tell by looking at them that they were hooked on it (in a very sad way). 

After walking up and down the streets, taking some pictures and enjoying some italian food in the only restaurant we could find, we left Nimbim again.

                   peace and love

Next day, on the way back home to Robina we made another quick stop at the beautiful beach and then at the National Park to walk down (and up) to see the Minyon Falls and the jungle surrounding it

walking into the jungle still sure that we would make it out 1 or 2 hours later...

there's always time for a group picture..even though I'm pretty sure that we were already lost at that point and starting to realise that something must have gone wrong as the minyon falls seemed nowhere near but two hours passed already...

 über Stock und über Stein... yes it was exhausting but in the end we found the falls, they were hiding behind a massive walls of rocks...

dear readers, I present to you: the Minyon Falls!

they might not look that extraordinary but believe me after two hours of desperately searching for them it was amazing to sit down, look up and take it all in. Power of nature...

In case you're wondering why we couldn't find them in the first place, we took the wrong turn and unconsciously decided to walk the 4 hours hike instead of the easier one...typical isn't it?!

The end

  I'm not kidding...this is not a picture I took in Luxembourg as some of you might have guessed. This happened on our way back to Robina.

So that was our first road trip together here in Australia, I hoped you enjoyed reading about it but I can assure you not as much as I experiencing it!

As I said it all started with stress but after having seen the magical beach, walking through the jungle only minutes away from civilisation and having a great time with other bondies, I can say it was all worth it! Byron Bay is a nice place and if I ever go back there it is to do skydiving...who knows what will happen in such a crazy place as Australia so don't miss my next blog entries...!

I'll keep you posted! xxxCatherine