My weekend adventure!

I'm still in love with being here...it has now been two weeks since we left the States and I wish everyone could come visit so you all could experience the beauty of Australia! Friday I relaxed on the beach and went into town to get some ice cream...and let me tell you that the ice cream here tastes soooooo much better than it does back at home. It is most likely the fact that it is in the 80s and 90s almost everyday and we don't have air conditioning...but ice cream is my favorite treat after hanging out on the beach all day :) In the evening we all played volleyball...like usual, and I stepped on something that bit the bottom of my foot. :( At the time it just hurt but the next morning my lymph nodes were swollen and the bottom of my foot had a good sized welt. I took some antihistamine's and that seemed to do the trick! Still not sure what it was though...

Saturday I went to Byron Bay to shop! It was a blast and I got some really good finds! Presents for a few people, and some awesome post cards! Cant wait to send them out :) But I need every ones addresses first!


Byron Bay is the best place to shop that's close to Lennox Head. We just take a bus for a small fee and 15-20 min later we are there! This is where we learned to surf and the scuba diving company we dove with is here.




Clock tower in Byron





My roomie on our fun filled shopping day!

Today we went to NIMBIN!!!! Before I tell the story of Nimbin let me disclose that Marijuana is illegal in New South Wales. lol however...the cops just look the other way because they cant stop it anyways...that's what the locals say at least! The trip started out with a big rainbow bus picking us up!


Our bus...and did I mention we were on this all day and it didn't have air conditioning!

 The bus went around and picked up everyone that was going on the trip...17 BSU students but about 40 people total! The bus was full. Then we headed off to Nimbin where we were briefed and warned about Marijuana being an illegal drug. Our driver also informed us that if we should get any cookies while in Nimbin...we should only eat half of it...but if we are heading to Sydney-that's a three cookie trip!



Finally made it to Nimbin and first thing we see is a sweet sign!




The whole town had hippie signs with rainbows or weed symbols




Nimbin Museum!!!...It was kinda strange but I enjoyed all the quotes




One of my favorite quotes in the museum!




Marijuana signs everywhere in this town!




Love this quote...you are the only person holding you back




though this was cool!




It was a very little museum...not sure why they needed a map but there ya go!




It amazed me how open they were about selling paraphernalia




artsy door :)...I though it was amazing!




One of my life motto's!




The town of Nimbin




Read thorough the street codes...they are very interesting




Being silly with some free standing art work in the town!

 Our next stop was a market with tons of vender's that we got to walk around and do some more shopping! We got to see a lot of local artists and try sugar cane juice!



Driving to the market we kept the bus door open...highly illegal and unsafe but it kept us a lot cooler!!! and nothing on this trip has been legal so far...why start now!





We were even allowed to drink on the bus...haha hard cider for me and the roomie!!!




at the market there were horse and buggie rides!




the market was a huge circle of vender's...this isn't even half of it but you get the idea




Raw Cane Juice with ginger and sugar equals delicious!





it looked a little like lemonade...

 


and tasted better!




to save money...four of us shared the drink :)




here is the machine used to make the juice...you run the raw cane sugar stocks through one side and it flattens the cane and squeezes all the juice out...its pretty interesting


 

It was super hot outside...so we found some shade and a bench to sit and wait for the rest of the group to be done shopping



The group that waited in the shade for the rest to catch up at the market!

BSU group and the bus!

After spending some time walking around the market and shopping we headed to a barbie! We had hamburgers, hot dogs, and salad...not very Australian but nothing tastes American here. The Barbie was out at the Rocky Creek Dam and we got to go on a hike! Took some beautiful pictures and also got to see some wildlife up close.


Here is a map of the area and the finger is pointing to where we are at!




The Guana we saw right when we got to the Rocky Creek Dam




A view on our hike in the woods




another view of the swamp




Our hike was beautiful!




The group of hikers!




The dam





The world is so big! I am so happy and lucky to be able to travel the ends of the earth :)




multiple Guana's came back while we were eating...they are fascinating animals to watch




Chillin in a tree :)

On our way back to Lennox Head we stopped off at the waterfall again to cool off...the only problem was we only had fifteen minutes because some of the travelers with us needed to catch another bus back in Byron. We are hoping that we will get the time to spend an entire day at the falls but we have to talk to our professors about that first!

In the end it was a fun day! I enjoyed exploring new places and learning that every place is unique!