G'mar Tov... now let's go to Thailand!

Yom Kippur begins in a few hours, and spring break began a few hours ago!

Though most of my friends are on their way to faraway places, I'll be in Coogee for one more day for Yom Kippur and then I'm headed to Thailand on Sunday morning!

We have a week off of school, and everyone is taking advantage of the time. Here's what people are up to:

• West Coast Australia - a tour from Brisbane to Cairns, including the Whitsunday Islands, skydiving, white water rafting, snorkeling the reef, going to the rain forest.
• The Outback - camping near Uluru and Alice Springs.
• New Zealand - touring the islands, with some hiking and extreme sports in the mix.
• Thailand --- We leave Sunday for Bangkok (it's about a 9 hour flight to get there) where we'll spend 2 nights exploring the city, going to night markets and visiting the Grand Palace (I hope!). From there we start a tour that takes an overnight train to Surat Thani and we will then spend a night in a tree house and two nights on a rafthouse in a national park. We'll go swimming, rafting, hiking, and hopefully see some of the wild elephants, exotic birds, and other animals that live in the Jungle. After our tour is over we'll board a bus to Phuket island where we'll have two days to spend on the beach, at the markets and enjoying the luxuries of Thailand!

No worries, I have lots of camera batteries, my typhoid vaccine is up to date, plenty of travel insurance, malaria medication and bug spray with DEET. It's going to be an adventure!

I'm going with my flatmate Emily and Liza's roommate, Barrett. We'll be back October 2 with lots of stories, pictures, and only 4 weeks of classes left before finals and travel time.... 8 weeks until we go back to America. Time is going to fly.

G'mar tov ~ have an easy fast. More lifeupdates from me after Thailand!!

Much love, Rach

L'Shana Tovah!!

Rosh Hashana in the land down under is amazingly similar to Rosh Hashana anywhere else in the world. It was great to celebrate here in a similar way as we do at home.

First night, I had 13 of my friends here for dinner. We crammed around the dining room table and used the couches and coffee tables to fit everyone in the apartment, and it worked out beautifully. Apples and honey, pomegranates, challah, chicken, salad, dessert.... everyone helped out and we had an amazing night. I went to shul for the first day at the Coogee Synogague that I've mentioned before. The place was crowded and really really loud! I'm not used to things like assigned seating and quite that much talking - it was a little frustrating, but an experience nonetheless. And everyone loves to hear shofar :) For Tashlich, a few of us went out to our favorite cliffs over the ocean and Jamie brought the Tashlich service from her shul back home. It was a really beautiful setting and a great way to cast off our sins from last year and move onto the next.



Second night, I went with my friend Abby to her mom's cousin's house in North Sydney for dinner. There were about 13 of us again and Abby's cousin cooked a delicious traditional dinner. I spent the night there with Abby and in the morning went to shul with her cousins. Abby has a cousin our age and we sat with his girlfriend in the more informal hall (the synagogue is massive, there were two services going on at once). It is a mostly South African community and they had so much energy! It reminded me of a very large, young version of home. We had lunch with the cousins and then headed back to Coogee for the night.

Rosh Hashana is a time to think about the past year, all of the opportunities you've had, the good things, the tough things... it's been a really phenomenal year, and I can't believe that I'm lucky enough to begin the next year on the beaches of Australia. There are so many things to do, so many things to see, and time is so limited. I wish you all a happy, healthy, sweet New Year full of new adventures, wonderful friends and taking advantage of all life has to offer.

L'shana tovah u'metukah!
Rach

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

I hate to admit it, but last weekend was the first 'nothing' weekend I've had in Australia. The APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Corporation) dominated Sydney, changed the bus routes, put a fence around the center city, diverted the end of my favorite beach walk path, and combined with mediocre weather, kept us inside for a few days.

The APEC conference attracted over 20 world leaders, including prez bush, as I'm sure all of you have heard, and security was a little over the top. We didn't even try to go into the city, businesses all around the conference area were hurt by the decrease in foot traffic, overall it was really tough for Sydney-siders to balance the complications with the benefits of having so many world leaders gathered in their city.

The weather was a little gross, a little windy, a little rainy, a little cold... so we kept a low profile until Sunday, when we went to Bondi for the annual Festival of the Winds - Kite Festival! We switched between watching our friends surf and watching some of the coolest kites I've ever seen



Sadly, thats about the end of my exciting news - I'm headed to the campus health center tomorrow for anti-malaria meds for Thailand... woo hoo!!!!

Lots o'love, Rach

PS --- DG: Good luck with recruitment!! I love and miss you girls!! xoxolitb.

Sailing the Whitsunday Islands

Our long awaited trip to the Whitsunday Islands was a great success! We flew to the Whitsunday Coast (about a 3.5 hour flight north of Sydney) and spent the weekend on a sailboat, sailing around the islands, snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef, and hanging out on Whitehaven Beach. The weekend is a little difficult to put into words, but I'll give you the bullet-pointed rundown so that you can follow of our amazing adventure:

A little basic info...

• Weather wise, it was cold and rainy for most of the trip, with brief, much-appreciated bouts of sunlight just in time to watch the sunset both days, go snorkeling a few times, lay on Whitehaven beach and eat most of our meals on the deck of the boat.
• There were 15 of us from UNSW, we all came together, and were joined by 7 others (3 couples and one of the couple's friends). 3 from England, 2 from Italy (a really sweet couple, I liked talking with them), and a pair who clearly didn't speak the same language... English as the common ground was pretty funny for us all to watch.
• The crew was 3 sailors from the ProSail company, really relaxed, wanted us to have fun while still appreciating everything around us.
  
• We slept for two nights (before and after sailing) in a hostel on Arlie Beach. One of the nicer hostels I've been in.. the sheets were clean, and the bar downstairs had live music!
• On the boat, we slept underneath the deck - 22 people in a space that could probably have fit about 5 comfortably. It was cramped, stuffy, stinky, uncomfortable and kind of fun!
• Our boat, "The Hammer" (yes, we woke up to 'Hammer Time' each day), was probably 50 feet long, and one of the fastest sailboats in the area. We sailed most of the time, wore crazy yellow raincoats when it rained (very 'Perfect Storm'), hung onto the railings when the boat keeled (for all you non-sailors, to 'keel' is when the boat is angled against the water, it makes you go faster and sailboats are built to travel nearly perpendicular to the ocean), and found the most comfortable spots to lay on the boat deck (and stretch our sore backs from the under-deck 'beds') during sunny moments.

What we saw...

• Snorkeling around the Reef in the Whitsundays was INFINITELY better than our snorkeling experience near Cains. This part of the reef is more remote and therefore much more protected from evil tourists. The colors were more brilliant, the fish were more plentiful (and friendly!), there were more types of coral, and the water was crystal clear.
• Animals: really big sunfish, lots of small colorful reef fish, whales (against the sunset on our first night), turtles that looked JUST like Crush from Finding Nemo, sand sharks, rays... more turtles (they were sooooooo cool).
• The 4th most photographed place in Australia, overlooking Whitehaven Beach and the Islands.
  
• Whitehaven beach. One of the purest beaches on the planet, with crystal clear water, white powdery sand, and not a piece of litter or building in sight. I wanted to stay there forever. It looked exactly like what you imagine paradise to be.
  

The pictures are here ~ check it out!

And the theme of the weekend: Suns' out, GUNS OUT!

Dreaming of paradise, Rach