Still in Melbourne!!

I haven't written in a few weeks, as not a lot exciting has happened. I'm just hanging out in Melbourne! Amy and I signed up with a recruitment agency and are looking for jobs. Amy did find one in a call center, but it's only for 2 weeks. I haven't found anything yet, so I've been spending my days exploring Melbourne. Melbourne is a fun city. All the cool coffee shops and cafes are down side alleys, so you really have to explore to find them.

We are all moved into our apartment, and have two roommates. They are from Scotland, and have just started their backpacking trip. Melbourne is their first stop, and they are staying for several months to work for a bit before backpacking. They are a lot of fun, Amy and I lucked out on getting good roommates!

It's winter, and the days here are pretty short, and it's a lot cooler now, with the nights getting down right cold.

I promise I'll add more about the sights of Melbourne as I explore more. Since I know I'm going to be here for two months, and we just spend two months sightseeing, I'm having trouble getting up a lot of motivation to do all the tourist things.

Exciting times in Melbourne

This has been an interesting week. On one hand, it has been relaxing, as we've stayed in one place, and knowing we will be here for a while means we don't have to rush around seeing everything all at once. One the other hand, we've also been working on getting things done so we can stay here for the next several months. On Tuesday, we explored the city for a bit, and I signed up with an employment agency. It's the one Amy was with in Brisbane, so she transferred her info to them, and I signed up. I still have to send them my resume, but as soon as I do that, hopefully they'll find something for me.

On Wednesday we say Wicked!!!!! The broadway production is currently touring Australia, and we thought we would check it out. It was amazing! I loved it! I read the book a couple years ago, so I was excited to see the play, and I definitely think it was better than the book, honestly.

Wednesday afternoon we started our apartment hunt and looked at a couple places. We decided they would be backup options, but would keep looking. Thursday morning we looked at another place, and decided we liked it enough to pick it, so we have a place to stay! It's a 3 bedroom apartment in a suburb called South Yarra. We are moving in on Saturday. Right now there is no one in the apartment, but about a week after we move in, two more girls will be moving in. South Yarra is a nice suburb, with lots of old victorian style houses, and is near the city center.

I finished posting pictures from all our backpacking. Here is the link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2199423&id=27216207&l=a11b7b340c. This album has all the pictures from the whole backpacking trip, so the new ones are at the end. Enjoy!

Sydney!

Sydney is awesome! Friday night I climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The bridge climb takes you to the very top, which has amazing views of the city. I went at night, so the city was all lit up. The harbour bridge is the main on in the city, and is where they do the fireworks show on New Years. There is a festival going on in Sydney, called Vivid Sydney, and is a music and arts festival. As part of the festival, they had the Sydney Opera House lit up with lots of colors, which was so cool. On Saturday, Amy and I took the Hop On Hop Off bus tour of the city. The whole tour takes an hour and a half, and goes to around 30 top exhibits. We rode the bus through the whole tour to learn a little about the city, then got off on the second round. We stopped at Darling Harbour and went to the Sydney Aquarium.

On Sunday, we went to the Hillsong Curch, which is an awesome church and where Hillsong United got it's start. The service, and especially the music, where amazing. Sunday afternoon it rained and was cold, so we walked around a little in an area of the city called The Rocks, but didn't venture out too much. We did also walk across the Harbour Bridge to get more pictures of the Opera House and the city. Monday we walked around more, and went to the Opera House, but didn't go inside. The Opera House was pretty cool, it looks exactly like in the pictures. We then took a ferry across the harbour to Manly Beach, which has a very cute shopping center and beach.

Monday night we took the overnight bus to Melbourne, so that's where we are now. It was a 12 hour bus ride, leaving Sydney at 7pm. We are now in Melbourne, where we will be staying for the next two and a half months!

I'm in Sydney!

Tuesday we left Coffs Harbour for Port Macquarie, but before hopping in the bus, we went whale watching!! We saw several humpback whales, and it was awesome! The boat captain said it was actually a quiet day for the whales, as they weren't really active, and didn't jump out of the water or anything, but we still saw them come up for air and stuff, so it was still cool to see.

We spent two nights in Port Macquarie. Port Macquarie is like the retirement city on New South Wales, so there's not a lot of activity there but it's still a nice town. We walked around, saw dolphins in the ocean (which was also very cool), and visited a couple historical places. I went to the Museum, and I really enjoyed it, I think it was one of the best museums I've been to in a while. It was very well done, with a lot of interesting exhibits. We also visited the Historic Cemetary, and an old church.

Last night, we took a bus overnight to Sydney! I'm so excited to spend the next few days in Sydney!

More sun and beaches!

The last couple days have been filled with gorgeous weather. On Saturday morning, Amy and I got up at 4am to watch the sunrise from the easterly most point in Australia, so basically we were the first people to see the day start. We also hiked to the Byron Bay lighthouse, which was really pretty. Saturday afternoon we went to a trapeze class, and Amy tried to swing on the trapeze. I discovered I have a huge fear of heights, so I didn't do it.

Sunday morning we continued our journey south and left Byron Bay for Coffs Harbour. I went hiking on Muttonbird Island. There actually are birds called Muttonbirds, and they build their nests underground. It had some great views of Coffs Harbour as well. There is also a marina here, and I really love to walk along the docks, so it's been a good time!

Surfs Up!

Monday it rained in Noosa...so not that exciting of a day. Tuesday we also spent in Noosa, and we went on a hike for a couple hours in the Noosa National Park. We were hoping to see some koalas, but no such luck. Wednesday we headed to Surfer's Paradise. Surfer's Paradise is quite a lively city, with lots of restaurants, people, and stuff to do. We went for dinner at an Irish pub, and ended up staying there as there was a big rugby game on TV. It was the State of Origin game, where Queensland plays New South Wales. Having only been in Queenslands up to that point, I had to support Queensland...that and because they won. It was an exciting game, even though I don't fully get it.

Thursday, Amy and I went surfing! Well, attempted to surf is more like it. Amy did a pretty good job, managed to stand up quite a few times. I stood up on the second or third try, only to fall off and hit my knee on the sand...which gave me a huge bump on my knee, and it started bleeding, and swelled up. I did try again, but was afraid to stand up for fear I would fall again. By that time, my knee was hurting so bad I had to stop. So sadly, I only stood once....however, I did stand (contrary to what some members of my family thought, who figured I wouldn't stand at all!).

Friday morning we left Queensland for New South Wales, and are now in Byron Bay. We walked around for a bit, and then I did what every one should do while traveling....I got my hair done! We were walking around, and we passed a cool-looking salon that had a sign saying they were voted the best for 9 consecutive years. Amy brought up that I had mentioned I wanted to get my hair done, and we both decided that this salon looked like a fun place to get it done. So we went in and they were able to get me in right then. So, the overall color is now dark brown, with blond and dark red highlights. I really like it. Oh, and it started raining right after, so we luckily missed all the rain, as it was over by the time we left.