Happy (Belated) Thanksgiving!

Well these tidings come about a week late, but I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Rachel and I decided to host dinner for our English friends Kat and Tamsin and our Australian mate Chris. Kat actually celebrates Thanksgiving every year with her family because her father is American; it was Tamsin and Chris’s first turkey day experience. Speaking of turkey… we didn’t actually have one. We decided it would be easier on us (and our kitchen) if we bought a delicious pre- cooked chicken instead. And for those of you that think this was a cop out, I will say to you what I said to my sister Jackie: When you have your first Thanksgiving thousands of miles away from home we’ll see how you do. We did cook all the yummy sides like mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and a sweet potato dish. Our delectable feast was followed by an amazing episode of “Glee” which I much preferred to a football game and dark chocolate brownies Kat and Tamsin made from scratch. All in all, it was a great Thanksgiving.

The lovely bouquet courtesy of Colin.

I wish every dinner was a Thanksgiving feast!

The self- timer really comes in handy in times likes these.

This past Monday, I went scuba diving at Gordon’s Bay with my friends Jay and Thijs. I had been there before to take pictures of the fishing boats and search for sea glass on the shore, but never to dive. The water was incredibly rough and we were walking into it from a rocky area. While I successfully made it into the water, the way out proved to be a bit more difficult and I unfortunately was smashed up against the rocks. I survived with a few cuts on my feet and a bruised ego. While underneath, Jay and Thijs used their dive knives to cut a sea urchin open and used that to feed a friendly blue grouper that has become quite accustomed to divers treating him. I know I haven’t posted any scuba diving pictures yet, but that’s only because disposable underwater cameras are expensive and I’m trying to make the 28 shots last as long as I can. Once I do get the developed I will most definitely post them.

I realize I haven’t written about work much and that’s only because it isn’t the most exciting topic- that’s not to say I haven’t been enjoying it though. I work mostly with my manager Katie, who I love and my day consists of assisting customers, making sure the store is tidy, and putting new merchandise onto the floor. The past few shifts I’ve worked 1pm to close, which is 7pm and relatively early compared to American stores. Even though I’ve worked in retail before, I feel so much more important at Reiss because I’m literally closing the entire store by myself whereas at Anthropologie or Nordstrom there were always a few people with me (that of course is because both those stores are enormous compared to Reiss). I expect to more hours as the Christmas season approaches, so I will hopefully have a nice amount of money saved up by the time I start backpacking in February.

Australian Idol

On Sunday night Rachel, Kat, Tamsin, and I all went down to the Opera House to watch the season finale of Australian Idol. It was between a blond rocker named Hayley Warner and a soul crooner named Stan Walker. It’s difficult to describe Stan's voice but as Michael Bublé told him, "It's like God kissed your throat." We were all cheering for Stan, and he won! That's not really why I went (after all I had only seen one episode before last night), I went to see Michael Bublé perform. He sang "Feeling Good" with Hayley and Stan and then “Cry me a River” a single off his new album. Needless to say, he was unbelievable… not to mention oh-so-debonair in his designer suit. The event took place outside the Opera House and although we didn’t have tickets we found a spot were we could hear and see the performerances on the big screen. To top it all off there were more fireworks than I’ve ever seen on any Fourth of July in America, making me excited to see what Sydney has in store for New’s Years Eve!

Let the Idol madness begin!

I'm convinced Australia has the most beautiful sunsets in the world.

The four of us managed to get our hands on one wristband, we voted for Rachel to take it since she has the nicest camera and would be able to get the best shots. She didn't disappoint.

I was there standing in a crowd of hundreds when our eyes met, he pulled me onto the stage and then confessed that he had written his hit single, "I haven't met you yet" about me... so obviously now he needs to change the lyrics.

I also cannot take credit for these amazing fireworks shots seeing as my camera died just before they began.

Sightseeing in Sydney

I had a few days off this week, so I took it upon myself to do more sightseeing in Sydney, thus the witty entry title. My first stop was the Sydney Tower, the top of which is the highest point in the southern hemisphere. The views were breathtaking and I would love to go back again one night to catch the city at sunset. Next, I took a stroll through The Rocks, one of the city’s oldest areas and ended my fun- filled day with a walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. A piece of advice to anyone who might walk across the bridge in the future: wear pants, it tends to be quite windy up there and holding down your skirt while trying to take pictures proves to be a difficult task at times. I hope you enjoy the pictures, while I have visited many of these sites before it’s always fun to see them from a different angle.

Darling Harbour

There are parks all over the city, Hyde Park is by far the largest and most well known.

This is King's Cross, that Coca- Cola sign is said to be as famous in Australia as the Hollywood sign is in America.

The start of the pedestrian bridge walk.

Sydney Harbour from a different angle.

The north side of Sydney, how amazing would it be to live on the water and have the next two pictures as your view...

The front facade of the Opera House.

A day at the races

Last week, my manager Katie asked if I would like to go to a horse race... An afternoon filled with cocktails, gambling, and donning a pretty dress? Count me in! So the day after I got back from Newcastle I joined Katie, her husband Pete, her little sister who is also here on a work and travel visa, and some of her friends from her previous job at the Rosehill Gardens. Races go on all summer long, the biggest one is Melbourne Cup, held at the beginning of November and known as “the race that stops the nation.” Perhaps the only difference between an American horse race and an Australian one is that ladies wear “fascinators" in their hair instead of hats. As far as gambling goes, I’ve had good luck in the past (I even helped my friend Michael Brill win hundreds of dollars at the Kentucky Derby a few years ago) but it seems that lucky streak has come to an end. Still, I had such a lovely time and was so happy to meet everyone.

The race track was beautiful, and you could even seen the Sydney skyline in the distance (although I couldn't quite capture a good picture of it).

My manager Katie and me.

What a great day out with the girls!

And now for exciting and slightly random updates:

- My parents have officially booked their flights and are coming to visit at the end of January. I’m so excited to spend three whole weeks with them. I think it’s safe to say I’m officially their favorite child…

- They won’t be my only visitors while I’m here, my little brother Alex is also coming! We’re planning on backpacking after he’s done with school in May and then we'll go home together in early June.

- Colin goes golfing almost every weekend now with friends from work and this past weekend he got his first eagle! The head honcho of Olympic National Park happened to be with them that day, talk about a good impression. Way to go Colin!

Newcastle

Fun fact: Newcastle was settled in 1801 as a colony for the worst behaved criminals. But don’t worry, Rachel and I behaved just fine! Although Newcastle is quite small, it was well worth the trip. We arrived around noon on Wednesday and after dropping off our backpacks at the hostel we headed straight to the beach, about a two- minute walk from where we were staying. Jealous? After lying in the sun for a few hours we walked around exploring the town and ended up at the Queen’s Wharf, the prettiest spot in town. We climbed 180 steps to the top of the tower to take in the beautiful view and snap some pictures before the sun set.

Rachel and I climbed to the top of a very steep hill, on a very hot day. The view was worth it.

Queen Wharf Tower

Our hostel, it was small but very clean. We stayed in a room with four other girls and even had our own private bathroom which was a real treat! There were also two girls from St. Louis who worked at the front desk.

The next day we went on a 4km coastal walk which passed through Newcastle Beach, Bogey Hole the oldest ocean pool in Australia (built by those naughty convicts in 1820), Bar Beach, and Merewether Beach. As we walked on the beach, there was a family of dolphins swimming right along with us. I’ve never seen so many dolphins for such a long period of time. It was amazing. That night we went to a free barbeque with other backpackers from our hostel at The Brewery, a restaurant on the Queen’s Wharf, and also participated in trivia night. Although my team and I gave a valiant effort, we did not come out on top.

Newcastle Beach

Merewether Beach

Rachel and I thought we could walk along this rocky beach and make our way to Bogey Hole. We were wrong.

On our last day, we went on a day tour of Hunter Valley, the oldest wine region in Australia. We started our first wine tasting at ten in the morning and weren’t done until after three o’clock that afternoon! We went to five wineries, a cheese shop, and stopped at a charming little village to have lunch. Each tasting began with a bit of sparkling wine, the bubbles help cleanse the palette, then we moved on to three whites, three reds, port, and dessert wines. I can’t say I cared very much for the port wines because they are brandy infused, but I did discover I’m a fan of Shiraz and of course Chardonnay, a taste I most likely inherited from my mother. It was a wonderful day and something I can see myself doing again when my parents come to visit.

It was slightly overcast all day, but vineyards were still stunning.

My favorite vineyard of the day, Kevin Sobels Wine

Sculpture by the sea

I can’t believe it’s been over a week since I last posted, time seems to run at warp speed down under. Earlier this week I did the Bondi- Coogee costal walk, it’s 6km long and takes about two hours from start to finish. November is the perfect time to go because that’s when the annual Sculpture by the Sea art exhibit is held, so the walk was even more beautiful than normal. As you can imagine, I passed through many beaches along the way. Bondi is known for it’s crowds and surfing, Tamara is a small beach where the Sculpture by the Sea exhibit ended, Bronte was by far the most beautiful, Clovelly is a “sheltered” beach which I discovered is just a nice way of saying cement, Gordon’s bay (which I have been to before) is a hot spot for snorkeling and scuba diving, and finally Coogee, which is where I go the most often.

Sydney's most famous and overrated (according to locals) beach, Bondi.

I feel like this would be found on a Star Wars set.

This was one of my favorites because it reminded me of a Curly Gril Design card that says, "Some people will go their whole lives and not actually live one day. She did not intend on being of them." It's sort of my motto these days.

This was my second favorite, I love elephants and it's so fun to look at!

For all my Chi Omega girls out there =)

Bronte beach, the most beautiful beach I've seen yet.

This boardwalk just opened in September, it was an amazing walk.

In other news, I went on my first night dive at the end of last week. It was unbelievable. We actually went to Camp Cove, where we learned how to scuba dive, but like our Dive Master promised, it was completely different at night. I saw a numb ray, squid, octopus, salt water catfish, and even an eel. I wasn’t scared at all to be diving at night, but I was a tad frightened about getting to close to the animals! It was a large group, about ten people in total: five people from my diving course and five Americans that just finished up their semester at University of New South Wales, including a guy named Chris who’s a junior at Miami. Small world, huh?

I have the next few days off work so Rachel and I decided to take a trip up to Newcastle, a small beach town about three hours north of Sydney. We’ll most likely spend our three days there laying out on the beach, exploring their downtown, and maybe even making a day trip to Hunter Valley, the wine region. As much as I love living in Sydney, I’m very much looking forward to exploring a new place.