Classy Cafe Sydney

I've been studying for exams during these past few days, and of course the rainy weather cleared this week to beautiful blue skies and 80 degree weather, so it would make sense that I have finals this week as well. Thankfully, we have to finish a paper for tomorrow and finish up one exam and then we're free for a full week! I'll be leaving on Saturday afternoon around 1pm to head to the airport. Our flight departs at 3pm, and shortly afterwards I'll be in Cairns, Australia! Just off the coast lies the amazing Great Barrier Reef! Something that I cannot wait to share with everyone back home!

The other night, to give us a break from studying, my roommate Catie's father was in town and decided to bring us to dinner. He chose the Cafe Sydney, which is on Circular Quay. Now, for those of you that don't know, Sydney has two major harbors. One, Darling Harbor, is very well known and has amazing architecture and beautiful harbor views of the Sydney Harbor Bridge. It's well known for great dining, huge ships, busy bars and P.Sherman 42 Wallaby Way. On the other hand is Circular Quay, where all the public transportation ferries leave from. This harbor as well has beautiful views of the Sydney Harbor Bridge as well as the Opera House. There's always a techno didgeridoo player at both harbors, and the atmosphere at both is energetic and fun.


Cafe Sydney also, surprise surprise, had incredible views. I'm not sure about the stars of this restaurant, but I would easily give it 5. There were 6 girls- myself, my roommates, and two mutual friends- and Catie's father, and we all dressed to impress and walked down the main George Street. The restaurant was on the 5th floor overlooking Circular Quay. Modern comfortable stools with white chairs and tables that seemed to glow scattered the bar, and I swear we had 5 different waiters. The food was spectacular- I had twice cooked pork belly with pork medallions wrapped with prosciutto and carmelized apples. Plus a side of steamed veggies and a glass of Shiraz! I was in heaven! Her father was so happy to have us all, and we had a wonderful time. The picture that I'm adding below is not a picture that I took, but the view looked exactly this fantastic! Although one of my favorite meals is a casual, fun, country barbeque with paper plates (or no plates) sitting on the ground, it felt pretty nice to be classy for once and drink wine in a fancy restaurant!

I'll update everyone about my adventures on the Great Barrier Reef as soon as I can! Love you all!


-Sarah

"...from the hills of Vermont, Sarah Bear-Trap!"

The rest of my Melbourne trip is actually fuzzy by now- it's seems weeks ago that I returned to Sydney. I believe I left off at fat penguins waddling around on the beach? Ah yes, I remember now...

The Penguin parade was on monday. On Tuesday, I rose early again and traveled by train with a small group to Ballarat. This small town just an hour outside of Melbourne was the site of one of the first and most successful gold rushes in Australia. We visited Sovereign Hill, which is one of those villages that pretends it's still in the 1800's. It was pretty interesting, and although it was definitely a tourist trap in many different ways ($4 for a horse drawn buggy ride?!), it was still very historical and unique. I'm glad that I decided to go on that trip.

Wednesday was a quiet day- we walked around Sydney in a tour group called "Art and Architecture in Melbourne". The most interesting experience during that day was definitely the Melbourne Laneways, which the city is famous for. These are small, tight, winding alleyways hidden between busy streets that are home to some of the most unique restaurants, cafes and bars. Although dark and seemingly dingy at first glance, the food is pricey and diverse, and the atmosphere is generally upbeat, with jazz music from a small quartet drifting over the sea of bodies searching for a decent, well-priced lunch. I found a Tandoori Chicken sandwich on a Baguette for $5 and I was pretty proud of my frugal find.

Upon our return on Wednesday night, I had a day and a half to relax and work on homework before I left on a trip with the organization that I'll be interning with! I'll be working with Parkinson's New South Wales, a not for profit counseling unit that helps people to manage the symptoms of their Parkinson's disease.

They invited me to enjoy a weekend at a retreat north of Sydney, in an area known as Palm Beach. The experience was many things, and none of them negative! They welcomed me with open arms and many questions; about my program, my career, and America. We stayed the weekend at a small camp where I had a room to myself (besides the large black spider near my door) and bathroom in one of the bunkhouses. We ate all meals together (including morning and afternoon tea, and "supper", which is like a second dinner, and is apparently a real thing for non-obese people here) in the mess hall, and had activities throughout the day. The weekend was themed "The Sound of Music": we dressed up on Saturday night and gathered in the mess hall to join in watching the sing-a-long version of the movie- which I hadn't seen in full before! They introduced me as one of the long lost descendants of the Von Trapp family, Sarah Bear-Trap from the hills of Vermont, and we danced and sang until past nearly 11pm. Along with a great time meeting both the counselors I'll be working with and a lot of the regular patients, I spent a great weekend in a rural area of Australia- I saw a lizard and the back end of a bilby (little mammel between a mouse and a rabbit) who was running away from me!- and learned a lot about Parkinson's disease!

I also got a chance to learn some original, Australian folk songs- one of which, "Waltzing Matilda", was really well known, and I actually needed to ask someone to translate the lyrics for me! A few of the words that I learned? A jumbuck, which is a term for a sheep. A tuckerbag, which is a food or supplies bag with a drawstring that was used by bushmen. And finally, a swagman, which was a term coined around the great depression, which was someone who traveled and didn't have a job.

Overall, I had a great weekend, and I'm super excited about going to Cairns near the Great Barrier Reef this weekend! We finish our final exam on Saturday around noon, and our bus to the airport leaves our building at 1pm! I can't wait! :)

XOXOXO

Melbourne, Australia

I'm back! I've just returned from a few days in the state of Victoria in Southern Australia! I had a great time, and did a ton of stuff!! It's way too much to talk about in one blog post, so I'll try to stretch them out, because the stuff I did was interesting- even the little things- so I wouldn't do the trip justice by just mentioning them!

We flew out of Sydney on Sunday morning- we were at the airport by 6, and huddled around a coffee shop by 7. We flew out around 8 am and landed in Melbourne. After a busride into the city, we dropped off our bags and walked around the city for a bit! They took us to Victoria Markets, which are one of the largest markets in Australia. Around 600 vendors selling everything from fruit to wine to socks to toys are here, and it was a great place to find some souvenirs! From there, we wandered a bit more, through the flagstaff gardens (where I played on the playground for a bit) to the inner-city, or the CBD (central business district). The architecture of the city was beautiful- old buildings mixed in with new, modern ones. I also walked through Chinatown, and then found my way back to the hotel. The view from the hotel was spectacular, and the room modest and nice- I took the pullout couch in the living room, and woke each morning with a look out the balcony window.

That night, my roommates and I went downtown with a few friends and played pool at a bar. We went further into town to cross the Yarra River and found a casino! It was great to walk around- very classy and upbeat atmosphere. It was only the second casino I've ever been in, and I underestimate how addictive those lights can be! I allowed myself $5 on the slot machines, and I had fun losing it! :)

I went to bed pretty early that night, because we had to wake up early the next morning to depart for our Philip Island and Penguin Parade tour! We took an hour busride out of the city to an area which is very well known for the sunset parade of 3oo or more penguins who surf ashore each night to find shelter inland. Of course, that wasn't until sunset, so we had to find things to do during the day! Our small group of 13 was led by Matt, a goofy, young host who had fun singing with us on the bus and actually memorized our names within an hour! Our first stop was a winery, where the views of the surrounding grassy hills was amazing.

Our next stop was the Koala wildlife sanctuary! The center was actually created to surround an existing population of Koala that had been created there (because Koala's aren't originally indigenous to Australia). The population was in danger of wild predators, so the sanctuary was created to keep them safe. They were adorable! They looked like little grumpy old men asleep in trees! We learned that they sleep most of the time- an average of 20 hours a day! They're generally slow moving, although we saw one sprint across the grass! They usually only eat Eucalyptus leaves, from which they recieve all nutrients and fluids that they need, and by the way- they're absolutely adorable! We even saw a baby koala sleeping in it's Mama's arms! We also had a chance to see Wallabies! Technically a Kangaroo but just smaller, it was so much fun to watch them hopping around and playing with each other! They weren't supposed to be in the santcuary, but they sneak in for the good grass and safety! While driving around, we were able to see huge populations of them hopping around in fields as well!

From there, we went to Panny's Chocolate Factory and ate chocolate until we were sick! There was a mini museum with interactive games that would lead to a chocolate prize, objects like sculptures and a mini railroad town made out of chocolate, and we could watch factory workers assorting, mixing, and packaging chocolate! I had a ton of fun (and chocolate)- not to mention the TON of chocolate that our group outweighed- not kidding! There was a brick of chocolate that weighed a ton that you could gather people to try to offset on a scale. It took the 13 on our trip, Matt, and a random tourist to offset and lift the chocolate brick!

From there, we visited the Nobbies, a coastal tourist spot with amazing views of the water. The Nobbies are actually a few huge rocks that add to the view from the coast. Harbour seals and penguins reside there as well, and I haven't seen a more beautiful view of the ocean yet :)

Afterwards, we went to a little town called Cowes to find something for dinner, and then, nearing sunset, we finally went to the Penguin Parade! This nightly happening is what the region's economy is dependant on- a cafe, tourist shops, and musuem have been erected on the spot because of the immense amount of visitors that this area recieves. Through the museum and down a long boardwalk, you come to two concrete stadium seating areas that were created on the hillside so that you could watch the penguins come in from the waves! We weren't allowed to take pictures of the penguins coming in (athough I found one on shore to snag a picture of, thankfully). The wildlife rangers there had orginally decided to allow cameras without flash, since flash would scare or harm the little penguins, but people would "forget" to turn off their flash, so the rangers just did away with cameras all together. Which was sad because I would have loved to have a picture when I was so close to them! It was hard to see the penguins from the stadium seats- since the penguins come ashore to find safety at night, the key to their feelings of safety is being able to be hidden in darkness, so there weren't any lights that they could shine on them so we could more easily see them. Instead, my favorite part was going back to the boardwalks leading to the seating, because from there, the penguins would walk alongside the boardwalks to find their nests, and when I kneeled down beside the fence posts, the penguins were only about 6 inches away from me! So very cute! I'll never forget how innocent and adorable they were, awkwardly waddling around with their short, fat bodies, occasionally falling down and scurrying up to rejoin their group. I wish Meghan could've been there!! :)

I'll write about the second half of my trip tomorrow, but a quick word of the day? Actually, I'll make it the pronunciation of the day- Melbourne is pronounced "Mel-Bin", not "Mel Born". Just so you know when you tell someone that "Sarah just visited Melbourne" :)

All my Love-

Sarah

The Hunter Valley Wine Region

I just returned this evening from the Hunter Valley, which is one of the most famous wine regions in Eastern Australia! It was my first time actually leaving Sydney, and it was so much fun to get away from the busy, crowded city streets to some peaceful, vineyard-covered countryside. We visited 6 different wineries over 2 days- trying around 5-10 different varieties at each winery. So...lots of wine. No, I wasn't crawling back to the bus after each tasting... thanks to generous helpings of crackers and water at each sitting.

I loved visiting each winery- each had their own specialty and history, and each experience was different. Eventually the wines began to blend into each other, although I had my favorites. I've found that I much prefer the taste of a spicy Shiraz with hints of cloves and blackcurrant to a Merlot, and while white wines are growing on me, I'm not a fan of Chardonnay. I also discovered that I like sparkling wines- preferably Sparkling Blush- and dessert wines are amazing! I've learned that dessert wines are often made when Botrytis mold infects a vine. This mold makes the grapes look grayish and defective, however, it really just dries out the grape. Normally you think that a dried out grape wouldn't be a reason for a winemaker to be happy, however, when a grape is dried out, it means that water is removed, leaving only the natural sugars and making the resulting concoction a thicker, super sweet tasting wine.

Walking the vineyard rows was very peaceful, and the area was a great place to relax- an especially great destination for weddings or honeymooners. We were able to pick grapes to eat straight off of the vine, and saw a lot of winemaking in process. The wineries which we were able to tour showed us warehouses with tens of thousands of gallons of wine in storage. Sometimes the wineries would have us sit in small or large groups in back rooms in their "Cellar Doors", which is kind of like their gift shop/wine shop of the establishment, but we actually tasted wines in their storage units a few times.

We stayed the weekend at a 5 star resort called the Mercure. My roommate Sam and I bunked in a room, and the hotel was absolutely beautiful. It's really actually going to make my sleep here tonight a little bit boring in comparison. Sam and I had huge, lush queen sized beds with 5 pillows each (I like tons of pillows :D ). Our 15 foot high ceiling sloped down to a glass door leading to a small terrace next to the heated pool (which I used for laps to work off the wine). Finally, our lovely bathroom had his and hers sinks (in this case hers and hers), and the shower could have easily fit 5 people. The food was amazing at the hotel as well. Everyone got dressed up for dinner on Sunday night, which we had after a champagne happy hour- because we all obviously needed more alcohol, since we hadn't been to a winery in about 2 hours. We had gourmet flatbread pizza, arugala salad, chicken alfreudo, and gnocci in tomato basil sauce- YUM. Dessert was fruit salad, chocolate mousse, or tiramisu. I had a great time, and I can't wait to share my next trip with everyone!

This week I actually have work to do! Sometimes I forget that I'm actually here for school- which I'm sure is hard for you to believe :) . I have a group presentation on Thursday which needs to be 15-20 min long on the lives of Aboriginal Women, and on Saturday I have a 7 page paper due on an influential person or organization to the lives of Aboriginals- I haven't chosen a topic yet! Once I've finished that, however, I'll be off to Melbourne on the 13th-16th! While there, I've signed up for a Sunset Penguin Tour! Yes, Meghan, that is correct- I will be going on a tour around Melbourne which ends at the beach where Fairy Penguins emerge from the surf at sunset to find shelter in the rock inlets on the beach. I promise I have been thinking about how to lure one into my backpack for you.

Love you all!

As a side note, before the trip to the Hunter Valley, I went on a long walk and saw a Pelican (i'd never seen one so that's kind of a big deal to me) and saw the movie TRON in 3D with my friend Caroline in Darling Harbour- at the IMAX theatre which boasts "the World's Biggest Screen"!

Across the Bridge

Oz word of the day- Dingo!

Apparently, besides the bushwalking, aboriginal befriending dog that we think of, dingo is apparently also a term that can mean "loser"- which is interesting because I think the dog dingo is pretty cool!

I haven't posted an entry in a while, and that's just because there hasn't been anything very interesting and new lately. This month, however, will bring me to a few pretty cool places which I can't wait to write about!

I did, however, want to let everyone know that I met the group which I will be doing my internship with today! I traveled across the Sydney Harbor Bridge to the northern city suburbs for the first time today and spent the afternoon with Parkinson New South Wales! The women that I will be working with are a small, intimate group who work with people who have been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, and they specialize in rehabilitation and therapeutic initiatives which will help those who have been diagnosed to cope with everyday life. I made my own lunch with them and sat in on a meeting of with a group patients who had been recently diagnosed with the disease. It was all very interesting, everyone was very nice and esctatic to meet me, and I'm very excited to work with them! I'm actually going to go on an excursion weekend with them in a few weeks, which will be full of fun activities like kareoke and swimming, along with a few more informative lessons, including seminars about dealing with Parkinson's disease.

It has been sweltering here for the past few days, which I'm sure sounds nice compared to the blizzards that I've heard are blanketing home. Today it was 92 degrees and the humidity was stifling- Thankfully I was in the office for most of today, so it didn't really fluster me, however I heard from some of the women at the office that there had been bushfires near their houses the previous night! It's so strange to think that February is their hottest time of year...

Another fun thing about today was actually my ride home in the evening! Julie, one of the younger women in the office, offered to give me a ride back to Sydney Center around Town Hall, which is only about a 15 minute walk back to my dormitory. I rode in a car for the first time here, and we talked a lot about the differences between our cultures. Just the car ride itself was fun and yet nerve wracking. Not only do they drive on the opposite side of the road that I'm used to, but the steering wheel is on the right hand side of the car. Their driving is just a mirror image of ours! She also had to stop to "get petrol" or gas up. I felt like such a tourist looking at the gas pump as if it should belong in a museum, but I'm just so interested at the simple things that make our ends of the world different. "Petrol" is pumped in litres, and the signs showing gas prices are shown in cents, which really weirds me out because if you were seeing the sign in the States, you would think it said a gallon of gas cost $133. So really, it's 133 cents, or $1.33 for a litre of gas, or the equivalent of about $5 per gallon.

Overall, it was a great day to be immersed in a normal, Australian workplace and culture- it was actually the first time that I was the only American in a large group! I'm very excited for more days like it!

Love you all!

p.s. I got your card Grandma- Miss you tons and I hope you got my post card! I hope Eddie has been able to get a haircut despite the snow! :)