After beginning the weekend with rescued animals with our program’s excursion, I was lucky enough to see some of them for myself in the wild on Saturday. We woke up (way too early) to spend the day on Rottnest Island, right off the coast of Perth. This island is known for being inhabited by quokkas, some of the cutest little marsupials that are found nowhere else in the world, but this exquisite little island off the coast of Perth.
The quokkas were a big part of the excitement for me, but we also had other plans for adventurous fun as well. Bringing snorkel gear along, and renting bikes for the day, we headed off to circle the island and see as much as we could! Laws on the island prevent the use of personal cars, so biking was beautiful and calming (at least the downhill part!). We snorkeled, swam, explored, and relaxed, often having entire beaches to our group of six.
After making it to the other side of the island, we took a secret dirt path that a tour guide at the lighthouse informed us of. It led to a cliff overlooking the ocean, where 25 fur seals were relaxing and cooling off in the water! There were no other people there besides us, so we felt very lucky to see these creatures in their natural habitat. Ben and Jody both decided to try and swim closer and closer to the seals, since they did not seem too dangerous. I on the other hand, usually the one up for adventure, decided to give the seals their space, and respect their territory. Margaret and I were very glad when they were back on land alive and well. The day was exhausting and satisfying in so many ways, and I wish that I had the chance to spend much more time exploring all of the hidden gems the island had to offer.
After such a fabulous weekend, I had no desire to get through the last week of classes, but somehow I made it. I had my problems examination in Biochemistry on Wednesday, the test that I had been most worried about all semester, but it turned out that I just needed to study and practice, so finished the test with no problems.
This week we also had our last netball game. I truly can’t believe that I played this sport that is so similar to basketball (which I suck at) every single week at uni. We played a solid team, and managed to come out on top! We were super pumped. The sport truly wasn’t my favorite, but getting to know the awesome people on our team was worth embarrassing myself every week on the court.
Wednesday night was Halloween, which isn’t celebrated as religiously in Australia. The people living in the village have become accustomed to Americans’ obsession over the holiday, and everyone dressed up and participated! The best costume had to have been Sam and Marg’s: they were Katniss and Petta from the Hunger Games. They rocked their outfits with a burnt loaf of bread, a bow and arrow,a mockingbird pin, and the works.
That weekend was spent celebrating the end of classes, but also getting a head start on exam studies. The last study break was here, and I needed to make sure I’d be ready for exams when I returned from Melbourne! I did make time to go to church with a friend from class on Sunday. He’s Anglican, so I thought it’d be nice to try something new. It was a lot more traditional than what I’m used to, but I’m certainly glad that I experienced it. It was a nice break from writing about indigenous spirituality, and I managed to get most of my paper done before heading out Monday night to spend the rest of the week in Melbourne!