goodbye Sydney, hello Cairns!

Monday was our last day in Sydney. It was a beautiful day so a bunch of our girls had a picnic lunch in the Royal Botanical Gardens. It was so nice and sunny. After lunch Sarah and I went to the New South Wales Museum of Art. We wandered around for about an hour and saw really cool paintings and drawings. That night, we had a group dinner at a rooftop hotel by the Sydney Harbour. It was supposed to rain, but the weather held out and it was an awesome night.

Tuesday we flew to Cairns. The flight went smoothly and we landed early in the day. The weather was sort of rainy and cloudy, but that's what you get for staying by a rainforest. We explored the town a little and went for a group dinner by our hotel. We're staying in the Mantra. Its SO nice. My hotel room is right on the Esplanade (the street parallel to the beach). Our room overlooks a giant salt water pool and the lagoon. We have the best view of all the rooms.

Wednesday we went on an adventure to Kuranda. This is a small town in the middle of the rainforest. We took a scenic train ride to get there, passing the Barron Falls, which are beautiful. In Kuranda, there is the Koala Gardens. I got to hold a koala!!! It was SO cute and cuddly. It felt like I was holding a baby! We also got to feed little kangaroos and wallabis. They tickled so much as they ate. After that, we did some shopping around the village and then took a Skyrail back to Cairns. We soared over the rainforest and were able to get out at different look-out points. Once back in Cairns, we went to the Aboriginal Cultural Center. We learned how to throw bomerangs and spears! Everyone in the group was surprisingly good! We had another group dinner that night. We went to a Mexican restaurant and I was in heaven. It was an amazing day :)

Yesterday we toured the Cairns Base Hospital. It was really cool to see some of their units. My favorite of course was their pediatric unit. After the tour, a group of us went horseback riding through the rainforest. I was a little nervous walking up to my horse, Leo, but he was awesome! He was so cool! The ride through the rainforest was surreal, especially after the sun set and we had to ride back to the ranch with flashlights attached to our helmets. They had a bonfire for us after the ride, and we roasted marshmallows. To complete our perfect night, we were able to feed more kangaroos. These guys were a lot bigger than the ones at the Koala Gardens. It was creepy trying to find them in the dark with our flashlights. They could smell the food as we walked in and would creep up behind us. Some of them were as tall as me and I was turn around to be face to face with them waiting to be fed. It was one of the coolest experiences so far and I will never forget that night :)

beach bums and winos

We had more free time this weekend to do what we pleased. Saturday we went to Bondi again. I still can't get over the fact that I can lay on a beach in January. Pretty much our whole group went and we had a fun day laying in the sun and telling stories. Sarah and I went in the ocean for a bit that day but it was SO rough we could only stay in for like 5 minutes. After almost losing my "bather" from a huge wave and being pulled out farther than we wanted, we body-surfed back in. I got water in my ear that never came out from the crazy waves so now I'm in pain. I will soon be on the search for some of those swimmer's ear drops.

Today a small group of us booked a wine tasting tour of the Hunter Valley. This region is two hours north of Sydney. The ride up was gorgeous. Our tour guide was very enthusiastic and loved telling us all we needed to know about wine. We watched a video on the way so we learned the proper etiquette of tasting wine. We toured three wineries: Tallavera, Irongate and Ernst Hill. All three wineries were very different, but very cool. At Irongate, they process the wine there, so we were able to get a tour and see all of the different equipment used. At Ernst Hill, they let us taste some of the grapes used to make their wines. Between the vineyards, we had a nice picnic lunch in the Hunter Valley Gardens followed by a cheese tasting at the Smelly Cheese Shop. Everything was delicious. I was surprised at how much I liked the white wines today. It was pretty hot out so I guess I liked how refreshing they were. My favorite wine today was at Irongate. It was a mix between Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. The tours were really fun and also educational. An added bonus to our trip: we saw kangaroos!!! It was so cool to see them in their natural environment. Overall, it was an awesome day and I'm so glad I decided to go on this tour :)

Sydney Harbour Bridge and Surfing

Wednesday morning we had class in Amy's room and then had a free afternoon. Sarah and I headed to Paddy's Market by Chinatown. This is one of the coolest places in Sydney. Its a HUGE flea market and I was completely overwhelmed the first time I walked in there. Since this was the second time we went, I knew what to expect and had a better idea of what I wanted to buy. There is also a great produce section and we bought a bunch of fresh fruit and vegetables for cheap! After the market, a group of us walked to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We walked across the bottom for free since its almost $200 to climb to the top. We still saw great views of the harbor and Opera House. A small group of girls decided to do a little bar crawl down George Street on our way home. We stopped into about 6 different bars (all very different atmospheres) and tried all sorts of drink specials. Because it was only a small group of us, we didn't completely overwhelm the employees. Usually our group draws a lot of attention to ourselves... 21 American girls stick out like a sore thumb at many public places.

Today we had our surfing lessons. It was really cool because everyone in our group decided to go. A bus pick us up from our apartment building at 9am and drove us to a private beach specifically for surfers. We enjoyed a little off-roading to get from the parking lot to our spot on the beach. The guys that taught us were super nice and individually helped all of our girls. It was funny to watch everyone try. For most of us, it was our first attempt ever to surf. The weather wasn't the typical Sydney summer day. It was overcast and windy, but great surfing conditions. It made for bigger waves and warmer water. I was really proud of myself because I actually was pretty decent. I was really getting the hang of it and the surf instructor was surprised to hear that I've never surfed or snowboarded before. It was chilly getting out of the water so that gave us more motivation to stay in and surf all day. We all rushed out of the water in the afternoon when the tide changed because everyone started to get stung by jellyfish. I got stung belong my knee but I can't complain because some of the girls had HUGE welts on their legs from the floating tentacles. Overall, it was an awesome day and I hope to surf again before the trip is over :)

beach, tans and swimming.... in january?

We had a free weekend to explore Sydney so a group of our girls decided to take advantage of the great weather. We went to Bondi beach on Saturday. We had to complete some surveys for a research project so it was funny interviewing some Aussie residents. They knew we were Americans as soon as we opened our mouths, but they were all really nice to us! After our interviewing was finished, we soaked up some rays and went for a swim in the beautiful clear ocean. The water was amazing and it was so weird to be swimming in an ocean in January!!! That night was the first night of the Sydney festival. Sarah and I walked around Hyde Park for a while. There were SO many people there. There were different performances and food and things do to around the park. We were completely overwhelmed so we only stayed for like a half hour. That night the two of us went to one of the local pubs and showed off our dance moves. Copying the Australians' moves actually was a hit. I think we got more interested looks dancing like fools ;)


Sunday morning a small group of us went to Hillsong church. The worship band was unreal. It was an amazing experience to be apart of an Australian service. We look forward to going again next Sunday! After church we took the ferry across Sydney Harbour to Manly beach. This was such a cute little beach town and again, the beach was gorgeous. Overall it was a great weekend and I can't believe how tan I am for only laying out for two days.


Yesterday we to the Sydney Aquarium. I saw a HUGE sea turtle (so cute), lots of colorful fish, penguins, sharks, enormous stingrays and dugongs (Australian manatees). The aquarium was really fun and I got some cool videos on my new camera!



Today we have a free day so Sarah and I, along with some other girls, are heading back to Bondi to relax. I hear its freezing in the States. According to Sam Brix its the coldest winter in thirty years... so while you're worrying about getting frost bite, I'll be making sure I don't get a sun burn ;)

day 3

So its my third day here in Sydney and I'm getting pretty good about getting around without getting lost. We had a couple of tours yesterday set up for our group. We walked from our hotel, through Hyde Park to Sydney Hospital. There we learned a little about the history of the hospital and toured the Nightingale wing. This wing had a lot of old pictures and antiques from when it was originally built in like the 1800s. It was pretty cool and weird to think of how nursing has evolved so much. One of the rooms included on the tour had 100s of preserved body parts. It was intriguingly gross. I also found a new boyfriend on this tour.. his picture is included ;) After that, we went on a walking tour of the Rocks; this is the oldest part of Sydney. The tour took about 2 hours so we were all pretty beat after that. Sarah and I treated ourselves to some milkshakes on the way home. We had a group dinner last night at a Thai restaurant. All the food was served family-style and everything was delicious!

Today we had class for a few hours, but then had the afternoon free to explore. A group of girls and I wandered through the Botanical Gardens. The gardens were beautiful. We relaxed in the park by the harbor for a while. I must say, that place made the list of one of my favorite places in the world. I will definitely be returning there before we leave.

Sydney is an awesome city and I think I could get used to this city life! I'm attempting to attach some pictures. If it works... Enjoy :)

FINALLY HERE!

So we've finally made it to Sydney after having our flight delayed for 24 hours. The weather is BEAUTIFUL :) We had a bus tour this morning take us around to some of Sydney's famous places. We will be touring the Opera House in a bit. Catch ya later!