After I got back from my One Fish Two Fish spring break trip some friends and I went on a few day trips around New South Wales (which for any of you who don't know is one of the states in Australia). One of those day trips was visiting Hunter Valley - a huge well known winery here. That day we visited two beautiful wineries and took part in wine and cheese tasting. The wine was absolutely amazing and I managed to pick up a nice bottle of Merlot to take back to the states, yum. Then we had time to walk around the cute little shops within the winery and grab lunch in this adorable country style cafe. So cute. As we strolled through the area all I could think about was my sister's wedding that she had last summer at a winery back home, so it was nice to reminisce (thinking of you Julie! haha). Then it was time for cheese tasting, which was super delicious as well and we even got a few laughs out of an Asian couple who were eating the wax around the cheese - "ummm you're not supposed to eat that part!" - eventually they understood. After cheese tasting we traveled to another winery and did some more tastings, played a game of hide and go seek, and got back on our bus to head home. All in all delightful day.
The next day of break was spent doing the millions of loads of laundry I brought home with me from One Fish Two Fish.. which by the way cost me $20, $4 to wash and $1 to dry. Oh how I miss Bonaventure's free laundry services.
On our last day of break my friends and I went on a trip to Featherdale Wildlife Park and the Jenolan Caves of the Blue Mountains. Our first stop was Featherdale Wildlife Park, which was so amazing! We we're literally surrounded by little Kangaroos and Wallabies! I mean granted I had my nice dose of Kangaroos at the Australia Zoo but I seriously cannot get enough of these little guys. We even had the chance to feed them! Adorable.
After we fed the cute little buggers we visited the Koalas and of course took tons of photos with them, Seriously, they're the cuddliest things on the planet, and I don't even know or care if "cuddliest" is even a word.
After getting that much needed time with the Koalas we spent the day exploring the rest of the animals in the park... you know the usual Tasmanian Devils, Emus, Dingoes, Pythons. Oh and I finally was able to see a live croc show! I once spent a day in the Everglades scoping out Alligators with my best friend but have never seen anything as big as this crocodile. CRICKEY! That thing ate a whole bird in one bite!
Our next stop on the trip were the Blue Mountains. We first made a stop at Echo Point to check out the Three Sisters, no not the vegetables that the Native Americans ate, but an amazing rock formation. The view was breathtaking, it was like the Grand Canyon but instead of orange rock it was filled with trees!
Then we headed over to the other side of the mountains for our hike through the Jenolan Caves. We stopped in this area for lunch that looked like it came straight out of It's A Small World at Disney World. So cute! Afterwards we headed over to the caves for our hour and a half hike. Throughout the hike we had to climb heaps of stairs so everyone was exhausted but the beauty of the rocks surely made up for it. I couldn't grasp the fact that I was actually walking through a cave like this. It was insane.
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| its a small world after all! |
Once we were out our tour group piled into the bus for a 3 hour ride home, it felt long but my friends and I spent a majority of the time reminiscing and singing songs from our childhood, so much fun haha.
Now that break was over it was time to head back to classes as well as my internship. Same routine as always! This past weekend my friend Rachael and I went to the Schwepps Sydney Cup horse races and it was so much fun! I admit I was a little skeptical about how much fun it would be considering how bored I get watching the Kentucky Derby at home, but being there was a completely different story. Did I mention how under dressed I was? Yeah, I thought "hey I sundress would be perfect!" - not the case. When we stepped off the bus and into the raceway I swear I thought I had traveled to England for the Royal Wedding - fancy hats, cocktail dresses, and nice looking men in suits EVERYWHERE. These Aussies sure took their fashion seriously. Even though I wasn't dressed the part I still had fun checking out all the intense hats these girls were wearing. There were 8 races going on that day so every race Rachael and I would pick who horses that we wanted to win for fun, but the funny thing was was that nearly 3 out of the first 5 horses Rachael picked would win! So since the 6th race was the biggest race of the day, we took our chances and bet on it. The horse NIWOT stuck out to us so we threw down $60 ($5 of which was mine haha) on him and hoped for the best. AND THEY'RE OFF! Niwot was in the middle of the horses for most of the race but once he approached the final stretch, BAM! he went full speed to the front of the line and won the race, and I won an extra $20. What did I do next? Of course put $10 down on two horses for the next race and walked away with $16. I could clearly see why people love horse races... the gambling is addicting and once you bet on a horse the race becomes 100x more enjoyable. It is now my goal to make it to the Kentucky Derby at least once in my life. Good times!
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| Niwot! |
The next day me and my friends Karee & Julie went down to the city to see the Titanic Exhibit at the Australian National Maritime Museum. Titanic is one of my favorite movies so I felt like I was in heaven. First we checked out some of the other exhibits in the museum and then spent the rest of our time in Titanic, checking out old articles, photos, and costumes that the actors wore in the original movie! I was in awe. After the museum we stopped at Pie Face so Julie could experience her first meat pie and I could have my first sausage roll. Australians are definitely doing something right with these meat pies, I'm addicted. Next we headed across the city for more food - this time, chocolate from Max Brenner's (which apparently we have in the states, which is incredibly awesome). We all got this dish called Tutti Frutti Waffle which was basically waffles drowned in chocolate with ice cream, bananas, and strawberries. HEAVEN ON A PLATE. Such a great ending to a fun day out.
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| meat pies! |
So that's basically all I think I have to update you people on. Until next time! xoxoxox
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