Aussie Life

Hey guys! I guess it's time for an update again! It's so strange because after seeing most of Sydney's sites and settling into our house, I'm beginning to realize that I actually have a life here, and it's not just a visit. I'm going to get to come home and say that I LIVED in Sydney, Australia for 5 months of my life. It's such a surreal thing for me to think about, and I am beyond blessed to be having this experience. This experience is also making me realize more and more how much I want to see the world and have traveling be a part of my life. We meet so many international students here, (sometimes it's actually difficult to come across Australians), who have seen so many different parts of the world that I now have a huge list of places I want to visit. Hopefully I continue to be blessed enough to travel throughout my life!

Anyways, we finished our third week of classes (aka - 9 days of actual class!), and we finally decided that we better at least open our course readers. And, because Tyler's parents are arriving tomorrow and my parents the week after, we want to try to get any homework we have during that time out of the way. But don't be fooled, I am still spending my days without class by the pool and the beaches! I'm starting to worry that the weather is going to be cooling down soon (meaning 70's rather than 80's), but I try to keep that idea out of my mind:) Tyler and I also get to travel to the Whitsunday Islands with my parents for a long weekend (click here to be extremely jealous) and up the east coast for spring break.. errr or mid-semester break... or reading week? -- whatever they call it here...and it will be nice and warm there! 

I also wanted to show you all pictures of the house I am living at in Sydney. Tyler and I live here with two other girls from Madison - Taylor Christensen and Ali Vogel, a girl from Canada - Tricia, and two other guys - Michael who is from China and Ahmed who is from Saudi Arabia.  They are all really nice and easy to live with! The only downfall is that we don't have a dryer, therefore, we have to hang-dry everything (which doesn't mesh well with my obsession with non-wrinkly clothes) and there is no air-conditioning. We bought fans right away and our house doesn't get that hot, so we're doing good! Also, cockroaches tend to take residence in our living room, but as long as they stay out of my room I think I can contain myself from passing out when I see them (however, I doubt the screaming at the top of my lungs will ever cease). Below are the pictures of our house - it gets the job done! 

My and Tyler's room 

Bedroom

Bedroom 

 Closet!! (the other half is Ty's but I'm invading most of that space as well!) 

Living Room 

Living Room 

Kitchen

Dining Room - See mom, we study! (on very rare occasions) 

Other than that, I'm looking forward to our parents visiting, planning some weekend trips around Australia, and impatiently waiting for spring break! 33 dayyyys! 

Megan 

The longest blog post ever...

I know, I suck. But I promise to get you updated now! Since we found our housing, we have had a lot of time to explore Sydney. Of  course, we have been to the Sydney Harbour a few times, and while we were there, we checked out the sydney aquarium.

These Upside Down Jellyfish were my favorite! 

 

I took this picture with my DSLR, and I'm in love with the colors. 

We also did a day trip hiking in the Blue Mountains, which were breathtaking!! We took a train, which was about a 45 minute ride from Sydney. Once there, we did a hike that consisted of climbing 900 stairs down and 900 stairs up! The hike took us about three and a half hours, but it was definitely worth it for the views of the waterfalls, rainforest, and cliffs. We were warned to be careful, though, because in the wet parts of the hike leeches will crawl up your shoes and onto your legs... luckily we didn't have any encounters with them!

Of couuurse we had to visit all of the beaches close to Sydney! While house hunting we came across Tamarama Beaeh, which is a smaller, more secluded beach close to the famous Bondi Beach. We didn't swim, but it was the first time we got to put our feet in the ocean, so I was happy! 

The next beach we visited was Bondi Beach, which is a 15 minute train ride and a 10 minute bus ride from downtown Sydney. It is such a beautiful beach and a great place to travel to for an afternoon. We have been there twice so far, but I'm praying the weather will stay beautiful and 80 degrees out so we can have more beach days! 

My favorite beach around Sydney is Manly Beach. You have to take a 30 minute ferry to get there from the Sydney Harbour, but I love it! Probably mainly because there is lots of shopping right by the beach and also my new favorite ice cream! (Copenhagen's - a scoop of chocolate and scoop of fresh banana.. yummm). I could literally spend probably 10 hours at Manly... if only I could convince Ty to stay and shop with me!! 

We also went on a sunset cruise around the harbour which was a super pretty view!

Hmm.. what else?! We just started our second week of classes.. if you can call my 3 days of classes  a week? But it is still really hard to have motivation to go to class for those 3 days and do homework! All I want to do is lay by the beach and poool. Our campus (aka Hogwarts) is gorgeous. And it has a park with a pool... enough said. 

(Excuse me I'm late for Defense Against the Dark Arts) 

(The Graffiti Tunnel in the middle of campus)

(Pooooool)

We have also had some great nights out with great friends! 

("Beachball" - the all campus party)

(Maaardi Gras!)

Sorry if this was as painful for you to read as it was for me to write! but I will try my hardest to do a better job of keeping up with the posts!! OH yea-- MY PARENTS ARE COMING TO VISIT!!! and Tyler's mom, stepdad, and brother will be here in two weeks!! woohoo for free food -- KIDDING :) can't wait to see you guys!! 

Love, 

Megan