Amazing Sydney!

Ahhh we are back home from our trip to Sydney and I cannot begin to explain how much fun it was! Sydney was absolutely beautiful. Cliche I know, but there really is no other way to describe it. It feels so surreal that I was actually standing right in front of the opera house. Seeing it on television over and over again during the Sydney 2000 Olympics is one thing but actually seeing it in person is a completely different experience. My mind is still having trouble processing the idea that I was in Sydney, Australia standing next to the opera house and climbing part of the Sydney bridge. Traveling abroad really does feel almost like an out of body experience. The sites are just so beautiful and so different from everything that you are used to back home. It really opens up your mind!

Although I absolutely loved being in Sydney, the same cannot be said about the THIRTEEN HOUR BUS RIDE that we took to get there (and home). Many of us thought that we could handle anything after our twenty four hour trip from the United States to Australia, but we were very wrong. I definitely recommend flying. However, the grueling bus ride was immediately forgotten the moment that we arrived in the city. We dropped off our suitcases at the hostel we were staying at, freshened up and then immediately began our walking tour of downtown Sydney. We had only walked for about five minutes when some of the Loyola/American girls spotted a Starbucks and literally ran ahead to it. Australian coffee is much different then American and Starbucks are far and few between. After amping up on some coffee we continued walking towards some of Sydney's historical sites. First we saw the Anzac war memorial and then the St. Mary's Cathedral. The church was absolutely breath taking. It was just so beautiful; I did not want to leave. After the church we walked through the Royal Botanical Gardens which were also very, very pretty. Oddly, these gardens had tons of huge bats flying everywhere! Pretty gross. I was really surprised that they were even out during the day time but I guess these bats are much different then the ones I am used to.

bats!

The end of the gardens opened up right into the water and a beautiful view of the opera house. As if this site would not have been beautiful enough on its own, the weather made it even more breathtaking. We really could not have asked for a more perfectly sunny day. We all hung out down on the waters edge for awhile taking hundreds (literally) of pictures. Then we walked up closer to the opera house and relaxed there before breaking for a quick lunch.

After filling up on some delicious food, we walked on further to the Sydney bridge. I have to say that climbing the bridge was probably my favorite part of the whole trip. Although we were not able to climb the entire bridge we did still get up pretty high. The views were amazing, I have never seen anything like it. Much of downtown Sydney is based around the water, making it even more enjoyable. From the bridge you could see everything in the city including the opera house. The water itself was just so blue and pretty! Again I know cliche and corny haha but it was all just so unreal.

We finished up with the bridge (they literally had to pull me down, I did not want to stop looking haha) and took a fairy ride back towards our hostel. Once we got back to our room everyone had to quickly get ready for the night- a boat cruise! We all got dressed up and ready to go and walked over to find our private ship. The cruise went right down the harbor past the entire city, opera house and bridge. I thought seeing the
city during the day was one thing but seeing it lit up at night was even better (if that is possible.) After taking more photos on the boats roof top we all went back downstairs and danced the night away.

We had a pretty early wake up call the next morning and quickly began the days adventures. First we went and saw the Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains are essentially the Grand Canyon of Australia but with many, many more trees. The site was very beautiful but unfortunately the weather was not. Unlike the cloudless, sunny day before, the Mountain day was much colder.

Although the site was very pretty I think many of us were more excited for what the night had to bring- Mardi Gras! Sydney's Mardi Gras is much different than the United States one. Theirs is actually a Gay/Lesbian parade and celebration. There was no bead throwing but everyone still got very dressed up and into the Mardi Gras spirit. Many of us found really cool masks to wear and tried our best to look as festive as possible! Many other tourists thought that we were actually marching in the parade because we were so dressed up. Being abroad is a lot of fun because you can look ridiculous and it doesn't matter. Especially considering you probably won't see most people again.

After enjoy Mardi Gras festivities we all made it home and tried to catch a few hours of sleep before our last day in Sydney. Although I was really sad for it all to be over I was excited for our last day because we were going to three different beaches! I love beaches, and Sydney beaches were even more beautiful than the ones I am used to. The first beach we went to was Manly Beach and the water was unbelievable. It was so clear you could see your entire body underwater through the surface. I was obsessed. After playing around in the waves for awhile we left and took another ferry ride to Bondi Beach. Before sun tanning we did a cliff walk. The entire beach is surrounded by these huge cliffs that you can walk along to get a better view of the water. The water was clear and the waves were huge. It was astonishing. I have never seen anything like it before in my life; you just feel so small compared to the sites that you are seeing and everything is so beautiful. We finished up our last day and piled onto the bus for the long trip home. This ride wasn't quite as bad as the first one because many of us were pretty exhausted from our long but exciting weekend. I miss Sydney already!

Rubik's Cube Party!

Like most other university's, Monash has a few different residential halls. However, unlike in the states it is much, much more common for people to live off campus and commute to school. Those who chose to live on campus generally live pretty far from home and therefore have no other option. At Monash there are five different halls that you could be placed in and I could not be any happier with my hall! After a few weeks I have definitely developed a strong love for my hall- Richo! Everyone here gets along really well and with a large common room and kitchen it is pretty easy for everyone to become good friends.

Last night Richo sponsored a bbq and a hall party for all of the residents. The theme of the party was "rubik's cube". I personally have never heard of this before but the concept is actually really cool. Everyone has to show up in a bunch of different crazy colors and then before the night is over everyone must be in one solid color. Everyone showed up looking hysterical and left looking even better. It was really entertaining!

Healesville Sanctuary!

I finally had the opportunity to see kangaroos and koala bears! Ever since I knew that I would be coming to Australia I have wanted to see these animals. None of the Australians could understand my excitement for wanting to see real kangaroos. Here kangaroos are comparable to deer back home. They run wild and are often times the cause of many car accidents. My one friend told me the story about how she encountered one in her backyard on a run one day. Another friend mentioned that a koala bear lived in the tree in her front yard for years. It amazes me that these animals are so common here, yet I had never even seen them in real life before! I cannot even imagine getting in a car accident because of a kangaroo. The idea just seems so outrageous.

dingo

We were able to see some other really cool Australian animals as well. Birds are very common here so we saw many different types of them. As well as tasmanian devils, dingos, wombats and platypuses. The dingos looked exactly like a dog but the platypuses were really cool! They have bills like a duck, a tail like a beaver, they lay eggs like a snake but feed milk to their young. Such a cool animal! There are only two mammals in the entire world that lay eggs and the platypus is one of them! Unfortunately we couldn't really get a good look at them. They swim underwater and it was really dark inside of their tanks.

tasmanian devil

At the end of the tour we all got to sit down and watch a very entertaining bird show. They had so many different bird types and they taught many of them to different tricks. Cockatoos are very common here and if they are trained right they can speak to their owner. This part of the show was actually really, really funny. It is amazing that they can train animals like they do. Although this part of the show was very funny and entertaining my favorite part involved a different bird. This bird enjoys eating ostrich eggs; an egg shell that can withstand a 300lb birds sitting weight. In order to crack open the shell, the bird picks up a rock with its beak and continuously throws the rock at the shell until it breaks open. Fascinating.
 

The bird show was a close second, but I would still have to say that the koala bears were my favorite part of the exhibit. They are just the coolest looking animals. It does not even seem like they are real in the pictures that I took. Koalas actually sleep for about 19 hours a day! So crazy.

O-Week Recap

"O-week" is finally over. It was so much fun but incredibly exhausting! Although I am sad to see all of the free food gone, I'm glad that we will have some more free time to explore Melbourne on our own. The week started off with endless bbqs and get to know your stairwell activities. Everyone in my hall is so, so nice. Everyone in Australia is so nice! After trivia the first night, followed by casino night the next day everyone has already made some really great Australian friends. Although I was not very helpful with the Australian trivial questions, there were some United States ones that I could answer. Unfortunately my team still felt short. Casino night was really fun too. We all got dressed up and played different gambling games with "moose dollars". (Our hall mascot is a moose.) I can't say that I was too lucky during casino games either but I still had a lot of fun hanging out with everyone and meeting new people. : ) Australians can instantly tell when someone is from "the states". As soon as I mention that I am from New York, they all assume that I mean the city. They get so excited and ask over and over again if I watch Gossip Girl haha. Australians are obsessed with American television.

After casino night Richo Hall planned a toga party night for everyone. Unfortunately this was planned on the same night as a beach party that many of the international kids had already bought tickets for. Although I was bummed to be missing out on togas I was excited for the beach party! Everyone got all dressed up in their bathing suits, sun glasses (or sunnies as they call them here) and Hawaiian leis! The bar that we went to had six inches of real sand on the ground! I have no idea how they managed to get it there or how they are ever going to be able to clean it all up but it was really cool!

The end of o-week was filled with some more small activities and free food. The scavenger hunt that I mentioned in the earlier post was really fun too, as well as the talent show we had on our last o-week night. The end of this week also marks the end of the constant activities fair that was going on throughout. It was unlike any activity fair I have ever seen. There was an ice cream truck, live bands and free food galore for the entire week. They also had free cotton candy everyday. However they call cotton candy "fairy floss" which many of us found to be pretty amusing. Here it is more common for bbqs to consist of sausages; they love sausages. And I do not mean nice homemade italian sausages, their idea of sausage is much more like a hot dog and I personally don't know if I can ever eat one again haha. Sausage overload and they really aren't that great. They do however, have the most amazing donuts. They taste just like fried dough- delicious! They also give out free alcohol at every event. It amazes me that drinking is so accepted during on campus activities. All of the Americans (especially the Loyola students) are amazed by how care free everyone is about alcohol here. During this fair I joined two different clubs. These clubs are very different then the ones at Loyola. You have to pay to become a member but once you do you are allowed to attend various free bbqs and events throughout the entire semester. Much less academic than I am used to...

Dandenongs!

Some of us decided to take a break from "o-week" and do a little exploring! My friend Ellen, has family friends that live in Australia and they volunteered to show us around for the day. We made plans to travel to the Dandenong mountains, a well known range in Australia. The mountains are known for their incredibly large trees. They are honestly the biggest trees that I have ever seen in my entire life, which says a lot coming from someone who grew up in upstate New York. Our first stop was at this little area where you could feed wild birds. By just holding the bird seed in your hand they would fly right over and land right on you! Some would even land right on your head! It was really cool and all of the birds were so fearless. After we finished feeding them we got back into the car and drove up higher and saw some incredible outlooks. The views were unbelievable; you could see over the entire city!