All is well in the land down under. My classes are all sorted out, I’ve got my running route around town all figured out (I ran down Australia street this morning), and I’m starting to pick up on some of the Aussie lingo. Here are some of the highlights of last week:
Wednesday: Sydney Harbor Cruise
On Wednesday night, a group of Australians and international students flocked to King’s Street Wharf to board a 3-floor cruise ship. I met people from all over the world and enjoyed the view of the skyline. We went under the famous Harbor Bridge to see more of the city lit up at night. But nothing rivaled the view of the illuminated Opera House against the black sky and the skyline. Well, nothing other than the free food.
Friday: Bondi Beach
After finishing class at 11am I went with Tom, Lucy, and Ross to Bondi Beach, the biggest beach in Sydney. After taking two busses, we arrived at our destination and the sight didn’t let us down. We relaxed on the beach, enjoying the view, the sand, and the sunlight until sunset. After the beach, we wandered around the town of Bondi until we stumbled upon an awesome Thai restaurant where we feasted until we couldn’t eat anymore.
Saturday: SCUBA Diving
I woke up bright and early on Saturday morning to go SCUBA diving with Sydney Dive Academy and some friends I had met at UNSW (another university in Sydney). After wet suiting up, we dove off the shore at a place called Botany Bay. Our dive was part of PADI’s initiative Project Aware in which we cleaned up the reef and then logged our findings to help stop future ocean pollution. In addition to the reef, some really cool fish, a crazy looking crab, and a shark, I also spotted a full sized orange traffic cone wedged between some rocks down in the reef. I pulled it out and brought it up to the surface to throw it out. There was a news team at the dive site reporting on Project Aware so who knows, maybe my traffic cone and I made it into the Sydney Morning Herald. After more than an hour under the water, we called it a day and went back to Coogee beach for some R&R.
Sunday: Rock Climbing
Last week I joined SURMC (Sydney University Rockclimbing and Mountaineering Club). So on Sunday morning I met up with 12 other club members to set out for Palm Beach, a rock face right by the beach that looks out onto the ocean. Unfortunately, it was raining and climbing wet rock is never fun. Instead, we drove out to the biggest rock climbing gym in Sydney. I had a lot of fun meeting other climbers from Sydney, Sweden, and Venezuela and being the only American for once. The rating system is completely different in Australia so it was a bit of a struggle to adjust to that but once I got the hang of it, I was top roping and sport climbing just like back at home. We climbed until we couldn’t climb anymore, and then some (my forearms are so sore today it hurts to type). But I had a great time and will hopefully get to climb outside on the beach sometime soon.
PS I love the University of Sydney, it's hard not to with sights like this.
