Camping through the Outback!

Yes, I, Kelli Calloway, camped on the desert ground in the country with the deadliest creatures in the world, in the middle of winter when it dropped below 0 degrees (Celsius that is, not Fahrenheit... makes it sound more extreme!! Plus Celsius, the metric system, British spelling etc etc are starting to me first nature to me!). I went on a camping tour group with a girl from Colorado whom I met at my Orientation for the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship program before I left for Australia--she's a Rotary scholar attending the University of Melbourne who was just a few miles from me attending Pepperdine when I was at UCLA. Small world. We're the only Rotary kids in the Australia/New Zealand/South Pacific region from the Western region of the U.S.! It was so fun to reunite and bond with someone who 100% knows exactly everything I'm going through since we're living parallel lives. I couldn't imagine a more quintessential Australian experience! I'm so glad we found time for both of us to make it happen before our Rotary tenure was up. This has definitely been my favorite domestic travel in Australia, despite the red dirt (and it really is flaming RED) getting into everything I took with me including the wide array of warm clothes borrowed from various friends, the 4am wake ups everyday, and the kangaroo mice getting into my swag/sleeping bag.

Rotary scholars from California were reunited!! It is always so great to see a familiar face in this half of the world.

Anzac Hill lookout in Alice Springs 

 At the Red Centre Reptile museum! Holding a blue-tongued skink?! Can't remember... But he was one of the few non-venomous/deadly animals in all of the Outback, so I was willing to hold him. 

Before I left for Australia, I asked my step-Grandpa about his travels in Australia. He raved about the Royal Flying Doctors and what an amazing program they have, and he kept telling me I HAD to go to their museum. Lynn passed away not long into my 2nd month here, and I promised myself I wouldn't leave without seeing his favorite part of this country. I was just as impressed by the whole organization as he was, and it was a nice way to remember my favorite Lynny Boy by following through on his travel advice. I'm so glad Katie is a nerd like me and was willing to go tour the museum, too :)

Katie had some friends of friends in Alice Springs so we got a great tour of the city by car, plus got to go out to Simpson's Gap for a beautiful view.

Look at the wide array of meat options--camel, kangaroo, buffalo...we opted for some cheaper, basic tucker back at the hostel!

YES--we were completely in the middle of nowhere.

Getting ready to fit in with some yarbos in Oodnadatta!

Nothing but red dirt, blue skies, and miles and miles (or kilometres and kilometres) of open road!

King's Canyon

That's me!

Kata Tjuta

Kata Tjuta

Katie and I in front of Kata Tjuta

Uluru!

Uluru glowing at sunset

Sunset dinner by Uluru

Bundled up in my swag! I only wish I could've taken a photo of the stars out there! Absolutely BREATHTAKING. I have never seen the Milky Way so bright.

Sunrise over Uluru

2+ hour base walk around Uluru

The many faces of Uluru--I know it just seems like a big rock, but Uluru was so majestic and stunning! It's just... SUCH...a big rock. And each side of it seemed like it was a different creature, it was so dynamic and changing just throughout the day. This is a very cool natural landmark, and no wonder it's a sacred indigenous site.

This trip was just the perfect whirlwind of cramming in everything possible in 4 days time--including a presentation at the Rotary Club of Alice Springs-Mbantua! Rotarian Graeme Boskell was so generous--he picked us up at the Alice Springs airport, plus spent the whole first day with us as our official tour guide. We were so lucky to have such a warm welcome. A special thank you goes to Rotarian Boskell and his whole club, for welcoming us, inviting us to speak and for treating us to a delicious breakfast.

Traditional banner exchange!

Bali, Indonesia

I think Bali is my new, absolute favorite tropical place in the world... which says a lot since I love tropical beaches and have allowed myself to travel to quite a few. While Molly was here visiting, we went to Bali for one week. Bali honestly has one of the richest cultures I've been around, the people were so smiley and friendly, and the landscape was just so bright and beautiful. I loved the hot humid weather, too, and the cheap food (cut me some slack--I've been living in Australia on the flailing American dollar!!) and Bintang beer just sealed the deal on winning over my heart! My deep love for the Balinese culture, landscape, and people actually surprises me because I unfortunately got my purse stolen from under my table while at a pretty nice, seemingly safe restaurant... I was afraid the bitterness from that would accidentally ruin the trip! However, the Balinese beauty still won out. These photos below will definitely help you understand why!

Markets of Kuta Beach, Bali 

Our first delicious, authentic meal in the Kuta food court!

Mt. Kintamani--Look familiar to anyone from the movie "Eat, Pray, Love"?? 

Bike riding tour through 1000 year old ancient villages (can only get to them by foot or bike) and through the greenest, lush jungles you've ever seen!

Oooooh my god, that's a huge spider. 

Learned about rice paddies and how to harvest rice!

 

Cute local kid showing me up with his motorized bike...

Ancient temple outside of Ubud

We got to ride Sumatran elephants!!! One-tusked Rahma was the best one of the whole elephant park!

The elephants were my favorite animals, by far.

 

Up close and personal.

Jimbaran Bay 

Watched the Barong dance--it's like an opera/play more than dancing, but the costumes were so ornate and colorful. The moral of this specific tale is the triumph of good (the barong) over evil!!

We went on a great driving tour with Wayan, whom we met on our bike tour the day before, and he took us to someone's house to see true Balinese culture! 

 Beautiful temple

Wayan taught us the Hindu way to pray... Indonesia is the #1 country with the highest population of Muslims, but about 75% of people on the island of Bali practice Hindu.

Lunch over a gorgeously green rice paddy 

 Lunch by the Ubud Palace

Trying Lewac coffee right by a lewac! (A lewac is a little fox-like animal who eats coffee beans and Indonesians make this gourmet coffee from the coffee beans found in its feces... sounds gross, but it's pretty tasty PLUS naturally decaffeinated, thanks to the lewac's digestive system haha!) 

Learning how to make Hindu offerings 

In Ubud, we stayed RIGHT by Monkey forest! They were everywhere! 

Shopping for silk scarves in the Ubud markets

The Sacred Monkey Forest was straight out of an Indiana Jones movie! SOOOO cool!

These monkeys were quite friendly and curious... I was very happy this purse had a zipper!

A little piece of home

I was lucky enough to have my oldest and bestest friend come all the way from California to visit me in Brisbane during my break between semesters! It was so fun getting to show her around my new city (after 5.5 months, I'm just about feeling qualified to do so!) and to have a little piece of home here in Australia!

The beautiful sights of Brisbane on Molly's first day!

Molly's first authentic Aussie meal: steak and chips, of course! 

Picnic dinner on the Brisbane River 

2 American international students to Australia! We were torn over where our loyalties lie!

4th of July BBQ in Roma Parklands--I got Molly to eat kangaroo kebabs! She even liked it!

Beautiful day on the top of Mt. Coot-tha 

Me and Ellie at UQ St. Lucia campus--she is from the US, too, and studying in my master's program! 

Beautiful Hamilton sunset 

Molly and I went to the Rotaract Fundraiser and got to see Harry Potter 7 Pt 2 on the opening day in 3D!! Not only was the movie amazing, but the proceeds went to Paradise Kids--"Paradise Kid's is a Gold Coast Children’s Charity founded in 1996 to help children learn life-skills to deal with grief through death, loss or illness. Whether the loss is the death or approaching death of a parent, grandparent or sibling, grief through the stress of separation or divorce, or the child’s own chronic life-limiting illness, Paradise Kids provides programs to 'help heal the heartache.'" Learn more about it at http://www.paradisekids.org.au/ 

 Picnic at Surfer's Paradise!

I taught Molly the #1 rule in Australia: only swim between the red and yellow flags! 

This is Molly in front of Q1, the tallest residential building in the Southern Hemisphere

Yep, Q1 is pretty tall! 

We had a yummy afternoon date to Max Brenner Chocolate shoppe in South Bank! I love chocolate on chocolate with a side of chocolate. 

My generous Rotary hosts, Brian and Cheryl, even treated us to a day at the Australia Zoo! It was sooo cool, plus the weather was a bit rainy so we had the whole place to ourselves! We saw so many koalas, kangaroo, crocs, reptiles, cassowaries... everything you'd hope to see in Australia! Even the official Croc Show (Steve Irwin's legacy) in the Crocoseum!

Molly and her first live kangaroos! (she had already eaten bbq'd kangaroo!)

Brian got us this kangaroo food from a vending machine!! Haha, only in Australia :) They were quite friendly!

"Where we love is home, home that our feet may leave but not our hearts." ~Oliver Wendell Holmes
It was tough to see Molly go after 2 weeks of a visit. It's not until you get about as far away as possible from home (how about a hemisphere?!) that you realize just how true the above quote is. Getting out of California and living here in Queensland has fulfilled just about all of my dreams and expectations, yet has gone even further and made me learn a lot about myself-- as much as I love, and live for, new cities, sights, and sounds, I love my family, my bestest friends, and the familiar places I know as home, even more. That's why having my oldest friend from home come to visit me in my new city was truly the best of both worlds!!