So let me start where I left off, my two week break. And it flew by, I honestly don't even know where the time went, I don't even know what I did to tell you the truth, except assignments that were due during the break. This is one thing I do not understand why do they say 'here have a 2 week break but make sure you get these 3 assignments done by the time you come back.' Honestly that is not a break, it has got to be ranked somewhere in the middle of the torture scale. It's like hey, I'm going to tease you about this break you know is coming up, and then wham bam, 3 assignments land on your lap. It's just an evil thing to do.
Since I only have class on Monday and Thursday and the Monday following the two week break was a holiday (score!), it was more of a three week break for me (I know what am I complaining about right). Well anyways on the 7th, Meena, Amber and I decided we have worked to hard on assignments over the break so we deserved a trip to Sydney (which we totally did). I was like whoohoo Sydney, this means starbucks, and it's October so I can get a pumpkin spice latte, and I'll be so happy. But guess what, the country that serves pumpkin in absolutely everything, and I mean everything, does not sell pumpkin spice latte's, I was like day is ruined. So I settled for a passion tea lemonade, don't get me wrong, I love passion tea lemonades, but when you expect something and then you don't get it, it's pretty much total disappointment. At least when I come home in December, starbucks will still carry the Christmas drink line so I won't miss out on those. But anyways back to my day in Sydney, after the starbucks catastrophe, we went to the sea life aquarium. It was pretty cool, not gonna lie, definitely saw some creatures I've never seen before, check them out below!
These are just some of the awesome pictures that I took at sea life Sydney of sea horses, stingrays, sharks, starfish, octopus, and some really cool reef, which glows neon. I don't know how it glows neon, but I'd really like to know how. Meena and I also discovered after we went through the aquarium and got to the gift shop that we are both suckers for souvenirs. Neither of us have control when it comes to tacky little nick nacks that nobody needs and has Australia written all over it.
Next on my list of boring October was Meena's birthday, she turned 23, and she just wanted to have fun. She is a die hard Miley fan and all she wanted for her birthday was to go to the Miley Cyrus concert in Sydney so we got the tickets and went! Not really my kind of music, but you do what you gotta do for your friends. Haha, I make it sound so bad but it really wasn't that bad, I can officially now cross seeing Miley Cyrus in concert off my list.
Although our time together has been short, we a have become such good friends, so celebrating her birthday was one of a kind. This snapshot is of some of our finest moments over the past year. Yup law students do have fun!
The rest of October was pretty bleak, getting up, going to classes, drawing out my last month as a law student. Then it was October 31, Halloween!! But what I find weird is that people in Australia do not celebrate Halloween, it has just recently become a phenomenon here, other students in my law class have never been trick or treating, the parents in my class, have never taken there kids trick or treating. This is one of the few countries that children don't need a costume to fit over there snowsuit, and they don't dress up and go out at night to collect candy. It's still shocking. So Meena and I threw a small halloween party to show Australians what halloween is all about with costumes mandatory!
Any guesses on who I am? I got little bo peep, and Miss Muffett. But no one guessed my true identity, Raggedy Ann. Probably one of my favourite costumes so far! It was a fun night, relaxing with friends now that we finished classes.
Although Australia does not celebrate Halloween they are definitely in love with the Christmas season. They decorate everything to the tee. I can't wrap my head around it, I think because I have grown up in Canada and snow means Christmas that the fact that it is 30+ degrees everyday just doesn't scream Christmas to me. But it is a constant reminder everyday with decorations hung absolutely everywhere. This is just a K-mart parking lot and look at the decorations all lit up ready to go, they are up pretty early considering they don't have to beat the snow and dreadful cold to put them up.
This is me giving a high five to Surfing Santa, I'm thinking I might pick it up so dad can put it in the front yard, as a constant reminder of me for my parents, just so they know that when I'm at the beach reading a book getting a nice tan, I'm thinking of them in the -40 plus windchill weather.
And this is our Christmas Tree that stand a total of one foot high. I told Meena that we didn't need one but she insisted that we did. At least I got her to decorate it with matching ornaments, minus the deer head, Meena has a thing for deer heads and I've learned not to argue about it with her. I just let her do her thing.
Last week Meena and I decided to go on an adventure, and it was fun. The day started off gloomy but turned out to be a gorgeous day full of amazing views. The pictures below are from Nelson's Bay and it is just so picturesque, as I'm looking at the pictures now, they seem so bleak as a camera really can't take in the beauty of what the eye can see. I will definitely go back to Nelson's Bay and explore a bit more as it is just so beautiful. And besides Meena and I went to Nelson's Bay to see a koala because apparently they are in the Tomaree National Park which encompasses the city of Nelson's Bay but nope, no koalas for me. Just slightly disappointed. I've been here for almost 10 months and I can't even go home and say I've seen a koala. So much I wish I could have seen in these past months but didn't get a chance too. Next year definitely more exploring is needed.
This guy is kite-sailing I think its called. I think I'd like to give it a try someday, it looks like a lot of fun!
After we left Nelson's Bay, we went to Cave's Beach, which is also a really neat place because the beach is full of caves, which we can assume is why it got its name. By the time Meena and I got to Caves Beach it was later in the day and the sun was about to start setting and the tide was starting to rise. So we didn't get to explore all the caves we wanted to but we did get to explore some and they were amazing, we both agreed that we will be heading back there to explore the rest of the beach, and who knows maybe we will find a secret treasure in one of the caves, maybe enough gold to pay for my tuition, that would be nice.
This is my playing on rocks, Meena doesn't like to climb on rocks, I blame it on the fact that she was raised in Ontario, where the outdoors is smog and skyscrapers, unlike Saskatchewan where you climb on any rock you can find just to have a little fun and pretend you're King/Queen of the castle, and everyone else is a dirty rascal!
We wanted to go around this bend, but the water was coming in, so we figured not the best idea, even though the water was only ankle deep, who knew how high it would get before we decided to come back.
Meena and I also went to this town called Bob's Farm on our adventure day because we heard that you could swim with sharks and stingrays, so we were like cool lets go! It is by far the coolest place I've ever been. I got to pet the rays, they lick being pet on the nose, it relaxes them and you can see there eye's close and settle in as you continue to scratch. They are such cute little creatures, I want one as a pet, pretty much the same as having a pet fish.
This is me getting comfortable with the rays before I get put in the tank with them.
This is the big tank, the black ones with the long tails are sting rays, the brownish ones with the flat body and shark like tail are stingrays, and then the other ones a Port Jackson sharks, just babies that like food. In the plastic cups are some shrimp, or prawns as they call them in the country and then the wooden stick is our feeding stick, we attach the food to the clothes pin on the end of the stick and the creatures come and eat it. Also side note, if you've never worn hip weighters before, which I haven't until this day, it is the weirdest feeling in the world, you're in these baggy overalls, and boots that are way to big for your feet and then you step in the water and it's like they suction to your body, seriously the weirdest feeling. Also, because my mom asked why I only one had strap done up, she thought I was being cool, which I wasn't, the clasp was broken on that side so I couldn't do it up.
I may have been just a little scared at first....
So those are stingrays and sharks.
Isn't he cute, he's just resting the bottom of himself up against by body while I pet his nose.
This is the shallow tank where you can sit with the rays and feed them. The guide told us to come in and sit down, so I go to sit on my butt, because to me that equals sit down, little did I know that the hip weighters didn't go up high enough so all the water came pouring in over the side, needless to say, I was soaked.
I have decided that they like me, and really, really want to take one home and keep it in the bathtub.
Can you see the difference I was talking about between the stingrays and just the rays? Specifically the tails, and the colour.
I was pointing at Meena because one was under her legs, so I told her not to sit on it.
This is a shark, I don't remember what kind it is but I do remember her saying that it is the only shark that wears its vascualr system on the outside, hence its clear pointy nose. You can actually see the veins in it, it is quite cool.
I have no idea what I'm laughing at, so don't ask why I'm laughing. The guide had Meena's phone and was taking pictures at random so we didn't know when she was taking pictures, which I think is perfect because you get the most candid shots that way.
Yup, that's me petting a shark! How Cool!!
This guy is a bit bigger shark, also a Port Jackson, it is quite an ugly thing. He has beady eyes, but he doesn't really need to see because those fang like thingies that are coming out of his mouth are sensors and he can tell where food is just by those.
You can't really tell in this picture but the shark has 28 rows of teeth. How crazy is that, not to mention a little scary because I was just petting it. But it is very well trained as you can see since the guide can make him roll over like a dog.
Needless to say our adventure day was fun and way to short. But what's a girl to do when she has finals to study for. Well now it is time for me to go back to studying for contracts and to stop procrastinating. So I'll leave you with a parting picture of the beautiful view of my balcony.
Beautiful isn't it.
Well by for now, who knows, the next time I write it could be from Canada! Wish me luck on my last 2 exams!!
