Australia: My First Beach Trip and Night Out

This week had its ups and downs, but there was nothing but sunshine in sight for Friday.

Instead of all international students, there was a short two-hour orientation solely for study abroad and exchange students at Murdoch. Brodie and Athira, the other woman in charge of exchange students, went over academic information, gave us some general knowledge about the university and then discussed some of the trips planned for just study abroad and exchange students. Brodie met us again today and she gave us our travel cards with $10 loaded onto them. These are formally known as Transperth Smart Rider cards, which is the equivalent to a subway/metro/tube/underground card. The $10 card and the new information that a few of the cheap study abroad and exchange-only trips are already paid for by AIFS was a sweet treat.

Speaking of sweet treats, we had some Tim-Tams, an Australian chocolate cookie that are amazing and lunch before departing for our free trip: Kings Park and Cottesloe Beach. Kings Park is also the Western Australia Botanical Garden. Additionally, it offers a beautiful view of the city of Perth.

Cottesloe beach was absolutely gorgeous and I was super excited to be on my first Australian beach trip. During the short amount of time there, I laid on the beach, swam in the Indian Ocean and walked on the jetty. The sand was speckled in small white shells, and I loved it.

After the fun time off campus, we traveled back to Murdoch in our coach buses to find a carnival happening at the pool. There was cotton candy, burgers, blow-ups, a caricaturist, a dunk tank and an extremely fun water slide that I went on a few times. I received a caricature of myself and I absolutely love the finished piece.

If that day wasn’t enough, there was a planned outing to a club in Perth that night. Everyone here gets much more dressed up to go out than I ever have, so I was a bit shocked when my outfit was nowhere near as nice as everyone else’s. Luckily, Stivia let me borrow her dress and lipstick.

The first bar we went to was absolutely boring, and luckily, we gained entry to another around the corner from the train. The night was full of awkward dancing, but I sure enjoyed it.

It was a jam-packed day—just how I like it. Next Friday should be just as fun, as I signed up for another international student outing.