My life really hasn’t been particularly interesting for the last few months since I spent almost all my time studying for my four “Barrier” exams that were on October 13 and 14th. Luckily they went well and I’m in the clear- at least until my OSCE (practical/hospital) exams at the end of November. It is a big relief to be done the barrier and I’ve definitely been enjoying and appreciating my free time A LOT lately!
The day after the barrier about 70 of my classmates and I headed up the coast to a small town about 3 hours north, called Port Stephens. I stayed in a million dollar house with a bunch of my friends for less than $20/night (for 4 nights). It was just amazing!!!
Janice, Amy, Heather, Brooke, Mark (x2), Gordon and I were all in the house together and had a great time. We were also right next door to another full house of classmates which was fun.
There were all kinds of activities up there and we tried to squeeze in as many as possible. I probably got less sleep while I was there than I have all year, but it was well worth it. We spent a lot of time at the beach, we went snorkeling (and got caught in a CRAZY rip tide), we went for a sunset sea kayak to a sand island, saw some dolphins, ate some meat pies, and went deep water soloing (rock climbing).
We also had lots of ‘family’dinners and lots of wine. It was a GREAT little holiday and I feel like I’m finally starting to be able to appreciate going to school in Australia…I just still can’t wait for Brent to get here. I’m really starting to think that apart for the immigration office, Australia was the perfect choice!
These are a few pictures from our deep water soloing trip- which is rock climbing with no ropes over (hopefully deep) water!
I obviously didn’t participate, but was there watching. Gordon (who is in the pictures) is an Australian classmate of mine from my hospital and is apparently the 6th best rock climber in Australia.
Unfortunately, Gordon made it look so easy that 2 other guys in my class decided to ‘give it a go’ and literally almost drowned. The tide was up and a big set of waves came in and pulled the other 2 guys off the wall into the white wash.
I was tempted to jump in, but decided it would have probably made things worse since the cliffs were 15m high and I would have had no way of getting back up the cliffs afterwards! Luckily, the boys eventually made it back onto some rocks- and were mostly fine but for some cuts, bruises and a bit of vomiting. If we ever do that again I’m definitely bringing some rope and a ring buoy. 
Anyway, we all made it back to the city ok, but it’s been hard to get back into school. I’m pretty much done with my classes on the Sydney Uni campus for good, so all my days are spent at the hospital now. This block we are learning about Oncology and Palliative Care. It’s really interesting, but also really scary. We’ve only had a week of it so far so I’m still not sure what I think of it. Last week we spent a day at a Palliative care ward, which was very sad. 96% of the people there were dying of cancer and of those, 50% were dying of lung cancer. While we were there we learned about all kinds of things including symptom control, the morgue, the team of people involved with each patient, the logistics after someone dies, and how eyes are harvested.Since our hospital is so far away from the city our coordinator has tried to give us some super busy days so that we can have a few days each week off! This week I had Thursday and Friday off which was amazing and left me with lots of free time for other activities! Wednesday night I went to see another speaker/doctor who was talking about mountain sickness as well as his expeditions to Nepal and China. It was really interesting and will be useful if I ever decide to climb a mountain! :) On Thursday a few of us went downtown to Hyde Park for the evening to visit the ‘noodle markets’, which is part of a food festival that runs for a few weeks every October.
On Friday, Brooke took me climbing for my first time. I had a great time, but can NOT believe how sore my forearms are. I’ll hopefully go again next week after my arms have recovered. After climbing Brooke and I met up with Amy, Janice and Heather and we headed downtown to what was supposed to be my final wedding dress fitting. Unfortunately, the dress was too big this time…And I have to get it taken in another 2 inches before I get to take it home. Not good news for the wallet! :(
The rest of the weekend was pretty relaxing and I had the chance to catch up with a few more friends. Tonight I’m going to a BBQ in Glebe. Spring/Summer is here and I’ve definitely been enjoying the long days and the BBQ/beach weather!Brent is still in Toronto- and is actually having his bachelor party as we speak! The boys reserved a box at the Marlies game and then headed to a pub to watch the Leafs/Senators game afterwards. Dom scored the first goal of the game and apparently played really well! :) Jamie came down from Montreal, Harry came from Lively and Dad gave up his ironman golf tournament to go to the party, so I’m hoping it was a good time. :) Brent’s also been busy with work, his course, his new gym membership and our wedding plans. He’s managed to make over 100 invitations on his own and will be sending them out shortly! :)
Well, I think that’s pretty much it for now! I better do a little reading before my BBQ tonight.
Mom is arriving in Sydney a month from today, so the countdown is on! Hope everyone is doing well.
Miss you!
