Sydney Trip! - September
Hi Everyone!
This month was an exciting one...I went to Sydney and had the most incredible time! It was also my birthday and I've made a couple more exciting trips this September. This month however was also full of work...I had three major assignments due within three days of each other which took up most of my time! They have all been submitted and I have just started my mid-semester break (which is definitely not halfway through the semester!) so it's really nice to finally have some time on my hands again.
It's definitely getting warmer, and I'm getting used to the heat now, although I know it will only get worse! There's also a big drought here right now...I assumed it was always this dry but apparently not...there are bush fires all around Brisbane!
I can't believe I am nearly 1/4 of my time through my year in Australia...it's going by so fast. Having said that, this month was for sure the toughest month yet...I have been really missing people especially as all my friends are going back to university and living together and part of me wishes I was there. But I'm still very much making the most of my time and enjoying the friends that I have here!
Sydney
100% the biggest highlight of Australia so far. I spent way too much money but honestly it was totally worth it and I really had some once in a lifetime experiences.
I got up bright and early on Friday 6th September for my 7am flight and landed in Sydney just before 9. The view from the plane was absolutely stunning!
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| Spot the Landmarks! |
Once in Sydney I met up with the three friends from university I was travelling with and we headed out to Bondi Beach and went on a long walk around the coast which was tiring and hot, but beautiful! I also ate fish and chips which I really have missed from home!
The next day we did a tour of the Blue Mountains. The views we saw were definitely the most incredible I have ever seen in my life. The temperature was quite a shock...up in the mountains the hottest it was all day was 8 degrees! It was also incredibly windy...in most photos of me from that day my hair is everywhere!
We also go to ride the steepest train in the world which was awesome.
When we got back from the Blue Mountains we watched fireworks on the harbour which they have every Saturday and had a Chinese hotpot which I have to say was the most stressful food experience of my life but amazing nonetheless. We found a restaurant in Chinatown which clearly was not used to English speakers as barely anyone spoke English. You get a boiling soup in the centre of the table to share and you order separate raw items that you cook yourself in the soup. We could have chosen tongue and pigs brain, although we decided to play it safer! We really did not have a clue what we were doing but it was delicious!
On Sunday we decided to explore Sydney. We had managed to be in Sydney for two days without seeing the Sydney Opera House so we finally walked there for a tour of it. It is very very impressive and it was a worthwhile tour as it was interesting to learn all about the process of building it. We also found out about the shows going on at the time so as we made our way out of the Opera House we thought we may as well ask if there were any tickets for Westside Story that was playing that afternoon. Not only were there spare tickets but as we were students we could get student rush tickets for $47 to sit in the best seats in the house! So now I can say that I have got to see a show in the Sydney Opera House which not many people can say they have done! The show was amazing as well!
After that we wandered around the rest of Sydney, going to Mrs Macquarie's Chair and then heading over the bridge to the North Side for our evening meal.
On Monday, the final day, we went over to Manly Beach and walked around the Sydney Harbour National Park. We did a hell of a lot of walking...over the four days we walked over 41 miles. By the time I flew home that evening I was exhausted. It was totally worth it though and I am really glad that we didn't say no to things just because they were expensive...it is an expensive city and so you just have to enjoy it!
My Birthday
My birthday turned out to be lovely. I think because I really wasn't expecting it to be good I was particularly surprised. I made my own birthday cake in the morning which I forgot required me to whisk egg whites and egg yolks separately by hand because of course I don't have an electric whisk here! So I definitely burned off the calories that I would later eat! I went out for lunch with one friend and then there was a really good deal on Krispy Kreme donuts so a bunch of us got together to eat them. In the evening I went out with a few friends for a birthday meal, I had carbonara because I have been dying for one since I have been here! Everyone made it a really special day and people were so generous.
Toowoomba
Recently I made my way out West to Toowoomba. My grandmothers cousin moved out there and so I have over 60 distance relatives there! It was the flower show in Toowoomba so I thought it would be a good excuse to go. The flower show was beautiful, it was really cool to see flowers and plants that we couldn't have in England because of the climate.
On Sunday we decided to explore Sydney. We had managed to be in Sydney for two days without seeing the Sydney Opera House so we finally walked there for a tour of it. It is very very impressive and it was a worthwhile tour as it was interesting to learn all about the process of building it. We also found out about the shows going on at the time so as we made our way out of the Opera House we thought we may as well ask if there were any tickets for Westside Story that was playing that afternoon. Not only were there spare tickets but as we were students we could get student rush tickets for $47 to sit in the best seats in the house! So now I can say that I have got to see a show in the Sydney Opera House which not many people can say they have done! The show was amazing as well!
After that we wandered around the rest of Sydney, going to Mrs Macquarie's Chair and then heading over the bridge to the North Side for our evening meal.
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| The essential shot of me with the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge in the background! |
On Monday, the final day, we went over to Manly Beach and walked around the Sydney Harbour National Park. We did a hell of a lot of walking...over the four days we walked over 41 miles. By the time I flew home that evening I was exhausted. It was totally worth it though and I am really glad that we didn't say no to things just because they were expensive...it is an expensive city and so you just have to enjoy it!
My Birthday
My birthday turned out to be lovely. I think because I really wasn't expecting it to be good I was particularly surprised. I made my own birthday cake in the morning which I forgot required me to whisk egg whites and egg yolks separately by hand because of course I don't have an electric whisk here! So I definitely burned off the calories that I would later eat! I went out for lunch with one friend and then there was a really good deal on Krispy Kreme donuts so a bunch of us got together to eat them. In the evening I went out with a few friends for a birthday meal, I had carbonara because I have been dying for one since I have been here! Everyone made it a really special day and people were so generous.
Toowoomba
Recently I made my way out West to Toowoomba. My grandmothers cousin moved out there and so I have over 60 distance relatives there! It was the flower show in Toowoomba so I thought it would be a good excuse to go. The flower show was beautiful, it was really cool to see flowers and plants that we couldn't have in England because of the climate.
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| Guess the famous landmark! This was just something at the flower show that made me really laugh... |
It was lovely to meet a really Australian family and see what it's actually like to live in Queensland. They made me feel truly at home, I got to meet a lot of members of the family and I heard all sorts of stories about growing up out in the bush...sounds totally different from my upbringing in England! I got to see my first snake in the wild...a six foot long python!
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This month has been super tiring...I am recharging my batteries this mid semester break (with a few day trips thrown in there!) and then October should be a good month. I am going to Moreton Island with friends and have a few other places I want to get checked off my list! I am also going to have to study hard...exams start right at the beginning of November.
It's quite sad because as much as I am looking forward to the end of semester and my long summer break it will be tough because most people I have met here are only staying for a semester so they're all going to be going soon. It is such a shame because just as I am getting to know everyone really well they all have to leave!
I hope that everyone had a good September.
Sending everyone my love,
M xxx
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This month has been super tiring...I am recharging my batteries this mid semester break (with a few day trips thrown in there!) and then October should be a good month. I am going to Moreton Island with friends and have a few other places I want to get checked off my list! I am also going to have to study hard...exams start right at the beginning of November.
It's quite sad because as much as I am looking forward to the end of semester and my long summer break it will be tough because most people I have met here are only staying for a semester so they're all going to be going soon. It is such a shame because just as I am getting to know everyone really well they all have to leave!
I hope that everyone had a good September.
Sending everyone my love,
M xxx
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