Have you ever

Have you ever

loved someone so much that when they cried, you cried

had your leg brushed by a slimy stingray

bought a girl a shot at a bar

been bought drinks at a bar (karma’s nice sometimes)

missed your connecting train

gone clubbing until sunrise

celebrated New Years in March

discovered a song so great you forced your friend to listen to it over and over

had someone call you beautiful without your consent

seen lightning strike the ocean

realized that time is passing too quickly

gotten drunk off of one tequila shot

noticed how differently people can think about a moment or situation

tried to make a funny joke at the expense of a racial group

danced so much to a song you’d never heard before

fallen asleep on the beach

laughed a laugh so forceful and genuine and realized that you hadn’t laughed that way in a long time and wondered why it’s been so long

found every animal phyla while walking along tide pools

ridden the bus for an entire loop

made plans that did not go as planned

impulse-bought gelato

smiled because you saw a couple smiling at each other

felt a sense of belonging in an unfamiliar place

realized you got really lucky because you happened to connect with people who you could call your best friends, if only for a semester

missed a place and the people in it before you even left it

procrastinated by writing a blog post

Cheers,

Angel

 

Angel’s Aussie Adventures 4: Camping

This past weekend, I went camping for the first time (guess I can’t use that in Never Have I Ever anymore!), and it was HEAPS of fun. I went with over twenty people from my residence hall, and stayed in the blue and yellow tent on the far right with three of my close girlfriends. There was a lot of sand, kangaroo droppings in front of our door, and cranky birds squawking at unreasonable times of the day (#nature), but other than that, tent life was pretty comfortable.

WHERE:

Late Friday Afternoon, we traveled about 100km drive south down the coast from Wollongong to Bendalong Point Holiday Park in an 80’s-style white bus (see it peaking out from behind the tents in the drawing above). The first song that came on the radio was “All My Friends Are Wasted,” so naturally, Tina and I shrieked and sang obnoxiously to the dismay and/or amusement of our fellow travelers.

We arrived after sunset, and you could literally see the nuances of the Milky Way piercing the dark black sky through the silhouettes of tree branches. The view from the side of the bay just downhill from our campsite stunned me even more. Heaps of stars. We sat around as a squad drinking cider and singing “Bohemian Rhapsody” a capella while shooting stars fell overhead.

In the daylight, the water of Bendalong Bay was the clearest I’ve ever seen. Like EVER (T.Swift reference?).

One side of the Bay, the section just a walk down from our site, was a hub of wildlife. I checked out massive pelicans while stingrays of various sizes constantly swam past my friends and I. A huge black stingray bumped its face straight into my friend, Becca, before coming toward me. It’s slimy body brushed against my skin, and I was simultaneously in awe and so afraid I was shitting myself.

check out the Pelican Squad (#squadgoals)

 

crickey!

Meanwhile, the other side of the bay was a beautiful swimming area with soft sand and these cool, climbable rock formations off to the side with pigmented rocks that acted like chalk if you tried to draw with them.

 

 

If I haven’t blabbed enough about wildlife, let me talk about the heaps of kangaroos hopping around! And the kookaburras. They were EVERYWHERE. I was so keen to hang out with them, and sat around watching them with my friends for extended periods of time. There were baby ones that were so mellow!

 

It was definitely not your typical camping experience! How spoiled was I to get to hang with all this wildlife, natural beauty, and awesome company? Plus, there were radically-clean bathroom facilities and heaps of yummy burgers/eggs/fruits prepared on an outdoor grill area everyday. It was definitely the perfect trip for a camping noob like me.

 

“How do tents work?” “I forgot deodorant, but I brought my moisturizer.” “It’s sleepy time (9 p.m.).” #angelcamps