Cheers!

MY FIRST MONTH IN AUSTRALIA:

Hello from Brisbane, Australia! It's winter here- 70's during the day- and I keep thinking that back home it's proabably hit 100 already!
I moved here May 29, 2 hrs later had a bank account, 5hrs later had a cell phone, 3 days later had an apartment, 5 days later started a new job at the hospital! It was a whirlwind of my first week here, but luckily made it through, with the help of Gloria Jean's coffee of course. I'm starting to feel settled here, and still can't believe I live in Australia. Work is going very well, besides the 3 nightshifts I have already endured. I think nightshifts should be outlawed! But for the most part, with a few bumps in the road, it's been a smooth transition! I'm learning a lot about ventilators and all the different meds they use here!! I gave my first dose of IV Tylenol yesterday which was pretty exciting (The US needs to jump onboard with that one), and my roomate, Bobbi, has already had a patient with LEECH THERAPY! Sick!

We've had our first visitor...my sister! We drove about an hour and a half south of Brisbane to Lamington National Park and stayed at a rainforest lodge - paradise!! We skipped out on the 50 dollar dinner at the lodge, and made our own appetizers, watched the sunset, slipped in the hot tub, went on a glowworms tour (yes, we saw real glowworms in the rainforest!), and got lots of sleep for the big day of "bushwalking" (aka hiking) ahead of us. We woke up bright and early, hiked the Treetops Walk, saw some gardens, and then hiked through the rainforest to Moran WaterFalls. It was beautiful! We sat over the bridge of the creek and ate a picnic lunch. We saw tons of beautiful birds, possums, and a platypus! We headed to Surfer's Paradise beach the next day, checked in our hotel, and explored the beach town. The beaches are beautiful, clean, with bright white sand! I can't wait until it's warm enough to surf. :) Later that week, my sister and I went to a Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane and saw over 130 koalas and tons of kangaroos! I included some pictures from our adventures!


I have been able to keep up with friends and family with the help of my cell phone and Skype - it makes the US seem close by. :)
More later!
Cheers,
Sarah