Australia Easter

Happy belated Easter to my US friends and fellow Aussies! I hope everyone's holiday has been splendid!  It's definitely been awhile since I've posted, but for a very good reason.  The past two weeks, I have been on my mid-trimester break and have taken an amazing journey throughout different parts of Australia.  Don't worry- I will disclose all details, photos, and stories throughout the next couple weeks of my adventure, but in honor of the holiday, I would like to dedicate this blog post to a widely-celebrated holiday in Australia- Easter!






Australia's major religion is Christianity, with roughly 60% of its people practicing it.  Because of this, Aussies take Easter quite seriously.  For instance, Good Friday and Easter Monday are also recognized as public holidays, and many companies close on these days.  Since I go to St. Albert's College- a Catholic based residence- we, too, have partaken in festivities.  I was able to experience my first Catholic mass during Ash Wednesday, as St. Albert's College put on its own service.  It was really great seeing the college come together in support of its core values and beliefs.

Something Aussies and English people do around Easter time is make and serve "hot-cross" buns.  They're sort of like rolls made with cinnamon, fruit, or chocolate chips, with a cross on the top, in regards to the crucifixion of Christ.  I completely fell in love with these treats and was dubbed the "Miss Hot Cross Bun" by my fellow tour-goers for my obsession.




Since I have been traveling during the holiday, I got to experience Easter in a totally different way.  My Groovy Grape tour woke up around 6 am to drink a cup of coffee and admire the beautiful sunrise at our campsite in Yulara.  Our tour guide made us a wonderful Easter breakfast of fruit and hot cross buns (shout out to Clancy!)  We then proceeded to take a 5 hour bus ride and had to stop along the way to play with some adorable Thorny Devil lizards.  Alice Springs was our final destination where we settled into our hostel and went out for bevvies and a nice dinner in the town center.  It was quite a great way to finish off the break.

For now, I am extremely exhausted and am trying to be diligent in getting assignments finished for the last 4 weeks of classes- I can't believe my time here has gone by so fast!  For those of you who have not been able to contact me via cell phone, I should have my American SIM card back in my phone soon.  Stay tuned the rest of this week for more stories about my mid-semester trip!



Cheers,

Hallie