Kelly's World

Today was the last day of school today for many (ex?) year 12 students around the country, which means it also marks the beginning of schoolies week. If you’re not familiar with the Schoolies Week tradition, basically all school leavers converge on various party places around the country for a week. They drink, they dance, they party hard. Without getting caught by the police of course.

My schoolies wasn’t that great. I went to the Gold Coast (specifically Surfers Paradise), where we had all put in for a hotel room. Back then there were organisations dedicated to booking hotel rooms for students, I don’t know if that’s still the case. The first night was fun, we walked the streets and partied hard. The next day my boyfriend (now fiance) arrived, as he had decided to book a cheap motel room with a friend, and come and celebrate with me. We were hanging out in the living room watching telly, literally not doing ANYTHING wrong, when my friends walked in. I got in trouble for having a guy in the room without their knowledge, and basically made to feel like dirt. It didn’t matter that it was Mat, who I had been with for 2 years at that point, and someone they knew well. Nope, I was in trouble because I had the company of someone with a penis, and they didn’t. I look back on it now and just wonder if it’s because they were so bitter they didn’t have boyfriends themselves, and were desperate for one. I don’t know. I just knew that I didn’t like it.

So, I left.

We stayed at Mat’s motel room that night, partied a little bit more, and the following day we went home. I paid over $500 to stay for one night in a hotel room with 3 other girls. Not cool. Luckily, leaving my schoolies for Mat was worth it since we’re still together, and now engaged to be married. If I could have that time over again I would definitely do something different. Perhaps not stay with those friends, or maybe ask Mat to just stay home and give me some time to party with the girls. I don’t know. I definitely regret not spending that time to just really celebrate the end of 12 years of schooling.

So I’d love to hear some stories from you guys. Where did you stay? What did you get up to? Have fun? Anything you would change? Let me know in the comments!

**previously**

Saturday consisted of attending the Women’s W-League Grand final between QLD Roar, and Canberra United, during which Danielle, Jo and I became famous by being broadcast on tv cheering the first goal by the QLD girls. It was a great match with the QLD girls eventually taking it out 2-0. After that, Jo and I caught a free bus back to Roma St, got in my car and headed down to the Gold Coast. We made our way to O’Malleys, and had dinner and drinks while we watched the boys play. This time it was QLD Roar vs Sydney FC. It was absolutely fantastic to see QLD come out on top again, making it two out of two wins for the day. We finished up the night by buying two Australian flag Sombreros, accidentally buying some naked man playing cards (the subject of lots of laughing and near pants-wetting experiences), and having cocktails back at the unit.

Look at those awesome people down the bottom!

**Sunday Morning**

07.00am – I awoke early with a bit of a headache from the previous night’s drinking, so wandered out to the living room. I located the panadol, popped two and had a bottle of water. I chilled on the balcony for a little bit looking at the beach, then decided I would head back to bed for another kip.

08.00am – Awake again, and this time was for good. I charged up my iphone on the computer in the living room, and watched American Hot Rod on TV while I waited for Jo. I started to get really hungry at this point, and went into the kitchen to look for some tea/coffee making materials. The kitchen was severely lacking. I found one packet of instant coffee, no sugar, and no milk. I gave up my attempt, refilled my water and made my way back to the couch.

09.00am – Being a Big Day Out virgin, I was really looking forward to getting there. My original plan was to leave by 10am, as I expected a long wait for the bus and I wanted to see Sparkadia (who were first up). Finally at about half-past I woke up Jo, who stumbled out to the living room a little dazed. By 10.30am we were ready to go.

11.30am – no idea how we managed to waste the last 2 hours, but we had breakfast, went and got some essentials for the day (that would prove to not be necessary at ALL) and went and lined up for the buses. The line up was MASSIVE, I would have estimated something like 500m or more? It went throughout the carpark, around the corner and a fair walk down the street. Thankfully buses were constantly coming and going so it moved pretty fast. We left after about half an hour of waiting.

12.30pm – arriving at the Big Day Out was an amazing experience. Seeing the loads of people walking up the road, piling out of the buses, people paying an astonishing $40 for parking etc. Yet it still didn’t dawn on me just how many people was going to be at the event. We made our way to the front, which consisted of two shipping containers, and gigantic boards filled with computer parts.

One of the boards out the front of the Big Day Out

You lined up to get through, during which time you were looked over by the police, and if you were in the right spot at the right time, the sniffer dogs. It was amazing to see how every time the sniffer dog started on a particular line, loads of people would switch lines. Obvious much? Not to the police apparently. I saw one girl get pulled out of the line, with the dog reacting very excitedly to her bag. DONE. I think if they had two dogs there, they would have got a helluva lot more.

After making your way through the shipping containers you were then led to one of dozens of lines. There were lines for under 18′s, there were lines for over 18′s not drinking, and lines for over 18′s drinking (where you were allocated a wrist band to show at the various bars around the grounds). Your bag was also searched, and your tickets collected.

The lines to get into the BDO.

After you made it through the line, you walked forward into the grounds, past some buildings and to the top of the hill. Breathtaking. Stages and rides, exhibitions, markets, all visible from the one spot. This was something I’d never comprehended. The sheer size completely blew me away. This thing was going to be BIG.

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