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Gap Year

December 2016 - February 2017
A 57-day adventure by Maddie Read more
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  • Maddie BoeGap Year
    Day 8

    Dole Plantation/ Turtle Bay

    December 20, 2016 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 26 °C

    Today I woke up and made some guava pancakes for the group before we headed out to the Dole plantation. After a little traffic and a lot of beautiful views we arrived and instantly felt the hot sun beating down on us. After perusing the jewelry carts and taking some pictures in a giant pineapple William, Brenna and I found ourselves in a very short line for the maze. The length of the line was quite deceiving as it took us over 40 minutes to get to the front. Once we were in we all split up and I was left to my own terrible sense of direction. After 10 minutes I ran into William who had already gotten three of the eight stations and laughed when I told him I hadn't gotten any. After 20 minutes I only had found one station but my luck changed and in ten minutes I found four more. In the end it took me 59 minutes with the help of the map and cutting through the bushes. Not a very impressive time seeing as it was said to take 30 to 40 minutes. Next we went to Turtle Bay where we went snorkeling and saw hundreds of barracudas and many other beautiful fish but no turtles. With nothing in our stomachs we headed back to the hotel but decided to go the scenic route and stopped at a popular shrimp shack for a snack. At this point I wasn't feeling too well so I opted for just water to sustain me for the car ride back. We had views of beautiful cloud covered mountains that were full of lush green foliage as we made the long drive back. After a hot shower and a quick nap we ate a lovely spaghetti dinner before taking some NyQuil and drifting off to the sound of the waves.Read more

  • Maddie BoeGap Year
    Day 9

    Ko Olina Marriott

    December 21, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Unfortunately I was bedridden most of today with the night bringing little improvement of my sickness. So after sipping tea, taking DayQuil, and watching Burnt I finally dragged myself out of bed and to the pool around three. After ordering the tiniest, most expensive caprese salad I have ever seen, I sat by the pool watching a large family play a very weird rendition of volleyball. About an hour later we came back up to the hotel room only to go back down and sit by the beach to watch our final sunset in Ko Olina. After lots of laughs and some beautiful pictures we called it a night and crashed in our hotel room with some yummy leftovers to get us through the night.Read more

  • Maddie BoeGap Year
    Day 10

    Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki

    December 22, 2016 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 24 °C

    Today was another moving day so the first part was mostly consumed by packing and organizing everything. Once we finally got everything ready we headed back to Waikiki and quickly got settled into our hotel room. Although the view wasn't anything like the one at the Marriott it was a nice way to look out over the city. As everyone got ready to head down to the beach I was lying in a heap on a couch, still too sick to do much. William kindly stayed behind with me and we played a fun video game to keep us occupied. Around five I finally convinced my body to get up and we went down to the beach and splashed around in the water before sunset. After cleaning up with some showers we went down to the village and scouted our food options before settling on a nice deli. We watched Sully in our room as we ate our meals and then hit the hay so we would be well rested for our last day in Hawaii.Read more

  • Maddie BoeGap Year
    Day 11

    Pearl Harbor

    December 23, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Today we woke up before the sun and got ready to stand in line at Pearl Harbor for an hour. Amazingly we were one of the first people there in what would be a line of at least a thousand. Once in, we got to look around a little before watching a short film about the background of this preserved cemetery and then boarding the boat to take us out to the site. Thanks to Mr. Messner's previous trip we knew where to sit so we would be the first ones on. I got an amazing picture of just the memorial structure with no one in it. The whole thing was very solemn and beautiful. Oil continuously bubbles up from the depths of the ship and the sheer mass of the boat was mind boggling. The coral that had grown on the boat was more vibrant than any I had seen in Hawaii. We were taken back to land and walked through a few more museums before leaving. On our way back to the hotel we stopped at Punchbowl cemetery and quickly drove by the beautiful structure. Once at the hotel William and I took a short nap before getting ready to go parasailing. We were put on a boat with a nice family from Phoenix and although the time we were up in the air was short, it was a truly magnificent experience that I am glad I had. After parasailing we got dressed up for dinner and I packed all my stuff in preparation for my flight. The rest of the gang watched the Friday fireworks and I met up with them on the beach after. We all walked to Dukes from there which was a nice half hour walk. It was good we had made a reservation because it was packed and I quickly found out why. The food was amazing and it was a great place to go for our last meal in Hawaii. We even pretended it was Brenna's birthday to get a free piece of their famous Hula pie. With out stomachs full we walked back to the hotel and went to bed for the last time in Hawaii.Read more

  • Maddie BoeGap Year
    Day 13

    Sydney Airport

    December 25, 2016 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Today was another early wake up in order to get to the airport the suggested three hours early. Unfortunately, when we got there Jetstar hadn't opened so we were forced to wait forty minutes to get my boarding pass and my bag checked. Once that was done I had to say goodbye to William before walking through security. After getting a little lost I found my gate and waited. While I was waiting a Brit sat down next to me and we got to talking. His name is Chris and we ended up being in the same row and seeing as there was barely anyone on the plane we got to sit next to each other. Besides not having any food or drink the flight was quite pleasurable. There were lots of places to lay down across three seats and some movies to choose from. Chris and I even got into a sudoku battle. Once we landed we headed to the baggage claim which took almost an hour for them to send them all down. Once we got all our bags we headed to the train station got some opal cards and headed to our hostels. We were only about .5 miles away which made it easy to figure out the stops. After settling down and exploring my hostel me and Chris met up again and we took the train down to The Rocks. We got a great view of the opera house before climbing up on the bridge to get a better one. We ended up going all the way across the bridge to catch the train back. Out of desperation for food we quickly sat down at a Thai place before heading back to my hostel and quickly falling asleep.Read more

  • Maddie BoeGap Year
    Day 14

    The Royal Botanic Garden

    December 26, 2016 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Today was a very busy day right from the start. In the morning me and Chris went out in search of some SIM cards which would only be the very beginning of the hunt for SIM cards. After being told my phone was still locked by at&t and that we needed a passport to buy a SIM card we gave up for the day and went into a nearby Coles for some food. We walked out with some water a whole roast chicken and a salad in a bag. We then continued on to the botanic gardens and found a nice shaded place to eat our chicken and salad. When we finished eating we kept walking around the gardens and finding such interesting vegetation and even a little pond where kids were feeding eels bread as if they were ducks. We then found the water and headed up to Mrs Macquarie's chair to get a good view of the opera house and the bridge. Once we reached the end of the peninsula we saw a big dock to walk out on and we headed over to it. After looking at all the statutes on the dock we headed back towards town and found the Art Gallery of New South Whales, went in and looked at some beautiful art from all different kinds of artists including lots of aboriginal work. We left just as it was closing and got ourselves back to our hostels to get ready for dinner. We met back up in Woolworths to buy food for the night and the next few days. We decided on some frozen pizza because it was already so late and we were lazy. So we went back to his hostel and ate the pizza before I turned in for the night and walked back to my hostel with all my breakfast food.Read more

  • Maddie BoeGap Year
    Day 15

    Scubar

    December 27, 2016 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    I woke up at 12 today in the hopes of being more awake and lively for my first night out. This method definitely worked but didn't leave me with much time to do anything in the day. First I went into town hall to try to work out my phone again but unfortunately Chris left his passport so we would have to do it another time. After walking around town hall for a bit we headed back to his hostel for some lunch before going out yet again to try to get our SIM cards. This time however we ran into yet another problem. I had left my phone at the other Vodafone and so I had no phone to put a SIM card in. I ended up having to go all the way back and get my phone and by that time it was time to get ready for the night. After I had cleaned up I went back to Chris's hostel and met his friend Kersten who we would be staying with. After eating a quick "toastie" we went to Sidebar but left soon after because it was so dead and the people we were meeting there hadn't arrived. We just decided to meet them at there hostel and drank a few beers before heading back to Sidebar. Unfortunately they had closed entry by the time we got there so we went to Scubar. There we met an English girl and a German boy who we eventually followed to a karaoke bar. That was closed when we got there so we just went into the closest club we found. Overall my first night clubbing was very hot but very fun and filled with lots of dancing.Read more

  • Maddie BoeGap Year
    Day 16

    Bondi Beach

    December 28, 2016 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Today started like yesterday where I went into town hall to get my SIM card which was the first successful trip to Vodafone. After I had my phone all figured out I decided to meet my new Swedish friends from the night before at Bondi Beach. When I got there there were thousands of people and it took me thirty minutes before John came to find me. After playing some soccer with Niko and John I went into the water which was much colder than I expected. The next few hours we hung out on the beach before heading back to my hostel to back and get ready to move to my next accommodation which was an Airbnb in Bondi. Chris was having phone problems so didn't get any of my messages about where I was supposed to go until 7:30. So I took all my stuff back to Bondi and finally got settled. It was quite late so we decided to go out to grab some food. We went to a little burrito place down the road which ended up being a long wait for not great food. Once we finished it was time for bed and after a long day it wasn't too hard to get to sleep.Read more

  • Maddie BoeGap Year
    Day 17

    Manly Beach

    December 29, 2016 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C

    Today I met up with my Swedish friends again (Niko, John, Tilly and Paulina). We met at the wharf between the bridge and the opera house so that we could take the thirty minute ferry ride up to Manly Beach. When we got there we stopped at a liquor store and I bought my first six pack for the beach. This beach was also very crowded but we found a nice spot pretty close to the swimming zone. Because the currents were so strong today they weren't even letting people swim outside of the flags at there own risk which meant there were constant announcements about people who needed to swim in the right area. Played some soccer before going and getting pummeled by some powerful waves and strong undertow. After I got out I made a little sand man and then buried some feet. After a few hours we went back to the wharf and I got some gelato before boarding the returning ferry. Once back in downtown Sydney we went out separate ways to get ready for a night out. Our plan was to go to a big club called Ivy but we never got in because of too many people. However, I met a nice boy named Tim from the Netherlands before calling it a night.Read more

  • Maddie BoeGap Year
    Day 18

    Bondi Beach

    December 30, 2016 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    Today was definitely a recovery day where I slept a lot and barely left the house. However for the times that I was awake I made myself a delicious pesto pasta dish and then sat outside to enjoy it. While outside I managed to run into a fluffy white thing I quickly befriended. But other than that lots of rest and Netflix consumed most of my day. I was convinced I wouldn't go out tonight but my Swedish friends told me they were going to Ivy and I was afraid if I didn't go tonight I would never get the chance so I rallied and hopped on the train. Being relatively sober at a huge club was quite interesting but I got to meet people from all over the world as I sat by the pool. I met a Brazilian, a big group from Canada studying in Australia, a skydiving instructor from the Whitsundays and many more. The night bus was even easy to find and got there right after I walked up so all in all it was a good night.Read more

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