11 days and counting.......

In exactly 11 days I will be boarding a plane and heading to the wonderful world of "Oz".  Australia is also called Oz and I imagine that it is in fact quite wonderful.  I will be leaving Newark, NJ at 5:30am on May 28th with stops in Texas, Hawaii, and Gaum before landing in Cairns, Australia at 11:20pm on May 29th. Yes, that's correct, I lose a day and half to traveling in a plane or two.

Once I arrive in Cairns I will be making my way to a hostel called The Northern Greenhouse.  I will stay here until June 4th.  One might not have nice visions come to mind when they hear or see the word hostel, but I assure you this hostel is far from those visions. I'll have internet, free breakfast every AM, free BBQ dinners, access to a pool and much more....all for $28 a night! Can't beat that! My own pictures will follow in future posts, but for now these were taken from the internet.

While I am in Cairns I will have to participate in the Bridging Cultures program which is the intern orientation.  This program will take place June 1st through June 4th.  Our fist day will just be filled with the arrival of other interns, receiving our cell phones, getting to know each other and then dinner at a local place called The Pier.  On day 2 we will be participating in a dreamtime walk with the Aboriginals, watch a traditional Aboriginal dance, and visit a wildlife park where we can feed kangaroos (or just roos as they are called) and get our picture taken holding a koala bear.  On day 3 we will be spending the day out on the Great Barrier Reef snorkeling and diving the world's largest living organism. On Day 4 we will all be getting ready to head to our other accommodations for the remainder of our internship. I will be back on a plane again and headed to Sydney where I will reside until August.

The place I will be staying at is another hostel called Jack's Place.  I will be living with other interns in a suite style room.  We will have our own bedrooms with a shared living-room, kitchen and bathroom. Jack's Place is about 30mins, by train, to my internship site so I will quickly become a "commuter" again. I will have pictures for you all as soon as I get there. The video is also of Jack's Place.

This is all you get until I arrive! ENJOY!