Making the most of it

I have exactly one month left in Australia. Three more weeks of school that promise to keep me busy with two 3000-word papers to finish in the next two weeks and another 2000-word essay the week after, followed by three exams just to make things sweet. My last week here I plan to spend lots of time in Byron Bay, the local touristy beach town that has an awesome assortment of local restaurants, cafes, and shops as well as a beautiful beach and scenery. I plan to lie on the beach, swim in the ocean, and enjoy the end of my undergraduate career. But first, I must make the most of my time left!

I'll never admit how much luggage I brought and I sure as hell ain't posting the one piece of photographic evidence but I will say that I lugged my scuba fins, snorkel, and mask all the way here expecting to go diving willy nilly (apparently; I also thought I'd be camping more often). I finally got it together and joined the SCU Dive Club's last certification class of the semester (I'm already certified but four years of no diving with only a cert dive in turbid Rocky Point doesn't really count). This weekend, I'm hoping to dive out at Julian Rocks east of Byron Bay. I hope because I conveniently came down with a cold earlier this week and as some of you may know, if you can't equalize the pressure in your ears, you can't go diving. So, fingers crossed that tomorrow I will have no issues. 

I also realized over the last two weeks that I haven't spent any time in an actual large city here in Oz. How could I contemplate leaving without visiting someplace? So, on the advice of several Aussies, I'll be heading to Melbourne in two weeks for a long weekend. Melbourne, while not as well-known as Sydney, is the most multicultural city in Australia and sounds like an awesome place to spend some time. It'll be my last [big] independent traveling experience and I'm really nervous and looking forward to it! Gotta finish those two big papers first, though.

Additionally, I'm finally going to go hiking in the Border Ranges National Park which has been closed on-and-off due to damage from all the storms that occurred in January and February. We'll see how good my hiking is after a semester of fighting colds, injuries, and periodic sedentariness.

Other plans include a 6k fun run, making chile verde for my roommates, driving to Brisbane before flying out (for the first time in four months, on the other side of the road...and car...), and revisiting the Aussie/SCU/Wilsons College social activities once all my studies are done, not in that order.

This month will fly by but I intend to live in the moment and enjoy each day to the fullest.