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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 19

    Bondi: New Years

    December 31, 2016 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Today I headed into town to try to plan my next move up north to Byron bay. I met up with my Swedish friends at their hostel so that I could see what bus to take and after figuring that out I booked my hostel. After eating a little I headed towards the opera house to try to meet up with Chris and Kerstan who had already gone into the parks. When I got off the train I was hungry and accidentally bought a nine dollar chocolate croissant. Then I headed up to Mrs. Macquarie's Chair in search of a way in. Half way up I asked some event staff if they were still letting people in to any of the parks and they told me not unless you had bought a prepaid ticket. So I gave up and headed back home which was much more difficult and took much longer than normal due to changes bus routes and technical problems on the only train to Bondi. After over an hour I finally made it home to find three other girls who were apparently friends of my host. I showered and changed and had a lovely home cooked meal with Tom and all his guests then started wandering around, waiting for my Swedish friends to figure out what they were doing. Apparently I looked lost because a young German boy ran after me and asked if I had any plans and when I told him no he invited me to a barbecue. I thought that would be nice and went and enjoyed some homemade margaritas and another little dinner before we headed out to meet his other friends. After walking the wrong way and getting a taxi to the right place we walked up to the penthouse of an apartment building where there was a huge party. It had the most beautiful view of Bondi and the fireworks and besides the very long bathroom lines the whole party was amazing and filled with people from all over. At the end of a long night I walked the short distance home and quickly fell asleep.Read more

  • Maddie BoeGap Year
    Day 20

    Bondi Beach

    January 1, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Today was a late wake up seeing as I went to bed around 4 so it was almost lunch time when I woke up. By that time the others were already down on the beach so I quickly joined them. However, our beach day was cut short when it started raining so I took my chance to get something to eat. I went out to lunch with my German friend I met the night before and then headed back to my Airbnb. I hung out with everyone there for awhile and then me and Kerstan went to the market to buy dinner supplies. Then we went back and made everyone dinner before calling an early night to catch up on some much needed sleep.Read more

  • Maddie BoeGap Year
    1
    Day 21

    Sick day

    January 2, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Today was the worst of my sickness and after not sleeping for most of the night due to coughing I was left very tired. I was forced to sleep for most of the day and only went out around five. I decided to walk along the coastal walk for a bit where I saw the weirdest rock formations lots of beautiful beaches and a lonely looking boy sitting out on the rocks. I decided to just go for it and walked down the rocks to the boy watching the waves. After standing by him for awhile I asked if I could sit by him and then we got to talking. His name is Harry and he was visiting from Melbourne where he lives. He was having some problems with his girlfriend who he was visiting with and had none of his stuff except his nearly dead phone. He had to leave quickly after but I was glad I forced myself to talk to him because I now have a tour guide in Melbourne. I walked back to Bondi and stopped at a little fish market where I bought some very cheap fish called Gemfish. I then bought some groceries for the following days and some corn to accompany my fish. I went home and cooked up my dinner and then enjoyed a movie while eating it. Overall it was a very peaceful night and a pretty good one for my first night completely alone.Read more

  • Maddie BoeGap Year
    Day 22

    Clovelly beach

    January 3, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Still sick when I woke up but I was committed to running along the coastal walk that I walked on yesterday. Unfortunately I got a late start so I started when it was very hot which made the hills slightly more difficult. I ran by lots of different beaches and even through a huge cemetery, all the time weaving in and out of the hundreds of people walking. I only went a few miles before turning around and heading back for some breakfast and a little swim at the beach. For the rest of the day I pretty much packed and readied myself for my move up to Byron Bay before making myself a nice dinner.Read more

  • Maddie BoeGap Year
    Day 23

    Central station

    January 4, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Today my sickness got the best of me for the last time. I woke up early to make sure I would be out in time but once Tom heard my constant coughing he told me I could stay until my bus arrived that night. So after sleeping and resting for the day I got all my stuff together and quickly stopped at the store for some bus snacks before heading to central station. I struggled to find the bus stop but luckily I had gotten there early enough. Soon after my Swedish friends arrived we boarded the bus and started on our long journey up the coast. It quickly got dark and we continuously made weird stops at random times and places throughout the night.Read more

  • Maddie BoeGap Year
    Day 24

    Byron Bay Lighthouse

    January 5, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    I was still on the bus till almost 9 today and only got about 2 hours of sleep on the whole bus ride. Luckily my hostel ended up being a short 5 minute walk from the bus station. Unluckily my room wouldn't be ready tell about 12:30 so I shoved my luggage into storage and then napped on a couch in the lounge for a few hours. When I woke up I was able to check into my room and take a quick shower. When I got back I met a girl in my room named Sophie who was about to walk up to the lighthouse with two other girls. I joined them on the walk along the beach and then up to the lighthouse which was a decent trek but definitely worth it. We even got to the most eastern point of all of Australia. On the way back to our hostel we stopped and swam in some of the most beautiful water I've ever been in. It was the perfect temperature and so clear it was crazy. After a little snack I met up with my Swedish friends and we went to a free pizza party being hosted by a travel agency. With full stomachs we headed off in search of a good bar/club and finally ended up at one right by the beach. We called it a night pretty early due to lack of sleep and having to wake up decently early.Read more

  • Maddie BoeGap Year
    Day 25

    Clark's Beach

    January 6, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    I forced myself to wake up early today so I could try to go book a tour to Nimbin at a travel agency. Luckily I was able to book it just in time and then get to the bus station. Once we all had boarded I got to talking to a German girl but then the driver said that they overbooked so I could ride with them until they picked up the last people to see if anyone cancelled but if not I would have to get off. Turns out everyone showed up so I was kicked off the bus about 25 minutes walking from where my hostel was. So I got down to the beach and started walking. When I was almost to my hostel a French boy stopped me and started talking to me in very limited English. His two other friends helped him out and I ended up setting up my stuff with them. I spent most of the day practicing my French and even surfed for a bit with the board he rented for a few hours. Half way through the day we saw a pod of dolphins swim by only 200 feet off shore. At one point it started raining and I ran back to my hostel, took a shower and changed before going out and buying some food for dinner. I hadn't eaten for most of the day and thought it would be a good idea to eat two big servings of pasta. After waiting a little and talking to some friends I left to go buy a smoothie while my phone attempted to download a show. When I got back my friend was gone but instead a guy named Mike was watching my phone and so we got to talking and because he didn't have anything to do the next day he decided to do the tour I had rescheduled. I ended up having another early night in preparation for my Nimbin tour the next day.Read more

  • Maddie BoeGap Year
    Day 26

    Nimbin

    January 7, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Woke up quickly ate breakfast and made my way to reception where the bus would pick Mike and i up. We boarded the very hippy bus and started our journey to Nimbin. The drive there was beautiful and filled with rolling green mountains. We stopped at a waterfall on the way and saw some turtles swimming in the water below. We continued to our next stop at a pub and a overgrown railway. While most went into the pub for a drink we went exploring and found a beautiful old bridge surrounded by foliage. After wandering around for a little we boarded the bus and headed to out final destination. When we got to Nimbin our tour guide, princess Fiona, told us of all the places we could buy weed around town and then set us loose. Our group of about 15 seemed to stick together in the search for some cookies and brownies. For some reason it was particularly hard to find any today and most places said that it was the wrong time. After almost an hour we finally found some cookies and then walked down to the designated lunch place. We ate the cookies and then some delicious burgers with sweet potatoes and pineapple and then boarded up and started heading back just when all of us were starting to feel it. The bus ride back was much quieter with many sleeping and some bursts of random laughter. Once back both of us were tires so we took a quick nap before heading out in search of some food to quench our munchies. We stopped for some burritos before heading to the beach to look at the stars.Read more

  • Maddie BoeGap Year
    Day 27

    Tallow Beach

    January 8, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Today was one of the best and most relaxing days I've had since I've been here. Easy morning made breakfast and looked up where I might go next before running into Annika and Sophie. We talked for a bit and then Mike came down and we rode up by the lighthouse. We got off our bikes and walked further to a look out point where you could see the lighthouse and both beaches on each side of the peninsula. Then we descended into a beautiful lush national park with trees making a little tunnel over the paths. Here we saw a huge lizard that was about 4 feet long and looked like a Komodo dragon. We popped out of the trees on the same street our bikes were on just further down. Turns out that wasn't the way to the more secluded beach but with the help of google maps we realized we just had to walk down a nearby street and then on another beautiful path. It was an absolutely beautiful and huge beach with almost no one on it. Immediately got in the water which again left we stunned by the clarity and beauty of it. The waves on this beach were even more constant and the sand dipped down so quickly so that you could be standing in knee deep water and one wave could be up to your chest. The rest of the afternoon we explored the forest lining the beach where we saw a rare red necked wallaby, and continued going in and out of the water as we pleased. I also saw the most beautiful piece of wood with swirls and cracks and there was something so mesmerizing about it. I played with a little white crab before walking past some naked sun bathers to look at the rocks at the end of the beach. On our way back to pick up the bikes I unfortunately stood in a ants nest and got bitten by a very large unidentified ant. It hurt like hell for quite awhile but I tougher it out like always. Then we biked down to Clark's beach and walked around the base of the lookout point rock thing so we could watch the surfers on the other side. we stayed there till the sun set and then biked back along the beach and taking quick showers before heading to Earth n Sea to eat a crap ton of delicious lasagna. We walked around for a bit before settling on the beach once again to watch the stars and the light house.Read more

  • Maddie BoeGap Year
    Day 28

    Byron Bay

    January 9, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    I woke up earlier then planned to say goodbye to Mike but quickly went back to sleep. When I woke up the second time I made breakfast and the went to the beach to meet up with my Swedish friends who I hadn't seen in a few days. When I got there we played some uno before jumping into the water where Nick lost his sunglasses. Of course my one hidden talent is finding sunglasses in water and that's exactly what I did. Then I borrowed John's snorkel gear and swam around some rocks with a lot of very plain whitish fish. After we got out I realized just how swollen my foot and toes were which came along with a lot of itchiness. I lounged around for a bit before heading back for some lunch where I met up with Annika again. We then went and dropped her friend off at the bus station before a long shopping trip in search of ingredients for some healthy meals. We went back to the hostel and made a very yummy healthy meal before calling it a night.Read more

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