Noosa, Rotary, and School

NOOSA, QUEENSLAND

Last weekend I went with a friend to Noosa, Queensland. Noosa is about an hour and a half north of Brisbane and is located in an area called the Sunshine Coast. The Sunshine Coast is known for its beautiful beaches, small towns, and great surf spots. The little town of Noosa was really cool and reminded me a lot of Seaside beach in Florida. 

The Sunshine Coast is right above Brisbane. Sadly, the weather wasn't the best so I didn't see any sunshine.

 I went to Noosa with an old housemate named Reece Condon. Reece recently moved near Noosa for a new job but still travels to Brisbane on the weekends for Rugby matches. He has a passion for teaching and loves outdoor education. I have become good friends with Reece as we both love sports and outdoor activities. When he asked me if I wanted to go surfing in Noosa, I responded with a big, “YES!” 

Surfing is something I tried when I was in Costa Rica in 2006 but something that I never really got the hang of before I left. I was excited about picking up the hobby again and giving it a go. Sadly, I surfed for four hours and never got up on one wave. I did, however, manage to get a nice sunburn on my back, as I was on my stomach the entire time trying to catch waves. The clouds were out so I figured I would be all right; I was wrong. The sun can be sneaky. Next time I will remember to Slip, Slop, Slap, Seek, and Slide. 

So anyway, this surfing process is going to take some more time and practice but I hope to pick it up eventually. 

I did not get any pictures of me surfing....because it never happened.

Reece and I stayed at a Backpacker's hotel, which is basically a place where, people from all over the world, stay while they make their way up the coast in Australia. Most backpackers travel from Melbourne to Sydney, Sydney to Brisbane, Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast and lastly Cairns. What a trip that would be, huh? Anyway, at the Backpacker's hotel I took a picture of this cool lizard. We fed him (or her?) some tomatoes.

ROTARY UPDATE

After some talks with the University of Queensland (thanks Shaughn Forbes), the ShelterBox setup on campus has been approved. The Rotary District conference is this week so I plan on meeting with some ShelterBox coordinators about the logistics of setting up a ShelterBox and display area on campus (if you are just reading this post and are confused, please scroll down and see my previous post).  So this is good news!

Also, I went to another Rotary meeting this week; see picture below. My first Rotary speech will be next Wednesday at the Kenmore Rotary Club. I am scheduled to speak at my club in April and am very much looking forward to it. 

The Rotary Club of Albany Creek is comprised of 32 outstanding and generous members.

SCHOOL

School has sort of taken over my life. I find myself spending most of my days in the library, crunching numbers for my accounting class. My other classes are (1)Marketing and (2)Managerial Skills and Communication and are more project and team based so I do most the work for those in settings with other people. It’s difficult and stressful at times trying to juggle Rotary and school, but I believe I am managing well so far. We will see how it all turns out at the end of the semester! Hopefully I will get a 7 which is equivalent to an A (4 is passing and a 7 is the best). 

This is what my work station usually looks like.

Anyway, I will be having a fun weekend at the Rotary District Conference and will blog about that afterward. I have also been meaning to teach you ‘how to speak Australian’ but have not gotten around to it yet. I think its actually better if I give it some more time as I really don’t know how to speak Australian yet. I am still learning and find myself saying certain Australian phrases here and there. I have also noticed that I don't say "ya'll" much anymore. I guess some of my southern sayings are fading away. I am sure they will return when I get back to Mississippi.

Cheers mate,

Morgan Wiggers