AUSTRALIA!!!

Saying goodbye to my class, school, and home stay family was absolutely awful. I promised them I would be back because I have still yet to see the South Island.

Australia was phenomenal! What a perfect graduation present to myself! Justine and I traveled together to Sydney and stayed at Chiliblue Backpackers for four days. Our hostel was not in the best of shape and kinda dirty but the people were so nice and the event coordinator, Simon, really took care of us. One night he even got us hooked up with taking Salsa dance lessons from Brazilian instructors. It was great!! We went to Bondi Beach for two days to lay in the sun and play in the waves. We also took a ferry out to Manly Beach where I met someone who attempted to teach me how to surf. After a few battle wounds, I decided I had enough for one day. I will hands down say that the beaches in Sydney by far beat any other beaches I’ve ever seen. They are huge, the water is bright blue, great waves, soft soft soft sand, and stunning views. My favorite day was when we climbed the Harbour Bridge which is the world’s largest single arch bridge. It is 450 feet tall and we got the climb to the very top. http://www.bridgeclimb.com.au/ On the catwalk when I looked down and saw heaps of traffic flying by made me a bit queasy but the rest of the climb was a perfect adrenaline rush. The view was spectacular, and it gets better- Oprah was in town filming a show outside of the Opera House that very afternoon and we got to see Bon Jovi performing at her show, from the top of the bridge. It was unreal. We also walked around the Opera House later in the afternoon and spotted Hugh Jackman ziplining from the Opera House to Oprah’s stage. I can’t wait to watch that episode since I saw the whole set up!!! I also got my first pair of Ugg boots truly from Australia. Apparently, the Ugg brand that everyone has in the states is a knock off brand and those boots are not actually made in Australia, they are made in China. Check the tags!

I’m on my way home and taking the long way, of course, to make things as difficult as possible. I’m going from Australia, to NZ, spending the night at the airport, then headed back to Australia, to LA, to Denver. My sister and mom are going to pick me up from the airport and we’re going to have our annual girls shopping weekend, this year in Denver. I’m going to get the chance to see Pelzer in Denver as well! I’m so excited to see everyone again : )

Cheers