In a sunburned country

My almost-boss at school, the student life coordinator that hired me recommended Bill Bryson's In a Sunburned Country, a comedic travel essay on Australia. This was an excellent recommendation, the book is so entertaining. Just a couple pages in, he lists some facts that were actually not totally comforting as my family set off for Dulles airport, the symbolic beginning of my adventure. Here is some information Mr. Bryson shares on the sunburned country:

Australia is:

Home to the worlds ten deadliest snakes

Home to the deadliest

     Spider (funnel-web spider)

     Jellyfish (box jelly)

     Tick (paralysis tick) [sounds like a fun one]

     Octopus (blue-ringed octopus)

     Fish (stonefish)

Vastly empty, a collection of harbor towns around a murderous desert.

Surrounded by oceans with rip tides to pull you to sea and sharks to eat you once you get there. 

The only country to begin as a prison

And then some other stuff that isn't alarming:

The worlds largest island

The 6th largest country 

The only island that is a continent and only continent that is a country

The first and last country to be conquered by sea

The home of the largest living thing on earth, the Great Barrier Reef

He also notes that flying to Australia removes a day from the travelers existence completely. Personally, I will leave the ground in Los Angeles on May 21st and land in Melbourne May 23rd. Lauren simply will not exist on May 22nd, 2013, which is quite a neat thing. So enjoy that day state-siders, and tell me all about what I'm missing out on.

Personal goals for the trip:

• Refine my whistling [i learned two days ago, probably to the dismay of my classmates]

• ask for absolutely everything on the Barbie

• make an excessive number of didgeridoo puns [didgeridoo not doubt my devotion to this goal]

• eat all the weird stuff we're given to try

• never miss an opportunity to see the sunrise

• don't be the first one to get stung/stabbed/bitten/pronged

• have a crazy adventure with my mates!

Next time I post I promise I'll be in Australia!

 

This is the final result of my packing woes! It's all soft sides to Geyer's liking, and its not even 30 pounds!  Enough room to smuggle a koala back with me.