one month.

So tomorrow I will officially have been in Sydney for one month. And I can definitely say that the month has gone better than I could have ever hoped for. I love my apartment and the ten others i share it with, I have begun to get the hang of my waitressing job, I have met some amazing travelers, tried many new foods and seen some beautiful sights.

The last week has been pretty eventful. On Sunday, four of my housemates and some friends rented a van to drive to the Blue Mountains (a famous mountain range about an hour away). Renting a car was the cheapest way to get there since we split the cost amongst eight people, the only problem was that no one had any experience driving on the opposite side of the road. Two of my housemates volunteered to try it out, and luckily we only drove into one-way traffic once during the entire trip.

Eventually we made it there safely after stopping on the way at a wilderness park to see koalas and kangaroos. The koalas and kangaroos were out in the open so we were able to pet them and take pictures, which i was really excited about.

The Blue Mountains were absolutely beautiful. We spent the day hiking and packed lunches to eat along the way.




I was given three days off from work in a row the next week, so my friend Dan and I decided to go to Melbourne. We booked the flight two days before and the hostel the day before and decided not to make any plans and just go. This was a little tough for me, but I decided to give not making plans a try and it ended up working out great.

Tuesday we spent most of the day exploring Melbourne and we found a free comedy show to go to that night. Wednesday we rented bikes for the day and biked along the river. While biking we came across a rock climbing wall, sort of hidden in the confines of the trail and decided to give it a try.

After working up quite a sweat rock climbing, we made the conscious decision to jump into the nearby river, despite the "private property- no trespassing" signs.

We tried quail and rabbit that night for dinner, which was actually delicious. Thursday we ventured St. Kilda beach, one of the only nearby beaches and spent the day there and the night out in the city. As "Melbourners" describe it Melbourne is a city of "culture", which to me means it is a city of cafes and shopping. We asked most of the locals for things to do and they couldn't seem to give us an answer. They would tell us about things to do an hour north or an hour south, but never in the actual city. So being there three days seemed to be enough.






In regards to my job, my boss seems to love me for some odd reason. I still struggle to carry three dishes at once and have some difficulty remembering where I am bringing each dish when I am halfway through carrying them, but for some reason he has been giving me a lot of shifts and even gave me a Sunday shift this week! (in Sydney, Sundays you get paid time and a half). I have learned that if I always look as if I am doing something I will not be bothered, so sometimes I will briskly walk back and forth across the boat to avoid doing other things. I will probably continue to work another three weeks and then quit before i travel to New Zealand and up the coast to Cairns.