Abis Blog

Im home! Its so great to be home finally and to see everyone, it was kind of sad to leave the west coast though cause i had so much fun. I started of in LA with a couple days before my trek started so i did a day tour of LA and spent a day at universal studios. The day tour took me to the walk of fame, beverly hills, rodeo drive, little mexico and venice beach. venice beach was my favourite place cause its full of wacky people and has a really awesome vibe. i had loads of fun at universal studio cause my roommate came with me and even though we didnt no each other very well we got on great and had heaps of fun. we went to heaps of rides and shows and of course did the tour of the back lots which was cool, we got to see the sets of pyscho, desperate housewives, jaws, jurassic park, war of the worlds and loads more. didnt see any celebs tho

From LA i started my trek and after seeing a couple of the la sites (the hollywood sign) we headed towards the grand canyon and spent the night in arizona (it was roasting!). The next day we headed to the grand canyon, it was incredible! The size and beauty of it is undescribable. I got to go on an hr long helicopter flight of the canyon which was amazing, then we watched the sun set over it. The next morning we got up at 5 to go see the sunrise over it aswell which was also amazing, though very cold

After that we headed to vegas! I wasnt really looking forward to vegas being underage in the states and all but there was so much to do it didnt even matter. The first night we had a hummerzine ride which was crazy fun then we headed to an underage club which was kind of lame but we made it fun. The next day we had a buffet lunch which was incredible, then we wandered around the strip all arvo to work it off. That night we went to a place called dicks last resort for dinner- basically they serve you as rudely as possible. I know it sounds odd and it is a bit but it was hilarious, so so funny. After that we went to see 'Thunder down under' a male strip show, all aussie boys lol. It was so funny and sooooo much fun.

At 7 the next morning we headed off for a painful 12 our van ride to yosemite national park. The next day we spent the whole day exploring the park, bike riding, walking, my legs were feeling it by the end of the day lol. The scenery was amazing though.

The next day we headed to san fransisco for the last stop on the trek. We walked the golden gate bridge and drove around the city before going out for our last group dinner.

A bunch of us had a tour of alcatraz the next day so I wandered around fishermans wharf in the morning and saw the sealions at pier 39 (so cool) before meeting them. Alcatraz was really cool, i learnt heaps. After that we had dinner to say goodbye to some of the group then headed to see a san fran giants baseball game. I dont really like baseball much but we had loads of fun because we made it fun lol.

The next day i had a day tour of sf booked and they took me to twin peaks to see the view of the city, to the botanic gardens in golden gate park, back to the bridge and on a boat cruise of the bay. After that I had dinner with a couple of girls from the trek then said goodbye to them

The next day I checked out of my hotel and wandered around the city with one of the trek girls (the only other person left lol) and we checked out chinatown, fishermans wharf and the aquarium before heading to the airport to finally go home.

After the awesome wrestling experience I headed over to new jersey and had a couple more relaxing days with my cousins before my east coast tour started. My tour group met at a hotel in NJ, there was 13 people total and most people were quite young and travelling on thier own which was good as i had plenty of people to talk to.

Our first stop on the tour was Boston. We got there in the afternoon so we checked into our hostel then headed off to walk the freedom trail. The freedom trail was okay I guess, none of us really knew much about american history though so all the buildings we saw didnt really have much meaning to us. The next morning we did a tour of Harvard university, which was pretty cool.

That afternoon we headed off to the Bershires to set up camp. There was a lake at our camp ground so we got to go swimming and the scenery was soooo beautiful. That night we stayed up around the campfire which was nice.

Very very early the next morning we got up to take the long drive to niagara falls. By the time we got there it was late afternoon so we had a walk round the falls and did the maid in the mist. The falls were incredible and the maid in the mist was awesome, we got absolutely soaked! we went to the campgrounds to set up camp then headed back to see the falls at night from the canadian side. The falls were so pretty at night, they were lit up with different colours and the canadian side had a way better view. We spent ages just walking around the falls taking pictures.

The next morning we were back in the bus to travel to a place called allegheny, which is in bear country. It was really beautiful but unfortunately it rained the whole time which kind of killed it a bit. Everyone else spent the day inside but I went with another girl to walk some of the trails around the area

The next day was more driving- 8hrs to be exact! We finally got to dc at night time just in time for an illumination tour of some of the sights- the capital and lincoln jefferson and roosevelt memorials. They looked so pretty lit up.

The next day we had free to see whatever sights we wanted so we split up into groups and headed off. We decided to go to arlington cemetery which is a very big very famous ww2 cemetery. We wandered through and saw JFKs grave, his son was buried there the day after we were there. From there we walked all the way through the centre of dc and saw all the things we saw the night before as well as the washington monument, korean war memorial, japanese war memorial, ww2 memorial and the white house. From there we went to the smithsonians and saw the museum of natural history, the museum of american history and the air and space museum. They were all incredible but the natural history was definetly the best, there were hundreds of models and skeletons and we got to see heaps of the exhibits used in night at the museum

After that we went out for dinner then headed back to camp, where i crashed immediately coz i was sooo tired after all that.

The next morning we drove back to jersey and a couple of us went into ny and did the statin island ferry to look at the statue of liberty then I headed back to my cousins place.

Overall I would say I loved niagara and dc the best, it was amazing to see the falls and be in canada and all the buildings in dc are incredible. I dont think ive ever walked as much in a week though so Im looking forward to a couple of lazy days before my next tour begins.

After camp all the other internationals left right away but I decided to stick around for a week cause the wwe was on on monday and there was no way i was missing that!

Last week I stayed at stevens and had a pretty quite week, one day he took me n his roommate and his brother to a water park which was pretty sweet. I hung out with kat quite a bit and we went shopping, watching movies which was a really nice change of pace. I hung out with becky aswell.

Yesterday I headed over to tonys place and chilled there and got ready for the big night. We got there a little late but our seats were so amazing! we were 5 rows from the front and 2 seats from the ring entrance so we could high five all the wrestlers on thier way in. I high five almost all of the the wrestlers (Khalis hand is HUUUUGE!) Heaps of my favourites were there, CM punk, kane, khali and john morrison. It was such an incredible night I had sooo much fun I cant even describe it!

This computer is being stupid and not letting me upload pictures so ill add more later

I guess thats it for now, I fly to New Jersey tommoro and start my tour later this week. Im sooo excited but also so nervous

Just thought I would update you on the weekend. Yesterday we pretty much just lazed around and got ready for the night. The party at kelseys was so awesome. Everyone except becky was there and it was such a fun night just messing around and talking. Anyways here are some pictures:

Well last week of camp is finished! Soooooo sad This week was young adults with developtmental disabilities. It was soooo much fun, one of the best weeks easily I had my favourite camper back from a couple of weeks ago cause I requested him. His name is colin, he uses a walker and his personal care is sooo easy. Basically I just hung out and messed around with him all week, which is soo much fun as he is hilarious. There were loads of other awesome campers this week, there was a lady who was sooo sweet, a guy who hugged you all the time and another guy who is afraid of showers, soooo funny and had the biggest crush on me, he seranaded me in front of everyone, it was so embarrasing but sooo cute.

No big events this week really, same as usual. We did get to go on the flying squirrel though cause it was the last week. It was wicked fun! really really fun. We also spent our night breaks outside talking and messing around. On the last night we all stayed out for ages and messed around and Jake decided to see if we could lift the golf buggy onto the tractor. Needless to say we did and it was hilarious, Paige didnt seem to think so though lol

It didnt take to long to clean up today which is good as we were all really tired. The other girls couldnt wait to leave and get a break from some of the other staff but I thought it was so sad leaving. I just no ill probably never see the campers or the staff ever again and its so sad

Tonight we are staying with Caitie and having a girls night, indian for dinner then a movie night. Im kind of glad because Im not really in a partying mood atm. Tomorrow night though kelsey is having a staff party and everyone is going so that should be so much fun, it'll probably get really emotional though with everyone drinking lol.

After kelseys Im gonna spend the week at stevens and try to hang out with all the other staff one more time each before I leave. Hopefully Kat is gonna take me to Worlds of Fun, a theme park in Kansas city a couple of hours away. After that Im seeing the wwe wrestling in Lincoln on the 17th YAY!!! then flying to New Jersey spending a week there then touring for a week around NY, DC, Niagara etc then flying to San Fran and doing a weeks tour around the Grand Canyon, LA, Las Vegas, Yosemite etc... Its gonna be a bit crazy but exciting at the same time

Anyways my camera is packed up so Ill upload photos some other time
Thats all for now, Ill write more later this wknd
xxx

This week was the second operation purple week (military kids). This week was the older op week and I was in the older girls cabin (11-14yr olds). It was too bad of a week but I kind of felt unneeded all the time so I kind of got a bit bored. We still had lots of fun though, we had yet another beauty pagent, those boys are getting scarily good at dressing as girls. The dance thursday night was soo much fun, the staff from the horse camp came over and danced and sang kareoke with the campers and we danced so much I was exhausted. After that, tony told the campers a ghost story while the staff off duty went to the cemetary dressed in black. Then tony took the campers to the cemetary and we scared the jeebies out of them. It was sooo funny. We even scared tony and steven a couple of times too! Best. Idea. Ever

This weekend we went to Lincoln first with Catherine to hang out at her place then we headed to Stevens hometown dodge (popln 700) and hung out with some of his friends. Tonight we are going to a county fair to hang out with the other internationals and paige and jake. Then we are crashing at Paiges parents house tonight. It should be a fun night.

We had no internet last weekend so I am gonna do an entry today for last week. Week 7 was autism week so I was expecting the worst- everyone kept saying how its the worst week of the summer. It really wasnt bad at all though, most of our cabin was not very severly autistic they were just like regular kids pretty much. There was one kid who was so much fun and I would just hang out and play with him all the time cause he got bored really easily. There was another camper who would copy everything you say or do which was sooooo much fun. He was so cute too. We also had a camper who you cant say no to, tony said it once and he grabbed his ears and started screaming, it was kind of funny. All he does in the cabin is circle the beds again and again and again and pick up whatever he finds he puts in his pockets.

On the weekend we went to Jake and Tricias cabins which are both on a river which borders nebraska and south dakota. We went boating, tubing (a air raft tied behind the boat which you hang out to- sooo fun) and jet skiing. It was the most awesome weekend by far because so many of the staff were there and it was just relaxed fun. Kim, Megan, Ashley, Anne-Marie, Paige, Catherine, Tricia, Jake, Tony, Steven and me (hopefully I didnt miss anyone out). We didnt actually go to the other side in the end but I can say I went tubing in south dakota which I think is pretty cool.

Today we went back to the zoo again lol, it was fun but it was very wet, we got rained out eventually lol
Seeing as you guys wanted more pictures of animals last week here you go:

This week was young adults- it was probably one of the best weeks so far. I definetely had my favourite of all my campers so far. He was 15 and used a walker but was real easy personal care wise and no transfers (sweet!). He was so much fun too- at first he was real quiet and wud just sit and give me hand massages and not talk (i didnt complain though lol) then at the dance he went crazy, he was shaking his booty and screaming at the top of his lungs "shake your booty". it didnt end then though, the next day he was still screaming "steven....what you doin" "doughnuts!" and "bananas" all morning at the top of his lungs. it was the cutest thing ive ever seen. Best. Camper. Ever

I was real sad to see him go but his parents said hes coming back the last week :D:D:D:D:D im so happy
The rest of the cabin was pretty good too, there was one guy who was really happy and smiley all the time, when he hugged you he crushed u to death and another who was sooooo funny and sarcastic, he was hysterical and another guy who all he talked about was girls and his date to the dance. Ive been in the guys cabin for most weeks and i really love it. mostly the guys are easier than the girls which is sweet

One interesting activity this week was we had a beauty pagent... were the boys got dressed up. The cabins each got to dress up a boy in swimsuits and dresses and do thier hair and makeup before they walked an imaginary runway in front of everyone. It was hysterical

this weekend we are staying in omaha with becky. Yesterday we went shopping and to dinner and a movie. We watched i love you beth cooper and it was hysterical, really really funny. after that we went to a arcade type place cause kate had a friend who had a friend who works there so he gave us free tickets and we played pool and air hockey. we were planning on staying after it closed to play lazer tag with some of his friends so while we were waiting for them to kill the power we went on a jumping castle. as soon as the power died the jumping castle started to deflate and we almost got stuck in it, it was soooo funny though trying to get out. Then we played lazer tag which was fun except that all the guys who played were all pro at it so it was really hard. i got the lowest score of everyone lol

Today we went to a travel agent and i booked my travel after camp. 2 weeks in new jersey with my cousins and a 1 week tour of new york area in that time then a 1 week tour around san fran area. its gonna be so sick

Tonight we are going ice skating and then maybe to a party for a little while
Then tommorrow we will probly chill, monday maybe the zoo again then tuesday back at camp (yay long weekends). next week is autism week which is supposed to be really really hard so im scared to death. thank god its only tuesday till friday

This week was kids with physical and developtmental disabilities and it was so much fun. I was in one of the boys cabin and there were only 5 campers for 4 staff so it was so easy. Not to mention the campers werent very severly disabled in our cabin, only one wheelchair and no personal care for me :D. The other boys cabin was pretty similar but the girls cabin was crazy! They had more campers and some of there campers have really bad behaviours. One girl just runs around like crazy all the time and another one scratched up a couple of councillors. Needless to say I got really lucky

Nothing hugely interesting happened this week it was just relaxed and fun. I did camp out this week. We were supposed to be camping out each week but coz of weather this is the first time i did it. It wasnt too bad, I was a bit nervous coz even though the campers get tents the staff just get mattresses so I thought the bugs would drive me mad but it wasnt that bad at all. We just stayed up talking for ages. The next night we were off duty so we went to walmart for like an hour lol and on the way back we hit a deer! It ran into the middle of the road and steven tried to slow and go around it but the stupid deer ran towards the car. We got really lucky coz it only smashed the lights. Apparently they can total your car and even cause serious accidents. The other girls were really freaked out

Another interesting activity was that we had a competion to see who could dress up the silliest camper, it was jake vs tony vs erin with erin being the winner

We also had cabin wars this week and each round the losing team had a councellor being creamed. Almost everyone was creamed including me! it was so much fun but i had the smell of rotten cream up my nose all day

This weekend some of the girls went to a county fair but i have had enough country music and beer for a lifetime so me and kate have been alternating between staff. last night we went shopping with caitie and went and saw my sisters keeper. It was so awesome but so sad! we all bawled my eyes out. it was so nice to be able to chill and have popcorn but i was so depressed when i found out they dont do frozen coke in america. man they are missing out!. after that we went to aprils house and had a little mini party.

Today we went to the zoo, which was mad fun. It wasnt as big as i expected but the exibits were really flash. After that we headed back to aprils and had a movie night

Anyways thats all for now. Ill upload some photos next time im online, either this weekend or next
Missing you's heaps
xoxo

Okay thought I would update you on 4th of July. First of all we watched the combines harvest wheat which was okay but kinda boring, but then we got to drive a tractor through the field when they had finished and also climb into the wheat truck and muck about in the wheat. So that was pretty cool

After that we headed to the farm of the guy that we are staying with and saw his horses and his elk which was pretty cool. Then he asked if we wanted to fire a gun, which i really did, so we went to a field and shot at bottles in the ground, at first with a pistol then with a rifle. I wasnt too bad, I was the only one of the girls who actually got a bottle. Then he asked if we wanted to see him shoot a rabbit and all the other girls were too chicken but me and anne-marie so we went driving with him till he found and shot one. I thought i would feel really bad about it but i didnt really lol

Once all that was over we took a break then got ready for the softball game. We left about 11 and stopped and watched a fireworks display on the way then headed over to the game. I thought i wasnt gonna last all night but I stayed up till 6, some of the girls only just got home (12 midday!). It was loads of fun though, we got to meet loads of (really drunk) people and some of them were so nice and so funny. Some of the other girls got really drunk too so that was funny to watch

All in all fourth of july was mad fun and I think it was a very american way to spend it

Today we are heading to colorado were there apparently is a cliff you can jump of into a lake or something so that should be fun, ill try to upload photos asap. Then we might go horseriding if the other girls arent too hungover, then we are gonnna start heading back. We are going halfway tonight and the rest tomorrow to break up the journey so we are stopping a friends of tony and i think maybe doing kareoke then tommorrow back to work

This week was so stressful! Im so glad its over! It was teens with physical disabilities so again lots of chairs and personal care which i dont mind so much, what drove me completely insane though was my camper! she had spina bifita and was not mentally disabled at all which meant she would try and do as much as possible herself, which is okay except for the fact it would take her forever cause she would talk so much. She always had everyone else waiting! She also would throw tantrums like nobodies business! if she didnt want to do something or wanted to do something, no body would convince her otherwise!

Apart from my annoying camper all the other campers this week were so great. We had a helper dog in our cabin too which was pretty cool. It was just a really emotionally tiring week, so glad its over and finally its the weekend. One interesting thing which happened this week was that we played bingo and one of the prizes was the ability to tip an icy bucket of water on a councillors head! steven tipped a bucket on catherine for his camper and got a bit carried away and dumped leftover spag bol on her too!

Speaking of the weekend, its fourth of july today so yesterday we drove to kansas where tony is from to stay with his friends. We had dinner with his huge family last night and they were so nice! today we are going to ride on the combines while they are farming and then have dinner with his family then watch fireworks then go to a midnight softball game which doesnt finish till 8 in the morning! i have no idea how i will last!

This week was Operation Purple which is kids with parents who are in the military. This is the first of 2 OP weeks and this week was kids between 8-12 i think. Next time will be teens. I was in the older boys cabin which was 10-12 year olds. It was kind of intimidating at first because I was worried I would have nothing in common with them but it was alright in the end.

The boys in the cabin were so amazing but had so much energy it was crazy, we took them for hikes, horseriding, bb guns, archery, fishing, walking, scavenger hunting and so much more. And this week was HOT as so that made things intersting. The good thing about this week though was that we could eo more with them than the special needs campers like we got to go on a trail ride with them at the horses, the bb guns which i tried and thought were awesome and one night we even got to go to another camp and try a zip line and a giant swing. The swing was awesome fun but the zip line gave me the biggest wedgie and made my butt drag on the floor so i was spinning a bit. It was good to give it a go though.

All in all this week was lots of hard work but lots of fun, I prefer special needs weeks though as you get closer to the campers and it feels more meaninful to me.

Just thought I shud put a couple of staff pics in:

This weekend we are staying with a councellor called Tricia in a small town called Albion, I think we are watchin some of the coucellors play softball which will be cool, apart from that just chilling, maybe go to the drive through i dont really no. On the way here though we got to stop at the shop were Tricias dad works- he sells tractors and got to have a drive! it was so wicked and it was so huge!

This week is adults with physical disabilities (our cabin is a mens cabin) which is VERY different from last week. Its a lot more laid back than last week as it takes so long to get anywhere but there is a lot of personal care and heavy lifting, luckily Tony is in our cabin to help with lifting.

The campers this week are mostly pretty cool, there is a deaf guy so its always fun trying to communicate with him and a couple of big guys in wheelchairs. The only problem is that one of the campers has a huge crush on my and its really creepy, he creeps up behind me and stand there for ages, he stares at me for aaaages, takes pictures of me on his phone again and again and he makes really creepy comments like "you should change your last name to mine" "i had a dream that i married you" and "perfect eyes, perfect teeth, perfect nose...." Needless to say it will be a relief when this week is over.

The weathers still crappy so we havent done much outdoors activities but tomorrow we have horseriding and flying squirrel in the morning and maybe swimming in the afternoon so that will be cool

Last weekend we went to stay at one of the coucellors (becky) boyfriends house and had a couple of drinks, went shopping and watched movies, then the next day we went to a baseball game and to do some more shopping. That night we stayed at another councellors place (kelsey). We had a lot more drinks and just hung out and chilled all night which was nice.

Ill upload photos of this week later as its late and im really tired
Im missing home heaps still but really starting to get into camp life. It seems to be flying by- i cant really believe ive been away for a month already!

Finally I have chance to post a decent comment! Ive just finished my first week at camp- teens with developmental disabilities. It was such a blast- I was in the girls cabin- 9 girls and they were all so nice and well behaved (unlike the boys). It was wet and cold all week (which apparently never normally happens) but that was okay cause we stayed indoors and did crafts a lot of the time.

As well as crafts we did get enough okay weather to have a swim one day and go horsriding- in fact me and another councellor took 5 kids to stay overnight at the horse camp and had a campfire with smorfs and the next morning we took the kids on a trail ride (unfortunately the councillors didnt get to ride so had to walk through the shrubs :-(- but i did get a little ride). Saying goodbye to the kids was so hard as they were all so amazing- some of the girls were even crying that they had to leave.

Last weekend we went to omaha and went to a market type thing called the taste of omaha which was pretty cool, then we stayed at one of the councillors lake house and went swimming and on her paddle boat. we also went to a baseball game and some of the girls volunteered to do a race across the field dressed up in costumes- a steak, a corn cob and a beer). It was so funny!

This weekend we are staying in omaha again and staying with a different councillor- we are gonna gonna go shopping, to a baseball game and a group barbeque at a different councillors house- so very busy. Then camp will start again on Sunday arvo and we have adults with physical and developtmental disabilities. We have been told they are all pretty nice and relaxed but there will be a lot of personal care and heavy lifting so it will be quite hard. The week after that is operation purple which is normal kids but with parents in the army so that will be fun but a lot of hard work

Thats all for now, hopefully ill be able to comment most weekends, missing everyone but having fun