Freedom!

Hi folks,

I'm free! Well, for the most part. Last week was really tough, but somehow I survived. Let's just hope I'm still passing all my classes! I have one more assignment due tomorrow, and then a final exam in epidemiology next Monday. After that, I'm totally done! It feels great. So, this week I have all the fun stuff planned that kept me going last week! Tomorrow after I turn in my epi assignment I'm going to a fancy dinner with Jody and Regan at an Italian place where their friend works. Tuesday I'm going to hit the art museum with Jody and Regan to see the new Picasso exhibit, and then maybe do some shopping in Queen Street. Wednesday I think we're all gonna go down to Surfer's Paradise to visit Jody's friend Katie (who was visiting here a couple weeks ago). She's going to Bond University in the Gold Coast. Katie is a photographer, and I just had to steal some of her photos and post them on here because they are so cool! She's got a great camera...I'm totally jealous :o) I think her pictures really show just what a beautiful city Brisbane is.

Katie took this one the night that we had our BBQ at the cliffs - this gives you an idea of the awesome view I have each night from my apartment!

Little piers like this one are located all the way down the river from the Kangaroo Point Cliffs to the end of Kangaroo Point. There are probably 10 or 15 of them. Most of them have little seating areas and they are open for the public to use. Some weekend I'm gonna come down here and bring a book! A lot of times I'll see people fishing off them on the weekends.

Katie also has some great pictures of the wildlife here! This is the crazy bird I talked about early-on called a Cassowary. These are native to the rain forests in New Guinea and Northern Queensland. They are huge, and pretty in an ugly sorta way! Coincidentally, my friend Jody has eaten one. That's right! Jody spent four months last summer living in the jungle with native tribes in Papua, Indonesia. Her stories are absolutely some of the coolest ones I've ever heard! I'll share more some other time, but I will tell you that she has eaten one of these birds and that one of the tribal elders mentioned that they, "taste like people." Yep! The tribe she lived with was cannibalistic until about 30 years ago...so I guess he'd know!

These are Red Kangaroos - the largest species of kangaroo. The males can grow to be about 6 feet tall, and can hop about 30 feet in one leap! When they fight they look like they are boxing, and if it escalates they'll kick using their hind legs like these two!

Can you pick out the red one in this group?

This guy is an emu, the largest bird native to Australia. They are just like an ostrich!

I think this little roo is adorable :o)

Last, one of the golden orb weavers that are ALL over the place here! Creepy, and about the size of your hand!

So, I think the plan is to spend the night with Katie (if she has room for all of us!) and then spend Thursday at the beach too. We'll return to Brissie on Thursday evening so that we can go to the premiere of Sex and the City! I'm very excited about that. Friday my flatmate's girlfriend is having a birthday party, so I think I'll go to that with some friends. Then, Saturday we're planning to go to some horse races that are held nearby. It should be a really fun-packed week and I'm so excited to be done with work and able to celebrate again! At some point I will end up finding a job and plan to work during the winter break. More on that when I know :o)