Week 8 was very stressful because it was our last week in Sydney. Classes were wrapping up and we were all preparing for our finals. On Friday, Nicole, Michelle, and I got to see the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Opera House. It was an exceptional show and I loved reading all about the movements. That being said, this was one of the most stressful days in all of our lives. We all had to complete all of our finals and finish packing by the end of the day. Additionally, my computer started showing the first signs of her impending death. Nevertheless, we still decided to go to our dinner reservations at Restaurant Hubert, a restaurant that was owned by the same people as our favorite bar, the Caterpillar Club. It was phenomenal. I had one of the best fish dishes I have had in my whole life. We played “Rose, Bud, Thorn, Beeson”, which was Rose, Bud, Thorn, but with a “Beeson” (which is Bison in an obnoxious French accent), which was just a fun or funny moment from the trip. There was live Jazz music that was lovely as well. When we finally went home, we all scrambled to finish our finals and get packed.
I think I got a maximum of three hours of sleep that night, but Saturday we took off for Cairns. As soon as we got to our accommodations, we were a little skeptical of how safe it would be. Michelle and I walked Nicole to the 24-hour clinic so she could get looked at by a doctor for her persistent cold, but they wouldn’t see her. After much conversation between us and our guy friends, Nicole, Michelle, Manolo, Ned, John, and I decided to get an AirBNB for the duration of our Spring Break. Sunday morning, we set sail for our snorkeling tour of the Great Barrier Reef. It was storming so the waves were huge. I was one of 5 people who made it to our destination without throwing up. Michelle and I spent a long time up on the top deck where I got DRENCHED by the huge waves. We saw many cool fish (even though the current was INSANE and so hard to swim against. Despite many people getting sick, it was still an amazing experience. On the walk home, we got some postcards to remember Cairns.
